HKSAR gov't pays great efforts to rescue Hong Kong residents trapped in Southeast Asian countries Xinhua) 15:13, January 18, 2025 HONG KONG, Jan. 18 (Xinhua) -- The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government has recently met with the consul-generals of Thailand and Myanmar, and adjusted the travel alert level for southeastern regions of Myanmar, in response to concerns that Hong Kong residents suspected of being trapped in Southeast Asian countries. Since the second quarter of 2024, there have been signs of a resurgence in the situation where Hong Kong residents are suspected of being lured to Southeast Asian countries and detained to engage in illegal work, according to the HKSAR government. In view of recent developments, the HKSAR government on Friday raised the outbound travel alert level for the southeastern regions of Myanmar to red, signaling "significant threat". The Security Bureau of the HKSAR government also updated the outbound travel alert webpage regarding supplementary information for Cambodia to remind residents to exercise caution and beware of overseas job scams. Meanwhile, following the meeting with the consul-general of Thailand in Hong Kong, Chris Tang Ping-keung, secretary for security of the HKSAR government, met with the consul-general of Myanmar in Hong Kong, with a commitment to following up on the relevant request-for-assistance cases. On Friday, Tang shared with the consul-general of Myanmar in Hong Kong the results of the dedicated task force of the Hong Kong side, comprising members from the Security Bureau, the Hong Kong Police Force and the Immigration Department, which departed for Thailand earlier to follow up on relevant cases. The two sides also exchanged views, shared information on the issue, and discussed strengthening future follow-up work. Tang received positive feedback, with all parties expressing hope to assist more assistance seekers in returning to Hong Kong safely as soon as possible. Over the past few days, with the assistance of the Security Bureau and other agencies, three Hong Kong residents have safely returned from Myanmar. The Security Bureau confirmed on Jan. 16 that a Hong Kong man, who was held captive in Southeast Asia, has safely returned to Hong Kong. The 25-year-old man was one of the 12 Hong Kong residents who had previously been trapped in Southeast Asia. On Jan. 15, the Hong Kong Police Force told a press conference that they arrested a 32-year-old Hong Kong woman on charges of conspiracy to defraud. The woman was suspected of luring two other Hong Kong women to Southeast Asian countries to engage in fraudulent activities. In August 2022, the Security Bureau of the HKSAR government established a dedicated task force to coordinate follow-up work on the cases by relevant law enforcement departments. Since 2024 to date, law enforcement agencies have received a total of 28 requests for assistance in relation to Hong Kong residents alleging to have been detained in Southeast Asian countries and have been unable to leave. Seventeen of them have already returned. The dedicated task force will continue to follow up on the remaining 11 cases. "My team and I will continue to follow up on the cases, hoping that every Hong Kong resident can safely return home," Tang said on social media. (Web editor: Peng Yukai, Liang Jun) Xinjiang aims for robust social, economic development in 2025 Xinhua) 08:47, January 20, 2025 URUMQI, Jan. 19 (Xinhua) -- China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region aims for robust social and economic development in 2025, as it celebrates its 70th anniversary of establishment this year. The region targets its gross domestic product (GDP) growth of around 6 percent after it beat a 2-trillion-yuan GDP (about 278 billion U.S. dollars) mark last year, according to a government work report delivered by Erkin Tuniyaz, chairman of the regional government of Xinjiang, at the annual session of the Xinjiang people's congress. For 2025, Xinjiang will further advance high-quality development, deepen reform, and expand high-level opening up while carrying out law-based counter-terrorism and stability work and preventing and defusing risks in key areas, said Tuniyaz. The region has put priority on ten key industries -- oil and gas production and processing, clean coal, new power system, green mining and processing, advanced manufacturing and new materials, grain and food processing, cotton and clothing, livestock products and high-quality fruits and vegetables, culture and tourism, and logistics. Covering one-sixth of China's total land area, Xinjiang boasts breathtaking landscapes and its tourism sector has taken off with improved infrastructure and accessibility in recent years. The region's tourism revenue jumped by 21 percent to over 359 billion yuan last year with 300 million tourists received. For 2025, it expects to receive 320 million tourists. Xinjiang has also continued to enhance its role in the Belt and Road Initiative. The region saw over 16,400 China-Europe freight trains passing through in 2024, a 14-percent increase from the previous year and accounting for more than half of the national total. (Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Zhong Wenxing) Appeal after vehicle broken into in Johnstown Police are appealing for information after a vehicle was broken into in a Wrexham village. The incident took place on Brandy Brook, Johnstown, on Wednesday 15 January. Anyone who may have witnessed something suspicious that can assist police with their enquiries is asked to contact 101 quoting C007082. The following security advice has also been issued to help protect your vehicle: ClwydAlyn collection helping feed Wrexham families this winter A regional housing association is helping to feed families in need across Wrexham this this winter following a successful food bank collection. Social homes and affordable housing provider, ClwydAlyn, has joined forces with suppliers, partners, contractors and residents, to organise its biggest food bank donation to date. With a focus on supporting local families in need, over 1,500 kg of essential items were collected. Over 4,000 of food, was gathered at numerous collection points across North Wales including the companys HQ in St Asaph. Donations included staples like porridge, long-life milk, canned goods, tea bags and toilet rolls, as well as biscuits, pasta pots and fruit drinks. Food banks play a vital role in feeding individuals and families across Wales. Figures released by the Trussell Trust show that between April and September 2024, 5,032 food parcels were distributed by Wrexhams network of food banks. This is slightly lower than the 5,152 which were handed out in the same period in 2023. A breakdown of the Trussell Trusts data also reveals that 3,466 emergency food parcels were given to adults while 1,566 were distributed to children. The figures show the persistent demand being faced by food banks across the Wales with more than 80,000 emergency food parcels distributed to people facing hunger across Wales during the six-month period. Over half of these people were accessing a food bank for the first time and 65 per cent of support provided by food banks in Wales was for families with children. The collection was organised by Louise Smith-Aldous, Operational Projects Health and Safety Officer at ClwydAlyn. She said: We want to say a big thank you to all our staff, residents, contractors and suppliers for your support and generosity. Food banks feed 1000s of families across Wales. In winter the pressures of larger heating bills, plus the financial burden of Christmas means that many people struggle to provide enough food for themselves and their families. This collection will go towards providing meals for people who need help across our communities. The food collected was given to 12 foodbanks; , Trussell Trust in Wrexham, Abergele Food Bank, Age Connects in Flint, Ty Calon in Deeside, Sussex Street Christian Centre in Rhyl, Hope Restored Foodbank in Llandudno, Anglesey Foodbank, Banc Bwyd in Pwllheli, Trussell Trust in Buckley, Trussell Trust in Mold, Vale of Clwyd and Festival Church in Prestatyn. Senedd Members criticise appalling delays in Wales cancer care Senedd members quizzed Wales health secretary after a damning report revealed alarming shortcomings in cancer services, including a lack of leadership. James Evans, the Conservatives shadow health secretary, said a recent Audit Wales report laid bare chronic mismanagement of cancer services. Questioning his opposite number Jeremy Miles, Mr Evans told the Senedd: This failure has caused widespread confusion and inefficiencies in patient care. Despite a staggering 54% real-terms increase in spending on cancer services over the past 13 years, the NHS in Wales continues to miss the target for starting cancer treatment. Leadership failures have resulted in shocking delays for patients, with some waiting over 100 days to begin treatment. These delays exacerbate anxiety and lead to poorer survival rates, which are already worse in Wales than any other nation across the UK. Bureaucratic silos He urged the Welsh Government to fix a leadership vacuum, dismantle bureaucratic silos and ensure patients no longer face appalling delays that cost lives. Mr Miles welcomed the report, recognising the picture painted by the auditor general that too many people are waiting too long for treatments they should be getting faster. The health secretary said: It is true to say for a number of cancers in a number of parts of Wales those targets are being met and sometimes being exceeded quite significantly. But the overall picture, I accept, is that targets are not being met. Mr Evans, who represents Brecon and Radnorshire, warned of workforce planning failures, severe staff shortages, over-reliance on agencies, and recruitment and retention problems. Unsustainable He said: These staff shortages are directly delaying cancer diagnosis and treatment, worsening outcomes for patients. Despite repeated warnings from organisations like the Wales Cancer Alliance, the Welsh Government has failed to deliver a comprehensive workforce strategy. Mr Miles pointed to a 27% increase in workforce numbers, adding that Wales is not the only country to have difficulty recruiting to certain disciplines such as radiology. The health secretary agreed about the unsustainable reliance on agency staff. Mr Evans added: There is becoming an outrage in the public about the ballooning number of managers across the NHS compared to frontline health care providers. He suggested overall increases in the workforce from 72,000 to 91,000 between 2014 and 2023 have not addressed frontline clinical shortages. Naive Shockingly, administrative and estate staff have increased by 51% in that time, he said. Mr Evans asked: After 26 years, how can the Labour Welsh Government justify the bloated expansion of administrative roles while patients face unacceptable delays for treatment due to a lack of frontline staff? Mr Miles replied: The member makes an easy point, and a populist point, but the truth is a complex healthcare system requires people who are competent. There has been an increase in recruitment to the NHS across all disciplines and all important roles which enable the NHS to be effectively run. He added: A world view which suggests that managers and those running the NHS simply should be taken out of the system, I think, is a very naive perspective. Fresh thinking Mabon ap Gwynfor, Plaid Cymrus shadow health secretary, also led on the scathing Audit Wales report during health questions on January 15. He urged the minister to back his partys proposed reforms of NHS governance. Mr Miles said Novembers report echoed a statement he gave in the Senedd and a speech he made two weeks earlier. He told the chamber: I was very pleased to see the kind of fresh thinking I was seeking to bring to the challenges which we face was agreed to by Plaid Cymru. And I see the same thing in the plan that was published yesterday in relation to tackling waiting lists. Not up to scratch Mr ap Gwynfor hit back: Thats a disappointing response because you seem to be in complete denial about the problems in the health service. The Dwyfor Meirionnydd Senedd member called for a guarantee that a target for 80% of all cancer patients to receive treatment within 62 days by March 2026 will be met. He warned that the quality and accessibility of health data is not up to scratch, with Public Health Wales fundamentally hamstrung in its ability to project future demand for services. He said: The Wales cancer registry is meant to provide timely data on cancer incidence but it hasnt published validated cancer data since 2021, shamefully this means Wales cant fully take part in essential national cancer audits nor global studies. Mr Miles replied: We have actually improved the publicly available data and we publish on a monthly basis about 18 pages of cancer treatment statistics, so that they can be scrutinised. We do want to improve transparency further. By Chris Haines, ICNN Senedd reporter Welsh language education bill clears first hurdle in Senedd A shake-up of Welsh language education cleared the first hurdle in the Senedd despite concerns about staff shortages, teachers workloads and the cost to schools. Senedd members unanimously agreed the general principles of the Welsh language bill, which was part of the now-collapsed cooperation deal between ministers and Plaid Cymru. Mark Drakeford told the Senedd the reforms aim to improve how Welsh is taught, ensuring all pupils become confident Welsh speakers by the end of compulsory school age. The finance and Welsh language secretary said: The majority of children in Wales receive their education through the medium of English. It has been mandatory for them to learn Welsh for decades now. But we know that we havent succeeded in providing the same quality of experiences to them. 100m The bill, which would cost an estimated 103.2m in the years to 2034/35, would set a 10% minimum level for the amount of Welsh provision in primarily English-language schools. It would also: put targets including a million Welsh speakers by 2050 on a legal footing; embed a standard way to describe language ability based on the CEFR; establish new categories of school; create a chain of accountability with duties on schools, councils and ministers; and set up a National Welsh Language Learning Institute. Leading a debate on January 14, Prof Drakeford said: If the bill is to succeed then we must ensure there is capacity within the education system to implement it. He pointed to the education secretarys announcement of a strategic workforce plan, which will include the teaching of Welsh and teaching through the medium of Welsh. Prof Drakeford committed to bringing forward amendments to address workforce concerns as the bill moves through the Senedds four-stage scrutiny process. Biggest barrier Buffy Williams, chair of the education committee, said: It is rare for a government target to capture a wider imagination but a million Welsh speakers by 2050 has. Yet, the last census result shows a decrease in the number of people saying theyre Welsh speakers. It is clear action is needed to put this decline into reverse. The bill, we believe, is an important mechanism to support delivery of this target. Ms Williams warned the biggest barrier is having a workforce with the right skills, saying: This is not going to be easy. We know there are currently shortages across Wales. She called for clarity on proposed new categories of school: primarily Welsh; dual language; and primarily English, partly Welsh: and the targets for each. Already stretched Sam Kurtz, the Tories shadow Welsh language secretary, welcomed the ambition to increase the number of Welsh speakers. But he said: Key challenges remain, particularly in terms of workforce capacity, warning of the financial implications for already stretched schools and councils. Mr Kurtz argued the workforce plan should have been developed alongside the bill, pointing out that there was no mention of Welsh in the education secretarys statement. Plaid Cymrus Cefin Campbell said the Welsh Government has lowered the bills ambitions since his party ended the cooperation deal, with ministers rowing back some elements. Mr Campbell, a former lecturer who is Plaid Cymrus shadow education secretary, said targets to expand Welsh-medium education have been missed for more than 20 years. Hugely fragile Alun Davies, who initially introduced the target of a million Welsh speakers by 2050, backed the bill but cautioned against overly complicated school categories. He said: To be entirely honest with you, and I didnt want to say this at the time, but when I was minister with responsibility for the Welsh language, and now, Im still not sure I understand all of the school categories that we have. Warning minority languages are hugely fragile around the world, Lee Waters, another Labour backbencher, described the bill as a uniquely ambitious and important step. He said pupils in primarily English-medium schools are currently shortchanged, with a low chance of them leaving school being able to hold a meaningful conversation in Welsh. Mr Waters suggested this breeds resentment and bitterness among pupils subjected to such a poor experience, so, its essential we focus on the quality of English-medium provision. By Chris Haines, ICNN Senedd reporter Several area government offices will be closed for Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Monday. City of Reno administrative offices will be closed on Monday, January 20, 2025, in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. City of Reno recreation facilities will also be closed on Monday, January 20, 2025, with the exception of the Moana Springs Community Aquatics & Fitness Center that will be open from 5:30 a.m. to noon. Visit Reno.gov/ParksandRec for more information. The Reno Police Department (RPD) would like to advise the public of these phone and online reporting options: * For all emergencies requiring police, fire or medical response, call 9-1-1. * For non-emergency assistance from Dispatch, call 775-334-COPS (2677). * Visit RenoPD.com and click on "File a Report" to submit an online report. On Sunday, January 19 at 4 p.m., community members are invited to attend the 39th Annual Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Service celebration hosted by the Northern Nevada Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Committee and the Nevada Interfaith Association, sponsored by the City of Reno. The event will be at the McKinley Arts and Culture Center located at 925 Riverside Dr. To learn more about this and the Nevada Interfaith Association, visit NevadaInterfaith.org. -- The following City of Sparks administrative offices will be closed on Monday, January 20, in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. * Sparks City Hall, 431 Prater Way * Sparks Parks and Recreation, 98 Richards Way * Alf Sorensen Community Center, 1400 Baring Blvd. * Larry D. Johnson Community Center, 1200 12th Street * Sparks Municipal Court, 1450 C. Street Regular office hours will resume on Tuesday, January 21, 2025. --- Most Washoe County offices will be closed Monday, January 20, in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. His birthday, January 15, is honored each year on the third Monday in January. The following county offices will be closed: * Administrative offices at the Washoe County Complex: 1001 E. Ninth Street, Reno. * All Washoe County Library locations will be closed. Book drops and online services will remain available. Access library hours and online services at this link * Northern Nevada Public Health All clinical, environmental health, birth & death records, and WIC services. * Regional Animal Services Shelter Operations and Office will be closed, but field operations will continue as normal. Pet redemptions will be available 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. * Reno Justice Court, Sparks Justice Court, Incline Village Justice Court, and Wadsworth Justice Court * The Second Judicial District Court * The Washoe County District Attorneys Office * The Washoe County Sheriffs Office All administrative offices will be unavailable. Visiting and cashier remains open, and if citizens need emergency assistance, call 911 or contact the non-emergency line at 775-785-WCSO (9276). * Truckee Meadows Fire & Rescue Headquarters/Fire Prevention and Administrative Offices 3663 Barron Way * Washoe County Human Services Agency and all Senior Center meal distribution locations The following county offices will be open: * The Office of the County Clerk at the Washoe County Complex will remain open from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. for fictitious firm names, notary bond filings and marriage licenses. Passport services will not be available. -- In observance of the Martin Luther King, Jr. federal holiday, Postal Service facilities will be closed for retail services, and there will be no regular mail deliveries on Monday, January 20, 2025. Normal retail, delivery, and collection schedules will resume on Tuesday, January 21, 2025. 8 Civil Rights Activists Who Died in 2024 Dexter Scott King, 62, the youngest son of Martin Luther King Jr., was chairman of the King Center and president of the King Estate. Named for the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama, where his father was pastor early in his career, the younger King was 7 when his dad was assassinated in 1968. Dexter King portrayed his father in a small role in the 2002 TV movie The Rosa Parks Story. As a child Hydeia Broadbent, 39, became an outspoken advocate for those living with HIV/AIDS. At a time when medication to control the disease was not widely available and millions were dying, she courageously battled the condition and gave inspirational talks to reduce the stigma surrounding HIV/AIDS. On a 1992 Nickelodeon special, she and basketball legend Magic Johnson talked about his HIV diagnosis. When he heard about her death, he remembered her as an activist and hero who changed the world with her bravery. When Los Angeles African American community erupted after four white police officers were acquitted in the videotaped beating of Rodney King, the Rev. Cecil L. Chip Murray, 94, condemned both the rioters and the discriminatory systems that led to more than 50 deaths and $1 billion in damage. As rebuilding began, he launched an economic development program reported to have created 4,000 jobs, 300 new homeowners, and 500 new businesses. As a young activist in the 1960s, William Strickland, 87, supported sit-ins in the South; worked alongside Malcolm X and James Baldwin to protest New York City rents; and staged protests against police brutality. After Kings assassination, Strickland co-founded the Institute of the Black World, which served as a gathering place for Black intellectuals. He was a decades-long professor at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, where he taught political science. Ralph Kennedy Frasier, 85, was the last surviving member of three Black students who desegregated the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in the first lawsuit after Brown v. Board of Education. He went on to become a civil rights advocate and attorney. In a statement, LDFs Janai Nelson praised Frasiers lifelong commitment to advancing equality and justice. The Rev. James M. Lawson Jr., 95, who presided over Los Angeles Holman United Methodist Church for 25 years, had studied Gandhi as a young missionary in India. Later, working alongside King, he taught protesters how to leverage nonviolence as a strategy to galvanize support for the civil rights movement. Lawson had invited King to Memphis to advocate for striking Black sanitation workers. It was there, on the night before his death on April 4, 1968, that King delivered his famous Ive Been to the Mountaintop speech. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, 74, of Texas, represented her Houston-based district for nearly 30 years. She led federal efforts to protect women by rewriting the Violence Against Women Act, which included protections for Native American, transgender and immigrant women. She fought to have Juneteenth recognized. In 2021, it became the newest federal holiday since Martin Luther King, Jr. Day was first observed in 1986. Thelma Mothershed Wair, 83, was one of nine Black students who integrated Little Rock (Arkansas) Central High in 1957, after the Brown v. Board of Education ruling. After Gov. Orval Faubus resisted desegregation for weeks, President Dwight Eisenhower sent in federal troops to escort the children who faced jeers and violence. After Arkansas closed the schools the following year, Wair had to complete high school through correspondence courses. She then went on to earn her bachelors and masters degrees. In 1999, President Bill Clinton awarded Wair, and the rest of the Little Rock Nine the Congressional Gold Medal. Editors note: This story originally published Jan. 15, 2020. It has been updated to reflect new information. PEP 11 Update Perth, Jan 20, 2025 AEST (ABN Newswire) - BPH Energy Limited ( ASX:BPH ) and Bounty Oil & Gas NL ( ASX:BUY ) as the PEP 11 Joint Venture announce that they have on 17 January 2025 been given notice by the National Offshore Petroleum Titles Administrator (NOPTA) that the Joint Authority has refused the Joint Venture Applications made on 23 January 2020 and 17 March 2021. The PEP 11 permit will continue in force for a period of 2 months from 17 January 2025. The Joint Venture has statutory legal rights to seek a review of the decisions referred to in the notice under the Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Act 2006 and is obtaining legal advice on such a review process. About BPH Energy Limited BPH Energy Limited (ASX:BPH) is an Australian Securities Exchange listed company developing biomedical research and technologies within Australian Universities and Hospital Institutes. The company provides early stage funding, project management and commercialisation strategies for a direct collaboration, a spin out company or to secure a license. BPH provides funding for commercial strategies for proof of concept, research and product development, whilst the institutional partner provides infrastructure and the core scientific expertise. BPH currently partners with several academic institutions including The Harry Perkins Institute for Medical Research and Swinburne University of Technology (SUT). Related Companies December Quarterly Report Advisory Brisbane, Jan 21, 2025 AEST (ABN Newswire) - North American lithium producer Sayona Mining Limited ( ASX:SYA ) ( DML:FRA ) ( SYAXF:OTCMKTS ) advises that the Company's December 2024 Quarterly Activities Report is scheduled for release on Friday, 31 January 2025. The Company will host an investor webcast covering the December Quarterly results commencing at 9.30am (AEDT - Sydney, Melbourne) on Friday, 31 January 2025. Retail shareholders and investors are invited to listen via a webcast service. To listen live, please click on the link below and register your details: https://www.abnnewswire.net/lnk/BOUO6H2R Written questions may be submitted via the webcast platform. This link will also provide access to the archive version that will be available approximately two hours after the completion of the webcast. Please note that it is best to log on at least five minutes before the scheduled commencement time to ensure that you are registered in time for the call. About Sayona Mining Limited Sayona Mining Limited (ASX:SYA) (OTCMKTS:SYAXF) is a North American lithium producer with projects in Quebec, Canada and Western Australia. In Quebec, Sayona's assets comprise North American Lithium together with the Authier Lithium Project and the Tansim Lithium Project, supported by a strategic partnership with American lithium developer Piedmont Lithium Inc. Sayona also holds a 60% stake in the Moblan Lithium Project in northern Quebec. In Western Australia, the company holds a large tenement portfolio in the Pilbara region prospective for gold and lithium. Sayona is exploring for Hemi style gold targets in the world class Pilbara region, while its lithium projects include Company-owned leases and those subject to a joint venture with Morella Corporation. Related Companies Known informally as Brokers Matter, the project will see LIIBA commission research to calculate the financial contribution that wholesale broking makes to global GDP. Discussions on the scope and scale of the project are in their early stages. Christopher Croft, CEO of LIIBA, said: Wholesale broking is the engine oil of the global machine. Its the mechanism that allows wealth creators to look beyond limited domestic options to find the risk mitigation strategies they need to operate. In 2025, we will commission work to put numbers on this global game. The ability to demonstrate the contribution that wholesale broking makes to global GDP should have the same impact on discussions with international governments and regulators that, 10 years ago, London Matters did. Wholesale broking, the document notes, has been seen by some regulators as some sort of unnecessary surcharge on insurance placements. LIIBA believes its project will help correct that misconception. The representative bodys 2025 agenda reaffirms the broking communitys support for Blueprint Two, the programme to modernise the technology of the Lloyds insurance market. It does acknowledge that progress to date has been disappointing but concludes that anything other than delivery in 2025 is not an option. Lloyds relationship with the broking community will also come under LIIBAs spotlight this year. The agenda notes that the Corporation of Lloyds relationship with brokers can be fractious, particularly when elements of market infrastructure get in the way of trading relationships. and sets out a plan to partner with Lloyds on a survey with LIIBAs members. The aim of the exercise is to provide objective, productive views on how the Corporation operates and to help build a closer partnership between Lloyds and LIIBA members. The agenda sounds a note of caution over Europes rising regulatory interest in so-called multi-national placements insurance products designed to cover an organisations risks and operations across multiple countries. According to LIIBA, elements of proposals being made as part of European Unions (EU) Retail Investment Strategy could significantly impede EU corporate clients ability to access the global insurance capacity they need to operate. LIIBA says it will work with European broking body BIPAR and Lloyds Europe to monitor developments. Commenting on the new agenda document, LIIBA CEO Christopher Croft said: As we move into the latter half of the decade, LIIBAs community finds itself in a promising situation. Our market remains buoyant with the latest London Matters report showing the value of premium our members bring to London each year has risen to $160bn. Above all, 2025 must be the year in which we bring governments and regulators around the world to fully appreciate the value that insurance intermediation delivers to the global economy. For too long, these bodies have viewed the work of our membership with suspicion. We need to address this now. Its vital we ensure that the essential service our members provide is allowed to function without unnecessary impediment especially in a world in which protectionism and populism might threaten the free flow of activity. Reviewing LIIBAs achievements in 2024, Mr Croft highlighted the development of a promising working relationship with the new Government and also noted that LIIBAs relationship with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) had rarely been more productive. LIIBAs 2025 agenda are available here ABP LIVE, Indias leading digital news platform, is set to host the SmartEd Conclave 2025, an event dedicated to shaping the future of education in India through innovation and collaboration. Scheduled to be held on January 22, 2025, in New Delhi, the conclave will serve as a pivotal forum to discuss key education initiatives, including the National Education Policy (NEP), the PM-Vidya Lakshmi Scheme, and the transformative impact of digital technology on learning. ABP LIVEs SmartEd Conclave 2025 will bring together esteemed policymakers, educators, and innovators from the EdTech industry to address the evolving educational landscape. The discussions will centre on the integration of technology into education to enhance accessibility, inclusivity, and quality. As the sector continues to embrace digital transformation, this conclave aims to facilitate meaningful dialogues that contribute to Indias emergence as a global leader in smart education. The event will be graced by Anandrao V. Patil, Additional Secretary, School Education Department, Ministry of Education, Govt of India, as the Guest of Honour. He will share insights into the governments vision and efforts toward advancing digital education and its role in empowering the nations youth. Adding further depth to the discussions will be an impressive panel of thought leaders, including Ankit Khandelwal, Director of Think Exam; Varun Satia, Founder and CEO of Kraftshala; Dr. Vijender Singh Chauhan, Associate Professor at Zakir Husain Delhi College, Delhi University; Neetu Singh, Founder of KD Campus; Dr. Mohsin Ali, Founder Coordinator of Turkish Language & Literature Programme at Jamia Millia Islamia; Monika Mehta, Principal of Ryan International School, Gurugram; Arpit Mittal, Founder and CEO of SpeakX; and Mukul Rustagi, CEO and Co-Founder of Classplus, and Dr. Priyanka Jain Bhabu, Founder Director of CRIA ABA Foundation. These eminent speakers will delve into critical topics such as the role of EdTech in transforming education, empowering educators, and ensuring equitable access to quality learning. The SmartEd Conclave 2025 underscores ABP LIVEs commitment to fostering impactful conversations that drive progress in education. By focusing on the convergence of education, technology, and government initiatives, the conclave seeks to provide actionable solutions for modern educational challenges. Audiences can tune in to watch the event LIVE on January 22, 2025, from 11 AM onwards at www.abplive.com For more details about the conclave, please visit: https://news.abplive.com/events/smarted-conclave Danube Properties, a leading real estate developer in Dubai, has officially welcomed Bollywoods young superstar Kartik Aaryan as its brand ambassador for the next two years. This collaboration underscores Danube's values of innovation, trust, and quality, mirroring the actors inspiring journey in the film industry. At a grand event held in Mumbai, hosted by Maniesh Paul, Danube Properties unveiled its new tagline, "Danube Hai Na," symbolizing the brands unwavering commitment to offering comprehensive solutions to homeowners. With a legacy spanning over 30 years, Danube Properties has emerged as a trailblazer in Dubais real estate market. Known for its innovative 1% payment plan, fully furnished apartments, and projects featuring 40+ world-class amenities, the brand consistently sets new benchmarks in affordable luxury living. A key highlight of Danubes commitment to excellence is its track record of delivering projects ahead of schedule, as demonstrated by the recent completion of GEMZ by Danube, handed over five months earlier than promised. Danube also continues to lead with innovation, with its latest luxury project, Bayz102, featuring a flying taxi station, showcasing its vision for futuristic living. Adding to the appeal of investing in Danube properties is Dubais tax-free environment, along with the opportunity for property buyers to secure a golden visa for their familiesmaking it an unparalleled destination for global investors. Speaking at the event, Rizwan Sajan, Founder and Chairman of Danube Group, expressed his excitement saying,"Kartik Aaryan epitomizes determination and excellence, qualities that resonate deeply with Danube Properties. His widespread appeal and success story make him an ideal representative for our brand. Together, we aim to inspire dreams of homeownership while upholding our legacy of trust and value." Kartik Aaryan, sharing his enthusiasm, said, "I am delighted to be associated with Danube Properties, a brand that redefines affordable luxury and innovation. Their reputation for delivering world-class homes aligns with my belief in authenticity and excellence. Im thrilled to embark on this journey with them." Vikram Sakhuja, Group CEO - Madison Media & OOH at Madison World, emphasized the critical role of high-quality data in driving AIs effectiveness during his address at the 19th India Digital Summit. Sakhuja (pictured) highlighted that while AI is revolutionizing marketing strategies, its foundation still relies on timeless principles. According to Sakhuja, AI delivers better predictions and campaign outcomes when powered by superior data inputs. Balancing AI and Human Connection Vivek Malhotra, Group CMO of India Today Group, voiced concerns about maintaining authentic consumer connections amid AI-driven marketing approaches. Sakhuja responded by referencing Metas strategy, which utilizes broad targeting coupled with audience engagement signals to identify genuinely interested consumers. This approach, he noted, bridges the gap between scale and personalization. Scaling with AI: The Cadbury Case Study To demonstrate AI's potential, Sakhuja highlighted Cadburys innovative Diwali campaign. The brand leveraged AI to create personalized, hyper-local store promotions featuring Shah Rukh Khan's lip-sync videos. This strategy not only achieved significant reach but also supported small businesses, showcasing AIs ability to scale campaigns effectively. AI Integration for Legacy Brands When asked about legacy brands embracing AI, Sakhuja expressed confidence in their ability to adapt. He explained that AI has seamlessly integrated into daily life and that legacy brands can unlock its potential by understanding its capabilities and applying it strategically within their marketing frameworks. Addressing Challenges: Data Validation and Ethics Sakhuja underscored the importance of data validation in ensuring AIs reliability. He stressed the need for stringent checks to avoid "garbage in, garbage out" scenarios and highlighted the ethical considerations surrounding AI use. Maintaining human oversight, he added, is essential for responsible and effective AI implementation. Sakhujas insights reaffirmed the transformative potential of AI in marketing while emphasizing the importance of quality data, ethical practices, and strategic integration to maximize its benefits. Also Read: Zeotap adds Purchase Intent Data to its high-quality data offering Hyundai Motor Company (Hyundai Motor) unveiled concept models of advanced electric three-wheeler and micro four-wheeler at Bharat Mobility Global Expo 2025. Together with TVS Motor Company Ltd. (TVS Motor), Hyundai Motor is exploring contributions to the last-mile mobility market in India. These innovative concepts underline Hyundai Motors unwavering commitment to its vision of Progress for Humanity by reimagining mobility solutions that prioritize convenience, sustainability and adaptability as part of Indias dynamic transportation landscape. While no binding agreements have been explored or executed, Hyundai Motor is exploring the potential to offer design, engineering and technology, while TVS Motor will explore manufacturing and marketing of the vehicles. Hyundai Motor is a customer-centric brand, and caring for people in India is our first mission. This commitment has driven us to explore designing micro-mobility solutions tailored to India's unique environment, reimagining the iconic three-wheeler to enhance mobility experiences through thoughtful design, said SangYup Lee, Executive Vice President and Head of Hyundai and Genesis Global Design. Collaborating with TVS Motor, we aim to locally produce the three-wheeler while exploring global opportunities for the four-wheeler, blending intuitive functionality with the spirit of a rapidly innovating India." With a focus on contributing to the nation's progress, these concepts exemplify Hyundai Motors advanced capabilities, engineering expertise and technological innovation, aimed at reshaping last-mile connectivity in India. The concept vehicles can not only address the pressing need for sustainable mobility but also align with the evolving demands of Indian roads and urban infrastructure. TVS is proud to explore a partnership with Hyundai Motor to shape the future of urban mobility, said Sharad Mishra, President, Group Strategy, TVS Motor Company. By combining Hyundai Motors global expertise with our deep understanding of mobility solutions, we aim to develop next-generation micro-mobility solutions that redefine last-mile connectivity. This potential collaboration reflects our commitment to innovation and sustainability. With a shared vision, we are confident that this partnership under discussion will deliver impactful solutions that set new standards in design, engineering, technology, and quality. More about the concepts Taking its commitment a step further, Hyundai Motor will explore the practicality and potential of these futuristic mobility solutions while analyzing their integration into Indias traffic ecosystem. Based on the findings, Hyundai Motor and TVS will explore rollout of the project. The Three-Wheeler concept is proposed to be produced in collaboration with TVS, while the development of the Four-Wheeler is under review, with a focus on its global potential. Hyundai Motors Micro Mobility Concept vehicles are a testament to the brands customer-centric design and human-centered engineering. These innovative concepts have been created to redefine urban mobility, with key features such as an angled windshield for superior visibility, enhanced collision protection, a flat floor, and an extended wheelbase to maximize comfort and ergonomics. With the Electric Three-Wheeler Concept, Hyundai Motor has boldly reimagined Indias ubiquitous motor rickshaw, transforming it into a versatile and eco-friendly vehicle that can serve not only as a people mover but also as an efficient logistics option or a rapid-response emergency vehicle. This innovative approach to mobility not only connects communities and livelihoods but also champions accessibility and inclusivity, with a foldable seat for wheelchair users. Design of the concepts With its compact size and manoeuvrability, the Electric Three-Wheeler Concept is designed to navigate narrow streets effortlessly. The height of the body is adjustable, allowing it to be lifted to navigate waterlogged streets during the heavy rains of the monsoon season. A standout feature is the unique diagonal profile with an angled windshield. This element not only suggests enhanced collision protection but also ensures a clearer, safer view of the road ahead. This innovative approach demonstrates a commitment to safety while maintaining style and functionality. Focusing on human-centered engineering, the vehicle features a flat floor and extended wheelbase, engineered for superior ergonomics. This provides more legroom and an improved seating position for the driver. Large tires ensure a smoother ride even on rough terrains, while the towing hook allows for quick recovery from potholes. Every detail of this concept vehicle under review reflects Hyundai Motors commitment to India, including the color. Aakaashi Blue is a color of the vast Indian Ocean and boundless sky, a testament to the limitless aspirations of the Indian spirit. It represents depth, stability and wisdom, creating a perfect balance between freshness and calmness. Hyundai Motor is also reviewing the use of heat-reducing gloss black paint on the roof to lower interior heat conductivity, as well as exploring water resistant materials for the interior surfaces. These efforts highlight Hyundai Motor's focus on developing vehicles specifically tailored to the high temperatures and heavy rainfall prevalent in India. The interior reinforces this practical focus with flexible elements, including adaptable storage solutions, a slim cluster design for intuitive information display, a dedicated phone holder to enhance connectivity, and pegboard-inspired panels that can be adjusted for convenience, hygiene and safety. Whether for daily commutes, last-mile deliveries, or group transport, Hyundai Motors Micro Mobility Concepts are designed to inspire adaptable solutions by adopting a modular approach to ensure simple and practical manufacturing. The materials suggest a harmony between local sourcing and the potential for sustainability. This embodies the companys belief in creating solutions that are not only innovative but also responsible and meaningful. Hyundai Motor is committed to reshaping last-mile connectivity in India through innovative solutions. The companys advanced capabilities and technological innovation are showcased in these concept vehicles, providing sustainable mobility solutions that align with India's evolving infrastructure. Indriya, Aditya Birla Jewellery announces the launch of its exquisite first-ever bridal collection, captured in a breathtaking campaign filmed at the iconic Shiv Niwas Palace, Udaipur. The campaign stars the captivating Aditi Rao Hydari and the charming Shaheer Sheikh, revolving around a brides love story, not just with the groom, but also with Indriyas exquisite bridal jewellery. The film reinforces the brands positioning around endless love that a woman has for her jewellery. The film weaves a soulful narrative, depicting how each piece of Indriya jewellery silently yet powerfully finds its place in the bride's heart, destined to remain there for lifetimes. Set against the regal backdrop of Shiv Niwas Palace, the film showcases the deep, everlasting love a woman has for her jewellery, especially during her wedding. This collection launch marks a significant milestone for Indriya, highlighting uniquely crafted pieces that embody timeless elegance and the emotional bond between a bride and her jewellery. Shantiswarup Panda, CMO, Indriya, stated, "This campaign reflects the profound, emotional journey that every bride takes with her wedding jewellery. The deep relationship between a bride and her jewellery lasts beyond the wedding dayit is a celebration of our brand position of Endless Love and devotion, captured in pieces that combine traditional craftsmanship and modern aesthetics. Indriya's bridal line is designed to capture these special moments, creating jewellery that will be a part of a bride's story for a lifetime.." The bridal collection features awe-inspiring designs that blend traditional craftsmanship with contemporary elegance. Aditi Rao Hydari is adorned in a never-seen-before mint green Russian emerald & pink tourmaline necklace paired with a magenta-hued polki necklace. Completing her look is a fusion Sheeshphool-Mathapatti with rare sugarloaf pink tourmalines, and bridal accessories like haathphool, opulent rings, and nath. Shaheer Sheikh complements her regal ensemble with a scarlet-hued mala, a Victorian-style layered polki necklace, and ornate accessories like the sarpech and bajuband. Each piece, from the intricate Sheeshphool to the Chand-Tara motifs on the bajuband, celebrates Indriya's meticulous artistry and unparalleled craftsmanship. Tanuja Bhat & Komal Bedi Sohal, Senior ECDs & Creative Heads, Beauty & Luxury Collective, Ogilvy West, shared, "For every bride, a wedding is the beginning of many new relationships. But no one has spoken of her relationship with her bridal jewellery which marks every part of her wedding rituals. This campaign shows us how this love is precious, beautiful, and endless, just like her love for her life partner." Indriya's store experience is more than just shoppingits a celebration of love. Whether it's an intimate moment in the atelier or a curated styling session with personal stylists, each visit is an enchanting journey, perfect for the discerning bride-to-be. Also Read: Indriya Diamonds unveils timeless love with new sparkling campaign Kurkure, the beloved snack enjoyed by Indian households for over 25 years, has teamed up with Chings Secret, one of Indias leading desi Chinese brands, to bring out the exciting Schezwan Chutney flavour. The result? A delicious burst of taste thats as exciting as it is irresistible, blending the best of both worlds. Indian-Chinese cuisine, known for its bold and spicy flavours, has long been a favourite across the country. Inspired by this shared love, Kurkure and Chings Secret have created a snack thats both adventurous and deeply familiar, crafted to delight fans of both brands while redefining fusion snacking in India. Aastha Bhasin, Marketing Director Kurkure & Doritos, PepsiCo India, said: PepsiCo India is excited to partner with Tata Consumer Products Chings Secret for this milestone collaboration. Kurkure has always led the way in introducing trendsetting innovations within the snacking category, and this partnership underscores our commitment to delivering flavours that truly connect with evolving consumer preferences. With fusion flavours becoming increasingly popular, this collaboration brings together Kurkures crunchy, masaaledaar magic with the fiery and tangy kick of Chings Schezwan Chutney to create a truly unique Desi Chinese snacking experience. Together, this collaboration brings two well-loved brands in their categories to celebrate a snacking innovation that blends flavours enjoyed by consumers across India. Deepika Bhan, President, Packaged Foods, Tata Consumer Products, said: We are thrilled about this maverick collaboration between two iconic chatpata masaaledar brands Chings and Kurkure. Kurkure has always delighted consumers with its crunch and trendsetting flavours, making it the perfect match for Chings, a brand synonymous with Desi Chinese. Together, they bring to life a fusion that seamlessly blends the zesty notes of Chings Schezwan Chutney tadka with Kurkures signature masala profile. This collaboration is set to surprise and delight consumers, promising an unforgettable sensory adventure." This collaboration marks a significant landmark in the snacking industry by uniting two distinctly Indian brands, Kurkure and Chings Secret, whose shared ethos of bold, authentic, and flavoursome snacks resonates deeply with the evolving Indian consumer. Crafted for existing Kurkure enthusiasts and fans of desi Chinese flavours, the new product offers an innovative twist on a classic combination and is set to be a hit with those who enjoy spicy snacks. Available across all markets and channels in INR 5, INR 10, and INR 20 packs, the launch will be supported by an extensive media plan across TV, digital, and print channels, featuring a high-impact TVC. Myntra Beauty, one of India's leading online beauty destinations, has launched its new campaign, "Discover the U in Beauty," featuring Bollywood actor and brand ambassador Anushka Sharma. This campaign champions curated beauty solutions, empowering individuals to find what truly works for them through Myntra Beauty's innovative technology-led tools and top-notch selection. The campaign encompasses two key films, one focusing on makeup and the other on skincare, both emphasizing the importance of choosing products that suit specific needs and preferences. The campaign highlights Myntra Beauty's commitment to simplifying the beauty discovery journey. Recognizing that beauty isn't one-size-fits-all, Myntra Beauty provides the resources and expertise to help customers navigate the vast world of beauty products and find their perfect match. Whether it's finding the right shade of foundation or science-backed product for specific skin concerns, Myntra Beauty offers a shopping experience fit for every individual. The first film focuses on makeup and addresses the common challenge of finding products that truly complement individual features. What's trending or looks great on someone might not be the best fit for everyone. Myntra Beauty helps users navigate this by offering a vast selection of 60k makeup products across 500+ brands, including a wide range of D2C brands, combined with the Virtual Try-On (VTO) tool. Powered by cutting-edge technology, Myntra's VTO tool offers a unique virtual beauty experience. With 30 trending looks for every occasionfrom parties to weddingsusers can effortlessly discover their perfect style, setting Myntra Beauty Beauty apart and simplifying the search for the perfect makeup products. The second film shifts the focus to skincare, emphasizing the importance of choosing products based on specific skin concerns. The film is a humorous montage of women in different settingsa college play greenroom, an aerial yoga class, a bustling cafeeach playfully highlighting their unique skincare woes. One woman in the greenroom declares her frizzy hair has "main character energy," while another, hanging upside down at yoga, laments that her skin "ghosts every moisturizer." In the cafe, a woman chuckles that her fine lines are "writing their own story." Just as with makeup, skincare doesnt have a universal solution, and these scenes underscore that point. Anushka then enters the scene, overhearing these playful complaints and introducing the women to Myntra Beauty. She explains that Myntra Beauty gets it, emphasizing Myntras curated recommendations. The women, intrigued, gather around as Anushka demonstrates the app. Myntra Beauty celebrates individual skin needs with a vibrant selection of 40k skincare products across 1000+ brands designed for a wide range of concerns. Also Read: Anushka Sharma unveils Myntra Beautys campaign Let your Beauty Shine Outreach marked a significant milestone by hosting the 25th edition of its #ORNKnowledge series, featuring a comprehensive full-day workshop at Vivanta Kathmandu. The event gathered over 50 enthusiastic brand marketers from Nepals top global and domestic brands. The session, titled "Uncomplicating Brand Strategy," was led by Shahriar Rahman and Nazia Hasnat from Bangladesh-based Strategy Central, renowned experts in brand consulting and strategy. Since its inception, the #ORNKnowledge platform, established by Outreach, has fostered a culture of learning, collaboration, and knowledge sharing among marketing and creative professionals. This milestone workshop focused on demystifying the complexities of branding and encouraged participants to return to the fundamental principles of brand strategy. Key Takeaways from the Workshop The workshop guided attendees through critical branding questions aimed at sparking creative and strategic insights: Who is the brand targeting? What are we really selling? Whats the brands personality? What is the extendible idea that captures the brands spirit? Participants, working in groups, presented innovative ideas to promote MOMO, a popular Nepali dish, incorporating creative twists and extendible branding concepts. Ujaya Shakya, Founder of Outreach, kicked off the session, underscoring the importance of revisiting branding fundamentals: #ORNKnowledge is a platform for sharing marketing best practices and insights. Todays workshop offers an opportunity to simplify complex branding ideas, with Shahriar and Nazias expertise sharpening our focus and preparing us for future campaigns." At the conclusion of the workshop, Shahriar Rahman expressed admiration for the participants' creativity and enthusiasm: This has been one of the most energetic and inventive groups Ive worked with. The ideas shared today show the vast potential of Nepals marketing talent. I look forward to contributing further to the growth of Nepals brand marketing ecosystem. India's urban transportation landscape is set for a significant transformation as leading urban mobility platform, Rapido, announces its ambitious 500-city expansion plan at the Bharat Mobility Expo 2025, starting from January 17th. The company's presence at the expo will showcase its commitment to connecting communities and fostering economic empowerment through accessible and convenient transportation solutions. Building on its current operations in over 120 cities and having facilitated over 200 crore rides, the expansion will roll out in phases. Beginning in February with Karnataka, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, and Rajasthan, the initiative will progressively extend affordable mobility options to new states, including Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and others. This strategic approach aims to cater to the diverse transportation needs of a rapidly developing Bharat. Captains on the platform have earned a total of 15,111 crore since inception, and the platform facilitates 3.6 million rides daily. "The Bharat Mobility Expo provides a vital platform to discuss the future of transportation in India," said Pavan Guntupalli, Co-founder, Rapido. "We're excited to share our vision and demonstrate how technology can create positive social and economic impact. With over 1.3 crore Captains earning over 15,000 crore rupees on the platform, our expansion to 500 cities is a testament to our commitment to empowering individuals and building a more connected India. We look forward to engaging with stakeholders at the expo and collaborating to shape a more accessible and sustainable future for urban mobility." The Bharat Mobility Expo serves as a critical forum for industry leaders, policymakers, and the public to discuss and shape the future of transportation. The company's participation underscores its dedication to innovation, accessibility, and its role in building a more mobile and connected India. Visitors to the stall can explore initiatives across our Bike, Auto, and Cab services. The company's focus on safety and customer experience will also be highlighted. These initiatives showcase the platform's contribution to creating over 1.8 million earning opportunities within the gig economy. The company's innovative technology, focused on enhancing customer experience and safety, will also be a key highlight. Bollywood actor Salman Khan announced an exciting partnership between his clothing brand, Being Human, and Marvel ahead of the much-anticipated release of Captain America: Brave New World on February 14. Get ready for something extraordinary, something heroic! ? @marvel_india joins forces with the first Avenger himself stay tuned with @beinghumanclothing for an epic journey ahead, the 59-year-old actor shared on Instagram. The post featured an image of Khan striking a pose with the iconic Captain America shield. The campaigns tagline, Unleash your inner hero. A brave new legacy is here, has already captured the imagination of fans. Social media buzzed with excitement as fans shared their enthusiasm. Bhaijaan X Captain America, one commenter wrote, while another added, We want to see Bhaijaan in Marvel movies! In the upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) installment, Anthony Mackie steps into the role of Captain America, succeeding Chris Evans Steve Rogers. Mackies Sam Wilson, now wielding the iconic vibranium shield, will face off against Red Hulk in this action-packed adventure. Chris Evans portrayed Steve Rogers across three Captain America films and four Avengers movies. At the conclusion of 2019s Avengers: Endgame, Rogers retired from his superhero duties, choosing to return to the past and live out his life with Peggy Carter (played by Hayley Atwell). Before leaving, he entrusted his shield to Wilson, ensuring that Captain Americas legacy would endure. The film also sees the return of familiar faces, including Danny Ramirez as Joaquin Torres, a former Air Force lieutenant, and Tim Blake Nelson as Samuel Sterns, also known as The Leader, last seen in 2008s The Incredible Hulk. Notable new cast members include Breaking Bad star Giancarlo Esposito as G.W. Bridge and Shira Haas as Ruth Bat-Seraph, a former Black Widow turned high-ranking U.S. government official. Directed by Julius Onah, Captain America: Brave New World is based on a screenplay crafted by Malcolm Spellman, Dalan Musson, and Matthew Orton. Fans worldwide eagerly await this thrilling new chapter in the MCU, made even more exciting by the Marvel-Being Human collaboration. Also Read: A.R. Murugadoss & Salman Khan's Sikandar: Top 5 Reasons to Watch Sonam Kapoor, who was recently announced as the ambassador for French luxury house Dior has now joined Oscar winning actresses Charlize Theron & Rosamund Pike along with Wimbledon champion & Olympic gold medallist Venus Williams for Diors first campaign of 2025 with Dior Capture. With this campaign in 2025, Dior reinvents Capture, its pioneering line which has been fighting the signs of aging for nearly 40 years, based on the most advanced scientific research. Dior Capture expresses all the strength of women around the world, whatever their backgrounds, their stories and their life choices. Through Dior's latest campaign - they aim to deliver the message of universal femininity, to draw strength from within the soul and reveal confidence. And because femininity is both powerful and multifaceted, Dior brings together inspiring and charismatic women from around the world including Sonam Kapoor, Charlize Theron, Glenn Close, Laetitia Casta, Rosamund Pike, Venus Williams and Xin Liu as the confident, daring new faces of Dior Capture femininity. Sonam features in a video and a series of pictures for the Dior Capture campaign. She said, Dior and I have shared a long-standing relationship and Ive always been drawn to how the brand blends its incredible legacy with the pulse of todays world. Its about being authentic and also evolving with todays times and Dior Capture is just that. Through extensive pioneering research, Dior has brought to life this unique serum with Diors floral science. Just how Dior Capture expresses the strength of women around the world - irrespective of their backgrounds, stories and life choices - I hope through this campaign, people embrace the best version of themselves - and draw strength from within to get the confidence they need. Conservative attorney reveals extent of 'bizarre targeting' by RINO Maricopa County attorney and state bar By Rachel Alexander web posted January 20, 2025 The State Bar of Arizona targeted conservative Arizona attorney Vladimir Gagic for tangling with RINO Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell, and as more details come out, the story is getting more bizarre. The feud started when Gagic, who was working as a contract public defender for Maricopa County, became convinced that one of his clients being prosecuted by the Maricopa County Attorney's Office (MCAO) for allegedly molesting a minor was innocent. But his efforts to establish his client's innocence were repeatedly thwarted by the office. The client, Jamaal Pennington, has appealed his conviction to the Arizona Supreme Court. The alleged minor victim, who is now an adult, came out and said Pennington never touched her. Gagic, a Marine with an unblemished record of over 20 years practicing law, was not even provided a hearing by the bar, and the results a one-year suspension were hidden from the public. He told me "that was done to shelter corrupt Maricopa County judges and bureaucrats from being exposed to the public." The bar has a lengthy history of targeting conservative attorneys, going back to a political witch hunt against popular conservative Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas in 2010, and now targeting Republican election attorneys. Many consider it the most corrupt state bar in the country. Gagic has been highly critical of Mitchell on X, which he believes sparked the retaliation. He started an account on X to expose the corruption, @ToxicVlad . He told me that Mitchell warned him he'd better stop the public criticism, or Pennington's prosecution would not be sent to integrity review for a second look. But things got really weird when Mitchell's fiance, Paul Stout, started trolling Gagic on X with burner accounts. Gagic told me that Stout mocked him repeatedly for being the victim of an aggravated assault, lied that he'd been caught plagiarizing in law school, had a criminal record and committed domestic violence against Mitchell. Gagic bashed Stout right back and outed him as being behind the accounts. Stout asked the court for a restraining order against Gagic, which was granted even though the two have never met, and even though X never took any action against Gagic, despite Stout reporting Gagic as many as 10 times. The hearing brought out an admission from Stout that he was behind the accounts. Gagic told me, "While Stout claimed he was not @ti1denkatz, he testified that he trolled me in July 2023, which is four months after he had deleted @azjaypaul in April 2023, proving Stout is @ti1denkatz." Stout admitted to the court, "It probably started at the end of 2023, and I had seen some very negative posts directed at Rachel Mitchell, my fiancee, and so I responded." The burner accounts also attacked former Sheriff Joe Arpaio and newly elected Congressman Abe Hamadeh not exactly the behavior of a conservative but something a RINO would do. Gagic said Mitchell asked the bar to discipline him last July due to his public criticism. Mitchell has also said she wants him disbarred. In August, Gagic said Mitchell got the FBI and Maricopa County Sheriff's Office to serve an injunction against him to stop him from using social media on the pretext he was harassing Stout, i.e., retaliation by proxy for criticizing Mitchell. Gagic requested public records from the incident, and after initially being told there weren't any, said he believes the deputies deliberately turned off their GPS "to hide what they are doing." When the office finally turned over public records, a body cam video showed one of the deputies practicing drawing his gun. Gagic said all three deputies are now under an Internal Affairs investigation. After obtaining public records about the incident, he discovered that Phoenix Police arrested him for a Class 6 felony. Gagic believes Mitchell urged the police to charge him, and records show she spoke with the assistant chief of police. However, he said the police reports stated that Stout "did not provide specific examples or elements of specific threats," he seemed "confused" and the section for drug use, which contained boxes for yes, no or unknown, was marked unknown. When a local journalist covering the story called Stout for comment, Stout reported him to the police. Phoenix New Times contributor Stephen Lemons began his article about the incident, "Hell hath no fury like Rachel Mitchell's fiance. Especially after a journalist calls him for a quote." Lemons obtained the police reports afterwards, and discovered that "the 63-year-old Stout complained that I had retweeted Gagic on X and then called Stout to ask for an interview." Lemons had reposted a response from Mitchell's conservative primary challenger, Gina Godbehere, replying to Gagic expressing her disgust that Stout posted a crude remark about her using a burner account. The @AZ1Patriot account apparently run by Stout had responded to a post by Godbehere wishing Happy Mother's Day, "So is your overly too tight shirt. #powerful" Lemons said the "conflict of interest" for Mitchell is "obvious." He said Stout's actions have "put Mitchell in the position of prosecuting Gagic or journalists on whom Stout sics the cops for making her fiance uncomfortable." Gagic has had difficulty getting justice due to Mitchell's cozy relationship with the power players in town. Law enforcement is overly accommodating to her since she is ostensibly a Republican. Until earlier this month, the sheriff was a moderate Democrat, so they aligned quite well. The bar and RINO judges love her since she's a Republican who acts like a Democrat. Lemons doesn't believe the bar will allow Gagic to practice law again. "His persistent criticism of the State Bar would make this a tall order," he predicted. "Mitchell has sought to make it insurmountable." Gagic told me he believes he's being disciplined for free speech and is the subject of "bizarre targeting" by Mitchell abusing the power of her office. Mitchell angered conservatives by representing the Maricopa County Supervisors asking for sanctions against Kari Lake and her lawyers for bringing election lawsuits. Rachel Alexander and her brother Andrew are co-Editors of Intellectual Conservative. She has been published in the American Spectator, Townhall.com, Fox News, NewsMax, Accuracy in Media, The Americano, ParcBench, Enter Stage Right and other publications. Home In a surprising turn of events, TikTok has resumed its services for U.S. users following a statement from President-elect Donald Trump, who announced at a rally that the short-video sharing app would be allowed back online after his inauguration. TikTok, which had been facing a potential shutdown due to national security concerns, credited Trumps intervention for the restoration of its services, thanking him for providing the necessary clarity and reassurance to its service providers. As of Sunday evening, users in the U.S. were able to access TikTok's website again, and for some, the app began returning online with limited functionality. The full functionality of the app has yet to be restored, and TikTok is still unavailable for download on U.S. app stores. Despite this, the platform expressed confidence that services would fully return as negotiations with its service providers continue. "In agreement with our service providers, TikTok is in the process of restoring service," the company stated. The message also emphasized the significance of TikTok to the U.S. economy, pointing out that the platform supports over 7 million small businesses in the country. The abrupt shutdown of TikTok on Saturday had been triggered by a U.S. law set to take effect on Sunday, aimed at restricting the app due to concerns over data security under its Chinese parent company, ByteDance. U.S. officials have warned that TikTok could be misusing Americans' personal data for the Chinese government, fueling tensions between the U.S. and China. In a major policy reversal, Trump, who had previously sought to ban TikTok during his first term, signaled that he would allow the app to continue operating if a solution was reached. Trump proposed a joint venture that would give the U.S. a 50% stake in TikTok's U.S. operations, aiming to protect national security while preserving the platforms presence in America. The move has drawn mixed reactions within the Republican Party. Some senators have argued that the law prohibiting TikToks operation should be enforced as written, requiring ByteDance to sell the app to a U.S. company to meet national security requirements. Others have supported Trumps plan to bypass the law and find a workaround to keep the app accessible to the millions of American users who rely on it. TikToks return to the U.S. market follows a tumultuous period of uncertainty for the platform, which boasts over 170 million users in the country. The app's importance as a marketing tool for businesses, as well as its significant influence among Gen Z, has only increased over time, making its potential shutdown a source of concern for many. The ongoing situation has prompted heightened interest in TikToks future in the U.S., with discussions of a potential sale or partnership ongoing. Among those reportedly exploring options are former Los Angeles Dodgers owner Frank McCourt and Tesla CEO Elon Musk, both of whom have been in talks regarding a potential deal to ensure TikToks continued operation in the U.S. As TikTok continues to restore its services, both users and businesses eagerly await further updates on its future in the U.S. and the implications of Trumps involvement in bringing the platform back online. Also Read: HT Media brings on board Tiktok's Sameer Singh as Group CEO A second suspect has been taken into custody in the November killing of a man who was targeted for robbery, followed home and then shot. Jaquon Houston, 21, is charged with murder and two counts of robbery in the Nov. 22, 2024, slaying of 33-year-old Marcelino Hernandez. Houston was taken into custody on Friday, Montgomery police announced today. He is being held without bond in the Montgomery County Detention Facility. Previously charged was 19-year-old JaKyeri Kaleil McCovery. Hernandez and two other men were in line at the Raceway gas station on Troy Highway that Friday when, police say, the suspects targeted them for robbery. Houston and McCovery are accused of following them back to their homes. When they attempted to flee to safety inside their home, charging documents say, the suspects pointed a gun at them and demanded their valuables. Hernandez was fatally shot when he refused. Both men are also charged with robbery for the holdup of Hernandezs two friends. Allen Media Broadcasting, which operates 27 broadcast television stations in 21 U.S. markets, has announced plans to begin using local weather coverage powered by The Weather Channel across local markets nationwide. Will that mean layoffs for the meteorologists at those stations, including two in Huntsville and Montgomery? At least one media report states the move will lead to nearly 100 layoffs at local news stations around the country. See also: Spann says Allen Media move signals future of Ron Burgundy newscast For now I am still at the station but I am looking for my next career opportunity, Amber Kulick of WAAY in Huntsville posted on Facebook. I know my management team has done everything they can to make this better but this is at a corporate level so please dont bad mouth WAAY on this post. Ill land on my feet I always do, added Kulick, who said she hopes to continue working in the Huntsville area. Allen Media, which also operates WCOV in Montgomery, said it plans to roll out the innovative partnership based at The Weather Channels Atlanta headquarters sometime this year. Severe weather coverage remains a top priority, and the new format will dramatically improve reporting capabilities, especially in high-stakes weather situations. This initiative aims to transform the way local weather is reported -- ensuring the most accurate, timely, and engaging forecasts for communities across the country, a press release from Allen Media Broadcasting stated. Allen Media Group, who owns and operates 22 local "big 4" television stations across the US, and also coincidentally, The Weather Channel, has decided to cut costs by eliminating the jobs of every local meteorologist at all of their stations. all of them. a Jseph Patton (@JosephPattonWx) January 18, 2025 ABC 33/40s James Spann weighed in on the news, which did not affect him directly as his station is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group. I hate that so many colleagues are involved in this, but at the same time I am excited about our future. All businesses change, and ours is no exception. I have on this horse for 47 years, and it has been a great ride. But media consumption is radically different now, and we have to change how our products and services reach you, Spann posted on Facebook. Yes, there will be short term pain, but there will be long term gain, Spann added. The news has caused some concern about the stations losing the ability to get critical weather information out to local audiences. Local meteorologists on TV are a trusted face, not only because they know their science, but also because theyre a member of that community, Zach Stanford, a former state coordinator for crisis information and disaster intelligence for the Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management, told NPR. The community component has to be thought through to make sure that that critical service is not lost. A change.org petition with more than 31,000 signatures was started in Tupelo, Miss. to stop layoffs at WTVA. Removal of our local meteorological team means losing the trust and confidence built over the years, and replacing them with outsourced teams who may not fully understand the unique weather patterns in our locality. In times of severe weather, immediate and accurate information is not a luxuryits a necessity, the petition states. President Donald Trump will be sworn into office Monday, becoming only the second person to hold the office for two non-consecutive terms. Trump will take the oath of office around 11:30 a.m. ET (10:30 a.m. CT) Monday, Jan. 20, roughly four years after leaving Washington, D.C. after he lost the White House to Democrat Joe Biden. Trump the 45th and soon-to-be 47th president follows the only other non-consecutive president, Grover Cleveland, who served as the 22nd president after winning the White House in 1884 and again in 1892. The theme for the 60th Inaugural Ceremonies is Our Enduring Democracy: A Constitutional Promise. This years chair is Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minnesota. Heres the schedule: According to the Associated Press, Trump will start the day by attending services at St. Johns Episcopal Church, a tradition for presidents-elect. He and incoming first lady Melania Trump will then meet with President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden at the White House. Because of the cold temperatures, the swearing-in ceremonies will be held inside the U.S. Capitol Rotunda and not on the West Front of the U.S. Capitol. The weather forecast for Washington, D.C., with the wind chill factor, could take temperatures into severe record lows. There is an Arctic blast sweeping the Country, Trump wrote on Truth Social. I dont want to see people hurt, or injured, in any way. It is dangerous conditions for the tens of thousands of Law Enforcement, First Responders, Police K9s and even horses, and hundreds of thousands of supporters that will be outside for many hours on the 20th. Previous presidents, including Ronald Reagan in 1985, have used the Rotunda for their swearing-ins due to weather. Around noon ET (11 a.m. CT) an invocation will be offered by Timothy Cardinal Dolan, archbishop of New York, and the Rev. Franklin Graham. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh will administer the Oath of Office to incoming vice president JD Vance. He will repeat the oath of office given to the VP, Senators, Representatives and other government officials since 1884: I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter: So help me God. Country star Carrie Underwood will then sing America the Beautiful, accompanied by the Armed Forces Chorus and U.S. Navy Academy Glee Club. U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts will then administer the oath of office to Trump. I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States. The Naval Academy Glee Club will perform The Battle Hymn of the Republic, followed by Trumps inaugural address and the benediction. You can see a full list of inaugural day performers here. Other events of the day include an inaugural luncheon, a presidential parade moved to the Capitol One Arena due to the weather, and several inaugural balls. Trump is expected to make remarks at the Commander in Chief Ball, Liberty Inaugural Ball and the Starlight Ball. Just moments before leaving office, President Joe Biden commuted the life sentence of Indigenous activist Leonard Peltier, who was convicted in the 1975 killings of two FBI agents. Peltier was denied parole as recently as July and wasnt eligible for parole again until 2026. He was serving life in prison for the deaths of the agents during a standoff on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. He will transition to home confinement, Biden said in a statement. Biden has set the presidential record for most individual pardons and commutations issued. He announced on Friday that he was commuting the sentences of almost 2,500 people convicted of nonviolent drug offenses. He also gave a broad pardon for his son Hunter, who was prosecuted for gun and tax crimes. On Monday, Biden also pardoned Gerald Lundergan, a Democratic politician from Kentucky who served in the state House of Representatives. He was convicted of illegal campaign contributions to his daughters failed U.S. Senate campaign. Ernest William Cromartie, a former Columbia, South Carolina, city council member who was convicted of tax evasion, also was pardoned. The fight for Peltiers freedom is entangled with the Indigenous rights movements. Nearly half a century later, his name remains a rallying cry. An enrolled member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa in North Dakota, Peltier was active in the American Indian Movement, which began in the 1960s as a local organization in Minneapolis that grappled with issues of police brutality and discrimination against Native Americans. It quickly became a national force. The movement grabbed headlines in 1973 when it took over the village of Wounded Knee on the Pine Ridge reservation, leading to a 71-day standoff with federal agents. Tensions between the movement and the government remained high for years. On June 26, 1975, agents went to Pine Ridge to serve arrest warrants amid battles over Native treaty rights and self-determination. After being injured in a shootout, agents Jack Coler and Ronald Williams were shot in the head at close range, the FBI has said. Also killed in the shootout was American By Jeff Martin and Jeffrey Collins | Associated Press A massive 70-member choir belted out Hallelujah at a Martin Luther King Jr. Day service Monday at his former congregation in Atlanta, followed by a stern message from his youngest daughter warning against anti-woke rhetoric. The service at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta was among the most prominent commemorations of King that played out across the country Monday. At the front of the churchs stage, seven people held large signs proclaiming JUSTICE, FREEDOM and DEMOCRACY. We are living in a time when anti-woke rhetoric has become a weapon to divide us and distract us from the real issues of injustice, Kings daughter, the Rev. Bernice King, said. To be woke is to be aware of oppression and commitment to justice. The MLK holiday was half of the nations double-duty Monday: the inauguration of Donald Trump, who heads back to the White House, created mixed feelings on Kings day for civil rights leaders who have opposed Trumps rhetoric and stances on race and civil rights. The keynote speaker at Ebenezer then made a reference to Trump, saying he had heard that somebody had won a mandate. I dont care who you are, if you win 60% of the vote, you never win a mandate to violate justice, said Bishop William Barber II, co-chair of the Poor Peoples Campaign. You never win a mandate to hurt people. But in Washington, in a speech after taking the oath of office, Trump noted the significance of the King holiday. In his honor, we will strive together to make his dream a reality, Trump said. Ebenezer is where King was baptized as a child and ordained at 19 years old. He became the congregations co-pastor in 1960 alongside his father, Rev. Martin Luther King Sr. He remained in that role until his death, and his funeral was held at the church. The church is now part of the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historical Park & Preservation District. Monday marks the third time in the nearly 40 years since the federal King holiday became law that it coincides with a presidential inauguration. Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama also were sworn in for their second terms on the holiday. MLK Day lands on the third Monday of January close to Kings Jan. 15 birthday. King himself worried the legal protections he dedicated his life to realizing would not be followed by greater anti-discrimination efforts or social programs. The celebrated Black civil rights leader proposed it would take white Americans embracing a deeper kinship with Black Americans and engaging in economic and social solidarity to see change. There was a heavy security presence outside the Atlanta church, where more than two dozen police officers from across metro Atlanta stood guard with all-terrain vehicles, police motorcycles and suburban utility vehicles. Streets in the immediate vicinity of the historic church were blocked to vehicle traffic. Lonnie J. Edwards of Stone Mountain, Georgia, has been attending the annual service for 15 to 20 years. He always finds it refreshing that the movement King led is still alive, and he said he enjoys sharing the kind of philosophy and the image that Dr. King had not just for Atlanta but for America. Liccy Arias, 21, a recent Geogia State Univeristy alumnus, was among a large group of Georgia State students and faculty members at the Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change. Her visit was part of the day of service the Atlanta-based school has on the holiday. Helping out makes my heart very, very full, she said. In frigid Columbia, South Carolina, an MLK Day rally at the Statehouse entered its 25th year, featuring a smaller crowd, and some trepidation mixed in about the change of power occurring in Washington. The South Carolina event started in 2000 when tens of thousands poured in to demand the Confederate flag be taken down from the Capitol dome. In 2013, the rally paused so thousands on hand could watch Obama, the nations first Black president, take the oath of office for a second time on big screens. On Monday, there was no mention of the 2025 inauguration. College student Michael Parker thought about how King endured through all kinds of racism and hate, confident he would make the world a better place. That was the attitude he was taking Monday. Theres still work to be done, Parker said. Progress hasnt gone steady through the generations. We need to keep working on Dr. Kings dream. King was shot in Memphis, Tennessee, while standing on the balcony of the old Lorraine Motel on April 4, 1968. The civil rights leader had been in the city to support a sanitation workers' strike. The motel has been turned into the National Civil Rights Museum, which was providing free admission and offering extended hours to visitors Monday. The museum also scheduled musical performances, food and blood donation drives, and a livestreamed presentation that will explore Kings leadership and his relevance to present day social justice movements. ___ Collins reported from Columbia, South Carolina. Adrian Sainz contributed from Memphis, Tennessee; Jonathan Mattise, from Nashville, Tennessee; and Bruce Shipkowski, from Toms River, New Jersey. Number one in your lifes blueprint should be a deep belief in your own dignity, your worth and your own somebodiness. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., in What is Your Lifes Blueprint? speech Hard to believe its been three years. Disheartening that its been three years. Downright shameful its been that long. Another three years of inexcusable and unexplainable insanity. Another three years of unfathomable grief. Of unmitigated and justifiable anger. Three years and were still shooting and killing each other, Black people. Shooting and killing each other in our homes, in our cars, and on our streets. Shooting and killing each other as if our lives dont matter. Three years ago, on this national holiday celebrating the birth of Dr. Martin Luther King, I wrote a column with the headline: Black folks, we must honor Dr. King this way: Stop killing each other. Especially our children. Just days earlier, 16-year-old Yasmine Wright was killed in Birmingham by a bullet intended for someone else as she rode home from work with her great aunt. One day prior, 18-year-old DeUndray Nakil Haggard was killed by gunfire by someone he met outside an apartment. The week before, 18-year-old Jireh Portis was killed, and her ex-boyfriend, 22-year-old Dayvon Bray, has since pleaded guilty to murder. (He also pleaded guilty to manslaughter in another shooting.) All the while our hearts ached for Aniah Blanchard and Kamille Cupcake McKinney. They still do. Heres an excerpt from that column: Today, as we do each January, we should do all of us well honor the life, legacy and sacrifice of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Well re-read his salient quotes, most of which are as relevant today, sadly, as they were last century. Well hold hands, too, and sing, We Shall Overcome. Some day. Well do all those things, as we should. All of us. Black folks, we must do more. On this day and beyond, we must honor Dr. King in the way that matters most right now. We must stop killing each other. Just. Stop. We didnt. Not even close. In the three bloody, deadly years since that column was published thereve been 532 homicides in Birmingham. Among them the well-chronicled and widely mourned 151 homicide deaths last year, the most in a year in the city since 1933. Not all of them, of course, were perpetrated by African Americans. But in a city that is 70 percent Black as I wrote in 2022 the hard truth is so many of them were. Too many of them. Just as there have been far too many Black perpetrators and victims in Jefferson County, Montgomery and other Alabama cities since then. In 2022, 2,526 children died by gunfire in the U.S., the third straight year guns were the leading cause of death among American youth, according to the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Last year in Birmingham, 10 children were among the killed: Aston Starkey, 13; Markell Sanders, 15; Prentice Lovell Little, 15; Cornelia Rose Lathan, 15; Jaylin Lee Jenkins, 16; Alexis Elizabeth Wise, 16; Jaquavius James Weston, 18; and Jonathan ODell Thomas Jr., 18; and 5-year-old Landyn Brooks. So, today, as we once again celebrate Kings life and sacrifice, my message, sadly, is the same though laced with more urgency, more bewilderment, and a lot more fire: Why the hell are we still doing this?! Why are we still shooting and killing each other? Over dice games, petty beefs and jealousy. Why are we killing our own dreams? Killing dreams our mothers, fathers and grandparents birthed and nurtured for us. Dreams they poured into us. Dreams counted on us to grow. Killing every victims dreams. Killing their families dreams. Killing the dreams of the children they left behind. Killing Kings dream. How we got here was infinitely longer in the making than just three years, and its whys are conflated with more factors than should cloud this day. Like poverty and redlining, like disappearing manufacturing jobs and underfunded schools, like a criminal justice system that ripped generations of Black men from their homes for offenses that wouldnt merit a citation today, a system that now keeps some there as forced labor when theyve been deemed safe enough to work outside prison walls but not live outside those walls. Earlier this month, an august group of Birmingham leaders published a comprehensive 66-page game plan for addressing gun violence in the city. In the coming weeks my AL.com colleagues and I will digest and dissect its findings, dig deeper into its recommendations, and hold city leaders accountable for its quick funding and implementation. Accountable for its bold aim to make Birmingham the safest city in America. Ive read through the recommendations and will have much more to say about them. Its not likely any of them, though, can remold the mindset of someone who doesnt value themselves enough to dream. Or refrain from pulling a trigger that steals someone elses dream. On Oct. 26, 1967, Dr. King spoke to students at Barrett Junior High School in Philadelphia. (He was in the city for a rally hosted by the Southern Christian Leadership Conference featuring Harry Belafonte, Aretha Franklin, Marlon Brando, Sidney Poitier, Joan Baez and others.) By then four years after his most famous speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial King had moved from dreaming to devising strategies for Black workers to gain higher wages and dignity in their jobs. That dignity, he charged in numerous speeches during that period, began from within. The talk at the school, which no longer exists, lasted about 20 minutes. It was titled, What is Your Lifes Blueprint? In it, King said: Dont allow anybody to make you feel that you are nobody. Always feel that you count. Always feel like you have worth. Worth enough to live. Worth enough to dream. Worth enough to stop shooting and killing us. Six months later, King was killed by an assassins bullet as he stood on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. READ full text of Kings remarks here. Lets be better tomorrow than we are today. My column appears on AL.com, and digital editions of The Birmingham News, Huntsville Times, and Mobile Press-Register. Tell me what you think at rjohnson@al.com, and follow me at twitter.com/roysj, Instagram @roysj and BlueSky. The National Weather Service said a significant winter storm is becoming increasingly likely on Tuesday for south Alabama, and winter storm warnings have been issued for the region. The weather service also raised the amount of snow that parts of south Alabama -- even coastal Alabama -- could receive. Our snowboard is ready to go for tomorrow's potentially historic snowstorm along the Gulf Coast (and so are our rubber chickens)! Do you know how to measure and report snow? Check out our handy tips on this fact sheet: https://t.co/pVO0inYqWP. #WinterSafety pic.twitter.com/nFZ00qpxEv NWS Mobile (@NWSMobile) January 20, 2025 Snow is the most likely in south Alabama, and areas in north and north-central Alabama will likely miss out on this storm. However, the weather service warned that arctic air in place will hang around for several days and keep temperatures well below average. 30 1 / 30 Alabama snow January 2024 South Alabama is looking at the possibility of its most snowfall since 2017. Here are the main points from the National Weather Service in Mobile as of Monday evening specifically for south Alabama: * There have been adjustments to the snow totals to bring higher totals all the way to the coast. There will likely be a tight gradient in snow totals across the northern half of the area. * Major impacts are expected across the entire area, even across locations that receive minor accumulations. * The precipitation is expected to be mostly snow. * Patchy light snow may start by 6 a.m. across southwest Alabama and as early as 9 a.m. further east across south central Alabama. The heaviest accumulations are expected late morning through the afternoon. * Temperatures will drop into the teens and low 20s Tuesday night through Wednesday morning, and highs Wednesday will only reach the mid- to upper 30s, so it is likely snow/ice on roads and bridges will still be a concern for Wednesday night/Thursday morning. * Two to 4 inches of snow will be possible across parts of south Alabama starting Tuesday morning and lasting through the day and into Wednesday morning. The weather service cautioned that it wont take a lot of snow to make travel very difficult because of very cold temperatures already in place. Road conditions will quickly deteriorate Tuesday with the onset of snow. Minimize or avoid driving! Travel necessary? Keep an emergency kit in your vehicle. Let someone know your destination, route, & expected arrival. If you get stuck, help can be sent to your route! pic.twitter.com/qQFfsmQw5Q NWS Mobile (@NWSMobile) January 20, 2025 Here are the Alabama counties under winter storm warnings, which will go into effect on Tuesday: SOUTHWEST ALABAMA A Winter Storm WARNING is in effect for the entire area from 6 AM Tuesday through 6 AM Wednesday. Regardless of specific snow totals, moderate to major impacts are expected. Bitter cold has settled into the area and will persist through the latter half of the week. pic.twitter.com/H8xJxalyxP NWS Mobile (@NWSMobile) January 20, 2025 Winter storm warning from 6 a.m. Tuesday until 6 a.m. Wednesday for Choctaw, Washington, Clarke, Wilcox, Monroe, Conecuh, Butler, Crenshaw, Escambia, Covington, Mobile and Baldwin counties. The weather service in Mobile said accumulating snow is expected and could be heavy at times. Total snow accumulations between 1 and 3 inches are possible, although locally higher amounts of up to 5 inches cannot be ruled out over the southern portion of the area. SOUTHEAST ALABAMA TAE updates Winter Storm Watch (issues upgrade to 57 zones, issues 57 zones) https://t.co/i1vk5HsjZS pic.twitter.com/JZAVnSAP2b IEMBot TAE (@iembot_tae) January 20, 2025 Winter storm warning from noon Tuesday until 6 a.m. CST Wednesday for Coffee, Dale, Geneva, Henry and Houston counties. The weather service in Tallahassee said total snow and sleet accumulations up to 2 inches and ice accumulations around one tenth of an inch will be possible. CENTRAL ALABAMA Timing Tuesday: Most of the activity will move southwest to northeast, moving over the same areas, which is why the time listed is long for each area. Impacts will continue well beyond the end times in each area, as temperatures drop below freezing in the evening. pic.twitter.com/hFlMRmQNHN NWS Birmingham (@NWSBirmingham) January 20, 2025 Winter storm warning from 6 a.m. Tuesday to 6 a.m. Wednesday for Lee, Lowndes, Montgomery, Macon, Bullock, Russell, Pike and Barbour counties. The weather service in Birmingham said total snow accumulations up to 2 inches will be possible. Winter weather advisory from 6 a.m.Tuesday until 6 a.m. Wednesday for Marengo, Dallas, Clay, Randolph, Sumter, Greene, Hale, Perry, Bibb, Chilton, Coosa, Tallapoosa, Chambers, Autauga and Elmore counties. The weather service said total snow accumulations of 1 inch will be possible. Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey has declared a state of emergency for 39 counties ahead of severe winter weather and snow in central and coastal Alabama. Alabama, once again, is faced with the potential for winter weather, but this time, for the southern half of the state, Ivey said in a news release announcing the proclamation. We are anticipating potentially dangerous and uncertain driving conditions in the impacted portions of the state, so I am urging Alabamians to err on the side of caution and limit their travel. Make any necessary preparations now, stay tuned in to your weather forecasts and stay warm. A significant winter storm is expected to hit the state tomorrow, bringing snow to south Alabama and beyond. For most of the state, bitter cold has already set in and will continue for much of the week before warming up over the weekend. The Alabama National Guard will be activated as part of the state of emergency, and state government offices may close at Iveys direction. A number of school systems have already announced closures ahead of the winter weather. A list of school closings and delays is being updated by AL.com. State of emergencies last 60 days under Alabama law, but the order may be terminated earlier by written proclamation. The state of emergency takes effect at 5 p.m. today, for the following counties: Prosecute Michael Byrd for killing Ashli Babbitt By Mark Alexander web posted January 30, 2025 "Well, you know, the only one that was killed was a beautiful young lady named Ashli Babbitt ... shot for no reason whatsoever." Donald Trump last week Just before Christmas, when most of the Leftmedia talkingheads and scribes were bloviating about the possibility that Donald Trump would issue pardons to nonviolent January 6 protesters, Joe Biden issued a record list of 65 pardons and 1,634 clemencies for some very violent criminals. Biden has now pardoned or granted clemency to more than 8,000 criminals, far more than any president in U.S. history. For context, Trump issued a total of 237 pardons and clemencies in his first term. Biden's pardons came on the heels of his disgraceful pardon of Hunter Biden, despite his assurances that he would never do so. Of course, Biden will be most remembered for his endless list of lies over the course of his entire life on the taxpayer dole. The big pardon and clemency giveaway was much like his last-minute presidential medals extravaganza. He awarded trophies mostly to his disreputable political benefactors. So, what will Trump do with the convictions of nonviolent January 6, 2021, protesters in Washington? More than 1,400 people were charged with federal crimes associated with that protest, most with nonviolent offenses like trespassing. Over 900 people have been convicted. Amid tens of thousands of rally participants outside on the Capitol grounds, there were an estimated 50-75 offenders who committed violence or damaged the Capitol building. For the record, I have ZERO sympathy for any of those violent offenders. But the Democrats, with the help of their Leftmedia publicists, cast all those present at the Capitol building as "violent insurrectionists." They were not, but I would add here that entering the building that day amid all the protests constituted an act of idiocy. Democrats have spent the last four years blaming Trump and all his "deplorables" across the nation for the actions of the jackasses who were violent. That narrative fueled Nancy Pelosi's histrionic "insurrection" inquisition. Predictably, responding to the prospect that Trump might now issue some pardons, Demo Senate Leader Chuck Schumer protested: "To those who used violence and intimidation to threaten our government, to hurt our government, and particularly to those who threatened police officers pardoning them would set a terrible example for the future in America and for the world that it was okay, that it was forgivable to do this." Of course, Trump never said he was going to pardon "those who used violence" or "those who threatened police," unlike those violent offenders who were gifted Biden's latest pardons and clemencies. What Trump did say is, "A vast majority should not be in jail," and he is correct. As for when he will issue pardons, he says: "Most likely, I'll do it very quickly. Those people have suffered long and hard." With less than a week until Trump's inauguration, JD Vance addressed the leftist canard that Trump would pardon "those who used violence." He made this clear: "Look, if you protested peacefully on January the 6th, and you've had Merrick Garland's Department of Justice treat you like a gang member, you should be pardoned. If you committed violence on that day, obviously, you shouldn't be pardoned." In any case, it is not my purpose with this column to argue the merits of pardons and clemencies; it's to argue for the prosecution of a police officer. Having begun my career as a uniformed patrol officer, I do not suggest such prosecution lightly. On January 6th, only one person was deliberately killed. Lt. Michael Byrd, a demonstrably incompetent black Capitol Police officer, shot Ashli Babbitt, a white, five-foot two-inch, 110-pound, 35-year-old woman and Air Force Veteran from California. Babbitt foolishly attempted to climb through a broken window within the Speaker's Lobby leading to a hallway where some members of the House had taken refuge. No, despite months of Demo and Leftmedia claims to the contrary, Officer Brian Sicknick was not killed by protesters. But Babbitt was, by any objective account, unjustifiably shot and killed by Byrd. For context, I have written at length about the race-bait games Demos play when a white police officer shoots a black assailant. Imagine the scale of protests if this had been a white officer who shot and killed an unarmed black, 110-pound female veteran who was a Biden constituent. Actually, you don't have to strain your imagination... (Stay with me on this because it's relevant to the Babbitt/Byrd case.) Consider the death of George Floyd, the 46-year-old violent career criminal and perennial drug offender who died while being arrested and detained on the ground by police in the Democrat Party protectorate of Minneapolis. I argued at the time that the actions of white Officer Derek Chauvin may have been a negligent contributing factor in Floyd's death, but notably, the ranking officer on the scene that day was a black female. Predictably, Demos invoked their race-bait narrative to immediately convict Chauvin for the "murder" of Floyd. However, Floyd's autopsy led medical examiner Dr. Andrew Baker to conclude his blood contained a "fatal level of fentanyl." That, combined with a less-than-lethal dose of methamphetamine in his system, and a history of congestive heart failure, caused Floyd's lungs to fill with fluid which is why he could not breathe. Furthermore, Baker's autopsy memorandum also revealed "no physical evidence suggesting that Mr. Floyd died of asphyxiation" and no "signs of petechiae, damage to his airways or thyroid, brain bleeding, bone injuries, or internal bruising." He also noted that the fentanyl overdose "can cause pulmonary edema," a fluid buildup in the lungs making it difficult to breathe, which is to say the "I Can't Breathe" mantra had little to do with being held on the ground. Recall that Pelosi and Schumer, in a theatrical political charade, kneeled for George Floyd in the Capitol rotunda, using his death as a prop in order to ignite and choreograph their constituents' violent "summer of rage" riots ahead of the 2020 election. Demos insisted that our justice system was infested with "systemic racism." That was a lie. They supported their Black Lives Matter and antifa fascist thug violence nationwide while vilifying law enforcement officers. Across the nation, the mayors of Demo-controlled urban centers enacted measures to release criminals while simultaneously defunding the police. Despite the autopsy evidence, Officer Chauvin was later (wrongfully, in my opinion) convicted of murdering Floyd. So, what does the Floyd/Chauvin case have to do with the Babbitt/Byrd case? The connection is the hypocritical proliferation of two-tiered justice over the last five years, one tier for tens of thousands of Demo rioters and another for the J6 protesters. All told, there were more than 500 Demo-supported riots nationwide in the seven months before the J6 Capitol protest, resulting in dozens of murders including two police officers, billions in urban business and government building damage, and thousands of violent police and citizen assaults. But most of the Demo offenders were bailed out with charges dropped, including almost all the protesters arrested in Washington, DC. And notably, the Demos' "summer of rage" unleashed a surge of violence nationwide that has yet to subside. Chauvin is serving a 22.5-year prison sentence, while Byrd remains free of any charges or public review for killing Ashli Babbitt. There is mounting evidence to exonerate Chauvin, particularly as outlined in an independent documentary about the case. He has barely survived attempts on his life by black inmates. And last week, Minneapolis cops took a stand for Chauvin, signing sworn declarations that MPD Assistant Chief Katie Blackwell perjured herself when testifying against Chauvin at his murder trial. But the DoJ is attempting to block Chauvin's appeal. Conversely, unlike all other officer-involved shootings and deaths, there has been no public information released about the investigation of Babbitt's shooting. Lt. Michael Byrd remains at large and protected by Demos as some kind of hero. They have prevented any public investigation into this case despite the evidence that the shooting of Babbitt was arguably unjustifiable. The DoJ closed its investigation into the shooting of Babbitt, as did the DC Metro Police, the primary agency conducting the Byrd officer-involved shooting review with no standard interview of Byrd. Byrd, who claims he shot Babbitt out of fear, has been cleared of any charges. Cleared, even though there are graphic videos of the shooting that show the circumstances from Babbitt's side of the door before and after she was killed. What's evident from those videos and from reports of those present is that within feet of Babbitt, there were four uniformed officers, at least four additional heavily armed riot police, and one or more plain-clothed officers none of whom made an effort to prevent her attempt to climb through the broken window of the door before she was shot and killed. Again, there is no apparent justification for Officer Byrd's use of deadly force, and it was fortunate that none of the other officers immediately behind Babbitt were injured by his reckless actions. If Ashli Babbitt's death matters, and if fair and impartial justice matters, it is time for a full review of the whitewash of the Babbitt/Byrd case and full consideration given for the prosecution of her killer. Perhaps the same day Trump pardons nonviolent J6 protesters, he will call on Congress to investigate Ashli's death. Mark Alexander is the executive editor of the Patriot Post. This is an opinion column. Alabama Gov. James Big Jim Folsom once beckoned crowds to his inaugural festivities with a hearty two-word invitation. Yall come! In contrast, President Donald Trump is more selective and he saves the open invitations for when hes being pushed out of office. On Monday, Trump will take the oath of office again, this time beneath the capitol rotunda after a winter storm pushed the ceremony indoors. Seating will be limited. Pay close attention to who gets past the velvet ropes. Pay closer attention later to who dances at the balls. And then pay the most attention to who picks up the check. Because something is happening in Washington, D.C., this week. Not just a new presidential administration, but a new elite is taking charge of America with a new attitude a billionaire class who are sick of making concessions for people who push back at them. In Alabama, Folsom once called such special interests the Big Mules, and the name stuck. And this week, a new group of elites, very much like them only bigger, and much more powerful are pulling their wagons into Washington. The Irony of the elites Thirty years ago, a political science professor assigned my PS 101 class a textbook the Irony of Democracy. The book was a primer on elite political theory. I hated it. The authors argued that there was a class of people in this country who owned everything, who controlled everything, and who called the shots, especially for what happened in government. Everyone else, the authors categorized as masses folks who were along for the ride but not allowed near the steering wheel. The irony, the authors argued, was that it was the elites, not the masses, who upheld democratic values. And they brought their research to back them up. For instance, when you survey whether people support freedom of speech, nearly everyone says, Of course! But ask whether flag burning should be legal, and the two groups diverge masses behind the flag and elites behind civil liberties. The irony of democracy, they said, was that the folks who stood to benefit the least from democracy and personal liberty were the ones protecting it. To me then, the idea seemed icky and un-American. But in the years after, Ive come to realize something else. The elites might be on the masses side in America, but thats not how things worked in Alabama. In Alabama, we had the Big Mules. The Big Mules Folsom named the mules Big Mules in the 1940s, but their hold on power in Alabama began with the end of Reconstruction. When plantation owners and transplant industrialists in Birmingham got tired of funding public education, they came together to wrest control from poor white farmers and recently freed Black people. When those folks went into revolt, the Mules struck a bargain: A new class system that privileged white commoners over the recently freed Black citizens. In short, they said: We wont treat you like one of us, but we wont treat you like one of them. Sign up to get Kyle Whitmire's newsletter Alabamafication delivered to your inbox for free. This contract is at the heart of what many outside of Alabama think of when they consider the state Jim Crow, school segregation, voter disenfranchisement, and the preservation of a working underclass. The Big Mules hard-coded their political bargain into the states cumbersome, longest-in-the-world, racist 1901 Constitution, Alabamas foundational document which still holds the state back to this day. In Alabama, it wasnt elites who fought for liberty, due process or the right to vote. It wasnt the states business interests pushing to open access to adequately funded education. It was civil rights protestors and organizers, their attorneys, federal judges and on occasion a federalized National Guard. The Mules largely ignored, downplayed or actively resisted such efforts. Cotton plantations and Birmingham steel mills might be a force of the past, but utility companies, corporate farmers and the timber industry quickly picked up where the old guard left off. Little happens in Montgomery without their approval, which those special interests are stingy to give. The bargain poisons Alabama to this day. Putting the special in interest A reasonable question to ask when the word elite comes up is who exactly are we talking about? The only time elite is a positive description anymore is when its applied to athletes. In Alabama and now the American parlance, the term is a pejorative for college professors, scientists, journalists, bureaucrats and various credentialed experts who have the rotten job of telling people what they dont want to hear. George Wallace preferred pointy-headed intellectuals. As though any of those folks ever had power. If they ever did, they lost it a long time ago. Who wields power? A new class of business titans, the likes of which we havent seen since railroads were a new thing. Of course, rich people having access to power is nothing new in politics, but Elon Musk having a desk in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building is something we havent seen before. At last count, Trump had named 13 billionaires to serve in his administration. It might have been the case once that elites upheld classical liberal democratic values in America, but today the new irony of the elites is that they dont recognize themselves as elites. Appearing on the Joe Rogan podcast, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg called for a repopulation of the cultural elites but didnt seem to be talking about himself. Likewise, Musk frequently rants against elites, despite being richer than every other person on the planet and owning his own social media company. In this context, elites has more to do with DEI, Covid pandemic protocols deployed under the Trump Administration that Joe Biden somehow gets blamed for, and also, queer people. You know them. And thats the thing we must pay the most attention to. That bargain the Big Mules made 150 years ago, to appease and swindle the Alabama dirt farmers something very much like it is happening again. We wont treat you like one of us, but we wont treat you like one of them. Theyll loosen the algorithms so you can say mean hateful things about those people on their websites. Theyll put those people back in their place. Theyll protect you from the elites. Just not the people standing today around the president, partying with him at the balls or paying for this whole affair people with real power. Theyre not the elephants in the room. They are the Biggest Mules of all. Former first lady Michelle Obama is skipping the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump, the second time in two weeks that she is not attending a gathering of former U.S. leaders and their spouses, but former Presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton are there. Laura Bush and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton joined their husbands for the swearing-in ceremony at the Capitol, representatives said. Former President Barack Obama is confirmed to attend the 60th Inaugural Ceremonies. Former first lady Michelle Obama will not attend the upcoming inauguration, said a statement from the Office of Barack and Michelle Obama that was shared with The Associated Press. No explanation was given for why Michelle Obama was skipping Trumps inauguration. She also did not attend former President Jimmy Carters state funeral in Washington. Former Presidents Trump, Obama, Bush and Clinton and their spouses attended except for her. Former Vice President Mike Pence is in attendance at Trumps inauguration, his wife, former second lady Karen, is not. Karen Pence snubbed the Trumps earlier this month at Carters funeral, where she ignored Melania Trumps efforts to shake her hand. Bill Clinton is attending Trumps swearing-in ceremony, a person familiar with the former presidents schedule confirmed for the AP. Hillary Clinton is also present. The Office of George W. Bush and former first lady Laura Bush are there. Michelle Obama was the only spouse absent at the funeral service at Washington National Cathedral, where her husband and Trump were seated next to each other and chatted and laughed like old friends despite the history of political animosity between the Democratic former president and the returning Republican. The former first lady campaigned against Trump during his 2016, 2020 and 2024 presidential campaigns. In her 2018 memoir, she described her shock upon learning that Trump would succeed her husband, and she denounced Trumps birther campaign, which questioned Barack Obamas citizenship. Michelle Obama campaigned last fall for Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris, delivering an emotional speech in Michigan in which she challenged men to vote for the vice president and argued that womens lives would be at risk if Trump returned to the White House. All three former presidents and their wives attended Trumps first inauguration in 2017, including Hillary Clinton, after she lost the 2016 presidential election to Trump. Carter also attended. A fire battalion chief from Georgia was killed in a roadside shooting that injured two other people in Chambers County on Sunday night, the sheriffs office said. We lost one of our brothers, leaders, mentor, and family to a senseless tragedy, the Coweta County Fire Rescue Department posted on Facebook last night. James Bartholomew Cauthen, 54, was killed Sunday evening, off County Road 267 near U.S. Highway 431 in Stroud, according to a Facebook post from the Chambers County Sheriffs Office. The sheriffs office said deputies were dispatched around 5 p.m. to deal with a traffic incident involving a deer. The deputies found three individuals with gunshot wounds. Cauthen was dead by the time officers arrived, police said. The Chambers County Sheriff said Cauthen had stopped to assist people that had hit a deer while traveling on County Road 267. A nearby resident then shot at Cauthen and the person that hit the deer. All individuals were injured during the shootout, the sheriffs office Facebook post said. The shooter has been identified by the sheriffs office as William Randall Franklin. The individual that struck the deer, as well as Franklin, were transported to the hospital for treatment of their injuries. Arrest warrants have been issued for Franklin following his release from the hospital, according to the Facebook post. Cauthen, who lived in Moreland, Ga., was a battalion chief with the Coweta County Fire Rescue Department. Our hearts and prayers go out to the Cauthen family as they go through this difficult time, the fire rescue department said on Facebook. In the solace of a Birmingham jail in April 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. penned what many consider one of the greatest documents ever written by an American. King came across an article in the afternoon edition of The Birmingham News headlined White Clergymen Urge Local Negroes to Withdraw from Demonstrations. That inspired the Civil Rights giant to craft a jewel of American literature Letter from Birmingham Jail. The City of Birmingham and the nation observe Kings birthday on Monday, January 20 and more than 60 years later, his heartfelt letter is considered the preeminent document of the Civil Rights movement, appearing in hundreds of anthologies and designated as required reading for many students worldwide. It has been translated into more than 40 languages. King initially intended the Birmingham letter as a response to the eight clergymen, but it became the most cogent and influential defense of nonviolent resistance ever written, said Clayborne Carson, director of the Martin Luther King Jr. Research and Education Institute at Stanford University. Barry McNealy, Historical Content Expert at the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute (BCRI), said the letter is one of the greatest documents ever written by an American on par with the Declaration of Independence and the Gettysburg Address, McNealy said. The ideals that were contained in it completed the rhetorical journey that was set out by Thomas Jefferson and continued by Abraham Lincoln Both the Gettysburg Address and the Declaration of Independence share a theme of freedom as the ultimate goal and emphasize the fundamental importance of individual liberty and the pursuit of happiness as guiding principles in the United States. In his Letter From Birmingham Jail, King connects with those ideas by writing, We will reach the goal of freedom in Birmingham and all over the nation, because the goal of America is freedom. Written Without Notes Kings response was even more impressive because it was written without notes or other reference materials, say historians. Jonathan Rieder, a professor at Barnard College and Columbia University and author of Gospel of Freedom: Martin Luther Kings Letter from Birmingham Jail and the Struggle That Changed a Nation, said King composed the letter like a painter, like a sculptor. READ: MLKs Letter... should be taught in all schools His ability to draw fragments together into these always-new compositions and permutations was part of his artistic brilliance, Reider said. Forget about whatever intellectual and spiritual brilliance went into it. To me, what is extraordinary is that he does it without notes. Its all deep in his soul and his spirit. McNealy said the letter was telling for another reason. [It] says more about the nation and the people who challenged Dr. Kings academic prowess, who challenged his intellectual level and said that he didnt earn any of his credentials that he worked for other the years, said McNealy. And Kings scholarly letter remains relevant because some of the same arguments made against King then were made against Vice President Kamala Harris who ran unsuccessfully for U.S. President in 2024, the historian said. When you think on a present-day level one of the things that was dropped on Vice-President Harris repeatedly was how she couldnt answer a question and how unintelligent she was; and she graduated with honors from Howard University and became a lawyer and a state attorney general, McNealy said. This is a tired trope that has been used about Black people and people of color, marginalized people since the very beginning. He added, So when we think about [King] sitting in that cell with nothing but his experience and his education that he garnered up to that point in his life and he creates a document like that without any type of assistance, not even a dictionary it shatters that myth that marginalized people are less when it comes to intellectualism in academia. My Dear Fellow Clergymen King and others were arrested on Friday, April 12, 1963, for violating a court injunction prohibiting Civil Rights demonstrations in the city. He was released eight days later, and April 16 is the date placed on Letter From Birmingham Jail. The clergymen were critical of outsiders who were leading protests in segregated Birmingham. The clergy called the demonstrations unwise and untimely. Kings response began: My Dear Fellow Clergymen. While confined here in the Birmingham city jail, I came across your recent statement calling my present activities unwise and untimely. Seldom do I pause to answer criticisms of my work and ideas. King wrote on scraps of writing paper supplied by a Black jail trusty and yellow notepads surreptitiously brought into the jail by his attorneys, said Stanfords Carson. Under these difficult circumstances, King drafted the most crucial public statement of his career, benefiting from the fact that he had been preparing for many years to write such a statement, Carson said. King was intentional about addressing the clergymen who were standing on the sidelines, McNealy said. You had people that were vociferous in terms of their white supremacy and their racism like [Alabama governor] George Wallace or [Birmingham Public Safety Commissioner] Bull Connor you had those people, but you also had the people who were cowed by them Dr. King was talking to those people who were on the fence, who knew right from wrong but they were afraid to act on it. He started criticizing them for hiding behind the stained-glass windows. Columbias Rieder said the letter is from a man who is concerned about his own people but at the same time has great love for humanity. He speaks to all oppressed people, and thats his basic Christian concern, Rieder said, Thats why hes upset about the appalling silence of the good people. Some things havent changed more than 60 years later, McNealy said. When you think about Dr. King, he said the minute that you refuse to speak towards injustice you begin to die. In other words, living a lie is poison. It doesnt necessarily poison your body, it poisons your spirit, it poisons your soul and everything you do from that moment when you compromise, you dont stand up to the truth, everything you do is a spiral down. And this is what he was trying to get people to see. Document Never Sent Samford University history professor S. Jonathan Bass said King gave bits and pieces of the letter to his lawyers to take back to movement headquarters, where the Rev. Wyatt Tee Walker, Kings top assistant, began compiling and editing the material, Bass explained. The final version was dated April 16, 1963. The 21-page, typed, double-spaced Letter appears as though it is personal correspondence addressed to the eight white ministers, Bass said. The document was never sent to them, however, which led some to question whether the letter was intended for the clergymen. King and Walker had discussed writing a jailhouse epistle while in Albany, Ga., in 1962, said Bass, who wrote Blessed are the Peacemakers: Martin Luther King Jr., Eight White Religious Leaders, and the Letter from Birmingham Jail. In addition, King had previously preached a sermon entitled Pauls Letter to Christians in America. This was something they wanted to do, but the occasion never presented itself until Birmingham. The white ministers were the perfect symbolic audience for the letter, Bass said. After all, the Apostle Paul wrote letters from jail to fellow believers. On the surface, the letter is a public relations document. It served as the symbolic finale to the Birmingham movement when it was published by the media beginning in May 1963. Warrior Spirit Rieder believes the letter may have been tweaked after Kings release from jail, but the words are heartfelt. King was so exasperated by these preachers. These eight white clergymen, they embodied everything that had been building up with him for years with white moderates, Rieder said. Kings anger at the moderates who said go slow was rising. King was depressed; he was in a panic, Rieder said. He had this terrible time in solitary. He reads this [newspaper article], and they are telling him to wait, and suddenly his indignation just pushes him out of that depression. Its like he got his warrior spirit back. Another brilliant aspect of the letter, according to historians, is the multitude of perspectives that King brings to his response. He expressed empathy with the lives of millions over eons and with the life of a particular child at a single moment, writes Taylor Branch in his Pulitzer Prize-winning book Parting the Waters, America in the King Years, 1954-63. He tried to look not only at white preachers through the eyes of Negroes but also at Negroes through the eyes of white preachers. By degrees, King established a kind of universal voice, beyond time, beyond race, Branch writes. As both humble prisoner and mighty prophet, as father, harried traveler, and concerned leader, he projected a character of nearly unassailable breadth. The victims in an apparent triple homicide Saturday night have been identified, according to the Mobile Police Department. Marco Alvarado, 24, Christon Aponte, 30, and Angel Esparra, 28, were identified by police as the three people killed Saturday night on Theodore Dawes Road off Interstate 10 in Mobile. Police responded around 7:34 p.m. on Saturday to a shooting, according to a news release. Upon arrival, the officers discovered three victims, all with fatal gunshot wounds. All three died at the scene. The officers learned that Alvarado, Aponte, and Esparra had been in a physical altercation with a known male subject while stopped at the overpass, police said. A second male subject shot all of the victims. The subjects names are not being released at this time. The two subjects left in separate vehicles before police arrived, according to the news release. Police are continuing to investigate the homicide, and no further information is available currently. The shooting on I-10 was less than 24 hours after two people were killed in a shooting on Newcombe Drive in the Theodore area of Mobile. Jimmetrious Wilson, 24, and Tristian Williams, 41, were killed in an incident late Friday night into early Saturday morning. Police said that Wilson assaulted Williams, Williams then shot Wilson in retaliation, police said. A known female subject, who has not been identified, then shot Williams. By the time police arrived at the scene around midnight Saturday, both men were pronounced dead at the scene. Blake Brown, a spokesperson for the Mobile Police Department, told AL.com that the two shootings are separate incidents. Last Friday, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La), in an interview with Bari Weiss, made several revelations about Joe Biden. Johnson revealed that Bidens staff made serious attempts to prevent a one-to-one meeting with Biden in January 2024. Johnson claimed he had "big national concerns" that he wanted to discuss with Biden. When the meeting finally at last occurred Johnson was taken aback. "I show up and I realize it's actually an ambush 'cause it's not just me and the president," Johnson said. "It's also Kamala Harris, Chuck Schumer, Hakeem, you know, the CIA Director." Johnson claimed the group badgered him about the funding of the Ukraine war. When Biden asked if he could have the room with him, Johnson revealed that Bidens staff seemed visibly concerned. Johnson revealed that once he and Biden were alone in the Oval Office, the speaker asked the president about his pause on LNG exports. "I cannot answer this from my constituents in Louisiana," Johnson recalled telling Biden. "Sir, why did you pause LNG exports to Europe? Liquefied natural gas is in great demand by our allies. Why would you do that? Cause you understand we just talked about Ukraine, you understand you are fueling Vladimir Putins war machine because they gotta get their gas from him." Johnson recounted how a stunned Biden replied: "I didnt do that." Back in January 2024, Biden placed a pause on new LNG export permits. Johnson said that when he reminded the president of the executive order, however, Biden denied that what he had signed was a pause on LNG. "He genuinely did not know what he had signed," Johnson said. "And I walked out of that meeting with fear and loathing because I thought, We are in serious trouble -- who is running the country? Like, I don't know who put the paper in front of him, but he didnt know." So what does one make of this? Johnson's revelation isn't shocking anyone paying attention. Biden's incapacity was obvious to Democrats during the 2020 Democrat Primary. Biden's decline was obvious to anyone when he appeared lost and confused on many occasions. Biden struggled to wear his jacket. Biden struggled with constructing basic sentences. Biden struggled to recall names. Biden struggled while reading from his teleprompter. At times he even reads the instructions off a teleprompter. It was obvious that Biden couldn't possibly be running the country. This was a crisis like never before. To run a country by proxy is what occurs in third-world dictatorships or communist nations. This is not the way the world's sole superpower should function. When the nation is confronted with a grave crisis of this scale, four groups must function as watchdogs, namely the news media, government agencies, honorable members of the party that the President belongs to, and the political opposition. Alas, over many decades the mainstream media has devolved into the PR wing for the Democrats. The media doesn't cover the Democrats but rather provides cover for the Democrats. When anyone mentioned the obvious about Biden's decline, the media ridiculed and dismissed them as conspiracy theorists. They insisted that Biden was sharp and focused but only sometimes confused. The only time the media covered Biden factually was when the superiors in the party decided to replace him with his bumbling deputy following his disastrous debate. The next watchdog is government agencies. Instead of functioning as watchdogs, the agencies have become lapdogs for the Democrats. A perfect example was when Biden mishandled classified information, the appointed special counsel declined to bring charges, with the excuse that a jury would view him as a "well-meaning, elderly man" with a "poor memory." Instead of being grateful, Biden fired back that his memory was 'fine.' The same agencies used all their powers to baselessly persecute Biden's foremost political challenger, President Trump. The next watchdogs are supposed to be honorable members of the President's party. Alas, this is the Democrat party, which has nothing to do with honor. The likes of RFK Jr., who stated the obvious and challenged Biden in a primary contest, were sidelined. Finally, and the most important of these watchdogs is the political opposition. Ideally, the GOP should have been pressuring the Democrats about Biden from the day he took office. The GOP leaders will claim they didn't have a majority in the Senate and House. The GOP was in the same position that the Democrats were in 2017. In 2017, the Democrats drove the narrative about the Trump-Russia hoax which hung like a sword over the Trump presidency and even caused the appointment of a special counsel. If the Democrats could do this over a lie, the GOP could do the same over facts about Biden's incapacity. But they did nothing. Speaker Johnson, who made these 'shocking' revelations about Biden, is a leading member of this political opposition. Johnson said that the incident occurred last January. Ideally, Johnson should have held an emergency session to make his observations public and demand that a doctor subject Biden to tests. Johnson should have also attempted to impeach Biden over his incapacity and made a big deal out of it. Even if the efforts were unsuccessful, they would have alerted the public. But instead, Johnson remained silent about it for a year. Now that Biden is about to leave, he chooses to make his revelations. Johnson claimed that the Democrats ganged up on him over funding the Ukraine war. But the same Johnson led the passage of bills that approved billions to fund the Ukraine conflict in 2024. Johnson seems a student of the Lindsey Graham University of fakery. During the Russia Collusion hoax phase, Graham would frequently appear on Fox News played the part of an outraged Trump supporter disgusted by Democrat lies. But when it was time to act, he did nothing. He was hoping that people would conflate his performance on TV with action. This is exactly what Johnson is doing, he is hoping his 'expose' of Biden will place him in the good books of Trump and his supporters. But instead, it reveals his inaction. Unfortunately, Johnson was the only choice that Republicans could agree on for the position of speaker. This is the problem with the GOP. They are unreliable allies, which is infinitely worse than sworn enemies. You expect enemies to act against you. But when allies become bystanders during your time of need the treachery is unforgivable. The House GOP needs to work behind the scenes to build a consensus over a replacement for Johnson. Image: Gage Skidmore One of the most serious problems we face as a nation in 2025 is recovering our national history. Our history has been smeared and distorted by a deliberate Jacobin academic culture that hopes to make young minds despair about the nations good name and purpose. Because MLK day falls on inauguration day, there will be vicious deceits abounding to maintain the afro-pessimist framing of black history in America. In reality, Kings dream was substantially accomplished by powerful dimensions of Christian political idealism that eviscerate pretentious academic fearmongering such as Christian nationalism and separation of Church and State. Prior to his ascendancy to Christian pulpits of leadership in the churches of the South, Martin Luther King was preceded by two noteworthy Methodist thinkers and advocates dedicated to racial equality: James Farmer Jr. and James Meredith. Kings rightful vision preached on August 28, 1963 was to hope: my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. Though this vision is specifically repudiated today by many contemporary academic programs on diversity, Kings purpose was not only true but substantially accomplished. Born January 12, 1920 in Marshall, Texas, James Farmer Jr. was inspired by the national standing of his father who as a professor and Methodist preacher of the gospel, spoke seven languages and was among the most esteemed academics in a vast network of Christian HBCUs. Inspired by his personal struggles against racial segregation on the debate circuit of the 1930s and immortalized by Denzel Washingtons excellent film The Great Debaters, Farmer Jr. told Farmer Sr. upon his higher education graduation in 1941 that he planned to destroy segregation. After helping to form the Congress of Racial Equality in 1942 in Chicago, Farmer led the first non-violent direct action protest against segregation. This method of non-violence originated with Farmer and not with King. Farmer led the Freedom Rides of 1961 that so humiliated the Kennedy brothers they abolished segregated seating in interstate bus travel by November. Farmer led the Freedom Summer struggle in Mississippi in 1964 that led to the deaths of Mickey Schwerner, James Chaney, and Andrew Goodman. Those vicious killings galvanized public support for the passage of the 1964 and 1965 Civil Rights acts. Most of Americas major changes of heart about anti-black segregation came consequent to thousands of voluntary dialogue struggles conducted by CORE across the United States in schools, churches, restaurants, roller rinks, theaters, and swimming pools between 1942 and 1967. In 1964, CORE had more than 60,000 members nationwide including relatively equal numbers of whites and blacks. Born June 25, 1933 in Kosciusko, Mississippi, James Meredith grew up as a Methodist believing that he is on a mission from God to end white supremacy in his home state. Meredith is arguably the most significant living civil rights leader. Meredith is perhaps the most conservative of all the American civil rights leaders. Meredith believes that the United States Constitution guarantees equal rights to both black and white people. Meredith did not believe in the social activism urged and practiced by Farmer and King. He believed non-violence was foolish and that guns were necessary to enforce civil rights. He believed strictly in individual rights. He served in the United States military and for him, the crisis that brought 30,000 federal troops to the campus of University of Mississippi on September 30, 1962 was precisely what was necessary to stop the outrageous white supremacy of the Democratic Party of Mississippi. His forceful entry onto the campus led to the murder of French journalist Paul Guihard and our nation to the brink of a second civil war as local white supremacists sought to defend Merediths exclusion from the campus. Meredith continues to believe that Christian churches must play an important part in preserving black life in America. His conservative stances about American politics have caused him to be ostracized in contemporary academic settings. When the Harvard Graduate School for Education awarded him the Medal for Education Impact in 2013 for integrating Ole Miss, he criticized schools for being out of touch with the reality of black students and said that children need to learn religious and moral values from their elders. The problem with public school education in America today is that the Kingdom of God has been removed from the process, he said, because teachers and adults fear... what will happen to me if I help this child? The question should be, what will happen to this child if I dont do my duty? Merediths present exclusion from current discussions and celebrations of black equality are a testament to the neo-racist convictions of our current academic culture. Many political critics today rightly decry critical race theory. Denouncing such theory does little to correct the national problem. Critical race theory reifies failed afro-pessimist dogma such as the early Malcolm X and Stokely Carmichael. Their visions of killing and violence harmed black bodies and hurt black equality. Malcolm X in his final speech before his assassination acknowledged this reality and complained that afro-pessimists in the Nation of Islam already were trying to kill him and his family. He expounded a new vision of love and desegregation -- repudiating his violent rhetoric of the past. For that, he was assassinated by Thomas Hagan the next week. Recovering the stories of dozens if not hundreds of afro-idealists like Farmer and Meredith is essential to our new and greater American future. They represent a true, ideal, and successful path whereby Kings vision was substantially accomplished. Censorship will not correct our presently misguided path. Recovering the afro-idealist history will point the path to defeating the current Neo-racist radicals who dominate our college campuses today. Christianity played an inescapably critical role in the success of the American Civil Rights movement. Kings dream is great because of its American pragmatism and its success in improving the human condition here in the United States and even around the world. We are the new generation connected to that fresh 21st century challenge to do the same. Dr. Ben Voth is professor of rhetoric and director of debate at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas. He his the author of several academic books regarding political communication, presidential rhetoric, and genocide. Professor Voths book -- James Farmer Jr.: The Great Debater -- exposes much of the hidden civil rights history of America involving men like Malcolm X, James Meredith, and Martin Luther King. All masculine images have been reclassified as toxic by the progressive feminists so my headline may be misleading. I actually prefer real examples of the male in all his magnificent glory while rescuing those in need of brute strength to combat adversity of all kinds. What we have seen in recent news is the failure of instituting Diversity, Equity and Inclusive (D.E.I.) policies into emergency services that require strength and power. Nothing was made clearer than the disastrous interview with LAFD deputy assistant, Kristine Larson, who had the nerve to suggest that if she, as a woman firefighter, was unable to carry a man out of a burning house, then the man was at fault. He got himself in the wrong place if I have to carry him out of a fire. Unbelievable! Ms. Larson is the head of the D.E.I. division and earns a salary of $300,000 a year. Yes, she is a lesbian as is the chief of the LAFD, Kristin Crowley, who was the first woman and LGBTQ+ to head the LAFD. (Not that theres anything wrong with that (s).) I admit to being somewhat a bit of a chauvinist when it comes to toxic feminism a.k.a., hating men. When the debate first arose about the NYFD allowing more women into the department, I immediately nixed that idea unless the candidates resembled Game of Throness Brienne of Tarth portrayed by 63 Gwendoline Christie and could lift as much weight as a man. Noted feminist Gloria Steinem made one of the stupidest remarks ever when asked how a woman could carry a heavy man out of a burning building. Steinem suggested that women can employ different techniques to perform rescues effectively. For example, instead of carrying a person over their shoulder, which may require significant upper body strength, a woman firefighter might use a drag method. Really? Dragging someone down the stairs is an answer? Hmmm, is concussion and brain damage sustained during the drag a better option than having a strong man do the job, Gloria? I grew up in Spanish Harlem when it was a dangerous place to live and it was such a relief to have a tall, strong, policeman patrolling my block. The sight of the blue helmeted police officers on motorcycles or horses made me feel secure in spite of my dysfunctional home life. Sometime in the 1960s, the powers that be lowered the jobs height requirement allowing munchkins and women to join the NYPD and we know how thats turning out. YouTube videos of female cops being unable to wrestle with strong criminals is certainly not encouraging, albeit somewhat amusing. What must be the biggest denouement of the D.E.I. fiasco was the sight of those three female Secret Service agents assigned to Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania where he was shot by a would-be assassin. The poorly trained, ineffectual, presidential bodyguards were laughable with one unable to even holster her weapon. The Biden White House must have deliberately picked at least some from the bottom of the Secret Service barrel to guard the hated Trump. The deadly Los Angeles wildfires have cost over $250 billion and it is not unreasonable to question whether the heavy cost was due to a firefighting agency run under the auspices of incompetent, unqualified D.E.I. employees. Who on Earth started this successful anti-male campaign? Much as Ive always been skeptical of womens liberal organizations, I do believe theres a more sinister hand pulling their strings and theyre just too dumb to recognize the manipulation. The progressive agenda funded by oligarch George Soros has many tentacles besides D.E.I.. They also support LBTQ+; intifada uprisings; BLM; antisemitism; global warming, pandemic hoaxes, and all the faux Palestinian protests designed to disrupt the daily lives of decent American citizens of all races and creeds. The main objective of this Marxist agenda is to destroy this nation and the principles on which it was founded and to replace it with what is essentially communism. Thankfully, this plot has been aired and exposed with the miraculous reelection of Donald J. Trump who is readying his 100 executive orders to dismantle just about every destructive initiative that the Biden administration and the Deep State unleased on our nation since the pandemic. I have family in Los Angeles living near the wildfires that should have been less devastating if the city leadership had not caved to progressive mandates that cut resources to battle such emergencies. Sad to say, my family will still vote for these same nimrods again. I hope and pray that they will wake up like the rest of the nation who recognized last summer the gift we received in Butler, Pennsylvania. The sight of a bloodied Donald Trump raising a fist and shouting, fight, fight, fight, was the best rallying cry this nation needed to unite to make America great again. The progressives may think this masculine image is toxic but I love it. GO MAGA Alicia Colon can be reached at aliciav.colon@gmail.com. Image: Pixabay / Pixabay License It seemed fitting that President Jimmy Carters state funeral took place only days before President Trumps second inauguration. Carter has often been described as one of the nations worst executives a pejorative epithet now firmly attached to President Bidens name as well. So it was painfully symbolic for the lost and confused outgoing president to eulogize his often-disparaged predecessor. One could be forgiven for wondering whether, at the end of his remarks, Old Joe might try to scooch Jimmys body to one side and join him in the casket. Both literally and figuratively, we buried two terrible presidents this January. Of course, all of Americas living ex-presidents attended Carters funeral. Sitting in the same pew at Washingtons National Cathedral, they appeared a perfect rogues gallery of corruption and failure. Bill Clinton still looks like the after picture for a high school class on the consequences of contracting venereal disease. George W. Bush has aged like a man whose conscience torments his waking hours. Barack Obama resembles a worn photograph of a forgotten celebrity from a bygone era. Seated among them were the former first ladies. Well, not all of them. Michelle Obama was reportedly so appalled at the thought of sitting next to President Trump (as protocol required) that she decided to ditch tradition and hang out with a wine box in Hawaii. (Personally, I think she dreads having to spend time with her husband and probably resented the public expectation that she pay respects to a white Southerner even if he was a Democrat.) On the other side of the pew from Michelles void, bitter Hillary Clinton scowled while wedged between her lecherous husband and her brother, Dubya. Hillarys miserable and angry visage reflected the dark and damaged soul of someone who has given everything to the Devil for the promise of power only to see that power ripped from her claws. Her glowering expression fairly represented the sordid group of exes as a whole. Then there was President Donald J. Trump no doubt a major trigger for Hillarys shrewish ire who almost looks younger and more spirited with each passing year. The contrast in appearance between the vigorous Trump and the rotting Establishment that he has repeatedly outflanked was stark and revealing. Indeed, the image of a happy and confident President Trump separated from a crusty ruling class in various stages of decay was difficult to ignore. On a pew filled with failed former presidents, a returning president was most certainly not like the others. All life gravitated toward the world-historical figure and his beautiful wife seated on the far end. That makes sense. Bill, Hillary, Dubya, Barack, and Old Joe represent Americas mismanaged past, whereas President and First Lady Trump are leading America away from decades of accumulated damage and toward a more promising future. In an essay years ago, I asked a simple question: What do Democrats fear in Donald Trump? I offered a straightforward answer: they fear his potential for greatness. One look at the necrotic assembly present for Carters funeral provided visual proof for my asked-and-answered query. The National Cathedral was packed with some of the most powerful Americans from the last half-century presidents, military chiefs, intelligence heads, central bankers, and Wall Street titans. Not one aside from President Donald J. Trump will be remembered as historically exceptional. The decrepit club of failed former presidents attests to this point. Bill Clinton will be remembered for cheating on Hillary with a White House intern barely old enough to legally drink alcohol. He will be remembered for using the Oval Office as a bordello and renting out the Lincoln Bedroom by the hour. He will be remembered for handing military technology and most-favored-nation trading status to the Chinese Communist Party in return for campaign cash. He will be remembered for initiating the vast offshoring of Americas industrial and manufacturing jobs to third-world countries and the vast transfer of middle-class Americans wealth to foreign adversaries. He will be remembered for privatizing the prison system and filling new cells with black Americans. He will be remembered as a venal and lascivious liar whose proclivities for self-aggrandizement, fraud, and falsehood were surpassed only by those of his even more corrupt wife. George W. Bush, I am sorry to say, will be remembered for only three things: (1) failing to prevent the worst attack on American soil since Pearl Harbor, (2) launching a global war on terror that cost too many lives and too much money for questionable strategic objectives, and (3) constructing a post-9/11 national security surveillance state that trashed the Bill of Rights and turned every American into a criminal suspect. By advocating for mass amnesty while using the PATRIOT Act to destroy Americans Fourth Amendment right to be secure from unreasonable and warrantless searches, Bush left Americans both less safe and less free. Barack Obama forfeited his shot at greatness. He could have united the country by framing his presidency as the visible culmination of Martin Luther King, Jr.s worthy dream. He could have offered his election as evidence that America is becoming a post-racial society that values character over skin color. Had Obama done so, support for his brand of politics would have been so great that there might not even be a Republican Party today. Instead, he and wingman Attorney General Eric Holder spent eight years rubbing salt in old racial wounds and dividing the country for expedient political victories. Transforming the architecture of Bushs unconstitutional post-9/11 surveillance state into a Deep State machine for monitoring, censoring, and criminally punishing political foes, Obama and Holder further dismantled the Bill of Rights and diminished Americas historic foundations in individual liberty. Because petty vindictiveness has always blinded Obama, he squandered any chance at greatness. The words Joe Biden and greatness look odd in the same sentence because Dementia Joe has always been an unimpressive politician of low character and even lower intelligence. He is the poster boy for mediocrity, and the Deep State alone is responsible for his installation as president. The Intelligence Community defrauded American voters during the 2020 election by claiming that Hunter Bidens incriminating laptop was Russian disinformation and censoring the story. Democrat officials ignored election security laws by allowing political operatives to flood Democrat-controlled precincts with unverified (and most likely fraudulent) mail-in ballots. To this day, no mainstream news reporter can explain how President Trump could lose an election in which he won nearly every traditional bellwether county by double-digits. No credentialed journalist can explain how Joe Biden a man who struggled to win Democrat primaries could wind up with more votes in the 2020 general election than any candidate in U.S. history. No national pundit can explain why the most popular politician of all time would have to bow out of the 2024 race. Americans know the truth, even if Establishment censors insist on telling lies. Cheating his way into office precluded Bidens achieving greatness of any kind. Acting as a puppet for Barack Obama, in fact, precluded his even being a real president. Sitting next to all those failures and frauds at Carters funeral, President Donald J. Trump stood out. Hes faced the fire and pushed forward. His enemies have thrown everything at him, and still he stands. The Deep State allowed two separate assassins to threaten his life, and the man never stopped fighting. Impeachments, Democrat-funded civil lawsuits, criminal trials, FBI raids, attempts to remove him from state ballots the Establishment Class has done whatever it can to keep Trump from representing the American people. Yet he returns to office with a huge political mandate. This presidency will break the mold. History will be made. Buckle up. Get ready. This is going to be great. Image: Gage Skidmore via Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0. Lawfare (sanctioned fraud by law enforcement) is antithetical to the Bill of Rights, which assumes government nefariousness. Lawfare flourishes thanks to qualified immunity, an artificial (i.e., not in the Constitution) concept conjured by the Supreme Court to insulate rogue cops, prosecutors, and judges. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles Grassley President pro tempore of the Senate and third in the line of presidential succession after the Vice President and Speaker of the House at the Attorney Generals January 15 nomination hearing (this is a lengthy quotation but so meaty it doesnt yield to cutting or summarizing): The Justice Departments infected with political decision-making, while its leaders refuse to acknowledge that reality. Crossfire Hurricane was a textbook example of government weaponization. That FBI investigation was built on the fake Steele Dossier, which was funded by the Democratic National Committee and Clinton Campaign who worked with foreign operatives. My investigative work exposed that the FBI knew the dossier was false information and was likely part of a Russian disinformation campaign. Even with knowledge of the dossiers defects and political infection, the Justice Department sought FISA warrant renewals and took other actions. After directing my oversight staff to investigate the Justice Departments mishandling of the matter, the Justice Department retaliated by issuing a subpoena for their phone records. Then, a few of my Democratic colleagues pressured the FBIs Foreign Influence Task Force to supposedly brief me and Senator Johnson relating to our Biden family investigation. In August 2020, Senator Johnson and I had that infamous briefing from the FBI. Later, its contents were leaked to the media even though the FBI had promised confidentiality. That leak falsely labeled our oversight work as you guessed it Russian disinformation. To this day over four years later the Intelligence Community and FBI refuse to provide us the intelligence basis for that briefing. The title of this Wall Street Journal article sums it up, The FBIs Dubious Briefing: Did the bureau set up two GOP Senators at the behest of Democrats? I know what government weaponization is. And then we get to Special Counsel Jack Smith and his lawfare operation. It involved an unprecedented FBI raid on Trumps house, including agents that even searched the former First Ladys clothing drawers. Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden certainly didnt receive the same treatment by the government regarding their records. Indeed, as my oversight exposed, the FBI amazingly agreed to destroy laptops and records associated with Clintons staff. This Orwellian conduct should have no quarter. On top of it all, FBI Special Agent Thibault, the anti-Trump agent that violated the Hatch Act for political activity on the job, started one of Jack Smiths cases. But, Jack Smith wasnt the only Department official who tried to influence this past election. The Washington Post reported last August about a previously undisclosed Mueller investigation into Trump that was closed for lack of evidence and it being a fishing expedition. That news reporting was based on sealed court records, government records, and potentially classified information roughly 90 days before the last presidential election. The Justice Department leaked that information to the press to impact the election against President Trump. And they did it while stiff-arming congressional requests for information that would prove embarrassing to the Biden-Harris administration. Let us not forget some of the other flagrant abuses of power that weve seen from the DOJ and the FBI over the last four years: The DOJ used the might of the Federal Government to prosecute individuals peacefully praying outside of abortion clinics. The FBI suggested that traditional Catholics could be domestic terrorism threats, claiming that these individuals adhere to anti-Semitic, anti-immigrant, anti-LGBT and white supremacy ideology. The FBI opened dozens of investigations into parents who voiced their concerns at school board meetings regarding curriculum choices and COVID-19 mandates. The FBI applied undue pressure to social media platforms to censor so-called misinformation, downgrading or removing flagged social media posts and removing users. These are only a few particularly egregious examples of the rot infesting the DOJ. The impact of this political infection in our once-storied law enforcement institutions is catastrophic. By every metric, the Biden-Harris Justice Departments conduct has failed to live up to our countrys ideals. Public domain image. We are witnessing the initiation of Americas truth and reconciliation process. Grassleys comments stand as a bookmark separating two eras. He de facto swore out a warrant against the guilty. Under (almost certainly) incoming FBI Director Patel, an extensive and essential glasnost (openness) episode will precede wholesale perestroika (reform). Trumps Patel nomination ranks among his best. As chief aide to House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes, Patel oversaw exposing the Russia, Russia, Russia hoax. He is the man for this moment. Before entering political office, Grassley worked as a farmer and factory worker. Hes continuously represented Iowa constituents for 66 years, since 1959. First as a state legislator, then in the House, and now in the Senate. The Republic began 236 years ago in 1789. Grassley has represented his constituents 28% of Americas duration. He is the oldest current senator, has served 44 years in that body, and is the longest-serving Republican in congressional history. Over his 91 years, he has lived 38% of Americas duration. (Most unusual of late, his marbles are intact.) Grassley has witnessed plenty of funny business, yet nothing like the organized crime of Bidens Department of Justice. Qualified immunity exists for valid reasons. Yet, as a practical matter, rogue state and federal prosecutors almost never face criminal or financial repercussions. Prosecutorial abuse is hardly new, especially targeting Republicans. Alaskas Ted Stevens was corruptly prosecuted, causing the loss of his Senate seat. The story of federal prosecutor and special counsel Patrick Fitzgerald is especially notable. He persecuted vice-presidential chief of staff I. Lewis Scooter Libby, Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich (no choir boy, but a Democrat who ran afoul of Obama), and conservative media mogul Conrad Black. FBI Director Comey, when fired by Trump, then retained Fitzgerald as his counsel. As Acting Attorney General, Comey appointed Fitzgerald as Special Counsel to investigate the Valerie Plame affair that snared Libby. Trump, all too familiar with lawfare, pardoned Blagojevich, Libby, and Black, fellow victims. Redress is long overdue for corrupt law enforcement officials, ensuring they face civil (including financial compensation to victims) and criminal consequences. The Innocence Projects workload involves corrupt prosecutors and police targeting those on societys lowest rungs. Defendants routinely face uneven playing fields, in violation of constitutional norms. The problem is chronic and widespread, impacting all levels. Those with political standing too often become targets as a result. The imminent glasnost has profound implications. Dismantling the J6 gulag is merely reconciliations first step. The secrets spilling out will accelerate the political realignment, including the medias ongoing demise. Consider the consequences for the Democrat partys smoldering ruins. The worlds oldest political party (founded to support slavery and slaughter Native Americans), is hemorrhaging voters and will begin to fatally bleed out. Grassley provided the epitaph for an era that overturned the national compact. It falls to our representatives to rectify this deficiency via legislation or constitutional amendment. This classic Trumpian issue possesses broad bipartisan support. Americas judicial predicate is that its better that 10 guilty men go free than one innocent rots in prison. That was forgotten somewhere along the way. Douglas Schwartz blogs on history, politics, economics, and gaslighting at The Great Class War. To win the climate debate, we must use the same tools that were used to defeat science and common sense By Tom Harris web posted January 20, 2025 One of the reasons conservatives have steadily lost power to the left over the past 50 years is because we have not made a proper study of the tools used against us. In an effort to help correct this situation, this is part one of a three-part series that will examine what happened and how we can effectively fight back in the climate change debate. "What follows is for those who want to change the world from what it is to what they believe it should be. The Prince was written by Machiavelli for the Haves on how to hold power. Rules for Radicals is written for the Have-Nots on how to take it away." So begins "The Purpose," the first chapter in " Rules for Radicals A Practical Primer for Realistic Radicals ." Written in 1971 by Chicago-based community organizer Saul D. Alinsky, Rules for Radicals showed leftists, then on the outside of most institutions looking in but wanting very much to run the show, how to acquire the power to control society. And, boy, did they ever take Alinsky's rules seriously. In many ways, it became the "progressive" Bible, guiding their actions as they fought tooth and nail for decades until today the left control vast swaths of our universities, schools, corporations, governments, churches and of course mainstream media. Even before Rules was published, Hillary Clinton recognized the importance of Alinsky's work writing about his methods in her undergraduate thesis at Wellesley College, a private women's liberal arts college in Wellesley, Massachusetts. Her 1969 thesis was titled "There Is Only the Fight: An Analysis of the Alinsky Model" and, after interviewing him, examined his approach and its effectiveness in creating social change. Interestingly, Wellesley sealed Clinton's thesis at her request during Bill Clinton's presidency. Today, the roles are reversed from when Alinsky wrote Rules and it is conservatives who are now on the outside looking in at woke institutions that control much of our every day lives. Universities are especially infected. For example, my own alma matter, Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada, is apparently now a politically-correct enforcer of woke group-think when it comes to climate change and COVID policies. If conservatives are to stand any chance of getting back in charge of our schools and the rest of society, then we must learn how we lost control in the first place. And one of the best places to start is to carefully read Rules for Radicals in its entirety. It can be read online for free at Rules For Radicals : Saul Alinsky : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive . One of Alinsky's rules that conservatives should take particularly seriously is Rule #4: "Make opponents live up to their own book of rules. You can kill them with this because no one can possibly obey all of their own rules." So, what are the contents of the "book of rules" of progressives when it comes to climate change and energy? Well, generally speaking, they want everyone to at least think they support: The science promoted by the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Social justice: caring for the poor, the elderly and those who are disadvantaged in society Protection of wildlife and the environment Tolerance of alternative lifestyles & opinions Rejection of authority & absolutism But their blind adherence to the hypothesis that our use of hydrocarbon fuelscoal, oil and natural gasis causing a climate emergency and only a massive energy transition to so-called green energy will save the planet actually results in a situation where all of these worthy objectives are in fact violated. Alarmists' fears about increasing floods, extreme rainfall, heat waves, intense storms and forest fires are not supported by the UN IPCC. In particular, Working Group 1 of the Sixth Assessment Report had "low confidence in the direction of change" of most of the climate impacts that most excite activists, sensational media, and politicians, namely precipitation, drought, fire weather, cyclones, and hurricanes, snow and ice, sea levels, coastal erosion, and ocean acidity, you name it. Generally, it also has "low confidence" that a wider range of detrimental climate impacts will occur beyond 2050, except under "worst case" scenarios. So, whenever conservatives have the chance to publicly question climate alarmists, be they from government, the press or any other institution that promotes climate fears, we must ask: "What science are you using to support your claims of climate catastrophe?" The answer will usually be, "We follow the science of the UN IPCC," or words to that effect. Then we must say, loud and clear so that everyone in the audience can hear, "The IPCC does not support your claims about x," where x could be any one of their excited statements about items listed above. You could also add, "the terms 'climate emergency' or 'climate crisis' are only mentioned once in the latest IPCC assessment reports, and that is merely with regard to media coverage, not what the IPCC actually says is real." And then you could quote the IPCC directly as follows: "Some media outlets have recently adopted and promoted terms and phrases stronger than the more neutral 'climate change' and 'global warming,' including 'climate crisis,' 'global heating,' and 'climate emergency' (Zeldin-O'Neill, 2019). Few climate alarmists have even read the IPCC reports, relying almost entirely on mainstream media coverage of what is in the reports, so your response will take the wind out of their sails entirely. So it must be done every time they bring up problems with precipitation, drought, fire weather, cyclones, hurricanes, snow and ice, sea levels, coastal erosion, and ocean acidity. Progressives' supposed support for "social justice" can also be used against them effectively. After all, the overwhelming focus of the world on climate change "mitigation," namely attempts to control the climate, is robbing people who actually need help adapting to real world climate change from the funds they need to survive whatever nature throws at them next. Note in the following figure from the San Francisco-based Climate Policy Initiative that roughly 90% of the 1.27 trillion USD dedicated to "climate finance" in 2021/2022 went to mitigation. Only a paltry 5% went exclusively to adaptation. "Is this Social Justice?" conservatives must ask progressives. Similarly, conservatives need to point out the human rights abuses that accompany the production of electric vehicle batteries as well as wind and solar power. Click on the following image to show an excellent example of someone doing just thatDanielle Maillot, former Ottawa chapter lead for Action4Canada questioning candidates for mayor about their support for batteries made with cobalt mined by children in the Congo in mines owned and operated by Chinese companies. The answer from the leading candidate for mayor exposed her as completely uninformed about the issue. Climate alarmists in government, the press, universities, etc. also need to be taken to task for the huge increase in electricity rates that is the natural result of the transition to wind and solar power. After all, it is the poor and those on fixed incomes who most suffer when power rates go through the roof when "green energy" is introduced into the grid. And of course there are many examples of how renewable energy such as biofuels are seriously violating human rights across the world. Quoting U.N. Special Rapporteur of the right to food, Jean Zeiglermakes sense here: "It is a crime against humanity to convert agricultural productive soil into soil which produces foodstuff that will be burned into biofuel." (2007) After citing the above examples of how the climate scare is violating real world "social justice" concerns, conservatives need to ask their opponents point blank in public meetings: "Is it ethical to enable policies that hurt people today because of the possible benefit to people yet to be born?" The following editorial cartoon, created on contract for ICSC, sums up the situation perfectly: In part 2 of this series, I will discuss how to apply Alinsky's rule #4 to take advantage of the left's supposed support for Protection of wildlife and the environment. Tom Harris is Executive Director of the Ottawa, Canada-based International Climate Science Coalition . Home There can be a moral perspective on how one deals with terrorists. Rabbi Manis Friedman says that negotiating with terrorists rewards and encourages them. According to him, it is wrongindeed, it is definitely immoralto reward terrorists with commuted prison sentences. Boldness, not bribes, is how one must deal with them, as the Bible instructed millennia ago. He brings up the daring hostage rescue in 1976 in Entebbe, Uganda. Israeli commandos violated all sorts of international laws and killed the captors of the hostagesbut the world celebrated the soldiers anyway because they did not negotiate with terrorists. They did the right thing, states the Rabbi. I would add that the world was also amazed by the boldness and skill of the rescue team. As for more raids in Gaza to free the captives in todays war, since there were some successful raids, there are reports of suicide bombers surrounding the hostages, cutting short a direct approach. Suppose your child was kidnapped, Rabbi Friedman ventures. Would you offer the criminals a reward or show them fake compassion to get your child back? No! You would have a right to be outraged. Period. The rabbi has moral clarity. He can call evil eviland can tolerate knowing that evil existsunlike many people who try to wish it away or explain it as a misperception or a mere reaction to a bad environment. Image: Exultant Gaza residents call for the slaughter of the Jews. X screen grab. Ari Abramowitz, in the YouTube video The Israeli Guys, references the Bible on the current Israeli hostage problem. Do not make covenants with evil people. No deals, no negotiations. Exodus 23:32-33. In the Biblical Messianic age, the hope is that all will live in peace and fellowship. But we are not there now, and it is a grave mistake for tender-hearted Jews, beleaguered as they are, to imagine otherwise. Acknowledging the bloodthirsty ways of Hamas, Abramowitz comes up with a novel way to get the hostages back home. Israel has hundreds of prisoners: murderers, rapists, beheaders, etc. All it has to do is make very public announcements in Gaza that every hour, a prisoner will be executed in a public and humiliating way until all the hostages are released. This makes sense to me because it plays to the fact that Israel has the upper hand by dint of its military might, even though, sadly, it is not using it. And what can Israel do about changing the culture of violent Hamas? Forget curriculum changes in childrens textbooks. The problem is deep-rooted, even spiritual. It goes all the way back to warlike Ismael, Abrahams illegitimate son. Abromowitz states that Muslims must be proven wrong through military defeat. As Muslims expand their territory, their conviction grows that their god is strong and favors them. So they have to experience that their god is weaker than the Israeli God to accept defeat. That can happen if Jews totally crush Hamas and take Gaza back again. Here, too, Israel does have the upper hand, but it holds back out of a twisted sense of pity for the enemy. I would add that the books of Deuteronomy and Joshua command the Israelites as they emerge from the desert to take the land of Canaan, which includes Gaza. The Lord ordered every single inhabitant killed to prevent His people from participating in the Canaanites loathsome customs. (If this sounds mean, you can argue with God, not me.) Practically speaking, negotiating with terrorists who vow to return to jihad just as soon as they can makes Israel look dangerously weak, as if it devalues itself, inviting new attacks. The United States demanding negotiations looks weak, too. And for every Jew living in the diaspora, our lives are now even more devalued, more threatened. This can and should change. Madeline Brooks, M.A., is the former head of the New York chapter of ActforAmerica and is a conservative and counter-jihad writer. Her articles have been published in AmericanThinker.com, CanadaFreePress.com, FamilySecurityMatters.org, and elsewhere. Her book, What You Need To Know About Islamic Jihad: Information The Main Stream Media Is Not Giving You, is available on Scribd. She can be reached at ResistJihad@aol.com. Im sure that all of you remember how ABC and George Stephanopoulos entered into a $15 million settlement with Donald Trump, plus providing an apology, after George S repeatedly called Donald Trump a rapist. Trump was never tried or found guilty of rape, and calling him a rapist was and is pure defamation. (And thats entirely separate from the peculiarities in E. Jean Carrolls narrative.) It seems, though, that Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) missed out on that whole $15 million dollars thing. On Sunday, in one of a series of anti-Trump rants, AOC explicitly called Trump a rapist. Many instantly noted what shed done and reminded Trump that he should sue her: AOC calls Trump a r*pist. Another person Trump should sue. pic.twitter.com/TfXoupP7LB Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) January 20, 2025 All these journalists are like, congressman, are you going to the inauguration, congresswoman, are you going to the inauguration? You going to the inauguration? Let me make myself clear. I dont celebrate rapists. So no, Im not going to the inauguration now. AOC clapped back with some snide, stupid bravado. To those living in reality-world, it was clear that Libs of TikTok was neither triggered nor crying but was, instead, celebrating that AOC has opened herself up to financial destruction and humiliation: In any event, AOCs little insult-fest wont protect her when the subpoena arrives. This is a slam-dunk case. Also, in case you were wondering, AOC cannot claim that she is immune to a defamation suit because she is a member of Congress. That immunity extends only to remarks made on the floor of the House or Senate Chambers. Thus, in Art. 1, Sec. 6 of the Constitution, it says, They shall in all Cases, except Treason, Felony and Breach of the Peace, be privileged from Arrest during their Attendance at the Session of their respective Houses, and in going to and returning from the same; and for any Speech or Debate in either House, they shall not be questioned in any other Place. To the extent that AOC was quite clearly speaking from her bedroom or some other non-congressional venue, her slanderous statement is completely open to a lawsuit. Its to be hoped that Donald Trump comes into his second term loaded for bear on every front. If he shows weakness now, hes done. Game theory says that when your opponent changes the rules to win (i.e., cheats), you must apply his own rules to him with such fury that he begs for a return to the status quo. If Democrats want lawfare, let them get lawfare, not on specious grounds, but on real ones. Oh, one other thing... AOC isnt being strictly accurate when she says that she doesnt celebrate rapists. On October 7, 2023, members of Hamas engaged in the mass rape of Israeli women (and, allegedly, some men). This is not hearsay or rumor. Hamas members and the Gaza civilians who followed them into Israel proudly videotaped and photographed their exploits. All reports are that Hamas and its fellow travelers in Gaza continued these rapes against the women hostages they held. Those undeniable facts are a problem for Ms. I dont celebrate rapists, because, in the wake of October 7, she threw her support behind the pro-Hamas campus protests: AOC and Ilhan Omar claim the protests are peaceful. Lets check in on Columbia University. They are screaming K!ll all Zionists! Long live Hamas.pic.twitter.com/VTVLKsQKPj Marina Medvin (@MarinaMedvin) April 24, 2024 AOC says dont call Hamas rapists because it triggers women in Congress who have been victims of sexual assault. pic.twitter.com/MNGsA2BIDA Richard Hanania (@RichardHanania) February 21, 2024 But of course, Queen Woke herself @AOC, visits @Columbia, to offer her support to the pro-genocide, pro-rape Hamas wannabes. pic.twitter.com/v8yRGjP9KT Arsen Ostrovsky (@Ostrov_A) April 26, 2024 If thats not celebrating rapists, I dont know what is. AOC is a female Obama. Shes nice to look at and speaks fairly well. Shes also dedicated to evil ideologies and Americas destruction. To see her sidelined by a well-deserved defamation lawsuit would be a wonderful and just thing. Image by Grok (edited). As we all knew would happen, Bidens last act was to pardon every bad actor in his administration. This is hypocritical, to say the least, given his governments vindictive pursuit of everyone in the Trump administration, including Trump himself. However, even worse than that, it sets a dangerous precedent that can destroy the American Constitutionand no, Im not exaggerating. So, heres the top line from Fox News: President Biden pardoned Dr. Anthony Fauci, Gen. Mark Milley, and others who some speculated may have faced investigations under the incoming Trump administration on Monday. Biden's pardons come just hours before he is set to depart the White House and President-elect Trump takes the oath of office once again. The pardon also applies to a litany of people involved in the January 6 select committee investigation. In addition to the named individuals, the pardon applies to, Members of Congress and staff who served on the Select Committee, and the U.S. Capitol and D.C. Metropolitan police officers who testified before the Select Committee. Biden did not extend them to Jack Smith, Christopher Wray, or Merrick Garland. Smith and Garland can hide behind prosecutorial immunity. Bidens passing over Wray is more inscrutable, but I would assume that Wray will hide behind national security concerns if questioned later. Image by Magic Studio. Naturally, Biden wrapped the pardons in language saying that the people pardoned would be unfairly persecuted: Our nation relies on dedicated, selfless public servants every day. They are the lifeblood of our democracy. Yet alarmingly, public servants have been subjected to ongoing threats and intimidation for faithfully discharging their duties. In certain cases, some have even been threatened with criminal prosecutions, including General Mark A. Milley, Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, and the members and staff of the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol. These public servants have served our nation with honor and distinction and do not deserve to be the targets of unjustified and politically motivated prosecutions. This is rich coming from an administration that, working on its own and in conjunction with corrupt state prosecutors and even corrupt bar associations, did everything possible to destroy anyone who was or worked for Trump. Its also the same administration that has conducted a Soviet-style purge against almost 2,000 Americans for daring to assemble at the Capitol and, when the Capitol police opened the Capitols sealed doors, walking reverently through the building. But aside from the disgusting hypocrisy and the problem of pardoning a military officer who could rightly be charged with treason for boasting that he would consult with the Chinese before following an order from his Commander-in-Chief, theres a greater danger in what Biden did with his preemptive pardons. Our nation is founded on the Rule of Law. Our Constitution is the bulwark for a government that is constrained by a contract with the People and the legal principles that flow from that contract. However, Biden created a new precedent that undercuts the rule of law entirely and unleashes the executive branch in a way that threatens to undermine the Constitution. Why do I say this? Because, moving forward, future administrations can have their employees do anything and everything the administration wants. Then, the president can pardon all this illegal conduct because the next administration might prosecute the actors. Of course, this die was cast when Biden took office. Until then, the American norm had been a peaceful transition of power that did not include the Ottoman habit of killing all political rivals (even if, so far, only figuratively). It was inevitable that, with Biden having opened this Pandoras box, Trump would seek to follow suit, especially given that Bidens administration was exceptionally lawless. Now, though, to protect his people, Biden has not only breached a norm, he has unleashed the whirlwind. I dont see how this can end well for America. In the short term, though, every person whom Biden pardoned needs to be hauled before Congress to testify about those things he or she did that were illegal or unconstitutional, whether Faucis consistent lies to the people and Congress, Liz Cheneys apparent destruction of evidence, or Milleys seeming treason. All these people, thanks to the preemptive pardons, have lost their Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination. We need to hear about their sins from their own mouths, and if they deviate by even a comma from the truth, they need to be prosecuted for perjury and imprisoned. One more thing: The last thing I would do is let congresspeople ask the questions because the politicians will just bloviate and bluster. Instead, Republicans need to find the sharpest, best prosecutors in America to make sure that Fauci, Cheney, Milley, et al. tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, with no hiding behind squirrely language or bad memories. Gavin Newsom, possibly the soon-to-be recalled Governor of California, banned internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles in California by 20235, ostensibly to reduce pollution. That pipe dream went up in smoke with the wildfires that are still consuming much of the LA area. Whatever pollution reduction that lunatic law might have achieved was lost with Newsoms equally deranged refusal to do anything to prevent wildfires, including ensuring enough water to fight them. Back in December, 2024, in Electric vehicles: Cuba shows the way I pointed out some of the obvious issues with EVs, issues that make them eternally impractical for most Americans. Among the issues I noted was Gavin Newsoms mandate that no gas-powered vehicles be sold in California by 2035. California provides an ideal example, even before the recent and continuing wildfires, why EVs are never going to be ready for prime time. Theyre far more expensive than conventional vehicles, and repair and insurance costs are outrageous. Their greatly increased weightbatteries add at least a thousand poundswear out tires at incredible rates, and EV tires are different and much more expensive than conventional tires. Advertised range figures are wildly optimistic, and rely on ideal conditions: no wind, only the driver; no passengers, no cargo, no hills or mountains, driving substantially below highway speeds and mild weather. In cold weather, EVs lose easily half their range, and Ford, for its F-150 lightning, recommends using only the seat and steering wheels heaters during winter. Thats going to keep the windshield clear. Graphic: X Screenshot Even better, EV batteries tend to burst into flame because they contain substances that must be kept separate. Pinholes cause instant flames and even explosions. Once ignited, they produce their own oxygen to fuel the flames, are prone to reignite and all firefighters can do is pour thousands of gallons of water on them to keep the flames from spreading elsewhere as unquenchable flames melt the vehicles into the pavement. Home chargers can easily cost more than $10,000 dollars if its even possible to install one with existing infrastructure. Absent a fast charger, it can take days to charge an EV. Manufacturers recommend no more than an 80% charge, and its on that they base manufacturers fast charge numbers of an hour or so. Going to 100% takes far longer to keep batteries from overheating and exploding, and the more batteries are recharged, the faster they lose their capacity for full charging. Replacing batteries takes about 1/3 of the original cost of the EV, so there is essentially no used EV market. And now we move to California, which wants nothing but EVs, but has, for years, been telling EV owners not to charge their EVs at night. That's when most would need to charge them, because Californias greenie virtue signaling ensures they dont have the electric capacity to meet Californians needs now, to say nothing of 2035 with universal EVs. Wildfires have exposed even more EV impracticality, from The LA Times via PJ Media: Youve plugged your electric vehicle into your home charger and hit the sack. Overnight, high winds topple a power line. Your charger blacks out. Then, a report of a fire, followed by an evacuation order. Your batterys only charged to 25%. And its your only car. Such are the fears some California car buyers are expressing amid the fires that have devastated Los Angeles County and forced people to evacuate their homes at a moments notice. And oh yes, excessive heat can cause EV batteries to burst explosively into flames, which is the fate of the worlds largest Lithium-ion battery/power plant in central California. Its melting into the ground, evacuations are orderedthe fumes produced are deadlyand firefighters are reduced to keeping the surrounding area from going up with the plant. They cant put it out. A gasoline car can evacuate in any direction on any road and still get fuel when needed, said Matthew Butterick, a Los Angeles attorney who lives near Griffith Park. The EV stations on evacuation routes would have massive lines and delays, gasoline stations less so. And the electric grid may not be available. Power companies turn off power to avoid sparking a fire and also to avoid legal liability. This is probably the future of all the hillside neighborhoods. One cant wait in line for tens of hours in the hopes of waiting for additional hours to get a partial charge when theyre running for their lives. Butterick is too kind. In the kinds of disasters parts of California are experiencing, there wont be electrical power, which is shut down to avoid sparking additional wildfires. A pertinent question is will the wildfires provoke the spread of sanity among Californians who keep voting worse and worse D/S/C politicians into office? If they keep EV mandates, the answer to that question is obvious. On a different subject, if you are not already a subscriber, you may not know that weve implemented something new: A weekly newsletter with unique content from our editors for subscribers only. These essays alone are worth the cost of the subscription. 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. Democrats are such attractive people. As crowds fill the streets of Washington with President Trump's supporters celebrating, top Democrats are busy sniping and catfighting with each other, going full cat scratch fever in this particular instance: According to Politico, it started with this insult: Since breaking her hip in Europe last month, former Speaker Nancy Pelosi has been deluged with messages, flowers and calls of concern from heads of state, colleagues in both parties and even royalty, most notably Luxembourgs Grand Duke Henri, who was hosting her when she fell and has been solicitous through her recovery. Yet its who she has not heard from thats most remarkable, and that has infuriated Pelosis friends and family: Joe and Jill Biden. Fueling that anger is Jill Bidens continued, and now public, nursing of a grudge toward Pelosi for pushing the president to withdraw from last years campaign. That's a whole lot of sulfurous sentiment from one side to the other, and man, it stinks. The Bidens and Pelosis began mixing it up when former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi forced Joe Biden to pull out of the presidential race after his disastrous debate performance last July. She plotted with other Democrats, particularly former President Obama, and by the time she was able to corner him (he had been avoiding them), the pair read him the Riot Act -- either step down, or they'd sic the 25th Amendment on him. Joe departed, but not without bitterness, even as Democrats showered him with fake praise about his George Washington-like selflessness. He pulled a fast one over that weekend by naming Kamala Harris, a meritless pinhead no one thought could win, to take his spot, depriving Pelosi and Obama of the satisfaction of picking who they wanted to run instead. It went downhill from there, with Biden muttering he thought he would have won if he hadn't been pushed out of the race, despite his impossibly low poll numbers and bitter statements about Pelosi ending their friendship of "50 years" last month. We were friends for 50 years, Jill Biden told The Washington Post in an interview published Wednesday, putting a deliberate stress on the length of time. It was disappointing. Lets just say I was disappointed with how it unfolded, Jill Biden said. I learned a lot about human nature. Now that's congealed a little more with Joe not sending Nancy a get-well-card for her fall, and now Alexandra Pelosi's comments about "Lady McBiden" putting on her big girl pants because nobody says nice things anymore about Joe. That's the same Alexandra Pelosi who effectively endorsed the violence and injuries inflicted on libertarian-conservative Sen. Rand Paul by a leftist fanatic. Alexandra seems to be the Pelosi voice of ugly things. And while Joe may be senile as they get, he, or whoever is controlling him, is firm that a Biden never forgets. Politico added this: Pelosi has tried multiple times, Im told, to have a conversation with Biden. But she and intermediaries whove also attempted a rapprochement have repeatedly been met with the same response from the presidents top advisers: The answer is no. Shes been told theyre not over it, dont make more overtures because hes blaming her, said a person who has spoken to Pelosi about the conversations between the former speaker and Bidens aides. Pelosi told people last week shes struck that the Bidens would leave on such a low note, asking rhetorically why theyd convey such bitterness. So the Bidens hate the Pelosis with a purple passion. Jill hates Obama. Jill hates Kamala. Obama despises Joe. Everyone hates the Clintons. None of these people can stand each other because they are all too in love with power first. Of course, these friendships break apart, and these grudges fester. None of them are actually about friendship the way normal people experience it. These relationships are just one hand washing the other. When the only thing you've got going is power and a capacity to shovel cash, friendships can get pretty secondary. The interesting thing about this with the Bidens is that it's now getting so public. When have we ever heard about this kind of nobody-likes-you high school level venality so publicly? Not only are they getting public, but the shots fired are getting more frequent, and they aren't coming out a couple of years after the events. And they're getting incredibly nasty -- how does "Lady McBiden" sound? Not even we who loathe these nasty characters came up with that one. Maybe it's time to get out the popcorn because a house divided like that is not going to stand. Maybe sooner rather than later, the whole Democrat edifice will come tumbling down. The U.S. will be the better for it if these Democrats melt down into sulfurous rage against one another and, in the end, go the way of the Nazis. Image: Pexels / Pexels License All the lies came tumbling out today. Gazans are not starving! Biden made Israel provide food to Hamas needlessly. Why? If you watched the howling wall-to-wall mob in Gaza as three young, fragile female hostages were released, you saw a sea of very well-fed, well-dressed men, cowardly hiding behind masks. Where were the poor, starving masses? Nowhere. What kind of world makes the people who were viciously attacked feed and medically care for their attackers? How did Israel and Israelis bear it? Why did President Biden demand this depraved behavior, forcing Israel to provide care and comfort to their enemy? Forgive me, but I do not feel joy today. Of course, I am happy three young, innocent women were released. But I am grieving for the Israelis who are still held captive, for the dead Israeli bodies strewn throughout Gaza, and for all those butchered on October 7, 2023. The anguish is exacerbated by the knowledge that the world stood by, and/or looked the other way, and/or celebrated Israels problems. One of the three women had trouble walking. Clearly, something unspeakable happened to her. During the onset of the criminal assault, Hamas slit the heels of their victims to drastically reduce their ability to flee. Does that explain her disability? Another hostage lost two fingers from being shot during the attackand the fresh bandages she needed showed that her wounds were never properly treated. For all you college students and other protestors, is this what you emulate: the physical attacks on unarmed citizens? This cannot be the end of this story. There has to be revenge: justice demands it. We know President Trump wants an expanded Abraham Accords. We acknowledge that the Accords enhance Israels security, as well as that of the Arab countries willing to join. But Hamas and Gaza must pay for the cruel war they started, the horrors they inflicted, and the heinous crimes they have committed...and are committing still. Another lie that was exposed at the Israeli hostage handoff was that of genocide. There is no Israeli genocide being committed by the IDF in Gaza. If there were, Suraya Square would surely not have been as packed as it was, with an ocean of screaming, menacing terrorists in full regalia. The scenes in Gaza are unbelievable. Masks completely off. Everyone in Hamas uniform, armed to the hilt. Nobody starving. Jubilation. And this. Imagine this. Imagine being held captive for 471 days and having to escape through this? pic.twitter.com/WblX8clWxi Eve Barlow (@Eve_Barlow) January 19, 2025 Suddenly they're not starving. Suddenly they're not crying. Suddenly they're not freezing to death. Suddenly they're praising Hamas. Suddenly they're armed and masked. Suddenly they're promising another war. Fuck Gaza. Theyre all monsters. pic.twitter.com/Vxhi1twlxL Vivid. (@VividProwess) January 19, 2025 By Arab accounts, they should all be dead. The account of their genocide was pure myth, believed and flamed by a global, deceitful, anti-Jewish press. Even as Hamas was releasing the three hostages, it managed to make the exchange mostly about them. From the menacing minions to their drama-ridden attack on the van transporting the hostages to their sick completion certificates to their swag bags from hell, Hamas gave the middle finger to Israel and America. To the last moment, Hamas is terrorizing the hostages. Heavily armed men and crowds of screaming Gazans surround the vehicles with the hostages. pic.twitter.com/a8rFvwry7h Aviva Klompas (@AvivaKlompas) January 19, 2025 So outrightly bizarre. Hamas gave released Israeli hostages gift bags, reportedly including map of Palestine, commemorative photo, and a certificate. pic.twitter.com/RY03ajNwjm Kabir Taneja (@KabirTaneja) January 20, 2025 That the fighting will stop and the remaining hostages be returned is not the issue. The issue is that Gaza and the guilty Gazan population of hate must experience retribution. Every single Gazan should be forced out of Gaza. Other Arab countries can absorb them. They falsely label themselves as refugees in need of permanence. Their permanence should be fully out of the region. They have proved they dont want peace. What they want is the complete destruction of Israel. For retribution and justice, every single Gazan should be evicted from the area. The land should be deeded to Israel and remain under Israeli control and governance. X screen grab. Elon Musk is the last hope for European citizens. Europes nations teeter on the brink of socialist autocracy, even as they accuse Musk of being an existential threat to democracy in Europe. Across Europe, increasingly totalitarian European governments are desperate to destroy Musk, whom they say (echoing Democrats at home) threatens democracy: Scholz called Musk a threat to democracy in Europe. Speaking at a press conference in Berlin, the German chancellor accused the businessman of supporting far-right parties in the EU: "This endangers the democratic development of Europe, it endangers our community and must be pic.twitter.com/g0Nd0THUtv Zlatti71 (@Zlatti_71) January 17, 2025 Orwell must be spinning in his grave at this perversion of reality. All that Musk is doing is allowing the people of Europe to access information and opinions, as well as to talk amongst themselves. Freedom of speech has always been the single most important foundation of democracy and the greatest bulwark against tyranny. No need to believe me. Take it from John Milton, the man who penned Areopagitica, perhaps the most powerful political argument for freedom of speech in 1644, at the height of Englands civil war. And that is why Europe needs Musk. It is a story in several parts. First, Europe is failing economically. It used to be vibrant, at least while the US government largely underwrote their defense costs. In 2010, the GDP of the EU equaled that of the United States. However, that is drying up with Trump forcing the EU nations to pay their way in NATO. Moreover, the EU nations are cutting their own throats with utopian energy policies. It is stunning but in no way surprising then, that the GDP of the EU has decreased in 15 years to half that of the U.S. Sixteen years ago, the US and EU economies were nearly equal in size. Today, the US economy is 50% larger than the EU. Europe is being STRANGLED by the EU and its Commission President von der Leyen's red tape. pic.twitter.com/NC23A1QZNZ Steve Hanke (@steve_hanke) December 30, 2024 Thats only a part of the story. As Europe circles the drain, the socialist bureaucracy that defines the EU nations is desperately trying to hold onto power, making a mockery of democracy in the process. In France, Macron manipulated the elections and allied with communists to keep Le Pen's winning electoral party out of office. And in now common form of the socialist left, Macron has embraced lawfare and is prosecuting Le Pen. In Germany, the afD is the big winner in Germanys most recent democratic elections, in large part because it wants to control the immigration that is destroying Germanys national identity, social fabric, and, along with green obsessions, its economic stability. It is the peoples choice. However, those in power are shutting it down: Germanys other political parties have pledged not to cooperate with the AfD. The resulting firewall shuts the party out of governing coalitions, no matter how much popular support it enjoys. The AfD is denied the committee chairmanships in the national parliament in Berlin that its numbers would otherwise entitle it to. German courts have almost uniformly rejected the partys efforts to remove these legal and extralegal barriers to normal participation in political life. In Romania, the nations highest court overturned the results of an election that saw a right-wing party win a surprising electoral victory. As the Brussels Signal explains, the High Courts act was a blatant interference in that nations democracy taken on the basis of bald allegations. In England, Labour is revising voting laws to allow foreigners to vote in UK elections. The only reason to ban voter ID is to commit voting fraud. Some playbook there as here. https://t.co/XeffSfMFsu Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 15, 2025 Democracy is not under assault in the EU from Elon Musk. It is under assault from the nations of the EU itself. Moreover, Europe is in complete cultural collapse as hard-left politicians war on the Judeo-Christian religions, the twin foundations of Western civilization. The radical atheist/socialist left is not merely winning, but it is also inviting radical Muslims to immigrate and serve as allies in that fight. The effects of this are catastrophic. Are these numbers accurate, @CommunityNotes? https://t.co/PVGlUY5mId Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 5, 2025 BREAKING: There was 3 bombings in Sweden tonight. Two attacks in Gothenburg and one in my hometown of Taby. In 2023 there was 149 bombing attacks. We now have almost daily terr*r bombings. Did you hear anything about this on the news? PeterSweden (@PeterSweden7) January 5, 2025 France: Intel chief says Muslim Brotherhood is working to turn the country into an Islamic caliphate - https://t.co/g1dE4zLElh pic.twitter.com/IXaIpWigIR Robert Spencer (@jihadwatchRS) December 29, 2024 Because theyre afraid to say Muslim. Yet these grooming gang members were animated by Islamic principles that justified and even sanctified their actions in their own eyes. Yet almost no one in the UK and few elsewhere dare to talk about that. https://t.co/cc4yKDPnAM Robert Spencer (@jihadwatchRS) January 7, 2025 There is no question that the EU governments hate Elon Musk. But for the citizens of those countries, he is their last, best hope. Image by Grok Ive been writing about the coming mass terror attacks in America for some time, a recent example being Terrorist attacks in America: just a matter of time? in July, 2024. The answer, I fear, is yes. In that article, and others, I suggested the thousands, even tens of thousands, of known and likely terrorists taking advantage of the Harris/Biden open borders are not here seeking a better life among infidels they hate and believe it their religious duty to slaughter. Graphics: X Screenshot These are the kinds of people, who, as in Kurt Schlichters novel The Attack, are likely to carry out coordinated attacks across the country using automatic weapons and low yield explosives. Given the time, theyll engage in torture, rape and mutilation, all common Islamist terror practices. Theyre unlikely to engage in spectacular attacks like 9-11. Theyd be more likely to be intercepted and theyre not necessary. Hundreds of coordinated attacks across the country carried out by teams of three or four, or even one in every state, would be more than enough to fulfill terrorist goals. Then there are the thousands of Chinese nationals, most young, fit men of military age, appearance and bearing. Even our feckless FBI and DHS have admitted at least some of them appear to be Chinese soldiers, though they have no idea who or where they are. They would be unlikely to engage in Islamist-style attacks, which for them would be acts of war. Sabotage of all kinds, howeverhybrid warfarewould be right up their alley. Austin Bay agrees: The appalling Los Angeles fires illustrate a climate, terrain, vegetation and governmental vulnerability a clever enemy could exploit, especially enemies like Russia and China who practice hybrid warfare. Hybrid warfare is war waged under the veneer of "plausible deniability." Which means the bad guys attacked you but they claim you can't prove it. This has been particularly true under the Harris/Biden regime. They have been fanatic about denying terrorism, even when it can be nothing else. The hapless DEI hire, nose-ringed FBI agent who denied the New Orleans attack was terrorism, forcing the FBI to admit it was an hour later, is only one example. With the border soon to be closed, the Trump administration will have every reason to accurately label terrorism. On Jan. 1, New Orleans suffered a deadly terrorist attack. Revived Islamo-fascist terrorism is on the minds of many Americans. Our enemies, however, do practice sabotage. In 2024, on at least three occasions, cargo shipments from Eastern Europe caught fire in airports and warehouses in Poland, Germany and Britain. The Biden administration subsequently concluded the explosive packages were a Russian "test run" for future bomb shipments to Canada and the U.S. Media have speculated the operations' raison d'etre was to bring the war in Ukraine to North America. That might be the fire next time. The California fires very well might have been terrorism, but were unlikely ever to know, and Bay is right. Accuse the Russians or Chinese and theyll deny it and dare us to prove it. Certainly, the conditions for the fires were present due to Democrat/socialist/communist (D/s/c) malice, incompetence and general stupidity, but that just makes sabotage of that kind easier. Unless the federal government forces sanity down the unwilling throats of California politicians in exchange for federal aid, those same conditions, including a lack of water for firefighting, will remain. Imagine Chinese saboteurs coordinating with Islamist terrorists. They set forest fires, and fires in essential industries which Islamists exploit. Firefighters rushing to fires cant provide paramedic services, and ambulance services would be immediately overrun. Better yet, ambush the first responders. Graphic: X Screenshot Even as thankfully former FBI Director Christopher Wray grudgingly admitted the terror danger is beyond anything weve ever seen, he was loath to admit the open border had anything to do with it. Because he was merely covering his bureaucratic ass, he also apparently did nothing to direct the FBI to fulfill its counter-terror and counter-espionage missions, preferring instead to use the Bureau to bedevil D/s/cs political enemies and Normal Americans like Catholics who like the Latin Mass and parents visiting school board meetings because they are worried about the sexual and political indoctrination of their children. And while the DHS has admitted to hundreds of people on terrorist watch lists supposedly being contacted at the borders, they arent admitting what they did with them, which means they released most of them into the country with no idea where they are or what theyre planning. The poor and fanatic of the Muslim world dont find their way around the globe to south of the border and across it without the kind of money and support that comes from well-heeled enemies, most of whom were directly financed by Joe Bidens handlers. Likewise, no one leaves China without the CCPs knowledge and permission. Donald Trump will move heaven and earth to protect America, but thats going to take time, time we may not have. On a different subject, if you are not already a subscriber, you may not know that weve implemented something new: A weekly newsletter with unique content from our editors for subscribers only. These essays alone are worth the cost of the subscription. 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. I last wrote about suppressors in December of 2024 in Suppressors: trust the science. The point, then and now, is suppressors are essential to preserving hearing. Without her hearing aids, my wife is essentially deaf, so Ive had a lifetime to learn about the negative effects of hearing loss, effects that go far beyond not being able to hear. That alone should be more than enough to delist suppressors, to remove them from the National Firearms Act that requires all manner of Federal paperwork, fingerprints, photographs, records checks, the payment of a $200 dollar, non-transferrable tax and government permission to exercise an express, unalienable right. Graphic: H&K MP5SD6, Author As I noted in December, the science is on the side of liberty: The American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery endorses the use of firearm suppressors as an effective method of reducing the risk of hearing loss, especially when used in conjunction with conventional hearing protective measures. Graphic: NRA ILA Suppressors reduce the report of firearms by up to 30db, which is a huge reduction, big enough to preserve hearing. It must also be remembered that suppressors are not at all like whats depicted in the movies. They dont eliminate the sound of gunfire, merely reduce it to non-damaging levels. Suppressed gunshots merely have a different timbre but are still recognizable as gunshots. There are a few designs, which when used with subsonic ammunition, are very quiet, but thats not what 99.9% of Americans want or use. With Donald Trumps return to office, national concealed carry reciprocity is once again a possibility, and so it seems, is delisting suppressors: The Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms applauds Congressman Ben Cline (R-Virginia) for introducing H.R. 404, the Hearing Protection Act, and is encouraging the nations gun owners to support this timely legislation. The Hearing Protection Act would amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to remove suppressors from the definition of firearms, according to the bill, and from regulation under the 1934 National Firearms Act (NFA). Similar legislation has been proposed in the past, noted CCRKBA Chairman Alan Gottlieb, and it is time for this important measure to become law. For generations, untold millions of Americans enjoying their constitutionally-protected right to own and use firearms for recreation, competition, personal protection training and other endeavors have often risked their sense of hearing, even when using ear plugs or other protective devices. As Ive previously written, even when Republicans had control of both houses of Congress and the Presidency, Republican leaders wouldnt allow delisting suppressors to come to a vote. The time isnt right, they solemnly intoned. Hopefully Republican leaders understand there will never be a better time, and if they dont act, the public is in the mood to ensure they have new and exciting employment opportunities at the next election. Democrats/socialists/communists (D/s/cs) will trot out the usual, hysterical reasons why suppressors ought to be absolutely banned, or at least made hard to get, but they, led by Colorado, want to ban pretty much every semiautomatic firearm, so no sane American can take them seriously. Suppressors on rifles for hunting, target shooting, competition and home defense have obvious utility. The same is true for handguns, and no, suppressors arent commonly used in crimes. Theyre expensive and double the length of handguns, the overwhelming choice of criminals. The length and clumsiness of suppressed handguns explains why theyre virtually never used by criminals. But what about the hunky assassin who killed United Health Care CEO Brian Thompson? Didnt he use a suppressor? Yes, he did, and we still have no idea where he got it. We do know witnesses heard three distinct gunshots. They didnt say suppressed gunshots, just gunshots. His use of a suppressor is noteworthy not because theyre so common, but because theyre uncommon. Companies like Silencer Central make buying suppressors relatively easy, though expensive. Prices range from around $600 to well over $1000 dollars. Their essential service is handling all the federal paperwork, and if one is fortunate, their chosen suppressor will be delivered to their doorstep within a few months, though the process, which is at the ATFs whim, can take up to a year. Delisting suppressors will not only provide health benefitsarent D/s/cs all about that?but will surely greatly reduce suppressor prices. Even if we believed D/s/c false assertions that no longer treating suppressors like machineguns would ensure millions of criminals had them, isnt that a compelling reason to ensure law-abiding Americans have them as well? The same is true of automatic weapons. Theyre virtually never used in crimes, but criminals can get them. Should the law-abiding be less well armed? Concealed carry reciprocity, freely available suppressors. First things first. Restoring all of Americans Second Amendment rights next. The time frame may be narrow. Perhaps its time to let our representatives knowpolitelywere serious about restoring essential liberties. On a different subject, if you are not already a subscriber, you may not know that weve implemented something new: A weekly newsletter with unique content from our editors for subscribers only. These essays alone are worth the cost of the subscription. 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. It looks like tech giants like Apple, Google, and Meta are among some companies facing scrutiny by US lawmakers over their generous donations to US President Donald Trumps inauguration fund. US Senators Elizabeth Warren and Michael Bennet have sent letters to Apple, Google, Microsoft, Meta, Amazon, OpenAI, and Uber demanding answers regarding its recent donations. Generous, personal donations Over the past few weeks, the companies mentioned above and some of their CEOs have made massive donations to Trumps inauguration fund. This involved donations amounting to $1 million each. In some cases, like Apple, OpenAI, and Uber, its CEOs made those donations personally. Companies donating to a Presidents inauguration isnt new. However, what caught the attention of these lawmakers was the amount that was donated. For context, when Joe Biden became President, the amount that these companies donated paled in comparison to how much they donated to Trump. According to FCC filings, Uber donated $1 million, while Microsoft donated $500,000. Google donated $337,500, while Amazon donated $276,509. Apple donated a paltry $43,200, while Meta and OpenAI didnt donate anything at all. So far, none of the companies have responded to the letter, except for OpenAIs CEO Sam Altman, who seemed to take offense to these accusations in a post on X. The Senators have given the companies until the 30th of January to respond. Ulterior motives Unsurprisingly, these companies and their CEOs are being pressed to answer questions about their donations to Trump. With Trump being the new President of the United States, he has a lot of control and say over what goes on in the country. This includes decisions over taxes, import or export restrictions, and more. In fact, the recent restoration of TikToks services following Trumps intervention is a perfect example of that. Deepwater Asset Management analyst, Gene Munster previously reported that companies like Apple could benefit from Trump taking office. During his campaign, Trump said that he would enact a protectionist approach to the US economy. This basically involved imposing tariffs on imports from China. This would affect many companies, such as Apple, which relies heavily on China to manufacture its products. However, Munster suggested that Trump could spare companies like Apple and Tesla from paying the higher end of these tariffs. This is why Senators Warren and Bennet are concerned that these donations might be a way to curry favor. It would also allow these companies to avoid regulations that could hurt their bottom line. The Palisades fire and the progressive Uberklasse By Todd Gregory and Erik Gregory web posted January 20, 2025 When progressive icon and communist dictator Mao Zedong launched his so-called Great Leap Forward (and later his Cultural Revolution) in China, he was rumored to have invoked an old French saying about cracking a few eggs to make an omelet. In the ensuing madness, millions of the demographically disfavored in China were put to death, or starved from Mao-caused famines. Engulfed by progressive hysteria, many farmers were told to don a surgeon's smock as they were now surgeons, while many real surgeons were stripped of their duties and ordered to work the collectivized farms. Decades later, Anita Dunn and Ron Bloom of the progressive Obama administration, whose mission statement was to fundamentally transform America, proudly paraphrased Mao, declaring: "We believe political power comes from the barrel of a gun. We will attempt the power of persuasion but we will not hesitate to use the persuasion of power." In modern America, the closest thing to Mao's and Obama's progressive Utopia is to be found in the sad, violent, debauched state of California. Palisades fire on January 8 In the wake of the latest devastating wildfires in southern California, it has been asked repeatedly: How can California's voters continue to vote for the likes of DEI mayor Karen Bass, a dyed-in-the-wool racist who idolized Fidel Castro and shrugged off warnings of imminent fire danger in Los Angeles in order to go party in West Africa on the taxpayers' dime? Or Gov. Gavin Newsom, America's version of Canada's Justin Trudeau, with tiny, delicate hands and wide hips, for whom everything is a performative virtue signal to the progressive Left, and who obsesses over the amount of melanin people have in their skin and their choice of bedroom partners? Newsom and Bass think it's more important to install a woefully unqualified but outspoken lesbian as fire chief rather than promote the highest qualified applicant, whether it's a lesbian, a black or Hispanic transgender, or (gasp) a straight white male. Recall how Mao told the farmers they were now doctors, and vice versa. The death toll from the Los Angeles area fires went well into double digits, and because Newsom and Bass were well aware of the dangers for years but did nothing to prevent the catastrophe, a strong case can be made that both are legally culpable and guilty of negligent homicide. Newsom's decidedly unscientific fantasy about apocalyptic anthropogenic global warming (supposedly caused by the evils of greenhouse gases and capitalism) enables him to keep both the wildfires and the lucrative government and activist-driven climate grift alive. Thus, the delta smelt fish lives while people die in preventable, government-caused wildfires. They die because Gavin Newsom keeps flushing trillions of gallons of rainwater out to sea rather than building up and maintaining California's reservoirs to fight fires. And much of the taxpayer money supposedly allocated for firefighting infrastructure instead goes to social engineering/DEI boondoggles or disappears as untraceable graft into the bank accounts of California's well-connected, super-rich progressive elite (both in and out of government). In 2014, California voters approved Proposition 1 (the Water Bond), shelling out $7.1 billion in new taxes for new water storage infrastructure. As with California's nonexistent high-speed rail, charging stations for electric vehicles, and numerous other state projects, graft-addicted government officials and their cronies pocketed the taxpayers' money but didn't deliver on any of the pie in the sky promises. California voters remain indifferent, or rather in a permanent state of blissful disassociation, blaming droughts, wildfires, high taxes, violent crime, homelessness, and the like on supposedly heartless Republicans, who are truly a critically endangered political species in the state, with virtually no say in government. John Gage and Roy DeSoto of Hollywood Emergency! fame clearly did not come to put out these fires. What's an ultra-left-wing progressive celebrity in the destroyed Pacific Palisades to do? Karen Bass's fellow Fidel Castro admirer Steven Spielberg (who was as starstruck as any fanboy upon meeting The Maximum Leader) and actor/cabana boy Tom Hanks raise money and vote for moral monsters whose grifting and progressive policies lead inexorably to despair, destruction, and death. Reportedly, Spielberg's and Hanks's homes were thankfully spared. But why do others like Mel Gibson and Anthony Hopkins have to lose their homes on account of all this? Or the thousands of others who lost their precious houses and businesses, their lives permanently ripped asunder by California's DEI-obsessed Uberklasse? What about the idealistic if misguided waitress in South Central LA who donated a hard-earned $50 to the Kamala Harris campaign, only to see Kamala give that money to billionaire Oprah Winfrey or other celebrities from the progressive Uberklasse? Is there some cognitive dissonance for the waitress, or will she mindlessly vote for Karen Bass for mayor again, and Kamala for governor in 2026? How about the sexually confused UCLA gender studies major who can quote a quackademic like Howard Zinn or Ta-Nehisi Coates as readily as boy in the bubble Matt Damon but who, like the baizuo Damon, would never be caught dead reading Heather Mac Donald or Christopher Rufo of City Journal, or Dinesh D'Souza or Douglas Murray, assuming she/he/they/zir had ever even heard of such real and heavyweight scholars? It is both unsurprising and revealing that the wealthy progressives who lost their homes are demanding that they be allowed to rebuild without the troublesome red tape, expensive building permits, zoning, and time-consuming bureaucratic regulations they insist that the middle class and the less well off abide by. Further, these same wealthy progressives from the Uberklasse, along with Gov. Newsom, Mayor Bass, Senator Adam Schiff, the sheriff's office, district attorney's office, and media made it crystal clear that looting, theft, and related criminal mischief will not be tolerated in rich, progressive neighborhoods. These are the very same paternalistic progressives who sought to decriminalize shoplifting, who cheered on the nationwide looting and arson committed by BLM in 2020, and declared that smash and grab retail robberies of up to $950 per day were "victimless" crimes unworthy of arrest or prosecution. But you'd better keep your shoplifting, looting, arson, and vandalism away from their homes. Progressives, whether rich or poor, white or black, famous or anonymous, refuse to abide ideas or acknowledge basic facts which conflict with their ideology, all the better to sidestep any troublesome cognitive dissonance that forces them to re-examine their totalizing Manichean assumptions about the world and human nature. Their refusal to face reality also explains their mania for censoring and persecuting anybody who dissents from progressive orthodoxy. Decades ago, crackpot progressive social theories like DEI, Critical Race Theory (CRT), Queer Studies, and their endless postmodern offshoots, were confined to the eccentricities of the campus, with professors outside of the STEM fields parroting academic nihilists like Michel Foucalt, Noam Chomsky, Bill Ayers, and Saul Alinsky. Unfortunately, the woke mind virus, like the COVID virus, did not stay confined to the lab or the campus. It infected all of society, but especially California, and it's getting lots of people killed, whether the proximate source is the district attorney's office, the genocide-promoting campus, the governor's mansion in Sacramento, or the mayor's office in Los Angeles. For progressive true believers, Gavin Newsom and Karen Bass might represent the apotheosis of the progressive movement. For the reality-based, they are its nadir. The authors are brothers and previous contributors to Enter Stage Right. A shorter version of this article first appeared in American Thinker. Home Yesterday, a few hours after its US ban, TikTok service was restored with the help of Donald Trump. The new president-elect assured the company that its partners wont be sanctioned for working with them after the January 19 deadline set by last years bill. It was also revealed how the service could stay in the country in the long term. Now, China has responded to Trumps proposed plan to keep TikTok in the country. TikTok sale should be decided independently, China official responds to Trumps proposal Today, Mao Ning, Chinas Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson, answered some questions related to the situation of TikTok and China-US trade relations. Starting with TikTok, Chinas position regarding a potential sale is that such moves should be decided independently by companies based on market principles. Trumps proposed plan involves the United States buying 50% of TikToks US stake through a local company. It was not revealed which companies could bid. However, the Project Liberty initiative recently emerged as a candidate. Mao also spoke more generally about the situation of Chinese companies in the United States. She said that US officials should listen carefully to rational voices and provide an open, fair, just and non-discriminatory business environment for market entities from all countries to operate in the United States. The spokesperson recalled TikToks huge popularity in the United States. The social media platform has around 170 million active users in the country. Plus, its offices house around 7,000 employees. Mao claims that the apps presence has helped boost local consumption and employment as well. If Chinese companies are involved, they should comply with Chinese laws and regulations, she added. What about foreign services banned in China? Elon Musk recently raised the issue of Chinas ban on US services. The current situation where TikTok is allowed to operate in America, but X is not allowed to operate in China is unbalanced, and something needs to change, he said. Mao replied that foreign businesses are welcome in China as long as they follow the rules and laws of the country. Many foreign tech services are not available in China because they do not comply with local data regulations. These regulations reportedly imply putting user privacy at risk due to the demands of the Chinese government. That said, Mao affirmed that China has never and will not require companies or individuals to collect user data abroad. It is currently unknown what ByteDances position is regarding Trumps TikTok sale proposal. For the time being, it might be the only way for the service to keep running in the country. Huawei could reach quite a feat this year. According to a new report, Huawei could make a return among top 5 smartphone OEMs, globally, in 2025. This information comes from the supply chain, actually. Report claims that Huawei could return among top 5 smartphone OEMs in 2025, globally This report has been shared by CNMO, as Huawei is predicted to make quite a comeback in 2025. In addition to ranking amongst top 5 smartphone OEMs globally, the company is expected to sit at number 1 spot in China. This would be quite an achievement for Huawei, as the US ban managed to shatter the companys plans. Well, maybe not shatter, but at least postpone them. Huawei has been putting the pieces of the puzzle back together, and it seems like its ready to make a considerable push. It will be quite a challenge to make a considerably impact globally without access to Google services and the Google Play Store. In fact, Huawei ditched Android altogether in China with its HarmonyOS NEXT operating system. Were not sure what are Huaweis plans for the global market, but we dont really see the same thing happening all that soon. Some sources suggested it will happen in 2025, even in the first half of 2025, but were not all that convinced. It remains to be seen if Huawei will stick with HarmonyOS in markets outside of China Huawei could stick to regular HarmonyOS globally, at least for now. Including HarmonyOS NEXT on global devices may not be a smooth transition, and it would be a huge change. Lets see what the company is planning, though. As a reminder, Huawei is currently the second smartphone OEM in China, second only to Vivo. The company managed to sell 46 million smartphones in 2024, outpacing Apples 42.9 million, and being a bit behind Vivos 49.3 million. Huawei did grow the most in 2024, YoY, when the Chinese market is concerned. The company marked a 37% growth. Apple fell by 17% YoY, while Vivo grew by 11%. While it bombed the JerryRigEverything durability test, the Huawei Mate XT was a technical marvel. Now, the world is waiting for Samsungs tri-folding phone, as rumors suggested the company was working on one. According to a report, Samsung is working on a tri-folding phone, and it will launch it in 2025. Huawei hijacked the internet when it launched the Mate XT, the first tri-folding phone readily available. Its a technical feat that only a large tech company like Huawei could pull off, and it pulled it off well. While extremely expensive (nearly $3K), the Mate XT was still able to turn some serious heads. Now, the ball is in Samsungs court, as the company is looking to make up for a disappointing year for the Galaxy Z foldables. Its hoping that it can rekindle the fire thats been dying out over the years. Samsung could launch its tri-folding phone in 2025 Designing a tri-fold device seems to be the logical next step for Samsung, as its pretty much monopolized the foldable phone market. Notable leaker Jukanlosreve made a post on X.com about Samsungs foldable strategy for the year, citing a video from Korean news company The Elec. In the post, we see that the company will launch a whopping four foldable phones this year. We all know to expect the Galaxy Z Fold 7 and Galaxy Z Flip 7. Along with that, Samsung could launch the Galaxy Z Flip FE, which should be close competition for phones like the Tecno Phantom Flip 2, base Motorola Razr, and Nubia Flip 2. Lastly, the post simply says Triple fold. Jukanlosreve also gave us some information on this device. This is information you should take with a grain of salt. The leak states that component production will begin in Q2 this year, and we should expect a Q3 launch. Given Samsungs late-year launch schedules over the years, we expect the companys second Unpacked event to happen sometime in July. If the company will start component production in Q2, then a July launch would be cutting it close. So, theres a chance that the Tri-fold phone might launch later than the other foldables. Samsung plans to produce 200,000 units of this phone, which is a pretty high number. Lastly, the Tri-fold could have a screen size between 9.9 inches and 10 inches when fully unfolded. This almost puts it in Galaxy Tab territory. At this point, we dont know any information about the price, but dont expect it to be cheap by any means. To make higher profit margins, Apple, like many other companies, outsourced a lot of its manufacturing to companies outside of the US. This, in turn, allowed countries such as China to grow due to the massive investments foreign companies are making. Now, it looks like Apple wants to make an investment back home in the US, according to President Donald Trump. Apples massive investment Speaking on the eve of his inauguration, Trump claims to have spoken with Apple CEO Tim Cook, who told him that the company plans to make a massive investment in the US. It is unclear what this massive investment could be, but presumably, it could involve making more products locally or moving more of its services back home. This isnt the first time Trump and Cook have worked together. Back in 2019, during Trumps first term as President of the United States, Cook was a member of the American Workforce Policy Advisory Board. Cook has also personally donated $1 million to Trumps inauguration fund following Trumps win for a second term as the President. Even companies like Google, OpenAI, Uber, Meta, and Amazon have made similar donations. This has raised some eyebrows as well as attracted the attention of US lawmakers who recently demanded an answer about these donations. Companies like Apple have an incentive to be on Trumps good side. This is because Trump has economic plans focusing on protecting the US economy. This involves tariffs on goods imported from countries like China. Currying favor with Trump could allow Apple to receive special favors or exemptions. Other investments Apple isnt alone in trying to bring more jobs back to the US. Even other non-US-based companies have taken the knee in this regard. TSMC is one of those companies. The company, which is the worlds largest chip maker, used to operate in Taiwan and China primarily. In recent years, it started to bring some of its operations to the US. Japan-based SoftBank is also another company that is making considerable investments in the US. The company promised a $100 billion investment that it claims will create 100,000 jobs. DAMAC, a property development company from the UAE, also offered a $20 billion commitment to build data centers in the US. That being said, its hard to blame these companies for trying to cozy up to Trump. As President, Trump wields immense power and influence that could affect the way these companies operate in the US. During Trumps first term, the US government announced that it was considering banning TikTok. This almost went through over the weekend, where TikTok took its services offline before it was restored following Trumps intervention. "Third parties" in Canada updated to 2025 (Part One) By Mark Wegierski web posted January 20, 2025 "Third parties" are an endlessly fascinating topic of study for political theorists. The notion of "third party" arises in polities characterized by "first-past-the-post" voting systems, where there are usually only two major parties. Polities characterized by proportional representation (PR) voting systems, tend to have a multiplicity of parties. Particular popular attention although scant electoral support -- is given to "third parties" in the U.S. where the "two-party" system is so strongly entrenched. Since the 1850s, with the rise of the Republican Party, there have been two main parties in the U.S. although both of them have undergone tremendous permutations. Since that time, there has never been in U.S. politics, a "third party" which achieved the electoral breakthroughs that a considerable number of "third parties" have been able to do in Canada. It is quite fascinating to study all these "third parties". Indeed, these "third parties" are sometimes not easily categorized as conventionally conservative or liberal. For example, the candidacies of both Ralph Nader (Green Party), and Pat Buchanan (Reform Party) in the 2000 U.S. Presidential election, had elements that could be seen as neither conventionally conservative, nor conventionally liberal. "Third parties" often amount to a salutary "shaking-up" of the political system actually making it more truly populist. Preston Manning Indeed, one of the main differences between Canada and the United States is the presence of relatively successful "third parties" in Canada. Some had argued that Preston Manning's Reform Party a classic "third party" had effectively become the "first party" -- as a result of the 2006 Canadian federal election. It should be stressed that the Canadian and U.S. Reform Parties were considerably different in their outlooks. However, in light of Harper's centrist-tending policies and his failure to win the October 19, 2015, federal election the notion that the Conservatives were "the Reform Party Version Three" is indeed quite spurious. It could be argued that the Reform Party vision of Canada was already mostly defeated when Preston Manning felt compelled to broaden the party into the Canadian Alliance. The two main parties in Canadian politics have been the Liberals (roughly corresponding to the post-1930s U.S. Democrats) and the Conservatives (roughly corresponding to twentieth-century U.S. Republicans although rather more moderate). The Liberals in Canada were, between 1896 to 2004, considerably more electorally successful in the Canadian polity, than the U.S. Democrats in America. Ironically, in the 2011 Canadian federal election, the Liberals fell to third party status, winning only 34 of 308 seats. However, they came roaring back to power in the October 19, 2015, federal election, under the leadership of Justin Trudeau, the son of Pierre Elliott Trudeau, Canada's left-leaning Liberal Prime Minister from 1968-1984 (except for nine months in 1979-1980). They were also able to win strong minority governments (a plurality of seats in the House of Commons) in the 2019 and 2021 federal elections. The Conservatives had changed their name to "Progressive Conservative" already in 1942. One of the ostensible reasons for the name change was to attract the support of a popular third party of the Western Canadian provinces the Progressives. In earlier years, there had also been such ephemeral protest parties as the UFO (United Farmers of Ontario). The Communist Party of Canada had famously won a seat in the federal Parliament in the 1940s. The federal-level Christian Heritage Party, the provincial-level Family Coalition Party in Ontario, and the Libertarian Party, have never won a sitting member in the legislatures for which they have run. There were at least two minor conservative parties running in the June 2, 2022 Ontario provincial election the Ontario Party, and the New Blue Party. There has also arisen Maxime Bernier's federal-level People's Party of Canada/Parti populaire du Canada, as well as the People's Alliance party in New Brunswick, which won 3 seats (and was holding the balance of power) in the 2018 provincial election. In that New Brunswick election, the provincial-level Green Party was also able to win 3 seats. In the 2020 New Brunswick election, the Progressive Conservatives won a majority, so the 3 seats won by the Green Party, and the 2 seats won by the People's Alliance party, are less important. However, the People's Alliance party dissolved itself when its two parliamentary members joined the Progressive Conservatives. The Green Party is also the Official Opposition (second-largest party) in Prince Edward Island, since 2019. Two minor anti-immigration/anti-multiculturalism parties are the Cultural Action Party of Canada, and the Nationalist Party of Canada. There is also the National Citizens Alliance (formerly the National Advancement Party of Canada). Maxime Bernier's People's Party of Canada won only 1.64% of the popular vote in the 2019 federal election. However, in the 2021 federal election, they won around 5% of the popular vote (over 800,000 votes), but were again unable to win a single seat. The most prominent of the Canadian third parties was probably the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF), renamed as the New Democratic Party (NDP) in 1961. There was also the Social Credit Party (based loosely on the ideas of C. H. Douglas, who criticized big banks), which arose both in Western Canada and in Quebec where it had a Quebec-nationalist focus. The founder of the Reform Party, Preston Manning, was the son of the longtime Alberta Social Credit Premier, Ernest C. Manning, and the accusation was sometimes made that the Reform Party were "re-tread Socreds". The Reform Party (co-founded in 1987 by Preston Manning) transformed itself into the Canadian Alliance (officially called the Canadian Reform-Conservative Alliance) as a result of the so-called "United Alternative" process of 1998-2000. The Canadian Alliance then merged with the federal Progressive Conservative party in December 2003, renamed together as the Conservative Party. In Canada, this federal-level party calls itself "Conservative" without the adjective among the various provincial wings (where they exist) the name "Progressive Conservative" has usually been retained. The Conservative Party won 166 seats in the 2011 federal election. However, they fell to second place (99 seats) in the 2015 federal election. In the 2019 federal election, they won 121 seats, and were slightly ahead in the popular vote. In the 2021 federal election, they won 119 seats, and again were slightly ahead in the popular vote. The Liberal Party of British Columbia was sometimes anomalously considered to be a centrist or even right-leaning party. However, B.C. politics were upended when the Liberal Party changed its name to United, and then dissolved itself in favour of a new Conservative Party of British Columbia, which came close to defeating the NDP. According to some observers, the triumph of the Conservative Party in 2011 (where they finally won a majority, after their minority governments of 2006 and 2008) was a belated triumph for Preston Manning. In the 1980s, the federal P.C. party was mostly hostile to so-called "small-c conservatism". Manning's Reform Party certainly divided the broader "right/centre-right/centre" vote, but it could be argued that it tried to introduce a salutary clarification into Canadian politics. However, the Conservative collapse in 2015 appears to have thoroughly undermined the long-time endeavour to build a true, "small-c conservative" federal party in Canada. The re-unification of the CA and P.C. parties could only occur after Joe Clark (who had briefly been Prime Minister in 1979-1980, and the leader of the federal P.C.s from 1976-1983 and again in 1998-2003) left the leadership of the federal P.C.s. Joe Clark appeared to have played the role of a "spoiler" to the bitter twilight of his career. But, after the merger in December 2003, the "vote-splitting" was definitely over, and, under the leadership of Stephen Harper, the Conservative Party became seriously competitive. While some have argued that the Conservatives might have won a majority already in 2004, it may be supposed that Harper had some work to do to establish his credibility with the Canadian public. He won a minority government in 2006, a strengthened minority in 2008, and finally a strong parliamentary majority in 2011. There were, however, few attempts to move in the direction of more pronounced conservatism, after that major win. So, in retrospect, there really wasn't any kind of belated triumph for Preston Manning. In response to the Conservative Party's move to the right, there had arisen a faction called Centre Ice Conservatives, who later changed their name to Centre Ice Canadians, and finally tried to establish a centrist party called Canadian Future. To be continued. Mark Wegierski is a Canadian writer and historical researcher. Home A new agreement will enable UK-qualified professionals such as lawyers and ski instructors to work in Switzerland, ministers have announced. The UK-Switzerland Recognition of Professional Qualifications Agreement will mean Britons qualifications in more than 200 professions are recognised in Switzerland, according to the Department for Business and Trade. It replaces a similar agreement that was in place while the UK was departing the EU which expired at the end of 2024. The announcement comes as Chancellor Rachel Reeves and Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds will be in the country for the World Economic Forum annual meeting at Davos this week. According to the department, the new deal will cover a range of professions from auditors to driving instructors and cabin crew, and for the first time anaesthetists will also be covered. It replaces the citizens rights agreement which was reached in 2018 as the UK was leaving the EU and covered UK and Swiss nationals living in both nations, and provided similar cover for professional qualifications. Mr Reynolds said his experience as a trainee solicitor means I know the challenges faced by UK professionals when working abroad and innovative agreements like this will make a real difference to our world-class services sectors. He added: As a resolutely pro-business Government, we want to make it as seamless as possible for UK businesses to operate abroad. With the UK and Switzerland being two global leaders in services trade, this agreement is testament to our unwavering commitment to economic growth. The summit in Switzerland this week comes after a report released by the World Economic Forum last week found that global economies are facing declining optimism amid growing concerns about armed conflicts. The WEF annual global risk survey found that climate change and extreme weather events remain the biggest concern over the long term, however, and increased geopolitical pressures are causing growing uncertainty across the economy. The poll of more than 900 global risk experts, policymakers and industry leaders showed that the majority of respondents, 52%, are anticipating an unsettled global outlook over the next two years. This is also linked to concerns over shifting trade policies, amid the threat of the USs Donald Trump imposing new tariffs on other countries later this year. Aston Villa have rejected a bid from Premier League rivals West Ham for forward Jhon Duran, the PA news agency understands. West Ham first registered an interest in Duran last summer but failed to pursue initial advances for the Colombian striker and he signed a new deal with Villa until 2030 in October. However, the Hammers have stepped up their efforts to bring the 12-goal forward to London and had a bid reported to be in the region of 57million turned down by Villa on Monday. The transfer speculation is an unwanted distraction for Villa ahead of Tuesdays Champions League clash away to Monaco. Jhon Duran during a training session ahead of Aston Villas match against Monaco (David Davies/PA). Leading scorer Duran is set to be involved, but, with 20 of his 27 appearances this season having come as a substitute, boss Unai Emery acknowledged it was a challenge for him to find a way to play the highly-rated attacker with Ollie Watkins. Watkins scored his 10th goal of the campaign in Saturdays 2-2 draw at Arsenal and insisted post-match he could partner Duran, which has only happened once under Emery in the 5-0 loss away to Crystal Palace last May. Asked about playing Watkins and Duran together, Emery told reporters in Monaco: Firstly, its my challenge. Its my challenge to try to get the best individually and then collectively. Collectively means maybe playing together, but we have to work tactically because to play with two strikers, two proper strikers, is not the same task as playing together, because they have to try to help the team as well offensively and defensively. I think I can find a solution to play at the beginning and start them together, but they have to understand the role. Villa have enjoyed an excellent return to Europes elite competition with four wins out of six matches to sit fifth in the new league phase of the Champions League. Unai on finishing in the top eight of the #UCL: "We want to compete, trying to be protagonists in this competition. And we have a huge opportunity arriving here to play game seven with 13 points." pic.twitter.com/9y6RIMyOmh Aston Villa (@AVFCOfficial) January 20, 2025 A top-eight finish would send Villa currently on 13 points directly through to the last 16 and avoid an extra knock-out tie next month. Emery added: I think we need three or four more points to get the top eight. Our target is to be in the top eight and tomorrow is the key. Firstly because Monaco has an opportunity if they are beating us to get 16 points and maybe they could be in the top eight as well. Our opportunity and our objective is not to get 16 we will try to get 19 points because with that we will be there for sure. D-Day veteran, 99, is great example to us all, King says The King has praised a 99-year-old D-Day veteran as a great example to us all as he toured a regimental museum in Aberdeen. During the visit, Charles was shown a family heirloom from the First World War, a kilt worn by a soldier who was wounded so grievously he was declared dead only for his status to be amended to wounded in action the next day. He viewed the kilt which is still encrusted with mud from the Somme as he visited The Gordon Highlanders Museum, which celebrates the story of the British regiment originally raised by the 5th Duke of Gordon in 1784. As the Duke of Rothesay, Charles was appointed colonel in chief of the regiment in 1978 and remained so until its amalgamation with the Queens Own Highlanders in 1994. Captain Alexander Manson was wounded in the Battle of the Somme and his family have kept his kilt untouched (Andrew Milligan/PA) After meeting volunteers and seeing new renovations to the museum, the King spoke to former soldiers in the regiment including 99-year-old Jim Glennie. As an 18-year-old private, he was part of the invasion force which landed at Sword Beach on D-Day. He was later wounded in action and taken prisoner, spending the remainder of the war in Stalag IV-B. He and other soldiers made their own way back to Allied lines when their German guards deserted them as the Russians approached from the east. Upon seeing the King at the museum, Mr Glennie greeted him cheerfully and said long time no see! The King told him about a portrait of Mr Glennie he had been shown at the museum, saying it looked terrific and promising to send him a message when he turns 100 in August. The King said: Youre a great example to us all, if I may say so, you really are. Charles meets staff at the museum during his visit (Andrew Milligan/PA) Mr Glennies son James Glennie Jr said his father had once served Charles sister Anne during a dinner at the museum, recalling her laughter when a potato rolled off the table and his father tried to hide it. The Gordon Highlanders veteran was unable to join last summers D-Day commemorations in Normandy. Earlier, Charles was shown a kilt which was worn by Captain Alexander Manson during the Battle of the Ancre in November 1916, part of the wider Battle of the Somme. His grandson Sandy Manson explained to the King that Captain Manson had been sent over the top on November 13, 1916, and was severely injured by an artillery shell. His wounds were deemed to be fatal and a notice of his death was even sent home to his family in Scotland on November 18, though to their relief his status was corrected to wounded at 5pm the next day. The kilt, which is still partially covered in mud, was kept untouched in an attic at the family home for decades but has now been presented to the museum, along with letters written by Captain Manson and the erroneous death notice. The King meets volunteers at the Gordon Highlanders Museum (Andrew Milligan/PA) Mr Manson told the PA news agency: At home weve got such a wonderful history of family artefacts, thats one of the most grisliest, but it tells a story. It reminds me how lucky I am to be here. He added: His Majesty is so remarkably interested and informed about the history of the regiment. The museums chairman Colonel Charlie Sloan said the museum is now the physical embodiment of the regiment and the King had thoroughly enjoyed his visit. He said: While this place still exists, the regiment still exists. As the King arrived he was played bagpipe music titled the Tache after the nickname of the regiments last colonel Sir Peter Graham, who died recently. The engagement on Monday marks the Kings first visit to the museum since 2011, when he went there after unveiling the Gordon Highlanders statue in the citys Castlegate. Everyone deserves to feel safe and loved in their relationships, but sadly, this isn't every person's reality. Fortunately, there are countless resources available for survivors of domestic violence. From tip lines to shelters, these assets can provide a priceless lifeline for those who need it the most. However, one demographic of domestic violence victims has been overlooked. Pets can be just as at risk in dangerous relationships! Some survivors even stay in these harmful situations purely for the safety of their cat or dog, but some women's and children's shelters are doing their best to change that. The Battered Women and Childrens Shelter in San Antonio, Texas, is one of these innovative shelters where women, children, and their four-legged friends can all find safety and respite. Their dog kennels allow pet owners to bring their fur babies with them, ensuring nobody is left behind or at risk. This is such a beautiful thing to do for domestic violence survivors and the pets they adore! I can only imagine the relief they must feel when they learn their furry friend can find peace and safety, too. In fact, their pet's acceptance could be the deciding factor that helps them leave such a scary situation. Related: Purina, RedRover, and Hockey Player Partner Up to Support Domestic Abuse Survivors with Pets Felisha Ruiz, the lead monitor at the Battered Women and Children Shelter, has seen too many cases when a pet's safety is just as threatened as their owner's. She recalls hearing abusers' threats, "That, If you dont come back, X, Y, and Z is going to happen to the animal. Thankfully, that's no longer a concern for dog owners who are able to find their way to the shelter. Of course, dogs are not the only pets at risk in domestic violence situations. That's why the Battered Women and Children Shelter is building a kennel for pet cats, too. Although these pets aren't allowed in the main building or rooms of the shelter, owners can visit them or take them out anytime during the kennel's daylight hours. How Pets Help Domestic Violence Survivors Any pet owner understands just how strong the bond between a person and an animal can be, but this bond only grows when a dog and dog owner heal together. In fact, having a dog can give a survivor an increased sense of safety, love, and companionship when they need it the most. On the most difficult days, simply feeding a dog and taking a walk can provide a sense of purpose and routine, too. Allowing pets in shelters like this one can bring so much joy and laughter to survivors' days. Animals can bring people together, help folks develop healthy habits like getting outside, and put a smile on anyone's face. Building kennels at domestic violence shelters sounds like a huge win-win! Looking for more PetHelpful updates? Follow us on YouTube for more entertaining videos. Or, share your own adorable pet by submitting a video, and sign up for our newsletter for the latest pet updates and tips. Former Asda and Marks & Spencer chief executive Lord Stuart Rose has said remote working policies have spawned a generation who are not doing proper work. Speaking to BBC Ones Panorama, Lord Rose claimed working from home makes people less productive, linking it to the general decline of the UK economy. He said: We have regressed in this country in terms of working practices, productivity and in terms of the countrys wellbeing, I think, by 20 years in the last four. Remote working policies were introduced by most companies during Covid-19 lockdowns, with office employees the most affected by them. The number of people working from home more than doubled between late 2019 and early 2022, from 4.7 million to 9.9 million. The most recent official data showed that 28% of the UK workforce is in hybrid work, 13% of people are fully remote and 44% travel to work. In responses to the October survey by the Office for National Statistics, people said they spend more time on rest, exercise and wellbeing when they are able to work some days at home. But a growing number of companies, including Amazon, Boots and JP Morgan, have called their employees back to the office full-time in recent months. Bosses claim face-to-face contact is important for collaboration and being in the office helps their employees get more work done. Rebecca Florisson, principal analyst at Lancaster Universitys Work Foundation, said the recent push to get people back in the office full-time is unhelpful, and risks undoing some of the gains that have been made in this area since the pandemic. For many workers, remote work is not a nice to have but a key element to their ability to get into and remain in work, she said. Given the Governments aim to support more workers into the workforce and grow the economy, access to flexible working is a key lever to achieve this. Disabled workers have indicated that working from home allows them to better manage their condition and report maintained or improved productivity. The Labour Government is changing the law to give workers the right to work more flexibly, with a new Employment Rights Bill which would make hybrid working an option for all unless their employer can prove it is unreasonable. Caroline Gleeson, chief executive of Occupop, a recruitment software firm, said hybrid work policies could help companies attract top talent. She said more talent will be attracted to those positions offering flexible working. It isnt just that they may feel more productive working in a more comfortable and familiar environment but it can help to prevent burnout and improve worker retention, she added. Lord Rose himself called Asdas 5,000-strong team of head office workers back to the office for at least three days a week in 2024. A biography of the former chief on Asdas website says: Stuart appears to have no hobbies apart from work and has a dog called Bruce. Lord Roses comments come after he called for a predominant return to the office in 2022, when he said he is an unreconstructed get-back-to-work man. I think people are more productive in the office, but we have to be flexible. We have to understand some people have particular needs and worries, and concerns and health issues, he said then. Families of hostages wait for news after three freed on first day of ceasefire Families of remaining Israeli hostages are waiting for news on their loved ones after three women were reunited with relatives following their release by Hamas on the first day of a ceasefire deal. British Israeli Emily Damari, who was held in captivity for more than 15 months in what was described as ongoing torture for her family, was among those freed on Sunday hugging loved ones in tearful reunions once she made it to Israel. Her mother Mandy Damari, who grew up in Beckenham, south-east London, thanked all those who never stopped fighting for Emily throughout this horrendous ordeal, posting a photo on social media of her and her daughter video-calling loved ones, with the caption: Emily is home. Mandy Damari has campaigned for her daughters freedom (Jonathan Brady/PA) Two other hostages, Romi Gonen, 24, and Doron Steinbrecher, 31, were also freed on Sunday and the trio are now in Israel. According to the Daily Mail, Dorons mother Simona, 63, is Mandy Damaris best friend. Kfar Aza resident, neighbour and best friend to Ms Damari, Guy Yakobi, 29, told the Mail that it is a blessing that she and Ms Steinbrecher were released together. It would have been agonising for one to come out and not another, so this is really special for them. They are really fabulous women who have been so strong, he said. Mr Yakobi also told of the moment he found out his best friend would be one of the first women freed. I was walking my dog in the park when I saw the names and I was just screaming my throat out, he said. I was crying and shouting, Yes! Thank God! Everyone was staring at me and I was just shouting at them, My best friend is coming back from Gaza!' Hostages released in November described Ms Damari as a leader who kept the spirits up of her fellow captives. The Daily Telegraph reports that she started taking care of everyone, with one freed girl telling Mrs Damari that her daughter would wake up and sing: Its a great morning. Others have reported Ms Damari acted as a go-between with the guards. According to the Mail, Ms Gonen told Mrs Damari last night: You dont understand what your daughter has meant to me all this time. All three women were assessed at Sheba Medical Centre in Tel Aviv, with doctors reporting that the women are in stable condition and will be monitored for a few days. Professor Itai Pessach told a press conference in the Israeli city: That allows us and them to focus on what is the most important thing for now (which) is reuniting with the families. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer welcomed the wonderful and long-overdue news of their release and called for all hostages to be freed, saying we must not forget those who remain in captivity. Foreign Secretary David Lammy made similar remarks, saying our thoughts are with British-linked hostages Eli Sharabi, Oded Lifshitz and Avinatan Or. Mr Sharabi is on the list of 33 hostages expected to be released in the opening phase of the ceasefire deal. His brother-in-law, Stephen Brisley, who lives in south Wales, told the PA news agency: Im only cautiously optimistic about the deal because Im not convinced that it will run the whole six weeks. I thought I would perhaps feel more excited and elated than I actually am, but I think its because Im tempering that with a dose of the realism that has been drummed into us with events over the last year and just sort of hoping. Its one of those times that I wished I was a religious man so that I could pray but Im not so all I can do is just hope and cross my fingers. Mr Brisley, who does not even know whether his brother-in-law is alive, described the prospect of waiting to hear news as an exquisite torture. London-based film-maker Sharone Lifschitz, whose father Oded remains a hostage, said we can start healing once all the hostages are freed. She knows he was alive in Gaza in late October 2023 but has heard no news of him since. Emily Damari has been freed (Family/PA) He was frail and he was shot in the hand, she told BBCs Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg. His chances are not great but we will know (soon). Ms Damaris mother Mandy campaigned fiercely for her daughters freedom and in the wake of it called for all Israeli hostages to be released. She said in a statement on Sunday afternoon: After 471 days Emily is finally home. I want to thank everyone who never stopped fighting for Emily throughout this horrendous ordeal, and who never stopped saying her name. In Israel, Britain, the United States, and around the world. Thank you for bringing Emily home. While Emilys nightmare in Gaza is over, for too many other families the impossible wait continues. Every last hostage must be released, and humanitarian aid must be provided to the hostages who are still waiting to come home. We ask that the media please respect Emilys and our familys privacy during this time. The UK Government called for the ceasefire deal to be implemented in full after delays early on Sunday morning spoke to its fragility. The Prime Minister said: The release of three hostages today is wonderful and long-overdue news after months of agony for them and their families. However, today also represents another day of suffering for those who havent made it home yet so while this ceasefire deal should be welcomed, we must not forget about those who remain in captivity under Hamas. We must now see the remaining phases of the ceasefire deal implemented in full and on schedule, including the release of those remaining hostages and a surge of humanitarian aid into Gaza. The UK stands ready to do everything it can to support a permanent and peaceful solution. Sharone Lifschitz said she knew her father was alive in Gaza in late October 2023 but had heard no news of him since (Jeff Overs/BBC/PA) Mr Lammy said: We are clear the deal must be implemented in full; all hostages be returned and aid be allowed to flow into Gaza now. This ceasefire must lead to a credible pathway towards a two-state solution in which Israelis and Palestinians can live side by side in peace. Shadow foreign secretary Dame Priti Patel warned of a long and challenging path to resolution. In a statement posted on social media, she said: The ceasefire remains fragile and there is a long and challenging road ahead. None of the hostages nor their families ever deserved to be put through this nightmare. Every single hostage must be returned safely home and reunited with family and friends after 15 months of cruel captivity at the hands of Hamas. Israel started releasing 90 Palestinian prisoners, all women or children, on Sunday evening as part of the ceasefire deal. Hundreds of trucks carrying humanitarian aid arrived in Gaza on Sunday, Tom Fletcher, the UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, said. More than 630 trucks with humanitarian aid entered Gaza today, with at least 300 of them going to the north. There is no time to lose, he posted on the social media site X. Spice Girl Geri Halliwell-Horner and her husband Christian Horner were celebrating after their horse won at Warwick Racecourse on Monday. The couple, who tied the knot in 2015, saw their bay gelding Lift Me Up come first in the 3.50pm Willoughby De Broke Open Hunters Chase, ridden by jockey Jack Andrews. Dressed in a white-and-cream outfit, and a large green hat, Halliwell-Horner clapped and thanked Andrews after he beat Bennys King, Jeux DEau, and Lord Du Mesnil. Geri Halliwell-Horners horse won the Willoughby De Broke Open Hunters Chase (David Davies/PA) She also shouted from the stands following the triumphant finish. Halliwell-Horner and her Red Bull-boss husband who also attended the race track have owned the nine-year-old racehorse for the past few years. The pair named the horse after Halliwell-Horners solo song, Lift Me Up, after buying the gelding, a relative of the racehorse Denman, from a trainer in Ireland. It made its race debut in 2022, and is trained by Maxine Filby. Geri Halliwell-Horner and Christian Horner were at Warwick Racecourse to see their horse win (David Davies/P)A Halliwell-Horner has previously revealed they also call the horse Hector. Last year, Horner attended Buckingham Palace to be made Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for his services to motorsport. Halliwell-Horner has a son, Montague George Hector Horner, with the Red Bull boss. She has in recent years stepped away from music to focus on writing childrens fiction, including the series Rosie Frost. Halliwell-Horner also has a daughter, Bluebell Madonna, born in 2006, with former partner and screenwriter Sacha Gervasi. The UK Government has announced the Stormont Brake mechanism of the Windsor Framework will not be pulled to halt the appliance of updated EU rules on packaging and labelling of chemicals which apply in Northern Ireland. Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn said the tests had not been met to initiate the oversight mechanism contained in the UK and EUs deal over post-Brexit trading arrangements. DUP leader Gavin Robinson urged the Government to stand up for Northern Ireland, insisting the decision is wrong. Unionist MLAs requested the Government pull the Stormont Brake over new EU rules on the labelling of chemicals (Liam McBurney/PA) But Northern Irelands First Minister Michelle ONeill called for pragmatism in dealing with trading issues which arose as a result of Brexit. Unionists in the Northern Ireland Assembly had requested in December that the Government consider applying the brake over the EU amending legislation which will apply to the labelling and packaging of chemicals such as sealants, house cleaning materials or industrial chemicals. This had required Mr Benn to consider if the legal tests to trigger the mechanism had been met. The UK Government can apply the brake if it is satisfied the amending legislation would have a significant impact on the everyday life of communities in Northern Ireland that is liable to persist. But Mr Benn wrote to the Speaker of the Northern Ireland Assembly Edwin Poots on Monday to state that he did not believe the legal test had been met. The NI Secretary pointed out that the labelling requirements for chemicals in Northern Ireland are already different from the rest of the UK, because it is a devolved matter. Mr Benn also set out a commitment that the Government will take future steps necessary to avoid regulatory barriers between GB and Northern Ireland arising from the legislation. He said: I underline the Governments commitment to ensuring, through the application of our future approach on labelling and packaging of chemicals across the United Kingdom, we will take the steps necessary to avoid new regulatory barriers arising from our classification, labelling and packaging regimes for chemicals that would undermine supplies into Northern Ireland. The Northern Ireland Secretary said the submission he had received from Stormonts Windsor Framework Democratic Scrutiny Committee had raised concerns over a potential risk that the updated EU rules would lead to companies withdrawing from Northern Ireland. He said: The Governments assessment is that the overwhelming majority of businesses within the UK internal market also trade with the EU market. As such there is a strong ongoing incentive for businesses who supply across the UK internal market to ensure they have made the relevant changes in order to continue to serve those markets. Indeed, in the committee submission, no examples have been given of specific products that might no longer be available in Northern Ireland or of how this might affect the everyday life of communities. DUP leader Gavin Robinson said the Governments decision was a mistake (Brian Lawless/PA) DUP leader Mr Robinson responded: The Governments decision not to activate the Stormont Brake on this important issue is wrong. The Secretary of States decision to ignore publicly presented evidence from industry representatives about the updated EU law on chemical labelling is a grave mistake that will exacerbate trade friction between Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Trade flows in chemicals between Great Britain and Northern Ireland are worth in the region of 1 billion annually. Industry experts have warned that the harmful consequences of this regulation will be increased costs for manufacturers and new barriers to trade within the United Kingdom. First Minister Michelle ONeill called for pragmatism over post-Brexit trading issues (Liam McBurney/PA) But speaking to MLAs in the Northern Ireland Assembly, Ms ONeill said: The Secretary of State has made his call in terms of the Stormont Brake. We just need to find ways to make things work. Where there is pragmatism retired, lets find ways to do that. The Windsor Framework, and its predecessor the Northern Ireland (NI) Protocol, require checks and customs paperwork on goods moving from Great Britain into Northern Ireland. Under the arrangements, which were designed to ensure no hardening of the Irish land border post-Brexit, Northern Ireland continues to follow many EU trade and customs rules. The brake is a mechanism that allows a minimum of 30 Stormont MLAs, from at least two parties, to refer a proposed EU law change to the UK Government. The Government then makes an assessment of the proposed change on Northern Ireland and can ultimately veto its application in the region. If the Government had ruled that the brake had been appropriately pulled, it would have directly engaged with the EU to find a solution. The DUP, backed by other unionists, initiated the oversight mechanism in December. Home Secretary announces inquiry into how Rudakubana came to be so dangerous The Home Secretary has announced that there will be a public inquiry into how Southport child-killer Axel Rudakubana came to be so dangerous and why Prevent failed to identify the terrible risk he posed to others. Yvette Cooper confirmed the 18-year-old had contact with a range of different state agencies throughout his teenage years before carrying out his meticulously planned rampage at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class. Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine; Bebe King, six; and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven; died following the attack in The Hart Space on a small business park in the seaside town shortly before midday on July 29. The defendant admitted their murders at Liverpool Crown Court on Monday, as well as the attempted murders of eight other children, who cannot be named for legal reasons, class instructor Leanne Lucas and businessman John Hayes. Ms Cooper said in a statement: He was referred three times to the Prevent programme between December 2019 and April 2021 aged 13 and 14. He also had contact with the police, the courts, the Youth Justice system, social services and mental health services. Yet between them, those agencies failed to identify the terrible risk and danger to others that he posed. Announcing the public inquiry, the Home Secretary continued: Although, in line with CPS advice to preserve the integrity of the prosecution, we were constrained in what we were able to say at the time, the Home Office commissioned an urgent Prevent Learning Review during the summer into the three referrals that took place and why they were closed. We will publish further details this week, alongside new reforms to the Prevent programme. But we also need more independent answers on both Prevent and all the other agencies that came into contact with this extremely violent teenager as well as answers on how he came to be so dangerous, including through a public inquiry that can get to the truth about what happened and what needs to change. She added: It is essential that the families and the people of Southport can get answers about how this terrible attack could take place and about why this happened to their children. Head of counter-terrorism policing Matt Jukes said details of the referrals to Prevent, made by education providers, will be shared after Rudakubana pleaded guilty. He said: Information about these referrals have not been withheld due to any lack of candour. We have taken advice from the Crown Prosecution Service on what information could be released and when, so as not to risk justice being delivered. Lancashire Child Safeguarding Partnership said Rudakubana had been involved with agencies including childrens social care, the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) and police. A spokesman said an independent child safeguarding practice review had been commissioned to look at the roles of all the agencies involved with Rudakubana. Mr Justice Goose said Rudakubana, of Banks, Lancashire, will be sentenced on Thursday. He is not expected to receive a whole life order because he was 17 at the time of the murders. The measures can normally only be imposed on criminals aged 21 or over, and are usually only considered for those aged 18 to 20 in exceptional circumstances. Bebe King, six, Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, and Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine (Merseyside Police/PA) Rudakubana, who was born in Cardiff, also admitted possessing a knife on the date of the attack, production of a biological toxin, ricin, on or before July 29, and possession of information likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing to commit an act of terrorism. The terrorism offence relates to a PDF file entitled Military Studies In The Jihad Against The Tyrants, The Al Qaeda Training Manual, which he is said to have possessed between August 29 2021 and July 30 2024. The ricin, a deadly poison, and the document were found during searches of the home in Old School Close which he shared with his parents, originally from Rwanda. Rudakubanas unexpected change of pleas on Monday meant families of his victims were not in court to see them entered, having expected the trial to be opened on Tuesday. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said there were grave questions to answer in the case, adding: Britain will rightly demand answers, and we will leave no stone unturned in that pursuit. The defendant, wearing a grey tracksuit and surgical mask, refused to stand or confirm his name but spoke for the first time in court when he replied guilty to each count on the indictment. Unrest erupted across the country in the wake of the Southport attack, with mosques and hotels used for asylum seekers among the locations targeted. In the hours after the stabbing, information spread online which claimed the suspect was an asylum seeker who had arrived in the UK on a small boat. The day after the attack, thousands turned out for a peaceful vigil in Southport, but later a separate protest outside a mosque in the town became violent, with missiles thrown at police and vans set on fire. The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said it would present relevant details of the defendants past to the court on Thursday. More than 1,000 arrests linked to disorder across the country have been made since the attack, and hundreds have been charged and jailed. The stabbings prompted members of the royal family to make contact with those who were affected, with the King suspending his traditional Balmoral break to visit some of the injured children, and the Prince and Princess of Wales making a surprise visit to the town to meet the bereaved families. Kate also invited the young survivors to her annual Christmas carol concert. In celebration of twenty-two years at Enter Stage Right -- Bionote of Mark Wegierski (Part Three) By Mark Wegierski web posted January 20, 2025 In 1990, Mark Wegierski took courses (two days each) in WordPerfect 5.0; dBase III+; and DOS/WP/Lotus/dBase Intro. On January 17, 1991, Mark Wegierski placed first out of 54 persons in a branch-wide Management Skills Exercise (Division Support Branch, Computer and Telecommunication Services Division, Ontario Ministry of Government Services). Also, in 1991, Mark Wegierski completed a Records Management Seminar (7 sessions 21 hours in total), from RIM Services Inc., Toronto. In January to March 1992, he took the WordPerfect 5.1 course (Winter 1992), at the Toronto Board of Education, Western Technical-Commercial School, Evening School. On January 12, 1993, Mark Wegierski attended the first public meeting in Toronto of the National Party of Canada with Mel Hurtig (Toronto, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE) Auditorium, 252 Bloor Street West). In October 1993, Mark Wegierski published an op-ed piece in The Toronto Westend Express, a free-distribution newspaper (circulation 82,500), and a letter-to-the-editor in the November 1993 issue of that newspaper. In 1994-2001, Mark Wegierski served on the Editorial Board of the 'zine Reality & Meaning (Morphology Institute), Toronto. The 'zine published a broad variety of articles, including political and cultural articles by Mark Wegierski, and an assortment of pieces of so-called "dissident physics". RAM Group also organized presentations for members and other interested persons. Mark Wegierski remembers making two such presentations, one on the concept of "The Dilemma of Hypermodernity" (at an elegant Metropolitan Toronto Hall meeting room), and another on Canadian politics (in a City of Toronto community centre meeting room). In 1994-1996, Mark Wegierski served on the Editorial Board of Transforum: Essential Media for the New Renaissance, Toronto's fifth-largest alternative general-interest free-distribution newspaper. This newspaper was open to contributions from across the spectrum, and Mark Wegierski was able to publish a number of pieces there. This print newspaper was said to presage the emergence of Internet-based self-posting forums. The newspaper also promoted a lively social scene, including presentations at pub-like venues, and participation in the then-prominent Trivia Quiz League. This was an organized effort across various downtown Toronto pubs and restaurants, with the events usually held on Monday evenings. Not only were these occasions for pleasant social interactions, they also helped the businesses bring in customers on their "off" nights, who might purchase drinks and various snacks and finger-foods. So, it was a "win-win" situation. Unfortunately, the Transforum team failed to achieve a high ranking in the Quiz League standings. Also, Transforum promoted alternative currency "barter" exchanges, such as LETS (Local Exchange Transfer System). Despite its high ambitions, the Transforum newspaper eventually failed because of a perennial lack of major advertising revenues. In August 1995-December 1995/January 1996, Mark Wegierski published four columns in the monthly free-distribution newspaper, Our Toronto Free Press (circulation 60,000), edited by the well-known Toronto Sun columnist, Judi McLeod. Mark Wegierski was shortlisted in the Ludwig von Mises Institute (Auburn, Alabama) "Secession, State, and Economy" Essay Competition (1995). In the 1990s, Mark Wegierski was a member of the Voice of Canadians Committees (VCC), a lobby group created by Richard (Dick) Field, a WWII veteran and long-time political activist. In 1995-1996, Mark Wegierski was an Adviser for a provincial riding association in Toronto. In 1996, Mark Wegierski was a scriptwriter for the POLAND CD-ROM Project (Toronto: International Business Productions and New York: Polish National Tourist Office). Areas included Polish history, literature, music, art, architecture, folklore, and geography. In September 1996, Mark Wegierski travelled by car from Toronto to Barry's Bay, Ontario (in Renfrew County), stopping by at Combermere, Ontario, where the Madonna House Apostolate is located. He stayed for one night near Barry's Bay, before returning to Toronto the next day. In 1996-1997, Mark Wegierski was Vice-President and Acting President of a federal riding association in Toronto. Mark Wegierski returned to studies at the University of Toronto, School of Continuing Studies, in 1998, with three Writing seminars. He then studied at Toronto Metropolitan University (formerly Ryerson University), G. Raymond Chang School of Continuing Education, with four Creative Writing Workshop courses in 1999-2004. In 2000, he participated in the prestigious Taddle Creek Summer Writers' Workshop (four days) (with well-known Canadian science fiction author Robert J. Sawyer as his instructor) at Hart House, University of Toronto, School of Continuing Studies. On July 3, 2004, Mark Wegierski attended "American Day" a festive commemoration of the American Independence Day and Polish-American friendship in Nieszawa, Poland (near Torun in the Kuyavia-Pomerania voivodeship). On July 10, 2004, Mark Wegierski travelled by car from Ciechocinek, Poland (near Torun in the Kuyavia-Pomerania voivodeship) to Czestochowa, Poland, to take part in the 60th Wedding Anniversary of a relative's grandparents. Before the sumptuous reception, there was a commemorative ceremony at the world-famous Czestochowa Jasna Gora Monastery and Shrine of the Virgin Mary. On August 29, 2004, Mark Wegierski attended the official local ceremony of Polish-German reconciliation and the unveiling of a commemorative monument to both Polish and German victims of World War II, in Nieszawa, Poland (near Torun in the Kuyavia-Pomerania voivodeship). In 2005, Mark Wegierski achieved the Graduate Certificate in Creative Writing at the Humber College Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning, School of Creative and Performing Arts (SCAPA), The Humber School for Writers (an eight-month program). In 2004-2009, Mark Wegierski achieved the Certificate in Creative Writing at the University of Toronto, School of Continuing Studies. Among other courses taken, he received a grade of "Honours" equivalent to 90% or higher in the "Writing Fantasy and Science Fiction" course taught by Caitlin Sweet, a noted Canadian fantasy and science fiction author. In 2006-2008, he was a member of a private writers' group (the Round Room Society) meeting about once a month in the Round Room of Massey College (4 Devonshire Place), University of Toronto, Downtown/St. George Campus. Other members included, among others, a Dean of a major public college in Toronto; a corporate finance officer; and a lawyer who had served as Justice of the Peace in rural Ontario. On June 21, 2008, Mark Wegierski attended and help organize the 50th Wedding Anniversary Celebration of his parents, Feliks and Henryka Wegierski. There was a commemorative service at Divine Mercy Roman Catholic Church in Torun, Poland, and later a reception in Lysomice (wee-so-mee-tse), near Torun. (Feliks' family had fled from the German invasion to Lysomice in September 1939, briefly taking refuge there.) At the reception, Mark Wegierski gave a long tribute speech to his parents. Also, a privately published album-book and memoir of Feliks Wegierski was distributed. It included a history of the Polish Second Corps (in which Feliks had fought), by Mark Wegierski; reproductions of dozens of original sketches that Feliks had done during the war; Feliks' memoir; reproductions of photos of Feliks' sculptures, as well as reproductions of numerous family photographs. In 2007-2009, Mark Wegierski participated in eight sessions of the Humber Writers' Circle, at Humber College, The Humber School for Writers. Each session lasted 135 minutes, and included an hour-long lecture, and 75 minutes during which the "first pages" of up to twenty participants, previously submitted electronically, were given quick "flash" assessments. On August 4, 2009, Mark Wegierski travelled by car from Toronto to Kitchener, Ontario to meet with Mary Nowak, M.A., an early Polish-Canadian graduate of the University of Toronto, and a longtime Polish-Canadian activist. He returned to Toronto late in the same day. In 2010, Mark Wegierski was nominated for the Manning Centre for Building Democracy (MCBD) Pyramid Award (Ideas and Public Policy). On March 24, 2011, Mark Wegierski attended the 55th Anniversary Commemoration of the Adam Mickiewicz Foundation (Canada). This was marked by a Commemorative Lecture by Professor M.B.B. Biskupski ("Hollywood's War with Poland": The negative portrayal of Poland during World War II in American films) at the University of Toronto, St. Michael's College Alumni Hall. On June 9, 2011, Mark Wegierski attended the reception for Creative Writing Graduates and Marina Nemat Award Winners (Toronto: University of Toronto, Faculty Club) University of Toronto, School of Continuing Studies, and gave a short graduation speech. In 2012-2013, Mark Wegierski attended three meetings of the Montgomery Tavern Society (MTS), which had been revived by its Chairman, Richard (Dick) Field, a WWII veteran and long-time political activist. On February 19, 2012, Mark Wegierski attended a speech and dinner with Paul Weston, who was then Chairman of the British Freedom Party (founder of Liberty GB in 2013). In 2013, Mark Wegierski took a three-month Online Mentorship with Caitlin Sweet, a noted Canadian fantasy and science fiction author, at the University of Toronto, School of Continuing Studies. On May 13, 2015, Mark Wegierski attended the Toronto Premiere of the Warsaw Uprising (2014) Polish film, at Runnymede Public Library, Toronto Public Library System (arranged by the Consulate-General of the Republic of Poland in Toronto). This film is a unique rendering of the Uprising the director looked at all of the existing documentary footage of the Uprising, originally filmed by the Polish Underground, and edited and shaped it into a movie (colourized and with sound and dialogue added). On September 24, 2020, Mark Wegierski travelled by car from Toronto to Combermere, Ontario (in Renfrew County) where the Madonna House Apostolate is located. He returned to Toronto late in the same day. To be continued. Mark Wegierski is a Canadian writer and historical researcher. Home Building the 40 new hospitals promised by the previous government will take at least a decade longer than planned, the Health Secretary has said. Wes Streeting accused the Conservatives of failing to fund their governments 2019 promise of providing the new facilities by 2030, saying the pledge had been built on the shaky foundation of false hope. Setting out a new timetable, Mr Streeting said construction of the new hospitals would proceed in four waves, with the final part not beginning until between 2035 and 2039. The first wave is already under construction, and set to be completed in the next three years. These include four hospitals in Dorset, the Cedar Programme in the North East, the Oriel Eye Hospital in London and the National Rehabilitation Centre near Loughborough. The plan includes rebuilding the seven hospitals affected by re-inforced autoclaved aerated concrete (Raac), with construction work beginning between 2027 and 2029. The same wave will include nine other hospitals where construction will begin between 2025 and 2029, including Poole Hospital, Milton Keynes Hospital and North Manchester General Hospital. Third and fourth waves of nine hospitals each will begin during the 2030s, with construction of the Royal Preston, Nottingham City, Royal Berkshire, Hampshire and Eastbourne District General hospitals set to start between 2037 and 2039. Mr Streeting said the new timetable was honest, funded and can actually be delivered. He added: It is a serious, credible plan to build the hospitals our NHS needs. Promising that all the new units would be delivered, Mr Streeting said he had secured investment averaging 3 billion a year, which he described as part of the largest capital investment in the NHS since the previous Labour government. He also announced a new framework for contracting out construction of the new hospitals, saying this would ensure the new facilities were delivered as quickly as possible. Documents released by the Department for Health and Social Care suggested the programme would not reach the 3 billion per year figure until it had reached a steady state in the early 2030s, with the pre-construction phase requiring less spending. Earlier in the year, we highlighted our commitment to deliver 40 hospitals across England by 2030 to give patients and staff better access to state-of-the-art facilities and improved care. Find out more details of our New Hospital Programme https://t.co/f5dpPC5KVS pic.twitter.com/zcrL2Al77p Department of Health and Social Care (@DHSCgovuk) July 17, 2023 The announcement follows a review of the Conservatives 20 billion New Hospitals Programme, which Mr Streeting launched shortly after taking office in July, claiming the previous governments plans were undeliverable and had not been properly funded. But shadow health secretary Edward Argar said Mr Streeting had put progress made under the previous government at risk by kicking the can down the road. He said: Todays announcement will come as a bitter blow to trusts, staff and crucially patients who believed the party opposite and will now be left waiting even longer for vital investment. Yet again, before the election, they talked the talk, but its patients who lose out when this Government fails to deliver. The Liberal Democrats accused the Government of trying to bury bad news on the day of Donald Trumps inauguration as US president. Helen Morgan, the partys health spokesperson, said: Instead of ducking scrutiny, the Health Secretary needs to publish the full impact assessment of these delays. Patients have a right to know just how at risk they are, and how many more delays they will have to suffer as a result of the Governments decision. Hospital leaders described the announcement as a major blow, saying many hospitals are already in poor condition and might not last into the 2030s or 2040s. Saffron Cordery, interim chief executive of NHS Providers, said: Trusts who are part of the New Hospital Programme account for more than 40% (5.7 billion) of the total bill for backlog repairs and maintenance. Todays announcement will make a difficult situation even more challenging. Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust was expecting to see its new St Marys Hospital delivered under the programme before 2030. Work on the new unit will now not begin until 2035 at the earliest, with trust chief executive Tim Orchard calling the delay devastating news. He said: We understand that the Governments New Hospital Programme must be affordable but the simple truth is that St Marys Hospital, in particular, will not last until the 2040s. James Marsh, deputy chief executive of St Georges, Epsom and St Helier Hospitals, said his trust was already spending 150 million a year to prop up its existing buildings. After news that work on the trusts new specialist emergency care centre would not begin until the early 2030s, Dr Marsh said: We have already had to condemn and demolish one of our wards. Its only a matter of time before other parts of our hospital become unsafe for treating patients. We now need to plan and prepare for the catastrophic failure of our buildings which could mean moving patient care into temporary buildings. American band The Jacksons are returning to the UK this summer to headline a music festival. The brothers are top billing at Guilfest in Guildford, Surrey, which sold out last year when it returned for the first time in a decade. Organiser Tony Scott said: It is an absolute privilege to have the legendary Jacksons headlining Saturdays performances on the main stage and we are also thrilled to confirm Razorlight will headline on Sunday. Guilfest was one of the most popular smaller festivals and ran for more than 20 years before taking a break from 2014. GUILFEST RETURNS IN 2025! Save the Date: 5th & 6th July 2025 Location: Stoke Park, Guildford, Surrey It is an absolute privilege to have the legendary Jacksons headlining Saturdays performances on the main stage and we are thrilled to confirm Razorlight who will pic.twitter.com/PCgOAgjc0c GuilFest (@GuilFest) December 20, 2024 In 2018, The Jacksons celebrated 50 years as one of the most successful groups in music history. Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, Marlon and Michael, five brothers from Gary, Indiana, known originally as The Jackson 5 and later The Jacksons, rose to fame for their combination of musical talent and spectacular choreography. They earned the status of pop royalty in the music world, providing the launchpad for what would become Michael Jacksons legendary solo career. The group found international success at Motown in 1969, with their first single I Want You Back. Over the years the group has reduced following the death of Michael in 2009 and Tito last September, but brothers Jackie and Marlon still perform together and have been joined by Titos son Taryll Jackson in the past. The devastating fires that have blazed across much of Los Angeles County have left countless people and animals displaced, and it's changed the face of one of America's most iconic cities forever. At the same time, though, there have also been stories of bravery, selflessness, and love that provide a sense of hope in a heartbreaking time. One of those stories came from a viral photograph out of Altadena, where the heart of the Eaton fire has been burning. On January 8, fire crews battled the blaze in the middle of a neighborhood when firefighter paramedic Slater Lee noticed a dog curled up in the yard of his home. The brave boy barked at the flames that had already engulfed his home as Lee reached out a hand to comfort him. The bittersweet moment that followed became a viral sensation, and now we finally know what happened after Lee met Max, the brave dog who protected his home. View the original article to see embedded media. Slater Lee met with ABC News to share the story of his interaction with Max, which ended with the pup being escorted to safety. Even so, concerned commenters are interested to know how the story began. Gabe Cortez is a photographer who was on the scene of the fire when Max's house suddenly exploded. The dog's family was right there with him until the explosion, at which point Max became spooked and ran off. The dog's owners had to evacuate immediately for their safety, but fortunately, Cortez kept an eye on the dog the entire timeincluding during his interaction with Lee. Related: Former Shelter Dogs Go to Work in the Aftermath of the LA Fires to Assist with Search & Rescue "The whole garage was involved in pretty heavy flames, and I looked to my side, and the dog was seated with its tail between its legs, just curled in the corner of the front yard, still barking, just in a really sad position," Lee told ABC News. With one hand, he hosed down the flames in the family's garage, but with the other, he gently petted the nervous dog to comfort him. Shortly after, dog trainer Christopher Abkarian stepped in to help Max until he could be reunited with his family. He took the dog to his training facility, where he's been staying since the fire. His owners have been in contact with the trainer, but since their home was damaged, he's been caring for the dog for the time being. This emotional story touched millions of hearts across the Internet, and it feels like a sigh of relief to learn that everyone involved, including big dog Max, is safe following the terrifying Eaton Fire. Lee, Abkarian, and Cortez are true heroes for this family! Looking for more PetHelpful updates? Follow us on YouTube for more entertaining videos. Or, share your own adorable pet by submitting a video, and sign up for our newsletter for the latest pet updates and tips. Donald Trump and Joe Biden at the inauguration - SAUL LOEB/REUTERS With one flourish of a presidential pen, they will be free. Amid the blizzard of executive orders that President Trump has said he will sign in the next few hours, one of the most significant, for the economy at least, will be his decision to end the rules forcing American auto manufacturers to focus their energies on electric vehicles. President Trump is determined to go back to something that until recently would have been considered completely normal: a free market in cars. Under President Biden, a tax credit in effect a subsidy of up to $7,500 was awarded for every EV sold. And environmental rules were blamed for effectively forcing auto makers to make a larger proportion of their new vehicles electric. Instead of simply making the cars that people wanted at prices they could afford something that the pioneers of the American industry such as Henry Ford were once very good at the industry was distorted by a mixture of subsidies and standards that had more in common with Soviet planning than free market capitalism. With all that ditched, Ford and GM can get back to serving their customers, with a mix of petrol autos for long journeys, EVs for city runarounds, and hybrids for everything in between. It is likely to be a very successful mix, and one that will enable them to push back against the looming wave of Chinese imports, especially if those cars face tariffs. It will, however, pose a huge challenge to countries that choose to persist with EV mandates the UK and the EU bloc chief among them. While America frees itself from a rushed transition to electric vehicles that has proved poorly planned, and badly executed, London and Brussels will continue to tie themselves to a technology that is far from fool-proof. In the UK, targets are in place that force the auto companies to sell a growing proportion of EVs, or else face huge fines, and there will be a complete ban on the sale of petrol cars and vans within just a few years, regardless of whether the electric rivals work or not. The EU has very similar rules in place. The result? Cars will be more expensive for consumers, vans pricier for companies, and the auto firms will be forced to change their model line up, at vast expense, regardless of global demand. This has the makings of an industrial tragedy. Autos were one of the few industries where Europe had a clear lead. After all, no one ever lusted after a Chrysler or a Chevrolet, or even a Cadillac or a Lincoln, in the same way they did over a Mercedes, a BMW or a Land Rover, or, at least until recently, a Jaguar. The European companies were bigger, and often better, and the US accounted for 20 per cent of their exports. Tied down by quotas, and forced to make cars that people dont really want, at prices they cant afford without government help, they are already struggling, with the likes of Volkswagen closing factories for the first time in its history. President Trump is about to liberate, and revitalise the American auto industry, while the UK and Europe are crushed. And they will have only themselves to blame if they fall even further behind the US. Cecile Richards attends the 2018 Planned Parenthood spring gala in New York. Photograph: Anthony Behar/Sipa USA via Alamy Cecile Richards, the former president of Planned Parenthood who helped turn the reproductive healthcare giant into a formidable political organization and make support for abortion rights a virtual requirement for Democratic candidates, died on Monday after a battle with brain cancer. She was 67. This morning our beloved Cecile passed away at home, surrounded by her family and her ever-loyal dog, Ollie, Richards family wrote in a statement. Our hearts are broken today but no words can do justice to the joy she brought to our lives. Over the course of her career, Richards became one of the biggest faces of US abortion rights, if not one of the most important American activists of the 21st century. Under her watch, Planned Parenthood became a mainstay in Democratic politics, battled numerous congressional attempts to defund the organization, and tried to dam a torrent of state-level efforts to restrict abortion access. Her mother, the former Texas governor Ann Richards, was a political legend, but Richards herself became a household name in 2015, after anti-abortion activists released secret recordings of Planned Parenthood workers purportedly discussing the sale of fetal tissue. The recordings which Planned Parenthood said were doctored spurred multiple congressional and state investigations that could not substantiate their contents, and led US House Republicans to grill Richards in an hours-long, highly publicized hearing. After stepping down from Planned Parenthood in 2018, Richards went on to found Supermajority, an organization dedicated to championing womens leadership. After the US supreme court overturned Roe v Wade in 2022 in a case involving the kind of state-level abortion restrictions that Richards tried to defeat Richards started Charley, a bot to help abortion seekers get accurate information about the procedure, and Abortion in America, a campaign to publicize stories of post-Roe abortions. In late 2024, Joe Biden awarded Richards the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor in the US. One of the biggest lessons Ive learned as a lifelong organizer is that there are no permanent wins and no permanent losses. We have to fight for every inch of progress, and we cant take anything for granted, Richards wrote on Instagram after receiving the honor. Thats especially true in challenging moments like the one we find ourselves in now. But what a joy and a privilege it is to be part of the long struggle to make our country a fairer and more hopeful place. Richards was born on 15 July 1957, in Waco, Texas, and was primarily raised in Dallas and Austin. Her political involvement began early in life, as her parents were ardent progressives. They were into politics like other couples were into bowling, Richards told NPR in 2014. Every movement that came through town, whether it was the farm workers, the labor movement, the womens movement, they were into and so were all their friends. After graduating from Brown University, Richards started working as a labor organizer in Louisiana, where she met her husband, Kirk Adams, who went on to hold leadership positions at the powerful Service Employees International Union. The couple had three children together. Ahead of the 1990 election, the family moved back to Texas to help Ann Richards run for governor. Known for her silvery, sky-high hair and acerbic wit during her address at the 1988 Democratic National Convention, Richards famously declared that Ginger Rogers did everything Fred Astaire did, just backwards and in high heels Richards eked out a narrow victory, thanks to a coalition of female voters and voters of color. She then lost her 1994 re-election campaign (to future US president George W Bush), but remained Cecile Richards political north star for the rest of Ceciles life. A chapter of Cecile Richards best-selling 2018 memoir, Make Trouble, is titled: What Would Ann Richards Do? After Ann Richards gubernatorial loss, Cecile attended a 1995 Texas state board of education meeting, where she watched rightwing activists crusade against providing students with information about sex education and LGBTQ+ rights. Struck by the religious rights rising power, Richards founded Texas Freedom Network, one of the most prominent progressive advocacy organizations in the Lone Star State. Richards later moved to Washington DC, where she served as Nancy Pelosis deputy chief of staff before helping to found and lead the voting rights coalition America Votes. The Planned Parenthood Federation of America hired Richards as president in 2006. Two years later, the non-profit endorsed Barack Obama for president. It was only the second time in the groups 85-year history that it had endorsed a candidate for president, but it heralded Planned Parenthoods increased commitment to electoral politics a hallmark of Richards time at its helm. By greatly expanding Planned Parenthoods fundraising and state-level organizing, especially in the face of repeated Republican efforts to defund it, Richards made it into an organization that could corral votes as well as make or break political candidates. After 2010, when Democrats inter-party arguing over abortion coverage nearly defeated the Affordable Care Act, Planned Parenthood worked to turn support for abortion rights into a key plank in the Democratic party platform. Today, there is just one anti-abortion Democrat in Congress. After being diagnosed with brain cancer in 2023, Richards continued to work on leftwing causes. She co-chaired American Bridge 21st Century, a Democratic network that includes a formidable Super Pac, and spoke at the 2024 Democratic National Convention in support of Kamala Harris. Alongside Kate Cox, a Texan woman who sued after being denied a medically necessary abortion, Richards cast Texass ceremonial votes in support of Harris. In their statement, Richards family said that those who wished to honor Richards memory should keep in mind something she frequently said over the last year of her life: Its hard not to imagine future generations one day asking: When there was so much at stake for our country, what did you do? The only acceptable answer is: Everything we could. David Lammy has described Trump as warm and friendly before his inauguration on Jan 20 - Stefan Rousseau/PA Wire David Lammy has lavished praise on Donald Trump before the US president-elects imminent return to the White House. The Foreign Secretary spoke of Mr Trumps incredible grace and generosity, describing him as very, very friendly and very warm. The comments mark a stark contrast to his past criticism of the Republican leader, who he described as a woman-hating, neo-Nazi sympathising sociopath in 2018. Mr Lammy also suggested Sir Keir Starmer will visit Washington DC to meet Mr Trump within the next few weeks. The Government is attempting to build bridges with the incoming US administration as Sir Keir steps up efforts to secure a trade deal. The UK Government is attempting to build bridges with the new US administration and come to a trade deal agreement with Mr Trump, pictured here with members of the Village People - Carlos Barria/Reuters The Prime Minister has set up a mini-Cabinet of senior ministers tasked with drawing up ways to persuade Mr Trump to come to an agreement. Sir Keir and Mr Lammy met Mr Trump for an extended dinner in New York City in September 2024. Asked on BBC Radio 4s Today programme whether he had changed his mind about Mr Trump, he said: As you know, in this role I have said that the approach has got to be progressive realism and that is that you meet the world as it is, not as you would wish it to be. Asked again if he now saw Mr Trump differently, Mr Lammy said: I said that the Donald Trump I met was a man who had incredible grace, generosity, very keen to be a good host, very funny, very, very friendly, very warm I have to say about the UK, our royal family, Scotland, his relationship with Scotland, his mother. That was the Donald Trump I found. But I do recognise that I think there was a survey this week 70 per cent of the world welcomes Donald Trump coming to power. Seventy per cent of the world, I think much of that, worried about authoritarian actors, actually quite like the fact that Donald Trump keeps them guessing and we have to reckon with the fact that 77 million Americans voted for him, up in African American communities voting for him, up in Latinos, up in young people. We have to reckon with that truth. The Government will be hoping that past criticism of Mr Trump from senior Labour figures will be forgotten and will not impact the special relationship. There is expected to be a rush from world leaders in the coming days to secure an early face-to-face meeting with Mr Trump at the White House following his inauguration on Monday afternoon. Mr Lammy said that in the past it had taken between a week or up to a month for a UK prime minister to meet a new US president. The Foreign Secretary said that there would be lots to discuss and Im very confident that Keir Starmer will be discussing this with Donald Trump within the next few weeks. Mr Lammy also defended Sir Keirs decision to appoint Lord Mandelson as the UKs ambassador to the US. There was speculation that Mr Trump could block the Labour grandees appointment but Mr Lammy insisted that the Labour peer was the right man for this moment. It comes after Sir Sadiq Khan warned of resurgent fascism on the eve of Mr Trumps return to the White House. In an article for The Observer, he warned against the march of the far-Right, calling it a perilous moment for the West, and hit out at Elon Musk, branding him a billionaire bully. The Government quickly distanced itself from Sir Sadiqs comments on Mr Trump, insisting that the UK looks forward to working with the president-elect. HMP Greenock - AFP Four killers housed in the female wing of a Scottish jail have become embroiled in a misgendering row which led to one being accused of a transphobic hate crime, a court has heard. Alexandria Stewart, a transgender woman in HMP Greenock previously known as Alan Baker, claims fellow inmate Jane Sutherley carried out a four-year campaign, between Jan 1 2019 and March 23 2023 of verbal abuse that left them feeling suicidal. The allegations led to Sutherley being charged with behaving in a threatening and abusive manner, with the alleged offence aggravated by transgender prejudice. She denies the charge. Stewart, 36, who is serving a life sentence with a minimum tariff of 19 years in jail for the murder of a father-of-two, told Greenock Sheriff Court that Sutherley would insist on using he and him pronouns. Sutherley, a hair stylist, is serving a sentence for culpable homicide after being convicted in 2020 of fatally stabbing a man through the heart with her hairdressing scissors. The court heard that Sutherley, 51, would refer to Stewart and her partner, Nyomi Fee, a notorious child killer serving a life sentence for murder, as the tranny and the beast or the tranny and the dyke. The court heard the couple have been together since around 2018. Stewart detailed several occasions where it is alleged that Sutherley insisted on using male pronouns to describe her fellow prisoner or would call her thingmy. The court heard that during a karaoke evening for prisoners, Sutherley told Stewart she might sing Shania Twains 1997 hit Man! I Feel Like a Woman. The pair, along with Fee, took part in art classes. During a session attended by Gerard Burns, the renowned Scottish painter, Sutherley is alleged to have referred to Stewarts work as: The tranny show. During a visiting hour at the prison, Sutherley is also accused of referring to Stewart as a man. Stewart told the court: I was highly mortified that she had outed me as trans to those who didnt know I was trans. Asked how the situation had made her feel, Stewart said: My first thought was Do I just commit suicide? Stewart added: I have disassociated myself from people. I dont trust people any more. My anxiety went through the roof and I am on various medications to keep myself going. Paul Lynch, Sutherleys defence solicitor, suggested to Stewart that the allegations were formed as a ploy to ensure they were not moved to the male estate. HMP Greenock is where Stewart and Sutherley are currently held - AFP In 2023, the Scottish Government issued a Rule 95 order that decreed all transgender prisoners should be subject to enhanced safeguarding checks. This followed a scandal over transgender rapist Isla Bryson, formerly known as Adam Graham, being initially sent to HMP Cornton Vale, Scotlands only all-female jail. Mr Lynch suggested Stewart would have been aware of the case and that she, Fee and fellow prisoner Lynette Greenop made false allegations of transphobia to keep Stewart in the female wing of HMP Greenock. Stewart denied this was the case. Mr Lynch asked Stewart if she had undergone any surgery as part of her transition to identifying as a woman. Stewart said she had undergone a tracheal shave in 2019 to reduce the prominence of the Adams apple but had otherwise had no gender surgery. Mr Lynch asked: So if a person held a legitimate belief that you were biologically male, that would be correct? Stewart replied: I am not here to debate transgender identity. My Lynch said: Im simply asking you to confirm a biological fact. My Lynch also asked about a situation whereby Stewart and Fee would use a top flat in their unit to spend time alone together while sending other prisoners away to give them privacy. Stewart denied this was the case. The court also heard from Greenop, who is serving a sentence for murder. Greenop, 46, was asked about her close friendship with Stewart and Fee. She said she had heard Sutherley refuse to use Alexs prefixes as a lady and added: tranny is a word that I despise. The trial, before Sheriff Millar, continues. Emily Damari (left) with her mother, Mandy, in Shefayim, Israel, on Monday. Photograph: Family handout/PA Media A British-Israeli hostage freed from Hamas captivity in Gaza on Sunday has said she has returned to life and is the happiest person in the world after being reunited with her family. In her first comments since being freed, Emily Damari, 28, thanked her family and friends who campaigned for her release. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Im the happiest in the world, she said in Hebrew on Instagram. Damari was freed after 471 days in captivity alongside two other Israeli hostages, Romi Gonen, 24, and Doron Steinbrecher, 31, as part of a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas. The Tottenham Hotspur fan who was born in Israel to a British mother and Israeli father returned from Gaza with a bandage on one hand. She lost two fingers when she was shot and abducted from her home in the Kfar Aza kibbutz during Hamass 7 October 2023 attack. She signed off her Instagram message with a rock on emoji, a possible reference to the fingers she lost during her ordeal. Her mother, Mandy Damari, who was born in Surrey and grew up in Beckenham, south-east London, praised her daughters resilience. She was pictured embracing her at Tel Avivs Sheba Medical Center, Israels largest hospital, where Gonen and Steinbrecher were also reunited with their families. Yesterday, I was finally able to give Emily the hug that I have been dreaming of, Mandy Damari, 63, said on Monday. From the bottom of my heart I would like to thank the many people who have played a role in bringing Emily home and given their support to me and my family. I am relieved to report that, after her release, Emily is doing much better than any of us could ever have anticipated. I am also happy that during her release the world was given a glimpse of her feisty and charismatic personality. In Emilys own words, she is the happiest girl in the world, she has her life back. In this incredibly happy moment for our family, we must also remember that 94 other hostages still remain. The ceasefire must continue and every last hostage must be returned to their families. As wonderful as it is to see Emilys resilience, these are still early days. As you will have seen yesterday, Emily lost two of the fingers on her left hand. She now needs time with her loved ones and her doctors as she begins her road to recovery. She told a press conference at Sheba hospital on Monday: I am delighted to be able to tell you that Emily is in high spirits and on the road to recovery. She is an amazingly strong and resilient young woman. Gal Kubani, a friend who visited Damari at hospital, told Agence France-Presse that she came back to us really strong, smiling, a hero, brave and was in good condition. We saw her, we lifted her in the air, all the friends. We hugged her, we cried, we got emotional, we shouted, we screamed, Kubani, 28, said. To really see her standing on her feet, that was the most emotional and fun thing in the world. A lawyer representing the Damari family and other British-linked hostages in Gaza said Emily seemed to be in pretty good nick, pretty good spirits. Adam Rose said he had not yet spoken to Damari but added: Youve seen images where shes clearly lost a couple of her fingers she was shot when she was taken hostage, she was shot in her leg and her hand and she seems to be doing quite well. She seemed just looking at the images very smiley and seemed to be moving, and thats fantastic. I understand shes staying in hospital for a bit longer to be fully checked out and shell no doubt need mental health as well as physical health support over the coming period. Rose said he had exchanged a couple of WhatsApp messages with Damaris mother, whom he described as elated. The UK foreign secretary, David Lammy, said it was deeply moving to see pictures of Damari being reunited with her mother. I grew very close to her family, and I think the whole of the country will be delighted that she is free, he told BBC Radio 4s Today programme. Steinbrechers family thanked supporters for giving them strength during our darkest moments. In a statement on Sunday, they said: Our heroic Dodo, who survived 471 days in Hamas captivity, begins her rehabilitation journey today. All three women were assessed at Sheba, with doctors reporting they were in a stable condition and would be monitored for a few days. A total of 33 hostages are due to be released over the next six weeks, in exchange for about 1,700 Palestinians held in Israel prisons. Khalida Jarrar, a leading member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, is greeted by relatives as she arrives in Ramallah early on Monday from the Israeli military prison of Ofer in Ramallah. Photograph: Alaa Badarneh/EPA About 90 Palestinian prisoners have been released in exchange for three Israeli hostages handed over by Hamas to Israel, as part of the ceasefire deal aimed at ending 15 months of war. The prisoners, most of whom were freed in the early hours of Monday from Ofer prison in Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, were welcomed by thousands of people celebrating, waving the flags of Palestine and Hamas. Mothers, fathers, siblings and friends had waited for hours in the cold to embrace their loved ones as part of the agreement. Among those released was Shatha Jarabaa, 24, who was arrested over a social media post criticising the brutality of Israels campaign in Gaza. Im very happy! Thank God Im outside. They treated me very bad in prison. It was horrible, she told the Guardian She was greeted by her father, Nawaf Jarabaa, 63, who said earlier: Im happy, but not too happy My daughter was arrested simply for expressing her ideas The thing that bothers me the most is that people think that the Israelis have only behaved this way towards us since 7 October, but the truth is that it has always been like this. Related: I cant believe I have survived: the day the Gaza ceasefire finally arrived His anticipation was also tempered by the fact that two other children were not included in the deal. Another prisoner released was Ahmad Khsha, 18, who was arrested in January 2024 in Jenin. They arrested me because my brother died during a shootout in Jenin. After he died, they arrested me. They raided our cells on Saturday before releasing us and threw teargas at us. They tortured us in the cell, every day. They also tortured and mistreated the women. A spokesperson for the Israeli prison service said it was not aware of the claims but prisoners and detainees had the right to file a complaint that would be examined. It said all prisoners were detained according to the law. Osama Shadeh, who was waiting to be reunited with his 17-year-old daughter Aseel, said: Its hard to describe the emotion were feeling at this moment. My daughter was arrested on 7 November 2024 when she was protesting against the killing of Palestinian children in Gaza. She was waving a Palestinian flag. Israeli soldiers shot her in the foot and handcuffed her. They accused her of trying to stab the soldiers. The fact that she is being released now means that Israel knew that my daughter had done nothing wrong. Yet they kept a minor in jail for over a year. Khawlaha Mahfouz, 53, whose daughter Ayat, 33, from Hebron, was arrested in June 2024 for an attempted stabbing attack also expressed mixed feelings. Im happy, [but] at the same time, my heart is sad and I dont feel ready to celebrate with all that is happening in Gaza. A double feeling is how the most prominent detainee freed, Khalida Jarrar, 62, described it. Jarrar is a leading member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a secular leftist faction that was involved in attacks against Israel in the 1970s but later scaled back militant activities. Since her arrest in late 2023, she was held under indefinitely renewable administrative detention a widely criticised practice that Israel uses against Palestinians. Theres this double feeling were living in. On the one hand, this feeling of freedom, that we thank everyone for, and on the other hand, this pain, of losing so many Palestinian martyrs, she told the Associated Press. In Al Fawakeh square in Ramallah, hundreds of people chanted: The people want the Al-Qassam Brigades, referring to Hamass armed wing in Gaza. In the Palestinian Territories, the release of prisoners and the ceasefire was perceived as a victory for Hamas over Israel. In East Jerusalem, the homes of at least four prisoners in East Jerusalem were reportedly raided by Israeli security forces who seized flags and symbols associated with Palestine with soldiers explicitly warning relatives against speaking to the media. The Israel Prison Service said on Friday that it would take measures to prevent any public displays of joy by families of Palestinian prisoners released in the deal. On Sunday, three women held hostage by Hamas in tunnels beneath Gaza, Damari, 28, Romi Gonen, 24 and Doron Steinbrecher, 31, were released and reunited with their mothers. Videos showed them in apparent good health though they are expected to spend a few days in hospital. In one video, Damari, who lost two fingers when she was shot the day she was abducted, smiled and hugged her mother as she held up a bandaged hand. The first phase of the truce took effect following a three-hour delay during which Israeli warplanes and artillery pounded the Gaza Strip. The last-minute blitz killed 13 people, Palestinian health authorities said. Israel claimed it had struck terrorists although Al Jazeera reported that at least two missiles hit a family travelling on a donkey cart as they tried to return home. The attack killed Ahmed al-Qidra and two of his seven children, the broadcaster reported. Minutes after the truce began, the United Nations said the first trucks carrying desperately needed humanitarian aid had entered the Palestinian territory. An Egyptian source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said 260 trucks of aid and 16 of fuel had moved into the Israeli-controlled Kerem Shalom crossing between Israel and Gaza and the Nitzana crossing between Egypt and Israel before entering Gaza. Thousands of displaced Palestinians also set off across the landscape to return home. In the northern area of Jabaliya, hundreds streamed down a sandy path, heading to an apocalyptic landscape piled with rubble and destroyed buildings. Under the first phase of the deal reached between Israel and Hamas, which is to last 42 days, the militant group has agreed to release 33 hostages including children, women (including female soldiers) and men aged over 50, in exchange for hundreds of Palestinians held in Israeli jails. In the second phase of the ceasefire deal, the remaining living hostages are due to be sent back and a corresponding ratio of Palestinian prisoners will be freed, and Israel will completely withdraw from the territory. The specifics are subject to further negotiations, which are due to start 16 days into the first phase. The third phase will address the exchange of bodies of deceased hostages and Hamas members, and a reconstruction plan for Gaza will be launched. Arrangements for future governance of the strip remain hazy. About 100 of the Palestinian prisoners slated for release are serving life sentences for violent attacks on Israelis; others were jailed for lesser offences, including social media posts, or held in administrative detention, which allows for the pre-emptive arrest of individuals based on undisclosed evidence. Reuters and Agence France-Presse contributed to this report Displaced Palestinians make their way past the rubble as they head back to their homes. Photograph: Khalil Ramzi/Reuters After the first night in Gaza for more than a year without the sound of drones or bombing overhead following the successful implementation of a ceasefire, people in the besieged Palestinian territory have begun returning to destroyed homes and searching for missing loved ones. The truce that took effect on Sunday with the release of the first three hostages held by Hamas in exchange for 90 Palestinians from Israeli jails was greeted with euphoria as a large influx of desperately needed aid supplies entered the strip. By Monday, however, the celebrations largely gave way to shock and sorrow, as the strips 2.3 million population began to assess the scale of the devastation wreaked by Israel in retaliation for the 7 October 2023 Hamas attack. In Israel, joy at the three hostages safe return was tempered by anger and surprise at Hamass show of force at the hostage handover after 15 months of gruelling combat. The nation watched with no little dread when dozens of Hamas gunmen, hailed by a large cheering crowd, commandeered Gaza Citys Saraya Square for a wild, self-aggrandising daylight ceremony before a vast global audience, a Times of Israel op-ed said. Related: Devastation: aerial views of Gaza after ceasefire in pictures Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank opposed to the deal tried to block entrances to the Palestinian city of Ramallah on Sunday evening before the return of 90 women and children held in Israeli prisons. Overnight, Israeli extremists set homes and cars on fire in three West Bank villages. In a statement, the Israel Defense Forces said it acted swiftly to disperse rioters, arresting two people, a claim disputed by the human rights organisation Yesh Din. Whether the first six-week stage of the ceasefire will hold is yet to be seen after isolated reports of violence on Monday, including what medics said was an incident in which Israeli troops shot eight people in the Rafah area. The Israeli military said it was checking the reports. Gaza is still cut in two by the Netzarim corridor, which Israel installed below Gaza City, and the Israeli military is not expected to begin withdrawing from the area until day seven of the truce. Within northern and southern Gaza, however, displaced civilians have started making the long journey back to their towns, villages and refugee camps, by foot or using donkey-drawn carts on roads littered with unexploded ordnance. Youssef, 22, from the northern city of Beit Lahia, who lost his parents and brother during the war, returned from Gaza City to his home on Monday. The first feeling I had when I reached Beit Lahia was shock and panic at the horror and rubble. It is as if a Richter nine earthquake hit my city There are no streets, no shops, no parks, no markets, no hospitals, or municipalities. There is nothing but rubble, and some corpses around and under it, he said. He later went back to Gaza City. I plan to return only when there is an environment for human living water, food, medical services and infrastructure so we can start our lives again, he said. The civil defence service said on Monday that an official search was under way for about 10,000 missing people. Despite the ceasefire, the death toll in Gaza continues to climb: medics reported 62 bodies were found over the past 24 hours, bringing the number of dead to 47,000. Another 110,000 are wounded, with a quarter of those facing life-changing injuries, and 12,000 people need to be evacuated for urgent treatment elsewhere, the World Health Organization (WHO) has said. About 1,200 people were killed in Hamass October 2023 attack, and 250 taken hostage. Umm Saber, a 48-year-old widow and mother of six, managed to return to Beit Lahia on Sunday, telling the Associated Press that she had seen several bodies on the route, some of which appeared to have been lying in the open for weeks. Her home was completely gone, she said, adding that neighbours had already started digging through the debris in search of missing relatives believed to be buried in the rubble of Israeli airstrikes. Others were trying to clear enough space to pitch tents. The local Kamal Adwan hospital was also completely destroyed, she said. Its no longer a hospital at all They destroyed everything. Temporary relief is arriving in the form of humanitarian supplies, with 630 trucks entering the strip on Sunday almost immediately after the ceasefire came into effect at 11.15am (0915 GMT). About half of the deliveries were taken to northern Gaza, which Israel has almost completely cut off from the outside world. Israel denies it has deliberately strangled aid supplies to the Palestinian territory, blaming aid agencies for delays and claiming Hamas siphons off deliveries. The average number of trucks a day entering the territory had fallen to 18, leading aid agencies to warn that nine in 10 people were not accessing enough food. The minimum number of trucks a day needed to contain the strips humanitarian crisis is 500, the UN says, which should arrive each day of the first six-week phase of the ceasefire. But the flow of aid could take time to increase, David Miliband, the head of the International Rescue Committee, said on Monday, citing previous problems with looting and security threats from armed gangs. Longer-term questions about rebuilding and governance of the strip are supposed to be addressed in negotiations scheduled to begin in early February, before stage one of the ceasefire expires in early March. According to a UN damage assessment from earlier this month, clearing more than 50m tonnes of rubble left from Israels bombardment could take 21 years and cost up to $1.2bn (980m). The WHO has said that restoring Gazas decimated medical infrastructure will cost $10bn, as only half of the strips 36 hospitals are still partially operating. This article was amended on 21 January 2025 because an earlier version referred to the WHO saying that restoring Gazas decimated medical infrastructure will cost $10m. The figure estimated by the WHO is $10bn. Li Auto opens Munich R&D Center, advancing Sino-German NEV cooperation Xinhua) 08:48, January 20, 2025 NANJING, Jan. 18 (Xinhua) -- Chinese new energy vehicle (NEV) manufacturer Li Auto on Friday inaugurated its first overseas research and development (R&D) center in Munich, Germany, in a milestone move signaling deepening ties between China and Germany in the burgeoning NEV sector. The Munich center will adopt a localized and collaborative approach to R&D, working alongside Li Auto's Chinese team to drive the development of next-generation technologies, including those related to vehicle design, power semiconductors, smart chassis systems and electric drivetrains. According to Li Auto, the center will also work to understand the European market and develop capabilities aligned with European automotive regulations and consumer preferences, with the aim of offering more convenient, comfortable and enjoyable mobility solutions to European families. "This R&D center marks the official start of Li Auto's global strategy," said Ma Donghui, president of Li Auto. "It will also serve as a cornerstone of our artificial intelligence (AI) core strategy, with nearly half of our R&D investment currently directed toward AI technologies." By the end of 2024, Li Auto had delivered over 1.1 million vehicles, and its annual delivery figure had surpassed 500,000 for the first time, solidifying its standing as a rising force in China, the world's largest NEV market. According to data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, China's NEV production totaled 12.88 million units in 2024, with sales nearing 12.87 million -- respective year-on-year increases of 34.4 percent and 35.5 percent. Li Auto's new R&D center is considered groundbreaking as it represents a key step in the global expansion of China's NEV industry and will foster cross-national collaboration. Qiu Xuejun, China's consul general in Munich, noted that the center will promote mutually beneficial cooperation between the Chinese and German auto industries. "It will accelerate the green transformation process, aligning with the shared interests of both nations and supporting the global automotive industry's transition toward sustainability," Qiu said. Germany's auto sector is also advancing its transition to green and intelligent mobility, seeking closer cooperation with China's NEV industry. Many German companies have expressed confidence in China's advanced manufacturing, R&D capabilities and market potential. German auto giant Volkswagen has built its largest overseas R&D center in east China's Anhui Province, focusing on electric vehicles and NEV technologies. The move was a strategic effort from the established multinational automaker to enhance its competitiveness in the Chinese market and strengthen its partnerships with local suppliers. Bosch Group, another German multinational, launched its commercial-vehicle China headquarters in east China's Jiangsu Province last year, signaling its strong commitment to China's NEV and intelligent driving sectors. "We see China as a key strategic market for Bosch, playing an essential role in our global strategy. Our efforts have led to significant success, making China Bosch's largest market outside of Germany," said Stefan Hartung, chairman of the company's board of management. "We are fully convinced that this new setup will pave the way for enhanced collaboration, ultimately contributing to a low-carbon transportation future, not only in China but globally," Hartung added. (Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Zhong Wenxing) Snow lies on the ground under power lines at White Rock Lake after a February 2022 winter storm in Dallas. Forecasts say this weeks cold snap wont be as bad as that one or the one in February 2021 that led to statewide blackouts but precipitation on power lines could cause some problems. Emil Lippe/Getty Images file photo Temperatures probably wont dip low enough to challenge the states power supply during this weeks cold snap but a wintry mix of precipitation beginning Monday night could bring down power lines, causing localized outages. The National Weather Service said Sunday that San Antonio as well as New Braunfels, San Marcos, Austin and Round Rock could be hit with snow, sleet and freezing rain overnight Monday into Tuesday. It issued a winter storm warning for the area from 6 p.m. Monday to 6 p.m. Tuesday. State grid operator the Electric Reliability Council of Texas also issued a winter weather watch for Monday through Thursday but said grid conditions would be normal. It wasnt calling for conservation. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Of course, things can change but its highly unlikely, based on current forecasts, that there would be rolling outages ordered by ERCOT, Doug Lewin, an independent grid analyst, said in his Texas Energy and Power Newsletter. Thats mostly a function of temperature. This system simply will not be as cold as systems in 2022 and 2024, much less 2021. But, he said, accumulations of snow and ice could cause outages across the affected area if its heavy enough to cause lines to fall. And if temperatures are lower than forecast, Lewin said supply could tighten between residents turning up thermostats to stay warm and gas supplies crimped by freezing and power plant outages. Thats some of what happened in February 2021, when single-digit temperatures, frozen gas distribution systems and shut-down power plants led to statewide blackouts on the ERCOT grid that were blamed for nearly 150 deaths. On Friday, the Texas Oil & Gas Association said its members winterization and reliability efforts had them ready to keep natural gas flowing this week. Advertisement Article continues below this ad However, collaboration and preparation remain essential, President Todd Staples said in a statement. While widespread disruptions are not anticipated, mechanical systems of this vast complexity may experience some unavoidable disruptions during extreme weather. Forecasts call for San Antonio lows of 20 degrees or higher this week, with the coldest on Wednesday morning. If ERCOTs projections hold, statewide demand for power would set a wintertime record that morning at nearly 79,000 megawatts. Hamas militants celebrate the ceasefire in Khan Younis on Sunday - Mohammed Salem/Reuters Masked Hamas fighters carrying rifles returned to the streets of Gaza after a ceasefire came into effect on Sunday, declaring victory as they drove through rubble-strewn streets. The terror group will retain security control of the strip in the first phase of the ceasefire, which came into effect three hours late at around 11.15 local time. Hamas fighters vowed to renew our pledge to [the Gazan people] to be the trustees of their rights and defenders of them, until the complete liberation of the land and the holy sites. Some fighters appear to have celebrated the ceasefire too early. A van that had hosted jubilant Hamas militants was later pictured blown up after they emerged before the ceasefire began, according to video footage. Other footage posted online showed Hamas fighters and civilians chanting: Watch out Jews, remember Khaybar [a historic battle between Muslims and Jews], the army of Mohammed is returning. Hamas fighters gather in al-Saraya, Gaza - Ayman Alhesi/Getty The scenes are likely to raise questions about the future of Gaza and whether or not Hamas can be disarmed. After the first phase of hostage releases, negotiations are set to begin on creating new security and political infrastructure in Gaza, which could incorporate parts of Hamas. Joe Biden, US president, on Sunday said he was not concerned that Hamas would regroup, when asked by reporters in the White House. However, Antony Blinken, US secretary of state, said last week that Hamas had already recruited replacements for all militants killed by Israel during the war. Al Jazeera The Hamas-controlled Gaza ministry of health claims around 46,000 Gazans have been killed in the longest war since Hamas took power in 2007. The figures are disputed by Israel, which says many of those killed were terrorists. The first three hostages released on Sunday were the first to be exchanged for Palestinian prisoners as part of phase one of the ceasefire, which will see 33 given back to Israel across a six-week period. There are thought to be around 94 hostages remaining, which are due to be exchanged for 1,900 Palestinian prisoners. It is unclear how many of the hostages are dead. People gather around a bus carrying freed Palestinian prisoners - Reuters Of these, there are 737 Palestinians in Israeli jails, most of them imprisoned on terror charges, and 1,167 others detained in Israeli ground operations in Gaza since the start of the war. Phase two of the ceasefire, if it holds, will see a permanent end to the war and the exchange of the remaining living hostages. Israeli forces will also withdraw from Gaza. However, Israel believes it will have Washingtons backing to restart the war if negotiations to extend the ceasefire fail. Mike Waltz, Donald Trumps incoming national security adviser, told CBS News on Sunday the US would back Israel in doing what it has to do if Hamas backs out of the deal or moves the goalposts. Civilians were seen surrounding Hamas fighters as they congregated on the streets during the hostage exchange. The groups popularity inside Gaza, however, is falling, according to the limited polls and surveys available. The public display of jubilation from Hamas came after 15 long months of war, sparked by the Oct 7 terror attacks, which saw huge swathes of the strip reduced to rubble. Israels retaliatory strikes against Hamas in Gaza pushed around two thirds of residents into makeshift shelters and refugee camps. While people celebrated, they also mourned the loss of loved ones - Dawoud Abu Alkas/Reuters One civilian, emerging from their displacement camp, said: They dont care about the impact this kind of strategy has on us, just to show the world that they are holding the cards. Once the ceasefire came into effect, thousands of residents left displacement camps to see what if anything was left of their homes. Residents traversed the once-busy roads, now dirt tracks, carrying what was left of their belongings, either by foot or some on horse-drawn carts. In Jabalia, northern Gaza, Palestinians walked along narrow pathways surrounded by some of the most apocalyptic scenes of destruction in the Strip. We have waited for this for 15 months, said Noor al Khatib. We could hardly sleep last night, she said, as her family prepared to return to their home in the north, having been displaced to an area near Gaza City. It was a bitter celebration for many, who while returning home, are still mourning the loss of loved ones. We won and are victorious, but are sad for the lives we lost, said Mahmoud al Masri. Akram Habeeb, a British-educated university professor, said he left his Gaza home for Egypt weeks after the Oct 7 attacks. Now, he is hoping to return. He lost 32 members of his family and his home and all its contents, including his 5,000 books, have been destroyed. In the view of what is seen today, Gaza needs at least 10 years to be built again, he said. My house can be rebuilt in two years. We expect the Israelis wont allow construction materials to enter Gaza yet though so it will take time. The cost of rebuilding the Strip would be immense, he said, with most residents unable to fund it themselves. Celebrations continued even when a delay in releasing the names of hostages led Israel to announce the ceasefire was not yet in place - Mohammed Salem/Mohammed Salem Phase three of the ceasefire would see the implementation of a major reconstruction plan for Gaza. Hamza Howidy escaped Gaza shortly before the war began. He had been imprisoned twice by Hamas for protesting against their oppressive and corrupt rule, and said he was severely tortured during both sentences. Now, living in exile in Europe, he is too scared to return to Gaza due to fear of being arrested again by Hamas, and is sceptical that the terror group will give up its control of the Palestinian territory. I think [Donald] Trump will push for regime change, but governing Gaza is more important to Hamas even than using the hostages as leverage. Its everything to Hamas so Im sceptical theyre going to give that up. A shrinking proportion of Gazans are hoping for Hamas to stay in power after the war, according to a Palestinian Centre for Policy and Survey Research poll published in September. However, overall support for Hamas remains the highest compared to all Palestinian factions. A statement from the Palestinian Authority on Friday said the government, led by President Mahmoud Abbas, was ready to assume full responsibility in Gaza after the war. Amjad Iraqi, from Chatham House, said the Palestinian Authority must be part of the post-war process. It is an urgent priority to support parallel talks between Hamas and Fatah in Cairo over forming a technocratic governing committee for Gaza and reorganising the Palestinian political leadership, he said. According to US network NBC, talks are under way to temporarily relocate some of the two million displaced Gazans abroad to countries such as Indonesia, while rebuilding takes place. However, most Gazans are not likely to agree to such a move, viewing it as a way for Israel to permanently force them out of their homes. Migrants and advocates protest at the US-Mexico border wall in Playas de Tijuana - NurPhoto/NurPhoto The Pope has condemned Donald Trumps plans to embark on the mass rounding-up and deportation of illegal immigrants as a disgrace. If true, this will be a disgrace, because it makes the poor wretches who have nothing pay the bill for the problem, Pope Francis said in an interview on Italian television on Sunday night, just hours before the president-elects swearing-in. This wont do! This is not the way to solve things. Thats not how things are resolved. The Argentinian Pope, 88, whose family emigrated from Italy in the early 20th century, has frequently expressed sympathy and support for refugees and migrants. But the language he used in the interview on the eve of Mr Trumps inauguration was unusually forthright. The president has pledged to carry out the largest migrant deportation in US history, with post-inauguration raids reportedly set to begin as soon as this week. Asylum seekers enter the United States - NurPhoto/NurPhoto It is not the first time that the Pope has criticised Mr Trump. In 2016, during Mr Trumps first electoral campaign, the Pope was asked about plans to build a wall along the border between the US and Mexico and replied that anyone promoting such a plan is not Christian. Several Catholic bishops in the US have criticised Trumps deportation plans, with the incoming Archbishop of Washington DC, Cardinal Robert McElroy, saying such policies are incompatible with Catholic doctrine. On Monday, the Pope used more moderate and diplomatic language when he sent well wishes to the president-elect. It is my hope that under your leadership the American people will prosper and always strive to build a more just society, where there is no room for hatred, discrimination or exclusion, the pontiff wrote. He offered cordial greetings and the assurance of my prayers that Almighty God will grant you wisdom, strength and protection, and asked that God guide your efforts in promoting peace and reconciliation among peoples. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has been an outspoken critic of Mr Trump and Mr Musk and called the new government authoritarian - NurPhoto/NurPhoto Meanwhile, the Democrat politician Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said that with the re-election of Mr Trump, the US was on the eve of an authoritarian administration. This is what 21st-century fascism is starting to look like, the New York congresswoman, 35, said in a fiery series of Instagram videos. She also said the Republican administration was likely to resemble the government of Viktor Orban, Hungarys leader. You can look to see how Viktor Orban runs Hungary to get a taste of how they will try to govern and control media and companies in the United States, she said, adding that social media platforms like TikTok, Facebook, Instagram and Elon Musks X have been taken over by the Right wing. Sir Keir Starmer carrying a floral tribute near the scene in Hart Street, Southport Axel Rudakubanas decision to plead guilty to his evil crimes saved him questioning from the prosecution, but it will not stop the questions hanging over the Prime Ministers handling of this tragedy. The horrendous murders of Alice da Silva Aguiar, Bebe King and Elsie Dot Stancombe rocked the nation. The little girls had their lives stolen from them in the most unimaginably cruel way. At moments of national crisis like this, the Prime Ministers judgment is tested. In the aftermath, Merseyside Police released a statement saying they did not believe the incident to be terror-related. Days later, on the 1st August, the Prime Minister gave a press conference at the time to reassure the nation. For months, no updates followed from him. Today, the truth has finally emerged. Rudakubana pleaded guilty to two terror-related offences: possession of Military Studies in the Jihad Against Tyrants: The Al-Qaeda Training Manual and the biological toxin, ricin, which was found during a search of Axels home back in early August. It also emerged that Rudakubana was referred to the Prevent programme multiple times: in 2019 when his teachers became concerned with his obsession with school massacres; and in 2021 when staff were concerned about his interests in the terror attacks in London in 2017. This dataset would have given the Prime Minister an answer in minutes. I find it highly unlikely that the Prime Minister and Home Secretary would not have been informed immediately of these developments. As the two individuals responsible for keeping the public safe and leading the response to the ensuing disorder they will have been amongst the first to know. In my experience of working within Government, the civil service are very good at keeping ministers informed during national security incidents. So it is completely understandable that there is a widespread perception that crucial information was withheld from the public. The only way we will find out the truth is if the Prime Minister is transparent. After the sentencing on Thursday there is no impediment on him being open about what he knew and when. If there is nothing to hide, then a simple account would end the speculation immediately. But let us assume they were made aware of this information, as in previous incidents of national importance, and they chose to withhold it. There will be some that argue in favour of doing so for two reasons: to prevent further disorder, or to prevent a forthcoming trial from being jeopardised. That reasoning would place Starmer and the authorities at odds with the independent reviewer of terrorism laws, Jonathan Hall KC, who said at the time that if there is information you can give, put it in the public domain, and be really careful you dont fall into the trap of saying we can only say zilch because there are criminal proceedings. He added Quite often, theres a fair amount of information that can be put into the public domain. If this was indeed Starmers strategy, it failed badly because the public could tell they were not being told the whole truth, and that contributed to the anger which spilled into riots. In the social media age, sunlight really is the best disinfectant. Left unanswered, the sense of a cover-up will permanently damage trust in the criminal justice system. As Kemi Badenoch has said, after Thursdays sentencing we need a complete account of who in Government knew what and when. The public need to know that the people in the centre of Government acted honestly and transparently. At his inauguration for a third term as president of Venezuela, Maduro said: Im a man of dialogue. I know how to listen and I know how to learn. Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images Venezuelas dictator, Nicolas Maduro, has overcome the first major obstacle facing him in 2025 after staring down domestic and foreign foes to extend his 12-year rule. [Im] the peoples president and I will forge ahead with the hurricane-like, volcanic strength of a people who cherish their homeland, cherish their future and cherish peace, the 62-year-old proclaimed on Friday at an inauguration his opponents vowed, but failed, to disrupt. But experts say a second, and probably greater hurdle now lies ahead: Donald Trumps return to the White House and the unpredictable consequences that could have for Maduros political survival. The Trump administration right now is a real wild card, said John Polga-Hecimovich, a Venezuela specialist at the US Naval Academy who, like many, is uncertain about what to expect. One line of thinking suggests Trump could return to the hardline stance of his 2017-2021 presidency, or possibly take even more dramatic steps against Maduro, who has been accused of stealing last years presidential election from his rival, Edmundo Gonzalez. During his first administration, Trump tried to topple Maduro through a maximum pressure campaign of sanctions, military threats and the recognition of Juan Guaidos parallel presidency. That failed policy was designed to turn military chiefs against Maduro but ended up strengthening him while piling further economic misery on ordinary Venezuelans. Even so, Trump has nominated several leading maximum pressure proponents for key roles, including his pick for secretary of state, Marco Rubio a ferocious critic of Maduros narco regime and the special envoy for Latin America, Mauricio Claver-Carone. Venezuela, sadly, is not governed by a government it is governed by a narco-trafficking organization that has empowered itself of a nation-state, Rubio said in his Senate confirmation hearing on Wednesday, calling last years election in Venezuela completely fake. Trumps pick for national security adviser, the Florida congressman Mike Waltz, is also a considered a Venezuela hawk. With inauguration day nearing, some prominent rightwing voices are even urging Trump to consider a military solution. Writing in the New York Times this week, the conservative columnist Bret Stephens said one of Trumps first priorities should be deposing the regime of Nicolas Maduro, through coercive diplomacy if possible or force if necessary. Stephens said Maduro should be told he could choose permanent exile in Cuba or Russia or face a US military intervention of the sort that in 1990 swiftly ended the regime of the Panamanian strongman Manuel Noriega. Yet if Trumps choice of Claver-Carone, Rubio and Waltz suggests a bellicose stance towards Caracas, other hires point in the opposite direction. Trumps presidential envoy for special missions, Richard Grenell who Trump has said will will work in some of the hottest spots around the world, including Venezuela held secret talks in 2020 with one of Maduros closest allies, Jorge Rodriguez. It was Rodriguez who swore Maduro in for his third term last week. Grenells nomination has left some wondering if the author of The Art of the Deal might reach some kind of agreement with Maduro involving the deportation of Venezuelan migrants from the US and access to Venezuelas massive oil reserves for US companies in exchange for Washington accepting Maduros power grab. Related: A new start: Venezuelan leader extends olive branch to Donald Trump At his inauguration, Maduro hinted he was prepared to parley, declaring: Im a man of dialogue. I know how to listen and I know how to learn. David Smilde, a Venezuela specialist at Tulane University, said Trumps contrasting picks coupled with his new sort of interventionist obsessions with Canada, Greenland and Panama has left enormous space for speculation about the path he would take. If I had to bet, Id say whats going to happen is theyre going to make some big statements [criticising Maduro] and theyre going to publicly get rid of a couple of licenses [allowing oil companies to operate in Venezuela]. But in the end, theyre basically going to kind of continue with the Biden administration policy. But I think really anything is possible at this point. With Trump, oftentimes its just not consistent, Smilde added. It will depend on what his mood is that day, and who the last person he talked to was, and who seems most loyal to him. Polga-Hecimovich also struggled to predict whether Trump 2.0 would see more maximum pressure or the Ric Grenell approach, where everything is open to negotiation. Suspicions the latter approach could prevail were strengthened earlier this month when Republican senator Bernie Moreno told reporters: [Trump] is going to work with Maduro because thats whos going to take office. Tamara Taraciuk Broner, the director of the rule of law programme at the Inter-American Dialogue thinktank, cautioned Trump against adopting either a turbo-charged maximum pressure policy or simply striking a politically convenient deal involving deportation flights and barrels of oil. Neither extreme is going to save Venezuela and neither extreme is going to get rid of Maduro, which is what Trump needs to address insecurity, to address migration and to address Chinas influence in Latin America, she said. Taraciuk proposed a two-pronged approach that combined concerted international pressure through sanctions on key regime members and their relatives with the opening of secret conversations with figures just outside Maduros inner circle about the incentives they would need to abandon him. I dont think a transition is impossible even though it sounds naive if those two factors take place, Taraciuk said. And I dont think its ridiculous to think that they will. Ruben Amorim was furious as Manchester United suffered their sixth home defeat of the season against Brighton on Sunday - PA/Martin Rickett Someone needed to say it, to spell out in public how far these Manchester United players had fallen. You just never expected it would be their own manager. Ruben Amorims verdict on his hapless team was so savage, so blistering, you almost winced on their behalf. But at least they have finally been confronted with the unvarnished truth. By labelling them the worst team maybe in the history of United, the Portuguese was simply posing the questions that demanded to be asked after a sixth Old Trafford defeat in 12, the clubs worst home league run since 1894. How could a starting XI who cost 440 million be this feeble? How dare they be? Amorim plainly believes in the principle of being cruel to be kind. In 2 months at United, he has brought the type of brutal candour that would have been unthinkable under Erik trust the process ten Hag or Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, an amiable man in a cut-throat world. Already unafraid of acknowledging that his side are relegation contenders, he is now sharpening their inferiority complex by essentially suggesting they are unfit to wear the shirt. It is, by any stretch, a punchy tactic. And yet it is one that could succeed. United have spent the 12 years since Sir Alex Fergusons retirement tiptoeing around the wastrels on the pitch, and it has never worked. Searing honesty, Amorim seems to calculate, is the only way to rouse them from their torpor. Amorim looked to be seething even as his team went in level at half time - PA/Martin Rickett The greatest danger for United is that their wretchedness becomes routine. The indignities speak for themselves: three straight league triumphs for Brighton at Old Trafford, and back-to-back 3-0 victories for Bournemouth. You no longer even sense much humiliation among the players at these results. There has been hardly a trace of defiance or wounded pride at a place where Ferguson won 370 league games and lost just 52. So if they will not summon the requisite honesty, Amorim will do it for them. As terminal as Uniteds tailspin might look, it is refreshing they finally have a manager undaunted about stating their inadequacies in the harshest terms. Amorim was correct when he called them too comfortable after the draw at Liverpool this month, conveying the essential point that they needed to channel the resilience seen at Anfield in every match. Not that they have absorbed the message yet. With the honourable exception of Amad Diallo, who staved off embarrassment against Southampton with his late hat-trick, they reverted to witless type in the Brighton loss, Andre Onana and Noussair Mazraoui both committing cardinal errors. The longer Amorim sank down on his haunches, the more he looked crushed by the weight of his task. An Andre Onana howler gifted Brighton a third goal - Getty Images/James Gill Still, his withering words in the aftermath proved that he cared, that he was determined to challenge Uniteds blithe acceptance of mediocrity. This was not merely some coded pleading to Sir Jim Ratcliffe and the Glazers for a transfer war chest. It was a deliberate and necessary attempt to blow up the status quo, to awaken everybody to the extent of the rot. Ultimately, he suggests, it is the players who must shoulder responsibility. He has been merciless with this message, first using his exclusion of Marcus Rashford and Alejandro Garnacho to warn about standards and today extending such censure to his entire squad. That approach is not without its dangers. Amorim could even be accused of a Ratner moment for being so caustic. But where Gerald Ratner infamously hastened the decline of his jewellery business by describing one of its products as total c--p, the United manager adopts the mindset that his team have nothing to lose. While several former players have sounded warnings about the player mutiny that could follow his remarks, how exactly can the dressing-room culture be any worse than it is today? Amorim is arriving on the back of 616 million in signings under Ten Hag, most of them dreadful. Casemiro is a carthorse, Mason Mount seldom fit, and Rasmus Hojlund worth barely a fraction of his 72 million transfer fee. As for the scandalous waste of resources that is Antony, he can shrug off spurning an open goal in the knowledge that he will still be collecting 200,000 a week. The Brazilian is emblematic of a culture where failure has no consequence. And this is exactly the habit that Amorim is seeking to eliminate. Manchester Uniteds class of 2025 are a sorry bunch - Getty Images/Ian Hodgson His excoriations have to be delivered sparingly. He cannot keep finding fresh ways of expressing Uniteds ineptitude without inspiring improvement. But at this of all moments, his players deserve to receive a cold splash of water to their faces. Dross is their default setting, and Amorim needs to flick the switch. The gentle approach is doomed to fail at Old Trafford. In the grim epilogue to Solskjaers reign, when half-time boos rang out during a Champions League game against Atalanta, the Norwegian bristled: Dont even start. Dont disrespect the players. They play for Manchester United and they know theyre the luckiest men in the world. Except the latest crop appear to know nothing of the kind. They do not act as if representing United is the greatest honour and they assuredly do not play like it. Complacency is baked into their collective psyche. If Amorim decides that a reacquaintance with reality is the only means of making them listen, then all power to his elbow. Pharmacist holding medicine box - iStockphoto The medical regulator cannot protect the public because it is swimming in a sea of pharmaceutical sharks who are not honest about side effects, MPs have heard. During a debate in the House of Commons, the Medical Healthcare products and Regulatory Agency (MHRA) was accused of failing to act quickly when drugs were found to be harmful. The MHRA oversees the safety of medicines, granting approval for therapeutics, vaccines and healthcare devices. But MPs warned that the regulator received 75 per cent of its funding from pharmaceutical companies and was too close to the industry to be truly independent when scrutinising safety and effectiveness. Graham Stringer, the Labour MP, said: The MHRA and the whole of the health industry are swimming in a sea of pharmaceutical sharks. Pharmaceutical companies produce some extraordinarily wonderful products that keep us safe, but they also produce huge profits, and sometimes they get their products onto the markets by telling lies, or certainly by sins of omission. The debate was brought by Esther McVey, the former work and pensions secretary, who warned that the MHRA had been too slow at picking up signs that the Covid vaccine was harmful for some people. Last week the Covid Inquiry heard how thousands of people believe they have been injured by the jab and are seeking compensation. The MHRA reacted slowly to strong signals that there was a serious problem with the AstraZeneca vaccine causing an autoimmune condition called vaccine-induced thrombotic thrombocytopenia, she said. Denmark and other European countries suspended the vaccine for all age groups on March 11 2021. The MHRA, by contrast, only started to restrict the vaccine in some age groups nearly two months later, on 7 May yet there was a signal in the yellow card reports as early as February 8. How many people were needlessly exposed to a risk? MPs called for the MHRA to be given the power to demand all safety and trial data from pharmaceutical companies. The debate was told that GSK (GlaxoSmithKline) had kept back tests which showed that the antidepressant paroxetine increased the chance of children committing suicide. Likewise, in 2010, it emerged that Pfizer had failed to publish data showing that the antidepressant reboxetine was no more effective than placebo, yet had more side effects, it was said during the debate. MHRA in need of urgent reform Mr Stringer added: The MHRA should not be enabling these things. It should be much more vigilant, and it should be asking for powers to demand the right to know all the information that drug companies have before it says those drugs are as safe as they can be. MPs were also told that the Yellow Card reporting system, which asks doctors to report harm caused by drugs, was not fit for purpose. Sharon Hodgson, the Labour MP for Washington and Gateshead South, said: Colleagues here today are in agreement that the MHRA is in need of urgent and substantial reform. One area in particular is the need for mandatory reporting of adverse events to the yellow card by healthcare professionals. Contrary to responses I received when I asked questions on the topic in the House, which argue that the current system works, it does not. It is broken. Let me be clear: the current voluntary system, which doctors enjoy, enabling them to choose whether to log side effects and complications to the MHRA yellow card, is simply unacceptable. An MHRA spokesperson said: We listened closely to the debate. We will now reflect carefully on the opportunities to improve our performance in several areas, including our efforts to fully embed the patient voice throughout all our regulatory activities as we strive to be a more inclusive and transparent regulator. The ministers full response can be read on Hansard. Hamas fighters in Gaza City on their way to collect Israeli hostages due to be released under the ceasefire deal with Israel Photograph: Abed Hajjar/AP Hours after the ceasefire was declared on Sunday, Hamas fighters were back on Gazas streets. Not many, it was true, and those who appeared were armed only with Kalashnikov rifles and some rudimentary body armour, but they were there. In Khan Younis, a handful of pickup trucks with gunmen onboard drove through cheering crowds of young men. Dozens of uniformed fighters with Hamas headbands were visible when the three Israeli hostages were handed over in Gaza City. Elsewhere, there were reports that Hamas policemen, dressed in blue police uniform, deployed in some areas after months in hiding to avoid Israeli strikes. These were the sights that Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, wanted to avoid, but no doubt knew would come. They are the images that Hamas most want to be seen in Gaza and the West Bank, the region and the world. They do not show a large or particularly capable force, and social media has exerted its usual magnifying effect. But, as they were meant to do, the images show that Hamas has survived the Israeli onslaught of the last 15 months and that, Hamas leaders believe, is a major victory in itself. The reality is that Hamas has suffered huge losses. On the day of the 7 October 2023 raids, Hamas fired thousands of missiles deep into Israel. Now, it can only fire the occasional projectile at targets a dozen or so kilometres away. Supply lines have been cut, ammunition stores emptied and most new bombings use recycled explosives from ordnance fired by Israel. Much of the tunnel network built under Gaza by Hamas has been destroyed. Its top leaders in Gaza, including Yahya Sinwar, the leader of Hamas at the time of his death and mastermind of the 7 October attacks, are dead. So too are many experienced middle-ranking militants. Israelis claims that 17,000 Hamas fighters have been killed are difficult to credit. An analysis by ACLED, an independent, non-profit organisation collecting data on violent conflict, said in October that detailed reports by the Israel Defense Forces on the killing of militants containing specifics on timeframes, locations or operations accounted for approximately 8,500 fatalities, though this figure also includes militants from other armed groups and possibly other non-combatant Hamas members. Such casualties would account for perhaps a quarter of the prewar strength of Hamass military wing, which tallies with reports that some big Hamas formations in central Gaza are intact. Antony Blinken, the outgoing US secretary of state, said in a speech last week that Hamas had recruited almost as many combatants as it has lost and that this was a recipe for prolonged insurgency, and so another reason for a ceasefire deal. Israeli officials say recruit numbers are lower than Blinken suggests and that inexperienced teenagers cannot replace hardened, well-trained veterans. This may be true, but even if seriously degraded, Hamas was still able to hurt Israeli forces right until the ceasefire. Recent fighting has been fierce in Beit Hanoun, a town in northern Gaza, with Israeli commanders underestimating the size and morale of Hamass forces there, as well as the extent of its tunnel-network reconstruction. Hamas inflicted significant casualties as a consequence. On the political front, Hamas has also been weakened. It has lost control of the territory it governed for 16 years, with all the prestige, power, facilities and revenue that it brought. Many Hamas officials are dead; its network of clubs, charities and religious associations scattered. Other actors big criminal families, for example now compete for influence. Many in Gaza blame Hamas as well as Israel for the bloody war that has caused 47,000 deaths and so much destruction. But for the moment, without any agreed plan for a government for Gaza, there is no one else. Aid organisations still deal with many of the same administrators they knew back in the summer of 2023. A Hamas media office functions, and is ambitiously describing a government plan to return Gaza to its prewar condition. The reality is that neither side can claim an outright victory, which is one reason that this moment of fragile calm has come. Tragically, it is also why any hopes of a durable peace may be dashed. If Robert Kennedy Jr is confirmed at as the US minister for health he will head a department with a budget of an astounding $2.8 trillion - DAVID BLAKEMAN/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock On a day now edging agonisingly close, a 67-year-old doctor and father of three will face a career defining dilemma. Seated front and centre in a sumptuous wood-lined chamber, he must weigh the best option for the health of millions against the risk of displeasing Donald Trump. Meet Bill Cassidy MD: a respected and straight-talking Louisiana Republican who chairs the US Senate committee charged with pre-vetting Trumps pick to head Americas Department of Health and Human Services. That pick, of course, is Robert Kennedy Jr: boss of the worlds richest anti-vaccine group. Hes a product liability lawyer from a famous family, and for nearly twenty years a fountain of falsehoods about health and science-based medicine. If hes confirmed as the US minister for health, as Mr Trump intends, he will head a department with a budget of an astounding $2.8 trillion. In recent weeks, Mr Kennedy has sought to disrupt the anti-vax narrative which defines him: now hes being photographed with his shirt off and talking up healthy eating. But Ive watched his antics for nearly two decades. I know the company he keeps and the things he believes. His priority hasnt changed: its vaccines. Bill Cassidy, left, is the straight-talking Louisiana Republican charged with pre-vetting Trumps pick to head Americas health department - Ben Curtis/AP Photo Heres a man who recently told supporters that for about eight years he plans to give infectious diseases a break. He has already threatened to close down entire departments at the Food and Drug Administration. And he thinks he knows better than 77 Nobel laureates (31 in medicine) who have petitioned for his nomination to be rejected. In view of his record, they wrote to senators last month, placing Mr Kennedy in charge of DHHS would put the publics health in jeopardy and undermine Americas global leadership in health sciences. With many Trump nominees looking likely to foster chaos, in Mr Kennedy hes found a man who guarantees it. I think hell want to hamstring the nations vaccine programme, pack advisory boards with cronies, weaken the governments stance toward injury allegations, and demand fiendishly opaque vaxxed-unvaxxed comparison studies that stand an excellent chance of yielding wrong results. Senator Cassidy MD isnt a man to be fooled, however. Hes a gastroenterologist who first trained in biochemistry. And before entering the House of Representatives in 2006 and the Senate nine years later, he proudly promoted vaccines around his home town, Baton Rouge, even backing a project that gave 36,000 children free shots against hepatitis B. He knows the right thing to do. But heres the snag: hes rather run out of road with Mr Trump. Not only did Dr Cassidy vote to convict him for inciting the 2020 insurrection, and oppose Trumps candidacy to stand for re-election, he faces furious MAGA loyalists in Louisiana next year when its two Senate seats come up for election. Can the doctor square the circle? I think he might. His 23-strong Health Education Labour and Pensions Committee has real credibility in Washington enough perhaps to cause the President to see hes been duped. If Cassidy can focus colleagues on provable facts, he should be able to expose and explode the core creed of the anti-vaccine movement, which Mr Kennedy has done so much to promote: a trio of lies which stand above all the rest. Lie No. 1 is that the so-called autism rate is supposedly rising exponentially year-by-year and that this is somehow linked to vaccines. When I was a kid, the autism rate among American children [was] ... one in 10,000, was how Mr Kennedy put it recently on Fox News, Mr Trumps favourite news channel. In my childrens generation, its one in every 34 kids. One in every 22 boys. This wont faze Senator Cassidy who surely knows the answer: such figures dont compare like with like. In a phenomenon hell recognise as diagnostic creep, the word autism has fundamentally changed meaning in the space of a generation. While once it was a label applied only to a profoundly affected few, today it encompasses a vast spectrum of neurodiversity. Back in the 1990s, when I entered this terrain, heartbroken parents talked of train wreck children. Doctors spoke of hopeless afflictions. But now people with autism write books and give TED Talks, while Trumps latest bestie, who prefers the oldspeak Aspergers, is the richest person in the world. Mr Kennedy knows this. If not, hes a clown. Either way he has long been content to peddle misinformation, pumped out by his misnamed Childrens Health Defense group with artwork certain to inflame: Anti-vaccine propaganda from the Childrens Health Defense group - Childrens Health Defense The story is much the same with lie No. 2: an allegation he has repeated over and over. This is the falsehood that, in the event of a possible injury that might be due to a vaccine, you cant sue its maker for redress. They made it illegal to sue a vaccine company in this country, Kennedy spits to make audiences gasp, referring to a 1986 act of Congress. No matter how reckless the behaviour, no matter how negligent, no matter how toxic the product, no matter how grievous the injury to the child, you cannot sue them. But either he knows thats wrong, or he ought to know as lawyers say. Although the act requires such claims of injury to first be filed with a no-fault compensation scheme, if the outcome fails to satisfy a second attempt may be possible: a traditional civil action, as before. The act says that in the case of criminal or illegal activity, (which Kennedy rarely fails to allege of big pharma) intentional withholding from the government of safety or efficacy data, or clear and convincing evidence that the manufacturer failed to exercise due care, the makers can indeed be sued. Then lie No. 3: a martyr to the cause, the British research cheat and ex-doctor Andrew Wakefield. Sometimes dubbed father of the anti-vaccine movement, he rigged a study in 1998 to pin autism on the triple measles mumps and rubella shot, which he was secretly paid by a lawyer to attack. After an investigation by me, that study was retracted and the UK General Medical Council booted Mr Wakefield from medicine on dozens of serious misconduct charges. These included dishonestly concealing the source of child patients; two of lying to other doctors trying to understand his methods; and one his own counsel helpfully dubbed a charge of fraud. Mr Kennedy, however, believes his friend Wakefield deserves statues and in a recent book chooses the smell of conspiracy to mask the repulsive truth. Mr Wakefields study, he claims, merely recommended further study and he fell victim to gaslighting and vilification. For the moment, Mr Kennedy has the President elects ear with such bullshit. But this seems unlikely to last. At least not if Senator Cassidy MD honours his oath as a licenced physician and finds the strength to speak truth to power. As a doctor he must surely know that it is better to risk upsetting his master now than allowing missteps that could endanger millions of children something America will never forgive. Brian Deer is author of The Doctor Who Fooled the World, investigating the origins of todays anti-vaccine movement. Protect yourself and your family by learning more about Global Health Security Powerful Scottish Tories not letting Russell Findlay (pictured) take party in his own direction, Thomas Kerr claims - Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images Scottish Tory grandees are forcing the party leader to pretend hes a farmer and blocking him from making radical changes, a senior councillor who defected to Reform has claimed. Thomas Kerr, who was leader of the Conservative group on Glasgow council until he joined Nigel Farages party last week, claimed there had been a stitch up in the leadership contest last year to install Russell Findlay as leader. He said he believed Mr Findlay, who has been seen as promoting a more populist message over recent months, presents an agenda similar to the Reform platform but that powerful party figures would not allow him to take the Scottish Tories in the direction he wanted. He accused the Scottish Tories of neglecting the densely populated central belt and instead focusing on their strongholds in the Borders and North East, despite Mr Findlay being a Glasgow-based former journalist and an MSP for West Scotland. Thomas Kerr defected from the Tories to Reform last week - Garry F McHarg I have no doubt in my mind that people who are behind the scenes are not going to let Russell be able to do the stuff he has to do, Mr Kerr said, in an interview with the Holyrood Sources podcast. Since hes became leader, you can see that. Hes a central belt MSP, who spends a lot of time in the North East and in the Borders, pretending that hes a farmer. So I think that youve already seen this party falling into the same traps as before That rhetoric just doesnt cut it anymore. Mr Kerr, who is from a working class background, was seen as a rising star in the Scottish Tories. He speculated that there would be further defections from the Scottish Tories to Reform in coming months but also predicted that his new party could win new recruits from Labour. I spoke to a number of people who Im close with in the Labour Party who are fed up and angry as well, Mr Kerr said. I think that this is a movement that could really transform Scottish politics as well as British politics, and thats whats making me excited about it. Reform have now pulled level with the Tories in polls for next years Holyrood election, which suggest the party could pick up as many as 15 seats in the Scottish Parliament. Mr Kerr has not ruled out standing as a Holyrood candidate for Reform but said he had not been given any assurances from his new party that he would be selected. Mr Farage has said he is delighted at Mr Kerrs defection and that Reform was looking forward to next years Scottish elections with increasing anticipation. A spokesman for the Scottish Tories said: Under Russell Findlays leadership, we are rebuilding trust with disillusioned voters who just want their politicians to show some common sense for a change. People up and down Scotland feel the Scottish Parliament is detached from their lives and does not speak for them. We are the only party standing against Holyroods cosy Left-wing consensus that has failed Scotland for 25 years. If you stand for common sense, then the Scottish Conservatives is ready to represent you. Donald Trump could issue sanctions against ICC officials over the arrest warrant for Benjamin Netanyahu - Ronen Zvulun/Reuters Donald Trump could sanction the International Criminal Court (ICC) this week over its arrest warrant issued for Benjamin Netanyahu, Foreign Office insiders believe. Karim Khan KC, the British lawyer who is the ICCs chief prosecutor, may be personally targeted in the action, given the fierce criticism of Mr Trumps allies over his decision. The move could become one of the first points of tension between the US administration under Mr Trump, as he is inaugurated as the US president on Monday, and Sir Keir Starmer. Mr Trumps allies gave a heated response to the ICCs decision in late November to order an arrest warrant for Mr Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, and Yoav Gallant, his former defence minister, over the conflict in Gaza. But Sir Keirs official spokesman said at the time: We respect the independence of the ICC. Multiple ministers and UK officials then indicated Mr Netanyahu would be arrested if he came to the UK. Any ICC sanctions could become an early test of how Sir Keir and Mr Trump will get along as fellow world leaders. A senior Whitehall source said they had been briefed to expect sanctions against the ICC. The source stressed that it was still uncertain if, how and when Mr Trump could act. The US is not a member of the ICC, unlike the UK. Karim Khan KC is the ICCs chief prosecutor - Piroschka Van De Wouw/Reuters During the first Trump presidency ICC officials investigating alleged US war crimes in Afghanistan were targeted with sanctions. The ICC, established in 2002 to investigate war crimes and other crimes against humanity, looked at Hamass October 7 attack on Israel in 2023 and Israels subsequent military operation in Gaza. In November, the ICC announced that Mr Netanyahu and Mr Gallant had been found to each bear criminal responsibility for acts including the war crime of starvation as a method of warfare and arrest warrants were issued. An arrest warrant was also ordered for Mohammed Deif, a Hamas commander deemed responsible for the crimes against humanity including murder. Israeli spokesmen have said Deif has already been killed in the conflict. The move means that ICC members including the UK are obliged to arrest Mr Netanyahu if he comes to the UK. Sir Keirs Government has indicated that would happen, but has fallen short of being explicit. The question of whether Mr Netanyahu has diplomatic immunity and therefore it would be unlawful to arrest him if he came to the UK while Israeli prime minister has been raised by leading Conservatives and some lawyers. Figures expected to play a senior role in Mr Trumps administration suggested the ICC would be sanctioned when the arrest warrants were announced on Nov 21, after the Republican candidate had won the US presidential election. Mike Waltz, Mr Trumps nominee for national security adviser, said at the time: You can expect a strong response to the anti-Semitic bias of the ICC and UN come January. There were even suggestions that allies who supported the ICC could be targeted. Lindsey Graham, the Republican senator for South Carolina and a Trump ally, told Fox News in November: To any ally, Canada, Britain, Germany, France, if you try to help the ICC, were going to sanction you. In the run-up to Mr Trumps inauguration on Monday there have been fresh indications that sanctions over the ICC are expected soon after he takes office. Mr Trump was an ardent supporter of Israel and Mr Netanyahu during his first term. Israel Hayom, an Israeli newspaper, reported unnamed sources suggesting that sanctions could be announced as early as Tuesday. Marco Rubio, who is expected to be approved by the US Senate as Mr Trumps secretary of state in the coming days, was critical of the ICC over the arrest warrants for Mr Netanyahu and Mr Gallant during a confirmation hearing last week. Mr Rubio said: I think the ICC has done tremendous damage to its global credibility. He then warned that a dangerous precedent had been set. He added: This is a trial run to see if they can go after a head of state from a non-member nation. If successful with Israel, they will apply the same standard to the United States at some point. It is unclear, if the sanctions do come as expected, what form they would take. In June 2020, the first Trump administration announced economic sanctions against ICC officials investigating alleged US war crimes, as well as visa restrictions on their family members. A counter-investigation into alleged corruption at the ICC was also announced. No moral equivalence Sir Keir, whose career was spent in the law before turning to elected politics in his 50s, has made a point of standing by the decisions of independent courts while an MP. Downing Street defended the ICCs right to rule on Mr Netanyahus actions when the arrest warrant was issued in November. The Prime Ministers official spokesman said then: We respect the independence of the ICC, which is the primary institutional institution for investigating and prosecuting the most serious crimes in relation to international law. This Government has been clear that Israel has a right to defend itself in accordance with international law. There is no moral equivalence between Israel, a democracy, and Hamas and Lebanese Hezbollah, which are terror groups. We remain focused on pushing for an immediate ceasefire to bring an end to the devastating violence in Gaza. The ICC has defended its right to investigate the actions of both Israeli politicians and military commanders and Hamas fighters in the Gaza conflict. Tommy Calvert, Bexar County Commissioner for Precinct 4, talks about the importance of remembering San Antonios African American history during a ceremony for a new Bexar Heritage Center exhibit titled Dawn of a New Era at the Bexar County Courthouse on Thursday, Jan. 16, 2025, in downtown San Antonio, Texas. Sam Owens/San Antonio Express-News As if transformed through a time portal, Artemisia Bowden, founding president of one of the nations oldest historically Black colleges, speaks to visitors at the new exhibit in the Bexar County Courthouse. I felt called by God as I began my journey to a land called Texas, says Bowden, a Georgia native, portrayed in an interactive video by local author and poet Antoinette Winstead, as she welcomes guests at the Bexar Heritage Center. Black students here couldnt attend college, and I knew I wouldnt be satisfied until they could, adds Bowden, who served St. Philips College for more than 50 years, starting in the early 1900s, and helped it grow from a small segregated school offering weekend sewing classes to a campus with 12,000 students today. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Bexar Heritage Outreach Manager Mari Tamaz answers questions about the centers new exhibit titled Dawn of a New Era, which highlights African American history in Bexar County, at the Bexar County Courthouse on Thursday, Jan. 16, 2025, in downtown San Antonio, Texas. Sam Owens/San Antonio Express-News People mingle after attending a ribbon cutting for a new Bexar County Heritage Center exhibit titled Dawn of a New Era, which highlights African American history in the area, at the Bexar County Courthouse on Thursday, Jan. 16, 2025, in downtown San Antonio, Texas. Sam Owens/San Antonio Express-News The Dawn of a New Era display is the first new permanent exhibit since the 2,000-square-foot center opened in 2019, drawing about 4,500 visitors annually. The exhibit includes a touch-screen interactive station on African American history in Bexar County, from slavery, the Underground Railroad and historical photos of San Antonios East Side to history makers and cultural destinations and events. Toxey/McMillan Design Associates guided development of the exhibit in coordination with subject matter experts. Advertisement Article continues below this ad At a recent opening dedication, part of DreamWeek San Antonio, County Judge Peter Sakai said the exhibit was long overdue and will enlighten and explain what came before us. It will touch everyone, from children on school field trips to senior citizens and visitors to our community, he said. DreamWeek, highlighted with a Martin Luther King Jr. March on Monday, is a time to reflect on the tremendous courage that it took over the years, the tremendous perseverance despite many obstacles and the unshakable commitment for justice and to make communities better, said Commissioner Tommy Calvert. He spoke of G.W. Bouldin, the brave publisher of the San Antonio Inquirer newspaper, who gave truthful accounts of the racially-charged 1917 Houston Riot and Hattie Briscoe, who was fired from her teaching job for her civil rights activism and became the only Black woman practicing law in Bexar County for nearly three decades. Bexar County Tax Assessor-Collector Albert Uresti, from left, Judge Peter Sakai and Commissioner Tommy Calvert watch an educational video about Artemisia Bowden, a San Antonio educator and civil rights activist, which is part of a new Bexar Heritage Center exhibit titled Dawn of a New Era highlighting African American history at the Bexar County Courthouse on Thursday, Jan. 16, 2025, in downtown San Antonio, Texas. Sam Owens/San Antonio Express-News Advertisement Article continues below this ad People mingle after attending a ribbon cutting for a new Bexar County Heritage Center exhibit titled Dawn of a New Era, which highlights African American history in the area, at the Bexar County Courthouse on Thursday, Jan. 16, 2025, in downtown San Antonio, Texas. Sam Owens/San Antonio Express-News These stories and many others highlighted in exhibits remind us that progress is not inevitable, Calvert said. Their legacies challenge us to reflect on how we can honor their courage and continue their fight for justice, equality and reconciliation. Lets honor their memories and lets commit to rebuilding a community where unity, inclusion, truth and understanding prevail. The free-admission center operates from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. weekdays and hosts visits from schools and senior centers. Mari Tamez, the countys Bexar Heritage outreach manager, said the new exhibit spotlights a part of the culturally diverse story of Bexar, one of 23 original counties of early Texas, with territories that once extended north and west into New Mexico, Colorado, Oklahoma and Kansas, even reaching into Wyoming. When school children come through the center, wed like for them to see themselves, Tamez said. We hope they leave here with a little more excitement about their familys story. Hamas terrorists surround Doron Steinbrecher as she is handed over to Red Cross representatives for return to Israel - Reuters Until yesterday the survivors of Hamass terror army were skulking inside whats left of their tunnel network, hiding in civilian houses, mosques, schools and hospitals or embedding themselves into humanitarian areas on the coast. They disguised themselves as civilians, sometimes dressed as women and journalists and never daring to openly carry weapons above ground. Today they are out on the streets of Gaza proudly wearing their green bandanas and combat uniforms while flaunting assault rifles and rocket launchers. Even at the point of handover we have seen pictures of these newly courageous fighters closing in to intimidate and torment the first three women hostages to be released. At the same time the ceasefire-emboldened terrorists are laughing in our faces, handing gift bags to the released women as well as completion certificates to show they have spent well over a year in Hamass tunnels. Since the cessation was agreed the terrorist leaders have been been renewing their vows to kill more Jews and launch repeated 7th October style massacres. Meanwhile hordes of Gazan civilians have flooded into the streets, mostly healthy in appearance, well dressed and many visibly over-fed. A far cry from the picture Hamas, the UN, human rights groups and so much of the media have painted for the last 15 months: of disease and famine at the hands of the Israelis. Despite claims of fuel and energy starvation in Gaza, cars now seem to be able to freely drive the people about and their ubiquitous smart phones are obviously well charged. Like their Hamas leaders, these innocent civilians have been screaming themselves hoarse with Khaybar, Khaybar ya yahud, an Arabic rallying cry calling for the slaughter of Jews. Many Hamas leaders have been killed, including the most senior, and an estimated 20,000 plus fighters eliminated with their organized military structures dismantled. Hamas have been trying to replace their dead terrorists with untrained and inexperienced volunteers from the population. Their capabilities will be boosted by the release of over 1,000 terrorist prisoners in the first stage of the deal alone, some of whom will be battle-hardened. While they remain free from IDF attack, Hamas will be working overtime to regroup and rebuild their lost strength. Any and all suitable construction materials and humanitarian supplies allowed into the Strip will be immediately re-purposed for military use rather than to alleviate the suffering of civilians whose houses have been destroyed as a result of Hamass war. They will continue to operate the weapons manufacturing factories that have not been taken apart and do all they can to replenish weapons and ammunition from outside. That is why the IDF must retain its stranglehold on the border with Egypt as well as the blockade of the coastline. Outside Gaza, Hamas and their sponsors and supporters will be aiming to bring international pressure to bear on Israel to prevent a resumption of hostilities, while holding on to as many hostages as they feel they need for longer term leverage. In these circumstances the sooner Israel can return to the attack the better, reducing time and opportunity Hamas will have to increase the dangers they still present. The fight will certainly have to be resumed. It is for Jerusalem to calibrate when and how that is done, balancing the maximum number of hostages that can be got out against the growing risks presented by the breathing space Hamas can be allowed. Into that equation will also have to be factored wider strategic imperatives, not least a potential strike on Irans nuclear programme which now becomes a more realistic proposition with Donald Trump back in the White House. The vast majority of people are just as worried about paying their energy bills as they were last winter, despite a fall in prices. New polling found 88% of people are as concerned or even more so than last year, amid mounting calls for a social tariff for consumers. The average energy bill for households across England, Scotland and Wales increased by 1.2% in January after Ofgem raised its price cap in response to wholesale prices. Energy secretary Ed Miliband said he supported a social tariff (James Manning/PA) It means the yearly bill for a household using a typical amount of energy climbed to 1,738, up 21 from the previous cap. That remains significantly lower than this time last year, when the figure stood at 1,928 per year, but it comes amid plunging temperatures this January. Britain recorded its coldest January night in 15 years earlier in the month as temperatures plummeting to minus 18.9C in Scotland, and the UK Health Security Agency issued several days of cold weather health alerts for England. The poll of 2,000 people by research firm Strand Partners prompted fresh calls for a social tariff from the boss of energy supplier Ovo Energy. The measure, which campaign groups have proposed for several years, would likely take the form of a targeted discount energy deal for poorer customers, and could be below the price of the cheapest available standard energy tariff. It also comes after energy secretary Ed Miliband said the measure is something that we need looking at. He told MPs on January 15: Different people mean different things by a social tariff. We have a sort of social tariff in its infancy if you like through the warm homes discount but I definitely think that part of what we need to be examining the case for and the ability for us to do in the years ahead is, if you like, a more fully fledged version of that. David Buttress, chief executive of Ovo, told the PA news agency he supports Mr Milibands comments but added he is deeply concerned about the 88% figure. He said: We are working with the Government to do everything we can to make energy more affordable for our customers. A social tariff to provide discounted energy to the most vulnerable households should be implemented by the Government as a top priority. The company said it is running a series of community events starting on Blue Monday, January 20, in Newport, Bristol, Inverness and Glasgow, in partnership with campaign group Warm Welcome Group. The events will see experts advise people on how to use less energy and how to access Government grants that might be available to them. It's a happy ending for Huckleberry. The tortoise was one of the first animals rescued by Pasadena Humane after the Los Angeles wildfires. But now, after many days in their care, the organization gave an update on the tortoise that is making people online cheer. Things could've ended so differently for Huckleberry when the tortoise's family had to evacuate their home in Pasadena, California. View the original article to see embedded media. As Pasadena Humane explained in their video, their Animal Control Officer originally helped the tortoise's family get him out of their home. At 28 years old and 200 lbs. we're sure that wasn't an easy feat, but they made it happen. Now, days after Huckleberry was brought to the rescue, he finally is going home. Related: Update on Dogs & Cats Being Treated for Burns at Pasadena Humane Society Is Devastating "We were happy to give this tortoise a safe place to stay," Pasadena Rescue wrote in the video. "And even happier to see him go home!" The comments section was so touched by Huckleberry's journey home. "Caring for creatures great and small," praised one person. "So happy that Huckleberry and his family have been reunited! Thank you to that animal control officer for saving the day," one commenter added. "Thank you for the amazing work. Everyone there is a true HERO," one person chimed in. "Yay Huckleberry! Thank you for helping this kind soul," gushed another person. How to Help Pasadena Humane Since the Los Angeles wildfires have begun, Pasadena Humane has taken in over 500 animals, the Los Angeles Times reports. That doesn't include the many stray animals they've also taken in. The organization is still trying to match animals with owners who might've lost track of them during the fires. Which is why they need your help! If you want to aid Pasadena Humane in their mission you can go to their website and make a donation. Every donation goes towards boarding their many new residents and giving them supplies. You can also help by spreading the word about the work that Pasadena Humane is doing. The organization has a found pets database, which has all of the animals they're currently sheltering. They've also paired with Petco for the Petco Love Lost project where pet owners can post a photo of their missing animal. They're currently offering free pet food and supplies to pet owners in the community from 10 am to 5 pm daily. As you can see, they deserve our help! So make a donation today you could be helping someone reunite with their beloved pet. Looking for more PetHelpful updates? Follow us on YouTube for more entertaining videos. Or, share your own adorable pet by submitting a video, and sign up for our newsletter for the latest pet updates and tips. People with hidden pockets of fat in their muscles similar to so-called marbling in beef are at a higher risk of dying from heart attacks or heart failure regardless of their body weight, according to a study. While fatty marbling, or flecks of fat running through meat, is commercially valued in livestock, in humans it has been associated with insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes, researchers said. It is not yet known how to reduce the risk of heart problems in those with fatty muscles, although academics suggest their findings could be important for ongoing studies looking at the impact of weight loss drugs on heart health. For the study, US researchers looked at 669 people being evaluated at the Brigham and Womens Hospital in Boston for chest pain and/or shortness of breath, but were found to have no evidence of obstructive coronary artery disease, a condition where the arteries that supply the heart become clogged. The group were given scans to assess their heart function, while researchers also used CT scans to analyse body composition and measure the amounts and location of fat and muscle in sections of their torso. To determine the amount of fat stored in muscles, the team calculated the ratio of intermuscular fat to total muscle plus fat used a measurement they called the fatty muscle fraction. Professor Viviany Taqueti, director of the cardiac stress laboratory at Brigham and Womens Hospital, and faculty at Harvard Medical School, said: Intermuscular fat can be found in most muscles in the body, but the amount of fat can vary widely between different people. In our research, we analyse muscle and different types of fat to understand how body composition can influence the small blood vessels or microcirculation of the heart, as well as future risk of heart failure, heart attack and death. Those with higher amounts of fat stored in their muscles were more likely to have coronary microvascular dysfunction (CMD), a condition that affects the small blood vessels in the heart. They were also more likely to go to hospital or die from heart disease. According to the study, for every 1% increase in fatty muscle fraction, there was a 2% increased risk of CMD and a 7% increase in the risk of serious heart disease in the future. Prof Taqueti suggested that unlike subcutaneous fat or fat stored under the skin fat stored in the muscles may be contributing to inflammation and insulin resistance. In turn, these chronic insults can cause damage to blood vessels, including those that supply the heart, and the heart muscle itself, she added. Knowing that intermuscular fat raises the risk of heart disease gives us another way to identify people who are at high risk, regardless of their body mass index. Prof Taqueti said it is not yet known how to lower the risk for people with fatty muscles. For example, we dont know how treatments such as new weight-loss therapies affect fat in the muscles relative to fat elsewhere in the body, lean tissue, and ultimately the heart, she added. She said the findings, published in the European Heart Journal, could be particularly important for ongoing studies looking at the heart health effects of fat and muscle-modifying incretin-based therapies, including weight loss jabs. Researchers suggest it may be possible that the loss of lean muscle mass as a result of these drugs, known as glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists, may also involve a loss of intermuscular fat. Prof Taqueti added: Obesity is now one of the biggest global threats to cardiovascular health, yet body mass index our main metric for defining obesity and thresholds for intervention remains a controversial and flawed marker of cardiovascular prognosis. This is especially true in women, where high body mass index may reflect more benign types of fat. It's the smallest gesture that can make an animal feel at home. For many animals in the shelter system, they don't get to feel those small comforts. Which is why people online are so emotional over the blankets that the National Mill Dog Rescue in Peyton, Colorado gave to their rescues. It was their first blankets at the rescue ever. Dogs need warmth and comfort, just like humans do. These pups absolutely loved the blankets that their human caretakers bought for them. The rescue made a video to mark the occasion. Several of their dogs got a blanket to celebrate their "new beginning." Related: Animal Shelter Introduces Adoptable Dogs to Show There's a Rescue Pet for Anyone "The joy and curiosity on their faces as they experience this new comfort is truly heartwarming," they explained in their Facebook post. "From uncertain and scared to cozy and curious, these first blankets symbolize the start of their new lives, filled with warmth and care." "These blankets arent just fabric; theyre promises of better days ahead," they added. Today they get new blankets, tomorrow they'll get new homes! People in the comments section had a lot of hope for these little guys. "Wish I could hold them and show them love!" wrote one person. "It makes me so happy! Thank you for all you do for them!" another commenter praised. "These are my absolute favorite videos of all. To see their curiosity and excitement melts my heart," one person gushed. "Precious babies. Better life ahead," commented someone else. About the National Mill Dog Rescue Many animals need someone to give them a chance. But until they fund their forever home, they'll go to the National Mill Dog Rescue. The organization's mission is to rescue, rehabilitate, and rehome discarded dogs. They want to educate the public about the cruelties of commercial dog breeding and they want to end the puppy mill industry. The rescue is run almost completely by volunteers. Because of this, they need lots of support to continue doing their important work. If you want to help the National Mill Dog Rescue, there are lots of ways to pitch in. You can volunteer with the organization, foster, or adopt. Yes, adopting really does help them because it clears a space for another dog in need. Donations are also very important to give their dogs the care and attention they need. If you want to donate to the National Mill Dog Rescue, go to their website. Every dollar you give will save a dog's life or at least it'll get them another blanket. Looking for more PetHelpful updates? Follow us on YouTube for more entertaining videos. Or, share your own adorable pet by submitting a video, and sign up for our newsletter for the latest pet updates and tips. The 18-year-old accused of killing three girls in a meticulously planned rampage at a dance class in Southport has pleaded guilty to the attack on the first day of his trial. Axel Rudakubana, of Banks, Lancashire, was to stand trial at Liverpool Crown Court on Monday charged with 16 offences, including three counts of murder. Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, Bebe King, six, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, died following the attack at the Taylor Swift-themed class in The Hart Space on a small business park in the seaside town shortly before midday on July 29. The defendant, who was 17 at the time of the attack, admitted their murders as well as the attempted murders of eight other children, who cannot be named for legal reasons, class instructor Leanne Lucas and businessman John Hayes. Prosecutors described the defendant as a young man with a sickening and sustained interest in death and violence, saying the attack left an enduring mark on our community and the nation for its savagery and senselessness. It has now emerged that he was referred to the government anti-extremism scheme Prevent three times before the murders, amid concerns over his fixation with violence. Summer riots which saw violence across the country were sparked by the stabbings carried out by Rudakubana. A prison van believed to contain Axel Rudakubana arrives at Liverpool Crown Court ahead of his trial (Peter Byrne/PA) Within hours of his attack, posts spread on the internet which claimed the suspect was a 17-year-old asylum seeker, who had come to the country by boat last year. Mr Justice Goose said Rudakubana will be sentenced on Thursday. Rudakubana is not expected to receive a whole life order because he was 17 at the time of the murders the measures can normally only be imposed on criminals aged 21 or over, and are usually only considered for those aged 18 to 20 in exceptional circumstances. He also pleaded guilty to possession of a knife. Rudakubana, who was born in Cardiff, also admitted production of a biological toxin, ricin, on or before July 29 and possession of information likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing to commit an act of terrorism. Rudakubana changed his plea on Monday (Merseyside Police/PA) The terrorism offence relates to a PDF file entitled Military Studies In The Jihad Against The Tyrants, The Al Qaeda Training Manual which he is said to have possessed between August 29 2021 and July 30 2024. The ricin, a deadly poison, and the document were found during searches of the home in Old School Close which he shared with his parents, who are originally from Rwanda. The court heard that relatives of Rudakubanas victims were not present to see him enter his guilty pleas. Mr Justice Goose said: I am conscious of the fact the families are not here today. Deanna Heer KC, prosecuting, confirmed the families had not attended because it was assumed the trial would open on Tuesday. Mr Justice Goose said he extended his apologies to them that for that reason they werent here to hear him enter his pleas. There was a heavy police presence outside Liverpool Crown Court for Rudakubanas appearance (Peter Byrne/PA) The attack in Southport has not been declared a terrorist incident despite the discovery of the document, Merseyside Police said last year. Rudakubana was arrested on the day of the attack and charged with murder, attempted murder and possession of a knife later that week. He was charged with production of ricin and the terror offence three months later, although the items were found in searches carried out by police in the days after his arrest. Unrest erupted across the country in the wake of the Southport attack, with mosques and hotels used for asylum seekers among the locations targeted. In the hours after the stabbing, information spread online which claimed the suspect was an asylum seeker who had arrived in the UK on a small boat. The day after the attack, thousands turned out for a peaceful vigil in Southport, but later a separate protest outside a mosque in the town became violent, with missiles thrown at police and vans set on fire. A prison van believed to be transporting Rudakubana leaves court (Peter Byrne/PA) More than 1,000 arrests linked to disorder across the country have since been made and hundreds charged and jailed. During the hearing on Monday, Stan Reiz, defending, told the judge: I am instructed for the indictment to be put again. Rudakubana remained seated in the dock as he entered guilty pleas. The defendant, who had an intermediary with him in the dock, wore a grey tracksuit and a surgical mask. He did not stand when asked to by the court clerk and judge after entering court and did not reply when he was asked to confirm his name. The clerk then began reading each of the 16 counts of the indictment, with the defendant replying with the single word Guilty each time and the clerk repeating back You wish to change your plea to guilty. Deputy Chief Crown Prosecutor Ursula Doyle said Rudakubana had shown no sign of remorse (Peter Byrne/PA) Rudakubana moved to Banks from Cardiff with his parents and older brother about a decade ago. The family lived in a mid-terrace three-bedroom house in a newly built cul-de-sac of a dozen or so properties. A local source said the killer did not mix with others, that the family was unremarkable and there had been no sign of anything wrong. Nobody knows them. Its only the father who went to work who Ive ever seen, a neighbour said. In 2018, Rudakubana appeared in a Doctor Who-themed advert for BBC Children In Need. The now-deleted clip shows him leaving the Tardis wearing a trench coat and tie to look like the shows former star David Tennant. Floral tributes near the scene of the attack in Hart Street, Southport (James Speakman/PA) Appearing in court in August after he was first charged, Rudakubana initially smiled upon entering the courtroom, then kept his face covered by his sweatshirt for the remainder of the proceedings. He has not previously spoken in court and not guilty pleas were entered on his behalf after he failed to respond when charges were put to him. Speaking outside court after the hearing, Deputy Chief Crown Prosecutor Ursula Doyle said: This was an unspeakable attack one which left an enduring mark on our community and the nation for its savagery and senselessness. At the start of the school holidays, a day which should have been one of carefree innocence, of children enjoying a dance workshop and making friendship bracelets, became a scene of the darkest horror as Axel Rudakubana carried out his meticulously planned rampage. It is clear that this was a young man with a sickening and sustained interest in death and violence. He has shown no sign of remorse. Axel Rudakubana was referred to an anti-extremism programme three times before he carried out a meticulously planned rampage at a Southport dance class, it has emerged. The Prime Minister said there were grave questions to answer after the 18-year-old, described by prosecutors as having a sickening and sustained interest in death and violence, pleaded guilty on the first day of his trial at Liverpool Crown Court on Monday to 16 offences, including three counts of murder. Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine; Bebe King, six; and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven; died following the attack at the Taylor Swift-themed class in The Hart Space on a small business park in the seaside town shortly before midday on July 29. The defendant admitted their murders as well as the attempted murders of eight other children, who cannot be named for legal reasons, class instructor Leanne Lucas and businessman John Hayes. It has now emerged that he was referred to the government anti-extremism scheme Prevent three times before the murders, amid concerns over his fixation with violence. Prime Minister Keir Starmer said: The news that the vile and sick Southport killer will be convicted is welcome. It is also a moment of trauma for the nation, and there are grave questions to answer as to how the state failed in its ultimate duty to protect these young girls. Britain will rightly demand answers, and we will leave no stone unturned in that pursuit. Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch called for a complete account of who in Government knew what and when about the case, while Reform UK leader Nigel Farage accused the Government of the most astonishing cover-up. A prison van believed to contain Axel Rudakubana arrives at Liverpool Crown Court ahead of his trial (Peter Byrne/PA) Terror watchdog Jonathan Hall told LBC that Prevent needs to be expanded or there should be a separate programme to catch high-risk people who are obsessed with violence. Mr Justice Goose said Rudakubana, of Banks, Lancashire, will be sentenced on Thursday. He is not expected to receive a whole life order because he was 17 at the time of the murders the measures can normally only be imposed on criminals aged 21 or over, and are usually only considered for those aged 18 to 20 in exceptional circumstances. Rudakubana, who was born in Cardiff, also admitted possessing a knife on the date of the attack, production of a biological toxin, ricin, on or before July 29 and possession of information likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing to commit an act of terrorism. Rudakubana changed his plea on Monday (Merseyside Police/PA) The terrorism offence relates to a PDF file entitled Military Studies In The Jihad Against The Tyrants, The Al Qaeda Training Manual which he is said to have possessed between August 29 2021 and July 30 2024. The ricin, a deadly poison, and the document were found during searches of the home in Old School Close which he shared with his parents, who are originally from Rwanda. Rudakubanas unexpected change of pleas on Monday meant families of his victims were not in court to see them entered, having expected the trial to be opened on Tuesday. The defendant, wearing a grey tracksuit and surgical mask, refused to stand or confirm his name but spoke for the first time in court when he replied guilty to each count on the indictment. Unrest erupted across the country in the wake of the Southport attack, with mosques and hotels used for asylum seekers among the locations targeted. In the hours after the stabbing, information spread online which claimed the suspect was an asylum seeker who had arrived in the UK on a small boat. The day after the attack, thousands turned out for a peaceful vigil in Southport, but later a separate protest outside a mosque in the town became violent, with missiles thrown at police and vans set on fire. A prison van believed to be transporting Rudakubana leaves court (Peter Byrne/PA) More than 1,000 arrests linked to disorder across the country have since been made and hundreds charged and jailed. The attack prompted members of the royal family to make contact with those who were affected, with the King suspending his traditional Balmoral break to visit some of the injured children and the Prince and Princess of Wales making a surprise visit to the town to meet the bereaved families. Kate also invited the young survivors to her annual Christmas carol concert. Speaking outside court after the hearing, deputy chief Crown prosecutor Ursula Doyle said: This was an unspeakable attack one which left an enduring mark on our community and the nation for its savagery and senselessness. At the start of the school holidays, a day which should have been one of carefree innocence, of children enjoying a dance workshop and making friendship bracelets, became a scene of the darkest horror as Axel Rudakubana carried out his meticulously planned rampage. It is clear that this was a young man with a sickening and sustained interest in death and violence. He has shown no sign of remorse. Two Metropolitan Police officers who denied having heard a restrained man say I cant breathe before he died in custody lied under oath at the inquest into his death, a misconduct panel has heard. Pc Danielle Barnes and Pc Elizabeth McAleenan are accused of having failed to ensure the welfare of a member of the public after Kevin Clarke, a relapsing paranoid schizophrenic, died in police custody at Lewisham Hospital in 2018. It is alleged Pc Barnes and Pc McAleenan gave evidence that was both dishonest and lacked integrity at an inquest into Mr Clarkes death, which in October 9 2020 found the decision by police to use restraints on Mr Clarke escalated the situation to a medical emergency and contributed to his death. The inquest jury at the time had reviewed body-worn camera footage and found that it was highly likely that at least one officer heard Mr Clarke say I cant breathe on more than one occasion. Both Pc Barnes and Pc McAleenan deny the allegations. Amy Clarke, solicitor on behalf of the Metropolitan Police, told a misconduct panel sitting in central London on Monday: Whilst these two officers are on the scene and interacting with Mr Clarke, at that point in the footage we can hear Mr Clarke say I cant breathe. These officers, we say, did not take any positive action in order to ensure his welfare. These officers were in close proximity with Mr Clarke at the time. Following on from his death, there was an inquest, and at that inquest both officers were questioned about the allegation that Mr Clarke had said I cant breathe and that, effectively, these two officers had not done anything. Ms Clarke added: We say that, having heard it, and having repeated that they had not heard it under oath at the inquest, was dishonest. Mr Clarke died on March 9 2018 following an incident in the Polsted Road area of Catford, south-east London. During the incident, Mr Clarke, then aged 35, was restrained by officers after he was found lying on the ground in a playing field, acting strangely. He was put into handcuffs and leg restraints, and lost consciousness as he was taken to an ambulance. Questioned by Ms Clarke at the misconduct hearing, Pc Barnes, 40, told the panel: I did not hear Mr Clarke say I cannot breathe. We believed that he suffered from acute behavioural disorder (ABD) we were all extremely concerned that day that our main priority was to get medical attention for Mr Clarke and to get him to hospital as soon as we could. The body-worn camera footage dated March 9 2018, in which the appropriate authority claims Mr Clarke can be heard groaning I cant breathe, was played before the misconduct panel on Monday. Chairwoman Catherine Elliott questioned Pc Barnes as to whether any of the officers present tried to make out what Mr Clarke was saying, adding: He was clearly trying to communicate some things. Pc Barnes answered: He was incoherent and he was not making any sense. When someone is suffering from ABD, they have irrational behaviours and make irrational comments. If the panel finds the allegations to be true, Pc Barnes and Pc McAleenan will be found in breach of the Standards of Professional Behaviour. The conduct would amount to gross misconduct and justify their dismissal, the Met Police said. The hearing continues. A second Donald Trump term could see UK-US relations deteriorate, according to British supporters of the new president. Around 100 people gathered at the Prince Albert pub in Bayswater, London, on Monday, wearing MAGA hats and waving American flags as Donald Trump took office and promised a new golden age of America. Speaking after the inauguration speech, political commentator and Reform UK activist Nicholas Lissack said: I think (UK-US relations) are undoubtedly going to deteriorate In my view, things are not going to go very well between the UK and US over the next four years. However, I think in part this will lead to increased resistance against Starmer both within Parliament and out. In my view, I think this is probably the worst possible day imaginable for Keir Starmer. I think his days are numbered as they are. caption id=c3aa706cf31e4616b6da85df8f0cf35d align=alignnone width=6480] Trump Inauguration Donald Trump is sworn in as the 47th president of the United States (Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP)[/caption] However, I think with Donald Trump in power there is going to be tremendous pressure exerted on the United Kingdom from Washington DC and in particular individuals like Elon Musk who will be a part of the government and therefore there will be issues ahead for Starmer. Mr Lissack also said he believed Mr Trumps election could lead to a lot of Brits adopting a Britain first agenda, which would see a large shift in support to Reform UK. He explained: Things are only going to get better for the populist right in Britain and people are going to want to put their country first and Reform will ultimately stand to benefit from this. Jennifer Ewing, a spokesperson for the Republicans Overseas UK group, a support network for Republican Americans living in the United Kingdom and organiser of Mondays event, said she was feeling hopeful but believed Mr Trumps election could see a change in the special relationship between the UK and US. She said: The UK has been my adopted home for almost two decades so I understand both cultures even though Im a Californian. But I think the UK-US special relationship endures beyond whoever is in power. I think this will be a different sort of relationship this time. I dont think it will go through the normal channels. If in fact Lord Mandelson ends up being the ambassador, which I think is still a question, well see if hes the one whos actually doing the discussing or if it is somebody like a Nigel Farage or a Nick Candy or even a special envoy to the UK there are enough people with good relationships that I think well be okay. Lord Peter Mandelson has been appointed US ambassador (Jonathan Brady/PA) James Cottis, a businessperson from Essex and a PHD student researching Donald Trump and American first, said he believed Mr Trumps election could lead to Nigel Farage becoming the UK Prime Minister. He said: I think UK-US relations is a shot and I think the only person who will be able to help in any way shape or form restart those relations is Nigel Farage because (he) is so influential. Donald Trump has won the United States election twice now. Nigel Farage and Reform are racing up the polls and its not beyond belief that Nigel Farage will be the next UK Prime Minister. Im quite positive that may well happen over the next few years, and I think what this country needs is a leader which is not Keir Starmer. A leader like Nigel Farage, who will ensure that UK-US relations stay as they are because were great allies. 100% if there was an election tomorrow I think there would be Reform winning a lot of seats. The Conservatives are pretty much finished people voted for the Labour Party last year and they dont know what their policies are. But with Reform, you know what youre getting. (People) have seen the relationship between Nigel Farage and Donald Trump and they want that here. Staff at Scottish Water are set to vote on taking industrial action after pay talks collapsed. GMB Scotland said members will be balloted next week after an offer it said amounted to 3.4% was overwhelmingly rejected during an informal consultation. The union has also claimed the water company was misrepresenting the terms of the offer and risking the trust of employees. A spokesperson for Scottish Water said an increased offer had not been put to staff by unions and described the move to ballot members as premature. They also said the offer to employees amounted to 3.95%, not 3.4% as stated by GMB Scotland. The three-week ballot is expected to open on Monday January 27, a little more than a year after a rolling programme of action threatened to disrupt emergency repairs, testing and maintenance. The dispute in 2023 involved a new grading structure unions claimed could cost the lowest paid up to 5,000. Claire Greer, GMB Scotland organiser, said it was disappointing to be involved in another dispute with management so soon after the last one. She said: We had hoped the company had understood the need for trust and transparency in industrial relations. Unfortunately, that does not appear to be the case. The offer made to our members is too low and it is no surprise that it has been so overwhelmingly rejected. However, it is also disappointing that Scottish Waters communications with staff misrepresent the offer on the table and seem designed to mislead. A Scottish Water spokesperson said: Our proposal for an annual pay award for 2024-25 builds on the uplift and significant improvement to terms and conditions agreed last year with the trade unions. We are disappointed that the unions have not put our increased offer to their members and believe that balloting for industrial action is premature. We encourage the unions to engage with us. Bunny Keefer, 84, a student and teacher at Bihl Haus Arts, laughs as she talks about a hat she calls her wandering hat. Jessica Phelps A papier mache doll made by artist Bunny Keefer, 84, sits in her living room at the Sorento Apartments. Keefer is a student and teacher at Bihl Haus Arts, known for her expertise with papier mache Jessica Phelps Artist Bunny Keefer, 84, sits in her living room with a cup of tea, surrounded by art she has made. Keefer is a student and teacher at Bihl Haus Arts, known for her expertise with papier mache Jessica Phelps Bunny Keefer, 84, is a student and teacher at Bihl Haus Arts. Keefer is open to experimenting with any kind of art tool or medium she comes across. Jessica Phelps Bunny Keefer, 84, picks up a hat with a steam punk theme. Jessica Phelps Bunny Keefer, 84, a student and teacher at Bihl Haus Arts, is known for her expertise with papier mache. Jessica Phelps Bunny Keefer, 84, a student and teacher at Bihl Haus Arts, points out various details on a hat she made. Keefer is open to experimenting with any kind of art tool or medium she comes across. Jessica Phelps Bunny Keefer, 84, a student and teacher at Bihl Haus Arts, pulls out her wandering stick she made with a long stick she cut herself. Jessica Phelps Artist Bunny Keefer, 84, stands in her living room surrounded by art she has made. Keefer is a student and teacher at Bihl Haus Arts, known for her expertise with papier mache Jessica Phelps Bunny Keefer's life is an ongoing work of art. For most of her life, the 84-year-old artist has inhabited the adventurous spirit of the lead character in her favorite book "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland," by Lewis Carroll. So it isnt surprising to step into her San Antonio apartment and feel as if youve fallen head-over-heels into the bizarre world of Carrolls childrens book. Advertisement Article continues below this ad In fact, a large cutout of the fictional girl appears on a wall of art that unravels through Keefer's apartment. Across the room, another Alice sits with the March Hare and Mad Hatter on a seat cushion back that read, Its Always Tea Time. Atop a feather-patterned seat, a stuffed white rabbit's arms are stenciled with the words Curiouser and Curiouser. Its pretty much my own world, Keefer said. My wonderland. Like many of the people who make up San Antonio's arts scene, Keefer isn't getting rich and famous from her work. But that's never been the point. She's getting to spend her life creating art and as a teacher with the local arts nonprofit Bihl Haus Arts, she's serving as a mentor and example to others who might dream of doing the same. About the author A 22-year veteran of the Air Force, Vincent T. Davis embarked on a second career as a journalist and found his calling. Observing and listening across San Antonio, he finds intriguing tales to tell about everyday people. He shares his stories with Express-News subscribers every Monday morning. 'Dive in' Conformity has never been part of Keefer's lifestyle. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Her creativity even flows into her clothing choices. A recent outfit featured a green shirt dotted with a dazzle of zebras linked to a black and white striped choker. A constellation of white stars, comets and planets orbited black flared pants. A light blue T-shirt matched her sweep of hair, dyed her signature shade of cobalt blue. She goes by Bunny, a nickname she fancied from the first time she heard it as a young girl. Baby name websites said the nickname has a Greek origin and means she who brings victory and little rabbit. Keefer isn't a traditionally trained artist. She credits her career to self-studies, excellent teachers and a litany of art courses and workshops. She shares her outlook and talents at Bihl Haus Arts, where she teaches two classes and continues to learn by taking classes herself. Bihl Haus, at 2803 Fredericksburg Road inside the Sorento Apartments, offers residents an outlet to stay engaged in the community through classes taught by a diverse group of artists. Keefer's mediums are many, ranging from ceramics to watercolor. Keefer has taught a six-week papier mache workshop about molding art from newspaper, water and wheat paste. Her main directive to her students is dive in her mantra for life and the new year. Advertisement Article continues below this ad If people have fun with anything, Im all for it, Keefer said. I kind of take it easy and I guess the art leads to that because its calming and relaxing to work on. Above all, have a sense of humor and thatll get you through anything. 'She oozes creativity' Last year, Keefer downsized from her central San Antonio home and moved to the art gallery apartments to further her artistic skills. Bihl Haus education director Gabbe Grodin, who met Keefer through the nonprofit's community, has visited Keefers warren of wonders. Shes seen the steam punk hat with clock gears and fabric-sculpture black crow perched atop the brim. She knows trays adorned with slices of sponge cake are really made of sponges. And shes aware of a poster card with a purple dragon that sums up Keefers philosophy: Assuming Im just an old lady was your first mistake. Advertisement Article continues below this ad She oozes creativity in a way I find important and inspiring, Grodin said. Its important in the sense that being an artist is something people can become better at it as long as theyre art making. Grodin, who has taught at Bihl Haus since 2015, appreciates Keefers decades-old photograph collection of past work she shares with classmates and students. Its archived in a way that tells a story, which allows people to learn from them, Grodin said. Shes a great artist and teacher who teaches people to bring creativity into their own life. She has such an attention to detail in her artwork and curiosity I think is critical to making your best work. Finding her artistic path Keefer grew up a shy, military dependent. Her father moved the family to several Army posts that included Arizona, Hawaii and New York before they settled in San Antonio. She didnt make friends because she knew within a year, theyd be uprooting and off to a new duty station. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Before middle school, she discovered drawing with pencil and paper. Art became her passion, the one thing always there, no matter the locale. In 6th grade, Keefer's creative streak began to shine when she made a papier mache project that was very different from what her classmates were making a foot-and-a-half tall alligator. In the 1950s, she made her first bold fashion statement. At Providence Catholic School, classmates swept their hair into the bouffant and beehive hair styles of the era. One day, Keefer tinted one strand of hair with blue food coloring, oblivious to any reactions from peers, sneers or raised eyebrows. The only thing that mattered about her single blue tress it was her choice. Keefers stand against the schools uniform rules lasted one day. You better not come with that tomorrow, a nun warned. The colored lock of hair faded, as did her pursuit of a degree at Our Lady of the Lake University as she married and had a family. When her two sons were small, she stayed home with them, painting murals in their bedrooms and making their toys. One son now lives in the Northwest, the other lives in Texas. Both are supportive of her artistic pursuits, she said. In the mid 1960s, Keefer briefly entered the work force as a secretary making $1.40 an hour, but creative roles were more her calling. Her resume has included working as a clown, balloon artist, puppeteer and set designer. At one point, she started a business called You Asked For It, that offered a variety of services including catering, pet-sitting and creating life-size sculptures. She has three associate degrees from San Antonio College in ceramics, psychology and liberal arts. Family members acknowledged Keefers free-spirit streak, calling her a bohemian. Being defined as socially unconventional suits her just fine and it also fits her art. A floating castle One of her wilder pieces was a papier mache floating castle. While working at a retirement center, she transformed two refrigerator boxes and three washer/dryer boxes into a medieval, water-worthy vessel. Apartment managers let her us an empty apartment to create the structure. She built it in sections, so she could get it through the door. Other residents helped mix paper and paste to create a surface that resembled stone. The castle featured turrets, ramparts, a draw bridge and two gargoyles. Lashed to pallets, she wasn't sure the three-dimensional display would float. When Keefer shoved the structure into the centers swimming pool, it stayed afloat for the apartment's 25th anniversary ceremony. She has plans more masterpieces built with thousands of paper strips and wheat paste mixture, including a papier mache octopus chandelier. As Keefer's journey continues, it's certain the fictional character Alice will remain part of her life, as she has for the past 78 years, since her father gave her the classic children's book. The decades-old maroon copy is still in her possession. The 18-year-old accused of killing three girls at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in Southport has admitted the attack on the first day of his trial. Axel Rudakubana, of Banks, Lancashire, had been due to stand trial at Liverpool Crown Court on Monday charged with 16 offences, including three counts of murder. Three girls died at a Taylor Swift-themed class in The Hart Space on a small business park in the seaside town shortly before midday on July 29 last year. Here, the PA news agency looks at the lives of the victims. Alice was described as a peacemaker of the playground (Merseyside Police/PA) Alice da Silva Aguiar, aged nine: Alice, who grew up in a Portuguese household, was dedicated to dance. She was pictured eagerly waiting to get into the Taylor Swift-themed event on the day she was killed. The animal lover enjoyed shutting the curtains and watching Disney Plus with popcorn, her parents said. Her father Sergio and mother Alexandra, said Alice was our perfect dream child, everything was idyllic from the moment you arrived. Their tribute continued: A good girl, with strong values and kind nature. A lover of animals and an environmentalist in the making. You moved our world with your confidence and empathy. Playful energetic, friendly, and always so respectful. A peacemaker of the playground. No shouting is a house rule you applied. A big task for a small girl, especially in a Portuguese household. You were taken away from us too soon and we often ask why? Why here? Why us? Why you? We wonder if you ever thought of us. Called for us. We wondered if you felt any pain. We hope not my darling. For now, our beloved Angel, keep dancing, mummy and daddy will always, always love you. Bebe will forever be our shimmering star, her parents said (Merseyside Police/PA) Bebe King, aged six: Bebes parents described her as a sweet, kind, and spirited girl. A statement from Lauren and Ben King said: Our beloved Bebe, only six-years-old, was full of joy, light, and love, and she will always remain in our hearts as the sweet, kind, and spirited girl we adore. They added: Our hearts are broken, but we find some comfort in knowing that Bebe was so deeply loved by all who knew her. She will forever be our shimmering star, and we will carry her with us in everything we do. Elsie was truly unforgettable (Merseyside Police/PA) Elsie Dot Stancombe, aged seven: At her funeral last summer, Elsie Dot Stancombe was described as a little girl who loved a big party. Her coffin, topped with a blue cuddly toy, was carried up a pink carpet as members of her cheerleading squad, Vortex Cheer, formed a guard of honour. Taylor Swifts Love Story, one of her favourite songs, was performed at the end of the service, which was also attended by the family dog Bobby. Elsies family has described her as having the ability to light up any room that she entered. In a statement released before her funeral, they said: Elsie embraced life and it is with positivity, hope and love that we celebrate her life today on Elsies Special Day. Elsie spent every day just simply enjoying life with determination, persistence, love and kindness. Elsie was an amazing little girl. She was truly unforgettable. Eight other children: The other children injured in the attack cannot be named for legal reasons. The final girl injured was released from hospital on August 8 last year. Her family thanked the ambulance crews that were crucial in airlifting her from the scene to the hospital and said we know that their intervention saved her life. John Hayes, 63: The businessman was stabbed in the leg while trying to disarm Rudakubana, but also escaped with his life. He told ITV News how he ran from his office to help when he realised people were injured. I didnt even realise Id been stabbed initially, until I looked down and saw blood coming out my leg and I tried to kick him with my right leg and then thats when I fell over, he said. Mr Hayes, who is married, said he was taken on a stretcher to a road which had become a makeshift holding area and was in quite a lot of pain. Asked if he felt he was a hero, he replied: Im not going sit here and tell you that I was brave about the whole thing and confronting a knifeman, thats not the story at all. King Charles viewing flowers and tributes outside the Atkinson Art Centre, Southport (Owen Humphreys/PA) Leanne Lucas, 35: The yoga class instructor suffered serious stab wounds while trying to protect two girls, but survived the attack. She told LBC Radio: My purpose was creating wellbeing events for children and families, and for that to happen where I was, and for the words I spoke and the children spoke, for that to be trampled over has just really dampened all of our spirits, feeling unsafe, feeling like we just lost faith in the world really. Im not too sure how well ever move on, apart from use the girls memories as a driving force to change things for other people in the future, so this doesnt have to happen to them again. Hopefully people will be hearing a lot more from me in the future, after everythings happened and things are finished, Im hoping my voice will get louder and louder and people will join me in that. Two people from Oregon were arrested for posing as firefighters in the Pacific Palisades area, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. A Los Angeles Police Department unit was patrolling through the evacuation zones on Saturday, when they discovered a fire truck that "did not appear to be legitimate," according to the sheriff's department. They approached the vehicle and questioned the two people inside, Dustin Nehl, 31, and Jennifer Nehl, 44, the sheriff's department said. The two wore fire gear, with Cal Fire shirts underneath, along with helmets and radios, according to the sheriff. When the LAPD unit questioned where the two came from, they said they were with the "Roaring River Fire Department" in Oregon, authorities said in a statement. PHOTO: The LA County Sheriffs Department says its Major Crimes Bureau is investigating another case of people illegally in the evacuation zone impersonating firefighters, Los Angeles, Jan. 19, 2025. (Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department) The deputies conducted research and found that the fire department did not exist, and that the fire truck was bought at an auction, the sheriff's department said. The vehicle was impounded and the suspects were arrested for impersonating firefighters and entering an evacuation zone. MORE: Scam artists may take advantage of the Los Angeles wildfires, officials warn Dustin Nehl has a previous criminal record of criminal mischief and arson, authorities said. The two will be charged on Tuesday, when the case is presented to LA District Attorney Nathan Hochman. Other threats of looting and burglary loom over Los Angeles County, after disastrous fires have devastated communities. With 200,000 people initially under mandatory evacuations, homes were empty, allowing criminals the opportunity to steal valuables. PHOTO: The LA County Sheriffs Department says its Major Crimes Bureau is investigating another case of people illegally in the evacuation zone impersonating firefighters, Los Angeles, Jan. 19, 2025. (Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department) Earlier this month, a man dressed as a firefighter was caught burglarizing a home in Malibu, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Sheriff Robert Luna. The suspect, Ivan Reed, 34, has been charged with impersonating a firefighter, according to the district attorney's office. Dozens of people have been charged with various crimes pertaining to the LA wildfires, including looting and arson. LA District Attorney Nathan Hochman highlighted individuals last week who were charged with stealing $200,000 worth of property from a home in the Mandeville Canyon area of Los Angeles, while another person allegedly stole an Emmy Award from someone's evacuated home in Altadena. PHOTO: The LA County Sheriffs Department says its Major Crimes Bureau is investigating another case of people illegally in the evacuation zone impersonating firefighters, Los Angeles, Jan. 19, 2025. (LA County Sheriff's Department) The Palisades Fire has destroyed over 6,000 structures and burned more than 23,700 acres. It is at 59% containment. The Eaton Fire, north of Pasadena, also continues to blaze, burning 14,000 acres and damaging or destroying more than 10,000 structures. The Eaton Fire is at 87% containment. ABC News has kicked off "SoCal Strong" (#SoCalStrong), highlighting the impacted communities and offering fundraising opportunities for victims of the fires. The coverage will continue across multiple ABC News programs and platforms. 2 people arrested with fire truck while impersonating firefighters at LA wildfires: Police originally appeared on abcnews.go.com Anthony Santander put up his best numbers in 2024, slugging 44 home runs for the Baltimore Orioles. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images) (Patrick Smith via Getty Images) Outfielder Anthony Santander has signed with the Toronto Blue Jays, reports MLB Network's Jon Paul Morosi. The switch-hitting slugger agreed to a five-year deal with Toronto worth $92.5 million, according to ESPN's Jeff Passan. The deal includes a team option for a sixth year, which would boost the overall value to $110 million. Santander can opt out after year three, but the Blue Jays could void the opt-out by picking up the contract's sixth year, The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal reports. Santander deal with Blue Jays, per source: Five years, $92.5M with club option for sixth season. Can opt out after third year. Team can void opt out and make deal six years, $110M at that point. Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) January 20, 2025 Santander, 30, had a career season in 2024 with free agency pending, smashing 44 home runs for the Baltimore Orioles while batting .235 with an .814 OPS. Only Aaron Judge hit more homers among American League hitters. And those 44 home runs were the fifth-highest total by a switch-hitter in major-league history. Santander was ranked No. 11 on Yahoo Sports' list of the Top 50 MLB free agents going into the offseason. "Not only does Santander feature rare power for a switch-hitter, but his splits are also balanced in a way that few switch-hitters are. Hes a threat from both sides of the plate and strikes out less than the average hitter, allowing his power to play with regularity." Santander did most of his damage in 2024 as a power-hitting left-handed batter, hitting .239 with an .822 OPS and 32 homers. While batting right-handed, he slugged 12 home runs with a .225 average and .793 OPS. Previously, the most home runs Santander hit in a season was 33 in 2022, along with 24 doubles and 89 RBI. In eight seasons with the Orioles, Santander hit .246 with a .776 OPS, 155 home runs, 155 doubles and 435 RBI. He originally signed with the Cleveland Guardians as an amateur free agent out of Venezuela, and the Orioles acquired him through the Rule-5 Draft in 2016. With five seasons of 18 or more home runs, the Orioles got excellent value out of that pick. In recent years, the Blue Jays have been better known for the free agents theyve lost out on, including Shohei Ohtani, Juan Soto, Corbin Burnes, Blake Snell and Roki Sasaki. Toronto also showed interest in reuniting with outfielder Teoscar Hernandez, who played there from 2017 to '22. As of late January, the Jays still had three big names to pursue: Pete Alonso, Alex Bregman and Santander. They finally hooked a big fish for their lineup. The question now becomes which position Santander will play. He manned right field for the majority of his career with Baltimore, but George Springer holds that spot in Toronto. Santander will then likely either play left field or bat mostly as a designated hitter. Most importantly, he brings left-handed power to the middle of the Blue Jays' batting order. After futile runs at a number of top free agents Juan Soto, Corbin Burnes and Roki Sasaki all spurned Canadas team this winter the Jays found themselves in a position of desperation. Their roster, though capable of competing in 2025, remained incomplete and undermanned, particularly on offense. And with two of the clubs franchise cornerstones, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette, just a year from free agency, the future was growing increasingly hazy. The pressure, for this franchise without a postseason win since 2016, had reached a fever pitch. But on Monday, the Jays gave themselves some breathing room and a much-needed injection of power, with the club reportedly agreeing to terms with slugging outfielder Anthony Santander on a five-year contract. Its an inevitable, obvious pairing between a team sorely lacking in pop and a free agent with immense juice. Toronto finished 26th in home runs in 2024. No player but Guerrero surpassed 20 long balls. Only six players reached double digits. The clubs 156 homers were the franchises lowest single-season tally since 2004. It was, for a team with postseason aspirations, an embarrassing output. Enter Santander. Read more. Mintz President Joe Biden on Monday commuted the life sentence of Leonard Peltier, a Native American activist who has been imprisoned for nearly 50 years. Peltier, a member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians, was convicted in 1977 for the murders of two FBI agents during a 1975 shootout at the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. The activist was convicted of first-degree murder for the deaths of FBI Special Agents Ronald Williams and Jack Coler. However, his case has been widely criticized due to allegations of trial misconduct, including conflicting testimonies, withheld evidence and potential bias among jurors. In a statement, Biden said the decision will allow Peltier to serve the remainder of his life sentence at home without pardoning him for his crimes. Natalie Bara, president of The FBI Agents Association, said the nonprofit that advocates for current and retired agents is outraged about what she called a "cowardly" action. She said the loss of the agents felt as deeply now as in 1975 and that Peltier "has never expressed remorse for his actions." This last-second, disgraceful act by then-President Biden, which does not change Peltiers guilt but does release him from prison, is cowardly and lacks accountability, Bara said in a statement. It is a cruel betrayal to the families and colleagues of these fallen Agents and is a slap in the face of law enforcement. Uruguayan writer Eduardo Galeano (C), musician Daniel Viglietti (R) and Mario Benedetti Foundation's treasurer Ricardo Elena (L), take part in the first Mario Benedetti Foundation international Human Rights prize ceremony in Montevideo on September 14, 2011. US Leonard Peltier (on screen), an indigenous Human Rights activist jailed in the United States for decades, received the prize. AFP PHOTO/Pablo PORCIUNCULA (Photo credit should read PABLO PORCIUNCULA/AFP via Getty Images) A Controversial Conviction Peltiers conviction has drawn scrutiny over the decades. A key prosecution witness later admitted to fabricating her relationship with Peltier and falsely claiming she saw him fire the fatal shots. Additionally, a juror who expressed prejudice against Native Americans was allowed to serve, and evidence presented in other trials was excluded from Peltiers case. James Reynolds, the prosecutor who oversaw the cases appeal, later called for clemency, describing the evidence against Peltier as minimal. Calls for his release have also come from figures such as Pope Francis, Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Desmond Tutu, as well as human rights organizations including Amnesty International and the United Nations. Senate Indian Affairs Committee Chair Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, in December had urged Biden to act, calling Peltiers imprisonment a historic wrong and a miscarriage of justice. If there was ever a case that merited compassionate release, Leonard Peltiers is it, Schatz said on the Senate floor. Let an old man die with his family. Mixed Reactions While the pardon has been hailed by many as a long-overdue act of justice, it has also reignited opposition from the FBI. Director Christopher Wray previously described Peltier as a remorseless killer, and the agency has consistently opposed his release. Peltier was also denied parole by former Democratic Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama. Members of the Kalpulli Yaocenoxtli and other activists look on during a protest outside the White House to urge President Joe Biden to grant Indigenous activist Leonard Peltier clemency. Health and Final Days Peltiers health has been a growing concern in recent years. He suffers from diabetes, hypertension and complications from multiple bouts of COVID-19. Advocates said his condition was exacerbated by inadequate medical care while incarcerated. Biden cited those health concerns as reason for his commutation decision. "He is now 80 years old, suffers from severe health ailments, and has spent the majority of his life (nearly half a century) in prison," the outgoing president said in a statement. More: Indigenous activist Leonard Peltier loses his bid for parole in 1975 FBI killings Jeremy Yurow is a politics reporting fellow based in Hawaii for the USA TODAY Network. You can reach him at JYurow@gannett.com or on X, formerly Twitter @JeremyYurow. Savannah Kuchar is a Congress and Campaigns reporter for USA TODAY. You can reach her at SKuchar@usatoday.com or on X @savannahkuchar This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Biden commutes Peltier sentence, after nearly 50 years in prison An arctic air mass sprawling across the eastern, central and parts of the western U.S. on Monday will channel temperatures 20-30 degrees below already historically cold January averages and is poised to slam parts of the South with a disruptive winter storm. Freeze warnings were in place along much of the Gulf Coast and northern Florida. The combination of cold air and a developing low pressure system will set the stage for a "rare, significant winter storm" in the region, National Weather Prediction Center forecaster Bryan Putnam said. The storm began late Monday across eastern and southern Texas and figures to roll eastward along the Gulf Coast and through the Southeast on Tuesday and Wednesday, Putnam said. Heavy snow is expected along and north of the Interstate 10 corridor with swaths of sleet and freezing rain over portions of southern Texas, southeast Georgia and northern Florida. The National Weather Service office in Houston reported broadening sleet and snow showers at 6:45 p.m. CT, adding that they would get more intense overnight and urging motorists to stay off the road. The cold front could extend for as much as 1,000 miles along the highway while closing off travel and shutting down power on that corridor for a prolonged period, AccuWeather said. Heavy snow, dangerously low temperatures More than 70M under winter storm warnings Southern cities await rare wintry slam Major southern United States cities bracing for a wintry hit include Austin, San Antonio and Houston in Texas; New Orleans and Baton Rouge in Louisiana; Jackson and Biloxi in Mississippi; Mobile in Alabama; Savannah in Georgia; and Pensacola, Tallahassee and Jacksonville in Florida, AccuWeather warned. New Orleans hasn't seen measureable snowfall since 2009. It has been 35 years for Jacksonville. In Texas, the Austin school district and numerous surrounding districts already have canceled classes for Tuesday. "This will be a rare and especially dangerous winter storm right along the upper Gulf Coast that will result in major and lengthy disruptions to travel," AccuWeather chief meteorologist Jonathan Porter said. Weather disrupts travel, alters inauguration In addition to flight delays and cancellations Houston's Bush Airport had by far the most canceled flights with 102 as of 6:30 p.m. CT the winter blast may cause power outages in areas of significant snow and ice, Putnam said. Highs will only reach the teens and 20s for New England and the Mid-Atlantic states. That was enough for officials in Washington, D.C., to move the presidential inauguration indoors for the first time in 40 years. With a noon temperature of 27 degrees, 10 below the norm, Monday's was the fifth coldest inauguration day on record, according to the National Weather Service. That pushed down the Jimmy Carter (Jan 20, 1977) and Barack Obama (Jan 20, 2009) inaugurations into a tie for sixth place. Contributing: Dinah Voyles Pulver Inauguration live updates: Donald Trump to take oath of office, return for second term A woman steels herself against a blast of winter weather as she walks along security fencing outside the White House the day before President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration on Jan. 19, 2025. Houston airports to close ahead of storm Up to 4 inches of snow was forecast for Houston overnight Monday into Tuesday. The National Weather Service in Houston warned on social media of dangerous road conditions through Wednesday morning: "DO NOT TRAVEL IF POSSIBLE! If you must drive, TAKE IT SLOW! Be extremely cautions, especially on bridges and overpasses. Even cars with four-wheel drive can lose traction." The city's two major airports plan to close at midnight. Operators of the airports, George Bush Intercontinental and William P. Hobby, said the decision was in response to anticipated hazardous road conditions. "While there will be no departing or arriving flights, our dedicated teams will remain on-site 24/7, working diligently to prepare for a swift and safe return to normal operations when weather permits," the airport authority said in a statement. Zach Wichter Texas braces for snowfall: Airport closing, flight disrupted 'Life-threatening' temps could reach 55 degrees below zero Temperatures over the next few days are forecast to climb no higher than the negative teens and single digits in the Upper Midwest to single digits and teens in the Rockies, central Plains and Midwest. "Life-threatening wind chills of 30 to 55 degrees below zero at times are expected across the Rockies, northern Plains, and Upper Midwest through Tuesday morning," Putnam said. The deep freeze is likely to maintain its grip on the eastern and southern U.S. through the next few days, Putnam said. The nation's interior, however, could begin to warm up as soon as Tuesday, when some areas will see highs back into the 20s, 30s and 40s. Snow coming to Mississippi Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves had declared a state of emergency ahead of Tuesday's anticipated storms. Temperatures are expected to drop below freezing each day this week, according to the latest forecast. Central Mississippi, including the Jackson area, was expected to get up to 2 inches of snow. Hattiesburg and much of South Mississippi, including Natchez, were under a "significant threat" of snow, and 2-4 inches was likely, forecasters said. Mississippi Clarion Ledger Florida's capital city braces for wintry mix South-central Georgia and Florida's Big Bend area could see ice totals between a tenth and a quarter of an inch. Tallahassee could get a dusting of snow and a quarter of an inch of ice enough to make roads impassable and knock out power lines from the winter storm forecast to hit the capital area. Confidence continues to increase on the potential for an impactful winter weather event late Tuesday afternoon-Wednesday morning, the National Weather Service in Tallahassee said. The freezing rain, sleet, snow and rain are expected Tuesday night into Wednesday. Tallahassee is in Leon County, where public schools already have decided to close Wednesday. Florida A&M University also will be closed, and more closures, delays and postponements are expected. William L. Hatfield and Jeff Burlew, Tallahassee Democrat Los Angeles hoping to avoid another fire amid intense winds On the other side of the spectrum from the frigid temperatures across much of the country is the Los Angeles area, which is still trying to put out two large fires while hoping no other blazes ignite during the latest round of ferocious Santa Ana winds. The NWS office in Los Angeles is warning of a "powerful & damaging'' windstorm that will make for extreme fire weather Monday and Tuesday through 10 a.m., with gusts of 50-70 mph in the coasts and valleys and 60-100 mph in the mountains and foothills. Temperatures in L.A. are expected to rise into the mid and high 70s with no hint of precipitation through Friday, before a cold front moves in over the weekend and brings at least a chance of desperately needed rain and a cooling effect. In response to the hazardous conditions, Los Angeles Fire Department officials said they have pre-positioned 30 engines in areas of high fire danger and extended the duty hours of hundreds of firefighters. The department said it quickly extinguished a small brush fire Monday below the Griffith Observatory and structures at risk did not sustain any damage. The Palisades and Eaton fires, which have combined to kill at least 27 people and destroy more than 15,000 structures, were 59% and 87% contained, respectively, as of the latest Cal Fire updates around noon Monday. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Extreme cold weather grips US as South braces for storm: updates The United States Coast Guard is searching for a father and son who disappeared at sea over the weekend, off the coast of northern Maine. Both commercial fishermen, Chester Barrett and Aaron Barrett were reported missing by a family member Saturday evening, after they did not return as planned from a fishing trip, the Maine Department of Marine Resources said in a bulletin. The Maine Marine Patrol, a state maritime police service, is also involved in the search. The men intended to sail from Cobscook Bay State Park in Edmunds, Maine, to South Addison, Maine, where they are both from, authorities said. They were on board the elder Barrett's fishing boat "Sudden Impact" when they went missing. Marine Patrol officers began to look for them along the shoreline and in the water between South Addison and Lubec, which is about 50 miles up the coast near Edmonds, at around 7 p.m. ET on Saturday. The U.S. Coast Guard and local fishermen ultimately joined the search, but poor visibility forced them to halt the effort until Sunday morning, according to the state agency. Chester and Aaron Barrett were last heard from at approximately 11:30 am. Saturday morning, the Coast Guard said. The agency asked anyone with information about their whereabouts to contact 833-449-2407. #SAR in progress: For overdue 34 fishing vessel SUDDEN IMPACT with 2 persons onboard. Departed Cobscook Bay State Park, ME, en route to Eastern Harbor, South Addison, ME. Last contact: approx. 1130 on 18JAN. Anyone with info. Please call (833) 449-2407. Photo of Vessel: pic.twitter.com/7lGNzb4b8O USCGNortheast (@USCGNortheast) January 19, 2025 Marine Patrol had said their search would focus on the same stretch between Lubec and South Addison when it resumed Sunday. Neither the state agency nor the Coast Guard has provided additional updates on the probe since then. CBS News reached out to Maine Marine Patrol and the U.S. Coast Guard Northeast for more information but did not receive immediate replies. First ladies Jill Biden and Melania Trump leave White House together before inauguration First hostages released after Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal | Special Report Trump inauguration benediction invokes U.S. faith in God More than 220 million people across the United States are facing dangerous cold that will also open the door for a potentially historic and crippling winter storm that could deliver snow as far south as Florida and the Gulf of Mexico. The storm, in combination with frigid air, will bring snowfall, freezing rain, icy roads and other major travel disruptions from late Monday into Wednesday morning in Southern cities from Texas to South Carolina where harsh winter weather is rare. The governors of Louisiana, Georgia, Alabama, Florida and Mississippi have declared states of emergency, while Texas authorities have directed state agencies to mobilize resources due to the threat of snow. Arkansas has sent the state of Louisiana 12 dump trucks with snowplows, Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry said Monday during a news conference about storm preparations. This is the time when you can cook you a big pot of gumbo, Landry said. Officials in affected states urged people to stay off the roads, keep a trickle of water running through faucets to keep pipes from freezing, check the batteries in smoke and carbon monoxide detectors and refrain from using cooking stoves to heat homes. The precautions are more familiar to people living in northern climates but rare in the South. Most of us havent experienced this combination of bitter cold and significant snow ever in our lifetime, Louisiana climatologist Jay Grymes said Monday. A National Weather Service forecast warned, this should be considered a generational winter storm event and its impacts should be taken seriously. Travel could be snarled for days The forecast has already prompted more than 1,700 flight cancellations Tuesday, with a majority of the flights coming from Texas and Louisiana, according to the tracking website FlightAware. Houstons major airports, George Bush Intercontinental Airport and Hobby Airport will be closed Tuesday. Ive been convinced that we are about to experience a very serious and dangerous weather episode, John Whitmire, the mayor of Houston, said at a Sunday news conference. Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, the worlds busiest airport, is pretreating roadways and airfield surfaces in preparation for the winter weather, according to spokesperson Andrew Gobeil. The Emergency Operations Center will activate at 6 a.m. Tuesday morning and will remain operational throughout the event, Gobeil said Monday. Passengers are urged to arrive in the airport at least two and a half hours prior to domestic departure times unless otherwise directed by their airlines. The snow is expected to fall along the Interstate 10 and Interstate 20 corridors, prompting highway officials to warn motorists of the possibility of road closures in the next few days, in areas where many drivers are not used to driving on snow. NASAs Johnson Space Center in Houston said it will be closed Tuesday and Wednesday due to the extreme weather. Port Houston said its facilities will be closed on Tuesday as well. Schools are closed in several states including Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas. The Houston Independent School District, which is the largest in the state and the eighth largest in the country, will also be closed until Wednesday, Whitmire said. Atlanta Public Schools, which serves about 50,000 students, said its schools and district offices will be closed Tuesday. A man clears a walkway outside a Denver home on Monday amid temperatures in the single digits. - David Zalubowski/AP Much of the US plunged into cold air A brutally cold blast of Siberian air has caused temperatures to plummet 20 to 30 degrees below normal from the Canadian border to the Mexican border and beyond, during whats already the coldest time of the year. The already serious cold is made more dangerous by gusty winds, which are bringing dangerous wind chills to millions. The wind chill hit 57 degrees below zero in Rolla, North Dakota, Monday morning. Wind chills this low can cause frostbite on exposed skin in less than 5 minutes. An 80-year-old man died in Milwaukee following a fall outdoors early Sunday morning in whats being investigated as a probable hypothermia death, according to the Milwaukee County Medical Examiners Office. Milwaukees low temperature Sunday morning reached zero with wind chills in the teens below zero. Across the northern US, multiple cities, including Chicago, Minneapolis, Detroit, New York City, Washington, DC, Boston and Philadelphia could go days without seeing a high temperature climb above freezing. Southern cities like Houston, Atlanta, Jackson, Mississippi, and Memphis, Tennessee, could also see highs below freezing Monday or Tuesday. This prolonged period of cold temperatures could cause pipes to burst. Low temperatures could fall to record levels last set in the 1930s by Wednesday morning in Houston, Austin and San Antonio, Texas, and Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Cold weather alerts span much of the US Monday afternoon. - CNN Weather Historic snow on the way for the South In addition to the extreme cold, large sections of the Interstate 10 and Interstate 20 corridors stretching from central Texas through northern Florida could record accumulating snow rarely seen in the region. Messy wintry weather will begin Monday evening in Central Texas and pick up in both intensity and expanse overnight. Snow, sleet and freezing rain will stretch from coastal Texas to Louisiana and Mississippi by sunrise Tuesday. This hazardous mix will expand east into the rest of the Southeast Tuesday and reach parts of the Carolinas Tuesday night. Widespread snow totals of 1 to 3 inches will accumulate from southeast Texas including Houston through southern Louisiana and into parts of southern Georgia and coastal South Carolina from Monday night into Wednesday morning. Totals greater than 3 inches are possible, mainly in far southeast Texas and in parts of southern Louisiana including Baton Rouge and New Orleans. New Orleans hasnt recorded measurable snow meaning at least 0.1 inch since 2009, and has never recorded more than 3 inches of snow. The citys all-time snowiest day on record dates to 1963, when 2.7 inches fell. Gusty winds could combine with heavy snow at times Tuesday and potentially create whiteout conditions in southern Louisiana. If these whiteout conditions last long enough, it could prompt the regions first blizzard warning on record. (Its) something I never thought Id have to say in this part of the world, but blizzard conditions are certainly within reach for some areas, said Donald Jones, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Lake Charles, Louisiana. Measurable snow has only happened a dozen times at Houstons Hobby Airport since 1932, most recently in February 2021. The most snow to fall in a single day at the site is 4.4 inches set in February 1960. Pensacola, Florida, could record its first measurable snow since 2014 with a mix of snow, sleet and freezing rain on the way. If measurable snow coats the ground anywhere in Florida, as its forecast to do, itll be the first winter since 2010 that all 50 states have had measurable snow. Freezing rain will increase travel danger. Its possible over much of northern Florida and parts of southern Georgia and South Carolina. Any amount of ice is dangerous, especially for a region so unaccustomed to it. Moderate-to-major impacts are likely along the Gulf Coast as a result of this storm, according to NOAAs Winter Storm Severity Index. Travel conditions will be hazardous for many in the area and could be dangerous or even impossible in some areas especially southeastern Texas and southern Louisiana. Consider delaying all travel, the National Weather Service in New Orleans urged Monday. Use extreme caution if travel is absolutely necessary. The Electric Reliability Council of Texas, an independent organization operating the Texas power grid, issued a weather watch because the forecast weather in the state is expected to bring higher electrical demand, and the potential for lower reserves. South braces for rare winter blast Across the South, authorities warned of the possibilities of dangerous travel, power outages, downed trees, and frozen pipes due to the rare winter weather. The Houston branch of the weather service warned that freezing rain and ice could make driving treacherous until midday Wednesday, but that below-freezing overnight temperatures will remain in place until Friday. A dusting of snow covers the National Mall in the evening before the 2025 Presidential Inauguration, which will take place indoors due to inclement weather. - Jasper Colt/USA TODAY Sports/Reuters Houstons mayor urged residents to protect their water pipes before the frigid temperatures hit, noting that the citys water system is already fragile with more than 1,000 active water leaks in Houston. Let me emphasize the preparation of your pipes, Whitmire said Sunday. Wrap your pipes if all possible. He urged residents to stay inside, to check on vulnerable neighbors and family members, and to utilize one of the citys 24-hour warming centers. Officials are doing everything we can to encourage homeless people to seek refuge in warming centers, he added. New Orleans officials also implored residents to be ready for the extreme cold and incoming winter weather. Be ready to stay in for three days, Colin Arnold, director of the citys Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness services, said Monday. The citys public schools will be closed Tuesday and all city transit service will be suspended at 11 p.m. CST Monday. We are going to be a bit more proactive about closing the streets before people get out there and are on a skating rink, New Orleans Police Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick said Monday. In Minnesota, where wind chills were as low as 50 below zero Monday morning, Kristi Rollwagen, Director of Homeland Security and Emergency Management at the Minnesota Department of Public Safety, urged residents to wear appropriate clothing and carry an emergency survival kit during the unusually cold weather, The Associated Press reported. The dangerous cold, multiple snowstorms and Californias devastating wildfires have caused an emergency shortage of platelets and some blood types at the American Red Cross. The hazardous weather canceled blood drives and prevented donors from getting to centers, amounting to more than 10,000 missed donations in the first two weeks of January. CNN meteorologist Allison Chinchar and CNNs Joe Sutton and Eric Zerkel contributed to this report. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com Facebook Shue Fuab Xiong A Domino's delivery man has disappeared in Minnesota, and his family is vowing to track him down. Shuefaub Xiong, 42, was reported missing on Tuesday, Jan. 14, after he did not return home from his shift with Dominos in Apple Valley, the Apple Valley Police Department said in a Facebook post. Officers later learned Shuefaub had reported to work but did not make four deliveries that were scheduled around 6 pm, according to the department. However, he was not found when the areas were searched, nor was his red Toyota Camry. The customers all called back notifying Dominos that they never received their orders, sister Nischa Xiong told CBS affiliate WCCO. Related: Police Searching for Missing Sisters Who Vanished After Night Walk Near River 3 Days Ago Shuefaub was last seen at the Richfield Target on Jan. 14 and is believed to have also been in Golden Valley after leaving his job, police said. The family is now offering a $20,000 reward for his safe return, according to WCCO. Were lost, were confused, were scared, we hope that he is OK, Nischa told the station. Facebook The car driven by Shuefuab Xiong before he disappeared on Tuesday, Jan. 14. Related: 3-Year-Old Boy Found Dead in the Snow by His Father Shortly After He Was Reported Missing Family members have started a GoFundMe campaign to raise funds to support the search efforts for Shuefaub, also known as Shue. Nischa and sister Yee Leng Xiong, who organized the online fundraiser, said their family is heartbroken by his disappearance, adding that each moment without him feels like an eternity. Shue is more than just a brother to us, he is the glue that holds our family together, the one who always puts others before himself, and the first to offer a helping hand when anyone is in need, the sisters wrote. 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. Nischa and Yee Leng vowed to do everything in our power to bring him home safely. They described Shue as the most thoughtful, kind, and selfless person we know whose steadfast commitment to family and community has always been evident. Whether it was repairing a neighbor's car, helping a friend move, or simply being present when someone needed support, Shue has always been the one to show up. Now, its our turn to show up for him, they continued. Related: 2 Oregon Men Die in Forest After Going Missing While Looking for Sasquatch: Police Xiong is described as a 58 man weighing 215 lbs. with brown hair and eyes, according to police. The license plate number for his Camry, which has a Minnesota plate, is CWT-545. Anyone with information about Xiongs whereabouts is asked to call (952) 953-2700. Domino's did not immediately respond to PEOPLEs request for comment. Read the original article on People President Donald Trump kissing first lady Melania Trump at the 60th Presidential Inauguration in the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, January 20, 2025 Missed kiss. Donald Trump and Melania Trump shared an awkward moment that went viral at his presidential inauguration on Jan. 20. Before he went up to the podium to take the oath of office inside the US Capitol, the 47th president leaned towards his wife and tried to kiss her cheek. Melania Trump and Donald Trump at the US Capitol on Jan. 20. Kevin Lamarque-Pool via Imagn Images Donald Trump cant kiss his wife because of her hat. AP Donald Trump tries to kiss Melania Trump at his inauguration. POOL/AFP via Getty Images But Trump, 78, couldnt reach Melania due to her navy wide-brimmed hat that was designed by Eric Javits. The top of Melanias hat hit Trumps forehead, as the couple settled for an air-kiss before Trump sat down next to Vice President JD Vance. Melania and Donald Trump embrace at the inauguration. POOL/AFP via Getty Images Melania Trump and Donald Trump at the 2025 presidential inauguration. AP Melania Trump watches her husband sworn in as the 47th president. Shutterstock Melania, 54, sat next to her son, Barron Trump, as her husband was officially sworn in as president. Trump kissed Melania on the cheek and this time he didnt miss after he was sworn in as all five of his children embraced him. The first lady attended the inauguration in a navy Adam Lippes tailored navy silk wool coat, a navy silk wool pencil skirt and an ivory silk crepe blouse, all designed by Lippes and handsewn in New York City. She paired the ensemble with her big hat and black leather gloves. Melania Trump arrives for a church service on the day of his inauguration. REUTERS The tradition of the presidential inauguration embodies the beauty of American democracy and today we had the honor to dress our first lady, Mrs. Melania Trump, Lippes told The Post in a statement. Mrs. Trumps outfit was created by some of Americas finest craftsmen and I take great pride in showing such work to the world. Before Melania, the last first lady to wear a hat at an inauguration was Nancy Reagan in 1985. Melania Trump at the 2025 inauguration. Getty Images Emma McClendon, assistant professor of fashion studies at St. Johns University, told The Post about the significance of Melania wearing a hat to the ceremony. There is something, again, very old world, traditional in the use of a hat, said McClendon. Theres been a return of interest to some of these elements that have maybe faded out of the everyday wardrobe for most people. This is something thats not happening in a vacuum. In addition to Melania and Barron, Trumps four older children Ivanka, Don Jr., Eric and Tiffany were at the inauguration. Donald Trump with his family at his inauguration. AP Melania Trump, Donald Trump and Donald Trump Jr. at the inauguration. Getty Images Ivankas husband, Jared Kushner, their kids Arabella, 13, Joseph, 11, and Theodore, 8, Tiffanys husband, Michael Boulos, and Erics wife, Lara Trump, were also in attendance. Other political figures at the ceremony included Joe Biden and his wife Dr. Jill Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and her husband Douglas Emhoff, Barack Obama, Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton, George W. Bush and former first lady Laura Bush. During his inauguration speech, Trump declared Monday liberation day in America and vowed his second term would begin with a revolution of common sense. Donald Trump becomes the 47th president of the United States. via REUTERS Our sovereignty will be reclaimed. Our safety will be restored. The scales of justice will be rebalanced. The vicious, violent and unfair weaponization of the Justice Department and our government will end, he told the 600-person audience in the rotunda. One week before the inauguration, Melania told Fox News where she will spend most of her time in her second stint as first lady. Melania Trump and Donald Trump go to church before his inauguration in Washington DC. Getty Images I will be in the White House. And when I need to be in New York, I will be in New York. When I need to be in Palm Beach, I will be in Palm Beach, she said. My first priority is to be a mom, to be a first lady, to be a wife. The Trumps moved to Palm Beach, Fla., after they left the White House in 2021. Barron, 18, is a student at NYUs Stern School of Business and lives in Trump Tower in Midtown. Spanish media reports say Murtra (pictured) is close to the centre-left government of Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez. (Kike Rincon/Europa Press via Getty Images) Spanish telecommunications giant Telefonica Saturday said it had replaced its president in a surprise move driven by pressure from major shareholders. An emergency meeting of the company's board elected Catalan businessman Marc Murtra to replace Jose Maria Alvarez-Pallete, it said in a statement. The company said the decision was taken "in view of Telefonica's new shareholding structure and that some of its relevant shareholders have expressed the convenience of embarking on a new stage in the executive chairmanship". Online newspaper El Confidencial first reported on Alvarez-Pallete's likely departure on Saturday morning. Sources close to the operation then confirmed it to AFP before the company issued an official statement. El Pais reported that the SEPI state holding company, which recently took a 10-percent stake in Telefonica, had pushed for Alvarez-Pallete to be replaced by Murtra, currently head of Spanish tech consulting group Indra. Spanish media reports say Murtra is close to the centre-left government of Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez. Alvarez-Pallete, who has headed Telefonica since April 2016, will receive a 23-million-euro ($23.7 million) severance package, El Pais said. Telefonica, which has operations in nine Latin American countries, has been through a turbulent period since Saudi group STC took a 9.9 percent stake in September 2023. That led the Spanish state to re-enter the group's capital through SEPI to defend its "strategic" role of providing services to the country's armed forces. Spanish banking group La Caixa also raised its stake to 9.9 percent. Spain's UGT union, one of the country's largest, expressed its concerns about the management change. It hoped "that SEPI would clarify the motives and purpose of the changes in the presidency", it said in a statement. Telefonica has been facing increased competition in its home market following the recent merger of Orange and MasMovil, and the sale of Vodafone Espana to British investment fund Zegona. Telefonica last year announced it would be cutting 3,400 of the 16,500 jobs it has in Spain. This story was originally featured on Fortune.com San Antonio Crime Stoppers is asking the public for help in identifying a man (pictured) who is believed to be involving in the shooting death of Jason Huizar, 32, on New Year's Day. San Antonio Crime Stoppers San Antonio police and Crime Stoppers are seeking information about a shooting that led to the death of a 32-year-old man on New Year's Day. Jason Huizar, 32, was found shot in the chest in the 100 block of Paso Chico Alley on the West Side. He was pronounced dead shortly after police arrived. Investigators determined Huizar was involved in a disturbance with two other people before the shooting, according to a post by Crime Stoppers. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Authorities are now asking the public for help in identifying a suspect in a photo released by Crime Stoppers. Huizar was a husband, a father of four children and an "amazing dancer" who loved to be outdoors and spend time with his family, his obituary states. Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 210-224-STOP (210-224-7867). Callers can receive up to $5,000 for any information that leads to a felony arrest. Tips are anonymous. For the first time in 471 days, Palestinian medics in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip didn't report a single death from Israeli military action on Monday, as a tense ceasefire between Hamas and Israel settled into place. CBS News teams in Israel, Gaza and in the occupied West Bank saw more joy or at least relief than had been painted on the faces of residents for 15 months. The ceasefire came into effect Sunday after an initial three-hour delay, during which almost 20 more Palestinians were killed, according to medics in the decimated Palestinian territory. Under the terms of the deal, which the U.S. helped broker along with Qatar and Egypt, three Israeli hostages were released by Hamas on Sunday after the fighting stopped. Just after midnight local time, 90 Palestinian prisoners were freed from an Israeli prison in the occupied West Bank. After more than a year of devastating war sparked by Hamas' brutal Oct. 7, 2023 terror attack, which saw militants kill some 1,200 people and kidnap 251 others, the people of Gaza heard the sound of children playing Monday instead of the thunder of fighter jets and airstrikes, observed Philippe Lazzarini, the head of the United Nations' agency for Palestinians, UNRWA, in a statement posted on social media. "Our teams reported a good first day of the ceasefire," he said, adding that aid and some commercial supplies had started flowing smoothly into Gaza on Sunday. Along with the reciprocal release of hostages and prisoners, that is the other major component of the ceasefire deal. At least 600 aid trucks per day are supposed to enter Gaza, carrying everything from desperately needed food and medicine to fuel for generators. "The ceasefire must continue to hold and all elements of the agreement must be implemented," said Lazzarini. "It is a step in the right direction towards long-lasting peace and stability for all." Palestinians eager to return to obliterated homes in Gaza Reconstructing Gaza will be an incredibly long and costly process, and it is only provisioned to begin in earnest during the third and final phase of the three-phase ceasefire agreement, which, assuming the deal remains in-tact, could be several months away. Still, the Hamas-run Gaza City Municipality said in a statement Monday that it started to at least clear the main roads, which had been closed during the war. That will help as tens of thousands of displaced civilians plod back toward their towns and villages across the enclave, to assess the damage caused to their homes, and attempt to make use of whatever they can salvage from the ruins. Palestinians walk past the rubble of buildings destroyed during the war, following a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, Jan. 20, 2025. / Credit: Hatem Khaled/REUTERS Thousands of families have started walking or dragging carts from displacement camps in Gaza City toward the razed towns and cities of Jabalia, Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoun in the northern Gaza Strip. They have also been returning to the southern city of Rafah, where CBS News' team spoke with one girl wearing a dress in the pattern of the Palestinian flag. "This is the moment that all of Gaza's citizens were waiting for," she said. "Thank God the war has ended It is time to celebrate after enduring the pain. It is time to reconstruct after all of the destruction. Gaza's children are drawing a new future." Civil Defense rescue teams have continued recovering the decomposing bodies of dozens of people killed during the war, both from underneath the rubble of destroyed buildings and from the streets. The Civil Defense has estimated that some 10,000 bodies could still be buried under the rubble of demolished homes in Gaza. The Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry said Monday that hospitals across the enclave had received the bodies of 122 people recovered since the ceasefire took effect alone, including 62 pulled from rubble, raising the total number of fatalities in Gaza since the war began to 47,035. The ministry does not distinguish between combatant and civilian casualties, but says the vast majority of those killed have been civilians, including tens of thousands of women and children. Joyous reunions for 3 Israeli families, hope for dozens more A Red Cross convoy driving into Gaza City on Sunday was the first sign that Hamas was keeping its end of the bargain. But the hostage handover was chaotic; heavily armed Hamas fighters surrounded and climbed over the vehicles a clear display of force and resilience after more than a year of war against Israel's vastly superior military. But soon the world and the desperate families back home got a first glimpse of the three women being released as they bolted between cars, and to freedom. One of the Israeli hostages being released by Hamas is seen exiting a vehicle to be handed over to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), in Saraya Square in western Gaza City, Jan. 19, 2025. / Credit: AFP/Getty Held hostage in fear for 15 months by Hamas, 24-year-old Romi Gonen, 31-year-old Doron Steinbrecher and 28-year-old Emily Damari were finally on their way to being back in the eager arms of their loved ones. The three women including Damari, an Israeli-British national who lost two fingers during the Oct. 7 attack when she was abducted were all reunited with their mothers as soon as they reached Israel. "Yesterday, I was finally able to give Emily the hug that I have been dreaming of," Damari's mother Mandy said in a statement released Monday. "I am relieved to report that after her release, Emily is doing much better than any of us could ever have anticipated In Emily's own words, she is the happiest girl in the world; she has her life back." Released British-Israeli hostage Emily Damari embraces her mother, Mandy, after being held in Gaza since the Oct. 7, 2023 attack by Hamas, in a handout image supplied by the Israel Defense Forces, Jan. 19, 2025. / Credit: ISRAEL DEFENSE FORCES/Handout Even in her moment of intense joy, Mandy Damari stressed that other families were still waiting to share in the elation. "We must also remember that 94 other hostages still remain," she said. "The ceasefire must continue and every last hostage must be returned to their families." Hundreds of Israelis watching from Hostage Square in Tel Aviv also shared in the joy Sunday night including some whose own loved ones didn't make it out of Hamas captivity or haven't yet. Gil Dickmann's cousin Carmel Gat was among those kidnapped. Her body was recovered during an Israeli military operation at the beginning of September. Still, Dickmann has regularly attended the demonstrations in Hostage Square calling for the return of the dozens of others. He told CBS News that when he saw the women emerge from the vehicles on Sunday, he struggled to even believe it. "My God, it's them," he said he'd told himself. "All the people around the world should have this joy - of people coming back home alive. It is still the happiest thing that you can ever, ever live through." Celebrations in the West Bank as Palestinian prisoners released There was elation and celebrations in the Israeli occupied West Bank late on Sunday night, too, as 90 Palestinian detainees, mostly women, were released in exchange for the freed hostages. "They were treating us like animals," said 18-year-old Rose Quis. "I left hell, and now I'm in heaven," said Abdelaziz Atawneh as he emerged from Israel's Ofer prison, just outside the West Bank city of Ramallah. The freed detainees were greeted by fireworks, whistling and shouts of "God is great," and many were hoisted onto the shoulders of the massive crowds that had gathered outside the prison many of them waiting all day for the release. A freed Palestinian prisoner is greeted after her release from an Israeli jail, as part of a hostages-prisoners swap and a ceasefire deal in Gaza between Hamas and Israel, in Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, early on Jan. 20, 2025. / Credit: MUSSA ISSA QAWASMA/REUTERS According to a list provided by the Palestinian Authority, which administers the West Bank, all of those released in the very early hours of Monday were women or teenagers, the youngest just 15. They were jailed by Israel, many of them without formal charges, for alleged offenses ranging from throwing stones to attempted murder. The next swap of hostages for prisoners is scheduled to take place on Saturday under the ceasefire deal, with four hostages to be released in exchange for about 120 Palestinian prisoners. In total, 33 Israeli hostages are to be released during the first six-week phase of the agreement. Details on new Los Angeles-area fires A guide to a better credit score in 2025 Understanding ICE raids: What agents can and cannot do Cecile Richards, a feminist activist and former president of Planned Parenthood, died Monday after battling cancer, her family said. Richards was 67. "This morning our beloved Cecile passed away at home, surrounded by her family and her ever-loyal dog, Ollie. Our hearts are broken today but no words can do justice to the joy she brought to our lives," read a statement attributed to Richards' husband, Kirk Adams, and their three children, which CBS News obtained. "We are grateful to the doctors and health care workers who provided her excellent care and the friends, family, and well-wishers who have been by her side during this challenging time." The family asked those looking to honor Richards' life and legacy to recall a sentiment that they said she repeated often over the last year. "It's not hard to imagine future generations one day asking: 'When there was so much at stake for our country, what did you do?' The only acceptable answer is: 'Everything we could,'" the statement quoted her as saying. A longstanding champion of women's rights, Texas-born Richards will be remembered as one of the United States' most prominent advocates for abortion access in recent decades, who steered Planned Parenthood from 2006 to 2018. She repeatedly defended the organization and its mission against mounting attacks from political opponents, including President-elect Donald Trump, whose pledge to overturn the landmark abortion rights decision Roe v. Wade was central to his first presidential campaign. Richards was diagnosed in 2023 with glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer. She initially shared the news in an interview with The Cut, published last January. Cecile Richards speaks during the Democratic National Convention on Aug. 21, 2024, in Chicago. / Credit: Erin Hooley / AP "The last six months have been wild but thanks to incredible health care providers and the support of family and friends, I'm doing really well," Richards wrote in a social media post at the time. "I've felt lucky all my life, and I feel lucky now: to be here, doing this work, alongside all of you." After stepping down as president of Planned Parenthood, Richards went on to found a new political action group, called Supermajority, alongside Black Lives Matter co-founder Alicia Garza and National Domestic Workers Alliance director Ai-jen Poo. The group focuses on encouraging women to become politically active, with the aim of empowering them as a voting bloc. Alexis McGill Johnson, Planned Parenthood's current president and CEO, called Richards "an indomitable force" and praised her for lifting the organization "to new heights" during her tenure in another statement Monday. "We are heartbroken to lose a giant in the fight for reproductive freedom. As we continue to navigate uncharted territory, we will be able to meet the challenges we face in large part because of the movement Cecile built over decades," Johnson said. "I know, without a doubt, that Cecile would tell us the best way to honor her memory is to suit up preferably in pink link arms, and fight like hell for Planned Parenthood patients across the country." Richards' work earned her the Presidential Medal of Freedom in November, adding to the accolades she received throughout her career. TIME magazine named her among the 100 most influential people in the world in 2012. President Biden said in a statement that he and first lady Jill Biden were "deeply saddened" by Richards' death, and described her as "a leader of utmost character" who followed in the footsteps of her mother, former Texas Gov. Ann Richards, also a political activist. "Cecile fearlessly led us forward to be the America we say we are," Mr. Biden said in a statement. "Carrying her mom's torch for justice, she championed some of our Nation's most important civil rights causes. She fought for the dignity of workers, defended and advanced women's reproductive rights and equality, and mobilized our fellow Americans to exercise their power to vote. She was a leader of utmost character and I know that her legacy will continue to inspire generations to come." First ladies Jill Biden and Melania Trump leave White House together before inauguration First hostages released after Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal | Special Report Senior adviser to Trump gives preview of what to expect from his second term From his prison cell, Pingouin regularly shared cooking videos onto TikTok and Instagram - Instagram A convicted French drug dealer who became a social media sensation for his videos on how to cook creatively while behind bars has been hired by a top Parisian pastry chef. On social media, he is called Pingouin (Penguin), named after one of Batmans main adversaries. But the unnamed 28-year-old ex-convict said he was saved by cuisine and a desire to share cooking tips to spice up fellow inmates meals, using minimal ingredients to concoct delicious dishes. The Penguins a cook gone bad. Im the opposite, he told Le Parisien. In a rags-to-ratatouille tale, the former inmate had no previous cooking experience when sentenced for drug dealing in 2020 and incarcerated in Villepinte prison in Seine-Saint-Denis, northeast of Paris. Pingouin said he developed a passion for cuisine because I had to cook for myself but lacked everything but the most basic of cooking utensils. Then, after a few months, I got the urge to be creative, he told the capitals daily newspaper. The first slightly elaborate thing I made was a cake. Id asked my neighbour for a recipe... He used a pot of yoghurt to make the weight, he added. Credit: TikTok / @Pingouin7593 The budding chef managed to get hold of a mobile phone in prison, despite an official ban. Under the pseudonym Pingouin7593, he started releasing TikTok tutorials for other inmates, including simple techniques on cooking a burger, tiramisu, croissant, churros and chocolate fondant. I think it worked because theyre not complicated recipes, theyre things you find in prison, he said. His fame quickly spread beyond prison walls. One video, in which he explains how to create an oven with a frying pan and a grill, and a mixer with the mesh of a ventilator and a fork, racked up over nine million views. On Instagram, he has over 40,000 followers, while on Snapchat his stories are viewed thousands of times a day. In just a few months, Pingouin became a social media star, causing him trouble with prison management despite his painstaking efforts to remain anonymous by covering his face. Despite the mobile ban, he continued to post content because as far as I was concerned, with these videos, I was preparing my reintegration into society. His plan worked as he caught the eye of a former apprentice of Jeffrey Cagnes, a famous pastry chef who was amazed at his creativity and dedication. Pingouin continued to post baking videos from his cell, despite the mobile phone ban - Instagram Pingouin would release tutorials targeted towards other innmates Last July, after serving four years, Pingouin was released under an electronic tag and offered an internship by Mr Cagnes at one of the most fashionable patisseries in Paris. Pingouin said he recognised Mr Cagnes from TV, where he has been a judge on the cooking contests Le Meilleur Patissier (The Best Patissier) and Top Chef on M6. After just three weeks of work, he was offered a permanent contract. Were all entitled to a second chance, he said. Ive done some stupid things myself, I nearly got into trouble... When you take on someone whos been in prison, once youve hired them, you forget about their past. Pingouin may have entered the company incognito, but his colleagues soon found out about his online identity. Kitchen credentials Id seen his videos and thought they were genius, said Mr Cagnes. I thought it was crazy to be able to make desserts like that from nothing... When I found out it was him, I asked him why he hadnt told me. Two months after his arrival, Mr Cagnes said he had no regrets as his new recruit who quickly proved his kitchen credentials and took new trainees under his wing. Today, Pingouin works five days a week, eight hours a day, while also taking a pastry-making course. I know what Im doing and what I want to do. Im focused, he told Le Parisien, adding that he had drawn a line under what he called his bull drug dealing past. Sunday was my best day since I arrived. I was on my own, I baked 480 croissants, 400 pains au chocolat, 120 pains suisses... I didnt feel like leaving. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. CAIRO/TEL AVIV (Reuters) -Hamas said on Monday it would next release hostages held in Gaza on Saturday, after an official with the Palestinian militant group had said they would be released a day later than expected. Hamas is set to release the more than 90 hostages over the coming weeks as part of a complex ceasefire deal reached with Israel this month that could end the 15-month war in Gaza. The militant group said in a statement that the next group of hostages would next be released on Saturday in exchange for Palestinian prisoners and detainees who are held by Israel. Earlier, Nahed Al-Fakhouri, head of the Hamas prisoners' media office, had said the hostages would be released on Sunday. Hamas had been expected to release four Israeli hostages on Saturday, seven days after the ceasefire came into effect. A senior Israeli official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, reacted to Al-Fakhouri's statement by telling Reuters the deadline for the hostages to be released was Saturday. This month, Israel and Hamas agreed to a three-phase ceasefire that could bring an end to the 15-month war in Gaza. The ceasefire came into effect on Sunday with Hamas releasing three Israeli hostages. Israel also released Palestinian prisoners and detainees. The ceasefire accord outlines a six-week initial ceasefire phase and includes the gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip and release of hostages taken by Hamas in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel. (Reporting by Nidal Al Al-Mughrabi in Cairo and Emily Rose in Tel Aviv; Editing by Daniel Wallis) Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials are planning a major enforcement operation that will target immigrants for several days following the inauguration of Donald Trump as president, according to a document reviewed by NBC News and a person familiar with the planning. The person, who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the operation, said multiple locations across Chicago will be targeted. According to the document, the operation was expected to start as early as Tuesday and end by the following Monday, but the dates could change. However, the planned operation has been postponed due to media leaks, according to two sources with knowledge of the plans. The sources emphasized Sunday that the operation has not been canceled and the people who would have been arrested in the operation remain targets for ICE. But they said Chicago will not be the first city to see mass deportations begin. An ICE agent monitors hundreds of asylum seekers being processed on June 6, 2023, in New York City. ICE officials referred NBC News on Friday to the Trump transition team for comment, and the transition team did not respond. In an exclusive interview with NBC News Kristen Welker on Saturday, Trump declined to describe any details of the operation but said mass deportations would begin very early, very quickly. Were already geared up and it will begin, he said. We have to get the criminals that have come here illegally out of our country. A briefing for agents who plan to participate in the operation, called Operation Safeguard, was scheduled for Friday afternoon in Chicago, according to the document. It also says the operation will involve agents who were asked to volunteer and that more agents than needed have volunteered. The Wall Street Journal first reported that the operation is expected to occur in Chicago. Operations in other cities are also possible. Before NBC News reviewed the document, several sources familiar with the planning said major metropolitan areas that could see early enforcement actions include the Washington, D.C., area, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Denver and Chicago. As a candidate, Trump promised the largest deportation operation in American history. A 2022 federal estimate said that as many as 11 million undocumented migrants lived in the U.S., but the exact number today is unknown. The American Immigration Council, a pro-immigration group, estimates that it could cost at least $315 billion to deport all of them. In addition to the costs, experts have warned that mass deportations could increase the price of some goods in the U.S. The federal government estimates that 40% of agricultural workers are undocumented immigrants. ICE currently has a $230 million budget shortfall and does not have the funding to carry out Trumps plans on a prolonged and widespread scale. Congress must first appropriate additional funds for enforcement operations and detention facilities. After arrest, migrants are held in detention before they are deported. According to ICEs website, there are currently no beds available in its detention facilities in Chicago. Tom Homan, Trumps incoming border czar, has said he would like at least 100,000 detention beds across the U.S.; currently, the U.S. has approximately 34,000. And the highest number of people deported in a single year during Trumps first term was 267,000 in fiscal 2019. The Biden administration deported more people annually than the first Trump administration did in his first term. The highest number of people deported from the U.S. in a single year was 438,000 in fiscal 2013 during the Obama administration. Trumps apparent plans to target Democratic-run cities will also likely be met with political pushback. Responding to reports that the new administration could start deportation operations in Chicago, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker said Friday that he will protect migrants if they are arrested unlawfully. We have laws that protect people that are undocumented, Pritzker said. I am going to make sure to follow the law. I am concerned that the Trump administration and his lackeys arent going to follow the law. Homan has told NBC News that the new administration is willing to take on the political fight and the fiscal costs of mass deportations. I think mass deportation and results of mass deportation are more important to this country than anything, he said. I dont put a price on our national security. As JD Vance steps into his new role as vice president of the United States, so too does his family, the country's new second family. Vance and his wife Usha and their three children will now call the vice president's mansion on the grounds of the U.S. Naval Observatory in Washington, D.C., home. On the historic Inauguration Day, Usha Vance was by her husband's side. PHOTO: Usha Vance and Vice President-elect, Sen. J.D. Vance arrive for service at St. John's Church as part of Inauguration ceremonies on January 20, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Scott Olson/Getty Images) When Vice President Vance was sworn into office, his three young children stood by his side, along with Usha Vance and his mom, Beverly Aikins. PHOTO: Vice President-elect former Sen. J.D. Vance reacts with his family during inauguration ceremonies in the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol on January 20, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) Prior to his inauguration as vice president on Jan. 20, alongside President Donald Trump, JD Vance and his family lived in Cincinnati, Ohio. PHOTO: Vice President-elect J.D. Vance arrives to the inauguration of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump in the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol, Jan. 20, 2025 in Washington. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) Here is what to know about Vance's family. Second lady Usha Vance PHOTO: Republican vice presidential nominee Sen. J.D. Vance walks out with his wife Usha Vance to speak during a rally with running mate Republican Presidential nominee former President Donald Trump, July 27, 2024, in St Cloud, Minn. (Stephen Maturen/Getty Images) Usha Vance, the daughter of Indian immigrants, is making history as the first Indian American second lady in the White House, and the first Hindu second lady. JD Vance's wife, Usha Vance, set to become history-making second lady At 39, Usha Vance is also the youngest second lady since the Truman administration, when then-38-year-old Jane Hadley Barkley, wife of former Vice President Alben Barkley, assumed the role in 1949. The Vances met while students at Yale Law School and wed in Kentucky in 2014. Usha Vance spent her career as an attorney, serving as a clerk for Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts and going on to work for the law firm Munger, Tolles & Olson. The mom of three left her role at Munger, Tolles & Olson in July 2024, after her husband was formally announced as the Republican vice presidential nominee. That same month, Usha Vance spoke at the Republican National Convention, where she introduced her husband. "My background is very different from JD's. I grew up in San Diego, in a middle-class community with two loving parents, both immigrants from India, and a wonderful sister," she said at the convention. "That JD and I could meet at all, let alone fall in love and marry, is a testament to this great country." Ewan, Vivek and Mirabel Vance PHOTO: Republican vice presidential nominee Sen. J.D. Vance carries his daughter Maribel Vance as he arrives with wife Usha Vance to greet supporters at the Park Diner, July 28, 2024, in St Cloud, Minn. (Stephen Maturen/Getty Images) JD and Usha Vance share three children: Ewan Vance, Vivek Vance and Mirabel Vance. The couple keep their children largely out of the public spotlight. The three siblings though attended the presidential inauguration on Jan. 20, at the U.S. Capitol to watch their father's swearing in as vice president. PHOTO: JD Vance is sworn in as the Vice President in the US Capitol Rotunda in Washington, Jan. 20, 2025. (Saul Loeb/upi/shutterstock/Saul Loeb/UPI/Shutterstock) PHOTO: Vice President-elect former Sen. J.D. Vance is sworn in by Supreme Court Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh during inauguration ceremonies in the Rotunda of the US Capitol on January 20, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Chip Somodevilla/POOL/AFP via Getty Images) Ewan, Vivek and Mirabel also joined their parents on Election Day, Nov. 5, 2024, when the Vances voted together in Cincinnati. PHOTO: Republican nominee for vice president Sen. JD Vance and his wife Usha Vance fill out their ballots with their children at a polling place, Nov. 5, 2024, in Cincinnati. (Stephen Maturen/Getty Images) In February 2024, JD Vance, at the time a U.S. senator from Ohio, read the Dr. Seuss book, "Oh the Places You'll Go" on the Senate floor to mark Vivek's fourth birthday. "I'm sorry Vivek that I can't be with you for your birthday dinner, but I want you to know that Daddy loves you very much. And I'm going to read this into the record because maybe you can watch it at home," Vance said, in part, before reading the book aloud. Beverly Aikins PHOTO: Beverly Aikins, mother of U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance attends inauguration ceremonies in the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol Jan. 20, 2025 in Washington, DC. Donald Trump takes office for his second term as the 47th president of the United States. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) JD Vance was raised in Middletown, Ohio, by his mom Beverly Aikins and his grandmother, the late Beverly Vance, a childhood he documented in his bestselling memoir "Hillbilly Elegy." Aikins was in and out of JD Vance's life due to her struggles with addiction, which JD Vance wrote about in his memoir and Aikins has also acknowledged publicly. Donald Trump is a dad of 5, grandfather of 10: What to know about his family Aikins told the New York Times last year, shortly before the election, that her son's memoir helped to heal their family. "It was heartbreaking in some parts," she said of reading the book. "But it helped us grow as a family, and it opened up a line of communication that we never really had. Addiction in our house was like the elephant in the room. Nobody ever said anything about it. We do now." In addition to attending the presidential inauguration on Jan. 20, Aikins traveled from Ohio, where she still lives, to the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee in July to watch her son receive the vice presidential nomination. PHOTO: Republican vice presidential candidate, Sen. J.D. Vance and his mom Beverly Vance stand on stage on the third day of the Republican National Convention, July 17, 2024, in Milwaukee. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) In their hometown of Middletown, Aikins has fought for her son to be recognized. "I just think it would be really nice if we could acknowledge that this is his hometown and put up some signs," Aikins told the city council in Middletown in December, according to The Associated Press. "He graduated from Middletown High School, comes back here frequently to visit me and take me to dinner, and I humbly request that." Following the meeting, a city spokesperson confirmed to the AP that the city plans to post signs at its seven entry points reading, "Middletown, Hometown of J.D. Vance, 50th Vice President of the United States of America." ABC News' Meredith Deliso contributed to this report. JD Vance is a dad of 3: What to know about his wife, kids originally appeared on goodmorningamerica.com Most adventurers would tell you that traveling to and exploring places youre unfamiliar with can be very exciting. Though it can be scary, too, especially when youre not ready for what awaits you there. Members of the Ask Reddit community have recently shared their stories about being frightened to death in different parts of the world. They did this after one user asked them about the scariest cities theyve ever been to, and while some answers proved to be more common than others, people have seemingly experienced spine-chilling things in places all over the world. Scroll down to find their stories below, but be aware that some of them might be rather disturbing. Below, you will also find Bored Pandas interview with Dr. Frederic Dimanche, Director of Ted Rogers School of Hospitality and Tourism Management at Toronto Metropolitan University, who was kind enough to share his insights regarding how to keep yourself safe while traveling in different cities. #1 I have traveled lots of places in this world. The most scared I have ever been was lost in downtown Baltimore at night on a weekend. I had made a series of mistakes trying to go around the city, and had accidentally taken a spur that put me right into the downtown. I have no clue what area of town I drove through, but the only human beings that I saw out and about at 3:00 in the morning looked like zombies. It's really hard to describe, but the way that they moved, the way that they looked at me as I drove by, it was very scary. Out of desperation (this was way before cell phones did anything more than phone calls and basic texts, I was still using a paper atlas) I stopped at a 7-Eleven. I was waiting in line to ask directions, and a guy went out of his way to ask me what I was doing there. That's how much I stood out. I told him that I was trying to get directions to get back onto the highway, and he told me that he was an undercover cop, things were about to go down right there, and I needed to leave. I told him that's what I was trying to do. He thought about it for a second, told me to get in my car follow him and try to keep up. He would get me to an on-ramp and then go back to the store. He drove like a bat out of hell, and did get me to the freeway and then busted a u-turn and flew away. I have no clue how bad my night would have continued to be if he hadn't been there and guided me out of there. Image credits: BeardsuptheWazoo #2 Bagdad or Baltimore at night. Shot at in both places at least in Bagdad I was also armed. Image credits: Big_Coastie50 #3 Johannesburg. When you stop at a red light you have to be ready to punch the gas as there are broad daylight carjackings at intersections. Image credits: sneakysister Unfortunately, nobody is immune to danger or bad luck, be it in a foreign country or their own home. But in both cases, the likelihood of something unfavorable happening can be minimized to some extent, at least. When it comes to avoiding bad things happening abroadwhether in a moderately or very scary citythe first step should be doing your research. It is essential to do your research before traveling to your destinations, said Dr. Frederic Dimanche, Director of Ted Rogers School of Hospitality and Tourism Management at Toronto Metropolitan University. According to him, before the trip, you should learn, at minimum, the cultural norms and customs. On-site, you need to learn about the local regulations that govern a site, be it a beach or a cultural attraction, he added. #4 Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea. At the height of the Iraq war it was still listed as more dangerous. The gangs ran the city, driving around in technicals with mounted machine guns. Hotels had 6 foot thick concrete walled fences with razor wire, and armed guards. For an added cost they offered r**e cages, a cage that would drop down over your bed when a sensor was triggered to protect you from being r**ed if people broke in. Image credits: Okaynowwatt #5 Juarez, Mexico....I'm an Irish/Mexican. Red head. Went with cousins to see my Aunt and Uncle. My family members were in a cartel. There was a cartel war going on. Had armed men all around at all times. For all the money, and cars, and opulence at their home, it was like being in prison. The tension in the air was thick. I was treated like a king, but that whole week, I was terrified inside. Different world. Was told, no matter what happens, do not call police. They worked for the other guys. I was told that if s**t kicked off, and anyone made it through the gates, to grab a gun and shoot myself. That would be the best possible outcome. I haven't been back. Image credits: ElGrandeRojo67 The expert continued to point out that risk management is essential before and during a trip to avoid disappointment and crises. Ask for advice from travel counselors, he suggested. We now think that with the Internet we can do everything on our own: It's true, but we still lack the expertise of a travel specialist who knows the destination. A counselor may be a travel agent before you leave, but also a representative of the local tourist office or a concierge in your hotel. Ask for advice! #6 Juarez around 2007. They told me that the cartel had some heads hanging from a bridge for everyone to see and they didn't get taken down until several hours later. Image credits: Beginning_Cry_5531 #7 Cairo in Egypt. As a white non-Muslim female, the amount of sexual harassment I experienced was unprecedented. Its interesting because I didnt necessarily worry about someone attacking me or stealing from me, but I worried about other things happening. The entire country is impoverished and corrupt. At one point, I saw a police officer hold a child (like 7yrs old maybe) at gun point because the child was acting out and he thought it was funny. At another point, a person got hit by a car and a couple bystanders were doing everything they could while most kept on walking as if nothing was even happening. I was at a restaurant near there and it took over 30min for an ambulance to get thereIm unsure if he made it. I cant even tell you how many homeless children I saw begging for food/money with no parents anywhere to be found (Ive been to other countries where this is a common scam tactic but this was totally different). The reality is that when a country is that corrupt, public safety goes out the window. That is actually what scared me most about it. Image credits: elementalbee #8 East st Louis I, a white guy with my gf in the car, stopped there for gas and a cop pulled up behind me asking what I thought I was doing there. I replied getting gas and he tells me that I'm not safe and told me he'd escort me to the highway and also not to stop at any red lights until we get to the exit. Like, I could tell that was a sketchy gas station to stop at when I pulled in but didn't realize it was that bad. Image credits: TexanInExile Discussing the safety measures that are important to take before setting off on a trip, Dr. Dimanche noted that the kind and extent of such measures are always related to one's willingness to assess and accept risk. All travelers should get involved in some form of risk evaluation procedure and determine: a) what bad things can happen? b) what is the probability of a bad thing happening? and c) what am I willing to lose? (Or, in other words, what are the consequences of something bad happening during my trip?), the expert said. When we answer those questions, we should be able to make decisions about trip planningwhere to go? How to travel? How long to travel? Do I want to travel alone or in a group? What activities to engage in?and assess what safety measures are necessary: how much money to take; to carry a credit card to face emergencies; to contract insurance (health, liability, cancellation, and even repatriation); to note contact numbers in the destination (consulate; bank; insurance company); choose how to dress (for weather, but also for foreign culture); have necessary supply of your needed medicine if applicable; make sure to have (electronic) copies of your passport, plane tickets, bank and insurance information, and so on. #9 I once accidentally crossed the wrong boarder from Thailand, travelling to Laos. I ended up in a place called the Special Economic Zone of The Golden Triangle. No data, couldn't speak the language, nothing. I ended up in some weird hotel that looked like a jail cell. I managed to book a 36 hour bus journey out of there for the next day. That evening, I went for a walk around. I was offered child [escorts] and when I realised how extremely dangerous this place was. I went back to my room and went to sleep. The next morning, police raided my room with guns pointed to my head. I later learned, the only real reason any westerner would ever travel there is because they haul mass amounts of [illegal substances] out of there, so I was a suspected d**g dealer. Also, I accidentally pissed some guy off why I assume was a gangster. So I don't know if that had some part to play. Terrifying. Now, I sometimes get questioned at airports because of my travel history. Image credits: MustardKingCustard #10 Tijuana. I saw a dead body on my way to the bus terminal, just laying on the sidewalk. There were people standing around him, smoking, drinking, and just having a good ol time while dude is just dead, like dead af, stiff, purple, and blue. Wildest s**t I've ever seen. No one gave a single s**t. Image credits: lostinthecapes #11 Was in St. Louis with my cousin and we crossed that bridge. East St. Louis has gotta be the most dangerous feeling place I've ever been. Streetlights busted out at night, everything run down/abandoned, bullet holes in the stop signs, etc. We pulled up GPS and got the f**k out of there real quick lol. Image credits: Forward_Grand_7260 Discussing the most common risks or trouble people find themselves in while traveling, Dr. Dimanche noted that theres an entire array to assess, depending on the destination and the activities you plan to take part in. For outdoor activities, you need to rely on a competent and qualified outfitter (for example, a scuba diving or hiking outfitter or guide). Failure to do so can lead to accidents, the expert said. He continued to emphasize that its important to know where youre going, too. You need to do some homework to avoid cultural or legal errors (for example, you can't drink a beer on the beach in Dubai; it's not recommended to go topless in Muslim countries, such as Indonesia or Malaysia). Also, pay attention to the neighborhoods of the cities you frequent (for instance, there are neighborhoods that hoteliers will advise you to avoid in their cities), so ask for local advice and expertise. People have a tendency to behave on vacations in ways that they would never dare to behave at home (for example, getting drunk or high in public areas, disrespecting residents, and so on), Dr. Dimanche added, suggesting that, too, can lead to a risky situation. #12 Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea. Every property surrounded by solid fences topped with razor wire, and if you can afford it, patrolled by armed guards and guard dogs. As a visitor, you should never use a local taxi, or walk outside your hotel compound at night. Image credits: primeribfanoz #13 Bahnhofsviertel in Frankfurt Germany. Ive lived and worked in some of the roughest places in the US (Baltimore, Detroit, etc). That section of Frankfurt is the only place that has legit scared me since moving to Europe 15 years ago. Open air d**g market, [illegal adult services], addicts, scammers, pickpockets. Wild place. Honorable mention to the cab driver in Belgrade who sussed out I was American and took the scenic route to my hotel to show me all the buildings that were blown up by American bombs like it was my fault. Image credits: thenewmain #14 Port Moresby, New Guinea. Ex pats live in compounds with massive walls topped with broken bottles. Even my mother, who was a missionary who has lived in a variety of countries throughout SE Asia and the Pacific, couldn't live there for more than 3 weeks. I had warned her not to go, having been there twice myself. Image credits: DifferentDebt2197 Pay attention to what you eat. If your stomach is not used to a different cuisine or street food, it may be best to be very careful to avoid stomach infections. Also, there are countries where you should be careful not to drink tap water, Dr. Dimanche continued, discussing the kinds of risks one might face while traveling. Tourists are often easy targets for pickpockets and other criminals. Protect your belongings and watch your behaviour not to attract too much attention, he said, adding that accidents are also common, so its important to be aware when renting a motorbike, moped, or car. #15 Overtown and Liberty City neighborhoods of Miami. I lived not too far from there 20some years ago. Drove a coworker home one night because she missed the last bus. She called some guy on her phone to tell him to let people know not to mess with the blue Focus about to come down the street. I felt like I had a hall pass from danger. Image credits: Shirtwink #16 Kingston, Jamaica I switched hotels to one more secure. Early on my last morning, I was going to the airport and my original hotel was on fire. Image credits: pc9401 #17 Rizhao, China. Not scary so much like the others - China is insanely safe - but extremely creepy. I felt like I was on a movie set. First off, it's a city of 500,000 but it's built for a population of 10 million. But it's not like those ghost cities out west where there never was anyone. It seemed like it was actually a big city, but everyone just left suddenly. The beaches were well maintained and empty. The buses ran frequently and were empty. The streets were lined with all the usual Chinese stuff and were empty. We went into a breakfast restaurant, and the food was great but we were the only custom and the staff seemed surprised to see us. We asked for directions to the famous fish market. No one there could tell us where it was. It turned out to be about 750 meters away. It was massive and filled with vendors selling huge quantities of incredibly fresh fish. It was mostly empty. Also, almost everything was open until the wee hours of the morning, if not 24 hours. This is unusual even in the biggest Chinese cities, let alone this abandoned town. It was just an unsettling experience all around. Image credits: dongbeinanren It is essential to do your homework about local rules and regulations. An increasing number of tourists are getting arrested because they violate sacred sites, walk in heritage sites' restricted areas, or even bathe in public fountains. Many cities and tourist sites are increasingly suffering from overtourism and local authorities are taking action to limit visitors and disruptive behaviors, Dr. Dimanche noted during the interview. Also many travelers go without buying insurance and regret it when they get in trouble, he added. Again, travelers need to assess the probability of getting in trouble and the consequence of a bad event happening... Insurance is peace of mind. #18 Furnace Creek, Death Valley. Beautiful, lovely, calm- but if you wander away during the day you will die every which way, including the meat of your feet cooking like chicken breast until you keel over, unable to walk or survive. Image credits: Miss-Indie-Cisive #19 Delhi the capital of India, you can't trust anyone, it's horrible. Filled with goons, unsafe for women, high level of pollution, crazy traffic congestion and everyone trying to swindle everyone else. Scam call centers operate from this place. R**es statistics is crazy Image credits: xerxes_dandy #20 Johannesburg. It's the only place I've been where the pilot tells you before landing where to go and not to go. What to do and not to do if you don't want to get robbed, mugged or [end up dead] Image credits: 64-matthew #21 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Almost got robbed literally 100 feet outside the airport walking to a cab. Luckily I saw police and my instincts made me shout hard which made the police aware and the thieves fled the scene. Almost lost my brand new Nikon back in the time. Image credits: Zoe_dream22 #22 Juba, South Sudan. I saw a military transport with child soldiers, a firefight with artillery across the White Nile from where I stood, and someone tried to rob me at the actual airport. Image credits: Long-Draft-9668 #23 I ended up driving through this tiny town in the middle of Nevada that I assume used to be a mining town. It looked like a steady paycheck hadnt been seen in this town for 20 years, the houses were all dilapidated, and the locals looked just as worn out. Bullet holes and burn marks could be seen on pretty much every building. The only reason I drove through the town instead of just sticking to the main road was to top up on gas, but I couldnt find anything, not even a small convenience store. It mustve been hell for those folks considering the closest town with an actual store and gas was around 70 miles away. Edit: I took a look via Google Earth at some of the towns people mentioned and I found it! Gabbs, NV. Definitely not a place Id want to go back to. Image credits: BeatriceLily #24 Nuevo Loredo Mexico Not all, but whatever part of San Bernardino I got off the freeway at night to stop at a gas station to call my sister for directions. When I told her my cross streets she said get back on the freeway RIGHT NOW. I looked up and the crackheads were circling my car and tapping on my window. Image credits: Wildlynatural #25 New Orleans, I loved it. But right outside the touristy areas gets a little sketchy. Including the guy on d***s that broke into our hotel. Also cut himself crawling through the glass window and bled all over the hotel trying to kick peoples doors in. Food was good though. Image credits: frizzlefraggle #26 Albuquerque, NM. I dropped off a Uhaul there and got an Uber to a sketchy hotel, chosen for it's proximity to the airport. Not having my own transportation had me very anxious. At the hotel the line of people (methheads I assumed) in front of me couldn't provide a credit card for a room so the line got short real quick. The small, weird elevator had bloodstains nearby so I took the stairs. I'd given my Uber driver ten bucks to let me stop and get food so I wouldn't have to leave until it was time to go to the airport. I went to the room with my bags and food and locked everything and wished for more locks. The food was great. I lived in the South side of Atlanta for four years and never felt this sketched out. Though I did get my carry permit in ATL. Nothing like East St. Louis apparently but that's my story. Image credits: Ok-Caterpillar1611 #27 Port Au Prince...saw a newly shot woman on the sidewalk and the next day, a human finger in a trash heap. Image credits: AllBlowedUp #28 St. Louis It was weird for a few reasons but the scariest was when I was leaving the hotel myself, my mom, and my 2 large dogs were staying at, we saw a man messing with my car, like hood was propped! As I started raising my voice and approaching with my large barking dogs, he ran. I made sure to push the hood down so it would latch, or so I thought. We loaded the car up and drove away as fast as possible. As soon as we got on the freeway, the hood blew up and almost hit the windshield (i honestly have no idea how it didn't, maybe a safety feature?) So I had to pull over and re-secure it. M**o obviously messed something up on purpose because he pulled up behind us! I got back in the car, my digs and mom losing their s**t, drove slowish, put my hazards on and my mom called 911. He sped off after taking pics. Weirdest experience of my life. The hotel was so sketchy and my intuition was telling me to leave the entire time. I honestly think the man was in on something with the hotel staff or was hotel staff himself. My two dogs were extremely on edge and they're generally easy going. Plate numbers were stolen and police couldn't/wouldn't doing anything. Image credits: justhere888888 #29 I'm a sucker for scary places. I went to visit Centralia, Pennsylvania when I was in my 20's. Place was creepy as f**k. Smoke coming up out of the ground all over the place. The whole time we were there, I just got this dreadful feeling like we didn't belong there. For my 35th birthday, my best friend and I went to take a tour of Pripyat and Chernobyl. Without a doubt, the scariest place I have ever been. Image credits: PermanentNirvana #30 Kandahar - a bit. Baghdad - a bit. Phnom Penh - a bit scary too. But hey - not all travel is about having a safe armchair experience. America in general is a bit scary. I guess a big difference is in the 3 cities I mentioned up top, a person can get shot for a reason. In US cities, a person can get shot for no reason. Image credits: renb8 The family of a globe-trotting butler who mingled with royalty have said it was a stroke of magic after they were reunited with postcards he wrote in the 1920s. Frank Hills died in 1962, but spent the majority of his working life as either a valet a personal attendant or a butler for various affluent people. As a valet, he got to visit Egypt during the period that King Tutankhamens tomb was discovered, in 1922. The postcards which were reunited with Liz Parham and her daughter (family handout/PA) A series of eight postcards documenting his travels while on a grand tour in the 1920s, and addressed to his wife and baby daughter, ended up at an antiques fair on the Isle of Wight, seemingly lost to time. However, Jim Rayner, 50, who set up a Facebook group called the Forgotten Messages Project to reunite families with postcards, bought them for 15 as part of a bundle. After tracing Laura Parham, Mr Hills great granddaughter, he sent the postcards to the family on December 28, which she described as a late Christmas present. Frank Hills with his wife Constance next to a letter he wrote to her (family handout/PA) Ms Parham, 44, who lives in Stamford, Lincolnshire, and works in the food industry, told the PA news agency: It was Christmas Eve and I found a message from Jim that had been sat in my Facebook Messenger junk messages for six months, so it was sort of magic that Id stumbled across this message. Jim gave us lots of information and sent the postcards to us, which was great. Liz Parham, who is Ms Parhams mother and the granddaughter of Mr Hills, has stored the postcards in a folder at her home in Sonning Common, Oxfordshire. The 72-year-old lived with Mr Hills for several years growing up, and said he was reserved. Some of the messages on the postcards (family handout/PA) I lived in a family home with with my parents, sisters and grandparents and so I lived with Frank until he died, she told PA. I believe he died in 1962, mum and dad moved into the house in 1949 and I was born in 1952. He wasnt a very chatty person, but he would always play with us and would be very kind and I knew that he worked under Sir Charles Cust and travelled with him to places like Egypt. I suppose because of his job, he was always quite quiet and reserved. Frank Hills (family handout/PA) The postcards provided a glimpse into some of the countries toured by Mr Hills including Monte Carlo and Lake Como in Italy, and included messages about his travels and how much he missed his family. Ms Parham and her mother have visited both these locations, which they said has helped them to feel a deeper connection to their late relative. We all like to travel in our family and its almost as if we are linked through his travels too, Ms Parham added. Mr Rayner, who works as a compliance officer at Cherry Godfrey a financial services company, also sent the family a newspaper clipping about their late relative. The postcards were found at an antiques fair in the Isle of Wight (family handout/PA) It revealed he was something of a hero when a fire occurred at a home he was working at, while a butler. In 1949, he was at Seagry House, working under Lady Cowley and there was a fire at that house and and unfortunately, she lost her life, but he was a hero, Mr Rayner told PA. He ran back into the burning building and saved other people. Mrs Parham said it would have been nice if her grandfather was alive to see the postcards again. Liz Parham and her daughter have been to Monte Carlo, as has Frank Hills (family handout/PA) It would be nice if he got the accolade for having done these amazing things as he was always just happy in the background, she added. We also have some stag antlers that were given to him by George V, I think it was, when he was present on a shooting trip in Scotland. Mr Rayner said when he uncovered more about Mr Hills story, it blew me away. He said he and other members of his Facebook group were able to figure out Mr Hills was the writer of the postcards using census data and his marriage register. Jim Rayner with his dog called Thearle (Jim Rayner/PA) The detectives (members of the group) realised this was turning into quite a story and pulled out all the stops, he added. After some great leads including a possible link to the Mountbattens, admin Denise, one of our star detectives, traced three grandchildren through an ancestry site and found a name that we ran through Facebook and it matched the profile of Laura. He said it was really joyful to be part of the storys happy ending. Postcards were the text messages of their day, he added. Its like being handed a movie script every day thats what I love about logging into the site and having a look at whats going on. Former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) criticized President Bidens decision to pardon Anthony Fauci, Gen. Mark Milley, former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) and other members of the House panel that investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, attack, saying the move raises doubt on what they did. During a Today interview Monday morning, McCarthy said he did not think the pardons were a good move for Biden. I dont think he should have done that, he said. I mean, this whole idea is that hes fearful of something that President Trump may do, that he hasnt done. To me, it raises doubt upon what they did. McCarthy mentioned that Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who was House Speaker when the Jan. 6 panel was formed, did not allow two Republican picks Reps. Jim Jordan (Ohio) and Jim Banks (Ind.) to join the Jan. 6 select committee. In response, McCarthy, then the House minority leader, did not participate in the select committee and yanked all of his GOP picks Banks, Jordan, Rodney Davis (Ill.), Kelly Armstrong (N.D.) and Troy Nehls (Texas) in protest of her decision. I was the Republican leader at the time, it was the first time, then Speaker Nancy Pelosi would not allow me to name the Republicans to the committee, so now it raises more doubt, McCarthy said. And then when the committee ended, we took the majority, they wouldnt turn over all the documents to us. McCarthy also accused President Biden of going after Trump upon his arrival to the White House. He was president and he never went out after Hillary Clinton or anybody else, he said. Joe Biden came in and went after President Trump. So I dont know. Its always interesting to me that someone takes an action, fearful that someone else will do something only because you have done that. Thats what shows more to me than anything else. President Trump is coming in, he continued. Hes not worried about that. Hes worried about getting this economy working again, securing a border, making America safe. Trump is set to be sworn in on Monday and has plans to sign a handful of executive orders right after the ceremony. Copyright 2025 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 The Hill. Melania and Ivanka trump turned to a classic fashion formula - Reuters Nobody could fault Melania Trump for her inauguration outfit on Monday except, perhaps, her husband. When the president-elect leaned in to kiss his wife before taking the Oath of Office, the wide brim of her Eric Javits boater hat meant that he couldnt quite make it to her cheek. Perhaps thats the way she wanted it, fashion that enforces a little social distancing. It would fit with her frosty image. The incoming US First Lady wore a custom navy tailored coat by US designer Adam Lippes under which a crisp white shawl collar could be glimpsed at the neckline. Her navy boater-style hat by Eric Javits another American label featured a white band, and the look was completed by ultra-high navy suede Manolo Blahnik heels and a pair of black leather gloves. Melania Trumps boater hat, designed by US label Eric Javits - Carlos Barria No wonder, then, that Jill Biden has also worn Lippes a textured navy dress and matching blazer to meet the Pope in 2021 a moment of which the designer was very proud: Im not an emotional guy, and I was really emotional this morning, he told Bazaar.com at the time. Lippes was proud on Monday too, though. In a statement he said: The tradition of the Presidential Inauguration embodies the beauty of American democracy and today we had the honor to dress our First Lady, Mrs Melania Trump. Mrs Trumps outfit was created by some of Americas finest craftsmen and I take great pride in showing such work to the world. Jill Biden wearing Lippes in 2021 on a visit to the Vatican to meet the Pope - Getty Bare legs aside, Melanias outfit reflected the weather in Washington DC a chilly -6C, which has forced officials to stage the inauguration indoors for the first time since 1985. Its not unlike a look from 2019 during a state visit to the UK. For a visit to Buckingham Palace to meet the late Queen, she wore a white Dolce & Gabbana dress with a white boater-style hat, designed by her stylist Herve Pierre, trimmed with a black ribbon. Her hair was styled in a low bun, creating a striking silhouette. The First Ladys inauguration outfit had echoes of the one she wore on her husbands state visit to Britain in 2019 - Jeff J Mitchell In fact, its a look which bears similarities with the British royal style playbook. A tailored coat, elegant millinery and sky-high courts are a fail-safe fashion formula for the Princess of Wales, Duchess of Edinburgh et al, and boater-style hats were a popular choice amongst them at Royal Ascot last year. The Princess of Wales wore a boater hat at the memorial service for the Duke Of Edinburgh at Westminster Abbey in 2022 - Getty Melania isnt the only high profile figure at the inauguration to do so. Ivanka Trump was back in First Daughter mode, wearing a dark green belted jacket with an exaggerated hourglass shape and a shawl collar, accessorised with a neat teardrop shaped hat, a black Lady Dior bag, black leather heels and black leather gloves not unlike an LK Bennett suit worn by the Princess of Wales in 2015. Her daughter, Arabella, 13, looked grown-up in a head-to-toe beige look featuring a cape and trousers could that have been inspired by Princess Charlottes caped look at King Charles Coronation in 2023? Ivankas daughter, Arabella, 13, looked grown-up in a head-to-toe beige look featuring a cape and trousers - AP Arabella Kushners beige co-ord was reminiscent of Princess Charlottes caped look at King Charless Coronation in 2023 - Reuters Usha Vance, the wife of incoming Vice-President JD Vance, is also emerging as a fashionable figure amongst the Republican elite. For the inauguration, she was firmly on trend in a pink coat with a scarf in the same fabric, completed by a narrow belt in the same tone, and taupe suede knee-high boots. The Duchess of Gloucester wore a very similar look to the Princess of Wales Together at Christmas concert in December. Usha Vance, left, the wife of Vice President JD Vance, is also emerging as a fashionable figure among Republicans - AP Usha Vances ensemble mirrored the pink coat and suede boots worn by the Duchess of Gloucester at the Together At Christmas carol service last year - Getty For a ceremonial event such as this, the British royal style playbook is a reliable one from which to borrow. The royals are experienced in dressing for formal occasions in a tactful, timeless way, and deliberate about how and when they imbue messages within them. They often dress in block colours with sharp silhouettes; this makes them stand out for somebody in a crowd, glimpsing them from a distance. The late Queen once said, I can never wear beige because nobody will know who I am and on another occasion: I have to be seen to be believed. Melania and Donald Trump arrived for an early morning church service at St Johns Church on Monday - Jeenah Moon/Reuters But could there also be an element of the Trumps fancying themselves as Americas answer to the Royal family? The Bidens both arrived in Ralph Lauren, with Jill wearing an ultraviolet look. Earlier this month the designer was awarded The Presidential Medal of Freedom by the outgoing President. Ralph Lauren was Melanias label of choice for the inauguration in 2017. Hillary Clinton went for a navy coat by Stella McCartney, and Kamala Harris kept things simple in a black jacket with a zip front and pockets, and while outdoors, a black wool coat with a grey silk printed scarf. Laura Bush wore a rust-coloured dress with a string of pearls and a matching patent top-handle bag. And then there were the Tech Bros: in their optic white shirts, navy suits and burgundy ties, Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg and TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew looked so similar, it was as though theyd coordinated via a group WhatsApp. Elon Musk too, bar his navy tie (Open AI CEO Sam Altman wore a navy textured tie too). Alongside them, the soon-to-be Mrs Bezos, Lauren Sanchez, wore a tight-fitting white blazer Alexander McQueen no less with a boned lace bodice visible underneath. Over the top, she wore an ivory tailored coat with a fluffy texture. Maybe this look wasnt quite so aligned with royal style protocol and a contrast with Priscilla Chan in her cardigan and pearls. The verdict? Theres no formal playbook when it comes to inauguration dressing and the fashion choices tell their own story: pride, enthusiasm, indifference... But observing the wardrobes of those who already navigate life in the public eye is a good place to start. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. Melania Trump returned to Washington, D.C., in style this week. The first lady wore a striking black-and-white gown, designed by her longtime stylist Herve Pierre, for three inaugural balls -- the Commander in Chief Ball, Liberty Ball and Starlight Ball -- held on the evening of Jan. 20 after the presidential inauguration. Pierre also designed Melania Trump's inauguration gown in 2017, according to The New York Times. PHOTO: President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump arrive on stage to dance at the Commander in Chief Ball, part of the 60th Presidential Inauguration, Jan. 20, 2025, in Washington. (Evan Vucci/AP) PHOTO: President Donald Trump and Melania Trump at the Liberty Ball during the 60th Presidential Inauguration, Jan. 20, 2025. (Carlos Barria/Reuters) PHOTO: President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump, Vice President JD Vance and second lady Usha Vance, dance with other family members at the Starlight Ball, part of the 60th Presidential Inauguration, Jan. 21, 2025, in Washington. (Evan Vucci/AP) Earlier Monday, Melania Trump wore a navy blue outfit with matching pumps and a hat for the inauguration. She and President Donald Trump made stops at the White House and St. John's Episcopal Church in the morning before they headed to the U.S. Capitol Rotunda for the inauguration. PHOTO: President-elect Donald Trump and his wife Melania Trump look on as they meet with U.S. President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden on inauguration day of Donald Trump's second presidential term in Washington, Jan. 20, 2025. (Carlos Barria/Reuters) PHOTO: President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden pose alongside President-elect Donald Trump and Melania Trump as they arrive at the White House in Washington, Jan. 20, 2025. (Roberto Schmidt/AFP via Getty Images) PHOTO: President-elect Donald Trump and his wife Melania Trump arrive for a service at St. John's Church on Inauguration Day of Donald Trump's second presidential term in Washington, Jan. 20, 2025. (Jeenah Moon/Reuters) PHOTO: Melania Trump attends the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump in the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 20, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Chip Somodevilla/via Reuters) American designer Adam Lippes designed Melania Trump's navy ensemble, which consisted of a navy silk wool coat, a navy silk wool pencil skirt and an ivory silk crepe blouse. PHOTO: Second lady Usha Vance, Vice President J.D. Vance, President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump wave as former President Joe Biden and former Vice President Kamala Harris depart the U.S. Capitol on January 20, 2025 in Washington. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images) Donald Trump is sworn in as the 47th president of the United States by Chief Justice John Roberts as Melania Trump holds the Bible during the 60th Presidential Inauguration in the Rotunda of the Capitol, Jan. 20, 2025.Trump Inauguration (Morry Gash/Pool/AP) "The tradition of the presidential inauguration embodies the beauty of American democracy and today we had the honor to dress our first lady, Mrs. Melania Trump. Mrs. Trump's outfit was created by some of America's finest craftsmen and I take great pride in showing such work to the world," Lippes said in a press release. Meanwhile, her matching hat, designed by Eric Javits, carried a special significance for the designer, who told ABC News he was "greatly honored and very moved by the entire experience." "When I was creating the hat in my hands, it was a simple hat. It was understated, it was classic," Javits said. "When I saw it on her head, it really transformed. The experience became very powerful. Because everything worked together. And of course, you know that speaks to her grace and her presence, so it was very, very strong. The visual impact is very strong of seeing her. And of course, I just feel very grateful to have been enlisted to create that for her." Javits added the hat reflected Melania Trump's thoughtful expression of herself. "It's a time of some restraint, and it's really sort of a turning point to more conservative values, I think," he said. "And I think she was thinking of protocol and looking very elegant and very simple in a way ... it still was a very powerful visual message." Melania Trump has projected glamour and style since her first tenure as first lady from 2017 to 2021. "Mrs. Trump really shocked the world in 2017, at the swearing-in, in that powder blue Ralph Lauren suit that was very evocative of a Jackie Kennedy suit, and seemed to really suggest that she had studied the role of the first lady," Vanessa Friedman, the New York Times' chief fashion critic, told ABC News. PHOTO: In this Jan. 20, 2017 file photo President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump walk back to the Capitol Building after former President Barack Obama departed the inauguration, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. (Pool/Getty Images) Inauguration fashion takes center stage: See the most standout style looks The first ladies' fashion has long been steeped in history with unspoken messages conveyed in their clothing choices. Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis elevated the first lady position to royalty with her pillbox hats and tailored pastel suits, while Michelle Obama emphasized inclusion with her laid-back and affordable separates. Jill Biden highlighted American designers while suggesting attainability with her polished looks. Melania Trump speaks out about new doc detailing her move back to White House Style experts seem to agree that Melania Trump's style is more "aspirational," with a focus on designs from high-end fashion houses like Dior and Versace. "She is drawn to designers who have the seal of approval of the fashion establishment in terms of silhouette, likes clothing that has structure, that often has a waist. She likes a pencil skirt. She likes a sharp shoulder. She often wears military-inspired suits," Friedman explained. PHOTO: Melania Trump, wife of President-elect Donald Trump, arrives at the White House in Washington, DC, on Jan. 20, 2025 before departing for the US Capitol where Trump will be sworn in as the 47th US President. (Roberto Schmidt/AFP via Getty Images) The incoming first lady has cut her own path over the years with wide-ranging outfits, and her Inauguration Day outfits showcase her style once again. "The inauguration is really just a moment of theater, where everybody is watching. So each decision has an impact and contributes to the kind of storytelling of the day," Friedman said. Melania Trump wears striking black-and-white gown at inaugural balls originally appeared on goodmorningamerica.com Getty Reykjavik, Iceland A pair of siblings who disappeared from Ohio in October were tracked down and found safe in an Iceland village this month. The two children, ages 8 and 9, were reported missing to Canton, Ohio police by a family member on Oct. 25, the U.S. Marshals Service said in a statement. According to the missing persons report, the children, who have not been publicly named, disappeared after their mother stopped taking her mental health medication. The 34-year-old woman allegedly "abandoned" her apartment and the children stopped showing up at school, per the statement. Investigators initially tracked the children to Denver, Colo., and later learned the woman and her children traveled to London, England, the U.S. Marshals Service said. Police then tracked them to the island of Jersey in the English Channel, more than 200 miles south of London. The woman then allegedly took the children to a remote fishing village in Iceland, more than 2,500 miles from Jersey. The name of the village has not been released, but local Icelandic authorities ultimately located the children at a motel in the capital city of Reykjavik. 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 children were safe at the time they were located and have been placed with Icelandic social services as they wait to be handed over to trusted family members, authorities said. The mother has been hospitalized and will be brought back to the U.S. after she recovers. It wasnt immediately clear if she will be facing any charges. Read the original article on People (Reuters) - The following is reaction from global leaders to Donald Trump being sworn in as U.S. president on Monday. VOLODYMYR ZELENSKIY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT "President Trump is always decisive, and the peace through strength policy he announced provides an opportunity to strengthen American leadership and achieve a long-term and just peace, which is the top priority." BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER "I believe that working together again we will raise the U.S.-Israel alliance to even greater heights." "On behalf of the people of Israel, I also want to thank you for your efforts in helping free Israeli hostages. "I look forward to working with you to return the remaining hostages, to destroy Hamas military capabilities and end its political rule in Gaza, and to ensure that Gaza never again poses a threat to Israel." TAYYIP ERDOGAN, PRESIDENT OF TURKEY "Since Mr. Trump repeatedly said he would end the Russia-Ukraine war, we as Turkey will do whatever necessary in this regard. We need to resolve this issue as soon as possible. This issue will be on our agenda with our talks with Mr. Trump, and we would take our steps accordingly. I wish Mr. Trump's second term would bring good for all humanity." OLAF SCHOLZ, GERMAN CHANCELLOR "Today President Donald Trump takes office. Congratulations! The U.S. is our closest ally and the aim of our policy is always a good transatlantic relationship. The EU, with 27 members and more than 400 million people, is a strong union." JUSTIN TRUDEAU, CANADIAN PRIME MINISTER "Congratulations, President Trump. Canada and the U.S. have the worlds most successful economic partnership. We have the chance to work together again to create more jobs and prosperity for both our nations." KEIR STARMER, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER "For centuries, the relationship between our two nations has been one of collaboration, cooperation and enduring partnership ... Together, we have defended the world from tyranny and worked towards our mutual security and prosperity." "With President Trump's longstanding affection and historical ties to the United Kingdom, I know that depth of friendship will continue." GIORGIA MELONI, PRIME MINISTER OF ITALY "I am certain that the friendship between our nations and the values that unite us will continue to strengthen the cooperation between Italy and the USA ... Italy will always be committed to consolidating the dialogue between the United States and Europe, as an essential pillar for the stability and growth of our communities." URSULA VON DER LEYEN, EUROPEAN COMMISSION PRESIDENT "Best wishes President @realDonaldTrump, for your tenure as 47th President of the United States. The EU looks forward to working closely with you to tackle global challenges. Together, our societies can achieve greater prosperity and strengthen their common security. This is the enduring strength of the transatlantic partnership." MARK RUTTE, NATO SECRETARY GENERAL "With President Trump back in office we will turbo-charge defence spending & production. My warm congratulations to @realDonaldTrump on his inauguration as 47th President of the USA, and to @JDVance as Vice President. Together we can achieve peace through strength - through @NATO." LUIZ INACIO LULA DA SILVA, PRESIDENT OF BRAZIL "On behalf of the Brazilian government, I congratulate President Donald Trump on his inauguration. Relations between Brazil and the USA are marked by a history of cooperation, based on mutual respect and a historic friendship. Our countries have strong ties in various areas, such as trade, science, education and culture. I am sure that we can continue to make progress in these and other partnerships." CHARLES, BRITAINS KING: The king has sent a personal message of congratulations to President Trump on his inauguration, reflecting on the enduring special relationship between the UK and U.S., according to Buckingham Palace. ULF KRISTERSSON, PRIME MINISTER OF SWEDEN "Warm congratulations @realDonaldTrump on being sworn in as the 47th President of the United States. Sweden looks forward to continued close cooperation with the U.S." ALEXANDER STUBB, PRESIDENT OF FINLAND "I would like to extend my heartfelt congratulations to you @realDonaldTrump as you assume office as the President of the United States. The U.S. is our key strategic partner and ally. I look forward to close cooperation during your term." JONAS GAHR STOERE, PRIME MINISTER OF NORWAY "I congratulate President Donald Trump. The United States is Norway's most important ally, and there are strong ties between our two nations. I look forward to a good working relationship with President Trump and his new administration," Stoere said in a statement." (Editing by Ros Russell and Christina Fincher) By Timothy Gardner, Valerie Volcovici, Andrea Shalal WASHINGTON (Reuters) -President Donald Trump said on Monday he will declare a national energy emergency aimed at boosting U.S. oil and gas production, and lowering costs for U.S. consumers. The emergency declaration is just one of many actions Trump was expected to take on Monday and in the coming days to bolster the U.S. oil, gas and power industries and put a brake on former President Joe Biden's efforts to accelerate the electric vehicle industry. "America will be a manufacturing nation once again, and we have something that no other manufacturing nation will ever have, the largest amount of oil and gas of any country on Earth, and we are going to use it," Trump said in his inauguration address in the U.S. Capitol. "We will drill, baby, drill." Biden came into the White House vowing to wean the U.S. off fossil fuels, but U.S. oil and gas production hit record levels under his watch as drillers chased high prices in the wake of sanctions on Russia after its 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Trump has said the U.S. is in an artificial-intelligence arms race with China and others, making the industrys voracious power needs a national priority. U.S. data center power demand could nearly triple in the next three years, and consume as much as 12% of the country's electricity on demand from AI and other technologies, the Department of Energy projects. The first Trump administration had considered using emergency powers under the Federal Power Act to attempt to carry out a pledge to rescue the coal industry, but never followed through. This time, he could use emergency powers to ease environmental restrictions on power plants, speed up construction of new plants, ease permitting for transmission projects, and open up federal land for new data centers. Trump also said the U.S. will revoke what he has called an electric vehicle mandate, saying it would save the U.S. auto industry. His White House said in a document that Trump's policies will "end leasing to massive wind farms," and close the door on "policies of climate extremism." It said he would withdraw the U.S. from the Paris climate agreement, a move Trump took in his first term. "The common theme is really unleashing affordable and reliable American energy," a Trump official said earlier on Monday. "Because energy permeates every single part of our economy, it's also key to restoring our national security and exerting American energy dominance around the world." Mike Sommers, the head of the American Petroleum Institute lobbying group, told reporters last week he would welcome Trump's executive orders on energy but hopes that Congress, where Trump's fellow Republicans have majorities, will pass laws to open up drilling. Sam Sankar, senior vice president for programs at Earthjustice, a non-profit group which is gearing up to fight Trump policies in the courts, said the declaration of an energy emergency in a non-war period is rare and untested, creating a potential legal vulnerability. 'RIGHT TO THE TOP' Trump also said the U.S. will "fill our strategic reserves up again, right to the top" and export energy all over the world. After the invasion of Ukraine, Biden sold more than 180 million barrels of crude oil from the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve, a record amount. The sales helped keep gasoline prices in check, but sank the SPR to the lowest level in 40 years. Trump had pledged in his first administration to fill the SPR in an effort to help domestic oil companies who were suffering from low demand during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. The pledge was not fulfilled. Trump is also expected to sign another order aimed at utilizing natural resources in Alaska, repealing several of Biden's electric vehicle initiatives and protecting gas-powered appliances from federal and local regulators who want to phase them out of homes and businesses, the incoming official said. Alaska has been a contentious area of the country when it comes to energy and the environment, with Republicans having long seen opportunities for oil and gas production there while Democrats have sought to preserve pristine land. The official said Trump would take "decisive action to unleash Alaska's natural resource potential," citing an abundance of resources such as oil and gas, seafood, timber and critical minerals. Many of the actions were expected and would fulfill promises Trump had made during his 2024 presidential campaign. (Reporting by Andrea Shalal, David Lawder, Jarrett Renshaw, Timothy Gardner, Valerie Volcovici and Dan Burns; Editing by Daniel Wallis, Heather Timmons, Alistair Bell and Paul Simao) Jan 18, 2025; Melbourne, Victoria, Australia; Jannik Sinner of Italy serves during his match against Marcos Giron of United States of America in the third round of the men's singles at the 2025 Australian Open at Melbourne Park. Mandatory Credit: Mike Frey-Imagn Images (Mike Frey-Imagn Images) World No. 1 Jannik Sinner fought through blistering heat and an undisclosed ailment to defeat Holger Rune 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 and advance to the quarterfinals of the Australian Open on Monday. Sinner, the defending champion, met with the tournament doctor before beginning the match and needed a medical timeout in the third set. "I think we saw that today I was struggling physically," the Italian said after the match. "Came here as late as possible. I knew that it was going to be very, very difficult today. You know, playing against a tough opponent, but also playing against myself a little bit." The match, played in 90 degrees and humid conditions in Melbourne, Australia, also featured a 21-minute delay that gave players an indoor break as officials repaired a broken ring that keeps the net in place. Rune, the No. 13 seed, also required his own medical timeout to give a trainer a chance to massage his right knee. The Dane's break gave Sinner an additional chance to rest in the match, which lasted just over three hours. Sinner tallied 14 aces among his 35 winners, which accompanied 35 unforced errors, and won 83 percent of his first-serve points. Rune wound up with 54 unforced errors against 31 winners. In the quarterfinals, Sinner will face No. 8 Alex de Minaur of Australia, who ousted American Alex Michelsen 6-0, 7-6 (5), 6-3. It will be the first quarterfinals appearance for de Minaur in his home country's Grand Slam, and he became just the third Aussie man to reach the round in 20 years. "It means the world," de Minaur said. "There is nothing I want to do more than play well here in Australia in front of you guys. I am glad I finally made it to the quarterfinals. Let's go for bigger and better things." Ben Shelton will be making his second appearance in the Australian Open quarterfinals after 38-year-old Gael Monfils of France was forced to retire due to a back injury, with Shelton up 7-6 (3), 6-7 (3), 7-6 (2), 1-0 after two hours, 56 minutes. The magical run for another American, 19-year-old qualifier Learner Tien, ended with a 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 loss to Italian Lorenzo Sonego, who will meet Shelton in the quarterfinals. Tien, who struggled physically in the match, defeated World No. 5 Daniil Medvedev of Russia in a five-set thriller in the second round. --Field Level Media By Hatem Khaled, Mohammed Salem and Nidal al-Mughrabi GAZA/CAIRO (Reuters) -Palestinians began searching on Monday for thousands of Gazans believed still buried under rubble, as residents expressed shock at the devastation wrought by 15 months of war on the enclave on the second day of a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. The truce in the 15-month-old conflict, which has laid waste to the Gaza Strip and inflamed the Middle East, took effect on Sunday with the release of the first three hostages held by Hamas and 90 Palestinians freed from Israeli jails. Now attention is starting to shift to the rebuilding of the coastal enclave which the Israeli military has demolished in retaliation for a Hamas attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. That assault killed 1,200 people with around 250 hostages taken into Gaza, according to Israeli tallies. In the subsequent conflict, more than 47,000 Palestinians have been killed, Gaza's health ministry says. "We are searching for 10,000 martyrs whose bodies remain under the rubble," said Mahmoud Basal, spokesperson of the Palestinian Civil Emergency Services. At least 2,840 bodies were melted and there were no traces of them, he said. Displaced Gazan Mohamed Gomaa lost his brother and nephew in the war. "It was a big shock, and the amount (of people) feeling shocked is countless because of what happened to their homes - it's destruction, total destruction. It's not like an earthquake or a flood, no no, what happened is a war of extermination," he said. With a growing flow of aid into the Palestinian enclave, residents flocked into markets, with some expressing happiness at the lower prices and the presence of new food items like imported chocolates. "The prices have gone down, the war is over and the crossing is open to more goods," said Aya Mohammad-Zaki, a displaced woman from Gaza City, who has been sheltering in Deir Al-Balah in central Gaza Strip. The deal requires 600 truckloads of aid to be allowed into Gaza every day of the initial six-week ceasefire, including 50 carrying fuel. Half of the aid trucks would be delivered to the north, where experts have warned famine is imminent. WARNING SHOTS Residents and medics in Gaza said that for the most part the ceasefire appeared to be holding, although there were isolated incidents. Medics said eight people had been hit by Israeli fire since Monday morning in the southern city of Rafah, without giving details of their condition. The Israeli military said it fired warning shots against suspects who approached troops deployed according to the ceasefire agreement. One of the Israeli women hostages released on Sunday, Emily Damari, posted a message on Instagram on Monday. "I have returned to life, my loved ones," she wrote, "I am the happiest in the world, to just be," said Damari, a British-Israeli citizen. In the Israeli-occupied West Bank, where most of the freed Palestinian detainees returned, Nidaa Zaghebi was finally able to embrace her three children who she had left behind after her arrest by Israeli forces. Zaghebi's daughters Sadan and Cilla were in tears as they hugged their mother when she arrived at their home, wearing a crown of flowers and wrapped in a traditional Palestinian scarf. "I used to dream of them every night, and imagine what they were doing. I know the family here were very supportive and took good care of them, but motherhood overcomes all other feelings," she told Reuters. Billions of dollars will be needed to rebuild Gaza after the war. A U.N. damage assessment released this month showed that clearing over 50 million tonnes of rubble left in the aftermath of Israel's bombardment could take 21 years and cost up to $1.2 billion. A U.N. report from last year, said rebuilding Gaza's shattered homes could take at least until 2040, but could drag on for many decades. The debris is believed to be contaminated with asbestos, with some refugee camps struck during the war known to have been built with the material. A U.N. Development Programme official said on Sunday that development in Gaza has been set back by 69 years as a result of the conflict. Israel said its goal in the war was to eradicate Hamas and destroy the tunnel network it built underground. (Reporting by Hatem Khaled and Mohammed Salem in Gaza, Nidal al-Mughrabi in Cairo and Maayan Lubell in Jerusalem; Writing by Michael Georgy; Editing by Sharon Singleton, William Maclean) WASHINGTON President Joe Biden pardoned his brother James Biden and other relatives Monday for unspecified crimes, a similar last-minute move to protect his family from potential investigation as when he pardoned his son Hunter Biden for gun and tax convictions. The president said he pardoned his brother and other relatives James's wife Sara Jones Biden, sister Valerie Biden Owens and her husband John Owens, and another brother, Francis Biden because of concerns about "baseless and politically motivated investigations wreak havoc on the lives, safety, and financial security of targeted individuals and their families," he said in a statement released minutes before the end of his term. "Even when individuals have done nothing wrong and will ultimately be exonerated, the mere fact of being investigated or prosecuted can irreparably damage their reputations and finances," Biden said. President Donald Trump said after his inauguration the pardons were "unfortunate" but he wasn't going to discuss them immediately. "Well, I'm not going to discuss it now," Trump said. "I think it was unfortunate that he did that." James Biden arrives at the federal court for Hunter Biden's trial on criminal gun charges, in Wilmington, Delaware, on June 10, 2024. House Republicans investigated James Biden as part of an impeachment inquiry against the president. House Republicans urged the Justice Department to charge James Biden criminally for making allegedly false statements to lawmakers. But the Republican report on the impeachment inquiry from committees on Oversight and Accountability, Judiciary and Ways and Means didnt recommend specific charges against the president and lawmakers didnt vote on articles of impeachment. The Justice Department hasnt charged James Biden. The impeachment inquirys allegations against James Biden alleged that he benefitted financially in foreign business deals from trading on his brothers name. The report also called his repayment of undocumented loans to the president alarming. Joe Biden and the White House maintained that the president wasnt involved in his brothers or sons business deals, and didnt benefit from them. Tony Bobulinski, a former Hunter Biden business associate, speaks during a House Oversight and Accountability Committee hearing as part of the House of Republicans' impeachment probe into U.S. President Joe Biden, on Capitol Hill in Washington, on March 20, 2024. What does the lying accusation against James Biden allege? The allegation about making a false statement focused on James Biden telling lawmakers that the president never met with a business associate, Tony Bobulinski, while the presidents brother and son were pursuing a deal with a Chinese company, CEFC China Energy. But Bobulinski produced text messages and Hunter Biden testified that Joe Biden attended the meeting May 3, 2017, at the Beverly Hills Hilton. Hunter and James Biden were meeting with Bobulinski over coffee in the hotel lobby bar, according to Hunter Biden, and Joe Biden was in Los Angeles to speak at the annual Milken Institutes conference. My dad went and shook hands with Tony, Hunter Biden testified, and the two talked about a relative of Bobulinskis who had cancer. But James Biden denied going into the hotel or meeting with Joe Biden and Bobulinski. Absolutely not, James Biden testified. I remember that my brother had a speaking engagement at the hotel, James Biden testified. I never went into the hotel with my brother. House Ways and Means Chairman Jason Smith, R-Mo., whispers into the ear of House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., before a House Oversight and Accountability Committee hearing as part of the House of Republicans' impeachment probe into President Joe Biden, on Capitol Hill in Washington, on March 20, 2024. What was the issue with loans from Joe Biden to James Biden? House Republicans tracked how millions of dollars flowed to Joe Bidens relatives from foreign business deals. A $200,000 payment from James Biden to his brother caught the eye of lawmakers. James Biden testified he had two interest-free loans from his brother, one for $40,000 and one for $200,000, to pay outstanding bills in years between his brother serving as vice president and president. The lack of documentation about the loans "is alarming," the impeachment report said. James Biden got the $40,000 loan in July 2017 and repaid it in September 2017, he testified. He got the $200,000 loan in January 2018 and repaid it in March with a check marked loan repayment, he testified. The larger payment occurred the same day James Biden received $200,000 from Americore Health LLC, a health care company he worked with in 2017 and 2018 before it went bankrupt, according to investigators. James Biden testified he worked with Americore between the times his brother served as vice president and president to identify struggling rural hospitals that could begin treating veterans more quickly than the Department of Veterans Affairs. He was paid a total of $600,000 by Americore, which later went bankrupt. Carol Fox, a bankruptcy trustee for Americore, testified she couldnt document what James Biden did to earn the money so she sued him to recover it and he settled by repaying $350,000. What those services were, yeah, I dont . . . I cant say specifically, Fox testified. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: President Biden pardons brother James to shield him from investigation Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex arrives at the Royal Courts of Justice on March 30, 2023 in London, England Prince Harry will not travel to London for the first day of his trial against Rupert Murdochs tabloid The Sun while also dismissing claims that he turned down an offer to stay at Buckingham Palace. PEOPLE has learned that Prince Harry will not attend the first day of the NGN trial but is scheduled to testify in court in February, debunking false reports about supposed security offers. His trial against News Group Newspapers (NGN), the publisher of The Sun, over allegations of unlawful information gathering by journalists and private investigators. Harry is set to give evidence later in the trial, which is taking place alongside former Labour Member of Parliament Tom Watson. Harry accused NGN of phone hacking and other privacy violations between 1996 and 2011, a period during which The Sun and the now-defunct News of the World allegedly targeted him. NGN had denied any wrongdoing. Getty Images Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex arrives at the Royal Courts of Justice on March 30, 2023 in London, England Just last month, Harry pledged to press on with his lawsuit, motivated in part by his belief that the actions of a few journalists were eroding public trust in the media as a whole. During his appearance at The New York Timess DealBook Summit in December, the Duke of Sussex said: "I am the last person that can actually achieve [accountability]. I will be damned if those journalists are going to ruin journalism for everyone, because we depend on it, he added. Once one of about 40 plaintiffs suing Murdochs publications, Harry stands as one of only two still fighting, with dozens of others settling their claims. Prominent people and celebrities, including actors Hugh Grant and Sienna Miller, were involved in the suit, but they have largely settled their part of the case. Grant explained in April 2024 that he felt he had no choice as he might be hit with bills running into more than $10 million, even if he was successful. Related: Hugh Grant Explains Why He Is Taking 'Enormous Sum of Money' to Settle Privacy Lawsuit in U.K. In a lengthy thread on X, formerly known as Twitter, Grant wrote, "News Group are claiming they are entirely innocent of the things I had accused The Sun of doing phone hacking, unlawful information gathering, landline tapping, the burglary of my flat and office, the bugging of my car, the illegal blagging of medical records, lies, perjury and the destruction of evidence." "As is common with entirely innocent people, they are offering me an enormous sum of money to keep this matter out of court," he continued on the social media platform. Michael M. Santiago/Getty NYT Columnist Andrew Ross Sorkin and Prince Harry, The Duke of Sussex, speak during the New York Times annual DealBook summit at Jazz at Lincoln Center on Dec. 4, 2024 in New York City "I dont want to accept this money or settle. I would love to see all the allegations that they deny tested in court," he added. "But the rules around civil litigation mean that if I proceed to trial and the court awards me damages that are even a penny less than the settlement offer, I would have to pay the legal costs of both sides." Related: Meghan Markle Wins Privacy Case Against U.K. Tabloid: 'We All Deserve Justice and Truth' A spokesperson for NGN told PEOPLE in a statement at the time that it admitted no liability in the settlement and said that settling the case was "in both parties' financial interests not to progress to a costly trial." Michael M. Santiago/Getty Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex arrive at the United Nations Headquarters on July 18, 2022 in New York City Can't get enough of PEOPLE's Royals coverage? Sign up for our free Royals newsletter to get the latest updates on Kate Middleton, Meghan Markle and more! In December, during a chat with The New York Times columnist and Dealbook founder Andrew Ross Sorkin, Prince Harry said Grant felt they had to settle. He added he had other motivations: One of the main reasons for seeing this through is accountability, because Im the last person that can actually achieve that, The Observer newspaper reported on Jan. 19. Read the original article on People Weight-loss jabs can improve your health in many more ways, says new research - imyskin/iStockphoto Weight-loss jabs reduce the risk of developing more than 40 different health conditions, a major study has found. GLP-1 medications such as Ozempic, Wegovy and Mounjaro can help people to lose more than a fifth of their body weight and have been linked to a range of health benefits but also some concerns. Scientific evidence has struggled to keep up with the anecdotal evidence emerging at a rapid pace as a result of the millions of people taking the medications for weight loss. A new study from Washington University, in St Louis, Missouri, analysed health records of more than 2.4 million people, including 215,000 people taking the jabs, to see how the drugs impact the risk of developing 175 different health outcomes. Data show that the medications reduced the risk of cardiac arrest by 22 per cent, pneumonia by 16 per cent, Alzheimers by 12 per cent, bacterial infections by 12 per cent, and alcohol use disorder by 11 per cent. In total there were 42 health outcomes which were shown to have a lower likelihood in a person who was prescribed a GLP-1 drug. However, 19 health outcomes were also shown to become more likely, including nausea and vomiting (30 per cent), headaches (10 per cent) and abdominal pain (12 per cent). However, the study also uncovered the medications are linked to an increased risk of hemorrhoids, low blood pressure, tendonitis and osteoarthritis. For better... We have seen skyrocketing increased utilisation of GLP-1 over the past several years, Dr Ziyad Al-Aly, the Washington University study author, told reporters. Really, almost everybody is on it in the US, with increasing utilisation in the EU, and the UK, and elsewhere in the world. Several studies have investigated the link between weight loss medications and individual health issues but this study was the first to offer a macroscale analysis of their potential impact on all health outcomes. Interestingly, there was a reduced risk of seizure disorders, neurocognitive disorders, including Alzheimers disease and dementia, Dr Al-Aly said. We also saw reduced risk of clotting disorders and reduced risk of infections and several other things. However, the beneficial profile is not without risks. We know there are also increased risks of gastrointestinal problems, and this is very common. The scientists believe there are two mechanisms which each have an impact on how the GLP-1 drugs influence so many health outcomes. One is that by losing weight a person is healthier and therefore less exposed to the risks posed by obesity, and the other is that the drugs have a role in the brain and alter psychological pathways. ...or worse We tend to think of these drugs as surgically designed to do only one thing, Dr Al-Aly added. But the reality is, its almost never like this. Biology is complex. The general message here is that there are two key mechanisms. One is probably related to obesity and the second pathway is reduced inflammation, and things related to reward signaling and impulse control in the brain. The study, published in the journal Nature Medicine, found that there was a reduced risk of kidney disease in people taking weight loss jabs, but a higher risk of kidney stones. It may be related to the possibility that when people take GLP-1 they eat a whole lot less to lose weight, but they also hydrate themselves less. They drink less water because their stomach shrinks and they feel full very quickly. And maybe, Im theorising here, perhaps chronic dehydration leads to increased risk of kidney stones. Other surprising findings from the study are how GLP-1 drugs make arthritis more likely when a person is lighter and bearing less weight, and also how they could be responsible for making a person less prone to bacterial infections, including sepsis and pneumonia. Jack Shapiro, 54, of Holbrook, apparently drowned in the waters off Gilgo Beach Sunday afternoon, cops said. An ex-NYPD cop died in an apparent drowning while surfing in the icy waters off Long Islands Gilgo Beach over the weekend, cops said. Jack Shapiro, 54, of Holbrook who officials say retired from the NYPD more than a decade ago became unresponsive as he surfed just off the Babylon beach around 2:20 p.m. Sunday, Suffolk County Police said. A good Samaritan pulled him out of the water and onto the shore where Marine Bureau officers responded, authorities said. A good Samaritan pulled Shapiro from the icy waters, cops said. Getty Images First responders performed CPR, but Shapiro could not be saved. He was rushed in an ambulance to Good Samaritan University Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, cops said. Shapiro retired from the NYPD in 2013, a department spokesperson said. He spent some time working in the confines of the 83rd Precinct, which covers Bushwick, Brooklyn, sources said. Everyone in the 83 family is devastated, said a cop who worked with Shapiro in the 90s. Jack was a great cop and an even greater person we cant believe it. He was a good swimmer and he has been surfing for years. Police have described Shapiros death as an apparent drowning, but the official cause will be determined by the Suffolk County Medical Examiners Office. Water temperatures off the Babylon beach sat slightly above 39 degrees Sunday. Getty Images Water temperatures off Gilgo Beach sat slightly above 39 degrees Sunday. Detectives are asking anyone with information about the incident to call 631-852-6392. Around 12 hours after shutting itself down in the United States, TikTok is back for many users almost like it never left, attributing its return to a move by President-elect Donald Trump to save the app. TikTok welcomed users back with a notification that said: Thanks for your patience and support. As a result of President Trumps efforts, TikTok is back in the U.S.! The whiplash move to bring the app back comes after TikTok became unusable for Americans late Saturday night. Users who tried to open the app at that time were met with a message saying it was offline and asking users to stay tuned. A law banning TikTok has been enacted in the U.S. Unfortunately, that means you cant use TikTok for now, TikToks message read in part. The app was also unavailable on the Apple and Google Play stores, along with Lemon8 and CapCut, which are also owned by TikToks China-based parent company, ByteDance. Early on Sunday, Trump said he would issue an executive order following his inauguration on Monday to delay enforcement of the divest-or-ban law. And within hours, access to TikToks app and webpage began to return for US users. TikToks restoration will be welcome news for the apps 170 million American users, many of whom use the app for hours every day to find news, entertainment and community and, in some cases, to make a living, after weeks of uncertainty. And it signaled that Trump may be poised to score a major political victory by claiming responsibility for bringing back the popular platform. In a statement midday Sunday, TikTok said Trumps promise to save the app allowed it to restore US users access even before his expected executive order is signed. In agreement with our service providers, TikTok is in the process of restoring service. We thank President Trump for providing the necessary clarity and assurance to our service providers that they will face no penalties providing TikTok to over 170 million Americans and allowing over 7 million small businesses to thrive, the company said in a statement. We will work with President Trump on a long-term solution that keeps TikTok in the United States. TikTok CEO Shou Chew is expected to attend Trumps Make America Great Again Victory Rally in Washington, DC, Sunday night, before being seated prominently at the incoming presidents inauguration Monday. But while TikToks shutdown lasted just a few hours, securing the apps long-term future in the United States is likely to be more complicated. The path to securing TikToks future Trump said Sunday in a Truth Social post that he plans to issue an executive order following his inauguration on Monday to extend the period of time before the laws prohibitions take effect, so that we can make a deal to protect our national security. He urged TikToks partners to allow the app to be restored, saying the order will also confirm that there will be no liability for any company that helped keep TikTok from going dark before my order. Americans deserve to see our exciting Inauguration on Monday, as well as other events and conversations, Trump said. Trump had said he was considering a 90-day extension in the ban to give him time to work out a deal to sell the app to a non-Chinese owner. In his post, Trump said he would seek a 50-50 joint venture between TikToks existing parent company, China-based ByteDance, and a new, American owner. Such an announcement could serve as a kind of immediate political victory for Trump with Americas youth. Although Trump supported a TikTok ban in his first term as president, he has recently said he wants to keep the app alive posting on Truth Social Sunday morning: SAVE TIKTOK! Last month, he asked the Supreme Court to stay the law so his incoming administration could work out a deal to keep TikTok available to Americans. The Supreme Court upheld the law on Friday. TikTok appealed to Trump in its pop-up message on the app starting late Saturday night notifying users that the app was unavailable in the United States. We are fortunate that President Trump has indicated that he will work with us on a solution to reinstate TikTok once he takes office, the company posted in its pop-up message. Please stay tuned! And Chew also lauded Trump in a video responding to the companys Supreme Court loss on Friday, saying, we are grateful and pleased to have the support of a president who truly understands our platform, one who has used TikTok to express his own thoughts and perspectives, connecting with the world and generating more than 60 billion views of his content in the process. Trump attributed his election victory in part to TikTok at a press conference at Mar-a-Lago in December. I have a warm spot in my heart for TikTok, Trump said, then claiming to have won the youth vote by a significant margin. And there are those that say that TikTok had something to do with it. The law banning TikTok passed with strong bipartisan support in Congress, citing national security concerns. Although a Pew Research Center Survey in 2023 found about half of Americans supported the ban, it has consistently proven unpopular with younger generations. With his executive order, Trump is expected to delay enforcement of the ban to give TikTok parent company ByteDance more time to find an American owner. Trumps Sunday message may have been enough to reassure TikToks technology partners, including Oracle, which hosts TikToks content in the United States, and Apple and Google, which host the app on their app stores, to continue supporting the app. Under the law, those companies could face penalties of up to $5,000 per person who has access to TikTok, if it is enforced. TikTok was offline in the United States for about 14 hours, before the company said a post from Trump gave it the confidence to restore access to the app. Trump was the first to try to ban TikTok during his previous administration, but more recently changed his tune on the app. - Brook Joyner/CNN Not a permanent solution But the executive order could face challenges, including from members of Trumps own party, who say they oppose any extension of the ban. We commend Amazon, Apple, Google and Microsoft for following the law and halting operations with ByteDance and TikTok, and we encourage other companies to do the same, Republican Senators Tom Cotton, of Arkansas, and Pete Ricketts, of Nebraska, wrote in a joint statement Sunday. The law, after all, risks ruinous bankruptcy for any company who violates it. Now that the law has taken effect, theres no legal basis for any kind of extension of its effective date. Cotton and Ricketts said TikTok should only come back online by severing all ties between TikTok and Communist China. Only then will Americans be protected from the grave threat posed to their privacy and security by a communist-controlled TikTok. The apps brief blackout marked the realization of a yearslong effort to block US access to TikTok over national security concerns related to its China-based owner ByteDance. Outgoing President Joe Biden signed a law last April that gave ByteDance 270 days to sell TikTok to an owner from the United States or one of its allies or face a ban. So even if Trump pledges to reverse the ban, he cant simply undo a law passed by Congress and signed by a president with an executive order. Thats why TikTok shut down in the first place. Despite the Biden administration all but saying they would defer enforcement to the incoming Trump administration, a person close to TikTok says multiple critical service providers indicated to TikTok that they were concerned that the ban might be enforced starting Sunday. For example, Apple released a statement Sunday that cited the ban as its reason for removing TikTok from its app store. It noted the app will remain available for customers who already downloaded it, but it wont be able to be redownloaded if deleted. Apple is obligated to follow the laws in the jurisdictions where it operates, the company said in its statement. Pursuant to the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, apps developed by ByteDance Ltd. and its subsidiaries including TikTok, CapCut, Lemon8, and others will no longer be available for download or updates on the App Store for users in the United States starting January 19, 2025. The long-term fix The only truly permanent solutions to keep TikTok online appear to be: 1) pass a new law reversing the old one no easy task, considering that the existing bill had such broad bipartisan support in Congress or 2) force a sale to an acceptable buyer. Two potential buyers a group led by billionaire Frank McCourt and Shark Tanks Kevin OLeary, as well as AI search engine PerplexityAI have submitted formal bids for the app and others have reportedly shown interest in TikTok. ByteDance, however, has long been adamant that it has no intention of selling. TikToks near-magical algorithm, keeping users hooked on the app, is its secret power, and putting a price tag on such a valuable commodity, envied by every other social media app, is difficult. McCourts buyer group has said it would buy TikToks US assets without the algorithm and rebuild the app, but tech giants like Meta and YouTube have for years worked to replicate TikToks popular algorithm without quite succeeding. OLeary told CNN he met with Trump at Mar-a-Lago earlier this month to discuss the outlook for the app. Spinning off an American-only version of TikTok could also mean the rest of the world has to download a new app to access US users content. Yet Bloomberg and the Wall Street Journal reported last week that China is weighing a sale to Elon Musk. Musk may have the resources to buy the app, and hes a major Trump supporter and about to take a quasi-role in his government. But its unclear that he would want to, and he has not publicly commented directly on the acquisition reports. On Sunday, Musk posted on X that he opposes the TikTok ban because it goes against freedom of speech. That said, the current situation where TikTok is allowed to operate in America, but X is not allowed to operate in China is unbalanced. Something needs to change, Musk said. If ByteDance chooses to engage, Trump could perhaps argue that significant progress has been made on a deal a legal threshold that would legally permit Trump to reverse the ban to allow the sale process to commence. In his Truth Social post Sunday, Trump said the United States should have a 50% ownership position in a joint venture. By doing this, we save TikTok, keep it in good hands and allow it to say (sic) up, he said. Therefore, my initial thought is a joint venture between the current owners and/or new owners whereby the U.S. gets a 50% ownership in a joint venture set up between the U.S. and whichever purchase we so choose. Thats only a temporary measure, though, as the sale would ultimately need to go through. Until then, TikToks future will remain very much in doubt. When asked about the apps restoration and Trumps desire for a deal, Chinas foreign ministry told reporters Monday that it believed companies should decide independently about their operations and deals. We hope the US can listen to rational voices and provide an open, fair, just, and non-discriminatory business environment for market players from all countries, said ministry spokesperson Mao Ning. A surreal shutdown Many TikTok users had held onto hope that the shutdown would be short-lived. Still, the Saturday night shutdown was a sad loss for some users a reminder of the apps cultural influence. Many users joined the app in early 2020, when the Covid-19 pandemic was otherwise isolating them from community and other creative outlets. Im so sad for so many people. I was shocked. I think I was probably in denial a little bit that it would actually just go dark, influencer Shannon Lange told CNN early Sunday, before access to the app was restored. Influencer Alix Earle, who had nearly 8 million TikTok followers, posted a tearful video on the platform ahead of the shutdown saying, I feel like Im going through heartbreak. This platform is more than an app or a job to me. I have so many memories on here. I have posted every day for the past 6 years of my life. Julie Turkel, a TikTok creator who said she was scrolling the app when it stopped working Saturday night, called the shutdown surreal. It was just surreal, it did have a very eerie feeling, Turkel told CNN. She added that although she had anticipated the shutdown after TikToks warnings last week, seeing it actually go down is different. Turkel told CNN early Sunday she was taking a digital detox, opting not to spend time on Instagram or other short-form video platforms, while TikTok was down. The break didnt last long. When the app returned on Sunday, Lange posted a video smiling and dancing, with overlaid text that read: Longest 13 hours of my life and I was sleeping for 9 of them. CNNs Brian Stelter and Marc Stewart contributed to this report. This story has been updated with additional content. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com WASHINGTON President Donald Trump announced the end of birthright citizenship for children of illegal immigrants in an executive order on his first day of office Trump officially signed off on the Executive Order at the White House almost eight hours after becoming the 47th commander in chief, remarking thats a big one as he affixed his signature. People have wanted to do this for decades. Incoming White House officials had previewed the order Monday morning, saying the federal government will no longer recognize the immediate citizenship of children of illegal immigrants born in the US on a prospective basis. Trump had discussed ending birthright citizenship on the campaign trail, but the action could raise legal questions, since the 14th Amendment states, All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. President-elect Donald Trump and his wife Melania attend a service at St. Johns Church on the inauguration day of his second presidential term in Washington, January 20, 2025. REUTERS The upcoming executive order is one of 10 actions Trump signed regarding the border on his first day in office. Trump also announced measures to end catch and release, to reinstate Remain in Mexico and rebuild the border wall, in addition to declaring a national emergency at the border. A pregnant woman from Venezuela walks along the bank of the Rio Grande after crossing the U.S.-Mexico border. Getty Images The national emergency will deploy armed forces and will erect physical barriers at the border. It allows the secretary of defense to deploy additional forces to the border, including members of the armed forces and the National Guard, the officials said. The Trump admin will end asylum and will close the border to illegal immigrants through a proclamation that creates an immediate process to remove migrants without the possibility of asylum, the officials went on. A pregnant asylum seeking migrant rests in the shelter at Annunciation House in El Paso, Texas. New York Post Refugee resettlement will be suspended for at least four months. Vetting of migrants will be increased and agencies will be directed to give Trump recommendations about suspending entry for all citizens from countries of particular concern. Criminals and cartels were declared global terrorists, a distinction that will allow the US to deport members of Tren de Aragua and MS-13. WASHINGTON President Donald Trump on Monday declared a national border emergency and ordered the U.S. armed forces to repel "forms of invasion" at the U.S.-Mexico border, including illegal migration and drug trafficking. The executive orders published late Monday appeared to lay the groundwork for Trump's promised crackdown on immigration, including ending birthright citizenship for the children of some foreigners. I will declare a national emergency at our southern border, Trump said during his inaugural speech. The declaration was posted shortly before 9 p.m. All illegal entry will be immediately halted and we will begin the process of returning millions and millions of illegal aliens back to the places from which they came. Other executive actions: In sweeping orders, Trump aims to remake federal policy on border, gender, climate change White House officials speaking on condition of anonymity earlier in the day said Trump will also use executive orders to suspend refugee resettlement, finish building the border wall, suspend entry of nationals from "countries of concern" and attempt to end the constitutionally guaranteed right to citizenship for children born in the U.S. to some foreign nationals. The administration also plans to use the military to target drug cartels as "global terrorists" and use troops to combat them. White House officials declined to provide details on the rules of engagement. Republican presidential candidate and President-elect Donald Trump and Texas Governor Greg Abbott speak during a Thanksgiving luncheon in Edinburg, Texas, on Nov. 19, 2023. Trump's vow to launch a "mass deportation" was the signature promise of his campaign, a crackdown he said would see millions of people expelled from the country. In one of its first actions, the new administration turned off a function of the CBP One cellphone application that let migrants make appointments to enter the country at a port of entry. U.S. Customs and Border Protection was previously letting up to 1,450 migrants a day apply for entry via the app. Migrants with appointments after Trump's noon inauguration saw their hopes crushed. On the Mexican side of an international bridge to El Paso, Texas, more than two dozen men, women and children from Cuba, Colombia and Venezuela were waiting for their 1 p.m. appointments. Most burst into tears or stood dumbstruck after Mexican authorities told them they wouldn't be received. Margelis Tinoco, 48, of Colombia, cries after finding out her 1 p.m. appointment was no longer valid via the CBP One appointment. Tinoco was to be processed by Customs and Border Protection at the Paso del Norte International Bridge in El Paso, Texas on Jan. 20, 2025. The expected declaration of a national emergency comes as illegal border crossings are at their lowest level in more than five years. In early January, U.S. Customs and Border Protection reported roughly 1,000 migrant encounters daily, from California to Texas down 75% from a year ago. Earlier Monday, the administration officials who previewed the orders said the executive orders came in response to "widespread chaos" at the border during the Biden administration. The officials cited the record number of encounters with migrants at the border who didn't have legal authorization to be in the country, including hundreds of thousands of unaccompanied children despite a dramatic drop in unlawful crossings last year. Elizabeth Goitein, senior director for liberty and national security at the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University, said the declaration of a national emergency at the border unlocks powers in 150 different provisions of law. She expects the invocation to be used for the same purpose as Trump's 2019 declaration: to use money from the Defense Department to pay for border security. Executive orders on border security, immigration Trump has long promised numerous executive actions to secure the border on "Day One," and the 10 orders represent an initial tranche of directives, White House officials said. One order would end the birthright citizenship, which has been guaranteed by the 14th Amendment to any child born in the United States, a right enshrined in the Constitution in the years following the Civil War. The order aims to deny citizenship to children born to some foreign nationals in the country illegally. Another order will declare criminal cartels as "global terrorist groups," allowing the deployment of the military. The order is intended to target members of transnational gangs including Tren De Aragua and MS-13 and the trafficking of fentanyl and others drugs. In his inaugural speech, Trump said he would invoke the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to combat criminal gangs with foreign members. I will direct our government to use the full and immense power of federal and state law enforcement to eliminate the presence of all foreign gangs and criminal networks bringing devastating crime to the U.S. soil, including our cities and inner cities, Trump said. Chad Wolf, a former acting secretary of Homeland Security who is now executive director of the America First Policy Institute, a right-wing think tank, said the executive order designating Mexican cartels as foreign terrorist organizations will be key to fighting organized crime and trafficking. To secure our borders, protect our communities, and defend our sovereignty, we must confront the cartels with the full force of the law, Wolf said in a statement. The executive order designation sends a clear message that their extortion, trafficking and violence will not be tolerated, and we will act decisively to dismantle their networks and restore safety and justice to our borders." Another order mandates the death penalty for capital crimes committed by immigrants in the country illegally. Immigrant advocates promise to fight back Immigrant advocacy groups were anticipating the sweeping executive orders and have pledged to fight them through advocacy and lawsuits. One of the first court actions landed Monday in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C. More: Biden administration carries out highest deportations in a decade An El Paso-based immigrant advocacy organization filed a motion in an existing case against the Department of Homeland Security. In the new filing, Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center said by canceling the CBP One appointments at the border, the new administration has terminated "the only way an individual who arrived in the United States at the southern border could retain the right to seek asylum." Paige Austin, supervising litigation attorney at Make the Road New York, an immigrant rights advocacy organization, said the new administration should expect litigation. She cited advocates' previous victories against Trump's attempts to eliminate DACA, place a citizenship question on the Census and to expand expedited removal. Litigation could potentially protect birthright citizenship, she said in a news conference last week. Greisa Martinez Rosas, executive director of United We Dream Action, another immigrant rights advocacy group said they and others are ready to fight what she calls Trumps terror campaign against immigrants. We will be faced with the chaos, Rosas told reporters in a Thursday news conference. The terrain we are facing is horrendous and devastating. The new administration may also face litigation should Trump use the emergency declaration to move Pentagon funding to border security, including building fencing at the U.S.-Mexico border. Goitein, of the Brennan Center, said federal courts ruled the border wall didnt qualify as a military construction project as envisioned in the law. But those rulings were paused on appeal and pending before the Supreme Court when former President Joe Biden overturned the declaration. This is going to be fought out in the courts, Goitein said. Trump "is going to run into some trouble there This is not what emergency powers are for. Trump's record on deportations Despite a pledge to reduce illegal immigration during his first term, Trump never achieved the level or annual pace of deportations that President Barack Obama did. Under Obama, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement the federal agency tasked with enforcing immigration laws in the interior deported more than 360,000 people annually during six years of his two-term presidency, with a peak over 400,000 in 2012. Angered by the aggressive enforcement, immigrant advocates nicknamed Obama the country's "Deporter-in-Chief" during the period. Trump logged more than 935,000 deportations over four years, including more than 260,000 removals in 2019, the highest year. This time, Trump may use an authority typically invoked only during war time to achieve his mass deportation goals. One of the executive orders published Monday opens the door to a wave of immigration enforcement, not seen since World War II, under a potential invocation of the Alien Enemies Act. The order sets a 14-day deadline for Trump to invoke the Act's authority. Katherine Ebright, counsel in the Brennan Center for Justices center for liberty and national security, said the 1798 Alien Enemies Act was intended to be used as a wartime authority to detain or remove designated enemies. Trump described targeting members of crime gangs such as Venezuelas Tren De Aragua or MS-13, born in Los Angeles and exported to El Salvador and Guatemala. But experts worry the order could be applied more broadly. Any invocation puts us in radical territory, Ebright said. Its a way to bypass due process." Historically the designated country has been named in wartime, which is why Japanese citizens were designated enemy aliens after Pearl Harbor but why members of Al Qaeda, a stateless terror group, werent after the hijackings Sept. 11, 2001. This would be the first time an enemy has been declared against a crime gang without a war against the country. Its never been done, Ebright said. During his first administration, Trump faced rising numbers of illegal border crossings at the outset of his presidency and was forced to shift resources from interior enforcement to the border. His final year in office was affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, which prompted a slowdown in ICE removals. This story has been updated to include additional information. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump executive order on border to use military to repel 'invasion' WASHINGTON President Donald Trump on his first day in office Monday will issue an order defining a persons sex as male or female requiring government agencies to use the immutable designation on forms and IDs while also ordering changes to federal prison policies that govern transgender inmates. What were doing today is defining that it is the policy of the United States to recognize two sexes: male and female. These are sexes that are not changeable, and they are grounded in fundamental and incontrovertible reality, an incoming White House official told reporters. The policies are included in an executive order one of dozens that Trump, 78, is expected to sign shortly after he assumes the presidency around noon. Donald Trump at St. Johns Church on Inauguration Day. REUTERS The order will prevent people from changing their sex on US passports which currently allow for holders to choose male, female or X and will attempt to ban medical transition treatment for prisoners. Both new policies are likely to face litigation. The order will require the State Department, Department of Homeland Security and other agencies to ensure that official government documents, including passports and visas, reflect sex accurately, the incoming official said. Americans since 2010 including during Trumps first term have been able to change their sex on passports by submitting forms with a physicians approval. Transgender rights supporters rally outside the Supreme Court on Dec. 4, 2024. AP However, outgoing Secretary of State Antony Blinken ended the doctors sign-off for passports in 2021 and added the X gender marker in 2022. The prison policies, meanwhile, will impact a population that the ACLU estimates at 1,200 federal inmates. Were going to add privacy in intimate spaces like womens prisons, womens migrant shelters, rape shelters [and] make sure the taxpayer funds are not being used to have so-called transition services, the incoming official said about Trumps order. Its unclear how the policy will impact transgender prisoners currently in womens prisons. Very few transgender inmates have received transition surgeries on the taxpayers dime with Texas inmate Donna Langan believed to have become the first in December 2022, the 19th reported. Transgender rights became a campaign issue ahead of last years election with Trump vowing to attempt to end the participation of people born male in female sports. Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris, the outgoing vice president, received negative coverage and groans from her allies following the unearthing of her past pledge to support taxpayer-funded sex changes for illegal immigrants in federal custody. Harris defended herself by arguing that doing so was the law and that Trump would have to follow the same guidelines. Panama Canal President Trump on Monday doubled down on his commitment to expand US territory, promising to take back the Panama Canal. Trump, re-upping a post-election promise, decried the USs decision to give the Canal Zone back to the Republic of Panama, accusing the linchpin country between Central and South America of treating America unfairly since then. President McKinley made our country very rich through tariffs and gave Teddy Roosevelt the money for many of the great things he did, including the Panama Canal, which has foolishly been given to the country of Panama, Trump, 78, lamented during his inagural speech in the Capitol Rotunda in DC. Trump recalled how the US pumped money into the construction of the canal, which former President Jimmy Carter handed back to Panama in 1977, and contended, We have been treated very badly from this foolish gift that should have never been made. Panamas promise to us has been broken, Trump said. The purpose of our deal and the spirit of our treaty has been totally violated. American ships are being severely overcharged and not treated fairly in any way, shape or form, he added, accusing China of operating the Panama Canal. President Trump spoke broadly Monday about expanding US territory. Getty Images We didnt give it to China. We gave it to Panama, and were taking it back. Trump also boasted in his speech about his plans to rechristen the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America. Panamas president, Jose Raul Mulino, quickly fired back at Trump over the canal, as he has during the 47th presidents past public musings. I must comprehensively reject the words outlined by President Donald Trump regarding Panama and its Canal in his inaugural address, Mulino said in a statement, according to a translation. There is no presence of any nation in the world that interferes with our administration. The Canal was not a concession from anyone. It was the result of generational struggles, he said. We will exercise the right that protects us. Panamas president, Jose Raul Mulino, was not amused by President Trumps talk of taking back the Canal Zone. AFP via Getty Images Trump did not elaborate on how he intends to take back the 51-mile waterway, but he has previously refused to rule out military force. The US previously invaded Panama in 1989 to topple Manuel Noriega. Mulino, 65, and the Panamanian government have also repeatedly rebuffed Trumps assertions about China having undue influence over the canal, which connects the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. The new commander-in-chief appears to be fuming over facilities in the canal area operated by Hutchison Whampoa, a Hong Kong port operator, as well as other Chinese infrastructure investments nearby. There is a neutrality treaty in place between the US and Panama to keep the canal free of discriminatory tolls. The Panama Canal is widely seen as one of the most important shipping routes in the world. AFP via Getty Images Trump has also previously talked about the US annexing Greenland, which is owned by Denmark, and making Canada a 51st state. None of those two objectives came up during Mondays feted speech. But during his address, Trump spoke glowingly about generally expanding US territory, which is currently the third largest nation in the world by land mass. The United States will once again consider itself a growing nation, one that increases our wealth, expands our territory, builds our cities, raises our expectations and carries our flag into new and beautiful horizons, he proclaimed. And we will pursue our Manifest Destiny into the stars, launching American astronauts to plant the stars and stripes on the planet Mars. Manifest Destiny refers to the belief in the 1800s that God willed the US to expand its territory across North America. Trumps speech during his inauguration, which had gotten pushed indoors due to the frigid weather in Washington, DC, was the longest since at least the 1930s. President Donald Trump issued a sweeping series of pardons for defendants charged in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, commuting the sentences of 14 individuals and offering a a full, complete and unconditional pardon to all other individuals convicted of offenses related to events that occurred at or near the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021." "So, this is January 6th. These are the hostages, approximately 1,500 for a pardon," Trump said while holding the black folder containing the order. The 14 individuals that Trump identified that he was commuting sentences for are those convicted or otherwise charged with engaging in the separate seditious conspiracies mounted by leaders of the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers to thwart the lawful transfer of power on Jan. 6, 2021. They were among the more grave and high profile charges brought in connection with January 6. MORE: Trump inauguration live updates Former Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio, who was sentenced to 22 years in prison after his conviction of seditious conspiracy, was being processed for release from his cell in Louisiana following Trumps executive action, his lawyer told ABC News Monday evening. PHOTO: President Donald Trump signs an executive order for pardons on January 6 offenders in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, Jan. 20, 2025. (Jim Watson/POOL/AFP via Getty Images) Tarrio was notably sentenced to the longest term of imprisonment among all of the nearly 1,600 individuals charged in connection with the attack. Outside the Central Detention Facility in Washington, crowds of supporters of those inside sang the national anthem with rioters over the phone. One person could be heard saying, "Thank you, President Trump! We're getting out tonight." Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who was among the lawmakers who were rushed from the House and Senate chambers and offices after rioters breached the Capitol, called Trump's order "shameful." "The President's actions are an outrageous insult to our justice system and the heroes who suffered physical scars and emotional trauma as they protected the Capitol, the Congress and the Constitution," Pelosi said. Craig Sicknick, whose brother Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick died the day after being attacked by rioters, told ABC News' Rachel Scott that Trump's pardons were a "betrayal of decency." "The man doesn't understand pain or suffering of others. He can't comprehend anyone else's feelings," Sicknick said. "We now have no rule of law." Brian Sicknick suffered two strokes after the riot. A D.C. medical examiner said he died of natural causes, but "all that transpired on that day played a role in his condition." Trump was expected to further direct the incoming attorney general to move to dismiss all pending indictments against Jan. 6 defendants who have not yet had their cases fully adjudicated, which would shutter roughly 470 ongoing cases, according to recently released numbers by the District of Columbia U.S. Attorney's Office. Current and former DOJ officials have expressed alarm over the potential that Trump would hand down pardons -- or otherwise free -- violent offenders, citing the potential risk they could seek to target the prosecutors who oversaw their cases, the judges who sentenced them to periods of incarceration, or witnesses who may have testified against them. Trump teased the pardons earlier Monday at Capital One Arena, where he spoke to supporters after taking the oath of office at the Capitol. PHOTO: Pro-Trump protesters, including Proud Boys leader Joe Biggs, (plaid shirt at bottom center of frame,) gather in front of the U.S. Capitol Building on January 6, 2021 in Washington, DC. (Jon Cherry/Getty Images) A violent mob of pro-Trump protesters stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, fighting with officers, breaking into offices and destroying property. After the attack on the U.S. Capitol by rioters seeking to overturn the 2020 election, more than 1,580 people were charged criminally in federal court, according to the Department of Justice. More than 1,000 have pleaded guilty. Trump's team had drafted a list of potential pardons for Jan. 6 defendants to issue on Day 1, sources familiar with the matter told ABC News on Sunday. Of the nearly 1,600 individuals who have faced charges associated with the Capitol attack, according to figures released by the U.S. Attorney's Office, 608 individuals faced charges for assaulting, resisting or interfering with law enforcement trying to protect the complex that day, the office said. Approximately 140 law enforcement officers were injured during the riot, the DOJ has said. PHOTO: Trump supporters clash with police and security forces as people try to storm the US Capitol on January 6, 2021 in Washington, DC. (Brent Stirton/Getty Images) MORE: Biden preemptively pardons Anthony Fauci, Mark Milley and Jan. 6 committee members The U.S. Attorney's Office said it was evaluating whether to bring charges in roughly 200 cases that were referred to them by the FBI, about 60 of which involve potential felony charges involving allegations of assault or impeding law enforcement. Trump said last March that he was "inclined to pardon many" of the rioters. At least 221 individuals were found guilty at contested trials in U.S. District Court, the DOJ said. Another 40 individuals were convicted following an agreed-upon set of facts presented to and accepted by the Court. Outgoing President Joe Biden on Monday issued preemptive pardons to potential targets of the incoming Trump administration, including lawmakers who served on the House Jan. 6 Committee. Trump, in his 2024 campaign, repeatedly vowed "retribution" on his political enemies, specifically singling out lawmakers like Liz Cheney, who investigated the attack on the Capitol. Trump said Cheney and other committee members should be put in jail. ABC News' Lalee Ibssa, Michelle Stoddart and Meredith Deliso contributed to this report. Trump issues sweeping pardons and commutations for Jan. 6 rioters originally appeared on abcnews.go.com British-Israeli national Emily Damari among the first three hostages freed from Gaza by Hamas as part of a ceasefire deal with Israel says she has returned to my beloved life in the moving first comments she has made since her release. Ms Damari, 28, was freed from 15 months in captivity on Sunday as the truce deal came into effect, with authorities reporting she had lost two fingers when she was taken from her home during Hamas attack inside Israel on 7 October, 2023, during which around 1,200 people were killed and another 250 were taken hostage. In emotional remarks made hours after her release on Monday morning, Emily, who is a dual British-Israeli citizen, thanked her family and the large protest movement that campaigned for the release of the hostages. In emotional images released online, former hostage Emily Damari was seen hugging her mother and waving a bandaged hand, wounded when she was shot during her capture (PA) Thank you, thank you, thank you. Im the happiest in the world, the 28-year-old said in the Instagram story shared by Israeli media, signing off her message with a rock on emoji, a possible reference to the two fingers she lost when she was shot in the hand as she was taken from Kibbutz Kfar Aza. Her family previously said she was blindfolded and forced into her own car with two other friends. Celebrations have been taking place across Israel, Gaza and the occupied West Bank over the ceasfire, with 90 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails also freed as part of the deal. Families in Gaza also started to return to their homes, with Israels retaliatory offensive to the Hamas attack having killed around 47,000 Palestinians and forced about 90 per cent of the enclaves 2.3 million residents from their homes. In footage taken in Gaza on Sunday, Hamas were seen handing over Emily, alongside one of her friends who was captured with her, Doron Steinbrecher, 31, as well as Romi Gonen, 24, who was seized from the Nova music festival. At Sheba hospital, which is located in a suburb of Tel Aviv, there were emotional scenes of the three hostages being reunited with their family members. A motorcade was led by police cars. Within it, minivans holding the hostages and their mothers, who were the first to greet them in the transitional first aid point, drew up to a specially closed-off area. Emily Damari, 28, was freed on Sunday as the Gaza ceasefire deal came into effect, following 15 months in captivity (PA) Crowds of patients in the hospital cheered as they caught a brief glimpse through a window inside complex of the moment the three women hugged their fathers, siblings and other extended family members, in floods of tears with Emily reunited with her mother Mandy Damari, who also survived Hamass attack on the border Kibbutz of Kfar Aza. On Hostage Square in central Tel Aviv, the rallying point for families and supporters of the hostages, crowds cheered, cried, and hugged each other as the footage of the reunions was released. Later thousands of people gathered there chanted Now! Now ! Now!, a reference to bringing all the remaining hostages left in Gaza back, as well as the slogan bring them home now. On Monday, Mandy Damari, who grew up in Beckenham, southeast London, released a statement in the wake of her daughters release, praising Emilys resilience and calling for the remaining 91 hostages to be freed. Romi Gonen, 24, who was seized from the Nova music festival, reuniting with her mother Meirav Leshem Gonen (Getty) From the bottom of my heart I would like to thank the many people who have played a role in bringing Emily home and given their support to me and my family, she said in a statement. I am relieved to report that, after her release, Emily is doing much better than any of us could ever have anticipated. I am also happy that during her release the world was given a glimpse of her feisty and charismatic personality. In Emilys own words, she is the happiest girl in the world, she has her life back. Doron Steinbrecher, 31, embraces her mother Simone after she was kidnapped by Hamas on 7 October, 2023, alongside Emily (Getty) In this incredibly happy moment for our family, we must also remember that 94 other hostages still remain. The ceasefire must continue and every last hostage must be returned to their families. As wonderful as it is to see Emilys resilience, these are still early days. As you will have seen yesterday, Emily lost two of the fingers on her left hand. Mandy, who campaigned fiercely for her daughter's freedom, said she will now need time with her loved ones and doctors to recover. All three former hostages were assessed at the Sheba Medical Centre in Tel Aviv, with doctors reporting that they are in a stable condition and will be monitored there for a few days. A freed Palestinian prisoner is greeted after being released from an Israeli jail on Monday (Reuters) Romis mother also issued a moving statement on social media in the wake of her daughters release, as she too called for the remaining hostages to be freed. Meirav Leshem Gonen said in a post on Facebook on Monday morning: It will take me, for us, a moment to breathe it in and believe in the reality we achieved together. Captives released in November described Emily as a leader who kept up the spirits of her fellow captives. Israeli media reported that she started taking care of everyone, with one freed girl telling Mandy that her daughter would wake up and sing: Its a great morning. The ruinous conflict has wreaked destruction and claimed tens of thousands of lives over the last 15 months (EPA) Others have reported Emily acted as a go-between with the guards. Prime minister Sir Keir Starmer welcomed the wonderful and long-overdue news of their release and called for all hostages to be freed, saying we must not forget those who remain in captivity. Foreign secretary David Lammy said he is pleased and delighted that Emily has been released. Israelis celebrated the release of the three hostages as they gathered in Tel Aviv, Israel, on Sunday (AP) Let me just first, obviously say how pleased and delighted I am that Emily Damari has emerged, he told BBC Radio 4s Today programme on Monday. And I say that because I grew very close to her family, and I think the whole of the country will be delighted that she is free, but recognising there are still hostages being held, and there are British nationals like Nadav Popplewell who lost their life. Mr Lammy said a social media post by Emily after her release made him very emotional. I have a yellow flower. Its a plastic flower that her mother gave me thats in my office that I said I would keep in my office until she was freed. I will move it from my office today and take it home. So thats... its incredibly touching, he said. white Dogo Argentino dog in the snow Hanna Dymytrova-Kaihila/iStock via Getty Images Watch the Video Click here to watch on YouTube A Vermont man trekked into an icy river to save a drowning dog last Friday. Chris MacRitchie first noticed the dog in peril while going through a Dunkin drive-thru after his son pointed out the struggling animal. MacRitchie, clad in only a T-shirt, waded waist-deep into frigid waters surrounded by snowy embankments. After crossing the river to save the dog, he carried it to safety. The dog, Arizona, was returned to its owner, who expressed her gratitude and described MacRitchie as selfless and commendable. MacRitchie himself discussed the duty he felt toward rescuing the animal, making him an animal hero. Find out more about the incredible rescue here. Watch the Video Click here to watch the video. The post Watch An Incredible Act of Heroism as Local Man Rescues Dog from Icy Vermont River appeared first on A-Z Animals. A port area near downtown Reykjavik, Iceland. A pair of young siblings who were reported missing in Ohio in October were found this month thousands of miles away in Iceland, the U.S. Marshals Service said. The children, whose names were not released, are 8 and 9 years old, according to marshals based in northern Ohio. Icelandic police found the at a hotel in the country's capital, Reykjavik, on Jan. 10, the agency said. A family member reported the children missing to Canton police on Oct. 25. The children's mother who was also not publicly identified had stopped taking her mental health medication and abandoned her apartment, and the children stopped attending school, the marshals said. Canton police eventually requested the assistance of the marshals, the statement said. The search also included assistance from the State Department, Interpol, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and authorities in England and Iceland. The children's mother took them to London, the Island of Jersey in the English Channel and a remote fishing village in Iceland before they were found in Reykjavik, officials said. "The children were placed in the care of Iceland social services until a trusted family member could get them," the marshals said. "The mother was placed in a hospital where she will remain until she is well enough to travel back to the U.S." Canton police could not immediately be reached for comment Monday afternoon. Reykjavik is nearly 3,000 miles from Canton. U.S. Marshal Pete Elliott said in the statement the children would not have been found without dedicated law enforcement personnel who helped bring them home. "The collaboration of effort in this case cant be understated," he said. "The ability to respond and recover these children abroad is an extremely difficult task. Our investigators did an outstanding job. We are lucky to have such strong and dedicated law enforcement partners and credit should be given to them for helping bring these children home. Microsoft specialist Rapid Circle has made two strategic hires with George Stavrakakis joining as A/NZ managing director and co-founder Daniel McPherson returning to the market as chief Technology Officer (CTO). Stavrakakis takes on the role vacated by Cassandra Ashworth while Daniel McPherson returns to Australia for the CTO role, previously held by Rodney Hobbs, who has also left the business. These are exciting times for Rapid Circle as we scale across the region with expanded offerings and stronger expertise to help our clients innovate and extract maximum value from their Microsoft and AI investments, said Rapid Circle global CEO and co-founder Harold Punter. I am confident that with George and Daniels experience, their focus on people, and their accessible and approachable leadership style, they will help deliver outstanding outcomes. Stavrakakis brings over 20 years of experience in the technology sector, including a 19-year tenure at Microsoft. During his time as director of the education and public sector for Australia at Microsoft, Stavrakakis fostered strong partnerships with clients and stakeholders. Cyber security vendor Fortinet has recently appointed Extreme Networks Robin Slatter as distribution sales manager and Cloudflares Nick Toulson as channel account manager in Australia. ARN understands these appointments fill existing roles and reinforces Fortinets commitment to supporting its local distribution and channel partners. Robin and Nick bring valuable experience to our local channel team, strengthening our ability to support partners across Australia, said John Milionis director channel and distribution Australia at Fortinet. Robin Slatter comes to Fortinet from Extreme Networks where he was the A/NZ distribution sales manager. Prior to joining Extreme in 2022, he spent more than 22 years at Dell Technologies, holding various roles. He started as an IT sales manager for large corporate accounts, before becoming the senior channel sales leader for the vendor in A/NZ. Slatters extensive experience with distributors and resellers has given him an understanding of the vital role they play in bringing the right cyber security solutions to the market. My focus is on ensuring they have the right support to do that effectively, he said. Ill be working closely with our distribution partners to enhance engagement, refine strategies, and help them drive stronger outcomes for their businesses and customers. Nick Toulson was hired for his expertise in working with resellers, managed service providers and enterprise customers, in delivering cloud security and networking solutions. Michael Weaver dances with Donna Settle at the 2017 Black Tie and Boots Presidential Inauguration Ball, Thursday, Jan. 19, 2017, in Oxon Hill, Maryland. Marie D. De Jesus/Houston Chronicle Washington is often jeered at by Texans. It's too cramped, too fussy and has too many people creating laws telling Texans what to do. Still, thousands of Texans braved the cold in their tuxedos, evening gowns and cowboy hats outside the Washington Hilton on Sunday night, waiting to be let inside the Black Tie and Boots Ball an affair held every four years on the eve of inauguration day. A group of women, mostly clad happily in fur, traded tips on the best parties to attend the next day, while their husbands and boyfriends shivered stoically without coats with the exception of a man from San Antonio who had the foresight to wear long underwear under his tux. Advertisement Article continues below this ad "This has to be the biggest state ball," a 20-something man from Dallas commented to his date. "You have all the finance money from Dallas here. And there's all the political operatives from Austin. And Houston has a lot of oil money." 01/21/1989 - Chris and Claudene Christopher, center, and Melinda Murphy and Jeff Knapp dance the Cotton-Eyed-Joe at the Black Tie & Boots Inaugural Ball honoring President George H.W. Bush in the International Ballroom of the Washington Hilton Hotel. Dave Einsel/Houston Chronicle Many states hold inaugural balls, but few do it on the scale of the Black Tie and Boots, where a mishmash of donors, politicians, political staffers, lobbyists, government contractors and hangers on gather in Washington to celebrate, gossip and remind everyone how big and how wealthy the state really is. The Texas State Society of Washington, which hosts the event with sponsors including Aflac and American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers, describes themselves as "fostering fraternal spirit among Texans at the national capital." And this year close to 6,000 people were expected, taking over three floors of the Hilton, pushing to the limit a space that regularly holds big-ticket events like the White House Correspondents' Association's annual dinner. Once inside, attendees were ushered past security and regular hotel guests wondering what all the commotion was to a set of escalators, at the bottom of which roared the din of live music and hundreds of conversations happening at once. Advertisement Article continues below this ad The silhouette of a cowboy hat stands out from a ballroom scene at the 2017 Black Tie and Boots Presidential Inauguration Ball, Thursday, Jan. 19, 2017, in Oxon Hill, Maryland. Marie D. De Jesus/Houston Chronicle Waiting were buffets of brisket sandwiches, queso, frito pie and mostly untouched bowls of green peas, not to mention vats of Texas chili that drew snide remarks for its un-Texas inclusion of beans. Partygoers paying $300 per ticket waited in lines 30-40 people deep for drinks, looking over at the VIP section where drinks and hand carved meats were easily had for a mere $2,500. Still, there was Gov. Greg Abbott, wearing a tux and black boots no cowboy hat who happily took photo after photo with a line of people wrapped around a buffet. And John Ratcliffe, the former Texas congressman and President-elect Donald Trump's pick to lead the Central Intelligence Agency, stopped in. People also reported seeing U.S. Reps. Chip Roy, Wesley Hunt and Monica De La Cruz. The emcee said U.S. Sens. John Cornyn and Ted Cruz were in attendance, but no one seemed to have seen them. "Are you looking for celebrities," a women in a long sequined dress asked on the dance floor. 01/21/1989 - President George H.W. Bush and First Lady Barbara Bush greet attendees at the Black Tie & Boots Inaugural Ball in the International Ballroom of the Washington Hilton Hotel. Dave Einsel/Houston Chronicle There was no sign of Trump himself, despite rumors he would drop by. But you could take your photo with a cardboard cut out of him, or buy a sequined purse with his name on it for $600. If that wasn't your style, there was a pink purse in the shape of a handgun. Advertisement Article continues below this ad In the main ballroom, professional square dancers wowed the crowd with intricate lifts and spins, to be followed by the Atlanta rapper Waka Flocka, a former Trump hater who, after endorsing the New York billionaire, reportedly told supporters of President Joe Biden to leave a concert in Salt Lake City last summer. He knew his audience, telling them "we might be in DC, but we in Texas" before spinning remixes of hits like "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" and "Jump Around" drawing peace signs and fist pumping from the dance floor. The night was still early, but some had seen enough. Outside the hotel, a man in jeans, blazer and bolo tie waited for a cab as his wife and another woman lamented that, because inauguration day was forecast be the coldest since 1985, the ceremony would be held inside the Capitol building and the parade cancelled rendering their tickets commemorative keepsakes. "I had seated tickets, right up front" one of the women said. "I'm just going to watch from my hotel room in my pajamas. Maybe order some Bloody Marys." Advertisement Article continues below this ad by Nirmala Carvalho Bastar district village council's act of intolerance is upheld by the local high court following son's appeal for justice. He is not even allowed to bury him in his own land. Archbishop of Raipur: Endorsement of such acts promotes lawlessness in the country. Raipur (AsiaNews) - India's Supreme Court has ordered the Chhattisgarh state government to intervene in the case of a Christian family that was prevented from burying its deceased in a cemetery. At the center of the affair is a village in Bastar district, where Subhash Baghel, a Pentecostal Christian, died of a long illness on Jan. 7. A group of village residents objected to burial in the local cemetery, forcing his son Ramesh Baghel-a farmer belonging to a community group surveyed among the disadvantaged castes-to keep his father's body in a mortuary until today. Baghel had already approached the Chhattisgarh High Court, which, however, proved him wrong, relying on a certificate issued by the gram pachayat-the village council-according to which there would be no separate burial areas for Christians and arguing that because of this, burial could cause unrest and disharmony in the population. In contrast, Baghel relates that the village of Chhindawada has a cemetery orally assigned by the gram panchayat for the burial and cremation of bodies. In this cemetery, separate areas are allocated for the burial of tribals, burial or cremation of Hindu people and people belonging to the Christian community. Lawyer and human rights activist Degree Prasad Chouhan, who is providing legal assistance to Baghel, commented, This is a clear case of discrimination on the basis of religion. They are not allowing the petitioner's family to bury the body even on private land owned by them. Ramesh Baghel's grandfather had converted to Christianity more than three decades ago, and two of his relatives, including his grandfather, were buried in their village cemetery Chhindawada. Many other tribal-majority villagers converted to Christianity. When the villagers turned violent, the petitioner's family filed a complaint with the police, who reached the village with 30-35 officers. And the police themselves also pressured the family to take the body out of the village. The Supreme Court criticized the Chhattisgarh government for not yet intervening and demanded a response on the appeal filed. Following the village panchayat, the high court issued a strange verdict. What is the state government waiting for to intervene? the judges said. The Archbishop of Raipur, Msgr. Victor Thakur, commented to AsiaNews, The Supreme Court has rightly asked the Chhattisgarh government to address basic human rights issues. If people on the street can decide what can be done and what cannot be done and the Court accepts it, then we are making a mockery of the Constitution and promoting lawlessness in the country. by Mathias Hariyadi Hambali, who masterminded the attacks in Bali and against Christians, is currently held in Guantanamo. A s part of a policy of repatriating Indonesians incarcerated abroad, Indonesian authorities envisage bringing him home after his group said it was disbanding. Activists argue that helping jailed migrant workers come home and leniency towards a convicted terrorist are not the same. Jakarta (AsiaNews) Many Indonesians are bewildered and concerned over recent reports that their government plans to repatriate the most famous and brutal leader of Jemaah Islamiah (JI), a banned terrorist group, responsible for some of the darkest pages in the country's recent history. Government leaders, starting with President Prabowo Subianto, have reportedly given the green light to the return of Riduan Isamuddin, better known by his nom de guerre, Hambali, mastermind of the 2002 Bali attack that struck mostly Christians. This controversial decision by the president follows reports that he might pardon people convicted of corruption if they return their ill-gotten money; so far, no details have been forthcoming as to when and how this might happen. Originally from Cianjur regency, West Java province, the extremist leader is currently held in the Guantanamo Bay detention camp, a US military prison at the US Naval Station Guantanamo Bay (Cuba). Known by the moniker Osama bin Laden of Southeast Asia, Hambali wanted to create an Islamic theocratic state encompassing much of Southeast Asia, which he would lead as caliph, ruling over Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, and parts of the Philippines, Myanmar, and Thailand. He received increasing attention in the aftermath of the 2002 Bali bombings, in which 202 people died, mostly foreign tourists, and was arrested a year later in a joint operation by the CIA and Thai police. When Coordinating Ministry for Legal, Human Rights, Immigration, and Correction Yusril Ihza Mahendra announced the repatriation plan, he caused bewilderment and concern among many Indonesians. For the minister, Hambali is an Indonesian citizen. No matter how wrong our citizens are abroad, we must still pay attention. With reference to this legal case, Yusril noted that the statute of limitations in Indonesia's cases against Hambali had expired. The 2002s Bali bombing attacks happened 23 years ago and based on our legal proceedings, his case has already expired, he added. "According to Indonesian law, if the crime carries the death penalty or life imprisonment, there is an expiration date. If it is more than 18 years, the case can no longer be prosecuted," the minister explained. Yusril will soon present the case to President Prabowo Subianto, who has already shown great interest in the fate of Indonesian citizens detained abroad whom he wants to repatriate, mostly migrant workers held in Malaysia and Saudi Arabia without legal travel documents. We have fresh reports that the number of our fellow Indonesians in Malaysia is 54 all death sentenced convicts but still not yet to be executed. There are No exact number of Indonesian detainees in Saudi Arabia, he explained. The Hambali case has already triggered criticism and strong opposition, especially among those who see a great difference between a terrorist convicted of a massacre and migrant workers arrested because they did not have the necessary permits. Hambalis case is totally different with our fellow Indonesian migrant workers who commit serious offences murdering their foreign host under extraordinary situations (not being paid for months, experiencing violent and sexual abuses, etc.), some Indonesians told AsiaNews. For Suryo, He is a terrorist and is not morally eligible to return home to his native country, while Mila notes that, Terrorism has no legal and moral stance for a legal pardon. by Vladimir Rozanskij Clashes with Russia over northern territories is a constant in the history of the past centuries. But today there is no rush of Heilongjiang province residents to seek a home in Siberia at all. Rather, Beijing's advance is happening through the yuan, which is replacing the ruble in trade transactions. Natural resources the real issue at stake Moscow (AsiaNews) - The contestation of the Asian territories of Siberia between Russia and China is an issue that has been dragging on for at least a couple of centuries, going from the conquering tsars to the spheres of influence of Soviet and Maoist communism, to the current expansion of Xi Jinping's China, at the expense of Putin's Russia totally engaged by the war in Ukraine. However, the Chinese reconquest of these lands is also highly emphasized, as Russian-Ukrainian analyst and blogger Aleksej Kusc argues. The Chinese desire to move to Siberia, in the face of an obvious flow to the Russian Far East, would actually be one of many myths about China. The population of Heilongjiang Province-a name that means Black Dragon River being situated along the course of the Amur, the river that divides the two countries-has long been declining in population, and the people of this region dream of moving to southern China rather than the Siberian frost. The interest in Siberia, Kusc comments, is more about its natural resources, from timber to extractive minerals, and more than mass migration here is about the currency, the Chinese yuan, which in trade is largely replacing the ruble, even for the Russians themselves. Thanks to Western sanctions against Moscow, China is strengthening its geopolitical and economic position vis-a-vis the Russians, and can afford to extend its influence not only over Siberia, but also over Central Asia and much of the former Soviet empire. Another rather contrived argument concerns the relative scarcity of habitable land for China's huge population, while Siberian spaces are largely empty and available to those who want to live more comfortably. The truth is that China is also far from overcrowded, and the northern lands are equally sparsely inhabited due to issues of climate, which is certainly no better in Siberia. Rather, the analyst believes that China is a world leader in rational and optimal land use. China's population is actually declining not only on its borders with Russia, but throughout the country, and the demographic issue is becoming increasingly worrisome, with a huge disproportion between births and deaths and the resulting average aging population. Regulations on birth control and birth restriction (the one family-one child principle) have been abolished for years now, and efforts are being made to stimulate the birth rate in every way, as is also intended to be done in Russia. It is true that China depends largely on exports, but according to the analyst even here one should not exaggerate: the Chinese GDP consists of 20 trillion dollars, while the foreign trade balance remains around 6 trillion, affecting the entire economy by no more than 30 percent. Kusc recalls that in Ukraine, before the war, the export volume was about 55 percent, and this is a real dependence. If all foreign trade were to be blocked, China would suffer a serious blow to its economy, but it would be able to survive, and even the new U.S. President Donald Trump, who threatens to impose strong tariffs on all imports, speaks of a moderate tariff policy toward China. After all, the blogger concludes, China's economy does not remain confined to the factor of overseas investment growth, but seeks to increase domestic consumption, including by changing some policies of past years. The middle class in China is measured at about 400 million people, and there is a billion active consumers to satisfy before thinking about looking for housing in Siberia. Photo: Flickr / anatoly_l Israel celebrates the release of Romi Gonen, Doron Steinbrecher and Emily Damari as part of the fragile truce. However, the fate of the foreign workers still being held hostage in the Strip remains a mystery. These include six Thai nationals and one Nepalese national about whose fate nothing has transpired even during negotiations in recent days. The families' fears that everything may fall apart before their return. Jerusalem (AsiaNews) - In these frantic hours of joy mixed with hope in Israel over the return of the first group of hostages in the hands of Hamas in Gaza following the signing of the truce, questions are being asked in Thailand and Nepal about the fate of the fellow citizens still kidnapped. They represent the "forgotten face of this tragedy that, triggered by the attack by the extremist group that controls the Strip on Oct. 7, 2023, has claimed 1,200 lives on the Israeli side and more than 47,000 Palestinian lives, mostly civilians including women and children. And that contrasts with the images and videos relaunched in recent hours of Romi Gonen, Doron Steinbrecher and Emily Damari, the first three hostages released under the ceasefire agreement. Family members and compatriots are wondering about their fate, which remains largely shrouded in mystery according to a script already read several times in these 15 months of conflict. In this regard, the Israeli embassy in Bangkok said it had no definite news about the six Thai hostages who are still in Hamas custody. Of the eight still in the hands of the extremist group at least two are reportedly dead, of the others - among whom is Christian Watchara Sriaoun - according to a source at the diplomatic representation, there is no information yet, and their fate, including where they are being held, is unknown. None of the Thais are on the list of 33 names covered by the first phase of the prisoner exchange, and who are expected to be freed or whose bodies are expected to be returned in the first 42 days after the cease-fire takes effect. Of the 31 Thais working on kibbutzim around Gaza taken hostage on Oct. 7, 2023, 23 were released (along with one Filipino) during the first ceasefire in November 2023. Two were confirmed dead last May, while six are still in Hamas custody. A similar climate of expectation and hope, albeit against a backdrop of profound uncertainty, is being felt in a remote village in western Nepal, thousands of miles away from Israel. As the BBC reports, Mahananda Joshi spends much of the day with his phone under his hand, waiting for news about the fate of his son Bipin Joshi, a 23-year-old agriculture student kidnapped by Hamas and held hostage in Gaza. The last time Padma, Bipin's mother, spoke to him was on Oct. 6, 2023, the day before he was kidnapped. Sources say the young man is still alive, although Kathmandu's ambassador to Israel Dhan Prasad Pandit said he still has no concrete information on his condition or whereabouts. She recounts the dramatic months of uncertainty and the feeling of expectation that, even today, prevails and characterizes her days. I feel that today or tomorrow, she recounts, he will send me a message saying, Mom, I am free now and I will come home immediately." In reality, while there are hopes that the young man may be freed and return home, the release is unlikely to happen anytime soon. In fact, Bipin and the nine other foreign workers still imprisoned in the Strip are not expected to be freed in this first - of three - phases of the ceasefire in which priority is given to women, children and the elderly. However, the family's fear is that, in the meantime, the picture may change, the cease-fire will founder, and the guns will resound again, as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has moreover threatened (also) in recent hours. And as large sectors of the executive branch are demanding, particularly the religious and radical wing linked to Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security colleague Itamar Ben-Gvir. Everything could fall apart, Padma concludes, with tears in her eyes. Today's news: Chinese Vice President Han Zheng in Washington for Trump's inauguration; Hundreds of supporters of Korean President Yoon, jailed for insurrection, storm the court; Delhi authorizes for 2025 export of 1 million tons of sugar; Asean excludes Burmese generals from top leadership; junta fighters kill 28 people in Rakhine State. SYRIA Nearly 200,000 Syrian refugees have repatriated since the fall of Bashar al-Assad's regime, according to figures provided by UN High Commissioner Filippo Grandi on the eve of a visit to the region. Between Dec. 8 and Jan. 16, some 195,200 Syrians returned home. The total return figure for 2024 is about half a million, many of whom had returned from Lebanon to escape Israel's war on Hezbollah. UNITED STATES-CHINA It will be Vice President Han Zheng who will represent China today at the inauguration of Donald Trump as U.S. president: this is the first time a senior Chinese leader will attend the swearing-in of a U.S. president; under previous circumstances it had always been the ambassador to Washington. Trump had invited, among other leaders, President Xi Jinping with whom he had a cordial phone call on Friday on the eve of the inauguration during which they also discussed the ban against Tik Tok, which Trump has promised to freeze. Relations between Washington and Beijing are set to be one of the crucial issues of the Trump presidency after threats of escalation in the trade war announced in the election campaign. INDIA Delhi-the world's second-largest producing country-authorizes the export of one million tons of sugar for 2025 , aiming to help sugar companies clear excess stocks and help support on domestic market prices. Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Uttar Pradesh account for more than 80 percent of the country's total sugar production. SOUTH KOREA. Hundreds of supporters of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, imprisoned on charges of insurrection for declaring martial law last December, stormed a court building yesterday after judges extended his prison term. Shortly after the decision, supporters invaded the building overwhelming police in riot gear. MYANMAR - ASEAN The priority is peace, not elections. That's the warning issued by Asean, the Association that brings together 10 Southeast Asian nations, to representatives of Myanmar's military junta, which wants to hold the vote amid escalating civil war. Also confirmed is the decision to exclude generals from the summits and limit participation to a non-political level. Meanwhile, a junta air raid killed 28 people, including children, and injured 25 in Rakhine State. CHINA - RUSSIA. According to experts at Autonews.ru, Chinese-made cars that have now invaded the Russian market are unable to withstand the country's weather conditions for long. This is according to tests carried out in 26 regions on vehicles of popular brands including Jac, LiXiang, Lifan, Jetour and Dongfeng, whose metal components rust within two years. TAGIKISTAN Tajikistan's Prime Minister Kokhir Rasulzoda reported at the enlarged cabinet meeting that the country was able to attract .9 billion in foreign investment in 2024. This is +73% over 2023, with a total GDP of 154.3 billion somoni, more than 22 billion more than the previous year, while keeping inflation at 3.6%, with growth throughout the economy. Lawyers for the impeached president continue to argue that the investigation is illegal. Another hearing is set to take place in Yoons impeachment trial tomorrow at the Constitutional Court, but it is unclear whether he will be present. In the meantime, the rift in South Korean society is widening. Seoul (AsiaNews/Agencies) South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol has been placed in a solitary cell after hundreds of protesters stormed the Seoul District Court. The Seoul Metropolitan Police reported that they sought the arrest of 66 of the 90 people detained in connection with the incident, which broke out after a formal 20-day arrest warrant was issued for Yoon. Impeached for declaring martial law in early December, Yoon continues to refuse to cooperate with the Corruption Investigation Office for Senior Officials (CIO), which accuses him of insurrection. According to the president's lawyers and supporters, the CIO, which was established in 2021, does not have the authority to conduct investigations or issue warrants against the head of government; this falls to the Constitutional Court, which will have to decide in the coming weeks whether to remove Yoon. Again this morning, the right-wing president refused to answer the CIOs requests to appear. Except for the first interrogation, during which he remained silent, he has refused to cooperate with the CIO four times since he was arrested last Wednesday. "Given the current situation, the CIO is seriously considering bringing him in [for questioning] by force," a CIO official said. Police attempted to execute a search warrant to obtain surveillance camera footage from the presidential residence and the president's security services office, but guards also refused to cooperate. All public attention is now turned to the third hearing of the impeachment trial scheduled for tomorrow at the Constitutional Court. It is not yet clear whether the president will be present at the trial, an official said today. Yoon's legal team had previously stated that the president would attend, but this is increasingly uncertain. Meanwhile, support for Yoons People Power Party (PPP) is constantly growing. According to a Realmeter poll, the approval rate for the PPP reached 46.5 per cent, ahead of the Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) for the first time in six months, which dropped to 39 per cent. In addition, 48.6 per cent of respondents would prefer a PPP candidate as the next president, compared to 46.2 per cent who support opposition parties. Just three weeks ago, the DPK led with more than 60 per cent, but many voters now perceive the actions against Yoon as too aggressive. The poll data reflect a rift in South Korean society. While women are very much part of the protests against Yoon, those who back the disgraced president tend to be young men aged 20 to 30 years old, marking an important demographic change compared to the PPPs traditional conservative electorate made up of mostly people in their 50s and 60s. South Korean men in their 20s and 30s often perceive themselves to be disadvantaged compared to women of the same age, mostly due to mandatory military service pushing them back their university studies, said Prof Koo Jeong-woo from Sungkyunkwan Universitys Department of Sociology, speaking to the Korea Herald. According to local media, far-right YouTubers close to Yoon also played a significant role in yesterday's incident. DPK MP Chung Il-young noted that since 3 December, the day martial law was declared, these YouTubers earnings doubled thanks to rising donations from supporters. "Far-right YouTubers are making enormous profits by spreading false information and inciting indiscriminate hatred," the lawmaker said. Seoul police have confirmed that three YouTube content creators are among those arrested for the attack at the court. In fact, several far-right platforms are sowing divisions. This morning, for example, the US Armed Forces in Korea (USFK) had to deny a report that 99 Chinese spies manipulated the last parliamentary elections won by the DPK. We urge responsible reporting and fact-checking to prevent the spread of misinformation that could harm public trust," the USFK said in a statement. For his part, Yoon claimed that the last parliamentary election was tainted with electoral fraud" and justified martial law as a response to the action of anti-state and pro-North Korean forces. Best Snow Boots for Men Lace Up One of These Pairs of Rugged Boots to Brave Winters Worst in Style The AskMen editorial team thoroughly researches & reviews the best gear, services and staples for life. AskMen may get paid if you click a link in this article and buy a product or service. When form meets function right in the middle of a menswear Venn diagram, call it the sweet spot. The best snow boots are an absolute must, a surefire way to navigate snow drifts, apres-ski style affairs and slick city streets, with the right pair checking as many boxes in terms of great looks as utility. Whether in slip-on variations or classic lace-up designs with waterproof capability at the forefront, the best snow boots run the gamut there are almost as many variations of blizzard-approved boots as there are of their more casual spring and fall cousins (Think: Chukka boots, Chelsea boots and more). The best snow boots should also offer standout traction and warmth, the better to keep you on your feet comfortably all day (and night) long. RELATED: Best Cable Knit Sweaters for Men If you havent yet secured your pair of top-notch winter boots, act swiftly with our prime picks before the next winter squall rolls into town. L.L. Bean Stormchaser 5 Boots For as much as L.L. Beans famed Duck Boots are an iconic winter classic, its worth keeping an eye on other weather-ready, hard-wearing styles from the legendary Northeast outfitter. The Stormchaser 5 blends the easy-on, easy-off comfort of Chelsea boots with thick waterproof leather and a duckboot-style toe, while an EVA midsole keeps you moving steadily on your feet. The taller shaft height of these snow boots is also a plus for keeping winter weather out. $149 at LLBean.com Wolverine DuraShocks Insulated Waterproof Wellington Boots Dealing with extreme snow drifts and blustery winds in equal measure? Opt for some classically designed Wellington boots,with all the coverage you need and then some. Wolverines famously comfortable, shock-absorbing DuraShocks construction gives these the feel of work boots, particularly useful for taking on winter chores, while insulation delivers the standout warmth your feet need in the dead of winter. $194.95 at Wolverine.com SOREL Buxton Lite Waterproof Boots Theres plenty to consider as you scour the market for the best winter boots for men: They should ideally be packed with warm insulation, they should boast dependable grip and waterproof construction, and they should even look a touch stylish, rather than bulky. These Buxton Lite Boots check all of those boxes in a sleek all-black design, with the look of a military boot and a timeless duck boot toe box thats a fine match for snowstorms. $145 at Sorel.com Danner Recurve Waterproof Leather Boots Style meets heritage in these richly crafted waterproof leather boots from the footwear masters at Portlands Danner. Inspired by the Pacific Northwest and modeled after hunting boots, a Vibram midsole teams nicely with a grippy Vibram Recurve outsole. 400 grams of insulation adds supreme warmth, while dark brown leather evokes the color of a rich, warming winter stout never a bad style move, either. $250 at Danner.com Huckberry x XTRATUF Waterproof Deck Boots If fishermen on the frigid high seas of Alaska can trust a pair of boots season after season, thats usually a great sign in terms of rugged performance. With their all-rubber construction and ultra-grippy outsole, these are a wise choice for working in the garage or tromping your way out on a weekend beer run. Plus, the pull-on construction makes them easy to slip on when bundled up, and the wide toe box accommodates thick winter socks. $125 at Huckberry.com Lands End Dakota Waterproof Duck Boots The duck boot dates back to the days of Leon Leonwood Bean himself, but plenty of other heritage brands have gotten in on the action over the years, Lands End among them. For pairing with fisherman sweaters, work pants and blue denim, this waterproof leather pair is exceptional in terms of warmth, with a faux sherpa fleece interior to complement the sturdy, iconic duck boot toe box. From $49.98 at Amazon.com Bruno Marc Insulated Snow Boots Best known for its sleek designer dress shoes and Chelsea boots, Bruno Marc shifts gears into the heart of winter with a highly affordable pair of snow boots outfitted with all the bells and whistles you need in a proper pair. Durable textured side detailing accents the PVC shell construction, while 200 grams of insulation provides warmth down to -25 degrees Fahrenheit. A multi-layer, bulky rubber outsole should stand up to slick city sidewalks with ease. From $59.99 at Amazon.com NORTIV 8 Waterproof Winter Boots The worst winter storms require boots that can take a beating and come out the other side the bulkier and beefier in terms of insulation, the better. With a shaft height of nearly 10 inches, to go along with 200 grams of interior insulation, these boots are beastly and tough as can be. Seam-sealed construction ensures your feet stay protected no matter the weather, while an adjustable elastic ankle strap provides a customizable fit. $53.99 at Amazon.com Kamik Nation Plus Boots Dressing for winter weather tends to mean you cant leave anything to chance, especially in matters of comfort and warmth. Kamiks extremely well-reviewed Nation Plus Boots are a category leader for a reason, packing an affordable price tag with features like self-cleaning deep treads and a removable thermal insulation liner. A padded heel collar ensures a snug, comfortable fit, for good measure. Consider this pair to have everything you need in the best winter boots, and then some. From $59.97 at Amazon.com Columbia Bugaboot III The most extreme conditions and sometimes, just tackling your driveway with a snow shovel call for boots that wont quit, the kind that are the result of intensive research and next-level design. Columbias fan-favorite Bugaboot fits the bill nicely in that regard, boasting waterproof yet breathable OMNI-TECH construction, 200 grams of warming insulation and a stupendously weather-ready upper. Elastic lacing offers a customizable fit and easy wearing experience when bundled up from the elements. Plus, the Omni-Grip outsole hits the mark in terms of all-terrain traction. From $119.95 at Amazon.com You Might Also Dig: The Turkish Foreign Ministry said they were handed over to Ankara in response to a request from Interpol under its Red Notice. Turkiye appreciates the cooperation demonstrated in this matter by Armenia, it said in a statement. The Armenian Foreign Ministry reported the extraditions earlier on Sunday. It too cited an Interpol arrest warrant for the two men who are apparently Turkish nationals. Citing the Turkish Interior Ministry, the state-owned Anadolu news agency identified them as organized crime ringleader Ercan Yilmaz and his accomplice Ibrahim Kaymak. It said Yilmaz has been wanted in Turkey for the past 15 years. The ministry also released a short video of masked Turkish police officers escorting the two men on board a plane bound for Turkey. The Armenian statement did not clarify when and how the two men entered Armenia. They were extradited just over a month after Armenias National Security Service (NSS) reported a possible attempt to illegally enter the country from Turkey. Russian border guards alerted the NSS about the suspected illegal border crossing on December 11. They spotted damage caused to barbed wire protecting a section of the Armenian-Turkish border and footprints leading from there towards a nearby Armenian village. The NSS said on December 12 that it is taking necessary operational-intelligence measures in connection with the alert. It has still not clarified whether someone indeed crossed the frontier and was detained as a result. WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 20: Vice President JD Vance, Barron Trump and President Donald Trump listen to Senior Pastor Lorenzo Sewell speak after Trump was sworn in at his inauguration in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda on January 20, 2025 in Washington, DC. Donald Trump takes office for his second term as the 47th President of the United States. Pool/Getty Images President Donald Trump declared a national energy emergency Monday before signing a flurry of executive orders aimed at increasing the production of oil and other fossil fuels, saying it would reduce costs for Americans stung by inflation. Trump said he would halt the Green New Deal seemingly in reference to climate policies by former President Joe Biden aimed at reducing fossil fuel consumption before signing an executive order that, among other things, ended a federal mandate on electric vehicles and lifted a pause on the permitting of new LNG terminals, many of which are under development along the Texas and Louisiana Gulf coasts. Trump also ordered the United States to withdraw from the 2012 Paris climate treaty, under which almost 200 countries agreed to work on reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Advertisement Article continues below this ad TEXAS EFFECTS: How Trumps second term could impact Texas and its economy We will drill baby drill, he said during his inauguration speech. We have the largest amount of oil and gas of any nation in the world, and we are going to use it. We will bring our prices down and fill our reserves right up to the top and export American energy all over the world. Allies of the new president have been promising a second Trump administration will bring a litany of energy policies favorable to the nations oil and gas industry, which already is producing at record levels. Trump adviser Stephen Miller told House and Senate Republican leaders Sunday that Trump also would move to speed up pipeline construction, loosen energy permitting, undo Bidens ban on offshore drilling across millions of acres in the eastern Gulf of Mexico and Alaskas northern Bering Sea, limit the development of offshore wind turbines and open up oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and other parts of Alaska, according to Frank Maisano, an energy consultant in Washington. Advertisement Article continues below this ad That agenda is in line with regulatory changes oil and gas companies like Houston-based Exxon Mobil and Chevron have been pushing as they seek to expand drilling in Texas and beyond. The U.S. oil and natural gas industry stands ready to work with the new administration to deliver the commonsense energy solutions Americans voted for, American Petroleum Institute President Mike Sommers said in a statement Monday. But some of Trumps actions went beyond what oil companies and many of Trumps Republican allies have argued for. He signed an executive order halting the implementation of energy and infrastructure policies within the $891 billion Inflation Reduction Act. Most of that funding is slated for expanding clean energy technologies, including clean hydrogen projects that large oil and chemical companies have been working to develop along the Texas Gulf, amid increasing global concern around greenhouse gas emissions. The Trump administration is expected to face fierce opposition from environmental groups, which already are making preparations to block actions like the permitting of more LNG terminals. A recent assessment by the Biden administration found the expansion of LNG exports likely would drive up natural gas prices on U.S. industry and consumers while worsening climate change, giving environmental activists ammunition to argue the projects are not in the public interest in federal court. The Trump administration can rewrite the assessments, but that would take months if not longer. Advertisement Article continues below this ad It has to be in the public interest, thats the balancing test, said Megan Gibson, senior attorney at the Southern Environmental Law Center. And we havent even built what has already been approved. The declaration of a national energy emergency could give the administration greater leeway, though the full implications were unclear Monday. A White House official said the emergency declaration will unlock a variety of different authorities to produce more oil and gas, though they didnt provide specifics, according to CNBC. READ MORE: Where Texas politicians stand with Donald Trump as he takes office Former President Jimmy Carter declared an energy emergency while in office to combat an oil embargo by the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries, instituting requirements on energy conservation and gasoline rationing. Currently, oil prices are higher than when Trump left office the first time in the thick of the COVID-19 pandemic that drove prices to historic lows but lower than they were through much of the 2000s and 2010s. Advertisement Article continues below this ad The Trump Administration may be more narrowly focused on just increasing fossil fuel production, said Scott Segal, a Washington energy attorney. 20 January 2025 21:00 (UTC+04:00) Qabil Ashirov Read more The representatives of the Garabagh clique, known as revanchists, in the Armenian parliament, continue to play with fire. The footage of MP Anna Mkrtchyan, a member of this clique, sticking an Armenian mapshowing Azerbaijans Garabagh and seven adjacent districts as part of Armeniato the tribune of the parliament, has circulated on social networks and sparked ambiguity. Needless to say, such actions reveal the true intentions of Armenia and cause a loss of trust in Armenia's ostensible peace initiatives within Azerbaijani society, whose memory is rife with Armenian war crimes and atrocities inherited from the First Garabagh War. On the other hand, it confirms the duplicity of Armenian politicians. As is known, taking advantage of political turmoil in Azerbaijan and the region on the eve of the USSRs collapse, Armenia invaded Garabagh and seven adjacent districts surrounding Garabagh, which are integral parts of Azerbaijan. It is worth noting that the invaded territories equaled 50 percent of Armenian territories. Due to the war, 250,000 Azerbaijanis were expelled from Armenia to Azerbaijan. Over 750,000 people living in Garabagh and the adjacent seven districts were forced to depart their homelands with nothing but the clothes on their backs, leaving behind properties accumulated over decades, and were dispersed throughout Azerbaijan. Over 15,000 Azerbaijanis lost their lives, and tens of thousands were wounded. Spinning the world around its little finger, Yerevan tried to pass off its fabrications as so-called realities or facts. Thus, Yerevan claimed as though it was not Armenian authorities but Armenian residents of Garabagh who fought against Azerbaijan to gain their so-called independence based on self-determination. They used to claim that they were not interested in the invasion of the seven districts. Ostensibly, these territories served as a buffer zone or as a bargaining chip for the independence of the so-called republic. Even Serzh Sargsyan publicly noted in his speeches and interviews that Armenia was ready to leave the 5+2 regions. As the proverb goes, lies have short legs. Armenian lies did not live forever, and in 2020, Azerbaijan was obliged to reclaim its invaded territories by breaking through the Armenian army. In 2020, hope for eternal peace between the two countries arose, but for unknown reasons, Yerevan has been avoiding signing a peace treaty by inventing certain excuses. Also, against the backdrop of all these events, it is rapidly arming itself. For example, in recent years, Armenia has doubled its military spending and is purchasing lethal offensive weapons from many countries, primarily France and India. However, the recent event, Mrs Anna Mkrtchyans demonstration, provides us with insight into why Armenia is avoiding signing the peace treaty. The recent event is the pent-up reality of Armenian dreams, confirming that they have not learned a lesson from the conflict. Thanks to the recent event, the world once again witnessed that their appetite is not limited to only Garabagh, a concept of miatsum. They want to create Great Armenia, an elusive country stretching from the Caspian Sea to the Black Sea in the north, and from the Arabian Gulf to the Mediterranean Sea in the south. To top it all off, this action proves that peace talks with Armenia are hanging by a thread. Whenever the clique ascends to power, Armenian territorial claims against Azerbaijan will restart. So, Azerbaijans demands to change the preamble of the constitution are well-founded, and Azerbaijan should not step back from this demand by any means. In addition, Azerbaijan should go to extra lengths to prevent Armenia from arming itself or should keep pace with Armenia in terms of arming. The recent actions give us a basis to claim that Armenia can attack Azerbaijan at any time. However, as Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev stated, they cannot compete with Azerbaijan in this regard. Being threefold smaller than Azerbaijan in terms of population and territories, Armenia is just wasting its resources in vain. 20 January 2025 13:14 (UTC+04:00) Laman Ismayilova Read more Azerbaijan National Library has launched a virtual exhibition titled "January 20 Our Day of Heroism and Pride!" dedicated to the cherished memory of the January 20 martyrs, Azernews reports. The virtual exhibition features photos reflecting this tragedy, an unforgettable history, and the pages of our history written in the blood of martyrs the January 20 tragedy. It also highlights the principled stance of the National Leader Heydar Aliyev, who was the first to voice a strong protest against the bloody events, as well as articles published in the periodical press about the tragedy that occurred in Baku. Additionally, literature in Azerbaijani and foreign languages preserved in the collection of the National Library is displayed. You can explore the virtual exhibition using the following link. On January 20, 1990, hundreds of civilians were crushed or injured by Soviet troops in Baku, following an order from the USSR leadership that sought to maintain the Communist regime in Azerbaijan and suppress the national liberation movement. The invasion was launched at midnight and was carried out with brutality. As a result of the military incursion into Baku and other regions of the country, approximately 137 people were killed, 611 were wounded, 841 were illegally arrested, and five went missing. 20 January 2025 16:23 (UTC+04:00) Laman Ismayilova Read more Azerbaijan National Library has organized an event dedicated to the 35th anniversary of the Bloody January tragedy, Azernews reports. The event began with a minute of silence in honor of the martyrs who sacrificed their lives for Azerbaijan's independence. In his speech at the commemorative event, the director of the National Library, Professor Karim Tahirov, said that the blood of the January 20 martyrs did not go in vain and that the victory achieved during the 44-day Homeland War began on that very date. "The brave sons of Azerbaijan first took to the streets unarmed against the Soviet regime and army on that date, proving to the whole world that we are ready to sacrifice our lives for our land, people, and freedom. In the Second Garabagh War, their descendants were inspired by this example and liberated our territories. Under the wise leadership of the Victorious Commander-in-Chief, President Ilham Aliyev, the people of Azerbaijan achieved their will. By restoring the territorial integrity that they had longed for for centuries, a united Azerbaijan was created. The truths of the January 20 events live on in books. It is the primary duty of the National Library and librarians to collect, preserve, and convey historical materials to future generations. To prevent these historical days from being forgotten, traditional and virtual book exhibitions, as well as electronic databases of books written about these events, are promoted worldwide," Karim Tahirov added. Then, an electronic database titled "January 20 Our Blood Memory," prepared by the staff of the National Library, was presented. The electronic database can be accessed through the link. At the end, participants familiarized themselves with the traditional book exhibition named "January 20 A Day of National Mourning and Pride." The exhibition included books and photographs depicting the events of January 20 in Azerbaijani and various other languages. 20 January 2025 10:00 (UTC+04:00) Qabil Ashirov Read more Articles marking the 35th anniversary of the 20 January tragedy have been published on the website of Jordan's "Petra" State Information Agency, the country's most widely read daily newspapers "Al-Dustour" and "Al-Rai," as well as on popular news portals "Ammon News," "Saraya News," "Jordanzad," and "Nayrouz." According to Azernews, an article titled "Azerbaijan Commemorates the 35th Anniversary of the 20 January 1990 Tragedy" details the historical crime committed by the military forces of the former Soviet empire in Azerbaijan during the night of January 19-20, 1990. The article emphasizes that this tragedy was a crime against human values, resulting in the killing of innocent people. It highlights the severe moral and material damage inflicted on Azerbaijan during the 20 January events, as well as the violation of all the rights of the Azerbaijani people. The article also notes that the 20 January tragedy is etched in the memory of the Azerbaijani people as a page of sorrow and grief, yet also of pride and heroism. It is highlighted that every year, on the anniversary of the 20 January tragedy, the people of Azerbaijan pay deep respect to the memory of their martyrs. They visit the Martyrs' Alley, lay flowers on the graves of the heroic sons of the Motherland, and remember their role in the struggle for freedom with gratitude. Additionally, the article reflects the recent significant development of Azerbaijan-Jordan relations. 20 January 2025 10:34 (UTC+04:00) Nazrin Abdul Read more The 16th meeting of the Joint Economic Commission of Azerbaijan and Iran will be held in Tehran on January 21 and 22, Azernews reports, citing the Iranian Ministry of Roads and Urban Development. According to the information, the meeting will be chaired by Iranian Minister of Roads and Urban Development Farzana Sadiq and Azerbaijani Deputy Prime Minister Shahin Mustafayev. A 40-member delegation from Azerbaijan will participate in the meeting. Various economic issues, including transport, banking, investment, energy, tourism, and other topics, will be discussed. After the discussions conclude on January 22, a cooperation document is expected to be signed. 20 January 2025 11:51 (UTC+04:00) Nazrin Abdul Read more The British Ambassador to Azerbaijan, Fergus Auld, visited the Alley of Martyrs to honor the 35th anniversary of the January 20 tragedy. Azernews reports the ambassador shared his thoughts on his "X" account, expressing deep sorrow for the lives lost during the tragic events. "I deeply mourn the heroes who died for freedom and the independence of Azerbaijan during the bloody January 20 events," the ambassador stated. January 20, 1990, marks a pivotal moment in Azerbaijans struggle for freedom and territorial integrity. On that day, Soviet combat units were deployed against peaceful protesters in Baku, who were outraged by Armenia's territorial claims against Azerbaijan and the Soviet Union's support for them. This led to an unprecedented tragedy in which many brave Azerbaijanis, prioritizing their country's freedom and dignity, sacrificed their lives for the nation's cause. This tragic day remains a solemn reminder of the courage and determination of those who gave their lives for Azerbaijans independence. 20 January 2025 12:12 (UTC+04:00) Akbar Novruz Read more An event was held at the Consulate General of the Republic of Azerbaijan in Tabriz to commemorate the 35th anniversary of the January 20 tragedy, also known as the National Day of Mourning. The event featured the screening of a documentary film dedicated to the tragic events, a photo exhibition, and a charity dinner, Azernews reports. The gathering was attended by Murtaza Mahammadzadeh, Deputy Governor of East Azerbaijan of Iran for Political Affairs, Turkish Consul General in Tabriz Cetin Taner, Azerbaijani citizens residing in Tabriz, their families, and Azerbaijani students from Azad Islamic University. At the beginning of the event, participants honored the memory of the martyrs of January 20 with a minute of silence. In his speech, Consul General Aliyannaghi Huseynov stated, "As National Leader Heydar Aliyev once characterized, January 20 is both a tragic, sad, and heroic, brave page in the history of the Azerbaijani people. The Great Leader said with great foresight that the further we move away from those days, the more deeply we will understand what an important place those days occupied in the history of the Azerbaijani people. However, one thing is true, the tragedy of January 20, 1990 was a turning point in the life of the Azerbaijani people." Huseynov described how, on January 20, 1990, the Azerbaijani people faced a difficult test, when Soviet military forces were deployed against unarmed protesters who had risen in opposition to the USSR leadership's biased, pro-Armenian policies. He emphasized the tragedys devastating toll, with 147 people killed, 744 injured, and 841 illegally arrested. "During those difficult days, the military opened fire on those who accidentally went out into the streets, residential buildings, ambulances, and buses, killed the wounded, and abused the corpses. As a result of military aggression, hundreds of houses and dozens of ambulances were destroyed, and a large amount of state and private property was plundered. However, they could not break the will of the Azerbaijani people with their bloody actions. Bloody January led to the further rise of the national liberation movement and, as a result, Azerbaijan regained its independence," Huseynov stated. The Consul General also noted the pivotal role of National Leader Heydar Aliyev in addressing the tragedy. "Immediately after the tragedy - on January 21, 1990, the National Leader Heydar Aliyev, together with his family members, came to the permanent representation of Azerbaijan in Moscow and shared the grief of our people, condemned the bloody crime committed by the Soviet leadership in Baku. As a result of the statement of our Great Leader regarding the January 20 events, the world learned about this terrible, particularly ruthless state terror committed by the USSR leadership against the Azerbaijani people," Huseynov said. He further recalled the political and legal assessment of the tragedy, which was made possible by Heydar Aliyevs efforts. "On the initiative of Heydar Aliyev, who returned to his homeland from Moscow in July 1990, on November 21 of that year, the Supreme Assembly of the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic adopted a document that gave the first political and legal assessment of the January 20 tragedy. This decision, which embodied the general opinion of the Azerbaijani people, went down in history as a manifestation of the determination of the Great Leader." Huseynov also reflected on the significance of the Alley of Martyrs, where the heroes of January 20 are buried. He praised it as a sacred place of oath for the Azerbaijani people, symbolizing their struggle for freedom and sovereignty. "The difficult, difficult, but honorable path that began in 1990 reached its most important peak in September 2020 with the leadership of the Victorious Supreme Commander-in-Chief Ilham Aliyev and the 44-day Victory Chronicle of our brave Army. The young people who once came to the Alley of Martyrs and visited the martyrs wrote a heroic epic themselves, ensuring the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, our independence and sovereign rights," he added. Huseynov concluded by saying, "The full restoration of the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Azerbaijan is also proof that the blood of the martyrs of January 20, and in general, of all our martyrs who sacrificed their lives for the liberation of our lands from occupation, has not been left on the ground. Therefore, our people celebrate the 35th anniversary of the January 20 tragedy with a special sense of pride. Their memory will always live in our hearts!" 20 January 2025 14:18 (UTC+04:00) Nazrin Abdul Read more UN Resident Coordinator in Azerbaijan, Vladanka Andreyeva, visited the Alley of Martyrs to honor the 35th anniversary of the January 20 tragedy, Azernews reports. She shared her tribute on her official "X" account. "Today marks the 35th anniversary of the tragic events in Baku on January 20, 1990. We stand with the people and government of Azerbaijan to commemorate those who lost their lives in the struggle for independence," the post read. It should be noted that January 20, 1990, marks a pivotal moment in Azerbaijans struggle for freedom and territorial integrity. On that day, Soviet combat units were deployed against peaceful protesters in Baku, who were outraged by Armenia's territorial claims against Azerbaijan and the Soviet Union's support for them. 20 January 2025 13:35 (UTC+04:00) Qabil Ashirov Read more The Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs has shared a message on the 35th anniversary of the Black January tragedy. According to Azernews, the message states: "We respectfully and with compassion commemorate the heroes of brotherly Azerbaijan who were martyred for independence on January 20, 1990." Today marks the 35th anniversary of the Black January tragedy in Azerbaijan. On January 20, 1990, Azerbaijan faced one of the darkest days in its history when Soviet troops violently suppressed the peaceful protests of Azerbaijani people. These protests were a response to Armenia's aggressive actions and territorial claims against Azerbaijan, as well as the support provided to Armenia by the former USSR leadership. Enraged by these actions, large crowds took to the streets and squares of Baku to express their firm protest. In response, Soviet military units were deployed, leading to an unprecedented tragedy in Azerbaijan. During these tragic days, the brave sons of the homeland, who valued the freedom, honor, and dignity of their country and people above all else, sacrificed their lives and achieved martyrdom. 20 January 2025 16:08 (UTC+04:00) Nazrin Abdul Read more Negotiations with the opposing parties regarding our ships held in Eritrea are ongoing. Azernews reports that this was stated by Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov in his statement to journalists today while visiting the Alley of Martyrs in connection with the January 20 tragedy. The Minister noted that negotiations with Eritrea are continuing through the embassies of Ankara and Moscow, as well as the New York representative office. "As soon as the first information regarding the Azerbaijani ships held hostage in Eritrea was received, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs took action. Azerbaijan does not have a diplomatic representation in Eritrea. However, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is working with relevant agencies in a coordinated manner. Negotiations with the opposing parties are ongoing. Positive dynamics have been observed in the negotiations in recent weeks," the Minister said. It should be noted that on November 7, 2024, Caspian Marine Services B.V. The ships CMS Pahlevan, CMS Yigid and CMS-3, sailing under the state flag of the Republic of Azerbaijan and operated by the branch of the company in the Republic of Azerbaijan, made a forced entry into the territorial waters of the State of Eritrea as a result of worsening weather conditions during their visit to Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, from the direction of the Suez Canal. Although prior contact was made with the port authorities of the State of Eritrea during the passage, since it was not possible to provide information, after entering the 12-mile territorial waters of the state, the relevant authority of the State of Eritrea emphasized that the entry was unauthorized and detained the said ships. Eighteen of the crew members of the ships are citizens of the Republic of Azerbaijan. Jeremy Wallace has covered politics and campaigns for more than 20 years. Before joining the Hearst Texas newspapers in 2017 he covered government and politics for the Tampa Bay Times, The Miami Herald and the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. Previously he covered Congress for the Boston Globe and Detroit Free-Press. Originally from San Antonio, he attended the University of North Texas and earned his bachelors degree from the University of Missouri. Jeremy also authors the Texas Take with Jeremy Wallace newsletter, where he shares insights from inside the Capitol along with the occasional Willie Nelson reference. You can sign up here. You can follow him on Twitter, @JeremySWallace, or email him at Jeremy.wallace@chron.com. 20 January 2025 17:48 (UTC+04:00) Akbar Novruz Read more The Commissioner for Human Rights of the Republic of Azerbaijan (Ombudsman), Sabina Aliyeva, along with the staff of the Office, visited the Alley of Martyrs to mark the 35th anniversary of the January 20 tragedy. The Offices press service informed Azernews that the visit was held to pay tribute to the martyrs who sacrificed their lives for Azerbaijans freedom. The delegation honored their dear memory with deep respect and laid fresh flowers at their graves. The January 20 tragedy, a pivotal moment in Azerbaijan's history, symbolizes the resilience and determination of the Azerbaijani people in their fight for independence and sovereignty. 20 January 2025 21:59 (UTC+04:00) President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev met with Nick Studer, CEO of Oliver Wyman Group, on January 20 in Davos, Azernews reports. Nick Studer highlighted the potential areas of cooperation between Oliver Wyman Group, a leading international strategic management company, and various institutions in Azerbaijan. He highlighted interest in Azerbaijan's economic transformation process, the development of various sectors of the insurance and financial markets, the implementation of projects in the energy sector, including both traditional and green energy, agricultural product exports, as well as the localization of the value chain with a focus on new trade opportunities in the region. Studer also commended Azerbaijan's achievements. The President welcomed the companys interest in Azerbaijan and discussed establishing cooperation between Oliver Wyman Group and relevant Azerbaijani institutions. 20 January 2025 20:24 (UTC+04:00) By Alimat Aliyeva Chinese Vice President Han Zheng held a meeting with American entrepreneur Elon Musk in Washington, Azernews reports. During the meeting, Han Zheng emphasized that Beijing welcomes American companies, including Tesla, to take advantage of the opportunities presented by Chinas continued economic development. Musk responded by stating that Tesla is eager to deepen its investments and cooperation in China, expressing the companys intention to "play an active role in promoting economic and trade exchanges between the United States and China." This marks another step in the deepening ties between Tesla and the Chinese market, which has become increasingly important for the company's global strategy, especially in terms of manufacturing and sales. Its important to note that Han Zheng's visit to the United States was part of a broader diplomatic mission, which included attending the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump. This high-profile meeting underscores the growing significance of U.S.-China economic relations and the role of influential entrepreneurs like Musk in shaping future collaborations between the two nations. Musks remarks also align with the broader trend of American tech giants expanding their presence in China despite the geopolitical tensions between the two countries. Companies like Tesla, Apple, and others are leveraging the vast Chinese market, while navigating the challenges posed by trade disputes and regulatory hurdles. With Teslas Gigafactory in Shanghai already a key part of its global production network, the companys continued engagement in China could play a critical role in its growth, especially as the electric vehicle (EV) market in China becomes even more competitive. This meeting also serves as a reminder of how economic diplomacy often intertwines with business interests, and how major corporations are becoming more directly involved in shaping the future of international relations. As China and the U.S. continue to negotiate complex trade and technology issues, figures like Musk may increasingly serve as intermediaries in these high-stakes discussions. 20 January 2025 22:27 (UTC+04:00) By Alimat Aliyeva The final tests of a secret hypersonic air-to-air missile have been completed in China, Azernews reports. The South China Morning Post reported this news, citing sources involved in the testing process. According to the scientists, the missiles successfully passed extreme heat resistance tests, ensuring that they meet the stringent performance requirements set by the Chinese Peoples Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF). "This marks the first official confirmation of the existence of this mysterious weapon, which could present an unprecedented threat to American military aircraft, including the B-21 stealth bomber, which is currently undergoing flight tests," the publication states. This breakthrough in Chinas hypersonic missile technology has significant implications for global military dynamics. Hypersonic weapons, which travel at speeds greater than Mach 5 (five times the speed of sound), are capable of evading current missile defense systems, making them highly difficult to intercept. The introduction of an air-to-air hypersonic missile would add a new layer of complexity to the already sophisticated defense strategies employed by countries like the United States. The B-21 bomber, designed to be a key component of the U.S. Air Forces future strategic forces, is equipped with stealth capabilities intended to make it undetectable to enemy radar. However, the development of advanced hypersonic missiles like China's could challenge the very notion of stealth, as their speed and maneuverability might render traditional defense systems ineffective. In addition to the missiles military applications, this development also highlights Chinas growing technological prowess in the field of aerospace and defense. The nation has invested heavily in cutting-edge technologies, including artificial intelligence, quantum computing, and hypersonic weapons, in an effort to maintain and expand its global influence. The successful testing of such a weapon could also accelerate an arms race in hypersonic missile development, with other nations likely to intensify their own research and testing programs. As the pace of innovation in this area accelerates, it may reshape the future of warfare, particularly in terms of air superiority and missile defense systems. UPDATE: The total shameless and corrupt Joe BIden has ended his cesspool of a presidency by pardoning five more of his corrupt family members. https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2025/01/breaking-joe-biden-pardons-multiple-family-members-shocking/ https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2025/01/20/joe-biden-pardons-5-family-members-involved-in-family-business/ https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14305551/biden-pardons-family-act.html https://www.express.co.uk/news/us/2003031/legacy-tatters-joe-bidens-last _______________________________________________________________________________ ORIGINAL POST After a long string of corrupt and disgusting pardons and commutations that began with his crooked son Hunter, Joe Biden has finsihed it with with a series of corrupt highly political pardons. Among the recipients are crooked Liz Cheney, traitorous General Mark Milley, and double dealing Covid Crook Anthony Fauci. Liz Cheney was facing a criminal referral from the US Congress for witness tampering, a serious federal felony which should have sent her to prison. In her role as a Pelosi stooge on Pelosi's rigged January 6th committee, Cheney had private meetings with a key witness, without advising that witness' attorney, prior to the witness' testimony to her committee. That would have made it a slam dunk case for the new DOJ to successful convict Cheney of witness tampering and send her to prison. Not anymore, thanks to crooked Biden. General Mark Milley has admitted calling the Chinese military and telling them he would give them advance warning of any actions related to them ordered by President Trump. That is the very definition of high treason, but Milley will get away with it thanks to crooked Biden. Anthony Fauci seems deep in the mire in self-dealing with many of the grants that passed through his office, including the one to Peter Dazak's Eco-Health Alliance that did the dangerous gain-of-function research in Wuhan, China that created the Covid virus. Dazak and his organization has recently been shut out of any new contracts by Congress due to its discovery of the smoking gun on his connection to the creation fo Covid. The walls are closing in on both Dazak and his money man Fauci, but not for Fauci anymore thanks to crooked Biden. https://redstate.com/bonchie/2025/01/20/new-biden-pardons-fauci-milley-cheney-others-in-shocking-abuse-of-presidential-power-n2184560 https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14304549/Biden-pardons-Fauci-Liz-Cheney-Mark-Milley-January-6-committee-members.html https://www.zerohedge.com/political/i-believe-rule-law-biden-pre-emptively-pardons-fauci-miley-jan-6-committee How Politics Works, The Inside Story BY: HOOD RICHARDSON We are at the beginning of a two-year political party leadership cycle. This is how it works. We will have a county convention, a district convention, a state convention and finally a national convention. All of this before the end of the summer of 2025. This is the same schedule for Democrats, Republicans and all of the splinter parties. From these conventions we will elect county, state and national party (Democrats, Republicans and all other splinter parties) leadership. That leadership consists of county chairmen, district chairmen, national chairmen and their various executive committees. The political savvy, character and skill of these chairmen and elected executive committees will determine about 80 percent of the success of all political races. The other 20 percent involves the ability of individual candidates to be politically effective. This system of electing leadership is designed to be from the grass roots upward. On March 22nd of this year the Beaufort County precincts will meet and elect delegates to the county convention. Those who are registered by party affiliation (Democrat, Republican and all the splinter parties) are members of their local precinct. Every person who is registered has the right to attend their political partys precinct meeting and vote for delegates to go to the county convention. For example, there are 21 precincts in Beaufort County and each precinct will be allotted a number of delegates based on the number of votes cast in certain races during the last election. Do not be concerned about being left out, there are rarely enough people to fill all of the delegate and alternate positions. Delegates assemble on the day of the county convention (March 22) to elect a new county chairman, officers and an executive committee. They then elect delegates to the district and state conventions. The state and national conventions do the same thing. This is how county, state and national parties select leadership for the coming two years. This is the basic system for all political parties (Democrat, Republican and the splinter parties). This is a good system. It is based on our democratic-republican form of government. Why does it not appear to work so well? Because. People have different opinions about how things should be done. People have selfish goals and ambitions. People are not all honest. People do not subscribe to fair play or honesty or democracy at the same level. Some people believe it is their job to decide what is good for all others. Some people are socialists and communists, etc, etc, etc. Then there are the big contributors with the money. An example of the human element in our political process is that there is little or no public service advertising by the political parties to get more people to participate in political party precinct, or county or state conventions. That is because the fewer people there are at the meetings to make decisions, the more power those who attend have to decide who will have the political power. In theory, if only one person shows up at the convention, they can make all the decisions. The political power brokers only try to recruit their like-minded people. This is how we get a lot of bad decisions. However, the same leaders will spend millions to get you to vote for their favorite candidate. The American political system is designed for all to effectively participate (when they understand the system). Teaching this political system should be done in the public schools. There is no reason for me to discuss the shortcomings of public schools here. If our political system was working effectively, I would not need to write this article. We all know there are a lot of problems within our present-day political system. If everyone were honest, of high character, understood democracy and worked to ensure its perfection we would not have the extreme abuse by our political leaders of our system of government. Our Beaufort County Republican Party did not support all Republican candidates during the last two elections. Two years ago, about $14,000 raised to support county candidates was donated to state wide candidates to keep it from being used to support Beaufort County conservative Republicans. During the 2024 elections Beaufort County Republican Party volunteers advised the public to vote for the Democrat candidate for school board. They failed to support conservative Republicans for County Commissioner. The Beaufort County Republican Party did a slap down to conservative Republicans when they used Party funds to run advertisements against a Democrat Commissioner candidate because they were afraid the two liberal Republicans running for Commissioner would be defeated. They gave no money to support conservative Republican Candidates for either school board or Commissioner. They actively campaigned for John Rebholz and Randy Walker and against Tandy Dunn and Hood Richardson. They managed to save Randy Walker, but Rebholz lost. Conservative Republicans Tandy Dunn and Hood Richardson were elected. With five Republicans out of seven Commissioners on the County Commission, Randy Walker and Fake Frankie Waters joined with Democrats Jerry Langley and Ed Booth to put RINO Fake Frankie Waters in as chairman. Republicans Fake Frankie Waters and RINO Randy Walker then voted to put Democrat Jerry Langley in as Vice Chairman. Even though more than 60 percent of the voters in Beaufort County vote Republican, Beaufort County is still run by Democrats. One proof of this is the more than four million dollars paid by Beaufort County to benefit telephone companies to install the internet (broadband, an Obama program) in Beaufort County last year. In addition, we are increasing spending by 2.5 million dollars each year. Sooner or later taxes will go up. The Chairman of the Beaufort County Republican Party, Carolyn Garris, and the executive committee refuse to do anything about the disloyalty on the County Commission. They refuse to discipline members of the Executive Committee for making donations to Democrats. This situation can be changed by changing either, or both, the chairman or the makeup of the Executive Committee. Fake Frankie Waters has refused to sign a pledge supporting the Republican Platform. Executive Committees are important. They fill vacancies of elected officials between elections. This has been an open door for RINOs (Republicans In Name Only). Those who want to support Trump and Trump conservatism need to attend the Beaufort County precinct meetings on March 22 at Southern Acres (on NC Highway 92 near Bath), get themselves elected a delegate to the Beaufort County Republican Convention and vote to elect conservative candidates to the Beaufort County Republican Executive Committee. We have the method to fix all that ails our political system simply by showing up and doing the right thing. Will we be criticized? Yes. But right is on our side. Those who are interested are invited to attend the Beaufort County Conservative Club meetings. We meet on the third Thursday of each month at King Chicken Restaurant in Washington. You may call 252-975-3472 and request to be put on the email list. Lanterns, light installations arranged across China for upcoming Spring Festival Xinhua) 08:58, January 20, 2025 People take selfies before light installations in Nanning, capital of south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Jan. 18, 2025. Lanterns and light installations have been arranged across China for the upcoming Spring Festival, or the Chinese Lunar New Year, which falls on Jan. 29 this year. (Xinhua/Zhou Hua) Customers buy lanterns at a market in Qingzhou City, east China's Shandong Province, Jan. 19, 2025. Lanterns and light installations have been arranged across China for the upcoming Spring Festival, or the Chinese Lunar New Year, which falls on Jan. 29 this year. (Photo by Wang Jilin/Xinhua) People take photos before light installations in Nanning, capital of south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Jan. 18, 2025. Lanterns and light installations have been arranged across China for the upcoming Spring Festival, or the Chinese Lunar New Year, which falls on Jan. 29 this year. (Xinhua/Zhou Hua) Tourists visit a lantern fair in Chengde, north China's Hebei Province, Jan. 18, 2025. Lanterns and light installations have been arranged across China for the upcoming Spring Festival, or the Chinese Lunar New Year, which falls on Jan. 29 this year. (Photo by Liu Huanyu/Xinhua) Jingshan Park is decorated with lanterns in Beijing, capital of China, Jan. 19, 2025. Lanterns and light installations have been arranged across China for the upcoming Spring Festival, or the Chinese Lunar New Year, which falls on Jan. 29 this year. (Photo by Li Menglan/Xinhua) A drone photo shows people visiting a night market in Ningbo, east China's Zhejiang Province, Jan. 18, 2025. Lanterns and light installations have been arranged across China for the upcoming Spring Festival, or the Chinese Lunar New Year, which falls on Jan. 29 this year. (Photo by Hu Xuejun/Xinhua) Beihai Park is decorated with lanterns in Beijing, capital of China, Jan. 19, 2025. Lanterns and light installations have been arranged across China for the upcoming Spring Festival, or the Chinese Lunar New Year, which falls on Jan. 29 this year. (Photo by Li Menglan/Xinhua) A drone photo shows people visiting a night market in Ningbo, east China's Zhejiang Province, Jan. 18, 2025. Lanterns and light installations have been arranged across China for the upcoming Spring Festival, or the Chinese Lunar New Year, which falls on Jan. 29 this year. (Photo by Hu Xuejun/Xinhua) A drone photo shows people taking photos of light installations in Deqing County, east China's Zhejiang Province, Jan. 18, 2025. Lanterns and light installations have been arranged across China for the upcoming Spring Festival, or the Chinese Lunar New Year, which falls on Jan. 29 this year. (Photo by Xie Shangguo/Xinhua) (Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Zhong Wenxing) Former President Donald J. Trump shakes hands with Texas Governor Gregg Abbott while coming onto stage after receiving Abbotts's endorsement for President during a rally at the South Texas International Airport in Edinburg, TX, on Sunday, Nov. 19, 2023. Marvin Pfeiffer/Staff Photographer As President-elect Donald Trump prepares to take the oath of office for a second time, Texans are already bracing for big impacts in a state that the returning president has shown time and again he admires. I'm very optimistic about the opportunities that we've been provided, U.S. Sen. John Cornyn said about Trumps incoming term in the White House. I believe we have a window, maybe of the next year and a half, to get some important things done. Advertisement Article continues below this ad During his first term, Trump made 18 visits to Texas more than double the number of trips President Joe Biden has made and he has been back more than a dozen times since to campaign and fundraise. Those visits have helped him deepen relationships with key Texas officials like Gov. Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, both of whom will be in Washington on Monday when Trump is sworn in. It's a two way street, said Greg Sindelar, CEO of the Texas Public Policy Foundation, a conservative think tank based in Austin. "He knows he will have a really good partner in Texas when it comes to ensuring that his policies, when it gets to the implementation phase, will actually be implemented faithfully," Sindelar said of Trump. From oil to agriculture and disaster responses, here are some of the key areas where Texas could see changes under the new president. Border Security Trump has proposed a mass deportation plan that many fear could be disruptive to Texas families and the economy. Just Houston alone has an estimated 586,000 people who lack permanent legal status, according to the Department of Homeland Security, making them potential targets of the program. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Trumps incoming border czar, Tom Homan, an Abbott ally, has insisted the program will focus first on dangerous criminals who are in the country illegally, but key Texas voices like U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-San Antonio, say they're worried that could mean harassing Hispanic families even if they are native Texans. On top of that, he said it could have a huge impact on Texas businesses that need immigrant workers to survive. It has the potential to badly damage the Texas economy that relies on immigrant labor, Castro said. Trumps border program could also stand to save Texas billions of dollars it has been spending on the Texas border to build border walls and position police and soldiers in South Texas. Texas spent over $11 billion over the last two years on Abbotts Operation Lone Star border security program, which could now become more of the federal governments operations. U.S. Rep. Dan Crenshaw. R-Houston, said hes already talking to members of Congress about including a big repayment back to Texas for some of its expenses as part of the massive budget bill Trump wants passed early in his term. Advertisement Article continues below this ad We need to repay Texas for Texas expenses from the border, Crenshaw said. On Energy Policy Trump has left no question about his energy policy, declaring on social media he will be pushing for drill baby drill everywhere. HISTORIC U.S. MASS DEPORTATIONS: Trump's model for his immigration plan is an Eisenhower program with an ugly history But more directly for Texas energy sector, the incoming president is expected to immediately sign executive orders during his first days in office to end the Biden administration's pause on new liquified natural gas permits. In addition, Trump is considering another order to help LNG operators get export permits renewed more easily. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Even before Trump puts his hand on the Bible on Monday, a wave of new LNG terminals is already expected along the Texas-Louisiana Gulf Coast. No state has more to gain from a more friendly approach to LNG. Exports of Texas LNG were valued at $9.1 billion in 2023, accounting for 27.3% of exports nationwide. Thats well ahead of any other state, according to data from the Texas Comptroller's Office. Agriculture Texas is already seeing the impact of Republican's newly unified control in Congress on its farming economy and that's before Brooke Rollins becomes the first Texan to ever run the U.S. Department of Agriculture. To avoid a government shutdown in December, U.S. House and Senate negotiators worked out a deal that got Trumps support and included Texas farmers getting $963 million in disaster relief money to help mitigate the damage from drought on big Texas crops like cotton and citrus. That was more aid than any state in the nation received. Advertisement Article continues below this ad But it goes beyond that. Cornyn got assurances last week from Trumps incoming secretary of state Marco Rubio that hes going to increase pressure on Mexico to live up to a treaty they signed in 1944 to provide South Texas with more water via the Rio Grande. Cornyn says Mexico has failed to live up to those terms and that the Biden administration hasnt done enough to force Mexico to comply. That has put South Texas farmers particularly citrus and sugar cane growers in peril. Disaster Response While President Biden approved Texas disaster declarations during the 2021 winter storms and after hurricanes like Beryl, it wasnt always the smoothest process. After Beryl blasted Houston last summer, Patrick and Biden got in a political tiff after the president said he couldnt track down state leaders to get their formal request for a major disaster declaration from his office. Patrick, who was the acting governor as Abbott was out of the country, blasted Biden for turning the issue into an unnecessary political fight to make the state look bad. It is safe to assume Patrick, who regularly speaks with Trump, wont have the same communication problems. In fact in 2017, after Hurricane Harvey hit, Trump sped up aid to Texas and reduced the states share needed to cover disaster debris removal. EARLY RETURN: Texas universities ask international students to return from holiday travel before Trump inauguration Overall Communication Its not just Patrick who will now have an open line of communication with the White House under Trump. Abbotts relationship is even stronger with Trump than it was during Trumps first term in office, largely because of how aggressive Abbott has been on border security issues since Trump left office in 2021. Trump has praised Abbott for continuing to build a border wall and station state troopers on the border, and at one point said Abbott was in the running to be his vice president before ultimately settling on Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance. During the Republican National Convention, Trump gave Abbott a primetime speaking slot and invited him to sit with him in his private family box. Over 100 jobs have been saved at a major Belfast fitout firm that has been rescued from administration by a takeover deal. Pure Fitout, which is run by west Belfast man Ronan Higham, and its fire safety business Halt are being bought over by Damien Gaffney, the principal of Dublin-based real estate firm Tetrarch Capital. Clients of the firm include burrito restaurant chain Boojum, American burger brand Five Guys and hotel business Staycity Group, while Halts clients include the London Underground. The Belfast business said it had gone into administration this month in what it is calling a protective measure to stabilise operations. It encountered financial difficulties after significant unpaid invoices, and had begun to look for investment to save the business. As part of the sale, both the Pure Fitout and Halt brands will continue, as will the senior management of both firms. The company says it has an exciting portfolio of projects planned for the months ahead. Damien Gaffney, new owner of Pure Fitout, said: After an intense few weeks, I am delighted to announce that I have acquired the business and assets of Pure Fitout and Halt, which had recently entered administration. This strategic move reflects my commitment to preserving operations and ensuring continuity for all of its employees. My immediate aim is to stabilise and revitalise the business by working closely with the management team. With a well-capitalised balance sheet and a sound, sustainable business strategy, I am confident in my ability to oversee Pure Fitout, ensuring it continues to deliver exceptional projects throughout the UK and Ireland. Yvonne Loughran, associate director at professional services firm Deloitte, said: We are pleased to have been able to deliver a successful outcome that safeguards all jobs and preserves a well-respected brand in the interior fit out sector. The administration process was used to protect the trading businesses and provide space and funding whilst a sale was being negotiated. We are grateful to the employees and wider stakeholders for their patience during this uncertain time and wish Pure Fitout and HALT every success for the future. Ronan Higham of Pure Fitout Belfast phone box transformed into Ireland's smallest art exhibition Jewellers in Co Antrim have said they are in shock following a burglary at their store during which a substantial number of items were stolen. Police received a report of an alarm being activated at Steensons Jewellers in Glenarm at 11.40pm on Sunday. The popular jewellers, who make handcrafted jewellery at their studio and also have a store in Belfast, previously worked on a number of pieces for the HBO blockbuster production Game of Thrones. It was reported that two men entered the Glenarm showroom on Sunday and damaged a number of display cabinets, taking a large amount of jewellery. The PSNI has appealed for anyone with any information to contact officers on 101, or to contact Crimestoppers anonymously. In a post on social media, Steensons urged anyone nearby with doorbell footage to check if it recorded the perpetrators making their way to or from the scene in the New Road area between 10pm and 12.30am and contact police. We're still in shock from the destruction left behind last night. Our showroom in Glenarm has been badly damaged and it will take us some time to get back to normal, they said. Recognisable Steensons collections 'Flower', ' Leaf', 'Theorem' and 'Papyrus' have all been stolen, as well as work by Jill Graham. Steensons Jewellers in Glenarm (Pic: Google Maps) News Catch Up: Monday 20th January NI writer: The world needs more like Paisley and McGuinness stepping forward to form unlikely friendships Belfast-born writer and director Nick Hamm speaks to Aine Toner about why NI is putting itself on the map as regards film-making Colm Meaney and Timothy Spall as Martin McGuinness and Ian Paisley in The Journey Aine Toner Mon 20 Jan 2025 at 17:24 A young boy, a skilled marksman and an apple, the components of one of legends most pervasive scenes and one that is at the centre of a new film about a Swiss folk hero. The conflict in Sudan has led to displacement and hunger on a horrific scale. Photo: Getty A woman from war-torn Sudan was correctly denied a route for family members to join her in resettling in Belfast, the Court of Appeal ruled today. Senior judges backed the UK Governments refusal of entry visas sought as part of an attempted reunification between Shima Esmail and relatives still in the African county. Astonishing: Disbelief as every Derry city school seeking major funding in past 10 years rejected Huge need for investment with system at breaking point, says councillor No school in Derry city approved for major education funding in past 10 years. Picture shows the city's Peace Bridge: Getty Images Garrett Hargan Mon 20 Jan 2025 at 07:15 Every school in Derry city that applied for major investment from the Education Department in the past 10 years has been rejected at a time when hundreds of millions was spent on schools across NI. The BBC has faced criticism from viewers after sending a news anchor to cover the wildfires in LA when an experienced former NI correspondent was already on the ground reporting on the unfolding events. Emma Vardy is an award-winning BBC correspondent and presenter, with 15 years experience reporting and presenting for flagship TV and radio programmes, including being based in Belfast as BBCs Ireland correspondent. She is currently the BBCs Los Angeles correspondent, reporting on a wide variety of stories from the 2024 US presidential election to Hollywoods red carpet awards as well as business and technology. The BBC Newswatch programme in question began by speaking about the wildfires that have caused devastation in LA. Host Samira Ahmed said some fires have remained active and with fears of more high winds to come the danger to residents and their property is far from over. Last week, Clive Myrie arrived on the scene in California to co-present the BBC bulletins. Video footage showed the experienced BBC News presenter in the middle of a burnt-out neighbourhood. Ms Ahmed said: Mr Myries presence there annoyed a number of viewers. We need your consent to load this Social Media content. We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review your details and accept them to load the content We need your consent to load this Social Media content. We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review your details and accept them to load the content A member of the public on the programme then shared her views, saying the story was covered adequately by local reporters from the beginning. She asked: What is the point of him being there? Because all he did was hand over to Emma Vardy who did her job, handed back to him, he thanked her, at that point his image was frozen and there was silence. The lady suggested that may have been technical karma and queried is that what he gets paid the big bucks for? Is this why he flew 6,000 miles? What was the point of him being there, BBC, honestly? Newswatch shared another comment by a member of the public questioning why Mr Myrie was sent, saying it came across as almost voyeuristic, and an uncomfortable watch, adding that there are plenty of good correspondents out there including Emma Vardy. The BBC News response was: The LA wildfires are an important story for audiences in the US, UK and around the world. Clive Myrie is in the US to front our inauguration coverage and was diverted to the fires to support the team on the ground whod been working tirelessly on this huge story, showing the devastating impact of the fires on people and the environment. His reporting as a news anchor has added to the brilliant work of the team and has not changed the prominence or excellence of Emma Vardys reporting they have both been part of the coverage. 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 Ms Vardy was previously the BBCs Ireland Correspondent, best known for guiding viewers through the complexities of politics in Northern Ireland, leading audiences through the twists and turns of Brexit, and reporting on paramilitary groups and the legacy of the Troubles. Emma and her husband Aaron Adams tied the knot in March 2022, with a fairytale wedding at Lissanoure Castle in Co Antrim. Emma Vardy Fans react to 1 cup charge at SSE Arena in Belfast Tiernan Rooney (28) was attacked by two men outside his house in west Belfast at around 12.45pm on December 29 The family of a Belfast man who died three days after being stabbed in the head outside his home are appealing for a police investigation into his death. Tiernan Rooney (28) was attacked by two men outside his house in west Belfast at around 12.45pm on December 29. According to police, he was punched a number of times and stabbed in the head by a blade or pointed object before the suspects fled on foot. The dad-of-one received treatment in hospital but died in his sleep on New Years Day after complaining of headaches following his discharge. Speaking to Belfast Live, Tiernans cousin Lynsey Rooney called on the PSNI to launch a more thorough investigation into his death and the attack on his doorstep just days earlier. We cannot understand why the police have not carried out more of an investigation even though they have been provided with video footage of the attack taking place from a doorbell camera, she said. "There has been no appeal alerting people to the attack on him, which may have resulted in his death. "Sadly now our family is stuck in the terrible position of having to wait months before we truly know the cause of his death and we just want to see the police take action against the vermin who attacked him." Police say they are investigating the incident, with a spokesperson for the PSNI saying: "Police are investigating an assault in the Conway Place area of west Belfast on Sunday afternoon, 29th December 2024. "It was reported a man was assaulted by two other men on the doorstep of a property. "He was allegedly punched several times and also stabbed in the head by a blade or pointed object. The two suspects fled the scene on foot and the victim required hospital treatment for his injuries. "Enquiries are ongoing to determine who was involved and a motive behind the attack. "We would appeal to anyone with any information, CCTV or dash-cam footage, to contact police on 101 quoting reference number 627 29/12/24. "Alternatively, you can submit a report online using the non-emergency reporting form via http://www.psni.police.uk/makeareport/. "You can also contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or online at http://crimestoppers-uk.org/." Tiernan Rooney Belfast phone box transformed into Ireland's smallest art exhibition The K9 team pictured with politicians and junior ministers of the Executive Office. Picture By: Arthur Allison/Pacemaker Press. Left to right: Cheridan Scott with her dog Dakota, junior minister Pam Cameron, K9 Search and Rescue Northern Ireland founder Ryan Gray with his dog Max, junior minister Aisling Reilly and Chloe Creighton with her dog Layla. Picture by Jonathan Porter/PressEye. A search and rescue team whose dogs were used to help track a missing man in Spain recently have asked MLAs to support them in their search for official recognition. Award-winning charity K9 Search and Rescue NI visited Stormont today to seek support after being denied access to the Department of Justices Northern Ireland search and rescue register. The team was founded eight years ago by Ryan Gray. He got the idea thanks to the help of his pet dog Max, who had been rescued by the Assisi Animal Sanctuary. Ryan said he recognised just how intelligent and driven Max the Labrador was, and as someone who had dedicated his life to helping people with the Bangor coastguard rescue team thought it would be useful to train his dog to do the same. The K9 team now has 24 fully-trained volunteers and about 15 dogs, who Ryan says have all gone through rigorous qualifications, working under different disciplines. The K9 Search and Rescue charity at Stormont. Picture by Jonathan Porter/PressEye. Meet the K9 Search and Rescue dogs tasked with saving the public in Northern Ireland Read more USPCA to take legal action over NI councils handling of abandoned puppy facing being put down Some are cadaver dogs that can quickly locate bodies. Others are trained in air-scenting, which relies on detecting scent particles that are carried by the wind. Some are skilled in trailing, where the animal acquires the scent of the runner from a scent article and uses its sense of smell and instinctive behaviour to locate them. Around a year ago, the charity applied to be listed on the Department of Justices Northern Ireland search and rescue register. It would mean that the PSNI could officially task the K9 organisation to specific missing person cases. However, the application was recently rejected, and the K9 team later launched an appeal. Read more The NI council still sending bodies of dead pets to meat processing plant The charitys chair, Joanne Dorrian, is also an advocate and lobbyist for missing people across the UK. She came on board to help four years ago as she was curious to know what the dogs might be able to do to help find the body of her sister Lisa, who has been missing since being murdered at a caravan park in north Down in 2005. Were the first group to actually apply for the register since it was formed by the Department of Justice, Joanne said at Parliament Buildings. Unfortunately, the response came back to say there is no identifiable gap in the services to let us in. What we're asking now is if that application process is correct. We need to be asking the hard questions around the policy. The group themselves who make the decision are the people who are already on the Northern Ireland search and rescue register. Were interrogating all of that through our appeal and were in a process now, but we don't know how long that will take or when the appeal will be heard. From January 1, we put a post out on our social media saying that we will be tasking through families again. Thats how we've always been tasked, but police would rather us be tasked by the PSNI, so we stopped that for over eight months and thats why we received no callouts. So, when our application was rejected, we thought we needed to go back to doing what we do best regardless of getting into the register. The charity recently returned from assisting with the search in Alicante for Belfast man John George, whose body has since been found. They have also been involved in the current search for missing Larne man, Gary Patterson. Previously, they were involved in searches following the Turkish earthquake disaster and the Creeslough explosion in Donegal. A Department of Justice spokesperson told this newspaper: K9 SAR NI have submitted [an] appeal to the department regarding the decision to decline its application for membership in the Northern Ireland search and rescue practitioners group. "As the appeal process is currently ongoing, it would be inappropriate for the department to comment further at this time. The DUP have confirmed former UUP and independent councillor Darryl Wilson has joined the party as a councillor in Ballymoney. Councillor Wilson was formerly part of the Causeway Coast and Glen Borough Council under the UUP and was first elected in 2014, before quitting the UUP last year. DUP Leader Gavin Robinson said he was delighted to welcome councillor Wilson to the party, highlighting his reputation of dedication and hard work over the past decade. Mr Robinson said: Darryl will be a fantastic addition to the DUP group on Causeway Coast & Glens Council, to our wider team within the North Antrim constituency and the Democratic Unionist Party as a whole. I want to see unionists working together at every level. North Antrim stands as an example from the last Northern Ireland Assembly election when there were four unionist quotas but only three unionists elected. We cant allow that to happen again in 2027. We are building a team for the future. A team that has a passion for people and for Northern Ireland. Being convinced of the union means more than simply defending it, it means making it work for everyone and delivering the best public services for the people who live and work here. Councillor Wilson said he has always worked well with members of the DUP and called it an exciting new chapter in his political life. He said: The future of Northern Ireland is what we should all be focused on and Gavin very clearly represents someone who is committed to not just defending the Union but promoting it. It is always easiest in life to identify the problems, but the real task is in identifying the solutions. The vision of a more cohesive and effective unionism is something I will continue to work towards achieving. This is the start of an exciting new chapter in my political life, and I am looking forward to working with colleagues, not just in Ballymoney but right across Northern Ireland. DUP North Antrim chair Julie Philpott welcomed Mr Wilson to the DUP and hailed his commitment to serving his constituents. She said: We give Darryl a warm welcome to the North Antrim Democratic Unionist Association. His commitment to serving his constituents aligns perfectly with our vision. Together, we look forward to delivering for the people we are privileged to represent." The Met Office has issued a wind warning across parts of Northern Ireland, with the potential for disruption and gusts of up to 80mph expected in some areas. The yellow warning will come into force from 12am on Friday and will be in place until 12pm on Saturday, covering the whole of Northern Ireland. It comes as a weather bomb is set to bring strong winds, heavy rain and some snow when it reaches the UK later this week. News Catch Up: Monday 20th January A weather bomb occurs when central pressure inside of a larger low pressure system falls at a rapid rate over 24 hours, creating a peak of violent winds that are strong enough to bring down trees and cause structural damage, according to the Met Office. The Met Office said that the first half of the week will be benign with grey, cloudy weather and outbreaks of rain for much of the country before the arrival of more unsettled conditions from Thursday, the forecaster said. In a statement the Met Office said: A deep area of low pressure is expected to pass close to or across the northwest of the UK on Friday and Saturday. "It will bring a spell of very strong southeasterly to southwesterly winds with gusts reaching 50-60 mph inland and 70-80 mph along coasts (and perhaps higher than this in a few locations). The wind strength will gradually ease through Saturday from the south. The forecaster warned that the wind will also be accompanied by heavy rain bringing some unpleasant conditions to end the week. The Met Office added that the conditions may bring some delays to road, rail, air and ferry services, with longer journey times and cancellations possible. The weather service also warned about the potential of power cuts, as well as injuries and danger to life from flying debris and large waves. A yellow wind warning covering half of Scotland, including Glasgow, is also in place from 12am on Friday to 12pm on Saturday. The change to conditions is being caused by a powerful jet stream pushing the low pressure across the Atlantic and towards the UK, following a recent cold spell over North America, the Met Office said. An initial front will bring heavy rain eastwards on Thursday, with 20 to 30mm of rainfall likely across North Wales and north-west England, while some hill snow is possible over the Scottish mountains. The weather bomb will develop while still out over the Atlantic on Thursday and will be a mature feature when it arrives in over the UK on Friday, the Met Office said. They advised securing loose items outside the home, including bins, garden furniture, trampolines and sheds, and gathering torches and batteries in case of any potential power cut. Another area of low pressure could bring further wet and windy conditions once the previous system has weakened on Sunday. There is the potential for a named storm or further weather warnings over the weekend and throughout next week, the forecaster added. Two prominent Iranian Supreme Court judges, known for presiding over high-profile cases, were fatally shot in Tehran by an assailant who later died by suicide. According to state-affiliated media, the judiciary's media office stated that the attacker had no pending legal cases. While details remain unclear, the Iranian judiciary described the incident as a "planned assassination" carried out inside the court. The attacker reportedly attempted to escape but ended his own life. A security guard was also injured during the attack, judiciary spokesperson Asghar Jahangir told Mizan News Agency. Judges Mohammad Moghiseh and Ali Razini, both veteran justices of Iran's Supreme Court, were widely known for their decades of rulings against protesters, artists, and activists. Moghiseh, sanctioned by the United States in 2019 and the European Union in 2011, oversaw numerous trials criticized for lacking evidence and fairness. The U.S. Treasury Department highlighted his sentencing of eight Iranian Facebook users to a total of 127 years in prison for anti-regime publicity and religious insults. He also presided over cases against filmmakers and poets for "propaganda against the state" and sentenced prominent human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh to 33 years in prison and 148 lashes in 2019, Amnesty International reported. Razini narrowly survived a 1999 assassination attempt when a bomb was attached to his vehicle, according to Iran's Fars news agency. He was also linked to the 1988 "Death Commission," a committee accused of orchestrating the execution of thousands of political prisoners, alongside former president Ebrahim Raisi. A woman in her 50s has been arrested as a flight from Belfast landed in Manchester on Friday after she was behaving disruptively onboard. The flight from Belfast City Airport to Manchester landed at around 8.50pm, with Manchester Police on the scene to arrest the woman. Police confirmed she was arrested following reports of being drunk and disorderly onboard and was taken into custody. Video footage of the situation on the flight has since emerged on social media, which appears to show flight staff engaging with the woman and warning her that police will be called. Later in the footage police can be seen on board as the woman appears to be escorted off the plane. One witness speaking to the Manchester Evening News alleged the woman was making racist comments. "The lady involved was a few rows in front of me - I felt very sorry for the couple sat behind her and children on the flight," Shauna Corr (44) said. "Her language was atrocious and racist, she was making very derogatory comments about people including Muslims - at one stage she even struck out at Ukrainian people. "She was just kicking off but I think the stewards handled it really well - it was quite disgusting behaviour. When I first heard it I thought it was a kid. But it escalated towards the end of the flight. "I think the fact it was a middle-aged woman shocked people - it's not the type of behaviour you expect from anyone let alone a middle aged woman. An easyJet spokesperson told the Belfast Telegraph: Flight EZY714 from Belfast City to Manchester on 17 January was met by police on arrival due to a passenger behaving disruptively onboard. easyJets cabin crew are trained to assess and evaluate all situations and acted quickly and appropriately to ensure that the safety of the flight and other passengers was not compromised at any time. "Whilst such incidents are rare we take them very seriously and do not tolerate abusive or threatening behaviour onboard. The safety and wellbeing of our passengers and crew is always easyJet's priority. A spokesperson for Greater Manchester Police said: At around 8.50pm yesterday evening (Friday 17 January 2025), we were called to reports of a woman being drunk and disorderly onboard an aircraft flying from Belfast in Northern Ireland to Manchester Airport. Upon the plane returning to Manchester Airport, a woman in her 50s was arrested on suspicion of being drunk onboard an aircraft and was taken into custody where she remains for questioning. Easyjet plane (Nick Ansell/PA) News Catch Up: Monday 20th January LIVE | Donald Trump sworn in as US President: Vow to retake Panama Canal, rename Gulf of Mexico and send army to southern border Trump to withdraw US from Paris climate agreementExecutive orders expected to cover immigration, energy and renaming the Gulf of MexicoTrump to sign orders ending diversity programmes, proclaim there are only two sexes US President Donald Trump salutes as Vice President J.D. Vance holds his hand over his heart during a rendition of the "Star Spangled Banner" by singer Christopher Macchio. (Photo by Saul Loeb - Pool/Getty Images) Eoghan Moloney Mon 20 Jan 2025 at 19:13 Donald Trump has been sworn in as the 47th President of the United States today, becoming only the second president to regain the highest office in the country after losing an election. Donald Trump is not yet fit to tie the laces of the Irish saint whom he wants to honour next week Officers wanted to say much more but were advised not to as it could risk justice being delivered, Merseyside Police said. Full details of the prosecution case will be made public when child-killer Axel Rudakubana, 18, is sentenced on Thursday, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said. Home Secretary Yvette Cooper defended prosecutors and said they had been clear that disclosing important information about Rudakubanas past could jeopardise a fair trial. Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, Bebe King, six, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, died when Rudakubana attacked them at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in the seaside town shortly before midday on July 29 last year. He admitted their murders at Liverpool Crown Court on Monday, as well as the attempted murders of eight other children who cannot be named for legal reasons, class instructor Leanne Lucas and businessman John Hayes. After the hearing, the Chief Constable of Merseyside, Serena Kennedy, said: There is no doubt in my mind that Merseyside Police has conducted a thorough and extensive investigation focused on bringing justice for the families. We have been accused of purposely withholding information, this is absolutely not the case. From day one we have been as open as we possibly could and have constantly been in touch with the CPS who have advised us on what information could be released. We have wanted to say much more to show we were being open and transparent, but we have been advised throughout that we couldnt do so as it would risk justice being delivered. Merseyside Chief Constable Serena Kennedy (Danny Lawson/PA) We know from our investigation that Axel Rudakubana was known to a range of services prior to the incident in Southport. Lancashire Child Safeguarding Partnership has commissioned an independent child safeguarding practice review to look at the role of each agency involved with Rudakubana and his family, she added. Ms Kennedy said it aims to identify if there is any learning which could assist the collective safeguarding practice. Nick Price, director of legal services at the CPS, said: The next stage of the process is for the prosecution to present our full case to the court on Thursday including relevant details of the defendants past so the judge can consider all of the evidence when passing sentence. This will be the point when the full details of this case will be heard by the public. We recognise the profound interest in these proceedings and it is important the prosecution case is presented to the court so the facts can be determined which may inform the sentence handed down. Bebe King, Elsie Dot Stancombe and Alice da Silva Aguiar (Merseyside Police/PA) The Home Secretary defended the CPS as she announced an inquiry would be held into how Rudakubana came to be so dangerous. Ms Cooper confirmed he had had contact with the anti-extremism Prevent scheme, police, the courts, the youth justice system, social services and mental health services. She said: The Crown Prosecution Service has been clear that important information about the perpetrators past could not be made public before today to avoid jeopardising the legal proceedings or prejudicing the possible jury trial, in line with the normal rules of the British justice systems. Nothing has been more important than securing justice for the families. But now that there has been a guilty plea, it is essential that the families and the people of Southport can get answers about how this terrible attack could take place and about why this happened to their children. Unrest erupted across the country after the Southport attack, with mosques and hotels used to house asylum seekers among the locations targeted. In the hours after the stabbing, false information spread online which claimed the suspect was an asylum seeker who had arrived in the UK on a small boat. Stephen Brisley, whose sister Lianne Sharabi and nephews Noiya and Yahel Sharabi, were murdered by Hamas on October 7, and the brother-in-law of Eli Sharabi who is still a hostage, speaking during a press conference in September The British family of Eli Sharabi, one of the hostages still held by Hamas, are appealing to authorities in Israel to be the ones to tell him his wife and daughters have died. Bristol-born Lianne, 48, and their two daughters Noiya, 16, and Yahel, 13, were killed in Israels October 7 attacks. Mr Sharabi, 52, is on a list to be freed soon. People at a gathering at the Golders Green War Memorial, London, to send their love and to hope for the safe return of hostages following the ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas conflict (Ben Whitley/PA) He is also likely unaware his British wife Lianne and their girls died, Liannes brother Stephen Brisley told the Daily Mirror, and he does not want Mr Sharabi to hear the news from an Israeli official or a soldier. Mr Brisley, of Bridgend, South Wales, said: I think the prospect of getting back to Lianne and the girls is whats kept him going. When he finds out theyre not alive, that could finish and crush him. I want to reassure him we will always be here, and we will do whatever he needs to help him recover. Thats [if] Eli is alive. Two boys aged 15 and 16 were charged with Kelyan Bokassas murder (Handout/PA) A 14-year-old schoolboy was attacked by machete-wielding youths almost instantaneously after they spotted him on a London bus, a court has heard. Kelyan Bokassa was stabbed around 27 times as he travelled home on a route 472 bus in Woolwich, south-east London, on Tuesday January 7. Emergency services were called to Woolwich Church Street, near Woolwich Ferry, just before 2.30pm. Kelyan, an aspiring rapper, had sustained a severed femoral artery and died shortly after medics arrived at the scene. Two boys, aged 15 and 16, were charged with Kelyans murder. On Monday, the defendants, who cannot be named for legal reasons, were appearing at the Old Bailey for a preliminary hearing. The 15-year-old appeared first by videolink from Feltham Young Offender Institution and spoke only to confirm his identity. Prosecutor Tom Little KC told the court the victim was sitting on the back seat of the bus on the upper deck when he was attacked by two youths both armed with lengthy machetes. The defendants were allegedly aware in advance of the presence of Kelyan when they boarded the bus and walked directly towards him, the court was told. Mr Little said: It is clear this is not a form of spontaneous incident. The two defendants must have known the deceased was on the bus. They approach him and almost instantaneously the two of them pull out machetes and attacked the deceased. He is stabbed or attempted to be stabbed on a total of 27 occasions before the defendants made their way off the bus. A floral tribute near the scene of the attack in Woolwich Church Road (Jordan Pettitt/PA) One of the machetes was allegedly discarded in the River Thames but later recovered. During the hearing, Judge Mark Lucraft KC set a plea hearing for April 14 and a provisional trial at the Old Bailey from October 13. He remanded the younger defendant into custody. Later, the 16-year-old appeared in the dock of Court One of the Old Bailey and confirmed his identity. Judge Lucraft confirmed the timetable for the case and remanded him in custody too. Members of the victims family sat in court for the short hearings. The view of the village of Davos with the The Congress Center, center, where the annual meeting of World Economic Forum will take place (Markus Schreiber/AP) Billionaires wealth grew three times faster in 2024 than the year before, a top anti-poverty group reported on Monday as some of the worlds political and financial elite prepared for an annual gathering in Davos, Switzerland. Oxfam International, in its latest assessment of global inequality timed to the opening of the World Economic Forum meeting, also predicts at least five trillionaires will crop up over the next decade. A year ago, the group forecast that only one trillionaire would appear during that time. Elon Musk speaks as part of a campaign town hall in support of Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump in Folsom (Matt Rourke/AP) OxFams research adds weight to a warning by outgoing President Joe Biden last week of a dangerous concentration of power in the hands of very few ultra-wealthy people. The groups sharp-edged report, titled Takers Not Makers, also says the number of people in poverty has barely budged since 1990. The World Economic Forum expects to host some 3,000 attendees, including business executives, academics, government officials, and civic group leaders at its annual meeting in the Alpine village of Davos. President-elect Donald Trump, who visited Davos twice during his first term and was set to take the oath of office on Monday, is expected to take part in the forums event by video on Thursday. He has long championed wealth accumulation including his own and counts multibillionaire Elon Musk as a top adviser. What youre seeing at the moment is a billionaire president taking oaths today, backed by the richest man. So this is pretty much the jewel in the crown of the global oligarchies, Amitabh Behar, executive director of Oxfam International, said in an interview, referring to Mr Trump and Mr Musk. Its not about one specific individual. Its the economic system that we have created where the billionaires are now pretty much being able to shape economic policies, social policies, which eventually gives them more and more profit, he added. Like Mr Bidens call for making billionaires begin to pay their fair share through the US tax code, Oxfam a global advocacy group called on governments to tax the richest to reduce inequality and extreme wealth, and to dismantle the new aristocracy. President-elect Donald Trump speaks at the New Hampshire Federation of Republican Women Lilac Luncheon (Steven Senne/AP) The group called for steps like the break-up of monopolies, capping CEO pay, and regulation of corporations to ensure they pay living wages to workers. Many investors racked up strong gains in 2024, with strong performances for top tech companies and stock-market indexes like the S&P 500, as well as the price of gold and cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin. Oxfam said billionaire wealth grew by 2 trillion dollars (1.6 trillion) last year, or roughly 5.7 billion dollars (4.6 billion) a day, three times faster than in 2023. The number of billionaires rose by 204 to 2,769, and the 10 richest men saw their wealth rise nearly 100 million dollars (81.8 million) a day on average, it said. Citing World Bank data, the group pointed to lingering poverty, saying the number of people living on less than 6.85 dollars (5.61) per day has barely changed since 1990. Oxfam used Forbes Real-Time Billionaire List as of the end of November for data on the ultra-rich. By contrast, at least four new billionaires were minted every week in 2024, and three-fifths of billionaire wealth comes from inheritance, monopoly power or crony connections, it said. On average, Oxfam said, low- and middle-income countries are spending nearly half their national budgets on debt repayments. It also noted that life expectancy in Africa is just under 64 years of age, compared to over 79 years in Europe. President Donald Trump has vowed to rename North Americas tallest peak, Denali in Alaska, as Mount McKinley reviving an idea he floated years ago that at that time saw strong pushback from state political leaders. Mr Trump said he planned to restore the name of a great president, William McKinley, to Mount McKinley, where it should be and where it belongs. President McKinley made our country very rich through tariffs and through talent. Mr Trump also announced plans to change the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America. Messages left for Alaskas three-member Republican congressional delegation and Republican Gov Mike Dunleavy were not immediately returned. Alaskas US senators in 2017 vehemently opposed a prior suggestion by Mr Trump that the name Denali be changed back to Mount McKinley. In 2015, then-president Barack Obama changed the name to Denali to reflect the traditions of Alaska natives and acknowledge the preference of many Alaska residents. The federal government in recent years has sought to change place names considered disrespectful to native people. Denali is an Athabascan word meaning the high one or the great one. The 20,310-foot mountain, snow-capped and dotted with glaciers, is in Denali National Park and Preserve. A prospector in 1896 dubbed the peak Mount McKinley after President William McKinley, who had never been to Alaska. The name was formally recognised by the US government until Mr Obama changed it in spite of opposition from lawmakers in McKinleys home state of Ohio. Mr Trump raised the notion of a name change again during a rally late last year, following his election. McKinley was a very good, maybe a great president, Mr Trump said in December. They took his name off Mount McKinley, right? Thats what they do to people. President Donald Trump (Al Drago/Pool Photo via AP) President Trump also said that he will change the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America, repeating an idea he first brought up earlier this month during a news conference. America will reclaim its rightful place as the greatest, most powerful, most respected nation on Earth, inspiring the awe and admiration of the entire world, he said on Monday. A short time from now, we are going to be changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America. It is his latest suggestion to redraw the map of the Western Hemisphere. Mr Trump has repeatedly referred to Canada as the 51st State, demanded that Denmark considers ceding Greenland, and called for Panama to return the Panama Canal. Mr Trump also spoke about taking back the vital waterway during his inaugural speech. While red baseball caps have become synonymous with President Donald Trump, first lady Melania Trump made her own millinery-related fashion statement sporting a navy wide-brimmed hat by an American designer on Inauguration Day. The hat, designed by Eric Javits, shielded the first ladys eyes as her husband was sworn in Monday for the second time. Mr Javits said dressing the first lady has been one of the greatest honours of his career. My art background gave me an edge in bringing harmony and balance to the face by creating hat shapes that would flatter and enhance every kind of face, he said in a statement. In this specific case that was not difficult to do, in that Mrs Trump is blessed with great bone structure, beauty and a wonderful sense of style. Donald Trump kisses Melania before the 60th Presidential Inauguration (Saul Loeb/Pool photo via AP) The hat made its mark throughout the inauguration ceremony: As Mr Trump went to kiss his wife after entering the Capitol Rotunda, the hat left only room for an air kiss. Even now-former president Joe Biden had to navigate around the hat while trying to talk to her husband on the other side. Mr Trump, speaking in Emancipation Hall after the swearing-in ceremony, joked about his wifes hat nearly blowing away. The first lady had held onto her hat as a military helicopter taking off with Mr Biden generated wind. She almost blew away, Mr Trump said with a laugh. She was being elevated off the ground. In a departure from 2017s sky blue cashmere dress and gloves by Ralph Lauren, this time, Melania Trump paired a muted navy silk wool coat with a navy skirt and an ivory silk crepe blouse underneath, all by independent American designer Adam Lippes. The tradition of the presidential inauguration embodies the beauty of American democracy and today we had the honour to dress our first lady, Mrs Melania Trump, Mr Lippes said in a statement. Mrs Trumps outfit was created by some of Americas finest craftsmen and I take great pride in showing such work to the world. First lady Melania Trump (Chip Somodevilla/Pool Photo via AP) Her first inauguration ensemble drew comparisons to Jacqueline Kennedys style. Ms Kennedy also famously wore a pillbox hat for her husbands inauguration in 1961. But dressing the first lady became a point of political contention in 2017, with some designers saying they would not dress the incoming first lady typically a coveted opportunity. Some social media users pushed to boycott Ralph Lauren at the time. Fast forward to 2025, and Ralph Lauren was the designer of choice for departing first lady Jill Biden, who chose the designer for her parting look. She opted for a monochromatic purple, from her coat to her shoes and gloves, to mark the transition of power. Ralph Lauren did not return a request for comment. Joe Biden will travel to South Carolina on Sunday, his last full day as US president, where he will mark a national holiday honoring civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr. Biden will visit Royal Missionary Baptist Church in Charleston, where he will attend services and speak about "the continued fight to make Dr King's dream a reality," a White House official said. He will also attend an event at the city's International African American Museum. Monday is a national holiday in the United States honoring King, the Nobel Peace Prize winner who advocated for the use of non-violent resistance in the fight for equal rights for Black Americans. He was assassinated in 1968. Monday is also the day Donald Trump will be sworn in to succeed Biden as president. The White House said Biden's "last official trip as president... will continue his long relationship with the state of South Carolina." The state was pivotal in Biden's path to securing the Democratic Party's presidential nomination in 2020. After lackluster showings in the initial nomination contests, Biden won a convincing victory in South Carolina's primary, an affirmation that he retained significant backing among Black voters. Charleston is also the home of the historic Mother Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, where a white shooter killed nine Black worshippers in 2015. Biden attended the funeral for Emanuel AME's pastor, Clementa Pinckney, following the mass shooting perpetrated by a white gunman who had written a racist manifesto before the killings. In a 2024 address at Emanuel AME, Biden said he would not have been elected president without the support of the congregation and "the Black community of South Carolina." Son of Belfast bar boss fined over early hours row involving a hurl Common Market owner acquitted of scuffle in same case after ugly melee caught on CCTV Kieran Bannon John Toner Mon 20 Jan 2025 at 11:00 The son of a businessman behind some of Belfasts most popular bars has been fined for assault after his father was acquitted over the same incident. BENNINGTON The screening committee assisting the Southwest Vermont Supervisory Union boards search for a new superintendent held its organizational meeting Monday morning electing a chairperson and reviewing with a search consultant the process for identifying two or three unranked finalist candidates. The 10-person committee appointed by the SVSU board, which will hire a replacement for outgoing Superintendent Jim Culkeen met with consultant Tracy Wrend, an educational consultant with the Vermont School Boards Association. The VSBA was hired in November to work with the committee and facilitate the search process. Wrend was an educator for 31 years in central Vermont, serving her last 14 years as a superintendent. Hiring goal School officials hope to have a new superintendent hired and in place by late spring, prior to June 30 when Culkeen will retire after 10 years in the position. Christopher Murphy, chair of the Southwest Vermont Union Elementary School District board, was elected Monday as chair of the search committee, and Stephanie Mulligan, chair of the Mount Anthony Union School District board, was chosen as clerk and would fill in for the chair when needed, Wrend said. During its first session, Wrend led a review of the SVSU boards charge to the search committee, the draft search timeline; the states open meeting and records laws, and search committee protocols and confidentiality requirements for information about candidates applying for the position. Jess Bouchard, the SVSUs Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion administrator, also gave a presentation on such topics as understanding the role of even unconscious bias in making evaluations. The meeting, held via Zoom, was recorded and will be made available for viewing through Catamount Access Television. Information about the search also will be posted on the SVSU website. While the committees meetings will be open to the public, which will have an opportunity to ask questions or comment, interviews and aspects related to the interview process will be held in executive session. Wrend said the search process recommended by the VSBA is one that has been used extensively around New England and is a tried and true process for filling a key school system position. She said she intends to entourage that all voices are heard on issues before the committee, including those of the public. Wrend said the intention of the SVSU board is that the initial screening and interviews of candidates be undertaken by the committee in preparing a report with candidate recommendations to the school board. The consultant will do required candidate reference checks, she said. Wrend said she and Murphy will be the contact persons for questions or comments involving the search process, and the committee chair will act as its spokesperson. In creating the search committee, the SVSU Board said it would include four school board chairs or their designee; one building administrator; one teacher; one support staff member; one central office administrator; and two parents/community members. Five alternatives also were selected from those who applied to serve on the committee and would step in for anyone unable to continue. The Southwest Vermont Supervisory Union includes five school districts: Southwest Vermont Union Elementary SD, North Bennington SD Inc., Mount Anthony Union SD No. 14, Arlington School District, and Sandgate SD. The union has 10 schools and serves just over 3,000 students. Bennington, VT (05201) Today Some early morning breaks in the overcast, otherwise cloudy. High 49F. Winds SE at 10 to 15 mph.. Tonight Cloudy early, becoming mostly clear after midnight. Low 29F. Winds ESE at 5 to 10 mph. Lenox wireless bylaw Lenox wireless bylaw . . . Here are some of the key points in the Lenox wireless bylaw approved by voters in May 2023: The new bylaw firmly restores the towns legal power to decide on new applications and where any new wireless facilities are located. It gives the Zoning Board the tools to say "yes" or no to new infrastructure as suitable. The applicant must provide substantial evidence that new facilities wont have an undue adverse impact on historic resources, scenic views, residential property values, or natural or human-made resources. The preferred locations are along commercial and industrial corridors or in suitable municipal locations or other quasi-public sites where the settings, other structures, and intensity of uses already in place are more compatible with the industrial nature of wireless facilities. Remote locations on largely undeveloped areas may be acceptable if the result is a new tower that is generally not visible to the public. It is preferred that a new tower be located as far from residential lot lines as possible to avoid detrimental visual impacts and adverse effects on property values, and to preserve the privacy of adjoining properties. A new tower may be acceptable when it does not diminish the quality of experience of Lenox such as by piercing valuable scenic and historic skylines, or unduly compromising the look of traditional land development and use. Written notification of an application and a hearing date will be sent to all abutters within 600 feet for new towers. No new tower or antennas can be erected without showing that the facility is necessary and hard data must be provided to show the proposed facility is filling a bona fide service gap. Towers are prohibited altogether in the Commercial C, and Residential R15 and R30 zones. These are the most densely populated areas in town in the centers of Lenox and Lenox Dale. In other areas a new tower must be set back at least 250 feet from the nearest residential property line. Source: Lenox Planning Board wireless bylaw Stay up to date on Berkshires news with Berkshires in Brief, our free daily newsletter NORTH ADAMS When President-elect Donald Trump officially takes office on Monday, U.S. Rep. Richard Neal will be there. Members can make their own determination, Neal said of other government officials decision whether to attend the 47th president's inauguration. Ive not missed one since Ive been elected That doesnt mean we relinquish our points of view. Despite months of campaigning that painted a Trump reelection as an existential threat to democracy, Neal will join most dignitaries and elected officials who will adhere to the tradition of attending the inauguration. Though, tradition has been set aside somewhat as Trump announced Friday afternoon that the swearing-in ceremony will be moved inside the Capitol Rotunda because extreme cold is forecast. But once the ceremonies conclude, Neal will be tasked with a familiar set of challenges, for at least the next two years, in legislating alongside Trump. Over the course of two interviews, one with news media when Neal was in North Adams last week, and one with The Eagle on Wednesday, the Western Massachusetts Congressman said his biggest concern when it comes to another Trump presidency is the president-elects unpredictability. Neal also spoke to how Democrats can manage a slim Republican majority in the House, and the partys stance on protecting Social Security and Medicare. Neals chief worry about Trump is the chaotic nature of his proposals, and the mind-changing that takes place oftentimes within hours. He said Trumps talk of seizing the Panama Canal, or invading Greenland, or changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico, makes it difficult to focus facts. Neal infers that Trump is making these headline-grabbing statements to distract from policy issues. While Neal said its difficult to pinpoint Trump's policy positions, he did offer some thoughts on big issues the country faces and how he plans on navigating the choppy legislative waters in the current political climate. TAX CUTS AND DEBT CEILING Regarding Trump's promise to extend the tax cuts his administration implemented in 2017, during his first time in office, Neal says supporters should be reminded of the $2.3 trillion borrowed to finance those cuts, which are scheduled to expire at years end. Neal said Trumps tax proposals would favor the wealthiest people: Those making more than $1 million would save $80,000, and those making less than $50,000 would save $286. Neal, who chaired the House Ways and Means Committee from 2019 to 2023, warned against cutting Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security, so they can provide tax cuts to wealthy people. The first showdown Neal expects with Trump will be over the debt ceiling. He urged the majority party to get on with raising the debt ceiling now rather than waiting until the final minutes and causing widespread panic. American families are tired of these threats to shut down the government, Neal said. Real people get hurt in these kinds of discussions. SOCIAL SECURITY AND MEDICARE Neal foresees battles over whether to raise the Social Security eligibility age. Each year the age is raised by one month, so the optimal benefit for Social Security is now 67 years old. Were not going to allow them to cut any social security, nor Medicare benefits, Neal said, pointing out that the issue is especially important to his constituents. According to credit rating agency Fitch Ratings, Berkshire Health System reported 53.7 percent of gross revenues for fiscal year 2024 came from Medicare. That sort of dependency on federal health care programs in the Berkshires makes the issue of protecting Medicare even more urgent. The revenue at Berkshire Medical Center, more than half of their revenue comes from Medicare and Medicaid, Neal said. Its a stunning number I have to think North Adams numbers are way up there. One area Neal hopes he may find agreement with Republicans is on Medicare fraud, of which hes long been a critic. Its estimated it costs the American taxpayer $50 billion a year, he said. I have suggested in the past adding an Assistant U.S. Attorney at many of these offices across the country, that might deter Medicare fraud. MANDATE? Trump is claiming a the American voters have given him a "mandate" with his electoral win, though his margin was relatively slim at 1.4 percent. Neal also noted that Republicans will have a small two-to-three seat majority in the House. He said its likely the Republican Partys regional factions will rear their heads and complicate the majority when it comes to issues like taxes. I heard him say yesterday he won in a landslide, Neal said of Trump. He didnt really win in a landslide. These Congressional election cycles come pretty fast. Were down by three and likely to have two special elections in the next three-to-four months. In explaining the Democrats election defeat, Neal said the party needs to move away from arguments like open borders, defund the police. I think those are very harmful in terms of public perception. Neal acknowledged that Vice President Kamala Harris ran to the center, and never made the cases he was criticizing. Its fair to say some of these national issues leaned against her, even when she had not been a participant in making those decisions, Neal said. He urged Democrats to think about how to build support in the heartland of America. Neal downplayed how much Trump will get done despite his victory and Republican majorities. I think Trump is effective as it relates to using his Twitter account to make news, Neal said, but substantive legislation is far more difficult to accomplish. A clandestine tunnel discovered on the US-Mexico border allowing entry from Ciudad Juarez into the Texan city of El Paso will be sealed by Mexican authorities, an army official said Saturday, adding that its construction was under investigation. Discovered on January 10 by US and Mexican security agencies, the tunnel measures approximately 300 meters (1,000 feet) in length on the Mexican side and is equipped with lighting, ventilation and is reinforced to prevent collapses. Hidden in a storm sewer system operating between both cities, its access is about 1.8 meters high and 1.2 meters wide (6 feet high and 4 feet wide), making for easy passage of people or contraband, said General Jose Lemus, commander of Ciudad Juarez's military garrison, which is guarding the tunnel. The tunnel's construction "must have taken a long time... it could have been one or two years," Lemus told reporters, declining to give details about how long it had been operating as well as its possible builders and operators. He said the Mexican Attorney General's Office was responsible for the investigation and would be in charge of determining if there was complicity by the authorities due to the fact that it was built without them noticing. Lemus also said clues about the tunnel's existence and location were discussed by human traffickers on social media platforms like TikTok. Ahead of the US presidential inauguration of Donald Trump on Monday, both sides of the US-Mexico border have reinforced security measures, as the returning Republican has vowed a massive deportation of migrants soon after he takes office. In the state of Chihuahua, which includes Ciudad Juarez, authorities reported a fire in a temporary camp for undocumented migrants, which led to the evacuation of 39 adults and 17 minors, according to the state police. According to the Mexican newspaper Reforma, the fire was started by some of the migrants who were camping there to resist attempts by immigration authorities to detain them and transfer them to Mexico City for later deportation. The National Institute of Migration did not respond to AFP's requests for comment. A member of the Irish Defence Forces who spurned the consensual offer that was made to him in a selfish, arrogant and forceful way has been jailed for eight-and-a-half years for the rape of a fellow soldier at a Dublin hotel three years ago. Kielan Mooney (30), of Bloomfield Park, Derry, was convicted following a trial at the Central Criminal Court last December on a count of anal rape, oral rape and rape of the woman at the Dublin hotel on July 26th, 2021. Advertisement He had pleaded not guilty to a total of six charges two charges of rape, two charges of oral rape, a charge of anal rape and a charge of sexual assault. The jury failed to reach a verdict on the three remaining charges. The now 24-year-old woman, who is also a serving soldier of the Irish Defence Forces, has indicated that while she is content for Mooney to be named in the reporting of the case, she does not wish to be identified. Sentencing Mooney on Monday, Mr Justice Tony Hunt said Mooney spurned the consensual offer that was made to him in a selfish, arrogant and forceful way and had no respect for the limits she [the woman] wanted to place on sexual activity. Advertisement He simply took what he wanted from the encounter and had no respect for her wishes, the judge said. The judge said the woman had always been very frank that the background to the rape was clearly consensual. It was her prerogative and privilege to make a decision as to who and when she would have sexual activity and who, when and the level of that activity, Justice Hunt continued. Previous hearing At a previous sentence hearing last December, a number of affidavits were presented to the court which described Mooney, a father of five, as very family orientated, a dedicated father someone who works exceptionally hard to make sure his children know they are loved and also as a man who idolises his children. Advertisement On Monday, Grainne ONeill BL prosecuting told Justice Hunt, that following newspapers reports of that hearing, two women contacted the Director of Public Prosecutions to rebut that evidence. The women, who each have two children with Mooney, said that Mooney has not seen his children, that he does not pay maintenance and that it is always hard work with him as he never really wants to see them. One of the women said Mooney always put his social life and lifestyle ahead of her children with him. She said He is not a good person, not a good role model and she would never let Mooney near her children. Mr Justice Hunt said it was clear from these statements from these two women that Mooney has had no meaningful or positive contact with these children over a long period of time. Advertisement He described those earlier testimonials in relation to Mooney being a good father as a false prospectus and a gross overstatement that his children will miss him if remanded in custody. Mr Justice Hunt also noted that Mooney applied for bail on conviction by the jury, and while bail was refused and Mooney was remanded in custody pending sentence, one of the reason he was looking for bail was to give him the opportunity to say goodbye to his children. I believe I have been significantly misled as to the material that was put forward and also the basis of a bail application pending conviction at trial. I dont take it lightly, someone trying to pull the wool over my eyes, Mr Justice Hunt said. No remorse shown In sentencing Mooney, Mr Justice Hunt said there was no recognition of the verdict of the jury and Mooney does not appear to show any remorse for the significant harm he caused. Advertisement He referred to suggestions during the trial that the woman had made the allegations on the basis of some disappointment on her behalf with how things went. I dont buy that for one moment and the jury clearly dont either. She is clearly a robust person who would take such disappointments in a normal way without making false allegations, the judge continued. He said it was very clear that something had happened that was radically wrong and radically different from what the woman had consented to. Justice Hunt set a headline sentence of nine and half years which he applied as a global sentence for the offences Mooney had been convicted of by the jury. He acknowledged that Mooney had made a positive contribution in terms of joining the army and was prepared to serve in that way and in a disciplined way of life that military service requires. But I have to bear in mind that his behaviour (during the rape) was ill disciplined. Mr Justice Hunt said it was apparent from the womans demeanour both during the trial and in giving her victim impact statement that the rapes had impacted her life and career. I wish her well and hope she is able to put this behind her and get on with her life in a positive way. I have no doubt that she is strong enough to do that, Mr Justice Hunt said. Mr Justice Hunt said he had intended to reduce the headline sentence by two years but he would not do that now giving the evidence he received on Monday in relation to Mooneys mitigating factor that was falsely put forward. No court should be put in a position of being faced with a false prospectus, the judge said before he added that this was warning to anyone who is considering overselling themselves in terms of mitigation. He imposed a jail term of eight and half years. He also imposed a two year post-release supervision order and said that Mooney must engage with the Probation Service for two years upon his ultimate release from prison. The jail term was backdated to when Mooney first went into custody last December. Additional evidence Garda Riche Moyston told Patrick Gageby SC, prosecuting, that the woman was out socialising with other army members that night when they met a group of soldiers from Mooneys barracks in Donegal. She and Mooney got speaking and they decided to go back to the womans friends hotel room in the city centre. The woman told the trial that Mooney anally raped her in her friends hotel room. She said she had asked him to stop but he did not. Afterwards she went to the bathroom and was crying. She managed to text her friend. Mooney came into the room and asked her what was wrong before he took her by the hand and brought her back into the bedroom. Mooney then forced the woman to perform oral sex on him before he pushed her onto the bed and raped her. The woman was very distressed. She managed to get back into the bathroom and phoned her friend who told her that she and two other male friends were nearly at the hotel. Gda Moyston said when the womans friends arrived Mooney was dressed. The woman was hysterical and crying. The two men forced Mooney out of the room and the gardai were called. Mooney was arrested by arrangement the following month. He claimed there had been no anal sex and said whatever other sexual activity had occurred was consensual. Victim Impact Statement The woman read her victim impact statement into the record. She said that night changed her life and she would not wish what happened to her on anyone. She said her life had only got going at that point. I was getting the chance to live the life of a 21-year-old, just having a good time, she said. She said she caused shock and heartbreak within her family when she disclosed the rape. The woman said she never expected a man to take away something from her in such a selfish way and described how she struggled with her mental health in the aftermath of the rape. I did not want to go through with life anymore, the woman continued before she added that it impacted on her work as she could not perform her duties. She had been nominated for a course which would have meant a promotion in work but she was unable to participate. She said the actions of another person were continually impacting on her life as she also lost all interest in the hobbies she used to enjoy. The woman said that through counselling and therapy she has been allowed to live my life again. She spoke of how traumatic she found the trial, seeing Mooney around the courthouse and waiting on the jurys verdict. The hurt does not disappear I never believed that something over one night could shatter everything I thought and believed in myself and my future. The hurt does not just disappear, the woman said. She said the support she has received from many people have helped remind me that I am worth more than someone elses despicable actions. She specifically thanked the gardai and the various supports services in the army. She said her appreciation for those that helped her in the army needs to be recorded. The woman also thanked the Rape Crisis Centre, who reassured me of my safety and expressed her thanks to her family and friends. Mr Justice Hunt thanked the woman for taking the time to read her victim impact statement. He said he hoped that the vindication she got from the jury would help her going forward. You owe it to yourself to think of yourself now going forward, he said. Gda Moyston agreed with Dominic McGinn SC, defending, that Mooney was fully co-operative with gardai and answered all their questions. He agreed that it was his understanding that Mooneys career with the army is now effectively over. Mr McGinn asked the court to accept that his client did not set out that evening to commit a rape and submitted that there was consent to some activity between Mooney and the woman. Every rape is serious and every rape demands punishment, Mr McGinn said. Counsel said it was a complicated case for the jury because at the outset the woman was consenting to some level of activity. He acknowledged that a person has a right at any stage to say that I do not consent to this and his client blatantly ignored that, counsel said. He is criminally liable for what he did and what he did would be viewed as entirely reprehensible by society, Mr McGinn continued. His conduct resulted in injury, trauma and a lifelong impact on her and he deserves to be punished for that, counsel continued before he asked the court to accept that it is clear that Mooney is not a bad person. Mr Justice Hunt said young men put themselves in the unfortunate position Mooney has put himself in but added there is nobody responsible for it but Mooney himself. He has basically no previous convictions. He has served in the defence forces, I am prepared to accept that there is positive aspects to his good character that once was and is now gone. Mr McGinn said there were seven affidavits before the court sworn in by a wide variety of people from the community and his family, outlining that he is an upstanding member of society and that his actions that night were completely out of character. Counsel said his client is a father of five children, ranging in age from three to 12 years old. Ireland Defence Forces member jailed for rape of partner's... Read More He asked the court to accept that this offence would not have happened if Mooney had not been intoxicated and suggested that alcohol seems to be a catalyst. Mr Justice Hunt said it was his understanding from the evidence at the trial that all of these people went out at the same time and had roughly the same amount to drink why is he (Mooney) so different? Mr McGinn asked the court to accept that his client has lost his good character, his career is at an end and that his children will be without their father for some time. If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this article, you can call the national 24-hour Rape Crisis Helpline at 1800-77 8888, access text service and webchat options at drcc.ie/services/helpline/ or visit Rape Crisis Help. A prosecution witness who legged it to Spain and failed to give evidence in the trial of barrister Diarmuid Phelan, who was acquitted of murdering a trespasser on his farm, has been jailed for four months. Kallum Coleman (24) appeared before a sitting of the Central Criminal Court in Cork on Monday to face a contempt of court hearing. Advertisement On January 3rd, Mr Phelan (56) walked free from the Central Criminal Court after a jury found him not guilty of the murder of Keith Conlon (36) at Hazelgrove Farm, Kiltalown Lane, Tallaght in February 2022. Mr Conlon suffered a fatal gunshot injury to his head when he trespassed on Mr Phelans land on February 22nd, 2022. Roisin Lacey, SC, for the Director of Public Prosecutions, said on Monday that Coleman was an eyewitness whose importance to the case could not be overstated. Ms Justice Siobhan Lankford said that, arising out of the seriousness of the case, it was incumbent on Coleman to appear in court to give evidence in relation to the death of his friend Mr Conlon. Advertisement His [Colemans] evidence would have been described as crucial. He had been present at the scene [of the shooting]. The contempt is of a serious nature. It was a murder trial. Ms Justice Lankford said Coleman failed to answer his witness order and went to Spain. He was due to give evidence in court last October. Ms Justice Lankford said that she was not saying that the prosecution failed because Coleman wasnt present. However, she stated that his evidence was vital given that he had been side by side with Mr Conlon. Ms Justice Lankford took the guilty plea into consideration when sentencing. She noted that defence barrister Tim OLeary had cited as a mitigating factor in the case that his client was extremely stressed and suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as a result of having witnessed the death of his friend. Advertisement However, she said that many people suffer from stress or PTSD but still manage to attend court to give evidence. The presiding judge made reference to evidence she heard on Monday afternoon from Det Sgt Michael McGrath who said that he and another garda flew to Marbella in Spain on November 5th, 2024, in a bid to speak to Coleman. She said that any evidence of what occurred in Spain was not relevant to the hearing. Dt Sgt McGrath had told her that when they found Coleman at a hotel in Marbella on November 6th, they told him a bench warrant had been issued for him. He said that Coleman said he wanted to come back to deal with the arrest warrant. However, when they were on the way to the airport and stopped to get refreshments Coleman exited the car and ran. Advertisement Dt Sgt McGrath said that Coleman had told him he would kill himself rather than give evidence in the case. He said he told Coleman it was in his best interest to return to Ireland with gardai but the young man was aware that it was a choice and that gardai were not in a position to arrest him outside of the jurisdiction. Det Sgt McGrath said that Coleman had told him that under no circumstances would he give evidence in the case. He said he would rather kill himself than give evidence. The court heard that Coleman was eventually detained by gardai when a car he was travelling in was stopped by gardai on the Naas road in Dublin on January 2nd last. Advertisement Ireland Father, farmer, academic, accused: A profile of Di... Read More Gardai indicated that Coleman was brought to Tallaght Garda Station. However, he ran out a side door of the station on to a busy motorway while being followed by gardai. He successfully escaped but surrendered by arrangement five days later. Coleman apologised for his actions. Ms Justice Siobhan Lankford said that a custodial sentence needed to be imposed in the case. She said that a fine was not a suitable option for such a serious case. She jailed Coleman for six months with the last two months suspended. She backdated the sentence to January 7th when Mr Coleman first entered Garda custody. Cecile Richards, the former president of Planned Parenthood died on Monday at the age of 67 after battling brain cancer. "This morning our beloved Cecile passed away at home, surrounded by her family and her ever-loyal dog, Ollie," Richards' family wrote in a statement. "Our hearts are broken today but no words can do justice to the joy she brought to our lives." Richards led Planned Parenthood as its president from 2006 to 2018, significantly elevating the organization's profile despite ongoing criticism from conservatives and anti-abortion activists who repeatedly called for its defunding. Richards, the daughter of former Texas Governor Ann Richards, a political icon in her own right, rose to national prominence in 2015 after anti-abortion activists released secretly recorded videos purportedly showing Planned Parenthood workers discussing the sale of fetal tissue. While Planned Parenthood maintained the recordings were doctored, they triggered numerous congressional and state investigations, none of which substantiated the claims. The controversy culminated in an hours-long, widely publicized hearing where Richards was intensely questioned by House Republicans. After leaving Planned Parenthood in 2018, Richards co-founded Supermajority, an organization focused on advancing women's leadership. "Together, we have made real progress in this country, expanding access to services and making reproductive rights a central priority of our nation's health care system," Richards said in January 2018 when she announced she was stepping down. "I'm deeply proud of the progress we've made for the millions of people Planned Parenthood health centers serve across the country each year." Following the U.S. Supreme Court's 2022 decision to overturn Roe v. Wadecentered on state-level abortion restrictions Richards had long fought againstshe launched Charley, a bot designed to provide accurate information to those seeking abortions, and Abortion in America, a campaign highlighting personal stories of post-Roe abortions. In late 2024, Richards was honored with the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Joe Biden, the nation's highest civilian award. "One of the biggest lessons I've learned as a lifelong organizer is that there are no permanent wins and no permanent losses. We have to fight for every inch of progress, and we can't take anything for granted," Richards wrote on Instagram after receiving the honor. "That's especially true in challenging moments like the one we find ourselves in now. But what a joy and a privilege it is to be part of the long struggle to make our country a fairer and more hopeful place." After her brain cancer diagnosis in 2023, Richards remained dedicated to advancing left-wing causes. She served as co-chair of American Bridge 21st Century, a prominent Democratic network with a powerful Super PAC, and delivered a speech at the 2024 Democratic National Convention endorsing Kamala Harris. Richards also joined Kate Cox, a Texas woman who sued after being denied a medically necessary abortion, in casting Texas's ceremonial votes for Harris. The British government has announced the Stormont Brake mechanism of the Windsor Framework will not be pulled to halt the appliance of updated EU rules on packaging and labelling of chemicals which apply in Northern Ireland. Northern Secretary Hilary Benn said the tests had not been met to initiate the oversight mechanism contained in the UK and EUs deal over post-Brexit trading arrangements. Advertisement DUP leader Gavin Robinson urged the British government to stand up for Northern Ireland, insisting the decision is wrong. Unionist MLAs requested the British government pull the Stormont Brake over new EU rules on the labelling of chemicals (Liam McBurney/PA) But the Norths First Minister, Michelle ONeill, called for pragmatism in dealing with trading issues which arose as a result of Brexit. Unionists in the Northern Assembly had requested in December that the UK government consider applying the brake over the EU amending legislation which will apply to the labelling and packaging of chemicals such as sealants, house cleaning materials or industrial chemicals. This had required Mr Benn to consider if the legal tests to trigger the mechanism had been met. Advertisement The UK government can apply the brake if it is satisfied the amending legislation would have a significant impact on the everyday life of communities in Northern Ireland that is liable to persist. But Mr Benn wrote to the Speaker of the Assembly Edwin Poots on Monday to state that he did not believe the legal test had been met. The Northern Secretary pointed out that the labelling requirements for chemicals in Northern Ireland are already different from the rest of the UK, because it is a devolved matter. Mr Benn also set out a commitment that the British government will take future steps necessary to avoid regulatory barriers between Britain and Northern Ireland arising from the legislation. Advertisement He said: I underline the governments commitment to ensuring, through the application of our future approach on labelling and packaging of chemicals across the United Kingdom, we will take the steps necessary to avoid new regulatory barriers arising from our classification, labelling and packaging regimes for chemicals that would undermine supplies into Northern Ireland. The Northern Ireland Secretary said the submission he had received from Stormonts Windsor Framework Democratic Scrutiny Committee had raised concerns over a potential risk that the updated EU rules would lead to companies withdrawing from Northern Ireland. He said: The governments assessment is that the overwhelming majority of businesses within the UK internal market also trade with the EU market. As such there is a strong ongoing incentive for businesses who supply across the UK internal market to ensure they have made the relevant changes in order to continue to serve those markets. Advertisement Indeed, in the committee submission, no examples have been given of specific products that might no longer be available in Northern Ireland or of how this might affect the everyday life of communities. DUP leader Gavin Robinson said the British governments decision was a mistake (Brian Lawless/PA) DUP leader Mr Robinson responded: The governments decision not to activate the Stormont Brake on this important issue is wrong. The Secretary of States decision to ignore publicly presented evidence from industry representatives about the updated EU law on chemical labelling is a grave mistake that will exacerbate trade friction between Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Trade flows in chemicals between Great Britain and Northern Ireland are worth in the region of 1 billion (1.2 billion) annually. Advertisement Industry experts have warned that the harmful consequences of this regulation will be increased costs for manufacturers and new barriers to trade within the United Kingdom. First Minister Michelle ONeill called for pragmatism over post-Brexit trading issues (Liam McBurney/PA) But speaking to MLAs in the Northern Ireland Assembly, Ms ONeill said: The Secretary of State has made his call in terms of the Stormont Brake. We just need to find ways to make things work. Where there is pragmatism required, lets find ways to do that. The Windsor Framework, and its predecessor the Northern Ireland (NI) Protocol, require checks and customs paperwork on goods moving from Great Britain into Northern Ireland. Under the arrangements, which were designed to ensure no hardening of the land border in Ireland post-Brexit, Northern Ireland continues to follow many EU trade and customs rules. The brake is a mechanism that allows a minimum of 30 Stormont MLAs, from at least two parties, to refer a proposed EU law change to the UK government. Ireland Unionists back first triggering of Stormont Brake Read More The British government then makes an assessment of the proposed change on Northern Ireland and can ultimately veto its application in the region. If the UK government had ruled that the brake had been appropriately pulled, it would have directly engaged with the EU to find a solution. The DUP, backed by other unionists, initiated the oversight mechanism in December. Irish billionaire wealth increased by 13 billion in 2024, amounting to an increase of 35.6 million per day. According to Oxfam, Irish billionaire wealth could carpet the whole of Phoenix Park in 50 notes almost 1.5 times over. Advertisement There were two new billionaires in Ireland in 2024, and since 2019, Irish billionaire wealth has increased by 4.2 billion. It takes just five days for someone in the top one per cent to make what the average person in the bottom 50 per cent makes all year, Oxfam said. On Monday, Oxfam published Takers Not Makers as business elites gathered in the Swiss resort town of Davos, and as billionaire Donald Trump, backed by the worlds richest man Elon Musk, is inaugurated as President of the United States. Globally, billionaire wealth increased by $2 trillion in 2024, three times faster than the year before. Advertisement Meanwhile, the number of people living in poverty has barely changed since 1990, Oxfam said. It added that there were 204 newly minted billionaires in 2024, nearly four every week. The NGO predict that there will be at least five trillionaires a decade from now. Jim Clarken, chief executive of Oxfam Ireland, said that the capture of our global economy by a privileged few has reached heights once considered unimaginable. Advertisement The failure to stop billionaires is now spawning soon-to-be trillionaires. Not only has the rate of billionaire wealth accumulation accelerated - by three times - but so too has their power, he said. Billionaires increasingly control not just economies but narratives and that is why in this report we challenge the popular perception that their vast wealth is deserved or based on merit. Oxfam calculates that 36 per cent of billionaire wealth is now inherited. This report shows how extreme wealth is not simply a function of talent or ingenuity alone but built on the back of the work of countless others and taxpayer investment. Mr Clarken also noted that Trumps team is set to be the richest ever to run a US government, worth more than $450 billion. Advertisement There are at least 13 billionaires appointed to jobs in his administration. And even if you exclude Elon Musk, Trump's cabinet would be the richest in history, he said. We are witnessing the rise of a modern oligarchy, where wealth is used to build and consolidate political power and vice versa. Meanwhile, global poverty remains at 1990 levels. We must first acknowledge the disparity and set about reversing the trend. The report also claimed that the unequal world is built on a legacy of historical colonialism and how colonialism now has a modern-day form, with the global economy still structured in ways that lead to wealth flowing from the Global South to the Global North. The richest one per cent in the Global North countries such as the United States, United Kingdom and France extracted $30 million an hour from the Global South through the financial system in 2023, it said. Advertisement It added that the Global North countries control 69 per cent of global wealth, 77 per cent of billionaire wealth and are home to 68 per cent of billionaires, despite making up just 21 per cent of the global population. The average Belgian, according to the report, has around 180 times more voting power in the largest arm of the World Bank than the average Ethiopian. Oxfam Ireland have urged the next Government to tax extreme wealth to pay for public services, honour international commitments and to broaden the countrys tax base. It has also asked them to lead efforts for a more multilateral world by advocating for debt cancellation, democratisation of international institutions like the UN, the World Bank and the IMF and regulate corporations to ensure living wages and fair-trade practices. The charity has further requested the next Government commit to climate justice by ramping up domestic climate action and providing greater financial support for countries in the Global South experiencing climate breakdown and related hunger and conflict. Its time for governments to stop protecting billionaires and to prioritise investing in people. A fairer, more equal world is essential for a liveable planet, global democracy and the eradication of poverty. Urgent change is needed, Mr Clarken said. Three men will find out next month whether they are guilty of murdering a gunman who was beaten to death when he opened fire and fatally wounded Jason Hennessy Snr in a busy restaurant on Christmas Eve 2023. Mr Justice Kerida Naidoo, presiding at the three-judge, non-jury Special Criminal Court, on Monday adjourned the case until February 17th, after telling the parties that the court is not yet in a position to deliver a judgment. Advertisement The trial, which took place last year, heard that Tristan Sherry and a second gunman entered Browne's Steakhouse in Blanchardstown on December 24th, 2023 where Jason Hennessy snr and about 30 others had gathered. Sherry shot and fatally wounded Hennessy Snr before himself being dragged to the ground and beaten to death. The prosecution said Sherry died from blunt force injuries and stab wounds which were delivered while Sherry lay on the ground having been disarmed. Defence lawyers suggested that their clients had acted out of fear, self-defence or under provocation due to Sherry coming into the restaurant and opening fire on a group of people, including children, who had gathered for a Christmas party. Three men are charged with Sherry's murder. They are Noah Musueni (18), of Corduff Park, Blanchardstown; David Amah (19), of Hazel Grove, Portrane Road, Donabate, Dublin; and Michael Andrecut (23), of Sheephill Avenue, Blanchardstown. Jonas Kabangu (19), of Corduff Park, Blanchardstown, and 18-year-old Diarmuid O'Brien, of Corduff Place, Blanchardstown, are charged with violent disorder at the same location on that date. Jason Hennessy's Snr's son, Brandon Hennessy (21), of Sheephill Avenue, Dublin 15 is also charged with violent disorder. All accused have pleaded not guilty. Up to 150 Ukrainian men, women and children are being moved from their Carlow accommodation after a reprieve of one month by the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth. The residents at a former restaurant known as Toughers several kilometres outside Carlow town were informed by the Department that they must leave the premises due to fire and safety concerns following site inspections by an independent inspections company. Advertisement The premise was converted to accommodate Ukrainian International Protection Applicants in 2022 when Russia began their invasion of the country. The group had been due to move in the week leading up to Christmas but were given an additional month up until the end of this month following discussions by chief executive of Carlow County Council Coilin OReilly, the Department and residents. Mr OReilly subsequently wrote to all councillors in Carlow informing them that the current accommodation contract had been extended until January 31st, this year. However, the residents have been protesting both inside and outside council buildings over the pending move they are opposed to, as many have secured jobs in Carlow and surrounding areas along with their children attending schools and South East Technological University located in the town. Advertisement Many of the families are being moved to various parts of the country such as Dublin, Limerick, Wexford, Tipperary and Kilkenny. A Department spokesperson said their relocations team will be in contact in the next two weeks with the residents to provide details of a new moving date and the state contracted accommodation that will be provided to those who still need it at the end of January". Ireland Gardai admit long vetting waits resulting in candi... Read More Unfortunately due to the challenges we are facing in Ireland, as a result of the huge numbers of people who have come here seeking accommodation, we cannot respond to requests for accommodation of a certain type or location, the spokesperson added. Olah Maxkamov (35) who is six-months-pregnant and her husband Temur (32) along with their five-year-old son, her 90-year-old grandmother, her mother-in-law and pet dog which they brought from Kyiv when they fled Ukraine in August 2022, are one of the families who have received Department correspondence informing them they are being moved to a Bed and Breakfast in Carlow. Advertisement Mr Maxkamov, while thankful he and his family were given an extra month to find accommodation in the locality, he explained: Its so hard, weve been looking for a place to live for more than five months in Carlow and now were looking across other counties. The Maxkamovs have been told by the Department that if they refuse this offer of relocation to alternative suitable accommodation they will not receive further offers from them. The Department also reiterated that they cannot provide accommodation for pets at future facilities. A new law restricting ownership of XL bully dogs is disproportionate and too vague to impose a criminal liability on owners who fail to comply, animal welfare organisations allege in High Court proceedings. The six charities say the ban, due to come into force on February 1st, is overly broad and lacks appropriate safeguards for existing owners who may have their dog seized if not in possession of an exemption certificate. Advertisement Last October it became illegal to import, breed, rehome or resell XL bully dogs, which are the largest of the American bully breed. However, animal shelters and charities with XL bully dogs already in their facilities were given until February 1st to re-home or export them. A ban on owning the breed without an exemption certificate also comes into force at the beginning of next month. Local authorities can grant certificates for the dogs only if they are licenced, microchipped and neutered. An owner found to be in breach of the regulations by keeping an XL Bully after February 1st without an exemption certificate will have committed a criminal offence under the 1986 Control of Dogs Act. The animal may be seized and euthanised and the owner subject to imprisonment of up to three months and/or a fine. Advertisement The regulations outlaw uncertified ownership of a dog that substantially meets a specified physical conformation standard. The court action brought by My Lovely Horse Rescue, Clare Animal Welfare, Working Animal Guardians, Dogs Angels Ireland, Wicklow Animal Welfare and the Haven Rescue alleges the regulations underpinning the ban are unlawful and void for uncertainty. The charities claim Minister for Rural and Community Development Heather Humphreys has failed to publish the basis upon which she formed the view that XL bullies are a danger to the public. They allege the regulations definition of an XL bully, the largest of the American bully breed, is artificial and, unlike the similar UK ban, does not provide exceptions for dogs under a certain height. Advertisement In an affidavit, the founder of My Lovely Horse Rescue told the court the charity has seen a substantial increase in requests to surrender bully-type dogs, with up to 10 requests per day. Martina Kenny said bully breeds in general have been negatively impacted by the new law, with more abandonments and it becoming more difficult to rehome them. She said the charity is regularly contacted by owners of other bully dogs that are worried their pets will be wrongly misinterpreted by dog wardens. The emotional pressure on people working in rescues has been catastrophic as we are witnessing dogs who are not a danger to the public being euthanised, said Ms Kenny. The constant feeling of hopelessness when healthy dogs with no behavioural issues are being euthanised is very challenging to accept, she said. Advertisement Ms Kenny claimed to have first-hand knowledge of two pitbull dogs being euthanised at local county pounds due to having been wrongly identified as XL bullies. The government website providing guidance on the new regulations initially included photos of dogs that were not XL bullies, which led to considerable confusion," she claimed, adding that the pictures have since been removed. Ms Kenny said the Minister for Rural and Community Development has failed to adopt a ban in line with that recently introduced in the UK, which provides definitive minimum dog heights and provides an appeals process during which a dog is not euthanised. Ireland XL Bully dogs to be banned in Ireland under new le... Read More Irelands lack of an appeals process is most concerning when the regulations are confusing and ambiguous, she said. On Monday, Mr Justice Conleth Bradley permitted the charities to pursue their judicial review case in the High Court. Advertisement Sunniva McDonagh SC, instructed by KOD Lyons solicitor Stephen Kirwan, said her side would not ask the court to halt the impending ban on rehoming XL bully dogs while the Minister and State were not on notice of the application. She said she will write to the other side asking for the move to be delayed beyond February 1st. If this fails the charities may need to seek an injunction when the case returns next week, she said. Chinas vice president held meetings with the US vice president-elect and US business leaders, including Elon Musk, in Washington on the eve of Donald Trumps inauguration, as the two major powers tackle ongoing tensions over trade and technology. Han Zheng, who serves as an envoy for Chinese President Xi Jinping at the inauguration, discussed a range of topics including fentanyl, balancing trade and regional stability with JD Vance, according to the Trump transition team. Advertisement Mr Han stressed the extensive common interests and enormous space of cooperation the United States and China share in economic and trade relations despite some disagreements and frictions, according to a readout of his meeting with Mr Vance issued by the Chinese Foreign Ministry on Monday. President-elect Donald Trump and vice president-elect JD Vance. Photo: AP/Evan Vucci. Mr Trump has threatened to impose tariffs and other measures against China in his second term, while also hinting and ways in which the two rival powers could cooperate on issues such as regional conflicts and curbing the export of substances used in the production of fentanyl. In an unorthodox move, Mr Trump last month invited Xi Jinping to his inauguration. No head of state has previously made an official visit to the US for the inauguration, according to State Department historical records. Advertisement While Mr Xi will not personally attend the event, he and Mr Trump held a phone call on Friday during which they discussed trade, fentanyl and TikTok. The Chinese social media app restored service to users in the US on Sunday, just hours after it went dark in response to a federal ban, which Mr Trump said he would pause by executive order on Monday. Mr Han also met with Mr Musk and other top US business executives, including representatives of the US-China Business Council and the US Chamber of Commerce in Washington, DC, according to the Chinese Foreign Ministry. The Chinese vice president reiterated promises for an improved business environment for foreign firms in China and expressed hopes that US companies will continue expanding investment in the country. Former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and MP John McDonnell agreed to be interviewed under caution by police following a pro-Palestinian rally in central London on Saturday, it has been reported. The BBC first reported that Mr Corbyn, 75, the MP for Islington North, and Mr McDonnell, 73, who represents Hayes and Harlington, would be interviewed. Advertisement The MPs, who were pictured at the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) protest on Saturday, both sit in Parliament as independents. The Metropolitan Police said three men, aged 75, 73 and 61, had agreed to attend voluntarily at a police station in central London to be interviewed under caution on Sunday afternoon. Mr Corbyn declined to comment when contacted by the PA news agency. Mr McDonnell has also been approached for comment. Nine other people have been charged with public order offences following the protest. Advertisement The Metropolitan Police announced on Saturday that 77 people had been arrested the highest number across more than 20 national PSC protests since October 2023. Some 65 people were detained for a breach of conditions, five for public order offences, two for obstructing police, one for supporting a proscribed organisation, one for inciting racial hatred, one for common assault, one for assault on an emergency worker and one for sexual assault. The force said on Sunday that 24 people have been bailed and 48 remain in custody. Mr Corbyns brother Piers Corbyn, 77, of Elephant and Castle, south-east London, has been charged with a public order offence. Advertisement The eight other people charged with public order offences are: Angela Zelter, 73, of Knighton, Powys; Tessa Roe-Stanton, 20, Starr Thomas, 20, Christian Adair, 23, all from Brockley, south-east London; Monday Rosenfeld, 21, of Limehouse, east London; Matthew Brennan, 44, of St George, Bristol; David Ok, 40, of Kilburn, north-west London; and Christopher Nineham, 62, of Bow, east London. World Chinese presidents envoy meets with Vance and Mus... Read More They will appear at Westminster Magistrates Court in the coming days, police said. Commander Adam Slonecki said: Yesterday we saw a deliberate effort, including by protest organisers, to breach conditions and attempt to march out of Whitehall. This was a serious escalation in criminality and one which we are taking incredibly seriously. Officers have worked around the clock to pursue those involved. The death toll from a petrol tanker explosion in north-central Nigeria has risen to 98, the countrys emergency response agency said. The blast happened in the early hours of Saturday near the Suleja area of Niger state after individuals attempted to transfer petrol from a crashed oil tanker into another truck using a generator. Advertisement The fuel transfer sparked the explosion, resulting in the deaths of those transferring the petrol and bystanders. Hussaini Isah, the National Emergency Management Agencys head of operation for Niger State, told the Associated Press on Monday that there is a possibility that the death toll could still rise. The death toll keeps changing, he said. On Sunday, Mr Isah said the blast claimed many victims because a crowd had gathered at the scene, including people taking pictures, bystanders and others attempting to scoop fuel. Advertisement Petrol prices in Africas most populous country have soared after the administration of President Bola Tinubu removed subsidies on the product more than a year ago in an attempt to channel the resources to more developmental purposes. However, the policy has caused untoward hardship. Scooping petrol from a fallen tanker is common in Nigeria as some people see it as an opportunity to get free product that they could either use or resell for a profit. Windy and dry conditions have returned to Southern California, raising the risk of new wildfires sparking as firefighters continue to battle two major blazes in the Los Angeles area that started in similar weather nearly two weeks ago. Gusts could peak at 70mph along the coast and 100mph in the mountains and foothills during extreme fire weather that is expected to last through to Tuesday. Advertisement The National Weather Service issued a warning of a particularly dangerous situation for parts of Los Angeles and Ventura counties from Monday afternoon through Tuesday morning due to low humidity and damaging Santa Ana winds. Key messages for the extreme fire weather expected in southern California today (1/20) and tomorrow (1/21). pic.twitter.com/oTayqSZyb8 NWS Storm Prediction Center (@NWSSPC) January 20, 2025 The conditions are ripe for explosive fire growth should a fire start, said Andrew Rorke, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Oxnard. Authorities urged people not to mow their lawns to prevent sparking a fire, nor start any fires that could get out of control. They also asked residents to review their evacuation plans and ready emergency kits and be on the lookout for any new blazes and report them quickly. Advertisement David Acuna, a spokesman with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, said the biggest concerns are the Palisades and Eaton Fires breaking their containment lines and a new blaze starting. Dont do things to start another fire so we can focus on the mitigation of the current fires, Mr Acuna said. The low humidity, bone-dry vegetation and strong Santa Ana winds come as firefighters continue to battle two major blazes in the Los Angeles area, the Palisades and Eaton fires, which have destroyed more than 14,000 structures since they broke out during fierce winds on January 7. The Palisades fire was 59% contained on Monday and the Eaton fire 87% contained, according to fire officials. Advertisement More evacuation orders were lifted on Monday for Pacific Palisades and authorities said only residents would be allowed to get back in after showing proof of residency at a checkpoint. Two Individuals from Oregon Arrested for Impersonating Firefighters within Palisades Fire On Saturday, January 18, 2025, Los Angeles County Sheriffs Major Crimes Bureau investigators were contacted regarding an arrest of two suspects for impersonation of firefighters. An LAPD pic.twitter.com/K9jGcfVW4Q LA County Sheriffs (@LASDHQ) January 19, 2025 Over the weekend, two men impersonating firefighters attempted to enter an evacuation zone for the Palisades Fire, according to the Los Angeles County sheriffs department. Los Angeles mayor Karen Bass said the city was prepared for any possible new fires and warned the strong winds could disperse ash from existing fire zones across Southern California. She urged Angelenos to visit lacity.gov to learn about ways to protect themselves from toxic air during Santa Ana winds. Advertisement Cal Fire and local fire departments have positioned fire engines, water-dropping aircraft and hand crews across the region to enable a quick response should a new fire break out, Mr Acuna said. *5th Update* for Palisades Fire, Monday, January 20th, 2025: Repopulation and Safety Guidelines The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department is announcing an update for repopulation of communities impacted by the Palisades Fire effective PM on Monday, January 20, 2025. The pic.twitter.com/I7N1aUCp3I LA County Sheriffs (@LASDHQ) January 20, 2025 Acuna said Cal Fire had extra fire crews in Kern and Riverside counties. Los Angeles fire officials said the department has all available engines ready and that 30 of them had been positioned in fire risk areas. The agency also ordered the outgoing shift of about 1,000 firefighters to remain on duty to staff the extra engines. Donald Trump is due to be sworn in as Americas 47th president, capping a remarkable comeback after he overcame impeachments, criminal indictments and two assassination attempts to win another term in the White House. Mr Trump will take charge for his second term as Republicans assume unified control of Washington and set out to reshape the countrys institutions. Advertisement He and his wife, Melania, were greeted at the North Portico of the executive mansion by outgoing President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden for the customary tea and coffee reception. (Evan Vucci/AP) Vice President Kamala Vance and Vice President-elect JD Vance depart the White House (Alex Brandon/AP) Vice President Kamala Harris and second gentleman Doug Emhoff stand before greeting Vice President-elect JD Vance and Usha Vance (Evan Vucci/AP) President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden (Evan Vucci/AP) (Evan Vucci/AP) Mr Trump, who spent Saturday and Sunday night at Blair House across from the White House, began the day alongside much of his incoming cabinet with a prayer service at St Johns Episcopal Church. President-elect Donald Trump talks with Vice President-elect JD Vance and Usha Vance as he arrives for a service at St Johns Church in Washington (Evan Vucci/AP) President-elect Donald Trump arrives for the service (Evan Vucci/AP) Defence secretary nominee Pete Hegseth arrives at St Johns Church (Evan Vucci/AP) Frigid weather is rewriting the pageantry of the day. Mr Trumps swearing-in was moved indoors to the Capitol Rotunda the first time this has happened in 40 years and the inaugural parade was replaced by an event at a city arena. Choir students from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln practice before the 60th Presidential Inauguration (Chip Somodevilla/Pool Photo via AP) President Donald Trump acknowledges the audience after taking the oath of office as his wife Melania, left, and daughter Tiffany watch during inauguration ceremonies swearing in Trump as the 45th president of the United States on the west front of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC. January 20, 2017. Pool/Getty Images Jose Antonio Rodriguez has seen the reports about President-elect Donald Trumps plans for mass deportations hes heard the rumors about officers raiding work sites, schools and churches to round up immigrants like himself. He just doesnt believe them. Esos son comentarios falsos, Rodriguez says as he stands outside a Home Depot in the Heights on a rainy Wednesday morning, trying to flag down pickup trucks whose drivers may be looking for workers. Thats fake news. Trump, who takes his oath of office Monday morning, campaigned on promises to deport the roughly 11 million immigrants living in the United States illegally. While immigration experts have questioned the feasibility of such an undertaking, and the specifics of Trumps plans have not been made public, the first few days of his presidency could demonstrate just how heavily Trump is willing to crack down on immigration in his second term. Advertisement Article continues below this ad The Houston area is believed to be home to nearly 600,000 immigrants living here illegally who could be subject to deportation. Despite Trumps rhetoric, Rodriguez, 55, was one of several immigrants to speak with the Houston Chronicle who were preparing for his presidency with a shrug, believing that if they follow the law, they will be safe. Deportations in the United States have always been targeted towards criminals, said Rodriguez, a Honduran immigrant who has lived in Houston for over a year, in Spanish. And being an immigrant doesnt make you a criminal. LAKEN RILEY ACT: Migrant detention bill before U.S. Senate could give Texas more sway over immigration policy Not everyone is so confident. Multiple immigration attorneys told the Chronicle their phones havent stopped ringing since Trump was elected in November, as many immigrants, some of whom have been living in the country for decades, scramble to obtain some sort of legal status or, at the very least, get their affairs in order in the event they are deported. Advertisement Article continues below this ad These are people who have been in the United States well over 10 years, theyve married U.S. citizens or are parents of citizens, they work, they pay taxes, theyve bought homes, theyre teachers and nurses, said Elizabeth Mendoza, a longtime Houston immigration attorney. And these people are very, very frightened of what Trumps immigration policies could do to them and their families, Mendoza said. A person holds a sign that reads "Mass Deportation Now" on the third day of the Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum on July 17, 2024 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Delegates, politicians, and the Republican faithful are in Milwaukee for the annual convention, concluding with former President Donald Trump accepting his party's presidential nomination. The RNC takes place from July 15-18. Joe Raedle/Getty Images Mass deportations in Houston? Mendoza said she anticipates a vast difference between rhetoric and reality, given the exorbitant costs and logistical obstacles associated with mass deportations, though she agrees with the expectation that immigration officers will first target people who have been ordered removed and have a criminal record. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Though exact statistics are not available, an estimated 4 million immigrants living in the U.S. illegally are believed to come from Mexico. Juan Carlos Hernandez Wocker, the deputy consul at the Mexican Consulate in Houston, said Friday that the Mexican government is always prepared to receive Mexican citizens back home, but declined to specify how the country might handle the deportations of people from other countries. He said the consulate is also prepared to offer Mexican nationals legal advice and representation. Mendoza, however, fears for immigrants who may lose legal statuses under Trumps administration. Many of her clients are Dreamers recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which allows people who came to the country when they were children to live and work in the U.S. without fear of deportation or have other Temporary Protected Statuses. There were nearly 90,000 DACA recipients living in Texas as of September, according to the Migration Policy Institute, and over 530,000 nationwide. You have these subsets of immigrants who are at risk of losing protections theyve had for decades, in some cases, and they become completely vulnerable, Mendoza said. So thats very fearful because our understanding is that those programs are on the chopping block. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Immigration workshops and legal advice Mendoza and other immigration attorneys have been hosting know your rights workshops for immigrants at churches across Houston in recent months. They are advising immigrants to keep any identifying documents on their person at all times and pursue any legal status that they may be eligible for such as citizenship through marriage or family as soon as possible. Rosemary Vega, one of the immigration attorneys leading the educational workshops, said one of the most common questions she gets is how parents can ensure their children are placed with a trusted guardian if they get deported. She said now is the time for those parents to get a power of attorney to leave their child with someone they trust if the parent should get deported. Over 300,000 children in the Houston area could be left without at least one of their parents if Trumps plans for mass deportations were carried out to their fullest extent, according to some estimates. They need to start thinking about that ahead of time, Vega said. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Not all immigrants are worried At two Home Depots in Houston last week, however, immigrants who spoke to the Chronicle all of whom were men who had immigrated to the United States alone seemed less concerned with potential sweeps than where they would land their next job. Weeks can go by between gigs, leaving some of them sleeping on the street or in shelters. Yhonny David Lisboa, 42, said he had little choice but to keep staking out the Home Depot in the Heights for work, regardless of potential consequences. An asylum seeker from Venezuela who has been staying at a Houston shelter for four months, Lisboa said he had never run afoul of the law and planned to comply with all of his mandated court dates. Its a little bit scary, Lisboa said in Spanish, but I dont have any other option but to wait. Dagoberto Cruz, 43, is also of the opinion that Trumps administration will target immigrants who cause problems, regardless of Trumps repeated promises to launch the largest deportation operation in the history of our country. The Honduran immigrant stood with half a dozen other men under a tree in the parking lot of a Home Depot in Northside, bemoaning the inconsistency of work and their frequent exploitation by contractors, who often renege on wages. There was little talk about potential raids. No one driving by stopped their truck to look for workers. An Indian court has sentenced a police volunteer to life in prison after finding him guilty of the rape and killing of a trainee doctor last year. The crime sparked nationwide protests over inadequate safety for women and led to a swift trial in the countrys slow-moving justice system. Advertisement Sanjay Roy, 33, who has consistently maintained his innocence, can appeal against the judgment in a higher court. The killing of the 31-year-old physician while she was on duty at a hospital in the eastern city of Kolkata highlighted the chronic issue of violence against women in India. Police discovered the womans body at the RG Kar Medical College and Hospitals seminar hall last August 9. A post-mortem examination found she had been strangled and sexually assaulted. Federal police, who investigated the case, said the crime deserved the death penalty. Parents of the victim had also sought the death penalty for Roy and said they suspected more people were involved in the crime. Advertisement The case was initially investigated by Kolkata police but later the court handed over the probe to federal investigators after state government officers were accused of mishandling the inquiry. After the assault, doctors and medical students across India held protests and rallies demanding better security. Thousands of women also protested in the streets demanding swift justice for the victim. Roy was arrested a day after the crime, and arguments in the case began in November. The assault prompted Indias Supreme Court to set up a national task force to suggest ways to enhance safety in government hospitals. Many crimes against women go unreported in India due to the stigma surrounding sexual violence, as well as a lack of faith in the police. Womens rights activists say the problem is particularly acute in rural areas, where communities sometimes shame victims of sexual assault and families worry about their social standing. Advertisement In 2012, the gang rape and killing of a 23-year-old student on a New Delhi bus galvanised massive protests across India. It inspired legislators to order harsher penalties for such crimes, as well as the creation of fast-track courts dedicated to rape cases. The government also introduced the death penalty for repeat offenders. Four men sentenced to death for the 2012 crime were hanged in 2020. The rape law amended in 2013 also criminalised stalking and voyeurism and lowered the age at which a person can be tried as an adult from 18 to 16. Activists say new sentencing requirements have not deterred rapes and the number of recorded rape cases has increased. In 2022, police recorded 31,516 reports of rape a 20% jump from 2021, according to the National Crime Records Bureau. An Italian journalist who was detained in Iran has said she assumed she would have been held much longer, and said her boyfriends contact with Elon Musk might have been fundamental to her release. In her first televised interview since her release on January 8, Cecilia Sala referred to the three-nation negotiation that resulted in her freedom after 21 days in detention. Advertisement Ms Sala, 29, was arrested in Tehran just days after Italy detained an Iranian national, Mohammad Abedini, on a US warrant, and their fates became intertwined. After three weeks of negotiations that Premier Giorgia Meloni called diplomatic triangulation, Ms Sala went home and Mr Abedini returned to Iran. The journalist with the Chora Media podcast platform and Il Foglio daily said her boyfriend Daniele Ranieri had contacted Mr Musks Italy representative, Andrea Stroppa, after noting a report that the Tesla and SpaceX chief had met with Irans UN ambassador, suggesting he had contacts with Tehran. The United States and Iran do not have diplomatic relations. Advertisement Cecilia Sala was detained on December 19 as she was reporting in Iran (Filippo Attili, Italian Government Office via AP) Ms Sala told the talk show Che Tempo Che Fa (What the Weathers Like): You understand that its a case that concerns Iran, Italy, and the United States, so Elon Musk becomes a fundamental person. The only response Daniele got from Andrea Stroppa was he is informed. After Ms Sala was released, Mr Musk tweeted that he played a small role in her liberation. But referring to a New York Times story about his role, Mr Musk said he did not have any interaction with Iran. Just recommended support from the US side. Advertisement While the negotiations were under way, Ms Meloni flew to Mar-a-Lago and met with Trump. Mr Stroppa has since tweeted a photoshopped image of Mr Musk eating a plate of pasta, a reference to a reported promise by Ms Salas mother to cook Mr Musk his favourite pasta the next time he is in Italy, to thank him for his intervention. Ms Sala, deprived of news from the outside world, assumed she would have been held for much longer, given other Western prisoners have been held for over a year or more. She said she also feared Mr Trumps arrival in the White House could have meant a much longer detention, because of regional tensions between Israel and Iran. Advertisement If Donald Trump had come out in the press saying publicly that he wanted particular retaliation against some Iranians, my situation could have been very complicated, she said. I was sure that I would be inside a lot more, because everybody else has been inside a lot more. Kept in solitary confinement without her glasses or contact lenses that she needs to see, Sala said she was interrogated while hooded, for up to 10 hours a day, by someone speaking perfect English and who knew a lot about Italy. She was denied an English-language Koran that she requested and said she felt reality slipping away. There were these neon lights on for 24 hours a day. You lose faith in your head when you dont talk for days. You dont trust your memory and even responding to your interrogators becomes a pretty heavy psychological game, she said. Advertisement Now free, she said she has moments of euphoria tinged with bouts of anxiety that Ill learn how to manage. US president Donald Trumps second inaugural address featured similar themes to his first: a sweeping indictment of the country he inherits and grand promises to fix its problems. Eight years ago, Mr Trump described American carnage and promised to end it immediately. On Monday, he declared that the countrys decline will end immediately, ushering in the golden age of America. Advertisement Mr Trump added a long list of policies that sounded more like a State of the Union speech than an Inauguration Day speech. But the broad themes were fundamentally Trumpian, setting himself up as a national saviour. Breaking tradition, the Republican president delivered his remarks from inside the Capitol Rotunda due to the bitter cold outside. He spoke to several hundred elected officials and pro-Trump VIPs, tech titan Elon Musk among them. Here are some takeaways from the speech: A promise of an American golden age From the start, Mr Trumps speech tracked his campaign rally approach: big promises of national success due to his leadership, with plenty of sweeping indictments of the status quo. Advertisement US president Donald Trump gestures as he is joined on stage by vice president JD Vance after being sworn in as the 47th president of the United States (Morry Gash, Pool/AP) The golden age of America begins right now, Mr Trump said after ticking through the requisite nods to former presidents and other dignitaries. He added several more hyperbolic but nebulous promises: The start of a thrilling new era. A nation greater, stronger and far more exceptional than ever before. Our sovereignty will be reclaimed. Our safety will be restored. The scales of justice will be rebalanced, he continued. Our top priority will be to create a nation that is proud, prosperous and free. The underlying presumption, of course, is that Mr Trump is inheriting what he called throughout the 2024 campaign a failed nation. He vowed to fulfil campaign promises to send troops to the US-Mexico border, boost domestic oil production and impose tariffs to enrich our citizens. Advertisement Trump calls Americas past leadership corrupt Mr Trump described Americas leadership over the last four years as incompetent and corrupt, echoing some of the darker rhetoric he promoted on a daily basis as a presidential candidate on the campaign trail. President Donald Trump shakes hands with former president Joe Biden after being sworn in as the 47th president of the United States (Morry Gash, Pool/AP) He did not call out his predecessor, former president Joe Biden, or any other Democrats by name, but there was no question about whom he was talking. We now have a government that cannot manage even a simple crisis at home, while at the same time stumbling into a continuing catalogue of catastrophic events abroad, Mr Trump claimed. He said the current government protects dangerous immigrants instead of law-abiding citizens, protects foreign borders at the expense of American borders and can no longer deliver basic services in times of emergency. Advertisement And, as he often does, Mr Trump cast himself as uniquely positioned to fix it all. All of this will change starting today, and it will change very quickly, he said. As of Monday, Republicans control all three branches of the federal government. A perceived triumph over dark forces Even before Mr Trump began to speak, a religious and political ally, the Rev Franklin Graham, touched on one of the new presidents most common themes how he has been persecuted by unnamed evil forces. Advertisement President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump depart after the 60th Presidential Inauguration (Kenny Holston/The New York Times via AP, Pool) Mr Graham talked of Mr Trumps enemies and the darkness of the last four years for Mr Trump personally. When Mr Trump spoke, he tied attempts to prosecute him for trying to overturn his election loss to Mr Biden into his allegations of weaponisation of the Justice Department. He then linked them to the attempt to assassinate him in Butler, Pennsylvania, last July. The journey to reclaim our republic has not been an easy one, that I can tell you. Those who wish to stop our cause have tried to take my freedom and, indeed, to take my life, Mr Trump said. The gunman was an apparently disturbed local 20-year-old man who had no documented ties to the Biden administration, the federal government or any other opponents Mr Trump has criticised. Mr Trump then used striking language to explain how he survived. I was saved by God to make America great again, he said to applause. Lying about wildfires Mr Trumps lament about the state of the nation included disbelief that the fires around Los Angeles were still burning without a token defence. Donald Trump is sworn in as the 47th president of the United States by Chief Justice John Roberts (Morry Gash, Pool/AP) That is false. Firefighters have been battling the blazes since they erupted and have made significant progress. The Eaton fire is 87% contained, and the Palisades fire 59% contained, according to CalFire. A peacemaker and a conqueror Mr Trump has vowed to stop foreign wars and celebrated his role in helping implement a ceasefire in Gaza. A peacemaker and a unifier, thats what I want to be, Mr Trump said. Moments later he was vowing to regain the Panama Canal from Panama. Were taking it back! Mr Trump declared, having previously declined to rule out using military force. He pledged to pursue policy that expands our territory and to put US astronauts on Mars a promise undoubtedly popular with Mr Musk, a major Trump supporter who has long pursued the same goal. That cuts to the heart of one of the many contradictions in Mr Trumps movement. The new president revels in a confrontational, macho approach that revved up his support among young men. His political career has been built on seeking conflict and tearing down rivals. Yet Mr Trump has also positioned himself as someone who will end conflicts and usher in peace. A line-up of tech titans The audience in the Capitol Rotunda included some of the nations most powerful tech titans, who have moved to embrace Mr Trump since his victory. Lauren Sanchez, Jeff Bezos, Sundar Pichai and Elon Musk in the Rotunda of the US Capitol in Washington (Chip Somodevilla/Pool Photo via AP) Alongside Mr Musk were Google chief executive Sundar Pichai and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. Facebook owner Mark Zuckerberg and Apple chief executive Tim Cook were also in the audience. Mr Musk, tapped along with fellow entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy to head the Department of Government Efficiency, had prime seating behind Mr Trumps children and in front of many of his cabinet nominees. While the business leaders were allowed to bring their spouses, members of Congress were not. Thousands of Mr Trumps supporters watched a broadcast of the swearing-in at Capitol One Arena instead. A range of reactions behind Trump The Rotunda crowd was heavily tilted in Mr Trumps favour, most of those in attendance clapping and even roaring during his speech. But one prominent seating section former presidents, first ladies and vice presidents was largely muted. Former president Bill Clinton, former secretary of state Hillary Clinton, former president George W Bush, former first lady Laura Bush and former president Barack Obama in the Rotunda of the US Capitol in Washington (Chip Somodevilla/Pool Photo via AP) After Mr Trump repeated his vow to take over the Panama Canal, complete with the false claim that China runs the intercontinental channel, Mr Biden and former vice president Kamala Harris, among others, sat stone-faced, as did former president Bill Clinton. Hillary Clinton, the former secretary of state who lost to Mr Trump in 2016, turned to her left, musing something in former president George W Bushs direction. Mr Bush, who famously joked about the weirdness of Mr Trumps first inaugural address, was smirking. Less than two weeks ago, Mr Trump was largely ignored at former president Jimmy Carters funeral. Mr Trump chatted with former president Barack Obama, but the rest of the former presidents and their wives bypassed him without a greeting. A different scene indoors Inaugural speeches are traditionally delivered on the National Mall in front of tens of thousands of cheering supporters, many of them average voters from across America, who travelled great distances to witness history in person. Not this one. President Donald Trump gives his inaugural address during the 60th Presidential Inauguration in the Rotunda of the US Capitol in Washington (Julia Demaree Nikhinson, Pool/AP) Mr Trump delivered his speech in front of a crowd estimated at only around 600 in the Capitol Rotunda, which was limited to members of Congress, cabinet nominees, Mr Trumps family, business leaders and political VIPs. It is noteworthy that four years ago, violent Trump loyalists stormed the Capitol Rotunda as members of Congress and vice president Mike Pence feared for their lives. Mr Pence attended on Monday, though his wife, former second lady Karen Pence, did not. Speaking to supporters after seeing off Mr Biden outside the Capitol, Mr Trump said he was glad they had moved the ceremony indoors. We were freezing, he told them. You would have been very unhappy. The second second inaugural The speech had controversial moments, but Mr Trump said afterwards that it could have been much more so. Mr Trump headed from the Rotunda to the Capitol Visitor Centre to thank supporters who had watched his address on screens. Then he gave a speech that was longer than the inaugural and much more freewheeling. President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump arrive to speak at Emancipation Hall after the 60th Presidential Inauguration at the US Capitol in Washington (Angelina Katsanis/Pool Photo Photo via AP) The new president said he had wanted to talk about supporting the people arrested for storming the Capitol on January 6 2021. He did not go there, he said, only because first lady Melania Trump and vice president JD Vance talked him out of the idea. They said, Please, sir, its such a beautiful, unifying speech. Please, sir, dont say these things, Mr Trump said. I decided Im not going to make this speech complicated. Im going to make it beautiful. Im going to make it a unifying speech. World In Pictures: Donald Trump sworn in as 47th preside... Read More Still, Mr Trump made clear that he is going to help supporters arrested for storming the Capitol hostages, he called them and said that his actions would speak louder than any words. More than 1,230 people have been charged with federal crimes over the riot, ranging from misdemeanour offences such as trespassing to felonies such as assaulting police officers and seditious conspiracy. Mr Trump also criticised Mr Bidens decision to pardon his family members and members of the January 6 congressional committee. He called out Republican members of that committee former Representatives Liz Cheney of Wyoming and Adam Kinzinger of Illinois by name. The mother of missing American journalist Austin Tice has made her first visit to Syria in almost a decade, saying that the administration of US President-elect Donald Trump has offered support to help find her son. Debra Tice made the remarks at a news conference in Damascus during her first visit to the country since insurgents toppled President Bashar Assad last month. Advertisement She did not present any new findings in the ongoing search. Austin Tice disappeared near the Syrian capital in 2012, and has not been heard from since then apart from a video released weeks later that showed him blindfolded and held by armed men. Tens of thousands of people are believed to have gone missing in Syria since 2011, when countrywide protests against Mr Assad spiralled into a devastating civil war. Ms Tice said she remains hopeful that her son is alive and well (Sana via AP) Outgoing US President Joe Biden told reporters at the White House in December that he believes Washington can bring Mr Tice back, while admitting that we have no direct evidence of his wellbeing. Advertisement Ms Tice said: I have great hope that the Trump administration will sincerely engage in diligent work to bring Austin home. His people have already reached out to me. I havent experienced that for the last four years. Syrias former government had publicly denied that it was holding her son, but Ms Tice hopes she will find him with the help of the new leadership. In December, she said the family had information from an unidentified source that her son was alive and well. She said on Monday she still believes he is alive and in good health. Advertisement Ms Tice received a pledge that the Trump administration would help in the search (Sana via AP) Austin, if you can somehow hear this, I love you. I know youre not giving up, and neither am I, she said. Ms Tice said she had a productive meeting with Ahmad al-Sharaa, the leader of Syrias new administration, who she said was dedicated and determined to bring back Austin and others who have gone missing in the country. She also visited two military intelligence prisons in Syria, known for their mass incarceration and systematic use of torture, which she described as an unbelievably, horrible nightmare. Mr Tice, who is from Houston, has had his work published by The Washington Post, McClatchy newspapers and other outlets. The 18-year-old accused of killing three girls at a dance class in Southport has admitted the attack on the first day of his trial. Axel Rudakubana, of Banks, Lancashire, was to stand trial at Liverpool Crown Court on Monday charged with 16 offences, including three counts of murder. Advertisement Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, Bebe King, six, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, died following the attack at the Taylor Swift-themed class in The Hart Space on a small business park in the seaside town shortly before midday on July 29. The defendant, who was 17 at the time of the attack, admitted their murders as well as the attempted murder of eight other children, who cannot be named for legal reasons, class instructor Leanne Lucas and businessman John Hayes. Mr Justice Goose said Rudakubana will be sentenced on Thursday. President Donald Trump has vowed to rename North Americas tallest peak, Denali in Alaska, as Mount McKinley reviving an idea he floated years ago that at that time saw strong pushback from state political leaders. Mr Trump said he planned to restore the name of a great president, William McKinley, to Mount McKinley, where it should be and where it belongs. President McKinley made our country very rich through tariffs and through talent. Advertisement Mr Trump also announced plans to change the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America. Messages left for Alaskas three-member Republican congressional delegation and Republican Gov Mike Dunleavy were not immediately returned. Alaskas US senators in 2017 vehemently opposed a prior suggestion by Mr Trump that the name Denali be changed back to Mount McKinley. In 2015, then-president Barack Obama changed the name to Denali to reflect the traditions of Alaska natives and acknowledge the preference of many Alaska residents. Advertisement The federal government in recent years has sought to change place names considered disrespectful to native people. Denali is an Athabascan word meaning the high one or the great one. The 20,310-foot mountain, snow-capped and dotted with glaciers, is in Denali National Park and Preserve. A prospector in 1896 dubbed the peak Mount McKinley after President William McKinley, who had never been to Alaska. The name was formally recognised by the US government until Mr Obama changed it in spite of opposition from lawmakers in McKinleys home state of Ohio. Advertisement Mr Trump raised the notion of a name change again during a rally late last year, following his election. McKinley was a very good, maybe a great president, Mr Trump said in December. They took his name off Mount McKinley, right? Thats what they do to people. President Donald Trump (Al Drago/Pool Photo via AP) President Trump also said that he will change the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America, repeating an idea he first brought up earlier this month during a news conference. America will reclaim its rightful place as the greatest, most powerful, most respected nation on Earth, inspiring the awe and admiration of the entire world, he said on Monday. Advertisement A short time from now, we are going to be changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America. World A look at false and misleading claims Trump made d... Read More It is his latest suggestion to redraw the map of the Western Hemisphere. Mr Trump has repeatedly referred to Canada as the 51st State, demanded that Denmark considers ceding Greenland, and called for Panama to return the Panama Canal. Mr Trump also spoke about taking back the vital waterway during his inaugural speech. Latitude 66s ongoing scoping study has identified the K2 deposit as an ideal source of high-grade ore to kick off a standalone mine and generate early cashflows at its flagship Kuusamo Schist Belt Project (KSB) gold-cobalt project in northern Finland. The study is designed to provide a pathway to development and is slated for release by March. It is already supported by an initial resource of 650,000 ounces of gold grading 2.7 grams per tonne (g/t) and 5840 tonnes of cobalt running at 0.08 per cent. A picturesque winter view of the surrounding area at Latitude 66s Kuusamo Schist Belt gold-cobalt project in northern Finland. Perth Mining Consultants identified the high-grade K2 deposit as an ideal starter pit based on some exceptionally strong earlier drill hits including 5.1m grading 78.36g/t gold and 0.10 per cent cobalt, 4.5m running at 57.90g/t gold and 0.06 per cent cobalt and 27.35m with grades of 30.56g/t gold and 0.6 per cent cobalt. The decision to choose K2 as the starting point of a development was further boosted due to its suitable shape and structural makeup for an open pit. The sedimentary-hosted and cigar-shaped deposit has a 330-metre strike that is almost 60m wide and a continuing dip downwards for up to 80m. Premier David Crisafulli has again refused to say what support, if any, the Queensland government might give The Star Entertainment Group as it struggles to avoid administration. Loading Crisafulli said on Tuesday he did not want to make any public statements that might be perceived by the market to reflect on the viability of a company or not. But he reiterated taxpayer support would be available to keep casino workers employed. I dont have any interest in the corporate suits of Star zero, Crisafulli told reporters. My only focus are (sic) on the workers. But I dont know the viability of Star, thats for them to say. To support the workers, Queens Wharf in Brisbane will need to stay open, Crisafulli said, and whoever runs the precinct will need to start delivering what had long been promised. He said Stars obligations in relation to Queens Wharf werent met and the LNP government would also re-examine the negotiations that occurred under Labor. Nine News Queensland announced on Monday the retirement of its long-standing evening news presenter Andrew Lofthouse. Lofthouse said it was time for him to pull back and slow down a little while dealing with a health issue, but described his time with Nine as a dream career. Lofthouse has been an anchor of the Nine Queensland bulletin for 17 years 16 of which were alongside co-presenter Melissa Downes. Andrew Lofthouse and Melissa Downes co-presented Nine News Queensland for 16 years. Ive been in the business a long time [and] Ive done a heck of a lot with Nine, he said. Labor and the Coalition are within sight of a deal to pass new laws against violent hate speech when federal parliament resumes in February, as both major parties vow to act on antisemitism while arguing over which side is tougher on the problem. Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus said the government would move to pass the laws as soon as possible, as he returned to Australia on Monday from a visit to Israel and the West Bank. The comment came after the Coalitions shadow attorney-general, Michaelia Cash, said the Opposition was ready to pass the laws as long as the government agreed to make it a crime to threaten places of worship including synagogues. Attorney General Mark Dreyfus and his Coalition counterpart, Michaelia Cash, both want the hate speech laws passed quickly. While the moves bring an agreement on hate crime within sight, the two sides appear at odds on a proposal from Opposition Leader Peter Dutton on Monday to impose mandatory minimum sentences of one year for displaying the flags of terror groups such as Hamas and Hezbollah, as well as introducing six-year terms for committing a terrorist act. Passengers walk through Terminal C at George Bush Intercontinental Airport on Thursday, Nov. 30, 2023 in Houston. Brett Coomer/Staff photographer Both major airports in the nation's fourth-largest city, Houston Hobby and George Bush International Airport, are to close in anticipation of an Arctic blast headed for Houston. Aviation Director for the Houston Airport System, Jim Szczesniak said both major airports in the city will be closed ahead of the arctic blast that is headed for Texas on Tuesday. In a news conference Sunday night, Szczesniak said the airports will close around midnight Monday and will remain closed the rest of Tuesday. Officials will then monitor the weather on Tuesday to see what their plans will be going into Wednesday, Szczesniak said. Advertisement Article continues below this ad "You do have the ability to go to the airlines and change your flights without changing fees," he said. As the sun set over Gaza, Mohammad M.E Alastal was looking forward to something he hadnt experienced in over a year. Six hours of sleep unbroken by the terrifying thud of Israeli aerial bombardments or emergency calls to rush in to work. Since the war between Hamas and Israel broke out in October 2023, Alastal, a resident doctor in the southern Gazan city of Khan Younis has often made do with just an hour or two of sleep a night. Now he says the ceasefire deal that went into effect on Sunday morning in Gaza (Sunday night AEDT) has brought a sense of relief, and even elation, to Gazans. Gazan doctor Mohammad M.E Alastal has welcomed a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. There is a huge environment of happiness, there is euphoria that the killing will stop, the genocide will stop, that we can live in safety and peace, not seeing body parts and dead bodies, he says by telephone from Khan Younis. This is something we have been dreaming about; we couldnt imagine this day could come. For the last 471 days, every minute here in Gaza has felt like one year. "What brokers and aggregators want is more engagement from certain execs in the broker space," Kingsley continued. "The banks should take a greater focus on what the brokers are doing. It always flows down to the brokers. At the executive level, they should be making sure they're getting the brokers' voice, spending some time with the high-performing brokers, listening to the brokers and getting information from them." The scheme has also had a significant impact on regional Australians, with more than 67,000 using it to buy homes outside major urban centers. Notably, nearly 30,000 of these used the RFHBG specifically. Unit rent trends differ from houses For those renting units, regions like Mandurah, Melbourne - Inner East, and South Australia - South East witnessed the most significant quarterly rent reductions, with drops of 3.8%, 3.4%, and 3.1% respectively. These adjustments represent a weekly decrease of $10-$20. The Tokyo Metropolitan Government has been hosting year-round projection mapping displays at the iconic Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building (No. 1 Building). These displays use light and sound to create vibrant and diverse works of art, transforming the landmark into a new tourism resource that illuminates Tokyos nightscape. The event began in February of 2024 and has been visited by approximately 450,000 people to date. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250107191600/en/ YOASOBI / 'Idol (Photo: Business Wire) Recently, a new projection mapping work featuring YOASOBI's globally acclaimed song "Idol" premiered on Saturday, December 14. The opening day saw a large number of visitors from both Japan and abroad, creating an exciting atmosphere befitting such a popular attraction. Feedback from attendees included comments such as, "I came to Japan as a tourist, and after seeing the weekday version, I wanted to see the weekend version as well, so I came back," "This is the most powerful projection mapping I've ever seen -- it was truly moving," and "YOASOBI's new content had a retro vibe, which I really enjoyed. I dont think youd see something like this very often overseas. Visitors can enjoy projection mapping videos created by renowned domestic and international creators, who have been highly praised at international competitions. This event is quickly evolving into one of Tokyo's must-visit tourist attractions. With its exceptional artistry, cutting-edge technology, and world-class content, this "new nighttime tourism hotspot that lights up Tokyo's nights" is one to watch. Overview of the Work | YOASOBI / "Idol" The song "Idol" by YOASOBI, which gained widespread attention as the theme song for an anime, is a masterpiece that blends rhythmic and vibrant elements with themes of uncertainty and inner conflict. The projection mapping display brings the emotional nuances of this song to life, offering an immersive visual and auditory experience. Creator: Yukihiro Oka (Japan) * Please visit our website for the screening schedule. https://tokyoprojectionmappingproject.jp/en/ About the song YOASOBIs hit song "Idol" broke records by surpassing 800 million cumulative streaming plays in the shortest time ever. It topped several major global charts, including the U.S. Billboard Global Chart Global Excl. U.S., Apple Musics Top 100: Global, and YouTube Music Charts TOP 100 Songs Global, setting unprecedented milestones in J-POP history. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250107191600/en/ Caroline Wilburn is a breaking news reporter for the Houston Chronicle. A graduate of Texas A&M University, Caroline worked as an election stringer for the Associated Press and as a breaking news fellow at the Texas Tribune. At the Tribune, she got a crash course in interpreting data, distilling complicated policy and following statewide trends on a tight deadline. Shes also a skilled video editor and podcast producer. She won a first-place award for audio news production at the Texas Intercollegiate Press Association. 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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 Guillermo Espadas, grocery clerk, restocks bottled water at Kroger Heights, 1035 N Shepherd Dr., as people shop ahead of a winter storm Monday, Jan. 20, 2025, in Houston. Melissa Phillip/Staff Photographer A TxDOT truck used to apply a brine solution to help prevent ice from sticking on roads is shown along the feeder road of SH249 near FM1960 Monday, Jan. 20, 2025, in Houston. Melissa Phillip/Staff Photographer Traffic along Interstate 69 Norther pass the display outside Pappas Bar-B-Q that informs customers the business will close early and be closed the following day as winter weather overnight is expected to bring ice and snow to the Greater Houston area, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025, in Houston. Jason Fochtman/Staff photographer Ani Oates, from left, Aubrey Whigham, Alisa Jones, Amia Jones and Aeva Holmes bundle up as they watch the 47th Annual Original MLK Jr. Day Parade on Monday, Jan. 20, 2025 in Houston. Brett Coomer/Staff photographer Stefanie Lovoi, with her son, Henry Lovoi, 2, shops at Kroger Heights, 1035 N Shepherd Dr., ahead of a winter storm Monday, Jan. 20, 2025, in Houston. Melissa Phillip/Staff Photographer Guillermo Espadas, grocery clerk, restocks bottled water at Kroger Heights, 1035 N Shepherd Dr., as people shop ahead of a winter storm Monday, Jan. 20, 2025, in Houston. Melissa Phillip/Staff Photographer Members of the Most Worshipful Prince Grand Lodge of Texas ride on a float during the the 47th Annual Original MLK Jr. Day Parade on Monday, Jan. 20, 2025 in Houston. Brett Coomer/Staff photographer Parade participants ride on a float waving to the crowd during the 47th Annual Original MLK Jr. Day Parade on Monday, Jan. 20, 2025 in Houston. Brett Coomer/Staff photographer City Council member and Mayor pro-tem Martha Casex-Tatum gets ready to ride on a float for the 47th Annual Original MLK Jr. Day Parade on Monday, Jan. 20, 2025 in Houston. Brett Coomer/Staff photographer Girl Scouts march in the 47th Annual Original MLK Jr. Day Parade on Monday, Jan. 20, 2025 in Houston. Brett Coomer/Staff photographer Follow along here for Day 2 of live updates from Houston Chronicle reporters and meteorologists covering the winter storm. People across the Houston region are wrapping pipes and stocking up on supplies as government and CenterPoint emergency crews prep for what could be the most snow the region has seen in decades. The arctic cold front has already dropped temperatures in Southeast Texas and the region is under a winter storm warning from 6 p.m. Monday to 6 p.m. Tuesday, according to Chronicle meteorologists. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Crews with the city of Conroes Public Works Department are working on a water main break that has left over 150 residents without water. Advertisement Article continues below this ad The break is near Highway 75 and FM 830 and is affecting the subdivisions of the Pines at Seven Coves and Olde Oaks. The city does not have a time when water will be restored to the homes. Chris Martinez, right, looks back at a man sliding down a snow-covered hill on Feb. 15, 2021, at Buffalo Bayou Park in Houston. Next week, Texas will experience its coldest temperatures so far this winter, but Houston likely won't see any snow or ice this time. Jon Shapley/Staff photographer The Houston area is in the grips of an unusually strong winter storm. But there's more than snow falling across the region. Advertisement Article continues below this ad According to the National Weather Service, winter storms can produce snow, freezing rain, smaller droplets of freezing drizzle, sleet (ice pellets), and graupel (snow pellets), depending on conditions in the atmosphere. Monday's storm appeared to unleash a mixture of just about everything. Read our full story about how to tell the difference between snow, sleet and graupel. - Catherine Dominguez Forecasters say snow could stop falling by late tomorrow morning, but freezing conditions will likely keep it around a few days. Advertisement Article continues below this ad If you live north of Houston, probably be around 10am-Noon. South of Houston, probably be the early afternoon. However, any snow on the ground will likely remain until Wednesday or Thursday. NWS Houston (@NWSHouston) January 21, 2025 The National Weather Service is warning residents of deteriorating conditions in the Houston region as reports of snow and sleet begin to roll in for what could be the area's most significant snow storm in decades. Advertisement Article continues below this ad According to the most recent forecast from the weather service, conditions are expected to decline overnight with moderate to heavy mixed precipitation in the morning and early afternoon. Forecasters predict snow totals of 4-6 inches along and south of the Interstate 10 corridor and 1-3 inches north of the Interstate 10 corridor and southwest of the Houston Metro area. Higher amounts are possible within the strongest storm bands. Ice accumulations of up to half an inch are possible with temperatures plummeting below 20 degrees. In a statement from the weather service, confidence has continued to increase in the prospect of a historic winter storm to impact the area overnight and into tomorrow afternoon. Based on the current forecast, this would be the most significant winter storm the Greater Houston area has experienced since at least 1960. This is a highly unusual event for our region that will produce very hazardous travel conditions throughout the course of the day tomorrow and into the early parts of Wednesday. As such, it must be stressed that travel should be avoided at all costs until conditions become safer, forecasters stated. - Catherine Dominguez Residents north of Houston are taking to social media as the first flakes of snow begin to fall. 8:45pm Radar Update: Light sleet and snow showers have now spread across most of SE Texas. Intensity will increase through the night and continue through Tuesday morning producing dangerous driving conditions. #TXwx #HOUwx pic.twitter.com/KPze206vRY NWS Houston (@NWSHouston) January 21, 2025 Dozens of utility trucks are parked in a field by NRG Stadium as CenterPoint Energy prepares for overnight snowfall and potential outages on Monday, Jan. 20. Claire Hao/Staff writer CenterPoint Energy has activated its Emergency Operations Center as Winter Storm Enzo moved into the Houston region. According to a news release from CenterPoint, the company is coordinating with state and local emergency partners as it prepares to respond to the potential winter impacts on the Greater Houston area. To aid in restoration efforts, CenterPoint Energy is mobilizing an expanded workforce of approximately 3,000 personnel, including 1,200 mutual aid resources, to help address potential outages across its service area. - Catherine Dominguez Warming centers have opened in Montgomery County, according to County Judge Mark Keough. According to Keoughs post on Facebook, the locations are the Under Over Fellowship, 600 S. Frazier in Conroe; the Salvation Army, 304 Ave. E in Conroe and the CK Ray Recreation Center, 1203 Candy Cane Lane in Conroe. The H-Town Dream Center, 26373 East Holly Lane in Splendora, and the Montgomery City Hall, 101 Old Plantersville Road in Montgomery are also open. Keough warned residents to be cautious as the cold weather moves in. Please stay warm and limit travel on the roadways overnight and tomorrow, Keough posted to Facebook Monday. - Catherine Dominguez Sleet and a rain/sleet mix started falling north of Interstate 10 around 5:45 p.m., according to the National Weather Service's office in League City. The weather service is asking people to use mPing, a citizen scientist app, to report snowfall totals as the weather rolls through. Thank you for those reports - they are already coming in handy! Radar is picking up on some light precipitation north of I-10, and we are getting reports from you of sleet or a rain/sleet mix falling in that area.#HOUwx #TXwx https://t.co/o9ipGgbRHX pic.twitter.com/he8eoRqpAp NWS Houston (@NWSHouston) January 20, 2025 The priority on Tuesday should be staying safe, but once the roads are clear, some Houstonians might be looking for some sledding action. Houston isn't known for its hills, but there are still some places to hit the slopes, including Hermann Park in the Museum District. CenterPoint has 3,000 workers on standby to restore potential outages, including approximately 1,200 mutual aid workers from other utilities, said Darin Carroll, the company's vice president of electric business, at a Monday press conference about the utility's preparations for the overnight winter storm. CenterPoint has activated its emergency operations center and three staging sites, including one by NRG Stadium, Carroll said. The other two include one in Brazoria County and another one at Moody Gardens in Galveston, in case crews arent able to traverse the Galveston Causeway because of poor road conditions, he said. "The more ice that we have, the more concerning it becomes, because of what it can do to trees and limbs and other things, Carroll said. CenterPoint deployed four small mobile generators to warming centers in and around Houston Monday, just in case the need arises for those warming centers, Carroll said. - Claire Hao Mayor John Whitmire urged all Houston residents to get off the citys roads within the next two hours due to the upcoming severe winter storm arriving Monday evening. Whitmire said everyone should finish their last-minute shopping or other business by approximately 7 p.m. and then plan to stay in their residence for the next two days. We think the freezing temperatures will never get above freezing until probably Thursday, Whitmire said during a press conference. Dont even let clear skies on Wednesday and other days fool you. This is a serious arctic blast. Its dangerous. Its life threatening. Whitmire said the city hosted 609 people in its warning centers Sunday evening, with nearly 200 people at the warming center at Fonde Community Center. The city has 10 warming centers open through mid-day Thursday. - Megan Menchaca A TxDOT truck used to apply a brine solution to help prevent ice from sticking on roads is shown along the feeder road of SH249 near FM1960 Monday, Jan. 20, 2025, in Houston. Melissa Phillip/Staff Photographer The Houston premiere of & Juliet", a musical reimagining the ending of Romeo & Juliet, has been pushed back because of the coming snow, The show, which was supposed to open at the Hobby Center Tuesday, will instead have its first show on Wednesday. Some other groups and events have canceled activities though Wednesday, but the Hobby Center it "will continue to monitor weather and road conditions to assess the schedule for the remainder of the week." The snow is on its way to Houston and exactly how much of the white stuff will drop on the city is still unclear. When the flakes do begin to fall, the Chronicles latest weather tracking app will help you know where the deepest drifts are. The Texas Storm Tracker will provide real-time updates on snow totals in Houston and across the state. The data is gathered from National Weather Service reports and will be updated throughout the historic snowstorm. - Chronicle reporters Fort Bend County Judge KP George announced more warming centers for residents in the county during the winter storm in the Houston area. Hello Everyone, We're pleased to announce that we have more warming centers available to our Fort Bend residents. Please see the new locations below:#CommunitySupport #FortBendStrong #FortBendCountyTX #StayWarm pic.twitter.com/cLLPxzrfAz County Judge KP George (@JudgeKPGeorge) January 20, 2025 - Octavia Johnson Harris County Precinct 3 Commissioner Tom Ramsey announced that parks and community centers will be closed Tuesday, with expectations to open the facilities by Wednesday during the upcoming Houston winter storm. "For everyone's safety, Precinct 3 is asking drivers to stay off the roads, if possible, to leave them clear for work trucks and EMS," according to the precinct newsletter. - Octavia Johnson The City of Houston's Solid Waste Management Department will not collect trash or recycling Tuesday or Wednesday. "This decision prioritizes the safety of residents and city employees as severe winter weather poses potential driving hazards," the department said in a Monday statement, announcing the move. Regular garbage pickup will then run several days behind schedule through Sunday, the city said, meaning if you normally put your bin out on Tuesday, you should plan to do so on Friday, and so on. A full schedule for the week is available on the department's website, and further updates will also be posted there. Curbside recycling and yard waste pickup will be suspended through Jan. 26. - Erica Grieder Despite the bracing cold, hundreds turned out to celebrate the legacy of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. on Monday. The city of Houston has two MLK Day parades, along with various other celebrations held throughout the city in honor of the civil rights icon: the Annual "Original" Martin Luther King Jr. Parade, held downtown beginning at 10 a.m., and the MLK Grande Parade, held in Midtown at the same time. "Martin Luther King was a man about the people. He wanted to see this country come together, and all people become one," said one attendee, Wendell Manigault, at the downtown parade. "It's a pleasure to come out, even on a cold day like this." "I can't feel my fingers right now, but I'm having a good time," added another spectator. - Erica Grieder Ka hea Johnson carries a photo of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., as she participates in the 47th Annual Original MLK Jr. Day Parade on Monday, Jan. 20, 2025 in Houston. Brett Coomer/Staff photographer The Big 12 mens basketball game between the University of Houston and Utah scheduled for Tuesday at Fertitta Center has been postponed because of the winter storm. The game will be played at 5 p.m. Wednesday, part of a doubleheader that also includes the UH women's game against Texas Tech at 1 p.m. - Joseph Duarte If icy conditions in the forecast bear out, some outages could occur if ice and strong winds cause trees and other vegetation to damage power lines, according to a statement from CenterPoint Energy, the utility that owns much of the Houston areas power infrastructure. Statewide outages akin to the deadly blackouts of February 2021, however, are unlikely, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas said Friday as it notified Texans via a weather watch that very cold temperatures Monday through Wednesday could increase demand on the grid. ERCOT, the states power grid operator, only orders outages if Texans are about to use more electricity than the states power plants are able to supply. On Monday, ERCOT affirmed in another statement that grid conditions are still expected to be normal in other words, the Texas grid operator doesn't anticipate the need to initiate rolling outages. In a statement Monday morning, CenterPoint said it would activate its emergency operations center along with three staging sites to be prepared to respond to any potential power outages. CenterPoint also secured approximately 1,200 additional workers from other utilities, who were arriving in the Houston area Monday and will be onboarded and pre-positioned across the region before winter precipitation begins Monday evening, according to the company's statement. - Claire Hao A family is buying insulated faucet covers, getting propane, firewood and gasoline as they are preparing for the incoming winter storm Saturday, Jan. 18, 2025 in Houston. Yi-Chin Lee/Staff photographer In anticipation of Tuesday's winter storm, H-E-B is adjusting its store hours, the company announced Monday: All stores in the Greater Houston area, including Houston area Central Market, Joe V's Smart Shop and Mi Tienda, will close at 10 p.m. on Monday, and open at 10 a.m. on Tuesday. H-E-B Pharmacy locations will follow the same adjusted hours as the stores. Curbside and home delivery may have adjusted hours as well. - Ryan Nickerson Mayor John Whitmire went to three warming centers Sunday evening after a news conference updating the public on emergency storm plans, spokesperson Mary Benton said. "This is not my first time doing outreach. I am very committed to meeting homeless people and trying to help them," Whitmire said. "I met a family at Acres Homes last night with a unique story. I am doing my best to help them personally. I have a background as a social worker, and this is something I do from the heart." Whitmire also went out on the streets with Houston police chief Noe Diaz to talk with unhoused people and convince them to go to the warming centers. He said his concern was the current forecast and how temperatures were expected to drop even more. A photo provided by the Mayors Office shows Houston Mayor John Whitmire speaking to a person Sunday, Jan. 19, 2025, at a warming center in Houston. Provided/Staff photographer - Octavia Johnson Elective surgeries and appointments are canceled through Wednesday morning at many area hospitals. Memorial Hermann Health System, Houston Methodist Hospital and UTHealth are among those that have canceled elective surgeries and appointments for Tuesday and Wednesday morning. Patients are being encouraged to call to reschedule their appointments. - Evan MacDonald The Weather Channel is calling Houstons expected winter snowfall this week, Enzo, its fifth named storm for the 2024-25 winter season. But, no meteorological agency or the National Weather Service actually names winter storms. Why don't they name storms like they do hurricanes? It's because winter storms are nothing like tropical storms or hurricanes. Read the report on why winter storms are not named and why the Weather Channel does it anyway. - Ryan Nickerson Guillermo Espadas, grocery clerk, restocks bottled water at Kroger Heights, 1035 N Shepherd Dr., as people shop ahead of a winter storm Monday, Jan. 20, 2025, in Houston. Melissa Phillip/Staff Photographer Snow is of course rare in Houston as it only appears for a few days at a time every couple of years. But as Houston prepares for its first snowfall since 2021, here are some facts about how often it snows in Houston : Snow is of course rare in Houston as it only appears for a few days at a time every couple of years. But as Houston prepares for its first snowfall since 2021, here are some facts about how often it snows in Houston. Photo taken February 15, 1895 outside Houston City Hall in Market Square: Snow began falling at 8 p.m. February 14. Snow fell for 24 hours. Depth of snowfall at Congress and Travis was 18 inches. Depth of snow at Preston and Travis was 24 to 26 inches. A.J. Weiss, compliments of A.R. Miller Houston Chronicle Files There has been measurable snowfall in the Houston area at least 20 times, according to available records kept by the National Weather Service. Since 2000, only five months have recorded measurable snow. The highest recorded snowfall was an anomaly in 1895, with 20 inches of snow on Valentines Day. The 1895 snowstorm is only documented through newspaper articles and not recorded in any official records. Within the National Weather Services data dating back to 1920, the highest measurable amount of snow in Houston was 4.8 inches in 1973. Houston has never had more than 3 inches of snow in a month, and that has happened in January 1940 and February 1960. The latest in the year Houston had measurable snowfall was in March 1932 with 0.8 inches of snow. - Ryan Nickerson As Houston residents prepare for the incoming winter storm, local officials are warning residents about the "silent killer," known as carbon monoxide. Carbon monoxide poisoning is a common concern during heavy storms and natural disasters as people tend to use external power sources for food and heat. The odorless, tasteless and colorless gas is released from burning fuels such as gas, wood, propane and charcoal, and when they are burned in an area with poor ventilation, carbon monoxide can build up and become lethal. Here are some tips to prevent exposure to carbon monoxide while using a generator: Use generators outdoors in well-ventilated areas at least 20 feet from all doors, windows and vent openings. Never use a generator in an attached garage, even with the door open. Generators should be placed so that fumes can't enter the home through windows, doors, vents or other openings. Carbon monoxide alarms should be installed in every home. Turn off generators and allow them to cool down while they are refueling. Generators should be kept at least 20 feet from windows and doors to avoid leaking carbon monoxide into your home. Also, don't light a barbecue pit, portable gas stove or any other makeshift heat source inside your home. - Ryan Nickerson Jackie Richard and husband Mark Richard covering their plants with plant protection fabric ahead of the winter storm Saturday, Jan. 18, 2025 in Houston. The Richards lost their plants during a freeze a couple years ago, and they replanted the plants last year Yi-Chin Lee/Staff photographer Jackie Richard and husband Mark Richard covering their plants with plant protection fabric ahead of the winter storm Saturday, Jan. 18, 2025 in Houston. The Richards lost their plants during a freeze a couple years ago, and they replanted the plants last year Yi-Chin Lee/Staff photographer A freeze warning sign is photographed ahead of the winter storm Saturday, Jan. 18, 2025 in Houston. Yi-Chin Lee/Staff photographer Jackie Richard and husband Mark Richard covering their plants with plant protection fabric ahead of the winter storm Saturday, Jan. 18, 2025 in Houston. The Richards lost their plants during a freeze a couple years ago, and they replanted the plants last year Yi-Chin Lee/Staff photographer A photo provided by the Mayors Office shows Houston Mayor John Whitmire speaking to a person Sunday, Jan. 19, 2025, in Houston. Provided/Staff photographer Sam Woodward, assistant store leader, helps a customer with a case of bottle water as people shop at Kroger Heights, 1035 N Shepherd Dr., ahead of a winter storm Monday, Jan. 20, 2025, in Houston. Melissa Phillip/Staff Photographer Houston and Southeast Texas on Monday are bracing for a winter storm that could culminate into a historic snowfall on Tuesday that could leave much of the region, from south of Interstate 10 to the Piney Woods, blanketed under inches of the white stuff. "We are still eyeing an area along I-10 and including the Houston metro down to Galveston Island for the potential for heavier snow bands," National Weather Service Meteorologist Hayley Adams said in an online chat with emergency management officials and media. Although snow and some sleet are expected in Southeast Texas as early as late Monday night, heavier bands of clouds delivering snow will likely develop Tuesday morning, the weather service said. Houston can expect snow "accumulations ranging from 3 to 5 inches ... (and) higher accumulations expected where any heavier snow bands develop," forecasters said. REMINDER: Don't drip faucets during freezing weather; it can lower water pressure. Instead, open doors under sinks to keep pipes warm. pic.twitter.com/Izvjsu86rz Houston Public Works (@HouPublicWorks) January 19, 2025 - Roberto Villalpando As Houston prepares for the incoming winter storm, the debate about whether residents should let their faucets drip to make sure their pipes don't freeze was revived on social media. The Houston Public Works department's stance is that residents should not drip faucets as it can lower the area's water pressure. - Ryan Nickerson Lone Star College announced Monday it will be closed and all classes will be canceled Tuesday and Wednesday. The largest community college system in the Houston area expects to reopen for normal hours and resume classes on Thursday. See the full list of school closures here. - Megan Menchaca The University of Houston-Clear Lake, including the Pearland and Texas Medical Center locations, will be closed on Tuesday and Wednesday. The university said Monday that all classes, activities and business operations will be canceled, including all campus events, meetings and routine business functions. - Megan Menchaca More Houston area museums and attractions announced closures for Monday and Tuesday as they prepare for freezing temperatures. The Houston Museum of Natural Science announced it will be closing early on Monday at 4 pm. and will be closed all day Tuesday. The museum has not decided to reopen Wednesday. The Museum of Health & Medical Science announced it will close at 4 p.m. Monday and 2 pm. on Thursday, Jan. 23. The Houston Zoo announced it will be closed on Tuesday, and all non-member ticket holders may reschedule their zoo visit by contacting them. The zoo has not decided if it will reopen on Wednesday. The Houston Center for Photography announced it will be closed on Tuesday and Wednesday, and all classes scheduled for those days will be held online. Asia Society and Sunday Press announced they plan to reopen Thursday - Ryan Nickerson Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez posted some good advice requiring some good humor Monday on X. The sheriff posted an image telling people not to drive when it snows since many struggle to drive in perfect conditions. "If it snows or sleets, please stay home. When y'all learn to drive in the sun, we will discuss driving in the snow," Gonzalez wrote. - Octavia Johnson Electric Reliability Council of Texas announced a weather watch effective Monday through Wednesday due to extreme cold weather conditions, higher electrical demand and possible low reserves. ERCOT is expecting normal grid conditions. Updates will be provided throughout the council's social media channels, ERCOT said on X. - Octavia Johnson The Houston Museum of Natural Science announced it will be closing early at 4 p.m. Monday and will be closed all day Tuesday. Museum representatives had not made a decision as to whether it would reopen Wednesday. - Ryan Nickerson Temperatures are likely to drop as low as 15 degrees in Southeast Texas on Monday as people plan to attend the MLK Day parade. Most of Houston will remain rain-free through Monday afternoon, but that will change after sunset. - Ryan Nickerson The University of Houston, including UH at Katy and UH at Sugar Land, will be closed Tuesday due to the upcoming winter storm. The institution plans to decide on the operations for Wednesday by noon on Tuesday. The YMCA of Greater Houston said local YMCA centers will close at 4 p.m. Monday due to the winter weather. However, some residents can stop by the Houston facilities before the closure to charge electronic devices, take showers and any other needed necessities. The YMCA locations will be available starting Monday and reopening at noon Wednesday. - Octavia Johnson Some Harris County precinct commissioner's offices have opened community centers for anyone needing a warm area to visit. Harris County Precinct 1 Commissioner Rodney Ellis announced designated warming centers in the following locations: Tom Bass Community Center Time: 7 a.m.-7 p.m. Date: Monday to Tuesday Location: 15108 Cullen Blvd Finningan Community Center Time: 7 a.m.-7 p.m. Date: Monday to Tuesday Location: 4900 Providence St. Lincoln Park Community Center Time: 7 a.m.-7 p.m. Date: Monday to Tuesday Location: 979 Grenshaw St. Harris County Precinct 4 Commissioner Lesley Briones announced that nature centers at John Paul Landing Park and Kelb Woods Nature Preserve will close for an extended period between Saturday to Wednesday. There will also be warming centers available including: Bayland Community Center Time: 8 a.m.-8 p.m. Date: Monday to Wednesday Location: 6400 Bissonnet St. Burnett Bayland Community Center Time: 8 a.m.-8 p.m. Date: Monday to Wednesday Location: 6026 Chimney Rock Road Steve Radack Community Center PROFESSOR Allan J Navratil was on a mission when he drove from his Midleton home in southeast Co Cork to Carlows Seven Oaks Hotel on Tuesday night, 19 November last. The occasion was the launch of Christopher Powers book The Carlow Sugar Factory, sub-titled The extraordinary story of an Irish industrial icon. The Carlow sugar plant closed on 11 March 2005 with the loss of 190 full-time and 130 seasonal jobs. Alerted by a nephew in Hong Kong to the launch of a book about the Carlow sugar factory, Allan, who turned 87 on Thursday 28 November, came to Carlow armed with a synopsis of what he headlined Sugar manufacture in Ireland, a copy of which he provided to The Nationalist. But that is to go too far, too fast, as Allan J Navratil has a strong association with Carlow and its former sugar factory through his late father Afred Navratil, who was centrally involved in the establishment of factory in 1926. Allans father was a native of Brno in southeast Czechoslovakia, born in 1895, who came to Ireland in 1925 at the request of taoiseach WT Cosgrave. An engineer and a chemist, Mr Navratil was asked by Mr Cosgrave to identify an ideal location for an Irish sugar factory, and he reached the conclusion that Carlow, from all viewpoints, was the most suitable place to locate such a project. Like a number of east European engineering experts who came to Carlow at that time to provide the expertise for the establishment of the countrys first sugar-processing plant, Mr Navratil, along with some colleagues, resided in The Clubhouse at Court Place, later St Brigids Hospital, and today in use as a migrant centre. He came to Carlow for the building of the factory, returned to Czechoslovakia, where he married his fiancee Vojteska, before coming back to take up a management post with the Carlow sugar plant, son Allan recalls. Subsequently, the Navratil family lived in one of the houses at Strawhall, Carlow for factory personnel houses which he himself designed and built, using the ash from sugar factories furnaces as cement. Mr Navratil left Carlow in 1932-33, when he was promoted to the post of manager for the construction of the Mallow sugar factory. In 1939, he bought a farm in Ballinacurra, Midleton, where he put his knowledge of the industry to good use by producing sugar beet seed, which was unobtainable during the war years. From 1946 onwards, he farmed exclusively. He died in 1990, aged 95. His son Allan continues to farm at Ballinacurra and since 2003 also in Canada. He was recently appointed adjunct professor and lecturer within the College of Science, Engineering and Food Science at UCC. Among the items Allan brought to Carlow was a citation to his dad, to mark his departure from the Barrowside town in 1932-33. The citation was signed on behalf of the employees at the Athy Road sugar beet processing plant by E Geoghan, Wm Trundle, A McGill and Chas Bale. The citation, bearing a head and shoulders photo of Mr Navratil at the top, states: We the employees at Carlow Sugar Factory have grown so accustomed to your long association and kindly intercourse with us that we find it hard to realise that this happy state of affairs is now coming to an end, and each of us views your impending departure with a deep sense of personal loss. We feel that we cannot let the occasion pass without offering you some token of our regard, and we tender to you this address, with our sincere and heartfelt wishes for your future happiness and welfare. We congratulate you on your well-merited promotion and trust that your career with An Comhluct Siuicre Eireann Teoranta (CSET) will be a long and very successful one. Your tact and kindly disposition have even won for you respect and loyalty from your subordinates and esteem from your colleagues, and we trust that in future, when you gaze on this little souvenir of your sojourn amongst us, you will give a kindly thought to those who were associated with you for so long in Irelands First Sugar Factory. However, his connection with Carlow continued. In the summer of 1948 following a sit-down strike, General Costello asked Mr Navratil to take charge of a corps of army engineers to put the Carlow factory back in operation. The general offered him an armed escort, which he politely declined. His excellent past relationship with the workers stood him in good stead and within a few weeks the campaign was completed without incident. In his supplied synopsis on ***Sugar manufacture in Ireland***, Allan Navratil subtitled his subject matter: ***The rationale for the restoration of the Irish sugar industry and why it should never have been closed***. The following is his synopsis on the native sugar industry. He first acknowledged that in 2006 the EU Sugar Reform Programme was aimed at reducing the EUs sugar production under pressure from Australia, Brazil and Thailand. Continuing, he wrote: Irish sugar was so well amortised over 80 years that the return on invested capital was over 30% in plain language, it was highly profitable and there was absolutely no need for closure. But the scheme was poorly conceived, hastily implemented and, it transpired, not regulated at all. Four years later, the EU Court of Auditors determined that EU administration personnel used stale, and thus flawed, data for Ireland. Owners Greencore, under self-inflicted financial pressure, saw closure as fast and easy money. Greencore also thought its sites were valuable, which proved to be a total illusion. The government, as holder of the special share, abjectly failed to exercise its right to prevent closure. The EU unfairly imposed time limits for compensation on all parties on a take it or leave it basis. This compulsion was as unethical as it was prejudicial to properly informed consideration. Not surprisingly, such imposed haste led to pressurised, consequently poor, decision making. Growers and workers, by being rushed and poorly informed, their interests were shamefully compromised. In 2006, Ireland, as an island, was the only EU country to lose its entire sugar industry. Four years later, the EUs Court of Auditors adjudicated that Irelands sugar closure was needless. In his synopsis, Allan Navratil states the adverse effects on Ireland were manifold: the tillage sector was seriously disadvantaged, despite farmers having received minimal compensation under the scheme. And an island nation now has to import all its sugar needs and sugar by-products. Professor Navratil points out that: After the fact, the EU Court of Auditors found in 2010-11 that the closure of the Mallow sugar factory (and other European factories) was needless The hasty and inadequate administration by the EU of their sugar reform needlessly deprived Ireland of a fundamental, many-faceted indigenous industry This does not accord with the ethos that may have been persuasive to Irelands induction and, being an island, the entire population of the 32 counties remains negatively impacted by the senseless closure of our sugar industry. He sums up the situation in these persuasive terms: None of the decision makers have clean hands. Culpability exists at all levels for the staggeringly egregious and mindlessly myopic, ill-conceived and inconsiderate decisions that caused the loss of a key industry. Professor Navratil then went on in his synopsis to outline the manifold benefits of an indigenous sugar manufacturing facility. After his brief sojourn in Carlow and a cup of tea, this sprightly, resolute octogenarian disappeared into the night to make the two hours-plus drive home to his Midleton home! Advertisement The Heidelberg Materials' Managing Board has visited the Asia Cement Pukrang plant, in Thailand, in the framework of a visit in southeast Asia, which will also include the Malaysian and Indonesian operations. The team, headed by the Group CEO Dr Dominik von Achten, has been welcomed by the Asia Cement executives and by the plant team and it has been given an extensive tour covering the key operating areas and new projects. The recent 'separate grinding' project and the ongoing installation of the Line 1 chlorine by-pass have clearly showed the company's tight focus on the sustainability roadmap with ever-increasing scope and ambition. Great interest has been generated by the significant share of renewable power production the plant has achieved so far thanks to the recent addition of a solar farm which complements the 23MW waste heat recovery system. The Managing Board has expressed its sincere appreciation and extended heartfelt congratulations to the local team for the seamless dedication and commitment. Aria Hawkins set a Lee record and joined two other Lady Flames in claiming five NCAA Division II Provisional marks Friday and Saturday at the Vanderbilt Invitational. The indoor track & field meet was held at the David Williams II Recreational & Wellness Center on the campus of Vanderbilt University.Hawkins placed fourth in the Mile with a time of 4:41.36. The time not only met the Provisional standard of 4:55.64 it also eclipsed the program record of 4:44.95 that was set by Celine Ritter on January 23, 2021, at the Samford Open.Hawkins also met the standard of 2:13.89 in the 800-meter Run. She placed 15th with a time of 2:13.13.Liz Lannom joined Hawkins in meeting two provisional standards. She scored 3,310 points to place sixth in the Pentathlon. Her point total was 16 points beyond the total needed to hit the standard of 3,294. Her 1.70 meter performance in the High Jump as part of the Pentathlon was better than the 1.67 meter requirement.Ana Patricia Campos was 18th in the 3000-meter Run where she finished at 9:46.26, nearly seven seconds ahead of the provisional mark of 9:53.07.Ane Peasley and Jydia Faucette were Lees representatives in the 60-meter Dash. Peasley was 58th at 8.01 seconds and Faucettes time of 8.36 was good for 68th. Maddox Mayfield placed 52nd in the 200-meter Dash after crossing the finish line in 26.20 seconds. Peasley (27.14) was 61st and Faucette (27.18) was 62nd.Mayfield finished the 400-meter at 58.24 seconds (23rd) and Lily Brown finished 48th (1:01.27). Peasley finished 24th in the 60-meter Hurdles after crossing the line at 8.96 seconds. Brown (9.33) was 37th in the event.Abi Moore posted a 24th-place finish in the 800 with a time of 2:15.76. Joining Hawkins in the Mile were Katie Beam and Kaylee Estridge. Beam placed 24th (4:59.41) and Estridge (5:13.99) was 49th.Ashlyn Iliff and Emily Liddle were a part of the 3000 with Campos. Iliff stopped the clock at 10:23.53 for 40th. Liddle was 54th with a time of 10:48.94. In the 5000-meter Run, Megan Adams was seventh with a time of 17:21.06 and Katie Krueger was 15th at 17:55.18.In the unseeded Long Jump competition, Faucette covered 5.18 meters for 14th. Sydney White joined Lannom in the Pentathlon and amassed 3,190 points to finish eighth.Samara Brinks and Graice Waite were 14th and 24th in the Weight Throw Open. Brinks recorded a throw of 15.05 meters and Waite recorded a mark of 12.47 meters. The duo also competed in the Shot Put Open. Brinks was 18th with a throw of 11.64 meters. Waite posted a measurement of 10.85 meters for 22nd and Olivia Davidson was close behind in 24th with a throw of 10.26 meters.The Lady Flames are set to return to action with two meets the weekend of January 31-February 2. Lee is set to compete in Boston on January 31 at the John Thomas Terrier Classic, followed by the South Alabama Indoor Invitational in Birmingham, Alabama, on February 2. The Spanish-American War ended in August 1898 and Chattanooga celebrated the United States victory with a request for a captured Spanish cannon for their city. The city council settled on locating the war trophy near the Firemans Fountain Memorial, adjacent to the Hamilton County Courthouse on Georgia Avenue and the Cannon Committee went to work planning the cannons presentation to the citizens and city.The story gained more interest in October 1899 when a Chattanooga official shared that the citys Spanish cannon had evidently fallen into the hands of the enemy or, at least, was being held captive by someone who did not want to part with it. R.S. Sharp, overseer of the citys official buildings, announced that he was ready to receive the cannon once a contract had been issued for the construction of the mountings. Five months later, now Spanish Cannon Committee chairman Dillard called a special meeting of the committee, passed around a paper among the aldermen for signatures, agreeing to let the contract for the mounting of the gun on a Georgia granite base at Fountain Square to Charles E. Smith. Smith would begin immediately so that the cannon would be ready for its dedication at a Spring 1900 celebration.The April 10, 1900 edition of the Chattanooga Daily Times announced that the Honorable Elihu Root, Secretary of War, Invited to Dedication of the Spanish Cannon planned for Wednesday, May 9 at 10 am. The dedication would coincide with Governors Day and the accompanying parade. Mr. J. C. Howell, chairman of the Flower Parade Committee, confirmed that preparations had begun and Hill City, East Chattanooga, Alton Park, Highland Park and St. Elmo had already committed to provide individual floats for each of the community Queens.Additionally, Murfreesboro, Winchester, Rome and Huntsville will field floats. Official Chattanooga Architect R. H. Hunt was commissioned to build a Grand Triumphal Arch across Eleventh Street and to design booths for the street fair to begin on Monday, May 7, two days prior to the cannons dedication. Hunt would be assisted by a special committee appointed by Mayor Joseph Wassman: T. I. Wilson, H. C. Adler and C. C. Nottingham while F. H. Woodworth would coordinate the street fair and exhibitors.On April 28th, all the Chattanooga newspapers carried an announcement that the granite pedestal for the Spanish cannon had been completed and the cannon would be mounted with the next few days.The Street Fair Parade stepped off on Monday from Whiteside Street and, following a somewhat circuitous route, made its way eventually to Market Street and then up Ninth Street and north on Georgia Avenue. All along the route, people lined the streets. Everywhere carnival decorations were present and the triumphal progress of the parade was welcomed by the cheering crowds. Captain E. G. Huffaker led the parade, escorted by five members of the Chattanooga Police Department. They were followed by the Spring Festival Guard, under the command of Marshal W. J. Bass: Dr. G. Manning Ellis, R. B. Henderson, Dr. S. T. Rucker, J. T. Berry, J. R. Lupton, L. D. Drewry, M. M. Hedges, Will Cummings, J. E. Evans, W. C. Henderson, W. D. Carswell, Hoyt Webb and H. H. Webster.They were followed by the military and veteran forces from the region. First came the battle-scarred veterans of the Spanish-American War, members of the John P. Toneray Post, Spanish-American War Veterans, led by Commander George E. McGhee and Col. J. P. Fyffe. Atlantas celebrated Fifth Regiment Band, directed by Professor Wedemeyer, marched to thunderous applause, announcing three companies of the First Battalion, Tennessee Military Academy Militia, led by Major Brown. This was the first public appearance of the battalion and the boys bore themselves like soldiers. The Kentucky Cadets, commanded by Major Carpenter, followed with their marching showing thorough training. The Artillery Battery brought up the rear of the procession; their guns were sparkling and the horses drawing them were festooned with ribbons and flowers.A landau occupied by Festival Committee members T. T. Wilson, H. T. Olmsted and Mayor Joseph Wassman led the March of the Midway Animals, guided by Turks and Arabs. The star of the Midway parade, the giant gray elephant, was ridden by several elaborately-dressed Oriental dancers, preceded by Chief J. A. McQuade and the Chattanooga Fire Department. Baldur, the Norse God of light and radiance, peace and forgiveness, appeared next, reclined in a horn of plenty.The booming of the cannon on Stone Fort signaled the festival had begun.* * *Linda Moss Mines is the official Chattanooga and Hamilton County historian. Tech startups hold significant potential to drive innovation and progress. They also present unique challenges that only investors with expertise in IP are well-equipped to tackle effectively. A new report published today by the European Patent Office (EPO) sheds light on the investors who are vital for the successful commercialisation of cutting-edge inventions. The report shows that tech investment in Europe is primarily driven by major public programmes and specialised private investors, revealing a funding gap compared to the US. "Startups play a crucial role in commercialising disruptive ideas with great potential to drive progress. However, as highlighted in Mario Draghis report, many innovative companies face financial obstacles to grow within Europe, said EPO President, Antonio Campinos. This funding gap hinders the transformation of innovation into scalable startups, driving entrepreneurs to seek opportunities abroad. Bridging this gap is crucial to revitalising sustainable growth across Europe." The report introduces a new metric, the Technology Investor Score (TIS), which measures the percentage of companies in an investor's portfolio that have filed patent applications. Leveraging this metric designed to identify investors specialising in tech, the study reveals that 88% of European investors have portfolios including companies with patents. In addition, 8% have portfolios with more than half of their companies holding patents, demonstrating a particularly strong engagement with patenting startups. The top 5 most central investors in Europes network of co-investors are major public entities specialising in technology funding. These are the European Innovation Council (EIC), Innovate UK, Eurostars SME Programme, Bpifrance, the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT). The top 100 also features pan-European public institutions such as the European Investment Bank (EIB) and other national innovation agencies. Among private investors in the top 100 most central positions, 62% focus on early-stage funding, while only 22% specialise in late-stage funding, underscoring the limited capital available in Europe for scaling up technologies and bringing inventions to market. In contrast, private investors account for 98 of the top 100 most central investors in the US network of co-investors, with over half specialising in late-stage companies, reflecting stronger private support for scaling high-tech companies. The UK, France, and Germany lead in total funding and number of transactions, with a strong investor presence in tech. Together, these three countries accounted for a total of approximately 75 800 transactions, with total funding amounting to around 392 billion from 2000 to 2023, supported by some 6 100 investors with a portfolio of at least ten companies operating across the three countries. The Netherlands, Switzerland, Norway, Sweden, and Belgium also show high levels of patent-backed investment, with over 24 400 accumulated transactions and almost 88.5 billion in the same period. Other European countries taken together account for a total of more than 22 000 transactions, with total funding of more than 70 billion. All of this demonstrates promising growth potential in tech specialisation. The statement was signed by 1,300 Korean Church Leaders Opposing the Hosting of the 2025 WEA General Assembly in Seoul. | Photo Credit: Christian Daily Korea The Council of Church Leaders Opposing the Hosting of the 2025 WEA Seoul General Assembly, composed of 1,300 pastors and elders from the Presbyterian Church in Korea (Hapdong), the largest denomination in Korea, released a statement on January 16 titled Our Position on the 2025 WEA Seoul General Assembly. This statement follows concerns raised by several other Christian groups regarding the World Evangelical Alliance's (WEA) plans to host its General Assembly in Seoul, Korea, in October of this year. In the statement, the council asserted, WEA has serious issues with its theology, members, and activities, and all exchanges, cooperation, and membership with it must be prohibited. The council noted, On Nov. 15, 2024, a committee for hosting the 2025 World Evangelical Alliance (WEA) Seoul General Assembly was launched at the CCMM Building Convention Center in Yeouido, Seoul, with Pastor Oh Jung-hyun (of Sarang Church) and Pastor Lee Young-hoon (of Yoido Full Gospel Church) as co-chairs. This has sparked significant controversy. The council characterized WEA as an unbiblical organization. The council criticized WEA leadership as being aligned with neoliberalists and ecumenical theology. They pointed out that WEA leaders recently met with a Muslim organization (NU) and formed a close friendship. WEA Deputy Secretary-General Samuel Chiang has cooperated with Muslims, veering toward religious pluralism. Examining the leaders of WEA reveals its true nature. The council also referenced the 105th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in Korea (Hapdong), which decided to withhold any resolutions on WEA until its nature is clearly understood and to avoid unnecessary controversy. However, they added, Local churches under the General Assembly have been actively preparing to host the 2025 WEA Seoul General Assembly, claiming there are no issues with WEAs unbiblical theology and activities. This undermines the authority of the General Assembly and disrupts its order, and therefore must be dealt with sternly. Christian Daily International has reached out to WEA for a comment but has not received a response by the time of publication, as reported. Below is the full text of the councils statement: Our Position on the 2025 WEA Seoul General Assembly WEA has serious issues with its theology, members, and activities, and all exchanges, cooperation, and membership with it must be prohibited. Korean church leader statement in January 2025 opposing the WEA General Assembly The statement was signed by 1300 Korean church leaders. Christian Daily Korea Greetings to churches nationwide in the name of Jesus. Our denomination stands firmly on Calvinist Reformed theology. Our forefathers endured significant suffering and sacrifice to protect this precious theology. However, on Nov. 15, 2024, a committee for hosting the 2025 WEA (World Evangelical Alliance) Seoul General Assembly was launched at the CCMM Building Convention Center in Yeouido, Seoul, with Pastor Oh Jung-hyun and Pastor Lee Young-hoon as co-chairs, sparking great controversy. We declare WEA as an unbiblical organization and clarify our position on it: 1. On WEAs Theology: WEA, as a group of neo-evangelicals, interprets the Bible arbitrarily from its charter, embraces ecumenical theology aligned with neoliberalism, and broadly accepts neo-orthodox theology, causing unlawful behavior within our denomination. 2. On WEAs Pluralism: WEA adopts unbiblical doctrines of inclusion and religious pluralism from WCC ecumenical theology, aligns with Roman Catholic teachings, and seeks cooperation and unity with them. 3. On WEAs Partnerships: WEA, along with WCC and Roman Catholicism, forms the Global Christian Forum (GCF) and Evangelicals and Catholics Together (ECT), which have held meetings for nearly 30 years, accepting any doctrine as long as there is a nominal confession of the Triune God and Christ as Mediator, even embracing Seventh-day Adventist theology. 4. On the General Assemblys Stance: The 105th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in Korea decided to withhold any resolutions on WEA until its nature is clearly understood and avoid unnecessary controversy. Despite this, some local churches are actively preparing to host the 2025 WEA Seoul General Assembly, ignoring the unbiblical theology and activities of WEA. This undermines the authority and order of the General Assembly and must be dealt with sternly. 5. On Recent Developments: Since the 2010s, WEAs alignment with WCC and Roman Catholicism has peaked. Recently, WEA leaders have met with Muslim organizations (NU) and formed close friendships (Best Friends). Deputy Secretary-General Samuel Chiang has cooperated with Muslims, steering toward religious pluralism. The leadership of WEA reveals its true nature. We firmly criticize WEAs neo-evangelical theology and ecumenical activities, declaring WEA a harmful organization contrary to the Word of God (1 Cor. 11:17). We assert that our denomination must not join, exchange, or cooperate with WEA. We believe this is the way to protect and preserve our denomination and churches and make this position unequivocally clear. Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheeps clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves (Matt. 7:15). - Council of Church Leaders Opposing the Hosting of the 2025 WEA Seoul General Assembly In January 2024, volunteers from Rock Church came together to distribute food and other supplies to victims of the LA wildfires. | Photo Credit: Rock Church A Southern California church has initiated a relief effort for Los Angeles wildfire victims, inviting the community to donate essential items at its five campuses. Rock Church in San Diego, in partnership with Dream Center in L.A., is coordinating this initiative to assist residents affected by the devastating fires that have displaced tens of thousands and resulted in at least 25 fatalities. The church has set up eight 26-foot trailers for collecting items, with one trailer at each campus in the San Diego area and three located at the Point Loma campus. Senior Pastor Miles McPherson reported that the communitys response has been overwhelmingly positive. He shared, What amazes me is that as a pastor, it has not only been our Rock Church attendees, but the San Diego community as a whole. We originally set out to fill five trucks, and we ended up filling nine 26-foot trucks with items, which is about 90 pallets of water, diapers, wipes, new clothing, new blankets, toiletries, trail mix, and energy drinks. McPherson noted that the church has received substantial support, including truck donations, volunteers, and contributions of essential goods. He emphasized the importance of prioritizing donations of basic supplies, such as pasta, rice, canned goods, non-perishable food items, diapers, and pet food. Working alongside Zoe Church and Dream Center in L.A., McPherson explained that volunteers directly distribute these items to victims and first responders. He added, Our partner organizations have shared with us that once we deliver the trucks with items, they will be given out immediately. They have been seeing trucks emptied and distributed to people in as little as an hour. The churchs commitment to these relief efforts reflects its own experiences with disasters; in 2007, Rock Church served as a triage center and provided shelter for senior citizens shortly after moving into its new building when fires struck San Diego. Since the wildfires began earlier this month, thousands of Los Angeles residents have faced displacement, property loss, and ongoing uncertainty, as the wind-driven blazes have destroyed over 12,000 structures and scorched more than 60 square miles. Rock Church, alongside other ministries, is working to support fire victims, including chaplains from the Billy Graham Rapid Response Team, who are collaborating with Samaritan's Purse to address their needs. 3 Israeli hostages reunite with families as ceasefire brings fragile calm into Gaza Xinhua) 09:11, January 20, 2025 People gather in a square to welcome the return of first three Israeli hostages released from the Gaza Strip after the ceasefire took effect, Tel Aviv, Israel, on Jan. 19, 2025. (Xinhua/Wang Zhuolun) JERUSALEM/GAZA, Jan. 19 (Xinhua) -- The first three Israeli hostages released from the Gaza Strip under a ceasefire agreement that took effect on Sunday have returned to Israel and reunited with their families. Meanwhile, Gazans are immersed in celebrations marking the end of over 15 months of deadly Israeli strikes. The ceasefire ended an Israeli offensive that claimed more than 46,900 Palestinian lives, according to Gaza's health authorities. The deadly fighting also razed much of Gaza and caused widespread hunger and diseases in the strip. Among the three released women are Emily Damari, a 28-year-old British-Israeli and Doron Steinbrecher, a Romanian-Israeli veterinary nurse aged 30, both of whom were abducted from Kibbutz Kfar Aza outside northern Gaza, and Romi Gonen, 23, who was taken from the Nova music festival. A live broadcast from Gaza showed the hostages, freed from 471 days of captivity, being transferred from a Hamas vehicle surrounded by armed militants to a Red Cross vehicle, which transported them to Israeli forces. Members of Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, are seen before the transfer of three Israeli hostages to the Red Cross in Gaza City, on Jan 19, 2025. (Photo by Abdul Rahman Salama/Xinhua) Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office released photos of the women embracing their mothers at a military compound outside Gaza. Later, helicopters flew them to Sheba Medical Center in Ramat Gan, a suburb of Tel Aviv, where they received medical and psychological care. The Red Cross earlier informed the Israeli side that their condition was "good." However, a screenshot of Damari during a video call showed her with a bandaged hand missing two fingers, an injury sustained during her abduction by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023. Her mother, Mandy, expressed in a statement her gratitude to supporters, saying, "After 471 days, Emily is finally home." Palestinians celebrate the ceasefire deal with Israel in Gaza City, on Jan 19, 2025. (Photo by Mahmoud Zaki/Xinhua) In Gaza, celebrations erupted in the streets, with people chanting and waving the flag of Palestine. Displaced residents began returning to their homes in northern and southern regions, only to find much of the infrastructure reduced to dust. Under the ceasefire agreement, Israel is set to release 90 Palestinian detainees on Sunday, primarily women and children from the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem. Over the next six weeks, Hamas is to release 33 hostages in phases, including women, children, men over 50, the sick, and the injured. Deceased hostages are expected to be returned in later stages. Israel estimates that about half of the 98 hostages still held in Gaza are alive, though Hamas has not provided confirmation. This photo taken on Jan. 19, 2025 shows that an ambulance carrying released Israeli hostages arrived at Sheba Medical Center in Ramat Gan, Israel. (Xinhua/Chen Junqing) In Tel Aviv, large crowds gathered at Hostage Square to celebrate and demand adherence to the agreement. Families and friends of the hostages were seen following the news of their release, cheering and bursting into tears as the women were transferred to Israeli forces. Netanyahu called the release "a great moment, an exciting moment...," adding that the three "went through hell." Meanwhile, Israel Defense Forces Spokesman Daniel Hagari, speaking at a press briefing, warned the military was boosting forces in the West Bank and remaining prepared for military action if Hamas violates the truce. Palestinians return to the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah on Jan. 19, 2025. The Israel-Hamas ceasefire agreement in Gaza came into effect on Sunday, after more than 15 months of deadly fighting. (Photo by Rizek Abdeljawad/Xinhua) Abu Ubaida, spokesperson for Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, said on Sunday that Al-Qassam and other Palestinian factions are committed to the ceasefire deal. "We, along with other resistance factions, declare our full commitment to the ceasefire agreement, but this remains contingent on the enemy's adherence," Ubaida emphasized in a televised statement. Also on Sunday, the first humanitarian aid trucks entered Gaza from Egypt, Palestinian sources confirmed. Based on the ceasefire agreement, about 600 trucks loaded with humanitarian aid, including 50 fuel trucks, will enter Gaza every day to ease the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. The deal, brokered by Qatar, Egypt, and the United States, aims to end the fighting between Israel and Hamas that was triggered by Hamas' cross-border assault on Oct. 7, 2023, which resulted in the killing of 1,200 people in Israel and the kidnapping of about 250 others. (Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Zhong Wenxing) At the 2017 inauguration of President Donald Trump, he acknowledged the audience after taking the oath of office. Pool/Getty Images Who remembers Donald Trumps first inaugural address? Probably not very many, unless they have Googled it, as I did. Thats likely because after the speech Trump became fixated on the size of the crowd, which he repeatedly claimed was larger than official estimates. As I re-read it, I was surprised to recall that it contained some gems and reasonable promises, some of which were frustrated by the Covid-19 pandemic and the fixation by Democrats on two impeachments and their efforts to thwart him at every turn. Trump spoke of unity so that his goals on lowering taxes, reducing the debt and closing the border might be achieved. He got his tax cuts, but not the rest. Advertisement Article continues below this ad In his speech he expressed gratitude to outgoing President Obama and first lady Michelle Obama for (being) gracious and thoughtful throughout this transition. Dont look for anything close to that sentiment about the Bidens and congressional Democrats in Mondays address. In the category of wishful thinking there was this: What truly matters is not which party controls our government, but whether our government is controlled by the people. Well soon see how that works out with Republicans now in control of all three branches of the government. Speaking of themes that are likely to be resurrected in his second term, Trump said: Weve defended other nations' borders while refusing to defend our own. True enough. He added: And spent trillions of dollars overseas while American infrastructure has fallen into disrepair and decay. What happened to those billions spent by the Biden administration on infrastructure? Trump should mention and then court Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) during his second term. Fetterman met with him at Mar-a-Lago last weekend and has said: Im the senator for all Pennsylvanians not just Democrats in Pennsylvania. Ive been clear that no one is my gatekeeper. I will meet with and have a conversation with anyone if it helps me deliver for Pennsylvania and the nation. Fetterman might serve as a wedge to divide the ultra-liberal Pelosi-Schumer wing of the Democrat Party and advance Trumps agenda on the theme of promoting the general welfare. He might say that people are tired of the political battles as shown by the last election and want results, not constant fighting. Can Trump, who has a history of belittling others, convert to a different style? Well soon know. Advertisement Article continues below this ad As this years inauguration occurs on the same day as the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, Trump might if he has it within himself pledge to honor the great civil rights leaders statement about love: Hate is too great a burden to bear. I have decided to love. Some levity might be useful. In that spirit I offer an edited version of a song by Sia entitled Im Still Here: Oh, the past, it haunted me Oh, the past, it wanted me dead Oh, the past tormented me Advertisement Article continues below this ad Oh, the past, it wanted me dead But the battle was lost 'Cause Im still here. Donald Trump is still here. The question is without a pandemic will he be able to accomplish all he has promised? If he does, he will probably be remembered (to the great consternation of historians, some of whom are already labeling him among our worst presidents), as a deeply flawed man who did great things for his country and its people, bringing us back from the disaster that has been the Biden administration and making us great again. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Home News Atheist legal group sues city over church rental property tax exemption An atheist legal organization has filed a complaint against a Wisconsin city, a student ministry, and a parish over a religious tax exemption law that benefits two church-owned rental properties. The Freedom From Religion Foundation and three residents of Madison filed a lawsuit last Tuesday in Dane County Circuit Court, with the plaintiffs taking issue with a property tax exemption that benefits religious nonprofits, but not other entities. Defendants named in the suit include the city of Madison, the Presbyterian Student Center Foundation, and St. Raphaels Congregation, which operates Lumen House Apartments. 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 For over a decade, [plaintiffs] have been paying higher property taxes, along with all other Madison property taxpayers, in part to make up for the unconstitutional omission of these properties from the Citys tax rolls, reads the complaint, in part. Further, the Exemption was created and later amended to unlawfully favor two religious organizations to the exclusion of all other religious or non-religious organizations, including plaintiff FFRF. The lawsuit also alleges that the exemption for the two properties violates Article I, Section 18 of the Wisconsin Constitution, which states in part that no preference can be given by law to any religious establishments or modes of worship. The Christian Post reached out to Madison city officials, and a spokesperson replied that they have not been served with this lawsuit yet, so we do not have a comment on it. The Rev. Erica Liu, executive director of the Pres House, provided CP with an emailed statement in which she said that state lawmakers "enacted the property tax exemption statute at issue through conventional, appropriate and lawful means." "The constitutionality of the exemption has been repeatedly affirmed and supported over 15 years by city and state leaders from both parties," she added. "Pres House applied and qualified for the exemption as required by law. The city of Madison properly granted the request. Additionally, Pres House makes a completely voluntary payment in lieu of taxes to the city of Madison to support city services each year." Liu noted that the "legislature and defendant parties each believe the exemption is constitutional, and the allegations which contend the exemption has improper or unlawful origins are inappropriate and highly disputed. Pres House looks forward to the opportunity to be heard in court." In 2009, a state representative introduced a measure in the Wisconsin Legislature exempting the Pres House Apartments which is owned by the PSCF from paying property taxes. Although the Joint Finance Committee repealed the exemption in 2011, former Gov. Scott Walker vetoed the request, according to the Milwaukee-based outlet The Daily Reporter. In 2013, state lawmakers approved an amendment removing Lumen House from the property tax roll preventing other properties from qualifying for that specific property tax exemption. FFRF had attempted in 2011 to strike down 26 U.S. Code 107(2), a law passed in 1954 that granted a tax exemption on clergy housing allowance. The group argued that the measure gave "preferential treatment" to religious entities. In June 2019, after an appeals court ruled against FFRF, the atheist legal group announced it was ending its lawsuit against the housing allowance measure. Home News Cecile Richards, former Planned Parenthood president, dies at 67 Cecile Richards, the former president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, whose organization faced allegations it violated federal law by selling aborted baby body parts, has died at age 67. Richards' family released a statement to NBC News on Monday morning confirming her death, which occurred about a year and a half after she was diagnosed with brain cancer. "This morning our beloved Cecile passed away at home, surrounded by her family and her ever-loyal dog, Ollie. Our hearts are broken today but no words can do justice to the joy she brought to our lives," her family stated. Get Our Latest News for FREE Subscribe to get daily/weekly email with the top stories (plus special offers!) from The Christian Post. Be the first to know. Subscribe "We are grateful to the doctors and health care workers who provided her excellent care and the friends, family, and well-wishers who have been by her side during this challenging time." Richards leaves behind her husband, Kirk Adams, with whom she had three children. When pregnant with a fourth child, Richards opted for an abortion. The daughter of former Texas Gov. Ann Richards, Cecile Richards served as president of Planned Parenthood from 2006 to 2018 and is credited with expanding the abortion provider's social and political influence. While at the helm, her organization garnered controversy when a series of undercover videos were released in 2015 purporting to show what activists say were employees and abortionists discussing the illegal selling of aborted baby body parts, including hearts, lungs, liver, limbs and tissue. Released online by the Center for Medical Progress, a pro-life activist group, the videos prompted several investigations into Planned Parenthood at the state and federal level, with Richards denying any wrongdoing. In January 2018, Richards resigned as the organization's president and was succeeded by Dr. Leana Wen, who was ousted the following year due in part to her belief that Planned Parenthood should focus more on medical services and less on abortion advocacy. "When Richards came into office, the abortion titan carried out 264,943 abortions per year and performed 844,201 breast exams," wrote Mary Szoch, director of the Center for Human Dignity at Family Research Council, in a 2024 op-ed for The Christian Post. "When she left in 2018, Planned Parenthood performed just 296,310 breast exams each year a 65% decrease from when she began. Even more tragically, that year, Planned Parenthood killed 332,757 unborn babies through abortion. Richards increased the number of abortions Planned Parenthood carried out each year by almost 70,000." In 2023, Richards was diagnosed with glioblastoma, an incurable form of brain cancer, with the news coming around the same time that her first grandson was born. New York Magazine published a feature on The Cut in January 2024, in which Richards noted that, despite the diagnosis, she was continuing her pro-choice advocacy work. This has included working on Charley, an online bot Richards helped create alongside former Planned Parenthood chief strategy officer Tom Subak, which provides resources to women seeking abortion. "I've been blessed to have always had work that I cared about," Richards told the magazine. "I have been one of the really privileged few that could do what I thought needed doing. And so whatever comes next, I have that." Last November, President Joe Biden awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Richards, saying at the time that he believed she "fearlessly leads us forward to be the America we say we are a nation of freedom." "Through her work to lift up the dignity of workers, defend and advance women's reproductive rights and equality, and mobilize Americans to exercise their power to vote, she has carved an inspiring legacy," he stated. During her testimony before the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform in 2015, Democrat Rep. Gerry Connolly of Virginia accused critics of Richards of "misogyny" based on their treatment of her. Right after Connolly's remarks, Republican Rep. John Duncan of Tennessee asked Richards, "surely you don't expect us to be easier on you because you're a woman?" "Absolutely not," Richards replied. "That's not how my mamma raised me." Home News Christian leaders highlight faith's role in Americas future, pray for Trump ahead of Inauguration Day Faith leaders, dignitaries and patriotic Americans gathered for a night of prayer and reflection at the Christian Inaugural Gala in Washington, D.C., which was held just hours before President-elect Donald Trump is sworn in as the 47th president of the United States. The event, organized by Andrea Sheldon Lafferty, the CEO of Thrive America Foundation, was held on the evening of Jan. 19 at the Westin Downtown, highlighted the intersection of faith and patriotism, with speeches that called for unity, divine intervention and a recommitment to the nation's founding principles. Dutch Sheets, author and founder of Dutch Sheets Ministries, delivered the nights keynote address. He emphasized the spiritual and patriotic DNA of the U.S., pointing to historical figures like Patrick Henry and Sam Adams as symbols of the enduring American spirit. 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 seems to me that their love of liberty and the willingness to preserve it at all costs made its way into America's genetic code, Sheets remarked. When times get hard, the cultural storms come and the debris piles up, when the border is open and the terrorists arrive, when the foundations are destroyed and the government becomes corrupt, when decency and common sense are abandoned and children are being mutilated, I'm going to need some patriotic Americans who will climb to the top of the devastation and boldly announce that the storm will not destroy us. It's clear that a new day is coming." What must we do [as] a nation when a mutation occurs, creating a genetic disorder, with the generational flow of the Founding Fathers is interrupted, when the American spirit of patriotism seems to have been lost to liars, revisionists, lovers of self, globalists, godless politicians, and it pains me to say it, weak preachers? Sheets asked. Well, the recovery begins with someone [...] climbing the debris pile and shouting, 'No, our roots are not dead. It's not in our nature to surrender to the storm. We will not give up our God-given destiny or surrender our inheritance.' Sheets closed his address with a prayer for the nation and Trump. We pray for Donald Trump and we pray for his team. We pray that you would encounter him in a dramatic way. Fill him with your spirit, bring him into a deeper walk with you than he's ever had. We don't know his spiritual condition, but we know he is a God-honoring man. We know he loves to be around believers. We know he loves the church, Lord; we just ask you to invade his life with your strong anointing from Holy Spirit. Give him a love for your work. Give him a love for spending time with you. Surround him with people that speak to him in a way that causes him to come closer to you and give him wise counselors. Sheets also prayed for the governments leadership, asking, Let there be a hovering presence of Holy Spirit over the White House, over every branch and every office that's connected to the Executive Branch of our government. "Our hope is not in him [Donald Trump]; our hope is in You, he concluded. You have said America will be saved, and you are the only one who can save her. Jentezen Franklin, senior pastor of Free Chapel in Gainesville, Georgia, also briefly spoke, highlighting a renewed sense of expectancy among Christians ahead of the next four years. I've been preaching for 40 years, and I've never felt expectancy like I feel now, Franklin said, attributing this shift to divine intervention. This is our nation. We are the voice, and we are the people who decide, Franklin declared, urging attendees to remain steadfast in their faith and patriotic duties. In a video message, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu thanked the Christian community for their unwavering support. We believe in the values that our two countries share, and we are willing with our brave soldiers to stand up and fight for these values, he said. Netanyahu expressed gratitude for the consistent backing of Israels right to defend itself, adding, I know that in this and in so many other tasks, we have your support because we have no better friends. Bishop Joseph Garlington highlighted the vital role of prayer and intercession in shaping the nations destiny. Grant us the grace to be authentic intercessors for our nation, Garlington prayed. He urged attendees to persist in their spiritual efforts, emphasizing that continued prayer is essential for sustained transformation. The event also featured performances from music artist Danny Gokey and comedian Jeff Allen. Home News Christian woman suffers miscarriage after being beaten, strangled by head of tribal group for praying Pastor and wife are longtime Christians, attend Episcopal Methodist Church NEW DELHI A Christian woman in central India suffered a miscarriage this month after tribal relatives who practice traditional religion beat and strangled her, sources said. Kunika Kashyap was more than six weeks pregnant when she was admitted to Government District Hospital-Maharani in Jagdalpur, Bastar District, Chhattisgarh state in serious condition on Jan. 2. Tribal village headman Ganga Ram Kashyap, his wife and adult daughter had assaulted her that day after the headman began video recording her in hopes that he might catch her praying for a common relative also a Christian as evidence of some perceived crime, said her husband, Mandu Ram Kashyap. The 25-year-old Kunika Kashyap, of Bade Bodal village, had gone to visit her cousins sister, a Christian who was ill, about 150 meters from her home. Tribal headman Ganga Ram Kashyap, brother-in-law of the sick woman and a cousin of Kunika Kashyaps husband, spotted her entering the house. Get Our Latest News for FREE Subscribe to get daily/weekly email with the top stories (plus special offers!) from The Christian Post. Be the first to know. Subscribe While Kunika Kashyap was sitting at her bedside, Ganga Ram Kashyap began recording her on his mobile phone, said Salim Hakku, a Christian leader from Jagdalpur. He suspected that Kunika might pray with her sick relative and wanted to capture it as proof on his cell phone, Hakku told Morning Star News. Kunika Kashyap objected, but Ganga Ram Kashyap refused to stop, she said. When he continued filming even after my protests, I swatted his hand away, Kunika Kashyap told Morning Star News from her hospital bed. She said Ganga Ram Kashyap immediately began to assault her. His wife and daughter rushed out of their house at the commotion and joined in the attack, Kunika Kashyap said. Ganga Ram kicked my belly with his foot, strangled me and hit me violently, she told Morning Star News. His wife and daughter joined him in beating me with a thick wooden bamboo, kicked my chest, my stomach, my head and my whole body brutally. Kunika Kashyap managed to escape, said her husband. It was only Gods doing that enabled her to escape from three people continuously beating her from all sides, said her husband, who works as a mason and daily wage laborer in Jagdalpur, 16 miles from their village. Kunika Kashyap was in severe pain when her husband rushed her to the government hospital in Jagdalpur, where treatment began at around 5 p.m., he said. Medical records state that she was admitted with neck pain, pain over right leg, pain over temporo-occipital and swelling, abdomen pain and chest pain, contusion over neck region, and that she was six weeks and six days pregnant. The initial ultrasound showed that the fetus was alive, said her husband, but by 6:30 in the evening she suffered a miscarriage. The couple has been married for two years, and this was her first pregnancy, he said. Discharged from the hospital on Jan. 6, Kunika Kashyap was still undergoing treatment at this writing. Her husband, who, along with church elders approached the local police station and filed a written complaint against Ganga Ram Kashyap on Jan. 2, said he suspects officers have not registered a First Information Report (FIR), as he has received no copy of one. Though the police said they would register a FIR after the initial investigation, the police never called us for any inquiry, nor recorded my wifes statement, Mandu Ram Kashyap said. The police visited him and his wife only once, on Jan. 7, and asked them about the precise area of the house where the assault had taken place, which they showed them, he said. Mandu Ram Kashyap and his wife are one of 50 Christian families in the village of about 120 families. Children of Christian parents, each has been Christian for more than 20 years and attend the Episcopal Methodist Church. Other incidents Other Christians in the village have been targeted, said Mandu Ram Kashyap. We have been facing strong opposition for the past few years from the tribal village headman and the villagers, he said. Christians are not allowed to draw water from the same site as other villagers, he said, nor are we allowed to bury our dead in our private property, he added. When Budai Kashyap, a 90-year-old Christian woman, died on Dec. 29, 2024, the Christian community buried her on private land they had purchased. Headman Ganga Ram Kashyap reached the burial site and asked if they had permission for the burial. The confrontation escalated and turned into a physical altercation between the Christians, the headman, and his men, Manu Ram Kashyap said. On Jan. 7, the son of Pastor Subhash Baghel wasn't allowed to bury his father in Chhindawada village even though a section of the hamlet has been designated for Christians, Hakku said. Even though his aunt and grandfather were previously buried in that graveyard, the villagers and the headman refused to let him bury his father, he said. The pastors son filed a petition in the Chhattisgarh High Court asking permission to bury his father in the village graveyard, which the court rejected on Jan. 12. While his fathers body awaits burial in the Jagdalpur mortuary, he is appealing to the Supreme Court. Hakku said Christians were shocked that authorities supported a shutdown in protest of alleged forced conversion and the Christian communitys strife with headman Ganga Ram Kashyap. The protest was organized by the Sarva Adivasi Samaj (All Tribal Society) in Bastar District for Jan. 7. It was quite shocking that the authorities gave permission to the headman to carry out the protest despite written complaints against the headman by the Christian community in two different incidents, Hakku said. Instead of acting against the headman, the police supported the shutdown. This shows the bias of the authorities. The hostile tone of the National Democratic Alliance government, led by the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), against non-Hindus, has emboldened Hindu extremists and others to attack Christians since Narendra Modi took power in May 2014, religious rights advocates say. India ranked 11th on Christian support organization Open Doors 2025 World Watch List of the countries where it is most difficult to be a Christian. The country was 31st in 2013, but its position worsened after Modi came to power. This article was originally published at Morning Star News Home News Franklin Graham highlights Gods faithfulness in prayer at Trumps inauguration: 'Look what God has done' Evangelist Franklin Graham delivered a prayer highlighting Gods faithfulness at the inauguration of President Donald Trump on Monday, invoking divine guidance, protection and thanksgiving as Trump began his second, non-consecutive term. Addressing the crowd gathered at the U.S. Capitol, the 72-year-old evangelist opened by acknowledging the difficulties that Trump specifically faced during former President Joe Bidens term, saying, Mr. President, the last four years, there are times Im sure you thought it was pretty dark, but look what God has done. We praise Him and give Him glory. Grahams prayer drew on verses from Psalms, Daniel and Samuel to emphasize Gods sovereignty over nations and leaders. He called on God to grant Trump wisdom and strength, likening Trumps leadership to the biblical figure Moses: You and you alone saved his life and raised him up with strength and power by your mighty hand, Graham prayed. Get Our Latest News for FREE Subscribe to get daily/weekly email with the top stories (plus special offers!) from The Christian Post. Be the first to know. Subscribe We pray for President Trump, that you'll watch over, protect, guide, direct him, give him your wisdom from your throne on high. We ask that You would bless him and that our nation would be blessed through him. Graham, the son of the late Billy Graham and CEO of Samaritans Purse and the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, extended his prayers to Vice President J.D. Vance, his wife, Usha, and their young family, expressing hope that Vance would be a supportive partner in leadership, comparing him to Aaron holding up Moses arms during battle. The prayer also highlighted gratitude for first lady Melania Trump, praising her beauty, warmth, and grace as a symbol of inspiration both to the nation and the world. Graham called on Americans to remember the nations blessings, including its freedoms and prosperity, while urging them to remain steadfast in their faith. The prophet Samuel reminded the people it was you that brought them up from the land of Egypt. And he said, Now stand still that I may reason with you before the Lord, Graham said. We take this moment to stand still, to remember the great things that you have done for this nation, he prayed. Thank you for the protection, the bounty, the freedoms that we so enjoy; we remember to keep our eyes fixed on you, and may our hearts be inclined to your voice. We know that America can never be great again if we turn our backs on you. We ask for your help. Graham concluded his prayer with an invocation of Jesus Christ as the King of kings, the Lord of lords. Over the years, Graham has been an outspoken supporter of Trump's policies and has claimed that Trump was the last presidential candidate his late father voted for. My father knew Donald Trump, he believed in Donald Trump, and he voted for Donald Trump. He believed that Donald J. Trump was the man for this hour in history for our nation, he wrote in 2019. Religious leaders of different faiths offered closing prayers for the ceremony: Rabbi Ari Berman, Pastor Lorenzo Sewell and Rev. Frank Mann. Sewell, pastor of 180 Church in Detroit, Michigan, celebrated what he described as a millimeter miracle that saved Trumps life after an attempted assassination in 2024. Heavenly Father, were so grateful that you gave our 45th and now our 47th president, a millimeter miracle, Sewell prayed. We are grateful that you are the one that has called him for such a time as this, that America would begin to dream again. The prayer focused on themes of equality, justice and unity, invoking the core values of the nations founding. We pray that we would fulfill the true meaning of our creed, that we hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, Sewell continued. We pray that you use our president, that we will live in a nation where we will not be judged by the color of our skin, but by the content of our character. Sewell then led the audience in envisioning a renewed America, drawing on the hymn My Country, Tis of Thee. Heavenly Father, in the name of Jesus, we are so grateful today that you will use our 47th president so we would sing with new meaning, my country, Tis of Thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing, land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrims pride. From every mountainside, let freedom ring. Sewell painted a vivid picture of freedom resonating across the nations landscape, echoing Martin Luther King Jr.s historic words: So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania. Let freedom ring from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado. Let freedom ring from the curvaceous hilltops of California. He expanded this vision to include every corner of the country, proclaiming: Let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia. Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee. Let freedom ring from every hill and every molehill in Mississippi, from every state, every city, every village, and every hamlet. Sewell prayed for a day when all Americans regardless of race or religion could join together in unity. When we let freedom ring, we will be able to speed up that day when all of Your children black men and white men, Protestant and Catholic, Jew and Gentile will be able to sing in the meaning of that old Negro spiritual. Home News Pastor found not guilty of murdering 8-year-old girl walking to church's summer Bible school A jury has found an 84-year-old retired pastor not guilty of murdering an 8-year-old girl who was walking from home to her church's Bible school. The verdict in the decades-old case has cleared him of all charges. Jurors reached their decision after a four-day trial in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, where David Zandstra had been accused of taking the life of Gretchen Harrington in 1975, The New York Times reported. Zandstra had been taken into custody in July 2023, decades after the girl disappeared while walking from her home to what prosecutors described as a summer Bible school, according to NBC Philadelphia. Authorities in Delaware County alleged that he offered her a ride, drove her to nearby Ridley Creek State Park and killed her. The retired minister was living in Georgia at the time of his arrest. Get Our Latest News for FREE Subscribe to get daily/weekly email with the top stories (plus special offers!) from The Christian Post. Be the first to know. Subscribe During the trial, prosecutors cited statements attributed to Zandstra by law enforcement. Authorities said Zandstra had confessed to the 1975 kidnapping and killing, but his lawyer contended the confession was coerced. Defense attorneys maintained throughout the proceedings that their client never voluntarily admitted guilt and that he was pressured into providing details. It took jurors about an hour to reach a verdict on Friday, clearing him of first-, second- and third-degree murder charges, as well as criminal homicide, kidnapping of a minor and possessing an instrument of crime, according to the Times. Zandstra served as a pastor at the Trinity Chapel Christian Reformed Church in Broomall, Pennsylvania, in the mid-1970s. On the morning of Aug. 15, 1975, Gretchen was heading to a Bible camp at that church when she vanished. Investigators later learned that Trinity Chapel Christian Reformed Church was less than half a mile from her home. A hiker discovered her remains in Ridley Creek State Park about two months after her disappearance. At the time, multiple agencies and community members searched for the missing girl. Gretchens father, who was a minister at a different church on the same road, contacted authorities when his daughter failed to arrive for a session of the camp. Zandstra also called the Marple Police Department the same morning to report Gretchen missing. A month later, on Oct. 14, 1975, the childs remains were found in the state park. Delaware County District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer had earlier referred to the 1975 events as a case that had haunted members of law enforcement since that terrible day. He called the girls killing a crime that left a family and a community forever changed. A witness had reportedly told investigators about seeing Gretchen talking with someone driving a green station wagon or a two-tone Cadillac around the time of her disappearance. Another individual came forward with allegations of sexual misconduct by Zandstra in the 1970s. When approached with those allegations in July 2023, police said Zandstra admitted to offering Gretchen a ride and taking her to a wooded area. He admitted to offering Gretchen a ride and taking her to a nearby wooded area. The defendant stated that he had parked the car and asked the victim to remove her clothing. When she refused, he struck her in the head with a fist, the law enforcement said at the time. Home News San Francisco halts guaranteed-income program limited to transgender individuals San Francisco officials have shut down a guaranteed-income program exclusively offered to trans-identified individuals. The city's Board of Supervisors voted 7-3 last month to end the taxpayer-funded initiative, halting any future projects with the same eligibility criteria. The city agreed not to create a similar initiative with the same eligibility rules, according to an agreement to settle a taxpayer lawsuit brought by Judicial Watch on the grounds that the program contravened the Equal Protection Clause of the California Constitution. Get Our Latest News for FREE Subscribe to get daily/weekly email with the top stories (plus special offers!) from The Christian Post. Be the first to know. Subscribe The settlement, filed in San Francisco Superior Court, also includes a payment of $3,250 in attorney's fees and costs. Judicial Watch, a Washington-based conservative legal organization, stated that the lawsuit, Phillips et al. v. Breed et al., was filed in January 2024, naming Mayor London Breed, City Treasurer Jose Cisneros, the director of the city's Office of Transgender Initiatives and City Administrator Carmen Chu as defendants. The group alleged the city used taxpayer money for an arrangement that favored transgender applicants, with an added emphasis on individuals described as "biological black and Latino men who identify as women." Mayor Breed first announced the Guaranteed Income for Trans People (GIFT) program in November 2022. According to a press release from her office, the city would "provide low-income transgender San Franciscans with $1,200 each month, up to 18 months." The pilot program planned to select 55 participants for a timeframe spanning January 2023 through June 2024. The mayor's release noted that the initiative aimed to address what her office considered "financial insecurity within trans communities." Judicial Watch said the program favored applicants who were "transgender, nonbinary, gender nonconforming, or intersex" and who had monthly incomes of no more than $600. Undocumented residents were included among those eligible for the benefit. The GIFT program was administered by the city's Office of Transgender Initiatives, which oversaw the enrollment process. "This settlement is a huge victory for taxpayers who oppose taxpayer-funded woke racism and transgender extremism," Tom Fitton, president of Judicial Watch, said in a statement Friday. "This settlement agreement puts a stop to the illegal use taxpayer money to hand out free cash to transgender individuals based on race and sex in blatant violation of California's constitution." The group maintained that race-based criteria were essential factors in awarding the income. On Dec. 10, the Board of Supervisors passed an ordinance authorizing the settlement, which was signed by Mayor Breed on Dec. 19. Honey Mahogany, San Francisco's Director of the Office of Transgender Initiatives, said in June that the program would come to an end due to lack of funding. While San Francisco has had multiple guaranteed income programs, GIFT was the first to concentrate exclusively on transgender individuals. Another project, the Abundant Birth Project, provides $1,000 per month to mothers identifying as black and Pacific Islander, as well as "pregnant people," from the first trimester until two years postpartum. According to city officials, up to 150 individuals could participate by the end of 2024. Another initiative, launched in 2021, offered monthly payments of $1,000 for up to 18 months to local artists affected by COVID-19 restrictions. Home News US Catholics paid more than $5 billion for allegations of sexual abuse of minors over 20 years: study The United States arm of the Catholic Church paid more than $5 billion over 20 years for costs related to allegations of sexual abuse of minors by priests and deacons, according to a study by the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. Published this month, the 106-page report tracked and calculated the costs related to allegations of sexual abuse of minors by priests and deacons reported by "dioceses, eparchies and religious communities of men" annually from 2004 to 2023. Researchers found that the Catholic Church paid out just over $5,025,346,893. 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 Some 87% of the payments or more than $4.3 billion were made by dioceses and eparchies, while other religious communities of men connected to the Catholic Church paid the remaining 13%, which amounted to $641,324,609. A combined three-fourths of these payments were for settlements paid to the victims (71%) and other payments to victims (4%). The other major category of costs paid out was attorneys fees (17%), which make up one-sixth of all of these costs, the report notes. Included in the cost for the sexual abuse of minors was also the cost of defending the alleged offenders, which researchers say was 6% of the cost. While insurance companies covered some of these costs, the bulk of the payments came from the dioceses, eparchies and religious communities of men. Just 16% of the costs related to the sexual abuse allegations were paid by insurance companies. Just last September, the Diocese of Rockville Centre in Long Island, New York, the largest Catholic Diocese in the U.S. to file for bankruptcy, agreed to pay more than 600 survivors of sexual abuse a historic $320 million and invest in rigorous child protection protocols in a legal settlement. The credit for having saved so many kids in the future from the horrors inflicted on so many in the past goes to the courageous survivors for having fought, suffered, endured, and stood strong against darkness and deceit, Jeff Anderson of Jeff Anderson & Associates told The Christian Post in a statement at the time. While there is a measure of accountability, the beneficiaries of this are the communities and the kids born and yet to be who are safer because of the exposure of the practices by the diocese and the bishops. The CARA report suggests that the exposure of clergy abuse over time appears to have served as a deterrent along with increased investment in child protection efforts by the church. Costs related to allegations of sexual abuse of minors fell 17% in the second decade of the study compared with the first. The first decade of allegations cost the church over $2.7 million, while more than $2.2 million was paid out in the second. The church also spent 80% more on child protection efforts in the second decade of the study over $468.2 million compared to the over $259.7 million spent on those efforts in the first decade. Researchers also found a 46% increase in allegations deemed credible by dioceses, eparchies and religious communities of men from the first decade of the survey (6,621) to the second decade, when 9,655 were found credible from 2014-2023. At least some of this is attributable during that second decade to the greater number of large lawsuits and state investigations, as well as the enactment by some state governments of temporary relaxations of statutes of limitations on crimes and lawsuits, researchers said. Trump Names Ambassadors To Hollywood, SCOTUS Upholds TikTok Ban, One Million Moms Challenge NIV Bible link to download the audio instead. link to download the audio instead. 06:55 06:55 Top headlines for Monday, January 20, 2025 In this episode, President Donald Trump stirs Hollywood with his surprising appointment of actors Mel Gibson, Sylvester Stallone, and Jon Voight as special ambassadors. Meanwhile, a pivotal Supreme Court ruling mandates TikTok to sever ties with its Chinese ownership, potentially reshaping the social media landscape. Lastly, discover the controversy surrounding Zondervan's latest release, the NIV Upside-Down Kingdom Bible, as conservative group One Million Mom rallies in opposition. ?Follow Us on Social Media ?Get the Edifi App ?Subscribe to Our Newsletter ?Links to the News Home News Biden pardons family members, Fauci, Milley, Jan. 6 panelists, extends record for most individual pardons In an unprecedented move during the final hours of his presidency on Monday, President Joe Biden granted pardons to Dr. Anthony Fauci, retired Gen. Mark Milley and members of his own family. The pardons also extended to the bipartisan U.S. House of Representatives select committee that investigated the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot, as well as the U.S. Capitol and D.C. Metropolitan police officers who testified before the committee. In one of his final statements before President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration, Biden, 82, said: "The issuance of these pardons should not be mistaken as an acknowledgment that any individual engaged in any wrongdoing, nor should acceptance be misconstrued as an admission of guilt for any offense. Our nation owes these public servants a debt of gratitude for their tireless commitment to our country." 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 As part of a flurry of last-minute statements before leaving office, Biden pardoned his brothers, James and Francis Biden, his sister, Valerie Biden, and their spouses. "My family has been subjected to unrelenting attacks and threats, motivated solely by a desire to hurt me the worst kind of partisan politics," Biden said in a statement. "Unfortunately, I have no reason to believe these attacks will end." Biden, who last month pardoned his son Hunter Biden, who faced sentencing for convictions on federal tax and gun charges, set the presidential record for most individual pardons and commutations issued just days prior to Monday's statement. "These are exceptional circumstances, and I cannot in good conscience do nothing," the outgoing president explained. "Even when individuals have done nothing wrong and in fact have done the right thing and will ultimately be exonerated, the mere fact of being investigated or prosecuted can irreparably damage reputations and finances." Perhaps the most controversial figure from the pandemic era, Fauci, who led the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases for nearly four decades and served as the federal government's chief medical advisor during the pandemic, expressed gratitude for the pardon. He noted what he described as politically motivated threats against him. "Despite the accomplishments that my colleagues and I achieved over my long career of public service, I have been the subject of politically-motivated threats of investigation and prosecution," Fauci said in a statement. "There is absolutely no basis for these threats. Let me be perfectly clear: I have committed no crime." In response to Fauci's pardon, Republican Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul said the move "seals the deal" in regards to Fauci's role in the COVID-19 pandemic. During a 2021 House hearing on the origins of the virus, Paul accused Fauci of falsely denying that the government has funded "gain-of-function" research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, where the COVID-19 virus is believed to have originated. On Monday, Paul wrote: "If there was ever any doubt as to who bears responsibility for the COVID pandemic, Biden's pardon of Fauci forever seals the deal. As Chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee I will not rest until the entire truth of the coverup is exposed. Fauci's pardon will only serve as an accelerant to pierce the veil of deception. Ignominious!" "Anthony Fauci," he added, "will go down in history as the first government scientist to be preemptively pardoned for a crime." General Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff during the Trump administration, has been critical in outspoken remarks about Trump's conduct surrounding the Jan. 6 riot. He also faced allegations of treason from lawmakers on the political right after he said in 2021 that his intention was not to "usurp authority" when he told Chinese officials he would warn them if the U.S. decided to attack. "My family and I are deeply grateful for the President's action today," Milley said in a statement to USA Today. "After forty-three years of faithful service in uniform to our Nation, protecting and defending the Constitution, I do not wish to spend whatever remaining time the Lord grants me fighting those who unjustly might seek retribution for perceived slights." Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., who served on the House Jan. 6 committee and was among those eligible for Biden's pardon, previously criticized preemptive pardons, particularly under the first Trump administration. Schiff, along with former Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo.; Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill.; and others served on the bipartisan Jan. 6 House Select Committee. "The precedent of giving blanket pardons, preemptive blanket pardons on the way out of an administration, I think is a precedent we don't want to set," Schiff said on ABC's "This Week" in December. Earlier Monday, hours before his inauguration, Trump told NBC News the pardons were "disgraceful" and that "many are guilty of major crimes." Upon taking office at noon Monday, Trump has pledged to grant swift clemency to many of those involved in the Capitol riot. Home News Death by dehydration: Family of Christian woman speak out after hospital removes nutrition tube The family of a Christian woman who was removed from life support despite their objections is condemning the decision as a violation of her wishes. Her children say her religious convictions and right to life were disregarded by a court order. Hyacinth McIntosh, 54, was removed from life support and denied hydration against her wishes and beliefs, her family has said, according to the U.K.-based group Christian Concern. A Court of Protection ruling last November authorized McIntoshs ventilator, feeding and hydration to be withdrawn, leading to her death on Dec. 25, 2024. Legal documents state that McIntosh had been in a coma since May, when she experienced a heart attack followed by severe brain damage. 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 McIntoshs family repeatedly voiced objections to the withdrawal of artificial hydration, pointing to her Christian faith and her stated view on the sanctity of life, according to The Telegraph. Her daughter, Shanika Davis, said the entire experience, including a refusal by clinicians to provide fluids, compounded their grief. How my mother died was beyond cruelty. There was no dignity or respect, and we refuse to believe that it was in her best interests to die. She added, Our wishes as a family and my mothers right to life have been trampled on by the hospital and the courts. McIntosh was kept alive by artificial ventilation and nasogastric feeding until Dec. 14, when these life-saving methods were removed pursuant to the court order, according to court documents. Despite a last-minute legal challenge, these devices were removed. McIntosh continued to breathe on her own until she died on Christmas Day. Davis said physicians had predicted her mother would not survive more than a few days after ventilation ended but said McIntoshs oxygen saturation between 95 and 100 percent at all times showed otherwise. McIntoshs Christian convictions meant she would have wanted to remain on life support, leaving the final outcome in what they said would be Gods hands, said the family. Doctors and judges condemned her to a cruel death from dehydration rather than revisiting their earlier conclusions, Davis was quoted as saying. She said the family was unable to seek alternatives, including potential transfer to a different medical facility, because the Court of Protection had placed reporting restrictions on the case. Kings College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust carried out the withdrawal of artificial ventilation, feeding, and hydration immediately following the court decision. A spokesman for the trust was quoted as saying that continuing treatment was not in her best interests. McIntoshs daughter obtained the support of professor Sam Ahmedzai, a retired palliative care physician who had contributed to National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines on end-of-life care. In his evidence to the Court of Protection, Ahmedzai called the denial of fluids cruel, inhuman and degrading. He further noted, as quoted by the Telegraph: There is no justification for withdrawing existing nasogastric hydration and feeding in such a case, even after withdrawal of assisted ventilation. Even if, after extubation, [McIntosh] lives for only a matter of days, then removal of the NG tube would be an unnecessary and unusually cruel, degrading and inhuman thing to do. Ahmedzai added that some healthcare providers still practice elements of the abolished Liverpool Care Pathway, which involved withholding hydration from dying patients. Andrea Williams, chief executive of the Christian Legal Centre, which is Christian Concerns legal arm, said: This story raises the specter of how vulnerable patients and families will be treated under any assisted dying legislation. Its highly concerning. Good law protects life, does not blur boundaries and should never promote death. McIntoshs relatives are pressing to have dehydration listed as her immediate cause of death, but they have been informed it will not appear on her death certificate. Home News Inauguration Day: 7 interesting facts about Trumps second swearing in President-elect Donald Trump will be sworn in on Monday, marking the second term of the Republican politician after he defeated Democrat Vice President Kamala Harris last November. In contrast to 2021, when hundreds of Trump supporters stormed Capitol Hill in an effort to stop the certification of the election, the transition of power in 2025 has been an uneventful one. Inauguration Day will be historic for multiple reasons, as several milestones will be achieved once the Trump administration officially assumes the powers of the presidency. 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 Here are seven distinctive aspects about Trump's swearing in. They include him being the first convicted felon sworn into office, J.D. Vance being the third-youngest vice president, and Joe Biden being the longest serving Catholic president. Home Opinion Donald Trump's inauguration is a wake up call to all Christians As the nation prepares for a new presidential inauguration, its important for Christians to reflect on what this transition of leadership means from a biblical perspective. Regardless of political affiliation or personal convictions, the inauguration of a new president is a moment of great significance, not only for the country but for the Churchs role in guiding and influencing the moral and spiritual direction of society. As believers, we are called to a higher standard one that transcends the often-divisive nature of politics. The Scriptures remind us that, while we live in a political world, our ultimate allegiance is to the Kingdom of God. This is a time for Christians to embrace their calling to be agents of peace, justice, and reconciliation, and to intercede on the governments behalf for wisdom. A call to prayer for our leaders Get Our Latest News for FREE Subscribe to get daily/weekly email with the top stories (plus special offers!) from The Christian Post. Be the first to know. Subscribe First and foremost, the Bible calls us to pray for our leaders. In 1 Timothy 2:1-2, Paul instructs believers: I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This command applies not just to leaders we agree with but to all those in authority. Its easy to get caught up in the political climate of division and partisanship, especially in a time as momentous as a presidential inauguration. However, as Christians, we are called to pray for the success and integrity of those in power, even if their policies or actions do not align with our personal views. Our prayers should be that God would grant wisdom, discernment, and a heart of service to the president, as well as for those who work with him. Unity, not division In the aftermath of a contentious election season, the temptation to divide along political lines can feel overwhelming. The Bible speaks clearly about the importance of unity within the body of Christ. Ephesians 4:3 exhorts believers to make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. This unity is not contingent on political agreement but on our shared commitment to Christ. The inauguration is a fresh start, an opportunity for all of us to put aside animosity and to remember that, as Christians, our allegiance is to God and His Kingdom above any earthly power. In a time of heightened political polarization, it is vital that the Church exemplifies love and grace to all, regardless of political affiliation. The Gospel teaches us that unity in Christ supersedes any earthly divisions, and it is through this unity that we can bring healing to a fractured nation. At the inauguration, we are reminded that our leaders, however they come to power, are ultimately held accountable to God. Romans 13:1-2 states, Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The inauguration symbolizes the peaceful transfer of authority a fundamental principle of democracy. As Christians, we honor this process as a reflection of Gods sovereignty over all human affairs. We may not always understand or agree with every decision made by our leaders, but we recognize that God is ultimately in control and that His purposes will prevail, even through imperfect systems and flawed individuals. Our role in a democratic society While we are called to respect and pray for those in authority, Christians also have a responsibility to be active participants in shaping the moral and ethical direction of our society. A peaceful transition of power does not mean passivity. The Bible teaches us to be salt and light in the world (Matthew 5:13-16). This means engaging in the political process not only by voting but also by advocating for justice, speaking out on behalf of the oppressed, and working to reflect Christs love in every area of life, including politics. As citizens, we have the privilege and responsibility to engage with the world around us, to hold our leaders accountable, and to pray for their guidance. Micah 6:8 reminds us that what the Lord requires of us is to act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. Regardless of who occupies the Oval Office, this command remains the same for us. A call to hope and peace In times of political uncertainty, its easy to become discouraged or disillusioned. Yet, as Christians, we are reminded that our hope is not tied to the success or failure of any political leader. Our hope rests in the eternal promises of God. Psalm 146:3-5 says, Do not put your trust in princes, in human beings, who cannot save. Blessed are those whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord their God. The inauguration is a reminder that while political leaders come and go, our trust must remain in the eternal Kingdom of God and its values. We are to fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, and to trust that His plans are good, even when earthly circumstances seem uncertain. A Christian commitment to the future This is a moment for us to reflect on the Gospels power to bring hope, peace, and transformation. No matter who holds office, our ultimate allegiance is to Jesus Christ, who reigns supreme. Let us go forward with hearts full of grace and wisdom, trusting in Gods sovereignty and working toward a future that reflects His love for all people. (Photo: Getty/iStock) The assassination of a Protestant Christian leader in northern Colombia on 8 January has reignited demands for the Colombian government to reverse its controversial 2023 amendment of security legislation that stripped protections from religious leaders. The drive-by shooting of 28-year-old Ivan Garcia, a church leader and preacher, as he and six other peopleincluding his 14-year-old stepdaughterwalked along a rural, unlit road, occurred after they had left a spiritual celebration at the People of God Christian Vision Church where his wife, Pastor Karen Nierles, had been leading a Bible study. Two gunmen on a motorcycle pulled up beside the group, dismounting to open fire on Garcia, hitting him six times, including twice in the head. The gunmen then fled the scene on their bike, leaving behind an injured woman with a bullet in her arm. Pastor Nierles, Garcia's wife of six months, said that his active involvement in their church, the New Rebirth in Christ Church in the village of Garital, had helped drive its rapid growth, which took its congregation from seven to thirty committed members. Speaking to Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW), a human rights organisation working to defend freedom of religion and belief, Pastor Nierles said Garcia had renounced violence after leaving behind his life as a member of an illegal armed group to return to his Christian faith. Pastor Yimys Penalosa, leader of the denomination Pastor Nierles' church belongs to, told CSW that around a month ago the couple heard two gunshots as they were leaving Mr Garcia's place of work, but didn't believe the act was specifically aimed at them. Saying her husband had never mentioned receiving any threats or warnings in the lead-up to the attack, she revealed that he had instead shared how unafraid he was to serve God. "A few days ago, he told me that he was not afraid to teach the Bible, that he had a new life," she said. "He told me 'For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain'." The Director of Advocacy for CSW, Anna Lee Stangl, said this killing was the second premeditated assassination of a Protestant Christian leader in northern Colombia in the space of two weeks, raising concerns that religious leaders are being deliberately targeted. "CSW grieves with the family and church community of Ivan Garcia," she said. "Mr Garcia had made a decision, despite the risks, to separate himself from an illegal armed group because of his religious beliefs and it is unacceptable that he might have been made to pay for that choice with his life." Ms Stangl said there were disturbing similarities to a 29 December attack, when gunmen opened fire on Pastor Marlon Lora, his wife Yurlay Rincon, son Santiago, and his adult daughter Angela as they sat eating lunch in a restaurant after a Sunday morning church service in Aguachica, Cesar Department. The only one not killed at the scene was Santiago, but he was left in a critical condition and died in hospital a few days later. "The nature of the attack on Mr Garcia, like the massacre two weeks ago of Pastor Marlon Lora and his entire family, indicate that these are premeditated, targeted assassinations," said Ms Stangl. She blames the Colombian government's decision to amend Decree 1066, a legal instrument governing the security measures that high-risk individuals, communities, and organisations are entitled to. Removing religious leaders as a protected category has left them vulnerable to violence targeting them over religious activities carried out as part of their positions," she said. "Religious leaders have long been a target of illegal armed and criminal groups for many reasons, including the role many of them take up as peacemakers and their willingness to use their influence in their communities to encourage others to reject participation in violent and criminal activities," Ms Stangl said. "A full investigation into both sets of murders must take place and those responsible must be held to account." Gozen Soydag (Photo: Christian Legal Centre) A school pastoral manager in north London plans to appeal an employment tribunal ruling this week that supported a Catholic school firing her over her social media posts in favor of biblical marriage. Gozen Soydag, a 37-year-old social media influencer in Enfield, England, made the posts available to her 30,000 followers on Instagram, leading to St. Anne's Catholic High School for Girls firing her in 2023 for "Christian beliefs on marriage and relationships she had expressed and put forward for debate on Instagram in her own time," according to advocacy group the Christian Legal Centre (CLC). The Watford Employment Tribunal on Tuesday upheld the school's dismissal. CLC attorneys had argued for wrongful dismissal, harassment, discrimination and breaches of Soydag's human rights on grounds of her Christian beliefs. During the tribunal hearings in December, Jo Saunders, the school assistant head teacher, denied blocking Soydag's free speech rights, according to a CLC press statement. "We did not curtail her free speech, we just said that she had to take down her posts," Saunders reportedly said. CLC noted that Saunders compared Soydag's beliefs on Christian marriage to controversial right-wing social media personality Andrew Tate, deeming them "incompatible in modern society." In her ruling, Employment Judge Sarah Matthews dismissed each of Soydag's claims, saying her posts "only celebrated the nuclear family, which could make other students from different backgrounds feel devalued," reported the CLC. 'Incompatible' with Catholic School's Ethos Soydag had removed posts in support of biblical marriage after school officials told her they had received an anonymous complaint. School officials told her the expressed biblical beliefs were "incompatible with the school's ethos," the CLC stated. The Catholic school's mission statement and ethos web page asserts it strives "to follow the teaching and example of Jesus and to help our young people discern God's call so they use their gifts and talents to live by gospel values," the CLC noted. "The school is conducted as a Catholic school in accordance with the Canon Law and the teaching of the Roman Catholic Church, and in accordance with the Trust Deed of the Archdiocese of Westminster," the school's web page states. The teaching of the Roman Catholic Church supported by the school is underpinned by biblical views of marriage articulated in Pope Paul VI's 1968 "Humanae Vitae," a Vatican document stating that a husband and wife "through that mutual gift of themselves, which is specific and exclusive to them alone, develop that union of two persons in which they perfect one another, cooperating with God in the generation and rearing of new lives." Fired for 'mindset' Saunders, the school's assistant deputy head, summoned Soydag on February 9, 2023 and told her about the anonymous complaint regarding her social media posts. At no point was she asked or given the opportunity to explain the purpose of her @wifeinthewaiting Instagram account where the posts appeared, according to the CLC. Saunders expressed concern to Soydag about her sharing a video showing a woman in Muslim attire talking of her happiness in submitting to her husband, according to the CLC. "On occasion Miss Soydag would post videos on the theme of marriage and relationships, not because she agreed with the entirety of what she posted, but to generate debate," added the CLC press statement. "The assistant deputy head told Miss Soydag that this video was concerning because if the same statements were made by a man, they would be deemed 'misogynistic.'" At the meeting, Soydag says she was told that employees must keep social media accounts private. Soydag removed the video showing the Muslim woman speaking of submitting to her husband. Two weeks later, however, the school summoned Soydag to another meeting about other content on her social media pages. A parent reportedly had strongly disagreed with her expressed Christian beliefs. Officials handed Soydag a 24-hour ultimatum demanding she ensure her @wifeinthewaiting account was no longer visible on Google search. Soydag says she tried to explain that due to Google's functionality this would take two weeks. "The following day, Miss Soydag told the headteacher [Emma Loveland] what she had done to make her accounts less visible, but was told that her accounts were 'global,' that it was 'too little too late,' and the beliefs she expressed were openly criticized," stated the CLC. When Soydag asked why she was being fired, Loveland reportedly replied that she refused to have "someone with that mindset working at the school." Soydag received an email stating she was fired "due to much of your extensive online profile being incompatible with the school's mission statement and ethos, and the fact that despite being asked to remove such incompatible information, your profile appears to a large extent to remain unchanged." "Told to pack up her belongings and leave the premises, Miss Soydag, left in tears without being able to say goodbye to colleagues and students," added the CLC. "All of this happened on her birthday." 'Devastated and Confused' After the ruling, Soydag said she felt both "devastated and confused" by the court's decision but will appeal and "fight for justice." Recalling her original motives for working in the education sector, she explained a desire to positively impact young people. "This was a Catholic school, and they knew I was a passionate woman of faith," Soydag said. "The school's building is in the shape of the cross. Every classroom had a cross and Bible verses on the walls. This was a place where I believed they accepted Jesus." Soydag pointed out that her social media channels were all about the hope of the gospel, especially for women. She stated her beliefs in "God's blueprint" for "nuclear marriage." "I'm not against anyone, I am for God's blueprint for the family and believe children do best in a nuclear family," she said. "I want to continue to speak up because traditional Christian marriage in this country is being broken, trampled on, and even marginalized, and what has happened to me really highlights that." She said that if complaints had been made about her as a teacher who expressed beliefs as part of "inclusive" culture, she would not have been fired. "I would have been celebrated and promoted," she said. "For discussing and debating traditional Christian marriage and family, I was sacked, and that cannot be right." Christian Beliefs 'Barred' Andrea Williams, chief executive of the CLC, interpreted the judge's ruling as sending a message that Christian beliefs on marriage are now "barred" from schools in the UK. "Every type of relationship and family must be celebrated, but if you celebrate and promote the traditional family on social media, you do so at risk of dismissal," Williams said. "Gozen unashamedly loves Jesus and is a brilliant advocate for women and God's great and beautiful plan for marriage." Gozen was doing a high level of work in a tough area of London, supporting young women in a Catholic school and had received nothing but praise before someone complained about the beliefs she expressed for debate on her own time, Williams said. She said the court ruling served as "another example" of a school having an appearance of a Christian ethos but in reality "panicking and capitulating to secular orthodoxy and the 'offence' of Christian marriage." "The judgment manipulates the facts and evidence to construct a conclusion to suit its ends," she added. "The whole exercise becomes one of legal fiction, which we intend to overturn through the appeal system." Christian Daily International (Photo: Getty/iStock) Donald Trump has promised sweeping changes from day one of his administration as he prepares to be inaugurated as US president for the second time. At a victory rally in Washington DC on Sunday, Trump told cheering crowds that he would "act with historic speed and strength to fix every single crisis facing our country", and promised that "every radical and foolish executive order of the Biden administration will be repealed within hours of when I take the oath of office". Within his sights are diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) and trans ideology, illegal immigration and "the most aggressive, sweeping effort to restore our borders the world has ever seen". He also plans to "get wokeness the hell out of our military immediately and make it like it used to be". "I will defend religious liberty. I will restore free speech," he added. "We will stop illegal immigration once and for all. We will not be invaded. We will not be occupied. We will not be overrun. We will not be conquered." Trump will be sworn in as the 47th president inside the US Capitol in Washington DC on Monday, with the oaths of office scheduled for 12pm local time. In an unusual move, the ceremony will take place indoors due to extremely cold temperatures forecast. Franklin Graham, head of Samaritan's Purse and son of the late evangelist Billy Graham, will give the invocation prayer. Speaking on Fox and Friends, Graham said it was an "honour" to be asked and that it was important to spend time focusing on God and asking "for God's blessing for this administration". Graham encouraged people to pray for Trump and his administration "every day". "He needs our prayers ... the problems we are facing as a nation are incredible, huge, and for us to be able to focus and stop for a minute and pray that God would give him wisdom, guide and direct his steps is so important. And I would encourage people everywhere to pray for him every day," he said. Hundreds of thousands of people are expected to flock to Washington DC on Monday, with large crowds expected to gather along Pennsylvania Avenue where there will be a ceremonial presidential parade at 2:30pm local time. Evangelists will be out and about among the crowds distributing 50,000 Christian booklets. The booklets by the Faith & Liberty group "commemorate President Donald Trump's 2025 Inauguration and contain the scriptural books of John and Romans". "In times of national division like America has recently seen, a new presidential administration can offer hope," said Faith & Liberty Senior Vice President Peggy Nienaber. "The commemorative scripture booklets were published for this significant occasion for that same reason to offer hope to people in the Saviour Jesus Christ." Pastor Lorenzo Sewell of 180 Church in Detroit, Michigan, is one of four religious leaders invited to give the benediction at the inauguration. Sewell said he cried when he got the call. "I cried because I feel like Jesus wants me to do something Monday. I don't believe this is about me. I think this is about people that are hurting in Detroit," he told WXYZ Detroit. Detroit pastor and founder of Deeper Christian Life Ministry, Rev William F Kumuyi, will also be in attendance at the inauguration. "This moment in history reminds us that faith transcends borders and unites believers worldwide," he told The Christian Post. "As we gather in Washington DC, the global church stands together in prayer and purpose, advocating for faith-based dialogue to shape policies that uphold religious liberty and foster the growth of Christianity worldwide." We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on! Go to form Join our International Humanitarian Team in Moldova as a Legal Adviser! Are you a legal professional with a passion for international humanitarian law? Do you dream of making a positive impact in conflict-affected regions? Look no further! The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is searching for a skilled and dedicated Legal Adviser to join our dynamic team in Moldova. About ICRC: As a neutral and independent international humanitarian organization, the ICRC is committed to protecting and assisting victims of armed conflicts and violence. By joining our team, you'll have the chance to contribute to meaningful humanitarian efforts in complex and challenging environments. Key Responsibilities: Legal Expertise: Provide in-depth analysis and advice on national and international legal frameworks and norms relevant to the ICRC delegation's activities, strategies, and objectives. Research and Analysis: Conduct independent research and analysis on specific legal issues and broader sectors of the national legal system. IHL Dissemination: Support dissemination activities on international humanitarian law to specialized audiences and the general public, promoting a better understanding of humanitarian law. Focal Point for Technical Assistance: Offer legal advice and technical support to national authorities and other stakeholders on issues related to International humanitarian law Coordinate and Supervise External Consultancies: Oversee and coordinate external consultancies on legal matters. Networking and Representation: Build and maintain relationships with relevant authorities academic circles and other key stakeholders in the legal and humanitarian spheres. Represent the delegation in meetings with external contacts when necessary. Strategic Input: Advise on socio-political and legal aspects related to delegation strategy and operations, contributing to the formulation and achievement of delegation objectives. Qualifications: University Degree in Law: Essential to have a strong legal background and foundation in legal principles. Master's Degree or Specialization in Public International Law, preferably International humanitarian law and/or International human rights law: A must to excel in the role. Admission to the Bar: An advantage that sets you apart. Language Skills: Fluency in English and Romanian, working knowledge of Russian, including legal drafting skills in all three languages, is required. Computer Proficiency: Necessary for smooth operations. Professional Experience: 1-3 Years of Relevant Working Experience: Previous experience in a similar legal function, whether within or outside the ICRC, government, or the judicial sector, will be valuable. Teaching or Dissemination Experience: Confirmed experience in teaching or dissemination activities is a plus. Legal Drafting Experience: Desirable and advantageous. Key Competencies: IHL Expertise: Demonstrate a basic understanding of international humanitarian law principles. Analytical Thinking: Proficient in analyzing complex legal issues and proposing effective solutions. Communication Skills: Clearly and concisely communicate legal matters. Diplomatic Skills: Exhibit basic diplomatic skills to navigate challenging situations and build effective relationships. Strategic Thinking: Ability to align legal advice with broader delegation strategies. Stakeholder Management: Competence in engaging with diverse stakeholders effectively. Report Writing: Proficient in drafting clear and comprehensive legal documents. Make a Difference - Apply Now! Join our ICRC Moldova team and be part of a global movement dedicated to providing aid and support to those in need during conflicts. As a Legal Adviser, your expertise will play a crucial role in upholding human dignity and humanitarian principles. Don't miss this chance to make a difference! How to Apply: To apply, send your updated CV and a cover letter detailing your interest in the Legal Adviser position to vmircos@icrc.org before the application deadline on 10.02.2025. Please note that only shortlisted candidates will be further contacted. The ICRC values diversity and is committed to crafting an inclusive working environment. We encourage applications from all qualified candidates. We will ensure that individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, and to receive other benefits and privileges of employment. Please note that applications received after the deadline will not be considered. ICRC retains the discretion to re-advertise the position, to cancel the recruitment or offer an appointment at a lower grade or with a modified job description. By applying your CV, you consent to the processing of your personal data. For more information about the ICRC and our mission, visit our website at www.icrc.org and follow us on our social media platforms. Join us in this noble mission and help make a positive impact in the lives of those affected by conflicts. #ICRC #HumanitarianLaw #LegalAdviser #Moldova #JoinOurTeam #MakeADifference #HumanitarianEfforts Alte articole de la acest autor: Moldova pentru Educatie: Liceul Teoretic O. Ghibu din Orhei va avea unul dintre cele mai moderne blocuri alimentare din tara UNICEF Moldova is hiring a Communication Officer, NO-A (TA) to assist in planning, implementing, monitoring and evaluating an advocacy and communication strategy to get childrens and womens issues into the public domain, strengthen political will in support of UNICEF's mission and objectives in the country, and enhance the organizations credibility and brand. This post is linked to temporary funding and there is no expectancy of extension beyond the funding availability. To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have: The following minimum requirements: Education: University degree in Communications, Journalism, Public Relations or related field. Work Experience: One year practical professional work experience in communication, print and broadcast media, or interactive digital media. Field work experience. Language Requirements: Fluency in Romanian, working knowledge English and Russian. The following desirables: Background/familiarity with Emergency situations. Knowledge of another official UN language HOW TO APPLY: To read more detailed information and apply for this position, please visit UNICEF webpage https://jobs.unicef.org/en-us/job/578162/communication-officer-noa-ta-chisinau-moldova-for-moldovan-residents-only-131631 Application deadline: 27 January 2025 UNICEF is here to serve the worlds most disadvantaged children and our global workforce must reflect the diversity of those children. The UNICEF family is committed to include everyone, irrespective of their race/ethnicity, age, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, socio-economic background, or any other personal characteristic. UNICEFs active commitment to diversity and inclusion is critical to deliver the best results for children. For this position, eligible and suitable candidates from underrepresented groups are encouraged to apply. We offer a wide range of measures to include a more diverse workforce, such as paid parental leave, time off for breastfeeding purposes, and reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities. UNICEF strongly encourages the use of flexible working arrangements. UNICEF does not hire candidates who are married to children (persons under 18). UNICEF has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UNICEF, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority, and discrimination. UNICEF is committed to promoting the protection and safeguarding of all children. All selected candidates will undergo rigorous reference and background checks and will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles. Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check. UNICEF appointments are subject to medical clearance. Appointments are also be subject to inoculation (vaccination) requirements, including against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid). Should you be selected for a position with UNICEF, you either must be inoculated as required or receive a medical exemption from the relevant department of the UN. Otherwise, the selection will be canceled. Milagro Gonzalez, of Venezuela, cries Monday, Jan. 20, 2025, after receiving news that her CBP One appointment for Tuesday was cancelled as part of President Donald Trump's border crackdown. Gonzalez and many other migrants had been watching Trump's inaugural speech on television at the Juventud 2000 shelter in Tijuana before receiving the news. (Ana Ramirez/The San Diego Union-Tribune/TNS) Ana Ramirez/TNS WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 20: Texas Governor Greg Abbott (R) looks on as President Donald Trump addresses guests and supporters in an overflow room in Emancipation Hall after his inauguration at the U.S Capitol on January 20, 2025 in Washington, DC. Donald Trump takes office for his second term as the 47th President of the United States. (Photo by Greg Nash-Pool/Getty Images) Pool/Getty Images Texas Governor Greg Abbott and incoming Border Czar Tom Homan make remarks at a Thanksgiving lunch event at Forward Operating Base Eagle, a newly built military base serving Operation Lone Star near the Rio Grande River on Tues, Nov. 26, 2024, in Eagle Pass, Texas. Christopher Lee/Staff Photographer Migrants walk through Tapachula, Chiapas state, Mexico in an attempt to reach the U.S. border, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025, the inauguration day of U.S. President Donald Trump. (AP Photo/Edgar H. Clemente) Edgar H. Clemente/Associated Press U.S. President Donald Trump is applauded after delivering his inaugural address during inauguration ceremonies in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda on January 20, 2025 in Washington, DC. Donald Trump takes office for his second term as the 47th president of the United States. Pool/Getty Images Texas Governor Greg Abbott and incoming Border Czar Tom Homan make remarks at a Thanksgiving lunch event at Forward Operating Base Eagle, a newly built military base serving Operation Lone Star near the Rio Grande River on Tues, Nov. 26, 2024, in Eagle Pass, Texas. Christopher Lee/Staff Photographer Entry gate at Forward Operating Base Eagle, a newly built military base serving Operation Lone Star near the Rio Grande River on Tues, Nov. 26, 2024, in Eagle Pass, Texas. Christopher Lee/Staff Photographer La Union del Pueblo Entero (LUPE) Executive Director Tania A. Chavez Camacho, center, leads chants during a march in protest of President Donald Trumps inauguration in McAllen on Jan. 20, 2025. Trump supporters followed the marchers in their cars flying flags in support of President Donald Trump. Michael Gonzalez/Contributor Venezuelan migrants Daniela Medina, right, and Oldris Rodriguez hug in celebration after entering the United States from Ciudad Juarez, Mexico through the Paso del Norte bridge, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025 in El Paso, Texas. (AP Photo/Andres Leighton) Andres Leighton/Associated Press Members and supporters of La Union del Pueblo Entero (LUPE) march in protest of President Donald Trump during his inauguration in McAllen on Jan. 20, 2025. Trump supporters followed the marchers in their cars flying flags in support of President Donald Trump. Michael Gonzalez/Contributor Members and supporters of La Union del Pueblo Entero (LUPE) march in protest of President Donald Trump during his inauguration in McAllen on Jan. 20, 2025. Trump supporters followed the marchers in their cars flying flags in support of President Donald Trump. Michael Gonzalez/Contributor Migrants seeking asylum leave an immigration office after their scheduled meetings were canceled and they were turned away soon after President Donald Trump canceled the CBP One app, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025, in Matamoros, Mexico. (AP Photo/Eric Gay) Eric Gay/Associated Press Inside Forward Operating Base Eagle, a newly built military base serving Operation Lone Star near the Rio Grande River on Tues, Nov. 26, 2024, in Eagle Pass, Texas. Christopher Lee/Staff Photographer Just minutes after he was sworn back into office, President Donald Trump praised Gov. Greg Abbotts border security crackdown and vowed Texas would have reinforcements from Washington. Trump signed a flurry of executive orders Monday, including ending parole programs former President Joe Biden put in place to curb the record crossings during his administration. He resurrected his so-called remain in Mexico policy that requires asylum seekers to stay in Mexico while their cases are decided by immigration judges in the U.S. And Trump moved to resume border wall construction that Biden had significantly slowed. Advertisement Article continues below this ad In many ways, the new president appeared to be picking up where Abbott left off. The Texas governor has been relentless on the border over the last four years, pouring more than $11 billion of the states money into his security initiative, Operation Lone Star. He was the leader of the pack and did a great job, Trump said of Abbott in comments at the Capitol after his inauguration. Now you're going to have a partner that's going to work with you. Trump also promised to send troops to the southern border to repel an invasion even as crossings are the lowest they have been in years. Federal immigration officials logged 96,000 migrant encounters at the southern border last month, down from 302,000 in December 2023. He declared an emergency on the southern border, saying he would send in the National Guard and designate foreign gangs as terrorist organizations all steps Abbott has taken over the last four years that Trump said made him an unbeatable governor. You didn't do that for politics. You did it because you wanted to do the right thing, Trump said to Abbott. But Ill tell you, it sure as hell worked for politics too. It's self preservation. Because the people are demanding it. The people of Texas are demanding it. The people are demanding it all over. Advertisement Article continues below this ad The moves are widely expected to draw pushback, and lawsuits, from Democrats and civil rights groups. In Houston, a city that is believed to be home to nearly 600,000 who could be subject to deportation, immigration attorneys have said their phones have been ringing nonstop as people try to understand their rights. Outside the state Capitol on Monday afternoon, several dozen protestors held signs and shouted chants in support of welcoming refugees and immigrants. READ MORE: Top Trump aide joins Texas push to shutter a Catholic border nonprofit that helps migrants Trump was also expected to quickly direct the Department of Justice to seek the death penalty for migrants who maim or murder American citizens. And he was expected to begin designating gangs, including the Venezuelan Tren de Aragua, as foreign terrorist organizations, a step that his administration said would allow them to use the Alien Enemies Act to deport members of those gangs. Abbott declared the Venezuelan gang a terrorist organization last year and directed the Texas Department of Public Safety to go after its members. Advertisement Article continues below this ad But invoking the Alien Enemies Act would be a much bigger step that experts said would likely face legal challenges. The law has only been used three times, and not since World War II, when it was used to round up Japanese, German and Italian citizens living in the U.S. This is explicitly a war time authority thats explicitly only in cases where Congress has declared war, or theres an invasion or armed incursion, said Katherine Yon Ebright, a lawyer with the Brennan Center, a progressive legal group. But, she said, Abbotts declaration of an invasion on the border created the roadmap for possible use of the Alien Enemies Act, in part because of how the governor has argued that drug and human trafficking by cartels constitutes an invasion of the state. She said the Trump administration could make a similar argument. Trumps use of troops could also face legal challenges, especially to the extent that his administration seeks to use the military to aid its deportation efforts. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Abbott has been using state troops along the border for years now. They have patrolled the Rio Grande with guns and military vehicles, strung miles of razor wire and took over a public park in Eagle Pass. The state opened a base for National Guard troops in Eagle Pass last year. Its unclear how many additional soldiers would be deployed by Trump, and where they would be sent. But troops could help build deportation camps in Texas, where Trumps border czar Tom Homan has said the administration will likely use land as staging grounds for the deportation effort. The military could assist in building infrastructure for the deportation effort, Homan has said. That would likely mean tents along the border, at least initially. In Texas, soldiers have worked side-by-side with state troopers, who have charged thousands of migrants with trespassing and other state crimes, said Kristin Etter, director of policy and legal services at the Texas Immigration Law Council. In many cases, she said, soldiers would detain migrants until troopers could make the arrests. Once those migrants were released from jails, they would be transferred to federal custody. Trump could easily use a similar approach in his deportation efforts, she said. Theres this model that has worked very efficiently in using state police officers, national guard and private contractors, she said. Its not like this will be a new thing. In Texas, its been happening for so long The model has been set. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Trump has said he will focus on deporting criminals first. As of July 21, 2024, there were 662,566 noncitizens with criminal histories on ICEs national docket, which includes those detained by ICE at the time and those not in ICEs custody. Of those, 435,719 were convicted criminals and 226,847 had pending criminal charges. Immigration and Customs Enforcement currently has just 5,500 agents working nationwide and has struggled to fill vacancies, the Washington Post reported. Each of those officers would need to arrest and remove more than 45 immigrants in a single week to reach 250,000. President-elect Donald Trump takes the oath of office during the 60th Presidential Inauguration in the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025. (Saul Loeb/Pool photo via AP) Saul Loeb/AP People gather for former President Donald Trump as he makes a campaign stop on Thursday, Nov. 2, 2023, in Houston. Raquel Natalicchio/Staff photographer It wasn't just Donald Trump who won November's presidential election. It was a core group of Texas conservative politicians who had pledged their loyalty to the New York real estate developer turned populist figurehead, whose Make America Great Again brand has upended U.S. politics. And with Trump returning to the Oval Office on Monday, they now have a direct line to the White House when it comes to big Texas issues like immigration, taxes and energy. "I think a lot of people say what they think need to say to stay on his good side, but there is a higher camp," said Brendan Steinhauser, a Republican strategist in Austin. "Those are the people he sees as 100% loyal, who never strayed, never criticized him." Advertisement Article continues below this ad Other Texas leaders, who were less enthusiastic about Trump's first-time run in 2016, or go along with him now but have defied him in the past, may have rockier paths ahead as the bombastic businessman continues to reshape the Republican party in his image. "I think last time around there was still hope among more moderate Republicans they could tame him or remove him, and that ship has sailed," said Mark Jones, a political science professor at Rice University. "Theyve realized this is Trumps Republican Party and they either have to follow (former congressman) Will Hurds example and leave or get used to it." Finally, there are those Texas Republicans with a reputation for independence, who even if they might agree with vast majority of the president's agenda can't bring themselves to bend the knee, especially when it comes to going along with his false claims the 2020 election was stolen. Those Texas Republicans refused to stay silent or declare Trump the victor, a stance that puts them in line with two thirds of Americans , yet at odds with a politician famed for cherishing loyalty above all else. Advertisement Article continues below this ad The die-hards Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and Attorney General Ken Paxton both jumped on the Trump bandwagon in 2016 and never looked back. While many Republicans were fleeing the first campaign over unsavory claims about Trump's conduct and statements about women, Patrick, Trump's Texas campaign chair, stood firm, declaring the story was "in the rear view mirror." He has continued to be a close ally, and is attending Trump's weather-limited inauguration ceremony on Monday. Paxton sued to block election results from being certified in 2020. Trump in turn supported Paxton during an impeachment trial in the Texas Senate in 2023 and said he was considering him for U.S. attorney general. Then there's the likes of U.S. Reps. Wesley Hunt, R-Houston, who endorsed Trump as soon as he announced his candidacy for the 2024 cycle, and Ronny Jackson, R-Amarillo, who, as the presidential physician during Trump's first term, famously declared him to be in "excellent" health owing to his "good genes." Hunt recalled how some Texas Republican U.S. House members questioned his decision to endorse Trump at a time many GOP donors were pushing for Florida Gov. Ron DesSantis to be the party's nominee for 2024. Advertisement Article continues below this ad "They weren't talking to regular people in the district. Regular people that live in Spring and Cypress who were clearly all in on President Trump from day one," he said. "I firmly think there's going to be a pecking order this time around." Near the top of that list has to be Rep. Randy Weber, R-Friendswood, who might have the most audacious claim to fame among Trump's supporters in Congress. His 25-year-old granddaughter has the letters T-R-U-M-P tattooed inside her inner lip. "I have a picture of two of them. He signed it, 'With love'," Weber beamed. Also in the circle is Gov. Greg Abbott, who after years trying to convince Republicans of his fealty, Trump named as a possible running mate last year. Advertisement Article continues below this ad He might not be have the history with Trump that some Texas Republicans enjoy, but he's close, Steinhauser said. "He's never really sparred with Trump, but he is not quite in the same category as Dan Patrick either," he said. Love him or hate him? Both Sens. John Cornyn and Ted Cruz describe themselves as committed Trump supporters, but they have also had their public fights with the president. Cruz and Trump were openly hostile in the 2016 GOP primary, with Cruz calling Trump a "pathological liar" and Trump ratcheting up retweeting an unflattering photo of Cruz's wife prompting Cruz to call him a "sniveling coward." Advertisement Article continues below this ad And Cornyn, long known for his bipartisanship, has been willing to defy the partisan Trump, criticizing his 2020 decision to fire a federal election security official who had repudiated his false claims on the election. When Cornyn helped negotiate a bipartisan gun safety bill following the 2022 school shooting in Uvalde, Trump declared him a "RINO" or Republican in Name Only. "Maybe like a lot of women who get married and think they're going to change their spouse, and that doesnt usually work out very well," Cornyn told People magazine of his relationship with Trump in 2020. "What I tried to do is not get into public confrontations and fights with him because, as Ive observed, those usually dont end too well." Still Trump ended up endorsing both men's reelection campaigns Cornyn in 2020 and Cruz in 2024 as he did for Rep. Michael McCaul, of Austin, despite McCaul saying Trump "very well may have" committed an impeachable offense on Jan. 6. And while Trump declined to nominate McCaul to his long sought position Secretary of Homeland Security, McCaul says the two have a, "very strong working relationship." "He and I share a vision of restoring deterrence against our adversaries by demonstrating strength, which leads to peace not weakness, as the Biden administration has exhibited," he said in a statement. Good luck Ask anyone in Washington which Republicans are on Trump's bad side, and U.S. Rep. Chip Roy's name comes up. Tension began to arise as it became clear Trump had lost the 2020 election. Roy urged Trump's Chief of Staff Mark Meadows to back off claims of election fraud, texting him on Jan. 1, 2020, "If POTUS allows this to occur ... were driving a stake in the heart of the federal republic." In the fours years since, Roy, R-Austin, has broken with Trump repeatedly, telling Republicans he is in Congress to do what he thinks best for the country, not the party or Trump. Tension came to a head earlier this year when Roy refused to budge on Trump's demand that House Republicans suspend the debt limit so as to remove Democrats' leverage in upcoming budget negotiations. Trump told his 8.5 million followers on Truth Social that Roy was getting in the way, as usual, of having yet another Great Republican Victory and solicited candidates to "go after Chip in the primary." The two seemed to mend their fences earlier this month when Roy accompanied the Freedom Caucus to a meeting with Trump at Mar-A-Lago, but Roy is still perceived by many Republicans as anti-Trump. "I think it's going to hurt him," said Mario Lugo, a GOP donor in Houston who hosted a rally for Trump this summer, said of Roy. "President Trump is a very popular president, and (politicians) need to be very careful in what they say and how they vote." Also struggling in his relationship with Trump is U.S. Rep. Dan Crenshaw, R-Houston, who along with Roy and U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-San Antonio, did not receive Trump endorsements in their primaries last year. On his podcast Hold These Truths in 2022, Crenshaw, a former Navy Seal, said of claims Trump could overturn the 2020 election, "it was always a lie," saying that conservative political pundits had spread the message because they felt, "people just need their last hurrah. Like they just needed to feel like we fought one last time." Neither Roy nor Crenshaw would offer comment for this story. Still, how much is theater and how much is a real disdain is difficult to parse. Sarah Baus of Charleston, S.C., holds a sign that reads "Keep TikTok" as she and other content creators Sallye Miley of Jackson, Mississippi, and Callie Goodwin of Columbia, S.C., stand outside the U.S. Supreme Court Building. Andrew Harnik/Getty Images The backstory: In July 2020, then-President Donald Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One, "As far as TikTok is concerned, were banning them from the United States." The next month, he signed an executive order seeking to ban the app. Flash forward four years. During the 2024 presidential campaign, Trump joined TikTok and spoke glowingly in support of it. "For all those that want to save Tik Tok in America, vote for Trump!" he said in a Sept. 4 video on Truth Social. "The other side is closing it up. But Im now a big star on TikTok." He has 14.8 million TikTok followers, compared with 8.52 million Truth Social followers. Advertisement Article continues below this ad PolitiFact ruling: Full flop. Trumps changing stance appears to mirror public opinion. In March 2023, 50% of U.S. adults supported banning TikTok, but that fell to 32% in summer 2024, Pew Research Center found. Republican poll respondents supported banning the app more than Democrats did, but their ban support also declined over the time period. One-third of U.S. adults said in 2023 they used TikTok, up 12 percentage points from 2021, Pew Research found. Discussion We asked Trumps transition team why he flip flopped. "President Trump has repeatedly expressed his desire to save TikTok, and there's no better deal maker than President Trump," said Karoline Leavitt, Trump-Vance transition team spokeswoman. PolitiFact has a partnership with TikTok to counter inauthentic, misleading or false content. Advertisement Article continues below this ad In July 2020, Trump began signaling his intention to ban TikTok partly as retaliation for the COVID-19 pandemic, which he blamed on China, where TikToks parent company, ByteDance, is based. His campaign released political ads on Facebook and Instagram accusing TikTok of "spying" on users. "Do you think we should ban TikTok? Sign the petition NOW!" one ad, which has since been deleted, said. At that time, then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Trump administration officials were "looking at" a TikTok ban. Trump was asked about a potential ban following Pompeos remarks. "Its something were looking at, yes," Trump said in an interview with Gray Television, Bloomberg News reported. "Its a big business. Look, what happened with China with this virus, what theyve done to this country and to the entire world is disgraceful." Advertisement Article continues below this ad On Aug. 6, 2020, Trump signed Executive Order 13942, which sought to ban TikTok, citing national security concerns. "At this time, action must be taken to address the threat posed by one mobile application in particular, TikTok ... The United States must take aggressive action against the owners of TikTok to protect our national security," Trump wrote in the order. Trump argued that TikToks data collection practices threatened "to allow the Chinese Communist Party access to Americans personal and proprietary information," which could be used for blackmail and corporate espionage. The order sought to apply its TikTok ban within 45 days unless ByteDance agreed to sell the app to a U.S. company. American companies including Microsoft Corp., Oracle Corp. and Walmart lined up to make an offer that would have sold off TikToks business in the U.S. and some other countries. But two federal courts struck down Trumps order in October 2020. A month later, Trump lost the presidential election. Advertisement Article continues below this ad In 2024, as a presidential candidate, Trump said he opposed a ban. In response to a bipartisan congressional bill that sought to ban TikTok, Trump said he no longer favored a ban because it would help Meta. "If you get rid of TikTok, Facebook and Zuckerschmuck will double their business," he wrote on TruthSocial on March 7, 2024, referring to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg. (Post-election, Trump and Zuckerberg have become allies. ) On March 11, 2024, Trump told CNBC that although he considered TikToks national security and privacy concerns, the company was not the only social media platform with those problems. In a subsequent interview that month on Fox News, Trump said he opposed a ban because "there is a danger with banning it, with you know, freedom of speech." Trump also denied accusations from some of his supporters, including political strategist Steve Bannon, that he had reversed his position after a March meeting with Jeff Yass, a major Republican donor who owns a 7% share, worth about $21 billion, of ByteDance, NBC News reported. Trump told Fox News he didnt know about Yass link to the company when they met and said they didnt talk about TikTok. Advertisement Article continues below this ad In a June 2, 2024, statement, a day after joining TikTok, Trump said he created the account "to use every tool available to speak directly with the American people about how Joe Biden's failed presidency is tearing apart our beautiful nation and how I am going to stop him." After winning the election, Trump continued to speak favorably about the app. Asked at a Dec. 16, 2024, press conference about whether hell try to stop the TikTok ban, Trump said, "I have a warm spot in my heart for TikTok." On Dec. 27, 2024, Trump filed a brief with the Supreme Court, asking justices to stay the bans Jan. 19 effective date to let his administration negotiate a resolution. "President Trump opposes banning TikTok in the United States at this juncture, and seeks the ability to resolve the issues at hand through political means once he takes office," the brief stated. James Biden and Valerie Biden Owens arrive at the federal court for Hunter Biden's trial on criminal gun charges, in Wilmington, Delaware, U.S., June 10, 2024. President Joe Biden on Monday issued preemptive pardons for three of his siblings and two of their spouses, citing concerns that they will be targeted by "baseless and politically motivated investigations." The White House announced the pardons just minutes before President-elect Donald Trump entered the Capitol Rotunda to be sworn in as the next commander in chief. Earlier Monday, Biden preemptively pardoned a number of other figures including Dr. Anthony Fauci, Gen. Mark Milley and members of Congress who investigated the Jan. 6 Capitol riot on similar grounds. Biden's final batch of pardons included his brother, James Biden; James' wife, Sara Jones Biden; his younger sister, Valerie Biden Owens; Owens' husband, John Owens; and his other brother, Francis Biden. "The issuance of these pardons should not be mistaken as an acknowledgment that they engaged in any wrongdoing, nor should acceptance be misconstrued as an admission of guilt for any offense," Biden said in a statement. He also pardoned Gerald Lundergan, former chairman of the Kentucky Democratic Party, and former South Carolina Councilman Ernest Cromartie. The departing president also commuted the life sentence of Leonard Peltier, who was convicted of killing two FBI agents in 1975. Biden in early December issued a pardon for his son Hunter Biden, reversing his prior insistence that would not do so. Hunter was convicted last year in a federal criminal gun trial, and he had pleaded guilty to charges in a separate federal case related to tax crimes. James Biden was interviewed last year by the House Oversight and Judiciary committees as part of their impeachment probe of Joe Biden. "Jim and Sara Biden did not seek this pardon because they have never committed any crimes. But for the reasons the President described, they have accepted it," said Paul Fishman, an attorney for James and Sara Biden, in a statement. In Monday's press release, Biden said: "My family has been subjected to unrelenting attacks and threats, motivated solely by a desire to hurt methe worst kind of partisan politics. Unfortunately, I have no reason to believe these attacks will end." "I believe in the rule of law, and I am optimistic that the strength of our legal institutions will ultimately prevail over politics," he said. "But baseless and politically motivated investigations wreak havoc on the lives, safety, and financial security of targeted individuals and their families. Even when individuals have done nothing wrong and will ultimately be exonerated, the mere fact of being investigated or prosecuted can irreparably damage their reputations and finances." "That is why I am exercising my power under the Constitution to pardon James B. Biden, Sara Jones Biden, Valerie Biden Owens, John T. Owens, and Francis W. Biden," Biden said. Lee Mijoo announced her breakup with Song Bum Keun after nine months of dating. The couple decided to call it quits after feeling pressured by their public romance, according to an insider who talked to My Daily. "Mijoo and Song Bum Keun broke up. They loved each other beautifully, but they couldn't help feeling burdened by their public relationship," the source revealed. "Even though they broke up, they decided to continue to support each other." READ ALSO: Mijoo Reveals How She Met Boyfriend & Why She Fell In Love With Him: 'He Looks Very Fierce But...' Mijoo and Bumkeun confirmed their relationship in April 2024. "Mijoo and Song Bum Keun are getting to know each other carefully with good feelings. Please watch them with warm eyes," Antenna, Mijoo's label, announced last year. When the news hit, fans were abuzz, having already spotted their romance through their "lovestagram" post that hinted towards the relationship. On Instagram, they subtly expressed affection for each other by posting snapshots taken at the same locations and times. Last year, the couple was in a long-distance romance as Song played for the Japanese League under Shonan Bellmare. But recently, he returned to Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors in the K-League. Fan anticipation of seeing them together in South Korea increased, but the two shockingly broke up. Lee Mijoo, now a staple on MBC's Hangout With Yoo, is thriving in her solo singing career following Lovelyz's disbandment in 2021. She made her solo debut in 2023 with the single album Movie Star. RELATED ARTICLE: Lovestagram of Lovelyz Mijoo & Athlete Song Bum Keun Surfaces Amid Dating News Cho Tak Wong, the chairman of auto glass giant Fuyao Glass, bought the vacant General Motors manufacturing plant in Moraine, Ohio in 2014. The Washington Post | The Washington Post | Getty Images Chinese investments in the U.S. have dramatically declined since Donald Trump's first term. This trend is unlikely to reverse as Trump returns to the White House, analysts said. Trump has threatened additional tariffs on Chinese goods soon after his inauguration on Monday, building on an increasingly tough U.S. stance on Beijing. "That's probably the last thing on Trump's mind, is trying to incentivize [Chinese companies] to invest here," said Rafiq Dossani, an economist at U.S.-based think tank RAND. "There's an ideological mismatch. All the rhetoric is, keep China out of the U.S., let their products come in, which are low-end," he said in an interview earlier this month. But other than that, "don't, don't let them come in." In the last several weeks, Emirati property giant Damac has pledged $20 billion to build data centers in the U.S., while SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son announced a $100 billion investment for artificial intelligence development in the U.S. over Trump's four-year term. watch now Chinese investment deals in the U.S. have slowed drastically, according to the latest American Enterprise Institute data. Just $860 million flowed into the U.S. in the first six months of 2024, following $1.66 billion in 2023. That's down sharply from $46.86 billion in 2017, when Trump began his first term. At the peak, Chinese companies had made high-profile U.S. acquisitions, such as buying the Waldorf Astoria hotel in New York. But regulators on both sides have stemmed the flow. "Chinese investment in the U.S. has slowed down dramatically since Beijing tightened control over capital outflows in 2017, followed by a series of regulatory policies in the U.S. aimed at excluding investments in certain sectors," Danielle Goh, senior research analyst at Rhodium Group, said in an email. In the "foreseeable future," she doesn't expect Chinese investments in the U.S. will recover the peak levels seen during the 2016 to 2017 period. Goh pointed out that instead of acquisitions, Chinese companies have turned more to small joint ventures with U.S. companies or greenfield investments, in which business are built from scratch. For example, Chinese battery manufacturing company EVE Energy is the technology partner with a 10% stake in a joint venture with U.S. engine company Cummins' Accelera division, Daimler Truck and PACCAR. The companies announced in June 2024 they were kicking off plans for a battery factory in Mississippi that would begin production in 2027 and create more than 2,000 jobs. Since the Covid-19 pandemic, the U.S.-China Chamber of Commerce has mostly helped Chinese e-commerce companies set up local offices, rather than establish manufacturing businesses, the nonprofit's president Siva Yam told CNBC. "Most of those investment nowadays tend to be a little bit smaller, so they are not on the radar, easier to approve," he said, referring to regulators in both the U.S. and China. But he remained uncertain about whether Chinese companies could use investments to offset the impact of tariffs. Individual U.S. states have grown increasingly wary of Chinese investment. Last spring, Politico reported that more than 20 states were passing new restrictions on land purchases by Chinese citizens and companies, or updating existing rules. Chinese hackers in December targeted a government office that reviews foreign investment in the United States, CNN reported, citing U.S. officials. This was part of a wider breach of the Treasury Department, which declined a CNBC request for comment. European markets closed slightly higher on Monday, as the world looked to the U.S. Capitol and the second inauguration of Donald Trump. European markets The pan-European Stoxx 600 index closed 0.05% higher, reversing earlier losses as mining stocks led gains, up 1.2%. Markets are proving particularly sensitive to the flurry of executive orders Trump is expected to sign into office on the first day of his presidency, spanning energy, cryptocurrencies, social media platform TikTok and beyond. The euro and British pound strengthened against the U.S. dollar, putting the currencies on course for their biggest single-day gains against the greenback for more than a year, as it was reported the new president will not impose tariffs on U.S. trading partners on his first day in office. U.S. stocks rallied after Trump's November electoral victory, as investors bet on deregulation and lower taxes. Globally, however, there are concerns over his pledge to implement universal tariffs on imported goods to the United States, with economists saying the policy is likely to contribute to inflation, put pressure on U.S. consumers and dent global trade and growth. Building a business is not for the faint of heart, and many of those who dare to take the chance share one trait: self-confidence. That's according to hotel tycoon Ho Kwon Ping, 72, the founder and executive chairman of Banyan Group, a hospitality company with a portfolio of about 80 resorts and hotels in 22 countries. The company, which is listed on the Singapore Stock Exchange, generated about $328 million Singapore dollars (about $240 million) in revenue in 2023. Ho is also the executive chairman of food and beverage manufacturing business Thai Wah Public Company as well as the founding chairman of Singapore Management University. He attributes his success in part to being headstrong since he was young. "Headstrongness and self-confidence are related. If you're not, to some extent, headstrong ... then you're going to be basically a risk-averse person," Ho told CNBC Make It. "You need [to be] a bit headstrong if you want to be an entrepreneur. You also need a bit of self-confidence." Melania Meme price on ape.pro website is displayed on a mobile phone with official melaniameme.com website in the background for illustration photo. Incoming first lady Melania Trump launched her own meme coin ahead of her husband's inauguration as the 47th president of the United States on Monday. In a Sunday evening post on the X social media platform, she announced that investors "can buy $MELANIA now." The Melania token was trading at $11.16 at 10:48 a.m. London time on Monday, up more than 50%, according to data from CoinMarketCap. It has a market cap of $2.15 billion. Incoming President Donald Trump, who will be inaugurated for the second time on Monday, also launched his own meme coin a cryptocurrency that takes inspiration from online communities and internet memes on Friday via the Solana Blockchain network. On Monday, the "Official Trump" coin was down 20% to trade at $53.74 at 10:53 a.m. London time, according to CoinMarketCap. Donald Trump's cryptocurrency was the largest meme coin on the Solana network by market cap at 10:35 a.m. London time, according to data from CoinGecko, with Melania Trump's token in fourth place at the time. In a disclaimer on the meme coin's official website, potential buyers are told that Melania memes "are digital collectibles intended to function as an expression of support for and engagement with the values embodied by the symbol MELANIA. and the associated artwork, and are not intended to be, or to be the subject of, an investment opportunity, investment contract, or security of any type." On the Trump token's website, the cryptocurrency depicted with an image of Trump raising his fist in the air is marketed as "a piece of history," while Trump himself is branded "the crypto president." Trump, who has publicly taken a pro-cryptocurrency stance in the past and is reportedly planning to release an executive order making the digital assets a national priority, has promised to release 1 billion "Official Trump" tokens in the coming three years. At least 200 million of this volume of coins entered circulation on the token's initial release. When your child is having a meltdown at the grocery store or refusing to get out of bed for school in the morning, it's tempting and understandable to want to scold them and list off all the reasons why these behaviors are not OK. But it turns out that talking might not actually be the best approach to course correction, says psychologist Caroline Fleck. Fleck is an adjunct clinical instructor at Stanford University and author of the upcoming book "Validation." Instead, she says, more parents should try listening and affirming: "The single greatest thing that we can do as parents is to become more skilled in validation." When a child feels heard and not shamed for their feelings, they are more open to changing their behavior. View ahead of the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland on Jan. 15th, 2024. Adam Galici | CNBC LONDON It's that time of year when the great and the good gather for the annual World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. A slew of heads of state, politicians and business moguls are set to attend the four-day event in the Alpine resort but what might be more telling is which leaders are sidestepping the forum. While Donald Trump, who is being inaugurated as U.S. president on Monday, is expected to address the forum via live video link on Thursday, a number of key leaders will be completely absent from the event. These include Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping, as well as French President Emmanuel Macron, Italy's leader Giorgia Meloni and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer. Of the Group of Seven (G7) industrialized nations which includes the U.S., Europe's biggest economies, Canada and Japan the only head of state attending the summit in person is outgoing German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. WEF says this year's event the 55th annual forum, which runs from Monday to Thursday will convene close to 3,000 leaders from over 130 countries, with the gathering "demonstrating the critical need for dialogue in an increasingly uncertain era." It notes that 350 government leaders, including 60 heads of state and governments, "will gather in Davos-Klosters to address pressing challenges and shape emerging opportunities." People pass in front of big screen during the speech of US President Donald Trump on January 26, 2018 at the Davos Congress Centre (C), the venue of the annual World Economic Forum (WEF), in the town of Davos, eastern Switzerland. / AFP PHOTO / MIGUEL MEDINA (Photo credit should read MIGUEL MEDINA/AFP via Getty Images) Miguel Medina | Afp | Getty Images The theme of the event is "Collaboration for the Intelligent Age," with the agenda focusing on five key areas: reimagining growth, industries in the intelligent age, investing in people, safeguarding the planted and rebuilding trust. Not all world leaders will be there to discuss these issues, however. "The leaders of Brazil, of China, of India, who gave the keynote speeches 10 years ago, are not there now. Russia has not been welcomed for some years now, Keir Starmer is not going to be there. Macron's not going to be there," Jan Aart Scholte, professor of global transformations and governance challenges at Leiden University, told CNBC Thursday. "True, the prime minister of Spain is going to be there and there are a couple of others, but the general picture of the heads of state, of government that are there is that it's not the big players. I think if you went through a list of the G20, it's going to be a small minority [who are attending]," he said. Collective effort There is often no official reason given for a lack of participation in WEF, but pressing domestic problems ranging from slowing economic growth to political crises are known to keep heads of government at home. Xi Jinping, China's president, speaks during the opening plenary session of the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland, on Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2017. Jason Alden | Bloomberg | Getty Images In recent years, there has also been some ambivalence over attending an event that has been accused of being elitist and out-of-touch. The forum has repeatedly stated that it provides a space where stakeholders from across business, government, academia, civil society, media and the arts can "meet on a global, impartial, not-for-profit platform." These people, it says, "come together to find common ground and seize opportunities for positive change on large global issues." In a statement to CNBC on Monday, WEF said that while it always values the presence of key global leaders, "the Annual Meeting's impact and ability to drive meaningful dialogue, and action is defined by the collective efforts of a broad and representative community." This year's program, the forum continued, "is designed to address the most pressing global challenges, including economic fragmentation, technological transformation, and climate action." "We recognize that global leaders face a wide range of commitments and responsibilities, and their absence does not diminish our ongoing engagement with their respective governments and institutions throughout the year," WEF added. Who will be there A number of big names will still join this year's summit an event that began back in 1971 under the aegis of Klaus Schwab, who remained executive chairman of the event until the start of this year. Ding Xuexiang, the vice premier of China, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Javier Milei, the prime minister of Argentina and Cyril Ramaphosa, the president of South Africa, are all due to hold speeches in Davos this week. The head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, will likewise attend, as will the leaders of global organizations such as the International Monetary Fund, United Nations, World Health Organization and the World Trade Organization. Ursula von der Leyen reacts after being chosen President of the European Commission for a second term, at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France, July 18, 2024. Johanna Geron | Reuters Sven Smit, a senior partner at strategic WEF partner McKinsey & Company said in online comments that it would be a priority for participants to "understand what is on the mind of the leaders who are at Davos." "You can't fully predict it, there are themes out there that people suggest, they range from growth to sustainability, but what distils as a Davos theme is not fully predictable and that's the interesting part," Smit said. However, many of the Western institutions in attendance have, in recent years, found themselves on the wrong side of a push against globalization by populist leaders like Trump, and countries like Russia and China. Supreme Court Justice John Roberts administered the oath of office to Trump, after Vice President JD Vance was sworn in by Justice Brett Kavanaugh. President Donald J. Trump was sworn in as the 47th president of the United States. He is only the second ever to be elected to serve two non-consecutive terms. Following his official inauguration in the Capitol, Trump went downtown and signed some of his first executive orders before an audience of 20,000 supporters at the Capital One Arena in Washington. He then moved to Oval Office, where he issued "full pardons" to approximately 1,500 people who were charged in relation to the attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. He also signed a closely watched executive order which effectively halted, for at least 75 days, the enforcement of a law that would ban TikTok in the United States. This was just one of more than 40 orders Trump signed during his first day in office. He also revoked 78 executive orders that were issued by former President Joe Biden. Moments before Trump was sworn in, Biden issued final clemencies of his own: A blanket pardon for his brother, James Biden; James' wife, Sara Jones Biden; his younger sister, Valerie Biden Owens; Owens' husband, John Owens; and his other brother, Francis Biden. More than a dozen CNBC reporters covered Trump's second Inauguration Day both on air and online, reporting from Washington, D.C., San Francisco and Englewood Cliffs, N.J. President-elect Donald Trump reacts during a MAGA victory rally at Capital One Arena in Washington, DC, on January 19, 2025, one day ahead of his inauguration ceremony. President Donald Trump on Monday declared a national energy emergency and ordered the U.S. to withdraw from the Paris climate agreement, as he seeks to implement a sweeping agenda aimed at boosting fossil production. "The inflation crisis was caused by massive overspending and escalating energy prices and that is why today I will also declare a national energy emergency. We will drill, baby, drill," Trump said during his inaugural address. The president promised during his campaign to slash energy costs in half within the first year of his administration. Trump's declaration directed the heads of federal agencies "to identify and exercise any lawful emergency authorities available to them" to facilitate the leasing, siting, production and generation of domestic energy sources including on federal lands. "The national energy emergency is crucial because we are in an AI race with China, and our ability to produce domestic American energy is so crucial such that we can generate the electricity and power that's needed to stay at the global forefront of technology," a White House official told reporters earlier Monday. Trump is abandoning the Biden administration's domestic and international commitments to fight climate change. The U.S. will consider its withdrawal from the Paris climate agreement to be effective as soon as the U.N. ambassador submits notification to the United Nations, according to the president's executive order. The landmark international treaty seeks to limit rising global temperatures to 1.5 degrees Celsius. Trump also signed orders to revoke former President Joe Biden's actions that barred oil and gas drilling in large swathes of the Arctic and in U.S. coastal waters, a move that will likely be contested in court. He also repealed Biden administration goals for half of all new car sales to be zero-emission vehicles by 2030, to achieve a carbon-free electricity sector by 2035, and to achieve net-zero emissions no later than 2050. The Rio Tinto Group logo atop Central Park tower, which houses the company's offices, in Perth, Australia, on Friday, Jan. 17, 2025. Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images The mining sector appears poised for a frantic year of dealmaking, following market speculation over a potential tie-up between industry giants Rio Tinto and Glencore. It comes after Bloomberg News reported Thursday that British-Australian multinational Rio Tinto and Switzerland-based Glencore were in early-stage merger talks, although it was not clear whether the discussions were still live. Separately, Reuters reported Friday that Glencore approached Rio Tinto late last year about the possibility of combining their businesses, citing a source familiar with the matter. The talks, which were said to be brief, were thought to be no longer active, the news agency reported. Rio Tinto and Glencore both declined to comment when contacted by CNBC. A prospective merger between Rio Tinto, the world's second-largest miner, and Glencore, one of world's largest coal companies, would rank as the mining industry's largest-ever deal. Combined, the two firms would have a market value of approximately $150 billion, leapfrogging longstanding industry leader BHP , which is worth about $127 billion. Analysts were broadly skeptical about the merits of a Rio Tinto-Glencore merger, pointing to limited synergies, Rio Tinto's complex dual structure and strategic divergences over coal and corporate culture as factors that pose a challenge for concluding a deal. "I think everyone's a bit surprised," Maxime Kogge, equity analyst at Oddo BHF, told CNBC via telephone. "Honestly, they have limited overlapping assets. It's only copper where there is really some synergies and opportunity to add assets to make a bigger group," Kogge said. Global mining giants have been mulling the benefits of mega-mergers to shore up their position in the energy transition, particularly with demand for metals such as copper expected to skyrocket over the coming years. A highly conductive metal, copper is projected to face shortages due to its use in powering electric vehicles, wind turbines, solar panels and energy storage systems, among other applications. Oddo BHF's Kogge said it is currently "really tricky" for large mining firms to bring new projects online, citing Rio Tinto's long-delayed and controversial Resolution copper mine in the U.S. as one example. "It's a very promising copper project, it could be one of the largest in the world, but it is fraught with issues and somehow acquiring another company is a way to really accelerate the expansion into copper," Kogge said. "For me, a deal is not so attractive," he added. "It goes against what all these groups have previously tried to do." watch now Last year, BHP made a $49 billion bid for smaller rival Anglo American, a proposal which ultimately failed due to issues with the deal's structure. Some analysts, including those at JPMorgan, expect another unsolicited offer for Anglo American to materialize in 2025. M&A parlor games Analysts led by Dominic O'Kane at JPMorgan said the bank's "high conviction view" that 2025 would be defined by mergers and acquisitions (M&A), particularly among U.K.-listed miners and global copper companies, was coming to fruition just two weeks into the year. The Wall Street bank said its own analysis of the mining sector found that the current economic and risk management environment meant M&A was likely preferred to the building of organic projects. Analysts at JPMorgan predicted the latest speculation would soon thrust Anglo American back into the spotlight, "specifically the merits and probability of another combination proposal from BHP." Prior to pursuing Anglo American, BHP completed an acquisition of OZ Minerals in 2023, bolstering its copper and nickel portfolio. The company logo adorns the side of the BHP gobal headquarters in Melbourne on February 21, 2023. - The Australian multinational, a leading producer of metallurgical coal, iron ore, nickel, copper and potash, said net profit slumped 32 percent year-on-year to 6.46 billion US dollars in the six months to December 31. (Photo by William WEST / AFP) (Photo by WILLIAM WEST/AFP via Getty Images) William West | Afp | Getty Images Analysts led by Ben Davis at RBC Capital Markets said it remains unclear whether talks between Rio Tinto and Glencore could result in a simple merger or require the breakup of certain parts of each company instead. Regardless, they said the M&A parlor games that arose following merger talks between BHP and Anglo American will undoubtedly "start up again in earnest." "Despite Glencore once approaching Rio Tinto's key shareholder Chinalco in July 2014 for a potential merger, it still comes as a surprise," analysts at RBC Capital Markets said in a research note published Thursday. BHP's move to acquire Anglo American may have catalyzed talks between Rio Tinto and Glencore, the analysts said, with the former potentially looking to gain more copper exposure and the latter seeking an exit strategy for its large shareholders. "We would not expect a straight merger to happen as we believe Rio shareholders would see it as favouring Glencore, but [it's] possible there is a deal structure out there that could keep both sets of shareholders and management happy," they added. Copper, coal and culture Analysts led by Wen Li at CreditSights said speculation over a Rio Tinto-Glencore merger raises questions about strategic alignment and corporate culture. "Strategically, Rio Tinto might be interested in Glencore's copper assets, aligning with its focus on sustainable, future-facing metals. Additionally, Glencore's marketing business could offer synergies and expand Rio Tinto's reach," analysts at CreditSights said in a research note published Friday. "However, Rio Tinto's lack of interest in coal assets, due to recent divestments, suggests any merger would need careful structuring to avoid unwanted asset overlaps," they added. A mining truck carries a full load of coal at Glencore Plc operated Tweefontein coal mine on October 16, 2024 in Tweefontein, Mpumalanga Province, South Africa. Per-anders Pettersson | Getty Images News | Getty Images En espanol Sandra Avila Beltran, the real 'Reina del Pacifico,' has criticized Kate del Castillo's portrayal of her in Telemundo's 'La Reina del Sur.' She has claimed the character is far from an accurate reflection of her life as a drug trafficker. In the hit Telemundo series, Del Castillo plays Teresa Mendoza, a fictional character created by the Spanish author Arturo Perez-Reverte but widely believed to be inspired by Avila, one of Latin America's most notorious female drug lords. Avila, however, has never been a fan of the series, which is now in its third season. She's even filed a lawsuit against Telemundo and its streaming platform, and her opinion remains unchanged. In an interview with El Chisme TV on YouTube, hosted by Veronica Gallardo and Rodrigo Fragoso, Avila claimed that Del Castillo's interpretation is completely different from her real personality. She described the performance as "rough," emphasizing that she considers herself very feminine. Once again, Avila denied ever meeting Eric del Castillo's daughter in person. "I don't know her personally. She's just an actress who was given a role, and I think that character made her world-famous. But she doesn't portray it the way I would. As Veronica Gallardo said, I'm very feminine, and she plays it differently," Avila insisted. She went on to compare Teresa Mendoza to a man. "When I watched part of it, I saw her as roughlike a man," Avila said. Following Avila's remarks, the show's hosts joked about a supposed lesbian undertone in Kate del Castillo's performance, which they claimed was reflected in her portrayal of Teresa Mendoza. The lawsuit In June 2024, Mexico's Federal Administrative Court's Intellectual Property Division upheld a sanction against Telemundo Network Group for the unauthorized use of Sandra Avila Beltran's image in promoting 'La Reina del Sur.' The ruling came after months of legal battles, though Telemundo still has the option to appeal the decision. Avila's legal team is demanding 40% of the profits of the second season, arguing that it earned over $800 million and exploited Avila's likeness without her consent, violating intellectual property rights. Isaac Razo, Avila's lead attorney, explained that Telemundo's only remaining option is to file an appeal to contest the final fine. "I don't think their main goal is just to lower the amountthey want to overturn the entire case. But since the ruling was issued collectively, I see it as almost impossible for them to reverse it," Razo stated. Meanwhile, Kate del Castillo has remained silent about the controversy, sticking to the saying, "Silence is golden." 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. Colorado Parks and Wildlife on Sunday announced that 20 wolves, including 15 from British Columbia, have been released in Eagle and Pitkin counties. A statement from CPW said the Copper Creek pack, a mother wolf believed responsible for some of the livestock killings in Grand County, and her four pups were also relocated to those areas. The statement added that no further releases are planned for the 2024-2025 capture season and that they anticipate up to five release seasons of wolves. Seven males and eight females came from British Columbia over six days. The agency claimed wolves were captured from areas in British Columbia "where predator reduction is occurring to support caribou recovery." CPW said it is responsible for all costs associated with the capture and transport of these gray wolves, and the agency said it did not compensate or pay for the wolves themselves, although it did not disclose how much it spent. The agency also claimed the Canadian wolves "do not overlap with areas where livestock are present, so there are no concerns that the wolves selected have been involved in repeated livestock depredations." Some of the wolves brought to Colorado from Oregon came from packs with recent histories of livestock depredation. However, the wolf management plan claimed Colorado wouldn't seek wolves with that history. More than two dozen livestock have been killed by the Oregon wolves in the past year, including the male and female pair that produced the Copper Creek Pack. CPW has received more than $581,000 in claims from three Grand County ranchers, along with a warning last week from Sen. Dylan Roberts, D-Frisco, whose district includes all of the counties where wolves have been released except for Pitkin County. "We are going to have a very difficult conversation if CPW reduces the amount that those producers have requested," Roberts told a CPW official. Roberts also asked last week if CPW had done site assessments in Eagle and Pitkin counties, which help ranchers determine what non-lethal efforts to take to protect their livestock from wolves, and was told only that "meetings" had been held in those counties, indicating site assessments were not done before the wolves were released. While the agency pledged to work on a list of seven action items requested by a coalition of 26 livestock groups, the failure to complete those action items before the Canadian wolves were released led Roberts to state that those items should have been in place first, not after the next wolves were released. Among those seven action items: site assessments, the range rider program, and a transparent plan for communicating with ranchers, affected communities and local government officials "in advance" of wolf releases. CPW's statement also addressed one of the questions raised about the legality of bringing Canadian wolves to the United States, stating it's allowed under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), administered by the Canadian Wildlife Service. Canadian wolves are known to carry tapeworms; according to the British Columbia government, "B.C.s wild dogs (or canids) including wolves, foxes, coyotes are thriving in B.C. But some canids in B.C. and Alberta are now being diagnosed with a tapeworm (Echinococcus multilocularis) that can also infect humans and domestic dogs...We are in the process of doing more research to better understand this risk to both humans and domestic animals in Western Canada." The CPW statement said the wolves were vaccinated and collared. Last week, agency officials acknowledged that all wolves brought to Colorado carried tapeworms. As restoration efforts continue, CPW is committed to working with livestock owners, communities, state agencies and all partners to reduce the likelihood of wolf-livestock conflict. Our goal is to keep ranchers ranching, while at the same time restoring a healthy, sustainable population of gray wolves to Colorado as mandated, said CPW Director Jeff Davis in Sunday's statement. That mandate came from a narrowly approved ballot measure in 2020, almost entirely with support from Front Range voters. The mandate dictates wolves placed west of the Continental Divide. Voters in every county where wolves have been placed, except for Pitkin, voted overwhelmingly against the ballot measure. The livestock inventory for Eagle County, including sheep, cattle, goats and hogs, totals more than 14,000, according to the 2022 Department of Agriculture farm survey. Most of that is either cattle or sheep, and calving season for cattle begins next month. The livestock inventory for Pitkin County, where the majority of livestock is cattle, was 4,744 in 2022, also according to the USDA. The wolf management plan dictates that wolves be released on state public lands or on private lands with the landowners' consent. Most of the state wildlife areas where wolves could be placed are not listed on the state wildlife area database. Pitkin County has three, although two are not listed on the CPW state wildlife area database: Coke Oven, on Forest Service Road 105, also known as Frying Pan River Road, 37.5 miles east of Basalt; Basalt SWA, also on Frying Pan River Road, three miles east of Basalt and which also crosses the Eagle County line; Williams Hill, located on Highway 82, halfway between Basalt and Woody Creek. Eagle County has six, including Basalt, although three are either along rivers or cover multiple counties. Fame will not save you from suffering. You will still get old. You may still get sick. And maybe your fame will invite new attacks, which cause you to suffer even more. For the sake of your image, and for the publics feelings, you might seek to cover up just how miserable your dying days are. But those around you will document it, and in the end, the truth comes out. 5 Salvador Dali There are famous photos of Dali when he was a young man and when he was an old man, which might give the impression that the spark of creativity remained in him right till the end. But when he was 76, in 1980, he was treated for depression and for a tremor that interfered with his painting. Then his wife died, and he sank into depression harder. He moved to the castle where his late wife was buried and refused to leave. Don't Miss During his last years, he refused to even leave his bed. Often, hed refuse to eat. He kept an electric bell beside the bed, to summon his staff when he wanted them, and one time, this bell short-circuited and set the bed on fire. So, he did leave the bed once to be hospitalized, for his burns. Salvador Dali Heres a sleep-themed painting of his, from happier times. He painted almost nothing during this period, but he did sign his name to thousands of sheets of paper, which his agents sold for $10 each. Selling autographs sounds like a lame way of making money, and the reality was sadder. Since the page was blank but for the signature, fraudsters could (and did) draw on these and pass these forgeries off as original Dalis. Either Dali didnt realize this, or he did realize it and just didnt care. 4 Eva Peron Advertisement The Eva Peron story as known by the public and as told in the musical Evita is that she rose from poverty, became First Lady of Argentina and ran for vice president before that got cut short by her early death from cancer. The truth about her final days was sadder and wasnt known until 2011, 60 years after her death. Doctors treated her cervical cancer in September 1951, using a process called intravaginal radium brachytherapy. That means inserting a radioactive cylinder into the vagina, which sounds like quack science but is, in fact, how we sometimes address cancer even today. Then, while in the hospital bed undergoing this vagina treatment, she ordered 6,500 guns by letter from the Netherlands. She was arming the nations trade unions, and we can speculate on what sort of uprising she had planned next. This was a problem, and Evita could start a civil war if left unchecked. So, President Juan Peron, despite being her political partner as well as her husband, ordered a prefrontal lobotomy on her. She didnt consent, and the doctor acted in secret, only admitting to it years later after a postmortem analysis of her brain scans revealed evidence of the operation. Advertisement As tragic as that sounds, weve heard that she didnt want you to cry for her. 3 George Orwell Advertisement Advertisement Orwell completed the book 1984 in 1949, admirably finishing the job 35 years ahead of schedule. He died in 1950, making 1984 the last thing he ever wrote. He died of tuberculosis, which remains a serious problem even today. It kills a million people a year, making it the single deadliest infectious disease. He had the painful lung condition even while writing the book, and biographers now figure that this influenced the books torture scenes. Brian Robert Marshall Heres his grave. The stone doesnt say George Orwell because that was not his real name. Then came a new complication. Reacting poorly to the medication, which included antibiotics that doctors knew dont treat tuberculosis, he came down with something called toxic epidermolysis necrosis. As the name suggests, thats when the skin dies, irreversibly. He spent the last six months of his life hospitalized. Thats especially surprising considering that he got married within the last three months of his life. He married Sonia Brownell, who inspired 1984s Julia, while in the hospital and while lying on his deathbed. He never left this bed. Advertisement 2 Billie Holiday Holiday died in the hospital in 1959 of cirrhosis. She was also suffering from heroin withdrawal, which doctors treated with methadone until representatives from the Federal Bureau of Narcotics showed up and stopped them. These agents also put Holiday in handcuffs while she lay in her hospital bed, booking her for heroin possession. That would be a cruel thing to do to any patient, but it was particularly unethical in this case because they planted the heroin in question. The Bureau had long had a vendetta against Holiday. Specifically, Bureau head Harry Anslinger had a vendetta against her. Anslinger hated jazz as much as he did drugs, and for the same reason (racism). Hed told her to stop performing the song Strange Fruit, which is about lynched Black Americans hanging from trees... Advertisement Advertisement ...and when she refused, Anslinger sicced his agents on her repeatedly. Along with jailing her for heroin use, he banned her from performing afterward anywhere that served alcohol, which was something the government had the power to do. And now, when she was on her deathbed, he sent agents in again to place heroin on the scene. They set it down outside her reach but still claimed it was hers. Advertisement They didnt take her into custody after cuffing her, though. There was no need. Shed die in that same bed, just days later. Advertisement Mount Rainier, a majestic peak located less than 70 miles from Seattle, has long stood as an iconic feature of the Pacific Northwest. However, its beauty comes with significant risks, as it is one of the most closely monitored volcanoes in the United States. Scientists from the US Geological Survey (USGS) keep a constant watch over its activity, ensuring early detection of any signs of eruption. Mount Rainier Poses No Immediate Threat, But Scientists Remain Vigilant Currently, Mount Rainier remains in a state of background activity, posing no immediate threat. Research geophysicist Alex Iezzi from the USGS Cascades Volcano Observatory explains that advanced monitoring systems, including infrasound and seismic sensors, track magma movement beneath the surface. According to KimaTV, gas sensors detect changes in volcanic emissions, while GPS devices measure ground deformation. These tools would likely provide months of warning before any major eruption. Despite this reassurance, Mount Rainier ranks third on the USGS's list of the most dangerous volcanoes in the United States. This ranking is based on its history of large eruptions and its proximity to densely populated areas. An eruption could pose serious risks to communities in the foothills, such as Puyallup and Orting, where residents are at greater risk of experiencing lahars destructive volcanic mudflows. Read more: Volcanic Eruptions Linked to Neolithic Sun Stone Sacrifices in Denmark Mount Rainier's Glacier Hazards: How Lahars Pose a Threat to Communities Unlike the explosive eruption of Mount St. Helens in 1980, Mount Rainier's hazards stem from its extensive glacier cover. These glaciers can melt during an eruption, generating massive lahars that flow downstream and devastate everything in their path. Past lahars from Mount St. Helens reached up to 60 miles, destroying homes and infrastructure. Recognizing this risk, communities near Mount Rainier hold regular evacuation drills, with tens of thousands of participants preparing for potential emergencies. Mount Rainier's volcanic activity is not an isolated concern in the Cascade Range. Other nearby volcanoes, such as Mount Adams and Mount St. Helens are also under surveillance. Recently, Mount Adams experienced a series of minor earthquakes, drawing attention from scientists, Washington Post reported. While the activity is unusual, USGS experts emphasize that there are no immediate signs of an eruption. Additional seismic stations have been installed to better monitor the area. For Mount Rainier, the monitoring efforts are part of a broader strategy to protect the millions of people living in the Seattle metropolitan area. Being booed isnt typically an indication that a comedy show has gone well, hence the reason why Rob Schneider isnt currently headlining any Canadian hospital fundraisers. But button pushing stand-up comedian and Billy Corgan lookalike Bill Burr recently revealed that one of his favorite gigs of all time found his fellow comics being relentlessly heckled. During a recent appearance on WTF with Marc Maron, Burr and Maron chatted about the time they appeared together at Comics Come Home, the annual Boston charity show co-founded by Dennis Leary. This prompted Burr to recall when he performed at the event in November 2016. I went up one year, and one comic it was the first time Trump got elected and this person went up on stage, and so trashed Trump (that) half the crowd was booing. While Burr didnt volunteer the comedians name at first, Maron immediately knew who he was talking about, probably because it made headline news at the time. That Wanda? Maron asked. Don't Miss Burr confirmed that he was, indeed, referencing Wanda Sykes, who, just one week after the election, made a joke about the new president-elect, telling the audience, I am certain this is not the first time weve elected a racist, sexist, homophobic president. He aint the first one. Hes just the first confirmed one. As CBS reported, before she had even finished the joke, the stadium filled with thousands echoed with angry boos. But Sykes clearly wasnt in the mood to take shit from a bunch of Trump voters. Fuck you, motherfuckers. Fuck all yall. Fuck all yall, Sykes fired back, before singling out some of the specific motherfuckers: You, you, you, you, you, she said while pointing at each offender. Advertisement How can you say hes not racist? she asked. How can you say hes not sexist? she added after reciting Trumps confession from the Access Hollywood tape. After finishing her set with some apolitical material, she left the stage but only after flipping off the audience. While some reports made it seem as though Sykes had been booed off of the stage, she took issue with that false assessment. First of all, I was not booed OFF stage. I didnt go anywhere. I was booed while ON stage in the middle of my set, Sykes wrote on Facebook. Some people in the audience didnt want to hear my Trump jokes. Hell, I couldnt even get to the punchlines. They were booing the setups. It was fucking amazing, Burr told Maron. It was one of my favorite nights of comedy. (Sykes) went off on everybody like they all voted for Trump. And he was clearly impressed that she held her own against such a huge number of hostile audience members. To watch somebody do that in an arena and not give a fuck? I already loved Wanda, (and) I think love her more, Burr concluded. Advertisement And it wasnt just Trump supporters that were pissed off that night. According to Burr, after Sykes exited, comedian Nick Di Paolo went in the other direction and took it to another level of fuck this crowd. Reportedly, Di Paolo was booed for joking about Hillary Clinton's health and making a barrage of comments about liberals, Boston women and Jews. Advertisement So what stance did Burr take during this politically volatile show? I went up there with a chunk of airplane material that I already had, Burr admitted. The most hackiest shit ever. After being told that his set was amazing by fellow comics, Burr responded, That was amazing? That was like my Evening on the Improv set from fucking 88 before I even did comedy. Which may actually explain last years terrible Saturday Night Live monologue. State Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington Washington D.C. 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That is his demand that they take more responsibility for their own defence and pay up. With a Russian war on Ukraine raging at the borders of the EU, the new secretary general of Nato, Mark Rutte (former PM of the Netherlands) has amplified this, calling on European countries to give defence spending much higher priority, having been the poor relation in government budgets since the end of the Cold War. But last week the titular head of one European country denounced Ruttes message. This was Michael Higgins, the twice-elected President of the Republic of Ireland. Higgins complained that defence spending in Europe was already shocking he meant too high, not too low and denounced rhetoric that calls for war as a state of mind. This produced a furious response, on X, from Toomas Ilves, the former president of Estonia (a country which joined the EU after escaping from the Russian empire in the collapse of the Soviet Union). He tweeted: Do these people have any sense of self-awareness, their privileged geography or the appropriateness of even commenting as the beneficiary of implicit Nato security? I called Toomas, with whom I am acquainted, and he explained: I said it because, if you dont care about your own defence and implicitly count on others, please at least shut up about it and not bash others. To use a French expression, the President of Ireland missed a fine opportunity to remain silent. At least Higgins was being consistent with his countrys long-standing policy of neutrality and non-membership of Nato. For my part, I was more affronted by the remarks last February at the Munich Security Conference by the then Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, who told delegates: Its important that the European Union does more when it comes to its own defence. As I wrote in the Mail at the time: Incredulous laughter [is] the most appropriate response. There is no bigger freeloader on European defence and security than Ireland. One message from the incoming President Donald Trump has, more than any other, hit home in the chancelleries of Europe Michael Higgins, the twice-elected President of the Republic of Ireland, complained that defence spending in Europe was already shocking he meant too high, not too low It spends barely 0.2 per cent of its GDP on defence, much lower than any other EU state. If it were in Nato it would have to commit to ten times that. But even other neutral states, such as Switzerland and Austria, spend almost four times as much as Ireland as a proportion of GDP. Varadkars outrageous cheek came in the month that the think-tank Policy Exchange, which has led for years on this issue, published a report Closing the Back Door, backed by two former UK defence secretaries, Labour and Conservative. This set out how, not least in its extensive sea domain, the virtual non-existence of an Irish defence capability (it does not even have any sonar equipment) made it the softest of underbellies in the fight against sabotage and spying operations by the Russian Navy. As the former First Sea Lord and Security Minister in the Gordon Brown administration, Admiral Lord West, observed in that Policy Exchange document: The Western Approaches and wider Atlantic and their sea-beds have become the front-line in the grey war that Russia is waging. Sadly the Republic of Ireland has shown little enthusiasm for defence expenditure, preferring to rely on the UK and Nato for their security. It brings to mind the countless merchant seamen who died in the battle of the Atlantic because the Irish government would not let allied forces use the harbour and facilities at Queenstown in the South West of Ireland. Ireland was neutral in the war against German fascism too, of course, although the government of Eamon de Valera sometimes seemed more sympathetic to the Nazis than to their own hated former rulers, the United Kingdom. This helps explain not just the well-known fact that De Valera called on the German Embassy to express his condolences when Adolf Hitler died, but the lesser known one that the Irish foreign ministry had tried to persuade the countrys cinemas not to broadcast Pathe news footage of the liberation of the Bergen-Belsen concentration camps by British troops, on the grounds that this was propaganda. Irish resentment, then, against the British state was entirely understandable, in the context of recent history; but in the present-day European situation one might think Dublin would appreciate how Putin is waging a neo-colonial war in Ukraine, with Russia seeing the Ukrainians as too many British once viewed the Irish, a sort of inferior form of themselves, unfit for self-governance. Yet Ireland, while commendably opening its borders to Ukrainian refugees, has given no military aid to Kyiv. In March 2022, a month after Putin sent his tanks in, a solitary Irish truck driver took matters into his own hands, deliberately crashing his vehicle into the gates of the Russian embassy in Dublin. He was taken into custody. But Moscows officials in the Irish capital raged that Garda officers had stood idle during the incident, condemned what they called a criminal act of insanity and accused the Irish government of being in breach of the Vienna Convention (by not protecting the embassy from damage). No people of sound mind could support such senseless and barbaric actions, declared the Russian embassy. Leave aside the grotesqueness of this charge of barbarism from a country whose invading forces have raped and tortured Ukrainian civilians, and targeted missiles deliberately at hospitals, the contempt this message sent to the Irish government showed how its neutrality is no protection against Russian imperial arrogance. Not that Ireland is a poor country far from it, thanks to Dublins highly intelligent economic policies over recent decades. It actually enjoyed a budgetary surplus in 2024 (unlike the vast deficits in the UK, and many other European countries), which makes its paltry defence spending all the more disreputable. And as one military commentator observed: Irelands high-tech sector, the engine of its economy, is dependent on the security of the undersea cables that surround their waters. Yet they do nothing to ensure the integrity of this critical infrastructure. Its only a matter of time before the nefarious activities the Russians and Chinese are up to in the Baltic make their way west. And as one Irish acquaintance told me: These tech companies are all American, and responsible for around 60 per cent of Irelands corporation tax income. Does our government think that Donald Trump hasnt noticed? Yet President Higgins, an open admirer of the late South American socialist dictators Fidel Castro and Hugo Chavez, remains a revered figure in Ireland. Although as one less appreciative citizen in the Republic observed last week: If he is popular it is partly because so many of our opinion leaders have feted him as a deep thinker (which he is), a poet, a visionary, the Great Helmsman, the Dear Leader. But, especially in those formerly neutral European countries such as Sweden and Finland, which have now joined Nato, Ireland is seen as deeply lacking in solidarity. Its not only Donald Trump who knows a freeloader when they see one. There's a famous wartime photo showing the unmistakable figure of Churchill surveying the ruins of the House of Commons chamber after it was bombed in May 1941. As a result, MPs moved a few hundred yards across the Palace of Westminster and took over the chamber of the House of Lords. The Lords met in the Robing Room (a fact which was kept secret during the war). Many MPs left to fight for King and Country. Now, the Speaker of the Commons, Sir Lindsay Hoyle, has decreed that the 24 members who lost their lives will be commemorated on the Order Paper of daily business. They include one who was aboard a torpedoed ship in 1940, another who was killed in the retreat to Dunkirk, and a further one who died in France in July 1944 after the D-Day landings. On Thursday there was a memorial notice for Lieutenant-Colonel Frank Heilgers who served in the Royal Artillery. Prime Minister Winston Churchill surveying the ruins of the House of Commons in May 1941 The Speaker of the Commons, Sir Lindsay Hoyle, has decreed that the 24 members who lost their lives will be commemorated on the Order Paper of daily business The Tory MP for Bury St Edmunds had fought at Gallipoli, in Egypt and Palestine and was mentioned in despatches. Heilgers was killed in a train crash in 1944, aged 51. Sir Lindsay said: 'Throughout this year, which marks the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War, we will be commemorating on the Order Paper those MPs who gave their lives in the service of the country.' How many current MPs would be willing to make the ultimate sacrifice for their country? Scargill's final strike against Thatcher Former miners' leader Arthur Scargill, 87, still bears a grudge. 'I've either met or heckled every Prime Minister since 1950 but I never met Thatcher. Her daughter [Carol] interviewed me. Her first question was, 'Mr Scargill, what's it like to be the most hated person in Britain'. 'I said, 'I haven't a clue, my name's not Thatcher'.' Former miners' leader Arthur Scargill, 87, still bears a grudge Veteran Tory MP Sir John Hayes tabled a question last week that even the hapless equalities minister, Anneliese Dodds, should have been able to answer. Hayes asked: 'What is her department's definition of gender identity?' Cue Dodds: 'The Office for Equality and Opportunity does not have its own definition of gender identity.' It tells you everything wrong with this woke government. Veteran Tory MP Sir John Hayes tabled a question last week that even the hapless equalities minister, Anneliese Dodds, should have been able to answer. Hayes asked: 'What is her department's definition of gender identity?' But are the Tories any better? Former MP Dame Andrea Jenkyns, who defected to Reform UK, says: 'The Conservatives went woke. In 2020, when my late mum was nearly 80, she liked a post on social media about sending illegal migrants back.' She was ejected from the Tory party, and was only allowed back if she took a diversity course. Jenkyns says: 'Imagine asking questions to my old mum such as: 'What is a pansexual?' The party had turned into the Lib Dems!' One Tory wag overheard in the Commons after Chancellor Rachel Reeves claimed she's 'got what it takes'. They said: 'Surely she meant, 'I take what you've got'?' Farewell to a dream MP Once a consumer affairs minister in Margaret Thatcher's government Sally Oppenheim-Barnes, has died aged 96. She never lost much sleep during the regular all-night sittings in the 1974-79 Parliament. The Tory MP for Gloucester would descend to the voting lobbies from her office in the middle of the night resplendent in a silk negligee. Mike Thomas, who was an MP in the same Parliament, said: 'Sally had style in spades.' UNDERSTATEMENT OF THE WEEK: Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar, interviewed in The House political magazine, gives his verdict on Sir Keir Starmer's government: 'I'm the first as a former dentist to say there's been some teething problems since the election.' The advent of a ceasefire in Gaza and phased release of the remaining hostages kidnapped by Hamas terrorists 471 days ago is undoubtedly a cause for celebration. For the families of those who have survived it means blessed relief. For those whose loved ones have died in captivity, the return of their bodies should give at least a degree of closure. And though large swathes of Gaza lie in ruins, a ceasefire gives its people a welcome respite from long months of death, destruction and displacement.But anyone who believes this deal presages lasting peace is likely to be disappointed. Hamas may be diminished but, as the sinister phalanx of masked gunmen who yesterday supervised the handover of hostages to the International Red Cross showed, it is far from finished. Similarly, Hezbollah in Lebanon and its Iranian paymasters have been weakened by Israeli strikes but they are regrouping and awaiting a fresh opportunity to attack their sworn enemy. However, we should not underplay the importance of yesterday's dramatic events. The emotional and joyous scenes in Israel over the release of the first three hostages young women including British-Israeli Emily Damari showed how vital it was to get them home. US, Qatari and Egyptian negotiators are to be congratulated but the deal also represents a victory for Donald Trump in advance of his inauguration today.The President-elect warned Hamas that 'all hell would break loose' if it failed to release all hostages and pressured Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu to end the bombing. It seems to have had the desired effect. This handout picture released by the Israeli Government Press Office (GPO) shows the father (R) of Israeli hostage Romi Gonen (2nd R) and other family members welcoming her at the Sheba medical centre in Ramat Gan near Tel Aviv, on January 19 Israeli hostage Emily Damari (2nd L) embracing a relative welcoming her at the Sheba medical centre in Ramat Gan near Tel Aviv, on January 19, following her release after a ceasefire and hostage-prisoner exchange deal in the war between Israel and Hamas was implemented People gather to watch a livestream of the release of Israeli hostages Emily Damari, Romi Gonen, and Doron Steinbrecher after the first phase of a ceasefire agreement began between Israel and Hamas on January 19 Another 30 captives are due to be freed over the next six weeks in the first phase of the agreement, with the remainder, or their bodies, to be handed over in phases two and three. There are 95 still unaccounted for. How many are alive and how they have been treated in captivity is not known. Any evidence of abuse, torture or summary execution would raise the temperature again and could lead to fresh demands on Mr Netanyahu for retribution. On the other side, Hamas and Iran are driven by unquenchable hatred and believe Israel should be wiped from the map. They will not be quiet for long and the hundreds of Palestinians released from Israeli prisons as part of the ceasefire deal will no doubt swell their paramilitary ranks. So yes, we rejoice for the families who have had their loved ones returned and fervently hope many others will soon have similar good news. But be under no illusion, this is a fragile and vulnerable peace. Israelis gather to welcome the three released female Israeli hostages upon their arrival at Sheba Medical Center Palestinian men waving Hamas (green) and Hezbollah (yellow) flags sit on top of a Red Cross bus carrying released prisoners from Ofer military prison in the occupied West Bank are met by a crowd of family members and friends in Beitunia, outside Ramallah Labour Trumped It's no secret that Labour hoped today would see the inauguration of Kamala Harris as 47th president of the USA. Indeed, dozens of party activists worked on her campaign. Instead, it's their nemesis Donald Trump taking the oath of allegiance. In opposition, Sir Keir Starmer and his ministers revelled in their sanctimonious contempt for Mr Trump. Now he has become leader of the UK's most important single trade partner, and they need his help to achieve economic growth especially with a potential tariff war in the offing. They might start with an apology for past insults, a pause on making Lord Mandelson (who described Mr Trump as 'a danger to the world') our ambassador in Washington and a rapid rethink on the surrender of the strategically important Chagos Islands to an ally of China. We used to be a nation of shopkeepers, a description often attributed to Napoleon Bonaparte but most likely cobbled together from a variety of sources, including Adam Smith, the 18th-century free-marketeer. Smith used it as a compliment, a celebration of our entrepreneurial spirit. The French levelled it as an insult, to deride and belittle us. Plus ca change. Today, sadly, we are in grave danger of becoming a nation of shoplifters. Take a look at our boarded-up High Streets, littered with iffy nail bars and money-laundering Turkish barbers run by the Albanian mafia. No one in their right mind would decide to open a traditional shop in lawless Britain these days. Why plunge your life savings into, say, a pharmacy or a posh handbag emporium? You might just as well issue an open invitation for thieves to treat it as a Supermarket Sweep-style, risk-free, help-yourself, picknmix takeaway counter. Robberies from retailers are now routine, from smashngrab opportunists in convenience stores to allegedly respectable middle-class folk walking out of Waitrose without paying for their overpriced quinoa. Britain is an increasingly dishonest nation, according to academics. Tell us something we dont know. Stealing and benefit fraud are rife. A woman who runs a designer handbag shop in Cobham, Surrey, has complained that the police werent interested when she was robbed of 20,000 worth of stock by thieves wielding bolt cutters, even though they were caught on CCTV Owner Paige Mengers said: The staff were terrified. What do we have to do before theyll take notice? Do we actually have to be clubbed over the head? Professor Emmeline Taylor, of Londons City University, said: Shoplifting used to be a grubby sort of crime. Now you have people boasting about the latest thing theyve stolen. For instance, putting a bottle of prosecco through a self-service till, pretending its a bunch of bananas. A recent University of Portsmouth survey reported that almost a third of the population think benefit fraud and knowingly buying stolen property is perfectly acceptable. The decline in honesty is particularly marked among young people glued to social media. Videos on TikTok showing how to steal from shops without getting caught attract tens of thousands of followers. None of this has happened by accident. Its a result of politicians encouraging a dependency culture, with nine million people of working age economically inactive, and the Old Bill woefully refusing to take seriously what they consider to be petty crime. Barely a day passes without yet another news story about robberies being ignored by police for lack of evidence. Translation: they simply cant be bothered. Guy Adams exposed this outrageous dereliction of duty in the Mail some time ago with a report on the way in which the Met has abandoned Chiswick High Road in West London to criminals, who are free to steal from upmarket shops with absolute impunity. Heres just a couple of examples from the past few days. Corporate headhunter Vishal Patel had four suitcases, collectibles and clothes worth 10,000 stolen from his secure unit in North-West London. Fortunately, hed installed Apple AirTag trackers in the cases and traced them to a van in Paddington, a few miles away. He called the cops and, to be fair, they did turn up and nicked the driver. But three weeks later Mr Patel received a letter saying that no further action would be taken because the driver hadnt technically been in possession of the stolen items. Corporate headhunter Vishal Patel had four suitcases, collectibles and clothes worth 10,000 stolen from his secure unit in North-West London Mr Patel, who was there at the time, said: They opened the back of the van and [the cases were] literally right there in front of my face. We caught him red-handed and they just let him go. Elsewhere, a woman who runs a second-hand - sorry, previously loved - designer-handbag shop in Cobham, Surrey, has complained that the police werent interested when she was robbed of 20,000 worth of stock by thieves wielding bolt cutters, even though they were caught on CCTV. The following day, her sister shop in Wimbledon was stripped of 15 grands worth of bags. Plod gave her a crime number for the insurance. Case closed. Owner Paige Mengers said: The staff were terrified. What do we have to do before theyll take notice? Do we actually have to be clubbed over the head? Probably, but I wouldnt bank on it. The cops have far more important crimes to investigate, such as trawling the internet for inappropriate hate speech comments. None of this comes as any great surprise. Its been building up ever since we moved into our present home in North London 28 years ago. On Day One, we had a visit from the Home Beat officer, not to introduce himself but to let us know that he was being transferred to another station miles away and the Home Beat initiative was being wound up. I cant remember the last time we saw a copper patrolling our local shopping parade. Before Christmas, I went to our local pharmacy for my flu jab. The ladies who worked there told me that youths had been walking in off the streets, grabbing perfumes etc, and walking out. Theyd called the police, who told them to set off the alarm. But why bother, the pharmacist replied, when the cops dont turn up anyway? This is the same parade where, as I mentioned a few months ago, there was a machete fight outside the chippie. To the best of my knowledge, no one has ever been arrested, despite the perpetrators having been captured on the next door kebab shops CCTV. Another handful of stories I dont know whether to file under You Couldnt Make It Up, Mind How You Go or Makes You Proud To be British. I could fill this column with similar examples week in, week out, but I dont want to bore you. Meanwhile, I've just noticed another story about a social media 'influencer' advising people online how to trouser 70,000 a year in disability benefits by claiming to have Mental Elf ishoos, no questions asked. Welcome to Lawless Britain, a nation of cheats and shoplifters, as Napoleon didnt say. Forgive me for not weighing in on the Trump inauguration, but I didnt want to get lost in the flood. Mind you, loved The Donald and the Village People YMCA turn on Sunday night. Only in America. Can you imagine Surkeir Starmer wearing a fez and joining Madness on One Step Beyond after winning the last election? You can guarantee therell be more than enough out of Washington over the next few years to keep me busy. Watch this space. For a start, will Trump really veto Mandelsons appointment as British ambassador over his EU fetish and lucrative China links? My guess is probably not, but we can dream. Petey will screw up eventually and in the meantime, he can hang out with all the boys . . . Its fun to stay at the YMCA! What a joyous blessing that Tottenham fan Emily Damari has been released by the butchers of Hamas. Im told theres no truth in the rumour that her first words on coming out of captivity after 15 months were: Have Spurs kept a clean sheet under Ange yet? Speaking of Plod (see elsewhere), a Merseyside police inspector has been sacked after 27 years for calling Just Stop Oil headbangers retards and spoilt kids. That could have been me speaking. In fact, it was. Ive consistently referred to the JSO cretins as retarded overgrown toddlers. Still, its further evidence of the desperate decline of our new, woke, police service, where you can be sacked for expressing an opinion held by 99 per cent of the British public. Mind how you go. Feeling got-at by the Starmer Government? Want to kick the goldfish when his deputy, Angela Rayner, is yacking away like a diner with a half-mouthful of spaghetti? It could be worse. Imagine working as one of Mrs Rayners ministers. Imagine having to crouch at the shanks of the dragon during her daily meetings, saying youre so right, Deputy PM and then having to walk into TV studios to make sense of her pronouncements. It would drive you round the twist, wouldnt it? A couple of weeks ago Mrs Rayner appeared at a select committee with her departments top civil servant, Sarah Healey. Without wishing to be unkind to Ms Healey, who happens to be one of Whitehalls most accomplished cyclists, she seemed frayed that day. On the verge. There was a suspicion that had you dropped a teacup in her vicinity, accidentally banged the door, or if a moped had backfired in the street outside, Ms Healey might have leapt out of her skin and gobbled the entire contents of a bottle of tranquillisers. Rushanara Ali, Labour MP for Bethnal Green and Stepney and minister for homelessness and democracy, speaks in the Commons as Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner watches Yesterday another example of Rayner-itis was wheeled into the consulting rooms and I regret to say it was an advanced case. It is at times such as this that we specialists slip into professional mode and try to put the human suffering to one side. It is the only way to cope. Even so, you felt for the unhappy soul. Nasty business. The patient in question was Rushanara Ali, Labour MP for Bethnal Green and Stepney and minister for homelessness and democracy. Until recently, if asked to described Ms Ali in a few words, I would have reached for adjectives such as still, serene, undemonstrative. There was something of the mountain pool about Ms Ali. Few ripples on her surface. No longer. The Rushanara Ali on the Government front bench yesterday afternoon during departmental questions was a fidgety, blinky, twitchy presence, ceaselessly so. Her face worked permutations from surprise to sorrow to seraphic happiness. These were not connected to what was being said. When Neil OBrien (Con) talked of floods in his Harborough, Oadby and Wigston constituency Ms Alis face was wreathed with moony delight. Six months. Thats all it has taken. Near her sat Mrs Rayner and their fellow ministers: Matthew Pennycook, Alex Norris and that dope Jim McMahon. Amiable Pennycook is the youth with the melancholic, Modigliani-sloped face. Mr Norris is a blowier, beerier proposition. He stands at the despatch with a hand in his pocket and yesterday cheerfully recalled that he was once employed by Labour to mock Cameroon Tories for being posh public schoolboys. It was soon discovered that Mr Norris himself was privately educated. It was 37 minutes before Ms Ali had to face a question. Maybe the wait accentuated her nerves. She fiddled with her ministerial folder, repeatedly unclicking its metal binders to remove sheafs of paper and rearrange them in another part of the file. She mumbled to herself, clasped and unclasped her hands, shut the file, reopened it, gawped at her notes, threw back her head and swallowed, as nervous fliers will before take-off. When the moment for her first answer came, the words did not come out right. Mrs Rayner, who had been quieter than normal bored examined Ms Ali from behind. Poor Rushanara seemed to sense her bosss stare drilling into her spine. She plicked her pen-top and her fingers quivered on the despatch box. A scratch at her cheek. A flick of the fringe. She looked as if she might be sick at any moment. She had a chance, moments later, to sit directly beside Mrs Rayner. Nooo! She implored Mr McMahon to fill the slot instead. Her tics and twitches were now in overdrive. There was barely a second when her face was composed. Something has happened to her. Angela Rayner. Thats what. There may be a Pedro Almodovar film in the condition of the poor women who have to work with Big Ange. Arriving home from work, my husband greeted me in the kitchen with a warm hug, before leading me to our bedroom. There, we had sex for the second time that day... and the umpteenth time that week. Considering we'd been married for 30 years, you might well be impressed that the flames of passion were still burning to such an extent. After all, the days of being unable to resist one another typically dwindle after the first few years. The truth is, however, Michael was a sex addict. Far from being exciting, fulfilling or flattering, his insatiable hunger for intimacy left me in physical pain and destroyed my self-esteem - and ultimately our marriage. Only now, two years after I finally summoned the courage to leave Michael, do I feel able to speak out about my experience, albeit under a different name to protect our three adult children. I'd felt so alone for so long, mistakenly thinking there was something wrong with me for not reciprocating Michael's enthusiasm. Reading something like this would have helped me understand that it wasn't my fault - and that there was a way out. It's a topic, though, that has long triggered sniggers. Many celebrities have spoken out about their own sex addiction, with many people assuming the label is just a convenient excuse for repeated infidelity or reckless behaviour. But I can tell you it's certainly a bona fide condition and, sadly, it's no laughing matter. Sex addiction is defined as any sexual behaviour that feels 'out of control' and compulsive. Michael would want sex multiple times a day and would ignore my pleas of exhaustion, telling me he knew I enjoyed it. I didn't dare confide in friends but when I sought the help of a counsellor early on, she said I was being repeatedly raped and coerced. Marie Williams says far from being exciting, his hunger for intimacy left her in pain and lacking self-esteem As shocking as this was to hear, such was my determination not to put my children through an acrimonious divorce - like I had experienced when my own parents split during my childhood - that I endured another two decades. When I first met Michael in a bar in 1989, when I was 23 and he was 27, I thought he was introverted and shy. Handsome with striking blue eyes, we chatted about holidays and our jobs - he as a computer programmer and me as an insurance broker. We met at a pub the following week for dinner and drinks. Our connection was so strong we ended up having sex that night, which was completely out of character for me. From then on the sex was constant - every time we saw each other and sometimes multiple times a day or night. A young couple in the first flush of love and lust, I remember thinking: 'Gosh, he must really love me. He can't keep his hands off me!' Little did I know... Within a year we were engaged but it was another four years before we married. During the interim there were several red flags that I ignored because I loved him. Namely when Michael's suggestion that we use sex toys and I role-play as a nurse graduated to a request for him to watch me having sex with another man. I point blank refused and instead he insisted we video our intercourse and me performing sex acts on him. Despite feeling deeply uncomfortable, I went along with many of these suggestions because I didn't want to risk pushing him away. Unfortunately, the more I participated, the more he wanted. At the same time, I noticed that he didn't welcome non-sexual physical contact - no brush of the hand or a kiss goodbye before work. He'd bypass all of that to get down to business. Although he'd often give me compliments, he was also quick to criticise, chastising me if I cooked potatoes for dinner two days in a row, or made pasta sauce with what he deemed to be too many tomatoes. I cried as I walked down the aisle, telling myself it was just the emotion of the day. Now, though, I suspect it was doubt making itself known. Marriage certainly didn't diminish his voracious appetite for sex. I couldn't get off the sofa or load the dishwasher after dinner without him groping my boobs or fondling my private parts. It was all very much uninvited, unwelcome attention. He would want sex in the morning, again when I walked in the door after work, or he would pounce when I was dressed up to meet friends for the evening, then lay in wait for me when I arrived home. Worse still, soon after we married, I woke in the early hours to find him inside me. I pushed him away, disgusted. Yet he seemed oblivious to why I was upset; he was grumpy and defensive, and it happened repeatedly for the rest of the marriage. I lived in fear of falling asleep because I never knew what was going to happen to me. Technically, of course, this was rape - my being asleep meant it wasn't consensual - but I didn't want to believe that at the time. I tried to normalise it as being something that couples did. We went on to have three children, now in their twenties, within five years. I made sure to ask the midwife when I could have sex again in front of Michael so he could hear the response: 'Many couples wait until the woman has had a post-birth check-up when baby is around six weeks old.' Away from the professionals, though, he told me there were other ways I could relieve him; it didn't have to be penetration. Even when I was ill, had my period, or was visibly on my knees with exhaustion looking after our three children, his sexual appetite was relentless. I'd lose my temper and say: 'For God's sake, can't you see I'm absolutely exhausted and all I want is a cuddle?' His response would always be along the lines of: 'You know you love me and you know you love sex. You don't understand that I need it and that I can't cuddle without wanting to grope you.' At the time I had never heard of sex addiction. Instead I convinced myself I was failing as a wife because I didn't welcome his constant advances. Increasingly I felt like a piece of meat and was frequently sore in intimate places; my joints would ache from him insisting on manoeuvring me into different positions. By the time our youngest was at nursery, when I was in my early thirties, I felt unable to cope with it any longer. This is when I confided in a counsellor. Her view that I was being repeatedly raped and coerced made me feel numb. How could somebody I loved - and who supposedly loved me - do such a thing? After much inner turmoil, however, I decided to stay with Michael. My parents' divorce had left me feeling deeply insecure and vulnerable; I didn't want that for our kids. And despite everything, I still loved him. He would be moody and difficult with me if I refused sex but he could also be sweet, kind and chivalrous. He always opened doors and carried shopping bags for me, cooked meals and was a hands-on dad. During my six months of counselling, I had dinner with a small group of friends and, after a few glasses of champagne, told them that Michael wanted sex all the time. Before I had a chance to elaborate I was met with comments of, 'Oh, you lucky thing,' and, 'I wish my husband felt like that about me.' So I didn't say anything further. Instead I stopped making an effort with my appearance in the hope that would deter Michael. I went for days without washing my hair, swapped tailored trousers, blouses and feminine dresses for shapeless trackpants and sweatshirts. Yet still Michael's need for sex continued unabated, even as he reached his late fifties. In 2019 I had a breakdown triggered by a health scare and was signed off work for six months. Michael showed fleeting concern and sympathy, but inevitably tried to convince me sex would make me feel better. I wanted to scream at the walls. But still I found myself unable to tell Michael how utterly exasperated I was with him. How tired my body was. How sore I was externally and internally. How crushed I was mentally. Increasingly I would refuse sex - but would then pay the price when I'd wake to him groping me during the night. Unbeknown to me, my younger sister had long harboured suspicions that something was amiss. Seeing me at such a low ebb, she said, 'Something's not right with your marriage.' She and two of my closest friends had discovered that Michael was following more than 1,000 women on social media, presumably to satisfy his urges. It was a complete shock. Perhaps I was naive, but I'd never considered that he may need this kind of activity outside our marriage as well. I had once wished he would just go and find someone else and leave me in peace. But it was a fleeting thought. Devastated, I told my sister everything. She was wonderful, encouraging me to think about seeking professional support. I did finally confront Michael, telling him I was at breaking point with his total lack of respect for my body and my feelings. He told me I was the one with the problem because I didn't understand that sex was a basic human need. He agreed to five marriage counselling sessions. When the therapist said that Michael was a sex addict, he didn't flinch or deny it. But afterwards he told me his behaviour was perfectly normal. During one of the counselling sessions he protested that he'd be 'happy with sex once a week', but I called out his lie, telling him: 'That's not true, you know that when we finish having sex, you want it again straight away.' Counselling gave me the strength to move into the spare room. Then one spring morning in 2022, I woke to find him in the spare bed with me and I snapped. I asked him what the hell he was doing and he responded: 'I could tell last night that you wanted me,' which was a total lie. Marie says she craves being held, feeling loved and safe - something that never happened in her marriage I ended the marriage right then and there. He finally admitted he'd hurt me but it was too little, too late. Two of our children had already left home and the youngest wasn't in so I went to stay with my sister. As soon as I could get them together, I sat the children down and told them everything. It was awkward for all of us, but I never want my two daughters to be treated like that by a man, or for my son to think it's okay to do what his father did to me. They were devastated and in shock. Nobody wants to think about their parents' sex lives and this was another level they really struggled with, though they were also grateful I'd been honest with them. They are still hurting now. Reassuring them how much their dad loves them, however, I insisted they maintain a relationship with him. Michael and I maintained brief contact for the year it took to sell the family home, buy new properties of our own and finalise the divorce. But we don't talk now, which is a relief. Over the past two years, I've spent thousands on more than 100 counselling sessions to try to come to terms with the trauma. I've also had hypnosis to help reprogram my brain so that I can lose the fear of falling asleep at night. The kindest words I received from one of my therapists were that it wasn't my fault and that I wasn't lacking as a wife - which is what I had always thought. She explained that with a sex addict, whatever I'd done would never have been enough. I also went to a sexual health clinic because I had no idea whether Michael had indulged his sex addiction with other women or even prostitutes. I'd often noticed him looking at other women and harboured suspicions he fancied his friend's wife. Though he admitted he did indeed find her very attractive, he was adamant nothing had ever happened between them. Thankfully I discovered I have a clean bill of health. My sister and friends have been incredibly supportive. As for dating, it's not something I can contemplate. I don't know if I'll ever want sex again. Rather, I crave cuddles, kisses, being held, feeling loved and safe. Something that never happened during my marriage. Now I'm finally able to talk about what I went through without crying. And sharing my story has given me a renewed sense of purpose. Dare I say, I'm even starting to enjoy life now that my body is mine again. U.S. export controls on AI models, chips feared to harm global AI development Xinhua) 09:13, January 20, 2025 This photo taken on May 22, 2024 shows the White House in Washington, D.C., the United States. (Xinhua/Liu Jie) The Biden administration's new export controls on artificial intelligence (AI) models and advanced chips faced mounting criticism from industry experts, who worry such controls will impede global AI development. While aimed at addressing so-called national security concerns, the rule restricts the export of advanced AI chips and technologies to strategic competitors. It has raised pressing concerns about its implications for U.S. competitiveness and the global AI ecosystem. SACRAMENTO, the United States, Jan. 19 (Xinhua) -- The Biden administration's new export controls on artificial intelligence (AI) models and advanced chips faced mounting criticism from industry experts, who worry such controls will impede global AI development. After the administration unveiled the framework on Monday, the U.S. Department of Commerce Bureau of Industry and Security published updated export controls on advanced computing items on Wednesday, including the first-ever export controls on AI models and worldwide license requirements for advanced chips. These changes are effective as of Monday, but the compliance date for the new license requirements is not until May 13, which is also the deadline for the public comments period. While aimed at addressing so-called national security concerns, the rule restricts the export of advanced AI chips and technologies to strategic competitors. It has raised pressing concerns about its implications for U.S. competitiveness and the global AI ecosystem. "The U.S. government spent a lot of time talking about the need to be open and bottom-up, decentralized in many areas of the Internet and tech system, but in AI, they seem to be kind of going the opposite," said Daniel Castro, vice president of Washington D.C.-based think tank the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF). He told a virtual panel discussion hosted by ITIF on Thursday that he had talked to "some folks in different countries" about the proposed rule. "They're shocked about this policy and what this means for how the U.S. sees them as one of these tier-two countries," he said. The framework creates a complex new system where only 18 "trusted" economies, including close U.S. allies like Britain, Japan and Germany, would be exempt from strict export caps, which is called the "tier-one" group. The "tier-two" group covers most of the world, including Israel, Singapore, Brazil, India, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. They would face significant restrictions with tight country-specific limits on chip imports. Officials in Poland and Israel have protested against the new framework. Poland's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Digitalization Krzysztof Gawkowski called the policy "incomprehensible and not based on any substantive reasons." An Israeli parliamentary subcommittee on Wednesday called for an urgent meeting to discuss how the new limits could set back its AI development and "how these controls on both the (AI) models and the chips are setting a new precedent, particularly in the tech space," said Castro. But he added that this approach "seems familiar," with the crypto wars in the 1990s as an example. Visitors try VR (virtual reality) games during the 2020 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, the United States, Jan. 9, 2020. (Xinhua/Wu Xiaoling) The U.S. export controls on encryption technologies caused economic pressure on U.S. tech companies, which have argued that the restrictions hurt their competitiveness in global markets. In 1999, the White House announced a major policy shift that effectively ended the most contentious phase of the crypto wars. "I think it's not unprecedented. Unfortunately, what might be unprecedented is we've forgotten that it didn't work in previous efforts, the crypto wars being one of them," said James Lewis, a senior vice president at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). He alluded to another example of U.S. export controls on satellite technology, particularly remote sensing satellites. To prevent this technology from spreading, the United States imposed strict export controls on remote sensing satellites and related technologies. These restrictions had a negative impact on U.S. companies in the satellite industry, limiting their ability to compete globally. As a result of these restrictions, other countries developed their own satellite industries to fill the gap. "So, I see this more as incentivizing foreign competition to create substitutes, unnaturally damaging America's technological leadership," said Lewis. "We always say that we're all for peace and harmony and sharing global technology, but when it actually comes to implementing it, we're much more risk-averse." (Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Zhong Wenxing) A mother whose teenager vanished after a night out with friends 19 years ago has revealed how a Volvo could be the key to solving the mystery of her son's disappearance - and her heartbreaking last words to him. Luke Durbin was 19 when he disappeared from Ipswich town centre in the early hours of the morning of May 12, 2006. The last CCTV image of Luke was captured at 4am and shows him walking across a zebra crossing in the centre of town, towards the local bus stop, however he has not been seen alive by his family since. His mother Nicki has never given up hope and claimed a mysterious car spotted on the night of Luke's disappearance could hold the answers she is looking for. Speaking to Metro, she said: 'Ive thought of every scenario there is over and over. Sometimes I think it could have been a hit and run. 'There was a silver Volvo seen at 4.08am, just down the road from where Luke was last seen. Im sure the driver of that vehicle has something to do with Lukes disappearance. Luke was picked up on CCTV in the middle of the town centre and then seemingly vanishes. Police found out the car had a false address and number plate. Nicki maintains her son did not go missing of his own accord and has ruled out suicide. A mother whose teenage son, Luke Durbin, disappeared after a night out with friends 19 years ago is still determined to find out the truth about what happened to him She encourages anyone with information to contact the police - describing how the pain of living with a missing child has been 'relentless'. The silver Volvo was being driven illegally on false number plates - M206 LYE - and the driver has never been identified. On the night he disappeared, Luke packed his bag and said goodbye to his mother and sister Alicia, who was 16 at the time. He had taken the Friday off work and was planning on spending the night at his friend Alex's house in nearby Woodbridge. Nicki revealed her last words that night to her son were dont drink and drive' because he has just got a new motorbike. Speaking on The Missing in 2022, Nicki recalled: '[He replied] "no I won't". That's literally the last thing I said to him. He got on his bike and whizzed off and me and Alicia went to have supper. That's the last time we ever saw Luke alive.' Nicki explained that, other than him riding a motorcycle, she wasn't worried about her son at all. He regularly went to Woodbridge and there was nothing out of the ordinary. After drinks in Woodbridge, Luke, Alex and a third friend made a spur-of-the-moment decision to take a 20-minute taxi into Ipswich to go to Zest nightclub. Luke Durbin was 19 when he vanished from Ipswich town centre in the early hours of the morning of May 12, 2006 Suffolk Constabulary previously released this image of a similar Volvo, which was in the area on the night of Luke's disappearance This car, a silver or white Volvo 440, passed the CCTV camera moments after Luke. The car was being driven illegally on false number plates - M206 LYE - and the driver has never been identified but experts believe it could be connected to Luke Alex, who had already had too much to drink, went straight home on arriving in Ipswich, while Luke and his other friend went into the club. At some point while inside, the two men lost each other and Luke's friend went home without him. Luke, dressed in a grey sweatshirt, blue jeans and brown suede shoes, got separated from his friends and found himself alone without any money. At around 2am, Luke was captured on CCTV leaving the club and waiting for his friend. He had left his phones and bag at Alex's house and didn't have any money on him for a taxi home. Roughly an hour later, Luke was captured on CCTV at the local train station, presumably hoping to catch a late-running service home. After that, he visited a local taxi office and tried to book a cab home but had no money. The staff suggested he phoned Nicki and ask for her bank card details, but he said he didn't want to wake up his mother. Final sighting: Luke Durbin was 19 when he vanished from Ipswich town centre in the early hours of the morning of May 12, 2006, following a night out with friends. The last CCTV image of Luke was captured at 4am and shows him walking across a zebra crossing (above) Do you know these people? Luke is known to have left Zest nightclub in Ipswich on the night he disappeared. He was later captured on camera on several streets in the town. Here - he can be seen walking towards Dogs Head Street - from left to right. The camera says it is 03:57 am. Two other people can be seen at the top and bottom of the image Can YOU help find Luke? Key questions that need answered The Missing podcast urges anyone with information to come forward. Particularly those to whom these questions apply: Were you out in Ipswich in the early hours of the morning on Friday the 12th of May, 2006? Did you see Luke after he left the night club Zest, on Princes Street in Ipswich? Did you see Luke leaving the taxi office at around 4am? Did you see Luke as he walked along Dogs Head Street in the Ipswich town centre, in the direction of the bus station? Did you see the silver or white Volvo 440 that was spotted on Dogs head Street at the same time? Did you see the dark blue Renault Megane Luke was spotted sitting in on Saturday the 13th of May, sometime between 11am and 2pm? Might you have spotted someone matching Lukes description in London at some point in 2006? For more information visit The Missing Podcast website. Advertisement The final CCTV image was captured at 4am. Luke was seen walking across Dogs Head Street towards the bus station, although it is not clear whether this is where he was headed. Back at home, Nicki and Alicia had no idea something was wrong. Speaking on the podcast, she added: 'I went to work, Alicia went to school. 'As far as I was aware, Luke would have been at Alex's mum's house. Luke's phone just went to answerphone. 'I was just thinking he would come back that Friday evening. I put a note saying, "I'm at Vicky's, phone me when you get the message". I had no idea Luke was missing or anything was untoward. It wasn't until the Saturday... I came home early Saturday morning from my friend's and Alicia came home around 12pm on Saturday. 'And she said, "Mum, I think there's something not right with Luke... Alex told me he didn't come back".' Luke's much-loved motorcycle was still parked outside Luke's mother's house where he had left it, while his personal belongings were inside. Nicki learned his friends hadn't wanted to worry him unnecessarily, initially thinking he had gone home with a woman. But when he failed to turn up for work on Saturday, Nicki knew something was wrong. 'I knew how much he liked his boss and I knew he wouldn't let her down,' she said. 'He had nothing on him, apart from his clothes. I think at that point I had this horrendous silent hysteria started taking over me.' Nicki phoned the local hospital and friends before reporting him missing. 'It just became surreal,' she continued. 'I felt I might be wasting police time because "Luke's going to come home". There is an absolute huge divide in my life, from before I placed the phone call and after.' Police initially thought Luke had fallen into a river near the club. 'I think it's the first time I've ever felt such despair,' his mother recalled. 'It was the realisation that maybe Luke wouldn't come home. I still find that day. Nicki with her son Luke and daughter Alicia, before her teenager's disappearance in 2006 on a night out in Suffolk Mother Nicki (pictured with Luke and daughter Alicia) said she wants to know what happened to her son before she dies Final hours: Luke's movements on the night he disappeared Luke Durbin was 19 when he was last seen after a night out at the Zest nightclub in Ipswich, Suffolk, in the early hours of May 12, 2006. Luke, a keen guitarist, was seen at Ipswich railway station between 2.30am and 3am on May 12, 2006, after leaving Zest nightclub. He was then seen at Hawk Express taxi rank in the town at 3.45am, but it is thought he did not have enough money for a fare home to Hollesley. His last confirmed sighting was CCTV images of him crossing a zebra crossing in Dog's Head Street, Ipswich, as he headed for the town's bus station at 4am. He did not return home to collect any of his personal belongings and failed to pick up his wages and a mobile phone he had left at a friend's house. He became one of Britain's highest profile missing people. A man was arrested on suspicion of his murder in 2012, but he was told he was facing no further action in March 2013. Advertisement 'That day still feels like the worst day in those first few weeks. Police did the sweep of the river and nothing was found.' Two weeks later, police informed Nicki that three different people had seen Luke in Woodbridge on May 13, the day after he was last seen. All of them knew Luke and confirmed they had seen him in a car with two men. Then an old classmate of Luke's came forward to say she was '95 per cent sure' she had seen him in London. None of the sightings led police to Luke. In the days and weeks after the disappearance, Nicki learned her son might have been more heavily involved in drugs than she had realised. He was described as a dealer, not a big time drugs lord, but not insignificant, either. Some of the rumours she heard connected Luke to a drugs gang in Brixton, south London. She said: 'I can remember being so horrified and going to the police and asking if his disappearance was drug related, if he'd gotten in way too deep and something terrible and untoward had happened to him. And the guy in charge said "no".' In 2010, four years after Luke went missing, a fresh review of the case found new CCTV images and evidence he was involved in the cocaine trade. 'Cocaine changed everything for me,' Nicki said. 'It just felt so... Really you're just starting to mess with big boys.' In 2012 police made two arrests one on suspicion of murder, the other on suspicion of being concerned in the murder of Luke. However, both men faced no further action. One remaining possibility is that Luke was in debt to dealers higher up in the drug food chain. Another is that he packed up and started a new life somewhere else, afraid of what faced him if he remained in Suffolk. 'Was Luke in huge amounts of debts?,' Nicki asked. 'Nothing made sense. Even if he was in debt, Luke had a brand new motorbike he could have gotten money for and he had his wages waiting for him. 'Luke would not - I would absolutely would put my life on it - Luke would not have voluntarily gone missing to just start up a new life. He was a 19-year-old, naive boy. He had nothing. He had no money. He had nothing. He had a motorbike.' Regardless of the circumstances, Nicki understands the chances of him still being alive are slim. All she wants to know is what happened that night. She added: 'Whatever the information is, I definitely want to know what happened to Luke before I die. 'I don't want to die not knowing what happened to my son. In whatever form, I want to be able to bring him home.' The investigation into Lukes disappearance is now managed by the Joint Norfolk & Suffolk Major Crime Review and Unsolved Case Team. A Suffolk Police spokesperson told Metro that they are 'extremely keen' to get closure for Lukes family. If you have any information about Luke Durbins disappearance, please contact Suffolk Police or Missing People. Why take out a hefty loan for the price of a quality, luxury handbag when you can simply purchase a lookalike item online for more than half-off the original price? At least, that's what some shoppers have begun to believe amid the rising 'dupe' trend taking over the fashion industry. But what happens when those copycat goods, such as a knock-off Louis Vuitton purse from DHGate, is the innocuous purchase that ultimately leads you to be denied easy access back into the United States? 'Dupes,' also known as cheaper alternatives to products often going viral online, have become an inevitable part of the fashion ecosystem thanks to international online retailers like Temu, DHGate and AliExpress. TikTok only escalated this growing trend, with viral shopping hauls from influencers showing off their highly coveted purchases and users recommending cheaper alternatives for these over-hyped products. It's no secret that copycat designs have always been prevalent in the fashion and beauty industry. For some, a dupe simply constitutes a product that mimics the results of another popular - and more expensive - item, while merchandise that pretends to be another is widely considered as counterfeit. 'A dupe is short for duplicate, while counterfeit is an identical,' Bernard Garby, a fashion commentator with more than 412,000 followers on TikTok, tells DailyMail.com. 'With counterfeit, they're putting the Louis Vuitton logo on it or Dior logo on it and saying that basically this is Louis Vuitton, even though it's not Louis Vuitton. A dupe would have the Dior bag shape, the handles, but it won't have the Dior logo.' However, those lines between a dupe and a counterfeit item are often blurred in the eyes of shoppers and can lead to some serious consequences. A 'dupe' is a product that mimics the results of another popular item, while an item that pretends to be another is widely considered as counterfeit Americans have reported getting their Global Entry application denied or revoked by USCBP after purchasing knockoff bags from international sites like Temu and DHGate Amy Conrad, a 37-year-old content creator from Texas, took to TikTok earlier this month to share an important warning after influencer Kylan Darnell - known for her Bama Rush videos - admitted that some of the designer handbags shared in her viral Christmas gifts haul were actually fake. 'It's illegal to own counterfeit goods,' Conrad said in a TikTok with more than 371,000 views. 'You may be thinking, "But lots of people buy those goods. You're not gonna be in trouble from the government and go to jail unless you're buying hundreds of them." 'But, there are tons of people every year that get their global entry status denied,' Conrad claimed. 'So, if you have global entry and you like it or if you don't have it and you want to get it in the future, if there is a record of shady shipments to your address, there is a very good chance that your global entry application will be denied.' Indeed, many people across the internet have since reported how their dupe designer purchases led to the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agency denying their application for global entry - a membership program that allows pre-approved travelers expedited entry upon arrival in the states. On Reddit, one user explained how they had purchased what they assumed was an authentic Starbucks Stanley tumbler from online Japanese marketplace Mercari amid the Stanley cup craze last year. 'I waited for it for a few weeks, it never showed up so I opened a case with Mercari and they refunded me,' they wrote. 'About a month or two after the purchase, I received a paper from customs saying they confiscated it.' The online shopper didn't bat an eye, until weeks later when they received the notification that their application for global entry was denied for 'prior customs or agricultural violation.' DailyMail.com has contacted the CBP for comment. Influencer Kylan Darnell went viral on TikTok for her Christmas haul filled with luxury and designer bags, only to later admit that some of the items were counterfeit As it turns out, they weren't the only ones to be reprimanded by CBP for purchasing dupes online. 'I had the same thing happen to me,' said someone else on Reddit. 'I bought a pair of sneakers online that turned out to be fake and my GE was revoked. I have applied for reconsideration but it is still pending.' According to the CBP, any American applicant could be deemed ineligible for the Global Entry program if they have been found in violation of any customs, immigration or agriculture regulations or laws in any country. Chinese-based e-commerce companies like Shein, Temu, and DHGate have raised eyebrows for quite some time. Recently, the United States Trade Representative released the findings of its 2024 Review of Notorious Markets for Counterfeiting and Piracy. The report named DHGate as containing 'a high volume of counterfeits' on its site, and described how 'sellers of counterfeit goods reportedly continue to evade detection by using code words and digitally blurred logos.' DailyMail.com has contacted DHGate for comment. Meanwhile, controversial fast fashion retailer Shein was previously accused by independent designers of infringement-related racketeering activities in a first-of-its-kind RICO lawsuit. The suit, filed in July 2023 in California federal court, accused the clothing giant of using a 'secretive algorithm' to identify trending art and allegedly reproducing the independent designs for the Shein website. Nevertheless, these sites have purported to be in compliance with US intellectual property rights, perhaps at the risk of losing its millions of US-based shoppers. The 2024 USTR report stated that, last year, DHGate introduced an intellectual property enforcement program that includes a new online portal for complaints and significant investment in AI-based screening tools to detect and remove counterfeit goods. Most online marketplaces like Amazon or eBay have their own takedown processes and built-in forms for reporting counterfeit items, and are protected against liability if they respond to takedown requests in a timely fashion. An estimated 49 percent of Gen Z shoppers and 44 percent of millennials have intentionally purchased a dupe of a premium product at some point But despite these crackdowns, dupes somehow continue to be more in-demand than ever. A 2023 poll from Morning Consult found that roughly 49 percent of Gen Z shoppers and 44 percent of millennials have intentionally purchased a dupe of a premium product at some point. This is largely thanks to TikTok, where videos with the #dupe hashtag have received nearly six billion views to date. 'The thing about trademarks and logos and products is that we as a society place a lot of meaning in what they represent, and especially what it says about us when we wear them or are seen with them,' Cece Xie, a former corporate lawyer specializing in intellectual property, told DailyMail.com 'It's kind of a natural consequence that we would aspire towards having that meaning, while we might not necessarily have the funds, especially when we're younger, to buy the actual product,' she continued. 'Because it's so much easier to advertise for dupes or to make a TikTok, it's just now easier to find out about it.' For some, it may seem like dupe culture has simply leveled the playing field; now anyone can stunt with the hottest viral product or latest handbag on their shoulder, and others are none the wiser. But as these online retailers rake in millions of dollars each year with copycat inventory, it's the independent designers and small businesses that reap the financial losses. It seems like dupe culture may be here to stay despite the US ban on the short-form video platform that could potentially topple the economy that TikTok has cultivated of influencers and brands that hawk cheap alternatives to viral products. And while it's unclear exactly what economic impact that ban may pose, the rise of dupe culture has nevertheless signaled a change in the way we shop as a whole. 'We all know that the ethical thing would be supporting the designer. But at the end, if you're that demographic that is driven by budget, where you do have to make budget-conscious purchase decisions, you will most likely buy what you can afford,' said Garby. 'It's not for the consumer to decide what's right in the end.' The UK may be in the midst of a cost-of-living crisis - but that hasn't stopped takeaway coffees serving as a daily (non-negotiable) luxury for countless people. Last year, a study by Project Cafe discovered the average cost of a latte in the UK has risen to an eye-watering 3.51 - thereby turning the humble takeaway cup into something of a status symbol. And according to culture expert Hayley Knight, the way people hold their coffee cups actually reveals a lot about their personality and 'personal brands'. The co-founder of BE YELLOW PR agency - told FEMAIL: 'Coffee as a status symbol has evolved from being a simple beverage to a representation of lifestyle, power, and personal values. 'Carrying a coffee cup, especially in professional or urban settings, often signifies busyness, purpose, and a sense of belonging to a fast-paced, productive world, and a sense of understanding their place in it. 'Whether the coffee cup is a branded takeaway cup or an eco-friendly thermos, it is a small but obvious symbol of identity, priorities, and the placement of modern social dynamics.' Here FEMAIL reveals the most evocative takeaway coffee grips and what they say about you. Double grip - 'easy demeanour' Pictured: Culture expert Hayley Knight - who is the co-founder of BE YELLOW PR agency - demonstrates how a double grip showcases a person's 'easy demeanour' Pictured: Katie Holmes carries two Starbucks coffee cups as she strolls the streets of New York last month If you prefer to loosely grip your coffees rather than putting them in a carrier, the expert says you're telling the world you have an 'unpretentious' personality. At the end of last year, Katie Holmes was pictured happily strolling through the streets of New York holding two Starbucks coffees. Having recreated the pose, Hayley explained: 'Katie Holmes holds her coffee cup in a natural, unpretentious way, with a relaxed grip and an easy demeanour. 'She is expressing confidence in who she is, and comes across as grounded. It resonates with her girl-next-door image. 'The way she holds her cup is understated, elegant and shows that she values comfort over making a statement.' One-handed - 'rebellious spirit' If you've ever been guilty of holding an open coffee cup one-handed, Hayley says it is indicative of a 'rebellious spirit' Pictured: Miley Cyrus seen picking up a coffee in LA in October 2019 with her ex-boyfriend Cody Simpson Miley Cyrus took a risk with her takeaway coffee in October 2019 when she was pictured leaving a cafe in LA with her ex-boyfriend Cody Simpson. As well as holding it from the bottom, the Hannah Montana star also opted not to place a lid on her cup. If you've ever been guilty of this too, Hayley says it is indicative of a 'rebellious spirit'. The expert continued: 'Miley Cyrus exudes energy when holding her coffee cup, and it comes across as care free. 'Her grip is casual but confident, and embodies her rebellious spirit and need for individuality.' Lose grip - 'using coffee as a prop' Opting for a brand like Starbucks and holding it in a nonchalant manner demonstrates how a person is conscious of their 'curated image' Opting for a brand like Starbucks and holding it in a nonchalant manner demonstrates how a person is conscious of their 'curated image', according to the expert. In July 2022, Kim Kardashian was snapped leaving a Starbucks with daughter North West in Malibu. The mother-of-four was seen holding her coffee - which she had ordered in the smallest 'Tall' size - by clinging onto the lid, a stance which has echoed by her daughter. According to Hayley, Kim's choice of coffee and her way of holding it has been planned to complement her public image - and something her fans can be guilty of too. The expert added: 'Kim Kardashians coffee cup is used as a prop, and reflects her carefully curated image. 'The choice of Starbucks reflects her love of brands, and is an extension of her personal style.' Balancing act - 'showing independence' According to Hayley, people who fall into this pose - first demonstrated by Bella Hadid - are trying to convey their 'self-assurance' to the world Pictured: Bella Hadid leaving the five-star Royal Monceau in Paris while balancing a coffee on top of a takeaway box in 2020 In February 2020, Bella Hadid was papped rushing out of the five-star Royal Monceau in Paris while balancing a coffee on top of a takeaway box. According to Hayley, people who fall into this pose are trying to convey their 'self-assurance' to the world. The expert continued: 'Bella Hadids coffee cup is used as a fashion accessory, and is an extension of her outfit. 'She carries it with effortless confidence but makes it look stylish. 'She holds it in a box, representing herself as a trend setter, but also showcases her independence and individuality.' Raised arm - 'quiet confidence' Holding your coffee high in one hand paints the picture of a busy, working woman - and also feeds into one's personal style too Holding your coffee high in one hand paints the picture of a busy, working woman - and also feeds into one's personal style too. In October 2023, Hailey Bieber was pictured picking up a takeaway coffee in West Hollywood before rushing back to her car. If you've found yourself copying this pose, the expert said: 'The act of holding a coffee cup communicates more than just a preference for caffeine; it projects an image of empowerment and confidence. 'It represents the ability to navigate work schedules, and life, and it has become the ultimate accessory to let others know where youre at in the world.' The expert added: 'Hailey Biebers approach to holding a coffee cup is quiet confidence, but is sleek and minimal, much like her aesthetic.' Double holder - 'closed off' The expert says opting for a double coffee holder suggests a person is 'closed off and guarded' Pictured: Ben Affleck seen holding two Dunkin Donut coffees and a bag of doughnuts in Santa Monica in 2022 Coffee holders are undeniably more convenient if you're transporting multiple beverages - but the expert says they indicate you are 'closed off'. Last February, Ben Affleck was reportedly paid close to $10m for his Dunkin Donuts advert - and is regularly pictured holding coffees from the US chain. In 2022, the star was papped in Santa Monica holding two iced coffees from the brand in one holder, which he kept very close to his chest. According to the expert, this way of transporting his takeaways coffees suggests that he is 'closed off and guarded'. Hayley said: 'Ben Afflecks coffee cup moments often reveal a grounded side, but it can also come across as closed off, and guarded, holding it close to his chest whilst on the phone.' One-handed -'professional and approachable' Ppting for a light, one-handed grip like this suggests a person is 'professional and approachable' Meanwhile, opting for a light, one-handed grip suggests a person is 'professional and approachable'. Reese Witherspoon is yet another celebrity who has used takeaway coffees to play into her personal branding in the past. In January 2020, the Big Little Lies star was pictured with one in hand after spending a day with her sons in California. The expert explained: 'Reese Witherspoons coffee cup style reflects her Southern charm and poised demeanour. 'She has effortless grace, whilst also portraying her balance of professionalism and approachability. 'Her cup represents her stylish, yet minimalistic fashion, and her warmth and relatability.' Double, loose hold - 'laid back' If you favour a double, loose grip, Hayley says you are showing off your 'laid-back' nature to the world If you favour a double, loose grip a la Blake Lively, Hayley says you are showing off your 'laid-back' nature to the world. In 2023, A-List couple Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds were papped on a coffee run in New York. According to the expert, couples picking up a takeaway coffee together like this are demonstrating just how 'in sync' they are. Hayley said: 'When seen together, Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds likely hold their coffee cups in ways that complement their playful, laid-back dynamic, and shows how much theyre in sync, and simply like enjoying time together. 'There is no urgency or stress. Their grips are casual and relaxed, and symbolise warmth, togetherness and openness.' Open grip - 'energetic' According to Hayley, a light, one-handed grip on your coffee exudes a person's 'passion and charm' What's more, a light, one-handed grip on your coffee exudes a person's 'passion and charm'. In November 2023, Heidi Klum was snapped arriving at LAX airport - with a small coffee in hand. According to the expert, her light grip on her hot drink - which is being used as a 'prop' to convey 'openness' - hints at her vibrant personality. Hayley said: 'Heidi Klums coffee cup is likely an accessory to her vibrant, confident personality, and shows that this isnt her first rodeo. 'She exudes energy and charm, and her cup represents her boldness and passion for life.' Molly Roden Winter had been seeing her lover Karl for several weeks when one night, he made a proposal. That they should have a threesome with his partner, Martina, who bizarre as it sounds knew all about Molly. Though uncomfortable with the request, Molly a school teacher, mother of two and the least likely person, it would seem, to indulge in unusual sexual practices had already fallen in love with him and reluctantly agreed. It felt, she later reasoned, like a requirement for dating Karl at all. Predictably, the evening was not a success for Molly, but her obligation duly fulfilled, she pulled on her clothes and left immediately. Sensing that shed need someone to talk to afterwards, she had already arranged to meet up with her best friend the one person who would understand, and the person to whom she could confide all the unease and dissatisfaction of the preceding hours: her husband, Stewart. This is just one of the astonishing scenes in More, Mollys bestselling memoir, detailing her pursuit of an open marriage. Just released in paperback, it caused a sensation when originally published last year, attracting equal parts praise and opprobrium for the candour with which Molly describes her entry into polyamory. Certainly, its not for the faint-hearted as Molly recounts many of the indignities she is made to feel when she and Stewart decide to openly have sexual relationships with other people. Molly Roden Winter has lifted the lid on the highs, lows and insecurities of polyamory Husband Stewart (here with Molly) was the one who suggested they try it From Karl, who ghosts her shortly after the aforementioned threesome, to Leo, a comedy writer who treats her like a [Deliveroo] delivery to a ravenous man, to Matt who ends their relationship after she erroneously sends him a text intended for Stewart (Matts still here, she wrote. But dont worry. He has nothing on you as a lover.). And then theres Laurent, a French-Argentinian financier who warrants a chapter all of his own. Not only does he immediately exit stage left after sex in unusual locations (in a workspace cubicle; at an immersive theatre experience), he unforgivably removes his condom during sex without telling her, complaining that they make him feel uncomfortable. When Molly finally has the good sense to dump him, he responds: Women are like buttons. If you lose one, you can always find another. The book is an unflinching read, cataloguing as it does not just the thrill of Mollys sexual encounters, but also the crushing despair she feels when they end badly. So why did she decide to write such a soul-baring account? Well, I was starting to see more discussion of open marriage in the media, she says, but it just didnt reflect my experience. It seemed like everybody who was in open relationships was young and hip and on the fringes of regular society, and I just thought: This isnt me. I dont have tattoos or a pierced nose. Im a mum. Nobody would look at me and suspect at all! With her chestnut hair and intelligent eyes, Molly, 52, looks every inch the middle-school English teacher she was when she embarked on her voyage of sexual discovery in 2008. Back then, she had been married to TV music composer Stewart for nine years as they raised their sons Daniel, six, and three-year-old Nate in their beautiful four-bedroom brownstone in Park Slope, Brooklyn. A vibrant area awash with Yummy Mummies and strollers, its the sort of picturesque, family-oriented place, says Molly, where people sit on their stoops to chat. But while life from the outside appeared idyllic, Molly, then 35, bore all the hallmarks of the overburdened, frazzled wife and mother. Was this the root of her dissatisfaction with a more traditional marriage? There were all the pressures of being a mother and how restrictive that can feel, she says, especially when your children are young. There was an incongruity between myself as a mother and my sexual being and I think I was looking to bust out of that role and to explore other parts of myself. Moreover, having had four lovers prior to meeting Stewart (who had had dozens), I was kind of virginal when I got married and I never had that time of [sexual] exploration in my life. Finally, she adds, I wasnt planning on doing anything. I just happened to meet somebody. That somebody was Matt eight years younger than Molly, a good listener and physically gorgeous whom she met at a bar after storming out of the house, angry that Stewart had showed up late from work just once too often. Seeing Matt, she says: I really felt desire for the first time in a long time. After telling Stewart about their flirtation, however, Molly was slightly taken aback when, far from getting upset, he actively encouraged her to sleep with him. When we got married, my husband predicted that there was no way Id be OK just sleeping with him for the rest of my life, she says. I was just lucky enough to be married to someone who encouraged me to pursue that desire instead of repressing it. Her liaison with Matt was tinged with guilt, pleasure, anxiety that she was being a bad mother, all of it, says Molly. And even though my husband was saying it was OK to follow that desire, I was afraid of where it would lead. Afraid that it would end my marriage and blow up my family, even though that was not my intention. I felt there was something very taboo and dangerous about it, but I couldnt stop. Though the affair came to a grinding halt of its own accord when Molly sent the aforementioned text to Matt, what it ultimately did was enable Molly and Stewart to work out the terms of their newly open marriage. Indeed, the book shows Stewart all but pushing Molly out the door with sexy lingerie to meet Matt, with some commentators theorising that he manipulated his wife into an open marriage, either to cover up the fact that he himself was cheating (Stewart is a horrible liar, insists Molly, so the idea of him being able to live this hidden life was ridiculous), or so that he could start seeing other women, too (he sleeps with an ex-girlfriend shortly afterwards). But while Molly admits that Stewart was turned on by the thought of his wife sleeping with another man (and I dont think thats unusual), she insists: I wasnt seeing Matt just for Stewart. Weve been married for 25 years. Im pretty satisfied that Ive not been manipulated into the life were living now. He just thought it would be important for me to find out more about my own sexuality. Molly describes in sharp detail the thoughts that race through her mind after they agree to open their marriage. When Stewart tries something new in bed, she wonders: Where did he learn to do that? Though she dare not ask, her resulting orgasm, she recalls, is more powerful than even in the early days of our marriage. Initially, the couple implemented a dont ask, dont tell policy about seeing other people, which ended largely, says Molly, because she was getting angry with her husband, for not lying to me better. For instance, when Molly discovers a hotel key card in the pocket of Stewarts jeans while doing the laundry (Stewart never did the laundry, she writes with a hint of frustration, so Molly was bound to find it), her mind is instantly flooded with thoughts of what he might have been doing in said hotel and with whom. Maybe it was the night, she wonders, when he came home at 4.30 in the morning and kissed Molly with the mouth that had kissed this unknown woman, that had roamed over her entire body, perhaps, that had made her moan and cry out. Eventually, they decided to draw up a set of rules, ranging from Dont date an ex to No sleeping over. And the most important rule of all? Absolutely no falling in love. After signing up with Ashley Madison the dating site for married people seeking affairs some of her early encounters left her cold. There was Mike, with whom she had a particularly soulless exchange in a $59 hotel room, after which, she says: I felt a lot of emptiness and shame. And then there was the rotter Laurent, who after urging Molly to have sex in public places, invariably abandoned her once he had finished. What made Mollys experiences far worse, however, was that Stewart was now dating four other women and seemingly having a blast. In her book she details her acute jealousies not just of the fact that her husband was winning the Open Marriage Games, but also of the women themselves. The lover to whom Stewart appears closest, whom Molly calls Kiwi, causes her particular angst. She entreats Stewart to dump Kiwi and end their open marriage, and describes her fury when he entertains Kiwi at their home an unspoken no-no while Molly is away with her lover, Scott. Molly eventually sought counselling from two therapists and at one point, has what she terms in the book a breakdown. Indeed, she describes so many crying fits and emotional outbursts, you cant help but wonder why she persisted with the open marriage at all. Its a great question, she says. There were times when I did say I wanted to close the marriage and I knew that if I had insisted, Stewart would have agreed. But even though it felt crappy much of the time, I still had this feeling that I was learning something important about myself. I was discovering things about my sexuality and having experiences that I had not anticipated having once I got married. I chose some poor partners early on, but I was being given the chance to figure out what I wanted and needed. After several years of trial and error, Molly and Stewart discovered something deeply paradoxical about how to make their open marriage work. What they needed wasnt to stop themselves from falling in love with anyone else but to open themselves up to that very possibility. We had that firm rule of not falling in love with other people, so I was going into relationships with men because I didnt think I could ever love them, which now strikes me as crazy, says Molly. I thought I could separate sex from emotion and while some people can, for me that turned out to be really misguided because it did leave me feeling empty. Instead, once Molly and Stewart gave each other permission to fall in love with others, their open marriage, she says, started to click, to the point where now I have two incredible partners outside of my marriage who feed my soul in ways that I cant imagine living without. I feel I have a very rich life now because I went through those hard times. Since opening her marriage, Molly estimates she has had a few dozen partnersunder 50, anyway! and has been seeing her current partner, Jason, a nightclub owner, for about four years. Because hes working every Friday and Saturday night, its great for me because Im usually with my husband on weekends. We have a very deep, very loving vibe together, and hes met Stewart several times and they get along great. Her other more recent partner, Jeff, has younger children, so hes a little less available. We talk to each other about our spiritual paths, read the same books, discuss the big ideas. Moreover, says Molly, I have a great sexual connection with all three of my partners and I feel very blessed that I have this much sex in my life as a 52-year-old woman. In fact, Stewart and I are having the best sex of our lives together too because our appreciation and love for each other has just deepened and that expresses itself in sex. If there is one blanket rule now, its that, we dont share many sexual details about our other partners, says Molly. I suppose this is in part to spare the others feelings. For his part, Stewart, 57, has been seeing Kiwi for nine years, and while Molly admits that she doesnt always have the most accurate figures on how many women hes dating, Kiwi is always there. Does Molly still experience twinges of jealousy? Over time, I realised that all of our rules were designed to try to eliminate jealousy and insecurity. But this is actually impossible, she explains. The hardest times were when Stewart was in a relationship and I was either between relationships or in bad ones, but [the jealousy] is much less now. What Ive come to understand is that if Im experiencing a flicker of jealousy, it usually means that I either need some reassurance from him that Im special and loved, or that theres something Stew and I should be doing together. Like if he goes off for a weekend with somebody and I get jealous, then well plan a weekend away together, too, or Ill go off for a weekend with Jeff. We allow ourselves multiple friends, multiple children, and that love doesnt run out, but I think we believe wrongly that romantic love is scarce. When Stewart celebrates my love for another person, she adds, it just makes me love him more. Their children have had differing reactions to Mollys book. Nate, now 19, chose not to read it and thats fine, she says, while Daniel, 22, read it but skipped over the nitty gritty parts. He also met Mollys lover Jason at a recent birthday party and he was fine with it. It was less easy when the boys were younger: Daniel was 13 when he accidentally discovered that his parents had an open marriage (after seeing his dads online dating profile on his computer) and proceeded to quiz his mum constantly as to her whereabouts. I felt guilty because I was worried about making him uncomfortable and upset, says Molly, so I was relieved when he asked me to lie to him if I was on a date. We probably should have been more intentional about how we talked to our kids about it. When Molly first broached the idea of writing More, Nate was still in high school, so it was important to him that I changed his name [neither Nate nor Daniel are their real names]. But we really talked about it and they understood why I wanted to write it. Luckily, we dont have an unusual last name, so neither of them have had any personal backlash since the book came out and theyre both happy that its done so well. And what of their sons friends, who do know who their mum is? Well, their friends dont make eye contact with me any more, she admits. Having initially feared that opening her marriage might effectively end it, has Molly met anyone for whom shed be tempted to leave her husband? No, I havent, she says simply, and I cant imagine why I would need to. I like all the parts of my life and I wouldnt want to give up any of them. Plus, she adds: Nobodys asking me to! Some have wondered, after reading Mollys book: why bother with marriage at all? Why not divorce and simply date lots of men? Her answer is emphatic. Stewart and I have children. Were each others family, were enmeshed in each others lives. Divorce is entirely appropriate when you dont think you can live your happiest life, but Im living my happiest life because of my marriage, not in spite of it. Im not telling everyone to go out and do this. I wrote the book as a memoir, not a manifesto. And, as she adds: Stewart and I are each others best friends. I just cant see a world where were not together. With her thick, glossy hair, broad smile, confident stride and immaculate outfit, it would be easy to watch last weeks footage of the Princess of Wales returning to the Royal Marsden Hospital, where she was treated for cancer, and assume that not only was she cured, but her life had seamlessly returned to normal. But Kates words painted a different picture: Sometimes from the outside we all think youve finished treatment and you go back to things. But its hard to get back to normal. Thats still a real challenge. This statement resonated strongly with me. In my experience, the end of treatment can be almost as shocking and destabilising as the diagnosis. Im grateful to Kate for saying this, as it is a fact that even the kindest and most sympathetic friends and family can struggle to grasp. Research from support organisation Life After Cancer found 92 per cent of patients thought post cancer-life was more challenging than their treatment. Like Kate, I am touch wood in remission. I was diagnosed in September 2021 with an aggressive form of breast cancer that had already formed two tumours and moved into the lymph nodes under my arm. The news was, just as Kate told Royal Marsden patients, really tough... its such a shock. Not least because I felt exceptionally fit and well. When the lockdowns ended, I had joined a gym, toned up and was in better shape than Id been in for years. Catherine, Princess of Wales, visits the Royal Marsden hospital in London last week The princess talks with Katherine Field during the visit to the Royal Marsden Good news finally came when after many rounds of chemotherapy, a double mastectomy and reconstruction, removal of lymph nodes under my right arm, 18 sessions of radiotherapy and 15 injections of targeted immunotherapy, I was told there was no evidence of cancer in my body which is what remission means. My lifesaving treatment was over and my surgeon, while briskly discharging me, advised, Go and live your life. You might think Id be euphoric, popping champagne at an all-clear party. But thats not how I felt at all. From the moment of my diagnosis, I had felt as if I was being carried along on a conveyor belt. My life was shaped by appointments, scans and constant specialist care, co-ordinated across three different hospitals. Now the conveyor belt had come to an abrupt end and I simply... fell off. My discharge from surgery happened in a corridor after what I thought was a routine appointment. I had no opportunity for a closure discussion or even to ask questions about my future. Instead, I found myself expelled into an alien world. Of course, in reality, the world was pretty much the same, but I was not. As Kate told fellow patients: Yes, there are side effects around treatment, but actually there are more long-term side effects. I was left with an array of physical scars and permanent side effects, including a condition called lymphoedema, which causes my arms to swell. This is the result of having lymph nodes removed, causing lymphatic fluid (part of the bodys immune system) to gather in the limbs. This afternoon I am heading to the chemo ward to have my final infusion of zoledronic acid, a drug to harden my bones and make them more hostile to any circulating cancer cells that may have evaded treatment and fancy settling in a cosy bone. I also need more surgery after radiotherapy caused one of my breast implants to become hard and distorted. But beyond these physical side effects, I carry an invisible psychological burden: mistrust of my body and the ever-present fear of cancers return. Author Leah Hardy is also in remission. She was diagnosed with an aggressive form of breast cancer in 2021 This is what I believe Kate was referring to when, last September, at the end of her chemotherapy, she said she was, Doing what I can to stay cancer-free is now my focus. The reason doctors tend to say cancer is in remission rather than cured is because, so far, we have no guaranteed way to ensure that people will stay cancer-free. Even if our scans appear clear, invisible cells can sneakily travel through the body and spread to other organs. This can happen years after treatment. Up to a third of breast cancer patients will see the disease recur, and for those people this is when the disease becomes incurable. More advanced cancers such as mine are higher-risk and doctors have refused to give me a personal prognosis. I have found the uncertainty very difficult. Every ache or pain, even everyday tiredness or feeling run down, can spark terror. Last year, I developed a tender spot on my scalp. I was at the hair salon, having my head massaged when I first felt it. Is the pressure good for you? asked the hairdresser. Yes, thank you. Its great, I replied, while in reality feeling cold and sick with fear, convinced that I had a brain tumour that would send me mad and then kill me. A pinched nerve in my neck had me googling at 3am for symptoms of breast cancer recurrence bones neck pain. Studies show survivors are 27 per cent more likely to experience anxiety than the general population, and that risk rises to 50 per cent ten years or more after diagnosis. Fear of recurrence is the number one reason why people seek psychological help after cancer. It is the great, terrifying unknown that can make us feel as though we are teetering on an abyss. People often believe that survivors like me have regular check-ups, examinations and scans to see if we remain cancer-free. I probably assumed the same before it happened to me. But now it makes me laugh, rather bitterly. I dont know what its like for Kate her aftercare may be more personalised and intensive but I get a six-monthly phone call, usually from a nurse Ive never met before who says, How are you?, to which I reply, I dont know. Possibly riddled with cancer. But unless I have symptoms, I wont be offered any scans or blood tests. I understand that studies 20 years ago showed people who had scans did no better than those who didnt. Even so, I find it unnerving to think that cancer may be spreading silently through my body, especially as my experience of telling the hospital about side effects is that I havent been believed. When I suffered a raging post-surgical infection a consultant told me it was normal, that I was imagining the swelling and that I should stop coming to the hospital so often and go for a nice picnic with my husband instead. A hospital physio told me that there was no swelling in my arm, and a doctor said it was impossible for me to have it in both arms. Subsequent tests proved me correct on all counts. And in many cases the five-year all-clear is a myth. Its true that if my variety of breast cancer, called HER2-positive, recurs, it does so furiously. After three to five years, the risk diminishes sharply. But hormone-positive breast cancers, making up over 75 per cent of diagnoses, can come back up to 30 years later. Other cancers, such as brain, bladder and ovarian are even more likely. I know this is difficult for people who care for me to hear and understand. They naturally prefer to think of me as cured and that cancer is a thing of the past. I sometimes feel they have forgotten I was ever diagnosed. This is a very good thing in many ways. I want to be treated as normal, most of the time I am fine, and I dont want to burden people with my fears. The downside is that it can feel quite lonely and isolating. Fortunately, I have a good friend who has also gone through cancer treatment, and we share our darkest thoughts with humour and without judgment. A text saying My back hurts. Obvs planning my funeral wont freak either of us out. Fellow survivor, Rosamund Dean, is the author of Reconstruction, which deals with the physical and emotional aftermath of cancer. She suggests noting any worrying symptom in a diary with a reminder to check it after two weeks. This gives you mental permission to put it to the back of your mind, and in most cases the swelling/pain/runny nose will improve or disappear after a fortnight. If it has got worse, thats the cue to see a doctor. My overwhelming feeling is Kate has shown huge courage in returning to her hospital in a blaze of publicity, her thin but beautiful face beaming. But I feel, as the young people say, triggered every time I set foot in a hospital. I associate them with bad news, stress and the fear of death and can be anxious, peevish and snappy rather than serene and smiling. It also makes me realise I have yet to truly process what happened. Im sceptical of therapy, though friends have found it hugely helpful. One sees a counsellor for free at cancer care charity Maggies. My approach sounds rather a lot like Kates. She referred to needing sunlight, trying to keep doing the things that give you joy and appreciating all the small things in life that you take for granted. And, like Kate, my family played a huge part here. My husband, as the Prince of Wales did, stepped up at every level: holding my hands during appointments, running the house, making my favourite meals and was sanguine when I preferred chocolate instead. Whenever I needed to see the sea, especially the North Norfolk coast where Kate filmed her famous post-cancer family video, he would uncomplainingly drive for hours to fulfil my whims. Im sure that, like me, Kates first thought upon getting her diagnosis was, I cant die. My children need me. My two, who were 16 and 19, showed incredible resilience, though I felt guilty for telling my daughter the same week she started her A-level studies. I spent a lot of time with them. Watching films with my son and visiting art galleries, shopping and having afternoon tea with my daughter. My stepdaughter, 29, was endlessly thoughtful and kind. It made us all closer. After almost every chemo session, my husband and I would take our dog, Merlin, for a walk in the woods. The perfect antidote to the hospitals sterility and artificiality. Unlike Kate, who says she sometimes misses her port (a device stuck on to patients that delivers medication without a needle), I lived for the moments when I could detach from wires and tubes and feel like myself. I planned treats while in the chemo chair, such as lunch with a friend or tickets to the ballet with my daughter. Mentally transporting myself into happy situations helped me forget the grimness of the present. I was fortunate to feel well enough to exercise almost all the way through my treatment, and I remain devoted to my East Dulwich gym where yoga saved my sanity. I was proud that despite the illness, my body could still become stronger and more flexible. I liked that I could feel uncomfortable sensations in my muscles and know this was healthy instead of terrifying. However, theres a delicacy about Kate that speaks to the physical and mental trauma shes not afraid to talk about. Although she still looks beautiful and put together, I cant imagine how she must feel on the inside, knowing that every aspect of her appearance is being scrutinised while a cancer patient. I hated the changes cancer made to me. Some forms of chemotherapy dont affect hair, hence Kates luxuriant mane, but sadly the chemo for breast cancer is the most hair-toxic ever. I tried to save my hair using a cold cap, which cools the scalp and closes down its blood vessels. Even so, most of it fell out. By the time my treatment ended, my eyebrows and lashes had vanished. I looked pale, haggard and spotty, with huge dark circles under my eyes. Fortunately, I had rushed to get my brows microbladed before my first chemo, and afterwards I had hair extensions. I didnt do this to look gorgeous, but because I was desperate to still look like me. I hated the idea of being bald and brow-less, mainly as it would have outed me as a cancer patient. I didnt want pity or questions from strangers. Cancer is a horrible bully. The disease and its treatment age you profoundly at a cellular level and strip away so much of your female identity in my case my breasts and hair. For younger women, chemotherapy can steal fertility and push some into a crash menopause which makes it all the more important to cling to as much normality as possible. Kates friends have spoken about her focus on reducing stress, which is also very important to me. As well as prioritising exercise and rest, I deliberately cultivate daily gratitude for the good things in my life, such as my warm, safe home, loving family and phenomenal friends. Most people were wonderful in response to my cancer news, but there were a few spectacularly tactless comments. Someone who messaged me on Facebook asking, whats your prognosis? essentially are you doing to die, and if so, when? found themselves blocked. I am also grateful to those who tolerated unreturned messages. At her Marsden visit, Kate said: The words totally disappear. I dont know if this is what she meant but, for me, one of chemos side effects was a brain fog that left me struggling to speak. I often couldnt chat on the phone due to long gaps as I tried to remember words. And every evening, dozens of texts would arrive. I appreciated every one, but replying would have taken all my time and energy while what I wanted to do was forget about cancer by watching Bridgerton. It is sometimes hard to prioritise well-being and optimism when there are bills to pay or when petty annoyances pop up. But I know when I let these things lapse, my stress levels increase and my optimism fails. An upside of cancer is seeing how fantastic and loving my friends are and helping me pinpoint exactly what I enjoy doing most and doing more of them. Im better at prioritising things I want to do and saying no to the rest. In some ways my life is better but, like Kate, I think of my post-cancer life as a work in progress. A mother who jilted her fiance on their wedding day said it was the 'best decision' she's ever made - even though she was 'terrified' everyone would hate her. Alexis Saya was due to marry her ex-partner on 16 April 2023 in Huntington, Indiana, US, but made the 'hard' choice to leave on the morning of their big day. The couple first met in high school and share a four-year-old child together. They had been on and off for years with Alexis staying in the relationship despite knowing she 'wasn't happy'. Even though she had no job and faced becoming a single mother, the 23-year-old woke up on her wedding and just 'knew' she had to cancel the celebrations her mother had paid 32,800 for. Alexis described how she turned to her partner while still in bed on the morning of the wedding and said 'we can't get married today' - before leaving him soon after. Taking to TikTok, the student nurse shared a photo from her wedding day compared with a current picture, which has since gone viral with 144,100 views. One photo shows a tearful Alexis and is captioned 'the day I left my fiance on our wedding day'. Alexis Saya (pictured) was due to get married to her fiance on 16 April 2023 but made the 'hard' choice to call off the wedding on the morning of their big day The next image shows her beaming at the camera with the caption 'it's now been 16 months'. Many TikTokers took to the comments to praise the mother for her 'brave' decision while others questioned, 'why the wedding day?' Alexis wants to encourage others to leave a relationship if they are 'questioning' it and insists that she 'cannot wait to get married one day' to the right person. The mother, who lives in Fort Wayne, Indiana, US, said: 'I don't think that I've genuinely ever done anything harder. 'I felt like it was a decision I had just made but almost I didn't have a say in it. I didn't have control over it. 'It was about 6am. I said "I'm sorry, we can't get married today". He kind of looked at me and went back to sleep. Alexis, a student nurse, took to TikTok to explain her decision to leave her fiance on the morning of their 32,800 wedding celebrations Alexis (pictured with her daughter) said she will always be grateful to her ex-partner for their daughter Avielle 'I went into another room and called my mother. My sister was on the phone with other family telling them that I wasn't going to go through with it. 'I wanted him to go grab our daughter so that I could leave because I didn't really want to be there when everyone woke up and realised that I wasn't going to get married. 'I woke him up again and said "I need you to go get her". He was super confused and I said "we're not getting married today". 'He looked at me and was like "what are you talking about". And I said "do you really think this is a marriage". He went and got her and I left. 'I didn't want to but I knew that I had to. I cried that whole day. It was awful. I took it harder than him. You're giving up everything you've known. 'I was a stay-at-home mother at the time so I had nothing. I didn't have a job, I didn't have money of my own. Everything was his.' Alexis took daughter Avielle straight to her mother's house before moving back into her old apartment. While she got into a 'bad place after the wedding', she now believes it was the 'best decision' she's ever made. The mother-of-one, 23, posted two photos on TikTok (pictured) months after she called the wedding off. The first picture (left) showed a tearful Alexis on the day she left her partner while the second (right) showed her 16 months on looking happier than ever Alexis said: 'Right after I had wished that I'd gone through with it. I remember thinking, it was about 3pm, "I'd already be married now". I got into a really bad palace after the wedding. 'I just couldn't believe that I'd actually made the decision. I regretted it so badly for probably a while. Then it came to a point that I was really happy that I did it. 'I knew that I wasn't happy in the relationship and I knew that. I just always tried to make myself believe that I was because I loved him. 'It's something that I'll always have with me and it's a trauma that I think I'll always carry but I've found a way to cope and deal with it better. 'But I think it was absolutely the best decision for me and my daughter. '[My daughter] was probably the biggest reason I left. It came to a point where if I couldn't do it for her, then it just isn't fair. 'This is her only childhood and I'm in charge of it. That's the best decision I've ever made even if it's hard to accept. 'Every time I see him it's a reminder of why I left. I always wonder sometimes when it's late at night and I'm in bed and I'm lonely and I'm just like "oh I wish I just had my family back". Alexis admitted she had stayed in the relationship for years even though she knew it wasn't right Alexis revealed the pair were on and off between 2019 and 2023 and things changed when they started planning the wedding but she will always be 'thankful' for their daughter. 'I think of only the good times and then I see him again and it just reminds me all over again all of the bad that outweighs all of the good. And that's why I left.' The couple first met when they were just 16 years old and got engaged in 2020 after having their first child together. She said: 'The relationship wasn't a good relationship. We were young, we were stupid. 'We purposely had a baby young, which I would never regret. He gave me the best thing ever in my life. I'm forever thankful to him for that. 'After my daughter was born we had broken up a few times and got back together a few times. 'I think I had in total three or four rings because of how many times we'd broken up. 'We'd finally in 2022 started planning the wedding. It was going to be a beautiful wedding. I was very excited. I think things kind of shifted for me.' Many TikTokers shared their support for Alexis and her 'brave' decision. Others, however, questioned why she waited until the morning of the wedding to call it off Alexis's mother had paid for her 32,800 wedding, including the venue (pictured), leaving the her 'terrified' that everyone would hate her if she called it off Alexis admitted she had never planned to end the relationship on her wedding day and feared the 'terrifying' decision would make everyone 'hate' her. Alexis said: 'When you do make decisions like that you think everyone's going to hate you. That's how I felt. I thought I was going to lose my mother because she paid for the wedding. I was terrified. 'I feel like people think just because I say I left on my wedding day "she must just not care or be able to do whatever". It was terrifying, truly. It was very hard. 'Even my own family said "well why did you wait". I genuinely went to bed that night thinking I was going to wake up and get married. 'You also only see a snippet of the situation. I think it's all situational. 'I would never have chosen it to be that day. I never did anything maliciously towards him. I never wanted to hurt him. 'We had talked on the phone that day after I left. Maybe 4pm. I was just crying "I didn't want to do this to hurt you. I just couldn't do it".' The mother encourages others to leave a relationship if they are having doubts and 'cannot wait' to get married in the future. Alexis said: 'I would tell anybody that if you even have a question of if you should leave then you should. 'And you might go back but you might not and it might be the best decision you ever make. 'It is the hardest thing to do to leave. I still can't believe I did it. 'There's still times it's hard but I have to remind myself I will find somebody that loves me and my daughter. I cannot wait to get married one day. I can't wait to have more kids.' Many users praised Alexis in the comments. One TikToker said: 'You are so brave. So any people wouldn't do this even if they felt it.' Another added: 'Congrats on putting yourself first.' A third said: 'That must have been so hard.' Yet other social media users criticised Alexis for waiting until the wedding day. One said: 'Why the wedding day?' Another questioned: 'Why do people always wait for the wedding day. That's so scary.' Sophie reflected on her time entering the Royal Family ahead of her 60th The Prince and Princess of Wales led the birthday tributes for the Duchess of Edinburgh this morning. Mother-of-two Sophie, the wife of Prince Edward, is celebrating her 60th birthday milestone today. Taking to X, William and Kate wrote: 'Wishing the Duchess of Edinburgh a very happy 60th birthday today!' Alongside the sweet well wishes was an image of Sophie previously shared by the Royal Family. The new photograph released to mark Sophie's birthday was taken this month in Bagshot, England. The mother-of-two put on an elegant display in a monochrome ensemble in the new photograph. Sophie sported a pleated cream maxi skirt with a black knitted jumper as she sat laughing while perched by a window. She styled her glossy blonde tresses straight for the new portrait and opted for a casual makeup look. The Prince and Princess of Wales shared a special birthday message for the Duchess of Edinburgh, who turns 60 today, alongside a new portrait of the royal (pictured) Moments later, the Royal Family's X account followed and shared a birthday message for Sophie. The message read: 'Wishing the Duchess of Edinburgh a very happy 60th birthday today!' The post also included a link to Sophie's page on the royal website, which includes a biography and outlines her work. To complete the tweet, there was also a sweet slideshow of images of the royal mother-of-two at various engagements. It comes after the Duchess of Edinburgh has revealed that she was determined 'not to tread on toes' when she first joined the Royal Family. On Wednesday, Sophie visited L'Arche, a south London community of people with learning disabilities and their supporters and Community Shop Lambeth, a 'social supermarket' tackling food poverty. Alongside a birthday message for Sophie, the Royal Family's X account shared several images of the mother-of-two (seen with Prince Edward) In celebration of her 60th birthday, the Royal Family shared a slideshow of images of the Duchess of Edinburgh (pictured) Taking to X, Kate and William wrote: 'Wishing The Duchess of Edinburgh a very happy 60th birthday today!' The birthday message on X from @RoyalFamily included a link to Sophie's page on the royal website In one of the images, the royal mother-of-two looked striking in a blue dress as she delivered a speech It marked her last day of royal engagements as a 59-year-old, as Sophie celebrates her 60th birthday on Monday. Sophie spoke to the Telegraph about why she was drawn to organisations that focus on disability and said: 'It goes back to when I first started to get involved with taking on patronages and engagements. I was trying to find, not a unique thing for myself, but a direction of travel I suppose. 'And, of course, inevitably every time I went down a route, I found a member of the family working very hard doing something and I retreated a bit and thought, "No not there, treading on toes."' The Duchess said because she had a background of working in public relations before marrying Prince Edward and entering The Firm, she soon thought she would be best placed engaging with people directly. Sophie said that the concept of how people engage with each other differently and the issues surrounding how to raise awareness of this led her to championing this cause. She said that just because individuals are 'different' doesn't mean they don't have something to 'bring to the party'. After speaking about how the world can adapt to help those with disabilities, the royal was asked about the moment she saw her children, Lady Louise Windsor and James, Earl of Wessex, alongside their cousins, Princes William and Harry standing vigil in Westminster Hall around the late Queen's coffin. Sophie said she was 'so proud' of 'all of the cousins' for following protocol and the instructions well, adding: 'It was incredibly moving, and lovely to see her surrounded by them.' The Duchess of Edinburgh (pictured in 2023) has revealed that she was determined 'not to tread on toes' when she first joined the Royal Family Pictured: The Duchess of Edinburgh and Princess of Wales at the Order Of The Garter Service at St George's Chapel on June 13, 2022 in Windsor Prince William, Prince of Wales, Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, Princess Eugenie of York, Princess Beatrice of York, Peter Phillips, Zara Tindall, Lady Louise Windsor, James, Viscount Severn arrive to hold a vigil in honour of Queen Elizabeth II at Westminster Hall on September 17, 2022 The late Queen's eight grandchildren are pictured a vigil at her lying-in-state at Westminster Hall in September 2022 Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh, helps serve lunch in the cafe during a visit to The Company Shop last Wednesday Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh, receives a cake ahead of her 60th birthday during a visit to The Company Shop on Wednesday She also said she wondered whether it would be 'appropriate' for James to do it, given that he was the youngest, and around 14 years old when Queen Elizabeth passed away. However, Sophie said he was 'really keen' to get involved in his grandmother's send-off, along with Lady Louise. But the Duchess could only recount what happened to a certain point before she appeared emotional and said she couldn't speak about it further. Sophie is regularly hailed as the late Queen's 'favourite daughter-in-law', along with the monarchy's 'secret weapon' due to her 'down to earth' personality. Royal biographer Ingrid Seward previously told Ok! magazine: 'With the exception of her daughter Anne, the Queen was closer to Sophie than any of the other royal women,' says biographer Ingrid Seward. 'It really was a genuine closeness, and Elizabeth was always Sophie's biggest confidante. 'The Queen found her very down to earth, because she refused to have expensive security and things like that, and she loved her lack of airs and graces. I think she saw Sophie as a bit of a surrogate daughter, too.' Sophie will spend her actual birthday at her house located in Bagshot Park alongside her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh and her children Lady Louise and James, Earl of Wessex, along with their cocker spaniel, Mole, black labradors, Teal and Teasel, and tortoise named Marmite. Lady Louise Windsor and Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh attend the Christmas Morning Service at St Mary Magdalene Church on Christmas Day in 2024 Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh tour the Villa Guardamangia, in Pieta, Malta in October 2024 However, the Duchess won't spend much time off celebrating her milestone birthday, as she is back to work the following day to visit charity Dogs for Autism and a school for children with physical disabilities. On Saturday evening, a new photograph of the Duchess of Edinburgh looking happy and relaxed was released to mark her 60th birthday. The image was captured by London-based portrait, fashion and commercial photographer Christina Ebenezer at Bagshot Park this month. The Duchess, wearing a cream pleated skirt and dark long-sleeved knit, is perched on a window seat in the image. She appears to have been snapped mid-laugh in the casual portrait by Ebenezer, who is said to find inspiration in classic portraiture and cinema. Buckingham Palace said Sophie was interested in Ebenezer's creative style of photography and wanted to support a rising female photographer. Ebenezer was born in Nigeria, spending her early years in Lagos, before moving to join her immediate family in London. She has been named both a British Fashion Council New Wave Creative, and a Forbes 30 Under 30 Arts & Culture Leader. Two of her portraits were unveiled at the National Portrait Gallery in partnership with Chanel last January. The Palace said that as the Duchess looks ahead to turning 60, she has a renewed sense of excitement and commitment to her work around gender equality and looks forward to further embracing and championing this issue in the future. The Belgian Royal Family has released two new portraits this weekend to mark Queen Mathilde's 52nd birthday. The royal household took to X, formerly know as Twitter, to share news that Mathilde, the first native-born Belgian Queen, is celebrating her special day. Mathilde wrapped up warm in a white roll neck wool jumper under a navy longline padded jacket, which was cinched at the waist with a belt. The Queen posed up a storm in the snow at Palace of Laeken - the official residence of the Belgian royal family in Brussels. Beaming for the camera, the mother-of-four put on a typically stylish display in her new portraits. The post read: 'The Queen is celebrating her 52nd birthday today. Thank you for your warm congratulations in the middle of winter!' The royal opted for a natural makeup look, complete with a dash of blusher across her cheeks and a slick of pink lipstick. The second image offered a full-length shot of the royal, and she casually posed with her hands tucked away into her pockets as she gazed towards the camera. The Belgian royal family released two new portraits this weekend to mark Queen Mathilde 's 52nd birthday Royal fans rushed to the comments to wish Mathilde a happy birthday. One person wrote: 'We wish you a very happy birthday, Her Majesty Queen Mathilde!' Another said: 'I wish Her majesty Queen Matilda my best wishes and congratulations. Happy birthday! BE HAPPY!!!' It comes after the Belgian royal family put on a glamorous display as they attended an annual Christmas Concert held at the Royal Palace in Brussels last month. The orchestra concert took place in a spectacular room featuring huge chandeliers and a beautifully decorated Christmas tree. Applauded by upstanding guests as they entered, the beaming family-of-four eventually took their seats on the front row. Queen Mathilde dazzled in a festive red, duchess satin gown with a high neck and three-quarter length sleeves. Cinched at the waist, the royal's midi dress featured a voluminous skirt and a subtle criss-cross design. The mother-of-two completed her ensemble with a pair of pointed toe heels in red suede and a miniature, crystal-encrusted clutch bag. The royal household took to X,formerly know as Twitter , to share news that Mathilde, the first native-born Belgian Queen, is celebrating her special day She added a pair of statement diamond earrings and wore her striking sapphire engagement ring on her left hand. Mathilde's short, blond hair was styled in a classic blow dry with a side parting. She kept her make-up simple for the jubilant occasion, brightening her flawless complexion with a slick of pale red lipstick. The queen's eldest daughter, Crown Princess Elisabeth, 23, followed in her mother's footsteps on Wednesday evening, choosing a complementary crimson gown. Elisabeth, who is currently working towards her MA in Public Policy at Harvard University, looked typically elegant in her full-length, velvet gown - complete with a slash neckline and three-quarter length sleeves. The heir to the Belgian throne opted for red accessories, including pointed toe suede heels and a suede clutch bag. She wore her long, blond hair loose and brushed back behind her ears to reveal a pair of large, dangly red and gold earrings. Like her mother, Elisabeth kept her make-up simple, wearing little more than a rose tint on her lips and pink blush on her cheeks. Princess Eleonore, meanwhile, was radiant in a shimmering silver dress with a split on the left side and ruche detailing. The princess, 16, wore ballet flats on her feet and carried a silver satin clutch bag. Like her older sister, Eleonore has long, blond hair but she chose to wear it in loose waves rather than brushed back. She added a pair of dainty earrings and wore a subtle gloss on her lips. King Philippe, 64, looked smart in a grey suit with a crisp white shirt and a pale blue, patterned tie.The monarch chose a double-breasted jacket with a white pocket square. Vanity Fair's damning dissection of the Sussexes' five years in America could have its roots in a row that allegedly began with Meghan's 2017 cover story in which she officially announced to the world she was 'in love' with Harry. In a savage takedown published last week, headlined 'American Hustle, contributing editor Anna Peele spoke to 'dozens' of sources connected to the duo who labelled the Sussexes as the 'most entitled, disingenuous people on the planet'. But why did the formerly pro-Sussex publication turn against Meghan and Harry? It seems the relationship soured when the Duke and Duchess of Sussex allegedly accused Vanity Fair of publishing a 'racist headline' on Meghan's cover story in October 2017. It was unlikely Meghan would have made the front cover of the celebrity bible off the back of her role in Suits, but when the magazine landed a major coup by securing the first interview with Prince Harry's then girlfriend, it was naturally a sensation. However, according to Valentine Low's book, Courtiers: The Hidden Power Behind the Crown, Meghan was unhappy that, despite being a positive piece, the focus of the story was her relationship with Harry. She also allegedly complained that the cover line was racist, and the couple reportedly tried to have the headline on the digital edition changed. Perhaps this cooling of relations between Meghan and the publication laid the seeds for the latest bombshell article, which claimed that some people who worked with Meghan ended up needing therapy and that she allegedly didn't come up with the idea for her Spotify podcast, Archetypes. The piece also stated that the Duchess of Sussex could be 'really, really awful' when things did not go her way. Over the past couple of days, many allegations about Harry and Meghan have come to light after Vanity Fair published a damning profile on the couple (pictured in August 2024) According to The Times, the couple have dismissed the allegations with sources close to the Sussexes describing them as 'distressing'. Meghan's first foray with Vanity Fair began in the summer of 2017 when Meghan wanted a new PR team to help her in the U.S. She hired PR adviser Keleigh Thomas Morgan from New-York based agency Sunshine Sachs, whose clients have included Hollywood stars Salma Hayek, Jane Fonda and Natalie Portman. The New York-based agency had been advising Meghan since her days as an actress on legal drama Suits, before she ditched them in 2022. Meghan agreed to do an issue with Vanity Fair in autumn, which Kensington Palace signed off on but said that Keleigh could sort out the negotiations. A close-up glamorous feature of the Suits actress appeared on the cover of the magazine, featuring her luscious locks and clear, freckled skin, accompanied by the headline that proclaimed 'She's Just Wild About Harry'. The story quoted Meghan speaking openly about her romance with the Prince, saying: 'We're in love. This [time] is for us. 'It's part of what makes it so special, that it's just ours. But we're happy. Personally, I love a great love story.' It seems the relationship soured between the pair when the Duke and Duchess of Sussex allegedly accused Vanity Fair of publishing a 'racist headline' on her cover story in October 2017 The pair accused the magazine cover of racism because of a 1939 blackface song by Micky Rooney and Judy Garland called 'I'm Just Wild About Harry' Meghan hired PR adviser Keleigh Thomas Morgan and the pair allegedly had a rocky relationship in 2017 But Duchess of Sussex was reportedly 'unhappy' with Keleigh and disliked the cover story, according to royal author Valentine Low. A source was quoted as saying: 'She was very unhappy with how that had been handled. And she was looking to throw blame in every possible direction, despite it having been a positive piece. 'She did not like the photographs. She thought the story was negative. She was upset that it was about Harry, not about her.' Harry and Meghan also allegedly thought the headline was racially motivated and pointed out the song, 'I'm Just Wild About Harry', had been performed by Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney as a blackface number in the 1939 film Babes In Arms. 'They [Harry and Meghan] tried to get it changed online, because [they thought] it had been racially motivated,' said the source. '[Meghan] was so angry with Keleigh, she wanted to fire her.' And although things soon cooled off between Meghan and Keleigh, there was a time when her PR adviser was cold with the former Deal or No Deal briefcase model. Meghan was also described as acting 'like a Mean Girls teenager' in the article, which was released on Friday. She would reportedly be 'warm and effusive' towards employees at the start before turning 'cold and withholding toward the person she perceived to be responsible' when something 'went poorly, often due to Meghan and Harry's own demands'. A source who worked in media projects told the publication: 'She's constantly playing checkers- I'm not even going to say chess - but she's just very aware of where everybody is on her board. 'And when you are not in, you are to be thrown to the wolves at any given moment,' which they say meant 'undermining' behaviour, adding: 'It's talking behind your back. It's gnawing at your sense of self. Really, like, Mean Girls teenager. However, producer Jane Marie, who worked with the couple during the development of Archewell audio projects, insisted to Vanity Fair that Meghan is 'just a lovely, genuine person'. Elsewhere, the profile details allegations from former employees of Meghan who reportedly felt mistreated during their time working with her. These claims, which echo accusations from her time at Kensington Palace, paint a troubling picture of a woman whose behaviour allegedly left staff 'having therapy' and led to allegations of 'bullying' behind the scenes. These allegations were vehemently denied by representatives of Meghan and Harry at the time. Meghan was also described as acting 'like a Mean Girls teenager' in the article, which was released on Friday Despite the allegations made in the profile, staff loyal to Meghan and Harry have previously defended the couple to US Weekly magazine, describing the Sussexes as 'caring' bosses who give employees their children's old baby clothes, fresh flowers and 'care packages'. Josh Kettler, Harry's chief of staff who left after just three months in August last year, insisted he was 'warmly welcomed' by the pair and describes them as 'dedicated and hardworking'. Ben Browning, Archewell's former head of content - who was responsible for their tell-all Netflix documentary but then left before the end of his contract- says his experience at the company and with Meghan and Harry in general 'was positive and supportive' Their PR chief, 'global press secretary' Ashley Hansen, who is leaving the company to start her own firm, says they treated her with 'the kind of concern and care a parent would express if it were their own child' when she took time off for surgery, adding that they also sent flowers and gifts. These positive comments came off the back of a negative piece published in the Hollywood Reporter, in which Meghan was described as a 'dictator in high heels'. Tom Bower, the royal author and investigative journalist, described the recent revelations as 'devastating' for Meghan, especially given her recent attempts to reshape her public persona as a warm, loving mother and wife. 'Having strongly denied the accusations that she bullied her staff in Kensington Palace, the revival of her image of the Difficult Duchess is a disaster just on the eve of the launch of Netflix's 'With Love, Meghan'. Meghan Markle and Prince Harry are pictured at the Invictus Games in the Netherlands in 2022 'Having invested so much to re-brand herself as a loving, caring Californian mother and wife, the VF disclosures have poisoned the smiling image of the welcoming home-maker. Prince Harry, too, faces growing scrutiny, with experts noting his portrayal in the Vanity Fair piece as 'lost, out of his depth, and naive.' Richard Fitzwilliams, a royal commentator, warned that the couple's reputation in the US could be severely damaged. 'Harry is portrayed as lost, out of his depth and naive. Neither, according to the article, appear to understand what a successful career in show business actually involves.' According to Fitzwilliams, the couple's attempts to project a caring, philanthropic image through efforts like helping victims of California's wildfires are unlikely to gain traction in light of the ongoing allegations. 'The Sussexes are attempting to project a caring image by helping some of those affected by the cataclysmic wildfires currently ravaging California. They won't get far after publicity is given to this. 'Her With Love, Meghan cookery series is, judging from the trailer, saccharine and silly. This was postponed and is now scheduled for a release on 4th March but unenthusiastic online reaction might make the streaming giant think twice and dump it and, when their contract runs out later in the year, preserve very little of it, if any. 'The Sussexes have made so many accusations against the royal family. They, especially Meghan, now have a lot to answer. Nobody likes bullies, especially entitled bullies!' He continued: 'It speaks volumes that the Sussexes were not available for interview. This is a probing, balanced article that has been researched with interviews from the Sussexes's admirers and detractors. 'It also makes the case that they are now way out of their depth in showbiz. Also they are far from being admired by their neighbours in Montecito. They left Britain to escape press scrutiny. 'Yet in the US, they want favourable press. The article concludes there is precious little to them, with Harry wanting to reconnect with his family. I fear whilst he is with Meghan, this is unlikely to occur.' Standing next to the world's richest man and networking with some of the biggest power players surrounding the new Trump administration, it was quite the night out for a tech executive who has so far been very much in the background. Shivon Zilis, who is mother to three of Elon Musk's 12 children, joined the billionaire in Washington for a pre-inauguration donor party where she was seen in conversation with Jeff Bezos and his fiancee Lauren Sanchez, as well as Ivanka's husband Jared Kushner. Until now, the 38-year-old, who was born in Ontario, Canada, has always supported Musk from the sidelines - and despite sharing three children with him, the exact status of their relationship has never been made clear. In Trump's new government, Musk will be working in the newly created 'Department of Government Efficiency' - and was invited to speak to crowds during a pre-inauguration rally on Sunday. After watching from the sidelines, Shivon proudly joined Elon at a party for donors, attended by family and friends of the Trumps, as well as celebrities - including Kid Rock, Anuel AA, Justin Quiles and Jon Voight - marking the first time the mother-of-three has ever been at Musk's side in such as high profile fashion. She was spotted at the First Policy Institute's black-tie gala at Mar-a-Lago days after Trump's re-election, but remained on the sidelines while Musk posed with their daughter Azure - one of their twins, while they welcomed a third child last year. When the twins were born in 2021, Musk was also preparing to welcome a second child with ex-girlfriend Grimes but Zilis insisted at the time that they were not in a relationship and that the Tesla boss had offered to donate sperm so she could conceive via IVF. Zilis told Musks biographer, Walter Isaacson, that she'd been looking for an anonymous donor at the time, but was delighted when her billionaire boss offered to step in. Pictured: Elon Musk speaks with Jeff Bezos, Lauren Sanchez and his partner Shivon Zillis at Trump's donor dinner in Washington last night Pictured: Elon Musk - who will be working in President Trump's 'Department of Government Efficiency' - with rumoured 'girlfriend' Shivon Zilis and Ivanka Trump at a donor dinner party 'He really wants smart people to have kids, so he encouraged me to do this,' she told Isaacson. 'I cant possibly think of genes I would prefer for my children.' The Space X founder has been vocal about his beliefs that people need to have more children to combat population decline, and has fathered 12 children with three different mothers. He had six children with his first wife Justine Wilson, who he divorced in 2008, three with on-again/off-again girlfriend Canadian musician Grimes and three with Zilis. In June 2024, the billionaire confirmed he had welcomed a third child with Zilis - currently the director of operations and special projects at his brain tech firm Neuralink - but kept the baby's name and gender a secret. It is not clear what this means for the status of their relationship, but her presence at last night's event, apparently playing the role of supportive partner, seems highly significant. The couple are believed to have met when Shivon was working on the board at the non-profit OpenAI, which was founded by Musk in 2015. When their twins Strider and Azure were born in 2021, Musk was also preparing to welcome a second child with his ex-girlfriend Grimes, a futuristic singer, who he dated on-and-off for three-and-a-half years. Their son, Techno 'Tau' Mechanicus, was born via surrogate. Over the course of the evening, Shivon was pictured gazing lovingly at the father-of-12 as they exchanged niceties with other players in the forthcoming Trump administration After watching her partner from the sidelines, Shivon proudly joined Elon at the party - and was pictured engaged in conversation with Ivanka Trump at Jeff Bezos at the subsequent candlelit dinner for donors Grimes is thought to have only found out Musk was the father of Zilis's twins a month after they were born. He's said to have added insult to injury by taking a name they had decided for their daughter - Valkyrie - and giving it to one of Zilis' twins, sources told the New York Times. According to the same article, Grimes and Zilis were friends at one point and were in the same social circle. When the singer found out about the existence of the twins, she posted furiously on X, tagging Musk's biographer. 'I have never even been allowed to see a photo of these children until this moment, despite the situation utterly ripping my family apart,' she wrote at the time, although she later deleted the tweet. Musk later opted not to name either twin Valkyrie, and landed on the names Strider and Azure, while Grimes and Zilow appeared to quickly bury the hatchet. Taking to X again, Grimes wrote that she had 'totally forgiven the situation', and decried the fact that 'women are so often pitted against each other'. 'I spoke with Shivon at length finally, which was long overdue,' she wrote. 'This wasn't her fault, plz don't be angry at her! We respect each other a lot and we're excited to become friends and have the kids grow up together. 'I truly apologize for responding to Walter like that. As u can imagine, that was a very gut level reaction to a thing that has been very hard for me. Communication about the twins wasn't handled super well in the past, but I now totally understand what happened and totally forgive the situation. Elon Musk and Grimes, pictured attending the Met Gala in 2018. The couple were on and off for more than three years and share three children Elon Musk made headlines in 2022 when he welcomed his tenth and eleventh children with Shivon Zilis Last year, Elon Musk shared this image from the First Policy Insititute's black tie gala at Mar-a-Lago, appearing to be holding his daughter Azure, with Neuralink executive and mother of three of his twelve children believed to be in the back 'Speaking with Shivon, it's very evident she's an amazing human and we both just want what's best for our kids,' she wrote. The love appears to be mutual, as Zilis was quick to reply: 'At the end of the day it all ended up for the best! Thank you for taking the time to really connect and understand each other. So glad we had such a wonderful talk, was insanely overdue. 'Youre a total badass and I respect you very much as well. I cant wait for kiddo play date and congrats on baby Tau as well!' Last October, Elon Musk reportedly doled out $35 million on a sprawling Texas compound for his various exes and eleven children to live together, according to insiders. The billionaire reportedly purchased the multi-mansion Austin estate with his expanding family in mind, hoping the youngest of his children could conveniently grow up around each other. Four insiders told the New York Times that Musk bought the 14,00-square-foot mansion so his family could live in 'adjoining properties', allowing him to 'schedule time' for his youngest kids. And while it is unclear if all Musk's exes are on board, Shivon Zilis, an executive at Musk's brain tech start-up Neuralink, has reportedly already moved into one of the mansions on the Austin compound. Building his staggering $270 billion net worth around renewability, this recently saw his rocket company SpaceX successfully catch its Starship rocket with giant mechanical arms, while his electric car company Tesla has grown to the world's most valuable automaker. His prioritization for re-populating the earth has led Musk to have twelve children, and is showing no signs that he is done yet. 'Welcome to MAGAland: Trump's Second 100 Days' is the new politics podcast bringing you the latest news and gossip from Trump insiders. New episodes every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Follow wherever you get your podcasts now. A Jewish Holocaust survivor who was imprisoned at the Auschwitz-Birkenau extermination camp during World War II has recalled how he and his fellow inmates were stripped of their humanity during their internment. Ivor Perl, 92, reflected on the desperate situation inside the Nazi death camp, sharing his experiences in the new 30-minute BBC One documentary 'What Happened at Auschwitz' on Monday night. In March 1944, at the age of 12, Ivor was deported to the camp in southern Poland from his native Hungary along with his parents and seven siblings. Only Ivor and one brother, Alec, survived. Speaking to journalist Jordan Dunbar, he shared how prisoners 'weren't human beings anymore' due to the horrific treatment they endured. Reflecting on the desperate situation inside the Nazi death camp, Ivor explained: 'Eventually, when you used to go to bed, you hoped that the person who lived next to you died overnight.' 'Why?', he continued: 'You could pinch his shoes or his clothes. We were not human beings anymore.' Ivor also described the terrible journey that the family were forced to take as they arrived at the camp. Remembering the packed cattle carts that were used to transport Jews to Auschwitz, Ivor added: 'Death happened on the train, illness happened, and I can't describe it because I can't see any point in describing the dehumanisation that we lived for the few days that we were on board.' Ivor Perl, 92, has bravely recalled his time in the Auschwitz-Birkenau camp during World War Two in a new BBC documentary However, this was only the beginning of Ivor's ordeal. Upon arrival at the death camp, Ivor wanted to stay with his mother, who was holding his 'youngest brother, the youngest sister and two other sisters'. His mother, perhaps sensing that she and the younger siblings would not be spared, told Ivor to go back to his brother. Ivor recalled: 'So, I went back to my brother. But of course that's the last time I saw my family alive.' Upon arrival at Auschwitz, those who considered too weak to work - women, children and the elderly - were sent straight to the gas chambers where they were killed using Zyklon B gas. Originally an insecticide, Zyklon B quickly killed human beings when it was inhaled or absorbed through the skin. The bodies of those murdered in the gas chambers were then collected by other prisoners and delivered to the crematoria, of which there were four, where they were burnt. According to Dr Piotr Setkiewicz, Director of the Centre for Research Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum, the four crematoria had 'a total capacity of almost 5,000 bodies a day'. Looking back to the gas chambers and crematoria which kept prisoners in a constant state of fear, Ivor said: 'However much horror you thought about, you'd never imagine what was happening. In March 1944, at the age of 12, Ivor was deported to the camp in southern Poland (pictured) Upon arrival at the death camp, Ivor wanted to stay with his mother. Ivor is pictured aged 14 Ivor spoke in the new 30-minute BBC One documentary 'What Happened at Auschwitz' on Monday night 'Whoever imagines something about gassing people and burning them?' January 27 this year marks the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau but, as journalist Jordan Dunbar points out: 'We now live in a world of misinformation and denial.' 'If this distortion of our understanding is allowed to take root, we run the risk that history will be rewritten and the true horror of the Holocaust will be forgotten,' Jordan added. BBC One's 'What Happened at Auschwitz' not only tells the story of the Holocaust through the testimonies of Ivor Perl and three other survivors - it also exposes the Holocaust denial and antisemitism that is being spread on social media. Dov Forman, the great-grandson of survivor Lily Ebert, who died aged 100 in October 2024, told how the TikTok account which he set up for his late great-grandmother to share her testimony with youngsters receives 'thousands of comments every day' from Holocaust deniers and antisemites. 'Hitler missed one', 'The Holocaust is fake' and 'We're coming to find you, we're coming to kill you,' are just some of the shocking comments that TikTokers have posted on the account @lilyebert, which has two million followers and is run by Dov. Speaking to Jordan Dunbar, Dov cited a 2022 UNESCO report which stated that 16 per cent of the posts children are seeing of all Holocaust and Jewish-related content on social media platforms is 'antisemitic, Holocaust denying and distorting.' That statistic becomes even more worrying given that 50 per cent of people got their news from social media last year. Ivor and the other survivors featured in the programme were speaking to journalist Jordan Dunbar (pictured) Dov Forman, the great-grandson of survivor Lily Ebert (pictured together), who died aged 100 in October 2024 , told how the TikTok account which he set up for his late great-grandmother to share her testimony with youngsters receives 'thousands of comments every day' 'Those people who are scrolling through are absorbing pure disinformation, hatred and denial about the Holocaust,' Dov added. Agreeing that the 'demonisation' of the Jewish people that the Nazis propagated is no longer 'just in books and the cinema and the radio', Dunbar states that 'now we get it direct to our phones'. 'I think we owe it to the people who have been through that to really ask, where are we getting this information from, who's giving this information and why?,' he says. 'That hatred that we have seen, it still exists in different forms, even today.' What Happened In Auschwitz is available to watch on BBC iPlayer. Paul Schrader is being slated for voicing his support for AI after he admitted to using ChatGPT for an idea to write a script. The acclaimed screenwriter and director, 78, angered many after he asked why writers should waste 'months searching for a good idea' when AI can quickly generate 'original' ideas at speed. It comes as many fear that millions of jobs will be replaced by generative AI in the coming years. Taking to Facebook over the weekend, Schrader wrote: 'I'M STUNNED. I just asked ChatGPT for "an idea for Paul Schrader film." Then Paul Thomas Anderson. 'Then Quentin Tarantino. Then Harmony Korine. Then Ingmar Bergman. Then Rossellini. Lang. Scorsese. Murnau. Capra. Ford. Spielberg. Lynch. 'Every idea ChatGPT came up with (in a few seconds) was good. And original. And fleshed out.' Schrader added: 'Why should writers sit around for months searching for a good idea when AI can provide one in seconds?' Understandably, many were furious by Schrader's comments and even went as far as suggesting that he wants 'all writers to lose their jobs.' Paul Schrader is being slated for voicing his support for AI The acclaimed screenwriter angered many after he asked why writers should waste 'months searching for a good idea' Taking to X, formerly Twitter, one blasted: 'NOTHING "created" by AI is original. 'That's literally the whole point. It steals and amalgamates the work of others and regurgitates it for the lazy to consume as authentic.' Another asked: 'Why should I bother watch your movie if you or anybody else didn't bother writing it in the first place?' A third raged: 'This statement p***es me off so much. To hell with AI and all who think it's genius.' 'This is so offensive to writers, artists, and creators,' added a fourth. 'It's calling us lazy, unoriginal, incapable, and so much else. "We don't want original ideas from your minds, writers. We couldn't care less about what you're thinking and what stories you want to tell."' Echoing a similar sentiment, another said: 'So in other words Paul wants all writers to lose their jobs and remove the human element from films how about NO!' 'It seems to me that he is trying to say, if AI can come up with these ideas, why should writers go through the trouble?' added a seventh. Social media users were offended by Schrader's comments and slammed him online 'This is so offensive to writers, artists, and creators,' said one of Schrader's comments 'But the thing is, the "trouble" is part of being a writer and creator.' Schrader who is best known for writing the screenplay of Martin Scorsese's 1976 film Taxi Driver (1976). He later continued his collaboration with Scorsese, writing or co-writing Raging Bull (1980), The Last Temptation of Christ (1988), and Bringing Out the Dead (1999). Schrader isn't the only Hollywood star to have spoken out about AI and where it fits in the world of film. In November, Ben Affleck went viral with his shockingly 'articulate' take on how he believes that the technology will not replace humans making movies. The Good Will Hunting actor reasoned that AI will assist with the 'laborious' aspects of filmmaking, which will in turn help bring down the costs of large-scale productions, but that it shouldn't be viewed as a threat to the art. Speaking at CNBC's Delivering Alpha 2024 investor summit on Sunday, Ben blew audiences away with an impassioned response. Movies will be one of the last things, if everything gets replaced, to be replaced by AI,' he declared. 'AI can write you excellent, imitative verse that sounds Elizabethan. It cannot write you Shakespeare.' He continued: 'What AI is going to do is going to disintermediate the more laborious, less creative and more costly aspects of filmmaking that will allow costs to be brought down, that will lower the barrier for entry, that will allow more voices to be heard, that will make it easier for the people that want to make Good Will Hunting to go out and make it.' The powder-blue, pale suit dress that Melania Trump wore for her husband's first inauguration a custom design by Ralph Lauren drew immediate comparisons to Jackie Kennedy. Her hair, swept up loosely into a decidedly 1960s chignon, framed a smiling face as she evoked, through fashion, a golden age of political idealism. This time round, things were decidedly more nuanced. Opting for a more somber note, Melania cloaked herself in a custom navy silk wool coat dress coordinating pencil skirt and ivory silk crepe blouse all of which, to the surprise of many fashion watchers, had been hand sewn in New York City by the niche, but far from cut-price, American designer Adam Lippes. Melania's boater by another American designer, Eric Javits completed the striking ensemble. Not since Hillary Clinton, in 1993, has a First Lady opted for an inauguration-day hat, adding not only a touch of the theatrical to Melania's ensemble but almost entirely obscuring her eyes. For a woman known for her love of sunglasses, perhaps this was the next-best choice on a day when the entire world would be watching her. At first glance, Melania, 54, seems to have paid homage to the traditions required of First Ladies at inauguration. The powder-blue, pale suit dress that Melania Trump wore for her husband's first inauguration (a custom design by Ralph Lauren, right) drew immediate comparisons to Jackie Kennedy (left). This time, Melania cloaked herself in a custom navy silk wool coat dress, coordinating pencil skirt and ivory silk crepe blouse, all of which, to the surprise of many fashion watchers, had been hand sewn in New York City by the niche, but far from cut-price, American designer Adam Lippes. Melania's boater, by another American designer, Eric Javits, completed the striking ensemble. She eschewed her favored European labels (despite having opted for both Dolce & Gabbana and Dior at the various pre-inaugural festivities), and shone a spotlight on two designers whose relatively unknown labels might now find a sudden uptick in sales thanks to this presidential patronage. In a statement released Monday morning, Lippes said it had been an 'honor' for his New York atelier to dress Melania for a tradition that 'embodies the beauty of American democracy', and that her outfit was the product of 'America's finest craftsmen'. Javits, too, sounded off proudly about his hand-crafted creation, which he had made himself (only eight percent of the hand stitching on the hat was machine-sewn). 'No other hands touched it prior to Herve [Pierre, Melania's personal stylist] and the First Lady receiving it,' he said. There was plenty of praise for the 'Made in America' ensemble and a collective gasp from fashion commentators surprised that the new First Lady had been able to find American designers willing to kit her out. (Many achingly liberal and somewhat snobbish brands have declined to work with Melania ever since her husband launched his political career). Of course, in order to locate these two designers for Melania, Herve Pierre had to wonder far from the boutiques of Madison Avenue (one of which had famously once turned him away at the door) and think outside the box of an American fashion world still dominated by the not-so-subtle disapproval of Democratic doyenne and Vogue editor, Anna Wintour. Adam Lippes whose only free-standing store is a small studio-style showroom in the luxury fashion mall, Brookfield Place (near the One World Trade Center) is a relative newcomer and certainly not part of the elite club of the New York fashion world. Eric Javits is even farther removed. A supplier of headwear and straw accessories to Bloomingdale's and Nordstrom, he is currently Miami based. And that proximity to Mar-a-Lago meant that Herve was able to hand deliver the finished product to Melania in Palm Beach. Lippes said it had been an 'honor' for his New York atelier to dress Melania for a tradition that 'embodies the beauty of American democracy', and that her outfit was the product of 'America's finest craftsmen'. Melania shone a spotlight on two designers whose relatively unknown labels might now find a sudden uptick in sales thanks to this presidential patronage. (She is pictured here wearing Dior on January 19). Melania eschewed her favored European labels, despite having opted for both Dolce & Gabbana and Dior at the various pre-inaugural festivities. (She is pictured here wearing a Dolce & Gabbana tuxedo shirt). Yet Melania's outfit today seems to me another reminder of what she does best: dressing unlike, and apart from, other First Ladies. Emerging from the black SUV for her early morning service at St John's Episcopal Church in Washington on Monday, Melania and the soon-to-be-47th president seemed almost indistinguishable figures at first. They were both in long dark coats, the incoming First Lady abandoning the tradition of adopting a bright, vivid color in order to stand out from the crowd. Instead, Melania took a leaf from the playbook of European haute-couture houses and plumped for monochrome simplicity. That, plus the hat and an almost masculine line, ensured she stood out against and apart from the other Trump women who would inevitably populate the picture. The silk wool of her coat looked remarkably similar to the fabric favored by Dior for their outwear, while its stiff peak lapels evoked trademark Dolce & Gabbana. The slanted chic of her two patch pockets on each side were another hallmark of European tailored dressing that has become Melania's mainstay in recent years. In quite literally topping off the look with the unconventional choice of a hat (certainly for Americans), she evoked her 2019 meeting with Queen Elizabeth II, when she wore a very similar style (one that then had been designed by Herve Pierre himself). It also echoed the ceremonial dressing of British royal women, who rarely appear for such a momentous occasion without a showstopping piece of millinery. Melania's outfit will, I'm sure, divide opinion. The angular style and dark tones are not what people expect from the traditional American consort. In quite literally topping off the look with the unconventional choice of a hat (certainly for Americans), she evoked her 2019 meeting with Queen Elizabeth II (pictured), when she wore a very similar style. It also echoed the ceremonial dressing of British royal women, who rarely appear for such a momentous occasion without a showstopping piece of millinery. (Kate Middleton is pictured on November 13, 2022). But she has, I believe, once more confounded her critics. By opting for a design which is assuredly American yet strikingly similar to the European silhouettes that are her sartorial mainstay, Melania has shown not only an independence of spirit but a historical awareness of a playbook mastered by Jackie Kennedy. Forced by political pressure to abandon Parisian haute couture, Jackie turned an American designer, Oleg Cassini, to recreate her beloved French silhouettes and become, as she later dubbed him, her 'Secretary of Style'. It remains to be seen if Adam Lippes will fill such a role. Monday's choices certainly open the possibility that, when it comes to fashion at least, Melania has something very different in mind for the next four years. NOW LISTEN: Welcome to MAGALAND is our new podcast, where White House insiders reveal whats really going on behind the scenes in the new Trump administration. Listen on Apple and Spotify now. Lauren Sanchez has been slammed for her racy choice of outfit at Donald Trump's inauguration. The journalist, 55, initially looked cozy and chic as she arrived to see Trump sworn in as the 47th US President in Washington, D.C. However, the fiancee of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, shocked the public after taking off her coat to show a white pantsuit - with her white lace bra on full display under its matching jacket. The bold wardrobe choice sent social media into a frenzy, with many people take to X, formerly known as Twitter, to share their thoughts on the risque ensemble. 'Good grief, Lauren Sanchez. Put them away for one day,' a disgusted user urged. 'Lauren Sanchez is wearing a bra,' wrote another shocked user. 'Just when I was luxuriating in the beauty and class of @FLOTUS45, in walks Lauren Sanchez wearing only a bra,' slammed someone else. 'Lauren Sanchez complete inappropriate dress today,' another agreed. 'Really, a bra plainly visible. Today is NOT a night club event. Show some class & dignity.' Lauren Sanchez has been slammed for her choice of outfit at Donald Trump's inauguration The fiancee of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos shocked the public after taking off her coat to show a white pantsuit - with her white lace bra on display Sanchez arrived with Bezos, 61, at the US Capitol Rotunda in Washington, D.C. on Monday morning. The journalist wore a long white mohair coat, buttoned up in the middle with her long, dark brown hair wavy and tied up in a low pony tail, with some loose tendrils around her face. Once inside, she took her demure jacket off to reveal the white pantsuit - with lace lingerie peaking through. It appears to be the same outfit the soon-to-be Mrs Bezos wore during a chat with Forbes executive vice president Moira Forbes at the 2024 Forbes Power Women's Summit in September. Last night, Sanchez rubbed shoulders with Ivanka Trump, the president-elect's daughter, at a candlelight dinner at the National Building Museum in Washington D.C. The former TV host wore a stunning black Dolce and Gabbana gown for the event, where she was seen embracing Ivanka. Sanchez, 55, called the night a 'magical evening' on Instagram as she showed off her stunning black dress that featured a glittery strapless top and a silk draped skirt from the Italian designer. She and her billionaire lover were seen talking to fellow tech titan Elon Musk, 53, ahead of the event as the socialite held tightly to her man's arm. The journalist, 55, initially looked cozy and chic as she arrived to see Trump sworn in as the 47th US President. ceremony in Washington, D.C Sanchez arrived with Bezos, 61, at the US Capitol Rotunda in Washington, D.C. on Monday morning Sanchez seated next to the CEO of Meta and Facebook Mark Zuckerberg at the inauguration of Donald Trump as the 47th president of the United States The bold wardrobe choice sent social media into a frenzy, with many people take to X, formerly known as Twitter , to share their thoughts on the risque ensemble It appears to be the same outfit the soon-to-be Mrs Bezos wore during a chat with Forbes executive vice president Moira Forbes at the 2024 Forbes Power Women's Summit in September At the same event, Ivanka Trump, 43, was seen sparkling in a hand-beaded crystal and pearl gown made by American brand Oscar de la Renta. The same designer also dressed Second Lady Usha Vance, 39, for the event in a dress cut similar to Sanchez's. Liberal fans of the brand had a visceral reaction after seeing the First Daughter and Second Lady wearing the renowned American brand, which proudly posted images of the two women in their custom get-ups. 'Bye Oscar de la Renta. I know you won't be canceled but you are to me for having no f**king morals,' one X user wrote. Oscar de la Renta was created by a Dominican-born designer of the same name who died in 2014. His company is based in the US and has a long history of dressing First Ladies and those connected to the American president. Jill Biden, 73, has been seen wearing the brand in the past. The educator wore a custom gown from the brand featuring an embroidered rose field on it during the White House Donor Dinner in November. Political fans are divided over Melania Trump's inauguration hat - but some think there's a secret meaning behind why her choice for wearing it. Melania, 54, opted for a long, tailored navy-blue coat by American designer Adam Lippes, along with a pair of suede Manolo Blahnik heels and black leather gloves for the occasion. Underneath the coat, she wore a white wrap top, adding a pop to the otherwise classic outfit. However, the real star of the show was a large navy wide-brimmed hat with a flat top and white trimming, designed by Eric Javits - also an American brand. The hat tied together her entire look, as she sported an elegant bun and tiny diamond studs. But while the hat may have been the focal point of her outfit, many users on X, formerly known as Twitter, compared it to that of McDonald's character Hamburglar, who wears a big black hat with a stripe in the middle. 'Meet Melania Hamburglar Trump,' one user on X wrote, as they sent out a picture of the character. Another user agreed, 'Melania Trump serving Madam First Lady Hamburglar at the #Inauguration2025.' Political fans are divided over First Lady Melania Trump 's inauguration hat - but some think there's a secret meaning behind why her choice for wearing it However, the real star of the show was a large navy wide-brimmed hat with a flat top and white trimming, designed by Eric Javits - an American brand Melania, 54, opted for a long , tailored navy-blue coat by American designer Adam Lippes, along with a pair of navy-blue suede Manolo Blahnik heels and black leather gloves for the occasion 'Apparently while her husband was working at McDonald's Melania stole the Hamburglar's hat,' someone else cracked. Others, however, joked that she wore the hat in order to avoid her husband's kisses. When he leaned in for a peck, he was unable to even get to her cheek, as the hat blocked him. 'Oh, now it makes sense. Melania wore the hat as a barrier to Trump's lips. Got it.' one X user wrote. Another typed, 'Smart. That hat kept Trump's gnarly lips off Melania's cheek when he entered the Capitol.' 'Trump trying to kiss Melania under that hat is hilarious,' a second user agreed. One asserted, 'Melania is 100 percent wearing that hat so that Trump can't get close enough to kiss her.' 'What the heck is this kind of kiss! Melanie wears a hat on purpose so he can't reach her face LOL,' a viewer shared. 'Others, however, joked that she wore the hat in order to avoid her husband's kisses This will be Trump's second term in office, as he served from 2017 to 2021, losing to Joe Biden in the 2020 race At 12pm, both Trump and his Vice President, JD Vance, were sworn in. This will be Trump's second term in office, as he served from 2017 to 2021, losing to Joe Biden in the 2020 race. Trump mentioned the sniper's attempt on his life during his inaugural speech, and said he believes his life was saved so he could regain the White House and 'Make America Great Again.' 'Just a few months ago, in a beautiful Pennsylvania field, an assassin's bullet ripped through my ear, but I felt, then and believed even more so now that my life was saved for a reason,' the president said. 'I was saved by God to make America great again,' he said invoking his signature phrase. In his first remarks as the 47th president declared that the 'golden age of America begins right now.' 'From this day forward, our country will flourish and be respected again all over the world,' he said. 'My administration will be inspired by a strong pursuit of excellence and unrelenting success.' 'We will not forget our country. We will not forget our Constitution, and we will not forget our God.' 'Welcome to MAGAland: Trump's Second 100 Days' is the new politics podcast bringing you the latest news and gossip from Trump insiders. New episodes every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Follow wherever you get your podcasts now. Senator John Fetterman arrived at Capitol Hill for President Donald Trump's inauguration in a very daring outfit - opting for shorts despite the freezing cold weather. While other guests donned their best looks to watch the swearing in of the 47th President of America, the Pennsylvania senator wore a black Carhartt hoodie, gray gym shorts and ON sneakers despite the formality of the event. Fetterman, 54, was photographed sitting front row at the ceremony, with his legs spread in front of him. Trump's swearing-in was moved inside the Capitol rotunda due to the below-freezing weather and cold winds in Washington, D.C., with much of the ground frozen and icy from Sunday's rain and snow fall. However, the arctic blast doesn't appear to bother Fetterman, who stuck with his usual casual attire. Social media users were agog at the Senator's decision, taking to X, formerly known as Twitter, to share their disbelief over the chilly decision. 'John Fetterman wearing shorts to the inauguration after Trump wussed out because of the cold is a boss move,' declared one user. 'THIS GUY IS ABSOLUTELY NUTS,' laughed another. 'John Fetterman is a f**king disgrace. The end,' declared one disgruntled social media user. Senator John Fetterman arrived at the Capitol for President Donald Trump 's Inauguration in a daring outfit - opting for shorts despite the freezing cold weather Another jokingly compared it to a scantily-clad Lauren Sanchez, who wore a white pantsuit with lacy lingerie peaking through. 'We got Fetterman wearing gym shorts, and Jeff Bezo's wife wearing this to the inauguration,' they joked, showing photos of the guests. Fetterman is known for his attachment to his trademark hoodie. Last year, he made waves after wearing a hoodie printed with a tuxedo design, which he paired with a black pair of shorts, whilst on a date night with his wife of 15 years Gisele, 41. In early January, Fetterman flew down to Palm Beach, Florida, last week to meet with the incoming president at his lavish Florida property - the first Democratic senator to do so. Trump won Pennsylvania in the 2024 election after losing the Keystone State to President Joe Biden four years before. Since entering office in 2023, Fetterman has bucked conventional norms. He checked himself into Walter Reed to deal with severe depression and told the public about it. Fetterman also has strongly supported Israel since the October 7 Hamas terror attack, while many Democrats have vocally been pro-Palestinian. Trump kicked off the ceremonies for his historic second inauguration alongside wife Melania, son Barron and his family at a church service early Monday morning. The arctic blast doesn't appear to bother Fetterman While other guests donned their best looks to watch the swearing in of the 47th President of America , the Pennsylvania senator wore a black Carhartt hoodie, gray gym shorts and ON sneakers - despite the formality of the event Fetterman, 54, was photographed sitting front row at the swearing in event, with his legs spread in front of him Fetterman, 54, shared a photo of him clutching his wife of 15 years Gisele, 41, by his side in a post on X (formerly Twitter ) captioned 'Date Night' last year Social media users were agog at the Senator's decision, taking to X, formerly known as Twitter , to share their disbelief over the chilly decision President Trump took the front row of St. John's Episcopal Church - just a block away from the White House - and smiled to Vance, who was sat alongside wife Usha. The president-elect, wearing a suit and dark red tie, shook his fist to photographers as he stepped out of the crowd. Melania, in a navy blue suit and matching hat with white trim, was at his side. Their son Barron walked with them. The Trump family joined them inside the church - Ivanka and Jared Kushner and their kids; Don Jr., his ex-wife Vanessa and their kids; Tiffany Trump and husband Michael Boulos; and Eric and Lara Trump and their two children. Incoming Vice President J.D. Vance and his wife Usha sat in the front pew with Donald, Melania and Barron. Also in the church were Rupert Murdoch, Mark Zuckerberg, Tim Cook, Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez, former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Marco Rubio, Tulsi Gabbard, Sean Duffy, TikTok CEO Shou Chew, Elon Musk, Rep. Mike Waltz, Pam Bondi, Howard Lutnick, Doug Burgum, and Argentinian President Javier Milei. Princess Leonor of Spain radiated high spirits today as she left Tenerife to continue her naval training cruise. The Spanish royal, 19, flashed an excited smile from onboard the Juan Sebastian ElCano on Monday as she and her fellow students waved while the ship departed Santa Cruz de Tenerife. The eldest daughter of King Felipe, 56, and Queen Letizia of Spain, 52, is currently embarking on a sixth-month navy training course that will take her all across the United States. Leonor looked the height of professionalism today as she stood to attention in a crisp white navy shirt with an accompanying pair of trousers in the same shade. The heir to the throne looked polished in a snug white belt and naval hat perched over the top of her immaculately styled hair. She opted for a natural, make-up free look, showing off her youthful complexion and wind-flushed cheeks. Despite having only left a week ago, the royal looked already a seasoned pro as she stood with her arms expertly behind her back. At one point, the princess and her fellow aspiring officers each removed their navy caps and held them to the sky in their right hands. Princess Leonor of Spain (pictured) radiated high spirits today as she embarked from Tenerife to continue her naval training cruise The young royal is undertaking a navy training cruise, sailing through two oceans, and visiting 10 ports and eight countries in America, according to La Vanguardia. It comes just a week after the teenager set sail from Cadiz, Spain, for a navy training cruise. Felipe and Letizia watched proudly as the 19-year-old took part in a departure ceremony before setting sail from Cadiz. The future queen looked solemn as she joined her fellow students, all aspiring officers of the Spanish Navy, for the procession before the three-masted sailing ship left the port in Cadiz. Meanwhile, her parents smiled and waved goodbye, while King Felipe documented the milestone by snapping photographs of Leonor. She is following in the footsteps of her father, Felipe, and her grandfather, King Juan Carlos, who also carried out a similar trip. Leonor - who began three years of military training in 2023 - looked just the part in her navy uniform. She styled her brunette tresses in a sleek low bun, allowing her sailing hat to sit comfortably, and added a pair of white gloves. The Spanish royal, 19, flashed an excited smile from onboard the Juan Sebastian ElCano as she and her fellow students waved while the ship departed Santa Cruz de Tenerife on Monday The daughter of King Felipe, 56, and Queen Letizia of Spain , 52, is currently embarking on a sixth-month navy training course that will take her all across the Unites States Leonor looked the height of professionalism today as she stood to attention in a crisp white navy shirt with an accompanying pair of trousers in the same shade The heir to the throne looked polished in a snug white belt and naval hat perched over the top of her immaculately styled hair The royal wore little makeup for the occasion, revealing her naturally glowing complexion. Meanwhile, Letizia looked effortlessly chic in dark blue pantsuit, which she paired with a white shirt that tied into an elegant bow at the neck. The mother-of-two finished her look with a gold headband that peeked through her brunette tresses, as well as black heeled loafers. Spain's king Felipe wore his own navy uniform for the occasion, as the royal couple gushed over their daughter while waving at the crowds of onlookers that gathered in the port city. At one point, Felipe sweetly wrapped his arm around Letizia's waist, while surrounded by cheering locals, as they watched Leonor embark on a new chapter. Pictures from the ceremony showed their daughter walking in step with her fellow students as she boarded the ship before the navy hopefuls assembled on the deck, laughing and chatting with each other. In the run-up to what promises to be a great maritime adventure, Leonor attended the annual Pascua Militar military event at the Royal Palace in Madrid with her parents. Letizia put on a dazzling display in a beautiful burgundy frock and stylish black fur coat - while Felipe and Leonor sported full military regalia alongside. She opted for a natural, make-up free look, showing off her youthful complexion and wind-flushed cheeks At one stage, the princess and her fellow aspiring officers each removed their navy caps and held them to the sky in their right hands It comes just a week after the teenager set sail from Cadiz, Spain, for a navy training cruise Despite having only left a week ago, the royal look already a seasoned pro as she stood with her arms expertly behind her back The young royal is undertaking a navy training cruise, sailing through two oceans, and visiting 10 ports and eight countries in America, according to La Vanguardia The mother-of-two appeared in good spirits as she walked alongside her teenage daughter, beaming with pride as prepared to mark the annual military event, which is a National Holiday in Spain. The king has served in the military for almost three decades until he acceded to the throne in 2014. Throughout his long military career King Felipe was promoted multiple times, achieving the status of lieutenant colonel in the Army, frigate captain in the Navy, and lieutenant colonel in the Air Force in 2009. On becoming King on June 19, 2014 when his father abdicated, King Felipe was made Commander-In-Chief of the entire military. Vice President JD Vance made an embarrassing gaffe as he was en route to the inauguration with former Vice President Kamala Harris - and it's sparking a social media frenzy. On Monday, the two shared a limo as they rode together to the United States Capitol Rotunda, where the ceremony for Donald Trump was taking place. However, cameras caught the awkward moment when Vance failed to get in on the correct side of the car. Vance was seen loitering awkwardly as he waited by the door for Harris to slide across into her seat for him to follow. However, it soon became clear that Harris wasn't going to move over, and he was finally motioned by an aide to get in on the other side of the car, which he did. Unfortunately, however, the moment was not lost on social media users, as many took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to share their outrage. 'Please enjoy JD Vance going to the wrong side of the limo (what, was VP Harris going to just 'skooch over'?), THEN ignoring the VP's lead agent quietly trying to tell him he's on the wrong side, THEN poking his head into the limo, THEN finally figuring it out,' one person wrote as they shared a clip of the awkward scene. Another person typed, 'HAHAHAHHAHAH. The Secret Service made JD Vance walk around to use the other door to the limousine. Did he expect VP Kamala Harris to scooch over for him? She's still the Vice President of the United States.' Vice President JD Vance made an embarrassing gaffe as he was en route to the inauguration with former Vice President Kamala Harris - and it's sparking a social media frenzy On Monday, the two shared a limo as they rode together to the United States Capitol Rotunda, where the ceremony was taking place It looked like he was waiting for her to move over as he kept waiting by the car door, refusing to go to the other side 'LOL. They even have a whole walk through of where yours supposed to be,' someone else claimed. One X user remarked, 'As if she was going to scooch over? Absolutely no hint of civility or social graces.' 'Women don't scoot across a back seat. Be a man JD,' another wrote. But while the moment may have looked awkward, it's hard to know whether or not Vance was simply following protocol, or if he was expecting to slide in on the same side as Harris. Thankfully, the limo ride was short, and the two made it safely to the inauguration ceremony, along with President Donald Trump and former President Joe Biden. After being sworn in Monday, Trump promised a 'new golden age of America' in his speech. This will be Trump's second term in office, as he served from 2017 to 2021, losing to Joe Biden in the 2020 race. Trump mentioned the sniper's attempt on his life during his inaugural speech, and said he believes his life was saved so he could regain the White House and 'Make America Great Again.' Unfortunately, however, the moment was not lost on social media users, as many took to X to share their outrage. 'Just a few months ago, in a beautiful Pennsylvania field, an assassin's bullet ripped through my ear, but I felt, then and believed even more so now that my life was saved for a reason,' the president said. 'I was saved by God to make America great again,' he said invoking his signature phrase. In his first remarks as the 47th president declared that the 'golden age of America begins right now.' 'From this day forward, our country will flourish and be respected again all over the world,' he said. 'My administration will be inspired by a strong pursuit of excellence and unrelenting success.' 'We will not forget our country. We will not forget our Constitution, and we will not forget our God.' 'The decline is over,' he told about 600 allies, dignitaries and family members inside the U.S. Capitol building. Welcome to MAGAland: Trump's Second 100 Days - The brand new politics podcast bringing you the latest news and gossip from Trump insiders. New episodes every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Follow wherever you get your podcasts now. Megyn Kelly has lashed out at Anna Wintour for refusing to feature First Lady Melania Trump on the cover of Vogue magazine. The journalist, 54, slammed Vogue's longtime Editor-in-Chief, 75, while heaping praise on Melania's 'elegant' inauguration ensemble. 'Look at Melania Trump. The most elegant, stylish, beautiful First Lady ever,' Megyn gushed in a fawning post on X, previously Twitter. 'Will Vogue put her on the cover as they did Jill Biden and [Michelle] Obama? Of course not, because Anna Wintour hates Republicans so much she cannot stomach the thought of celebrating this perfect picture of class.' In a follow up post, Megyn called Melania 'literally perfect.' Melania's absence from Vogue magazine has been a sore point since Donald Trump's first presidency in 2016. First ladies are typically a favorite when it comes to women's magazines and the fashion press. Michelle Obama covered Vogue three times, while Jill Biden covered the magazine twice, and was then featured again in a special spread alongside daughter Naomi. Megyn Kelly has lashed out at Anna Wintour for refusing to feature First Lady Melania Trump on the cover of Vogue magazine Megyn, 54, slammed Vogue's longtime Editor-in-Chief, 75, while heaping praise on Melania's 'elegant' inauguration ensemble Kamala Harris has also covered Vogue twice, while Hillary Clinton graced Vogue back in 1998 when she was still a first lady. Melania did cover Vogue once, but it was 2005, long before her husband would run for president and become one of the most polarizing political figures of all time. In a 2022 interview with Fox News, Melania called Vogue 'biased' for not putting her on the cover. 'They're biased. They have likes and dislikes and it's so obvious and I think American people and everyone sees it,' she said. 'It was their decision and I have much more important things to do in the White House than being on the cover of Vogue.' Despite being snubbed by the fashion bible, Melania has often been praised for her sense of style. For Monday's inauguration, she donned a navy blue silk wool coat and skirt from American designer Adam Lippes. She paired it with a matching hat from American milliner Eric Javits, according to WWD. For Monday's inauguration, Melania donned a navy blue silk wool coat and skirt from American designer Adam Lippes 'Look at Melania Trump. The most elegant, stylish, beautiful First Lady ever,' Megyn gushed in a fawning post on X 'The tradition of the presidential inauguration embodies the beauty of American democracy and today we had the honor to dress our first lady, Mrs. Melania Trump,' Lippes said in a statement. 'Mrs. Trump's outfit was created by some of America's finest craftsmen and I take great pride in showing such work to the world.' Many well-known and established American designers have refused to dress Melania due to her husband's politics. As a result, she's had to turn to European designers for many of her looks, and her stylist has had to buy clothes from freestanding stores instead of being provided outfits from fashion houses. 'I don't really do that for the good reason that the fashion industry is not very welcoming [of Trump.] That's no secret,' her stylist Herve Pierre told WWD. 'Some are very open-minded and would be able to do something special. But a lot of people are not.' Welcome to MAGALAND: White House insiders reveal whats really going on behind the scenes in the new Trump administration. Listen wherever you get your podcasts. Ella Emhoff posted an impassioned message to social media as stepmother Kamala Harris' time as vice president came to an end. Harris' 25-year-old stepdaughter took to Instagram to share her thoughts about the last four years after Donald Trump was sworn in as the 47th President of the United States. 'I know we are all feeling a lot of emotions today,' the activist and fashion designer wrote in the post, along with a carousel of photos showing snippets of her life with her stepmother in the White House. 'I'm truly feeling the full spectrum of emotions right now as I reflect on the past four years,' she continued. Emhoff continued, thanking everyone who has supported her over her stepmother's time as vice president of the United States, adding that she is 'so grateful.' 'Some of my highest highs and lowest lows,' she acknowledged. She then took a swipe at naysayers, writing: 'For those who made it harder, you suck.' 'It's been truly insane and a honor being the second daughter,' Emhoff wrote, concluding the message. 'Thank you for letting me do it in my own way.' Ella Emhoff posted an impassioned message to social media as stepmother Kamala Harris' time as vice president came to an end In November, Emhoff opened up about her mental health woes in a vulnerable post to Instagram after appearing distraught when Harris' presidential bid came to a heartbreaking end. She shared an image of herself to social media, showing her looking devastated as she openly cried alongside campaign staffers and family members. The former second daughter used an image from Harris' concession speech at Howard University as she urged her 500,000 followers to stay strong after Donald Trump's win. 'Truly no words,' Emhoff captioned the post. 'We are all gonna get through this. It just f***ing hurts like a b***h right now and that's ok.' The outburst prompted by a widely circulated post on X, formerly known as Twitter, which spread cruel rumors suggesting she had checked into an in-patient mental health facility. The rumor has since been debunked as fake news with Emhoff setting the record straight for herself. 'There's a rumor about me having a mental breakdown and getting checked into a hospital. Not true,' Emhoff wrote. 'Also f*** you if you're out there spreading that. There's nothing wrong with showing emotion and crying. Anyone who says there is probably needs a good cry,' she added. Harris' 25-year-old stepdaughter took to Instagram to share her thoughts about the last four years with Donald Trump now sworn in as the 47th President of the United States 'I'm truly feeling the full spectrum of emotions right now as I reflect on the past four years,' she continued. Pictured: Kamala with stepchildren Cole and Ella at Joe Biden's 2021 inauguration Emhoff acknowledged that the last four years were filled with some of her 'highest highs and lowest lows' 'I know we are all feeling a lot of emotions today,' the activist and fashion designer wrote in the post Emhoff previously opened up about her mental health woes in a vulnerable post to Instagram dispelling any rumors that she had checked into a mental health hospital 'I've struggled with my mental health my whole life and I'm not ashamed of it,' Emhoff admitted. Harris looked grim-faced as she arrived at the ceremony on Capitol Hill earlier today, failing to raise a smile as she walked in with President Joe Biden as Trump was sworn in as President of the United States. She and former President Joe Biden were taking part in a long-held tradition of the outgoing American president attending the inauguration of the incoming president as a sign of unity and respect for the democratic process. Harris, who was endorsed by Biden to take over as the Democratic presidential nominee in late June, campaigned against Trump for 106 days but fell short in the election. Harris and her husband Doug Emhoff exited the Capitol building as the former vice president and second gentleman briefly shook hands with Trump before hugging the Biden's farewell. Kai Trump gave her subscribers an exciting behind-the-scenes glimpse of events leading up to grandad Donald Trump's inauguration. Ahead of her grandfather being sworn in as the 47th president on Monday morning, the 17-year-old vlogger was booked and busy on Sunday, attending a Trump rally at the Capital One Arena as well as his candlelit dinner at the Building Museum. In her latest vlog, Kai let the camera in as she got dressed up for the special dinner, revealing that she had been gifted some Sherri Hill dresses for the occasion. 'This is Sherri Hill,' she said, showing off the gowns, which came in red, navy, and gold. 'She sent me some dresses and they're amazing. All my ball gowns are Sherri Hill.' Kai explained that while she has never worn Sherri Hil before, the dresses 'look really good on me.' 'She's a really good designer,' she added. 'I've heard of her before. Thank you so much for sending these Sherri, I appreciate it They look so amazing.' After slipping into her navy dress, Kai went and had her makeup touched up. Kai Trump gave her subscribers an exciting behind-the-scenes glimpse of events leading up to grandad Donald Trump's inauguration In her latest vlog, she let the camera in as she got dressed up for his candlelit dinner at the Building Museum Talking through her look, she admitted: 'I don't really like stuff on my face. 'I like the soft glam so it's not a whole lot of make-up. It looks amazing on me, I think too.' At the event, Kai posed for pictures with dad Donald Trump Jr as well as with the rest of her family. But it seems as though she didn't stick around to actually eat at the dinner as it was later revealed she had ordered a steak to her hotel room. 'I'm so hungry, I didn't get to eat dinner!' she exclaimed to her friend, who accidentally sent her meal back to the kitchen. Elsewhere in the upload, Kai gave a shoutout to her grandad Trump for re-instating TikTok just hours after its dramatic shutdown. 'Thanks grandpa,' she said. 'He took one for the team.' Wrapping up her vlog, Kai said: 'Alright guys, we made it back to the hotel, we just left the candlelit dinner. 'Tomorrow's the inauguration so we're going to have a big inauguration vlog.' Kai revealed she had been gifted some Sherri Hill dresses for the occasion She also got her make-up touched up by an artist who came especially to her hotel room Kai later shared pictures of her completed look on her social media pages Viewers praised Kai for documenting the experience, and for giving other young people a window into her world. Taking to the comments, one said: 'Really appreciate you and your friends giving the youth reaction to these events.' Another said: 'You must be so proud and to have your close friends sharing the experience it will be a memory you'll tell your children someday. 'God is good he protected your grandpa and family.' A third added: 'You looked perfect today. I'm glad you got to see everyone come through the doorway. Congratulations on being our greatest president's granddaughter!' 'I love how she is so down to earth and not rude and posh and like a a show -off and is just not afraid of being herself,' another added. Born on May 12, 2007, Kai is the daughter of Donald Trump Jr. and Vanessa Trump who divorced in 2018. She is the eldest of Trump's 10 grandchildren. Born on May 12, 2007, Kai is Trump's eldest grandchild She has promised a follow up vlog which will detail the behind-the-scenes of the inauguration Last week, Kai posted a YouTube video of herself at Bloomingdales department store in Florida, where she tried on various outfits for the big weekend. Some of the brands she opted for included Paige and Rag & Bone. In November, Kai shared a YouTube video where she showed viewers what really happened at Mar-a-Lago on election night and included a clip of her thoughts on the results. 'We didn't really get to film the end because he won and we were just celebrating with family,' she said. 'It was just a really special moment for all of us. I'm extremely proud of him, I think he deserves it more than anyone in the whole world. 'He really has worked his butt off every single day for the past eight years for this country.' Inauguration Day has long been known for its history-making fashion ensembles, and this year is no different. On Monday, Donald Trump was sworn in as the 47th president of the United States, eight years after he took his first presidential oath. The 78-year-old, who served his first term from January 2017 to January 2021, has already promised to sign dozens of executive orders on his first day, telling supporters he would work at 'historic speed' to deal with 'every crisis' in America. While the inauguration is a busy day for the president, filled with speeches and balls, it's also one that has many memorable outfits and looks. Much like any major televised event, there were some best and worst looks throughout the day - and still more to come with a number of balls scheduled throughout Washington, D.C., this evening. However, what caught the eyes of viewers more were the hidden meanings behind certain ensembles and accessories donned by some of America's most powerful political figures. As such, FEMAIL has rounded up the most symbolic fashion numbers seen throughout inauguration weekend. Ivanka Trump makes subtle nod to Princess Diana Ivanka Trump wears emerald-green woolen pencil skirt with a matching blazer for the 2025 inauguration of her father, President Donald Trump Ivanka appeared to be toting the Lady Dior Bag in Black Cannage Grained Calfskin with gold finishes, which retails for $5,900 The Lady Dior bag was made famous by the late Princess Diana, who was first pictured carrying the luxury purse in 1995 Ivanka Trump, the eldest daughter of President Trump and late wife Ivana Trump, attended her father's second inauguration wearing an emerald-green woolen pencil skirt with a matching blazer. She accessorized with a beret style hat in the same green shade, along with black high heels, sheer black tights and leather gloves. As for the stunning bag on her arm, the mother of three appeared to be toting the Lady Dior Bag in Black Cannage Grained Calfskin with gold finishes, which retails for $5,900. The iconic Dior bag, with its square-shaped silhouette and rounded top handles, was first introduced by the French fashion house in the early 1990s. It quickly became associated with the late Princess Diana after she was gifted the bag during a visit to Paris in 1995. The bag was even renamed from 'Princesse' to Lady Dior in honor of the royal's nickname. 'Lady Di' served as an abbreviation of her official title, Lady Diana Spencer, Princess of Wales. Hillary Clinton dons symbolic 'Peace on Earth' brooch Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton wears 'Peace on Earth' pin to Trump's 2025 inauguration Former president Bill Clinton and Hillary wear matching blue ensembles, perhaps a nod to their Democratic party's signature color President Trump's former rival in the 2016 election arrived at his inauguration on Monday wearing an all-blue pantsuit, perhaps a nod to her Democratic party's signature color. Clinton's collared coat also included a gold and blue pin attached to her left side. The 'Peace on Earth' pin, designed by jeweler Ann Hand, features a miniature blue globe with each continent plated in 14K gold. The pendant is surrounded by gold leaves, faux seed pearls, and a dove fastened at the top. According to Hand's website, the card enclosed with the brooch includes the quote by American poet Walt Whitman: 'Peace is always beautiful.' First Lady Jill Biden opts for bipartisan purple Former first lady Dr. Jill Biden seemingly attempted to advocate for political unity when she greeted President Trump and his wife, Melania Trump, at the White House on Monday morning. The 73-year-old college professor was unsurprisingly dressed in a coat from American designer Ralph Lauren. Former first lady Jill Biden dons vibrant purple coat with oversized lapel and belted waistband designed by Ralph Lauren The college professor's all-purple ensemble appears to be a symbol for political unity, invoking the blended color of the Democratic and Republican parties Jill's husband, former president Joe Biden, recently awarded Lauren the Presidential Medal of Freedom, making him the first designer to receive the distinction Her husband, former president Joe Biden, recently awarded Lauren the Presidential Medal of Freedom - the nation's highest civilian honor - making him the first designer to receive the distinction. However, it was the vibrant purple color of her ensemble that appeared to raise eyebrows. Along with her purple Ralph Lauren coat, Jill also wore matched purple gloves and high heels - blending the blue color of the Democratic party and the red associated with Republicans. Vice President JD Vance pays tribute to hometown roots On Inauguration Day, the newly-sworn in vice president was reportedly dressed by none other than a 90-year-old tailor based in Ohio. According to a report by Cincinnati television and radio station WKRC, Italian immigrant Romualdo Pelle custom-designed eight shirts, six ties, four suits, three belts, two overcoats, and two pairs of gloves for inauguration weekend. Vance is notably an Ohio native. He attended Ohio State University and represented Ohio in the Senate from 2023 to 2025. The inauguration events are scheduled to continue with a traditional luncheon, followed by several balls throughout the evening. Vice President JD Vance reportedly wore custom-designed suits from Ohio-based tailor, Romualdo Pelle The 90-year-old Italian immigrant custom-designed eight shirts, six ties, four suits, three belts, two overcoats, and two pairs of gloves for inauguration weekend, according to WKRC Vance, an Ohio native, famously attended Ohio State University and was elected as Ohio's representative to the Senate During the inauguration ceremony, one of the best-dressed looks was worn by First Lady Melania Trump. The 54-year-old model opted for a tailored navy blue coat from American fashion designer Adam Lippes, which she accessorized with an eye-catching boater hat by Eric Javits. Trump's youngest daughter Tiffany Trump also made the best-dressed list, as she arrived at St. John's Episcopal Church wearing a black velvet coat with red-bottom stiletto heels from Christian Louboutin. However, former 2024 presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harris simply wore a plain black coat with silver zippered detailing - making the worst-dressed list. Her husband, Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff, was pictured wearing a gray coat and untied light gray scarf on the White House steps. His trousers also appeared a bit wrinkled, and, despite the cold temperatures, his coat wasn't buttoned. A Scottish mum who packed up her life to move to Australia with her husband and two children only to head back home less than two years later has found herself struggling once again. Kimberley Lucas took to social media in December to controversially admit Australia wasn't what they'd hoped for and said it 'isn't for everyone'. She was disappointed by the long hours expected of blue collar workers, high childcare costs, the distance from extended family and the difficulty making friends. As a result, her relationship with her husband also suffered. Now back home in Scotland after uplifting their life once again, the family is scrambling to find routine. 'Returning home from living in another country feels harder than leaving,' Kimberley wrote alongside a video of herself looking contemplatively into the distance. 'The country I once felt comfortable in [Scotland] now feels strange to me, yet nothing has changed. It's me that's grown and experienced something different, and I'm not entirely sure where I fit in. 'It's been one month now since we got that one-way ticket home, and I'd like to share the honesty in all of it, the good and the hard.' Kimberley said it's easy for the 'why did we do this?' regrets to take hold, but is trying to focus on the clear reasons why they left Australia. A Scottish mum who packed up her life to move to Australia with her husband and two children only to head back home less than two years later has found herself struggling once again 'Both countries are very different, and both can offer things that the other can't. The empty feeling is definitely a thing I didn't expect to feel as hard as I currently do, but like everything.. it takes time,' she continued. After being pummelled with questions as to why she 'hated' Australia, Kimberley said that absolutely was not the case and she actually missed many aspects of life there. 'It would be strange if we didn't miss living by the beach, with sunshine 90 per cent of the year and amazing coffee from 5am, BUT that's not the full reality of life there as a young family and right now we are making decisions that work for us and our kids,' she explained. 'Support is something we need, and being home allows us to have that. Our kids are happy. Our minds are happy, and whilst it may not be the ideal scenario for everyone, it works for us and this time of our lives.' Kimberley has not ruled out returning to Australia once the kids are grown and the extended family support is not required, and others had similar experiences. 'I feel this, we are actually considering moving back now, after being back home in the UK for 6 months - it just doesnt feel right being here anymore,' one woman wrote. 'Feel your pain girl! Been back a year and still feel the same! We are currently applying for permanent residency and moving - fingers crossed - next year,' said another. Kimberley's situation is increasingly common, with the term 'ping pong Poms' coined to describe those from the UK who find themselves bouncing to and from their home and Australia, trying to get the best of both worlds. In 2024, Scottish high school sweethearts Ruthie Ellis and John spoke to FEMAIL about their own experience after leaving 'horrible' Australia after 18 months... and then returning two years later Breathtaking beaches, remarkable landscapes and new places to explore appealed to the couple, who have been together for 21 years and have three children - Brooke, 16, Alfie, 11, Jonah, four In 2024, Scottish high school sweethearts Ruthie Ellis and John spoke to FEMAIL about their own experience after leaving 'horrible' Australia after 18 months... and then returning two years later. The pair first backpacked around Australia in 2005 and dreamed of moving Down Under for good. After they had settled down, bought a house and had children back home in Dunbar, they felt that dream slipping away, so they decided to take the plunge. The warm weather, sunny beaches, remarkable landscapes and new places to explore appealed to the couple, who have been together for 21 years and have three children - Brooke, 16, Alfie, 11, Jonah, four. After moving back to Scotland during the Covid lockdowns in 2021, the family were back in Australia by December, 2023. 'I've learnt to never make assumptions. You don't know what will happen,' Ruthie said. 'I used to always be about being mortgage-free by 50 or having a big car, but in recent years our view on life has totally changed and what richness is.' She urges those hoping to following in their footsteps to 'grab the opportunity with both hands'. Bargain hunters across Australia are buzzing after discovering a chic $18 crossbody tote bag from Kmart that looks strikingly similar to Bottega Veneta's coveted $7,660 Andiamo bag. The Kmart bag, available in black, features a sleek and practical design with woven accents that mimic the signature intrecciato style Bottega Veneta is renowned for. It's a fraction of the cost but packs a punch when it comes to style, making it a must-have for fashion lovers who don't want to break the bank. The Bottega Veneta Andiamo bag is a symbol of luxury and sophistication, crafted with high-quality leather and designed for the discerning shopper. But with a price tag of $7,660, it's an investment piece that's out of reach for many Australians - especially during the ongoing cost-of-living crisis. Enter Kmart's $18 tote, which offers an affordable alternative without sacrificing style. Shoppers and style influencer Kmart Insider are raving about the brand's dupes, with one saying, 'It's giving luxury vibes on a budget - adds to cart!' Another wrote: 'I can't justify spending thousands on a bag right now, but this Kmart version is perfect. I need it right now.' Bargain hunters are buzzing after discovering a chic $18 crossbody tote bag from Kmart (pictured) that looks strikingly similar to Bottega Veneta's coveted $7,660 Andiamo bag The Bottega Veneta Andiamo bag is a symbol of luxury and sophistication, crafted with high-quality leather and designed for the discerning shopper As household budgets tighten and Australians face rising costs for essentials, many shoppers are turning to dupes - affordable versions of high-end items - to maintain their style without the hefty price tags. The shift away from luxury spending has been significant, with consumers prioritising value for money over designer labels. Since the discovery of the Kmart bag, social media has been abuzz with posts comparing other similar bargains. Many couldn't stop raving about Kmart's brand new affordable luxury home range with all of 2025's hottest trends, while others were fixated on fashion finds. A $12 version of $1,300 French sandals also caught the eye of thousands - with shoppers claiming the shoes are a 'must have' for summer. Kmart isn't the only Aussie bargain brand on top of their game with dupes - as many run to Aldi to buy $15 versions of $200 Birkenstocks. The Kmart tote is a prime example of how savvy shoppers can achieve a high-end look without the luxury price tag. One shopper previously explained: 'I used to splurge on designer pieces, but with everything costing more these days, I've started looking for alternatives. The Kmart crossbody tote's versatile design makes it perfect for daily use, with ample space to store essentials and a comfortable strap for easy wear 'Kmart and Target bags are lifesavers - stylish, practical, and doesn't cost a fortune.' The Kmart crossbody tote's versatile design makes it perfect for daily use, with ample space to store essentials and a comfortable strap for easy wear. The woven detailing adds a touch of elegance, elevating it beyond a standard tote. While it doesn't boast the artisanal craftsmanship of the Bottega Veneta Andiamo, it offers a similar minimalist appeal, making it a fantastic choice for fashion enthusiasts on a budget. A mother-of-three has become the first person in the UK to have a brain tumour removed through a hole in her eye socket. Ruvimbo Kaviya, a nurse in Leeds, has had a tumour called a meningioma taken out from the space beneath the brain and behind the eyes. Traditionally, this type of tumour would have been considered inoperable because of where is it situated in an area called the cavernous sinus. And those which have been removed required complex surgery which involves taking off a large part of the skull and moving the brain to access the tumour which in itself can lead to serious complications including seizures. Now, surgeons from Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust have managed to remove one of these tumours using keyhole surgery through Ms Kaviya's eye socket the first surgery of its kind in the UK. Experts practised the surgery multiple times before the operation first using 3D models of Ms Kaviya's head and then in a cadaver lab. The surgery, known as an endoscopic trans-orbital approach, took just three hours and Ms Kaviya was up and walking about later the same day. Surgeons first made a small incision next to her eye, used a tiny camera called an endoscope to gently 'displace' the eye to one side. Ruvimbo Kaviya is the first person in the UK to receive groundbreaking surgery to remove a tumour through her eye socket at Leeds General Infirmary Ruvimbo's surgery came after she was diagnosed with meningiomas on the right side of the back of her brain and left side of her eye Small scar at the corner of Ruvimbo Kaviya's eye after she received groundbreaking surgery to remove a tumour through her eye socket This meant they could reach the back of the eye socket, where a small amount of bone was cut away. The tumour was then removed used a flexible tube to bring it back through the tiny hole and incision. The only evidence of the surgery is a tiny scar left near Ms Kaviya's left eye. Surgeons have since performed similar operations, giving hope to UK patients whose cancers were previously seen as inoperable. Neurosurgeon Mr Asim Sheikh said: 'There's been a move towards minimally invasive techniques over the last few years or so, with the advancement of technology, tools, 3D innovation, it is now possible to do the procedures with less morbidity, and that means the patients recover quicker and better.' He said traditional methods to get to the place where the tumour was situated requires 'pressing on quite a lot of brain'. 'So if you press on it too much, or retract it, or try and move it apart, then it can lead to patients having seizures afterwards,' Mr Sheikh said. 'Whereas this way, we're not even sort of touching the brain. It's a hard to reach area, and this allows a direct access without any compromise of pressure on the brain.' An MRI scan used by surgeons to visualise Ruvimbo Kaviya's tumour The surgery marks a significant advancement in skull base tumour treatment Ms Kaviya said that she did not even think about being the first UK patient to undergo such a procedure because the tumour was causing such severe headaches. She was eventually diagnosed with a meningioma in 2023, and the operation was performed in February last year. The 40-year-old needed three months off work to recover but now she is back at her job providing stroke rehabilitation to patients in Leeds. 'It was the first time they were doing the procedure,' she said. 'I had no option to agree because the pain was just too much I didn't even think about it being the first time, all I needed was for it to be removed.' Ms Kaviya, whose three children are aged eight, 12 and 13, said her family were 'sceptical' about the procedure. 'But I just, I just told them that 'I just have to do this it's either I do it or it, it keeps growing, and maybe I will die',' she said. 'There's a first time to everything. So you never know, this might be the best chance for me to have it'. And it was.' The 40-year-old needed three months off work to recover Meningiomas are tumours that start in the layers of tissue that cover the brain and spinal cord, and account for around 27 per cent of all brain tumours diagnosed in England. It is the most common type of benign brain tumour diagnosed in the UK, and are more common in women than in men. Most meningiomas are not cancerous but can trigger symptoms such as fits, weakness in your arms or legs, loss of eyesight or hearing loss. Hidden fat in muscles - similar to beef marbling - leads to a higher risk of dying from heart attacks or heart failure regardless of body weight, according to a study. While fatty marbling, or flecks of fat running through meat, is commercially valued in livestock, little is known about this type of body fat in humans and its impact on health. Now, experts have found that it could be linked to inflammation and insulin resistance which can cause damage to blood vessels around the heart. And the new findings add evidence that simply measuring BMI or waist circumference are not enough to assess the risk of heart health issues, researchers warned. A team from Brigham and Womans Hospital in Boston analysed data on 669 people being evaluated for chest pain or shortness of breath. The group were given scans to assess their heart function and researchers also used CT scans to analyse body composition, measuring the amounts and location of fat and muscle in sections of their torso. To determine the amount of fat stored in muscles, the team calculated the ratio of intermuscular fat to total muscle plus fat using a measurement they called the fatty muscle fraction. Patients were followed up for around six years and the scientists recorded whether any died or were hospitalised for a heart attack or heart failure. Hidden fat in muscle leads to a higher risk of dying from heart attacks, according to a study (file image) Experts have found that it could be linked to inflammation and insulin resistance which can cause damage to blood vessels around the heart (file image) While fatty marbling, or flecks of fat running through meat, is commercially valued in livestock, little is known about this type of body fat in humans (file image) Their findings revealed that people with higher amounts of fat stores in their muscles were more likely to have damage to the tiny blood vessels that serve the heart, and they were more likely to go on to die or be hospitalised for heart disease. For every 1 per cent increase in the ratio of fatty muscle fraction, there was a 2 per cent increase in the risk of damage to the hearts small blood vessels and a 7 per cent increased risk of developing serious heart disease. This was regardless of BMI, they found. Professor Vivianay Taqueti, lead author of the study, said fat stores in the muscles may be contributing to inflammation and insulin resistance. In turn, these chronic insults can cause damage to blood vessels, including those that supply the heart, and the heart muscle itself, she added. Knowing that intermuscular fat raises the risk of heart disease gives us another way to identify people who are at high risk, regardless of their body mass index. Professor Taqueti said it is not yet known how to lower the risk for people with fatty muscles. For example, we dont know how treatments such as new weight-loss therapies affect fat in the muscles relative to fat elsewhere in the body, lean tissue, and ultimately the heart, she said. Obesity is now one of the biggest global threats to cardiovascular health, yet body mass index - our main metric for defining obesity and thresholds for intervention - remains a controversial and flawed marker of cardiovascular prognosis. This is especially true in women, where high body mass index may reflect more benign types of fat. Every day we ingest countless thousands of tiny particles of waste plastic from the air and water that surround us, as well from as the food we eat. The damage these plastics may wreak inside our bodies is only now beginning to be understood fully. Over the past decade scientists have become increasingly concerned that this plastic plague may be seriously poisoning our bodies and brains, with potentially lethal consequences in some cases. Now a series of highly reputable studies are beginning to confirm one of medicines worst fears that these particles, which can be as small as one billionth of a centimetre, may be fuelling a wave of cancers affecting peoples lungs, colons, bladders and prostate glands. Some of the most worrying news comes from researchers at the University of California, San Francisco, who conducted an in-depth review of over 3,000 studies on microplastics. Their report, published in December 2024 in the journal ACS Publications Environmental Science & Technology, starkly pronounced: We concluded that microplastics are suspected to harm human reproductive, digestive and respiratory health, with a suggested link to colon and lung cancer. The paper is the first review of previous studies of microplastics to use gold standard methods for this kind of research approved by the U.S National Academy of Sciences. As Dr Antonis Myridakis, a lecturer in environmental sciences at Brunel University told the Mail, this approach involves amalgamating the most reliable results from a mass of studies, so that the overall conclusions are as authoritative as possible: These results are strong. The colour of black plastics, derived from carbon black (carbon particles), is essentially a form of soot On average we ingest about 5g of plastic particles every week - the same weight as a credit card according to a 2019 World Wildlife Fund review of data from 50 previous studies. Over a year this adds up to 260g, or half a pound. The tiny particles that invade our bloodstream and organs are classed as microplastics (as small as 0.0001mm) and nanoplastics (as small as one billionth of a centimetre, 0.000000001cm). They are becoming ever more pervasive: each year companies worldwide produce nearly 460 million metric tons of plastic. That is projected to reach 1.1 billion by 2050. Research has already shown how microplastics can lodge in our organs, causing dangerous inflammation. And hazardous chemicals are often carried on the surface of these particles - these chemicals, used in their manufacture, include plasticisers chemical additives that make plastics more flexible which may mutate our DNA, raising the risk of cancers. This fear has been significantly reinforced by the new California University report - this highlighted scientific evidence suggesting that plastic microparticles disrupt the mucus layer in the colon which normally protects its cells from damage, and thus potentially promote tumour development. The researchers also warned that microplastic particles are suspected of killing intestinal cells and causing chronic inflammation, as well as harming the intestinal immune system, which again might cause cancerous changes. The California researchers also reported on an association between inhaling microplastics and poor lung function. The particles can damage lung tissues and cause chronic inflammation that may damage cells and their DNA, which can increase the risk of lung cancer. Lead author of the study Dr Matthew Cole warns that one of the worst things you can do is keep food in single-use plastic containers Experts at the charity Breast Cancer UK say that while still unproven, a link is feasible between microplastics and breast cancer risk. The charity explains: Microplastics often contain mixtures of hormone-disrupting chemicals, which mimic the female hormone oestrogen. These may be particularly hazardous [as they are linked with causing cancerous changes in breast cells}. Ingestion of microplastics can cause inflammation and irritation. This may potentially lead to DNA damage and promote cancer. These findings come on the tail of other disturbing new research that warned of an association between ingesting microplastics and developing prostate cancer. The study, published in the Lancet journal eBioMedicine last October, used high-tech scanning to identify microplastics in tissue samples obtained from 22 prostate cancer patients (with an average age of 67). The researchers, at the Peking University First Hospital in Beijing, found a host of different plastic types inside the tumour tissue, including polystyrene, polyamide and polyvinyl chloride (PVC). Levels of polystyrene microparticles alarmed the scientists most. This plastic is commonly used in disposable food containers and the study showed that the more takeaways the patients had eaten, the more polystyrene was found in their tumours. The scientists warned that microplastics carry toxic plasticisers that have known hormone-altering, often carcinogenic properties. They are calling for large studies to be launched urgently to explore how takeaway packaging may be driving microplastic exposure. Further concern comes from Australian research published last August, which revealed that microplastics have been found in the urinary tracts of more than two-thirds of patients with bladder cancer. The study, by Bond University in Queensland, examined research data collated from 18 previous studies on patients in the US, China, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Pakistan and Taiwan. While there is no direct proof that the microplastics caused the cancers, the researchers concluded that the evidence shows the toxic and inflammatory materials seriously harmed the human urinary tract cells in ways which might lead them to turn cancerous. In 2019 the World Health Organisation published a report which concluded microplastics in drinking water did not present a threat. But the Australian scientists said that their evidence challenges the World Health Organisations assertion that microplastics pose no risk to public health. They added: The documented toxic effects of microplastics, alongside their ability to induce inflammation and reduce cell viability, raise significant public health concerns relating to bladder cancer. Fears about the plastics that surround us in everyday life have further been intensified by research at Plymouth University into plastic cookware and particularly black plastic cookware. A study last year at Plymouth Marine Laboratory revealed that plastic cookware can release microplastics into food during food preparation. The lead author, Dr Matthew Cole, a senior ecotoxicologist warned that plastic cookware may be contributing more than 5,000 microplastic pieces a year into homecooked food. Black plastic utensils, a common sight in many households, may be particularly hazardous, previous research from the university suggests. In a 2018 study published in the journal Environment International found that these utensils are often made from electronic waste and contain toxic flame retardants, lead and mercury. The colour of black plastics, derived from carbon black (carbon particles), is essentially a form of soot. The study found toxic chemicals in 40 per cent of black plastic utensils, which tested up to 30 times above the level deemed safe. As well as avoiding black plastic cookware, Dr Myridakis told the Mail that we can all reduce our exposure to microplastics by improving our household air quality. Microplastic air pollution is significantly more abundant indoors than outside, he says. Regularly vacuuming with cleaners that have high-quality air filters, as well as dusting and ventilating our homes, really can make a difference. He adds: In the kitchen one of the worst things you can do is keep food and drink in plastic containers - particularly old, brittle and scratched ones. The other thing to ban from home is single-use plastic containers such as water bottles, as they use the cheapest forms of plastic that shed the most microparticles. Some of the most common cancers in the US could soon be treated using a common virus, a new breakthrough study suggests. Scientists in China have developed a modified virus found in birds that causes cancer cells to produce sugars the immune system can easily recognize and attack. The experimental therapy was tested on 23 patients suffering from eight different cancers including of the breast, lung and skin whose disease had not responded to standard treatments. All but one of the patients saw their tumors shrink or stop growing after receiving infusions once a week for eight to 12 weeks. Scientists also tested the therapy on five monkeys with liver cancer, and found all lived longer than those that got a placebo. Experts not involved with the research said it showed promise, especially considering the therapy was used to target such a wide range of cancers. But they added it would still need to clear rigorous trials before the treatment could be proven safe and made available for Americans a process that would take years. The treatment, called NDV-GT, works by tricking the body into unleashing an immune response similar to how it would during an organ transplant rejection. Liver cancer shown before treatment (left) and one-and-a-half months after the patient received the experimental therapy that uses a virus Immunologist and surgeon Yongxiang Zhao at Guangxi Medical University in Nanning, got the idea from studying patients who'd received pig organ transplants, which is an emerging and experimental field of medicine. Human antibodies immediately attach to sugars that stud the surfaces of pig cells, leading to an immense and rapid rejection of the transplanted tissue. Dr Zhao wondered if this process could be harnessed and used to treat cancer. His experimental therapy uses a genetically modified Newcastle disease virus, which can be fatal to birds but causes only mild or no disease in humans. It differs from the virus that causes bird flu. The virus isn't potent enough to elicit a strong enough immune response, so the team engineered it to carry the genetic instructions for an enzyme called 1,3-galactotransferase. This enzyme coats the cancer cells with a sugar found in pig organ tissue. Antibodies from the immune system bind to this sugar, triggering white blood cells to attack and destroy cancer cells, leaving healthy cells untouched. The treatment was first tested on ten monkeys suffering from liver cancer. All five of the monkeys who received a placebo died within four months. The ones who received the therapy survived for more than six months. In the human trial, scientists recruited patients with eight types of cancer: liver, esophagus, rectum, ovaries, lungs, breast, skin and cervix. The results were positive. After two years, two patients saw their tumors shrink, but they had not vanished entirely. Tumor growth halted in five participants. For some others, tumor growth initially ceased but later resumed. Only two participants experienced no positive effects from the treatment, while two others withdrew from the trial before completing the first year. An ovarian cancer patient's scan before treatment (left) and three months after treatment with the experimental therapy The patients all had stage four cancers or advanced stage three cancers, which patients often survive with for only a few months. Dr Brian Lichty, an immuno-oncologist at McMaster University in Canada, told Nature that it was still 'early days' for the treatment but that the initial results were good. He also said that it was 'a little unusual' for the treatment to show promise across such a wide range of cancers. 'I hope it stands up to further clinical testing,' he added. Researchers said the treatment would now move into phase two and three clinical trials. The treatment was revealed in the journal Cell. About 2million Americans are diagnosed with cancer every year, and 608,000 die from the disease. Among the most common are breast cancer, lung cancer and melanoma, which together make up about 608,000 cases per year or just over 25 percent of cases. The new therapy is known as oncolytic virus therapy, that uses a virus to destroy cancer cells but leaves healthy cells untouched. The FDA has approved one of these therapies to date, called T-VEC and which uses a modified herpes virus to treat melanoma. It was approved in 2015 but only for advanced melanoma that cannot be removed surgically and does not tend to be more effective than other treatments. Late last year, a scientist revealed she had also reversed her stage three breast cancer using the same method by combining a measles virus and flu-like pathogen and altering them to attack tumors. A new case of the monkeypox strain causing global alarm has been found in the UK, health officials have confirmed. The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said the patient was found in East Sussex but was now under specialist care at Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust in London. They said the patient the sixth UK case of the deadly strain to date had recently returned to Britain from Uganda where the virus is spreading amongst the population. Health officials said they wouldn't be releasing any further details about the patient. However, they added potential close contacts of the patient who may have been exposed to the virus are being tracked. These contacts will be offered testing and treatment if needed. The first British case of the new strain, detected on 30 October, was also found in person traveling to the UK from Africa and led to three other cases within the same household. The fifth case, in November, was also from another imported travel-related case. The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said the patient was found East Sussex but was now under specialist care at Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust in London It takes the total number of confirmed cases in Britain now to six. UKHSA said the ongoing risk of the virus to the public remained 'low', and that cases linked to Africa were to be expected. Dr Meera Chand, Deputy Director at UKHSA, said: 'It is thanks to clinicians rapidly recognising the symptoms and the work of our specialist laboratory that we have been able to detect this new case. 'The risk to the UK population remains low following this sixth case, and we are working rapidly to trace close contacts and reduce the risk of any potential spread.' The new strain of mpox, called Clade 1b, has swept through central Africa killing at least 1,000 people, since the outbreak began. The strain is estimated to kill about 5 per cent of adults who contract it, but the mortality rate rises to one in 10 in children. It is considered far deadlier than the clade 2 strain which spread globally in 2022 and primarily hit gay and bisexual men, and which only killed about one in every 500 people that caught it. Experts say fatality rates of clade 1b from central Africa are unlikely to be replicated in developed nations like the UK due to better access to higher quality healthcare. Common symptoms of mpox include a skin rash or pus-filled lesions which can last two to four weeks. In a small number of cases, the infection can enter the blood and lungs, as well as other parts of the body like the brain which causes it to become life-threatening. The infection is mainly passed through close person-to-person contact with someone who is infected or through contact with contaminated materials such as bed sheets. Anyone with symptoms should continue to avoid contact with other people while symptoms persist. It can also cause fever, headaches, muscle aches, back pain, low energy and swollen lymph nodes. Current mpox vaccines, are designed to work on smallpox a close relative of the mpox virus. Dr Anthony Fauci was given a pre-emptive pardon by outgoing President Biden on Monday - likely due to fears he could be charged with perjury by Trump's DOJ. The former White House advisor has long been accused of misleading Congress under oath about funding risky virus research in Wuhan before the Covid pandemic. While Fauci had not been charged with a crime, there were growing calls among Republicans - including Elon Musk - to charge the 84-year-old with perjury, which carries a prison sentence of at least five years. In a May 2021 Senate hearing on the origins of Covid, Dr Fauci said his old agency, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, had not ever and does not now fund gain-of-function research in the Wuhan Institute of Virology. But emails showed that in February 2020 Dr Fauci, NIH head Dr Francis Collins, and Dr Peter Daszak, head of the company that dispersed grants to the WIV, EcoHealth alliance acknowledged that scientists at Wuhan University were working on GOF experiments to study bat viruses adapting to human infection prior to the outbreak in Wuhan. In one email, Dr Fauci admits the scientists had concerns that Covid might have been genetically engineered and that these were worsened by the fact that gain-of-function research was taking place in Wuhan before the pandemic. Dr Fauci, whose pardon extends all the way back to 2014, has since claimed that he was using a different definition of GOF during his Senate hearing. If the Department of Justice had pursued criminal charges against Fauci, prosecutors would have had to prove that Dr Fauci made a false statement and knew it was false, but deliberately misstated the facts. Although President Trump hasn't specified charges against Dr. Fauci, Senator Ted Cruz stated in 2022 that Fauci lied to Congress and criticized the Biden DOJ under Merrick Garland for not prosecuting him. The offense carries a minimum five-year prison sentence They would have also had to prove that Dr Fauci intended to deceive the Congress members he testified in front of, rather than making an innocent mistake. It is unlikely that he would have served any prison time. He has no prior criminal record and given he is a prominent public health official, his conviction would take politics and public scrutiny into account. And while the stated penalty is five years in prison on felony charges, actual sentences depend on myriad factors. A sentence on the lower end would be more likely, in part due to his age. Your browser does not support iframes. There is some precedent though every case is different. Former President Bill Clinton was impeached for perjury and obstruction of justice during the Monica Lewinsky scandal, though he was not convicted by the Senate. Another high profile perjury case involved longtime Trump political adviser Roger Stone was found guilty of five counts of lying to Congress in 2019 about his communications with Trump in an investigation into foreign interference in the 2016 campaign. Fauci's pardon makes him immune from legal proceedings involving alleged crimes that took places between January 1, 2014 through January 19, 2025. Whether or not Fauci misled Congress comes down to a disagreement on the definition of gain of function. Dr. Fauci and the NIH argue that EcoHealths research in Wuhan didn't involve enhancing a pathogen's transmissibility or virulence in humans, but rather focused on understanding and preventing pandemics. Its unlikely he would have served prison time. With no prior criminal record and his status as a prominent public health official, any conviction would be influenced by political factors and public scrutiny At the same time, the NIH's own definition of gain of function reads as follows: 'Certain gain-of-function studies with the potential to enhance the pathogenicity or transmissibility of potential pandemic pathogens (PPPs) have raised biosafety and biosecurity concerns, including the potential dual use risks associated with the misuse of the information or products resulting from such research.' Critics, however, contend that the research on bat coronaviruses at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, which involved modifying viruses to study their potential to infect humans, clearly fits the definition of gain of function. In a meticulous 520-page report by the the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic, the group concluded that 'Dr Faucis testimony was, at a minimum, misleading.' During the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, emails surfaced that revealed Dr Fauci had exchanged communications with his colleagues regarding the research on gain-of-function experiments. In one of the emails, dated February 2020, Dr. Fauci did indeed send a message to his deputy, Hugh Auchincloss, mentioning 'SARS gain-of-function' and attaching a paper related to this topic. The emails became public through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request. Several times in the past few years, Dr Fauci has clashed with Republicans in the Senate, particularly Kentucky Republican Rand Paul, who allege that he purposely mislead Congress about the US involvement in funding such research that they believe may have culminated in the Covid pandemic. They have highlighted what they see as incriminating. While incoming President Trump has not stated specifically which charges he would bring against Dr Fauci, Sen Ted Cruz of Texas said in 2022: Dr. Fauci flat-out lied to Congress. Yet Merrick Garland and the Biden DOJ won't prosecute. The charge carries a prison sentence of at least five years. Emails dated February 1, 2020 show Fauci acknowledged that 'scientists in Wuhan University are known to have been working on gain-of-function experiments to determine that molecular mechanisms associated with bat viruses adapting to human infection, and the outbreak originated in Wuhan' Allies calls to punish Dr Fauci have ramped up since Trumps win in November. Elon Musk, who was instrumental in getting Trump elected and has sway in the administration, has tweeted, My pronouns are still prosecute/Fauci. Dr Fauci was instrumental in developing the Covid vaccines whose record-breaking development timeline averted millions of deaths. The Biden administrations press team has not responded to a request for comment about what specifically it believes Dr Fauci could have been charged with or whether the charge had any merits. Meanwhile, incoming President Trump himself has not said with what he would charge the doctor and spent much of his campaign lambasting the doctor for his denial of gain of function as well as his involvement in policy making that resulted in shut down schools and businesses. In the aftermath of Bidens sweeping pardons, Trump fumed at NBC News Kristen Welker: Many are guilty of major crimes. Cal Fire firefighters battle a blaze Sunday morning at a house in Emerald Lake Hills in unincorporated San Mateo County. Cal Fire Cal Fire investigators are trying to determine the cause of a house fire Sunday morning in Emerald Lake Hills in unincorporated San Mateo County. Cal Fire Firefighters rescued two people and an animal from a house fire in San Mateo County on Sunday morning, Cal Fire said. The people, who were trapped before firefighters rescued them, suffered minor injuries during the blaze in Emerald Lake Hills, an unincorporated community, Cal Fire said. Faced with trapped people, the first firefighters who showed up called for additional resources. The crews got the fire under control quickly and stopped the blaze from spreading to vegetation and nearby homes, Cal Fire said. Advertisement Article continues below this ad The two people were taken to a hospital for evaluations, Cal Fire said. Cal Fire firefighters pulled two people and an animal from a house fire Sunday morning in Emerald Lake Hills in unincorporated San Mateo County. Cal Fire The cause of the fire was under investigation. Officials did not provide further details about the incident. This video is no longer available This video is no longer available MSNBC panelists got into a huge brush-up after it was announced the inauguration of the president would be moved indoors. Former Maryland Lt. Gov. Michael Stephen Steele tried to correct a colleague about when the US Constitution states the ceremony should be held - while getting it wrong himself. The conversation surrounded the current frigid temperatures in Washington, DC, and whether a scheduling change was in order. Steele, once the head of the Republican National Convention (RNC), expressed his desire to once again hold inaugurations in March - a practice undone in 1933 by the 20th Amendment. Seemingly unaware of this, Steele lamented the decision, questioning why it was made in the first place. Fellow host Symone Sanders-Townsend - the old senior advisor to Kamala Harris - at this point spoke up, correctly saying it was tenet of the Constitution. Steele, 66, expressed confusion, correctly saying himself the ceremony had been held in the spring up until the swearing-in of Franklin Delano Roosevelt. He went on to state that the stipulation it be held in January was not present in the supreme law of the United States - leaving egg on his face in the process. MSNBC panelists got into a bit of a brush-up Monday during the network's inauguration coverage over a factual inaccuracy, after former Maryland Lt. Gov. Michael Stephen Steele attempted to correct The Weekend host Symone Sanders-Townsend, but got it wrong himself The conversation surrounded the current frigid temperatures in Washington, DC, and whether a scheduling change was in order to avoid such cold. Temperatures in the municipality were well below freezing Monday, leaving attendees to line up in the cold 'Well, there's still the value of moving the inauguration back to March,' he said, a year after being named The Weekend's host alongside Sanders-Townsend, 35, and Alicia Menendez. Steele, responding to B-roll showing thousands already lined up outside for the following morning, continued: 'I don't know why they ever moved to January in the first place. 'But here we are,' he asked incredulously. A visibly puzzled Sanders-Townsend at this point cut in, leading to some audible awkwardness in real-time. 'The Constitution,' she answered, over some crosstalk. 'What was that?' her senior, who received a BA in international studies from the Johns Hopkins University in 1981, replied. 'The Constitution,' a smiling Sanders-Townsend said again, referring to the well-known amendment. Steele still disagreed, arguing again, 'No, the inauguration was held in March right up through Roosevelt. 'And then they changed it,' Steele said of the decision to move the ceremony from March to January, still unaware it came from the US Constitution. 'It ain't in the Constitution. Let's, come on....' He trailed off at a point, as Sanders-Townsend and Alicia Menendez exchanged glances 'And then they changed it,' he continued, still unaware of his oversight. 'It ain't in the Constitution. Let's, come on....' He trailed off as anchors Sanders-Townsend and Menendez, 41, exchanged awkward glances. Steele, at this point, let out a laugh, oblivious as his co-hosts announced they were giving way to a commercial break. 'Okay, that's what we're going to do,' Steele said, not being corrected before viewers. He had not been wrong in insisting that past presidents have been sworn in during the month of March, but missed the fact that that changed in 1933, when the 20th Amendment was passed to shorten the transition time between administrations. As a result, the official inaugural date was changed to January 20, leaving FDR the last sitting president to be sworn-in in March or his first inauguration in 1933. That's where the head of state uttered the now famous line - 'the only thing we have to fear is fear itself'. Four years later, he'd become the first to take the oath on January 20 - a day specifically mentioned in the amendment that's meant to streamline the transfer of power. Over the course of the conversation, Steele continued to express confusion - after correctly saying himself the ceremony had been held in the spring up until the swearing-in of Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1933 (seen here) Four years later, he'd become the first to take the oath on January 20 - a day specifically mentioned in the amendment that's meant to streamline the transfer of power The Library of Congress, meanwhile, sheds more light on this tradition, stating, in part, that 'Until the ratification of the Twentieth Amendment in 1933, the official day for presidential inaugurations was March 4. When the fourth fell on a Sunday, as it did in 1821, 1849, 1877, and 1917, the ceremonies were held on March 5.' Since 1933, the term of each elected president begins at noon on January 20 of the year after the preceding election. Rolling Stone drew some sharp rebukes online over its headline for coverage of Donald Trump's inauguration. 'Convicted felon sworn in as president,' the title insisted a little before 1 pm - after Trump was sworn in for the second time in the crowded Capitol Rotunda. The characterization paved the way for some heated discourse on Instagram, where the magazine had reposted the headline with a link to the story. 'Here we go again,' part of the caption read - echoing a flag seen in the original piece placed before the title. As it published, a victorious Trump told those assembled: 'The golden age of America begins now' - leading Rolling Stone to quote the assertion in a secondary headline. The 21-word subhead referenced influential figures in the crowd, framed as 'the wealthy and powerful.' They'd been gathered 'inside the Capitol [Trump's] supporters violently attacked in an effort to keep him in power' four years before - the piece notes in its introductory paragraph, before getting into Trump's campaign promises. It further painted the day's proceedings as 'stomach churning' - though most took issue with the headline. The piece also mentioned the events of January 6, days after a sentencing in a New York hush money case solidified Trump's status as a felon. Rolling Stone is being hit with some less-than-kind comments on social media over a headline it published surrounding Donald Trump's now-concluded inauguration. The piece further painted the day's proceedings as 'stomach churning', days after a sentencing solidified Trump's status as a convicted felon. The newly minted president is seen alongside First Lady Melania during his inauguration 'Rolling Stone, one[sic] a great magazine about great music. Now toilet paper,' one top comment on the Instagram read, after racking up more than 700 likes in a matter of hours. 'Enough with this s**t,' another user added, after Trump was sentenced to unconditional discharge after being convicted on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records during his first campaign. 'Embrace what the change is. 'You guys are a MUSIC publication,' the person reiterated. 'Stop with the nonsense. It's annoying already.' Someone else sniped how 'all the best hero's[sic] are portrayed as the bad guy', before proudly proclaiming 'MAGA' for the magazine's followers to see. 'How many convicted felons have you guys had on the cover of your magazine,' yet another pointed out - pointing to an edition released by Rolling Stone nearly ten years ago, during Trump's first, whirlwind campaign. At the time, a secondary headline seen alongside the then-soon-to-be president read, 'Taking Trump seriously' - one of the last positive takes from the publication in that regard before the initial Trump presidency. For those four years - and over the course of the subsequent administration - the magazine would unleash a barrage of constant criticism toward the conservative, as it had done with George W. Bush in years before. In August 2017, the magazine featured Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau on its cover with the headline 'Why can't he be our president?' Trudeau, a few weeks ago, resigned - after it became clear progressive policies he implemented had led to him losing favor with citizens. In September 2017, Wenner Media sold its remaining 51 stake in Rolling Stone, after it unloaded the other 49 percent to Singaporean company BandLab Technologies the year before. The decision - made by founder Jann Wenner and his then-27-year-old Gus - came in response to waning circulation numbers fueled by the rise of the internet, and a libel battle with a University of Virginia fraternity that left them on the hook $1.65 million. The settlement came in reponse to a controversy sparked by a November 2014 story titled 'A Rape on Campus', which featured accounts from a woman identified only as "Jackie" who claimed to be raped by members of the school's Phi Kappa Psi fraternity. The article, written by Sabrina Rubin Erdely, was retracted in April 2015 after a police investigation found no evidence of such crimes. At the time, Wenner - who founded RS as a 21-year-old hippy student in California - said he wanted to find a buyer that understands Rolling Stone and has 'lots of money.' 'Rolling Stone has played such a role in the history of our times, socially and politically and culturally,' The 71-year-old who appointed his young son to be the president of the family publishing company said at the time. 'We want to retain that position.' In August 2017, the magazine featured Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau on its cover with the headline 'Why can't he be our president?' - two years after its final interview with a then-campaigning Trump The magazine has since received criticism for straying from its 50 years of seminal covers and influential articles for more opinionated, polarizing content. In 2008, Conservative columnist Jonah Goldberg claimed Rolling Stone had 'essentially become the house organ of the Democratic National Committee'. Wenner, meanwhile, has made political donations to only Democrats over the course of his career, and upon selling the company, promised he and his son would still be involved with much of its daily doings. Over the past three decades, RS has conducted high-profile interviews with Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama. It has not interviewed Trump since its piece in 2015. The Government has revealed artificial intelligence will be deployed in a bid to help improve Britain's persistent and rising pothole problem. Keir Starmer revealed the UK Government AI Opportunities Action Plan last week which contained ambitious plans to use AI to 'spot potholes quicker.' The idea is that AI will find new potholes before they form but motorists are less than impressed with the Prime Minister's grand plan, research shows. An Auto Express survey found 46 per cent of drivers are in favour of the Government's plans to use AI to detect potholes before they form. Instead, the majority of motorists want the Government to fix potholes already present on UK roads. Potholes are an increasing issue in the UK. Last week, the RAC reported pothole-related breakdowns jumped a fifth in the final quarter of 2024, while the AA found total pothole damage to vehicles rose to 579million in 2024, compared to 474million in 2023 - a rise of 22 per cent. Part of the newly revealed UK Government AI Opportunities Action Plan, the Government plans to use AI to 'spot potholes quicker' The Government's has pledged 7million funding to AI projects across the country in order to 'turbocharge' growth by using technology. One of the key AI examples given - which include using it to help bakeries and farmers - is to utilise artificial intelligence to 'predict potholes before they form'. By doing this the Government predicts potholes will be repaired more quickly and cheaply. Despite the Government's forward-thinking plan, 26 per cent of drivers told Auto Express they actively oppose the use of AI and just want policyholders to invest more in fixing the potholes we already have. A Government spokesperson told This is Money that the Labour Government is 'getting on with fixing the existing pothole plague' by allocating '1.6 billion investment for the coming year', as well as 'separately' looking to new methods: 'We are investing a small amount of money to trial innovative ways to maintain our roads and save taxpayer money in the process, which will support smoother roads in the long term.' Your browser does not support iframes. Surrey County Council is already using dash-mounted AI to spot and photograph potholes in need of repair The Council says that highway inspectors will no longer have to manually inspect roads, saving time and improving safety The Government's AI pothole-detecting plan isn't the first move to employ AI to help fix the crumbling state of British roads, as some AI tech is already in use across the UK. A crowd-sourcing app called Stan which is free to download and use with no sign-up necessary or personal data stored uses AI video and images recorded on drivers' windscreen-mounted smartphones to flag up road surface issues. And last week Surrey County Council announced it is starting to use AI to detect potholes to speed up road repairs. Highway vehicles in the county will use dashcam computer cameras to spot and photograph potholes which will then be automatically recorded for repair. Potholes that don't require immediate attention will be tracked to make sure they are dealt with in the future. As such highway inspectors will no longer have to manually inspect roads, saving time and improving safety. Matt Furniss, Cabinet Member for Highways, Transport and Economic Growth, said: 'Adopting this technology will mean we can proactively log and fix potholes, helping to ensure we have well-maintained roads across the county for our residents.' How is the Government tackling our pothole problem? In the Budget, the Government committed to fixing an extra one million potholes per year, alongside pledging 500million towards local road maintenance in 2025 to 2026. However the amount was slammed as 'a drop in the ocean' as current estimates put the nation's pothole repair bill at a whopping 16billion. Since then the Government has announced extra funds to fix local roads in England. Notably the Government has said that 25 per cent of funds would be withheld until local authorities prove they are delivering more proactive maintenance and getting away from the wasteful patchwork approach - or 'spending the money wisely' as the Government put it. The RAC recently reported that the average repair figure is 460 if a car needs fixing after hitting a pothole for anything more serious than a puncture. This is 43 per cent more than the average cost of pothole compensation claims paid out by councils to drivers in 2023, which was 260 per claim, according to the FOI data. This is Money has contacted the Department for Transport for comment. Tower Resources, a small-cap explorer listed on Londons AIM, is now breathing rarified air thanks to a deal announced in early January. The farm-out deal was long in the waiting, as the company had been trying for a deal for several years, against a market backdrop that was far more challenging than when the process began. In truth, many investors bar the most patient and faithful had likely written off the explorers chances of getting a deal done. Tower will receive $4.38 million in cash from new partner Prime Global Energies, a UK company with substantial producing assets in Pakistan, which is also committed to around $15 million of investment in Towers flagship assets, once the transaction is completed. With a deal now in place and an injection of funds on the way, Tower and its team led by chairman and CEO Jeremy Asher is starting 2025 with two things going for it that most other small-cap oil and gas firms do not an active, fully-funded well happening this year, and sufficient capital that it can focus on its assets without issuing new shares. Some uncertainties remain Tower boss Asher is confident that the explorer will achieve its plan, to drill the NJOM-3 well, on the Njonji discovery, in Cameroon, on target later this year. Success with the well will kick off a field development project, ultimately delivering cashflows and revenue, but as Asher explains, a few regulatory boxes need to be ticked before a rig contract can be signed, and a timeline is finalised. NJOM-3 could be the first well in a multi-well campaign that would establish early production Asher is upbeat about the wells chances, with high confidence that the project will be commercially viable. What the NJOM-3 well is intended to do is confirm some specificity over volumes. It will deliver the hard data to allow a more specified development and early production plan. NJOM-3 follows up original discovery wells drilled by Total, over a decade ago, which were not at that time tested moreover, subsequent analysis shows these wells were not optimally located nor did they access all possible reservoir zones in the area. With up-to-date insights, based on its team's technical work, Tower intends to pin down a more definitive measure of the fields potential. Low risk, high potential The fields production potential could range from just a few thousand barrels per day, to several tens of thousands of barrels per day but, in the relatively shallow waters where Njonji is based, even the lowest parts of the range will still hold commercial value for Tower. And there are many more prospective structures to explore once the Njonji structure is appraised and developed. This may, perhaps, be the most appealing aspect of the project for investors. The threshold for success is quite low, meanwhile, substantial potential remains for the well to significantly overdeliver. NJOM-3 could be the first well in a multi-well campaign that would establish early production. In this way, Asher describes it as a classic early production approach in which the initial wells provide the basis for debt financing for a much larger eventual project. First, however, the upcoming well must deliver reliable data to put the project on a path to commercialisation. 'If you look at the original CPRs for the Njonji discovery, we observe that there's a wide range of potential outcomes at the moment because Total never tested the reservoirs they encountered, and also even if they had, their two discovery wells for each of them were not in the optimal points. 'As a result, they didn't intersect all the reservoirs that appeared to be present on seismic. That's why there's a wide range of uncertainty over this development, which we hope the NJOM-3 well will largely resolve. 'If you look at that CPR, we've got a low-end estimate of a 1,000 barrels a day, a base case of 2,000 barrels a day, and a high end of only 2,500 a day. 'That is premised on the fact that there are wells nearby with initial production rates of three thousand barrels a day, but, generally there's significant decline rates to factor in as well. We're aware that we might find production volumes anywhere in those kind of ranges. 'As far as we can see, any of them can be economic against the current prices. 'Obviously, we'd much rather have higher volumes than lower volumes, but the most important thing of all is to know what you've got because if you know that it's 1,800 barrels a day, you can set up all the planning and budgeting and equipment accordingly and it would work out very nicely. 'You just don't want to oversize yourself for big volume and then actually find lower volumes.' Success can unlock non-dilutive financing For Tower, the priority is to have a reliable number from the NJOM-3 tests that Asher and his team can then take to the bank, to secure debt financing for the rest of the wells needed to deliver the field into cash-generating early production. 'We do have numbers in mind, we've already shared them publicly. It's not a secret, but it's also not a secret that there's a wide range of possible rates, and that's why we're drilling this well in the way we're drilling.' Tower now has a few weeks and months to clear off the remaining regulatory box-ticking in-country, secure a rig, and nail down a drilling schedule. These will be the next catalysts for shareholders and new investors, if they are to be rewarded for their patience and Tower Resources delivers on whats always been a high potential speculative investment. A couple whose little baby girl died just 33 days after being born due to an 'avalanche of mistakes' by a scandal-hit hospital are still fighting for justice six years on. Dominic and Ewelina Clyde-Smith were over the moon when they found they were expecting their first child and took every precaution to ensure the pregnancy went smoothly, with the mother only drinking bottled water out of fear of contamination. It was a 'perfect' pregnancy and they eagerly awaited the arrival of the baby, delighted that Ewelina - who was 32 at the time - could give birth at a hospital in Jersey, near their family. But after a traumatic labour full of 'horrific' pain, they knew something was wrong when doctors rushed in and their newborn daughter Amelia was 'pale, very floppy and lifeless'. No one had been looking at the monitors that had shown 'frank' signs that something had gone terribly wrong. The midwife had missed all the red flags which an inquest heard 'even a medical student would recognise' and neglected to perform the basic checks required. Amelia suffered from a lack of oxygen during the labour, which led to brain damage. She was then rushed to a hospital in Portsmouth by air ambulance, but her ventilator wasn't plugged in properly and she was given 100 per cent oxygen which is toxic - it damages the lungs and can lead to problems in the brain and eyes. The baby girl passed away in her father's arms after 33 days of desperately fighting for her life. An inquest recently ruled that neglect by the hospital staff caused her death. Ewelina, a lawyer, told MailOnline: 'It will never get easier for us and will never bring our daughter back. Getting justice is the last thing we can do for our daughter's memory. 'Amelia's life was stolen from her. It was stolen in the most cruel and inconceivable way - in the place where she should have been safe and protected the most.' Little Amelia died just 33 days after being born due to an 'avalanche of mistakes' Dominic and Ewelina Clyde-Smith were over the moon when they found out she was pregnant with their first child Baby Amelia is pictured in a hospital crib surrounded by fluffy toys It also emerged in the inquest that staff were ordered to change their reports and the midwife from that night was told to take an online course. She remains working at Jersey Hospital today - a fact that deeply worries Ewelina and Dominic. They wanted to bring a criminal case against the hospital which has been the subject of a number of scandals, but corporate manslaughter isn't in Jersey law. Touching family photos show Amelia being showered with love at the hospital. Ewelina - who was born in Poland - went back to the country to give birth to her two daughters via C-Section when she fell pregnant again because of what she went through in Jersey. When she arrived at the hospital for Amelia's birth, Ewelina was told she wasn't going to go into labour for another 24 hours. But it actually happened within a few hours and she was doubled up with 'horrific' pain. Midwife Tamburai Muoni told the inquest: 'I don't think I have seen that level of pain, ever, it was distressing and horrible.' The inquest heard that on-call consultants had, at times, been 'stroppy' about being called in. Ms Muoni said that staff were on edge because the labour ward coordinator had left the ward to help a friend with a home birth the night before which the inquest heard was a ''dereliction of her duties'. On the night of Amelia's birth, she again left her post, 'abandoning' Ewelina. The inquest heard that staff were ordered to change their statements by a different labour ward coordinator so this wasn't mentioned, and Ms Muoni said there was a 'form of censorship' surrounding it. Coroner Bridget Dolan KC said it was 'not documented anywhere' for five years after her death despite it being 'common knowledge'. Amelia suffered from a lack of oxygen during the labour, which led to brain damage Amelia's grieving parents are still fighting for justice six years on Ewelina is pictured with baby Amelia wrapped in a pink blanket Dominic cuddles Amelia in a baby Batman hat As a result, there was no one monitoring the screens which had 'the pathological sign of frank deceleration' that something was wrong at 4.45am. When the labour ward coordinator returned at 5:27am, she knew straight away that the delivery needed to happen ASAP. Experts told the inquest it should have been 'obvious' to the midwives before then and nothing was 'difficult to interpret'. The coroner said: 'This was basic midwifery care and it was absent.' When Amelia was born, her mother said she wasn't concerned for her safety because Ms Muoni had reassured her that everything was fine throughout the labour. She said: I recall that Ms Muoni seemed flustered and she kept stepping back from the delivery bed in panic so the other midwife had to stand next to her. It was taking forever. I was feeling very faint but thought it would all be over very soon and everything will be fine.' Amelia was born at 6am on Sunday August 19, 2018. 'I did not hear her cry,' her mother said. She was placed on a small resuscitation table and doctors and nurses flooded in, performing chest compressions and inserting a tube into her mouth. Ewelina told MailOnline: 'Dominic looked terrified but was trying to reassure me as he clearly did not want to upset me.' Amelia was rushed to a hospital in Portsmouth by air ambulance (pictured), but her ventilator wasn't plugged in properly and she was given 100 per cent oxygen which is toxic When Amelia was born, her mother said she wasn't concerned for her safety because Ms Muoni had reassured her that everything was fine throughout the labour Ewelina cuddles her newborn daughter as she is wrapped up in fluffy blankets 'At no stage were we told that the intense labour process can harm the baby. I now know that a C-section should have been performed much earlier on as there were clear problems with Amelia being in trauma and the way the labour was progressing. 'At no point we were advised on a C-section option. 'There was no doctor attending and the midwife, Ms Muoni, either ignored the early signs of Amelia's trauma or was too inexperienced to spot them. 'The fact that we were completely neglected during the labour caused my daughter to suffer tremendously and die from the injuries sustained at birth. It is very hard to think that all of this could have been prevented had appropriate steps were taken. 'Dominic asked whether there was any concern about brain damage and the consultant told us 'No'. 'We were also told that Amelia's brain was perfectly formed and her injuries were consistent with a hypoxic insult to the brain at birth. It was devastating for us to hear that all her injuries were only caused at labour which should not have happened.' When Amelia stopped breathing, she was being cuddled by her mother. 'I was very distressed and cried as she was not re-starting to breathe,' she said. 'We were then in a separate room with her, at the Maternity Ward, waiting for her to pass away. We were cuddling her all the time so that she was not alone. She took her last breath when she was being cuddled by Dominic. Baby Amelia pictured cuddling a fluffy bunny, surrounded by toys When little Amelia stopped breathing, she was being cuddled by her mother Baby Amelia pictured in a baby Batman hat being held by her parents 'I was and remain concerned that the Hospital did not take the matter seriously enough from the outset. A baby died after sustaining very serious injuries in labour on their watch. 'My mind is in constant turmoil and every day I think that if things were done differently by the hospital, Amelia would still be with us. 'My main regret is believing that the Hospital had mine and Amelia's best interests at heart. However, now I know that the Unit did absolutely nothing for Amelia and myself, neglecting us in their care and not thinking about the consequences that their actions and inactions brought onto our baby. 'My husband doesn't have any medical knowledge, so you trust the midwives. But they didn't do anything. I was abandoned. 'There was nothing wrong with her. There was nothing wrong with the pregnancy. It was what followed that caused her death. I'm really worried that the midwife is still working there. 'When a baby dies there, no one cares. There was such a lack of compassion of competency. They buried their heads in the sand. There is no accountability.' Baby Amelia pictured being held by her mother Touching family photos show Amelia being showered with love at the hospital Dominic - who is a researcher at University College London - added: 'If there were procedures in place already, this would have never happened to us. 'Jersey was dragging their feet on their investigation. I asked if there was a problem with her brain scan and the midwives said everything was fine. They knew about it - it wasn't an unknown virus. 'The relief coroner from the UK who was a KC found that witness statements had been changed. The midwife had gone off while on shift to do another birth. She left her post. 'There was no one looking at the monitors and they made so many mistakes. In the inquest we found out the actual cause of her death. The two midwives have never been held to account. One still works there.' Videos of relatives doting on the tiny baby who stared at them with wide eyes were shown at her funeral. Giving an emotional eulogy, Ewelina and Dominic said: 'Like her mum she was tough and a fighter, her strength allowed us to be parents. 'Our angel went to see her auntie in heaven. 'We will never know your smile, we will never hear your voice, we will never meet your first love. I won't get to build a dam with you at Plemont. 'We are filled with privilege to call you our daughter. You were small but you left a large footprint on our hearts. 'Amelia's life was stolen from her. It was stolen in the most cruel and inconceivable way - in the place where she should have been safe and protected the most.' Chris Bown, chief officer of Health and Community Services, apologised 'unreservedly' to Amelia's parents and said that 'significant improvements' had been made in maternity care since her tragic death. Baby Amelia was born at 6am on Sunday August 19, 2018 Family members who live on Jersey came to shower the newborn with cuddles and love The Chief Nurse and Medical Director at the time wrote to the parents following a Royal College review in 2019 to offer an apology. They said that they could not say whether her death was 'inevitable', but added 'we probably could have avoided it, and for that we are deeply sorry'. When Ewelina and Dominic reported what happened to the Nursing and Midwifery Council, they heard that Ms Muoni underwent extra training and audits. The senior midwife - who has been in the profession for over 12 years - was given a personal development plan and it was heard that there have been no other concerns in the years she's worked so no further action was required. MailOnline found that she qualified as a Registered Nurse in 2003, as a Midwife in 2007 and achieved a Master's degree in Bioethics and Medical Law in 2012. She has been a Senior Midwife at the hospital since 2009, and has herself reviewed allegations of misconduct on the NMC tribunal panel for many years. This isn't the first scandal Jersey Hospital has faced. In June, it was forced to recall 20 women for breast cancer screening and review over 2,700 scans over fears that it had misdiagnosed patients. It also apologised to another 14 women whose diagnosis could have been detected earlier, leading to their treatment being delayed by up to a year. Ewelina, who is a lawyer, told MailOnline 'it will never get easier for us' Amelia's parents were 'devastated' to learn that 'nothing' was wrong with her, it was the difficulties and mistakes in labour which led to their baby's death That same month, a law firm representing people who were treated by Jersey's Rheumatology Department said it had received 250 individual inquiries from families of patients who died when under the care of the department. Deputy medical director Simon West said previously that 11 deaths linked to treatment there were being reviewed. In some cases patients were misdiagnosed or given medicine they did not need. This summer, Jersey Hospital also announced it would review all areas involved in the care of women with possible ectopic pregnancies following complaints. A Health and Community Services spokesperson said: 'Our deepest condolences remain with Amelia's parents and we have apologised unreservedly for these failings. We are deeply sorry for the pain and suffering that Amelia, her parents and her wider family went through. 'Significant improvements have been made to maternity care in Jersey following Amelia Clyde-Smith's death in 2018. A maternity improvement plan was developed in response to a number of reports. 'These include the reports surrounding the death of Amelia Clyde Smith and other reviews relating to the Jersey maternity department and those concerning maternity services more widely across the UK. To date, 102 recommendations have been implemented and have undergone structured reviews to ensure improvements have become embedded into current practice. Progress against the plan has been monitored by the Health and Community Services Advisory Board, which is held in public. 'At the inquest, Health and Community Services made a commitment to the Coroner that an investigation would take place into the events that led up to Amelia's sad death. That investigation is ongoing, and the family has been kept informed of its progress. As it involves individual members of staff, we are unable to comment on the specifics of the investigation at this time.' Crimes including money laundering and modern slavery are 'taking place in plain sight' on the High Street - with organised gangs using seemingly ordinary shops as fronts for their illicit empires. Dramatic rises in offences like shoplifting have sparked major concern in recent years, driven in part by the fact these crimes often occur in clear view of other shoppers. But today, experts and worried business owners warned that much more serious criminality was taking place in a wide variety of town centre premises, ranging from nail bars and tanning salons to takeaways, convenience stores and cafes. And they warned that a lack of public awareness was allowing violent gangs to increase their grip. Police say drugs gangs launder money through bricks and mortar outlets by artificially inflating their revenues to disguise the dirty cash being pumped through their registers. Meanwhile, outlets that require significant numbers of employees - such as nail bars and barbers - are sometimes staffed by trafficked workers who have their passports taken away before being forced to work for little or no money. An explosion in the number of small businesses that largely take cash has only fuelled these fears, with ONS data analysed by MailOnline showing there 88 per cent more beauty salons than 10 years ago, 60 per cent more takeaways and 18 per cent more convenience stores. Businesses in the Kent town of Gravesend today told MailOnline of their concerns that shops in the town were being used by criminals. Your browser does not support iframes. Your browser does not support iframes. This unassuming shop in Cardiff was one of several used to sell illegal tobacco and launder the proceeds by a gang that operated across South Wales. It was opposite a police station Five members of the gang were jailed, with the others receiving suspended sentences Edris Salim, the 42-year-old owner of Ed's Barbers, said: 'Salons can just pop up out of nowhere and then close again and it does make me wonder what is going on. 'We do all the relevant checks here and all of my staff are properly trained and vetted. I have never had a problem. But I am sure not everyone is as stringent as me. There's all sorts going on.' Safia Khalid, who had owned Safia Beauty Bar for 12 years, said she operated her business to 'the highest possible standards' but feared the struggles faced by other High Street shops had led to other owners 'cutting corners'. Meanwhile, Ilker Edrogan, owner of Celly's hairdressers, said one cause for suspicion were the very low prices offered by some rival businesses for cuts and treatments. 'Some places in this area charge very low prices and it makes me wonder what's really going on,' he said. Lauren Saunders, deputy director of frontline services at anti-slavery charity Unseen, described some of the signs customers could look for to avoid their eye for a bargain leading to them unwittingly fuelling exploitation. 'Modern slavery can often be hidden in plain sight, particularly in high street businesses like nail bars,' she told MailOnline. 'Common signs to look out for include workers who seem nervous, fearful, or excessively controlled by someone else. They might avoid eye contact, appear unable to speak for themselves, or work long hours without breaks. 'Physical signs such as malnourishment or visible bruises, cuts or injuries may also be indicators. Customers should be aware that by using these establishments, they may be unwittingly supporting abusive practices.' Your browser does not support iframes. Your browser does not support iframes. Gangs that generate large amounts of physical cash by selling drugs risk alerting the authorities if they immediately deposit this in bank accounts or carry out large cash purchases. Putting some of this cash through the tills of High Street shops allows it to be mixed with legitimate income from customers, making it seem like legitimate profit. Professor Joshua Bamford, director of the Centre for Retail Research, told MailOnline that gangs could also use retail businesses to transfer money to accomplices disguised as 'legitimate payments' for goods or services. Gary Carroll, a drug and data interpretation expert witness at Claymore Advisory Group, spent more than a decade in law enforcement and now trains police on drug-related matters, said any business that was 'cash led' could be utilised by gangs. 'The use of businesses to launder drug proceeds has been going on for a long time. 'The types of businesses we've come to expect are gyms and tanning salons but it can also be takeaways, building and construction,' he said. 'It's trades and businesses that aren't necessarily governed by any form of ombudsmen and aren't checked in a health and safety capacity. 'Food businesses have food hygiene inspections but they're not focused on money laundering.' Fed up: Ilker Edrogan, owner of Celly's hairdressers, was one of several legitimate shop owners in Gravesend to complain about criminals operating on the High Street Edris Salim, the 42-year-old owner of Ed's Barbers, said: 'Salons can just pop up out of nowhere and then close again and it does make me wonder what is going on' Nail bars and barbers are a common sight in Gravesend town centre. There is no suggestion any of these businesses are involved in any wrongdoing Safia Khalid, who had owned Safia Beauty Bar for 12 years, said she upheld the highest standards but was worried about other businesses 'cutting corners' Mr Carroll said the rise of digital payments and cryptocurrency had led other criminal groups to change the way they laundered money. 'County lines gangs are a little bit different, as advancements in digital currencies and successful proceeds of crime actions mean it's less common to open up shop front businesses,' he said. 'Most of these gangs tend to earn their money and invest it in crypto forex or wash it in other ways.' A rare spotlight was thrown on the darker side of the high street earlier this year after police busted a gang that used a series of shops in Cardiff, Barry and Bridgend to launder more than 1.5million for their criminal empire. MANCHESTER: A row of barbers and takeaways in the city. There is no suggestion any are involved in illicit activity WEST MIDLANDS: The town of Sedgley, where there are numerous Turkish barbers. There is no suggestion the premises pictured is involved in anything illegal LONDON: A row of shops including several nail salons and a convenience store in Camberwell. There is no suggestion any of them are involved in illicit activity Shared Regulatory Services in Bridgend, Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan first began investigating the group after receiving intelligence that stores were selling illegal tobacco and nitrous oxide canisters. The gang used the shops as a front, appearing to sell genuine products while hiding illegal tobacco in the flats above them. The proceeds were then laundered through the stores' cash registers. The longest sentence of seven years' imprisonment was handed to Ali Khaleel Hassan Aldarawish, a 34-year-old from Cardiff who was convicted of laundering more than 792,000. Meanwhile, in July, six people were arrested in Camden, north London, on suspicion of money laundering offences after a raid on a clothes and accessories shop. In July, six people were arrested in Camden, north London , on suspicion of money laundering offences after a raid on this clothes and accessories shop Officers found 5million worth of counterfeit goods from the shop's basement, which they believed were being sold as part of an operation to launder dirty cash The counterfeit goods included several shelves of fake handbags (pictured) A man being arrested as part of the crackdown by the Met and City of London Police Officers from the City of London Police and the Met found 5million worth of counterfeit goods from the shop's basement, which they believed were being sold as part of an operation to launder dirty cash. Inspector Pete Luciano, a member of the local policing team in Camden, said: 'The sale of counterfeit goods is linked to wider issues such as money laundering and organised crime which has a significant impact on the local community as well as society as a whole.' The National Crime Agency estimates that more than 100 billion is laundered through and within the UK or UK-registered corporate structures each year. It warns that this activity not only allows gangs to benefit from their crimes, but also deprives the government of tax revenues and harms legal businesses which find themselves being undercut by illegitimate ones. Anyone who believes they have evidence of modern slavery can call Unseen's Helpline at 08000 121 700 to report concerns or seek advice. rory.tingle@mailonline.co.uk The devastating Los Angeles wildfires have put billions of dollars worth of fine art at risk as experts warn it could be 'one of the most impactful art losses ever in America.' Wealthy collectors and renowned artists alike have watched helplessly as their priceless works go up in flames. At least 90 artists have lost homes or studios in devastating Los Angeles wildfires. Wealthy art collector Ron Rivlin lost over 200 artworks including more than 24 Andy Warhols. Rivlin managed to save just three Andy Warhol pieces as he fled his Pacific Palisades home with flames bearing down. 'I grabbed those, and as I was leaving, I saw the fire ahead of me on the hill,' Rivlin told the New York Times. When he returned days later, he found his home reduced to dust - along with more than 200 artworks including dozens of Warhols, Keith Harings, and Damien Hirsts valued at millions of dollars. He stood ankle-deep in twisted metal and concrete where his pink Warhol print of Queen Elizabeth once hung. 'It's dust at this point,' Rivlin said. The devastating Los Angeles wildfires have put billions of dollars worth of fine art at risk as experts warn could be 'one of the most impactful art losses ever in America' (The Getty Villa art museum is threatened by the flames of the wind-driven Palisades Fire, Jan. 7, 2025) Simon de Burgh Codrington, fine arts insurance specialist at Risk Strategies said this could be the most devastating art loss ever in the country. 'This is going to be substantial and possibly one of the most impactful art losses ever in America,' de Burgh Codrington told ARTnews. 'It's expected to be 'much more impactful than Sandy was to the art world.' The fires have ravaged artists' communities, as multimedia artist Kathryn Andrews tracks over 90 fellow artists who have lost homes or studios. Among them is Alec Egan, who lost his home, studio and two years of work meant for an upcoming gallery show, as reported by Cultured Magazine. 'When I got to my front door, it was gone,' Egan told the outlet. Painter Tara Walters, who was in New York when disaster struck, lost generations of family heirlooms along with her work. 'I had so many heirlooms in my house that my great-grandmothers and grandfathers hand builttheir furniture, rugs, and photos of my family from the 1800s,' she wrote. Art collector Ron Rivlin lost over 200 artworks including 24+ Andy Warhols. Rivlin managed to save just three Andy Warhol pieces as he fled his Pacific Palisades home with flames bearing down When Rivlin returned days later, he found his specially-designed home reduced to dust - along with more than 200 artworks including dozens of Warhols, Keith Harings, and Damien Hirsts valued at millions of dollars(His pink Warhol print of Queen Elizabeth was destroyed in the fire) 'The last thing my grandfather gave me before he passed were these two art deco glass flower vases. Everything has now turned to ash. We were in New York when it happened and were unable to grab anything. So many memories, paintings, music equipment, our entire town - it's been so difficult to come to the realization that this is our new reality.' Painter Salomon Huerta said he lost his whole collection. 'On Wednesday the 8th, I was painting in my studio when my wife called that the fire was visible from our house. I rushed out to help her evacuate.' 'The wind was so dramatic, it felt like the end of the world. We got what was essential but I lost my art collection, art books, archives, and our home. I'm happy we are safe.' For many artists, the losses go beyond monetary value. Eddie Rodolfo Aparicio, a multimedia artist, escaped with just mismatched socks, as reported by Cultured Magazine. 'I left my house with one mismatched pair of socksfunctioning but made of two wholes torn apart and forced together,' he said. 'Never to re-wear an old outfit to an art event again. The suitcase I never unpacked from [the New Orleans exhibition] Prospect. The bad art that was gifted to me no longer hidden in the bathrooms. Home + ADHD + fire = 100 unfinished projects and tasks I'm freed from.' Vice president of Risk Strategies, Christopher Wise, called the destruction 'devastating' to the art world and predicted billions in losses Internationally renowned artist Paul McCarthy has been forced to postpone his upcoming London exhibition at Hauser & Wirth after losing his Altadena home and studio Artist Seth Bogart emphasized the uncertainty regarding his future. 'I've spent the last few days not knowing if my house and studio have burnt, while getting the news of countless friends who have lost their homes,' he said. In addition to private collection and work losses, beloved art museums and cultural landmarks across Los Angeles have been ravaged by the fires. Many institutions have been damaged or destroyed completely with some forced to close their doors indefinitely. The historic Zorthian Ranch artist colony, founded by sculptor Jirayr Zorthian, burned to the ground while parts of the Getty Villa scorched, and dozens of smaller galleries and museums were forced to shutter their doors as flames tear through the city's art districts. Major galleries including Marian Goodman and David Zwirner remain closed. The death toll is expected to continue to rise as authorities gain access to the smoldering sites ravaged by the fires Internationally renowned artist Paul McCarthy has been forced to postpone his upcoming London exhibition at Hauser & Wirth after losing his Altadena home and studio, ArtNews reported. Even the Getty Center, despite its fire-resistant construction, was temporarily placed under mandatory evacuation orders as the Palisades fire expanded. Miraculously though, the Getty Museum stood strong against the raging wildfires, with 45 dedicated staff members working in shifts to protect billions of dollars worth of masterpieces including Van Gogh's 'Irises.' The flames came dangerously close to the museum on January 7, reaching within six feet of the Getty Villa's eastern walls. Yet thanks to years of meticulous planning and a $9.1 billion endowment that funded extensive fire prevention measures, both the Getty Villa and Getty Center have remained safe during the fires, as reported by the Wall Street Journal. 'We're holding up well, but it's been totally wild,' Katherine Fleming, president and chief executive of the Getty Trust, told the outlet. While the museum remains 'safe and stable,' the surrounding grounds have sustained damage. Insurance experts warn the disaster's full impact is yet to be realized. Vice president of Risk Strategies, Christopher Wise, called the destruction 'devastating' to the art world and predicted billions in losses. 'There are huge amounts of fine art value under threat at the current moment. Many, many billions of fine art,' he told ArtNews. Risk Strategies insures 'many collectors, museums, galleries, artists, and warehouses throughout Los Angeles,' Wise confirmed. Still many artists decided to move their artworks into safer locations following evacuation offers. 'Our hearts break to hear of the scale of the losses,' Wise told the outlet. 'We have also been actively reaching out to try and help As the fires continue to expand and new areas are affected, we continue to communicate and act vigilantly on behalf of our clients. Grace Aretsky of HUB International called the scale of loss 'catastrophic and calamitous.' She emphasized the 'exceedingly high aggregation' of fine art in the Los Angeles area. She warned that insurance rates are likely to rise across the board. 'There is no doubt that insurance companies are bracing themselves for massive fine art claims, but the implications for the broader art ecosystem are unprecedented,' Aretsky told ArtNews. Authorities warned anybody in the vicinity of the blazes to be prepared to flee at a moment's notice, amid concerns that increasing winds will whip up new fires and fan the flames of those already burning Some 12,300 structures have been wiped out in the carnage With roads blocked and the National Guard deployed to prevent looting, many artists and collectors can only wait to learn the fate of their life's work. George Lacovara, Los Angeles director of art storage company Gander & White, said safety remains the prioirity. 'Our top priority remains the safety of our team and their families during this unprecedented natural disaster,' Lacovara told ArtNews. 'We are providing support to our clients and have undertaken several successful emergency art extractions, responding swiftly to the threat posed by these fires, drawing on our extensive experience in managing such challenges.' But for many, help came too late. As art logistics veteran Jonathan Schwartz told ArtNews that 'the call for help is never early enough.' 'I've been at this line of work nearly four decades and I don't recall it ever being this catastrophic so close to central LA,' he said. 'We've made ourselves available to clients who need emergency assistance but in most cases the roads are not accessible. It's this way in the east with hurricanes. The call for help is never early enough.' The human toll of the wildfires has been devastating, with at least 25 dead and over 88,000 residents placed under a new evacuation alert and warned to brace for more dangerous fire weather. A fire crew drives through a mobile home park that was destroyed by the Palisades Fire On Tuesday, the National Weather Service said 'we are not out of the woods yet' despite winds not reaching the predicted intensity Governor Gavin Newsom has already declared it one of the worst natural disasters in US history. Authorities warned anybody in the vicinity of the blazes to be prepared to flee at a moment's notice, amid concerns that increasing winds will whip up new fires and fan the flames of those already burning. On Tuesday, the National Weather Service said 'we are not out of the woods yet' despite winds not reaching the predicted intensity. 'The winds underperformed today, but one more enhancement could happen tonight-tomorrow,' NWS said in a statement. This round of Santa Ana winds was not expected to be as strong as last week, but they could carry fire-sparking embers for miles and stoke new outbreaks in a decimated region where at least 25 people have already been killed. The death toll is expected to continue to rise as authorities gain access to the smoldering sites ravaged by the fires. The coroner initially said two new bodies were discovered on Tuesday - one in the vicinity of the Palisades fire which tore through the celebrity enclaves of Malibu and the Pacific Palisades - and another near the Eaton fire in Pasadena and Altadena. But the death toll only went up by one after the coroner revealed the remains from the Eaton fire were not human. A woman in a suburban Woolworths had a chilling encounter with trans axe attacker Evie Amati when the violent offender was allowed to roam outside prison walls wearing an ankle monitor. The startled shopper, who lives near a female transition centre for women offenders, was at Lennox Village shopping centre at Emu Plains in far western Sydney in December, when she saw 'a hulking tattooed man in a dress' wearing a satellite tracking anklet in Woolies. The sighting was several weeks before Amati's release from prison where she was serving time for three attempted murders. The woman said when she saw Amati, she thought she was 'male' and 'had a really bad energy'. The woman said she made eye contact with the axe attacker, 'and her blood ran cold'. But it was only after Daily Mail Australia pictured Amati on her parole release on January 6, that the woman realised the person she had seen 'was an axe wielding psycho'. Amati walked from Bolwara Women's Transition Centre to a friend who was waiting in a car, looking noticeably heavier since her offending, and sporting macabre tattoos such as one depicting a zombie eating 'Brain Soup'. Amati, who laughed in delight as she tasted freedom, had an amateur jail tattoo spelling 'DEAD' on her left hand and questioned Daily Mail Australia's right to photograph her release. Now aged 32, Amati was paroled after serving eight years for the attempted axe murders of three people at Enmore 7-Eleven, including a man buying a pie and a woman buying milk at 2.20am in Sydney's inner-western suburbs. A woman saw 'a hulking tattooed man in a dress' and a satellite tracking anklet in a suburban Woolies in December. It was 'axe wielding psycho' Evie Amati (above) out shopping while still serving her sentence for attempted murder The woman said when she saw Amati, she thought she was 'male' and 'had a really bad energy' It was only when the woman read Daily Mail Australia's coverage of Amati's release that she realised the person in Woolies was the axe attacker who randomly attacked people with an axe (pictured doing so) in Sydney's Inner West in 2017 On a cocktail of anti-depressants, cannabis, 'love drug' MDA and hormone drugs from gender reassignment surgery, Amati fell into a rage after a failed Tinder date with a woman and took a 2kg axe and an 18cm knife to the servo nearest her home. The terrifying attacks by Amati on January 7, 2017 were recorded on the shop's CCTV. She was convicted at trial and incarcerated in a series of female jails before entering the transition centre just over a year before her release. Inmates at Bolwara are permitted to leave the facility wearing satellite trackers and walk to the Lennox Village shops 30 minutes away. The woman who saw Amati at Lennox Village Woolies alerted women's rights activist Angie Jones who campaigns to defend female-only spaces, including women's jails and correctional facilities. Ms Jones said on X that the woman was now 'anxious about running into' Amati in the community. 'She's quite distressed to find out it was actually Amati, because she was intimidated enough seeing a trans identifying male who was obviously a criminal at the shops, let alone one of his notoriety. 'Imagine having to share a prison cell or transitional housing with him?' Bolwara, which has five group houses on its premises at Emu Plains Correctional Centre 57km west of Sydney, 'focuses on Aboriginal women and provides support for women who have histories of alcohol and other drugs use'. The woman at Emu Plains Woolworths says she had a chilling encounter with trans axe attacker Evie Amati just weeks before the violent offender was released from Bolwara Women's Transition Centre on January 6 (above) Amati displayed her macabre tattoos while shopping at Woolies, including this amateur jail-inked 'DEAD' on the fingers of her left hand The woman said she saw Amati at Lennox Village Woolworths (above) Evie enters Enmore 7-Eleven around 2.20am with a 2kg axe, a 18cm knife in her back pocket. One of her victims, Sharon Hacker, is at the cash register, right, buying milk Amati strolls casually towards the servo with her axe, ready to start her rampage Daily Mail Australia learned from trade union contacts that prior to offending, Amati was considered by colleagues at the Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU)in Sydney as having 'a huge sense of entitlement'. Amati grew up in a comfortable central Perth suburb, and was the child of West Australian trade union royalty. She topped the state in English and the highest achiever of WA's top public school in English literature, ancient history and political science. Aged 17, Amati moved to Sydney and via her WA trade union official parents scored a job as an organiser at the CPSU, where she was notably 'arrogant and lazy' at work. Amati had a gender reassignment operation in Thailand in 2016. Post surgical pain and readjustment was a major plank in her mental health defence, which was rejected by a NSW District Court jury in 2018. Two months before the attacks, Amati bought the axe with which she tried to kill senior project co-ordinator Ben Rimmer, social worker Sharon Hacker and itinerant British tourist, Shayne Redwood, and practised her swing on an old couch. In 2019 as she fought back against the extension of her minimum sentence to eight years, Mr Rimmer said: 'If I hadn't turned my head at the last minute, she would have cut my head in half'. It was a 'bad vibe' that he had also caught off Amati as she casually chatted to him at the Enmore servo cash register - he thought her axe was a stage prop - that saved his life. Evie Amati (above) Ben Rimmer - whose head Amati 'nearly cut in two' Mr Rimmer has an incomplete memory of the axe blow, but knows by watching the CCTV footage of the encounter that he had a sudden bad feeling about Amati. 'My expression changes to kind of 'here we go'. I turned away to pay because Sharon had moved off. 'I remember being struck. But I turned at the last minute, otherwise she would have chopped through my head straight through the front of my face. 'I think I must have seen it coming.' He turned, and Amati missed inflicting death or brain damage and blindness by one or two millimetres. 'She went there to kill. It's only pure luck that I'm alive and she's not remorseful. She's intelligent calculating,' he said. 'She had a knife in her back pocket. I think the knife could have done more harm than the axe could have finished us off. 'We haven't heard the last of her.' Amati is on parole until January 6, 2031 and until then is banned from consuming alcohol, illicit drugs, and from entering Sydney's CBD or inner western suburbs. Donald Trump last night promised to work at 'historic speed' by signing dozens of executive orders to mark his return to the Oval Office. In his inaugural address later today, he is expected to call for a 'revolution of common sense' in what could provide some insight to his priorities during his second term. Let's take a look at what orders Trump could sign as he steps back into the White House after prevoiously promising to undo the work of his predecessor Joe Biden. Mass deportations 'On day one, I will launch the largest deportation program in American history to get the criminals out,' Trump declared at his Madison Square Garden rally. There are signs that the wheels are in motion for such a move even before Trump takes office. Ending illegal immigration was one of Trump's top campaing pledges, in a race where he said migrants 'infest our country.' That line drew howls from critics, and his policy to get law enforcement to eject millions of people who came here illegally is certain to draw lawsuits and scrutiny. Ending Russia's war in Ukraine Finally putting an end to Russia's three-year old war against Ukraine is likely to be among the first plans to fall by the wayside, if facts on the ground are an indication. 'That is a war thats dying to be settled. I will get it settled before I even become president,' Trump said in his debate with VP Kamala Harris. Trump has touted his relations with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin, but Ukraine has been refusing Moscow's demands to concede territory seized in the war. Pardon of January 6 defendants Trump has said he would pardon January 6 defendants on his first day and 'maybe the first nine minutes.' That came after a campaign where he played a rendition of the National Anthem sung by incarcerated January 6 defendants. Trump's pick for AG Pam Bondi got quizzed during her confirmation hearing how she would respond to Trump pardons of those convicted of violent attacks on police officers. Tariffs Many experts credit Trump's win to Americans' economic worries, and Trump has vowed to make tariffs a key Day One priority. He has kept up his drum beat during the transition, talking up tariffs on China as well as allies like Canada or Denmark who reject his ideas. Trump said he would slap 25 percent tariffs on Mexico and Canada on 'ALL products coming into the United States', blasting the neighbors with contributing to open borders days after his election. That brought immediate attention from Canada's outgoing PM Justin Trudeau and new Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum. He has also vowed big tariffs on China, although the country's vice president, Han Zheng, as his representative at the inauguration. Oil drilling and cars Trump's 'drill, baby, drill' mantra was a Trump refrain in nearly all of his campaign rallies. If featured in one of his most curious comments of the campaign, when Trump told Sean Hannity he wouldn't be a dictator 'except for Day One.' He later explained that he was referring to closing the border and 'drill, drill, drill.' Trump has vowed to wipe away environmental regulations and unleash American energy. He has repeatedly stressed his support for fracking, and blasted Harris for her statements on it. Women's sports and gender affirming care Fallen gameshow host Andrew O'Keefe did not appear in court on Monday when his latest drug-driving charge came before a magistrate for the first time. O'Keefe's lawyer Jahan Kalantar referred to the existence of a previous non-publication order when the case was mentioned briefly in Waverley Local Court but did not publicly explain his client's absence. Mr Kalantar handed a document up to magistrate Stephen Barlow, who agreed to adjourn the matter until next month. O'Keefe allegedly tested positive to methylamphetamine while driving his Mercedes C200 in Sydney's eastern suburbs six months ago but he was not charged until late November. The 53-year-old former presenter of Deal or No Deal and The Chase Australia was pulled over for random testing on Cranbrook Road in Rose Bay about 11.30am on July 28 last year. A negative breath test was followed by another for drugs which allegedly returned a positive result. An subsequent oral test at Waverley police station also allegedly came back positive and a sample was taken for further analysis. Shortly before O'Keefe was pulled over that day he had confronted a man at a Point Piper property he was banned from attending. Following inquiries O'Keefe was charged with contravening an apprehended violence order and stalk/intimidate with intent to cause for fear. Fallen game show host Andrew O'Keefe did not appear in court on Monday when his latest drug-driving charge came before a magistrate for the first time He was released on bail after appearing in Waverley Local Court but was arrested again at Rose Bay police station in September when police found meth in his car during a search. Two days earlier, O'Keefe had overdosed on heroin at a party and needed to be revived by paramedics. O'Keefe pleaded guilty in October to trespassing, breaching an an apprehended violence order and possessing crystal methamphetamine in relation to the events of July 28. Magistrate Jacqueline Milledge fined O'Keefe $500 for trespassing and $1,000 for possessing a prohibited drug. For breaching the AVO, Ms Milledge sentenced O'Keefe to a 30-month community corrections order which required him to attend rehab. At the same time, he was fined $2,000 for driving with an illicit drug in his system at Darlinghurst in April and disqualified from getting behind the wheel for three months. On that occasion, Ms Jacqueline Milledge assured the TV star he was looking at time behind bars if he continued to break the law. 'You have been given lots of opportunities to do something about your use of drugs,' Ms Milledge told O'Keefe. O'Keefe allegedly tested positive to methylamphetamine while driving his Mercedes C200 in Sydney 's eastern suburbs six months ago but he was not charged until late November. He is seen during a previous arrest 'I can assure you the next step is jail. I'm not just saying that, I absolutely mean it. 'It's got to the state where the court would believe you just can't be rehabilitated.' Ms Milledge told O'Keefe that his life had 'just completely gone off the rails' and it was his responsibility to fix it. 'I know domestic violence is a factor in your offending and that is awful, truly awful,' she said. 'You got into the grip of something awful and the wheels fell off.' The magistrate said she remembered telling O'Keefe 'God help you' during a previous court appearance. 'I am personally disappointed that you're where you are and you haven't managed to get yourself back on your feet,' she said. 'I just wish you'd get yourself back to a position where you can do something for the community again.' At the time, O'Keefe's lawyer told Ms Milledge: 'This, Your Honour, is what we say is the final crossroads.' Off-the-rails game show host Andrew O'Keefe has been arrested again on a drug driving charge, three months after being warned he was one false step away from jail O'Keefe has waged a public battle against drug addiction and been in and out of rehabilitation centres for the past few years. He was found guilty in January last year of domestic violence and drug offences after a 'degrading' attack on a woman who cannot be identified. The drug conviction was later quashed but O'Keefe lost an appeal against the assault convictions in August. In December 2023 he escaped conviction after pleading guilty in Downing Centre Local Court to driving through Point Piper with drugs in his system earlier that year. O'Keefe had been pulled over while in charge of his Mercedes C200 sedan in January and returned a positive test to methamphetamine. A second oral fluid sample provided at Waverley police station tested negative but was later deemed positive after further analysis. During the 2023 sentencing, magistrate Miranda Moody said O'Keefe had since returned negative screenings for drugs and was being treated by a psychiatrist and psychologist. 'To his credit, he's clearly had some issues with illicit drug use and I've been provided material to his use of drugs or lack thereof,' Ms Moody said at the time. 'There have been none detected for some time. I've also been provided a report by a psychologist and a psychiatrist. He's engaged in treatment. 'Given the enormous amount of work Mr O'Keefe is doing in relation to his drug and health issues I'm prepared to not record a conviction.' Ms Moody sentenced O'Keefe to a 12-month community release order. J.D. Morris covers San Francisco City Hall, focused on Mayor Daniel Lurie. He joined the Chronicle in 2018 to cover energy and spent three years writing mostly about PG&E and California wildfires. Before coming to the Chronicle, he reported on local government for the Santa Rosa Press Democrat, where he was among the journalists awarded a Pulitzer Prize for their coverage of the 2017 North Bay wildfires. He was previously the casino industry reporter for the Las Vegas Sun. Raised in Monterey County and Bakersfield, he has a bachelors degree in rhetoric from UC Berkeley. After the longest of goodbyes, the worst president in modern American history is finally, thankfully, gone. It's been equal parts enraging and entertaining to watch Joe Biden take what he clearly feels is a well-earned victory lap: A slurry farewell address from the Oval Office, followed by a fawning exit interview in which he insisted, again and deludedly, that if he had stayed in the race he would have won. As Biden himself would say: No joke! And so begins the political obituary for a presidency like no other a president who was never really there, who held office in name only, who was but a puppet for a shadowy Democrat cabal (Barack Obama and Nancy Pelosi, cough-cough) that installed him and ran the country into the ground. Not that Joe or Bad Doctor Jill would ever admit as much. But that's par for the course with a family that put ill-gotten gains and an unslakable thirst for power ahead of what is good and right. Ahead of the country's best interests. 'You answered all the questions, Joe!' That was Jill Biden to her enfeebled dotard of a husband, who had just walked off that infamous debate stage back in June. A truly loving wife would surely have shuffled him home, held his hand and told him it was time to go. Not Lady MacBiden. No: Her husband may have just humiliated himself and the country not to mention showing our enemies that the leader of the free world was asleep at the wheel but she figured she could write that off as 'just a bad night'. It's been equal parts enraging and entertaining to watch Joe Biden take what he clearly feels is a well-earned victory lap. And so begins the political obituary for a presidency like no other: a president who was never really there, who held office in name only, who was but a puppet for a shadowy Democrat cabal that installed him and ran the country into the ground. (Joe and wife Jill are pictured on January 16). That's how stupid the Democrat establishment thought the electorate was. Face it: Biden's first and only term was always destined to end badly. He began by defying his top military advisers who warned against pulling US forces out of Afghanistan. Bob Gates, former secretary of defense under George W. Bush and Obama, wrote of Biden in his 2014 memoir: 'I think he has been wrong on every major foreign policy and national security issue over the past four decades.' Obama, ahead of Biden's presidential run in 2020: 'Don't underestimate Joe's ability to f*** things up.' Of course, Old Joey thought he knew best. And the result was the worst American retreat since Saigon. Desperate Afghanis, children among them, clung to an American C-17 plane during takeoff and plummeted to their deaths. Babies were tossed over barbed wire to American servicemen. Afghanis who risked life and limb to help Americans who were promised protection were left behind. Thirteen US service members died when a terrorist suicide-bomber struck at Kabul airport. President Biden honored their ultimate sacrifice by checking his watch repeatedly as their coffins were delivered for 'dignified transfer' at Dover Air Force Base. Surviving family members were left repulsed by Biden's callousness. By his insistence on talking not about their needless losses but about his own deceased son, Beau. We later learned that he'd also reportedly kept those grieving families waiting while he dozed on Air Force One. Roice McCollum, whose 20-year-old brother Rylee was among the fallen, told the Mail that Biden 'made us wait an extra three hours to receive the bodies of our dead family members because he couldn't pull it together.' Perhaps this was the moment Biden's presidency, then only nine months old, died. After his administration released a report blaming you guessed it Donald Trump for the Afghanistan debacle, Roice McCollum spoke for the bulk of America. 'This administration is a disgrace to this country,' she said. 'Of course Biden would blame it on Trump. He said a couple of days ago they have to do everything in their power to keep Trump from getting elected again. It's just propaganda. They are trying to manipulate public opinion'. How right she was. Obama, ahead of Biden's presidential run in 2020, said: 'Don't underestimate Joe's ability to f*** things up.' (Obama and Biden are pictured in 2016). Old Joey thought he knew best. And the result was the worst American retreat since Saigon. Desperate Afghanis, children among them, clung to an American C-17 plane during takeoff and plummeted to their deaths. Babies were tossed over barbed wire to American servicemen (pictured). 'Cheap fakes', we were told, every time we saw footage of Biden wandering off, or standing with his mouth agape, clearly confused about where he was and what he was doing a lie repeated over and over by an overwhelmingly liberal media hellbent on keeping Trump from running again. Winning again. 'Deceptively edited videos, known as "cheap fakes", have become staples of Republican attacks against President Biden' The Washington Post, June 11, 2024 'The videos are cropped or edited in a way that is misleading' The Hill, June 19, 2024 And this, from the New York Times, dated June 21, 2024: 'There is the distorted, online version of [Biden], a product of often misleading videos that play into and reinforce voters' longstanding concerns about his age and abilities.' This talking point was clearly being spoon-fed to a toothless press by the Biden White House right up to that June TV debate you know, the one that 'reinforced voter concerns about his age and abilities'. Then the mask was off. Biden wasn't a well-meaning, somewhat forgetful but thoroughly decent man saving 'the soul of the nation' from Trump. He clearly cognitively impaired, by his own admission able to work just four hours a day, left by his staff to sleep through all manner of crises was the real threat. After the Afghanistan withdrawal, which revealed a shambolic America in retreat, Putin invaded Ukraine. Hamas unleashed a terror attack on Israeli soil to rival 9/11. Al-Qaeda and Isis are on the rise once again. The Taliban in Afghanistan has banned women from speaking in public. Criminals, gangs and rapists have flowed freely through our open southern border with Mexico. But Biden's top priorities have seemingly been trans rights stripping protections for real girls and women DEI and wokeism. Should we be surprised? Biden has always given so many women the creeps, sniffing the hair of little girls, squeezing their shoulders, kissing them on the lips. 'Showers w/my dad (probably not appropriate),' Biden's daughter Ashley wrote in a diary that she herself admits is real. Imagine if that were in Ivanka Trump's authenticated diary entries. It would have been the mainstream media's top story for months. Not so for Biden. But, ever the small man, he has remained to the bitter end full of grudges, gripes and grift. His largest concern has seemed to be not for the country but himself and his family. Somehow don't ask Joe his corrupt, degenerate son Hunter found himself with a sweetheart plea deal on tax evasion and a federal gun charge. Until he didn't. Just like Hunter's sordid laptop was fake, or a Russian plant, until it wasn't. Once Hunter pleaded guilty in federal court in September weeks before the election Joe said over and over that under no circumstances would he pardon his son. After Trump won, Biden pardoned his son, for crimes known and unknown. That kind of brazen duplicity, shameless hypocrisy rules for thee, but not for me is synonymous with the Biden family and the entire Democrat machine. 'Showers w/my dad (probably not appropriate),' Biden's daughter Ashley wrote in a diary that she herself now admits is real. (Ashley and Joe are pictured at the DNC in August). Biden's corrupt, degenerate son Hunter initially found himself with a sweetheart plea deal on tax evasion and a federal gun charge. (Hunter is pictured with two prostitutes). After Trump won, Biden pardoned his son, for crimes known and unknown. (Pictured: Recently surfaced photos of Joe and Hunter meeting with Hunter's Chinese business partners). It's the endless moralizing and lecturing and hectoring to America about what a terrible country this is what racists, sexists, homophobes, transphobes and xenophobes we are that led to a second Trump term. It was the hysteria that 'Trump was Hitler' and a threat to democracy, while they quietly installed a senile figurehead and executed a palace coup to give Kamala Harris, she of epic word salad and not one original thought, the nomination. While delivering his farewell address last week, Biden quoted President Dwight D. Eisenhower in a warning about the looming second Trump term: 'the potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power, end of quote.' End of quote, end of times. Yes, Joe Biden's been a total downer on his way out, warning us of the dark, dangerous America that hello! he himself worked to destroy. He foisted Kamala, a woman who couldn't articulate a single reason for running besides 'I'm not Donald Trump', upon his party his nation as revenge for getting pushed off the ticket. His approval numbers are in the toilet, the lowest of any outgoing president since Nixon. His one-time mega donors have reportedly snapped shut their wallets no presidential library for you, Joe! so disgusted are they. He lost the Hollywood elite the moment George Clooney turned on him in the pages of The New York Times last July. Yet Biden, whether it's dementia or defiance, thinks he's going out on a high! He thinks America really wants to hear what he has to say or stumble through, as the case may be. He thinks he is going to be missed. He seems to see himself as a quasi-religious figure and that, without him, America may not be saved. From that farewell address: 'Today, an oligarchy is taking shape in America of extreme wealth, power and influence that literally threatens our entire democracy.' You mean, Joe, like the Chinese businessmen you swore you never met, let alone introduced to Hunter? Despite the photos that surfaced just days ago, showing you, Hunter, and those Chinese businessmen? Despite emails and texts from Hunter to his various foreign connections, confirming payouts of ten percent 'for The Big Guy'? Or the pressure your Justice Department put on tech companies, Facebook and Twitter among them, to suppress the Hunter laptop story? Or the lies you told a complicit liberal media about your cognitive health and physical fitness? Does that not sound to you like concentrated wealth and stolen power threatening our very democracy? Americans are not fooled by Joe Biden. We never really have been. He won in 2020 at the height of the pandemic, voted in by a panicked electorate a vote for change that saw nearly every incumbent in the Western world voted out. He ran on the premise of restoring normalcy and stabilizing the nation. On that, he failed. New Year's Day saw a deadly terror attack in New Orleans and another bombing outside the Trump Hotel in Las Vegas. Americans remain held hostage by Hamas and, until mere days ago, there was no ceasefire in sight. Biden foisted Kamala Harris (pictured in late November), a woman who couldn't articulate a single reason for running besides 'I'm not Donald Trump', upon his party, his nation, as revenge for getting pushed off the ticket. As Biden walks out the door, Los Angeles endures Week 3 of devastating wildfires the ultimate metaphor for Biden's bonfire of vanities, one that elevated incompetent virtue-signalers and DEI hires over competence and common sense. Biden, despite trying to salvage his legacy, will go down in history as a minor footnote, the aberrant hiccup between Trump's first and second term. That's if he's lucky. That's if he's not remembered as the most useful idiot the left ever installed. As he turns to go on Monday morning, LA will still be on fire, and that will be his true legacy: An America left burning, hopeless, desperate, neglected. But we sussed out the real threat. And it wasn't Donald Trump. 'Welcome to MAGAland: Trump's Second 100 Days' is the new politics podcast bringing you the latest news and gossip from Trump insiders. New episodes every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Follow wherever you get your podcasts now. Sir Keir Starmer is working hard to cosy up to Donald Trumps incoming administration. But on the streets of America, few people even know who the Prime Minister is. A snap survey found barely eight per cent of New York residents know who Sir Keir is. A Mail reporter on the streets of Manhattan yesterday asked 100 people whether they had ever heard of the Prime Minister and only eight people successfully identified him - but two of them were British tourists, and another was from Australia. The others were either clueless or incorrectly guessed he was a TV star or even a serial killer. The poll comes after a Trump ally told the Mail on Sunday no one [in the US] knows who Sir Keir is. Keir who? Ask most Americans in the street, the ally said. I have no idea, said 19-year-old Eli, a New York resident. A serial killer? I dont care about who that is, 24-year-old John, from Atlanta, Georgia, said. I thought it was Boris Johnson. A snap survey found barely eight per cent of New York residents know who Sir Keir (pictured at the Capitol Building in Washington DC in July last year) is President-elect Donald Trump at a rally in Washington DC before his inauguration today A Mail reporter on the streets of Manhattan yesterday asked 100 people whether they had ever heard of the Prime Minister and only eight people successfully identified him - but two of them were British tourists, and another was from Australia (file image) Lord Mandelson (pictured in June last year in London) is set to be the next US ambassador. But will the new Donald Trump administration accept him? Another person said: We have too many of our own problems to know who that is. Jane, 20, from New York, correctly guessed that Sir Keir was British as she asked: Is he an advocate or something of Brexit? Another Manhattan resident said: Ive definitely seen him on TV. Hes definitely an actor but I dont know what hes in. Some respondents had a loose idea, including one who doubtfully said: Yes.... is he the president of some European or Scandinavian country or something? Charlie Clark, 24, from the UK, described Starmer as being sort of... limp. The Prime Ministers relationship with Mr Trump is already strained after a string of senior Labour figures made disparaging remarks about him in the past. The Labour Mayor of London, recently knighted Sir Sadiq Khan, said in a column for the Observer yesterday that Mr Trumps election is part of resurgent fascism haunting the West. He said: The hard-right and far-right are on the march. These are deeply worrying times, especially if youre a member of a minority community. Downing Street were forced to distance themselves yesterday, with Cabinet Minister Darren Jones saying: I dont agree with it. I speak on behalf of the government, and we dont agree with it. Jane, 20, from New York, correctly guessed that Sir Keir (pictured in Poland last week) was British as she asked: Is he an advocate or something of Brexit? Sir Sadiq Khan (pictured in September at Labour conference in Liverpool) said in a column for the Observer that Mr Trumps election is part of resurgent fascism haunting the West Just two years go, the Prime Minister himself attacked the Conservative Party by saying: These arent Churchills Tories any more. If anything, they behave more and more like Donald Trump. They look at the politics of America and want to bring that here. Health Secretary West Streeting branded Mr Trump an odious, sad little man, while Energy Secretary Ed Miliband suggested the UK should not share values with a racist, misogynistic, self-confessed groper. Foreign Secretary David Lammy said in 2018: Trump is not only a woman-hating, neo-Nazi-sympathising sociopath, he is also a profound threat to the international order that has been the foundation of Western progress for so long. Labour have since softened their gone, however, with Sir Keir and his senior ministers striking a more diplomatic and conciliatory tone since Mr Trumps election victory. Unity Mitfords sensational diaries fuel speculation she was pregnant with Hitlers baby. She was known to have mysteriously stayed at a maternity home upon returning to Britain. And chatter among the aristocracy, recorded by George Orwell in his own diary in June 1940, was that Unity is going to have a baby. But no birth records have ever been discovered, and the trail went cold years ago. Now her leather-bound diaries unearthed by the Daily Mail have renewed the tantalising speculation. If the rumours were true, there would be a love-child of Hitler born in Britain, who may even have gone on to have a family of their own. Some said Mitford was a virgin but the newly-discovered diaries make it abundantly clear that she was sexually active during her time in Germany, after the obsessed 20-year-old moved to Munich in 1935 determined to meet Hitler. Coded references in the pages show how she differentiated between recording the times she went to bed and when she went to sleep. On numerous occasions, the English aristocrat an unremitting Nazi stayed up late sitting with her beloved Fuhrer, sometimes as late as 3am, raising the prospect they had a sexual relationship. Chatter among the aristocracy, recorded by George Orwell in his own diary in June 1940, was that Unity is going to have a baby Unity Mitfords sensational diaries fuel speculation she was pregnant with Hitlers baby. The socialite was known to have mysteriously stayed at a maternity home upon returning to Britain It is also clear from her diaries that she was intimate with several SS officers and a Hungarian count. When Mitford shot herself upon the outbreak of the Second World War in September 1939 and was returned to the UK, her peer father Lord Redesdale is said to have lobbied to prevent MI5 interrogating her. Guy Liddell, number two at MI5 during the war, suggested in his diaries the security service was not even convinced Unity had shot herself, remarking: We had no evidence at all in support of the press allegations that she was in a serious state of health and it might well be that she was being brought in on a stretcher in order to avoid publicity and unpleasantness to her family. In the early 2000s, The New Statesman magazine raised the prospect that Unity had returned on a stretcher not as an invalid but as a mother-to-be. It revealed that Unity had stayed in a maternity home in an Oxfordshire village, Wigginton, during the war. It was never explained why. The home was run by a maternity nurse, Betty Norton, whose niece Val Hann told journalist Martin Bright it was known within her family that Unity had stayed there and had a baby, said to be a boy who was given up for adoption. The journalist quoted Ms Hann as saying: Well, she always said it was Hitlers. However Mr Bright also spoke to Audrey Smith, whose sister had worked at the maternity home, Hill View Cottage, and confirmed Unity had been there - but said she had been at the home not to have a baby, but to recover from a nervous breakdown. Deborah, Duchess of Devonshire, last of the six famous Mitford girls, dismissed the story at the time as village gossip. When Mitford shot herself upon the outbreak of the Second World War in September 1939 and was returned to the UK, her peer father Lord Redesdale is said to have lobbied to prevent MI5 interrogating her Mitford's leather-bound diaries unearthed by the Daily Mail have renewed the tantalising speculation. If the rumours were true, there would be a love-child of Hitler born in Britain, who may even have gone on to have a family of their own There is a further twist to the pregnancy rumours that swirled around the Mitford clan. Unity and her sister Diana Mitford who was married to Blackshirts leader Sir Oswald Mosley scandalised British society with their adulation for Hitler, and the diaries record both sisters attending his speeches and rallies. They were together at the Bayreuth Festival in Munich in July and August 1939 as guests of Hitler which was about nine months before Dianas son Max Mosley was born. Max Mosley, who became a racist force in British politics himself, before going into F1 racing and then turning into a self-styled Press reform campaigner in the years before his death in 2021, once referred to talk of him being Hitlers son. Asked in a GQ magazine interview in 2015 if his mother had really, really liked Hitler, Mosley replied: Yes. My father met him twice and didnt like him. My mother liked him, and her sister [Unity] liked him even more. When the interviewer, Alastair Campbell, asked: Any shenanigans between them?, Mosley replied: I dont think so. When I was born some of the press thought I was Unitys child [by Hitler]. Mosley said this was Fleet Street at its worst, but it died away. After her return to the UK in January 1940, Unity was treated by eminent surgeon Professor Hugh Cairns of the Radcliffe Infirmary who the following year wrote a confidential report on her medical condition which made no mention of a pregnancy. He told investigators that a bullet was still lodged in her brain. Unity, Diana and Max Mosley are all buried at the Mitford family graves in St Marys Church, Swinbrook, Oxfordshire. The unearthing of Unity Mitfords secret diaries by the Daily Mail has led to eminent historians to call for an end to censorship culture in Britain. The long-lost trove, which laid undiscovered for more than 80 years, is being celebrated by experts as an important contribution to history. It is packed with revelations about Hitler and the British socialite, a fervent Nazi sympathiser who became his confidante. The precious record kept during Unitys time in Germany from 1935 to 1939 meticulously recounts 139 occasions when she met Hitler providing a rare insight into the dictator. Historians says the Mails world exclusive should be seen as proof that Britains official archives should end its secretive approach to historical documents. It has also led to calls for the government to reveal what intelligence agencies knew about Unitys activities. The diary was previously kept in a water-tight container and secured in a safety deposit box in a bank strongroom. For most of the last 40 years it has been held by two generations of the same family, who have asked to remain anonymous. If this hadnt been found, an important contribution to history would have been lost...It should be a rallying call for historians to fight for stuff being released, historian and biographer Andrew Lownie said. We have a Public Records Act going back to the 1830s which isnt really being obeyed. Stuff isnt being put into the archives after 20 years. If this hadnt been found, an important contribution to history would have been lost...It should be a rallying call for historians to fight for stuff being released, historian and biographer Andrew Lownie (pictured) said The unearthing of Unity Mitfords secret diaries by the Daily Mail has led to eminent historians to call for an end to censorship culture in Britain The precious record kept during Unitys time in Germany from 1935 to 1939 meticulously recounts 139 occasions when she met Hitler providing a rare insight into the dictator The precious record kept during Unitys time in Germany from 1935 to 1939 meticulously recounts 139 occasions when she met Hitler providing a rare insight into the dictator Theyre using all sorts of exemptions which dont really apply. But everyone from that period is dead. This is history, and we need to know our history, he told the Observer. The irony is that often the breakthroughs in historical knowledge come from private papers rather than public papers, and thats because theyre being suppressed. Who knows what is lurking in bank vaults all over the world?, he added. Experts have also called on the government to disclose its intelligence files on Unity who ingratiated herself with Hitlers inner circle. Richard Norton-Taylor, a leading writer on defence and security issues and author of The State of Secrecy, added: The government must now reveal what its officials, intelligence and security agencies really knew about the activities of Unity Mitford. Judging by the number of files they amassed on private individuals in the lead-up to the second world war it would be extremely surprising if official files on her and her relationships do not exist. Experts have said that gatekeeping of documents has shrouded important historical episodes in secrecy including attempts by British fascists to overthrow Winston Churchill in 1940. Plans to build a bridge have been put on hold for more than two years after an Aboriginal group claimed the project significantly impacted cultural sites. The Western Australian government began work on the Great Eastern Highway Bypass Interchanges project in 2021 to help traffic flow into Perth's east. The $400million project comprised of plans to improve traffic infrastructure including building a bridge across the Helena River to connect Midland and Hazelmere. The Lloyd Street Bridge was set to connect two roundabouts, located on the edge of an industrial zone, however the group of traditional owners submitted a Section 10 Application under the Federal Heritage Act. The group raised concerns the bridge would negatively impact cultural sites including a billabong and an ancient rock shelter. Whadjuk Noongar man Greg Ugle, who was involved in the application to protect the cultural sites, said the area was a 'playground' for Indigenous children. 'My connection is here, it was a playground for us, for Noongar kids,' he told the ABC. 'We're not against development but we are against destruction of our traditional sites and the river is our cultural heritage site.' The proposed Llyod Street Bridge would negatively impact cultural sites including a billabong and an ancient rock shelter Mr Ugle explained the group of traditional owners proposed an alternative route which still connected the roundabouts but avoided the cultural landmarks. The government decided to reconsider the build and work around the group's concerns, however a final plan was never made. Four-lane roads were built on either side of the river but the two roundabouts - which have roads leading to nowhere - remain untouched and have become a dumping ground for rubbish and an area for hoons. Crestar Holdings company director Stephen Meerwald explained the company owns blocks adjacent to the proposed bridge. Mr Meerwald said the unfinished roundabouts were now sites for unwanted activity. 'Now with bitumen roads to the edge of our property, a lot more vehicles have access to the gravel track,' Mr Meerwald said. 'What's been allowed to happen is certainly nothing that favours any cultural or environmental sensitivity in the creek because it's just become a rubbish tip and a four-wheel drive track.' Mr Meerwald said the proposed alternative route would impact his company as it would likely run through the property. Mr Ugle added the group of traditional owners believed there was an opportunity to restore the area if the state government was prepared to work alongside the Indigenous community. Main Roads, the City of Swan and the traditional owners are set to meet for a workshop in early 2025 in an attempt to reach a consensus on the project's options. This video is no longer available This video is no longer available An Indigenous model has spoken out about why she wants the date of Australia Day changed. Former Bachelor star and Wiradjuri woman Kiki Morris appeared on the ABC on Sunday to discuss whether it's appropriate to celebrate Australia Day on January 26. The date marks when the First Fleet arrived in Sydney in 1788. Supporters of Australia Day believe it marks the beginning of modern Australia while critics see it as the beginning of Indigenous peoples' oppression under colonisation. Ms Morris is in favour of changing the date of the national holiday. 'I think that Australia is such a wonderful country and it's offered a safe space for so many people to live and bring up their families,' she said. 'For those people, we deserve to celebrate what Australia means to all of us but definitely the date needs to be changed. 'We need to be sensitive to our ancestors and our history as well.' Ms Morris further discussed her thoughts on social media, acknowledging 'this important topic that for some of us is a more emotional decision than others, but nonetheless impactful for our collective history'. Wiradjuri woman Kiki Morris (pictured) called for Australia Day to be changed to a date everyone can celebrate She also thanked the ABC for allowing her to share her opinion. 'I was deeply honoured to be given this platform,' Ms Morris said. 'I truly consider this a life and career highlight and biggest achievement to speak on such an important cultural and political topics. 'I hope this starts a change for what could be the real day of celebration of ALL Australians.' There's been increasing calls for Australia Day to be moved to another date or recognised as Invasion Day in recent years. Several major companies and organisations have chosen to ignore the holiday, such as Woolworths last year. At least 81 councils across Australia will not host Australia Day citizenship ceremonies this year, ostensibly for ideological reasons while also giving themselves the day off. It marks a sharp jump from just four councils who refused last year. There's been increasing calls for Australia Day to be moved to another date or recognised as Invasion Day Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in 2022 allowed councils to cancel citizenship ceremonies on Australia Day, a policy the Opposition has promised to change if elected this year. Yet, 69 per cent of respondents to recent polling agreed with keeping the date of Australia Day on January 26. Commenters under Ms Morris' post were largely supportive of moving the date to one all Australians can celebrate. 'As an Aussie, I wouldnt care if the date changed. We still want to celebrate Australia Day but not at the expense of hurting our native people,' one wrote. 'No one is free until all our Indigenous people are free and respected on all fronts. This is how we create change,' a second added. 'Beautifully said. Change the date to one that we can all celebrate together,' a third wrote. 'Changing the date should not be such a big deal. It clearly is an issue for Indigenous people. Change the date, grab a beer and lets move on from this together,' another said. Donald Trump will sign an executive order Monday halting all new foreign aid unless it fits with U.S. strategic goals, according to two incoming senior White House officials. The aim is to prevent American taxpayers' cash falling into the hands of groups working against the U.S. or promoting 'diversity, equity, inclusion' agendas, for example. And it will likely immediately halt new U.S. money going to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA). It is the agency that distributes aid in Gaza but it has repeatedly been accused of close ties to the terror group Hamas. The UN admitted that nine of its staff may been involved in the Oct. 7 attack on Israel. 'The United States and American citizens have been some of the most generous people in the entire world,' an incoming White House policy adviser told DailyMail.com. 'But at this point, we have to understand that foreign policy is domestic policy, and if this is not aligned with our interests, then Uncle Sam should not be opening up his pocketbook any longer.' The executive order comes among the first to be signed by Trump after being sworn into office for a second term. It signals his desire to bring foreign aid spending into line with his America First policy agenda and to sync it with the work of the State Department. Donald Trump will sign an executive order Monday halting all new foreign aid unless it fits with U.S. strategic goals, according to two incoming senior White House officials It will likely choke off money to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, which has frequently been accused of working against Israel But it will send shockwaves around the world and among aid agencies who rely on the U.S. as the world's biggest donor, spending as much as $76 billion per year. Trump slashed aid spending during his first term and set out his concerns again earlier this year. 'WE SHOULD NEVER GIVE MONEY ANYMORE WITHOUT THE HOPE OF A PAYBACK, OR WITHOUT "STRINGS" ATTACHED,' he posted in all caps on his Truth Social platform just as the Senate prepared to vote on a massive aid bill in February. 'THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA SHOULD BE "STUPID" NO LONGER!' Republicans have frequently raised red flags about U.S. aid. Republican lawmakers in 2023 asked why USAID, the biggest U.S. foreign aid agency, had given $110,000 to Helping Hand for Relief and Development despite what they said were well documented ties to 'designated terrorist organizations, terror financiers, and extremist groups.' The Pakistani group has been accused of links to the sectarian terror group. Lashkar-e-Taiba. More recently, a U.S. government watchdog found that aid sent to Afghanistan had ended up in the hands of the country's Taliban rulers. American taxpayers' cash has ended up in the hands of the Taliban in Afghanistan The Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction reported that more than $10 million of American taxpayers' money had been paid to the extremist group that fought U.S. forces for 20 years. Trump flagged the money during his speech on Sunday evening. 'Do you know that we pay billions of dollars a year ... to Afghanistan? Do you know that?' he asked, referencing almost $3 billion that has gone to ease a humanitarian crisis since U.S. troops left. He proposed only sending the money if Afghanistan retrurns American military gear left behind. The executive order will make all new aid payments subject to review by the Secretary of State. The incoming White House policy adviser said it was a case of 'realigning and reevaluating' U.S. foreign aid. 'Anybody who has eyes and has been paying attention knows that the US foreign aid industry and bureaucracy is not aligned with American interests,' they said. 'In many cases, it's antithetical to our values. It often destabilizes world peace by promoting ideas in foreign countries that are directly inverse to harmonious and stable relations, internal to and between countries. Trump set out his thoughts on foreign aid last year as the Senate weighed a huge package of spending, including money for Ukraine Trump will be sworn in Monday. He is seen here during his 2017 inauguration Washington has put up miles of fences and barricades for the inauguration 'So now it is going to be the policy with the United States that no further aid will be issued that is not fully aligned with the president's foreign policy. 'And in addition to that, all foreign aid is immediately going to be subject to review, and no new funds will be distributed unless' approved by the Secretary of State, or someone he designates. Trump is planning a busy first week with a slew of executive orders. They are expected to include directives to remove insubordinate employees, keeping TikTok running, halt spending on Joe Biden's green energy projects, declare an emergency at the border, end 'catch and release' policies and designate Mexican drug cartels as 'foreign terrorist organizations.' Britain's soaring benefits bill is down to a flawed welfare system which incentivises claimants to declare themselves long-term sick, peers have warned. Those eligible to claim health-related benefits could double their income by leaving the workforce, according to a scathing House of Lords report. Experts and witnesses told peers that the current method of assessing whether people qualify for incapacity benefits is inadequate, with the system seen as financially unsustainable and wasting human potential. Currently, around 3.7 million people of working age receive health-related benefits 1.2 million more than in February 2020, with the taxpayer liable for almost 65 billion on incapacity and disability benefits more than what is spent on defence. Public spending on health-related benefits will be more than 100billion by 2029-30 - around three per cent of GDP - with the total welfare bill rising to 370billion, the Lords report said. The report is published after claims Downing Street officials are pulling their hair out over how long Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall is taking to tighten up the welfare system. In the report, peers noted the stark financial disparity between the health-related component of UC (Universal Credit) and unemployment benefits and the differences in the conditions attached to them. They wrote: Witnesses said that these create an incentive for those who are unemployed (and in receipt of income support) to seek this component of UC. Eduin Latimer, Research Economist at the IFS, said that if you move out of work, getting on to health-related benefits ... would almost double your income. You would also have some of your housing costs covered. He claimed recipients could also get an additional 9,000 a year in personal independent payments on top. Louise Murphy, Senior Economist at the Resolution Foundation, noted that for someone in receipt of UC, their income can double if they are deemed to have limited capability for work-related activity. So there is an incentive to [pursue] that. Currently, around 3.7 million people of working age receive health-related benefits 1.2 million more than in February 2020 (file image) A Job Centre. The authors also said that if 400,000 people who are out of work due to ill health were able to find employment, this could save around 10 billion through higher tax revenue and lower benefit spending The report is published after claims Downing Street officials are pulling their hair out over how long Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall (pictured) is taking to tighten up the welfare system The lower level of conditionality attached to health-related benefits creates an incentive to apply for these benefits, they concluded. The authors also said that if 400,000 people who are out of work due to ill health were able to find employment, this could save around 10 billion through higher tax revenue and lower benefit spending. But they blasted the current system for assessing eligibility, claiming it needed to be more rigorous and that it was currently inadequate. They also suggested there was a significant uptick in those claiming for mental health conditions rather than physical disabilities, making assessments even more complex. Earlier this month former Labour Prime Minister Sir Tony Blair said Britons must stop medicalising... the ups and downs of life. He added: We need a proper conversation about this because you really cannot afford to be spending the amount of money were spending on mental health. Lord Bridges of Headley, Chair of the House of Lords Economic Affairs Committee, said: The health benefits system is financially unsustainable, wastes human potential and in the words of the Employment Minister - does not work for anybody. Given the pressure on the nations finances, tackling this must be a top priority for the Government. Urgent action is needed to reform both the unemployment and health-related benefits system, and how they interact. There should be more support to help those who are able to find and accept work and to ensure that those who cannot work for a period are not abandoned to a life on benefits. Without a clear plan of action, growing welfare spending will remain a significant challenge for the forthcoming Spending Review. Earlier this month, former Labour Prime Minister Sir Tony Blair (pictured) said Britons must stop medicalising... the ups and downs of life' In the report, peers noted the stark financial disparity between the health-related component of UC (Universal Credit) and unemployment benefits and the differences in the conditions attached to them (file image) The government has sought to take steps to crack down on the benefit bill, but some in No 10 are frustrated by the pace of Ms Kendalls supposedly radical reforms. A blueprint setting out the reforms will not be published until March, with months of consultation to follow before proposals are laid out. A senior Whitehall source told The Sun on Sunday: No10 and No11 want her to go faster. They are pulling their hair out. A Government spokesman said: We are determined to get Britain Working again and have set out our first steps towards delivering an 80 per cent employment rate by joining up local work, health and skills plans. We have been clear that the current welfare system needs reform, so it is fairer on the taxpayer and people get the support they need to move into work. Building on our Get Britain Working White Paper, we will bring forward proposals for reforming the health and disability benefits system in the Spring. This will be part of a proper plan to help disabled people who can work secure employment while ensuring support is provided for those who need it. A British man has confessed in court to murdering his partner in their Italian dream home - claiming she was 'obsessively jealous' and beat him. Michele Faiers, 66, a mother-of-three, was discovered dead by police in October 2023 in the house in the Italian hilltop village of Verratti that she shared with her partner, retired IT consultant Michael Whitbread, 75. Her body was found by a friend in the first-floor bedroom, covered by a sheet. She was dressed only in her underwear and had been stabbed seven times in the back. Speaking at the Lanciano court during his trial, Mr Whitbread said: 'I wish I hadn't done it and I apologise.' According to new reports from the Italian public broadcaster RAI, this was the first time that Mr Whitbread accepted guilt for his partner's death, which happened on October 29, 2023. Mr Whitbread also sent an apology letter to Ms Faiers' daughters, RAI's TGR Abruzzo regional news reported. However, Mr Whitbread also blamed his partner's 'obsessive jealousy' for his actions and said Ms Fraiers beat him. In fact, Ms Faiers was herself allegedly attacked by Mr Whitbread after a furious row between the couple just weeks before she died. Mr Whitbread, 75, is lead out of court by an officer after confessing to the murder of his partner Michael Whitbread (right), 75, confessed in court to murdering his partner Michele Faiers (left), 66 The home of Michelle Faiers and Michael Whitbread in Verratti, Italy, where Michele's body was found The attack left her 'covered in bruises' and 'fearing for her life' according to testimony from her close friend Petrina Keay - who later found her lifeless body at her farmhouse home in Contrada Verratti in the Italian province of Chieti - near to the town of Casoli. Police were told that Michele 'doubted her partner's fidelity', and that she was 'thinking of leaving him and going back to England'. She is said to have become 'upset and suspicious' about him after she saw him slap a female friend on the bottom at a New Year's Eve party. The prosecution file reveals Michele confided her doubts about Whitbread in her friend Petrina and was forced to sleep at her home for a week at the beginning of October 2023 after a violent row. Petrina told detectives the 'furious fight' between Michele and Whitbread, had left her friend 'fearing for her life' and she had opened up to her about the bitter relationship in the days leading up to her death. Michele was found dead on November 1 when Petrina called round, after becoming worried when she failed to return messages and found her lifeless in the bedroom. Police have established she was killed four days earlier and Whitbread was held by British police in Shepshed near Loughborough, Leicestershire, after driving across Italy, Switzerland and France. He was arrested at his daughter's house - just hours after Michele was found - after she reportedly alerted police he was at her home after reading reports of the death on MailOnline. Ms Faiers' daughters speak to one of the lawyers at the courthouse where Mr Whitbread's trial took place Ms Faiers was found inside her rural home in Contrada Verratti in the Italian province of Chieti - near to the town of Casoli. Police have been told that Michele 'doubted her partner's fidelity', and that she was 'thinking of leaving him and going back to England' Faiers and Whitbread's Italian home is seen cordoned off by police back in November 2023 - two months after Michele was found murdered Michael Whitbread, right, was arrested in England on suspicion of murder after Michele Faiers, left, was found dead at her home Whitbread was described by neighbours to police as 'always a bit tipsy' while Michele was said to be 'calm and serene'. Police used CCTV to establish that Whitbread had the couple's home in the early hours of October 29 in their Jeep Compass and began the 1,000 mile drive to the UK. Traffic cameras picked him up crossing from Italy into Switzerland near Lake Maggiore at 4pm that afternoon, while his last cell phone ping was earlier that afternoon from nearby Como. Mr Whitbread's defence team have asked for a psychiatric consultant, who will be appointed by the court on February 7. A prosecuting lawyer said: 'It was really important for him [Mr Whitbread] to take responsibility like that, not only for the trail but also as an act of human decency. Although I don't know how useful they are now, after all this time'. Donald Trump will be sworn in as President of the United States for the second time on Monday in a crowning moment for one of the greatest comebacks in political history. The 78-year-old will take the Oath of Office in the heart of Washington D.C. with wife and First Lady Melania Trump by his side to officially become the nation's 47th commander-in-chief. With the eyes of the world on the Capitol, he will get back the keys to the White House after an unprecedented campaign that saw two attempts on his life and a historic election victory over Kamala Harris. Eight years ago, he came into Washington, D.C. as an outsider and was a shock to the system for a city used to career politicians. Now he arrives with more power and with his popularity on the rise, marked by the billionaire tech titans who will be behind him: Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg. Trump's loyal, unflinching MAGA fans have taken over the streets of the capital, with a sea of red hats and American flags at every turn. They were rewarded on Sunday with a glimpse of the victorious president-elect at his celebratory rally, where he simply told them: 'we won.' After the crowd watched performances from Kid Rock and a speech from Hollywood actor Jon Voight, Trump said: 'People are happy. It's been a long time. None of this could have been possible without you.' Donald Trump relished in his celebratory rally on Sunday night ahead of his return to the White House on Monday Donald Trump performs a little jig as the Village People close out his celebratory rally with YMCA U.S. President-elect Donald Trump dances onstage as the Village People perform during a rally Your browser does not support iframes. U.S. President-elect Donald Trump dances on stage late on January 19 The Village People perform on stage as Donald Trump dances in the background Trump had a simple message for his MAGA faithful on Sunday: we won The 78-year-old will take the Oath of Office in the heart of Washington D.C. with wife and First Lady Melania Trump by his side to officially become the nation's 47th commander-in-chief Thousands of supporters turned out on Sunday to celebrate his victory Rally attendees held up signs which sported Trump's longstanding slogan and promise to voters: that he will Make America Great Again He celebrated winning the popular vote, sweeping the seven battlegrounds and the seismic shift in support in all 50 states in his defeat over Harris He celebrated winning the popular vote, sweeping the seven battlegrounds and the seismic shift in support in all 50 states in his defeat over Harris. Trump took the stage after his grandchildren said the pledge of allegiance and sons Eric and Don Jr. and granddaughter Kai warmed up the audience of his MAGA faithful. The rally offered a glimpse into the inauguration, which is to be held indoors after a polar vortex heading for the Northeast United States forced a last-minute change of plans. Security will be tight and troops will line the streets, but the jubilation and vindication for Trump's followers will be evident everywhere. He and Melania will enjoy a tea and coffee reception at the White House hosted by the Biden's at 9.40am ahead of the inauguration, and they will all travel together into the Capitol at 10.25am. At noon, he will place his hand on a handpicked Bible and swear to uphold the Constitution of the United States in front of a select audience of just 600 people in the Capitol Rotunda. The festivities will then move to the Capitol One Arena - where less than 24 hours ago he held his victory rally - for the inaugural parade and his speech laying out plans for his next four years in office. He is expected to tell the millions watching that he will return the United States to its glory days after President Joe Biden's administration. The rally offered a glimpse into the inauguration, which is to be held indoors after a polar vortex heading for the Northeast United States forced a last-minute change of plans Elon Musk shakes hands with Jared Kushner as Ivanka Trump and Jeff Bezos watch Vice President-elect JD Vance and Usha Vance stand with Miriam Adelson before President-elect Donald Trump speaks Tesla CEO and X owner Elon Musk gestures on stage during a rally with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump Elon Musk attended the rally ahead of Trump's inauguration, on January 19 Tesla CEO and X owner Elon Musk gestures during a rally for U.S. President-elect Donald Trump Supporters gathered outside in the snow and freezing cold for a chance to celebrate Trump's victory Guests arrive at the Capital One Arena for the Victory Rally with President-Elect Donald Trump on January 19 Supporters of US President-elect Donald Trump wait outside for a MAGA victory rally Melania and Trump were both all smiles at a private party celebrating the victory As the celebrations draw to a close, Trump has vowed to jump straight into work mode Elon Musk was among speakers during the rally, after being an outspoken supporter of, financial donor and backer of Trump during the election campaign During his rally, he repeated comments he often used in his campaign, criticizing Biden's term as a 'failed administration' and promising to 'end the reign of a failed and corrupt political establishment' The speech will likely include a preview of his ambitious agenda for his first 24 hours in office, including mass deportations of migrants nationwide and sweeping pardons for January 6 rioters. In the evening, he will swap his suit for a tuxedo for the three inaugural balls - where he will dance with Melania Trump after guests watched musical acts like The Village People perform. As the celebrations draw to a close, Trump has vowed to jump straight into work mode. He is expected to sign some 200 executive orders on Monday - his first day back in office after four years. Fox News reported Sunday that the executive orders will focus on border security, energy, cost of living reductions and ending DEI - diversity, equity and inclusion - programs throughout the federal government. He will also visit Los Angeles on Friday in the wake of the devastating wildfires which tore through the Pacific Palisades, Malibu and the hinterland regions of Pasadena and Altadena, tragically costing at least 27 lives and razing at least 12,300 structures. Trump said he's praying for the survivors of the Los Angeles wildfires and will help rebuild the city 'more beautiful' than ever before. The rally occurred as: Trump also mentioned plans to help North Carolina hurricane survivors get 'rocking and rolling,' arguing they've been 'treated very badly as a state.' Elon Musk talks with Ivanka Trump before President-elect Donald Trump speaks at a dinner at the Building Museum Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and Tesla CEO and X owner Elon Musk Trump survived two assassination attempts during his campaign to return to the White House He's also already celebrating victories which he say would not have occurred if he weren't coming back into office this week - namely the reversal of the TikTok ban and the ceasefire in Gaza Even restaurants and pubs were broadcasting the rally for Trump supporters who could not be inside the venue Fans watch the rally from inside a restaurant Trump interacts with the crowd at the rally on Sunday Musk threw his hands in the air to celebrate the victory when he was given center stage on Sunday night Trump's 'retribution' tour will also begin immediately, as he attempts to yank the security clearances from the 51 intelligence officials who said in 2020 that Hunter Biden's laptop was likely a Russian disinformation campaign. The incoming president will also try to rename the Gulf of Mexico - to the Gulf of America - and establish biological sex definitions, after Republicans went after transgender Americans during the 2024 campaign cycle. During his rally, he repeated comments he often used in his campaign, criticizing Biden's term as a 'failed administration' and promising to 'end the reign of a failed and corrupt political establishment.' 'Tomorrow, at noon, the curtain closes on four long years of American decline and we begin a brand-new day of American strength and prosperity, dignity and pride,' he told supporters. But he's also already celebrating victories which he say would not have occurred if he weren't coming back into office this week - namely the reversal of the TikTok ban and the ceasefire in Gaza. Trump initiated the TikTok ban back in 2020 amid concerns the company was sharing Americans' personal info with the Chinese government. But fast forward to 2025 when the ban actually did come into effect - Trump said he has 'a warm spot in my heart for TikTok,' crediting the app with helping him win over young voters in the 2024 election. 'As of today, TikTok is back,' he told crowds at his rally. With the eyes of the world on the Capitol , he will get back the keys to the White House after an unprecedented campaign that saw two attempts on his life and a historic election victory over Kamala Harris All eyes were on Trump as he commanded attention and celebrated his return to the White House A MAGA supporter watches on at the rally on Sunday Trump took the stage after his grandchildren said the pledge of allegiance and sons Eric and Don Jr. and granddaughter Kai warmed up the audience of his MAGA faithful 'Frankly, we have no choice. We have to save it. A lot of jobs. We don't want to give our business to China. We don't want to give our business to other people.' Trump suggested he would use his leverage to seek a joint venture in which the U.S. government owns half of the company without putting up any money. 'So whether you like TikTok or not, we're going to make a lot of money,' Trump said. And speaking of the ceasefire deal between Israel and Gaza, Trump said: 'We achieved more without being president than they achieved in four years with being president.' Biden has also taken credit for the deal. Elon Musk was among speakers at the flashy rally, taking the stage with his son, X A-12, and embracing Trump. The billionaire threw his hands in the air as the crowd cheered, celebrating the victory which he predicted and rooted for throughout the campaign. Musk was an outspoken Trump supporter and generous donor throughout the campaign, and has been rewarded for his efforts with an appointment as the co-director of Trump's DOGE initiative to dismantle parts of the federal government. 'This victory is just the start, really,' he told the amped-up crowd. 'What matters going forward is to actually make significant changes, cement those changes and set the foundation for America to be strong for a century, for centuries, forever.' On Biden's first day as a former President, he will leave the Trumps at the Capitol and travel to Joint Base Andrews, where he is expected to 'deliver remarks at a farewell event with staff,' the White House said. He and his wife Jill will travel to Santa Ynez, California to holiday - the same location they visited after Biden pulled out of the race to return as President in 2024. A Tesla crashed into the The Mellow SF plant store in San Franciscos Mission District on Sunday. Elizabeth Creely A Tesla crashed into the The Mellow SF plant store in San Franciscos Mission District on Sunday. Elizabeth Creely A Tesla whose driver was reportedly using the cars autopilot feature crashed into a San Francisco plant store Sunday afternoon, according to Mission Local. The car crashed into The Mellow SF at the intersection of 21st and San Carlos streets in the Mission District around 2 p.m., the independent news website reported. According to Mission Local, the Tesla driver told bystanders that she had her car on autopilot to make a right turn but that the car wasnt executing the turn. The driver hit the gas pedal by mistake while attempting to disengage autopilot and crashed into the storefront, the site reported. Advertisement Article continues below this ad The San Francisco Police Department did not immediately respond to a request for information. A Tesla crashed into the The Mellow SF plant store in San Franciscos Mission District on Sunday. Elizabeth Creely Tesla recalled more than 2 million vehicles for a software update related to their autopilot systems in late 2023. The move prompted the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to open an investigation into whether the companys autopilot safeguards were adequate following a series of crashes, Reuters reported at the time. More than 100 Tesla accidents in the Bay Area have drawn attention from federal investigators looking into whether the autopilot feature played a role. High-profile Tesla accidents in Northern California that may have involved autopilot include one in which a Tesla Model S suddenly braked on the Bay Bridge and caused an eight-car pileup that injured nine people. In another, a Pittsburg man died after his Tesla Model S barreled into a Contra Costa County fire truck. A third case involved a Tesla Model 3 that crashed in South Lake Tahoe, leaving two dead. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Tesla driver-assistance software has proved controversial, as several lawsuits have claimed the semiautonomous autopilot feature is responsible for high-speed crashes and driver deaths. Some victims families have sued the company, alleging that deficiencies in the autopilot feature caused their loved ones deaths. Earlier this year, the Texas-based company settled a lawsuit over a March 2018 crash in Mountain View that killed Apple engineer Walter Huang. The Chronicles attempts to contact the store owners were unsuccessful. The Mellow was one of 17 businesses chosen to open a pop-up in downtown San Francisco last year to fill vacant storefronts as part of former Mayor London Breeds Vacant to Vibrant initiative. Donald Trump is set to make an historic statement at his swearing-in ceremony on Monday as he lays his hands upon not one but two Bibles while taking the oath of office, including one used by former President Abraham Lincoln. This striking gesture echoes a precedent set by Obama, who also used two Bibles - including Lincoln's - for his second inauguration in 2013. Trump's decision also brings in an added layer of personal meaning as he will also be using a Bible steeped in family sentiment. One of the Bibles Trump will be using carries profound personal significance and was given to him by his mother in 1955 to commemorate his graduation from First Presbyterian Church Sunday School in Jamaica, New York. A 1953 revised standard version, its black leather cover bears Trump's name embossed in gold. Inside the front cover, an inscription commemorates its presentation to a young Trump at Jamaica, New York's First Presbyterian Church. The signatures of church officials further underscore its importance as a treasured relic of Trump's early life. The choice reflects Trump's self-professed grounding in faith and tradition, offering a rare glimpse into his formative years. Donald Trump is set to make an historic statement at his swearing-in ceremony as he lays his hands upon two Bibles as he takes the oath of office, including one used by former Presidents Barack Obama and Abraham Lincoln This striking gesture echos a precedent set by Obama, who also used two Bibles for his second inauguration in 2013 President Barack Obama rests his hand on President Lincoln's Inaugural Bible as his wife Michelle Obama holds it as he takes the oath of office in January 2009 'Marking this moment with my mother's Bible honors her legacy and reminds me of the spiritual guidance I carry to this day,' Trump said in a press release from his inaugural committee. Complementing this deeply personal text is the iconic Lincoln Bible, a velvet-bound artifact first used in 1861 to inaugurate Abraham Lincoln as the 16th President of the United States. Preserved as part of the Library of Congress collection, the burgundy treasure has only been used three times since Lincoln's inauguration: by President Obama in both 2009 and 2013 and by Trump himself in 2017. The Trump team underscored the significance of using the Lincoln Bible describing the is as 'a symbol of continuity and strength that reflects the enduring values of the American people.' The swearing-in ceremony will unfold within the grandeur of the Capitol rotunda, a far more intimate setting that on the Capitol steps per the original plan. Adding to the gravity of the moment, Trump will take his oath facing a bust of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., a figure synonymous with the ongoing struggle for equality. This choice of setting coincides with Martin Luther King Jr. Day, a federal holiday celebrating King's legacy. Obama put a symbolic twist on a time-honored tradition, taking the oath of office for his second term with his hand placed not on two Bibles, one owned by Martin Luther King Jr. and one by Abraham Lincoln The bible used by Abraham Lincoln for his oath of office during his first inauguration in 1861 Michelle Obama holds the Lincoln bible at the inauguration of Barack Obama in 2009 Lincoln can be seen taking the Oath of Office during his first inauguration on March 4,1861 Trump's choice to mirror Obama's historic two-Bible oath-taking in 2013 further amplifies the moment. During his second inauguration, Obama used the Lincoln Bible alongside one that had belonged to Martin Luther King Jr. Vice President-elect JD Vance will be sworn in on a family Bible given to him by his maternal great-grandmother. 'Welcome to MAGAland: Trump's Second 100 Days' is the new politics podcast bringing you the latest news and gossip from Trump insiders. New episodes every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Follow wherever you get your podcasts now. A baby boomer columnist has claimed young Australians should stop buying coffees if they want to afford a home. Sunday Mail columnist and ex-ABC Radio Adelaide presenter Peter Goers made the claim on Saturday in an opinion piece titled 'Instant fix for Gen Z's housing grind'. Goers explained that he had spent his adult life drinking black coffee and Coca-Cola, claiming they were the much cheaper options than the amount young Aussies were spending at cafes. Coffee prices are expected to soar to as much as $7 a cup due to the cost-of-living crisis and skyrocketing global prices of coffee beans. Goer claimed the obsession with coffee was costing young Australians dearly as they were spending money that could otherwise be saved for a house deposit. 'We all love a bonza barista tamping down their coffee grounds or swiftly wiping their milk spigot,' he wrote. 'The young, particularly, are addicted to cafe coffee and will happily line up twice daily for their fix at $7 a go.' Goers explained buying two coffees every day for $7 each totalled $5,100 in a year and $51,000 over ten years - which was a big 'big chunk of a house deposit'. ABC Radio Adelaide presenter and the Sunday Mail columnist Peter Goers claimed young Aussies who spent money on coffee were drinking away a house deposit 'The young endlessly complain that theyll never afford a house but they are merrily drinking one in cardboard cups,' Goers wrote. 'Drink instant coffee and afford a house.' Goers claimed young Aussies were obsessed with coffee culture due to the number of cup holders seen in cars and on shopping trolleys. He suggested they should switch to instant coffee and buy themselves a 500g tin of Nescafe for $16 as it makes about 90 cups of coffee at 17.7 cents each. Goers is the latest baby boomer to claim that buying coffee from cafes is getting in the way of buying a home. A 75-year-old man, who has $2million in his bank account, told property investment company Coposit he owned multiple homes. He said it was achievable if people stopped wasting their hard-earned cash on meaningless goods and services. 'You're wearing a brand t-shirt. We never bought brand t-shirts. You're wearing brand shoes. We never bought brand shoes,' he said. Goers urged the younger generation to switch to instant coffee and make their cup at home in order to save for a house deposit 'So, you have this pressure on you to maintain a certain style. That certain style costs money, believe me, it costs money. 'For young people today to manage that lifestyle and to save for a property at the same time, must be difficult.' He also didn't understand why so many people were happy to pay $7 for a coffee each morning when they could just bring it from home. Baby boomers have also previously slammed Australia's younger generations as being lazy, with many claiming they needed to give up smashed avocado on toast, overseas holidays and coffee they would be able to save a house deposit. Australian property developer Tim Gurner stunned residents with his comments that millennials could afford a house if they stopped buying the brunch favourite. The body of a missing woman has been discovered inside a car submerged in a river. Penny, 50, from Lincolnshire, was last seen in the East Ferry area on January 14 before she disappeared later that day - sparking a major search operation. Drones, vehicle patrols and officers on foot all scoured the area for any sign of Penny but, tragically, on January 17 she was found dead in a vehicle that had been recovered from the water. The investigation into the circumstances surrounding Penny's death is ongoing. Lincolnshire Police said: 'We are saddened to report that in the search for missing Penny, she has been found deceased. 'An officer searching the local area found tracks leading to the River Trent just north of East Ferry, and a red Audi TT was recovered from the water today. Penny (pictured), 50, from Lincolnshire, was last seen in the East Ferry area on January 14 before she disappeared later that day 'Sadly, a woman was found deceased in the vehicle, and she has been formally identified as Penny. 'Penny's family have been made aware of Penny's death and are being supported by officers, and ask for privacy at this time. 'Our investigation is ongoing into how the vehicle entered the water. 'We ask that people do not speculate, and remember that her loved ones could be distressed by rumours and speculation.' A woman driving alone narrowly escaped danger when an aggressive stranger tried to force her off the road, before her brother came to the rescue. The woman was driving behind her brother's ute when a man suddenly jumped in front of her car along Ruttleys Rd in Wyee, on the NSW Central Coast. Disturbing footage captured the man signalling the brother to continue driving while attempting to get the woman to pull over. 'Old mate in the video let my brother go but indicated for me to pull over and started to come towards the car,' she said. 'My brother saw what was happening and jumped out of the car, but the man instantly became aggressive.' The man charged directly the woman's brother the moment he stepped out of his ute, and the two immediately began exchanging blows. During the scuffle, the brother repeatedly gestured toward his sister's car, seemingly questioning why the stranger had tried to make her pull over. A woman was driving along Ruttleys Rd in Wyee behind her brother's ute when a man (pictured) jumped in front of her car The woman's brother (right) got out of his ute, only for the stranger (left) to begin swinging at him 'I was on the phone to police as I was going around them,' she said. 'He also tried telling my brother that he was a cop as I drove past. 'My brother managed to get back into his ute.' Viewers of the footage applauded the brother for intervening and theorised about the stranger's motives. 'He was probably going to carjack you since he let the guy go. I I couldn't imagine what would have happened if your brother wasn't there,' one wrote. 'She is lucky, she could have been carjacked. Old mate saw she was a female and wanted to take her car,' another said. 'Thats when you find the accelerator pedal, that guy looks nothing like a cop and has no right to direct traffic. Keep your doors locked ladies,' another said. The woman claimed the stranger told her brother he was a police officer, dressed in civilian clothes A car of the same make, model and colour was involved in a police chase in Wyee later on Saturday, however it is unclear if it was the same car and driver. NSW Police officers began pursuing a white SUV Jeep after it failed to stop when signalled at about 2.15pm. Several police cars joined the pursuit of the Jeep through Budgewoi towards the Lake Munmorah area. The vehicle was finally stopped after officers deployed road spikes near the intersection of Flowers Rd at Catherine Hill Bay on the Pacific Highway. The alleged driver of the Jeep, a 46-year-old man, was arrested and taken to Belmont Police Station. Daily Mail Australia has contacted NSW Police for comment. The family of a charity cyclist killed by a hit-and- run drunk driver and buried in a shallow grave have won a six-figure compensation payout. Alexander McKellar, 33, left Tony Parsons, 63, for dead after knocking him off his bike in rural Argyll following a drinking session at a nearby hotel. McKellar then returned with twin Robert to remove the body and bury it in a bog on the farm estate where they worked. Mr Parsons' remains were found in 2021, four years after he vanished near Bridge of Orchy, after McKellar admitted killing him and hiding his body to his then fiancee Caroline Muirhead. The compensation claim was against McKellar and was paid by the insurer of the car he was driving at the time of the cyclist's death. The case was settled out of court last week. The exact sum paid was not disclosed. Gordon Dalyell, partner at Digby Brown Solicitors, said: 'I can confirm the civil action for the Parsons family has concluded. Alexander McKellar, 31, caused the death of 63-year-old Tony Parsons (pictured) by hitting him with his car on the A82 near Bridge of Orchy, Argyll and Bute, on September 29, 2017 Alexander McKellar, 33, (pictured) left Tony Parsons, 63, for dead after knocking him off his bike in rural Argyll following a drinking session at a nearby hotel. Alexander's twin brother Robert McKellar (pictured) helped him remove Tony's body and bury it in a bog on the farm estate where they worked 'The manner of Tony's death was appalling and the pain of his loss understandably continues to cause huge distress to his loved ones. 'While compensation does not in any way heal the pain, it does help protect the futures of his relatives. 'I commend the strength of the Parsons family throughout this whole period as they try to move on with their lives.' In August 2023, McKellar was jailed for 12 years after he pled guilty to the culpable homicide of Mr Parsons and attempting to pervert the course of justice by hiding his body. His twin also admitted att- empting to pervert the course of justice and was jailed for five years at the same hearing at the High Court in Glasgow. The site where the body of charity cyclist Tony Parsons was left after he died in a collision on September 29 2017 on the A82 near Bridge of Orchy The car driven in the collision with charity cyclist Tony Parsons on September 29 2017 Mr Parsons went missing in September 2017 while taking part in a charity cycle, having battled prostate cancer. He had planned to ride through the night to complete the 100-mile journey from Fort William back to his home in Tillicoultry, Clackmannanshire. The court was told his body would likely never have been found if Ms Muirhead had not come forward. Britain's top civil servant was last night urged to investigate the Attorney Generals potential role in a string of controversial government decisions. Sir Chris Wormald, Cabinet Secretary, was asked to launch a probe into Lord Hermer over growing conflict of interest concerns about his past clients, including Gerry Adams. It came after it emerged that Lord Hermer previously represented a group of asylum seekers allowed to come to Britain from the Chagos Islands in a one-off deal just months after his appointment. He took the Government to court in 2023, while a private practising lawyer, on behalf of five asylum seekers hoping to come to the UK part of a group who washed up on the Anglo-American military base on Diego Garcia, the largest of the Chagos atolls. The case was dismissed by the High Court. But just months after Sir Keir Starmer appointed him, the Government granted a one-off deal to allow all 61 migrants to come to the UK. The disclosure, reported by The Sunday Telegraph, sparked calls for Lord Hermer to say if he recused himself from any involvement with the decision. He also refused to reveal if he played a role in a proposed law change which paves the way for former Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams to get taxpayer-funded compensation, citing the Law Officers Convention a rule that Attorney Generals cannot reveal what legal advice they have given the Government. Attorney General Lord Hermer (pictured) is facing accusations of a conflict of interest over Diego Garcia asylum seekers being allowed to come to the UK The five migrants, who had landed at the US-UK military base in the Chagos Islands (pictured), lost their High Court bid to come to this country Critics accuse him of hiding behind the Convention. Tory justice spokesman Robert Jenrick wrote to Sir Chris last night calling for him to launch a probe, stating: While I note the Law Officers Convention, its purpose was to protect the proper functioning of government, not to prevent appropriate scrutiny of conflicts of interest. He said Lord Hermers refusal to come clean about his role risked undermining public confidence in the Government, adding: Several of these matters represent some of the most contentious issues in our political and legal life, with implications for public expenditure and national security. Sir Laurie Magnus, the Prime Ministers independent adviser on standards, was copied into the letter, which also referenced Lord Hermer acting for human rights group Liberty in 2020 in the case of jihadi bride Shamima Begum, arguing she should be allowed to return to the UK. Lord Hermer was an eminent KC before Keir Starmer (pictured) appointed him as Attorney General Lord Wolfson, shadow attorney general, said: Neither legal privilege, nor convention, nor parliamentary standing orders prevent the Attorney General from confirming if he has recused himself from advising ministers on matters involving his own former clients. A Government spokesman said: The Attorney General has properly declared interests from his previous role. This is the heartwarming moment Emily Damari and two other Hamas hostages finally hugged their loved ones after 471 days in captivity. Emily, 28, Romi Gonen, 24, and Doron Steinbrecher, 31, were handed over to the Red Cross yesterday. They are the first hostages released by Hamas as part of the ceasefire deal, with the three women seen sobbing in joy as they reunited with their families at hospital. It brings an end to the traumatic 471 days being held by the terrorist group for the three women. British-Israeli Emily was snatched from her home in Kibbutz Kfar Aza on October 7. She had been shot in the hand, with shrapnel injuring her leg, before she was blindfolded and bundled into her car and driven to Gaza. Hamas personnel had entered her home and also shot her golden cockapoo Choocha dead. The young woman has now been reunited with her mother and was pictured beaming in heartwarming photos. Wrapped in an Israeli flag, she was seen emotionally hugging her family as she arrived at hospital. Emily Damari embraces her mother Mandy after being released Emily Damari arrives at Sheba Medical Center in Ramat Gan, Israel When the former hostages were brought to hospital, they were wrapped in hugs Doron Steinbrecher in pictured in her mother's arms Romi, 24 - who was snatched from the Nova music festival - and Doron, 31, are the other two women who were released and have been pictured hugging their mothers. Heartwarming footage saw the three women run into the arms of their relatives, with smiles and tears on both sides. All three hostages freed yesterday, along with their mothers, were taken by an Israeli Air Force helicopter to a hospital. They were greeted with cheers and banners, and other patients opened their windows to peer down as they arrived. They were brought to Sheba Medical Centre in Tel Aviv, where they met the rest of their families. They are said to be in good health. A member of the hospital staff said: 'I'm happy to report that they are in stable condition. That allows us and them to focus on what is the most important thing for now - reuniting with the families. 'We will continue to monitor all their clinical conditions. This will take a few more days until we complete all the examinations that are needed, and treat, whatever we find.' They were brought to Sheba Medical Centre in Tel Aviv, where they met the rest of their families. They are said to be in good health Emily Damari greets friends and supporters as she arrives at hospital Released British-Israeli hostage Emily Damari embraces her mother, Mandy The return of the hostages 'represents a beacon of light in the darkness, a moment of hope and triumph of the human spirit' the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, a group that represents some hostage families, said. Romi was wrapped in a group hug by her family members and Doron sobbed as she embraced her relatives in the halls of the hospital. An international Red Cross convoy collected the trio from Hamas. The truce had been delayed this morning when the terrorist group failed to hand over the list of names 24 hours ahead of time as stated as part of the agreement. Hamas blamed the delay on bringing a pause of 15 months of war on a 'technical' issue. The Israeli military continued to carry out airstrikes in northern and central Gaza until the list was handed over, killing at least eight Palestinians, the Palestinian civil emergency service has said. The ceasefire began at 11.15am local time, nearly three hours after the initial agreement, with displaced Palestinians seen walking through rubble as they returned to their homes. Hamas militants brazenly emerged from hiding to celebrate the new ceasefire with Israel, shamelessly parading through the streets of Gaza while brandishing AK-47s and waving the group's green flags. When the door to the van opened, the three former hostages looked terrified, clutching their 'gift bags' and sprinted through the overwhelming crowd to safety Doron Steinbrecher (in pink), Romi Gonen (in black), Emily Damari (in green) Startling images showed masked fighters in camouflage and balaclavas, some standing on vehicles, others marching defiantly through towns that have been reduced to rubble after months of intense fighting. The mothers of the three female hostages released by Hamas this afternoon watched their daughters return to Israel following an agonising wait. Emily's mother released a statement thanking those who 'never stopped saying her name' before her release after 470 days held captive. 'I want to thank everyone who never stopped fighting for Emily throughout this horrendous ordeal, and who never stopped saying her name,' the mother said. 'In Israel, Britain, the United States, and around the world. Thank you for bringing Emily home.' Doron's family issued a statement through the Hostages and Missing Families Forum Headquarters. 'After an unbearable 471 days, our beloved Dodo has finally returned to our arms. We want to express our heartfelt gratitude to everyone who supported and accompanied us along this journey. 'A special thank you to the people of Israel for their warm embrace, unwavering support, and the strength they gave us during our darkest moments. We also extend our gratitude to President Trump for his significant involvement and support, which meant so much to us. 'Our heroic Dodo, who survived 471 days in Hamas captivity, begins her rehabilitation journey today. We will continue to stand with all the families and do everything in our power until all of their loved ones return home.' When their vehicle arrived, the poor women were confronted with hundreds of militants surrounding the van and shouting, pounding on the doors and windows A drone view shows crowds as Palestinian Hamas militants prepared for the handover The release of the three women, the first of 33 hostages due to be freed from Gaza under phase one of the deal, is in exchange for 90 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails. They were taken in one of the most traumatic episodes in Israel's history, when Hamas gunmen attacked a string of communities around the Gaza Strip in the early hours of Oct. 7, 2023, killing around 1,200 civilians and soldiers and abducting 251 hostages - men, women, children and elderly. But amid hope among many Israelis that the six-week ceasefire marks the beginning of the end to the war, there is deep unease about the uncertainty surrounding the remaining 94 hostages still held in the Gaza Strip. UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said: 'The release of three hostages today is wonderful and long-overdue news after months of agony for them and their families. 'Among them is British citizen Emily Damari, who will now be reunited with her family, including her mother Amanda who has never stopped her tireless fight to bring her daughter home. 'I wish them all the very best as they begin the road to recovery after the intolerable trauma they have experienced. We stand ready to offer assistance and support.' He went on to say that those remaining in captivity must not be forgotten. 'We must now see the remaining phases of the ceasefire deal implemented in full and on schedule, including the release of those remaining hostages and a surge of humanitarian aid into Gaza. The UK stands ready to do everything it can to support a permanent and peaceful solution.' Foreign Secretary David Lammy welcomed the release of three hostages in Gaza and said 'our thoughts are also with those still waiting to be reunited with their loved ones'. Mr Lammy said: 'We welcome the release of three hostages in Gaza, including British national Emily Damari, and thank Qatar, Egypt and the US for their support in bringing these individuals' and their families' horrific ordeal to an end. 'Our thoughts are also with those still waiting to be reunited with their loved ones, including the families of UK linked hostages Eli Sharabi, Oded Lifshitz and Avinatan Or. 'We are clear the deal must be implemented in full; all hostages be returned and aid be allowed to flow into Gaza now. 'This ceasefire must lead to a credible pathway towards a two-state solution in which Israelis and Palestinians can live side by side in peace.' IDF spokesman Daniel Hagari said in a press conference that over the course of six weeks 'three to four additional hostages will be released each week'. Trailblazing author and producer passes away in her Sydney home Trailblazer Christine Hogan has been remembered as an inspirational female journalist who helped pave the way for generations of women in the once-male-dominated world of media. The pioneering reporter, producer and editor passed away in her Cremorne home on Sydney's lower north shore at the weekend, leaving an incredible legacy across Australia's biggest and best-known newspapers, magazines and television shows. Hogan led teams of female journalists at the country's most prestigious - and progressive - publications, and literally wrote the book on the women who made Australian television, with her widely acclaimed bestseller, Look At Me. Former Australian Women's Weekly editor Robyn Foyster said Hogan had been 'an inspiration' to countless aspiring young journalists after helping 'break down the barriers' that existed in the nation's media world during the 70s and 80s. 'I'm really sad to hear that we've lost Christine,' Foyster told Daily Mail Australia. 'I respected her enormously for her amazing and fierce reputation as a journalist and also for the warm, witty and encouraging person that she was. 'She carved out an impressive, high-profile career at a time when there weren't as many leading female journalists, and was ahead of her time in what was, back then, very much a man's world. 'Women like Christine paved the way for the fantastic female journalists we have today - she was an inspiration who showed us that anything was possible, a true trailblazer. 'That's her legacy and she will be greatly missed.' Trailblazing editor, author and producer Christine Hogan is pictured the launch of her book Look At Me at cocktail party at The Wharf Restaurant on September 20, 2006 The book celebrated the women who helped define Australian television - including Anita Jacoby, Claudia Karvan, Jana Wendt, Jane Turner and Patti Newman - as the industry marked its 50th anniversary A proud Brisbane girl, Hogan attended prestigious Clayfield College in the city's north in the mid-70s before going on to study French at the University of Queensland. It was while at university, she discovered her passion for storytelling and transferred to a degree in English and Journalism before landing a cadetship with Brisbane's Courier-Mail newspaper. After an impressive start to her career, the young writer soon attracted the attention of bosses at Fairfax's Sydney Morning Herald and made the move south. From there, Hogan took on a role at the Australian Women's Weekly as deputy news editor at the Packer-owned ACP flagship magazine, before returning to Fairfax to edit Portfolio, which she described as 'the magazine for working women'. 'During that period, I worked on the Fairfax takeover of Ms Magazine in the US, and spent three months in New York assisting Sandra Yates, the publisher, and Anne Summers, the editor, in that transition,' she recalled online before her death. Hogan eventually made the leap from print to television after signing on as Ten's publicity boss in 1991 before she returned to journalism as the chief of staff of the Brisbane newsroom. She soon found her way back to Sydney as founding producer for the launch of Ten's Sunday morning news and current affairs show Meet the Press in 1992 while also working on Ten's Inside Edition program. But Hogan never lost her passion for the printed word and went on to pen five books celebrating strong women and the role they played in societies around in the world. Hogan explored North African and the Near and Middle East for her highly acclaimed book about the Islamic world and women's roles within it, The Veiled Lands The talented author's tome encouraged others to explore the vast regions Her best-selling works included The Veiled Lands, which delved into the lives of women in North Africa and the near east, and led to a lifelong fascination with the regions and an affinity for their people. A devout Catholic, Hogan went on to edit the Church's Teen Matters magazine for Father Chris Riley's Youth Off The Streets foundation, along with some of the church's leading faith-based publications. Hogan spent her later years working as the communications manager for the Sisters of Charity of Australia, which is dedicated to helping the sick and poor, founding hospitals and providing educational opportunities for those in need. News of Hogan's death was greeted by sadness throughout the media industry, as a who's-who of journalism and publicity sharing tributes to the beloved author - with her easy brilliance and quick wit a common memory. Logie-award winning television presenter and media personality Annette Allison told Daily Mail Australia: 'I am in shock. 'We went to school together and never lost touch, she had a brilliant mind... and a was a quick and sometimes sharp wit. She also had the most beautiful face.' Publicist Rea Francis added: 'Fiercely private, razor wit, huge intellect. I was one of her Brisbane-born mates She will be missed by so many.' Sexologist and relationship author Nikki Goldstein added: 'Christine was the most generous boss and mentor. She was incredibly kind and so clever and witty.' Even those on the other side of the inquisitive questions were impressed by Hogan's 'intimidating' intelligence, with esteemed Archibald Prize finalist Mary Pinnock adding: 'I can't believe this is true. Bless you Christine. Hogan has been remembers for her kind heart, brilliant mind and razor wit 'She was so bright and articulate. I felt a tad intimidated when she interviewed me about my exhibitions.... wrote beautiful observations.' Award-winning ABC journalist Anita Jacoby said Hogan had been a trailblazer in more ways than one. 'Shocked and saddened by this news. Christine was a wonderful woman and a terrific journalist,' she wrote on social media. 'Her deep love for Libya and Tunisia saw her visit these countries numerous times way before the Arab Springs. 'Hearing her wonderful stories meant some of us followed in her footsteps, discovering the incredible archaeological site and cultures she had raved about.' Film producer Lance Reynolds, who won acclaim with his film Paperbook Hero, added: 'Christine: you were an original. 'Starting our career at the same time in Brisbane, we climbed the heights and never looked back. RIP my dear friend.' I have found it almost impossible to put into words just how big of an impact losing Kiena has been. On all her family, her beautiful baby girl and all her friends. Kiena was a rare gem. She brought so much love and kindness to this world and to everyone who loved her, she was an extremely beautiful girl, and was quite truly the sweetest kindest and gentlest person I have ever known. Kiena is missed so much every second of every day. Her baby girl was brought to my home a few hours after Kiena was found, and has been in my full time care ever since that tragic day, and I honestly cannot put into words just how much it breaks my heart that her beautiful baby doesn't have her mummy here because of that monster. I'll never forget the day when three CID officers came to my house shortly after I lost Kiena. And I simply said 'Ryan Wellings killed my baby' and I will fight for her justice. I truly hope that no other young lady or child has to go through what he did to my daughter and her baby. I just wish with all my heart that I could bring her back and say 'It is ok, you're safe now'. I have been asked to talk about the impact that losing Kiena and the crimes that have been committed have had on me. I have talked briefly about this already, above and in my previous statements. There are a few areas that I will go into a little more detail around, however I am feeling like my words may make little difference, but it is important for me to say the following. I have been robbed of watching my daughter live her life, and her baby girl have her Mummy. I will never get to hold any other children that Kiena may have had in the future or watch Kiena live her life as she should have. As [my granddaughter] grows into a young lady herself, she been robbed herself of a Mum to go to, or when she has children herself, her own mother to turn to, but I will step into this role for Kiena. I will never be able to live a normal life due to the coercive and controlling behaviour and assaults that Kiena suffered. The loss of Kiena resulted in [my granddaughter] as a baby having separation anxiety and this is something that I have had to deal with in the early days of her being in my care. On many occasions, inclusive of the 11th of July 2022, [my granddaughter] was exposed to and witnessed extreme domestic abuse and violence against her Mummy. I work through this to the best of my ability and will continue to do so as she grows into a young lady. Another example is that [my granddaughter] has already asked me where her mummy is. I have found it impossible to answer that question, along with the simplest of questions like what [she] calls me. I know that I am her grandma, but simply contemplating explaining this to her is impossible. In terms of my own health, the impact has been significant. In the early days after Kiena's death, I struggled to function or eat properly. I can still recall now the first time that I left the house with [my granddaughter] after she came into my care, I had social anxiety and was fearful of going out and seeing people, it was a huge deal to initially leave the house. I have sought medical support for this and the impact on my health will be long term. As a direct result of what happened to Kiena, I have been diagnosed with PTSD and anxiety for which I am supported by my Doctor. I have also suffered from frequent nightmares, flash backs to Kiena lying on a train line, and find that simple things like a television programme may trigger memories, due to the story lines or content they may have. Prior to the July 2022, I worked and I had actually confided in a couple of colleagues about the impact of the domestic abuse on Kiena. I did not return to work after the 11th of July 2022, when Kiena was last assaulted by Wellings. That day, I had to call my manager and explain that Kiena had been badly assaulted, I sent her a couple of photos so that I didn't have to explain too much as I was sat with Kiena. I was told that day that I wouldn't get paid, as it wasn't me that was injured. Prior to this at work, I always made sure that I had my phone with me should Kiena need me and I was always checking my phone in case Kiena had rang or messaged me. The future that I thought I would have now looks very different in terms of finishing work and retiring, as [my granddaughter's] care and upbringing is my absolute main priority. This, however, will be an honour and a privilege to raise my daughter's girl. I feel like I have lived Kiena's domestic abuse with her, and what I mean by this is that I was her main source of support, and I experienced the full range of emotions that Kiena had to go through with her. I was so scared of saying the wrong thing to Kiena, as I needed her to know that she could come to me anytime and I didn't want her to close up. There were times that I would find out that things had happened a couple of days afterwards, such as the black eye in July 2021, and I know that sometimes Kiena tried to protect me by not saying things. As a mother, you do everything that you can to help your child and I have had to live through watching my daughter tell me that she was terrified and trapped, and when she said these things, it literally took my breath away, as I didn't know how to help, I felt helpless. After an incident with Wellings, Kiena would come to be safe and stay with me, I can only explain that I would see a light coming back on, and that she would get some strength, but Wellings always found a way to take back control and take her strength away. It is heart wrenching to see your child hurt from anything, even by accident, but seeing your daughter hurt by someone else is sickening. Kiena always took my advice, and she always asked for help and she tried to do the right thing. I have moved home so that I can not only have space and a comfortable home for [my granddaughter], but also initially I lived by a train track which I could just not continue with. Kiena was my best friend and I have struggled to do the things that we used to do together, for example we would often go for tea together. I have shut a lot of people out of my life to just get through the days, and to protect [my granddaughter] and I. Fortunately, my friends and family are understanding of this and always there for me. Wellings has never admitted to the awful acts he committed against my daughter. I have had to sit through an almost six-week trial and watch the private life of my daughter pulled apart and her mental health scrutinised and assessed. She has been violated. There is no other word for it. It has also been extremely traumatic for me to see Kiena so upset talking to police officers and to look back retrospectively at her so helpless in life and reaching out for help, knowing what ultimately happened to her. Watching videos of her crying and upset whilst also pregnant or cuddling her baby has been horrific. It is hard enough to watch videos of her having fun and laughing. Ryan Wellings has put me through all that. He could have pleaded to the offences and we would never have faced all that, with the eyes of the public on us all. This has been a trauma in itself. Whenever Wellings is released from prison, I will be extremely concerned that he will do this again, he is a dangerous man. I am at a loss as to consider what impact him being released from prison will have on other women and children. What my future holds now is being strong enough to raise [my granddaughter]. I cannot accept what has happened to Kiena and that as a result of this, she is not here. I have been robbed of my daughter. Israel has released 90 Palestinian prisoners amid the Hamas ceasefire deal after three women were returned to their families in emotional scenes yesterday. The Israel Prison Service said it had completed the release of 90 Palestinian prisoners early Monday, part of a Gaza ceasefire deal that took effect a day earlier. 'All the terrorists were released from Ofer prison and the Jerusalem detention centre', the service said, referring to the Palestinian prisoners, in a statement issued just before 1:30am. Crowds cheered, chanted and honked car horns as two buses carrying Palestinian prisoners freed from an Israeli jail arrived in the occupied West Bank town of Beitunia early on Monday. The buses held some of the 90 prisoners released as part of the Gaza ceasefire deal that began Sunday and saw three Israeli hostages freed by Hamas. Members of the crowd climbed atop the lead bus and unfurled a Hamas flag. It came after Emily Damari, 28, Romi Gonen, 24, and Doron Steinbrecher, 31, were handed over to the Red Cross yesterday. They were the first hostages released by Hamas as part of the ceasefire deal, with the three women seen sobbing in joy as they reunited with their families at hospital. It brings an end to the traumatic 471 days being held by the terrorist group for the three women. A crowd gathers around a bus carrying released Palestinian prisoners as it arrives in the West Bank city of Beitunia Palestinian female prisoners wave from inside a bus A freed Palestinian prisoner is greeted after being released from an Israeli jail as part of a hostages-prisoners swap Khalida Jarrar, 62, a leading member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) The prison service said in a statement the Palestinians 'were transferred from several detention facilities across the country to be absorbed at the Ofer Prison, accompanied by fighters from the Israel prison service with the assistance of the Israel Police'. It continued: 'Upon completion of the absorption operations and receipt of approval from political authorities, all the terrorists were released from Ofer Prison and the Jerusalem Detention Centre. 'Prison service fighters are working to release the terrorists in accordance with the political outline that was agreed upon for the return of the kidnapped people, in full cooperation with all security agencies.' The most prominent of the detainees is Khalida Jarrar, 62, a leading member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). It is a secular leftist faction that was involved in hijackings and other attacks against Israel in the 1970s but has scaled back its militant activities in recent years. A vehicle of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) arrives outside Ofer military prison, located between Ramallah and Beitunia in the occupied West Bank Palestinians wait for their relatives to be released within the hostage swap between Israel and Hamas, outside Ofer Prison in Beitunia Red Cross vehicles arrive outside Ofer military prison Since her arrest in 2023, Ms Jarrar has been held under indefinitely renewable six-month administrative detention orders, a practice denounced by human rights groups as a violation of international law. It comes after three women hostages were finally reunited with their families. British-Israeli Emily was snatched from her home in Kibbutz Kfar Aza on October 7. She had been shot in the hand, with shrapnel injuring her leg, before she was blindfolded and bundled into her car and driven to Gaza. Hamas personnel had entered her home and also shot her golden cockapoo Choocha dead. The young woman has now been reunited with her mother and was pictured beaming in heartwarming photos. Wrapped in an Israeli flag, she was seen emotionally hugging her family as she arrived at hospital. Emily Damari embraces her mother Mandy after being released Emily Damari arrives at Sheba Medical Center in Ramat Gan, Israel When the former hostages were brought to hospital, they were wrapped in hugs Doron Steinbrecher in pictured in her mother's arms Romi, 24 - who was snatched from the Nova music festival - and Doron, 31, are the other two women who were released and have been pictured hugging their mothers. Heartwarming footage saw the three women run into the arms of their relatives, with smiles and tears on both sides. All three hostages freed yesterday, along with their mothers, were taken by an Israeli Air Force helicopter to a hospital. They were greeted with cheers and banners, and other patients opened their windows to peer down as they arrived. They were brought to Sheba Medical Centre in Tel Aviv, where they met the rest of their families. They are said to be in good health. A member of the hospital staff said: 'I'm happy to report that they are in stable condition. That allows us and them to focus on what is the most important thing for now - reuniting with the families. 'We will continue to monitor all their clinical conditions. This will take a few more days until we complete all the examinations that are needed, and treat, whatever we find.' They were brought to Sheba Medical Centre in Tel Aviv, where they met the rest of their families. They are said to be in good health Emily Damari greets friends and supporters as she arrives at hospital Released British-Israeli hostage Emily Damari embraces her mother, Mandy The return of the hostages 'represents a beacon of light in the darkness, a moment of hope and triumph of the human spirit' the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, a group that represents some hostage families, said. Romi was wrapped in a group hug by her family members and Doron sobbed as she embraced her relatives in the halls of the hospital. An international Red Cross convoy collected the trio from Hamas. The truce had been delayed this morning when the terrorist group failed to hand over the list of names 24 hours ahead of time as stated as part of the agreement. Hamas blamed the delay on bringing a pause of 15 months of war on a 'technical' issue. The Israeli military continued to carry out airstrikes in northern and central Gaza until the list was handed over, killing at least eight Palestinians, the Palestinian civil emergency service has said. The ceasefire began at 11.15am local time, nearly three hours after the initial agreement, with displaced Palestinians seen walking through rubble as they returned to their homes. Hamas militants brazenly emerged from hiding to celebrate the new ceasefire with Israel, shamelessly parading through the streets of Gaza while brandishing AK-47s and waving the group's green flags. When the door to the van opened, the three former hostages looked terrified, clutching their 'gift bags' and sprinted through the overwhelming crowd to safety Doron Steinbrecher (in pink), Romi Gonen (in black), Emily Damari (in green) Startling images showed masked fighters in camouflage and balaclavas, some standing on vehicles, others marching defiantly through towns that have been reduced to rubble after months of intense fighting. The mothers of the three female hostages released by Hamas this afternoon watched their daughters return to Israel following an agonising wait. Emily's mother released a statement thanking those who 'never stopped saying her name' before her release after 470 days held captive. 'I want to thank everyone who never stopped fighting for Emily throughout this horrendous ordeal, and who never stopped saying her name,' the mother said. 'In Israel, Britain, the United States, and around the world. Thank you for bringing Emily home.' Doron's family issued a statement through the Hostages and Missing Families Forum Headquarters. 'After an unbearable 471 days, our beloved Dodo has finally returned to our arms. We want to express our heartfelt gratitude to everyone who supported and accompanied us along this journey. 'A special thank you to the people of Israel for their warm embrace, unwavering support, and the strength they gave us during our darkest moments. We also extend our gratitude to President Trump for his significant involvement and support, which meant so much to us. 'Our heroic Dodo, who survived 471 days in Hamas captivity, begins her rehabilitation journey today. We will continue to stand with all the families and do everything in our power until all of their loved ones return home.' When their vehicle arrived, the poor women were confronted with hundreds of militants surrounding the van and shouting, pounding on the doors and windows A drone view shows crowds as Palestinian Hamas militants prepared for the handover The release of the three women, the first of 33 hostages due to be freed from Gaza under phase one of the deal, is in exchange for 90 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails. They were taken in one of the most traumatic episodes in Israel's history, when Hamas gunmen attacked a string of communities around the Gaza Strip in the early hours of Oct. 7, 2023, killing around 1,200 civilians and soldiers and abducting 251 hostages - men, women, children and elderly. But amid hope among many Israelis that the six-week ceasefire marks the beginning of the end to the war, there is deep unease about the uncertainty surrounding the remaining 94 hostages still held in the Gaza Strip. UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said: 'The release of three hostages today is wonderful and long-overdue news after months of agony for them and their families. 'Among them is British citizen Emily Damari, who will now be reunited with her family, including her mother Amanda who has never stopped her tireless fight to bring her daughter home. 'I wish them all the very best as they begin the road to recovery after the intolerable trauma they have experienced. We stand ready to offer assistance and support.' He went on to say that those remaining in captivity must not be forgotten. 'We must now see the remaining phases of the ceasefire deal implemented in full and on schedule, including the release of those remaining hostages and a surge of humanitarian aid into Gaza. The UK stands ready to do everything it can to support a permanent and peaceful solution.' Foreign Secretary David Lammy welcomed the release of three hostages in Gaza and said 'our thoughts are also with those still waiting to be reunited with their loved ones'. Mr Lammy said: 'We welcome the release of three hostages in Gaza, including British national Emily Damari, and thank Qatar, Egypt and the US for their support in bringing these individuals' and their families' horrific ordeal to an end. 'Our thoughts are also with those still waiting to be reunited with their loved ones, including the families of UK linked hostages Eli Sharabi, Oded Lifshitz and Avinatan Or. 'We are clear the deal must be implemented in full; all hostages be returned and aid be allowed to flow into Gaza now. 'This ceasefire must lead to a credible pathway towards a two-state solution in which Israelis and Palestinians can live side by side in peace. IDF spokesman Daniel Hagari said in a press conference that over the course of six weeks 'three to four additional hostages will be released each week'. A burned minivan is seen in the aftermath of Palisades Fire in Pacific Palisades on Jan. 12. On Monday, some residents were allowed to return to their homes. Scott Strazzante/The Chronicle Southern California was bracing for another round of Santa Ana winds Sunday as some evacuated residents were allowed to start returning home before the wildfires were fully contained. Evacuation orders were lifted or downgraded for parts of the Eaton Fire burn area and neighboring communities in and around Altadena, the Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department announced Sunday afternoon. Some areas were fully opened, while others were accessible only to residents who could show identification at California National Guard checkpoints. The announcement came as meteorologists warned that high winds and low humidity could fuel extreme fire weather conditions across the Los Angeles area through Tuesday evening, and as the National Weather Service issued flag warnings for roughly 12.8 million Southern Californians. Advertisement Article continues below this ad The entryway and wrought iron furniture is all that remains at a burned home after the Eaton Fire in Altadena. Scott Strazzante/The Chronicle Firefighters continued to make progress building containment lines to prevent the wildfires spread to new territory. As of Sunday afternoon, the Palisades Fire, stretching from eastern Malibu to Pacific Palisades and Brentwood Park, remained just shy of 24,000 acres and was 52% contained, according to Cal Fire. To the north, the 14,000-acre Eaton Fire was 81% contained in Altadena and the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains, officials said. Many of the 100,000 people evacuated from the fires were anxious to return home to inspect ruined properties or protect surviving properties from looters. The sheriffs office urged patience and said it was coordinating with fire agencies to organize repopulation efforts. The Environmental Protection Agency was in the process of assessing every property within the burn areas to determine if anything on the site is considered toxic, Mark Pestrella, director of Los Angeles County Public Works, said Sunday at a community meeting. Once a lot is determined to be free of toxic materials, it will be cleared of downed trees and other fire debris through a program that homeowners may opt into, he said. Advertisement Article continues below this ad A home destroyed by the Palisades Fire is seen during sunset in Pacific Palisades. Stephen Lam/The Chronicle It is a requirement of all property owners to clear debris before they begin any construction, Pestrella said. Images emerging from the Palisades and Eaton fire zones underlined the scale of the damage and the immensity of the rebuilding efforts ahead, with early estimates predicting the fires will become the most costly in U.S. history. Los Angeles County medical examiners had publicly identified four fire victims as of Sunday and were investigating the deaths of 23 other bodies found in the two major fire zones. A yacht that was being rented by music producer and rap artist Metro Boomin burst into flames in Miami on Sunday. The 95-foot boat docked in the Miami River at around 3am outside the strip club Booby Trap on the River, workers at the club told Local 10 News. But after about 15 or 30 minutes, someone said they smelled smoke coming from the massive vessel. Strip club employees helped evacuate the roughly 15 guests that were staying on the boat, including Metro Boomin, real name Leland Tyler Wayne. 'Around 3 o'clock, the boat arrived. It was Metro Boomin,' said Michael Marhefka, Director of Security at the Booby Trap on the River. 'The boat pulled up and they were on the boat maybe 30 minutes at the dock and we noticed what sounded like fire alarms going off. When we looked at the boat we did see some smoke inside the boat. We made the determination to evacuate the boat immediately.' A video posted to Instagram by Vandry King showed the chaotic fire as scantily clad dancers and patrons of the strip club ran out of the establishment. The club, due to its proximity to the burning boat, was also evacuated out of caution. The yacht was seen burning for hours with extraordinarily high flames. Just before 7am, the vessel sunk into the river. Pictured: The 95-foot yacht rented by Metro Boomin, 31, burst into flames on Sunday morning. It was docked outside a Miami strip club called Booby Trap on the River The yacht was seen burning for hours with extraordinarily high flames. Just before 7am, the vessel sunk into the river Metro Boomin, real name Leland Tyler Wayne, hasn't publicly addressed the incident but escaped the yacht unharmed Witnesses told NBC 6 South Florida that the fire was incredibly large and unexpected, scaring many people nearby. Miami-Dade Fire Rescue said when firefighters got to the scene at around 4:05am, they found 'a yacht fully engulfed in flames. Fire crews immediately conducted a fire attack from both land and water. The firefight was made difficult due to the vessel's size and fuel load,' the Miami-Herald reported. At one point, the some 30 firefighters who responded to the area tried to use a ladder truck to attack the flames from the air. The crews were able to put out the fire but the yacht was declared a total loss after it sunk. 'Because of how much water the vessel took on, she ended up rolling and capsizing at the dock, and unfortunately, taking two pylons with her,' MDFR spokesperson Nicholas DiGiacomo. No injuries were reported, and official said the cause of the fire remains under investigation. Metro Boomin - who has collaborated with artists such as Travis Scott, Drake, Weeknd, 21 Savage and Young Thug - hasn't publicly addressed the incident after he escaped the yacht unharmed. Scotlands police force has handed thousands of pounds of taxpayers money to a gay and transgender rights group for teenagers which was once led by a paedophile. LGBT Youth Scotland (LGBTYS) was given more than 3,500 for training courses and for 500 purple button badges to show solidarity with the gay and trans community. The badges mark Purple Friday, an annual fundraising day where people all over Scotland show their support for LGBTQ+ young people and fundraise for our [LGBTYSs] vital services. The Mail revealed in September Children in Need had axed funding for the charity amid a row over a coming-out guide co-authored by a convicted paedophile while the groups former chief executive sexually assaulted a baby boy. Last night Scottish Tory equalities spokesman Tess White said: With the likes of Children in Need having pulled funding from LGBTYS because of the cloud hanging over the charity, many people will question these payouts. Fostering inclusivity is vital but at a time when officers are being dangerously underfunded by the SNP Government, giving scarce resources to a charity mired in controversy is difficult to justify. Police Scotland figures show two payments to LGBTYS 1,750 in 2022/2023 and the same sum in 2020/21, both relating to registration, training & support for LGBT Charter while another 73.75 was handed over in 2019/20 to pay for 500 purple button badges. The total funding is 3,573. The forces LGBT Allies Toolkit asks staff and officers to evangelise their allyship. It recommends online resources which state sex is on a spectrum and that misgendering a person can lead to very real psychological trauma. Police Scotland has handed thousands of pounds of taxpayers money to a gay and transgender rights group for teenagers which was once led by a paedophile (file image) LGBT Youth Scotland (LGBTYS) was given more than 3,500 for training courses and for 500 purple button badges to show solidarity with the gay and trans community. The badges mark Purple Friday, an annual fundraising day where people all over Scotland In 2009 LGBT Youth Scotland's former chief executive, James Rennie, was convicted of sexually assaulting a baby James Rennie, the former chief executive of LGBTYS, is serving life in prison for sexually assaulting a three-month-old after being convicted in 2009 along with seven others on sex abuse charges. He was an SNP Government adviser on child sex issues and had used computers at the LGBTYS offices in Leith to pursue his sordid double life. Andrew Easton, who co-wrote a schools guide for the youth charity, was convicted last year of sharing indecent images of children. He was never an employee or volunteer with LGBTYS but in 2009 he was a young person who attended its services. It was then that he helped to write the guide. Gender-critical think-tank Murray Blackburn Mackenzie said: The critical issue here is that Police Scotland is continuing its relationship with a controversial organisation that promotes policies that put women at risk. Dr Stuart Waiton, a senior lecturer in criminology at Abertay University in Dundee, said: At a time when there are growing concerns about this politicisation of our institutions, the fact the police are funding this is scandalous. A Police Scotland spokesman said LGBTYS is a key partner and their work across the country builds confidence with many young people. LGBTYS said: We are pleased to work with organisations who share our vision and support LGBTQ+ young people in Scotland. Elon Musk's adorable toddler stole his thunder at President-elect Donald Trump's pre-inauguration rally Sunday night. The billionaire came on stage to tout the changes he plans to make to the federal government as the co-head of the Department of Government Efficiency with X A-12 (pronounced ex-ash-aytwelve), four, by his side. As Musk spoke, his enthusiastic son was seen jumping around and waving his arms. 'Little X just followed me on stage here,' the 53-year-old Tesla founder explained to the adoring crowd. 'He's a very enthusiastic supporter as you can see.' Musk then cheered, raising his arms by his side as X stared out at the crowd, his mouth agape. Soon, the little boy raised his own arms in victory. Elon Musk's four-year-old son X A-12 (pronounced ex-ash-aytwelve) joined him on stage at President-Elect Donald Trump's victory rally on Sunday The young boy stole the show, jumping up and down and waving his arms At one point, X lifted his arm up in victory as his father spoke During his brief remarks, Musk promised to shake up the federal bureaucracy with his new DOGE agency saying 'we will do great things here.' 'This victory is the start really,' he vowed, as X continued to jump up and down, grabbing his father's attention. Musk went on to say the goal of the new agency is to 'Make America strong for centuries' and, of course, to 'Make America Great Again.' The SpaceX CEO has previously set an ambitious goal of cutting federal spending by $2 trillion in the coming years from a federal budget that hovers at around $6.8 trillion. However, he seemed to adjust that target last week. 'I think we'll try for $2 trillion. I think that's like the best-case outcome,' he said. 'But I do think that you kind of have to have some overage. I think if we try for $2 trillion, we've got a good shot at getting $1 [trillion].' To help meet the goal, the department has already hired about 50 employees, and is aiming to get 100 employees in the coming weeks. It has called for engineers to apply, but when two Democrats asked to join the department they were promptly rejected. 'Little X just followed me on stage here,' the 53-year-old Tesla founder explained Musk added that X is 'a very enthusiastic supporter' of the incoming president Musk cheered, raising his arms by his side, as he spoke about the role of the Department of Government Efficiency Norman Eisen and Virginia Canter, an ethics official for Barack Obama and an attorney for Bill Clinton, respectively, were pointed to a Truth Social post by the president-elect for further explanation. 'President Trump's Truth made clear we have no room in our administration for Democrats,' Katie Miller told the New York Times. Miller appeared to be refer to a message of 'out with the old, in with the new' sent by Trump that named and shamed many of his former Cabinet members while honoring his new administration. Almost everyone named in that missive was a Republican or a person who worked for Trump during his first term. He wrote: 'As of today, the incoming Trump Administration has hired over 1,000 people for The United States Government. They are outstanding in every way, and you will see the fruits of their labor over the coming years. We will MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN, and it will happen very quickly!' Trump then advised any hiring managers that 'it would be helpful if you would not send, or recommend to us, people who worked with, or are endorsed by' a list of anti-Trump Republicans 'in order to save time, money, and effort.' He specifically named 11 different Republicans and first-term Trump employees, many of them coming with nicknames, concluding that they and many others suffered from 'Trump Derangement Syndrome.' Eisen and Canter say they have now launched a nonprofit in an attempt to keep an eye on DOGE called the State Democracy Defenders Fund. They wanted to work as ombudsmen for the DOGE efforts to prevent potential conflicts of interest. The captain of the dredger involved in the 1989 Marchioness disaster has been fined after he refused a breathalyser test - despite suspicions he had been drinking on the job. Douglas Henderson, of Redcar, North Yorkshire, was the man in charge of the dredger Bowbelle on August 20, 1989, when his vessel collided with the pleasure boat Marchioness on the River Thames shortly before 2am. In total, 51 out of the the 132 passengers on board died, making it one of Britain's worst civilian maritime disasters in modern times. Now Mr Henderson has been dragged before the courts again. The skipper was arrested onboard the MV Velox on July 21, 2024, after a tip-off from a customs officer who was carrying out a routine check on the boat and suspected Mr Henderson had been drinking alcohol. He was fined 281 on September 11 at Hull magistrates after he was found guilty of failing to provide a specimen at a police station, The Mirror reported. Juries twice failed to reach a verdict on charges of failing to keep a proper lookout in relation to his role in the Marchioness - despite him having drunk six pints of lager three hours before the crash. And the mother of one of the Marchioness victims has spoken of her 'disgust' at Mr Henderson's recent conviction. Judy Wellington, of Greenford, Middlesex, lost her son Simon Senior, 20, in the horrifying boat crash. Douglas Henderson, the captain of the dredger Bowbelle which collided with the pleasure boat Marchioness in 1989, pictured here in 2000 Elsa Garcia (left) was one of the 51 people who lost their lives when the Marchioness sank. Shaun Lockwood-Croft (right), was also killed Pictured are survivors of the disaster. Fewer than two-thirds of those on board that night survived the accident Informed by reporters of Henderson's recent conviction, she said: 'I am horrified, disgusted. I am so hurt and upset by this. I lost my first son. He was just starting out on life. It was snatched from him.' When questioned about the failure to take a breathalyser test Mr Henderson said reporters 'had their facts wrong'. He reportedly added: 'I have nothing further to say. Can we not be grown up about this?' It emerged later after the disaster that nearly half of the Marchioness victims had their hands secretly amputated in a chaotic and botched identification process. A baby has died in a house fire that injured three other children and one adult over the weekend. Emergency services rushed to the home on Benboyd Circle in Rokeby, eastern Hobart, following reports of a house fire at about 9am on Sunday. 'The house was fully alight when police and Tasmania Fire Service crews arrived,' Tasmania Police said in a statement. Tragically, one-year-old Harlyn was found deceased inside the property, while five-year-old Jordan remains in critical condition at the Royal Hobart Hospital. An adult was taken to the hospital with serious arm lacerations, while three children were also hospitalised with non-life-threatening injuries. 'Our thoughts and condolences are with everyone affected,' police said. Tenille Siely, a close family friend, said the victim's aunt was trying to rescue the six children trapped inside as the flames consumed the property. 'Saying this day has been hard is an understatement,' she said online. Harlyn, the baby girl who tragically died in a house fire at Rokeby. Picture: Supplied/GoFundMe Five-year-old Jordan remains in a critical condition following the fire 'One beautiful baby girl has lost her life and her sister is fighting to survive in hospital on her 5th birthday today due to a horrible house fire.' Ms Siely has since launched a GoFundMe to help support the grieving family that has raised more than $8,000 of its $50,000 goal. 'The house has been absolutely destroyed and the Aunty of the two beautiful girls, whom is also in hospital from sustaining major lacerations trying to save the lives of six children inside, has lost all her house contents,' Ms Siely said on the fundraiser. Witnesses reportedly heard windows exploding and people screaming. Tasmania Fire Service will investigate the cause of the fire. Police will prepare a report for the Coroner. One comment Donald Trump made at his victory rally has sparked wild conspiracy theories that Elon Musk rigged the election to secure a Republican victory in Pennsylvania. Trump told raucous crowds that the billionaire tech wiz 'knows computers better than anybody' as he was welcoming Musk to his stage on Sunday afternoon. 'He knows those computers better than anybody. All those computers. Those vote-counting computers. And we ended up winning Pennsylvania like in a landslide,' Trump said. 'He journeyed to Pennsylvania where he spent a month-and-a-half campaigning for me in Pennsylvania and he's a popular guy. He was very effective... Thank you to Elon.' Polling had suggested the swing state could go Kamala Harris' way on election night, but ultimately Trump won convincingly, and secured every other swing state. Now, Trump's comments are fueling conspiracies that Musk helped to rig the state using his computer know-how. 'Sounds like a confession that Elon Musk changed vote totals to hand him the election,' one person said. Another claimed: 'Sounds like musk rigged the voting!' Now, Trump's comments are fueling conspiracies that Musk helped to rig the state using his computer know-how Polling had suggested the swing state could go Kamala Harris ' way on election night, but ultimately Trump won convincingly, and secured every other swing state Musk helped to campaign for Trump during the election period, and attended a rally with him in Pennsylvania (pictured) 'Just can't help bragging about his crimes,' another said. But Trump's supporters laughed off the controversy, with one responding that it is 'so funny to watch the left turn into conspiracy theorists.' Trump famously claimed he lost the 2020 election as a result of voter fraud and illegal rigging - a claim widely mocked by Democrats and lawmakers. Now, MAGA supporters feel vindicated seeing Democrat voters utilize a similar line against Trump. 'You sound like an election denier,' one person said in response to the new conspiracy theory. Musk and Trump embraced one another on stage at the rally on Sunday, celebrating the monumental moment. The billionaire came on stage to tout the changes he plans to make to the federal government as the co-head of the Department of Government Efficiency with X A-12 (pronounced ex-ash-aytwelve), four, by his side. 'Little X just followed me on stage here,' the 53-year-old Tesla founder explained to the adoring crowd. 'Sounds like a confession that Elon Musk changed vote totals to hand him the election,' one person said Trump's supporters laughed off the controversy, with one responding that it is 'so funny to watch the left turn into conspiracy theorists' Trump famously claimed he lost the 2020 election as a result of voter fraud and illegal rigging - a claim widely mocked by Democrats and lawmakers He celebrated winning the popular vote, sweeping the seven battlegrounds and the seismic shift in support in all 50 states in his defeat over Harris The 78-year-old will take the Oath of Office in the heart of Washington D.C. with wife and First Lady Melania Trump by his side to officially become the nation's 47th commander-in-chief Rally attendees held up signs which sported Trump's longstanding slogan and promise to voters: that he will Make America Great Again 'He's a very enthusiastic supporter as you can see.' Musk then cheered, raising his arms by his side as X stared out at the crowd. During his brief remarks, Musk promised to shake up the federal bureaucracy with his new DOGE agency saying 'we will do great things here.' 'This victory is the start really,' he vowed. Musk said the goal of the new agency is to 'Make America strong for centuries' and to 'Make America Great Again.' The SpaceX CEO has previously set an ambitious goal of cutting federal spending by $2 trillion in the coming years from a federal budget that hovers at around $6.8 trillion. However, he seemed to adjust that target last week. 'I think we'll try for $2 trillion. I think that's like the best-case outcome,' he said. 'But I do think that you kind of have to have some overage. I think if we try for $2 trillion, we've got a good shot at getting $1 [trillion].' President-elect Donald Trump is expected to punish more than 50 national security officials who claimed the news of Hunter Biden's laptop was Russian disinformation ahead of the 2020 presidential election. The incoming president has plans to suspend the security clearance of the 51 pro-Biden officials who signed a now-infamous memo claiming that damning pictures and messages found on the First Son's laptop bore 'all the classic earmarks' of a Russian disinformation campaign, Fox News reports, citing a senior official familiar with the matter. Among the coordinators of the infamous memo were Secretary of State Antony Blinken, former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper and former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta. The memo allowed the elder Biden to discredit the laptop and its damning evidence during presidential debates, town halls and other media appearances prior to the election. But an FBI agent announced that the agency confirmed the authenticity of the materials found on the device at Hunter's federal gun trial. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg also admitted his company had 'demoted' stories about Hunter's laptop. Still, several of the ex-intel officials doubled down on their 2020 memo, saying it was a 'patriotic move' that they don't regret. 'It served as nothing more than a warning letter of what we have known for decades: certain foreign governments - including Russia - continue to try and actively interfere in our domestic affairs and our guard must remain vigilant,' claimed attorney Mark S Zaid, who was representing seven signatories, the New York Post reports. President-elect Donald Trump is expected to punish more than 50 national security officials who claimed the news of Hunter Biden 's laptop was Russian disinformation ahead of the 2020 presidential election The 51 pro-Biden officials who signed a now-infamous memo claiming that damning pictures and messages found on the First Son's laptop bore 'all the classic earmarks' of a Russian disinformation campaign will have their security clearances stripped 'Every patriotic American should have signed that letter.' The damning laptop was originally discovered at a Delaware tech repair shop. DailyMail.com led reporting on the laptop since its discovery and had independently verified it in 2021. Among the evidence found on the abandoned laptop were emails showing Hunter introduced his father, then-Vice President Joe Biden, to a top executive at a Ukrainian energy firm where Hunter, 54, sat on the board. Documents also showed Hunter was paid a $1million retainer in 2017 to represent his business partner Patrick Ho, who was being prosecuted by the US government, and that CEFC wired the Biden family a total of $5million. One startling email even indicated the president could have been involved in Hunter's business dealings with the Chinese. Nearly 9,000 photos from the device also showed the First Son taking drugs and having sex with prostitutes. The images were dated between 2008 and 2019. Some have geographic coordinates attached, showing Hunter took photos in Hawaii, Cabo San Lucas, Kosovo, the Dominican Republic, western China, London, Paris, Rome, Belgrade and across the US. Nearly 9,000 photos from Hunter's laptop showed the First Son taking drugs and having sex with prostitutes The images were dated between 2008 and 2019. Some have geographic coordinates attached, showing Hunter took photos in Hawaii , Cabo San Lucas, Kosovo, the Dominican Republic, western China , London, Paris, Rome, Belgrade and across the US Some of the ex-intelligence officials who signed the memo have since claimed they were actively being paid by the CIA on a contract basis when they signed the letter. According to a report, high-ranking CIA officials were made aware of the letter before its publishing and some raised concerns about the political nature of the letter. Biden also claimed there was an effort to 'break Hunter' and destroy what he said was five-and-a-half years of sobriety as he announced that he would pardon his son last month. He raged against 'several of my political opponents in Congress' who he claimed made the charges a public spectacle 'to attack me and oppose my election.' The outgoing president added that the plea deal Hunter, who has since pledged to 'make amends' for his crimes, agreed to with the Department of Justice was a 'fair, reasonable resolution of Hunter's cases.' But that deal fell through at the last minute under political pressure. Biden announced last month that he would pardon his son 'No reasonable person who looks at the facts of Hunter's cases can reach any other conclusion than Hunter was singled out only because is my son - and that is wrong,' he continued. 'In trying to break Hunter, they've tried to break me - and there's no reason to believe it will stop here. Enough is enough.' The president didn't shy away from pointing out that the love of his son guided his decision-making but stressed that he was being 'fair-minded.' 'Here's the truth: I believe in the justice system, but as I have wrestled with this, I also believe raw politics has infected this process and it led to a miscarriage of justice - and once I made this decision this weekend, there was no sense in delaying it further.' Biden's pardon for his son included any crimes he may have committed 'from January 1, 2014 through December 1, 2024'. Trump said he saw Biden's decision to pardon Hunter as a symptom of a broken justice system politicized by the liberal left Trump saw the president's decision to pardon son Hunter as a symptom of a broken justice system politicized by the liberal left 'The failed witch hunts against President Trump have proven that the Democrat-controlled DOJ and other radical prosecutors are guilty of weaponizing the justice system,' Trump spokesman Steven Cheung told DailyMail.com. 'That system of justice must be fixed and due process must be restored for all Americans, which is exactly what President Trump will do as he returns to the White House with an overwhelming mandate from the American people.' A secret tunnel underneath the United States-Mexico border that was discovered last week will be sealed off by Mexican and American authorities as Donald Trump, a longtime immigration hard-liner, is set to take office on Monday. The tunnel, found on January 9 and hidden in a storm sewer system, spans all the way from Ciudad Juarez to the Texas city of El Paso and there are indications it may have been used by human traffickers, CBS reported. On the Mexican side, the tunnel measures about 1,000 feet and has lighting, ventilation and is reinforced to stop collapses, Mexican officials said. American officials said a similar level of sophistication was present on the Texas side. General Jose Lemus, commander of Ciudad Juarez's military garrison, said the tunnel is six feet high and four feet wide, which makes it easy to pass people or contraband between the two nations. Lemus said the tunnel's existence and location was hinted at by human smugglers on social media platforms, including TikTok, which was briefly banned on Saturday in the US. Victor Manjarrez, a former US Border Patrol sector chief with over 20 years of experience, hinted to a local CBS affiliate that this tunnel was likely built by traffickers. According to him, connecting a tunnel through a storm sewer system is a common tactic among these criminals. 'It's actually the most common way,' Manjarrez said. 'Most of the tunnels, that's over, I want to say it's about 230, 240 tunnels along the southwest border since '91. Most of those attach to some kind of infrastructure in the US.' A Mexican National Guard agent is pictured inspecting the secret tunnel that was likely used by human traffickers It has lighting, ventilation and is reinforced to stop collapses. General Jose Lemus estimated it took one to two years to build US workers are pictured sealing the tunnel from the El Paso side with concrete The tunnel spans all the way from Ciudad Juarez to the Texas city of El Paso (pictured) Manjarrez said building on top of existing infrastructure is the cheapest way to get something like this done. 'This is definitely not a mom-and-pop operation at all. It's gone way beyond that,' he added. An investigation has begun into how exactly the tunnel was constructed and by who, according to officials. Lemus estimated that the tunnel could have taken one or two years to build, though he declined to offer any information on any possible suspects. He said the Mexican Attorney General's Office will be responsible for investigating whether or not the tunnel was built with the complicity of certain Mexican authorities, since it appears to have been built without them noticing. US Border Patrol agents stationed in El Paso were the first to discover the tunnel, according to a release from US Customs and Border Protection. 'We are proud of the Agents who discovered this smuggling infrastructure used by transnational criminal organizations,' said El Paso Sector Chief Patrol Agent Anthony Scott Good. 'Our Agents are relentless in searching and surveying every square mile of the El Paso Sector.' The El Paso border agents will be working the Mexican government along with a myriad of state and local agencies to investigate the tunnel. The FBI is also planning on assisting in the investigation. Mexican authorities are pictured surveying the opening to the tunnel, which was concealed with wooden panels The discovery of the tunnel comes right as Donald Trump is about to retake the White House This comes right as President-elect Trump is about to retake the White House after winning voters over with, in part, his messaging on immigration. During the campaign, he promised to 'launch the largest deportation program of criminals in the history of America' on day one. He renewed that promise during a pre-inauguration rally in Washington D.C. on Sunday. 'These are rough people [coming over the border] and they're getting the hell out of our country they're out,' Trump insisted. He continued: 'The border security measures I will outline in my inaugural address tomorrow will be the most aggressive, sweeping effort to restore our borders that the world has ever seen.' Trump and his allies had planned to begin large-scale immigration raids in Chicago, but other cities, like New York and Miami, could soon see arrests and deportations. But since those plans appear to have been leaked to the media, border czar Tom Homan said the incoming administration is reconsidering its path forward. 'We're looking at this leak and will make a decision based on this leak,' Homan said. 'It's unfortunate because anyone leaking law enforcement operations puts officers at great risk.' Trump's team has yet to specify how he would carry out the massive nationwide effort, with millions of migrants estimated to be living here illegally. More than 100 asylum seekers are currently at the facility A young woman filmed the moment she 'accidentally broke into' an offshore Australian immigration detention centre. Travel blogger Chloe Jade was visiting the Micronesian island of Nauru, north-west of Papua New Guinea, with her friends on December 28. The group decided to explore the island and were searching for an old Japanese World War II jail when they were directed towards the gates of the Nauru Regional Processing Centre - Australia's offshore immigration detention facility. As the car approached the gates, officials questioned the group before allowing them to drive through. 'Truly can't believe they just opened the doors for us, asked us what was going on and let us in,' she said in a video shared to TikTok. 'This was not part of my intention when coming to Nauru to share about this, but we happened to get through those gates so I felt like I should share about it.' The travel blogger explained they were asked whether they had any 'camera gear' when entering Nauru. 'A lot of journalists have tried to come to the island in order to cover the situation in this place,' Ms Jade said. 'The conditions are said to be glum, and there are a lot of human rights violations that go on here. Apparently, they do not even issue media visas anymore.' Social media users were shocked by how easily the woman was able to access the centre. 'Funny they spend all the effort to keep journalists out but are letting random people with phones through the gates,' one wrote. Others said the detention centre had become a national disgrace. 'As an Australian thank you for bringing attention to this. Nobody is talking about this anymore,' one wrote. A second added: 'An absolute shame on all of us Australians.' The Nauruan government tightly controls media access to the island and the processing centre. The cost of a media visa was drastically increased in January 2014 from $200 to $8,000 - which was non-refundable if the visa was not granted. A travel blogger has shared the moment she and her friend were accidentally allowed into Australia's immigration detention facility in Nauru Since then, journalists from Al Jazeera, the ABC, SBS and the Guardian have applied for media visas but were unsuccessful. The Nauru Regional Processing Centre is an offshore Australian immigration detention facility opened in 2001 under the Howard government's pacific solution. The centre suspended operations in 2008 to fulfil Kevin Rudd's election promise, but was reopened in August 2012 to 2019 by the Gillard government following a large increase in asylum seekers travelling to Australia on boat. The detention centre was reopened once more in September 2021 and is currently in operation. The current Coalition and Labor Party policy states all detainees attempting to reach Australia by boat will never be settled in Australia despite many of the asylum seekers detained on the island considered as genuine refugees. The highest population at the centre was 1,233, detainees, including children, in August 2014, with many sent back to their country or relocated to the United States. As of January 2025, Nauru holds more than 100 adult asylum seekers, the highest number of asylum seekers detained in over a decade, according to Amnesty International. There have been widespread reports of detainees suffering serious human rights violations while at the facility. The UN Special Rapporteur on Torture determined in 2015 that the offshore detention centre had systematically violated the International Convention Against Torture. Amnesty International Australia's National Director Sam Klintworth said the policies persisted despite public outcry and legal challenges. 'Offshore detention is a policy characterised by sheer cruelty, a dead end that has caused irreparable harm to countless people seeking safety,' Mr Klintworth said. 'For over a decade, people seeking refuge in Australia have endured unimaginable suffering in Nauru, because of Australia's cruel offshore processing regime.' 'The United Nations ruling on Australia's offshore detention regime comes as no surprise but still brings great shame. 'The government must immediately evacuate the people held on Nauru and close the centre permanently. 'It's time for Australia to honour its international obligations by immediately evacuating individuals to safety and provide safer, humane pathways to resettlement.' This video is no longer available This video is no longer available An Indigenous author claims Australia Day brings out 'hordes' of people adorned with 'Aussie flag tattoos' who say 'f*** the black people', 'kill the black people' and 'white power all the way'. The claim was made during fiery clashes on the first episode of Hear Me Out, a new ABC half-hour show dedicated to airing the views of younger Indigenous people. Indigenous author Bebe Oliver, who wants the date changed from January 26, found himself clashing on a number of occasions with academic and social commentator Anthony Dillon who wants to keep the national day as it is. Dillon said that he didn't personally know anybody who celebrated 'theft or genocide' on Australia Day - but Oliver claimed it still happened. 'Every single year in Naarm, Melbourne you walk down the streets on the 26th of January and you encounter groups and hordes of people,' Oliver said. '[They] have their Aussie flag tattoos, their double plugger thongs, the towels, the capes and the flags basically saying 'down with the blackfellas', 'f*** the blackfellas', 'white power all the way'. 'If you don't see people personally celebrating theft and invasion it doesn't mean it doesn't happen.' Indigenous model and actor Guyala Bales backed this up saying she saw it while attending Invasion Day marches, which protest the day Europeans began colonising Australia. 'We see white fellas coming out and taking to our marches bringing their white Australian flags and calling us very discriminatory racist comments,' Bales aid. Indigenous author Bebe Oliver says Australia Day brings our 'hordes' of people saying 'kill blackfellas' and celebrating 'white power' Mr Dillion was not convinced. 'I don't know if they celebrating genocide. I doubt that's the case,' he said. 'I am witnessing what these people are saying and if you want the verbatim account of what they say it is f*** the black people, kill the black people,' Mr Oliver replied. 'That's explicitly what they are saying.' Mr Dillon questioned whether the people Oliver encounters on Australia Day were responding to the types of slogans he was displaying on a t-shirt worn for the shoot. 'That's not exactly the same as promoting genocide. they could be responding to the false messages on that t-shirt that black lives matter,' Dillon argued. 'So, then what they are celebrating is white supremacy,' Oliver replied. 'That white matters more than black, 'down with the black fellas', it's all about the Australian flag, it's all in the same boat.' Former Bachelor star and Wiradjuri woman Kiki Morris was another participant in the program who also believed in changing the date or even abolishing the national day altogether, as did all but two of the panel. On the new ABC show Hear Me Out five of the participants in an Australia Day debate wanted the date of the national date changed or for it to be abolished altogether (Anthony Dillon top left and Bebe Oliver top third from left) 'I think that Australia is such a wonderful country and it's offered a safe space for so many people to live and bring up their families,' she said. 'For those people, we deserve to celebrate what Australia means to all of us but definitely the date needs to be changed. 'We need to be sensitive to our ancestors and our history as well.' Last week right-wing think tank the Institute of Public Affairs released a poll showing a surge of support for January 26 as Australia Day, particularly among young people. The survey, which is held annually, found that 69 per cent of 1,002 respondents agreed that the national public holiday should remain on January 26 - a six point increase from 12 months ago. There was an even more dramatic increase of support from those aged 18-24 with 52 per cent backing January 26 - up from 42 per cent last year. The poll showed a majority in every age bracket now prefers January 26 as the date for national commemoration. It also found 86 per cent of respondents were 'proud to be Australian' while 68 per cent agreed that Australia has 'a history to be proud of'. January 26, which marks the arrival of the First Fleet at Sydney's Port Jackson in 1788, has been labelled Invasion Day by those who see it as a date for mourning the colonisation and dispossession of Indigenous Australians. Firefighters prepare for structural defense as the Palisades Fire burns on a hilltop in the Mandeville Canyon neighborhood of Los Angeles, Jan. 10. Stephen Lam/The Chronicle Two Oregon residents were arrested Saturday for impersonating firefighters at the Palisades Fire, authorities said. Police intercepted a man and woman wearing firefighter gear and driving a fake fire truck as they attempted to enter an evacuation zone near the Palisades Fire on Saturday, the Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department announced in a statement. Dustin Nehl, 31, and Jennifer Nehl, 44, were arrested for impersonating firefighters and entering the fire zone, the sheriffs office said. Jail records showed the pair were booked on multiple felonies at Malibus Lost Hills Sheriffs Station on Saturday afternoon but did not specify the exact charges. Advertisement Article continues below this ad When confronted, the pair allegedly claimed to be from the nonexistent Roaring River Fire Department in Oregon, sheriffs deputies said, noting that they were wearing Cal Fire T-shirts under full firefighting gear and were carrying helmets and radios. According to investigators, the pair admitted to having entered the fire zone the previous day. A teen allegedly set fire to a strip mall in Wisconsin where a congressman's office is located due to outrage over the federal ban on the popular TikTok video-sharing platform. The 19-year-old Menasha man, whose name has not been released, is in custody and will be charged with arson, police said. Republican Rep. Glenn Grothman voted last April for a bill that mandated TikTok's China-based parent company sell its U.S. operation by Sunday. The fire at his office in Fond du Lac was reported around 1am. The building was unoccupied at the time and no injuries were reported, police said. The small blaze began outside the building and caused minor damage before it was quickly extinguished by Fond du Lac police and firefighters who rushed to the scene. Fond du Lac Police Department (FDLPD) officers were first on the scene, quickly deploying fire extinguishers to keep the flames at bay until the City of Fond du Lac Fire Rescue teams arrived. Chief Aaron Goldstein commended the rapid response of law enforcement and firefighters. 'We are relieved that no one was injured and the office was unoccupied at the time of the fire,' he stated. 'Acts of violence, in any form, are not tolerated, and we remain committed to protecting the safety and well-being of our community. I am thankful for the swift response of our officers in helping knock down the fire and locating the suspect of this arson.' Republican Rep. Glenn Grothman's office in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin was set on fire by a teen allegedly motivated by the federal ban on the popular TikTok video-sharing platform 'I deal with obviously dozens of issues and we cannot have people - if they disagree with me - say the way to settle that disagreement is let's try to burn down the congressman's office,' Grothman, pictured, said The suspect is being held in the Fond du Lac County Jail as authorities prepare to file charges with the Fond du Lac County District Attorney's Office. He stands accused of setting the fire, allegedly driven by outrage over the brief TikTok ban which came into effect on Saturday night for about 12 hours. Police said the teen was arrested after he was seen near the mall watching the fire. 'The TikTok issue is really secondary. I mean, I deal with obviously dozens of issues up here, and we cannot have people - if they disagree with me - say the way to settle that disagreement is let's try to burn down the congressman's office,' Grothman told WISN 12 News. The fire began outside the building and caused minor damage before it was quickly extinguished by Fond du Lac police and firefighters who rushed to the scene Police said the teen was arrested after he was seen near the building watching the fire burn After going dark for users on Saturday night, the app was reactivated by Sunday afternoon. Trump said on social media site he would issue an Executive Order to keep the app running After going dark for users this weekend, Trump said on his social media site that he would issue an executive order after he's sworn in for a second term on Monday delaying a TikTok ban 'so that we can make a deal to protect our national security.' He said the order would make clear that companies will not be held liable for violating a law that aimed to force TikTok's sale by its China-based parent company. Hours later, the app returned, to the relief of its legions of dedicated users. 'Thanks for your patience and support. As a result of President Trump's efforts, TikTok is back in the U.S.!' read the announcement. The distraught family of missing Brisbane pastor William Strickland has revealed that his body has been found in waters near Limpinwood in northern NSW. Pastor Strickland, 53, was returning from a wedding rehearsal in Murwillumbah when he reportedly tried to cross a flooded causeway at about 9.15pm on Saturday. His damaged Toyota Hilux was found 400metres downstream by search and rescue crews later that night. On Monday afternoon, the pastor's son Cheonton Strickland wrote on Facebook: 'Praise God! Dad has been found. 'After a long and challenging search and rescue operation, Dad's body was recovered.' After an extensive search by police, SES, family and members of his Seventh Day Adventist church, Pastor Strickland's body was found at around midday today. Tweed-Byron Police District Inspector Matt Woods said more than 170 people helped with the search for Pastor Strickland. 'It just shows you the standing and the love that this gentleman has had in his community,' Inspector Woods told the ABC. The distraught family of missing Brisbane pastor William Strickland (pictured) has revealed that his body has been found in waters near Limpinwood in northern NSW The search was concentrated on an area several kilometres downstream of the causeway after finding an item of clothing there on Monday morning. Police who coordinated the search described conditions at the time of the accident as 'extreme'. Storms and heavy rains soaked the area over the weekend, with some parts getting 100mm of rain in just a few hours. The much-loved pastor is attached to a Cook Islands church in Annerley on the southside of Brisbane. His damaged Toyota Hilux (pictured) was found 400metres downstream by search and rescue crews later that night Pastor Strickland, 53, was returning from a wedding rehearsal in Murwillumbah when he reportedly tried to cross a flooded causeway at about 9.15pm on Saturday His son wrote on social media that: 'We are shocked and devastated by this tragic loss. Dad was a charismatic and loved man, who gave his life in service and ministry of the gospel. 'He touched many peoples lives through his work as a pastor with the Seventh Day Adventist Church in both Australia and New Zealand, and his community work'. The family said their dad 'will be deeply missed by all. Our family will not be the same without him. 'While our hearts are deeply saddened by his death, we know that we will see him again. How glorious will that morning be when we all reunite in Jesus.' Cheonton said the family wanted 'to thank those who have been eagerly praying for this moment, and for those who have been here actively searching for Dad, especially our local church community, the NSW police, and SES. 'It has not been in vain,' he said. Funeral arrangements for Pastor Strickland will be announced in the coming days. Ivanka Trump and incoming Second Lady Usha Vance have inspired some liberals to call for a boycott of Oscar de la Renta, the fashion house that designed the dresses both GOP icons wore to pre-inauguration events this weekend. President-elect Donald Trump's daughter stunned with her dress, which was described as a custom off-shoulder, crystal-and-pearl, floral-embroidered empire waist gown with a silver stole. She wore it Sunday night to a candlelight dinner at the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C., where she was seen rubbing shoulders with Elon Musk and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. At one point, cameras caught the president-elect's daughter hugging Lauren Sanchez, Bezos' fiancee. Usha, the wife of Vice President-elect JD Vance, was seen at the same Sunday event. Her own custom Oscar de la Renta dress, which she wore to Saturday's Vice President's dinner, sparked backlash from the political left as well. A picture of Usha wearing the noir velvet gown with asymmetric floral accents and a sweetheart neckline was lightning rod enough for one person on X to call for a boycott of the Oscar de la Renta brand. Another person wrote: 'Bye Oscar de la Renta. I know you won't be cancelled but you are to me, for having no f***ing morals.' A self-described Swiftie wrote that she hoped Taylor Swift, who endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris in September, will stop wearing Oscar de la Renta. The Oscar de la Renta brand, which shares the name of the late Dominican fashion designer who founded the company, has a long history of dressing First Ladies. Ivanka Trump is pictured in her custom Oscar de la Renta dress before hitting the town on Sunday to celebrate her father's return to the White House The dress was described as a custom off-shoulder crystal and pearl floral-embroidered empire waist gown with a silver stole (Ivanka is not wearing the stole in this picture) Elon Musk talks with Ivanka Trump and Shivon Zillis, right, before President-elect Donald Trump speaks at a dinner at the Building Museum in Washington D.C. Oscar de la Renta posted an image of Usha Vance along with her husband on X. Vice President-elect JD Vance and his wife, Usha Vance, arrive to the dinner event in his honor at the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C. on Saturday De La Renta, who died in 2014, shot to fame when he dressed Jackie Kennedy. He also made outfits for Hillary Clinton, Laura Bush and Nancy Reagan. Nonetheless, people flooded the fashion house's Instagram page to bash them for designing evening wear for the ladies closest to Trump and Vance. Some of the most popular comments on the post showing off Ivanka's dress went so far as to slam the Oscar de la Renta fashion house as supporting 'fascism' and invoked Hitler's regime in their vitriol. 'Fascism - but make it Fashion,' read one of the most popular comments underneath the post. 'Just like it happened during the rise of Nazis, the big brands once again support the evil in the name of higher profits,' another wrote. 'Boot licking is never in season,' a third wrote. 'Always have loved. Sad to be done with [Oscar de la Renta]. I don't support brands that support fascists,' a fourth wrote. Trump's other female family members got glammed up this weekend in preparation for him taking the oath of office a second time. Kai Trump, the president-elect's granddaughter, and Tiffany Trump, his youngest daughter, both looked their best for various events held around Washington D.C. First Lady Hillary Clinton is pictured wearing an Oscar de la Renta dress at Bill Clinton's 1997 Inaugural Ball after he defeated Bob Dole Trump's 17-year-old granddaughter Kai, who rocketed to stardom in 2024 with appearances at campaign events alongside her family, has shared several key moments on her social media Tiffany and her husband Michael Boulos posed in front of glittering fireworks Dozens of comments on Oscar de la Renta's Instagram post showing off Ivanka's dress criticized them for supporting 'fascists' At Sunday's soiree, Trump took the time to make an addresses from a podium where he revealed how Republican senators had been very understanding about his choices for his Cabinet positions. He also criticized the Biden administration, summing up his single term in office as a failure. Trump also said he would be signing close 'close to 100' executive orders on Monday. 'We will not waste a single moment in delivering on our promises to the people,' he said. One of those is expected to be a decree that will temporarily lift the ban on TikTok so its Chinese owner ByteDance can have more time to divest. Specifically, Trump wants an American company or companies to have a 50 percent stake in the app, according to his post on Truth Social. TikTok went dark on Saturday night for American users after the law banning its existence officially took effect. Service was restored the next day after Trump's public statements promising to not to enforce the law's financial penalties. Trump is preparing for a whirlwind first day back in office, promising to waste no time delivering on his bold campaign promises. Trump dances at the conclusion of his rally on Sunday night in Washington D.C. In a high-energy rally held at the Capital One Arena in Washington D.C., on Sunday night, Trump outlined his ambitious plans to sign an unprecedented 200 executive orders on his very first day. These actions, according to Trump, will focus on bolstering border security, reducing energy costs, lowering the cost of living, and dismantling diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs across the federal government. Taking the stage to Lee Greenwood's patriotic anthem God Bless the U.S.A., Trump electrified the crowd with his fiery rhetoric and triumphant tone. 'We won,' he declared to thunderous applause as he laid out his vision for what he described as the most transformative first days of a presidency in modern history. Trump made his intentions for immigration policy abundantly clear, warning migrants to stay away from the southern border and promising a record-breaking deportation campaign. During the campaign, he promised to 'launch the largest deportation program of criminals in the history of America' on day one. 'These are rough people [coming over the border] and they're getting the hell out of our country they're out,' Trump said Sunday night. He continued: 'The border security measures I will outline in my inaugural address tomorrow will be the most aggressive, sweeping effort to restore our borders that the world has ever seen.' 'Welcome to MAGAland: Trump's Second 100 Days' is the new politics podcast bringing you the latest news and gossip from Trump insiders. New episodes every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Follow wherever you get your podcasts now. A flagpole displaying the Australian flag erected in a Sydney suburb has sparked national pride from locals - but no-one seems to know who installed it. The flag flying in Mosman prompted one resident to share a photograph on Facebook this week and asking if the flag was a permanent fixture considering the pole looked professionally built. 'This has just appeared on the corner of Musgrave and Raglan Streets. There's another one on the corner of Avenue and Canrober,' she wrote. 'Does anyone know anything about them? Are they for Australia Day or permanent? And did the Council put them up?' she asked. Many locals were impressed by the anonymous installation. 'Awesome, I love Australia. Regardless of the date I will always celebrate our country,' one local woman said. 'To erect an Australian flag, in Australia, at any given time, is awesome,' another man agreed. 'It's about time we had more Australian flags. People need to celebrate this amazing country and stop with the division,' a third said. What looks to be a permanent flag, anonymously erected in Sydney's leafy north, had many rejoicing in the display of national pride 'So good to see this. Wish we had them in every front yard,' another added. 'Nice, better than lime bikes,' another joked of the hire bikes which often litter the streets of Sydney's suburbs. Some locals took issue with the flag being raised, however it was not for anything to do with the Australia Day debate. Instead they said they didn't want to see the flag's upper-left corner on their road. 'Like any true-blue Australian, I'm counting the days until that colonial relic, the Union Jack, finally gets the boot from our flag,' one man said. 'It's a cringeworthy emblem clung to by those who lack the imagination to embrace what we've become: a proud, independent nation.' Another agreed saying he was ready to move on from former colonial rule. 'Surely it's time to recognise Australia is about far more than Britain's colonial empire of 250+ years ago,' he said. 'Anyone else ready to move on from that?' Daily Mail Australia has contacted Mosman Council for comment. Generally those commenting expressed excitement to see an Australian flag on the streets, despite the heated annual debate around the national holiday and the treatment of Indigenous Australians. Many Aussies have backed a pragmatic solution to change the date of Australia Day, but continue the celebrate the country that is modern Australia while recognising the mistreatment of First Nations. Former Bachelor star and proud Wiradjuri woman Kiki Morris told the ABC on Sunday she would be supportive of an Australia Day on another date. Wiradjuri woman and model Kiki Morris said she supports changing the date of Australia Day, though the country should retain a patriotic celebration Many young Australians have shied away from a January 26 Australia Day, however, a poll released last week showed increased support for the date across the board Many consider the date, the day Captain Arthur Phillip raised the Union Jack in Port Jackson, as the beginning of the colonial suffering of Indigenous people. For them, the date is regarded as 'Invasion Day' or the 'Day of Mourning'. 'I think that Australia is such a wonderful country and it's offered a safe space for so many people to live and bring up their families,' Ms Morris said. 'For those people, we deserve to celebrate what Australia means to all of us, but definitely, the date needs to be changed. 'We need to be sensitive to our ancestors and our history as well.' Earlier last week, right-wing think tank the Institute of Public Affairs released a poll showing a surge of support for January 26 as Australia Day, particularly among young people. The survey, which is held annually, found that 69 per cent of 1,002 respondents agreed that the national public holiday should remain on January 26 - a six-point increase from 12 months ago. There was an even more dramatic increase of support from those aged 18-24 with 52 per cent backing January 26 - up from 42 per cent last year. The poll showed a majority in every age bracket now prefers January 26 as the date for national commemoration. Opposition leader Peter Dutton slammed the Prime Minister for allowing councils to hold citizenship ceremonies on dates other than Australia Day Mr Dutton said he believed Australia is the 'greatest country in the world' earlier last week Peter Dutton has recently thrown barbs the Prime Minister's way, and has vowed to mandate councils hold citizenship ceremonies on Australia Day if he wins the election. The Opposition Leader last Monday slammed Anthony Albanese's approach to celebrations on the national day, accusing the Prime Minister of allowing January 26 to become 'something to be ashamed of'. 'Would we reinstate the requirement for councils to hold citizenship ceremonies on Australia Day? You bet it will done in the first 100 days,' Mr Dutton told reporters. 'It will be a sign of pride and nationalism in our country,' Mr Dutton declared adding that Australia was the 'greatest country in the world'. The 18-year-old man accused of killing three little girls in a knife attack at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in Southport is due to stand trial today. Axel Rudakubana, of Banks, Lancashire, will stand trial at Liverpool Crown Court charged with the murders of Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, Bebe King, six, and seven-year-old Elsie Dot Stancombe. The children died following the attack at The Hart Space shortly before midday on July 29 last year. Rudakubana is accused of the attempted murder of eight other children, who cannot be named for legal reasons, class instructor Leanne Lucas and businessman John Hayes in the same incident. He is also charged with possession of a knife on the day of the attack, production of a biological toxin, ricin, on or before July 29, and possession of information likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing to commit an act of terrorism. The alleged terrorism offence relates to a PDF file entitled Military Studies In The Jihad Against The Tyrants, The Al Qaeda Training Manual, which he is said to have possessed between August 29, 2021 and July 30, 2024. Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, one of the three children killed in a knife attack during a Taylor Swift-themed event at a dance school in Southport Bebe King, six, one of the three children killed in the knife attack in Southport Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, one of the three little girls killed in the attack The ricin, a deadly poison, and the document were found during searches of the home on Old School Close that he shared with his parents, who were originally from Rwanda. Rudakubana has not spoken during earlier court hearings and not guilty pleas were entered on his behalf when he failed to respond after the charges were put to him. His trial is expected to last up to four weeks. Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said the whole country will be thinking of the families of the three girls killed at the dance class. 'This will be a deeply traumatic and distressing time for the families of Alice, Bebe and Elsie, the survivors, and the people of Southport and the whole country will be thinking of them,' she said. 'The most important thing for all of us is to ensure that the legal process can take its course, to respect the difficult job the court has to do so there is a fair trial and justice can be done. 'There will be a time at the end of this trial to discuss what happened and the action needed in response to this horrific tragedy. But for now, and until the proceedings have concluded, the priority for all of us must be to ensure justice is done.' Family said he cared more about others than himself A talented surgeon has died is a suspected drowning at South Australia's Kangaroo Island, as his family remember him as a loving grandfather, father, and husband. Andrew Hunter, 69, hailing from Parkside, inner Adelaide, was pulled unconscious from the waters at Island Beach just after 7pm on Sunday. Despite emergency workers' desperate efforts, Dr Hunter could not be revived. The bowel surgeon had been diagnosed with motor neuron disease in 2024 and had recently retired when he visited his holiday home at Island Beach with Jane, his wife of four decades. The couple had four boys and two grandchildren and were on the trip with Jane's brother and sister. 'He had just a beautiful nature, very patient (with the) four boys and was an incredibly hardworking surgeon,' Dr Hunter's brother-in-law Richard Hockney told the Adelaide Advertiser. 'He was such an incredibly caring person... he didn't have a single bad bone in his body.' Dr Andrew Hunter was remembered by family as a man who 'cared more about others than himself' The surgeon died in the waters of Kangaroo Island late on Sunday evening, despite emergency services best efforts Mr Hockney added Dr Hunter loved holidaying on Kangaroo Island. 'That was his happy place, he sailed, he would fish.' He added the family always had family holidays and celebrated special occasions on the island. Police said the circumstances of the doctor's death were not suspicious. However, the exact circumstances remain unknown. It has been reported Dr Hunter was swimming back from his boat, when he got into trouble. His career spanned decades and saw him take roles in hospitals across the globe. Dr Hunter held a number of high-profile roles in his career including treasurer for the Council of Colorectal Surgical Society of Australia and New Zealand. He also served as one-time chair of the Training Board of Colon and Rectal Surgery, chairman of the Bi-National Colorectal Cancer Audit Committee and chair of the BCCA Steering Committee. He also worked as a member of St Andrews Medical Advisory Committee and operated a private practice at St Andrews Medical Centre. While his career was distinguished, his family said they would remember his cheeky grin and quick wit. Britain and the European Union are set to go head-to-head over contested fishing rights in the first legal spat over trade since leaving the bloc. The United Kingdom has banned European vessels from catching the sandeel, a food of choice for British seabirds, in order to protect wildlife. Brussels has challenged the move, arguing that it is in contravention of the post-Brexit trade deal and will discriminate against Danish fishing vessels. The issue will now be heard at a three-day tribunal hearing, after formal talks failed to resolve the impasse. A panel of three mutually-agreed international judges will review the dispute from next Tuesday at a court in the Hague. They will have the opportunity to either uphold Britain's position, to ask for amends or to order the UK to drop its ban altogether. The EU could retaliate with tariffs on British exports if Ministers refuse to comply with the ruling. The issue over fishing rights will be heard at a tribunal hearing from next week The UK has banned European vessels from catching the sandeel (pictured, eaten by a puffin) The Permanent Court of Arbitration must deliver a verdict by the end of April, although it could make a decision earlier. Neither side will have the right to appeal if they disagree with the judgement. Under the existing trade deal, the sandeel - or sand eel - is a jointly managed fish stock. It is not caught for food, unlike fish, in Britain or across Europe, but is eaten by seabirds like puffins and other fish, like cod. Rishi Sunak's government banned all vessels from catching the fish in English waters last year in an effort to help conserve endangered species. A similar move was adopted by the Scottish government. Britain is currently preparing for negotiations with the bloc over catch limits to be agreed before the current arrangements expire in June of next year. Last month, it was reported that the EU would urge Britain towards following European Court of Justice jurisdiction in return for their approval on a new deal. The hardline stance was set out in a document seen by The Times, presented to a council of European ministers. It made clear Brussels would demand key concessions on fishing, the European Court of Justice and youth mobility. Northern gannets, classified as a protected species in the UK and under the EU's directive A sandeel, also known as a sand lance, pictured on a beach in the Netherlands, undated Charles Clover of the Blue Marine Foundation said the measures would leave British fishing waters at the mercy of 'French trawlers', adding that the demands are 'absolutely outrageous'. The document said Britain would also be required to abide by rulings from the European Court of Justice on EU law. Charles Grant of the Centre for European Reform said: 'It would set a precedent for much closer co-operation across a range of other areas, such as energy.' He added that meeting the demands will be difficult for the Prime Minister as the reset could 'anger the Conservatives and Reform'. Britain's phasing out of traditional landlines is set to continue with another 960,000 homes offered the opportunity to switch to a digital system, despite suggestions the move could leave vulnerable customers at risk. Openreach has announced 163 new exchange locations where they are stopping the sale of the long-established copper-based cable networks. This means that people ordering a new broadband or phone service in these areas, or upgrading their existing one, will now have to move to a new digital internet-based system. The telecoms company said it would not be switching off any phone or broadband lines in the process, but confirmed it was looking to help people to upgrade to digital ahead of BT switching off the Public Switched Telephone Network (PTSN) in January 2027. BT, Sky and Virgin Media are also currently in the process of switching over all landline services due to ageing infrastructure causing issues, such as blackouts. The network is expected to be fully switched to digital in the next two years, but the move has raised concerns for older residents. In a recent Zen Internet survey, 66 per cent of respondents said they felt these elderly individuals might feel more isolated as a result of the move to digital. Richard Tang, chief executive of Zen Internet, said care needed to be undertaken to ensure people were not left behind as their research showed millions of people were 'unaware' of the switch off. In a recent Zen Internet Survey, 66 per cent of respondents said they felt these elderly individuals might feel more isolated as a result of the move to digital. Openreach has announced 163 new exchange locations where the Public Switched Telephone Network (PTSN) will be switched to a digital internet-based system 'While the transition may seem daunting, you can still have a landline service and keep your landline number, but this will be provided digitally by your broadband provider, Mr Tang said. 'Vulnerable' customers have also been defined by government as users that may be at a heightened risk of harmful outcomes from the switch. The guidance states: 'This includes, but is not limited to incidents posing risks to life or risks of injury. 'It also includes issues like a heightened sense of anxiety, stress or loneliness as part of the migration, where additional support and protection is required to mitigate or avoid the risk of these outcomes occurring.' Telecoms Minister Sir Chris Bryant told MailOnline last year landlines 'are vital for many people, including the most vulnerable', and the fear of people being left isolated by the switchover 'keeps me up at night.' In 2023, telecoms firms were forced to halt non-voluntary upgrades following several incidents of personal alarms failing in emergencies. These telecare devices which automatically call emergency services in crisis situations are used by around two million people in the UK and are often linked to a person's landline number. The alarm buttons, which are usually worn around the neck or on the wrist, automatically call a response centre when pressed through the wearer's landline. Operators can then check if a person needs help and send someone if necessary. For the first time, government and telecoms firms are working with local authorities to help identify vulnerable people and systems before transitions take place Telecoms Minister Sir Chris Bryant (pictured in July) told MailOnline last year landlines 'are vital for many people, including the most vulnerable', and the fear of people being left isolated by the switchover 'keeps me up at night While telecare systems do work with digital landlines, a power cut or internet drop-out can cause them to fail. Copper phone lines typically continue to work even during power cuts. A checklist - which telecoms giants are understood to have signed up to during Sir Chris' meeting - means all 'vulnerable' customers will be able to have an engineer visit their household to support them through the transition. The engineer will then test any telecare devices before leaving to ensure they are still working. If any issue occurs, there is the option to return the household to their old landline until this can be fixed, if no alternative is available. And vulnerable households will be given back-up devices to protect them in the case of a power cut or internet outage - with firms pledging to ensure this exceeds Ofcom's minimum recommendation that such devices provide one hour of battery power. Firms have been instructed to ensure that no telecare user will be migrated to digital landline services without the communication provider, the customer, or the telecare service provider confirming that the user has a compatible and functioning telecare solution in place. Fire and burglar alarms, emergency phones by roads and phonelines for GPs and pharmacies are among the vital services still using the copper network. Outages related to the copper network increased by a fifth over the past year according to regulator Ofcom. For individuals, vulnerable customers may include those with telecare devices or certain types of intruder alarms, as well as CCTV and gas and water monitors. It also encompasses households whose only means of communication is their landline. The changes have been months in the making after firms were forced to delay plans to have all households transitioned to digital by the end of next year by up to two years. Ofcom say customers who are being switched to digital services will be approached by their providers. James Lilley, of Openreach, said: 'Openreach is rolling out ultra-fast, ultra-reliable and future-proofed digital full fibre. It makes no sense to keep the old cooper network and new fibre network running side by side.' Horrific footage shows how Vladimir Putin's uniformed thugs force wounded soldiers to return to the war with brutal beatings and threats of rape. Video shows a military police officer beating a traumatised soldier with a truncheon before tasing him with a stun gun in the Russian region of Tuva. The thug, nicknamed 'Mad', is seen torturing injured personnel ostensibly in an effort to get them to return to the Ukrainian frontlines. The male victims are heard being threatened with being forced to strip and 'rape'. One of the soldiers in the video 'had his spine broken, he is in serious condition', says social activist Vitaly Borodin, who highlighted the shocking video. One man is seen with a walking stick due to his war wounds. Ukraine estimates that as many as 812,670 Russians have been killed or injured in nearly three years of gruelling conflict. A wounded soldier is seen cowering on the floor as a military police officer beats him The soldier then appears to be zapped with a stun gun at the unnamed facility in Tuva The Russian authorities only acted to investigate the abuse after the footage went viral, although frequent complaints of such brutality by Putin's enforcers go unnoticed. The regional government insisted it was looking into allegations of gross abuse of Russian mobilised men before they were sent back to the war. 'The Tuva government has taken control of the investigation into incidents involving servicemen from the republic after a number of video recordings were distributed in regional groups on social networks and messengers,' a statement read. 'One of them reports that on January 16, 2025, cases of cruel treatment of contract soldiers were recorded in military unit No. 55115, including beatings and the use of electric shockers before they were sent to the [war] zone.' The authorities said 'the perpetrators have been identified and a preliminary investigation is being conducted against them.' The main suspect was 'detained and placed in custody', according to Russia's Central Military District. Officials said the military unit could be disbanded following the appalling scenes. Putin's former speechwriter Abbas Gallyamov - now strongly opposed to the Kremlin dictator - said today: 'The culprit was arrested. Russian authorities only investigated the torture after the video went viral An officer at the facility pictured with a baton. Text overlaid reads: Procedure before sending a military aircraft from a permanent deployment point to a combat zone (but Ukraine ...) Russia has also long been accused of torturing its Ukrainian prisoners of war 'Only he was arrested not for beatings, but for failing to prevent the leak of the sensational video. 'The system does not need scandals, they interfere with the influx of fresh cannon fodder. 'Some potential 'hero' will watch this video - and change his mind about going to the front. 'Can this be allowed? Of course not.' There was a claim that the suspects were assault soldiers seconded to the military police 'to ensure law and order among those sent to the [war] zone'. Remote and mountainous Tuva in Siberia is the home region of Putin's security council chief Sergei Shoigu, formerly the Russian defence minister. Russia has also long been accused of torturing its Ukrainian prisoners of war. Analysis by Global Rights Compliance in 2023 revealed that almost half of Ukrainian detainees held in camps in Kherson had been subjected to torture and sexual violence. Analysis of cases across more than 35 identified detention centres revealed suffocation, waterboarding, electrocution, beatings and threats of rape to be widespread techniques imposed by Russian guards in the occupied region. Global Rights Compliance's Mobile Justice Team reviewed the stories of 320 people held in Kherson with Ukraine's Office of the Prosecutor General (OPG), with 43% reporting experiences of torture from their time detained. Those held in the centres included volunteers, activists, medical leaders, teachers, community leaders, law enforcement and military personnel. A corridor in a place Ukrainians were detained on Pylypa Orlyka str., where Russians tried to start a fire in order to hide traces of their crimes and burn documents before retreating Ukrainian detainees were forced to write and learn the National Anthem of Russia while held Wayne Jordash KC, Managing Partner and Co-Founder of Global Rights Compliance, said at the time: 'The torture and sexual violence tactics the Office of the Prosecution is uncovering from the Kherson detention centres suggests that Putin's plan to extinguish Ukrainian identity includes a range of crimes evocative of genocide. 'At the very least, the pattern that we are observing is consistent with a cynical and calculated plan to humiliate and terrorise millions of Ukrainian citizens in order to subjugate them to the diktat of the Kremlin.' Global Rights Compliance said that the reported 'patterns' of rape and other sexual crimes inflicted upon occupied people across Ukraine may point to a 'premeditated plan on a systemic level'. Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has accused Russia of war crimes in Kherson since at least November 2022. Mass graves have been found across Ukraine since the start of the war in February last year. A mother has blasted her son's school for charging him 2.30 for a soggy pizza slice at break time. She posted the pictures of the depressing cheese and tomato slice with a small bite taken out of it to a Reddit page after he complained to her. She wrote: 'My sons school charging 2.30 for this...is this normal?' Reddit users were shocked were disgusted at the price being charged for such a small and pathetic looking snack. This prompted more conversation around the audacious cost of school food in general as they pointed out the cost of living crisis. The post immediately gained thousands of views and hundreds of irate comments about the state of school food. 'It might be normal but it isn't fair,' one poster responded, to which one replied: 'My child's school charges 45p for a slice of toast per day. AND quite often there's no guarantee they will even get one either. 'And rich politicians wonder why there are so many kids living in poverty.' Has YOUR children's school been serving bad school dinners? Email freya.barnes@mailonline.co.uk A mother has blasted her son's school for charging him 2.30 for a soggy pizza slice at break time She posted the pictures of the depressing cheese and tomato slice with a small bite taken out of it to a Reddit page after he complained to her 'I don't think they ever do wonder about it. They don't care enough to give it a thought,' another snapped back. 'That's shockingly bad,' one parent replied, while another said: 'No. It's terrible. Where's the nutrition in that? Looks so poor.' One added: 'This is what happens when you contract out school catering and every last penny of profit is sought.' And another fumed: 'Yet again, kids and families being taken advantage of for profit over quality, it's absolutely disgusting.' Others said they could find much better quality elsewhere, adding: 'Yeah. Can go to Gregg's and get a better pizza slice for the same price.. this is some awful baguette with a smear of ketchup and pinch of cheese on it. 'And you'd have thought there would be a school subsidy of some kind too. I would only pay 1 for this thing.' Another said: 'I wouldn't give them 50p. It is tiny. It looks like it will taste absolutely rank. Someone should be having a chat with the headmaster.' In October, furious parents branded their children's school meal 'shocking and disgusting', claiming they paid '30 a week for them to be fed next to nothing'. Furious parents branded their children's school meal as 'shocking and disgusting' (Pictured: A sausage roll on display) Parents said the meals were completely un-nutritional (Pictured: the school's plain chicken burger) Other parents claimed they would serve better food to their dogs (Pictured: a burnt cheese and ham panini) The outraged started after one mother shared pictures of the 'awful' food being served at the Hummersknott Academy in Darlington online with one parent claiming she fed food of higher standards to 'her dog.' Included on the menu was a dry looking chicken burger, a fossilised sausage roll and a burnt cheese and bacon panini. The furious mother said: 'I wanted to get other opinions on the quality and quantity of food the kids are getting because this is costing me a fortune and she's still starving when she gets home!' The pictures sparked a flurry of comments and complaints from frustrated parents, including one mother, who spent around 20 to 30 a week on school dinners for her son. She said: 'My son has always come home every day from school and said he is starving. I never understood why and always just thought he was being greedy or dramatic because surely, I don't pay that much a month for him to be fed next to nothing. 'Children need food. How are they going to manage to concentrate in class when they are hungry. It just means they are not at their best learning capabilities; no child should be at such a disadvantage to be able to get a substantial meal.' Elsewhere, parents of pupils at a top independent school slammed the 'utterly unacceptable' quality of their catering. In March, around 200 parents called for urgent changes to be made at Withington Girls School in Manchester after grim photos emerged of the food being given to pupils aged between seven and 18. Has YOUR children's school been serving bad school dinners? Email freya.barnes@mailonline.co.uk The school has apologised and cited supplier issues (Pictured: a beef burger) Roast turkey served with just two potatoes at Withington Girls School Sausage and mash served at Withington Girls School These included a roast dinner meal with just a small slice of turkey and two potatoes and a tiny portion of sausage and mash. Also pictured are potato wedges and what appears to be a chicken curry. It is understood they were produced by Holroyd Howe which held the catering contract for the school. At the time, MailOnline were told parents had been complaining to the school, which charges 11,910 per year, about the 'poor food quality for years.' One parent told MailOnline: 'For a highly respected school, the food is utterly unacceptable. 'Parents in large numbers have been complaining for years about the catering company which they use. 'A large parent group has been formed of around 200 parents but nothing is being done. 'They won't allow packed lunches and the girls are made to feel like they are doing something wrong if they don't eat, complain or on the rare occasion ask for more. 'We are at the point now where me personally my daughter comes home after starving herself since breakfast. 'I send her with snacks but she's scared to take a secret packed lunch in.' According to their website, Holroyd Howe say they have 'a fresh and thoughtful food offer that's uniquely tailored to meet the needs of each [school].' They add: 'Established 25 years ago, we are a team of foodies at heart, focused on developing our people and continuously improving our provision of freshly prepared handmade meals, that are both nutritious and delicious, every day. 'Today, our food service is More than a Meal. Our teams work in partnership with our schools to create an inclusive environment so that those we serve form positive experiences with food.' Chips and beans served at Redbridge Community School Pie and mash served at Redbridge Community School Photos of what appears to be a veggie burger served at Redbridge Community School It comes after a headteacher slammed his school's caterers for serving 'completely unacceptable' food to pupils - and accused them of not knowing how to 'bake a potato'. In an angry letter addressed to parents last summer, Jason Ashley said he was 'exceptionally unhappy' with the food served to pupils at his secondary school by outsourced caterers. Mr Ashley said he would be furious if his own children were served the 'extremely poor quality' school dinners and that he can 'no longer tolerate' it. He even supplied photos of bland-looking meals to parents, showing portions including pie and mash, baked potato and tuna, chicken and veg, and chips and beans. Redbridge Community School, in Southampton, is catered for by Chartwells - who brand themselves as 'The UK's Leading School Catering Company' and serve over 2,000 schools. In his letter, he wrote: 'Firstly, I want to apologise for having to write to you, but I can no longer keep this from you. I hope you understand the reasons and the risks. 'As the Headteacher, you will often hear me say "If it's good enough for my own children, it has to be good enough for yours". Jason Ashley, head of Redbridge Community School in Southampton (pictured), wrote the letter to parents Roast meal served at Redbridge Community School Roast turkey dinner which is made by Chartwells staff working at Redbridge Community Staff 'Frankly, the food that is served in the canteen is completely unacceptable, so much so, that if my own children's school served this I would be exceptionally unhappy. 'Unfortunately, Redbridge Community School has no control over the private company Chartwell's. 'This company provides the catering contract for the school. Myself and [business manager Clare Wall-Bradfield] have been in numerous meetings (the most recent this morning) and I am simply fed up with the lack of progress being made. 'We have concluded with our photo evidence that Chartwell's do seem to be unable to 'bake a potato' correctly. 'Our evidence shows that in recent times portions have gotten smaller, whilst prices have risen. Mr Ashley questioned if the catering company could make a jacket potato. Pictured: Tuna jacket Photos of what appears to be a chicken curry served at Withington Girls School Another dish which parents argue is poor quality at Withington Girls School 'For example, recently it was British 'pie week' and the pie served was of extremely poor quality when compared to our partner schools.' Chartwells said there was 'operational challenges' and staffing issues at the school. In a statement given at the time, they said: 'We apologise that in this instance our usual level of service has fallen below the high standards we demand. 'We are committed to working in collaboration with the school and are implementing an immediate action plan to rectify these issues.' MailOnline previously reported how parents slammed Bulwell Academy in Nottingham and Ysgol Dyffryn Taf in Whitland, Carmarthenshire for their poor quality meals. A father-of-four hit out at the school over a 'disgusting' sliced baguette stuffed with a 'block of cheese'. He feared the meals were not up to nutritional standards, fuming: 'Our kids are being treated worse than in a prison'. But leaders at the school, which has more than a 1,000 students, insisted its catering staff 'work hard' to ensure menu items meet nutritional standards. Meanwhile, at Ysgol Dyffryn Taf, images of the school meals, which include pasta and bacon rolls, were posted on social media. Around 200 parents are urging school management to rethink their school meal offering. Pictured: Another poor quality dish Images of the school meals being given to children at Ysgol Dyffryn Taf were posted on social media, with parents labelling the quality of the meals 'shocking' Parents say their children opt out of eating at school as a result of the poor quality meals at Ysgol Dyffryn Taf Shelley Webb posted the initial images which went viral online following complaints about school meals from her daughter. She claims the quality of food has dipped in recent months, leading to smaller portions and limited choice. 'Both the quantity and the quality of the food the children get is ridiculous,' she said. 'It's 2.60 for what they call a 'nutritious main meal' - it's basically one sausage, one scoop of mash, some carrots and cranberry sauce.' Headteacher of the school, Julian Kennedy, said in a statement: 'The school is aware of concerns raised by some parents on social media, regarding the quality of food provision at lunchtimes. 'As you know, Carmarthenshire County Council's Catering Service runs our dinner hall and is responsible for the break and lunchtime offer. 'We will hold discussions with the service to ensure our pupils can access a high quality of provision at break and lunchtime.' Has YOUR children's school been serving bad school dinners? Email freya.barnes@mailonline.co.uk Best Friends co-owners Katie Plack, from left, Dan Polsby and Sean Danzeiser. Theirs is one of a crop of new Bay Area wine bars that is thriving. Santiago Mejia/The Chronicle Its a famously grim time for the California wine industry. The news has become inescapable: Whether due to concerns about alcohols health effects, the rising popularity of cannabis or a distaste for wine among Gen Z, wine consumption is plummeting in America. So it may seem surprising that during the last year, at least 16 new wine bars opened in the Bay Area. Even more surprising: Theyre doing great. Advertisement Article continues below this ad So many California wineries are seemingly on the brink of nonexistence, said Andrew Nelson, who opened the Riesling-centric bar Golden Sardine in North Beach last January. But then while all thats happening, were having an insane amount of success. And contrary to the news reports, they see a lot of Gen Z patrons. Jessie Halland, left, and Anna Reagan enjoy some wine at Golden Sardine. Scott Strazzante/The Chronicle GiGis, a Vietnamese-inspired wine bar in NoPa, opened in November to an hour-long line. I didnt think wed ever be able to top that, said general manager Madison Michael, but we just beat those numbers. On a recent Saturday in January, typically the slowest month for bars and restaurants, GiGis just had its highest-grossing night. Weve been shocked at how quickly weve been able to hire employees, said Jack Pain, co-owner of the four-month-old Rampant Bottle + Bar in the Outer Richmond. Some nights, the bar is standing room only. Bay Area restaurants are struggling; even dining institutions are going out of business. But wine bars keep opening. The original owners of the beloved restaurant La Ciccia have found a new audience for their Sardinian-focused wine bar Binu Bonu in West Portal. Bar Jabroni in the Lower Haight has found an enthusiastic audience for esoteric, not-too-natty natural wines. Verjus, the glam Parisian wine temple from the group behind Quince and Cotogna, made a triumphant return to Jackson Square. Its been so popular since reopening in November that its often completely packed within minutes of its 4 p.m. opening time. Advertisement Article continues below this ad General manager Madison Michael, left, with chef Tu David Phu at Gigis in San Francisco. Jessica Christian/The Chronicle We have been really surprised by how thrilled people are that were here, said Dan Polsby, who co-owns the Albany newcomer Best Friends with Katie Plack and Sean Danzeiser. The national wine market may be in a downturn, but for them, there hasnt been a downturn at all. Some of this success can be chalked up to the business structure of wine bars. The cost of a wine and beer license (around $1,000 for an application fee) is wildly different from that of a full liquor license, which can cost $150,000 in San Francisco. Wine bars can typically operate with smaller staffs than full restaurants or large cocktail bars. Rampant was designed to require only two employees per shift. At Michaels last job, the Japanese-Peruvian restaurant Chotto Matte, she managed a staff of 190; at GiGis, she manages a staff of 11. A crowd outside Rampant Bottle + Bar in the Outer Richmond neighborhood of San Francisco. Courtesy Nate Zack Many wine bars have very simple food menus so simple that, in some cases, they dont even need a separate kitchen team, instead relying on bartenders to assemble plates of mortadella and olives. Because the margins on wine are better than food (though not quite as good as spirits), wine bars may be able to generate higher profits than restaurants even if their overall revenue is lower. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Owners Caitlyn Wild and Andrew Nelson at Golden Sardine, a North Beach wine bar that specializes in poetry and Riesling. Scott Strazzante/The Chronicle Wine bars may also escape some of the intense social media scrutiny that falls on restaurants these days, Nelson suggested. Its a very competitive restaurant environment in the Bay Area, he said. You can very easily run up against influencer culture, with creators panning your food on Instagram and TikTok. When youre just serving cool cheese and tinned fish, on the other hand, they dont seem to come for you. As for the national headlines around wine consumption, local wine bar owners simply believe that Bay Area drinkers live in a different reality. The categories of wine seeing the biggest declines in sales nationwide are the least expensive. Sales of glasses of wine that cost $20-$24.99 were up by about 1% last year, while glasses of wine priced $3.99 or lower declined by 12%, according to WineBusiness Analytics. Those statistics are crazy skewed with bottom-shelf grocery store wine, said Rampant co-owner Charlie OLeary. What I experience here is that young people are drinking wine. Theyre drinking it way more intentionally, and theyre willing to spend more. There may be something else at play something counterintuitive. The Bay Areas new wine bars may actually be benefiting from the sober-curious movement. Rampant Bottle + Bar co-owners Jack Pain, left, and Charlie OLeary. Courtesy Nate Zack For people who are cutting back on their drinking, wine bars may offer a more welcoming environment than a heady cocktail lounge. People are not trying to come out and get absolutely wasted, said OLeary. They just want to go out and have a few drinks and go about their lives. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Thats not to say that every wine bar patron is ordering wine or even ordering alcohol. Weve seen an uptick in people ordering (nonalcoholic) beverages, said Polsby of Best Friends, but theyre still coming in. Dan Polsby with customers at Best Friends in Albany. Santiago Mejia/The Chronicle And at a time when Bay Area dining is becoming ever fancier, and ever pricier, most wine bars are going in the opposite direction. You can catch up with friends over an $8 glass of Gruner Veltliner at Golden Sardine, a $10 Spanish rose at GiGis or a $9 chilled Mourvedre at Best Friends. Still, Polsby believes that affordability is not whats driving Best Friends success so far. I think its more about the way the place is feeling to people, and about an approach to wine thats enthusiastic, he said. The people raving about the bar arent citing the cheap glass pours, but rather the vibe. Advertisement Article continues below this ad A Cathay Pacific flight from Boston has been forced to make an emergency landing after smoke in the cabin was reported minutes after take off. Flight CX811, an A350-1000 bound for Hong Kong, stopped climbing at around 5,000ft, according to aviation news site Air Live. The crew declared an emergency around shortly after it departed from Boston Logan International Airport at 02.04 EST. The flight then held over Massachusetts Bay to dump fuel before returning to BOS Airport, according to reports. Flight trackers show it looping around multiple times off the east coast before making its way back. Air traffic controllers cleared it for landing at the airport a little more than an hour after it took off, and it was met by emergency vehicles after landing. Massport, the Massachusetts Port Authority, said that the plane landed 'without incident', but gave no further information. Flight trackers show it looping around multiple times off the east coast before making its way back to Boston Airport Cathay Pacific is Hong Kong's flagship carrier and serves five routes between the US and the territory (file image) In a statement to DailyMail.com, Cathay Pacific said the flight 'made a precautionary flight return to Logan International Airport in accordance with standard procedures following a report of smoke in the cockpit and cabin shortly after take-off. 'The aircraft landed normally at 03:31 (local time) and returned to the gate where our engineers are now investigating and performing inspections. 'No injuries among our customers or crew were reported,' it added. The airline said it had been 'regularly informing our customers of the latest status of the flight and will continue to provide them with appropriate assistance.' 'Safety guides every decision we make,' it added, with an apology to customers for the inconvenience caused. Cathay Pacific is Hong Kong's flagship carrier and it currently serves five routes from between the US and the territory, with a sixth in Dallas expected to begin from April. Several flights have been cancelled from Boston this morning, with the airport warning customers to expect delays due to bad weather. Cathay Pacific has been contacted for comment. This is the terrifying moment an elephant that was spooked by fireworks trampled five festival-goers in Thailand. The 10-year-old jumbo Plai Khun Thong and its keeper Sanga, 46, arrived at a fairground to sell sugarcane to visitors in Nong Bua Lamphu province, on January 18. However, the male elephant went on a rampage when it was startled by a barrage of fireworks set off for the carnival's opening ceremony. Footage captured the beast knocking down and trampling several pedestrians as terrified villagers scattered in panic. The elephant ploughed through the crowd and bolted through tents and stalls while trying to flee the explosions. Authorities said five people were injured and rushed to the provincial hospital. No serious injuries were reported. One of the wounded villagers, a grandmother named Yanee, 51, said she had been walking with her grandson when she heard people screaming behind her. She added: 'I turned around to see what was going on, and saw the elephant running towards me. The huge elephant was seen storming through a crowd of party-goers at a festival Terrifying footage showed the wild beast trampling over guests The male elephant went on a rampage when it was startled by a barrage of fireworks set off for the carnival's opening ceremony The 10-year-old jumbo Plai Khun Thong was brought to the fairground by its keeper Sanga, 46 'I couldn't react in time and it hit me. I fell and twisted my ankle, but my grandson was fine. We are lucky we weren't crushed.' Local governor Surasak Aksornkul said he has ordered officials to assist the injured citizens. He said: 'All of the injured have left Nong Bua Lamphu Hospital and returned home. 'They are urged to file a complaint against the elephant owner. I have also banned bringing elephants into the fair again.' Police have detained the keeper Sanga, who allegedly admitted he did not seek permission to bring the elephant into the fairground. Officer Dejsuwan Srihom said the suspect would be charged for moving the elephant without seeking permission from a livestock office. The offence is punishable with a maximum jail term of one year, a fine of up to 477, or both. Authorities said five people were injured and rushed to the provincial hospital Luckily, no serious injuries were reported Police have detained the keeper Sanga, who allegedly admitted he did not seek permission to bring the elephant into the fairground Thailand has around 4,000 elephants in captivity. They are forced to work at tourist attractions, at benighted cultural ceremonies or owned privately for hire or in the logging industry. Animal rights groups have made repeated calls to ban the ownership and use of elephants but the majority of locals, including politicians, refuse to stop the abuse. Though the creatures are usually harmless, there have been several fatal elephant attacks in recent weeks. On January 3, Spanish tourist Blanca Ojanguren Garcia, 22, was struck by an elephant she was bathing at the Koh Yao Elephant Care centre in Phang Nga province. She reportedly slipped and accidentally grabbed its trunk, causing the animal to smash her against the rocky pool. On December 15, farmer Thodsaporn Phiananukulbut, 45, was fishing at a canal when a bull emerged from the nearby sugarcane field and trampled him to death in Prachinburi province. Donald Trump will be sworn in to the Oval Office for the second time today, completing one of the most astounding political comebacks in American history. Trump - the first American president since the 19th century to win a second term after losing the White House - and Vice President-elect JD Vance will both take the oath of office today inside the Rotunda of the US Capitol. The inauguration will proceed amid heavy security after a campaign highlighted by an increase in political violence that included two assassination attempts against Trump. The ceremony will feature live music, including a performance from country music star Carrie Underwood, and remarks from several key note speakers. The festivities will continue with a traditional presidential parade and three inaugural balls in the evening. Amid the pageantry of the day, Trump will begin signing the first of what could be dozens of executive orders. The country will also say farewell to President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden, who will welcome Trump and Melania Trump back to the presidential residence that they called home just eight years ago. Donald Trump will be sworn in to the Oval Office for the second time today, completing one of the most astounding political comebacks in American history. He is pictured with his wife Melania Trump last night Your browser does not support iframes. Your browser does not support iframes. 8am: Donald and Melania Trump will attend a non-partisan church service at the historic yellow St. John's Episcopal Church in downtown DC. Afterwards, they will head to the White House for a tea and coffee reception with Joe and Jill Biden. On Trump's first Inauguration Day in 2017, he and Melania posed for a portrait with outgoing President Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle Obama. The tea reception was also attended by then outgoing Vice President Joe Biden, Jill, and then Vice President-elect Mike Pence, as well as his wife Karen. Following tea, the sitting president typically escorts the incoming president to the Capitol for the official inauguration ceremony. 10am: Around 10am today, official guests will begin to arrive at the Capitol Rotunda for the swearing-in ceremony. The swearing-in was moved indoors, instead of taking place on the steps outside the Capitol, for the first time in 40 years due to the extreme cold. The last time a presidential swearing-in was held indoors was in 1985 when Ronald Reagan held his second inauguration indoors because of an unusually cold weather forecast. 11.30am: Those with tickets to the inauguration will arrive by 11.30am. 12pm: Trump will take the oath of office, likely administered by Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts. His official swearing-in will occur after that of JD Vance, who is being sworn in by Chief Justice Brett Kavanaugh. Trump will take the oath of office, likely administered by Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, at 12pm today. He is pictured speaking at a dinner last night that was held as part of his inauguration festivities American Idol winner Carrie Underwood will sing America the Beautiful and opera star Christopher Macchio will perform the national anthem during the ceremony. Shortly after being sworn in, Trump will deliver his inaugural address, which he has said in interviews that he intends to be uplifting and unifying - a departure from his first speech in 2017, which detailed a broken country he described as 'American Carnage'. The official farewell and ceremonial departure of Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris will take place after the inaugural address. Trump will then go to the President's Room near the Senate chamber in the Capitol, where he will sign nominations. Following the signing ceremony, the president, vice president and their guests will attend a luncheon hosted by the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies. Trump will then head to the front steps of the Capitol for the review of the military troops. 3pm: The presidential parade will kick off around 3pm. The traditional parade down Pennsylvania Avenue past the White House will now take place indoors at the Capital One Arena, where Trump held his victory rally on Sunday. Trump will then return to the White House for the Oval Office signing ceremony. Tonight: Trump will attend three inaugural balls - the 'Commander in Chief Ball,' the 'Liberty Inaugural Ball' and the 'Starlight Ball'. He is expected to speak at all three events. Keir Starmer is set to head for Washington within weeks as he pleads with Donald Trump not to hammer the UK economy by imposing tariffs. The PM sent his congratulations in a gushing statement overnight, insisting Transatlantic ties are built on 'unshakeable foundations' and hinting at a push for a trade deal. But Downing Street confirmed he will be watching the inauguration ceremony on TV, despite Italy's Giorgia Meloni attending. Foreign Secretary David Lammy said this morning that Sir Keir is set to visit the US in the coming weeks, while there are claims senior Royals could be deployed on a tour to help foster relations. But there are mounting concerns about the huge political gulf between Labour and the new White House. Rumours have been swirling that Mr Trump could punish Sir Keir for party activists going to the US to campaign for his Democrat rival Kamala Harris. There have even been suggestions that the nomination of Lord Mandelson as the UK's ambassador could be vetoed. Some forecasters believe the commander-in-chief's vow to impose 'beautiful' tariffs policies will leave the UK economy 0.9 per cent smaller than it would have been by 2029. House of Commons Library estimates suggest that could mean defence spending being 2billion lower. Mr Trump spent the eve of the inauguration at a rally, where he declared his supporters had 'built a new American majority that will lead our country to success for generations to come'. Keir Starmer has urged Donald Trump (pictured) to 'deepen' the Special Relationship amid fears the incoming president's tough trade tactics will hammer the UK economy The PM sent his congratulations in a gushing statement overnight, insisting Transatlantic ties are built on 'unshakeable foundations' Mr Trump presided over an extraordinary pre-inauguration rally last night where he danced with the Village People to YMCA Mr Trump seemed to be enjoying himself at the bash in Washington Elon Musk, one of Mr Trump's biggest backers, brought his son X up on to the stage UK politicians including Nigel Farage, Liz Truss and Suella Braverman are in Washington DC ahead of the ceremonies. Sir Keir is not there, with Downing Street stressing that is in keeping with long-standing precedent. Along with appealing for an early invite to the White House for Sir Keir, a second state visit to Britain for Mr Trump could be on the cards. But other potential flashpoints include Labour's plan to hand the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, and whether he maintains support for Ukraine in the war against Russia. The Mail on Sunday revealed yesterday that some of Mr Trump's key advisers are debating whether to put Sir Keir 'at the back of the queue' of world leaders invited to Washington. One Trump ally warned the PM was 'gonna have to eat humble pie' to get a speedy visit to the White House. Mr Trump's campaign filed a Federal Election Commission complaint against Labour in October, accusing it of 'blatant foreign interference' after the party's head of operations, Sofia Patel, asked for people to travel to the US to campaign for Harris. In an interview with the BBC, Mr Lammy said: 'I think that when you look at past prime ministers, it's taken between a week or up to a month to come to Washington. The importance is the strength of the relationship and the serious discussions that we have. 'In the end, we have war in Europe, we have a ceasefire in the Middle East, but it's incredibly fragile, and there are important malign actors like Iran that we've got to discuss with the United States and, of course, our growing trade relations with the United States. 'So, lots to discuss, and I'm very confident that Keir Starmer will be discussing this with Donald Trump within the next few weeks.' Mr Lammy insisted New Labour architect Lord Mandelson is the 'right man for this moment' with experience as a former business secretary and EU trade chief. 'He's looking forward to presenting his credentials to Donald Trump,' Mr Lammy said. Mr Lammy also said he was confident that the intelligence and military agencies in the US would persuade the new president that the Chagos deal is good for all sides. Your browser does not support iframes. Nigel Farage (right) was at the rally along with MMA fighter Conor McGregor (left) Former Pm Liz Truss is also in Washington DC, pictured attending a party for TikTok influencers last night The UK plans to cede sovereignty of the British Indian Ocean Territory to Mauritius, leasing back the strategically important Diego Garcia base used by the US for 99 years at a reported annual cost of around 90million. But Mr Trump's former national security chief HR McMaster told the BBC: 'I think surrendering the Chagos Islands, or putting the Chagos Islands in a situation where they can easily be coerced, by the Chinese Communist Party for example, I hope it's a position that we see reversed here by Donald Trump, and by the UK government.' In his message, Sir Keir dropped a heavy hint that he wants to pursue a Transatlantic trade deal, something that was being intensely negotiated during the last Trump administration. 'For centuries, the relationship between our two nations has been one of collaboration, cooperation and enduring partnership. It is a uniquely close bond,' Sir Keir said. 'Together, we have defended the world from tyranny and worked towards our mutual security and prosperity.' The Prime Minister and the president-elect met in New York in September at Trump Tower, ahead of the US election, and at the time Sir Keir said he is a 'great believer in personal relations on the international stage'. Mr Trump spent the eve of the inauguration at a rally, where he declared his supporters had 'built a new American majority that will lead our country to success for generations to come' Sir Keir added: 'Since our first meeting in September, the President and I have spoken about the need to deepen and invest in the transatlantic relationship. 'We will continue to build upon the unshakeable foundations of our historic alliance as we tackle together the global challenges we face and take our partnership to the next level focused on shared opportunities ahead for growth. 'I look forward to our next meeting as we continue our shared mission to ensure the peace, prosperity and security of our two great nations. 'The special relationship between the United Kingdom and United States will continue to flourish for years to come.' A British tourist has revealed the filthy conditions inside Thai prisons in a haunting warning to foreign travellers. The 29-year-old former soldier was held in two police cells and a Bangkok deportation centre for 15 days, charged with overstaying his visa. 'The only way I can describe it is hell,' the man, who has not been named, said. 'There was no ventilation and 130 of us in the room. We could only go out for an hour a week.' He said the guards would bring in a pot of food and hand out trays to eat off, all washed in cold water on the 'filthy' bathroom floor. 'In all locations there were fire ants and cockroaches. The rubbish wasn't collected - it was just piled in the corner.' The man smuggled a phone in with baby wipes to record the shocking footage Once a week the detainees were taken to a room with an open, barred, roof to walk around for an hour, the 29-year-old former soldier said People were left in miserable conditions, flailing on the floor. The man said one pregnant woman 'was crying all the time with her head on the floor' The 29-year-old arrived in Thailand in April last year and hoped to set up a business and settle there. But he was arrested in Pattaya in November and taken to court before being detained until December 5. 'When I was arrested they were very violent,' he claimed. 'Two police came up behind me in a public toilet and beat me. They chucked me in a flatbed of a truck and handcuffed me to the side. 'I was very dazed. I'm sure I had concussion.' 'They didn't tell me anything. Luckily there were some Russian guys sharing my cell who spoke Thai so they told me what to expect. 'One of them lent me the money to pay my court fine straight away otherwise it would have been even worse for me.' The man spent eight days guarded in a police cell in Pattaya, where he said eight inmates were crowded into a six-by-four foot cell. He bribed guards to have a few people moved to another cell to allow more space, he said. He also paid bribes to have food brought in, for cleaning products for the bathroom, and to send messages to his mum in the UK, he said. Footage reveals the cramped conditions inside a Thai detention centre. The Brit said food was handed out in a large pot and inmates were expected to eat of trays washed on the floor Few luxuries - including Coca Cola and Pringles - in the cell, revealed in footage taken on a camera smuggled into the detention centre 130 inmates shared four hole-in-the-wall toilets which they cleaned with a bucket of cold water, the man claimed He said: 'The cell was tiny. We couldn't lie down properly and certainly not all at the same time. 'There was a pregnant girl from Laos who was really struggling. She was crying all the time with her head on the floor. It was horrible. 'There was another cell of the same size with 13 people in.' Eventually he was moved to Bangkok to the deportation centre, where he saw the most shocking conditions, he said. 130 inmates shared four hole-in-the-wall toilets which they cleaned with a bucket of cold water, he said. And they washed by filling tiny bowls from a cold water bucket. Once a week the detainees were taken to a room with an open, barred, roof to walk around for an hour, he said. 'There was a guy who sat in one corner selling tiny pot noodles - that was the only thing I'd eat.' He was there for five days while his mum battled the British embassy to have him flown home, he said. Eventually, after paying for the flight home plus 500 Baht (11.94) per night for the five nights in the deportation centre, he was released to fly home. He was able to take the footage because he smuggled in his phone in a pack of baby wipes, he said. He said: 'Once you're in there you have no contact with anyone and no way to get your money, so unless someone is fighting for you on the outside and knows you're there you have no hope. 'I'm very lucky I managed to get my phone in and that my mum was contacting the embassy: otherwise I'd still be there. 'The deportation centre was the worst thing I've seen in my life. 'I really want to put it all behind me but it's important for people to know what it's like: I want people to know what goes on over there. 'Lots of people let their visas run out and then pay a small fee to renew them, but don't do it, don't risk it at all. 'I don't want anyone else to become a victim of this. 'I'm never going back to Thailand. 'Tourism built and holds up their economy but they just want more. They imprison people then charge them but give them no means to access their money to pay, so they're basically stuck and it's a money maker for the authorities.' The man ultimately bribed guards to have food brought in, for cleaning products for the bathroom, and to send messages to his mum in the UK The 29-year-old former soldier was held in two police cells and a Bangkok deportation centre for 15 days, charged with overstaying his visa The man said it was commonplace for people to overstay on Thai visas and he believed officials usually asked for a small fee to renew the documents. But he was arrested after a disagreement with an ex, he says. Police checked his passport and found he was a few days late renewing his visa, he said. The police asked him to pay 50,000 Baht (1,180) instead of 500 to release him straight away, and he couldn't pay it, he said. He was taken to court the next day where he was asked to pay 2,000 Baht for the visa overstay and 500 for the cost of the night he'd been detained. Sadiq Khan hopes Donald Trump will be 'different from the last time' he was in the White House and said he wants to 'work closely' with the incoming US President. The London Mayor appeared to be in a more conciliatory tone ahead of Mr Trump being sworn in as the President of the United States for a second term later today. It comes amid the pair's fiery long-running feud, which has previously seen the US President brand Sir Sadiq a 'stone cold loser'. In a furious war of words, Trump accused the London Mayor of doing a 'very bad job on terrorism' and of being 'very dumb' during his last stint as President. And the extraordinary outbursts against Mr Trump appeared to continue over the weekend, after Sir Sadiq's warning of a 'resurgent fascism' ahead of his inauguration. Seemingly in a fresh broadside against the returning president, Sir Sadiq urged Labour and the Left to 'confront' the forces of 'reactionary populism'. 'The hard-right and far-right are on the march. These are deeply worrying times,' the London Mayor wrote in a piece for the Observer. Sir Sadiq's comments risked inflaming further tension between Washington and Downing Street, and prompted a political slap down from a Labour cabinet minister. Sadiq Khan hopes Trump's second term in office will be 'different' to his first, which saw him feuding with the London Mayor in an extraordinary war of words Sir Sadiq (pictured in November 2024) has previously blasted Trump in a series of critical outbursts And now, as Mr Trump prepares to start his second time in the Washington, Sir Sadiq appears to have toned down his verbal tirade against the 78-year-old. Ahead of today's inauguration, Sir Sadiq insisted that as somebody 'who believes in democracy, and voting and elections, we should recognise the fact that Donald Trump is the elected President of the United States'. And he claimed he now 'wanted to work closely with the American President'. But he added: 'Let's keep our fingers crossed that this president is different from the last time he was president.' Sir Sadiq and Mr Trump have made no secret about their disdain for each other. They clashed as recently as May when he slammed the American politician's jibe that London was 'unrecognisable' because the city had 'opened its doors to jihad'. As he celebrated winning a third term as mayor earlier this year, Sir Sadiq said Londoners had 'slammed the door shut' on Mr Trump's 'hard-right populism'. And when Mr Trump romped home in the US election in November Sir Sadiq initially stopped short of congratulating him - although he did so later. President-Elect Donald Trump gestures to the crowd after his victory rally at the Capital One Arena on January 19, 2025 in Washington DC Trump stands next to Victor Willis, member of the Village People during a rally the day before he is scheduled to be inaugurated for a second term Sir Sadiq's feud with Trump dates back to his the tycoon's first stint as US President. Pictured is a controversial Trump 'baby blimp' that was allowed to fly in Parliament Square in 2019 during a protest about Trump's state visit Sir Sadiq has also accused Trump of criticising him because of his 'ethnicity' and Muslim faith. Speaking on a podcast which aired in November, the London Mayor - a son of Pakistani immigrants to Britain - said he viewed the past targeting of him as 'incredibly personal.' 'If I wasn't this color skin, if I wasn't a practicing Muslim, he wouldn't have come for me,' he told the High Performance podcast, which interviews prominent people in different sectors. 'He's come for me because of, let's be frank, my ethnicity and my religion.' Writing in The Observer this weekend, Sir Sadiq added 'these are deeply worrying times, especially if you're a member of a minority community'. Sir Sadiq also condemned 'financial backers who selfishly choose to put the profits of their companies over the interests of our democracies' in a dig at Elon Musk. Writing over the weekend, Sir Sadiq warned the far-right was 'on the march' Sir Sadiq also condemned 'financial backers who selfishly choose to put the profits of their companies over the interests of our democracies' in a dig at Elon Musk (pictured on Sunday) 'Progressives across the Western world face a century-defining challenge and the stakes for liberal democracy couldn't be higher,' he wrote. 'The far-right is on the march. These are deeply worrying times, especially if you're a member of a minority community. As historians and commentators increasingly find echoes of the 1920s and 30s in the present day, we cannot afford to throw in the towel. 'We should be in no doubt, this is a perilous moment. The spectre of a resurgent fascism haunts the West 'To ward off the far-right, we must be unflinching in defence of our democracy and values, and in our determination to enhance the welfare and material conditions of our communities.' Trump arrives to attend a rally the day before he is scheduled to be inaugurated for a second term But his comments led to a scramble from Labour chiefs, who have been desperately trying to smooth out relations between the party and Trump after fiercely critical comments by senior leaders in the past. In 2018, now-Foreign Secretary David Lammy branded Trump a 'woman-hating, neo-Nazi sympathising sociopath' and a 'tyrant'. While a backbencher in 2019, ahead of Trump's state visit to the UK, he posted on social media that Trump was 'deluded, dishonest, xenophobic, narcissistic' and 'no friend of Britain'. He has since dismissed his comments as 'old news'. And yesterday following Sir Sadiq latest remarks, Treasury Chief Secretary Darren Jones was forced to bluntly reject the attack during a series of morning interviews, insisting the government respected Mr Trump's mandate. 'I don't agree with that. President Trump won an enormous election victory in the US. As a democracy we support democracy and the American people elected Donald Trump and the Republican party,' he told the BBC's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg. Treasury Chief Secretary Darren Jones slapped down Sir Sadiq after his piece in the Observer As a back bench MP, Foreign Secretary David Lammy (pictured with Keir Starmer) previously blasted Trump, branding him a 'woman-hating, neo-Nazi sympathising sociopath'. Pressed on why Sir Sadiq was making such interventions as Labour struggles to forge ties with the incoming US administration, Mr Jones said: 'He's allowed to but I don't agree with it. I speak on behalf of the government and we don't agree with it.' Khan's previous outbursts have risked straining relationships between Labour and the White House. Ahead of Trump taking the Oath of Office in Washington, Prime Minister Keir Starmer sent his 'warmest congratulations' as he sought to play to Mr Trump's love of Britain. 'With President Trump's longstanding affection and historical ties to the United Kingdom, I know that depth of friendship will continue,' the PM said. Sir Keir added: 'We will continue to build upon the unshakeable foundations of our historic alliance as we tackle together the global challenges we face and take our partnership to the next level focused on shared opportunities ahead for growth.' Shocking footage shows the moment a woman launched a foul-mouthed racist tirade while on a flight after allegedly stealing a bag of crisps from a flight attendant. The woman, in her 50s, can be seen shouting at fellow passengers and using racist language during an EasyJet flight from Belfast to Manchester on Friday. Witness Shauna Corr, 44, said: 'The lady involved was a few rows in front of me - I felt very sorry for the couple sat behind her and children on the flight. 'Her language was atrocious and racist, she was making very derogatory comments about people including Muslims - at one stage she even struck out at Ukrainian people.' In the video, the woman is chastised by several passengers telling her to be quiet. At one point a steward reprimands her for her language and warns her that he will call the police if she continues. The woman continues swearing and shouting and is eventually escorted off the plane. A woman went on a foul mouthed racist tirade while on a flight from Belfast to Manchester The woman, in her 50s, was caught on video aboard Flight EZY714 shouting at fellow passengers and using racist language Police arrived at Manchester airport to remove the disruptive woman from the plane Ms Corr said: 'She was just kicking off but I think the stewards handled it really well - it was quite disgusting behaviour.' The woman's unruly behaviour began midway through the flight, and she even appeared to take some Tayto crisps from a flight attendant without paying. Ms Corr said: 'When I first heard it I thought it was a kid. But it escalated towards the end of the flight. 'I think the fact it was a middle-aged woman shocked people - it's not the type of behaviour you expect from anyone let alone a middle aged woman.' A spokesperson for EasyJet said: 'Flight EZY714 from Belfast City to Manchester on 17 January was met by police on arrival due to a passenger behaving disruptively onboard. 'EasyJet's cabin crew are trained to assess and evaluate all situations and acted quickly and appropriately to ensure that the safety of the flight and other passengers was not compromised at any time. 'Whilst such incidents are rare we take them very seriously and do not tolerate abusive or threatening behaviour onboard. 'The safety and wellbeing of our passengers and crew is always EasyJet's priority.' The woman's behaviour began midway through the flight, and she even appeared to steal some Tayto crisps from a flight attendant A spokesperson for Greater Manchester Police said: 'At around 8.50pm yesterday evening (Friday 17 January 2025), we were called to reports of a woman being drunk and disorderly onboard an aircraft flying from Belfast in Northern Ireland to Manchester Airport. 'Upon the plane returning to Manchester Airport, a woman in her 50s was arrested on suspicion of being drunk onboard an aircraft and was taken into custody where she remains for questioning.' A hospitality mogul who drove his sportscar into a 12-year-old boy on an electric bike, knocking him to the ground, has been handed a $645 fine and three demerit points. Gold Coast bar owner Howard Wright, 58, was given the punishment for driving his Audi A5 without due care in the collision at Paradise Point on January 6, which was captured on the child's GoPro camera. Queensland Police defended the decision not to charge him with a more serious offence because they had reviewed the footage in full and claimed the child had racially abused Mr Wright by calling him a n***** shortly before the collision. Police also added Mr Wright's address had been uploaded to the internet, and he had received a number of threats, which have since prompted a separate investigation. Social media users argued that the incident should have been treated more seriously than a traffic infringement. 'God help that man if he hits my kid like that.' one commenter said. 'That's bulls***,' another viewer wrote, under the news with a clip of the incident on one Instagram account. 'People saying he had right of way shouldn't have a license,' a third agreed. Bar owner Howard Wright was issued a traffic fine after colliding with a 12-year-old boy riding an electric bike Aussies were outraged by the punishment arguing the Gold Coast man should have received a harsher punishment On another platform, viewers said they were shocked by the small fine. 'Don't understand why he's not been charged with a serious offence,' one said. 'This man has somehow turned knock and run into gang activity in his head and used it for justification for his actions,' another said. 'Alright, so any time someone verbally insults me, I can run them down in my car and only get a fine. What a f*****g joke,' a third added. In footage of the incident, the 58-year-old's Audi A5 collided with the electric bike and sent the boy flying, with their conversation showing the man believed he had been harrassed by a group including the crash victim. 'What the f**k, I didn't do nothing, I didn't do nothing, I wasn't even there,' the boy can be heard screaming. Wright exits the Audi and approaches the boy, replying: 'I know you didn't do anything. This bike's illegal.' 'I know but why did you hit me?' the boy asks. 'You ran in front of my car, I'm sorry,' says Wright. A woman nearby is heard defending the boy, telling Mr Wright he's 'just a kid.' 'They are ringing my doorbell every day,' says Mr Wright, prompting the boy to insist, 'I didn't do it'. Mr Wright claimed the boy and other youth had been 'knock-and-running' at his Paradise Point property Mr Wright attended Runaway Bay Police Station shortly after the incident and was handed an infringement notice for driving without care and attention. Police at the time said Mr Wright's Audi was 'alleged to have been driven in a dangerous manner towards a 12-year-old boy from Paradise Point'. 'It is alleged the vehicle struck the boy, knocking him from his bike,' a spokesman said. Talking to the media on Monday, Acting Superintendent Jason Tuffley said there was more to the incident that the footage showed. 'Police have reviewed the footage from the child, or the boy, in its entirety, and this has corroborated with the adult driver's version of events that he was racially abused and harassed prior to the collision by the boy and his associates,' Act Supt Tuffley said, according to news.com.au. 'As a result of this information, and the demeanour of the driver afterwards, the fact that he reported it took place, and police reviewing the matter in its entirety, it was decided that a traffic infringement only will be issued to the driver, which carries a fine of $640 and three demerit points.' 'I can't answer that question of every single circumstance in relation to a vehicle striking a child. Of course, that wouldn't be an appropriate course of action.' Mr Wright is a co-director of the company behind The Lounge and Bridges Tapas Bar. Both are upmarket venues in Paradise Point on the Gold Coast. Britain could be struck by its first named storm of the year this Friday as forecasters warned a 'very powerful' weather system is developing over the Atlantic. Gusts of up to 80mph could hit western Scotland, with 60 to 70mph widely across the rest of Scotland, North West England, North West Wales and Northern Ireland - after a 'weather bomb' develops above the ocean on Thursday morning. The Met Office said the deep area of low pressure could bring 'potentially disruptive weather' as torrential rain and snow will also move across the UK in four days' time. A 36-hour yellow wind warning was issued this morning for western Scotland and all of Northern Ireland, running for the whole of Friday until 12pm on Saturday. The Met Office said the 'very strong' south-easterly to south-westerly winds could cause damage to buildings, public transport disruption, road or bridge closures and power cuts - while 'injuries and danger to life could occur from flying debris'. And it urged those in the warning area: 'Prepare to protect your property and people from injury. Check for loose items outside your home and plan how you could secure them. Items include; bins, garden furniture, trampolines, tents, sheds, and fences.' Meteorologists will be examining various forecast models over the coming days and will decide whether to name the storm as Eowyn, after 96mph Darragh on December 6, Conall on November 27, Bert on November 22 and Ashley on October 20. Forecasters said a strong temperature contrast from the clash of tropical and Arctic air will fuel a 'very powerful' Jet Stream with winds of up to 250mph. The Jet Stream will develop above the North Atlantic this week, with the Met Office expecting 'perhaps the strongest winds of the winter so far' by Friday. The Met Office said there is 'some uncertainty with the exact track of the low pressure system' Its forecast said: 'The change to much more unsettled conditions will begin on Friday as a deep area of low pressure, which is yet to develop, will be steered towards the UK on a powerful Jet Stream - fuelled by the recent cold spell over North America. 'A wet and windy few days are likely, with some snow in the north for a time, and then a continuation of these periods of rain followed by showers, often accompanied by strong winds, looks likely for the rest of the month and the start of February. Met Office UK storm names for 2024/2025 Ashley Bert Conall Darragh Eowyn Floris Gerben Hugo Izzy James Kayleigh Lewis Mavis Naoise Otje Poppy Rafi Sayuri Tilly Vivienne Wren Advertisement 'There is the potential for weather warnings or even a named storm at some point. Temperatures at least should recover in most places, ending up a little above average, though admittedly not feeling like it at times.' The storm is expected undergo explosive cyclogenesis a term more commonly known as a 'weather bomb' in the Atlantic on Thursday. This criteria is met when the central pressure of a low pressure system falls by more than 24 millibars in 24 hours. Marco Petagna, senior operational meteorologist at the Met Office, said the central pressure of this low in the Atlantic may deepen by 35 millibars in the first 12 hours of Thursday. He described this as 'pretty remarkable' in a tweet, given that the system would easily pass the weather bomb criteria in just half the time required. Before then, grey and gloomy weather is forecast to continue this week. The Met Office said today and tomorrow would be 'fairly benign', with many across the UK continuing to see cloud and spots of rain. Parts of England and Wales will see breaks in the cloud but temperatures are forecast to be 'a bit chilly' with an average of 8C or 9C. The coldest city temperature this morning was -3C in Aberdeen, while Manchester fell to 2C, London 3C, Glasgow 6C and Belfast 7C. And the UK Health Security Agency has a yellow cold weather health alert in place for all of England apart from the South West until 9am tomorrow. Tomorrow is expected to be slightly brighter before Wednesday sees the beginning of 'more unsettled' conditions. 2025 UK temperature extremes so far High: 15.7C (60.3F) on January 14 in Cassley, Highlands Low: -18.9C (-2F) on January 11 in Altnaharra, Highlands Advertisement Craig Snell, a meteorologist at the Met Office, said: 'The middle of the week will see a mix of cloud, brightness and spots of rain. 'Overall, conditions are expected to become gradually more unsettled. But Thursday is where we will start to see a more significant change across the country. 'We're expecting to see more rain accompanied by stronger winds. Temperatures will also be below par for what we usually see at this time of year.' Friday's forecast is expected to bring 'more notable' wind and rain. The strongest winds will be towards the North West of the UK but overall it will be much windier than it has been over the last few days. Mr Snell said: 'Temperatures are expected to remain mostly average, though parts of the north could see small spells of snow. We're just keeping an eye on things for now. 'But overall conditions are expected to gradually become more unsettled as the week goes on. The working week across the entirety of the UK will start like it's been for the last few days. But by the end things will be very different.' It comes after a chilly weekend that saw a UK low temperature of -6.9C at Aboyne in Aberdeenshire yesterday, while the high was 12.1C at St Mary's on the Isles of Scilly. A Met Office yellow wind warning will run for the whole of Friday until 12pm on Saturday The coldest day of the year so far was January 11 when Altnaharra in the Scottish Highlands plunged to -18.9C (-2F) - which was also the UK's coldest January overnight temperature since 2010. The warmest day of 2025 so far was last Tuesday, when Cassley in the Highlands reached 15.7C (60.3F). In addition, this was a new date record for the highest UK temperature on January 14 since records began. That also meant there was a 34.6C (62.3F) swing in temperatures in just three days in northern Scotland, between January 11 and 14. The average low in northern Scotland for this time of year is -0.3C (31.5F), while for England, overnight lows are normally about 1.5C (34.7F). Freed British hostage Emily Damari has broken her silence to say she is the 'happiest person in the world' since being freed from Hamas captivity in Gaza. 'Love, love, love. Thank God. Thank you to my family, to Orali, to the best friends I have in this world,' she said in a post on Instagram. 'I returned to my beloved life.' 'I only managed to see a glimpse of everything and you broke my heart with excitement. Thank you thank you the happiest person in the world just to be.' The 28-year-old was among three hostages released yesterday as part of a wider ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas after months of negotiation. At the end of her post she added a 'rock on' emoji, symbolising the two fingers she lost when she was shot by Hamas during their October 7 assault. Emily was shot in the hand and leg when she was snatched from her home in southern Israel during Hamas' incursion into southern Israel on October 7, 2023. Emily Damari with her mother in Shefayim, Israel after the hostage release on Sunday Palestinian Hamas members gather around a vehicle as they hand over Emily Damari British hostage Emily Damari, among the last hostages to be released from Gaza The British-Israeli was held for 471 days as one of 251 hostages taken into the Palestinian enclave. Some 94 taken on October 7 remained in Gaza before Sunday's ceasefire came into effect, as well as a further four believed to have been taken in 2014, per Israel. A statement from Mandy Damari, her mother, shared today thanked the 'many people' who she said have 'played a role in bringing Emily home' and given their support. 'Yesterday, I was finally able to give Emily the hug that I have been dreaming of,' she said. 'I am relieved to report that after her release, Emily is doing much better than any of us could ever have anticipated. I am also happy that during her release the world was given a glimpse of her feisty and charismatic personality. 'In Emily's own words, she is the happiest girl in the world; she has her life back. 'In this incredibly happy moment for our family, we must also remember that 94 other hostages still remain. The ceasefire must continue and every last hostage must be returned to their families. 'As wonderful as it is to see Emily's resilience, these are still early days. As you will have seen yesterday, Emily lost two of the fingers on her left hand. 'She now needs time with her loved ones and her doctors as she begins her road to recovery.' Some 33 hostages are set to be released under the terms of the first phase of the three-part ceasefire agreement. But just three hostages were released on the first day of the ceasefire, with four more to be returned on the seventh. Three hostages will then be released each week for a period of four weeks. Finally, 14 hostages will be returned on the sixth week of phase one. Emily Damari pictured with her mother in Israel after her release on Sunday Emily Damari ahead of her release, pictured with a document bearing the logo of the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas's armed wing, certifying the ceasefire and hostage-prisoner exchange deal The first three Israeli hostages were released on January 19 under a long-awaited Gaza truce aimed at ending more than 15 months of war Emily Damari (C) reaches to shake hands with friends while being transported with two other hostages upon arriving at Sheba Tel HaShomer Medical Centre in Ramat Gan on January 19 Family members welcoming Israeli hostage Doron Steinbracher at the Sheba medical centre in Ramat Gan near Tel Aviv, on January 19 People walk past the rubble of collapsed buildings along Saftawi street in Jabalia as displaced Palestinians returned to their homes after 15 months of war Palestinian trucks transport aid from the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip, Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, January 19 Hamas explained over the weekend that the mechanism for releasing Israeli captives will 'depend on the number of Palestinian detainees Israel agrees to release'. Emily was in her home in Kibbutz Kfar Azza, two miles from the border with Gaza, when Hamas and affiliated groups stormed into Israel, her family said. Gunmen entered the house and shot her dog dead. Emily was shot and left with 'severe injuries' before being blindfolded and kidnapped in the back of her own car. She was then driven into Gaza and kept in captivity for more than a year. Emily is the youngest of four siblings. The 15-month conflict began when groups led by Hamas, the de facto governing authority in Gaza, entered Israel, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 hostage, according to Israeli figures. Israel responded with a prolonged offensive in Gaza that has seen 46,913 people, most of them civilians, killed in Gaza according to Palestinian health officials. The ceasefire deal will see Israeli forces withdraw from Gaza's densely-populated areas and allow displaced Palestinians to return home. The war has displaced around nine tenths of Gaza's 2.4mn pre-war population, according to UN estimates. More than 630 trucks with humanitarian aid were able to enter Gaza, with at least 300 headed for the devastated northern regions, the UN's aid chief reported. In a statement shared on X, Tom Fletcher warned that there was still 'no time to lose' in getting aid to where it is most needed. 'We recognize the logistical challenges facing those delivering this aid, including mountains of rubble and unexploded remnants of war,' he said. Thousands of Palestinians carrying tents, clothes and their personal belongings were seen going home on Sunday. In Deir el-Balah, in central Gaza, Umm Hasan al-Buzom, 70, said she would even 'crawl my way back home' if needed. Palestinian Hamas militants hand over Emily Damari and Doron Steinbrecher on Sunday A donkey-drawn cart and a tricycle cart move past people walking past the rubble of collapsed buildings along Saftawi street in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip on January 20, 2025 People walk past the rubble of collapsed buildings along Saftawi street in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip on January 20, 2025 a day after a ceasefire deal was brought into effect Freed Palestinian prisoner Nidaa Zaghebi embraces her daughter, Cilla, after her release from an Israeli jail, in Jenin in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, January 20, 2025 Nidaa Zaghebi embraces her mother-in-law and son after her release from an Israeli jail The head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees said that after 470 of conflict, the people in Gaza can now hear the sound of children playing rather than air strikes. Philippe Lazzarini wrote on X: 'Our UNRWA teams reported a good first day of the ceasefire; aid and some commercial supplies started flowing in smoothly. 'Three hostages were at long last safely released, while Palestinian prisoners have now reunited with their family. Thank you, ICRC.' 'We will spare no effort to alleviate the immense suffering and scale up the humanitarian delivery,' he added. The justice ministry said 737 prisoners and detainees would be freed as part of the first phase of the three part deal, hoped to pave the way for more enduring peace terms. Egypt announced on Saturday that Israel would release a total of more than 1,890 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for the 33 hostages. A second phase of the ceasefire deal still has yet to be finalised. The Israel Prison Service confirmed the release of 90 prisoners early Monday. Palestinian prisoner Baraah Fuqaha (R), is welcomed by relatives upon the arrival of some 90 prisoners set free by Israel in the early hours of January 20 People are seen on top a bus carrying released Palestinian prisoners from the Ofer Israeli military prison as it arrives in Ramallah, early 20 January 2025 Rose Khwais, a freed Palestinian prisoner, is kissed by her father after her release from an Israeli jail In the town of Beitunia, near Ofer prison, Palestinians cheered and chanted as buses carrying them arrived, with some climbing atop and unfurling a Hamas flag. 'All the prisoners being released today feel like family to us. They are part of us, even if they're not blood relatives,' Amanda Abu Sharkh, 23, told AFP. 'More families are waiting anxiously for their loved ones to come home,' said International Committee of the Red Cross president Mirjana Spoljaric, calling on all sides to 'adhere to their commitments to ensure the next operations can take place safely'. Hamas's armed wing, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, said its adherence to the truce would be 'contingent on the enemy's commitment'. The war's only previous truce, for one week in November 2023, also saw the release of hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners. Bitcoin rose to over $109,000 early Monday - a new all-time high in early European trading - hours before self-proclaimed 'crypto President' Donald Trump was set to take office for a second term. Bitcoin has surged in price since Trump's victory, topping $100,000 for the first time last month before briefly sliding down to about $90,000. On Friday, it rose about 5 per cent, before jumping more than $9,000 early Monday, according to CoinDesk. Two years ago, bitcoin was trading at about $20,000. The crypto market overall was up by more than half a trillion dollars over the last week, reaching a new record high of $3.74 trillion on Monday. The incoming President and his wife Melania have both launched their own cryptocurrencies amid the market-wide surge. Trump announced his currency on Friday while his wife shared news of hers last night. 'The Official Melania Meme is live! You can buy $MELANIA now,' the incoming First Lady posted to X as the website for her crypto asset opened. Both coins have seen dramatic rises but also a volatile trade. Just hours after Melania's digital currency went live, her husband's crashed more than 40 per cent, Forbes reports, diving as traders rushed to buy the new coin instead. The price of Bitcoin rose to over $109,000 early Monday - a new all-time high in early European trading (seen later in the morning) $MELANIA was trading at around $12.03, with a market cap of $1.9 billion, at 08.20 GMT on Monday, according to CoinMarketCap. Meanwhile Trump's meme coin surged to $58.56, giving it a market capitalisaton of about $11.7 billion, according to the website. This saw it ranked as the 18th biggest cryptocurrency, and its 24-hour trading volume reached $52.5 billion. The Trump coin image shows the incoming President with his fist raised and the slogan 'FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT' - invoking his famous reaction when an assassination attempt was made on him back in July. The picture attached to Melania's currency shows the incoming First Lady beaming with her hands together in front of her face in a black and white portrait. Previously a skeptic who said a few years ago that bitcoin 'seems like a scam,' Trump has since embraced digital currencies and promised to be a 'crypto president' when he enters the White House. He vowed on the campaign trail to take steps early in his presidency to make the US into the 'crypto capital' of the world. His promises include creating a US crypto stockpile, enacting industry-friendly regulation and appointing a crypto 'czar' for his administration, with a series of executive orders expected to be issued to reduce regulatory roadblocks. 'You're going to be very happy with me,' Trump told crypto-enthusiasts at a bitcoin conference last summer. Bitcoin is the world's most popular cryptocurrency and was created in 2009 as a kind of electronic cash uncontrolled by banks or governments. It and newer forms of cryptocurrencies have moved from the financial fringes to the mainstream in wild fits and starts. Dogecoin, which has been promoted by Trump ally Elon Musk as he is set to take on a presidential advisory role in the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), is among a number of currencies which have risen sharply this year. Trump speaks at the Bitcoin 2024 Conference in Nashville during his presidential campaign back in July The highly volatile nature of cryptocurrencies as well as their use by criminals, scammers and rogue nations, has attracted plenty of critics, who say the digital currencies have limited utility and often are just Ponzi schemes. But crypto has so far defied naysayers and survived multiple prolonged price drops in its short lifespan. Wealthy players in the crypto industry, which felt unfairly targeted by the Biden administration, spent heavily to help Trump win last November's election. Trump's picks for key cabinet and regulatory positions are stocked with crypto supporters, including his choice to lead the Treasury and Commerce departments and the head of the Securities and Exchange Commission. Key industry players held a first ever 'Crypto Ball' on Friday to celebrate the first 'crypto president.' The event was sold out, with tickets costing several thousand dollars. Trump's expanding his cryptocurrency interests that already include World Liberty Financial. Dogecoin, which has been promoted by Trump ally Elon Musk, is among a number of currencies which have risen sharply this year Of the total number of $TRUMP tokens, 80 per cent are owned by CIC Digital LLC, which is an affiliate of Trump's business The Trump Organization, and another business called Fight Fight Fight LLC, the website says. Disclaimers on the websites for Donald and Melania Trumps' coins say they are 'not intended to be, or the subject of' an investment opportunity or a security. Additionally, the official sites for them are described as being 'not political' and having 'nothing to do with any political campaign or any political office or governmental agency.' Crypto experts expressed surprise and concern over the launch of the Trumps' meme coins. The price of Bitcoin rose to over $109,000 early Monday - a new all-time high in early European trading 'While it's tempting to dismiss this as just another Trump spectacle, the launch of the official Trump token opens up a Pandora's box of ethical and regulatory questions,' said Justin D'Anethan, an independent crypto analyst based in Hong Kong. While the coin represented a blending of the world of decentralised finance (DeFi) into the political arena, it also 'blurs the lines between governance, profit, and influence,' D'Anethan said. Nigel Green, CEO of wealth management advisory firm deVere Group told the Independent that the Trumps' venture is part of 'a revival of the meme coin trend we saw in 2021 and 2022, where many young, inexperienced investors got burned by extreme volatility.' 'Without doubt, investors will get burned by this frenzy too,' he said. Nigel Farage has claimed it is possible for him to become UK prime minister while Donald Trump is in the White House. The Reform UK leader and MP for Clacton has jetted out on his latest visit to Washington DC to watch the hard right Republican take power in the United States for the second time. And in an eve-of-inauguration interview he talked up his own chances of taking over here, putting his chances at 25 per cent, or one-in-four. Reform is neck-and-neck with Labour and the Conservatives in the polls, though at the party's current level of support it would still only return around 100 MPs, far from what it needs to take power. There is also the fact that there is not due to be a UK general election until 2029 - after the end of Trump's term - and he is legally barred from serving again. But Mr Farage told 5 News there could be an early UK election if there was an 'economic meltdown', insisting it was 'not impossible'. He added: 'Somehow Rachel Reeves and Keir Starmer have just killed any economic optimism of any kind at all. So, you could see a situation. 'We saw it with distrust, actually. We saw what a run on the markets can do to governments. We saw it back at Suez. Actually, in the end, it was the markets that really brought Eden down more than anything else. 'So, yeah, it's possible. I wouldn't put it at more than 20 per cent, 25 per cent, but it's possible.' The Reform UK leader and MP for Clacton has jetted out on his latest visit to Washington DC to watch the hard right Republican take power in the United States for the second time. He posed for pictures with MMA fighter Conor McGregor, who who recently lost a civil case in Ireland where he was accused of raping a woman in Dublin six years ago Mr Farage told 5 News there could be an early UK election if there was an 'economic meltdown', insisting it was 'not impossible'. UK politicians including Mr Farage are in the American capital ahead of the ceremonies, but questions remain over what impact the second Trump presidency will have on economies across the world if he follows through on threats to implement tariffs. Priti Patel dismissed the Reform leader as a 'pop-up act' today as they both prepare to attend the inauguration. The shadow foreign secretary said the apparent closeness of the Reform leader to the incoming president was 'irrelevant'. She insisted the Tories shared 'DNA on values and beliefs' with the Republicans and the parties 'ended the Cold War' together. The brutal-put down came on the eve of the ceremony marking the White House changeover in Washington - which will also be joined by ex-PMs Boris Johnson and Liz Truss. Keir Starmer will not be present, with the government pointing out that is in keeping with long-standing convention. Your browser does not support iframes. UK politicians including Mr Farage are in the American capital ahead of the ceremonies, but questions remain over what impact the second Trump presidency will have on economies across the world if he follows through on threats to implement tariffs. Keir Starmer will not be present, with the government pointing out that is in keeping with long-standing convention. In a statement on Sunday evening, the Prime Minister sent his congratulations to Mr Trump. 'For centuries, the relationship between our two nations has been one of collaboration, cooperation and enduring partnership. It is a uniquely close bond,' Sir Keir said. 'Together, we have defended the world from tyranny and worked towards our mutual security and prosperity.' The Prime Minister and the president-elect met in New York in September at Trump Tower, ahead of the US election, and at the time Sir Keir said he is a 'great believer in personal relations on the international stage'. In a video posted on X on Saturday, Dame Priti said she was there to represent the Conservative Party, with whom the Republicans have a 'decades-long relationship'. She added: 'Post-inauguration, our parties will continue to work together on those shared values to secure prosperity and freedom across the globe.' With Christmas and New Year celebrations behind us, the cold, dark days of January can really get us down. As the third Monday in January, today has long been known as Blue Monday, and has been dubbed by some as the 'most depressing day of the year.' But this morning experts have told how Blue Monday is actually a myth - and revealed their top tips to beat the January blues. Coined by psychologist, Dr. Cliff Arnall, in 2004, the concept was first introduced in 2005 as part of marketing campaign for a travel company. Though the formula has been disputed over the years, Blue Monday takes into account a number of factors, including: post-Christmas blues, bad weather, debt and low motivation levels. But where does the term come from, is it accurate and what can you do to combat the blues? MailOnline has all your questions answered. GBBO finalist Laura Adlington, who is also a Samaritans volunteer, says the charity is available to anyone struggling and is not just for people who are suicidal The term Blue Monday was coined by psychologist Dr Cliff Arnall (pictured), who worked out a formula to show how the third Monday in January is especially bad What is Blue Monday and is it the most depressing day of the year? The term Blue Monday was coined by psychologist Dr Cliff Arnall, who worked out a formula to show how the third Monday in January is especially bad. It takes into account factors including the average time for New Year's resolutions to fail, the bad weather, debt, the time since Christmas and motivational levels. But recent studies have cast doubt on the research, finding employees are actually not less likely to be off sick or have reduced productivity when compared to other days in January. Compared to last week, figures from BrightHR show there will be an increase of employees calling in sick of around 7.6 percent - a 1.4 percent increase on Blue Monday last year. Alan Price, CEO at BrightHR, said: 'According to data from BrightHR's absence management software, the infamous 'January blues' may be all too real, with workers calling in sick and dragging themselves in late to the office at staggering rates. While last year's Blue Monday didn't clinch the title for the year's worst attendance, it did break records for lateness with many cases linked to mental health struggles. 'In 2024 January topped the charts as the 'sickest month' of the year, with a shocking 22% increase in sickness absences compared to other months. 'Mondays, in particular, were brutal: the worst offender was 22nd January, crowned the 'sickest day' of 2024. Mondays also saw mental health-related lateness's, sickness absences, and annual leave bookings soar by 900%, 27%, and 19% respectively compared to the average Monday. 'Whether it's stress, burnout, or post-holiday blues, employees are clearly struggling to kick off the week. 'Strangely enough, despite Blue Monday's gloomy reputation, it ranked only 10th for sick days in 2024 but stood out for its record-low annual leave bookings, perhaps proving that workers would rather hoard their holiday and call in sick than endure a grim mid-January workday. 'While at first glance, businesses may think that falling absence rates on Blue Monday is positive, it may not be. Presenteeism is a real issue. Are people simply coming to work while struggling due to undue pressure from their employers? 'It's important to provide effective support for employees. Not only does this demonstrate appreciation for your people and a commitment to promoting positive wellbeing, it's also essential for maintaining engagement, productivity, and ultimately, business success.' But research from 2019 showed that while Mondays in January are bad for sickness, the most likely day for employees to be off sick was the last Monday in November, and the month of November had the highest rate of unplanned leave of any month. A separate study last month also showed Blue Monday is by no means an isolated event, finding that less than one in five employees feel like going to work each day. HR specialists told MailOnline Blue Monday was coined in order to sell travel holidays and it is 'not something we need to buy into'. Instead, they recommend taking action throughout January to improve mood and for employers to focus on initiating better support systems in the workplace for the whole year. What can I do to feel better? Personal trainer to the stars Scott Harrison recommends taking even just six minutes a day to do exercise Regardless of whether Blue Monday is the most depressing day of the year, experts are placing emphasis on using today to check in with friends and colleagues and try and reset our mindset. Dr Arnall, formerly a tutor at Cardiff University, said in 2019 that people should embrace the opportunity to turn over a new leaf. 'Whether it's embarking on a new career, meeting new friends, taking up a new hobby or booking a new adventure, January is a great time to make those big decisions,' he added. To combat feeling low in January, health experts recommend a mix of exercise, fruit and veg and vitamin D to help raise mood and staff off January Blues. Giving up or reducing alcohol is also recommended for increasing energy levels and improving sleep. There are top tips available for companies too - Leona Burton, Founder of Mums in Business Internation said Blue Monday can serve as a 'reminder of the importance of mindset, not just in the workplace but across all areas of life.' She continued: 'Mindset is a powerful tool and what we focus on expands. By setting clear goals, practicing gratitude, and breaking tasks into manageable steps, workers can regain control and positivity. 'January isn't here to trap us or make us fail and recognising this can set you apart from those who fall into that trap. 'For leaders, this is a perfect opportunity to set the tone for the year and encourage a shift from 'just surviving' to thriving. By offering wellness resources, initiating mental health check-ins, and creating opportunities for reflection and growth, leaders can help their teams start the year strong and resilient. 'When we create an environment that fosters purpose and positivity, Blue Monday becomes just another day to move forward with confidence.' And personal trainer to the stars Scott Harrison recommends taking even just six minutes a day to do exercise in order to beat the blues. 'If life still seems like too much, my advice I give to the community of The Six Pack Revolution and all of my followers is simply that small amounts of activity can vastly improve our mental wellbeing,' he said. 'A step forward is a step forward and we all know that exercise helps release those happy endorphins, reduces anxiety, and boosts confidence. There is no better anti-depressant than eating well and exercising so do not negotiate with yourself and just get out and do something productive, no one every regrets doing a workout. 'Remember it's only winter time and even if you just go out for a six minute walk, one minute fast and one minute slow instead of sitting at home, you will be adding to your pension pot of life.' What help is available? Samaritans chief executive Julie Bentley said: 'At Samaritans, we know how powerful talking and listening can be' Today is thought to be the most depressing of the year with people's moods affected by their Christmas finances, the bad weather and the long wait for summer (file photo) The charity Samaritans is not just on hand for people who are contemplating taking their own life. It is also there for those who are having a tough time, according to Great British Bake Off finalist and Samaritans volunteer Laura Adlington. She said in 2020: 'If you think someone is struggling, ask them if they're OK. You're not going to make them feel worse. 'You don't need to have all the answers. A phone call is such a small thing, but it can mean the world to someone.' Samaritans chief executive Julie Bentley said: 'At Samaritans, we know how powerful talking and listening can be, even if it is virtually. 'It doesn't have to be a Monday or a cup of tea, it's about taking the time to listen and support one another. It could save a life.' To contact the Samaritans for free and confidential help and support, phone 116 123 from a UK phone or visit samaritans.org What is the science behind the January blues? One in 15 Britons become depressed in winter and suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder. It is believed that the problem is related to the way that the body responds to light. The main theory suggests that a lack of sunlight may stop a part of the brain called the hypothalamus from working properly. This could impact the production of the hormone melatonin, which makes you feel sleepy. People with SAD produce it in higher levels than normal. The production of serotonin could also be affected, further impacting mood, appetite and sleep. Low serotonin levels are also linked to feelings of depression. In the shadows of the death camp of Auschwitz, where more than one million people were murdered, haunting melodies once echoed across its barracks. Composed and performed by those who had been enslaved, the music was a desperate act of survival amidst unspeakable horrors. Yet, for nearly 80 years, the compositions lay forgotten, buried under the weight of history. That is until British composer Leo Geyer stumbled upon them in an encounter that would ignite a decade-long quest to restore the lost music of Auschwitz. Touring the Auschwitz-Birkenau memorial museum in 2015, he met an archivist who revealed a hidden treasure - a collection of musical scores written and performed by the camp's inmates. Employing what he called 'musical detective work' on the lost compositions, he spent eight years painstakingly piecing together each fragment, restoring the music as closely as possible to its original form. The results, a 90-minute documentary titled The Lost Music of Auschwitz, will air tonight on Sky Arts, ahead of the 80th anniversary of Auschwitz's liberation on January 27. Mr Geyer said: 'I knew there were orchestras at the camp, which is something I'm personally interested in. The first Auschwitz orchestra was formed in January 1941 on the order of the SS, with seven musicians playing on instruments seized from nearby towns. Above: An orchestra made up of inmates performs at Auschwitz One of the musical scores that Mr Geyer has brought back to life after 80 years 'But when he mentioned the manuscripts, I nearly fell over. I couldn't believe something like this had gone unnoticed for almost 80 years.' Established in 1940 as a holding camp for political prisoners in occupied Poland, Auschwitz (the German name for the town of Oswiecim) evolved into the largest and most notorious of the Nazi concentration camps. By the time it was liberated on January 27, 1945, more than one million people, mainly Jews, had been killed. They died in the camp's gas chambers, in mass executions, as a result of torture and horrifying medical experiments, through exhaustion from forced labour, by starvation and disease, and through random acts of violence committed by guards. The first Auschwitz orchestra was formed in January 1941 on the order of the SS, with seven musicians playing on instruments seized from nearby towns. Initially it performed in the basement of Block 24, a small room beneath the camp's brothel, which came to be known as the concert hall. And on Sundays, the orchestra was made to perform in front of the camp's commanders. But the orchestra was soon forced to play for prisoners returning from hours of forced labour and for new arrivals being herded to their deaths in the camp's gas chambers. Orchestra conductor Alma Maria Rose, and Mieczysaw Krzynski, the deputy conductor of the Auschwitz I orchestra An orchestra are seen in Sky Arts documentary The Lost Music of Auschwitz playing music that was first composed by an inmate at the death camp Dr. Piotr Cywinski, the director of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum, said: 'The camp orchestra aroused controversy among the inmates. 'Although it saved many outstanding musicians from hard labour and provided emotional experiences during rehearsals and Sunday concerts it was a constant reminder of humiliation and terror when the completely exhausted prisoners had to enter the camp to the rhythm of military marches or other lively melodies.' Holocaust survivor Herman Sachnowitz who was a trumpet player in one of the camp's six orchestras recalled: 'Every morning we played as the inmate work crews departed, the same in the evening, when they returned to the camp. 'We also played on other occasions, especially during executions, which usually occurred on Sunday afternoons or evenings. 'Perhaps they intended to drown out the last protests and final curses with music. A grotesque spectacle that had been ordered at the highest level.' As Mr Geyer delved into the archives, he uncovered a staggering 210 fragments of incomplete and charred musical scores, written in faint pencil on scraps of scorched paper. Together they formed a puzzle that Mr Geyer felt compelled to solve. One piece in particular caught his attention after he noticed the similarities of the composer's handwriting to his own. Of the six Auschwitz orchestras, one of the most sinister was the 'Madchenorchester von Auschwitz' - the 'Girls' Orchestra of Auschwitz.' It was formed in April 1943 by SS-Oberaufseherin Maria Mandel (above), who was nicknamed 'The beast of Auschwitz' Inmates perform in an orchestra at Auschwitz. They were forced to play as new arrivals were herded to their deaths in the gas chambers Eventually managing to credit the composition to Mieczysaw Krzynski, the deputy conductor of the Auschwitz I orchestra, Mr Geyer said: 'The main narrative that the documentary showcases is my journey to restore and bring back to life the unsigned and unfinished sketch called Daremne Zale (Futile Regrets). 'Over the course of the documentary, I show how by matching the handwriting of the sketch I was able to identify who the author was. 'The film concludes with the composition finally complete and performed in an orchestral context. 'It's a very powerful and moving piece, racked with grief and sorrow and which was clearly written to express the world which surrounded him.' Another Auschwitz musician who caught his attention was Roma violinist Jakub Segar. Mr Geyer said: 'Like all incoming prisoners, he was stripped of his clothes and belongings. 'However, he could not bear to be parted with his violin, so, stark naked, he performed for his life. 'He was spared from immediate death in the gas chamber and admitted to the orchestra. British composer Leo Geyer (above) stumbled upon compositions that had lain forgotten for 80 years Survivor Helena Dunicz Niwinska, who was a violinist in one of the orchestras at Auschwitz 'He could not read music, but he only needed to hear the melody once and he'd play it back perfectly. 'Testimonies describe him as the best violinist in the orchestra.' He added: 'It's quite disturbing to hear this music. 'In homage to Jakub, I wrote a solo violin composition drawing on Romani musical traditions, pouring my own emotion into this piece.' In the documentary, the piece is performed by Romani musician Antal Zalai on a restored violin rescued from the camp. Of the six Auschwitz orchestras, one of the most sinister was the 'Madchenorchester von Auschwitz' - the 'Girls' Orchestra of Auschwitz.' Formed in April 1943 by SS-Oberaufseherin Maria Mandel nicknamed 'The beast of Auschwitz', the ensemble mainly consisted of young Jewish and Slavic prisoners. Forced to rehearse for up to 10 hours a day to play music regarded as helpful in the daily running of the camp, they also held a concert every Sunday for the SS. Musician Antal Zalai performing a piece dedicated to Romani violinist Jakub Segar, who was spared from immediate death after performing naked One of the 'lost' compositions. Mr Geyer uncovered a staggering 210 fragments of incomplete and charred musical scores, written in faint pencil on scraps of scorched paper In her memoirs, former inmate Helena Dunicz Niwinska wrote: 'One thing is certain, if not for the violin, I would not have survived. 'I look on my fate and painful experiences as a part of everything that was a share of the average Pole. 'Each incoming transport deepened the gloom. We sympathised with them with all our hearts, we were especially aware of the tragic fate of the Jews.' One of the first conductors of the women's orchestra was Alma Maria Rose, an Austrian-Jewish violinist who was the niece of acclaimed composer Gustav Mahler. After being appointed by Mandel, who had a passion for classical music, Rose had the band rehearse and play forbidden music by Polish and Jewish composers. Historian David Crowe later wrote that Mandel 'blended a passion for classical music with extreme cruelty towards her female prisoners.' Believed to have been directly complicit in the deaths of more than 500,000 prisoners, Mandel was executed for war crimes on 24 January 1948. Mr Geyer said: 'The purpose of my restoration work is to allow this music to be heard exactly as it would have sounded in Auschwitz. 'Through this music, I hope to bring everyone together to remember not only those whose lives were saved due to their musical talents but also all those who suffered and perished during the Holocaust.' The Lost Music of Auschwitz airs tonight at 9pm on Sky Arts. President Joe Biden plans to leave a letter in the Oval Office for Donald Trump, just as Trump did for him four years ago. Biden, before departing the White House for the final time today, will leave Trump a letter on the the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office, sources told CNN. Trump, who refused to attend Biden's inauguration in 2021, followed the presidential rite of passage by writing a letter to Biden. The contents of Trump's letter were never publicly revealed, but Biden who deemed the note private, did say it was a 'very generous letter'. Trump had reportedly been fascinated with the letter than Barack Obama left him when he first took office in 2017. Obama, who had campaigned vigorously against Trump in 2016, congratulated him on a 'remarkable run' and offered some reflections from his eight years on the job. Trump was understood to be so touched by the gesture that he immediately called Obama after reading it. However, Obama was on a flight to California and the pair were unable to connect. The presidential letter is a relatively modern tradition, dating back to President Ronald Reagan who after serving two terms as president left a note to congratulate his Vice President and successor George H. W. Bush on becoming Commander-in-Chief. Joe Biden, following a tradition dating back to Ronald Reagan, will leave a letter in the Oval Office for Donald Trump - just as the incoming President did for him four years ago The contents of Trump's letter were never publicly revealed, but Biden who deemed the note private, did say it was a 'very generous letter'. The pair are pictured walking down the Colonnade of the White House on November 13, 2024 Biden will welcome Trump back to the White House at a tea reception this morning before escorting him to the Capitol for the inauguration. Before leaving the presidential residence, the Democrat will leave a note for Trump, his successor and the predecessor who left a note for him. Little is known about the contents of the 'generous' note Trump - who refused to accept his 2020 election defeat - left for Biden four years ago. Biden showed the note to some members of his staff after his inauguration in 2021 but didn't let anyone read it. Others described Trump's note as long and handwritten, and Biden is said to have been surprised by how gracious he thought the letter was given the animosity between the political rivals. Asked about the note later that day, Biden said it was private and said he wouldn't discuss it until he had a chance to speak with Trump. Trump said he thought it was up to Biden to share the letter. 'It was a nice note,' he said during a September 2023 interview with NBC's Meet the Press, adding, 'I took a lot of time in thinking about it.' Biden will now be the first president to be writing a presidential letter the the same person whom he received one from. When Trump takes office today, he'll be the first president to serve nonconsecutive terms since Grover Cleveland in the late 1800s - when the letter-writing tradition didn't exist. Biden spent his final full day as president Sunday in South Carolina, urging Americans to 'keep the faith in a better day to come' and reflecting on the influence of both the civil rights movement and the state itself in his political trajectory. On the eve of trump's inauguration, Biden delivered a final farewell from South Carolina - state that holds special meaning after his commanding win in its 2020 Democratic primary set him up to achieve his life's goal of being elected president. Biden struck a more hopeful tone for the future of the country than he did during his televised farewell address last Wednesday, when he warned about an 'oligarchy' of the ultrawealthy taking root and a 'tech-industrial complex' impeding the future of democracy. 'We know the struggle to redeeming the soul of this nation is difficult and ongoing,' Biden said Sunday. 'We must hold on to hope. We must stay engaged. We must always keep the faith in a better day to come.' He added: 'I'm not going anywhere' - and the crowd applauded. The letter-writing tradition began when Ronald Reagan (L) left a letter in the Oval Office desk drawer for George H.W. Bush, (R) his successor and vice president of eight years. The pair are pictured during an Oval Office during trade meeting in 1988 The tradition began when Reagan left a letter in the Oval Office desk drawer for George H.W. Bush, his successor and vice president of eight years. Reagan was inspired to write to Bush, who had become a friend during their eight-year partnership. He chose a sheet of whimsical stationery illustrated by the cartoonist Sandra Boynton with an elephant - also the Republican Party mascot - surrounded by turkeys and the phrase, 'Dont let the turkeys get you down.' 'Dear George,' the 40th president wrote in January 1989, opening the two-paragraph note. 'Youll have moments when you want to use this particular stationery. Well, go to it.' Reagan wrote that he treasured the memories they shared and 'wish you all the very best.' He closed with, 'Ill miss our Thursday lunches,' and signed it, 'Ron.' The tradition was then elevated when the elder Bush turned over the presidency after one term, denied a second by Bill Clinton in the 1992 election. Bush used his note to wish Clinton 'great happiness here' in the White House. He warned of tough times that will be made more difficult by criticism Clinton will think unfair, and he advised the man who defeated him to 'just don't let the critics discourage you or push you off course.' 'Your success now is our countrys success. I am rooting hard for you,' Bush wrote. 'Its just a very bipartisan, genuine reflection of, I think, really, George H.W. Bushs character,' Matthew Costello, chief education officer at the White House Historical Association, said during an online program about inaugural traditions. At the end of his two terms, Clinton told the younger Bush that the incoming president was embarking on the 'greatest adventure, with the greatest honor, that can come to an American citizen' and wished him 'success and much happiness.' 'The burdens you now shoulder are great but often exaggerated. The sheer joy of doing what you believe is right is inexpressible,' Clinton wrote. Trump had reportedly been fascinated with the letter than Barack Obama left him when he first took office in 2017. Obama congratulated him on a 'remarkable run' and offered some reflections from his eight years on the job. Obama (R) and Michelle Obama(L) are pictured welcoming Trump(2nd-R) and his wife Melania to the White House in 2017 Eight years later, Bush congratulated Obama on opening a 'fantastic chapter in your life' but warned of the trying moments ahead with critics who 'rage' and 'friends' who will disappoint. 'But, you will have an Almighty God to comfort you, a family who loves you, and a country that is pulling for you, including me,' George W. Bush wrote. Obama also left a congratulatory note for Trump. He told him they were both blessed with good fortune, that American leadership 'really is indispensable' in the world, that they are the 'guardians' of democratic institutions and traditions, and that family and friends will see him through the 'inevitable rough patches.' 'Millions have placed their hopes in you, and all of us, regardless of party, should hope for expanded prosperity and security during your tenure,' Obama wrote. Some earlier outgoing presidents wrote letters to their successors, though not on Inauguration Day and not always with congratulations in mind.. Earlier notes often were penned with invitations to visit or dine at the White House or to relay information, which is what President John Adams did in a February 1801 letter to inform incoming President Thomas Jefferson about transportation. Asylum seekers will have to do three hours of community service each day or face having their benefits cut under new plans set out by a struggling city in Germany. Essen is looking to compel both asylum seekers and recipients of welfare to work for the city in an effort to stoke an economy blighted by unemployment and stagnation. The current coalition government introduced welfare payments worth up to 563 (476) per person per month, now received by some 5.5 million people nationwide. But with the leading Christian Democratic Union (CDU) planning to scrap the measure if it wins the federal election next month, a CDU official in charge of social affairs, work and health in Essen hopes to trial the reversal in his municipality. The plan would see all recipients of the payment under 65 subjected to health checks to determine whether they are fit for work. Those who are will then be referred to the job centre and connected with employees. While looking for work, they will be expected to carry out community service for at least three hours each working day - or face having their benefits cut. The measures are expected to extend to asylum seekers and unemployed refugees, The Times reports. People queue for lunch at the initial reception facility for migrants and refugees on October 05, 2023 in Eisenhuettenstadt, Germany Kurdish Syrian asylum-applicant Mohamed Ali Hussein (R), 19, and fellow applicant Autur, from Latvia, load benches onto a truckbed while performing community service, for which they receive a small allowance, in Wilhelmsaue village on October 9, 2015 near Letschin, Germany The second largest city in the historical industrial powerhouse of the Ruhr, unemployment stands at around 12.4 per cent, and as high as 18 per cent in the north of the city - much higher than the national average of 5.5 per cent (file) Refugees are fleeing persecution and human rights violations abroad; asylum seekers are also fleeing risk, but have not yet been legally recognised as a refugee. Asylum seekers have already had their benefits cut this year. Single people not living in shared accommodation saw their payments for living expenses fall to 441 per month from 460 on January 1. Couples who live in a shared flat or asylum seekers in collective accommodation saw a fall from 413 to 397. The benefit covers food, clothing, accommodation and health services in the event of acute need. Essen is over-represented in welfare payments, with one of the highest unemployment rates in Germany. The second largest city in the historical industrial powerhouse of the Ruhr, unemployment stands at around 12.4 per cent, and as high as 18 per cent in the north of the city - much higher than the national average of 5.5 per cent. With a rapidly falling population, officials have tried to stimulate the economy with a push in culture and urban reform. But the city, once a hub for Germany's strong coal and steel industries, has been ravaged by a wider trend of deindustrialisation across the country. Preliminary figures released last week showed that Germany's economy had shrunk for the second year in a row in 2024, battered by external shocks and homegrown problem, including red tape and a shortage of skilled labour. The issues have been at the heart of campaigns going into the crucial snap election brought forward to February 23. The CDU hopes that reforms to the welfare system will save the state as much as 10 billion (8.46bn) per year. They have argued that the current policy allows people to subsist without looking for work. As it stands, Germans out of work can receive a monthly basic payment of 563 a month, or 1,012 for a couple. The payments cost the taxpayer 30 billion a year before housing benefits are added. Friedrich Merz speaks during a press conference at the CSU closed-door meeting at the Seeon Monastery in Seeon-Seebruck, January 8 Volkswagen employees in Germany rally to warn of a strike as the company threatened site closures and demanded 10 per cent wage cuts, December 9, 2024 German Chancellor Olaf Scholz takes his seat for the weekly cabinet meeting at the Chancellery in Berlin on January 15 Underscoring Germany's economic woes, workers at Volkswagen factories across the country began strikes last month after the manufacturer aired calls for lower wages and threatened to close factories. It is the first time the company has suggested it could close factories in Germany in its 87-year history, illustrating a wider trend in Europe of stiff competition from foreign producers, high production costs and a slow uptake of electric vehicles supported by government initiatives. 'Germany is experiencing the longest stagnation of its postwar history by far,' Ifo economist Timo Wollmershauser told the FT. Germany will hope the result of its early election next month may yield some of the answers. Chancellor Olaf Scholz's three-party coalition government collapsed in November when Scholz fired his finance minister in a dispute over how to revitalize the economy. Friedrich Merz, his likely successor, with the centre-right Christian Democratic Union, has campaigned on a promise of cutting red tape and slimming benefits for those out of work. A 17-year-old schoolgirl has died from suspected sepsis just seven days after completing cancer treatment for stage four Hodgkin's lymphoma. Hannah Riddell finished school at Ashington Academy last summer and had plans to start a travel and tourism course at Newcastle College. But the teenager's studies were abruptly put on hold when she found a lump in her arm over the summer, which led to her being diagnosed with the disease. She began treatment straight away and was looking forward to starting her college course when she had her final chemotherapy appointment on January 7. Sadly, a week later her health deteriorated suddenly and shockingly after she returned to the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle for a blood test. Hannah's death is suspected to have been due to sepsis which affected her when her immune system was most vulnerable after cancer treatment, but at this stage the cause remains unconfirmed. Following Hannah's passing, her devastated mother Jill Mitcheson has paid tribute to her 'wonderful' daughter. The family are now fundraising to help give Hannah 'the best send-off possible'. Hannah Riddell (pictured) finished school at Ashington Academy last summer and had plans to start a travel and tourism course at Newcastle College. A week after her final chemotherapy appointment, Hannah's health deteriorated suddenly and shockingly after she returned to the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle (pictured) for a blood test Jill said: 'She was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma last summer and she did six rounds of chemotherapy. On January 7 she had her last treatment and was told she was in remission. 'A week later she was due to have a blood test. We went into hospital and they tried to take her blood. They always struggle with that. Community nurses were supposed to come out, but we said we would just come to the hospital. 'We managed just to get into hospital to have it done. We assumed she might need a blood transfusion. 'When we got into hospital they did the usual observations and blood pressure and there was nothing out of the ordinary. But around two or three hours later Hannah started to be really unwell. She had a seizure then they took her into a side room.' Medics at Newcastle's Royal Victoria Infirmary tried to save Hannah and gave her emergency medication whilst they spent almost an hour attempting to revive her. After 58 minutes of CPR it was clear that Hannah was not going to survive and Jill asked the medics to stop. Paying tribute to her daughter, Jill said: 'She was very grown up for her age. She was the glue that held our family together and she was just the best sister. She had a heart of gold. She had a boyfriend who moved in with us. He has been our rock. 'Hannah was her little brother's second mum, really. She was always there for him. She was a lovely person, always well-behaved even from being a baby.' Plans are underway for Hannah's funeral and a crowdfunding page set up by Hannah's cousin Josh Mitcheson has raised more than 3000 towards a 5000 target Jill said Hannah's boyfriend Kieron - who moved in with the family to help look after Hannah - had been a 'rock'. Plans are underway for Hannah's funeral and a crowdfunding page set up by Hannah's cousin Josh Mitcheson has raised more than 3000 towards a 5000 target. She added: 'It's so incredibly hard - she had beaten cancer and this was just a week later. 'We want to give her just the best send off. To let her know how how beautiful she was. We would like to thank the community - everyone has been amazing. 'There's fundraising going on in pubs and the burden it has taken off us at this time is unreal. People have been so kind, even people we don't know.' Special forces tough guy Ant Middleton is in Washington DC with Reform UK's top delegation to mark the inauguration of Donald Trump. The former SAS: Who Dares Wins presenter, 44, was pictured suited and booted alongside Reform leader, Nigel Farage and the party's new treasurer, billionaire property tycoon, Nick Candy. All three, stern supporters of the 47th President, were snapped in a photo in the US capital, with the White House illuminated in the background - while Middleton posed in a separate photo next to the statue of Abraham Lincoln. Middleton's picture with the Reform's heavy-hitters seems to have solidified his position as one of the party's new, big-named stars, having previously spoken at its rally in September. It comes as MailOnline revealed earlier this month that the Afghanistan veteran was eyeing up a new career in the frontline of politics - and wants to topple Sadiq Khan to become the new London Mayor. 'Washington DC! Serious enough for you,' Ant wrote in a seeming nod to his future political ambitions, adding: 'Change is coming.' The controversial father-of-five - who served in the Special Boat Service, the sister unit of the famed SAS - has been ramping up his political profile in recent weeks, with fierce attacks on Sir Sadiq. Although he has yet to officially enter any mayoral race, with the election set for 2028, retired frogman Middleton has heavily hinted he will be on the ballot paper. Ant Middleton (left) is pictured with Nigel Farage and Nick Candy (right) as part of the Reform UK delegation in Washington DC ahead of Donald Trump's inauguration Ant was also seen standing in front of the statue of Abraham Lincoln in Washington DC Middleton is seeking to topple Sadiq Khan to become London's new mayor in the next election 'I hear you all loud and clear and all I can tell you right now is that serious conversations are taking place at the correct levels and from a personal standpoint I will not ignore this call to action,' he wrote on X. Earlier this month, the TV hardman outlined a plan to 'cleanse' London's blood-soaked streets and 'reinstate British culture' in the capital. Middleton raged the UK was 'rotting from its core' and claimed London was now 'one of the murder capitals of the world'. And he said the capital's under-fire mayor 'has to go'. The special forces veteran has also lashed out at Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, demanding he is kicked out of office, too. Writing on X, Ant said: 'We need to free both our country and its capital simultaneously from their twisted grips (putting it politely) if we are to ever rebuild Britain back to a bigger, better and more unified version of itself. 'With these two at the helm, division will always be at the bow! Secure the perimeter and cleanse from the inside' Middleton, who was sacked from his role as chief instructor on the Channel 4's SAS: Who Dares Wins? back in 2021 over a series of controversial tweets, also branded the PM 'spineless'. The TV personality said he had a 'feeling' his 'duties will be reinstated once again' after being told by a fan 'your county needs you, Ant', while others urged him to run on the next London mayoral elections. Middleton, pictured with the White House in the background, aims to join the frontline of politics having served the nation previously as a special forces soldier in the SBS Middleton was in the American capital to mark Donald Trump's inauguration as US President Middleton doubled down on a future bid to become London mayor by setting out a series of 'priorities' to tackle the city's knife crisis. 'Priority number one; Cleanse it from being one of the murder capitals of the world,' he wrote on X. 'Cleanse it from knives, machetes and guns that are not only killing UK citizens but also our children. Cleanse it from minors & woman being harassed and abused. 'Cleanse its roads from illegal vehicles (and drivers) that are being used to commit countless crimes on a daily basis. Cleanse it from the ridiculous charges that it imposes on an already heavily taxed country. 'Cleanse the tube, public transport and streets, they're disgusting for a capital city. Cleanse the ridiculously low and double standards of our Metropolitan Police Force so everyone is treated fairly but predominantly feel safe to roam its historic streets. 'Reinstate, celebrate and place to the forefront our wonderful British culture, heritage, values and morals and make London the heartbeat of our country once again. London must set and lead by example.' It is unclear whether or not Sir Sadiq would seek an historic fourth term in office at the next election, having been in power since 2016. Mayor Khan has already come under fire from Labour for his fiery feud with incoming President Trump, which seemed to continue this weekend. Middleton is a keen supporter of Reform UK. He is seen in September 2024 giving a speech at the party's rally in Birmingham It prompted an extraordinary political slap down by a cabinet minister this weekend, as Downing Street desperately sought to smooth out its strained relationship with Trump following previous blistering remarks made by senior Labour MPs in the past. In 2018 David Lammy, now the Foreign Secretary, branded Trump a 'woman-hating, neo-Nazi sympathising sociopath' and a 'tyrant'. He has since dismissed his comments as 'old news'. Since his comments, in a piece for The Observer, Sir Sadiq appeared to be in a more conciliatory tone. Ahead of today's inauguration, Sir Sadiq insisted that as somebody 'who believes in democracy, and voting and elections, we should recognise the fact that Donald Trump is the elected President of the United States'. And he claimed he now 'wanted to work closely with the American President'. But he added: 'Let's keep our fingers crossed that this president is different from the last time he was president.' A transgender TikTok influencer who was caught strangling her girlfriend during a harrowing four-year campaign of violent and controlling abuse has been jailed. Jealous Hollie Hanson, 26, subjected her partner Lauren Hanson to a relentless campaign of physical and emotional torment that left her a 'broken person'. Hanson, who has gained tens of thousands of views on TikTok, was caught on camera strangling Lauren for two minutes and threatening to kill her. Hanson was born female but has applied for a gender recognition certificate since being on remand at HMP New Hall women's prison, Leeds Crown Court heard. She now demands to be known as Ryder Hanson and to be referred to with 'he/him' and 'they/them' pronouns. Videos posted on TikTok show Hanson saying she needs to 'learn how to stay quiet sometimes' and she knows 'how disrespectful' she can get when 'angry and hurt'. Other videos show Hanson and Lauren putting on a loved up display when they were still together. Speaking about the footage of Hanson strangling Lauren, Judge Mushtaq Khokhar told Leeds Crown Court: 'It might have lasted two minutes. Jealous Hollie Hanson (pictured), 26, subjected her partner Lauren Hanson to a relentless campaign of physical and emotional torment that left her a 'broken person' Hanson, who has gained tens of thousands of views on TikTok, was caught on camera strangling Lauren for two minutes and threatening to kill her Hanson subjected Lauren to controlling and coercive behaviour between 2020 and 2024, borne out of raging jealousy over her contact with other men and women 'To her, one could imagine it would have been eternity because that's what it is like to be strangled. 'Your whole life passes before your eyes.' Hanson subjected Lauren to controlling and coercive behaviour between 2020 and 2024, borne out of raging jealousy over her contact with other men and women. Lauren, who has a child from a previous relationship, was banned from using her phone, monitored while using social media and stopped from seeing friends and family. The court heard how she was unable to access her benefits because Hanson controlled their joint bank account. On one occasion, in January 2020, Hanson assaulted Lauren with a vodka bottle, knocking her unconscious before slashing her leg. Lauren was too scared to report the attack and told medics at the hospital she had accidentally cut herself on a shard of glass. In another incident, Hanson poured a 'jerry can of fuel' on her partner before setting the liquid on fire with a lit cigarette, causing Lauren's boots to catch fire. Lauren, who has a child from a previous relationship, was banned from using her phone, monitored while using social media and stopped from seeing friends and family Videos posted on TikTok show Hanson saying she needs to 'learn how to stay quiet sometimes' and she knows 'how disrespectful' she can get when 'angry and hurt' Other videos show Hanson and Lauren (left) putting on a loved up display when they were still together Judge Khokhar told Hanson: 'You banned her from social media. You controlled her financially. You controlled her contact with her own child. 'You were so possessive and obsessed with her, and controlling, that on one occasion you burned her child's clothing. 'On another occasion, you had poured a jerry can of fuel over her body and then you had thrown the cigarette to become alight. 'Mercifully, no injury was sustained from it but it could have been worse than it was.' Lauren was strangled by Hanson in September last year after packing her belongings having been told to leave their apartment in Knottingley, near Leeds. She secretly recorded the vicious attack on her phone and handed it to police. In a victim impact statement read by Oliver Norman, prosecuting, Lauren said of Hanson: 'She's left a mark on my life that won't go away. 'She's ruined me as a person. I'm vulnerable and a broken person and that's at the hands of Hollie Hanson. 'I've finally come to the realisation that she never loved me. The realisation is that Hollie Hanson is my abuser. 'I worry that I will never get over the pain and hurt she's caused me. 'I hope to never set eyes on her again.' The court heard how she was unable to access her benefits because Hanson controlled their joint bank account On one occasion, in January 2020, Hanson assaulted Lauren with a vodka bottle, knocking her unconscious before slashing her leg Describing Hanson as a 'dangerous offender', Judge Khokhar said: 'It was a horrendous experience to undergo at the hands of someone you think you love.' He added: 'In my judgement, there's nothing worse than controlling someone's emotions, their movements and also from associating with people that person wants to associate with. 'This behaviour consisted of controlling who she had contact with, who could she meet and who she could not meet. She had to report to you as to where she was at any given time. She could not use her phone at times without your permission.' Hanson admitted controlling and coercive behaviour, wounding without intent, intentional strangulation, threats to kill and assault by beating. She was handed a restraining order to keep away from Lauren, whom the court heard had undergone counselling. One of Britain's top young musicians killed herself after being rejected by four medical schools, an inquest heard. Imogen Moorsom was a brilliant French horn player and qualified for the finals of BBC's Young Musician of the Year in 2022 and played in the National Youth Orchestra. After taking a gap year, the 20-year-old applied to four medical schools but was unsuccessful, instead securing a place to study natural sciences at Lancaster University. The musician, who had been diagnosed with autism, started suffering mental health issues caused by the Covid lockdown which she was treated for. But her inquest heard that she 'struggled to live up to her very high standards' and had 'not been able to accept her failure to get into medical school'. She suffered a downward spiral in her mental health after coming back from a family holiday last August. She began making preparations to move to Lancashire but was found dead by her mother, Rosemary, in her bedroom at the family home in Milton Abbas, Dorset. Mrs Moorsom, a professional violinist and violin teacher, thought her daughter was having a lie-in. Imogen Moorsom (pictured) was a brilliant French horn player and qualified for the finals of BBC 's Young Musician of the Year in 2022 The musician, who had been diagnosed with autism, started suffering mental health issues caused by the Covid lockdown The inquest heard that Imogen 'struggled to live up to her very high standards' and had 'not been able to accept her failure to get into medical school' She said in a statement: 'On August 12 I woke up at approximately 8am. Imogen went up to bed at around 11:30pm the night before and this was the last time I saw her. 'I went into her room at about 11:40am to let the cat in and I thought she was sleeping in. I saw her bedside light was on which was odd. 'I went over to her to remove the ligature but did not start any CPR because she was cold to the touch because it was clear she had passed away.' Imogen was pronounced dead at the scene. A post-mortem examination confirmed she died from strangulation. Imogen, whose father Michael is a professional cellist, attended Wells Cathedral School, an exclusive independent school in Somerset, which specialises in musical training. She was taught the French horn by renowned teacher and musician Simon de Souza. Alongside the French horn, she was a chorister, took part in karate and studied chemistry, maths and music at A-Level. The inquest in Bournemouth heard she had started university in London in 2022 but dropped out in her first year due to mental health concerns. After taking time off she began applying to medical schools alongside volunteer work at the Dorset NHS Foundation Trust. Imogen, whose father Michael is a professional cellist, attended Wells Cathedral School, an exclusive independent school in Somerset Imogen was taught French horn by renowned teacher and musician Simon de Souza However, she was unsuccessful in her four applications which severely damaged her mental health and led to her being taken to The Priory Hospital, Southampton. She had also previously expressed suicidal thoughts. Having received specialist care, she was discharged to go on her family's holiday to northern England on July 25 last year. When she returned home, she had further meetings with her psychiatrists who had some contact with Imogen's parents to make them aware of their concerns about her being left alone. Mrs Moorsom's statement, which was read by Richard Middleton, the assistant coroner for Dorset, said: 'Imogen was a talented musician, chorister who was on specialist musician scheme at Wells Cathedral School. 'She was living at home and planning to study natural sciences at Lancaster University. 'Her medical history described her as suffering from depression and anxiety. 'In 2023 her general health improved and she was working hard to secure a place at a medical school. She got four interviews but got no places. 'In May 2024 her health was going down and she was taken to Southampton General Hospital in July and she again said that she had been having suicidal thoughts.' Dr Tessa Jones, a psychiatrist who treated Imogen at The Priory Hospital, Southampton, said: 'She had not been able to accept her failure to get into medical school. 'She was an intelligent person who was very popular but sometimes struggled to live up to her very high standards. 'She disclosed to me her views about moving to Lancaster. She planned to get a job in a cafe to help her financially. She had clearly planned for the future. 'She said in July she was feeling better and was looking forward to going to university.' Imogen was unsuccessful in her four applications to university which severely damaged her mental health and led to her being taken to The Priory Hospital, in Southampton Christopher Stone, from the Blandford mental health team, who had had meetings with Imogen from February 2023, expressed concerns about her mental health to her parents days before her suicide. He said: 'After finding out she had not been offered a place at medical school she took a place to go to Lancaster but wasn't sure if it would quite work. 'She also said that she had put a ligature around her neck a few times and I said there was a serious chance of suicide. 'I had discussions with other staff about her suicidal risk and it was agreed that she could go on the family holiday the next week. She said that she thought that she would be able to go. 'I met with her on August 8 but due to illness, it did not take place in person. She said she felt a bit better but her sleep wasn't good. 'It was a bit more positive as she said she was going to do sport at university and take her French horn. She did next say that she was having suicidal thoughts again. 'I contacted her parents, who were supposed to be away that weekend, that at least one of them should stay at home that weekend. 'We had no further contact and we are very sad to hear that she had killed herself.' Mr Middleton recorded a verdict of suicide on the balance of probabilities with strangulation as the cause of death. He said: 'I now offer my deepest sympathies and condolences to all her family and friends in this sad case.' A spokesperson for Wells Cathedral School said: 'We were heartbroken to learn of Imogen's death in August 2024. 'She was a wonderful pupil, demonstrating talents in numerous areas, not least in music; her performances repeatedly enriched the lives of all those who were fortunate enough to hear them. 'We extend our deepest condolences to Imogen's parents, siblings and wider family, and all of us at WCS remember her with great affection.' For confidential support, call Samaritans on 116 123, visit samaritans.org or visit https://www.thecalmzone.net/get-support China continues expanding circle of friends in foreign trade 09:28, January 20, 2025 By He Yin ( People's Daily In 2024, 88.38 million customs declarations were processed in China, which indicates a stable rise in the total volume, incremental growth, and quality of China's foreign trade. According to data released by China's General Administration of Customs, the country's total goods imports and exports reached 43.85 trillion yuan (about $6 trillion) in 2024, up 5 percent year on year, hitting a record high. Chinese-made vehicles are about to be exported at an automobile terminal in Taicang, east China's Jiangsu province, Jan. 8, 2025. (People's Daily Online/Wang Xuzhong) China's foreign trade growth reached 2.1 trillion yuan in 2024, as the world's second-largest economy further consolidated its top position globally in goods trade. The structure of import and export products has also been continuously optimized and upgraded, with high-tech products reporting good growth numbers and a boom in new types of trade. Despite the increasing challenges and uncertainties, China's foreign trade continues to show resilience, demonstrating the vitality and potential of the Chinese economy. This underscores that in the face of rising protectionism, openness and cooperation remain a strategic choice for global economic development. The United Nations (UN) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have recently warned that rising tariffs could hamper global economic growth. As protectionism is on the rise, many countries are exploring ways to mitigate the impact of growing trade barriers on their economies. While following an innovation-driven development approach and vigorously boosting consumption, China has been steadily advancing high-level opening up and enhancing its capacity for open and win-win cooperation amid the headwinds against globalization, with an ever-expanding "circle of friends" in foreign trade. According to statistics, China has import and export records with almost all countries and regions designated in the UN Statistics Division. China's trade with over 160 trading partners around the world achieved growth, and the country has become a major trading partner for more than 150 countries and regions. China's foreign trade with traditional markets, including the European Union and the United States, grew in 2024. Besides, for the first time, Belt and Road partner countries accounted for more than 50 percent of China's total foreign trade value. A significant portion of China's foreign trade last year came from emerging markets such as ASEAN. It is the continuous expansion of opening up that further strengthens the country's foreign trade resilience. Providing high-end, green, and intelligent products to global trading partners Smart home appliances are manufactured in a workshop of an electronics company in Ma'anshan, east China's Anhui province, ready to be exported, Dec. 20, 2024. (People's Daily Online/Wang Wensheng) At the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) recently concluded in the U.S. city of Las Vegas, American journalist Patrick George tries on Chinese electric vehicles (EVs) for three times. He was drawn by what he described as "impeccable build quality" of the Chinese EVs. He attributed the progress of China's automotive industry to copious investments, a single-minded focus on electrification and software, learning from partners, a well-established supply chain, and intense internal competition. The popularity of Chinese products at the CES demonstrated that the upgraded version of "Made in China" is a key driver for the high-quality development of China's foreign trade. Based on the complete industrial system, China continues boosting scientific and technological innovation to develop new quality productive forces. The upgraded Chinese manufacturing provides China's trading partners with more high-end, green, and intelligent products. For instance, AI-enabled washing machines produced by Chinese companies can automatically identify the weight and materials of clothes to be washed and select the optimal washing mode. China's smart cooking machines are equipped with different types of menus and can prepare delicious dishes only within the time of a song. As China continues to enhance its innovation capacity, Chinese products are gaining more popularity and recognition worldwide. Opening China's huge market to share development opportunities The vast Chinese market is another crucial factor behind the high-quality development and expanding "circle of friends" in China's foreign trade. China has been steadily expanding voluntary and unilateral opening up as well as institutional opening up, unleashing the potential of the massive Chinese market. These efforts have contributed to the high-quality development of the country's foreign trade, providing more market opportunities to the world. A man shops in a store selling imported commodities at Jinyi Comprehensive Bonded Zone in Jinhua, east China's Zhejiang province, Jan. 11, 2025. (People's Daily Online/Shi Kuanbing) Via the cold-chain transportation of the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor, tripe from New Zealand, greenfin horse-faced filefish from Vietnam, and other products have been transported to China and featured on Chinese hotpot menus. Fruits like Thai durians and Lao bananas enter the Chinese market through the China-Laos Railway, enriching consumption choices of the Chinese people. On December 1, 2024, China granted zero tariff treatment to 100 percent of tariff lines from all the least developed countries that have diplomatic relations with China, which led to an 18.1 percent growth in imports from relevant countries in the month, 5.8 percentage points higher than the first eleven months in 2024. This further demonstrates the immense potential of the vast Chinese market, which is bound to provide tremendous opportunities for more countries in the world. China's economy has a stable foundation, multiple advantages, strong resilience and great potential. The dominating trend of a sound Chinese economy for the long term and the elements supporting it have not changed. This gives China more confidence in sharing opportunities and pursuing common development with the rest of the world. (Web editor: Chang Sha, Du Mingming) San Francisco Republicans celebrate Donald Trumps win at an election night party. President-elect Trump takes office again on Monday. Minh Connors/The Chronicle 2024 Monday delivers an ironic double dose of history with the presidential inauguration of Donald Trump and the commemoration of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Despite what Trumps return may augur for America and the world, we can draw hope from how King linked the U.S. civil rights movement with human rights campaigns across the globe. Traveling to India in 1959, King wrote that Indias Gandhi was the guiding light of our technique of nonviolent social change. King helped mobilize international opposition to the South African governments 1957 prosecution of Nelson Mandela. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Mandela, in turn, echoed Kings resounding Free at last! cry on several occasions, including when his political partys 1994 election triumph capped the end of apartheid. These are dark days. It may seem like autocracy is on the march. But Kings life and words remind us that the fight for freedom stretches beyond our shores, offering common cause with those abroad. Other nations can inspire us to persevere. In recent years weve seen autocrats defeated in Bangladesh, Brazil, Poland, South Korea and Syria. Were not alone in our communities, our country, our world. We can turn the tide. Advertisement Article continues below this ad We shall overcome. Stephen Golub, Benicia Not celebrating Regarding Report: Jan. 6 could have justified conviction (Nation & World, Jan. 15): I think half the country believed that Donald Trump was guilty in mid-January 2021. The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection presented convincing testimony and evidence in their televised hearings in June 2022. Why special counsel Jack Smith and the Justice Department did not file an indictment until August 2023, when Trump was already ramping up his run for president, is a mystery to me. Advertisement Article continues below this ad That the Justice Department could not prosecute this case before the last election cycle is an injustice. Its just as well Smith resigned because he failed. We will have a convicted felon and unprosecuted treasonist in the White House. Proud to be an American? Not me. Charlotte Seekamp, San Francisco Watch for a decline The conventional wisdom is that the White House staff hid and the press ignored the physical and mental decline of President Joe Biden during his term in office. Advertisement Article continues below this ad As another septuagenarian is about to become president, will the press again fail to monitor the cognitive abilities and physical health of the Oval Office occupant? Will the White House public relations staff be allowed to gloss over any apparent diminishment of the presidents acuity? America should demand the 47th president not be allowed to remain in office if his mental capacity is not up to the demands of the office. Craig Griffin, Berkeley Let the story be told Regarding Exclusive: UCSF severs relationship with provocative anti-racism speaker targeted by right-wing groups (San Francisco, SFChronicle.com, Jan. 15): The story could have addressed the full scope of history. Advertisement Article continues below this ad As a white person, it is my responsibility to understand and metabolize that the enslavement of Africans is one of the most heinous government-sponsored crimes in history. The enduring and continued legacy of anti-black racism would not continue without the complicit and explicit support of white Americans. As a Jewish person, I understand how systems of hate were not only perpetrated by the perpetrators but sustained by the broader society. Adolf Hitlers study of slavery helped inform the atrocities he committed. Yet, unlike the United States, Germany has made strides in reckoning with its past. Speaker Daunte King is challenging us to confront this history and its ongoing impact. Is that provocative? The Chronicle had an opportunity to explore this history and its relevance. UCSF had a chance to support dialogue, healing and truth. Instead, both chose to step away, abandoning a crucial conversation. Ken Epstein, San Francisco L.A. repeats mistakes Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass has issued an executive order to clear the way to rebuild homes as they were and allows rebuilding like for like. About Opinion Guest opinions in Open Forum and Insight are produced by writers with expertise, personal experience or original insights on a subject of interest to our readers. Their views do not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Chronicle editorial board, which is committed to providing a diversity of ideas to our readership. Read more about our transparency and ethics policies So, let me get this straight. Neighborhoods full of 90-year-old tinderboxes just burned to the ground and Los Angeles is fast-tracking recreating them as was. Those who do not learn from history Americans view the UK as 'terrible' and 'chaotic' under Labour, according to new research. An exclusive survey for DailyMail.com found those were the words most often picked when people were asked to describe the 'current state of the UK'. However, the JL Partners polling also reveals that Keir Starmer has made little impact in the US, with six in 10 unclear how Britain has been faring since the new PM took charge. The study, carried out between January 10 and 12, comes as Sir Keir desperately tries to forge strong relations with Donald Trump. The premier set to head for Washington DC within weeks as he pleads with the returning president not to hammer the UK economy by imposing tariffs. An exclusive survey for DailyMail.com found 'terrible' and 'chaotic' were the words most often picked when people were asked to describe the 'current state of the UK' However, the JL Partners polling also reveals that Keir Starmer has made little impact in the US, with six in 10 unclear how Britain has been faring since the new PM took charge The study, carried out between January 10 and 12, comes as Sir Keir (pictured) desperately tries to forge strong relations with Donald Trump Sir Keir sent his congratulations in a gushing statement overnight, insisting Transatlantic ties are built on 'unshakeable foundations' and hinting at a push for a trade deal. But there are mounting concerns about the huge political gulf between Labour and the new White House. Rumours have been swirling that Mr Trump could punish Sir Keir for party activists going to the US to campaign for his Democrat rival Kamala Harris. There have even been suggestions that the nomination of Lord Mandelson as the UK's ambassador could be vetoed. The JL Partners survey included a so-called 'word cloud' of responses about the status of the UK. Alongside 'terrible' and 'chaotic', the most common answers from those who gave one were 'unstable' and 'bad'. However, a separate question on how Americans felt the 'UK is doing under its new Prime Minister' was slightly more positive for Sir Keir. A fifth thought that the country was doing 'somewhat' or 'very' well - with 12 per cent saying 'badly'. But the overwhelming majority - more than two-thirds - said 'neither' or were not sure. :: JL Partners polled a sample of 1,009 registered US voters online between January 10-12. The results were adjusted to represent the wider US population. Dozens of local councils could be pushed into bankruptcy amid a fresh wave of sex discrimination claims against town halls. A trade union said an equal pay claim against Birmingham City Council - estimated at 760million - was inspiring workers across the country to take similar action. They said the mistakes made by Europe's largest local authority were being replicated among other councils. A GMB union campaign against Birmingham City Council played a part in the local authority declaring itself essentially bankrupt - through a Section 114 notice - in 2023. Last month, the council reached a settlement over historic equal pay claims with both GMB and Unison. The dispute related to staff in female-dominated roles, such as cleaners, historically being paid less than those in male-dominated roles, such as waste collection. According to The Times, the GMB union expects settlements to be reached with up to six further councils this year. The union also said there was evidence of sex discrimination across a raft of other local authorities. A trade union said an equal pay claim against Birmingham City Council - estimated at 760million - was inspiring workers across the country to take similar action A GMB union campaign against Birmingham City Council played a part in the local authority declaring itself essentially bankrupt - through a Section 114 notice - in 2023 This included Dundee, Fife and Falkirk, Sunderland, Westmoreland and Furness, Cumberland, Bristol, Swansea, Brighton and Hove, Southampton and Blaenau Gwent. Birmingham City Council is among a string of local authorities to have issued a Section 114 notice in recent years, amid a huge squeeze on town hall budgets. Many other councils are also feared to be teetering on the brink of financial meltdown. Rhea Wolfson, head of GMB's internal and industrial relations, told the newspaper: 'We hope that the Birmingham case will inspire a wave of councils to take these claims seriously and settle. 'We also know the situation in Birmingham is inspiring hundreds of workers across the country to ask if they're also being discriminated against. 'So this is a national issue, which touches every corner of the country, from the south coast of England to Fife in Scotland. 'We're clear to employers they should not see what happened in Birmingham as exceptional. 'The mistake Birmingham City Council made is being replicated elsewhere.' A spokesman for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government said: 'Local authorities are independent bodies and have a responsibility to act in line with employment laws and manage their finances.' Pope Francis has branded Donald Trump's plans to impose mass deportation of immigrants as 'a disgrace' and urged the incoming president to lead a society with 'no room for hatred'. Francis, who nearly a decade ago called Trump 'not Christian' for wanting to build a wall along the US-Mexico border, was asked about Trump's deportation pledges during a Sunday appearance on the popular Italian talk show, Che Tempo Che Fa. 'If true, this will be a disgrace, because it makes the poor wretches who have nothing pay the bill' for the problem, the Pope said. 'This won't do! This is not the way to solve things. That's not how things are resolved.' Francis on Monday, in a message marking Trump's inauguration, doubled down on his remark, this time issuing a direct plea to America's next Commander-in-Chief. 'It is my hope that under your leadership the American people will prosper and always strive to build a more just society, where there is no room for hatred, discrimination or exclusion,' he said. 'At the same time, as our human family faces numerous challenges, not to mention the scourge of war, I also ask God to guide your efforts in promoting peace and reconciliation among peoples.' The 88-year-old pontiff also offered the incoming president 'cordial greetings and the assurance of my prayers that Almighty God will grant you wisdom, strength and protection'. Trump, who is being sworn in as president today, made mass deportations a signature issue of his campaign and has promised a raft of first-day orders to remake immigration policy. He used a raucous rally on the eve of his inauguration to promise swift Day 1 action remaking the federal government, shifting federal priorities at breakneck speed and ensuring that 'the curtain closes on four long years of American decline'. Trump has forecasted signing as many as 100 executive orders on his first day in office, possibly covering deportations, the southern border, domestic energy, Schedule F rules for federal workers, school gender policies and vaccine mandates, among other Day 1 promises made during his campaign. He's also promised an executive order to give more time for the sale of TikTok. Pope Francis delivers his blessing as he recites the Angelus noon prayer from the window of his studio overlooking St.Peter's Square, at the Vatican, Sunday, Jan. 19, 2025 Donald Trump, who is being sworn in today, made mass deportations a signature issue of his campaign and has promised a raft of first-day orders to remake immigration policy. He is pictured at his victory rally at the Capital One Arena on January 19, 2025 Migrants stand near a razor wire fence, set by U.S. authorities to inhibit the crossing, near the border of Mexico and Texas on December 18, 2024 Trump has vowed to carry out 'the largest deportation operation in American history,' but the move will face legal challenges and possible refusals by some nations to accept deportees. Pope Francis, who grew up in Argentina in a family of Italian immigrants, has long prioritized the plight of migrants and called for governments to welcome, protect and integrate them, within their means. He has said the dignity and rights of migrants trump any national security concerns. During Trump's first campaign for the presidency in 2016, Francis was asked about the Republican's plans to build a wall along the US-Mexico border. Speaking after he celebrated Mass along the border, Francis famously said: 'Anyone, whoever he is, who only wants to build walls and not bridges is not a Christian'. And last year Francis made a rare foray into the US election season to call harsh anti-migrant attitudes 'madness' and criticize right-wing US Catholic figures for overly conservative stances. Many US bishops have firmly opposed Trump's deportation plan, with the incoming archbishop of Washington DC, Cardinal Robert McElroy, saying such policies were 'incompatible with Catholic doctrine.' It was a reference to the Biblical call to 'welcome the stranger.' Another cardinal close to Francis, Chicago Cardinal Blase Cupich, said the reports of mass deportations targeting the Chicago area 'are not only profoundly disturbing but also wound us deeply.' In a statement delivered from the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City on Sunday, Cupich said governments have the responsibility to protect borders and communities. 'But we also are committed to defending the rights of all people, and protecting their human dignity,' according to the text of his statement. It comes as supporters filled nearly all of the 20,000-plus-seat Capital One Arena in downtown Washington for a MAGA victory celebration on Sunday night, cheering as Trump said he'd take quick action on everything from cracking down on the southern border to promoting oil drilling, reining in the federal workforce and eradicating diversity programs. 'We're going to give them the best first day, the biggest first week and the most extraordinary first 100 days of any presidency in American history,' said Trump, who also promised to roll back executive actions by his predecessor, outgoing President Joe Biden, 'within hours.' Trump said he'd jump start his agenda with a series of unilateral actions from the White House, telling the crowd, 'You're going to see executive orders that are going to make you extremely happy. Lots of them.' 'Tomorrow we will not waste a single moment,' he vowed later to attendees at a dinner reception. Sunday was Trump's first full day back in Washington since his Election Day victory and gave him a chance to energize core supporters before the official pomp of Inauguration Day. Trump has insisted that unity will be a theme of his inauguration speech Monday, along with strength and fairness - despite spending months as a candidate saying that if elected he would seek retribution against political enemies. That was the theme of much of his rally speech Sunday, when he returned to the greatest hits of his campaign - as if the race against Vice President Kamala Harris weren't already long decided. Trump denounced 'migrant crime' by evoking one of his favorite fictional characters, Hannibal Lecter, and promised to stamp out 'woke' policies and oppose transgender rights. 'Tomorrow, at noon, the curtain closes on four long years of American decline, and we begin a brand new day of American strength and prosperity, dignity and pride,' Trump said, adding, 'Once and for all, we're going to end the reign of a failed and corrupt political establishment in Washington.' Also Sunday, Trump had breakfast privately with Republican senators at Blair House, the president's official guest residence, across Pennsylvania Avenue from the White House, and took to his social media site to comment on the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas and the US ban on TikTok. 'Hostages starting to come out today!.' Trump wrote. Millions of US users of TikTok lost the ability to watch videos on the social media platform overnight on Sunday as a federal ban on the app took effect. Though the site later began working again for some users, the disruptions reflected a new law requiring its China-based parent company, ByteDance, to divest for national security reasons. The company made a personal appeal to Trump to intervene, posting a message saying, 'We are fortunate that President Trump has indicated that he will work with us on a solution to reinstate TikTok once he takes office.' Trump subsequently posted, 'I'm asking companies not to let TikTok stay dark!' He promised to issue an executive order Monday 'to extend the period of time before the law's prohibitions take effect, so that we can make a deal to protect our national security.' The president-elect also wrote that he was interested in the US owning 50 per cent of TikTok in a 'joint venture' model, though he did not offer much detail on what that would look like. A social media worker for a taxpayer-funded national museums organisation has won more than 20,000 after she was sacked for only producing six typo-riddled posts in a month. Digital content producer Anita Briggs created just six social posts in one month - compared to a colleague's 73, an employment tribunal heard. The National Museums of Scotland employee was not performing to the 'standard' required of her for nearly two years as she would regularly miss deadlines and make spelling errors, the hearing was told. In one instance, Ms Briggs failed to create a single piece of content in a month and when she did, the quality was 'substantially below what was expected'. After the employee failed three performance reviews, bosses lost 'confidence' in her work ability and she was sacked. However, the tribunal found that she was not given enough warning of her potential dismissal and she has now been awarded 22,210 in compensation. The tribunal, held in Scotland, was told Ms Briggs was hired by the organisation in 2009 and worked as a Digital Media Content Producer. Her job role included planning, co-ordinating, and creating new content for the organisations social media platforms such as Facebook, LinkedIn, and X. In one instance, Ms Briggs failed to create a single piece of content in a month and when she did, the quality was 'substantially below what was expected' Employment Judge Stuart Nielson said the production of content was 'extremely important' for the business, which is largely funded by the Scottish government and runs four museums across the country. These are the National Museum of Scotland and National War Museum in Edinburgh, the National Museum of Rural Life in East Kilbride and the National Museum of Flight in East Lothian. The tribunal heard that in the period from 2021 to June 2023, Ms Briggs reported to Digital Media Content Producer, Russell Dornan. It was heard the after joining he 'had concerns' with the producer's performance and in May 2022 he met with her to discuss. Ms Briggs was put on an informal Personal Improvement Plan [PIP] and was asked to improve her attention to detail, increase her output, and perform tasks via agreed processes. The PIP concluded some six months later and it was heard Mr Dronan felt there had not been any 'satisfactory improvement in performance'. The tribunal noted that at this time Ms Briggs was dealing with a 'number of challenging personal issues'. Mr Dornan asked Ms Briggs to do another informal PIP and it was heard she was 'not happy' with this proposal and explained that there were 'reasons why she had not performed as might have been expected' that year. The content producer said she felt that Mr Dornan was intimidating and 'has it in for me'. The following year, Mr Dornan left and the role was taken over by Ms Hannah Barton. Ms Briggs' employer runs the National Museum of Scotland (pictured) and National War Museum in Edinburgh, the National Museum of Rural Life in East Kilbride and the National Museum of Flight in East Lothian The tribunal agreed that there were 'clearly concerns' about Ms Briggs' performance in her role at the museum and recognised there was a lengthy period in which her 'performance was under scrutiny' - but still ordered the 22,000 payout Her second PIP concluded and her new manager identified that the objectives set had 'not been met' by Ms Briggs. It was heard that from June to August 2023, Ms Briggs had 'produced only two pieces of content' which was 'substantially below what was expected of her'. And it was said that one of these 'required significant amendment'. Judge Nielson said: 'Ms Barton considered that required performance had not been met as there were continued errors around typos, spelling, grammar and proofing; missed deadlines for producing content and a failure to follow processes for work allocation in line with wider team priorities.' The content producer was off sick for a period of time and upon her return to work she was notified that a formal PIP would commence until January 2024. She was told that at the end of this process there could be a formal meeting and this may result in dismissal. But, just a month after it commenced, Ms Briggs failed to produce any content for the entirety of November. In December, she produced six social posts which was 'substantially below' what was expected, especially in comparison to one of her colleagues who produced 73. After she failed yet another PIP hearing, Ms Briggs was invited to a formal hearing and it was heard that Ms Barton had 'no confidence' in the producers ability to design, coordinate and execute required content. The content producer was sacked on the grounds of lack of capability. She appealed the decision but this was dismissed and Ms Briggs took the museum to an employment tribunal, alleging unfair dismissal. The employee said there had been a 'long-standing orchestrated campaign to terminate her employment'. The tribunal agreed that there were 'clearly concerns' about Ms Briggs' performance in her role at the museum and recognised there was a lengthy period in which her 'performance was under scrutiny'. 'There was simply no evidence of any conspiracy or campaign to terminate the employment of [Ms Briggs] for a reason other than capability,' Judge Nielson said. Ms Briggs won her claim after the tribunal found she was not provided with any formal warnings of the potential dismissal. Judge Nielson added: 'The Tribunal concludes that it is not as there were no formal warnings issued in terms of the Performance Policy. '[Ms Briggs] has a legitimate expectation that the [museum] will follow the terms of the Performance Policy and it would be reasonable to expect at least one level of formal warning prior to dismissal. 'That did not happen here.' The panel ruled that Ms Briggs had been unfairly dismissed and ordered The Trustees of the National Museums of Scotland to pay her 22,210.75 in compensation. A student victim of the New Year's Eve mass sexual assault in Milan has described how she and friends were attacked by a mob who pinned their hands back while other men grabbed them during the harrowing affair that lasted ten minutes. Laura Barbier, one of six Belgians visiting the Piazza del Duomo to watch the fireworks with British victims, recalled the 'nightmare' of having men grabbing at them while others assaulted them under their clothes. She told Belgian outlet Sudinfo how three of the four female students were sexually assaulted, one groped on the breasts and buttocks. They 'put their hands in my pants', the 20-year-old claimed. 'It went very far... There were so many people around us that we couldn't move.' Italian prosecutors have now opened an investigation into the allegations of group sexual violence, compiling a file 'on the basis of the numerous press articles collected' about the apparently coordinated attack. It comes as one British student with the group bravely recounted to MailOnline how she was assaulted by an 'organised' group of men she did not know as they brought the new year in. Imogen - who we have identified by just her first name - shared a horrifying testimony of how she was 'grabbed and pulled back' by strangers in the crowd, who she said tried to sexually assault her with their hands as another allegedly mentioned rape. She would heroically try to save another British woman allegedly being sexually assaulted by the mob, allowing the other victim to break free before Imogen fought off the men herself in self-defence. The 19-year-old told how police initially brushed off their complaints until she showed how she was bleeding from struggling against her attackers. They then consoled her and told her it was a 'known problem', claiming the attackers were Bangladeshi men. Laura Barbier (right), 20, a student from Liege, in Belgium, had travelled to Milan, Italy, with five friends aged between 20 and 21 to celebrate the New Year. They joined a British group who also alleged they were attacked by a group of men aged between 20 and 40 Footage from New Year's Eve of the Piazza del Duomo shows chaotic scenes Hero Brit Imogen (left, pictured with friends) tried to save another British woman being sexually assaulted by a mob of attackers while being attacked herself Investigators in Italy are still looking to speak to the Belgian victims to progress their case, and have been allowed to review CCTV footage. Imogen, the British victim, told MailOnline that she is currently in the process of filing a legal complaint via the Italian embassy in England, and that investigators are currently speaking to other women to understand the full 'scale' of the attack. She said that there was no police presence at the scene when they arrived and no designated area from which fireworks would be set off. Video footage from the scene showed how men in balaclavas were firing their own fireworks into the crowd around the time of the attacks. Laura's testimony echoed Imogen's description of how their attackers grabbed members of the group and held them while some touched them under their clothes. 'We were touched on our bodies, on our clothes and some of us, including myself, inside our clothes,' Laura told Sudinfo. She said that they managed to get under their clothes despite them wearing jackets and scarves. Imogen said she was wearing a long dress, a long coat and a scarf when she was attacked. The heartbreaking testimonies have provoked outrage in Italy, Belgium and the United Kingdom, with Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni now seeking answers for the victims. Italian media reports that Meloni has personally contacted the prefecture of Milan requesting step-by-step updates on the investigations. 'Three out of us four girls were sexually assaulted. A friend had her breasts groped and her buttocks touched. [The men] put their hands in my pants. It went very far,' Laura (pictured) told Belgian broadcaster RTL The group of students watched the fireworks on the Piazza del Duomo outside Milan's cathedral, where men wearing balaclavas were filmed causing chaotic scenes by shooting fireworks into the crowd on the same night British victim Imogen, who has since returned to her studies in the United Kingdom, shared her testimony of the attack with MailOnline and Sudinfo last week. She said the group began feeling uncomfortable when they started receiving unwanted attention from men in the crowd, and claimed a man tried to grope her and tugged at her dress as she passed through the plaza. As the countdown for midnight begun, the boys in the group turned to record the New Year celebrations. Imogen said at that moment, she was 'instantly grabbed from behind and pulled away from my friends'. 'They held my arms and hands, so I couldnt fight back, whilst I was surrounded by a group in what appeared to be an organised attack. Multiple men, at once, began to grope me, whilst another attempted to pull up my dress. 'As I panicked, and fought for freedom, it became apparent that they enjoyed my distress and this only excited my attackers.' Imogen claims another man tried to sexually assault her, and that she heard one of the men mention rape. 'This is when my fight turned into one for survival,' she said. She described the 'blur' as she managed to get her arms free and screamed before being found by friends. She alleged that the men threw an unknown liquid over them, stinging her eyes and nose, and leaving them struggling to breathe. 'We began to blindly fight our way through the crowd as they released flares and threw firecrackers at us, in an attempt to injure us,' she claimed. When they eventually managed to escape, the attackers pursued the group and allegedly started fighting the men. Imogen said she was grabbed again and separated from the group, where she heard another English woman beside her also being held and sexually assaulted by a group. The brave teenager tried to intervene, allowing the woman to break free. She said that when she finally found the police, they told her at first that there was 'nothing they could do'. Their attitude changed, she said, when she showed them her cuts from the attack. Video shows flares lit in the crowds as people gathered to celebrate the New Year in Milan Police at the cathedral in Milan on December 31. Authorities were said to have designated certain areas as 'red zones' to increase security during the New Year's Eve celebrations Investigators are currently looking into what happened in Milan on New Year's Eve. The Italian press has shared conflicting - and speculative - reports about the background and motive of the attackers. Imogen said she thought it 'disgusting that people would use our traumatic story to push a political agenda'. 'I want people to understand that many of the descriptions I have read are wholly untrue. 'I will not allow my sexual attack to become an opportunity to divide people it is a moment to unite women, and the people of Italy, in outrage that this was allowed to happen during a joyful celebration.' Italian news agency ANSA reported that the men had been identified only as being second-generation North African men, against claims made by Italian police on the scene. 'It is a total, blatant lie, to claim that our group were attacked by men holding Palestinian flags,' Imogen told Sudinfo. 'I am so upset after reading many articles that claim it was a matter of religion, indirectly blaming Islam, whilst claiming our attack was "Taharrush Gamea",' Imogen said. 'The evil we experienced that night was the absolute absence of religion. Those men had no motive but to take advantage of innocent women, knowing they would escape without suffering the consequences.' A farmer has lost a decade-long legal battle to plough his own fields after Natural England said there were 'irreplaceable archeological remains' on his land. Over 20 years ago, Andrew Cooper became the tenant of National Trust-owned Croydon Hoe Farm, in North Devon and received 200,000 for leaving his fields uncultivated under an environmental scheme. Experts had assessed the land and found it containing important stone-age era remains, as well as D-Day relics including the pillbox signed by US Army soldier Private Alfred Augustine who was killed on Omaha Beach in Normandy. But in 2012, when Mr Cooper wanted to resume normal farming operations, he was blocked from doing so by the public body. Mr Cooper defied their stop notices and began ploughing, saying he would persist even after being slapped with a 7,500 fine and court costs of 24,000. After criminal prosecution failed to stop Mr Cooper, Natural England applied to the High Court for a court order preventing the farmer from working the fields. A judge initially ruled that the public body did not have the jurisdiction to request a permanent injunction. Now, the Court of Appeal has reversed that ruling and granted the court order in a bid to stop Mr Cooper ploughing the architecturally important land. Farmer Andrew Cooper (pictured outside the Court of Appeal in London) wanted to resume normal farming operations in 2012, but was blocked from doing so by Natural England Pictured: Overhead view Croyde Hoe Farm, where Andrew Cooper is the tenant, near Woolacombe, Devon The court heard before 1992 Mr Cooper farmed the land on Croyde Hoe as arable land, but that year he joined the Countryside Stewardship Scheme (CSS). In 1993 he began renting his 67 hectares of land from the National Trust on a yearly basis. The CSS meant his arable fields were turned into pasture, for livestock grazing, and in return the farmer received 200,000 over two decades. However, in 2012 when the second agreement under the CSS came to an end, Mr Cooper decided he wanted to cultivate the fields again and applied to Natural England for a screening decision. Natural England concluded that the fields contained 'features of important historic interest' and could not be cultivated without their consent. Devon County Council's Archaeologist said the area contained flit tool artefacts from the Mesolithic period and a flint manufacturing site as well as the remains of a World War II training area used by US forces to prepare for D-Day. Natural England told Mr Cooper that to apply for approval to farm the land he needed to 'address the impacts on the historic environment' and get a series of surveys done to determine what was actually on the site. The farmer appealed against the screening decision but it was dismissed in June 2013. The remains of a pillbox used for training by WWII soldiers near Croyde Hoe Farm, on Baggy Point, near Woolacombe, Devon Mr Cooper applied for consent later that year describing his farming practices and need for the 30 hectares of land on a rotational basis, he said the County Archaeologist had been unable to 'pinpoint' sites worthy of excavation or that might be damaged by ploughing. Natural England responded in December requesting additional information on the environmental impacts of cultivating the land and warning Mr Cooper that if he cultivated the land before the application was decided he would be in breach of Environmental Impact Assessment Regulations. Mr Cooper had started ploughing three of the fields covered by the screening decision in April 2013. A year later Natural England issued him with a remediation notice requiring the land to be restored to its previous condition, in May 2014 Mr Cooper appealed the notice but it was dismissed. He went on to plough two more of the prohibited fields in March 2016, planting a cereal crop on the land, and in September 2017. Natural England began investigating these breaches after Mr Cooper re-ploughed one of the April 2013 fields in March 2018 and eventually brought a prosecution against the farmer to Barnstaple Magistrates' Court in Devon. Mr Cooper pleaded guilty on the day of trial at Exeter Crown Court in April 2021 and he was handed a 7,500 fine and ordered to pay a contribution towards the prosecution's costs of 24,000. He then applied for leave to appeal his conviction arguing that the Crown Court judge had erroneously ruled that he was unable to challenge the validity of the stop notice and that had left him with no choice but to plead guilty. Mr Cooper's application to appeal was refused because the Court of Appeal decided it was 'misconceived and without merit'. Andrew Cooper became the tenant of National Trust-owned 67 hectare Croyde Hoe Farm in 1991 In June 2021 he ploughed three of the fields again and was served with another remediation notice by Natural England. The public body also warned Mr Cooper in September 2022 that unless he complied with the regulations they would apply for an injunction to stop him committing any further breaches. They began their application for an injunction in April 2023, stating that Mr Cooper had given 'no indication' he would cease contravening the stop notice 'unless restrained by the court'. An interim injunction was granted in May 2023 until the case could be heard the following April. HHJ Jonathan Russen KC then heard the High Court case at Bristol. Natural England told Judge Russen that the cause of the stalemate was Mr Cooper's unwillingness to pay for further archaeological surveys, which would cost around 10,000. Mr Cooper's position was that Natural England was concerned with protecting the 'natural environment' and not archaeological features. Judge Russen concluded that the environmental agency's remit did include the archaeology of the land but he refused to grant the injunction because he determined that Natural England did not have the power to bring a claim for an injunction. Natural England have now appealed that judgement before Lord Justice David Holgate, Lord Justice Peter Coulson and Lord Justice Stephen Males. They have reversed the decision by Judge Russen, determining that his interpretation of the regulations was 'far too narrow'. Lord Justice Holgate said: 'To say that Natural England's claim was simply consequential upon a concluded prosecution, and therefore was not incidental to a [regulatory] function, involves far too narrow a view of the regulatory scheme* 'But for his conclusion that Natural England lacked power and standing to obtain the relief sought, the judge would have granted a permanent injunction. 'That is undoubtedly the right outcome in all the circumstances of this case. 'Mr. Cooper has not advanced any point which could justify a refusal of an injunction by the court. 'The judge was entitled to find that Mr Cooper has made it plain that, in the absence of that injunction, he would persist in cultivating the land in breach of the 2006 Regulations, notwithstanding the availability of criminal sanctions.' Donald Trump took aim at ABC News' embattled star David Muir again over the journalist's fact-checking during the presidential debate. Speaking on the eve of his inauguration, the president-elect called out Muir after he contradicted Trump's claim that violent crime has risen. 'Do you remember I did the debate, and I had David Muir from ABC saying, "No, no crime has gone down",' Trump said of the September debate. 'I said, "No, no, it's gone through the roof." Crime has gone through the roof. David [said] "no, no crime has gone down". I said, "it's gone through the roof". And then he goes, "Uh, I disagree with that." 'The next day they announced that crime was up like 40 percent. This guy is, the whole thing is so bad.' Trump referenced a revision of the figures by the FBI the following month which revealed that there was a 4.5 percent increase in violent crime between 2021 and 2022, equivalent to around 80,029 incidents, Fox reports. However, Muir was citing 2024 FBI data which showed that crime overall had declined. The Council for Criminal Justice also notes that most violent crimes are at or below levels seen in 2019. 'President Trump, as you know, the FBI says overall violent crime is coming down in this country,' Muir said at the time. But yesterday the president-elect, who is due to be sworn in later today, hit back again. Donald Trump took aim again at ABC News' David Muir over the journalist's fact-checking during the presidential debate 'The FBI, they were defrauding statements,' Trump said. 'They didn't include the worst cities. They didn't include the cities with the worst crime. It was a fraud.' Muir was a co-moderator of the debate alongside Linsey Davis. Both were criticized by Trump immediately after the showdown against Kamala Harris after the president-elect claimed it was 'one against three'. 'David Muir of ABC, fake news, when I said that crime is way up in our country, he corrected me, he corrected me and so much and it was right what I said,' Trump fumed. 'He didn't correct [Harris] one time, and what she said was wrong, absolutely wrong. 'So many different Charlottesville, she was wrong, all of the different things, almost everything she said, and she was never corrected.' Muir, 53, recently hit headlines for an embarrassing gaffe while covering the California wildfires earlier this month. The anchor was criticized for using pegs to cinch in the waist of a fire retardant jacket as he reported from the fire-ravaged landscape. Muir previously challenged Trump's claim that violent crime was up in the US which he made during the September presidential debate The anchor was recently criticized for using pegs to cinch the waist of a fire retardant jacket while covering the California wildfires Muir - known for posting photos of himself in skintight black t-shirts - was accused of cinching in his jacket to show off his impressive physique. However, insiders at the network claimed that the 'narcissistic' behavior is typical behavior from Muir. He is said to be embroiled in a long-term feud with fellow ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos. The two newsmen have been known to have tension and now are barely seen on screen together as a result, as revealed by Oliver Darcy in a holiday edition of the Status newsletter. 'There certainly has been historic tension to put it lightly between the two anchors,' Darcy wrote in response to a question about the dynamic between Muir and Stephanopoulos. Stephanopoulos brought scandal to ABC News just last month when the network was forced to pay $15 million to settle a defamation suit filed by Donald Trump. While hosting This Week last March, Stephanpoulos said Trump had been 'found liable for rape' in a civil lawsuit brought by writer E. Jean Carroll. A jury had actually found Trump liable for the sexual abuse of Carroll over a 1996 incident in a dressing room of NYC department store Bergdorf Goodman. Insiders at ABC News are said to have settled amid fears Stephanopoulos' embarrassing text messages and emails would be made public should the matter go to trial. He remains employed by the network. Southport killer Axel Rudakubana was personally linked through his parents to the Rwandan genocide, an event that is said to have fascinated him. The 18-year-old, who today pleaded guilty to the murder of three girls at a dance class in Southport on day one of his trial, was raised by two church-going Rwandan parents in Cardiff before the family moved to the north west of England. Rudakubana was 'absolutely obsessed' with genocide, one official was quoted as saying, adding that the subject was 'all he wanted to talk about'. Documents relating to the atrocity were found in his family home. The killer has a connection to the genocide in Rwanda through his parents, who were both Tutsi and were forced to flee the country following the outbreak of mass killings by the Hutu-dominated regime. His taxi driver father, Alphonse, is thought to have fought with the Rwandan Patriotic Army (RPA), an armed force that fought the Hutu government and eventually brought an end to the murders. The 49-year-old is said to have been an officer in the RPA, which invaded from nearby Uganda. The Rwandan genocide saw an estimated one million people shot, beaten or hacked to death with machetes during just over 100 days of violence that broke out in the east African nation in 1994. The killings were sparked by the death of Hutu President Juvenal Habyariman, whose plane was shot down on the night of April 6, triggering a rampage by Hutu extremists and the 'Interahamwe' militia. Rwandan Patriotic Front stand next to the skulls of Tutsis massacred by Hutus in the 1994 Rwanda genocide Southport killer Axel Rudakubana was 'absolutely obsessed' with genocide, one official was quoted as saying, adding that the subject was 'all he wanted to talk about' Rudakubana's father Alphonse is believed to have fled Rwanda with Rudakubana's mother, Laetitia Muzayire, 52, well before the killings began The Tutsi ethnic group made up only a small proportion (about 14 per cent) of Rwanda's population at the time but made up the vast majority of the dead - with the killers egged on by propaganda comparing the ethnic minority to cockroaches. Alphonse is believed to have fled Rwanda with Rudakubana's mother, Laetitia Muzayire, 52, well before the killings began. Multiple sources in the country and among the Rwandan expat community told the Mail that the Rudakubanas continued to have close links with 'high status' figures linked to the regime. Today they distanced themselves from Axel Rudakubana's monstrous crimes, insisting Rwanda's bloody past played no part in the British-born teenager's descent into mass murder. Instead they blamed his exposure to graphic images of brutal killings and atrocities which he was able to access online, coupled with his mental state. 'Axel has trauma and autism which causes him mental health issue and he did it unconsciously,' one relative told the Mail on condition of anonymity. A source added: 'They think this was caused by exposure to violent materials online.' In 2017 Rudakubana's mother Laetitia Muzayire paid tribute to Tutsi victims of the genocide. In a Facebook post accompanied by an image of a candle she wrote: 'Our families, our friends, our kids, our people. Forever in our hearts. Tutsi genocide 1994.' A court artist's sketch of Rudakubana appearing at Liverpool Crown Court this morning Police officers at Rudakubana's home on Old School Close in Banks, Lancashire, last October Rudakubana's parents are believed to maintain close connections to the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), which is led by the country's president, Paul Kagame, pictured The Southport Dance School is the latest case to be covered by the No.1 True Crime podcast, The Trial. Listen to The Trial on Apple, Spotify and anywhere you get your podcasts now The 1994 Rwandan Genocide The assassination of Hutu President Juvenal Habyarimana on the night of April 6, when his plane was shot down over Kigali, triggered the rampage by Hutu extremists and the 'Interahamwe' militia. Victims were shot, beaten or hacked to death in killings fuelled by vicious anti-Tutsi propaganda broadcast on TV and radio. At least 250,000 women were raped, according to UN figures. The country is home to more than 200 memorials to the genocide and new mass graves continue to be uncovered. In 2002, Rwanda set up community tribunals where victims heard 'confessions' from those who had persecuted them, although rights watchdogs said the system also resulted in miscarriages of justice. Today, Rwandan ID cards do not mention whether a person is Hutu or Tutsi. Secondary school students learn about the genocide as part of a tightly controlled curriculum. According to Rwanda, hundreds of genocide suspects remain at large, including in neighbouring nations such as the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Uganda. Only 28 have been extradited to Rwanda from around the world. France, one of the top destinations for Rwandans fleeing justice at home, has tried and convicted half a dozen people over their involvement in the killings. Advertisement Rudakubana's paternal grandfather, Dr Rudakubana, is also said to have been an influential figure in Rwanda, with some reports stating that he was a senior official in the government of President Habyariman, while others say he was a founding member of the RPF - the Guardian reports. Rudakubana has been described as 'introverted' as a child and 'clingy' with his mother - who previously worked in a clerical role at Cardiff University's school of dentistry. Residents of a quiet close in Cardiff said the boy's parents were 'nice, quiet people struggling to make a living after coming from Rwanda'. The couple lived in the Welsh capital for 11 years and had two boys, the elder boisterous, and Axel quiet and shy. Former neighbours were in shock after discovering Rudakubana had been arrested for murder over the 'ferocious' stabbings at a Taylor Swift themed dance class for young girls. Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, Bebe King, six, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, died following the attack at the Taylor Swift-themed class in The Hart Space on a small business park in the seaside town shortly before midday on July 29. A man living in the Rudakubana family's two-bedroomed former home said: 'Obviously something has gone seriously wrong with this young man. 'It is a shock, such a terrible thing to happen.' Their former next door neighbour, a 55-year-old civil servant who didn't want to be named said Axel was 'very quiet, an introvert'. 'He was quite clingy to his mum while his older brother was more boisterous and would stick his tongue out at you. 'I knew the parents were from Rwanda, they spoke English with a strong accent and they cooked spicy food with smells that I didn't recognise. 'They were in their late twenties, they had a story about how they came here but I didn't like to pry.' Sources have confirmed that Rudakubana was referred three times to the Government's deradicalisation scheme Prevent. Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, was one of the three children killed in the knife attack in Southport Bebe King, six, was also killed in the knife attack at The Hart Space in Southport last July Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, was among the three little girls killed in the attack in Southport One of the referrals is thought to follow concerns about his potential interest in the killing of children in a school massacre, but it was deemed that there was no counter-terrorism risk. His behaviour, including his apparent interest in violence, was assessed by Prevent as potentially concerning. But he was deemed not to be motivated by a terrorist ideology or pose a terrorist danger and was therefore not considered suitable for the counter-radicalisation scheme. Rudakubana, who was 17 at the time of the Southport attack this summer, was first referred to Prevent in 2019 when he was 13. Two more referrals were made in 2021, all when he was a school child living in Lancashire. Each time he was assessed as not being a counter-terrorism risk and therefore not suitable for further investigation by the counter-radicalisation programme Channel, which handles Prevent referrals where there is a significant risk of that person being drawn into terrorism. The Mail has learnt that experts dismissed the case as they were reassured that he was already getting help from other services, including mental health services. For more on this case, search for 'The Trial: The Southport Dance class' wherever you get your podcasts now. President Joe Biden sparked fury on his way out the door by issuing preemptive pardons for Dr. Anthony Fauci and all nine members of the January 6 Committee. The 82-year-old Democrat also used his final moments in the Oval Office to give blanket protection to former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley, who Trump has said deserves to be executed. Trump's base blames Fauci for strict COVID-19 restrictions, including social distancing, mask wearing, and harsh vaccine mandates that led to many Americans losing their jobs under Biden's leadership. Fauci is also accused of lying to Congress about the U.S. sending money to fund gain-of-function research at the laboratory in Wuhan, China, where the virus is thought to have originated and leaked from. Trump's initial reaction was to tell NBC's Kristen Welker that the pardons are 'disgraceful.' 'Many are guilty of MAJOR CRIMES!' he wrote in a text to the anchor, sent as he engaged in inauguration activities on Monday morning. Meanwhile, Fauci told CNN's Dana Bash he is 'very appreciative' of Biden's pardon and still insists that he has done 'nothing wrong.' January 6 panel Chairman Rep. Bennie Thompson and former Republican Rep. Liz Cheney were included in the pardon sweep, giving them immunity from any future actions by Trump's Department of Justice. Donald Trump Jr. was among the first of the Trump family to respond to the pardon of Fauci, claiming: 'He doesn't have to accept the pardon.' 'If he did nothing wrong be a man and turn it down But you know he won't because everyone knows he's guilty of so much,' the eldest Trump child wrote. And incoming Assistant to the President Taylor Budowich released a quick response on X, claiming: 'Joe Biden's final act as President will go down as the greatest attack on America's justice system in history.' 'With the stroke of a pen, he unilaterally shielded a group of political cronies from the scales of justice. This is yet another dangerous and unreversible (sic) erosion of American norms.' There was immediate backlash from Republicans who are now vowing to haul Fauci in before Congress to answer to the American people for his actions during the pandemic. On his way out the door, President Joe Biden issue preemptive pardons for several that he thinks will be targeted by Donald Trump in his second term Most controversial of all is the pardon for Dr. Anthony Fauci, who served as leader of the White House Coronavirus Task Force and was responsible for recommending some of the most restrictive policies during the COVID-19 pandemic Melania Trump watches her husband, President-elect Donald Trump, speak at a candlelight dinner on Sunday night Melania stunned on Sunday, hours before her husband will take his oath of office in the early afternoon on Monday 'If there was ever any doubt as to who bears responsibility for the COVID pandemic, Biden's pardon of Fauci forever seals the deal,' said Sen. Rand Paul, who previously referred the doctor to the DOJ for prosecution. 'As Chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee I will not rest until the entire truth of the coverup is exposed,' the Kentucky Republican continued. 'Fauci's pardon will only serve as an accelerant to pierce the veil of deception.' 'Ignominious! Anthony Fauci will go down in history as the first government scientist to be preemptively pardoned for a crime.' Trump will take his oath of office in the early afternoon on Monday. He is expected to sign at least 200 executive orders and actions on his first day back behind the Resolute Desk this will include pardoning those who engaged in the Capitol riot on January 6, 2021. Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin, who served on the January 6 Committee, previously said that preemptive pardons show there is some admission of inherent guilt. 'The seeking of pardons is powerful demonstration of the consciousness of guilt, or at least the consciousness that you may be in trouble,' he told CNN in a past interview. 'And that's what's so shocking about this.' Now all eyes are on those who Biden issued these preemptive pardons for to see if they will accept them and therefore inherently accept a public perception of guilt. Among the most controversial of all Biden's pardons so far is the protection of Fauci from federal prosecution. He also got massive backlash for pardoning his own son Hunter from his federal crimes. Biden commuted almost 2,500 sentences last week, using his final days in office on a flurry of clemency actions meant to nullify prison terms he deemed too harsh. It comes after he issued 39 pardons and commuted another 1,500 sentences in December. Republican Texas Rep. Chip Roy claimed that Biden's actions on Monday gives the 'implication' that all those preemptively protected were in need of pardons because they are guilty of crimes. 'So, let's call them all before Congress and demand the truth,' Roy recommended on X. 'If they refuse or lie - let's test the constitutional 'reach' of these pardons with regard to their future actions.' MAGA ally Marjorie Taylor Greene insisted that Biden's action shows they are 'guilty of crimes.' 'Biden pardons for Mark Milley, Anthony Fauci, the members of the Jan. 6 committee and the cops who testified before the committee because they are GUILTY OF CRIMES.' 'Never forget what the Democrats have done. The mask is completely OFF,' she went on. Ivanka Trump posts Instagram photos on Jan. 19, 2025 as she, husband Jared Kushner and their kids Arabella, Joseph and Theodore, arrive in preparation for father Donald Trump's second inauguration Many users on X also accused Fauci of murder as they raged against the pardon. 'Anthony Fauci was pardoned by Joe Biden because he's guilty of murder,' anti-transgender advocate Riley Gaines posted. 'That's it. That's the tweet.' In another tweet she noted: 'Ask yourself this: Why would Joe Biden pardon Fauci if he wasn't a criminal who should be locked up for his lies, negligence, & greed that killed innocent Americans? Biden was already going out in shame and disgrace, but this is a new low.' 'Congress should fully investigate Anthony Fauci,' a conservative X account wrote, then suggested: 'And then states should criminally prosecute Anthony Fauci for murder.' Another pro-MAGA account with 3.4 million followers wrote: 'Biden's pardon of Fauci is his worst one yet. He deserves prison for life.' Conservatives and those who opposed COVID-19 restrictions blame Fauci for the proliferation of social distancing, mask-wearing, school shut downs and vaccine mandates Fauci is accused of lying under oath before Congress about directing U.S. funding for gain of function research at the Wuhan lab in China where it's thought coronavirus was developed and leaked It's believed, especially among conservative circles, that the COVID-19 virus was developed and intentionally leaked from the Wuhan Institute of Virology. Pictured: Chinese virologist Shi Shengli inside the P4 laboratory in Wuhan, Hubei, China 'Fauci is the most prolific American serial killer of the 21st Century,' podcaster Eric Matheny wrote on X. 'He's not a hero nor a respected man of science. He funded the creation of COVID, knew about its origins in a lab, and lied to the American people.' 'Of course Biden pardons him,' he concluded. Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-Ga.) slammed all of Biden's final pardons, writing in a post to X: 'Joe Biden just issued preemptive pardons for Mark Milley, Anthony Fauci, and Members of Congress and staff of the sham J6 Committee.' 'In its final hours, the most CORRUPT Administration in American history is covering up Democrats' trail of criminal activity,' he continued. 'Yet we will never forget what they did to our country.' Biden wrote in a statement on the pardons on Monday morning: 'Our nation relies on dedicated, selfless public servants every day. They are the lifeblood of our democracy. Yet alarmingly, public servants have been subjected to ongoing threats and intimidation for faithfully discharging their duties.' 'That is why I am exercising my authority under the Constitution to pardon General Mark A. Milley, Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, the Members of Congress and staff who served on the Select Committee, and the U.S. Capitol and D.C. Metropolitan police officers who testified before the Select Committee,' the president announced. 'The issuance of these pardons should not be mistaken as an acknowledgment that any individual engaged in any wrongdoing, nor should acceptance be misconstrued as an admission of guilt for any offense,' he continued. 'Our nation owes these public servants a debt of gratitude for their tireless commitment to our country.' Biden and first lady Jill Biden are in the middle of vacating the White House Monday morning before the inauguration activities. At noon, Trump will be sworn in as president and move back into the White House for a second four-year term. Fauci was brought on board by Trump to served in the White House Coronavirus Task Force during the early days of the pandemic but he is now one of the biggest foes of MAGA world Former Republican Rep. Liz Cheney are among those who Biden issued preemptive pardons for on Monday, which included all eight of her colleagues who served on the House Select Committee on the January 6 Capitol Attack The first pardon Biden issued after losing the 2024 presidential election to Trump was for his son Hunter Biden, 54, who was convicted on felony tax charges as well as federal crimes for lying in 2018 about his drug use on a form to purchase a firearm. This came to the ire of Democrats who felt it would give Trump permission to issue sweeping pardons without fear of being accused of hypocrisy. And the same day Biden pardoned his son, Trump announced he would pardon January 6 defendants who were charged with crimes related to the Capitol attack. Biden wrote in his pardon announcement on Monday that the action is warranted because they are public servants who have 'been threatened with criminal prosecutions.' 'These public servants have served our nation with honor and distinction and do not deserve to be the targets of unjustified and politically motivated prosecutions,' he noted. Welcome to MAGALAND: White House insiders reveal whats really going on behind the scenes in the new Trump administration. Listen wherever you get your podcasts. Less than a pint could tip motorists over the limit if new calls for a lower drink-drive threshold succeed - as campaigners raised alarm about road deaths reaching a 13-year high. The National Police Chiefs Council and the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners (APCC) want tougher laws to punish drivers who consume anything more than a small glass of beer. Chief constables are also backing a zero-tolerance approach to intoxicated motorists, changing procedures to allow officers to issue a driving ban at the roadside the moment someone tests positive, rather than letting offenders continue driving for months pending a court case. The proposed crackdown comes after doctors vowed to lobby ministers to almost halve the legal limit established in 1967, which is one of the highest in Europe. The legal limit in England, Wales and Northern Ireland is currently 80mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood, while in Scotland it is 50mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood. But body mass, gender and how quickly the body absorbs alcohol mean individuals are impacted differently by drinking and even tiny amounts of alcohol can impair driving. On average, if a man has more than two pints they will likely be over the drink-drive limit, while for women, having more than one pint or standard glass of wine could put you over the legal limit. Now the British Medical Association (BMA) wants to reduce the limit by almost half, to 50mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood for the majority of drivers, and 20mg for new and commercial drivers. Your browser does not support iframes. The National Police Chiefs Council and the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners (APCC) are calling for a change in the law to lower the drink drive limit (file image) It comes after road fatalities have soared to a 13-year high (file image) This would equate to only a small glass of wine or beer. The changes would mean just under a pint would tip some men over the limit. Insurance comparison firm Confused.com urges drivers to avoid any alcohol at all - while suggesting that drinking two pints of beer, two 175ml glasses of wine or four 35ml shots would put men over the current limit. They also say women risk being above the threshold after drinking one pint of beer, one 175ml glass of wine or three 35ml shots, with calculations based on UK average weights of 85kg for men and 72kg for women. At least 17 organisations have endorsed the BMA's new recommendations, including the Alcohol Health Alliance, the Association of Ambulance Chief Executives and the road safety charity Brake. In 2022, drink-drive fatalities hit a record high, with 300 people killed in collisions - the highest since 2009. The latest data shows that, in 2022, 18 per cent of road deaths were related to drink-driving, which was the same proportion as in 1987. Police chiefs now say a fresh consultation is needed to determine what the alcohol limit should be. In a recent campaign by forces, a record number of people were arrested for driving under the influence of drink or drugs in some areas. The legal limit in England is currently 80mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood (file image) Sussex Chief Constable Jo Shiner, the National Police Chiefs' Council lead for roads policing, said: 'In policing we see the damaging impact of drink and drug driving all too often, and every fatality or serious injury which happens as a consequence of this is completely avoidable. 'Driving under the influence of drink or drugs will not be tolerated, and we support the BMA's call for lowering the legal blood alcohol limit.' She added: 'In addition to our current powers, we will also continue to make the case for more effective legislation which enables faster interim disqualifications for those who fail roadside tests. 'This will remove risk from our roads and reduce the number of people who are killed or seriously injured by those who are repeatedly criminally irresponsible. 'If someone has made the decision to drive under the influence of drink or drugs, we must be able to take swift and robust action to stop them doing so again.' Joy Allen and David Sidwick, APCC addictions and substance misuse leads, and Sarah Taylor and Marc Jones, APCC roads policing leads, are also backing a law change. They said: 'Any amount of alcohol before driving is dangerous. By supporting the BMA's call for a lowering of the legal blood alcohol limit for driving, we are sending a clear message: If you drink, don't drive.' Some police leaders want to go even further, making it illegal to drive after drinking any amount of alcohol. Pictured are the number of fatalities in reported drink-driving collisions from 2012 to 2022 This graph, which uses data from the Department for Transport, shows drink-driving collisions as a proportion of all fatalities This graph breaks down the number of regular collisions and drink-drive collisions The number of drink-drive collisions as a proportion of all fatalities has wavered over the years Ms Allen, who is also Police and Crime Commissioner for Durham, said: 'I support a total drink and drive ban, both because drink driving is the cause of hundreds of unnecessary deaths on the UK's roads every year and because the impact of alcohol differs for every person, dependent on gender, weight and the type of drink. 'People can't guess at what is safe and what isn't and so the safest thing to do, and the easiest thing for everyone to understand, is just not to drink and drive.' Recent RAC research suggested a third of drivers backed lowering the legal blood alcohol limit to zero. RAC road safety spokesman Rod Dennis said: 'Shockingly, government data shows we're back to a similar rate of fatalities caused by people drinking and driving as we were in the late 1980s and that a significant number of drink-drive offences are committed by reoffenders. 'The idea of reducing the legal drink-drive limit an idea supported by a third of drivers we surveyed may not alone be the answer. 'Road casualty data for Scotland, which reduced its drink-drive limit to a lower level than the rest of the UK ten years ago suggests it hasn't cut the percentage of casualties in alcohol-related collisions. 'We hope the issue of drink driving will be addressed in the Government's soon-to-be-published road safety strategy, as clamping down on it in the right way could save hundreds of lives every year.' MailOnline reported last year how hundreds of people had been caught drink driving at least four times, sparking calls for ministers to consider forcing reoffenders to have breathalysers fitted to their cars. A total of 27,837 British drivers were convicted of the offence multiple times in the 11 years to July 20 last year, official figures revealed. Some 372 were caught at least four times, including four who were prosecuted on seven occasions. Lina Pritchard, center, claps after the national anthem at a GOP inauguration watch party at Harrys Bar in San Francisco on Monday. Benjamin Fanjoy/Special to the Chronicle San Francisco Republicans spent Monday morning whooping and applauding in Harrys Bar on Fillmore Street, celebrating the return to office of President Donald Trump. More than 100 people gathered at the bar for breakfast, coffee and, for some, cocktails as Trumps inauguration took place. Philip Wing, a lifelong San Franciscan who lives in the Sunset, wore a shirt expressing a sentiment many of the attendees echoed: Proud to be the Elephant in the room. With more than 80% of the citys votes going to the Democratic ticket, and just over 15.5% of voters supported Trump and Vice President JD Vance, Republicans are vastly outnumbered in San Francisco. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Here, Republicans often feel in the midst of another world, Bill Jackson, chairman of the San Francisco Republican Party, said. Todays energizing because there is a change in administration that weve been looking forward to. Jackson said that the inauguration party at Harrys was likely one of the few places in the city celebrating Trumps return to power. He, like many other attendees, was hopeful that deportations and tighter restrictions at the border would quickly be implemented. Manuel Noris stands at a GOP inauguration watch party at Harrys Bar in San Francisco on Monday. Benjamin Fanjoy/Special to the Chronicle Jackson also emphasized that the cultural shifts to the right could be felt in San Francisco. Even here, Ive been in touch with leaders in the PTA and schools here who are thinking, Maybe well just dial back a little bit on maybe weve gone too far with certain kinds of DEI or certain kinds of language, Jackson said. I think that the cultural shift is impacting a wide range of people here in San Francisco, and thats going to be important. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Terry Carpenter, a veteran and general contractor living in Noe Valley, watched the inauguration from a barstool. He came because Jackson, his neighbor, had invited him after realizing they were both Republicans. Carpenter is typically more concerned with state and local issues, he said, but hopes that Trump will take action on deporting undocumented immigrants with criminal backgrounds. While Carpenter typically thinks that Trump is more bark than bite, he hopes that the president wont go too far in deporting all immigrants who came into the country without authorization. Our country relies on immigrants a lot. And then you start deporting all of them, what are we left with? Carpenter said. Were left with a bunch of lazy, lazy Americans. Stricter action on immigration also brought Nick Berg into the San Francisco GOP. Berg, a newly elected delegate in the party, was not a Republican until two years ago. He said that his involvement in the campaign to recall former San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin brought him into politics. Advertisement Article continues below this ad A group watches President Donald Trump speak at a GOP inauguration watch party at Harrys Bar in San Francisco on Monday. Benjamin Fanjoy/Special to the Chronicle Berg works in property management, and he believes that more law enforcement involved in immigration enforcement could stop the flow of fentanyl to San Francisco. While he supported Nikki Haley in the Republican primary, he still thinks Trump will be helpful in San Francisco. Berg came in as a delegate to the S.F. GOP as part of a broader center shift. Hes hopeful that the group can begin to mount a more substantial role as an opposition party to Democratic rule in the city. The Republican is also excited to see deregulation for businesses from Trump, as well as what Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy do under the Department of Government Efficiency. Jennifer Yan, another new delegate, also got into politics through the Boudin recall. She said that continued concern over public safety led to her involvement in pushing to pass Proposition 36 this fall. Advertisement Article continues below this ad She said voters are concerned about education, crime and regulations on businesses, all of which contributed to their support of Trump. His election probably represents voter frustration, Yan said. Carpenter is also frustrated with local politics, but curious to see what will happen with Mayor Daniel Lurie, his second choice in November. The Nebraska native doesnt mince words over state politics and Gov. Gavin Newsom, though, calling him a hypocrite. With Trump and Newsom, Im excited about watching those two clowns fight. Its more of a comedy show, Carpenter said. I just think Newsoms a flat-out idiot. I cant wait for him to go because he is destroying this state on the daily. Jackson, who works as an education consultant, said that while sanctuary state and city policies could insulate San Franciscans from changes on the federal level, hes hopeful that San Franciscos leaders take a middle ground stance, taking part in whats good about Trump and his administration. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Jackson hopes that leaders take advantage of Trump and use him as cover to enact common sense policies. Kathleen McCrea sits at a GOP inauguration watch party at Harrys Bar in San Francisco on Monday. Benjamin Fanjoy/Special to the Chronicle As the inauguration ceremony began Monday morning, attendees grumbled about the televisions being tuned to CBS News, then applauded the switch to Fox News. When a reporter on TV said that former President Joe Biden had pardoned family members in a final act, one person exclaimed to another, Are you kidding me? As Trump spoke, eyes were glued to the blaring TVs, and cheers erupted for his promises to turn toward fossil fuels and away from electric vehicle promotion, and to end diversity, equity and inclusion programs, as well as his declaration that the country would only recognize two genders. Carpenter, who was excited to see the change in administration, said that he thinks often people make assumptions about his political positions because of his affiliations with the Republican Party. But he said he breaks from conservative stances on reproductive rights because he said he doesnt want any men telling women what to do with their bodies. We all are so divided right now. San Francisco is in a bubble, Carpenter said. Being a Republican, I get put into a box a lot. Carpenter left the bar impressed with Trumps speech. He thought that while Trump was a deer in the headlights during his first term, he was more prepared to take action in this second term. Carpenter said he thought the president was less rambling and more angry in his speech. A British teenager who was jailed in Dubai for having sex with another UK tourist has spent his birthday behind bars after welcoming the new year in solitary confinement. Marcus Fakana, now 19, from Tottenham, was 18-years-old when he was arrested for having sex with a 17-year-old girl from London while he was on holiday with his parents in the UAE city in August. The girl was just one month away from turning 18, but sex with anyone under the age of 18 is an offence in the Gulf state. Having spent New Years in isolation, Fakana was then kept from speaking to his family as he turned 19 in the maximum-security al-Awir central prison for men, which is home to death row inmates, murderers, terrorists and violent gangsters. In an update shared on X, the CEO of campaign group Detained in Dubai, Radha Stirling, said: 'Marcus Fakana spent New Year's in isolation and his birthday in Dubai jail. The now-19-year-old, has been able to telephone his family. Hes hanging in there. Al-Awir is notorious for its cramped conditions, where inmates often fall sick while crammed 20 to a cell designed to house just three to four people. Prisoners have previously claimed to have been tortured for confessions, and rape is reportedly an everyday occurrence, carried out by both inmates and guards. Marcus Fakana, 19, had a weeklong holiday romance with a girl, also British, but was arrested and detained after her mother complained to the Dubai police. He has now been jailed Radha Stirling, founder of British-based aid group Detained In Dubai, said Fakana spent New Year's in isolation and his birthday in Dubai jail Fakana began his secretive holiday romance in August with the girl who was then just a couple of weeks short of her 18th birthday. They were reportedly planning on continuing their relationship when they were back in London. But the girl's mother reportedly found birth control pills, photos and chats upon their return to the UK and informed the Dubai police, who arrested Fakana at his hotel. Following his arrest, campaigners have said it is 'outrageous' that the foreign secretary appears to not want to help them. Detained in Dubai, a campaign group working closely with the family of Marcus Fakana, asked David Lammy to raise the case through diplomatic channels after the apprentice builder was sentenced last month. But the foreign secretary, who also serves as the MP of for Fakana's north London constituency, said that Britons should 'follow the rules' in other countries'. Detained in Dubai blasted the statement as untrue. It said: 'It's outrageous to remove himself from the case. He [Lammy] clearly did not want to help or have those conversations with the Dubai government. 'He is absolutely fine to see a young British tourist jailed for relations with someone who was one month away from being 18, simply saying you should follow the law.' Marcus is pictured with his family who have been battling to get the teenager released Pictured is the high-security al-Awir Central Prison where Fakana will serve his sentence. The jail houses some of Dubai's worst offenders, including murderer, terrorists and rapists The family of Marcus Fakana, from Tottenham, London, have been left devastated by his prison sentence, sources claimed Protesters march in Westminster, demanding the release of Fakana on January 04, 2025 It comes a lawyer warned that Fakana could have his sentence increased to up to 20 years. If the girl was still in Dubai, she would have been arrested too. Marcus and his family are now hoping for a pardon from Dubais ruler Sheikh Mohammed Al Maktoum. Vladimir Putin is 'creating the conditions' to attack NATO and has already replaced the thousands of tanks and missiles destroyed in his illegal war in Ukraine, a leading German military official has warned. Major General Christian Freuding said that Russia's armed forces are 'not just able to compensate for their enormous personnel and material losses... they are successfully rearming'. Freuding told Die Welt that while Putin has suffered huge casualties in the war, losing his 'well-trained troops', his 'imperialist impulse' remains unbroken and the military is 'successfully rearming'. While it was not clear whether Russia plans to attack NATO, Freuding said Putin was 'clearly creating the conditions for it', claiming supplies in Russia's depots are 'growing'. Russia has significantly expanded its military in the last 12 months, boosting the size of its army to 1.5 million active personnel in September to become the second largest in the world, according to Russian media. While NATO claims it 'does not seek confrontation and poses no threat to Russia', Putin and his allies have increasingly sent warnings of nuclear Armageddon to the West in a bid to undermine support for Ukraine. Destroyed Russian armoured vehicles after the withdrawal from Lyman in Ukraine Russian service members drive a BTR-82A armoured personnel carrier along Red Square during a rehearsal for a military parade on May 5, 2024 Putin is said to be 'clearly creating the conditions' for war with NATO (pictured January 17) Russian S-300 missile systems take part in the Victory Day military parade general rehearsal on the Red Square in Moscow, Russia, May 5, 2024 A Ukrainian serviceman reacts after firing a 120-mm mortar towards Russian troops near the town of Vovchansk in the Kharkiv region, Ukraine January 16 Germany, among Ukraine's top backers in the West, has been locked in intense discussions over whether to back a 2.5bn aid package - a package Chancellor Olaf Scholz has said would be contingent upon loosening Germany's own spending restraints. The aid package, mostly to fund air defence, has received support from leaders across the political spectrum seeking to bolster Ukraine before the German snap election on February 23. If it goes through, it would be the largest single package to date from any ally, and would supplement four billion euros in aid already allocated to Ukraine for 2025 in a provision budget. It comes at a delicate time, with Vladimir Putin and his MPs threatening parties offering to support Kyiv's defence of its territory. Aleksey Zhuravlyov, deputy head of Russia's parliamentary defence committee, urged last week that Russia should be ready for World War Three within three years. The pro-Putin MP urged that while Russia has enough volunteers to fight, it must start to prepare the male population for a major confrontation with the West by 2028-29. 'Europe explains to us that in 20282029 [it and its allies] will be ready to fight Russia,' he assessed. 'Here it is necessary to prepare the male population and, naturally, defend the Motherland. We must talk about this and not be ashamed of it.' Responding to the comments, Yuri Shvytkin, deputy chair of the State Duma Defence Committee, firmly agreed with the assessment, telling Ridus that 'every Russian must understand that in the event of external aggression, he must take up arms and defend the Motherland.' He shied away from calling for immediate mobilisation, suggesting the threat from NATO was not yet a pressing issue. Russian tanks and motorized artillery systems seized by Ukrainian forces, August 25, 2022 Maj Gen Christian Freuding (pictured last February) said Russia is 'successfully rearming' Ukrainian servicemen of the 24 Separate Mechanized Brigade firing 155mm M-109 'Paladin' howitzer towards Russian forces near the town Chasiv Yar German Chancellor Olaf Scholz attends the day of remembrance '80 years since the liberation of Auschwitz - what now?', in Frankfurt, Germany, January 19 Putin himself said in late December that a global conflict could erupt if the West continues 'escalating the situation'. 'You know, there is no need to scare anyone,' he told a state TV reporter, caveating, 'there are many dangers - they are increasing'. 'And we see what our enemy is doing today, escalating the situation. If they want to, let them live badly, let them escalate further. 'We will always respond to any challenge, always,' he said. Putin glossed over his role in escalating conflict in Europe with the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, instead boasting of his personal role in the 'historic' development of the Oreshnik hypersonic missile. The Russian dictator today welcomed Donald Trump's decision to restore direct contacts with Russia and prevent World War Three, after insisted he would fight for Russia's interests on the world stage. Ukraine meanwhile attacked a Russian-occupied town in the southern Kherson region on Monday, killing two people and wounding more than a dozen others, Russian state media reported. The region's Moscow-installed governor said Ukrainian forces had fired 'cluster munitions' near a school in the town of Bekhtery when students and teachers were on their way to lessons and that children were among the wounded. Both Russia and Ukraine have ramped up hostilities in recent months, trying to secure the upper hand in the almost three-year conflict ahead of US President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration later on Monday. Vladimir Putin (R) during his meeting with the President of the National Medical Research Centre for Endocrinology Ivan Dedov in Moscow, Russia, 18 January Priests and worshippers clear debris inside St. Andrew's Cathedral damaged by Russian missile strikes, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine on January 18 Recently mobilized Ukrainian infantry soldiers of the 59th Separate Mechanized Brigade practice shooting assault rifles on a training ground near the southeastern city of Pokrovsk, which has been under threat for months from advancing Russian troops, on January 19, 2025 The attack came as Russian forces advanced further in east Ukraine. The Russian defence ministry said they had captured two more villages, including one just a few kilometres (miles) from the Ukrainian-held supply hub of Pokrovsk. It said its army units 'liberated' Shevchenko - around three kilometres (two miles) from Pokrovsk, as well as Novoyegorivka in the eastern Lugansk region. Russia accelerated its advances in Ukraine last year, capturing seven times more territory in 2024 than in 2023, according to an AFP analysis of data from the Institute for the Study of War. Moscow is also pressing into the hilltop city of Chasiv Yar, a frontline stronghold whose capture would allow it to drive deeper into the Donetsk region. Universities are offering students mental health resources and issuing travel notices ahead of Donald Trump's inauguration. Schools are closed across the country due to the ceremony falling on a federal holiday, with institutes offering help for woke youngsters. Emory University's Rollins School of Public Health published an interview with clinical psychologist Rachel Waford in December about dealing with presidential transitions. Their article reads: 'Americans are experiencing a mix of emotions as Trump prepares to starts his second term as President of the United States. 'For some, a second Trump administration is stirring up fear and anxiety' and added that those who suffer from anxiety should stay off social media. It continued: 'I would encourage anybody who is in that state right now to think about the ways that you can plug into your life tangibly. 'Plug into your community, social supports, and the things that bring a sense of security, safety, and control.' The Close Up Foundation, a nonprofit education group, had offered middle school students the chance to take a seven-day trip to Washington DC for the ceremony. President-elect Donald Trump is seen here alongside his wife Melania at a dinner inside the National Building Museum on January 19, 2025 in Washington DC People walk on the campus of the University of Southern California (USC) on March 21, 2024 in Los Angeles They said this was to help 'young people see how our national ideals impact us today.' In recent weeks international students have also been urged by their universities to return to the US before the inauguration. Emory University's Rollins School of Public Health published an interview with clinical psychologist Rachel Waford, seen here, in December This came about after Trump announced plans to crack down on illegal immigration and claimed it could impact them. Such schools that issued notices, according to Fox, include Cornell University, the University of Southern California, Harvard and Penn State. In a notice seen by the outlet from Cornell, the school said: 'A travel ban is likely to go into effect soon after inauguration. 'The ban is likely to include citizens of the countries targeted in the first Trump administration: Kyrgyzstan, Nigeria, Myanmar, Sudan, Tanzania, Iran, Libya, North Korea, Syria, Venezuela, Yemen, and Somalia. New countries could be added to this list, particularly China and India.' Meanwhile the University of Southern California said that it 'is especially important given that a new presidential administration will take office on January 20 and as is common may issue one or more executive orders impacting travel to the US and visa processing.' Such schools that issued notices, according to Fox, include Cornell University, the University of Southern California, Harvard, seen here, and Penn State Demonstrators protest Trump's incoming administration during the People's March on Saturday, January 18 Outside of travel notices and mental health support, other pro-Palestinian student groups are planning demonstrations. In Chicago, The University of Illinois Chicago's Students for Justice in Plaestine and the Students for a Democratic Society, both announced intentions to hold anti-Israeli protests. After Trump won the election in November, 'emotionally distressed' children attending the Ethical Culture Fieldston School in New York were allowed a day off. The school, which costs $65,540 a year in fees, allowed kids to excuse themselves from classes after the win. In an email titled 'Election Day Support', Stacey Bobo, principal of the upper school said it 'acknowledges that this may be a high-stakes and emotional time' for them. Comedian Jerry Seinfeld, who sent his kids to the school, hit back at the institute over the move telling The New York Times it was decisions like that made him transfer his kids out. He said: 'This is why the kids hated it. What kind of lives have these people led that makes them think that this is the right way to handle young people? 'To encourage them to buckle. This is the lesson they are providing, for ungodly sums of money.' Barron Trump showed-off a slicked back new hairstyle as he attended his father's historic second inauguration on Monday. Barron, 18, looked smart in a long black overcoat, white shirt and purple tie as he attended a church ceremony in St John's Episcopal Church opposite the White House on Monday morning. The NYU-Stern student, who towers over his dad and mother Melania at 6'9, kept his expression neutral as he walked into church and sat in a pew alongside his parents. Barron's hairstyle was similar to the the one usually sported by his older half-brother Donald Trump Jr, 47. His look was a marked contrast to his appearance at his father's first inauguration in January 2017, when he was just ten years old. Back then, Barron had blonde hair and wore it without gel. The first son was seen smiling and joking with his father at the White House after President Trump was sworn in as 45th president. Barron is Trump's youngest son. Trump is also father to Tiffany Trump, 31, who he had while married to second wife Marla Maples, 61. President-elect Trump's eldest three children are Don Jr, Ivanka, 43, and Eric, 41. Barron Trump, 18, delighted fans with a slick new look at his father's second inauguration on Monday Barron Trump showed off a slicked-back new hairstyle as he entered St John's Episcopal Church in Washington DC with his father, President-elect Donald Trump and mother Melania ahead of Donald Trump's second inauguration Monday morning Barron (pictured left on Monday) looks more like his father than ever thanks to his new hairstyle. Donald Trump is pictured, right, in 1987 Photos from Donald Trump's first presidential inauguration in January 2017 show the then 10-year old Barron with sandy hair Their mother is Trump's first wife Ivana Trump, who he was married to between 1977 and 1990. Ivana died in July 2022 aged 73 after falling down the stairs of her townhouse on Manhattan's Upper East Side. Barron has fascinated Americans on the left and right in recent years. His mother Melania was famously-protective of his privacy and Barron is yet to make any kind of public speech or statement. Last year, an old clip of him saying 'I like my suitcase' in an accent similar to that of his Slovenian mother swept the internet after it was unearthed by DailyMail.com. The first son's enigmatic presence has only served to fuel interest in him, with Barron said to have played a crucial role in helping his father connect with Gen-Z voters. During last year's election, he reportedly played a crucial role advising Trump on how to connect with younger Gen-Z voters. Barron is studying at New York University's Stern School of Business, with a source telling People that the teenager is 'a ladies man for sure' and 'really popular' with female students. The youngster enjoyed the pageantry of the occasion and was close by his dad's side all day His closeness to his parents is evident. Back in 2017, he was photographed waving confidently to the crowds with the rest of the First Family as they headed into the ceremony. Once inside, Barron watched over his father's shoulder as he formally signed his cabinet nominations into law. He appeared at ease amongst the pageantry, sitting down to enjoy the Inaugural Luncheon in Statuary Hall and rubbing shoulders with some of the most influential people in the world. Barron attended the ceremony along with his half-siblings, Tiffany Trump, Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr. Half-sister Ivanka Trump and her husband Jared Kushner were also in attendance. Ivanka previously held an advisory role in her dad's administration, but is understood to be taking more of a backseat role this time around. Trump will be sworn in again as 47th US president today ahead of his four-year term. Barron is seen alongside his parents, who occupied the front pew with Vice President-elect JD Vance and his wife Usha The youngster sat down to enjoy the Inaugural Luncheon in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol following the ceremony He has pledged to deport millions of immigrants, secure retribution against his political enemies and transform the role of the US on the world stage. His inauguration completes a triumphant comeback for a political disruptor who survived two impeachment trials, a felony conviction, two assassination attempts and an indictment for attempting to overturn his 2020 election loss. The ceremony will take place at noon EST inside the Rotunda of the US Capitol. The swearing-in was moved indoors for the first time in 40 years due to the extreme cold. It comes four years after a mob of Trump supporters breached the symbol of American democracy in an unsuccessful effort to forestall the Republican Trump's 2020 defeat to Democrat Joe Biden. Terrorist child killer Axel Rudakubana today pleaded guilty to the triple murder of three innocent schoolgirls. The savage thug went on a bloody knife rampage at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in Southport on July 29. Aged just 17 at the time, the deranged fiend knifed Bebe King, six, Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, and Alice Dasilva Aguiar, nine. The bloodshed shocked the nation, and led to tributes from pop star Taylor Swift, who said at the time: 'These were just little kids at a dance class. I am at a complete loss for how to ever convey my sympathies to these families.' It is still not known why Rudakubana singled out the summer workshop, held by dance teacher Leanne Lucas, which had been advertised on Instagram. Today Rudakubana, now 18, pleaded guilty to killing three girls, as well as the attempted murder of eight other children, who cannot be named for legal reasons, class instructor Ms Lucas and businessman John Hayes. He also pleaded guilty to possession of a knife on the day of the attack, production of a biological toxin - ricin - on or before July 29, and possession of information likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing to commit an act of terrorism. Now a timeline has revealed how the ruthless murderer went from being a schoolboy in Wales to a killer whose heinous crimes sparked rioting nationwide. Your browser does not support iframes. Axel Rudakubana is pictured in a custody image shortly after his arrest following his rampage Rudakubana's terrifying and deadly knife rampage left the nation appalled Victims: Bebe King (left), six, Elsie Dot Stancombe (centre), seven and Alice da Silva Aguiar (right), nine, died during the mass stabbing at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in Southport - 2002: Rudakubana's father Alphonse moves to the UK from Rwanda, according to an interview he gave to his local newspaper in Southport in 2015. - August 7 2006: Rudakubana is born in Cardiff, Wales. - 2013: The family - including Rudakubana's father, mother and older brother - move from Wales to Banks in Lancashire, a few miles from Southport. - July 29 2024: Shortly before midday, a knifeman enters a dance class at The Hart Space in Hart Street in Southport. Bebe, Elsie and Alice are fatally wounded. Eight other children are injured, as are instructor Ms Lucas and businessman John Hayes. Police say they have detained a male and seized a knife. Within hours, claims spread online that the suspect is an asylum seeker who arrived in the UK by boat in 2023. Some claims include an alleged identity. - July 30 2024: In the evening, a peaceful vigil is held outside Southport's Atkinson arts venue, where flowers are laid in memory of those who died. Shortly after the vigil, a separate protest begins outside the town's mosque in St Luke's Road. People throw items towards the mosque, property is damaged and police vehicles are set on fire. Pictured is where Rudakubana's horror killing spree took place, as he stabbed young children to death while they danced at Hart Space The killings shocked the community of Southport. Pictured are mourners embracing each other at a memorial service in August, 2024 Pictured are police and emergency teams in Southport after Rudakubana rampage in 2024 Forensic police are seen following Rudakubana's deadly rampage in Southport - July 31 2024: Demonstrators gather in Whitehall, London, for an 'Enough Is Enough' protest. Flares and cans are thrown at police and more than 100 people are arrested. Disorder also breaks out in Hartlepool, County Durham, and Aldershot, Hampshire. - August 1 2024: Police announce that Rudakubana has been charged with the murders of Bebe, Elsie Dot and Alice, 10 counts of attempted murder and possession of a bladed article. He is not named by police because of his age. He appears in court in Liverpool and Honorary Recorder of Liverpool Andrew Menary KC rules he can be named, as he is due to turn 18 in a week. He initially smiled on entering the courtroom - then kept his face covered by his sweatshirt for the remainder of the proceedings before the case was adjourned. Later that evening, demonstrators gather outside a hotel in Newton Heath, Manchester. - August 2 2024: Three police officers are taken to hospital after disorder in Sunderland. - August 3 2024: There are scenes of violence during planned protests across the UK, including in Liverpool, Hull, Nottingham and Belfast. JULY 30: Riot police hold back protesters after disorder broke out following the massacre AUGUST 3: Police officers form a line in front of counter protesters at Nottingham's 'Enough is Enough' demonstration AUGUST 4:The Southport killings later prompted days of unrest and riots across the UK. Pictured are officers in Rotherham dealing with one incident of disorder during the rioting in August - August 4 2024: Disorder continues, including outside a Holiday Inn Express in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, where masked demonstrators launch lengths of wood and sprayed fire extinguishers at police officers. - August 5 2024: The Government holds an emergency Cobra meeting in the wake of the disorder and Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer vows to 'ramp up criminal justice'. That evening, a peaceful vigil is held in Southport, a week on from the killings. Police deal with disorder in Plymouth, Devon and Darlington, County Durham. - August 7 2024: Prison sentences for those involved in the unrest begin to be handed out. Derek Drummond, 58, is the first person to be jailed for violent disorder at Liverpool Crown Court, where he is sentenced to three years. More than 100 protests are planned for across the country, with counter-demonstrations taking place, but the majority of police forces report very little trouble. Court artist sketch by Elizabeth Cook of Southport stabbing killer Axel Rudakubana, appearing on the first day of his trial at Liverpool Crown Court on January 20 AUGUST 5: People make bubbles as they gather to mourn victims of the Southport murders OCTOBER 29L Huge crowds gathered at a vigil near Hart Street, Southport, where three children were killed by Rudakubana - October 29 2024: Merseyside Police announces Rudakubana will appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court via videolink the next day charged with production of a biological toxin, Ricin, and possession of information likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing to commit an act of terrorism. - October 30 2024: Rudakubana appears at Westminster Magistrates' Court via videolink from HMP Belmarsh to face the two new charges. He holds his sweater over the bottom half of his face and does not respond when asked to confirm his name. - November 13 2024: Rudakubana appears at Liverpool Crown Court via videolink. He covers his face with his grey sweatshirt and does not speak throughout the hearing. About 20 family members of victims sit in the public gallery. The case is adjourned until December 12, when a preparatory hearing will take place. - January 20 2025: Rudakubana appears at Liverpool Crown Court for the first day of his trial where he pleads guilty to all 16 charges, including the murders of Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, Bebe King, six, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven. Dolce and Gabbana has been suspiciously quiet despite dressing Lauren Sanchez in a stunning black dress for Donald Trump's candlelight inauguration dinner as liberals boycott Oscar de la Renta for dressing Ivanka Trump. Sanchez, 55, called the night a 'magical evening' on Instagram as she showed off her stunning black dress that featured a glittery strapless top and a silk draped skirt from the Italian designer. She and her billionaire lover, Jeff Bezos, 61, were seen talking to fellow tech titan Elon Musk, 53, ahead of the event as the socialite held tightly to her man's arm. At the same event, Ivanka Trump, 43, was seen sparkling in a hand-beaded crystal and pearl gown made by American brand Oscar de la Renta. The same designer also dressed Second Lady Usha Vance, 39, for the event in a dress cut similar to Sanchez's. Liberal fans of the brand had a visceral reaction after seeing the First Daughter and Second Lady wearing the renowned American brand, which proudly posted images of the two women in their custom get-ups. 'Bye Oscar de la Renta. I know you won't be canceled but you are to me for having no f**king morals,' one X user wrote. Oscar de la Renta was created by a Dominican-born designer of the same name who died in 2014. His company is based in the US and has a long history of dressing First Ladies and those connected to the American president. Jill Biden, 73, has been seen wearing the brand in the past. The educator wore a custom gown from the brand featuring an embroidered rose field on it during the White House Donor Dinner in November. Dolce and Gabbana has been suspiciously quiet despite dressing Lauren Sanchez in a stunning black dress for Donald Trump 's candlelight inauguration dinner Sanchez, 55, (pictured with boyfriend Jeff Bezos) called the night a 'magical evening' on Instagram as she showed off her stunning black dress that featured a glittery strapless top and a silk draped skirt from the Italian designer At the same event, Ivanka Trump, 43, was seen sparkling in a hand-beaded crystal and pearl gown made by American brand Oscar de la Renta. Liberals had a meltdown after seeing the First Daughter and Second Lady wearing the renowned American brand Sanchez, herself, wore a custom dress from the brand for the 2024 Met Gala, where she was seen wearing a shattered glass design featuring a rose to fit the theme. Meanwhile, it appears Dolce & Gabbana is more focused on featuring their fall and winter men's line at Milan Fashion Week rather than engaging in American politics. The brand has previously shown off its designs worn by celebrities on its social media, with the most recent batch coming from the Golden Globes, where The Rock and Dakota Johnson were seen wearing the brand, among others. Another Italian fashion house, Schiaparelli, has also been silent about Sanchez being dressed in their designs, which she posted to her social media account during the inauguration festivities. It comes as Sanchez and her boyfriend become closer with Trump ahead of his second term, which begins today. Bezos, alongside Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk - who was given a position of power inside the Trump administration - are attending the inauguration. Zuckerberg and Bezos, alongside Apple's Tim Cook, were seen sitting together inside the church ahead of the inauguration. It further highlights their efforts to develop a closer relationship with the incoming president, who has already tasked Musk with leading his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Bezos and Zuckerberg have less close relationship with Trump compared to Musk, but both have made moves since the election to curry favor with the president-elect, including meeting with him at his Mar-a-Lago resort. Oscar de la Renta also dressed Second Lady Usha Vance, 39, (pictured with her husband JD Vance) for the event in a dress cut similar to Sanchez's Oscar de la Renta has a long history of dressing First Ladies and those connected to the American president. Jill Biden, 73, has been seen wearing a custom gown from the brand featuring an embroidered rose field on it during the White House Donor Dinner in November Another fashion house, Schiaparelli, has also been silent about Sanchez being dressed in its designs. It comes as Sanchez's boyfriend becomes closer to Trump ahead of his second term, which begins today (pictured: Sanchez in Schiaparelli) Meta CEO Zuckerberg signaled a rightward political swerve last week when he announced Facebook and Instagram would scrap fact-checking in the United States, a response to what he characterized as censorship by governments and so-called legacy media. Bezos's relationship with Trump, on the other hand, has seen moments of significant friction in the past. The founder of Amazon also owns The Washington Post, one of the many newspapers Trump has railed against for years. In a decision that shocked many in US media, The Post declined to endorse a presidential candidate ahead of the November election. According to a report by the paper, Bezos intervened to block the board from publishing its editorial in favor of Vice President Kamala Harris. The paper's leadership denied that report. Bezos's aerospace company Blue Origin also competes for lucrative government contracts. Welcome to MAGALAND: White House insiders reveal whats really going on behind the scenes in the new Trump administration. Listen wherever you get your podcasts. Nigel Farage claimed authorities engaged in a 'gigantic cover-up' over the Southport child murders today, as it emerged the killer had been cleared by counter-extremism experts three times. The Reform leader lashed out at Sir Keir Starmer and police, saying the public had been 'denied the truth' about Axel Rudakubana's motives and background. Authorities may have missed several attempts to stop Rudakubana before he murdered three children and attempted to murder eight other youngsters and two adults in Southport last summer, when he was aged just 17. The Mail has learnt that authorities knew of his disturbing interest in a school massacre as far back as 2019. In 2019 he was referred to the Government's de-radicalisation scheme Prevent on the basis that he had been researching on a school computer for information about the killing of children in school shootings. But experts deemed that there was no counter-terrorism risk at the time as he was considered not to be motivated by a terrorist ideology. The Guardian reported he was also referred twice in 2021 after viewing material about the 2017 London terror attack. Clacton MP Mr Farage, who is in Washington for Donald Trump's inauguration, said his party would demand Home Secretary Yvette Cooper explain to MPs why his terror links were not revealed sooner. 'I asked that question 24 hours after the murders. I said why are we not being told the truth? Was this man known to the authorities? We were met with a complete wall of silence,' the Reform leader said. The Reform leader lashed out at Sir Keir Starmer and police, saying the public had been 'denied the truth' about Axel Rudakubana's motives and background Authorities may have missed several attempts to stop Rudakubana before he murdered three children and attempted to murder eight other youngsters and two adults in Blackpool last summer when he was aged just 17 His guilty plea is likely to raise pressure on Prevent to explain how he slipped through the cracks, engaging in a horrific crime and sparking a summer of violent, often racist, unrest across the UK, fuelled by online conspiracy theories 'The Prime Minister and the Home Secretary refused to engage, Liverpool police refused to engage. 'There was nothing about what I asked that would have in any way threatened contempt of court. This is basic background information that the public was entitled to. 'I was accused by mainstream media publications and senior politicians of stoking and encouraging the riots, when actually the riots were happening because of the vacuum of information and crazy conspiracy theories gaining traction online.' He added: 'I think that the Government are responsible for the most astonishing cover-up. I think that we need an apology from the Home Secretary and an explanation as to why we have been denied the basic truth.' Asked if he would be raising this in the Commons, Mr Farage replied: 'We will, as a party, table an urgent question on this. Absolutely.' Tory party leader Kemi Badenoch said: We will need a complete account of who in Government knew what and when. The public deserves the truth. His guilty plea today is likely to raise pressure on Prevent to explain how he slipped through the cracks, engaging in a horrific crime and sparking a summer of violent and often racist unrest across the UK, fuelled by online conspiracy theories. Within hours of his attack, posts spread on the internet which claimed the suspect was a 17-year-old asylum seeker, who had come to the country by boat last year. But Rudakubana was born in Cardiff to Rwandan parents and moved with his family to the village of Banks in Lancashire about a decade ago. In the first press conference after the event, at 6.30pm that day, Merseyside Police Chief Constable Serena Kennedy told journalists the suspect was originally from Cardiff. But, the police statement did little to quell the misinformation spreading online. Police forces do not name suspects before they are charged and Rudakubana still a youth at 17 would remain anonymous even after he was charged because of his age. A crowd gathered outside Southport mosque which has no known links to Rudakubana for a planned protest on the evening of July 30. Shouts of 'English 'til I die' were heard and bricks broken off from garden walls were used as missiles. Police officers initially seemed unprepared for the violence, without riot helmets or shields. The following week, when the first prison sentences were handed out for those involved, Recorder of Liverpool Andrew Menary KC described a 'mob' using the 'most foul and racist abuse', smashing windows, hurling bricks and setting a police van alight. He said: 'This was large scale and very violent criminal activity made much worse by the fact that it was happening only a day after entirely different and utterly tragic events. 'The genuine and collective grief of the residents of Southport was hijacked by this callous behaviour.' Ms Kennedy said 93 officers were hurt, with injuries including fractured legs, knocked out teeth and a broken jaw. On Wednesday morning, the clean up of Southport began, but by the evening violence had spread further afield with demonstrations in London, Hartlepool in County Durham and Aldershot in Hampshire. For the next week, as Rudakubana was charged, appeared before court and officially named, violent protests continued across the country. Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, Bebe King, six, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, died following the attack at the Taylor Swift-themed class in The Hart Space on a small business park in the seaside town shortly before noon on July 29 The Government announced emergency security for mosques and Sir Keir Starmer promised those involved would 'face the full force of the law' Musk, a close ally of Donald Trump (pictured together last night), branded the PM #TwoTierKeir, in reference to claims or allegations of 'two tier policing' in Britain complaining about harsh sentences handed out to those involved in the disorder fuelled by far-Right thugs Rioters smashed the windows of hotels in Rotherham and Tamworth, and set a library in Liverpool on fire. The Government announced emergency security for mosques and Sir Keir promised those involved would 'face the full force of the law'. Prison sentences began to be handed out the following week and by mid-December more than 360 people had been jailed for their parts in the unrest across the country. But that prompted an outcry from Elon Musk and other hard right figures. Musk, a close ally of Donald Trump, branded the PM #TwoTierKeir, in reference to claims or allegations of 'two tier policing' in Britain complaining about harsh sentences handed out to those involved in the disorder fuelled by far-right thugs. On August 8, there were rumours online of 100 planned protests, with gatherings anticipated in 41 of the 43 police force areas in England and Wales. Shops boarded up their windows to prevent windows being smashed. But in most places, only peaceful anti-racism demonstrators gathered and fears of further violent disorder were quashed. Neighbours around the family home in Lancashire described the family as unremarkable, but it can now be reported that teachers had concerns about his behaviour. The teenager, who is diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, is believed to have left Range High School in Formby in around 2019, before moving to a specialist school. Teachers at the specialist school were concerned about his violence towards others, it is understood. Rudakubana, of Banks, Lancashire, was to stand trial at Liverpool Crown Court on Monday charged with 16 offences, including three counts of murder. Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, Bebe King, six, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, died following the attack at the Taylor Swift-themed class in The Hart Space on a small business park in the seaside town shortly before noon on July 29. The defendant admitted their murders as well as the attempted murders of eight other children, who cannot be named for legal reasons, class instructor Leanne Lucas and businessman John Hayes. Rudakubana, who was born in Cardiff, also admitted production of a biological toxin, ricin, on or before July 29 and possession of information likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing to commit an act of terrorism. The terrorism offence relates to a PDF file entitled Military Studies In The Jihad Against The Tyrants, The Al Qaeda Training Manual which he is said to have possessed between August 29 2021 and July 30 2024. The ricin, a deadly poison, and the document were found during searches of the home in Old School Close which he shared with his parents, who are originally from Rwanda. In the midst of the horrific wild fires, once undesirable homes in Los Angeles known as the 'flats' have since become a hot spot for fearful residents looking to prioritize their safety. A stunning home nestled in Pasadena - a California city that managed to miraculously escape the recent infernos - hit the market just a day before the catastrophic blaze started in the Pacific Palisades. A real estate agent of 24 years, Rosa Garcia, 50, and her nephew, Shannon Horton, 32, were in the process of flipping his $2.175 million property when the fire began, leaving them unsure if it would still be standing when they returned. To their surprise, the three-bedroom, two-and-a-half bathroom home was left virtually untouched, along with others located in the neighborhood. Residents looking for a new place to call home prior to the blazes have since become even more inclined to lock down a property that is safe from the natural disaster. Lisa Chen, 32, decided to check out the home - fit with a fire-proof roof - on Woodcliffe Road during an open house Saturday with her young daughter. After house hunting for a year, Chen, a stay-at-home mother, told The New York Times that her requirements have changed because of the raging fires. Prior to the blazes, her goal was just to find a community with good schools, but now, she wants to buy a home that is not in the hills and safe from wildfires. While wildfires continue to rage on in Los Angeles, homes, also known as 'flats' in Pasadena have seen a surge in interest. (Pictured: A home for sale that has a fire-proof roof) Many people have started to look to Pasadena - which was left virtually untouched during the fires - to live. (Pictured: Flames engulf a home in Altadena on January 8) 'The flats are better,' she told the outlet as she viewed the home that is still surrounded by some lingering smoke. The night the fires started, Horton watched the horrific scenes unfold through home surveillance footage. 'SimpliSafe was my television for a bit. Do I still have a house when I wake up?,' he recalled feeling as he watched helplessly. Luckily, both the house and the neighborhood were left widely unscathed, other than the piles of ash covering the property. As Garcia made her way back to the home, she power washed the layers of ash from the driveway and deck as her nephew pondered if anyone would still want to live there after the fact. His aunt has remained optimistic despite everything, saying: 'It's going to sell. I don't see a world where it doesn't.' Although she continues to think positively, Garcia said that less people have showed up to view the home than she had hoped. 'But we'll see how it plays out,' she said. Other prospective buyers have echoed Chen's concerns, gravitating toward the area for a safer place to call home. During a recent open house for a $1.19 million two-bedroom townhouse on S. Orange Grove Blvd in Pasadena, Dana Lance and his wife Judith Porter reflected on the past two weeks. A real estate agent of 24 years, Rosa Garcia, 50, and her nephew, Shannon Horton, 32, were in the process of flipping the $2.175 million property (pictured) when the fire began Six fires have erupted across the greater LA area since last Tuesday, and as of Monday morning, the Palisades Fire is 59 percent contained, while the Eaton Fire is 87 percent under control. (Pictured: Pedestrians help firefighters fight a blaze in Altadena) The couple locked up all their valuables in their cars while the wild fires consumed the area about seven miles from their home in Mount Washington. Lance, 66, said that his wife has always kept the risk of a fire 'in the back of her mind,' but now, more than ever, 'she wants out.' 'We think we can handle Mother Nature, but we can't,' Lance, a contractor, said. The pair made an all cash offer on another home in the area, but they did not get it, he told the outlet. Laurie Turner and her husband David Turner, the listing agents for the townhome, said that half the people who showed up for the open house last weekend were all displaced from the devastation. Lauire recalled meeting 'shell-shocked' people touring the property, adding that their 'clothes didn't match, they had a pet with them.' She soon agreed to an offer made by one couple who said they would buy the townhouse and the furniture used to stage it. But by Saturday, she said no one affected by the fires visited the property. Another buyer, Neha Mehta, 36, who had hopes of moving to Altadena while renting in Pasadena prior to the fires, said she is now thinking about staying in the area permanently. The neighboring community of Altadena suffered severe damage from the Eaton Fire in the last two weeks, leaving at least 16 dead and more than 7,000 structures demolished. Specifically, Mehta said she has her eyes on the neighborhoods south of the freeway - dividing Pasadena near I-20 - that could act as a barrier for flames in the future. 'This feels very safe to me now,' Mehta said about the area she hopes to call home soon. A total of six fires have erupted across the greater LA area since last Tuesday, and as of Monday morning, the Palisades Fire is 59 percent contained, while the Eaton Fire is 87 percent under control, according to the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection California. In addition to battling those two massive blazes, firefighters are also battling the Hurst fires. The three other fires have been fully contained. Some 6.5 million people remain under a critical fire threat, after the fires consumed an area nearly the size of Washington, DC, authorities said. Approximately 27 people have tragically lost their lives in the wild fires as authorities continue to search for human remains. While people look to relocate and rebuild their lives, money-hungry landlords and realtors have been accused of jacking up rent prices in the LA area. (Pictured: A Beverly Hills property saw a rent increase of 22.2 percent) While people look to relocate and rebuild their lives, money-hungry landlords and realtors have been accused of jacking up rent prices in the LA area. Even as the catastrophic Palisades blaze continues to ravage the city and devastate residential neighborhoods, opportunistic landlords have swiftly raised rental rates by as much as 134 percent, according to listings reviewed by DailyMail.com. The shocking increases have occurred despite an emergency declaration by California Gavin Newsom which bans price gouging above 10 percent of pre-disaster prices, carrying penalties of up to a year in jail and a $10,000 fine. The inflated figures have sparked outrage among tenant rights advocates as well as some local realtors who have condemned the behavior as 'predatory' and 'disgusting.' However, other agents have claimed they were unaware the declaration was in effect. LA realtor Trey White, who grew up in Pacific Palisades, said he is 'appalled' by the price hikes during such a challenging time. A mother-of-two who waited 18 months for a double mastectomy to help reduce her risk of developing cancer, has been diagnosed with the disease. Sharni Marks, 31, was found to have a mutation in the BRCA2 gene back in 2018, which increases the risk of developing ovarian and breast cancer. It followed genetic testing after her father, Darren, was diagnosed with the disease. Placed under the care of surgeons at Russells Hall Hospital in Dudley, Ms Marks was was told a double mastectomy would reduce the risk of her developing the disease. She was put on a waiting list in August 2022 and each time she called the hospital for an update, she was told she was top of the list for preventative surgery. Almost two years later, in March 2024, Ms Marks underwent a double mastectomy surgery and reconstruction. But during a routine post-op assessment three weeks later, she was told a mass was found in the left breast tissue which had been removed. Ms Marks was given the diagnosis of grade-three breast cancer and told the type of cancer she had developed was more common in patients with BRCA gene mutations. The Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust has expressed its apologies to Sharni over the delays to surgery. Sharni Marks, 31, was found to have a mutation in the BRCA2 gene back in 2018, which increases the risk of developing ovarian and breast cancer Ms Marks was on the waiting list for 18 months before she had the surgery, but during a routine post-op assessment, she was told a mass was found in the left breast tissue which had been removed Sharni, who is currently undergoing chemotherapy, said: 'When I was told I was at high risk of getting breast cancer, I thought being under the care of breast surgeons would be the best thing for me. 'After starting our family, I was added onto the waiting list for surgery. Months went by and I was still on the waiting list. 'It got to the point where I would call often to seek an update. 'It felt like it got to the stage where I knew what I was going to be told each time before I called. 'To finally undergo a double preventative mastectomy was a relief to start with. But that turned to devastation when I was told I'd developed cancer. 'It was a huge decision to have a life-changing mastectomy. 'Sometimes it feels like I've gone through the physical trauma of surgery and the emotion of deciding to have surgery for nothing. 'Given what the Hospital Trust has told me it's often hard not to think whether I wouldn't have developed cancer if I'd have undergone surgery sooner.' Sharni is struggling with sickness and weakness and has also lost her hair, is losing her nails and has developed mouth ulcers due to her treatment. The treatment has left her unable to have further children naturally. Ms Marks, a secondary school dance teacher, added: 'The last few months have been the hardest of my life. Ms Marks was given the diagnosis of grade-three breast cancer and told the type of cancer she had developed was more common in patients with BRCA gene mutations Ms Marks is struggling with sickness and weakness and has also lost her hair, is losing her nails and has developed mouth ulcers due to her treatment 'It's been a whirlwind of emotions but I'm so grateful to my surgeon who performed my mastectomy for helping to diagnose my cancer and everyone involved in my care since. 'While my treatment has been debilitating and has had a massive impact on my physical and mental health, everyone involved in my care around my diagnosis and treatment has been amazing. 'I'm often wiped out after chemo and instead of being the active mum I want to be playing a key role in bringing up the kids, I often need looking after. 'However, I'm determined to focus on my recovery so I can be there for my family. 'Me and Jack always wanted a family. We feel so blessed that we've got two beautiful children who mean everything to us. 'However, to not have the choice of deciding whether to have more children naturally is difficult to accept. 'The issue around waiting lists and the time it's taking for people to have surgery is serious. 'It's incredibly concerning that there could well be thousands of others who have been waiting for surgery and who have received a life-changing diagnosis. 'People may not think it will affect them, but it can affect anyone.' A letter from the Hospital Trust to her GP in June 2024 said Sharni's case had been discussed in a weekly meeting of harm. The Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust has expressed its apologies to Sharni over the delays to surgery. Pictured: Russells Hall Hospital in Dudley, West Midlands The letter said she had 'most probably come to harm developing a breast cancer during her long wait for bilateral risk reducing mastectomy.' It added that 'it was probable that her cancer has developed whilst waiting about a year and a half for her risk reducing mastectomy.' In a follow up letter to Sharni, the Trust expressed its 'sincere apologies' that she had been 'involved in a patient safety incident.' The Trust launched an investigation to help it 'minimise the possibility of such incidents recurring and drive improvements.' Sharni has now instructed medical negligence lawyers at Irwin Mitchell to investigate her care and help her access the specialist treatment and rehabilitation she requires. Laura Ellacott, a specialist medical negligence lawyer at the firm, said: 'The last few months and coming to terms with the physical and psychological impact of her diagnosis has been incredibly difficult for Sharni and her family. 'Understandably, Sharni has a number of concerns about her care and whether more could have been done to prevent her cancer developing. The first-hand account we've heard from her and the Hospital Trust's own findings are worrying. 'While we recognise the NHS is under tremendous strain and waiting lists can be long, care delays can have a devastating impact. 'Each case of a patient facing a wait for treatment isn't a statistic but a human story of someone who has potentially been exposed to unnecessary suffering or harm. 'Such incidents can have significant consequences for patients and families, including through a life-changing diagnosis or even death. 'We continue to support Sharni and are determined to help provide her with all the answers she deserves and access to the specialist care she needs.' The hospital trust was approached for comment. A foster mother has been jailed for five years for squashing a 10-year-old boy under her 340lbs bulk for seven minutes until he died. Jennifer Lee Wilson, 49, killed Dakota Levi Stevens in a twisted 'punishment' after he ran away and begged a neighbor to save him from her abuse. The boy ran to his neighbor's on April 24, telling the homeowner that his foster parents hit him and wouldn't let him speak to his caseworker. But only a few minutes after asking the neighbor to adopt him, Dakota was dragged back to Wilson's home in Liberty Township, Indiana, when she arrived. Once they got home, Wilson lay on top of Dakota as he screamed - until his cries fell silent and he suffocated. Dakota was pronounced dead at a South Bend hospital two days later, and an autopsy determined he suffered organ and soft tissue damage, liver and lung hemorrhaging, and other injuries. The St Joseph County Coroner's Office ruled Dakota's death a homicide, with a manner of death of mechanical asphyxiation. Senior Judge Michael Bergerson sentenced Wilson to five years behind bars and another year on probation on reckless homicide charges in Porter Superior Court. Dakota Levi Stevens, 10, was pronounced dead at a South Bend hospital two days after his foster mother laid on top of him for about seven minutes Jennifer Lee Wilson, 49, was sentenced to five years behind bars and another year on probation on reckless homicide charges The sentence was more than the standard three years for a level 5 felony, and more than either the defense or prosecution asked for. Deputy Prosecutor Mary Ryan requested two years in prison, two in home detention and one year on probation, while Wilson's lawyers wanted no jail time - just three years home detention and two on probation. 'He's pronounced dead from asphyxiation, a 10-year-old boy, who this court will not ignore, as he was ignored by the defendant,' Judge Bergerson told the court. 'Obviously she applied more force than was necessary and that created the circumstances that led to his death.' Judge Bergerson said Wilson violated the trust inherent in her role as a foster mother, and was talking on her phone 'with callous disregard' for Dakota as he died. 'All the while this beautiful boy was crying for his life - crying for his life - the defendant is just completely oblivious that she had just killed a foster child,' he said. 'It's hard to think of a more egregious set of circumstances.' Judge Bergerson said mitigating factors like Wilson's remorse and lack of criminal history 'have to be discounted by the overwhelming proof of guilt in this case'. Family members have said he and his younger sister were removed from their biological parents' house because of their parents' drug use when Dakota was just five years old The court was crammed with 'Dakota's army' of supporters, along with numerous members of her biological family, who cheered after the sentencing. Dakota's aunt, Ana Parrish-Parker, gave a victim impact statement describing how she had custody for a year before Wilson. Her sister, Dakota's mother, had the child removed from her care when he was five due to her drug addiction, and his father died of an infection related to his drug use. Parrish-Parker was able to adopt Dakota's younger sister, but the boy was taken from her by the state after she refused demands to increase their therapy schedule. She said the children were already dealing with a demanding therapy schedule and adding more to it would leave them 'no time to enjoy being a child'. Other relatives offered to take Dakota in, but were denied by the state. Instead, he bounced around the system and mental health facilities. The family only learned Dakota died via a Facebook message from one of his foster parents several days afterwards. 'Seeing your family suffer and knowing you can't do anything is very despairing. It brings you to the lowest of lows,' Parrish-Parker tearfully told the court. 'We were not able to be there to hold his hand... His death was completely avoidable.' Wilson claimed Dakota had 'verbal and physical aggression issues' Parrish-Parker told the Chicago Tribune after the sentencing that jailing Wilson was 'the very first step in our hearts coming together'. 'There was a total sense of peace that Levi was not ignored. Levi was here,' she said. Wilson also spoke at her sentencing, addressing Dakota's supporters directly and acknowledging they wouldn't forgive her, often sobbing as she spoke. 'I cannot ask you for forgiveness because I cannot say for certain I would forgive someone who was responsible for the death of my loved one,' she said 'Because of this tragedy, you lost him all over again. I am deeply saddened for the role, my role, in this horrible tragedy. 'Just as each of you wanted a loving and supportive environment for Dakota, so did I. Never in a million years could I imagine I would be the person responsible for his death.' Wilson's husband Robert Wilson told the court his wife was holding Dakota down by his legs at the time because she feared he would harm himself - as he had in the past. Wilson earlier claimed the boy had 'verbal and physical aggression issues.' The couple were ready to relinquish their foster license because their three other children - former foster children whom they adopted - were older and they wanted to travel. But they agreed to take Dakota in last April - days before he was killed - because they provided respite care for him two years earlier. A police affidavit states Wilson was 'visibly distraught' when deputies arrived to her house on April 25, and found the boy not breathing and without a pulse on the ground Wilson told police that Stevens woke up on April 24 agitated after being told not to run in the house while playing Nerf guns with the other children. She said she told Dakota and the other children they could go outside to play after they finished their chores, but he refused and stormed off. At first, she said she planned to give him time to cool off, but when she realized he was not in the backyard she got in her car to track him down. Wilson then found him talking to the neighbor, who told the foster mother that the boy asked her to call the cops. But Wilson later told police she told the neighbor to mind her own business, according to court documents. She then forced Dakota to get into the car with her and brought him back to her home. Wilson claimed he then tried to run away again. Wilson told police she did not remember whether she tackled the boy or if they both fell to the ground 'however, her intention was to hold him'. For the next several minutes, Wilson video chatted with Dakota's caseworker, who she said tried to calm the boy over the phone - though he would 'flail and move around'. Wilson also had a conversation with her husband through their doorbell camera as she 'laid on [Dakota's] midsection' near the driveway. She told her husband Dakota was having 'one of his days'. After several minutes, Wilson got off the boy - telling police she got out of breath due to her weight - and noticed he was not moving. She then told Dakota to get up and asked 'are you faking?' 'She then rolled [Dakota] over and it appeared his eyelids were pale,' court documents explained. 'She then began CPR and called 911.' The St Joseph County Coroner's Office determined Dakota died of mechanical asphyxiation Deputies from the Porter County Sheriff's Department arrived at the house at around 3.37pm for a report of an unconscious 10 year old who was not breathing. They found Dakota on the ground near the driveway, where someone was administering CPR. Dakota was not conscious, not breathing, and had no pulse at the time, and an officer 'observed that the juvenile had bruising [on] his lower neck and chest area'. A police affidavit stated Wilson was 'visibly distraught' when the deputies arrived and told them that Dakota had just run away to a neighbors' house but was still 'acting up' and threw himself on the ground, saying he was leaving. 'Wilson stated that she laid on his midsection and called his caseworker,' the affidavit stated. 'Wilson stated he eventually stopped moving and she thought he was faking. 'She advised that she laid on him for approximately five minutes.' During the ensuing investigation, police obtained copies of Wilson's camera footage, which they said began with her already lying across the boy - near his head and neck. Throughout the 20-second video, Dakota was screaming, the court heard. He was 'still crying and screaming' in the next 20-second video, and in a third Wilson could still be seen on top of him - this time near his buttocks. Dakota's arms were above his head in that video, and he 'did not move' for the entire six-minute, 48-second clip. Meanwhile, Wilson could be heard saying, 'I was laying on him and he was acting bad'. Dakota was initially transported to Northwest Health Porter for treatment, before being airlifted to South Bend Memorial Hospital. A doctor at Northwest Health later told police he had 'severe swelling in his brain, which would be consistent with deprived oxygen for an extended period of time'. 'He didn't deserve this. He was better than a lot of people here,' Nicole Rubalcava, Stevens' aunt, said at his private funeral, according to the Tribune. 'Even if he battled this stuff, this kid's heart truly was not made for this world. 'He taught me so much, he truly did, and I didn't think a kid could teach you stuff like that.' Wilson was licensed as a foster parent since 2017 and was in good standing before Dakota's death, 'having completed the required training and education required to achieve and maintain licensure,' officials with the Indiana Department of Child Services told the Tribune. Her license was eventually revoked on June 30. The court was crammed with 'Dakota's army' of supporters for Wilson's sentencing Dakota's obituary, where he was called Levi, the middle name his family used more than his first name, explained he 'marched to the beat of his own drum'. 'He absolutely loved the outdoors. Many insects and frogs were caught by him on his bug hunting expeditions,' it read. 'He had a love for sharks and believed he would discover a new species, Lego, where he could build anything, Minecraft, his Pokemon cards, and his tablet. 'He loved to use his imagination and believe me when I say, he had a very creative imagination. 'Levi loved to read and make up his own stories and even act them out. He was a little performer in front of any camera. He loved to sing and dance quirky at any given moment. 'He loved to play board games and believed he truly won every time.' Dakota was also extremely artistic and loved drawing and coloring, and excelled at maths at school, the obituary read. 'Pretty sure he gave his teachers and staff a run for their money. (If you know, you know),' it continued. 'Despite it all, his favorite teacher, Mrs Tarnowski stood by his side and was a huge inspiration to him.' When California Gov. Gavin Newsom met with distraught supporters in the days following the November election, he tried to walk a fine line between vilifying Donald Trump and acknowledging that there will be times when he and the president-elect would need to work together. I revere this country, I revere the presidency and I want our president to succeed and our job my job is not to wake up every single day and get a crowbar and try to put it in the spokes of the wheel of the Trump administration, Newsom told the group. Trump will not become president until midday Monday, but any pretense that he and Newsom might come together in times of crisis has already been dispelled. Many have described the state and the Trump administration as being on a collision course but theyve already collided, repeatedly, including during the kind of massive disaster scenario that typically provokes restraint and camaraderie. In the weeks leading up to Trumps inauguration, he and Republicans in Congress have blasted Newsom Newscum is Trumps preferred reference as the state battled catastrophic wildfires that have killed dozens and destroyed thousands of structures. Advertisement Article continues below this ad California lawmakers, for their part, are in the midst of a special session aimed at bolstering the states resources to fight Trump in court. Against this backdrop, the Border Patrol began conducting immigration raids in the Central Valley, stoking fear in communities across the state. Such attacks are not new when the Oval Office changes hands. On the day of President Joe Bidens inauguration in 2020, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton was already vowing to fight the illegal actions and lawlessness of an administration that had not completed its first day. But the past three months suggest the next four years will be an even more vicious fight that could test Republicans professed commitment to states rights, strain Californias budget and set legal precedent on an array of issues that reverberate far beyond the Golden State. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Immigration California lawmakers have not yet approved sending additional money to Attorney General Rob Bontas office for efforts to fight the Trump administration in court, but he has already begun ramping up efforts to address Trumps threats of mass deportations. On Monday, Trump planned to sign dozens of executive orders, many of them related to immigration, the New York Times reported. They include using the military to crack down on unauthorized immigration, and ending birthright citizenship though its unclear how or whether Trump can do so under the Constitution. Bonta has hosted a series of informational sessions across the state since Trump was elected, intended to keep people apprised of their rights during police and immigration enforcement actions. He said Trump could direct immigration officials to target sensitive locations like schools, libraries and churches. California Supreme Court Chief Justice Patricia Guerrero told reporters this week shes concerned about the possibility of immigration arrests at state courthouses. We dont seek to interfere in federal immigration policy, but California law specifies that no one can be arrested in the courthouse, she said. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Immigration advocates protest near MacArthur Park, a primarily Latino community in Los Angeles, on Dec. 31, ahead of President-elect Donald Trumps planned wave of mass deportations. Mario Tama/Getty Images In the week before the inauguration, Bonta joined a group of blue states seeking to intervene in a case that could invalidate a rule expanding access to health insurance for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals recipients, or Dreamers. President-elect Trump criticized the rule during his 2024 campaign, and his previous administration sought to rescind both DACA and the ACA, efforts which were stymied in court thanks to litigation by the California Department of Justice and others, Bonta wrote in announcing the action. Meanwhile, the U.S. Border Patrol has boasted on social media about the unannounced raids it conducted in Kern County this month. The good citizens of Bakersfield welcomed us. They commented to us every day on the street asking us to do more. Well sure listen to the taxpayer! a post from the agencys El Centro sector, which conducted the raids, blared on Facebook. Advertisement Article continues below this ad The post neglected to mention that immigrants with jobs also pay U.S. taxes. One person commented on an agency post on the raids: Cant wait for Tom Homan to really get things rolling, referring to Trumps pick for a new border czar role. We agree, the agency responded. Homan, a former Immigration and Customs Enforcement official, was a key architect of the family separation policy during Trumps first term. Antonio De Loera-Brust, a spokesperson for the United Farm Workers, said the raid shows some immigration officials feel Trumps election cleared the way for more aggressive crackdowns even before inauguration day. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Obviously, this occurred while President Biden is still in office, but the initiative for it came from the local Border Patrol station, De Loera-Brust said. I think we can go so far as to say that the current political climate has emboldened, for that particular Border Patrol sector chief at least, to conduct operations that are very far from the norm for them. The special session As Bonta has already made clear, California will be resuming its role as Trumps chief legal antagonist. The debate over how to fund those efforts got underway soon after Trumps victory, when Newsom announced he was calling a special session to insulate the state from Trumps policies. A Trump banner hangs on the side of Heritage Foundation headquarters in Washington on Friday ahead of Mondays inauguration of the president-elect. Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images Lawmakers had initially hoped to pass a measure sending additional funding to Bontas office before Inauguration Day, but the leaders of both chambers now expect floor votes on Jan. 27, a spokesperson for their offices told the Chronicle. One bill would provide Bontas office with $25 million on top of what is currently in the budget. A separate measure sets aside another $25 million for legal aid and immigration organizations aimed at defending immigrants in California from potential mass deportation efforts promised by Trump. Tensions rage over wildfires Nothing has highlighted how brutal the states fight with the federal government could get over the next four years more than the wildfires that ravaged Los Angeles County this month. Soon after the fires broke out, Trump began posting a slew of insults directed at Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, explicitly blaming them for the fires. He retweeted an animated video in which the famed Hollywood sign was replaced with a Democrats did this sign, engulfed in flames. California Gov. Gavin Newsom, center, surveys damage with Cal Fires Nick Schuler, left, and Sen. Alex Padilla during the Palisades Fire in Los Angeles on Jan. 8. Jeff Gritchen/TNS He has said on his Truth Social platform that Newsom failed to sign the water restoration declaration a document that does not exist and directed the governor to RELEASE THE WATER FROM UP NORTH. Newsom, as well as a host of journalists and experts, have noted that no such mechanism exists. There isnt some central spigot nestled in the Sierra foothills that Newsom can just use a giant wrench to turn on, wrote Scientific American. But Republican members of Congress quickly picked up the baton. Most politicians avoid politicizing natural disasters, but Republicans have begun suggesting that California should be refused federal aid, or that any money sent to aid wildfire recovery should be conditioned on unspecified factors. They got 40 million people in that state and they voting these imbeciles in office, and they continue to do it, Alabama Sen. Tommy Tuberville told Newsmax. Unless they show that theyre gonna change their ways and get back to building dams and stormwater, doing the maintenance with the brush and the trees everything that everybody else does in the country, and they refuse to do it they dont deserve anything, to be honest with you. House Democrats pushed back strongly against the idea, and Newsom sent a letter to congressional leadership Thursday asking members to swiftly approve aid, without strings attached. Families who have lost everything, firefighters and emergency responders who have worked tirelessly to save lives, and local governments overwhelmed by the scale of this disaster are counting on swift federal support, Newsom wrote. Climate scientists have said climate change has led to worsening wildfires. Trump is expected to withdraw the U.S. from the Paris climate accords. Elon Musk piles on Throughout the tensions, Elon Musk, who poured $277 million into helping Trump get elected and has had his own battles with California, has been cheering the president-elects criticisms and making his own claims about how the state is run. Musk derided the Los Angeles Fire Department chief as a DEI hire, and wrote on X, the site he owns, DEI means people DIE. He also said the fires were a result of government mismanagement. He also criticized the states Coastal Commission, which hes clashed with in the past over SpaceX rocket launches, and speculated that residents seeking to rebuild homes lost in the fires would face multiyear waits because of the agency, which should not even exist as an organization. But Musks beef with California extends far beyond the wildfires. Elon Musk, co-founder of Tesla and SpaceX and owner of X Holdings Corp., speaks at the Milken Institutes Global Conference at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Los Angeles on May 6. Apu Gomes/TNS Musk in 2021 moved Teslas official headquarters to Texas from California, where the company benefited from billions of dollars in government subsidies. He, along with Vivek Ramaswamy, has been tapped to co-chair a new Department of Government Efficiency. Newsom noted in his January state budget presentation that Ramaswamy has threatened to cut subsidies to Rivian, an electric car competitor to Musks company Tesla. In November, Newsom announced that the state would revive its Clean Vehicle Rebate Program in the event Trump kills off a federal tax credit for zero-emission vehicles. While Newsom has defended himself against Trumps wildfire criticisms, and condemned his use of insults and attacks amid the disaster, on Wednesday, he tried to appeal to the president-elect during an interview on MSNBC. Come out here and help us, and we will help you, Newsom said. You will be elevated, Mr. President. At the end of the day, you will be the one we will all come to and say, Thank you. Ofsted's new leader has defiantly told MPs the inspector who downgraded Ruth Perry's school from outstanding to inadequate did 'nothing wrong' despite a coroner ruling his behaviour contributed to her suicide. Sir Martyn Oliver told MPs on January 7 that the inspector had behaved in line with 'the way the framework was written' and 'there was no suggestion that they did a bad job or did anything wrong'. Ruth Perry, 53, died by suicide in January 2023 after being informed her school, Caversham Primary in Berkshire, would be downgraded from the top 'outstanding' rating to the lowest possible - 'inadequate'. But an inquest into Ms Perry's death found the Ofsted inspection and ruling contributed to her death. The coroner, Heidi Connor, heard during the inquest how the leader of Ofsted's three-person team carried out their inspection allowed the probe to be 'conducted in a manner which lacked fairness, respect and sensitivity'. The former head of Ofsted, Amanda Spielman, left her role the same year as the inquest but now Ms Perry's family are accusing the organisation of trying to protect itself rather than implement meaningful change. Sir Martyn told MPs on January 7 the inspection was 'within the framework' provided by Ofsted. He continued: 'It was the framework that they delivered and it is for Ofsted to respond. It is Ofsted's responsibility, not the responsibility of that individual.' Ruth Perry, 53, (pictured) took her own life after an Ofsted report downgraded her Caversham Primary School in Reading from its highest rating to its lowest rating over safeguarding concerns Support for Ofsted reform gathered momentum following the tragic death of headteacher Ruth Perry, who took her own life while waiting for a report Ms Perry's sister Julia Waters told the Times: 'It just shows me that they still regard their job as one of the damage limitation of protecting Ofsted's reputation rather than learning the lessons from my sister's death, rather than speaking the truth and rather than making all the changes that are needed to prevent future deaths.' 'It feels like we're going backwards,' she added. 'The coroner made the point at the inquest that the actions of individuals were likely to reflect the overall approach of their employer. 'But these comments by the chief inspector suggest Ofsted haven't understood the lessons from the inquest, that it is still trying to deflect attention from or underplay their failings and that is dangerous.' Speaking previously about her sister's inspection, Ms Waters said: 'She [Ruth] had a really bruising inspection that left her very fragile and that word 'inadequate' she just went over and over it, she kept repeating it, she wrote it down. 'It was that feeling not just that she'd had the terrible shock and trauma of a completely unexpected bad Ofsted, but that she was still anticipating the public humiliation that came with that.' Sir Martyn told MPs he had accepted the coroner's recommendations, introduced new training so inspectors could recognise teacher distress and improved the process for raising concerns. As a result of Ms Perry's death, Ofsted has since scrapped its one-word ratings for schools and previously said its grading system may be scrapped altogether. For Ofsted inspections in this academic year, parents will see four grades across the existing sub-categories quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, and leadership and management. Sir Martyn Oliver, Chief Inspector at Ofsted told MPs the inspector at Ruth Perry's school did 'nothing wrong' Sir Martyn took over the role in January 2024 from Amanda Spielman The inspection at Caversham Primary school in November 2022 saw Ms Perry told her school would be downgraded from outstanding to inadequate It is understood the change will not be applied retrospectively to inspections already undertaken. The Government plans to change the system again for September 2025, replacing the format with a 'report card'. It said this will 'provide parents with a full and comprehensive assessment of how schools are performing and ensure inspections are more effective in driving improvement'. Critics have argued scrapping the simple grading system will mean parents are less able to make informed decisions about where to send their children. For now, Ofsted will still be able to use the sub-categories to see which schools are doing badly and need intervention. The worst-performing ones will still be required to convert to academies and take on new management. But there will be a new system of improvement for those that are struggling but have not hit rock bottom. Instead of changing management, the Government will prioritise 'rapidly getting plans in place to improve the education and experience of children'. From early 2025, the Government will also introduce 'Regional Improvement Teams' to work with struggling schools. Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said: 'The removal of headline grades is a generational reform and a landmark moment for children, parents and teachers.' Paul Whiteman, at the National Association of Headteachers, said 'one-word judgments are harmful and we are pleased the Government has taken swift action to remove them'. The organisation also said that 'many of the fundamental problems with inspection remain' and wants a new approach rather than changes to the present system. For help and support, call the Samaritans on 116 123 or go to samaritans.org Video footage has captured the shocking moment a woman was seen abusing her three month old poodle puppy on the balcony of her apartment complex. Havanna Miller, 23, sparked fury after she was filmed beating her terrified puppy at an apartment complex in San Antonio, Texas, authorities announced Saturday. The video shows Miller striking the puppy at least 17 times, according to the arrest affidavit obtained by KSAT. Miller, wearing a green bonnet and bathrobe, stood on her balcony hitting the dog while shouting: 'Then you want to try to hide under the stairs ... now listen!' The dog whimpered as the disturbing woman continued: 'When I tell you to come here you do that,' she yelled before hitting the dog three times in a row while saying 'Bad dog!' Miller was arrested and charged with animal cruelty torture after neighbors captured video of the incident. She was released on bond Sunday afternoon and is scheduled for a pre-indictment hearing on March 25. Video footage has captured the shocking moment a woman is seen abusing her three month old poodle puppy on the balcony of her apartment complex If convicted o the third-degree felony charge, the San Antonio woman could face two to 10 years in prison. She is set to appear in court for a pre-indictment hearing on March 25. San Antonio Animal Care Services (ACS) confirmed they removed the poodle puppy from the residence on Friday morning after receiving reports of the abuse. When questioned by authorities, Miller denied that anyone had hit the dog. According to her LinkedIn, Miller is currently an arts major at Northwest Vista college and an 'aspiring attorney.' Before the incident, Miller had frequently shared videos on her social media accounts showcasing her three-month-old poodle. The three-month old poodle is registered as an ESA or an emotional support animal. She shared videos documenting their walks and playful moments together prior to the abuse allegations. The three-month old poodle is registered as an ESA or an emotional support animal Miller was arrested and charged with animal cruelty torture after neighbors captured video of the incident She was released on bond Sunday afternoon and is scheduled for a pre-indictment hearing on March 25 A local animal welfare organization, Bluu's Cluu's Texas Street Rescue, played a key role in raising public awareness of the case. The rescue group has been actively sharing updates about the investigation and Miller's subsequent arrest on social media. According to screenshots shared by the organization, Miller repeatedly contacted them requesting removal of the abuse footage. She continuously begged for them to take down the video as she expressed fears for her safety as the public had identified her address. The rescue also revealed that Miller's boyfriend had reached out to them. He shared on his social media that he doesn't believe she deserved jail time for her actions. Despite these appeals, the organization has continued to keep the evidence public. Geneva Story, a local animal rescuer who was present during the ACS intervention, reported that other residents had previously heard distressing sounds from the apartment. 'It just made me very angry,' Story told KSAT. According to her LinkedIn, Miller is currently an arts major at Northwest Vista college and an 'aspiring attorney' Before the incident, Miller had frequently shared videos on her social media accounts showcasing her three-month-old poodle If convicted o the third-degree felony charge, the San Antonio woman could face two to 10 years in prison A local animal welfare organization, Bluu's Cluu's Texas Street Rescue, played a key role in raising public awareness of the case. According to screenshots shared by the organization, Miller repeatedly contacted them requesting removal of the abuse footage The puppy is now in protective custody with animal services. Story, who works with traumatized dogs, expressed concern about the long-term effects of such abuse on young animals. 'There's a lot of times where people are like, 'I want to mind my business,' but this is one of those situations you don't want to mind your business,' Story continued. 'I feel like a lot of people see it's a puppy and they just kind of turn the other cheek.' 'Knowing the mental fact that this puppy could have this trauma for its entire life angers me because it never had to know that life, especially as a baby,' she said. Local animal welfare advocates encourage residents to report suspected cases of animal abuse to San Antonio Animal Care Services or local law enforcement immediately. Freed British Hamas hostage Emily Damari's defiant hand gesture has already become a meme, and one well-wisher has even had it tattooed onto his calf. In an inspirational video posted to X/Twitter, Jewish author Hen Mazzig showed a clip of a person getting tattooed, just a day after Damari was released from 470 days in captivity. The clip pans from the man's leg to an iPad screen depicting the outline of his new tattoo - Damari's raised bandaged hand showing her two missing fingers. He captioned the post: 'Emily Damari is officially an icon of resilience in Israel'. The 28-year-old British-Israeli hostage lost two fingers after being shot in the hand on October 7, according to the Hostage and Missing Families Forum. She also suffered shrapnel wounds to the leg when snatched from the Kfar Aza kibbutz village. Yesterday, Damari was one of three women to be freed as part of a ceasefire deal with Israel, with an international Red Cross convoy collecting the trio from Hamas. The truce had been delayed yesterday morning when the terrorist group failed to hand over the list of names 24 hours ahead of time as stated as part of the agreement. In an inspirational video posted to X/ Twitter , Jewish author Hen Mazzig showed a clip of a person getting a tattoo inspired by British-Israeli freed hostage Emily Damari The new tattoo showed Damari's raised bandaged hand showing her two missing fingers The 28-year-old British-Israeli hostage lost two fingers after being shot in the hand on October 7 during Hamas' incursion into southern Israel Today, Damari broke her silence to say she is the 'happiest person in the world' since being freed from Hamas captivity in Gaza. 'Love, love, love. Thank God. Thank you to my family, to Orali, to the best friends I have in this world,' she said in a post on Instagram. 'I returned to my beloved life.' 'I only managed to see a glimpse of everything and you broke my heart with excitement. Thank you thank you the happiest person in the world just to be.' At the end of her post she added a 'rock on' emoji, symbolising the two fingers she lost during Hamas' assault. Speaking to the Mail, Rotem Koren, a friend of Damari's said: After October 7 is was very difficult to rebuild these feelings, so yesterday was a very emotional moment. I think that most of the world saw the power of Emily. Even in the most difficult moments, near all these terrorists to keep smiling she is so powerful. To see that was a very emotional moment for us. When she got out of the terrorists car, or when she whistled to us at the hospital, you could see there that nothing can stop her. You saw how even in her situation she looked at the positive side. Even after she lost two fingers she turned it into a positive the first thing she does is shares this sticker of her hand. Now everyone takes strength from that. I hope that everyone can take these skills that she has, to keep yourself and look for the positive no matter what happens'. Emily Damari with her mother in Shefayim, Israel after the hostage release on Sunday Palestinian Hamas members gather around a vehicle as they hand over Emily Damari British hostage Emily Damari, among the last hostages to be released from Gaza Pal Guy Yakobi, 29, added: It was great to see her and hear her voice again. It was a quick meeting ,we didnt have a lot of time to speak. It was just a hug and a kiss and told her that I love her'. On becoming symbol of resistance: If someone can survive and come back smiling its Emily. We werent surprised to see how she was acting. Emily spent most of her time in captivity with Romi Gonen who was released alongside her. Romi spoke on Sunday of how the British-Israeli helped keep her spirits up during captivity. It emerged yesterday that Romi, a trained paramedic, helped tend to Emilys wounded hand throughout their time in captivity. She assisted Emily with her injury, after being given no real treatment by Hamas. She was never visited once by the Red Cross, a family friend said. A statement from Mandy Damari, her mother, shared today thanked the 'many people' who she said have 'played a role in bringing Emily home' and given their support. 'Yesterday, I was finally able to give Emily the hug that I have been dreaming of,' she said. Emily Damari pictured with her mother in Israel after her release on Sunday Emily Damari ahead of her release, pictured with a document bearing the logo of the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas's armed wing, certifying the ceasefire and hostage-prisoner exchange deal 'I am relieved to report that after her release, Emily is doing much better than any of us could ever have anticipated. I am also happy that during her release the world was given a glimpse of her feisty and charismatic personality. 'In Emily's own words, she is the happiest girl in the world; she has her life back. 'In this incredibly happy moment for our family, we must also remember that 94 other hostages still remain. The ceasefire must continue and every last hostage must be returned to their families. 'As wonderful as it is to see Emily's resilience, these are still early days. As you will have seen yesterday, Emily lost two of the fingers on her left hand. 'She now needs time with her loved ones and her doctors as she begins her road to recovery.' Some 33 hostages are set to be released under the terms of the first phase of the three-part ceasefire agreement. But just three hostages were released on the first day of the ceasefire, with four more to be returned on the seventh. Three hostages will then be released each week for a period of four weeks. Finally, 14 hostages will be returned on the sixth week of phase one. A Turkish OnlyFans model has been arrested for publicly vowing to have sex with 100 men in one day. Azranur AV, 23, was reportedly detained by cops in Istanbul who declared her mission to sleep with 100 men in 24 hours as 'obscene' and 'damaging' to the country's morals. Azranur, whose real name is Ezra Vandan, took to social media to announce that she planned to film the day-long sex session and broadcast it live in an attempt to break a record in Turkey, reports said. It comes just days after Brit Bonnie Blue claimed to smash the previous world record of the most men bedded in 24 hours taking the total to over 1,000 men in 12 hours. Azranur had posted a photo of herself with her eyes shut on a bed wearing red lingerie, alongside the caption: 'My goal is to break a Turkish record first, then a world record! I'm starting with 100 men in 24 hours'. But her statement quickly caught the attention of the Istanbul Security Branch Directorate's Morality Bureau. They launched an investigation into the controversial post before catching her at a hospital as she awaited a cosmetic surgery operation in Atasehir. Footage captured the moment she was dragged down the stairs of the building by two female officers, with her wrists bound behind her. Ezra Vandan took to social media to announce that she planned to film a day-long sex session and broadcast it live in an attempt to break a record in Turkey Her statement quickly caught the attention of the Istanbul Security Branch Directorate's Morality Bureau The model, pictured centre back, was filmed being led down the stairs of a hospital building as she was arrested Wearing a crop top and jeans, she was led into the side entrance of a police van taken to a local station. The OnlyFans star uploaded an image at the time of her arrest which showed her half-naked, and according to reports, the racy image had been taken by a police officer. It was allegedly shared by Azranur alongside the caption: 'I had the photo taken by one of the officers, he didn't object much.' Azranur's husband Pedram Behdar Vandan, 25, was also reportedly arrested at the time but was later released from custody. The model is believed to have been charged with obscenity, resisting an officer on duty and slander. In her hearing, the Istanbul 6th Criminal Judgeship of Peace said prison time was appropriate because her posts were 'damaging to moral values' and were 'provocative to society'. Azranur claims she should be allowed to post and do what she wants as she is 'not harming anyone'. 'I do not deserve to be judged,' she added. The 23-year-old is believed to have been charged with obscenity, resisting an officer on duty and slander Cops caught her at a hospital as she awaited a cosmetic surgery operation in Atasehir Azranur claims she should be allowed to post and do what she wants as she is 'not harming anyone' The OnlyFans platform has been banned in the majority Muslim country since 2023 but dozens of people have defied lawmakers and continued to upload banned content. Azranur is among these who have risen to fame in Turkey for her outlandish sexual claims and provocative posts. She has already gained more than 416,000 Instagram followers since starting her OnlyFans account. The current world record for the most men slept with in just 24 hours is reportedly 1,057 and is held by OnlyFans star Bonnie Blue. The 25-year-old has become one of the most controversial figures in the world after topping the record previously held by Lisa Sparks, who slept with 919 men in a day back in 2004. She has previously been branded 'predatory' for romping with teenage lads and for labelling the men she sleeps with as 'barely legal'. Bonnie now earns a staggering 600,000 a month from OnlyFans and has a net worth hovering around 3million. Donald Trump promised a 'new golden age of America' after being sworn in as the 47th president of the United States on Monday. 'The decline is over,' he told about 600 allies, dignitaries and family members inside the U.S. Capitol building. He used his inaugural address to balance the idea of an optimistic new dawn with tough talk, mixing his long-standing accusations that he was the target of a weaponized justice system with a promise a sweeping crackdown on illegal immigration. 'As we gather today, our government confronts a crisis of trust,' he said. 'For many years, a radical and corrupt establishment has extracted power and wealth from our citizens, while the pillars of our society lay broken and seemingly in complete disrepair.' As Arctic temperatures blasted Washington, D.C., outside, Trump was surrounded by the Washington political establishment, tech titans, and MAGA allies for his inauguration inside the Capitol building. It offered a visual illustration of how the one-time political outsider has conquered Washington in an extraordinary political comeback, becoming only the second president in history to win non-consecutive terms. Where in 2017, his 'American carnage' speech conjured a bleak image of a nation in an abyss of rampant crime, abandoned factories, and a failed education system, this time he said he was 'confident and optimistic' that a 'tide of change is sweeping the country.' Donald Trump is sworn in as the 47th president of the United States President-elect Donald Trump talks to his vice presidential pick J.D. Vance in the Capitol Rotunda before they are both sworn into office on Monday Melania Trump cut a stylish figure in a hat by American fashion designer Eric Javits But he also hit some of his favorite targets, railing against illegal immigrants arriving from foreign prisons and 'mental institutions.' 'We now have a government that cannot manage even a simple crisis at home, while at the same time stumbling into a continuing catalog of catastrophic events abroad,' he said. 'It fails to protect our magnificent law abiding American citizens, but provide sanctuary and protection for dangerous criminals.' And he reflected on how he had survived an assassination attempt and criminal prosecutions to return to power in one of the greatest political comebacks in history. 'Those who wish to stop our cause have tried to take my freedom and indeed, to take my life just a few months ago, in a beautiful Pennsylvania field, an assassin's bullet ripped through my ear, but I felt then and believe, even more so now that my life was saved for a reason,' he said. 'I was saved by God to make America great again.' At more than 2800 words the speech was twice as long as his 2017 effort, giving the impression of a man in a hurry to get on with the business of government. He used it to reflect his convincing November victory, winning the popular vote and all seven of the pivotal battleground states, and his plan for action with dozens and dozens of executive actions. From L to R, Eric Trump, Jared Kushner, Ivanka Trump and Donald Trump, Jr. applaud during the inauguration ceremony at the U.S. Capitol About 600 guests packed into the Capitol's Rotunda in a last-minute switch because of the bitter winter weather gripping Washington, D.C. The Bidens greet the Trumps at the White House on Monday morning 'With these actions, we will begin the complete restoration of America and the revolution of common sense,' he said. The loudest applause came when he promised that official government policy would recognize only two genders. He also said he would be declaring a national energy emergency and a national emergency at the southern border. 'My message to Americans today is that it is time for us to once again act with courage, vigor, and the vitality of historys greatest civilization,' he said. And as Trump wrapped his speech, the White House announced it would be withdrawing from the Paris The setting, inside the Capitol, gave the speech something of the atmosphere of a 'state of the union' address. Republicans whooped and cheered at his promises to crackdown on migrants and diversity, equity and inclusion programs, while Democrats sat on their hands. Biden appeared to stifle a laugh when Trump promised a 'revolution of common sense.' Afterwards, Trump addressed supporters in an overflow room, cracking jokes and criticizing Biden's 11th hour pardons of allies and relatives. He reserved particularly scorn for members of the House investigation into the Jan. 6 riot. 'Why are we helping some of the people? Why are we helping Liz Cheney? I mean, Liz Cheney is a disaster,' he said, singling out Republican members of the committee.. She's a crying lunatic and crying Adam Kinzinger.' CEO of Google Sundar Pichai (L) and Tesla, SpaceX and X CEO Elon Musk speak ahead of the inauguration Former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton stands next to Miriam Adelson and former President Bill Clinton ahead of the inauguration Yet Trump returns to power a different man to the one sworn in after his shock win eight years ago and he takes office in a Washington that bears little resemblance to the city he arrived in then. Then the city saw running battles between protesters and police, and hundreds of thousands of pink-hatted demonstrators thronged the streets days before the inauguration. This time, protesters went through the motions with an air of resignation. Trump confidant David Urban said 'woke America' had surrendered. 'Last time everyone looked at us askance, as if to say "ugh, can't believe you guys think you won,' he said. 'Now everyone's clamoring to be a part of it.' High-profile critics such as Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg and Amazon's Jeff Bezos have been tamed. They are among the tech titans who donated $1 million to the inauguration and were seated with the VVIPS in the Rotunda. Even the setting shows how times have changed. Four years ago, Trump supporters ransacked the U.S. Capitol building. This time MAGA world took their seats inside the seat of American democracy for the inauguration ceremony. And eight years ago, Trump was unprepared for government. He had to cobble together an administration from the Republican establishment and Wall Street. First Lady Jill Biden and Second Gentleman Douglas Emhoff arrive for the ceremony Trump with his running mate J.D. Vance at St. John's Church ahead of their inauguration Trump arrives in a very different Washington, D.C. from the one where he was sworn in eight years ago. He has won over tech titans and protests have been muted. Here a helicopter waits to fly Joe Biden out of Washington after the inauguration ceremony Merchandise on sale outside the Capitol One Arena ahead of a rally Monday afternoon This time, he has built a team from trusted loyalists who stuck with him through four years out of power. The result is a plan to hit the ground running. Aides briefed journalists ahead of the ceremony on a raft of executive orders, including 10 on border security and immigration. An adviser told DailyMail.com that he will also sign an executive order halting all new foreign aid unless it aligns with U.S. strategic interests. 'The United States and American citizens have been some of the most generous people in the entire world,' an incoming White House policy adviser told DailyMail.com. 'But at this point, we have to understand that foreign policy is domestic policy, and if this is not aligned with our interests, then Uncle Sam should not be opening up his pocketbook any longer.' Other executive orders take aim at diversity, equity and inclusion programs, proclaiming that the U.S. federal government will only recognize two sexes, male and female. NOW LISTEN: Welcome to MAGALAND is our new podcast, where White House insiders reveal whats really going on behind the scenes in the new Trump administration. Listen on Apple and Spotify now. Donald Trump was surrounded by tech titans and media moguls as he was sworn in as the 47th President of the United States. Amazon boss Jeff Bezos, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, and Apple CEO Tim Cook were all present inside St. John's church in the capital and the Capitol Rotunda. The three were spotted chatting amongst themselves as they attended the morning service with Trump to kick off his inauguration. Google CEO Sundar Pichai was also spotted sitting behind the three, with TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew also pictured after the service. The group of tech titans were then seen sitting together alongside Bezos' fiancee Lauren Sanchez and Zuckerberg's wife Priscilla Chan for the inauguration ceremony. Other guests seen inside the Church of the Presidents and the rotunda included the likes of podcaster Joe Rogan and former Fox News' media mogul Rupert Murdoch. The President of FIFA Gianni Infantino was among the congregation as well as Evan Spiegel, the CEO of Snapchat. Former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Boris Johnson was also seated near Bezos and his fiancee Lauren Sanchez for the morning church service. Tesla and X CEO Elon Musk and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who is Trump's presumptive nominee for Secretary of Health and defense pick Pete Hegseth were also spotted. Amazon boss Jeff Bezos (pictured number three), Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg (pictured, number five), Tesla chief Elon Musk (pictured, number one) and Google CEO Sundar Pichai (pictured, number two), Apple boss Tim Cook (pictured, number eight) were all present inside the Capitol on Monday for Trump's inauguration. Lauren Sanchez, (pictured number four), RFK Jr, (pictured number six), Pete Hegseth,(pictured number seven), and Melania Trump's father Viktor Knavs (pictured number nine) were all seen front and center for the ceremony Zuckerberg, Sanchez, Bezos, Pichai and Musk are all seen here inside the rotunda. With the latter two checking their phones Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan, left, are seen here alongside Lauren Sanchez Shou Zi Chew (C), the CEO of TikTok, arrives to attend the United States Capitol on January 20, 2025 in Washington Jake and Logan Paul were also seen chatting with CEO of OpenAi Sam Altman as they arrived Trump is seen here speaking after he was sworn in as the 47th President of the United States 1.Gianni Infantino 2.Rupert Murdoch 3. Joe Rogan 4. Jeff Bezos 5. Pete Hegseth 6. RFK Jnr are all seen here Images later emerged following the service showing Joe Rogan and Pete Hegseth in conversation. Elon Musk was also spotted in conversation with the Prime Minister of Italy Giorgia Meloni, with Musk having to previously deny an affair with Meloni after images of them together appeared on social media. The group of tech titans who appeared for the ceremony have all sought stronger relationships with Trump following his election win in November. As the service ended, staff in the Capitol put the final touches to a luncheon that will occur after Trump's swearing-in ceremony. Staffers set up the tables with silverware, name cards and seats ahead of the lunch which is set to kick off afternoon. Bezos' name card and Zuckerberg's was spotted among the seats, as well as a card for Trump which just reads The president is to be joined by lawmakers, distinguished guests inside the Capitol after the ceremony. Shortly after 10am guests started arriving for the ceremony including his cabinet picks including his Secretary of State pick Marco Rubio. Jake and Logan Paul were seen chatting with CEO of OpenAi Sam Altman as they arrived, with comedian Theo Von also spotted chatting with Logan Paul. The Paul brothers posed up for a selfie with Altman. Others included Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy who Trump both picked to co-lead his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). As Trump was sworn in by Justice John Roberts, 14, he was surrounded by Elon Musk,1, Usha Vance,2, Viktor Knavs,3, JD Vance, 4, Tim Cook, 5, his son's Barron, 6, Don Jr, 7, and Eric, 8, as well as his wife Melania, 9, daughters Ivanka, 10, and Tiffany, 11. President Biden, 12, watched on alongside Fifa President Gianni Infantino, 13, Vice President Harris, 15, Bill Clinton, 17, Hillary Clinton, 19, and Miriam Adelson, 18. Others nearby included Dana White, 20 and his partner Anna, 16. Senator Deb Fischer, 21, was also close alongside George Bush, 22, Justices Samuel Alito, 23, Clarence Thomas, 24, and Brett Kavanaugh, 25 as President Obama, 26, looked on U.S. President-elect Donald Trump greets U.S. Vice President-elect former Sen. J.D. Vance as he arrives for his inauguration Trump shakes hands with Vice President-elect JD Vance as Usha Vance watches Bezos' name card and Zuckerberg's was spotted among the seats, as well as a card for Trump Former president Barack Obama also arrived for the ceremony, with his wife Michelle noticeably absent after she decided to snub the inauguration Comedian Theo Von is seen here alongside Logan Paul. Von had Trump on his podcast during the presidential election race Sam Altman is seen here grabbing a selfie with Jake and Logan Paul ahead of the ceremony Musk takes his seat at the inauguration ceremony before Donald Trump is sworn US businessman Jeff Bezos (R) and his partner Lauren Sanchez (L) arrive for the inauguration ceremony President of Argentina Javier Milei was seen laughing as he spoke with Former Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy Comedian Jeff Ross arrives for the inauguration of US President-elect Donald Trump in the US Capitol Rotunda MAGA firebrand Marjorie Taylor Greene was all smiles inside the rotunda Bezos and his partner Lauren Sanchez were spotted holding hands as they entered the rotunda, while Zuckerberg, Cook and Shou all entered together. Trump's former political nemesis Hillary Clinton was seen with former-president Bill Clinton as they arrived for the service. Former president Barack Obama also arrived for the ceremony, with his wife Michelle noticeably absent after she decided to snub the inauguration. Foreign dignitaries including President of Argentina Javier Milei was seen laughing as he spoke with Former Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy. The Vice President of China Han Zheng was seen sitting beside Rupert Murdoch inside the rotunda, he is China's representative at the inauguration. Murdoch was also sat beside his wife Elan Zhukova, the pair married last year at a ceremony on his California estate. Comedian Jeff Ross smiled for photographers as he clutched a Starbucks cup inside the rotunda. MAGA firebrand Marjorie Taylor Greene was all smiles inside the rotunda and was also seen sharing a moment with Former Speaker McCarthy. Hockey icon Wayne Gretzky and his wife Janet Jones took their seats in the rotunda after Trump previously said he wanted the former NHL star to be Governor of Canada. Melania Trump and U.S. President-elect Donald Trump arrive for services at St. John's Church as part of Inauguration ceremonies Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who is Trump's presumptive nominee for Secretary of Health, is seen here inside the Capitol Rotunda UFC Founder Dana White arrives ahead of the ceremony Mark Zuckerberg, Sundar Pichai, Tim Cook, Jeff Bezos and Evan Spiegel all attend services as part of Inauguration ceremonies at St. John's Church President of FIFA Gianni Infantino (R) attends services at St. John's Church Murdoch is seen here alongside Vice President of China Han Zheng, the country's representative at the inauguration Murdoch and Elena Zhukova attends the inauguration of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump Former NHL player Wayne Gretzky and his wife Janet Jones arrive for the Presidential Inauguration Britain's former Prime Minister Boris Johnson arrives to the inauguration of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump Susie Wiles and Miriam Adelson arrive inside the U.S. Capitol on the inauguration Trump's Chief of Staff Susie Wiles and Israeli-American physician Miriam Adelson were seen together in the rotunda Adelson's family was the largest donor to Trump through his last term as president, and also now owns the Dallas Mavericks. According to Forbes, the businesswoman is worth a staggering $34.4billion, which makes her the third richest owner in American sports. As guests took their seats Trump and Biden exchanged smiles for the cameras as they met at the White House, ahead of him formally taking power. The president-elect and Melania Trump walked up the front stairs hand-in-hand, where President Biden and first lady Jill Biden awaited them. 'Welcome home,' Biden told Trump. The two couples shook hands and briefly posed for pictures, looking visibly cold in the wind. Unlike eight years ago, when Melania arrived with a gift wrapped in Tiffany blue for Michelle Obama, she was empty-handed when she greeted Jill Biden. The two couples will enjoy coffee and tea in the White House residence before riding to the Capitol together for Trump's inauguration. President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden greet President-elect Donald Trump and Melania Trump as they arrive at the White House Outgoing first lady Jill Biden and outgoing President Joe Biden pose at the White House with incoming President Donald Trump and incoming first lady Melania Trump When Biden leaves the White House, it will be his last time as president. Trump takes the reins at noon ET. Ahead of the president-elect's arrival, Biden told reporters he was feeling 'good. Its a beautiful day.' He said his message for the day was 'joy' and 'hope.' He also confirmed he wrote a letter for Trump that will be awaiting the new president when he enters the Oval Office. When Biden was asked what was in it, he replied: 'Thats between Trump and me.' He and wife Jill Biden took one last selfie outside of the Oval Office before departing the building, posting it to the White House social media accounts. Surveillance cameras captured the moment a man calmly grabbed a shovel from a store shelf and walked up behind a manager before clocking him in the head with it. The footage showed Danielson Paiva, 29, entering the Machado Supermarket in Sinope, Brazil on Saturday afternoon and approaching a display area. Paiva is seen removing one of the shovel and walking over to Claudio dos Santos, 40, who had his back turned and was talking on his cellphone. Paiva then wound up and violently struck dos Santos in the head, knocking him to the ground. A worker rushed over to confront Paiva while another ran up and tackled him to the ground. A dazed dos Santos, who spent several seconds on the ground, was helped up by bystanders and escorted from the scene as the workers restrained Paiva. The attacker was arrested on a charge of attempted murder and placed on pretrial detention after appearing before a judge on Sunday. In her ruling, the judge said it was necessary to keep him jailed. A disgruntled man used a shovel to attack a store manager in Sinope, Brazil on Saturday The suspect is seen grabbing a shovel prior to attacking the manager. He is being held on an attempted murder charge According to the Mato Gross Military Police, Paiva confronted dos Santos after his wife, who works at the supermarket, had complained about the manager. Dos Santos told Brazilian news outlet G1 that he had never any type of communication with Paiva's wife prior to the attack. 'I don't have contact with the employees, but I always hold the leaders accountable,' dos Santos explained. '...I don't know how she conveyed this information. I think she told her husband that I had morally harassed her, but I didn't have any contact with this employee.' Dos Santos was rushed to a hospital following the attack and discharged on Sunday. He said his injuries could have been much worse had he not been talking on his cellphone. 'I never expected something like this to happen,' the manager said. 'He [Paiva] really wanted to kill me and what saved me was my cellphone, which shattered inside my ear and I had to get stitches.' The attacker then wound up and violently struck dos Santos in the head, knocking him to the ground Supermarket workers restrained the suspect after the attack 'But it was the cellphone that protected me from the blow.' The supermarket said in a statement that it has opened an investigation into the attack. 'We reinforce our commitment to the respect, safety and well-being of our employees and customers, values that have always guided our actions,' it said. Keir Starmer will watch Donald Trump's inauguration on TV tonight as Downing Street was forced to deny he has been snubbed. The PM sent his congratulations in a gushing statement overnight, insisting Transatlantic ties are built on 'unshakeable foundations' and hinting at a push for a trade deal. Downing Street confirmed he will be following the spectacle in Washington from No10, arguing that there is a convention that premiers do not attend. But the spokesman was left having to play down claims that Italy now has the real 'Special Relationship' with the US, after Giorgia Meloni was invited. Foreign Secretary David Lammy said this morning that Sir Keir is set to visit the US in the coming weeks, while there are claims senior Royals could be deployed on a tour to help foster relations. But there are mounting concerns about the huge political gulf between Labour and the new White House. Rumours have been swirling that Mr Trump could punish Sir Keir for party activists going to the US to campaign for his Democrat rival Kamala Harris. There have even been suggestions that the nomination of Lord Mandelson as the UK's ambassador could be vetoed. Keir Starmer has urged Donald Trump (pictured) to 'deepen' the Special Relationship amid fears the incoming president's tough trade tactics will hammer the UK economy The PM sent his congratulations in a gushing statement overnight, insisting Transatlantic ties are built on 'unshakeable foundations' No10 was left having to play down claims that Italy now has the real 'Special Relationship' with the US, after Giorgia Meloni (pictured with Argentina's Javier Milei) was invited to the inauguration Mr Trump presided over an extraordinary pre-inauguration rally last night where he danced with the Village People to YMCA Mr Trump seemed to be enjoying himself at the bash in Washington Elon Musk, one of Mr Trump's biggest backers, brought his son X up on to the stage Some forecasters believe the commander-in-chief's vow to impose 'beautiful' tariffs policies will leave the UK economy 0.9 per cent smaller than it would have been by 2029. House of Commons Library estimates suggest that could mean defence spending being 2billion lower. Mr Trump spent the eve of the inauguration at a rally, where he declared his supporters had 'built a new American majority that will lead our country to success for generations to come'. UK politicians including Nigel Farage, Liz Truss and Suella Braverman are in Washington DC ahead of the ceremonies. Asked whether previous jibes about Mr Trump by current ministers could be the reason for the lack of invites, the PM's official spokesman said: 'No, and look, as I say, the UK and US have a deep and special relationship across wide range of important areas.' Challenged whether Ms Meloni's attendance was a cause for concern, the spokesman said: 'No, and you know, ultimately, the UK and US have got a unique relationship when it comes to a wide range of issues. 'And the Prime Minister and president Trump have already had many conversations about, you know, where we can deepen that relationship, and we look forward to continuing to work together in the years to come.' Along with appealing for an early invite to the White House for Sir Keir, a second state visit to Britain for Mr Trump could be on the cards. But other potential flashpoints include Labour's plan to hand the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, and whether he maintains support for Ukraine in the war against Russia. The Mail on Sunday revealed yesterday that some of Mr Trump's key advisers are debating whether to put Sir Keir 'at the back of the queue' of world leaders invited to Washington. One Trump ally warned the PM was 'gonna have to eat humble pie' to get a speedy visit to the White House. Mr Trump's campaign filed a Federal Election Commission complaint against Labour in October, accusing it of 'blatant foreign interference' after the party's head of operations, Sofia Patel, asked for people to travel to the US to campaign for Harris. In an interview with the BBC, Mr Lammy said: 'I think that when you look at past prime ministers, it's taken between a week or up to a month to come to Washington. The importance is the strength of the relationship and the serious discussions that we have. 'In the end, we have war in Europe, we have a ceasefire in the Middle East, but it's incredibly fragile, and there are important malign actors like Iran that we've got to discuss with the United States and, of course, our growing trade relations with the United States. 'So, lots to discuss, and I'm very confident that Keir Starmer will be discussing this with Donald Trump within the next few weeks.' Mr Lammy insisted New Labour architect Lord Mandelson is the 'right man for this moment' with experience as a former business secretary and EU trade chief. 'He's looking forward to presenting his credentials to Donald Trump,' Mr Lammy said. Mr Lammy also said he was confident that the intelligence and military agencies in the US would persuade the new president that the Chagos deal is good for all sides. Your browser does not support iframes. Nigel Farage (right) was at the rally along with MMA fighter Conor McGregor (left) Former Pm Liz Truss is also in Washington DC, pictured attending a party for TikTok influencers last night The UK plans to cede sovereignty of the British Indian Ocean Territory to Mauritius, leasing back the strategically important Diego Garcia base used by the US for 99 years at a reported annual cost of around 90million. But Mr Trump's former national security chief HR McMaster told the BBC: 'I think surrendering the Chagos Islands, or putting the Chagos Islands in a situation where they can easily be coerced, by the Chinese Communist Party for example, I hope it's a position that we see reversed here by Donald Trump, and by the UK government.' In his message, Sir Keir dropped a heavy hint that he wants to pursue a Transatlantic trade deal, something that was being intensely negotiated during the last Trump administration. 'For centuries, the relationship between our two nations has been one of collaboration, cooperation and enduring partnership. It is a uniquely close bond,' Sir Keir said. 'Together, we have defended the world from tyranny and worked towards our mutual security and prosperity.' The Prime Minister and the president-elect met in New York in September at Trump Tower, ahead of the US election, and at the time Sir Keir said he is a 'great believer in personal relations on the international stage'. Mr Trump spent the eve of the inauguration at a rally, where he declared his supporters had 'built a new American majority that will lead our country to success for generations to come' Sir Keir added: 'Since our first meeting in September, the President and I have spoken about the need to deepen and invest in the transatlantic relationship. 'We will continue to build upon the unshakeable foundations of our historic alliance as we tackle together the global challenges we face and take our partnership to the next level focused on shared opportunities ahead for growth. 'I look forward to our next meeting as we continue our shared mission to ensure the peace, prosperity and security of our two great nations. 'The special relationship between the United Kingdom and United States will continue to flourish for years to come.' Indiana Republican lawmakers have launched a bid to redraw state lines and welcome in counties from Democrat-led Illinois. State House Speaker Todd Huston introduced HB 1008, which would establish the Indiana-Illinois boundary adjustment commission to research the possibility of redrawing the state lines. The bill would 'embrace neighboring counties that want to join low-tax, low-cost Indiana.' Hutson said the bill was inspired by the Illinois separatist movement, which has gained traction in recent years. Ballot resolutions to leave the state have passed in 33 of the state's 102 counties, including seven in November's election. The separatist movement was launched in 2018 by rural residents of southern Illinois who want to wave goodbye to Chicago, with its crime, homelessness, and immigration issues. Neighboring Indiana has taken notice, offering to shift its western border and absorb disgruntled parts of Illinois. Though Illinois' separatists have support among a dozen lawmakers, they have little succor among the elites in Chicago and Springfield, the state capital. Indiana Republican lawmakers have launched a bid to redraw state lines and welcome counties from Democrat-led Illinois (pictured: Staunton, Illinois) Residents of southern Illinois want to wave goodbye to Chicago, with its crime, homelessness, and immigration issues 'It's a stunt. It's not going to happen,' Illinois Governor JB Pritzker said, echoing his stance from last year. 'But I'll just say that Indiana is a low-wage state that doesn't protect workers, a state that does not provide health care for people in need, and so I don't think it's very attractive for anybody in Illinois.' Republicans in Indianapolis introduced a bill to launch a boundary commission to redraw state lines and absorb disgruntled parts of Illinois. Indiana Republican House Speaker Todd Huston said: 'Instead of seceding and creating a 51st state, they should just join us.' Still, even with support in Indiana, that effort would need to win over Springfield and Washington, DC another long shot. Pritzker has rejected Indiana's move as a 'stunt' and advised his residents against joining a 'low-wage state' with few worker protections and shoddy healthcare. Indiana University Paul H. O'Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs professor Paul Helmke said the bill is primarily for political optics. 'It's sort of a useless measure. Nothing exactly like this has happened in U.S. history before, and I think it's unlikely to happen here,' Helmke told the Chicago Tribune. 'It's an interesting idea, but it's not going to go anywhere.' Illinois Governor JB Pritzker called the bill a stunt Separatists have secured support from voters on ballot initiatives in 33 out of 102 counties Helmke said the U.S. Constitution dictates that the Indiana legislature, the Illinois legislature and then Congress would have to approve the measure. 'If this passed in Indiana, I would be shocked if Illinois appointed anybody to this commission,' Helmke said. 'It's purely symbolic or performative on the part of the legislature at this state. It could pass here, it's just not going to go anywhere in Illinois.' Three men have appeared in court charged with rape and other offences following an investigation into the abuse of two teenage girls in Rotherham. Basharat Dad, 40, Nasser Dad, 44, and Reza Tavakoli, 54, appeared at Sheffield Magistrates Court on Monday. The trio were arrested as part of the National Crime Agencys (NCA) Operation Stovewood, which is investigating child sexual exploitation in the South Yorkshire town between 1997 and 2013. The agency said the alleged offences happened in the Rotherham area between March 2004 and December 2009 and involved two female victims who were aged between 13 and 16 at the time. Basharat Dad, formerly of Rotherham, is charged with 13 counts of rape, four offences of trafficking within the UK for sexual exploitation, and one offence of false imprisonment. Nasser Dad, also formerly of Rotherham, is charged with two counts of rape. Reza Tavakoli, of Upperthorpe, Sheffield, is charged with one offence of rape and one of false imprisonment. Basharat Dad and Nasser Dad were remanded in custody and Tavakoli was bailed, the NCA said. Basharat Dad (pictured in 2017) was arrested as part of the National Crime Agencys (NCA) Operation Stovewood, which is investigating child sexual exploitation in the South Yorkshire town between 1997 and 2013 The trio appeared at Sheffield Magistrates Court (pictured) on Monday They will appear at Sheffield Crown Court on February 17. Operation Stovewood was set up in the wake of the landmark Jay Report which found in 2014 that at least 1,400 girls were abused by gangs of men of mainly Pakistani heritage in Rotherham between 1997 and 2013. The NCA says Stovewood is the single largest law enforcement operation of its kind ever undertaken in the UK and has identified more than 1,100 children involved in the exploitation between 1997 and 2013 - almost all girls. Previous estimates have put the cost of Operation Stovewood at around 90 million. Attendees cheer as President Donald Trump speaks after taking the oath of office during his inauguration Monday in the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol in Washington. Kenny Holston/Associated Press President Donald Trump speaks as former U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris looks on during inauguration ceremonies Monday in the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images WASHINGTON President Donald Trump promised in his inaugural address Monday that the golden age of America begins right now. His first words and actions made clear who would be able to enjoy an era that he promised would be full of compassion, courage and exceptionalism. One clue could be found in who was given prominent front-row seating at the inauguration: Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Google CEO Sundar Pichai had positions behind Trump and ahead of his Cabinet nominees, a nod to the obeisance of Silicon Valleys top leaders to Trump before his second term. Trump promised to sign an executive order to immediately stop all government censorship and bring back free speech to America. Likely not sharing in the promised bounty of Trumps second term will be anyone other than white Christian men. That means California, one of the nations most diverse states, could be home to many at risk of being left behind or directly targeted. Much of the vision for the next four years laid out in Trumps 30-minute address is at odds with the states core values. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Moments after invoking the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. on the national holiday that honors him, Trump promised that in his honor we will strive together to make his dream a reality and forge a society that is colorblind and merit-based. Then Trump said he would soon be signing an executive order banning diversity, equity and inclusion mandates that attempt to socially engineer race and gender into every aspect of public and private life. Guests including tech executives Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, Sundar Pichai and Elon Musk arrive before the inauguration of President Donald Trump on Monday in the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol in Washington. Julia Demaree Nikhinson/Associated Press Nor will many immigrants be among Trumps favored few. Among the 100 executive orders Trump is expected to sign on his first day, one would seek to end birthright citizenship, even though it is guaranteed in the Constitutions 14th Amendment. California is home to 10.6 million immigrants, and 45% of California children have at least one immigrant parent, according to the Public Policy Institute of California. Trumps promise of freedom also does not include transgender Americans. He declared in his speech that it will henceforth be the official policy of the United States government that there are only two genders, male and female. California employment law protects transgender job applicants, unpaid interns, volunteers and contractors from employment discrimination, and the U.S. Supreme Court found a federal law banning sex discrimination in employment also prohibited discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity. California became a sanctuary state for transgender people in 2022 a move designed to protect families with children seeking gender-affirming care in states where its been banned or severely curtailed. Those who are not religious will find themselves alienated in Trumps second term. One of the religious leaders who gave the closing benedictions said that Americans kneel to God and God alone, a line that mimics what Trump has said previously. This bow to Christian nationalism would be news to any American who believes in the separation of church and state and the supremacy of the Constitution as the law of the land. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Trump said that after surviving an assassination attempt, he believes that he was spared by divine intervention: I was saved by God to make America great again. Nor will Trumps promised new era of winning be shared by those who want to combat climate change. Trump promised to sign an executive order ending the Biden-era electric vehicle mandate. That will be tested in California, where by 2035 all new passenger cars, trucks and SUVs sold in the state must be zero-emission. That doesnt mean driving fossil-fuel powered vehicles will be illegal, as Trump and other Republicans have alleged. Drivers can continue to drive and buy and sell gas-powered vehicles after 2035, according to state guidelines. Trump promised to sign an executive order declaring a national energy emergency. We will drill, baby, drill. And Trump sounded duplicitous if not flat-out wrong promising his greatest legacy over the next four years will be as a peacemaker and unifier. Moments later he promised to rename the Gulf of Mexico the name the body of water has had since the 16th century the Gulf of America. Then he said he wants to retake the Panama Canal, which he falsely said is being run by China. It is overseen by the Panama Canal Authority, an autonomous government agency. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Donald Trump is signing approximately 200 executive orders on Monday in a massive crackdown on Day One of his second term. The orders cover a wide range of issues from immigration policies, to gender identity issues and even deregulating the permitted flow of water from shower heads. 'Today, I will sign a series of historic executive orders,' Trump said during his inaugural address from the Capitol Rotunda on Monday. 'With these actions, we will begin the complete restoration of America and the revolution of common sense it's all about common sense.' One of his more interesting proposals is to rename or restore previous titles to landmarks and bodies of water bordering the U.S., including the new 'Gulf of America.' And 10 of his orders crack down on illegal immigration and the southern border crisis. Trump is also targeting more 'woke' social policies enacted by his predecessor, including getting rid of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) practices and declaring that there are only two genders. Trump's second term will undoubtedly be filled with future-altering actions. DailyMail.com breaks down some of Trump's biggest Day One executive actions and how they will affect Americans and the world. President Donald Trump signed a slew of executive orders and actions during his first few hours of his second presidential term on Monday, January 20, 2025 Donald Trump is signing a few hundred executive orders and actions on his first day back behind the Resolute Desk The very first executive order President Trump's first action as president was to sign a document that rescinded 78 of Biden's executive orders. The 'Initial Rescissions of Harmful Executive Orders and Actions' made sure that order Trump did not agree with are no longer in effect. 'The previous administration has embedded deeply unpopular inflationary, illegal and radical practices within every agency and office of the federal government,' Trump's own action reads. This included going back on Biden-era orders that bolstered diversity equity and inclusion practices in schools and the workplace as well as border and climate related actions. It also reversed some orders Biden signed that rescinded Trump's orders from his first term. 'To commence the policies that will make our Nation united, fair, safe and prosperous again, it is the policy of the United States to restore common sense to the federal government.' Regulatory freeze In an effort to place even more power in Trump's hands, the president issued an order on Monday that requires his approval for any new regulations or rules. The border stops the federal government from proposing or issuing 'any rule in any matter' without Trump first reviewing and approving it. It also asks agencies to consider postponing for 60 days any rules that have been issued but have not taken effect, 'for the purpose of reviewing any questions of fact, law and policy that the rules may raise.' Renaming the Gulf of Mexico Trump shocked earlier this month when during a press conference at Mar-a-Lago he suggested renaming the Gulf of Mexico. 'We'll be changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America, which has a beautiful ring,' Trump told reporters in Florida. 'That covers a lot of territory. The Gulf of America. What a beautiful name. It is appropriate,' he insisted. This was met with the ire of Mexican politicians, including their president. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum hit back at Trump's plan by last week unveiling a map dating back to the 1600s that showed an early designation of North America with the title 'America Mexicana' in giant letters. 'Mexican America, that sounds nice, no?' she said sarcastically, pointing to a massive image of the old map behind her. 'He talked about name, we too are talking about the name.' Saving TikTok in America Trump vowed that he would keep TikTok working in the U.S. even after the Supreme Court ruled last week that it could not operate in the country. The order issued on Monday instructs the Attorney General not to take any action to enforce the ban for 75 days so he can work out a deal on keeping it around permanently. Trump has said that TikTok helped him win the young vote in his 2024 campaign and promised in turn that he would work to make sure that the Chinese social media would be permitted to continue operating in the U.S. Many lawmakers oppose TikTok because of its links to the Chinese Communist Party and claims Beijing is using the app to spy on Americans and compromising national security. Congress wants TikTok to be forced to sell at least a majority of it's business to a U.S. or non Chinese entity. 'I have the unique constitutional responsibility for the national security of the United States, the conduct of foreign policy and other vital executive functions,' the order states. 'To fulfill those responsibilities, I intend to consult with my advisors, including the heads of relevant departments and agencies on the national security concerns posed by TikTok and to pursue a resolution that protects national security while saving a platform used by 170 million Americans. 'My administration must also review sensitive intelligence related to those concerns and evaluate the sufficiency of migration measures TikTok has taken to date.' TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew arrives for the inauguration of Donald Trump in the Capitol Rotunda in Washington, D.C. on Monday, January 20 Last week, American TikTok users saw a notification that they would not be able to access the app after it refused to sell in order to continue operation in the U.S. But just hours later, users saw a new notification claiming that 'as a result of President Trump's efforts, TikTok is back in the U.S.' Donald Trump pardoned more than 1,500 people convicted of crimes related to the January 6, 2021 Capitol riot. Hundreds were released from jails and prisons on Monday with the stroke of Trump's pen. 'This proclamation ends a grave national injustice that has been perpetrated upon the American people over the last four years and begins a process of national reconciliation,' he wrote in the order. It was one of the first actions that Trump signed when he got to the White House on Monday after his swearing-in and inaugural ceremonies and indoor parade, where he also signed a few executive orders. As of August, more than 1,488 defendants were arrested and charged with crimes related to the Capitol riot that sought to prevent certification of the 2020 presidential election results. Trump vowed to pardon January 6 prisoners and defendants after Biden pardoned his own son Hunter, 54, days after Thanksgiving and just about two months before leaving office. Hunter was charged with felonies related to tax fraud and lying on a federal form to purchase a firearm. Biden also issued a slew of preemptive pardons for friends and other members of his family and some of Trump's biggest foes just moments before vacating office on Monday. Family and friends of those imprisoned for participating in the January 6 Capitol riot celebrate on Monday as Trump signed an order to release nearly all those charged in the insurrection Protecting freedom of speech and ending government censorship Trump slammed Biden for 'censoring Americans' speech on online platforms' by 'exerting substantial coercive pressure on third-parties, such as social media companies to moderate, deplatform or otherwise suppress speech that the federal government did not approve.' Trump's new order on this issue ensures no federal government agency or employee works to 'abridge the free speech of any American citizen.' It also ensures that 'no taxpayer resources are used to engage in or facilitate any conduct that would unconstitutionally abridge the free speech of any American citizen.' Stopping weaponization of the government against citizens Similarly, Trump accused the Biden administration of engaging 'in a systematic campaign against its perceived political opponents, weaponizing the legal force of numerous federal law enforcement agencies and the Intelligence Community against those perceived political opponents in the form of investigations, prosecutions, civil enforcement actions and other related actions.' His executive order directs the Attorney General presumably Pam Bondi, if confirmed to review the actions of any agency and department that exercised 'civil or criminal law enforcement authority over the last five years.' It also directs the Director of National Intelligence to do the same thing for all departments and agencies within the Intelligence Community. Recognition of 'only two sexes' Trump is declaring that the federal government will only recognize two sexes male and female. It comes amid a social push for there to be expanded genders included on official documentations and after Biden enacted protections for transgender people. Biden's State Department has allowed since 2022 for people to select a third gender, labeled X, on their passports. They did not require Americans to provide medical documentation to be able to choose this option. Now, the State Department, Department of Homeland Security and other agencies are tasked with enforcing the directive that will apply only male or female to passports, visas and other government documents. A White House official says the order is about 'restoring sanity.' Establishing the Department of Government Efficiency Trump officially created his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) with an executive order on Monday. The group, which will be led by Elon Musk, has been tasked with reducing government expenditure and improving productivity within the public service by July 4, 2026. Musk claims DOGE can save the federal government $1 trillion - a number that has already been worked down from the initial $2 trillion he promised last year. the DOGE official government website went live after Trump's inauguration with a page that includes the 2013 popular internet meme Ending federal workforce tele-working Trump signed on Monday his Return to In-Person Work mandate that puts an end to permitting remote work for federal government employees. The order directs heads of departments and agencies to implement terminating remote work arrangements 'as soon as practicable' and 'require employees to return to work in-person at their respective duty stations on a full-time basis.' The U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) told Congress last year about '10 percent, or 228,000 employees, work entirely remotely.' It's not clear how soon the government offices will fill back up with the thousands who worked from home over the last several years but Trump made it clear that is should be as soon as they are able to enforceably return. The order does allow for department and agency heads to 'make exemptions they deem necessary.' Trump's buddy Elon Musk has been a major proponent for in-person work, claiming that much of government's waste includes buildings that are on lease but sitting empty or nearly empty as the workforce stays home either on a part-time or full-time basis. Trump threw pens he used to sign executive orders out to the crowd gathered at Capital One Arena during the indoor Presidential Inauguration parade on Monday Trump sits in the Oval Office surrounded by stacks of executive orders and actions on Day One of his second term Donald Trump's buddy Elon Musk pictured speaking at Capital One Arena on Trump's inauguration day is a huge proponent for forcing federal employees back to the office and reducing the size of the government workforce Federal government hiring freeze Another Trump order on Monday requires that 'no federal civilian position that is vacant at noon on January 20, 2025 may be filled and no new position may be created.' While this does not apply to military personnel or positions related to immigration enforcement, national security or public safety, all other agencies and departments are prevented from hiring more employees even from active listings. The order also requires that within 90 days of issuance the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) must submit a plan to reduce the size of the federal government. Halting foreign aid to target DEI Trump is also putting a stop to all issuance of new foreign aid. Two senior White House officials confirmed to DailyMail.com the order targets all foreign aid that doesn't fit within the U.S. strategic goals. The aim is to crackdown on spending outside U.S. interests and prevent American taxpayer funds from working against them or promoting 'diversity, equity and inclusion' agendas. The order is likely to immediately halt the distribution of U.S. money from going to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), which distributes aid in Gaza and is accused of close ties to the terror group Hamas . The UN admitted that nine of UNRWA staff may have been involved in the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel. 'The United States and American citizens have been some of the most generous people in the entire world,' an incoming White House policy adviser told DailyMail.com. 'But at this point, we have to understand that foreign policy is domestic policy, and if this is not aligned with our interests, then Uncle Sam should not be opening up his pocketbook any longer.' Birthright citizenship Trump is ending birthright citizenship for illegal immigrants. This means anyone born on U.S. soil, but whose parents are undocumented aliens will no longer be a de facto citizen of the United States of America. It clarifies that birthright citizenship rights are excluded to anybody whose mother was unlawfully present in the U.S. and whose father was not a U.S. citizen or a lawful permanent resident at the time of their birth. Advocates for asylum seekers and undocumented immigrants claim this is against the 14th Amendment of the Constitution, which created the unique birthright citizenship rule for anyone born in the U.S. Military mobilization at the southern border Trump is also directing the Department of Defense to send troops to assist with securing America's borders. This executive order clarifies that this includes using troops to repel 'forms of invasion, including unlawful mass migration, narcotics trafficking, human smuggling and trafficking.' Trump has vowed the largest deportation effort in U.S. history and has claimed he will use the military if needed to wrangle illegal immigrants and kick them out of the country. A White House official told reporters on a call Monday that the military will not be immediately used within the country, but only at its borders. Rather the Department of Homeland Security will create task forces to work with local and state law enforcement to identify, detain and deport these illegal aliens. Migrants in Mexico flood to the southern border on Monday, January 20 for their last chance to get entry into the U.S. in the final hours of Joe Biden's presidency Realigning refugee admissions program This executive order suspends the Refugee Admissions Program, which was bolstered through the CBP One app. The app allowed migrants to apply and schedule appointments to speak with an agent about declaring asylum. This was meant to encourage migrants to use legal ports at the border rather than entering illegally between the entry points. A note on the Customs and Border Protection website reads: 'Effective January 20, 2025, the functionalities of CBP One that previously allowed undocumented aliens to submit advance information and schedule appointments at eight southwest border ports of entry is no longer available, and existing appointments have been cancelled. The suspension is in effect 'until such time as the further entry into the United States of refugees aligns with the interests of the United States.' 'The United States lacks the ability to absorb large number of migrants in particular, refugees into its communities in a manner that does not compromise the availability of resources for Americans that protects their safety and security and that ensures the appropriate assimilation of refugees,' the executive order states. Other immigration orders Ten of Trump's executive orders on Day One relate to the southern border and illegal immigration crisis. The number of immediate actions underscore the importance of immigration policy to Trump's second term. 'All illegal entry will immediately be halted and we will being the process of returning millions and millions of criminal aliens back to the places from which they came,' Trump noted in his Monday address. One order declares a national emergency at the southern border. 'To protect the security and safety of the United States citizens, to protect each of the United States against invasion, and to uphold my duty to take care that the laws be faithfully executed, it is my responsibility as the President to ensure that the illegal entry of aliens into the United States via the southern border be immediately and entirely stopped,' the order states. Trump is also ending catch-and-release, a policy that allowed illegal border crossers seeking asylum to be detained and then released within the country as they awaited a court date. He is reinstating the Remain in Mexico policy that makes illegal border hoppers wait in the last country where they crossed from, which is most often Mexico, as they wait for a court date to make their asylum claims. And Trump is requiring that his promised and famed southern border wall is finally completed. Trump is designating cartels as terrorist organizations, which will change the way that they are handled when it comes to foreign affairs and defense regarding attacks by these cartel members. This is in response to the dramatic uptick in drug and human trafficking at the southern border during Biden's term. Establishment of External Revenue Service Trump is creating a complimentary agency to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to deal with external taxes and tariffs. Like the IRS, the External Revenue Service (ERS) will collect and uphold laws related to taxes on foreign countries. It comes after Trump said in November that he will impose a 25 percent tariff on Canada and Mexico. He also wants to put an additional 10 percent tax on goods from China on top of other existing tariffs. 'I will immediately begin the overhaul of our trade system to protect American workers and families,' Trump said during his speech at the Capitol on Monday. 'Instead of taxing our citizens to enrich other countries, we will tariff and tax foreign countries to enrich our citizens.' Trump went on: 'For this purpose, we are establishing the External Revenue Service to collect all tariffs, duties and revenues.' 'It will be massive amounts of money pouring into our Treasury coming from foreign sources,' he concluded. 'The American dream will soon be back and thriving like never before.' Emergency price relief and addressing the cost-of-living crisis The economic crisis and surging inflation was one of the biggest issues in the 2024 presidential elections. Polling of Americans consistently showed they felt more financially stable during Trump's first term than under President Biden's administration. This executive order directs agencies to pursue any actions to lower the cost of housing and expand housing supply. It also requires the elimination of unnecessary administrative expenses and rent-seeking practices that increase healthcare costs as well as elimination of counterproductive requirements that raise the cost of home appliances. Trump's emergency price relief executive order will also create more employment opportunities and eliminate 'harmful coercive 'climate' policies that increase the cost of food and fuel. Shower head water flow Trump's gush of executive orders includes cracking down on conservation regulations. The 'Unleashing American Energy' order seeks to roll back regulations that conservatives slam for limiting water usage in dishwashers and showers. Trump has complained about water pressure issues for years including at a January press conference at Mar-a-Lago. 'When you buy a faucet, no water comes out. Even in areas with so much water you don't know what to do. It's called rain. It comes down from heaven. And they want to do no water comes out of the shower. It goes drip, drip, drip ... So what happens? You're in the shower ten times as long.' The order will end efforts to 'curtail consumer choice' relating to dishwashers, gas stoves, and shower heads, the White House previewed before the order. Federal regulations set a maximum flow rate of 2.5 gallons per minute for shower heads. Electric Vehicle regulation Trump previously floated ending Biden's electric vehicle mandate, which could potentially hurt 'First Buddy' Elon Musk and his EV company Tesla. But this is one of the initiatives congressional Republicans would rather pass in the Trump bills later this year. On Monday, however, he confirmed going forward with the order. 'We will revoke the electric vehicle mandate, saving our auto industry and keeping my sacred pledge to our great American auto workers,' Trump said in his address. 'In other words, you'll be able to buy the car of your choice,' he added. 'We will build automobiles in America again at a rate that nobody could have dreamt possible just a few years ago.' 'And thank you to the auto workers of our nation for your inspiring vote of confidence. We did tremendously with their vote.' National Energy Emergency declaration Trump declared another national emergency, this one focusing on the 'energy emergency.' 'We will drill baby drill,' he said of initiatives to use more domestic energy resources. Withdrawal from the Paris Climate Accords Trump directed the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations presumably former Rep. Elise Stefanik to immediately submit a formal written notification of the United States' withdrawal from the Paris Agreement. The order is meant to prioritize Americans' interests in international environmental agreements, claiming that other countries are not paying their fair share. 'In recent years, the United States has purported to join international agreements and initiatives that do not reflect our country's values as our contributions to the pursuit of economic and environmental objectives,' the order reads. 'Moreover, this agreement steers American taxpayer dollars to countries that do not require, or merit, financial assistance in the interests of the American people.' As part of his reversals on Biden-era policy, he will also undo some of the restrictions on drilling fossil fuels in the Arctic. Trump signed orders aimed at promoting oil and gas development in Alaska, and pledged to increase fracking while scaling back policies increasing green energy production. Unleashing American energy The executive order insists it's 'in the national interest to unleash America's affordable and reliable energy and natural resources.' 'This will restore American prosperity - including for those men and women who have been forgotten by our economy in recent years,' Trump's order continues. 'It will also rebuild our nation's economic and military security which will deliver peace through strength.' The action eliminates the Green New Deal, and states that within 30 days, the head of each agency should develop and implement a plan to suspend, revise or rescind all agency actions that prohibit using America's own natural resources. Accountability for federal policy positions This order claims federal supervisors are afraid to fire incompetent staff members and requires that more accountability be brought to those who work for the government. 'Accountability is essential for all federal employees, but it is essentially important for those who are in policy-making positions,' the executive order reads. 'These personnel are entrusted to shape and implement actions that have a significant impact on all Americans.' Trump revoked the security clearances of 51 officials who signed a memo claiming the damning pictures and messages found on Hunter Biden's laptop were part of a Russian disinformation campaign even though the FBI later confirmed it was legitimate Holding former officials accountable for election interference Trump moved forward on Monday with his vow to revoke the security clearance of the 51 pro-Biden officials. These individuals all signed a now-infamous memo claiming that damning pictures and messages found on Hunter Biden's laptop bore 'all the classic earmarks' of a Russian disinformation campaign. It was later revealed and confirmed by the FBI that the First Son's laptop and its contents are legitimate. It later led to Hunter's federal gun trial. Among the letter's signatories, who are now stripped of their clearances, are former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, former CIA Director John Brennan and former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta. Trump's own former national security adviser John Bolton also lost his security clearance in the order. The memo was used by Biden to discredit the laptop and the damning evidence against his adult son during presidential debates, town halls and other media appearances prior to the 2024 election. Most officials who signed the letter are retired or no longer hold active clearances, so the action has limited impact on their lives or careers. Unleashing Alaska's resources The order reverses restrictions by the Biden administration to target resource development on state and federal land in Alaska. 'Unlocking this bounty of natural wealth will raise the prosperity of our citizens while helping to enhance our nation's economic and national security for generations to come. 'By developing these resources to the fullest extent possible, we can help deliver price relief for Americans, create high quality jobs for our citizens, ameliorate our trade imbalances, augment the nation's exercise of global-energy dominance and guard against foreign powers weaponizing energy supplies in theaters of geopolitical conflict. Revert name of tallest U.S. mountain Trump is ordering that Alaska's Denali mountain go by its original moniker Mount McKinley. Then-President Barack Obama changed the official name in 2015 to one that was more in-line with the preference of Alaska Natives and residents as the previous name was thought to be disrespectful of the aboriginal community living there. Denali means 'the high one' or 'the great one' an apt name for the tallest mountain on U.S. soil. In 1896 a prospector named the mountain Mount McKinley, after President William McKinley even though he had never been to Alaska or summited the peak and it was recognized as such until Obama's 2015 change. Trump suggested a year later that he would undo Obama's action but stopped suggesting it over opposition from Alaska lawmakers. Denali in Alaska is the tallest mountain peak on U.S. soil and Trump is bringing back the original name Mount McKinley But last month at a rally in Phoenix, Trump reraised the topic. 'McKinley was a very good, maybe a great president,' Trump said Sunday. 'They took his name off Mount McKinley, right? That's what they do to people.' McKinley was a Republican from Ohio who served as the 25th president and was assassinated early in his second term in 1901 in Buffalo, New York. Alaska and Ohio have been at odds over the name since at least the 1970s. Trump said during his inaugural address on Monday that he will be changing the name back. Withdrawing from the World Health Organization Trump is taking the U.S. out of the World Health Organization and pausing any transfer of federal funds for the organization. The order also reassigns any personnel or contractors currently working in any capacity with the WHO. It blames the reason for withdrawal on the group's 'mishandling' of the COVID pandemic, 'its failure to adopt urgently needed reforms and its inability to demonstrate independence from the inappropriate influence of WHO member states.' 'In addition, the WHO continues to demand unfairly onerous payments from the United States, far out of proportion with other countries' assessed payments,' Trump's order insists. The Russian army is sending wounded soldiers to their deaths to work out the location of Ukrainian snipers, officials have said, with Vladimir Putin's generals forcing men on crutches onto the battlefield as part of their callous 'meat assaults'. Harrowing footage captured by a Ukrainian reconnaissance drown shows a it picking off the limping soldiers one by one as they cross an empty field. The incapacitated soldiers head towards Ukrainian positions but are easily hunted down by the grenade-dropping drone. The video was shared by Andriy Kovalenko, the head of the Center for Countering Disinformation of the National Security and Defense Council, on his Telegram. 'The Russians use such disabled people to try to detect the firing positions of the Defense Forces, and there are also cases when the wounded have already been discharged, but they survived, so they are given these last tasks,' Kovalenko wrote. The defenceless soldiers often make up the first wave in Putin's 'meat assaults' - heading up the advance so the fitter troops behind them can identify the threats ahead. Throughout the war, the Ukrainian army has reported capturing scores of Russians who are already suffering from serious injuries sustained in previous attacks. 'Crippled regiments' of soldiers, who have usually received little medical attention before being sent into battle, are thrown back into battle by their commanders as they try to sustain the rate of assaults even as the number of killed and wounded rises. A Russian soldier crawls away from the spot where a grenade was dropped by a drone Soldiers are seen limping across a barren field near the frontline, apparently towards Ukrainian positions A drone drops a grenade on a Russian foot soldier as he hobbles across a field The body of a Russian soldier lies helplessly after a drone dropped a grenade onto him The so-called 'meat grinder' units are made up of the maimed as well as released prisoners, with the first wave often protecting the soldiers behind them in an effort to overwhelm Ukrainian defences and make incremental gains. While the tactic has proved effective in edging the Russian frontline forward, with Moscow's forces gaining ground in eastern Ukraine and Kursk over the past year, it has also resulted in huge manpower losses. Russian forces suffered their heaviest losses last year since the start of the full-scale war, with approximately 150,000 killed in combat during 2024, Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said yesterday. 'In this year of fighting, (Russian President Vladimir Putin) lost more than in the previous two years of the war (combined),' he told Ukrainian outlet TSN. It comes after reports that North Korean soldiers sent to fight alongside the Russians are being used as 'human mine detectors' on the frontlines of the invasion of Ukraine. Some 12,000 North Korean soldiers have been sent to fight alongside Vladimir Putin's beleaguered forces in Ukraine. But Lieutenant Colonel 'Leopard' of Ukraine's 33rd 'Big Cats' Separate Assault Battalion revealed that their lives are worth little to their higher-ups. Images shared by Euromaidan Press shows what appear to be Russian soldiers cowering in ditches and beneath trees as they are hunted by Ukrainian drones He told the Times: 'The North Koreans have a "meat grinder" strategy. Where Ukrainians use a mine-clearing vehicle, they just use people. 'They just walk in single file, three to four metres from each other, if one is blown up, then the medics go behind to pick up the dead, the crowd continues one after another. That's how they pass through minefields.' Leopard said that the soldiers sent by Kim Jong Un often refuse to be taken alive, preferring to be killed in battle or to simply run. Either way, he said, their commanders are apparently unfazed. The Institute for the Study of War (ISW), which has been tracking developments on the frontlines of the invasion of Ukraine since it started in February 2022, said in an assessment on January 16 that 'the entirety of this North Korean contingent in Kursk Oblast may be killed or wounded in roughly 12 weeks.' In early January, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said 3,800 North Korean soldiers have so far been killed or wounded in Kursk. Footage appears to show the bodies of Russian soldiers who tried to take cover in the frozen Kursk wasteland Fighting has been intensifying in the Russian region over recent weeks after part of it was first seized by Kyiv's forces back in August. It has been defended by Ukraine since, Vladimir Putin has sent wave after wave of troops to die as 'cannon fodder'. So exhausted by the rate with which they have been killing their enemies, Ukrainian machine gunners are being replaced regularly, according to reports. One soldier likened the onslaught to the bloody sieges of eastern Ukrainian cities like Bakhmut, saying that 'after two hours [gun operators] couldn't take it anymore.' 'Here, the Russians need to take this territory at any cost, and are pouring all their strength into it, while we are giving everything we have to hold it,' Sergeant Oleksandr, 46, a Ukrainian infantry platoon leader, told the New York Times. 'We're holding on, destroying, destroying, destroying - so much that it's hard to even comprehend.' Elon Musk has been spotted chatting with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni at Donald Trump's inauguration ceremony - months after denying unsubstantiated rumors they were having an affair. The world's richest man was seen having what looked like an intense exchange with Meloni in St John's Church where a service was held ahead of the swearing-in of the new MAGA officials at 12pm. They were pictured speaking in the aisles before taking a pew, surrounded by several more rich and powerful people present for Trump's big day. Rumors about an affair between Musk and Meloni swirled in September after a photograph of them together sent social media sites into meltdown. The image showed the pair gazing into each other's eyes at the Global Citizen Awards in New York City as the X boss handed the 48-year-old Italian politician the titular award. He also called her 'beautiful' in his speech. 'Find someone who looks at you the same way the Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni looks at Elon Musk,' one X user wrote, sharing a photo of the 53-year-old Tesla boss touching her shoulder. 'You can't have mELONi without ELON,' another added. The New York Post even went as far as to call the event a 'public love-in' between the SpaceX founder and the first female Italian prime minister. Elon Musk has been spotted chatting with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni at Donald Trump's inauguration ceremony (shown above) - months after denying affair rumors Rumors about an affair between Musk and Meloni swirled in September after a photograph of them together (shown above) sent social media sites into meltdown Musk and Meloni were were pictured speaking in the aisles before taking a pew, surrounded by several more rich and powerful people present for Trump's big day. (Pictured: Trump at the same service, closely followed by his wife Melania as they walked toward the front row pew) At Trump's inauguration, Meloni was seen laughing with Argentinian president Javier Milei after he whispered something in her ear, in the photograph shown above But as the photos started circulating on his social media platform, Musk denied having any amorous relations with Meloni at the black-tie event. 'I was there with my Mom. There is no romantic relationship whatsoever with PM Meloni,' Musk wrote on X in response to a post of a photo showing them gazing into each other's eyes at a banquet table, which came with the caption, 'We all know what happened next.' At Trump's inauguration, Meloni was seen laughing with Argentinian president Javier Milei after he whispered something in her ear. Meanwhile, soon-to-be government official Musk was pictured speaking with the CEO of Google Sundar Pichai. Musk and Meloni have met several times before, with the Italian prime minister hosting the billionaire at her official residence in Rome in June 2023. He then returned to the country that December, when he spoke at a political festival hosted by Meloni's far-right Brothers of Italy party. They have previously discussed their shared interest in the West's declining birth rates and the positive potential of AI, according to the Telegraph. Meloni, who split from her longtime partner Andrea Giambruno after he made lewd comments on Italian television in 2023, even requested Musk hand her the Global Citizen Award from the Atlantic Council think tank. In brief remarks before handing over the award, Musk said Meloni was 'someone who is even more beautiful inside than outside.' Meloni had requested that Musk hand her the Global Citizen Award at the ceremony in New York City in September. The two are shown at the event, which sparked the affair rumors Pictured: Elon Musk arriving for Donald Trump's inauguration ceremony on Monday 'That can't always be said about politicians,' he joked, going on to refer to her as 'authentic, honest and thoughtful.' The Italian right-wing leader replied that the U.S. entrepreneur was a 'precious genius' before launching into her vision for western conservatism. 'I don't know if nationalism is the correct word because it often recalls doctrines of aggression or authoritarianism,' she told the 600-plus person crowd in Manhattan's Ziegfeld Ballroom. 'However, I know that we should not be ashamed to use and defend words and concepts like 'nation' and 'patriotism.'' Meloni went on to call patriotism 'the best response to declinism' as she challenged perceptions of the 'inevitable decline of the West.' Musk was seen nodding throughout her speech, and stood up to applaud her when she was finished. Supporters of President Donald Trump on Monday got up early to get in line for the unusual inaugural parade scheduled to go through Capitol One stadium in Washington, D.C. Inauguration organizers moved the celebrations indoors as temperatures in Washington, DC were in the mid-20s combined with a stiff cold breeze blowing through the streets. Even the inauguration parade was moved to Capitol One arena nearby the White House, abandoning the traditional march down Pennsylvania Ave. Trump supporters arrived as early as 5:00 am to get in line, and told DailyMail.com they were eager to get in the arena out of the cold. People standing in line were disappointed that the outdoor inauguration ceremony had been canceled but were making the best of it, in the hopes of getting a seat in the stadium. Cups of coffee, food, and drinks were abandoned in a pile outside the security checkpoint along with chairs and superfluous items that would not make it through the checkpoints. 'We're here to support Trump, we love freedom and we're ready to see him in office again,' one woman wearing a large red fur MAGA cap. 'I think it's great! I'm very glad to be here,' one supporter said. Trump supporters line up to attend stadium parade in Washington, DC for the inauguration 'I'm most looking forward to getting inside where it's warm,' said one supporter from Texas wearing a MAGA Santa Hat. 'It's a little too cold,' said one man wearing a full length face mask as he got closer to the security check point. One supporter from British Columbia hoisted an Edmonton Oiler's jersey with Trump's face on it and the words Drill, Baby, Drill. Trump supporters line up to attend stadium parade in Washington, DC for the inauguration Trump supporters line up to attend stadium parade in Washington, DC for the inauguration 'It's pretty cold but we stayed prepared,' said one man who noted he had a great deal of layers on to keep him warm. 'It's pretty nice,' one heavily dressed supporter from Wisconsin told DailyMail.com. One man from Iowa commented that it was -21 degrees at his home that morning. 'I'm nice and warm actually, I'm prepared for this, said one woman from California wearing multiple layers under her bejeweled Trump branded pants and leather vest. Trump supporters line up to attend stadium parade in Washington, DC for the inauguration Trump supporters line up to attend stadium parade in Washington, DC for the inauguration Trump supporters line up to attend stadium parade in Washington, DC for the inauguration Supporters of President-elect Donald Trump await the start of his presidential inauguration Supporters of President Donald Trump wait in line for the Inauguration parade in Capitol One stadium Many supporters were surprised to hear that Biden had pardoned Dr. Anthony Fauci, derided by many MAGA supporters as a deep-state villain for his role in shutting the country down for the coronavirus pandemic. 'Why would you have to pardon him if he's not guilty?' Mark from Virginia said. 'That means he's guilty,' William from South Carolina said. One man, Connor from New Jersey suggested that Biden 'get a booster' of the coronavirus vaccine to celebrate. 'It's a shame,' Jessica from Indiana said. Boris Johnson joined Donald Trump's inauguration ceremonies today - with Nigel Farage, Liz Truss and Priti Patel also in Washington. The former PM was in church as the pomp of the handover swung into full gear, with the new president being sworn in this evening. Mr Johnson forged a bond with Mr Trump during his last term in office, and has been a strong supporter. Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg, the bosses of Amazon and Meta respectively, were both among the star-studded congregation. But Keir Starmer is watching on TV after not receiving an invite to the events. Downing Street has stressed that is in keeping with convention, and Sir Keir will be visiting the US soon. Boris Johnson joined Donald Trump 's inauguration ceremonies today Mr Johnson (circled) was in church as the pomp of the presidential handover swung into full gear, with the new president being sworn in this evening The star-studded crowd at St John's Episcopal Church in Washington DC Joe Biden met Mr Trump and wife Melania at the White House ahead of the handover Mr Farage, Ms Truss, Ms Patel and Suella Braverman are among the prominent Brits who have been posting pictures of themselves in the US capital. The PM sent his congratulations in a gushing statement overnight, insisting Transatlantic ties are built on 'unshakeable foundations' and hinting at a push for a trade deal. But No10 was left having to play down claims that Italy now has the real 'Special Relationship' with the US, after Giorgia Meloni was invited. Foreign Secretary David Lammy said this morning that Sir Keir is set to visit the US in the coming weeks, while there are claims senior Royals could be deployed on a tour to help foster relations. But there are mounting concerns about the huge political gulf between Labour and the new White House. Rumours have been swirling that Mr Trump could punish Sir Keir for party activists going to the US to campaign for his Democrat rival Kamala Harris. There have even been suggestions that the nomination of Lord Mandelson as the UK's ambassador could be vetoed. Former PM Liz Truss is also in Washington DC, pictured attending a party for TikTok influencers last night This poignant footage shows the final stand up performance of troubled comedy legend Tony Slattery, just weeks before his death. The once ubiquitous TV star in his eighties and nineties heyday had played to sell out crowds in the biggest venues on the comedy circuit. But by the time of his final performance last month the 65-year-old had been ravaged by drug addiction and associated health issues - and was performing in the modest setting of a provincial club in front of an audience numbering in just the dozens. Despite this, those who were among the small crowd at the The Mess club on Merseyside in the week before Christmas have told how Slattery's famous spark endured - and how he was rapturously received. Slattery, who died penniless last Sunday, had the small crowd in raptures as he reeled off gag after gag from the stage of the club that was providing him with a platform when other high profile venues had deserted him. The club's owner Dane Brooks told MailOnline: 'Tony's final live performance was here at The Mess on 21 December. 'He was on top form and the audience were roaring with laughter. 'The final live performance showed he was still at the top of his game - razor sharp wit with an unbelievably clever and creative mind.' Tony Slattery (centre) appeared on stage for the last time the week before Christmas in his return to comedy After his gig Mr Slattery was seen posing for photographs with friends and fans Mr Slattery was on 'top form' and had his audience 'roaring with laughter' at the gig at The Mess, Fort Perch Rock After the show Slattery posed for photos with fans and friends including his partner Markl and his pianist Martin McGinty. Mr Brooks shared the images and footage from the final performance with MailOnline in tribute as he believes it will resonate with Slattery's many thousands of mourning fans. He went on: 'Tony always stayed after the show and chatted to the audience. He had time for everyone - a true gentleman in every sense of the word.' 'Tony was a lovely, warm and kind man, who was incredibly talented. He was exactly how you would expect him to be off stage - gentle and humble, but with a real unmistakable energy about him.' The Mess is set within Fort Perch Rock, an historic sea fort guarding the mouth of the River Mersey near Birkenhead. Mr Brooke Tony had been planning to make a short film this spring after re-honing his routine at The Mess. He was also booked to perform at the venue again next month. He added: 'Tony was really busy with lots of projects - definitely not winding down. 'He had launched his podcast with a party here in October and recorded an episode of it here too. His death is such a sad loss.' Tony Slattery had spoken out about his struggles with bipolar, drink and drugs addiction and bankruptcy His last public appearance was in an Instagram post on Christmas Day, wearing a festive scarf The last photos taken on the evening show Tony being applauded one last time by an appreciative audience and later enjoying a pizza with his pianist accompanist Martyn McGinty. Tony's partner of 40 years, Mark Hutchinson was among the audience watching him perform in what amounted to a comeback of sorts as he had for some years not performed at all. It was well documented that Slattery's demons saw his once golden career evaporate - and he was left with no agent, no bookings and frequently no income. Instead he would lock himself away in his apartment as he snorted 4,000 of cocaine a week and drank two bottles of vodka per day. He talked openly in recent years about how this dark period of his life drove him to bankruptcy and to losing friends. Speaking in 2019, Slattery admitted he was very saddened when both famous pals and friends deserted him when his money dried up. It is however understood that some former colleagues including Stephen Fry had helped him out financially in recent years. The star was renowned for 1980s and 1990s appearances on shows such as Whose Line Is It Anyway? before stepping back from the spotlight in decades to follow. Mr Slattery and his partner of 40 years Mark Michael Hutchinson (left), pictured together in 2020 for the documentary: What's the Matter with Tony Slattery? Mr Slattery, second from left, with members of the 1981 Cambridge University Footlights Revue including Stephen Fry, Emma Thompson, Paul Shearer, Penny Dwyer and Hugh Laurie (left to right) He later opened up on his struggles with bipolar disorder as well as drink and drugs addictions, while hiding away in his luxury Wapping flat. He had also revealed how his mental health problems began when he was sexually abused as an eight-year-old by a priest culminating in a breakdown in 1996 which led to work drying up and eventually bankruptcy. He later moved with Mark to a cottage in Edgware where he was living at the time of his death from a heart attack last Sunday night. So struggling financially was he in recent years that his partner this week has been crowd funding to raise money to pay for Slattery's funeral, explaining he had 'plan B' because his death was 'so unexpected'. The crowdfunding campaign, organised on behalf of his partner Mark, was asking for donations to fund a fitting farewell to the funnyman famed for his appearances in 80s Channel Four comedy show Whose Line is it Anyway? It very quickly raised thousands more than its initial 8,000 target as fans rushed to help. The web page describes Slattery, 65, as 'a titan of British comedy' and said: 'Because Tony was only just getting back to work, and because his passing was so unexpected, there wasn't a Plan B in place. 'If you could give just a little towards a funeral for Tony, it would be a huge weight off Mark's shoulders at this miserable time.' A Ryanair passenger who claimed to be a United Nations diplomat had to be dragged off a plane by police after refusing to show his boarding pass, Spanish media reports. The enraged man held up a flight from Lanzarote to Galicia on Friday night as he put up a fight to stay on board, shouting at a group of four officials who then had to wrestle him. He first attracted attention from cabin crew after demanding to be relocated to a seat in the front row, Canarian Weekly reports. Airline staff denied his request unless he presented them with his boarding pass, which he said he would not do as he claimed he was not required to. One person who said they witnessed the debacle said the man had claimed his friend had his ticket, but did not provide any evidence of this. The pilot reportedly told those on board that the plane was ready to take off at its scheduled time, but that it was being delayed by an uncooperative individual. After multiple attempts to negotiate with the supposed diplomat, the captain decided the flight had been held up long enough and called the Guardia Civil to remove the man from the plane. Irritated passengers watch on as the man argues with the police and flight attendants, still not budging from the seat. The man was filmed shouting at officials as irritated passengers watched on Police had to wrestle the man out of his seat to get him off the plane The angry man reportedly claimed to be a UN diplomat and drew attention when he asked to move seats He is eventually pulled up and hauled out of the cabin. The flight was delayed a total of 40 minutes. The plane was able to take off and land in Santiago de Compostela, at the Rosalia de Castro airport, at around 11.45pm. In a statement, Irish carrier Ryanair said of the incident: 'The crew of this flight from Lanzarote to Santiago (17 Jan) called for police assistance prior to departure after a passenger became disruptive on board. 'This passenger was removed before this flight continued to Santiago. 'Ryanair is committed to ensuring that all passengers and crew travel in a safe and respectful environment, without unnecessary disruption caused by a tiny number of unruly passengers. 'Ryanair has a strict zero tolerance policy towards passenger misconduct and will continue to take decisive action to combat unruly passenger behaviour on aircraft for the benefit of the vast majority of passengers who do not disrupt flights. This is a matter for local police.' Senator Amy Klobuchar has been blasted for a 'faux-pas' in front of President Joe Biden and Donald Trump ahead of the inauguration. The Democrat representative emerged ahead of both men as they departed the White House, blocking shots of the historic moment. Klobuchar, 64, then caused further confusion after she was seen getting in to the same limousine as the incoming and outgoing president. All three left the White House for the US Capitol's Rotunda where the swearing in ceremony is taking place. Klobuchar was instrumental in moving the event indoors due to the extremely low temperatures chilling Washington DC today. The Minnesota representative is chair of the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies (JCCIC) and so plays a key role in the organization of the swearing-in ceremony. She is due to deliver the call to order as she did in 2021 for Joe Biden's inauguration, just two weeks after rioters stormed the Capitol in protest over the election result. However, many online commentators were left unimpressed by Klobuchar's actions ahead of this year's ceremony. Senator Amy Klobuchar has been blasted for a 'faux-pas' in front of President Joe Biden and Donald Trump ahead of the inauguration 'WTF is Amy Klobuchar walking out with Trump and Biden? She ruined the shot,' one person wrote on X. 'WHY is Amy Klobuchar in the car with the President? That's weird,' another added. 'What did I miss, why was Amy Klobuchar front and center?' one person queried. 'Why is goofball Amy Klobuchar leading the procession?' another said. Others speculated on what the three would be discussing while in the limo, with one eagle-eyed viewer pointing out that Trump immediately whipped out his phone after getting in. The swearing-in ceremony is due to commence at noon ET, however the festivities started earlier when the incoming president arrived for service at St. John's Episcopal Church. Since then a plethora of high profile guests have filtered into the Rotunda to watch Trump being sworn in as 47th president of the United States. While the audience was forced to shrink when the celebrations moved indoors a number of recognizable faces were still in the audience. The Minnesota Democrat representative emerged ahead of both men as they departed the White House, subsequently blocking shots of the historic moment The CEOs of Meta, X, and Amazon were given pride of place, a nod to the importance Trump has given the heads of some of the most powerful companies and social media platforms over his agency heads. Vocal Trump ally Elon Musk, the owner of Telsa and the social platform X, was seen along with Google's Sundar Pichai and Amazon owner Jeff Bezos. Facebook owner Mark Zuckerberg and Apple CEO Tim Cook were also in the audience. In her call to order, Klobuchar spoke of the 'peaceful transfer of power' and noted that the ceremony fell on Martin Luther King Day. 'It is a reminder that we must strive to uphold the values enshrined in our constitution,' Klobuchar said. Bill and Hillary Clinton, along with former Vice President Mike Pence, were booed by President Donald Trump's MAGA crowd who were gathered inside the Capital One Arena Monday. Hillary Clinton - Trump's 2016 Democratic rival - received chants of 'lock her up.' Trump supporters called Pence, Trump's former VP, a 'traitor.' Due to the frigid cold - it was in the 20s as Trump was sworn-in - inauguration was moved indoors for the first time in 40 years. That meant that the thousands of Trump supporters who would have watched the swearing-in from the National Mall were relocated to the Capital One Arena, where the Washington Capitals and Wizards play. While the Clintons and Pence were greeted with applause by those who scored a seat to be in the Capitol Rotunda - VIPs like Tim Cook, Dana White and Tucker Carlson - the more unruly MAGA crowd let their feelings fly. Pence and Trump had a falling out over the January 6 Capitol attack, with Trump not calling off the assault for hours. Pence was targeted due to his refusal to overturn the 2020 election, with the crowd erecting gallows and chanting 'hang Mike Pence.' Former President Bill Clinton (left) and 2016 Democratic nominee and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (right) arrive Monday for President Donald Trump's swearing-in. They were booed by the MAGA crowd taking in the inauguration from Capital One Arena Former Vice President Mike Pence was also booed when he popped up on the jumbotrons at Capital One Arena. Pence and President Donald Trump had a falling out over January 6th. His wife Karen Pence snubbed Monday's inauguration He was replaced on the 2024 presidential ticket by Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance. Pence mounted his own presidential run against Trump, but dropped out even before the Iowa caucuses due to low poll numbers. Trump and Pence came face-to-face earlier this month at President Jimmy Carter's funeral. While the former vice president stood and shook Trump's hand, following the lead of former Vice President Al Gore, Karen Pence snubbed both Trumps. She stayed seated and looked forward as Melania and then Donald walked down the pew. Karen Pence skipped Monday's inauguration. Former first lady Michelle Obama also decided not to come. She didn't appear at Carter's funeral either. Trump's MAGA faithful - who would have taken in the swearing-in ceremony from the National Mall - were moved indoors to the Capital One Arena, where the Washington Capitals and Wizards play A spokesperson did not reveal why Michelle wasn't attending Trump's second swearing-in but with Carter's funeral blamed a 'scheduling conflict' and said she remained in Hawaii. Michelle Obama celebrated her 61st birthday on Friday. Obama also received boos from the Capital One Arena crowd when he showed up to the swearing-in solo. Trump will head over to the Capital One Arena after the inaugural luncheon to greet his supporters and watch the parade from there. Later he'll attend three official inaugural balls. President Joe Biden pardoned several members of his family, including his brother and sister, in his final minutes in office. The announcement came about 15 minutes before Donald Trump was sworn in as the 47th president of the United States. The statement was sent out as Biden and Trump stood in the Capitol rotunda, waiting for the president-elect to take the oath of office. Biden issued pre-emptive pardons to James B. Biden, Sara Jones Biden, Valerie Biden Owens, John T. Owens, and Francis W. Biden. 'The issuance of these pardons should not be mistaken as an acknowledgment that they engaged in any wrongdoing, nor should acceptance be misconstrued as an admission of guilt for any offense,' Biden said in his last act as president. His brother James Biden had been pulled into House Republicans' impeachment investigation of Joe Biden, which ultimately went nowhere. However, House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer had asked Trump's Justice Department to investigate and prosecute James for allegedly making false statements to Congress. Valerie Biden Owens, the sister of President Joe Biden, and James Biden, the brother of President Joe Biden, in Wilmington, Delaware, in June 2024 In his last act of President, Joe Biden pardoned several members of his family as Donald Trump prepared to take the oath of office Biden also pardoned James' wife, Sara; his sister, Valerie; her husband, John; and his younger brother, Francis Biden. The pardons were sweeping, covering all of their 'nonviolent' actions dating back to 2014. Biden said his family was subjected to unrelenting attacks and threats, motivated solely by a desire to hurt me the worst kind of partisan politics.' 'Unfortunately, I have no reason to believe these attacks will end,' he said. Comer said the pardons prove the family is corrupt. 'President Biden's preemptive pardons for the Biden Crime Family serve as a confession of their corruption as they sold out the American people to enrich themselves. Our investigation revealed that at least ten members of the Biden Crime Family and their associates raked in over $30 million by selling Joe Biden's influence to corrupt foreign entities and individuals in China, Russia, Ukraine, Romania, and Kazakhstan,' he said in a statement. 'President Biden abused his public office to create a slush fund for his family. President Biden will go down as the most corrupt president in U.S. history, and our investigation will be remembered as one of the most successful ever conducted by Congress.' In December, Biden pardoned his son Hunter after vowing not to. Hunter was facing sentencing in two criminal cases late last year. The only family members missing from Monday's list was wife Jill and daughter Ashley. Earlier Monday Biden issued pre-emptive pardons from General Mike Milley, Dr. Anthony Fauci, former Rep. Liz Cheney and other lawmakers who investigated the January 6th riot in the Capitol. A Waymo car was mangled during a crash at Sixth and Harrison streets in San Francisco on Sunday evening. Benjamin Fanjoy/Special to the Chronicle Crews work near a Tesla wrecked in a multicar crash at Sixth and Harrison streets in San Francisco on Sunday. Benjamin Fanjoy/Special to the Chronicle Police work at a crash scene that involved a Waymo car at Sixth and Harrison streets in San Francisco on Sunday evening. Benjamin Fanjoy/Special to the Chronicle The rear end of a Waymo was ripped off the autonomous vehicle during a multicar accident in San Francisco on Sunday evening. Nora Mishanec/The Chronicle Emergency crews respond to a multivehicle crash on Sixth Street between Bryant and Harrison streets in San Francisco on Sunday night. San Francisco Fire Department A person and dog were killed Sunday in a multicar crash at the intersection of Sixth and Harrison streets in San Francisco that mangled several vehicles, including a Waymo robotaxi. Officers responded to the crash, which happened around 6:08 p.m., and arrived to find six vehicles that had been struck by another vehicle, according to a statement by police. Multiple people were in their cars, with several victims transported to a hospital. Advertisement Article continues below this ad One vehicle occupant was declared dead at the scene. The deceased dog was in the same vehicle. A suspect was detained by authorities while being treated for injuries at the hospital. Investigators are working to determine whether drugs or alcohol were factors in the collision. Drivers were advised to avoid the area, which was littered with shattered glass and auto parts, as police blocked off Sixth Street between Harrison and Bryant streets. Half a dozen police investigators inspected the damage. A Tesla was wrecked in the multicar crash on Sunday evening at Sixth and Harrison streets in San Francisco. Benjamin Fanjoy/Special to the Chronicle I heard the vehicles collide, and there was a boom, said Eric Toribio, an employee at a gas station next to the crash scene. Customers inside the gas station ran to the window to see the source of the noise, Toribio said. The crash occurred beyond the area captured by the stores security cameras. Advertisement Article continues below this ad The scene included a pickup truck crashed into a sidewalk. A Tesla sedan was damaged after an apparent collision with a Lexus sedan. The Teslas windshield was smashed, its front end a maze of mangled metal and its driver door open. There were piles of sand on the ground in front of the car, apparently used to put out a fire. Nearby, a Waymo sat with its entire rear end ripped off and damage to its side. A white sedan with its side torn off appeared to have crashed into the Waymo and come to a halt behind it. At least two other cars with noticeable damage were at a standstill with their blinkers on. At the scene, a medical examiners van pulled up and pulled out a single stretcher. Police officers held up a white sheet while the medical examiners moved a body to the stretcher and loaded it into their truck at 8:40 p.m. The body appeared to come from the white sedan that crashed directly into the Waymo. The sedans side was torn off. Several vehicles, including a Waymo, were totaled in the crash at Sixth and Harrison streets in San Francisco on Sunday evening. Benjamin Fanjoy/Special to the Chronicle A statement from Waymo gave some clue to the incident: An unoccupied Waymo vehicle operating autonomously was in a line of stand-still traffic when it was struck from behind by a vehicle that was impacted by another vehicle traveling at an extreme rate of speed. Advertisement Article continues below this ad In a statement, Mayor Daniel Lurie said, I have been briefed on the multi-vehicle incident that occurred downtown this evening. It is a tragedy to lose someone on our streets, and our thoughts are with all those affected and their families. We hope those injured will make a full recovery. Public safety has been my top priority from day one, and traffic safety is public safety. The San Francisco Fire Department said police were investigating the crash and had closed points of access. The SFFD said travelers should expect closures overnight and recommended following @SFMTA_Muni for reroutes. The California Highway Patrol said Monday it was investigating a single hit-and-run crash that occurred on Interstate 280 prior to another crash happening in San Francisco. It was not yet clear whether that investigation was related to the San Francisco crash. Anyone with information is asked to contact SFPD at 415-575-4444 or text a tip to TIP41, beginning the message with SFPD. Frustrated long-time Kohl's shoppers are urging the incoming CEO to 'bring back the old store' instead of making abrupt changes to attract younger customers. In recent years, Kohl's has made way for Sephora cosmetics and Babies 'R' Us shops inside its stores - scaling back its fine jewelry section, petite clothing sizes and private-label brands to do so, the Wall Street Journal reported. But the change upset its loyal customers and ultimately wiped out more than half a billion dollars in the store's revenue over the course of just two years. 'Why do I want to see Nike and Eddie Bauer in Kohl's when they are for sale all over the mall?' Adrienne Cestare-Alfano, a 73-year-old shopper for more than two decades, told the WSJ. Through her years of shopping endeavors, Cestare-Alfano has been stopping at Kohl's much less - especially after the chain reduced their selection of petite-sized clothing and hard-to-find private brands, such as Sonoma jeans. 'Undo the last few years of changes and get back to being my store,' she added. But as 50-year-old Ashley Buchanan steps into a period of turmoil as the company's third CEO in three years, customers are hoping he does just that. Department stores have been losing shoppers for years due to the age of online shopping, fast fashion and discount chains - Kohl's being no exception. Frustrated long-time Kohl's shoppers are urging the incoming CEO to 'bring back the old store' after the department chain made several abrupt changes to attract younger customers Ashley Buchanan, the 50-year-old former CEO of Michaels, an arts and crafts retailer, stepped into a period of turmoil this week as the third CEO Kohl's has seen in three years The company's sales have plummeted for 11 consecutive quarters, leading to its stock following suit - losing nearly 50 percent of its value over the past year. Tom Kingsbury, the 73-year-old departing CEO, had a goal of making Kohl's stores and websites easier to shop, as well as offering clearer value, improving inventory management, attracting a younger audience and strengthening the balance sheet when he first stepped up to the plate in 2023. Kohl's then began removing its fine jewelry departments to make room for one of Gen Z's favorite places - Sephora. But long-time customers were upset over the new addition and accused its bosses of ruining the store they once recognized for one specifically catered to the younger generation. 'To me, it's a waste of space,' Clare Lundberg, a 70-year-old shopper from Massachusetts, told the WSJ. 'I'm not a Sephora shopper and I don't go to Kohl's for cosmetics.' Additionally, the store overwhelmingly reduced its selection of petite-sized clothing - a move that Kingsbury has since called 'shortsighted', the Wall Street Journal reported. In yet another attempt to reduce inventory, the company halted the sale of private label brands like Sonoma and FLX - instead stocking its shelves with national brands like Nike. Kohl's began removing its fine jewelry departments to make room for Sephora - a move that upset long-time customers who claimed that its bosses were ruining the store they had always recognized for one specifically catered to the younger generation The departing CEO said that the company's new presence of Babies 'R' Us within its stores helped broaden their reach to young families Tom Kingsbury, the 73-year-old departing CEO, had a bunch of goals when he first stepped up to the position in 2023 - but most of the moves have backfired on the company's sales, revenue and stocks Customers have also complained about the appearance of stores - claiming that the aisles are messy and disorganized which makes it hard to find exactly what they are looking for. 'Sizes were mixed up and colors were scattered here and there,' John Edwards, an 82-year-old man who visited his local Kohl's to scout out a pair of new Levi's, told the WSJ. Frustrated, Edwards headed to Dillard's where he found exactly what he was looking for in just minutes. 'Guess where I will shop next time?' Edwards added. Kingsbury owned up to the mistakes in November after many of the company's new moves proved to backfire. 'We thought, "We can do more with a lot less,"' Kingsbury told the WSJ. 'And that didn't work out for us.' But he said that Kohl's isn't backing away from Sephora or Babies 'R' Us because its presence has been successful in attracting young shoppers, despite the uproar. Kingsbury previously noted that 40 percent of the customers shopping at Sephora within Kohl's stores are new faces to the department chain. In yet another attempt to reduce inventory, Kohl's halted the sale of private label brands like Sonoma and FLX - instead stocking its shelves with national brands like Nike Buchanan became the CEO of struggling Michaels in January of 2020 where he ended up streamlining the supply chain, cleaning up stores, restocking shelves, opening new locations and upgrading the website to make it easier for shoppers to navigate Buchanan used his three daughters as a focus group for further research during his time at Michaels - eventually adding in-store birthday parties and crafting events within the store for art-lovers Additionally, the presence of Babies 'R' Us helped broaden the company's reach to young families. Instead of removing both shops, Kohl's plans to reintroduce a large amount of the merchandise it had since removed from its stores. Luckily, Kohl's has a chance of reinventing itself back to its profitable roots, partly due to its location. More than 1,100 Kohl's stores are located in strip malls rather than the slowly-dying enclosed malls - making it more accessible through its easier parking and closer proximity to main highways. But location isn't enough to overcome the poor shopping experience and overturn the frustration of its customers. Buchanan, who took the reigns just last week, will have to be able to attract new, young customers without alienating their existing, older shoppers to reach any level of success. And he might be the perfect man for the job. The 50-year-old father has spent more than a dozen years at Walmart before he became the CEO of Michaels, the arts and crafts retailer. Those in his inner-circle have said that he has an eye for spotting products that would sell and uses his three daughters as a focus group for further research. When Buchanan stepped up as the CEO in January of 2020, Michaels was struggling - stores were reportedly dirty and poorly-stocked as the company played catch-up on e-commerce. He ended up streamlining the supply chain, cleaning up stores, restocking shelves, opening new locations and upgrading the website to make it easier for shoppers to navigate. Additionally, he added in-store birthday parties and crafting events for art-lovers. Kohl's sales have plummeted for 11 consecutive quarters, leading to its stock following suit - losing nearly 50 percent of its value over the past year Buchanan, who took the reigns just last week, will have to be able to attract new, young customers without alienating their existing, older shoppers to reach any level of success In 2023, he introduced MakerPlace to Michaels - an online marketplace for handmade goods, classes, how-to guides and supplies that most notably fed into the Taylor Swift bracelet-making craze among tweens in the country. It was designed as an alternative to Etsy and successfully attracted younger shoppers without turning off older crafters. Buchanan even took one of his girls to a bracelet-making class at the store for some feedback. Her advice? More colors. The newly crowned Kohl's CEO is also thinking about taking the company private after he privately sold Michaels to Apollo Global Management in 2021. He said the action could benefit the struggling company by regrouping away from the public market - allowing them to make investments for the long term without worrying about reporting their quarterly benefits to Wall Street. JCPenny became a private company following its 2020 bankruptcy and Saks Fifth Avenue parent HBC went private that very same year. In late December, Nordstrom also agreed to be taken private in a deal led by the Nordstrom family. An innocent teenage girl was gunned down in her car as two strung-out drug users chased after her, believing she was 'stalking them'. KayLee Dutton, 17, died on a lonely stretch of road near Cedar City, Utah, when Ethan Galloway, 23, fired 12 times into her car late on Friday night. The teenager was hit at least once by a .223 caliber bullet and crashed her red pickup truck into a fence. She was dead on arrival at Cedar City Hospital. Galloway and Michael Edward Hess-Witucki, 23, who was driving the car, were both charged with second-degree murder, along with drug and firearm crimes. Iron County Sheriff Ken Carpenter said the pair admitted their roles in KayLee's death and Galloway wrote a letter to her family explaining his actions. 'Both suspects admitted that their actions had resulted in serious bodily injury and death of the victim,' an arrest affidavit read. 'Their justification for chasing the victim's vehicle was they believed they had previously observed the victim's vehicle in their neighborhood and presumed the occupants of the victim's vehicle were (stalking) them. 'At the conclusion of the interview, Ethan wrote a letter of apology to the parents of the victim, describing the reasoning why he chased the victim's vehicle and shot the victim-driver.' KayLee Dutton, 17, died on a lonely stretch of road near Cedar City, Utah, when her car was sprayed with 12 bullets as her killers pulled alongside her KayLee's mother Kimberlee Dutton posted a photo online of herself and KayLee at her wedding in October, writing: 'My heart just hurts so bad for you. I need you so bad right now' Galloway and Hess-Witucki saw KayLee's car at their townhome block and chased after it in a black 2018 Chevrolet Silverado, flashing the car's high beam headlights. KayLee and her 18-year-old friend saw the pickup truck pursuing them and drove almost six miles north and then west out of town. Hess-Witucki pulled alongside them just before the intersection of Midvalley Road and 4300 W and Galloway sprayed the car with bullets. KayLee's friend survived with only a leg injury, and called 911 at 10.32pm. Dispatch audio showed first responders arrived at 10.51pm. A local SWAT team arrested Galloway and Hess-Witucki outside the townhome about 5.45pm on Saturday. Matthew Sorber-Petrie, 22, and Aldric Felipe, 21, were arrested hours later on obstruction, firearm, and drug crimes. Sorber-Petrie admitted to giving Galloway the gun, knowing it would be used to confront the supposed 'stalker', and Felipe stayed home but knew of the plan and what happened during the shooting. They were also aware that Hess-Witucki removed the shell casing from the car and stored them in a container to be disposed of. Ethan Galloway, 23, fired 12 times into KayLee's car, hitting her at least once Michael Edward Hess-Witucki, 23, who was driving the car, was also charged with second-degree murder KayLee was hit at least once by a .223 caliber bullet and crashed her red pickup truck (pictured) into a fence. She was dead on arrival at Cedar City Hospital Matthew Sorber-Petrie, 22, (pictured) admitted to giving Galloway the gun, knowing it would be used to confront the supposed 'stalker' 'Matthew Petrie has bought 3 or 4 guns from the shop. Super strange kid, really skinny. I mean like deathly skinny,' a local pawnshop worker wrote online. 'I literally would say I don't know how he even handles firearms. No weight to him. Always passed the background check without any issues.' Another former resident added that she used to work with Sorber-Petrie and he was 'creepy'. 'We worked at a treatment facility together with teenage boys and he used to go into details about his sexual encounters with women with these troubled boys,' she wrote. 'I do believe after I reported those incidents that he was fired from his position.' Police found magic mushroom vapes, marijuana vapes, and other drug paraphernalia at the home during a search, prompting the drug charges. Detectives identified the accused based on a description of the car by the surviving teenager, and used surveillance footage to place it at the scene. Officers also found the gun and ammunition that matched those used to kill KayLee. 'Our hearts go out to the families of these two young ladies. They weren't doing anything wrong,' Sheriff Carpenter said. 'They were just being teenagers having fun, and someone violently attacked them and ended their life for no apparent reason at this point.' Galloway wrote a letter of apology to the parents of the victim, describing the reasoning why he chased the victim's vehicle and shot the victim-driver A local SWAT team arrested Galloway (left) and Hess-Witucki (right) outside their townhome about 5.45pm on Saturday Hess-Witucki being taken into custody by police KayLee's mother Kimberlee Dutton said the Parowan High School student's death would leave a void in their lives. 'I never imagined that I would be burying my daughter so soon. KayLee was the light of our lives,' she said in a statement. 'She had a future ahead of her, and we'll never understand why this happened. I hope that justice will be served for my sweet girl.' Dutton posted a photo online of herself and KayLee at her wedding in October, writing 'My heart just hurts so bad for you. I need you so bad right now.' Galloway and Hess-Witucki were charged with second-degree murder, 12 counts of felony discharging of a firearm causing serious injury, obstruction of justice, drug possession, and possession of a firearm by a restricted person. Sorber-Petrie and Felipe were charged with obstruction of justice, drug possession, and possession of a firearm by a restricted person. They are all behind bars in the Iron County Jail without bail. The wife of retired Army Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman has raged at Joe Biden online after the outgoing president did not include her husband in his list of pre-emptive pardons. Rachel Vindman said she was 'hurt' by the snub, after Biden chose instead to pardon Dr Anthony Fauci, all nine members of the January 6 Committee, and members of his own family. 'Whatever happens to my family, know this: No pardons were offered or discussed. I cannot begin to describe the level of betrayal and hurt I feel,' Vindman's wife said. She published her comment on social media app Bluesky, rather than X, which is owned by key Trump ally and SpaceX founder Elon Musk. Her husband was a witness in Trump's impeachment trial after serving as his director for European Affairs for the US National Security Council from 2018 until 2020. Ukraine-born veteran and Trump critic Vindman provided evidence which prompted Trump to be charged with abuse of power in his first impeachment trial. The incoming president was impeached for the first time on December 18, 2019, accused of soliciting Russian interference in the 2020 presidential election to further his bid for a second term in the White House. On February 5, 2020, the Senate voted to acquit Trump on both charges - abuse of power and obstruction of Congress - but not before his reputation was tarnished by those who testified against him, including Vindman. Rachel Vindman, the wife of retired Army Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, has raged at Joe Biden online after the outgoing president did not include her husband in his list of pre-emptive pardons. (Pictured: Rachel and Alexander Vindman at a New York gala in May 2022) Ukraine-born veteran and Trump critic Vindman (pictured) provided evidence which prompted Trump to be charged with abuse of power in his first impeachment trial Rachel Vindman published her comment on social media app Bluesky, rather than X, which is owned by key Trump ally and SpaceX founder Elon Musk Trump has not named Vindman as someone he would go after, but the two have a rocky history. Vindman also launched a lawsuit against Trump Jr, Rudy Giuliani and former Trump White House staffers, accusing them of smearing him so that he lost his federal job, and conspired to cause him harm after the first impeachment hearing. A federal judge dismissed the lawsuit, saying the veteran did not have evidence to show the defendants conspired 'with the specific goal of intimidating Vindman from testifying or performing his job'. Vindman was commissioned in 1999 as an infantry officer, and he received a Purple Heart medal after suffering wounds during an IED attack in the Iraq War in 2004. He retired in 2020 after 21 years in the military, blaming vengeful behavior by Trump and his officials over his part in the impeachment trial. Alexander Vindman tweeted the news of his retirement at the time in July 2020 Trump ousted Vindman from his White House job just two days after his acquittal by the Senate Vindman and his wife were vocally pro-Biden in the build p to his election, appearing in an advertisement by The Lincoln Project and VoteVets to support his campaign. He has also locked horns with Musk - accusing the Tesla founder of being a Russian puppet during an MSNBC interview in November. Musk responded to the comment on X. 'Vindman is on the payroll of Ukrainian oligarchs and has committed treason against the United States, for which he will pay the appropriate penalty,' he wrote. Vindman's wife was also previously slammed for mocking the assassination attempt against Donald Trump on July 13 in Pennsylvania. She posted on X in September saying: 'No ears were harmed. Carry on with your Sunday afternoon.' Rachel Vindman followed up by writing, 'Sorry you're triggered' with three laughing emojis, in response to the flood of criticism. However, she later removed the initial post, calling it 'flippant' while adding that 'it's easy to say the wrong thing' on social media. In his last act of President, Joe Biden pardoned several members of his family as Donald Trump prepared to take the oath of office Biden pardoned several members of his family, including his brother and sister, during his final minutes in office on Monday. The announcement came about 15 minutes before Donald Trump was sworn in as the 47th president of the United States. The statement was sent out as Biden and Trump stood in the Capitol Rotunda, waiting for the president-elect to take the oath of office. His brother James Biden had been pulled into House Republicans' impeachment investigation of Joe Biden, which ultimately went nowhere. However, House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer had asked Trump's Justice Department to investigate and prosecute James for allegedly making false statements to Congress. Biden also pardoned James' wife, Sara; his sister, Valerie; her husband, John; and his younger brother, Francis Biden. The pardons were sweeping, covering all of their 'nonviolent' actions dating back to 2014. Biden said his family was subjected to unrelenting attacks and threats, motivated solely by a desire to hurt me the worst kind of partisan politics.' 'Unfortunately, I have no reason to believe these attacks will end,' he said. Barack Obama and George W. Bush's bromance continued Monday ahead of President Donald Trump's inauguration on Monday. As the two former presidents prepared to walk into the Capitol Rotunda for the swearing-in ceremony an aide can be heard asking W.: 'Are you going to behave?' Obama, walking up behind George and Laura Bush, volunteered an answer. 'Nope,' the Democrat said. The playful exchange happened after Bush gave Obama's tummy a playful tap when he arrived at President Jimmy Carter's funeral earlier this month. Bush ignored the Trumps to greet Obama. He later was seen shaking Donald Trump's hand. Obama won the White House in 2008 after running against the two-term Bush's policies, including his decision to invade Iraq. Former President George W. Bush (left) gives a wink alongside former first lady Laura Bush (right) in the Capitol Rotunda for President Donald Trump's swearing-in ceremony Presidents Obama and Bush on their way to the Capitol Rotunda: Staffer to Bush: Are you going to behave? Obama chimes in from behind: Nope. pic.twitter.com/xGNTTo6r2t Emily Davies (@ELaserDavies) January 20, 2025 But Bush 43 never appeared to harbor a grudge. He attended Obama's 2009 inauguration and appeared chummy with Barack and Michelle Obama over the years. While a Republican like Trump, Bush has been more critical of Trump than Obama. On the anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks in 2021, nine months after the January 6 Capitol attack, Bush warned about the threats of domestic terrorism. Trump, in turn, said that Bush had 'a failed and uninspiring presidency' and shouldn't be 'lecturing' the public. Prior to that, Trump humiliated Bush's brother Jeb on the 2016 campaign trail, mocking the former Florida governor for being 'low energy' - a dig that stuck. Before Trump fully entered politics he pushed the so-called 'birther' conspiracy theory about Obama - that the country's first black president was born in Kenya, where Obama's father was from, and not Hawaii, where the Democratic president was born. The White House eventually released Obama's long-form birth certificate to put the issue to bed. Former President George W. Bush (left), former first lady Laura Bush (center) and former President Barack Obama (right) Obama then humiliated Trump at the 2011 White House Correspondents' Dinner, considered one of the reasons Trump mounted his own campaign in 2016. At the Carter funeral, however, Trump and Obama were spotted engaging in an animated conversation - with Obama even laughing at something Trump said. Former first lady Michelle Obama skipped both Carter's funeral and didn't appear at inauguration on Monday. Hamas terrorists have celebrated their ceasefire 'victory' in the destroyed streets of Gaza, while the people living under their brutal rule are reportedly shot for stealing supplies like flour and tortured in prison. The terror group remains firmly in control of the coastal territory that now resembles an apocalyptic wasteland, where Hamas terrorists celebrated the ceasefire deal alongside Gazan civilians last week. The Hamas-run government in Gaza said on Monday that it will coordinate distribution of humanitarian aid promised as part of the ceasefire deal to the desperate people of Gaza. Israel put commercial goods imports on hold last month and only aid trucks have entered Gaza since then, carrying a fraction of what relief groups say is needed for a territory where most people have lost their homes and have little money. 'It's getting harder and harder to get the aid in,' said WHO spokesperson Margaret Harris after a series of looting incidents over the weekend. Before the war, a sack of flour sold for $10 or $15 and a kilogram of milk powder for 30 shekels. Now the flour costs $100 and the milk powder 300 shekels, traders said. Some people in Gaza say they want Hamas to target looters. 'There is a campaign against thieves, we see that. If the campaign continues and aid flows, the prices will go down because the stolen aid appears in the markets at high cost,' said Shaban, a displaced Gaza City engineer, now living in Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip. After nearly 100 trucks were looted last week Hamas attacked an armed group gathering near a crossing where aid trucks usually enter, opened heavy fire, killing at least 20 of them, according to residents and the Hamas Aqsa television. Hamas terrorists have celebrated their ceasefire 'victory' in the destroyed streets of Gaza Palestinians are waiting in line to receive white flour earlier this month Palestinians stand in wait for a food portion at a distribution centre south of Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip on December 17, 2024 Witnesses described another firefight on Saturday when Hamas fighters in two cars chased men suspected of looting who were in another vehicle, resulting in the death of the suspects. The Hamas official said the force showed that the group's governance in Gaza continued. 'Hamas as a movement exists, whether someone likes it or not. Hamas as a government exists too, not as strong as it used to be, but it exists and its personnel are trying to serve the people everywhere in the areas of displacement,' he said. This comes after UN officials said that more than a quarter of aid sent to Gaza is being looted by mobs or stolen by gangs as major shortages of food, medicine and other goods are causing widespread hunger and suffering among civilians. Georgios Petropoulos, a coordinator at the UN's emergency-response arm, OCHA, said last month that aid agencies were unable to resolve the problem of lawlessness in Gaza by themselves. 'It's just gotten too big for humanitarians to solve,' he said. In October, 7.5million worth of food and other goods nearly a quarter of all the humanitarian aid sent to Gaza that month was lost because of attacks and looting, according to a tally compiled by UN relief agencies with charity organisations. Mohammad Abdel-Dayem, owner of the Zadna 2 bakery in Gaza, said in December that he and his 60 employees had been out of business for a month, unable to provide bread to the 50,000 people they normally serve. 'We're not receiving any flour because of looting,' he added. Fighters from Hamas and other Gaza factions have since formed an armed force to prevent gangs pillaging aid convoys in the embattled territory, residents and sources close to the group said, after a big increase in the looting of scarce supplies. Palestinian children celebrate the Israeli government's ratification of a ceasefire and prisoner swap agreement in Gaza by 'throwing sparks' in Bureij refugee camp in Gaza City, Gaza on Janaury 18, 2025 A man sells flour at the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip on January 11, 2025 Palestinians walk past destroyed homes, amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, in Jabalia Refugee Camp, northern Gaza Strip, January 20, 2025 Palestinians, who had been taking refuge in city center for months, return to Jibaliya after the ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement between Hamas and Israel came into effect via Jala Street in Gaza City, Gaza on January 19, 2025 Since being formed this month amid rising public anger at aid seizures and price gouging, the new force has staged repeated operations, ambushing looters and killing some in armed clashes, the sources said. Hamas' efforts to take a lead in securing aid supplies point to the difficulties Israel will face in a post-war Gaza, with few obvious alternatives to a group it has been trying to destroy for over a year and which it says can have no governing role. Israel accuses Hamas of hijacking aid. The group denies that and accuses Israel of trying to foment anarchy in Gaza by targeting police guarding aid convoys. Amid the chaos of the war, armed gangs have increasingly raided supply convoys, hijacking trucks and selling the looted stock in Gaza markets at exorbitant prices. As well as driving anger at the Israeli military, the shortages had also prompted questions of Hamas for its seeming inability to stop the gangs. 'We are all against the bandits and looters so we can live and eat ... now you are obliged to buy from a thief,' said Diyaa al-Nasara, speaking near a funeral for a Hamas fighter killed in clashes with looters. The new anti-looting force, formed of well-equipped fighters from Hamas and allied groups, has been named 'The Popular and Revolutionary Committees' and is ready to open fire on hijackers who do not surrender, one of the sources, a Hamas government official, said. The official, who declined to be named because Hamas would not authorise him to speak about it, said the group operated across central and southern Gaza and had carried out at least 15 missions so far, including killing some armed gangsters. Footage shared by the IDF shows a prisoner seemingly being pushed down the stairs Later two guards leading the man towards an open door appear to hit and kick him Another prisoner is shown in a tiny, isolated cell in a Gaza prison Meanwhile, thousands of Hamas-run police in uniform re-emerged in Gaza following the ceasefire deal, making their presence known even in the most heavily destroyed areas. 'The police have been here the whole time, but they were not wearing their uniforms' to avoid being targeted by Israel, said Mohammed Abed, a father of three who returned to his home in Gaza City more than seven months after fleeing the area. 'They were among the displaced people in the tents. That's why there were no thefts,' he said. Other residents said the police had maintained offices in hospitals and other locations throughout the war, where people could report crimes. In Gazan prisons, Hamas terrorists have reportedly been filmed torturing Palestinian prisoners. Footage shared by the IDF shows a prisoner seemingly being pushed down the stairs before guards appear to kick and hit him, while another is shown isolated in a tiny cell. Opinion polls consistently show that only a minority of Palestinians support Hamas, with researchers revealing last year that only 40 per cent of Gazan were supporting Hamas based on shared values, according to the Jerusalem Post. 'I swear I was happy when you killed [Hamas leader Yahya] Sinwar, who caused destruction and killed our children. God willing youll destroy them,' a woman in Gaza was quoted as telling a journalist by the Times of Israel last year. A Palestinian sits near destroyed homes, amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, in Jabalia Refugee Camp, northern Gaza Strip, January 20, 2025 Hundreds of Palestinians gather to buy bread from a bakery in Deir al-Balah, Gaza on November 29, 2024 European aid worker Mark, who is based in Deir al-Balah, told the newspaper in November that when Hamas fired a rocket, only teenagers appeared to cheer on the streets as adults know the rockets would elicit an Israeli reaction. He said: 'People have come to see Hamas as a problem. I have yet to come across any adult who openly supports Hamas or claims it can bring a solution.' 'People hate Hamas more and more,' Khaled, a 30-year-old Palestinian man living in south Gaza, told the Times of Israel. Khaled had been imprisoned by the group in the past and was opposed to the terror group even before October 7. His statement was echoed by anti-Hamas activist Rashid, from Deir al-Balah, who added that most people in Gaza would want a future without Hamas. Michael Milshtein, an Israeli expert on Palestinian affairs and former military intelligence officer, said Hamas no longer has the ability to launch an October 7-style attack but has returned to its insurgent roots, using creative tactics like harvesting unexploded Israeli ordnance for homemade bombs. 'Hamas is a chameleon. It changed its colors according to the circumstances,' he said. 'The war is ending with a strong perception of success for Hamas. The enlistment capabilities will be crazy. They won't be able to handle it.' Israel has repeatedly blamed Hamas for the heavy civilian death toll and damage to infrastructure because the group's fighters and security forces embed themselves in residential neighborhoods, schools and hospitals. A survey by Arab World for Research and Development in December indicated that just 16 per cent of Gazans would vote for Hamas if elections for a Palestinian parliament were called, the Sunday Times reports. Palestinians including children wait in line to receive food as food is distributed by charitable organizations in Khan Yunis, Gaza on November 29, 2024 Palestinians, who had been taking refuge in city center for months, return to Jibaliya after the ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement between Hamas and Israel came into effect via Jala Street in Gaza City, Gaza on January 19, 2025 The Islamic militant group - which does not accept Israel's existence - is deeply rooted in Palestinian society, with an armed wing, a political party, media and charities that date back to its founding in the late 1980s. For decades, Hamas functioned as a well-organised insurgency, able to launch hit-and-run attacks on Israeli forces and suicide bombings in Israel itself. Many of its top leaders have been killed - and quickly replaced. It won a landslide victory in 2006 parliamentary elections, and the following year it seized Gaza from the Western-backed Palestinian Authority in a week of street battles. Hamas then established a fully-fledged government, with ministries, police and a civilian bureaucracy. Its security forces quickly brought Gaza's powerful families into line and crushed rival armed groups. They also silenced dissent and violently dispersed occasional protests. Hamas remained in power through four previous wars with Israel. With help from Iran it steadily enhanced its capabilities, extended the range of its rockets and built deeper and longer tunnels to hide from Israeli airstrikes. By October 7, 2023, it had an army of tens of thousands in organized battalions. In the surprise incursion that triggered the war, its fighters attacked southern Israel by air, land and sea, killing around 1,200 people, mostly civilians. Hamas-led militants abducted 250 others. An agriculturally rich portion of Oregon is under threat of being taken over by huge solar farms as the state pushes for green energy. In a bid to hit the state's climate targets of its electricity being 100 percent emission-free by 2040, more and more solar farms are popping up due to loopholes, and locals aren't happy their rural communities are rapidly changing. Several proposals have been made to cover some of the state's most vital farmland with solar panels, but local farmers and ranchers - especially in Bonanza, a town of 400 - aren't happy to see their rural land be replaced with sun-soaking panels. 'Anything that we produce continually contributes to our local economies,' Bonanza farmer Hank Cheyne told The Oregonian. 'When were buying [fertilizer or equipment], each dollar we spend on our suppliers cycles through the community.' Rancher Dave Noble is mainly irritated they be taken over by 'eyesore' panels, only for the energy it generates not to benefit the rural communities it takes over. 'We have to put up with all the eyesore, farming and environmental impact and all the power goes to cities that are far away,' Noble, who owns around 900 acres in the area, told the outlet. Another nail in the coffin for Noble is the fact that the large solar farms will taken away the view tourists look for when visiting Oregon. But it's not just tourism diminishing that frightened the community, but the fact that once the panels are built, the hefty project doesn't provide many permanent jobs or economic growth like farmland does. In a bid to hit the state's climate targets of its electricity being 100 percent emission-free by 2040, more and more solar farms are popping up on farming lands due to loopholes, and locals aren't happy their rural communities are rapidly changing Several proposals have been made to cover some of the state's most vital farmland with solar panels, but local farmers and ranchers - especially in Bonanza, a town of 400 - aren't happy to see their rural land be replaced with sun-soaking panels All solar panels do for Bonanza is take up space on high-value farmland and generates green energy for residents of other towns and cities. And even when they say they have no interest, residents of rural towns are constant inundated with letters in their mailboxes from solar companies interested in snapping up their land for solar farms. Some locals claim surveyors have even trespassed onto farms where they wish to build solar farms. 'They come in and they basically try to bully their way in,' Cheyne told the outlet. 'Theres no thought about how to make the communities better long-term. Its just: "Lets throw some cash at it. Well get these people out of our way."' Bonanza has caught developers' eyes particularly due to its all-year-around sunshine, making it an excellent area for solar panels. Klamath County - which houses Bonanza - also has 368 acres of high-value farmland and an additional 414 acres of arable land, which is soil good for growing crops. Other counties high-value and arable lands are also being threatened by the state's climate goals as many solar projects want the land because it's already leveled and ready to go. Oregon is expected to reduce greenhouse emissions associated with electricity by 80 percent come 2030 and 100 percent by 2024. 'We have to put up with all the eyesore, farming and environmental impact and all the power goes to cities that are far away,' Dave Noble (pictured), a fifth-generation rancher, said Klamath County - which houses Bonanza - has already battled one solar farm from making its way into their community - a job that took four years to get rid of. 'We have a unique little town,' Noble said. 'If you pave it over with solar panels, youll change our whole world' These targets were put in place by the State Legislature in 2007 and are the underlying push for solar developments. Already, 44,000 acres of land in Oregon have gone to solar farms and roughly 20 percent of that land is high-value farmland, according to The Oregonian. An additional 45 percent is on arable land. Another 30,000 acres are currently being proposed for solar projects on farmland and it is expected to get the green light. If approved, the number of acres of land used for solar power will be nearly the size of Portland, according to the outlet. Klamath County has already battled one solar farm from making its way into their community - a job that took four years to get rid of. The proposal suggested developing a solar farm on high-value farmland near Bonanza. 'We have a unique little town,' Noble, a fifth-generation farmer, told The Oregonian. 'Weve got a lot of history invested here. If you pave it over with solar panels, youll change our whole world.' In addition, they're worried about natural disasters, like fires developing under the panels, as it has it other states like New York and California. They also worried metal could leak into the region's aquifer, according to the outlet. Already, 44,000 acres of land in Oregon have gone to solar farms and roughly 20 percent of that land is high-value farmland. An additional 45 percent is on arable land. Oregon is expected to reduce greenhouse emissions associated with electricity by 80 percent come 2030 They eventually won, and the large solar farm will stay out of their community at least for a little while. However, not everyone is against solar farms taking over some of the farmland in the state. In Morrow County, third-generation farmer, Kenny Grieb, is leasing several thousands of his 4,440 acres to the Sunstone Solar project - Oregon's largest project to date. 'Wheat is not the king that it once was in getting help from the government program,' he told The Oregonian. 'So I figured this is a way to diversify and get some extra income, like a lot of my neighbors have.' Grieb is also close to retirement, so he doesn't mind giving some of his hard-earned land over to help the local economy, he said. He's also getting paid per acre for the project - a rarity among the Oregon solar farms. Morrow County will receive $1,179 per acre, up to $11million, for the 9,400 acres the project needs. The money will help local farmers buy things like a grain elevator, according to the outlet. 'We believe the investments proposed will more than offset the negative adverse impacts that would result from the conversion of cultivated land for use by the proposed facility,' Logan Stephens, Pine Gate's vice president of project development, told the outlet. Another 30,000 acres are currently being proposed for solar projects on farmland and it is expected to get the green light. If approved, the number of acres of land used for solar power will be nearly the size of Portland (pictured: Noble talking to a woman) Pine Gate is developing the Sunstone Solar project. Wagon Trail Solar - a project right next to Sunstone - was recently approved, taking up nearly 7,500 acres with a similar monetary incentive, according to The Oregonian. John Kilkenny jumped on the incentive, leasing several thousand of his 14,000 acres to the project. His main motive? His farmland is no longer as good for crops. 'I was born and raised there. I spent my whole life farming that ground. And I can say its the most marginal agricultural land thats ever been tilled. Theres a lot of good wheat farm ground in Oregon, but this isnt it,' he told The Oregonian. 'We kind of hang around and make it work and wait for the good years.' Despite agreeing with Noble that solar farms are eyesores, he does believe in giving farmers a revenue stream in an industry that can be hard. 'When the landowners have an additional revenue source in areas where the farming business is a tough go, its a good thing,' he said. 'The money goes to improve the remainder of their farm operation.' A gun smuggler has been jailed for 12 years after he was caught red-handed trying to smuggle 18 loaded firearms into the UK inside a car's bumper. Karl Tugwell, 41, arrived by ferry to the Port of Dover in Kent, where his vehicle was searched by the Metropolitan Police and Border Force. Video released by the Met Police on X shows Mr Tugwell's car being scoured by at least five officers, with two of them lying on the ground performing a thorough inspection of the silver BMWs bumper - where the weapons were ultimately found. In total, officers discovered 18 loaded guns and approximately 230 rounds of ammunition wedged into the bumper. The firearms appear to be wrapped in grey plastic bags sealed with florescent orange tape. There are also traces of padded foam around some of the weapons. The footage then shows Mr Tugwell sitting in a chair inside the port, before he is approached by two officers who detain him. Tugwell was charged with being knowingly concerned in the fraudulent evasion of a prohibition on the importation of goods, to which he plead, according to LBC. He appeared at Canterbury Crown Court on November 28, 2024, where was sentenced to 12 -year jail time. Gun smuggler Karl Tugwell's silver BMW is seen arriving off the ferry into the Port of Dover in Kent Officers from the Metropolitan Police and UK Border Force carried out a thorough inspection of the vehicle's front bumper The guns, wrapped in plastic and tape, can be seen stuffed into the car's front bumper The bumper contained 18 loaded guns, wrapped in grey bags, and approximately 230 rounds of ammunition The weapons were fully functional and the Met Police said the seizure 'prevented a potentially fatal threat to public safety.' Only last month 20 firearms were seized by the National Crime Agency (NCA) from a suspected gun factory in Newbury, Berkshire. Four Glock pistols, nine shotguns, six long-barrelled firearms and a deactivated Bren machine gun were recovered from a house in an NCA raid. Along with a range of gun component parts, officers also recovered 11 imitation firearms, including an AK-47, an MP 40 submachine gun and nine revolvers. Chris Hill, NCA Branch Commander, said of the December seizures: 'This is a very significant haul. We've identified and prevented a large number of lethal weapons reaching the streets of the UK. 'These weapons had the potential to cause devastation within our communities. 'There is no place in the UK for illegal firearms which often end up in the possession of organised criminals who use them to enforce their operations. 'Protecting the public from the threat of the criminal use of firearms remains a key priority and we work with partners at home and abroad to combat their importation into the UK.' Mr Tugwell sits alone on the far right of the shot as he awaits his fate after bringing the illegal weapons into the country The evil killer who kidnapped and murdered 11-year-old Audrii Cunningham accepted a plea deal nearly a month after her tragic death. Don McDougal, a Swastika- tattooed criminal, was sentenced to life behind bars without the possibility of parole on Friday. The Texas girl was reported missing after she failed to board the school bus on February 15, 2024, sparking an Amber Alert. A little over a week later, her body was found in the Trinity River with a 'large rock' tied to her body. The rope used on her was then found to have belonged to McDougal, 42, according to the criminal complaint. The little girl died from homicidal violence, including blunt force trauma and other injuries that officials have not specified. McDougal, a friend of Cunningham family, was charged with capital murder for her death, but he does not qualify for the death penalty because he has developmental and intellectual disabilities, according to the Polk County District Attorney's Office. Polk County Criminal District Attorney Shell Sitton said that McDougal 'is being punished to the fullest extent.' 'This resolution ensures Don Steven McDougal is being punished to the fullest extent that I, as a state prosecutor, have available to me,' she said. Audrii Cunningham, 11, was reported missing on February 15, 2023 after she failed to get on the school bus and get to school that day. About a week later, her body was found in the Trinity River The man found guilty of murdering her, Don McDougal, was sentenced to life in prison on Friday After hearing of his sentence, Cunningham's grandfather Phillip Munsh told Fox26: 'We believe Audrii is in heaven, and hes going to burn in hell for what he did. 'Our granddaughter was the second victim of his because of a loophole in the law that allowed him not to register as a sex offender. 'That was the only reason he was allowed to stay at our house. We were asked, and we agreed to help him, and weve suffered the consequences, he said, adding that law enforcement agencies worked hard to bring his grandchild home, even though it was 'not the way we wanted.' Prior to his arrest, McDougal had a criminal history of enticing a child. He was not required to register a sex offender because of the plea bargain in that case. Joshua Cunningham, her father, claimed he didn't know about McDougal's dark past when he allowed the suspect to stay in his backyard. The day she vanished, McDougal was supposed to take her to the bus stop, but when she didn't show up at school, alarms were raised. Officials previously said that McDougal, who lived in a trailer on her father's property, had taken the girl to the bus stop in the past and would bring her to school if she missed the bus. A Hello Kitty backpack that authorities believe belonged to the child was soon found near the dam on Lake Livingston, one of the state's largest lakes. The day she vanished, McDougal was supposed to take her to the bus stop, but when she didn't show up at school, alarms were raised McDougal, who has a criminal record spanning back to the early 2000s, had joined the search efforts and was seen knocking on neighbor's doors while asking if anyone had seen Audrii. He claimed on social media he had 'done nothing wrong,' as reported by CNN. 'I have done everything I can to help find her. I have done nothing wrong,' he wrote in a comment on a Facebook page. As authorities investigated Audrii's disappearance, they had named McDougal as a person of interest and he was arrested on an unrelated assault charge. Prosecutors have said there is 'substantial evidence' in the case, and that cell phone data and videos helped identify places to search. Officials added that the Trinity River Authority lowered water levels on the river, which led to the discovery of her body. Audrii lived with her father, grandparents and other family members, authorities said. When the search was still ongoing, the girl's mother pleaded for help from the public and said it was not like her daughter to just run off or disappear. 'We have no leads so we are grasping at any string, any signs, anything in general,' she told KPRC at the time. Cunningham's family has remembered her as 'a charismatic, beautiful, talented, and kind young lady' McDougal lived in a trailer on Cunningham's father's property at the time. He even participated in search efforts to locate her 'There is not one feeling you feel,' she said. 'You are broken, you are mad, you are empty and right now I am empty. 'I am not going to be the same unless my baby is returned to me and neither is her family, any of us, any of her friends, any of the people that she has been connected to in the community.' Court records from Brazoria County, south of Houston, show McDougal pleaded no contest to two felony counts of enticing a child stemming from a 2007 incident and was sentenced to two years in prison. 'Audrii Danielle Cunningham was lured under false pretenses, which led to a senseless act of violence occurring and ultimately to her death,' the family said. They have remembered her as 'a charismatic, beautiful, talented, and kind young lady.' She loved singing, dancing, reading, and painting, she was even learning the skills of a tattoo artist.' A public memorial service was held for her on March 1 of that year at the Livingston First Baptist Church. A stunned migrant woman wailed in anguish at the southern border after President Trump shuttered an app that made it easier for migrants to cross into the US. Margelis Tinoco, a Colombian woman awaiting entry to the US, was overcome with emotion after the president axed the CBP One app moments after he was sworn-in. She had been hoping to cross into El Paso from the neighboring Mexican city of Ciudad Juarez when the app suddenly went dark, leaving her stuck. Also filmed in a state of despair was Cuban migrant Yaime Perez, who had hoped to use the CBP One app to cross into the United States and seek asylum. Every outstanding appointment on the app was effectively canceled when Trump took office, causing panic among those wanting to get into the U.S. CBP One was used by the Biden administration to help expedite migrants entry into the US and was used by an estimated one million people since being created. The app could be used to create appointments for asylum seekers - and was also popular among tourists by helping them speed their way through airport customs. 'Effective January 20, 2025, the functionalities of CBP One that previously allowed undocumented aliens to submit advance information and schedule appointments at eight southwest border ports of entry is no longer available, and existing appointments have been canceled,' the CBP website states. Kamala Harris' bid for the White House was largely sunk by the huge surge in border crossings by migrants during her four years as vice president. President Trump promised to take a far harder line on the border and even deport migrants who made it into the US, with the promise proving a popular one. Margelis Tinoco, a migrant from Colombia, sobbed on arriving at the US Border just as Trump was inaugurated to discover the CBP1 App had been axed, making it far harder for migrants to enter the United States Tinoco's anguish was clear to see. She had been hoping to cross the Paso del Norte International border bridge from Ciudad Juarez in Mexico to neighboring El Paso in Texas Migrants in Ciudad Juarez who were waiting for their 1 pm CBP1 parole appointments learned 20 minutes ago that the app has shut down & those appointments are no longer valid. pic.twitter.com/F3pNrZyEBR Arelis R. Hernandez (@arelisrhdz) January 20, 2025 Donald Trump is sworn in as the 47th US President in the US Capitol Rotunda in Washington, DC, on January 20, 2025. Immediately many of his policies went into effect, like the shut down of CBP One And he vowed to make good on the pledge at his swearing-in Monday, which is among a raft of bold new initiatives Trump will sign executive orders on during the first day of his second term. 'I will declare a national emergency at our southern border,' Trump said to huge applause as he addressed the crowd at his swearing-in ceremony. 'All illegal entry will immediately be halted, and we will begin the process of returning millions and millions of criminal aliens back to the places in which they came.' On Monday, many of the migrants seeking to cross from Mexico into the US had to have the CBP app announcement translated for them by English-speaking journalists. Johnny Flores showed up for his 1 p.m. appointment at 11 a.m. when he learned Biden's pathway to legally seek asylum had been suspended as soon as Trump took the oath of office. 'I'm asking (Trump) to be fair. He's asking us as migrants to enter his country legally, and I think it's totally unfair that having an appointment already scheduled, they pull the rug out from under us,' Flores added. 'I'm going to be honest with you, it's easy for anyone to jump the border wall, illegally as many have done. We had the valor to wait, and that's what I'm not in agreement with President Trump over. If we are here, it's because we wait to do it legally.' A male migrant holds up a piece of paper showing that he'd been granted entry across the US border, only to have his plans axed after Trump took office Two other migrants are pictured holding CBP One app approvals. The app that helps facilitate asylum appointments went offline as soon as Donald Trump took office Others described how they had crossed continents, the Darien Gap jungle, been exploited and women raped just to reach the border and wait their turn. Flores held up a printed copy of his appointment confirmation, pleading for Trump's government to honor already scheduled appointments. 'I plan to wait. If I waited seven months for the appointment, I can wait a few days to see what the situation is,' Flores, 36, of Venezuela stated. The app notoriously facilitated migrants receiving flights to the U.S. from other countries. In total, there were over 320,000 migrants flown into the U.S. by the Biden administration. The major border town El Paso, Texas, temporarily closed its border crossings Monday around Trump's swearing-in ceremony. Authorities in riot gear with shields and full body armor were photographed standing guard at the border crossings. The enhanced security comes as other portions of President Trump's agenda are put into action. The president noted how he is reinstating his 'Remain in Mexico' policy and ending catch-and-release, a policy that allowed illegal border crossers seeking asylum to be detained and then released within the country as they awaited a court date, in his remarks Monday afternoon. Cuban asylum seeker Yaime Perez was also filmed sobbing as President Trump imposed a harsh new border crackdown within moments of being sworn-in Yaime Perez was waiting to cross the Paso del Norte International Border Bridge from Ciudad Juarez to El Paso in Texas Monday A group of migrants walk in a caravan towards the northern border from the municipality of Tapachula in Chiapas, Mexico, 20 January 2025. Thousands of migrants set off in a caravan from Mexico's southern border on the inauguration day of US President Donald Trump's second term in office, despite warnings of mass deportations and asylum restrictions, as well as increased surveillance by Mexican authorities Migrants who requested asylum through the U.S. Customs and Border Protection CBP One application queue at the premises of Mexico's National Institute of Migration (INM) to secure a safe passage to the northern border with the U.S., in Tapachula, Mexico, January 20, 2025. Migrants awaiting entry into the U.S. while in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico He is reinstating the Remain in Mexico policy that makes illegal border hoppers wait in the last country where they crossed from, which is most often Mexico, as they wait for a court date to make their asylum claims. Other early objectives noted by incoming White House officials on a call Monday include reexamining birthright citizenship and asylum, sending U.S. troops to the border after Trump declared a national emergency and suspending refugee programs. Ending birthright citizenship for illegal immigrants would mean anyone born on U.S. soil, but whose parents are undocumented aliens will no longer be a de facto citizen of the United States of America. However, there are advocates who argue this cuts against the 14th Amendment of the Constitution, which created the unique birthright citizenship rule for anyone born in the U.S. Reports have surfaced suggesting there will be as many as 10 border related day one actions by President Trump on Monday. A sociable sunfish who fell ill because it missed humans so much has recovered after cardboard cut-out people were placed in front of its tank. The creature suffered a bout of health issues and stopped eating jellyfish when the aquarium it called home in Japan shut down temporarily. Some workers said parasites or digestive issues might be the cause but a staff member hit the nail on the head when they suggested the sunfish was lonely. Photos of human faces were attached to a row of uniforms and it wasn't long before the fish felt itself again and was 'waving its fins' in the tank. An outpouring of support followed on social media with many promising to go and visit the aquarium when it reopened. It comes as the site had shut for renovation in December, prompting odd behaviour from the sunfish that also included it rubbing its body against the tank. The cut-out initiative, at the Kaikyokan aquarium in Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi prefecture, had been a 'last resort', the venue said on X (formerly Twitter) earlier this month. Staff posted the next day the fish 'seems to be in good health again!' with worker Mai Kato later explaining to newspaper Mainichi Shimbun the sunfish had arrived a year ago. A sociable sunfish who fell ill because it missed humans so much has recovered after cardboard cut-out people were placed in front of its tank Photos of human faces were attached to a row of uniforms and it wasn't long before the fish felt itself again and was 'waving its fins' in the tank The creature - 80cm long and 30kg heavy - had a 'curious' personality and 'would swim up to visitors when they approached the tank' They added the creature - 80cm long and 30kg heavy - had a 'curious' personality and 'would swim up to visitors when they approached the tank'. Sunfish can be found in every ocean in the world and are a delicacy in Japan. It is believed they can survive for up to 10 years in captivity though are not commonly found in captivity due to the scrupulous care needed to host them. And Japanese aquariums are no stranger to finding innovative solutions to problems. During the pandemic, a Tokyo venue organised an 'emergency' video call with its eels as they feared the animals had become uncomfortable with humans after not seeing them for so long. Some weather models predict a cold storm will bring rain and high-elevation snow to California on Saturday night. However, the forecast remains tricky due to the trajectory and compact nature of the system. Polar Wx Updated forecast: Bay Area set for weather roller-coaster as temperatures swing San Franciscos rainless streak will hit two weeks Monday as a long stretch of dry weather plagues California this January. But there is some hope that by the weekend at least some parts of the state will pick up rain and snow. For the next five days, the weather pattern will remain unsupportive of any precipitation. Another round of Santa Ana winds will result in an extreme episode of fire weather for coastal Southern California from Monday through Tuesday. Dry Diablo winds will also push into the Bay Area and clear out the fog, but fire weather concerns in Northern California remain low. Advertisement Article continues below this ad A high-pressure system will build across California from Wednesday through Friday, trapping the dry air mass underneath. Relative humidity will remain very low in coastal Southern California through Friday, with dangerous fire weather conditions. Dry air and clear skies in wintertime are a recipe for chilly nights but warm, sunny days. Thursdays high temperatures could push 70 degrees in San Jose and 80 degrees in Los Angeles, about 10 degrees above normal. Nights will be cool statewide, in the 30s and 40s in the valleys with well below-freezing temperatures in the mountains. Monday night will be chilly in the Bay Area, with many areas dropping into the 30s before daybreak Tuesday. National Weather Service Precipitation may finally return to California this weekend when a cold low-pressure system approaches the region. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Its unlikely to be a big storm, but there is at least a decent chance of precipitation. Lake Tahoe could pick up its first dusting of snow in weeks, and Los Angeles and San Diego may receive their first significant rainfall since last April. Bay Area rainfall amounts look meager, at best, with less than a tenth of an inch expected. Just how much rain and snow falls will depend on the systems trajectory. If the system parallels the California coast on its way southward, it will pick up moisture and deposit rain and snow along the coast. But if the system remains over Nevada, precipitation amounts will be light and dry Santa Ana winds will be a bigger concern. Were expecting a closed cut-off low, and those are notoriously hard to forecast, said Robert Munroe, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service office in Oxnard (Ventura County). Munroe said there is a 50% to 70% chance of precipitation from Saturday through Monday, with a slight chance of thunderstorms. There is a 50% to 70% chance of rain in coastal Southern California on Saturday and Sunday. National Weather Service Regardless of exact precipitation totals, the snow line will probably be very low with this system. Snow could dust Bay Area peaks above 3,000 feet Saturday night, while elevations above 4,000 feet in Southern California may pick up a few inches of snow Sunday. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Despite the encouraging weekend forecast, the overall weather pattern remains unfavorable for soaking storms. Drier-than-normal conditions are predicted statewide through the end of January and into the first week of February. Drought will probably continue to expand across Central and Southern California in the meantime. Monday breakdown San Francisco: Lingering fog near the bay shoreline will quickly clear after sunrise as northeast winds push dry air toward the city. Northeast gusts of 25 to 35 mph are expected throughout the day, strongest atop hills. Highs will be close to 60 under clear skies. Overnight lows will fall to the low 40s, possibly dipping to the upper 30s near Cole Valley and Glen Park. North Bay: A wind advisory is in effect for the North Bay interior mountains until 1 a.m. Tuesday for northerly gusts of 35 to 50 mph. Gusts could reach 30 mph in the valleys in the late morning to midafternoon. Highs will be in the low 60s, about 5 degrees above normal for January. Overnight lows will fall to the mid-30s, with areas of frost possible in the valleys. East Bay: Blustery conditions are expected in the East Bay hills Monday morning, with gusts up to 40 mph possible. Winds wont be as strong in the lower elevations, and conditions will be pleasant, with highs in the upper 50s to low 60s under clear skies. Overnight lows will be in the low to mid-30s in interior valleys, including Concord, Walnut Creek, San Ramon and Livermore. Temperatures will fall to the upper 30s in Berkeley, Oakland, Hayward and Fremont. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Pacific Coast and Peninsula: Dry winds will quickly scour out patchy morning fog, resulting in clear skies the remainder of the day. Northeast gusts of 25 to 35 mph are expected, strongest near Half Moon Bay. Highs will reach the upper 50s to low 60s, a few degrees above average for January. Overnight lows will drop to the upper 30s to mid-40s. This is the emotional moment three Hamas hostages finally hugged their loved ones for the first time after being freed, with British-Israeli Emily Damari telling her mother: 'Only for you I survived.' Emily, 28, Romi Gonen, 24, and Doron Steinbrecher, 31, were handed over to the Red Cross on Sunday after 471 days as hostages. Their mothers watched the release on screens, waiting for the moment they would have their daughters back in their arms. The three women ran to their mothers, either beaming in joy or sobbing in relief at finally being safe again after their horrendous time in captivity. Emily was seen looking around corners frantically for a glimpse of her mother Mandy, who has relentlessly campaigned for her release since the 28-year-old was dragged from her home. They then hugged as they finally reunited, with Emily telling her mother 'only for you I survived'. Emily and Mandy then video-called her brother and family, grinning in joy and saluting with her bandaged hand. The support staff around the three women couldn't stop smiling as they watched the heartwarming scenes. They are the first hostages have been released by Hamas as part of the ceasefire deal. It brings an end to the traumatic 471 days being held by the terrorist group. Emily Damari embraces her mother Mandy after being released Romi Gonen and her mother smile as they are reunited after the ceasefire deal Doron Steinbrecher in pictured in her mother's arms Emily Damari arrives at Sheba Medical Center in Ramat Gan, Israel, to see her family Emily Damari (middle) with her mother Mandy (in pink leggings) and her family Emily, Romi and Doron - along with their mothers - were put in a helicopter and transferred to Sheba Medical Centre in Tel Aviv, where they met the rest of their families. They are said to be in good health. They were greeted with cheers and banners, and other patients opened their windows to peer down as they arrived. Heartwarming footage saw the three women run into the arms of their relatives, with smiles and tears on both sides. Wrapped in an Israeli flag, Emily was seen hugging the rest of her family as she arrived at hospital. After her release on Sunday, she was seen wolf whistling to friends on arrival at the hospital after staring down Hamas. The Tottenham Hotspur fan, who was born in Israel to a British mother and Israeli father, was injured by shrapnel when she was kidnapped. Hamas shot off two of her fingers and killed her beloved golden cockapoo Choocha when they snatched her from her home in Kibbutz Kfar Aza on October 7. In a statement on Monday, Mandy, 63, a nursery teacher who grew up in Beckenham, south-east London, said she was doing much better than any of us could ever have anticipated. Later, she added: Emily is in high spirits, on the road to recovery. She is an amazingly strong and resilient young woman. Emily Damari holds up a sign which reads in Hebrew 'the nightmare is over!' as she and released Israeli hostage Doron Steinbrecher are transported to a hospital When the former hostages were brought to hospital, they were wrapped in hugs Doron Steinbrecher (in pink), Romi Gonen (in black), Emily Damari (in green) When the door to the van opened, the three former hostages looked terrified, clutching horrific 'gift bags' from Hamas and sprinted through the overwhelming crowd to safety Emily Damari greets friends and supporters as she arrives at hospital In an emotional statement yesterday, her mother added: I was finally able to give Emily the hug that I have been dreaming of. From the bottom of my heart I would like to thank the many people who have played a role in bringing Emily home and given their support to me and my family. You are all Emilys family. I am relieved Emily is doing much better than any of us could have anticipated. I am also happy that during her release the world was given a glimpse of her feisty and charismatic personality. Last night Mrs Damari called on everyone to keep on fighting for the remaining 94 hostages still in Gaza. A heartwarming video showed her friends celebrating her release by jumping up and down and singing to music. Emily's best friend Guy Yakobi, 29, told of his relief and excitement following an agonising wait to see if she would really be let go. 'We are really excited. All the rumours from Telegram said she was not on the list today,' he said. 'We have been through hell these last hours and days. We have had no sleep. I was really nervous. I have been awake all last night because of the delay from Hamas in giving the names. 'We still need to process that she is coming back home, after these 15 months of hell. 'We will cry together here. We have invited all Emily's best friends in the kibbutz, we are going to watch the news together.' Revealing how he met her, he said: 'I moved to Kfar Aza in the 6th grade. My parents were the nearest house to her, that's how our friendship began. 'Emily is the best friend ever. If you want a friend who will do everything for you, if you need a friend who will be there just for you - this is Emily. 'Emily will go out of her way just to make her friends happy and she is really the best human I know.' Friend Rotem Koren, 27, said: Most of the world saw the power of Emily. Even near all these terrorists, to keep smiling. A drone view shows crowds as Palestinian Hamas militants prepared for the handover When their vehicle arrived, the poor women were confronted with hundreds of militants surrounding the van and shouting, pounding on the doors and windows A family picture released from Sheba Hospital, near Tel Aviv, shows the rescued hostage with her arms round her mother and friend Oreli Shoshana, 24, surrounded by family. The 28-year-old broke her silence to say she is the 'happiest person in the world' since being freed from Hamas captivity in Gaza. She said in a post on Instagram: 'Im loving, loving, loving... Thanks be to God. Thanks to my family, to Oreli, to the best friends I have in this world. I returned to my beloved life. I only managed to see a glimpse of everything and you broke my heart from emotion. Thank you, thank you, thank you. I am the happiest person in the world just to be. At the end of her post she added a 'rock on' emoji, symbolising the two fingers she lost when she was shot by Hamas during their October 7 assault. Emily spent most of her captivity with Romi, who has told how the British-Israeli helped keep her spirits up. It has emerged that Romi, a trained paramedic, helped tend Emily's wounded hand during their time as hostages after being seized on October 7, 2023. A family friend said Ms Damari was given no real treatment by Hamas. She was never visited once by the Red Cross. The brave young woman's defiant hand gesture upon her release has already become a symbol, and one well-wisher has even had it tattooed onto his calf. In an inspirational video posted to X/Twitter, Jewish author Hen Mazzig showed a clip of a person getting tattooed, just a day after Damari was released from 470 days in captivity. The clip pans from the man's leg to an iPad screen depicting the outline of his new tattoo - Damari's raised bandaged hand showing her two missing fingers. He captioned the post: 'Emily Damari is officially an icon of resilience in Israel'. Fellow former hostage Romi - who was snatched from the Nova music festival - was wrapped in a group hug by her family members and Doron sobbed as she embraced her relatives in the halls of the hospital. Doron's family issued a statement through the Hostages and Missing Families Forum Headquarters. Doron Steinbracher with her mother Simone, hugging after her release Emily cheerfully waves her bandaged hand as she video-called relatives with her mother Wrapped in an Israeli flag, Emily leapt into the arms of her family at the hospital 'After an unbearable 471 days, our beloved Dodo has finally returned to our arms. We want to express our heartfelt gratitude to everyone who supported and accompanied us along this journey. 'A special thank you to the people of Israel for their warm embrace, unwavering support, and the strength they gave us during our darkest moments. We also extend our gratitude to President Trump for his significant involvement and support, which meant so much to us. 'Our heroic Dodo, who survived 471 days in Hamas captivity, begins her rehabilitation journey today. We will continue to stand with all the families and do everything in our power until all of their loved ones return home.' The three former hostages were horrifically forced to wear Palestinian flag lanyards and were given 'gift bags' with mementos of their horrifying time in captivity. A sick propaganda video released by Hamas showed the three women bundled into a van, beaming because they were finally being freed and would soon see their families again. They had lanyards hung around their necks, decorated with text reading 'Palestine' and the flag printed alongside. Their smiles instantly dropped as they were handed brown paper bags with the Hamas logo printed on the side, and forced to hold them up and pose for the camera. When their vehicle arrived, the poor women were confronted with hundreds of militants surrounding the van and shouting, pounding on the doors and windows. Some even clambered up on the roof. Members of the Israeli security and medical personnel transport the three hostages upon their arrival at Sheba Tel HaShomer Medical Centre People gathered to watch the military helicopter carrying three Israeli female hostages People react as they watch news coverage of the release of Romi Gonen, Doron Steinbrecher and Emily Damar When the door to the van opened, the three former hostages looked terrified, clutching their 'gift bags' and sprinted through the overwhelming crowd to safety. The bags reportedly continued photos of the women in captivity and a 'certificate'. The truce had been delayed when the terrorist group failed to hand over the list of names 24 hours ahead of time as stated as part of the agreement. Hamas blamed the delay on bringing a pause of 15 months of war on a 'technical' issue. The Israeli military continued to carry out airstrikes in northern and central Gaza until the list was handed over, killing at least eight Palestinians, the Palestinian civil emergency service said. The ceasefire began at 11.15am local time, nearly three hours after the initial agreement, with displaced Palestinians seen walking through rubble as they returned to their homes. Hamas militants brazenly emerged from hiding to celebrate the new ceasefire with Israel, shamelessly parading through the streets of Gaza while brandishing AK-47s and waving the group's green flags. Startling images showed masked fighters in camouflage and balaclavas, some standing on vehicles, others marching defiantly through towns that have been reduced to rubble after months of intense fighting. A convicted rapist and predatory romance fraudster who targeted his victims through online dating sites was reported to police by nine separate women in the years before his arrest, a new documentary has revealed. Christopher Harkins was jailed for 12 years in July last year after he was convicted of 19 offences including rape, assault and physical abuse. He also admitted conning nine women out of more than 200,000, having targeted his victims using the likes of Tinder and Facebook. But the BBC documentary, which aired last night [Mon], revealed that between 2012 and 2019 nine women separately came forward to report the predator to police. They say their claims - which included Harkins recording images and video without their consent, abusive and threatening behaviour and stealing tens of thousands of pounds - were dismissed as civil matters. One woman, who was conned into transferring more than 3,000 pounds to him for a non-existent holiday abroad, said when she approached officers in 2019 she was told theres not really much we can do if your boyfriend doesnt want to take you on holiday. It was only after the victim, known only as Lisa to protect her real identity, contacted the press that Police Scotland reinvestigated the historical reports and Harkins was finally arrested in January 2020. The woman, who continued to engage with Harkins in an attempt to get her money back, said: I just thought, youve picked the wrong person, theres no way youre winning this. Love rat con man Christopher Harkins targeted women on dating sites such as Tinder 'Lisa' fell victim to Harkins and was conned into transferring thousands of pounds into his account Harkins used profiles on dating sites like Tinder to lure in unsuspecting victims Harkins typically targeted successful, career-driven women in and around Glasgow and lured his victims by presenting himself as a dream date, his profile describing him as a jet-setting, business-owning gym rat. But after gaining their trust, he quickly began his scamming crusade. He stole some of the womens identities to take out loans, pretended his bank account had been frozen and told his victims he needed money for his business and tapped cash to book non-existent holidays. One woman was forced into bankruptcy while others spent years paying off debts, with many too ashamed to tell family and friends. But Lisa told BBC Disclosure: Matched with a Predator: The sheer number of people that came forward, I think its clear that there were opportunities to investigate. That makes me feel quite sad actually that there were so many opportunities to stop him. After her report was dismissed by police, she decided to go to the press determined to expose him. Hours after journalist Catriona Stewarts article appeared in Glasgow Evening Times, five other women contacted her recalling their ordeals with Harkins. It was only then that Police Scotland decided to revisit the historical reports which led to him being convicted after a two-week trial at the High Court in Paisley in May last year before the sentencing later on in the summer. Christopher harkins was dubbed the Scottish Tinder swindler Christopher Harkins, 37, 'preyed on women looking for love'. He raped one victim while she slept and conned nine others out of a total of more than 214,000 He pleaded guilty to 11 fraud charges at the High Court in Glasgow (pictured) on January 16 Another woman, who met Harkins online in late 2018, said he recorded intimate videos without her consent before suggesting he would send them to her parents. She also described an incident when Harkins raped her, while another told how she feared she was going to be one of those women who is killed by their boyfriend after he grabbed her by the throat. The documentary heard from a further nine victims who were not involved in his trial last year and revealed alleged frauds totalling another 53,000 that have not been prosecuted. Viewers also learned that Harkins served a prison sentence in 2022 for continuing to scam women in London while awaiting trial in Scotland. Detective Chief Inspector Lyndsay Laird, who led the Police Scotland investigation, was asked if the force would apologise to the victims who tried to report Harkins in the years before his arrest but she said that was a very difficult question to answer. She added: Theyve got a successful court result now, based on the investigation that was conducted. Its disappointing to find that people feel let down by the police. But I would say with everything that weve put in place since then, I would hope that that experience wouldnt be replicated now. Eric Trump has caught the attention of conspiracy theorists after they spotted him making a specific hand gesture during his father's inauguration. Eric, 41, placed his hands in an upside-down triangle-like formation which eagle-eyed viewers claim looks similar to the symbol for the Freemasons or the mysterious 'Illuminati'. They also highlighted how Eric's wife Lara Trump appeared to mutter something to him before he abruptly changed his stance. The incident in question occurred as the couple were lining up alongside President Donald Trump's other children inside the Capitol Rotunda where the ceremony was held on Monday. Eric was taking his place on the right hand side of the podium where his father was sworn in when he made the gesture. His wife then tapped him on the arm to get him to shuffle over and said something inaudible which caused him to drop his hands. 'I'm really quite disappointed to see this hand sign from Eric Trump,' one person wrote on X. Eric Trump has caught the attention of conspiracy theorists after they spotted him making a specific hand gesture during his father's inauguration 'This hand gesture is definitely intentional,' another added. 'She [Lara] was telling him to put his hands down so she was fully aware of what he was doing and she was trying to get him to not be so obvious,' one person wrote. 'Pretty much the sign of the Illuminati and all the rich folk do it regardless of what political realm they reside within.' 'Square and compass Freemason signal,' another said. However, many pointed out that Eric's gesture was innocent. 'My Dad used to do that and he was in no way Illuminati or Masonic,' one person wrote. 'Omg, stop it. I do this often, it means nothing unless you give it a certain meaning,' another added. 'This is also used for calming urself btw its not always symbolism I touch my fingers together to help concentrate sometimes,' one person wrote. Others suggested the symbol could have been a reference to the idea of being 'tip of the spear' in terms of leading a group. Conspiracy theorists thought they caught wife Lara Trump telling him to stop making this gesture with his hands, however it appeared as though she was simply asking him to shuffle over Eric and his wife attended his father Donald Trump's inauguration with his siblings including Tiffany Trump (left) and Ivanka Trump (second from right) The Freemasons are a social and charitable organization dating back to the Middle Ages. The male-only fraternity uses secret rituals and passwords and have been linked to various conspiracy theories over the years. The Freemasons use a symbol consisting of a square and a compass and a letter G for God. 'The square and compasses are considered to be the tools of the architect and builder, which are used to teach the lessons of the symbolic lodge,' according to the Freemason website. George Washington was a Freemason and joined in the Lodge at Fredericksburg, Virginia aged 20. The so-called Illuminati is a name given to a number of historic groups, some real and some fictional, with various aims and claims of 'enlightenment'. In modern times, the Illuminati has become a byword for corruption among the elites. The likes of President Trump, Beyonce and Jay-Z are among those who have been unfairly accused of involvement with the group. Welcome to MAGALAND: White House insiders reveal whats really going on behind the scenes in the new Trump administration. Listen wherever you get your podcasts. Former President Bill Clinton and his wife, Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, appeared to chuckle as Donald Trump delivered his inauguration address. Trump was sworn in as the 47th president of the United States inside the Capitol Rotunda on Monday morning surrounded by a crowd of tech titans and media moguls. During his inaugural address, the president vowed to sign approximately 200 executive orders in a massive crackdown on Day One of his second term. One of his more interesting proposals is to rename or restore previous titles to landmarks and bodies of water bordering the U.S., including the new 'Gulf of America.' 'Today, I will sign a series of historic executive orders,' Trump said. 'With these actions, we will begin the complete restoration of America and the revolution of common sense it's all about common sense. 'America will reclaim its rightful place as the greatest, most powerful, most respected nation on earth, inspiring the awe and admiration of the entire world. 'A short time from now, we are going to be changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America.' His remarks prompted laughter from his one-time political rival, Hillary Clinton, and a grin from her former president husband. Former President Bill Clinton and his wife, Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton appeared to chuckle as Donald Trump delivered his inauguration address Donald Trump vowed to change the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America Many people on social media agree the name change is funny and said they laughed too. 'Good for her! What he said was funny. Remarkable stupid, but funny,' one person said. 'Hillary Clinton is the only real one there for bursting out laughing at the Gulf of America,' said another. 'Im trying to figure out why everyone is not laughing. This is a third grade policy change,' a third person said. Trump made shockwaves earlier this month when during a press conference at Mar-a-Lago he suggested renaming the Gulf of Mexico. 'We'll be changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America, which has a beautiful ring,' Trump told reporters in Florida. 'That covers a lot of territory. The Gulf of America. What a beautiful name. It is appropriate,' he insisted. This was met with the ire of Mexican politicians, including their president. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum hit back at Trump's plan by last week unveiling a map dating back to the 1600s that showed an early designation of North America with the title 'America Mexicana' in giant letters. 'Mexican America, that sounds nice, no?' she said sarcastically, pointing to a massive image of the old map behind her. 'He talked about name, we too are talking about the name.' 'Even if you right or left the idea is kinda funny,' added a fourth person. Trump's other orders cover a wide range of issues from immigration policies, to gender identity issues and even deregulating the permitted flow of water from shower heads. Ten of Trump's executive orders on Day One relate to the southern border and illegal immigration crisis. He declared a national emergency at the southern border, underscoring the importance of immigration policy to Trump's second term. 'All illegal entry will immediately be halted and we will being the process of returning millions and millions of criminal aliens back to the places from which they came,' Trump said. Trump is also ending catch-and-release, a policy that allowed illegal border crossers seeking asylum to be detained and then released within the country as they awaited a court date. Trump declared a national emergency on the Southern border. Migrants in Mexico flood to the southern border on January 20 for their last chance to get entry into the U.S. He is reinstating the Remain in Mexico policy that makes illegal border hoppers wait in the last country where they crossed from, which is most often Mexico, as they wait for a court date to make their asylum claims. And Trump is requiring that his promised and famed southern border wall is finally completed. Trump is designating cartels as terrorist organizations, which will change the way that they are handled when it comes to foreign affairs and defense regarding attacks by these cartel members. In the end, they all hugged it out. Despite bitter rivalries that were still bristling in the hours leading up to Monday's inauguration, Donald Trump, Joe Biden, Kamala Harris and Jill Biden made nice before the cameras, offering their foes best wishes and hugs as the country transitioned to a new leader. The niceties came as Joe and Jill Biden left the Capitol shortly after Trump took the oath of office. As Donald and Melania Trump stood next to the Bides on the steps of the Capitol, Kamala Harris and Doug Emhoff came up to make their farewells. Harris shook hands with the Trumps - her first acknowledgement of her presidential rival, whom she pointedly ignored at Jimmy Carter's state funeral in December. The interaction was brief, but symbolic. She quickly moved on to hug Joe Biden. But, even more remarkable, Jill Biden gave Harris a long hug, a gesture coming amid reports of a strained relationship between the two women. The former first lady is said to hold a grudge against Harris going back to the 2020 Democratic primary. President Donald Trump, First Lady Melania Trump, former President Joe Biden and former First Lady Jill Biden attend a farewell ceremony outside the US Capitol Both the Bidens and Harris family are angry at the other after Trump's victory - Harris feels she was short changed by Biden's July departure from the race, forcing her to mount a fast and furious presidential campaign. Biden feels he could have won and has publicly said so, twisting the knife further into Harris' side. However, Monday the two couples seemed wistful as they prepared to leave Washington D.C. after four years in power. Emhoff followed his wife's lead, shaking hands with the Trumps and giving a long hug to Jill, whom he is close to. As the former vice president and second gentleman walked away, Jill wiped her eye. Then it was time for the Bidens to depart Washington, capping more than 50 years of public service. The Trumps walked them to the Nighthawk helicopter that is known as Marine One when a president travels on it. Melania hung onto her hat on the windy day. Trump hugged Jill Biden and then put his arm around Joe Biden, leaning in to speak to him closely. He slapped his arm playfully as Biden smiled at him. Melania and Jill exchanged a long hug. Jill Biden gives Kamala Harris a long hung as Joe Biden shakes Doug Emhoff's hand and Donald Trump watches the goodbyes Donald Trump chats with Joe Biden and Jill Biden hugs Melania Trump Second lady Usha Vance, Vice President J.D. Vance, President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump wave Joe and Jill Biden depart the Capitol The helicopter carrying Joe and Jill Biden leaves the Capitol The warm goodbye reflected the greeting the Bidens gave the Trumps when they arrived at the White House that morning. 'Welcome home,' Biden told Trump. The two men joked about the weather, a lip-reading expert told DailyMail.com, as they posed for photos on the North Portico of the White House. 'Let me do my coat up. I'm freezing,' Trump told Biden. 'I'm freezing, too,' Biden replied. 'Shut up,' Trump told him as Biden laughed. The men traveled to the Capitol together in the presidential limo known as The Beast. Biden watched his successor take the oath of office and then it was time to say goodbye. His bags had been packed. Movers were at the White House, taking out the Bidens' belongings and moving in the Trump family. The Bidens boarded their helicopter without looking back. They flew away, soaring over the White House and passing over the Lincoln Memorial as part of their final journey. The Trumps and J.D. and Usha Vance stood on Capitol stairs, waving goodbye as it flew away. Joe and Jill Biden wave goodbye as they board the 747 known as SAM 46 Melania Trump holds on to her hat as Donald Trump talks with Jill Biden The last of Joe Biden's White House staff leave the Capitol on Inauguration Day The helicopter carrying former President Joe Biden and former first lady Jill Biden flies over the Lincoln Memorial The Bidens walk toward their plane A crowd of longtime Biden staff and supporters awaited the former president at Joint Base Andrews, shouting and cheering as he and Jill walked toward them. Biden expressed his gratitude for their service. 'We're genuinely grateful,' he said. 'No president gets to choose the moment they enter history, but they get to choose the team they do it with and we chose the best damn team in the world.' Biden has repeatedly said he will stay involved in public life - a point he reiterated as he prepared for his next steps, which include establishing his presidential library and reforming the Biden Foundation. 'We're leaving office. We're not leaving the fight,' he said. 'I love you all,' he concluded. 'Thank you, thank you, thank you.' He then spent time talking and taking selfies before boarding the massive blue-and-white 747, walking up its stairs one last time. This time he and Jill paused, turning to wave goodbye. The Bidens are headed to Santa Ynez, California, where they spent time in August on vacation. They will spend time with family. Their son Hunter lives in the state. As does granddaughter Naomi, who gave birth to their first great grand child a few weeks ago. But their flight will no longer be Air Force One - the designation for the plane that carries the President of the United States. The flight will simply be known as Special Air Force Mission 46. The number is honor of Biden serving as the 46th president. Police are investigating an apparent anti-Semitic firebombing that destroyed a daycare centre in Sydney's eastern suburbs on Tuesday morning. Emergency services were called to Only About Children childcare centre on the corner of Anzac Parade and Storey Street, Maroubra, at about 1.00am following reports of a fire. The arsonists set fire to the childcare centre and spray-painted an anti-Semitic slur on its exterior wall. Firefighters extinguished the blaze a short time later, however the fire had already significantly damaged the property. Police believe the attack may have targeted the wrong property as there is a synagogue 150 metres further down Anzac Parade, and the damaged child care centre had no connection to it. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese described the attack as an 'evil hate crime'. 'My government will support NSW Police to hunt down the offenders and ensure they face the full force of the law through Operation Avalite,' Mr Albanese said. It is the latest suspected anti-Semitic attack to hit Sydney in recent days, and comes just days after the former home of outspoken Jewish community leader Alex Ryvchin was targeted. A childcare centre was set ablaze in a suspected anti-Semitic attack (pictured) An anti-Semitic slur was found spray-painted on the childcare centre's exterior wall (pictured) Multiple cars parked on Military Road in Dover Heights were spray painted with anti-Semitic slogans, and two were set alight set alight at about 4am on Friday. The former family home of Mr Ryvchin, co-CEO of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, was also splashed with red paint. Mr Ryvchin slammed the latest attack and called for the government to hold an emergency cabinet meeting. 'To plan and execute the firebombing of a childcare centre requires a depth of savagery that is difficult to imagine,' Mr Ryvchin said, 'Families will be having conversations about whether it's safe to send their children to the places where they should be safest. 'Places of worship, homes and now pre-schools have all been targeted by domestic terrorists. 'Antisemitism consumes everything. It is the disease that is destroying our country. We need national cabinet to deal with what is a national emergency.' Dr Dvir Abramovich, chairman of the Anti-Defamation Commission, said the recent attack sent 'shivers down the spine of every Australian'. 'It is a chilling reminder that antisemitism knows no boundaries, that it will go to the darkest depths, even to a place meant for toddlers, to make its mark,' Dr Abramovich said. 'Whoever committed this heinous act chose to weaponise fear against the most vulnerable among us. 'We must redouble our efforts to educate, to legislate, and to fight with everything we have against the forces of hate.' Police have established a crime scene and are investigating the incident (pictured) Last Monday, a wall near Sydenham Train Station in the city's inner-west was spray-painted with the words 'gas the Jews'. Swastikas were also daubed on the nearby Newtown Synagogue before masked vandals attempted to burn it down. Earlier this month, the Southern Sydney Synagogue in the suburb of Allawah was also targeted by anti-Semitic vandals who daubed a number of large red Swastikas at the entrance to the place of worship. Graffiti including 'Kill Israiel' (sic) was sprayed on buildings and footpaths in Woollahra, a Sydney suburb known for its Jewish community, in the early hours of December 11. Opposition Leader Peter Dutton announced his plan on Monday for tougher laws to combat anti-Semitism. Terrorism offences would attract a minimum of six years in jail under the coalition's proposed laws, while those displaying terrorist organisation signs, Nazi symbols or performing a Nazi salute would face at least a year behind bars. 'They force courts to impose sentences where the circumstances do not warrant it because of the nature of offending, or the background of the offender,' he said. The world's first trillionaires are set to emerge within a decade after billionaires saw their wealth surge in 2024. Oxfam made the prediction in its latest assessment of global inequality timed for the opening of the World Economic Forum meeting. The charity, which is focused on tackling global poverty, has revealed that the combined wealth of the world's richest people rose from 10.5 trillion to 12.1 trillion in the last 12 months. This has led Oxfam to reevaluate their previous prediction that only one trillionaire would emerge in the next 10 years. Instead raising their estimate to five. The charity's findings come as outgoing President Joe Biden issued a warning last week of a 'dangerous concentration of power in the hands of very few ultra-wealthy people.' Around 3,000 business executives, academics, government officials, and civic group leaders will gather in Davos including the newly elected President Trump who will address the forum by video on Thursday. The President has long championed wealth accumulation - including his own - and counts the world's richest man Elon Musk as a top adviser. During Trump's inauguration today, fellow billionaires Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg - the world's second and third richest people - were sat alongside Musk. President Donald Trump with Elon Musk at a rally on Sunday January 19. The President has long championed wealth accumulation - including his own - and counts the world's richest man Elon Musk as a top adviser Donald Trump at the World Economic Forum in 2020. Around 3,000 business executives, academics, government officials, and civic group leaders will gather in Davos including the newly elected President Trump who will address the forum by video on Thursday From left to right: Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, Sundar Pichai and Elon Musk at Trump's inauguration. The world's first trillionaires are set to emerge within a decade after billionaires saw their wealth surge in 2024 growing three times faster than in 2023 'What you're seeing at the moment is a billionaire president taking oaths today, backed by the richest man. So this is pretty much the jewel in the crown of the global oligarchies,' Amitabh Behar, executive director of Oxfam International, said in an interview, referring to Trump and Musk. 'It's not about one specific individual. It's the economic system that we have created where the billionaires are now pretty much being able to shape economic policies, social policies, which eventually gives them more and more profit,' he added. Like Mr Biden's call for making billionaires 'begin to pay their fair share' through the US tax code, Oxfam - a global advocacy group - called on governments to tax the richest to reduce inequality and extreme wealth, and to 'dismantle the new aristocracy.' The group called for steps like the break-up of monopolies, capping CEO pay, and regulation of corporations to ensure they pay 'living wages' to workers. Many investors racked up strong gains in 2024, with strong performances for top tech companies and stock-market indexes like the S&P 500, as well as the price of gold and cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin. Oxfam said billionaire wealth grew by 2 trillion dollars (1.6 trillion) last year, or roughly 5.7 billion dollars (4.6 billion) a day, three times faster than in 2023. The number of billionaires rose by 204 to 2,769, and the 10 richest men saw their wealth rise nearly 100 million dollars (81.8 million) a day on average, it said Meanwhile the group said the number of people in poverty has barely budged since 1990. Oxfam's findings come as outgoing President Joe Biden issued a warning last week of a 'dangerous concentration of power in the hands of very few ultra-wealthy people' Zuckerberg and Bezos at Trump's inauguration. Oxfam has revealed that the combined wealth of the world's richest people rose from 10.5 trillion to 12.1 trillion in the last 12 months Citing World Bank data, Oxfam pointed to lingering poverty, saying the number of people living on less than 6.85 dollars (5.61) per day has 'barely changed' since 1990. Oxfam used Forbes' Real-Time Billionaire List' as of the end of November for data on the ultra-rich. By contrast, at least four new billionaires were 'minted' every week in 2024, and three-fifths of billionaire wealth comes from inheritance, monopoly power or 'crony connections,' it said. On average, Oxfam said, low- and middle-income countries are spending nearly half their national budgets on debt repayments. It also noted that life expectancy in Africa is just under 64 years of age, compared to over 79 years in Europe. Surveillance footage showed the shocking moment a driver was shot and killed by police at a Florida gas station after they said he fled a traffic stop. The driver, whose identity has yet to be released, failed to pull over on Sunday afternoon in Fort Lauderdale, police said. Police sent the vehicle's description to other officers via police radio, the Fort Lauderdale Police Department said in a statement to DailyMail.com. The driver eventually pulled into a local gas station about a mile away. Police vehicles quickly spotted him and approached his vehicle in the parking lot. Police Chief Bill Schultz told reporters at a press conference later that night that the incident escalated when the driver exited his vehicle holding what appeared to be a firearm. The surveillance footage, obtained by WTVJ News, captured the driver pulling into the Chevron station in a silver Mercedes. The driver stopped his vehicle in front of a gas pump and opened his door before a black sedan pulled up behind him. He then continued to drive away but stopped short when another vehicle blocked the exit. The white vehicle was blocked from escaping the parking lot and appeared to try to flee Police vehicles arrived on the scene after the officer-involved shooting The white Mercedes was seen pulling up to the gas station before police arrived An officer in the car behind him is then seen jumping out of the sedan and running toward the driver's car. One of the gas pumps blocked the view of his car. An initial investigation of the incident revealed that officers suspected he had a firearm, resulting in the shots fired. The driver was taken to a local hospital and later died from his injuries. It's unclear how many times and where the driver was struck during the altercation. The incident occurred in broad daylight while multiple customers were at the gas station. Onlookers could be seen taking out their phones to record the shocking chain of events. Chief Schultz told reporters that the officer who opened fire has been placed on administrative leave with pay per departmental guidelines. A neighbor, Kevin Forbes, told WTVJ that he heard eight shots and police sirens, noting that the incident was unusual for the neighborhood. 'Boom, boom, boom, boom, straight eight shots,' he said. 'No pausing nothing, just straight eight shots.' 'We don't have that stuff going around here like that so to hear that right near my house - it's very disturbing,' Forbes added. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is now investigating the shooting. Police Chief Bill Schultz told reporters that an officer fired his gun after the man was suspected of having a firearm Neighbor Kevin Forbes said that he heard eight shots The incident followed another officer-involved shooting in the city on December 11, 2024. FLPD released a statement earlier this month detailing the shocking death of 21-year-old Jalen Moore. Police responded to 911 calls from family members concerned that Moore was experiencing a mental health crisis. When they arrived on the scene, dispatchers informed officers that Moore was armed and there was an infant inside the home. He exited the home with a gun, holding his little brother hostage, police said. After de-escalation tactics, the officers fired their weapons at Moore. He was pronounced dead at the hospital. A preacher who helped deliver the benediction at President Trump's inauguration has gone viral after giving an explosive performance. Lorenzo Sewell, senior pastor of the 180 church in Detroit, Michigan, made remarks during the ceremony on Monday morning. In his three-minute prayer, Sewell was incredibly patriotic and pro-Trump, as he thanked God for saving the 78-year-old from an assassination attempt last year. He also appeared to make multiple references to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr's famous 'I have a dream' speech, who's national holiday coincided with the inauguration. Sewell started: 'Heavenly father we are so grateful that you gave our 45th and now our 47th president a millimeter miracle. 'We are grateful that you are the one that have called him for such a time as this. That America would begin to dream again.' Sewell prayed that America continues to be a nation 'where we will not be judged by the color of our skin but by the content of our character'. He spoke loudly throughout his prayer and lifted his hands to the sky as he called for 'freedom to ring 'throughout America in a direct copy from Dr. Luther King Jr. Reverend Lorenzo Sewell, pastor of the 180 church in Detroit, Michigan , made remarks during the ceremony on Monday morning In his three-minute prayer, Sewell was incredibly patriotic and pro-Trump, as he thanked God for saving the 78-year-old from an assassination attempt last year Sewell said: 'My country, 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing; Land where my fathers died. Land of the pilgrims' pride. 'From every mountainside, let freedom ring.' And because America is called to be a great nation, we believe that you will make this come true. 'From the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire, let freedom ring. From the mighty mountains of New York, let freedom ring. From the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania, let freedom ring. 'From the snowcap Rockies of Colorado, let freedom ring. From the curvaceous hilltops of California, but God, we're asking you not only that; let freedom ring from Stone Mountain, Georgia. Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain, Tennessee. 'Let freedom ring from every hill and every molehill in Mississippi, from every state, every city, every village and every hamlet. 'And when we let freedom ring, we will be able to speed up that day where all of your children, Black men and white men, Protestant and Catholic, Jew and gentile will be able to sing in the meaning of that old Negro spiritual, 'Free at last, free at last. 'Thank you God almighty, we are free at last.' If you believe with the Spirit of the Lord, there is liberty. Come on, put your hands together and give your great God great glory.' President Donald Trump and Rev. Lorenzo Sewell of 180 Church in Detroit attend the inauguration of U.S. President Donald Trump in the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol On social media, Sewell has quickly gone viral for his animated prayer with users praising him He also appeared to make multiple references to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr's famous 'I have a dream' speech, who's national holiday coincided with the inauguration On social media, Sewell has quickly gone viral for his animated prayer with users praising him. One person posted: 'President Trump invited Pastor Lorenzo Sewell from Detroit to pray at the Inauguration, and he did NOT disappoint. God is back in America.' Another said: 'This Pastor made my day Im not of this religious denomination Who cares It was a tour de force On a Sunday Inauguration Day MLK Remembrance Day.' Someone else added: 'Great to see faith being represented at the Inauguration Trump bringing back traditional values to the White House is a breath of fresh air America is reclaiming its spiritual roots, thanks to leaders like Trump and Pastor Sewell.' One other commented: 'He was great!! A young pastor like that can have a powerful impact.' Sewell first met Trump in June when the pastor hosted him at his church amid a campaign stop. According to MLive, before turning to God, he had worked as a drug dealer before a calling to take up being a pastor in 1999. He told the outlet that he is a lifelong Republican and had supported Trump in 2016 and 2020. Minutes after his second inaugural address concluded Donald Trump unloaded on his political enemies to a friendly overflow crowd and said his wife Melania got him to excise language calling January 6 defendants 'hostages.' Speaking inside the Capitol Visitors Center, Trump weighed in on his reservations about bringing the inauguration inside, called Nancy Pelosi 'guilty as hell', and fumed about President Biden's pardon of Liz Cheney. Trump didn't pull many punches in his inaugural speech, where he complained of 'vicious, violent and unfair weaponization of the Justice Department, delivered in a dry monotone while reading form a teleprompter. But he brought even more to his second effort, which he delivered in a livelier tone sprinkled with jokes, asides, and vendettas. 'I decided I'm not going to make this speech complicated. I'm going to make it beautiful,' he said of his words inside the Capitol Rotunda for the TV audience and the history books. But that didn't stop him from throwing even more bombs just steps away from where he addressed lawmakers and Supreme Court justices, while tech fans like Elon Musk looked on. He threw even more bombs just steps away this time calling the 2020 election 'totally rigged.' Trump said he think he could have won the state of California, which he lost by 20 per cent and 3 million votes. He blasted Biden's 11th hour pardons for members of the House January 6 Committee, which probed the attack on the Capitol. Just minutes after delivering his historic second inaugural speech, Trump walked down Emancipation Hall to the Capitol Visitors Center, where he said the 2020 election was 'rigged,' attacked Rep. Liz Cheney, and called January 6 defendants 'hostages' 'Why are we helping Liz Cheney? Liz Cheney is a disaster. She's a crying lunatic. And crying [former Rep.] Adam Kinzinger? He's a super cryer. I never saw the guy not crying. He's always crying,' Trump said. Both Republicans probed his administration after January 6 and endorsed Kamala Harris, although Trump said their pressure was because he was peaceful. 'When you don't want to kill people in wars, they turn against you,' Trump said. 'Liz Cheney hated the concept of not going to war with everybody. Let's kill everybody,' he said. His second speech, billed as just 10 minutes long, went on for 35 minutes. Trump, clearly enjoying himself, told the audience it was getting the superior unvarnished version to the big shots who were there in person. 'I think this was a better speech than the one I made upstairs,' said Trump, 78., speaking to a group that included governors and their spouses. 'You got the A-plus treatment', he told them, inquiring at one point whether the huge TV screen provided a good enough view. The hall is where visitors go to learn about the Capitol. Trump referred to January 6 defendants as 'hostages,' with action set to come on pardons Trump went after former Rep. Liz Cheney in his second speech, and blasted President Biden for pardoning her. He says advisors including his wife told him to nix some of his attacks The line, like many of Trump's one-offs, got a laugh from the crowd, although there were about 10 rows of empty seats to his left as he spoke. As his remarks approached 30 minutes and he was still speaking, multiple guests donned their coats and left. Trump reflected on the walk from upstairs under the dome, revealing first lady Melania Trump told him her feet were killing her. He attacked former Trump White House staffer Cassidy Hutchinson, who testified that Trump lunched at a Secret Service agent inside 'the Beast' while demanding to go to the Capitol, where his supporters were gathering. Trump called it 'made up fiction.' 'So I wanted to talk about that, but all of that stuff got deleted,' Trump said. Then he accused former Speaker Nancy Pelosi of being at fault for the attack, claiming she refused to accept 10,000 soldiers he says he offered. 'No, she didn't like it. Maybe she wanted that to happen, but she's guilty as hell, and now we would have to go through the process, because they destroyed all evidence, they deleted everything, there's virtually nothing left,' Trump said. So I decided I'm not going to make this speech complicated. I'm going to make it beautiful. I'm going to make it a unifying speech,' Trump said. He said when he learned he would be addressing 'serious Trump fans,' he said 'this is the time to tell those stories.' Trump said 'I was going to talk about the J6 hostages' who he plans to pardon, although he hasn't provided specifics on where he will draw the line on a group that includes nonviolent offenders as well as people who bloodied police officers. He indicated that his wife, as well as Vice President J.D. Vance, urged him to hold back. 'Please sir, it's such a beautiful unifying speech, please, sir, don't say these things,' Trump says advisors told him. 'Melania. She said "sir" calls me "sir" when she's angry,' Trump observed. Then he tried to pull it back. 'I'd better say I'm only kidding or the press is going to bring that one up,' he continued. Trump also revealed some of his inner conflicts about moving his inauguration indoors abandoning months of planning, not to mention a huge reviewing stand that was constructed for the occasion. Trump spoke about going outside for some of his earlier activities. 'We were freezing. You would have been very unhappy,' he told the overflow crowd. 'It gets a little cold this time of year,' he observed. Promisia Healthcare Limited (Promisia) (NZX: PHL ) advises that group general manager Karen Lake has resigned from the company. Karen has been on leave since August 2024 and is stepping down for personal reasons. Board chair Rhonda Sherriff acknowledged Karens contribution since joining the company in August 2023 and wishes her well for future endeavours. Experienced aged care executive and current executive director, Craig Percy, will continue as acting group general manager until a permanent replacement has been appointed. Recruitment for the role will commence in February 2025. ENDS. For more information, please contact: Craig Percy, Acting Group General Manager Promisia Healthcare Limited Phone: +64 27 670 0744 or email: craig.percy@promisia.co.nz About Promisia Healthcare Promisia is a New Zealand based aged care and retirement living provider, with a focus on delivering quality personalised care. Our aim is to be the aged care provider of choice in our communities. Our facilities are located in well-established and well serviced towns and metropolitan areas. Our goal is to profitably grow our business in a sustainable manner, delivering quality care to our residents, peace of mind to their families and whanau, and excellent value to our villages, community and shareholders. Promisia is listed on the NZX (NZX: PHL ). http://www.promisia.co.nz. Comments from our readers No comments yet Add your comment: Your name: Your email: Not displayed to the public Comment: Comments to Sharechat go through an approval process. Comments which are defamatory, abusive or in some way deemed inappropriate will not be approved. It is allowable to use some form of non-de-plume for your name, however we recommend real email addresses are used. Comments from free email addresses such as Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail, etc may not be approved. Anti-spam verification: Type the text you see in the image into the field below. You are asked to do this in order to verify that this enquiry is not being performed by an automated process. Related News: SKT - Sky secures iconic sports rights RYM - Ryman completes Retail Entitlement Offer TEM - Transaction in Own Shares FPH launches F&P Nova Nasal mask in NZ and AU Fonterra announces changes to management team March 12th Morning Report WHS FY25 Interim Results teleconference details VGL - Odeon Cinemas Group signs for Vista Cloud DGL - T&G appoints new Director TEM - Transaction in Own Shares Police have made a fresh appeal for witnesses with information on the death of a schoolboy 35 years ago. Danny Leech was just seven when he was knocked down by a lorry while crossing a road in Dundee, in 1989. The collision was treated as an accident but his family believe the police investigation was not handled properly. In recent years, they have pursued answers about what happened that day, leading police to carry out a review of the case. Last year, the force committed to review the case with the help of an officer who has no connection to Tayside. That move came after the family submitted a dossier outlining their concerns. Danny Leech died on September 8, 1989, after being struck by a lorry while he was crossing the busy Arbroath Road Linda Leech, Danny's mother, with her son John Leech The information provided is still being examined and officers have also carried out a site visit and reconstruction at the scene of the collision. Now, Police Scotland has appealed for new witnesses to come forward. Inspector Roy McCarney said: We are carrying out a comprehensive review the information provided to us by the Leech family in relation to circumstances in 1989. As part of this review we have spoken to witnesses who previously gave information to the police. I would urge anyone who may have seen the crash or has any further details which havent been previously passed to police to come forward. Inspector McCarney added: We fully appreciate the impact that Dannys death has had on his family over the past 35 years and understand their desire for more information about the circumstances. We remain in regular contact with them and will provide them with a full update on the conclusion of our review. The Leech family have added This appeal is on behalf of the Leech Family, in the hope that after all these years someone will come forward to give info, no matter how small or seemingly trivial, which will allow the authorities to come to a proper conclusion in their investigations and thereby securing justice for Danny Leech and closure for us all. The driver of the lorry that hit Danny has never been charged with any offence. In the aftermath of the collision, he was allowed by the investigating officer to drive his lorry away from the scene. Meanwhile, the road was reopened only half an hour after the tragedy. In October, The Courier spoke to a woman who said she witnessed the crash as a child. Ashley Clement was just yards away when Danny was struck by the lorry as he crossed the street. Ms Clement, who grew up nearby and was 12 at the time, was never interviewed by police as part of their investigation. However, the psychological wellbeing practitioner spoke to Police Scotland last year as part of their review. She came forward after seeing pleas for information on a local billboard and on social media from the tragic schoolboys family. She told The Courier: I remember him being happy and smiley. It should never have happened. He was a gorgeous, bubbly boy who should have had a life ahead of him. A 12-year-old girl has been pulled from the mangled wreckage of a helicopter after surviving a crash that killed her parents. Dramatic footage shows the moment Bethina Feldman was piggybacked to safety by rescuers following the tragic incident which happened near Caieiras, Brazil. In one video she can be seen clinging onto a man's back as he carries her through dense woodland on January 17, a day after the crash. Another shows the remains of a blue helicopter lying on the floor as emergency responders attach ropes and prepare to hoist it out of the vegetation. The chopper was carrying Bethina, her parents, and the pilot when it smashed into the ground on Thursday January 16. It left Campo de Marte Airport in Sao Paulo, Brazil, at around 7:30pm before making a stop at a helipad in the Jaguare neighbourhood. It took off again, bound for Americana, in stormy conditions before its GPS signal was lost at 8:34pm. Firefighters and police were dispatched to Caieiras, where the passengers' last mobile signal was recorded. A 12-year-old girl has been pulled from a helicopter wreckage after surviving a horrific crash that killed both of her parents Dramatic footage shows the moment Bethina Feldman was piggybacked to safety by rescuers following the tragic incident which happened near Caieiras, Brazil Footage shows the mangled remains of a blue helicopter lying on the floor as emergency responders attach ropes and prepare to hoist it out of the vegetation The wreckage of the Eurocopter EC130 was spotted from a police helicopter in a densely wooded area at 6:15 am on Friday January 17. Bethina, who turned 12 that day, and pilot Edenilson de Oliveira Costa were found walking through the forest a short distance away. Both were taken to a hospital in Sao Paulo. At the time of reporting, Edenilson remained in the facility in stable condition but with no discharge date set. Bethina's parents, Andre Feldman and Juliana Elisa Alves Maria Feldman did not survive the crash. Their other two children, nine-year-old twins Enrico and Manoela, were not on board the chopper. Andre, 50, was CEO of the betting company BiG Brazil Internacional Gaming. He was laid to rest in Sao Paulo on Sunday 19 Jan. Bethina, who turned 12 that day, and pilot Edenilson de Oliveira Costa were found walking through the woods a short distance away from the crash site. Pictured: Pilot, Edenilson de Oliveira Costa with his wife His wife, 49, owned the fashion brand Juliana Boher MultiBrand. She was laid to rest in Americana on Saturday. Americana mayor Chico Sardelli said: 'They leave behind a legacy of hard work, dedication, and friendship.' The helicopter could carry up to five passengers and was in good working condition, as reported by NeedToKnow. Investigations are underway to determine why it crashed but officials say 'spatial disorientation due to the bad weather' could have caused the tragedy. A social media worker for the National Museums of Scotland has won more than 20,000 after she was sacked for not posting enough and for making too many typos. Digital content producer Anita Briggs failed to post anything over a period of one month while during another she only created six posts compared to a colleagues 73, an employment tribunal heard. The employee was not performing to the standard required of her for nearly two years as she would regularly miss deadlines and make spelling errors, the hearing was told. After she failed three performance reviews, bosses lost confidence in her work ability and she was sacked. However, the tribunal found that she was not given enough warning of her potential dismissal and she has now been awarded 22,210 in compensation. The tribunal was told Ms Briggs was hired by the organisation in 2009 and worked as a digital media content producer. Ms Briggs' employer runs the National Museum of Scotland (pictured) and National War Museum in Edinburgh, the National Museum of Rural Life in East Kilbride and the National Museum of Flight in East Lothian Her job role included planning, co-ordinating, and creating new content for the organisations social media platforms such as Facebook, LinkedIn and X. Employment Judge Stuart Neilson said the production of content was extremely important for the business, which is largely funded by the Scottish Government and runs four museums across the country. These are the National Museum of Scotland and National War Museum in Edinburgh, the National Museum of Rural Life in East Kilbride and the National Museum of Flight in East Lothian. Ms Briggs reported to another content producer, Russel Dornan who met with her in May 2022 after having concerns with her performance and she was put on an informal personal improvement plan (PIP) and asked to improve her attention to detail, increase her output and perform tasks via agreed processes. But after six months, the line manager felt there had not been any satisfactory improvement in performance and the tribunal noted she had been dealing with a number of personal issues at the time. He asked her to do another informal PIP but she was not happy with he proposal and felt the manager was intimidating and has it in for me. Mr Dornan left in 2023 and was replaced by Hannah Barton who concluded at the end of the workers second PIP that the objectives set had not been met. The hearing was told that between June and August 2023, Ms Briggs had produced only two pieces of content which was substantially below what was expected of her. One of the pieces also required significant amendment. The employment judge said: Ms Barton considered that required performance had not been met as there were continued errors around typos, spelling, grammar and proofing; missed deadlines for producing content and a failure to follow processes for work allocation in line with wider team priorities. The content producer was off sick for a period of time and on return to work she was notified that a formal PIP would commence until January 2024. She was told that at the end of the process there could be a formal meeting which may result in dismissal. Just a month in, Ms Briggs failed to produce any content for the entirety of November and in December she created just six social posts which was substantially below what was expected, especially in comparison to one of her colleagues who produced 73. After failing yet another PIP process, she was invited to a formal hearing and was told Ms Barton had no confidence in her ability to design, coordinate and execute required content. The content producer was sacked on the grounds of lack of capability and after her subsequent appeal was thrown out, she took the museum to an employment tribunal alleging unfair dismissal. Ms Briggs claimed there had been a long-standing orchestrated campaign to terminate her employment. The tribunal agreed that there were clearly concerns about Ms Briggs performance in her role at the museum and recognised there was a lengthy period in which her performance was under scrutiny. But EJ Neilson said there was no evidence of any conspiracy or campaign to terminate employment for any other reason than capability. However, Ms Briggs won her claim after the tribunal found she was not provided with any formal warnings of the potential dismissal. The employment judge said: The tribunal concludes that it is not as there were no formal warnings issued in terms of the performance policy. [Ms Briggs] has a legitimate expectation that the [museum] will follow the terms of the performance policy and it would be reasonable to expect at least one level of formal warning prior to dismissal. That did not happen here. The panel ruled that Ms Briggs had been unfairly dismissed and ordered The Trustees of the National Museums of Scotland to pay her 22,210.75 in compensation. Its the first week of full-on John Swinney following his David Brent-style reinvention - when he promised us a new beginning. But it shouldnt surprise you that the big new idea is a familiar one ramping up taxes to bankroll the growing bill for state handouts. The kite was flown in a Sunday newspaper which suggested that Mr Swinney and his colleagues are poised to ask the UK Government for the power to introduce taxes on net worth or assets. If the UK Government was to reject this frankly bonkers plea, the SNP could introduce a levy on wealth under the local tax system, with town halls in charge of enforcement and collection (what could possibly go wrong?) The idea has been fleshed out by Brian Leishman, Labour MP for Alloa and Grangemouth, who claimed a two per cent tax on the wealthiest could help fix inequality. The STUC has modelled a two per cent tax for families with wealth of more than 5million, estimating this would raise 1.4billion. Its an embryonic proposal but it shows the potential direction of travel for Labour and for the SNP which has hiked the taxes under its control - but remains unsated. Yet another tug-of-war with Westminster to seize control over more taxes might prove attractive for Mr Swinney, as it creates the opportunity for a fresh blame game if things dont go his way. Scotland has the most punitive income tax in the UK, with the SNPs regime opening up a cross-Border disparity which is forcing some of the brightest and best to steer clear - or move away. Even Mr Swinney and his cohorts are beginning to think that further widening the tax gap might be counterproductive hence the hunt for alternatives, and the prospect of hammering those deemed to be wealthy enough to take the strain. This presupposes that there will be any left, of course, or that their financial advisers wont be smart enough to help them avoid the blow. One millionaire left Britain every 45 minutes in the year Labour came to power - and in Scotland the tax exodus began long ago, sparking a property boom in northern England as workers moved south in a bid to protect their pay. First Minister John Swinney wants to impose yet more taxes on hard working Scots While Mr Leishmans figure of 5million might seem sky-high to many and of course its a large sum a considerable chunk of net worth might well relate to property. Pensioners who arent exactly cash-rich but live in homes which have gained value as prices rose over the last 20 years could find themselves in the crosshairs of full-on John and his crew. He might find a willing enabler in Sir Keir Starmer and his hapless Chancellor as they drive the economy ever-closer to the precipice. Soaking the rich, if theyll stick around long enough to bear the pain, is necessary in the eyes of the SNP strategists dreaming up this nonsense to bankroll the fast-rising benefits bill. It is set to make up 14 per cent of the 2025/26 budget, soaring from 5.3bn in 2023/24 to an estimated 8.8bn by 2029/30. SNP ministers have also pledged to mitigate the two-child benefit cap so that it would no longer apply in Scotland something which is expected to cost an extra 155million if introduced in 2026/27, rising to 198million by the end of the decade. A country hooked on handouts needs someone to pay for the next fix, and that someone is anyone who works for a living or was lucky enough to build up a nest-egg by working hard for many years to support their families. Ambition must be punished this is high-tax, low-growth and low-aspiration Scotland, after all, and the dependency culture is our only credible growth industry. Britain now spends more on sickness benefits than on defence - and research for a recent Channel 4 documentary found 12 out of 20 of the UKs hotspots for the highest number of recipients were in Scotland. Dont forget that around 120,000 working-age Scots have never worked a day in their lives. Mr Swinney and Finance Secretary Shona Robison look likely to get their budget over the line And the proportion of people who are out of work, but who have had at least one job in their life, is only marginally higher - suggesting that unemployment rates are largely made up of people who have never worked. The SNPs fag-packet plan to abolish the two-child benefit cap is political game-playing, as it presents a challenge to Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar ahead of the 2026 Holyrood election. His own party is reluctantly opposed to scrapping it (partly because opinion polling shows its a popular policy), so Mr Sarwar is in a tight spot though his own MSPs will abstain in the vote to approve Mr Swinneys Budget, meaning its likely to be passed. They might even back it if the benefit cap move is fast-tracked and comes into force on April 1 - something Labour knows probably wont happen. All of this was designed as a smokescreen to deflect from the fact that local government is planning eye-watering council tax hikes (imagine what theyd do with control of wealth taxes) It also shows that the Holyrood election campaign will be about who can promise the biggest giveaway on benefits. That is deeply depressing, given that the SNP and indeed Labour spend a lot of their time paying lip service to the notion of economic growth. How that can be achieved remains a mystery, but it doesnt stop politicians banging on about it as if theyd just discovered a new buzz phrase. Say it often enough and it takes on a mantra-like quality, while gradually losing any meaning, and the average voter is left none the wiser theyre either confused, or bored, or more likely no longer paying attention. Back in 1980, the BBCs brilliant Yes Minister political satire featured minister Jim Hacker embarking on a drive to root out government waste which is also a goal of both the SNP and Labour, or so were told. It goes horribly wrong when scheming civil service mandarin Sir Humphrey Appleby - who naturally loathes the idea of axing bureaucrats - suggests Hacker should cut his own private office to set an example. Hacker, the Minister for Administrative Affairs, cools on the idea when he loses various flunkeys including his chauffeur one imagines limo-loving Health Secretary Neil Gray would be similarly unenthusiastic. Sir Humphrey says: The public doesnt know anything about wasting government money - were the experts. The same could be said of the high-taxing SNP as it strains every sinew to cut back on waste and inefficiency, while leaving quangos intact and government drivers (well, someone has to take Mr Gray to the cinema). The new era of full-on John has dawned but he and his own Sir Humphreys are sticking to the same tired old script and they want even more of your hard-earned cash. Jack Schlossberg riled up the internet with an off-putting tweet about the 'hotness' of his very own grandmother Jackie Kennedy. The former first lady has long been one of the world's most beloved beauty icons since her time in the White House as the wife of president John F. Kennedy - oftentimes being described as one of the most attractive and stylish women of the era. But Schlossberg, the Kennedy's only grandson, decided to test the loyalty of the nation with a 'creepy' post he shared to X on Monday afternoon. 'True or false,' the 32-year-old heir wrote. 'Usha Vance is way hotter than Jackie O.' On Monday, JD Vance was sworn in under Donald Trump as the youngest vice president since 40-year-old Richard Nixon entered office in 1953. But Usha, Vance's wife and the now first ever Second Lady of the United States who is of Indian descent, seemingly stole the show during the inauguration. Social media couldn't help but notice Usha's beauty as she stepped into the spotlight and proudly watched her husband step into one of the most important roles in American politics. The internet also couldn't get enough of her impeccable style - a chic pink Oscar de la Renta coat, dangling silver earrings and a classy updo - all combined with a doting smile. Jack Schlossberg riled up the internet with an off-putting tweet about the 'hotness' of his very own grandmother, Jackie Kennedy Onassis 'True or false,' the 32-year-old heir wrote. 'Usha Vance is way hotter than Jackie O' Jackie Kennedy has long been one of the world's most beloved beauty icons since her time in the White House as the wife of president John F. Kennedy - oftentimes being described as one of the most attractive and stylish women of the era On Monday, JD Vance was sworn in under Donald Trump as vice president, but his wife Usha seemingly stole the show as the internet couldn't help but notice her impeccable style as many viewers drew comparisons to the timeless elegance of Jackie Kennedy Monday's wardrobe pick was just one of Usha's many high-end fashion choices that have quickly captured the attention of America throughout the dozens of inauguration festivities. Her presentation left many viewers drawing comparisons to the timeless elegance of none other than Jackie Kennedy. And less than one hour later, Schlossberg took to X to put that theory to the test - asking his followers whether it was true or false that Usha is 'hotter' than Jackie. But instead of receiving true or false responses as requested, Schlossberg's post was filled with confused - and concerned - comments. 'Gotta be honest man, I think most people don't do hotness rankers involving their grandmas,' one comment read. Another agreed, adding: 'You been drinking Ted's liquor cuz that's your blood relative.' 'She was your grandmother,' another person wrote. 'Are you okay?' Another read: 'Kennedy's not beating the creep allegations.' 'YOUR GRANDMOTHER??????' another comment said. Despite the thousands of concerned comments, many people knew that the political correspondent was being nothing other than 'unserious'. As the grandson to the late JFK, one would most likely expect Schlossberg to discuss topics surrounding the election, climate law and policies throughout his social media platforms. They wouldn't be wrong, but the 32-year-old heir has a track record of 'unhinged' posts - even going as far as proclaiming himself a 'silly goose'. Most recently, Schlossberg got himself involved in the legal battle unfolding between Justin Baldoni and Blake Lively. Earlier this month, he took to X to claim that Baldoni was his client and that he agreed to 'take on' the star because 'EVERYONE is entitled to a FAIR trial.' Schlossberg, a Harvard Law School grad who passed the bar exam in 2023, added: 'I agreed to take on JUSTIN BALDONI as a client. Why ? FAIRNESS EVERYONE is entitled to a FAIR TRIAL and ZEALOUS DEFENSE. Justin has NOTHING to hide, Justice will be his revenge. 'After BOSTON MASSACRE, John Adams represented the British at trial. Same sh**, different day.' Schlossberg, the Kennedy's only grandson, has a track record of 'unhinged' posts - even going as far as proclaiming himself as a 'silly goose' When Schlossberg asked his followers whether it was true or false that Usha is 'hotter' than Jackie, thousands of confused and concerned people flooded the post comments - reminding him that Jackie is his blood grandmother Monday's wardrobe pick was just one of Usha's many high-end fashion choices that have quickly captured the attention of America throughout the dozens of inauguration festivities Jackie Kennedy was responsible for setting fashion trends that would last for years to come Baldoni's actual lawyer, Bryan Freedman, told the DailyMail.com that Schlossberg's claim is 'ridiculous' and his client 'has never spoken to him.' 'Nobody on my team has spoken to him,' Freedman continued. Following his initial post about the actor, Scholssberg said: 'My personal feelings about Justin Baldoni are irrelevant. Justin is my client, Im his lawyer.' 'Even the most heinous individuals have the right to counsel for their defense. 'I am not a hero. I'm just doing my job,' he added. The new private equity owners of a whimsical bundt cake chain have sparked fury over a mandate requiring all franchises to open on Sundays. Nothing Bundt Cakes dropped the mandate requiring Sunday operations beginning Feb. 2 - a dramatic policy shift that has sparked outrage among some franchise owners. The controversy erupted after Roark Capital took over as private equity owners in 2021. While more than 500 of the chain's roughly 650 bakeries already operate seven days a week, franchisees say the mandate betrays the brand's original values and could force many to operate at a loss. Some owners say they invested their life savings in what they thought was a community-focused brand - only to see it transform into a 'corporate' money-making machine. Keith Bussey, who emptied his 401(k) to open his Northern California location in 2019, has now put his store up for sale after the announcement that all locations must open for at least five hours on Sundays. 'When the franchise was presented to us, it felt like a community,' Bussey told CNN. 'Once we got that mandate, it just doesn't fit with our lifestyle.' Nothing Bundt Cakes dropped the mandate requiring Sunday operations beginning Feb. 2 - a dramatic policy shift that has sparked outrage among some franchise owners '(Nothing Bundt Cakes) feels like it's taken a sharp corporate swing to where it feels like it's just to maximize sales and dollars,' he added. 'Our voices aren't being heard.' The frustration is increasing in Utah, where Mormon franchise owners are facing the difficult choice between their religious beliefs and their livelihoods. Kelsey Hunt, a mother of three, and her husband signed her first franchise agreement in St. George, Utah, in 2018. Sundays are her day of worship and a time she spends with family, she told Fox 13. 'It truly is a day of worship, so it goes against our values and our fate and what it means to us by opening and operating on those days.' The store not being required to operate on Sunday was a selling point for her and her family. 'That was one of the things we spent a great deal of time going over with the corporate leadership during that meeting and something we felt strongly about in working with Nothing Bundt Cakes,' Hunt said. 'On Sundays, often I'm the only car there (in the parking lot) for all the surrounding stores,' Hunt said. While more than 500 of the chain's roughly 650 bakeries already operate seven days a week, franchisees say the mandate betrays the brand's original values and could force many to operate at a loss But things started to change last summer, she noticed. First they would suggest opening on Sunday, and then it became a requirement. 'They started suggesting it as like, "This is something to consider as individual bakeries," knowing it wasn't a requirement in our operations manual at the time,' she told Fox13. 'A notification was sent out, the operations manual in 2024 was updated to then require Sundays.' One anonymous franchise owner revealed they were forced to comply with the mandate despite previously being assured there were 'no plans' for mandatory Sunday openings when they quit their corporate job to join the chain. 'We have decided to comply with the mandate out of concern that we could lose our business (our life savings) or be forced to sell the business abruptly,' the owner told CNN. 'If we lost our bakeries, I would likely have to travel again and miss being a part of my kiddo's lives again.' The policy change has even led to emergency legislation introduced to protect their rights. The issue has now reached the Utah State Legislature, where Rep. Ken Ivory (R-West Jordan) has introduced a bill to protect franchise owners' religious rights. The proposed legislation would block franchisors from imposing religious restrictions unless explicitly included in initial agreements. But Nothing Bundt Cakes is pushing back. 'We communicated the importance of being open all week long to our entire franchise system over a year ago,' the statement stated. 'This provided them with time to prepare and is consistent with our franchise agreements.' The company said it would 'watch this proposed legislation closely,' but gave no indication it plans to back down from the Sunday mandate. 'Like all franchised businesses in Utah that operate seven days a week, we will watch this proposed legislation closely.' This is the moment a teenage attacker stalked back and forth as he waited for a taxi before a horrific dance class killing spree in Southport that shocked the nation. Axel Rudakubana, 18, - who yesterday admitted murdering little girls Bebe King, six, Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven and Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine - was picked up by a cab shortly before launching the rampage. Aged 17 at the time, the Cardiff-born teenager brutally killed the children and injured 10 others at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class at a community centre in the Merseyside town on July 29 last year. The unspeakable incident led to a slew of country-wide riots - with many migrant hotels and mosques being targeted - after misinformation and conspiracy theories spread online falsely claiming he was an immigrant. Rudakubana, a Welsh native who lives in Banks, Lancashire, was picked up by local driver Gary Poland before the killing spree. He was filmed pacing up and down as he waited outside his home, before travelling for half an hour to the class where he destroyed so many innocent lives. Rudakubana asked the taxi driver to take him to the Hart Space, where he got out without paying and walked up the stairs to the yoga workshop. Axel Rudakubana pleaded guilty to the murders of Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, Bebe King, six, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class This is the moment a teenage attacker stalked back and forth as he waited for a taxi before a horrific dance class killing spree in Southport that shocked the country He was filmed pacing up and down as he waited outside his home, before travelling for half an hour to the class where he destroyed so many innocent lives He entered at 11.45am, and within mere seconds terrified screams could be heard from the street. The cabbie was 'very shocked and upset' by what was done by the person he had driven around. His wife Lynn said at the time: 'He's unable to talk about it at the moment. He feels terrible. 'All he's thinking about is what happened to those children.' Neighbours told the newspaper Mr Poland was a kindly man who had offered to give them lifts during the coronavirus pandemic. Rudakubana yesterday admitted to murdering three girls, to the attempted murder of eight other children, and to the attempted murder of Leanne Lucas and Jonathan Hayes. He also pleaded guilty to having a kitchen knife in a public place, and admitted to the production of a biological toxin, ricin, and possession of an al-Qaeda training manual. Not guilty pleas had previously been entered on Rudakubana's behalf and a four-week trial was due to start this week. The judge, Justice Goose, apologised to families who weren't in court to hear the pleas. Home Secretary Yvette Cooper went on to announce an inquiry now that there has been a guilty plea. The Southport Dance School is the latest case to be covered by the No.1 True Crime podcast, The Trial. Listen to The Trial on Apple, Spotify and anywhere you get your podcasts now Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, was one of the three children killed in the knife attack in Southport Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, was among the three little girls killed in the attack in Southport Bebe King, six, was also killed in the knife attack at The Hart Space in Southport She said 'the families and the people of Southport need answers about what happened leading up to this attack'. It emerged that Rudakubana was referred to the government's anti-extremism scheme Prevent three times due to a fixation with violence. In her statement, Ms Cooper said these three referrals happened in the 17 months between December 2019 and April 2021, when Rudakubana was 13 and 14 years old. He was also in contact with the police, the courts, the youth justice system, social services and mental health services. 'Yet between them, those agencies failed to identify the terrible risk and danger to others that he posed,' Ms Cooper said. 'We also need more independent answers on both Prevent and all the other agencies that came into contact with this extremely violent teenager as well as answers on how he came to be so dangerous.' Sir Keir Starmer admitted the state 'failed in its ultimate duty' to protect the victims of the Southport killer. The Prime Minister lashed out at the crimes committed by the 'vile and sick' teenager and vowed to investigate what happened, saying: 'Britain will rightly demand answers. And we will leave no stone unturned in that pursuit.' The Government announced emergency security for mosques and Sir Keir Starmer promised those involved would 'face the full force of the law' The Prime Minister lashed out at the crimes committed by the 'vile and sick' teenager and admitted the state had 'failed in its ultimate duty' to protect his victims The Mail has learnt that authorities knew of Rudakubana's disturbing interest in a school massacre as far back as 2019. He was referred to the Government's de-radicalisation scheme Prevent that year on the basis that he had been researching for information about the killing of children in school shootings. It was reported he was also referred twice in 2021 after viewing material about the 2017 London terror attack. But experts deemed that there was no counter-terrorism risk at the time as he was considered not to be motivated by a terrorist ideology. Downing Street rejected claims there had been a 'gigantic cover-up' ahead of Rudakubana's court case, amid allegations by Reform UK leader Nigel Farage. The PM's spokesman told reporters it was important not to prejudice the trial, adding: 'Clearly if the trial had collapsed and the attacker walked free, nobody would have forgiven that happening.' In a statement this afternoon, Sir Keir said: 'The news that the vile and sick Southport killer will be convicted is welcome. Rudakubana's guilty plea is likely to raise pressure on Prevent to explain how he slipped through the cracks, engaging in a horrific crime and sparking a summer of violent, often racist, unrest across the UK, fuelled by online conspiracy theories Floral tributes, balloons and soft toys covered the street near the police cordon Floral and written tributes are left alongside balloons and teddy bears at the scene of the stabbings on Hart Street, Southport 'It is also a moment of trauma for the nation, and there are grave questions to answer as to how the state failed in its ultimate duty to protect these young girls. 'Britain will rightly demand answers, and we will leave no stone unturned in that pursuit.' Conspiracy theories spiralled in the aftermath of the attack as the identity of the killer was withheld. But he could not be named because of his age - there is automatic anonymity given to any person under 18 accused of a crime. Rudakubana was 17-years-old at the time and could only be named after Judge Menary KC decided it was in the public interest to lift his anonymity order. The judge blasted the 'idiotic rioting' in the UK after the attack and said keeping the order in place risked 'allowing others who are up to mischief to continue to spread misinformation in a vacuum'. Rudakubana's guilty plea is likely to raise pressure on Prevent to explain how he slipped through the cracks, engaging in a horrific crime and sparking a summer of violent and often racist unrest across the UK, fuelled by online conspiracy theories. Officials were well aware that Rudakubana could pose a risk and he was referred three times to the government's deradicalisation scheme Prevent, sources confirmed. One of the referrals is thought to follow concerns about Rudakubana's potential interest in the killing of children in a school massacre, but it was deemed that there was no counter terrorism risk. Mourners leave floral tributes near the scene in Hart Street, where three children died and ten were injured in a 'ferocious' knife attack The riots came barely an hour after thousands of mourners gathered for a vigil at the Atkinson in Southport His behaviour, including his apparent interest in violence, was assessed by Prevent as potentially concerning. But he was deemed not to be motivated by a terrorist ideology or pose a terrorist danger and was therefore not considered suitable for the counter-radicalisation scheme. Rudakubana was first referred to Prevent in 2019 when he was 13. Two more referrals were made in 2021, all when was a school child living in Lancashire. Each time he was assessed as not being a counter terrorism risk and therefore not suitable for further investigation by the counter-radicalisation programme Channel, which handles Prevent referrals where there is a significant risk of that person being drawn into terrorism. For more on this case, search for 'The Trial: The Southport Dance class' wherever you get your podcasts now. Hyundai Australia has recalled thousands of vehicles due to a fault that could see models lose power. The 4,871 vehicles being recalled are the i30 Sedan N, Kona N and G70 sedan produced between 2020 and 2023. Hyundai's luxury sub-brand Genesis has also been impacted, with 216 of its G70 sedans, built between 2017 and 2023, included in the recall. 'Due to a manufacturing defect, the fuel control valve in the high-pressure fuel pump could allow excess fuel to enter the pump,' the recall notice reads. 'If this occurs, the engine could stall resulting in a sudden loss of motive power whilst driving. 'A sudden loss of motive power whilst driving increases the risk of an accident, causing serious injury or death to vehicle occupants and other road users.' Owners are being urged to check their Vin number via the Australian governments vehicle recall regulator website. Those with an affected i30 Sedan, Kona N or G70 sedan will be contacted by Hyundai and Genesis in writing to schedule an appointment to have their fuel pump inspected. If required, the fuel pump will be replaced free of charge. For more information, you can call Hyundais customer care hotline on 1800 186 306. Hyundai Australia is recalling the i30 Sedan N The conflict of interest row engulfing the Attorney General escalated yesterday after he successfully lobbied the Commons Speaker to block a debate. Robert Jenrick, the Tories justice spokesman, asked Sir Lindsay Hoyle for a Commons debate in a bid to get answers about Lord Hermers potential role in a string of controversial government decisions. These include a law change which paves the way for Gerry Adams to receive taxpayer-funded compensation. Lord Hermer represented the ex-Sinn Fein leader before being appointed Sir Keir Starmers top legal adviser last year. But he has refused to say whether he gave legal advice approving of the proposed law change which is set to benefit his former client. In a bid to get answers, Mr Jenrick tabled an Urgent Question (UQ) in the Commons - a key transparency tool used by the Opposition frontbench to grill government ministers. But it was rejected by Sir Lindsay after Lord Hermers department urged him not to grant it. Sir Lindsay refused to say why he sided with Lord Hermer. Mr Jenrick told the Daily Mail: It is unacceptable for the Attorney General to twist convention to avoid answering basic questions in the public interest. Lord Hermer (pictured) represented the ex-Sinn Fein leader before being appointed Sir Keir Starmer s top legal adviser last year Speaking to the Daily Mail, Mr Jenrick said: It is unacceptable for the Attorney General to twist convention to avoid answering basic questions in the public interest' Lord Hermer previously represented a group of asylum seekers who were given a one-off deal to come to Britain from the Chagos Islands The Attorney General cannot lecture about the rule of law while dodging fundamental questions about conflicts of interest. He must now urgently come clean, and explain to the British public whether he was involved in these decisions in Government, or his position is untenable. The UQ tabled by Mr Jenrick, seen by the Daily Mail, said: Dear Mr Speaker, The House requires urgent clarification regarding matters pertaining to the proper administration of legal advice to His Majestys Government where potential conflicts of interest may arise. The Attorney General recently acted for Gerry Adams in litigation...Does the Attorney General accept that as a consequence he is conflicted and must therefore recuse himself from advising the Prime Minister? It is understood that the Tories will tommorow try to force a debate again. The Government is repealing legislation that currently bars Mr Adams from suing ministers over his unlawful detention in prison in the seventies amid escalating violence and fears he was an IRA member, which he has always denied. When he was a practising barrister, Lord Hermer represented Mr Adams in a separate case involving compensation claims by the victims of three IRA bomb attacks. He has refused to answer questions about whether he recused himself over the law change which is set to benefit his former client, citing the Law Officers Convention. This is a long-standing rule that Attorney Generals cannot reveal what legal advice they have given the Government. But three top lawyers, including Sir Robert Buckland, the former Lord Chancellor, yesterday said that Lord Hermer is wrongly using this as a shield to deflect questions. Mr Jenrick tabled an Urgent Question (UQ) in the Commons. But it was rejected by Sir Lindsay after Lord Hermers department urged him not to grant it. Sir Lindsay refused to say why he sided with Lord Hermer Lord Hermer was an eminent KC before Keir Starmer (pictured) appointed him as Attorney General They backed a study published by the Policy Exchange think tank reaching this conclusion. Sir Robert said: There is no constitutional basis for Lord Hermer to refuse to answer questions posed by parliamentarians or the public about whether or not he had been recused or had recused himself from involvement in relation to a matter in which he faced a possible conflict of interest. Parliament should be told immediately whether he was excluded from decisions about legal matters that posed a possible conflict of interest in view of the interests of his former client, Gerry Adams. Over the weekend it also emerged that Lord Hermer also previously represented a group of asylum seekers who were given a one-off deal to come to Britain from the Chagos Islands just months after his appointment. He has also acted for human rights group Liberty in 2020 in the case of jihadi bride Shamima Begum, arguing she should be allowed to return to Britain. In 2023 he represented the families of Afghan civilians at the Independent Inquiry on Afghanistan, which is scrutinising the actions of British Special Forces. A Government spokesman said: There are well-established rules governing ministerial interests and conflicts...These rules sit alongside rigorous and long-standing protocols to ensure all law officers are not consulted on issues that give rise to conflicts of interest. 'The Golden Age of America begins right now,' Donald Trump asserted right at the start of his inauguration address under the Capitol Rotunda. It's the sort of optimistic, high-falutin ambition with which incoming presidents traditionally pepper their inauguration speeches. This time it looked as if Trump was going to follow suit, in welcome contrast to the bleak and overdone 'American carnage' theme of his first inauguration address eight years ago. But very soon, Trump descended from this high frontier into the partisan weeds, where he is more at home and his speech became more State of the Union than inaugural as he listed the country's failings and insisted only he could put them right. And the retreat from lofty themes and unifying sentiments didn't stop there. By the time Trump hit his stride, he had abandoned even a State of the Union mode for the form of a familiar stump speech in which he belted out all his greatest hits from the campaign of 2024. There was a huge overlap between his inaugural address and his remarks at a Republican rally the night before. This made Monday's speech too petty and party political, given the grandeur of the ceremony and bipartisan nature of the event. It was also far from gracious as, without mentioning him by name, Trump excoriated President Biden's record. 'The Golden Age of America begins right now,' Donald Trump asserted right at the start of his inauguration address under the Capitol Rotunda. By the time Trump (pictured with Melania) hit his stride, he had abandoned even a State of the Union mode for the form of a familiar stump speech in which he belted out all his greatest hits from the campaign of 2024. It was also far from gracious as, without mentioning him by name, Trump excoriated President Biden's record. Fine for the campaign trail. But Biden leaves office and ends his long, undistinguished career a busted flush, irrelevant to the next four years. He should have been allowed to enjoy his final minutes in office with some dignity instead of having to sit through the litany of woes Trump placed at Biden's feet. Trump is clearly impatient to get going in government, which is hardly surprising given the scale of his ambition to wreak radical change across the piste. As he reeled off the familiar 'to do' list everything from 'taking back' the Panama Canal, to closing the border with Mexico and 'drill, baby, drill' it was almost as if he was signing the executive orders as he went along. It suddenly dawned on me: behind the bombast and hyperbole, Trump is an old man in a hurry. At 78 he is the oldest person ever to be sworn in as president five months older than even Biden when he took office in 2021. He realizes he can only be sure of two years to make his mark for who knows what the 2026 mid-terms might do to the House and Senate. Hence the blizzard of executive orders already emanating from the White House even though Trump has barely had time to take his seat behind the Resolute desk in the Oval Office. Much of what Trump proposes has the ability to provoke turmoil at home and chaos among America's allies. The mass deportation of illegal migrants, the destruction of the diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) culture and the scrapping of any climate change goals will be met with stiff domestic resistance though the whole Republican base will rally in support. An aggressive imperialism towards Panama and Greenland, ordering military strikes on the cartels inside Mexico (which is what designating them as terrorists would allow Trump to do) or forcing Ukraine into a 'losers' settlement with Russia would all cause consternation or worse among America's most important allies. But however fraught the future is with Trump what was most striking about his inaugural address was his insistence that America's best days are still before it. That settling for genteel decline is not an option for the United States. That it really can be a new Golden Age for America. Trump (pictured with Vance) is clearly impatient to get going in government, which is hardly surprising given the scale of his ambition to wreak radical change across the piste. The contrast with Europe is stark where its three biggest economies and military powers Germany, Britain and France are mired in stagnation, nobody has much confidence about the future and debate between the political elites is essentially about the management of decline. There are times when Trump's self-reverence can be too much to bear. His claim in his inauguration speech that God had saved him from that would-be assassin in a Pennsylvania field last summer so that he could Make America Great Again was one of those teeth-grinding moments. But his essential optimism about America is a great asset and guide. It makes him unique among major democratic leaders. That optimism will be justified if he can focus relentlessly on being the transformative president the country needs. Times will be turbulent under Trump. But they are also propitious for radical change. The Trump Rollercoaster 2.0 has begun. We are in for a scary ride. Hold on tight. There's a destination ahead that could well be worth the journey. The a2 Milk Company (a2MC, the Company) will release its 1H25 financial results for the six months ended 31 December 2024 on Monday 17 February 2025. a2MCs Managing Director and CEO, David Bortolussi, and members of the Executive Leadership Team, will host a briefing on Monday 17 February at 11:00am New Zealand Daylight Time / 9:00am Australian Eastern Daylight Time. Register for the webcast by following the link below: https://webcast.openbriefing.com/a2m-hyr-2025/ The briefing will be archived and made available for replay on a2MCs Investor Centre Website thea2milkcompany.com Authorised for release by David Bortolussi Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer The a2 Milk Company Limited Comments from our readers No comments yet Add your comment: Your name: Your email: Not displayed to the public Comment: Comments to Sharechat go through an approval process. Comments which are defamatory, abusive or in some way deemed inappropriate will not be approved. It is allowable to use some form of non-de-plume for your name, however we recommend real email addresses are used. Comments from free email addresses such as Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail, etc may not be approved. Anti-spam verification: Type the text you see in the image into the field below. You are asked to do this in order to verify that this enquiry is not being performed by an automated process. Related News: SKT - Sky secures iconic sports rights RYM - Ryman completes Retail Entitlement Offer TEM - Transaction in Own Shares FPH launches F&P Nova Nasal mask in NZ and AU Fonterra announces changes to management team March 12th Morning Report WHS FY25 Interim Results teleconference details VGL - Odeon Cinemas Group signs for Vista Cloud DGL - T&G appoints new Director TEM - Transaction in Own Shares Dr. Anthony Fauci has broken his silence just hours after he was pardoned by outgoing President Joe Biden in one of his last acts as commander-in-chief. The former head of the National Institute of Allergy Infectious Diseases spoke with CNN's Dana Bash during the network's coverage of President Donald Trump's inauguration to express his gratitude to Biden. While Fauci said he is 'very appreciative' of the pardon, he once again insisted he did not commit any crimes while overseeing the United States' response to the COVID pandemic. 'As [Biden] said, we did nothing wrong, but the baseless accusations and threats are real for me and my family,' Fauci told Bash. Trump's base has blamed the 84-year-old doctor for strict COVID-19 restrictions, including social distancing, mask wearing and harsh vaccine mandates that led to members of the armed forces being forcibly discharged. Fauci is also accused of lying to Congress about the U.S. sending money to fund gain-of-function research at the laboratory in Wuhan, China, where the virus is thought to have originated and leaked from. He testified at a May 2021 Senate hearing that the NIAID had 'not ever and does not now fund gain-of-function research in the Wuhan Institute of Virology.' But emails showed that in February 2020 Fauci, NIH head Dr. Francis Collins, and Dr. Peter Daszak, head of the company that dispersed grants to the WIV, EcoHealth alliance acknowledged that scientists at Wuhan University were working on gain-of-function experiments to study bat viruses adapting to human infection prior to the outbreak in Wuhan. Dr Anthony Fauci has broken his silence hours after being pardoned by outgoing President Joe Biden, expressing his gratitude while insisting he has done nothing wrong Conservatives and those who opposed COVID-19 restrictions blame Fauci for the proliferation of social distancing, mask-wearing, school shut downs and vaccine mandates Biden pardoned Fauci and members of the January 6 Committee in his last act as president before leaving the White House on Monday In one email, Fauci even admitted he had concerns that COVID might have been genetically engineered and that these were worsened by the fact that gain-of-function research was taking place in Wuhan before the pandemic. Dr Fauci, whose pardon extends all the way back to 2014, has since claimed that he was using a different definition of GOF during his Senate hearing. Yet the NIH's own definition of gain-of-function notes that the research could be used 'to enhance the pathogenicity or transmissibility of potential pandemic pathogens.' A meticulous 520-page report by the the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic also concluded that 'Dr. Faucis testimony was, at a minimum, misleading.' If the Department of Justice did decide to pursue criminal charges against Fauci, prosecutors would have had to prove that the doctor made a false statement and knew it was false. They would have also had to prove that Fauci intended to deceive the Congress members he testified in front of, rather than making an innocent mistake. Even so, it is unlikely that Fauci would have served any prison time. He has no prior criminal record and given he is a prominent public health official, his conviction would take politics and public scrutiny into account. And while the stated penalty is five years in prison on felony charges, actual sentences depend on myriad factors. A sentence on the lower end would be more likely, in part due to his age. Fauci is accused of lying under oath before Congress about directing U.S. funding for gain of function research at the Wuhan lab in China where it's thought coronavirus was developed and leaked It is believed that the COVID-19 virus was developed and intentionally leaked from the Wuhan Institute of Virology. Pictured: Chinese virologist Shi Shengli inside the P4 laboratory in Wuhan Almost immediately after Biden signed the pardons, conservatives vowed to haul Fauci in to Congress to answer questions about his response to the pandemic. 'If there was ever any doubt as to who bears responsibility for the COVID pandemic, Biden's pardon of Fauci forever seals the deal,' said Sen. Rand Paul, who previously referred the doctor to the DOJ for prosecution. 'As Chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee I will not rest until the entire truth of the coverup is exposed,' the Kentucky Republican continued. 'Fauci's pardon will only serve as an accelerant to pierce the veil of deception.' 'Ignominious! Anthony Fauci will go down in history as the first government scientist to be preemptively pardoned for a crime.' Many X users also accused Fauci of murder as they raged against the pardon. 'Anthony Fauci was pardoned by Joe Biden because he's guilty of murder,' anti-transgender advocate Riley Gaines posted. 'That's it. That's the tweet.' Conservatives criticized Biden for the pardons as he left the Oval Office In another tweet she noted: 'Ask yourself this: Why would Joe Biden pardon Fauci if he wasn't a criminal who should be locked up for his lies, negligence, & greed that killed innocent Americans? Biden was already going out in shame and disgrace, but this is a new low.' Another pro-MAGA account with 3.4 million followers wrote: 'Biden's pardon of Fauci is his worst one yet. He deserves prison for life.' 'Fauci is the most prolific American serial killer of the 21st Century,' podcaster Eric Matheny wrote on X. 'He's not a hero nor a respected man of science. He funded the creation of COVID, knew about its origins in a lab, and lied to the American people.' 'Of course Biden pardons him,' he concluded. But Biden defended his decision to issue pardons, not only for Fauci but also for all nine members of the January 6 Committee, before he left office on Monday morning. 'Our nation relies on dedicated, selfless public servants every day. They are the lifeblood of our democracy. Yet alarmingly, public servants have been subjected to ongoing threats and intimidation for faithfully discharging their duties,' he said. 'That is why I am exercising my authority under the Constitution to pardon General Mark A. Milley, Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, the Members of Congress and staff who served on the Select Committee, and the U.S. Capitol and D.C. Metropolitan police officers who testified before the Select Committee,' the president announced. 'The issuance of these pardons should not be mistaken as an acknowledgment that any individual engaged in any wrongdoing, nor should acceptance be misconstrued as an admission of guilt for any offense,' he continued. 'Our nation owes these public servants a debt of gratitude for their tireless commitment to our country.' A border patrol agent has been shot dead near the United States border with Canada just hours after President Donald Trump's inauguration. The agent was shot about 3.15pm on Monday in Newport, Vermont, while performing a traffic stop, authorities said. Police have reportedly identified two suspects, one of whom was shot dead, according to Fox. The incident sparked the immediate closure of sections of Interstate 91 as authorities launched an investigation. The FBI are assisting with the investigation and motorists have been warned to find a different route. It comes just hours after President Trump returned to the White House on the back of a hard line campaign vowing to deport migrants who made it inside the US. On day one of his presidency, Trump began signing a swathe of executive orders - 10 of which related to the southern border and illegal immigration crisis. The number of immediate actions underscore the importance of immigration policy to Trump's second term. He is declaring a national emergency at the southern border. The agent was shot about 3.15pm on Monday in Newport, Vermont , while performing a traffic stop, authorities said It comes just hours after President Trump returned to the White House on the back of a hard line campaign vowing to deport migrants who made it inside the US Migrants who requested asylum through the U.S. Customs and Border Protection CBP One application queue at the premises of Mexico's National Institute of Migration (INM) to secure a safe passage to the northern border with the U.S., in Tapachula, Mexico, January 20, 2025. 'All illegal entry will immediately be halted and we will being the process of returning millions and millions of criminal aliens back to the places from which they came,' Trump said in his Monday address. Trump is also ending catch-and-release, a policy that allowed illegal border crossers seeking asylum to be detained and then released within the country as they awaited a court date. He is reinstating the Remain in Mexico policy that makes illegal border hoppers wait in the last country where they crossed from, which is most often Mexico, as they wait for a court date to make their asylum claims. The major border town El Paso, Texas, temporarily closed its border crossings Monday around Trump's swearing-in ceremony. Authorities in riot gear with shields and full body armor were photographed standing guard at the border crossings. More to come The political recovery and restoration of Donald Trump is one of the most extraordinary events in modern history. It is, frankly, a sensation. Back in November, many predicted that even if Trump won, a slim majority in the houses of Congress would hobble him. But he won the popular vote and the electoral college quite easily: he rolled the dice and broke the bank to his advantage. What, then, will his second term be like? He has already shown his determination to force through his programme via an amazing avalanche of executive orders that he started to issue today. These are written orders issued by the president to the federal government which do not require congressional approval. Like an emperor, Trump is using the orders to achieve as many of his objectives as possible before he then has to convince Congress to enact other parts of his programme, such as radical cuts in personal taxation and funding a full-blown border wall with Mexico. It is already clear that in key areas of policy, Trump 2.0 will go further than he did first time round. And send shockwaves across the world. President Trump after being sworn as the next president of the United States. The political recovery and restoration of Donald Trump is one of the most extraordinary events in modern history. It is, frankly, a sensation Donald Trump is sworn in as the 47th US President. Like an emperor, Trump is using the orders to achieve as many of his objectives as possible before he then has to convince Congress to enact other parts of his programme 1. Executive orders The number and range of these orders is seismic and seminal Trump signed close to 100 of them today and they illustrate what this President can do with the stroke of a pen. Once Trumps people are fully in control, there will surely be more. First, hes made clear the concept of DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) is now dead.Trump pledged to forge a society that is colour-blind and merit-based and recognise only two sexes: male and female. This will pave the way for an end to DEI initiatives inside the federal government and forbid the use of federal funds to promote initiatives such as gender inclusivity in schools and other institutions. This shift is bound to have a knock-on effect in the US private sector too, as companies which had felt culturally compelled to embrace it suddenly have second thoughts. Trump signing an executive order in 2017. The number and range of executive orders is seismic and seminal Trump signed close to 100 of them today The President has also ended the drive to force Americans to switch to electric vehicles (especially those manufactured in China) and expanded offshore drilling with almost immediate effect. In addition, Trump has vowed to open the files on the deaths of John F Kennedy, his brother Robert and Martin Luther King a source of fascination for many citizens. As for tackling immigration, by issuing an order declaring a border emergency, he could send many more troops to the US-Mexico frontier to hold the line before the border wall can be completed. By declaring a national health emergency, he could simply shut all border crossings. By designating drug cartels as foreign terrorists, he could deploy a far wider range of military options against them. His Democratic opponents will be torn between their instinctive opposition to what they will see as drastic measures and the reality that many of their supporters will embrace them. 2. Tariffs Trump plans to introduce sweeping trade tariffs, along with other protectionist measures, in a dramatic change in accepted international relations. Adversaries like China will be in the firing line but so too will allies including the EU, Canada and Mexico. There will be a hostile disregard for the World Trade Organisation and a reluctance to engage with multilateral economic entities such as the IMF, the World Bank and the G7. American foreign policy used to be based on certain fundamentals that, for example, the US is the leader of the Free World and that the first obligation of any occupant of the White House is to retain this standing. Other basic principles are that economic strength is best secured by multilateral co-operation and free trade. That democracy and human rights should be a significant factor in foreign policy decisions. That transnational institutions, be they political, economic or military, are important. That soft power (widespread cultural influence) is highly consequential. President of Mexico Claudia Sheinbaum. Trump plans to introduce sweeping trade tariffs including against allies such as Mexico It is clear from his 2024 election campaign that Trump rejects these principles for Americas engagement in the world. He does not consider global leadership an obligation for the US, at least not without first applying some cost-benefit analysis to establish whether its worth it. He does not believe that Americas economic dominance should be contingent on multi-level collaboration or, emphatically, on free trade. The US should instead reinforce its might by active tariff policies. A trade war with tariffs of 20 per cent introduced across the board would be a nightmare for any UK government, as the volume of our international trade would shrink dramatically. But for Britain, there may never be a better opening for a UK-US Free Trade Agreement than Trumps return to the White House. As the single largest trading partner and by far the most important country for bi-lateral foreign direct investment, there is an opportunity here to maximise our economic engagement. A heavyweight figure with stand-out business qualifications should be brought into the House of Lords, given ministerial rank and appointed chief negotiator. 3. Ukraine and Russia Trumps preference is to withdraw active US military support from Ukraine and accept a peace settlement involving territorial concessions to Vladimir Putin and Russia. This means ending the level of economic and military support the Biden Administration gave to Ukraine and instead pressing Kyiv to enter a negotiated settlement. It could also mean political reassurances to Moscow that Ukraine would not align itself wholesale to the Western sphere. The US has put $61.1billion into Ukraines military pot as of August last year, which was $10billion more than the next nine contributing nations added together (including Germanys $11.4 billion, the UKs $10.1 billion and Frances $3.4billion). The quality as well as the quantity of the military equipment dispatched is also on another level compared with anyone else. Trump with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in September. If Trump cuts off that flow of arms to Kyiv, there is no replacement for it. If he presses Kyiv for concessions to bring the war to a conclusion then Ukraine will look to Europe and the EU high command for solidarity Trump with President Vladimir Putin in 2019. If Trumps restoration to the Oval Office spurs a peace settlement (albeit one that neither Moscow nor Kyiv has any affection for but can live with), the engagement between the US and Russia thereafter will be changed If Trump cuts off that flow of arms to Kyiv, there is no replacement for it. If he presses Kyiv for concessions to bring the war to a conclusion then Ukraine will look to Europe and the EU high command for solidarity. If the Americans turn off the taps to Kyiv, what could London, Berlin, Paris, Warsaw and others do in response? Shrug their shoulders and tell Ukraine that, sadly, it will have to surrender territory in order to reach a settlement with Russia? If Trumps restoration to the Oval Office spurs a peace settlement (albeit one that neither Moscow nor Kyiv has any affection for but can live with), the engagement between the US and Russia thereafter will be changed. Is Putin a permanent pariah or will he be allowed a limited return to the global stage? This is an incendiary area. Trumps inclination is probably to let bygones be bygones, yet this would be opposed by many other nations, notably those that border on Russia. 4. Nato and defence spending Trump has never been an enthusiastic supporter of Nato, condemning it as obsolete and an outrageous arrangement for the US to finance. He gives the impression he would rather not be at Nato summits, and it remains to be seen if he is prepared to attend in the future or if his conspicuous absence will send a message that sweeping reform is essential. His intention is to force the European nations to make a much higher contribution to their own defence and though the President does not have the exclusive legal authority to withdraw the US from Nato, he could engage in the equivalent of working to rule within Nato. This was spelt out in last years Republican Party policy platform, which stated: Republicans will ensure that our Allies meet their obligations to invest in our common defence. Spending of at least 2.5 per cent of each nations GDP on defence is likely to be his minimum acceptable figure. Trump with fellow world leaders at a NATO meeting in 2019. Trump has never been an enthusiastic supporter of Nato, condemning it as obsolete and an outrageous arrangement for the US to finance For many Nato nations, it may come as a big shock to find out how much larger the future invoice for the military is likely to be. Here in the UK, Prime Minister Keir Starmer has personally agreed to embrace a 2.5 per cent target for defence spending but with a sketchy timetable. This may well not be a large enough figure. It may also have to be delivered swiftly. What does that do for Rachel Reevess Budget? In fairness to Trump, European countries have been all too willing to allow the US to pay. At the moment, just 23 out of 32 Nato members reach the relatively miserly standard of expending 2 per cent of GDP on their defence. Only Poland and Latvia spend a higher proportion of their GDP on it than the US. 5. China The relationship between the US and China is central to the international order in the decades to come. But predictions about how the two nations will manage their rivalry vary enormously. Will there be a hot conflict over Taiwan or is a cold war stand-off more likely? Much more likely is that their head-butting will end up being more economic and technological than military, a sort of cold peace. What is certain is that Trumps new take on China goes way beyond the trade tensions and tariffs of the past. He argues that China is not just a competitor but an existential threat. The Republican policy platform was emphatic about revoking Chinas Most Favoured Nation status, phasing out imports of essential goods and stopping China from buying American real estate and industries. Such a strategy radically reverses the US position of the past 25 years. Trump with China's Premier Xi Jinping in Beijing in November 2017. The relationship between the US and China is central to the international order in the decades to come. But predictions about how the two nations will manage their rivalry vary enormously It means decoupling the interdependent US and Chinese economies, a tall order when the two countries are massive trade partners and amount to 40 per cent of global GDP. It also means the US will regain an overwhelming technological advantage over China, critically by bringing back home the bulk of semi-conductor chip manufacture that is the driving force of the electronics industry. Under Trump, a large boost in military spending specifically to contain China will be a national imperative. And the loyalty of other nations and their political, economic and military relationship with the US will be judged by whether they follow the US lead on China. The UK will be left sitting uneasily between a warring US and China, involved with them both economically and with no wish to choose one over the other. Though if forced to do so, the UK would stick with the US. On the other hand, the UK could also quite properly attempt to be the link between the US and China, particularly if, as may well be the case, the businessman in Trump turns out to be more transactional than ideological in his approach to China. A slick UK Government could make itself central to a rapprochement between Washington and Beijing that would make for a more stable international community. 6. Middle East Trump with the leaders of Israel, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates during the signing of the Abraham Accords. The president may try to pick up where he left off with Saudi Arabia and extend the Abraham Accords signed during his first term With a ceasefire in Gaza having been announced even before he assumes office, Trump starts off on the front foot in the Middle East. He will naturally stand shoulder to shoulder with Israel but it will be difficult to balance the desire for peace against allowing Jerusalem more scope in thumping its enemies. He may try to pick up where he left off with Saudi Arabia and extend the Abraham Accords signed during his first term, which normalised relations between Israel and a number of its Arab neighbours. But much has happened in the time he has been away, notably the outright conflicts between Israel and Hamas and Israel and Hezbollah, which will make simply reconstructing a previous deal very hard. In those four years, the number of American troops in the region has risen from 30,000 to 45,000, while the diplomatic standing of the US in the Middle East has decreased by some margin. The many trips to the area by Bidens Secretary of State Antony Blinken have, if anything, made America look impotent. Iran will be Trumps Public Enemy Number One in the region, and he is likely to adopt a more aggressive stance towards Tehran, with periodic drone strikes to make the point. Other firefights will be studiously avoided. The Middle East is a big powder keg with a short fuse. It is now Trumps powder keg. 7. Climate change These are likely to be awkward times for an environmental lobby that had seemed to be so strong, as Trump makes a total disavowal of the Paris Accords and the wider international climate change programme. Under Joe Biden, Europe and the US were on the same track, if not proposing to move forward at the same speed or the same way. This is clearly off the cards now. A Trump supporter holding a sign in support of fossil fuel drillings. These are likely to be awkward times for an environmental lobby that had seemed to be so strong The US will not only depart from the Paris Accords (as it did when Trump was first in the White House) but be even more unambiguous in its dissent from climate change orthodoxy. If the US is unwilling to endure the expenditure and inconvenience of transforming its economy to satisfy the demands of the Net Zero mission, then there will be a fork in the road with the EU. Dr Tim Hames is a former lecturer in American politics at Oxford University and now a co-founder and partner at Acuti Associates. His book Trump II: Why He Won What It Means For The World is available to buy through Amazon. Anti-Semitic vandals will face mandatory minimum jail terms under a Coalition crackdown on hate crimes, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has vowed. A series of highly disturbing anti-Semitic attacks in recent days and weeks, including the firebombing of a Melbourne Synagogue and an attack on the former home of a prominent Jewish leader, has prompted the Coalition to announce a raft of tough new measures. These include a promise to introduce minimum sentences for several offences, in addition to creating a new Commonwealth offence for threatening places of worship, punishable by imprisonment for five years. Mr Dutton has also vowed to Introduce mandatory minimum sentences of 12 months imprisonment for the public display of prohibited Nazi symbols, prohibited terrorist organisation symbols, and giving the Nazi salute in public. These offences will have a maximum penalty of five years' imprisonment under Coalition plans. Mr Dutton has previously called on Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to convene a National Cabinet to combat anti-Semitism and has now promised to do so if elected. 'The shocking rise in anti-Semitism in our country is a national crisis which requires a national response,' Mr Dutton said. 'I first requested the PM convene a National Cabinet on anti-Semitism in November 2023. He failed to do so. Anti-Semitic vandals will face mandatory minimum jail terms under a Coalition crackdown on hate crimes, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton (pictured) has vowed A series of highly disturbing anti-Semitic attacks in recent days and weeks, including the firebombing of a Synagogue and an attack on the former home of a prominent Jewish leader (pictured), has prompted the Coalition to announce a raft of tough new measures 'Last week I again wrote to him requesting a National Cabinet on this most pressing matter yet he still evades his responsibility. 'The Prime Minister talks about taking "action" but real action has been missing from this Prime Minister. 'The time for talk is over, so today we announce measures that a Dutton Coalition Government will undertake to stop this vile scourge of anti-Semitism in our country in its tracks.' Shadow Attorney-General, Michaelia Cash, said a 'clear and strong message needs to be sent to those who perpetrate such evil acts and that is exactly what these proposed new laws do'. On Friday morning, two cars in the affluent Sydney suburb of Dover Heights were torched and the former home of a prominent Jewish leader, Alex Ryvchin, soaked in red paint. Mr Ryvchin, co-CEO of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, called on his fellow Australians to 'speak up', as he said the attack 'meets the modern standard of terrorism'. 'There is an evil at work in this country and we have to recognise that,' Mr Ryvchin told reporters on Friday afternoon. 'There are people who are so consumed by hatred that they would seek to burn people because they disagree with their words. 'How we respond to things like this will determine the future of our country.' Co-CEO of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry Alex Ryvchin said the attack 'meets a modern standard of terrorism' (pictured with his wife outside their former family home) It was the latest suspected anti-Semitic attack to hit Sydney in recent days. Last Monday a wall near Sydenham Train Station in the city's inner-west was spray-painted with the words 'gas the Jews'. Swastikas were also daubed on the nearby Newtown Synagogue before masked vandals attempted to burn it down. And last Friday the Southern Sydney Synagogue in the suburb of Allawah was also targeted by anti-Semitic vandals who daubed a number of large red Swastikas at the entrance to the place of worship. Queen Elizabeth's grandfather reigned for 26 years and reshaped the monarchy before he passed away on January 20, 1936. Claims 50 years after his death revealed there may have been other factors at play during his final moments. Back in 1986, it was claimed that King George V had been euthanised by his doctor, Lord Dawson, who died in 1945. A 'mixture of morphine and cocaine was administered' in the form of an injection to the monarch who was on his deathbed, Andrew Morton reported in the Daily Mail in November 1986. It was given by Lord Dawson with the approval of the King's wife, Queen Mary, and the Prince of Wales at the time, the Mail said. The revelation came after Lord Dawson's biographer, Francis Watson, wrote an article about the incident in History Today that year. It is thought the timing of the alleged euthanasia was partly to ensure the death would be printed on the morning front page of The Times, which was apparently the King's favourite newspaper. Lord Dawson's medical notes detailed: 'The determination of the time of death of the King's body had another object in view, viz: The importance of the death receiving its first announcement in the morning papers, rather than the less appropriate field of the evening journals.' King George V's coffin lying in state at Westminster Hall after his death in 1936 George V, who passed away 86 years ago today on January 20, 1936 Newspaper front pages on January 21 announcing the death of George V He explained how he asked his wife to tell The Times to pause publication of the next day's paper. The doctor was the president of the Royal College of Physicians at the time. 'Technically, Lord Dawson could have been prosecuted but he only shortened the King's life by an hour or two. It wasn't a question of several days,' Mr Watson said in 1986. The biographer added: 'He had the full support of the Royal Family who did not want the King to be in pain for longer than was necessary. They left it to Lord Dawson to judge the right moment to administer the injection.' At the time, a former president of the Royal College of Physicians hit out at Lord Dawson's alleged decision and described it as 'evil'. Sir Douglas Black said: 'I think he did something which, to me, is evil, in order that good should come of it.' Meanwhile, Queen Elizabeth's press secretary said: 'Our comment is that we have no comment.' Decades later, the claims resurfaced in a Channel 5 documentary, George V: The Tyrant King, which aired in August 2020. King George V and his wife Queen Mary of Teck, who he married in 1893 George V and Queen Mary in a carriage to church in Balmoral with Princess Margaret A depiction of King George V riding a horse The television show revealed Lord Dawson's diary entries, which detailed how the doctor 'decided to determine the end'. An entry read: 'At about 11 o'clock, it was evident that the last stage might endure for many hours. I therefore decided to determine the end and injected three-quarters gram of morphia [morphine] and shortly afterwards one gram of cocaine into the distended jugular vein.' Royal expert and biographer Angela Levin explained in the programme: 'He also manipulated it so that he would die just before midnight so that his death would make the front page of The Times, which was the king's favourite paper. 'There's been this argument about whether it was murder of euthanasia. If you look at it objectively, it was a huge decision to make to kill a king without absolute authority. 'It's a very dark but interesting mystery,' she added. But the doctor's family spoke out against the claims in 1986, the Mail reported at the time. Lady Bowater, Lord Dawson's daughter, said: 'My father was devoted to his Sovereign and the King was equally devoted to him. He was more than just a patient - he was a family friend.' Born June 3, 1865, to King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra, George V was the couple's second son and was not expected to become king. His older brother, Prince Albert Victor, suddenly passed away in 1892. George married his late brother's fiancee, Princess Victoria Mary, in 1893. She went on to become Queen Mary of Teck. The couple lived together at York Cottage in Sandringham and had six children together - Prince Edward, Prince Albert, Princess Mary, Prince Henry, Prince George and Prince John. The Daily Mail's coverage of the claims in November 1986, written by Andrew Morton George V and Queen Mary with their daughter, Princess Mary, who later became Princess Royal George V and his wife with their eldest son, Edward VIII, who would later become King before abdicating George was crowned King on June 22, 1911, following the death of his father in 1910. He had a fierce temper and ruled harshly over his sons, once saying: 'My father was terrified of his mother, I was terrified of my father, and I am determined that my own children shall be terrified of me.' George reigned during the First World War and, as anti-German sentiment built, he changed the family name from Saxe-Coburg-Gotha to the House of Windsor in 1917. The name still stands in today's monarchy. He also introduced the annual Christmas speech tradition the Royal Family still continues today. Sitting in a small room in Sandringham in 1932 that provided better sound quality and reportedly calmed the King's nerves, George V gave his first ever Christmas broadcast. The Daily Mail's coverage of the momentous occasion at the time called it the 'world's most thrilling broadcast'. Born 89 years ago today surrounded by the royal circles her youngest daughter would marry into, Frances Shand Kydd lived a complicated and eventful life at times. Her father, Maurice Roche, was friends with George VI while her mother, Lady Ruth Fermoy, was Lady in Waiting to the Queen Mother. Her birthday also happened to fall on the same day George V died. At just 18 years old, Frances married 30-year-old Edward John Spencer at Westminster Abbey and was one of the youngest brides to wed at the venue, Tina Brown wrote in her 2022 book, The Palace Papers. It marked the beginning of a somewhat difficult chapter in Frances's adult life. Her husband, though polite and friendly on the surface, she soon discovered to be an abusive bully who drank, Ms Brown claimed. As the future heir to Althorp, 'Johnnie' needed a baby boy to continue the Spencer name and inherit the family fortune, though this proved to be a challenge to fulfil. Frances gave birth to her first child - Lady Sarah McCorquodale - in 1955 and went on to have another daughter, Lady Jane Fellowes, in 1957. 'In order to produce a male heir, he made Frances go through six pregnancies in nine years, of which only four were carried to term, and he resented her having any independent life,' Ms Brown wrote. Frances Roche with her husband Edward John Spencer and their daughter Lady Sarah in 1955 The couple on their wedding day at Westminster Abbey in 1954 Before Diana was born, Frances did give birth to a baby boy who sadly passed away several hours after birth. It was heart breaking for the couple and Ms Brown told how John refused to allow Frances to see the infant, also named John. She would only discover years later he was born with 'extensive malformation'. 'She struggled from the bed and banged frantically on the locked doors of the nursery to which he had been snatched away,' the former editor in chief of Tatler wrote. Frances recalled: 'My baby was snatched away from me and I never saw his face. Not in life. Not in death. No one ever mentioned what had happened.' Some 18 months later, Diana was born and weighed a healthy 7lb 12oz. Despite this, there was a great sense of disappointment in the Spencer family that 'the new arrival was not the longed-for male heir,' Andrew Morton wrote in his 1992 book, Diana: Her True Story - In Her Own Words. They hadn't even thought of a girl's name for the new arrival and it took the couple a week to settle on Diana. Older relatives pushed for answers as to 'what was wrong with the mother', Mr Morton wrote, and why she was giving birth only to daughters. At 23 years old, Frances was subjected to 'intimate tests' at clinics on London's Harley Street to diagnose the problem, which she found 'humiliating and unjust'. Princess Diana with her mother, Frances, at Charles Spencer's wedding to Victoria Lockwood in 1989 The couple the day before their wedding, Frances was 18 years old and John was 30 Frances and John pictured together back in May 1955 It wasn't known at the time that males actually determine the sex of the baby. Eventually, Frances did give the Spencer family their much desired male heir and on May 20, 1964, Charles - now the ninth Earl Spencer - was born. Referring to their struggles to have a baby boy in Mr Morton's book, their son recalled: 'It was a dreadful time for my parents and probably the root of their divorce because I don't think they ever got over it.' Despite having the family they wanted, the couple's marriage broke down after Frances fell for wallpaper tycoon Peter Shand Kydd. In 1969, her divorce was finalised and Frances went on to marry her lover. Having earned the nickname 'the bolter', a blazing custody battle commenced with John. In the early days of the separation, Diana and her brother lived with their mother, whilst Sarah and Jane attended boarding school. They eventually all went back to live with their father after Frances's custody attempts proved unsuccessful and she moved to Scotland with her new husband. The bitter split led to a complex relationship with her youngest daughter. As her brother previously recalled: 'Diana used to wait on the doorstep for her, but she never came.' Frances and Diana watching the Wimbledon Men's final in 1993 Prince Harry, Diana, Eleanor Fellowes and Frances attending Charles Spencer's wedding rehearsal in 1989 His mother was not, he said, 'cut out for maternity'. Frances's second marriage ended in 1988 and she turned to religion, converting to Catholicism at the age of 58 and devoted the rest of her life to the Church. She had a complicated relationship with Diana over the years and lived a quiet life after her daughter's death in 1997. Frances developed Parkinson's Disease and brain cancer and passed away aged 68 on June 3, 2004, at her home in Scotland. Her funeral on June 10 was attended by her grandsons Prince William and Prince Harry. On the eve of the Donald Trump inauguration, migrants waiting in Mexico saw their window to enter the US closing. Monday marks the end of Democrat Joe Biden's presidency, where a record-shattering 10.5 million migrants poured into the country, according to federal statistics. The incoming Republican administration plans to shut down the border and carry out mass immigration raids as a matter of priority in the first days of the Trump's second term in office. Trump is expected to sign 200 executive orders within hours of taking the oath of office, including some that would end many of Biden's policies that have allowed the historic influx at the border. As the clock wound down before Trump's return , the thousands of estimated migrants waiting in Mexican border cities had a decision to make: make a last-minute effort to get in before Trump takes office or wait it out in Mexico. 'We're asking God that he gives President (Trump) clarity and that he takes mercy on us and understands that we are here to work hard, that he give us a chance,' Venezuelan Jorge David Pena, 28, told DailyMail.com as he washed car windows of coins on Juarez streets Sunday. The Mexican government (under pressure from the US) has visibly stepped up its effort to stop migrants from ever reaching the border. Migrants including David Alexandro Primero, 24 told Daily Mail they hoped Trump would give them a chance David Alexandro Primero, 24, of Venezuela, washes car windows in Juarez, Mexico, to make enough money to pay for a motel room each night A Venezuelan migrant who spoke with DailyMail.com washes car windows to collect money on January 19, 2025, the eve of President Donald Trump's inauguration, in Juarez, Mexico Mexican National Guard patrolled a popular give-up spot where migrants in Ciudad Juarez - just across the border from El Paso, Texas - have routinely turned themselves in to US Border Patrol during the Biden years. There was no surrendering Sunday, as assault rifle wielding guard members moved up and down the banks of the river that separates the two nations, stopping and detaining anyone who tried. 'It's been quiet, hardly anyone here today,' one guardsmen explained to DailyMail.com. Throughout the weekend, Mexican law enforcement swept through northern cities, targeting migrant camps. In Chihuahua City, about five hours south of the international border, some 80 immigration officers raided a migrant camp Saturday, where families have built make-shift homes and had been living for nearly a year, reported El Diario de Chihuahua. As law enforcement moved in, some migrants armed with machetes resisted as they feared being deported to their home countries. Mexican National Guard patrols their of the border on the eve of Donald Trump's inauguration, in Juarez, Mexico-- just across the border from El Paso, Texas Mexican authorities have been rounding up migrants in northern cities of that country ahead of Trump's return to the White House Migrants react during an eviction operation carried out by Mexican authorities, while the makeshift camp where they lived catches fire, in Chihuahua, Chihuahua state, Mexico January 18 A family of migrants watch in horror as their encampment burns down after a migrant started the blaze to prevent Mexican immigration officials from rounding up migrants Desperate migrants started a fire to give them a chance to escape. Of the 150 migrants, including children, living there, only 39 were detained while the rest escaped. For many migrants in Juarez, their decision on cross was made on personal circumstances. One family of Hondurans begging for money on a busy intersection told DailyMail.com they had previously been kidnapped by Mexican cartels for 15 days. While they were desperate to get out of the freezing temperatures they endured while sleeping on the streets at night, they also didn't want to risk a failed attempt to get into the US. 'With three kids, it's riskier. If it was just me and my wife, we would have definitely already tried to cross illegally, but we have to think about them,' the dad said, pointing at his three little ones. Others said they had been in Juarez, patiently waiting for nearly a year for a CBP One App appointment, the Biden Administration's legal way to request asylum at the border. 'We want to do do things right, enter legally, so that tomorrow, we can have a future in America,' David Alexandro Primero, 24, of Venezuela. When asked about Trump's plans to end CBP One, he said he would enter the US illegally to make his way to New York City, but he wanted to give Trump's administration a few days and see what enforcement action is carried out. For others, the choice was simple: get across while you can. Pena's girlfriend paid smugglers in Juarez to sneak her into the US just west of El Paso, in an area near Sunland Park, New Mexico, on Sunday. 'Most of us don't have the money to get smuggled in,' Pena added. 'We're talking dollars, $4,000. That's not cheap. 'That stops a lot of people from crossing. Why do you think this border is filled with migrants waiting. Many of them don't have the money to cross. ' Pena believed she had made it through and would be waiting for him in Texas until he could join up with her. Meanwhile, in Sunland Park, Border Patrol spent Sunday night filling up a bus of illegal immigrants they detained. The area west of Texas' sixth largest city is a popular human trafficking corridor as the no-man's land where Texas, New Mexico and Mexico meet offers a mountain range where migrants can be funneled through. A mother and her child were among those who paid thousands for their chance to enter America just before Trump regains power, only to be caught and likely deported back to their home country. A major US city is tackling it housing crisis with creative house-building projects, including on top of a Costco. Real-estate developer Thrive Living believes it has found a solution to affordable housing with its plans to build 800 apartments on top of a Costco in Los Angeles. The complex will begin construction early this year on top of a Costco in Baldwin Village, South Los Angeles. The complex will include a rooftop pool and fitness center, according to plans for the building reported in the Wall Street Journal. The $425 million development will also feature 184 apartments for low-income households. Once the property is ready, sometime in 2027, Thrive plans to partner with the local Housing Authority to provide rent vouchers to low-income tenants in at least 100 of the units. Costco, built-in to the ground floor of the building, will pay Thrive rent which will help the development rely less on government subsidies to provide the affordable housing, Thrive said. 'I want to build thousands and thousands of apartments every year, not hundreds,' Thrive's founder, Ben Shaoul told the Journal. A real estate developer plans to build 800 apartments on top of a Costco in Los Angeles Thrive's hope is that Costco will benefit by gaining access to a densely populated urban area with a direct customer base on its doorstep. Costco makes billions every year from its annual membership fee, and could see as many as 1,600 new sign-ups just from the residents of the LA complex alone. This is in contrast to the majority of Costco locations which are usually in suburban locations and only accessible by car. The warehouse-based retailer has made a concerted effort in recent year to move further into cities with smaller stores. Costco also tends to own rather than rent the real estate of its stores, in contrast to the plans for the Baldwin Village location. Shaoul said the plans came about after Costco approached him about renting the space which he initially planned to be a solely commercial building. Baldwin Village is a lower-income neighborhood of the upscale Baldwin Hills area of Los Angeles. Baldwin Village has a poverty rate more than double the national average, according to the Journal. Thrive's founder Ben Shaoul has plans to introduce the concept to more cities in the US The site has received support from notable figures in the community including the city's Mayor Karen Bass who used to live in the nearby. Los Angeles is at the sharp end of a national housing shortage of around 3.7 million homes, according to estimates by Freddie Mac. The city is also seeing the destruction of thousands of homes as wildfires continue to rage across the city. Award-winning actress Glenn Close has traded the glitz and glam of New York City for a 'modest' Montana home. The 'Back in Action' star, 77, shared she moved out West in 2019 to be closer to her family. 'Today, my home is in Bozeman, Montana. All of my siblings live here. My modest, 1892 brick house has a porch where I can see the mountains and say hi to neighbors,' Close told The Wall Street Journal. Her three-bedroom, three-bathroom, 2,316 square-foot home is just steps from downtown. The humble abode features several brick walls, an open floor plan, a sunny backyard, a kitchen with stainless steel appliances and an island. Close revealed she is expanding her Bozeman real estate portfolio with a new property. 'I'm building a larger house about a half-hour outside of town. It's going to be my Zen farmhouse and our family sanctuary,' she said. 'In the back will be a stone cottage, reminding me of the best years of my childhood.' Glenn Close's Montana three-bedroom, three-bathroom, 2,316-square-foot home is just steps away from downtown Bozeman The humble abode features several brick walls, an open floor plan, a sunny backyard, a kitchen with stainless steel appliances and an island Award-winning actress Glenn Close has traded the glitz and glam of New York City for a 'modest' Montana home Close left the Big Apple for Big Sky Country a full year before the coronavirus pandemic prompted thousands of Americans to reevaluate their living situations. 'I shot a film in Canada during the winter. It was fun and lovely, but I was homesick, and I never used to get homesick,' she told Mountain Outlaw in 2021. 'Not only is Bozeman my home, but I couldn't wait to get back here. When I left to go to that job, Jessie and Tina [her sisters] were there to see me off at the airport. It was so great. I've come to realize how much I dread going away.' The Hollywood legend wanted to reconnect with her roots and get in touch with nature. 'When I was little, I got solace in nature, and that has never changed,' Close said. 'I always tried to create that same potential for my family, especially now to come back here and be with my siblings and have a piece of land outside of town that will always be here for my daughter and her children. 'That's my legacy. I just feel incredibly lucky. I do think these will be the best years of my life.' Close stars in the newly released Netflix film 'Back in Action,' alongside Cameron Diaz and Jamie Foxx. The actress is set to star in Kim Kardashian and Ryan Murphy's upcoming Hulu series All's Fair. Close left the Big Apple for Big Sky Country a full year before the coronavirus pandemic She is part of a star-studded cast that includes Kim, Naomi Watts, Niecy Nash, Teyana Taylor and Sarah Paulson, The show will follow Kim, playing a powerful Los Angeles-based attorney who runs a successful women-led law firm. Last week, Close got candid about her love life and explained why she has refused to pursue a relationship in nearly a decade during an appearance on The Drew Barrymore Show. When Drew asked the actress if she had entertained another relationship since her September 2015 split from the biotech engineer, Glenn bluntly replied 'no.' 'I dont know. I mean, Im always up for anything, but Im very happy right now,' the three-time Golden Globe Award winner added. 'Im not searching. Because Im actually Im not a hugely comfortably social person, so I dont leap to go to a party at all. So yeah, Im okay.' Close said she is embracing a life focused on personal fulfillment and professional success. It was once one of Apple's most popular smartphone models. And now it seems the iPhone SE could finally be getting its first update in almost three years. Pictures have leaked online, showing what is claimed to be Apple's next-generation budget smartphone, the iPhone SE 4. Shared by veteran Apple leaker Sonny Dickon, the pictures show a set of non-functional 'dummy' phones used by case and accessory makers. They suggest the iPhone SE 4 will stick closely to the single camera design that was so successful for its predecessor. However, some eagle-eyed tech fans were quick to notice that one very important feature might be missing. Despite rumours it would be included, the dummy models do not feature the Action Button, which was first introduced on the iPhone 15 Pro. On social media, fans were bitterly divided over the new design, with some branding it 'trash'. The iPhone SE 4 could be on its way soon as leaked images (pictured) reveal what the new budget smartphone might look like Veteran leaker Sonny Dickson shared pictures of a non-functional 'Dummy' phone which is usually sent to case and accessory makers ahead of an official launch Social media users were divided over the new design, with one commenter calling it 'trash' In contrast to Apple's high-end products like the 1,599 ($1,599 in the US) iPhone 16 Pro Max, the iPhone SE range is much more affordable. For example, when it was released in 2022, the iPhone SE 3 cost just 419 ($429 in the US). Despite its lower price point, the SE 3 still offered some impressive hardware which made it a popular choice for tech fans on a budget. Apple has remained quiet about the future of the SE line for almost three years. But now, these first leaked images suggest that the release of the SE 4 could just be around the corner. Dummy models are typically sent to case and accessory suppliers ahead of the official release so they can have products ready for launch. So, while the designs might be subject to some change, they often provide a reliable first look at the kinds of changes to come. Likewise, Mr Dixon, the source of the leak, has a good track record of providing reliable insider information including correctly predicting the colours for the iPhone 16. Eagle-eyed fans spotted that the new model is missing the Action Button which was first introduced on the iPhone 15 Pro. Earlier leaks had suggested this feature would be included Since the iPhone SE 3 (pictured) was released in 2022, Apple's line of budget-friendly smartphones has not been updated in almost three years What do we know about the iPhone SE 4? The iPhone SE 4 is expected to be released later this year. The phone will likely ditch the Lightning port in favour of USB-C to be compatible with EU rules. The SE 4 is also expected to remove the thumbprint-reading home button and use Face ID instead. Leaks suggest the new model will have a single camera on the front and back. In addition, some rumours suggest it will get an updated OLED display. Advertisement In these images, the supposed iPhone SE 4 looks like it stays fairly close to the design of the SE 3. The smartphone keeps the single rear and front cameras, rather than opting for two or three cameras like the iPhone 16 and 16 Pro. On the side, the dummy models show the usual volume up and down buttons alongside a mute switch. The models show no sign of either the Action Button or the Camera Control sensor, which have been included on recent high-end iPhones. This contradicts a number of earlier leaks which suggested that the Action Button would be included on the iPhone SE 4. On X, formerly Twitter, one commenter complained: 'No action button?' Earlier rumours also claimed that the SE 4 would use a modified version of the iPhone 14 frame. However, social media users say these dummy phones bear a strong resemblance to another, much older iPhone model. Apple fans said that the new design's rounded edges and large buttons reminded them of the iPhone 4, first released in 2010 One commenter joked that the leaked iPhone SE 4 looked like the 'iPhone 4 with the camera swapped out' A commenter wrote on X: 'Ah yes, back to the iPhone 4S days. SOLD!' Another asked: 'Is that the iPhone 4 with the camera swapped out?' 'I freaking love the design. Gives me iPhone 4 vibes,' added another. Despite its nostalgic looks, Apple fans were divided over whether they liked the design. One furious commenter wrote: 'If this outdated one camera design is not revolting, then I don't know what is, LOL, absolutely disgusting!' While another added: 'I mean it when I say this might be the worst iPhone of all time'. On the other hand, many fans rushed to the comments to defend the leaked design choices. A commenter wrote: 'It looks so good. The camera modules in modern smartphones is looking really goofy nowadays.' Some fans were furious with the design, calling it 'absolutely disgusting' However, some fans thought the simple, single-camera design looked good One Apple fan simply wrote that this was the 'perfect phone' 'Perfect phone,' another commenter simply added. In an unusual development, Mr Dickon says that he has received a number of enquiries about purchasing the dummy models. Mr Dickon told MailOnline that these private requests were primarily sent by 'YouTubers' looking to make video content with the leaked models. The non-functional dummy phones have now been listed for sale online for $100 (82). Aside from the shape shown in this leak, very little has been confirmed about the iPhone SE 4. It seems very likely that the new smartphone will follow the rest of Apple's lineup in swapping the Lightning Cable for a USB-C charging port so it can be sold in the EU. Rumours also suggest that the iPhone SE 4 will be fitted with an upgraded OLED display. The new model is also likely to ditch the thumbprint-reading home button featured on the iPhone SE 3 in favour of using Face ID. Mr Dickson says that he has faced a number of requests to buy the non-functioning dummy phones and has now listed them for sale for $100 (82) The price of the new model is yet to be confirmed but, as Apple's budget offering, we can expect it to be significantly lower than that of the standard iPhone lineup and probably under 1,000 ($1,220). Likewise, while Apple doesn't talk about new releases ahead of time, rumours suggest that the iPhone SE 4 could be released this year. According to Apple analyst Mark Gurman, from Bloomberg, this could be Apple's first big release of the year. That means fans might be able to get their hands on a new budget iPhone as early as March. However, there is a lot of uncertainty surrounding this new model and it is still too early to say when the iPhone SE 4 will be officially launched. Apple has been contacted for comment. It's a well-known fact that yawning is contagious and can spread around a room in a matter of seconds. Now, a study has shown that the same is true - for peeing. Researchers from Kyoto University found that chimpanzees are more likely to urinate when they see others doing it. Ena Onishi, who led the study, said: 'In humans, urinating together can be seen as a social phenomenon. 'An Italian proverb states, "Whoever doesn't pee in company is either a thief or a spy", while in Japanese, the act of urinating with others is referred to as "Tsureshon". 'This behaviour is represented in art across centuries and cultures and continues to appear in modern social contexts. 'Our research suggests that this phenomenon may have deep evolutionary roots. 'We found that chimpanzees, our closest relatives, tend to urinate in response to the urination of nearby individuals.' It's a well-known fact that yawning is contagious and can spread around a room in a matter of seconds. Now, a study has shown that the same is true - for peeing The researchers decided to investigate after noticing that captive chimpanzees living at the Kumamoto Sanctuary in Japan tended to urinate at about the same time. The behaviour reminded them of people, and so they trawled through more than 600 hours of video footage of the chimps, analysing 1,328 times the animals went to the toilet. The results showed urination events were significantly more synchronised than they would be if the primates were just peeing randomly. The closer a chimp was to someone who has just urinated, the more likely they were to do the same thing. That was based on analysis of urinating chimpanzees who were within arm's reach of each other, within three metres (10 feet) of each other, or further than three metres away. While contagious urination is thought to happen in human beings, it hasn't been scientifically investigated. The new study, in one of our closest relatives, found chimps who have less social status are more likely to copy someone else who has just urinated. That might be because those lower down the hierarchy are keeping a closer eye on more respected chimpanzees, or because they are more stressed due to their poor ranking in chimp society. The new study, in one of our closest relatives, found chimps who have less social status are more likely to copy someone else who has just urinated Ms Onishi said: 'Since there were no prior studies on contagious urination in any species, we drew parallels to contagious yawning, another semi-voluntary physiological behavior. 'Based on this, we initially expected that any social influences might resemble those seen in yawning - such as stronger contagion between socially close pairs. 'However, our results showed no evidence of effects related to social closeness. 'Instead, we observed a clear influence of social rank, with lower-ranking individuals being more likely to follow the urination of others.' The authors of the study, published in the journal Current Biology, say there may be tendency for urination behaviour to 'flow down' the dominance structure in chimpanzee groups. They also suggest urination, as well as being used to scent-mark territory, could be something chimpanzees do before a long-distance trip as a group - rather like people. Dr Shinya Yamamoto, senior author of the study, also from Kyoto University, described the urination behaviour of lower-ranking chimpanzees as 'unexpected and fascinating'. He said: 'It could reflect hidden leadership in synchronising group activities, the reinforcement of social bonds, or attention bias among lower-ranking individuals. 'These findings raise intriguing questions about the social functions of this behaviour.' Experts are also curious to know whether this phenomenon exists in other species. Many iPhone users are fuming after making a simple mistake that's left them unable to use TikTok after the ban was lifted Sunday. The Chinese-based app went dark for all 170 million American users Saturday evening, showing a pop-up message that it was unavailable. The alert led many users to delete the app, believing that was the end of TikTok in the US, but the ban was lifted about 12 hours. However, TikTok is not currently available in the Apple App Store. That means users who deleted the app are unable to reinstall it. Apple's App Store shows an alert when American users attempt to search TikTok. 'TikTok and other ByteDance apps are no longer available in the country or region you're in,' it reads. 'If you already have these apps installed on your device, they will remain on your device. 'But they can't be redownloaded if deleted or restored if you move to a new device. In-app purchases and new subscriptions are no longer possible.' The message that was displayed to iPhone user's who still had TikTok installed on their devices during the temporary ban. The Supreme Court unanimously upheld the federal law requiring ByteDance to divest TikTok's U.S. operations. Pictured, TikTokkers Sarah Baus, left, of Charleston and Tiffany Cianci, who says she is a 'long-form educational content creator' It is unclear when the app will return. Apple continued to explain that users who did not delete the app will no longer receive updates for TikTok and other ByteDance apps on the list. The tech giant said this 'could potentially impact performance, security, and compatibility with future versions of iOS and iPadOS, and some app functions might become limited or stop working since the app cant receive updates.' Apple's measures are also in place for users visiting the US, even if they have their Apple Account set to another country. The mistake has sent many iPhones into an uproar, with one user offering money to help them back into the app. One user shared on X: 'I deleted TikTok and now I cant get it back! I will pay someone $5,000 for an iPhone 16 Pro Max with TikTok still installed. DM me.' While another user joked: 'A moment of silence for the people who deleted TikTok before it came back.' The TikTok ban hit the US around 10pm ET, showing users a message: 'A law banning the popular video sharing app has been enacted in the US. Unfortunately, that means you can't use TikTok for now. 'We are fortunate that President Trump has indicated that he will work with us on a solution to reinstate TikTok once he takes office. Please stay tuned!' The TikTok ban is set to take effect on Sunday with the app likely going 'dark' from midnight 'When the app was opened during this time, a message in bold font appeared to users that read, 'Sorry, TikTok isn't available right now.' Last year, Congress passed a law banning TikTok unless its Chinese parent company ByteDance sold its stakes by Monday. The Chinese conglomerate, who had nine months to sell the platform's US operation to an approved buyer, had long said it would not sell. While American officials highlighted the app's potential national security risk, TikTok, along with some users and creators, sued in an effort to block the ban. Leading up to the app going dark this weekend, the Supreme Court ruled that the ban did 'not violate petitioners' First Amendment rights,' upholding a previous appeals court ruling. A post made by President Donald Trump on Truth Social demonstrating his changed attitudes and allegiance to app after bolstering his campaign to victory in the 2024 election. On Sunday morning, moments before the ban was lifted, President Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social that he would 'issue an executive order on Monday,' after his inauguration, 'to extend the period of time before the law's prohibition takes effect, so that we can make a deal to protect our national security.' TikTok shared a post on X shortly after saying: 'TikTok is in the process of restoring service. We thank President Trump for providing the necessary clarity and assurance to our service providers that they will face no penalties providing TikTok to over 170 million Americans and allowing over 7 million small businesses to thrive. The ban was originally proposed by President Donald Trump in 2020 during his first term in the White House when there were speculations of a security breach. Shortly after, Texas-based Oracle became the host of TikTok's US user data. Former President Joe Biden signed the potential ban into law in April 2024 and last week, the decision was unanimously upheld by the Supreme Court, prompting the blackout Sunday. Although the app may have disappeared for some iPhone users, advice on a workaround is being offered by sympathetic individuals worldwide. X User provides instruction on how to download TikTok in the United States for iPhone users following the ban on Sunday that resulted in the apps removal from the App Store. A user on X suggested downloading a VPN that can change the iPhone location to Canada. 'It worked bless you,' an X user replied. 'It's not working,' another said. However, if the VPN hack fails, at a bare minimum US-based users that may have lost the app can still download their data. This can be done by visiting TikTok.com on a web browser, clicking 'more,' on the bottom-left-hand corner of the screen and then navigating to settings. Once in settings, users can then navigate to 'privacy,' and find and select the option to 'download your data.' For iPhone users who did not delete the app, an additional message appeared on TikTok following the restoration of its service. It read:' Welcome Back! Thanks for your patience and support.' TikTok, however, has been banned in all 50 states on devices issued by state governments. Other countries that have banned the app include Iran, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan. For generations, they have been associated with new life and the patter of tiny feet. But storks are now enjoying a population boom of their own amid a conservation project that has seen them return to English skies for the first time in centuries. The White Stork Project, which is based at the Knepp Estate in West Sussex, has 25 home-grown storks which have chosen to spend the winter in the UK. The birds first laid eggs in 2020 and conservationists say the numbers are getting close to a 'critical mass' which could see the birds finally recover to numbers not seen for centuries. This year saw 53 chicks fledge at Knepp - double the previous year's 26 - giving high hopes that storks will start to recolonise other parts of England. The secret of Knepp's success is creating a colony of more than 20 non-flying storks rescued from accidents with powerlines and roads in Poland. These are kept in a six-acre pen in the middle of the rewilding project.This helps attract wild birds from Europe and also gives Knepp's free-flying storks - offspring of the penned birds - confidence and security in numbers. The White Stork Project, which is based at the Knepp Estate in West Sussex, has 25 home-grown storks which have chosen to spend the winter in the UK As well as stretching their wings in the air, the overwintering white storks can be found following the Tamworth pigs and longhorn cattle around the rewilding estate, trailing them for unearthed worms in the disturbed soil. Isabella Tree, co-founder of the 3,500 acre Knepp rewilding project with her husband Charlie Burrell said: 'The project's been an amazing success we've been astonished how quickly it's all happened.'We've not had white storks breeding here for at least 600 years. 'This is a real milestone. The last recorded nest we think was successful was on St Giles Catherdral, Edinburgh in 1416. 'So bringing them back to Britain has been amazing'.She explained the injured, non-flying rescued birds living in the pen in England attract some of the 20-40 birds which scout over England looking for places to nest in the UK. 'These injured birds in a pen creates if you like a false colony, reassurance to birds coming over from the continent. Captive reared juvenile White stork (Ciconia ciconia) in flight over the Knepp Estate soon after release in August 2019 Explaining the success of the project, she said: 'We now have very mild winters and we've got some birds that will stay all winter, I suppose because of climate change. 'It's lovely to see these birds, they are nesting in the top of oak trees and even in winter will see the resident storks the ones who have decided to stay are being very territorial and holding on to the nests they need.' 'It's amazing to hear this incredible clattering sound they make, and they are very prehistoric when flying, almost looking like a pterodactyl.' She said of the stork colony at Knepp: 'You need a critical mass, storks need to be able to fend for themselves and protect their eggs and chicks from ravens and rooks and buzzards and all sorts of things.' Viewers savaged Martin Clunes' Welsh accent in new ITV drama Out There on Sunday evening, branding it 'unwatchable'. The English actor, 63, plays the role of farmer Nathan whose homestead and family life are threatened by local county lines drugs dealers. But Martin's accent was ridiculed online during the episode with fans describing it as everything from 'bizarre' to 'disgusting'. But if that wasn't bad enough the show itself also failed to impress and was described as 'very boring' with one viewer claiming it was sending them off to sleep. Taking to X fans fumed: 'As a Welsh person, this Welsh accent is poor, Martin, you're great but the accent is really off putting. I can't watch it': 'Martin Clunes putting on a Welsh accent in out There is just a little bizarre': 'First Charlotte with a dodgy Welsh accent in The Traitors now Martin Clunes in out There. Can you all just stop?'. 'Disgusting that all our amazing Welsh actors have been sidelines for of all people Martin Clunes': 'Problems so far with Out There, Martin Clunes' accent': 'Martin Clunes' Welsh accent is not right': 'Martin Clunes' Welsh accent is definitely Out There'. Viewers savaged Martin Clunes ' Welsh accent in new ITV drama Out There on Sunday evening, branding it 'unwatchable' The English actor, 63, plays the role of farmer Nathan whose homestead and family life are threatened by local county lines drugs dealers While others complained: 'Really disappointed in Out There @ITV was looking forward to it but won't be watching anymore, not bothered what happens, very boring': 'This is pretty boring so far': 'I like Martin Clunes as an actor but this isn't great and very slow'. 'Hoping it will kick in soon, I'm dropping off': 'I wish to heaven I had been able to watch this episode in the early hours as it would have sent me off to sleep in no time instead of tossing ad turning all night long!'. It comes just days after fellow ITV series Playing Nice left viewers baffled after an 'infuriating' ending featuring 'massive plot holes and no closure', with some demanding 'answers' in the minutes after it aired. The fourth and final instalment of the mini-series aired on Monday night with fans intrigued as to how the show, based on the book by JP Delaney, would conclude. Tension had been mounting after an intriguing opening run of episodes based on the discovery that two couples' babies, Theo and David, had been swapped at birth. Miles (James McArdle) and Lucy (Jessica Brown Findlay) and Pete (James Norton) and Maddie (Niamh Algar) had the shocking revelation early in the series and the drama tracked Pete and Maddie's fight to keep their son Theo and the impact it had on each couple's lives. It all built up to who would be granted custody of each child and whether the inter-couple backstabbing would eventually take its toll. But fans did not get the satisfying denouement they craved with no answers provided on where which son would end up and a rather bizarre plot twist shoe-horned in. Martin's accent was ridiculed online during the episode with fans describing it as everything from 'bizarre' to 'disgusting' Taking to X fans fumed: 'As a Welsh person, this Welsh accent is poor, Martin, you're great but the accent is really off putting. I can't watch it' One said: 'So no real closure on what happened with Miles and who exactly has custody of who? I assume Lisa is allowed to be there because they're letting her? I need answers!' Another irritated viewer added: 'So @jginorton and co are brilliant actors- also fantastic scenery and camera work. Massive holes in the plot though? Loving it but It's quite infuriating.' A third posted: 'That last episode of Playing Nice was a bit disappointing and the ending was rather silly. No way would they get away with that. Also, an extra episode was needed for more backstory on Miles and his disturbing past.' One user added: 'I'm confused as to what the custody agreement was? Also surley there will be an investigation into Miles' death? A few major things thats hould be clarified better no?' Another frustrated fan said: 'Playing Nice is the most infuriating piece of TV I've ever watched. Every single thing that happens has my blood absolutely BOILING.' The finale took a dramatic turn as Miles was pushed off a Cornish cliff after being hit by a rock by Lucy. But if that wasn't bad enough the show itself also failed to impress and was described as 'very boring' with one viewer claiming it was sending them off to sleep. While others complained: 'Really disappointed in Out There @ITV was looking forward to it but won't be watching anymore, not bothered what happens, very boring': 'This is pretty boring so far' Lucy then joined Maddie and Pete on a beach along with their two children in an ending which left much unresolved. Viewers were left baffled as to who got custody of which child and why Miles' death went almost entirely unnoticed. Initially, the couples had agreed to 'play nice' in the aftermath of the shocking news but Miles upset the peace by vowing to secure custody of both Theo and David. Meanwhile, it also emerged that Lucy had intentionally let the babies be swapped to avoid her son having to grow up under Miles. Last week James hit back at criticism towards the programme, defending the 'far-fetched' plot lines after the ITV drama sparked a wave of complaints. It comes just days after fellow ITV series Playing Nice left viewers baffled after an 'infuriating' ending featuring 'massive plot holes and no closure', with some demanding 'answers' in the minutes after it aired The fourth and final instalment of the mini-series aired on Monday night (pictured: James McArdle as Miles Lambert; Jessica Brown Findlay as Lucy Lambert) During the chat, James explained that he thinks there's a space for dramas like Playing Nice because it 'brings people together'. Some viewers have called the programme 'unrealistic', but James hit back saying on The Chris Evans Show with The National Lottery on Virgin Radio UK on Thursday: 'Now that I'm producing, you're looking for stakes and there are no higher stakes than kids. 'Family, either your parents or your children, they are the thing which you have that 4am anxiety about. 'So this I mean, look, I don't want to push back on the people who are finding it too much... It's drama. Today is 'Blue Monday' - the most depressing day of the year. The third Monday of January is usually characterised by grey weather, short days and feeling particularly strapped for cash post-Christmas. So our TV experts have compiled a list of the best free-to-watch comedies - in the hope of bringing a little bit of cheer to an otherwise gloomy 24 hours. Creature Comforts Aardman's Oscar-winning claymation that mixes real vox pops with animated animals Year: 2003-2007 Certificate: PG Watch now on ITVX If you think of Aardman, you think of Wallace and Gromit. The cheese-loving inventor and his dog have, along with Chicken Run, somewhat eclipsed Nick Park's other great triumph - Creature Comforts, a project that won the filmmaker his first Oscar in 1991, after launching with a short film. Creature Comforts is a very simple idea at its heart: claymation animals complaining about everyday human things as if they were talking on the street. The interviews are with real people, and it's funny because of the way the observations line up with the animals' actual living conditions - and also because Aardman put such love and detail into the expression of the creatures, from a philosophical amoeba to a depressed gorilla. The collision of the two elements is somehow just about believable and thus, all the funnier. There's a dedicated channel on YouTube, too, if you'd prefer to watch there. (Three series) The Goes Wrong Show Glorious slapstick comedy presented as a play of the week show Year: 2019-2021 Certificate: 12 Watch now on BBC iPlayer The glory of slapstick is that, when it's done right, everyone can find it funny - and that's the truth that makes The Goes Wrong Show such a universal delight. Created by Mischief Theatre and running for two series on the BBC along with various one-off specials, it's based around the idea that the hapless Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society have been commissioned to produce a series of one-off plays for the Beeb, all of which go horribly, horribly wrong, live on air. Bubbling away underneath all that is a war for control of the troupe between 'directorrrr' Chris Bean (Henry Shields) and arrogant actor Robert Grove (Henry Lewis). That really comes to the boil in series two but it's in series one, which features one pin-sharp slapstick skewering of genre after another, where this show is really at its finest. Legal drama 'A Trial To Watch', in which sets are built to the wrong scale then randomly re-combined as the actors struggle to keep up, is particularly brilliant. If watching it all leaves you with a desire for more, Mischief regularly perform an improvised movie show live over the internet, along with all their West End theatre shows in London. (Two series) The Fast Show The brilliant sketch show from Paul Whitehouse and Charlie Higson Year: 1990-2014 Certificate: PG Watch now on BBC iPlayer Sketch shows are expensive and hard to make because of all the sets, costumes and sheer density of writing they require. As such, truly great ones only come along every so often and The Fast Show is certainly one of those. The catchphrases and characters of Paul Whitehouse, Charlie Higson, Arabella Weir, Caroline Aherne et al were frequently found in conversation during its 1990s heyday, from 'Scorchio!' to 'Suit you, sir!' to the slow-burn bromance of Ted and Ralph and the oddly poignant fireside ramblings of Rowley Birkin, QC. When all these characters hit our screens in the 1990s, we would have marvelled at the fact the they would all, one day, be available to watch at the press of a button online. But this is what's happened - suit you, sir, or indeed, madam. (Three series, plus specials) Parks And Recreation Office politics and park maintenance collide in hilarious style Year: 2009-2015 Certificate: 15 Watch now on ITVX The warmer, cuddlier American cousin of The Thick Of It and The Office, this satirical mockumentary follows a bunch of office grunts and local government bureaucrats in the fictional town of Pawnee, Indiana. Armed with copious colour-coded files, Leslie Knope (Amy Poehler) is the super-organised, perky and irrepressible deputy director of Pawnee's Parks and Recreation department who all-but-single-handedly runs it. Her boss, deadpan and taciturn Ron Swanson (Nick Offerman), is her polar opposite, a diehard libertarian who wants his department to be as ineffective as possible. Despite their obvious and extreme differences, they have a great deal of respect for one another and make for one of the most fun and refreshingly non-sexual onscreen comedy pairings of recent years. The show is also bursting with eccentric supporting characters, including Rob Lowe's health freak official Chris Traeger, Rashida Jones as Leslie's grounded best friend Ann and Adam Scott as her love interest Ben. Watch out for Chris Pratt, who went from playing goofy and out-of-shape Andy Dwyer to Star-Lord in Marvel's Guardians Of The Galaxy, and Aubrey Plaza, who played Ron's assistant April, and is currently going from strength to strength in shows such as The White Lotus and film Emily The Criminal. We'd also advise you skip the first series - it just doesn't work as well as what comes after, and it's only six episodes long. (Seven series) Changing Ends Comedy telling of Alan Carr's childhood, growing up in 1980s Northampton Year: 2023 Certificate: 12 Watch now on ITVX You've got to feel for young Alan Carr, growing up in the 1980s with a macho dad and judgmental neighbours. While young Alan thinks he's bubbly and fun, to others he's 'different' (one of the kinder descriptions) or a 'four-eyed freak' (much less kind). With Carr The Elder hovering in the background to narrate his loosely autobiographical tale, it's the casting of Oliver Savell as young Alan that really makes this sitcom work (he's definitely Alan, but not too much). Special mention also goes to Shaun Dooley (the voice of SAS: Who Dares Wins) as Alan's dad Graham - the manager of fourth-division Northampton Town FC - who conveys perfectly the struggles of loving but not entirely understanding his son. (Two series) Rachel Parris: Poise A mix of musical numbers, political satire and musings on turning 40 from The Mash Report star Year: 2024 Watch now on NextUp Comedy Watch now on ITVX Rachel Parris came to prominence on The Mash Report but she's been around for years, as part of the hit improv stage show Austentatious, acting on TV comedies and as a musical comedian in her own right. She's about to turn 40 in her 90-minute show Poise, the starting point for which is that Parris is now all the things she thought she'd never be - a wife, a mother and, perhaps most extraordinarily in these times, a homeowner. As such, a thread in this show is finding herself - but Poise is about as far from millennial naval-gazing as you can get. Parris is a confident and undeniable onstage presence, a comic who has mastered the fine line between self-deprecation and controlling a room as she takes us on a tour of her current anxieties and such absurd situations as being asked to be the brand ambassador for a sex toy site. The show also involves plenty of songs, including an audience singalong in which Parris's music teacher background becomes very clear indeed; and there are several razor-toothed excursions into politics. She has a particular point of view here and, even if you don't agree with her, she's so pointedly hilarious in her manner of expression that it doesn't really matter. Rachel Parris is a woman of many facets in short, and it seems likely she'll just get deeper, more interesting and more funny, with every passing future show. The comic is also just one of a variety of stand-up acts available to watch as part of ITVX's free selection from specialist comedy streamer NextUp - you'll also find sets there from Paul Sinha, Geoff Norcott, Jason Byrne, Jo Caulfield and Parris's husband Marcus Brigstocke. (93 minutes) Crazy Ex-Girlfriend Rachel Bloom's delirious musical comedy about a lawyer obsessed with her ex Year: 2015-2019 Certificate: 15 Watch now on ITVX Crazy Ex-Girlfriend has a simple premise: a high-flying New York lawyer ditches her career and heads to California to pursue her high-school boyfriend - but the execution is deliriously over the top, with each episode regularly interrupted by musical numbers as the cast burst into song and dance. The result is a weird and addictive show with a fantastically talented cast, not least creator Rachel Bloom, whose performance as the unhinged title character is simply spectacular. Running from 2015 to 2019 in the US and finding an audience in the UK on Netflix, Bloom's series picked up four Emmy awards over the years for its choreography and music. The intensity of the show means that it won't be everyone's cup of tea but those who 'get' Crazy Ex-Girlfriend really tend to love it. Superfans may also want to check out her dark stand-up show Death, Let Me Do My Special, on Netflix - or seek her out on meta-comedy Reboot (Disney+). (Four series) Upper Middle Bogan Aussie sitcom about families colliding across the social divide Year: 2013-2016 Certificate: 15 Watch now on ITVX Watch now on Prime Video Watch now on Netflix If you're not from Australia, you might need that title translated. A 'bogan' is slang for an uncouth Australian, a bit like a chav, and the show follows hypochondriac suburban doctor Bess, a mum of twins, who discovers that her snooty upper-middle-class mum is not her biological mother and that her parents are in fact bogans Julie and Wayne, a cash-strapped family who run a drag car racing team. The class comedy the show plays on isn't that different to our own - the contrast of snobbery and boorishness familiar from Keeping Up Appearances and many more British sitcoms - but another touchpoint is Kath & Kim, and fans of that show will find a lot to like here, not least Glenn Robbins who stars as Wayne and played Kath's boyfriend Kel in the earlier show. Fans of Colin From Accounts will also recognise Annie Maynard and Patrick Brammall, who play Bess and her architect husband Danny. (Three series) The Wrong Mans Office workers become embroiled in a deadly conspiracy Year: 2013-2014 Certificate: 15 Watch now on BBC iPlayer Mathew Baynton (the moping poet in Ghosts) and James Corden (who went on to become a talk show host in America, before returning to the UK to wrap up Gavin & Stacey) star in this fizzing comedy thriller that speeds along at a gratifying pace from one unexpected turn of events to the next. Baynton plays the hapless Sam, a council employee who's been dumped by his girlfriend, who also happens to be his boss. Waking one morning with a raging hangover and finding his bike stolen, he's obliged to walk to work - and on the way, something very shocking happens out of the blue, leaving him in possession of a ringing mobile phone with a very angry kidnapper at the other end. What to do? Unfortunately, Sam's colleague Phil (Corden) has a plan. It will not go well. (Two series) Daddy Issues Parenting sitcom about a barely functioning father and his pregnant daughter Year: 2024 Certificate: 15 Watch now on BBC iPlayer We're more used to seeing David Morrissey in serious roles (Sherwood, The Long Shadow), but he's brilliant in this sitcom as deadbeat divorced dad Malcolm who, for all his flaws, tries very hard to step up when his daughter gets pregnant. That daughter is played equally brilliantly by Aimee Lou Wood, who won a BAFTA for her performance in the Netflix hit Sex Education, and makes her party girl Gemma completely endearing, even when she's making impulsive mistakes (mainly sexual ones). Surrounding Gemma and her dad are a selection of wonderfully weird characters who add to the spicy humour and surefooted gags: David Fynn plays Malcolm's new friend, Derek, who walks a fine line between odious and hilarious, and Sarah Hadland is Gemma's lascivious boss. A second series is on the way. (Six episodes) This Morning fans were left lost for words when a guest revealed that she gave birth on Christmas Day - despite having no idea that she was pregnant. Kayleigh, Nick, and their three-week-old daughter Holly, sat on the sofa alongside Dr Sara Kayat to talk to hosts Cat Deeley, 48, and Ben Shephard, 50, about their extraordinary story. The nursery worker explained that she had felt sick after going out for drinks a few weeks before, but didn't think anything of it, so carried on as normal. The couple, who met in December 2023, rushed to hospital on Christmas Day after she woke up in extreme pain and had to call an ambulance. The two were shocked when she was told she was expecting after having an ultrasound scan - which meant that she had a cryptic pregnancy. Kayleigh told the presenters: 'It was only two weeks before I was sort of really unwell. This Morning viewers were left shocked after show guests share their rare story about welcoming their daughter into the world Nursery worker Kayleigh, 24, is now a proud mum to her daughter Holly 'We went out for a couple of drinks as well, I didn't have a lot to drink it wasn't enough to make me sort of think you're hungover. 'Then after two/three days it went, so I went back to normal. It was Christmas Eve when it all started.' The new mum was busy living her life throughout the year and did plenty of fun things. Kayleigh admitted: 'I went to Magaluf in July, I worked it out, I must have been three months pregnant when I went to Magaluf. 'I went to Amsterdam, we went to Turkey, I had girls' weekends as well.' Cat added that she had even gone white water rafting. Kayleigh told the presenters that after she was told the news she said: 'I was just like, at the time I was worried, all the things I've done, I just hope the baby is healthy. That was the only thing going through my mind.' Many took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to share their shock over the unique story. Those watching at home were shocked over the rare story One confessed: 'Stories like this terrifies me, cant see them being true, but if this happened to me Id cry.' Another questioned: 'Ive always wondered how women can not know theyre pregnant.' A third asked: 'Wouldn't she feel the baby kicking inside her?' A fourth chimed in: 'I gave birth to a surprise baby on Christmas Day??' A fifth said: Omg she actually carried on doing normal stuff when she was pregnant.' Meanwhile a fourth tweeted: 'Bless em - good luck If they give the baby the unconditional love and care, they've done the best thing ever.' A fifth said: 'I'm glad #ThisMorning is talking about cryptic pregnancies. As that's pretty much what I went through with my daughter. Was still having my period, she was hid behind my back for 8 months (when I found out I was pregnant) I was losing weight not gaining. and roughly 39 weeks+5 days.' Another said on YouTube: 'Happened to my niece too. She felt sickly about a week before delivery. Felt like indigestion.' Kayleigh and Nick spoke to Cat and Ben about their bundle of joy 'This happened to one of my friends - she didn't know until she went into labour,' a seventh pointed out. Dr Sara explained that a cryptic pregnancy isn't as rare as you think, as it happens in one in 2,500 pregnancies. The health care professional explained: 'It can happen for a number of reasons. So firstly, it might be that you don't get the same symptoms as most people, might not have the morning sickness or breast tenderness or weight gain. 'Or it might be that you have those, misinterpret them or attribute them to other underlying conditions. 'It might be that you have irregular periods anyway or erratic periods, or are on contraction meaning that you don't get periods.' Throughout her pregnancy, Kayleigh had no idea she was expecting because she didn't have any symptoms. Kayleigh confessed: 'I didn't put on any weight which was quite weird, a lot of people said I would show quite quickly, for someone like you, it was when I woke up Christmas Day my stomach swelled up. 'But I thought that was because I was unwell.' WHAT IS A CYPTIC PREGNANCY? A cryptic pregnancy (or stealth pregnancy) is when a pregnant person doesn't know they're pregnant. In some cases, a person may only realise they're pregnant because labor begins. Most people realize they're pregnant somewhere between four and 12 weeks of pregnancy. This could be because they have symptoms of pregnancy or because they missed their period. A positive result on a pregnancy test can confirm pregnancy. With a cryptic pregnancy, nothing triggers a person to believe they're pregnant. This could be because they don't have symptoms of pregnancy or mistake symptoms of pregnancy as a virus, or their pregnancy test result was wrong. How common is a cryptic pregnancy? Cryptic pregnancies are uncommon. Studies suggest about 1 in 475 pregnancies go unnoticed until about 20 weeks gestation. About 1 in 2,500 pregnancies go unnoticed until delivery. Will a cryptic pregnancy show on a pregnancy test? You should still get a positive pregnancy test with a cryptic pregnancy. However, using an at-home pregnancy test correctly is the only way to get an accurate result. If you don't use it correctly, you may get a false negative (meaning you're pregnant but the test says you aren't). Be sure to follow the instructions on the package and wait several days after your missed period to take an at-home test. If your symptoms don't agree with your home pregnancy test result, it's always best to have a healthcare provider confirm with a blood test. What are the signs of cryptic pregnancy? People with a cryptic pregnancy have the same symptoms as a normal pregnancy. The key difference is that the pregnant person doesn't realize pregnancy is causing their symptoms. For example, they may think they're nauseous from eating a certain food or that they're tired because they need to sleep more. Other symptoms include: Missed period: While most people know they're pregnant because they don't get their period, this isn't always the case. If your periods are always irregular, you may not realise you've missed your period due to pregnancy. Spotting or light bleeding: Some people experience light spotting in early pregnancy and mistake it for a period. False negative pregnancy test result: This means someone is actually pregnant, but their test says they aren't pregnant. If you don't use an at-home pregnancy test correctly, you may get an inaccurate result. To be sure, it's always best to contact a healthcare provider to confirm a pregnancy. Weight gain or swollen belly: Some people may not notice they've gained weight due to being pregnant, or they might attribute an unusually bloated belly to eating a certain food. Fetal movement: Most people don't feel the fetus move until about halfway through pregnancy. If you have an anterior placenta, the placenta's in the front of your belly. This can make it harder to feel kicks. In the case of a cryptic pregnancy, this could be why you don't realise you're pregnant. Not knowing symptoms of pregnancy: If you're very young or have developmental disabilities, you may be unaware of common signs of pregnancy like a missed period, tender breasts or nausea. Source: Cleveland Clinic Advertisement The doctor confessed she was trying to figure out how Kaley went through her pregnancy with no physical changes whatsoever. Sara explained it could be that you've got really good abdominal muscles, her placenta was lying posteriorly, or that she has a retroverted uterus. Despite having no plans to start a family, Kayleigh told Cat and Ben: 'I fell in love instantly, I was in so much shock, what has happened, it was such a blur to me.' This Morning airs on ITV from 10am Monday to Friday and is available to stream on ITVX. Harrison Ford and Helen Mirren are seen going to extraordinary lengths to defend their land in the new trailer for season 2 of 1923. The preview for the hit Yellowstone prequel also gave viewers a glimpse of the chilling origin story of the fictional Dutton family's ranch, which was passed down for seven generations. In the latest teaser for 1923, it is clear that their home is being threatened by a group of wealthy elites trying to make 'Montana a playground for the elite.' 'I will destroy everything theyve fought for,' one man says, referring to the Dutton family's legacy. Later, Mirren declares that 'anything worth having is worth fighting for' as she steps up to protect what is hers. The line was seemingly a nod to a line in Yellowstone, in which Kevin Costner, who plays John Dutton, says: 'Its the one constant in life. You build something worth having, someones gonna try to take it.' Harrison Ford and Helen Mirren are seen going to extraordinary lengths to defend their land in the new trailer for season 2 of 1923 Social media users were quick to react to the trailer, with many expressing their excitement and others admitting they were wary how the prequel will unfold after Yellowstone's controversial final season. 'Excited for this! February cant get here fast enough,' one X user tweeted. Another wrote: 'It looks SO good!!!!' 'We already know the ending and that the family loses the land. Whats the point of watching 1923?' a third questioned. Another upset viewer wrote that they were not planning on watching because of 'how poorly Yellowstone was treated.' 'Do you think Im gonna invest one second of my time into this? Mark this tweet, this show will fail because of how fouled up you treated your fans of Yellowstone,' they tweeted. While Yellowstone follows the current generation of the Dutton family and their control of the immense Yellowstone-Dutton ranch, the prequel shows 1883 and 1923 showcase previous generations of the family. In December, following the Yellowstone finale, fans were treated to a preview for 1923's upcoming second season, which returns on February 23 on Paramount+. Ford (who plays Jacob Dutton) and Mirren (who stars as his wife Cara) are seen bracing for war over their land Mirren pulled out a shotgun to protect her property While Yellowstone follows the current generation of the Dutton family and their control of the immense Yellowstone-Dutton ranch, the prequel shows 1883 and 1923 showcase previous generations of the family Ford (who plays Jacob Dutton) and Mirren (who stars as his wife Cara) are seen bracing for war over their land. At one point Cara issues a gloomy prophecy as she tells her husband 'this ranch will drive you to your death.' 'This ranch is under attack,' Jacob states, adding, 'Our whole way of life is under attack.' The trailer starts out with Spencer Dutton (Brandon Sklenar) a nephew of the Dutton family patriarch stating, 'In Montana, there's a war over my family's land, and they're losing it.' Social media users were quick to react to the trailer, with many expressing their excitement and others admitting they were wary how the prequel will unfold after Yellowstone's controversial final season 'Excited for this! February cant get here fast enough,' one X user tweeted Another upset viewer wrote that they were not planning on watching because of 'how poorly Yellowstone was treated' Cara is then pictured loading her rifle and looking outside, before the trailer cuts to a gun fight. Spencer then informs someone on the phone that he is 'coming home.' The scene then shifts to Cara and Jacob, as she tells him, 'Bring him home. Promise.' 'I promise,' he reassures her. Meanwhile Timothy Dalton, who stars as evil land baron Donald Whitfield, tells his henchman Jerome Flynn (who plays Banner Creighton), 'It's time to build an army.' In the next scene Creighton tells a friend, presumably about Whitfield, 'I've never met a man who scares me. He scares me to death.' He and two other men are then seen throwing a dead body into a rock quarry. Meanwhile Jacob confronts Whitfield in his office, telling him, 'I think this is about as far as I feel like being pushed.' A quick montage of gun fights follows, before the trailer ends with Jacob stating: 'We all sacrificed a lot, but this fight ain't over.' The show also stars Julia Schlaepfer as Alexandra, Spencer's love, along with Darren Mann, Brian Geraghty, Aminah Nieves, Michelle Randolph, Sebastian Roche, and Jennifer Carpenter The official description of Season 2 reads: 'With harsh conditions and adversaries threatening to end the Dutton legacy, Spencer embarks on an arduous journey home, racing against time to save his family in Montana' The show also stars Julia Schlaepfer as Alexandra, Spencer's love, along with Darren Mann, Brian Geraghty, Aminah Nieves, Michelle Randolph, Sebastian Roche, and Jennifer Carpenter. While 1883 only ran one season, starring Tim McGraw and Faith Hill as James Dillard Dutton and Margaret Dutton, 1923 is getting a second season. The second season is set during, 'a cruel winter,' which leads to, 'new challenges and unfinished business to Jacob and Cara back at Dutton ranch.' 'With harsh conditions and adversaries threatening to end the Dutton legacy, Spencer embarks on an arduous journey home, racing against time to save his family in Montana,' the official description of Season 2 adds. For fans who haven't caught up with the first season, Paramount Network will broadcast a, 'special linear airing,' of 1923 Season 1 1923 is executive produced by Yellowstone co-creator Taylor, David C. Glasser, John Linson, Art Linson, Ron Burkle, David Hutkin, Bob Yari, Ben Richardson, Michael Friedman and Keith Cox Paramount+ also recently gave the green light for a new spin-off that will feature Rip Wheeler (Cole Hauser) and Beth Dutton (Kelly Reilly), with Beth and Rip getting a new ranch of their own... after Beth kept her promise and killed her brother Jamie (Wes Bentley) for his involvement in their father John Dutton's (Kevin Costner) murder 'Meanwhile, Alexandra sets off on her own harrowing trans-Atlantic journey to find Spencer and reclaim their love,' the description concludes. For fans who haven't caught up with the first season, Paramount Network will broadcast a, 'special linear airing,' of 1923 Season 1. 1923 is executive produced by Yellowstone co-creator Taylor, David C. Glasser, John Linson, Art Linson, Ron Burkle, David Hutkin, Bob Yari, Ben Richardson, Michael Friedman and Keith Cox. Paramount+ also recently gave the green light for a new spin-off that will feature Rip Wheeler (Cole Hauser) and Beth Dutton (Kelly Reilly), with Beth and Rip getting a new ranch of their own... after Beth kept her promise and killed her brother Jamie (Wes Bentley) for his involvement in their father John Dutton's (Kevin Costner) murder. The much-anticipated final week of The Traitors 2025 is set to be rocked by an earth-shatting twist, as all-powerful villains Charlotte Berman and Minah Shannon step up their plot to win the prize fund. There are just three episodes of the beloved BBC show left before Minah and Charlotte try and steal up to 120,000 in prize money from the Faithfuls in a dramatic final showdown. But it's now been reported by The Sun that in a jaw-dropping twist, one Faithful will be able to stop the pair in their tracks. The twist was teased at the end of Friday's episode, with host Claudia Winkleman revealing: 'Someone will win an extraordinary power that could turn the entire game on its head.' A teaser at the end of Friday's episode showed a bookshelf inside the famous castle, with one book titled The Seer. The Seer is a character from the 1980s party game Werewolf - which The Traitors is based on. The final week of The Traitors is set to be rocked by an earth-shatting twist, as all-powerful villains Charlotte Berman and Minah Shannon (pictured) step up their plot to win the prize fund There are just three episodes of the beloved BBC show left before Minah and Charlotte (pictured) try and steal up the prize money from the Faithfuls In the party game of Villagers and Werewolves, The Seer is able to discover one person's true identity in secret to help the Villagers. A source said: 'Assigning one Faithful as The Seer could mean ripping the power from Charlotte and Minah's hands and flip the entire game on its head. 'If one player is able to have a Traitor's identity secretly confirmed, that would make all the difference at the final round table. 'All will be revealed tomorrow, but installing The Seer would be an amazing twist.' Heading into the Final Week, Traitors Minah and Charlotte join Faithfuls Alexander Dragonetti, Francesca Rowan-Plowden, Freddie Fraser, Jake Brown, Joe Scott and Leanne Quigley striving to add to the prize fund. On Friday, fans were left 'gutted' after Leon became the latest faithful to be banished after being wrongly accused during the roundtable. Suspicion fell on the retail worker after he survived the dreaded death match earlier this week and failed to prove to his innocence to his fellow faithfuls. Taking to X viewers branded the remaining contestants 'dumb' after they booted yet another of their own, while Minah and Charlotte went undetected as Traitors. A teaser at the end of Friday's episode showed a bookshelf inside the famous castle, with one book titled The Seer It's now been reported that in a jaw-dropping twist, one Faithful will be able to stop The Traitors in their tracks, by having one of their identities secretly confirmed (Alexander is pictured) They fumed: 'How dumb are these people LMAO, thinking Leon is a Traitor when he was in that death match the other day - what Traitor would sign up for that and risk going': 'Why do they all think the best, most unproblematic people in there are traitors?! Gutted about Leon': 'NOOOO they are knocking out the smarter faithful, Leon was a good one'. But fans were also quick to spot not all was well after Minah and Charlotte, who is still faking her Welsh accent, returned to the tower to plan their next murder. When Minah suggested the pair should stick together and share the money following the final, Charlotte failed to respond, leaving many to believe she would soon be throwing her pal under the bus and taking all the dosh for herself. Earlier in the episode Anglian Priest Lisa was the latest victim of murder with fans at home wishing that 'annoying' Joe had had the chop instead. However fans were quickly distracted and left in hysterics when the contestants set off on their latest task and were challenged to haul huge Easter Island style statues up a mountain in order to add more money to the prize. Once the props had been placed on their side to be carried it couldn't help but be noticed they resembled something very rude indeed. Again taking to X they shared a whole host of double entendre and laughed: 'Is it meant to look like... that?': 'I'm sorry priest Linda I have sinned with my dirty mind': 'They knew what they were doing with those torsos haven't laughed so much in ages'. Elsewhere viewers couldn't stop laughing over Alexander's hilarious fall into a bush earlier in the show. The former British diplomat left fans in stitches as he quite literally 'sacrificed' himself to catch a ball while playing badminton outdoors with fellow contestants Charlotte and Leanne. The funny scene was hailed as a breath of 'joy and whimsy' in the show - with countless fans singing his praises for being 'genuine' and 'unintentionally funny'. The beloved Faithful rob the nation's hearts and has quickly become a fan favourite thanks to his 'good manners' and charm. Kanye West has unveiled his plans for his dream city, called DROAM, on Instagram. The Gold Digger rapper, 47, shared his concept of a city located in the Middle East in which Ye controls every aspect of its form, function and use. Kim Kardashian's ex-husband's concept features 'undulating, walkable floors' as well as 'no windows' and a 'primitive, naturalistic approach.' Kanye originally conceived of the DROAM idea as part of the Los Angeles community of North Beverly Park. Residents in the area shut that down fast, calling it 'delusional' and hinting that it would be impossible to garner the necessary number of votes from the homeowner's association to pull it off. It should be noted that over the years, Kanye has hyped up projects, including albums, that have never come to fruition. Kanye West, 47, has unveiled his plans for his dream city, called DROAM, on Instagram West revealed his idea for a self-sustaining city in the Middle East in a tweet last year and it involves developing 100,000-acres for the futuristic city. The project, which would take place on an area twice the size of New York City, has reportedly been in the first phase for a while now, as West looks for partners to help with the planning and development. HIs DROAM post comes as the Chicago native announced his next new project, an album called Bully, which is due in 2025. Of course he has yet to release the anticipated Vultures 3 featuring Ty Dolla $ign. Fans in the comment section were skeptical of Kanye's plans, with one writing, 'What does this mean,' and another saying, 'no way bros still building the city.' Someone else joked, 'dw kanye im off my meds too.' Yet another person expressed concern, writing, 'Wtf does that mean, Kanye West?' The post comes just after Ye and his wife Bianca Censori, 30, were spotted with internet personality Justin LaBoy in Tokyo. The Gold Digger rapper's latest flight of fancy is a concept of a city located in the Middle East in which Ye controls every aspect of its form, function and use; Seen here in October 2022 Kim Kardashian's ex-husband's concept features 'undulating, walkable floors' as well as 'no windows' and a 'primitive, naturalistic approach'; Seen here in November 2019 Kanye originally conceived of the DROAM idea as part of the Los Angeles community of North Beverly Park; Seen here in June 2024 That sighting comes just a few days after Kanye was spotted with his kids, North, 11, Saint, eight, and Chicago, seven, at a 7/11 in Tokyo. He shares his kids, including Psalm, five, with ex-wife Kardashian, 44, and prior to the reunion, hadn't seen them in 118 days. Kanye and Bianca have spent the past four months traveling overseas to the United Arab Emirates, the Maldives, Japan, and China. As the Kenneth Fire raged near Kim's Hidden Hills, California home, she and her four kids had to evacuate. While leaving her residence, Kim spoke out on social media. The reality TV siren, 44, thanked the prisoners who helped fight the fires while donating money to feed firefighters. All while their father galavanted across the globe with his wife. In fact, prior to his reunion with three of his kids at the 7/11 he hadn't seen them since his Vulture 2 listening event in Haikou, China in September 2024. A source told People in October that Kim is like a single mom these days as Kanye is not around much. Residents in the area shut that down fast, calling it 'delusional'; Seen here in October 2022 Over the years, Kanye has hyped up projects, including albums, that have never come to fruition; Seen here in March 2024 Kardashian's life revolves around her and West's four kids. The source said the SKIMS founder is 'pretty much a single mom,' as West is often 'not around.' 'Kanye is sadly not around very much. She's pretty much a single mom,' the insider told the outlet. 'Although she has help, it's still a lot of work for her to balance and coordinate everything. 'Kim's life is around her kids' schedules. When they are in school, she works. When they are off, she's very much focused on being a mom.' Emily Ratajkowski is enjoying a sizzling getaway south of the border in Mexico. The model, 33, posted a video of herself sipping on a Pina Colada in a red bikini on the balcony of her hotel room on Sunday. The tiny bikini top highlighted her ample cleavage, and at one point the mother-of-one turned around to show the camera her toned behind. Emily wore her brunette hair down and parted in the middle and had a thick gold necklace around her neck. In the clip, she and comedian and writer Ziwe Fumudoh sway to the Bad Bunny song EoO. 'Escaped to Mexico just for TikTok,' the caption across the post read. It comes as celebrity blogger Deuxmoi revealed an anonymous tip claiming that Ratajkowski could be romancing Kaia Gerber's recent ex, Austin Butler, 33. Emily Ratajkowski, 33, is enjoying a getaway south of the border in Mexico, and shared a sizzling new Instagram video on Sunday She posted a video of herself sipping on a pina colada in a red bikini on the balcony of her hotel room It comes as celebrity blogger Deuxmoi revealed an anonymous tip claiming that Ratajkowski could be romancing Kaia Gerber's recent ex, Austin Butler, 33; the exes pictured in April 2023 In Deuxmoi's January 16 podcast episode, the anonymous host revealed that a source told her things 'had been bad' between Gerber and Butler 'for at least six months' leading up to their split. '[Austin] stopped making an effort to see [Kaia] when their schedules didn't align,' the insider spilled. She then shared an email tip that read: 'I have heard Austin Butler and Emrata are hooking up. She followed him on Instagram.' Kaia and the actor have called it quits on their relationship after three years together after reportedly decided to end things towards the end of 2024. Meanwhile Ratajkowski sparked romance rumors with A Bar Song hitmaker Shaboozey last year. It came following her divorce from ex-husband Sebastian Bear-McClard. She was married to the Uncut Gems producer, 37, from 2018 to 2022, and they share 3-year-old son Sylvester 'Sly' Apollo. The latest caption on Emily's social media post read: 'Guess we live here now @ziwef.' Fans gushed over her appearance in the comments section. 'God was in a really good mood the day he made you ,' one person said, while another added, 'Perfection!!' A third user said, 'Body goals,' and a fourth wrote, 'You look gorgeous.' 'I have heard Austin Butler and Emrata are hooking up. She followed him on Instagram,' the email tip read Emily is following the Elvis star on the social media platform She showed off her sensational figure Emily wore her brunette hair down and parted in the middle and had a thick gold necklace around her neck In the clip, EmRata and comedian and writer Ziwe Fumudoh sway to the Bad Bunny song EoO TikTok went dark for users in the United States on the night of January 18 ahead of the Supreme Court mandated deadline for the ban on the Chinese social media platform. Less than 14 hours later, officials from TikTok said they were working to restore service to U.S. users. The London-born SoCal native's four-year marriage to Sebastian ended in 2022 amid a slew of sexual misconduct allegations against him from actresses. Emily famously wed the Independent Spirit Award-nominated producer at a New York City courthouse in February 2018 - just two months after she ended her three-year, live-in relationship with music producer Jeff Magid. Ratajkowski will next portray Felix's (Will Sharpe) ex-girlfriend Polly in Lena Dunham and husband Luis Felber's upcoming 10-episode comedy series Too Much for Netflix. Megan Stalter, Richard E. Grant, Stephen Fry, Janicza Bravo, Andrew Rannells, Rhea Perlman, Rita Wilson, and Adele Exarchopoulos will also appear in Too Much. In November, Emily was named the new Intimissimi Brand Ambassador, succeeding Jennifer Lopez in the role. 'I am thrilled to join Intimissimi as their Brand Ambassador,' Ratajkowski said in a statement shared with DailyMail.com. 'Intimissimi celebrates women and femininity in such an inspiring way, and I am excited to help introduce this iconic brand to more women across the U.S.' Emily added: 'I truly believe in the power of beautiful lingerie to make you feel confident and empowered, and Intimissimi does this beautifully.' 'We are absolutely delighted to welcome Emily Ratajkowski to the Intimissimi family,' said Matteo Veronesi, Brand Leader Intimissimi. 'Emily's charisma and undeniable presence perfectly reflect the qualities we want to celebrate through our brand. Kaia and the actor have called it quits on their relationship after three years together after reportedly decided to end things towards the end of 2024; they are seen in 2023 It comes following Emily's divorce from Sebastian Bear-McClard. She was married to the producer, 37, from 2018 to 2022, and they share 3-year-old son Sylvester 'Sly' Apollo; seen in 2020 'She brings a modern, powerful energy that aligns with our dedication to empowering women and embracing individuality through our lingerie.' Since its founding in 1996, Intimissimi has been 'at the forefront of lingerie design, combining Italian craftsmanship with contemporary fashion,' a press release shared. 'With a commitment to high-quality fabrics, sophisticated design, and an inclusive approach, Intimissimi brings women's lingerie, loungewear, and accessories that inspire confidence and elegance.' Now available in 53 countries with 1,719 stores worldwide, Intimissimi has the 'experience and expertise to produce the finest lingerie for every woman's daily needs,' a press release shared. Intimissimi is 'designed with the modern woman in mind, for the woman who is comfortable in her own skin.' Carrie Bickmore was every inch the Barbie bombshell as she flaunted her incredible figure at the beach in Melbourne over the summer. In one of the images posted to her Instagram on Sunday, the radio star, 44, turned up the heat in a purple bikini while soaking up the sun with her children. Her stunning two piece featured a scoop neckline and stood out amongst other beachgoers thanks to its vibrant colour. The former Project host seemed to be makeup free for the outing, but wore dainty gold jewellery, and stayed sun safe in a wide brim hat and dark shades. 'A sandy sun filled summer with some of my special people,' Carrie captioned the video montage of her laidback summer holidays. The mum-of-two is such a fan of the bikini, that she owns the same one in several colours. She is seen in the next clip lounging on a beach towel in a blue version of the same set. Carrie Bickmore was every inch the Barbie bombshell on Sunday as she flaunted her incredible figure at the beach in Melbourne The radio star, 44, turned up the heat in a two-piece bikini while soaking up the sun with her two children over the summer holidays Carrie looked thrilled to be spending quality time with her two girls, who she shares with ex-husband Chris Walker. The drive show radio host frolicked around in the shallow water with her two daughters, Evie, nine, and Adelaide, six. She flaunted her sun-kissed tan and extensive collection of bright swimsuits in the video. The mother-daughter trio appeared to be playing games and gripped each other's wrists while the waves rolled along the shore. Carrie and Chris separated in January 2022 after 11 years of marriage. 'It's with immense sadness that Chris and I have decided to separate,' Carrie announced at the time of their split. 'While this is a tough time, our focus is on parenting, loving and supporting our three children Ollie, Evie and Addie with everything that we've got. 'They are doing great. We won't be making any further comment.' The drive show radio host frolicked around in the shallow water with her two daughters, Evie, nine, and Adelaide, six The petite radio star has been on her fashion and fitness A-game recently and in her summer holiday video showed off her love of colourful activewear and bikini sets Carrie and Chris met as colleagues on The Project - when she was a presenter and he was a producer - and they began dating in late 2012, two years after she lost her husband Greg Lange to brain cancer. Speaking on the Empowering Leaders podcast in August 2024, Chris opened up on the split admitting he was still dealing with the 'grief' of the separation. Carrie's righthand man and radio co-host Tommy Little, 39, rushed to her side at the time that she confirmed her break-up, leading insiders to speculate their friendship could evolve into something more. Carrie also has a son, Ollie, 17, who she shares with late husband Greg Lange. In another candid family moment, he's seen standing on the rocks throwing a fishing line into the ocean. Rumours that Carrie and Tommy were set to appear on the 11th season of I'm A Celebrity! Get Me Outta Here were officially put to bed on Sunday, as eleven fresh faces entered the South African jungle. While Carrie soaked up the summer sunshine, Tommy took to his Instagram Stories to shout out his 'last' stand-up comedy gig in Brunswick Heads Sunday night, before attending a late night burlesque show at the Brunswick Picture House. The Carrie & Tommy co-hosts are said to have reportedly made a 'secret pact' not to appear on celebrity shows together. According to Yahoo! Lifestyle, the pair believe that the amount of time away filming for the Channel Ten reality TV series could jeopardise their lucrative radio careers. Rumours that Carrie Bickmore and her radio co-host Tommy Little (pictured) were set to appear on the 11th season of I'm A Celebrity! Get Me Outta Here were officially put to bed on Sunday, as the duo did not appear in the South African jungle A TV casting producer told the publication: 'I would say that they are looking for more than a quarter of a million dollars each and to be honest they would be worth every penny. Everyone has a number that works for them.' 'Carrie and Tommy have really cashed in on their chemistry - which is obvious on the weekly drive show,' they added of their on-air success. 'The whole, "are they dating or aren't they?" has been a huge draw card for them both.' Daily Mail Australia contacted Carrie and Tommy's representatives for comment. Carrie and Tommy have been the subject of romance rumours ever since they hosted their HIT FM radio show from Paris, France, last year. He did not appear in any of Carrie's summer holiday highlight reel. Jackie 'O' Henderson jetted back into Sydney on Sunday night, just hours before she returned to host her radio show with co-host Kyle Sandilands. The 49-year-old looked happy and relaxed as she wheeled her suitcase through the airport after landing back in Australia with her daughter Kitty. The KIIS FM host put on a stylish display in a white maxi dress as she passed through the international arrivals gate after a holiday in Fiji. Jackie completed her look with a pair of comfortable sandals and left her curled long blonde locks out. Her daughter Kitty also dressed casually for the flight in white shorts and a navy T-shirt. The pair landed back in Sydney just hours before Jackie was set to return to work on her KIIS FM radio show on Monday morning. Jackie 'O' Henderson jetted back into Sydney on Sunday night, just hours before she returned to host her radio show with co-host Kyle Sandilands During the show, Jackie explained to her co-host Kyle: 'I just came back last night actually. Talk about cutting it fine.' Earlier this month, Kyle and Jackie surprised their fans with a very unlikely change to their popular radio show. The Kyle and Jackie O Show is known for its trademark crude and explicit humour but the co-hosts have now promised to tone down their antics. Shock jock Kyle and Jackie have failed to win over Melbourne viewers since expanding into the city in April 2024, dipping down in the radio ratings. However, seemingly in a bid to win over fans in the city, the top-rating Sydney KIIS FM show have now promised to 'behave' and down tone their cheeky antics. A new slogan advertising the show reads: 'Listen now. We're behaving,' in an apparent bid to appeal to a larger audience in Melbourne. The advertisement has been plastered all over Melbourne's buses as the breakfast show have poked fun at their naughty reputation. Kyle and Jackie have famously interviewed people about their sex lives and revealed how to identify an erotic massage parlour in some racy segments on their program. Jackie looked happy and relaxed as she wheeled her suitcase through the airport after landing back in Australia with her daughter Kitty But after the show was introduced to Melbourne last year, KIIS FM management have been transforming the show to make it more accessible to the new market. In November, it was announced that Kyle would be reducing his trademark graphic sexual content in a bid to appeal to the Melbourne market. 'The sexual content was really a small part of the show,' ARN's chief content officer Duncan Campbell told Mumbrella. 'Because it was graphic, it grabbed everyone's attention but [Kyle's] taken that off, really. 'It's still sexual content. But not the graphic sexual content that it once was.' Campbell told the outlet that Kyle was the one who 'came to the table' with toning down on the graphic content and is passionate about winning over Melbourne. '[Kyle] wants to win in Melbourne. There's no doubt about that,' he added. The pair landed back in Sydney just hours before Jackie was set to return to work on her KIIS FM radio show on Monday morning The Kyle & Jackie O Show has had a slow start in Melbourne since the expansion and suffered another small dip in the seventh GFK radio ratings in the Victorian capital. Sitting at eighth position in the Breakfast slot with a 5.1 per cent share, the duo slipped well behind Nova's Jase and Lauren, as well as Triple M and ABC Melbourne. However in Sydney, Kyle and Jackie have still managed to claim the top position for their breakfast time slot. This was despite a drop to 13.1 per cent of the audience. She's no stranger to flaunting her incredible figure. And Nadiya Bychkova channelled her inner Bond Girl in a skimpy white bikini as she shared a sizzling Instagram snap on Saturday. The Strictly Come Dancing star, 35, set pulses racing in the sexy throwback snap, as she pined for a sunny beachside getaway. Nadiya, who recently returned from celebrating the New Year in Slovenia, showed off her dance physique in the plunging white two-piece. The dancer captioned her post: 'Dreaming of sunshine.' Nadiya is understood to be single after ending her relationship with fellow Strictly professional Kai Widdrington. Nadiya Bychkova, 35, channelled her inner Bond Girl in a skimpy white bikini in a sizzling Instagram snap on Saturday The talented dancer originally confirmed their romance in 2022, during an exclusive interview with the Daily Mail Weekend magazine. 'We've been seeing each other properly for a couple of months now,' she said at the time. 'It's early days and we've been rehearsing for the Strictly Professionals tour, so there's been very little free time,' she continues. 'But we're getting to know more and more about each other day by day. He's kind and compassionate and makes me laugh. I feel very relaxed with him.' When Nadiya, a two-time world champion Latin and ballroom dancer and the only Strictly professional who's a mother, joined the show in 2017 the long separations from her fiance, with whom she lived in Slovenia, took their toll. 'You're apart for so much of your lives and neither of us wanted that. Unfortunately we grew apart,' she explained. 'But we'll always be connected by Mila, who we love more than anyone, and we'll do our best to make sure she's the happiest child. It's important to Matija and me that we have a good relationship for Mila's sake. 'Having a child surpasses everything else. We make sure it all works around her and we both understand our responsibilities.' The dancer recently celebrated the New Year with a trip to Slovenia, where she enjoyed a bikini-clad dip in a hot tub Nadiya is understood to be single after ending her relationship with fellow Strictly professional Kai Widdrington (pictured together) Nadiya's childhood home was in Luhansk in the Donbas region, seized by pro-Russian separatists in the 2014 invasion and recently the focus of heavy fighting. 'My dad isn't allowed to leave Ukraine because he's under 55 and might be conscripted. I always worry about him,' she told Weekend in 2022. 'My family can hear explosions from their homes. They got used to that eight years ago too. 'In 2014 Mum escaped on the last train out before the railways were destroyed. 'For three months there was no mobile phone signal. It was horrible as Dad and my grandparents were still there and I didn't know if they were alive. 'I saw a video on social media of my grandmother's house destroyed by a bomb. It was terrifying.' Katie Holmes flashed a smile while proudly posing outside the Barrymore Theatre in Midtown Manhattan on Sunday ahead of her final performance as homemaker Myrtle Webb in the Broadway play Our Town. The 46-year-old Dawson's Creek alum bundled up in a long black pea coat over a matching top, pants, and patterned pumps. Katie hauled a 450 Aspinal of London 'East West' leather tote and she wore dark sunglasses over her make-up free complexion. Holmes was 'so grateful to be a part of this production saying these beautiful words with my favorite actors.' Hours later, the empty nester took her final bow during curtain call in Kenny Leon's Broadway revival of Thornton Wilder's 1938 Pulitzer Prize-winning play. The 28-strong, multi-racial cast of the strictly-limited engagement includes Big Bang Theory alum Jim Parsons and Juror #2 actress Zoey Deutch. Katie Holmes flashed a smile while proudly posing outside the Barrymore Theatre in Midtown Manhattan on Sunday ahead of her final performance as homemaker Myrtle Webb in the Broadway play Our Town Katie - who boasts 2.9M Instagram followers - made sure to leave her mark, literally, in the form of graffiti as a 'dressing room farewell' including her name, 2024-2025, and the play's name. On Saturday night, Holmes and the cast and crew imbibed on shots of black cherry whiskey, sang Donna Summer songs, and played a rousing game of 'Pin the Mustache on Thornton Wilder.' The Kamala Harris supporter is planning on reteaming with her co-star Willa Bost - who played Lady in the Box and Townsperson - as she wrote: 'Final weekend of @ourtownbroadway but we are connected for life! @katieholmes I'm so excited for our project in 2026!' Our Town marked Katie's first professional acting gig since playing movie star Julia Cheever in Roundabout Theatre Company's off-Broadway play Wanderers, which ran from January 26, 2023April 2, 2023 at the Laura Pels Theatre in Manhattan. Holmes previously starred in two prior Broadway productions for The Shubert Organization - Arthur Miller's All My Sons at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre in 2008-2009 and Theresa Rebeck's comedy Dead Accounts at the Music Box Theatre in 2012-2013. The Ohio-born beauty is penning several screenplays and signed on to star in Dito Montiel's thriller Captivated alongside Al Pacino, and she'll guest star in the second season of Peacock's murder mystery Poker Face lead by Natasha Lyonne. On the personal front, Katie's daughter Suri Noelle is in the midst of her freshman year at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, PA. The 18-year-old songstress ditched her famous father Tom Cruise's surname, but he reportedly pays her $65K/year tuition as well as medical, dental, and insurance expenses despite not being pictured with her since his six-year marriage to Holmes ended in 2012. The 46-year-old Dawson's Creek alum bundled up in a long black pea coat over a matching top, pants, and patterned pumps Katie hauled a 450 Aspinal of London 'East West' leather tote and she wore dark sunglasses over her make-up free complexion Holmes was 'so grateful to be a part of this production saying these beautiful words with my favorite actors' Hours later, the empty nester took her final bow during curtain call in Kenny Leon's Broadway revival of Thornton Wilder's 1938 Pulitzer Prize-winning play The 28-strong, multi-racial cast of the strictly-limited engagement includes Big Bang Theory alum Jim Parsons (pictured Sunday) and Juror #2 actress Zoey Deutch Katie made sure to leave her mark, literally, in the form of graffiti as a 'dressing room farewell' including her name, 2024-2025, and the play's name On Saturday night, Holmes and the cast and crew imbibed on shots of black cherry whiskey, sang Donna Summer songs, and played a rousing game of 'Pin the Mustache on Thornton Wilder' The Kamala Harris supporter is planning on reteaming with her co-star Willa Bost - who played Lady in the Box and Townsperson - as she wrote: 'We are connected for life! @katieholmes I'm so excited for our project in 2026!' Some speculate the 62-year-old Oscar nominee's alleged estrangement has to do with the mother-daughter duo 'disavowing the Church of Scientology' and devotees don't associate with SPs (suppressive people). Katie - who received no spousal support - went on to date Tom's Collateral co-star Jamie Foxx from 2013-2019, and he declared he'll date 'no more white girls' in his December 10th Netflix special. Holmes has been single since ending her eight-month romance with bass player Bobby Wooten III in 2022. Kendall and Kylie Jenner showcased their close sisterly bond as they hit the Aspen slopes together on Sunday. The stunning reality stars, whove taken over the chic Colorado ski town for a glamorous family getaway, bundled up in stylish outerwear while perfecting their snowboarding skills. Kendall, 29, shared the sweet moment on Instagram Stories, capturing the two youngest Kardashian-Jenner siblings taking a well-deserved break, perched on the snowy slope. Kendall kept it sporty in a yellow and black jacket paired with matching ski pants, while Kylie, 27, exuded all-black chic in her warm yet fashionable outerwear. The night before their snowy adventure, Kendall and Kylie dressed to impress for a dinner at the trendy Casa Tua, treating Kylies adorable daughter, Stormi, to a night out. The trio was joined by Hailey Bieber, completing the ultimate girls night out in the picturesque mountain town. Kendall, 29, and Kylie Jenner, 27, showcased their close sisterly bond as they hit the Aspen slopes together on Sunday; (seen in October 2024) The stunning reality stars, whove taken over the chic Colorado ski town for a glamorous family getaway, bundled up in stylish outerwear while perfecting their snowboarding skills It comes after Kylie was labelled a 'climate criminal' after she posted a statement about relief efforts amid the devastating wildfires in Los Angeles just hours after her private jet made its 11th flight since January 1. Despite the growing backlash against stars including her sister Kim Kardashian over excessive flying, the reality star-turned-business woman appears to have made no plans to minimise her usage in 2025. In fact, her luxury 70 million aircraft has flown 11 times since the start of the year, with the jet making three flights in one day on January 16. Based on statistics tracked by CelebrityJets, the flights have emitted around 162 tons of CO2 emissions to date. It is the equivalent of the electricity use of 33 homes for one year, according to the Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies Calculator. Four out of 11 flights were under one hour, with the jet spending a shockingly short 15 minutes in the air on one of those journeys. The jet has also flown eight times since the catastrophic wildfires broke out on January 7. It made one of its shortest trips on January 9 when it was in the air for 15 minutes, flying between Los Angeles and Camarillo, both in California. Kendall shared the sweet moment on Instagram Stories, capturing the two youngest Kardashian-Jenner siblings taking a well-deserved break, perched on the snowy slope The night before their snowy adventure, Kendall and Kylie dressed to impress for a dinner at the trendy Casa Tua, treating Kylies adorable daughter, Stormi, to a night out Three days later it took off again, this time for a slightly longer 36 minute flight to Palm Springs, emitting a further three tonnes of CO2 at a cost of $1,555. Hours later, Kylie took off for London to support boyfriend Timothee Chalamet at the premiere of his new Bob Dylan biopic, A Complete Unknown, where ironically the actor appeared to swerve a car in favour of a Lime bike for his red carpet arrival. Making the most of their time in Europe, the loved-up couple then jumped back on the jet for a 47 minute flight across the Channel to Paris, France. The journey emitted four tonnes of CO2 and 361 gallons of jet fuel at a cost of $2,000, nearly six times the price of a single premier ticket for the Eurostar which takes just under three hours. On her way back to America, the jet stopped at Fargo, North Dakota, then Rifle, Colorado, before finishing in Teterboro, New Jersey, tallying up three flights in 24 hours. Her arrival coincided with a post from her Kylie Cosmetics Instagram account, promising to donate 'skincare, body, hair and makeup products' to 'help provide items that help teens in Altadena feel confident and like themselves again.' The statement read: 'We are truly heartbroken to see the devastation caused by the fires in Los Angeles. Watching so many people forced to evacuate and hearing the stories of those who have lost everything is deeply saddening and difficult to comprehend.' The post, which garnered 21,000 likes, sparked a backlash over her jet use, with one follower telling her to 'use your power accordingly'. It comes after Kylie was labelled a 'climate criminal' after she posted a statement about relief efforts amid the devastating wildfires in Los Angeles just hours after her private jet made its 11th flight since January 1; (seen in 2023) 'Taking a private jet to Paris, which contributes to the warmer weather and wild fires in LA, and we know you do this many times a year, and then put a bandaid on middle class LA fire victims with your lotion, is horrific,' they wrote. The billionaire mum-of-two purchased the Bombardier Global 7500 jet in 2020 for a rumoured $72.8 million and fashioned every seat with Hermes blankets. She took 195 flights in 2024, according to Celebrity Private Jet Tracker. Fury around her jet use has been exacerbated in the face of multiple fires which have turned huge swathes of Southern California into an inferno, with 40,000 acres reduced to ash and 27 people dead. 'They don't care. They will never care. Kylie sharing donation links is performative,' wrote one furious person on Reddit. 'Kylie is so fake how is she going to share things about the LA fires when she's a big contributor towards the fires starting in the first place with the overuse of her private jet and she's been using her jet for days while the fires are still happening. Worms for brains.' AFL WAG Bec Judd has revealed her children have wreaked chaos upon her $7.4million Brighton mansion. Bec, 41, who shares four childrenOscar, 12, Billie 10, and twins Tom and Darcy, eightwith retired footy player husband Chris Judd, took to her Instagram Stories on Monday to show the destruction her twins caused to their lavish home. 'I popped my head in to see what we're dealing with today,' she began her video, which shows dirty and clean clothes, books, and toys strewn all over the twins' bedroom. All of the draws in a large clothing chest are pulled out, with clothes half pulled out of them and also thrown over the floor. 'How did we create these humans?' she asked her husband in the video's caption, tagging him. Bec described the messy state of the boys' bedroom as 'standard'. Bec and Chris Judd purchased their sprawling $7.3m Brighton house in March 2018, and commenced a complete makeover on the Spanish colonial spread soon after Bec described the messy state of her 8-year-old twin boys' bedroom as 'standard' She then showed a large inbuilt bench seat, loaded up with piles of children's books, magazines, soft toys, and model aeroplane toys. 'I'm packing up some sh*t and found this,' Bec explained as she zoomed in on a pile of glittery goop, containing a mystery buried plastic object. A pair of Bec's sewing scissors look like they had been speared into the goop. 'What?' she exclaimed, as she tried to pull the 'slime' off the bench seat. 'It's really stuck in the fabric,' Bec said, which it has obviously stained. 'And I find a pair of scissors and...a stapler!' 'What the f**k boys,' the mum-of-four vented. 'I say to them every day, "You are eight-and-a-half, you are not toddlers anymore".' Bec swore again as she tried and failed to lift up the slime. 'I'm so sick of the toddler stage,' she vented in a caption posted immediately after the video. 'Thirteen years and I'm still in the thick of it.' 'I'm packing up some sh*t and found this,' Bec explained as she zoomed in on a pile of glittery goop, containing a mystery buried plastic object The AFL WAG, 41, said she enforces a strict 'no slime' ban in her household 'And for all those asking, we have a slime ban in our house for this reason and I have no f**king idea how this lot got into the house.' She surmised the culprit must have been someone that 'got a Christmas gift past me.' 'Can they go back to school yet?' Bec then asked her followers to reach out if they had any tips for removing slime from velvet. To calm herself down, the exasperated parent went and found a 'sweet' drawing one of her twins, Darcy, recently made for his twin brother Tom. 'When we got back from Japan, Chris, Billie, and Tom all had influenza B, so Oscar, Darcy and I all moved out for a week so we didn't get it.' The family stayed at the upmarket Kiroro ski resort in Hokkaido over Christmas and New Year's. The Judds purchased their sprawling Spanish colonial-style mansion in Brighton in 2018 and completed a complete overhaul of the property soon after. Rebecca Judd 's son broke his school's phone ban this week by using his new Apple Watch to text his mother and make a prank call to 'emergency services'. Pictured with twins Tom and Darcy 'I do adore them,' she said. 'Most of the time,' with a laughing-emoji. The model and TV presenter often documents the realities of her mum life on social media, and recently faced backlash when she laughed at a stern email from one of her son's teachers. In October, Bec revealed one of her twins had broken his school's phone ban by using his new Apple Watch to text his mother and make a prank call to 'emergency services'. Mobile phones are now effectively banned in public schools across Australia, with high schools following suit of primary schools last October. Darcy had called 111, the emergency services number used in the United States, from his new Apple Watch. His Year 3 teacher didn't mince words as she signed off her email: 'I'm sure he understands the seriousness of this game.' 'He easily cracked the "school time" code and has been texting and calling me allllll day. Sorry to his teacher,' Bec bragged online. The last sentence took on a sarcastic tone when paired with an emoji of the see-no-evil monkey. Rebecca responded with a laugh-crying emoji in her caption and confirmed she wouldn't send her son to school with his hi-tech watch the next day. Their romance had seemed like a fairytale. The stunning Australian model, whose surname is one of the most famous in fashion, fell head over heels for the tatted-up American race car driver. Once linked to the heir to a Greek shipping fortune, she had instead pursued true love with a single father who lived for speed and burning rubber. And everything appeared to be perfect. But sadly for Jessica Hart, her relationship with NASCAR driver James Kirkham seems to have skidded off the track. The couple of six years, who share daughter Baby-Rae and son Glorious, were seen having an almighty row while driving back to their Hollywood Hills home on Friday. Jessica Hart's romance with NASCAR driver James Kirkham seems to have skidded off course The couple of six years, who share daughter Baby-Rae and son Glorious, were seen having an almighty row while driving back to their Hollywood Hills home on Friday James was spotted pacing outside their property after Jessica appeared to lock him out In photos obtained by Daily Mail Australia, Jessica was seen behind the wheel of their $368,000 Mercedes-AMG G-Class as the pair had a heated conversation. Jessica eventually pulled over and turned on the hazard lights. James then wildly gesticulated in the air, before burying his head in his hands, seemingly in despair. Their vehicle was briefly blocking traffic until James exited, an onlooker said. Jessica then drove off without him, prompting him to run after the car. 'James caught up with Jessica's car and she stopped again and he got in the front passenger seat,' an eyewitness said. 'They argued for another 20 minutes then James got out of the car again and ran towards the house.' After parking in the driveway of their mansion, Jessica went inside and appeared to lock James out. He proceeded to have an animated conversation with a neighbour. Our photographer caught him pointing towards the house while seemingly trying to explain the situation. While it's unclear what the couple was arguing about, a cursory glance of their Instagram accounts suggests their relationship could be in serious trouble. In photos obtained by Daily Mail Australia, Jessica was seen behind the wheel of their $368,000 Mercedes-AMG G-Class as the pair had a heated conversation Jessica eventually pulled over and turned on the hazard lights James wildly gesticulated in the air, before burying his head in his hands, seemingly in despair Their vehicle was briefly blocking traffic until James exited, an onlooker said James was seen looking despondent on the pavement after Jessica drove off James was seen running towards their home after exiting the vehicle 'James caught up with Jessica's car and she stopped again,' an eyewitness said 'They argued for another 20 minutes then James got out... again and ran towards the house' After parking in their mansion's driveway, Jessica went inside and appeared to lock James out Upon arrival, James proceeded to have an animated conversation with a neighbour Jessica and James no longer appear on each other's followers' lists, which either means they've unfollowed each other, or gone a step further and hit the block button. They have also been mysteriously absent from each other's Instagram grids in recent months. They were last pictured together on October 21 while attending the United States Grand Prix in Austin, Texas. In the pictures, the F1 fanatics looked in happy spirits as they flashed huge smiles and cuddled up to one another during the world-famous race day. Daily Mail Australia has contacted James and Jessica's representatives for comment. The couple first started dating in early 2019 after bonding over their shared love of fast cars. Jessica joined Mercedes-Benz's AMG Academy, which helps to train motoring enthusiasts how to race, and was immediately drawn to the NASCAR star. Romance soon blossomed and they announced they were expecting their first child together in September 2020. Jessica and James no longer appear on each other's followers' lists on Instagram, which either means they've unfollowed each other, or gone a step further and hit the block button Our photographer caught him seemingly trying to explain something to the neighbour The couple first started dating in early 2019 after bonding over their shared love of fast cars. They were last pictured together at the United States Grand Prix on October 21 (shown here) Jessica is pictured walking the runway at the 2012 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show in New York Between 2011 and 2017, Jessica was in a relationship with Stavros Niarchos III (right), the grandson of Stavros Niarchos, the Greek billionaire shipping tycoon Just a month later, James got down on one knee and proposed to the Victoria's Secret model at their baby shower. Just weeks later, they welcomed their daughter, Baby-Rae Kirkham, on November 17. Their child's name made headlines at the time. Jessica explained it came from Jennifer Grey's character 'Baby' from the 1987 film Dirty Dancing. Her middle name, Rae, was a nod to Jessica's mother. Just seven months later, the blonde revealed she was pregnant again and their son Glorious was born on February 2, 2022. Jessica, whose sister is model Ash Hart, is also a stepmother to James' nine-year-old daughter, Wren, from a previous relationship. Before meeting James, the Vogue cover girl had dated fellow Australian Nicolas Potts, with whom she appeared in the first season of the MTV reality show The City. And between 2011 and 2017 she was in a relationship with Stavros Niarchos III, the grandson of Stavros Niarchos, the Greek billionaire shipping tycoon best known for being the great rival of Aristotle Onassis. Veteran Channel Nine star Andrew Lofthouse is retiring after 17 years with the network. Lofthouse, 62, who is the anchor for Nine News Queensland, made the admission on Monday, revealing he was stepping back due to health concerns. 'I've been in the business a long time,' Loftouse said in a statement. 'I've done a heck of a lot with Nine. It's Been an amazing privilege and a wonderful experience with the best in the business.' He added: 'And of course, or incredible viewers who make it all worthwhile.' Lofhouse admitted that an undisclosed health issue had forced him to vacate his anchor chair. Veteran Channel Nine star Andrew Lofthouse (pictured) has announced his retirement after 17 years with the network Lofthouse, 62, who is the anchor for Nine News Queensland made the admission on Monday, revealing he was stepping back due to health concerns 'I'm currently dealing with a bit of a health issue so now is a good time for me to pull back and slow down a little after a dream career,' he said. 'Thanks for watching!' Lofthouse's co- star Melissa Downes was full of praise for the departing host, labelling him a 'gentlemen of the TV news business.' 'He is incredibly passionate about quality journalism, taking an interest in every story in our bulletin,' she said. 'Lofty is so much more than just a colleague, he's one of my closest friends and I'm so incredibly grateful for the 16 years we shared on the 9News desk.' Similarly, 9News Queensland News Director Brendan Hockings was also full or praise for the star. 'He is the journo who offers to carry the tripod. The colleague who makes you a cuppa, ' he said. 'The news anchor who doesn't see himself as any more than part of the team. 'I'm currently dealing with a bit of a health issue so now is a good time for me to pull back and slow down a little after a dream career,' he said Lofthouse's co- star Melissa Downes (right) was full of praise for the departing host, labelling him as a 'gentlemen of the TV news business' 'He is incredibly passionate about quality journalism, taking an interest in every story in our bulletin,' she said 'The example he has set as a newsman is the gold standard' he continued. 'He is rare, he is loved and he is forever Nine Queensland.' The Courier Mail reported that staff were informed of Lofthouse's decision on Monday morning. The publication claimed that speculation around he anchor's future had been swirling with Lofhouse last seen on air sn November 1. Melissa will continue to present 9News Queensland solo until a co-host is announced. After an 18-year stint at the ABC, Lofthouse joined the Nine News Queensland team in 2009. He took on the role of weekend news presenter in 2009, taking over from eventual co-host Melissa Downes. That same year, Lofthouse joined Downes on the weeknight desk, taking over from Bruce paige. The duo proved a viewer favourite, taking the bulletin to the top of the local ratings in 2013. It comes amid turmoil at Channel Nine after a star was stood down this week from his high profile role after accepting a sizable cash prize from The Block billionaire Adrian Portelli. The rich lister gifted Today show presenter Alex Cullen $50,000 after he was the first media personality to use his new self-given nickname 'McLaren Man' live on air on Friday morning. Portelli has grown tired of his long-used nickname 'Mr Lambo' which had stuck after he turned up to a 2022 auction of popular house makeover show The Block in a yellow Lamborghini. Channel Nine said Cullen had agreed to step down on Saturday while the network looked into the payement, reported the Sunday Herald Sun. 'Nine is taking this matter extremely seriously,' a spokesperson told the publication. 'Appropriate action has been promptly taken, including arranging for the funds to be returned. 'While we review the circumstances in which this occurred, Alex has agreed to stand down.' Spencer Pratt said he's angry with Call Her Daddy's Alex Cooper after she did not come to his aid during a tough time. Pratt, 41 - who lost the Pacific Palisades, California home he shared with wife Heidi Montag, 38, in the Los Angeles fires - chat with Bethenny Frankel, 54, on TikTok Live Saturday. Pratt said Cooper is 'going to be targeted' after she shunned his repeated requests for her to promote Montag's song, the focal point of the reality TV couple's fundraising efforts after their home burned down last week. The Hills alum, who is father to two sons with Montag, his wife of 16 years - Gunner, six, and Ryker, two - said he reached out repeatedly to Cooper, 30, and her husband Matt Kaplan, 40, asking them to mention the song on her popular podcast. 'I asked her to post the song, and I texted her husband and I was like, "Hey, it would really help" ... I kept tagging her, messaging,' Pratt said. Pratt said Cooper eventually replied to him, noting how she was providing shelter to people who also lost their homes in the blazes - but didn't acknowledge his promotional request. Spencer Pratt, 41, said he's angry with Alex Cooper, 30, after she did not come to his aid during a tough time, as he chat with Bethenny Frankel , 54, on TikTok Live Saturday The Call Her Daddy host, seen last month in NYC, is 'going to be targeted,' Pratt said, after she shunned his repeated requests for her to promote his wife Heidi Montag's song 'She wrote to me, "We have a lot of people displaced at our house,"' Pratt said. 'And I'm like, "Post the song, girl."' Pratt said Cooper 'was like the only one that chose not to' post Montag's song, to help the family amid their time of need. Pratt vowed to foil Cooper on a professional level - if he's in a position to do so. 'Respectfully, if I keep my platform, and I keep being an A-list, rich celebrity, she's so f*****, cause I have beef with her now - she's going to be targeted,' Pratt said. Pratt praised ex Call Her Daddy co-host Sofia Franklyn, 32, for playing the Montag track on her podcast Sofia with an F. 'Now I ride with Sofia with an F, that's my team now - Sofia with an F posted the song, did a dance,' Pratt said. Frankel asked Pratt who topped his hit list, and he said Cooper had a spot reserved there. Pratt had previously appeared on an episode of Cooper's podcast in June of 2022, and she hailed him as one of her most entertaining guests. Pratt pictured at the site of his Pacific Palisades home that burned down in the LA fires Pratt told the outlet that people had misconceptions about his family's finances. Pictured with Montag on Good Morning America January 15 While Cooper did not show up for Pratt to promote Montag's 2010 Superficial album - helping it top iTunes charts after she lost her home - a number of other celebs did, including Flavor Flav and Emily Ratajkowski. Pratt, in an interview with Variety Friday, said that TikTok had been a lucrative platform in addition to Montag's musical re-release. He said, 'I made, like, $4,000 on TikTok this week, but on TikTok Live, where people can just give to me direct, I think maybe $20,000. 'So that's phenomenal and life-changing. That's the power of individual supporters, people just backing you and getting behind you.' Pratt told the outlet that people had misconceptions about his family's finances. 'I know people are like, "Youre rich, you will be fine,"' he said. 'Yeah, I wish. Everything in our house was paid for by Heidi and I hustling any way we could. Everything we have worked for was in this house we are starting at zero now.' Paris Hilton took a 'mindful moment' amid the ongoing wildfires ravaging Los Angeles, which have burned down her home. On Sunday evening, the reality TV personality, 43, took to Instagram to share an adorable video of her son Phoenix taking a nap alongside their puppies. Her two-year-old toddler was bundled up in a cozy blanket as Hilton's chihuahuas Diamond and Baby snuggled up next to him. Over the video of her first child and puppies cuddled together, she wrote: 'Take a moment to relax with sleepy Pheeny, Diamond, and Baby.' In her caption, she said she was sharing 'some sleepy Pheeny and puppy footage for your feed.' This comes after Hilton and her family's $8.4 million beach house in Malibu was destroyed in the Palisades Fire. Paris Hilton, 43, took a 'mindful moment' amid the ongoing wildfires ravaging Los Angeles, which have burned down her home; pictured November 2024 in West Hollywood On Sunday evening, the reality TV personality, 43, took to Instagram to share an adorable video of her son Phoenix taking a nap alongside their puppies Hilton shares son Phoenix and 14-month-old daughter London with her husband, venture capitalist Carter Reum, 43. 'Through everything that's going on around us, sometimes we need an adorable reminder to take a mindful moment for ourselves,' she wrote in her caption before adding the hashtag, '#SlivingMom.' Just one day earlier, The Simple Life star also shared another cute video of her son Phoenix and his 'cousin Lulu' eating French fries playing around in the airport hotel they were forced to evacuate to amid the blazes. In the video, the daughter of businessman Jay Milliken and jewelry designer Eleni Asimos Milliken was seen running around the spacious hotel room as she tried to give a kiss to Phoenix. However, Phoenix was dodging and evading, so Hilton asked him: 'Pheeny, do you want to give Lulu a kiss?' When Phoenix shook his head, she added: 'No? Okay! She just wants to give you a kiss.' Then, Hilton said: 'Alright, I think he's not into it.' Alongside the reel, she wrote: 'Cousin Lulu loves Phoenix. Through all the chaos of evacuating during the wildfires, these two kept us laughing and distracted in our hotel.' Her two-year-old toddler was bundled up in a cozy blanket as Hilton's chihuahuas Diamond and Baby snuggled up next to him. In her caption, she said she was sharing 'some sleepy Pheeny and puppy footage for your feed' Just one day earlier, The Simple Life star also shared another cute video of her son Phoenix and his 'cousin Lulu' eating French fries playing around in the airport hotel they were forced to evacuate to amid the blazes In the video, the daughter of businessman Jay Milliken and jewelry designer Eleni Asimos Milliken was seen running around the spacious hotel room as she tried to give a kiss to Phoenix However, Phoenix was dodging and evading, so Hilton asked him: 'Pheeny, do you want to give Lulu a kiss?' When Phoenix shook his head, she added: 'No? Okay! She just wants to give you a kiss' She added, 'Phoenix and Lulu really know how to make everything better! So grateful for them. #SlivingMom.' Nearly two weeks ago, just one day after the blazes erupted in the Pacific Palisades, Hilton shared that she and her family's Malibu home was destroyed. She revealed that they learned their home was burning on live TV after evacuating. 'Heartbroken beyond words,' she wrote in an emotional post about losing their beach house at the time. 'Sitting with my family, watching the news and seeing our home in Malibu burn to the ground on live TV is something no one should ever have to experience. 'This home was where we built so many previous memories,' she continued before reflecting on special memories they had in their Malibu house. 'It's where Phoenix took his first steps and where we dreamed of building a lifetime of memories with London,' she wrote. Amid difficult and uncertain times, however, she said her children have brought her happiness and hope. Hilton shares son Phoenix and 14-month-old daughter London with her husband, venture capitalist Carter Reum, 43 This comes after Hilton and her family's $8.4 million beach house in Malibu was destroyed in the Palisades Fire. Amid difficult and uncertain times, however, she said her children have brought her happiness and hope 'Even when we were evacuated in an airport hotel due to the wildfires, London and Phoenix know how to make me and Carter smile,' she wrote in the caption of a video of her kids in bear jackets, which she posted on Friday. 'So grateful for them.' Hilton also announced that she launched an emergency fund through her nonprofit 11:11 Media Impact to help support families displaced by the fires. 'I'm starting with a personal contribution of $100,000 and will be matching additional dollars raised up to $100,000 more,' she wrote on Instagram on January 10. 'I am looking for others to donate and match alongside me to do our part!' News Analysis: Taiwan's tourism sector welcomes mainland's resumption of group tour services for Fujian, Shanghai residents Xinhua) 09:33, January 20, 2025 TAIPEI, Jan. 18 (Xinhua) -- Less than a fortnight before the Spring Festival, exciting news came for Taiwan's tourism sector from the other side of the Taiwan Strait: the Chinese mainland will soon resume group tour services to the island for residents of Fujian Province and Shanghai Municipality. Following the news announced on Friday, Taiwan's tourism operators and workers have extended heartfelt praise and support for the mainland's latest move to restore normal interactions between people across the Strait and facilitate regular cross-Strait exchanges. In 2020, Taiwan's Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) authorities banned mainland residents from visiting Taiwan under the pretext of COVID-19, and are yet to lift the ban on group tours to the mainland, much to the discontent of residents on both sides of the Strait. In June 2024, the DPP authorities further issued a level-orange alert for Taiwan travelers to the mainland. After almost five years, despite the DPP authorities' incessant disruptions, group tours to the island were finally given the long-awaited green light for the residents of Fujian and Shanghai, two places on the Chinese mainland boasting strong ties with Taiwan. "This is very good news, which means that people working in Taiwan's tourism sector can enjoy a happy Chinese New Year!" said Ringo Lee, chairman of the Taipei-based High-Quality of Travel Association. Taiwan's tourism sector has long anticipated that cross-Strait tourism will be restored to normalcy. However, Lee said, there are still hurdles to overcome, as the DPP authorities have yet to respond to the mainland's move. Lee believed that one of the priorities is to lift the ban on group tours provided by Taiwan's travel agencies to the mainland as soon as possible, and hoped that more cooperation and goodwill could build up across the Strait. Pao Lei, chairperson of the Far Dragon International Travel Agency, expressed her expectation that the new "exciting" move by the mainland would inject new vitality into Taiwan's tourism industry and effectively promote the recovery of Taiwan's tourism market. Regarding the DPP's restrictions on cross-Strait travel, Pao said these restrictions have not only dealt a heavy blow to Taiwan's tourism industry but also affected workers in other industries, such as transportation, hospitality, catering, and insurance. "Lifting the ban will create more jobs on the island and conduce to the improvement of cross-Strait relations," Pao added. According to statistics, nearly 90 percent of Taiwan's approximately 4,000 tourism service operators are directly or indirectly engaged in business related to the mainland. Hailing the mainland's friendly move, Janice Lai, chairperson of the Taiwan Tourism Interchange Association, called on the DPP authorities to lift the tourism ban and revoke the orange alert and other restrictions as soon as possible, which is also a wish shared by all Taiwan tourism operators. Lai also expressed the hope that both sides of the Taiwan Strait will work together to offer more quality and safe tourism services to meet the higher and more diversified tourism needs of different groups. (Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Zhong Wenxing) Sydney Sweeney engaged in some winter fun while out in New York City over the weekend. Joined by her fiance Jonathan Davino, 41, Sydney took part in a lighthearted snowball fight. The 27-year-old actress who hit back at body shamers last month put on a fashionable display as she stepped out in an ivory coat with dramatic feather accents. The outerwear was layered over a cream-colored dress, which she teamed with matching pointy-toe boots. Despite it being nighttime, the Euphoria star donned a pair of dark-tinted, oval-shaped sunglasses. During the wintery scene, Sydney wore her long and shiny blonde-highlighted locks in a precise center part and flirty waves. Sydney Sweeney, 27, engaged in some winter fun while out in New York City over the weekend Joined by her fiance Jonathan Davino, 41, Sydney engaged in a lighthearted snowball fight During the wintery scene, Sydney wore her long and shiny blonde-highlighted locks in a precise center part and flirty waves She looked typically gorgeous in a full face of pink-toned makeup including a mauve, matte-finish lipstick. The Anyone But You siren carried a coordinating white leather handbag with gold hardware accents. Weeks ago Sweeney hit back at critics who commented on her body after DailyMail.com exclusively shared images of the beauty flaunting her fit figure as she sunbathed. And many of her Hollywood friends came to her defense after a series of trolls critiqued her physique. Taking to Instagram, Sydney posted a montage of the vitriolic messages, followed by videos and images of her working out. The comments said things like, 'She needs to lose a few pounds,' and, 'Looking a little chunky,' despite the clear display of her toned abdomen and sculpted arms. The Spokane, Washing native has been bulking up for an forthcoming biopic about pro boxer Christy Martin, who was a pioneering force for women in the sport. Despite it being nighttime, the Euphoria star donned a pair of dark-tinted, oval-shaped sunglasses She looked typically gorgeous in a full face of pink-toned makeup including a mauve, matte-finish lipstick The Anyone But You siren carried a coordinating white leather handbag with gold hardware accents In a November 2024 interview with Vanity Fair, Sweeney slammed 'fake' Hollywood grandstanding about 'women empowering other women.' 'Its very disheartening to see women tear other women down, especially when women who are successful in other avenues of their industry see younger talent working really hard hoping to achieve whatever dreams that they may have and then trying to bash and discredit any work that theyve done,' the entertainer lamented. She continued, 'This entire industry, all people say is "women empowering other women." None of its happening. All of it is fake and a front for all the other s*** that they say behind everyones back. 'I mean, theres so many studies and different opinions on the reasoning behind it. Ive read that our entire lives, we were raised and its a generational problem to believe only one woman can be at the top.' John Bishop paid heart-warming tribute to his wife Melanie on Instagram on Sunday after the pair enjoyed a two-week holiday in the Caribbean together. The comedian, 58, has been with his partner for 31 years including an 18-month period of separation in 2000 and 2001. And the duo looked as loved up as ever during the break in St Lucia, with one photo showing the pair posing in front of a spectacular bay with the Petit Piton mountain in the background. John wore a fire orange short-sleeved shirt with sky blue shorts, while Melanie sported a low-cut black top and light grey shorts, accessorising her look with two thick bracelets and an anklet on each leg. He added a caption reading: 'When you are into your fourth decade with someone and life means that you spend big chunks of time apart, it is sometimes difficult to find the time and place to reconnect properly. 'Spending the last two weeks in a unique hotel that had no tv, no fourth wall and not even a lift despite it being over 500 steps to the beach has been exactly what I and @melbish1 needed. John Bishop paid a heart-warming tribute to his wife Melanie after the pair enjoyed a two-week holiday in the Caribbean together The comedian, 58, has been with his partner for 31 years including an 18-month period of separation in 2000 and 2001 One picture of the couple showed them beaming at the camera and matching their black tops and clear sunglasses acknowledged it has been hard to find time to 'reconnect' 'We are lucky to be able to do this and blessed to keep finding each other when we look. Still the one 'Huge thank you to Daniel and @chef_elijah_jules who really was exceptional making us a special vegetarian menu every night.' Another cute snap featured Melanie leaning over the edge of an infinity pool and wearing transparent plastic-rimmed circular sunglasses. A separate picture of the couple showed them beaming at the camera and matching their black tops and clear sunglasses. Other photos saw the pair posing at lunch, on a hike, with some pigs and on the beach with a huge old-fashioned galleon sailing in the background. The couple met at college in Manchester and married in 1993. They share sons Joe, 28, Luke, 26, and Daniel, 24, together. John previously told with heart-warming honesty how stand-up and relationship counselling saved his marriage. In the early days of his marriage he says he was a blunt, unemotional Northerner who was unable to express his feelings to his wife. Another cute snap featured Melanie leaning over the edge of an infinity pool and wearing transparent plastic-rimmed circular sunglasses One photo saw the pair posing on a hike with John wearing a grey Nike running top Meanwhile, they were also spotted enjoying a lunch during the romantic St Lucia getaway In 2023, John gave fans a glimpse into his wedding anniversary weekend away with his wife after celebrating 30 years of marriage But when the couple separated he took up stand-up comedy and started talking about the split during his stage routine. It was only when Melanie chanced upon Scouse funnyman performing that she fell in love with him again. They went on to get their relationship back on track with the help of some Relate counselling. 'Both stand-up and going to Relate changed me,' John told The Mail on Sunday in 2013. 'I stopped being scared of talking about what I felt. The consequences of not doing that are bigger than the consequences of doing it. 'When I was younger, I wasnt very emotional. But theres a point in your life where theres nothing to be scared of any more. I just didnt realise it at the time.' Last summer, John took his act to the North America for the first time, performing in Philadelphia, Boston, New York, Nashville, Chicago, Toronto, Denver, Seattle, Vancouver and San Francisco. Amanda Holden shared a collection of moments from her daughter's 19th birthday party on Instagram on Sunday, including a pink 'drunk Barbie' cake. The TV and radio host, 53, celebrated Lexi Hughes's big day in a restaurant in Exeter with her model daughter's friends. The post showed the teenager wearing a black top and posing next to her custom-made birthday cake which is laid out on a table full of drinks. The lavish treat was described by Amanda in a separate story as a 'drunk Barbie cake' and showed the doll doing the splits atop a pink layer of icing with candles reading '19' on it. The large cake was covered in various fondant models, which depicted bottles of famous tequila brands. Amanda added the caption: 'Our gorgeous girl turns 19 today!! Lexi we love you so much. Super proud of you and all the choices you are making. Our shy, wise, funny talented girl. Love Mummy Daddy and Hollie xx Have the happiest day.' Amanda Holden shared a collection of sweet moments from her daughter's 19th birthday party on Instagram on Sunday Her birthday cake showed Barbie doll doing the splits atop a pink layer of icing with candles reading '19' on it The Heart FM presenter shared a separate story showing the cake in more detail and Lexi handing out plates for her pals to have a portion. And another saw Amanda leading a rendition of 'Happy birthday to you', while a shy Lexi takes in the adulation of her friends. The teenager appeared to debut her new boyfriend last month as she posted a very cosy snap with him on New Year's Eve. Lexi, who is the Britain's Got Talent judge's eldest child, rang in the New Year with her mother, father Chris and younger sister Hollie in Scotland. Amanda shared snaps of the family posing in front of a Christmas tree along with one of Lexi with her arms around a boy dressed in a black blazer and kilt. Lexi wowed in a glamorous red satin strappy gown which she teamed with a matching glittering handbag. It came after Amanda proudly revealed Lexi passed her A-Levels, landing her a spot at her first choice of university. She wrote on Instagram: 'Congratulations to our @lexi.hughes__ we couldn't be prouder. All the grades and 1st choice uni what a bl**dy relief.' The large cake was covered in various fondant models which depicting bottles of famous tequila brands Another story saw Amanda leading a rendition of 'Happy birthday to you', while a shy Lexi takes in the adulation of her friends It comes after she appeared to debut her new boyfriend as she posed a very cosy snap with him on New Year's Eve The former Wild At Heart actress - who has been married to Chris Hughes since 2008 and also has Hollie, 12, with him - also shared a photo of an emotional Lexi in front of a cake that read 'Lexi congratulations' and 'OMG I did it!'. Last year, Lexi was suddenly rushed to hospital after contracting E.coli. While discussing the warning signs to look out for amid the latest outbreak, Amanda revealed to The Sun that her daughter Lexi had been suffering from bloating and stomach cramps. She said: 'For about three weeks, Lexi had been complaining of bloating and stomach cramps. She was not happy at all and in quite a lot of pain with her tummy. 'It was around the time of revision and her A-levels, so I was just putting this down to exam stress.' However, Amanda admitted that after taking her daughter to her GP, who insisted on her doing some blood and stool samples, the results came back as a bacterial infection. The star then revealed that while she was filming in Spain, she began to get calls from various government officials asking her to fill out several forms about where her daughter might have eaten and what kind of food they had stored in their home. Stating that the cultures come back, Amanda revealed that Lexi has VTEC E. coli, which is a very harmful strain of bacteria thats very rare in humans. The funeral for 'Catwoman' Jocelyne Wildenstein will take place at a historic Paris crematorium where the likes of Jim Morrison and Oscar Wilde are buried, her official Instagram revealed on Sunday. The socialite and social media star's death was announced on New Year's Day, with her longtime partner Lloyd Klein confirming she passed from a pulmonary embolism. A funeral invitation posted to social media read: 'It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of...Jocelyne Wildenstein. September 7-1945 ~ December 31-2024. 'She will be deeply missed but fondly remembered. Funeral service January 23, 2025 at 3pm. Crematorium du Pere - Lachaise, 55 Rue Desrondeaux, Paris 20eme.' The card added: 'This announcement will be requested at the entrance.' The post also had the caption: 'RSVP; Daniel at jocelynewildenstein23.01.25@gmail.com The funeral for 'Catwoman' Jocelyne Wildenstein will take place at a historic Paris crematorium where the likes of Jim Morrison and Oscar Wilde are buried The socialite and social media star's death was announced on New Year's Day, with her longtime partner Lloyd Klein confirming she passed from a pulmonary embolism (pictured: Jocelyne in 2015) Jocelyne, nicknamed Catwoman because she reportedly had many facial cosmetic procedures in the hopes of resembling a cat, passed away in a Parisian palace 'Flower Deliveries; Madame Jocelyne Wildenstein; Funerarium 21, boulevard du Bois le Pretre 75017 Paris, France.' Crematorium du Pere lies just nextdoor to a cemetery of the same name, which serves as the burial site for a string of significant figures in history, including The Doors frontman Jim Morrison and Irish playwright Oscar Wilde. The graveyard, the most visited in the world and the largest in Paris, covers around 110 acres in the centre of the French capital and is also where the likes of Edith Piaf, Sarah Berhardt, Moliere, Frederic Chopin and Colette rest. The Swiss socialite, nicknamed Catwoman because she reportedly had many facial cosmetic procedures in the hopes of resembling a cat, passed away while taking a nap in a Parisian palace at the time of her death, it was reported by Paris Match. 'Her partner Lloyd Klein is saddened to announce the death of Jocelyn[e] Wildenstein in Paris,' AFP reported. She was last seen looking healthy on December 18 in Paris when with Lloyd. The star smiled at onlookers while in a fur jacket, leggings and boots as she wore black sunglasses and her blonde hair in soft waves over her shoulders. She had over one million Instagram followers and described herself as an 'art dealer'. This Swiss-born socialite came from humble origins, before meeting Alec N. Wildenstein in the 1970s through Adnan Khashoggi, a Saudi arms dealer. Jocelyne had over one million Instagram followers and described herself as an 'art dealer' She became one of the wealthiest people on the planet after her divorce settlement, which left her with more than $2billion (pictured: Jocelyne in 1997) The socialite (pictured, in New York City in 2022) began dating fashion designer Lloyd in 2003 Jocelyne then tied the knot with the French-born American billionaire, son of French art dealer and horse breeder Daniel Wildenstein, but the two separated just over two decades later in a messy divorce. She became one of the wealthiest people on the planet after her divorce settlement, which left her with more than $2billion, plus $100 million more annually, and later his estate following his death in 2008 at 67. But she somehow managed to lose it all after years of tinkering with her face and spending on countless luxuries and her ex-husband's family also cut off the payments in 2015. Their family presided over Wildenstein & Co., an influential Paris-based art dealership. Following her divorce, Jocelyne began dating fashion designer Lloyd in 2003. The two later got engaged but they have had a bumpy relationship over the years. In 2016, the socialite was arrested for slashing Lloyd's face with scissors during a fight at her Trump Tower apartment. The fashion designer was subsequently arrested days later for robbery and assault after he allegedly tried to retrieve some of his belongings from Jocelyne's apartment but the couple later reunited. In 2018, she claimed to Page Six that the vast majority of her wealth disappeared because one of the paintings that was part of the trust set up for her in the divorce settlement, attributed to Diego Velazquez, turned out to be a forgery, while a Cezanne that was expected to go for around $35million on auction only sold for $4.7m. Jamie Lee Curtis was finally allowed to go back into her Pacific Palisades home following the devastating and deadly LA fires two weeks ago. The Last Showgirl star, 66, shared a video of a blue jay drinking from a stone water bowl in her backyard. The dichotomy of the life of the bird amid so much loss from the fires was not lost on the Halloween actress. 'We made it back to our intact house,' her Instagram caption began. 'As we were leaving and thanking the security teams and local boys, this beautiful bluebird reminder of the nature and wildlife that live among us in our canyon was surviving in the midst of this terrible, terrifying and horrific wildfire that has taken so much, so violently,' she wrote. Earlier this month, Jamie appeared on the Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon and called the wildfires 'f***ing gnarly' and 'a really awful situation.' Jamie Lee Curtis was finally allowed to go back into her Pacific Palisades home following the devastating and deadly LA fires two weeks ago. Seen here September 6, 2024 The Last Showgirl star, 66, shared a video of a blue jay drinking from a stone water bowl in her backyard 'As you know, where I live is on fire right now. The entire city of Pacific Palisades is burning. I flew here last night, I was on the plane, started getting texts and it's f***ing gnarly, you guys. It's just a catastrophe in Southern California,' she told Fallon. 'Everything: the market I shop in, the schools my kids go to. Many, many, many friends now have lost their homes. So it's a really awful situation.' Jamie continued: 'So it is - it's a really awful situation. I am, you know, obviously going to go home first thing tomorrow and be with my family and try to help my friends. 'But it is - just so I can tell you, if you know anybody on the west coast or not, the American red cross, support them.' Jamie also made a commitment to her community by pledging $1 million from her Family Foundation to the fire recovery efforts. She announced her pledge on Instagram and said she had been in contact with LA governor Gavin Newson to discuss where the funds would be best used. She wrote: 'As the fire still rages on and @calfire @losangelesfiredepartment and all the available first responders and agencies involved in fighting fire and saving lives are still hard at work and neighbors and friends are banding together to save each other. 'My husband and I and our children have pledged $1 million from our Family Foundation to start a fund of support for our great city and state and the great people who live and love there.' The dichotomy of the life of the bird amid so much loss from the fires was not lost on the Halloween actress. Seen here January 3, 2025 'We made it back to our intact house,' her caption began and she went on to talk about the blue jay she saw in her backyard She added: 'Im in communication with Governor Newsom and Mayor Bass and Senator Schiff as to where those funds need to be directed for the most impact.' While the Freaky Friday star's home didn't burn down so much in her community did, including the church she went to and the place she got sober in 25 years ago. She wrote: 'This is the church in the Palisades that had a beautiful Sunday school and school and was a gorgeous house of worship and is the building that I got sober in 25 years ago. 'I think of all of the souls who came there for comfort and solace and all the baptisms and funerals and weddings and the thousands of people who reclaimed their lives through Sobriety. 'Also, the women's club in the Palisades where I met many sober people. Both are gone. Tough times. We will persevere. God bless you all.' Tuesday marks two weeks since the Palisades Fire and Eaton Fire broke out and swept through their respective neighborhoods. The Pacific Palisades and Altadena have basically been wiped off the map from the two devastating fires that were fueled by high winds gusting up to 100mph. The winds made fighting the fire in the initial hours of the blazes nearly impossible. Earlier this month, Jamie appeared on the Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon and called the wildfires 'f***ing gnarly' and 'a really awful situation' 'It's just a catastrophe in Southern California,' she told Fallon. 'Many, many, many friends now have lost their homes. So it's a really awful situation' The fires have claimed 27 lives and destroyed more than 13,600 structures. Tens of thousands of people have been evacuated from their homes. L.A. fire fighters are preparing for another round of high winds expected in the region from Monday through Wednesday. As of this writing the Palisades Fire is 52% contained and the Eaton Fire is at 87% containment. Damian Hurley shared an album of cosy snaps with a female pal who he called his 'lover' on Monday. The actor and model, 22, posted on his Instagram to mark the mystery woman's birthday saying: 'thank God for you' in the caption. Damian - the son of Elizabeth Hurley and Steve Bing - did not tag the woman or confirm if it was a romantic relationship or not. One snap showed them at an event for his film Strictly Confidential, while another saw them cuddling up at a gallery. He penned in the caption: 'my lover's day of birth - thank God for you Xx.' Many fans questioned who the gorgeous woman was as they penned in the comments: 'Lover????? It's a new girlfriend???' Damian Hurley shared an album of cosy snaps with a female pal who he called his 'lover' on Monday The actor and model, 22, posted on his Instagram to mark the mystery woman's birthday saying: 'thank God for you' in the caption Another added: 'I am so happy for you both!' Elizabeth has been helping her son Damian - her only child from a former relationship with American businessman Steve - forge his own path as a budding film director. His debut feature Strictly Confidential - both written and directed by the 22-year old - was released to lukewarm reviews in 2023. Much of the criticism revolved around Hurley herself, whose starring role in the film includes a raunchy lesbian sex scene with a woman 30-years her junior - filmed by her son. 'It's quite interesting because I'm a single mother and he's a single child, so we, by default, spend a huge amount of time together,' she explained last month. 'When he was really young, he became fascinated with my business. He started doing stills and making mini movie when he was nine or ten. I gave him a camcorder, and he made me star in all his films. 'I was always playing the Evil Queen. My mum was in them, Hugh was in them, my ex-husband, everybody had to be in his movies, as he progressed through baby movies into more grown up features. 'He's actually been directing me for ten years anyway, so nothing really changed. I was just used to it' Damian - the son of Elizabeth Hurley and Steve Bing - did not tag the woman or confirm if it was a romantic relationship or not Many fans questioned who the gorgeous woman was as they penned in the comments: 'Lover????? It's a new girlfriend???' Liz became a household name overnight when she arrived arm-in-arm with Hugh Grant in a Versace gown to the Four Weddings and a Funeral premiere. And she credits their relationship for helping her navigate a pivotal time in her life. However the star recently admitted they no longer see each other - despite remaining firm friends following their amicable separation in 2000. Appearing at the Bazaar At Work summit in London last month, she said: 'I was with my ex, Hugh Grant, so it happened to both of us at the same time. 'Like me, he'd also worked a lot, and thought he was doing pretty well, until Four Weddings and a Funeral came out and suddenly it was completely different he was a phenomenon. 'The film was a massive success, and everything changed. But there was two of us and I think that massively helped. When you're suddenly thrust into the spotlight, your lives aren't set up for it.' She added: 'You don't have any protection. It was alarming. The press was much ruder back in the 90s and 2000s than it is now. I truly believe that people aren't allowed to be as rude as they were then. Elizabeth has been helping her son Damian - her only child from a former relationship with American businessman Steve - forge his own path as a budding film director '[I] think it gives you a bond when you sort of go to the trenches with someone. I mean, he's married with five children. I hardly ever see him, but he's still very close to my heart.' Reflecting on her iconic dress - borrowed as a last minute favour from Dean Aslett, then Head of Womenswear and Atelier at Versace - Hurley admits she was stunned by the attention it received. 'It was very strange,' she recalled. 'I'd been working for a few years, and in my mind, I thought I was quite famous I had been in a few things. 'To my family, I was a success; but I had no idea what it actually meant to really be in the public eye. That was a real shock to one's psyche.' Brian Cox has claimed Logan Roy was killed off 'too early' on the hit drama Succession and revealed how long he thinks the character should have survived. The actor, 78, did not mind the media patriarch not living to see out the entire four-season run of the show but he wishes he had clung on for longer than the first three episodes of the final series. Speaking at the Oxford Union, he praised the show's ending and said: 'My only caveat to that, though I think I was happy to be killed off, I thought it was one episode too early because then you had more of those boring kids.' Brian added that he belives creator Jesse Armstrong did the right thing in understanding that 'clearly less is better than more', and ended the programme before it outstayed its welcome. The veteran actor was a particular fan of the work of his co-star Kieran Culkin, who played his son Roman Roy, for having maintained 'that child actors' enthusiasm. He added: 'It would be terrible to curtail that... Brian Cox has claimed Logan Roy was killed off 'too early' on the hit drama Succession and revealed how long he thinks the character should have survived The actor, 78, did not mind the patriarch not living to see out the entire four-season run of the show but he wishes he had clung on for longer than the first three episodes of the final series 'The first series he would freak out if he had three alts (alternative lines), by the last series he was doing five pages of alts it was wonderful to watch.' Meanwhile, after President Donald Trump recently voiced his plan to appoint actors and supporters Jon Voight, Sylvester Stallone and Mel Gibson as 'Hollywood ambassadors', Brian criticised the decision. He branded Sylvester a 'f****** idiot' and dismissed Jon as 'right of Attila the Hun' and bemoaned the Trump administration as being a representation of a 'fierce patriarchy'. He added: 'Personally [I] long for a matriarchy because the patriarchy just doesn't work and hasn't worked for years.' And of The Apprentice star's return to office, he said: 'If that man does become President it means a lot of Americans are in a very bad way.' Despite Logan being killed off in Succession, Brian recently refused to rule out reprising the role for a movie if the script was good enough. He told Variety: 'We'll see. If it's good enough and Jesse Armstrong wants to do it, I might do it.' It comes after the actor slammed the Oscars last month as 'absolute nonsense' after he was snubbed for a nomination. Speaking at the Oxford Union, he praised the show's ending and said: 'My only caveat to that, though I think I was happy to be killed off, I thought it was one episode too early' The veteran actor was a particular fan of the work of his co-star Kieran Culkin, who played his son Roman Roy, for having maintained 'that child actors' enthusiasm' The Scot played Prime Minister Winston Churchill in the 2017 film Churchill but failed to land a Best Actor nomination. In contrast Gary Oldman's portrayal of the Brit politician in 2017's Darkest Hour landed him the Best Actor Oscar - even though a slighted Cox still believes his own performance was superior. He told The Hollywood Reporter: 'Our film came out in the summer, and it was a relatively independent film, so you havent got the power of the studios behind it. The Oscars are absolute nonsense because everything thats judged in the Oscars, its not a years work. Its just the work that comes out between Thanksgiving and Christmas. 'I think it makes those awards a fallacy quite honestly because theres a lot of other good work that goes on outside of what they call Oscar season. So my film never even got a look, and I still think my performance is a better performance.' Cox, who is a classically trained Shakespearean actor, has never landed an Oscar nomination but has won an Emmy for 2001's Nuremberg and a Golden Globe and two Screen Actors Guild Awards for his portrayal of Logan on Succession. Angeline Jolie went on a big grocery run with one of her sons on Sunday in Los Angeles. The actress, 49, who was seen quietly visiting a World Central Kitchen site amid the recent fires in the region, was spotted taking several bags of food out to her car at the Lazy Acres market in the Los Feliz area. The Oscar winner was seen in one of her go-to chic looks, wearing a black coat over a black dress with black ballet flats and carrying a purse. Every piece was from a high-end fashion designer and the total price tag hovers around $5,000. Her long, highlighted hair was pulled back in a loose chignon, and she appeared to be wearing little makeup behind her dark designer sunglasses. The Maria star accompanied by her son Knox, 16, who looked casual in a pair of khaki shorts, a white T-shirt and sneakers. Jolie welcomed friends who were forced to evacuate in the wake of the deadly LA fires. In a video obtained January 10 by DailyMail.com she said, 'We're having people at our house.' Angelina Jolie, 49, was spotted making a grocery run in the Los Feliz area of Los Angeles on Sunday When asked if she planned to donate towards fire relief efforts, she said: 'Yeah I will, right now I'm taking care of people close to me and having them at my house.' The actress lives in the Hollywood compound once owned by famed director Cecil B. DeMille. She bought the 11,000-square-foot Beaux-Arts estate in 2017, shortly after her split from Brad Pitt. Their rocky divorce was finalized last month. Jolie has spent much of her life in service to others. She served as a Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations from 2001-2012, and as a Special Envoy from 2012-2022. She stepped down from the post some two years ago to focus on a broader set of humanitarian and human rights issues, including the plight of refugees and forced displacement. The actress, who was accompanied by her son Knox, wore one of her go-to casual chic looks. She stepped out wearing a black coat over a black dress and black ballet flats Knox, 16, who looked casual in a pair of khaki shorts, a white T-shirt and sneakers Jolie welcomed friends who were forced to evacuate in the wake of the deadly LA fires. In a video obtained January 10 by Daily Mail she said, ' We're having people at our house.' The Oscar winner was also seen quietly visiting a World Food Kitchen pop-up in Los Angeles. The charity has been serving food to firefighters and those affected by the fires Jolie has spent much of her life in service to others. She served as a Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations from 2001-2012, and as a Special Envoy from 2012-2022 She stepped down from the UN post some two years ago to focus on a broader set of humanitarian and human rights issues, including the plight of refugees and forced displacement As she approaches 50, the timeless beauty said she looks forward to marking another turn around the sun. In an interview with British Vogue in 2021, she said, 'I do like being older. I feel much more comfortable in my 40s than I did when I was younger. 'Maybe because I dont know maybe because my mom didn't live very long, so theres something about age that feels like a victory instead of a sadness for me.' Jolie's mother, Marcheline Bertrand, died in 2007 at age 56 from breast and ovarian cancer. The actress, announced she had undergone a double mastectomy in 2013, revealing she had chosen to do so because DNA testing revealed she carried the BRCA1 gene, which increases the risk of getting breast and ovarian cancer. The Maria actress has been nominated for a Best Actress Critics Choice Award. The ceremony, which was scheduled for January 12, was pushed back due to the dangers from the fires and was set to take place January 26 The actress was not nominated for a Screen Actors Guild award, but she could be up for another Oscar. The Academy Awards nominations were scheduled to take place Thursday With the Hollywood awards season in full swing, Jolie has been nominated for multiple awards for her performance in Maria. She received a Golden Globe nomination for her performance as the late opera star Maria Callas, but lost to Fernanda Torres for her work in I'm Still Here. Jolie has been nominated for a Best Actress Critics Choice Award. The ceremony, which was scheduled for January 12, was pushed back due to the dangers from the fires and was set to take place January 26. The actress was not nominated for a Screen Actors Guild award, but she could be up for another Oscar. The Academy Awards nominations were scheduled to take place Thursday. The Los Angeles fires that claimed 27 lives over the past two weeks has eased up enough for people to return home. Several celebrities made the march back to their pricey dwellings to see how their homes took the tragedy. Cindy Crawford was filled with gratitude as she shared a photo of her backyard overlooking the Pacific Ocean in Malibu. Her house was unharmed. Paris Hilton was seen carrying her son into her evacuated Beverly Hills home, which still had her Christmas trees standing, after her Malibu beach property burned down. Jamie Lee Curtis was hopeful after seeing a bird in the backyard of her Pacific Palisades home which could have easily burned down but did not. Derek Hough and his wife, Hayley Erbert, returned to their home after being forced to evacuate due to the California wildfires. 'We are all back home and safe,' Erbert captioned a post on her Instagram Stories on January 18. 'Feeling so grateful while simultaneously feeling so heartbroken for our city and the people who have been affected,' she added. The Los Angeles fires that claimed 27 lives over the past two weeks has eased up enough for people to return home. Several celebrities made the march back to their pricey dwellings. Cindy Crawford is seen here in Malibu Paris Hilton, left, returned to her Beverly Hills mansion, while Jamie Lee Curtis, right, headed home to the Pacific Palisades Cindy wrote a heartfelt note on her Instagram page on Monday. 'Ive never been more grateful to come back home,' said the Vogue model who is married to Rande Gerber. 'We left our house in Malibu 11 days ago. Because we have evacuated before, I have a prepared list of what to grab.' She added: 'This time, we had enough time to get as organized as possible and I even had time to walk through each room of my home to thank it for the life that we lived in it.' The mother to Kaia and Presley Gerber then said: 'Im so lucky that I have a house to come home to. So many others dont and my heart aches for them. There are countless ways to help and I encourage everyone to do what they can. 'Mostly, just a reminder to myself and all of us lucky enough to sleep in their own bed or have a roof over their head! So grateful.' Paris was seen in her leopard-print pajamas as she carried her son into her Los Angeles mansion. The reality TV star's Malibu home burned down, but her Beverly Hills area dwelling was still standing and in good shape. Cindy wrote a heartfelt note on her Instagram page on Monday. 'Ive never been more grateful to come back home,' said the Vogue model who is married to Rande Gerber . 'We left our house in Malibu 11 days ago. Because we have evacuated before, I have a prepared list of what to grab' As she walked into her foyer, Paris said, 'We're home honey' and pointed out that her pink decorated Christmas trees were still standing. 'Even in tough times, I wanted to keep the Christmas trees up for my #CutesieCrew as a little sparkle of hope ,' wrote the Simple Life star. 'The wildfires have been so devastating, but staying strong together is what matters most. Sending so much love to everyone affectedyoure in my heart.' Jamie Lee took a hopeful attitude. The Last Showgirl star, 66, shared a video of a blue jay drinking from a stone water bowl in her backyard. The dichotomy of the life of the bird amid so much loss from the fires was not lost on the Halloween actress. 'We made it back to our intact house,' her Instagram caption began. 'As we were leaving and thanking the security teams and local boys, this beautiful bluebird reminder of the nature and wildlife that live among us in our canyon was surviving in the midst of this terrible, terrifying and horrific wildfire that has taken so much, so violently,' she wrote. Paris was seen in her leopard-print pajamas as she carried her son into her Los Angeles mansion The reality TV star's Malibu home burned down, but her Beverly Hills area dwelling was still standing and in good shape Derek Hough and his wife, Hayley Erbert, returned to their home after being forced to evacuate due to the California wildfires. Seen December 20 Earlier this month, Jamie appeared on the Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon and called the wildfires 'f***ing gnarly' and 'a really awful situation.' 'As you know, where I live is on fire right now. The entire city of Pacific Palisades is burning. I flew here last night, I was on the plane, started getting texts and it's f***ing gnarly, you guys. It's just a catastrophe in Southern California,' she told Fallon. 'Everything: the market I shop in, the schools my kids go to. Many, many, many friends now have lost their homes. So it's a really awful situation.' Jamie continued: 'So it is - it's a really awful situation. I am, you know, obviously going to go home first thing tomorrow and be with my family and try to help my friends. 'But it is - just so I can tell you, if you know anybody on the west coast or not, the American red cross, support them.' Curtis was finally allowed to go back into her Pacific Palisades home following the devastating and deadly LA fires two weeks ago. Seen here September 6, 2024 The Last Showgirl star, 66, shared a video of a blue jay drinking from a stone water bowl in her backyard Jamie also made a commitment to her community by pledging $1 million from her Family Foundation to the fire recovery efforts. She announced her pledge on Instagram and said she had been in contact with LA governor Gavin Newson to discuss where the funds would be best used. She wrote: 'As the fire still rages on and @calfire @losangelesfiredepartment and all the available first responders and agencies involved in fighting fire and saving lives are still hard at work and neighbors and friends are banding together to save each other. 'My husband and I and our children have pledged $1 million from our Family Foundation to start a fund of support for our great city and state and the great people who live and love there.' She added: 'Im in communication with Governor Newsom and Mayor Bass and Senator Schiff as to where those funds need to be directed for the most impact.' While the Freaky Friday star's home didn't burn down so much in her community did, including the church she went to and the place she got sober in 25 years ago. She wrote: 'This is the church in the Palisades that had a beautiful Sunday school and school and was a gorgeous house of worship and is the building that I got sober in 25 years ago. 'I think of all of the souls who came there for comfort and solace and all the baptisms and funerals and weddings and the thousands of people who reclaimed their lives through Sobriety. 'Also, the women's club in the Palisades where I met many sober people. Both are gone. Tough times. We will persevere. God bless you all.' Tuesday marks two weeks since the Palisades Fire and Eaton Fire broke out and swept through their respective neighborhoods. The Pacific Palisades and Altadena have basically been wiped off the map from the two devastating fires that were fueled by high winds gusting up to 100mph. Nicky Buckley has revealed the shocking reason why she was fired from her Perfect Match hosting role. The TV presenter, 59, hosted the Channel Ten dating show in the early 1990s alongside Greg Evans. During Monday's episode of I'm A Celebrity, Nicky claimed she was fired from the role after six months because she wasn't acting 'flirty' enough on camera. 'My show was called Perfect Match, and then when they brought it back it was Blind Date. That was before I did Sale [of the Century],' Nicky explained. 'And after six months only... I got the sack. They wanted me to come out all giggly and flirty and I'd go "Yeah sure" but I didn't want to look like a bimbo.' Fellow campmate Dave Hughes asked Nicky if she felt relieved to be off the show. Nicky Buckley (pictured) has revealed the shocking reason why she was fired from her Perfect Match hosting role 'No, I was shattered. I was embarrassed,' she admitted. 'And when I got the sack I went and studied voice lessons and got acting lessons to get over my fear of what people think of me.' Nicky's admission comes after I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! Australia had viewers cheering on Monday night as the series revealed a 'hero' cast member. Celebrity lifeguard Harrison Reid, 30, was the latest TV personality to enter the South African jungle after the 2025 series premiered on Sunday. And fans could be seen raving on Instagram when the Bondi Rescue star announced he had landed a gig on the show. Harrison shared a promo shot of himself to social media as the episode aired, with Channel Ten labelling him 'the hero in the African jungle'. 'Omg I can't wait so so excited and proud of you we know you'll smash it,' one person wrote in the comments. 'Ooh I might actually watch it for once now!' another said, as a third commented: 'Go Harrison! You're going to do an awesome job.' During Monday's episode of I'm A Celebrity, Nicky claimed she was fired from the role after six months because she wasn't acting 'flirty' enough on camera Fellow campmate Dave Hughes asked Nicky if she was relieved to be off the show but she responded: 'No, I was shattered. I was embarrassed' 'LETS GO #teamharrison Im voting for u,' someone else penned. Another added: 'Go Harrison! Face those fears like the champ that you are.' 'CANT WAIT! UR SO BRAVE OH MY DAYSSS,' said someone else. The I'm A Celebrity AU Instagram account also shared a promo video of Harrison entering the jungle in his iconic blue lifeguard shirt. 'Being a lifeguard, people are probably going to think I'm going to be on a front foot here. I'm going to push people to the side,' the Ten star said. 'Deep down I'm s***ting myself... I've got a lot of fears and I know I'm going to be facing them as soon as I come in here. 'I'm from New Zealand. We don't have all these big snakes, these spiders, all these things that can kill you. That's what I'm most scared for.' America's war on gas cars is over, Donald Trump announced today. Using his inaugural address, the President said rules that would force Americans to buy electric vehicles would be stopped. 'With my actions today, we will end the Green New Deal and we will revoke the electric vehicle mandate, saving our auto industry and keeping my sacred pledge to my great American auto workers,' Trump said to rounds of applause. 'In other words, you'll be able to buy the car of your choice. 'We will build automobiles in America again at a rate that nobody could have dreamt possible just a few years ago.' On X, Ashley HInson, Republican representative for Iowa, tweeted: 'Goodbyte electric vehicle mandate! 'The American auto industry will come back to life under Trump& families will be able to buy whatever type of car works best for them!' Joe Biden had pledged to ban EVs by 2032. Trump cuts a red tape while speaking about deregulation at the White House in December 2017. Experts and those close to him say another presidency will see continued deregulation Since assuming the Oval Office, President Biden himself has taken steps to unwind some of the regulatory changes made during Trump's term Carmakers will eventually stop making full gas-powered successors to the beloved muscle cars of the 1960s and 1970s (Pictured: Steve McQueen in Bullitt) - but Trump could change rules to keep gas cars in production longer Trump's plan to end the push to EVs is no surprise. His administration was already expected to ease EV mandates and clamp down on environmental, social and governance (ESG) investments. Those tend to see money going into issues aimed at helping tackle climate change and helping minority groups. During the campaign, a report published by Reuters, experts and his allies are preparing and pitching rewrites that would reduce the power of various regulators. Trump team have said the Biden administration was responsible for a 'massive push to increase burdensome regulations, especially on our energy and auto industries.' Since Biden took office, he has overseen the introduction of various regulations designed to catalyze the uptake of electric vehicles. Notably, in March the Environmental Protection Agency introduced a rule that the majority of new passenger cars and light trucks sold in the US need to be electric or hybrids by 2032. In the final months of his first presidency, Trump pushed to ban retirement plans from considering ESG when making investments. Then in 2022, President Biden's administration reversed restrictions imposed under Trump - and the Labor Department announced a rule ordering government agencies to assess the impact of pension investments on the climate. A source close to Trump has said if he makes it back into the White House he will be 'sure' to 'go after all of this climate change stuff' At least eight states are planning to ban the sale of new gas-powered cars in the next decade - and others are considering joining them Meanwhile, it emerged last year that at least eight states are planning to ban the sale of new gas-powered cars in the next decade - and others are considering joining them. Only zero-emission vehicles can be sold in participating states beginning from the 2035 model year, according to the Advanced Clean Cars II legislation. The rule, which was first adopted by California, means that automakers and dealerships would be banned from selling new gas cars in these states from that point onwards. Americans will not be forced to take their gas-powered cars off the road, however, and will still be able to buy used and secondhand gas vehicles. These states have gone further than the latest federal legislation announced last week, where the Biden administration released new rules to gradually phase out gas cars by 2032. Dubbing the Aam Aadmi Party a party of "algavwad", "atankwad" and "afwah", BJP leader Anurag Thakur on Monday accused it of supporting separatists and raised questions on the spate of hoax bomb threats to schools in Delhi. There was no immediate reaction from AAP on the allegations. Congress and AAP appear different outwardly but are the same inside, Thakur said at a press conference. "AAP came to power talking about corruption of the Congress. But now the 'A' in AAP is also known for 'arajakta' (anarchy), 'algavwad' (separatism), 'atankwad' (terorrism), 'afwah' (rumours) and 'apradhi' (criminals)," Thakur said. The Congress and AAP, he said, were seen as joining hands on the issues of hanging of Afzal Guru and surgical strikes. When the entire country was waiting for the hanging of the Parliament attack accused Afzal Guru, some people were trying for a presidential pardon for him, Thakur said. He did not take any names. "Whose NGO came forward for commuting of Afzal Guru death sentence. Whose relatives, parents were part of it. Will (Delhi Chief Minister) Atishi and (Arvind) Kejriwal say something or keep mum?" he asked. Thakur went on to ask which politicians stayed at the homes of "terrorist sympathisers" during Punjab polls. He claimed that there were political parties who supported the separatists and terrorists and also received donations from them. There are some who spread rumours of bomb blasts and put the parents of school children in Delhi under distress, Thakur added. He again addressed Atishi and Kejriwal and queried, "Who are connected to those spreading bomb blast rumours. Atishiji, Kejriwalji will you respond?" Kejriwal and AAP are "old players" at creating "anarchy and sensation", he alleged. Delhi Police recently claimed a Class 12 student sent hoax bomb threats to more than 400 city schools and that his parents are linked to an NGO supporting a political party. The police, however, did not reveal the name of the political party. Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva, who also addressed the press conference, added that everybody knew the connection of the NGO. The AAP's "sleeper cell", he said, has been trying to spoil the social harmony and peace in Delhi ahead of Assembly polls on February 5. He also asked why the hoax calls were received by only private schools and wanted to know who was behind giving data of schools to the juvenile accused. Actor-politician, Tamizhaga Vetri Kazhagam chief Vijay on Monday vowed support to farmers opposed to the proposed airport at Parandur near here, and alleged some 'gain' for the ruling DMK dispensation in the project and asserted that people understood it. Vijay, without directly naming the DMK, said while in opposition, the party opposed initiatives like the 8-lane expressway project in the state and asked why a similar stand was not taken in respect of the Parandur airport project. While in opposition the DMK supported the farmers, he said and asked whether it would oppose them after assuming power. Addressing people from an open van at Podavur close to the project area in and around Parandur, which is near the industrial hub of Sriperumbudur about 40 km from here, the fledgling TVK's president said the DMK government opposed tungsten mining in Madurai and asked why it did not take similar stand on Parandur airport. He slammed the DMK regime as 'anti-people' for trying to bring a new airport by destroying 90 percent farmlands, waterbodies in the proposed project area. Further, he alleged some 'gain' for ruling DMK dispensation in the proposed Parandur airport project, and said people understood it. Vowing support to farmers and the local people who are opposed to the Parandur airport project, Vijay said his party will not hesitate to take up legal fight against the initiative. He said he was not against development or a new airport; but opposed it by destroying waterbodies and farmlands. People gathered in large numbers to welcome Vijay on the premises of a wedding resort at Podavur near Parandur. Several farmers and children held bunches of paddy crop in their hands as they waited for Vijay to arrive, and one of them handed it over to him after he addressed the gathering. While people and fans waved at him from the roadsides, Vijay reciprocated from inside his camper van, and in a couple of places, the vehicle halted and the popular actor received flowers from well-wishers. The TVK chief's visit comes against the background of strong criticism against him, especially in the social media, for not meeting the people and not organising or leading from the front any ground level activity of the party focused on key issues faced by the people. After announcing the party formation in February 2024, he held a mega public meeting in October at Vikravandi. Vijay's very first direct public interaction, as chief of the newly founded TVK, is with people of a number of villages, opposed to Parandur. After 15 months of collective grief and anxiety, three Israeli hostages left Hamas captivity and returned to Israel, and dozens of Palestinian prisoners walked free from Israeli jail, leaving both Israelis and Palestinians torn between celebration and trepidation as the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas took hold Sunday. The skies above Gaza and Israel were silent for the first time in over a year, and Palestinians began returning to what was left of the homes they fled across the war-ravaged enclave, started to check on relatives left behind and, in many cases, to bury their dead. After months of tight Israeli restrictions, more than 600 trucks carrying humanitarian aid rolled into the devastated territory. The ceasefire that went into effect Sunday morning stirred modest hopes for ending the Israel-Hamas war. But in Israel, the joy of seeing freed hostages Emily Damari, Romi Gonen, and Doron Steinbrecher reunited with their families was tempered by major questions over the fate of the nearly 100 others abducted in Hamas' Oct 7, 2023, attack, still in captivity in Gaza. Damari, Gonen and Steinbrecher were the first among 33 Israeli hostages who are meant to be released in the coming six weeks in a deal that includes a pause in fighting, the release of nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and increased fuel and aid deliveries for Gaza. What happens after the deal's first phase of 42 days is uncertain. The agreement's subsequent stages call for more releases of hostages and prisoners and a permanent end to the war. But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who was pressured by the outgoing Biden administration and incoming Trump administration to secure a deal before the president-elect's inauguration Monday in Washington, has said he received assurances from Trump that Israel could continue fighting Hamas if necessary. On Sunday, many Israelis stayed glued to TV screens all afternoon to glimpse the women being released through the windows of the Red Cross ambulance. Footage showed them thronged by thousands of jostling Palestinians, including Hamas gunmen wearing green headbands, as militants handed them over to the Red Cross on a packed street in Gaza City. An entire nation embraces you, Netanyahu said. National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, a far-right lawmaker who resigned on Sunday from Netanyahu's governing coalition over the ceasefire, said the nation was happy and excited for their release. In videos released by the Israeli government, the women were seen weeping and hugging their family members. Damari raised her bandaged hand in triumph. The military said she lost two fingers in the Hamas-led militant attack on Oct. 7, 2023, that killed over 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and resulted in the abduction of some 250 others. Applause erupted among the thousands who gathered to watch the poignant scenes on large screens at Hostages Square, the Tel Aviv plaza where families and supporters of hostages have been protesting weekly to demand a ceasefire deal. It took another seven hours for such scenes to unfold in the occupied West Bank, where the mood was initially subdued as the Israeli military warned that public celebrations for the released prisoners would be punished. But scuffles with Israeli security forces and hours of waiting did little to deter the crowds that flooded the streets around 1 a.M., as large white buses carrying 90 Palestinian detainees all women or teens exited the gates of Ofer prison, near the West Bank city of Ramallah. Drivers revved their engines in celebration. Fireworks erupted. Several men climbed on top of the bus and hoisted three Hamas flags. God is greater! the crowds shouted. Many of those released expressed elation tinged with grief for the devastation wrought by the war in Gaza. A double feeling is how the most prominent detainee freed, Khalida Jarrar, 62, described it. Jarrar is a leading member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a secular leftist faction that was involved in attacks against Israel in the 1970s but later scaled back militant activities. Since her arrest in late 2023, she was held under indefinitely renewable administrative detention a widely criticized practice that Israel uses against Palestinians. There's this double feeling we're living in, on the one hand, this feeling of freedom, that we thank everyone for, and on the other hand, this pain, of losing so many Palestinian martyrs, she told The Associated Press. All of those being released had been detained for what Israel called offenses related to its security, from throwing stones and promoting violence on social media to more serious accusations such as attempted murder. The next release of hostages and prisoners is due Saturday. In just over two weeks, talks are to begin on the far more challenging second phase of the ceasefire agreement. Joy mixed with pain In Gaza, there was palpable relief at the prospect of six weeks without fighting and Israeli bombardment that so far has killed over 46,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, which says women and children make up more than half the fatalities but does not distinguish between civilians and fighters. The skies above the besieged territory were free of Israeli warplanes for the first day since a weeklong ceasefire in November 2023 that freed over 100 hostages, offering Palestinians a chance to take stock of the devastation. This ceasefire was a joy mixed with pain, Rami Nofal, said a displaced man from Gaza City, explaining that his son was killed by Israeli bombardment. Masked Hamas militants appeared at some celebrations, triumphant as crowds chanted slogans in support of them. The Hamas-run police reemerged from months of hiding. Some families set off for home on foot, their belongings loaded on donkey carts. In the southern city of Rafah, residents returned to find massive destruction that residents described as a dystopia. Some found human remains in the rubble. It's like you see in a Hollywood horror movie, resident Mohamed Abu Taha said as he inspected the ruins of his family's home. Israelis divided over deal In Israel, the scenes of Hamas gunmen celebrating openly in the streets of Gaza underscored divisions over the agreement. Asher Pizem, 35, from the city of Sderot, said the deal had merely postponed the next confrontation with Hamas. He also criticized Israel for allowing aid into Gaza, saying it would contribute to the militant group's revival. They will take the time and attack again, he said, looking out over Gaza's smoldering ruins from a small hill in southern Israel with other Israelis gathered there. An immense toll The toll of the war has been immense, and new details will now emerge. Already, Israeli forces were pulling back from some areas of Gaza, in line with the ceasefire agreement. Residents of Beit Lahiya and Jabaliya in northern Gaza said they didn't see Israeli troops anymore. One resident said they saw bodies in the streets that appeared to have been there for weeks. Some 90% of Gaza's population has been displaced. Rebuilding if the ceasefire leads to the war's end will take several years at least. Major questions about Gaza's future are unresolved. There should be a surge of humanitarian aid, with hundreds of trucks entering Gaza daily, far more than Israel allowed before. This is a moment of tremendous hope, humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher said. Amid tight security arrangements, Sanjay Roy, who has been convicted of raping and murdering an on-duty doctor at the state-run R G Kar Medical College and Hospital, was brought to a court here on Monday for pronouncement of the sentence, police said. Flanked by several police vehicles, Roy was brought out of jail around 10.15 am. The Sealdah court has been fortified with nearly 500 policemen deployed and the authorities left no stone unturned to prevent any untoward incident, an officer said. Despite the heavy police deployment, many people thronged the court premises and some were seen attempting to climb railings to catch a glimpse of the convict. The parents of the deceased doctor, who were on their way to the court, said they trusted the judiciary to deliver justice. We have faith in the judge, said the victim's father. The deceased doctor's mother, however, expressed disappointment over the investigation by the CBI, alleging that "other perpetrators involved in the crime had not been brought to justice". Only one person is not involved in the crime, yet the CBI has failed to apprehend the others. Such criminals have no right to live if we are to prevent future crimes in society, the bereaved mother said. "It is good that the punishment will be pronounced today, but where are the other perpetrators involved in the case?" asked a woman who was present outside the court. Another woman said, "We want the judgement to be delivered swiftly so it can set an example and deter such crimes in the future." The rape-murder of the doctor, which occurred on August 9 last year, had sparked nationwide outrage and prolonged protests. Roy, a former civic volunteer with the Kolkata Police, was arrested a day after the incident, and the case was later transferred to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). Found guilty of sexually assaulting the doctor and throttling her to death, Roy was convicted by the judge under Sections 64, 66 and 103(1) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). Section 64 (rape) of the BNS entails a punishment of not less than 10 years and can go up to life term. Section 66 (punishment for causing death or resulting in a persistent vegetative state of the victim) provides for a punishment of not less than 20 years that may extend to imprisonment for life, which shall mean imprisonment for the remainder of that person's natural life, or with death. Section 103(1) (murder) of BNS provides for the death penalty or imprisonment for life to a person convicted of the crime. Judge Anirban Das of the Additional District and Sessions Court, Sealdah will hear Roy's statement at 12:30 pm on Monday before pronouncing the quantum of punishment. Meanwhile, Kolkata Police denied permission to junior doctors' bodies to hold a demonstration in the Sealdah court area. Sanjay Roy's mother did not respond to the media, but his sister said, "All evidence is against him. If he receives severe punishment, even the death penalty, what can we do?" CPI(M) leader Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya claimed, "We didn't find the CBI conducting the investigation properly." BJP state president Sukanta Majumdar alleged, "We all know that the evidence was destroyed before the CBI took over the investigation. In such a situation, gathering evidence becomes very difficult." The next best thing for TikTok might be RedNote and not Instagram's Reels, but for a video editing app, there is nothing yet on the market that can match ByteDance's famed app, until now. Meta announced that it now has a contender for CapCut after the United States enacted its infamous ban against ByteDance's TikTok and other Chinese-owned apps, with Instagram's "Edits." While TikTok already returned its US operations thanks to the massive support the incoming President Donald J. Trump pledged, CapCut is yet to be reinstated and be available on mobile app platforms. Meta Unveils 'Edits,' A New Video Editing App Like CapCut The latest post on Threads by Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri dropped a surprise announcement for all, showcasing their upcoming app called "Edits" to deliver a new video editing platform to the world. Mosseri regarded "Edits" to be a new app that can help users explore their passion for "making videos on your phone," and it is set to offer users a new content creation platform to enjoy. Many reports regarded that this new Edits app will be similar to ByteDance's CapCut, an app that gained significant popularity in the world because of its iconic video editing platform that is easily accessible via TikTok. According to Mosseri, Edits will feature its own "inspiration tab," a higher quality camera for shooting videos, another tab to save or keep track of ideas, massive editing tools, drafts that can be shared with friends, and the ability to easily export content to Instagram. Instagram's Edits Coming February While CapCut is Out It was revealed by Mosseri that Meta and Instagram's teams are still developing the app but it will be available next month for users to enjoy while CapCut is not yet reinstated, unlike TikTok. Its iOS version is now available to 'pre-order' via the Apple App Store for iPhone users, but there are no specific timelines for its availability on Android via the Google Play Store and other app marketplaces. The Massive TikTok Ban Was Here For a Few Hours The United States gave TikTok six months to divest ByteDance to continue its US operations but the renowned social media platform rejected this idea and chose to fight the government and its law. However, TikTok did not want to do so and instead faced the ban that the country imposed against it, leading to 170 million users losing a platform over the weekend for as much as 14 hours. While Trump gave TikTok the heads up that they may bring back their operations in the country, with service providers like Apple and Google also given the green light to have it return, the damage has already been done. Many TikTokers looked for other platforms that would suffice TikTok's experiences and features, with one of the outstanding alternatives being another Chinese social media platform known as RedNote or Xiaohongshu. TikTok may be back in the United States after giving 170 million Americans the scare after shutting down for 14 hours, but there are still others like CapCut and more who are not given the same luxury as the famed app. That being said, Meta is looking to fill the void CapCut has left with Instagram's Edits, with the video editing app soon to make its debut by February and share a new experience for all. MBABANE - Services at various border gates across the country may be disrupted today as immigration officers plan to deliver a petition to the Ministry of Public Works and Transport. The officers are demanding payment for unpaid overtime dating back to 2015. The delivery of the petition to the Ministry of Public Service emanates from unpaid overtime due to the immigration officers dating back to 2015. A source revealed that all the affected immigration officers were intending to attend the delivery of the petition, which might result in the disruption of services at the ports of entry. Dragging This is a matter that has been dragging on for years, so much that a motion was raised in Parliament in November last year, where Mhlangatane Member of Parliament Madala Mhlanga moved that the Minister for Public Service, Mabulala Maseko, give a more detailed and comprehensive report before the House on the progress made by the ministry in addressing or resolving the continued impasse existing between the immigration officers and government with regards to the overdue unpaid overtime that government owes to the workers.National Public Service and Allied Workers Union (NAPSAWU) Mbabane Branch Chairperson Sanele Magagula revealed that they have invited all affected workers to the delivery of the petition and he did not deny that services might be halted. Magagula narrated that immigration officers had a mass meeting last month held at the Swaziland National Association of Teachers (SNAT) Centre, where they resolved that due to the matter not coming to finality, they should deliver a petition to the Ministry of Public Service. He revealed that they then wrote to the ministry requesting that a bilateral meeting be held on the matter, but the ministry responded, requesting that the bilateral be halted as it was busy with budgeting. We respected their request and withdrew the exercise to go and deliver the petition. Early January, we wrote to the ministry, reminding it that we respected their request last month noting that they were busy with budgeting, but we now wish to have the bilateral. To the present day, the ministry has not responded to our second letter, narrated Magagula. He said the delivery of the petition, which compels government to finalise the matter, would be delivered only at the Ministry of Public Service, because the Ministry of Home Affairs, which is the parent ministry of the immigration officers, was no longer part of the matter. He said the delivery of the petition was not limited to a few individuals, but it was open to all the affected employees. Reluctant All we wanted was to reach an amicable decision on the matter with the ministry, but they are seemingly reluctant to see the matter through, hence we have invited every affected immigration officer to come and see the petition being delivered, he said. NAPSAWU President Bawinile Ndlovu also confirmed that their members intend on delivering the petition this morning. She said that usually, when their members intend on delivering a petition, they seek the company of the union to their intended destination, but it was not the case this time around. They requested to handle it themselves because this was a matter that has dragged on for far too long. All that we will do as a union is to ensure that all is done in line with the law, she said. During the debate on the motion in Parliament in early November last year, Mayiwane MP Sicelo Dlamini said it was concerning that civil servants from different government sectors were bothered by the same issue, that of being owed overtime. He submitted that head teachers were also owed overtime dating back to 2016 and the matter would be in Parliament soon; junior police officers were owed their phase II payment dating back to 2014. One wonders what the 10th Parliament (2013-2018) was doing because all these unpaid monies are dating back to that period. It is very concerning that no one can come forward and confidently declare to have been paid by government to his or her satisfaction; all we come across are complaints about unpaid monies. We know the incumbent minister to be a dedicated servant, let it all end with him, he said at the time. Demanded In August last year, this publication reported that the immigration employees demanded to be paid E40 million owed to them in overtime or they shut down borders. The issue of the payment of overtime to civil servants was previously discussed in Parliament by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), during the appearance of government ministries, to respond to audit queries that were noted by the auditor general (AG) in financial audit reports on the Consolidated Government Accounts for the Kingdom of Eswatini. What surprised the PAC was that some employees claimed up to E28 000 overtime and some forms indicated that other employees worked for up to 24 hours. The PAC members said the claims were suspicious and needed to be investigated. Watching Biden and Kamala, along with Hillary Clinton and the other Democrats cringe with disgust at the front row of the inauguration of Donald J. Trump, was a joy to watch. There was no Starmer present, or member of the awful Labour Party, as they are deemed as enemies of democracy, freedom and business and were duly barred from the ceremony. Millions of suffering Britons are now literally begging America to invade and liberate the UK from a wicked tyranny that has befallen the country. S.O.S Many people in the dilapidated, ruined UK are now begging for liberation from the devastating hell of being ruled by the catastrophic Keir Starmer and monstrous Rachel Reeves. The entire Cabinet of the Labour Party are committing unconscionable crimes against the population daily, as Britain, a once great nation, is imprisoned by these socialist, Marxist brutes. Donald J. Trump we appeal to the might of America for liberation, as Britain is entrenched in a dastardly, horrific woke tyranny never before witnessed in any supposedly Western country. Please save this nation from the Marxists, for they have insidiously come into power through lies and trickery. As the troops landed in Normandy to liberate France on June 6, 1944, we implore America to save the mother country, Britain, from a pestilence and indignity brought upon by a dark evil that these shores have never witnessed ever before in our long history. Please invade and liberate the UK before time runs out. God Bless America! First Horizon (NYSE:FHN Free Report) had its target price lifted by Wells Fargo & Company from $21.00 to $22.00 in a report issued on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an equal weight rating on the financial services providers stock. Get First Horizon alerts: Several other research analysts have also commented on FHN. UBS Group began coverage on shares of First Horizon in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a buy rating and a $25.00 price objective for the company. Barclays upped their price target on First Horizon from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Wedbush cut First Horizon from an outperform rating to a neutral rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $20.00 to $17.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Raymond James upped their target price on First Horizon from $19.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on First Horizon from $23.00 to $22.50 and set a neutral rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, First Horizon has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $22.04. Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on First Horizon First Horizon Stock Performance Shares of NYSE:FHN opened at $21.54 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $20.43 and a 200 day moving average of $17.71. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The company has a market capitalization of $11.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.92. First Horizon has a 52 week low of $13.45 and a 52 week high of $21.72. First Horizon (NYSE:FHN Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.05. First Horizon had a return on equity of 9.51% and a net margin of 15.43%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.32 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that First Horizon will post 1.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. First Horizon Dividend Announcement The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th were paid a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.79%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. First Horizons dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.48%. First Horizon declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Tuesday, October 29th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to purchase up to 10.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the companys board of directors believes its shares are undervalued. Insider Buying and Selling at First Horizon In other First Horizon news, EVP David T. Popwell sold 100,974 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.77, for a total value of $1,996,255.98. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 519,926 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $10,278,937.02. This represents a 16.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Harry V. Barton, Jr. sold 10,000 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.92, for a total value of $199,200.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 166,840 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $3,323,452.80. This represents a 5.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.87% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders. Institutional Trading of First Horizon A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FHN. Citigroup Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of First Horizon by 43.0% in the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 948,122 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $14,724,000 after acquiring an additional 285,108 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC grew its position in First Horizon by 13.1% during the third quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 868,094 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $13,482,000 after buying an additional 100,359 shares during the period. Allen Capital Group LLC increased its stake in First Horizon by 128.4% in the 3rd quarter. Allen Capital Group LLC now owns 52,612 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $817,000 after purchasing an additional 29,581 shares in the last quarter. Greenwood Capital Associates LLC increased its position in shares of First Horizon by 10.1% in the third quarter. Greenwood Capital Associates LLC now owns 465,513 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $7,229,000 after buying an additional 42,793 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Entropy Technologies LP purchased a new position in First Horizon during the 3rd quarter valued at about $2,669,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.28% of the companys stock. First Horizon Company Profile (Get Free Report) First Horizon Corporation operates as the bank holding company for First Horizon Bank that provides various financial services. The company operates through Regional Banking and Specialty Banking segments. It offers general banking services for consumers, businesses, financial institutions, and governments. Read More Receive News & Ratings for First Horizon Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for First Horizon and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. First Horizon (NYSE:FHN Free Report) had its target price boosted by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $22.50 to $23.50 in a report published on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a neutral rating on the financial services providers stock. Get First Horizon alerts: Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on FHN. UBS Group assumed coverage on First Horizon in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a buy rating and a $25.00 price target for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of First Horizon from $18.50 to $23.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of First Horizon from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of First Horizon from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Wedbush lowered First Horizon from an outperform rating to a neutral rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $20.00 to $17.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, First Horizon has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $22.04. Get Our Latest Stock Report on FHN First Horizon Trading Up 1.1 % Shares of First Horizon stock opened at $21.54 on Friday. The companys fifty day moving average is $20.43 and its two-hundred day moving average is $17.71. First Horizon has a 1 year low of $13.45 and a 1 year high of $21.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.96. The company has a market capitalization of $11.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.61, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.92. First Horizon (NYSE:FHN Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.05. First Horizon had a return on equity of 9.51% and a net margin of 15.43%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.32 EPS. Analysts forecast that First Horizon will post 1.5 earnings per share for the current year. First Horizon Announces Dividend The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th were issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. First Horizons dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.48%. First Horizon declared that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Tuesday, October 29th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to repurchase up to 10.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the companys leadership believes its stock is undervalued. Insider Activity at First Horizon In other First Horizon news, Director Harry V. Barton, Jr. sold 10,000 shares of First Horizon stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.92, for a total value of $199,200.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 166,840 shares in the company, valued at $3,323,452.80. This trade represents a 5.65 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP David T. Popwell sold 100,974 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.77, for a total value of $1,996,255.98. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 519,926 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $10,278,937.02. This trade represents a 16.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.87% of the companys stock. Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Horizon Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of FHN. CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its holdings in First Horizon by 3.5% in the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 16,330 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $254,000 after buying an additional 559 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd raised its stake in shares of First Horizon by 44.0% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 2,130 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 651 shares during the period. CreativeOne Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of First Horizon by 7.1% in the 3rd quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 11,665 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $181,000 after acquiring an additional 773 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of First Horizon by 10.6% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 9,117 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $184,000 after acquiring an additional 875 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its position in First Horizon by 160.1% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,436 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 884 shares during the period. 80.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds. About First Horizon (Get Free Report) First Horizon Corporation operates as the bank holding company for First Horizon Bank that provides various financial services. The company operates through Regional Banking and Specialty Banking segments. It offers general banking services for consumers, businesses, financial institutions, and governments. Featured Stories Receive News & Ratings for First Horizon Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for First Horizon and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Pro-Palestinian protesters held a demonstration through Derry on Saturday. Organised by the Derry branch of the Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign (IPSC), the protestors marched from the train station in the Waterside across the Craigavon Bridge to the Guildhall on January 18. The demonstrations follow the Israeli government's approval of a new Gaza ceasefire and a hostage release deal with Hamas, which is due to come into effect on Sunday. However, Israeli airstrikes upon Gaza continue, with a reported 116 Palestinians killed since the ceasefire was announced on Wednesday, according to the civil defence agency. Chairperson of the Derry IPSC, Catherine Hutton, welcomed the news of the ceasefire but will continue to campaign to bring to an end the Israeli occupation. IN PICTURES: Derry campaigners march in solidarity with Palestine She said: It is positive for the people of Gaza, but it is just the start, as we have been here before, and we know that Israel is not committed to it. We know they are duplicitous, and they will do everything in their power to try and get out of the commitments that they have been made to sign up to. Some may be thinking that is it now, and there will be no more protests, but we feel it is more important now than ever to be out on the street and keep the momentum going because not only is it the war crimes and the genocide that has to be answered for by the Israelis. The occupation needs to be brought to an end, and that is not going to happen without pressure from the ground up because many governments have not had any urge to stop the genocide, and only for people marching week in and week out that there has been any sort of change at all, so we would like to emphasis that now is the time for us to focus on the long-term strategy to ending the apartheid regime and the ethnic cleansing across Gaza, the West Bank, and East Jerusalem. Colum Eastwood, the MP for Foyle, was in attendance at the demonstration. The former SDLP leader was proud of the people of Derry for their extraordinary solidarity with the Palestinian people. He said: I think there has been extraordinary solidarity from the people of Derry and the people of Ireland generally with the Palestinian people, those in Gaza, who have been systematically murdered by the Israeli regime, their homes destroyed, tens of thousands of people dead, many thousands of whom are children, and that can only be described as one thing, and that is a genocide, and people have to be held to account for that. While we see the American administration walking out the door and handing the Israeli government another $8 billion worth of weapons, it is tragic and despicable, and I think those people who were on the wrong side of this will not be forgotten by history. I think a lot of people here and across the world have felt helpless and hopeless during all of it, but they have been able to, I think, unite as part of a movement across the planet against one of the most obvious and brutal genocides that has been happening on our TV screens for well over a year, I think it is important that people stand up, I know it can feel hopeless at times but this isnt over. I have no trust whatsoever in the Israeli government, and remember this has been going on for decades, and there will be no real peace in Palestine until there is proper justice for the Palestinian people and they get their own state and the end of apartheid in the Israeli state. I just think that battle will continue; we have been marching for many years, long before last year, and it looks to me that we are going to have to keep doing that. The current Israel-Gaza conflict started on 7 October 2023 when Hamas attacked Israel, which killed about 1,200 people and saw 251 people taken to Gaza as hostages. This attack triggered a significant Israeli offensive on Gaza, during which more than 46,800 Palestinians have been killed, according to the Hamas-run health ministry. Among these Palestinian deaths have been 149 journalists, according to the latest statistics from the International Federation of Journalists, representing 600,000 media professionals. Darach MacDonald, a journalist representing the National Union of Journalists, spoke at the demonstration about the Israeli Defense Forces targeting of journalists. He said: The IDF has been targeting journalists since before the current genocide in Gaza. In May 2022, only six months before the onslaught began, Shireen Abu Akleh, celebrated as the daughter of Palestine for her incisive journalism for Al Jazeera, was shot dead in an Israeli raid in the occupied West Bank. Every investigation since has disclaimed Israeli claims that she was shot by Palestinian militants and a later revised narrative that she was shot accidentally. Shireen Abu Akleh was murdered in a policy of annihilation against journalists who threaten the Israeli state and its western allies. The IDF engages in a deliberate and calculated war against journalism, a war against the truth. The ceasefire in Gaza is set to come into effect on Sunday, January 19, at 6:30 am. Jews for Ireland supported this motion; however, spokesperson Becca Barr believed that it does not bring peace because there is no peace without justice, She said: A ceasefire of a relentless genocidal annihilation is but the bare minimum; hundreds of Palestinians have been murdered just days following the announcement of the ceasefire, so we welcome the joy on the faces of the Palestinians, the joy to be alive and to have made it through, but the pain, the grief, the sorrow, the trauma, the rage, and the exhaustionthis ceasefire deal was the same one that was on the table in May, and that fills me with rage. 15,000 fewer Palestinians would be dead if it had been agreed in May. This ceasefire does not bring peace because there is no peace without justice. As long as the occupation continues, the genocide is not over. We need to continue to be here, to march, protest, and stand until the actual liberation of Palestine. The Northern Ireland Secretary has said he appreciates why families of some Troubles victims remain sceptical about a new investigatory and truth recovery body. Hilary Benn said he knows reform of legislation underpinning the Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery (ICRIR) is required to secure the confidence of bereaved relatives. The ICRIR was set up by the last government as part of its contentious Legacy Act. While the Labour government has vowed to repeal parts of the Act, including the contentious offer of conditional immunity for perpetrators of Troubles killings, it has decided to retain the commission. However, last year the Court of Appeal in Belfast ruled that a Government veto power over what sensitive material can be disclosed to families by the commission is incompatible with human rights laws. The court also found that the work of the commission does not provide victims and their next of kin adequate means to participate in its processes. The Appeal Court judges did uphold the operational independence of the commissions structures. Some families who lost loved ones during the conflict have vowed not to engage with the commission, claiming it lacks the teeth and independence to properly re-examine their cases. Mr Benn, writing in Saturdays Irish News, insisted he was committed to making changes. Everybody I have spoken to agrees that there needs to be a means of conducting investigations and of recovering information, he wrote. And we do now have, for the first time, an independent judge-led commission, responsible for doing both these things. I am the first to acknowledge that the legislation that established the commission needs to be changed and I appreciate why, after all these years, and given the origins of the Legacy Act, there is scepticism about it. I know that reforms will be needed to secure the confidence of families. But a growing number of requests for investigations and information are now being made to the commission, over 120 at the last count, and the Northern Ireland Courts have been clear that it has the powers it needs to carry out independent, human rights-compliant investigations. Whats more, the legislation I will propose will ensure that the commission is, in specific circumstances, able to hold public hearings, take sworn evidence from individuals, and ensure families have effective representation. Mr Benn said one of the advantages of the commission was that it can quickly get to work, as he noted that its team of investigators was growing. The commission also has full police powers to help find answers without the long years of waiting that are often involved with public inquiries, which must establish staff, premises and processes from scratch, he added. There are a number of families, including the family of (murdered GAA official) Sean Brown, whose inquests were brought to a premature end (by the Legacy Act), and who continue to experience great pain and suffering. For each of these families, I want to ensure that there is a full, thorough and independent investigation into the death of their loved one as soon as possible. I urge all those still searching for answers, for justice or for acknowledgement of what happened, to talk to the commission to hear and discuss what they propose, knowing that the government will strengthen it in our forthcoming legislation. The Labour MP said the complexity and sensitivity of dealing with the legacy of the past required a need to build as broad a consensus as possible. I am determined, with the help of all interested parties, including the Irish government, to achieve this, he said. Nothing will ever ease the pain that so many families endure to this day. But we must do all we can to help society in Northern Ireland, which has come such a long way since 1998, to finally begin to heal the terrible wounds of the past and look to a better future together. On Thursday, the Court of Appeal in Belfast heard a Government bid to overturn a judges order that a public inquiry be established in the Sean Brown case. Mr Brown, 61, the chairman of Bellaghy Wolfe Tones GAA club in Co. Derry, was ambushed, kidnapped and murdered by loyalist paramilitaries as he locked the gates of the club in May 1997. No-one has ever been convicted of his killing. In December, High Court judge Mr Justice Humphreys issued an order compelling the Government to set up a public inquiry. Mr Benn is challenging his ruling. The believes the case should instead be dealt with by the ICRIR. A heartfelt video of Deirdre Mahon, a Derry local, being surprised by her two children at Christmas has been named as a finalist in Loganairs 'A Season of Connections' competition. The emotional video captures the moment Deirdres daughter Eimear flew from Brighton to surprise her at her home in Derry just days before Christmas her first without her husband of 39 years, Mark, who passed away suddenly in April 2024. Later that evening, Deirdre received a second surprise when she visited her sisters house to find her son Odhran, who had travelled from London, had joined the family reunion. The reunion was particularly poignant as Deirdre had been dreading spending the holidays alone in the dream retirement home she and her late husband had built together. Surrounded by her children, family, and her husbands loyal dog Skye, Deirdres Christmas turned into a season of connection, comfort, and healing. Inspired by the airlines uplifting and heartwarming Christmas advert, Loganair, Actually, the competition asked entrants from across the UK to submit an image or video that captures a heartwarming moment of connection with their loved ones. As a finalist, Deirdre and two other entrants have the chance to win a years worth of free flights for herself and a companion on Loganairs extensive network. Two runners-up will be treated to return flights for two on the airlines iconic Glasgow to Barra route, which famously lands on the beach. Deirdre said: This Christmas was one I was dreading after losing Mark earlier in the year. But having my children surprise me was the most wonderful gift I could have asked for. Eimear and Odhran turned what could have been a lonely time into one filled with love, support, and family. Its a Christmas Ill always remember with gratitude. Lyn MacDonald, head of marketing and brand at Loganair, said: Deirdres story is a beautiful example of what A Season of Connections is all about. Her childrens thoughtful surprises capture the essence of connection and the lengths we go to for the people we love. These are the moments that truly matter, and were delighted to share and celebrate them. Public voting for the finalists is now open and will run until midnight on Wednesday, January 23. The winner will be announced on Saturday, January 25. Loganairs extensive network includes flights across the UK and beyond, making it easier than ever to connect with loved ones. The airlines generous baggage allowance of up to 21kg (15kg hold allowance plus 6kg carry-on bag) ensures passengers can bring gifts and essentials without worry. Passengers flying from London Heathrow to City of Derry can enjoy direct connections, making journeys seamless and stress-free. With its growing network, Loganair continues to provide convenient travel options for both leisure and business travellers across the UK and Europe. To vote for Deirdre visit the Loganair Facebook page. To book flights, visit www.loganair.co.uk. NGABEZWENI - Suspected fraudulent activities have caused delay in the payments of timbasha to some Ingaja and warriors. This was revealed by Indvuna Magcobisa when addressing the warriors and Ingaja prior to the distribution of timbasha at Ngabezweni Royal Residence yesterday. Timbasha refers to a token of appreciation given by the King to regiments (libutfo) for their participation in the annual Incwala Ceremony, the countrys most significant cultural event. The money was distributed in brown envelopes as some Ingaja and warriors did not register for UNAYO accounts. Reasons Magcobisa started by apologising for the delay. He said it was caused by several reasons including fraudulent activities during the registration process. It was discovered that some warriors submitted multiple lists, attempting to receive payments twice, even after being paid through the UNAYO system. Furthermore, the investigation revealed the inclusion of individuals who did not participate in the cultural activities. Besitsi kunekuganga lokukhona kani vele kukhona mbamba, he said in vernacular loosely translating to: Yes there are fraudulent activities as per our suspicions. It was a disaster when it came to your personal identity cards. They did not match your particulars, he said before calling upon warriors from Lwandle to see their mess. Warriors Magcobisa promised to pay timbasha to the deserving warriors at imiphakatsi level if they missed out. When they heard of the cause of the delay, some Ingaja called for the punishment of the implicated culprits. Where are they, we cannot suffer just because someone decided to try his luck through fraudulent means. We cannot spend two days in the sun just because some decided to steal, murmured Ingaja when they heard of the fraudulent activities. While at the royal residence, it transpired that some warriors spent the whole day on Saturday without food. Some of those who came from far away places said they spent the night under the trees due to lack of transport. Some of us had nothing to eat since yesterday and it does not paint a good picture at all, said the warriors. However, the warriors and Ingaja who were at the royal residence since morning were filled with joy as they saw a convoy of white GD6 vans arriving with the cash. They quickly formed queues before they were addressed. When this report was compiled, some of the warriors had started receiving timbasha. Worth noting is that tindvuna from all imiphakatsi were urged to register all Ingaja and warriors, who participated at the annual Incwala Ceremony from fetching lusekwane to the weeding of royal fields. During the preparatory meeting, which was held at Ludzidzini Royal Residence, tindvuna were urged to register names of the participants and attach their personal identity cards next to their names. Warriors and Ingaja with cellphones were urged to register a UNAYO for the payment of timbasha. Inyatsi Indvuna Bahlole Ndzimandze was on record warning tindvuna against fraudulent activities, saying such could lend people in jail. He said prison doors would always be open to those who would be found to have engaged in fraudulent activities. Also, when summoned to the royal residence across the country, warriors and Ingaja were warned against taking chances as systems were in place to guard against fraud. PICTURED ABOVE: Holy Child PS Primary 1 pupil Jake Harkin pictured at the school on Friday morning ringing the bell to mark the end of his leukemia cancer treatment. Jake is pictured with dad Hugh and mum Sinead. (Photos: Jim McCafferty Photography) A brave five-year-old pupil, Jake Harkin received a heros welcome on Friday last at Holy Child Primary School in Creggan, ringing the school bell to signal him being cancer free in his battle with Leukaemia. The Mayor Lilian Seenoi Barr, local politicians, community groups, shop-owners, pupils, staff, family and many others from outside the district attended a Coffee Morning to celebrate the good news and also raise money for the Childrens Cancer Unit Charity. Jake, the youngest of four children who hails from Circular Road in Creggan, was diagnosed with Leukaemia at two years of age and for the past three and a half years has been attending the Royal Victoria Hospitals Childrens Ward for treatment. He went through a difficult number of years, living and adapting to life with cancer and has shown huge resilience and bravery. Its only this week that the affable wee warrior got the good news. READ NEXT: IN PICTURES: Brave little hero Jake rings cancer-free bell! A relieved mum Sinead takes up the story. "Jake was only two when he was diagnosed. It was such a worrying time for us all. Then came the Covid pandemic to add to his woes. He is a wee soldier who never complains. Every week, we travelled to Belfast and he just took it in his stride. Hail, rain or snow he just kept going! "It just got harder when Covid came. It was only Jake and me at the Royal. Caution was the byword for everything. Even his dad was only allowed to visit occasionally and it made his journey much more difficult not being able to see the family. Everything had to be sanitised and masks worn at all times. But we got through it and are here today to tell the story." Mum Sinead said she had nothing but praise for all who helped Jake. She also paid tribute to the school for how much theyve done and continue to do. "On behalf of myself, Hugh and all the family Id like to wholeheartedly thank the staff at the Childrens Ward at the Royal. They were so special and treated Jake and myself in the kindest of ways. Even through Covid, they were there to attend to all Jakes needs. And, the staff at the school have also been wonderful. I cant believe the turnout here today, not just the pupils, the parents, the local community groups but even our Mayor taking time out to attend. Its been wonderful for our wee hero, and for us as a family. Thank you everyone from the bottom of our hearts." High fives, hugs and handshakes were the order of the day on Friday as well-wishers lined up to wish Jake, his mum Sinead, dad Hugh and all the family a happy future together. Principal Pat Concannon said she was overwhelmed by the response to the call to come along and wish Jake well. "Its testament to the people of Creggan and surrounding communities that have shown up here today to celebrate with wee Jake. He is such a lovely character and been through a lot in his young life. We are all delighted to see him looking so well and wish him a bright, happy and healthy future, and also with us here over the next seven years as part of the Holy Child family." Adding to the Principals comments, the Mayor Lilian Seenoi Barr said she was overjoyed to meet with Jake and his parents at Fridays Coffee Morning and help him ring the school bell. "It was a fantastic honour to meet Jake and his parents today and to hear about their remarkable journey living with leukaemia. It is a truly inspiring story and I was amazed at the resilience and strength they have all shown in coping with all of this during the pandemic and their perseverance to provide the support needed to adapt their lives accordingly." Another surprise for the brave little Creggan warrior as he met the Mayor was her inviting the family to the Guildhall in the coming weeks. "To acknowledge Jakes incredible bravery and strength and to help promote awareness of leukaemia I am inviting the family for a reception in the Guildhall in the coming weeks." The school hope to invite the charity to the school next week to accept the cheque on behalf of everyone who donated so kindly to the coffee morning. A member of the Irish Defence Forces who spurned the consensual offer that was made to him in a selfish, arrogant and forceful way has been jailed for eight and half years for the rape of a fellow soldier at a Dublin hotel three years ago. Kielan Mooney (30) of Bloomfield Park, Derry, was convicted following a trial at the Central Criminal Court last December on a count of anal rape, oral rape and rape of the woman at the Dublin hotel on July 26, 2021. He had pleaded not guilty to a total of six charges - two charges of rape, two charges of oral rape, a charge of anal rape and a charge of sexual assault. The jury failed to reach a verdict on the three remaining charges. The now 24-year-old woman, who is also a serving soldier of the Irish Defence Forces, has indicated that while she is content for Mooney to be named in the reporting of the case, she does not wish to be identified. Sentencing Mooney today Mr Justice Tony Hunt said Mooney spurned the consensual offer that was made to him in a selfish, arrogant and forceful way and had no respect for the limits she [the woman] wanted to place on sexual activity. He simply took what he wanted from the encounter and had no respect for her wishes, the judge said. The judge said the woman had always been very frank that the background to the rape was clearly consensual. It was her prerogative and privilege to make a decision as to who and when she would have sexual activity and who, when and the level of that activity, Justice Hunt continued. At a previous sentence hearing last December, a number of affidavits were presented to the court which described Mooney, a father of five, as very family orientated, a dedicated father someone who works exceptionally hard to make sure his children know they are loved and also as a man who idolises his children. Today Grainne ONeill BL prosecuting told Justice Hunt, that following newspapers reports of that hearing, two women contacted the Director of Public Prosecutions to rebut that evidence. The women, who each have two children with Mooney, said that Mooney has not seen his children, that he does not pay maintenance and that it is always hard work with him as he never really wants to see them. One of the women said Mooney always put his social life and lifestyle ahead of her children with him. She said He is not a good person, not a good role model and she would never let Mooney near her children. Mr Justice Hunt said it was clear from these statements from these two women that Mooney has had no meaningful or positive contact with these children over a long period of time. He described those earlier testimonials in relation to Mooney being a good father as a false prospectus and a gross overstatement that his children will miss him if remanded in custody. Mr Justice Hunt also noted that Mooney applied for bail on conviction by the jury, and while bail was refused and Mooney was remanded in custody pending sentence, one of the reason he was looking for bail was to give him the opportunity to say goodbye to his children. I believe I have been significantly misled as to the material that was put forward and also the basis of a bail application pending conviction at trial. I dont take it lightly, someone trying to pull the wool over my eyes, Mr Justice Hunt said. In sentencing Mooney, Mr Justice Hunt said there was no recognition of the verdict of the jury and Mooney does not appear to show any remorse for the significant harm he caused. He referred to suggestions during the trial that the woman had made the allegations on the basis of some disappointment on her behalf with how things went. I dont buy that for one moment and the jury clearly dont either. She is clearly a robust person who would take such disappointments in a normal way without making false allegations, the judge continued. He said it was very clear that something had happened that was radically wrong and radically different from what the woman had consented to. Justice Hunt set a headline sentence of nine and half years which he applied as a global sentence for the offences Mooney had been convicted of by the jury. He acknowledged that Mooney had made a positive contribution in terms of joining the army and was prepared to serve in that way and in a disciplined way of life that military service requires. But I have to bear in mind that his behaviour (during the rape) was ill disciplined. Mr Justice Hunt said it was apparent from the womans demeanour both during the trial and in giving her victim impact statement that the rapes had impacted her life and career. I wish her well and hope she is able to put this behind her and get on with her life in a positive way. I have no doubt that she is strong enough to do that, Mr Justice Hunt said. Mr Justice Hunt said he had intended to reduce the headline sentence by two years but he would not do that now giving the evidence he received today in relation to Mooneys mitigating factor that was falsely put forward. No court should be put in a position of being faced with a false prospectus, the judge said before he added that this was warning to anyone who is considering overselling themselves in terms of mitigation. He imposed a jail term of eight and half years. He also imposed a two year post-release supervision order and said that Mooney must engage with the Probation Service for two years upon his ultimate release from prison. The jail term was backdated to when Mooney first went into custody last December. ADDITIONAL EVIDENCE FROM LAST MONTHS SENTENCE HEARING Garda Riche Moyston told Patrick Gageby SC, prosecuting, that the woman was out socialising with other army members that night when they met a group of soldiers from Mooneys barracks in Donegal. She and Mooney got speaking and they decided to go back to the womans friends hotel room in the city centre. The woman told the trial that Mooney anally raped her in her friends hotel room. She said she had asked him to stop but he did not. Afterwards she went to the bathroom and was crying. She managed to text her friend. Mooney came into the room and asked her what was wrong before he took her by the hand and brought her back into the bedroom. Mooney then forced the woman to perform oral sex on him before he pushed her onto the bed and raped her. The woman was very distressed. She managed to get back into the bathroom and phoned her friend who told her that she and two other male friends were nearly at the hotel. Gda Moyston said when the womans friends arrived Mooney was dressed. The woman was hysterical and crying. The two men forced Mooney out of the room and the gardai were called. Mooney was arrested by arrangement the following month. He claimed there had been no anal sex and said whatever other sexual activity had occurred was consensual. The woman read her victim impact statement into the record. She said that night changed her life and she would not wish what happened to her on anyone. She said her life had only got going at that point. I was getting the chance to live the life of a 21-year-old, just having a good time, she said. She said she caused shock and heartbreak within her family when she disclosed the rape. The woman said she never expected a man to take away something from her in such a selfish way and described how she struggled with her mental health in the aftermath of the rape. I did not want to go through with life anymore, the woman continued before she added that it impacted on her work as she could not perform her duties. She had been nominated for a course which would have meant a promotion in work but she was unable to participate. She said the actions of another person were continually impacting on her life as she also lost all interest in the hobbies she used to enjoy. The woman said that through counselling and therapy she has been allowed to live my life again. She spoke of how traumatic she found the trial, seeing Mooney around the courthouse and waiting on the jurys verdict. I never believed that something over one night could shatter everything I thought and believed in myself and my future. The hurt does not just disappear, the woman said. She said the support she has received from many people have helped remind me that I am worth more than someone elses despicable actions. She specifically thanked the gardai and the various supports services in the army. She said her appreciation for those that helped her in the army needs to be recorded. The woman also thanked the Rape Crisis Centre, who reassured me of my safety and expressed her thanks to her family and friends. Mr Justice Hunt thanked the woman for taking the time to read her victim impact statement. He said he hoped that the vindication she got from the jury would help her going forward. You owe it to yourself to think of yourself now going forward, he said. Gda Moyston agreed with Dominic McGinn SC, defending, that Mooney was fully co-operative with gardai and answered all their questions. He agreed that it was his understanding that Mooneys career with the army is now effectively over. Mr McGinn asked the court to accept that his client did not set out that evening to commit a rape and submitted that there was consent to some activity between Mooney and the woman. Every rape is serious and every rape demands punishment, Mr McGinn said. Counsel said it was a complicated case for the jury because at the outset the woman was consenting to some level of activity. He acknowledged that a person has a right at any stage to say that I do not consent to this and his client blatantly ignored that, counsel said. He is criminally liable for what he did and what he did would be viewed as entirely reprehensible by society, Mr McGinn continued. His conduct resulted in injury, trauma and a lifelong impact on her and he deserves to be punished for that, counsel continued before he asked the court to accept that it is clear that Mooney is not a bad person. Mr Justice Hunt said young men put themselves in the unfortunate position Mooney has put himself in but added there is nobody responsible for it but Mooney himself. He has basically no previous convictions. He has served in the defence forces, I am prepared to accept that there is positive aspects to his good character that once was and is now gone. Mr McGinn said there were seven affidavits before the court sworn in by a wide variety of people from the community and his family, outlining that he is an upstanding member of society and that his actions that night were completely out of character. Counsel said his client is a father of five children, ranging in age from three to 12 years old. He asked the court to accept that this offence would not have happened if Mooney had not been intoxicated and suggested that alcohol seems to be a catalyst. Mr Justice Hunt said it was his understanding from the evidence at the trial that all of these people went out at the same time and had roughly the same amount to drink why is he (Mooney) so different? Mr McGinn asked the court to accept that his client has lost his good character, his career is at an end and that his children will be without their father for some time. The An Garda Siochana response to the Donegal county councillor politically representing the family of Rebecca Browne has been widely and severely criticised. Councillor Frank McBrearty Jr described the language and tone of the reply, which he received from Justice Liaison on January 13, 2025, as sinister, disparaging and insensitive. His view was supported by Bloody Sunday Family member, Liam Wray; the Justice for Rebecca Browne campaign; and Conor Moylan of Madden and Finucane Solicitors, the solicitor representing the Browne family. Rebecca Browne (21), from Galliagh in Derry, lost her life when she was struck by a Garda vehicle on May 21, 2023 and killed at Ludden on the outskirts of Buncrana in Inishowen, County Donegal. The collision was referred to the Garda Siochana Ombudsman Commission (GSOC), which announced in December 2024 the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) had informed it not to direct a prosecution in the case. On January 10, 2025, Cllr Frank McBrearty wrote to Garda Commissioner Drew Harris requesting a meeting for Rebecca Brownes parents with the investigating officers who were appointed to investigate this unlawful death case. He also wrote to the Garda Assistant Commissioner, North Western Region; the Irish Attorney General; the Irish Minister for Justice; and the Donegal Coroner. The An Garda Siochana Justice Liaison reply received by Cllr McBrearty references the peaceful vigil which the Justice For Rebecca Browne campaign is holding outside Buncrana Garda station on Sunday, February 9, 2025. It said: The above planned protest is being advertised on Facebook. The last protest at Ludden contained approximately 50 persons. This protest may be larger as it is the same day as the annual Bloody Sunday march in Derry City which commences at 2.30pm. The organisers of this protest are encouraging people to attend the protest in Buncrana before going to the Bloody Sunday march, which may appeal to certain individuals, said the Justice Liaison reply. Cllr McBrearty pointed out the reply was factually inaccurate and deliberately misleading. On January 8, 2025, the Justice for Rebecca Brown campaign actually changed the date of its planned peaceful vigil in Buncrana to February 9, 2025, when it realised the original date clashed with Derrys annual Bloody Sunday march, he said. Speaking to The Derry News, Liam Wray, whose brother Jim was one of the 13 people shot dead by the British army in the city on Bloody Sunday - January 30, 1972 - said he was concerned by the use of the Garda phrase certain individuals in connection with the Bloody Sunday march. As an individual who has always promoted the Bloody Sunday march, it is there as a platform for those looking for truth and justice, as well as to commemorate those who died on Bloody Sunday and later as a result of Bloody Sunday, said Mr Wray. I would fully support the Browne family in its quest for open justice, so they can see exactly the process that has taken place with regards to Rebecca - their daughter, sister, granddaughter and niece. I would stand there in Buncrana and be proud to do that. When the guards refer to certain individuals are they referring to people who have a quest for justice and truth and transparency? I am delighted to be one of those certain individuals who would support the Browne family. As a supporter of the Bloody Sunday annual march, I would be equally proud to support the Browne family in its quest and concern for truth, justice and transparency, said Liam Wray. The Justice Liaison reply to Cllr McBrearty also contained the following paragraph: The Justice for Rebecca Browne campaign appears to be escalating at pace, with a dedicated social media page, suspected of being purposed to promote and publish conspiracy based material. A Policing Plan will be put in place for this proposed protest and march in Buncrana on Sunday, February 2 [sic]. Speaking to The Derry News, Cllr McBrearty said it was not morally right for An Garda Siochana to use the sinister, disparaging and insensitive language it had when replying to the representations he had made on behalf of the Browne family. Not least because the Justice for Rebecca Browne campaign is organising a peaceful vigil. Why is An Garda Siochana referring to it as a protest and march? An Garda Siochana is going to have to apologise for its comments he added, because all that the Browne family wants is the truth and it is entitled to the truth; we wont stop until we get the full truth. I will be advising the Browne family to instruct their lawyers to look for discovery of the file which was sent to the DPP, to which, in my opinion, they are entitled in third party discovery. The Browne family has to find out if GSOC did its job correctly. Who is policing GSOC? It is supposed to police the guards but who is policing GSOC? I am calling on An Garda Siochana to apologise to the Browne family and to the Bloody Sunday families for these comments and if it doesnt apologise, I will be calling on the Minister for Justice to apologise on behalf of An Garda Siochana, said Cllr McBrearty. Speaking to The Derry News, Conor Moylan of Madden and Finucane Solicitors, the solicitor for the Browne family, said: We would be very interested to know what An Garda Siochana mean by certain individuals that may be attracted to this protest. The only commonality between these two protests that we can see is families that have been let down by the state authorities. The Browne family to date, has not been provided any details or answers as to what happened to Rebecca, in the absence of fact it is only left to speculate. The support from the wider community has been a source of great encouragement to the Browne family, said Mr Moylan. A Representative of the Justice For Rebecca Browne campaign told The Derry News the peaceful vigil at Buncrana Garda station was a peaceful quest for the truth. She added: What we want, as a family, is to get the truth. We want to know what happened to Rebecca and to read this reply is just shocking. On behalf of the whole campaign, we are asking, Why do obstacles keep getting placed in our way? As a family, we just want to know what happened to Rebecca. To find out this was how An Garda Siochana was describing the family was shocking. Why were they doing this? We are just a wee family from Derry. We just want to know what happened to Rebecca. We are going to Buncrana peacefully. We have no other intention but to show we want support and we want answers; we cant have peace if we keep having questions, said the spokesperson, who also questioned the Garda use of the phrase escalating at pace. By using that language, it felt as if An Garda Siochana did not want us to receive any support. That is how we felt, she said. An Garda Siochana had been silent all along and its motive had been to squash any visible support for the Justice for Rebecca Brown campaign. It felt very intimidating that they wanted to do a policing plan. If they can go to all that effort, why could they not have made the effort to come and speak to us? We wouldnt have any questions if they had answered our questions, if we had truth. You cant have a conspiracy when you have the truth. The Derry News also contacted An Garda Siochana for comment. A total of 7,699.611.00 of PEACEPLUS funding has been awarded to an engaging and innovative youth mental health and wellbeing programme that will enhance emotional resilience in children and young people aged between nine and 25 in Northern Ireland and the border counties of Ireland PEACE of Mind project is a cross community cross-border strategic initiative that is designed to address the significant mental health challenges prevalent among young people in Northern Ireland and the border counties of Ireland. The project is supported by PEACEPLUS, a programme managed by the Special EU Programmes Body (SEUPB).The project will be led by Verbal, in partnership with The Cedar Foundation, Inspire Wellbeing and The Open University The project aims to enhance the capacity of all children and young people including those with disabilities, brain injuries, autism and mental health needs to form positive and effective relationships with others from different cultural and religious backgrounds whilst developing strategies to support self-efficacy, resilience and coping strategies leading to positive mental health and enhancing well-being outcomes. PEACE of Mind will ensure that young people are central to the projects design, delivery and outcomes, offering skills development and self-regulation strategies that will provide young people with greater choice and control over their mental health and well-being. Welcoming the announcement, Education Minister Paul Givan MLA said: I welcome this significant investment to support youth mental health and wellbeing and am pleased this project includes a specific focus on special schools and children with complex physical and cognitive disabilities. The detailed consultation undertaken with young people on the project design will ensure a child-focused approach which understands and aims to meet the needs of the young people. I wish the project partners every success and look forward to seeing tangible outcomes from this important initiative. Roderic OGorman, TD, Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth commented: I welcome the launch of this important cross community, cross border initiative which will support community activities to promote young peoples mental health and wellbeing, leading to improved outcomes for the children and young people involved. "Through ensuring that young people are central to the projects design, delivery and outcomes, the PEACE of Mind project will enhance young peoples self-efficacy, resilience and coping strategies, providing them with greater choice and control over their mental health and well-being. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Verbal (@verbalarts) " "The successful development and launch of the PEACE of Mind project is testament to the strong collaboration between Verbal and their partners, and I commend them and the Special EU Programmes Body on their work to date. I wish all the children and young people involved every success as they begin this exciting new project. SEUPB Chief Executive Gina McIntyre: Creating a better future for all our young people is one of the core objectives of the PEACEPLUS Programme. This funding is designed to support children and young people deal with one of the most challenging legacies of our shared past, intergenerational trauma . Supporting both childhood development, which is key to breaking the trauma cycle, and through focused interventions which will provide young people with the tools, knowledge and support to care for their mental health. Addressing those in attendance at the launch, Verbal CEO, James Kerr, said: "At Verbal, we believe in the power of storytelling to inspire change, build resilience and strengthen emotional well-being. The PEACE of Mind project represents a significant opportunity to bring young people together across communities, fostering understanding and connection while equipping them with the emotional wellbeing skills and confidence to navigate lifes challenges. "We are proud to lead this collaborative initiative, which places young people at its heart and ensures inclusivity, creativity and empowerment are at the core of its co-design and delivery." John DArcy OBE, Nation Director The Open University Ireland stated, "The Open University is delighted to partner with Verbal, Inspire and The Cedar Foundation on this innovative Youth Mental Health and Wellbeing project funded by PEACEPLUS. "The PEACE of Mind project is both timely and much needed with a strong collaborative focus on empowering young minds and building resilience. The university looks forward to impacting positively the lives of young people along with our partners and the Special EU Programmes Body. We are delighted to be part of this transformative and innovative youth mental health and wellbeing programme funded by PEACEPLUS. The opportunity to collaborate with Verbal, Inspire and Open University on an initiative that enhances the capacity of all young people, including those with disabilities, brain injuries, autism, and mental health needs, is incredibly meaningful. "By supporting the development of positive relationships, resilience, and self-management skills, we are excited to contribute to a future where young people have the tools, confidence, and control to shape their mental health and well-being, leading to lasting, positive impact in their lives, Elaine Armstrong Cedar CEO. "The focus of PEACE of Mind on empowering young people to look after their own mental health now and into the future is both important and exciting. The team at Inspire are delighted to be working in partnership with our sector colleagues and young people across the region to deliver this innovative, genuinely young person lead programme," Kerry Anthony MBE, Inspire Group Chief Executive. 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. A woman has described how one minute she was getting ready for a Christmas party and the next "running for her life" at the hands of her ex-partner of 18 years, who stabbed her twice while chasing her with three different knives. Cristal O'Brien stated how the attack was like a movie scene" she "did not sign up to", with the Central Criminal Court hearing that Philip Cox's threats to knife her "to pieces" will never leave her mind. Mr Justice Tony Hunt that it will be "problematic" for Mr Cox (40) to return to his employment as a barman after he is sentenced due to his alcoholism. The defendant had his attempted murder charge dropped last December after a second Central Criminal Court jury failed to reach a verdict. The jury had deliberated over three days in the case of Cox, who is originally from Tallaght in Dublin but has an address at York Street Flats in Dublin 2. He had pleaded not guilty to the attempted murder of his former partner, Cristal OBrien, at the flat complex on December 1, 2022. Cox had previously pleaded guilty to assault causing harm, aggravated burglary and to the production of a knife during the course of the dispute. Another jury had failed to reach a verdict in the first trial in March 2024. Mr Justice Tony Hunt had noted last December the difficulty in proving an attempted murder charge given the high standard required. The judge had said that a "very limited type of intention" had to be proved in such cases. In order to return a guilty verdict, the jury were told they had to be satisfied that there was an attempt to kill and that there was an intention to kill. A jury in a murder trial however, only has to consider whether an accused intended to kill or cause serious injury. In his interviews, Cox told gardai that he never intended to kill Ms O'Brien. In a victim impact statement read to the court today by prosecution counsel, Ms OBrien said: "After two trials I am still reliving everything that happened and trying to understand how you know someone for 18 years and one minute you're getting ready for a Christmas party and having a conversation with your ex-partner and the next running for my life; not once or twice but three times, trying not to get hit with a knife". READ NEXT: PICTURES: Ireland AM presenter dazzles as she shares glimpse of tropical honeymoon travels She added: "I thank god every day that Alice McGrath heard me bang on the door as I ran past. It could have been more lethal if she had not opened the door that night, it could have been a murder trial.... how someone you thought you knew for 18 years could be so violent and nasty". Ms O'Brien said her ex-partner of 18 years telling her "I will stab you to pieces" will never leave her mind. Ms O'Brien said she has suffered from severe anxiety, panic attacks and post traumatic stress disorder since the event. She said she was on crutches for three weeks and couldn't drive for a few months due to the severe pain in her leg. "I was put on antidepressants just to get on day to day. I was out of work for a whole year; living most of it on illness benefit alone". Ms O'Brien said she had ten weeks of counselling and may possibly need more. She said when she sees a black-handled knife on a table she has to leave the room "as it is a trigger". "Who would have thought something like that could set off such panic". She said the "fear" of Cox being near her or their son again is "extremely daunting and worrying". "Knowing I could not have been here to be a mother to my son breaks my heart every day". She thanked the gardai and prosecution team in trying to get justice "in what can only be described as a movie scene I did not sign up to". In a second statement, the victim's neighbour Alice McGrath said she was very scared when Cox broke into her home and it was only when he was gone and she knew Cristal was safe that it "really hit" her. Ms McGrath said she now always locks her door during the day and at night. She said her anxiety can be very bad and there are days when she doesn't go to work. She said it is a horrible feeling to be nervous at one's own hall door. Sergeant Chris Fitzgerald told prosecuting counsel Timothy O'Leary SC that Cox and Ms O'Brien had been living together in a flat at York Street for 18 years but had been separated for six months prior to this event. He agreed the defendant would stay over in the flat around three nights a week for family reasons. The witness also agreed an argument had "erupted" between the pair after which Cox retrieved a knife from a block of knives in the kitchen of their flat and began threatening Ms O'Brien. In her evidence to the jury, Ms OBrien said she banged on a neighbours door for help and then ran down a flight of stairs before Cox knocked her to the ground and tried to stab her. She said that Cox kicked her twice in the face and must have hit the knife off the wall because it broke. She said he then told her he was going to get another knife. She said her neighbour, Alice McGrath, brought her into her home but Cox smashed the door in the window of her neighbours flat and opened the bolt from inside. Ms OBrien told the court her former partner stabbed her twice in the leg before the second knife also broke. She said Cox told her he was going to finish me off before leaving the flat to retrieve another knife. Ms McGrath gave evidence that when she heard a thump on her door, she went out and heard Mr Cox say: Im going to stab you and Im going to kill you dead. The sergeant agreed with Mr O'Leary that at one stage Ms O'Brien had used her hands and legs to fend off blows from the knife. He said Ms McGrath had come from behind, was pulling at Cox's Liverpool top and trying to prevent him from attacking Ms O'Brien. Mr Justice Hunt commented: "It could have been much worse and for all concerned: thank God it wasn't". The sergeant said the three large knives were chopping knives and were sharp. Mr O'Leary said this could have been a fatal matter but for the actions of Ms O'Brien and Ms McGrath. "It could have ended up a murder trial," commented the judge. The sergeant said Cox has no previous convictions and used to work as a barman in McNeill's Pub on Capel Street. In his submissions to the court, Eoghan Cole SC, defending, said the aggravated burglary was not protracted and didn't go on for more than a few minutes. He acknowledged that, despite this, the incident would have been "terrifying" for the two women. Mr Cole said Cox is ashamed of what he did but accepts his actions and wanted to express his remorse. He said a sense of shame "percolates" through his psychological report, which was handed into the court. Counsel said his client is an alcoholic, had abused alcohol very badly throughout his life and accepted he was "not there yet in terms of recovery". Mr Justice Hunt said Cox resuming his former occupation as a barman will be problematic. Cox was remanded in custody until March 24, when he will be sentenced. Washington/New Delhi, Jan 20 (UNI) External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar held a bilateral meeting with his Japanese counterpart Takeshi Iwaya in Washington during which they took stock of the bilateral cooperation, and EAM extended an invite to the Japanese FM to visit India. This was their second meeting, after the one on the sidelines of the G7 Foreign Ministers Meeting in Italy on November 26 last year, a statement said. The Ministers utilized the meeting to take stock of salient issues in bilateral cooperation, including in the political, security, economic, technological, and people-to-people domains. They expressed satisfaction at the level, range, and pace of exchanges between the two countries. They agreed to maintain strategic communication through frequent dialogue, including Strategic Dialogue and the 2+2 Dialogue of Foreign and Defence Ministers. In this context, EAM extended an invitation to Foreign Minister Iwaya to visit India. On the 40th anniversary of the signing of the first Memorandum of Understanding between India and Japan on Science & Technology cooperation in 1985, the Ministers declared 2025-26 as the India-Japan Year of Science, Technology and Innovation. The Ministers also welcomed efforts to enhance people-to-people exchanges, especially in areas of technology, skills, and education. The meeting reinforced the enduring friendship between India and Japan based on mutual trust, shared values, and commitment to regional stability. UNI RN Taiwan's aerospace supply chain sees bright future amid US market opportunities Upon Donald Trump's return to the presidency, Taiwan's overseas expansion strategies are attracting significant attention. Jyh-Huei Kuo, Taiwan's Minister of Economic Affairs (MOEA), recently highlighted the opportunities for collaboration between Taiwan and the US in aerospace technology. It will be the top priority for both Taiwan and the US in the future to strengthen partnerships in the aerospace sector. In recent years, the aerospace supply chain has faced unprecedented pressure, making it one of the few industries unaffected by economic fluctuations. Taiwan-based manufacturers, sensing lucrative opportunities, are increasingly targeting this sector. Quaser, the prominent machine tool manufacturer, has also revealed that demand visibility for its aerospace orders already extends to the end of 2025. Industry analysts note that Trump's return to the White House could elevate aerospace and defense industries as the priorities of the US. As Taiwan also sees the defense and aerospace sectors as one of the five key "trusted industries", it would offer the substantial potential to enhance Taiwan-US collaboration. Kuo underscored Taiwan's potential to establish a strong aerospace supply chain presence in the US. In addition to collaborating with American aerospace giants, there are plans to relocate some R&D centers to the US and to pursue drone industry partnerships with Japan. The aerospace sector thus has become one of the few industries, alongside semiconductors and ICT, receiving clear guidance from Taiwan's government on strategic development. The post-pandemic recovery in aviation demand, coupled with the replacement of aging aircraft, has further boosted the aerospace supply chain. Despite global disruptions caused by the pandemic, which forced many suppliers out of business, the subsequent rebound in demand has led to a tightening supply situation. While Boeing has faced scrutiny over a series of incidents in recent years, its market dominance alongside Airbus remains unchallenged, with the two companies controlling 80% of the global market. Reports suggest a combined backlog of 15,000 aircraft orders. China Airlines has also indicated that supply chain delays mean the global aircraft shortage may persist until 2028. From the supply chain perspective, stable demand is evident. Quaser recently stated that aerospace remains a highly dependable sector, with strong market demand anticipated through 2025. Startin Hsieh, CEO of Quaser, noted that the company sees the most consistent and promising growth in aerospace, with visibility for aerospace-related orders already extending to year-end. Aerospace applications currently account for about 50% of Quaser's revenue, with precision machining, automotive, and mold-making comprising 30%, and the remainder derived from semiconductors, medical equipment, and energy. The company reported a record-breaking revenue of NT$3.24 billion (approx. US$102 million) for 2024, a 16.97% year-over-year increase. Looking ahead to 2025, Quser expects continued double-digit growth, driven primarily by aerospace and US market demand, which includes aerospace, energy, and automotive sectors. Apart from the demand for new aircraft, delivery delays for new planes are forcing airlines to focus on maintaining their current fleets, increasing reliance on aftermarket services and maintenance. Aerospace supplier Magnate anticipates a sustained increase in aircraft maintenance parts shipments over the next three to five years. Benefiting from concurrent demand for new aircraft and spare parts, the company projects total revenue for 2024 to reach NT$1.41 billion, an 18% year-over-year increase. Is Broadcom Samsung's beacon of hope amid Nvidia's challenges? At CES 2025, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang stated that Samsung Electronics (Samsung) must develop a "new design" to pass Nvidia's qualification, sparking discussions about whether Samsung can make a comeback with HBM3E in 2025. However, according to Chosun Biz, many industry insiders pointed out that if Samsung collaborates with Nvidia's competitor Broadcom, a different outcome may emerge. Samsung was initially expected to begin supplying HBM3E before the end of 2024, but this plan has been delayed and remains unfulfilled. Whether Huang's statement indicates insufficient technical capability on Samsung's part or overly stringent specifications set by Nvidia has led to considerable debate. Insiders stated that SK Hynix supplies Nvidia with HBM3E that significantly exceeds the standards set by the Joint Electron Device Engineering Council (JEDEC), as Nvidia's demands for power efficiency, data processing speed, and capacity continue to escalate. Major tech companies like Google, Meta, and ByteDance recently commissioned Broadcom to develop AI chips, positioning Broadcom as a formidable competitor to Nvidia. What are the odds of a collaboration between Samsung and Broadcom? Considering its chip design process and business model, Broadcom would be more likely to choose a memory supplier capable of providing high cost-performance ratios and large-scale supply compared to Nvidia. This perspective increases the likelihood of Samsung signing a contract with Broadcom. On the other hand, the initial defects encountered with Blackwell could serve as a growth catalyst for Broadcom's customized AI chips. Nevertheless, uncertainties remain regarding whether Broadcom can achieve the procurement scale comparable to Nvidia. Nvidia accounts for approximately 90% of global HBM demand, their new product Blackwell also features a significant amount of high-performance HBM. After meeting Nvidia's requirements, SK Hynix's ability to supply additional major customers is limited, creating potential market opportunities for Samsung to mount a comeback. However, there are also "contradictions" between Samsung and Broadcom. In July 2024, Yonhap News Agency reported that following an unequal contract signed with Samsung in 2023, Broadcom faced penalties from the Korea Fair Trade Commission. Subsequently, Samsung filed a lawsuit against Broadcom in the US for violating antitrust laws. On July 1, 2024, Samsung submitted a complaint citing the "unequal contract" related to Galaxy smartphone chips with Broadcom. In late December 2024, reports emerged indicating that SK Hynix had secured HBM orders from Broadcom. At CES 2025, Samsung showcased its sixth-generation high bandwidth memory (HBM4) to global customers. Although still in the development phase, Samsung's proactive promotion of HBM4 suggests that the company views this product as a key tool for revitalizing its market position. Samsung reportedly presented the HBM3E and HBM4 simultaneously to customers. HBM3E was officially announced as completed in February 2024, while HBM4 is planned for mass production in the second half of 2025. The South Korean industry generally believes that the success or failure of Samsung's HBM business may hinge on the performance of HBM4. China condemns Biden's final chip restrictions as 'irrational' Chinese industry experts have denounced the latest US chip restrictions on China as President Joe Biden's "final act of irrationality" before leaving office, with the measures taking effect just ahead of the Chinese Spring Festival. Comprehensive restrictions target advanced technology The new controls specifically target 16/14nm processes and, for the first time, include packaging and testing OSAT companies in the prohibition list, creating unprecedented impact across all levels of the semiconductor supply chain. These expansive measures reflect Biden's deep concerns about China's advancement in high-tech fields such as AI, semiconductors, and biotechnology. While the US has historically maintained technological superiority to preserve its dominance, China's rapid progress in technologies like 5G and AI has emerged as a direct challenge to this position. Political pressures shape policy The intensification of restrictions during Biden's final weeks stems from a combination of domestic political pressures, economic competition, and international relations considerations. Both the Democratic and Republican parties maintain a hardline position on China, compelling Biden to implement stringent policies influenced by both his foreign policy objectives and Republican pressure. This tough stance against China serves as a crucial strategy for the Biden Administration to maintain Democratic support. Legacy concerns drive final actions As the 82-year-old Biden approaches the end of his presidency, he appears increasingly focused on cementing his historical position on China. The possibility of Donald Trump's return to power has seemingly accelerated these actions, as Trump could potentially reverse Biden's policies. These recurring restrictions may represent Biden's significant political legacy on the global stage, marking his final effort to strengthen America's international position before the transition of power. Uncertain future under new administration Biden's approach has established a tiered constraint system distinguishing between "allies," "non-allies," and "hostile camps." However, questions remain about whether Trump will maintain these alliance distinctions after his anticipated 120-day policy review period. Impact on global relations Industry observers warn that these swift and intensive actions by the US carry long-term risks and consequences. The policies are expected to further strain US-China relations, disrupt global supply chains, and increase market uncertainty. While some analysts suggest these restrictions effectively signal the US commitment to maintaining technical dominance, others caution that excessive measures could accelerate economic decoupling between the two nations, potentially harming the global economy. In this environment of intensifying great power competition, Taiwan faces the challenge of carefully navigating between conflicting forces, requiring a balanced approach that combines wisdom with strategic acumen. Jensen Huang's 55-hour visit to Taiwan: key meetings and their significance Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang wrapped up a fast-paced 55-hour visit to Taiwan, underscoring the country's role in the global AI and semiconductor industries. During his stay from January 16 to 19, Huang engaged with top industry leaders, visited key manufacturing sites, and expressed his deep appreciation for the contributions of Taiwan's supply chain partners. A Tribute to Taiwan's Supply Chain Leaders On January 18, Huang hosted a high-profile luncheon in Taipei, attended by 36 top executives from Taiwan's leading technology companies. This rare gathering included Foxconn chairman Young Liu, Foxconn Industrial Internet (FII) chairman Brand Cheng, Acer chairman Jason Chen, Quanta chairman Barry Lam and vice chairman C.C. Leung, Wistron chairman Simon Lin, Asus chairman Jonney Shih, ASRock president Lung-luen Hsu, Pegatron chairman TH Tung, MSI chairman Joseph Hsu, Inventec chairman Sam Yeh and president Jack Tsai, and more. TSMC chairman Mark Liu, who had dined with Huang the day before, also joined the event. During the luncheon, Huang joked about the group photo taken after the meal, where he and several others squatted in the front row. "The front row exercises. The back row does not exercise." he quipped, drawing laughter from the attendees. Huang emphasized the critical contributions of these supply chain partners to Nvidia's technological innovations. He highlighted that 45 factories worldwide are currently operating 24/7 to build supercomputers powered by Nvidia's Grace and Blackwell chips. His primary goal for this visit, he stated, was to personally thank these partners for their efforts and lay the groundwork for an even more ambitious year ahead. Jensen Huang and executives from Nvidia's top supply chain players. Credit: DIGITIMES From Taichung to Taipei: a packed schedule Huang's visit began on January 16 when he arrived in Taichung and attended the ribbon-cutting ceremony for SPIL's new factory at the Tanzi Technology Industrial Park. It was his first visit to the city, and he took the opportunity to witness firsthand Taiwan's advanced semiconductor manufacturing capabilities. Later that evening, he visited the bustling Fengjia Night Market, though his stay was brief due to the large crowds. On January 17, Huang traveled to Taipei, where he began his day with a meeting focused on diversity and inclusion with Nvidia Taiwan's female employees. He then met with TSMC Chairman Mark Liu, with discussions centering on AI and semiconductor innovation. That evening, Huang attended Lunar New Year banquets hosted by Wistron and Nvidia Taiwan, celebrating the achievements of the past year with partners and employees. A personal touch: dinner with Morris Chang and night market visit Following the luncheon on January 18, Huang visited TSMC founder Morris Chang and his wife Sophie Chang for a private dinner at their residence. The intimate gathering reflected the strong ties between the two industry leaders. Afterward, he made a stop at Taipei's Tonghua Night Market, where he revisited a favorite fruit stall and gifted the owner a red envelope, showcasing his approachable and down-to-earth nature. Global strategy: preparing for the future Huang's visit concluded on January 19, when he departed from Taipei Songshan Airport. Before leaving, he announced plans to return to Taiwan in May for Computex, the premier global IT exhibition. After a brief layover in Hong Kong, Huang traveled to Beijing to attend Nvidia's annual banquet for its Beijing office. During the event, he praised the local team for maintaining an industry-leading employee attrition rate of just 0.9%. Huang's visit highlighted Taiwan's essential role in Nvidia's supply chain and the broader technology industry. By meeting with top executives and acknowledging their contributions, Huang reinforced the importance of collaboration in driving innovation and preparing for future challenges. His trip further affirmed Taiwan's status as a critical partner in the global semiconductor and AI ecosystem. The Department of Agriculture has confirmed that a third case of avian influenza infection (bird flu) has been detected in a wild bird, this time in County Donegal. This news comes just six weeks after the first case, which occurred on Thursday, December 5 in County Galway, when a buzzard was identified with the illness. Just under three weeks later, on Friday, December 20, another buzzard, this time deceased, was confirmed to have the virus after being found in Dublin. In an update, the Department of Agriculture, Food, and the Marine stated that while no outbreaks of avian influenza have been detected in poultry in Ireland during 2024 or 2025 to date, the confirmation that this virus is circulating in wild birds means that there is an increased threat to Irish poultry of becoming exposed to, and infected with, this disease. Across the Irish Sea, during November and December 2024, there were 16 confirmed outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza in poultry flocks in England. Currently, Ireland is within the higher-risk period for avian influenza. READ MORE: ALERT: Woman struck down in hit-and-run and rushed to hospital Members of the public are advised not to handle sick or dead wild birds of any species, and pet owners are advised to keep dogs on a leash when walking where sick or dead wild birds are, or have been, present. Best practice biosecurity measures remain mandatory for all poultry and captive bird keepers since Friday, December 6, 2024. These are precautionary measures aimed at reducing the risk of transmission of avian influenza to poultry in Ireland. If you, or someone you know, comes across a sick, or dead, bird, these can be reported here. Alternatively, these can also be reported to your local Regional Veterinary Office, or by calling the DAFM disease hotline number on 01 492 8026. Symptoms of bird flu include, but are not limited to: Death/high mortalities in a flock, depression/lethargy, loss of appetite, respiratory distress (gaping beak, coughing, sneezing, gurgling, rattling), swelling and blue discolouration of combs, wattles, neck and throat, gastrointestinal signs (inappetence, diarrhoea), nervous signs, and reduced egg production or no egg production. Fine Gael members have voted to ratify the programme for government, paving the way for a coalition with Fianna Fail and nine independents. Fine Gael held regional meetings in recent days before the parliamentary party met in Leinster House on Monday to cast their vote on the deal. The final result from all membership, councillor and parliamentary party votes was 93.9% in favour and 6.1% against. Taoiseach, and Fine Gael leader, Simon Harris said he was pleased members had voted overwhelmingly in favour of the deal. We will enter this Government with an absolute determination to deliver support for small businesses, more homes and homeownership, and a radically different approach to disability services. We will always back farmers and rural Ireland. The Fine Gael team will now deliver that agenda in Government. Fianna Fail voted in favour of ratifying the deal on Sunday by 812 votes to 62. The Dail parliament is to sit on Wednesday when the new coalition comprising Fianna Fail, Fine Gael and several independent TDs will be officially appointed. The 162-page programme for government, published during the week, includes smaller class sizes, reduced childcare costs and more gardai among its priorities. Fianna Fails Micheal Martin is set to replace Fine Gael leader Simon Harris as taoiseach when the Dail meets on Wednesday. He will hold the premiers office for three years before it reverts to Mr Harris for the final two years of the mandate. Meanwhile, a row is brewing between opposition parties and the group of independents supporting the government over whether the independents who are not given government roles can get speaking time in the Dail during opposition slots. The Regional Group of Independents are to get four junior ministerial roles, while Michael Healy-Rae is also in line to become a minister of state. Opposition parties have criticised a move by the remaining four independents to form a technical group that would give them speaking time in the Dail. Five opposition groups are to make a joint submission to oppose the proposal, saying they are united together in challenging any interpretation of standing orders that would facilitate this. The Labour Party has prepared a draft submission to the Ceann Comhairle that contradicts the claim that the independents can form a technical group which would eat into Dail time that is allocated to the opposition. In a statement, a spokesman for Sinn Fein called on the Ceann Comhairle to publish the legal advice received last week. In order for the Ceann Comhairle to be satisfied that the three Regional Independent TDs should be permitted to form a technical group, she would need to be satisfied that they are members in opposition, the statement added. It is difficult to see how such a conclusion could be reached on any rational basis given that the group participated in government formation talks with Fianna Fail and Fine Gael, reached an agreement with those parties on the text of the Programme for Government, members of that group are to become Junior Ministers in that Government including some who will sit at Cabinet and the lead negotiator on behalf of the Regional Independent Group who now wishes to be recognised as a member in opposition has made a public statement to the effect that the group would support the next government on the good days and the bad days. Sinn Fein has also criticised Aontu leader Peadar Toibin for agreeing that his partys two TDs join the technical group of independents, as it needs a minimum of five TDs to be recognised. The disgraceful proposition of the group of so-called independents, who authored and negotiated this programme for government, then sitting on the opposition benches is a charade that could not happen were it not for the support of Aontu leader Peadar Toibin, said Sinn Fein TD for Meath West, Johnny Guirke. Social Democrats deputy leader Cian OCallaghan said: It is outrageous that regional, independent TDs, who negotiated a programme for government and intend to wholeheartedly support the incoming administration, are attempting to hijack Opposition speaking time in the Dail. This farce could come to an immediate end if Aontu, whose two TDs are in the regional independent group, left that grouping. This would bring the number of TDs in that group below the threshold of five TDs, which secures Dail speaking rights. In a statement, Mr Toibin defended the move. Currently, if you are not in a Technical Group, you have little or no speaking rights, he said. You have to beg, borrow, and steal one minute here and two minutes there to speak. You have no Leaders Questions. You have to enter a lottery to question a minister. You have no committee membership in order to hold ministers to account. Sinn Fein should remember this well, as they were in a similar situation when Caoimhghin P Caolain was their Dail leader. Unfortunately, they seem to have lost their Standing Order reform zeal since those days. Aontu has always called for the Standing Orders of the Dail to be reformed to allow for each TD to be able to speak in the Dail on an equal basis. This should be the democratic basis of any parliament, and it would prevent the current difficulties. New Delhi, Jan 20 (UNI) India and France held the 7th Maritime Cooperation Dialogue in New Delhi on January 14, during which both sides reaffirmed their shared vision for maritime security, respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, and protecting freedom of navigation. The Dialogue was co-chaired by Pavan Kapoor, Deputy National Security Advisor, National Security Council Secretariat, India, andAlice Rufo, Director General for International Relations and Strategy, Ministry for the Armed Forces, France. Both sides discussed enhancing their cooperation in the Indian Ocean Region and reaffirmed their shared vision for maritime security, a key element of the India - France Strategic Partnership. India and France reiterated their strong commitment to upholding international law, supporting multilateralism, including through regional organisations, respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, and protecting freedom of navigation, a statement said. Recalling their vision for a free and open Indian Ocean Region, first expressed in the Joint Strategic Vision of India-France Cooperation in the Indian Ocean Region in 2018, India and France agreed to support free and secure access to sea lanes of communications through collaboration between their maritime assets and organisations. France welcomed the participation of the Indian Navy in the Combined Maritime Forces and looks forward to Indias leadership of the appropriate Combined Task Forces. India and France agreed to develop a joint assessment of the threats to maritime security in the region; to counter illicit maritime activities, including piracy and armed robbery, maritime terrorism, contraband smuggling, Illegal Unreported and Unregulated fishing; hybrid as well as cyber security threats and marine pollution. Both sides agreed to strengthen existing mechanisms of cooperation such as implementation of the agreed framework of exchange of information through enhanced information exchange between Information Fusion Centre-Indian Ocean Region, Gurugram and Regional Coordination Operations Centre, Seychelles and Regional Maritime Information Fusion Centre, Madagascar in the Indian Ocean Region and explore opportunities for coordinated surveillance whilst deployed to counter threats to maritime security in the region. India and France committed to mutually support each other in maritime security engagements and constructs. As part of their joint commitment towards the conservation of biodiversity and the protection of oceans, India and France also agreed to preserve marine resources in the Indian Ocean Region, through the United Nations Ocean Conference. Both countries welcomed the progress made on biodiversity and blue economy during the last bilateral dialogue on blue economy and ocean governance, and agreed to pursue cooperation at the regional level, as members of the Indian Ocean Rim Association, it added. UNI RN Cllr Marianne Butler is urging graduates from Louth to register for the new Seanad Higher Education Constituency, which is set to come into effect this April. In comments to the Dundalk Democrat at the weekend, the Green Party councillor welcomed the new constituencey and shared some information for local graduates on how to register. The Dundalk South councillor explained: At the end of this month six senators, three from Trinity College Dublin and three from National Universities (UCD, UCC, UCG and Maynooth) will be elected for the last time. Thankfully this very unfair system that has existed for too long, which restricted voting to only graduates from these third level institutions will finally end. The register for the new Higher Education Constituency will come into effect in April 2025. In order to be included in this new electoral register for this constituency local graduates need to take action and register their details on the website https://seanadvoter.ie/ If you were already on either the Trinity or the National University register of electors, then you should have received a letter with details of how to register for the new Higher Education Constituency. If you went to another public college or university and you are a citizen, then you must register your details on the Seanad Voter website. It is really straightforward to register - you just need a copy of the photo page of your valid Irish Passport or your Certificate of Naturalisation to verify your citizenship and your Personal Public Service Number. A full List of Designated Institutions which includes the names of all Current, Affiliated and Historic Institutions can be easily found on the Seanad Voter website. Cllr Butler added I really welcome this change for local graduates. The referendum to enable this change took place in 1979! There was a public consultation in relation to this change back in 2014. I made a submission in which I argued that in the spirit of the Good Friday Agreement, graduates from Institutions in Northern Ireland should also be included along with recipients of Level 6 qualifications. Unfortunately, neither of these cohorts were included. Hopefully this new Higher Education Constituency can be further expanded and made more inclusive in years to come.I am delighted those graduates living in Louth that attended DKIT (Dundalk RTC), DCU, Technological University Dublin (DIT) and many other institutions will now be able to participate in electing six Senators to Seanad Eireann once this new Register comes into force in April. Motorists and road users across the country are being urged to exercise caution overnight and early tomorrow morning due to 'potentially hazardous travelling conditions'. Met Eireann, which has issued a second status yellow warning in less than 24 hours says the fog will linger in places, leading to impaired visibility. "Areas of dense fog developing, leading to impaired visibility and potentially hazardous travelling conditions," states the warning which is valid from 8pm this Monday until 11am on Tuesday. READ ALSO: Serving member of the Defence Forces jailed for raping colleague at Dublin hotel Gardai and Road Safety Authority are appealing to those who are driving in areas impacted by the fog to be careful when travelling. **UPDATE** Fog warning extended across Ireland until Tues 21st, 11am. https://t.co/zNWKEZeG1T RSA Ireland (@RSAIreland) January 20, 2025 Separately, MET Eireann is warning that very strong winds are likely across the country later this week with the potential for damaging wind gusts and disruption in places. The forecaster says a powerful low-pressure system is expected to hit Ireland on Thursday night and into Friday, bringing very strong winds with a potential for damage to be caused in places. High waves and heavy rain are also forecast for coastal areas. Met Eireann, which is closely monitoring the situation, has issued an advisory for all of Ireland and says it will issue official weather warnings in the coming days once the forecast and path of the low-pressure system becomes clearer. This advisory, which was issued this Monday afternoon, is valid until midnight on Saturday (Friday night). Aside from creating memories on the new places I visit, I also want to leave an impact on the people and the places I meet along my travels. An online movement to inspire, enable and empower travellers AirAsia and partners pledge to jointly tackle responsible tourism by launching the #HowIFly campaign. How I fly call s for responsible travel, and the value of generating a positive impact on communities, wildlife, and the environment. Over 1.5 billion travellers are expected to travel each year by 2020. #HowIFly is a call or challenge through social media and will take via Instagram. It challenges travellers who wish to participate to post a 15 o 30-seconds video on how they fly responisble and to tag three or their friends to do the same. Among the participants, three winners will be randomly chosen from the pool of entries. To know more about the campaign visit @AirAsiaPh on Instagram and Viber Public Chat. During the launch, representatives and officers from Sibaltan Heritage Council led by its president Enrico Cabiguen, OceanQuest Southeast Asia training director and conservation photographer Reggie Reyes, DOT Assitant Secretary for Mindanao Eden David and AirAsia CEO Comendador Signed the #HowIFly travel manifesto to signify the commitment to the proeject. Heres a theatrical shadowplay presentation of the #HowIFly campaign by El Gamma Penumbra How about you, what kind of traveller are you? While you have collected so many stamps on your passports and managed to travel more than three times a year have you left an impact on where you have been and when? One of my most favorite travel this year was when we visited a very secluded island in Casiguran Aurora. The place is a surfing haven, not many know the place yet and I wish it remains as sacred as we saw it. I was there with the brand FreeWaters and I was given an update this week that 20 filters systems have been donated to 2,200 residents of 4 baranggays in the area with the Freewaters #FeelsGood to be Part of the 1,000 campaign. Casiguran Aurora was one of the places badly hit by Typhoon Haiyan and their fresh water supply was badly affected. With the water filters we gave them they now enjoying fresh water wherever they are. This is the kind of story the #HowIFly campaign wants if you have the same story, share it and inspire people to become a responsible traveller and not just for photo ops. Incidentally, Up to 3 million promotional seats are up for grabs in AirAsia Groups final Free Seats promotion of the year. The AirAsia Group serves the most extensive network with over 100 destinations across Asia, Australia and the Middle East. Since the inception of AirAsia in 2001 and AirAsia X in 2007, the group has carried over 330 million guests. AirAsia has grown its fleet from just two aircraft to over 170 A320s and proud to be a truly Asean (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) airline with established operations based in Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines, India and Japan. From 14 November 2016 (0001h GMT +8) to 20 November 2016 (2400h GMT +8), guests can explore domestic destinations including international routes such as Shanghai, Taipei, Singapore, Hong Kong, Macau, Korea and Malaysia from the Philippines and extending as far as Mauritius, Maldives, Delhi via Fly-Thru and much more with all-in-fares one-way from as low as P202 during the 1 May 2017 to 6 February 2018 travel period. This promotion is available on airasia.com and the AirAsia mobile app. Guests travelling on AirAsia X will also be able to enjoy its award-winning Premium Flatbed to Chongqing, Chengdu, Gold Coast, Perth and Sapporo on promotional sale. AirAsia BIG members will be given priority access to the promo seats on 13 November 2016 (0001h GMT +8). Booking can only be made through the website at airasia.com, one day before the promotion opens to the public. Sign up now at airasia.com to enjoy this priority access. Members of BIG Prepaid Mastercard and AirAsia-Citi Credit Card will also enjoy priority access to promo seats. Stay gorgeous everyone! Technology is now deeply woven into how businesses function and succeed. Due to this, 81% of business leaders agree that investing in digital transformation is pivotal to achieving success in the current business environment. This shows how technology is reshaping how companies, even established ones, approach advertising and marketing. If youre an established brand seeking to remain competitive and enhance customer experiences, read on to learn how to expertly navigate the digital landscape. Your guide to the digital transformation journey Digital transformation can feel like a big, overwhelming buzzword. But at its heart, its all about reshaping how your business operates in a digital-first world. But where do you begin? Lets break it down step by step to make the journey clearer and more manageable: Step 1: Assess where you stand Before you dive in, its important to take stock of where your business currently stands in terms of digital maturity. This means looking closely at your existing digital tools, processes, and even company culture. Pinpointing areas that need a refresh or overhaul is the first step toward meaningful progress. Step 2: Set clear, achievable goals Like any journey, you need a destination in mind. What does digital transformation mean for your business? Whether its improving customer experiences, streamlining operations, or boosting revenue, setting specific, measurable objectives ensures your efforts align with your larger business strategy. Step 3: Map out the journey A solid roadmap is your guide through the transformation process. It acts as a detailed game plan outlining the steps, milestones, and resources needed to reach your goals. It should also include how youll measure progress and celebrate success along the way. Focus areas for digital transformation in established brands Digital transformation equates to strategically using digital tools to improve how your business connects, operates, and grows. Here are some of the key areas where established brands can make the biggest impact: 1. Enhancing customer experience Digital transformation offers a golden opportunity to completely transform the customer experience. With the help of data analytics and customer insights, brands can deliver highly personalized and seamless interactions across various channels. This keeps businesses in tune with evolving customer needs and expectations. 2. Improving efficiency with digital tools Efficiency is everything in todays competitive landscape, and digital tools make it possible to streamline operations like never before. Whether its automating repetitive tasks or implementing advanced technologies like AI, IoT, or blockchain, these tools can help companies reduce costs, save time, and focus on higher-value activities. 3. Growing through digital marketing and sales channels The digital age has transformed how brands reach and engage their audience. Embracing digital marketing and sales strategies means that you can connect with more people, communicate in real time, and boost conversions. Tackling the challenges of digital transformation Lets be real: digital transformation isnt always smooth sailing. Inarguably, there are bumps along the way. But with the right mindset and strategies, you can overcome them. Heres a look at some common challenges and how to deal with them in a way that works for your brand: 1. Dealing with resistance to change Change can be tough, especially when people are used to doing things a certain way. So, the key here is to create a culture that welcomes innovation. Get your team involved early, offer training, and make sure they feel supported throughout the transition. 2. Keeping up with fast-paced technology Technology moves fastlike, really fast! Trying to keep up with all the new trends and tools can feel like youre constantly playing catch-up. But instead of stressing over every new gadget or app, focus on staying curious and forward-thinking. Keep an eye on emerging technologies and work with trusted tech partners to make sure youre not left behind. 3. Protecting your data When youre working with all kinds of customer data, security is a huge deal. Its essential to make sure everything is protected and that youre complying with privacy laws. Put strong data security measures in place and make sure your customers info stays safe and sound. Best practices for navigating digital transformation Digital transformation can feel like a daunting task, we know. But the good news is, there are some solid practices you can follow to make the journey a whole lot easier! Lets take a look at some of the best ways to steer your brand through this process and come out on top: 1. Foster a culture of innovation and flexibility A huge part of a successful digital transformation is creating an environment where innovation and flexibility are the norm. Encourage your team to think outside the box, experiment with fresh ideas, and not be afraid to fail. Remember, failure is just another step toward success! 2. Partner up with the right tech providers You dont have to go it alone when it comes to digital transformation. Partnering with technology providers gives you access to the latest tools, resources, and expertise. These partnerships can help you stay ahead of tech trends, tackle challenges faster, and make sure youre using the best solutions for your needs. 3. Track your progress and make adjustments Just like any big project, its important to measure your success along the way. Set clear goals and metrics to track how your digital transformation is going. If somethings not working or needs tweaking, dont hesitate to adjust. Time to take the digital leap! Digital transformation isnt a one-time effort; its an ongoing journey. To stay ahead of the curve, established brands need to embrace a culture of flexibility and adaptability, continually learning and evolving to meet shifting customer needs, market trends, and technological innovations. Still unsure how to progress with digital transformation? Then its probably time to work with a trusted public relations agency. Let the PR pros drive your business to success through years of industry expertise! The perfect time is now. Take the digital leap! Earthlingorgeous.com is an established, well-trusted name in the blogging world, rocking the lifestyle scene for 17 years strongyes, seventeen! Its not just a blog; its one of the top lifestyle blogs worldwide. If you want your brand or service to stand out and be seen by a loyal, engaged audience, this is the only place you need to be New Delhi, Jan 20 (UNI) The Supreme Court on Monday issued a final ultimatum to the Union Government to decide on the pending mercy petition of Balwant Singh Rajoana, a Babbar Khalsa terrorist sentenced to death for his involvement in the assassination of former Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh. The apex court has scheduled the matter for hearing on March 18, warning that it will decide the plea on merits if no decision is made by then. Rajoanas mercy plea, pending since 2012, seeks commutation of his death sentence on the grounds of inordinate delay. Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for Rajoana, argued that the prolonged delay violates the convict's fundamental rights, pointing out that Rajoana has spent 29 years in custody, including 15 years on death row. Rohatgi further emphasized that Rajoana has chosen not to appeal his conviction or sentence, highlighting his claim of being subjected to inhuman treatment due to the prolonged uncertainty surrounding his execution. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the Union Government, requested 46 weeks of additional time, citing the sensitive nature of the case. However, a bench comprising Justice BR Gavai, Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra, and Justice KV Viswanathan, firmly stated, "We will grant you time by way of last chance. Either you take a decision, or we will hear the matter on merits." Balwant Singh Rajoana was convicted for his role in the August 31, 1995, suicide bombing at the Chandigarh Secretariat complex, which killed Beant Singh and 16 others. The attack was allegedly carried out in retaliation for the counter-terrorism policies of the Beant Singh-led Punjab government. The Punjab and Haryana High Court upheld Rajoanas death sentence in 2010, while the sentence of co-accused Jagtar Singh Hawara was commuted to life imprisonment. Rajoana refused to appeal against his conviction, expressing disdain for the Indian judicial system. In 2012, a mercy petition was filed on Rajoanas behalf by the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC) under Article 72 of the Constitution. However, the petition has remained undecided. In 2019, the Union Government announced plans to commute Rajoanas sentence to life imprisonment as part of commemorations for Guru Nanak Devs 550th birth anniversary. Despite this, no formal decision was made, and the Home Ministry cited procedural and security concerns as reasons for the delay. In 2022, the Supreme Court directed the Union Government to decide on the mercy petition within a specific timeframe. Despite multiple extensions, no resolution has been reached. In May 2023, a Supreme Court bench declined to commute Rajoanas death penalty but directed the competent authority to decide the mercy petition "in due course of time." Rohatgi argued that Rajoana's continued detention on death row violates established jurisprudence, which states that prolonged delays in execution justify commutation. He also sought parole for Rajoana, allowing him to return to his village pending the decision on his mercy plea. The Court has now made it clear that further delays will not be tolerated. If the Union Government fails to act, the Court will independently evaluate the case and make its decision. The matter will be taken up again on March 18, with the Supreme Court keenly observing whether the Union Government resolves the long-pending issue. Meanwhile, the President of India is yet to take any action on the mercy petition. UNI SNG CS1442 Cork Airport has announced that its Craft Lane bar and restaurant is to close for two months for a major refurbishment, and will reopen in mid-March with an improved offering in an updated setting. The bar and restaurant, which will be rebranded as Craft, is managed by food services company KSG. The company said the refurbished bar and restaurant will celebrate Corks food culture and cuisine with an extensive menu showcasing locally produced ingredients, as well as a fresh look and feel. Along with the refurbishment of the bar and restaurant, a new cocktail bar will also be constructed on the site of the existing Craft Lane kiosk, which is located adjacent to Gate 7. The new bar and restaurant will feature a new bar counter and seating area and a dedicated restaurant area with more seating to cater for 150 customers at any given time. Gourmet reputation KSG chief Michael Gleeson said the renovated bar would greatly enhance the food and beverage offering at Cork Airport, while celebrating Corks gourmet reputation. Following the opening of the new Roasted Notes cafe and wine bar last year, KSG is again committed to working with the team at Cork Airport to deliver yet another high-quality experience for passengers, he said. Craft will be an opportunity for passengers to enjoy a fantastic Cork-focused menu, showcasing delicious food prepared with locally sourced ingredients, along with some new beverages and cocktails. Thrilled Roy ODriscoll, Cork Airport deputy managing director, said he and his team had been working closely with KSG ahead of the renovations of Craft Lane and he was thrilled to see the refurbishment works commence. I have every confidence that our passengers will love the new Craft bar and restaurant when it reopens to the public in mid-March, he said. Throughout the course of the refurbishment and upgrade works, alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages will be available in Cork Airport at Roasted Notes Cafe and Wine Bar and in the Food Republic food court, while the new cocktail bar will open for business on January 31. Craft Lane is to close from Monday, January 20, and is expected to open as Craft in mid-March. More than 1,000 children were waiting for Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (Camhs) appointments in the Cork and Kerry area as of the end of November with almost one third waiting for over a year. Nationally, just over 60% of all children waiting more than a year for Camhs live in the HSEs CH04 area which covers Cork and Kerry. The most recent figures were released by the HSE in response to a parliamentary question from Sinn Fein TD for Cork North Central, Thomas Gould. They show that, at the end of November 2024, there were 1,003 children waiting in Cork and Kerry, of whom 332 were waiting for more than 12 months. Mr Gould has described the figures as shocking, saying no child should have to wait for longer than a year for mental health intervention. Some 205 children in the CH04 area had been waiting for appointments for up to 12 weeks, 163 for more than 12 weeks, 152 for more than 26 weeks, and 151 for more than 39 weeks. Nationally, there were 3,833 children waiting for Camhs appointments as of the end of November. Of these, 546 had been waiting over 12 months. Of those children waiting for more than 12 months, 61% were in the Cork and Kerry region. Across the country, some 1,555 children had been waiting for up to 12 weeks, 785 for more than 12 weeks, 591 for more than 26 weeks, and 356 for more than 39 weeks. Struggling Mr Gould said: Hundreds of children sit on the waiting list in Cork and Kerry, likely struggling and with their mental health deteriorating. No child should have to wait longer than 12 months for mental health intervention. I am disgusted that this has been allowed to escalate to this level and that, while waiting lists have reduced in other areas, they have continued to increase in Cork and Kerry, he said. The Northside TD said it was clear that there is a crisis in Camhs across Cork and Kerry. I am seeing it from my office. Parents are at their wits end. They are watching their children struggle with no support, and spending their childhoods on waiting lists. The most vulnerable children in this State are let down time and again by Fianna Fail and Fine Gael, Mr Gould said. I am sick and tired of childrens mental health being left at the bottom of the pecking order. I am sick of children being made more vulnerable, with long-lasting consequences, because of a failure to properly resource state services, the Sinn Fein TD added. Audrey Rose Sacris and Ben Powell met on an online platform, which they were both using due to their love for the same video game, but it was a heated conversation about how to eat a slice of pizza that initially got them talking. Ben, who is originally from England, explained: I saw a post, she was talking to someone else about how they ate their pizza crust first, I thought that was really weird and I wasnt hesitant on calling her out for it. Audrey, originally from the Philippines, said: I wasnt even talking to him, I was enjoying a conversation with someone else so I said I wasnt even talking to you, what is your problem?. And the rest is history. Their conversation went on for another hour, moving to a private chat. Ben recalled: I must have fallen asleep at my computer, and when I woke up the next day we just continued speaking. We moved to calling each other, then video chatting, and honestly our entire days were spent just chatting. We started a call at 9pm and by the time we ended the call it was 4pm the next day. Audrey Rose Sacris and Ben Powell the very first day they physically met at Cork Airport (19 Feb 2024). Audrey was in the process of getting paperwork sorted to move to Ireland when they started talking in March, and moved to Cork in September 2022. In February 2024, Ben moved to Cork too. She collected him from the airport it was the first time they had met in person and they moved in together right away. Ben explained: We were talking every day for almost two years at this point, and we had discussed me getting my own place in Cork but decided to move in together, it felt natural. He added that his family were a little bit worried he was moving country for a girl he hadnt met in person, and were concerned if the pictures hed shown them matched the person he was actually going to meet, but he said: Thats all changed now, my parents love her and they think shes a perfect fit for me. In July of last year, Ben decided to propose, and took extra shifts at work, and worked while sick or when hed pulled a muscle in his leg, so he could save up for a ring. Audreys family visited Cork recently, and Ben asked her fathers permission. He explained: It was her mums birthday, and I knew the best present I could give her was to propose to her daughter on that day, so theyd get to be there for it even though they lived halfway across the world. Audrey added: Im a woman who likes to have everything planned and know whats going on all the time he usually cant keep a secret from me, this is the only time he really caught me off guard. Audrey Rose Sacris and Ben Powell after Ben proposed in Ballincollig regional park. They headed to Ballincollig Regional Park to take pictures with her family, and Ben asked for a picture of just him and Audrey, at which point he popped the question. They are planning a small, intimate wedding in Ireland, followed by a bigger celebration in the Philippines with Audreys family. They eat pizza about once a week, and manage not to argue about it. Audrey explained: It goes all the way back to my childhood, we grew up without much money and having pizza was always a big deal. My mum would never let me have another slice unless Id eaten my crust because she thought it was a waste of food so I would eat it first to get it out of the way and savour the rest. Ben added: I still think its weird. STAFFING presents a huge challenge to mental health services in Cork, with some people at risk of deterioration or even death, Social Democrats TD for East Cork Liam Quaide has claimed. Mr Quaide, who worked as a clinical psychologist prior to his recent election to the Dail, told The Echo: We often hear about the complexity of reforming our health services. However, some of the central problems are quite straightforward to address. We cannot expect services to be fit-for-purpose if HSE management are restricted from hiring enough staff to run them. He said the official recruitment embargo was lifted in July 2024, but was replaced by the Pay and Numbers Strategy, which he claims has been almost as restrictive. Each level of mental health service provision needs to be properly resourced so that shortfalls are not impacting at other levels, he said, explaining: The failure to resource primary care is putting young people with mild mental health difficulties at greater risk of requiring Camhs [Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services]. A spokesperson for the HSE told The Echo: Our priority is always the care and wellbeing of our service users and we wish to apologise to anyone who is struggling to access services, or who is waiting to be seen. We are working to address shortages caused by ongoing recruitment challenges, with each team progressing plans to fill vacancies as soon as possible, within the remit of the Pay and Numbers Strategy. We are actively recruiting based on clinical need and priority for 2025. The senior leadership team, as part of the post prioritisation process, are reviewing all vacant posts with a particular focus on services which have long waiting times. They also said that Cork Kerry Community Healthcare regrets the lengthy waitlists for primary care psychology services, saying that a 60% increase in referrals between 2021 and 2024, the recruitment embargo, and other recruitment challenges have contributed to this, but added that an increase in academic places and student sponsorship has improved the staffing situation. While Mr Quaide welcomed that a number of primary care psychology posts were advertised for Cork in October and November, he said a much more extensive recruitment drive is needed to address the fact that there are now thousands of young people waiting for those services. He continued: Some client groups are at grave risk of deterioration or even death in the absence of proper treatment. We need to see the HSEs Model of Care for Eating Disorder Services funded and implemented in full, including the provision of four regional Eating Disorder teams and 24 inpatient beds nationally for adults, as well as eight national inpatient beds for young people in the National Childrens Hospital. On eating disorder services, the HSE said that the Adult Eating Disorder Regional Service for Cork and Kerry opened in January 2024 and began taking referrals from GPs in March 2024, and a steering group is in place to support the service and we continue to review referrals and service activity in line with the needs of the population and the model of care. TD Liam Quaide As a TD, Mr Quaide will have a particular focus on vulnerable groups of people who require intensive support and fall between services, sometimes with tragic outcomes. He said: It is a national scandal that some people with an intellectual disability end up languishing in psychiatric wards due to a lack of specialist residential services. Others are living in precarious circumstances in the community where they may be at risk of exploitation, or with ageing parents who are unable to cope. We need investment in specialist residential services for people with co-existing mental health difficulties and an intellectual disability, Mr Quaide said However, a HSE spokesperson told The Echo: Cork Kerry Community Healthcare (CKCH) Disability Services are not aware of any person with a disability currently inappropriately placed in a mental health service. CKCH are aware that, on occasion, people remain in an acute mental health service for longer than would be medically necessary where the person cannot, for various reasons, return to their previous living situation. In those cases CKCH work to ensure the appropriate supports are put in place as soon as possible to enable people to move to a more appropriate setting. In line with national policy, people with disabilities are supported to live ordinary lives in ordinary places. Mr Quaide is also appealing to the HSE to reconsider their proposal to invest over 64m building a centralised residential service for people with severe and enduring mental health difficulties on the grounds of St Stephens Hospital, Glanmire. When I joined the North Cork mental health services as a psychologist in 2013, the rehabilitation and recovery team had helped many long-stay patients of St Stephens to re-integrate in the communities of Kanturk, Mallow, and Fermoy, he said, adding that these services remain an exemplar. The new St Stephens proposal is entirely at odds with that progressive trend and with national mental health policy. It will lock in vast amounts of public money to a centralised, isolated service that should be spent on community-integrated settings in towns such as Cobh and Clonakilty, where currently none exist. He added that there has also been no movement on the new build on the grounds of the Owencurra Centre since the HSE received planning permission in February 2024, which he said was inexplicable and cannot be attributed to concerns about flood risk, which were addressed in the planning application. He is also calling for the HSE to disclose where they have been referring people with residential needs since Owenacurra stopped taking new clients in 2021. Mr Quaide added: I would much prefer to be working in a constructive, cordial manner with HSE management on these issues over the next five years than having to take an adversarial approach in Oireachtas committees and across the airwaves and feeling like progress comes from sustained, attritional battle instead of reasonable, collaborative engagement. The HSE said that Cork Kerry Community Healthcare is developing a new 10-bed rehabilitative residential unit in Midleton town, on the site of the current Owenacurra facility: Contractors are currently being engaged and construction is due to commence at the end of April 2025. On the topic of specialist residential services, the HSE spokesperson said: The statutory responsibility for social housing lies with the relevant local authority, however our mental health services work in close co-operation with housing bodies to ensure that people with complex needs can access independent accommodation. They continued: The capital funding to develop a site in St Stephens encompasses the development of a Community Rehabilitation Residence (CRR) to replace the existing continuing care service there. This will be designed in an appropriate and non-institutional manner. With regard to concerns raised regarding the appropriateness of St Stephens Campus, we have been assured by HSE Estates that the units will be designed in such a manner that they will not be institutional and will be separate from any other building on the land adjacent. A 25-year-old woman charged with punching one garda in the nose and biting another officers arm appeared at Cork District Court. Teegan Lonergan of Cork Simon Community faces the assault charges. Judge Mary Dorgan said in relation to the most serious charge of assault causing harm by biting that she would decide on the issue of jurisdiction when she had updated medical evidence. The Director of Public Prosecutions said the case could be dealt with summarily at Cork District Court. Sergeant Liam Walsh outlined the allegations in the case for Judge Dorgan to decide if she would agree to accept jurisdiction. Teegan Lonergan is charged with a count of assault causing harm to Detective Garda Kevin Motherway at St Lukes Cross, Cork, on June 10, 2024, contrary to the Non-fatal Offences Against the Person Act. Gardai were on duty that afternoon and observed Ms Teegan staggering off a footpath. Det Garda Motherway and Det Garda Brian Holland approached. She shouted at them: Get the f*** away from me ye c***s, ye are bastards, f*** off ye pricks. They arrested her and were waiting for transport to the Bridewell garda station. Sgt Walsh said: While waiting, she punched Det Garda Holland into the nose. He was not injured. While being placed in the garda personnel carrier, Teegan Lonergan bit Det Garda Motherways right arm and broke skin. He had blood tests and received a tetanus shot and has made a full recovery. He has one more assessment test to do next month it is all clear at the moment. Judge Dorgan said: I will adjourn the issue of accepting jurisdiction until March 3. I would need an update on the tests. As well as the charge of assault causing harm, Teegan Lonergan is charged with assaulting Det Garda Holland, engaging in threatening behaviour and being drunk and a danger on the occasion last June. They call Bali the Island of the Gods. There are statues and images of strange-looking creatures everywhere, usually partially covered with black and white chequered fabric. The fabric has an equal number of black and white squares for balance. A kind of yin and yang. The Balinese people believe that for every good, there is an evil, so its all about maintaining equity. The islands population displays its gratitude to the Gods through offerings called canang sari, little dishes of flowers and food left all over the place. You find them on statues, on footpaths, outside shops, and you often have to step over them. I visited Bali with my wife in December and it was an eye-opener - in a good way. The first thing you cant help but notice is the humidity. It slaps you in the face the minute you leave the sanctuary of the air-conditioned airport. We were there for a week and even the hotel air conditioning struggled to keep us cool. It was the start of their rainy season, so to look out the window in the morning and see the rain belting down, the grey skies overhead, and the trees and bushes blowing in the wind, it immediately reminded you of home. In the cool of the air-conditioned room, its easy to forget you have left Ireland behind. As soon as you open the patio door though, you are in no doubt that you have landed in the tropics. The wall of heat brings on an instant sweat-fest, just like opening a giant oven door to check the meat. Kuta beach in Bali. Trevor Laffan visited the paradise isle as part of his sojourn to Australia - its hot, but very friendly, he says It is oppressive, but you soon learn there are two choices. You can either fight it to stay dry, which is absolutely impossible, or you can give in to it and embrace the wetness. Accept that the lovely clean, dry t-shirt you just put on is going to end up in a puddle of sweat as soon as you walk out the door. A couple of minutes later, the underwear and shorts will be in the same condition, so you sit down for breakfast with a squelch. I gave up drinking tea or coffee in the morning because it only made matters worse. I also figured out that mosquito repellent was essential in the morning too, because the mozzies in Bali dont limit their activity to dawn and dusk. Theyre quite happy to carry out ambushes at any hour of the day. It might sound from this that we had a terrible time, but far from it. We stayed in the Puri Santrian Hotel, a low-level complex spread over a large compound with several pools, restaurants and other amenities set in a jungle-type atmosphere. You can lay out on a sun lounger by the pool, or take a few steps to get onto the beach. It is idyllic. It takes a large staff to run the place, and each and every one of them made us feel welcome. In my cynical senses, I initially thought this was an act put on for the tourists. Everyone said hello and smiled as they went about their business, and nothing was too much trouble. The staff dressed immaculately in traditional garb, sarongs and sandals, and I thought the niceness was just part of the package. But I was wrong. As we moved about during the week and did some exploring, we discovered that everyone was the same. There was no unpleasantness. It was all manners, respect, and smiles wherever we went. A taxi driver called Sam collected us at the airport when we arrived in Bali and brought us to our hotel, which was half an hour away. The taxi was pre-booked and pre-paid and neither of us had cash for a tip. He had no understanding of Revolut, so we were goosed. I explained our predicament and he only smiled and thanked us for visiting his country. He was such a pleasant and knowledgeable guy that we took his number and booked him later in the week to take us on a sight-seeing tour of the island. He turned up bang on time and we headed off to God knows where. We left it up to him. The first thing I noticed was the traffic. The streets nearby were extremely narrow, and the predominant mode of transport was the light Vespa-type motor scooter. They were everywhere and there seemed to be no rules. One bike passed me, and it was driven by an adult with two children riding behind him and two more in front. I have no idea how they all managed to fit, but there wasnt a sign of a helmet. This isnt unusual. They were whizzing in and out of traffic from both sides, crossing in front of each other. It was chaotic. Sam said Balinese people are easy- going and they all look out for one another. There is no such thing as road rage and the main thing for them is to remain calm. When the traffic was heavy, nobody blew their horn, they just waited patiently until they got going again. We were out for the day, and the smiling and pleasantness continued wherever we went, so it wasnt merely done for the tourists in the hotel. Sam explained that it was just the way of the people, to be gentle, helpful, and friendly. Im not sure how they have managed to maintain that way of life, given the amount of external influences they have to contend with. Its a hugely popular holiday destination, particularly with the Australians, and I would hate for those gentle, humble people to be contaminated by outside forces. Id love to say Ill be back some day, but its a hell of a journey to Bali, and that is the only downside. In our obsession to live longer, weve forgotten how to live better and the power of connection. An aunt of mine, a sister in a community of nuns, lived to be 93 before she died after a stroke that left her unable to swallow. For the three weeks she was in hospital longing for a cup of tea, the community of sisters rallied around her to make sure she was not alone for a moment during those last few weeks of her life. That gesture was an example of how the community lived their lives sharing meals, conversation and support as their numbers dwindled with their health over the previous three decades. They lived simply, shared lifts into town, prayed together daily, and went to bed early. They walked the strand and swam in the sea on their holidays to Garretstown, and mainly lived well into their eighties and nineties. Their greatest support was each other. They were always laughing. To me, the sisters had figured out the secret to a healthy, happy life without any help from the billion-dollar longevity industry. Meanwhile, anxiety and depression are at an all-time high at all ages. Have we got it all wrong? Is chasing a longer life making us miserable? Weve turned living into a full-time job. Tracking our steps. Monitoring our sleep. Measuring calories. But when did we last just live? The modern wellness warrior starts their day with ice baths, green juice, meditation apps, red light therapy, gratitude journals all before 8am. The anxiety of not doing enough is killing us as fast as the things we are trying to prevent. Our parents and grandparents didnt track their sleep cycles. They didnt wear apps to monitor activity and recovery - yet many lived long, fulfilling lives. The longest-living people dont obsess about longevity. Older people living in Blue Zones with high numbers of centenarians have been highlighted as knowing how to enjoy their food, rest without guilt, work with purpose, and love their community. More important than any tracker app for longevity is connection with friends and family. Our friends literally keep us alive. When it comes to physical and mental health, friends and laughter are the best medicine, says Catherine Conlon. In Age Proof, Head of the Academic Department of Gerontology at Trinity College Dublin, Rose Anne Kenny, stated that when she started to study the association between family ties, friendship and health in the Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA) study, she was staggered by how powerful the physical effects of friendship are. She was surprised by how much difference good friendships make not only to pleasure and quality of life, but to hard outcomes like heart disease and even determining how we die. Prof Kenny concluded: Good friendships add years to our lives. Why does the strength of our friendships affect how long we live? Some explanations include more stress, higher levels of stress hormones, more heart disease, and higher levels of inflammation in the absence of strong social ties. In a large study of human social networks, Harvard researchers reported low levels of blood clotting factor, fibrinogen in the blood a marker for inflammation and increased risk of blood clots and heart attacks. The strength of the association between fibrinogen and social isolation was noted to be remarkable. Prolonged high levels of stress hormones trigger a cascade of physiological responses that increase risk for heart disease, brain disease and early death, further explaining why strong friendships are so important for longer healthier lives. Laughter plays a big part in social connections. Friends spend about 10% of a conversation laughing. It connects us with others. Just as with smiling and kindness, laughter is contagious. We can catch it from someone else and are more likely to do so if we know them. By elevating mood, laughter plays a key role in reducing stress. High-stress hormones also weaken our immune system, so lowering these hormones is one way that frequent laughter benefits immunity and reduces infections. The opposite of strong friendships for many is loneliness. The US Surgeon General, Vivek H Murthy, has placed loneliness as a central public health concern and the root cause of many of the epidemics sweeping the world today, including alcoholism, drug abuse, violence and mental health issues. Prof Kenny suggests loneliness is toxic to human health because of our innate desire to connect, stating: We have evolved to participate in community, forge lasting bond with others, to help one another and to share life experiences. We are, quite simply, better together. In 2018, the UK government appointed the worlds first minister for loneliness, after a report found more than nine million people about 14% of the population - often or always feel lonely. TILDA research identified a quarter of Irish adults feel lonely some of the time and 5% often feel lonely. Men who live alone tend to be lonelier than women who live alone. Loneliness increases with age, and lonely people are more likely to be prone to depression. Much of the modern epidemic of loneliness is associated with smaller family sizes and the increase in single-person households in Europe. Both strong family bonds as well as strong friendships are important for overall health. Decades of research confirm that being in a long-term committed relationship that offers reliable support and a social context for meaningful shared experiences is good for wellbeing. Strong friendships too offer lifetime rewards. In one decades-long study by Harvard researchers, people who enjoyed strong social bonds into their eighties were less likely to succumb to cognitive decline and dementia. Rose Anne Kenny agrees: Being married or partnered, having more frequent contact with children and friends and experiencing less strain in relationships were each independently associated with cognitive functions such as better memory and less memory decline over time. So the clear message is that frequent quality relationships are good for the brain. We dont need to feel guilty about rest days, lose sleep over sleep scores or track every breath to reduce stress. We dont need to stress about meditation targets. Your body knows what it needs. Our grandparents didnt have fitness trackers. They had dinner together in the evening. They didnt count steps. They walked to do the shopping, go to work, or visit friends. They wrote cards or notes to friends or family rather than WhatsApp messages and socialised together rather than online. The longest longevity drug is living a life of joy, and real relationships add more to years than any tracker. In our obsession to live longer, we have forgotten how to live better. Sometimes, the healthiest thing you can do is to stop trying to be healthy all the time - just live in the moment right now. Taking time to build friendships will make a difference to your longevity and wellbeing as well, potentially making a huge difference to those whom you take time to connect with. Ellen O'Donoghue Irish billionaire wealth increased by 13 billion in 2024, amounting to an increase of 35.6 million per day. According to Oxfam, Irish billionaire wealth could carpet the whole of Phoenix Park in 50 notes almost 1.5 times over. There were two new billionaires in Ireland in 2024, and since 2019, Irish billionaire wealth has increased by 4.2 billion. It takes just five days for someone in the top one per cent to make what the average person in the bottom 50 per cent makes all year, Oxfam said. On Monday, Oxfam published Takers Not Makers as business elites gathered in the Swiss resort town of Davos, and as billionaire Donald Trump, backed by the worlds richest man Elon Musk, is inaugurated as President of the United States. Globally, billionaire wealth increased by $2 trillion in 2024, three times faster than the year before. Meanwhile, the number of people living in poverty has barely changed since 1990, Oxfam said. It added that there were 204 newly minted billionaires in 2024, nearly four every week. The NGO predict that there will be at least five trillionaires a decade from now. Jim Clarken, chief executive of Oxfam Ireland, said that the capture of our global economy by a privileged few has reached heights once considered unimaginable. The failure to stop billionaires is now spawning soon-to-be trillionaires. Not only has the rate of billionaire wealth accumulation accelerated - by three times - but so too has their power, he said. Billionaires increasingly control not just economies but narratives and that is why in this report we challenge the popular perception that their vast wealth is deserved or based on merit. Oxfam calculates that 36 per cent of billionaire wealth is now inherited. This report shows how extreme wealth is not simply a function of talent or ingenuity alone but built on the back of the work of countless others and taxpayer investment. Mr Clarken also noted that Trumps team is set to be the richest ever to run a US government, worth more than $450 billion. There are at least 13 billionaires appointed to jobs in his administration. And even if you exclude Elon Musk, Trump's cabinet would be the richest in history, he said. We are witnessing the rise of a modern oligarchy, where wealth is used to build and consolidate political power and vice versa. Meanwhile, global poverty remains at 1990 levels. We must first acknowledge the disparity and set about reversing the trend. The report also claimed that the unequal world is built on a legacy of historical colonialism and how colonialism now has a modern-day form, with the global economy still structured in ways that lead to wealth flowing from the Global South to the Global North. The richest one per cent in the Global North countries such as the United States, United Kingdom and France extracted $30 million an hour from the Global South through the financial system in 2023, it said. It added that the Global North countries control 69 per cent of global wealth, 77 per cent of billionaire wealth and are home to 68 per cent of billionaires, despite making up just 21 per cent of the global population. The average Belgian, according to the report, has around 180 times more voting power in the largest arm of the World Bank than the average Ethiopian. Oxfam Ireland have urged the next Government to tax extreme wealth to pay for public services, honour international commitments and to broaden the countrys tax base. It has also asked them to lead efforts for a more multilateral world by advocating for debt cancellation, democratisation of international institutions like the UN, the World Bank and the IMF and regulate corporations to ensure living wages and fair-trade practices. The charity has further requested the next Government commit to climate justice by ramping up domestic climate action and providing greater financial support for countries in the Global South experiencing climate breakdown and related hunger and conflict. Its time for governments to stop protecting billionaires and to prioritise investing in people. A fairer, more equal world is essential for a liveable planet, global democracy and the eradication of poverty. Urgent change is needed, Mr Clarken said. Eimear Dodd Gardai reviewed around 160 hours of CCTV as part of their investigation into the alleged rape and sexual assault of a woman by three men she met in a Dublin nightclub. The three men, aged between 34 and 42, with addresses in Dublin and Wicklow, have pleaded not guilty to a total of seven counts of rape, oral rape and sexual assault of the woman at an unknown location in a car and in a Dublin house on August 31st, 2019. The men cannot be named for legal reasons. They deny any wrongdoing. An investigating garda gave evidence that he and a colleague took the complainant in a patrol car on August 31st, 2019, to see if she could identify the house, but she couldn't positively pinpoint it. He said that 160 hours of CCTV footage was collected and viewed by gardai during the investigation. A 15-minute CCTV compilation was shown to the jury on Monday. The footage shows the woman and the three accused men interacting in the nightclub, then walking from the venue to a car. A garda analyst gave evidence that this compilation included CCTV clips from inside the nightclub, shown by the defence to the complainant when she was cross-examined. The court heard CCTV was used to identify the vehicle and to trace its journey. He told Padraig Dwyer SC, defending the first accused, that the CCTV compilation started when the woman and the three accused left the nightclub and he agreed that in hindsight their interactions in the club could have been included. The investigating garda agreed with Karl Finnegan SC, prosecuting, that CCTV was used to identify the three accused men and to confirm that the car was a Volkswagen SUV. The court heard that it later transpired that the second accused man is the registered owner of this vehicle. The witness outlined that a CCTV compilation is created during investigations to streamline the process of interviewing any accused person. He said all of the CCTV was provided to the Director of Public Prosecutions as part of the investigation file, and later disclosed to the defence. During cross-examination earlier in the trial, the complainant gave evidence that she hadn't seen the CCTV footage until she came to court. The garda witness told Mr Finnegan that he would never show CCTV to a complainant in case the matter went to court, as he'd be worried their recollections may be influenced by CCTV, and their evidence would not be a sterile account. During cross-examination, Mr Dwyer suggested there was scope in the investigation to show the CCTV from the nightclub to the complainant. The garda witness disagreed. I would be concerned showing the complainant [CCTV] might affect her account. As she said she didnt remember any of this, she might give evidence based on what she saw on CCTV rather than recalled. Mr Dwyer suggested that the woman could have been asked to identify herself on the CCTV footage and that she still could have given a sterile account of the night. The garda said this was not necessary as she was identifiable on CCTV. The witness told Mr Dwyer that CCTV was compiled for use during an interview with an accused person, when they would be asked to comment on it. The garda witness said it's not feasible for all CCTV to be played during an interview due to time constraints. He explained that a 15-minute compilation of CCTV footage can take an hour or more to discuss during an interview. The garda also noted any decisions about material shown in court is made by the prosecution and defence. Asked by Mr Justice Paul Burns to clarify if gardai considered putting together a new CCTV compilation for court, the witness said they hadn't. The garda also disagreed with Mr Dwyer's suggestion there was a delay between the alleged incident in August 2019 and when the accused men were interviewed in September 2020. He said in the circumstances of this case, he wanted to gather as much evidence as possible before interview. Earlier in the trial, the complainant gave evidence that she believed she may been drugged in the club. She told the jury she recalled a bag of white powder in her vicinity, but couldn't recall if she took any. During cross-examination by counsel for the first and third accused men, the garda witness confirmed that the nightclub CCTV was reviewed, and no evidence of the woman taking or being provided a white powder was identified. The garda also said no evidence was seen of the accused men handing her a drink. The investigating garda also outlined it is not uncommon in cases of this kind for complainants to need some time after making their initial complaint to make a formal statement. The woman made a formal statement on September 9th, 2019. In other evidence, the jury heard that a number of searches were carried out in December 2019, with items seized including mobile phones and the Volkswagen SUV registered to the second accused man. The first man, aged 39 with an address in Dublin, has pleaded not guilty to one count of raping the woman in his home address and not guilty to one count of oral rape and one count of sexually assaulting her in a car. The second man, aged 42 with an address in Wicklow, has pleaded not guilty to one count of raping the woman in the car and one count of raping her in the house. The third man, aged 34 with an address in Dublin, has pleaded not guilty to orally raping the woman in the house and sexually assaulting her in the car. The trial continues. The World Econonic Forum (WEF) got underway on Monday and Donald Trump, who has been sworn in as the 47th president of the United States, will address the meeting virtually on Thursday. However, the Irish Governments attendance at the annual summit in the Swiss mountain resort of Davos will be lighter than usual because of the busy political schedule at home. While Taoiseach Simon Harris is on the official list of attendees of the WEF, Wednesdays Dail vote for a new taoiseach will preclude him from attending. Up to 50 top executives are, however, expected to attend the IDA-hosted dinner in the Grischa hotel on Wednesday evening. Minister for Enterprise Peter Burke will lead the IDA engagement with global chief executives of existing multinationals already in Ireland, as well as meet with bosses of potential future FDI companies and international leaders. Speaking ahead of his visit, Mr Burke said he wanted to highlight the Irish economy as "strong and vibrant" and one that is "well placed to manage external shocks." He added: "I welcome the opportunity to engage with leading multinational companies, as well as leading policymakers and influential economic thinkers at the World Economic Forum in support of retaining and growing the FDI base across Ireland, and driving further innovation across our island. "In particular, I will be highlighting how our educated and talented workforce can make a unique contribution to innovation and development." Meanwhile, Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelenskiy will also attend Davos and give a speech on Tuesday, according to the WEF organisers. Advisers to Trump concede that the Ukraine war will take months or even longer to resolve, Reuters reported on Wednesday, a sharp reality check on his pledge to strike a peace deal on his first day in the White House. Among other global leaders due to attend the Davos meeting are European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and China's Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang. Syria, the "terrible humanitarian situation in Gaza" and the potential escalation of the conflict in the Middle East will be a focus at the gathering, according to WEF president and chief executive Borge Brende. New Delhi, Jan 20 (UNI) The Supreme Court on Monday directed the Superintendent of Police, Lakhimpur (Uttar Pradesh), to conduct a fact-finding inquiry into allegations that Ashish Mishra attempted to influence witnesses in the Lakhimpur Kheri killings case. The SP has been instructed to submit a report within four weeks. A bench comprising Justice Surya Kant and Justice N. Kotiswar Singh issued the direction while hearing an application filed by the family members of the deceased, seeking the cancellation of the bail granted to Mishra. The applicants alleged that Mishra, the son of former Union Minister Ajay Kumar Mishra, was trying to interfere with the ongoing trial by influencing witnesses. Advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for the applicants, argued that witnesses had been intimidated and could not reveal their identities due to fear of reprisal. He sought time to submit a recording that allegedly showed a witness being promised a reward in exchange for withholding evidence. Senior Advocate Siddharth Dave, representing Mishra, refuted the allegations, labelling the application as "publicity-oriented." He argued that Mishra was present at the Lok Sabha secretariat on the day in question, which he claimed was proof of the baselessness of the allegations. When Dave accused the applicants of repeatedly making such allegations against Mishra, Bhushan countered with details from the application, emphasizing the need for an impartial investigation. Justice Surya Kant remarked that a parallel inquiry might be necessary to ascertain if the alleged attempts to influence witnesses were made by Mishras associates or orchestrated by someone else. In our view, the veracity, genuineness, and reliability of such material can be gone into by police administration, who will submit a report on the allegations made, the bench observed in its order. The Lakhimpur Kheri case involves the killings of five individuals in October 2021, when vehicles from Ashish Mishras convoy allegedly ran over a group of farmers protesting against the farm laws. The incident triggered nationwide outrage and political controversy, as Mishras father, Ajay Kumar Mishra, was a Union Minister at the time. The Supreme Court had taken suo motu cognizance of the incident, criticizing the Uttar Pradesh police for its delayed response and failure to arrest Ashish Mishra. Following the Courts intervention, Mishra was arrested. In February 2022, the Allahabad High Court granted bail to Mishra, but the Supreme Court later set aside the order in April 2022. The apex court found that the High Court had overlooked key considerations while granting bail and remanded the case for a fresh hearing. After re-hearing the matter, the Allahabad High Court dismissed Mishras bail application. However, in January 2023, the Supreme Court granted Mishra interim bail for eight weeks, which was subsequently extended and made absolute. The bail order allowed Mishra to reside either in Delhi or Lucknow and imposed several conditions to ensure his compliance with legal proceedings. The Supreme Court has asked the Superintendent of Police, Lakhimpur, to conduct a thorough investigation into the allegations and submit a detailed report within four weeks. The findings of the inquiry will determine the Courts subsequent course of action. UNI SNG KK (David Shepardson | Reuters)Donald Trump said he would grant naturalization for illegal immigrants if they join military forces during his first term. Pope Francis has denounced the provisional plans of U.S. president-elect Donald Trump to carry out a massive deportation of migrants as a "disgrace." The Pope's brief remarks came in a Sunday night Italian television interview on the eve of Trump's Jan. 20 inauguration for another term as president of the United States where he has pledged to evict millions of immigrants from the country, according to the National Catholic Reporter. "If it is true, it will be a disgrace, because it makes the poor wretches who have nothing pay the bill for the inequalities," said the Pope of Trump's plans for widespread deportation during an interview with Italian television channel Nove. "It won't do." Francis has become one of the most vocal global champions of migrants since his election as pontiff in 2013 as he described the incoming president's plans as "not the way to solve things." Time magazine cover June 2018 Ahead of Trump's first term in office, in 2016, Francis suggested that the then-presidential contender was not a Christian for his plans to erect a wall blocking migrants from crossing the southern U.S. border. "A person who thinks only about building walls, wherever they may be, and not building bridges, is not Christian," said the Pope at the time. Trump is to be sworn in as president for a second term of office on Jan. 20 and has spoken of plans for a massive migrant round-up in Chicago. Separately, in a Jan. 19 statement, Chicago's Cardinal Blase Cupich also condemned those plans as "deeply disturbing." "The Catholic community stands with the people of Chicago in speaking out in defense of the rights of immigrants and asylum seekers," he said, according to Vatican News. "Similarly, if the reports are true, it should be known that we would oppose any plan that includes a mass deportation of U.S. citizens born of undocumented parents." "If the indiscriminate mass deportation being reported were to be carried out, this would be an affront to the dignity of all people and communities, and deny the legacy of what it means to be an American," said Cupich. The cardinal pointed out that Chicago, like much of the United States, owes its vibrancy and diversity to generations of immigrants. "There is not a person in Chicago, save the Indigenous people, who have not benefited from this legacy," he noted. Cardinal Cupich highlighted the importance of balancing lawful immigration enforcement with the defense of human dignity and rights. He noted, "We support the legitimate efforts of law enforcement to protect the safety and security of our communities - criminality cannot be countenanced when committed by immigrants or longtime citizens." As part of sweeping plans to change immigration in the United States, the Trump Administration has removed functionality from the CBP One app, a US Customs and Border Protection app used by asylum seekers to pursue legal admission into the US along the southwest border. As of January 20, 2025 the app can longer be used to schedule an appointment for admission, and any existing appointments have been cancelled, according to the CBP website. The CBP One app was introduced in 2020, and was expanded into a tool for asylum seekers in 2023, quickly becoming the only way migrants could "preschedule appointments for processing and maintain guaranteed asylum eligibility," according to the American Immigration Council. The app "allowed 1,450 migrants a day" to schedule an appointment for admission, The New York Times writes, and has helped more than 900,000 people to enter the country since it was launched in 2023 through the end of 2024. No warning was given to asylum seekers that the program was ending on January 20, and the Trump Administration hasn't outlined what could replace it. Engadget has contacted US Citizenship and Immigration Services and US Customs and Border Protection for more information and will update this article if we learn more. CBP One was revealed to be an issue for the new administration during the Vice Presidential debate, when now Vice President JD Vance claimed that there was an app that let illegal immigrants schedule an appointment and be granted legal status in the US. That's not how CBP One works, and in fact the Biden Administration's use of the app has been criticized for how dramatically it's slowed down and complicated the process, leading some asylum seekers to wait up to six months for an appointment. by Ashutosh Jogalekar In October last year, Charles Oppenheimer and I wrote a piece for Fast Company arguing that the only way to prevent an AI arms race is to open up the system. Drawing on a revolutionary early Cold War proposal for containing the spread of nuclear weapons, the Acheson-Lilienthal report, we argued that the foundational reason why security cannot be obtained through secrecy is because science and technology claim no real secrets that cannot be discovered if smart scientists and technologists are given enough time to find them. That was certainly the case with the atomic bomb. Even as American politicians and generals boasted that the United States would maintain nuclear supremacy for decades, perhaps forever, Russia responded with its first nuclear weapon merely four years after the end of World War II. Other countries like the United Kingdom, China and France soon followed. The myth of secrecy was shattered. As if on cue after our article was written, in December 2024, a new large-language model (LLM) named DeepSeek v3 came out of China. DeepSeek v3 is a completely homegrown model built by a homegrown Chinese entrepreneur who was educated in China (that last point, while minor, is not unimportant: Chinas best increasingly no longer are required to leave their homeland to excel). The model turned heads immediately because it was competitive with GPT-4 from OpenAI which many consider the state-of-the-art in pioneering LLM models. In fact, DeepSeek v3 is far beyond competitive in terms of critical parameters: GPT-4 used about 1 trillion training parameters, DeepSeek v3 used 671 billion; GPT-4 had 1 trillion tokens, DeepSeek v3 used almost 15 trillion. Most impressively, DeepSeek v3 cost only $5.58 million to train, while GPT-4 cost about $100 million. Thats a qualitatively significant difference: only the best-funded startups or large tech companies have $100 million to spend on training their AI model, but $5.58 million is well within the reach of many small startups. Perhaps the biggest difference is that DeepSeek v3 is open-source while GPT-4 is not. The only other open source model from the United States is Llama, developed by Meta. If this feature of DeepSeek v3 is not ringing massive alarm bells in the heads of American technologists and political leaders, it should. Its a reaffirmation of the central point that there are very few secrets in science and technology that cannot be discovered sooner or later by a technologically advanced country. One might argue that DeepSeek v3 cost a fraction of the best LLM models to train because it stood on the shoulders of these giants, but thats precisely the point: like other software, LLM models follow the standard rule of precipitously diminishing marginal cost. More importantly, the open-source, low-cost nature of DeepSeek v3 means that China now has the capability of capturing the world LLM market before the United States as millions of organizations and users make DeepSeek v3 the foundation on which to build their AI. Once again, the quest for security and technological primacy through secrecy would have proved ephemeral, just like it did for nuclear weapons. What does the entry of DeepSeek v3 indicate in the grand scheme of things? It is important to dispel three myths and answer some key questions. Its not about openness per se; its about standards. Openness is not just about being nice. Critics of open source often cite competitive disadvantages and security risks as the two biggest arguments against the practice. But in case of AI, this is not only untrue but misses the real point. The country which has an open-source model sets the standards on which other countries build their own models and data frameworks. They own the ecosystem. This leads to a competitive advantage, not disadvantage. Consider how many countries employed Linux as the preferred operating system on which they built tools and services. Similarly, open-source LLMs will set standards on which countries can then proliferate tools and services on their own terms. But by making its models closed-source, the United States risks losing those standards on which all of future AI is built, forcing American entrepreneurs to create tools for other AI platforms instead of their own. Given the very rapid progress in this field, it wont be long before standards are firmly put in place by those countries that open-source their AI. Regarding security risks, the concern usually is that malicious actors both state and non-state can use the very open nature of the system to exploit the technology for pushing misinformation or for embedding malware. In the worst case, they can exploit these systems for launching cyberattacks on a countrys infrastructure. But in fact the danger that a country will be unable to effectively launch a counterattack against an intelligent LLM-based AI is greater when the software is proprietary. Consider two hypothetical scenarios where China launches cyberattacks against the United States. In one scenario, proprietary, closed-source LLMs are used; in the other, open-source LLMs form the basis of the attack. With proprietary LLMs, the United States would struggle to analyze and understand the nature of the attack due to the lack of shared foundations, leaving it at a disadvantage and potentially allowing significant damage before a response is possible. Conversely, if the attack leverages open-source LLMssystems the United States also has access toit becomes much easier to decode, counter, and potentially repurpose the tools for a defensive or counteroffensive strategy. Open-source and national security are completely compatible. An obvious conclusion of the point above is that open-sourcing and having everyone see the same code and infrastructure is better for national security not only because its easier to thwart an attack but because it makes the attacker less likely to attack in the first place when they know that an effective counterattack exists and their efforts might therefore be futile. The same principle of deterrence that exists with nuclear weapons exists here. Another common concern about open-sourcing is that it might involve disclosing critical secrets. Wouldnt revealing the models youre developing risk exposing sensitive financial or national security information? The answer is no. Sharing models does not mean sharing the underlying data used to train them or the specific applications for which they are utilized. Consider an example from molecular simulation: even if you share all the code for running a simulationsuch as one used in drug developmentyou are not disclosing the data that informed the simulation, nor are you revealing the details of the drug developed using that simulation. Intellectual property can be created and protected while the tools used to create that property are available to all. There are methods that allow not only the sharing of foundational model architectures but also the ability to compare models without revealing sensitive information. One such method is the use of zero-knowledge proofs, which enable researchers to demonstrate the validity of a claim without disclosing the specifics of the claim itself. Originally developed for cryptography, these techniques have been creatively adapted for applications like verifying nuclear warheads. It is entirely plausible that similar approaches could be extended to AI models. The idea of sharing enough data to establish a common foundation while safeguarding critical details is not only feasible but already practiced. For example as noted earlier, information such as the number of tokens, parameters, and training costs for many models has been made publicly available. This disclosure provides valuable insights into the models foundations without revealing anything about their use in specific applications or the details of the data used to train them. Open-source and technological dominance are not orthogonal goals. I am the first to admit that I am quite clumsy, so I always buy extra care protection for my devices. However, I'm still always shocked by the price of fixing whatever inevitable water damage or cracked screen I bring in. So, it's nice to see that Samsung Care+ with Theft and Loss has updated its plan to include $0 same day repairs for cracked screens and back glass. Samsung's most expensive protection plan also includes unlimited repairs at authorized locations, so you don't have to worry if it breaks again. Previously, same day repairs cost $29 a pop. Care+ plan customers (the next tier down) have to pay $29 for cracked screen repairs and $99 for back glass repairs. However, even with the update, these "free" repairs don't come cheap. The price of all Samsung Care+ plans vary based on the specific device, with each product broken into tiers. For example, a Galaxy S23 or S24 Ultra is currently in Tier 4 and would cost $18 per month or $349 for two years of Samsung Care+ with Theft and Loss. Whereas, a Galaxy A15 is in Tier 1 and would cost $8 per month or $129 for two years of the same plan. Samsung Care+ with Theft and Loss is only available for phones, tablets and watches though watches will still cost $29 per repair or replacement. It also includes same day replacement and set up, Knox Guard Security and a max of three "lost, stolen, and/or unrecoverable claims" during a consecutive 12 months. If you buy something through a link in this article, we may earn commission. Cameron Diaz is back in Hollywood after a decade-long break. But there's one genre she's apparently not interested in returning to romantic comedies. In a recent interview with Empire, the 52-year-old actress, best known for hits like There's Something About Mary and The Holiday, made it clear that her rom-com days are behind her. Read more: Brody Jenner Opens Up About Reconciling with Caitlyn Jenner In fact, when asked if she was back for good, Diaz shared that she wasn't defining her career in any strict way. "I don't know how I view it; it's hard to say," Diaz explains. "If I say it, then it becomes this thing. I reserve the right to say no to doing a movie ever again, and I reserve the right to say yes if I decide to." She adds, "I'm just open to whatever makes sense for me and my family at any given moment." No More Rom-Coms for Cameron Diaz? For fans wondering if she'll be making more movies in the future, Diaz remains non-committal. While she is open to new opportunities, there's one thing she's sure of. "No more rom-coms, only mom-coms," Diaz declares. This marks a major shift for Diaz, who built her career on romantic comedies. After starring in a string of successful films during the '90s and 2000s, she took a step back from acting to focus on her family. Her return to the screen comes with the Netflix action-comedy Back in Action, where she stars alongside Jamie Foxx. Despite the comeback, Diaz is adamant about not returning to the rom-com genre that made her a household name. "I'm not defining anything," Diaz adds in the interview, emphasizing her decision to return to acting was not about setting a clear path. Instead, Diaz remains focused on what feels right for her at this stage in life. Diaz's decision to move away from rom-coms follows her 2014 film The Other Woman, her last major rom-com role before taking a hiatus. In her time away, Diaz became a mother and fully embraced her family life with her husband, Benji Madden of Good Charlotte. In other news, Diaz also recently opened up about her growing love for hip-hop. In a conversation with Foxx, she shared that Tyler, The Creator is her "GOAT" rapper and that she's recently become a fan of Travis Scott, calling his music "elevated s**t." It seems like Diaz is embracing new vibes both in her career and in her personal life. See the trailer for Back in Action below. Acadamy Award-winning actor Rami Malek has shared his personal experience with racial profiling in a recent interview. Malek's parents are Egyptian immigrants, and the actor was born in California. In an interview with The Guardian, he recounted an incident wherein he was mistaken for a liquor store robber. "I got thrown on the bonnet of an LAPD cop car because someone had robbed a liquor store and stolen a woman's bag," he shared. "They said the [thief] was of Latin descent and, 'You fit the description.'" A friend of his helped him get out of the sticky situation. "My friend, who was Caucasian, was clever enough to go, 'Actually, sir, he's Egyptian. Not Latin,'" Malek recounted. "I remember laughing on the cop car, thinking, 'OK, this is a very precarious situation. I may well be going to jail for something I've not done,'" he added. Elsewhere in the interview, the "Bohemian Rhapsody" actor, 43, discussed his experience of growing up as Egyptian-American. He acknowledged that it is not quite that easy to get rid of the idea of being different. "I don't know how you ever get over that," Malek said. "I'm what's called 'white passing', but I have very distinctive features, and we definitely didn't fit in." He likewise shared that his family spoke Arabic at home. "I didn't speak English until I was five or six," the actor revealed. Spencer Pratt admitted he made thousands on TikTok following the loss of the home he shared with wife Heidi Montag during the recent Los Angeles wildfires. The former "The Hills" star told Variety in an interview that he earned about $4,000 on TikTok in just one week. If that amount is not impressive enough, he also said that he earned around $20,000 from TikTok Live, which lets followers give to him directly. Pratt described the experience as "phenomenal and life-changing." He added, "That's the power of individual supporters, people just backing you and getting behind you." Pratt and Montag lost their home during the Palisades Fire that burned through their neighborhood. According to Page Six, fans of the couple have raised over $100K in donations since the tragedy. The couple also revived interest in Montag's music career, including her 2010 album "Superficial." Pratt urged fans to listen to his wife's music in order to help them financially recover from the fires. The 41-year-old television personality said he's had about 5,000 "Superficial" T-shirt orders and is hoping for a potential TV series chronicling them beginning new lives after the fire. Pratt has also expressed frustration with the backlash he's received for appealing for help amid the fires. In an interview with US Weekly, he said that he was exasperated by the impression that all celebrities are extremely wealthy. "Nobody thought we were rich celebrities until three days ago and it's getting frustrating," Pratt shared. "Like if you Google 'Spencer,' it literally [says] 'Broke, no net worth,'" "So now our house burns down, my parents' house burns down [and] now we're rich celebrities, which is infuriating because the media, respectfully, has never called us celebrities [and] never called us rich," he added. Montag, on the other hand, has been sharing her experience dealing with the loss of their home and her subsequent efforts to recover. "I'm so sad our house is gone," she said in a video posted on social media. "I wish I could have gone back and got more." The couple began dating in 2007, and their relationship has been well-documented on "The Hills." They eloped in Mexico in 2008 before holding a wedding ceremony in 2009. Pratt and Montag share two sons together, Gunner, 6, and Ryker, 2. Meghan Markle and Prince Harry have reportedly "dismissed" the Vanity Fair article that contains allegations about the Duchess of Sussex's behavior. Among the allegations are accusations of bullying on the part of Markle. According to the Daily Mail, sources close to the Sussexes have described the allegations as "distressing." Markle is under scrutiny once more after allegations in a new profile on the Duchess of Sussex said she has "Mean Girls" behavior, particularly towards her staff who do not do well. According to insiders who spoke to Vanity Fair, the Duchess would start off as "warm" and "effusive" towards staff. However, when something went poorly, she would almost immediately turn "cold" and "withholding." Insiders have claimed that things typically go wrong due to Markle and Prince Harry's demands. "She's constantly playing checkers - I'm not even going to say chess - but she's just very aware of where everybody is on her board," an insider said of Markle. "And when you are not in, you are to be thrown to the wolves at any given moment," the source added. The Vanity Fair article makes a number of disturbing allegations about her behavior, including criticisms from people who have claimed to be the couple's neighbors in Montecito. However, there are those who have also spoken up in defense of the Duchess. Producer Jane Marie said Markle is "just a lovely, genuine person" in opposition to her critics. Markle and Prince Harry have always strongly denied allegations of bullying on the part of the Duchess. Royal biographer Tom Bower has described the recent disclosures as "devastating" for Markle, according to the Daily Mail. Read more: Sharon Stone Shares Insights into the Dynamics of Living Next to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle Bowed noted that the renewed focus on Meghan's allegedly "Difficult Duchess" persona could undermine the release of her new Netflix series "With Love, Meghan" on March 4. "Having invested so much to re-brand herself as a loving, caring Californian mother and wife, the VF disclosures have poisoned the smiling image of the welcoming home-maker," he said. Royal commentator Richard Fitzwilliams said the couple's status in the United States could be compromised by the never-ending claims. He remarked, "The Sussexes are attempting to project a caring image by helping some of those affected by the cataclysmic wildfires currently ravaging California. They won't get far after publicity is given to this." A new police interview transcript has named the disgraced music mogul, Sean "Diddy" Combs, 47 times with accusations he paid "millions" to have Tupac Shakur and Death Row Records boss Suge Knight killed. As reported by Marca, the allegations came from a secretly recorded 2009 interview with Duane "Keefe D" Davis, who is facing trial for Tupac's 1996 murder. Prosecutors recently filed a 180-page document with the complete transcript of what Davis said, including allegations against Diddy related to the infamous crime. Davis, in his own words, was the "boss," and had three Quindaro Southside Crips working for him to commit murder. When Diddy's name came up during questioning from the Las Vegas Metro Police Department Detective Long over his alleged role, the report said Davis responded, "Yeah." Davis also alleged that Diddy hated Knight so much that he said, "Ah, I'll give anything for that dude's head." Davis said Diddy, then known as Puffy, jumped up in front of 45 people and said the cost on Tupac and Knight's heads was "motherf*****g millions." P Diddy "ASSASSIN'S GREED' Diddy Paid $1million For Tupac Shakurs Assassination, Gangster Keefe D Claimed Before Arrest For Rapper Murder Keefe told law enforcement that Diddy paid $1 million to another gangster, Eric Von Martin, to kill Tupac. According to Keefe's pic.twitter.com/TEfpO3GNso Daily Trends (@trends_dailyU) July 24, 2024 However, Diddy has always denied any involvement in Tupac's murder, calling the claims "completely ridiculous" and "pure fiction." He has not been arrested or charged in the case, and Las Vegas police have said he is not a suspect. Davis' statements also implied that Diddy was afraid of Knight. Diddy wanted him dead because "he was real scared of that guy," Davis claimed. The bombshell statements come as Diddy, 53, has been facing a slew of new legal issues, with him having been placed under arrest in New York City following the September indictment after he was charged with sex trafficking and racketeering. He has also denied those accusations. Those resurfaced allegations have reignited public interest in the nearly three-decade-old murder case itself. According to the transcript and court documents, the secret files from the investigation into the murder of the Notorious B.I.G. may include ties between figures from the music industry in the 1990s and the two killings. Originally published on Music Times The first UK-wide comprehensive review of farm assurance has called for a 'fundamental reset' in order to rebuild confidence amongst farmers. The 9-month review, established by the UK farming unions and AHDB, was conducted independently by four commissioners and is published today (20 January). It concludes that farm assurance is critical to the industrys future and is delivering necessary assurances on quality to consumers. However, the 198-page report calls for some fundamental changes to address growing frustration amongst farmers in how it is delivered. It follows the controversy over Red Tractor's Greener Farms Commitment (GFC) environmental module, which had to be scrapped following significant backlash last year. Farm leaders said that more granular, technical and practical elements of the GFC should have been consulted on more widely with the industry before it was unveiled. Fears were also raised that the GFC would slowly evolve into a requirement for market access and would mean farmers footing the bill for putting in place sustainability measures on behalf of retailers. According to today's report, dissatisfaction expressed by farmers was not uniform across all sectors nor across all UK nations, as assurance schemes in devolved areas were working more effectively than UK-wide schemes. The report is therefore nuanced in its approach, recognising where existing arrangements work well but being clear where changes are essential. The review makes nine strategic recommendations, including for all on-farm audits to be reduced, simplified and delivered more consistently. There must be a transformational step forward in embracing technology, the commissioners say, and all schemes must review and improve their communication with farmers. The report also calls for Red Tractor to complete the implementation of recommendations in the Campbell Tickell report on its governance. Lead commissioner, Dr David Llewellyn said the review was the first fundamental look at UK farm assurance since it was established in the 1990s. He said: "So much has changed over the last 30 years and we know that further change is on the horizon for the farming industry. Farm assurance must be a critical part of that future. "However, for that to happen, significant changes are needed to win back farmer confidence where it has been lost, to build on what already works well and to secure a competitive edge for UK farming on the world stage." As part of the report, the four commissioners - Dr David Llewellyn, Mark Suthern, James Withers and Katrina Williams - undertook considerable research and took into account evidence from every part of the UK food and farming supply chain. They found competing interests and ambitions for the farm assurance system, which, over time, "has added complexity and stress for farmers, many of whom now struggle to identify any real benefits to their business". "Worse still, many feel they live in a permanent state of jeopardy with make or break audits determining whether their businesses can operate or not," Dr Llewellyn explained. "The reality is that too many farmers feel farm assurance is done to them rather than delivered with them. It should be better than this." Farmers consulted as part of the review want to produce to the highest standards and to be supported by assurance schemes in that endeavour. However, they also want to be appropriately compensated for the considerable effort required by the current farm assurance system, the report notes. The commissioners say they recognised that the system is essential to provide assurance of high production standards. However, they say it must also deliver for all parts of the food chain, including contributing to a process of continuous farming improvement, something the approach of the current assurance system does not always provide. Dr Llewellyn concluded: Many of our recommendations will be challenging. They are about changes to organisational cultures and expectations, as much as they are about processes. "But we view them as integral to building a farm assurance system that is trusted, successful and underpins a profitable future for UK farming. What are the recommendations? The review makes nine strategic recommendations: On-farm audits must be reduced, simplified and delivered more consistently; There must be a transformational step forward in embracing technology; Schemes need to reset and/or restate their structures to establish farmers as the driving voice in standards development; A new industry-led initiative must set out the future environmental ambitions for farm assurance; The inclusion of regulatory requirements within farm assurance should be conditional on government agreeing a form of earned recognition; There must be greater collaboration between farm assurance schemes across the UK; Schemes must better position the UK farming industry in world food markets and in competition with imported food; All schemes must review and improve their communication with farmers The Red Tractor scheme must complete the implementation of recommendations in the Campbell Tickell report on its governance. Xizangs GDP grows by 6.3% in 2024, targeting 7-8% expansion in 2025 Global Times) 09:50, January 20, 2025 The GDP of Southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region expanded by 6.3 percent in 2024, continuing its positive trajectory of stable development, according to the region's government work report released on Sunday. The growth rate of Xizang's key economic indicators in the past year ranked among the top in China, Gama Cedain, acting chairman of the regional government, said in a report delivered to the annual session of the regional people's congress on Sunday. The region has set ambitious economic and social development goals for 2025, with a GDP growth target of between 7 to 8 percent, Gama said. Infrastructure construction, eco-environmental conservation, and reconstruction in the earthquake-affected areas have been identified as key priorities in the government work report. In 2024, per capita disposable income for urban residents in Xizang grew by 6.8 percent, while rural residents saw an increase of 8.3 percent, according to official data. The region's total fixed asset investment grew by 19.6 percent, retail sales of consumer goods increased by 7.2 percent year-on-year, with the added value of large-scale industrial enterprises increasing by 18.3 percent and the total import-export trade volume growing by 15.4 percent. Xizang made notable progress in infrastructure, investing over 170 billion yuan ($23.2 billion) across 21 major projects. Among the projects was the Lhasa-Xigaze Highway, which began operating in 2024. In the year of 2025, the region plans to increase investment to over 200 billion yuan in the construction of major projects, including the Sichuan-Xizang Railway, according to the report. In the past year, the cultural sector saw a 22 percent year-on-year increase in output value, receiving 16 percent more visitors, and total tourism spending increased by 15 percent, according to the regional government. In terms of new energy development, Xizang set up a dedicated fund for the clean energy industry, initially allocating 5 billion yuan in 2024, with installed power capacity reaching 27.05 million kilowatts. Xizang's foreign trade remained dynamic in 2024. From January to November, its total import-export trade reached 11.22 billion yuan, up by 9.4 percent year-on-year. Thanks to government policy support, in the first 11 months of 2024, Xizang reopened all 14 traditional border trade points with Nepal, enabling transactions totaling 57.45 million yuan, per the report. This year will commemorate the 60th anniversary of the founding of Xizang Autonomous Region. (Web editor: Tian Yi, Zhong Wenxing) Asda has become the latest retailer to show solidarity with farmers as the industry continues to protest against the government's inheritance tax (IHT) changes. The UK's third largest supermarket has joined Morrisons in publicly speaking out about Labour's plans to cap IHT reliefs for farmers. It comes after hundreds of tractors visited supermarket car parks across the UK on Friday (17 January) as part of a plea urging for more support from retailers. Farmers purposely avoided Morrisons after the firm showed solidarity with the industry in a viral 'we're with you' video message. Following this, a spokesperson for Asda confirmed that the farming industry was a 'vital part of our supply chain'. "We need a confident farming sector, which is able and willing to invest in its future," the spokesperson added. We have been raising our concerns with the government and will be supporting the campaign calling for a pause in the implementation of APR [agricultural property relief ] to allow for proper consultation. Industry bodies have urged the government to ditch its plans forcing farms worth more than 1m liable to pay a 20% inheritance tax from April 2026. Many have warned that the move, announced in the autumn budget, could lead to the destruction of the UK's family farm network, Simon Orson, the chairman of Midlands Farmers, who helped organise Friday's supermarket rally, welcomed Asdas response. I am very pleased they have come out and done the right thing supporting British farmers, he said. This is fantastic news and gives us more leverage when negotiating with the government. Jobs a good un Im over the moon. The Country Land and Business Association (CLA), which represents thousands of farmers and landowners, said it was 'heartening' to see the support. "The backing of Morrisons and Asda is welcome," said the body's president, Victoria Vyvyan. On what the government should now do, she added: The government has dug itself into a deep hole by targeting family farms and businesses, and must now pause, listen and consult. If the Treasury refuses to reconsider, it risks not only damaging food production but could trigger mass job losses and hit its own tax revenues. On Saturday 25 January, towns and cities across the UK will be hosting protests as part of the industry's next steps in raising attention to the issue. All four UK farming unions NFU Scotland, NFU, NFU Cymru and Ulster Farmers Union - are organising the action and will participate directly in it. A farmer has been ordered to pay out thousands of pounds for taking and using more water than permitted, including during a summer drought. Brian Rutterford, of Lakenheath, Norfolk, was fined on 15 January at Norwich Magistrates Court for water abstraction offences and ordered to pay 4,300. Over four years, the 77-year-old took three times the amount of water he was licenced to take, from a small channel next to his farm in Hockwold-cum-Wilton. He continued to take water during the record-breaking hot summer of 2022, when East Anglia was officially in drought and many local water courses were dry. According to the Environment Agency, which prosecuted the farmer, his actions impacted water supplies for the local community. Two water abstraction licences were held, one for summer and one for winter. His licences required him to keep abstraction records and maintain abstraction meters, which he failed to do. Rutterford pleaded guilty to offences of over-abstraction under both licences between 2018 and 2022. Environment Agency prosecutor Sarah Dunne told the court that, although he explained that he over-abstracted to address a leak in his lake that put his fish at risk, his activities had continued for a four-year period, including during a summer drought. In addition, these water abstraction offences were committed during his suspended sentence for another environmental offence: for operating an unpermitted waste site at his farm. The presiding magistrate told Rutterford that he had been chaotic and incompetent, and that his previous environmental offence was an aggravating feature. Michelle Herron, of the Environment Agency said: "Abstraction licenses are issued to ensure that there is enough water for everyone and that there is no harm to the environment. "Water abstractors have a responsibility to conserve supplies, especially during droughts. Rutterford clearly failed in fulfilling his responsibilities, so it is right that he pleaded guilty and be fined by the court." He was ordered to pay a total of 4,300, which included a 2,000 fine for his offences, 100 for breaching his suspended sentence, 2,000 prosecution costs and a victim surcharge of 200. Farmers in Wales are being invited to apply for the next round of funding from an initiative that has brought on-farm projects to life. Successful applicants will be awarded up to 5,000 by the Welsh government's Farming Connect initiative to help fund farm trials that experiment with new ideas. Recent funded trials range from growing lucerne in Brecon, to establishing sunflowers as a companion crop with maize. The new application window for Farming Connect's 'Try Out Fund' opens on 27 January and will run until 17 February. Project lead Menna Williams, of Farming Connect, which provides the fund, said the aim is for farmers to compare different treatments or management systems. She said: Farming Connect developed the fund to address specific local problems or opportunities with the aim of improving efficiencies and profitability within agricultural businesses whilst protecting the environment. "There are many changes on the horizon for agriculture, and now is a great time for farm businesses to explore an idea that could benefit them, allowing farms to tackle real problems or check if a research idea works in practice." The last round of funding saw farmers supported for several projects including Integrated pest management at pick-your-own (PYO) strawberry enterprise. The fund is open to individuals or groups of up to four farmers and/or growers in Wales who have identified a local or specific problem or opportunity. Suitable projects must aim to improve production efficiencies and profitability whilst protecting the environment by aligning with sustainable land management outcomes. Because these ideas are initiated by farmers themselves, they are really passionate about them, giving them 100% effort right from the start," explained Ms Williams. A guidance handbook is available on the Farming Connect website to help farmers scope their project and complete the application form. Applicants must be registered with Farming Connect and be able to complete their projects by January 2026. Funding can be used for technical assistance, sampling, testing and other reasonable expenses such as those relating to short term hire of specialist equipment or facilities directly relating to the project," Ms Williams said. Adrian Brody denied Jack Nicholson's request to boycott the Oscars in 2003 because he didn't want to let his parents down. Adrian Brody turned down a request to boycott the Oscars The 'King Kong' star was invited to the Academy Awards after being nominated in the Best Actor category for his role in war drama 'The Pianist' and he'd arranged for his mother and father to come to the ceremony with him - but shortly before the Oscars, Adrian was called to Nicholson's Los Angeles mansion for a secret meeting with Hollywood stars including Daniel Day-Lewis and Sir Michael Caine to discuss plans to boycott the event over the American invasion of Iraq. However, Adrian was adamant he couldn't cancel his plans, telling The Sunday Times newspaper: "Well, that was a unique moment. "I was a young actor, invited to a powwow with men I held in the highest regard. It was a pretty profound life experience, but, yes, I said that I had to go. "Jacks request was for me to stay at home, but I said I had to attend. I had my parents coming." Adrian - who was 29 at the time - went to the ceremony and emerged victorious after winning the Best Actor Oscar. After winning the industry's highest honour, Adrian left Los Angeles and attempted to shun the spotlight - and he admits he found fame totally baffling. He added to the publication: "I had never had that kind of love for my work - from anyone. And it didnt make a lot of sense to me. "I was young and opportunities came to me, but I didnt want to start taking things for granted. So I shunned it. I moved. "I isolated myself to live in the countryside and be in nature and to fix up an old pick-up truck and house. I saw how much was coming to me and felt unnerved." Peter Andre was left "very emotional" after returning from Australia to see his parents. Peter Andre has shared an update on his mum's health The 'Mysterious Girl' hitmaker revealed in 2023 that his 88-year-old mother Thea is battling Parkinson's and Alzheimer's, but after a recent trip, he has now admitted that her health is declining, and it was very hard leaving her and his father Savvas - who is also not well. He wrote in his new! magazine column: "Being with my mum and dad in Australia was incredible but, understandably, also very emotional. "I went with my brother, Michael, and we got to spend quality time with my sister as well. "The hardest bit for me is leaving them. Both Mum and Dad are on the decline, unfortunately, especially my mum." Despite the difficult time for the 51-year-old star - who has Junior, 19, and Princess, 17, with ex-wife Katie Price, as well as Amelia, 10, Theo, eight, and eight-month-old Arabella with spouse Emily - he appreciated the support of fans and is looking forward to returning to Australia again soon. He added: "Every moment was incredible. Thank you to everyone for all the lovely messages I received when I was there. "Even though I know its part of life, I can assure you it doesnt make it any easier to deal with. "I should be back there very soon for the premiere of my upcoming film 'Jafaican', which will be amazing." The comedy crime drama sees Peter play Gary Buckle, who needs to execute a fraud in London and Jamacia to generate 35,000 for his gran's care, in his first lead role in a feature film. Peter announced the project on social media platform X in May 2023 He wrote at the time: "I can finally reveal I play Gary Buckle in comedy 'Jafaican'. "Not only is it my first lead role in a feature film but also my first production credit. "Lots of firsts and I'm so excited for you all to see it." Vanessa Williams' late mother Helen has been honoured on Broadway. Vanessa Williams' mother has been remembered on Broadway Helen Williams - who worked as a music teacher - passed away in London on December 28 due to complications from "acute liver failure" after flying to the British capital for a special trip to celebrate her 85th birthday to see Vanessa on stage in a musical adaptation of the film 'The Devil Wears Prada' - and now she has been remembered by the cast of 'A Wonderful World: The Louis Armstrong Musical', which was produced by her famous daughter. The special performance of the show last week was watched by 150 New York City music students, who were invited to see the production to commemorate Helen's love of Broadway and her passion for teaching. Famous faces in attendance included 'Ugly Betty' star Michael Urie and TV host Bevy Smith, as well as Vanessa herself. A source told New York Post column PageSix the show's star James Monroe Iglehart led the cast in a "New Orleans style procession from the stage and through the audience as they waved white handkerchiefs to celebrate her life". The insider told the publication Vanessa was "greeted by [the] band outside of [the theater] Studio 54, where fans and patrons gathered to join a dance party on the street". After Helen's death last month, Vanessa confirmed the sad news in a statement which read: "On December 28th, the world lost a powerhouse, dynamo and force of nature packed into a 5ft frame. "Our mom, Helen Williams, aka Gaga to many, took her final bow in London 20 days after celebrating her 85th birthday surrounded by family and friends. "Its impossible to describe all she meant to everyone because each person saw a different facet of her. Loyal friend to many, icy stares to a chosen few. "We will miss it all." After the tragedy, Vanessa took a brief hiatus from her role in the London stage show. A message on 'The Devil Wears Prada's Instagram page stated: "Due to a sudden loss in her family, Vanessa Williams will not be appearing from Wednesday 8th to Wednesday 15th January. During this time, the role of Miranda Priestly will be played by Debbie Kurup. Vanessa will return to The Devil Wears Prada from Thursday January 16th. " Jesse Eisenberg, best known for The Social Network, made his directorial debut with When You Finish Saving the World. While the Sundance release did not impress audiences, his next - A Real Pain garnered awards buzz with actor Kiernan Culkin, who stars alongside Eisenberg winning a Golden Globe. The film which Eisenberg wrote and directed is an emotional yet hilariously real take on loss, familial bonds and human resilience. It revolves around two cousin brothers who take a trip through Poland after the passing of their grandmother who was a holocaust survivor. Like much of the movie, the ending is open to interpretation. If youve just watched the film and are processing its impact, heres a quick breakdown of everything that went down and what it means.The film tells the story of Eisenbergs David and Culkins Benji. The former is a neurotic yet successful tech guy who takes pills to manage his OCD while the latter is a charming yet down-and-out pothead who lives in his mothers basement. They are meeting after many years to go on a holocaust memorial tour across Poland that their late grandmother put together before her passing. Almost immediately you can tell Benji who was closer to grandma Dory has taken the loss particularly hard. Through the course of their group tour, they travel with people coming to terms with their Jewish heritage at different stages of their lives ranging from a divorced woman to an elderly couple. Benji oscillates between forming heartwarming bonds with the group almost instantly and lashing out over issues with the itinerary like the constant rattling of facts over actual local experiences. We soon find out that Benji tried taking his life six months ago and while he seems like a charming chill guy, hes a troubled young man. David on the other hand is trying his best to be the put-together brother who tries to maintain the peace at the cost of bottling up his emotions. It's interesting to see their relationship unfold as cousins who used to be very close growing up but eventually grow apart as life takes them in different directions.After the tour ends, David and Benji return to the New York airport. Earlier, the former had asked the latter what his plans were after returning home to no avail. David makes a generous offer for Benji to come home with him for dinner with his wife and child but he declines. David then slaps Benji as a callback to an earlier conversation where the latter revealed he felt weirdly good when grandma Dory slapped him for slowing up high at a dinner. The two parted ways after promising to meet each other again. While David goes home to his loving family, Benji remains at the airport because you meet the craziest people there. The film's last shot mimics the opening and the title slate, A Real Pain, shows up.Eisenberg keeps the film's ending open as we watch Benji half-smiling and letting himself blend with the hustle and bustle of the airport. It can be said that the two men returned from their trip unchanged as they're back at square one. But that would be too simple. Benjis refusal to leave and his refusal to reveal his next steps could also mean that he's broke and homeless. However, we do see him couriering weed all the way to Poland so that might not be it. The most plausible explanation is that Benji is afraid to leave the airport and go back to his life since he isn't in a good place. But it also means that he's willing to be a part of society. We do see him smiling at people and being open like he was throughout the trip. In a subtle way, the ending tells us that he doesn't want to give up yet and there's still hope for him. Maybe he'll even pay David and his family a visit soon. All in all, the ending of A Real Pain is bittersweet with a lingering sense of loss mixed with hope.Real Pain was released in theatres on January 17. Critic's rating 4.0 /5 The nail that sticks out gets hammered. This old proverb is perhaps most suited to the environs of prisons (or jails as they're more popularly called in India). Those who blend into the crowd and the milieu, tend to avoid the misgivings. Those who refuse, tend to bear the brunt. It's a theme that is most prevalent in director Vikramaditya Motwane's new OTT series Black Warrant. This 7-episode series based on the infamous Tihar Jail is an entertaining and riveting exploration of everything that was wrong with the correctional institutions in India. The show is based on the book Black Warrant: Confessions of a Tihar Jailer. It was written by the former superintendent of Tihar Jail, Sunil Kumar Gupta, who chronicled the trials and travails of his prison during the 1980s. The story picks up in 1981, when Sunil Gupta (played by Zahan Kapoor) was appointed the Assistant Superintendent in Tihar. Young, meek and frail, Sunil Gupta looks like a misfit in the big, bad world of incarcerated criminals and their immoral enforcers. Even his own family is wary of his career choice. But the young man decides to persevere and pursue idealism. Through the 7-episodes we see the bad, worse and worst side of Tihar. The episodes work around the infamous inmates of the prison complex. There are familiar names like Billa-Ranga, Maqbool Bhat, Charles Shobhraj and many more. But they're mere chapters in the larger story of Tihar's enforcers. The final episode, titled "Double Umar Qaid (double life sentence)" sums up the emotion of the show, when a key character Mangat (Paramvir Singh Cheema) says life in Tihar for the officers is worse than that of the criminals. The inmates get a single life sentence, but the officers experience the suffering and exasperation that equals a double life sentence. Gupta's involvement at Tihar isn't just about his survival, it also encapsulates his growth as a human being. The reserved and under confident lad finds his a passion to usher in change and bring reforms to the Indian correctional system. He gives importance to the living conditions and rights of the inmates, over his own ambitions and life goals. It creates a problem for his co-workers Mangat, Dahiya (Anurag Thakur) and Tomar (Rahul Bhat). But Gupta's focus on righteousness remains unfazed. His character has an impressive arc and it allows Zahan Kapoor to shine in a career best performance. He shows flashes of brilliance that are reminiscent of his grandfather Shashi Kapoor and that's no lightweight compliment. The most intriguing are Gupta's interactions with Charles Shobhraj (played by Sidhant Gupta). Zahan and Sidhant feed off their characters like absolute pros. Their scenes together are the highlight of Black Warrant. The efforts of Vikramaditya Motwane and his directorial team (Satyanshu Singh, Ambiecka Pandit, Arkesh Ajay and Rohini Raveendran Nair) create captivating moments throughout the show. The production design, cinematography and editing are all excellent, too. Motwane's productions are always on point with the technical aspect of filmmaking and Black Warrant, streaming on Netflix, is no exception. This is a must watch show that manages to strike a fine balance between human drama and socio-political history. There are all the usual plots of a prison story - gangs, corruption, murder, incompetent governance and prison break. But there's also sublime details of perseverance, faith, friendship and superstitions that make this an easy binge-watch. TRAILER : Black Warrant Critic's rating 3.5 /5 The film starts with a speech by Jawahar Lal Nehru expressing his grief over the Chinese annexation of Assam. Its implied he has given up on Assam whereas the truth is that in his speech never did he mention abandoning Assam or the fight against the Chinese. Indira Gandhi is shown as the saviour, asking the Assamese not to engage in an exodus, whereas, according to reports, she flew there with the Red Cross supplies. Her presence there is said to be the catalyst for the Chinese withdrawal from the Indian territory. The film effectively makes out Nehru to be an idealistic PM who didnt have a firm hold on reality and juxtaposes his daughters iron will in contrast. The film implies he was jealous of his daughter. The man, who while imprisoned by the British, regularly wrote letters on various topics ranging from natural history, Indian history, philosophy, as also his worldview, which were later collected in the book Letters from A Father To His Daughter. Its childish to think such a man could have such a petty attitude towards his only daughter, whom he deeply cherished. Its laughable that one of the great world leaders such as Nehru has been portrayed as weak and ineffective. But such has been the popular narrative of our times of late and the film perpetuates it. The film is a history lesson of sorts. We see Indira Gandhis various achievements, chief among them being her deft handling of international politics just before the Indo-Pak war of 1971 and the subsequent creation of Bangladesh. Its that vital era which made her a world leader and cemented her place in history. Later, she brought the Sikh insurgency to its knees but paid for the achievement with her life. We also see her battling other personal battles. Shes shown to have a troubled relationship with her paternal aunt, Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit and later shown to be an overindulgent mother to her younger son, Sanjay Gandhi, who is portrayed as her political heir. Sanjays roughshod handling of power, especially his drive towards Nasbandi (male sterilisation), is brought out in full gory detail. Shes shown to have no connection with her elder son Rajiv. Pupul Jayakar is shown to be her only confidante. Emergency, which lasted from 1975 to 1977 was a black mark on her otherwise illustrious career but ironically, the atrocities which her detractors were reportedly subjected to are not fleshed out in the film. The film is well-directed by Kangana Ranaut, who, thanks to great makeup and prosthetics, looks exactly like Indira Gandhi in the first frame but later starts looking like herself. Towards the end, the film gives off horror movie vibes, with Indira hallucinating about seeing a wizened crone version of herself in mirrors. Those moments provide a bit of uncalled for hilarity in the film. Kangana has acted exceptionally well as Indira Gandhi, though we dont know if Indira had as many nervous ticks as are seen in Kanganas portrayal. Having a quivering mouth would certainly be a hindrance for a woman who played a high stakes game against international and national figures all her life and won every time, but what do we know? The other actors, be it Milind Soman as Sam Manekshaw, Shreyas Talpade as Atal Bihari Vajpayee or even Anupam Kher as Jayaprakash Narayan fall short of adding the gravitas needed to portray such figures. Vishak Nair as Sanjay Gandhi feels like a stock Hindi film villain. Mahima Chaudhary has acted well as Pupul Jayakar. Watch the film for Kangana Ranauts portrayal of one of the most charismatic leaders we had. Her detractors accused Indira Gandhi of forming a cult of hero worship and Emergency adds to that aura. India is Indira and Indira is India was the popular refrain during the emergency period and the film echoes that effectively. TRAILER : Emergency BEIJING (dpa-AFX) - Japan will on Monday release November numbers for core machinery orders, highlighting a modest day for Asia-Pacific economic activity. Orders are expected to slip 0.7 percent on month and climb 5.6 percent on year after rising 2.1 percent on month and 5.6 percent on year in October.Japan also will see final November figures for industrial production and the tertiary industry activity index. Previously, production was down 2.3 percent on month, while the tertiary index had a score of 0.30.The People's Bank of China will set January's prime loan rate for one- and five-year loans; they're expected to hold steady at 3.1 percent and 3.6 percent.Malaysia will provide December data for imports, exports and trade balance. Imports are expected to rise 3.3 percent on year, up from 1.6 percent in November. Exports are called higher by an annual 9.0 percent, accelerating from 4.1 percent in the previous month. The trade surplus is pegged at MYR16.60 billion, up from MYR15.30 billion a month earlier.Hong Kong will see unemployment data for December, with the jobless rate expected to hold steady at 3.1 percent.Copyright(c) 2025 RTTNews.com. All Rights ReservedCopyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann. LONDON (dpa-AFX) - Rio Tinto (RTPPF.PK, RIO.L, RIO, RTNTF.PK) expressed its support for the Australian Government's recent announcement of an aluminium production credit. This initiative is aimed at sustaining and expanding aluminium smelting operations in Australia, thereby significantly benefitting regional communities and enhancing the nation's manufacturing capabilities.The company noted that the production credit, announced today as part of the Future Made in Australia Plan, puts Australia on a path to becoming a leader in green metals manufacturing, while supporting a continued strong economic future for communities that have powered the nation's aluminium industry for generations.It will provide targeted support to Australian aluminium smelters transitioning to reliable, renewable electricity before 2036. Under the initiative, facilities will be eligible for support for their production over a 10-year period. The credit aims to give local aluminium smelters the confidence to invest, securing Australian jobs and strengthening the nation's world-class aluminium industry.Copyright(c) 2025 RTTNews.com. All Rights ReservedCopyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann. JAKARTA, Indonesia, Jan. 19, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- The COP29 UN Climate Change Conference in Baku, Azerbaijan (November 11-22, 2024) is an important moment for the UK to strengthen its commitment to accelerate global transition to clean energy and achieve the zero emissions target. The UK seeks to utilize green solutions to effectively address the climate crisis. During the forum, the UK announced its implementation of the NDC (Nationally Determined Contribution), a plan outlining each country's commitments to mitigate climate change. Aligned with its NDC, the UK committed to leading in climate solutions, aiming to cut carbon emissions by 81% by 2035, up from 68% by 2030, compared to 1990 levels. APP Group aligns with the UK's leadership in global climate solutions through participation in COP29. This commitment reflects APP Group's ongoing dedication among nations to accelerate decarbonization across various industrial sectors, contributing meaningfully to the global fight against climate change. During COP29, APP Group reaffirmed its global commitment as a driver of change in addressing the climate crisis through green energy transitions and sustainable practices such as; increasing the use of biomass to reduce emissions, ensuring a controlled biomass supply, and implementing sustainable forest management to enhance natural carbon absorption. "It's crucial to assess risks and make thorough plans so decarbonization efforts can continue, even though investment is necessary to create a greener industry while persistently pursuing forest conservation and protection for carbon absorption," stated Elim Sritaba as Chief Sustainability Officer of APP Group. In the UK, APP Group offers Delipac, a natural paper alternative to single-use plastics, a remarkable "waste-free" and sustainable paperboard specifically engineered for F&B packaging, endorsed by independent ISO-certified credentials. APP Group acknowledges that reducing plastic waste plays a role in combating climate change. By providing eco-friendly solutions like Delipac, APP Group supports the transition to sustainable packaging. APP's encourages other companies to join the global green movement, which supports countries' commitments, like the UK's initiative in COP29. About APP Group APP is a leading pulp, paper, and forestry company based in Indonesia, supplying high-quality tissue, packaging, and paper to over 150 countries. With operations in Indonesia and China, we prioritize sustainability, ethical practices, and the well-being of our employees, society, and the environment. Our Sustainability Roadmap Vision 2030, aligned with ESG principles, guides our efforts in environmental protection, community support, biodiversity preservation, and carbon neutrality. View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/driving-a-green-energy-transition-that-aligns-with-the-uk-vision-302354792.html Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - January 19, 2025) - Petlio Inc., a leading innovator in pet health, is transforming the way pet parents care for their furry companions. The company is proud to introduce advanced at-home health screening tests and longevity-focused supplements, empowering pet owners to take proactive control of their pets' well-being and extend their lifespan. Petlio Revolutionizes Pet Care with Proactive Screening Tests and Longevity Supplements To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/8814/237270_63e567c68444a8a8_002full.jpg In response to the growing demand for preventive and proactive pet healthcare in North America, Petlio's mission is clear: to help pets live longer, healthier lives through science-backed solutions that fit seamlessly into modern pet care routines. "While humans benefit from proactive healthcare solutions like screenings and longevity supplements, pets have been underserved in this regard. Petlio aims to change that," says Marc Thomson, co-founder of Petlio. "Our products allow pet parents to identify potential health issues early and take preventive measures, ensuring pets enjoy a longer, healthier life." Proactive Health Screening Tests Petlio's innovative at-home health screening tests address 92% of common pet ailments, including those affecting dogs and cats. These tests provide pet parents with actionable insights, allowing for early intervention and customized vet care, saving time and stress for both pets and their families. Longevity Supplements: A Cellular Approach to Aging Petlio has also introduced revolutionary longevity supplements featuring proven compounds like NMN (Nicotinamide Mononucleotide) and Resveratrol, both widely recognized in human healthcare for their anti-aging properties. These supplements tackle aging at a cellular level, promoting healthier and longer lives for pets. Shifting the Focus: Prevention Over Cure Petlio prioritizes prevention by offering tools for early detection and cellular health. Petlio enables pet parents to proactively manage their pets' health before problems occur. This proactive model strengthens the bond between pets and their owners, fostering trust and confidence in pet care. "Pets are family, and they deserve the same level of care we give ourselves," Thomson added. "Our solutions empower pet owners with the tools and knowledge to provide the best possible care." About Petlio Petlio is at the forefront of modern pet care in North America, offering advanced at-home health screening tests and longevity supplements designed to improve pets' quality of life. With a focus on preventive healthcare, Petlio equips pet parents with innovative solutions to extend and enhance the lives of their furry family members. To learn more, visit www.petlio.com To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/237270 SOURCE: Plentisoft JAKARTA, Indonesia, Jan. 20, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- East Ventures, a pioneering and leading venture capital firm in Indonesia and Southeast Asia, announced today that it has closed its inaugural GP-led secondary transaction. Led by a global secondary firm, Coller Capital, East Ventures offered limited partners in its East Ventures 5 L.P. ("EV5" or the "Fund"), liquidity, bringing the total distributions-to-paid in the capital ("DPI") of the Fund to approximately 2.0x. Continuing the success of its predecessor funds, EV5 is a high-performing, top-quartile fund in the East Ventures platform, originally established to invest in seed and early-stage rounds of Southeast Asian technology companies. Coller Capital underwrote the entire transaction. EV5's portfolio is anchored by high-profile Southeast Asian technology companies such as IDN and waresix. Many of these companies also feature prominently in later East Ventures' funds and the secondary transaction emphasizes the firm's continued conviction in its ecosystem of best-performing emerging companies. The transaction was structured with a component of profit participation, allowing EV5 to crystalize an attractive return for limited partners while retaining participation in the future growth trajectory of the portfolio. East Ventures remains a significant and active shareholder in the companies and a key partner to the management teams who will continue to benefit from the firm's unique operational value-add, corporate governance, and Southeast Asia-wide ecosystem. "We are pleased to partner with Coller Capital in a fast and efficient process to design a solution that not only provides our limited partners with an attractive liquidity milestone but also the opportunity to continue our valued partnership with the entrepreneurs and management teams in these companies. We believe the portfolio is well positioned to benefit from the secular tailwinds of the Indonesian growth story, particularly with the rise of its digital economy," said Willson Cuaca, Co-Founder and Managing Partner at East Ventures. "We are proud to partner with East Ventures to lead this transaction in Southeast Asia, an exciting market where we see great growth potential. Building on our long-standing relationship, we have delivered swiftly to meet East Ventures' objectives, providing significant value to their investors. The transaction exemplifies Coller's expertise in delivering innovative, tailor-made liquidity solutions and building alignment with both sponsors and their limited partners," saidPeter Kim, Partner and Head of Asia and RMB at Coller Capital. The transaction continues to demonstrate the evolving landscape of the venture capital and secondary market in Asia. UBS Private Funds Group advised on the transaction. Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher was the legal advisor to East Ventures while Debevoise & Plimpton advised Coller Capital. *** About Coller Capital Coller Capital is a global leader in the secondary market for private assets, renowned for being a pioneer and innovator in the asset class. Founded in 1990, Coller provides investment and liquidity solutions to private market investors worldwide, and currently manages $36 billion[1] in private equity, private credit, and other private market vehicles. With headquarters in London and offices across North America, Europe, and Asia- Pacific, our multinational team offers a truly global reach. Coller has exclusively focused on secondary investing since inception and today boasts one of the largest dedicated investment teams in the asset class. Coller's Private Wealth Secondaries Solutions (PWSS) business offers perpetual funds to eligible private wealth investors globally. [1] as at 30 September 2024 About East Ventures East Ventures is a pioneering and leading sector-agnostic venture capital firm. Founded in 2009 in Indonesia, East Ventures has raised nine funds focusing on Southeast Asia. The firm has invested in over 300 seed and growth-stage tech companies, recording strong financial returns and creating positive social and environmental impacts. In addition, it has maintained a top-tier VC position in Southeast Asia, being recognized as the most consistent top-performing fund globally by Preqin and the most active investor in Southeast Asia by various media. *** Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2601477/Willson_Cuaca__Co_Founder_and_Managing_Partner_at_East_Ventures.jpg View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/east-ventures-a-pioneer-in-southeast-asias-venture-capital-scene-closes-its-inaugural-gp-led-secondary-transaction-with-coller-capital-302355048.html Regulatory News: Maurel Prom (Paris:MAU): Producing and development-ready onshore operated gas asset, strategically located with key infrastructure in-place Located in the Sinu San Jacinto basin and connected into the Promigas pipeline with direct access to the coastal urban and industrial areas in the north of Colombia High quality asset with recently developed facilities First gas achieved in November 2024 as part of the ongoing long term test Current infrastructure in place for gross production of up to 40 mmcfd (16 mmcfd net to the acquired 40% working interest) with further development expected to increase production well beyond this initial level Proven reserves with considerable exploration and appraisal upside Prolific basin, with multiple producing fields in the area and strong geological continuities Gross proven plus probable (2P) and proven plus probable plus possible (3P) reserves of respectively 158.8 bcf and 340.8 bcf as of 31 December 2023 (respectively 63.5 bcf and 136.3 bcf net to the 40% acquired working interest) Multiple prospects, of which several ready to be drilled over the next 18 months Very strong fundamentals for the Colombian domestic gas market Strategic gas resource for a Colombian market that is structurally short in supply, projected to be short 30% of demand by 2026 Spot domestic gas prices in excess of $8/mmBtu as of Q4 2024 Supply shortfall situation expected to last at least for the next five years, whilst identified new gas resources in the country will come with high development costs (offshore fields) Strategic opportunity for M&P to expand in Colombia M&P has been present in the country for over 20 years Cash flow diversification: non-Brent linked revenues in a stable OECD oil and gas jurisdiction $150 million acquisition consideration (as of effective date of 1 February 2025), fully funded from M&P's existing cash resources and available facilities M&P will have a 12-month option from closing to acquire an additional 5% working interest in Sinu-9 from NG Energy under the same terms ($18.75 million consideration with the same effective date) Etablissements Maurel Prom S.A. ("M&P", the "Group") is pleased to announce that it has entered into a letter of intent with NG Energy International Corp. ("NG Energy"), listed on the TSX Venture Exchange of Toronto, to acquire a 40% operated working interest in the Sinu-9 gas licence in Colombia for a consideration of $150 million as of the effective date of 1 February 2025. Pursuant to the letter of intent, the parties have agreed to use their best endeavours to expeditiously enter into a definitive agreement consistent with the letter of intent. Olivier de Langavant, Chief Executive Officer of M&P, declared: "This acquisition represents a key step in M&P's growth, bringing the Group an operating stake in a prolific and highly prospective gas licence. The asset is at an early stage of development, which allows us to leverage our operational expertise to develop all the resources in place and bring a domestic source of gas to the Colombian market. This marks a significant milestone in our history in Colombia, re-establishing M&P as an operator in the country with significant organic growth potential. NG Energy has done a great job at bringing this asset to first gas, and we look forward to growing the relationship as partners on Sinu-9 Asset description The Sinu-9 gas block lies in the Lower Magdalena Valley, 75km from Colombia's Caribbean coast, and covers an area of approximately 1,260 square kilometres in the department of Cordoba. The Sinu-9 gas block is located in the Sinu San Jacinto basin, adjacent to producing gas blocks held by Canacol and Hocol. NG Energy is currently the operator of the block and owns a 72% working interest in the licence, alongside Desarrolladora Oleum, S.A. DE C.V (15%), Clean Energy Resources S.A.S. (7.8%), and FG Oil Gas Inc. (5.2%). The area has established infrastructure with access to the Promigas pipeline, the northern natural gas trunk line of Colombia, at the Jobo connection point. Sinu-9 achieved first gas production in November 2024, under the ongoing long term test of the Magico-1X and Brujo-1X wells. There is infrastructure in place for gross production of up to 40 mmcfd (16 mmcfd net to the acquired 40% working interest), and further development will considerably increase production beyond this initial level. The block had gross 2P and 3P reserves of 158.8 bcf and 340.8 bcf, respectively, as of 31 December 2023 (63.5 bcf and 136.3 bcf of 2P/3P reserves net to the 40% acquired working interest), based on NG Energy's latest certified reserves report prepared by Sproule International Limited ("Sproule"), an independent qualified reserve evaluator, which report was prepared using guidelines outlined in the Canadian Oil and Gas Evaluation Handbook. Sinu-9 has considerable exploration and appraisal upside, in a very prolific gas basin with multiple producing fields in the area. Multiple leads and prospects are ready to be drilled over the next 18 months and are expected to significantly increase the resource base. Sinu-9 is fully permitted with environmental approval granted by Colombia's National Authority of Environmental Licences ("ANLA") to drill 22 wells from 11 locations. Infrastructure is fully in place for the first phase of the development, with 40 mmcfd of gross treatment and export capacity. M&P's experience in Colombia The Group has been active in Colombia for over 20 years, and this transaction marks its return as an operator of producing assets in the country. M&P has successfully invested close to $1 billion in Colombia to date, yielding very strong returns. Colombia is a stable and established oil and gas jurisdiction, well known to M&P, which strategically complements our other operations across Africa and Latin America. With near-term growth and development of the asset, the envisaged transaction positions M&P to build size and scale in Colombia leveraging its operational capabilities. As a result of the decline of its large mature fields, Colombia's natural gas market is currently facing imbalances between local production and demand, leading to high prices and a reliance on imports of liquefied natural gas. Spot domestic gas prices have been constantly rising and are in excess of $8 per mmBtu as of Q4 2024. This supply shortfall is expected to last until at least 2030, with the development of possible additional production capacity will come at a high cost. Financing The consideration of $150 million will be funded from M&P's existing cash resources and available credit facilities ($260 million as of 31 December 2024). Conditions Closing of the transaction is subject to negotiation and execution of a definitive agreement between the parties, the receipt of regulatory approvals, including the approval of the Colombian National Hydrocarbons Agency ("ANH"), and the satisfaction of other customary closing conditions. M&P will have a 12-month option from closing to acquire an additional 5% working interest in Sinu-9 from NG Energy under the same terms: $18.75 million consideration, with the same effective date of 1 February 2025. Advisors Hannam Partners is acting as exclusive financial advisor to M&P. Herbert Smith Freehills LLP, Torys LLP, and Martinez Quintero Mendoza Gonzalez Laguado De La Rosa are acting as legal advisors to M&P. About NG Energy NG Energy International Corp. is growth-orientated natural gas exploration and production company listed on Toronto's TSX Venture Exchange, and focused on delivering long-term shareholder and stakeholder value through the discovery, delineation and development of large-scale natural gas fields in developing countries, supporting energy transition and economic growth. NG Energy's team has extensive technical and capital markets expertise with a proven track record of building companies and creating significant value in South America. To date, over $100 million has been invested in the exploration and development of its two main gas assets in Colombia, Sinu-9 and Maria Conchita. For more information, you can visit NG Energy's website (www.ngenergyintl.com). Glossary French English pieds cubes pc cf cubic feet millions de pieds cubes par jour Mpc/j mmcfd million cubic feet per day milliards de pieds cubes Gpc bcf billion cubic feet baril b bbl barrel barils d'huile par jour b/j bopd barrels of oil per day millions de barils Mb mmbbls million barrels barils equivalent petrole bep boe barrels of oil equivalent barils equivalent petrole par jour bep/j boepd barrels of oil equivalent per day millions de barils equivalent petrole Mbep mmboe million barrels of oil equivalent For more information, please visit www.maureletprom.fr/en/ This document may contain forecasts regarding the financial position, results, business and industrial strategy of Maurel Prom. By their very nature, forecasts involve risk and uncertainty insofar as they are based on events or circumstances which may or may not occur in the future. These forecasts are based on assumptions we believe to be reasonable, but which may prove to be incorrect and which depend on a number of risk factors, such as fluctuations in crude oil prices, changes in exchange rates, uncertainties related to the valuation of our oil reserves, actual rates of oil production rates and the related costs, operational problems, political stability, legislative or regulatory reforms, or even wars, terrorism and sabotage. Maurel Prom is listed on Euronext Paris SBF 120 CAC Mid 60 CAC Mid Small CAC All-Tradable PEA-PME and SRD eligible Isin FR0000051070 Bloomberg MAU.FP Reuters MAUP.PA View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250119696415/en/ Contacts: Maurel Prom Shareholder relations Tel.: +33 (0)1 53 83 16 45 ir@maureletprom.fr NewCap Investor/media relations Tel.: +33 (0)1 44 71 98 53 maureletprom@newcap.eu Regulatory News: Pershing Square Holdings, Ltd. (LN:PSH) (LN:PSHD) (NA:PSH) today announced that it will pay a quarterly dividend of $0.1646 per Public Share for the calendar year 2025 according to the following table.1 2 Record Date Payment Date USD Dividend Per Share DRIP Enrollment Deadline Currency Election Deadline 14/2/2025 21/3/2025 $0.1646 28/2/2025 28/2/2025 16/5/2025 20/6/2025 $0.1646 2/6/2025 2/6/2025 15/8/2025 19/9/2025 $0.1646 1/9/2025 1/9/2025 14/11/2025 19/12/2025 $0.1646 28/11/2025 28/11/2025 A proportionate quarterly dividend will be paid to the Special Voting Share, based on its net asset value. Shareholders may automatically reinvest cash dividends into PSH Public Shares through a Dividend Reinvestment Programme ("DRIP") whereby shares are purchased in the open market by the administrator of the DRIP. Details about the DRIP are available at https://pershingsquareholdings.com/corporate/psh-dividend-information/ and through shareholders' brokers. Dividends will be paid in US dollars unless a shareholder elects to be paid in GBP. Shareholders electing GBP dividends must do so no later than the Currency Election Deadline. Further details about the currency election are available at Pershing Square Holdings' website https://pershingsquareholdings.com/corporate/psh-dividend-information/. Additional Information The payment of each dividend is subject to the Company being satisfied that the following conditions are met: the Company will meet the solvency requirements under Companies (Guernsey) Law, immediately after the payment of the dividend; the Company's total indebtedness will be less than one-third of the Company's total capitalisation after the payment of the relevant interim dividend. The decision as to whether PSH pays a dividend in the future will be made by the PSH Board with the consent of the Investment Manager. While PSH intends to pay a quarterly dividend going forward, there is no guarantee that PSH will continue to do so. PSH's Board's decision to pay a dividend should not be interpreted to mean that PSH will be profitable in the future. About Pershing Square Holdings, Ltd. Pershing Square Holdings, Ltd. (LN:PSH) (LN:PSHD) (NA:PSH) is an investment holding company structured as a closed-ended fund. Category: (PSH:CorporateActions) _______________________ 1 The dates in the table may change at the Board's discretion and each dividend will be subject to certain conditions being satisfied. 2 The Company's policy is to pay quarterly dividends in an amount determined by multiplying the average PSH NAV of all trading days in December of the prior year by 0.25%, subject to a cap whereby the total dividends paid for the year is not to exceed 125% of the average of the total dividends paid in each of the previous three years. Once the dividend is set for a specific year, the Company does not intend to decrease it from that level, even in the event that NAV were to decline in a future year. The dividend cap is utilized so that PSH does not make an excess distribution under the PFIC rules. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250119466902/en/ Contacts: Media Camarco Ed Gascoigne-Pees Julia Tilley +44 (0)20 3781 8339, media-pershingsquareholdings@camarco.co.uk COPENHAGEN, Denmark, Jan. 20, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- NetBet Denmark has reached an agreement with iGaming company Relax Gaming to make their games available to players in the Denmark region. Relax's creativity at designing a variety of unique and entertaining online casino games has seen the company win numerous awards. The company won the Online Slot of the Year title at the Global Gaming Awards 2024, building on its earlier successes including taking home Slot Developer of the Year at the 2022 SBC Awards. Among the new Relax titles that will become available to NetBet Denmark customers are engaging slots such as Money Train 3, Wildchemy, and Temple Tumble. NetBet Denmark's PR manager, Claudia Georgevici, said: "At NetBet, we only partner with companies that have a proven track record of creating entertaining titles for customers to enjoy. Relax's list of awards and nominations speaks for itself, and we are excited to embark on a relationship with them that will benefit all parties." Martin Stalros, CEO at Relax Gaming, said: "We're really looking forward to working with NetBet Casino. The partnership offers an opportunity to work collaboratively in a key regulated market, allowing Relax to expand its presence in the Danish market and across the Nordics." "As one of the leading operators, NetBet have made huge strides in the industry, which makes for an exciting partnership together." NetBet players can explore Relax's flagship games on the NetBet Denmark website, as well as other entertaining online casino game variants such as Table Games and Bingo. About NetBet.com/dk NetBet.com/dk is licensed to operate in Denmark, giving players access to thousands of industry-leading casino games, from Slots to Live Games. With so much to offer to customers, NetBet.com/dk has evolved into one of the nation's favourite online gaming brands. For more information please visit: www.netbet.com/dk , or contact: press@netbet.com. About Relax Gaming/RLX Gaming Relax Gaming Group was founded in 2010 with the goal of simplifying B2B content delivery for the modern iGaming landscape. With business simplicity and collaboration central to its ethos, its rapid and sustained expansion has been conceived in order to deliver unparalleled global reach. Via a quick one-time integration, Relax Gaming now provides access to a roster of 4,000+ casino games to 700+ operator brands with a diverse range of proprietary products, including Poker, Bingo and its own extensive slot portfolio. High-quality aggregated content from more than 70 partner studios, is provided through its selected Silver Bullet (commercially represented) and Powered By Relax (commercially independent) partners. Regulated markets are also at the heart of its growth strategy, with licenses held in multiple jurisdictions including: the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario, the Malta Gaming Authority, the Gibraltar Licensing Authority, the UK Gambling Commission, the Romanian National Gaming Office (ONJN) and the Hellenic Gaming Commission. In addition to licensed operations, Relax Gaming fully supports regulated markets such as Colombia, Spain, Mexico, Denmark, Sweden, Estonia and Latvia. SHANGHAI, Jan. 20, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Queclink, a global leader in IoT solutions, is proud to announce the official launch of the WR310 Series, the next-generation industrial router designed to meet the growing demands of modern industrial networks. Powered by Qualcomm's advanced chipset, the WR310 combines cutting-edge 5G SA/NSA, Wi-Fi 6, and Bluetooth technologies to deliver high-performance connectivity across a variety of industrial sectors. The WR310 Series brings cutting-edge technology to industries where seamless, high-speed, and reliable connectivity is essential. This new product line is specifically engineered to meet the challenges of smart manufacturing, industrial IoT (IIoT), and edge computing, providing unparalleled performance for businesses that rely on mission-critical applications. Unparalleled Performance for Demanding Environments The WR310 is powered by 5G SA/NSA technology, offering ultra-low latency and high bandwidth that enable real-time communication, faster data transmission, and enhanced reliability. Built on Qualcomm's leading chips, the WR310 ensures exceptional processing power and connectivity performance. This means industrial businesses can leverage 5G for mission-critical applications, supporting the increasing demand for bandwidth in environments like smart factories, energy grids, and remote monitoring systems. In addition to 5G, the WR310 Series features GNSS positioning and Wi-Fi 6, with both technologies undergoing RF calibration during manufacturing for strengthened quality control. With higher capacity and faster speeds, the WR310 ensures optimal performance, even in environments with a large number of connected devices. Businesses can now support a higher density of IoT devices without compromising on speed or efficiency. Versatile Connectivity for Legacy and Future Systems The WR310 series is designed with flexibility in mind. Equipped with multiple industrial interfaces-including RS232, RS485, and Gigabit Ethernet-the router ensures compatibility with both legacy systems and the latest devices. This versatility is further enhanced by its ability to connect wirelessly with nearby beacons or sensors using Bluetooth, streamlining communication and expanding integration possibilities. This multi-interface design makes it ideal for businesses looking to integrate new technologies into their existing infrastructure without the need for costly upgrades. "The WR310 Series bridges the gap between old and new technologies," said Jay Gong, Sales Manager at Queclink. "Our customers can now easily modernize their network architecture while maintaining compatibility with existing systems. This is especially crucial for industries that rely on legacy equipment but need the performance boost that 5G and Wi-Fi 6 provide." Tailored for Global Connectivity To meet the diverse needs of global industrial sectors, the WR310 series is available in three distinct models: WR310FEU : Designed for EMEA, AP, and Brazil regions : Designed for EMEA, AP, and Brazil regions WR310FAU : Tailored for LATAM markets : Tailored for LATAM markets WR310FNA: Optimized for North America Each model is fine-tuned for local cellular conditions, ensuring robust and reliable connectivity no matter where businesses are located. For more information on the WR310 Series and to request a demo, visit www.queclink.com or contact sales@queclink.com. Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2601544/Queclink_Introduces_5G_High_performance_Industrial_Router.jpg View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/queclink-unveils-wr310-series-redefining-industrial-connectivity-with-5g-and-wi-fi-6-302355166.html Highlights The 2025 Winter Drill Program is fully funded and anticipated to commence February 1, 2025. The 2025 Winter Drill Program is targeting 6,000 - 8,000 metres ("m") of drilling using two diamond drill rigs. The primary objective is to continue to expand upon the exceptional drill results from the 2024 drill campaign. Q2 Metals Corp. (TSX.V:QTWO)(OTCQB:QUEXF)(FSE:458) ("Q2" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that the 2025 Winter Drill Program (the "2025 Winter Program") at its Cisco Lithium Project (the "Project" or the "Cisco Project") is anticipated to begin on February 1, 2025. Crews will be mobilizing to the Cisco Project over the course of the next week. Video Overview of Q2 Metals and the Cisco Lithium Project The primary objective of the 2025 Winter Program is to continue to expand upon the exceptional drill results from the 2024 drill campaign which included: Drill hole CS-24-018 - 215.6 m at 1.69% Li2O Drill hole CS-24-021 - 347.1 m at 1.35% Li2O; and Drill hole CS-24-023 - 188.6 m at 1.56% Li2O Alicia Milne, Q2 Metals President and CEO commented: "We are excited to get back to work on the Cisco Project to continue to reveal its true potential and look forward to unlocking further value for our shareholders as we expand on the known mineralization zone by stepping out into untested areas of the Project." "Since completing the 2024 Drill Program, our team has been evaluating all of the data that was collected to gain a better understanding of what we're seeing at Cisco," stated Neil McCallum, Q2 Metals VP of Exploration. "We have several highly promising targets that we are eager to explore to better understand the extent of Cisco." The 2025 Winter Program is planned to continue until mid-April 2025, targeting 6,000 - 8,000 m of drilling. Once the program begins, systematic drilling will be carried out with step outs between 200 and 400 m apart (Figure 1 and Figure 2). Figure 1. Map showing 2025 Winter Program drill targets One diamond drill rig will test to the southwest of drill hole CS-24-023 to define the strike length, and the other drill rig will test to the east of drill hole CS-24-018 and CS-24-021 to define potential additional parallel pegmatite zones. Figure 2. Long Section containing all holes drilled to date (looking southwest) Upcoming Events: AME Roundup Core Shack Q2 is pleased to have been selected as a participant in the core shack at the upcoming AME annual Roundup conference being held in Vancouver, BC from January 20 - 23, 2025. Vice President of Exploration Neil McCallum as well as senior project geologists will be on hand with core from the 2024 drill season at Cisco. Mr. McCallum will also be presenting at the Critical and Base Metals Speaker Session on Tuesday January 21, 2025. For more information on AME Roundup, please click here. PDAC Booth and Core Shack The Company will be attending and exhibiting on site at the 2025 Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada event ("PDAC 2025") in Toronto, ON. Q2 is exhibiting in the Investors Exchange from March 2 - 5, 2025 at booth number 2726. Additionally, Q2 Metals is pleased to announce that the Company has been selected to exhibit core from the Cisco Lithium Project at PDAC 2025. More details to be provided as the event approaches. For more information on PDAC 2025, please click here. About Q2 Metals Corp Q2 Metals is a Canadian mineral exploration company focused on unlocking its portfolio of lithium projects in the Eeyou Istchee James Bay region of Quebec, Canada, that includes both the Cisco Lithium Project and its 100-per-cent-owned Mia Lithium Project. The Cisco Project is comprised of 767 claims, totaling 39,389 hectares ("ha"). The Cisco Project transects the Billy Diamond Highway, and the main mineralized zone is located only 6.5 kilometres ("km") away from the highway. The Cisco Project is approximately 150 km north of Matagami, a small town that contains the closest rail link to much of James Bay; and is within the greater Nemaska traditional territory of the Eeyou Istchee Territory, James Bay, Quebec. The Cisco Project is situated along the Frotet Evans Greenstone Belt, comprised of a volcanic package dominated by mafic to felsic metavolcanic rocks, of the southern James Bay Lithium District, the same belt that hosts the Sirmac and Moblan lithium deposits, located 130 km and 180 km away, respectively. The Cisco Lithium Project has district-scale potential with an already identified mineralized zone and discovery drill results that include: 120.3 metres at 1.72% Li2O (hole CS-24-010); 215.6 metres at 1.69% Li2O (hole CS-24-018); 347.1 metres at 1.35% Li2O (hole CS-24-021); and 188.6 metres at 1.56% Li2O (hole CS-24-023) Since May 2024, the Company has drilled a total of 6,359.7 m over 17 holes. All drill holes intercepted pegmatite with visual indications of spodumene mineralization identified. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT: Alicia Milne Jason McBride President & CEO Corporate Communications Alicia@Q2metals.com Jason@Q2metals.com Telephone: 1 (800) 482-7560 E-mail: info@Q2metals.com WWW.Q2Metals.com Follow the Company: Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram Qualified Person Neil McCallum, B.Sc., P.Geol, a registered permit holder with the Ordre des Geologues du Quebec and Qualified Person as defined by NI 43-101 ("QP"), has reviewed and approved the technical information in this news release. Mr. McCallum is a director and VP Exploration for Q2. Forward-Looking Statements This news release contains forward-looking statements and forward-looking information (collectively, "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable Canadian legislation. Forward-looking statements are typically identified by words such as: "believes", "expects", "anticipates", "intends", "estimates", "plans", "may", "should", "would", "will", "potential", "scheduled" or variations of such words and phrases and similar expressions, which, by their nature, refer to future events or results that may, could, would, might or will occur or be taken or achieved. Accordingly, all statements in this news release that are not purely historical are forward-looking statements and include statements regarding beliefs, plans, expectations and orientations regarding the future including, without limitation, any statements or plans regarding the geological prospects of the Company's properties and the future exploration endeavors of the Company. Although the Company believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on a number of material factors and assumptions. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements in this news release speak only as of the date of this news release or as of the date specified in such statement. Forward looking statements in this news release include, but are not limited to, the prospectivity of the greenstone rocks in the area, the possibility of future development and mining infrastructure scenarios, the potential for development, the potential scale of the Cisco Project, the focus of the Company's current and future exploration and drill programs, the scale, scope and location of future exploration and drilling activities, the Company's expectations in connection with the projects and exploration programs being met, the Company's objectives, goals or future plans, statements, exploration results, potential mineralization, the estimation of mineral resources, exploration and mine development plans, timing of the commencement of operations and estimates of market conditions. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include failure to obtain necessary approvals, variations in ore grade or recovery rates, changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined, unsuccessful exploration results, changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined, results of future resource estimates, future metal prices, availability of capital and financing on acceptable terms, general economic, market or business conditions, risks associated with regulatory changes, defects in title, availability of personnel, materials and equipment on a timely basis, accidents or equipment breakdowns, uninsured risks, delays in receiving government approvals, unanticipated environmental impacts on operations and costs to remedy same. Readers are cautioned that mineral exploration and development of mines is an inherently risky business and accordingly, the actual events may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. Additional risk factors are discussed in the section entitled "Risk Factors" in the Company's Management Discussion and Analysis for its recently completed fiscal period, which is available under Company's SEDAR profile at www.sedarplus.ca. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should assumptions underlying the forward-looking statements prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described herein as intended, planned, anticipated, believed, estimated or expected. Although the Company has attempted to identify important risks, uncertainties and factors which could cause actual results to differ materially, there may be others that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. The Company does not intend, and does not assume any obligation, to update this forward-looking information except as otherwise required by applicable law. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. SOURCE: Q2 Metals Corp. View the original press release on ACCESS Newswire BEIJING (dpa-AFX) - Social media platform TikTok, which had decided to disable services in the United States following the U.S. Supreme Court's decision to upheld a ban, began restoring its services on Sunday after President-elect Donald Trump announced his support.The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday had upheld the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, which was signed into law in April, 2024. The legislation mandates that ByteDance, the Chinese parent company of TikTok, must divest its interest in the app by January 19, or face a nationwide ban.Following the Court's decision, TikTok had announced that it would disable access to its immensely popular video app for over 170 million Americans on Sunday unless the U.S. administration urgently assures that it will not face enforcement actions when the ban takes effect.Meanwhile, the Biden administration stated that it would leave the enforcement of the ban to Trump, who is set to take charge on Monday.However, following the Court rule, Trump said he would revive the app's access in the U.S. when he returns to power.In a Truth Social response, Trump said, 'I'm asking companies not to let TikTok stay dark! I will issue an executive order on Monday to extend the period of time before the law's prohibitions take effect, so that we can make a deal to protect our national security. The order will also confirm that there will be no liability for any company that helped keep TikTok from going dark before my order.'He also talked about his interest for the United States to have a 50 percent ownership position in a joint venture, so as to save TikTok, keep it in good hands and allow it to say up. A joint venture between the current owners and/or new owners whereby the U.S. gets half of ownership.'Without U.S. approval, there is no Tik Tok. With our approval, it is worth hundreds of billions of dollars - maybe trillions,' Trump noted.Trump also talked about his plan on Tik Tok at a rally on Sunday, ahead of his inauguration, noting that the U.S. will seek to restore the short-video sharing app.In a post on the X platform, TikTok said, 'In agreement with our service providers, TikTok is in the process of restoring service. We thank President Trump for providing the necessary clarity and assurance to our service providers that they will face no penalties providing TikTok to over 170 million Americans and allowing over 7 million small businesses to thrive. It's a strong stand for the First Amendment and against arbitrary censorship. We will work with President Trump on a long-term solution that keeps TikTok in the United States.'Copyright(c) 2025 RTTNews.com. All Rights ReservedCopyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann. Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - January 20, 2025) - Dryden Gold Corp. (TSXV: DRY) (OTCQB: DRYGF) ("Dryden Gold" or the "Company") is pleased to announce drill results that continue to expand on the Elora Gold System ("Elora") in the Gold Rock Camp ("Gold Rock"). The Phase 6 drill program was completed during November 2024 and consisted of four holes totaling 1,172 meters. The program was designed to follow up on Phase 5 drilling which returned 8.93 g/t gold over 12.45 meters and 30.72 g/t gold over 5.70 meters. The Company continues to successfully target and intersect the depth and strike expansion on the initial structure at Elora. Dryden Gold is fully funded with a $5.8 million exploration budget for 2025, and drilling is scheduled to resume in February 2025. Drill Highlights: Hole KW-24-026 intercepted the mineralized zone at approximately 190 meters from surface and returned 5.92 g/t gold over 12.34 meters , including 19.43 g/t gold over 1.74 meters and 42.40 g/t gold over 0.50 meters . intercepted the mineralized zone at approximately 190 meters from surface and returned over , . Hole KW-24-028 was drilled 60 meters northeast along strike of hole KW-24-026 and returned 3.88 g/t gold over 13.81 meters , including 12.51 g/t gold over 3.50 meters and 10.60 g/t over 0.51 meters . was drilled 60 meters northeast along strike of hole KW-24-026 and returned over , . KW-24-029 was drilled 90 meters northeast along strike of hole KW-24-026 intercepting 4.17 g/t gold over 5.75 meters , including 17.30 g/t gold over 1.18 meters . was drilled northeast along strike of intercepting over , . Hole KW-24-027 was drilled 20 meters deeper than KW-24-026 and intercepted 0.91 g/t gold over 16.55 meters. The results from these four holes further confirm the Elora Gold System's impressive width and continuity of mineralization. This drill program, which included the Company's broadest step-out holes, and the Team's additional interpretation of historic data, highlights the potential for continued mineralization and exploration along strike at Elora. Drill permits have been submitted and are currently pending approval paving the way for future exploration to the northeast. The reinterpreted historical data shows high-grade mineralization under the historic Elora/Jubilee Mine, which could expand the strike-length of this structure up to 500 meters. The exploration permit will also allow the Company to drill test under the historic Laurentian Mine one kilometer to the north as well as more effectively test the Elora Gold System at depth. "The results from the Elora Gold System continue to demonstrate the significant potential of this initial high-grade structure," commented Maura Kolb M.Sc., P.Geo., President of Dryden Gold. "The intercepts from this phase of drilling confirm both the continuity and grade of mineralization along strike and at depth. We have also been working on integrating more historical data into our geological interpretation of this Elora structure. The new contoured long section in Figure 1 shows how open the system is for testing at depth and along strike to the northeast. These step-out holes represent an important advancement in understanding the controls of high-grade gold at Elora and highlight its potential for further exploration. These results reinforce our confidence in the Elora Gold System and the Gold Rock Camp as a cornerstone asset for Dryden Gold. We remain focused on expanding Elora by identifying and defining additional structures to the northeast," furthered Ms. Kolb. "I am extremely proud of our technical team as they continue to generate deeper high-grade gold intercepts on Elora," stated Trey Wasser, CEO of Dryden Gold. "As we continue to see deeper high-grade results, the market is beginning to believe that the Dryden Gold District is a true Archean Lode system that likely has very deep roots. With a fully funded treasury this should be a transformational year for Dryden Gold. While generating the impressive drill results, the Team has also had a very busy regional exploration program in 2024. The mapping and sampling program has generated an exciting project pipeline with regional targets at Hyndman, Sherridon as well as new Gold Rock targets at Mud Lake and Mosher Bay, all to be advanced in 2025," furthered Mr. Wasser. Figure 1: Elora Initial Structure Contoured Long section To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/9776/237796_86c3f06ec4251bb2_001full.jpg The highest-grade areas of mineralization in this phase of drilling at Elora were preferentially correlated with felsic dykes that were noted adjacent to these mineralization contacts. The geology team is working on better understanding the composition, orientation, and extent of these dykes as they likely represent the gold mineralization fluid pathways. Mineralization in holes KW-24-026, -028 and -029 were a combination of foliation parallel pyrite and pyrrhotite with quartz veining. Hole KW-24-027 displayed a higher percentage of quartz veining with pyrite and chalcopyrite mineralization. The host rock for all four holes was a combination of basalt, pillow basalt, and conglomerate. Dryden Gold remains committed to advancing the growth of its flagship Gold Rock Camp project while actively pursuing and evaluating regional exploration targets within its resource pipeline. The company holds an extensive 70,000-hectare land package in the Dryden area, offering district-scale exploration potential. Ongoing early-stage exploration programs are being conducted on the Hyndman and Sherridon projects, as well as within the Gold Rock Camp. Table 1: Dryden Gold - New Elora Drill Holes. Intervals with a grade x width of over 20 are bolded below. Target Area Drillhole From To Length (m)* Grade (g/t Au) Elora KW-24-026 215.46 227.80 12.34 5.92 including 216.80 218.54 1.74 19.43 and including 222.64 223.14 0.50 42.4 Elora KW-24-027 71.70 72.40 0.70 3.04 228.00 244.55 16.55 0.91 Elora KW-24-028 53.50 56.59 3.09 1.59 127.00 128.00 1.00 1.39 140.00 144.64 4.64 0.86 170.93 172.67 1.74 1.95 260.10 273.91 13.81 3.88 including 260.10 263.60 3.50 12.51 and including 272.76 273.27 0.51 10.60 Elora KW-24-029 56.60 57.85 1.25 2.99 276.00 281.75 5.75 4.17 including 278.82 280.00 1.18 17.30 *Reported intervals are drilled core lengths; assay values are uncut Qualified Person The technical disclosure in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Maura J. Kolb, M.Sc., P.Geo., President of Dryden Gold and a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 of the Canadian Securities Administrators. Analytical Laboratory and QA/QC Procedures All sampling completed by Dryden Gold Corp. within its exploration programs is subject to a Company standard of internal quality control and quality assurance (QA/QC) programs which include the insertion of certified reference materials, blank materials, and a level of duplicate analysis. Drill samples from the 2024 program were sent to Activation Laboratories, with sample preparation and analysis in Dryden, where they were processed for gold analysis by 50-gram fire assay with an atomic absorption finish and over limits determined by Fire Assay with a gravimetric finish. Select samples were analyzed using metallic screens. Activation Laboratories systems conform to requirements of ISO/IEC Standard 17025 guidelines and meets assay requirements outlined for NI 43-101. ABOUT DRYDEN GOLD CORP. Dryden Gold Corp. is a fully funded exploration company focused on the discovery of high-grade gold mineralization listed on the TSX Venture Exchange ("DRY") and on the OTCQB marketplace ("DRYGF"). The Company has a strong management team and Board of Directors comprised of experienced individuals with a track record of building shareholder value through property acquisition and consolidation, exploration success, and mergers and acquisitions. Dryden Gold controls a 100% interest in a dominant strategic land position in the Dryden District of Northwestern Ontario. Dryden Gold's property package includes historic gold mines but has seen limited modern exploration. The property hosts high-grade gold mineralization over 50 km (about 31.07 mi) of potential strike length along the Manitou-Dinorwic deformation zone. The property has excellent infrastructure, enjoys collaborative relationships with First Nations communities and benefits from proximity to an experienced mining workforce. For more information go to our website www.drydengold.com. Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements The information contained herein contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of applicable securities legislation. Forward-Looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to the acquisition of the Property, receipt of corporate and regulatory approvals, issuance of common shares; future development plans; future acquisitions; exploration programs; and the business and operations of Dryden Gold. Forward-Looking statements relate to information that is based on assumptions of management, forecasts of future results, and estimates of amounts not yet determinable. Any statements that express predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions or future events or performance (often but not always using phrases such as "expects", or "does not expect", "is expected", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", "plans", "budget", "scheduled", "forecasts", "estimates", "believes" or "intends" or variations of such words and phrases or stating that certain actions, events or results "may" or "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken to occur or be achieved) are not statements of historical fact and may be "forward-looking statements." Forward-Looking statements are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties which could cause actual events or results to differ from those reflected in the forward-looking statements, including, without limitation: risks related to failure to obtain adequate financing on a timely basis and on acceptable terms; risks related to the outcome of legal proceedings; political and regulatory risks associated with mining and exploration; risks related to the maintenance of stock exchange listings including receipt of TSX Venture Exchange approval for the acquisition of the Property; risks related to environmental regulation and liability; the potential for delays in exploration or development activities; the uncertainty of profitability; risks and uncertainties relating to the interpretation of drill results, the geology, grade and continuity of mineral deposits; risks related to the inherent uncertainty of production and cost estimates and the potential for unexpected costs and expenses; the possibility that future exploration, development or mining results will not be consistent with the Company's expectations; risks related to commodity price fluctuations; and other risks and uncertainties related to the Company's prospects, properties and business detailed elsewhere in Dryden Gold's and the Company's disclosure record. Should one or more of these risks and uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described in forward-looking statements. Investors are cautioned against attributing undue certainty to forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date hereof and Dryden Gold and the Company does not assume any obligation to update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances. Actual events or results could differ materially from Dryden Gold's and the Company's expectations or projections. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/237796 SOURCE: Dryden Gold Corp. DUBAI, UAE, Jan. 20, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Bybit , the world's second-largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume, was presented by Shunyet Jan, Head of Derivatives Business and Institutional Sales, at the iFX EXPO. Shunyet joined an expert panel titled "Crypto Trading: Finding the Evergreen" to discuss the evolving dynamics of the cryptocurrency market. The session, moderated by Karnika E. Yashwant, Founder and Chairman of KEY Difference, featured Wael Makarem, Financial Markets Strategists Lead at Exness, alongside Shunyet. Together, the panelists explored the concept of "evergreen" strategies in crypto trading, examining how to identify and implement approaches that stand the test of time. Reflecting on the discussion, Shunyet Jan said, "The iFX EXPO brought together some of the sharpest minds in trading and crypto to tackle the hard questions that define success in a volatile market. Sitting alongside Wael Makarem and Mr. Key on the panel, we delved into the forces shaping crypto's future - from the integration of AI to the shifting role of institutional players and evolving regulations. Conversations like these are crucial for advancing the industry and helping participants find the 'evergreen' in an ever-changing landscape." Key discussion points included navigating market volatility, leveraging AI and machine learning for sustainable strategies, the role of institutional players and evolving regulations, and the importance of psychological resilience in long-term trading success. They also analyzed emerging market trends, such as DeFi and tokenization, and shared practical tips for avoiding common pitfalls and building diversified portfolios that thrive in a volatile environment. Shunyet Jan also led a Gold and Forex workshop at Bybit's Dubai HQ, generating strong interest in the platform. Bybit's new MetaTrader-5 license provides professional traders with access to gold, forex, and cryptocurrencies, offering advanced tools, up to 500x leverage, competitive fees, and an intuitive interface for a seamless trading experience. The iFX EXPO, the online trading industry's biggest event series, bridges the world's top brands with like-minded professionals, traders, and more. It has grown into a global standard, providing every individual a hub to network, exchange ideas, and grow their business. The iFX EXPO remains a vital platform for fostering dialogue and collaboration among industry leaders, and Shunyet's contributions underscore Bybit's commitment to advancing the cryptocurrency space. Bybit / TheCryptoArk About Bybit Bybit is the world's second-largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume, serving a global community of over 60 million users. Founded in 2018, Bybit is redefining openness in the decentralized world by creating a simpler, open and equal ecosystem for everyone. With a strong focus on Web3, Bybit partners strategically with leading blockchain protocols to provide robust infrastructure and drive on-chain innovation. Renowned for its secure custody, diverse marketplaces, intuitive user experience, and advanced blockchain tools, Bybit bridges the gap between TradFi and DeFi, empowering builders, creators, and enthusiasts to unlock the full potential of Web3. Discover the future of decentralized finance at Bybit.com. For more details about Bybit, please visit Bybit Press For media inquiries, please contact: media@bybit.com For updates, please follow: Bybit's Communities and Social Media Discord | Facebook | Instagram | LinkedIn | Reddit | Telegram | TikTok | X | Youtube Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2601577/Bybit_s_Shunyet_Jan.jpg Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2267288/Logo.jpg View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/from-defi-to-tokenization-bybits-shunyet-jan-explores-the-future-of-crypto-trading-at-ifx-expo-302355234.html VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESS Newswire / January 20, 2025 / Amarc Resources Ltd. ("Amarc" or the "Company") (TSXV:AHR)(OTCQB:AXREF) is pleased to announce additional drill results from its new, high grade, Au-rich porphyry copper-gold-silver AuRORA Deposit discovery at the Company's 100% owned JOY Copper-Gold District (or "JOY" or the "District") in the prolific Toodoggone-Kemess porphyry Cu-Au region of north-central British Columbia ("BC"). AuRORA is located within the new NWG Target, an area of the 495 km 2 JOY District that had not previously been drill tested (see Figures 1, 2 and 3). Freeport-McMoRan Mineral Properties Canada Inc. ("Freeport") is fully funding work programs at JOY to earn an interest in the project, and Amarc is the operator of all programs. Highlights from additional AuRORA DEPOSIT Discovery Drill Holes Include: Drill Hole Int.1,2,3 (m) From (m) Incl. Au (g/t) Cu (%) Ag (g/t) CuEQ4 (%) JP24060 130 74 2.40 0.61 5.33 1.98 81 104 Incl. 3.58 0.85 7.36 2.89 JP24063 132 70 1.01 0.30 2.80 0.88 99 103 Incl. 1.17 0.33 3.15 1.00 JP24068 192 47 0.52 0.25 2.63 0.56 83 104 Incl. 0.75 0.34 3.77 0.78 JP24073 219 102 0.98 0.24 2.01 0.80 131 102 Incl. 1.40 0.34 2.81 1.13 95 138 and 1.62 0.37 2.94 1.28 JP24075 266 34 1.24 0.31 3.42 1.02 109 37 Incl. 2.41 0.51 5.27 1.89 Notes: See Table 1. "Today's results build positively on previously announced holes from the AuRORA porphyry copper-gold-silver Deposit discovery," said Dr. Diane Nicolson, Amarc President and CEO. "AuRORA presents much to be excited about, including the high grades of gold, in combination with strong copper and silver values intersected, and the lateral and vertical continuity of those grades, all in a deposit that is near surface. Deposits with characteristics like these are highly sought after by copper and gold producers alike. Moreover, AuRORA is only one of several important-scale sulphide systems that have been identified by our District-wide geological, geochemical and geophysical surveys at JOY, offering excellent potential for further discoveries as we work to develop this highly prospective District." This release reports assay data from six holes drilled along east-west Section 7900N located 100 m north of Section 7800N and the seven drill holes which were reported in Amarc release January 17, 2025. Section 7900N continued Amarc's objective of systematically stepping out, and aggressively drilling with three core rigs with a view to continue outlining an outstanding Cu-Au-Ag deposit and to confirm its high grade potential. Table 1: JOY AuRORA Porphyry Cu-Au-Ag Deposit Discovery Section N7900 Mineralized Intervals of Significance Drill Hole Incl. From (m) To (m) Int.1,2,3 (m) Au (g/t) Cu (%) Ag (g/t) CuEQ4 (%) JP24060 31.00 59.00 28.00 0.19 0.16 0.7 0.27 74.00 203.90 129.90 2.40 0.61 5.3 1.98 Incl. 104.00 185.00 81.00 3.58 0.85 7.4 2.89 And 131.00 182.00 51.00 4.48 0.96 8.4 3.50 JP24063 25.40 40.40 15.00 0.25 0.08 0.5 0.22 70.40 202.05 131.65 1.01 0.30 2.8 0.88 Incl. 102.95 202.05 99.10 1.17 0.33 3.2 1.00 242.00 253.40 11.40 1.55 0.34 3.5 1.23 301.40 334.80 33.40 0.32 0.10 1.0 0.29 349.40 355.40 6.00 0.31 0.07 0.5 0.25 370.40 376.40 6.00 0.23 0.08 0.7 0.21 382.40 412.40 30.00 0.20 0.08 1.0 0.20 418.40 424.15 5.75 0.33 0.06 0.9 0.25 JP24068 47.40 239.40 192.00 0.52 0.25 2.6 0.56 Incl. 104.40 187.00 82.60 0.75 0.34 3.8 0.78 and 113.40 154.25 40.85 0.89 0.41 4.8 0.94 JP24073 102.00 321.00 219.00 0.98 0.24 2.0 0.80 Incl. 102.00 233.20 131.20 1.40 0.34 2.8 1.13 and 138.00 233.20 95.20 1.62 0.37 2.9 1.28 and 147.00 156.00 9.00 2.47 0.54 5.7 1.96 Incl. 240.00 261.00 21.00 0.45 0.09 1.0 0.35 Incl. 270.00 321.00 51.00 0.40 0.11 0.8 0.34 333.00 345.00 12.00 0.21 0.07 0.5 0.19 354.00 363.00 9.00 0.15 0.08 1.0 0.17 372.00 387.00 15.00 0.42 0.07 0.8 0.31 JP24075 33.50 299.15 265.65 1.24 0.31 3.4 1.02 Incl. 36.70 164.40 127.70 2.21 0.50 5.1 1.76 and 36.70 146.00 109.30 2.41 0.51 5.3 1.89 and 36.70 47.00 10.30 3.60 0.61 6.1 2.65 and 56.80 84.00 27.20 3.08 0.51 6.7 2.27 and 95.00 128.00 33.00 2.39 0.59 6.1 1.97 Incl. 164.40 299.15 134.75 0.34 0.13 1.9 0.34 JP24077 141.30 187.00 45.70 0.54 0.22 2.0 0.54 Notes to Table 1: Widths reported are drill widths, such that true thicknesses are unknown. All assay intervals represent length-weighted averages. Some figures may not sum exactly due to rounding. Copper equivalent (CuEQ) calculations use metal process prices of: Cu US$4.00/lb, Au US$1800/oz., and Ag US$24/oz. and conceptual recoveries of: Cu 85%, Au 72% and 67% Ag. Conversion of metals to an equivalent copper grade based on these metal prices is relative to the copper price per unit mass factored by conceptual recoveries for those metals normalized to the conceptualized copper recovery. The metal equivalencies for each metal are added to the copper grade. The general formula for this is: CuEQ% = Cu% + ((Au g/t * (Au recovery / Cu recovery) * (Au $ per oz./31.1034768 / Cu $ per lb. * 22.04623)) + ((Ag g/t * (Ag recovery / Cu recovery) * (Ag $ per oz./ 31.1034768 / Cu $ per lb. * 22.04623)). The holes on Section 7900N were drilled at approximately 100 m intervals tracing the mineralization across a width of 600 m. These results are again confirming the continuity of the Au-rich AuRORA porphyry Cu-Au-Ag mineralized system from east to west and vertically, and now also to the north, and from near the surface. In addition to the mineralization exhibiting excellent lateral and vertical continuity, AuRORA remains open to expansion in all horizontal directions. Detailed results and information are presented in Figures 1 to 6 inclusive, and in Tables 1 and 2. Compilations and confirmatory analyses from step out holes at AuRORA and holes from seven other porphyry targets including the PINE Deposit, Canyon Discovery and Twins Deposit Targets in 2024 are underway and will be released once finalized. Figure 1: Large Scale Mineral System Trends Occur at JOY that Host the AuRORA Deposit Discovery, PINE Deposit, Canyon Discovery, Twins and Other Sulphide Systems Figure 2: AuRORA Deposit Discovery Located in the New and Underexplored NWG Target Area Figure 3: AuRORA Deposit Discovery: Hosted Within the Exciting New NWG Target Area IP-Chargeability Anomaly Never Previously Drilled Figure 4: AuRORA Deposit Discovery Never Previously Drilled and Open to Expansion Figure 5: AuRORA Deposit Discovery: Drilling Outlines Open-Ended, Near Surface, Continuous, High Grade Cu-Au-Ag Mineralization (Section 7900N) Figure 6: AuRORA Deposit Discovery: Multi-Phase High Grade Mineralization Hosted by Intense Alteration from Drill Holes JP24060, JP24068 and JP24075 AURORA Deposit Discovery The AuRORA Deposit discovery is located within the expansive Northwest Gossan ("NWG") Target area located at the northwest end of a possible 15 km mineralized trend that extends southeast toward the GAP and SWT Targets (see Figures 1 and 2). The NWG Target is outlined by a 3.7 km 2 Induced Polarization ("IP") anomaly (>14mV/V) with coincident Cu, Au, Mo and Ag anomalies outlined in soils and rocks (see Amarc releases May 2 and July 11, 2024). The 2024 initial drill testing of the NWG Target area focused primarily on an internal zone of higher (>20 mV/V) IP chargeability some 1,500 m long and 500 m wide (see Figure 3). Much of the NWG Target area remains unexplored. The geological and hydrothermal characteristics of discovery hole JP24057, and other holes along sections 7800N and 7900N, are broadly consistent with generalized models for porphyry Cu-Au deposits in the Kemess Mining District and in the wider Toodoggone Region. As with section 7800N, east-west section 7900N through the AuRORA Deposit Discovery highlights the excellent continuity of the near surface, high grade Cu-Au-Ag mineralization discovered in hole JP24057, as well as consistent vertical and lateral patterns in the grade, hydrothermal and geological characteristics along both sections (see Figures 4 and 5 and Table 2). In the upper part of AuRORA, mineralization is hosted by andesitic tuff and in its lower part by quartz-monzonite intrusive rocks. The contact between the volcanic and intrusive rocks is typically masked by intense alteration that coincides with the highest-grade mineralization. High grade mineralization is associated with both early potassic K-feldspar and magnetite alteration and with a younger, overprinting, pervasive quartz-sericite/chlorite-pyrite alteration (see Figure 6). Copper mineralization is mainly chalcopyrite and trace to minor bornite. About Amarc Resources Ltd Amarc is a mineral exploration and development company with an experienced and successful management team focused on developing a new generation of long-life, high-value porphyry Cu-Au mines in BC. By combining high-demand projects with dynamic management, Amarc has created a solid platform to create value from its exploration and development-stage assets. Amarc is advancing its 100%-owned JOY, DUKE and IKE porphyry CuAu Districts located in different prolific porphyry regions of northern, central and southern BC, respectively. Each District represents significant potential for the development of multiple and important-scale, porphyry CuAu deposits. Importantly, each of the three districts are located in proximity to industrial infrastructure - including power, highways and rail. Amarc's exploration is led by an internationally successful team of experienced geologists specializing in porphyry Cu-Au deposits. Members of this team have been involved in and have tracked porphyry Cu-Au exploration advancements in the Toodoggone region since 1990. Their experience and early recognition of the porphyry potential at the NWG Target in terms of a shallowly overburden covered and underexplored transitional epithermal-porphyry geological setting, led to the discovery of the Au-rich AuRORA porphyry Cu-Au-Ag Deposit. Freeport-McMoRan Mineral Properties Canada Inc. ("Freeport"), a wholly owned subsidiary of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. at JOY and Boliden Mineral Canada Ltd. ("Boliden"), an entity within the Boliden Group of companies at DUKE, can earn up to a 70% interest in each District through staged investments of $110 million and $90 million, respectively. Together this provides Amarc with potentially up to $200 million in non-share dilutive staged funding for these Districts. In addition, Amarc has completed self-funded drilling at its higher-grade Empress Deposit in the IKE District. Drill results from nine core holes drilled late in 2024 at Empress are being compiled and are expected to be released next month. Amarc is the operator of all programs. Amarc is associated with HDI, a diversified, global mining company with a 35-year history of porphyry Cu deposit discovery, development and transaction success. Previous and current HDI projects include some of BC's and the world's most important porphyry deposits - such as Pebble, Mount Milligan, Southern Star, Kemess South, Kemess North, Gibraltar, Prosperity, Xietongmen, Newtongmen, Florence, Casino, Sisson, Maggie, AuRORA, PINE, IKE and DUKE. From its head office in Vancouver, Canada, HDI applies its unique strengths and capabilities to acquire, develop, operate and monetize mineral projects. Amarc works closely with local governments, Indigenous groups and stakeholders in order to advance its mineral projects responsibly, and in a manner that contributes to sustainable community and economic development. We pursue early and meaningful engagement to ensure our mineral exploration and development activities are well coordinated and broadly supported, address local priorities and concerns, and optimize opportunities for collaboration. In particular, we seek to establish mutually beneficial partnerships with Indigenous groups within whose traditional territories our projects are located, through the provision of jobs, training programs, contract opportunities, capacity funding agreements and sponsorship of community events. All Amarc work programs are carefully planned to achieve high levels of environmental and social performance. Qualified Person Mark Rebagliati, P.Eng, a Qualified Person ("QP") as defined by National Instrument 43-101, has reviewed and approved all technical and scientific information related to the JOY Project contained in this news release. Mr. Rebagliati is not independent of the Company. Quality Assurance/Quality Control Program Amarc drilled NQv (48.1mm) and HQ (63.5mm) size core in 2024 at the JOY project. All drill core was logged, photographed, and cut in half with a diamond saw. Half core samples from the JOY drilling were sent to ALS Canada Ltd., Kamloops or Langley, Canada, for preparation and to North Vancouver, Canada for analysis. All facilities are ISO/IEC 17025:2017 accredited. At the laboratory, samples were dried, crushed to 70% passing -2mm, and either a 250 g split or 1,000 g split was pulverized to better than 85% passing 75 microns. Samples were analyzed for Au by fire assay fusion of a 30 g sub-sample with an ICP-AES finish, and for 60 elements including Cu, Mo and Ag by a four-acid digestion, multi-element ICP-MS package. Samples with Cu results > 10,000 ppm were reanalyzed by a single element four-acid digestion ICP-AES method for Cu. As part of a comprehensive Quality Assurance/Quality Control ("QAQC") program, Amarc control samples were inserted in each analytical batch of the core samples at the following rates: standards one in 20 regular samples, in-line replicates one in 20 regular samples and one coarse blank per hole. The control sample results were then checked to ensure proper QAQC. The QP visited the site to verify location of drill holes, and review the core and logging, sampling and sample shipment processes. He also reviewed and assessed the assay results. For further details on Amarc Resources Ltd., please visit the Company's website at www.amarcresources.com or contact Dr. Diane Nicolson, President and CEO, at (604) 684-6365 or within North America at 1-800-667-2114, or Kin Communications, at (604) 684-6730, Email: AHR@kincommunications.com. ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF AMARC RESOURCES LTD. Dr. Diane Nicolson President and CEO 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. Forward-Looking and other Cautionary Information This news release includes certain statements that may be deemed "forward-looking statements". All such statements, other than statements of historical facts that address exploration plans and plans for enhanced relationships are forward-looking statements. Although the Company believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Assumptions used by the Company to develop forward-looking statements include the following: Amarc's projects will obtain all required environmental and other permits and all land use and other licenses, studies and exploration of Amarc's projects will continue to be positive, and no geological or technical problems will occur. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include market prices, potential environmental issues or liabilities associated with exploration, development and mining activities, exploitation and exploration successes, continuity of mineralization, uncertainties related to the ability to obtain necessary permits, licenses and tenure and delays due to third party opposition, changes in and the effect of government policies regarding mining and natural resource exploration and exploitation, exploration and development of properties located within Aboriginal groups asserted territories may affect or be perceived to affect asserted aboriginal rights and title, which may cause permitting delays or opposition by Aboriginal groups, continued availability of capital and financing, and general economic, market or business conditions. Investors are cautioned that any such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. For more information on Amarc Resources Ltd., investors should review Amarc's annual Form 20-F filing with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission at www.sec.gov and its home jurisdiction filings that are available at www.sedarplus.ca. Table 2: AURORA Discovery Assay Data by Sample Interval for Drill Holes JP024073 and JP024075 Hole JP24073 Sample From (m) To (m) Int.1,2,3 (m) Au (g/t) Cu (%) Ag (g/t) CuEQ4 (%) 733415 138.00 141.00 3.00 1.69 0.30 1.5 1.24 733416 141.00 144.00 3.00 0.68 0.44 5.4 0.85 733417 144.00 147.00 3.00 1.74 0.45 3.6 1.44 733418 147.00 150.00 3.00 2.08 0.36 3.3 1.54 733419 150.00 153.00 3.00 3.01 0.58 6.7 2.30 733420 153.00 156.00 3.00 2.33 0.69 7.1 2.04 733421 156.00 159.00 3.00 1.76 0.47 6.8 1.49 733422 159.00 162.00 3.00 1.51 0.33 2.4 1.19 733423 162.00 165.00 3.00 1.74 0.42 2.6 1.40 733424 165.00 168.00 3.00 1.78 0.40 2.3 1.41 733425 168.00 171.00 3.00 1.24 0.35 2.6 1.05 733426 171.00 174.00 3.00 1.11 0.51 3.8 1.15 733427 174.00 177.00 3.00 1.18 0.29 2.5 0.96 733428 177.00 180.00 3.00 1.30 0.27 1.7 1.00 733429 180.00 183.00 3.00 1.68 0.38 2.0 1.33 733431 183.00 186.00 3.00 1.31 0.38 2.0 1.13 733432 186.00 189.00 3.00 1.31 0.29 1.7 1.04 733433 189.00 192.00 3.00 1.49 0.36 1.9 1.20 733434 192.00 195.00 3.00 2.27 0.41 2.8 1.69 733435 195.00 198.00 3.00 1.23 0.31 2.7 1.01 733436 198.00 201.00 3.00 1.52 0.34 2.6 1.20 733437 201.00 204.00 3.00 1.13 0.32 2.2 0.96 733438 204.00 207.00 3.00 1.84 0.35 1.8 1.38 733439 207.00 210.00 3.00 1.08 0.21 1.4 0.83 733440 210.00 213.00 3.00 2.12 0.34 2.8 1.53 733441 213.00 216.00 3.00 2.36 0.37 4.2 1.71 733442 216.00 219.00 3.00 1.44 0.27 1.7 1.08 733443 219.00 222.00 3.00 2.48 0.45 3.2 1.85 733444 222.00 225.00 3.00 1.09 0.32 2.4 0.94 733445 225.00 228.00 3.00 1.27 0.28 2.4 1.01 733446 228.00 231.00 3.00 1.81 0.25 2.0 1.27 733447 231.00 233.20 2.20 0.97 0.17 1.8 0.72 See Table 1 for Notes. Hole JP24075 Sample From (m) To (m) Int.1,2,3 (m) Au (g/t) Cu (%) Ag (g/t) CuEQ4 (%) 734049 36.70 39.00 2.30 3.07 0.58 5.0 2.32 734051 39.00 41.00 2.00 3.90 0.60 5.8 2.81 734052 41.00 44.00 3.00 4.35 0.72 6.1 3.18 734053 44.00 47.00 3.00 3.07 0.52 7.0 2.27 734054 47.00 50.00 3.00 1.84 0.29 3.7 1.33 734055 50.00 53.00 3.00 1.02 0.23 3.3 0.82 734056 53.00 55.00 2.00 1.18 0.24 2.0 0.91 734057 55.00 56.80 1.80 1.42 0.30 2.5 1.11 734058 56.80 59.00 2.20 1.97 0.33 2.4 1.44 734059 59.00 62.00 3.00 2.74 0.38 5.2 1.94 734060 62.00 65.00 3.00 2.35 0.36 5.5 1.70 734061 65.00 68.00 3.00 2.29 0.29 4.3 1.59 734062 68.00 71.00 3.00 3.74 0.56 8.6 2.69 734063 71.00 74.00 3.00 4.26 0.63 10.2 3.07 734064 74.00 77.00 3.00 3.31 0.84 10.0 2.75 734065 77.00 79.15 2.15 3.64 0.59 7.3 2.67 734066 79.15 82.00 2.85 3.38 0.61 6.9 2.53 734067 82.00 84.00 2.00 3.01 0.48 5.3 2.19 734068 84.00 86.00 2.00 1.63 0.31 3.7 1.24 734069 86.00 89.00 3.00 1.15 0.38 3.6 1.04 734071 89.00 92.00 3.00 0.66 0.41 3.5 0.80 734072 92.00 95.00 3.00 1.50 0.32 2.9 1.17 734073 95.00 98.00 3.00 2.83 0.66 5.4 2.27 734074 98.00 101.00 3.00 2.03 0.50 4.4 1.66 734075 101.00 104.00 3.00 2.78 0.63 5.1 2.21 734076 104.00 107.00 3.00 2.61 0.59 5.9 2.09 734077 107.00 110.00 3.00 2.44 0.79 11.7 2.23 734078 110.00 113.00 3.00 2.68 0.66 10.0 2.22 734079 113.00 116.00 3.00 1.74 0.41 5.1 1.41 734080 116.00 119.00 3.00 2.24 0.40 4.2 1.67 734081 119.00 122.00 3.00 2.81 0.72 6.0 2.33 734082 122.00 125.00 3.00 1.98 0.55 4.1 1.67 734083 125.00 128.00 3.00 2.18 0.63 4.8 1.87 734084 128.00 131.00 3.00 1.41 0.41 3.2 1.22 734086 131.00 134.00 3.00 2.69 0.57 5.8 2.11 734087 134.00 137.00 3.00 1.43 0.49 3.7 1.31 734088 137.00 140.00 3.00 1.00 0.37 2.6 0.95 734089 140.00 143.00 3.00 3.22 0.75 3.1 2.56 734091 143.00 146.00 3.00 2.47 0.64 3.1 2.03 734092 146.00 149.00 3.00 0.66 0.32 2.6 0.70 734093 149.00 152.00 3.00 0.58 0.36 3.0 0.70 734094 152.00 154.50 2.50 1.02 0.36 3.0 0.95 734095 154.50 157.00 2.50 1.46 0.45 3.9 1.28 734096 157.00 159.60 2.60 0.93 0.31 2.0 0.84 734097 159.60 162.00 2.40 0.63 0.19 2.2 0.55 734098 162.00 164.40 2.40 1.92 0.85 10.3 1.99 See Table 1 for Notes. Table 3: AURORA Drill Hole Information Section 7900N Drill Hole Easting Northing Elevation Azim () Dip () EOH (m) JP24060 622713 6347905 1360 90 -60 434.4 JP24063 622708 6347905 1360 270 -60 589.4 JP24068 622710 6347905 1360 0 -90 452.4 JP24073 622629 6347903 1360 270 -60 399 JP24075 622891 6347891 1382 90 -60 332.4 JP24077 622461 6347913 1423 90 -85 187 Note: Collar locations are in UTM NAD83, Zone 9N coordinates. Figure 1: Large Scale Mineral System Trends Occur at JOY that Host the AuRORA Deposit Discovery, PINE Deposit, Canyon Discovery, Twins and Other Sulphide Systems Figure 2: AuRORA Deposit Discovery Located in the New and Underexplored NWG Target Area Figure 3: AuRORA Deposit Discovery: Hosted Within the Exciting New NWG Target Area IP-Chargeability Anomaly Never Previously Drilled Figure 4: AuRORA Deposit Discovery Never Previously Drilled and Open to Expansion Figure 5: AuRORA Deposit Discovery: Drilling Outlines Open-Ended, Near Surface, Continuous, High Grade Cu-Au-Ag Mineralization (Section 7900N) Figure 6: AuRORA Deposit Discovery: Multi-Phase High Grade Mineralization Hosted by Intense Alteration from Drill Holes JP24060, JP24068 and JP24075 SOURCE: Amarc Resources Ltd. View the original press release on ACCESS Newswire Kuwait City, Kuwait--(Newsfile Corp. - January 20, 2025) - Blooms Group, a prominent name in consumer electronics, telecommunications, and sustainable innovation, has announced its impressive achievements for 2024 and unveiled strategic plans for an ambitious expansion in 2025. Led by Founder Mohamed Fawzi, the company experienced remarkable growth this year, solidifying its presence in key markets and laying the groundwork for future global operations. With a focus on innovation and sustainability, Blooms Group continues to redefine industry standards while preparing to enter new markets in the coming year. Founder Mohamed Fawzi To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/9578/235930_0b2b6c8534f549b8_001full.jpg Highlights of 2024: Market Expansion : Strengthened its presence in Kuwait while expanding operations in the UAE's real estate sector and Egypt's industrial ventures. : Strengthened its presence in Kuwait while expanding operations in the UAE's real estate sector and Egypt's industrial ventures. Sustainability Milestones : Introduced eco-friendly practices across its operations, enhancing its role as a leader in sustainable innovation. : Introduced eco-friendly practices across its operations, enhancing its role as a leader in sustainable innovation. Strategic Focus for 2025: Plans to enter additional international markets with diversified services, creating new opportunities for growth and collaboration. Mohamed Fawzi, the founder and visionary behind Blooms Group, shared his thoughts on this year's success: "2024 has been a year of tremendous growth for Blooms Group. As we expand into new territories and sectors, our commitment to sustainability and innovation will continue to be the driving forces behind our success. We're excited about the possibilities that 2025 holds for our company and stakeholders." Looking Ahead In 2025, Blooms Group aims to enhance its media presence, exploring opportunities in both digital and print publications to amplify its story and strengthen its brand recognition. By focusing on high-visibility campaigns, the company seeks to foster new partnerships and reach broader audiences. About Blooms Group Blooms Group is a Kuwait-based leader in consumer electronics, telecommunications, and sustainable solutions. With operations across the Middle East and Africa, the group is dedicated to advancing technology and building long-term value for its clients and partners. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/235930 SOURCE: Elite Discoveries Digital Inc. NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO UNITED STATES NEWSWIRE SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES AZARGA METALS CORP. ("Azarga Metals" or the "Company") (TSX-V:AZR) is pleased to announce the closing of a non-brokered private placement of common shares in the capital of the Company ("Common Shares"), as announced on December 31, 2024, by the issuance of 36,666,666 Common Shares at an issue price of $0.03 per Common Share for aggregate gross proceeds of $1,100,000 (the "Private Placement"). In addition, the Company has entered into a debt settlement agreement with each of Gordon Tainton ("Tainton"), the Company's President and Chief Executive Officer, and Golden Oak Corporate Services Ltd. ("Golden Oak"), a company controlled by the Chief Financial Officer and Corporate Secretary of the Company. Tainton and Golden Oak have each agreed to forgive 80% of unpaid fees up to and including December 2024, leaving a balance owing to Tainton and Golden Oak of $125,900 (the "RP Debt"). The RP Debt shall be paid 50% on closing of the Private Placement and 50% over the six-month period thereafter. The Company intends to use the proceeds of the Private Placement on its 100% owned high-grade copper-rich VMS Marg project located within the Keno Hill Silver District of the Yukon Territory, to settle trade payables of $133,000, to settle the RP Debt, and for general and administrative expenses. Early Warning This portion of this new release is issued pursuant to NI 62-103, which also requires an early warning report to be filed on SEDAR+ (www.sedarplus.ca) containing additional information with respect to the foregoing matters. A copy of the related early warning report ("EWR") may be obtained on Azarga Metals SEDAR+ profile. In connection with the closing of the Private Placement Junbord International Limited ("Junbord"), a BVI corporation, acquired ownership and control of 18,333,333 Common Shares of the Company. Prior to completion of the Private Placement Junbord did not own or control any Common Shares of the Company. Upon completion of the Private Placement Junbord owns and controls an aggregate of 18,333,333 Common Shares, representing approximately 24.9% of the issued and outstanding Common Shares. The Common Shares were acquired in a private placement transaction which did not take place through the facilities of any market for the Company's securities. This transaction was completed for investment purposes and Junbord could increase or decrease its investment in the Company at any time, or continue to maintain its current investment position, depending on market conditions or any other relevant factor. The Common Shares were acquired for aggregate consideration of $550,000, pursuant to the available prospectus exemptions contained in National Instrument 45-106. In connection with the closing of the Private Placement, Superb Standard Limited ("Superb Standard"), a Hong Kong corporation, acquired ownership and control of 18,333,333 Common Shares of the Company. Prior to completion of the Private Placement Superb Standard did not own or control any Common Shares of the Company. Upon completion of the Private Placement, Superb Standard owns and controls an aggregate of 18,333,333 Common Shares, representing approximately 24.9% of the issued and outstanding Common Shares. The Common Shares were acquired in a private placement transaction which did not take place through the facilities of any market for the Company's securities. This transaction was completed for investment purposes and Superb Standard could increase or decrease its investment in the Company at any time, or continue to maintain its current investment position, depending on market conditions or any other relevant factor. The Common Shares were acquired for aggregate consideration of $550,000, pursuant to the available prospectus exemptions contained in National Instrument 45-106. Following closing the Private Placement Alexander Molyneux's ("Molyneux") interest in Azarga Metals has decreased below 10% to approximately 9.04% of Azarga Metals issued and outstanding Common Shares. Molyneux did not participate in the Private Placement and continues to own 6,662,640 Common Shares of Azarga Metals. An EWR will be filed by Molyneux on Azarga Metal's company profile on SEDAR+. Molyneux holds the Azarga Metals Common Shares for investment purposes and could increase or decrease his investment in the Company at any time, or continue to maintain his current investment position, depending on market conditions or any other relevant factor. Following closing the Private Placement Blake Steele's ("Steele") interest in Azarga Metals has decreased below 10% to approximately 8.53% of Azarga Metals issued and outstanding Common Shares. Steele did not participate in the Private Placement and continues to own 6,287,881 Common Shares of Azarga Metals. An EWR will be filed by Steele on Azarga Metal's company profile on SEDAR+. Steele is a director of the Company and will continue to report on SEDI as an insider of the Company. Gordon Tainton, President and Chief Executive Officer For further information please contact: Doris Meyer, at +1 604 536-2711 ext. 3 or visit www.azargametals.com. The address of the corporate office of Azarga Metals is Unit 1 - 15782 Marine Drive, White Rock, BC V4B 1E6, British Columbia, Canada. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any of the securities in the United States. The securities have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act") or any state securities laws and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to U.S. Persons unless registered under the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws or an exemption from such registration is available. Cautionary Statement: This news release contains forward looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities laws. The use of any of the words "ambition", "estimate", "concluded", "offers", "objective", "may", "will", "should", "potential" and similar expressions are intended to identify forward looking statements. In particular, this news release contains forward looking statements concerning the intended uses of the proceeds of the Private Placement and the results of exploration on the Marg Project. Although the Company believes that the expectations and assumptions on which the forward looking statements are based are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on the forward looking statements because the Company cannot give any assurance that they will prove correct. Since forward looking statements address future events and conditions, they involve inherent assumptions, risks and uncertainties. Actual results could differ materially from those currently anticipated due to a number of assumptions, factors and risks. These assumptions and risks include, but are not limited to, assumptions and risks associated with the state of equity financing markets, and results of future exploration activities by the Company. Management has provided the above summary of risks and assumptions related to forward looking statements in this news release in order to provide readers with a more comprehensive perspective on the Company's future operations. The Company's actual results, performance or achievement could differ materially from those expressed in, or implied by, these forward looking statements and, accordingly, no assurance can be given that any of the events anticipated by the forward looking statements will transpire or occur, or if any of them do so, what benefits the Company will derive from them. These forward looking statements are made as of the date of this news release, and, other than as required by applicable securities laws, the Company disclaims any intent or obligation to update publicly any forward looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise. SOURCE: Azarga Metals Corp. View the original press release on ACCESS Newswire Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - January 20, 2025) - Auranova Resources Inc. (the "Company") is pleased to announce that, further to its press release of December 2, 2024, an exploration permit (the "Drilling Permit") has been granted by the Ontario Ministry of Mines on the South Uchi Project (the "Project") located in the Red Lake District of Northwestern Ontario, pursuant to the terms of an option agreement (the "Option Agreement") dated November 29, 2024, between the Company and Kenorland Minerals North America Ltd. ("Kenorland"), a wholly owned subsidiary of Kenorland Minerals Ltd., granting the Company the right to acquire up to a 70% interest in the Project. Pursuant to the terms of the Option Agreement, the Company has made an additional option payment of $250,000 and issued an aggregate of 7,502,945 common shares (each, a "Common Share") in the capital of the Company (the "Initial Share Issuance") to Kenorland upon receipt of the Drilling Permit on the Project. Kenorland has initiated the mobilization of drills and support equipment. Pursuant to the terms of the Option Agreement, upon issuance of the Initial Share Issuance, the Company and Kenorland have entered into an investor rights agreement (the "Investor Rights Agreement"), granting Kenorland the right, for so long as Kenorland holds a 7.5% interest in the Company, to: (i) participate in equity financings and top-up its ownership interest of Common Shares in relation to dilutive issuances in order to maintain its pro rata ownership interest of Common Shares at the time of such financing; and (ii) nominate one person to the board of directors of the Company. Kenorland has not appointed a director as of the date hereof. In connection with the Initial Share Issuance, Kenorland acquired an aggregate of 7,502,945 Common Shares. Prior to the completion of the Initial Share Issuance, Kenorland did not own or control any Common Shares. Upon completion of the Initial Share Issuance, Kenorland owns and controls an aggregate of 7,502,945 Common Shares, representing approximately 19.9% of the Company's issued and outstanding Common Shares on a non-diluted basis. The acquisition of Common Shares by Kenorland was for investment purposes. Kenorland may, depending on market and other conditions, or as future circumstances may dictate, from time to time, increase or dispose of some or all of the existing or additional securities it holds or will hold, or may continue to hold. In the future, Kenorland will evaluate its investment in the Company from time to time and may, based on such evaluation and the market conditions and other circumstances, increase or decrease its security holdings through market transactions, private agreements, or otherwise. The disclosure in this news release is being issued in accordance with National Instrument 62-103 - The Early Warning System and Related Take-Over Bid and Insider Reporting Issuers in connection with the filing of an early warning report on the Company's SEDAR+ profile at www.sedarplus.ca. A copy of the early warning report can be obtained by contacting Kenorland at (604) 568 6005. About the South Uchi Project The South Uchi Project was first identified and staked by Kenorland based on the region's prospectivity to host significant gold mineralised systems. The South Uchi Project is located 45 to the east of the Great Bear property which was sold to Kinross in February 2022 for $1.8 billion. Kenorland staked the project in April 2021 and spent a total of Cdn $2,776,000 in three programs consisting of regional studies, till sampling, prospecting and mapping during the field seasons of 2020, 2023 and 2024. Barrick optioned the property from 2021 - 2023 and spent Cdn $5.5 million. The Project covers a portion of Confederation Assemblage volcanic rocks, as well as the boundary between the Uchi geological subprovince to the north and the English River geological subprovince to the south. Kenorland holds a 2% net smelter return royalty on the Project (see press release dated September 16, 2024). About Auranova Resources Inc. The Company is an unlisted reporting issuer in the Provinces of British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. The Company's directors and principals are Thomas Obradovich, Chris Taylor, Timothy Young and William Rand. About Kenorland Minerals Ltd. Kenorland Minerals Ltd. (TSXV: KLD) is a well-financed mineral exploration company focused on project generation and early-stage exploration in North America. Kenorland's exploration strategy is to advance greenfields projects through systematic, property-wide, phased exploration surveys financed primarily through exploration partnerships including option to joint venture agreements. Kenorland holds a 4% net smelter return royalty on the Frotet Project in Quebec which is owned by Sumitomo Metal Mining Canada Ltd. The Frotet Project hosts the Regnault gold system, a greenfields discovery made by Kenorland and Sumitomo Metal Mining Canada Ltd. in 2020. Kenorland is based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Caution Regarding Forward-Looking Information This news release contains forward-looking statements and forward-looking information (together, "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable securities laws. All statements, other than statements of historical facts, are forward-looking statements. Generally, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of terminology such as "plans", "expects', "estimates", "intends", "anticipates", "believes" or variations of such words, or statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might", "will be taken", "occur" or "be achieved". Forward looking statements involve risks, uncertainties and other factors disclosed under the heading "Risk Factors" and elsewhere in the Company's filings with Canadian securities regulators, that could cause actual results, performance, prospects and opportunities to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Although the Company believes that the assumptions and factors used in preparing these forward-looking statements are reasonable based upon the information currently available to management as of the date hereof, actual results and developments may differ materially from those contemplated by these statements. Readers are therefore cautioned not to place undue reliance on these statements, which only apply as of the date of this news release, and no assurance can be given that such events will occur in the disclosed times frames or at all. Except where required by applicable law, the Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/237756 SOURCE: Auranova Resources Inc. Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - January 20, 2025) - American Pacific Mining Corp (CSE: USGD) (OTCQX: USGDF) (FSE: 1QC1) ("American Pacific" or "the Company") is pleased to report an updated Mineral Resource Estimate ("MRE") and for the 100% owned Palmer VMS Project ("Palmer", or the "Project"), located in Southeast Alaska. The Company commissioned SRK Consulting (U.S.) Inc. ("SRK") to assess and update the Mineral Resource Estimate ("MRE") for the Palmer Project. 2025 MRE Highlights: Indicated: 4.77 million tonnes at 1.69% copper, 5.17% zinc, 0.14% lead, 28.4 g/t silver, 0.29 g/t gold, 20.6% barite ( 3.5% copper equivalent or 13.2% zinc equivalent ) 16% increase in contained copper (24 million pounds) and 14% increase in copper grade 178.0 million pounds of copper, 543.0 million pounds of zinc , 14.2 million pounds of lead, 4.4 million ounces of silver, 43.9 thousand ounces of gold, and 980.4 thousand tonnes of barite (BaSO4) 1.69% copper, 5.17% zinc, 0.14% lead, 28.4 g/t silver, 0.29 g/t gold, 20.6% barite ( ) Inferred: 12.00 million tonnes at 0.57% copper, 3.92% zinc, 0.47% lead, 66.3 g/t silver, 0.33 g/t gold, 25.5% barite ( 3.1% copper equivalent or 8.9% zinc equivalent ) 22% increase in contained copper (28 million pounds) 151.5 million pounds of copper, 1,036.4 million pounds of zinc , 125.2 million pounds of lead, 25.6 million ounces of silver, 128.1 thousand ounces of gold, and 3,054.2 thousand tonnes of barite (BaSO4) 0.57% copper, 3.92% zinc, 0.47% lead, 66.3 g/t silver, 0.33 g/t gold, 25.5% barite ( ) "This updated mineral resource estimate marks a major Project milestone now that American Pacific has secured 100% ownership of the Palmer VMS Project. Infill and geotechnical drilling over the last several years has been successful in increasing our confidence in the known deposits and we are thrilled to see significant increases in the in-situ copper estimate, in addition to an overall increase in contained tonnes for the Project," stated CEO, Warwick Smith Table 1: Palmer Project Mineral Resource Estimate Average Value (effective date January 13, 2025) Classification Zone Domain Mass Mt Average Grade Metal Equivalent Cu Zn Pb Ag Au BaSO4 (6) ZnEq(7) CuEq(8) % % % g/t g/t % % % Indicated SW(3) Zone_1 2.75 2.15 5.20 0.11 25.7 0.33 20.5 14.9 3.9 Zone_2 2.02 1.08 5.12 0.17 32.1 0.23 20.7 10.8 2.8 Total 4.77 1.69 5.17 0.14 28.4 0.29 20.6 13.2 3.5 Inferred RW(3) RW 1.68 0.71 3.50 0.47 46.5 0.31 30.2 8.5 2.2 SW(3) Zone_1 1.30 1.79 4.93 0.18 34.4 0.39 24.9 13.7 3.6 Zone_2 0.89 0.87 4.32 0.15 26.2 0.20 14.4 9.0 2.4 Zone_3 2.78 0.65 3.64 0.09 21.2 0.21 17.6 7.2 1.9 AG(4) AG (JAG) 5.13 0.15 4.04 0.83 96.7 0.40 29.3 8.5 3.8 AG (Nunatak) 0.22 0.16 0.25 0.20 434.7 0.57 47.3 15.3 7.0 Total 12.00 0.57 3.92 0.47 66.3 0.33 25.5 8.9 3.1 See Mineral Resource "Notes" Table 2: Palmer Project Mineral Resource Estimate Contained Metal (effective date January 13, 2025) Classification Zone Domain Mass Mt Contained Metal Cu Zn Pb Ag Au BaSO4 (6) M lbs M lbs M lbs K oz K oz K t Indicated SW(3) Zone_1 2.75 130.2 315.4 6.6 2,275 28.8 562.8 Zone_2 2.02 47.9 227.6 7.7 2,078 15.1 417.6 Total 4.77 178.0 543.0 14.2 4,353 43.9 980.4 Inferred RW(3) RW 1.68 26.2 129.9 17.6 2,516 16.9 509.2 SW(3) Zone_1 1.30 51.0 140.8 5.1 1,432 16.4 323.2 Zone_2 0.89 17.2 85.0 2.9 754 5.9 128.6 Zone_3 2.78 39.5 222.7 5.4 1,895 18.9 489.1 AG(4) AG (JAG) 5.13 16.8 456.7 93.3 15,942 66.0 1,500.9 AG (Nunatak) 0.22 0.8 1.2 1.0 3,049 4.0 103.1 Total 12.00 151.5 1,036.4 125.2 25,587 128.1 3,054.2 Mineral Resource Notes: (1) Mineral Resources, which are not Mineral Reserves, do not have demonstrated economic viability. The deposits have been classified as Indicated and Inferred based on confidence in the geological model, drill spacing. The estimate of Mineral Resources may be materially affected by environmental, permitting, legal, title, market or other relevant issues. The quantity and grade of reported Inferred Resources are uncertain in nature and there has not been sufficient work to define these Inferred Mineral Resources as Indicated or Measured Resources. There is no certainty that any part of a Mineral Resource will ever be converted into reserves. (2) Mineral resources are reported using an assumed NSR which includes prices, recoveries, and payabilities cut-off grade based on metal price assumptions*, variable metallurgical recovery assumptions**, mining costs, processing costs, general and administrative (G&A) costs and variable NSR factors. Mining (US$41.3), processing (US$23.92) and G&A costs (US$11.77) and Sustaining Capital (US$15.92) totaling US$92.9/t for Underground Mining. (*) Metal price assumptions considered for the calculation of Metal Equivalent grades are: Gold (US$/oz 2,100.00), Silver (US$/oz 28.0), Copper (US$/lb 4.50), Lead (US$/lb 0.95) and Zinc (US$/lb 1.50) (**) Cut-off grade calculations assume variable metallurgical recoveries as a function of grade and relative metal distribution. Average metallurgical recoveries are: SW/RW Zones: Gold (76.1%), Silver (90.2%), Copper (90.3%), Lead (82.9%) and Zinc (89.2%), AG Zone: Gold (66.0%), Silver (91.0%), Copper (54.8%), Lead (83.4%) and Zinc (94.8%). (3) NSR Calculation for SW/RW Domains: NSR= $77.25 x %Cu + $20.32 x %Zn + $9.64 x %Pb + $0.64 x g/t Ag + $43.07 x g/t Au (4) NSR Calculation for AG Domain: NSR = $49.04 x %Cu + $22.25 x %Zn + $10.14 x %Pb + $0.70 x g/t Ag + $37.77 x g/t Au (5) The resources are considered to have potential for extraction using underground methodology and constrained by mineable shapes. Resources are presented undiluted and in situ and are considered to have reasonable prospects for economic extraction. (6) Barite as reported is shown for economic potential but has not been used in the NSR value at this stage. (7) ZnEq defined by equation SW & RW = NSR value per block / $20.32; AG = NSR value per block / $22.25 (Note Barite has been excluded from the ZnEq and NSR calculations) (8) CuEq defined by equation SW & RW = NSR value per block / $77.25; AG = NSR value per block / $49.04 (Note Barite has been excluded from the ZnEq and NSR calculations) (9) Mineral Resources are based on validated data, which have been subjected to QA/QC analysis, using capped, composited samples at 2m. Estimation has been completed using a combination of Ordinary Kriging and Inverse Distance estimation methodologies and classified based on confidence in the underlying data and drill spacing. Mineral resource tonnages have been rounded to reflect the precision of the estimate. (10) The mineral resources were estimated by Benjamin Parsons, BSc , MSc Geology, MAusIMM (CP) #222568 of SRK, a Qualified Person. Figure 1: Palmer Project VMS Deposits - Isometric view looking south To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/10322/237762_9774e70504ad9b07_001full.jpg Palmer Project Updated MRE Summary Details SRK used available drilling information from exploration programs with assays from 2006 through to 2024 in this significant update to the consolidated MRE since June 3, 2019. The new effective date of the MRE for the Palmer Project is January 13, 2025. The updated MRE is based on the Project database provided to SRK containing 284 diamond drillholes for a total of 96,485 metres of drilling with 16,717 samples. The database contains 241 diamond drillholes (82,132 metres) within the mineralized boundaries prepared for the MRE. The mineralization for the estimate was defined in three main domains including the South Wall ("SW") and RW domains (Palmer Deposit) and the AG domains (AG Deposit). These domains were developed using the findings from data quality, drillhole spacing, the interpreted geological continuity, interpreted structural and continuity of grades within the mineralized lenses. SRK has classified portions of the Project into the Indicated and Inferred mineral resources categories based on a review of the variograms, statistical support to the confidence of the estimates. SRK's scope was limited to updating the Palmer Project mineral resource estimate and providing a NI43-101 Technical Report. No additional work was completed by SRK on the other prospects including CAP, HG, MHC, Boundary or Christmas Creek prospects. There remains significant discovery potential on the Palmer property including further expansion of the known mineralized prospects. A technical report is being prepared for the updated MRE in accordance with National Instrument 43-101 ("NI43-101") and will be available on the Company's website and filed on SEDAR within 45 days of the date of this news release. Qualified Person Statement Ben Parsons, Principal Consultant (Resource Geology) with SRK prepared the updated MRE for Constantine Mining LLC, a 100% owned subsidiary of the Company, according to CIM Definition Standards and will be supported by a NI 43-101 independent report which will be published and filed on the Company's website and SEDAR profile within 45 days. Mr. Parsons is a Qualified Person as defined by NI 43-101. The NI 43-101 independent report will include detailed information on the key assumptions, parameters and methods used to estimate the mineral resources. The technical information in this news release regarding the Palmer Project has been reviewed and approved by Michael Vande Guchte, P.Geo., Vice President of Exploration for the Palmer Project and a Qualified Person (QP) as defined by National Instrument 43-101, Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects. Figure 2: Projected Long Section (looking north) and Projected Cross Section (looking west): Palmer Deposit To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/10322/237762_apfigure2.jpg About American Pacific Mining Corp. American Pacific Mining Corp. is a precious and base metals explorer and developer focused on opportunities in the Western United States. The Company has two flagship assets: the Palmer Project, a Volcanic Massive Sulphide-Sulphate (VMS) project in Alaska and the Madison Project, a past-producing copper-gold project in Montana. For the Madison transaction, American Pacific was selected as a finalist in both 2021 and 2022 for 'Deal of the Year' at the S&P Global Platts Metals Awards, an annual program that recognizes exemplary accomplishments in 16 performance categories. Also, in American Pacific's asset portfolio are high-grade, precious metals projects located in key mining districts in Nevada, USA, including the Ziggurat Gold Project and the Tuscarora Gold-Silver District. The Company's mission is to grow by the drill bit, strategic partnerships, and M&A. The Canadian Securities Exchange has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this news release. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/237762 SOURCE: American Pacific Mining Corp. Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - January 20, 2025) - Auric Minerals Corp. (CSE: AUMC) ("Auric" or the "Company") is pleased to announce a non-brokered financing of convertible debenture units for up to $1,000,000, and has raised $429,021 from exercised warrants. The debentures will have a two year term, convertible at $0.95 a share, and will pay interest of 8% semi annually in cash or shares (based on 10 day VWAP) at the election of the Company. Each Unit of $1,000 debentures will have 1,000 warrants exercisable at $1.25 at any time for a period of 3 years. The Company intends to use the proceeds of the financing for exploration and technical work on its properties, evaluation and potential acquisition of additional strategic assets, general claim maintenance, corporate and working capital purposes. The Company may pay finders' fees to eligible finders in connection with the offering, subject to compliance with applicable securities laws and Canadian Securities Exchange policies. About the Company Auric Minerals Corp. is a critical minerals exploration company based in Oakville, Ontario and holds options over the Route 500 and Bub Uranium Properties in Labrador, and the Goodeye Property in British Columbia, Canada. AURIC MINERALS CORP. Chris Huggins, Director, and interim CEO Forward-Looking Statements This news release contains certain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation, including statements regarding the expected completion of the Financing, the potential negotiation of strategic partnerships, and the use of proceeds. Forward-Looking statements are based on a number of assumptions and estimates that, while considered reasonable by Auric Minerals Corp. ("Auric" or the "Company") as of the date of this news release, are inherently subject to significant business, economic, competitive, political, and social uncertainties and contingencies. Forward-Looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors that may cause actual results or events to differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking statements. Such factors include, among others: the ability of the Company to successfully complete the Financing on the terms currently contemplated or at all; changes in economic conditions or financial markets; changes in operating conditions (including capital costs, operating costs, and supply chain constraints); and receipt of necessary approvals. 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. Readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement. The Company does not undertake any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements except as required by applicable securities laws. The forward-looking information in this news release reflects the current expectations, assumptions and/or beliefs of the Company based on information currently available to the Company. The Company has also assumed that no significant events occur outside of the Company's normal course of business. Although the Company believes that the assumptions inherent in the forward-looking information are reasonable, forward-looking information is not a guarantee of future performance and accordingly undue reliance should not be put on such information due to the inherent uncertainty therein. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/237794 SOURCE: Auric Minerals Corp. Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - January 20, 2025) - Rua Gold Inc. (TSXV: RUA) (OTCQB: NZAUF) (WKN: A40QYC) ("RUA GOLD" or the "Company") is pleased to provide an update from the drilling campaign underway at the Reefton Project on the South Island of New Zealand. Highlights: All three holes in Murray Creek have intercepted visible gold in down-dip extensions of the historical Victoria lode, demonstrating vertical continuity over 100 meters and still open. Murry Creek assays ranging from 11.1 - 34.1g/t gold, intercept widths indicate a pinch and swell of the vein from 0.2 - 1.2m. 1.35% Sb (stibnite) in DD_VIC_42A demonstrates the antimony potential in this region. Introduction of Devico Navi-drilling provides benefits of accuracy and economy in the resource definition stage. Gold results in 4 of the 6 drill holes at Capleston, with the northern-most intercept averaging 4.8g/t Au over 3.3m. Robert Eckford, CEO of RUA GOLD commented: "it is very encouraging to be intercepting gold on the majority of our targets in the Reefton Goldfield. Murray Creek has delivered vertical continuity and visible gold on every hole and even more exciting as we start seeing visible antimony on this target. The drill program is progressing nicely and with the navi-drilling team in place and two main holes complete, we can start building structure with our 20m spaced drill program. The near surface gold results at Capleston also indicate there is potential for early development opportunities." Figure 1: Quartz vein from VIC042A, 0.3m @ 27.18 g/t Au. To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/10755/237800_d3f1e88f54b14a9f_007full.jpg Murray Creek The Company has advanced the testing of the down-dip extension of the Victoria lode, DD_VIC_042B. This intersected the targeted gold vein at 390m down hole with a 1m quartz vein followed by a 0.2m mineralized fault, including fine visible gold throughout the vein and antimony infilling fractures. This intercept is 80m below the historical Victoria mine, and 20m northeast of the DD_VIC_042A intercept. The third drill hole (DD_VIC_042A) intercepted a 0.3m quartz vein with visible gold in a 0.6m mineralized fault. The quartz vein assayed 0.3m at 27.2/t Au with 1.35% Sb (antimony). Table 1: Assay results Murray Creek Drilling Program Drill hole From To Interval Au (g/t) Sb (%) VIC_042 388.65 388.85 0.2m 34.1 Not tested VIC_042A 388.6 388.9 0.3m 27.2 1.35% VIC_042B 390.0 391.2 1.2m 11.1 Pending RUA GOLD have commenced a series of directional drill holes with IMDEX Devico Navi-drilling to progress the delineation of the unmined reef down dip and along strike. Two parent holes have been established (DD_VIC_042 and 046) and there are 6 more directionally drilled holes planned in the first quarter 2025. This program will test ~200m down strike of the historical Victoria Mine lode which produced 33,877oz at 19.9g/t Au (Barry, 1993). Figure 2: Cross section through the Victoria lode, Murray Creek. To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/10755/237800_d3f1e88f54b14a9f_008full.jpg Capleston The Company is targeting an undeveloped and near-surface vein at the southern end of the two kilometer long historic Capleston project. Near surface targets lend themselves to early development and are the closest to transportation and infrastructure, providing low-cost operational advantages. The program consists of 6 drill holes, with the northern-most intercept averaging 4.8g/t Au over 3.3m. Table 2: Assay results Capleston Drilling Program Drill hole From To Interval Au (g/t) REF_043 32 33 1m 3.2 REF_044 31 32 1m 2.9 REF_044T 29 31 2m 5.3 REF_047 29.7 33 3.3m 4.8 No significant results in DD_REF_045, 048. The drill rig at Capleston has been demobilized as the exploration team shift its focus onto the Cumberland targeted as highlighted in the news release dated January 13, 2024. Results from the drill program will be collated into the model and assessed for the next phase of drilling. Figure 3: Intercepts of REF047 and REF048, inspecting core at Reform. To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/10755/237800_d3f1e88f54b14a9f_009full.jpg Figure 4: Location of Reefton Projects To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/10755/237800_d3f1e88f54b14a9f_010full.jpg QAQC Drilling The majority of drillholes were sampled in full, typically following 1-m sample intervals unless geological contacts (i.e. dolerite intrusions) dictated otherwise. NQ core was analyzed as whole core; therefore, only requiring cutting along sample intervals. PQ and HQ core were sampled as half core. Coarse gold intersections (Victoria lode visible nuggety gold intervals) are sampled in full, dried and dispatched to ALS Perth, Australia for PhotonAssay analysis using method PA01 with a detection limit of 0.03ppm Au. 500gm samples were submitted with Certified Reference Material (CRM) following coarse crushing. This method is non-destructive allowing the preservation of the entire whole-core, and unlimited repeat testing. Standard drill core samples were sent to SGS Westport for sample preparation. Core was crushed to 75% passing 2 mm, and 1-kg split of material was pulverized (to 85% passing 75 m). No split duplicates were collected during the crushing steps. Two scoops were taken from the pulverize bowl: one for laboratory analysis (~150 g) and the other for pXRF analysis (~100 g). The pulp reject is stored in Reefton. Pulverized drill core samples were analyzed by 50-g fire assay with AAS finish at SGS Waihi (SGS Code FAA505). The detection limit for Au by this method is 0.01 ppm. As part of SGS' internal quality control, SGS conducted repeat analyses, also at a rate of ~5%. The QP has verified the data disclosed including sampling, assay procedure and analytical information contained in the written disclosure. ABOUT RUA GOLD RUA GOLD is an exploration company, strategically focused on New Zealand. With decades of expertise, our team has successfully taken major discoveries into producing world-class mines across multiple continents. The team is now focused on maximizing the asset potential of RUA GOLD's two highly prospective high-grade gold projects. The Company controls the Reefton Gold District as the dominant landholder in the Reefton Goldfield on New Zealand's South Island with over 120,000 hectares of tenements, in a district that historically produced over 2 million ounces of gold grading between 9 and 50 grams per tonne. The Company's Glamorgan Project solidifies RUA GOLD's position as a leading high-grade gold explorer on New Zealand's North Island. This highly prospective project is located within the North Islands' Hauraki district, a region that has produced an impressive 15 million ounces of gold and 60 million ounces of silver. Glamorgan is adjacent to OceanaGold Corporation's biggest gold mining project, WKP. For further information, please refer to the Company's disclosure record on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca. Technical Information Simon Henderson CP, AUSIMM, a qualified person under National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects, has reviewed and approved the technical disclosure contained herein. This news release includes certain statements that may be deemed "forward-looking statements". All statements in this new release, other than statements of historical facts, that address events or developments that the Company expects to occur, are forward-looking statements. Forward-Looking statements are statements that are not historical facts and are generally, but not always, identified by the words "expects", "plans", "anticipates", "believes", "intends", "estimates", "projects", "potential" and similar expressions, or that events or conditions "will", "would", "may", "could" or "should" occur and specifically include statements regarding: the Company's strategies, expectations, planned operations or future actions, including but not limited to exploration programs at its Reefton project and the results thereof. Although the Company believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Investors are cautioned that any such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. A variety of inherent risks, uncertainties and factors, many of which are beyond the Company's control, affect the operations, performance and results of the Company and its business, and could cause actual events or results to differ materially from estimated or anticipated events or results expressed or implied by forward looking statements. Some of these risks, uncertainties and factors include: general business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties; risks related to the effects of the Russia-Ukraine war; risks related to climate change; operational risks in exploration, delays or changes in plans with respect to exploration projects or capital expenditures; the actual results of current exploration activities; conclusions of economic evaluations; changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined; changes in labour costs and other costs and expenses or equipment or processes to operate as anticipated, accidents, labour disputes and other risks of the mining industry, including but not limited to environmental hazards, flooding or unfavorable operating conditions and losses, insurrection or war, delays in obtaining governmental approvals or financing, and commodity prices. This list is not exhaustive of the factors that may affect any of the Company's forward-looking statements and reference should also be made to the Company's CSE Form 2A - Listing Statement filed under its SEDAR+ profile at www.sedarplus.ca for a description of additional risk factors. Forward-Looking statements are based on the beliefs, estimates and opinions of the Company's management on the date the statements are made. Except as required by applicable securities laws, the Company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements in the event that management's beliefs, estimates or opinions, or other factors, should change. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/237800 SOURCE: Rua Gold Inc. VANCOUVER, BC, Jan. 20, 2025 /PRNewswire/ - New Found Gold Corp. ("New Found" or the "Company") (TSXV: NFG) (NYSE-A: NFGC) is pleased to announce the appointment of Keith Boyle as Chief Executive Officer of New Found. Mr. Boyle is a highly experienced executive and operator, having successfully helped lead several development projects throughout his career. Most recently, as Chief Operating Officer, Keith led the accelerated advancement of Reunion Gold's Oko West discovery through to acquisition by G Mining Ventures for $870 million. Paul Huet, Independent Chairman of New Found, stated: "We are thrilled to welcome Keith Boyle as the new Chief Executive Officer of New Found. With his extensive experience and proven leadership in developing successful mining operations around the globe, Keith is ideally positioned to guide the Queensway Project into its next phase of growth and value creation." "On behalf of the board, I also want to express my deep gratitude to Collin Kettell for his outstanding nine years of service leading the Company. Collin's vision and dedication have been instrumental in building New Found into the strong, well-positioned company it is today. We wish him all the best in his future endeavors." In his first public address as incoming Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Boyle stated: "The Queensway Project represents a rare and exciting opportunity to lead a team through the advanced discovery phase and beyond in an emerging gold district while in the top-tier jurisdiction of Newfoundland. It is with great pleasure that I join this remarkable team that has taken this project from a concept, amalgamated a district-scale property package, and delivered discovery after discovery. As CEO, my leadership goals will focus on realizing the untapped potential at Queenway while ensuring the Company remains well positioned and ready for the possibility of future development, delivering value to all stakeholders." Mr. Boyle's appointment follows the resignation of Collin Kettell as Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Kettell will remain a director of the Company. Collin Kettell, founder and director of New Found, stated: "It has been a great pleasure working closely with the New Found team over the past several years. I am grateful to have been a part of such an incredible discovery. Transitioning out of this role has been made easier knowing the Queensway Project will be left in Keith's very capable hands. I look forward to continuing to support the Company moving forward as both a director and a significant shareholder." Keith Boyle, Biography Keith Boyle holds a Bachelor of Science in Mining Engineering and an M.B.A. from the University of Alberta, is a member of the Association of Professional Engineers of Ontario, and has 40 years of experience - the last 17 years being a Chief Operating Officer in precious and base metals systems, at both open pit and underground operations in North America and internationally, including periods in Guyana, Australia, Papua New Guinea, USA, and Madagascar. This work has been performed for both senior and junior companies including Reunion Gold Corporation, Superior Gold Inc., Placer Dome Inc., Aur Resources Inc., Inco Ltd., Cominco Ltd., Dynatec Corp, Alexis Minerals Inc., Chieftain Metals Corp., and Titan Mining Corporation. He last worked at Reunion Gold Corporation where he fast tracked the development of the Oko West Project in Guyana until its acquisition in July 2024 for $870 million. During his career, Keith has demonstrated expertise in several key areas including project development, technical studies, stakeholder relations, operating efficiencies and optimizing operations, cost control, and managing budgets for improved financial performance. About New Found Gold Corp. New Found holds a 100% interest in the Queensway Project, located 15km west of Gander, Newfoundland and Labrador, and just 18km from Gander International Airport. The project is intersected by the Trans-Canada Highway and has logging roads crosscutting the project, high voltage electric power lines running through the project area, and easy access to a highly skilled workforce. The Company is currently undertaking a 650,000m drill program at Queensway and is well funded for this program with cash and marketable securities of approximately $23 million as of January 2025. Please see the Company's website at www.newfoundgold.ca and the Company's SEDAR+ profile at www.sedarplus.ca. Contact To contact the Company, please visit the Company's website, www.newfoundgold.ca and make your request through our investor inquiry form. Our management has a pledge to be in touch with any investor inquiries within 24 hours. New Found Gold Corp. Per: "Paul Huet" Paul Huet, Independent Chairman Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Forward-Looking Statement Cautions This press release contains certain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation, relating to the merits and potential of the Queensway Project; exploration, drilling and mineralization on the Queensway Project; mineralization and the discovery of zones of high-grade gold mineralization; plans for future exploration and drilling; and funding of the drilling program. Although the Company believes that such statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts; they are generally, but not always, identified by the words "expects", "plans", "anticipates", "believes", "interpreted", "intends", "estimates", "projects", "aims", "suggests", "indicate", "often", "target", "future", "likely", "pending", "potential", "goal", "objective", "prospective", "possibly", "preliminary", and similar expressions, or that events or conditions "will", "would", "may", "can", "could" or "should" occur, or are those statements, which, by their nature, refer to future events. The Company cautions that forward-looking statements are based on the beliefs, estimates and opinions of the Company's management on the date the statements are made, and they involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Consequently, there can be no assurances that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Except to the extent required by applicable securities laws and the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange, the Company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements if management's beliefs, estimates or opinions, or other factors, should change. Factors that could cause future results to differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements include risks associated with possible accidents and other risks associated with mineral exploration operations, the risk that the Company will encounter unanticipated geological factors, risks associated with the interpretation of exploration, drilling and assay results, the possibility that the Company may not be able to secure permitting and other governmental clearances necessary to carry out the Company's exploration plans, the risk that the Company will not be able to raise sufficient funds to carry out its business plans, and the risk of political uncertainties and regulatory or legal changes that might interfere with the Company's business and prospects. The reader is urged to refer to the Company's Annual Information Form and Management's discussion and Analysis, publicly available through the Canadian Securities Administrators' System for Electronic Document Analysis and Retrieval (SEDAR+) at www.sedarplus.ca for a more complete discussion of such risk factors and their potential effects. SOURCE New Found Gold Corp. New York, New York--(Newsfile Corp. - January 20, 2025) - Qryptonic, Inc., a global leader in quantum-safe cybersecurity solutions, will debut its Quantum-Safe Gaming Suite at the ICE Barcelona 2025 Gaming Conference, offering innovative tools to protect gaming operators from emerging cyber threats. Held from January 20-22, 2025, at the Fira Barcelona Gran Via, the ICE Barcelona Gaming Conference is the industry's premier platform for innovation, bringing together over 55,000 professionals from more than 150 countries. Qryptonic's latest suite reflects the company's commitment to future-proofing the gaming sector against evolving threats, including those posed by quantum computing. "As quantum computing advances, traditional encryption faces an expiration date," said Jason Nathaniel Ader, Co-Founder and Chief Innovation Officer at Qryptonic. "Our Quantum-Safe Gaming Suite ensures gaming operators can protect their systems, meet regulatory demands, and maintain the trust of their players in a rapidly evolving cyber landscape." Quantum-Safe Gaming Suite: Key Features and Benefits Quantum-Safe RNG (Random Number Generator): Ensures true randomness for fair play and compliance with global gaming standards. Hybrid PQC Payment Gateways: Integrates classical encryption with quantum-resistant algorithms to secure financial transactions. Post-Quantum PKI (Public Key Infrastructure) & Key Management: Protects slot machines, loyalty systems, and backend operations from unauthorized access. Quantum Key Distribution (QKD): Offers ultra-secure communication channels for high-value transactions, such as jackpot payouts. Tailored Quantum-Security Consulting: Custom strategies to help casinos adopt quantum-safe technologies efficiently and effectively. Qryptonic will demonstrate these technologies at ICE Barcelona, showcasing their seamless integration into existing infrastructures while meeting the highest regulatory standards. $1 Million Quantum Challenge Qryptonic is also leading the charge in quantum cybersecurity innovation with its $1 Million Quantum Challenge, an open call for the global cryptography community to test the company's post-quantum encryption algorithms. The challenge underscores Qryptonic's confidence in its solutions and its commitment to advancing cybersecurity resilience across industries. Participants are invited to visit the official challenge page for details: https://www.qryptonic.com/quantum-challenge. US Government's January 16th Executive Order on Quantum Cybersecurity On January 16, 2025, the U.S. Government issued an Executive Order mandating quantum-resistant cryptography adoption across federal agencies. This directive highlights the urgency of preparing for quantum-era cyber risks and protecting critical infrastructure nationwide. Qryptonic's solutions align with these priorities, equipping gaming operators with the tools needed to address these challenges head-on. Thought Leadership: The Quantum Almanac 2025-2026 During ICE Barcelona, Qryptonic will also highlight The Quantum Almanac 2025-2026 by Jason Nathaniel Ader, a comprehensive guide to understanding quantum computing's impact across industries. Available now through major retailers, including Amazon, the book provides actionable insights for executives and operators preparing for the quantum era. Learn more about The Quantum Almanac 2025-2026 here: https://a.co/d/g5IHCnV. About ICE Barcelona 2025 The ICE Barcelona Gaming Conference, held from January 20-22, 2025, at the Fira Barcelona Gran Via, is the world's largest gathering of gaming professionals. It serves as a platform for showcasing cutting-edge technologies, fostering industry collaboration, and exploring the future of gaming innovation. For more information, visit www.icegaming.com. About Qryptonic, Inc. Qryptonic is a global leader in quantum-safe cybersecurity solutions, specializing in post- quantum cryptography, quantum-safe RNGs, and tailored consulting services. The company helps industries secure their operations against the evolving threats posed by quantum computing, ensuring compliance and resilience across high-value sectors such as gaming, finance, and critical infrastructure. For more information, visit www.qryptonic.com or follow Qryptonic on Twitter, Instagram, and Substack. Media Contact To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/237726 SOURCE: Pinion Partners WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Donald Trump has been sworn in as the U.S. president for a second term.Trump took the oath of office by placing his hand on a Bible to become the United States' 47th president.Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts administered the oath of office to them.JD Vance was sworn in as the vice-president.Justice Brett Kavanaugh administered the oath of office to him.Tech billionaires, including Tesla boss Elon Musk, Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg, Apple leader Tim Cook, and Google chief Sundar Pichai; cabinet nominees, and former presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton were among those who attended the ceremony held in the rotunda of the Capitol.The event was moved indoors for the first time in decades due to the freezing cold.Trump later delivered the inaugural address, setting out his goals for the next four years.'Our sovereignty will be reclaimed, our safety will be restored, the scales of justice will be rebalanced,' he told the gathering.America will soon be 'greater, stronger, and far more exceptional than ever before,' he added.Musical performances and formal balls followed the swearing in ceremony.Earlier, outgoing President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden hosted Trump and wife Melania for morning tea at the White House after the couple attended a service at St John's Church, Lafayette Square.Copyright(c) 2025 RTTNews.com. All Rights ReservedCopyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann. Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - January 20, 2025) - Royal Helium Ltd. (TSXV: RHC) (OTCQB: RHCCF) ("Royal") announced today that Royal and its subsidiaries, Royal Helium Exploration Limited and Imperial Helium Corp. (together with Royal, the "Company"), filed a notice of intention to make a proposal under the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act (the "BIA"). The Company has been actively pursuing an out-of-court restructuring solution, which included, among other things, initiatives to raise additional capital to meet working capital needs, creditor obligations and fund engineering requirements to appropriately re-commission the Steveville Helium Facility. Following such review and after careful consideration of all available alternatives, and consultation with counsel, the board of directors of the Company determined that it is in the best interests of the Company and its stakeholders to file for protection under the BIA. The filing under the BIA includes, among other things: (i) a stay of proceedings in favour of the Company, and (ii) the appointment of Doane Grant Thornton LLP as the proposal trustee of the Company (in such capacity, the "Trustee"). The Company sought creditor protection under the BIA in order to obtain a stay of proceedings that will allow the Company to work with the Trustee to facilitate the development of an orderly process designed to streamline its interim administrative and operational needs and conduct a Court-supervised sales process to obtain a going concern solution for its operations and maximize the value of the Company's assets for the benefit of its stakeholders. The board of directors of the Company will remain in place and management will remain responsible for the day-to-day operations of the Company, under the general oversight of the Proposal Trustee. It is anticipated that TSX Venture Exchange (the "TSXV") will place the Company under delisting review and there can be no assurance as to the outcome of such review or the continued qualification for listing on the TSXV. Other Recent Events: As the Company has been working toward a restructuring solution, the Company's VP of Geology (Shayne Neigum), who had also been acting in the capacity of its COO resigned from the Company to pursue other opportunities. The Company expresses its appreciation for Shayne's contributions to the business and wishes him the best in his future activities. About Royal Helium Ltd. Royal is an exploration, production and infrastructure company with a primary focus on the development of helium and associated gases. The Company's extensive footprint includes prospective helium permits and leases across Southern Saskatchewan and southeastern Alberta. Royal's helium reservoirs are carried primarily with nitrogen. Nitrogen is not considered a greenhouse gas (GHG) and therefore has a low GHG footprint when compared to other jurisdictions that rely on large scale natural gas production for helium extraction. Helium extracted from wells in Saskatchewan and Alberta can be up to 90% less carbon intensive than helium extraction processes in other jurisdictions. For more information, please visit SEDAR+ (www.sedarplus.ca) and the Company's website (https://royalheliumltd.com). Forward-Looking Statements This news release includes certain statements that may be deemed to be "forward-looking statements." All statements in this news release, other than statements of historical facts, that address events or developments that management of the Company expects, are forward-looking statements, including, the statements relating to the Company's continued listing on the TSXV, and other statements that are not historical facts. Although management believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance, and actual results or developments may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements if management's beliefs, estimates or opinions, or other factors, should change. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements, include market prices, exploration and development successes, continued availability of capital and financing, and general economic, market or business conditions. Please see the public filings of the Company at www.sedarplus.ca for further information on the risks and uncertainties associated with the Company's business. Readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information and statements, which speak only as of the date made. The forward-looking information and statements contained in this release represent our expectations as of the date of this release. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation or undertaking to update or revise any forward-looking information or statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required under applicable securities laws Neither the TSXV nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSXV) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/237832 SOURCE: Royal Helium Ltd. Chicago, Illinois--(Newsfile Corp. - January 20, 2025) - A new whitepaper, "Navigating the Challenges of Data and Analytics in Insurance," addresses the difficulties faced by insurance companies seeking to leverage data for actionable insights. The whitepaper provides practical solutions for data centralization, quality improvement, and AI integration. The report in question outlines strategies to: Demolish Data Silos: Create a centralized data repository for a comprehensive customer view, enabling personalized product and service offerings. Create a centralized data repository for a comprehensive customer view, enabling personalized product and service offerings. Elevate Data Quality: Implement data governance and cleansing tools to ensure accuracy and reliability for robust analysis. Implement data governance and cleansing tools to ensure accuracy and reliability for robust analysis. Empower Your Analytics with AI: Utilize AI for enhanced data processing, predictive insights, and exploration of technologies like computer vision. The whitepaper features insights from insurance industry leaders, including: Nina Edwards, VP, Emerging Technology & Innovation , Prudential , Bipin Chadha, VP Data Science , CSAA Insurance Group , Ian Blunt, VP Advanced Analytics, Highmark Health The "Navigating the Challenges of Data and Analytics in Insurance" whitepaper is available for free download. https://bit.ly/42pDKX9 To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/237838 SOURCE: Reuters Events Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - January 20, 2025) - Aquitaine Metals Corp. (the "Company" or "Aquitaine") is pleased to announce its wholly owned subsidiary Compagnie des Mines Arediennes ("CMA") has received formal approval for its Phase 1 drill program. The program will consist of approximately 8,800 metres of diamond drilling in 44 drill holes. CMA has signed a contract with French drill contractor Foraco International SA to provide services for the planned drill campaign. The Limousin project is located in the prolific Limousin Mining District in the Region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine, southwest France, 40 kilometres south of the city of Limoges. The project consists of 40 km2 of exploration licenses with exclusivity granted over a total of 330 km2. Figure 1. The receipt of an expanded exploration license over the full 330 km2 area of exclusivity is expected during 2025. Highlights The area of exclusivity includes 23 past producing gold mines which operated during the 20 th to 21 st century The area hosts over 900 ancient high-grade gold mining sites developed by Gallic tribes along over 200 kilometres aggregate strike length of gold-bearing structures Recent production by French mining company COGEMA from 1988 - 2002 of approximately one million ounces of gold Average underground production grades by COGEMA of 12.5 g/t gold with a 10 g/t gold cutoff and mining widths of 3 - 10 m. Average open pit production grades of 7 - 8 g/t gold with a cutoff grade of 6 g/t gold Aquitaine acquired all COGEMA's production and exploration records with an estimated replacement value of $430 million EU designated critical minerals historically mined or drilled include: antimony, copper, lead, zinc and silver District-scale antimony exploration target as the accessory mineral stibnite within the high-grade gold system. The district also hosts historical antimony mining COGEMA miners intersected precious-metal rich polymetallic massive sulphides as lenses within and adjacent to the gold system in some locations. These younger, cross cutting mineralized zones will also be targeted during Aquitaine's Phase 1 program. Figure 2. Chris Taylor, Director of Aquitaine Metals said, "The Aquitaine Board of Directors would like to sincerely congratulate our French team at Compagnie des Mines Arediennes for their vision and professionalism, as we work together to revive one of France's most significant historical high-grade gold districts. We are also very pleased to note that the drill program application process was only three months from submission to receipt of permits, making this the most efficient jurisdiction we have recently worked in." Yves Guise, President of CMA said, "We are very pleased to announce that we received the authorization for our Phase 1 drill campaign after the preparation of our first drill permit application and review by the State services. High-quality French contractors are now selected and we look forward to start drilling one of the most promising mining targets in Europe". Key Project Details The project encompasses a major gold mining district which includes 23 past producing high-grade gold mines . The largest seven mines were operated by the French company COGEMA from 1988 to 2002. Total production by COGEMA was approximately one million ounces at an average grade of 12.5 g/t gold , from surface to 350 metres depth. Underground cutoff grades were approximately 10 - 15 g/t gold, with a minimum thickness of 3 metres (ranging up to 10 metres), and open pit cutoff grades were approximately 6 g/t gold. Additional historical mines include the Cheni mine, which produced approximately 300,000 ounces of gold at an average grade of approximately 20 g/t from 1921 to 1944. Extensions to historically exploited ore bodies have been drilled by past operators at most gold deposits . Aquitaine's Phase 1 drilling will target further extensions of this mineralization at two deposits, Laurieras and Moulin de Cheni. COGEMA relied on ancient Gallic gold mining sites as primary exploration vectors. In almost all locations where tested, gold mineralization was intersected in drilling and/or mining below the ancient surface workings. There are over 900 of these Gallic mining sites across the 330 km 2 area of exclusivity, most of which remain undrilled . Figure 3. Gallic gold mines from the period of ca. 500 B.C. - 50 B.C. have estimated total production of 2.5 million to 10 million ounces of gold . Production grades have been estimated by archaeologists as averaging between 20 and 80 g/t gold (Cauuet et al ., 2018). In aggregate, over 200 linear kilometres of gold-bearing structures are present within the 330 km 2 area of exclusivity. The Gallic gold mines and all 20th-century to 21st-century mining occurs along the surface expression of, or within these structures respectively. Aquitaine benefits from a very large historical database with a replacement value estimated at over $430 million. Data consists of 222,000 metres of drilling in over 2,300 drill holes, more than 66,000 drill core and 60,000 operational grade control assays, productions records, resource estimation reports, airborne and ground-based geophysics, trench results, surface soil assays, geological and structural mapping, and detailed level plan data from more than 40 kilometres of underground workings. Environmental monitoring and baseline work is also available, with additional work being conducted by CMA. Critical Minerals A review of historical COGEMA gold ores demonstrates nearly ubiquitous antimony mineralization accompanying the gold as accessory stibnite. Antimony occurrences are also known from across the district, including small-scale high-grade antimony production from massive stibnite veins in the late 19 th century, referred to as the Biards mine (Guiollard, 2016). Due to the greater than 300 km 2 size of the gold mineralized system, the associated antimony target is district-scale, as shown in soil assay data collected by COGEMA in Figure 4 . Antimony was not typically assayed by COGEMA or other gold miners, as it was not of interest at that time. The exception was during soil sampling, where antimony was assayed as a known vector to gold mineralization. Aquitaine has now sampled antimony-bearing visible gold-rich rock samples from across the property, with assay results pending. High-grade massive sulphide lenses were encountered by COGEMA miners adjacent to and occasionally intruding the gold mineralization during past mining. Sulphides included chalcopyrite (Cu), galena (Pb) and sphalerite (Zn), and were silver rich. This mineralization was interpreted to result from hydrothermal activity that post-dates the gold mineralization and exploits some of the same mineralized structures. It was not targeted for exploitation at the time. Antimony, copper, zinc, lead and silver are all classified as critical minerals by the EU and France, with prioritized development and various funding initiatives available. See: https://single-market-economy.ec.europa.eu/sectors/raw-materials/areas-specific-interest/critical-raw-materials_en https://www.ebrd.com/news/2024/ebrd-and-eu-to-mobilise-up-to-100-million-for-critical-raw-materials-investments.html https://www.euronews.com/green/2024/05/17/france-germany-italy-seek-private-input-for-25bn-critical-mineral-investment Project Geology and Gold Mineralization The current exploration is based upon historical exploration and exploitation data from Bureau de Recherches Geologiques et Minieres ("BRGM") and COGEMA. The Limousin district gold occurrences are associated with multi-kilometre scale, steeply dipping quartz veins and gold-bearing structures. The veins are hosted in granites and metamorphic rocks and date to approximately 300 million years before present. The width of mineralized structures varies from metre-scale stockworks to veins of 5 to 10 metres true width. High-grade gold-bearing structures have been drilled to 400 metres depth, where the extensions remain open along strike and at depth. Published tectonic reconstructions show these structures extending to tens of kilometres depth (Bellot, 2008). Gold ore is mainly composed of coarse grains of visible gold (mm to cm), with accessory pyrite, arsenopyrite, galena, sphalerite, chalcopyrite, tetrahedrite and stibnite. The district's deposits are characterized by high grades of generally 5 to 25 g/t gold as exploited, locally with bonanza grades of more than 1,000 g/t. Gold was characterized as free-milling during past exploitation work. Figure 1: Project location within France, showing exploration concessions and area of exclusivity. Planned drill collars shown in red. To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/11279/237839_8e868433a4e8ba70_003full.jpg Figure 2: Examples of gold ore from the Laurieras mine (left), and massive sulphide mineralization collected from a lens adjacent to the gold mineralization (right). Commodities of interest are shown below the specimens. Gold grains are outlined digitally in black on the image on the left for clarity. To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/11279/237839_8e868433a4e8ba70_004full.jpg Figure 3: Historical Gallic mining pits (light green) as mapped by archaeologists, COGEMA and Aquitaine geologists directly and through LIDAR airborne surveys. Over 900 ancient mining pits have been identified within the area of exclusivity. To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/11279/237839_8e868433a4e8ba70_005full.jpg Figure 4: Antimony-in-soils map. COGEMA data. Blue area of exclusivity outline corresponds to same outline in Figure 1. To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/11279/237839_8e868433a4e8ba70_006full.jpg Phase 1 Drill Program The Phase 1 drill program aims to confirm historical datasets, and test extensions of ore zones at depth and along strike. 36 drill holes totalling 7,320 metres will be completed around the Laurieras mine, and 8 drill holes totalling 1,480 metres will be completed around the Moulin de Cheni mine. Planned drill lengths range from 30 to 650 metres with an average length of 200 metres. Both mines were operated by COGEMA with final mining operations ending in 2002. For reference, CMA submitted its Phase 1 drill declaration to the Prefecture of Haute-Vienne in August 2024. After 3 months of review by DREAL Nouvelle-Aquitaine (Direction Regionale de l'Environnement, de l'Amenagement et du Logement) and Prefecture of Haute-Vienne, the prefectoral arretes approving the drill campaign were received on schedule according to the mining code, in November 2024. CMA also received approval for 5 drill holes located outside the current exploration area, within the larger 330 km2 area of exclusivity. After rigorous consultation with multiple international groups, CMA selected FORACO as its drilling contractor for the Phase 1 drill campaign. CMA is also renting of a 650 m warehouse in Saint-Yrieix la Perche to provide a core shack for the drill campaign and the operational base of field work. Field work and early mobilization has already begun and drilling is expected to begin in February. Infrastructure Road access to the project is excellent and power lines are present throughout the district. Significant transport infrastructure includes the Limoges airport, the A20 highway, and the Rochefort commercial port on the Atlantic coast. Saint-Yrieix la Perche is the most important town in the immediate area around the project, with 6,800 inhabitants and a variety of industrial and commercial services available. The region includes a diverse and highly skilled workforce. The Mining Museum of the Limousine region (Maison de l'Or en Limousin) is located in the village of Le Chalard within the project boundaries. Community Consultation and Environmental Monitoring Aquitaine's subsidiary CMA began community consultation in 2020 in advance of exploration permit applications. CMA has held numerous meetings with local stakeholders, including government officials, business leaders, and the public, whose feedback is incorporated into all of the Company's exploration and permitting activities. The Company initiated environmental monitoring in 2022 as a precursor to exploration permit applications, which work continues. Records of work activities, permitting timelines and environmental monitoring progress are available at CMA's website at: https://www.minesarediennes.fr/ About Aquitaine Metals Corp. Aquitaine Metals Corp. is a Vancouver-based gold and strategic metals exploration company focused on advancing its 100% owned Limousin project in Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France. A significant exploration Phase 1 diamond drill program has been authorized and is currently planned to begin in February. This work program will confirm historical datasets, and test extensions of the Pierrepinet and Douillac high-grade gold ore zones at the Laurieras and Moulin de Cheni mines. Aquitaine Metals Corp. is a committed partner to all stakeholders, with a long-term vision of sustainable exploration to advance the Limousin project in a manner that demonstrates good stewardship of land, operational excellence and accountability. Note on Historical Data All information related to COGEMA's mining and exploration activities is believed to be accurate, but has not yet been verified by a Qualified Person according to the standards of National Instrument 43-101. Verification sampling is being undertaken at historical mine sites where exposures are available, and verification drilling will be included in the Phase 1 drill program beginning in February. Other historical production data is taken from public records, publications such as Bouchot et al., 2005, and past verification work by COGEMA. It is considered generally reliable for exploration purposes but cannot be verified. Information related to ancient gold production including estimates of historical production grades and total gold produced is taken from archaeological publications, particularly Cauuet et al., 2018, and Baron et al., 2019. Gallic gold mining sites are readily apparent on airborne LIDAR data, from which Aquitaine and CMA's geologists have reproduced locations and outlines of sites verified and interpreted by archaeologists, and by Aquitaine's field crews and past explorers at COGEMA. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/237839 SOURCE: Aquitaine Metals Corp. Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - January 20, 2025) - South Pacific Metals Corp. (TSXV: SPMC) (FSE: 6J00) ("SPMC" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that further to its press release of December 11, 2024, the Company has increased the size of its previously announced non-brokered private placement offering (the "Offering"), due to increased investor interest, to up to 13,125,000 units of the Company ("Units") at a price of C$0.48 per Unit for gross proceeds of up to C$6,300,000 (the "Offering"). Each Unit will consist of one (1) common share of the Company ("Share") and one-half (1/2) of one (1) Share purchase warrant, whereby each whole Share purchase warrant ("Warrant") will be exercisable at $0.90 into an additional Share for a period of 24 months from the date of issuance. If the volume weighted average trading price of the Shares on the TSX-V is equal to or greater than C$1.20 for a period of 10 consecutive days, the Company will have the right to accelerate the expiry date of the Warrants by providing notice that the Warrants will expire on the date that is not less than 10 days from the date such notice is provided by the Company to the warrant holders. All securities to be issued in connection with the Offering will be subject to a four-month hold period in accordance with applicable securities legislation. Finder's fees may be applicable and the net proceeds of the Offering will be used to carry out exploration work on the Company's properties in Papua New Guinea and for general administrative and working capital purposes. The Offering is expected to close on or about January 29, 2025 (the "Closing Date") and is subject to certain conditions including, but not limited to, the receipt of all necessary regulatory and other approvals including the approval of the TSX Venture Exchange ("TSXV"). The securities described herein have not been, and will not be, registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act"), or any state securities laws, and may not be offered or sold within the United States except in compliance with the registration requirements of the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws or pursuant to available exemptions therefrom. This release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any securities in the United States. About South Pacific Metals Corp. South Pacific Metals Corp is an emerging gold-copper exploration company operating in the heart of Papua New Guinea's proven gold and copper production corridors. With an expansive 3,100 km land package and four transformative gold-copper projects contiguous with major producers K92 Mining, PanAust and neighbouring Barrick/Zijin, new leadership and experienced in-country teams are prioritizing thoughtful and rigorous technical programs focused on boots-on-the-ground exploration to prioritize discovery across its portfolio projects: Anga, Osena, Kili Teke and May River. Immediately flanking K92's active drilling and gold producing operations to the northeast and southwest, SPMC's Anga and Osena Projects are located within the high-grade Kainantu Gold District - each having the potential to host similar-style lode-gold and porphyry copper-gold mineralization as that present within K92's tenements. Kili Teke is an advanced exploration project situated only 40 km from the world-class Porgera Gold Mine and hosts an existing Inferred Mineral Resource with multiple opportunities for expansion and further discovery. The May River Project is located adjacent to the world-renowned Frieda River copper-gold project, with historical drilling indicating potential for a significant, untapped-gold mineralized system. SPMC common shares are listed on the TSX Venture Exchange (TSXV: SPMC), the OTCQB Marketplace, and Frankfurt Stock Exchange (FSE: 6J00). Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Disclaimer and Forward-Looking Information This news release contains certain "forward-looking information" and "forward-looking statements" (collectively, "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable securities legislation. All statements, other than statements of historical fact included herein, including without limitation, statements relating the future operations and activities of SPMC, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are frequently, but not always, identified by words such as "expects", "anticipates", "believes", "intends", "estimates", "potential", "possible", and similar expressions, or statements that events, conditions, or results "will", "may", "could", or "should" occur or be achieved. Forward-looking statements in this news release relate to, among other things, statements in respect of the size and use of proceeds of the Offering, and the timing and ability of the Company to close the Offering, including obtaining approval of the Offering from the TSX-V. 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. Forward-looking statements reflect the beliefs, opinions and projections on the date the statements are made and are based upon a number of assumptions and estimates that, while considered reasonable by SPMC, are inherently subject to significant business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties and contingencies. Many factors, both known and unknown, could cause actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from the results, performance or achievements that are or may be expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements and the parties have made assumptions and estimates based on or related to many of these factors. Such factors include, without limitation, the ability to complete the Offering on the terms proposed and the ability to obtain necessary approvals, including the approval of the TSX-V, proposed exploration work, the results of exploration, continued availability of capital, and changes in general economic, market and business conditions. Readers should not place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements and information contained in this news release concerning these items. SPMC does not assume any obligation to update the forward-looking statements of beliefs, opinions, projections, or other factors, should they change, except as required by applicable securities laws. //NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO UNITED STATES NEWSWIRE SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES// To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/237850 SOURCE: South Pacific Metals Corp. All-time high monthly PAX traffic in Argentina Total passenger traffic down 3.2% YoY, or up 6.6% YoY ex-Natal International passenger traffic up 11.4% YoY; up 16.2% YoY in Argentina Corporacion America Airports S.A. (NYSE: CAAP), ("CAAP" or the "Company"), one of the leading private airport operators in the world, reported today a 3.2% year-on-year (YoY) increase in passenger traffic in December 2024. Excluding Natal for comparison purposes, total traffic in December increased by 6.6% YoY. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250120834257/en/ Monthly Passenger Traffic Performance (In million PAX) (Photo: Business Wire) Passenger Traffic, Cargo Volume and Aircraft Movements Highlights (2024 vs. 2023) Statistics Dec'24 Dec'23 % Var. FY'24 FY'23 % Var. Domestic Passengers (thousands) 3,772 3,854 -2.1% 40,996 45,679 -10.3% International Passengers (thousands) 2,554 2,293 11.4% 30,758 28,362 8.4% Transit Passengers (thousands) 639 600 6.4% 7,227 7,106 1.7% Total Passengers (thousands)1 6,965 6,747 3.2% 78,981 81,147 -2.7% Cargo Volume (thousand tons) 39.5 36.1 9.3% 398.0 370.2 7.5% Total Aircraft Movements (thousands) 73.3 71.5 2.5% 823.7 849.5 -3.0% 1 Excluding Natal for comparison purposes, total passenger traffic was up 6.6% in December and down 0.4% for FY 2024. Passenger Traffic Overview Total passenger traffic increased by 3.2% in December compared to the same month in 2023, or by 6.6% when adjusted for the discontinuation of operations at Natal Airport. Domestic passenger traffic decreased by 2.1% year-over-year but increased by 3.3% when excluding Natal. This growth was primarily driven by strong performance in Italy and a recovery in domestic traffic in Argentina. International traffic increased by 11.4%, mainly driven by growth in Argentina and Italy. In Argentina, total passenger traffic increased by 7.0% YoY, marking an all-time high and an improvement compared to the 3.3% YoY decline recorded in November. This growth was primarily driven by a strong recovery in domestic traffic, which rose by 3.4% YoY, a significant rebound from the 7.2% YoY decline posted in November. JetSMART has continued to gain market share since initiating its growth strategy a few months ago and recently incorporated its first Airbus A320neo, bringing its domestic fleet to 12 aircraft. International passenger traffic increased by 16.2% YoY, up from the 10.3% YoY growth recorded in November. Among other developments, United Airlines began operating its second daily frequency to Houston every weekday through mid-February, while Delta Air Lines initiated its second daily frequency to Atlanta through mid-January. Additionally, Air Canada resumed its daily flights from Ezeiza through the end of March, and LATAM Airlines reinstated its seasonal route between Bariloche and Santiago de Chile. Also in December, Sky Peru launched flights to Lima from Aeroparque. In Italy, passenger traffic grew by 15.2% compared to the same month in 2023. International passenger traffic, which accounted for almost 75% of the total traffic, increased by 11.9% YoY, driven by a 16.2% increase at Pisa airport and a 6.8% increase at Florence airport. Domestic passenger traffic increased by a strong 25.3% YoY, with strong performances at both Pisa and Florence airports. In Brazil, total passenger traffic decreased by 11.3% YoY, or increased by 3.4% YoY when adjusting for the discontinuation of Natal Airport. These results reflect an improvement in traffic trends despite the still challenging aviation context and aircraft constraints in the country, along with the positive impact of the temporary closure of Porto Alegre airport. Domestic traffic, which accounted for almost 60% of the total traffic, was down 20.4% YoY, or up 0.9% when excluding Natal, while transit passengers were up 5.5% YoY. As a reminder, following the friendly termination process concluded in February 2024, CAAP no longer operates Natal Airport, effective February 19, 2024. Therefore, statistics for Natal are available up to February 18, 2024. In Uruguay, total passenger traffic, predominantly international, continued its recovery, increasing by 8.2% YoY. In December, SKY Airline launched a new route connecting Montevideo with Rio de Janeiro, while Azul Linhas Aereas began operating flights to Florianopolis. At Punta del Este Airport, the Company inaugurated the summer season with the first direct flight from Santiago de Chile to Punta del Este, operated by LATAM with three weekly flights from November to March. In Ecuador, passenger traffic increased by 1.2% YoY, following a strong recovery in 2023. International passenger traffic increased by 4.4% YoY, while domestic traffic decreased by 2.9% YoY, impacted by high airfare prices affecting travel demand. In Armenia, passenger traffic increased by 6.4% YoY, improving from last month's performance and following a strong recovery in 2023, which benefited from the introduction of new airlines and routes, as well as an increase in flight frequencies. The introduction of new routes has continued into 2024. Cargo Volume and Aircraft Movements Cargo volume increased by 9.3% compared to the same month in 2023, with positive YoY contributions from all countries of operation, except for Brazil and Ecuador: Argentina (+12.8%), Uruguay (+11.2%), Armenia (+46.2%), Italy (+7.6%), Ecuador (-6.9%) and Brazil (-12.0%). Argentina, Brazil, and Armenia accounted for more than 80% of the total cargo volume in December. Aircraft movements increased by 2.5% YoY, with positive YoY contributions from all countries of operation, except for Brazil: Argentina (+6.1%), Uruguay (+1.3%), Armenia (+10.1%), Ecuador (+0.3%), Italy (+7.4%), and Brazil (-10.4%). Argentina, Brazil, and Ecuador accounted for more than 80% of total aircraft movements in December. Summary Passenger Traffic, Cargo Volume and Aircraft Movements (2024 vs. 2023) Dec'24 Dec'23 % Var. FY'24 FY'23 % Var. Passenger Traffic (thousands) Argentina 4,089 3,822 7.0% 42,140 43,672 -3.5% Italy 565 491 15.2% 9,038 8,162 10.7% Brazil (1) 1,319 1,487 -11.3% 15,529 17,101 -9.2% Uruguay 200 185 8.2% 2,241 1,951 14.9% Ecuador 387 382 1.2% 4,682 4,840 -3.3% Armenia 405 381 6.4% 5,351 5,421 -1.3% TOTAL 6,965 6,747 3.2% 78,981 81,147 -2.7% (1) Following the friendly termination process concluded in February 2024, CAAP no longer operates Natal airport. Statistics for Natal are available up to February 18, 2024. Cargo Volume (tons) Argentina 21,248 18,844 12.8% 207,535 191,815 8.2% Italy 1,140 1,059 7.6% 13,036 12,939 0.7% Brazil 5,667 6,442 -12.0% 65,629 66,634 -1.5% Uruguay 3,027 2,721 11.2% 32,268 31,180 3.5% Ecuador 3,320 3,567 -6.9% 37,344 33,812 10.4% Armenia 5,050 3,454 46.2% 42,235 33,852 24.8% TOTAL 39,451 36,087 9.3% 398,047 370,232 7.5% Aircraft Movements Argentina 42,674 40,212 6.1% 449,699 458,594 -1.9% Italy 5,153 4,796 7.4% 82,227 77,929 5.5% Brazil 11,876 13,257 -10.4% 143,202 158,408 -9.6% Uruguay 3,658 3,612 1.3% 32,536 31,986 1.7% Ecuador 6,518 6,500 0.3% 76,145 78,483 -3.0% Armenia 3,416 3,102 10.1% 39,862 44,073 -9.6% TOTAL 73,295 71,479 2.5% 823,671 849,473 -3.0% About Corporacion America Airports Corporacion America Airports acquires, develops and operates airport concessions. Currently, the Company operates 52 airports in 6 countries across Latin America and Europe (Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, Ecuador, Armenia and Italy). In 2024, Corporacion America Airports served 79.0 million passengers, 2.7% (or 0.4% excluding Natal) below the 81.1 million passengers served in 2023, and 6.2% below the 84.2 million served in 2019. The Company is listed on the New York Stock Exchange where it trades under the ticker "CAAP". For more information, visit http://investors.corporacionamericaairports.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250120834257/en/ Contacts: Investor Relations Contact Patricio Inaki Esnaola Email: patricio.esnaola@caairports.com Phone: +5411 4899-6716 Calgary, Alberta--(Newsfile Corp. - January 20, 2025) - Sprock-it Acquisitions Ltd. (the "Corporation") a capital pool company ("CPC") as defined under Policy 2.4 - Capital Pool Companies (the "CPC Policy") of the TSX Venture Exchange (the "Exchange"), is pleased to announce that, on January 20, 2025, it obtained a receipt for its final prospectus dated January 17, 2025 (the "Prospectus") from the securities regulatory authorities in British Columbia, Alberta and Ontario in connection with its initial public offering (the "IPO"). Under the IPO, the Corporation intends to raise a minimum of $1,000,000 (the "Minimum Offering") through the issuance of 10,000,000 common shares (each a "Common Share") and up to a maximum of $1,500,000 through the issuance of 15,000,000 Common Shares, at a price of $0.10 per Common Share (the "Offering Price"). The IPO is being led by iA Private Wealth Inc. (the "Agent") on a "best-efforts" basis pursuant to an agency agreement dated January 17, 2025 (the "Agency Agreement"). In accordance with the terms of the Agency Agreement, the Agent will be paid a cash commission equal to 10.0% of the gross proceeds raised in the IPO (the "Agent's Commission"), subject to a reduced Agent's Commission of 8% of the gross proceeds of the Offering from the sale of Common Shares to certain purchasers designated by the Corporation on a president's list (the "President's List") up to a maximum of $750,000. The Agent will also be granted a non-transferable option (the "Agent's Option") to purchase such number of Common Shares as is equal to 10% of the aggregate number of Common Shares sold pursuant to the Offering to purchasers, subject to a reduced rate of 8% of the aggregate number of Common Shares sold under the Offering to purchasers on the President's List up to a maximum of $750,000. Each Agent's Option shall entitle the Agent to acquire one Common Share at the Offering Price and will expire on the day that is five years from the listing date of the Common Shares on the Exchange. The IPO is subject to customary closing conditions and the receipt of gross proceeds to satisfy the Minimum Offering. The Exchange has conditionally approved the listing of the Common Shares under the symbol "SPRO". Listing is subject to the Corporation fulfilling all of the listing requirements of the Exchange. The Prospectus contains important information about the IPO, the Corporation and the securities being offered. Potential investors should read the Prospectus prior to making an investment decision. The Prospectus is accessible on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.com. Access to the Prospectus is provided in accordance with securities legislation relating to procedures for providing access to a prospectus and any amendment. An electronic or paper copy of the Prospectus may be obtained, without charge, from iA Private Wealth Inc. at 26 Wellington Street, East, Unit #700, Toronto, ON M5E 1S2, Attention: Greg Jackson, or by telephone at (613) 627-1004, by providing the contact with an e-mail address or address, as applicable. ABOUT THE CORPORATION The Corporation is a CPC that has not commenced commercial operations and has no assets other than cash. Except as specifically contemplated in the Exchange's CPC Policy, until the completion of its Qualifying Transaction, the Corporation will not carry on business, other than the identification and evaluation of businesses or assets with a view to completing a Qualifying Transaction. 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 LAW. ANY SECURITIES REFERRED TO HEREIN WILL NOT BE REGISTERED UNDER THE U.S. SECURITIES ACT OF 1933 (THE "1933 ACT") AND MAY NOT BE OFFERED OR SOLD IN THE UNITED STATES OR TO A U.S. PERSON IN THE ABSENCE OF SUCH REGISTRATION OR AN EXEMPTION FROM THE REGISTRATION REQUIREMENTS OF THE 1933 ACT. Completion of the IPO is subject to a number of conditions, including but not limited to the receipt of requisite regulatory approvals, including the final approval of the Exchange. There can be no assurance that the IPO will be completed as proposed or at all. Investors are cautioned that, except as disclosed in the Prospectus, any information released or received with respect to the IPO may not be accurate or complete and should not be relied upon. Investment in the securities of a CPC should be considered highly speculative. Forward-Looking Information Cautionary Statement This release includes forward-looking statements regarding the Corporation, which may include, but is not limited to, statements with respect to the completion of the IPO, the terms and timing on which the IPO is intended to be completed, the ability to obtain regulatory approvals and other factors. Often, but not always, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "is expected", "expects", "scheduled", "intends", "contemplates", "anticipates", "believes", "proposes", "estimates" 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. Such statements are based on the current expectations of the Corporation's management. The forward-looking events and circumstances discussed in this release, including completion of the IPO, may not occur by certain specified dates or at all and could differ materially as a result of known and unknown risk factors and uncertainties affecting the Corporation, including the risk that the Corporation may not obtain all requisite approvals for the IPO, including the approval of the Exchange, failure to obtain regulatory approvals, economic factors, timing of the IPO, the equity markets generally and risks associated with CPCs. Although the Corporation has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results to differ from those anticipated, estimated or intended. No forward-looking statement can be guaranteed. Except as required by applicable securities laws, forward-looking statements speak only as of the date on which they are made and the Corporation undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise. Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release. NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO THE U.S. NEWSWIRE SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/237853 SOURCE: Sprock-it Acquisitions Ltd. Sydney, Australia--(Newsfile Corp. - January 20, 2025) - The story of Metakosmos, an Australian human spaceflight startup, is set to take center stage in the upcoming documentary Suited for the Stars. This compelling film offers a behind-the-scenes look at the company's groundbreaking efforts to redefine space exploration through the development of the Kosmosuit-a next-generation spacesuit platform. Metakosmos: Suited for the stars To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/8535/237836_f371ad7524f61b09_001full.jpg Founded with the mission of enhancing human performance in extreme conditions, Metakosmos has quickly become a leader in the burgeoning Australian space industry. The Kosmosuit, an integrated spacesuit with modular architecture, represents a transformative approach to spacesuit design, offering potential applications far beyond space exploration. Since its inception, Metakosmos has raised over $2.5 million through government grants including the Australian Space Agency, international investors, and research collaborations. The company's achievements have earned recognition through various programs, highlighting its role in the space industry. The documentary Suited for the Stars explores the challenges, innovation, and determination that define Metakosmos's journey. Featuring interviews with the company's founders, the film dives into the origins of the Kosmosuit and its potential to revolutionize how humans interact with space. "Our goal was to create something that captures both the technology and the human spirit driving this innovation," said Kiriti Rambhatla, CEO of Metakosmos. "This documentary is an invitation for the world to share in the dream of pushing human potential beyond boundaries." The film's release coincides with heightened global interest in space exploration. Against this competitive backdrop, Metakosmos distinguishes itself as one of the only non-American full-stack spacesuit OEMs. Suited for the Stars aims to educate audiences about the complex realities and transformative potential of the space industry. The documentary is set to premiere later this year, aligning with a major technology milestone for the company. As anticipation builds, Metakosmos remains committed to its vision of innovation and resilience, as encapsulated by co-founder Renuka Rambhatla: "We're just getting started. The possibilities are as infinite as the universe itself." For a trailer of Suited for the Stars, visit https://youtu.be/BC4Wpun7ve8 To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/237836 SOURCE: EstablishCred While speaking to the media during an event, she said, We are happy that he is recovering well and we are very thankful and we feel very blessed and grateful that it wasnt any worse. Thank you for all your wishes. read more Bollywood actor Saif Ali Khan is currently undergoing treatment at Mumbais Lilavati Hospital following a stabbing incident at his Bandra residence in the early hours of January 16. His sister Soha Ali Khan said that he is recovering well. While speaking to the media during an event, she said, We are happy that he is recovering well and we are very thankful and we feel very blessed and grateful that it wasnt any worse. Thank you for all your wishes. Advertisement The attack occurred when an intruder, later identified as Mohd Shariful Islam Shehzad, entered the actors home with alleged intentions of theft. Saif, attempting to intervene during a confrontation between the intruder and his housemaid, sustained stab wounds to his thoracic spine. The Mumbai Police on Sunday morning confirmed that the person arrested for allegedly attacking actor Saif Ali Khan is an illegal immigrant from Bangladesh. More details Further, according to the police, the accused was about to flee to his native village when he was detained at Hiranandani Estate in Thane. It was revealed that the accused is a native of the Jhalokati district in Bangladesh. The accused Mohd Shariful Islam Shehzad was sent to five-day police custody by Bandra Holiday Court on Sunday. The attack was reported by Aleyamma Philip, a 56-year-old staff nurse. The incident occurred around 2:00 AM on January 16. The actor was immediately taken to Mumbais Lilavati Hospital, where he received treatment for serious injuries, including stab wounds to his thoracic spine. During a press conference earlier today, the Mumbai Police stated that there was preliminary evidence suggesting the accused is a Bangladeshi national. He does not have valid Indian documents. Some items seized indicate that he is a Bangladeshi national, said Dixit Gedam, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), Zone 9. Advertisement As per the police statement, various investigation teams were formed to investigate the crime, and a case has been registered under sections 311, 312, 331(4), 331(6), and 331(7) of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS). Further, according to the police, the accused was about to flee to his native village when he was detained at Hiranandani Estate in Thane. It was revealed that the accused is a native of the Jhalokati district in Bangladesh. With inputs from agencies The Saif Ali Khans stabbing incident highlights the deep-rooted issues in our society, from our obsession with celebrities to the systemic flaws in emergency response , believes a Mumbaikar. read more As Mumbai claims to be one of the safest cities, but it does have a history of underworld. Our financial capital which is home to several celebrities, Bollywood, is under threat. And it isnt new. The difference between the haves and have nots is huge in this city. Is the attack culture on actors back in Mumbai? Why is there so much social media coverage on the personal lives of the actor? Advertisement It forces us to reconsider what truly matters and what changes we must make, particularly when it comes to media toxicity, says Meghna Pant, a writer and resident of the city. By blurring the lines between privacy, respect, and safety, it fosters a culture that reduces individuals to mere commodities for public consumption. Meghna Pant explains that the media must examine its role in creating an intrusive and harmful environment for public figures. For instance, why does every Indian know Saifs exact address? Why are we privy to details about where celebrities children attend birthday parties? Why is there constant coverage of celebrities personal lives, even when its neither necessary nor wanted? Social media and YouTubers are hugely responsible for this situation and that has become more like gossip journalism today. One will be appalled to see the huge number of people gathered near Lilavati hospital to take bytes. Are they seriously concerned about Saif Ali Khans health? This unwelcome invasion into their private spaces points to a wider societal issue, where the boundaries of decency continue to be eroded. Meghan adds, Public figures deserve protection, not heightened vulnerability, because of their fame. The blame for this incident lies squarely with toxic fandom, and the media must take a long, hard look at their role in perpetuating this culture. Though this isnt a new thing, actors such as Shah Rukh Khan, Preity Zinta, Govinda and Akshay Kumar had received threats and extortion demands from criminal syndicates in the past. Many producers and directors had also been targeted in the past. How safe is Mumbai? Mumbai is considered to be one of the safest cities in India. But first the threat to Salam Khans life and now Saif Ali Khan being stabbed, it makes us question safety of this hyped up city with skyrocketing rent and expenses. However, Meghna says, I have lived in Mumbai for 35 years and have never felt threatened in terms of safety or security, aside from a few minor molestation incidents. Ive driven alone at 4 a.m., worn short dresses, bold makeup, used public transport, and confidently occupied public spacesnone of which have made me feel unsafe. Despite being a woman and an outsider (Im Pahadi, not Maharashtrian), Mumbai remains the safest city in India for me, and its the only place I can truly call home. Advertisement Today (January 20), the power in the United States of America will shift from Joe Biden to Donald Trump, as he is sworn in as the next president. Amid this transition, a monumental effort will be carried out to prepare the White House for the First Family. Heres how it will all unfold read more Young children with Trump paraphernalia stand outside the White House in Washington, DC. U.S. President-elect Donald Trump will be sworn in on January 20 and amidst his swearing-in, frantic efforts will be made to move in his things at the White House. AFP Moving out of a house and into a new one is stressful. Most of us have experienced it at least once in life. Theres the packing, the protection of valuables, the hiring of movers, the timing of the actual move itself and then, of course, the unpacking and sorting of belongings. Now, imagine doing this for Donald Trump, the incoming president of the United States, who is moving into the White House a 132-room mansion in Washington, DC from his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, on the day he is sworn in as the 47th president of America. Advertisement This crucial period, stretching out for only five hours is known as Moving Day and is described by one former White House usher as mass bedlam. Gary Walters, who has been part of several transfers of families in his 21 years as White House chief usher told the Washington Post, I call it organised chaos. What does Moving Day entail? How is it carried out? Heres how it all unfolds. Leading up to Inauguration Day For the Trumps yes, Melania Trump will be moving in on Day 1 of her husbands presidency moving into 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, the formal address of the White House, is their responsibility. That means they are responsible for getting all of their belongings to the White House themselves. Planning for this begins, as soon as the outgoing president, in this case Joe Biden, concedes to the newly-elected president Donald Trump. In this period, everything from the incoming first familys choice of furtniture and room layout and other details such as ideal room temperature, favourite snacks and preferred bath soap is obtained by the chief usher of the White House. And as Inauguration Day draws closer, the president-elect typically relocates to Washington, DC. Moreover, traditionally, the incoming president and his family stay at Blair House, a 119-room complex made up of four connected townhouses, the night before the day he is sworn in. President Joe Biden and Barack Obama stayed there before their big days, but Trump didnt stay there on the night before his first inauguration in 2017. It is not yet known where he stayed this time. A moving truck is seen outside the West Wing at the White House in Washington. Reuters On Inauguration Day The early hours Moving in doesnt officially begin until the day of inauguration. It starts around 4 am when the White House permanent staffers around 90 of them and contractors show up to start the big move. Then around 8.30 am, the staff gathers in the White Houses State Dining Room to say goodbye to the first family. Most often this includes the staffers giving the outgoing president a gift: a box constructed from historic White House wood, which contains the flags that flew over the White House on the presidents Inauguration Day and final morning in office a tradition started by White House Chief Usher Gary Walters, a Reagan appointee who served under four administrations. Past staffers describe this moment as emotional. Advertisement An hour later, the outgoing US president attends a coffee in the Blue Room that includes the incoming and outgoing presidents and vice presidents, their spouses and a congressional escort. Movers load trucks at the White House grounds two days before Inauguration Day and a new administration, in Washington on January 18. AP Inauguration Day the frenzy unfolds At 10.30 am, the chaos ensues as the incoming and outgoing presidents leave the North Portico together and head toward the Capitol. At this point, the actual moving process begins. When first families leave around 10:30 am or 11 am, they have that five-hour period where the staff work furiously, says Matthew Costello, a senior historian at the White House Historical Association. It begins with empty trucks being loaded with the outgoing presidents belongings. Pieces that have been taken on loan from the White Houses permanent collection are shipped back the federal storage facility. When the move-out process is complete, the incoming presidents items are moved into the executive residence. The team of outside movers tends to be rather small usually only a handful of people as the White Houses permanent residence staff handles the majority of the work. Advertisement Members of the press walk on the ground at the White House in Washington. Between 8.30 am, local time, on Inauguration Day and 3 pm, the staff has to ensure that the incoming presidents things are moved into the White House. AP Amid this move-out and move-in, staffers go into overdrive, cleaning the White House. And this isnt your regular cleaning; it includes cleaning and replacing rugs and window treatments and thoroughly scrubbing the residence and the Oval Office. Everything from carpets and furniture to vents and ducts is washed or otherwise cleaned to remove any lingering allergens or pathogens. Theres also minor repair work that is carried out in this period. Plumbers, carpenters and electricians make minor repairs such as changing internet or cable wires, installing new light fixtures and changing artwork. Rooms are also arranged as per the incoming familys request. For instance, if a president and first lady want a room changed into a private study or gym, those changes are implemented at this time. Advertisement Once all this is done, the incoming First Familys boxes are unpacked clothes are placed in cupboards, items are laid out, including toiletries. Even the White House kitchen is restocked as per the incoming presidents requests and likes. The Washington Post reports that the florist puts fresh arrangements all over the house. The bowling alley gets new shoes in the first familys sizes. Amid the moving in, rooms are also rearranged as per the incoming presidents requests. Pictured here, former White House Press Secretary and Communications Director Sean Spicer taking photos of the Oval Office emptied of all furniture, carpet and other decor. File image/Reuters Welcoming the new president The White House has anywhere until 3:30 and 5 pm (local time) to get all things ready, as the new president then returns to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue following the swearing-in ceremony and congressional luncheon. The first family is welcomed into their new home by staff and shown upstairs to their living corridors. All in all, its a crazy time. As Ann Stock, who saw the transfer up close as the Clintons social secretary, told the Washington Post, Its energising, but absolutely exhausting. With inputs from agencies Donald Trumps inauguration will take place in Washington DC where he will be sworn in as the 47th US president. Meanwhile, the four-day World Economic Forum annual meeting will begin in Davos. In India, Punjab government hospital doctors are set to hold strikes over pending demands read more Donald Trump will be sworn in as the 47th US president. AP It is set to be a busy Monday with several events lined up for the day. Firstly, the inauguration ceremony of US President-elect Donald Trump is set to take place today. Meanwhile, the World Economic Forum annual meeting will begin today in Davos. In India, doctors in government hospitals in Punjab are set to hold strikes from today over pending demands. Bombay HC to hold trial in Badlapur school sexual assault case. Meanwhile, the Southport murders accused Axel Rudakubana is set to go on trial today. Advertisement Here is all that is set to take place today. Inauguration Day for US President-elect Donald Trump One of the most highly anticipated days is January 20 when President-elect Donald Trump will take over the reins of the United States. Trump has outlined several plans for his first day in office, including imposing import tariffs on Canada, Mexico, and China, and pardoning individuals accused in the January 6 Capitol riots, reported The Indian Express. The day will commence with President-elect Donald Trumps swearing-in ceremony at 12 pm Eastern Time (10:30 pm IST) on Monday. Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies (JCCIC) which manages the Inauguration Day programs has released the major beats of the day which include the swearing-in ceremony, presidents room signing ceremony, inaugural luncheon, review of the troops, presidential parade and reception followed by inaugural balls. World Economic Forum annual meeting 2025 to begin in Davos The 2025 Annual Meeting of The World Economic Forum is scheduled to take place at Davos-Klosters from Monday. This gathering will bring together approximately 3,000 leaders from more than 130 countries, highlighting the importance of open dialogue during these uncertain times, reported news agency PTI. According to PTI, close to 5,000 Swiss Army personnel will be stationed to safeguard thousands of global leaders from government, business, technology, civil society, the humanities, and the arts. Switzerland will host the Annual Meeting, attracting over 350 governmental leaders, including 60 heads of state and government. This years gathering promises strong global government representation. Punjab government doctors to go on strike Doctors in government hospitals in Punjab are set to hold strikes from today over non-fulfillment of long-pending demands by the state government. The PCMS cadre had launched a week-long agitation in September last year. Representational image Around 2,500 doctors of the Punjab Civil Medical Services (PCMS) are set to resume their agitation from January 20, said PCMS president Dr Akhil Sarin. The PCMS Association (PCMSA) aims to push the government to fulfil its commitments to improve working conditions and resolve long-pending issues, including better security arrangements and recruitment, reported PTI. Advertisement Bombay HC to hold trial in Badlapur school sexual assault case Bombay High Court is set to hold a trial in the Badlapur school sexual assault case. In August last year, a male attendant sexually assaulted two girls - aged four and five - inside the toilet of their school located in the Badlapur area of Maharashtras Thane district. He was arrested and later killed in a shootout with police when he was being taken from jail for questioning. Earlier, the Court said that the trial should be fast-tracked and conducted expeditiously as the victim girls are very young. Southport murders accused to go on trial Southport murders accused Axel Rudakubana will go to trial today. Rudakubana, accused of a knife attack at a dance class in Southport, is scheduled to stand trial in January. The 18-year-old is facing 16 charges against him. The attack claimed the lives of three children - nine-year-old Alice da Silva Aguiar, six-year-old Bebe King and Elsie Dot Stancombe aged seven, reported website BBC. Advertisement During a pre-trial hearing in December 2024, Rudakubana appeared via video link from HMP Belmarsh but remained silent, leading the court to enter not guilty pleas on his behalf. On this day Birth anniversary of NSA Ajit Doval Birth anniversary of Indian-American journalist and author Fareed Zakaria Birth anniversary of American spacewalker, amongst first two to land on moon Buzz Aldrin Indias first nuclear reactor Apsara was inaugurated in Trombay in 1957 Barack Obama was sworn in as the 44th President of the US becoming the first African American to hold the office Great Britain signed a peace treaty with France and Spain, thus ending the American Revolutionary War in 1783 The British occupied the island of Hong Kong in 1841 East Pakistani police killed a student activist in 1969, which led to violent protests that were partly responsible for the Bangladesh Liberation War Pakistan launched its Nuclear weapons programme in 1972, after its defeat in the Indo-Pak War of 1971 Iran released 52 Americans it had held hostage for 444 days, minutes after the presidency had passed from Jimmy Carter to Ronald Reagan in 1981 With inputs from agencies For Donald Trumps inauguration, China is sending Vice President Han Zheng. This comes after the incoming US president invited Xi Jinping to attend the January 20 event a break from tradition read more Donald Trumps inauguration, which is scheduled to start in a few hours, is set to be different than his predecessors. Thanks to frigid temperatures, the inauguration ceremony set to be the costliest in American history has been moved indoors. But thats not the only change that one shall see at the inauguration. For the first time, world leaders have been called for the event with invitations sent out to Chinese President Xi Jinping, Argentine President Javier Milei and Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni. And while Chinas Xi isnt attending the event today (January 20), the Chinese leader has sent Vice President Han Zheng. Advertisement And in the run-up to the big day, Zheng has met incoming US Vice President JD Vance as well as First Buddy Elon Musk. In his meeting with Vance, Han reaffirmed Chinas commitment to a long and fruitful relationship. Chinas Xinhua media also reported that the Chinese leader said Beijing was ready to work with Washington to implement the important consensus reached between President Xi Jinping and President-elect Trump. Elon Musk and China Vice-President Han Zheng met on Sunday in Washington, DC ahead of Donald Trumps inauguration. Image Courtesy: @SawyerMerritt/X In his meeting with Musk, Han urged Tesla and other US firms to seize the opportunity and share in the fruits of Chinas development, and make new and greater contributions to promoting China-US economic and trade relations, reported Xinhua. The Chinese state media added that Musk, in turn, said Tesla was keen to deepen investment cooperation with China as well as play an active role in trade between the two countries. We take a closer look at who exactly is Han Zheng and his significance at Trumps inauguration ceremony. Who is Han Zheng? Following Donald Trumps win in the US presidential election last November, Donald Trump extended an invitation to Chinas Xi Jinping for his inauguration on January 20. At the time, Trump spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt confirmed the same, saying it was an example of President Trump creating an open dialogue with leaders of countries that are not just allies but our adversaries and our competitors, too. While it seemed unlikely that Xi would accept Trumps invitation he has severely curtailed his foreign visits since the Covid-19 pandemic the Chinese leader deputed his vice president, Han Zheng, for the event. While being vice president is hugely symbolic in China, Han is personally an influential figure in Chinese politics. He was a member of Politburo Standing Committee, the Chinese Communist Partys highest body, from 2017 to 2022. He retired from the Politburo Standing Committee at the 20th Party Congress in October 2022, and instead took up a post in the government as vice president. Advertisement According to a BBC report, Han is known as number eight - the most senior leader after the seven men in the Politburo Standing Committee. Chinas Vice President Han Zheng with Indonesias new President Prabowo Subianto during his inauguration. File image/AP Previously, Han also served as Xis aide when the latter was the party secretary in Shanghai. As Chinas vice president, Han has focused on foreign affairs. He led a group to promote Xis ambitious Belt and Road initiative and even headed a steering committee on the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. He has also represented his country at international events he attended Indonesian President Prabowo Subiantos inauguration last October as well as the coronation of Britains King Charles III in May. Advertisement Why did Xi choose Han Zheng for Trumps inauguration? In sending Han to Washington for Trumps big day, Xi is sending a message to the US as well as the world that it wants to work with the new Trump government to find the right way for the two countries to get along with each other in the new era. In fact, when China made the announcement of Han going to the US, the foreign ministry spokesperson said that Beijing follows the principles of mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation in viewing and growing its relationship with the United States. We stand ready to work with the new US government to enhance dialogue and communication, properly manage differences, expand mutually beneficial cooperation, jointly pursue a stable, healthy and sustainable China-US relationship and find the right way for the two countries to get along with each other. Chinese President Xi Jinping (R) shakes hands with Vice President Han Zheng. By sending Zheng, Xi is playing the balancing act sending a senior-level figure but not giving them exactly what they want. File image/Reuters Hans attendance at Trumps inauguration is also significant considering the incoming US presidents hawkish signals. The US president-elect has vowed to implement new tariffs as high as 60 per cent on imported Chinese products. He has also pushed Beijing to crack down on Chinese chemical producers that supply the ingredients for fentanyl to Mexican cartels. Moreover, Trump has included some very combative personalities in his Cabinet, who hold very strong opinions on Beijing. For instance, Trumps pick for Secretary of State Marco Rubio labelled China the biggest threat to the United States continued prosperity and national security. Trumps choice for treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, also said the country must live up to the unfulfilled promises made in the trade deal reached under Trumps first administration in 2020. Advertisement China has not made good on their ag purchases for four years, Bessent said. If confirmed, next week I would start pushing for them to resume the purchases and, he added, he would discuss with Trump whether additional catch-up purchases should be required after China missed its commitments over the past five years. But with sending Han, China, perhaps, is signalling for a reset in Sino-US ties. Hoo Tiang Boon, an associate professor at Nanyang Technological Universitys (NTU) School of Social Sciences, told Channel News Asia, Beijing wants to send a signal that (they) do not want to be seen as being unnecessarily problematic or difficult. Advertisement Meanwhile, Neil Thomas, a fellow in Chinese politics at the Asia Society Policy Institute, said that Xis decision to send Han to the US is a sign that he wants to get Trump into deal-making mode, but [he] does not want to be a supporting actor in the Trump show on January 20. Others also note that sending Han is a safe choice for Xi. Explaining this, Boon said, Han is not somebody seen as being part of Xis inner circle at the present moment. He further added that its a middle ground move addressing Americas expectations of receiving a senior-level figure from China, and at the same time not giving them exactly what they want. If things dont turn out (well) thats fine because hes the vice president, not somebody with any significant influence, Hoo told Channel News Asia. Theres also reports that Han may help set the ground for Trumps China visit. According to a Wall Street Journal report, the incoming president has expressed interest to his advisers in him visiting Beijing. The last time Trump visited China was in 2017 nearly a year into his first term, touring the Forbidden City and taking in a Peking Opera performance. We shall have to wait and watch how US-Sino relations go forward. But with Trump at the helm, it remains a mystery. With inputs from agencies In 2009, America made its history as the first Black person, Barack Obama, was sworn in as the 44th president of the country. In front of record-breaking crowds, the young senator became the commander-in-chief of the United States, taking oath on the Bible used by Abraham Lincoln. Heres what else happened read more Barack Obama, takes the oath given by US. Supreme Chief Justice John Roberts, Jr (lower right) during the inauguration ceremony in Washington on January 20, 2009. Daughters Malia and Sasha look on, as Michelle Obama holds the Bible used by President Abraham Lincoln at his inauguration in 1861. File image/Reuters In 2009, America made its history as the first Black person, Barack Obama, was sworn in as the 44th president of the country. In front of record-breaking crowds, the young senator became the commander-in-chief of the United States, taking oath on the Bible used by Abraham Lincoln. Heres what else happened On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord. With these words, Barack Hussein Obama was sworn in as the 44th president of the United States on January 20, 2009, making history as being the first African-American to win the election to the nations highest office the previous November. Advertisement As part of Firstpost Explainers History Today series, we take a look back at the historic swearing-in of Barack Obama as well as other big events, including the end to the Iran hostage crisis in 1981. USA gets its first Black president-Barack Obama On a cold, dreary day in Washington DC, rays of hope emerged on January 20 as Barack Obama was sworn in as the 44th US president. With this, he entered history books becoming the first African American to hold US highest office. Obamas swearing in on January 20, 2009 came after the junior US senator won a tight Democratic primary battle over Hillary Clinton before triumphing over Arizona Senator John McCain, the Republican candidate, in the general election. US President Barack Obama walks on stage with First Lady Michelle Obama during the Western States Inaugural Ball in Washington on January 20, 2009. File image/Reuters Taking oath on the Bible used by President Abraham Lincoln at his first inauguration in 1861, Barack Obama delivered a message of hope and optimism that embodied his main message Yes We Can. Many praised Obamas inaugural speech for being one of restraint and plain speaking. However, David E Sanger, correspondent for The New York Times, described the speech as the harshest rebuke of an outgoing president during an inaugural address since Franklin Roosevelts call for restoration of American values. Crowds of people thronged the National Mall, stretching from the Capitol Building to beyond the Washington Monument. According to an official estimate, some 1.8 million people witnessed Obamas inauguration, surpassing the previous record of 1.2 million, set by the inaugural crowd of Lyndon B Johnson in 1965. After the inauguration, Obama attended at least 10 official inaugural balls in the evening. Advertisement Iran hostage crisis comes to an end January 20 is a day of significance to the US. Minutes after Ronald Reagan took the oath of office as US president in 1981, 52 American captives held at the US embassy in Tehran, were released, ending the 444-day Iran Hostage Crisis. The drama all began in the aftermath of the Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavis ouster. Angered that the US government had allowed the ousted Shah of Iran to travel to New York City for medical treatment, on November 4, 1979, Iranian students seized the US embassy and detained more than 50 Americans, ranging from the Charge dAffaires to the most junior members of the staff, as hostages. Police stand guard at a demonstration during the Iran hostage crisis, in Washington, DC on November 9, 1979. File image/Reuters Ayatollah Khomeini, who took over as Irans political and religious leader, refused all appeals to release the hostages even one made by the UN Security Council. However, two weeks after the storming of the embassy, the Ayatollah began to release all non-US captives, and all female and minority Americans, citing these groups as among the people oppressed by the government of the United States. The remaining 52 captives remained at the mercy of the Ayatollah for the next 14 months. Advertisement According to reports, the hostages were moved around the compound constantly, handcuffed, beaten, tortured and forced to undergo mock executions at gunpoint. President Jimmy Carter on April 25, 1980, ordered a military operation to rescue the hostages, known as Operation Eagle Claw. But the operation failed: eight US servicemen were dead and several others injured. The rescuers got nowhere near the embassy the mission was aborted when three of the eight helicopters suffered various equipment failures. In November 1980, Carter lost the presidential election to Republican Ronald Reagan. Soon after, with the assistance of Algerian intermediaries, successful negotiations began between the United States and Iran. Advertisement And negotiations bore fruit when on January 20, they were released to West Germany where former President Carter, acting as emissary, received them. Britains King George V dies Just before midnight on January 20, 1936, Britains King George V died at Sandringham, in Norfolk, England. Initially, the world was made to believe that the monarch had died entirely of natural causes. In fact, The Times reported the news with the headline A Peaceful Ending at Midnight and a brief article detailing his final hours. Just before midnight on January 20, 1936, Britains King George V died at Sandringham, in Norfolk, England. Wikimedia But evidence released 50 years later shows that the Kings death was not as peaceful as newspapers suggest. Notes made by the Kings physician, Lord Dawson of Penn, disclose that as the kings condition deteriorated throughout the day Dawson consulted Queen Mary and the Kings son, Edward, who instructed him not to prolong the Kings life unnecessarily. Taking this to heart, Dawson administered a lethal dose of morphine and cocaine and within 40 minutes, he was dead. This Day, That Year >> On January 20, 1841, the island of Hong Kong was ceded by China to Great Britain. It returned to Chinese control in July 1997. >> American astronaut Buzz Aldrin was born in Montclair, New Jersey on January 20, 1930. >> In 1961, on the same day, President John F Kennedy urged Americans, ask not what your country can do for you ask what you can do for your country. >> In 2020, the US recorded its first Covid-19 case in a man from Washington State. Abhey Singh, an IIT-Bombay alumnus, rose to fame as the IIT Baba of the Maha Kumbh, as his story went viral. Now Juna Akhara has expelled the seer, accusing him of breaching its code of discipline and using abusive language towards his guru; some have raised questions about his mental health. Singh, however, has denied all allegations and accused his fellow ascetics of spreading rumours about him read more The Juna Akhara has expelled IIT Baba, accusing him of breaching its strict code of discipline and using abusive language towards his guru, Mahant Someshwar Puri. The seer, however, denies any wrongdoing. Image courtesy: Instagram/@Abhey Singh Among the most talked-about personalities at Prayagrajs Maha Kumbh 2025, Abhey Singh, an IIT Bombay alumnus, rose to fame as the IIT Baba. His journey from being an aerospace engineer to embracing spirituality fascinated many, earning him widespread attention. However, his meteoric rise has taken a dramatic turn. The Juna Akhara has expelled the seer, accusing him of breaching its strict code of discipline and using abusive language towards his guru, Mahant Someshwar Puria serious offence in the Guru-Shishya tradition. Advertisement Abhey Singh, however, has firmly denied any wrongdoing and accused his fellow seers of spreading rumours about him. So, what led to this controversy? Heres a deeper look into the events that unfolded. But first, who is Abhey Singh aka IITian Baba? Abhey Singh is an aerospace engineering graduate from IIT Bombay, who left behind a promising career to embark on a spiritual journey. Hailing from Sasarouli village in Haryana, he originally pursued a conventional academic path, excelling in his studies and later working in Canada with an impressive salary of Rs 36 lakh per annum. Singh claimed that he battled with depression in the foreign country. His mental health issues made him want to search for meaning in life and question the role of the mind. Thus, he said that he quit his high-paying job and travelled to India to learn spirituality. In an interview with NDTV, Singh revealed how suffering from a troubled childhood and witnessing traumatic domestic violence at home had a significant effect on him and shaped his spiritual path. During my school days, Id come home at 5 or 6 pm and go straight to sleep to escape the chaos. Id wake up at midnight when everything was quiet and no one was getting into fights, lock my door, and study in peace, Singh said. Advertisement He spoke of the helplessness he felt as a child, watching his parents fight. As a child, you dont understand whats happening, and you dont know how to react. Your mind isnt developed enough. Youre just helpless, he said. Reports suggest Singh achieved an All India Rank (AIR) of 731 in the IIT JEE 2008 exam, although this remains unverified. He secured admission to IIT Bombay, a top choice among high JEE rankers. Advertisement While pursuing engineering, he explored philosophy through courses on Postmodernism, Socrates, and Plato to better understand the meaning of life. For the past six months, Singh has cut off contact with his family, leaving them reliant on social media for updates about his life. On Instagram, he has amassed over a lakh followers, sharing glimpses of his spiritual journey. At the ongoing Maha Kumbh Mela 2025 in Prayagraj, Singhs unique story captured widespread attention, with a viral interview catapulting him to overnight sensation. Meet IITian Baba at the Maha Kumbh, who did Aerospace Engineering from IIT Bombay but left everything for spirituality. Meanwhile, illiterate Leftists and Seculars mock Sanatanis. pic.twitter.com/vM0XI7rIFS BALA (@erbmjha) January 13, 2025 Advertisement Why IITian Baba was expelled? Abhey Singh, known as IIT Baba, was expelled from the Juna Akhara after being accused of misconduct, including using abusive language towards his guru, Mahant Someshwar Puri. The actions of Abhey Singh violate the sacred guru-shishya (master-disciple) tradition and the core principles of sanyas. Disrespecting ones guru is a profound disregard for Sanatan Dharma and the values upheld by the akhara, said Mahant Hari Giri, chief patron of Juna Akhara. Reports also claim that Singh posted controversial videos on social media, referring to his father as Hiranyakashyap and calling his guru pagal (mad), sparking outrage among the seers. Further, other seers at the ashram told Aaj Tak that Singhs constant media appearances were affecting his mental state, resulting in what they described as inappropriate behaviour. They also accused him of taking drugs, adding to the growing concerns about his conduct. Advertisement In light of these allegations, Juna Akharas disciplinary committee decided it was best for him to leave the ashram. Singh will remain barred until he demonstrates respect for the Akharas principles and adheres to its discipline. He is now banned from entering the Akhara camp and its surroundings. IITian Baba responds Abhey Singh, popularly known as IIT Baba, has denied claims that he was ousted from the Juna Akhara. Speaking to India Today, he accused the seers of spreading false rumours about him. They think Ive become famous and that I might expose something about them, so theyre claiming Ive gone for secret meditation. Those people are talking nonsense, Singh said, asserting that he is still present at the religious gathering. Singh also criticised Mahant Someshwar Puri of the Juna Akhara, who had earlier referred to Singh as his disciple. I had already told him there is no guru-disciple relationship between us. Now that Ive become famous, hes made himself my guru, Singh said, as quoted in Aaj Tak report. Additionally, he dismissed allegations from fellow seers that his mental health had been affected by frequent media interactions. He questioned the authority of those doubting the stability of his mental health. Who are these psychologists who know my mental state better than me? They should know more than me to give me a certificate, Singh remarked. The controversy continues to unfold as Singh challenges the claims against him and maintains his presence at the Maha Kumbh Mela. With input from agencies As Donald Trump takes oath as president, his wife Melania Trump will step into the role of First Lady of the US. Her Inauguration Day outfit has been the talk of the town. During the first term, Melania received flak for not wearing American designers. Will that change? read more The presidential inauguration has long been a moment for First Ladies to make a lasting impression. Melania Trump is expected to send a message of patriotism and confidence through her inaugration day outfit, setting the tone for her next chapter. File image/ AFP Melania Trump is no stranger to making headlines with her fashion choices, and as she prepares to step into the role of First Lady once again, her wardrobe will undoubtedly steal the spotlight. The Slovenia-born former fashion model made statements before. From her unforgettable, eye-popping powder-blue Ralph Lauren coat dress in 2017 to her curated pre-inauguration couture, First Lady-to-be has always set the bar high with her lavish style choices. The presidential inauguration has long been a moment for First Ladies to make a lasting impression. Each look has its own story, often symbolising something more than just personal style, and setting the tone for whats to come in their tenure. Advertisement With just hours to go before Donald Trumps second inauguration, all eyes are now on Melania and what shell wear to mark this monumental event. Heres what we know. Some rules are going to be rewritten For first ladies, fashion has always been a key communication tool, showcasing their individuality and what they stand for. Since leaving the White House in 2021, sightings of Melania Trump have been few and far between. This trend is expected to continue, even with her return to the public eye following her husbands second inauguration. The 54-year-old mother of 18-year-old Barron Trump will be splitting her time between New York and Florida, indicating that her public appearances and professional duties will remain limited. Since leaving the White House in 2021, sightings of Melania Trump have been few and far between. This trend is expected to continue, even with her return to the public eye following her husbands second inauguration. AFP And this shift starts with her style. And at an event of the century like the inauguration ceremony, Melania is expected to send a message of patriotism and confidence, setting the tone for her next chapter, reports USA Today. I do think some rules are going to be rewritten, and I think that she is taking advantage of that in a positive way, to rewrite her own script of how she shows up, style strategist Lauren A Rothman told the American news outlet. Rothman adds, That may include more looks of the moving mom, getting her kid through college and continuing to protect his privacy, and not always doing that in a skirt suit. Advertisement Also read: Melania wont be a full-time First Lady if Trump wins. Heres what this means Nichola D Gutgold, a professor and member-at-large of the First Ladies Association for Research and Education (FLARE) a university-affiliated initiative analysing the impact and legacies of first ladies told CNN that Melania maybe wont need as large a wardrobe as a very active first lady. She is very aloof. I think (events) will be carefully chosen and the schedule will be much lighter, Gutgold said. Once shunned, now swamped by offers from big fashion houses This time around, Melania Trump has far more choices when it comes to her wardrobe for the inauguration. According to the Daily Mail, Melania is being swamped with offers of free designer clothing from nearly every major US fashion house and iconic European couture brands, including Versace and Christian Dior, ahead of her husbands inauguration on January 20. Advertisement This marks a significant change from 2017, when Donald Trump was first sworn in. At that time, Melania was reportedly shunned by many high-profile designers who were hesitant to associate with her husbands controversial politics. Ralph Lauren was one of the few designers willing to dress her out of respect for the office of the presidency. The then-First Lady debuted a powder-blue cashmere dress paired with matching suede gloves, heels, and a bolero. The then-First Lady Melania Trump debuted a powder-blue cashmere dress paired with matching suede gloves, heels, and a bolero. Ralph Lauren was one of the few designers willing to dress her out of respect for the office of the presidency after several high-profile designers ditched Trump. File image. AFP For the Inaugural Ball, her stylist, French-American designer Herve Pierre, created a custom off-the-shoulder vanilla gown with a high slit and a red silk belt. Former US President Donald Trump with ex-First Lady Melania Trump. File Image/ Reuters However, according to Toni Holt Kramer, founder of the Trumpettes support group and a close friend of the couple, things have changed dramatically. Advertisement When President Trump was first elected back in 2016, Melania was treated very badly indeed, Kramer said. People spoke out against her and refused to dress her. She was shunned and treated appallingly but acted with nothing but class. It must have been hard for her. Now people are begging to dress her." What we know of her inauguration day outfit Reports suggest Melanias wardrobe for the inauguration was finalised at Mar-a-Lago with input from her sister, Ines. While specifics remain a mystery, style strategist Lauren Rothman predicts it will be powerful. Melania arrived in wintry Washington, D.C, on Saturday, wearing a Dior charcoal-grey coat with black buttons and a Dolce & Gabbana white jacquard Baroque-inspired pantsuit. Her husband and son matched in dark suits, white shirts, and gold cufflinks, presenting an all-business appearance. Melania arrived in wintry Washington, D.C, on Saturday, wearing a Dior charcoal-grey coat with black buttons and a Dolce & Gabbana white jacquard Baroque-inspired pantsuit. AFP _"_There is an aspirational quality to Melania that Trump voters, I think, see her as this perfect, ideal woman, and so for her, she has some pressure to project that image, USA Today quoted Kate Andersen Brower, author of First Women: The Grace and Power of Americans Modern First Ladies as saying. Advertisement With input from agencies Sanjay Roy, the civic volunteer who brutally raped and murdered a trainee doctor at the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital last August, was awarded a life term on Monday. The CBI, which probed the case, had called for capital punishment for the convict, arguing it was rarest of the rare case. Then, why did the court rule otherwise? read more Sanjay Roy has been sentenced to a life term in prison in the RG rape and murder case. File Photo/ANI Sanjay Roy, convicted of the brutal rape and murder of a trainee doctor at the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital last August, was sentenced to life imprisonment by a court in Kolkata on Monday (January 20). The Sealdah court also ordered Roy to pay a fine of Rs 50,000, while the West Bengal government was directed to pay a compensation of Rs 17 lakh to the victims parents. The verdict has, however, disappointed those who were hoping for the death penalty for the convict. The parents of the victim and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee were among those who expressed dismay. Advertisement While the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) called for a death sentence, the Sealdah court did not award capital punishment to Roy. But why? We will explain. RG Kar rape-murder case On August 9, 2024, a 31-year-old junior doctor was raped and killed at the state-run RG Kar Medical College and Hospital. Her semi-naked body was found on the third floor of the seminar hall of the hospital. The Kolkata Police arrested Sanjay Roy, a civic volunteer with the police who frequented the hospital, for the crime. Later, on the Calcutta High Courts direction, the RG Kar rape and murder case was transferred to the CBI. The horrific incident sparked nationwide outrage, with junior doctors in West Bengal holding monthslong protests demanding justice for the victim and stronger security measures in government hospitals. Last Saturday, Roy was found guilty of both rape and murder of the on-duty medic. He was convicted under Sections 64 (rape), 66 (punishment for causing death), and 103(1) (murder) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). Sanjay Roy gets life term The Sealdah court, presided by Additional District and Sessions Judge Anirban Das, pronounced the verdict in the RG Kar rape and murder case today, awarding a life sentence to Roy. The CBI, which investigated the case, had demanded the death penalty for the convict, with counsel representing the central agency arguing it was a rarest of rare cases, as per NDTV. This is a case which comes under the rarest of rare category. The maximum punishment, which is the death penalty, should be awarded to Roy to maintain peoples faith in society," the CBI told the court. Advertisement The doctor was there at a government hospital to help patients. This falls into the rarest of rare category, the prosecution said. She was a meritorious student. In her death, it is a loss for society. The lawyer representing the victims parents also called for the harshest punishment for the convict, saying that as a civic volunteer, he was responsible for ensuring the hospitals security. He had himself committed the heinous crime on the victim he was supposed to protect, the parents lawyer reportedly said. Earlier in the day, Roy denied the charges against him and maintained innocence. I havent done this. I have been framed. Lots of things were destroyed, but if I had done it then my rudraksha mala would have broken. You decide whether I have been framed or not, he told the court. Advertisement The judge responded: I decide on the basis of the evidence before me. I have heard you as well for three hours. Your lawyer has argued your case. The charges have been proven. Now I want to know your views on the punishment. Roys defence argued that the prosecution had not established that the convict was beyond reform. We pray for any punishment other than the death penalty, the defence lawyer said. While announcing the verdict, the judge said it did not fall under the rarest of the rare category and awarded a life term in prison to Roy. Advertisement Additional district and sessions judge Das also directed the Banerjee-led government to compensate the victims family. As the victims father turned down any compensation, the judge, as per Indian Express, said, I dont think money can compensate any death. It was the liability of [the] state to protect your daughter as she was on duty (when she was raped and murdered). This is a statutory provision. If you take it, you can use it I gave whatever I felt. You can move to the higher court. Advertisement Whats rarest of rare case? The term rarest of rare case was coined by the Supreme Court in 1980 in Bachan Singh vs the State of Punjab case. The apex court determined that the death penalty must be imposed for the gravest crimes when it is the rarest of the rare. The criteria for establishing this involves the culprits background, mental state, and potential for reform and if the crime shakes the collective conscience of society, reported News18. The crime must be heinous warranting public abhorrence and for which alternative punishment is not viable. Reactions to the verdict The courts verdict in the RG Kar case has been met with disgruntlement. The parents of the deceased medic told PTI, We are shocked. How is this not the rarest of rare cases? An on-duty doctor was raped and murdered. We are dismayed. There was a larger conspiracy behind this crime. West Bengal CM Banerjee also expressed dissatisfaction with the local courts ruling. Speaking to the media in the Murshidabad district, she said, All of us had demanded a death sentence, but the court has given a life term until death. The case was forcibly taken from us. Had it been with the (Kolkata) police, we would have ensured that he was served a death sentence. Reacting to the verdict, Union Minister Sukanta Majumdar called for a deeper probe. We wanted the highest punishment (for the convict Sanjay Roy). Being an elected representative, I cant say anything against the court verdict. The public of West Bengal does not believe that only one person is involved in the RG Kar rape-murder case. I think there should be more depth in this, as Sanjay is saying that there were also police and other people involved, the BJP leader was quoted as saying by NDTV. Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said the people of Bengal are disappointed as they expected the strictest punishment for the accused. We saw that only one accused was punished, so this decision of the court is not as per the expectations of the common people, he said. With inputs from agencies Shariful Islam Shehzad, a Bangladeshi national who entered India illegally and assumed the alias Bijoy Das, was arrested by Mumbai Police in connection with the stabbing of Bollywood actor Saif Ali Khan on Sunday. He has been living in Mumbai for the past four months read more Shehzad was arrested nearly 70 hours after the attack on Khan at his Bandra residence. Image courtesy: X/@AskAnshul The main suspect in the stabbing case involving Bollywood actor Saif Ali Khan has been arrested in Thane West, near Mumbai. The accused, identified as Shariful Islam Shehzad, had entered India illegally and was living under the alias Bijoy Das. ALSO READ | What happened when Saif Ali Khan came face-to-face with his attacker Shehzad was arrested nearly 70 hours after the attack on Khan at his Bandra residence. A search operation involving around 100 police officers was carried out after authorities received information about his hideout. Advertisement How did the police track him down? Lets take a look: How Saif Ali Khans attacker was found During the investigation, police teams reviewed multiple CCTV recordings and found footage of Shehzad getting off a bike at Bandra railway station on January 9. #WATCH | Mumbai, Maharashtra | Mohammad Shariful Islam Shehzad, the arrested accused in the Saif Ali Khan attack case taken from Khar Police Station. pic.twitter.com/pzMENCwfuU ANI (@ANI) January 19, 2025 Officers noted the bikes registration number and identified Shehzad using facial recognition technology, sources told India Today. The investigation further revealed that the accused had been spotted outside Dadar railway station on three occasions and had also visited Worli Koliwada. It was also found that Shehzad had contacted a labour contractor in the area, as per the report. This breakthrough led police to track him to a shop outside Dadar station, where he bought a mobile cover. But he paid in cash. But he made a cash payment here. After that, he moved to Kabutarkhana and then to Worli, a source told The Indian Express. Advertisement While checking CCTV footage in Worli, officers reportedly spotted Shehzad near a stall close to Century Mill. A source told IE that the footage appeared to show him speaking twice with the stall owner. Crime Branch teams later dispatched and identified the stall owner as Naveen Ekka, a resident of Koliwada. According to the report, the police believed the suspect might have known Ekka, leading seven teams to search the Worli-Koliwada area and show his picture to vendors. The police found Ekkas address at Jaihind Mitra Mandal in Janata Colony, where he lived with a few other workers. However, the house was locked when they arrived. Advertisement ALSO READ | Saif Ali Khan had a spinal fluid leak after knife attack: Is it dangerous? Ekka was later tracked down, and he told police that the suspect had paid for paratha and water using UPI. The mobile number linked to the payment became a crucial lead, leading the police to a labour camp in Kasarvadavali, Thane, and a contractor named Amit Pandey, who had hired Shehzad a few months earlier. The search then focused on the mangroves near the camp. A team led by DCP Navnath Dhawale found someone lying on the ground after scanning the area with torches. As an officer moved closer, the person got up and started running, IE quoted sources as saying. Advertisement Police and forensic officials outside Saif Ali Khans residential building in Mumbai. AP The police did not find any Indian documents on Shehzad but collected evidence showing he is a Bangladeshi national who entered India illegally. During questioning, Shehzad admitted he saw his pictures on TV after the incident and fled to Thane. He turned off his phone and hid near a labour camp. Who is Mohammad Shariful Islam Shehzad? Shariful Islam Shehzad Mohammad, 30, was taken into custody from Hiranandani Estate on Ghodbandar Road in Thane district. Authorities said that he had entered India illegally and had been staying in Mumbai for the last four months. After crossing into India, he assumed the name Bijoy Das. Shehzad had previously worked for a housekeeping agency but had been out of work for several months. Advertisement He shared a rented apartment with friends in the Worli area of Mumbai. Police confirmed that Shehzad did not have any valid Indian identification. As per The Indian Express, police said that the motive behind the crime was theft. Investigators stated that Shehzad had no idea he had broken into Saif Ali Khans house during his attempt to steal. ALSO READ | Intruder near Jehs room, Rs 1 crore demand: What happened at Saif Ali Khans house before he was stabbed? The Saif Ali Khan stabbing incident The attack on Saif Ali Khan has left the nation in shock, raising concerns about the law and order situation in Mumbai. The Opposition leaders as well as the film industry have questioned the Devendra Fadnavis-led government on public safety, stating that if a celebrity can face such an attack, the safety of ordinary citizens is at stake. Khan sustained six stab wounds, including two deep injuries, with one near his spine. ANI/File Photo Responding to the incident, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said that Mumbais law and order situation cannot be judged based on a few incidents and added that the city remains the safest place. Mumbai is the safest place, and there is no doubt about it. Just based on one or two incidents, it wont be right to say that Mumbai is unsafe. At the same time, it is also correct that if any such kind of incident happens, we should take it seriously and act accordingly and keep Mumbai safe, he stated. Police and media personnel outside Lilavati hospital where Saif Ali Khan underwent surgery in Mumbai. AP House staff member Eliyamma Philip was the first to encounter the intruder and sustained hand injuries during the struggle. Hearing her, Khan intervened but was stabbed several times. On the day of the attack, the intruder reportedly reached Khans 12th-floor apartment in the high-end Satguru Sharan building in Bandra West by using the staircase. Meanwhile, hospital authorities have reported that Khan is recovering well. He has been shifted from the ICU to a regular room following a successful surgery to remove a 2.5-inch blade. With inputs from agencies Indian-origin entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy may be considering stepping down from his role at the Department of Government Efficiency, which is co-led by Tesla CEO Elon Musk. Reports suggest he might be eyeing a Senate seat in Ohio, which became vacant after soon-to-be Vice President JD Vance resigned. However, other reports indicate tensions between Ramaswamy and the incoming staff at the agency read more Is Indian-origin entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy considering resigning from his role at the Department of Government Efficiency? US President-elect Donald Trump appointed Ramaswamy to co-lead the agency, which will function independently of the government, alongside Elon Musk, the worlds wealthiest man. ALSO READ | Will Vivek Ramaswamy run for Senator in Ohio instead of Governor? The department is tasked with improving government efficiency and will provide advisory and guidance to the White House. However, recent reports suggest that Ramaswamy may soon step down from the task force. Advertisement Heres why this could happen: Why Vivek Ramaswamy might be leaving DOGE Sources have told CBS News that Vivek Ramaswamy might be considering a run for the Senate seat in Ohio instead of pursuing the governors office. Vivek Ramaswamy may soon step down from the task force. Reuters/File Photo Those close to Elon Musk have allegedly been undermining Ramaswamy for weeks due to frustration over his limited involvement in the actual work required, according to CBS News. Ramaswamy recently met with Ohios incumbent governor, Mike DeWine, regarding the Senate seat left vacant by Vice President-elect JD Vance. However, on Friday, DeWine announced that he would appoint his lieutenant governor to the position. Note - the below is a parody account. (Not a bad idea, though) https://t.co/b0V3cSHAsh Vivek Ramaswamy (@VivekGRamaswamy) January 17, 2025 The expected resignation of Ramaswamy appears to originate from tension between him and the incoming staff at the agency, CBS News reported. Musks associates have also expressed dissatisfaction with Ramaswamys lack of engagement in crucial tasks, the report said. Advertisement Ramaswamys possible departure could have significant implications for DOGE, which aims to reduce government spending by as much as $2 trillion by July 4, 2026 - around the time his campaign for governor in Ohio would need to be in full swing. After the election, Ramaswamy informed members of the transition that he intended to run for governor, Politico reported. The Ohio gubernatorial election is set for November 2026, with Republican Gov. Mike DeWine being term-limited. Politico, citing several sources familiar with the meeting, reported that Ramaswamy attended an all-hands DOGE meeting held Saturday at SpaceXs Washington headquarters. Musk was absent from the meeting, and Ramaswamy was responsible for the deregulation file, while broader issues were handled by Musk. Advertisement With Musk potentially taking sole leadership at DOGE, some people within the incoming government believe that he will be able to move forward without obstruction. Elon basically runs the show, one of the advisers told Politico. Time is their biggest enemy. Well see. Doges other challenges The agency is facing more than just internal tension. Last week, Musk admitted that the ambitious target of cutting $2 trillion from the federal budget is unlikely to be realised. Ramaswamy recently met with Ohios incumbent governor, Mike DeWine, regarding the Senate seat left vacant. Reuters/File Photo I think well try for $2 trillion. I think thats the best-case outcome, Musk said. But I do think that you kind of have to have some overage. I think if we try for $2 trillion, weve got a good shot at getting $1 [million]. Advertisement Economists have warned since Musk introduced the idea at a Trump rally in October that slashing nearly a third of the nations federal budget is highly impractical. ALSO READ | Why Vivek Ramaswamy and Elon Musk want to eliminate daylight saving time Should Ramaswamy proceed with a gubernatorial campaign and secure victory, it would mark his first foray into public office. The Cincinnati-born entrepreneur previously launched a Republican presidential bid to challenge Trump before withdrawing in January 2024. In the primaries, Ramaswamy is expected to face Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost, who has gained attention for his efforts to defend the states six-week anti-abortion law. Former Ohio Department of Health Director Amy Acton has also declared her candidacy as the Democratic nominee, The Independent reported. Advertisement What we know about DOGE The acronym DOGE is a reference to Musks favourite cryptocurrency, dogecoin. In a statement, Trump mentioned that Musk and Ramaswamy would work outside of the government to provide the White House with advice and guidance. They will also collaborate with the Office of Management and Budget to drive large-scale structural reform and create an entrepreneurial approach to Government never seen before. Trump added that this initiative would shake the government systems. US President-elect Donald Trump appointed Ramaswamy to co-lead the agency. Reuters/File Photo However, Musk recently admitted that his ambitious goal of cutting $2 trillion in spending from the $6.8 trillion federal budget would be a challenging task. ALSO READ | Trump picks Musk, Ramaswamy to lead Department of Government Efficiency: What is it? Ramaswamy has made cultural issues a core part of his political identity, speaking out against what he perceives as woke policies being enforced in corporate, academic, and government institutions. Even when running as Trumps primary rival, Ramaswamy was cautious in opposing him, often offering praise. Earlier this month, The Washington Post reported that Musk and Ramaswamy had accelerated hiring for DOGE, with more than 50 staffers already working at SpaceX offices, which Musk owns. DOGE aimed to have close to 100 employees by Trumps inauguration on January 20, according to the report. The agencys mission is to advise on reducing the federal bureaucracy, cutting federal spending, and restructuring federal agencies, according to Trump, who has set a deadline for DOGEs work to be completed by July 2026. Before entering politics, Ramaswamy attended Yale Law School with Vance. He made millions as a hedge fund manager and through the sale of his stake in a biotechnology firm he co-founded. _With inputs from age_ncies Jaishankar held bilateral meetings with his counterparts from Australia and Japan on Sunday. The foreign ministers of the Quad are in Washington to attend the swearing-in ceremony of President-elect Donald Trump. read more [File] (L-R) Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken pose for a group photo at the Japan's prime minister office in Tokyo, Japan on 29 July 2024. AP External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar held bilateral meetings with his counterparts from Australia and Japan in Washington DC on Sunday, on the sidelines of the swearing-in ceremony of President-elect Donald Trump. Along with Jaishankar, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong and Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya are in Washington DC, at the invitation of the President-elect to attend the ceremony. Delighted to meet FM @SenatorWong, a Quad colleague, in Washington DC today. As always, enjoyed our discussion on the state of the world, Jaishankar posted on X after meeting Australian FM Penny Wong. Advertisement Delighted to meet FM @SenatorWong, a Quad colleague, in Washington DC today. As always, enjoyed our discussion on the state of the world. pic.twitter.com/k1jcap357l Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) January 19, 2025 Good to meet with FM Takeshi Iwaya of Japan. Reviewed the progress in our bilateral cooperation. Also discussed developments pertaining to Quad, he said in another post after his meeting with the Japanese foreign minister. Good to meet with FM Takeshi Iwaya of Japan. Reviewed the progress in our bilateral cooperation. Also discussed developments pertaining to Quad. pic.twitter.com/DLoLyOGdeA Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) January 19, 2025 During the meeting, the leaders discussed bilateral issues and those pertaining to the Quad. The Quad initiative was started during the first term of Donald Trump with the objective of a free and open Indo-Pacific region and boosting cooperation. Australia, India, Japan and the United States are the member states. The outgoing Joe Biden administration elevated the forum to a leadership level. Advertisement Marco Rubios first meeting as Secretary of State is likely to be a Quad ministerial dialogue. This highlights the importance the second term of the Trump administration places on the group. Trump prioritises strengthening India-US ties Rubio and President-elect Trump have made it a priority to take the India-US relationship to the next level, sources told news agency PTI. Rubio is keen to have his first bilateral with Jaishankar once he is confirmed as Secretary of State, the sources said. The meeting might happen within a few hours of Rubio arriving at the Foggy Bottom headquarters of the State Department. Rubios Senate confirmation is expected on Monday evening and he is likely to be sworn in as the top American diplomat soon. Advertisement All three Quad foreign ministers are here to attend the inauguration of Trump as the 47th president of the US on Monday. Jaishankar is attending the swearing-in ceremony at the invitation of the Trump-Vance Inaugural Committee, according to a Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) press release. JD Vance meets Chinese counterpart Earlier, Vice President-elect JD Vance welcomed Chinese Vice President Han Zheng to the US for the inauguration. The two leaders discussed a range of topics including fentanyl, balancing trade, and regional stability, a media release said. With inputs from PTI India and Italy also stressed the importance of an effective prosecution of those responsible for terrorist acts read more India and Italy have vowed to enhance their cooperation in combating terrorism including by effectively countering the misuse of technology for terrorist activities. Extensive deliberations were held on ways to expand bilateral cooperation in dealing with terrorism at a meeting of the India-Italy Joint Working Group (JWG) on Counter-Terrorism and Organised Crime held in Rome on January 16 and 17, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in a readout on Sunday. Advertisement The two sides discussed emerging domestic, regional and international terrorist threats and exchanged views on a wide range of areas of cooperation in counter-terrorism and transnational organised crime, it said. Recognising the need for enhancing cooperation for effectively countering the misuse of technology for terrorist purposes, the two sides shared experiences in preventing and mitigating the menace, the readout said. India and Italy also stressed the importance of an effective prosecution of those responsible for terrorist acts. In the talks, the two strategic partners reaffirmed their commitment to strengthen cooperation in the multilateral fora, including in the UN, GCTF (Global Counterterrorism Forum) and FATF (Financial Action Task Force), the MEA said. The two sides also discussed ways and means to advance the ongoing negotiations on various bilateral agreements, it said. The meeting was co-chaired by KD Dewal, Joint Secretary for Counter-Terrorism in the MEA, and Alessandro Azzoni, Senior Deputy Director for Political Affairs and Director for Security at the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Indian delegation also met officials of Italys Inter-Agency Law Enforcement Academy in Caserta and discussed strengthening of capacity building measures between the academy and its counterpart organisation in India. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, who is representing Prime Minister Narendra Modi as his special envoy at Donald Trumps inaugural function, is carrying a letter from Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the US President, according to a report, citing sources read more External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, who is representing Prime Minister Narendra Modi as his special envoy at Donald Trumps inaugural function, is carrying a letter from Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the US President. Trump is taking charge as the 47th President of the US today. The external affairs ministers presence at the presidential inauguration is in line with Indias general practice to send special envoys to attend the swearing-in ceremony of heads of state and government, PTI quoted sources as saying. Advertisement Defence Minister Rajnath Singh attended the swearing-in ceremony of the president of Nigeria in May 2023 while then Minister of Earth Sciences Kiren Rijiju attended the swearing-in ceremony of Maldivian president in November 2023, the sources said citing past precedents. Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari attended the swearing-in ceremony of the Iranian president in July last year and MoS for external affairs Pabitra Margherita attended the oath taking ceremony of president of Indonesia and president of Mexico in October 2024, the sources were quoted as saying. In June 2022, the then MoS for external affairs Raj Kumar Ranjan Singh attended the swearing-in ceremony of the president of Philippines, they added. Trump will take the oath of office, administered by Chief Justice of the United States John Roberts, at 12 pm EST (1700 GMT). It was originally due to take place in front of the US Capitol but will now take place inside the congressional complex because of bitter cold. Outgoing president Joe Biden has said he plans to attend the ceremony and witness the transfer of power, a courtesy Trump did not afford him four years ago. Country music star Carrie Underwood is scheduled to perform at the swearing-in ceremony, according to a copy of the official program seen by Reuters. Advertisement With inputs from agencies Mysterious illness has claimed lives of 17 people in Jammu and Kashmirs Rajouri district with the latest death reported on Sunday where a 16-year-old girl, sixth child of a local, succumbed to the disease. Read more to find out whats it and how authorities are tackling the situation read more Army personnel deploy in Badhaal village to provide essential supplies, including food, water, and shelter, to the residents after the 16 deaths due to a mysterious illness, in Rajouri, Jammu and Kashmir, January 19, 2025. Source: ANI. The mysterious illness continues to keep residents of Badhaal village in Rajouri district of Jammu and Kashmir under panic after the sixth child of a local man died suffering from the disease, taking the death toll to 17 since December 2024. The 17th victim died of the illness on Sunday at Government Medical College and Associated Hospital (GMC&AH) in Jammu. According to a report by The Times of India (ToI), Mohammad Aslam, who lost his sixth child Yasmeena Akhtar Jan (16) to the disease on Sunday had already seen his five children - three daughters and two sons -dying till Friday. Advertisement Yasmeena was admitted to a hospital in Rajouri last Sunday from where she was referred to Jammu on Monday. Dr Ashutosh Gupta, Principal of GMC&AH in Jammu, said that her condition was critical from day 1. Apart from his six children, Mohammad Aslam has also lost his maternal uncle and aunty at a fatiha a memorial ceremony organised in memory of Fazal Hussain and Robia Kousar (both 14), Farhana Kousar (9) Raftar (5) and Rukhsar (11) who died on December 7 during treatment after being affected by this mysterious disease. According to a report by The Indian Express, all those who have succumbed from the mysterious disease were from three families at Badhaal village. Since the beginning of December 2024, the mysterious illness has affected at least 38 people and killed 17 in Badhaal village. On Saturday, Union Health Minister Amit Shah ordered the constitution of an inter-ministerial high-level team, which visited Rajouri on Sunday to further investigate and ascertain the causes of mass deaths in the past six weeks. They held a meeting with senior officials from the district administration, police, and doctors. Authorities have ordered the sealing of a spring, in which they said they found traces of some pesticides or insecticides. Meanwhile, Additional Deputy Commissioner (Kotranka sub-division) Dil Mir has directed round-the-clock deployment of two-three security personnel at the water source. Advertisement Samples of water taken from the spring (bawli)have tested positive for some pesticides or insecticides. The said bawli has been blocked by PHE (the Public Health Engineering Department), Jal Shakti division, Rajouri, and sealed by the magistrate concerned, Mir said in the order. There is an apprehension that the tribal population of the village may collect the flowing water of this spring stealthily. Therefore, tehsildar, Khawas, shall ensure that no villager must use the water from this spring in any case, the order further said. Experts from three of Indias top medical institutions the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh; National Institute of Virology, Pune; and the National Centre for Disease Control have earlier visited the village and conducted microbiological studies on some water and food samples collected there. Advertisement At the hospitals in Rajouri and Jammu, doctors had also collected blood and other samples of those from the village who were admitted and sent them to labs in different parts of the country. Authorities said the test reports ruled out any viral, bacterial or microbiological infections. However, experts said certain neurotoxins appear to have been found in the samples of those who have died so far. A special investigation team (SIT) has been constituted by the police to probe the mass deaths after neurotoxins were found in samples. Also, three houses belonging to the affected families have been sealed and 21 of their close relatives have been shifted to a government accommodation where they are kept under strict monitoring. Advertisement The ToI report quoted official sources as saying that police have quizzed around 20 people from the village, some related to the victims families. With inputs from agencies Ahead of his second inauguration, Donald Trump vowed to stop what he called the illegal invasion of the US and prevent World War 3 during his MAGA Victory rally at Capital One Arena in Washington DC. read more Soon-to-be sworn-in as the 47the President of the United States (Potus), Donald Trump vowed at a late Sunday pre-inauguration rally that he would stop the illegal invasion of America, prevent World War 3 from happening and end the Ukraine-Russia war. This came amid final preparations for his second inauguration as he returns to the White House. He held a rare pre-inauguration rally at Washington DCs Capital One Arena on the eve of his swearing-in ceremony. Advertisement It was his first address in Washington DC since January 6, 2021, when refused to accept the electoral loss to Joe Biden, whose tenure ends on Monday. After his last address, a mob of his supporters stormed the US Capitol in a bid to prevent transition of power from Trump to Biden as the US Congress sat to certify the 2020 election results. We are going to give them the best first day, the biggest first week and the most extraordinary first 100 days of any presidency in American history, Trump said. Trumps plan on immigration Trump said his administration would quickly re-establish control of the countrys borders and emphasised that we will begin the largest deportation exercise in American history. He promised to stop the invasion of our country by the time the sun sets tomorrow evening. All the illegal border trespassers will, in some form or another, be on their way back home. Before this, nobody could even think of open borders, prisons, mental institutions, men playing in womens sports, transgenders for everyone. We will expel every illegal alien gang member and migrant criminal operating on American soil, he said. Trump to reverse Bidens executive actions He also said that he will reverse the executive actions by outgoing President Joe Biden within hours of returning to the Oval Office. We are going to reclaim our wealth. We are going to unlock the liquid gold thats right under our feet, Trump said to his supporters. Trump takes credit for Gaza ceasefire Trump took credit for the Gaza ceasefire deal that ended the 15-month long conflict between Israel and Hamas. He claimed the war wouldnt have happened if he had been the US president at the time. We achieved an epic ceasefire agreement as a first step towards lasting peace in the Middle East. This agreement could have happened only as a result of our historic victory in November. The first hostages have just been released. Biden said that they made the deal, well. First of all, it [Gaza war] would never have happened if I were the President, he said. Advertisement Three Israeli hostages were released by Hamas on Sunday, after being held for 471 days since the attack on Israel on October 7, 2023. In return, Israel freed 90 Palestinian prisoners from its jails. Swearing-in ceremony Trumps swearing in as the 47th president of the United States is scheduled at 12 PM EST (10:30 PM IST) on Monday. The US Constitution requires each presidents term to begin at noon on January 20 (or the following day if it falls on a Sunday). The oath is usually administered by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. This is set to be the second time Chief Justice John Roberts administers the oath to Trump. Trump is to give an inaugural speech outlining his plans for the next four years. Incoming Vice President JD Vance would be sworn in after the address. (With inputs from agencies) Contrary to Manjari Chatterjee Millers assertion, Indias global rise does not portend an unstable tripolar world. Indias democratic system, rooted in its long democratic civilisational history, dedication to a rule-based order, and alignment with US objectives, set it apart from China read more Whether India reciprocates to the US strategic support or not, India's democratic rise is itself in the US long-term interest. Representational image. PTI In a recent article in Foreign Affairs, India Will Carve its Own Path: How a Rising New Delhi Will Shift the Global Balance of Power, Manjari Chatterjee Miller argues that the United States needs to stop obsessing about a bipolar world (the US and China) and start thinking about the ramifications of a tripolar (US, China, and India) world. She further adds in support of her article that, The United States consistently talks about investing in India and helping it be a counterweight to China. It hardly thinks of what it means when a country is a counterweight. Creating a counterweight implies helping a country rise enough to act as a possible pole. " If India is a true counterbalance to China, it will also consider itself a counterbalance to the United States. She further adds, Most International Relations theorists will tell you: tripolarity is not a recipe for global stability. Advertisement While she raises crucial points, her analysis doesnt fully reflect the ground realities. While India will rise, it isnt appropriate to see Indias rise in the same manner as other great powers and compare Indias rise with China. It is important to know how each country perceives her role in this international system. Her analysis carries greater prejudice and incorporates a reductionist approach. India and Chinas Worldviews Are Fundamentally Different One major issue in Millers argument is the implicit comparison of India and China as global poles. While China views the world differently, aspiring for dominance and projecting itself as the centre of global power. It operates with a sense of historical injustices and grievances. China believes it has been humiliated for one hundred years by foreign powers, what it refers to as a century of humiliation spanning from 1839 to 1949, and seeks to overcome this perceived humiliation by achieving the status of a predominant global power. This victim mentality is inherently revisionist in nature and dangerous for peace, as China thinks that it has the right to impose consequences on others for the historical injustices it suffered. China perceives the world as an empire and itself as the Middle Kingdom, grounding its strategic thinking in this framework. As part of this worldview, it views global relations in a tributary manner, expecting other countries to pay obeisance to China and disregarding the independent agency of other countries. In contrast, India sees the world differently. India does not aspire to dominate the world as China does. Its strategic culture prioritises engagement, dialogue, diplomacy, and collaboration. Throughout its long civilisational history, India has never sought to dominate or invade other countries. It views the world in a more pluralistic and Gandhian way rather than a hierarchical one. India, during its long civilisational history, has followed and advocated a middle path approach rather than an extreme one, reflecting its history of peaceful coexistence. India does aspire to be a global power, but not a dominant one. Its vision is to help and contribute to the world. Multipolarity is deeply rooted in Indias cultural soul and civilisational history. India envisions a multipolar world that aligns with its historical journey. It seeks to be a friend of the world, a Vishvamitra, and its philosophy is encapsulated in the idea of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakamthe world is one family. Advertisement The US Will Accommodate Indias RiseNot Chinas Miller misses an important point: Indias rise is essentially consistent with US interests, but Chinas ascent is increasingly antagonistic. China opposes the current order, aspires to dethrone the United States as the predominant power, and rejects democratic values. China is an autocratic country, and its political system cannot be compared with Indias. It aims to export its political system to other countries, as evident in its greater engagement with totalitarian regimes, which it finds easier to deal with. Furthermore, China actively supports such political systems worldwide, as they align with its long-term interests. This poses a direct challenge to the US, as China seeks to displace the US-led world order. In contrast, Indias rise is consistent with US objectives of promoting stability, economic prosperity, and shared democratic principles. In fact, America has already adjusted to Indias increasing role in the Indo-Pacific region, as every major US strategic document emphasises supporting Indias continued rise and leadership in the region. Advertisement Moreover, Indias democratic system is a key differentiator. Democracies like India, whose democratic ethos is rooted in its long civilisational history, dont pose an existential threat to other countries. On the contrary, they foster predictability, collaboration, engagement, and shared strategic goals. This alignment ensures that as India grows stronger and more influential, it will remain a beneficial partner rather than a counterbalance to US power. In fact, Indias democratic system supports US long-term strategic interests in maintaining its liberal world order. Indias working liberal democracy also sets standards for other countries in this region. In fact, when analysed deeply, Indias global rise is itself in the US long-term interest in the Indo-Pacific region and beyond. Advertisement Theoretical Overreach Ignores Ground Realities Millers emphasis on tripolarity is mainly based on theoretical frameworks, which frequently fail to account for ground realities. The difficulty with such overarching theoretical models, as demonstrated by Millers study, is that they reduce complex international relationships to rigid structures. The dynamics of Indias rise cannot be reduced to a bipolar or tripolar worldview; they are significantly more complex. Indias foreign policy and strategic discourse are rooted in its long civilisational history and philosophy and its perception of how it views its role in the world, rather than a desire to balance or counter any one state. The cooperation between the US and India, which is based on shared democratic values, economic complementarities, and geopolitical objectives, goes beyond simplistic polarisation theories. Furthermore, Indias relationship with Chinaoften marked by strategic competitionis motivated by national security imperatives rather than ambitions for global dominance. Advertisement Western Prejudices and Selective Narratives Millers interpretation reflects a broader propensity among Western scholars to apply generalised theoretical conceptions to international politics while ignoring ground reality. By viewing Indias rise as inherently unstable within a tripolar structure, such viewpoints risk reducing India to a geopolitical pawn rather than acknowledging it as a sovereign player with distinct goals. This type of analysis involves the selective use of facts to justify pre-existing mental conceptions. Indias foreign policy actions, domestic priorities, and geopolitical engagements speak for themselves, demonstrating a commitment to peaceful rise, multilateral cooperation, and regional stability. Theories should be used to help people comprehend reality rather than to obscure the truth. Moreover, many Western scholars tend to first adopt a theoretical model and then gather data to fit the framework they have already established. This approach is inherently biased. Setting a framework first and then collecting data to validate pre-existing assumptions and presumptions is neither objective nor reflective of reality. Additionally, as part of the power discourse aimed at shaping realities in a particular direction, Western scholars often rely on narrative building and application of these limited theoretical frameworks, such as realism, liberalism, and Marxism, to interpret and comprehend international reality. However, it is not necessary that geopolitical reality can only be understood through these frameworks. While the behaviour of some countries might align with these limited theoretical narratives, it is not always the case. Some countries may exhibit behaviour that lies outside these generalised overarching theoretical frameworks, highlighting the need for a more nuanced, inclusive, and constructive approach to understanding international relations. Conclusion: Contrary to Millers assertion, Indias global rise does not portend an unstable tripolar world. Indias democratic system, rooted in its long democratic civilisational history, dedication to a rule-based order, and alignment with US objectives, set it apart from China. The US should invest in Indias growthnot as a counterweight to China, but as a reliable ally and stabilising force in an uncertain world. Moreover, whether India reciprocates to the US strategic support or not, Indias democratic rise is itself in the US long-term interest. Rather than focusing on theoretical conceptions of polarity, scholars, practitioners, and policymakers must grapple with the realities of Indias rise. Indias role as a partner, not a pole, assures that its rise promotes global stability, prosperity, and global peace. Imran Khurshid is a visiting research fellow at the International Centre for Peace Studies, New Delhi. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstposts views. The best deterrent for India is a mix of external and internal balancing, with a desperate focus on accelerating internal growth, launching reforms, addressing inequality, de-risking and diversifying supply chains to boost manufacturing and build deep strengths. Image: Reuters File It seems a cliche to observe that India-China relationship is at a crossroads. Since April-May 2020, the giant Asian neighbours have been lurching from one crisis to another. And yet, not many would have wagered during the depths of the Galwan tragedy that both nations would arrive at a detente within four years of that calamity. In fact, 2024 ended on a note of rare optimism for both sides. Painstaking negotiations finally bore fruit as the last two remaining friction points in eastern Ladakh, Depsang and Demchok, eased into a resolution and a new set of arrangements was worked out. Troops pulled back to positions held before April 2020, disengagement was achieved through a verifiable step-by-step process and patrolling rights were restored. The two sides even exchanged sweets on Diwali. Advertisement An Indian inter-ministerial panel even cleared a few investment proposals in the electronics manufacturing sector for Chinese players, reflecting the improving sentiment. It may have also been a tacit admission from policymakers in New Delhi that preventing the influx of Chinese capital, technology and talent has had a deleterious effect on local industries that have struggled to scale up or even survive in absence of access to Chinese supply chains. Beijing wasted no time in pushing for resumption of direct flights in light of the thaw, but India has so far been hesitant. The hard-earned gains at the border have showed the value of diplomacy and mature leadership, but trust is still in short supply. The uneasy calm in the backdrop of 100,000 troops and their state-of-the-art fighting gear is still a far cry from the peace and tranquility that was destroyed by Chinese adventurism at multiple points along the LAC in April-May 2020. The cessation of forward deployments, creation of demilitarized zones, buffer zones or areas of limited patrolling, disengagement of troops leading to de-escalation and/or dismantling of structures along the LAC cannot immediately translate into normalization of ties, resumption of bilateral exchanges, reduction of tension and restoration of mutual trust. To quote former foreign secretary Vijay Gokhale in India Today, There is no guarantee that peace and tranquility will prevail along the LAC in 2025. China still thinks grey zone warfare is a cheap option to place fetters on India without serious backlash. Talk-and-deter must continue to remain the dual approach to dealing with China. Advertisement This sentiment runs across the length and breadth of the Indian state and its armed forces. The Indian side anticipates sudden escalation of hostilities and creation of new friction points along the LAC in absence of strategic trust and de-escalation of troops, and an overwhelming stabilization factor that may reduce the likelihood of a kinetic conflict. Right now, strategic logic leans towards confrontation as the new normal that must be managed through careful diplomacy. During the Army Day celebrations on January 15, for instance, COAS General Upendra Dwivedi told the media that while disengagement has been achieved in the two friction points at Eastern Ladakh in October last year, the standoff is not yet over. The terrain has been doctored by both sides, and while temporary moratoriums are maintained in buffer zones, further negotiations are essential for long-term resolution. Advertisement External affairs minister S Jaishankar, while apprising the Lok Sabha on December 3 on the agreement with China to disengage troops at Demchok and Depsang in Eastern Ladakh, said, we were and we remain very clear that the three key principles must be observed in all circumstances: (i) both sides should strictly respect and observe the LAC, (ii) neither side should attempt to unilaterally alter the status quo, and (iii) agreements and understandings reached in the past must be fully abided by in their entirety. The minister expanded on his remarks at Saturdays Nani Palkhivala Memorial lecture in Mumbai, where he said, At a time when most of its relationships are moving forward, India confronts a particular challenge in establishing an equilibrium with China Right now, the relationship is trying to disentangle itself from the complications arising from the post-2020 border situation. Even as that is being addressed, more thought needs to be given to the longer-term evolution of ties. Clearly, India has to prepare for expressions of Chinas growing capabilities, particularly those that impinge directly on our interests. Advertisement This scepticism, despite the forward movement achieved through painstaking diplomacy, is warranted. A snapshot of the latest developments indicates the myriad ways in which China poses a relentless challenge to the Indian state. Beijing has of late taken to imposing unofficial and undeclared sanctions on India in the electronics, solar, and electric vehicle (EV) sectors where Indian firms are experiencing delays and disruptions due to Chinas restrictions on export of key inputs and machinery, Economic Times reported last week quoting GTRI, a think tank. Indias imports from China, meanwhile, increased to $101.73 billion in 2023-24 from $98.5 billion in 2022-23, reflecting New Delhis inability in diversifying its supply chain and the handing of a potent economic weapon to Beijing. Advertisement In recent times, China has also announced the building of the worlds largest dam, a $137 billion hydropower project on the upstream Yarlung Tsangpo river in Tibet that enters India as Brahmaputra. The dam, that may generate more than 300 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity annually according to estimates by South China Morning Post, poses tremendous challenges to India the lower riparian nation in absence of a water-sharing treaty. Nothing stops Beijing from weaponizing the dam on a river on which India is critically dependent for drinking water, irrigation and generation of hydroelectricity. India has also lodged a formal protest in the New Year with China over the formation of two counties at Hotan prefecture that infringe on Indias sovereignty in Aksai Chin. An MEA spokesperson said we have never accepted the illegal Chinese occupation of Indian territory in this area. Creation of new counties will neither have a bearing on Indias long-standing and consistent position regarding our sovereignty over the area nor lend legitimacy to Chinas illegal and forcible occupation of the same. In this atmosphere of mistrust, coercion and competition interspersed with negotiation and cooperation, it is of vital importance that the India-China rivalry is perceived in public domain through the correct analytical framework. India has a sharp, experienced and dedicated community of China watchers, consisting chiefly of military officers (retired or active), but their valuable research output is consumed in-house within the government and remains out of bounds for the public. It is refreshing to see, therefore, a new crop of researchers in private and think tank space ready to do due diligence that this discipline deserves. I recently went through a paper, Negotiating the India-China Standoff: 20202024, by Saheb Singh Chadha of Carnegie India, who delivers a comprehensive analysis of the India-China border standoff from April-May 2020 to October 2024. Chadhas research aims to bridge a critical gap, as he puts it, in exploring the negotiating positions of both sides across the four years of the standoff. Chadha believes few works compare official statements across time and between the two countries. Analysis of Chinese statements and sources is particularly rare. The author relies on four types of resources for his work. Close textual observations of primary sources that are official statements released after interactions between the two sides through three channelsthe Senior Highest Military Commander Level (SHMCL) talks, the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination on India-China Border Affairs (WMCC) at the diplomatic level, and the meetings at the politico-strategic level between heads of state, foreign ministers, defense ministers, national security advisors, and special representatives on the India-China boundary question. He also follows official statements by government representatives, conducts interviews with stakeholders in GOI who have been involved in negotiations and decision-making on the standoff or have knowledge of India-China military dynamics along the border, and media reports. This analytical discipline leads him to observe that it is possible to divide the past four years of the standoff into three phases based on the negotiating positions of both sides. Between April and September 2020, both sides sought to manage the crisis, reduce tensions, and avoid a fatal clash akin to the Galwan incident". Between September 2020 and September 2022, both sides negotiated disengagement in four friction points in eastern Ladakh." Between September 2022 and July 2024, the gaps in their positions were visible. China signaled its unwillingness to disengage in Depsang and Demchok, preferring to treat them as legacy issues and wanting both sides to turn over a new leaf for the border situation whereas India stood by its demand for complete disengagement and de-escalation of troops, and restoration of patrolling rights in Depsang and Demchok before broader bilateral exchanges could deepen." The two sides have attempted to find consensus since July 2024 and, as a result, the situation underwent a change from October to December 2024. The author posits that India and China are faced with a classical security dilemma since China sees in Indias infrastructure build-up at the LAC an American ploy to contain it in the Indo-Pacific, whereas India views the development of border infrastructure as necessary for its security and the deepening of IndiaU.S. relations as necessary for its development and security. The paper recommends creation of a new modus vivendi and the developing of a new mutual political understanding to avoid slipping into a kinetic conflict and address the trust deficit, and identifies continued dialogue at the politico-strategic level to to push for further resolution of the standoff and to use it as a path to pursue trust-building between the two sides. It is questionable whether dialogue alone (regardless of the level where it is held at) would be enough to reintroduce mutual trust and prevent a relapse of the clashes between the two sides since China sees in the LAC kerfuffle a low-cost, dynamic option to keep India unstable. Also, since the gap between the two sides in terms of national composite power is substantial and widening and given the fact that China lacks an incentive to pause adventurism along the LAC talks alone may not be an effective enough deterrent. The best deterrent for India is a mix of external and internal balancing, with a desperate focus on accelerating internal growth, launching reforms, addressing inequality, de-risking and diversifying supply chains to boost manufacturing and build deep strengths. The writer is Deputy Executive Editor, Firstpost. He tweets as @sreemoytalukdar. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstposts views. Indonesia seeks closer defence ties with India and is keen to buy the Indian-made BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles, giving it a strong defence posture against China in the South China Sea read more President of Indonesia Prabowo Subianto will be the chief guest on Indias 76th Republic Day. Both nations share warm and friendly ties spanning over millennia. As a comprehensive strategic partner, Indonesia is an important pillar in Indias Act East Policy and central to its vision of the Indo-Pacific. It comes close to the Singapore Presidents state visit to India from January 14 to 18, 2025, again a testament to Indias growing strategic relations with ASEAN nations. Advertisement India and Indonesia had civilisational connections for more than two thousand years. Owing to their common struggle for independence, both became chief votaries of the independence of Asian and African countries and actively participated in the Non-Aligned Movement in 1961. Since the adoption of Indias Look East Policy in 1991, there has been a rapid development of bilateral relations in political, security, defence, commercial, and cultural fields. The invitation given to Indonesia reflects on the significance India attaches to its strategic, diplomatic, economic, and political ties with Jakarta. The forthcoming visit of Prabowo on January 25-26 is the fourth time Indonesias head of state has been invited as guest of honour at the Republic Day celebrations. Interestingly, SukarnoIndonesias first presidentwas the guest of honour during the first Republic Day of India in 1950. The visit of President Prabowo, as both countries are culminating the 75th anniversary celebrations of the establishment of diplomatic relations, is a significant milestone. Both countries have similar domestic and foreign policy objectives. Indonesia aims to be a developed country by 2045 and India by 2047. Both believe in an independent foreign policy without being part of any alliances. Our countries exhibit unique convergences and similar aspirations opening up the field for greater mutually rewarding collaborations. We expect the visit of President Prabowo to open new vistas of bilateral cooperation. - says Sandeep Chakravorty, Indias ambassador to Indonesia. Prabowos visit was officially announced just 10 days before his arrival. Typically, the guest of honour for Republic Day is confirmed in December. A potential reason for this delay was Indias displeasure and its subsequent efforts to dissuade President Prabowo from conjoining his visits to New Delhi and Islamabad in the same tour. Last time Indonesias President Jokowi, who was part of the ASEAN Heads of State as chief guest in 2018, chose to visit Pakistan after the republic day celebrations in New Delhi. This time around, to avoid bad optics in New Delhi, the Indonesian president will not be travelling to Pakistan right after his India trip. This asserts Indias policy of de-hyphenating relations with Pakistan and reflects on its rising prominence and respect for New Delhis sentiments by Jakarta. The economic relations between India and Indonesia have grown significantly. Bilateral trade between the two jumped from $4.3 billion in 2005-06 to $29.4 billion in 2023-24. Indonesia has risen to become the second largest trading partner of India in the ASEAN region after Singapore and our eighth largest trading partner overall. India is the second largest buyer of coal and crude palm oil from Indonesia and imports minerals, rubber, and hydrocarbon reserves. Advertisement India exports refined petroleum products, commercial vehicles, telecommunication equipment, and agricultural commodities to Indonesia. The commencement of the India-Indonesia Economic and Financial Dialogue (EFD Dialogue) in 2023 aims to enhance collaboration between the two nations. Taking the momentum forward, several agreements on health, education, digital and technology, security, and maritime might be signed during the upcoming visit. Being maritime neighbours and strategic partners, defence and security cooperation between the two has also increased over the past years. India is developing its maiden deep seaport in Sabang in Indonesias Aceh province that lies close to Indias southernmost territory of Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The port will be key to Indias Indo-Pacific strategy as it gives India better access to the Southeast Asian markets and provides a strategic hedge to Chinas increasing presence across the Strait of Malacca and the larger Indian Ocean region. Advertisement In 2012, both sides initiated the Defence Ministers Dialogue, followed by a defence cooperation agreement in 2018 during PM Modis visit that further elevated their defence and security cooperation. On one hand, Indonesia seeks closer defence ties with India and is keen to buy the Indian-made BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles, giving it a strong defence posture against China in the South China Sea. On the other hand, Indonesia is critical to Indias Act East Policy and its engagement in the ASEAN region as its largest country by economy, population, and land size. The shared culture, colonial history, and post-independence goals of political sovereignty and independent foreign policy have a significant effect on bilateral relations. President Prabowos visit should provide an opportunity for the leaders to undertake a comprehensive review of their ties as well as to discuss regional and global issues of mutual interest. It could further boost tourism and cultural and academic cooperation between the two. In specific, they must redeem blue economy opportunities based on geopolitical and geostrategic positions in their respective seas and oceans, leveraging their maritime resources for sustainable and win-win economic growth for both nations. Advertisement Mohit Anand is Professor of International Business and Strategy at EMLYON Business School, France. Rajesh Mehta is a leading consultant and columnist working on market entry, innovation and public policy. The views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the authors. They do not necessarily reflect Firstposts views. Amazon has paused all commercial drone deliveries for the foreseeable future, with one of the drones even catching fire after the crash. According to Amazon, the crashes were caused by a software issue triggered by light rain during the tests read more Amazon first began offering non-medical deliveries via drones in Texas in 2022, and by the following year, it had expanded the service to include prescription medications. Image Credit: Amazon Amazon has announced a temporary suspension of its drone delivery service in Texas and Arizona after two of its MK30 drones crashed during testing at the Pendleton, Oregon airport in December. The company has paused all commercial drone deliveries for the foreseeable future, with one of the drones even catching fire after the crash. The MK30, which is Amazons next-generation drone, is a lighter and more advanced model compared to the previous MK27. Despite its promising design, the incidents have raised questions about the reliability of the service. Advertisement Software glitch to blame for the crashes According to Amazon, the crashes were caused by a software issue triggered by light rain during the tests. Although the company confirmed that this was a factor, it insisted that the crashes werent the main reason for pausing the drone deliveries. In fact, the company stressed that the operational pause is a voluntary measure. A spokesperson for Amazon, Sam Stephenson, explained that the company is in the process of updating the drones software to address the issue and improve safety. Once the updates are made, Amazon will need to get approval from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) before it can restart operations. More testing challenges than expected This latest setback is just one in a series of challenges Amazon has faced during the testing of its drone delivery service. Earlier this year, two MK30 drones collided during another test, highlighting the hurdles that come with rolling out new technology. However, Amazon is not discouraged by these incidents. Stephenson explained that the company anticipated such issues during testing, as they are part of the process to make the drones safer and more reliable for future use. These incidents, he said, provide valuable lessons that will help Amazon fine-tune the system and improve overall safety standards. Amazons drone delivery expansion Amazon first began offering non-medical deliveries via drones in Texas in 2022, and by the following year, it had expanded the service to include prescription medications. In 2024, the company introduced the service in Phoenix, Arizona, but also put a halt to deliveries in California. While these ongoing technical challenges are certainly frustrating, Amazon remains committed to perfecting its drone delivery system. The suspension of operations in Texas and Arizona doesnt mean the end of the service, but rather a temporary pause to ensure the technology is up to scratch. Despite the setbacks, Amazon continues to work on its drone delivery plans, and employees at the affected sites in Texas and Arizona will remain on the payroll during the pause. The companys determination to address safety concerns and improve the technology shows that its dedicated to making drone deliveries a reliable part of its service in the future. While the FAAs approval is still needed for resumption, Amazons commitment to resolving these issues suggests that it wont be long before drone deliveries are back in action. The UKs National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) has linked Russia-backed Star Blizzard to efforts aimed at disrupting political processes in the UK and other countries. Microsoft described it as a sophisticated phishing attack targeting people involved in diplomacy and defense policy read more Russian hackers linked to the countrys FSB have recently set their sights on the WhatsApp accounts of government ministers and officials around the world. The group, known as Star Blizzard, is using a new tactic to gain access to sensitive information, as per a report by The Guardian. Victims receive emails that appear to be from a US government official, inviting them to join a WhatsApp group, as per a Microsoft blogspot. However, instead of adding them to a group, the QR code in the email links the recipients WhatsApp account to a device, giving the hackers access to personal messages. This marks a shift in the groups usual methods, which have often involved more traditional hacking strategies. Advertisement The UKs National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) has linked Star Blizzard to efforts aimed at disrupting political processes in the UK and other countries. Microsoft, which uncovered the campaign, described it as a sophisticated phishing attack targeting people involved in diplomacy, defense policy, and Ukraine-related matters. The attack raises concerns over the growing tactics of state-backed cybercriminals and the evolving threats to international security. How the WhatsApp phishing attack works The attack begins with an email disguised as an official invitation from a US government official, offering access to a WhatsApp group focused on supporting Ukraines non-governmental organizations. Instead of adding the recipient to the group, the QR code within the email connects the victims WhatsApp account to a hackers device or WhatsApp Web. This gives the attackers the ability to read messages and potentially steal data. While Microsoft hasnt confirmed whether data was successfully stolen, the risk of personal information being accessed is significant. This approach highlights a new level of sophistication in the way hackers are targeting high-profile individuals. Rather than relying on simple, broad-based attacks, they are now tailoring their efforts to specific individuals in key positions, hoping to get valuable, sensitive information. Star Blizzards focus on politics and international relations Star Blizzards targets havent just been random individuals, as per the report by The Guardian. The hackers have been going after government ministers, officials, and even people involved in diplomacy and international relations, particularly those connected to the ongoing war in Ukraine. The group seems to be aiming for people whose work could provide valuable insights into political or defence matters. This isnt the first time Star Blizzard has attempted to interfere in political processes. In 2023, the NCSC linked the group to attacks on British MPs, universities, and journalists, all in an effort to influence UK politics. In response, the UK government imposed sanctions on two key members of the group. This ongoing activity shows just how persistent and strategic these cybercriminals can be in their attempts to infiltrate sensitive political and diplomatic circles. The growing threat of quishing and how to stay safe This new attack also signals the rise of a cybercrime tactic known as quishing, a term used for phishing attacks involving QR codes. As QR codes become more popular for everything from payments to event check-ins, hackers are increasingly using them to trick people into giving up access to their accounts. For those targeted, this can be a tough risk to spot, especially when the emails appear legitimate. To protect yourself, experts recommend being extra cautious with emails that include links or QR codes, particularly if they come from unknown sources. If youre ever in doubt, reach out to the sender through a trusted communication method to verify the message. WhatsApp also advises users to only link their accounts to companion devices through official services and not third-party websites. By staying alert, you can help ensure that you dont fall victim to these increasingly sophisticated scams. While TikToks comeback has sparked celebrations, the ongoing debates surrounding its ban in the US and Xs ban in China continue to stir up controversy, especially for Musk. Musk has been vocal about his opposition to the ban on TikTok, arguing that it is against freedom of speech read more While TikTok is allowed to operate freely in the US, Musk pointed out that his platform, X, is banned in China. Musk stated that the situation is "unbalanced" and added, Something needs to change. Image Credit: Reuters Over the weekend, TikToks US-based users rejoiced as the platform was restored after being briefly banned. This sudden return has sparked discussions among key figures, including former President Donald Trump, who is set to take office again tomorrow. Trump shared his plans to work on reinstating TikTok in the US, promising an executive order on his first day to extend the timeline for finding new ownership and eliminating liability for companies providing the app. Advertisement Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and owner of X (formerly Twitter), has also voiced his concerns over the situation, calling for changes in the global tech landscape. While TikToks comeback has sparked celebrations, the ongoing debates surrounding its ban in the US and Xs restriction in China continue to stir up controversy. Trump pushes for TikToks US continuation As TikTok resumed operations in the US, Donald Trump took to his platform, Truth Social, to announce his commitment to resolving the apps uncertain future. With his inauguration tomorrow, Trump promised an executive order on his first day in office, which would extend the deadline for TikToks sale and remove any legal responsibility for service providers that continue to offer the app. Trumps approach suggests a plan for a joint venture involving a 50 per cent US stake in TikTok, aiming to ensure its continued availability and popularity in the US while maintaining global appeal. His support has added fuel to the ongoing debate, with many fans praising his vision for the apps future. Musk calls out Chinas ban on X Elon Musk, no stranger to making headlines, has been vocal about his opposition to the ban on TikTok, arguing that it undermines freedom of speech. Musk took to X to highlight what he sees as an imbalance in the way social media platforms are treated across different countries. I have been against a TikTok ban for a long time, because it goes against freedom of speech. That said, the current situation where TikTok is allowed to operate in America, but is not allowed to operate in China is unbalanced. Something needs to change. https://t.co/YVu2hkZEVZ Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 19, 2025 While TikTok is allowed to operate freely in the US, Musk pointed out that his platform, X, is banned in China. He stated that the situation is unbalanced and added, Something needs to change. His criticism draws attention to the growing disparity in the global tech landscape, where restrictions on certain platforms are creating tensions and raising questions about fairness. Advertisement App stores take action against Chinese apps The TikTok debate is not the only issue in the spotlight. Apple also made waves over the weekend by removing 11 apps associated with TikToks parent company, ByteDance, from the US App Store. These apps, which had been available for download, are now blocked, with users who previously had them installed facing limited access. This move follows broader efforts by the US government to limit the influence of Chinese-owned tech companies, with a specific focus on ensuring national security. The crackdown has intensified questions about censorship and free speech, as Apples decision further complicates the delicate balance between regulating foreign tech and protecting user rights. As Trump prepares to take office again and Musk continues to push for greater freedom of speech, its clear that the global tech debate is far from over. TikToks return to the US and the ongoing tension between American and Chinese tech policies could shape the future of social media and international relations for years to come. Advertisement Situated in Balochistan, a province long plagued by insurgency and calls for independence, Gwadar airport aims to bolster connectivity in a strategically important yet volatile area read more Chinese Premier Li Qiang and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif unveil a plaque to mark the completion of the New Gwadar International Airport in Islamabad on October 14, 2024. Reuters File Pakistans largest airport, constructed and funded by Beijing in the countrys restive southwest, has officially begun operations, officials said on Monday. Situated in Balochistan, a province long plagued by insurgency and calls for independence, Gwadar airport aims to bolster connectivity in a strategically important yet volatile area. At the airports inauguration ceremony, Pakistani Defence Minister Khawaja Mohammad Asif and Chinese officials were present to witness the arrival of the inaugural flight from Pakistan International Airlines, which originated from Karachi. Advertisement The ceremony follows a virtual inauguration of the airport months earlier by Chinese Premier Li Qiang and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. Defence Minister Asif thanked China for building the airport and said the airport would play a key role in improving the countrys economy, attracting international investment and bringing prosperity to Balochistan. Heres all you need to know about the airport: Gwadar airport is designed to handle up to 400,000 travelers annually, enhancing the regions ability to support increased passenger and cargo traffic. Funded by China at an estimated cost of $230 million, the airport is part of a broader investment strategy in Gwadar, which also includes a deep seaport and other infrastructure projects under the Belt and Road Initiative. The airport is a key component of Chinas Belt and Road Initiative, aimed at enhancing trade routes and providing Beijing with direct access to the Arabian Sea shipping lanes through the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor. Work on the airport began in 2019, but its opening was delayed due to security concerns, including a rise in attacks on Chinese nationals involved in various projects in the region. Despite the potential benefits, the project faces opposition from ethnic Baloch groups who accuse the Chinese and the Pakistani government of economic exploitation, raising concerns about local impact and equity in development. The Ministry of Planning and Development said the airport can handle a combination of ATR 72, Airbus, (A-300), Boeing (B-737), and Boeing (B-747) for domestic and international routes. Gwadar airport is the countrys largest in terms of area, spread over 4,300 acres of land, according to Pakistans civil aviation. With inputs from agencies Israels prison service, early on Monday, said that 90 Palestinian prisoners have been released as part of the hostages for prisoners swap deal between Israel and Hamas. The key development comes seven hours after three Israeli women held hostage by Hamas were freed read more Palestinian freed prisoners wave to the crowd from a Red Cross bus that drove them out of the Israeli Ofer military prison in the occupied West Bank, as they arrive in Beitunia, on the outskirts of Ramallah, in the early hours of January 20, 2025. Source: AFP. Israel on Monday released 90 Palestinian prisoners, about seven hours after Iran-backed terrorist group - Hamas - freed three Israeli women hostages, completing the first exchange under a long-awaited ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. The 90 Palestinians and three Israelis were freed as part of the hostage for prisoners swap deal between Israel and Hamas who have been at war since October 7, 2023. The initial 42-day truce was brokered by Qatari, US and Egyptian mediators. Advertisement The Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal, which took effect on the eve of Donald Trumps inauguration for a second term as US President, aimed at ending the more than 15-month war in Gaza. Who are 3 Israeli women hostages freed by Hamas On Sunday afternoon, three women hostages Damari (28), Romi Gonen (24) and Doron Steinbrecher (31) were released by Hamas and were handed over to the International Committee for the Red Cross in Gaza. They were then reunited with their families and taken to hospital in central Israel where a doctor said they were in stable condition. Damari, who has joint British and Israeli citizenship, was kidnapped by Hamas on October 7, 2023 from her apartment in the Kfar Aza kibbutz, along with 37 other residents of the community on the Gaza border. She was the only hostage with British citizenship being held. Meanwhile, Gonen, a former volunteer scouts counsellor, was attending the Nova music festival, a dance party close to the Gaza border, when she was abducted after being shot in the hand by Hamas gunmen on October 7, 2023. Steinbrecher, a veterinary nurse, was abducted from her home in Kfar Aza when gunmen entered her safe room during the October 7, 2023 attack. Israel releases 90 Palestinian prisoners Hours after Hamas freed three Israeli women hostages, Israel released 90 Palestinian prisoners in the Israeli-occupied West Bank who left the prison with jubilant crowds celebrating their arrival in the nearby town of Beitunia waving the flags of Palestine and Hamas. Ahead of the return of the Israeli hostages, the Israel Prisons Service bussed the first round of Palestinian prisoners to Ofer Prison in the West Bank, where Israeli security forces and Red Cross representatives verified each prisoners identity and performed medical checks on them before releasing them in coordination with security forces and the government. Advertisement Palestinian reports say some of the released prisoners were taken to Ramallah and their East Jerusalem homes. According to a report by The Times of Israel, the prisoners released include 78 West Bank residents. They were released at the Beitunia Checkpoint near Ofer Prison. The remaining 12 East Jerusalem residents were transported back to the city and released back to their homes from the Russian Compound detention center. Those released include 69 women including one minor eight male minors, and 12 men sentenced for relatively minor offenses like incitement, identifying with terrorism and disorderly conduct, a report by Ynet said. During this initial truce, 33 Israeli hostages, 31 of whom were taken by Hamas during the October 7, 2023 attack, are due to be returned from Gaza in exchange for around 1,900 Palestinians. Advertisement Of those, more than 230 Palestinian prisoners serving life sentences for deadly attacks against Israelis are slated for deportation, according to a list made public by the Israeli authorities. A report by AFP quoted two Hamas officials as saying the prisoners would be deported mainly to Qatar or Turkey. The first phase of Israel-Hamas ceasefire will last 42 days, and negotiations on the far more difficult second phase are meant to begin just over two weeks in. After those six weeks, Israels security Cabinet will decide how to proceed. With inputs from agencies Even as Palestinians have started returning to their homes in the Gaza Strip, most of them are unlikely to find anything resembling a home as figures with the United Nations (UN) say that up to 92% homes have been either destroyed completely or partially damaged in the war read more Following the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, displaced Palestinians have started returning to their homes, but most of them are not likely to find anything intact when they would get back to their neighbourhoods many of them left unrecognisable after more than a year of incessant bombardment. As many as 92 per cent of houses in the Gaza Strip have been destroyed or damaged in Gaza, according to the United Nations (UN). Advertisement Out of the pre-war Gazan population of around 2.1 million, nearly 1.9 million have been displaced internally in Gaza from the war. Most of the people have been forced to locate to southern Gaza from the north where large swathes of territories have been reduced to rubble from more than a year of bombardment and ground combat. Throughout the war, Israel has faced accusations of needless bombardment of civilian areas with little regard to civilians lives. On its part, Israel has flagged the usage of civilian neighbourhoods and facilities, such as hospitals by Hamas and other terrorist groups, to justify its aerial and ground operations in these areas. Out of total 436,000 housing units affected by the war, the UN has said that 160,000 have been completely destroyed and 276,000 have been damaged partially. Displaced Palestinians returning to the war-devastated Jabaliya in the Gaza Strip. (Photo: AFP) On the website of its humanitarian agency, the UN has flagged shortages facing displaced Palestinians. It said that instead of minimum mandated area of 3.5 square metres, people are only getting 1.5 square metres of space per persons in UN shelters. It further said that as many as 450,000 people are forced to live in flood-prone areas and 945,000 people in need of support to survive winters. In more than a year of war, nearly 46,000 Palestinians have been killed, according to Hamas-run Gazan authorities, which do not distinguish between combatants and non-combatants in their tally. Earlier in the war, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had said that nearly half of all deaths were those of civilians because terrorists had used them as human shields. For long before the war, Hamas and other Palestinian terrorist groups, such as the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), had used residential areas, schools, and hospitals to hide, store weapons, and as a launchpad for attacks on Israel. Hamas has also long been known to have infiltrated the UN agencies functioning in Gaza. Over the years, several UN staffers have been found to be members of Hamas not just rank and file members but commanders. Advertisement Top US, Canadian banks pull out from a global banking sector climate coalition - Net Zero Banking Alliance (NZBA), while European banks threatened to withdraw unless it softens its rules, read more to know whats happening read more A sign is displayed on the Morgan Stanley building in New York, US. Source: Reuters. In a major blow against climate change, a host of worlds largest financial institutions have withdrawn from a major global climate financing initiative Net-Zero Banking Alliance (NZBA). The global body of central banks and regulators is dedicated towards exploring ways to police climate risk in the financial system. This rush to exit the net-zero banking alliance comes as world leaders, important business and industry personnel gathered on Monday at Davos, a town in Switzerland, for the annual World Economic Forum (WEF) where they will discuss and respond to geopolitical shocks and talk about how to facilitate growth to improve living standards. Advertisement The flight of banks from the UN-sponsored NZBA began at the start of December when six top US banks Citigroup, Bank of America, Morgan Stanley, Wells Fargo, Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan pulled out from the coalition. But, what is Net-Zero Banking Alliance? The NZBA is convened by the UN Environment Programme finance initiative but led by banks. Launched in 2021, it encourages members (financial institutions) to align their lending, investment and capital markets activities with net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 or earlier, as well as limit the effect of climate change and push towards achieving net-zero emissions. US Fed withdraws from global regulatory climate change group In the latest, the US Federal Reserve announced on Friday that it was exiting the Network of Central Banks and Supervisors for Greening the Financial System (NGFS) because its increasingly broadened scope had fallen outside the Feds statutory mandate. It joined the group in 2020. Feds withdrawal came barely three days before Donald Trump is set to take office on Monday (January 20). The US President-elect Trump has been critical of efforts by governments to prescribe climate-change policies. Canadas 4 biggest lenders pull out from global banking sector climate coalition The same day, four of the biggest lenders in Canada TD Bank, Bank of Montreal, National Bank of Canada, and Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce also announced that they were pulling out from a global banking sector climate coalition. The Canadian banks in separate statements said they were equipped to work outside the alliance and develop their climate strategies. The NZBA was formed at a time when the global industry was scaling up efforts to take action on climate, and served a valuable role in galvanising these efforts and establishing momentum, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce said in a statement. As this space has evolved and matured, and having made significant progress alongside our clients in these areas, we are now well-positioned to further this work outside of the formal structure of the NZBA, it said. European banks threaten to pull out Amid this, top lenders in Europe on Monday (January 20) threatened to pull out of the climate alliance unless it softens its rules, as executives on both sides of the Atlantic worry about the future of net zero collaboration ahead of Trumps inauguration. Why are world banks pulling out of NZBA? The Net Zero Asset Managers, quoted in a report by Financial Times, said, Several banks have said that unless the banking alliance goes the same way [as] the asset management initiative, they will begin the process to leave, said one person familiar with their thinking. Those lenders wanted to end all formal tracking and any issues that are perceived contrary to US antitrust." Meanwhile, a report by The Guardian cited analysts as saying that the withdrawals are an attempt to head off anti-woke attacks from rightwing US politicians, which are expected to escalate when Trump is sworn in as the president. Advertisement Trumps vows to deregulate the energy sector, dismantle environmental rules and drill, baby, drill, were a big part of his campaign platform and are expected to form a key part of his blueprint for governing the US, which is the worlds biggest oil and gas producer. Citigroup was one of NZBAs founding members. A spokesperson for the bank said Citigroups decision to quit would allow it to focus on addressing barriers to mobilising capital to emerging markets in support of the low-carbon transition We remain committed to reaching net zero and continue to be transparent about our progress." Detailing its decision of withdrawal, JP Morgan said it would work independently to advance the interests of our firm and its customers and shareholders, while remaining focused on pragmatic solutions to help further low-carbon technologies while advancing energy security. Advertisement A spokesperson for Goldman Sachs said the bank was very focused on increasingly stringent standards and reporting requirements imposed by regulators, and insisted the bank had made significant progress on the firms net zero goals. With inputs from agencies Amid threats of tariffs from US President-elect Donald Trump that could cost the UK 2.5 billion per year, British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has put in motion a plan secure a trade deal with the United States read more British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has put in motion a plan secure a trade deal with the incoming Donald Trump administration of the United States. The development comes as Trump has indicated he would penalise countries with higher tariffs that do not trade with the United States on terms that appease him. He has already pledged to impose steep tariffs on Mexico and Canada and has indicated imposing tariffs on more countries soon after assuming office. Advertisement To negotiate the trade deal with Trump, Starmer has set up a mini-Cabinet comprising senior ministers and officials, according to The Daily Telegraph. While Starmer chairs the mini-Cabinet, National Security Adviser Jonathan Powell convenes these meetings. Since the Covid-19 pandemic, the British economy has been performing poorly and tariffs could deal a major blow. The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) has estimated that the British economy would lose up to 2.5 billion per year if Trump would impose 20 per cent tariffs. The analysis said that automobile, aerospace, pharmaceuticals, and machinery sectors would be affected the most. Starmer counts on Trumps longstanding affection for UK Even as Trumps principal ally, Elon Musk, is plotting to overthrow his government, Starmer is counting on Trumps longstanding affection for the United Kingdom to come to a negotiated solution the threat of tariffs. Since our first meeting in September, the president and I have spoken about the need to deepen and invest in the trans-Atlantic relationship. We will continue to build upon the unshakeable foundations of our historic alliance as we tackle together the global challenges we face and take our partnership to the next level focused on shared opportunities ahead for growth, said Starmer on Sunday, as per The Telegraph. The mini-Cabinet that Starmer has set up includes Chancellor Rachel Reeves, Foreign Secretary David Lammy, Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds, and NSA Powell. In a separate interview with Financial Times, Starmer said that tariffs were not in anyones interests. Tariffs arent in anybodys interests. Our ambition is to have a deal of some sorts with the US, a trade deal. Thats where our focus is, said Starmer. Advertisement The Telegraph has reported that senior Foreign Office officials have been urging the business department to speed up plans for a UK-US trade deal. Darren Jones, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, said that Trump is well known for wanting to do a good deal. I think there are plenty of good deals for us to do together. There are definitely opportunities to deepen our trading relationships, not least in technology, science and research and I think thats something that could be a positive outcome, said Jones. The UN reports 915 aid trucks entered Gaza on Monday during a fragile ceasefire. Despite increased deliveries, looting, displacement, and logistical hurdles hinder relief efforts for 2.3 million residents read more The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said 915 aid trucks entered the Gaza Strip on Monday, the second day of a ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian militants Hamas after 15 months of war. OCHA cited information from Israel and the ceasefire guarantors, the US, Qatar and Egypt. On Sunday, the UN said some 630 aid trucks entered the Palestinian enclave, with at least 300 of them going to the north, where experts have warned a famine looms. Advertisement The ceasefire deal requires 600 truckloads of aid to be allowed into Gaza every day of the initial six-week ceasefire, including 50 carrying fuel. Half of the 600 aid trucks would be delivered to Gazas north. Data from the UN Palestinian relief agency UNRWA showed 2,892 aid trucks entered Gaza in December. Aid is dropped off on the Gaza side of the border, where it is picked up by the UN and distributed. But gangs and looters have made that hard. Data from OCHA shows 2,230 aid truckloads - an average of 72 a day - were picked up in December, while between Jan. 1-5 it was a daily average of 51. Israel has laid waste to much of Gaza and the pre-war population of 2.3 million people has been displaced multiple times. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has described the humanitarian situation as catastrophic. Guterres told the UN Security Council on Monday that the UN still faces significant obstacles, challenges and constraints. He said the UN, aid groups and the private sector need rapid, safe and unimpeded access. Visas, permits, and other enabling conditions must be in place quickly to allow a surge of desperately needed relief, he told the 15-member council. We require the necessary technical, protective and communications equipment. Advertisement Guterres said the parties - Israel and Hamas - must coordinate with the UN in a timely and effective manner so it can do its humanitarian work. This also includes the restoration of public order and safety to prevent the looting of humanitarian supplies, he added. He urged countries to take in people who need medical treatment, for sufficient commercial supplies to be able to enter Gaza and for explosive ordnances to be removed. Israel says Hamas killed some 1,200 people in the Oct. 7, 2023 attack that triggered the war and the Gaza health ministry says more than 47,000 Palestinians have been killed in the conflict. Advertisement US President-elect Donald Trump has reportedly expressed interest of visiting India and China soon after assuming his second term in the Oval office on Monday, January 20. He is likely to travel to China within his first 100 days in office as part of his effort to deepen relations with Beijing read more Donald Trump with China's President Xi Jinping at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, November 9, 2017. Source: Reuters | File. Donald Trump is expected to travel to China and meet Xi Jinping by April this year as he seeks to improve strained ties following threats of imposing more steep tariffs on Chinese imports. A report by The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) quoted sources as saying that Trump has told advisers he wants to travel to China after he takes office. One of the sources said Trump has expressed interest in traveling to China in his first 100 days in office. Advertisement Trump takes oath as the 47th President of the United States on Monday, January 20. For the event, he had invited Xi, but the Chinese leader is sending Chinas Vice President Han Zheng instead. On Friday (January 17), Trump dialed Xi for the first time since the November 5 election and during the call, discussed trade, fentanyl, TikTok among other matters. US-China can solve many problems together After the call, Trump wrote on social media, It is my expectation that we will solve many problems together, and starting immediately. The WSJ report cited people close to Beijings decision-making as saying that Trump and Xi, through their representatives, have discussed meeting in person, with one option involving the incoming president inviting the Chinese leader to the US. However, it is not clear if Trump raised a visit to China in his conversation with Xi on Friday. Detailing about Trump-Xis phone call on Friday, Chinas official account said that both the leaders agreed upon establishing a strategic communication channel. It also quoted Trump telling Xi that he was looking forward to meeting with President Xi as soon as possible. During the call on Friday, Xi reportedly reminded Trump to handle the issue of Taiwan with prudence," calling it a concern of national sovereignty and territorial integrity. For Trump, Xi could be a perfect partner in helping bring the war in Ukraine to an end, as China has provided support to Russia, drawing the ire of US lawmakers. Advertisement Last time Trump visited Beijing was in late 2017, months after a face-to-face meeting with Xi at Mar-a-Lago, his Florida estate. Trump likely to visit India The WSJ report cited sources further saying that Trump also spoke to advisers about a possible trip to India where he would meet President Droupadi Murmu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, among other leaders. His India visit is also likely to be as early as April this year. Preliminary discussions have already been initiated with Indias External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar during his visit to Washington last month with follow-up action expected in the coming week after Trumps inauguration when the EAM is expected to parley with his counterparts from US, Japan, and Australia to discuss the upcoming Quad summit. After taking oath as the US President on Monday, Trumps initial focus is expected to be on domestic moves, including sharp new border security measures and increased deportations. In the first week of his presidency, Trump is expected to travel around the US to tout executive orders hes planning to sign on energy and other issues. He is also planning to tour fire-ravaged Los Angeles later in the week. Advertisement With inputs from agencies The plan, issued by the Communist Partys central committee and the State Council on Sunday, aims to establish a high quality education system with accessibility and quality among the best in the world read more Students hold Chinese flags and cutouts of red stars as they perform a song titled "Me and my country", at a ceremony marking the primary school's new semester in Hohhot, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, China. Reuters China issued its first national action plan to build a strong education nation by 2035, which it said would help coordinate its education development, improve efficiencies in innovation and build a strong country. The plan, issued by the Communist Partys central committee and the State Council on Sunday, aims to establish a high quality education system with accessibility and quality among the best in the world. The announcement was made after data on Friday showed Chinas population fell for a third consecutive year in 2024, with the number of deaths outpacing a slight increase in births, and experts cautioning that the downturn will worsen in the coming years. Advertisement High childcare and education costs have been a key factor for many young Chinese opting out of having children, at a time when many face uncertainty over their job prospects amid sluggish economic growth. By 2035, an education power will be built, the official Xinhua news agency said, adding that China would explore gradually expanding the scope of free education, increase high-quality undergraduate enrolment, expand postgraduate education, and raise the proportion of doctoral students. The plan aims to promote healthy growth and all-round development of students, making sure primary and secondary school students have at least two hours of physical activity daily, to effectively control the myopia, or nearsightedness, and obesity rates. Popularising mental health education and establishing a national student mental health monitoring and early warning system would also be implemented, it said. It also aims to narrow the gap between urban and rural areas to improve the operating conditions of small-scale rural schools and improve the care system for children with disabilities and those belonging to agricultural migrant populations. The plan also aims to steadily increase the supply of kindergarten places and the accessibility of preschool education. Tradition dictates that Inauguration Day is primarily about pomp and circumstance. One president leaves the White House, and another takes it read more U.S. President-elect Donald Trump speaks as Tesla CEO and X owner Elon Musk gestures during a rally the day before Trump is scheduled to be inaugurated for a second term, in Washington, U.S. Reuters Donald Trump will be sworn in as President of the United States on Monday, beginning his second term and crowning one of the most incredible political comebacks in American history. Tradition dictates that Inauguration Day is primarily about pomp and circumstance. One president leaves the White House, and another takes it. However, Trump has promised to execute a flurry of executive orders on issues ranging from border security to oil and gas production on his first day in office. Advertisement Heres all we know about Inauguration Day: When is the inauguration? Trump will take the oath of office at 12 p.m. EST (1700 GMT), delivered by Chief Justice of the United States John Roberts. It was scheduled to take place in front of the United States Capitol, but due to the harsh weather, it will now be held inside the congressional building. Trump will then give his inaugural address. In interviews, he has stated that he wants it to be uplifting and unifying. This would be a change from his previous Inauguration Day speech in 2017, which highlighted a damaged country he referred to as American carnage. The outgoing president, Democrat Joe Biden, has stated that he intends to attend the ceremony and observe the transition of power, a courtesy that Trump, a Republican, did not provide him four years ago. Country music star Carrie Underwood is scheduled to perform at the swearing-in ceremony. Who is invited? Trump has broken with precedent and invited several foreign leaders to the ceremony. Historically, they have not attended the inauguration due to security concerns and have sent diplomats in their stead. Argentinas president, Javier Milei, a strong supporter of Trumps, has said he will attend, according to reports. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has said she hopes to attend. Chinese President Xi Jinping is not attending, despite an invitation, but is sending a senior envoy. Trump adviser Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, Jeff Bezos, executive chairman of Amazon and Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta Platforms, are also attending. Advertisement Parade to the White House The temperatures have also forced organizers to scrap a planned parade down Pennsylvania Avenue of military regiments, school marching bands, floats and citizens groups. The parade will now take place at the 20,000-seat Capital One Arena in downtown Washington. Getting to work During a rally on Sunday, Trump said he would sign a number of executive actions on Monday covering a range of issues, from ending government programs aimed at ensuring gender and racial diversity in the workplace to securing the southern border with Mexico. A source familiar with the planning said Trump is preparing to sign more than 200 executive actions on Day One. Advertisement The actions will focus in large part on border security. Among them are directives to classify drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations, declare an emergency at the U.S.-Mexico border and move toward reinstatement of the Remain in Mexico policy which forces non-Mexican asylum seekers to wait in Mexico for their U.S. court dates. He is expected to sign orders that give immigration officers more latitude to arrest migrants with no criminal records, send more troops to the U.S.-Mexico border and restart construction of a border wall. The orders will include a drive to increase fossil fuel production and follow through on Trumps oft-stated campaign vow to drill, baby, drill. Advertisement Trump said on Sunday he would issue a wave of pardons for defendants convicted for their participation in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. Trump also said he would restore TikToks access to the U.S. market on Monday. Parties and a rally There will be at least 18 inaugural galas held throughout Washington over the weekend and Monday, three of which are considered official and which Trump is expected to attend. On Sunday, the eve of the inauguration, Trump held a campaign-style Make America Great Again Victory Rally at the Capital One Arena. It was Trumps first rally in the District of Columbia since the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. Advertisement On Monday, Metas Zuckerberg will co-host a reception for billionaire Republican donors along with casino magnate Miriam Adelson and Houston Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta, Trumps pick for ambassador to Italy. Oil and gas tycoon Harold Hamm, a top Trump donor, will host an inauguration watch party on Monday on the roof of the historic Hay-Adams hotel near the White House. Who covers the costs? The official events are financed by Trumps inauguration committee, which is chaired by longtime Trump allies Steve Witkoff, a real estate developer who is Trumps pick to be his Middle East envoy, and Kelly Loeffler, a former U.S. senator and Trumps choice to head the Small Business Administration. The committee will be responsible for covering the costs of everything but the swearing-in ceremony at the Capitol, which is borne by taxpayers. Bezos and Zuckerberg pledged to donate $1 million each to the committee, as have Apple CEO Tim Cook and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. Uber and its CEO, Dara Khosrowshahi, have each donated $1 million to the fund. Trump raised a record $106.7 million for his 2017 inauguration festivities. His committee has raised more than $170 million this time, according to media reports. With inputs from agencies This case follows a related WTO challenge launched by the EU in 2022, accusing China of preventing European patent holders from pursuing legal action in European courts to protect their intellectual property read more EU and Chin have a long history of trade disputes, especially oer tariffs, being brought to WTO. Representational Image - Reuters The European Union launched a new challenge at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) on Monday (January 20) against China over its rules on royalty rates for high-tech patents, further straining trade relations between Beijing and Brussels. The European Commission accused China of pressuring European high-tech firms to lower their fees by allowing Chinese courts to impose binding global royalty rates. The EUs vibrant high-tech industries must be allowed to compete fairly and on a level playing field, said EU Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic. Where this is not the case, the Commission takes decisive action to protect their rights. Advertisement The move comes amid rising global trade tensions, with the inauguration of tariff-supporting Donald Trump as US president adding to the uncertain climate. A long history of EU-China trade conflict The latest challenge also builds on long-standing disputes between the EU and China, including mutual accusations of unfair trade practices and retaliatory measures. Last year, the EU imposed significant tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, a move Beijing contested by filing a WTO complaint. China also targeted European brandies and launched investigations into EU subsidies for dairy and pork products. The current case centres on standard essential patents, which protect technologies essential for manufacturing goods that meet specific standards. European companies, particularly in the telecom sector, hold many of these patents, the EU said. By allowing its courts to set global royalty rates, the EU alleges that China is unfairly giving its companies cheaper access to patented European technologies. The practice also interferes with the jurisdiction of European courts on patent issues, according to the Commission. A step-by-step process Brussels said it had requested consultations at the WTO, the first step in the bodys dispute settlement process, after efforts to negotiate a solution with Beijing failed. Under WTO rules, the parties have 60 days to resolve the dispute before the EU can request a ruling by a panel. This case follows a related WTO challenge launched by the EU in 2022, accusing China of preventing European patent holders from pursuing legal action in European courts to protect their intellectual property. China is the EUs second-largest trading partner after the United States, with bilateral trade totalling 739 billion ($762 billion) in 2023. With inputs from agencies In the north of the territory, where some of the most intense Israeli airstrikes and battles with the militants took place, drone footage showed hundreds of people walking on a dusty road through a devastated landscape of crushed concrete and twisted metal read more A man throws a child into the air as displaced Palestinians celebrate at a tent camp following a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, in Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip. Reuters Thousands of Palestinians burst into the streets across Gaza as a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas began on Sunday, some in celebration, others to visit the graves of relatives, while many rushed back to see what remained of their homes. I feel alive again, said Aya, a displaced woman from Gaza City who has been sheltering in Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip for over a year. I feel like at last I found some water to drink after getting lost in the desert for 15 months, she told Reuters via a chat app. Advertisement In the north of the territory, where some of the most intense Israeli airstrikes and battles with the militants took place, drone footage showed hundreds of people walking on a dusty road through a devastated landscape of crushed concrete and twisted metal. One displaced family arriving back in Jabalia, the largest of Gazas eight historic refugee camps, surveyed what was left of their house, using shovels to clear the rubble of its collapsed walls. Elsewhere, displaced residents piled belongings onto rickshaws and trucks to make the trip home. We came here in the morning even before they announced the ceasefire, said Amal Abu Eita, standing in the ruins of her house. We came with hope, thinking we might find just a single room, anything simple, just a small shelter to protect us. But when we arrived, we found the situation as you see it - tragic. Armed Hamas fighters drove through the southern city of Khan Younis, with crowds cheering and chanting, despite an almost three-hour delay in the implementation of the ceasefire agreement, which follows 15 months of devastating conflict. Hamas policemen, dressed in blue police uniform, deployed in some areas after months of trying to keep out of sight to avoid Israeli airstrikes. People who had gathered to cheer the fighters chanted Greetings to Al-Qassam Brigades - the armed wing of Hamas. All the resistance factions are staying in spite of (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu, one fighter told Reuters, referring to the armed wing. Advertisement This is a ceasefire, a full and comprehensive one God willing, and there will be no return to war in spite of him. The ceasefire deal took effect after a nearly three-hour delay, pausing a war that has brought seismic political change to the Middle East and giving hope to Gazas 2.3 million people, many of whom have been displaced several times. The Palestinian Civil Emergency Service said Israeli military strikes killed at least 13 people in attacks across the enclave during the delay. No more attacks were reported after it took effect at 11.15 a.m. (0915 GMT). We are now waiting for the day when we head back to our home in Gaza City, Aya said. Damaged or not, it doesnt matter, the nightmare of death and starvation is over. Advertisement Aid trucks enter Gaza The streets in the shattered Gaza City in the north of the territory were busy with groups of people waving the Palestinian flag and filming the scenes on their mobile phones. Gaza City resident Ahmed Abu Ayham, 40, sheltering with his family in Khan Younis, said the scene of destruction in his home city was dreadful, adding that while the ceasefire may have spared lives it was no time for celebrations. We are in pain, deep pain and it is time to hug one another and cry, Abu Ayham said via the same app. Many remembered relatives and friends killed during the war. Advertisement We are happy we gained victory and that we will return (to our homes), said Zakiya al-Masri, a woman in Khan Younis. But it is not a complete joy We lost a lot of people. In a pocket of the southern city of Rafah, relatively spared by an offensive Israeli forces launched in May, Ahmed Abou Mohsen, 20, and his family returned to their abandoned home and were unpacking from the back of an open-backed white truck piled with bags of clothes, jerry cans and mattresses. It is an indescribable feeling, a complete joy, he said. But there are peoplewho will not feel the same feeling when they return to find their homes and areas completely wiped out. Advertisement The highly anticipated ceasefire deal could help usher in an end to the Gaza war, which began after Hamas, which controls the tiny coastal territory, attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, according to Israeli authorities. Israels response has reduced much of Gaza to rubble and killed nearly 47,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza-based health officials. Long lines of trucks carrying fuel and aid supplies queued up at border crossings in the hours before the ceasefire was due to take effect. The World Food Programme said they began to cross on Sunday morning. The deal requires 600 truckloads of aid to be allowed into Gaza every day of the initial six-week ceasefire, including 50 carrying fuel. Half of the aid trucks would be delivered to the north, where experts have warned famine is imminent. The war ended, but life isnt going to be better because of the destruction and the losses we suffered, Aya said. But at least there will be no more bloodshed of women and children, I hope. The pontiff, who has previously expressed sharp disagreement with Trumps anti-immigrant rhetoric, said he would pray that God grants Trump wisdom, strength and protection as he takes up the presidency again read more Pope Francis attends the Jubilee audience in Paul VI hall at the Vatican, on January 11, 2025. Reuters File Pope Francis on Monday offered well-wishes to US President-elect Donald Trump in a traditional message sent ahead of the presidential inauguration ceremony in Washington. The pontiff, who has previously expressed sharp disagreement with Trumps anti-immigrant rhetoric, said he would pray that God grants Trump wisdom, strength and protection as he takes up the presidency again. It is my hope that under your leadership the American people will prosper and always strive to build a more just society, where there is no room for hatred, discrimination or exclusion, said the pope. Advertisement Francis, leader of the 1.4 billion-member Catholic Church since 2013, has used unusually forceful language in criticising Trump in recent years. The popes congratulatory note comes a day after Francis said Trumps reported plan to sharply intensify immigration enforcement actions across the US would be a disgrace. In an Italian television interview on Sunday, the pontiff said the plan would make the migrants, who have nothing, pay the unpaid bill. Incoming Trump administration officials said on Saturday that the president-elect was reconsidering plans for immigration raids in Chicago, following reports about the plans. During the 2016 election campaign, Francis said Trump was not Christian because of his views on immigration. In his final day in office, US President Joe Biden pardoned five persons, including a pioneering civil rights leader, and delivered a message of hope from the pulpits of a Black church in South Carolina read more In his final day as the President of the United States, capping five decades of public service, Joe Biden turned to his Christian faith that has guided him through much of his life and delivered a message of hope to his constituents and nation grappling with the return of Donald Trump to the White House in a political comeback unprecedented in history. Biden travelled to South Carolina on his final day in office, a state that propelled him to the presidency in 2021. He attended the services at the Royal Missionary Baptist Church, a historically Black church, and addressed the congregation, delivering hope and reminding them of the promise that the United States holds. Advertisement On his final day in office, Biden pardoned five activists, including Marcus Mosiah Garvey, a Black civil rights leader whom Martin Luther King Jr described as the tallest leader of the Black community. He also commuted the sentences of two persons serving long prison terms. In the address at the church, Biden asked the congregation to keep the faith and spoke of the promise the nation holds. He spoke about his own journey and highlighted how a boy with a stutter growing in economically troubled communities went on to hold the highest office of the land. I used to stutter, came from a, you know, a place called Claymont, Delaware, a lot of steel town it all went bankrupt. Come from Scranton, Pennsylvania. Things didnt work out so well because of the economy. But you know what? Every time I spent time in the Black church, I was telling Jim, I think of one thing: the word hope, said Biden while speaking of his journey and long association with the Black Americans. Keep the faith: Bidens parting message In a message that could have very well been directed to the Democrats, Biden reminded people to keep the faith. Drawing from the story of Jesus Christ, Biden said while people often think of Sundays when Christ resurrected, they do not often think of Saturdays when followers of Christ had lost all hopes after his crucifixion the previous day. Drawing a parallel with the present day as Trump is about the take the White House and Americans grapple with the mainstreaming of far-right extremism that brought him the unprecedented electoral comeback, Biden said that in our lives and in the lives of the nation, we have those Saturdays. He turned to the scripture to tell people to stay united and support each-other. Advertisement The work we do on Saturday is going to determine whether we move with pain or purpose. How can faith get a person, a nation through whats to come? Heres what my faith has taught me. Scripture says, As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another person. Thats what faith and friendship has taught me, said Biden. We must always keep the faith in the better days to come. pic.twitter.com/ObmDg096vc President Biden Archived (@POTUS46Archive) January 20, 2025 Advertisement While speaking about his belief in redemption, which made him grant pardons to right historic wrongs to figures like civil rights leader Garvey, Biden said that the struggle toward redeeming the soul of this nation is difficult and ongoing, the distance is short between peril and possibility, but faith teaches us the America of our dreams is always closer than we think. Thats the faith we must hold on to for the Saturdays to come. We must hold on to hope. We must stay engaged. We must always keep the faith in a better day to come, said Biden. Biden pardons civil rights leader Among the five people whom Biden pardoned on his last full day in office was Marcus Mosiah Garvey, who was convicted of mail fraud in 1923. He was a civil rights movement leader whom Martin Luther King Jr, the tallest American Black leader, described as a pioneer of his time. He said that Garvey was the first man on a mass scale and level to give millions to Negroes and make the Negro feel he was somebody. Granting pardon to Garvey, spending the last day in office at a Black church, and speaking of redemption and hope by diving into faith highlight the central themes of Bidens five decades of political career. A devout Christian who has seen personal tragedies throughout and a man who evolved from one seeking a compromise with Americas racist past to one who would later spent decades correcting it, racial justice and faith have been central to Biden and were understandably at the core of his final speech as the president. As destiny would have it, Biden would first serve as the deputy to the first Black president and would then appoint the first Black woman as his deputy. Advertisement Biden said it was natural for him to be at the South Carolina church on the last day in office. He said it was from there that he bounced to presidency and it would be from there he would conclude it. He also went on to highlight his long history with Black churches. Biden said, I first got involved in public life because of the Civil Rights Movement. Id attend 7:30 mass at my church, then Id go to another morning service at the AME Church in Delaware the Black church, the spiritual home of the Black experience that helped redeem the soul of the nation, literally. Thats the truth we honor on the weekend we celebrate one of the political heroes my political heroes, many of yours Dr. Martin Luther King. Advertisement On our last full day in office, Jill and I wanted to be in South Carolina. We started this morning in church to reflect on the power of faith. And here at the International African American museum, we reflect on the power of history in redeeming the soul of our nation. pic.twitter.com/NrbAo4zBIm President Biden Archived (@POTUS46Archive) January 20, 2025 In an irony that that could not be ignored, Biden departs office on the eve of Martin Luther King Jr Day, which falls on January 20 this year the day Trump assumes office. A man who spent a lifetime correcting historic wrongs of Americas racist past, served as the deputy to Americas first Black president, and then went on to appoint first Black woman as the vice president is being succeeded by one with longstanding connections to White supremacists on Martin Luther King Jr Day. During his campaign, Trump criticised this aid and promised to resolve the conflict quickly raising fears in Europe and Ukraine that Kyiv, which aspires to join the EU and NATO, would be forced to make major concessions read more US President Donald Trump is seen on a TV screen during his presidential inauguration, at a restaurant in Kyiv. AFP As Donald Trump was sworn into office in the US, residents of Kyiv and Moscow who spoke to AFP Monday were divided between mistrust of his intentions and hope for a favourable outcome to the war in Ukraine. Since the start of Russias invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Washington has provided vital military and economic support to Kyiv. But during his campaign, Trump criticised this aid and promised to resolve the conflict quickly raising fears in Europe and Ukraine that Kyiv, which aspires to join the EU and NATO, would be forced to make major concessions. Advertisement But for Mykhailo Pishtoy, a 78-year-old Kyiv retiree, Trumps business background and his aversion to losing of being challenged may make him just the person to impose an ultimatum on Russias leader, Vladimir Putin. Pishtoy wants to see an end to Moscow ruling Crimea, annexed by Russia in 204, and hopes that Trump can help end a decade of fighting in Ukraine which began when Moscow took the Black Sea Peninsula and backed Ukrainian pro-Russia separatists in the east of the country. I have been an internally displaced person since 2014 in Kyiv, he said. We have been waiting for 10 years. Also in Kyiv, 35-year-old entrepreneur Yulia was hoping that Trump could end the current conflict which next month will have dragged on for three years because it is so deadly and does not benefit Ukraine. We have a lot of (people) dead. We have a shortage of weapons and everything else, she said. We need to end it, otherwise we will not exist. Anything possible In Moscow, music professor Irina Kharitonova also wanted an end to the conflict, saying she had hope that Trump would be good to Russia. Advertisement I would really like it, honestly, because we are tired of living in these troubles, she said. So many (peoples) relatives have been lost, so many miseries are happening, it just falls on you and you dont know how to live with it, she told AFP. Russia, which launched the Ukraine invasion in 2022, has portrayed the US as the guilty party in the conflict and in the Russian capital, suspicion towards Trump is still strong. Svetlana, a 55-year-old IT worker, called Trump an imperialist who lives on the back of other countries. For administrator Dmitri, it made no difference who was in the White House Joe Biden or Donald Trump as the 55-year-old believed, echoing conspiracy theories, that unknown forces were behind any US leader. Advertisement In Kyiv, 32-year-old Inna could not tell if Trump would negotiate with Moscow on good or bad terms for Ukraine. Her native town, she said, was regularly attacked by Russian-launched drones and she worried the Republican would reduce military aid to Ukraine. Mykyta, a 23-year-old Ukranian, said he was initially a Trump supporter but now calls him a crazy man, and said anything is possible, while sceptical the war will end in 2025. As Myanmars military junta has announced the intention to hold elections this year, China has supported the move whereas the West and much of the international community called for deferment until after the end of the civil war in the country read more Myanmar's junta leader General Min Aung Hlaing, who ousted the elected government in a coup on February 1, 2021, presides over an army parade on Armed Forces Day in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, March 27, 2021. (Photo: Reuters) Myanmar has emerged as the latest country where China is seeking to entrench itself as the ultimate string-puller. In February 2011, Myanmars military overthrew the countrys democratically-elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi and established a military junta. Pro-democracy protests that erupted with the military coup led to a bloody civil war between the military regime and opposition forces. In recent months, the opposition forces have pushed the regime on backfoot. While much of the international community, including the United States and much of the West, has called for the restoration of democracy, China has put its weight behind the junta. In the latest example of Chinese support to junta, China has supported the decision of the junta to hold elections in Myanmar later this year. Advertisement Any election in Myanmar would be a sham election as opposition parties remain banned and a civil war is raging in the country. In the absence of any opposition, there is no scope for proper elections in Myanmar. Myanmars neighbours from the group Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) have asked the junta to not elections for now in the midst of an escalating civil war. It has said that any democratic exercise to take place, the fighting should first stop and unhindered humanitarian assistance should be let into all parts of the country. The yearslong civil war has plunged the country into a humanitarian crisis. Malaysia wants to know what Myanmar has in mind. We told them the election is not a priority. The priority now is to cease fire, said Malaysian Foreign Minister Mohamad Hasan, according to Reuters. Malaysia is the current chair of Asean. On the other hand, China has supported the junta to hold sham elections in the country. In November 2024, Myanmars military ruler Min Aung Hlaing visited China to meet Premier Li Qiang. Following the meeting, Li pledged support to the juntas decision to hold elections. Hlaing said in the meeting that for Myanmars opposition groups to participate in dialogue, they need to present clear and specific actions for peace, according to state media reports quoted by Reuters. Advertisement Even though Hlaing said so, there is essentially no scope of that happening as the military regime has banned all opposition parties. The state media quoted Li as reaffirming the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Myanmar. In recent months, the alliance of opposition groups comprising the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA), the Arakan Army (AA), and the Taang National Liberation Army (TNLA) has won a string of victories in the civil war with the junta, winning control of swathes of countrys strategic border areas. Amid tensions in the South China Sea, Philippine authorities have arrested a Chinese national suspected of being a spy read more Philippine law enforcers have arrested a Chinese national on suspicion of espionage, recovering in his possession equipment authorities believe could be used for spying on military facilities. The suspect, identified as Deng Yuanqing, was presented to media on Monday, along with two other alleged Filipino cohorts. Investigators said Deng is affiliated with the Army Engineering University of PLA (Peoples Liberation Army) based in the city of Nanjing in Chinas eastern Jiangsu province. Philippine National Bureau of Investigation Director Jaime Santiago said Deng was part of a group that authorities had been tracking, based on intelligence indicating they arrived in the country to conduct surveillance on critical infrastructure, including military installations. Advertisement Some locations visited by the group included sites where U.S. forces have been granted access under a military agreement, Philippine armed forces chief Romeo Brawner said. We are just looking into the overall espionage effort of China, Brawner told the same press conference. Chinas embassy in Manila did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The arrest comes amid growing suspicion in the Philippines over Chinas activities, including the conduct of its coast guard and fishing militia in Manilas exclusive economic zone. The two countries have overlapping claims to several disputed features and have engaged in heated standoffs at sea, accusing each other of trespassing. We seized his vehicle, and mounted on it was an espionage equipment, Santiago told a press conference, referring to Deng It is possible that some of the collected information has already been transmitted to China, he added. NBI Cybercrime chief Jeremy Lotoc said Deng has been in the Philippines for at least five years based on a copy of his passport. We have dubbed him as a sleeper (agent), he said. Global leaders responded to Trumps return to the White House with congratulatory messages and calls for positive relations with the mercurial leader read more President Donald Trump, right, and Vice President JD Vance gesture to attendees during the 60th Presidential Inauguration in the Rotunda of the US Capitol in Washington, on Monday. AP Donald Trump was on Monday sworn in as the 47th president of the United States, marking his remarkable return to power for a second term, four years after he left the American capital as a pariah. Trump storms back to White House with a strongman persona with the vision of an all-powerful presidency and also with a promise to aggressively reset US policies in a range of domains including immigration, tariffs, and energy. Advertisement Trump registered a spectacular victory over his Democratic rival Kamala Harris in the November 5 presidential election, defying two assassination attempts, two presidential impeachments and his criminal conviction. Four years back, Trump had left Washington as a pariah in the face of his unsuccessful attempt to overturn the 2020 presidential election to stay in office. His victory in the bitterly-fought election was widely acknowledged as the most momentous comeback in American political history. The inauguration ceremony was held indoors under the Capitol rotunda as opposed to the initially planned outdoor venue in view of frigid temperatures in the US capital city. Leaders from around the world reacted to Trumps return to the White House, offering congratulations and urging good relations with the mercurial leader. Her are some of the reactions from global leaders: Narendra Modi, Indian Prime Minister Congratulations my dear friend President @realDonaldTrump on your historic inauguration as the 47th President of the United States! I look forward to working closely together once again, to benefit both our countries, and to shape a better future for the world. Best wishes for a successful term ahead!, PM Modi wrote on X. Advertisement Congratulations my dear friend President @realDonaldTrump on your historic inauguration as the 47th President of the United States! I look forward to working closely together once again, to benefit both our countries, and to shape a better future for the world. Best wishes for a Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) January 20, 2025 Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli Prime Minister I believe that working together again we will raise the US-Israel alliance to even greater heights, said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, adding the best days of our alliance are yet to come. Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ukrainian President President Trump is always decisive, and the peace through strength policy he announced provides an opportunity to strengthen American leadership and achieve a long-term and just peace, which is the top priority. Tayyip Erdogan, President of Turkey Since Mr. Trump repeatedly said he would end the Russia-Ukraine war, we as Turkey will do whatever necessary in this regard. We need to resolve this issue as soon as possible. This issue will be on our agenda with our talks with Mr. Trump, and we would take our steps accordingly. I wish Mr. Trumps second term would bring good for all humanity. Advertisement Olaf Scholz, German Chancellor Today President Donald Trump takes office. Congratulations! The US is our closest ally and the aim of our policy is always a good transatlantic relationship. The EU, with 27 members and more than 400 million people, is a strong union. Justin Trudeau, Canadian Prime Minister Congratulations, President Trump. Canada and the U.S. have the worlds most successful economic partnership. We have the chance to work together again to create more jobs and prosperity for both our nations. Keir Starmer, British Prime Minister For centuries, the relationship between our two nations has been one of collaboration, cooperation and enduring partnership Together, we have defended the world from tyranny and worked towards our mutual security and prosperity. Advertisement With President Trumps longstanding affection and historical ties to the United Kingdom, I know that depth of friendship will continue. Ursula Von Der Leyen, European Commission President Best wishes President @realDonaldTrump, for your tenure as 47th President of the United States. The EU looks forward to working closely with you to tackle global challenges. Together, our societies can achieve greater prosperity and strengthen their common security. This is the enduring strength of the transatlantic partnership. Mark Rutte, Nato Secretary General With President Trump back in office we will turbo-charge defence spending & production. My warm congratulations to @realDonaldTrump on his inauguration as 47th President of the USA, and to @JDVance as Vice President. Together we can achieve peace through strength - through @NATO. Charles, Britains King The king has sent a personal message of congratulations to President Trump on his inauguration, reflecting on the enduring special relationship between the UK and US, according to Buckingham Palace. Ulf Kristersson, Sweden Prime Minister Warm congratulations @realDonaldTrump on being sworn in as the 47th President of the United States. Sweden looks forward to continued close cooperation with the U.S. Alexander Stubb, President of Finland I would like to extend my heartfelt congratulations to you @realDonaldTrump as you assume office as the President of the United States. The U.S. is our key strategic partner and ally. I look forward to close cooperation during your term. With inputs from agencies Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated US President-elect Donald Trump on taking office hours before Trumps inauguration in Washington and said he was open to talks on the Ukraine and nuclear arms with Trumps incoming administration read more President-elect Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin hold a bilateral meeting at the G20 leaders summit in Osaka, Japan on June 28, 2019. Reuters File Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated US President-elect Donald Trump on taking office hours before Trumps inauguration in Washington and said he was open to talks on the Ukraine and nuclear arms with Trumps incoming administration. Putin, who said he wanted to secure long-lasting peace in Ukraine rather than a short ceasefire, made the comments during a meeting of Russias Security Council. Trump is set to be sworn in for a historic second term as US president Monday, having promised to reach out to both sides and bring a swift end to the nearly three-year conflict. Advertisement We are also open to dialogue with the new US administration on the Ukrainian conflict, AFP quoted Putin as saying in televised remarks. As for the settlement of the situation itself, I want to emphasise that its goal should not be a brief truce but a lasting peace based on respect for the legitimate interests of all people, he added. We will, of course, fight for the interests of Russia, for the interests of the Russian people, said Putin. Trump said last year that the Ukraine-Russia conflict was dying to be settled and that he would speak to both Moscow and Kyiv to avoid World War III. Putin said he welcomed Trumps desire to prevent a third world war. We certainly welcome this attitude and congratulate the president-elect of the United States on taking office, he said. With inputs from agencies Ahead of Donald Trumps inauguration in the United States, London Mayor Sadiq Khan has warned of the rise of far-right across West and drawn parallels with the rise of fascism and Nazism in Europe in the 20th century read more As the United States and the rest of the world is bracing for Donald Trump to assume office in his second term, London Mayor Sadiq Khan has warned that fascism is returning to the Western world. In an article for The Observer, Khan said that progressives are facing a century-defining challenge. He went on to say that the stakes for liberal democracy couldnt be higher. Writing on the eve of Trumps inauguration, Khan said that while he understands the need of governments to engage with Trump, including the engagement of his Labour Partys British government of Sir Keir Starmer, the political parties must start working to counter rise of the far-right. While he blamed the domination of social media platforms by the far-right as one of the reasons for how things stood, he also flagged the failure of the left and called for a course-correction. Advertisement Khan said that the left should work to tell the people that the left and democracies can deliver for the working-class. By exploiting economic concerns and a growing distrust of political and media institutions, these reactionary populists have been able to attract new supporters We must take a hard look at our own political shortcomings and have the self-awareness to acknowledge that while social media is fuelling racist populism and polarisation, its not the only reason people are gravitating to extremes, said Khan. Drawing a parallel with 1920-30s when fascism rose in Italy and Nazism in Germany, Khan said, As historians and commentators increasingly find echoes of the 1920s and 30s in the present day, we cannot afford to throw in the towel. Khans warning comes at a time when far-right forces are rising across the West: Trump in the United States, Reform party in the UK, National Rally in France, AfD in Germany, etc. Such a near-simultaneous rise is not just driven by a crisis among mainstream parties, it is also facilitated by collaboration among far-right leaders. Trumps principal ally, Elon Musk, has been running a regime change operation across the West where he has pledged to topple incumbents everywhere and replace them with far-right leaders aligned to him. So far, he has pledged to overthrow Justin Trudeau in Canada, Starmer in the UK, and Olaf Scholz in Germany. While Trudeau has already announced his resignation, Musk is now focussed on toppling Starmers government. Khan flagged Musk in his article. Referring to his weaponisation of his social media platform X, he said, A billionaire bully shouldnt be able to use his social media platform as a propaganda tool to amplify lies and advance the cause of the far right. Nor should social media companies be able to evade responsibility for algorithms that maximise and monetise hate. Advertisement Yoon, currently suspended from his duties with his powers transferred to an acting president, did not attend two previous hearings earlier this month. The court has until June 11 to decide whether to uphold or reject Yoons impeachment read more South Korea's impeached leader Yoon Suk Yeol was arrested on January 15, 2025 over his failed martial law bid. File image/AFP South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, suspended from office amid impeachment proceedings, is set to attend a Constitutional Court hearing on Tuesday (January 21). The court is set to hold its third hearing at 2 pm local time to review evidence presented by the National Assembly regarding Yoons controversial imposition of martial law on December 3, South Koreas Yonhap News Agency reported. Yoons appearance would mark the first time an impeached South Korean president has personally appeared in a Constitutional Court trial. Advertisement How court proceedings could go Yoon, currently suspended from his duties with his powers transferred to an acting president, did not attend two previous hearings earlier this month. The court has until June 11 roughly six months from receiving the case on December 14 to decide whether to uphold or reject Yoons impeachment. A ruling to uphold would remove Yoon from office and prompt a snap presidential election within 60 days. If the impeachment is dismissed, Yoon would return to power. The suspended leader remains sitting head of state till the courts decision. Yoon was arrested in a pre-dawn raid last week, becoming the first sitting South Korean president detained during a criminal investigation. He faces charges of insurrection and abuse of power related to his failed martial law declaration. Yoon placed in solitary confinement Yoon has been held in solitary confinement at the Seoul Detention Center, where he is under heightened security. A personal correctional officer has been assigned for his safety, according to Shin Yong-hae, commissioner general of the Korea Correctional Service. Authorities, including the Presidential Security Service and police, are working to prevent any disruptions from Yoons supporters, who have raised concerns of potential attempts to free him. Shin said Yoon complied with detention procedures, including taking a mug shot and undergoing a physical examination. Yoon has declined to cooperate with questioning by the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials. With inputs from agencies A jawbone fossil found in a Moroccan mine was thought to be a new species of marine reptile. However, new research suggests it might be fake. The study found issues, such as teeth not fitting the jawbone, and signs that the teeth were glued on. read more A jawbone fossil found in a Moroccan mine was initially thought to belong to a new species of marine reptile from the Cretaceous period. However, other researchers now suspect the fossil might be fake, New Scientist reported. The fossil was initially believed to be a new species of mosasaur called Xenodens calminechari. The reptile lived alongside dinosaurs during the Cretaceous period. New research suggests that the remains of the discovered aquatic reptile are likely fake. The fossil had distinctive blade-like teeth. But recent study found issues in the theory, such as teeth not matching the jawbone and there are signs that the teeth were glued on. These findings suggest the fossil was altered to make it more valuable. Advertisement The disputed fossil was found by miners at the Sidi Chennane phosphate mines in Morocco. The rock is said to be 66 to 72 million years old. Nick Longrich and his team from the University of Bath, UK, studied the fossil in 2021. Their study identified it as a new species of mosasaur, called Xenodens calminechari. The fossil has unusual blade-like teeth similar to those of sharks. Longrich and his team believe these teeth would help the marine predator cut through large prey. Henry Sharpe of the University of Alberta in Canada, highlighted that many people in Morocco make a living by selling fossils. So many of the mosasaur fossils being sold from Morocco are modified thereteeth are added, bones are sculpted, all to make the fossil worth more to sell, said Henry Sharpe. Sharpes team re-examining the study Sharpe and his team have now re-examined the evidence published by Longrichs team. The biggest clue that the fossil is fake is the teeth. Each mosasaur tooth should match a pit in the jaw. Even if the fossil is of poor quality, you can count the correct number of teeth by counting the pits, he said. However, Xenodens calminechari has four teeth over two pits. Advertisement Teeth glued, implantation done on jaw Sharpe also emphasised that the teeth seem to be glued onto the jaw in ways that dont match the pits. The tooth implantation looks likely to be faked, he said. Sharpe further explained that there are methods to determine if a fossil is forged. Forgeries are usually made by shaping bone fragments with glue and embedding them in a mix of glue and sand to resemble natural rock. CT scans can help see inside the bones and rock to check if they were altered. Fossil forgery is not new The discovery of a fossil of a 280-million-year-old reptile has been revealed as a partial forgery. The fossil, discovered in the Italian Alps in 1931 and named Tridentinosaurus antiquus, was believed to show preserved soft tissues, which is rare and valuable for understanding early reptile evolution. However, recent analyses using modern techniques have shown that the dark outline around the skeleton, previously thought to be carbonised skin, is actually black paint. Advertisement After briefly going dark, TikTok restored service in the United States after President-elect Donald Trump said he would revive the apps access when he returns to power on Monday read more A woman poses with her smartphone displaying the @realdonaldtrump TikTok page, in Washington, US January 19, 2025. Source: Reuters. Crediting President-elect Donald Trump for making its reversal possible, TikTok on Sunday restored services in the United States after briefly going dark, as a law banning the popular video-sharing app on national security grounds came into effect on January 19. As millions of dismayed users found themselves banned from using TikTok, Trump, earlier on Sunday, promised to issue an executive order delaying the shut down to allow time to make a deal. Advertisement Trump, the saviour for TikTok Trump, who retakes power on Monday, posted on Truth Social that after taking office on January 20, he would sign an executive order enabling the Chinese-owned video app additional time to find a buyer before facing a total shutdown, and proposing that the US or an American firm take a 50 per cent ownership stake. By doing this, we save TikTok, keep it in good hands and allow it to say (sic) up, Trump said. Without US approval, there is no TikTok. With our approval, it is worth hundreds of billions of dollars maybe trillions," he further said. A brief TikTok ban in the US TikTok, which boasts of 170 millions users in the US, was banned with the app facing a shut down across the country late Saturday as a deadline loomed for its Chinese owners ByteDance to sell its US subsidiary to non-Chinese buyers. From Saturday night until Sunday afternoon, a pop-up message to the apps US users read: A law banning TikTok has been enacted in the US. Unfortunately that means you cant use TikTok for now. The brief blackout came after the US Supreme Court on Friday upheld the legislation banning TikTok pending any sale. In April last year, Congress passed a law ordering TikTok, which is currently owned by ByteDance, to either sell to a non-Chinese owner or face being removed from the US, with the app opting to shut itself down after the apex court ruled to uphold the ban on Friday (January 17) . Under his previous president Trump had pushed for a ban, but after finding a large audience on the app during his 2024 presidential campaign, he attempted to intervene on TikToks behalf at the 11th hour. TikTok thanks Trump After Trumps message on Sunday, TikTok in a statement said that it was in the process of restoring service." We thank President Trump for providing the necessary clarity and assurance to our service providers that they will face no penalties providing TikTok to over 170 million Americans and allowing over 7 million small businesses to thrive. Its a strong stand for the First Amendment and against arbitrary censorship. We will work with President Trump on a long-term solution that keeps TikTok in the United States," the statement by the company further read. Advertisement Ahead of his inauguration, Trump, while addressing a rally on Sunday, said: Frankly, we have no choice. We have to save it. He further indicated that there were a lot of jobs involved. We dont want to give our business to China, we dont want to give our business to other people, Trump told his supporters. The law allows for a 90-day delay of the ban if the White House can show progress toward a viable deal, but so far ByteDance has flatly refused any sale. The Biden administration said it would leave enforcement of the law to Trump. VPN searches spikes after US users lost TikTok access As per Google Trends, web searches for VPN spiked within minutes after TikTok users lost access to the app on Sunday. According to a report by Reuters, TikTok users fretted on Instagram about whether they would still receive merchandise they had bought on TikTok Shop, the video platforms e-commerce arm. Advertisement TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew plans to attend the US presidential inauguration on Monday. With inputs from agencies The CBP One app, which allowed 1,450 people a day to enter the US on parole, had been a cornerstone of the previous administrations efforts to manage border crossings read more Migrants gesture while praying near the border, after rumours spread that they would be allowed to enter the United States, according to local media, in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, December 18, 2024. File Image/Reuters President Donald Trump wasted no time acting on his sweeping immigration agenda after being sworn in Monday (January 20), fulfilling campaign promises to crack down on illegal immigration and overhaul border security. Among his first moves were reviving the Remain in Mexico policy, shutting down CBP One a key app used to schedule border crossings and signalling plans to end birthright citizenship. The measures appear to be a mix of old policies from his first administration and new strategies that are expected to face significant legal and logistical hurdles. Advertisement I will declare a national emergency at our southern border. All illegal entry will immediately be halted, and we will begin the process of returning millions and millions of criminal aliens back to the places in which they came, Trump had said during his inaugural address. CBP One app shut, appointments cancelled By midday Monday, the Biden-era CBP One app, which scheduled daily appointments for migrants at border crossings, was no longer operational. Effective January 20, 2025, the functionalities of CBP One that previously allowed undocumented aliens to submit advance information and schedule appointments at eight southwest border ports of entry is no longer available, and existing appointments have been cancelled, CBP Ones website said. Aliens, a term Donald Trump has used often to refer to immigrants, is believed to be dehumanising. The CBP One app, which allowed 1,450 people a day to enter the US on parole, had been a cornerstone of the previous administrations efforts to manage border crossings. Critics argued the app encouraged more migration, while supporters said it brought order to the process. Migrants with appointments, some of whom had waited weeks, were left stranded on Monday. That includes Melanie Mendoza, 21, and her boyfriend. She said they left Venezuela over a year ago, spending more than $4,000 and traveling for a month, including walking for three days. Advertisement We dont know what we are going to do, she said in Tijuana, Mexico, just on the other side of the border from San Diego. Remain in Mexico policy reinstated Trumps administration also reinstated the Remain in Mexico policy, which forces asylum-seekers to stay in Mexico while their US immigration court cases proceed. Mexico agreed to receive asylum-seekers, provided there is a system for scheduling border appointments. Critics say the policy, which affected 70,000 migrants during Trumps first term, endangers asylum-seekers in northern Mexico, where cartels often target migrants for kidnapping and extortion. This is deja vu of the darkest kind, said Krish OMara Vignarajah, president of Global Refuge. She warned the policy risks exacerbating dangerous conditions without addressing migrations root causes. Birthright citizenship in Trumps crosshairs Trump renewed his push to end birthright citizenship, guaranteed by the 14th Amendment, which grants US citizenship to anyone born on American soil, including children of undocumented immigrants and visitors. The move would face formidable legal challenges, as the constitutional right has been enshrined since 1868. The White House has not detailed how Trump plans to implement the change. Advertisement Fear of mass deportations Trump has pledged to deport millions of undocumented immigrants, a promise that has sparked fear among migrant communities. His administration plans to scrap Biden-era deportation priorities that targeted people with criminal records or national security threats, expanding enforcement to all undocumented individuals. Erlinda, a Salvadoran single mother who has been in the US since 2013, signed over legal rights to her US-born children, fearing she could be detained. Plans for deportation raids appeared uncertain after details of a planned operation in Chicago leaked. Trumps border czar, Tom Homan, said on Fox News that the leak had raised safety concerns for immigration officers. With inputs from agencies In an unusually sharp rebuke, Pope Francis has said that US President-elect Donald Trumps immigration crackdown is a disgrace read more Pope Francis on Sunday called US President-elect Donald Trumps immigration crackdown a disgrace. Trump has said he would deport everyone living in the United States illegally. He has also said that he would end the citizenship by birth in the United States. Previously, he has also called for the deployment of military on the border to tackle illegal immigration. In an interview with Italian television, Francis said it would be a disgrace if Trump went forward with the plan, according to Reuters. Advertisement In an un unusually sharp rebuke, Francis further said, It would make the migrants, who have nothing, pay the unpaid bill. It doesnt work. You dont resolve problems this way. Since taking over as the Pople in 2013, Francis has been vocally supportive of migrants. He has often been critical of Trump and his far-right agenda. He has also often attracted the ire of the extremists, who have dubbed him as part of the woke movement. In 2016, he had said that Trump was not Christian in his view. Incoming Trump administration officials said on Saturday that the president-elect was reconsidering plans for immigration raids in Chicago next week, following reports about the plans. There are apprehensions within the Catholic Church about Trumps plans. On Sunday, Chicagos Catholic archbishop, Cardinal Blase Cupich, also criticised the planned raids on immigrants. This would be an affront to the dignity of all people and communities, said Cupich in a statement. Trump administration would declare a national emergency at the US-Mexico border and direct the Department of Defence to send armed forces to erect physical barriers and complete border wall construction, according to a report, citing incoming White House officials on Monday read more Trump administration would declare a national emergency at the US-Mexico border and direct the Department of Defence to send armed forces to erect physical barriers and complete border wall construction, according to a report, citing incoming White House officials on Monday. This initiative is part of a set of 10 executive actions on border security and immigration slated for announcement today, which also features contentious proposals to terminate birthright citizenship for children of migrants and asylum seekers. Advertisement The last four years have created an unconscionable risk to public safety, public health and the national security of the United States due to the Biden administration border policy, The Guardian quoted one incoming White House official as saying on a press call. Other significant actions expected from the Trump administration today include a four-month suspension of refugee resettlement, the reinstatement of the Remain in Mexico policy, and the pursuit of capital punishment for certain crimes committed by unauthorized immigrants. When asked about specific numbers regarding military deployments, the incoming White House official said that such decisions would be determined by the Secretary of Defence. The official also refrained from discussing potential military operations aimed at drug cartels, which the administration intends to designate as terrorist organisations. These threats to immigration are already creating uncertainty on the Mexican side of the border and within the US, affecting many who have pursued recent legal pathways. According to The Hill report, Trump will also issue a national emergency related to energy and also issue executive orders aimed at utilising US energy and specifically Alaskas natural resources. An official said that the national emergency is being declared in response to rising prices and aims to unlock additional powers for the US to act swiftly. Advertisement Specifically, this declaration can activate authorities such as the Defense Production Act, which allows for loans to enhance energy deployment, along with military construction powers, reported The Hill. Moreover, Trump is also likely to sign an order designed to reduce bureaucratic hurdles and regulations. Officials said that this would include provisions targeting Bidens regulations intended to increase electric vehicle sales in the US and to mandate greater efficiency in household appliances like showerheads, stoves, and dishwashers. Trump is also expected to sign another order focused on resource utilisation in Alaska. This state has been a flashpoint in energy and environmental debates, with Republicans advocating for oil and gas production, while Democrats aim to protect its pristine landscapes, added the report. Advertisement Trump will take the oath of office, administered by Chief Justice of the United States John Roberts, at 12 pm EST (1700 GMT). It was originally due to take place in front of the US Capitol but will now take place inside the congressional complex because of bitter cold. Outgoing president Joe Biden has said he plans to attend the ceremony and witness the transfer of power, a courtesy Trump did not afford him four years ago. With inputs from agencies At his rally in Phoenix on Sunday (January 19), Trump had said, They took his name off Mount McKinleyHe was a great president, and we will restore his legacy by bringing back the name Mount McKinley read more Denali, which Trump wants to rename Mount McKinley after former President William McKinley, is the tallest peak in North America. AP A day before his inauguration as the 47th president of the United States, Donald Trump announced during a rally that he intends to rename Denali, North Americas tallest mountain, back to Mount McKinley. The move is ostensibly to honour the 25th US president, William McKinley, who was assassinated in 1901. At his rally in Phoenix on Sunday (January 19), Trump had said, They took his name off Mount McKinleyHe was a great president, and we will restore his legacy by bringing back the name Mount McKinley. Advertisement Here are five key things to know about the mountain Trump wants to rename: 1. Officially renamed Denali in 2015 The mountain, standing at over 20,000 feet (6,100 meters), was officially named Mount McKinley in 1917 after being named informally by a prospector in 1896 to honour McKinley, a supporter of the gold standard. In 2015, then-President Barack Obama officially restored the mountains original Athabascan name, Denali, which means The High One. 2. William McKinley never visited the mountain Despite its long association with McKinley, there is no record of the 25th president ever visiting the mountain or Alaska. In a 2015 order, the US Department of the Interior even mentioned that McKinley had no significant historical connection to the mountain or to Alaska. 3. The cultural significance of Denali Denali was the name given to the peak by Alaskas indigenous Athabascan people long before the US officially recognised it. The state of Alaska adopted the name in 1975 and had been lobbying for decades to have it officially recognised by the federal government before Obamas decision. 4. Trump faces opposition, even from Republicans Not all Republicans back Trumps plan to restore the McKinley name. Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski, a Republican, strongly defended the name Denali, stating, There is only one name worthy of North Americas tallest mountain: Denali - the Great One. Murkowski has been a vocal supporter of keeping the indigenous name. 5. A History of naming controversy The naming debate over Denali has been a contentious issue for decades. Although Alaskan lawmakers and indigenous communities pushed for the Denali name, federal recognition was blocked repeatedly until 2015. The controversy underscores broader debates over cultural recognition and historical legacy in the US. With inputs from agencies In a statement, Biden said, that his family has been subjected to unrelenting attacks and threats, motivated solely by a desire to hurt me the worst kind of partisan politics. Unfortunately, I have no reason to believe these attacks will end, he said in a statement read more Outgoing President Joe Biden issued a pardon for five members of his family in his last moments in office. Those pardoned are his two brothers James and Francis. Also on the list are Sara, the wife of James Biden, Bidens sister Valerie and her husband John. In a statement, Biden said, that his family has been subjected to unrelenting attacks and threats, motivated solely by a desire to hurt methe worst kind of partisan politics. Unfortunately, I have no reason to believe these attacks will end, he said in a statement. Advertisement That is why I am exercising my power under the Constitution to pardon James B. Biden, Sara Jones Biden, Valerie Biden Owens, John T. Owens, and Francis W. Biden. Alongside preemptively pardoning these family members, Biden also commuted the life sentence imposed on Native American activist Leonard Peltier, who has served nearly five decades in federal prison for the 1975 killings of two FBI agents. Peltier will serve the remainder of his sentence in home confinement. Bidens previous pardons In December 2024, Biden had issued a pardon for his son Hunter; that was a U-turn from his prior statements where he said that I abide by the jurys decision. I will do that, and I will not pardon him. Hunter was convicted last year in a federal criminal gun trial, and he had pleaded guilty to charges in a separate federal case related to tax crimes. Shortly after that, Biden had also set the record for commuting the most number of sentences in a day when he cut short the punishment of nearly 2,500 people in the US. The outgoing president said those receiving clemency had received lengthy sentences based on now-discredited distinctions between crack and powder cocaine, which have disproportionately impacted the Black community. With inputs from agencies Indian gov't to probe mystery deaths at Indian-controlled Kashmir village Xinhua) 09:51, January 20, 2025 NEW DELHI, Jan. 18 (Xinhua) -- India's federal government Saturday ordered the formation of an inter-ministerial team to probe the mystery deaths at a village in Indian-controlled Kashmir, officials said. The orders to constitute the team have been issued by federal Home Minister Amit Shah. At least 16 people have died of a mysterious illness over the past 43 days in Budhal village of Rajouri district, about 243 km south of Srinagar, the summer capital of Indian-controlled Kashmir. People complained of fever, pain, nausea and loss of consciousness before dying within days of their hospitalization. A child admitted to the hospital remains in critical conditions. "The team will consist of experts from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers and Ministry of Water Resources. It will also be assisted by experts from animal husbandry, food safety and forensic science labs," the federal home ministry said in a statement. The team will visit the affected village to ascertain the causes of deaths in three incidents in the past six weeks in Rajouri. "The team would proceed on Sunday and in collaboration with the local administration would also work on providing immediate relief as well as taking precautionary measures to prevent such incidents in the future," the ministry said. "Experts from some of the most reputed institutions of the country have been arranged to manage the situation and understand the causative factors of deaths." On Thursday, the local government of Indian-controlled Kashmir said investigations and samples empirically indicated that the incidents were not due to a communicable disease of bacterial or viral origin and that there is no public health angle. However, it said toxicological analysis has detected toxins in multiple biological specimens. (Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Zhong Wenxing) Tesla CEO Elon Musk drew severe backlash after he performed what appeared to be a Nazi Salute at US President Donald Trumps inaugural parade read more Tesla CEO Elon Musk fell into a pit of controversy on Monday when he performed a back-to-back fascist-style salute. The billionaire appeared to make a Heil Hitler during the inauguration parade of new US President Donald Trump. I just want to say thank you for making it happen, the richest person on earth and a major Trump donor and adviser, told the American commander-in-chief at the Capital One Arena in Washington DC. Advertisement Musk then went on to slap his right hand to his chest, before shooting out his right arm in an upwards diagonal position with his hands facing downwards. The crowd attending the event roared as Musk turned and saluted again, making many wonder if he intentionally gave a Nazi Salute. Elon Musk gave two back to back Nazi salutes at the Trump inauguration parade pic.twitter.com/0ImFnvk6hI PatriotTakes (@patriottakes) January 20, 2025 It is pertinent to note that the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), which campaigns against antisemitism, defines the Nazi salute as raising an outstretched right arm with the palm down. My heart goes out to you, Musk said, striking himself on the chest again. It is thanks to you that the future of civilization is assured. Thanks to you. Were gonna have safe cities, finally safe cities. Secure borders, sensible spending. Basic stuff. And were gonna take Doge to Mars. An over-excited Musk takes the stage The SpaceX CEO was delivering an address before Trumps scheduled appearance at the arena, for the inaugural parade. According to The Guardian, the POTUS was expected to sign executive orders onstage. Soon after his speech, Musk received major backlash on social media for his gesture. When Trump was last in office, Eric Feigl-Ding, a public health expert who rose to prominence during the Covid-19 pandemic, wrote: My God Musk just did the N[a]zi salute live on TV. In the past, Trump has been accused of supporting white supremacists and has been often compared to the German dictator Adolf Hitler. Advertisement Musks gesture came months after he expressed his support to several controversial far-right parties in Europe. Last week, the billionaire hosted Alice Weidel, leader of Alternative fur Deutschland, a far-right German party, for a conversation on X. In the past, Weidel argued that Hitler wasnt a conservative, he wasnt a libertarian, he was a communist, socialist guy, and we are the opposite," Musk agreed with the German politicians assertion. The golden age of America begins right now. From this day forward our country will flourish and be respected again all over the world, Trump said in the inauguration address read more President Donald Trump speaks after taking the oath of office during the 60th Presidential Inauguration in the Rotunda of the US Capitol in Washington, on Monday. AP Donald Trump declared the beginning of a golden age for the US after being sworn in for his historic second term as president on Monday. In his inaugural speech at the US Capitol, where his inauguration was held indoors due to chilly weather, he criticised what he called a broken society and vowed to restore it. The golden age of America begins right now. From this day forward our country will flourish and be respected again all over the world, AFP quoted Trump as saying. While promising renewal, Trumps tone was characteristically dark, denouncing what he said had been a betrayal of Americans by a radical and corrupt establishment. For many years, a radical and corrupt establishment has extracted power and wealth from our citizens, while the pillars of our society lay broken and seemingly in complete disrepair, he was quoted as saying. Advertisement From this moment on, Americas decline is over. Referring to an assassination attempt against him on the campaign trail, Trump said I was saved by God for a reason, I was saved by God to make America great again, he added. The Republican - at 78 now the oldest person ever to take the presidential oath - was set to kickstart his new term with a blitz of immediate orders on immigration and the US culture wars. I will declare a national emergency at our southern border with Mexico, Trump said to loud cheers from supporters inside the ornate Rotunda hall, vowing to deport millions and millions of illegal immigrants. Trump took the oath with one hand raised in the air, using a Bible given to him by his mother, and became the 47th president. He had traveled to the Capitol with outgoing Democratic president Joe Biden, who followed tradition by offering his successor tea at the White House. Welcome home, Biden had said to Trump as he and First Lady Jill Biden greeted the incoming president and his wife Melania at the White House. Trump was a political outsider at his first inauguration in 2017 as the 45th president, but this time around he is surrounded by Americas wealthy and powerful. Advertisement The worlds richest man, Elon Musk, Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg, Amazon chief Jeff Bezos and Google CEO Sundar Pichai all had prime seats in the Capitol alongside Trumps family and cabinet members. Musk, who bankrolled Trumps election campaign to the tune of a quarter of a billion dollars and promotes far-right policies on the X social network, will lead a cost-cutting drive in the new administration. While Trump refused to attend Bidens 2021 inauguration after falsely claiming electoral fraud, this time Biden has been keen to restore the sense of tradition. Biden joined former presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton at the Capitol. Former first ladies Hillary Clinton and Laura Bush were there but ex-first lady Michelle Obama pointedly stayed away. Advertisement Executive orders Unusually for an inauguration where foreign leaders are normally not invited, Argentinas hard-right president Javier Milei was attending, along with Italys far-right Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. The bitter cold weather has forced Trumps inauguration indoors for the first time since Ronald Reagans in 1985, missing out on the customary massive crowds along the National Mall. Behind the pomp and ceremony, the billionaire is kickstarting his nationalist, right-wing agenda with a barrage of around 100 executive orders undoing Bidens legacy. Trump will give the US military a key role on the frontier, and end birthright citizenship, as he seeks clamp down on undocumented migrants, an official from his incoming administration said. He will also sign an order for the US government to recognize only two biological sexes and seek to eliminate federal government diversity programs as he takes office. Advertisement Ecstatic At sunrise on Monday, the National Mall, where the inauguration was due to be held, was largely empty save for the Fairchild family, who traveled from Michigan to pay tribute to Trump. Ecstatic, said grandmother Barb, when asked how they were feeling, adding she thought the move indoors was made to protect our president. With minutes left in his presidency, Biden issued extraordinary pre-emptive pardons for his brothers and sister to shield them from baseless and politically motivated investigations. He also pardoned former Covid-19 advisor Anthony Fauci, retired general Mark Milley, and members of a US House committee probing the violent January 6, 2021 US Capitol attack by Trumps supporters. Biden said he had also restored the tradition of leaving a letter for his successor though he said the contents were between him and Trump. Advertisement Trump is just the second president in US history to return to power after being voted out, after Grover Cleveland in 1893. Another notable factor is Trumps criminal record, related to paying a porn star hush money during his first presidential run and a string of far more serious criminal probes that were dropped once he won the election in November. For the rest of the world, Trumps return means expecting the unexpected. From promising sweeping tariffs, to making territorial threats to Greenland and Panama and calling US aid for Ukraine into question, Trump looks set to rattle the global order once again. Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated Trump ahead of the inauguration and said Monday he was open to talks on the Ukraine conflict, adding he hoped any settlement would ensure lasting peace. With inputs from agencies The newly formed Department of Government Efficiency, popularly known as DOGE, is now one leader down after biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy exited the advisory group. Soon after winning the 2024 US Presidential Elections, Trump named Ramaswamy as one of the heads of the department along with Tesla CEO Elon Musk. The White House confirmed the news on Monday, hours after Trumps oath-taking ceremony. The newly formed team said that Ramaswamy is quitting the project because he intends to run as the governor of Ohio. Vivek Ramaswamy played a critical role in helping us create DOGE, said Anna Kelly, a spokeswoman for the White House, adding, We thank him immensely for his contributions over the last two months and expect him to play a vital role in making America great again! Advertisement According to The New York Times, there has been a brewing friction between Ramaswamy and Trumps aides, including Musk. As per the report, the billionaire has been sharply critical of Ramaswamy in private conversations. Despite the tussle, several allies of Trump did not expect Ramaswamy to jump ship before the Department even started operating. An unequal partnership A person familiar with the matter told The New York Times that Ramaswamy plans to announce his bid for governor of Ohio next week. But there is no authorised confirmation on this as of now. Many believe that soon after Trump announced the two billionaires to be co-leaders of the project, it was seen as an unequal partnership. Musk has a much greater amount of wealth and a higher profile. Not only this, Musks top Lieutenant Steve Davis was seen as the main person running the show. However, Ramaswamys exit still came as a surprise since the biotech entrepreneur reportedly told his allies that he would not begin a bid in Ohio until much later in 2025. The source told NYT that Ramaswamy eventually came to the realisation that co-leading the efficiency effort and running for office at the same time was unworkable. It is pertinent to note that the Governors seat in Ohio will be up for grabs in November 2026. Meanwhile, officials at the advisory group are expected to offer recommendations for reducing federal spending by July 4, 2026. Ramaswamy started vying for the Governor seat after the current Ohio Governor Mike DeWine and Lt. Gov. Jon Husted announced that they would fill the Senate seat being vacated by Vice President JD Vance. Interestingly, Ramaswamy was also a contender for the vacancy and Trump himself told him that he would be a good fit. Advertisement The Department of Government Efficiency is not an official government department, despite its name. While announcing the initiative, Trump maintained that the group would provide outside advice on how to cut spending and work closely with White House budget officials. With inputs from agencies. US President-elect Donald Trump will advocate for a revolution of common sense in his inaugural address, according to a report, citing excerpts of his prepared remarks read more Donald Trump will be sworn in as the 47th US president today. AP File US President-elect Donald Trump will advocate for a revolution of common sense in his inaugural address, according to a report, citing excerpts of his prepared remarks. With his today, Trump will complete a historic comeback and embark on an agenda that includes mass deportations, steep tariffs and slashing the size of the federal government. According to remarks shared with the Wall Street Journal, Trump is likely to say, I return to the presidency confident and optimistic that we are at the start of a thrilling new era of national success. A tide of change is sweeping the country. My message to Americans today is that it is time for us to once again act with courage, vigor and the vitality of historys greatest civilization. Advertisement According to the report, citing people familiar with drafting the speech, while a combative Trump in his 2017 address lamented American carnage, his 2025 speech has been designed to be more optimistic, though Trump is known to veer off script. At the same time, the 47th president is expected to dispense with some of the lofty rhetoric of his predecessors and describe in blunt terms what he views as the most pressing national problems and his solutions for them, added the report. Trump is set to be sworn in as US president on Monday, marking the beginning of his second term and concluding one of the most remarkable political comebacks in American history. The oath of office will be administered by Chief Justice John Roberts at 12 pm EST (1700 GMT). Originally scheduled to take place outside the US Capitol, the ceremony will now be held indoors in the congressional complex due to extremely cold weather. Following his inauguration, Trump intends to issue a series of executive orders aimed at making a strong impact on his administration, addressing key issues such as energy and immigration. According to Reuters, citing two sources involved in the planning, over 100 executive orders and directives could be released starting on Day One, in a strategy referred to internally as shock and awe. Advertisement With inputs from agencies As Obama, Clinton, and Hillary, entered the US Capitol rotunda in Washington, D.C., for Trumps historic swearing-in ceremony on Monday, loud boos echoed from the crowd at the Capitol One Arena read more Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, and Hillary Clinton faced a frosty reception as they arrived for Donald Trumps presidential inauguration. Clintons and Obama Receive Boos As They Arrive For The Inauguration. Watch Our Live Coverage Here:https://t.co/CtC9YWf3Vx pic.twitter.com/chfRjbWfMC Alex Jones (@RealAlexJones) January 20, 2025 Advertisement As Obama, Clinton, and Hillary, entered the US Capitol rotunda in Washington, D.C., for the 78-year-olds historic swearing-in ceremony on Monday, loud boos echoed from the crowd at the Capitol One Arena. Numerous prominent political figures attended the event as Trump was inaugurated as the 47th President of the US, but one former first lady was notably missing. Michelle Obama had already indicated before the inauguration that she would not be attending Donald Trumps swearing-in ceremony. While she did not provide a specific reason for her absence, multiple reports suggested it stemmed from her disapproval of the 45th (and now 47th) president. Before the inauguration, Michelle Obama also missed former President Jimmy Carters state funeral, where she would have been seated next to Trump. Her advisers attributed her absence to a scheduling conflict. While its customary for former presidents and their families to attend the Capitol to witness the incoming commander-in-chief take the oath of office, Michelle is not the first former first lady to skip the event. Four years ago, the 47th president and his wife, Melania Trump, did not attend Joe Bidens inauguration after President Trump refused to acknowledge the election results. Advertisement On her husbands inauguration day, Melania wore a dark navy coat paired with a matching hat featuring a white stripe, along with dark navy heels and black gloves. Her hat, in particular, sparked comparisons to the McDonalds character Hamburglar. With inputs from agencies As per Oxfam report titled Takers Not Makers, billionaire wealth grew by $2 trillion in 2024 alone, equivalent to roughly $5.7 billion a day, at a rate three times faster than 2023. An average of nearly four new billionaires were minted every week, it said. read more US dollar and Euro bank notes photographed in Frankfurt, Germany, in this illustration picture taken May 7, 2017. Source: Reuters. The wealth of billionaires surged by $2 trillion in 2024, three times faster than that in 2023, equivalent to roughly $5.7 billion a day, as per a report by Oxfam. However, as per the World Bank data, the number of people living below the poverty line of $6.85 a day has not changed much since 1990, and is close to 3.6 billion equivalent to 44 per cent of the worlds population today. Advertisement One in 10 women lives in extreme poverty (below $2.15 a day), which means 24.3 million more women than men endure extreme poverty. The Oxfam report further said at current rates the world is now on track to see at least five trillionaires within a decade, a change from last years forecast of one trillionaire within 10 years. Number of billionaires rose to 2,769 The number of billionaires in 2014 rose to 2,769, from 2,565 in 2023. Their combined wealth rose from $13 trillion to $15 trillion in mere 12 months. The report pointed out that this is the second largest annual increase in billionaire wealth since records began. The wealth of the worlds ten richest men grew on average by almost $100 million a day even if they lost 99 per cent of their wealth overnight, they would remain billionaires, it further said. 36% billionaire wealth now inherited In its Takers Not Makers, Oxfam calculates that 36 per cent of billionaire wealth is now inherited. Forbes research found that every billionaire under 30 has inherited their wealth, meanwhile, UBS estimates that over 1,000 of todays billionaires will pass on more than $5.2 trillion to their heirs over the next two to three decades. Many of the super-rich, particularly in Europe, owe part of their wealth to historical colonialism and the exploitation of poorer countries. For example, the fortune of billionaire Vincent Bollore, who has put his sprawling media empire at the service of Frances nationalist right, was built partly from colonial activities in Africa, the Oxfam report said. Advertisement This dynamic of wealth extraction persists today: vast sums of money still flow from the Global South to countries in the Global North and their richest citizens, in what Oxfams report describes as modern-day colonialism, it further said. The Oxfam report comes as many of the worlds political leaders, corporate executives and the super-rich gather in the Swiss ski resort town of Davos for the annual World Economic Forum meeting from Monday, January 20. Oxfams examination of billionaire assets also coincides with Donald Trumps inauguration as the 47th US president. Trump is expected to include several billionaires in his team of close advisers, including billionaire Elon Musk, and to offer large-scale tax breaks to the wealthiest US citizens. Advertisement Governments urged to act rapidly to reduce inequality, end extreme wealth Oxfam has called on governments to act rapidly to reduce inequality and end extreme wealth. 1 - Radically reduce inequality: Oxfam has suggested that the governments need to commit to ensuring that, both globally and at a national level, the incomes of the top 10 per cent are no higher than the bottom 40 per cent. As per the data by the World Bank, reducing inequality could end poverty three times faster. Governments must also tackle and end the racism, sexism and division that underpin ongoing economic exploitation, Oxfam said. 2 - Tax the richest to end extreme wealth: As per Oxfam, global tax policy should fall under a new UN tax convention, ensuring the richest people and corporations pay their fair share. Tax havens must be abolished. Oxfams analysis shows that half of the worlds billionaires live in countries with no inheritance tax for direct descendants. Inheritance needs to be taxed to dismantle the new aristocracy, the report said. Advertisement 3 - End the flow of wealth from South to North: The Oxfam called for cancellation of debts and end the dominance of rich countries and corporations over financial markets and trade rules. This includes breaking up monopolies, democratising patent rules, and regulating corporations to ensure they pay living wages and cap CEO pay. Restructure voting powers in the World Bank, IMF and UN Security Council to guarantee fair representation of Global South countries. Former colonial powers must also confront the lasting harm caused by their colonial rule, offer formal apologies, and provide reparations to affected communities, the report said. Following their swearing-in, the new president delivers an inaugural address on Capitol Hill, and the public is invited to witness the power transfer ceremony read more The presidential seal is seen in front of the White House on Pennsylvania Avenue. Reuters President-elect Donald Trump will return to the White House on Monday, after formally becoming the 47th president of the United States. According to the 20th Amendment, President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris terms will officially end at noon Eastern Standard Time on January 20, implying that Trump and Vice President-elect JD Vance will take office at that time, regardless of whether their oaths of office have been administered. Inauguration day includes a ceremonial swearing-in ceremony, musical performances, a festive parade, and a number of formal balls. Advertisement JD Vance, the vice president-elect, will also take the oath of office. The president, the vice president takes the oath of office and is sworn in at noon on January 20. Following their swearing-in, the new president delivers an inaugural address on Capitol Hill, and the public is invited to witness the power transfer ceremony. A military parade and a formal inaugural luncheon are usually held thereafter. Following the ceremony, the new president usually attends several inaugural celebrations in the capital, such as glamorous balls and dances. The funds earned for the inauguration are normally used to cover the costs of the celebrations, including the oath of office ceremony itself. Events Following a service at the historic St. Johns Church in Lafayette Square, Washington, DC, Donald Trumps second inauguration day will begin with tea at the White House. On the main event stage, which is situated on the US Capitol buildings West Lawn, musical acts and introductory speeches are scheduled to start at 9:30 EST (14:30 GMT). Following that, Trump and Vance will be sworn in, and the president will give his inaugural speech, during which he will outline his plans for the upcoming four years. Advertisement After that, Trump will go inside to sign important documents in the Presidents Room, which is next to the Senate chamber. The Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies will later host a lunch for him. This is followed by a march from the Capitol down Pennsylvania Avenue to the White House. Later in the evening, Trump will attend three inaugural balls around the city: the Commander-in-Chief Ball, the Liberty Inaugural Ball, and the Starlight Ball. Light pollution from a planned renewable energy project in Chile could significantly impact the European Southern Observatorys Very Large Telescope (VLT). Experts warn that the VLT could lose 30 per cent of its capacity due to the increased artificial light from a power project being constructed in very close proximity to the observatory read more Astronomers and scientists are warning that light pollution from a planned renewable energy project could threaten the functioning of European Southern Observatorys Very Large Telescope (VLT) in Chile, Science.com reported. Light pollution is the excessive or misdirected artificial light that brightens the night sky. The bright sky makes it difficult to see stars and other celestial objects. The experts said that the VLT could lose 30 per cent of its capacity due to light pollution. Advertisement To put it simply, light pollution is like trying to see stars while standing under a bright streetlight. The brighter the area around you, the harder it is to see the stars. For the VLT, it could be much harder to observe and study the universe after the project is in operation. VLTs location: An ideal spot for observing universe The European Southern Observatory is located in Chiles Atacama Desert. It is one of the darkest places on Earth which makes it ideal for observing the night sky. A US company, AES Energy plans to build a large renewable hydrogen plant in Chile. It will be just a few kilometres from the summit of Mount Paranal where the observatory is located. The INNA project However, the light pollution from the INNA project poses greater risks to the operation of the Observatory and the VLT telescope. The INNA project is a $10 billion industrial park covering 3,021 hectares. It will have three solar farms, three wind farms, a battery storage system, and facilities to produce hydrogen, Renewables Now reported. ESO estimates that the project will create light pollution similar to that of a city with about 20,000 people. Some parts of the park could be as close as 3 miles (5 kilometers) from ESOs telescopes, and any future expansion could make the light pollution even worse for the Paranal night sky. VLT is worlds most advanced sky-watching instruments The Very Large Telescope (VLT) is one of the worlds most advanced sky-watching instruments. It was built in the 1990s for about $350 million ($840 million today). It has four 27-foot-wide telescopes that work together to observe distant objects and uncover mysteries of the universe. However, if the planned hydrogen project is constructed, it could seriously limit the telescopes observing ability, ESOs Director General Xavier Barcons said to Science.com. The brightness of the sky is going to increase by up to 10% from this project. And that is enough to make a difference between the best observatory in the world and an average observing place, Barcons said. He emphasised that the observatory might lose the ability to see about 30 per cent of the faintest galaxies. Were just starting to study the atmospheres of exoplanets, but if the sky gets brighter, we might lose the chance to see those details, said Barcons. To counteract light pollution, observatories might need to invest in more advanced technology or relocate to darker areas. This will be a very expensive process, hindering space exploration. Advertisement TikTok has announced on X (formerly Twitter) that they began restoring services on Sunday after President Donald Trump declared he would revive the apps access in the United States upon his return to power on Monday. The Chinese social media app expressed gratitude to Mr. Trump for providing the necessary clarity and assurance shortly after it had to suspend U.S. operations to comply with the Biden administrations ban order. Earlier, TikTok issued a statement acknowledging that U.S. users had started regaining access to its website, while the app itself was gradually coming back online for some users with limited functionality. By Sunday evening, the app remained unavailable for download on U.S. app stores. In agreement with our service providers, TikTok is in the process of restoring service, said the ByteDance-owned app in its earlier statement, while thanking the U.S. President-elect. We thank President Trump for providing the necessary clarity and assurance to our service providers that they will face no penalties for providing TikTok to over 170 million Americans and allowing over 7 million small businesses to thrive. Its a strong stand for the First Amendment and against arbitrary censorship. We will work with President Trump on a long-term solution that keeps TikTok in the United States, the post added. U.S. Supreme Court Upholds TikTok Ban On January 17, 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a law mandating ByteDance, TikToks China-based parent company, to divest the video app by January 19, 2025, or face a nationwide ban. In a unanimous decision, the court rejected TikToks claim that the law violated its First Amendment rights. The ruling marked a significant moment in the ongoing debate over the app, which, despite its popularity among young Americans, is viewed by many Washington politicians as a security risk. The justices confirmed that the law, passed by an overwhelming bipartisan majority and signed by President Joe Biden, did not infringe upon the First Amendment. This decision affirmed a lower courts ruling that upheld the law, challenged by TikTok, ByteDance, and some users of the app. Key Points of the Supreme Courts Ruling Background: TikTok, operated by TikTok Inc. in the U.S. and ultimately controlled by ByteDance Ltd. in China, faced national security scrutiny due to concerns over data collection by the Chinese government. Legislation: The Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act explicitly targets apps like TikTok, requiring divestiture from foreign adversary control to continue U.S. operations. Legal Challenges: TikTok and U.S. users argued that the Act violated their First Amendment rights. Courts Analysis: Assumed First Amendment scrutiny but concluded the Act did not violate it. Upheld the Act due to the U.S. governments compelling interest in preventing China from accessing sensitive U.S. data. Found the Act narrowly tailored to address national security concerns without overly burdening speech. Concurring Opinions Justice Sotomayor: Agreed with the outcome, emphasizing the Acts First Amendment implications. Justice Gorsuch: Expressed concerns about classified evidence and the Acts content-neutrality but agreed with the decision due to national security concerns. Whats Next? Mr. Trump indicated he would extend the period before the laws prohibitions take effect to reach a deal protecting national security. He proposed a joint venture with the U.S. holding a 50% stake, ensuring no liability for companies aiding in keeping TikTok operational before his order. During a rally on Sunday, Mr. Trump said, Frankly, we have no choice. We have to save it, highlighting plans for a joint venture to restore TikTok for its 170 million American users. TikTok had stopped working late Saturday before the national security-driven ban took effect on Sunday. U.S. officials had warned of data misuse risks under ByteDances control. Mr. Trumps approach starkly contrasts with his previous term, when he sought to ban the app over similar concerns. In August 2020, Trump ordered ByteDance to divest TikTok, but later approved a partnership structure involving Oracle and Walmart. Restoration According to The Verge, TikToks services began restoration around 12 PM ET on Sunday, with a message in the app saying, Welcome back! crediting Trump for restoring service. There are no updates yet on TikToks partial returns impact on other ByteDance-linked apps like CapCut and Marvel Snap. Welcome to my genealogy blog. Genea-Musings features genealogy research tips and techniques, genealogy news items and commentary, genealogy humor, San Diego genealogy society news, family history research and some family history stories from the keyboard of Randy Seaver (of Chula Vista CA), who thinks that Genealogy Research Is really FUN! Copyright (c) Randall J. Seaver, 2006-2024. Jerry Neal /Colorado Parks and Wildlife A young male wolf races away from transport crates that carried him and four other wolves to Grand County on Dec. 19, 2023. The Glasgow City Council will meet in regular session, Tuesday, Jan. 21, 5 p.m., in the Council Chambers, located inside of the Glasgow Civic Center. Click on the image above to view the full agenda. All meetings are open to the public. Statement by PM Netanyahu Israel - Prime Minister's Office Media Statements The 37th Government 18.01.2025 Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, this evening: "Dear citizens of Israel. On October 7, our enemies perpetrated the worst massacre against the Jewish People since the Holocaust. But amidst this terrible disaster was shown the great strength of the spirit of the people and the supreme heroism of our fighters. It is this strength that has led us with determination to achieve all of the objectives of the war that we set: Returning all of our hostages, eliminating Hamas' military and governing capabilities and ensuring that Gaza will never again constitute a threat to our country. In the War of Redemption, we have made it clear to our enemies and to the entire world, that when the people of Israel stand together, there is no force that can break us. I am proud to be Prime Minister of our wonderful people. I am proud to lead our country at such times. The Security Cabinet and the Government have approved the framework for the return of our hostages. This is the objective of the war from which we will not relent until it will be completed. The sacred mission to release hostages has accompanied me throughout my life, from my IDF service and throughout my years as Prime Minister. Together with you, citizens of Israel, and together with many people around the world, my wife Sara and I have hoped, prayed and worked for the return of all of our hostages. I think about them all the time. My wife Sara has put her entire heart and soul into caring for the families and for those who have returned, and she has been working for them both at home and abroad. I know that this concern is shared by all families in Israel. I promise you - we will insist on all the objectives of the war. We will bring all of them back home. As of today, we have returned home 157 of our hostages, 117 of whom alive. Under the agreement that has now been approved, we will return home another 33 of our brothers and sisters, most of them alive. This agreement is, first of all, the result of the heroism of our fighters in combat, and it is also the result of our steadfast insistence on Israel's vital interests, in the face of heavy pressure at home and abroad. This agreement is also the result of cooperation between the outgoing administration of President Biden and the incoming administration of President Trump. From the moment he was elected, President Trump has been involved in the mission for the release of our hostages. He spoke with me Wednesday evening. He welcomed the agreement and rightly emphasized that the first stage of the agreement is a temporary ceasefire. That is what he said, 'a temporary ceasefire'. Ahead of the next stages of the agreement, we retain significant assets in order to return all of our hostages, and in order to meet the objectives of the war. Both President Trump and President Biden have given full backing to Israel's right to return to the fighting, if Israel reaches the conclusion that the second stage negotiations are ineffectual. I greatly appreciate this. I also greatly appreciate President Trump's decision to lift the remaining restrictions on providing vital weapons and munitions to the State of Israel. If we need to go back to the fighting, we will do so in new ways and with great force. During the negotiations, I determined several basic principles: The first principle - Safeguarding the ability to return and fight as per need. For many months, Hamas demanded that we promise in advance to end the war as a condition for its entering a framework for the release of the hostages, and it set all kinds of additional dictated terms. I strongly opposed these dictated terms - and my position was accepted. We retain the right to return to the war, if necessary, with the backing of the US. And not for nothing, all senior American administration officials have unanimously attested that it was Hamas that hindered the negotiations. The second principle that I insisted on, the most important principle: I significantly increased the number of living hostages that will return in the first stage. I am pleased to tell you that this insistence has borne fruit. Contrary to Hamas's position in May, we have almost doubled the number of living hostages that are due to be released in the first stage. And the third principle - keeping the Philadelphi Corridor and the security buffer zone. When I say keeping the Philadelphi Corridor, not only will we not reduce our forces there, we will even increase them slightly, and this is contrary to all of the reports that I hear. We promised in the agreement that Israel would keep full control in the Philadelphi Corridor and the security buffer around the entire Gaza Strip. We will not allow war materiel to be smuggled in, nor will we allow our hostages to be smuggled out. We determined that terrorists who committed murder will not be released to Judea and Samaria - they will be expelled to the Gaza Strip or abroad, and we decided in the Security Cabinet on a very significant increase in our forces in Judea and Samaria in order to protect our citizens. Now, what has caused Hamas to change its position? First of all, the painful blows that our heroic fighters have landed on Hamas, and the rest of our enemies, on the battlefield. Second, our policy of striking our enemies on seven fronts with force that they have never seen. We eliminated Sinwar, Deif and Haniye. We eliminated Nasrallah and the entire Hezbollah leadership. We destroyed most of the weaponry of the Syrian military. We struck the Houthis in Yemen. We acted against Iran. Indeed, we struck all of these very hard, that is to say that we struck the entire Iranian axis very hard - and we are still active. Just as I promised you, we have changed the face of the Middle East. And as result of all this, Hamas has been left battered and isolated in the campaign. This is exactly how the conditions were created for the turning point in its position and for the release of our hostages. Today Hamas has agreed to what it did not agree to previously. Citizens of Israel, the War of Redemption has demanded of us tough decisions but it is in these decisions that leadership is tested. These were decisions that took into account our comprehensive national and security considerations. I regret that I cannot detail all of them to you here. On October 7, we took a severe blow. We experienced terrible pain. With joint forces, we repelled our enemies and achieved considerable results. The entire world, friends and enemies alike, has been impressed by these historic achievements. My dear citizens of Israel, I see the emotion. I see with uplifted spirit your inner strength. I want to thank you for the confidence and backing that you have given me and my colleagues to lead the State of Israel in these fateful times. I see our people at their best; the men and women of the IDF regular forces and reserves, the men and women of the Israel Police, the men and women in the ISA, the Mossad and the Prison Service, the emergency and rescue forces, the volunteers and our entire people in its full glory. In the storm of battle and horror of war, we take to our heart with shared sorrow, love and appreciation, those who have paid the heaviest price of all - our brothers and sisters in the bereaved families, the dear bereaved families. We embrace our wounded in body and soul, the families of our hostages, the residents who have been displaced from their homes in the north and the south, whom we are committed to returning home. I take all of you into my heart and I tell you - the campaign is still not over. A long and challenging journey still lies before us. This is not the time to disband and disperse, this is the time to unite and come together. This is what the heritage of Israel commands us. This is what the generation of victory demands of us. We are winning because the spirit within us is winning. This is the spirit of an ancient people, a people that has refused to surrender to those who have risen up to destroy us. Together, with G-d's help, we will defeat our enemies; we will ensure our future. Because there is redemption and 'there is hope for your future, says the LORD; and your children shall return to their own border' [Jeremiah 31:16]." NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Three Israeli prisoners released after Gaza ceasefire deal IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency Jan 19, 2025 Tehran, IRNA -- Three female Israeli prisoners released by the Palestinian Hamas Resistance Movement have reunited with their families as part of a ceasefire deal that paused fighting in Gaza. Emily Damari, Doron Steinbrecher, and Romi Gonen arrived in Israel on Sunday evening after Hamas handed them over to the International Committee for the Red Cross in Gaza. Hamas, the Israeli military and Red Cross officials all confirmed the release and the handover of the three prisoners. The Red Cross said all three women were in good health. They are the first of 33 Israeli prisoners who are due to be released during the first phase of the ceasefire agreement that was announced on Wednesday. The first phase, which will last six weeks, will also see the release of 90 Palestinians held in Israeli jails in return for the newly freed women. The three-phase ceasefire agreement took effect on Sunday at 09:15 GMT after a three-hour delay during which Israeli strikes left at least 19 Palestinians dead. The Israeli war, which began on October 7, 2023, has killed nearly 47,000 Palestinians in Gaza and injured 110,750 others. The regime's daily attacks have also displaced almost the entire population in Gaza. 4194 NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Hamas says will release three Israeli female prisoners IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency Jan 19, 2025 Tehran, IRNA -- Abu Obaida, the spokesperson for Hamas' armed wing, Al-Qassam Brigades, has announced that the resistance group is scheduled to free three Israeli female prisoners. Based on a ceasefire deal with Israel, Qassam Brigades will free Romi Gonen, 24, Emily Damari, 28, and Doron Steinbrecher, 31, Abu Obaida was quoted as saying by Al Jazeera on Sunday. Channel 12 of Israeli TV also said that Israeli officials have been informed about the names of the three prisoners through mediators. The office of Israeli prime minister has said in a statement that if the names of the prisoners were not announced, the ceasefire agreement would not come into effect. That came while Hamas had announced its full compliance with the terms of the agreement. Later in the day, Al Jazeera reported that prime minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu had announced that the first phase of the ceasefire deal had been put into force as of 11:15 a.m local time. 9341**2050 NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Israel kills at least 10 Palestinians as Gaza ceasefire takes effect IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency Jan 19, 2025 Tehran, IRNA -- The Israeli regime has killed at least 10 Palestinians and injured 25 others in the Gaza Strip, just a few hours after a ceasefire took effect there. According to Qatar's Al Jazeera TV network, citing the Gaza Civil Defense Organization, the latest fatalities were caused after the regime struck the northeastern city of Beit Hanoun and the Shujayya neighborhood in south of Gaza City on Sunday morning. Based on an agreement between the Israeli regime and the Palestinian Hamas Resistance Movement, which was announced on January 15 and brokered by Qatar, the US and Egypt, the ceasefire was set to take effect today at 8:30 a.m. Gaza time. Qatar's Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, whose country hosted ceasefire negotiations, has said that Hamas has agreed to release 33 Israeli prisoners in exchange for Palestinian prisoners during the first phase of the agreement, which will last six weeks. Under the deal, the Israeli regime will also pull troops out of residential areas in the Gaza Strip and allow the delivery of international humanitarian aid to the besieged region. 4208**4194 NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Yemeni forces target US aircraft carrier: Statement IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency Jan 19, 2025 Tehran, IRNA -- Yemen's Armed Forces have targeted the US aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman in the northern Red Sea. The forces successfully targeted US warships in the Red Sea through drones and cruise missiles, Brigadier General Yahya Saree, the spokesman for the Yemeni Armed Forces, said in a statement early on Sunday. In the statement, Saree warned the aggressors in the Red Sea about any aggressions against Yemen during the Gaza ceasefire that came into effect at 0915 GMT today. Earlier, the Yemeni media have reported that the US warships bombarded al-Azraqin in northern Sanaa four times. The media also reported that the US attacked Amran Governorate in the north of the Yemeni capital. Yemen has been targeting Israeli ships or other vessels destined for the occupied Palestinian territories since November last year to support the resistance of the Palestinian nation in the Gaza Strip. 1483**7129 NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address PM Netanyahu Speaks with Coordinator for the Hostages and the Missing Brig.-Gen. (Res.) Gal Hirsch Israel - Prime Minister's Office Media Statements The 37th Government 19.01.2025 Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke, a short while ago today, with Coordinator for the Hostages and the Missing Brig.-Gen. (Res.) Gal Hirsch the moment that hostages Romi Gonen, Doron Steinbrecher and Emily Damari were with IDF forces in the Gaza Strip. Following is a transcript of their conversation: Prime Minister: "Gal, do you hear me?" Coordinator for the Hostages and the Missing: "Yes, hello Prime Minister. I am at our operations center, of the security establishment, with the Mossad, the ISA, the IDF and our entire establishment. I would like to report to you that our hostages have been transferred to our forces and, at these very moments, are crossing the border into our territory. I am very moved." Prime Minister: "Have they already crossed the border into Israel?" Coordinator for the Hostages and the Missing: "It is happening at these very moments, right now." Prime Minister: "Then the moment it happens, report to me that they are in the territory of our state. This is a very moving day. These are the first hostages in this phase that we are returning home. Gal, I would like you to tell them: Romi, Doron and Emily - an entire nation embraces you. Welcome home. I know, we all know, they have been through hell. They are emerging from darkness into light. They are really going from slavery to freedom. This moment was achieved thanks to the sacrifice and combat of our heroic fighters - heroes of Israel. I would also like to convey appreciation for all those who contributed to this effort. You will, of course, leave your forward command centers open until we return them all - this is one of our objectives for the war. I emphasize to you and whoever is listening to me now - we will achieve all of our objectives for the war. The most important thing at the moment is to see to it that the Authority in the Prime Minister's Office provides them with the entire package, with all the support that is necessary for them to settle in here at home. This is a great moment, an emotional moment. Many congratulations." Coordinator for the Hostages and the Missing: "We will embrace them and we will continue and bring them all." Prime Minister: "Thank you Gal, thank you; well done. Thank you." NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Statement by PM Netanyahu Israel - Prime Minister's Office Media Statements The 37th Government 19.01.2025 Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, this morning: "In a special IDF and ISA operation, before the ceasefire takes effect, we returned to Israel the remains of Golani Brigade fighter Oron Shaul. I embrace the dear members of the Shaul family and commend the IDF and ISA forces for their resourcefulness and their bravery. The photographs of Oron Shaul and Hadar Goldin, of blessed memory, who fell during Operation Protective Edge in 2014, have been before me in my office for many years as daily testimony to my commitment to bring them back home. We have completed the mission to bring back Oron and will not rest until we also complete the mission to bring back Hadar Goldin. We will continue to act to return all of our hostages, the living and the deceased." NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Add'l P3-B allotted for Kalayaan Island Group airport, shelter ports Philippine News Agency January 19, 2025, 3:27 pm MANILA -- The Philippine government is spending an additional PHP3.03 billion this year to bolster its infrastructure buildup in the Kalayaan Island Group (KIG), located in the northeastern section of the disputed Spratly Islands. "Congress has earmarked an additional PHP1.65 billion to develop the Pag-asa Island airport, plus PHP300 million for the (Pag-asa) shelter port," Surigao del Sur 2nd District Rep. Johnny Pimentel said in a news release on Sunday. "We have also allocated an extra PHP1.08 billion to construct the second phase of the Lawak Island shelter port," he added. Pimentel, who previously chaired the House Committee on Strategic Intelligence, said the three projects are fully itemized in the 2025 General Appropriations Law. "The PHP3.03 billion in new appropriations is in addition to the combined PHP2.3 billion allocated by Congress for the Pag-asa airport and the Lawak shelter port in 2024," Pimentel said. Pimentel is the author of a bill that seeks to transform Pag-asa into a recreational fishing tourism destination. He is also the author of a separate bill that proposes an initial PHP5-billion appropriation to build new naval forward operating bases in the West Philippine Sea, primarily to secure the natural gas and oil deposits beneath the seabed. Pag-asa lies 508 kilometers northwest of Puerto Princesa City. With a land area of 37.2 hectares, Pag-asa is the largest island in the KIG. Lawak, with a land area of 7.93 hectares, is the fourth largest island in the KIG and lies 169 kilometers east of Pag-asa. With an aggregate land area of 83.89 hectares, the KIG also includes the islets of Likas, Parola, Kota, Patag and Panata. The island group also covers Ayungin Shoal (Second Thomas Shoal), Balagtas Reef (Irving Reef) and Rizal Shoal (Commodore Reef). The Municipality of Kalayaan was created in the KIG under Palawan province by virtue of a presidential decree issued by President Ferdinand E. Marcos Sr. in 1978. (PR) NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address NSC: Filipinos united in supporting gov't efforts in WPS Philippine News Agency By Darryl John Esguerra January 19, 2025, 2:05 pm MANILA -- The National Security Council (NSC) welcomed the results of a recent survey showing a vast majority of Filipinos support efforts to assert the country's rights in the West Philippine Sea (WPS). A recent OCTA Research survey showed that 84 percent of Filipinos support the national government's efforts to defend and assert maritime rights in the WPS. In a statement over the weekend, National Security Adviser Eduardo Ano said the result showed widespread backing for the country's stance in the ongoing territorial dispute, and signals a broad public engagement and understanding of the sea row. "This affirmation from the people reflects a shared commitment to protect our national sovereignty and territorial integrity," Ano said. "With 91 percent of Filipinos aware of the ongoing territorial disputes, it is evident that the public is not only informed but also united in supporting the country's efforts to defend its rights and interests in the West Philippine Sea," he added. Ano emphasized the country's adherence to the Philippine Maritime Zones Law, Archipelagic Sea Lanes Law, and 2016 Arbitral Ruling, which affirmed the Philippines' rights over the waters and resources of the West Philippine Sea under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). "This ruling is binding under international law and remains a cornerstone of our position," he said, referring to the 2016 arbitral ruling. He added that the Philippines will continue to act within the bounds of international law. The government also emphasized its focus on sustainable practices in the region, particularly for Filipino fisherfolk, and pledged continued efforts in marine conservation and the protection of economic activities within Philippine waters. Ano thanked the Filipino people for their trust and unity, underscoring that such support strengthens the nation's resolve to secure its maritime rights. (With a report from Priam Nepomuceno/PNA) NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address PH, US conduct 1st maritime cooperative activity for 2025 Philippine News Agency By Priam Nepomuceno January 19, 2025, 12:49 pm Updated on January 19, 2025, 1:09 pm MANILA -- Naval and air units from the Philippines and the United States conducted this year's first maritime cooperative activity (MCA) at the West Philippine Sea (WPS) over the weekend, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) said on Sunday. In a statement, AFP public affairs office chief Col. Xerxes Trinidad said the MCA took place in the Palawan area of the WPS with the US Indo-Pacific Command on Jan. 17 and 18. "Philippine assets involved in the activity included the BRP Antonio Luna (FF-151), BRP Andres Bonifacio (PS-17), two FA-50 fighter aircraft, and Philippine Air Force search-and-rescue assets," he said. Participants on the US side were the USS Carl Vinson (CVN-70) carrier strike group that includes the Ticonderoga-class guided missile cruiser USS Princeton (CG-59), Arleigh Burke-class guided-destroyer USS Sterett (DDG-104), an MH-60 Seahawk helicopter, a V-22 Osprey helicopter, and two F-18 Hornet jet fighters. "On Jan. 17, the forces conducted a communications check exercise, division tactics/officer of the watch maneuver, and a photo exercise. The exercises continued on Jan. 18 with the participants conducting dissimilar aircraft combat training," Trinidad said. It was the fifth MCA between the AFP and US military units since the drills started in November 2023. The MCA reinforces bilateral maritime cooperation and interoperability. AFP chief Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr. said the MCA aims to increase the Philippines' defense cooperation with its US counterparts. "This MCA is a crucial element of our continued efforts to strengthen defense cooperation. With each exercise, we become increasingly prepared and effective in addressing the challenges ahead," Brawner said in the same statement. "This is a result of our shared commitment and mutual effort to safeguard our national interests and secure a peaceful region." (PNA) NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Qassam Brigades: Al-Aqsa Strom final nail in Israeli regime's coffin Iran Press TV Sunday, 19 January 2025 6:28 PM The Palestinian resistance movement of Hamas has extended its gratitude towards Iran, Lebanon's Hezbollah, Yemen's Armed Forces, and the Iraqi Resistance for their support for the Gaza Strip, saying Operation al-Aqsa Strom hammered the final nail in the Israeli regime's coffin. Abu Ubaida, the spokesman for al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas' military wing, made the remarks in a videotaped speech on Sunday, hours after the ceasefire deal between the Israeli regime and the resistance group went into effect in Gaza. "Operation al-Aqsa Strom began from the outskirts of Gaza, but it changed the face of the region and introduced new equations in the conflict with the occupying entity, and led to the opening of new battlefronts and forced the entity to turn to international powers to support it," he said. The spokesman said, "Hamas and all the resistance factions fought as one across the Gaza Strip and they dealt fatal blows to the enemy, with great valor and courage until the last hours of the battle, and they were fighting in conditions that seemed impossible." He also stressed that "all attempts to integrate the Zionist entity into the region will face deep-rooted resistance," emphasizing that all efforts and plans must be focused on how to contain "this criminal enemy." Abu Ubaida further noted that "the great sacrifices" of Palestinians during 15 months of Israel's brutal aggression against Gaza "will not go in vain," adding that Operation al-Aqsa Strom hammered the final nail in the Israeli regime's coffin and the occupying entity will undoubtedly disappear. He also called on all mediators to force the Israeli regime to implement the ceasefire agreement, while reaffirming Hamas and the resistance factions' commitment to the truce. Earlier this week, Israel was forced to agree to a ceasefire, accepting Hamas' longstanding negotiation terms. The ceasefire deal consists of three phases, each lasting 42 days. Negotiations for the second and third phases will begin 16 days after the implementation of the first phase. The first phase will see the release of some 1,900 Palestinian abductees in exchange for 33 Israeli captives held in Gaza. It also requires Israeli occupation forces to begin withdrawing from the Philadelphi corridor - also known as the Salah al-Din axis - on the Gaza-Egypt border. Israel unleashed its brutal Gaza onslaught on October 7, 2023, after Hamas carried out a historic operation against the occupying entity in retaliation for its intensified atrocities against the Palestinian people. However, the Tel Aviv regime failed to achieve its declared objectives of freeing captives and eliminating Hamas despite killing nearly 47,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, in Gaza. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Hamas awaits release of 90 Palestinian prisoners as it hands over 3 Israeli captives Iran Press TV Sunday, 19 January 2025 4:39 PM Hamas has released the list of the 90 Palestinian prisoners who are set to be released by the Israeli regime in exchange for three female captives, as part of the first phase of a long-awaited ceasefire agreement between the two sides. The group said in a statement that the ages of the prisoners "range from 15 to 68, with the dates of their imprisonment ranging from two months ago to five years ago." Twenty-one men and 69 women will be released, including 22 aged 18 or younger. All of them are prisoners who were abducted from the occupied West Bank and al-Quds, Hamas said. Among them is 61-year-old Palestinian politician Khalida Jarrar a leading member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. Jarrar, who was abducted by Israeli forces in January 2024, has been held in solitary confinement for months, Hamas said. Zeina Barbar, 18, is also among the prisoners returning home today. She was abducted by Israeli forces from the occupied Old City of al-Quds, in July 2024. Israeli forces stormed Barbar's family home ahead of her release on Saturday, warning her family "against celebrating her expected release." And Wilaa Tanaja, who was abducted from the West Bank city of Nablus, is also going to be released today. Tanaja was once released as part of a prisoner exchange in November 2023 but was abducted again. Israel had said earlier that 737 Palestinian prisoners would be freed during the first 42-day phase of the ceasefire. In the meantime, Hamas confirmed the transfer of three Israeli captives to representatives from the International Committee for the Red Cross (ICRC). "The Red Cross has communicated that the three Israeli hostages were transferred to them and are on their way toward IDF and ISA forces in the Gaza Strip," Israel's military said in a statement, using acronyms for Israel's military and the Israeli Security Agency respectively. The three captives Romi Gonen, Emily Damari and Doron Steinbrecher were the first of 33 that the resistance group is expected to free during the first phase of the ceasefire deal. Under the agreement, Hamas will release four captives on Day 7 of the ceasefire and the remaining 26 will be released over the next five weeks. Foreign captives, including Americans, are also expected to be released in addition to the 33 Israeli captives, CNN reported, citing sources familiar with the matter. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Hamas says committed to Gaza ceasefire deal with Israel Iran Press TV Sunday, 19 January 2025 1:26 PM Hamas has pledged its commitment to the ceasefire agreement, which officially began on Sunday, to see the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners who have arbitrarily been detained in the Israeli regime's prisons. The long-awaited ceasefire agreement, which was first announced on Wednesday, went into effect on Sunday after a nearly three-hour delay during which Israel's military forces killed at least 19 Palestinians in the besieged Gaza Strip. The first phase of the ceasefire calls for Hamas to release 33 captives over six weeks. It has released the names of three female Israeli captives set to be released today. In a Sunday statement, the resistance group reaffirmed its "commitment to implementing the terms of the agreement." It said the ceasefire is "the fruit of the steadfastness and patience of our great people and the legendary steadfastness of our valiant resistance in the face of the Zionist machine of terrorism and killing." "The whole world today must stand in reverence for the legendary steadfastness of our people in Gaza, and in appreciation of their patience and sacrifices over the course of 471 days." Hamas said it is awaiting a list of 90 Palestinian prisoners, including women and children, to be released by Tel Aviv on the first day of the ceasefire. It also said that Gaza officials "are monitoring the operations of bringing in aid and providing relief to our people with everything necessary." The ceasefire marks a critical moment for aid delivery into the territory. Hundreds of trucks have already lined up at the Rafah border crossing, which has been closed since May. Rights groups say the ceasefire agreement is a relief, but it is only the beginning of addressing the immense humanitarian, psychological, and medical needs in Gaza. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Gaza ceasefire agreement 'biggest defeat' for Israel: Gen. Qa'ani Iran Press TV Sunday, 19 January 2025 11:12 AM The commander of the Quds Force of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) has lauded the ceasefire agreement between the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas and Israel as the biggest defeat for the occupying regime. Brigadier General Esmail Qa'ani said on Sunday that the ceasefire, which came into force on the same day and brought an end to months-long Israeli aggression against Palestinians in the besieged Gaza strip, was the "biggest defeat" the Tel Aviv regime had experienced in its "miserable life" as it failed to achieve any of its goals. "The bloodthirsty, child-killing butchers of the Zionist regime, after 15 months of unrestrained crimes they committed against the oppressed people of Palestine, Lebanon and the region, were forced to accept a ceasefire today at the pinnacle of humiliation; this ceasefire was imposed on the Zionist regime," Qa'ani said. The Quds Force chief underlined that the ceasefire deal was the same as what had been proposed in the previous round of negotiations, but Israel had rejected it. "This ceasefire is nothing short of what was put forth in the previous round of negotiations, but the disgraceful Zionist regime disrupted it and gained nothing," Qa'ani added. "However, the same clauses that the Palestinian Islamic Resistance and our brothers had set, they were forced to accept in this round of talks, and today at 1 p.m., the humiliation of the Zionist regime and the biggest defeat it has gone through during its miserable life will be exposed by the grace of God." Israel launched its merciless aggression on Gaza on October 7, 2023, after Hamas-led resistance groups carried out a historic operation against the occupying entity in retaliation for its intensified atrocities against the Palestinian people. However, the Tel Aviv regime failed to achieve any of its declared objectives, including the release of captives and the "elimination" of Hamas despite killing nearly 47,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children. On Wednesday, Israel was forced to agree to a ceasefire agreement, accepting Hamas' longstanding negotiation terms. In November, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for Israel's prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and former minister of military affairs Yoav Gallant "for crimes against humanity and war crimes." Last year, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ordered Israel to take immediate steps to prevent "plausible genocide" in the besieged Gaza Strip, following a case brought by South Africa. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address US warplanes target north of Yemen's capital in fresh aggression Iran Press TV Sunday, 19 January 2025 9:36 AM American warplanes have conducted multiple airstrikes against targets north of the Yemeni capital, Sana'a, after Yemen's military claimed responsibility for a retaliatory operation on the USS Harry Truman in the Red Sea. Yemen's al-Masirah television channel reported that four aerial raids took place in the al-Azraqeen area, during the early hours of Sunday. The extent of human or material losses resulting from the airstrikes has yet to be disclosed. The airstrikes came hours after Brigadier General Yahya Saree, the spokesperson for the Yemeni army, announced in a statement that the country's forces had targeted the USS Harry Truman aircraft carrier "with a number of drones and cruise missiles" in the Red Sea. He also warned "hostile forces in the Red Sea of the consequences of any aggression against [Yemen] during the ceasefire period in Gaza." The latest incident marks the eighth assault on a US aircraft carrier by the Yemeni Armed Forces since its arrival in the Red Sea in December. In a show of solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza, Yemeni forces have been targeting Israeli and Western assets since November 2023, after the onset of Israel's devastating war on Gaza in October 2023, as well as responding to American-British aggression on Yemeni soil. To pressure Israel into halting its brutal war on Gaza, the Yemeni army has also been targeting ships linked to Israel, the United States, and the United Kingdom. As a result of these operations, the Eilat port south of the occupied territories has effectively been shut down, causing significant economic repercussions for Israelis. The Yemeni Armed Forces have vowed to continue their attacks until Israel's ground and aerial offensives in Gaza cease. Israel has killed at least 46,899 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injured 110,725 other individuals in Gaza since the onset of the war. Thousands more are also missing and presumed dead under rubble. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Gaza ceasefire takes effect after Israel launches deadly strikes on Gaza Iran Press TV Sunday, 19 January 2025 8:22 AM The planned ceasefire agreement between the Palestinian Hamas resistance group and Israel has taken effect after deadly strikes by the usurping regime on the Gaza Strip. The truce deal was set to begin at 8:30 a.m. local time (06:30 GMT) on Sunday to end the 15-month-long Israeli genocidal war on the besieged territory but was delayed for almost three hours. It finally went into effect at 11:15 a.m. local time. Earlier in the day, the Israeli military said that it continued to carry out attacks on Gaza as Hamas had not provided a list of captives to be released under the ceasefire. Israeli army spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said in a televised statement that the regime's military "continues to strike within the Gaza area at this time. According to the prime minister's directives, the ceasefire will not come into effect until Hamas fulfills its commitments." He echoed an earlier statement from prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who ordered the occupation's military not to implement the Gaza truce until Hamas issues the names of the Israeli captives to be released. Meanwhile, Hamas said the delay in handing over the names of the captives is due to "technical and field reasons." In a statement issued on Telegram, the resistance group reaffirmed its commitment to the terms of the ceasefire agreement. Afterwards, Hamas provided a list of the three Israeli captives to be freed later on Sunday. 13 Palestinians killed during ceasefire delay Gaza's Civil Defense said 13 people have been killed and more than 30 others injured in the Israeli bombing of Gaza on Sunday morning during the nearly three-hour delay in the start of the ceasefire. Gaza's Government Media Office announced that it had begun deploying thousands of Palestinian police officers tasked with maintaining security and order in the blockaded territory. "Ministries and government institutions are fully prepared to begin work according to the government plan [and] to implement all measures that ensure life returns to normal as soon as possible," it added. Israel unleashed its brutal Gaza onslaught on October 7, 2023, after Hamas carried out a historic operation against the occupying entity in retaliation for its intensified atrocities against the Palestinian people. However, the Tel Aviv regime failed to achieve its declared objectives of freeing captives and eliminating Hamas despite killing nearly 47,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, in Gaza. Earlier this week, Israel was forced to agree to a ceasefire, accepting Hamas' longstanding negotiation terms. The ceasefire deal consists of three phases, each lasting 42 days. Negotiations for the second and third phases will begin 16 days after the implementation of the first phase. The first phase will see the release of some 1,900 Palestinian abductees in exchange for 33 Israeli captives held in Gaza. It also requires Israeli occupation forces to begin withdrawing from the Philadelphi corridor - also known as the Salah al-Din axis - on the Gaza-Egypt border. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Jan. 18: 'Axis of Resistance' operations against Israeli occupation Iran Press TV Sunday, 19 January 2025 5:44 AM By Press TV Website Staff Amid the West-backed Israeli genocidal war on Gaza, which has killed nearly 46,900 Palestinians so far, Palestinian and regional resistance groups continue their operations against the Tel Aviv regime and its Western backers. The major operations by the resistance groups on Saturday, January 18, are as follows: Al-Quds Brigades' operations on Jan. 18: Launched barrages of rockets at the "Zikim" military site, "Sderot," and settlements surrounding Gaza. Targeted and destroyed an Israeli military vehicle by detonating a pre-planted land explosive device southwest of Gaza City. Targeted the "Nir Am" settlement in the Gaza envelope with "Badr 1" missiles. Sniped an Israeli soldier east of Gaza City. Yemeni military's operations on Jan. 18: Carried out two military operations targeting two vital Israeli military sites linked in the Umm al-Rashrash (Eilat) area in southern occupied Palestine. Targeted the Israeli ministry of military affairs in Yaffa (Tel Aviv) with a ballistic missile type "Dhu al-Fiqar." The missile reached its target with high accuracy, and the interception systems failed to intercept it. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address NATO, EU Bolster Kosovo Contingents Ahead Of Tense February Election By RFE/RL January 19, 2025 NATO and the European Union are beefing up their resources in Kosovo amid rising tension in the Balkan nation ahead of February 9 parliamentary elections. The Western military alliance said it has sent 200 additional Italian soldiers to bolster the NATO-led KFOR peacekeeping mission, which has been in the country since 1999 and now has some 4,000 troops, down from a peak of 50,000. "Today, Italian troops from KFOR's reserves completed their arrival...reinforcing KFOR's presence in Kosovo," a statement said. The "Italian mechanized infantry brigade 'Sassari,' will carry out a range of activities, together with KFOR troops." It said the force "will be deployed in response to any relevant developments in the security situation including during the election period." Separately, the EU said an election observation mission has been established to oversee the parliamentary vote. Nathalie Loiseau, a French member of the European Parliament who has been named mission leader, said a team of 100 observers will monitor the elections, underlining "continuous EU support for Kosovo to further strengthen its democratic governance." The election is seen by many as a test of strength for Prime Minister Albin Kurti and his ruling party as tensions remain high with the country's ethnic-Serbian minority and the government in neighboring Serbia itself. Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008, a decade after a war between ethnic-Albanian rebels and Serbian forces, which ended after a 78-day NATO air campaign drove Serbian troops out and the international peacekeeping force moved in. The conflict left more than 10,000 people dead -- most of them ethnic Albanians from Kosovo. Kosovo has an ethnic Serbian majority in several districts, while ethnic Albanians overwhelmingly populate the rest of the Balkan country. Serbia has not recognized Kosovo's independence, and several incidents have ratcheted up angry feelings on both sides in recent years. Tensions rose most recently when Kosovar authorities on January 15 raided municipal offices in 10 Serbia-backed areas as the government continued to press the closure of so-called parallel institutions that gave Belgrade leverage in its former province. Authorities in Kosovo say the work of the Serbian institutions, which have been in operation since the postwar period in 1999, is "illegal." Ethnic Serbs in northern Kosovo have been guided for decades by Belgrade and its parallel structures in the region, including Serbian banks, a pension system, and unemployment benefits. The United States has been one of Kosovo's major supporters since its independence declaration, but Washington has expressed opposition to many of Pristina's actions against its Serbian minority and has urged negotiated settlements on a range of issues. The EU has told both sides that a normalization of relations is a requirement to be considered for bloc membership. The upcoming election has also entered the spotlight after Kosovo's Central Election Commission (CEC) decided on December 23 not to certify the main ethnic Serbian party, effectively barring it from the parliamentary elections. The CEC said its main reason for declining to certify Serbian List was its nationalist stance and close ties to Serbia. However, a special appeals court on December 25 ordered the CEC to certify the Serbian List and its candidates for the election, ruling that the party had fulfilled all obligations required regarding filings and was therefore entitled to be certified. With reporting by AP and AFP Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/nato-eu-kosovo-serbia-election- kfor/33280519.html Copyright (c) 2025. 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 Three Israeli Hostages Handed Over to IDF Forces in Gaza Sputnik News 20250119 The Red Cross has transferred three released Israeli hostages to the IDF in the Gaza Stip, the Israeli army announced in a statement. "The three released hostages are being accompanied by IDF special forces and ISA forces on their return to Israeli territory, where they will undergo an initial medical assessment. The commanders and soldiers of the Israel Defense Forces salute and embrace the released hostages as they make their way home to the State of Israel. The IDF Spokesperson's Unit asks everyone to respect the privacy of the released hostages and their families," the statement reads. Earlier in the day, the International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC) confirmed the transfer of three Israeli hostages from Hamas as part of the ceasefire deal with Israel. IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari spoke of the "immense excitement" over the hostages' release, adding that Israelis' hearts were with those still being held in Gaza. "Emily, Doron, and Romi are now in safe hands. Minutes ago, Emily, Doron, and Romi were reunited with IDF and ISA forces they are now with us and on their way home," he said on Telegram. From now on, three to four additional hostages will be released each week, the spokesperson added. Hagari warned that Israel would not tolerate any "deviations" from the agreements. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Hamas Gives Names of 3 Hostages to Be Released Sputnik News 20250119 The Palestinian Hamas movement has confirmed that it has given mediators the names of three Israeli hostages it will release on Sunday. "Hamas recently handed the mediators the names of three female prisoners who will be released," the movement said in a statement. Al-Qassam Brigades, the Hamas's military wing, announced the decision to release three hostages as part of a deal with Israel. "A decision was made today to release three female hostages: Romi Gonen, Emily Damari, Doron Steinbrecher," a spokesperson for the armed wing of Hamas, Abu Ubaida, stated. Israel has received a list of hostages to be released by the Palestinian movement Hamas in the first stage of a ceasefire agreement deal, Dmitri Gendelman, an adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office, told Sputnik on Sunday. "The list was received a few minutes ago," Gendelman said. Earlier in the day, Hamas issued a statement, attributing the delay in handing over to Israel the names of the first three hostages to be freed to technical problems. The ceasefire in the Gaza Strip was due to take effect at 8:30 a.m. local time (06:30 GMT) on Sunday as part of an agreement to release hostages. Netanyahu said on Saturday that Israel would not proceed with the Gaza ceasefire agreement until the Hamas hands over the hostage list. Israel's National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has resigned in protest over a deal with Hamas, Israel's Kan radio reported. Earlier, Hamas issued a statement, attributing the delay in handing over to Israel the names of the first three hostages to be freed to technical problems. Eight people were killed and 25 injured in Israeli shelling of two neighborhoods in the Gaza Strip, the Palestinian TV channel reported, citing the Gaza Civil Defense. "Eight people have been killed and 25 wounded in the Gaza Strip in the period since the ceasefire went into effect until 9:30 a. m. [06:30 GMT] on Sunday," the Gaza Civil Defense said in a statement quoted by the Al Aqsa TV. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Israel Army Leaves City of Rafah in Gaza Strip Sputnik News 20250119 MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) began to withdraw troops and equipment from the center of the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, media reported, citing its correspondent. According to the channel, the Israeli military is "retreating to the Philadelphi Corridor," which is located on the border between Egypt and the Gaza Strip. On Saturday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that, contrary to media reports about the alleged withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Philadelphi Corridor on the border of the Gaza Strip and Egypt as part of a deal with the Hamas movement, Israel planned not only to maintain a military presence in this area, but even to strengthen it. The parties to the conflict in the Palestinian Gaza Strip Israel and the Hamas movement with the mediation of Qatar, Egypt and the United States agreed to a ceasefire from January 19 for 42 days and declared their desire to finally end the hostilities that have claimed the lives of 46,000 Palestinians and about 1,500 Israelis in 15 months, spread to Lebanon and Yemen, and provoked an exchange of missile strikes between Israel and Iran. The first stage of the deal involves the release of 33 Israeli hostages in exchange for about a thousand Palestinian prisoners. Israeli troops must withdraw to the borders of the Gaza Strip, although they will remain within them for now. From the first day of the truce, humanitarian aid deliveries will increase to 600 trucks per day, including 50 with fuel. The Palestinians will receive 200,000 tents and 60,000 mobile homes. The guarantors of the agreement are Qatar, Egypt and the United States, which will create a coordination center in Cairo. On the 16th day of the ceasefire, Israel and Hamas committed to begin talks on a second phase of the deal, which would presumably include the release of the remaining hostages, a permanent ceasefire, and a full Israeli withdrawal. The guarantors of the peace process are also talking about a third phase, which would include an exchange of remains, the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip, and an end to its blockade. This is the second ceasefire in the conflict: the first was concluded in November 2023 and lasted only six days. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address PM statement on the release of three hostages in Gaza: 19 January 2025 Prime Minister Keir Starmer's statement on the release of three hostages in Gaza. 19 January 2025 The release of three hostages today is wonderful and long-overdue news after months of agony for them and their families. Among them is British citizen Emily Damari, who will now be reunited with her family, including her mother Amanda who has never stopped her tireless fight to bring her daughter home. I wish them all the very best as they begin the road to recovery after the intolerable trauma they have experienced. We stand ready to offer assistance and support. However, today also represents another day of suffering for those who haven't made it home yet - so while this ceasefire deal should be welcomed, we must not forget about those who remain in captivity under Hamas. We must now see the remaining phases of the ceasefire deal implemented in full and on schedule, including the release of those remaining hostages and a surge of humanitarian aid into Gaza. The UK stands ready to do everything it can to support a permanent and peaceful solution. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Israel-Hamas ceasefire takes hold with first hostages freed By VOA News January 19, 2025 A ceasefire between Israel and Hamas took hold Sunday, seemingly starting a six-week pause in 15 months of fighting in Gaza and setting the stage for the release of dozens of hostages held by the militants, including three young women freed in the first hours of the truce. The truce started at 11:15 a.m. local time and hours later, a Red Cross convoy headed into Gaza, the narrow strip of land along the shores of the Mediterranean Sea, and secured the release of Romi Gonen, 24, Emily Damari, 28, and Doron Steinbrecher, 31. Early Monday, Israel freed 90 Palestinian prisoners and detainees, hours after the three Israelis were released. Large white buses carrying the detainees exited the gates of Israel's Ofer prison, just outside the West Bank city of Ramallah. Palestinians crowded the buses, chanting and cheering, as celebratory fireworks burst overhead. Israel had pledged to free them as part of the ceasefire deal agreed to last week after a year of futile negotiations. U.S. President Joe Biden, who spurred negotiations leading to the truce, said on his last full day in office, "After so much pain, destruction, and loss of life, today the guns in Gaza have gone silent." Gonen had been abducted from a music festival on Oct. 7, 2023, during the shock Hamas attack on Israel that killed 1,200 people and led to the abduction of about 250 hostages, while the other two women handed over to Israeli authorities were kidnapped from Kibbutz Kfar Aza. Damari is an Israeli-British dual citizen. The Palestinian death toll from the Israel's counteroffensive after the October 2023 attack has reached more than 46,000, with most of them women and children, although the Israeli military contends, without providing evidence, that it has killed 17,000 militants. The ceasefire was delayed for three hours when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said it would not start until Hamas provided a list of the three hostages set for release Sunday. Meanwhile, Israeli attacks in Gaza raged on, with the Gaza health ministry saying at least 26 more people were killed, but did not say whether they were civilians or fighters. The military had warned people to stay away from Israeli forces as they retreated to a buffer zone. The truce was announced last week after intensive mediation by the United States, Qatar and Egypt. Biden's outgoing administration and President-elect Donald Trump's team had both pressed for an agreement to be reached before Trump's inauguration and return to the White House on Monday. "Hostages starting to come out today! Three wonderful young women will be first," Trump wrote on his social media platform, Truth Social. The terms of the pact call for a 42-day first phase with the release of 33 of the 99 hostages believed to be held by Hamas and hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and detainees freed. About two-thirds of the hostages are believed to be alive, with the rest killed in fighting or having died. Israeli forces are expected to pull back into a buffer zone inside Gaza, and many displaced Palestinians should be able to return home, although much of Gaza has been laid to waste. According to a list provided by the Palestinian Authority's Commission for Prisoners' Affairs, all of those released are women or minors. Israel said those on the list had been detained for what it said were offenses related to Israel's security, from throwing stones to more serious accusations such as attempted murder. There is also supposed to be a surge of humanitarian aid to famished Palestinians in Gaza, with hundreds of trucks entering daily, far more than Israel has allowed during the fighting. The United Nations' World Food Program said trucks had started entering Gaza through two crossings after the ceasefire took hold. Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Tom Fletcher said in a statement, "As the ceasefire entered into force today, humanitarian aid moved into Gaza as part of a prepared surge to increase our support to survivors. More than 630 trucks with humanitarian aid entered Gaza today, with at least 300 of them going to the north. There is no time to lose. After 15 months of relentless war, the humanitarian needs are staggering." "Today also brings a measure of relief in Israel as the first hostages have been released to be reunited with their families. Detained Palestinian women and children were also released today, in line with the ceasefire agreement. This is a moment of tremendous hope fragile, yet vital as we continue to navigate the complexities of the days and weeks ahead," Fletcher said. Top Israeli officials support the ceasefire, but not all of them. Israel's hard-line national security minister meanwhile said his Jewish Power faction was quitting the government in protest over the ceasefire agreement. Itamar Ben-Gvir's departure weakens Netanyahu's coalition but will not affect the truce. Negotiations on the far more difficult second phase of this ceasefire should begin in just over two weeks. Major questions remain, including whether the war will resume after the first phase and how the rest of the hostages in Gaza will be freed. But Palestinians across Gaza celebrated the initial truce. Masked militants appeared at some of the celebrations, where crowds chanted slogans in support of them, according to news accounts. Palestinian residents began returning to their homes in parts of Gaza City early Sunday, even as tank shelling continued to the east, closer to the Israeli border, overnight. Families could be seen making their way back on foot, with their belongings loaded on donkey carts, residents said. "The sound of shelling and explosions didn't stop," said Ahmed Matter, a Gaza City resident. Matter said he saw many families leaving their shelters and returning to their homes. "People are impatient. They want this madness to end," he said. Reactions in Israel were more varied, as people hoped for the safe return of the hostages but remained divided over the agreement. "It's a new day," Nissan Kalderon, the brother of hostage Ofer Kalderon, 54, told Israeli Channel 12. "Don't stop. Bring all the hostages home." Asher Pizem, 35, from the Israeli city of Sderot near Gaza, said he eagerly awaited the return of the captives. But he said the deal had merely postponed the next confrontation with Hamas and criticized Israel for allowing aid into Gaza, saying it would contribute to the revival of the militant group. VOA U.N. correspondent Margaret Besheer contributed to this report. Some information in this report came from The Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Russo-Ukraine War - 19 January 2025 - Day 1061 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 central Donetsk Oblast, Russian forces have applied increasing pressure on the town of Velyka Novosilka. Through January 2025, Russian forces have advanced north to seize the villages of Neskuchne and Vremivka the latter situated to the immediate west of the town. Velyka Novosilka has been on the front line since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine. Russia failed in attempts to seize the town in summer 2022, and Ukraine pushed Russian forces south in 2023. Russia's advances on this axis come after it seized other towns to the east notably Vuhledar in October 2024 and Kurakhove earlier in January 2025. The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported that the Defense Forces are directing efforts to disrupt the execution of Russian invaders' offensive plans and exhaust their combat potential. Since the beginning of the day, there have been 180 combat clashes, the Russian enemy launched 24 air strikes, dropping 34 KABs, deployed 961 kamikaze drones, carried out more than four thousand shells of settlements and positions of Ukrainian troops. In the Kharkiv direction, Russian terrorists launched air strikes in the settlements of Vovchansk and Vovchansk Khutori, in addition, the enemy tried to penetrate the defensive borders of Ukrainian defenders near Vovchansk three times. Thirteen times Russian forces attacked Ukrainian fortifications in the Kupyans komu direction in the areas of Stroivka, Pi any, Kolisnikivka, Zagrizovogo, Kutkivka, New Kruglyakivka and Lozovoi. There's still one battle going on. Eighteen attacks were fought by Ukrainian warriors near Novoyegorivka, Nadia, Novosergiyivka, Pershotravnevogo, Green Grove, Makiyivka, Novosadovogo, Zarichny, Kolodyaziv, Green Valley, Terniv and in Serebryansky forestry in the Lyman direction. In the sivers komu direction, Russian forces carried out offensive actions in the areas of Ivano-daryivka and verkhnyokamians kogo, total two attacks of the zagarbnikiv. In the Kramators komu direction, Ukrainian defenders repelled seven attempts of the zagarbnikiv to advance near the time gap and the white mountain. In the Toretsky direction, Russian forces today 19 times stormed the positions of Ukrainian defenders in the areas of Toretsk, Diliyivka and Sherbinivka. Defense forces are steadily holding back the pressure. Intensely attacks the Russian opponent of Ukrainian defenders in the Pokrovsky direction. During the day, Russian forces carried out 88 attacks. The largest activity of the Russian occupiers is kept in the areas of the settlements Green Field, Oleksandropil, Vodyane Second, Elizabethivka, Mirolubivka, Ray, Lisivka, Mirnograd, Pokrovsk, Zvirove, Shevchenko, Udaachne, Uspenivka, Kotline, Nadiivka, Novotroitske, Novoandriyivka, Slovyanka, Petropavlivka, Andriyivka, Dachne, Ulakly and Amber. Ukrainian defenders bravely hold the border, so far there are five fighting. According to preliminary estimates, today, in this direction, Ukrainian soldiers have eliminated 150 and wounded 144 Russian invaders. Seven vehicles units, one combat armored vehicle, 5 satellite communication devices, also significantly damaged a combat armored car, a mortar, two portable REB stations and an automobile unit. In the novopavlivs komu direction, Russian forces during the day made 13 attacks in the direction of konstantinopol and great novosilka. Two clashes are being sharpened so far. The enemy caused KABAMA air strikes in the area of the settlement Novopil, dropping five controlled bombs. In the direction of Gulyajpils komu, the Russian enemy did not perform active actions. In the Orihiv direction Russian zagarbniki once stormed the positions of Ukrainian defenders in the direction of Novoandriivka. They did not have any success. In the Pridniprovsk direction, two Russian assaults have been setback. In Kur ini Ukrainian defenders repelled 14 attacks of Russian zagarbnikiv. According to the information, Russian forces launched 12 air strikes a day, dropping 16 controlled airstrikes, carrying out 416 artillery shells, including six from reactive open-fire systems. In other directions, there have been no significant changes in the environment. The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation reported that in Kharkov direction, the Sever Group of Forces inflicted fire damage on formations of the national guard brigade and foreign mercenaries close to Volchansk and Malye Prokhody (Kharkov region). The AFU losses amounted to up to 35 troops, three field artillery guns, and a depot of materiel. The Zapad Group of Forces captured more advantageous lines and positions, inflicted losses on manpower and hardware of four mechanised brigades, a jaeger brigade, a mountain assault brigade, an airmobile brigade, an assault brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, a territorial defence brigade, and a national guard brigade close to Petropavlovka, Novoosinovo, Glushkovka, Borovskaya Andreyevka, Zapadnoye, Zelyony Gai, Zagryzovo (Kharkov region), Novoyegorovka, Kolodezi, and Terny (Donetsk People's Republic). The AFU losses amounted to more than 430 troops, a tank, three infantry fighting vehicles including a U.S.-made Bradley IFV, two U.S.-made M113 armoured personnel carriers, three pickup trucks, seven field artillery guns, three of them were NATO-made. One Kvertus electronic warfare station and one artillery ammunition depot were neutralised. The Yug Group of Forces units improved tactical situation and defeated units of two mechanised brigades and a motorised infantry brigade close to Minkovka, Markovo, Verolyubovka, Chervonoye, Chasov Yar, Podolskoye, and Alekseyevo-Druzhovka (Donetsk People's Republic). The AFU losses amounted to up to 195 troops, a U.S.-made HMMWV armoured fighting vehicles, and three pickup trucks. One motorised infantry brigade command post, one electronic warfare station, and four ammunition depots were destroyed. As a result of active offensive actions, the Tsentr Group liberated Vozdvizhenka (Donetsk People's Republic). Russian units hit manpower and materiel of seven mechanised brigades, a motorised infantry brigade of the AFU, and an assault brigade of Ukrainian national police near Petrovka, Dzerzhinsk, Solenoye, Ukrainka, Novovasilyevka, Shevchenko, Novoyelizavetovka, Lysovka, Peschanoye, and Slavyanka (Donetsk People's Republic). The AFU losses amounted to up to 535 troops, two US-made M113 APCs, and a Finnish-made Pasi armoured personnel carrier, four armoured fighting vehicles, 10 motor vehicles, and five artillery guns. The Vostok Group of Forces continued advancing to the depths of the enemy's defence, defeated units of four mechanised brigades of the AFU, a marine brigade, three territorial defence brigades, and a national guard brigade near Dneproenergiya, Razliv, Velikaya Novoselka, Otradnoye, Novopol of the Donetsk People's Republic, and Temirovka (Zaporozhye region). The AFU losses amounted to up to 135 troops, a tank, an armoured fighting vehicle, a motor vehicle, and a Polish-made 155-mm Krab self-propelled artillery system. The Dnepr Group of Forces engaged manpower and hardware of three coastal defence brigades, a mechanised brigade of the AFU, and a territorial defence brigade close to Stanislav, Zmeyevka, Yantarnoye, Tokarevka, Antonovka, Kazatskoye (Kherson region), and Kamenskoye (Zaporozhye region). The enemy lost more than 75 troops, an armoured fighting vehicle, five motor vehicles, and two electronic warfare stations. Two depots storing ammunition and materiel were neutralised. Operational-Tactical Aviation, attack unmanned aerial vehicles, and Missile Troops and Artillery of the Russian Groups of Forces have engaged the infrastructure of military airfields, clusters of enemy manpower and hardware in 143 areas during the day. Russian air defence systems shot down three U.S.-made HIMARS MLRS projectiles and 66 fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicles. In total, since the beginning of the special military operation, 652 aircraft, 283 helicopters, 40,792 unmanned aerial vehicles, 590 anti-aircraft missile systems, 20,674 tanks and other armoured fighting vehicles, 1,510 MLRS combat vehicles, 20,800 field artillery guns and mortars, and 30,481 units of support military vehicles have been neutralised. The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation also reported that the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation continue the operation to neutralise an enemy group, which broke into the territory of Kursk region. The Sever Group of Forces engaged formations of a tank brigade, a heavy mechanised brigade, four mechanised brigades, two air assault brigades, a marine brigade, and three territorial defence brigades of the Armed Forces of Ukraine close to Bondarevka, Guyevo, Lebedevka, Malaya Loknya, Makhnovka, Nikolayevo-Daryino, Nikolsky, Novaya Sorochina, Sverdlikovo, and Sudzha. Two enemy counter-attacks were repelled. Operational-Tactical and Army aviation, and artillery strikes engaged AFU manpower and hardware near Viktorovka, Vladimirovka, Zaoleshenka, Kositsa, Kruglenkoye, Kubatkin, Kurilovka, Lebedevka, Loknya, Martynovka, Melovoy, Oleshnya, Cherkasskoye Porechnoye, Yuzhny as well as Basovka, Belovody, Veselovka, Zhuravka, and Yunakovka in Sumy region. Over the past 24 hours, the AFU lost more than 210 troops, an infantry fighting vehicle, five armoured fighting vehicles, six motor vehicles, an artillery gun, and a mortar. Since the beginning of hostilities in Kursk region, the AFU losses amounted to more than 52,870 troops, 304 tanks, 232 infantry fighting vehicles, 174 armoured personnel carriers, 1,572 armoured fighting vehicles, 1,508 motor vehicles, 377 artillery guns, 44 MLRS launchers, including 13 of HIMARS and six of MLRS made by the USA, 16 anti-aircraft missile launchers, eight transport-loading vehicles, 93 EW stations, 13 counter-battery warfare radars, four air defence radars, 30 units of engineering and other materiel, including 13 counterobstacle vehicles, one UR-77 mine clearing vehicle, eight armoured recovery vehicles, and one command post vehicle. The operation to neutralise the AFU units is in progress. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Iran's top general in Pakistan for talks on strengthening military ties IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency Jan 19, 2025 Islamabad, IRNA -- The Chief of Staff of Iran's Armed Forces, Major General Mohammad Bagheri, says military and security relations between the Islamic Republic and Pakistan are on an upward trajectory and will be further strengthened as he arrives in Islamabad for an official visit. "We have witnessed major events in the region over the past year, where Iran and Pakistan, as two Islamic nations, are located in the sensitive regions of West and South Asia," Major General Mohammad Bagheri told IRNA upon arriving in Islamabad on Sunday. Iran's top general is on a two-day trip to Pakistan at the invitation of Pakistan's Army Chief, General Asim Munir. He is scheduled to meet with senior Pakistani military officials, as well as the president, prime minister, and minister of defense. The agenda for discussions includes the expansion of defense and military cooperation, border security, the fight against terrorism, and the latest developments in the region. Gen. Bagheri noted that Iran shares a long border with Pakistan, and both nations are working to resolve security issues while transforming the border regions into "a place for broad economic connections". 4353**2050 NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address IRGC Navy unveils strategic underground base IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency Jan 19, 2025 Tehran, IRNA -- The Commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), Major General Hossein Salami, has unveiled a strategic underground base belonging to the IRGC Navy. During the unveiling ceremony on Saturday, Major General Salami said the IRGC's new Navy complex is one of the numerous bases housing combat, missile-launching, and minelayer vessels. Highlighting the magnificence of the new IRGC Navy complex, he mentioned that the new underground city represents only a small fraction of the IRGC Navy's defensive capabilities. Regarding the growing preparedness of the IRGC's combat and defense capabilities, the commander emphasized that the IRGC Navy's combat vessels possess excellent ocean navigation capabilities and are ready to safeguard Iran's crucial interests. Major General Salami reiterated that the IRGC Navy has significantly improved the range, speed, precision, and destructive power of its vessels and naval missiles. He emphasized, "Today, the IRGC Navy is capable of establishing multiple layers of defense," noting that they will continue to enhance the IRGC's advanced equipment and systems in the future. 3266**2050 NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Iran, Pakistan boosting all-out military cooperation: Top general Iran Press TV Sunday, 19 January 2025 3:42 PM Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces Major General Mohammad Baqeri says Iran and Pakistan are expanding military cooperation in various fields. Baqeri made the remarks in Islamabad where he arrived on Sunday leading a high-ranking military delegation at the invitation of Pakistan's army chief, General Asim Munir. "Relations between the Iranian and Pakistani armed forces have been developing in recent years and we have reached good agreements," Baqeri told reporters. He pointed to the security issues within the long border between Iran and Pakistan and added that the two countries are working to turn common border areas into a "border of friendship for the two nations and a place for broad economic connections." "Iran and Pakistan are two major Muslim countries in the sensitive West and South Asia region and have extensive ties with each other," the top Iranian general emphasized. He said Tehran and Islamabad have a common stance on many issues that occurred in the region over the past year. Talks with the Pakistani officials would focus on regional developments so that the two neighboring states would be able to adopt a coordinated position in different international circles, Baqeri noted. The Iranian and Pakistani officials are scheduled to discuss the improvement of defense cooperation, particularly in border areas and the fight against terrorism as well as the latest developments in the region and the Muslim world. Top political, military, and security officials also plan to discuss the agreements previously signed between the two neighboring states. The top Iranian military brass will hold talks with Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif, and Defense Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Israeli minister Smotrich threatens to 'bring down' Netanyahu's coalition over Gaza ceasefire Iran Press TV Sunday, 19 January 2025 5:34 PM Hawkish Israeli minister Bezalel Smotrich has threatened to bring down prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu's ruling coalition if the besieged Gaza Strip is not occupied. Speaking with Army Radio, the far-right minister said that Israel "must occupy Gaza and create a temporary military government because there is no other way to defeat Hamas." "I will bring down the government if it does not return to fighting in a way that [leads to us] taking over the entire Gaza Strip and governing it," the minister added. Elsewhere in his remarks, Smotrich lashed out at Israeli war minister Herzi Halevi for being "weak in strategy." "If I were the prime minister, I would tell the chief of staff, 'This is my policy; if you don't execute it, go home," he emphasized He also insisted that Israel take over the provision of humanitarian aid in the strip. Smotrich recently described the ceasefire deal with Palestinian resistance groups as "dangerous" for the occupying regime. Itamar Ben-Gvir and some other ministers have already resigned from Netanyahu's ruling coalition over the Gaza ceasefire agreement. The ministers had in past statements stressed that Israel must have a plan to conquer or permanently occupy the besieged Palestinian territory. Ben-Gvir and his "Jewish-power" party announced on Sunday that they are leaving the coalition "in light of the approval of the reckless agreement with the Hamas." The party called the ceasefire agreement a "capitulation to Hamas" and the renunciation of what they called the Israeli military's achievements since the start of the aggression against Gaza. The departure of ministers, especially Ben-Gvir and possibly Smotrich, makes Netanyahu's coalition significantly weaker. In a video posted on X, Ben-Gvir admitted that he and Smotrich used their political influence to prevent a ceasefire agreement from moving forward. Ben-Gvir also said humanitarian aid and fuel, electricity, and water must be "completely stopped" from entering the blockaded Palestinian region. He has been convicted of incitement to racism, destroying property, possessing a "terror" organization's propaganda material, and supporting a terrorist organization - the Israeli group Kahane Chai, which he joined when he was 16. Israel was forced to accept a ceasefire deal with Hamas on Wednesday. The agreement took effect on Sunday 06:30 GMT. Israel launched its brutal Gaza onslaught on October 7, 2023, after Hamas-led resistance groups carried out a historic operation against the usurping entity in retaliation for its intensified atrocities against the Palestinian people. Since then, the occupying regime has killed nearly 47,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, in Gaza. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Israeli minister Ben-Gvir quits Netanyahu's coalition over Gaza ceasefire Iran Press TV Sunday, 19 January 2025 11:33 AM Israeli minister along with his entire party have resigned from prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu's ruling coalition over the Gaza ceasefire agreement. Itamar Ben-Gvir and his "Jewish-power" party announced on Sunday that they are leaving the coalition "in light of the approval of the reckless agreement with the Hamas." The party called the ceasefire agreement a "capitulation to Hamas" and the renunciation of the Israeli regime's so-called achievements since the start of the war. Although Jewish power said it will not try to bring down Netanyahu's cabinet, the departure of its ministers, especially Ben-Gvir, makes Netanyahu's coalition significantly weaker. The party said it would be willing to return to Netanyahu's coalition should the war eventually resume. In a video posted to X, Ben-Gvir admitted that he and Bezalel Smotrich, another Israeli minister, used their political influence in order to prevent a ceasefire agreement from moving forward. "If this irresponsible agreement is approved and implemented, the Jewish power party will not be part of the government and will leave it," he said. Ben-Gvir also said humanitarian aid and fuel, electricity, and water must be "completely stopped" from entering the war-torn Palestinian enclave. Ben-Gvir has been convicted of incitement to racism, destroying property, possessing a "terror" organization's propaganda material, and supporting a terrorist organization - the Israeli group Kahane Chai, which he joined when he was 16. Israel was forced to accept a ceasefire deal with Hamas on Wednesday. The agreement has been set to take effect on Sunday 06:30 GMT. Israel launched its brutal Gaza onslaught on October 7, 2023, after Hamas-led resistance groups carried out a historic operation against the usurping entity in retaliation for its intensified atrocities against the Palestinian people. Since October, the occupying regime has killed at least 46,788 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injured nearly 110,450 others, in Gaza. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Russia's VTB bank to upgrade Tehran office to branch Iran Press TV Sunday, 19 January 2025 5:18 PM Russia's second-largest lender, VTB, has announced it will upgrade its representative office in Tehran to a branch, becoming the first Russian bank to establish a branch in Iranian territory. VTB said in a Sunday statement that the decision to upgrade the bank's office in Tehran to a branch had been adopted considering the prospect of growing economic and trade relations between Iran and Russia and to respond to demands by Russian businesses to receive banking services in Iran. The statement, seen by Iran's official IRNA news agency's office in Moscow, said VTB hopes its branch in Tehran could start operating by the end of 2025 after receiving the approval of qualified financial authorities in the country. The lender said Russia's central bank had already endorsed VTB's decision to launch a branch in Iran, adding that the branch will initially provide services to Iranian and Russian businesses with foreign activities while gradually offering other banking products and payment services related to Iran. It said a priority of the branch will be to settle accounts in national currencies and to finance trade and export development schemes. The bank said, however, that the structure of the branch and the number of its staff, which it said will include Russian and Iranian experts, will be decided by the trade needs of Iran and Russia and the laws and regulations governing the Iranian banking system. The announcement comes just two days after Iran and Russia signed a strategic partnership treaty that outlines the roadmap for cooperation between the two countries for the next 20 years. VTB launched its representative office in Tehran in May 2023 as part of efforts by Iran and Russia to expand their relations to counter foreign sanctions targeting their economies. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Secretary Blinken's Call with UK Foreign Secretary Lammy US Department of State Readout Office of the Spokesperson January 18, 2025 The below is attributable to Spokesperson Matthew Miller: Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken spoke with UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy today. The Secretary thanked the Foreign Secretary for the close partnership they forged as part of the U.S.-UK "special relationship" and highlighted their cooperation on issues like conflict in the Middle East, Russia's illegal war in Ukraine, and competition with the PRC. The Secretary wished Foreign Secretary Lammy well as he continues the important work the United States and the United Kingdom do together to promote a safe and secure world. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Joint Statement between the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and the Prime Minister of Poland This joint statement was released following the meeting between Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Prime Minister Donald Tusk in Warsaw on 17 January 2025. 18 January 2025 Joint Statement following the meeting of the British and Polish Prime Ministers in Warsaw on 17 January 2025. We met in Warsaw to discuss our close partnership and shared vision for our bilateral and international cooperation. Today we reaffirmed our unshakeable support for NATO. We discussed a broad range of shared global challenges, including how to shore up European security in the face of an increasingly aggressive Russia. We agreed to continue joint support to Ukraine, including military support, training and reconstruction. Together we will work to tackle Russia's hybrid attacks, including in cyberspace, take joint action to counter information manipulation, and deepen collaboration on extending sanctions against Putin's regime. We are committed to holding Russia accountable for the crimes and damages perpetrated on Ukrainian territory. We welcomed the start of the Polish presidency of the Council of the European Union in the first half of this year and discussed the Presidency's priorities for the next six months. Together, we underlined the importance of a close partnership between the UK and the EU, including in the security and economic spheres. We looked forward to the UK joining the informal European Council meeting in February. Here in Warsaw, we agreed to launch negotiations on a new Defence and Security Treaty between the UK and Poland. Building on the 2017 Defence Treaty, the new agreement will provide the framework and ambition for the deepest cooperation across the full range of external and internal security threats, and our shared determination to defend and promote peace and security in Europe together with our allies. We expressed our strong support for the important and growing defence industrial relationship between the UK and Poland. A new Polish-British Joint Programme Office in the UK, planned to be established in the middle of this year, will give strong support to this work. It will focus on the 4bn bilateral agreement for the next generation of the short range air defence system NAREW. We also discussed Poland's East Shield project to further strengthen its border, and the UK's support to the project. Together we underlined the imperative of tackling irregular migration, and agreed to establish a strategic border security and migration dialogue, to focus initially on tackling the threat from migrant smuggling networks and increased data sharing. We discussed the risks to Poland's borders of the instrumentalisation of migrants through Belarus and Russia, and agreed to share best practice to address this challenge. We expressed our support for the role of sanctions as one of the tools for tackling irregular migration and organised immigration crime. We celebrated our close trade and investment relationship, with growing bilateral trade, creating jobs and growth for the people of both countries. We agreed our governments would deepen bilateral dialogue on energy security and transition. We also agreed to explore a new forum between relevant ministers to address the shared challenges and opportunities, to be announced in the coming months. The friendship between our countries lies in our close people to people links. We recognised the breadth of our cooperation, including co-operation on science and education. Looking ahead to 2025, we underlined the value of UK-Poland cultural co-operation, and looked forward to the UK-Poland Season of Culture 2025. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address 3 killed in Russian attack on Kyiv, officials say By VOA News January 18, 2025 Russian forces launched a combined drone and missile attack on Kyiv early Saturday, killing at least three people, Ukrainian officials said. Three other people were wounded, according to city military administration chief Timur Tkachenko. A shopping mall, metro station, business center and water pipe were also damaged in the attack, he said. Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said air defenses were in operation around the city. Ukrainian air force spokesperson Yurii Ihnat told Ukrainian media that both missiles that had been aimed at Kyiv were destroyed, but that one of them was shot down at a low altitude, causing major damage. "Everyone who is helping the Russian state in this war must be put under such pressure that it is felt no less than these strikes. We can only do this in unity with the whole world," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on social media. The Russian defense ministry called the attack "retaliation" for Ukraine's use of U.S.-supplied ATACMS missiles in strikes on Russian territory. "The Russian armed forces carried out a group strike with precision-guided weapons against Ukrainian military-industrial facilities, including the Luch Design Bureau that develops and manufactures long-range guided missiles," the Russian Defense Ministry said. City officials said the victims were two men, ages 43 and 25, and a 41-year-old woman. An earlier death toll said four people were killed in the attack, but it was later revised to three. "These acts merely underscore the enemy's ruthlessness and barbarity," Ukrainian parliamentary ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets wrote on social media. More Russian attacks In another overnight attack, Russia struck the southeastern city of Zaporizhzhia, where the regional governor said 10 people were injured. Eight of them, aged between 28 to 69, were hospitalized. A 48-year-old woman was reported in serious condition, local Governor Ivan Fedorov said in a statement. On Friday, a Russian missile attack killed at least four people and injured at least 14 others in the south-central Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih, Zelenskyy said in his daily address. "Such strikes, such losses, simply would not have happened if we had received all the necessary air defense systems that we have been talking about with our partners for such a long time and that are available in the world," he said. Zelenskyy, who was born in Kryvyi Rih, condemned the attack on Telegram. "Each such terrorist attack is another reminder of who we are dealing with. Russia will not stop on its own it can only be stopped by joint pressure," he said. The attack also damaged an educational facility and two five-story buildings, officials said. Ukrainian drone attack Meanwhile, a Ukrainian drone attack late Friday ignited a fire at an industrial site in Russia's Kaluga region, about 170 kilometers from the shared border. "As a result of a drone attack in Lyudinovo, a fire broke out on the territory of an industrial enterprise," regional Governor Vladislav Shapsha posted on Telegram. Some information in this report came from The Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Zelenskiy Renews Plea For Patriot Systems After Week Of Nonstop Russian Attacks By RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service and RFE/RL's Russian Service January 19, 2025 Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said his embattled nation had been slammed by more than 1,000 Russian projectiles over the past week, prompting him to renew his urgent plea for additional air defense weapons, particularly the U.S.-made Patriot missile system. "In one week, the Russian army used about 550 attack drones, almost 60 missiles of various types, and more than 660 aerial bombs," Zelenskiy wrote on his Telegram channel. He thanked soldiers and warfare units for defending against the "daily strikes on infrastructure" and for preventing most of the weapons from "reaching their targets." However, he added that the "constant task is to continue to strengthen the protection of our skies." "More Patriots for Ukraine means more protection of life. More range for Ukraine means more guarantees that the Russian war can be stopped," he added. Zelenskiy has stepped up his appeals for the sophisticated Patriot air defense system over the past year as Russian forces continue assaults against Ukrainian infrastructure and civilian sites. Ukraine is thought to have at least five Patriot systems, although details have been kept mostly secret as some allies have sent full batteries while others have promised to send parts for the units. A Patriot system costs more than $1 billion to manufacture and some $4 million more each time it is fired. In an interview with Ukrainian TV on January 19, military chief Oleksandr Syrskiy said Ukraine is seeking to develop its own air defense system with capabilities equivalent to the Patriots. "During Soviet times, [Ukraine] effectively manufactured all the controllers for anti-aircraft systems. So we have the capacity and the ability to make [them]. Work is under way to develop our own domestic air defense system." When asked if they will be as effective as the U.S.-made systems, Syrskiy said, "I hope they will be comparable in performance to the Patriots." On the battlefield, the Ukrainian General Staff reported more than 80 clashes near the strategic Donetsk city of Pokrovsk, the target of a brutal Russian offensive over recent months. A day earlier, Ukrainian military spokesman Viktor Trehubov claimed the situation in Pokrovsk was "stable" and that there were no Russian troops inside the city, even as authorities rushed to evacuate children from the bombed-out ruins. "In Pokrovsk, in the city itself, the situation has not changed. It is stable," Trehubov said, while acknowledging that Russian forces still appeared intent on encircling the area. "There is no enemy there. We have already had to counteract information thrown into the network that they have allegedly arrived. This is simply not true," he insisted. Once home to 60,000 residents, Pokrovsk now has only around 7,000 people remaining, local authorities estimate. The situation around the important logistics hub remains unclear. Heavy losses have been reported on both sides, although neither military discloses its casualties. Russian forces have been closing in on Pokrovsk for several weeks, but some observers suggest the Kremlin may decide to bypass the city and seek to capture more territory further inside Ukraine instead. On January 18, the Russian Defense Ministry said its forces had taken control of two more settlements in the region, the village of Petropavlivka -- between the towns of Pokrovsk and Kurakhove -- and Vremivka. If Russian forces were to take Pokrovsk, it would represent a major gain for the Kremlin after fighting that has left the city mostly in ruins. In his comments, Trehubov said that "the enemy is trying to cling to the area south of Pokrovsk in order to advance southwest of the settlement and cut off logistics routes." "What is happening in the settlements south of Pokrovsk...there are constant battles, constant attempts by the enemy to take the area, make a base with it, and advance." "The Russians are currently far from this goal, but they are trying," he added. The U.S.-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW) in its latest update said that "Russian forces recently advanced in the Pokrovsk direction and continued offensive operations in the area on January 17. With reporting by Reuters and Ukrayinska pravda Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/russia-ukraine-pokrovsk- kyiv-evacuation/33280847.html Copyright (c) 2025. 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 response to a media question regarding recently exposed atrocities by neo-Nazis in the Kursk Region 19 January 2025 13:41 39-19-01-2025 Question: Yesterday, it was revealed that the Russian military had discovered, in a cellar in the village of Russkoye Porechnoye, Kursk Region, bodies of civilians tortured and mercilessly killed by neo-Nazi occupants. Reportedly, those were maimed bodies of seniors who, evidently, were unable to resist. The images released by the media show bruises, bullet wounds, and tied arms and hands. Can this be commented on at all from a human point of view? Do you have any words for this? Maria Zakharova: True, the heart-wrenching images released by the media are hard to comment on from a human point of view. Naturally, it is beyond all logical explanations and understanding. These atrocities are simply another outrageous manifestation of the terrorist and Nazi nature of the Kiev regime. Driven by its malicious military and political impotence at the front, it once again committed a cannibalistic massacre of civilians. This is exactly what the countries of the collective West and their politicians, who personally cover and encourage Kiev's Nazis, expect from the Banderites. They cynically turn a blind eye to their criminal acts, continue to authorise arms supplies to the Kiev regime and block attempts at international investigations of its crimes. In a joint and disciplined manner, they pretend that nothing terrible is happening, although this constitutes a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law and the Geneva Conventions. All this confirms once again that the extermination of anything Russian is part of the European values that, as the "civilised" sponsors of the Banderites claim, the Kiev regime is defending. This is why it is obvious that this time again, we will not hear any intelligible reaction to these cruel murders of civilians from such international entities as the OSCE, the United Nations and its specialised agencies. Their secretariats controlled by the West keep their deliberate silence or say meaningless generalities about being "against violence," while actually covering for the killings of residents of peaceful villages and towns, which makes them accomplices to those atrocities. We realise that there is no point in calling on those who are tightly stuck in the Western grip and are not going to do anything to establish justice, and to find and punish those responsible. We will do it ourselves. The investigative authorities of the Russian Federation will carry out all the necessary actions to identify the perpetrators who will be duly and inevitably held accountable and sentenced to real imprisonment terms, as it happens with many other exposed crimes of the Kiev regime. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Russian Defence Ministry reports on repelling AFU attempt to invade Russian territory in Kursk region (19 January 2025) 19.01.2025 The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation continue the operation to neutralise an enemy group, which broke into the territory of Kursk region. The Sever Group of Forces engaged formations of a tank brigade, a heavy mechanised brigade, four mechanised brigades, two air assault brigades, a marine brigade, and three territorial defence brigades of the Armed Forces of Ukraine close to Bondarevka, Guyevo, Lebedevka, Malaya Loknya, Makhnovka, Nikolayevo-Daryino, Nikolsky, Novaya Sorochina, Sverdlikovo, and Sudzha. Two enemy counter-attacks were repelled. Operational-Tactical and Army aviation, and artillery strikes engaged AFU manpower and hardware near Viktorovka, Vladimirovka, Zaoleshenka, Kositsa, Kruglenkoye, Kubatkin, Kurilovka, Lebedevka, Loknya, Martynovka, Melovoy, Oleshnya, Cherkasskoye Porechnoye, Yuzhny as well as Basovka, Belovody, Veselovka, Zhuravka, and Yunakovka in Sumy region. Over the past 24 hours, the AFU lost more than 210 troops, an infantry fighting vehicle, five armoured fighting vehicles, six motor vehicles, an artillery gun, and a mortar. Since the beginning of hostilities in Kursk region, the AFU losses amounted to more than 52,870 troops, 304 tanks, 232 infantry fighting vehicles, 174 armoured personnel carriers, 1,572 armoured fighting vehicles, 1,508 motor vehicles, 377 artillery guns, 44 MLRS launchers, including 13 of HIMARS and six of MLRS made by the USA, 16 anti-aircraft missile launchers, eight transport-loading vehicles, 93 EW stations, 13 counter-battery warfare radars, four air defence radars, 30 units of engineering and other materiel, including 13 counterobstacle vehicles, one UR-77 mine clearing vehicle, eight armoured recovery vehicles, and one command post vehicle. The operation to neutralise the AFU units is in progress. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Atrocities Against Civilians in Russia's Kursk Region Confirm Terrorist Core of Kiev Regime - Moscow Sputnik News 20250119 Neo-Nazi atrocities in the Kursk region defy any logical explanation and understanding, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said. "The heartbreaking footage that has appeared in the media is really difficult to comment on. Of course, it defies any logical explanation and understanding. These atrocities are yet another blatant statement of the terrorist and neo-Nazi gut of the Kiev regime, which in its evil military and political impotence against the background of defeats at the front has once again organized a cannibalistic massacre of civilians," Zakharova said in her commentary published on the Russian Foreign Ministry's website. Servicemen from Russia's Battlegroup Sever told Sputnik earlier that Russian fighters had found the bodies of civilians tortured by the Ukrainian Armed Forces, particularly old people who had also been tied up, in the basements of houses in the village of Russkoye Porechnoye in the Kursk region's Sudzha district, which was liberated from the Ukrainian military. Ukrainian forces tortured old people who did not have time to evacuate the village. They were forced into the basement, and several grenades were thrown at them. Ukrainian Armed Forces militants in Russkoye Porechnoye, Kursk region, killed at least seven civilians who were sheltering in the basement of a residential building in January, the Russian Investigative Committee said. A criminal case against the Ukrainian troops involved in the killing of civilians in Russkoye Porechnoye has been opened under the article on terrorism, the Investigative Committee said. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Secretary Blinken's Call with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Sybiha US Department of State Readout Office of the Spokesperson January 19, 2025 The below is attributable to Spokesperson Matthew Miller: Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken spoke today with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha and thanked him for his personal partnership in strengthening the U.S.-Ukraine bilateral relationship since Sybiha's appointment last fall. They also discussed recent sanctions actions to deprive Russia of resources needed to continue its war of aggression, and continuing work to set the conditions for a secure, peaceful, and prosperous Ukraine. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address SHAH ALAM, Malaysia, Jan. 19, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- McGraw Hill today announced that the largest higher education institution in Malaysia, Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM), intends to expand its use of McGraw Hills state-of-the-art digital content for its over 35,000 learners. The new agreement builds on an existing relationship with the institution, which already uses McGraw Hills digital solutions blended with original content developed for UiTM learners in various business disciplines. The expanded cooperation will see McGraw Hill and UiTM collaborate to deliver content customized to the institution's specific needs hosted on McGraw Hills digital learning platform, including Connect. UiTM is the largest comprehensive university in Malaysia providing innovative education with state-of-the-art infrastructure and technology within reach at its 34 campuses, 4 colleges of studies, 14 faculties, and 9 academic centres all over the country. "We are thrilled to join forces with McGraw Hill, a global leader in educational content and technology, said Professor Firdaus Abdullah, Dean, Faculty of Business and Management, Universiti Teknologi MARA. This collaboration provides our students and faculty with access to cutting-edge resources and tools, enriching the learning experience and supporting our institution's mission of academic excellence. We are confident this expanded relationship will unlock new opportunities for our students and contribute to their future achievements." UiTM is a widely respected institution in the national and global higher education landscape, and we are thrilled to see our relationship with them deepen through this new agreement, said Neil Harris, Senior Vice President, McGraw Hill International. The creation of new, localized content built to serve their exact needs will bolster student engagement and, combined with the McGraw Hill learning platform, will enhance student outcomes. We look forward to the future of our relationship. McGraw Hill McGraw Hill is a leading global education company that partners with millions of educators, learners and professionals around the world. Recognizing their diverse needs, we build trusted content, flexible tools and powerful digital platforms to help them achieve success on their own terms. Through our commitment to equity, accessibility and inclusion, we foster a culture of belonging that respects and reflects the diversity of the communities, learners and educators we serve. McGraw Hill has over 30 offices across North America, Asia, Australia, Europe, the Middle East and South America, and makes its learning solutions for PreK-12, higher education, professionals and others available in more than 80 languages. Visit us at mheducation.com or find us on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn or Twitter. UiTM UiTM offers over 500 academic programmes at Foundation, Pre-Diploma, Diploma, Bachelors, Masters, and PhD levels, as well as Professional Programmes. It continues to expand access to higher education, playing its role in nation-building by unleashing potentials and shaping the future. With over 770,000 alumni in science, technology, humanities, and entrepreneurship, UiTM offers opportunities to shape leaders at national, industry, and global levels and is well poised to become a globally renowned university by 2025. Contact: Ben Roselieb McGraw Hill 614-673-3454 ben.roselieb@mheducation.com A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/e6f1e154-b5cc-4fe4-944a-b50c9dd12771 BIKFAYA, Lebanon, Jan. 19, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- A new monumental sculpture, Chaine de Lumiere, created by designers Pierre & Cedric Koukjian, represented by SINCE, has been installed in the picturesque town of Bikfaya, Lebanon. This sculpture, composed of seven links, draws inspiration from Dante Alighieris Divine Comedy. Each link represents one of the seven stages of growth, symbolizing the human souls journey toward enlightenment. The chain embodies unity, resilience, and connection, reflecting the unifying power that binds all existence. Chaines de Lumiere invites viewers to reflect on the transformative path of self-discovery and the enduring strength found in collective harmony. The project was made possible with the invaluable support of Sheikha Nicole Gemayel and the artistic community of Geneva, whose collective commitment to creativity has been instrumental in bringing this vision to life. The logistical aspects of the project were expertly handled by Blackblues, ensuring the successful installation of this monumental work in its new home. About Pierre and Cedric Koukjian Pierre and Cedric Koukjian are celebrated for their postmodernist works, often incorporating materials such as metal, marble, and crystalline resin. Their creations explore themes of connection, identity, and resilience. A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/1c6b4221-306b-45a7-b296-1ffa31df8b01 VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Jan. 20, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Fancamp Exploration Ltd. (Fancamp or the Company) (TSX Venture Exchange: FNC) is pleased to announce its initial exploration results of Acadian Gold, a joint venture with Lode Gold Resources Inc. for the advancement of a 445 km under-explored land package located in New Brunswick. Work completed as part of the launch of Acadian Golds exploration program includes a Heliborne HeliTEM Survey over the Riley Brook and McIntyre Brook properties, as well as a soil geochemical grid on select areas over the Riley Brook property, along with trenching and rock chip channelling at McIntyre Brook. The results received from this first phase of exploration by Acadian Gold has significantly increased the known surface expression of the previous data and historical drilling at McIntyre Brook, confirming by trenching and chip channel sampling a gold bearing rhyolitic horizon presenting a minimum strike extension of at least a 200-metre and up to 9-metre thickness, similar to the one observed at Puma Explorations Williams Brook Project. At Riley Brook, a significant multi-element soil anomaly coincident with a Conductive EM Anomaly indicates the possibility of an Intrusion Related Gold System in the southwestern section of the property. By confirming the limited historical work at McIntyre Brook as well as identifying combined soil and geophysical anomalies, the Company has further substantiated the prospectivity of the Acadian Gold joint venture to expand into a district scale gold-copper play. The Acadian Gold properties encompass a combined 445 km2 land package of mineral claims, constituting gold mineralized zones that extend over several kilometres, on trend with Puma Explorations Williams Brook property which is the subject of an option agreement with Kinross Gold Corp., making Fancamp and Lode Golds joint package of assets inherently attractive. Francois Auclair, Vice President Exploration of Fancamp comments, The first phase of exploration at the Acadian Gold joint venture has been successful at confirming a meaningful, gold bearing rhyolitic horizon at McIntyre Brook through the trenching and channel sampling; and at Riley Brook with coincident, geophysical and multi-element geochemical anomalies. The results at both properties are highly encouraging considering the limited historical work recorded in the area and that less than 10% of the Riley Brook property has been covered by FNC geochemical soil sampling program. We see a lot of potential for growth given the prolific region which hosts other gold-focused development projects, the dominant land package and likelihood of proving these properties host Epithermal and Intrusive Related Gold Systems. This joint initiative with Lode Gold Resources Inc. occurs in a highly prospective geologic domain for gold and polymetallic discovery, within the Appalachian Gold Corridor that hosts other Au-focused projects such as New Found Gold's Queensway Project and Calibre Mining's Valentine Lake Project. Exploration Highlights The Heliborne HeliTEM Survey was flown over 3,247-line kilometers, covering 419 km of joint venture land package, with considerable data acquired over both properties in a grid pattern with 150-metre spacing between each flight line (refer to Figure 1). The helicopter-borne geophysical survey consisted of magnetic, electromagnetic and radiometric measurements leveraging the Xcalibur HeliTEM system. Prospecting and trenching at McIntyre Brook confirmed the presence of a gold bearing rhyolite horizon, similar to the one observed at Pumas Williams Brook Project (refer to Figure 2 and Table 1), with preliminary trench results that include 5.3 metres of 1.19 gpt Au. The survey revealed the presence of coincident radiometric and conductive geophysical anomalies at both Riley Brook and McIntyre Brook. Soil geochemical surveys were conducted over 3 grids on the Riley Brook property and revealed the presence of large soil Au-W-As-Sb geochemical anomalies positioned in the southern part of the property (refer to Figure 3). Acadian Gold staked an additional 26 km at the southwestern edge of the Riley Brook property to cover the potential continuation of the soil geochemical anomaly and coincident conductivity anomaly. McIntyre Brook Trenching Program The McIntyre Brook trenching program confirmed earlier results from historical drilling in the central part of the property (refer to Figure 2 and Table 1). Results significantly expanded the known mineralization previously defined by Lode Gold Resources Inc. in 2019 to a minimum strike length of 200 metres and a potential thickness of up to 9 metres. Mineralization defined insofar appears comparable to the description of a similar mineralized lithological unit found on neighboring Puma Explorations Williams Brook Project. The McIntyre Brook trenching also allowed for better definition of the strike and dip of the gold bearing rhyolitic unit and for follow up exploration drilling along the southwestern and northeastern trend. EM airborne data has further revealed a distinctive anomaly located in the eastern sector of the McIntyre Brook property, where assay results of soil samples collected from this area are expected later this month. Results received to date are considered very encouraging, meanwhile results from the soil geochemical surveys at McIntyre Brook remain pending, which intend to guide future course of action for a prospective drill program. Future work planned at the McIntyre Brook prospect intends to further expand the strike length and identify potential parallel structures and inflections. Riley Brook Geochemical Soil Surveys The Riley Brook geochemical soil surveys revealed the presence of strong soil anomalies in the southern end of the property (refer to Figure 3). These seem to correlate with a number of discrete intrusives mapped throughout the property by the New Brunswick Geological Survey. Recon soil sampling which only covered ~10% of the Riley Brook property has revealed multiple gold anomalies of similar tenor demonstrated on other Appalachian gold belt deposits such as Puma Explorations Williams Brook Property (>20ppb Au in soils). The soil anomalies are defined by various percentile levels of As (98%), Au (99%), Sb (97%) and W (96%), elements which are valid pathfinders associated with gold mineralization in Epithermal and Intrusive Related systems. Notably, these anomalies are further associated with potential coincident HeliTEM conductive and radiometric anomalies. Future work at Riley Brook may include ground geophysics to cover the gold geochemistry and EM anomaly, including further soil sampling and trenching work planned for the spring of 2025. Figure 1: Acadian Gold McIntyre Brook and Riley Brook Airborne Magnetometer. Figure 2: McIntyre Brook Trenching Results. Trench ID From (m) To (m) Length (m) Au (gpt) Metal Factor (gpt*m) T10 8.8 14.1 5.3 1.19 6.30 T9 3 9.8 6.8 0.89 6.04 T1 24.9 28.9 4 0.21 0.86 T2 3.7 6.7 3 0.50 1.51 T5 No significant assay results T6 No significant assay results Table 1: Preliminary Trenching Results at McIntyre Brook. Figure 3: Riley Brook coincident EM and soil geochemical anomaly. New Brunswick, Acadian Gold Joint Venture: A joint initiative with Lode Gold Resources Inc. for the advancement and exploration of significantly sized, well-located and under-explored mineral assets in New Brunswick, 'Acadian Gold Corp. This 50/50 joint venture is located in a highly prospective region for gold and polymetallic mineral discovery, a geologic domain that hosts other gold-focused firms such as Calibre Mining and New Found Gold. The Acadian Gold joint venture includes the Riley Brook property, a 334.5 km2 land package of mineral claims and 111 km2 of McIntyre Brook mineral claims, combined to create a dominant land holding on an orogenic belt where other major developers are established and host certain world-class deposits. The Acadian Gold joint venture is positioned from a strategic perspective as a key player in the region, and holds the potential to become an emerging, district-scale, Au-Cu exploration play with upside potential from a major discovery (refer to press releases dated August 27, 2024 and October 9, 2024). About Fancamp Exploration Ltd. (TSX-V: FNC) Fancamp Exploration Ltd. is a Canadian mineral exploration company focused on acquiring strategic interests in and advancing high potential mineral projects, and creating accretive value for shareholders through medium-term growth and monetization opportunities. The Company has investments in Champion Iron Ltd. (CIA), an existing iron ore operation in the Quebec-Labrador Trough in addition to a finite production payment royalty. The Company owns a $34.5 million secured convertible note with Canadian Chrome Company and 2% royalty on its chromite deposit located in the highly sought after Ring of Fire in Northern Ontario. Fancamps assets include 96% stake in Magpie Mines Inc. and a 2% royalty in one of the worlds largest known Ti-deposits. Fancamp recently entered into a joint venture with Lode Gold Resources Inc. (LOD) to advance a district scale gold-copper project in New Brunswick located on an orogenic belt where other major developers are established. The Companys other significant shareholdings include NeoTerrex Minerals Inc. (NTX), a rare earth elements company and EDM Resources Inc. (EDM), a near-term cash flow generating Zinc mine in Nova Scotia. Fancamp has a joint venture with PTX Metals Inc. (PTX) for gold exploration in the Abitibi greenstone belt in addition to its own highly prospective mineral properties in Quebec. Fancamp is managed by a focused leadership team with decades of mining, exploration and capital markets experience. The Company trades on the TSX Venture Exchange under ticker symbol "FNC", and on the OTC Markets under ticker symbol "FNCJF". Further information on the Company can be found at: www.fancamp.ca Qualified Person The technical information and disclosure contained in this press release was reviewed and approved by Francois Auclair, PGeo, M.Sc. Vice President Exploration of Fancamp, designated as a Qualified Person under National Instrument 43-101. Quality Assurance and Quality Control Francois Auclair, PGeo, M.Sc., a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101, is responsible for the on-going drilling and sampling program, including quality assurance (QA) and quality control (QC). Assays for the soil sampling and trenching were respectively analyzed by ALS Canada Ltd. and Techni-Lab, a subdivision of Actlabs. The Corporation inserts quality control samples (blanks, standard reference material, and duplicates) at regular intervals to monitor laboratory performance. Forward-Looking Statements This news release contains certain forward-looking statements or forward-looking information (collectively referred to herein as forward-looking statements) within the meaning of applicable securities legislation. Such forward-looking statements include, without limitation: the closing of the Transaction and the execution of all documents and completion of all steps related thereto, including but not limited to the completion of the Private Placement, the Fancamp Investment and the Spin Out; the receipt of TSX-V approval in respect of the Transaction; and the Companys forecasts, estimates, expectations and objectives for future. Such forward-looking statements are based on a number of assumptions, which may prove to be incorrect. Assumptions have been made regarding, among other things: conditions in general economic and financial markets; accuracy of assay results; geological interpretations from drilling results, timing and amount of capital expenditures; performance of available laboratory and other related services; future operating costs; and the historical basis for current estimates of potential quantities and grades of target zones. The actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements as a result of risk factors, including the timing and content of work programs; results of exploration activities and development of mineral properties; the interpretation and uncertainties of drilling results and other geological data; receipt, maintenance and security of permits and mineral property titles; environmental and other regulatory risks; project costs overruns or unanticipated costs and expenses; availability of funds; failure to delineate potential quantities and grades of the target zones based on historical data; and general market and industry conditions. Forward-looking statements are based on the expectations and opinions of the Companys management on the date the statements are made. The assumptions used in the preparation of such statements, although considered reasonable at the time of preparation, may prove to be imprecise and, as such, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date the statements were made. The Company undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements included in this news release if these beliefs, estimates and opinions or other circumstances should change, except as otherwise required by applicable law. For Further Information Rajesh Sharma, President & CEO +1 (604) 434 8829 info@fancamp.ca Tara Asfour, Director of Investor Relations +1 (604) 434 8829 tasfour@fancamp.ca Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release. Photos accompanying this announcement are available at: https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/a84cd6d7-c41d-4ad8-bdbe-2f149d2c5147 https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/389d5fa3-97d4-427b-96ad-7082dd3af1df https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/ae609bbe-27b3-4ee5-9b14-3a288b288465 COPENHAGEN, Denmark, Jan. 20, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Producers Association of the Agricultural Cooperative of Chania, Greece, hosted a successful Press Event for the 3-year promotional campaign Oracando on January 16th 2025 at Akropolis Restaurant in Frederiksberg, Copenhagen. This event, part of the EU-funded Oracando program, aimed to promote the exceptional quality of European PDO oranges and avocados in Denmark and the Netherlands. The gathering brought together journalists, health experts, importers, lifestyle bloggers and distributors, offering them an opportunity to discover the outstanding taste and high-quality standards of these European fruits. In his opening speech, the Ambassador of Greece to Denmark, Mr. Fragiskos Kostellenos, emphasized the importance of enhancing Greek exports and showcasing Greeces premium agricultural products. Mr. George Kornarakis, the Commercial Director of the Agricultural Cooperative of Chania, then shared valuable insights into the meticulous production processes behind their high-quality oranges and avocados. He also highlighted the Cooperatives commitment to traceability, authenticity, nutritional value, sustainability, and respect for the environment. As a token of appreciation, the attendees received a media kit featuring samples of oranges and avocados, a branded lunch box, an informative brochure, a thermos flask, and a branded apron, leaving them with a lasting impression of the campaigns message. For more information about the Oracando campaign, visit oracando.eu . A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/50c42285-1439-46de-b74f-951bb8a65803 TROY, Mich., Jan. 20, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Viper Networks (OTCPK: VPER) announced the beginning of its strategic rebranding effort. Among other corporate actions, Viper and its subsidiaries will adopt the name 0Wire (pronounced Zero-Wire). The assets of 1stPoint Communications will be split into two strategic operating companies. The existing entity will be renamed 0Wire Communications and operate the companys key telecommunications assets in both the United States and the Eastern Caribbean. A new entity, 0Wire Hosting, will operate the companys technology hosting portfolio. 0Wire Wholesale, a new subsidiary, will refocus the companys wholesale services on newer and higher growth opportunities such as 5G roaming and messaging, while continuing to develop the wholesale voice market. Additional subsidiaries, operated as 0Wire Energy, will address smart city and renewable energy projects in the United States and Sri Lanka. We have undertaken this rebranding effort in order to better align with the companys Everything Wireless Telecom+Energy strategy, said Erik Levitt, the companys CEO. The Everything Wireless strategy consists of five key pillars: Over-the-Top Technologies (OTT), Mobility, Fixed Wireless, Smart City and Renewable Energy Generation. We continue to see very strong growth in our OTT business and there is industry-wide recognition that we are a leader in the messaging market. We will continue to develop these technologies while we shift longer-term investment toward mobility and fixed wireless, said Levitt. During the last fiscal year the company completed the deployment of 108 smart poles and Apollo smart lights in the capital city of Sri Lanka, Colombo. The initial deployment was a pilot project for future, larger, and more complex installations. Management is now evaluating follow-on projects with key constituents in the market, said Farid Shouekani, the companys Chairman. We look forward to growing the recognition of the 0Wire brand as a market leader in smart city deployment, added Shouekani. Management elected to begin the rebranding effort with the telecommunications division because of its strategic importance as well as the lack of a need for regulatory approvals. Due to regulatory requirements, certain corporate actions, such as name changes, can take several months to complete. We hope to complete the process at the corporate level during the next three quarters, added Levitt. Management anticipates that this process will proceed alongside the companys audit of its financial statements. Further information on the rebranding effort will be forthcoming in the companys annual filings as well as future press releases. ABOUT VIPER NETWORKS, INC. Viper Networks is a service provider of telecommunications, smart city and energy generation projects. Our Everything Wireless strategy is designed to integrate mobility, fixed wireless, over-the-top (OTT) technologies and smart cities into a single platform that can deployed in any market globally. For more information go to www.ViperNetworks.com or follow on X (formerly Twitter) Twitter@vipernetworks. Forward Looking Statements This press release contains projections and other forward-looking statements regarding future events or our future financial performance. All statements other than present and historical facts and conditions contained in this release, including any statements regarding our future results of operations and financial positions, business strategy, plans and our objectives for future operations, are forward-looking statements (within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended). These statements are only predictions and reflect our current beliefs and expectations with respect to future events and are based on assumptions and subject to risk and uncertainties and subject to change at any time. We operate in a very competitive and rapidly changing environment. New risks emerge from time to time. Given these risks and uncertainties, you should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. Actual events or results may differ materially from those contained in the projections or forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements in this release are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions contained in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Media/Investor Relations Contact: SAG Equity Group / 407.444.5959 NASHVILLE, Tenn., Jan. 20, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- This morning, President Biden granted clemency to political activist and Native American community advocate, Leonard Peltier, who has been wrongfully imprisoned for 49 years. The plight of Leonard Peltier has been in the spotlight for decades with prominent personalities including Nelson Mandela, Bishop Desmond Tutu, Pope Francis, among hundreds of others, calling for his release. Sanford Heisler Sharp McKnight Co-Vice Chairman Kevin Sharp represented Mr. Peltier for 5 years, filing Mr. Peltiers original clemency petition in December 2019 and refiling it again in 2021, before NDN Collective took over leading the effort. Mr. Sharp is the former Chief Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee. His extraordinary efforts helped the Biden Administration see the value of clemency for Leonard Peltier. Mr. Sharp celebrates President Biden's decision to grant Mr. Peltier clemency and the impact it will have on Mr. Peltier and the Native American community: President Biden took an enormous step toward healing and reconciliation with the Native American people in this country. It took nearly 50 years to acknowledge the injustice of Leonard Peltiers conviction and continued incarceration, but with the Presidents act of mercy Leonard can finally return to his reservation and live out his remaining days. Media Contact: Jamie Moss, newsPRos, at 201-788-0142 or Jamie@newspros.com. Beijing, China, Jan. 20, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The concept of "Hehe" in Chinese culture, with the first "He" embodying harmony, peace and balance and the second representing convergence, unity and cooperation, is central to both the individual and collective mind-set in China. Rooted in thousands of years of philosophy, the idea of "Hehe" serves as a guiding principle for living in harmony with others, nature and oneself. In a broader context, the concept of "Hehe" has significant relevance to the world today, as addressing the global challenges we face in various areas requires the principles that "Hehe" emphasizes. Viewed through a contemporary lens, "Hehe" is a timeless and universal concept that can guide China and the world toward a more harmonious, peaceful and balanced future. The Global Times gathers opinions from experts and scholars around the world to explore the global significance of "Hehe" culture from various perspectives. Chinese President Xi Jinping once said, "We live in an interdependent world and rise and fall together. With their interests deeply intertwined, all countries need to build maximum consensus for win-win and all-win outcomes." With these remarks, he highlighted the proposition that the world is fundamentally intertwined. In contrast, Western international relations "realists" view it as an "either/or" world underpinned by an ontological dualism in which difference must be resolved through conflict. Either the security of one country is safeguarded or that of the other; either security or prosperity; either you or me. But, what if there's an alternative to these "either/or" terms? Rather than perceiving the world through the lens of "either/or," in which the existence of one is a threat to the other, nations could adopt a dialectical perspective in which differences are ever-present and serve as the drivers of perpetual change. Differences can never be completely eliminated. However, they can be transformed through the dynamics of the "unity of opposites." China's rich philosophical tradition provides one such alternative. Rather than starting with the notion of "either/or," the philosophical traditions of Daoism insist on the fluid dynamics of "and." Instead of "or," the world can be understood through the prism of "and." The Daoist classic, Dao De Jing, articulates a way of understanding the world as a perpetual process of change. There can be no harmonization without difference; it is a fluid and ever-changing "unity of opposites." The dynamics of the world, including the realm of human affairs, can be seen as the ongoing pursuit of an ever-elusive harmony. This pursuit is not achieved through the evisceration of difference, but rather through the search for commonalities in the presence of difference. Harmony is fleeting, yet it guides the work of virtuous actors, as the harmonious balance of sameness and difference can be found in what Confucius described as the "golden mean." Chinese statecraft exhibits these philosophical characteristics. The fortunes of nations, civilizations and peoples are not dictated by atomized conflict; rather, the fortunes of one are intimately intertwined with the fortunes of others. President Xi's three major initiatives - the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative and the Global Civilization Initiative - draw on and extend this tradition in the contemporary context. The framework advocates for the recognition and celebration of difference while simultaneously promoting the notion that there are widespread commonalities in aspirations and interests. These three initiatives also draw on another thread in the Chinese philosophical tradition, the Hehe culture. In his work, Zhejiang, China: A New Vision for Development, President Xi observed that Chinese ancestors "created an incomparable culture, a quintessential part of which is the Hehe culture. The first 'He' of Hehe indicates harmony, peace, and balance. The second 'He' indicates convergence, unity, and cooperation. Such inclusiveness is reflected in the traditional thinking of 'valuing harmony and esteeming balance,' 'being understanding and open-minded,' 'embracing the world through virtue,' and 'living in harmony without uniformity.'" Chinese statecraft is emerging from the shadows of recent history and the dominance of the dualist methods informed by Western metaphysics and ontology. Chinese diplomacy played a pivotal role in facilitating a detente between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Islamic Republic of Iran announced on March 10, 2023. This rapprochement took time to develop and bring to reality, requiring a steady mind, strong will and patience. Seven years of frozen and hostile relations were ultimately thawed through persistent diplomatic efforts during 2021 and 2022, resulting in the 2023 joint statement on the normalization of diplomatic relations. Given the extended duration of conflict between the two parties, achieving a detente can be considered a significant regional diplomatic breakthrough. The detente was established on the basis of identifying common interests in the face of historic differences. It did not seek to force the parties, through imposed diktats, to accept an externally devised regime; rather it was made possible by the alignment of shared interests. In this case, the conflicting parties were active participants in designing the rapprochement framework and pathways forward. On July 23, 2024, 14 Palestinian factions signed the Beijing Declaration. Reconciliation talks were facilitated by Beijing to address their differences by focusing on and agreeing upon a common purpose: the post-conflict reconstruction of Gaza and the realization of an independent State of Palestine. In what is otherwise a fractious environment characterized by persistent internecine conflicts, Chinese statecraft emphasized the need to build reconciliation through incremental steps aimed at boosting confidence among the participants while maintaining a focus on the destination. Consensus building does not happen via a "top-down" imperative, but through committed engagement in dialogue. Time and conversation yielded progress. A similar approach has been advanced in relation to the Ukraine conflict. China did not put forward a "peace plan" to be enforced on disputants on a "take it or leave it" basis; instead, it outlined the necessary issues and conditions that require attention in order to create a space for peace to emerge. China has continued to work with other nations to forge a growing constellation of support and encouragement for the disputants, enabling them to approach peace talks with confidence and in good faith. Such an approach stands in stark contrast to that of Western "realism." It's not just a framework of advocacy. As an ontology it paints a dramatically different picture of not only the nature of the world, but also the possibilities and the role of humanity and state agency in enabling the ongoing pursuit of harmony. The author, Warwick Powell, is an adjunct professor at Queensland University of Technology, a senior fellow at Taihe Institute and a former advisor to Kevin Rudd, former Australian prime minister. This article first appeared in the Global Times: https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202501/1327161.shtml Company: Global Times Contact Person: Anna Li Email: editor@globaltimes.com.cn Website: https://globaltimes.cn City: Beijing Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of KISS PR or its partners. This content is provided for informational purposes only and should not be construed as legal, financial, or professional advice. KISS PR makes no representations as to the accuracy, completeness, correctness, suitability, or validity of any information in this article and will not be liable for any errors, omissions, or delays in this information or any losses, injuries, or damages arising from its display or use. All information is provided on an as-is basis. VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Jan. 20, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Mustang Energy Corp. (CSE: MEC, OTC:MECPF, FRA:92T) (the Company or Mustang) is pleased to announce the signing of an Accommodation Agreement (the Agreement), dated January 13, 2025, with the English River First Nation (ERFN), outlining the Companys commitment to responsible and sustainable mineral exploration. The Agreement, covering exploration activities within the traditional territory of ERFN, lays the foundation for a collaborative relationship between the two parties and establishes a framework for responsible mineral exploration that respects ERFNs cultural, environmental, and economic interests. The Agreement acknowledges ERFN's constitutionally protected Aboriginal and Treaty Rights, with Mustang committed to conducting exploration activities in a manner that is culturally sensitive and environmentally responsible. Through this partnership, Mustang aims to foster an inclusive approach to resource development that benefits both the company and the local communities. Key elements of the agreement include: Collaboration on Exploration Activities : Mustang will conduct mineral exploration within ERFNs traditional territory in consultation with ERFN, ensuring that all exploration activities respect the social, cultural, and environmental values of the Nation. : Mustang will conduct mineral exploration within ERFNs traditional territory in consultation with ERFN, ensuring that all exploration activities respect the social, cultural, and environmental values of the Nation. Environmental and Cultural Oversight : The Agreement includes the appointment of an ERFN Land Guardian (the Guardian ) who will monitor environmental conditions and cultural sites during the exploration process. The Guardian's role is integral in ensuring that the exploration activities meet ERFN's standards for environmental and cultural protection. : The Agreement includes the appointment of an ERFN Land Guardian (the ) who will monitor environmental conditions and cultural sites during the exploration process. The Guardian's role is integral in ensuring that the exploration activities meet ERFN's standards for environmental and cultural protection. Employment and Training Opportunities : Mustang is committed to creating opportunities for ERFN members by prioritizing local hiring for exploration work. Additionally, the company will offer on-the-job training to help develop valuable skills in the mining sector. : Mustang is committed to creating opportunities for ERFN members by prioritizing local hiring for exploration work. Additionally, the company will offer on-the-job training to help develop valuable skills in the mining sector. Economic Benefits for ERFN: The Agreement outlines a commitment to providing ERFN businesses with access to procurement opportunities arising from exploration activities. This will create economic benefits for the local community and contribute to the growth of ERFN-owned businesses. The Agreement demonstrates Mustang commitment to building strong, mutually beneficial partnerships with local communities and integrating environmental and social considerations into its exploration practices. The signing of the Agreement ensures that Mustangs exploration activities will be aligned with the principles of sustainable development and respect for the rights and interests of ERFN. Mustang CEO, Nick Luksha, stated We are honored to partner with the English River First Nation and to work collaboratively on a framework that prioritizes environmental stewardship, cultural respect, and community empowerment. This agreement underscores Mustangs unwavering commitment to responsible resource exploration and sustainable development. By integrating the values and insights of ERFN into our exploration activities, we aim to create shared benefits and foster a strong, enduring relationship built on trust and mutual respect. About English River First Nation (ERFN) ERFN is located within Treaty 10 Territory. ERFN comprises multiple reserves throughout Saskatchewan, such as Porter Island, Cree Lake, Elak Dase, Knee Lake, Dipper Rapids, Wapachewunak and La Plonge. Their head office and main settlement is located in Patuanak, which is on the shores of the Churchill River. ERFN is a multilingual community with various combinations of Dene, Cree, Michif, English and French spoken by over 1,400 members. The "people of the river" are known for their bold and collaborative spirit and trusting and humble nature. They are dedicated to stewardship of the land and the education of future generations. An industrious and entrepreneurial group, ERFN has led the way in efficient economic relationship building through its support and advancement of community development partnerships. These relationships have been instrumental in advancing community support and understanding across northern Saskatchewan. About Mustang Energy Corp. Mustang is a resource exploration company focused on acquiring and developing high-potential uranium and critical mineral assets. The Company is actively exploring its properties in Northern Saskatchewan, Canada and holds 77,318 hectares in around the Athabasca Basin, one of the worlds premier uranium-producing regions. The Companys portfolio includes key projects in the Eastern Athabasca Basin such as Ford Lake (7,743 hectares), Roughrider South, Cigar Lake East, Spur (17,929 hectares), and 914W projects, with a strategic emphasis on proximity to infrastructure and previously identified uranium occurrences. Mustang has also established a footprint in the Cluff Lake region of the Athabasca Basin with the Yellowstone Project (21,820 hectares), and further expanded its presence in the south-central region of the Athabasca Basin with the Dutton Project (7,633 hectares). Driven by a leadership team with an expertise in resource development and capital markets, the Company is positioned to support the growing global demand for clean energy by responsible critical mineral exploration. For further information, please contact: Mustang Energy Corp. Attention: Nicholas Luksha, CEO and Director Phone: (604) 838-0184 Neither the CSE nor the Market Regulator (as that term is defined in the policies of the CSE) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. This news release includes certain statements and information that may constitute forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws. Forward-looking statements relate to future events or future performance and reflect the expectations or beliefs of management of the Company regarding future events. Generally, forward-looking statements and information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as intends, believes or anticipates, or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results may, could, should, would or occur. This information and these statements, referred to herein as forwardlooking statements, are not historical facts, are made as of the date of this news release and include without limitation, statements regarding discussions of future plans, estimates and forecasts and statements as to management's expectations and intentions with respect to, among other things, the relationship with ERFN and the completion of future work on the Companys projects in collaboration with the ERFN. In making the forward-looking statements in this news release, the Company has applied several material assumptions, including without limitation the assumption that the Company will be able to continue exploring its properties given various environmental and economic factors outside of its control and that the partnership with ERFN will continue on an ongoing basis, as currently contemplated. Although management of the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking statements or forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements and forward-looking information. Readers are cautioned that reliance on such information may not be appropriate for other purposes. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking statement, forward-looking information or financial out-look that are incorporated by reference herein, except in accordance with applicable securities laws. Feature: Italian man embarks on first Chinese Spring Festival journey Xinhua) 09:59, January 20, 2025 Giacomo Bechini plays with his cat at home in Florence, Italy, Jan. 17, 2025. (Xinhua/Ren Yaoting) FLORENCE, Italy, Jan. 18 (Xinhua) -- For Giacomo Bechini, a 29-year-old web designer of Florence, Italy, this year's Chinese Spring Festival is more than a holiday - it's a chance to deepen his connection with his wife's homeland and immerse himself in traditions he's long been eager to experience. Married to Li Hui, a Chinese livestreaming professional, Bechini has spent years cultivating a passion for Chinese culture. "She gave me a love for the culture, and we decided this year would be the perfect time to go to China and celebrate the Spring Festival with her family," Bechini said, his excitement palpable. The couple began their romance in Florence four years ago, and got married in June 2024. Since then, Bechini has embraced learning about China, stocking their home with Chinese language books and culture materials. Now, he is ready for his first visit to the country, a 22-day trip thanks to China's 30-day visa-free policy. Bechini plans to start the journey in Beijing, visiting iconic landmarks like the Forbidden City and the Temple of Heaven. From there, he will travel to Qinhuangdao, a coastal city in north China's Hebei Province, for a family reunion and explore the Chinese seaside he's always been curious about. Stops in Hefei, Anhui Province, and Shanghai, where he hopes to witness the cutting-edge technologies he's read about, round out his itinerary. "I'm amazed by China's technological advancements," Bechini said. "It's going to be incredible to see them in person." He is also eager to test out the basic Chinese he has been learning. The couple plans to document their journey in China on Chinese social media platform Xiaohongshu, or "Red Note." "We're excited to blog about this trip," Bechini beamed. "It will be amazing to share my first experience in China with others." Bechini has also been preparing for the cultural highlights of the Spring Festival. "I've learned that dumplings are an essential part of the New Year dinner, and I can't wait to try them," he told Xinhua with undisguised enthusiasm. Exploring vibrant markets filled with traditional Chinese foods is also high on his must-do list. His fascination with the Chinese Lunar Calendar, which ties the Spring Festival to the moon's phases and solar year, has added another layer of appreciation for the holiday. "It's incredible how the Spring Festival is tied to a different calendar. I've been learning about its symbolic meanings and how the festivities last for a whole week," he explained. Reflecting on the importance of sharing Chinese traditions globally, Bechini noted the Chinese Spring Festival is part of the world's intangible cultural heritage. "This is a moment where we can all learn and discover more about a country with so much history and meaning." As he prepares to board his flight to Beijing, Bechini is filled with excitement and anticipation. "I hope this journey inspires others to connect with Chinese culture," he said with a smile. This photo taken in June, 2024 shows Giacomo Bechini and his wife Li Hui at their wedding site in Italy. (Xinhua) Giacomo Bechini speaks during an interview with Xinhua at home in Florence, Italy, Jan. 17, 2025. (Xinhua/Ren Yaoting) (Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Zhong Wenxing) VANCOUVER, Jan. 20, 2025 - Quimbaya Gold Inc. (CSE: QIM) ("Quimbaya" or the "Company") is pleased to announce the appointment of Ricardo Sierra B.Sc., as Vice-President of Exploration effectively immediately. A native of Colombia, Mr. Sierra currently resides in Manizales which is close to Medellin, a short distance from the Company's main projects. Ricardo Sierra is a professional Economic Geologist with over 18 years of exploration experience in Colombia-Chile-Cuba-Brazil in orogenic, mesothermal, porphyry type deposits, epithermal systems, skarn and stratabound deposits. Juan Ricardo Sierra started his career with Anglo American as an Exploration geologist in greenfield and brownfield exploration, supervising diamond drilling on their Colombian and Chilean properties. His knowledge in vein systems, critical in understanding mineralization processes, was honed while Exploration Superintendent with Continental Gold (acquired by Zijin Mining Group for CA $1.9 billion in 2020) on their Buritica (Antioquia) Au/Ag deposit. While at Continental Gold, Mr. Sierra also participated in their regional exploration (Choco, Narino, Cauca, Antioquia). After leaving Continental in 2020, Continental Gold worked as Exploration Manager, Collective Mining Inc. (TSX: CNL). Since 2021, Mr. Sierra has been consulting to various companies active in Colombia, Brazil and Cuba including Quimbaya Gold. Mr. Sierra Largo graduated in 2007 as a Geologist from Universidad de Caldas (Colombia). He is a member of the Australian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (MAusIMM) and is a Qualified Person (QP) as defined by National Instrument 43-101, also he is Competent Person (CP) of Comision Colombiana de Recursos y Reservas Mineras (CCRR) and Volunteer member of the Copper innovation HUB. "Ricardo has already established himself a key member of our technical advisory committee," said Alexandre P. Boivin President and CEO of Quimbaya Gold. "Given his direct exploration experience in Antioquia, Colombia, he is the right person to help lead us in making the next great gold discovery in one of the best gold rich districts on the planet." Quimbaya also announces that it has entered into a debt settlement agreement (the "Debt Settlement') with a creditor of the Company (the "Creditor"), pursuant to which the Company will issue to the Creditor, and the Creditor agreed to accept, an aggregate of 22,058 common shares at a price of $0.34 per share in full and final settlement of accrued and outstanding indebtedness in the aggregate amount of $7,500. All securities to be issued in connection with the Debt Settlement will be subject to a four-month hold period from the closing date under applicable Canadian securities laws. About Quimbaya Quimbaya is active in the exploration and acquisition of mining properties in the prolific mining districts of Colombia. Managed by an experienced team in the mining sector, Quimbaya is focused on three projects in the regions of Segovia (Tahami Project), Puerto Berrio (Berrio Project), and Abejorral (Maitamac Project), all located in Antioquia Department, Colombia. Quimbaya Gold Inc. Follow on X @quimbayagoldinc Follow on LinkedIn @quimbayagold Follow on Instagram @quimbayagoldinc Follow on Facebook @quimbayagoldinc Cautionary Statements This press release includes certain statements and information that may constitute forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws. All statements in this news release, other than statements of historical facts, including statements regarding future estimates, plans, objectives, timing, assumptions or expectations of future performance, including without limitation, statements regarding the completion of the Offering and the timing thereof, and the anticipated use of proceeds of the Offering are forward-looking statements and contain forward-looking information. Generally, forward-looking statements and information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "intends" or "anticipates," or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results "may," "could," "should" or "would" or occur. Forward-looking statements are based on certain material assumptions and analyses made by the Company and the opinions and estimates of management as of the date of this press release, including, but not limited to, that the Company will complete the Offering on the terms disclosed, that the Company will receive all necessary regulatory approvals for the Offering, that the Company will use the proceeds of the Offering as currently anticipated; and assumptions relating to the state of the financial markets for the Company's securities. These forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements or forward-looking information. Important factors that may cause actual results to vary, include, without limitation, that the Company may not be able to raise funds under the Offering, as currently anticipated, that the Company may fail to receive any required regulatory approvals for the Offering, that the Company will not use the proceeds of the Offering as anticipated, market volatility, unanticipated costs, changes in applicable regulations, and changes in the Company's business plans. Although management of the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking statements or forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements and forward-looking information. Readers are cautioned that reliance on such information may not be appropriate for other purposes. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking statement, forward-looking information or financial outlook that are incorporated by reference herein, except in accordance with applicable securities laws. The Canadian Securities Exchange (CSE) has not reviewed, approved, or disapproved the contents of this press release. SOURCE Quimbaya Gold Inc. VANCOUVER, Jan. 20, 2025 - Finlay Minerals Ltd. (TSXV: FYL) (OTCQB: FYMNF) ("Finlay" or the "Company") retains 100% ownership and operatorship of its PIL Property in the heart of the prolific Toodoggone porphyry copper-gold and epithermal precious metals district of northern British Columbia, Canada. Finlay, additionally, congratulates AMARC Resources and Freeport-McMoran for the new high-grade "AuRORA" copper-gold-silver discovery on its Joy Property. The AuRORA discovery holes are approximately 750 metres ("m") from the PIL Property boundary and approximately 2,500 metres from the PIL South Target. Refer to the map included in this news release. The PIL South Target was drilled by Cascadia in 2024 with 2 diamond drillholes. Drilling returned broad intervals of low-grade copper-silver-gold-molybdenum mineralization including hole PILS-24-006 returning 0.10% copper with 0.05 g/t gold, 7.1 g/t silver, and 0.18% zinc over 162.00 m from 749.00 m, in volcanic rocks peripheral to a potential mineralized intrusive porphyry system. On December 27, 2024, Cascadia Minerals Ltd. terminated its option on the PIL Property. Finlay is reviewing the exploration work and data completed by Cascadia on the PIL with a view to assessing the logical next steps for a 2025 exploration program. A renewed focus will be on the PIL South around and along the southern boundary of the PIL Property where the AuRORA Discovery was made on the adjoining Joy Property. The PIL Property has numerous porphyry copper and associated epithermal gold-silver-copper vein systems on the property including the newly discovered Zeus & Ben Zones located in the southwest portion of the property. Details of the PIL Property exploration targets can be found in the Company's news release dated November 12, 2024 entitled: "Finlay Minerals reports completion of 2024 field work on its PIL Property by Cascadia Minerals" and in the PIL Property section of the Company website at www.finlayminerals.com. Details of Cascadia Minerals Ltd. 2024 exploration work on the PIL can be found on Cascadia's SEDAR profile at www.sedarplus.ca. Qualified Person: Wade Barnes, P. Geo. and Vice President, Exploration for Finlay Minerals and a qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101, has approved the technical content of this news release. About Finlay Minerals Ltd. Finlay is a TSXV company focused on exploration for base and precious metal deposits with four properties in northern British Columbia: The ATTY Property covers 4,498 hectares ("ha") of sub-alpine terrain in the southern Toodoggone region. The Toodoggone is a northwest-trending belt of Triassic to Jurassic arc terranes that hosts numerous significant porphyry Cu-Au Ag and associated epithermal Au-Ag deposits. The ATTY Property is in between and contiguous to Centerra Gold's Kemess Property and the joint-venture Joy Property held by Amarc and Freeport-McMoRan. The ATTY's KEM target has similarities to the Kemess North Trend, which hosts the Kemess Underground and Kemess East deposits. The PIL Property, which covers 13,965 ha in the heart of the Toodoggone region, has numerous porphyry Cu-Au Ag targets and associated epithermal Au-Ag mineralization. The PIL Property is neighboured by TDG Gold Corp.'s Sable/Baker Property, Freeport-McMoRan - AMARC Resources joint ventured Joy Property, and Skeena Resource's Sofia Property. The PIL Property is also 25 km northwest of Centerra Gold's former Kemess South Mine and 15 km east of Thesis Gold's Lawyers Project. The Silver Hope Property covers 21,690 ha and surrounds the past-producing Equity Silver Mine in the prospective Skeena Arch region of central B.C. The Silver Hope contains the Main Trend which is a >2 km Cu-Ag-Au mineralized trend with mineralization starting at surface. West of the Main Trend is the West Cu-Mo Porphyry which is also mineralized starting from surface. The Property hosts a network of forestry roads and trails and has all-year access from Houston, BC. The SAY Property covers 15,252 ha and is located 140 km north of Smithers, B.C. The SAY Property is within a 135 km long belt of relatively unexplored Stikine Terrane from American Eagle Gold's NAK and Amarc Resources/Boliden Minerals Canada's Duke Cu-Mo-Ag-Au porphyry prospects in the south to the newly discovered porphyry prospect on Quartz Mountain's Jake Property and the Red Spring sediment hosted Cu-Ag mineralized showing - both to the north. The SPUR and SHEL zones are the most advanced targets on the property. The SPUR is a high-grade Cu-Ag structural controlled vein and breccia target extending for 4.3 km with assays up to 15.8% Cu and 993 g/t Ag. The SHEL target area is a Cu-Mo porphyry identified by historic mapping and drilling. Finlay trades under the symbol "FYL" on the TSXV and under the symbol "FYMNF" on the OTCQB. For further information and details, please visit the Company's website at www.finlayminerals.com On behalf of the Board of Directors, Robert F. Brown, P. Eng. President, CEO & Director Neither the TSXV nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSXV) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Forward-Looking Information: This news release includes certain "forward-looking information" and "forward-looking statements" (collectively, "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. All statements in this news release that address events or developments that we expect to occur in the future are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts and are generally, although not always, identified by words such as "expect", "plan", "anticipate", "project", "target", "potential", "schedule", "forecast", "budget", "estimate", "intend" or "believe" and similar expressions or their negative connotations, or that events or conditions "will", "would", "may", "could", "should" or "might" occur. All such forward-looking statements are based on the opinions and estimates of management as of the date such statements are made. Forward-looking statements in this news release include statements regarding, among others, the exploration plans for the PIL Property. Although Finlay believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include market prices, exploration successes, and continued availability of capital and financing and general economic, market or business conditions. These forward-looking statements are based on a number of assumptions including, among other things, assumptions regarding general business and economic conditions, the timing and receipt of regulatory and governmental approvals, the ability of Finlay and other parties to satisfy stock exchange and other regulatory requirements in a timely manner, the availability of financing for Finlay's proposed transactions and programs on reasonable terms, and the ability of third-party service providers to deliver services in a timely manner. Investors are cautioned that any such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. Finlay does not assume any obligation to update or revise its forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future or otherwise, except as required by applicable law. SOURCE Finlay Minerals Ltd. Almonty Industries Inc. ("Almonty" or the "Company") (TSX: AII / ASX: AII / OTCQX: ALMTF / Frankfurt: ALI) is pleased to announce that the Company is planning to change its jurisdiction of incorporation from Canada to the State of Delaware while maintaining its listings for now on the Toronto Stock Exchange and the Australian Securities Exchange. We refer to this transaction as a "US domestication" in this press release. The US domestication reflects the growing importance of the United States in Almonty's strategic positioning. With its robust regulatory framework for critical materials like tungsten and molybdenum and the evolving global economic landscape, the United States presents a compelling jurisdiction for our incorporation. The State of Delaware, in particular, was chosen as our new domicile because the Delaware General Corporation Law ("DGCL") expressly accommodates continuances under Section 192 of the Canada Business Corporations Act and is recognized for its extensive body of corporate law. Supported by decades of case law in Delaware courts, the DGCL provides well-defined guidance on the duties and obligations of directors and officers, offering legal clarity that is expected to benefit both the Company and its shareholders. "By changing our base of operations and jurisdiction of incorporation from Canada to the United States, we are aligning our corporate structure with the location of a significant portion of our shareholder base and enhancing our ability to access key US markets," said Lewis Black, CEO. "This move reinforces our strategic focus on growth and operational agility, ensuring we remain competitive and well-positioned to deliver value to stakeholders in an evolving global landscape. We observed ongoing global tensions with export restrictions in China, import duties by the United States and also restrictions on tungsten from China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea by the US Department of Defense. Amid those rising global tensions, Almonty and its South Korean Sangdong Mine are poised to become a cornerstone for a transparent and reliable Western source of tungsten and molybdenum." As global geopolitical tensions evolve and policies in key economies shift to encourage domestic sourcing of critical raw materials, the Company's management believes that being based in the United States will enhance Almonty's long-term competitiveness and agility in a dynamic global market. Reasons for US domestication With rising global tensions, Almonty Industries carefully evaluated various scenarios and concluded that initiating the US domestication process was the most strategic course of action. The decision was motivated by several key factors: Starting January 1, 2027, the Department of Defense ("DoD") will implement a final rule under Section 844 of the FY 2021 National Defense Authorization Act ("NDAA") and Section 854 of the FY 2024 NDAA. This rule expands existing restrictions on sourcing critical materials like tungsten, tantalum, and certain magnets from "covered countries," including Iran, Russia, North Korea and China. These restrictions will prohibit not only the melting and production of such materials in covered countries but also their mining, refining, and separation at any stage of the supply chain. This marks a significant shift, aligning with US efforts to bolster the domestic industrial base for critical minerals and reduce dependency on adversarial nations. The rule also tightens exemptions for commercially available off-the-shelf items, reducing flexibility for the private sector in sourcing these critical materials. Adding to these challenges, the United States announced mid-September 2024 the finalized Section 301 tariff increases on imports from China, further complicating the supply chain landscape for critical materials. Additionally, since December 2024, China has imposed restrictions on 'dual-use' technologies for civilian and military purposes, specifically targeting the United States and including tungsten, gallium, germanium, and antimony. These restrictions have significantly disrupted global supply chains, amplifying the urgency for Western nations to secure independent sources of critical minerals. China's dominance in critical mineral production, bolstered by subsidies and control over key raw materials from Africa and Latin America, continues to pose challenges for nations reliant on these essential resources for advanced technologies, including semiconductors, defense applications, and clean energy solutions. The latest Chinese export bans extend to super-hard materials, including tungsten, which is indispensable for weapons manufacturing, cutting tools, and aerospace technologies. Sangdong Mine is uniquely positioned to address these supply chain challenges. Almonty's development of Sangdong represents a significant step toward reducing reliance on China while contributing to the global effort of "friendshoring" critical minerals. Notably, 45% of Sangdong's potential long-term tungsten output is already committed to the United States through a long-term supply agreement with Global Tungsten & Powders who are based in Pennsylvania. With production expected to ramp up by mid-2025, Sangdong is poised to serve as a cornerstone for Western tungsten supply chains, ensuring greater stability and security in the face of rising demand and geopolitical uncertainty. The US domestication plan has been unanimously approved by the Company's Board of Directors and executive management team. This decision underscores the shared confidence in the strategic value of redomiciling to the United States and its alignment with the Company's long-term objectives. Completion of the US domestication remains subject to court, shareholder and regulatory approvals and compliance with all applicable legal requirements. While every effort is being made to ensure a smooth and timely transition, unforeseen regulatory or operational challenges may impact the timeline. The Company is working closely with authorities and partners to manage all regulatory and operational aspects, with completion of the US domestication expected during the first quarter of 2025. Almonty is committed to keeping stakeholders informed of any developments and acknowledges that the timeline may be influenced by the completion of regulatory reviews and the fulfillment of necessary conditions. About Almonty The principal business of Toronto, Canada-based Almonty Industries Inc. is the mining, processing and shipping of tungsten concentrate from its Los Santos Mine in western Spain and its Panasqueira mine in Portugal as well as the development of its Sangdong tungsten mine in Gangwon Province, South Korea and the development of the Valtreixal tin/tungsten project in northwestern Spain. The Los Santos Mine was acquired by Almonty in September 2011 and is located approximately 50 kilometres from Salamanca in western Spain and produces tungsten concentrate. The Panasqueira mine, which has been in production since 1896, is located approximately 260 kilometres northeast of Lisbon, Portugal, was acquired in January 2016 and produces tungsten concentrate. The Sangdong mine, which was historically one of the largest tungsten mines in the world and one of the few long-life, high-grade tungsten deposits outside of China, was acquired in September 2015 through the acquisition of a 100% interest in Woulfe Mining Corp. Almonty owns 100% of the Valtreixal tin-tungsten project in north- western Spain. Further information about Almonty's activities may be found at www.almonty.com and under Almonty's profile at www.sedarplus.ca. Legal Notice The release, publication, or distribution of this announcement in certain jurisdictions may be restricted by law and therefore persons in such jurisdictions into which this announcement is released, published, or distributed should inform themselves about and observe such restrictions. Neither the TSX nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information Certain information in this press release constitutes forward-looking information. In some cases, but not necessarily in all cases, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "may", "will", "plan", "expect", "intend", and "believe" or variations of such words and phrases. In addition, any statements that refer to expectations, projections or other characterizations of future events or circumstances contain forward-looking information. These statements and information are based on management's beliefs, estimates and opinions on the date the statements are made and reflect Almonty's current expectations. Forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of Almonty to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements, including but not limited to: environmental, economic and political risks of the jurisdictions in which Almonty will carry on business or have operations; the impact of the US domestication on the Company's listings on the Toronto Stock Exchange and the Australian Securities Exchange and the Company's ability to access US markets; an inability to realize the expected benefits of the US domestication or the occurrence of difficulties in connection with the US domestication; adverse tax consequences in connection with the US domestication for the Company, its operations and its shareholders that may differ from the Company's expectations, including that future changes in tax law and disagreements with tax authorities on the Company's determination of value and computations of its tax attributes may result in increased tax costs; the occurrence of material Canadian federal income tax as a result of the US domestication; the impact of uncertainty associated with the US domestication on the Company's business; direct or indirect costs associated with the US domestication, which could be greater than expected; and the risk that completion of the US domestication may not occur due to the failure obtain shareholder and/or regulatory approval or otherwise. Forward-looking statements are based on assumptions management believes to be reasonable based on currently available information, including but not limited to assumptions regarding the timely receipt of shareholder, court and regulatory approvals required to complete the US domestication; potential benefits of the US domestication; expectations regarding the legal and tax implications of the US domestication; and the legislative and regulatory environments of the jurisdictions where Almonty will carry on business or have operations. Although Almonty has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that could cause results, performance or achievements not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate, and even if events or results described in the forward-looking statements are realized, there can be no assurance that they will have the expected consequences to, or effects on, Almonty. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements and are cautioned that actual outcomes may vary. Almonty cautions that the foregoing list of material risks, uncertainties and other factors is not exhaustive. Forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this press release. Except as required by applicable securities laws, the Company does not undertake any obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statements. THE FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION CONTAINED IN THIS PRESS RELEASE REPRESENTS THE EXPECTATIONS OF ALMONTY AS OF THE DATE OF THIS PRESS RELEASE AND, ACCORDINGLY, IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE AFTER SUCH DATE. READERS SHOULD NOT PLACE UNDUE IMPORTANCE ON FORWARD- LOOKING INFORMATION AND SHOULD NOT RELY UPON THIS INFORMATION AS OF ANY OTHER DATE. WHILE ALMONTY MAY ELECT TO, IT DOES NOT UNDERTAKE TO UPDATE THIS INFORMATION AT ANY PARTICULAR TIME EXCEPT AS REQUIRED IN ACCORDANCE WITH APPLICABLE LAWS. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250120542869/en/ Contact Lewis Black Chairman, President and CEO Telephone: +1 647 438-9766 Email: info@almonty.com Trigon Metals Inc. (TSX-V: TM, OTCQB:PNTZF) ("Trigon" or the "Company") announces that its Kalahari Copper Project (the "Project") has been awarded one of only three spots in the 5 million UNDERCOVER research project funded by the European Union (EU). The UNDERCOVER (Unified Novel Deep ExploRation for Critical Ore discoVERy) research project aims to enhance the responsible supply of raw materials. The Project's objectives include advancing deep mineral exploration technologies, stimulating research and development, and enabling their responsible exploitation by exploration and mining stakeholders within the EU. Key Highlights of the Program The UNDERCOVER research project has been granted 5 million from the EU, with Trigon's Kalahari Copper Project selected as one of three exploration projects included in the initiative. This research program will span three years starting January 1, 2025, focusing on developing innovative methods for successful exploration of Critical Raw Materials under cover. The Kalahari Copper Project, a joint venture project between Trigon and Ongwe Minerals, covers 765,000 hectares within the highly prospective Kalahari Copper Belt in Namibia, the western extension of the highly prospective copper belt in Botswana. One drillhole adjacent to the eastern border of Trigon's Kalahari Copper Project has intersected 83m at 0.7% Cu and 17g/t Ag. The widespread Kalahari sand cover across much of the Project area necessitates a strategic exploration approach, and advancements in exploration research achieved through the UNDERCOVER project will support these efforts. Jed Richardson, CEO and Executive Chairman of Trigon Metals, commented, "It's an honour to be selected to participate in such an innovative and potentially transformative project. We look forward to working with all parties to achieve the ambitious goals of UNDERCOVER." Proposed Strategic Sale of the Kombat Mine Trigon's management team continues to advance the sale of the Kombat Mine to Horizon Corporation Ltd. ("Horizon"). Trigon and Horizon have begun collaborating on mine planning and management, working towards completion of the definitive documentation. Initial capital has been advanced in accordance with the terms of the loan agreement between Trigon and Horizon. The terms of the Proposed Transaction are available to view in the Company's previous press release dated December 16, 2024. Due to the recent mine interruption, Trigon's management team is communicating with its insurance adjustors in Namibia on its business interruption and mechanical claim that occurred on January 16, 2025. Further Details of The Research Project that Aims to Develop Deeper Critical Raw Material Exploration The EU's ambitious goals as outlined in the Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA), NetZero Industry Act and the European Green Deal will lead to an increase in critical raw material (CRM) demand. To meet the demand, the utilization of the deposits deeper in the bedrock needs research and development. The Geological Survey of Finland (GTK) is coordinating the EU Horizon Europe project that is creating a paradigm shift in the exploration of deep critical raw materials. The project aims to develop deep CRM exploration. This will be done by transforming the mineral systems concept into the first viable strategy for systematically exploring CRM deposits hidden deeper under cover or in the bedrock. The project will develop and integrate novel geophysical technologies and methods that are both cost-effective and environmentally friendly. Strong Network of International and European Cooperation The research project will run for three years and was launched on January 1, 2025. The 5-million-Euro project brings together 16 partners from Finland, France, Germany, Czech Republic, Portugal, Namibia, and Canada. The consortium includes geological surveys, universities, research institutes, exploration companies, industrial clusters, and Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), highlighting a strong network of international and European cooperation. "This collaboration fosters the exchange of knowledge and expertise across borders, aiming at a comprehensive approach to deep mineral exploration. By leveraging the strengths of each partner, the project aims to achieve significant advancements in sustainable raw material exploration," says Jochen Kamm, Research Professor, Geological Survey of Finland. In addition to this, the project will cooperate with other EU projects dealing with deep exploration challenges. Qualified Person The scientific and technical information in this release has been reviewed and approved by Dr. Andreas Rompel, Pr.Sci.Nat. (400274/04), FSAIMM, the Company's "qualified person" as defined in National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects. Trigon Metals Inc. Trigon is a publicly-traded Canadian exploration and development company with its core business focused on copper and silver holdings in mine-friendly African jurisdictions. Currently, the Company has operations in Namibia and Morocco. In Namibia, the Company holds an 80% interest in five mining licences in the Otavi Mountainlands, an area of Namibia widely recognized for its high-grade copper deposits, where the Company is focused on exploration and redevelopment of the previously producing Kombat Mine. Cautionary Notes This news release may contain forward-looking statements. These statements include statements regarding the UNDERCOVER project, prospectivity and mineralization of the Kalahari Copper Project, the Company's strategies and the Company's abilities to execute such strategies, the Company's expectations for the Kombat Mine, the loan and sale to Horizon and the timing thereof and the Company's future plans and objectives. These statements are based on current expectations and assumptions that are subject to risks and uncertainties. Actual results could differ materially because of factors discussed in the management discussion and analysis section of our interim and most recent annual financial statements or other reports and filings with the TSX Venture Exchange and applicable Canadian securities regulations. We do not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, except as required by applicable laws. Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250120880534/en/ Contact For further information, contact Tom Panoulias, VP Corporate Development: +1 (647) 276-6002 x 1127 IR@trigonmetals.com Website: www.trigonmetals.com VANCOUVER, Jan. 20, 2025 - Super Copper Corp. (CSE: CUPR) (OTCQB: CUPPF) (FSE: N60) ("Super Copper" or the "Company"), a mining exploration company advancing high-potential copper assets, is pleased to announce the launch of its Material Science and Technology Division, a strategic move to expand its footprint beyond mining exploration into innovative chemical technologies for the global mining industry. This new division is focused on developing chemical-based solutions to help mining companies: Improve metal recovery processes like copper extraction. Reduce harmful chemical waste generated during operations. Enhance environmental sustainability by addressing key challenges like tailings management and dust suppression. Addressing a Global Market Opportunity The global mining chemicals market was valued at approximately USD $12.1 billion in 2024 and is projected to grow to USD $20.4 billion by 2033 (Straits Research), at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6%. Mining chemicals play a critical role in mineral processing, including froth flotation, solvent extraction, and grinding, and are essential for maximizing recovery rates, reducing operational costs, and ensuring environmental compliance. Mining Chemicals: An Industry Foundation Mining operations globally rely on a variety of specialty chemicals to process ores effectively, including: Frothers and Collectors: Improve bubble formation and adhesion for froth flotation. Flocculants and Coagulants: Enhance the settling and filtration of tailings and mineral concentrates. Solvent Extractants: Extract specific metals from ore solutions. Grinding Aids: Reduce energy consumption and improve milling efficiency. Rheology Modifiers: Manage slurry behavior and improve pumping efficiency. These chemicals are integral to improving recovery rates, sorting minerals, reducing waste, and decreasing costs per ton for mining companies. However, some are highly corrosive and expensive, creating opportunities for innovation to reduce their environmental impact while improving process efficiency. Positioning for Innovation in Mining "Practically every mine in the world relies on chemicals for metal recovery, waste management, and process optimization," said Zachary Dolesky, CEO of Super Copper. "Through this new division, we aim to develop and provide chemical solutions that integrate into existing mining operations, improving performance while addressing sustainability concerns." This strategic expansion positions Super Copper to participate in the mining chemicals market while remaining engaged in mineral exploration. By targeting the development of innovative additives or replacements for existing chemicals, the Company is seeking to address critical industry pain points like high costs, recovery rates, and environmental challenges. The implementation details of the Division will be provided in a subsequent update. About Super Copper Corp. Super Copper is a mining exploration company with a Material Science and Technology Division focused on developing innovative chemical solutions to improve metal recovery processes and reduce chemical waste in the mining industry. The Company is also advancing its flagship copper project in Atacama, Chile-a region with world-class infrastructure and the presence of global majors. | www.supercopper.com The Canadian Securities Exchange has not reviewed this press release and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release. Forward Looking Statements This press release contains forward-looking statements, including but not limited to statements regarding the launch and focus of the Material Science and Technology Division, anticipated market opportunities, the projected growth of the global mining chemicals market, the Company's potential to develop and/or commercialize chemical-based solutions for the mining industry and the potential applications, attributes and benefits thereof, and that the Company will provide a subsequent update on implementation details. As of today's date, the Company has not developed any solutions and there is no guarantee that the Division will be implemented, nor that the Company will successfully develop or commercialize chemical-based solutions, as discussed above or at all. Forward-looking statements are identified by words such as "aims," "anticipates," "plans," "intends," "believes," "estimates," "projects," "expects," and similar expressions. These statements are based on current expectations and assumptions that are subject to risks, uncertainties, and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ include, but are not limited to, changes in market conditions, technological advancements, regulatory changes, the Company's ability to execute its strategies effectively, and general economic conditions. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Except as required by law, the Company does not undertake any obligation to update or revise forward-looking statements to reflect new information, future events, or otherwise. All forward-looking statements in this press release are qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement. SOURCE Super Copper Corp. For further information please contact: Zachary Dymala-Dolesky, Chief Executive Officer, Super Copper Corp., investors@supercopper.com, Tel: +1 (778) 747-2968 VANCOUVER, Jan. 20, 2025 - SKRR Exploration Inc. (TSXV: SKRR) (FSE: B04Q) ("SKRR" or the "Company") announces it has terminated, effective February 5, 2025, its option to earn a 70% interest in F4 Uranium Corp.'s Clearwater West uranium property. F3 Uranium Corp. previously assigned the Clearwater West uranium option agreement to F4 Uranium Corp. SKRR still holds other projects including the Olson gold property located in Saskatchewan. About SKRR Exploration Inc. SKRR is a Canadian-based precious and base metal explorer with properties in Saskatchewan - some of the world's highest ranked mining jurisdictions. The primary exploration focus is on the Trans-Hudson Corridor in Saskatchewan in search of world class precious and base metal deposits. The Trans-Hudson Orogen - although extremely well known in geological terms has been significantly under-explored in Saskatchewan. SKRR is committed to all stakeholders including shareholders, all its partners and the environment in which it operates. ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD Sherman Dahl President & CEO Tel: 250-558-8340 Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Forward-Looking Information This news release contains "forward-looking information or statements" within the meaning of applicable securities laws, which may include, without limitation, statements relating to the technical, financial and business prospects of the Company, its projects, its goals and other matters. All statements in this news release, other than statements of historical facts, that address events or developments that the Company expects to occur, are forward-looking statements. Although the Company believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Such statements and information are based on numerous assumptions regarding present and future business strategies and the environment in which the Company will operate in the future, including the price of metals, the ability to achieve its goals, the ability to secure equipment and personnel to carry out work programs, that general business and economic conditions will not change in a material adverse manner, that financing will be available if and when needed and on reasonable terms. Such forward-looking information reflects the Company's views with respect to future events and is subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions, including the risks and uncertainties relating to the interpretation of exploration results, risks related to the inherent uncertainty of exploration and cost estimates and the potential for unexpected costs and expenses and those other risks filed under the Company's profile on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca. There is a possibility that future exploration, development or mining results will not be consistent with the Company's expectations. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward looking statements include, but are not limited to, continued availability of capital and financing and general economic, market or business conditions, failure to secure personnel and equipment for work programs, adverse weather and climate conditions, failure to obtain or maintain all necessary government permits, approvals and authorizations, decrease in the price of gold, copper, uranium and other metals, failure to obtain or maintain community acceptance (including First Nations), increase in costs, litigation, and failure of counterparties to perform their contractual obligations. The Company does not undertake to update forward-looking statements or forward-looking information, except as required by law. SOURCE SKRR Exploration Inc. VANCOUVER, Jan. 20, 2025 - Mustang Energy Corp. (CSE: MEC, OTC:MECPF, FRA:92T) (the "Company" or "Mustang") is pleased to announce the signing of an Accommodation Agreement (the "Agreement"), dated January 13, 2025, with the English River First Nation ("ERFN"), outlining the Company's commitment to responsible and sustainable mineral exploration. The Agreement, covering exploration activities within the traditional territory of ERFN, lays the foundation for a collaborative relationship between the two parties and establishes a framework for responsible mineral exploration that respects ERFN's cultural, environmental, and economic interests. The Agreement acknowledges ERFN's constitutionally protected Aboriginal and Treaty Rights, with Mustang committed to conducting exploration activities in a manner that is culturally sensitive and environmentally responsible. Through this partnership, Mustang aims to foster an inclusive approach to resource development that benefits both the company and the local communities. Key elements of the agreement include: Collaboration on Exploration Activities: Mustang will conduct mineral exploration within ERFN's traditional territory in consultation with ERFN, ensuring that all exploration activities respect the social, cultural, and environmental values of the Nation. Environmental and Cultural Oversight: The Agreement includes the appointment of an ERFN Land Guardian (the "Guardian") who will monitor environmental conditions and cultural sites during the exploration process. The Guardian's role is integral in ensuring that the exploration activities meet ERFN's standards for environmental and cultural protection. Employment and Training Opportunities: Mustang is committed to creating opportunities for ERFN members by prioritizing local hiring for exploration work. Additionally, the company will offer on-the-job training to help develop valuable skills in the mining sector. Economic Benefits for ERFN: The Agreement outlines a commitment to providing ERFN businesses with access to procurement opportunities arising from exploration activities. This will create economic benefits for the local community and contribute to the growth of ERFN-owned businesses. The Agreement demonstrates Mustang commitment to building strong, mutually beneficial partnerships with local communities and integrating environmental and social considerations into its exploration practices. The signing of the Agreement ensures that Mustang's exploration activities will be aligned with the principles of sustainable development and respect for the rights and interests of ERFN. Mustang CEO, Nick Luksha, stated "We are honored to partner with the English River First Nation and to work collaboratively on a framework that prioritizes environmental stewardship, cultural respect, and community empowerment. This agreement underscores Mustang's unwavering commitment to responsible resource exploration and sustainable development. By integrating the values and insights of ERFN into our exploration activities, we aim to create shared benefits and foster a strong, enduring relationship built on trust and mutual respect." About English River First Nation (ERFN) ERFN is located within Treaty 10 Territory. ERFN comprises multiple reserves throughout Saskatchewan, such as Porter Island, Cree Lake, Elak Dase, Knee Lake, Dipper Rapids, Wapachewunak and La Plonge. Their head office and main settlement is located in Patuanak, which is on the shores of the Churchill River. ERFN is a multilingual community with various combinations of Dene, Cree, Michif, English and French spoken by over 1,400 members. The "people of the river" are known for their bold and collaborative spirit and trusting and humble nature. They are dedicated to stewardship of the land and the education of future generations. An industrious and entrepreneurial group, ERFN has led the way in efficient economic relationship building through its support and advancement of community development partnerships. These relationships have been instrumental in advancing community support and understanding across northern Saskatchewan. About Mustang Energy Corp. Mustang is a resource exploration company focused on acquiring and developing high-potential uranium and critical mineral assets. The Company is actively exploring its properties in Northern Saskatchewan, Canada and holds 77,318 hectares in around the Athabasca Basin, one of the world's premier uranium-producing regions. The Company's portfolio includes key projects in the Eastern Athabasca Basin such as Ford Lake (7,743 hectares), Roughrider South, Cigar Lake East, Spur (17,929 hectares), and 914W projects, with a strategic emphasis on proximity to infrastructure and previously identified uranium occurrences. Mustang has also established a footprint in the Cluff Lake region of the Athabasca Basin with the Yellowstone Project (21,820 hectares), and further expanded its presence in the south-central region of the Athabasca Basin with the Dutton Project (7,633 hectares). Driven by a leadership team with an expertise in resource development and capital markets, the Company is positioned to support the growing global demand for clean energy by responsible critical mineral exploration. For further information, please contact: Mustang Energy Corp. Attention: Nicholas Luksha, CEO and Director Phone: (604) 838-0184 Neither the CSE nor the Market Regulator (as that term is defined in the policies of the CSE) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. This news release includes certain statements and information that may constitute forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws. Forward-looking statements relate to future events or future performance and reflect the expectations or beliefs of management of the Company regarding future events. Generally, forward-looking statements and information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "intends", "believes" or "anticipates", or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "should", "would" or "occur". This information and these statements, referred to herein as "forward?looking statements", are not historical facts, are made as of the date of this news release and include without limitation, statements regarding discussions of future plans, estimates and forecasts and statements as to management's expectations and intentions with respect to, among other things, the relationship with ERFN and the completion of future work on the Company's projects in collaboration with the ERFN. In making the forward-looking statements in this news release, the Company has applied several material assumptions, including without limitation the assumption that the Company will be able to continue exploring its properties given various environmental and economic factors outside of its control and that the partnership with ERFN will continue on an ongoing basis, as currently contemplated. Although management of the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking statements or forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements and forward-looking information. Readers are cautioned that reliance on such information may not be appropriate for other purposes. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking statement, forward-looking information or financial out-look that are incorporated by reference herein, except in accordance with applicable securities laws. Sauber's Bravi could join Hamilton at MotoGP team Alessandro Alluni Bravi, the departing 'team representative' at Audi-owned Sauber, is linked with a switch to Formula 1's two-wheeled equivalent. Alessandro Alunni Bravi, Mexican GP 2024 Sauber On Christmas Eve, hot on the heels of earlier rumours that Lewis Hamilton may be eyeing a stake in the MotoGP team Gresini, it emerged that the seven time world champion may have shifted his interest to another outfit - KTM. Gresini reportedly turned down Hamilton's offer. But KTM, a factory MotoGP team but also an Austrian motorcycle manufacturer, has been facing significant financial challenges, with reported debts nearing 3 billion euros. KTM motorsport director Pit Beirer confirmed a month ago that very interesting discussions have taken place with Hamilton's management. The team boss of Tech3 KTM, however, called the rumours completely unfounded . However, the rumours have not only continued, but evolved. La Gazzetta dello Sport claims that 50-year-old Bravi may have been lined up to help guide KTM in its potential Hamilton-involved era. There have also been rumours that Bravi may simply switch from Sauber to another F1 team. In the official statement confirming his looming departure, Sauber said Bravi is moving on to a new adventure . Audi F1 boss Mattia Binotto, meanwhile, admitted Bravi is heading to a new venture , while Bravi himself was quoted as saying he will have a new project . As for Hamilton and KTM, one potential stumbling block could be the factory MotoGP team's major sponsorship and naming deal with Red Bull. That not only sets up a clash with Ferrari, but also Hamilton's long-standing sponsorship deal with Red Bull energy drink rival Monster. KTM's Beirer told Speed Week: Anyone who wants to work with us knows how close we are - that Red Bull and KTM are inseparable. That has not been an issue in the negotiations so far. (GMM) Zhou, focused on F1 return, linked with Red Bull Guanyu Zhou is determined that losing his race seat at Sauber does not mean the end of his Formula 1 career. Guanyu Zhou, Mexican GP 2024 Sauber Audi-owned Sauber decided not to renew the deals with both Zhou and Valtteri Bottas at the end of a difficult season for the Swiss team in 2024. Since losing his seat, Zhou - the first Chinese driver on the grid - has been exploring opportunities to remain in the F1 paddock as a reserve driver. He was linked with Ferrari, but the Maranello based team denied there were plans to sign Zhou. There was even talk that Zhou could end up at Red Bull, with his powerful Chinese sponsors helping to fund a TPC (Testing of Previous Cars) program. Up to now, explained journalist Michael Schmidt at Auto Motor und Sport, the Red Bull teams have held back on testing old Formula 1 cars because Honda demands a lot of money for the provision of engines and personnel. Zhou, 25, would also serve as an experienced reserve driver for Red Bull's two F1 teams, given that the brand's in-house option, Arvid Lindblad, is only 17 and so inexperienced. Zhou would have experience, but he is not the brightest star in the Formula 1 world, Schmidt said. (Franco) Colapinto would have been the best choice, but Williams was asking too much for a full release of the man from Buenos Aires. Zhou told Formula Rapida: "I have decided not to race in another series this year because there are so many doors in F1 that could be open, not only in 2025 but also in 2026. I want to make sure that if there is an opportunity, I can be there. If there is an opportunity, I definitely want to be back on the grid, he added. Meanwhile, former Haas racer Kevin Magnussen will make his debut with BMW at the Daytona 24 hours this weekend. But according to Schmidt, he will also play a role in Haas' new Toyota-funded TPC program as a reference for younger drivers in 2025. (GMM) Featured Catholic Church suspends priest over secret marriage in United States Vanguardngr.com Showbiz News Jan - 20 - 2025 , 14:04 2 minutes read The Catholic Diocese of Warri, has suspended Rev. Fr. Daniel Okanatotor Oghenerukevwe from the priesthood following his reported marriage in the United States. This was made known in a statement titled: Decree of Suspension, dated Thursday, January 16, 2025, jointly signed by Bishop of Warri, Rt. Rev, Anthony Ovayero Ewherido and Chancellor/Notary Very Rev. Fr. Clement Abobo. The statement alleged that Oghenerukevwe entered into marriage with one Ms. Dora Chichah at the Streams of Joy Church in Dallas, USA, on 29 December 2024, noting that the footage of the marriage had been widely circulated on social media. By his this action, the church said that Oghenerukevwe has incurred a Latae Sententiae suspension in accordance with the provisions of Canon law of the church. Advertisement Most Rev. Anthony Ovayero Ewherido, Bishop of Warri, do hereby officially decree that he is suspended from the exercise of sacred ministry. On November 30, 2024, Rev Fr Daniel Okanatotor Oghenerukevwe, who has been out of active ministry and without any official assignment in the United States of America, contacted me with a request to be released from all canonical obligations and responsibilities associated with Holy Orders within the Roman Catholic Church. The Diocese of Warri reached out to Fr. Oghenerukevwe, requesting the submission of documents required to initiate the process. However, on December 29, 2024, Fr. Oghenerukevwe entered into marriage with Ms. Dora Chichah at the Streams of Joy Church in Dallas, USA. Footage of this marriage has been widely circulated on social media. By this action, Rev. Fr. Daniel Okanatotor Oghenerukevwe has incurred a Latae Sententiae suspension in accordance with the provisions of Canon 1394 1, and I, Most Rev. Anthony Ovayero Ewherido, Bishop of Warri, do hereby officially decree that he is suspended from the exercise of sacred ministry. As such, he is prohibited from presenting himself as a priest of the Catholic Diocese of Warri in any capacity. All canonical implications associated with this suspension take immediate effect (cf. Can. 1333). He retains the right to petition for the revocation or amendment of this decree in accordance with Canon 1734 1 whenever he demonstrates a willingness to reform. May God grant him the grace to reflect on this situation and guide him on the path of reconciliation, the statement said. See the statement below: Featured Discipline and time management essential for fashion industry success - Belinda Baidoo Edith Mensah Showbiz News Jan - 20 - 2025 , 11:53 2 minutes read INTERNATIONAL fashion model and Creative Director of BB Boutique, Belinda Baidoo has offered advice to players in the fashion industry, urging them to prioritise discipline, time management and long-term planning. According to Belinda, the fashion industry is highly competitive, and to stand out, one needs to be organised, focused, and committed to delivering high-quality work on time since these qualities are often lacking in the sector, hampering its growth. I learned discipline, especially around time management, when I lived and worked in the United States and elsewhere. But coming back to Ghana, I realised its something we struggle with in our industry. Meeting deadlines and being disciplined can set us apart and help us thrive. Patience is also key. Growth doesnt happen overnight. With a well-laid plan and focus, we can achieve greater heights, she stated. Advertisement In an earlier interview with Graphic Showbiz, Belinda called for financial support from government and private investors to rejuvenate Ghana's fashion industry. (Related article: GH fashion Industry needs financial boost Belinda Baidoo) The financial support has become necessary because the fashion sector, despite its potential, remains stifled by inadequate funding and neglect, preventing it from attaining global recognition. Ms Baidoo emphasised the critical role the fashion industry plays in job creation, revenue generation and overall economic development. She also highlighted the potential of the fashion value chain from raw material production to retail to make a significant economic impact if adequately supported. Featured St Vincent College of Education Principal resigns 2 months after appointment - Over controversies, closure of school Mohammed Fugu Education Jan - 20 - 2025 , 10:42 2 minutes read The Principal of the St Vincent College of Education in Yendi, Prof. Jonas Kwabla Fiadzawoo, whose appointment sparked controversies resulting in the closure of the college, has tendered his resignation letter to the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC). In a letter dated January 16, 2025, and addressed to the Director-General of GTEC, Prof. Fiadzawoo said his decision to resign was due to the controversies surrounding his appointment. My vision was to see to the infrastructural development of the college to enhance teaching and learning, which I believe is a priority of all other aspirants. However, recent developments concerning the college indicate that my selection does not meet the aspirations of the college, he said. Advertisement He said it was very important for him to respect the views of the community members in the interest of the college. Prof. Fiadzawoo, who is a Senior Lecturer at the University for Development Studies (UDS), was appointed on November 27, 2024. However, his appointment was greeted with fierce protest from the college community. Background On Monday, January 13, the Overlord of Dagbon, Ya-Na Abukari II, ordered the closure of the college following a disagreement over the appointment of the new principal for the institution. The directive was issued after the schools governing board allegedly ignored the Overlords recommendation for the position. The college's previous principal retired recently, creating the vacancy. Following the development, the Overlord is said to have recommended to the board to prioritise suitable candidates who are indigenes to defuse the long-standing impression by many that indigenes are often sidelined by the authorities in recruitment. However, the board appointed Prof. Jonas Kwabla Fiadzawoo on November 27, 2024, which appeared not to have gone down well with the Overlord and the entire college community. Currently, all the offices have been locked up and the staff and management have been asked to vacate the premises until the issue is resolved. Agreement The Registrar of the Dagbon Traditional Council, Alhassan Abdul-Fataw, told the Daily Graphic that despite being invited to the palace and agreeing to consider the Kings request to prioritise suitable candidates who were indigenes, the board failed to honour their pledge. Since the establishment of the college, no Dagomba or indigene has been appointed as principal. The King only became aware of the vacancy when interviews were already underway. The Kings appeal to address the impression that local candidates were marginalised was disregarded by the board, he explained. Writers email:mohammed.fugu@graphic.com.gh Next article: St Vincent College of Education Principal resigns 2 months after appointment - Over controversies, closure of school Featured Haruna Iddrisu: Education Minister designate pledges to uncap GETFund to boost education infrastructure GraphicOnline Education Jan - 20 - 2025 , 17:13 2 minutes read The Education Minister designate, Haruna Iddrisu, has announced plans to uncap the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund) as a matter of urgency to bolster infrastructural development in the education sector. Speaking before the Appointments Committee on Monday, 20 January 2025, Mr Iddrisu stated that the decision to uncap GETFund will be taken in collaboration with the Finance Minister to free up additional resources for the funds intended purpose. In the last few years, the GETFund has suffered because of the decision of the then Finance Minister to cap it. President Mahama has gone public, and I join him to say that we will uncap GETFund to free additional resources to support robust infrastructural development, he said. He further emphasised his commitment to act swiftly: I will engage the Minister for Finance to uncap GETFund as a matter of expediency. Advertisement Background on the capping of GETFund The capping of GETFund was implemented during the previous administration under the leadership of then Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta. The measure was introduced as part of recommendations by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to secure a loan deal. However, Mr Iddrisu, who is also the Member of Parliament for Tamale South, argued that the decision has hindered the funds ability to fulfil its purpose, particularly in addressing critical educational infrastructure needs. Mr Iddrisu noted that the plan to uncap GETFund would be incorporated into broader discussions with the IMF to review existing agreements. and for the President to engage with the IMF to review the memorandum which included GETFund in the negotiations. President Mahama has said that he will review the IMF, so part of the review will be to uncap the GETFund, he added. Featured AngloGold Ashanti urges calm following fatal clash with illegal miners in Obuasi Gertrude Ankah Jan - 20 - 2025 , 08:19 2 minutes read AngloGold Ashanti Ghana Limited has called for calm following a deadly confrontation between illegal miners and military personnel at its secured site in Obuasi. The violent clash, which occurred late on January 18, 2025, at the northern section of the company's Obuasi concession, left seven illegal miners dead and several others injured, including a security officer. In a statement issued on January 19, AngloGold Ashanti confirmed the situation had been brought under control, assuring the public that the mines operations remain unaffected. The company reiterated its commitment to working with local authorities to address the incident and prevent similar occurrences in the future. Advertisement On the evening of January 18, an incident occurred within the fenced operational area in the northern part of the Obuasi concession. A large group of armed illegal miners attempted to forcibly gain unauthorized access to mine infrastructure. Authorities mobilized to defend against this attack and ensure the safety of employees and the surrounding community. The situation at the mine is currently calm, and we are working closely with the authorities. Our primary concern remains the safety and health of all employees and members of the community directly impacted by this incident., the statement read. The Ghana Armed Forces (GAF), in a separate statement, said their personnel acted in self-defense after being attacked by the illegal miners, who reportedly used locally manufactured firearms and other weapons. GAF confirmed the deaths of seven miners and injuries to others, including a member of the security forces. The tragic incident has reignited calls for stronger measures to combat illegal mining, known locally as galamsey. Kwaku Kwarteng, Member of Parliament for Obuasi West, condemned the violence and called for a thorough investigation into the events. This incident underscores the escalating dangers of illegal mining in Obuasi and across the country, Kwarteng stated. We must ensure accountability and take decisive steps to address the root causes of these violent clashes. According to GAF, the confrontation began around 11:00 PM when a group of approximately 60 illegal miners breached the security perimeter and attempted to access the Deep Decline area of the mine. The miners, armed with locally made rifles, pump-action guns, knives, axes, gas cylinders, and other tools, allegedly opened fire on military personnel when confronted. Kwarteng expressed confidence in the ongoing investigations by local police and military authorities and called for their findings to be shared with President John Dramani Mahama to ensure transparency and justice. I have engaged the Divisional and Municipal Police Commands, who have assured me that thorough investigations are underway. I also expect the Military Command to conduct a comprehensive review of the events leading to this tragic incident, he noted. It is imperative that the findings be presented to President Mahama to ensure full accountability and reinforce public trust in our security agencies. Featured Declare assets before taking office - CHRAJ charges public officers in new govt Emmanuel Bonney Jan - 20 - 2025 , 08:24 5 minutes read The Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) has urged public officers of the new government, members of the ninth Parliament and all public officers to take immediate steps to apprise themselves of the Code of Conduct for Public Officers and declare their assets in accordance with law before taking office. The commission further called on the government to take steps to prioritise the passage of the Conduct of Public Officers Bill. The concept of administrative justice deals with how administrative bodies and officials exercise public power in a manner consistent with the law establishing them, other laws and the constitution Article 23 of the Constitution provides that "Administrative bodies and Administrative Officials shall act fairly and reasonably and comply with requirements imposed on them and persons aggrieved by the exercise of such acts and decisions shall have the right to seek redress before a court or other tribunal," CHRAJ said in a New Years message. Advertisement The message, which was signed by the Commissioner of CHRAJ, Joseph Whittal, said as an independent Constitutional body, with the mandate to promote good governance and the rule of law through the performance of its triple mandates, it wished, at the outset through the message to draw the attention of the new government, its appointees, Members of Parliament (MPs) and persons serving in the public service of important governance compliance issues within the commission's mandate as the country travelled the new year, 2025. Trust Public office, it said, was an office of trust and that it established a fiduciary relationship between public officers and citizens. Thus, CHRAJ added, public officers were expected to uphold integrity and advance the public interest at all times in the exercise of their official functions. The message said public officials were to eschew all forms of unethical behaviour such as conflict of interest, abuse of power, and corruption. Against this expectation, the commission wishes to draw public officers' attention to the obligations imposed on them under Chapter 24 of the 1992 Constitution titled Code of Conduct for Public Officers, it said, and that Article 284 stipulated that "A public officer shall not put himself in a position where his personal interest conflicts or is likely to conflict with the performance of the functions of his office." A "conflict of interest", it explained, referred to a situation where a public official's personal interest conflicted with or was likely to conflict with the performance of the functions of his/her office. Closely related to conflict of interest is compliance with Declaration of assets and liabilities under Article 286 (1) of the Constitution and Public Office Holders. (Declaration of Assets and Disqualification) Act, 1998 (Act 550). Article 286(1) provides that "A person who holds a public office mentioned in clause (5) of this article shall submit to the Auditor-General a written declaration of all property or assets owned by, or liabilities owed by, him directly or indirectly- (a) within three months after the coming into force of this constitution or before taking office, as the case may be; (b)at the end of every four years; and (c) at the end of its term of office," it said. Breaches As the body with the exclusive jurisdiction to investigate breaches and non-compliance of the provisions of the Chapter 24 code of conduct of the Constitution and as affirmed by the Supreme Court in Ablakwa & Another v. Attorney-General and Another [2012] GHASC 32 (the Jake Obetsebi Lamptey Bungalow Case), it said the commission noted from experience that public officers had either treated the code of conduct with contempt or as in the case of new public officers simply ignorant of same, thereby occasioning all manner of unethical conduct and behaviour. It said it was worthy to mention that Ghana and other jurisdictions, including Australia and Namibia, had elevated administrative justice from a common law right referred to as the "right to natural justice" to a constitutional/fundamental human right status. That, it said, was in recognition of the growing influence of the administrative state and its significant implications for the rights of citizens. In the celebrated case of Awuni v West African Examinations Council [2003-2004] SCGLR 47, the Supreme Court underscored the constitutional imperative of administrative bodies and officials in observing fair administrative practices in their interactions with the public. Failure to do so would attract consequences for the administrative body and officials, CHRAJ stated. The message, therefore, stressed that administrative justice, as a constitutional imperative, should constitute a key guiding principle of the Ghanaian administrative state going forward. It said as the body charged with oversight under the constitution to conduct administrative review of the decisions, acts and omissions of public institutions and public officials, the commission wished to entreat all public institutions to always ensure the legality and lawfulness of their decisions and actions. Human rights The constitution is anchored on fundamental human rights and freedoms as one of the core values. Ghana has also ratified several international human rights instruments to further demonstrate its resolve to respect, protect and fulfil human rights. The constitution further enjoins the executive, legislature, judiciary and all other organs of government and agencies to uphold and defend human rights. Particularly, Article 12(1) states that "the fundamental human rights and freedoms enshrined in this chapter shall be respected and upheld by the executive, legislature and judiciary and all other organs of government and its agencies, it said. Challenges It said the year 2024 presented the country with challenges as well as opportunities for nation-building and that more specifically, Ghana was once again called upon to demonstrate to the world its democratic credentials through the conduct of the presidential and parliamentary elections. The outcome of the elections and peaceful transfer of power, it said, demonstrated a growing commitment of the Ghanaian people to democratic ideals. The elections, it said, also offered the country an opportunity to elect its first female Vice-President, Professor Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang. The commission takes this opportunity to congratulate John Dramani Mahama and the Vice-President on the occasion of their decisive election to the high offices of President and Vice-President respectively of the Republic of Ghana. The commission further congratulates the Rt Hon. Speaker of Parliament, Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, on the occasion of his re-election as Speaker of the ninth Parliament and all the 276 Members elected to the ninth Parliament, it emphasised. Women: The destiny changers Richard Mawuli Koku Quashigah Jan - 20 - 2025 , 11:14 4 minutes read Men and women work alongside each other, acknowledging their different make-ups. Despite the generally accepted view that men lead and women follow, especially in marriages and homes, women often emerge as towers of strength for families and societies. Referencing the oldest book in human history, the Bible, women have had a powerful influence on their children, husbands and nations. These women played critical roles in the redemption of their societies and occupied special places of honour. Advertisement In the history of the Jewish people, many women stood out as influential destiny changers. Deborah, a female judge and leader of Israel was known for her strength, courage and leadership. Similarly, Esther, a Persian queen of Jewish origin, demonstrated courage and leadership in delivering the Jewish people from annihilation during a critical time in history. Contemporary times In contemporary times, women are stepping up as first responders, change makers and activists that their families and local communities across the world need. Angela Merkel, the erstwhile Chancellor of Germany, exemplifies the epitome of statesmanship, navigating the complexities of European politics with aplomb. Jacinda Ardern, the Prime Minister of New Zealand has redefined the paradigm of compassionate leadership, demonstrating that empathy, kindness and strength can coexist in harmony. Ghana has had a remarkable but chequered political history, with constant shivers that our democratic boat since the inception of the Fourth Republic was about to shipwreck, especially during the last eight years. It was evident that the elected leaders in office were there for themselves rather than the Ghanaian people. Those who believe in God constantly cry and call to Him for deliverance. It is apt to say that He heard and showed mercy, giving Ghana a leadership that has revived the hope and aspiration of the people. This leader, described by those with the seeing eye and the hearing earthe prophetsas a man with a good heart, has been brought back into leadership by God. This is reminiscent of Winston Churchill, the former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, and his role during World War II. Woman vice-president For the first time, providence paired the newly elected President with a woman Vice-President. Many observers expect our first-ever Vice- President to demonstrate the character of Esther rather than that of Jezebel. Rightly so, as most Ghanaians can attest to the virtuous nature and character of our current Vice- President, who, in her previous role as Minister of Education, stood out without blemish. During previous political campaigns in Ghana, political opponents struggled without success to pin any dirt on her. One is convinced that she is aware that God has chosen her at such a time to support President John Mahama to restore and catapult Ghana to an enviable status in the comity of nations. As referenced earlier, women played an essential role in Gods plan for redemption. These were modest and virtuous women who trusted in God and allowed nothing to defeat their faith in fulfilling their divine mandate. They strived in the face of adversity; think of Mary, the mother of Jesus, Hannah, the mother of Samuel, Esther, the Persian Queen, and Deborah, a Jewish judge. Ghanaians are equally blessed with another virtuous woman of experience who, in her previous lifetime, exhibited great humility with a contrite heart: the current First Lady, Lordina Mahama, who can aptly be described as the mother of the nation. The Presidents appointment of new Regional Ministers comes with another novelty: a woman Regional Minister for Greater Accra. With a reasonable number of women elected to Parliament, it is with great expectation that we will see more women appointees. However, it should not just be any woman, but rather virtuous women with a passion for work, with motherly feelings and sympathy, but firm in doing right by Ghanaians. Let God be their guide as they serve in resetting Ghana for the better. Women leadership As Ghana navigates the complexities of its Fourth Republic, the nation would do well to draw inspiration from the likes of Queen Njinga of Ndongo and Matamba, who resisted Portuguese colonisation with unwavering courage, or Yaa Asantewaa, the Ashanti queen mother who led the rebellion against British colonial rule. These women, like Esther and Deborah, exemplified the heart, symbolising love, goodwill, patience, faithfulness, fondness, endurance, and consistency. As the nation looks to the future, it is imperative to recognise the transformative power of women's leadership. By harnessing the collective energy, creativity and resilience of women, Ghana can unlock its full potential, surmounting the challenges of the past to forge a brighter, more inclusive future. May God continue to endow President Mahama with all that is required to restore permanent smiles to the faces of all well-meaning Ghanaians The writer is a multifaceted Ghanaian politician, journalist, and educator. Next article: Roads Minister Designate for Roads and Highways announces tech-driven return of road tolls Previous article: E-Gate project at KIA should have been free Agbodza Featured Agbodza disputes Akufo-Addos 11,000-kilometre road construction claim Gertrude Ankah Jan - 20 - 2025 , 13:49 2 minutes read The Roads and Highways Minister-designate, Kwame Governs Agbodza, has cast doubt on a claim by former President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo that his administration constructed over 11,000 kilometres of roads during its tenure. He described the figure as misleading, citing official records that indicate the actual number of newly constructed roads is lower. During his vetting before Parliament's Appointments Committee on Monday, 20 January 2025, Mr Agbodza referred to the former president's 2023 State of the Nation Address. In that address, Mr Akufo-Addo claimed his government had constructed 11,974 kilometres of roads, which he touted as a record-breaking achievement in Ghana's infrastructure history. Advertisement Mr Agbodza, however, challenged the accuracy of this assertion, citing data from agencies under the Ministry of Roads and Highways that place the number of newly constructed roads at just 673 kilometres since 2017. The discrepancy in road figures He recalled Akufo-Addos address to the 8th Parliament, where the former president stated that his government had achieved an unprecedented milestone in road construction. At the time, Mr Agbodza chose not to publicly challenge the claim, as he believed the presidents figures were derived from a presumably reliable source. However, subsequent scrutiny of official records painted a different picture. "The claim of 11,000 kilometres of new roads was simply untrue," Mr Agbodza asserted. "The data shows that only 673 kilometres of roads were actually constructed as new roads. The bulk of the 13,624 kilometres referenced by the former president includes rehabilitations, upgrades, and routine maintenance rather than completely new roads." Clarifications and records According to Mr Agbodza, agencies within the Ministry of Roads and Highways have since sought to reconcile the figures, confirming that the number of newly constructed roads under Akufo-Addo's administration falls far short of the proclaimed 11,000 kilometres. "The exaggeration of achievements in road construction does not serve the purpose of transparency or accountability," he said. "It is critical to differentiate between new constructions and ongoing improvements to existing infrastructure when assessing the performance of any government," he emphasised. Featured NPP built 673km of new roads, not 11,000km Agbodza Beatrice Laryea Jan - 20 - 2025 , 15:04 1 minute read The Minister-Designate for Roads and Highways, Kwame Governs Agbodza, has rejected claims by former President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo that his administration constructed 11,000 kilometers of new roads between 2017 and January 2025. During his vetting before the Appointments Committee of Parliament on Monday, January 20, 2025, Agbodza provided what he described as accurate data on road projects completed during that period, directly challenging the former Presidents statement. Agbodza revealed that, according to official records, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government constructed only 673 kilometres of new roads, far below the 11,000 kilometres claimed by former President Akufo-Addo. At the time of the transition, the new roads constructed amounted to 673 kilometres. The record in Parliament clearly shows that Ghana did not construct 11,000 kilometres of new roads since 2017 but rather focused on re-graveling and graveling, he responded. Advertisement He also mentioned that the majority of the work reported by the NPP involved re-gravelling and gravelling existing roads, which accounted for 6,185.90 kilometres. He argued that while maintenance activities like re-graveling and upgrading are important for preserving the road network, they should not be equated with constructing entirely new roads. At the time of the transition, the new roads constructed were 673 kilometres and so the record Parliament has is that Ghana did not construct 11,000 kilometres of new roads since 2017 but rather 673 kilometres have been constructed as new roads. The bulk of the work which has been done is re-graveling and graveling, which is 6,185.90 kilometres, he added. Featured President Mahama has no plan of cancelling Free SHS but there will be a review - Haruna Iddrisu Kweku Zurek Jan - 20 - 2025 , 17:43 2 minutes read The Minister-Designate for Education, Haruna Iddrisu has dispelled rumours that President John Dramani Mahama intends to cancel the Free Senior High School (Free SHS) policy. Speaking during his vetting by the Appointments Committee of Parliament on January 20affirmed the government's commitment to refining the policy rather than abolishing it. Let me assure this committee that President John Dramani Mahama has no option to cancel Free SHS. Therefore, those who listen to him, even in the cause of his campaign, he has stated that he will expand Free SHS, Haruna Iddrisu stated. The Free SHS programme, introduced by the Akufo-Addo administration, was a pivotal focus during President John Mahama's 2024 election campaign. Advertisement President Mahama pledged to review and enhance the policy to make it more effective and inclusive for Ghanaians. Mr. Iddrisu elaborated on the government's intention to review the initiative, ensuring it remains sustainable and delivers maximum benefits. He noted that President Mahama is keen on aligning the policy with constitutional provisions that prioritise educational accessibility for all. It was to tell Ghanaians that as President of the Republic, he wants to give 2 million to Article 25 of the 1992 Constitution and Article 38, which spells out the objective of our educational policy. Chair, the important thing is that he will subject the Free SHS to a review, he explained. In line with the proposed improvements, Mr. Iddrisu revealed plans to hold a stakeholder forum. This initiative aims to bring together educators, policymakers, and other key players to gather insights and recommendations for strengthening the education sector. The assurance from Haruna Iddrisu comes amid ongoing discussions about the sustainability and execution of the Free SHS programme. While the government acknowledges the policy's significance, the proposed review seeks to address gaps and ensure that it continues to serve its intended purpose effectively. Constitution review cttee formed Kester Aburam Korankye Politics Jan - 20 - 2025 , 08:47 3 minutes read The government has set up a Constitutional Review Committee to review the 1992 Constitution. The committee, composed of eight members, is chaired by Professor of Law and Executive Director of the Centre for Democratic Development, Ghana (CDD-Ghana), Prof. H. Kwasi Prempeh. Members include a retired Justice of the Supreme Court and member of the United Nations Appeal Tribunal, Justice Sophia Adinyira; lawyer and former Chairperson of the Electoral Commission, Charlotte Osei, and professor of Journalism and Mass Communication, Prof. Kwame Karikari. The rest are a Senior Lecturer at the University of Ghana School of Law, Dr Godwin Djokoto; an expert in governance, organisation and systems development, and development management, Ibrahim Tanko Amadu; an academic and Executive Director of Ashesi Universitys Centre for Leadership, Dr Esi Ansah, and a lawyer and Oil and Gas Consultant, Dr Rainer Akumperigeya, who will act as Secretary to the committee. Advertisement The committee's primary objective is to identify gaps and challenges in the implementation of the previous constitutional review work done by the 2010 Constitution Review Commission and the 2023 Constitution Review Consultative Committee. Approach They will engage key stakeholders to gather views on proposed amendments and make actionable recommendations to enhance democratic governance in the country. The committee is expected to present its recommendations for constitutional amendments within five months for consideration by the government. The acting Spokesperson to the President, Felix Kwakye Ofosu, in a communique, said the committee's composition reflected President John Dramani Mahama's commitment to engaging experts dedicated to good governance. The composition of the committee underscores the President's desire to engage persons of proven expertise, dedication to the service of the nation and commitment to good governance, to manage the process, a statement signed by Mr Ofosu stated. The Constitution Review Committee's work is eagerly anticipated, as it is expected to pave the way for meaningful reforms of the country's constitution. Background Efforts to review the 1992 Constitution have been ongoing for some years now. One notable attempt was the establishment of the Constitution Review Commission (CRC) of Inquiry in 2010, which was to identify amendments required for a comprehensive review of the Constitution. The CRC was set up by former President, John Evans Atta Mills, with a Constitutional Instrument 2010 (C.I.) 64 as a Commission of Inquiry to conduct a consultative review of the Constitution. The commission conducted nationwide consultations, receiving views from various stakeholders, including civil society organisations, traditional leaders, and ordinary citizens. After gathering those views, the commission submitted its report to the President in December 2011. However, the implementation of the commission's recommendations was slow. In 2012, the government established a Constitutional Review Implementation Committee to oversee the implementation of the recommendations but progress was limited. The change of government in 2017 further slowed down the implementation process. However, former President Akufo-Addo in 2023 set up a Constitution Review Consultative Committee to continue with the earlier efforts. President Mahama establishing a new Constitutional Review Committee is a continuation of those efforts. Previous article: Agbodza: Minister Designate for Roads and Highways says he will work on his temperament as Minister Featured Franklin Cudjoe questions transparency of President Mahamas use of brothers private jet Gertrude Ankah Politics Jan - 20 - 2025 , 11:03 2 minutes read The founder of IMANI Africa, Franklin Cudjoe, has raised concerns about the transparency of President John Dramani Mahamas recent use of a private jet owned by his brother, Ibrahim Mahama, for official trips to The Gambia and Senegal. In a Facebook post on Sunday, 19 January 2025, Mr Cudjoe acknowledged the explanation provided by Acting Presidential Spokesperson, Felix Kwakye Ofosu, that the trips incurred no cost to taxpayers due to the generosity of the Presidents brother. However, he queried the legal and ethical implications of such an arrangement. Can Hon. Kwakye Ofosu tell us if the cost of this visit was classified as a gift to the state and declared, given that the Presidents brother is a private citizen? Mr Cudjoe asked, emphasising the need for transparency in governance. Mr Cudjoes comments come amid growing public scrutiny of governance and accountability in Ghana, particularly with regard to financial declarations by public officials. He drew a comparison to the previous administrations Finance Minister, who, despite claiming not to draw a salary, presided over a period that left Ghana grappling with a debt crisis and a junk-rated economy. Advertisement The use of private resources for state functions often raises questions about potential conflicts of interest and adherence to governance regulations. Under Ghanaian law, public officials are required to declare any gifts or benefits received during their tenure to ensure accountability and avoid undue influence. Ministerial vetting Mr Cudjoe also turned his attention to the ongoing vetting of ministerial nominees for critical portfolios, including Agriculture, Roads and Transport, and Education. He expressed hope that Parliaments Appointments Committee would rigorously question nominees to evaluate their competence and readiness to serve. Highlighting the insights of IMANI fellow Mr Ato Coleman, Mr Cudjoe called for the introduction of more robust performance management systems for government appointees. We need a more robust performance management system that transparently shows the objectives, outputs, and outcomes our ministers and teams are delivering, what the KPIs are, and how we track progress, Mr Coleman stated, a sentiment Mr Cudjoe echoed in his post. Read the full post below: Related article: Why President Mahama used his brother's private jet on his trip to Senegal & Gambia Next article: Professor Nana Ama Browne Klutse grateful following appointment as Acting CEO of EPA Featured Schedule: See the nominees to be vetted by Parliament today Kweku Zurek Politics Jan - 20 - 2025 , 06:50 2 minutes read The Appointments Committee of Parliament will continue its vetting process today, Monday, 20 January 2025, for President John Dramani Mahamas ministerial nominees. The vetting sessions are part of Parliaments constitutional duty to assess the qualifications and suitability of individuals selected to lead various ministries. Nominees scheduled for todays session include: - Kwame Governs Agbodza: Minister-Designate for Roads and Highways - Haruna Iddrisu: Minister-Designate for Education - Eric Opoku: Minister-Designate for Food and Agriculture Advertisement The vetting sessions will take place in Committee Rooms 1, 2, and 3 of the New Administration Block and are expected to begin at 8:30 am. The Appointments Committee, chaired by Mr Bernard Ahiafor, has already vetted three nominees in prior sessions: Dr Cassiel Ato Baah Forson, Minister-Designate for Finance; Mr John Abdulai Jinapor, Minister-Designate for Energy; and Dr Dominic Akuritinga Ayine, Attorney-General and Minister-Designate for Justice. Tomorrows vetting, scheduled for Tuesday, 21 January 2025, will include Ahmed Ibrahim, Minister-Designate for Local Government, Chieftaincy, and Religious Affairs; Agnes Naa Momo Lartey, Minister-Designate for Gender, Children, and Social Protection; and Elizabeth Ofosu-Adjare, Minister-Designate for Trade, Agribusiness, and Industry. The Committee is expected to complete the vetting process for all nominees by Monday, January 27, 2025. This rigorous exercise underscores Parliaments commitment to ensuring transparency and accountability in the selection of public officials. Comprehensive media coverage has been urged by the Director of Media Relations to ensure that the public remains informed about the proceedings. See the entire schedule below; APPOINTMENTS COMMITTEE SCHEDULE FOR VETTING OF NOMINEES DATE NOMINEES DESIGNATION Monday, 20th January, 2025 Kwame Governs Agbodza, MP Minister Designate, Ministry of Roads and Highways Haruna Iddrisu, MP Minister Designate, Ministry of Education Eric Opoku, MP Minister Designate, Ministry of Food and Agriculture Tuesday, 21st January, 2025 Ahmed Ibrahim, MP Minister Designate, Ministry of Local Government, Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs Agnes Naa Momo Lartey, MP Minister Designate, Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection Elizabeth Ofosu-Adjare, MP Minister Designate, Ministry ofTrade, Agribusiness and Industry Wednesday, 22nd January, 2025 Abla Dzifa Gomashie, MP Minister Designate, Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts Emelia Arthur, MP Minister Designate, Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture George Opare-Addo Minister Designate, Ministry of Youth Development and Empowerment Thursday, 23rd January, 2025 Ali Adolf G. John Minister Designate, Northern Region John Kwadwo Gyapong Minister Designate, Oti Region James Gunu Minister Designate, Volta Region Mrs Rita Akosua Awatey Minister Designate, Eastern Region Friday, 24th January, 2025 Ibrahim Tia Minister Designate, North East Region Dr. Dr. Frank Amoakohene Minister Designate, Ashanti Region Akamugri Atanga Donatus Minister Designate, Upper East Region Monday, 27th January, 2025 Charity Gardiner Minister Designate, Ahafo Region Salisu Be-Awuribe Issifu, Esq. Minister Designate, Savannah Region Linda Obenewaa Akweley Ocloo, MP Minister Designate, Greater Accra Region Samsung's Galaxy S25 series has long been rumored to arrive with a price hike - in Europe, in Korea, and in India. Today a new report from Samsung's home of Korea details things a bit further. It's good news and bad news. The bad news is that a price hike is indeed coming, at least in Korea. The good news is that it will apparently only apply to the models with 512GB of storage. The 256GB versions will have the same launch price as their predecessors. The actual level of the price hike is even better news as it's rumored to be KRW 15,400, which at the current exchange rates translates into roughly $10 or 10. If this is what will happen across the world (and that's undoubtedly a big "if"), we're sure not a lot of people will actually mind. And if you're thinking of picking up a Galaxy S25 as soon as possible, Samsung is rumored to let you get the 512GB model for the price of the 256GB one, like last year, for a limited time, in which case the price hike simply won't impact you at all. While Samsung is paying Qualcomm more for the Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset that will be used in all three S25 models than it would have cost it to use the Exynos 2500 instead, the latter's yield issues have forced it to go with Qualcomm. But the Korean company has apparently decided to eat the cost difference itself, in service of popularizing AI smartphones - and not seeing any huge drops in shipments, of course. Keep in mind that even if this is true it only applies to the Korean market and it's unclear whether Samsung will choose to go with the same strategy elsewhere. The Galaxy S25, Galaxy S25+, and Galaxy S25 Ultra are getting official on January 22, and the long-rumored Galaxy S25 Slim might join them, even though it's probably only going to actually become available later in the year. Source (in Korean) TikTok is live again in the US after 13 hours in the dark TikTok users in the United States can celebrate as their beloved app is back online. 170 million Americans were greeted on Sunday with the news of the app's ban, and upon opening it, they encountered a pop-up indicating that the law prohibiting TikTok has been put into effect. After 13 hours, the app reported that it was working on restoring services and expressed gratitude to President Trump for offering "the necessary clarity and assurance" that the company will not face penalties if it continued its operations. Notifications from TikTok app during ban and after ban President Donald Trump initially proposed the TikTok ban in August 2020 during his first term. He signed an executive order citing concerns over the app's terms of service, which allow sharing data with its parent company, ByteDance, partially owned by the Chinese government. The company did not divest its US operations to a non-Chinese entity by the January 19 deadline established by the US Supreme Court. As a result, the service was banned, and users could not access their accounts. This situation left the "7 million creators" who depend on TikTok for their income in the dark about their future. STATEMENT FROM TIKTOK: In agreement with our service providers, TikTok is in the process of restoring service. We thank President Trump for providing the necessary clarity and assurance to our service providers that they will face no penalties providing TikTok to over 170 TikTok Policy (@TikTokPolicy) January 19, 2025 Donald Trump stated on social media that he plans to reinstate TikTok and intends to sign an executive order today to delay the law's implementation. He also mentioned that companies assisting in running TikTok's operation after the deadline will face no legal repercussions. Though it seems strange that the individual who sought to ban the app is now celebrated for allowing it, the US government continues to press ByteDance to either separate its US operations or halt the collection of significant sensitive data on Americans. TikTok continues to be accessible worldwide in its usual markets, excluding countries where it is banned or no longer available, like India, Iran, Russia, and China, which uses a similar app called Douyin. ByteDance has repeatedly indicated that disconnecting the app would be "extremely challenging." Analysts suggest that this process could span several years, regardless of the bipartisan legislation or the new president's unpredictable decisions. Acting Gov. Josh Tenorio on Monday called for unity and continued collaboration with the White House as Republican Donald Trump returns as the 47th U.S. president. I feel that all Americans should be optimistic with the new administration. Of course, a lot of people, based on the rhetoric and based on some of the policy decisions, are nervous, Tenorio, a Democrat, said. Theres a good portion of the population that is troubled, but I think its our obligation to try and be open-minded, to be able to try and understand what the objectives are of the new administration. Trumps Jan. 20 inauguration marks his second term, after serving as 45th president from 2017 to 2021. This time, his vice president is former Sen. JD Vance. The Republican Trump-Vance team defeated the Democrat ticket of then Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz in the 2024 elections. I would say that I think all Americans need to, number one, celebrate that we have a peaceful transfer of power. And number two, you know, try to be open and understand what the objectives are of the new administration, Tenorio said. Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero has been off island on official business. War reparations Tenorio reflected on the Leon Guerrero-Tenorio administrations past work with the Trump administration and shared his future expectations. We had two years of experience working with his administration and I often tell people that one of the most responsive offices that I dealt with during the two years that we served concurrently was his intergovernmental office, Tenorio said. Tenorio was referring to the past Trump administration shepherding and partnering with Guam to pass World War II reparations legislation. We worked with the Treasury Department, the Interior Department, and the White House to advance payments from Guam to resolve war reparations and work with them so that we can get paid back. I would say that thats on one front, Tenorio said. I thought that we had a pretty good relationship with the Department of Defense at that time. Tax cuts Tenorio also discussed potential policy disagreements, bringing up the importance of safeguarding Guams interests. Well, obviously the one thing we have to do is keep an eye on the tax cuts that may happen, Tenorio said. The Legislature, back then, during the first two years of the first Trump administration, had to take extraordinary steps to stabilize government revenues. Tenorio said Guam is in a better situation now because he and the governor have worked diligently to strengthen the islands revenues. We have to take a look and see what the relationship is going to be like between the United States and Japan and Korea, and look for the opportunities to make it work for everybody. Tenorio urged unity despite differing views, calling for cooperation among all sectors. I just think that no matter what, even though people have different views or different priorities, there are a lot of things that we still can come together on, and I think that thats a spirit of unity that Id like to see, he said. I see that coming from sectors of the Legislature, certainly from the mayors. I think that if even we as community members can, you know, disagree better, be able to keep civil, try and solve problems, and be able to think about the greater good, I think that well continue to improve the island. Tenorio reassured the public that he and the governor will prioritize Guam while working with Trump and his new administration. When there are issues that we do not believe are consistent with what we believe is good for the people, then we address that through the proper channels, he said. Global warming, climate change, those are obviously things that are going to be topics in this next administration. Tenorio said they will still have to assess specific changes that may be proposed, and identify opportunities to shape those proposals. He also noted that he has been consistent in protecting Guams interests, ensuring the island understands its role in national security, and monitoring potential changes or improvements to the global stage. Given the aggressive agenda he has, I would say that in this case, you look for the opportunities to work together and really work well at getting wins for the people of Guam, he said. Project 2025 When asked about concerns regarding the administrations potential impact on Guam, including introduction of Project 2025, Tenorio reinforces the need for collaboration. Well, that is a very big document. Theres all sorts of things, the eyes on the Congress, a lot of the proposals that are in there require congressional action, and so well have to work through our congressional delegate and also with our brothers and sisters and other citizens throughout the country to try and shape those proposals, Tenorio said. Push back when they hurt people and be open when theyre there to help, but I think that a lot of attention is going to be in the Senate and the House. And certainly, this is a time that people should be very conscious about whats happening. Published by The Heritage Foundation in April 2023, the over-900-page initiative outlines conservative policies to reshape the U.S. government and consolidate executive power. Portions of the plan were crafted by key advisers from Trumps first term, many of whom are expected to take prominent roles in his second term. Although Trump disavowed the project during the 2024 election, he maintains several ties to the Heritage Foundation. Haiti - Vatican : Pope Francis criticizes Donald Trump On Sunday, January 19, 2025, in an interview on the program "Che Tempo Che Fa" on the Italian channel Canal 9, Pope Francis from his residence in the Vatican criticized President-elect Donald Trumps plan to significantly intensify immigration control measures across the United States in the days following his inauguration. In an unusually strong tone for the head of the world Catholic Church, the pontiff said it would be a "disgrace" if Trump implemented the plan. "It would make the migrants, who have nothing, pay the unpaid bill [...] It doesnt work. You dont solve problems that way." Pope Francis is usually cautious when it comes to weighing in on political issues. But lets remember that he has made welcoming migrants a key theme of his nearly 12-year pontificate, and he has already criticized Trumps anti-immigrant rhetoric. During the 2016 election, he said that Trump was "not a Christian" in his eyes. Earlier Sunday, the Catholic Archbishop of Chicago, Cardinal Blase Cupich, also criticized the raids announced against migrants in a statement : "It would be an affront to the dignity of all people and all communities." S/ HaitiLibre Haiti - FLASH : The commune of Gros Morne attacked, at least 11 dead, injured and houses burned On Saturday, January 18, 2025, heavily armed individuals linked to the "Kokorat San Ras" gang attacked the commune of Gros-Morne (Artibonite), more precisely the inhabitants of Grepin and Campeche, two rural localities in the Riviere Blanche section. The assault, which occurred shortly before noon, left at least 11 dead and 4 people injured by gunfire, one of whom was seriously injured (provisional toll), were reported after the Departmental Unit for Maintaining Order (UDMO) with the arrival of reinforcements from Gonaives repelled the attackers according to Hubert Ceneac, the Mayor of Gros-Morne, The bandits also looted and burned several houses. This new killing is the latest in a series of violence in the Artibonite region. Hubert Ceneac, Mayor of Gros-Morne calls on the authorities to have a greater police presence in the town, which has been the target of repeated attacks by the gang "Kokorat San Ras" in recent months. According to the Mayor, the number of police officers on site must be increased, well equipped and have at least 2 armored vehicles to confront these gangs. Without sufficient resources, the inhabitants of Gros-Morne and surrounding areas will continue to live in fear under the threat of these gangs. TB/ HaitiLibre Haiti - Referendum : Nearly 2,000 candidates for BRD and BRC positions have passed the selection exam On Sunday, January 19, 2025, approximately 2,000 candidates (for all 10 departments) interested in the positions of members of the Departmental Referendum Offices (BRD) and the Municipal Referendum Offices (BRC), took a selection exam in preparation for the Referendum on the revision of the Constitution that the Provisional Electoral Council (CEP) wishes to organize during the month of May 2025 https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-43992-haiti-news-zapping.html Patrick St Hilaire, President of the CEP visited the assessment center located at the National High School of Petion-ville. During his visit, he welcomed the enthusiasm of young people to become members of the electoral staff through referendum offices. President St Hilaire announced that for West I and West II, there were 645 registered for the BRC and 190 for the BRD. The police were present to ensure the security and smooth running of these selection tests. According to Jacques Desrosiers, Media Representative at the CEP, the candidates selected for the BRC and BRD will be assigned to the Departmental Electoral Offices (BED) and the Communal Electoral Offices (BEC) after the referendum. See also : https://www.icihaiti.com/en/news-44080-icihaiti-referendum-recruitment-success.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-44028-haiti-flash-notice-of-recruitment-for-the-referendum-cep.html SL/ HaitiLibre Haiti - News : Zapping... Haiti at the Afro-Caribbean Summit on Economic Development Fritz Alphonse Jean, Presidential Transition Advisor, will represent Haiti at the Afro-Caribbean Summit on Economic Development (January 20-21, 2025 in Washington, D.C.) During this international Summit, Fritz Alphonse Jean will put forward Haitis interests by advocating for enhanced cooperation. This Afro-Caribbean Summit is a crucial step to promote Haitis economic potential and explore strategic partnerships in key areas such as trade, investment, food security, and climate resilience. Port of Saint-Louis du Sud : First ship Saturday, January 18, 2025, less than 24 hours after its inauguration https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-44086-haiti-economy-official-inauguration-of-the-port-of-saint-louis-du-sud-video.html , the Port of Saint-Louis du Sud welcomed its first ship loaded with 2,000 metric tons of rice. Elections : New... Patrick Saint-Hilaire, the President of the Provisional Electoral Council plans to inform the population soon about voting by prior registration, a new feature that the CEP intends to integrate into the voting method for the next election. USA : The hunt for illegal immigrants is getting closer On Sunday, January 19, 2025, the day before his inauguration, the American President-elect Donald Trump, during a rally in front of thousands of supporters gathered at the "Capital One Arena" in Washington, pledged to put an end to the "invasion" of illegal immigration "We will stop the invasion of our borders [...] I will act with unprecedented speed and force [...]" 4 young thieves arrested As part of an operation led by the Departmental Service of the Judicial Police (SDPJ-Nord), Mesidor Pierre Vens (17 years old); Petit Nord Francky, alias "Zel Fe" (24 years old); Delouis Miguel Innocent (24 years old) and Saint Louis Dukenson (25 years old) were arrested for vehicle theft and hijacking of a truck of goods. A goods truck, hijacked on January 15, 2025, in Morne Grand-Gilles, at the level of national road # 3, was recovered by the SDPJ-Nord in a garage, located in Plaine du Nord, and returned to its owner. Our U-17 Grenadiers in the gym On Sunday, January 19, 2025, our young U-17 Grenadiers benefited from a session in the gym of the Henfrasa Sports Center, focused on muscle strengthening. This step is part of the work plan developed by the technical team to optimize the physical condition of the players and prepare them as best as possible before their entry into competition in Guatemala https://www.icihaiti.com/en/news-44094-icihaiti-u17-preparation-haiti-wins-[1-0]-against-saint-louis-de-gonzague.html HL/ HaitiLibre Our climate policy has rested specifically on our ability to make sure forests remain carbon sinks, but now were faced with a new reality, he commented, pointing to preliminary data released earlier last week by Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke). A FAILURE by Finland to significantly reduce logging volumes would wreck its climate goals, Jyri Seppala , the chairperson of the Finnish Climate Change Panel, stated to Helsingin Sanomat on Friday. Luke on Wednesday reported that preliminary data from its greenhouse gas inventory suggests that forests added 1.12 megatonnes of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere in 2023. While trees themselves were a carbon sink that is, they absorbed more carbon dioxide than was released as a result of logging and natural removal they could not also offset soil emissions, such as emissions from the decomposition of slashings and peat in drained paludal forests. Finnish forests, the data also reveal, had turned from a carbon sink into a source of emissions two years earlier, primarily because intense logging was inhibiting the ability of forests to sequester carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. This is pretty big news, Seppala commented to YLE on Friday. For quite a long time, its been argued that forests are still a sink. Now weve crossed a line, and the bottom has fallen off the sustainability argument. Finland has set itself the statutory objective of becoming carbon neutral by 2035. The objective has rested significantly on the carbon sink of forests, in spite of fairly long-running debate about the deterioration of the sink. The Finnish Environment Institute (Syke) in October warned that the carbon sink of forests has been dramatically overestimated and that recent logging volumes will undermine efforts to reach the neutrality target. The amount of wood removed from forests rose to a record high of almost 90 million cubic metres in 2018. The next highest removals were recorded in the 2020s. The volumes had been below 60 million cubic metres until the mid 1990s and below 70 million cubic metres until the early 2000s, according to Helsingin Sanomat. Reports that the land-use sector that is, forests and agricultural land became a source of emissions emerged already in 2022, with the subsequent analysis attributing the then-historic about-turn to logging and slowing tree growth. Seppala told Helsingin Sanomat on Friday that forests becoming a source of emissions was not a surprise in light of rising logging volumes. At least within the research community its been understood that the upward trend in logging that weve seen will lead to a completely untenable situation vis-a-vis our climate targets, he commented. While researchers have expressed their grave concern about the trend, decision-makers have been indifferent about the dramatic consequences of increasing logging volumes, according to Seppala. Theres been no willingness to intervene in logging, and its even been believed that things would fix themselves. Seppala stated that reducing logging volumes significantly is an absolute prerequisite for tackling the situation and achieving the climate goals. The various forest management measures proposed by industry spokespeople and decision-makers will simply not suffice. He encouraged the forest industry to recognise the situation and present its own proposals to address the situation, including by generating more added value from the wood it uses. If the industry fails to address the situation, decision-makers must grab the bull by the horns to bring about the necessary about-turn. The forest industry should try to put the raw materials into use in better products. Were now in a situation where well over a half of wood is burnt immediately, he lamented. Decision-makers, he added, could encourage the industry to shift toward products with higher added value by introducing investment subsidies, for example. Simultaneously energy producers should reduce their reliance on methods based on burning wood, such as by increasing wind power generation. Seppala reminded that forests becoming a source of emissions has consequences not only for the climate, but also on the country brand. Finland, he reminded, has sought to trumpet itself as a leader in sustainable forest management practices, as a country where forests absorb rather than add carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Presently conveying such a message is extremely suspect. Karoliina Niemi, a director at Finnish Forest Industries, told YLE on Friday that the interest group wants to examine the situation with Luke. While she recognised that the carbon sink has eroded as a result of growing soil emissions and slowing forest growth, she also pointed out that demand for wood-based products is increasing due to developments such as the shift away from the energy use of peat and the discontinuation of wood imports from Russia. Wood-based products are important in all our daily lives. Theyre replacing fossil fuels worldwide, she said to the public broadcasting company. Niemi expressed her support for adopting various forest management measures that promote the growth of forests. Im still inclined to think that solid and well timed forest management is tremendously important. And the measures have to be adopted quickly. She also viewed that the role of forests in climate policy should be re-evaluated because forests are proving to be an unreliable carbon sink based on data from Finland, as well as Germany. Aleksi Teivainen HT The Finnish Immigration Service will launch automatic post-decision monitoring of worker residence permits on 20 January 2025. The system will verify whether permit holders continue to meet the conditions under which their permits were granted. The monitoring applies to initial worker residence permits issued from 1 January 2024 onward and to extended permits issued from 1 January 2023 onward. A worker residence permit in Finland is granted to individuals employed by Finnish or Finland-based employers. The permit is tied to the specific occupational sector of the applicants employment, and applicants must secure a job in Finland before applying for the permit. Post-decision monitoring focuses on essential permit conditions, including verifying that workers are paid according to the income requirements stipulated in their permits. We conduct post-decision monitoring to address potential misuse of residence permits. Through this process, we can revoke permits that no longer have a valid basis. The information we gather also helps us improve the permit application process, said Miia Mattila, process owner in the Immigration Services monitoring department. Automatic monitoring is already in place for residence permits for students, startup entrepreneurs, and specialists. Expanding this system to worker permits aligns with Finlands action plan to combat labour exploitation. With this monitoring, we can identify and address cases of labour exploitation and human trafficking. We can guide victims to appropriate support systems, such as the assistance system for victims of human trafficking. If we observe concerning behaviour by an employer, we can consider this information in future permit decisions, Mattila added. The Immigration Service has been conducting post-decision monitoring since 2017. HT Finland and the Philippines have signed a joint declaration of intent to promote ethical labour mobility, marking a significant step in addressing Finland's labour shortages while safeguarding the rights of Filipino workers. The agreement was formalised during a ceremony in Manila, attended by Finnish Minister of Economic Affairs Arto Satonen and Philippine Department of Migrant Workers Secretary Hans Leo Cacdac . Finland is experiencing workforce shortages due to its ageing population. The country is looking to skilled professionals from the Philippines to fill roles in sectors such as healthcare, technology, and industry. According to Minister Satonen, Filipino workers have become invaluable contributors to Finlands economy, particularly in healthcare and technology. Filipino workers contribute significantly to our workforce. We are committed to ensuring they receive equal rights and pay as their Finnish counterparts, Satonen said. As of 2023, around 12,770 Filipinos were employed in Finland, with demand expected to grow. The agreement aims to ensure transparent recruitment processes and provide workers with valid contracts and visas before their departure. The joint declaration prioritises ethical recruitment to combat exploitation. Finnish authorities have partnered with Business Finland and other stakeholders to create a streamlined process. Filipino workers will also have opportunities for upskilling and family relocation. Laura Lindeman, Director of Finlands Work in Finland unit, highlighted the importance of the initiative. We aim to assist on a national level to connect Filipino talent with reliable Finnish employers. Finland offers an equal society with excellent work-life balance and professional growth opportunities, she said. The City of Helsinki, represented by Mayor Juhana Vartiainen, reaffirmed its commitment to inclusivity and transparency in recruitment. Helsinki provides comprehensive public services to help newcomers settle. Our healthcare sector particularly seeks talented professionals, Vartiainen said. The Finnish delegation, which visited Manila from January 1618, also showcased Finlands appeal as a destination for international professionals, offering a high quality of life and career development. The agreement coincides with the 70th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Finland and the Philippines. Officials underscored the partnership's mutual benefits, particularly as Finland continues to address its labour market challenges. Finnish companies are keen to hire Filipino specialists, with the Work in Finland website listing nearly 900 job openings for English-speaking professionals. Filipinos seeking employment in Finland are encouraged to use the official platform to explore opportunities in technology, healthcare, and other sectors. HT Among the most pressing incidents was the expanded conflict in the Middle East, particularly in Gaza and Lebanon. The Finnish Ministry for Foreign Affairs reported a growing demand for consular assistance from Finns caught in natural disasters, civil unrest, and other crises abroad. Last year, the Ministrys consular services supported over 205,000 individuals and addressed approximately 150 crises globally. Finnish consular rapid response teams and Defence Forces personnel were deployed to Beirut to assist citizens during the autumn of 2024. Additionally, the Ministry issued advisories and direct warnings during deadly floods in Spain, which affected numerous Finnish residents and tourists. The floods in October and November claimed at least 232 lives, underscoring the increasing frequency of natural disasters. Spain remains a top destination for Finnish citizens, with over 15,000 permanent residents and twice as many seasonal visitors. Consular officials managed a wide range of cases, including 637 deaths abroad, and provided aid to 227 Finns who fell ill or became victims of crime. The Ministry also dealt with 131 arrests or detentions of Finnish citizens outside the Nordic region. The rise in requests for assistance reflects both the growing mobility of Finnish citizens and the complexity of crises they encounter. Natural disasters, including hurricanes, wildfires, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions, were among the primary causes. The Ministry emphasized the importance of travel notifications, with nearly 200,000 registered through its online platform in 2024, a 5% increase from the previous year. These notifications allow officials to alert travellers promptly if a security situation worsens. New travel advisories were issued for Cote dIvoire and Gambia, highlighting regional risks stemming from conflicts in neighbouring Burkina Faso, Mali, and Liberia. Revisions were also made for Israel and Lebanon amid fears of broader regional conflicts. Popular travel destinations, including Spain, Greece, Thailand, and Italy, remained the most-read advisories. The Ministry encourages travellers to remain informed through its resources to avoid potential risks. The Ministry underscored the importance of proper documentation and insurance for travellers. Pass-related issues remain a frequent problem, often requiring consular assistance. Finns were advised to check passport validity and ensure it meets entry requirements for their destinations. Adequate travel insurance is also essential, especially for trips outside the EU, where medical emergencies can result in hospital bills running into thousands of euros. HS TONY HAWKS is known for many things, chief among them Eighties hit song Stutter Rap by Morris Minor and the Majors, appearances on panel shows including Have I Got News For You, Just A Minute, his Radio 4 show Comedy Controller and his book (and later film) Round Ireland with a Fridge. However, the comedian, who will perform at the Honk! live comedy night at the Relais Henley next month, finds he is repeatedly contacted by people mistaking him for his near-namesake, the American skateboarder, Tony Hawk. Luckily, he can see the funny side and has built it into his act. Ill start off with a little section talking about how I get confused with Tony Hawk the skateboarder, he says, so theres a little section there where I read out various replies Ive written to various people over the years. So, Ill do that and then Ill do a chunk of stand-up and I will bring my guitar and do a little bit of musical comedy as well. I still get two or three messages a week that are meant for Tony Hawk and, sometimes, surprisingly from television researchers trying to book him. You kind of think, how good are you at your job that you havent noticed that Im not that man? Tonys birth surname was Hawksworth. Its a strange story, he says. When I was joining Equity, round about that time, I had a record that I was bringing out in Germany and the bloke from the record company could not say Hawksworth. So, as I joined Equity I joined as Hawks and the record never even came out in Germany but I was kind of stuck with it. I got used to it, in a way. I started to quite enjoy the fact that you had another name for when you were being professional, because there are two sides to people in a way well, were multi-faceted, but this is me when Im arsing around and pretending to be whatever and then theres the person that settles the bills and does the boring stuff in life. The 64-year-old, who splits his time between living in London and Bridford, near Exeter, Devon, recently came back to doing live gigs after a bit of a hiatus. Tony says: I hadnt really been doing much stand-up and then I was asked to do something about six months ago, to do an hour. So, I went through everything that Ive done over the years and found that I rather enjoyed it. Some of the stuff I hated, but I changed it round and practised it, what I used to do years ago, pace around the living room like a lunatic, and then went and did it and it went well. It then started me thinking about writing new, up-to-date bits. In the old days, I carried a little notebook around with me and any time anything popped into my head that you thought could work from daily life, youd then try it out somewhere and then work it in. Now, of course, youve always got a phone on you so your notes fill up on that and then a little bit happens on the night. If you get off to a great start and youre really enjoying it and you think the audience are right on your wavelength, youre more bold and you do all the things, try the things out that youre not 100 per cent sure of. If youre not, you drop them all, like a coward. I suppose its like being on a little wobbly boat and if you overdo it, youll just fall in and then youll drown, so you learn. If everything feels secure, you go for stuff, then the boat gets a bit wobbly and then you go back to the middle again. When I was invited back to do a show, I hadnt done any comedy in a comedy club for, I dont know, 20 years. Then this girl that went on before me was doing material about how difficult it was turning 30 and my first line of the night was to come on and say that shed nicked all my material, but it was a bit sad. To be honest, I think me being on the bill had made it a little bit difficult for her because a lot of people came that liked listening to Radio 4 and theyd all completely forgotten what it was like to turn 30 as well, so she was thinking, this usually goes better than this, what has gone wrong? When I first started doing comedy, the mainstream comedians were your Bob Monkhouses. It was new to be getting up and doing material and things that youd thought of and you were talking about. Everything was just a string of old jokes. They were good, a lot of them, and the people were funny, but it just didnt exist. It existed in America but it didnt exist in the UK. I imagine that if Id gone to a comedy club and seen somebody my age as I am now performing, I would have thought, why have they let this 104-year-old on the bill? But I think its much broader. Funnily enough, I did a television show, must have been 25 years ago maybe and Bob Monkhouse and I were both on the same panel of this thing. He was really nice, I have to say, but he said to me at one point, Youre all really lucky, you can be you, and I said, What do you mean? and he said, Well, Im not me. I go on and Im this sort of slick customer, whatever, and Ive got this glib thing, I mean its not really me. A lot of people when theyre on stage do have a bit of schtick, like Jack Dee isnt really as morose as he pretends to be. Generally speaking, what we started to do was kind of wander on and say, Lifes **** at the moment and I havent got any money or whatever and just tell the truth and try to find the humour within it, rather than pretend to be married and then moan about your mother-in-law. I think what happened was it was pretty politically correct when I started and then it lost all that, then it started to come back again. Im a bit out of touch with whats been going on, so Im just going to try and come along and do the funniest things that Ive thought of over the last 40 years. While this is Tonys first visit to the town, he is hoping he might see a familiar face. Im not sure Ive even ever been to Henley but I worked quite a bit with Tim Rice a while ago and I know that hes moved back there, I think hes in Hambleden. Whether I can get Tim to come along, he might just feel a little bit conspicuous in the comedy club now that hes hit 80 Also on the bill at Honk! are Kate-Lois Elliott, Evaldas Karosas and Henley born and bred comic, Kitty Pilgrim-Morris. Kate-Lois Elliott was nominated for a British Writers Guild award in 2022 and is one half of The Real Witches, with co-writer Chloe Partridge (and she insists her name is not double-barrelled). Lithuanian comic Evaldas Karosas has won many accolades since moving to the UK, including Beat The Frog world series 2019 winner. Kitty Pilgrim-Morris, theatre-maker and founder of Red Patch Productions, was critically acclaimed for The Trying Rooms, a double bill at this years Camden and Birmingham Fringe festivals, comprising tragicomedy The Agony of Definition, as well as DAUGHTERED, where she was joined on stage by her mother. The Honk! February live comedy night takes place at the Relais Henley, on Thursday, February 27 at 7.30pm (doors open at 7pm). Tickets cost from 11.55 via linktr.ee/honkhot Xi says ready to push for building China-Vietnam community with a shared future Xinhua) 15:13, January 18, 2025 BEIJING, Jan. 18 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping said on Saturday that he is ready to work with Vietnamese leaders to deepen strategic mutual trust, strengthen practical cooperation, and push for new achievements in building a China-Vietnam community with a shared future that carries strategic significance. Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, made the remarks when exchanging congratulations with General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee To Lam and Vietnamese President Luong Cuong over the 75th anniversary of diplomatic ties. Xi said that China and Vietnam, two friendly socialist neighbors, represents a community with a shared future that carries strategic significance. Since the establishment of diplomatic ties 75 years ago, the two sides have fought side by side and supported each other in their struggle for national independence and liberation, Xi said, adding that "So profound is the friendship between Vietnam and China, because we are both comrades and brothers" has become the most vivid portrayal of the relations between the two parties and countries. In advancing socialism, the two sides have learned from each other and forged ahead hand in hand, thereby deepening their comprehensive strategic cooperation, he said, adding that China and Vietnam share the same ideals and pursue a shared future, which is the most striking feature of the relations between the two parties and countries. Recalling his successful visit to Vietnam in 2023, Xi said that the two sides pledged to work for a China-Vietnam community with a shared future that carries strategic significance, raising up the relations between the two parties and countries to a new stage. As changes of the world, of the times and of history are unfolding in unprecedented ways, Xi said, China and Vietnam continuing to follow in good faith the path of socialism has a bearing on the future of the two parties and countries as well as the future of the global socialist cause, and is of great significance to the peace, stability, development and prosperity of the region and the world at large. Xi said that he attaches great importance to the growth of bilateral relations and is willing to work with Vietnamese leaders to take the opportunity of the 75th anniversary of diplomatic ties and the China-Vietnam Year of People-to-People Exchanges, keep in mind the original mission and forge ahead on the new journey toward socialist modernization, so as to deliver more benefits to the two peoples and make important contributions to revitalizing the world socialist cause as well as pushing for human development and progress. (Web editor: Peng Yukai, Liang Jun) To push China-U.S. relations to make greater progress from new starting point 10:12, January 20, 2025 By Zhong Sheng ( People's Daily On Jan. 17, 2025, Chinese President Xi Jinping held a telephone conversation with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump at the latter's request. Xi said China and the U.S. share extensive common interests and broad space for cooperation. He expounded on the principles for China-U.S. relations, saying that China stands ready to push China-U.S. relations to make greater progress from a new starting point. Trump said that he cherishes his great relationship with Xi, hopes to continue to maintain dialogue and communication, and looks forward to meeting Xi at an early date. They agreed to establish strategic communication channels and maintain regular contact on major issues of common concern. This conversation, drawing significant attention from the international community, has injected confidence into the smooth transition and a good start of China-U.S. ties in the new U.S. presidential term. The China-U.S. relationship is one of the most important relationships in the world, which concerns not only the well-being of the Chinese and American peoples, but also the future and destiny of the entire humanity. Therefore, the two countries must adopt a long-term and strategic vision in developing their relationship. The positive interactions between China and the U.S. have always been highly expected. Over five decades ago, leaders of the two countries made the handshake across the vast Pacific Ocean; the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries was called the "most striking and significant event shifting the international strategic landscape." Today, both Chinese and American people believe that the two countries "are compelled to work together if there is going to be a stable 21st century." China's policy toward the U.S. is consistent, which is mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation. Both China and the U.S. are pursuing their own dreams and are committed to making the lives of their people better. They should work in the same direction for stable, healthy and sustainable development of bilateral relations. China and the U.S. share extensive common interests and broad space for cooperation. The two countries should become partners and friends, contribute to each other's success, and enjoy common prosperity, which will benefit both countries and the whole world. Eyeing on their common interests, China and the U.S. realized the "ice-breaking" of their relations in the 1970s. After 46 years of development, the two countries have become a community with a shared future in which their interests are closely interlinked. Some issues in China-U.S. relations are "growing pains" brought about by the deep integration of their mutual interests, which should be relieved by mutually beneficial development. They should never lead to wrong strategic perceptions of the bilateral relationship. Under the current international circumstances, the common interests between China and the U.S. are expanding rather than shrinking. The nature of China-U.S. economic and trade relations is mutually beneficial and win-win. The two countries should continuously explore new opportunities for economic and trade growth and make the "capillaries" of their economic exchanges unimpeded so as to provide stronger momentum for greater win-win cooperation. It is inevitable that China and the U.S., two major countries with different national conditions, have some disagreements. The key is to respect each other's core interests and major concerns, and find appropriate ways to solve issues. Over the past four years, the teams of the two sides have worked out through consultations a number of guiding principles for China-U.S. relations, bringing China-U.S. dialogue and cooperation back on track. More than 20 communication mechanisms have been restarted or established, and positive achievements have been made in many areas. This fully proves that cooperation and dialogue are better than friction and confrontation. The Taiwan question concerns China's national sovereignty and territorial integrity, and it is hoped that the U.S. side handles it with caution. Containment and suppression will not impede China's progress, but will hurt the interests of the U.S. itself. The two countries should handle their differences properly by seeking common ground while shelving differences, so as to lay a solid foundation for the future development of their bilateral relations. Against the backdrop of an international landscape fraught with instability, certainty has become a scarce resource in the world. China and the U.S. should blaze a trail for two major countries to get along well with each other in the new era with enough political wisdom and a sense of historical responsibility, so as to make the two peoples feel assured and set the world at ease. China always has clear and definite strategic intentions and policies toward the U.S., and the China-U.S. relationship is always mutually beneficial and win-win in nature. It has been drawn from the historical experience that win-win cooperation is the sure way for the two countries to accomplish great things that benefit all. China and the U.S. should view and handle their relationship from a strategic and a long-term perspective, and act in a way conducive to global unity in the spirit of "promoting global solidarity." They should strengthen dialogue and communication, properly manage differences, and expand mutually beneficial cooperation, so as to bring more certainty to a world overshadowed by instability. The river of human history runs forever, and often there are only a few crucial points. China and the U.S. should step up cooperation and do more great, practical and good things that are conducive to the two countries and the world at large based on the principles of mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation, so as to keep the two giant ships of China and the U.S. moving forward on the course of steady, sound and sustainable development. (Zhong Sheng is a pen name often used by People's Daily to express its views on foreign policy and international affairs.) (Web editor: Chang Sha, Du Mingming) Infrastructure, ecology, post-quake recovery among Xizang's top agendas in 2025 Xinhua) 10:30, January 20, 2025 People visit the Barkhor Street in Lhasa, southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region, Feb. 11, 2024. (Xinhua/Sun Ruibo) LHASA, Jan. 19 (Xinhua) -- Southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region has targeted strong economic and social development in 2025, with infrastructure construction, eco-environmental conservation and reconstruction in the quake-hit areas some of its priorities listed in the regional government work report. Xizang's gross domestic product (GDP) expanded by 6.3 percent in 2024, and this year the region has set a growth target of over 7 percent, striving to reach 8 percent, Gama Cedain, acting chairman of the regional government, said on Sunday in the report delivered at the annual session of the regional people's congress. The year 2025 marks the 60th founding anniversary of the Xizang Autonomous Region. In the year, the region plans to invest more than 200 billion yuan (about 27.8 billion U.S. dollars) into the construction of major projects, including the Sichuan-Xizang Railway, according to the report. The investment is much more than that in 2024 when over 170 billion yuan was spent on 21 major projects. Among the projects was the Lhasa-Xigaze Highway, which began operating in 2024. An aerial drone photo taken on June 27, 2024 shows a view of a high-grade highway linking Lhasa and Xigaze in southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region. (Xinhua/Tenzing Nima Qadhup) The region continues to prioritize ecology while developing its economy, according to the government report. It plans to promote the legislation of solid waste pollution prevention and control regulations in 2025. Afforestation of more than 1 million mu (about 66,667 hectares) is expected to be completed in the year. While delivering the report, Gama Cedain expressed gratitude to all the rescue forces and people of all ethnic groups who have dedicated themselves to the earthquake relief. On Jan. 7, a 6.8-magnitude earthquake hit Xizang's Dingri County, claiming 126 lives and leveling thousands of houses. An aerial drone photo shows the construction of makeshift houses in Chamco Township, Dingri County in Xigaze, southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region, Jan. 15, 2025. (Xinhua/Tenzin Nyida) According to the statistics released on Thursday, 5,152 makeshift houses have been set up to shield the affected residents from the cold. The region will continue to carry out post-disaster relief work, and coordinate temporary and transitional resettlement to ensure a safe and warm winter for quake-affected people, Gama Cedain said in the report. Post-disaster reconstruction will be accelerated, while the earthquake resistance of houses and infrastructure in key areas will be further enhanced, he added. (Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Zhong Wenxing) A fragile ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war was holding Monday, following the dramatic exchange of three hostages for 90 Palestinian prisoners in an agreement aimed at ending more than 15 months of war in Gaza. The three hostages released Sunday, all women, were reunited with their families and taken to hospital in central Israel where a doctor said they were in stable condition. Hours later in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Palestinian prisoners released by Israel left Ofer prison on buses, with jubilant crowds celebrating their arrival. As the ceasefire took effect, thousands of displaced, war-weary Palestinians set off across the devastated Gaza Strip to return home. The truce began on the eve of the inauguration for a second term as US president of Donald Trump, who has claimed credit for the agreement after months of fruitless negotiations. In the northern area of Jabalia, hundreds streamed down a sandy path, heading to an apocalyptic landscape piled with rubble and destroyed buildings. "We are finally in our home. There is no home left, just rubble, but it's our home," said Rana Mohsen, 43. The initial 42-day truce was brokered by mediators Qatar, the United States and Egypt. It should enable a surge of sorely needed humanitarian aid into Gaza, as more Israeli hostages are released in exchange for Palestinians in Israeli custody. Under the agreement, Israeli forces should leave some areas of Gaza as the parties begin negotiating the terms of a permanent ceasefire. The three hostages, Emily Damari, Romi Gonen and Doron Steinbrecher, were taken back to Israel by security forces after Hamas fighters handed them over to the Red Cross in a bustling square in Gaza City, surrounded by a sea of gunmen in fatigues and balaclavas. "After 471 days Emily is finally home," said her mother Mandy Damari, but "for too many other families the impossible wait continues". Steinbrecher's family said in a statement that "our heroic Dodo, who survived 471 days in Hamas captivity, begins her rehabilitation journey today". In Tel Aviv, there was elation among the crowd who had waited for hours for the news of their release. The Hostages and Missing Families Forum campaign group hailed their return as "a beacon of light", while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said they had emerged "from darkness". During this initial truce, 33 Israeli hostages, 31 of whom were taken by militants during Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack, are due to be returned from Gaza in exchange for around 1,900 Palestinians. Of those, more than 230 Palestinian prisoners serving life sentences for deadly attacks against Israelis will be deported, according to a list made public by Israeli authorities. Two Hamas officials said the prisoners would be deported mainly to Qatar or Turkey. The Israel Prison Service confirmed the release of 90 prisoners early Monday. In the town of Beitunia, near Ofer prison, Palestinians cheered and chanted as buses carrying them arrived, with some climbing atop and unfurling a Hamas flag. "All the prisoners being released today feel like family to us. They are part of us, even if they're not blood relatives," Amanda Abu Sharkh, 23, told AFP. The next hostage-prisoner swap would take place on Saturday, a senior Hamas official told AFP. "More families are waiting anxiously for their loved ones to come home," said International Committee of the Red Cross president Mirjana Spoljaric, calling on all sides to "adhere to their commitments to ensure the next operations can take place safely". Minutes after the truce began, the United Nations said the first trucks carrying desperately needed humanitarian aid had entered the Palestinian territory. UN relief chief Tom Fletcher said 630 trucks had entered into Gaza, with 300 of them headed to the north of the territory. The truce is intended to pave the way for a permanent end to the war, but a second phase has yet to be finalised. Thousands of Palestinians carrying tents, clothes and their personal belongings were seen going home on Sunday, after the war displaced the vast majority of Gaza's population of 2.4 million. In Deir el-Balah, in central Gaza, Umm Hasan al-Buzom, 70, said she would even "crawl my way back home" if needed. The World Food Programme said it was moving full throttle to get food to as many Gazans as possible. Netanyahu has called the first phase a "temporary ceasefire" and said Israel had US support to return to the war if necessary. Hamas's armed wing, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, said its adherence to the truce would be "contingent on the enemy's commitment". The war's only previous truce, for one week in November 2023, also saw the release of hostages held by militants in exchange for Palestinian prisoners. Hamas's October 7 attack, the deadliest in Israel's history, resulted in the deaths of 1,210 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures. Of the 251 people taken hostage, 91 are still in Gaza, including 34 the Israeli military says are dead. The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said Sunday that the death toll in the war between Israel and Hamas had reached 46,913. Mercure, dedicated to celebrating local experiences since 1973, is delighted to announce the opening of Mercure Garut City Center, a gateway to the scenic beauty and vibrant culture of Garut. Nestled on Jl. Guntur No. 2, Pakuwon, Mercure Garut City Center connects guests to the heart of the destination. Its strategic location ensures effortless access to key business districts, government offices, and banks, while Ciplaz Garut, one of the city's premier shopping centres, is just steps away. For recreation, nearby attractions such as Tropikana Waterpark and Wonderzone Playground offer family-friendly fun, while the surrounding mountains beckon explorers with their natural splendour. Mercure Garut City Center reflects the brand's dedication to showcasing the treasures of each locale. The hotel's design, inspired by Garut's cultural heritage and breathtaking landscapes, provides an immersive experience for guests. Garut, known as the "Swiss van Java," offers a cool climate and scenic mountain surroundings. Every detail within the hotel, from the use of natural tones to artistic accents, captures the spirit of the destination, creating an inviting retreat that feels authentically Garut. The hotel features 160 well-appointed rooms and suites, thoughtfully designed to balance comfort and individuality. Guests can enjoy a range of facilities, including a swimming pool, and a fully equipped gym. ANTARA Restaurant serves local and international cuisines with flavours that celebrate the region's culinary heritage, The hotel also offers four versatile meeting spaces, including two ballrooms accommodating up to 450 guests, making it an ideal venue for weddings, conferences, and other special occasions. Inspired by Mercury, the Roman god of travellers, Mercure hotels offer far more than just a place to sleep - they are a portal to the destination, a warm invitation to discover and explore the locale. Since its founding in 1973, Mercure has been dedicated to unveiling the treasures surrounding each address, creating an immersive experience for guests. To celebrate its launch, Mercure Garut City Center is offering an exclusive promotional rate starting from IDR 1,113,200 per night. This special offer includes breakfast, two tickets to Tropikana Waterpark, and late check-out until 16h00 (subject to availability). The promotion is valid for stays until 30 March 2025. Guests can also take advantage of Accor's award-winning lifestyle loyalty programme, ALL, during their stay. ALL members earn points during their stay, which can be redeemed for rewards, services, and experiences worldwide. Membership is free and easy to join at www.all.com. With a global portfolio of over 1,000 hotels across 60+ countries and more than 220 additional properties in development, Mercure remains dedicated to unveiling the unique stories of every destination. Hotel website A beachfront retreat in Thailand, just over an hour from Bangkok, offering breathtaking coastal views Amari The Tide Bangsaen reimagines The Tide Resort, offering a serene beachfront escape in Chonburi Province, Thailandan area undergoing significant growth, particularly in tourism. Situated directly opposite Bangsaen Beach, the hotel combines tranquillity with convenience, just over an hour from Bangkok and 45 minutes from Pattaya. Its location provides easy access to local attractions, shops, and restaurants, making it an ideal retreat for leisure and business travellers alike. The property features 154 stylish rooms and suites, catering to families, couples, and solo adventurers. Guests can enjoy culinary delights at the Amaya restaurant, which serves a mix of Thai and international cuisine, and the Aloha Beach Cafe, offering a relaxed beachfront dining experience. Designed for relaxation and recreation, the hotel includes a signature spa, fitness centre, swimming pool, and kids' club. For business and event travellers, versatile meeting spaces accommodate up to 900 participants. Bangsaen Beach is a serene and charming coastal escape, offering a relaxing atmosphere with long stretches of golden sand and tranquil waters, ideal for sunbathing and leisurely strolls. The beach is bordered by palm trees and backed by a lively promenade, where visitors can enjoy local seafood and relax in the nearby cafes and restaurants. With its prime location, exceptional facilities, and commitment to hospitality, Amari The Tide Bangsaen promises an unforgettable experience for all guests. Hotel website When it comes to pandemic-induced disruption, not many sectors were hit harder than the hospitality industry. Dubbed the Great Resignation, the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) reports that hospitality businesses experienced a workforce drop of more than 18 percent or 62 million jobs worldwide. In the US, Statista reports that hotels lost more than $46 billion, while 4.8 million hospitality and leisure jobs were lost. Its been a long road, but as we kick off 2025, its safe to say that the hospitality industry has largely recovered. According to an STR report, global room demand was strong in 2024, with projections calling for a 2.5 percent increase, elevating it to an all-time high. While undoubtedly excellent news for the industry, it hasnt been an easy road back. There were significant challenges to overcome along the way, most notably worker shortages, which still exist today. The American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA) reported earlier this year that 76 percent of hotels are still experiencing staffing shortages. As a result, name brands like Wyndham, Hilton, and MGM have turned to third-party services to help fill the gap while creating greater levels of efficiency and enhancing customer experiences. This includes digital tools like booking engines, customer review systems, and analytics platforms. Here are some ways these tools are transforming hospitality businesses right now. Hotels are integrating third-party booking platforms to reach a broader audience of potential guests, which can lead to higher occupancy rates. According to Skift's research, online travel agencies accounted for $266 billion in hotel gross bookings in 2024. are integrating third-party booking platforms to reach a broader audience of potential guests, which can lead to higher occupancy rates. According to Skift's research, online travel agencies accounted for $266 billion in hotel gross bookings in 2024. Restaurants are dramatically increasing their visibility by using solutions like OpenTable and Resy, which list their seating inventory, exposing them to an untapped community of consumers looking for a night out. are dramatically increasing their visibility by using solutions like OpenTable and Resy, which list their seating inventory, exposing them to an untapped community of consumers looking for a night out. Travel agencies are using Online Travel Agencies (OTAs) to gain access to a variety of travel products and services, including flights, hotels, car rentals, and activities. Third-party services clearly benefit hospitality businesses, but whether your company has already begun this journey or has yet to dive in, its essential to understand the full ramifications of these investments, starting with data. What fuels these third-party solutions is mountains of data, including information about your business and its customers. Here are some examples: User Behavior: Pages visited, time spent on each page, and actions taken, such as form submissions or clicks. Pages visited, time spent on each page, and actions taken, such as form submissions or clicks. Demographic Details: Age, gender, location, and language preferences. Age, gender, location, and language preferences. Device and Browser Information: Details about the users hardware and software, including IP addresses. Details about the users hardware and software, including IP addresses. Purchase History: Transaction data, such as items purchased, amounts spent, and payment methods used. While third-party tags like those mentioned earlier deliver new levels of customer personalization, greater operational efficiencies, and more, it is vital to know that they also have major downsides that can expose businesses to significant risks. For one, they often operate with minimal transparency and collect extensive data about users beyond the original parameters set by a business. Making matters worse, many companies are not aware that this is happening. According to a recent Jscrambler study, 97 percent of respondents know that third-party tags regularly collect sensitive or private information, but only 13 percent are confident they understand what information they collect. But thats not all. 49 percent admitted that in the previous 12 months, these tags collected data they were not supposed to, including site traffic, website form data, login, order, social media information, customer account details, and more. 26 percent of respondents know that tags leaked their private user data to other organizations. This lack of awareness isnt the only issue. Third-party tags create opportunities for data breaches, as sensitive customer information may be improperly stored, transmitted, or accessed. Cybercriminals are lurking and waiting to exploit vulnerabilities in third-party scripts to steal data or disrupt operations. These third-party tags also create significant compliance challenges with regulations such as GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) and CCPA (California Consumer Privacy Act), which are becoming increasingly more stringent. Considering some of the figures above, its clear that companies do not possess the necessary line of site into this data. This includes precisely what data is being collected, how its being used, and what is being leaked. With regulations looming large, those businesses that dont take the necessary steps to ensure that their data collection practices are aligned with legal requirements could face hefty fines and, in turn, an erosion of customer trust. Hospitality businesses must adopt robust data management and security practices to reap the benefits while eliminating the risk of third-party tools. Start by conducting regulatory audits, including a thorough review of all third-party tags used on their websites. This exercise can help businesses gain a complete understanding of what data is being collected and how it is being used. As part of the process, verify that all tags comply with relevant privacy laws and internal policies. Next, companies should employ an automated tag approval process. This is critical given the amount of updates taking place for each vendor tag which makes it impossible to keep up manually. Implementing strong security protocols is also key. This includes encryption, tokenization, and regular vulnerability assessments, which can also help protect data collected through third-party tags. A final focus area must be connecting with two key audiences: your employees and your customers. For the former, education is essential, especially for those in IT and marketing. Put in place a training program that ensures everyone fully understands the risks associated with third-party services and what steps must be taken to mitigate them. As for customers, dont keep them in the dark. Customers demand transparency and will reward those who deliver with their loyaltyA study from Label Insight reports that 94 percent of consumers are more likely to remain loyal to a brand that is completely transparent about its practices. Invest in sharing the companys data collection practices while obtaining informed consent from each customer. These steps can go a long way to building trust and reducing the risk of regulatory penalties. Looking Ahead The hospitality industry will continue its digital transformation. Take hotels, for example. According to a Skift report, 30 percent of hotel IT budgets will be allocated to new implementations, and 86 percent of hoteliers plan to increase their investment in tech. As this transformation continues to include third-party tools, businesses must be proactive in addressing the risks associated with them. By adopting comprehensive security measures, complying with evolving regulations, and prioritizing transparency, companies can realize the benefits of digital innovation without jeopardizing their customers or reputations. Image Credit Trip.com According to data released by Trip.com Group, the 2025 Lunar New Year is marked by an increase in cross-border travel and longer stays, with trips lasting up to 10% longer than in previous years. Travelers are also showing interest in less popular destinations and cruises. This year, the Year of the Snake in the Chinese zodiac has seen travelers seeking to create memorable experiences in different destinations. The majority of travelers are from the Asia-Pacific region, where extended public holidays allow for longer trips. Favorite destinations among these travelers include Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, and mainland China. There's also been a surge in visits to destinations outside the Asia-Pacific region, especially among Malaysian and South Korean travelers. Lesser-known locales, like Giza in Egypt, San Luis Obispo in the USA, and Charenton-le-Pont in France, attract travelers looking for unique experiences. Similarly, cities like Funabashi, Ibaraki, and Okinawa in Japan and Seremban in Malaysia are becoming popular in Asia. Family travel has also become a significant trend, with cruises and theme parks seeing a considerable increase in visitors. Shanghai, Singapore, and Dubai have emerged as popular ports for cruises, while Universal Studios Japan, Hong Kong Disneyland, and Tokyo Disneyland have witnessed an increase in family visits. Travelers also opt for a blend of luxury and value for their holiday experiences. Bookings for 4- and 5-star hotels have risen, particularly among Malaysian, Singaporean, and Thai travelers. At the same time, alternative accommodations like traditional Japanese Ryokans, apartments, guesthouses, and homestays are becoming more popular. The Chinese mainland has observed a 200% increase in inbound travel bookings. This growth is attributed to China's traveler-friendly visa policies, extending to 30 countries. To cater to this influx of travelers, Trip.com Group offers free layover tours to top attractions in Beijing. Cultural landmarks like the Great Wall of Badaling, the Great Wall of Mutianyu, the Forbidden City Museum, and the Summer Palace are among the top tourist attractions. Trip.com Group's data indicate that the demand for such experiences has grown by over 200% compared to last year. DALTON, Mass. A research project of Westfield State University made several recommendations to enhance emergency medical services within Berkshire County, including more regionalization and stable funding sources. Emergency responders participate in a drill in 2018. A study done in a Westfield State University course offered recommendations for stabilizing and sharing EMS services. "Currently, EMS services are provided to the county's 128,000 residents through a patchwork system that results in unpredictable response times and inconsistent quality of emergency care from one community to another," the research project says. A team of students in the course "Organizational Behavior in Nonprofit and Public Organizations" spent a semester to research EMS services in 16 municipalities within North and Central County. They worked with Paul Sieloff, representing the Massachusetts Municipal Management Association in the Berkshires, and Berkshire Regional Planning Commission Public Health Planner Aaron Holman-Vittone. According to the report, little EMS-related research has been conducted in the region of northern and central Berkshire County. "These 14 towns and two cities form the extent of Berkshire County not included in a 2019 EMS study conducted by Hanifen & Associates LLC for the southern half of the county," according The study area is served by eight EMS providers that employ emergency medical technicians trained and equipped to offer Basic Life Support and/or Advanced Life Support . The providers include: Dalton Ambulance, Lanesborough EMS, Windsor EMS, Becket Ambulance (also serving Washington), Hinsdale Volunteer Firemen's Association, also serving Hinsdale and Peru, and Northern Berkshire EMS, which also serves Adams, Cheshire, Clarksburg, Florida, Hancock, New Ashford, North Adams, Savoy and Williamstown. Serving Pittsfield is County Ambulance and Action Ambulance, which are for-profits under contract with the city. These recommendations would not effect these entities. During the research process, 19 stakeholders were contacted with requests for interviews, and 11 interviews were conducted. A survey as also sent out to 26 stakeholders, but only nine responses were submitted. "Both interviews and surveys provided insight that supported team members to make educated recommendations on how to best tackle issues surrounding rural emergency medical services, financial challenges, organizational structure, health-care access, and more," the report said. The study's data revealed that some communities had fewer than 1,000 EMS calls per year, while others had more than 2,000. According to the findings, response times ranged from 10 to 30 minutes. The areas with the longest response times were rural areas because of remoteness because of geographically complex landscapes. It has been previously reported by iBerkshires that Middlefield has a wait time of approximately 45 minutes for EMS services. Dalton Fire Department made six calls to Middlefield last year, which is a large chuck of its total calls. "There is an increased risk of mortality due to the long response times, this is due to the fact that seconds matter in cases that involve life-threatening injuries," the EMS study says. "These longer response times can lead to adverse outcomes for patients, including a decline in survival rates." Other EMS issues for rural communities documented within the report included lack of adequate healthcare access and educational literacy, financial challenges of doing business, and insufficient policy coordination. "Adequate funding is needed to support ambulatory expenses and equipment to respond to emergencies. Since the frequency, duration and severity of future emergencies cannot be known, how much funding will be needed is difficult to predict, creating budget challenges. These challenges include medical costs, health-care costs, and educational programming," the report says. "The range of medical costs an EMS provider incurs on a call depends on the severity of the patient's needs and ability to pay for services. If a patient receives medical services but doesn't have the financial means to pay, the unpaid costs are borne by the EMS provider. This occurs due to healthcare costs and affordability, which both play a factor in financial challenges for the patient, and inevitably, the healthcare facility." The report also documented how some communities that lack ambulances entirely, while others had one or more. According to previous reports, Peru, for example, relies on other communities for services because it does not have an ambulance. Another challenge documented for rural areas is the lack of volunteers to fill the EMT positions because many people live far away from the agency or work out of town, making it challenging to have daytime shit coverage. The lack of available volunteers cause the town to turn to paid services, which can be financially burdensome for the area. "Some agencies do not have the money in their budget to staff or upkeep their ambulances. Paid staff and volunteers also face these challenges due to many distinct factors such as burnout, limited career growth, and competitive salaries in other fields," the report says. The report recommended that EMS services implement innovative recruitment strategies, enhance career development opportunities, and promote work-life balance to help address this issue. It also highlighted how many local youth relocate for education and job opportunities. "If there were increased offerings for paid positions amongst [Northern Berkshire EMS], there could potentially be an increase in involvement and organization retention. While this is consequential, issuing recommendations with regard to regional economic development is outside the scope of this report," it said Another challenge documented is a lack of communication between EMS agencies, which leads "to duplication of services in some areas with increased shortages of services in others." It also documented mindset challenges in rural EMS agencies due to hierarchical structures "that do not address the concerns of staff, volunteers, or citizens at an individual level, making change difficult at a higher level." "When tasks have always been handled in a certain way, calling for change is difficult to have all stakeholders in agreement Personnel who have been with departments for a long time often like things done the same way as always and therefore have a difficult time accepting change," the study explains. "This mindset makes allowing or adapting to change in the departments difficult because of the pushback from conflicting mindsets." Based on their findings, the recommendations several recommendations were made including a push for regionalization in Central Berkshire County for EMS services, the establishment of a public funding structure for Northern Berkshire EMS, updating the region's service zone planning, and encourage regionwide EMS innovation for recruitment practices. The study recommends that "the towns of Windsor, Peru, Hinsdale, Dalton, and Lanesborough work collaboratively to study the feasibility of establishing a regional EMS department." The Dalton Fire District has already approved participating in an EMS regionalization study with the towns of Savoy, Dalton, Hinsdale and Peru. Windsor was also asked if it wanted to participate in the study but opted out because it was already involved in a separate study with Amherst College. Windsor's call data is available, however through Dalton's dispatch center. The Hampshire County town of Middlefield was also going to be included, but its fire chief decided not to sign the letter of participation despite heavily relying on bordering towns for its EMS services. More information here The study highlighted the success of regionalization by siting how Northern Berkshire EMS expanded "its coverage area while still providing the same quality of care through a three-part merger with Village Ambulance, and Adams Ambulance." The study also cautions Northern Berkshire EMS from primarily depending on insurance reimbursements and encourages them to establish a public funding structure. It emphasizes the need for public funding to supplement current revenue sources, especially to cover non-reimbursable services, such as non-transport calls and limited reimbursements for Medicare patients. "It cannot be emphasized enough that, with two failed EMS services, NBEMS is the last line of support. If NBEMS is forced to fold, this area of the region will have no clear remaining options for delivering EMS, and the result would be the absence of a crucial component of healthcare in the local area, with the threat of becoming a healthcare service desert," the report says. The report suggests the nine Berkshire County municipalities served by this department establish a oversight committee with representation from each community and executive leadership from NBEMS. "This committee would be tasked with agreeing on a feasible funding arrangement that is fair and equitable. Meanwhile, the committee would also be able to offer oversight to ensure transparency and fiscal responsibility on the part of the organization." The report highlighted how Adams, Cheshire, Dalton, Hinsdale, Peru, and Windsor do not have approved Service Zone Plans which is out of compliance with state Department of Public Health regulations. "Service Zone Plans are critical for ensuring regulatory compliance, maintaining service continuity and supporting effective EMS response coordination," the report says. The lack of SZPs exposes these communities to potential future penalties and legal liabilities. The report recommended that these communities coordinate with the office of Western Mass Emergency Medical Services to develop either a standalone SZP to meet DPH requirements or a multi-town SZP. "The standalone approach allows for customization that is specific to each town's operational needs. However, the multi-Town option may reduce administrative burden, streamline the planning process, and improve regional coordination of EMS services. It may also facilitate resource sharing and improve response efficacy," the report says. "Regardless, these six towns need to prioritize compliance with SZP regulations. This step will ensure standardized documentation, promote regulatory adherence and support a more integrated EMS system across the region." McCandless Staying as DuBois Middle School Principal Jake McCandless previously served as superintendent in Mount Greylock, Pittsfield, and Lee. GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass. Jake McCandless, who left his post as superintendent of Mount Greylock Regional School District last spring, will continue as a middle school principal in the Berkshire Hills Regional School District Superintendent Peter Dillon told the School Committee on Jan. 16 that McCandless, principal of W.E.B. Du Bois Middle School, has extended his contract for an additional three years. McCandless began his role in July 2024, succeeding Miles Wheat, who was hired as principal at Chatham (N.Y.) High School With more than 30 years of experience in education, McCandless also previously served as superintendent in Pittsfield and Lee, where he was also a principal, as well as an assistant principal and teacher in Virginia. Superintendent Dillon shared his praise. "It's great to have a steady hand on the tiller," he said. "I'm so impressed with the relationships Jake has built, the time he's taken to listen, and his capacity to support sustained growth in the building. We're very lucky to have Jake as our principal and to extend his time on our team." McCandless expressed his gratitude. "I am very honored and very grateful for this gift of getting to serve long-term as the principal of a truly remarkable school in a truly remarkable district," he said. "Being an educator in the Berkshires for the past 22 years has been a joy, and being able to continue to serve with a focus on middle-level students and the professionals dedicated to caring for and educating them is a tremendous privilege." Sunday 19 January 2025, 20:46 - Last updated: 21 January, 08:02 She states she was lucky for being there 'only' twenty-one days. In fact, her recovery was faster compared to many others. This is the story of Cecilia Sala, the italian journalist held in Tehran in Evin Prison for almost a month, where the conditions were reported to be awful. She was arrested on vague accusations, stating that she violated the laws of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Now for the first time she spoke on her arrest and detention during an italian tv program 'Che Tempo Che Fa'. Cecilia Sala, italian journalist arrested in Tehran: her detention conditions in Evin Prison are reported to be awful Cecilia Sala's interview The story of her conditions is almost heartbreaking. Cecilia faced endless and cruel interrogations, during which she was hooded with my face against the wall and in isolation, where I feared for my sanity. She spent her time reading package instructions or counting my fingers. Cecilia also said she is never forgetting the people still imprisoned there, who dont have the fortune of a country that protects and cares for them. To survive she thought about the beautiful things in my life and the fact that, eventually, I would have them back. However, she concluded, I wont return to Iran, at least not while the Islamic Republic remains in power. This experience was truly traumatic for the young reporter. As she recounts her detention, her voice often falters, and emotion overwhelms her. She also recalled that it was the time that breaks you. They took me from my hotel room while I was working, she told in the interview. In the car, I was hooded with my head lowered toward the seat. I realized they were taking me to prison from the traffic noises and the route we were driving. Only the following day she was allowed to make routine calls, to contact italian embassy or her family. She then was able to account for my disappearance. Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter for all the latest entertainment news and reviews Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Kyle MacLachlan has explained why David Lynch never chose to explain any of his films and television shows, despite being constantly asked by reporters and fans alike. Lynch, the much celebrated director of Mulholland Drive, Twin Peaks and The Elephant Man died on January 15th, aged 78. His family announced his passing in a Facebook post on Thursday (16 January), writing: Theres a big hole in the world now that hes no longer with us. But, as he would say, Keep your eye on the donut and not on the hole. In the wake of his death, numerous tributes have been paid to Lynch by those who worked with him closely, including Naomi Watts, Nicolas Cage, Madchen Amick and Lara Flynn Boyle. Kyle MacLachlan, who worked with Lynch on Twin Peaks, Blue Velvet and Dune, shared one of the most moving responses to his death and has since written an op-ed about the director, for the New York Times. In the opening lines of his article, MacLachlan admitted that he didnt always understand what we were making but eventually realised it didnt matter. The 65-year-old actor said Lynch often found words insufficient and not up to the job. MacLachlan then explained that this is why Lynch never wanted to reveal the meanings behind his work. He wasnt trying to be surly or obtuse, he wrote. That was never Davids way. He loved connecting with people, meeting them where they were, sharing time or space or consciousness. Its just that explaining his art after the fact seemed antithetical to the very point of making it. I sat in interviews and on panels next to him and could see him struggling with questions about what things meant. Often I felt compelled to pick up the baton and talk in circles for a bit until the questioner moved on. David knew that anything he said would be putting his thumb on the scale. And he wanted people to experience his work on their own and take away what they wished. David Lynch, director of Blue Velvet and Twin Peaks, died last week at the age of 78 ( Getty Images ) Speaking to Sight & Sound magazine last year, Lynch revealed he had been diagnosed with emphysema due to smoking throughout his life, and said he could not go out because of the risk of catching Covid. In his last public message, Lynch wished for everyone to be free from disease in his final appearance. 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 legendary filmmaker delivered his parting message to his eponymous foundations Meditate America event in September 2024. Sporting thick white hair and sunglasses, the Oscar-nominated director who has been meditating since the 1970s told attendees: May everyone be happy. May everyone be free of disease. May auspiciousness be seen everywhere. May suffering belong to no one. Peace. Jai Gurudev. Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter for all the latest entertainment news and reviews Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Paul Schrader has delivered a surprise endorsement of AI technology, saying he was stunned by screenwriting ideas he sought from the generative AI chatbot ChatGPT. The Taxi Driver writer and First Reformed director, 78, is known for his often contrarian views on film, recently revealing he walked out of Joker 2 after 15 minutes and telling The Independent last year he would be open to casting the scandal-hit actor Kevin Spacey. In a Facebook post on January 17, Schrader described his recent experiences using ChatGPT, writing: IM STUNNED. I just asked chatgpt for an idea for Paul Schrader film. Then Paul Thomas Anderson. Then Quentin Tarantino. Then Harmony Korine. Then Ingmar Bergman. Then Rossellini. Lang. Scorsese. Murnau. Capra. Ford. Speilberg. Lynch. Every idea chatgpt came up with (in a few seconds) was good. And original. And fleshed out. Why should writers sit around for months searching for a good idea when AI can provide one in seconds? The post drew a shocked reaction from his followers on the platform, with several speculating whether the filmmaker had been hacked. Schrader has frequently posted about AI in the last few days. His previous post praised Spike Jonzes 2013 movie Her, about a man who falls in love with an AI voice assistant. Schrader said he had recently rewatched the film and found it even more relevant, prescient and deeply creepy than it was ten years ago. This film grows in stature. I liked it then, I love it now. Theres only one like it. Paul Schrader attending a New York screening of Oh, Canada in December 2024 ( Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images ) In another post, Schrader revealed he had sent ChatGPT an old script he had written some years ago and asked for improvements. He added that in five seconds it responded with notes as good or better than Ive ever received from a film executive. In an earlier post, he said that he has come to realize that AI is smarter than I am, adding: This is an existential moment, akin to what Kasparov felt in 1997 when he realized Deep Blue was going to beat him at chess. In November, actor Ben Affleck also made headlines for defending the use of AI, arguing that it would help some filmmakers. What AI is going to do is going to disintermediate the laborious, less creative and more costly aspects of filmmaking that will allow costs to be brought down, that will lower the barrier for entry, that will allow more voices to be heard, that will make it easier for the people that want to make Good Will Huntings to go out and make it, said Affleck. Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter for all the latest entertainment news and reviews Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Donald Trump has confirmed what name his three handpicked special envoys for Hollywood will to be referred to as going forward. Trump will be inaugurated as the 47th US president on Monday (January 20) but prior to his return to the White House, gave Jon Voight, Sylvester Stallone and Mel Gibson unique, made-up roles in a bid to make Hollywood bigger, better and stronger than ever before! Although Trump originally said that the trio would be Special Envoys, he said during his Make America Great Again Victory Rally on Sunday that people will now have to call them Mr Ambassador. Also with us tonight is a great actor, tremendously talented guy, Jon Voight, whos great, and a friend of mine, said Trump, during his hour-long speech in Washington DC. And Sylvester Stallone is here great guy. And you know I got Mel Gibson, Sylvester Stallone, and Jon Voight to become ambassadors to Hollywood, California, to put it back on track. So theyre all ambassadors. You have to refer to them as ambassadors, Mr. Ambassador. Voight, who has been an outspoken supporter of Trump for many years, made an appearance during the rally, saying that the next president will make America great again, safe again. We the people will honour our flag again. The 86-year-old also hailed Trumps election triumph as the greatest win of all time the victory we were all fighting for to save our country, our democracy. Im so grateful to say that Donald J Trump is the 47th president of the United States. Jon Voight speaks at Donald Trumps victory rally on January 19, 2025 ( Getty Images ) Meanwhile, Mel Gibson revealed that he wasnt aware that he was getting the role until Trump made the announcement on Truth Social. Speaking to Variety, the 69-year-old, who has been a vocal supporter of Trump, said that he learnt the news at the same time as everyone else. I got the tweet at the same time as all of you and was just as surprised. Nevertheless, I heed the call. My duty as a citizen is to give any help and insight I can. Any chance the position comes with an Ambassadors residence? Gibson told the publication. Stallone emerged as a Trump supporter after the election, calling the next president a mythical character and his election win a feat that nobody else in the world could have pulled off. 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 positions are not official government positions and, as Hollywood is part of the US, its unclear exactly what the three will do as special ambassadors. It should be noted that special ambassadors and envoys are typically chosen to respond to troubled hot spots like the Middle East, not California. Sign up to Roisin OConnors free weekly newsletter Now Hear This for the inside track on all things music Get our Now Hear This email for free Get our Now Hear This email for free SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Anita Dobson has shared a major health update about her husband Brian May, who suffered a stroke in September. The Queen guitarist, 77, was rushed to hospital after suffering a minor stroke and temporarily losing control of his left arm, which he later told fans was nothing more than a little health hiccup. Dobson, 75, who has been married to the British musician since 2000 and is best known for playing Angie Watts in EastEnders, said May is now stable and was well enough to travel to Lapland over the festive season. Speaking to The Sun, the soap star said: The start of the year has been up and down. We both had the flu but we took the kids to Lapland. 15 of them. She added: Brian is stable now. Brian has never been happier since we moved. For me its been a curveball as Im a London girl born and bred so going to the countryside to a house that needs a lot of work was a bit of a shock. Dobson and May opted to leave the city for their three-storey home in Windlesham, Surrey while the musician recuperated following his health scare. To see what it has done to Brian...he loves it, Dobson reflected. He loves the birds and the animals. He feeds all the birds and the badgers, foxes and pheasants. open image in gallery Anita Dobson has shared a health update about husband Brian May ( Tim P. Whitby/Getty Images ) The Doctor Who star who is confirmed to feature in the forthcoming series said despite her busy acting career and the couples hopes to visit friends in Switzerland, their main plan is to keep chilling at home. It makes you realise that at any minute it could be you, Dobson reflected on Mays health scare, adding they are taking each day as it comes. Enjoy unlimited access to 100 million ad-free songs and podcasts with Amazon Music Sign up now for a 30-day free trial Sign up Enjoy unlimited access to 100 million ad-free songs and podcasts with Amazon Music Sign up now for a 30-day free trial Sign up Back in September, May reassured fans he could still play the guitar after being rushed to hospital after temporarily losing control of his left arm. They called it a minor stroke, and all of a sudden out of the blue, I didnt have any control of this arm, he said, moving his left arm and flexing his fingers to show the movement had returned. open image in gallery May was rushed to hospital in September after suffering a minor stroke ( Brian May / YouTube ) It was a little scary, I have to say. I had the most fantastic care and attention from the hospital where I went, blue lights flashing, the lot, it was very exciting. I might post a video if you like. He continued: I didnt wanna say anything at the time because I didnt want anything surrounding it, I really dont want sympathy. Please dont do that, because itll clutter up my inbox, and I hate that. The good news is Im OK. May has suffered health issues in the past, including a heart attack that turned out to be a symptom of an arterial disease. open image in gallery The Queen guitarist reassured fans he could still play despite temporarily losing control of his left arm ( PA Archive ) The guitarist told fans he was very near death after being admitted to hospital in May 2020, where doctors discovered that three of his arteries were blocked and in danger of stopping the blood supply to his heart. Its a long climb back, he told The Times. Ive had complications due to the drugs Im on, one of which was a stomach explosion that nearly killed me. He admitted he was baffled by the heart attack: I dont drink, I dont smoke, I dont have high cholesterol and I was exercising through the tour, so why did it happen? he questioned. At least I now have a heart that is working far better than it was. Sign up to Roisin OConnors free weekly newsletter Now Hear This for the inside track on all things music Get our Now Hear This email for free Get our Now Hear This email for free SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Coldplays Chris Martin thanked his Indian audience on Saturday for forgiving the British, as the bands tour kicked off in Mumbai. The band, in India for the Asia leg of their highly anticipated Music of Spheres world tour, performed at Mumbais DY Patil Stadium, attended by around 75,000 people. This was Coldplays first performance in India after the 2016 show at the Global Citizen Festival in Mumbai. Band frontman Martin, 47, expressed his gratitude for the warm welcome of fans, despite the British colonial rule in India in the past. This is our fourth visit to India, and the second time to play. First time we played a long show and we could not have asked for a better audience. Thank you for coming today everybody! he said. Thank you for welcoming us even though we are from Great Britain, he said. Thanks for forgiving us for everything Great Britain did. Fans responded with both gratitude and a series of jokes, with one responding on an Instagram video of Martins speech, writing: Pls free concert next time as reparations. A few other fans saw the perfect opportunity to ask for the return of the Kohinoor diamond, now part of the British Crown Jewels. CEO of fixing what he didnt break, a fan wrote, while another said: Chris healing intergenerational trauma with a mic, stage and some tunes. open image in gallery Chris Martin performs during Coldplay's Music Of The Spheres World Tour in Navi Mumbai on Saturday ( AP ) open image in gallery The British band is in India for the Asia leg of their highly anticipated Music of Spheres world tour ( AP ) open image in gallery This is Coldplays first performance in India after the 2016 show at the Global Citizen Festival in Mumbai ( AP ) Coldplay will perform in Mumbai on 21 and 22 January and head to Ahmedabad for concerts scheduled for 25 and 26 January, which are also going to be streamed live on Disney+ Hotstar. Enjoy unlimited access to 100 million ad-free songs and podcasts with Amazon Music Sign up now for a 4 month free trial (3 months for non-Prime members) Sign up Enjoy unlimited access to 100 million ad-free songs and podcasts with Amazon Music Sign up now for a 4 month free trial (3 months for non-Prime members) Sign up The band was originally set to perform two shows in Mumbai but added another after the enormous demand. The tour has been controversial in India, as fans had to grapple with a massive demand for tickets, issues with the ticketing site, as well as severe price gouging. The ticketing website BookMyShow crashed seconds before the sale was set to go live in September, unable to handle the traffic from over 700,000 users. Fans complained about having to wait in long digital queues, which reportedly went up to 11 million. Shortly after the sale ended, tickets went live on other websites at several times the price. Scammers too sprung up all over social media, offering tickets as part of a lucky draw for people who would share their post. Coldplay will also be performing in Abu Dhabi, Hong Kong, and Seoul, in addition to their India shows. They will be returning to Hong Kong for the first time since 2009 and last performed in Abu Dhabi in 2016 and Seoul in 2017. Last year, Martin revealed that Coldplay would retire after they reached a certain milestone. We are only going to do 12 proper albums and thats real, the frontman told Zane Lowe in an Apple Music interview. Martin said having this limit would ensure the same quality control as Coldplays previous albums, which include 2000s Parachutes, 2008s Viva la Vida, or Death and All His Friends, 2015s A Head Full of Dreams, and 2021s Music of the Spheres. Where we could be kind of coasting, were trying to improve, he explained. Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter for all the latest entertainment news and reviews Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Lord Sugar has hit out at Elon Musks chances of success working alongside Donald Trump. Trump and Musk have become close in recent months, with the tech billionaire hired by the president-elect to co-head the newly created Department of Government Efficiency. Office space has been reserved for Musk in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, which is located right next to the White House, which means that Musk is likely to continue to have prominent access to Trump after hes inaugurated on Monday (20 January). This has led many to question Musks heightened role within the Trump administration, with Trump being faced with taunts over who will really be running the show. Sugars view on Musks chances, though, were less than positive, with The Apprentice star stating: Let him try and do it. The business tycoon, who has been an enterprise tsar to governments since 2016, told The Times: When I tried to identify inefficiency all I got was aggro and I couldnt change anything. Too many people saying, Oh no, you cant do that. But my problems were minute compared to what Musk is up against in America. Sugar also suggested the Tesla founder and X/Twitter owner wont be successful in the role as hes all talk. He is undoubtedly a brilliant man but he shoots his mouth off. Hes going to get a bloody nose. Musk might be glued to Trump now but I reckon Donald will give him the elbow after the inauguration. Hell want to make clear: I am the president. open image in gallery Lord Sugar isnt hopeful about Elon Musks future working alongside Trump ( BBC ) Musk donated hundreds of millions to aid Trump during the election campaign, and has often been seen with the president-elect since his victory. He has been part of transition meetings and taken part in at least one foreign call. However, its been claimed that Trump has been complaining about his Musk behind closed doors. New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman said on a new podcast: Musk has been a major donor to Trump this campaign cycle and hes sort of tied into various areas around Trump which makes things more complicated. 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 Elon Musk will be working alongside Trump when he becomes president again ( Getty Images ) Sugars comments arrive days after Cameron Diaz taunted Trump with a surprising claim about Musk. In a video released by Complex, Diaz, who has come out of acting retirement for the firsat time in eight years with a role in Netflix film Back in Action, was asked to share her favourite conspiracy theory by her co-star Jamie Foxx. Talking about the fact she believes we will one day be living on Mars, Diaz said: And we all know that were moving off the planet because now Elon Musk is our president. Foxx appeared visibly shocked by the comment. Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter for all the latest entertainment news and reviews Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Netflix viewers have been left feeling conflicted over a thriller series that has shot into the streaming platforms top 10 chart this month. Departure, starring the late Christopher Plummer and The Good Wife star Archie Panjabi, was originally broadcast in 2020. However, the series has been rediscovered after being added to Netflix in January. The conspiracy drama, which follows the mystery of a plane that goes missing while full of passengers, earned 3.6 million views in its first week and made the top 10 list in 40 countries. However, despite the shows streaming success, many viewers have questioned the quality of the shows acting performances, script writing and production value. Watching Departure on Netflix and genuinely dont think Ive seen worse acting even in a kids school play, one viewer wrote on X/Twitter. However, they added this didnt mean they would stop watching. Its addictive, they continued. And such terrible takes in the storyline. Meanwhile, another person added they thought the Departure was good but a bit dramatic with another fan revealing they had watched both seasons in less than a day. open image in gallery Netflix viewers have been left conflicted over new thriller Departure' ( Peacock/Netflix ) Although other viewers claimed even Christopher Plummer cant save his colleagues awful acting in the series, many admitted they had rushed through the programme like no show ever before. Watched the whole two seasons of Departure on Netflix in the last 24hrs, another fan wrote on social media. Have never been able to sit and binge watch like this before. Loved it! 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 Elsewhere, other viewers called the show crazy, complained the plot is disjointed and questioned, why does the suspenseful music cut like that?! Critics were similarly conflicted over the series upon its initial release five years ago. The Guardians Dale Berning Sawa wrote of the series at the time: Despite some clunky dialogue (Youre the only one that can find this plane!), Departure proves a great whodunnit. open image in gallery The conspiracy series has been ridiculed for questionable performances and plot lines ( Peacock/Netflix ) The conspiracy-theory-style plots take in Saudi and Chinese money, Russian meddling and Mossad impunity, with lots of gleaming metal and crisp power suits. Meanwhile, Varietys Daniel DAddario added the series is not exactly Bodyguard but it shares that shows agreeably loose relationship with plausibility. Of Panjabis lead performance, they continued: Shes a compelling series lead, serving show-anchoring strength and plausible anxiety in equal measure. If other characters, like an MI5 officer played by Claire Forlani, tend towards the loosely sketched, Panjabi fills in the gaps, creating a protagonist worth following. Seasons one and two of Departure are available on Netflix now. Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter for all the latest entertainment news and reviews Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy For 80 years, the haunting melodies of Auschwitz lay buried in silence, hidden among the archives of one of historys darkest chapters. Now, for the first time, this lost music composed by prisoners will be heard again, thanks to the extraordinary efforts of British composer Leo Geyer. The Lost Music of Auschwitz follows the journey of the composer and conductor, as he embarks on a ten-year mission to piece together fragments of musical manuscripts found in the Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum. The film, commissioned by Sky Arts, commemorates the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the concentration camp from the Nazis. Over one million people were killed at Auschwitz as the horrors of the Holocaust unfolded. Inmates were forced to compose and perform for SS officers as victims marched to their deaths, with survival often depending on the strength of their musical talent. Featuring interviews with some of the last remaining survivors of the genocide and the Auschwitz orchestra, Geyer reveals how musicians rebelled with secret melodies and forbidden notes hidden within the music. Geyer, 33, first came across the lost archive when he was commissioned to write a composition in memory of Sir Martin Gilbert, a Holocaust historian. I went on a research trip to Auschwitz, he told The Independent. open image in gallery Music from the inmates at the Nazi camp will be played for the first time ( Sky Arts ) I wasnt expecting to discover anything other than a greater understanding of the Holocaust, particularly as Im not Jewish, Polish, Romani, or indeed descended from any other group or person who perished in Auschwitz. But I did know something about the orchestras of Auschwitz, as most classical musicians do. A chance conversation with an archivist led to the discovery of the treasure trove. He said in a very offhand way, Oh yeah, well, I think theres some music in the depth of the archive, but yeah, you wont be interested. And I said, I think I will. 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 Geyer returned a month later to examine the manuscripts and said, It transpired that actually there was a lot. He was moved to take up the project when he saw handwriting on an unfinished manuscript that was similar to his own. In the documentary, he searches for the identity of the hand that wrote it. Suddenly, it made it clear in my mind that while Im not immediately connected to this history, I am human and therefore I am connected to this history, he said. Some of the pieces were damaged beyond recognition or too faint to read, but through painstaking work, Geyer and his team were able to piece together and complete the works. His orchestra will finally play the music exactly as it would have sounded 80 years ago in The Lost Music of Auschwitz. open image in gallery Conductor and composer Leo Geyer came across the lost during a trip to the Auschwitz-Birkenau museum ( Sky Arts ) Most people are incredibly surprised that there were orchestras in Auschwitz in the first place, and once people have reconciled with that, people hope that any music that was performed was sorrowful and sad, in some way engaged with that history, Geyer explained. But the reality is the total opposite. Most of the music that was performed, bearing in mind of course that this was mostly for the SS, is incredibly jolly and very happy. Some of the hardest music to perform, which we did for the documentary, was one of the foxtrots, which was for the SS parties. For Nazis gorging on food and downing beer. The juxtaposition of that image and the music is utterly horrific. open image in gallery The 33-year-old composer has spent ten years putting the work together ( Sky Arts ) However, he added: This is why I was so moved by one of the pieces because it was what I was looking for, which was something which was racked with grief and sorrow. He reports that Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, now the sole survivor of the orchestras of Auschwitz, expressed bittersweet frustration at the recovery of the lost music.It was frustration that it had taken 80 years for this music to come to light, Geyer said. She was very frustrated that she did not have the opportunity to share this music with any of her colleagues. The Lost Music of Auschwitz is available to stream on NOW. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy A popular Korean bubble tea brand sparked backlash after one of their franchise managers told employees to inform their boss before their families in case they were in a plane crash. The directive was given to employees who worked at the bubble tea store on 29 December, the same day South Korea saw the worst domestic aviation disaster in the countrys history. A Jeju Air Boeing 737-800 crash landed after failing to deploy its landing gear, then skidded off the runway at Muan airport and rammed into a concrete embankment. The plane burst into flames, killing all but two of its 181 passengers and crew. The survivors, crew members seated at the rear, suffered injuries but were rescued. open image in gallery A crane lifts the tail section during the salvage operation of the Jeju Air Boeing 737-800 aircraft which crashed and burst into flames at Muan International Airport ( YONHAP/AFP via Getty Images ) A manager from one of Gong Cha Koreas franchises at the Shinsegae Department Store in Daegu allegedly told its part-time workers that they must inform him before contacting family in the event they found themselves in a plane crash. Did you see the plane explosion today? There are some people going overseas during the holiday. If a crash happens, send me a message saying hire an intern first before contacting mum and dad. Do not be absent, the manager allegedly said, according to a message posted on social media by someone who claimed to be an intern at the Gong Cha franchise location. The intern added: Please do not support Gong Cha by spending your money there. Is this really something you should say to a part-time worker? As an adult, dont you feel ashamed? This is so heartless. People were quick to respond in anger, with one comment reading: Is this person even human? Making such remarks right after a national tragedy? according to the South China Morning Post. Another commented: The managers brain must be broken. They have clearly given up on being a decent human being. The intern, in their message, said that the managers message was not entirely unexpected, as they routinely insulted employees and justified it as them testing the staff. In response, Gong Cha Korea apologised with a statement the next day, saying they were seriously addressing this issue. We would like to express my deepest condolences to those who lost their precious lives and their bereaved families in the unfortunate accident that occurred at Muan International Airport. We would also like to express my sincere condolences to all those who were hurt by this accident, the statement began, according to an online translation. We sincerely apologise for any inconvenience or hurt caused by the inappropriate remarks made at the Shinsegae Daegu franchise store. An investigation determined that the incident resulted from inappropriate personal conduct by the store manager. Currently, Gong Cha Korea is seriously addressing this issue and taking appropriate measures against the relevant employees. In addition, we will strengthen our internal management system and prepare improvement measures to prevent this from happening again. We would like to once again sincerely apologise to our customers who have always trusted and supported Gong Cha Korea and to our part-time workers who were hurt by this incident. A handwritten letter, puportedly from the owner of the store, was also posted on Gong Chas social media, where they too apologised, and stated they would improve staff training to prevent an incident like this occurring again. open image in gallery ( Facebook/Gong Cha Korea ) I am the owner of a Gong Cha store inside Shinsegae Daegu Department Store. I sincerely apologise for the inconvenience caused to many people by our employees inappropriate behavior this time, the letter stated, according to an online translation. All of this is the result of my negligence as the store owner, and I deeply regret it. I will do my best to prevent a recurrence by thoroughly improving store operations and employee training. We sincerely apologise to everyone who was hurt by this incident, and we will do our best to regain the trust of our customers. I bow my head once again and apologise. 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 Remarks by the head of one of Indias top technology colleges extolling the medicinal value of cow urine have sparked a political row in India. The comments by V Kamakoti, the director of the Indian Institute of Technology Madras in the southern state of Tamil Nadu, sparked a backlash from regional political parties and lawmakers who accused him of promoting pseudoscience. In a video that has now gone viral, Mr Kamakoti can be heard narrating a story about an Indian ascetic who apparently cured himself of high fever by consuming cow urine. India Today quoted him as saying that the ascetic drank cow urine and in 15 minutes, his fever subsided. He also promoted cow urine as anti-bacterial and anti-fungal and said that it had digestive properties that could cure Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), news agency Press Trust of India reported. The IITs, first established in 1950 in the eastern state of West Bengal, are premium educational institutes. Mr Kamakoti was speaking at an event in state capital Chennai on 15 January on the day of Maatu Pongal, a four-day festival honouring cows and bulls for their contribution to agriculture. The cattle are decorated with flowers, paint and bells for the occasion. The remarks led to an immediate backlash from various political parties, including from the opposition Indian National Congress. open image in gallery File. Women members and supporters of Akhil Bharat Hindu Mahasabha (ABHM) a Hindu organisation, drink tea made with cow urine during a gaumutra (cow urine) party to fight against the spread of the Covid-19 on 14 March 2020 in New Delhi, India ( Getty Images ) TKS Elangovan, the leader of the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) in Tamil Nadu, criticised Mr Kamakoti and accused the federal government of intending to spoil education in India. He told Times Now: He must be transferred from IIT and posted at some of the GOI (government of India) medical colleges. What will he do in IIT? Its related to engineering and other fields. He should be posted in AIIMS (All India Institute of Medical Sciences) as director. The GOI should immediately throw him out of IIT and appoint him as director of some AIIMS, he said. Congress leader Karti P Chidambaram also denounced the IIT Madras director, writing on X: Peddling pseudoscience by @iitmadras Director is most unbecoming and tagged the Indian Medical Association Indias largest represented organisation of doctors. The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), a Hindu nationalist party, came to the defence of Mr Kamakoti, who has won several prestigious awards in India, and accused critics of politicising his remarks. The BJP president in Tamil Nadu, K Annamalai, told reporters: The IIT-M director is an expert in quantum physics, and he was also a member of top government agencies. He is firm in his religious beliefs and respect for cows, which are not wrong. He did not force anyone to drink cows urine and merely expressed his beliefs. We must not politicise such statements. The IIT-M director is from Tamil Nadu, which is a matter of pride for the state. I know him and I do not want to politicise this, he said. Another BJP leader, Narayan Tirupati, was quoted as saying by Times Now: Gaumutra (cow urine) is an Indian traditional medicine. Even in many shops where we buy medicines Gaumutra is mixed and they give that. It is a kind of substance used in medicines. Everyone knows that. Our former prime minister Morarji Desai also used to have Gaumutra. It is there in Indian tradition ... It is ones belief. If you dont believe, leave it, he was quoted as saying. Cows are considered holy in Hinduism and the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams, a trust that manages one of the wealthiest Hindu temples in India, the Sri Venkateswara Temple, manufactures several products such as shampoos and soaps using cow urine distillate. The five derivatives from the cows cowdung, urine, milk, curd and ghee are popularly known as panchagavyas and widely used in ayurveda due to their medicinal value, the trust says. Ayurveda is a holistic system of medicine that originated in India. In 2020, more than 500 scientists had reportedly urged the Indian government to withdraw its call for research proposals on the uniqueness of indigenous cows and the alleged curative properties of cow urine, dung, and milk, including their potential use in cancer treatments. The call for research proposals was part of a broader funding initiative involving the Department of Science and Technology, the Ministry of Ayush (created in 2014 when BJPs Narendra Modi came to power to revive the profound knowledge of our ancient systems of medicine) along with other government bodies. In an online letter, the researchers criticised the initiative as unscientific and a misuse of public funds. In 2023, research by the Indian Veterinary Research Institute revealed that cow urine contains at least 14 types of harmful bacteria, including strains linked to stomach infections in humans. The Independent has reached out to Mr Kamakoti for further comment. 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 An Indian court on Monday sentenced a police volunteer to life imprisonment for the rape and murder of an on-duty doctor last year a crime that sparked nationwide protests. Sanjay Roy, 33, plans to appeal the judgment in a higher court. Additional District and Sessions Court Judge Anirban Das, while announcing the sentence, said the crime did not fall under the rarest of the rare category, which justified not awarding the death penalty. Roy, however, maintained his innocence in the killing of the doctor. I have not done anything, neither rape nor murder. I am being falsely implicated. You have seen everything. I am innocent. I already told you that I was tortured. They made me sign whatever they wanted, Roy told the court. The judge responded, I decide on the basis of the evidence before me. The charges have been proved. The victims family had sought the death penalty, but Roys lawyer argued against it, emphasising the possibility of rehabilitation. The court has to show why the convict is not worth reformation or rehabilitation. The public prosecutor must present evidence justifying why the person should be completely eliminated from society. A police officer runs along the prison van carrying Sanjay Roy, a police volunteer, to produce him at a court ( AP ) The killing of the 31-year-old trainee doctor, who was on duty at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata, underscored Indias ongoing struggle with violence against women. The womans bloodied body was discovered in the hospitals seminar hall on 9 August, and an autopsy confirmed she had been strangled and sexually assaulted. The case, initially investigated by Kolkata police, was later handed over to the federal authorities, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), amid allegations of mishandling by state officers. Federal investigators argued that the crime warranted the death penalty, a sentiment echoed by the victims parents, who expressed frustration with the investigation and suspected other individuals were involved. Only one person is not involved in this crime, yet the CBI has failed to apprehend the others. Such criminals have no right to live if we want to prevent future crimes, the victims mother told local media. The assault triggered widespread protests across India, with doctors, medical students, and womens rights activists demanding better security and swift justice. The incident also prompted the Supreme Court to establish a national task force to improve safety measures in government hospitals. After the court directed the West Bengal government to pay compensation of Rs 1.7m (16,109) to the family of the victim, they urged for stricter punishment, saying: We dont want compensation, we want justice. West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee also expressed disappointment with the Kolkata courts sentencing, saying: I am not satisfied ... All of us demanded the death sentence, but the court gave life imprisonment. Lashing out at the federal probe agency that functions under the Narendra Modi-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA), she said: The case was forcibly taken from us. Had it been with the (Kolkata) police, we would have ensured that he was served a death sentence. We dont know how the probe was conducted, she said. Junior doctors are holding protests outside the court in Sealdah demanding capital punishment. Despite legislative reforms following the 2012 gang rape and murder of a 23-year-old student in New Delhi, crimes against women remain pervasive in India. The 2012 case galvanised nationwide protests and led to stricter sentencing laws, including the death penalty for repeat offenders and the creation of fast-track courts for rape cases. Four men convicted in that case were executed in 2020. The 2013 legal amendments expanded the definition of sexual crimes to include stalking and voyeurism while lowering the age for adult criminal trials from 18 to 16. However, womens rights activists argue that harsher penalties have not effectively deterred sexual violence. Many rapes go unreported due to stigma and mistrust of law enforcement, especially in rural areas where victims often face societal shame. According to the National Crime Records Bureau, India recorded 31,516 cases of rape in 2022 a 20 per cent increase from the previous year. Activists attribute the rise to systemic issues rather than improved reporting. 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 An airstrike by the Myanmar junta killed 28 people, including nine children, at a temporary detention area in western Rakhine state, a local ethnic minority rebel group said. The Arakan Army (AA) posted on its Telegram channel that a military jet bombed a detention area in Mrauk-U Township at about 4.45pm local time on Saturday. The AA, in conflict with the countrys military, had reportedly detained family members of junta soldiers during fighting. However, it was not clear if the airstrike in Mrauk-U Township in western Rakhine state was mistargeted or if the junta was unaware of the location of the detained family members. Those who were killed and wounded were family members of soldiers in Myanmars Army. We arrested them during the fighting, the AA claimed. The strike also injured 25 people. As we were preparing a plan to release them, they were bombed, the rebel group added. The military-ruled government has consistently denied carrying out attacks on civilians. Those killed in the air strike included nine children, one of whom was a two-year-old boy, as well as several women, according to a list shared by the AA. The Arakan Army is the military arm of the Rakhine ethnic minority movement, aiming for autonomy from Myanmars central government. It is part of an alliance of armed groups that recently expanded in Myanmars northeast, near the China border. Since 1 February 2021, when the military junta took over Myanmar, the country has been embroiled in conflict including armed rebellion against the military. The ouster of a democratically-elected government by the junta ignited armed resistance, with rebel forces now in control of massive portions of the country. This has led to millions in the country being displaced. The UN has warned that Rakhine state is nearing famine due to the conflict, and over 3.5 million people have been displaced across Myanmar. Saturdays air strike came about a week after at least 40 civilians, including children, were killed in another airstrike by Myanmars military on a village controlled by the ethnic armed group. The attack took place in Kyauk Ni Maw village on Ramree Island, a township under the control of the Arakan Army in western Rakhine state. The bombing also sparked a large fire in the densely populated village, reportedly destroying at least 500 homes. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy A senior Taliban official has issued a rare public rebuke of Government policy, urging the group's leader to scrap education bans on Afghan women and girls, saying there is no excuse for them. Sher Abbas Stanikzai, political deputy at the Foreign Ministry, made the remarks in a speech on Saturday in southeastern Khost province. There was no reason to deny education to women and girls, just as there was no justification for it in the past and there shouldnt be one at all, he said. The government has barred females from education after sixth grade. Last September, there were reports authorities had also stopped medical training and courses for women. In Afghanistan, women and girls can only be treated by female doctors and health professionals. Authorities have yet to confirm the medical training ban. We call on the leadership again to open the doors of education," said Stanikzai in a video shared by his official account on the social platform X. "We are committing an injustice against 20 million people out of a population of 40 million, depriving them of all their rights. This is not in Islamic law, but our personal choice or nature. Stanikzai was once the head of the Taliban team in talks that led to the complete withdrawal of foreign troops from Afghanistan. It is not the first time he has said that women and girls deserve to have an education. He made similar remarks in September 2022, a year after schools closed for girls and months and before the introduction of a university ban. But the latest comments marked his first call for a change in policy and a direct appeal to Taliban leader Hibatullah Akhundzada. Ibraheem Bahiss, an analyst with Crisis Groups South Asia program, said Stanikzai had periodically made statements calling girls education a right of all Afghan women. "However, this latest statement seems to go further in the sense that he is publicly calling for a change in policy and questioned the legitimacy of the current approach," Bahiss said. In the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, earlier this month, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai urged Muslim leaders to challenge the Taliban on women and girls education. She was speaking at a conference hosted by the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and the Muslim World League. The UN has said that recognition is almost impossible while bans on female education and employment remain in place and women cant go out in public without a male guardian. No country recognizes the Taliban as the legitimate rulers of Afghanistan, but countries like Russia have been building ties with them. India has also been developing relations with Afghan authorities. In Dubai earlier this month, a meeting between Indias top diplomat, Vikram Mistri, and Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi showed their deepening cooperation. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy A senior Taliban official has called on the militant group to open schools for women and girls, a rare sign of internal divisions around one of the flagship policies of Afghanistans de facto rulers. Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai, the Talibans acting deputy foreign minister, said the edict forbidding girls and women from schools was not in line with Sharia law as claimed. We request the leaders of the Islamic Emirate to open the doors of education, he said, claiming that there is no excuse for this and never will be. In the time of the Prophet Muhammad, the doors of knowledge were open to both men and women, the Taliban minister said at a Madrassa graduation ceremony in Khost province. The 62-year-old UN-sanctioned official said his own leaders were committing injustice against 20 million people, referring to the women who make up roughly half of the Afghan population. We have deprived them of all their rights; they have no inheritance rights, no share in determining their husbands rights, they are sacrificed in forced marriages, they are not allowed to study, they cannot go to mosques, the doors of universities and schools are closed to them, and they are not allowed in religious schools either, the acting deputy foreign minister said. After taking control of Afghanistan in August 2021, the Taliban pledged to govern the country based on a moderate interpretation of Sharia law, and to maintain many of the rights and freedoms enjoyed by women under the previous Western-backed government. Yet within months they had shut classes for girls beyond grade six, and colleges were closed to female students at the end of 2022. In some cases students were sent home at gun-point. Mr Stanikzai led a team of negotiators at the Talibans political office in Doha before US forces withdrew from Afghanistan in 2021, and he has criticised the crackdown on girls education before. But his latest comments represent the first call for a change in policy and a direct appeal to Taliban leader Hibatullah Akhundzada. Taliban negotiator Abbas Stanikzai arrives for the opening session of the peace talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban in the Qatari capital Doha in 2020 ( Getty Images ) The international community has cited the gender apartheid in Afghanistan as it has denied recognition to the Taliban regime, including in resolutions at the United Nations. Experts and human rights activists monitoring the situation in Afghanistan have said the ban will deeply affect the countrys female population. The Taliban claims it plans to reopen schools and universities for women but has given no clear details of when or how it plans to do so. Meanwhile, a number of the Talibans senior leaders are reported to have sent their children to school overseas. 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 Thailand will this week become the first country in Southeast Asia to recognise marriages of same sex couples but the law will not get rid of hurdles for those who are trying to build a legally recognised family. The country's marriage equality bill, passed by parliament last year, comes into force on January 22, capping decades of efforts by activists. For American businessman Jacob Holder and his Thai husband Surapong Koonpaew, who married in the United States in 2023 before returning to Thailand, their union will be recognised under Thai law. Soon after their wedding, the couple had a son, Elijah Bprin Holder Koonpaew, born through legal surrogacy in Colombia since that option is not available to same-sex couples in Thailand. Elijah Bprin has the names of both of his parents on a US birth certificate, Jacob said, but the 18-month-old must live in Thailand on a tourist visa. open image in gallery The couple face hurdles getting their son to legally have a relationship to both parents ( REUTERS ) Elijah has no legal relationship with Surapong in Thailand due to the absence of a same-sex couple surrogacy law and the strict definition of a parent. Thailand's traditional definition of a family - a father being a man and a mother a woman - remains in Thai legal codes, in spite of the passage of the marriage equality law. "Legally, they have no connection," Jacob said of his son and his husband Surapong, a civil servant who also goes by the nickname Keng. "If tomorrow, God forbid, something did happen to me, we have real concerns (about) what then happens between Keng and our son under the eyes of the Thai law." The Thai health ministry is working on a draft bill to allow same-sex couple surrogacy, but it is unclear how long the process will take and whether it would be successful. Thailand's new marriage equality bill will now allow same-sex couples to adopt a child. But due to the legal definition of a parent, same-sex couple "qualification" as adoptive parents would, in practice, depend on official consideration, which experts say could lead to discrimination. While some lawmakers tried to change the definition of a parent to a more gender neutral term when they were debating the marriage equality bill last year, their efforts were voted down by a majority of lawmakers. "This is the mindset that's very much imbued in the eyes of the lawmakers (and) within the text of the law itself as well," said Mookdapa Yangyuenpradorn, a specialist at human rights group Fortify Rights. "That poses as really a hindrance in us trying to push for including a gender-inclusive term like parents into the law." The new same-sex marriage law will create more momentum for greater inclusion of LGBTQ people in Thailand, which already has a reputation for its tolerance towards the community, according to analysts. "We have come far in changing the law and there is some way to go for more inclusion," said Nada Chaiyajit, lecturer at Mae Fah Luang University's law school. "We also still have to fight for social acceptance and that requires more than just changes to the law." Jacob and Surapong are planning on having another child soon and hope that Thailand will be a good place to raise a family. "We want these people (lawmakers) to see that we can have a normal functioning family, just like everybody else," said Surapong. Stay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more Stay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more Stay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Viewers of BBC Ones hit show The Traitors have been captivated by contestant Charlottes audacious strategy: faking a Welsh accent. The 33-year-old London-based business director adopted the persona in a bid to bolster her trustworthiness among fellow players, and remarkably, the ruse appears to be working. But does her tactic have any basis in reality? Can an accent genuinely influence how we perceive someones trustworthiness? Surprisingly, yes. Studies suggest that the way a person speaks, including their accent, can significantly impact how trustworthy they appear. A familiar or reassuring tone can foster trust, while an unfamiliar accent can sometimes breed suspicion or uncertainty. In Charlottes case, the adoption of a Welsh accent, may be contributing to her success in deceiving her fellow contestants. Whether this calculated move will ultimately lead her to victory remains to be seen, but it undoubtedly highlights the fascinating power of accents in shaping social perceptions. A recent study, by University of Cambridge, found that the received pronunciation (RP) accent, often considered posh, was viewed as the least likely to engage in criminal behaviour, while accents from Liverpool and Bradford were seen as more likely. As accents continue to influence our social and professional relationships, weve spoken to linguistic experts to explore how these subtle cues affect our trust decisions. open image in gallery Close up of young woman shouting something Accents dont inherently convey specific information, so the impressions we form are often influenced by stereotypical beliefs and associations we have with certain accents, explains Natalie Braber, professor of Linguistics at Nottingham Trent University. What we know is that people make very quick judgements about other people based on their accents, and that they tend to be around two main sort of features; status and solidarity, says Braber. Status includes things like, how intelligent is this person? How rich is this person? What we find in research is that certain accents, like the RP or posh accents from the southeast of England, tend to rate higher on these status traits. However, solidarity refers to things like, how trustworthy is this person? How much do I like this person? How funny is this person? So, we tend to make those types of associations with particular accents. Which accents do people tend to trust more? Studies on accent bias highlight common trends that suggest a preference for softer accents, such as Welsh and Irish. open image in gallery Two women sat on a sofa having a serious conversation Theres certain accents that tend to, regardless of whos listening to them, rate high on solidarity on things like trustworthiness, shares Braber. This includes general Scottish accents, Irish and accents from the North East. Like from Newcastle, which tends to rate highly on solidarity. Maybe its because people have very positive associations with those places or think that the people who are from there are friendly, and then associate that with the accents that people have. open image in gallery (Ian West/PA) ( PA Wire ) Charlotte Berman, a 33-year-old business director from London, has embraced this stereotype by using a Welsh accent in an effort to be seen as trustworthy on the latest season of popular BBC show, The Traitors. Its musical sing-song quality has an undeniable charm that people have noted to have an almost soothing effect, recognises Noel Wolf, linguistic expert at language learning platform Babbel. In Charlottes case, her deployment of her mums Welsh accent seems to have served her well as she remains in the competition, however, fluent Welsh speaker and Cardiff native Elen was third player to be murdered, so its not always an ironclad strategy. Which accents do people tend to trust less? Certain urban accents, from cities like Birmingham and Liverpool, tend to rate lowly on both solidarity and status, says Braber. Obviously, if you have particular accent, you dont think everybody who speaks like you is bad, but these are the kind of trends that we see when we do experiments with large groups of people. If its a big city, people might think its a bit dangerous, or crime rates are higher there, and start linking these factors back to that particular accent as well. Cultural representation can also feed into this narrative. There is some interesting research that looks at Disney characters in films, and shows how the goodies and the baddies have different types of accents, notes Braber. If youre being told that over and over again that goodies and baddies have certain accents through different cultural representations, then thats something that is hard to break out of. Are we more likely to trust people who have the same accents as us? Generally, people are more inclined to trust accents they are familiar with and are less likely to trust those they have limited exposure to. Its inevitable that speaking to someone who possesses the same accent as your childhood friends, family members or the community you grew up in will foster trust, says Wolf. Likewise, listening to someone who speaks with the same tone and cadence as oneself is far easier to process cognitively than trying to comprehend another accent. What are the consequences of accent bias? Accent bias can have all sorts of damaging effects in both social and professional life. Historically, accent prejudice has encouraged and maintained a centralisation of wealth and power, as those perceived to be well-spoken remained cemented amongst societys elite, limiting mobility for those with regional accents, reflects Wolf. Currently, accent prejudice can have similar consequences as it leads to unequal opportunity in the workplace, schools and social interactions, as regional stereotypes remain enforced tropes to this day. So, how can we overcome this bias? Through familiarising ourselves with the variety of accents the UK and the rest of the world has to offer we can better appreciate the dialects themselves and the cultures around them, growing to perceive accents as the fascinating and enriching tapestry they are, says Wolf. Stay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more Stay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more Stay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy A Texas woman hit the jackpot with an antique purchase worth way more than the purchase price after she opened it up and found a massive surprise hidden inside. Amanda DeWitt negotiated a great deal for the Louis XVI marble-top buffet cabinet of her dreams, paying $3,200 for the furniture piece after the original buyer spent $22,500 on it. However, what she didnt know at the time was what was left behind one cabinet door something completely unexpected. In a video on TikTok, the lifestyle creator based in Dallas recounted her most insane Facebook Marketplace story after the furniture was delivered to her house on January 2. So, when we first get it, Im unlocking all of the cabinets as one does, checking all the drawers making sure everything is okay, DeWitt, 25, explained. Please look what I found when I unlocked one of the cabinets. A perplexed DeWitt proceeded to open the inner left-side cabinet door, unveiling a stack of orange Hermes boxes and a long blue Tiffany & Co. box. Literally, no words, the stunned shopper said. So, this is a full set of Hermes China. Not to mention all of these plates are in perfect condition. open image in gallery DeWitt finds a set of Hermes China in the antique buffet cabinet ( TikTok/@itsamandadewitt ) Full sets of Hermes China can cost upwards of $8,000 depending on the particular tableware style. DeWitt carefully removed the tops of each box to show the intricate gold detailing on the salad, main course, and dessert plates. I have no idea if this China was left by accident or on purpose, the TikTok star said before admitting she contacted the seller to check they didnt accidentally leave the expensive glassware in the cabinet. open image in gallery The content creator carefully opens each Hermes box ( TikTok/@itsamandadewitt ) Speaking with People, DeWitt reiterated her complete disbelief in finding the luxury items from the iconic French fashion house. She said: I mean, who finds a complete Hermes china collection inside their Facebook Marketplace purchase by accident? It was unreal! I called upstairs for my fiance, Max, to come look at what I had found. He was just as shocked as I was. I began to wonder: Were the plates left there by accident? Or on purpose? Despite most of her online commenters confessing they wouldve never reached back out to the previous owner and just kept the goods for themselves, DeWitt felt obligated to. And thank god she did because the seller had no intention of giving away her lush dinner set. I thought there was a good chance these plates were the sellers wedding china, she told People. And not only did they have high retail value, but they also likely held significant sentimental value. I would hate for anyone to lose something as special as their wedding china, so naturally, I messaged her. Two days later, DeWitt took to TikTok once again to update her followers. When you decide to be a good person and decide to return the Hermes China collection you discovered in the cabinet of your FB Marketplace purchase, she wrote in the January 4 video, which has now amassed over 2.5 million views. It was fun while it lasted but they did in fact ask to come pick up everything after I messaged them about my discovery. Stay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more Stay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more Stay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Sharon Stones past comments about living next to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have resurfaced amid new complaints from the couples neighbours. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have been accused of ruining the quiet and bringing more attention to the wealthy town of Montecito, California by some of their neighbours. The comments were published as part of a Vanity Fair article titled American Hustle. Published on Friday (17 January), the piece offered insight into what life was like inside Prince Harry and Meghan Markles big business ambitions, five years after their royal exit. After stepping down from royal duties in 2020, Harry and Meghan moved to Montecito where, according to several people who spoke with Vanity Fair, they have rubbed locals up the wrong way. According to The Times, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex are understood to have dismissed the allegations made against them. Sources close to the couple have described the article as distressing. One Montecito neighbour said of the royal couple: I still think theyre the most entitled, disingenuous people on the planet. They moved away from England to get away from the scrutiny of the press, and all they do is try and get in the press in the United States. open image in gallery The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have criticised Metas fact-checking changes (Jordan Pettitt/PA) ( PA Archive ) In the wake of the neighbours complaints, friends of the couple pointed to recent comments made by Sharon Stone who previously painted a very different picture of what it was like to live next to the Sussexs. In 2020, the Casino star told Hello! magazine: Theyre a part of our community, theyve become a giving, caring, participating part of our community. Theyre not here to be like Would you like to kiss my butt? Elsewhere in the Vanity Fair article, a source who worked in media projects claimed that Meghans relationships with her employees were rocky. open image in gallery ( AFP via Getty Images ) She would be warm and effusive at the beginning, engendering an atmosphere of professional camaraderie, the article stated. When something went poorly, often due to Meghan and Harrys own demands such as a teaser for Archetypes being released five months before the show premiered and before there was any tape to promote Meghan would become cold and withholding toward the person she perceived to be responsible. Others, however, such as producer Jane Marie who collaborated with the couple while they developed audio projects at Archewell had a different experience with the Duchess, calling her a lovely, genuine person. The Vanity Fair article spoke about the couples various business ventures, stating: Leaving the royal family has brought tests for the couple legal, financial, reputational, personal and practical. Going from divinely chosen (or at least chosen by someone else who was divinely chosen) members of a 1,200-year-old institution to start-up founders in exile is a tough adjustment. One unnamed person who worked with the couple on their Spotify deal said: The thing youre escaping is the reason youre compelling. open image in gallery ( Archewell Audio/Spotify ) They added that the Sussexes wanted a big theme [to their podcast] that would explain the world, but they had no ideas. According to The Times, sources close to Harry and Meghan said that previous employees had gone on record in the past to dispute the claims made in the article. They declined to be interviewed for the article. The Independent has contacted a representative of the Sussexes for comment. The couple also attracted criticism recently after they were branded disaster tourists in search of a a photo op when they were pictured consoling victims of the catastrophic Los Angeles wildfires. In a post shared on X (Twitter), Arrested Development star Justine Bateman took issue with the pairs appearance in Pasadena, writing: Meghan Markle and Harry are no better than ambulance chasers. What a repulsive photo op they achieved. They are touring the damage? Are they politicians now? They dont live here; they are tourists. Disaster Tourists. Bateman lives in the Hollywood Hills, which has been affected by the wildfires. Stay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more Stay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more Stay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman showed up to President Donald Trumps inauguration wearing shorts and a hoodie. On Monday (January 20) Trump was sworn in as the 47th president while JD Vance was sworn in as his vice president. This years ceremony was moved indoors due to record-low temperatures. Despite the frigid conditions, Fetterman sat in the front row in the Capitol Rotunda wearing his casual outfit. In addition to his shorts, Fetterman who is known for his laid back style was seen wearing a plain black hooded sweatshirt and black and gray sneakers. Gotta Love John Fettermanno one else could make gym shorts a fashion statement, one person wrote about the outfit on X (formerly Twitter). Another person agreed, writing, John Fetterman arrived at the US Capitol to attend the swearing in ceremony of the 47th US president in his trademark outfit a sweatshirt, shorts, and sneakers. Never change. Last month, Fetterman said anyone hoping Trump would fail in his second term is rooting against the nation. The Democrat told ABC News he would never want a president to be unsuccessful, saying: Country first. I know thats become maybe like a cliche, but it happens to be true. open image in gallery Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman (left) and President Donald Trump ( Getty Images ) The Pennsylvania senator wasnt the only person to have received attention for their inauguration day outfit. Jeff Bezoss finacee, Lauren Sanchez, also turned heads with her lingerie-inspired look. open image in gallery John Fetterman was seen sitting bare-legged in the front row ( EPA ) Sanchez showed up to the event wearing an all-white outfit alongside the Amazon CEO. Inside the Rotunda, she removed her fuzzy white coat to show off her Alexander McQueen suit featuring a white blazer and wide-leg trousers. Sanchez opted out of a blouse, instead revealing a matching white lace bra. Many people were quick to turn to X (formerly Twitter) to argue that the outfit was inappropriate for such a formal occasion. Someone should have told her that having her white lace bra out on display is not acceptable, one person wrote. Another person agreed, writing, Lauren Sanchez needs to hire someone to teach her to dress like a classy lady. Money cannot buy class. Look at Melania, Ivanka, and Usha they have class. open image in gallery Lauren Sanchez also received attention for her daring outfit ( Saul Loeb-Pool/Getty Images ) First Lady Melania Trump also earned some attention for her outfit as she refused to reveal her eyes beneath a wide-brimmed hat. The 54-year-old donned an Adam Lippes original navy blue, silk-and-wool overcoat and the elongated top hat designed by Eric Javits. The statement-making accessory casting a shadow over the top half of her face spawned hilarious memes online comparing her to cartoon and movie characters. In one viral X post, a picture of Melania was spliced next to an image of the sly McDonalds villain, the Hamburglar, whose uniform consists of a striped, black and white body suit, red gloves, a patty-printed suit tie, a black eye mask, and of course, a black wide-brimmed hat. Why the hell does Melania Trump look like the Hamburglar? the caption read. Melania Trump STUNS in Hamburgler inspired outfit, another joked. Stay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more Stay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more Stay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Kim Kardashian is facing intense backlash after appearing to show support for Melania Trump. The 44-year-old reality star who did not publicly endorse a candidate during the presidential election in November took to Instagram on Monday (January 20) to share a photo from Donald Trumps inauguration. In the snap, Melania could be seen getting out of a car to attend the event wearing an overcoat and wide-brimmed hat. Although Kardashian didnt include any other comments when sharing this picture, fans on X (formerly Twitter) quickly took it as an endorsement for the Republicans. Successful billionaire, Kim Kardashian, has posted Melanie Trump on her Instagram story, one person wrote. We know who she voted for. She definitely voted for her husband, another agreed. open image in gallery Kim Kardashian (left) shared a photo of Melania Trump on inauguration day ( Getty Images ) Kim Kardashian is really not hiding that she voted for Trump, a third wrote. In May 2018, Kardashian spoke to Trump in the Oval Office to specifically advocate for him to commute Alice Marie Johnsons sentence. A number of people said they had already assumed the Skims founder was a Republican. Why are people shocked a billionaire is supporting the right??? Thats literally textbook, one tweeted. Others have gone so far as to call for Kardashian to be canceled, with one TikTok creator telling people to never buy anything from her ever again. Cancel Skims to bankruptcy, they wrote in a video, going on to urge people to cancel her until the brand is an oblivion... cancel her until she gotta close those stores that she just opened. Do not support because she just told us who she is today, they added. Shes been canceled, another commented. The reality star does have a history with the Trumps. During Donalds first presidency, Kardashian went to the White House to advocate for criminal justice reform. She wrote on social media at the time: I would like to thank President Trump for his time this afternoon. It is our hope that the President will grant clemency to Ms. Alice Marie Johnson who is serving a life sentence for a first-time, non-violent drug offense. Just one month later, Trump commuted Johnsons sentence. open image in gallery Kim Kardashian (center) with Ivanka Trump (right) and Jared Kushner listening to Donald Trump speakng about second chance hiring and criminal justice reform in 2019 ( AFP via Getty Images ) Two years later, she also lobbied for the early release of three female prisoners jailed for drug-related and white collar crimes. In February 2020, Donald agreed to cut short the sentences of the women; Crystal Munoz, Judith Negron, and Tynice Hall. However, Donald has previously criticized Kardashian. In a rambling Truth Social rant, shared in November 2023, he called reality TV star-turned-social justice campaigner the worlds most overrated celebrity. He also acknowledged that he helped with prisoner commutation, but only if deserving, and much more so for Kanye West, Kims ex-husband, than for Kim, who probably voted for Crooked Joe Biden. On Monday, Melania arrived outside the White House to meet Joe and Jill Biden ahead of the swearing-in ceremony. She wore a navy blue silk-and-wool overcoat with large lapels buttoned up to reveal an ivory scarf peeking through. The custom piece was crafted by Adam Lippes who rose to fame as the youngest creative director at Oscar de la Renta before launching his eponymous label. The dark and defining look was paired with a wide-brimmed top hat by Eric Javits shielding the top half of her face, which sparked hilarious memes online. Stay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more Stay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more Stay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy On Monday (January 20) Donald Trump was sworn in as the 47th President of the United States. As people begin to file into the United States Capitol Rotunda, Jeff Bezoss fiancee Lauren Sanchez turned heads with her daring outfit. Sanchez showed up to the event wearing an all-white outfit alongside the Amazon CEO. Inside the Rotunda, she removed her fuzzy white coat to show off her Alexander McQueen suit featuring a white blazer and wide-leg trousers. Sanchez opted out of a blouse, instead revealing a matching white lace bra. Many people were quick to turn to X (formerly Twitter) to argue that the outfit was inappropriate for such a formal occasion. Jeff Bezoss future wife Lauren Sanchez is incredibly inappropriately dressed for a state occasion, one post read. Someone should have told her that having her white lace bra out on display is not acceptable. Another person agreed, writing, Lauren Sanchez needs to hire someone to teach her to dress like a classy lady. Money cannot buy class. Look at Melania, Ivanka and Usha they have class. Lauren Sanchez complete inappropriate dress today. Really, a bra plainly visible. Today is NOT a night club event. Show some class & dignity, a third post read. open image in gallery Sanchez wore an all-white Alexander McQueen suit for the inauguration ( POOL/AFP via Getty Images ) However, not everyone felt her outfit deserved such a backlash. Lauren Sanchez for the win, one post read. open image in gallery Sanchez largely sparked backlash over the lace bra she decided to wear ( POOL/AFP via Getty Images ) I think she looks beautiful. Theres hardly any cleavage, calm down folks, another X user agreed. open image in gallery Fans compared Sanchezs outfit to Melania Trump and Usha Vances outfits ( Getty Images ) Sanchez wasnt the only one to draw ire over their outfit. Many fashion fans have threatened to boycott Oscar de la Renta after they dressed Ivanka Trump for an inaugural dinner this weekend. On Instagram, the brand boasted about dressing Trumps daughter in a custom off-shoulder crystal and pearl floral-embroidered empire waist gown with silver stole, prompting many followers to express their sudden distaste. Oh ok so were done with odlr, one person wrote, while another added: ODLR sold their soul. Unsubscribe. Sad to be done with odlr, added a third. While Sanchez wore her Alexander McQueen suit, First Lady Melania Trump made a bold style statement, partnering with Adam Lippes, who gained notoriety as one of the youngest creative directors while at the helm of Oscar de la Renta from 1996 to 2003. Melania arrived outside the White House for the Inaugural Ceremony on Monday in a buttoned navy blue overcoat layered over an ivory neckline and an elongated top hat by Eric Javits, which carefully shielded her eyes from the cameras. Stay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more Stay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more Stay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy First Lady Melania Trump refused to reveal her eyes under a wide-brimmed hat this morning (January 20) for the inaugural swearing-in ceremony of her husband Donald Trump, now the 47th President of the United States. Inside the U.S. Capitol, the 54-year-old donned an Adam Lippes original navy blue, silk-and-wool overcoat and the elongated top hat designed by Eric Javits. The statement-making accessory casting a shadow over the top half of her face spawned hilarious memes online comparing her to fictional cartoons and evil movie characters. In one viral X/Twitter post, a picture of Melania was spliced next to an image of the sly McDonalds villain, the Hamburglar, whose uniform consists of a striped, black and white body suit, red gloves, a patty-printed suit tie, a black eye mask, and of course, a black wide-brimmed hat. open image in gallery Melania Trump wears an Eric Javits hat to the 2025 inaugural swearing-in ceremony ( Getty Images ) Why the hell does Melania Trump look like the Hamburglar? the caption read. Melania Trump STUNS in Hamburgler inspired outfit, another joked. open image in gallery People compare Melania Trumps fashion to the Hamburglar cartoon ( X/@CalltoActivism ) A second meme creator shared a picture of Melania in her hat next to an image of Mad magazines Spy vs. Spy cartoon. And now I will never unsee it. Thank you, one viewer commented under the tweet. open image in gallery One person compares Melania Trumps Inauguration Day outfit to Spy vs. Spy character ( X/@PieterJKetelaar ) Meanwhile, a third person thought Melanias fashion resembled the video game character Carmen Sandiego, who wears a long red coat and matching angled hat. I found Carmen Sandiego, they wrote. open image in gallery A third individual says Melania looks like Carmen Sandiego ( X/@Roshan_Rinaldi ) No one out-pizzas the Hut, a fourth commented, comparing Melanias hat to the fast-food chains signature logo. open image in gallery Other individuals say Melania Trumps hat looks like the Pizza Hut symbol ( X/@141WDTWLBBUK ) Another individual believed the FLOTUS embellishment made her look like Jim Carreys mischievous, green-faced persona in 1994s The Mask. open image in gallery Melanias hat compared to the one worn by Jim Carrey in The Mask ( X/@deplorablJew ) More people poked fun at an awkward encounter between Trump and his wife during the inauguration ceremony when the President went to kiss her on the cheek. In footage online, Trump can be seen puckering his lips and bending below Melanias hat brim to give her a quick air kiss. Donald Trump and Melania Trump share awkward kiss at inauguration Melanias outfit was crafted by 52-year-old designer Lippes, who rose to fame as the youngest creative director at Oscar de la Renta before launching his eponymous label. While Melania has been known to dress in every European fashion house from Yves Saint Laurent to Dolce & Gabbana, the dignitary decided to honor she and her husbands renewed position in the country by working with the American designer. The entire outfit was picked in collaboration with her stylist of eight years, Herve Pierre. In a statement sent directly to Womens Wear Daily, Lippes said inauguration day embodies the beauty of American democracy. He continued: Today we had the honor to dress our first lady, Mrs. Melania Trump. Mrs. Trumps outfit was created by some of Americas finest craftsmen, and I take great pride in showing such work to the world. With deep gratitude to Mrs. Trump for her trust and collaboration. As for Melanias distinctive head accessory, Javits confessed his original hat design was damaged in transit because of a nasty snowstorm, prompting him to rethink the structure and start over. He told Womens Wear Daily the design process left him on a bit of cliff hanger. Melanias dark fashion choice comes after she wore a bright baby blue, knee-length dress to Trumps first-term inauguration ceremony in 2017 and a light, cream-colored gown by her stylist Herve Pierre to the ball later that night. Stay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more Stay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more Stay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Inauguration Day 2025 is here, and incoming first lady Melania Trump has already stepped out in style. Early this morning (January 20), the 54-year-old wife of President-elect Donald Trump arrived outside the White House to meet Joe and Jill Biden ahead of the swearing-in ceremony (scheduled to commence at noon EST) decked out in Adam Lippes. Melania was spotted in a navy blue silk-and-wool overcoat with large lapels buttoned up to reveal an ivory scarf peeking through. The custom piece was crafted by the 52-year-old designer who rose to fame as the youngest creative director at Oscar de la Renta before launching his eponymous label. The dark and defining look was paired with a wide-brimmed top hat by Eric Javits shielding the top half of her face. While Melania has been known to dress in every European fashion house from Yves Saint Laurent to Dolce & Gabbana, the dignitary decided to honor she and her husbands renewed position in the country by working with the American designer. The entire outfit was picked in collaboration with her stylist of eight years, Herve Pierre. In a statement sent directly to Womens Wear Daily, Lippes said inauguration day embodies the beauty of American democracy. open image in gallery Melania Trump wears custom Adam Lippes to President-elect Donald Trumps swearing-in ceremony ( Getty Images ) He continued: Today we had the honor to dress our first lady, Mrs. Melania Trump. Mrs. Trumps outfit was created by some of Americas finest craftsmen, and I take great pride in showing such work to the world. With deep gratitude to Mrs. Trump for her trust and collaboration. open image in gallery Jill Biden (far left), Joe Biden (left), Donald Trump (right), and Melania Trump (far right) ( AFP via Getty Images ) As for Melanias distinctive head accessory, Javits confessed his original hat design was damaged in transit because of a nasty snowstorm, prompting him to rethink the structure and start over. He told Womens Wear Daily the design process left him on a bit of cliff hanger. Back in 2017, Melania tapped American designer Ralph Lauren to design her look for Trumps first-term inauguration. The baby blue, knee-length dress with a high-neck bolero, matching opera gloves, and Manolo Blahnik pointed-toe pumps seemed to pay homage to former First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, whos widely remembered for donning a similar monochrome silhouette. With the historic swearing-in of her husband, Donald J. Trump, as the 45th President of the United States, the first lady-elect will become Americas new First Lady wearing an American designer who transformed American fashion, Ralph Lauren, the fashion house told Womens Wear Daily at the time. For the 2017 inaugural ball, Melania dressed in a Herve Pierre original cream-colored, off-the-shoulder gown adorned with a thin red waist bow that was later inducted into the Smithsonian National Museum of American History. Stay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more Stay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more Stay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are said to have dismissed claims made in a distressing Vanity Fair article about their new lives in California. The 8,000-word cover story made several contentious assertions about their marriage, relationships within the Montecito community, and wider commercial challenges. It explored their situation under the headline: Inside Prince Harry and Meghan Markles big business ambitions, 5 years after their royal exit. One claim, attributed to neighbours in Montecito, alleged that the couple had become local villains for attracting further attention to the town. This is despite Montecito already being home to numerous high-profile celebrities, including Oprah Winfrey, Ariana Grande, and Katy Perry. The Vanity Fair article also included claims from an anonymous employee who worked with the Sussexes on their Spotify deal. The employee alleged that Harry and Meghan didnt do what celebrities do on podcasts, which is turn on the mic and talk. They wanted a big theme that would explain the world, but they had no ideas, adding, The thing youre escaping is the reason youre compelling. Sources close to the Sussexes told The Times that claims made in the article about the work environment fostered by the couple titled American Hustle, have been disputed by former employees and neighbours. open image in gallery Actress Sharon Stone has praised the couple for their role in Montecito as part of the community ( Getty ) The piece quoted mixed accounts from those who had worked with Harry and Meghan. One described Meghan as undermining, while another called the duchess a lovely, genuine person. Meghan premiered her podcast Archetypes on August 23, 2022. The series, aimed at empowering women by challenging gender stereotypes, drew significant attention upon release. However, in June 2023, Spotify and Archewell Audio issued a joint statement confirming they had mutually agreed to end their partnership. open image in gallery In December, Prince Harry responded to the repeatedly made claims that he and Meghan were divorcing. ( Getty Images ) Meanwhile, friend of the Sussexes, the actor Sharon Stone, has shared a contrasting perspective on Harry and Meghans role in the Montecito community. Speaking to Hello! magazine last week, Stone said: Theyre a part of our community, theyve become a giving, caring, participating part of our community. Theyre not here to be like, Would you like to kiss my butt? Other claims in the Vanity Fair article included speculation that Meghan had been approached to write a post-divorce book. However, the piece also emphasised that the couples marriage remains strong, with sources asserting that their love is real. open image in gallery Meghan premiered her podcast Archetypes, aimed at empowering women by breaking down gender stereotypes, on August 23, 2022. ( Archewell Audio/Spotify ) In December, Prince Harry addressed ongoing rumours about their alleged divorce. Speaking at the 2024 New York Times DealBook Summit, he said: Weve been divorced maybe 10, or 12 times as well. So its just like, what? Its hard to keep up with, but thats why you just sort of ignore it. The people I feel most sorry about are the trolls. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have been approached for a comment. Stay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more Stay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more Stay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy A young woman sits cross-legged facing a ring light. She records herself dabbing blush on her cheeks, wiggling a mascara wand through her lashes and outlining her lips with a nude-toned liner. Everything seems normal the video is not dissimilar from the thousands of makeup tutorials that exist online except for the context in which this is being filmed: shes been ordered to evacuate her home due to the deadly wildfires raging nearby in Los Angeles. So, LAs burning right now and Ive got a few hours to pack my life up and get out of here, she tells the camera in a chatty tone, swiping a shiny gloss across her lips. The video in question is titled GRWM to evacuate the acronym being short for Get Ready With Me. Its an online content format that does what it says on the tin: viewers watch as a person does their hair and makeup, and picks an outfit, while they chat through a rolling bulletin of life updates. The content format has been the backbone of influencer vlogging culture since it began. But after the wildfires ignited across southern California more than a week ago, evacuation-themed videos have taken over and to a mixed response. One onlooker commented on TikTok: Doing a GRWM to evacuate is crazy this is a serious situation. Another added: Girl, why is your GRWM to evacuate you putting makeup on and not packing? A third was even more direct: GRWM? Theres people that are dying?? The meeting point between content creation and the ongoing LA wildfires has become so uncomfortable online that Public Enemys Chuck D pleaded with people to stop using the groups song Burn Hollywood Burn written as a protest song in the Nineties in videos about the wildfires. Evacuation-themed GRWM videos have been branded distasteful and insensitive but, as Im sure youre aware, people on social media will make light of a global news event no matter how serious the topic. Think of when social media users made light of Jay Slaters disappearance in Tenerife, or when people mocked the news about Mike Lynchs yacht capsizing off the coast of Sicily. Then there was the meme-ification of Luigi Mangione, who was charged with first-degree murder in the killing of healthcare CEO Brian Thompson in New York. Before, a GRWM video would have been recorded when an influencer was going to a wedding or fancy event; in recent months, the circumstances have become more and more bizarre. There are the more sombre themes such as GRWM for my nans funeral. Theres the self-deprecating life update ones: GRWM to catch my boyfriend cheating. And the more worrying ones that see pre-teen children sharing their school makeup routine: GRWM for my first day back at school. The GRWM video style has existed since the concept of beauty vlogging went mainstream in the 2010s following the creation of YouTube in 2005, and Instagram in 2010. The early versions of the GRWM format existed in detailed 40-minute YouTube videos in which the first generation of influencers such as Zoella and NikkieTutorials would deliver wholesome makeup how-tos and share their favourite products. It was a simple, harmless and a relaxing pastime. But since the GRWM trend migrated to TikTok, the videos have become more bite-sized and the topics more strange. Caitlin Jardine, a social media specialist at the communications agency Ellis Digital, says that the appeal of the GRWM trend began when vlogging was in its prime, with the videos carrying a raw and genuine tone, allowing viewers to get to know the content creator on a more intimate level. The very nature of the video set-up, with the blogger usually sitting at their dressing table or standing opposite their bathroom mirror, has become a location for a relatable, confessional, girl-next-door persona thats alluring to the viewer. The videos have always been about relatability, says Jardine. Its about breaking that fourth wall so that viewers watching feel like theyve got an older sibling or friend in the room with them. Viewing a GRWM video, really, is like being on a one-way FaceTime with a friend. open image in gallery Gen Z-ers are known for using dark humour to cope during times of turmoil, says expert Sara Larsen ( Getty Images ) These days, the GRWM format can be applied to every scenario just like the wildfires. While I would never want to be writing the rules of how people should react when they receive an evacuation notice, the videos have struck a sinister edge with some viewers. Critics have accused creators of capitalising on a natural disaster for more clicks during a time when thousands of people have lost their homes. But, as Christina Mller, senior behavioural analyst at the consumer insights agency Canvas8, tells me, the motivation for young people to make these videos during a time of crisis could be seen as a coping mechanism. For some, its a way to process and make sense of their current reality, while for others, it provides an opportunity to momentarily dissociate and distance themselves from the emotional weight of the situation, says Mller. This blend of self-expression and coping reflects the way social media is woven into how many people navigate and manage their lives, even in moments of adversity. At the time of writing, more than 40,000 acres have been burnt in southern California since the start of the wildfires on 7 January, and 25 people have died. Its been described as the worst natural disaster in LA history. Characteristically, the TikTok response to the wildfires is all very Gen-Z, says Sara Larsen, the associate creative director at the LA-based youth marketing agency Adolescent, where they analyse social media trends among younger audiences. Larsen believes that the GRWM to evacuate videos shouldnt be taken as offensive or insensitive, but as an indication of how young people choose to manage their feelings during times of uncertainty. Gen Z-ers are known for using dark humour to cope during times of turmoil, and I think young people documenting what theyre packing to evacuate from devastating fires serves not only as a tongue-in-cheek way to highlight the surreal moment, but as a way for them to feel more stable during life-changing instability, she says. According to Larsen, the allure of the GRWM trend, for the onlooker, is the opportunity to relate to the person the video. In a cultural climate where Americans have never been more isolated, I think there is something intimate and human about the GRWM trend that fascinates people. Getting a peek into the vulnerable everyday moments of strangers helps social media users feel more connected to their peers. There is a risk, however, that recording glamorous GRWM videos during a natural disaster could trivialise the reality of whats happening. Jardine says that creators need to strike a balance between creativity and responsibility when it comes to topics like these. Creators need to be mindful that the wildfires are having a drastic impact on so many people, and showing this topic in a more relaxed way on social media could be seen as trivialising it. As with anything we see depicted on social media, the reality is often very different. GRWM videos are three minutes of bite-sized content spliced from a 30-minute clip. When youre making a GRWM, the post-editing can create a really different end result. Its important to remember that the content of these videos has been sat through and published for a reason, says Jardine. Its been put together to be perceived by audiences in a certain way. open image in gallery The Eaton Fire in Altadena, California, on 8 January ( AFP via Getty ) There are really no limits to where a GRWM can go. People will use them to update their followers on their dating life, dish out breakup gossip or go into great levels of detail about their recent feud with their roommate. Videos with titles like GRWM to catch my cousin sleeping with my boyfriend suggest that these content creators dont mind if their lives verge on resembling a season of Keeping Up With the Kardashians. Raven Baker, also from the youth marketing company Adolescent, tells me that the focal point of these videos is no longer the makeup or the actual getting ready but the narrative thats being told. People are nosy and voyeuristic, the storytelling component of GRWMs is the real hook, she says. For smaller or lesser-known creators, the stronger the story, the higher the engagement. Lets be honest no ones sticking around past the first three seconds just for the skin routine and outfit reveal. There could be cause for concern, though, about the age group thats actually consuming these videos. Increasingly, the GRWM format and aesthetic is being emulated by children, who are recording and uploading their own take on the trend to TikTok. Last year, there was moral panic among parents in the UK after groups of young girls started recording their Back to school morning routines, showing themselves doing their makeup, putting on their uniforms and eating their cornflakes before leaving the house. At the time, parenting experts raised the alarm over the trend, highlighting the dangers around childrens school uniforms being visible online. But to young girls, though, the GRWM trend has merely become part of everyday girlhood. Larsen suggests that the trend has become enmeshed in that typical rite of passage that a young girl might experience when she starts discovering makeup products and looking up to older women. For pre-teen girls, recording a GRWM video is just this generations version of trying on their mums lipstick in the mirror, explains Larsen. Its nothing new that young girls have a desire to be cooler and more adult, or mimic something that a woman they look up to is doing. Together, its worth asking whether the GRWM trend only intensifies these pressures on the young, in terms of body image, self-esteem and the toxic beauty culture that exists online. The trend fuels the feelings of comparison and competition, as creators push to one-up each other, setting unrealistic expectations for themselves and their audiences, says Kourtney King, a social media specialist. Jardine agrees. While these videos may appear authentic and relatable, Jardine suggests that theres an underlying reason why people might hone in on more newsworthy topics like the wildfires. The GRWM to evacuate videos really come from the TikTok algorithm, she says. The fight for viewers attention has never been so competitive, so creators have to really push boundaries. Whether thats positioning as humorous or adding in that shock element, itll continue to be adapted. 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 Billionaires' wealth grew three times faster in 2024 than the year before, a top anti-poverty group reported, as they added $2 trillion (1.64 trillion) to their riches. Oxfam also predicts at least five trillionaires will emerge over the next decade. A year ago, the group forecast that only one trillionaire would appear during that time. Oxfam's research follows a warning by outgoing President Joe Biden last week of a dangerous concentration of power in the hands of very few ultra-wealthy people. The group's critical report also says the number of people in poverty has barely budged since 1990. The report comes ahead of the annual gathering of the rich and powerful at Davos, in Switzerland. The World Economic Forum expects to host 3,000 business executives, academics, government officials and politicians. Donald Trump, who visited Davos twice during his first term and was set to take the oath of office on Monday, is expected to take part in the forum's event by video on Thursday. He has long championed wealth accumulation including his own and appointed multibillionaire and worlds richest person Elon Musk as a top adviser. Jeff Bezos also had a good year, taking his fortune up by $73bn to $250bn. ( REUTERS ) Mr Musks wealth surged last year to hit $486bn, a gain of $257bn. His fellow tech entrepreneurs Mark Zuckerberg and Jeff Bezon, the Amazon founder added $91bn and $73bn to thier personal fortunes, according to Business Insider. What youre seeing at the moment is a billionaire president taking oaths today, backed by the richest man. So this is pretty much the jewel in the crown of the global oligarchies, Amitabh Behar, executive director of Oxfam, said. Its not about one specific individual. Its the economic system that we have created where the billionaires are now pretty much being able to shape economic policies, social policies, which eventually gives them more and more profit, he added. Oxfam called on governments to tax the richest to reduce inequality and extreme wealth, and to dismantle the new aristocracy. The group called for steps like the break-up of monopolies, capping CEO pay, and regulation of corporations to ensure they pay living wages to workers. Many investors racked up strong gains in 2024, with strong performances for top tech companies and stock-market indexes like the S&P 500, as well as the price of gold. The number of billionaires rose by 204 to 2,769, and the 10 richest men saw their wealth rise nearly $100 million a day on average, it said. Citing World Bank data, the group pointed to lingering poverty, saying the number of people living on less than $6.85 per day has barely changed since 1990. By contrast, at least four new billionaires were minted every week in 2024, and three-fifths of billionaire wealth comes from inheritance, monopoly power or crony connections, it said. Trump's return for a second term will likely be a talking point in Davos, as will lingering conflicts, including wars in Ukraine and Sudan, along with hopes for a continuation of a cease-fire that began on Sunday between Hamas and Israel, pausing their devastating 15-month war in Gaza. Forum organizers last week issued a survey conducted among 900 experts for Global Risks Report, which found that conflicts between countries was the top concern, followed by extreme weather, economic confrontation, misinformation and disinformation, and societal polarization a nod to the gap between rich and poor. As in past years, protesters calling for more economic equality, taxing the rich and pressing other demands took to the streets. Some blocked roads to Davos, snarling traffic in places and delaying trips for some attendees to the event, which runs through Friday. 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 Pope Francis has taken the remarkable step of dissolving a Peruvian-based Catholic movement, the Sodalitium Christianae Vitae, after years of attempts at reform and a Vatican investigation. The probe uncovered sexual abuses by its founder, financial mismanagement by its leaders and spiritual abuses by its top members. The Sodalitium on Monday confirmed the dissolution, which was conveyed to an assembly of its members in Aparecida, Brazil this weekend by Francis top legal adviser Cardinal Gianfranco Ghirlanda. In revealing the dissolution in a statement, the group lamented that news of Francis decision had been leaked by two members attending the assembly, who were definitively expelled. It provided no details, saying only that the central information about the dissolution that was reported by Spanish-language site Infovaticana was true but it contained several inaccuracies. It didn't say what the inaccuracies were. The Vatican has not responded to several requests for comment. Dissolution, or suppression, of a pontifically recognized religious movement is a major undertaking for a pope, all the more so for a Jesuit pope given the Jesuit religious order was itself suppressed in the 1700s. The SCV dissolution, which had been rumored, marks a final end to what has amounted to a slow death of the movement, which was founded in 1971 as one of several Catholic societies born as a conservative reaction to the left-leaning liberation theology movement that swept through Latin America. At its height, the group counted about 20,000 members across South America and the United States. It was enormously influential in Peru. But former members complained to the Lima archdiocese in 2011 about abuses by its founder, Luis Figari, and other claims date to 2000. But neither the local church nor the Holy See took concrete action until one of the victims, Pedro Salinas, wrote a book along with journalist Paola Ugaz detailing the twisted practices of the Sodalitium in 2015, entitled Half Monks, Half Soldiers. In 2017, a report commissioned by the groups leadership determined that Figari sodomized his recruits and subjected them to humiliating psychological and other sexual abuses. After an attempt at reform, Francis sent his two most trusted investigators, Archbishop Charles Scicluna and Monsignor Jordi Bertomeu, to look into the Sodalitium abuses. Their report uncovered sadistic sect-like abuses of power, authority and spirituality, economic abuses in administering church money and even journalistic abuses of harassing critics. Their report resulted in the expulsions last year of Figari and 10 top members, including an archbishop who had sued Salinas and Ugaz for their reporting and was forced to retire early. Salinas, who has long called for the SCV to be suppressed, said word of Francis' decree was extraordinary albeit belated since the first denunciations date from 25 years ago. He praised Scicluna and Bertomeu, as well as the new prefect of the Vatican's office for religious orders, Sister Simona Brambilla, since she is ultimately responsible for the SCV. And of course without the personal commitment of Pope Francis in this long history of impunity, nothing would have happened, Salinas said, identifying complicit Peruvian institutions and bishops who "preferred to look the other way instead of accompanying the Argentine pontiff in his struggle for a Catholic Church without abuse. It remains unknown what will become of the assets of the Sodalitium, which victims want to be used as compensation for their trauma. According to the code of canon law, only the Holy See can suppress an institute such as the SCV and a decision regarding the temporal goods of the institute is also reserved to the Apostolic See. ___ Associated Press writer Franklin Briceno contributed from Lima, Peru. ___ Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the APs collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy The family of a kind and funny 19-year-old who was shot dead last year have issued an appeal as they mark what would have been his 20th birthday. Ellis Cox was shot in the back in a confrontation between his friends and a group of males on a Liverpool industrial estate on 23 June last year. Detectives have arrested several people in connection with his death, but none have been charged and the case remains unsolved. In an emotional appeal on Ellis birthday on Saturday, his heartbroken family vowed to never give up as they begged anyone with information about the shooting to please speak up for Ellis. His family said: Happy birthday Ellis, we hope you can see how much you mean to us. Our world is shattered and doesnt make much sense without you. Our hearts are broken and we are struggling to find the words to write this because for 19 years this was a day you would celebrate and make a fuss of you and get you all of your favourite things, we never missed a chance to get together. How can we now celebrate his life which had hardly begun and was taken in such a cruel unexplainable way? open image in gallery Police released an image of Ellis on the day he was killed, taken from doorbell cam footage as he collected his bike ( Merseyside Police ) Paying tribute to the teenager, they added: Its so hard knowing all the things he was yet to experience in life, this was his time to start to experience so much in life. He was still a teenager. So many memories he was yet to make, so many moments he was going to have to cherish and so much time he had to achieve all what he had always dreamed of he was just 19. His innocence is our main message to you. We understand what a difficult situation you must be in if you have information not knowing if you can, you might be scared, worried about getting it wrong, is what you know even worth mentioning but please we are begging you please speak up for Ellis, for us. Nobodys life should be taken by another, and we will never stop asking for help because he couldnt be more deserving of it. We hope we touch the hearts of everybody that can help you today our beautiful Ellis because you deserve that and so much more. Happy birthday we will love you always and forever Ellis and we will never give up for you. Liverpool City Council lit up the Cunard Building and Liverpool Town Hall in orange on Saturday in tribute to the late teen. open image in gallery The family have paid tribute to the teenager on what would have been his 20th birthday ( Merseyside Police ) His mother Carolyn described him as so kind... so laid back, so calm, so mature for his age and very funny as she spoke of her grief. He was my baby... no mum should have to bury a child, she told Sky News. He was my life. And I dont know what to do without him. Merseyside Police detective chief inspector Steve McGrath, the senior investigating officer, said they remain determined to catch his killer following the shooting at around 11pm on the Liver Industrial Estate. Our determination to get justice for Ellis family remains as strong as ever, he said. We continue to make inquiries as part of this ongoing investigation and would appeal to anyone with information to come forward. Anyone with information can contact @MerPolCC or call 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 quoting reference 24000554719. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy A woman has been arrested for allegedly stalking reality-TV star Joey Essex and threatening his Love Island girlfriend with violence. Cheshire Police have arrested a woman in her 30s from the Stockport area on suspicion of stalking, after The Only Way is Essex star was reportedly sent over 100,000 messages. The woman has been released on conditional bail until February while enquiries continue and is not permitted to contact Mr Essex and his family or travel to London and Essex. The Cheshire police said in a statement to The Independent: We can confirm a 34-year-old woman from the Poynton area has been arrested on suspicion of stalking. The woman has been released on conditional bail until February while enquiries continue. A source close to Mr Essex told The Sun that he was relieved the alleged stalker had been found. Last August, he revealed he had received thousands of messages on social media from the person, some of which were thought to have included threats towards his girlfriend at the time, Jessy Potts. open image in gallery Joey Essex and Jessy Potts met on Love Island last year ( Ian West/PA Wire ) We have had to take the decision to report the stalker to the police because the messages have started to become more threatening, Mr Essex said last August. I love my fans and want to be able to talk to them online but there has to be a line somewhere and sadly this is it. A source told The Sun that his team had noticed an uptick in messages from one user during his time in the Love Island villa last year. They said the messages grew increasingly frightening with some targeted, physical threats and it became cause for concern. open image in gallery Joey Essex and Jessie Potts on Love Island' ( ITV ) Joey is relieved the woman has been found and grateful to Cheshire Constabulary, the source added. Mr Essex, who rose to fame on reality show The Only Way Is Essex, entered the Love Island villa as the first celebrity contestant during last years run of the show. It was in the villa that he met Ms Potts and the pair dated for two months before splitting in September. The Independent has contacted Mr Essexs representatives for a comment. 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 Axel Rudakubana admitted to killing three girls at a dance class in Southport on the first day of his trial. The 18-year-old was to stand trial at Liverpool Crown Court on Monday, charged with 16 offences, including three counts of murder and 10 counts of attempted murder. Dramatically changing his plea at the last moment, the teenager admitted to all the charges. He pleaded guilty to the murders of Bebe King, six, Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, and Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine. He also admitted to possessing terrorist material and producing the toxin ricin. On Thursday, Rudakubana was sentenced to life with a minimum of 52 years for carrying out the horrific attack which was described as a pre-meditated attempt to commit indiscriminate mass murder. The judge also apologised to the families of the victims who, because of Rudakubanas surprise guilty plea, were not in court to see his admission. Heres everything we know about the devastating Southport attack of July 2024. What did Axel Rudakubana do? On the morning of 29 July 2024, then 17-year-old Axel Rudakubana travelled from his home village of Banks in Lancashire via taxi. He was then seen calmly exiting the vehicle and entering the dance studio on Hart Street. In just minutes, witnesses would describe seeing young girls being carried out of the building covered in blood with stab wounds to their backs, while their screaming parents rushed to find them. Advertised for children aged between years 2 and 6 at primary school, the summer event quickly turned to a scene from a horror movie, with an enormous emergency incident declared. Bebe and Elsie both died at the scene. Alice died in hospital the day after the incident. open image in gallery From left to right: Bebe King, Elsie Dot Stancombe and Alice da Silva Aguiar were murdered by Axel Rudakubana ( Merseyside Police/PA ) Ten others were injured, including eight children, yoga teacher Leanne Lucas and businessman John Hayes, who both had heroically attempted to prevent the attack. He has now pleaded guilty to all charges of murder and attempted murder, as well as terror-related offences. He was found to have a PDF file titled Military Studies in the Jihad Against the Tyrants: The Al-Qaeda Training Manual and charged with possessing information likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism. What happened after the attack? Shortly after the murders, violent riots broke out across the country. These were fuelled by far-right misinformation online which claimed that Rudakubana whose identity was not yet public was a Muslim and asylum seeker. Much of the violence was targeted towards Muslim and migrant communities. Over the course of six days, the rioting became the largest incident of social unrest in the UK since the 2011 riots. Attempting to tackle the violence, around 130 police officers were injured. By September, 1,280 arrests had been made, with 800 charged. open image in gallery Axel Rudakubana covered his face as he appeared in the dock at Liverpool Crown Court ( Elizabeth Cook/PA ) In the months since his crime and the subsequent riots, Rudakubana had remained consistently silent in the dock, with prosecutors and investigators compiling CCTV and witness statements to establish the case against him. In a previous appearance, the court heard that Rudakubana had been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, and had refused to engage with a psychiatrist at a police station. In the period leading up to the attack, he had also been unwilling to communicate with his family and had not been leaving the house. Rudakubanas not-guilty pleas were entered on his behalf in December 2024, as he chose not to speak. But as each charge was read to him on 20 January this year, the teenager quietly said guilty to each count. Public inquiry The home secretary announced on Monday that there will be a public inquiry into how Rudakubana came to be so dangerous and why Prevent failed to identify the terrible risk he posed to others. Yvette Cooper confirmed the 18-year-old had contact with a range of different state agencies throughout his teenage years before carrying out his meticulously planned rampage. Ms Cooper said in a statement: He was referred three times to the Prevent programme between December 2019 and April 2021 aged 13 and 14. He also had contact with the police, the courts, the Youth Justice system, social services and mental health services. Yet between them, those agencies failed to identify the terrible risk and danger to others that he posed. Announcing the public inquiry, the Home Secretary continued: Although, in line with CPS advice to preserve the integrity of the prosecution, we were constrained in what we were able to say at the time, the Home Office commissioned an urgent Prevent Learning Review during the summer into the three referrals that took place and why they were closed. We will publish further details this week, alongside new reforms to the Prevent programme. But we also need more independent answers on both Prevent and all the other agencies that came into contact with this extremely violent teenager as well as answers on how he came to be so dangerous, including through a public inquiry that can get to the truth about what happened and what needs to change. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy A woman was found dead from blunt-force trauma after police broke into her apartment following concerns about her welfare. Detectives launched a murder investigation after the 43-year-old victim was discovered in a flat in south east London on Friday. Police are hunting a suspect believed to be known to the dead woman. A Scotland Yard spokesman said: Officers gained entry to the property and found a woman,who was sadly deceased. Next of kin has been informed, however we await formal identification. A post mortem held on Saturday gave cause of death as blunt force trauma and head injury. DCI Suzanne Soren, Specialist Crime South, said: This is a deeply tragic incident and are thoughts are very much with the victims family who are being supported by specialist officers. At this early stage we believe the suspect was known to the victim and we are carrying out urgent enquiries to trace a named individual. The body was found under a mile away from where 14-year-old Kelyan Bokassa was fatally injured on a route 472 bus last Tuesday. Two boys, aged 15 and 16, who cannot be named for legal reasons, were charged in the early hours of Thursday, the Metropolitan Police said. Anyone with information which could assist the investigation is asked to call 101 quoting ref: CAD 5231/17Jan. Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Sir Keir Starmer is set to travel to Donald Trumps White House within weeks after the US president took office promising a new golden age of America. Mr Trump is weighing up whether to approve the appointment of Lord Mandelson as the UKs new ambassador in Washington, the fate of the Chagos Islands deal and the extent to which tariffs will hit Britain. In his inauguration address, he promised to tariff and tax foreign countries although gave no details of how he would implement his policy. Foreign Secretary David Lammy congratulated Mr Trump on his return to the White House, saying there are no greater allies than the UK and US. Our close economic, security, intelligence and cultural ties deliver growth and prosperity on both sides of the Atlantic, he said. I look forward to further strengthening the special relationship over the years to come. Mr Lammy is one of a series of high-profile Labour figures who have expressed trenchant opinions about Mr Trump in the past, calling him a racist and KKK/neo-Nazi sympathiser. Relations between the Trump camp and Sir Keirs party descended into a legal row after Labour volunteers campaigned for Kamala Harris during her election defeat. But Mr Lammy has sought to build bridges with the presidents allies and the Foreign Secretary and Prime Minister met Mr Trump in New York in September. The US president is known to admire the royal family, and the King sent Mr Trump a personal message of congratulations on his inauguration. One potential issue for the special relationship is Mr Trumps desire to use economic tariffs to protect American businesses. Imposing tariffs on the UK would make British exports to the US more expensive for consumers. Outlining his plans, Mr Trump said: Instead of taxing our citizens to enrich other countries, we will tariff and tax foreign countries to enrich our citizens. For this purpose, we are establishing the external revenue service to collect all tariffs, duties and revenues, it will be massive amounts of money pouring into our Treasury coming from foreign sources. Prime ministers have historically not attended the inauguration of a new president, but have sought to be early visitors to the White House. Mr Lammy said: I think that when you look at past prime ministers, its taken between a week or up to a month to come to Washington. The importance is the strength of the relationship and the serious discussions that we have. In the end, we have war in Europe, we have a ceasefire in the Middle East, but its incredibly fragile, and there are important malign actors like Iran that weve got to discuss with the United States and, of course, our growing trade relations with the United States. So, lots to discuss, and Im very confident that Keir Starmer will be discussing this with Donald Trump within the next few weeks. The inauguration speech took place inside the Capitol due to Washingtons freezing weather, but Mr Trump raised the temperature with a typically bombastic speech which included: A promise that the golden age of America begins right now. On the Panama Canal, an assertion that we didnt give it to China, we gave it to Panama and were taking it back. A pledge to pursue our manifest destiny into the stars, launching American astronauts to plant the stars and stripes on the planet Mars. The declaration of a national emergency on the US border with Mexico. A commitment to drill, baby, drill to extract gas and oil reserves. The UK Government has sought to highlight the strength of the transatlantic relationship despite the political differences with Mr Trump. Following speculation that Labour grandee Lord Mandelsons diplomatic appointment could be blocked by the US, Mr Lammy said he is the right man for this moment with experience as a former business secretary and European Union trade chief. Hes looking forward to presenting his credentials to Donald Trump, Mr Lammy said. And despite opposition within the Trump camp to the Chagos Islands deal, Mr Lammy said he was confident that the intelligence and military agencies in the US would persuade the new president it was a good agreement. The UK plans to cede sovereignty of the British Indian Ocean Territory to Mauritius, leasing back the strategically important Diego Garcia base used by the US for 99 years at a reported annual cost of around 90 million. Sir Keir and Mr Lammy have argued that International Court of Justice rulings in favour of Mauritius had jeopardised the legal status of the base. But allies of Mr Trump, including his pick as secretary of state Marco Rubio, have voiced concerns this could allow Chinese influence to increase on the islands around the base. Mr Lammy said: Its right and proper that Donald Trump looks at that deal and is confident about that deal. But I would say that this has been through an inter-agency process in the United States and I suspect he will come to the same conclusions as the last administration. Shadow foreign secretary Dame Priti Patel, former prime minister Boris Johnson and Reform UK leader Nigel Farage are among the UK political figures in Washington ahead of Mondays ceremonies. In a video posted on X, formerly Twitter, on Saturday, Dame Priti said she was there to represent the Conservative Party, with whom the Republicans have a decades-long relationship. Downing Street on Monday dismissed suggestions that past comments made by Cabinet ministers were linked to the lack of UK ministerial attendance at the inauguration. Number 10 also denied there were concerns that the US could be forming a closer relationship with Italy after the countrys premier Giorgia Meloni was invited to the event in Washington. Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said Mr Trumps support for the UK is deeply valued. I look forward to seeing our nations bonds strengthened as our two countries work together for a better future. Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy A body has been recovered from a river near where missing sisters Henrietta and Eliza Huszti were last seen in Aberdeen. The siblings, both 32 and part of a set of triplets, were reported missing by their landlady after telling her they planned to end their tenancy. The pair who are originally from Hungary are described as white women of slim build with long brown hair and were last seen on a bridge over the River Dee on 7 January. Extensive searches were carried out and officers said on Friday that a body has been recovered from the water. Police Scotland said it had been made aware that a body had been seen in the River Dee, near Queen Elizabeth Bridge, shortly before 8am on Friday. A spokesperson for the force said: We were made aware of the body of a person seen in the River Dee near Queen Elizabeth Bridge in Aberdeen around 7.55am on Friday, 31 January, 2025. The body has been recovered from the water and enquiries are ongoing. open image in gallery Eliza and Henrietta Huszti were last seen on CCTV in Market Street in Aberdeen ( PA Wire ) A police helicopter, dog branch and marine unit were among the specialist resources involved in rescue efforts focusing on the river and its surrounding area, but this search was ended on Monday. Their brother Joszef Huszti told the BBC that relatives do not understand their disappearance, adding the sisters mother had a phone call with them just days beforehand when everything appeared normal. When did sisters go missing and what are final sightings? Eliza and Henrietta were last spotted on CCTV in Market Street at Victoria Bridge at around 2.12am on Tuesday 7 January. They were then seen crossing the bridge and turning right onto a footpath next to the River Dee, heading in the direction of the Aberdeen Boat Club. The area was covered in snow and ice when the sisters disappeared, following a bitter cold snap across the country. open image in gallery Sisters Eliza and Henrietta Huszti visited the area where they were last seen the previous day ( PA Wire ) Police said there is nothing to suggest either of the women left the immediate area after 2.12am on 7 January. Investigations into the sisters disappearance have now confirmed both women, who were wearing rucksacks, were seen at the same bridge at around 2.50pm on Monday 6 January. CCTV shows the sisters spent five minutes at the footpath and Victoria Bridge but did not engage with anyone else. The siblings are then seen making their way through the city centre, via the Union Square shopping centre, back to their flat in the Charlotte Street area of Aberdeen. Police said there is nothing to indicate they left it again until shortly before they were last seen at the River Dee. open image in gallery Superintendent David Howieson said police remain open-minded about what happened to Eliza and Henrietta Huszti ( PA Wire ) What have the police said? Extensive searches were carried out on Friday and Police Scotland said a body was recovered from the water. Police Scotland said it had been made aware that a body had been seen in the River Dee, near Queen Elizabeth Bridge, shortly before 8am on Friday. Last week, Police Scotland said there is still nothing to suggest criminality or suspicious circumstances when it comes to the sisters disappearance. As several hours of CCTV footage are being examined by officers, superintendent David Howieson said: I would again urge anyone with any information which could help find Eliza and Henrietta to get in touch. We remain in regular contact with Eliza and Henriettas family in Hungary and we will continue to provide them with support at this very difficult time. Searches will continue in the coming days and our officers will continue to do everything they can to find Eliza and Henrietta. It emerged that a text message was sent from Henriettas mobile phone to the sisters landlady at 2.12am on 7 January, from the area of Victoria Bridge, indicating they would not be returning to the flat. open image in gallery Police divers have been searching the River Dee as investigations continue ( PA Wire ) The phone was then disconnected from the network and has not been active since, police said. The following day, the sisters personal belongings were found inside the flat and the landlady reported her concerns to police. Mr Howieson previously said: We remain extremely concerned for Eliza and Henrietta as our searches enter a second week. He said police were trying to remain open-minded in terms of what the wider circumstances may have been, as the behaviour of the duo was considered to be very out of character, with no known mental health concerns that might offer an explanation. He did acknowledge the sisters may have come to harm, adding: That has to be a theory in terms of access to the river ... but what we dont have is any indication that a third party has been involved. open image in gallery Police Scotland said there is still nothing to suggest criminality or suspicious circumstances when it comes to the sisters disappearance ( PA Media ) What have the family said? The reportedly close-knit family released a statement through Police Scotland, where they said: This has been a very worrying and upsetting time for our family. In the desperate plea, the family said: All we want is for them to be found. If you think you might have any information which could help the police with finding Eliza and Henrietta then please pass this on as quickly as you can. We appreciate all the support our family has been given over the past few days and we would like our privacy to be respected at this time. open image in gallery The sisters with their brother Joszef Huszti who says the family does not understand their disappearance ( Family handout ) Speaking from his home in Budapest, their brother Mr Huszti told the BBC: We don't understand this whole thing. That they wrote a message to their landlady, that they wanted to immediately end their tenancy agreement. We didnt have any information about that. So thats the strange thing, that the girls didnt tell us anything about that. They never mentioned any such plan. He previously told the broadcaster that their mother had spoken to the sisters on Saturday 4 January when everything seemed fine. He also warned on social media: I ask everyone to respect each other. No one should spread any fake news. He added on behalf of the family: Thank you all for being with us at this difficult time. The third sister in the set of triplets, Edit Huszti, confirmed she had spoken to the pair on New Years Eve, describing them as happy and cheerful on a video call. Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy A vet has given his brutally honest advice about the five dog breeds that he would advise pet owners to think twice about owning. In a divisive new video, which has three million views on TikTok, South African vet Amir Anwary shared his top five breeds that might seem like the perfect fit for pet owners lives, but can lead to expensive vet bills and stressful lifestyle changes. As a result, he would never own them, as a veterinarian. Mr Anwary shared the video to educate potential dog owners and welcomed anyone who already owned one of the dog breeds mentioned to respond if they agreed or otherwise. The vet mentioned that his first breed may cause controversy, as he said a lot of people might fight me on this, but he would never own a dachshund. He explained that the small dogs could be lovely, but they could also be stubborn and bark the whole night if they want to with a bout of separation anxiety on top. open image in gallery The vet described dachshunds as stubborn" ( Getty Images ) As well as a number of behavioural issues, the South Africa native mentioned they were also prone to a condition called IBDD, short for Intervertebral Disc Disease, a form of back issues which could be compounded by the fact the breed can struggle with obesity. If you own a dachshund, you need to be on top of it, he said. Another, less surprising dog to appear on Mr Anwarys list was the French Bulldog, a popular breed whose health issues are already widely reported. He said that this cute, adorable little abomination suffers from a number of medical issues, claiming that if it is not breathing issues, its skin problems. If its not skin problems, its back problems. open image in gallery He described French Bulldogs as adorable little abominations" ( Getty Images ) The vet added that they were frequent visitors to his office and were so expensive to get in the first place, which put him off ever getting one himself. He described a number of famously active dog breeds, such as a Belgian Malinois and a Border Collie, as being high maintenance. He called Belgian Malinois dogs a machine as they require constant physical and mental stimulation. Worse, if they dont receive that attention, they become destructive. Meanwhile, Border Collies may seem like the perfect four-legged friend, but Mr Anwary said that as a working dog they need a lot of attention. Theyre always on, they always need physical and mental stimulation, and I could not possibly provide a Border Collie with [what] it needs to stay happy, he said. Like the Belgian Malinois, he advised that the dog could also become destructive when unhappy. open image in gallery Mr Anwary said that Border Collies basically have ADHD ( Getty Images/iStockphoto ) Mr Anwarys final choice for a dog breed he might never own particularly surprised viewers, as the four-legged friend in question is widely considered to be one of the most popular choices for a family pet. I know you guys are going to be like, are you crazy? Labradors are amazing, and yes they are, he said to caveat his opinion. The vet continued that labradors as a dog breed are very prone to becoming overweight and they love to eat absolutely everything. open image in gallery Labradors made a surprising addition to the list ( Getty Images/iStockphoto ) What do you get when you cross a dog that loves to eat absolutely everything with a dog that gets fat when it eats anything? You get a dog that is perpetually overweight, he quipped, adding that as a weak owner who loves to give his pets treats, this wouldnt end well in his household. Amir regularly posts pet advice to his audience of 732,000 followers on TikTok and 173,000 on Instagram, from debunking myths about animals to providing pet food reviews. Top dog breeds not to own: 1. Dachshunds 2. French Bulldogs 3. Belgian Malinois 4. Border Collies 5. Labradors Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy The King has sent a personal message of congratulations to President Donald Trump on his inauguration, reflecting on the enduring special relationship between the UK and the United States, Buckingham Palace said. Charless private written words were delivered to mark Mr Trump being sworn into office as US president for a second time. Donald Trump, who overcame impeachments, criminal indictments and a pair of assassination attempts to win another term in the White House, will be sworn in Monday as the 47th US president. open image in gallery Charles has sent a private message to Donald Trump ( PA Archive ) It is understood all options remain possible for an incoming state visit by Mr Trump to the UK and a visit by Charles to the US, but no plans are currently in the diary. Foreign monarchs, presidents or prime ministers are invited to visit the King on the advice and request of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, with the decision down to the Government. Mr Trump has a strong affinity for the Royal Family and recently met the Prince of Wales while visiting France for the ceremonial opening of Notre Dame. The US leader boasted he had automatic chemistry with the late Queen, and has hailed the King as a really wonderful guy. open image in gallery Donald Trump and the late Queen Elizabeth II make a toast during the state banquet at Buckingham Palace in June 2019 ( PA Archive ) The King and Queen may be invited to Washington next year to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the US Declaration of Independence, although the Palace has not yet announced any incoming or outgoing state visits. It comes as Sir Keir Starmer will hold talks with Donald Trump in Washington within weeks as the special relationship faces strains under the incoming president. Foreign Secretary David Lammy said Sir Keir would seek early talks with Mr Trump on a range of issues including trade, the war in Ukraine and the fragile ceasefire in the Middle East. Relations between the Trump camp and Sir Keirs party descended into a legal row after Labour volunteers campaigned for Kamala Harris during her election defeat. But Mr Lammy has sought to build bridges with the incoming presidents allies and the Foreign Secretary and Prime Minister met Mr Trump in New York in September. Prime ministers have historically not attended the inauguration of a new president, but have sought to be early visitors to the White House. A number of UK political figures have gathered in Washington DC ahead of the inauguration the Government will be represented by outgoing ambassador to the US Dame Karen Pierce. Shadow foreign secretary Dame Priti Patel and Reform UK leader Nigel Farage are among the UK political figures in Washington ahead of Mondays ceremonies. Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy The body of a missing woman has been found in dead in a car that was submerged in a river, according to police. Lincolnshire Police launched a search for Penny, 54, after she went missing from the East Ferry area on Tuesday last week. The force announced she had been found on Friday after deploying drones, vehicle patrols and officers on foot in the area to find her. There remains an ongoing investigation into how the vehicle entered the water, police said. In a statement on social media, Lincolnshire Police said: We are saddened to report that in the search for missing Penny, she has been found deceased. An officer found tracks leading to the River Trent, just north of East Ferry, while searching the local area. A red Audi TT was recovered from the water. Officers closed the East Ferry Road between Susworth Road junction and the High Street as part of the investigation and recovered the vehicle from the river. Sadly, a woman was found deceased in the vehicle, and she has been formally identified as Penny, the statement continued. Pennys family have been made aware of Pennys death and are being supported by officers, and ask for privacy at this time. Police asked that people do not speculate, and remember that her loved ones could be distressed by rumours and speculation. Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy UFO-shaped cloud displays have appeared over the sky in a rare sight for parts of the UK. Several UFO sightings over northern skies in the UK have previously been explained by these cloud formations. The symmetrical, smooth oval or round forms that the unique cloud formations create have been likened to the flying saucers of science fiction. open image in gallery Lenticular clouds over English Heritages Warkworth Castle in Northumberland ( PA ) They can occasionally appear flat and layered, so some people also call them pancake clouds. However, their official term is lenticular clouds, which comes from a Latin word that means "lens-like." The clouds, which are quite rare in the UK, were spotted in northern parts of the country earlier this week, over Gateshead, Newcastle, Cumbria and Scotland. They form when the air is stable and winds blow across hills and mountains from the same or similar direction at different heights through the troposphere - the lowest layer of Earths atmosphere, according to the Met Office. The forecaster explains: When air blows across a mountain range, in certain circumstances, it can set up a train of large standing waves in the air downstream, rather like ripples forming in a river when water flows over an obstruction. If there is enough moisture in the air, the rising motion of the wave will cause water vapour to condense, forming the unique appearance of lenticular clouds. open image in gallery Lenticular clouds form over Whitley Bay in North Tyneside ( PA ) There are three main types of lenticular clouds: altocumulus standing lenticular (ACSL), stratocumulus standing lenticular (SCSL), and cirrocumulus standing lenticular (CCSL), varying in altitude above the ground. Lenticular clouds are a visible sign of mountain waves in the air, according to the Met Office. However, these waves can be present beyond the clouds and may exist even when no clouds are formed. The clouds can result in very strong gusty winds in one place, with still air only a few hundred metres away. Pilots of powered aircraft tend to avoid flying near lenticular clouds because of the turbulence associated with them. Skilled glider pilots like them because they can tell from the shape of the clouds where the air will be rising. Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy The UK Government has announced the Stormont Brake mechanism of the Windsor Framework will not be pulled to halt the appliance of updated EU rules on packaging and labelling of chemicals which apply in Northern Ireland. Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn said the tests had not been met to initiate the oversight mechanism contained in the UK and EUs deal over post-Brexit trading arrangements. DUP leader Gavin Robinson urged the Government to stand up for Northern Ireland, insisting the decision is wrong. But Northern Irelands First Minister Michelle ONeill called for pragmatism in dealing with trading issues which arose as a result of Brexit. Unionists in the Northern Ireland Assembly had requested in December that the Government consider applying the brake over the EU amending legislation which will apply to the labelling and packaging of chemicals such as sealants, house cleaning materials or industrial chemicals. This had required Mr Benn to consider if the legal tests to trigger the mechanism had been met. The UK Government can apply the brake if it is satisfied the amending legislation would have a significant impact on the everyday life of communities in Northern Ireland that is liable to persist. But Mr Benn wrote to the Speaker of the Northern Ireland Assembly Edwin Poots on Monday to state that he did not believe the legal test had been met. The NI Secretary pointed out that the labelling requirements for chemicals in Northern Ireland are already different from the rest of the UK, because it is a devolved matter. Mr Benn also set out a commitment that the Government will take future steps necessary to avoid regulatory barriers between GB and Northern Ireland arising from the legislation. The Governments assessment is that the overwhelming majority of businesses within the UK internal market also trade with the EU market Hilary Benn He said: I underline the Governments commitment to ensuring, through the application of our future approach on labelling and packaging of chemicals across the United Kingdom, we will take the steps necessary to avoid new regulatory barriers arising from our classification, labelling and packaging regimes for chemicals that would undermine supplies into Northern Ireland. The Northern Ireland Secretary said the submission he had received from Stormonts Windsor Framework Democratic Scrutiny Committee had raised concerns over a potential risk that the updated EU rules would lead to companies withdrawing from Northern Ireland. He said: The Governments assessment is that the overwhelming majority of businesses within the UK internal market also trade with the EU market. As such there is a strong ongoing incentive for businesses who supply across the UK internal market to ensure they have made the relevant changes in order to continue to serve those markets. Indeed, in the committee submission, no examples have been given of specific products that might no longer be available in Northern Ireland or of how this might affect the everyday life of communities. DUP leader Mr Robinson responded: The Governments decision not to activate the Stormont Brake on this important issue is wrong. The Secretary of States decision to ignore publicly presented evidence from industry representatives about the updated EU law on chemical labelling is a grave mistake that will exacerbate trade friction between Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Trade flows in chemicals between Great Britain and Northern Ireland are worth in the region of 1 billion annually. Industry experts have warned that the harmful consequences of this regulation will be increased costs for manufacturers and new barriers to trade within the United Kingdom. But speaking to MLAs in the Northern Ireland Assembly, Ms ONeill said: The Secretary of State has made his call in terms of the Stormont Brake. We just need to find ways to make things work. Where there is pragmatism retired, lets find ways to do that. The Windsor Framework, and its predecessor the Northern Ireland (NI) Protocol, require checks and customs paperwork on goods moving from Great Britain into Northern Ireland. Under the arrangements, which were designed to ensure no hardening of the Irish land border post-Brexit, Northern Ireland continues to follow many EU trade and customs rules. The brake is a mechanism that allows a minimum of 30 Stormont MLAs, from at least two parties, to refer a proposed EU law change to the UK Government. The Government then makes an assessment of the proposed change on Northern Ireland and can ultimately veto its application in the region. If the Government had ruled that the brake had been appropriately pulled, it would have directly engaged with the EU to find a solution. The DUP, backed by other unionists, initiated the oversight mechanism in December. Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Get our free View from Westminster email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Yvette Cooper has pleaded for respect ahead of the trial of the 18-year-old accused of killing three girls in a knife attack at a Taylor Swift-themed Southport dance class. The home secretary warned it will be a deeply traumatic and distressing time for the families of the victims and the people of Southport, and said the most important thing for all of us is to ensure that the legal process can take its course. Axel Rudakubana, of Banks, Lancashire, will stand trial at Liverpool Crown Court charged with the murders of Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine; Bebe King, six; and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven. He is also accused of the attempted murder of eight other children, who cannot be named for legal reasons, class instructor Leanne Lucas and businessman John Hayes. He is also charged with of possession of a knife on the day of the attack, production of a biological toxin, ricin, and possession of information likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing to commit an act of terrorism. Ms Cooper said: This will be a deeply traumatic and distressing time for the families of Alice, Bebe and Elsie, the survivors, and the people of Southport and the whole country will be thinking of them. open image in gallery Yvette Cooper warned it will be a deeply traumatic and distressing time for victims families and the people of Southport ( PA Wire ) The most important thing for all of us is to ensure that the legal process can take its course, to respect the difficult job the court has to do so there is a fair trial and justice can be done. There will be a time at the end of this trial to discuss what happened and the action needed in response to this horrific tragedy. But for now, and until the proceedings have concluded, the priority for all of us must be to ensure justice is done. Her intervention is a warning to social media users, who have repeatedly spread misinformation about Rudakubana online as well as suggesting the government engaged in a cover-up over the killings. open image in gallery Court artist sketch by Elizabeth Cook of Southport stabbings suspect Axel Rudakubana (Elizabeth Cook/PA) ( PA Wire ) The stabbings triggered a week of rioting across parts of England and Northern Ireland after social media posts falsely identified the suspect as an asylum-seeker who had recently arrived in Britain by boat. Violent groups made up mostly of men who were mobilised by far-right activists on social media attacked mosques and hotels housing migrants, tossed beer bottles, rocks and other weapons at police, and set fire to cars as they clashed with officers in dozens of cities. More than 1,200 people were arrested over the disorder and hundreds have been jailed. Rudakubana has not spoken during earlier court hearings and not guilty pleas were entered on his behalf when he failed to respond after the charges were put to him. The trial is expected to last up to four weeks. Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Get our free View from Westminster email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy The UKs defence budget could face billions of pounds worth of cuts if Donald Trump imposes tariffs on the UK, a new forecast has warned. Mr Trump, who was sworn in as president on Monday, sparked fears of a global trade war after threatening to impose sweeping tariffs of as much as 20 per cent on all goods coming into the country a figure that rises to 60 per cent for those from China. Independent forecasts, included in new research from the House of Commons library commissioned by business and trade committee chair Liam Byrne, suggest that tariffs from the US could cause the UKs GDP to decline by as much as 0.9 per cent. The research, first reported in The Times, predicts that such a shift could lead to defence spending being reduced by 1.82bn by 2029-30. open image in gallery Donald Trump has threatened to introduce tariffs on a number of countries ( WhiteHouse.gov ) In the worst case scenario, tariffs could knock nearly 2 billion off defence by 2030, Mr Byrne told The Times. Higher duties mean weaker defence. Britain needs to explain in really simple terms that we want to raise our defence spending, but that the amount is going to be smaller if growth is less because of American tariffs. It comes amid mounting pressure from Mr Trump on the UK and its European allies to boost defence spending and stark warnings about Britains defence capabilities. On Saturday, a former security adviser to Gordon Brown warned that the UKs military is grotesquely underfunded after Sir Keir indicated that Britain could send peacekeeping troops to Ukraine. Lord West of Spithead, a retired admiral of the Royal Navy and Mr Browns former adviser, said such a move would be highly risky, arguing the hollowed out armed forces do not have the resources to do so. There is also growing concern about the strength of Ms Trumps commitment to Nato, following repeated threats to pull out of the alliance if member states do not spend more. The government is attempting to persuade Mr Trump to spare the UK from sweeping tariffs, with Sir Keir set to hold talks with Mr Trump in Washington within weeks of him entering the White House. open image in gallery Foreign Secretary David Lammy has said he would seek early talks with the new president (Stefan Rousseau/PA) ( PA Wire ) It comes as the US president-elect weighs up whether to approve the appointment of Lord Mandelson as the UKs new ambassador in Washington and the fate of the Chagos Islands deal, as well as considering the extent to which tariffs will hit Britain. On Monday, Foreign secretary David Lammy said the prime minister would seek early talks with the president on a range of issues including trade, the war in Ukraine and the fragile ceasefire in the Middle East. He told the BBC: "I think that when you look at past prime ministers, its taken between a week or up to a month to come to Washington. The importance is the strength of the relationship and the serious discussions that we have. "In the end, we have war in Europe, we have a ceasefire in the Middle East, but its incredibly fragile, and there are important malign actors like Iran that weve got to discuss with the United States and, of course, our growing trade relations with the United States. "So, lots to discuss, and Im very confident that Keir Starmer will be discussing this with Donald Trump within the next few weeks." A government spokesperson said: We forward to working with President-elect Trump in office, including on his policy priorities and to improve UK-US trading relations to support businesses on both sides of the Atlantic. National security is the foundation of this governments Plan for Change, which is why we have backed the Ministry of Defence with an extra 2.9billion and have a cast iron commitment to increase defence spending to 2.5 per cent of GDP. We will always do what is in our national interest for our economy, businesses and the British people, including free and open trade. Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Get our free View from Westminster email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Donald Trump boasted his second term in office marks the beginning of a golden age for the United States and declared that God had saved him from an assassins bullet to make America great again. In a characteristically bombastic speech from the Capitol in Washington DC, the 47th president of the United States laid out a radical right-wing domestic and foreign agenda. Surrounded by members of Congress, former presidents and Supreme Court justices, he pledged: Every single day ... I will very simply put America first. He vowed to strip out diversity measures and federal protections for minorities, adding that his government would only recognise two genders. And he scrapped net zero policies in favour of stockpiling American oil, urging energy giants to drill baby, drill! for what he called liquid gold. open image in gallery Donald Trump is sworn in as the 47th president of the United States by chief justice John Roberts as Melania Trump holds the Bible in the US Capitol rotunda ( AFP via Getty Images ) It followed his official swearing-in an event brought inside because of the bitterly cold temperatures that contained the usual dignity and pageantry of the inauguration. But his speech, more suited to a campaign rally, quickly turned against many of those listening in the room. Present were not only Americas political elite, but also politicians from around the world including populist allies Nigel Farage and Italian PM Giorgia Meloni, as well as former Tory prime minister Boris Johnson. Leaders of Americas new tech industry also came to pay homage, including Elon Musk who helped him win the election and who cheered when Mr Trump promised to plant the stars and stripes on Mars, a project championed by the X/Twitter owner. open image in gallery Trump is back in the White House for his second term ( AP ) Sitting in the front row were Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, forced to watch as Mr Trump publicly berated their record and tore their agenda apart before their eyes. Mr Trump accused them of being a radical and corrupt establishment that has extracted power and wealth from our citizens. Referring to his own legal challenges over the last four years he vowed to end the weaponisation of the law. In watch parties in the US capital and around the US, Maga Republican supporters loudly cheered every sentence as Mr Trump voted to restore respect for America around the world. But the address contained a huge threat to other countries and will have Sir Keir Starmers government in the UK among others worried as Mr Trump vowed to impose tariffs to boost American prosperity. Americans have been paying taxes to enrich other countries thats going to stop, he said, promising tariffs to enrich Americans. open image in gallery Former prime minister Boris Johnson resurfaced to attend the inauguration ( Getty ) Mr Trump declared the US would be an international peacemaker and end wars, while also repeating his intention to take back the Panama Canal. Accusing Panama of breaking the treaty by giving China control of the canal, he added: It should never have been given away. The president did not specifically mention Ukraine with many in Europe holding their breath over what he might do to curtail that war. But he indicated that the US would be ending its involvement in international conflicts. The UK government is also likely to be told that its attempts to hand over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius will be opposed by the Trump administration because of the US-UK Diego Garcia base. However, the newly sworn-in presidents top priority was to tackle the migrant crisis, declaring a national emergency with immediate effect on the southern border with Mexico. open image in gallery Giorgia Meloni with Argentinian president Javier Milei were among the right-wing guests ( Getty ) He revived a law from 1798 the Alien Enemies Act to tackle cartels and foreign criminal gangs operating in Americas inner cities. He said he would be deporting millions of illegal aliens in an uncompromising speech delivered not to the audience around him but to his devoted supporters around America. Mr Trump vowed to restore American greatness with a patriotic administration and make it greater than ever before. He also put his weight behind Elon Musks Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) which promises to slash the size of the state. Mr Farage and other populists hoping to seize power in Western democracies will be watching to see if the 47th president can succeed in his agenda. Meanwhile, liberal and progressive governments such as Sir Keirs in the UK are bracing for a backlash from the Trump administration. open image in gallery Trump did not pull any punches in his speech, which echoed the vision he set out in 2016 ( Reuters ) Sources close to the incoming president have warned he intends to humiliate Sir Keir over his controversial choice of Lord Mandelson as ambassador to the US. He also intends to have a bellicose attitude towards the EU and will double down on efforts to force Nato allies to massively increase their defence spending. Sir Keir issued a statement welcoming the new president into office with clouds hanging over the UK-US relationship which allies of Trump have warned is not special with the Labour government in place. But with Mr Trump vowing that Americas decline ends today, his protectionist nationalism is set to change the international order. Addressing a crowd of his supporters later, President Trump joked about his wifes large hat, saying that she nearly blew away earlier when the two stepped outside to see Mr Biden off. She was being elevated off the ground, he joked. Meanwhile, Mr Biden and his wife, Jill, boarded a military helicopter on the grounds of the Capitol and headed to Joint Base Andrews in Maryland for a farewell ceremony with staff. He was later due to fly to Santa Ynez, California, to unwind with his family. Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Get our free View from Westminster email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Donald Trumps second-term will begin today, kicking off four years which are likely to push the US-UK special relationship to its limits. Much has been made of the tension between Sir Keir Starmer and the incoming US president in the build up to the day, with the pair seeming to disagree on a number of fronts. How the prime minister will navigate this challenge will now be a key question for the rest of this government one its likely he and his ministers never wanted to find out the answer to. But you meet the world as it is not you would like it to be, as foreign secretary David Lammy said when pressed on his view of Trumps second term. Alongside other ministers, he has changed his tone on the new US president from years past, instead taking a diplomatic approach with clear hopes to get off on the right foot. open image in gallery Incoming US president Donald Trump has spoken of his intention to introduce trade tariffs (Matt Rourke/AP) ( AP ) The new US president, meanwhile, remains characteristically unapologetic. He has pledged to bring in 200 executive orders on day one of his presidency alone, with implications that will sweep beyond the US and across the globe. Here are some of the key issues that may soon arise between the UK and the US: Preparing for tariffs The most beautiful word in the dictionary according to Trump, is tariff. The incoming president has said he plans to put a 10 to 25 per cent tax on imports from countries which have been ripping [the US] off for years. This is all but confirmed for China, Mexico and Canda, but for others it remains less clear. Whitehall officials will be hoping the new US president wont seek to impose a blanket border tax that includes UK exporters. The measure would be disruptive to many of the countrys businesses, at time when the economy is already struggling to see any real growth. Ministers will likely now need to play a diplomatic balancing act, waiting to see what Trumps approach to the UK is and preparing for all scenarios. Given Labours manifesto pledge to reset the countrys relationship with the EU, its thought that the prime minister could look to offset any US tariffs by seeking out stronger trade ties with countries across the channel. open image in gallery Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and Foreign Secretary David Lammy at the White House in September 2024 following talks with Joe Biden (Stefan Rousseau/PA) ( PA Wire ) The Liberal Democrats have called for the government to go further and form a new customs union with the EU to pre-empt any negative effects from Mr Trumps presidency. However, ministers recent statements indicate that the government is not looking not to make any moves that could be seen as antagonistic to the Trump administration, instead trying to salvage a good working relationship. The war of words continues But its no secret that Keir Starmer and Donald Trump are not the most politically, or personally, aligned. Whilst on the campaign trail, the incoming presidents team accused the far-left Labour party of acting unlawfully by sending volunteers to assist with opponent Kamala Harris presidential bid and the war of words hasnt stopped there. Many of them have been said, or typed, by Trump ally Elon Musk. The worlds richest man began making appearances at the incoming presidents campaign events towards the end of the trail, but did enough to earn himself a place at the Mr Trumps side as a head of his new government efficiency unit. Not long after securing his new job, the tech billionaire began taking aim at Sir Keir and his government, often to an extreme degree. Taking to Twitter / X, the platform he owns, at the start of the year, Mr Musk accused home office minister Jess Phillips of being a rape genocide apologist who deserves to be in prison. He also wrote that the prime minister was complicit in the worst mass crime in the history of Britain. open image in gallery Nigel Farage and Party Treasurer Nick Candy with Elon Musk (Stuart Mitchell/Reform UK/PA) ( Stuart Mitchell/Reform UK ) Paired with his outspoken support of Reform UK (although not always of its leader, Nigel Farage) Sir Keir has not found a natural ally in Elon Musk. Mr Trump has likewise expressed support for the UKs relatively new right-wing party, calling Mr Farage a friend at one of his 2024 rallies. The new president may even go so far as to block Labours pick Peter Mandelson for the UK ambassador to the US, The Independent recently reported. This extremely rare step would undoubtedly be a disappointing act of hostility for UK ministers. Nato and Ukraine Another area where the incoming Trump administration and Labour are likely to clash is on defence spending. The incoming president has said he feels the US spends more on defence than most Nato countries, calling for a new target of fie per cent GDP. This is up considerably from the current two per cent target. The UK currently pledges 2.3 per cent, with intentions ro raise it to 2.5 per cent by this year. Given the tight economic contraints outlined by the Treasury, its unlikely calls to increase this futher would be welcomed by UK officials. The incoming president has also said he would like to bring the war in Ukraine to a speedy end and will now be able to use the USs massive expenditure on Zelenskys forces as a bargaining chip in discussions. open image in gallery Prime minister Sir Keir Starmer meets with Ukraines President Zelensky, January 16, 2024 ( AFP via Getty Images ) But some of his comments have prompted concern that Mr Trump may cede key Russian demands as part of a deal. This could include granting Vladimir Putins regime large regions of the country, or deferring Ukraines Nato membership bid. The incoming president has previously said that he understands [Russias] feelings about having somebody right on their doorstep. If the war in Ukraine does move from military support to a possible peacekeeping operation, the prime minister has said that the UK will play full part in the plans. Chagos deal Another point of contention in the build up to Trumps second term has been the UKs ongoing discussions over the fate of the Chagos Islands. Its thought that Labour officials were hoping to get a deal over the line with Mauritius before the incoming presidents inauguration, but has now been put on hold. Although the plan had already been greenlit by the Biden administration, the prime ministers spokesperson has said Trump will now be given the opportunity to consider the deal before it goes ahead. The deal was expected to be signed by 22 January, a Mauritian source said, but overnight the British position changed. It was recently revealed that cross-Atlantic discussions between right-wing Tory and Reform politicians and Donald Trumps team took place to ensure the deal was put on hold. The UK deal would see the sovereignty of the islands given back to Mauritius, but allow a key US-UK military base to be leased back. Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Get our free View from Westminster email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Jeremy Corbyn and John McDonnell agreed to be interviewed by police under caution after they appeared at a pro-Palestine rally in central London. The former Labour leader and his former shadow chancellor were among hundreds of people who attended a Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) protest on Saturday, that resulted in 77 arrests. Police claim demonstrators broke through a police line as they marched from a rally in Whitehall. The Metropolitan Police said three men, aged 75, 73 and 61, had agreed to attend voluntarily at a police station in central London to be interviewed under caution on Sunday afternoon. The two independent MPs have yet to comment. The march was adjusted to be a static rally after police curtailed organisers plans for a march past the BBC and near a synagogue, and conditions were put in place that prevented people involved from entering specific areas. open image in gallery Pro-Palestine protesters, including Jeremy Corbyn and John McDonnell, marched from a static rally to Trafalgar Square (Jeff Moore/PA) ( PA Wire ) Thousands of demonstrators, including Mr Corbyn, 75, the MP for Islington North and Mr McDonnell, 73, who represents Hayes and Harlington, marched towards Trafalgar Square from Whitehall after speeches were made at the rally. The Metropolitan Police announced on Saturday that 77 people had been arrested the highest number across more than 20 national PSC protests since October 2023. In a post on X, on Saturday, the Met posted a photo of what it described as a group that forced its way through the police line being held at the north-west corner of Trafalgar Square. In response, Corbyn said in a separate post: This is not an accurate description of events at all. I was part of a delegation of speakers, who wished to peacefully carry and lay flowers in memory of children in Gaza who had been killed. This was facilitated by the police. We did not force our way through. open image in gallery Demonstrators breached a police line as they marched (Jeff Moore/PA) ( PA Wire ) McDonnell corroborated Corbyns view in his own post on X saying: We did not force our way thru, the police allowed us to go thru & when stopped in Trafalgar Square we laid our flowers down & dispersed. The Met said 24 people had also been bailed and 48 remain in custody. In a statement, the force said the nine people charged - who include Chris Nineham, a chief steward on the march, and Corbyns brother Piers Corbyn - are due to appear at Westminster Magistrates Court in the coming days. It added that three men, who the force did not name, have agreed to attend voluntarily at a central London police station to be interviewed under criminal caution. A 75-year-old, 73-year-old and 61-year-old will be interviewed by officers this afternoon, the Met said. Scotland Yard said those charged with public order offences include: Angela Zelter, 73, of Heyton, Powes Tessa Roe-Stanton, 20, of Breakspears Road SE4 Monday Rosenfeld, 21, of Rhodeswell Road E14 Starr Thomas, 20, of Breakspears Road SE4 Christian Adair, 23, of Adelaide Avenue SE4 Matthew Brennan, 44, of Church Road, St George, Bristol David Ok, 40, of Teighnmouth Road NW2 Piers Corbyn, 77, of East Street SE17 Christopher Nineham, 62, of Daling Way E3 A PSC spokesperson urged police to release those who are still being detained. In a statement, the group said: The delegation walked peacefully up to the police line at Whitehall with their flowers and requested to be let through. Our footage clearly shows the Police choosing to beckon them through. The polices actions, including their false statements after the event, are a direct assault on freedom of assembly and democracy. We demand the immediate release of all those arrested and remain resolute in our campaign for freedom and justice for the Palestinian people. Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Get our free View from Westminster email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Sir Keir Starmer is not at all disappointed that none of his top team were invited to Donald Trumps inauguration, despite Nigel Farage and a host of senior Tories heading to the ceremony, Downing Street has said. The prime ministers official spokesman insisted it is entirely normal for Britain to be represented by outgoing ambassador Dame Karen Pierce, while her replacement Lord Mandelson and Sir Keirs cabinet have been snubbed. Trump broke with tradition by inviting several foreign leaders to his inauguration, including Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni and Argentinian president Javier Milei. open image in gallery Keir Starmer is not at all embarassed not to have MPs and ministers at Donald Trumps inauguration ( PA Wire ) But, in a blow to the PM, Mr Trump did not extend the invite to Sir Keir. And, while Reform UK leader Mr Farage, shadow foreign secretary Dame Priti Patel and former home secretary Suella Braverman are all brushing shoulders with Maga Republicans in Washington, DC, none of Sir Keirs ministers or MPs are attending the ceremony. Asked whether the prime minister was embarrassed, his official spokesman said: Not at all. President-elect Trump and the prime minister have obviously spoken on a number of occasions ahead of the inauguration. The prime minister congratulates President-elect Trump on the day of his inauguration and looks forward to the depth of friendship between the United Kingdom and the United States continuing as we work together to ensure the success of both of our countries. The spokesman noted that MPs are often privately invited to attend the inauguration by members of Congress. open image in gallery Donald Trump will return to the White House on Monday ( Getty Images ) But the invites for Ms Meloni and Mr Milei, as well as the heros reception for Mr Farage among Mr Trumps top team, are a sign of the distance between Sir Keir and his US counterpart. Mr Farage was hailed as Britains future prime minister at a champagne-fuelled inauguration party hosted by Brexiteers and attended by Mgaa Republicans on Sunday. Relations between the Trump camp and Sir Keirs party descended into a legal row after Labour volunteers campaigned for Kamala Harris during her election defeat. But the PM and foreign secretary David Lammy have sought to build bridges with Mr Trumps team, including at a meeting with the president-elect in New York in September. Mr Lammy on Monday said Sir Keir would visit Mr Trump within weeks of him taking office to discuss the so-called special relationship. He told the BBC: We have war in Europe, we have a ceasefire in the Middle East, but its incredibly fragile, and there are important malign actors like Iran that weve got to discuss with the United States and, of course, our growing trade relations with the United States. "So, lots to discuss, and Im very confident that Keir Starmer will be discussing this with Donald Trump within the next few weeks." And, after The Independent revealed that Labour grandee Lord Mandelsons diplomatic appointment could be blocked by the US, Mr Lammy said he is the "right man for this moment" with experience as a former business secretary and European Union trade chief. "Hes looking forward to presenting his credentials to Donald Trump," Mr Lammy said. Sir Keirs official spokesman reaffirmed his support for Lord Mandelson and said we think he will make an excellent ambassador. Mr Lammy also said Mr Trump is not a warmonger and that most people in the world are glad he is back in power. Going out of his way to praise the new president, the foreign secretary called him gracious and generous. Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Get our free View from Westminster email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Donald Trump is still threatening to reject Peter Mandelsons appointment as the UKs ambassador to the US unless the British government accept serious restrictions on his activities. Sir Keir Starmer is being placed under increasing pressure by the incoming Trump administration to bow to the undiplomatic demands or face a humiliating and unprecedented veto on his pick for envoy to Washington. A source in the Trump team has told The Independent the incoming president is still minded to reject the credentials of Lord Mandelson when they are presented. But they added: Theres also a possibility that they approve it conditionally. There would be a very short leash. The Independent revealed over the weekend that Mr Trump was considering the highly unusual move of rejecting Lord Mandelsons credentials. No British ambassador in Washington or US ambassador in London has ever been refused in such a manner. open image in gallery Peter Mandelsons appointment as ambassador could be blocked by the incoming administration ( PA ) The biggest concern remains over Lord Mandelsons support for close ties with China, fuelled by the UK Labour government being perceived as wooing Beijing following chancellor Rachel Reevess recent trip. One Mar-a-Lago source told The Independent: It seems that the Starmer government is trying to play a game where it sets China up as a fallback for a relationship with the US. Nobody is buying that here. Its completely ridiculous but compromises the British government. Meanwhile, Downing Street has denied claims that there are splits among senior advisers in regards to Lord Mandelsons appointment among Sir Keirs senior advisers. It had been suggested that chief of staff Morgan McSweeney had pushed the appointment and national security adviser Jonathan Powell had questioned it. But a senior Downing Street source said this was absolutely not true. Nevertheless, the UK embassy in Washington appears to be aware of the concerns regarding the Labour former European commissioner and cabinet minister. Current UK ambassador Dame Karen Pierce surprised many by attending an inauguration party held by right-wing UK and US politicians on Friday evening. The Independent was told she was a late addition at her own request and she was heard asking a number of guests what they thought of the appointment of Lord Mandelson to replace her. open image in gallery Donald Trump may set conditions on the new ambassadors sphere of operations ( Getty ) Her appearance also gave rise to speculation that she had attended to prevent Lord Mandelson from going, because current and future ambassadors cannot attend the same event under protocol rules. Lord Mandelson had been invited in an effort to allow him to meet some of Trumps trusted inner circle and help build relations. Trumps inner circle have acknowledged that a rejection of Mandelsons credentials would be a humiliation for the UK prime minister, who was not invited to the inauguration even though Trump had broken tradition by inviting several other foreign heads of government. The row is linked to a wider context of strained relations between Sir Keirs government and the incoming Trump administration, dating back to Labour sending 100 activists to help his Democratic rival Kamala Harris campaign during the presidential election. Trumps ally, tech billionaire Elon Musk, has also stoked a barrage of social media criticism against Sir Keir and his government over the far-right riots in the UK last summer and jailed activist Tommy Robinson. There are claims in the US that Sir Keir and his government are anti free speech. Meanwhile, a number of senior Republicans are pushing for Trump to actively help Nigel Farage and Reform UK fight the next election in the UK. The UK government has dismissed the questions over Lord Mandelsons status as speculation. Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Get our free View from Westminster email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Nigel Farage is facing cross-party condemnation for posting a photo to social media smiling alongside MMA fighter Conor McGregor, who last year was ordered to pay damages to a woman who accused him of raping her. The woman, who accused McGregor of raping her in a Dublin hotel in 2018, won her claim against him for damages in an Irish civil case in November. The Reform UK leader, who captioned the photo, We are so back, can be seen shaking McGregors hand in the photo, taken at a victory rally for Donald Trump in Washington on Sunday. The image sparked outrage from MPs on both sides of the political spectrum, with Tory MP Mims Davies shadow minister for women accusing Mr Farage of using the MMA fighter as social media camera fodder. She told The Independent: Mr Farage is clearly not choosy about the company he keeps on social media if it suits him personally to get some likes. open image in gallery Nigel Farage with Conor McGregor in Washington ( Nigel Farage/Instagram ) open image in gallery McGregor and Mr Farage speak during a rally in Washington ( REUTERS ) Meanwhile, Green Party co-leader Carla Denyer said she is disgusted by the image, but added: I have to say, Im not particularly surprised. Farage has previously praised the misogynist influencer and alleged child trafficker Andrew Tate, and has called for a debate on rolling back abortion rights, Ms Denyer told The Independent. We cant be complacent about the hard-won rights and freedoms we have, and politicians here in the UK have a responsibility to speak out against those who would seek to take them away. open image in gallery Farage attended a party in Washington on Sunday ahead of Trumps inauguration ( Stuart Mitchell/Reform UK ) Last year, Mr Farage praised the misogynist influencer Andrew Tate for being an important voice for emasculated young men and suggested MPs should debate rolling back the 24-week abortion limit. McGregors accuser was awarded almost 250,000 euros (207,000) in damages against the former UFC champion, after a three-week civil trial last year. Mr Farage travelled to Washington for Mr Trumps inauguration, taking place on Monday. Other UK political figures who have travelled to DC ahead of Mondays ceremonies include shadow foreign secretary Dame Priti Patel and former prime minister Liz Truss. The government is expected to be represented at Mondays ceremonies by outgoing UK ambassador to the US Dame Karen Pierce. The Independent has contacted Mr Farage and Mr McGregor for comment. Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Get our free View from Westminster email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Christian families have launched legal action against the governments VAT raid on private schools, arguing religious schools and pupils are being discriminated against. Parents and four schools, supported by the Christian Legal Centre, have filed a High Court judicial review claim against the governments policy, which removed the VAT exemption on private school fees. The 13 claimants are seeking a declaration that the governments changes were unlawful and incompatible with their human rights. Lawyers will argue the measure has disproportionately impacted parents who want their children to be educated in Christian schools. One parent bringing the claim, bookseller Stephen White, 40, said he had chosen to live in a specific area of Bradford so he could afford to send his four children to Branch Christian School, which is nearby. Mr White, whose 14-year-old son Josiah is also a claimant in the case, said: As Christians, we believe that it is our duty as parents to raise our children in line with our beliefs. This policy denies us this right and choice and must be challenged. He said Labours policy had created a caricature of wealthy schools full of wealthy parents, which is not the reality. open image in gallery Stephen White and his son Josiah, pictured, are claimants in the proposed case against the government ( Christian Concern/Stephen White ) Another family, who are part of the legal claim but did not want to be identified, are looking after two children who were previously in care. The children are currently attending a fee-paying Christian school, which was recommended for their specialist needs. Headteachers at four independent Christian schools are also part of the case, including Emmanuel School in Derby, the Branch Christian School, the Kings School in Hampshire and the Wyclif Independent Christian School in South Wales. Caroline Santer, headteacher at the Kings School, which has 231 pupils aged four to 16, said: The vast majority of our pupils are not from affluent backgrounds. We have a number of single-parent families receiving Universal Credit and most families make huge financial sacrifices in order to send their children here. Fifteen per cent of the children enrolled at the school are on our Special Needs Register and are thriving because of our small class sizes and nurturing environment; the needs of these children and families would otherwise not be served in the state sector in our area. The school will be significantly impacted by the introduction of VAT and the removal of business relief rates for charitable private schools. The school has no ability to absorb the cost of VAT: this will have to be passed on to parents. She said the introduction of VAT would be an existential threat to the school, adding pupils have already begun to be withdrawn from the school because parents cant afford higher fees. open image in gallery Education secretary Bridget Phillipson has said that tax exemptions for private schools are a luxury we cannot afford ( PA ) Ben Snowdown, headteacher at Emmanuel School, said the changes in policy will be devastating for independent Christian schools and many other low-cost independent schools across the country. Andrea Williams, chief executive of the Christian Legal Centre, who is supporting the parents with the challenge, said: The governments policy will have the effect of removing parental choice and authority from how their children are educated. The devastating impact of this is told through the stories of those bringing this case. Labour must row back on this policy urgently. If they dont, we will continue to pursue every legal avenue in the pursuit of education freedom for all. The application for a judicial review comes after a different set of families launched legal action against the policy before Christmas. These families, supported by the Independent Schools Council, are arguing that the tax could price them out of private education and into the state sector where their needs cannot be met. Their case will be heard this Spring after a High Court judge agreed to expedite the claim. From 1 January this year, private school fees have been charged VAT at the standard rate of 20 per cent - removing the tax exemption that used to apply. It is estimated extending VAT to private school fees will raise 460m in 2024-25, rising to 1.5bn in 2025-26. The government forecast it will cause 37,000 pupils to leave the private sector - or around six per cent of the current private school population. Government assessments concluded that small faith schools would not be affected more by the VAT raid than other schools. A government spokesperson said: We do not comment on ongoing litigation matters. Ending tax breaks for private schools will raise 1.8bn a year by 2029/30 to help deliver 6,500 new teachers and raise school standards, supporting the 94 per cent of children in state schools to achieve and thrive. Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Get our free View from Westminster email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy The attorney general is embroiled in a fresh row after it emerged asylum seekers he represented as a lawyer were granted a "one-off " deal to come to Britain from the Chagos Islands months after he joined the government. Lord Hermer unsuccessfully took the UK government to court in 2023 on behalf of five Sri Lankan asylum seekers. The group, along with dozens more, had washed on the British-American base on the islands. Their case was dismissed by the High Court but after Labour came to power a "one-off " agreement allowed all 61 to come to Britain. Now Lord Hermer has been urged to come clean" about whether or not he had recused himself from any involvement in the decision. open image in gallery Attorney General Richard Hermer arriving in Downing Street for a Cabinet meeting ( Jonathan Brady/PA Wire ) Robert Jenrick, the shadow justice secretary, said there was "a clear pattern" of Labour "making contentious decisions against the national interest that benefit the attorney generals former clients". He added: "The public will be asking where his loyalties lie. It is unacceptable for the government to hide behind convention and decline to confirm whether our chief legal adviser was involved in a decision about asylum seekers he had recently represented in court against His Majestys Government. "The attorney general cannot lecture about the rule of law while dodging fundamental questions about conflicts of interest. He must now urgently come clean and explain to the British public whether he was involved in these decisions in government, or his position is untenable." It comes after Lord Hermer faced questions over the governments decision to open the door to potential compensation for imprisoning another of his clients, Gerry Adams, during the Troubles. open image in gallery Robert Jenrick, the shadow justice secretary, ( Lucy North/PA Wire ) Grilled by MPs last week, Lord Hermer cited convention that holders of his office should not disclose the details of legal advice they give to the government. An spokesperson for the Attorney Generals Office said: Law Officers, by their experience and very professional nature will have an extensive legal background and may have previously been involved in a wide number of past cases. That is why there is a robust system for considering and managing any conflicts that may arise, in line with the professional obligations of Law Officers. There is the established process on Ministerial declarations, with previous employment and interests having been published for the public record. Last year Keir Starmers government agreed to hand over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius in a highly controversial deal. But while Labours attempts to end British colonial rule on the Indian Ocean islands had the backing of the Biden administration, the incoming Trump administration is thought to be opposed to the deal and is seeking ways to veto it. Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Get our free View from Westminster email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Nigel Farage and right-wing Tories, including Boris Johnson, have flown into Washington DC for Donald Trumps inauguration - but the British government will largely be watching from afar. With the Reform UK leader, former Tory prime minister, shadow foreign secretary Priti Patel and ex-home secretary Suella Braverman among the Trump enthusiasts in the US for the former presidents return, outgoing US ambassador Dame Karen Pierce is the UKs only official representative. And, with questions swirling around whether he will be accepted to replace Dame Karen as Britains ambassador to the US, Peter Mandelson will be nowhere to be seen at the ceremony. open image in gallery Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson (C) arrives for the inauguration ceremony ( Getty Images ) open image in gallery Farage addressed his inauguration party ( Stuart Mitchell/Reform UK ) Lord Mandelson was picked as Sir Keir Starmers ambassador to the US because of his role as a former business secretary and EU commissioner for trade. It is a sign of the prime ministers desire to finally secure a long sought after trade deal with the incoming president. But as celebrations ramped up in DC ahead of Mondays main event, it was noted Lord Mandelson did not attend a party hosted by Mr Farage - a key opportunity for him to build bridges with Mr Trumps top team. It is believed he was not invited to the ceremony. And that came as sources close to Mr Trump told The Independent the president-elect is considering rejecting Lord Mandelsons nomination in a move that would be a major blow to Sir Keir. By contrast, Mr Farage was asked by members of Mr Trumps team to speak at events around the inauguration and hosted a glitzy champagne-fuelled party for the incoming president. Ahead of the inauguration, he was proclaimed the next prime minister of Great Britain at the party which was a coming together of top Maga conservatives with Reform UK, Brexiteers and top Tories. open image in gallery Mr Farage, left, speaks with MMA fighter Conor McGregor before President-elect Donald Trump arrives at a rally ( AP ) Representing Kemi Badenochs Conservatives, shadow foreign secretary Ms Patel is attending the inauguration, while Labour has not sent a member of Sir Keirs government to the event. She said it is a privilege to be in attendance at the event, highlighting the decades-long relationship between the Conservatives and the Republican Party. The relationship is likely to become strained during Mr Trumps second term, with the president having been a long-standing ally of Mr Farage. After cold weather led Mr Trump to move the swearing-in ceremony behind closed doors, it is likely she and other UK visitors will be forced to watch the event on TV. Boris Johnson is also attending the ceremony, though it is not known whether he will be one of 600 able to watch Mr Trump sworn in indoors. Another former prime minister in DC for the celebrations is Ms Truss, though she will also not be among the 600 sat inside for the swearing-in ceremony. open image in gallery Questions have been raised about whether Donald Trump will accept Lord Mandelsons nomination as US ambassador ( PA ) open image in gallery Shadow foreign secretary Priti Patel highlighted the alliance between Conservatives and Republicans ( PA ) open image in gallery Donald Trump arrives for the inauguration ceremony ( Getty Images ) The former MP, who lost her seat in Julys general election, posted pictures of herself posing in a Maga hat after arriving in the US last week. She said on Friday that Mr Trumps second term cant come soon enough and that the West needs it. Former home secretary Suella Braverman said the incoming president would oversee a new era of security, prosperity and hope as she arrived in the US for the inauguration. And Ms Braverman said, despite wet and cloudy weather, that there was a buzz of hope and optimism in the air in the city. As British right-wingers increasingly try to build closer ties to Mr Trump and his team, she heaped praise on his anti-immigration and anti-woke policies and said they would also be needed in the UK. Actor Laurence Fox, who founded the right-wing populist party Reclaim, was on the same plane to Washington as Ms Braverman, which the former home secretary insisted was a coincidence. open image in gallery US President-elect Donald Trump kisses Melania Trump as he arrives for the inauguration ceremony before he is sworn in ( POOL/AFP via Getty Images ) open image in gallery Donald Trump met Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni at Mar-a-Lago in January ( Reuters ) He has been attending rallies ahead of the inauguration, declaring on social media that America is back. Breaking with tradition, Mr Trump has also invited several foreign leaders to his inauguration ceremony, including Italian PM Giorgia Meloni. The anti-immigration Italian leader has been strengthening her ties to the US leader and her attendance on Monday will put her on course to become his main ally in Europe. 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 South Africa have launched a manhunt for a Lesotho gang member believed to have controlled operations at an illegal gold mine where 78 bodies were recovered last week. The alleged kingpin, known as Tiger surfaced from the mine in Stilfontein while it was under police surveillance and escaped from custody with the help of officials, a statement from the South African Police Service said on Monday. Extensive investigations and tracing operations are underway to find those officials who aided his escape between shaft 11 and the Stilfontein police holding cells, the statement said. Police were widely condemned for the months-long operation in which they cut off food and water supplies to the miners in an attempt to force them out of the mine to face arrest. National police spokesperson Athlenda Mathe said that 78 bodies were retrieved in a court-ordered rescue operation, with 246 survivors also pulled out from deep underground since the operation began. open image in gallery South African police continue their rescue operation at the Stilfontein mine ( Getty ) Many rescued were emaciated and weak from hunger. The miners are suspected to have died of starvation and dehydration, although no causes of death have been released. But police claim the gang leaders were to blame for the deaths, citing reports from some miners who said there was food underground but the kingpins kept it for themselves. Thousands of people are believed to be involved in illegal gold mining in abandoned industrial mines in South Africa in search of leftover gold. Some of the workers spend months at a time underground. A map of Stilfontein: The lucrative industry is known to be run by Lesotho-based gangs, and police say some of the workers are illegal immigrants recruited from neighbouring countries without knowledge of what they have come to do. Tiger was named in statements by miners as a ring leader who ran operations, the police statement said. He is also being accused by some illegal miners [as] being allegedly responsible for some deaths, assault and torture that is alleged to have taken place according to videos in police possession. He is also alleged to have hoarded and kept food away from other illegal miners, it said. The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy An 81-year-old Illinois man has been accused of fatally shooting his wife in their bed after they had an argument, according to police. Charles Witter was arrested on Friday after he called 911 and said he had shot his wife, 80-year-old Helen Witter, and was charged with first-degree murder, according to a statement released by the DuPage County States Attorney Robert Berlin and Lombard Chief of Police Tom Wirsing. Police responded to the couples home in Lombard at 12:38 a.m. where they found Helen Witter unconscious in the bed, lying on her back with her head on a pillow and her mouth open, according to investigators. There was a significant injury to the right side of the victims head and blood was coming from her head onto the pillow and bedding, police said. She was taken to the hospital where she was pronounced dead. Police say the shooting stemmed from an argument the couple had while they were in bed. Witter allegedly grabbed a gun out of the nightstand and shot his wife once, the investigation revealed. The alleged shooting death of Helen Witter is indeed a tragedy, the states attorney said. I extend my sincere condolences to the entire Witter family and their friends as they cope with this heartbreaking loss. Witter is set to appear in court on February 10. 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 SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy A corrections officer from Chicago was killed by a stray bullet while vacationing in Turks and Caicos over the weekend. Shamone A. Duncan, 50, was celebrating her sisters birthday at the Aziza Restaurant & Lounge in Providenciales on Saturday when gunfire rang out around 10 p.m. and she was struck, her family said in a statement shared with multiple media outlets. Duncan and her family were on the rooftop of the popular establishment, not far from the Grace Bay Suites where they were staying, when the shooting happened. The Royal Turks and Caicos Islands Police Force confirmed to multiple news outlets that Duncan, as well as 30-year-old Dario Stubbs, a Turks and Caicos resident, were both fatally shot. A third person, a 29-year-old man, was injured in the shooting, they said. Acting Police Commissioner Rodney Adams said in statement: There is no evidence to suggest that Ms. Duncan, Mr. Stubbs or the wounded victim were the targets of this incident. We condemn this violence and will remain resolute in our pursuit of the person(s) responsible for this despicable act. open image in gallery Shamone A. Duncan, 50, was celebrating her sisters birthday at the Aziza Restaurant & Lounge in Providenciales on Saturday when gunfire rang out around 10 p.m. and she was struck by a stray bullet ( Facebook/Shamone Duncan ) What was supposed to be a weekend of celebration left the family of Duncan, a 21-year-old veteran of the Cook County Department of Corrections in Chicago, in mourning. People started yelling, telling people to get down, her only son, Shamon Payton, told ABC7. Everybody got down, and my mom got up. And then, she got hit... Bystanders came and they tried to help. Duncan was a devoted mother, grandmother, her family said in a statement, adding that her tragic death has left both her family and community in deep mourning. I lost a lot of people, and it just feels different with it being your mother, the person who birthed you, Paytom said You only get one mother, one father. I lost the one. A statement from her family stated that Duncans family was her greatest joy, and her presence will be deeply missed by all who knew and loved her and that she was dedicated to her job. Her 21 years of service as Cook County Sheriff were a testament to her unwavering dedication to justice and her passion for protecting others. She was a beacon of strength, compassion, and leadership, touching countless lives in her community and beyond. The sheriffs office also released a statement, saying, Our hearts are broken for the family of Deputy Shamone Duncan who was killed on Jan. 18 while on vacation. She was a 20-year veteran of the Cook County Department of Corrections and was currently assigned to Cermak Health Services. We are in contact with her family to provide any support they need during this difficult time and are supporting her colleagues as they process this terrible news. Despite being a popular tourist destination, Turks and Caicos ended 2024 with 48 murders among its estimated 49,000 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 SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy An Indiana woman who weighed 340 pounds killed her 10-year-old foster son by sitting on him for acting up and now will head to prison. Jennifer Lee Wilson, 48, has been sentenced to six years in prison after the death of Dakota Levi Stevens last April. She pleaded guilty to reckless homicide in October and admitted to sitting on him for five minutes. On April 25, police were called to the house in the city of Valparaiso, Porter County, where they found Dakota was not breathing and had no pulse, CBS News reported at the time. open image in gallery Jennifer Wilson was sentenced to prison for sitting on her 10-year-old foster son killing him ( Indiana Department of Correction/Facebook ) Officers found that Stevens had bruising on his lower neck and chest, according to an affidavit seen by the network, and police tried to resuscitate him. At the scene, Wilson told police that Dakota had run away from home after an argument and he was acting up. open image in gallery Dakota Levi Stevens, 10, died after his foster parent laid on top of him ( Geiser Funeral Homes ) When he returned, Wilson told police that her son threw himself on the floor and threatened to leave again. She then restrained him and sat on his midsection for about five minutes. Porter County Sheriffs Detective Dan Alonzo wrote in the affidavit that he reviewed doorbell camera footage of the incident that showed Wilson lying across the boys body near his neck and head. He screamed the whole time, the affidavit said. As she sat on Dakota, Wilson called his caseworker in an attempt to calm him down. The affidavit said Wilson eventually got out of breath due to her weight, CBS reported. Wilson was heard in video footage asking Stevens, Are you faking? the affidavit continued. After no response from Dakota, Wilson rolled him over and saw that his eyelids were pale. She began CPR and dialed 911. When officers arrived, they tried to resuscitate Dakota. He was airlifted to a childrens hospital but died two days later, according to CBS. open image in gallery Dakota had spent the last five years in and out of different foster homes ( Facebook ) His autopsy concluded he suffered organ and soft tissue damage, in addition to liver and lung hemorrhaging, according to the affidavit. The affidavit said that his cause of death was mechanical asphyxia and the manner of death a homicide. Dakota had spent the previous five years in different foster homes, the IndyStar reported. His former foster parent Hayden Hertzel posted a tribute to the 10-year-old on Facebook in April last year: Thank you for the laughs, the cries, the sleepless nights, the endless memories.. your excitement & passion for anything that you did & put your mind too AMAZED me. Hertzel added: I hope you are up there dancing & singing & eating all of the chicken nuggets & pizza that you can ever imagine. Along with all of the sweets you loved to eat down here! Youre free The system definitely failed you my son until we meet again I love you, I love you, I love you!!! the touching post read. 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 SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy An old-fashioned photo booth on New York Citys Lower East Side has attracted throngs of earnest Zoomers, delighting locals and tourists alike and garnering millions of views across social media. But the viral sensation has elicited a somewhat less enthusiastic response from its next-door neighbor. open image in gallery Maggie Trakas, pictured center, with her father George Trakas, the sculptor, to the right at a 2023 art event in New York ( McGaw/BFA.com/Shutterstock ) Maggie Trakas the daughter of renowned contemporary artist Susan Rothenberg and acclaimed sculptor George Trakas is accused of waging war against the modish young couple behind the Old Friend Photobooth, a must-visit destination for the TikTok and Instagram set. The battle began in early December and has pitted Trakas, a native New Yorker, against Utah transplants Brandon Minton, 27, and Zoe Lazerson, a 25-year-old social media influencer, who now want $2 million from Trakas for the trouble they claim shes caused. From spreading feces onto its fence and planters, to dumping a bucket of urine onto Minton and queueing customers, to supergluing the keyholes of Plaintiffs maintenance van, to physically and verbally assaulting Minton in front of customers, Trakas will seemingly stop at nothing to derail the operation of the Old Friend Photobooth, reads an application for a temporary restraining order filed Friday and obtained by The Independent. Minton, a Salt Lake City native who moved to New York in 2023, and Lazerson, who is also from Salt Lake and runs the photobooth with him, attempted to engage with Trakas in a friendly and diplomatic manner, according to a complaint filed alongside the restraining order application. open image in gallery A screengrab of security footage showing Old Friend Photobooth co-owner Brandon Minton, seen here at bottom, as a bucket of urine is dumped on his head ( New York State Supreme Court ) Trakas is herself a photographer and member of the arts community, the complaint states, naming her dad and late mom as proof. ... Plaintiffs attempted to appeal to Trakas by sharing their appreciation for art and photography. Instead, court filings say Trakas declared war on the couple and the narcissistic retards who flock to their disgrace of a destination, and express concern that the 52-year-olds deranged conduct is not only creating an immediate health hazard but may soon cause someone to get physically hurt. Reached by phone, Trakas told The Independent that she was served a copy of Minton and Lazersons complaint on Thursday evening and that it contains a litany of lies by a young, wealthy couple from Utah that has essentially destroyed the quality of peace on the corner of Allen and Rivington. There are certainly two sides to every story, and this is utter fabrication, Trakas said. Theyre essentially using my parents and my position in the community to extort money from me. My attorneys are well aware of it and we will proceed, in the coming weeks, to present evidence of the harassment that Ive been under for the roughly month-and-a-half since they opened. Trakas, who was born and raised in downtown Manhattan, argued on Friday that Minton, and to a lesser extent, Lazerson, were the ones harassing her. She railed against the busloads of 20-year-old kids who descend on the block, populating the sidewalk outside and gathering by her front door while they wait for their photos to develop. When Trakas complained to Minton about his incredibly disrespectful customers, He told me I was a Karen, and said, Welcome to New York she recalled. Ive been tracked, stalked, harassed, threatened, constantly being told that Im a scumbag, that Im miserable, Trakas went on, describing herself as the aggreived party in this dispute. I have resorted to some juvenile responses, because Ive been provoked. I live in a landmark building that my family and I renovated, and which I am very protective of. open image in gallery The Old Friend Photobooths proprietors say they have tried to accommodate neighbor Maggie Trakas, but that she remains angry about their presence ( New York State Supreme Court ) Attorney Robert McFarlane, who is representing Minton and Lazerson, told The Independent that he would be appearing in court Friday afternoon to argue for the restraining order on his clients behalf and declined to comment further until after the proceedings were completed. The Old Friend Photobooth concept became a reality in May 2024, when Minton and Lazerson bought a 1970s photobooth from a former photobooth technician in St. Louis, Missouri. The complaint and TRO application, filed in New York State Supreme Court, say the pair drove it back to Manhattan, refurbished it, and installed it on the outside of a luggage shop on Orchard Street. It immediately became a hit, drawing crowds all too happy to pay $8 for a strip of four vintage black-and-white snapshots. The booth was so successful, Minton and Lazerson decided to give it a more permanent home, and in December 2024, moved Old Friend to a street-facing commercial space on Allen Street, according to the complaint. Within an hour of opening their doors at the new location, Trakas confronted Minton and Lazerson while throwing a fit, calling the photobooth a disgrace and demanding its closure, the complaint says. It claims she reprised her harangue the next morning, kicking over a bucket of water Minton was using to clean the photobooth before vowing to ruin his and Lazersons lives, screaming, This is war! Minton called the police, according to the complaint, which says the cops told Trakas that having a line of customers in front of a business was not a crime. open image in gallery Police have been called to the scene multiple times, but the bad blood between Brandon Minton, Zoe Lazerson, and Maggie Trakas, right, remains ( New York State Supreme Court ) In mid-December, the complaint says, Trakas began locking multiple bikes to the outside of her gate in such a way that intentionally blocked customers from retrieving their photos. Minton also found his truck vandalized, with Trakas allegedly having superglued shut the door locks. The only time Minton, Lazerson, and their photobooth saw a moments peace was during the week between Christmas and New Years, when Trakas went out of town, according to the complaint. On January 2, the complaint says Minton discovered what appeared to be the frozen urine on the chair and sidewalk next to the photobooth. He reviewed security footage from the night before and spotted Trakas in fact dumping urine onto his property from her second-floor window, the complaint states. A few days later, an allegedly drunk Trakas smacked Minton as he was setting up the photobooth and said, Its Sunday, go home and f**k your b**ch, according to the complaint. That afternoon, while Minton was installing new planter boxes outside the booth, the complaint says Trakas leaned out of her window and poured a bucket of urine directly onto Mintons head, causing the urine to splash onto queuing customers. (Trakas later said this was vinegar; Minton and Lazersons complaint says police and paramedics who responded to the scene confirmed it was urine.) Last week, things, astonishingly, took a turn for the worse, the complaint goes on. That morning, when Minton arrived at the photobooth, he was overcome by a strong, putrid odor, according to the complaint. He followed the fumes to one of the newly-installed planters, where he then observed what appeared to be feces smeared and dumped all around the planter box, along with additional fecal matter caked onto a board that Trakas had put up between her building and the photobooth, it says. The odor was so horrible that Minton could not stand near the planters without gagging, according to the complaint. open image in gallery A planter by the Old Friend Photobooth, packed full of fecal matter ( New York State Supreme Court ) Minton scrolled through security video from the previous night, coming upon disturbing footage showing Trakas, clad in a black mask and hoodie, plac[ing] a paint can filled with brown liquid feces on the planter box and proceeding to paint the plywood fence with liquid feces, the complaint alleges. Trakas then proceeded to spray a yellow liquid onto the plywood wall using a restaurant-style ketchup bottle. She then finished the job by dumping the rest of the paint bucket of feces into the planters. The Independent has viewed the videos in question, along with photographs of the damage from each alleged incident. It took Minton and a helper, who donned KN-95 masks to endure the fecal stench, more than three hours to get the booth adequately clean again, according to the complaint. He and Lazerson are asking a judge to make Trakas fork over a little over $2 million, plus legal fees, and want an injunction to be issued that would formally bar Trakas from continuing to disrupt their business. Police have been called to the scene multiple times, but while officers have taken reports, no arrests have been made. Trakas now has 20 days to respond to the allegations. The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Russian president Vladimir Putin hailed Donald Trumps courageous victory as world leaders congratulated him on becoming the 47th president of the United States. As Trump was sworn in as US president in Washington DC on Monday, Putin said Trumps election campaign was tough, referring to his attempted assassination, and called for dialogue with Washington to reach a settlement in Ukraine. It is obvious that the election period was tough in all respects for Mr Trump. He and even the members of his family were under constant pressure. It came to assassination attempts on his life, Putin said. But he was courageous and won a convincing victory in the elections. We are also open to dialogue with the new US administration on the Ukrainian conflict. open image in gallery Trump was sworn in as 47th president of the United States on Monday in Washington DC ( AP ) Trump has claimed he would end the war in Ukraine within 24 hours, something he later changed to six months, but has not said how he would do it. Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky also praised Trumps decisiveness and welcomed an opportunity to achieve a long-term and just peace for his war-torn country. President Trump is always decisive, and the peace through strength policy he announced provides an opportunity to strengthen American leadership and achieve a long-term and just peace, he said. Meanwhile, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu welcomed Trumps premiership as rais[ing] the US-Israel alliance to even greater heights. I believe that working together again we will raise the U.S.-Israel alliance to even greater heights. On behalf of the people of Israel, I also want to thank you for your efforts in helping free Israeli hostages, he said. open image in gallery Zelensky welcomed Trumps presidency as a chance to get a long-term and just peace for Ukraine. They are pictured here last year. ( AP ) Trump ally Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban congratulated Trump, claiming his presidency would boost right-wing parties across Europe and clearly the way for occupying Brussels. The Western world has a patriotic, pro-peace, pro-family, anti-migration and pro-family president [in Washington]... in just a few hours the sun will shine differently over Brussels, Orban said. British prime minister Keir Starmer welcomed the ongoing US-UK special relationship, saying he knew the depth of friendship between London and Washington would continue. For centuries, the relationship between our two nations has been one of collaboration, cooperation and enduring partnership, he said. Together, we have defended the world from tyranny and worked towards our mutual security and prosperity. With President Trumps longstanding affection and historical ties to the United Kingdom, I know that depth of friendship will continue. Gather round, everyone, for the worlds most embarrassing inauguration ceremony in modern history. Take a seat next to Joe Rogan and Logan Paul. Squeeze in next to Wayne Gretzky and the Village People. Or set yourself down by Eric Trump, whos just relieved not to be sitting in the back. Dont fancy spending the ceremony listening to Eric talk about his latest crypto venture (blockchain is the future, guys! Guys?!) Then perhaps cozy up to Donald Jr., the anointed son who the 47th president was apparently afraid was going to be a loser even before he was born. Tiffanys pregnant (the grandfather of her baby is going to be President Trumps senior adviser on Arab and Middle Eastern affairs! Super cool!) so dont bother her; she doesnt need it. Barrons too young and too tall steer clear. Ivanka? She doesnt work here anymore. Sure, she used to be the ringmaster of this entire circus but these days, shes desperately trying to cultivate a chic sideshow in Oscar de la Renta even though the rest of the entire company has gone absurdist. She doesnt want your questions about fascism or climate change denial or DEI initiatives or immigration raids. She just wants to get this over as quickly as possible. open image in gallery President Trump, from left, takes the oath of office as son Barron Trump and wife Melania Trump watch during the 60th Presidential Inauguration in the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025. ( AP ) And dont even try talking to Melania. She cant see or hear anything from under that hat, and she doesnt want to. She proffered her cheek to her husband for an air-kiss without even bothering to purse her lips and hes the president of the United States, so thats where shes at. Everyone here should be embarrassed. Not just Donald Trump, who had the shame chip removed from his brain years ago anyway. Of course Trump should be embarrassed embarrassed about his over-long, low-energy speech and his frankly sinister official portrait. In fact, when he stood up and announced that it was Liberation Day without any conviction at all, with a full and proper scowl on his face, I got the (fleeting) sense he actually might be. Joe Biden should be embarrassed. Im not going to be as mean as some of the worst memes and say our Make a Wish ex-president is to blame for all this, but damn, the whole lets just talk about the good old days strategy really didnt translate well into 2024, did it? There is something so fundamentally toe-curlingly awful about riding in a limousine with Donald Trump to his second inauguration, months after claiming the man was a danger to democracy, and at the same time as releasing a sweeping pardon to five of your family members. Eesh. Amy Klobuchar should be embarrassed. Its not her fault, but she should. Anyone should be embarrassed to make a speech about our great American experiment on the same day that Trumps campaign announces they will attempt to end birthright citizenship by executive order. Birthright citizenship is supposed to be central to that whole great American experiment thing, where any pioneer who was scrappy enough to make it in the country was supposed to be allowed to stay. Refugee status also about to be suspended was also kind of important (remember that whole Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free thing? Yeah? Now forget it.). Donald Trump and Melania Trump share awkward kiss at inauguration Its fundamentally embarrassing that one of the presidents main priorities on Day One has been to rename the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America, to end government diversity training, and to clarify that there are two biological sexes. As someone who paid $12 for a half pint of milk at Walmart yesterday, I demand more than culture wars. Start referring to the entirety of Mexico as Miniature Trumpville for all anyone inside the U.S. or even Mexico cares. The idea that the actual president cares enough about this stuff to write executive orders on his first day in office is downright humiliating for the United States as a country. Elon Musk sorry, First Buddy! should, obviously, be embarrassed. He should be embarrassed to have an office in the White House complex at the same time as being so fundamentally unserious that he named a government initiative DOGE. He should be embarrassed to be underqualified and overcompensated. He should be embarrassed to be an immigrant in America ushering in an era of unprecedented immigration raids and crackdowns. He wont be, but he should be. Much has already been made of the fact that the revolution is now being led by historys biggest losers, men who think that Americas businesses need more masculine energy and that wildfires happen because lesbians are firefighters. open image in gallery How pointless. How disappointing. How embarrassing for us all. ( POOL/AFP via Getty Images ) And now, after Trumps inauguration speech and that painful, painful weekend of self-congratulatory far-right inauguration events, we know exactly what that revolution will look like. Drill, baby, drill! in Alaska. Law and order back to our cities! Taking race and gender out of public life (you can only be a Black woman on your own time now, ladies)! The military back to defeating Americas enemies, not doing whatever else they were doing, which was something-something trans people! Inspiring the awe and admiration of the entire world! Ending Bidens policies of climate extremism (Paris Climate Accord? Who needs it?!) And by the way, American landmarks will be named to appropriately honor our nations history!! I dont know if the people who voted for Trump because they cared about the economy and specifically because they didnt have any money for their families care about renaming American landmarks so they conform to some far-right fantasy as a burning priority. But hey, thats whats going to happen. How pointless. How disappointing. How embarrassing for us all. Delegation of Chinese entrepreneurs visits Vietnam Xinhua) 11:14, January 20, 2025 HANOI, Jan. 19 (Xinhua) -- A delegation of Chinese entrepreneurs, led by Ren Hongbin, chairman of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, visited Vietnam on Jan. 17-18 to promote practical cooperation between businesses of the two countries. During the visit, the delegation had extensive exchanges with Vietnamese officials and business representatives, and attended a reception marking the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Vietnam. In addition, enterprises of the two countries discussed ways to enhance cooperation in industrial and supply chains as well as trade, investment and connectivity, and achieved fruitful results in the regard. (Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Zhong Wenxing) 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 SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Donald Trumps January 2017 inauguration speech stands out as one of the most memorable and polarizing addresses in modern American history. With a starkly dystopian tone, the 45th president painted a grim portrait of a nation in decay, infamously declaring: This American carnage stops right here and stops right now. Trumps words back then painted a picture of a nation in crisis, one beset by poverty, crime, and the decay of its once-proud industrial base. He spoke of mothers and children trapped in poverty in our inner cities, rusted-out factories scattered like tombstones, and an education system flush with cash, but which leaves our young and beautiful students deprived of knowledge. His words conjured up visions of doe-eyed women and children trapped in a wasteland, crying out for a savior. It was a wartime speech made in peacetime, where the enemy is nebulous but the supposed destruction is immense. This vision of a crumbling America resonated deeply with Trumps most embittered supporters, but it also drew criticism for its exaggerated portrayal of the nations plight (The LA Times called it raw, angry and aggrieved, with little to heal the nations wounds; The Guardian called it sinister.) His depiction of American life as a battleground one marked by the ravages of crime, drug addiction, and job loss was a calculated political gambit, underscoring his message of radical change. It was also an exercise in finger-pointing at the supposed culprits: foreigners. open image in gallery Stand-ins rehearse the second inauguration of Donald Trump ahead of January 20th ( Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. ) Weve made other countries rich while the wealth, strength, and confidence of our country has disappeared, he said. Working-class voters who had been left behind by the economic shifts of globalization felt that they were finally being recognized after years of being told to celebrate the technological advances that shut down factories and took away their jobs. Conservative politicos imagined NATO and other international treaties that they believed had effectively cuckolded the United States on the world stage. The older generation, who remembered the near past in which America effectively ruled the world, nodded along as the 45th president added: The wealth of our middle class has been ripped from their homes and then redistributed across the entire world. Importantly, this wasnt just selling a message of anger at a declining America. It was selling the politics of envy: Someone else is now living our dream. And it was at its heart a hyper-capitalist message, implying as it did that America shouldve stayed on top and everyone else shouldve stayed at the bottom. Other politicians in other countries could have recast wealth redistribution across the world as a positive thing; an aspiration, even. For Trump, it was the root of all Americas problems and only by reversing it, and ensuring someone else went to the bottom of the pile, would things be better again for all true and loyal Americans. At this point, Trump was still heavily selling his drain the swamp, anti-establishment message. It was the elites versus the patriots indeed, he said, When you open your heart to patriotism, there is no room for prejudice. Whether you were born on the windswept plains of Nebraska or in urban Detroit, he added, you look up at the same night sky and are infused with the breath of the same Creator. But there was a whisper of something else in there: Weve defended other nations borders while refusing to defend our own. To which one might ask: defend from whom, exactly? Theres reason to believe his words will be very different this time around even if his subsequent actions arent. There are clues about this in the recently released official inauguration schedule. First of all, the theme of the 60th presidential inauguration agreed upon by the bipartisan but still Trump-supporting, Republican-leaning inauguration committee is Our Enduring Democracy: A Constitutional Promise. That in itself is miles away from Trumps 2024 rally speeches about changing the Constitution by modifying the 25th Amendment and about pardoning the January 6th rioters. Indeed, soon-to-be vice president JD Vance stated on Fox News that he does not believe those protesters who were violent on January 6th should be pardoned. CPAC may have featured a mock jail cell with a crying January 6th protester inside, awaiting his release under a second Trump term, but it seems not everyone will be immediately embraced under a Trump-Vance ticket. Its also been reported that demand for protest tickets in Washington DC for Inauguration Day has been lower than expected. Without the backdrop of large protests, the now-47th president will be less likely to position himself as a pariah. Perhaps he will spin this as evidence that America is more behind him this time, and speak about the supposed divide between Democratic politicians and the American people. Thats a theme he also warmed to in 2017 (Politicians prospered, but the jobs left and the factories closed.) In the years since 2017, the US has weathered multiple crises: a global pandemic, economic tumult, and a shifting geopolitical order. The national mood is perhaps less uniform than it was in 2017, with some of the grievances Trump once voiced having found new expression in the voices of his political opponents. And Trumps rhetoric has always been malleable, shaped by both his audience and the political context of the moment. We will reinforce old alliances and form new ones and unite the civilized world against radical Islamic terrorism, which we will eradicate completely from the face of the Earth, Trump said in 2017. At the bedrock of our politics will be a total allegiance to the United States of America, and through our loyalty to our country, we will rediscover our loyalty to each other. Though Isis seemed to be a diminishing threat since then, the recent Bourbon Street attack in New Orleans has brought radical Islamist terrorism back into the conversation. Its more likely, however, that in 2025, Trump will talk less about Islamists and more about antisemitism, Israel and its war in the Middle East. Strategic allies are likely to feature more heavily in a 2025 speech, where 2017s geopolitics allowed him to be more inward-looking. That total allegiance to the United States of America is unlikely to be revisited, considering his recent musings about buying Greenland and making Canada the 51st state. Donald Trump's inauguration speech was very similar to Bane's in The Dark Knight Rises Meanwhile, the big, beautiful wall on the Mexican border that was promised during the first incarnation of Make America Great Again is no longer a good enough solution for the far right. Once, stopping a supposed tide of migrants and protecting what was inside America was the order of the day. Now, the enemies from within are a continuing theme. There has been increased talk about rooting out the supposed sicknesses from the ailing body of America about deporting all undocumented people, rather than only criminals; about terminating DACA (again); about finding and firing anti-American college professors; about freezing out Democrats and even Republicans who are opposed to the Trumpian vision. MAGA has gotten darker but also smarter. Thats why its likely that the inaugural address will be less fiery than 2017s, even if the agenda is even more extreme. 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 SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy A Goodwill employee is attempting to track down whoever left an urn filled with ashes at one of the charitys Georgia stores. Our motto in the military has always been this, No soldier left behind, Andre Bess, who served in the US Army for 21 years, told Fox News. The part-time employee in Peachtree Corners, about 22 miles outside of Atlanta, said a customer approached him in December 2023 and asked if something was supposed to be inside the urn in question. He responded: No. He immediately told his superiors about the urn and said they were shocked but unsure of what to do. Some of his coworkers were allegedly willing to dispose of the ashes, he claimed. But, Bess told them he couldnt do that. I told them I cant do that because I have to find out who this belonged to, he said. I have a lot of soldiers that I worked with that died. Regardless of the flesh not being there, its still a human being, or it could be a pet. A Goodwill employee is trying to reunite an urn that was left at a store in December 2023 ( Fox 5 ) Since then, hes been trying to reunite them with their owner in case theyd been left on accident. A Goodwill spokesperson told the outlet it did not have a record of someone inquiring about the urn. On rare occasions, it does receive donations that include human remains. The company does not track donations from donors but does have a policy of working with crematoriums to dispose of remains. Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Get our free Inside Washington email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Senator Bernie Sanders has gone viral yet again by staying seated amid a standing ovation during President Donald Trumps inaugural speech. The Vermont independent attended Trumps inauguration on Monday afternoon, which took place indoors at the US Capitol on account of freezing temperatures in Washington, D.C. Sanders a progressive lawmaker and opponent of Trumps has caught the attention of social media by remaining unmoved as those around him were up on their feet applauding the new president. The image evokes a similarly iconic meme from former president Joe Bidens 2021 inauguration, during which Sanders was pictured sitting bundled up in mittens and a winter coat on the steps of the U.S. Capitol. Bernie is at it again, one X user wrote. Inside or outside, same pose, another user quipped, posting the same images side-by-side. Hes such an icon, a different user added. In his inaugural speech, Trump told the nation that God had saved him from the assassination attempt against him so that he might live to "make America great again. He went on to promise a new "Golden Age" for the United States before launching into a slate of policy priorities he plans to carry out in the coming days, largely through executive orders. Trump is expected to sign some 200 executive orders in the coming days, many of which will relate to immigration and the US-Mexico border. open image in gallery Bernie Sanders became a meme for his outfit at Joe Bidens inauguration. ( Getty Images ) Sanders attended alongside several lawmakers and notable allies of Trump. Guests included a slate of billionaires, such as Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Amazon owner Jeff Bezos, and the worlds richest man, Elon Musk. Meanwhile, others declined to attend, including fellow progressive lawmaker Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. The lawmaker, who represents the Bronx and Queens, said she would be skipping the event because she doesnt celebrate rapists. Last year, a jury found Trump liable for sexually abusing the writer E. Jean Carroll in 1996. Additionally, at least 18 women have accused Trump of varying inappropriate behavior, including allegations of sexual harassment and sexual assault. Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Get our free Inside Washington email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy President Joe Biden has issued pre-emptive pardons to Dr. Anthony Fauci, General Mark Milley, and the members of Congress who served on the House committee that investigated the attempted insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, in one of his final acts before leaving the White House, anticipating their political persecution by his incoming successor Donald Trump. In a statement, Biden characterized each of the recipients as dedicated, selfless public servants on whom the nation relies every day and called them the lifeblood of our democracy. Milley, he said, served our nation for more than 40 years, serving in multiple command and leadership posts and deploying to some of the most dangerous parts of the world to protect and defend democracy, while he also lauded Fauci as someone whod helped countless lives by managing the government's response to pressing health crises, including HIV/AIDS, as well as the Ebola and Zika viruses during his half-century in government service. Biden further praised the House January 6 panel as having fulfilled the mission of reporting on facts, circumstances, and causes of the Capitol attack by a riotous mob of Trumps supporters integrity and a commitment to discovering the truth. At the same time, he lamented how those he was pardoning had been subjected to ongoing threats and intimidation for faithfully discharging their duties by the president-elect and his allies, and noted that Trump and other prominent Republicans including members of his incoming cabinet have called for the recipients to be prosecuted for various actions theyve taken while in government service and after. open image in gallery Biden lauded Fauci as someone whod helped countless lives by managing the governments response to pressing health crises, including HIV/AIDS, as well as the Ebola and Zika viruses during his half-century in government service. ( Getty Images ) These public servants have served our nation with honor and distinction and do not deserve to be the targets of unjustified and politically motivated prosecutions, Biden said. He continued: I believe in the rule of law, and I am optimistic that the strength of our legal institutions will ultimately prevail over politics. But these are exceptional circumstances, and I cannot in good conscience do nothing. Biden also noted that baseless and politically motivated investigations can and do wreak havoc on the lives, safety, and financial security of targeted individuals and their families. Even when individuals have done nothing wrong and in fact have done the right thing and will ultimately be exonerated, the mere fact of being investigated or prosecuted can irreparably damage reputations and finances, he said, adding that he was using his authority to grant pardons to Milley, Fauci, the members and staff of the House January 6 Select Committee, as well as a group of police officers who gave evidence before the panel, former Capitol Police officer Harry Dunn and Sergeant Aquilino Gonell, and Washington, DC Metropolitan Police officer Daniel Hodges and former officer Michael Fanone. The issuance of these pardons should not be mistaken as an acknowledgment that any individual engaged in any wrongdoing, nor should acceptance be misconstrued as an admission of guilt for any offense. Our nation owes these public servants a debt of gratitude for their tireless commitment to our country, Biden said. Gonell, who was medically retired from the Capitol Police department as a result of injuries sustained during the attack, said in a statement sent to The Independent via text message that he was just doing my job and fulfilling my oath to defend this country when he was attacked on January 6, 2021. We protected all elected officials, regardless of their political party, said Gonell, who also thanked Biden for upholding our nations democracy, for your years of service to this country, and in your final moments as Commander-in-Chief issuing preemptive pardons for me and other loyal Americans, he said. I did not seek a pardon, and I did nothing wrong. My family and I are grateful for your empathy and your leadership. Dunn, who retired from the department in 2022 to mount an unsuccessful run for a House seat in Maryland, told CBS News he was eternally grateful to Biden, both for the pardon and his leadership and service to this nation. I wish this pardon werent necessary, but unfortunately, the political climate we are in now has made the need for one somewhat of a reality. I, like all other public servants, was just doing my job and upholding my oath. I will always honor that, he said. In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Hodges who still serves as a member of the DC police force wrote that he was unable to comment as he was on duty for inauguration day. Thompson and Cheney, who lost her House seat to a Trump-backed primary challenger in 2022, said in a joint statement issued on behalf of the other committee members and staff that they wished to express our gratitude to Biden for recognizing that we and our families have been continuously targeted not only with harassment, lies and threats of criminal violence, but also with specific threats of criminal prosecution and imprisonment by members of the incoming administration, simply for doing our jobs and upholding our oaths of office. We have been pardoned today not for breaking the law but for upholding it, they added. The sweeping pardons are an unprecedented use of the outgoing presidents clemency powers, and will foreclose the possibility of any of the recipients becoming targets of criminal investigations during Trumps second term. Its unclear whether all of the recipients will accept the grants of executive clemency. Under American law, a pardon must be freely accepted by the recipient in order to be effective. And some of the former House members who Biden has now pardoned, including former GOP representatives Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger, have said they would not accept a pardon because under the law the acceptance of a pardon is considered an admission of guilt. Earlier this month, Kinzinger said he did not want to be pardoned during an appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert because he didnt do anything wrong. open image in gallery The sweeping pardons of Fauci and Milley (pictured) are an unprecedented use of the outgoing presidents clemency powers ( Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved ) If Donald Trump wants to come after me Look, do I want him to come after me? Of course not. But if he decides to, Ill be twice as much of a pain in his backside because I will, from my cell in jail, continue to remind the American people that this is not the country we live in, this was not the country the Constitution represents, and I will continue to call him out, he said. Bidens last-minute use of his pardon power comes on the heels of another controversial grant of clemency to his son, Hunter Biden, who he absolved of a sweeping list of tax and other crimes committed over a decade-long period. Its likely one of the last official acts he will undertake before he leaves the White House for the final time as president and rides to the Capitol alongside Trump, who will be sworn in as the 47th president of the United States at noon in the Capitol rotunda on Monday afternoon. Trump has previously hinted that he could seek revenge against his numerous political enemies after returning to the Oval Office. Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Get our free Inside Washington email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy In his last official act before leaving the White House, president Joe Biden issued sweeping preemptive pardons to members of his family whove long been the target of attacks from President-elect Donald Trump and his allies and commuted the sentence of a Native American activist who has spent a half-century in prison for the death of an FBI agent. In a statement released as Biden arrived at the US Capitol for the inauguration of his successor, Biden said he was commuting the life sentence of American Indian Movement activist Leonard Peltier and allowing him to live out the remainder of his sentence in home confinement under Department of Justice supervision. Peltier, who has been imprisoned since 1976, was convicted by a federal jury in Fargo, North Dakota for his role in a shootout that claimed the lives of FBI special agents Ronald Williams and Jack Coler. open image in gallery American Indian activist Leonard Peltier speaks during an interview at the US Penitentiary at Leavenworth, Kan, April 29 1999 ( AP ) The decision to commute Peltiers sentence ends years of calls for his freedom from criminal justice reform advocates whove said he deserved to be freed because of misconduct by the FBI during the prosecution of the case against him. But Biden also said he was granting unconditional pardons to multiple members of his family, including his brother James Biden and sister-in-law Sara Biden, his brother Frank Biden, his sister Valerie Biden Owens, and her husband John Owens. open image in gallery Indigenous rights activists take part in a rally in support of imprisoned Native American activist Leonard Peltier, at Lafayette Square across from the White House, in Washington, DC, on September 12, 2023 ( AFP via Getty ) Biden said they, along with the rest of his family, had been subjected to unrelenting attacks and threats, motivated solely by a desire to hurt methe worst kind of partisan politics during his term as president and lamented that he had no reason to believe these attacks will end. I believe in the rule of law, and I am optimistic that the strength of our legal institutions will ultimately prevail over politics. But baseless and politically motivated investigations wreak havoc on the lives, safety, and financial security of targeted individuals and their families. Even when individuals have done nothing wrong and will ultimately be exonerated, the mere fact of being investigated or prosecuted can irreparably damage their reputations and finances, Biden said. open image in gallery Valerie Biden and James Biden arrive to federal court, Monday, June 10 2024, in Wilmington, Delaware ( AP ) He added that the pardons should not be mistaken as an acknowledgement that they engaged in any wrongdoing, nor should acceptance be misconstrued as an admission of guilt for any offense. Biden also announced he was pardoning a pair of Democratic politicians whod found themselves in legal trouble in recent years, former Kentucky state legislator Gerald Lundergan and ex-Columbia, South Carolina city councilman Ernest Cromartie. open image in gallery Joe Biden presents Frank Butler with the Presidential Citizens Medal during a ceremony in the East Room of the White House on January 02 2025 in Washington, DC ( Getty Images ) Bidens final pardons came just hours after he also granted pre-emptive pardons to Dr Anthony Fauci, General Mark Milley, and the members of Congress who served on the House committee that investigated the attempted insurrection at the US Capitol on January 6 2021, as well as police officers who testified before the panel and staff members who worked on the committees investigation. Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Get our free Inside Washington email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Despite a turbulent few months, Cheryl Hines, the 59-year-old Curb Your Enthusiasm star and wife of Robert F Kennedy Jr, is expected to attend Trumps second inauguration beside her husband and later plans to walk the red carpet for the MAHA Ball on Monday, according to Fox News. After ending his independent presidential campaign in August to endorse GOP candidate Donald Trump, RFK Jr. admitted that the decision left his wife Cheryl Hines feeling very uncomfortable. A month later, her 70-year-old husband was embroiled in an alleged sexting scandal with New York Magazine reporter Olivia Nuzzi. The 31-year-old journalists disclosure of their so-called personal relationship sparked a raft of salacious stories, leading to her ultimately parting ways with the outlet. RFK Jr has since refused to comment when probed on the allegations. As the president-elects celebrations continued on the weekend around Washington, DC, Hines and RFK Jr were spotted attending the Vice Presidents Dinner at the National Gallery of Art on Saturday evening besides JD and Usha Vance. open image in gallery RFK Jr and wife Cheryl Hines, photographed in Mar-a-Lago in November, attended the Vice Presidents Dinner on Saturday ( Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. ) When RFK Jr was tapped as Trumps controversial incoming secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services in November, with the president-elect promising that he can go wild on health care, Hines began to embrace her husbands defection to the Republican Party and his Make America Healthy Again agenda. The Emmy Award-nominated actress has since made multiple visits to Trumps Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, with the Kennedy scion. She was seen celebrating alongside the GOP candidate at his election night watch party on November 5 as he defeated Vice President Kamala Harris at the ballot box. By Black Friday, Hines posted a cringe-worthy promotional video for her self-care brand Hines + Young of RFK Jr in the shower, and later began hawking candles inscribed with MAHA Make America Healthy Again. When Hines was asked whether she was excited by a move to Washington, DC in December, with her husband vying to be the nations top health official, she told TMZ: One day at a time. open image in gallery RFK Jr and Hines at the then-independent presidential candidates rally on March 26, 2024 in Oakland, California ( Getty Images ) With Trump set to be sworn into office for a second time on Monday, RFK Jr was left waiting tentatively for his confirmation hearing to be scheduled which is not likely until later this month. As of Friday, the Office of Government Ethics was evaluating RFK Jrs financial disclosures. The process is required for incoming Cabinet officials and Senators traditionally withhold from scheduling confirmation hearings until it is completed. RFK Jr who is set to oversee the $2 trillion agency which includes the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has garnered critics from both sides of the political aisle due to his lack of governmental experience and his anti-vaxxer and conspiratorial views. A 53 to 47-seat GOP majority in the upper chamber means that RFK Jr can only lose a few votes to be confirmed. More than 15,000 doctors signed a letter imploring the US Senate to reject Robert F. Kennedy Jr.s confirmation for secretary of health and human services earlier this month. Transition officials plan to fill out RFK Jrs HHS leadership team with longtime GOP allies prior to his confirmation ceremony to compensate for his lack of experience, according to Politico. Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Get our free Inside Washington email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy On January 20, Donald Trump and JD Vance will officially become the president and vice president of the United States. During an inauguration ceremony at the U.S. Capitol, Trump and Vance will be sworn into office, kicking off their new administration. Trump has already spoken about the event, claiming his political opponents are giddy because U.S. flags will be at half-mast for his inauguration to honor the death of former President Jimmy Carter. Nobody wants to see this, and no American can be happy about it, Trump said last month. Lets see how it plays out. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN! Heres everything you need to know about Inauguration Day, including how to get tickets to see the historic event for yourself: open image in gallery President-elect Donald Trump pictured as hes swearing in for his first term as President on January 20, 2017 ( AFP via Getty Images ) What is Inauguration Day? On Inauguration Day, the new US president and vice president are sworn in during a ceremony that marks the end of one presidency and the beginning of the next. open image in gallery Donald Trump and Barack Obama stand next to each other on Inauguration Day 2017. The event marked the end of Obamas presidency and the beginning of Trumps first term ( Getty Images ) How do I buy Inauguration Day tickets? Every four years, the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies ensures a chunk of inauguration tickets are made available to the public. These tickets are free of charge but theyre limited, and youll have to contact your local congressperson to get one. To find your representative and senators, use Congress.gov. When is Inauguration Day? Inauguration Day falls on Monday, January 20. Trump will take the oath of office at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. The ceremony begins at 12 p.m. ET. Inauguration Day occurs every four years on January 20, unless the date falls on a Sunday then its moved to the 19th. The date and time are mandated by the Constitution. open image in gallery Donald Trump arrives at the U.S. Capitol on January 20, 2017 for his inauguration ( Getty Images ) How do I watch the presidential inauguration from home? The White House will livestream the event, meaning anyone with a device can watch free of charge. Most major news networks, including ABC, CBS, CNN, CSPAN, Fox News, MSNBC, NBC, and PBS, will also carry inauguration coverage. Who will attend the inauguration? In addition to the president-elect and vice president-elect, President Joe Biden will also attend. In 2021, Trump did not attend Bidens inauguration. Other notable attendees will include Trump and Vancess families, congressional lawmakers, Supreme Court justices and key members of the upcoming administration. Country music star Carrie Underwood will also attend to perform America the Beautiful just before Trump takes the oath of office. Afterward, classical voclaist Christopher Macchio will sing the National Anthem. Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Get our free Inside Washington email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy President-elect Donald Trump will be sworn in as the 47th president inside the Capitol building in Washington D.C. Monday on what is expected to be one of the coldest Inauguration days in U.S. history as temperatures drastically plummet. Trump took to TruthSocial Friday to announce the move from what is traditionally an outdoor ceremony to one that would now take place inside because of the cold weather emergency, stating: "There is an Arctic blast sweeping the Country. I dont want to see people hurt, or injured, in any way. "Therefore, I have ordered the Inauguration Address, in addition to prayers and other speeches, to be delivered in the United States Capitol Rotunda," he added. The last ceremony to be moved inside was Ronald Reagans second-term inauguration in 1985 when temperatures plummeted to 7F (-14C) which prompted organizers to cancel the parade on top of moving the ceremony. The frigid conditions have been triggered by the polar vortex, a three-dimensional ring of winds that typically linger above the North and South poles, that have dipped into the northern tier of the U.S. Typically the strength of the polar vortex can vary depending on the strength and position of the jet stream, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. open image in gallery An extremely dangerous cold snap is expected to affect millions of people across the United States with brisk winds, and dangerously cold wind chill values expected to dip as low as s 30 to 55 degrees below zero, says the NOAA ( NOAA ) While January is normally relatively cold in the U.S. this system is abnormally chilly for many. Temperatures are set to plunge to 21F by midday in Washington with a damning wild chill creating even more brutal conditions. The cold snap is expected to remain until Tuesday before moving toward southern and eastern coasts Sunday. Over 220,000 tickets have been handed out to the public as per USA Today as parts of eastern seaboard, including the D.C. area will experience wind chills dipping to -5 degrees, temperatures that can lead to hypothermia with prolonged exposure, according to the NOAA. The Mayor of Washington, D.C. Muriel Bowser issued a stark warning to residents Sunday, stating on X: A Cold Weather Emergency is now ACTIVATED. Temperatures will be dangerously low overnight. The nations capital will not see the worst weather in the country with some states being issued an extreme cold warning with life-threatening wild chills as low as minus 55 degrees until Tuesday in states such as North and South Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, New Mexico, northern Nebraska, eastern Wyoming, west Colorado, north Alabama, north Atlanta, parts of Montana, Idaho, and North Carolina, said the NOAA. The dangerous wind chills could cause frostbite on exposed skin in as little as 5 minutes for states issues with an extreme cold weather warning whereas those with cold weather warnings can be at risk of frostbite and hypothermia if unprotected skin is exposed to the brisk temperatures, said the NOAA. Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Get our free Inside Washington email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Tesla CEO and first buddy Elon Musk was hit with a wave of immediate outrage online and on cable news after he made a salute that many felt was fascist during his speech at the Capitol One Arena on Monday to celebrate President Donald Trumps inauguration. While getting extremely excited about the prospect of landing a man on Mars and planting an American flag, the X (formerly Twitter) owner pounded his chest and shot his right arm in an angular motion toward the sky, saying he felt it in his heart. He also turned his back to the audience and repeated the gesture towards the American flag hanging over the stage. Hours later, Musk responded to the criticism of the gesture in a post on X. Frankly, they need better dirty tricks. The everyone is Hitler attack is so tired, he tweeted while reposting a message from 2022 in which he declared that he was no longer a Democrat and as a result was awaiting a dirty tricks campaign. Follow all the latest updates as Donald Trump begins work in the White House Standing ovation for Elon Musk. By far the biggest reception of the day, CNN anchor Erin Burnett noted in the immediate aftermath. You saw him come out with that odd-looking salute. It was odd-looking, Burnett reiterated, letting viewers know she would be showing another clip of the moment. Fellow anchor Kasie Hunt noted the gesture was evocative of things that we have seen through history and not something you typically see at American rallies. open image in gallery ( AFP via Getty Images ) Considering the strange spectacle and the similarities to a particularly controversial hand motion, it didnt take long for critics of the Trump-backing billionaire and Doge chief to exclaim online what they thought the worlds richest man was doing at that moment. Yeah Elon gave a Sieg Heil, one user posted on Bluesky, while others pointedly accused him of giving a Nazi salute. Our new co-president Elon Musk gives a Nazi salute on day one of Trump presidency, Democratic strategist Sawyer Hackett tweeted while sharing a clip of the gesture. At the same time, while liberals and Maga detractors flooded social media with videos of Musks provocative wave to the crowd, there was nothing in Musks excitable pro-Trump speech that explicitly referenced fascism and Nazism and it is almost certain that the tech mogul would deny that he was making that gesture during a celebration of the new president. Indeed, many other observers suggested that Musk was instead performing a Roman salute that soldiers in the ancient empire would use to greet their commanders as a show of respect and loyalty. The Roman salute, however, was later adopted in some forms by fascist states including Nazi Germany, as some noted. Additionally, right-wing extremists celebrated the alarming gesture. I dont care if this was a mistake. Im going to enjoy the tears over it, neo-Nazi leader Christopher Pollhaus wrote on Telegram. Some journalists, meanwhile, just shared the strange moment online and allowed others to make up their minds as to what exactly Musk was doing. Supporters of the billionaire, on the other hand, insisted that Musk was being misrepresented and taken out of context. Elon Musk was excited and spread his hand to the crowd. Every leftist is going to try and characterize this as a Nazi salute, one X user wrote, while another called on Community Notes to get involved and point out that he merely was extending his heart to the crowd. As a person with a *strong* track record of criticizing Elon Musk, I feel extremely confident asserting that this was not a Nazi salute. Elon Musk is a friend to the Jews, Newsweek opinion editor Batya Ungar-Sargon insisted. This is a man with Aspergers exuberantly throwing his heart to the crowd. We dont need to invent outrage. Musk later shared a clip of his entire speech on X, though the video which he pulled from another user curiously did not show the first salute he gave to the crowd. The footage was from Foxs Live Now broadcast. The Independent has reached out to Musk and X for comment. The frenzy over Musks salute parallels that of another Trump acolyte who set the internet on fire when she made a similar gesture at the Republican National Convention in 2016. During her speech in Cleveland that year, Fox News star Laura Ingraham unleashed a rallying cry for Trump as he was set to accept the GOP nomination for president. I want to say this very plainly: We should alleven all you boys with wounded feelings and bruised egos, we love youbut you must honor your pledge to support Donald Trump now, she exclaimed, followed by her immediately shooting her right hand up in an angular fashion. Much like Musk is now, she was accused of performing a fascist salute, and edited clips of her speech quickly became a meme. I do not think it is fair to say Laura Ingraham capped off her remarks at the Republican National Convention by giving a Nazi salute, Slate writer Josh Voorhees wrote at the time. However, I do think it is fair to say that Laura Ingraham capped off her remarks at the Republican National Convention with a hand gesture that, intentionally or not, clearly resembled a Nazi salute. open image in gallery Elon Musk arrives before the 60th Presidential Inauguration in the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol in Washington ( 2025 Getty Images ) As for what does and doesnt constitute a Hitler salute, the Anti-Defamation League notes that it consists of raising an outstretched right arm with the palm down, adding that it is often accompanied by chanting or shouting Heil Hitler or Sieg Heil. Additionally, the ADL states that since the end of World War II, neo-Nazis and other white supremacists have continued to use the salute, making it the most common white supremacist hand sign in the world. However, the ADL decided on Monday afternoon that whatever Musk did at the Capitol One Arena didnt meet the mark of an actual fascist gesture, describing it as merely awkward. This is a delicate moment. Its a new day and yet so many are on edge. Our politics are inflamed, and social media only adds to the anxiety. It seems that @elonmusk made an awkward gesture in a moment of enthusiasm, not a Nazi salute, but again, we appreciate that people are on edge, the organization said in a statement. In this moment, all sides should give one another a bit of grace, perhaps even the benefit of the doubt, and take a breath. This is a new beginning. Lets hope for healing and work toward unity in the months and years ahead. Notably, Musk and the ADL had been at odds over the billionaires previous embrace of antisemitic tropes, namely the great replacement theory, while the X owner threatened legal action over lost ad revenue that he blamed on the ADLs accusations of antisemitism on the social media platform. ADL chief Jonathan Greenblatt, however, eventually praised Musk for suggesting he would ban the pro-Palestinian phrases from the river to sea and decolonization, commending him for his leadership in fighting hate. Greenblatts about-face and apparent embrace of Musk prompted criticism and even resignations from the ADL itself. Meanwhile, the outrage over Musk making this particular gesture twice onstage during Trumps inauguration comes after the SpaceX chief had already drawn intense backlash for throwing his support behind the far-right Alternative for Deutschland, a German political party that has ties to neo-Nazis and whose youth wing has been described as extremist by German intelligence agencies. Musk later hosted the AfD leader for a lengthy conversation on X. On top of that, Musk also recently signaled further support for the far-right when he changed his X username to Kekius Maximus and updated his profile to an edited picture of Pepe the Frog, a meme that had been co-opted by the alt-right and white supremacists in online spaces such as 4chan. And just a week ago, Musk who has relentlessly promoted imprisoned far-right extremist Tommy Robinson while injecting himself into British politics criticized the prison sentencing of a neo-Nazi who helped incited riots in the UK. Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Get our free Inside Washington email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy The fundraising for the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump has beaten all records, gathering an unprecedented $170 million. Tech executives and big donors have donated massive sums of money to curry favor with the incoming president. The donations are usually spent on events surrounding the inauguration, such as the oath of office ceremony, a parade, and several inaugural balls. The fundraising sum was initially reported Wednesday by The New York Times. Federal Election Commission records reveal that President Joe Biden brought in $62 million for his inauguration four years ago. When Trump was inaugurated in 2016, the donations also set a record then as he collected more than $106 million. Following Trumps second election victory in November, Amazon and Meta, which operates Facebook and Instagram, revealed that they would each donate $1 million to the inauguration. Meanwhile, Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, said he was planning on making a $1 million donation. Similarly, Google has also donated $1 million to the inaugural fund. Altman has been critical of Trump in the past but recently told Bloomberg: Hes the president of the United States. I support any president. Late last year, Trump indicated that he wouldnt rule out antitrust enforcement, a sensitive area for Google. Google is pleased to support the 2025 inauguration with a livestream on YouTube and a direct link on our homepage. Were also donating to the inaugural committee, the global head of government affairs and public policy, Karan Bhatia, told CNBC in a statement. A spokesperson noted that the company has donated to previous inaugurations and that the link on the homepage and the YouTube livestream are also similar measures to past inaugurations. U.S. President Donald Trump takes the oath of office as his wife Melania Trump holds the bible and his son Barron Trump looks on, on the West Front of the U.S. Capitol on January 20, 2017 in Washington, DC. His inaugural committee has raised more than $170 million for his next inauguration ( Getty Images ) Tim Cook, the CEO of Apple, is also reported to have contributed to the inauguration. After an election victory, candidates typically appoint an inaugural committee, which then organizes and finances events, such as opening ceremonies, balls, and the parade. There are no limits on how much an individual, company, or group can donate to the committee. Last month, Ford joined the tech companies donating to the inauguration, pledging $1 million and a fleet of vehicles backing the proceedings. Microsoft has also joined the other tech giants in donating $1 million to the inauguration, according to Forbes. Similarly, AI search startup Perplexity will also donate $1 million to the inaugural fund, and its also handing the administration a free version of its premium software to be a good partner to the incoming administration, chief business officer Dmitry Shevelenko told Bloomberg. The inaugural committee has to file a report with the Federal Election Commission outlining all of the donations by the 90th day following the inauguration. The inaugural committee is no longer selling tickets to major donors to attend the swearing-in ceremony and private events in the nations capital, according to The New York Times. Even some donors who have donated more than a million dollars have been put on waiting lists or have been told that they probably wont get VIP tickets as the events are already full, the paper reported. Donors are usually looking for seats at the inauguration or tickets to one of the inaugural balls. Inaugural events are important for lobbyists as they leverage donations from corporate sponsors and wealthy donors in a bid to boost their influence or improve their relationship with an incoming administration. Possible donors were told this week that no further seats were available for some events, and the donation link fundraisers were sharing with their networks no longer functioned by Tuesday and Wednesday. Events connected to the inauguration begin on January 17 with those who have given $1 million or raised $2 million supposed to get six tickets to six events, including the swearing-in ceremony and a candlelight dinner on January 19 with Trump and incoming First Lady Melania Trump. Those individuals also got two tickets to a dinner with Vice President-elect JD Vance and wife Usha Vance. Packages put forward to corporate and individual donors were initially advertised as being available until Friday, but they ended earlier because of higher-than-expected demand. The committee could ultimately raise more than $200 million. Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Get our free Inside Washington email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy President Joe Biden has adhered to the tradition started by Ronald Reagan and left his successor, Donald Trump, a letter as he hands over power. Biden confirmed that he wrote Trump a letter, but he didnt say what he wrote to the 47th president, choosing to let that remain between the two leaders, according to ABC News. Reagan started the tradition in 1989 when he left a letter for his successor, his own Vice President George H.W. Bush. Since Bush, each handover has been from a member of one party to the other. Reagan wrote to H.W. Bush, Dont let the turkeys get you down, including a drawing of turkeys climbing on an elephant. open image in gallery Joe Biden left Donald Trump a letter at the White House, cotinuing the tradition with the transfer of power ( Getty Images ) I treasure the memories we share and I wish you all the very best. Youll be in my prayers. God bless you & Barbara. Ill miss our Thursday lunches, Reagan added, according to ABC News. When it was time for George H.W. Bush to hand over to Bill Clinton following the 1992 election, H.W. Bush wrote, Dont let the critics discourage you or push you off course. You will be our President when you read this note, he added. I wish you well. I wish your family well. Your success now is our countrys success. I am rooting hard for you. Good Luck. In 2018, Clinton told ABC News: I love that letter. open image in gallery Biden confirmed that he wrote Trump a letter, but he didnt say what he wrote to the 47th president ( POOL/AFP via Getty Images ) I thought it was vintage George Bush, he added. I thought he meant it, but I also thought he was trying to be a citizen in the highest sense of the word. It was profoundly moving to me personally." When Clinton handed off to H.W. Bushs son, George W. Bush, he wrote, Today you embark on the greatest venture, with the greatest honor, that can come to an American citizen. Like me, you are especially fortunate to lead our country in a time of profound and largely positive change, when old questions, not just about the role of government, but about the very nature of our nation, must be answered anew, Clinton added at the time. You lead a proud, decent, good people. And from this day you are President of all of us. I salute you and wish you success and much happiness. The burdens you now shoulder are great but often exaggerated. The sheer joy of doing what you believe is right is inexpressible, he continued. My prayers are with you and your family. Godspeed. W. Bush kept the tradition going with a letter to Barack Obama, writing You have just begun a fantastic chapter in your life. Very few have had the honor of knowing the responsibility you now feel. Very few know the excitement of the moment and the challenges you will face, W. Bush told the 44th president. There will be trying moments. The critics will rage. Your friends will disappoint you. But, you will have an Almighty God to comfort you, a family who loves you, and a country that is pulling for you, including me. No matter what comes, you will be inspired by the character and compassion of the people you now lead. God bless you. In Obamas letter to Trump, he congratulated him on a remarkable run. open image in gallery Trump also adhered to the tradition, leaving Biden a letter even after his claims that the 2020 election was stolen ( POOL/AFP via Getty Images ) Millions have placed their hopes in you, and all of us, regardless of party, should hope for expanded prosperity and security during your tenure, he added. Weve both been blessed, in different ways, with great good fortune, said Obama, according to CNN. "Not everyone is so lucky. Its up to us to do everything we can (to) build more ladders of success for every child and family thats willing to work hard. We are just temporary occupants of this office, Obama told Trump. That makes us guardians of those democratic institutions and traditions -- like rule of law, separation of powers, equal protection and civil liberties -- that our forebears fought and bled for. Regardless of the push and pull of daily politics, its up to us to leave those instruments of our democracy at least as strong as we found them. He ended his letter with the words, Michelle and I wish you and Melania the very best as you embark on this great adventure, and know that we stand ready to help in any ways which we can. Trump later said Obamas letter was long but also said it was beautiful and so well-written, so thoughtful. I called him and thanked him for the thought that was put into that letter, Trump told ABC News in 2017. Trump also adhered to the tradition, leaving Biden a letter even after his claims that the 2020 election was stolen and the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot. While the letter hasnt been made public, Biden called the letter very generous, according to Politico. Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Get our free Inside Washington email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Melania Trump has been studying foreign affairs while preparing intensively for her White House return, according to a report. In a significant departure from her first stint in the White House, the incoming first lady has been brushing up on her studies, sources told CNN. She has acknowledged privately that the job was a whirlwind of responsibilities that she was largely unaware of the first time around, the network reports. The inaugural festivities are underway in Washington, D.C., as her husband Donald Trump prepares to be sworn in as the 47th President of the United States. Arriving at St. Johns Episcopal Church Monday morning, Melania was dressed in a tailored navy blue coat paired with black leather gloves and a wide-brimmed hat. open image in gallery Melania was dressed in a tailored navy blue coat and a wide-brimmed hat ( REUTERS ) It was a sharp departure from her look at Trump 2017s inauguration, where Melania wore a baby-blue Ralph Lauren jacket with a matching cashmere dress. Melania has spoken about how this time she has everything she needs to prepare for a second term in the White House and it has been a very different transition [the] second time around. Last week, she took a swipe at the Obamas over what she claims was a challenging transition in 2017, a dig that came after Michelle Obama decided to skip out on President-elect Donald Trumps second inauguration. open image in gallery Melania and Trump arriving at St. Johns Episcopal Church this morning ( REUTERS ) Fox & Friends host Ainsley Earhardt sat down with Melania and asked her what the difference was between preparing to move into the White House previously, compared to now. The difference is I know where I will be going, I know the rooms where we will be living. I know the process, Melania said. The first time was challenging, we didnt have much of the information. The information was upheld [sic] for us from [the] previous administration. The 54-year-old also said that she will split her time between D.C., New York, and Palm Beach. open image in gallery The Bidens invited the Trumps to join them for a pre-inauguration tea ( Getty Images ) She added that her priority is being a mom, a first lady and a wife. I will be in the White House, she told Fox & Friends. And, you know, when I need to be in New York, I will be in New York. When I need to be in Palm Beach, I will be in Palm Beach. But my first priority is, you know, to be a mom, to be a first lady, to be a wife. And once we are in on Jan. 20, you serve the country. Melania has raised eyebrows by launching a cryptocurrency a day after Trump released his own $TRUMP meme coin. Positioning himself as the first ever pro-crypto US president, Trump has pledged to usher in a number of policies that could continue to benefit the market, prompting bitcoin to reach a new all-time-high just hours before his inauguration. Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Get our free Inside Washington email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Former first lady Michelle Obama is skipping Donald Trumps inauguration because she doesnt want to plaster on a smile for someone she fundamentally believes is a threat to American democracy, according to a report. It was confirmed last week that she would not be attending the president-elects swearing-in but her office did not give any further explanation in its brief statement. The 44th president was introduced by himself and took his seat inside the Capitol rotunda next to his fellow former presidents Bill Clinton and George W Bush, as well as their wives Hillary Clinton and Laura Bush. Former House speaker Nancy Pelosi also snubbed the event. Michelle Obama also missed Jimmy Carters state funeral last week due to a scheduling conflict, although it subsequently emerged she had been on vacation in Hawaii. Interestingly, she has actually not been seen publicly in the company of her husband since both spoke at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago in August, where her speech championing the candidacy of Vice President Kamala Harris and attacking the Republican nominees ugly, misogynistic, racist lies went down a storm. open image in gallery Barack Obama showed up to the second high-profile event this year without Michelle by his side. ( Getty ) That said, she did thank Barack for always having my back, being by my side, and finding ways to make me smile on Instagram on the occasion of their 32nd wedding anniversary. Speculation about her absence from Trumps inauguration has been rife since her announcement and now a source close to Obama has shared the real reason, according to People. Theres no overstating her feelings about [Trump]. Shes not one to plaster on a pleasant face and pretend for protocols sake, the source told the outlet. Michelle doesnt do anything because its expected or its protocol or its tradition. open image in gallery Michelle Obama attended Trumps first inauguration in 2017 ( Getty ) She would be expected to swallow her feelings in the spotlight if she attended his second inauguration. But both Donald and Melania Trump refused to attend Joe Bidens swearing-in in January 2021, making them the first American leaders not to attend the succession since 1869. Michelle Obama, who served as first lady from 2009 to 2017, did attend Trumps first inauguration in January 2017 and later revealed her discomfort at being expected to sit in the audience and watch him be sworn in as commander-in-chief. open image in gallery Obama took his seat next to his fellow former presidents Bill Clinton and George W Bush , as well as their wives Hillary Clinton and Laura Bush . ( Getty ) To sit on that stage and watch the opposite of what we represented on display, there was no diversity, there was no color on that stage, she said on her show The Light Podcast in 2023. There was no reflection of the broader sense of America. Many people took pictures of me and theyre like, You werent in a good mood. No, I was not. Obama went on to say that she cried for half an hour after the ceremony because thats how much we were holding it together for eight years without really being able to show it all. open image in gallery Barack Obama and Donald Trump appeared to get along at Jimmy Carters funeral earlier this month, which Michelle Obama also skipped ( AFP/Getty ) Despite a great deal of pressure on her to run for the presidency on the Democratic ticket in future, Obama has largely shunned politics since leaving Washington and doesnt feel the need to be a public figure anymore, according to Peoples source. Her animosity towards Trump is no secret, given that the 45th and 47th president has regularly insulted and attacked her family, referring to her husband disparagingly as Barack Hussein Obama and making comments about people of color that have contributed to Michelles opinion of him, as Peoples source put it. For his part, Barack Obama appears not to mind Trumps taunts and was seen sharing a laugh and engaging in polite conversation with him during Carters funeral at Washington National Cathedral. Trump reflected on the moment afterwards by telling a reporter of the moment: It did look very friendly, I must say. I didnt realize how friendly it looked. I saw it on your wonderful network just a little while ago before I came in. And I said, Boy, they look like two people who like each other. We probably do. Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Get our free Inside Washington email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Virjilio Burciaga came all the way from California to celebrate Donald Trumps inauguration in front of the Capitol the first time the 48-year-old electrician had returned to the house of American democracy since he protested with a mob that stormed the building on January 6, 2021. At one point they were seeing us as insurrectionists, he told The Independent, now its changed to were all going to get pardoned, you know, that label has been lifted. open image in gallery Virjilio Burciaga with his wife Clara ( Richard Hall / The Independent ) And hours later, the newly reinstated President Trump did just that, promising that he would take action for the people he dubs the J6 hostages, meaning those currently accused or detained for offenses during the Capitol riot. Trump has promised to issue sweeping pardons for many of the 1,500 protesters jailed for the attack. That is welcome news for Virjilio and his wife, Clara, who were both in attendance that day. Im like, when are they gonna known down my door and take me out of my house right and throw me in jail, Clara says, with the Capitol building behind her. The couple believe there should be a distinction made between violent protesters and those who trespassed in the Capitol (although Virjilio insists he didnt enter the building). open image in gallery The violent attack on the Capitol in protest of the results of the 2020 election. ( Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. ) These guys are political prisoners, she continues. All these real criminals are being pardoned by this [Biden] administration and what happened to our J6ers? The Californian couple also believe that those who faced charges should receive compensation. I dont believe in lawsuits, but they need to get reimbursed for their time, Virjilio says. President Trumps unlikely political comeback has brought with it a reimagining of the attack on the Capitol starting with a weak condemnation of the violence on the day, and then later referred to it as a day of love. open image in gallery A member of the Proud Boys walks in DC to celebrate Trumps inauguration ( Getty Images ) After being criticised by most in his own party for his role in directing the riot, which was aimed at stopping certification of Joe Bidens victory in the 2020 presidential election election, most Republicans have now joined Trump in playing down its significance. And it was clear that this years inauguration day was a celebration for Jan 6 rioters thrilled about Trumps return, a case of history being written by the winner. open image in gallery The Proud Boys assemble to march the cold streets of D.C. to celebrate Trumps inauguration ( Getty Images ) Across town, near to the Capitol One Arena, a group of Proud Boys the group most responsible for the January 6 insurrection gathered in much diminished numbers to their last Capitol appearance. The groups leader, Henry Enrique Tarrio, 39, of Miami, Florida, received one of the harshest sentences of everyone invoked in the attack, sentenced to 22 years in prison and 36 months of supervised release. No organization put more boots on the ground at the Capitol on January 6, 2021 than the Proud Boys, and they were at the forefront of every major breach of the Capitols defenses, leading the on-the-ground efforts to storm the seat of government, said U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves for the District of Columbia, in September 2023, when Tarrio was sentenced. Proud Boys member 'looking forward' to pardons from president Trump Several members refused to be interviewed Monday by The Independent, but one masked member who identified himself as Harry Fox, says the Proud Boys did nothing wrong. Fox says the attack on the Capitol was the driving force behind him joining the group, and that the attack was sparked by police attacking protesters. How much is a crowd supposed to put up with when youve stolen an election, youve ripped our constitution up for a year and then you steal an election and people show up, then you shoot into a crowd? he asks. open image in gallery Members of the far-right group Proud Boys make 'OK' hand gestures indicating "white power" on Jan. 6, 2021 ( (Reuters) ) At what point are people supposed to just keep taking it when you see Grandma getting hit in the head with a baton, when you see people praying, being sprayed in the face with mace, or when you see people standing there exercising their First Amendment right to assemble? The Independent, which was present at the January 6 riot, previously reported that the Proud Boys led an attack on police in an attempt to gain access to the Capitol and stop the certification of Bidens win. Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Get our free Inside Washington email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy James Rose was still livestreaming to her TikTok followers on Saturday night when the app suddenly shut down ahead of schedule. "It kind of felt like I was a violin player on the deck of the Titanic," the 29-year-old actress and TikTok creator, who uses she/they pronouns, tells The Independent. "A lot of us were on live, because we were like: 'we're going down with this ship'." Some users had donned ostentatious mourning garb to attend TikTok's "funeral." Others were still frantically downloading their favourite videos, or their own data. One prominent influencer posted a teary farewell message, saying: "I feel like Im going through heartbreak...I cried myself to sleep last night." Then, at 10:38pm Eastern Time on Saturday night more than an hour before the US law banning TikTok actually came into force Rose's live stream cut out. In its place was a pop-up citing the new law and expressing hope that Donald Trump would find a solution. For Rose and many other TikTok creators, it was an emotional gut punch, wiping out years of work finding a voice, cultivating an audience, and learning how to monetize it. Now, confusingly, TikTok is back at least for the time being. After Trump promised to grant the app's Chinese owners more time to find a U.S. buyer, TikTok said on Sunday morning that it had been given the "necessary clarity" to begin restoring service to its 170m U.S. users. But with the app's fate now resting on the caprice of a famously mercurial president who may not even have the legal authority to save it creators fear that there is still an axe hanging over their heads. "Okay, we're still here. But for how long?" says Joel Bervell, a 29-year-old recently graduated medical doctor in Portland, Oregon, who uses TikTok to debunk medical myths and educate users about racial disparities in healthcare. "At any point, the Trump administration can take away what they seem to have given in their good graces, and I worry that they're going to use it as bargaining chip for whatever thing he wants it to do." I completely owe my success today to TikTok "Sorry, TikTok isn't available right now," read the pop-up shown to users on Saturday night. "A law banning TikTok has been enacted in the U.S. Unfortunately, that means you can't use TikTok for now. "We are fortunate that President Trump has indicated that he will work with us on a solution to reinstate TikTok once he takes office. Please stay tuned!" Shari Dyonne, a 26-year-old full-time lifestyle influencer in Atlanta, Georgia had been expecting the message. But seeing it actually happen was something else. "It almost took all the air out of me for a second," she tells The Independent. "Looking at my account that I've been building for two and a half years now, and seeing that I can't access it and I can't connect with my audience I don't even think I can put words to it." Sincerely Awa, a 27-year-old TikTok creator and activist based in Brooklyn, New York, was working at a wedding on Saturday night when she saw the pop-up during a break. Shed expected the company to make some deal behind the scenes to satisfy U.S. politicians, and hadnt believed the ban would actually happen. I was in disbelief, she says. According to research commissioned by TikTok, an estimated 39 per cent of American small businesses consider the app "critical" to their livelihoods. As well as advertising and shopping, the app generates income for online influencers through brand endorsements and the Creator Rewards Program, which directly shares ad revenue with some video makers. "I completely owe my success today to TikTok," says Dyonne. "it's kind of everything to me." open image in gallery Full-time infleuncer Shari Dyonne, 26, says she completely owes her success to TikTok. ( Shari Dyonne via Kensington Grey ) Both Rose and Dyonne say they would survive a TikTok ban. Rose makes most of their money from acting and writing, whereas Dyonne has diversified her social media presence enough to make it a disruption but not a disaster. But that is not the case for everyone. "I have a lot of creative friends who do it full time, where TikTok is literally 100 per cent of their income," says Bervell, who relied on the app to help pay for his student loans, textbooks, and living expenses while studying for his medical degree. Maybe Burke, a 32-year-old gender inclusion consultant in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, says she doesnt make much money from TikTok directly. But nearly all of her clients in the past year have come from people who saw her videos there, and in the short term shes worried shed lose a lot of business. I've gotten clients through LinkedIn and Instagram as well... but nothing grows like Tik Tok grows, she says. You can grow crazy numbers from one video doing well. TikTok is the stock market; Instagram is like a high-yield savings account. Indeed, Rose argues that TikTok's unusual structure and its powerful algorithm made it uniquely friendly to people from marginalized backgrounds to break out and go viral even without spending years building up a following. open image in gallery Joel Bervell, a 29-year-old medical doctor in Portland, Oregon, uses TikTok to debunk medical myths, but is sceptical about the apps future. ( Joel Bervell via Kensington Grey ) Rival apps such as Instagram build your news feed around who you choose to follow, meaning that fame tends to build gradually upon fame. TikTok, by contrast, does not require you to follow anyone, instead relying on a famously unpredictable algorithm that can pluck any video from obscurity and shove it in front of millions of people. "So many of us have the opportunities, the resources, the income streams, the platforms that we do because of folks that decided to support us on this app, and because of how unique that algorithm was," says Rose. "People saying 'oh, you just need to diversify' fundamentally misunderstand why TikTok was uniquely valuable." From Chinese propaganda to pro-Trump? In a post from his own social network Truth Social on Sunday morning, Donald Trump vowed to issue an executive order granting the app a temporary reprieve as soon as he takes office on Monday. "Im asking companies not to let TikTok stay dark!" he said, promising "no liability" for TikTok's service providers and advocating for the U.S. government itself to take a 50 per cent stake in the app. Within hours, TikTok was accessible in the US once again. It's not clear how Trump can legally spare the app, except by simply refusing to enforce a law that was passed by both houses of Congress and approved by the Supreme Court. Republicans in Congress pushed back against his statement, saying he had "no legal basis" to offer TikTok an extension. Nevertheless, TikTok has taken to praising Trump in its public statements in an apparent effort to butter him up. Its CEO Shou Chew was even invited to Trump's inauguration, suggesting there is desire on both sides to figure out a deal. The chaotic situation gives creators little certainty that TikTok will stay open, or at least stay the same. "No, of course I don't feel confident in that," says Rose. "I feel like it will bend and sway to the whims of people's political agendas and it will continue to be used as a pawn to enact political warfare against the working class." Indeed, Dyonne and Bervell worry that TikTok might change its algorithms or moderation rules to appease Donald Trump, similar to the transformation of X (formerly Twitter) under Elon Musk or the recent conservative-friendly reforms at Facebook and Instagram. That could tilt the social media ecosystem even further towards the political right. A recent study by the Pew Research Center found that TikTok was the only big online platform where more news influencers identify as left-leaning than conservative. "You could argue that my platform, which talks about healthcare and how it affects people of colour, is 'DEI'," says Bervell. "So if the Trump administration starts telling social media to restrict those conversations, what does that mean for someone like myself? "Is TikTok now going to be putting out a view of the administration that isn't totally accurate, or that is propaganda? Will this become an arm of the government that is now used to get specific ideas across? "No one knows the answer, but those are all fears that creators I've talked to are feeling." open image in gallery James Rose, 29, was livestreaming their farewell to the app when it suddenly went dark on Saturday night. ( James Rose ) Similarly, Burke says shes scared that a Trump-friendly TikTok will censor LGBT+ voices more than before, after years of being one of the better platforms for queer creators to voice their beliefs. I believe that its going to turn into very conservative, very right-wing type of messages, and its going to be very controlled and censored, says Awa. Its about to get really weird and crazy on the app. That would be ironic, given that one major rationale for the TikTok ban was the fear that it could be used as a covert channel of Chinese propaganda. But perhaps no more ironic than Trump presenting himself as the saviour of TikTok when he was the one who kickstarted U.S. attempts to ban it in 2020. Both Dyonne and Rose expressed frustration at the U.S. political establishment for pushing this ban, saying it grates that a Congress unwilling to stop school shootings or codify a national right to abortion can nevertheless ban a popular social media app with bipartisan support. Yet while Rose doesn't think Trump will get much credit from young Americans for swooping in to save the app, others arent so sure. "I one thousand per cent think it's going to play that way," says Dyonne. "Even if he does save the app, my support would not go to him. [But] my fear is that people will immediately start flocking to him... forgetting who he is and what he's done because they're so happy about this app." Burke agrees: I do think its going to work on people. Its theatrics, its political theatre, and I think what we learned in this last election is that more and more people are buying tickets for the show. Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Get our free Inside Washington email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trumps recently released cryptocurrency meme coins were not warmly received by crypto experts and investors - even those who support Trump. Just days before Trumps inauguration, the Trumps announced they were releasing Trump and Melania meme coins cryptocurrencies with no economic or transactional value often seen as a means of speculation. The announcement was met with mixed reviews from crypto experts who raised concerns that it could further delegitimize the crypto world. The memecoins cost the US, the presidency and his family a lot of credibility and the consequences havent even started, Gabor Gurbacs, the director of an alternative digital asset firm and a Trump supporter, wrote on X. Trump supporters and crypto investors criticized the president for launching meme coins just days before he took office ( Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved ) Gurbacs called on Trump to fire his crypto advisers. Nic Carter, a general partner at a crypto investment firm and Trump supporter, told Politico, Its absolutely preposterous that he would do this. Theyre plumbing new depths of idiocy with the meme coin launch, Carter said. Cryptocurrency advocates have largely welcomed Trumps ascent to the White House because Trump has promised to elevate the alternative forms of payment, calling himself the first crypto president. But the launch of the Trump meme coin has worried some. One Washington lobbyist told Politico the Trumps meme coin launch was awful and a horrible look for the industry. This is a horrible look for the industry already trying to make the case that were not a bunch of hucksters, scammers and fraudsters, the unnamed lobbyist said. As some crypto investors raised concerns over Trumps meme coin delegitimizing the industry, other watchdogs sounded the alarm over potential ethical conflicts. Norm Eisen, a former White House adviser who served on the board of the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, told The Washington Post it posed a profound conflict of interest. Hes launching a major, new multibillion-dollar venture in the burgeoning crypto industry, where he has the most profound conflict of interest between [what] hes seeking to gain and his duties to regulate that industry, Eisen said. Just days after Trump launched the meme coins, they skyrocketed in value. By Inauguration Day they were worth well over $10 billion. The Melania coin now has a value of about $1 billion. Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Get our free Inside Washington email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Donald Trump will sign more than 200 executive actions on his first day in office, according to a report by Fox News Digital, later backed up by ABC News. This record-setting first wave of policy priorities will focus on border security, energy, reducing the cost of living for American families, ending DEI programs across the federal government, and more, the network reports. According to a senior administration official, Trump is set to sign multiple omnibus executive orders, each containing dozens of major executive actions. President-elect Donald Trump at a rally in Washington, D.C. the day before his inauguration ( AP ) The president is issuing a historic series of executive orders and actions that will fundamentally reform the American government, including the complete and total restoration of American sovereignty, the official told Fox News Digital. Some will reportedly be signed at the Capitol after Trump takes the oath of office, others will be dealt with during the inaugural parade at the Capitol One Arena, and then more later at the White House. The networks White House correspondent Jacqui Heinrich tweeted the following list of what the orders will do: Close the border to all illegal aliens via proclamation and declare a national emergency at the border Direct designations of cartels as foreign terrorist organizations Re-institute Remain in Mexico, end Catch and Release, and direct the military to construct a new phase of the border wall Fully unleash Alaskan energy, terminate Biden policies that have constrained US supply Return federal workers to in-person work Strengthen control over senior government officials and implement a new merit-based hiring review Suspend security clearances for the 51 national security officials who lied about Hunter Bidens laptop ahead of the 2020 presidential election End all DEI programs across the federal government Establish a new Department of Government Efficiency hiring freeze Declare a national energy emergency and pause all offshore wind leases Withdraw from the Paris Climate Accord Direct all agencies and departments to remove all federal actions that increase costs for families and consumers ABC News reports that other orders will designate cartels as foreign terrorist organizations, repeal rules on electric vehicles, and offset limits for offshore drilling on federal land. During Sundays victory rally at the Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C., the president-elect teased some of his plans largely campaign promises made over the course of 2024 and revealed that his staff tried to talk him out of signing so many executive orders on his first day in office and instead suggested spreading them out. Like hell we are, Trump says he responded. Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Get our free Inside Washington email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy After declaring earlier this month that the Gulf of America had a beautiful ring to it, newly installed President Donald Trump is expected to sign an executive order renaming the Gulf of Mexico in one of his first moves as he retakes the White House. The purely performative act is red meat for Trumps fan base, who believe the 47th presidents America First platform is the right way forward for the United States. Were going to be changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America, which has a beautiful ring. That covers a lot of territory, the Gulf of America, Trump said at a January 7 press conference. "What a beautiful name. And its appropriate. Its appropriate. And Mexico has to stop allowing millions of people to pour into our country. open image in gallery US President Joe Biden and President-elect Donald Trump arrive for the inauguration ceremony ( POOL/AFP via Getty Images ) Trumps incoming press secretary also confirmed on X, formerly Twitter, that he will sign an executive order reverting Mount Denali to its previous name, Mt. McKinley, which President Barack Obama changed in 2015 at the behest of Alaskan officials. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat from New York, has dubbed the Gulf of America idea crazy. The worlds ninth-largest body of water has been called the Gulf of Mexico since 1607. However, as Prof. Jon Taylor of UT-San Antonio told Houston Public Media , Trump "could actually direct federal agencies to use the name Gulf of America. Trump acolyte Marjorie Taylor Greene, the Republican congresswoman from Georgia, has pledged to introduce a bill renaming the Gulf, claiming, Its our gulf. The rightful name is the Gulf of America and its what the entire world should refer to it as." If Trump does manage to change the Gulf of Mexicos name to the Gulf of America, other nations would not be obligated to do the same. open image in gallery Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum suggested renaming the US in response to Trumps plan ( AFP via Getty Images ) More broadly, the International Hydrographic Organization oversees the charting of the worlds seas, oceans and navigable waters, setting standards in order to promote uniformity in nautical charts and documents, according to Roll Call . Both the U.S. and Mexico are members of the IHO. In response to Trumps purported plan, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum suggested retooling her countrys maps to rebrand the U.S. as America Mexicana. In 2012, Rep. Steve Holland, a Mississippi Democrat, introduced a satirical bill to rename the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America in response to Republican attacks on immigration. Trumps notion is little more than a distraction, to House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Democrat of New York. I think that weve got to focus on the issues that matter to the American people: housing costs are too high, grocery costs are too high, insurance costs are too high, he said. Utility costs are too high and child care costs are too high. We have to build an affordable economy for hard-working American taxpayers. Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Get our free Inside Washington email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Lawmakers have branded President-elect Donald Trumps inauguration a s***show after the ceremony was forced to move indoors where there arent enough chairs, according to a report. Freezing weather threw inauguration plans into chaos last week, with Trumps team announcing on Friday that the ceremony would be held inside the Capitols Rotunda but there wont be room for everybody. Officials have had to scramble to attempt to squeeze hundreds of dignitaries, members of Congress, former presidents and first ladies, the media, and other VIP guests into the Rotunda, which is approximately 7,200 square feet. Simply put, theres not enough room, one senior Republican aide told Politico. Its a s***show. The Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies issued initial guidance on Friday that said those with tickets for the Presidential Platform and members of Congress will be able to attend in person. open image in gallery Organizers have had to scramble to rearrange the ceremony inside the Capitols Rotunda ( REUTERS ) But rumors are circulating that some lawmakers could be sent to watch the ceremony elsewhere in the Capitol, according to the outlet. One Republican lawmaker said that no one knows what is going on while another said that there were concerns there wont be enough chairs for every member in the Rotunda. An inaugural committee members spokesperson denied that there would only be seats for 99 members, but did not comment further on the plans to Politico. The Independent has contacted the inaugural committee for comment. Members were told they would be in the Rotunda, according to one anonymous Republican, while spouses would likely watch in Statuary Hall or the Capitol Visitor Center. Another member told the outlet that they believed they still had two tickets to the ceremony. open image in gallery Members have reportedly complained that there arent enough seats inside the Rotunda ( REUTERS ) The chaos has not gone down well. So much effort by so many people just for a, Hey, its a first-come, first-serve free-for-all, one senior GOP aide complained to Politico. The last ceremony to be moved inside was Ronald Reagans second-term inauguration in 1985 when temperatures plummeted to 7 degrees, prompting organizers to cancel the parade on top of moving the ceremony. At Reagans indoor inauguration, only 96 people were invited, according to reports at the time. Fridays announcement triggered frantic calls and emergency meetings amongst officials, as many members of Congress only heard about the new plans via the media, The Washington Post reported. Staff had to quickly get to work assembling a new podium inside the Rotunda for the ceremony. Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Get our free Inside Washington email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy On Monday the three richest people on Earth squeezed into an area together smaller than a Mini Cooper. First buddy Elon Musk, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and Facebook and Instagram boss Mark Zuckerberg sat together along with Google CEO Sundar Pichai, himself a billionaire but only barely during Donald Trumps inauguration in Washington D.C. In a show of power, they sat directly behind Trumps family. open image in gallery CEO of Meta Mark Zuckerberg, Lauren Sanchez, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, Google CEO Sundar Pichai and Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk attend the inauguration ( POOL/AFP via Getty Images ) Musk, Bezos and Zuckerberg enjoy a combined estimated net worth of $860bn but are far from best friends. Often theyve openly feuded, on both a business and personal level. But authoritarian leaders tend to make strange bedfellows, and in recent months all three men have bent the knee to Trump. Take Musk and Bezos, who have spent years locked in a private space race against each other. Their respective companies, SpaceX and Blue Origin, have long tussled over federal space launch contracts. The two men reportedly clashed as early as 2004, when they met over dinner to discuss the space industry. [I told him,] Dude, we tried that and that turned out to be really dumb, so dont do the dumb thing we did, Musk later recalled. I actually did my best to give good advice, which he largely ignored. In 2013 Blue Origin sued to prevent SpaceX from using one of NASAs launchpads, which Musk described as a phony blocking tactic. open image in gallery Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk looks upward as he sits during the inauguration ( POOL/AFP via Getty Images ) The rivalry heated up further in 2019, as both men continued to needle each other in public statements and on social media. Bezos mocked Musks desire to colonize Mars, while Musk called Bezos a copycat over his plans for a network of low earth orbit satellites (similar to Musks Starlink). The two companies continued to battle in court, while Musk accused Bezos of taking himself a bit too seriously and criticized Amazons Lord of the Rings TV series for being sexist against men. open image in gallery Zuckerberg has been in a public spat with Musk which nearly turned into a cage fight ( AP ) Then theres Musks long and bizarre public quarrel with Meta boss Zuckerberg. After a faulty SpaceX rocket blew up one of Facebooks satellites on the launchpad in 2016, Zuckerberg called Musks naysaying views on AI irresponsible. In 2018, Musk joined the #DeleteFacebook trend and closed his companies Facebook accounts, quipping: Whats Facebook? Things got weirder in 2023, after Musk got into the social media market by buying Twitter and renaming it X. Harsh words over Facebooks trustworthiness, and Instagrams attempt to poach users from X, escalated into a planned mixed martial arts cage match between the two men. Zuck is a cuck, tweeted Musk, offering to engage in a literal dick-measuring contest. Thankfully for the world, this never happened, and neither did the cage match (for which both men blamed each other). open image in gallery Meta and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Google Sundar Pichai, CEO of Apple Tim Cook, founder of Amazon and Blue Origin Jeff Bezos attend inauguration church services ( Getty Images ) Yet business is business, and all three men now seem to have calculated that schmoozing Trump benefits theirs. Bezos intervened with the Washington Post (the newspaper he owns) to spike a planned election endorsement of Kamala Harris, although he insisted this had nothing to do with Trump. He later donated $1m to Trump's inauguration fund and visited him at Mar-a-Lago. Zuckerberg, meanwhile, has unveiled a raft of Trump-friendly reforms at his company, Meta, and appointed a Trump ally to his board. Having spent 2020 selling himself as a heartfelt progressive, he then went on Joe Rogan to extol the masculine energy at his company, Meta (which is 63 per cent staffed by women). Both Amazon and Meta have also said they will axe diversity programs. open image in gallery Elon Musk was on the campaign trail with Trump and has turned into one of his closest allies ( Associated Press ) Musks MAGA transformation, of course, is well known as are his massive financial donations to Trumps campaign and his influence over the coming White House. During the inauguration, he moved to stand with Trumps family. open image in gallery Musk stands near Barron Trump and Don Trump Jr during the inauguration ( POOL/AFP via Getty Images ) On Monday, Zuckerberg, Bezos and Musk, along with Alphabets Pichai and Apple CEO Tim Cook all went to the inauguration church services in D.C. with Trump shortly before he was sworn in as president. Cook, who Trump once called Tim Apple, has kept some distance from Trump until recently. Cook, who is gay, has personally donated to Trump's inauguration and devoted great effort to improving his relationship with Trump, but his company has defended its diversity policies against a conservative challenge. And yet, he made sure to be there on Monday. open image in gallery Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai, left, and Elon Musk check their phones ( Getty Images ) These tech baron billionaires sat united in little but the sprawling scale of their business interests and their shared willingness to pay obeisance to a man described by 14 of his own former officials as a power-hungry fascist. I cant help wondering if seating them together is a deliberate piece of theater by the always loyalty-conscious Trump (or rather, one of his aides) to show off to the world that, in particular, these powerful men are willing to put aside their differences for this shared interest. Still, wouldn't you love to be the federal agent assigned to eavesdrop on their conversation? Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Get our free Inside Washington email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Welcome to the second Donald Trump era in Washington, although in practice, the first never really ended. A majority of Republicans in the House Representatives voted to overturn the 2020 election results. Much of the party referred to him as President Trump, even after he left D.C. Now back as president, Trump delivered a dark and heavily partisan inaugural address Monday. He used it to rehash plenty of his old scores, from arguing that he had been politically persecuted to promising that the violent and unfair weaponization of the Justice Department and our government will end. Trump also used his opening remarks to tout the litany of various executive orders (EOs) that he plans to sign as president. Unsurprisingly, many of the EOs focus heavily on immigration, such as listing drug cartels as a terrorist organization, declaring a national emergency to surge troops at the U.S.-Mexico border and supposedly ending birthright citizenship under the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. open image in gallery Trump announced a whole host of planned policies in his first speech as the 47th president of the United States. ( POOL/AFP via Getty Images ) Other EOs focus on rolling back protections for LGBTQ+ people, with an expected series of anti-trans orders. Trump announced in his speech that the policy of the United States to recognize two sexes, male and female and that sexes that are not changeable, and they are grounded in fundamental and incontrovertible reality. He also bragged about executive orders that will allow for oil drilling in regions such as Alaska, declaring drill baby, drill. As president, Trump has plenty of authority to enact his policies however, there are still some limits on the extent of what can be changed by executive order. Here are some areas where he might have trouble. Immigration The American public has largely moved to support more restrictive immigration policies since Trump took office in 2017. The Senate is slated to pass the Laken Riley Act, which would allow for immigration authorities to detain migrants arrested for theft, even if they are not convicted, after a number of Democrats joined Republicans to pass the legislation. The president will also be able to reinstate the Remain in Mexico policy from his previous administration, which forces migrants to stay in Mexico as their immigration cases are pending. open image in gallery Migrants turn themselves in to U.S. Customs and Border Patrol officers after crossing over a section of border wall into the U.S. on January 05, 2025 in Ruby, Arizona ( Getty Images ) But this is where he faces difficulties. For one, while Trump wants to beef up spending at the U.S.-Mexico border, he will need to get money from Congress to do so. Republicans have only 218 seats in the House and a 53-seat majority in the Senate, meaning they have to deal with tight margins and get every Republican on board. The resignation of Michael Waltz from Congress to become his National Security Adviser, as well as Rep. Elise Stefanik to be U.S. ambassador to the United Nations gives Speaker Mike Johnson little latitude. Trump pledged to completely shut down the border, resembling a pledge that former president Joe Biden made during the bipartisan border negotiations early last year. But Republicans largely rebuffed that bill because it would only come if crossings reached 5,000 a day. Birthright citizenship One of the most controversial of Trumps planned executive orders is his declaration to end birthright citizenship for the children of undocumented immigrants. Automatic citizenship for Americans born in the United States was adopted after the civil war, a hard fought-for right following previous laws that said anyone descended from enslaved people could not become citizens. Birthright citizenship has become a cornerstone of American identity, one of the few countries in the world to offer it and one of the only paths forward for many immigrants to ensure a better life for their children. Almost certainly, civil rights groups will take this up with the courts as unconstitutional, since birthright citizenship is written into the 14th Amendment. Even if the Supreme Court says this passes muster, it will inevitably be tied up in the legal system for longer than Trump wants. Taxes Trump faces a huge deadline at the end of the year as most of the tax cuts under the law that he signed in 2017 will expire. Republicans largely rebuffed a tax deal that included business investments and a new child tax credit last year because they hoped that Trump would come back and let them have a better negotiating deal. Since presidents share power with Congress when it comes to imposing tariffs, it will form a large part of Trumps proposed economic agenda. open image in gallery Donald Trump is sworn in as the 47th president of the United States by Chief Justice John Roberts as Melania Trump holds the Bible in the US Capitol Rotunda ( AFP via Getty Images ) This part is largely beyond Trumps control because it mostly requires that every Republican get on board in order to pass a bill via budget reconciliation, which allows for the majority to sidestep a filibuster as long as the legislation is germane to the federal budget. On top of that, Trump talked about an external revenue service to collect his proposed tariffs, which would require an act of Congress. Its also not clear if tariffs would be able to make up for lost revenue from taxation. Drilling The president spoke about the need to increase energy production, although the words he used We will drill, baby, drill were a little more direct. As was the case in 2017, he will remove the United States from the Paris Climate Agreement, which will allow it to conduct more fossil fuel extraction. open image in gallery This 2019 aerial photo provided by ConocoPhillips shows an exploratory drilling camp at the proposed site of the Willow oil project on Alaska's North Slope. ( ConocoPhillips ) The president has also hinted at rolling back an auto emissions regulation put in place by the Biden administration. He also planned on issuing a national energy emergency to authorize drilling in Alaska. The 2017 tax bill that he signed authorized drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and he would likely amp up drilling in the area, which has long been supported by Alaska Republicans. But Trump would also face some major difficulties in increasing energy production. For one, the Biden administration ramped up oil production in the first part of his administration largely due to anxieties about oil prices. Now because of the war in Ukraine, oil production is at an all-time high. Second, before he left office, Biden put in place a ban on offshore drilling for 625 million acres of the Atlantic Ocean. Furthermore, this ban might be harder to lift without an act of Congress and many Republicans from coastal areas in Florida and South Carolina might object to having land near their area up for offshore drilling. Renaming maps Trump mentioned in his address that he wants to rename the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America, seemingly in large part because of the gas and drilling options available there. Or as Trump said earlier this month: Because we do most of the work there, and its ours. This, again, would require an act of Congress. One of Trumps biggest supporters, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, has legislation that could pass the House of Representatives but would likely not pass through the Senate. Even if it did pass and become law, there would be nothing to ensure that other countries had to ever use the name (remember freedom fries?). Panama Canal Trump has also been discussing retaking the Panama Canal, the famed shipping canal that allows trade between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. After controlling the canal for decades, the U.S. handed over full control to the Panamanian government in 1999. open image in gallery Tourists watch a cargo ship transit through the famed Panama Canal in Panama City last year. ( AFP via Getty Images ) This policy would not only require money to come from Congress but also require a negotiated agreement with Panama. Or at worst, the use of military force to seize it for the United States. Not long after Trumps address, Panamas President Jose Raul Mulino roundly rejected Trumps call to seize the canal. DOGEs power As for the proposed Department of Government Efficency, aka DOGE, which is supposedly spearheaded by Tesla CEO Elon Musk, there is evidence it might be in for a bumpy road. For one, it has already been sued four times. Second, the department does not have a clear mandate and is essentially an advisory committee rather than one with any authority. Third, presidential hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy was also supposed to be part of it, but announce on inauguration day that instead he was running for governor of Ohio. And even putting all this aside, DOGE does not write the budget; the Appropriations Committees of the House and Senate do and it could easily reject the recommendations of DOGE. Even with the roadblocks, Trump has more wind at his back this time than during his first administration in part because fewer Republicans like to cross him, and many agree with his extreme ideologies. Democrats, still reeling after being battered badly during the 2024 election, might be inclined to go along with at least some of his policies. But that doesnt mean itll all be smooth sailing. Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Get our free Inside Washington email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy President Donald Trump declared that a new golden age of America has started that would make the country he now leads greater, stronger and far more exceptional than ever before before delivering a dark and brooding denunciation of his own government in his inaugural address. Standing behind a lectern adorned by the presidential seal for the first time since he addressed a small crowd of staff and supporters before leaving Washington in 2021, Trump said his return to the White House would ensure that America would not allow ourselves to be taken advantage of any longer. Our sovereignty will be reclaimed. Our safety will be restored. The scales of justice will be rebalanced. The vicious, violent and unfair weaponization of the Justice Department and our government will end and our top priority will be to create a nation that is proud, prosperous and free, said Trump, who said the nation is in the midst of a crisis of trust because a radical and corrupt establishment has extracted power and wealth from our citizens while the pillars of our society lay broken and seemingly in complete disrepair. open image in gallery President Trump delivered a dark and brooding speech, denouncing much of his own governments work. ( KENNY HOLSTON/The New York Times ) Trump also claimed the government for which he is now responsible cannot manage even a simple crisis at home, while at the same time stumbling into a continuing catalog of catastrophic events abroad and accused the government of having failed to protect our magnificent law abiding American citizens while giving sanctuary and protection to dangerous criminals, many from prisons and mental institutions that have illegally entered our country from all over the world. We have a government that has given unlimited funding to the defense of foreign borders, but refuses to defend American borders, or, more importantly, its own people. A country can no longer deliver basic services in times of emergency, he said. The 47th presidents inaugural address echoed much of the rhetoric deployed in his 2024 campaign, during which he routinely described the country as a nation in decline. He trashed Americas public health system as incapable of delivering in times of disaster, and said the countrys education system reaches our children to be ashamed of themselves, in many cases, to hate our country, despite the love that we try so desperately to provide to them. open image in gallery The 47th presidents inaugural address echoed much of the rhetoric deployed in his 2024 campaign. ( KENNY HOLSTON/The New York Times ) He also claimed his win over Vice President Kamala Harris in last years election represented a mandate to completely and totally reverse a horrible betrayal and to give the people back their faith, their wealth, their democracy and indeed their freedom. Our liberties and our nations glorious destiny will no longer be denied, and we will immediately restore the integrity, competency and loyalty of Americas government, he said. The president promised that hed take swift action to accomplish those goals with a series of historic executive orders to begin the complete restoration of America and the revolution of common sense, including by renewing his 2019 declaration of a national emergency along the US-Mexico border. Doing so will allow him to reprogram funds from other departments towards border enforcement. He also said hed return American immigration policy to that which existed at the end of his first term by restoring his administrations remain in Mexico policy and ending the practice of releasing migrants to await deportation or asylum proceedings while being monitored electronically. All illegal entry will immediately be halted, and we will begin the process of returning millions and millions of criminal aliens back to the places from which they came ... and I will send troops to the southern border to repel the disastrous invasion of our country, he said before stating that he would also order drug cartels designated as foreign terrorist organizations and invoke the 1798 Enemy Aliens Act to use the full and immense power of federal and state law enforcement to eliminate the presence of all foreign gangs and criminal networks bringing devastating crime to us, soil, including our cities and inner cities. Continuing, Trump claimed that hed be ordering the creation of an external revenue service to tariff and tax foreign countries to enrich our citizens, seemingly ignorant of the fact that foreign countries do not pay tariffs because they are paid by American companies that import foreign goods. Additionally, the task of collecting tariffs is carried out by the Department of Homeland Securitys Customs and Border Protection agency, the successor to the U.S. Customs Service that was created during the presidency of George Washington. open image in gallery Trump repeated his pledge to remove DEI policies from government jobs. ( via REUTERS ) Trump went on to claim that he would issue a separate order to immediately stop all government censorship and bring back free speech to America, apparently a reference to Biden-era policies under which the federal government engaged with social media platforms to point out when users were violating the platforms terms of service by spreading misinformation about Covid-19 and other matters. He also denounced what he described as the previous administrations use of the immense power of the state that was weaponized to persecute political opponents and vowed to restore fair, equal and impartial justice under the constitutional rule of law. Continuing, Trump promised that his administration would forge a society that is colorblind and merit based by making it the official policy of the United States government that there are only two genders, male and female and ordering an end to what he called radical political theories and social experiments at the Department of Defense, a clear reference to Biden administration efforts to increase diversity in the militarys ranks. The presidents dark declarations and denunciations of the government he leads were followed by incongruous boasts of making the country into a nation like no other, full of compassion, courage and exceptionalism and using his power to stop all wars and bring a new spirit of unity to a world that has been angry, violent and totally unpredictable. We will be prosperous, we will be proud, we will be strong, and we will win like never before. We will not be conquered. We will not be intimidated, we will not be broken, and we will not fail, said Trump, who declared that the U.S. would be a free, sovereign and independent nation, something it has been since the signing of the Treaty of Paris that formalized Americas separation from Great Britain in 1783. Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Get our free Inside Washington email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Donald Trump has pledged to release top secret files on some of the most notorious political assassinations in American history as soon as he takes office. The president-elect, who will become the first US president since Grover Cleveland to return to the White House for a non-consecutive second term when he is inaugurated at the Capitol rotunda on Monday, made the promise to his supporters at a Make America Great Again Victory Rally at Washington DCs Capital One Arena on Sunday. In the coming days, we are going to make public remaining records related to the assassinations of President John F Kennedy, his brother Robert F Kennedy, as well as Dr Martin Luther King Jr and other topics of great public interest, Trump told the crowd in his final speech before becoming Americas 47th commander-in-chief, repeating a vow he made on the campaign trail last year. During his first year in the Oval Office, Trump also released a batch of documents related to JFKs slaying in Dallas, Texas, on November 22 1963. But he ultimately bowed to pressure from the CIA and FBI not to go further, keeping a significant portion of the documents concerned under wraps, citing national security fears as the basis for his decision. On Sunday Trump did not specify what files he intends to release this time around or go so far as to promise a blanket declassification. The murders of some of the most consequential public figures of the 20th century in the 1960s have long attracted intense fascination and conspiracy theories, with JFKs assassination in particular a fixation for many inclined to suspect that gunman Lee Harvey Oswald did not act alone. Trump himself has spread unfounded claims related to the killing of the 35th president, shot dead by snipers bullets as his motorcade passed through the southern citys Dealey Plaza, suggesting without evidence as he sought the Republican presidential nomination in 2016 that Raphael Cruz, the father of his then-rival, Texas Senator Ted Cruz, had been involved in the alleged plot to assassinate Kennedy. open image in gallery Donald Trump addresses his supporters at the Make America Great Again Victory Rally at Washington DCs Capital One Arena on January 19 2025 ( AP ) The documents released by Trump in October 2017 offered details on the way intelligence services operated at the time and included CIA cables and memos discussing visits by Oswald to the Soviet and Cuban embassies during a trip to Mexico City just weeks before he opened fire from the upper floors of the Texas School Book Depository. At this point, only a few thousand of the millions of governmental records related to the first Kennedy assassination have yet to be published and those who have studied the records released thus far say that even if the remaining files are declassified, the public should not anticipate earth-shattering revelations. Anybody waiting for a smoking gun thats going to turn this case upside down will be sorely disappointed, said Gerald Posner, author of Case Closed, in November. Posners book concludes that Oswald was solely responsible after all, just as the Warren Commission originally concluded. He estimates that there are still about 3,000 to 4,000 documents in the collection that have not yet been fully released. There are about 500 documents that have been completely withheld, according to Posner, and those include Oswalds tax returns, as well as those of Jack Ruby, the nightclub owner who in turn killed Oswald. open image in gallery John F Kennedy pictured moments before he was assassinated by a snipers bullets in Dallas, Texas, on November 22 1963 ( Dallas Morning News/Public Domain ) Those files, the US National Archives says on its website, were not subject to the 2017 disclosure requirement. Of those documents, some are still completely redacted while others just have small redactions, like someones Social Security number. The files on the 1968 killing of the dead mans brother and possible successor Robert F Kennedy will be of particular interest to the latters son, Robert F Kennedy Jr, Trumps nominee to be Americas next secretary of health and human services. RFK Jr is no stranger to feverish speculation himself and has met with the man convicted of his fathers shooting, Sirhan Sirhan, in prison in the past in pursuit of the truth about that murder, saying that he believes multiple gunmen were really responsible. Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Get our free Inside Washington email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Donald Trump will implement his sweeping anti-immigration agenda with an executive order to declare a national emergency over the U.S.-Mexico border, among 10 immigration-related actions he intends to take moments after he takes office. In his inaugural address, the president declared that all illegal entry will immediately be halted and we will begin the process or returning millions and millions of criminal aliens back to the place from which they came. American troops will repel the disastrous invasion of our country, he said. The last four years have created an unconscionable risk to public safety, public health and the national security of the United States due to the Biden administration border policies, an incoming White House official told reporters Monday. The emergency declaration will erect physical barriers to support U.S.-Mexico border wall construction and deploy military assets under the command of the Secretary of Defense, according to the official. It is unclear how many troops will be assigned to the southern border. Customs and Border Enforcement Agents arrive at the U.S.-Mexico border on January 20 ( REUTERS ) The official, speaking anonymously to preview the actions, said it will be up to the Pentagon to determine which personnel will be deployed. They did not share a copy or language in the actual text. While there will be U.S. military service members stationed on the southern border, there will also be other elements of the United States government working throughout the country, the official said. It is unclear what emergency the new administration is responding to. Monthly border crossings plummeted in 2024, compared to the record highs in 2023. Roughly 46,000 people crossed the border illegally in November, the lowest number during the Biden administration. Average daily crossings in December were expected to be the lowest since 2020, according to federal authorities. The Trump official characterized the border as overrun with terrorists, drug cartels, and military-age males from foreign adversaries, as part of an invasion that has caused widespread chaos and suffering. Following his 2016 campaign promise to construct a giant wall spanning the nearly 2,000 miles between the United States and Mexico, the president faced a series of legal challenges and funding battles to divert hundreds of millions of dollars for the effort. Trumps pledge to veto any government spending bill that did not appropriate billions of dollars for border construction forced a shutdown from December 22, 2018, into January 25, 2019. A series of federal court battles blocked Trump from redirecting funds towards his wall project under a national emergency declaration, and by the end of his first term in office, roughly 450 miles of wall had been constructed most of which was replacing existing barriers. Trump allies Steve Bannon and Brian Kolfage helped raise more than $20 million for their We Build the Wall scheme, which similarly faced court orders to shut down construction. Bannon, also has pleaded not guilty to money laundering, conspiracy and fraud charges in New York, where he is accused of enriching himself and others with money raised for the project. Biden issued a pause on border wall construction on his first day in office on January 20, 2021 but later pushed for 20 miles of fencing while waiving more than two dozen laws to to allow for its construction, including suspension of the Clean Air Act, Safe Drinking Water Act and Endangered Species Act. Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Get our free Inside Washington email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy President-elect Donald Trump boasted about his efforts to save TikTok during his pre-inauguration victory rally. Trump spoke at his Make America Great Again Victory Rally inside Washington D.C.s Capital One Arena this Sunday evening, less than 24 hours before he is set to take office. As of today, TikTok is back, Trump said. So, you know, I did a little TikTok thing. We have a guy...hes a young kid, like 21 years old, and we hired this guy, and I went on Tiktok. Can you believe what Ill do to win an election? open image in gallery Trump held a victory rally in Washington, D.C. on Sunday less than 24 hours before his inauguration ( AP ) So whether you like Tiktok or not, were going to make a lot of money, he added. While Trump pushed to ban the Chinese-owned app during his first presidency, he has since painted himself as its savior. The president-elect said he plans to issue an executive order Monday the first day of his presidency to keep TikTok from going dark. TikTok praised President Trumps efforts in a message to users following a brief shutdown in the U.S. on Saturday night. The app went offline in the U.S. around 10.30 p.m. Eastern time on Saturday ahead of the January 19 ban. open image in gallery TikTok credits Trump for its return from its brief self-imposed shutdown ( TikTok ) Thousands of spectators lined up outside the arena beginning early Sunday, many donning the famous red Make America Great Again caps and waving signs supporting the president-elect. The crowd chanted USA! as Trump walked through the crowd toward the stage. The victory rally marks Trumps first major speech in the nations capital since he spoke at the Ellipse on January 6, 2021. There, he told supporters to fight like hell just before many of them stormed the Capitol in an effort to obstruct the certification of the 2020 election. Trump has since promised to pardon many of those convicted for their actions during the January 6 insurrection once he takes office. open image in gallery A supporter flies a Trump flag outside his victory rally in Washington, D.C. ( Getty Images ) Everybody in this very large arena will be very happy with my decision on the [January 6] hostages, Trump said at his victory rally. Meanwhile, as he celebrated his victory on Sunday, Trump falsely claimed to have won the youth vote in the 2024 election: We won the youth vote by 36 points. So I like Tiktok. Democratic candidate Kamala Harris actually secured 54 percent of votes among people ages 18-29 and 51 percent of votes among people ages 30-44, national exit polling by CNN shows, while Trump won the majority of the vote among voters 45-years-old and older. The president-elect also vowed to visit California on Friday as the Palisades and Eaton fires devastate the Los Angeles area, claiming he will have the best builders in the world help reconstruct the thousands of structures lost. open image in gallery Donald Trump pictured speaking to supporters from the Ellipse on January 6, 2021 ( AFP/Getty ) Together, we will rebuild Los Angeles better, more beautiful than ever before, Trump said. Were going to get it going. A number of Trump allies also spoke at the rally, including actor Jon Voight, adviser Stephen Miller and billionaire Elon Musk. Were looking forward to making a lot of changes, Musk said as he was joined on stage by his four-year-old son, X. open image in gallery Elon Musk (left) speaks on stage with his four-year-old son, X, and Trump at the Make America Great Again Victory Rally ( AP ) Kid Rock performed at the rally, opening with his 2008 hit, All Summer Long. He also performed We The People, which features lyrics slamming President Joe Biden, Dr. Anthony Fauci and mainstream media. Ahead of the victory rally, Trump arrived at Arlington National Cemetery and placed a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. This follows Trumps visit to the site in August, during which two of his staffers were allegedly involved in a physical altercation with cemetery personnel, according to an NPR report at the time. open image in gallery Trump places a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier on Sunday morning ( Getty Images ) Meanwhile, the president-elects inauguration will take place indoors at the Capitol building Monday afternoon, a change attributed to freezing temperatures. Spectators can view the ceremony from the Capital One Arena, Trump announced, while notable attendees including President Joe Biden, lawmakers, and Trumps family, among others are expected to still be able to attend in person. Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Get our free Inside Washington email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Political commentators have suggested that the drama surrounding TikTok is a scam to make President-elect Donald Trump look good after he has vowed to save it. The Chinese-owned social media app went dark in the U.S. on Saturday night and posted a message at about 10.30 p.m. Eastern time saying: Sorry, TikTok isnt available right now. We are fortunate that President Trump has indicated that he will work with us on a solution to reinstate TikTok once he takes office. Please stay tuned! The Biden administration blasted TikToks statement as a stunt in a statement on Saturday. And on Sunday morning, Trump vowed to issue an executive order on Monday, the day of his inauguration, to give the apps parent company ByteDance more time to find a buyer. Early Sunday afternoon, TikTok announced it was in the process of restoring service to the app and thanked Trump for his support. We thank President Trump for providing the necessary clarity and assurance to our service providers that they will face no penalties providing TikTok to over 170 million Americans and allowing over 7 million small businesses to thrive, it said in a statement. Its a strong stand for the First Amendment and against arbitrary censorship. We will work with President Trump on a long-term solution that keeps TikTok in the United States. Skeptics have highlighted how Trump was the one who initially called for the controversial Chinese-owned social media app to be banned in 2020. But since Trumps following on TikTok grew he has now amassed 14.8 million followers and he hinted it helped to clinch the election, the president-elect has changed his tune. I have a warm spot in my heart for TikTok because I won youth by 34 points, Trump said in December. And there are those that say TikTok had something to do with that. open image in gallery Trump signed an executive order to impose sanctions on TikTok in August 2020 ( REUTERS ) This TikTok scam by Trump is really something, Ron Filipowski, a defense attorney and editor-in-chief of the left-leaning MeidasTouch news outlet said. In a few days, we will be hearing from Trump about how he saved Tik Tok & brought it back. He literally created the problem by calling for a ban. Rs pass a law. It gets banned. It goes dark for a day or 2, then Trump saves it. Journalist Aaron Rupar said that Trump now has the big tech companies working on his behalf. Trump hated TikTok (because China) until it helped him win an election (as even he acknowledges) and now hes going to save it and take a victory lap, Rupar said. So hell have X, TikTok, Insta, and Facebook all working on his behalf. Thats a big difference between now and 2017. open image in gallery The message U.S. TikTok users were greeted with when the app went dark ( Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. ) Heath Mayo, founder of the conservative group Principles First, added: Trump got China to place what amounts to a front-page ad on the phone of every American on TikTok. Selling out US national security to promote himself as some savior. Surprise, surprise. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Ct) said the move by Trump was terrifying. TikTok tucking itself in with Trump. Twitter under control of the White House. Facebook making major changes to placate MAGA, doing PR campaign to align w Trump, Murphy wrote in a post on X. Does everyone not see whats happening here and how terrifying this is. Others shared dismay at the idea that Trump can effectively void a federal law. Im trying, and I hope other people will try, to hold onto the simple notion that a US president cannot simply declare a federal law that was passed last year and literally upheld this week to be a nullityeven if its a not-so-hot law, writer and lawyer Luppe B. Luppen said in a post on BlueSky. The Congress is the body that can amend or repeal federal laws. On August 6, 2020, Trump issued an executive order to impose sanctions on TikTok. The United States must take aggressive action against the owners of TikTok to protect our national security, Trump said in the order. It called for ByteDance to divest its U.S. interests or face sanctions, but Trumps effort to ban the app was then blocked by a federal judge. open image in gallery Trump has thrown his support behind the app more recently ( Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. ) Since then, he has pledged support for the social media giant, even inviting TikToks CEO to his inauguration. The Independent has contacted the Trump transition team for comment. Trumps incoming national security adviser Mike Waltz defended the president-elect on Sunday. He said that Trump was working in real time with tech companies to reach an agreement for new US ownership of TikTok something a number of his allies, including Canadas Kevin OLeary, have also been at work seeking to make a reality. Waltz also indicated that it was possible for TikTok to remain under Chinese ownership, albeit with firewalls (such as Americans data being stored in US-based servers) to guard against perceived national security threats. Asked by CNNs Dana Bash on State of the Union whether that meant "capitulating" to China by accepting a deal wherein the app was not sold, Waltz issued a denial. No, no, no, he told Bash. Both can be true at the same time. TikTok can continue to exist, and whether thats in American hands, owned by an American company, or whether the data and algorithms are fully protected from Chinese interference, theres a number of...formulas this can take. Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Get our free Inside Washington email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Former presidential candidate and biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy is reportedly expected to leave his post at the Department of Government Efficiency. President-elect Donald Trump appointed Ramaswamy to co-lead the agency which will operate outside of government alongside the worlds richest man, Elon Musk. Trump and the co-chairs have promised to slash the federal budget, primarily through drastic cuts to agencies and mass firings. Now Ramaswamy is expected to soon step down from the position, CBS News reports, citing sources familiar with the agencys internal dynamics. Ramaswamy is also planning to run for Ohio governor to replace Mike DeWine, the current term-limited Republican state leader, according to an earlier report from The Washington Post. The entrepreneurs expected resignation is a result of friction between him and incoming agency staff, according to CBS News. Those close to Musk have also undercut Ramaswamy in recent weeks, CBS News reports, and are frustrated with his lack of participation in the heavy lifting. Ramaswamy is expected to enter the Ohio gubernatorial race ( REUTERS ) The Independent has contacted Trumps transition team for comment. This isnt the only roadblock the agency is facing. Musk admitted last week that his promised target of cutting $2 trillion from the federal budget isnt feasible after all. I think well try for $2 trillion. I think thats the best-case outcome, Musk said. But I do think that you kind of have to have some overage. I think if we try for $2 trillion, weve got a good shot at getting $1 [million]. Economists warned that cutting nearly one-third of the nations federal budget is implausible ever since Musk first pitched the idea in October at a Trump rally. If Ramaswamy launches a gubernatorial campaign and wins, it will be his first time holding public office. The entrepreneur and Cincinnati-native previously ran a Republican presidential campaign in an effort to rival Trump before dropping out in January 2024. Vivek Ramaswamy drops out of Republican primary race In the primaries, Ramaswamy would likely have to face off against Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost, who has made headlines for fighting to defend the states six-week anti-abortion law. Meanwhile, former Ohio Department of Health Director Amy Acton previously announced her campaign to run as the Democratic nominee. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy A colossal bronze statue of Joan of Arc will be removed from public display in the French city of Nice just three months after it was unveiled, after judges ruled the city had breached public procurement rules. Atelier Missor, a local sculptors group which focuses on French patriotic heroes and which has been criticised by some for right-wing links, was commissioned by the citys conservative mayor Christian Estrosi to construct the 170,000 (144,000) piece. The dispute around the statue became politically charged, with critics accusing Mr Estrosi of spending significant public sums on commemorating a figure who has become a symbol of French nationalism. Joan of Arc is one of several patron saints of France, a military leader from the 15th century who led a demoralised French army to several key victories in the Hundred Years War with the English, before she was imprisoned by her opponents and burned at the stake aged around 19. Joan of Arc has become a symbol of French nationalism ( Getty ) Jean-Marie Le Pen, the politician who died aged 86 this month, adopted Joan of Arc as a symbol of his far-right National Front, now renamed National Rally and led by his daughter Marine. The French administrative court cancelled the contract for the imposing statue due to a failure to meet public procurement obligations by not putting it out to tender, meaning other offers for producing the work were not heard. In Nice, public tender rules can be surpassed if valid artistic reasons are met, but judges said the council failed to do this following a legal challenge by state prefect Hugues Moutouh. Mr Estrosi, who served in former president Nicolas Sarkozys cabinet in the late 2000s, reacted angrily to the ruling, writing on X: What a terrible symbol! Attacking a French destiny, a national and republican figure. I will not give in to the debunkers. When France struggles to find its direction in a period of unprecedented instability, its representative in the department, the prefect of the Alpes-Maritimes, attacks the figure of Joan of Arc that we wanted to embody by installing a bronze statue in front of the church dedicated to the heroine who liberated our country. Joan of Arc belongs to all French people. She is a figure of unity and French pride, to which Nice can only be very attached. The council will now contest the decision in front of the Administrative Court of Appeal, Mr Estrosi said. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy The Ukrainian military chief has said that 150,000 of Vladimir Putins troops were killed in 2024, as the countries prepare for a new era of their conflict after Donald Trump re-enters the White House. A record 434,000 casualties, including the wounded, were suffered last year taking total Russian casualties to 819,000, claimed Oleksandr Syrskyi, Ukraines commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces. This year of combat has cost them more than the previous two years of the war combined, Mr Syrskyi told Ukrainian TV channel TSN. Russia has gained ground in eastern Ukraine over the past year, but at the cost of heavy casualties as it throws waves of soldiers at Ukraines defensive lines. Moscows Defence Ministry claimed on Monday that Russian troops had taken control of the eastern Ukrainian villages of Shevchenko and Novoiehorivka. Shevchenko is just south of the city of Pokrovsk, a strategic supply route for Ukraine which Russian troops have been advancing towards for months. The battlefield reports have not been independently verified at the time of writing. A leading war monitor said on Monday that Russia is recruiting unskilled men and women to boost its manpower on the frontline a crucial element of Russias war of attrition. Russian volunteer military detachments continue efforts to boost manpower by recruiting women into the Russian Armed Forces, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said. Army units are recruiting specialists and unskilled men and women from across Russia to participate in combat operations in Ukraine, it added. open image in gallery Ukrainians in the 24 Separate Mechanized Brigade fire howitzer artillery towards Russian forces near the town Chasiv Yar, in the Donetsk region ( Press service of the 24 Separate ) Meanwhile, Kyiv has issued a warning to the incoming Trump administration that forcing negotiations between Ukraine and Russia before the defending army has gained a territorial advantage would be a catastrophic mistake. Mykhailo Podolyak, a senior adviser to Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, said: The bottom line is that there are no simple, quick decisions to be made here. The initiative has to be controlled. It must not be given away to Russia. Donald Trumps inauguration marks a new era in American-Ukrainian relations, with Kyiv fearing that the president may try to force a rushed resolution to the war. Mr Trump, who once said the war would be over in 24 hours if he was president, now aims to bring an end to the war within 100 days of his presidency. open image in gallery Donald Trump has previously claimed he could end the war in 24 hours ( Getty ) As Ukraines ground troops fiercely defend the frontline, its air force shot down 93 of 141 Russian drones launched overnight, it said on Monday. Of the remaining drones, 47 were lost, referring to Ukraines use of electronic warfare to redirect drones. Putins forces were also accused by Ukraines general staff of using chemical weapons 434 times in December. The use of chemical agents banned by the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) added to a total of 5,389 documented cases since February 2023, the general staff said. The Kremlin says it has not broken international law with the weapons the Russian army uses. 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 Critics of Donald Trump may sigh with irony as he takes the presidential pledge to uphold the constitution of the United States of America and hope that he holds back on pledges to tear into the foundation document of modern America in the hours after taking office. In Ukraine, no ones holding their breath. In Ukraines capital, they know that the 47th president of the US is no particular friend. They also believe hes potty about Vladimir Putin, and that may be to their advantage when Trump comes around to renewing military support for a nation fighting off the Kremlin. Officials here are philosophical and diplomatic, even when speaking privately, about the incoming president. Theyre keen to make a new relationship work but also know that if theres one legacy Trump wont want attached to his name is that he was a patsy for the Russian president. Trumps first term in office was dogged by allegations and investigations into Russian interference, in his favour, during the 2016 election. He went to extraordinary lengths to shut Americans out of his own meetings with Putin, kept details of the encounters secret, and frequently sided with Russia against his own intelligence and security agencies. After he revealed highly sensitive intelligence relating to Isis terror plots to the Russian ambassador in Washington, Trump was considered a liability by the spy agencies of at least two US allies, intelligence sources said. That view of him has not faded among intelligence agencies who would normally share their most sensitive secrets with the US. Trump pledged to end the Ukraine war in 24 hours during his election campaign. His officials have rolled that back to at least six months. His team has been vague on how an end to the war could be delivered, but Trump could cripple Ukraines defence by cutting military aid to Kyiv. Hes indicated that Putin may be persuaded to end a campaign thats already cost vast numbers of lives, by being allowed to hold on to the eastern territories his forces have already captured in Ukraine. Trumps team has also suggested that Ukraines ambitions to join Nato could be shelved in an effort to appease Putin. Ukrainians in the 24th Mechanized Brigade fire a howitzer towards Russian forces near the town of Chasiv Yar, in the Donetsk region ( Supplied ) None of these terms are acceptable to Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian president, nor to his public. Many Ukrainians do say theyd trade the occupied east for peace but dont believe doing so would actually bring it. Trump could drive Zelensky to talks by refusing to help his country fight. But the costs to the US president would be huge. The US has spent more than $100bn (81bn) in aid to Ukraine. Around $60bn of that has been on military material and most of that spending has been in the US. Old stocks of ammunition have been sent to Ukraine while new stockpiles are being built. This is old-fashioned visible blue-collar arms manufacturing. The kind of industry that Trump says he wants to bring back inside Americas borders. Like steel forging and vehicle building, arms manufacturing generates tens of thousands of jobs for the sort of voters who came out for Trump in states like Pennsylvania. Cutting spending on Ukraine will mean cutting jobs in America and, come the mid-term congressional elections, Trump-supporting Republican candidates could pay the price for Trump arm-locking Zelensky. Then theres Putin. If Trump is thinking about forcing Ukraine into talks, rather than arming a Western democracy with the means to both defend itself and destroy the invading forces, he must, surely, be considering how that would look. Over the last few years, Putin and his senior officials have signalled that they believe Nato member states in the Baltics are really Russian provinces, that Nato member Poland is temporarily occupied and that Moldova risks being somehow annexed or absorbed. These are all American allies, friends of the US. Trump must know that hed not look like a peacemaker if he helped Putin freeze the Ukraine conflict, giving time for the Russians to rearm, retrain, and return to the fight. If the new US president doesnt see this and appears to side with Putin, there will be only one conclusion to be drawn. 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 Serge in his blue anorak, Olena in her black faux fur jacket an inconspicuous couple on a trip in Kyiv to show their daughter the capital they did so much to save three years ago. Their clandestine work as part of self-starting groups of volunteers, heroic by the standards of any war, turned back two invading Russian convoys as they converged on Kyiv in 2022. Serge and a small group of comrades, veterans of Russias 2014 invasion of Ukraine, took on Putins invaders in hit-and-run raids using pickup trucks and weapons they found in a warehouse in Sumy province. Now Donald Trump is threatening to turn the course of history against Ukraine, by cutting US military support to the embattled nation. This could ultimately allow Vladimir Putin to hang on to the 20 per cent of the country Russia has already taken as part of a future peace deal forced on Kyiv. We cant have a peace deal of any kind with Russia, Serge said on Saturday, two days before Mr Trumps inauguration. If we freeze the front lines then Putin will just re-arm and invade again. And now Russia is better equipped, has better tactics, knows how the weapons weve had from Nato work. He wont stop and so neither will the killing. He should know. He volunteered in 2014 to fight the Russians, re-enlisting in early 2022 to join a small band of bandit-like resistance fighters who reinvented the kind of dare-to-win tactics which made Britains SAS the model unit for special forces around the world. open image in gallery Serge and Olena Kravchenko took on the Russians in Kyiv ( Supplied ) Serge, as a native of Sumy, was key to the success of the unit of about eight men. Olena, his wife, perhaps more so. Thick snow muffled the crack and crunch of the movements of Serge and a comrade as they crept through Russian lines, using the forest as cover to meet up with Olena in early March, just a couple of weeks after Putins full-scale invasion threatened to topple Kyiv in a lightening strike. They appeared at Olenas kitchen window at dawn after a 12-hour infiltration in civilian clothes, armed only with 9mm pistols. They were wet, cold and smiling, a few days after the Russians had overrun her village. With enemy patrols of infantry outside and as Russian tanks tore up the mud and snow around their homes, the Kravchenkos set her up as the centre of a spy network. For the next month or so, Olena and her female neighbours, sat in the front rooms of their homes texting details of Russian troop movements, locations of headquarters, logistics concentrations and, above all, coordinates of enemy positions to Serge and his team. The gang managed to get hold of some NLAW and Javelin anti-tank missiles from the UK and US. They taught themselves how to use the weapons in real-life ambushes against Russian columns. They were relentless hitting convoys and camps every day, sometimes several times a day by leaving their vehicles hidden, sneaking, on foot, through miles of woodland and across snow-covered fields at night, then attacking targets found by Olenas network. On one occasion they returned from a successful ambush to find their pickups, which theyd hidden in abandoned farm buildings, burned out and nearly panicked. open image in gallery The couple have raised concerns, like many Ukrainians, about the impact of Donald Trumps return to power ( AP ) We thought wed been caught by Russian spetznatz (special forces), Serge said. We had been stupid and left our anti-tank missiles and ammunition in the cars for the Russians to take and we thought we were about to die. Then a babushka (granny) emerged from a building. Are those your cars? she asked. Im so sorry, I thought you were the Russians so I burned them when you left them here. But, she went on. Not before I stole all the weapons. She revealed tens of thousands of dollars worth of Nato high-tech anti-tank missile systems tucked up warmly under straw in a barn. In one day, Serges unit had stolen an abandoned Russian T-80 tank, used the weapon against a Russian camp and destroyed 14 armoured vehicles in a base north of Trsotyanets, in Sumy province. The tank, named Bunny, went on to see service in Izium, and close to Slaviansk before being abandoned and disabled under a bridge in Bakhmut. The role of units like Serges gang, along with Nato intelligence and conventional forces, stopped the Kremlins attacks on Kyiv and turned around the invading convoys after weeks of heavy Russian losses. They stalled Putins invasion plans. Serges reconnaissance unit went on to fight in the Donbas, mostly in Bakhmut, where thousands died in the meat grinder attacks launched by waves of Russian conscripts, prisoners and the Wagner mercenary group. Key members of Serges team died in the rubble there. open image in gallery Russian tanks in Bucha, on the outskirts of Kyiv, April 2022 ( Ap ) At least half of Serges group had been killed and two others permanently maimed by the time we met a year ago, close to Avdiivka on the eastern front. He was then running a platoon of drone experts, hunting Russians in the churned wastelands of the eastern front. His drones hung like spiders on the walls of a hovel he occupied. These skilfully adapted commercially available little machines were adapted to carry grenades. They were often the best, or only, weapon holding the Russians back. Nato weapons, including about $60bn worth of US gear, had kept Ukraine fighting but had not allowed the invaded nation to win. Long-range rockets and cruise missiles could break the spine of Russias invading forces by targeting its command structures and logistics centres. The US and Europe have been slow, even reluctant, to risk a Ukrainian victory giving the defending forces enough weaponry to maintain only a bloody stalemate. Only recently has the UK agreed that British-supplied Storm Shadow missiles can be used against Russian targets. The US is deeply reluctant to allow Ukraine to get hold of significant amounts of long-range surface-to-surface rockets. Serge has spent another year holding the Russians back. His two young male nephews are approaching military age and hes desperate to keep them out of the fight, persuading one at least to study drone technology away from front lines. Ive spent most of my adult life fighting, he said. My friends are dead and if they could have died for a peace to hold that would be alright. But only driving the Russians out will bring peace. And if Russia prevails, he added, it would not be long before small groups of Poles, Lithuanians, Germans and Britons may find themselves fighting the Kremlins armies in their own forests and fields. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy A fragile ceasefire deal struck between Israel and Hamas went ahead on Saturday after teetering on the brink of collapse this week. Since the ceasefire and hostage deal came into force on 19 January, both sides have expressed frustration with how the other has handled their obligations within the truce. Despite this, the deal has held so far. Exactly 24 hostages have been released in total, including 19 Israelis and five Thai nationals, in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and detainees. Many prisoners are incarcerated without charge or trial under an Israeli process called administrative detention. But after Hamas alleged that Israel had breached the terms of the fragile ceasefire and subsequently suspended the handover of hostage this week, the deal came close to collapse. open image in gallery Hostages were brought on stage by Hamas militants before being released ( Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. ) Netanyahu said he had also ordered the military to gather forces in and around Gaza as Israel warned it would open the gates of hell on Gaza if hostages were not released by noon on Saturday. On Thursday, Hamas announced would continue implementing the ceasefire as originally planned, before Russian-Israeli Sasha Troufanov, 29, Argentinian-Israeli Iair Horn, 46, and US citizen Sagui Dekel Chen, 36, who were all seized from Kibbutz Nir Oz, were all released on Saturday. In exchange, Israel freed 369 Palestinian prisoners and detainees. The stand-off threatened to reignite a conflict which started when Hamas killed around 1,200 people in a terror attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, and abducted another 250. In response, Israel launched a devastating bombing and ground campaign in Gaza, killing more than 46,000 Palestinians, according to Gazas health ministry. Why did Israel threaten to end its ceasefire with Hamas? Under the ceasefire deal signed on 19 January, Hamas has so far freed 24 Israeli hostages. They are being exchanged for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and detainees in the first stage of the multi-phase ceasefire deal. Mediators hope a second phase of the agreement will lead to the release of the remaining hostages and the full withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza. However, talks in Doha broke down on Monday when the Israeli team returned home just two days after arriving. This week, Hamas announced it would suspend the handover of hostages due to alleged Israeli violations of the ceasefire terms. In response, Mr Trump demanded all hostages be released on Saturday at noon, before Mr Netanyahu warned of a return to intense fighting if more hostages were freed on Saturday, without saying how many. Israel later threatened to open the gates of hell, and to start a new Gaza war different in intensity, if all hostages were not released by Saturday noon. It deployed additional troops to its border area with Gaza and cancelled leave for combat soldiers. Mr Netanyahu is under pressure in his country where thousands of protesters took to the streets this week to call on the government to continue with the ceasefire deal to bring the remaining hostages back. open image in gallery Amir Abu Radha, a freed Palestinian prisoner, is embraced after being released from an Israeli jail ( Reuters ) Why did Hamas nearly pause the hostage exchange? Earlier this week, Abu Obeida, spokesman for the armed wing of Hamas, announced the postponement of Saturdays planned release of three Israeli hostages. The group has accused Israel of delaying the return of Palestinians to northern Gaza, carrying out strikes across the enclave and hindering the entry of humanitarian aid. On Wednesday, Israeli military said it had struck two people in the southern Gaza Strip who were flying a drone. Gaza's health ministry said at least 92 Palestinians have been killed and more than 800 wounded by Israeli fire since the ceasefire deal. Hamas has said the "door remains open" to the exchange going ahead on Saturday if Israel "complies" with its obligations, according to news agency AFP. Three Israeli officials and two mediators told the New York Times on condition of anonymity that Hamas claims were accurate. But COGAT, the Israeli military unit overseeing aid deliveries, described the accusations as completely false. But Hamas has now called off the pause in hostage exchanges after Israels threat to unleash a new war on Gaza. The militant group said mediators had pledged to "remove all hurdles" to ensure Israel would allow more tents, medical supplies and other essentials into Gaza. What is in the first phase of the ceasefire? A six-week initial ceasefire phase includes the gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces from central Gaza and the return of displaced Palestinians to northern Gaza. Hamas will release 33 Israeli hostages, including all women (soldiers and civilians), children, and men over 50. Hamas will release female hostages and under 19s first, followed by men over 50. So far, 24 hostages have been released, including 19 Israeli and five Thai hostages. In return, hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and detainees have been freed from Israeli prisoners. Thousands of Palestinians are currently imprisoned in Israel without charge under a policy known as administrative detention, but it is unclear whether they have ben involved in the prisoner releases. Israeli troops would also pull out of all populated areas of Gaza during the first stage while the Palestinians [could] also return to their neighbourhoods in all the areas of Gaza, said former US president Joe Biden at the time of the deal being signed. The agreement also stipulates that aid deliveries to Gaza should rise to 600 trucks daily, surpassing the minimum requirement of 500 trucks that aid agencies deem necessary to address the territorys dire humanitarian crisis. What is the second phase of the ceasefire? Negotiations over a second phase of the agreement appear to have broken down after an Israeli team returned from talks in Doha after two days. It is hoped it will include the release of all remaining hostages, including Israeli male soldiers, a permanent ceasefire and the complete withdrawal of Israeli soldiers. The second and most difficult phase will mark a permanent end to the war, president Biden said. It will include the release of all remaining living hostages, including male soldiers, and Israeli forces would withdraw completely from Gaza. Hamas said it will not release the remaining captives without a lasting ceasefire and a full Israeli withdrawal. What is the third phase of the ceasefire? The third and final stage would involve the reconstruction of Gaza something which could take years and the return of any remaining hostages bodies. The deal requires 600 truckloads of humanitarian aid to be allowed into Gaza every day of the ceasefire, 50 of them carrying fuel, and 300 of the trucks allocated to the north of the strip. Israel allows aid into the enclave but there have been disputes over the amount allowed in, as well as the amount that reaches people in need, with looting by criminal gangs an increasing problem. What next for Gaza? As uncertainty hangs over the current ceasefire, its still not clear what will happen and who will manage Gaza if the truce deal is completed. Israel has said it will not end the war leaving Hamas in power. It has also rejected the administration of Gaza by the Palestinian Authority, the Western-backed body set up under the Oslo interim peace accords. The international community has said Gaza must be run by Palestinians, but efforts to find alternatives to the main factions among civil society or clan leaders have proved largely fruitless. Last week, Mr Trump announced a plan for the US to take over Gaza, move out its more than 2 million Palestinian inhabitants and redevelop it into an international beach resort. But the idea has faced opposition neighbouring countries who claim it could fuel regional instability. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy The last British hostage in Gaza was freed by Hamas on Sunday after more than 15 months in captivity, as part of a long-fought ceasefire to end the ruinous conflict, which has claimed tens of thousands of lives. British-Israeli Emily Damari, 28, was released alongside two other female captives and reunited with her mother, Mandy, on Sunday evening, after what the family described as nearly 500 tortuous days in captivity. Emilys family said that she lost two fingers in the deadly 7 October attacks, and held up her bandaged hand in pictures after her release. In footage taken in Gaza, cheering crowds of armed militants were seen handing over Emily, alongside her friend Doron Steinbrecher, 31, who was captured with her from Kibbutz Kfar Aza, and Romi Gonen, 24, who was seized from the Nova music festival. open image in gallery Emily Damari reunited with her mother after her release on Sunday ( IDF Spokespersons Unit ) The trio are now in Israel. They were assessed at Sheba Medical Centre in Tel Aviv, with doctors reporting that the women are in stable condition and will be monitored for a few days. Later, in emotional images released online, Emily was seen hugging her mother and waving a bandaged hand, wounded when she was shot during her capture. Mandy, who also survived Hamass attack on Kfar Aza, thanked people worldwide for their efforts to bring Emily home. I want to thank everyone who never stopped fighting for Emily throughout this horrendous ordeal, she said. While Emilys nightmare in Gaza is over, for far too many other families, the impossible wait continues, she added. Sir Keir Starmer called the release wonderful and long overdue after Emily endured intolerable trauma. However, today also represents another day of suffering for those who havent made it home yet. So while this ceasefire deal should be welcomed, we must not forget about those who remain in captivity under Hamas, he said. We must now see the remaining phases of the ceasefire deal implemented in full and on schedule, including the release of those remaining hostages and a surge of humanitarian aid into Gaza. open image in gallery The moment Emily was delivered by Hamas ( The Independent ) David Lammy, the foreign secretary, said his thoughts were also with those still waiting to be reunited with their loved ones, including the families of UK-linked hostages Eli Sharabi, Oded Lifshitz, and Avinatan Or, who are slated to be released in the coming weeks if the ceasefire holds. We are clear, the deal must be implemented in full; all hostages must be returned, and aid must be allowed to flow into Gaza now, he added, calling the ceasefire a a credible pathway towards a two-state solution in which Israelis and Palestinians can live side by side in peace. Many hope the truce, brokered after more than a year of negotiations by the US, Qatar, and Egypt, will herald the end of the conflict that has ravaged Gaza, where Israels bombardment has killed more than 46,000 people and displaced more than 90 per cent of the 2 million population. They also hope it will secure the release of nearly all 100 remaining hostages abducted from Israel during Hamass attack on 7 October 2023, during which over 1,200 people were killed. open image in gallery The mothers of hostages Romi Gonen, Doron Steinbrecher and Emily Damari, watch footage of their release ( IDF via Reuters ) According to the deal, in the first phase which lasts six weeks 33 hostages will be released in exchange for hundreds of Palestinians, including dozens of women and minors, in Israeli custody. Many have been held without charge. Israeli forces are also set to withdraw to a buffer zone inside Gaza, allowing displaced Palestinians to return home, which some families attempted on Sunday amid the destruction. The devastated territory, teetering on the verge of famine, is also expected to see a surge in badly-needed humanitarian aid, with as many as 600 trucks entering Gaza daily far more than Israel allowed previously. Families in Gaza, who have been displaced multiple times and have lost dozens of family members to Israels bombings, told The Independent that the ceasefire was a glimmer of hope in a cycle of death. But they also warned that it was just the start of a long process of rehabilitation and reconstruction. open image in gallery Members of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) speak with fighters of the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas's armed wing, in Saraya Square in western Gaza ( AFP via Getty Images ) You are talking about people whose past has been erased, and every horizon of the near future has been wiped away, said Essam Raja, 38, who is now living in a tent in the so-called humanitarian zone of al-Mawasi, which was bombed just before the ceasefire came into effect. There are concerns that the shaky deal, which nearly floundered in the eleventh hour on Sunday morning, will collapse after the first phase is over. Negotiations on the far more difficult second phase of this ceasefire are set to begin in just over two weeks, aiming for the release of the remaining hostages and more Palestinian prisoners. There are fears that the war will resume before negotiations can proceed, especially as Mr Netanyahu faces growing pressure from extreme right-wing members of his coalition, including several ministers who resigned from his cabinet on Sunday over the deal. Emilys Surrey-born mother said her daughter was shot in the hand and taken to Gaza in her own car from Kfar Aza on 7 October, where her family lived. She was seized with her friends Gali and Ziv Berman, who remain in captivity, and Doron Steinbrecher, who was released on Sunday. open image in gallery Crowds gather in Tel Aviv to watch the long-awaited release of the hostages ( Reuters ) Ms Steinbrecher, 31, is a veterinary nurse with a chronic illness requiring daily medication, according to her sister, who spoke to The Independent last year. Yamit said that before Sunday, the only proof of life the family had seen was a Hamas video in January 2024 showing her begging for help. Romi Gonen, 24, who was also freed on Sunday, was seized from the Nova music festival. Her sister, Yarden, said at a gathering for the hostages in the US last week that she had nearly escaped but was ambushed, shot in the hand, and dragged by her hair to Gaza. Her best friend was killed in front of her. Ms Steinbrechers family thanked the international community for their support in freeing their beloved Dodo, who they said begins her rehabilitation journey today. The family especially thanked incoming US president Donald Trump for his significant involvement and support, which meant so much to us. Mr Trumps inauguration is on Monday, and sources close to the negotiations told The Independent that it was a cut-off point that ultimately pushed the deal through. Mr Trumps Middle East envoy was present in the final stages of the negotiations, alongside Joe Bidens team. In brief remarks as the hostages arrived in Israel, Mr Biden said, They appear to be in good health. open image in gallery Palestinians have been returning to their homes, though may find them in ruins after months of attacks ( EPA ) Concerns remain for the remaining hostages. Thousands of people gathered to watch the release on large screens at Hostage Square in Tel Aviv, a rally point for those demanding a hostage release deal. The crowd erupted into cheers, tears, and hugs as the images were shown on a big screen. Families of those not included in the deal said that while they were thrilled for those freed, they hoped the deal would hold long enough. For the families of the hostages who are not within the list of 33, it is a long struggle ahead of us, said Udi Goren, whose cousin Tal Chaimi was killed on 7 October. His body was taken by militants to Gaza and would only be released in the second phase. After the release of the hostages, 90 Palestinian prisoners were due to be freed later on Sunday. In the Israeli-occupied West Bank, families and friends gathered excitedly as cars honked and people waved the Palestinian flag. According to Al Jazeera, 90 Palestinians were due to be released on Sunday, including 69 women and 21 minors and teenagers. They are part of a list of 734 Palestinian prisoners the Israeli justice ministry said would be freed in the deals first phase last week. open image in gallery Romi Gonen, left, and Doron Steinbrecher, right, were also free alongside Emily Damari, centre ( Hostage Family Forum via AFP/Getty ) Among those slated to released are Shatha Jaraba, 24, who was arrested in August near Ramallah and held in Israels Damon prison where her family said conditions were extremely difficult. Her father Nawaf, 63, claims she spent five months on trial on the charge of expressing an opinion and said that another of his sons was being held in administrative detention which has been criticised by the UN as amounting to arbitrary detention. In general level, this release comes on the ruins of homes, houses, blood and great sacrifices in Gaza, he said as he waited for her to be released from prison. But we are happy because she will be among the first group of female detainees. Eman Nafa, the wife of Nael al-Barghouti, a member of Hamas in the West Bank and the longest-serving Palestinian prisoner, who has spent more than 40 years in Israeli jails, said she was concerned amid reports that some of those released may be deported out of the occupied Palestinian territories. Rana, the older sister of Palestinian detainee Raed al-Hajj Hamad, who is also on the list to be released over the next six weeks, said they feared the truce will not last long enough to see him freed. His family say Raed was arrested in Gaza in 2004 when he was 21 and sentenced to 20 years in jail. They said he finished his term last January but remained in prison because of the war. Everyone fears that the truce will not last for six months. We are all anxious and afraid. We, the people of Gaza, love and want to live in peace and return to our homes to rebuild them. 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 Palestinians have begun searching for the potenially thousands believed to still be trapped under rubble in Gaza, on the second day of the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. Residents have expressed their shock at the devastation wrought by 15 months of war on the coastal enclave, which has also inflamed the entire Middle East, with one displaced Gazan who lost his brother and nephew in the conflict describing the total destruction he has witnessed. Now attention is starting to shift to the rebuilding of the Strip after the truce took effect on Sunday, with the release of the first three hostages held by Hamas and 90 Palestinians freed from Israeli jails. Hamas triggered the war in Gaza with an attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, during which around 1,200 people were killed, with another 250 hostages taken into Gaza, according to Israeli tallies. In Israels retalitory offensive, more than 47,000 Palestinians have been killed, Gazas health ministry said in its latest figures on Monday. open image in gallery Residents have expressed their shock at the devastation wrought by 15 months of war on the coastal enclave ( EPA ) Palestinians are now looking for as many as 10,000 bodies believed to be buried under rubble, Mahmoud Basal, spokesperson of the Palestinian Civil Emergency Services, said on Monday. Displaced Gazan Mohamed Gomaa, who lost his brother and nephew in the war, said: It was a big shock, and the amount [of people] feeling shocked is countless because of what happened to their homes it's destruction, total destruction. open image in gallery Palestinians search through the rubble in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on Monday ( AP ) With a growing flow of aid into the Palestinian enclave, residents flocked into markets, with some expressing happiness at the lower prices and the presence of new food items like imported chocolates. The prices have gone down, the war is over and the crossing is open to more goods, said Aya Mohammad-Zaki, a displaced woman from Gaza City, who has been sheltering in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza Strip. The deal requires 600 truckloads of aid to be allowed into Gaza every day of the initial six-week ceasefire, including 50 carrying fuel. Half of the aid trucks would be delivered to the north, where experts have warned famine is imminent. open image in gallery Palestinians rush to take aid from moving trucks entering Rafah on Monday after the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas came into effect ( REUTERS ) More than 630 humanitarian aid trucks entered the Gaza Strip on Sunday, the first day of the truce, the United Nations secretary-general Antonio Guterres said, with at least 300 of those trucks going to the enclave's north. Residents and medics in Gaza said that for the most part the ceasefire appeared to be holding, although there were isolated incidents. Medics said eight people had been hit by Israeli fire since Monday morning in the southern city of Rafah, without giving details of their condition. The Israeli military said it fired warning shots against a number of people who approached troops who were deployed in accordance with the ceasefire agreement. Billions of dollars will be needed to rebuild Gaza after the war. A UN damage assessment released this month showed that clearing over 50 million tonnes of rubble left in the aftermath of Israels bombardment could take 21 years and cost up to $1.2 billion. 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 An Iranian court has reportedly sentenced controversial pop star Amir Hossein Maghsoudloo, also known as Tataloo, to death after he was found guilty of insulting the Prophet Muhammad. The Supreme Court accepted the prosecutors objection to a prior five-year prison sentence for blasphemy, AFP reported, citing the Iranian newspaper Etemad. The newspaper said: The case was reopened, and this time the defendant was sentenced to death for insulting the Prophet. The Iran Front Page also reported that Tehrans First Criminal Court sentenced Tataloo, 37, to death for insulting the Prophet after a retrial, overturning a prior five-year prison sentence. The verdict, which followed an appeal and Supreme Court intervention, was not final and could still be challenged by the Supreme Court, according to media reports. However, Iran International said on Sunday that the countrys judiciary denied reports claiming that Tataloo had been sentenced to death for blasphemy. It said that the initial report, published by the Jame Jam newspaper, was refuted by the judiciarys media office, which stated that a final verdict has not yet been issued. An Iranian court has reportedly sentenced pop star Amir Tataloo to death sentence for blasphemy ( amotataloo_org/Instagram ) The Independent could not verify these claims. Tataloo, an underground musician, was extradited from Istanbul to Iran in December 2023 and has been in detention since. Known for blending rap, pop, and R&B, he previously faced a 10-year sentence for promoting prostitution and was charged with anti-regime propaganda and publishing obscene content. Despite his controversial image, Tataloo once engaged with conservative Iranian politicians, including a televised meeting with late president Ebrahim Raisi in 2017. In 2015, he released a song supporting Irans nuclear programme, which faced setbacks after the US withdrew from the deal in 2018. The news of the sentence came as two judges, Ali Razini and Mohammad Moghisseh, known for handling cases on national security and terrorism, were killed in a shooting at Irans Supreme Court in Tehran on Saturday, according to the judiciarys Mizan Online website. The judiciary reported that the gunman, described as a terrorist, entered their room, carried out the attack, and then killed himself. One other person was reportedly injured in the incident. In 2024, at least 901 people were executed in Iran, the most in nine years, and a six per cent increase from the previous year. This includes about 40 executions in a single week in December, according to UN human rights chief Volker Turk. It is deeply disturbing that yet again we see an increase in the number of people subjected to the death penalty in Iran year-on-year. It is high time Iran stemmed this ever-swelling tide of executions, Mr Turk said. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails 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 Watch as displaced Palestinians in Gaza returned to their homes on the second day of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire (20 January). Residents poured into the streets at the start of the truce, despite the devastation surrounding them. Many returned to homes reduced to rubble during 15 months of relentless conflict that claimed over 46,000 lives. Israel freed 90 Palestinians on Sunday, seven hours after the first three Israeli hostages were released from Hamas captivity as part of the Gaza ceasefire deal. A large crowd gathered as a bus carrying dozens of Palestinian detainees arrived in the West Bank, with celebrations including fireworks and whistles amid shouts of God is great. The released detainees were embraced in hugs as they posed for tearful pictures. All of those released were women or teens, the youngest 15. Earlier on Sunday, at least seven people were injured after Israeli security guards reportedly fired tear gas and rubber bullets at Palestinian families waiting for their relatives outside Ofer Prison. Close Netanyahu thanks Trump for helping free Israeli hostages 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 Israels top general has resigned, citing the security failures that allowed Hamas 7 October attack, as at least 10 Palestinians were killed in an Israeli raid in the West Bank city of Jenin. The Jenin raid also left at least 40 wounded, Palestinian health officials said, as Israels fragile ceasefire with Hamas in Gaza entered its third dayChief of Staff Lt General Herzi Halevi became the most prominent Israeli official to step down over the militant groups attack when he announced his resignation on Tuesday. In Tel Aviv, four people were wounded in a stabbing attack on Tuesday evening, according to Israeli police, who said the attacker was killed by security forces at the scene. Meanwhile, Hamas official Taher al-Nunu has said four female Israeli hostages will be released on Saturday in return for Palestinian prisoners in the second such exchange under the truce, according to AFP. And US president Donald Trumps pick for ambassador to the UN, Elise Stefanik, has told a Senate confirmation hearing that Israel has a biblical right to dominion over the West Bank. 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 Watch as the family of British-Israeli woman Emily Damari spoke out for the first time since she was freed by Hamas on Sunday (19 January) after more than 15 months in captivity. The 28-year-old was the last British hostage in Gaza. She and her friend Doron Steinbrecher, 31, were captured from Kibbutz Kfar Aza in the October 7 attack by Hamas. The pair were freed alongside Romi Gonen, 24, who was seized from the Nova music festival. Ms Gonens mother Meirav Leshem Gonen, and Yamit Ashkenazi, Ms Steinbrecher's sister, are also due to speak today. Ms Damari's family said that she lost two fingers in the deadly 7 October attacks, and held up her bandaged hand in pictures after her release. A ceasefire between Israel and Hamas has officially begun ushering in an initial six-week period of calm after a devastating 15-month conflict. Many hope the truce, brokered after more than a year of negotiations by the US, Qatar, and Egypt, will herald the end of the conflict that has ravaged Gaza, where Israels bombardment has killed more than 46,000 people and displaced more than 90 per cent of the 2 million population. They also hope it will secure the release of nearly all 100 remaining hostages abducted from Israel during Hamass attack on 7 October 2023, during which more than 1,200 people were killed. 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 British-Israeli national Emily Damari among the first three hostages freed from Gaza by Hamas as part of a ceasefire deal with Israel says she has returned to my beloved life in the moving first comments she has made since her release. Ms Damari, 28, was freed from 15 months in captivity on Sunday as the truce deal came into effect, with authorities reporting she had lost two fingers when she was taken from her home during Hamas attack inside Israel on 7 October, 2023, during which around 1,200 people were killed and another 250 were taken hostage. In emotional remarks made hours after her release on Monday morning, Emily, who is a dual British-Israeli citizen, thanked her family and the large protest movement that campaigned for the release of the hostages. open image in gallery In emotional images released online, former hostage Emily Damari was seen hugging her mother and waving a bandaged hand, wounded when she was shot during her capture ( PA ) Thank you, thank you, thank you. Im the happiest in the world, the 28-year-old said in the Instagram story shared by Israeli media, signing off her message with a rock on emoji, a possible reference to the two fingers she lost when she was shot in the hand as she was taken from Kibbutz Kfar Aza. Her family previously said she was blindfolded and forced into her own car with two other friends. Celebrations have been taking place across Israel, Gaza and the occupied West Bank over the ceasfire, with 90 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails also freed as part of the deal. Families in Gaza also started to return to their homes, with Israels retaliatory offensive to the Hamas attack having killed around 47,000 Palestinians and forced about 90 per cent of the enclaves 2.3 million residents from their homes. In footage taken in Gaza on Sunday, Hamas were seen handing over Emily, alongside one of her friends who was captured with her, Doron Steinbrecher, 31, as well as Romi Gonen, 24, who was seized from the Nova music festival. At Sheba hospital, which is located in a suburb of Tel Aviv, there were emotional scenes of the three hostages being reunited with their family members. A motorcade was led by police cars. Within it, minivans holding the hostages and their mothers, who were the first to greet them in the transitional first aid point, drew up to a specially closed-off area. open image in gallery Emily Damari, 28, was freed on Sunday as the Gaza ceasefire deal came into effect, following 15 months in captivity ( PA ) Crowds of patients in the hospital cheered as they caught a brief glimpse through a window inside complex of the moment the three women hugged their fathers, siblings and other extended family members, in floods of tears with Emily reunited with her mother Mandy Damari, who also survived Hamass attack on the border Kibbutz of Kfar Aza. On Hostage Square in central Tel Aviv, the rallying point for families and supporters of the hostages, crowds cheered, cried, and hugged each other as the footage of the reunions was released. Later thousands of people gathered there chanted Now! Now ! Now!, a reference to bringing all the remaining hostages left in Gaza back, as well as the slogan bring them home now. On Monday, Mandy Damari, who grew up in Beckenham, southeast London, released a statement in the wake of her daughters release, praising Emilys resilience and calling for the remaining 91 hostages to be freed. open image in gallery Romi Gonen, 24, who was seized from the Nova music festival, reuniting with her mother Meirav Leshem Gonen ( Getty ) From the bottom of my heart I would like to thank the many people who have played a role in bringing Emily home and given their support to me and my family, she said in a statement. I am relieved to report that, after her release, Emily is doing much better than any of us could ever have anticipated. I am also happy that during her release the world was given a glimpse of her feisty and charismatic personality. In Emilys own words, she is the happiest girl in the world, she has her life back. open image in gallery Doron Steinbrecher, 31, embraces her mother Simone after she was kidnapped by Hamas on 7 October, 2023, alongside Emily ( Getty ) In this incredibly happy moment for our family, we must also remember that 94 other hostages still remain. The ceasefire must continue and every last hostage must be returned to their families. As wonderful as it is to see Emilys resilience, these are still early days. As you will have seen yesterday, Emily lost two of the fingers on her left hand. Mandy, who campaigned fiercely for her daughter's freedom, said she will now need time with her loved ones and doctors to recover. All three former hostages were assessed at the Sheba Medical Centre in Tel Aviv, with doctors reporting that they are in a stable condition and will be monitored there for a few days. open image in gallery A freed Palestinian prisoner is greeted after being released from an Israeli jail on Monday ( Reuters ) Romis mother also issued a moving statement on social media in the wake of her daughters release, as she too called for the remaining hostages to be freed. Meirav Leshem Gonen said in a post on Facebook on Monday morning: It will take me, for us, a moment to breathe it in and believe in the reality we achieved together. Captives released in November described Emily as a leader who kept up the spirits of her fellow captives. Israeli media reported that she started taking care of everyone, with one freed girl telling Mandy that her daughter would wake up and sing: Its a great morning. open image in gallery The ruinous conflict has wreaked destruction and claimed tens of thousands of lives over the last 15 months ( EPA ) Others have reported Emily acted as a go-between with the guards. Prime minister Sir Keir Starmer welcomed the wonderful and long-overdue news of their release and called for all hostages to be freed, saying we must not forget those who remain in captivity. Foreign secretary David Lammy said he is pleased and delighted that Emily has been released. open image in gallery Israelis celebrated the release of the three hostages as they gathered in Tel Aviv, Israel, on Sunday ( AP ) Let me just first, obviously say how pleased and delighted I am that Emily Damari has emerged, he told BBC Radio 4s Today programme on Monday. And I say that because I grew very close to her family, and I think the whole of the country will be delighted that she is free, but recognising there are still hostages being held, and there are British nationals like Nadav Popplewell who lost their life. Mr Lammy said a social media post by Emily after her release made him very emotional. I have a yellow flower. Its a plastic flower that her mother gave me thats in my office that I said I would keep in my office until she was freed. I will move it from my office today and take it home. So thats... its incredibly touching, he said. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy The long-awaited ceasefire in Gaza has come into effect after a delay in the list of 33 Israeli hostages due to be freed threatened to derail the truce. Fighting finally stopped after an almost three-hour delay on Sunday, which saw continued airstrikes kill eight Palestinians and injure 25 others, according to medics in Gaza. However peace began at 9.15am UK time, with the first three hostages set to be freed after 2pm. They include British-Israeli citizen Emily Damari, 28, who was abducted from Kibbutz Kfar Aza, as well as Romi Gonen, 24, who was ambushed as she tried to escape from the Supernova Festival. Veterinary nurse Doron Steinbrecher, 31, who was in her apartment in southern Israel when Hamas attacked is also set for release. Four more female hostages will be released in seven days under plans to gradually release hostages over 42 days in the first phase of the truce. In exchange, some 1,900 Palestinian prisoners are expected to be freed. On its official X account, the Israeli government posted a list of the 33 hostages it said were to be released. The Independent takes a look: open image in gallery A woman walks past photos of hostages held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Many Israelis have celebrated the ceasefire, with others describing it as capitulation to Hamas ( Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved ) Women and children Romi Gonen, 23 Emily Damari, 27 Arbel Yehud, 29 Doron Steinbrecher, 31 Ariel Bibas, 5 Kfir Bibas, 2 Shiri Silberman Bibas, 33 Liri Albag, 19 Karina Ariev, 20 Agam Berger, 21 Danielle Gilboa, 20 Naama Levy, 20 Older men Ohad Ben-Ami, 58 Gadi Moshe Moses, 80 Keith Siegel, 65 Ofer Calderon, 54 Eli Sharabi, 52 Itzik Elgarat, 70 Shlomo Mansour, 86 Ohad Yahalomi, 50 Oded Lifshitz, 84 Tsahi Idan, 50 open image in gallery The home of 84-year-old Oded Lifshitz, which was destroyed by Hamas militants on 7 October 2023 ( Copyright 2024 The Associated Press All rights reserved ) Younger men Hisham al-Sayed, 36 Yarden Bibas, 35 Sagui Dekel-Chen, 36 Yair Horn, 46 Omer Wenkert, 23 Sasha Trufanov, 28 open image in gallery Ofri Bibas Levy shows a picture of her brother Yarden, 35, who was captured by Hamas ( REUTERS ) Eliya Cohen, 27 Or Levy, 34 Avera Mengistu, 38 Tal Shoham, 39 Omer Shem-Tov, 22 Those on the list, to be returned over a period of 42 days, are so-called humanitarian cases: women, children, elderly individuals and the infirm. Israel has not been told how many of the 33 are alive, though it expects the majority are. The identities of those set to return are expected to be provided 24 hours before each release. Americans will thank Donald Trump for deportations after he is sworn in as the 47th president, Florida representative Byron Donalds said ahead of the inauguration. The president-elect has promised severe limits on immigration from his first day in office. Mr Trump, who will be sworn in for his second term at the Capitol in Washington, D.C., has also said that he will sign around 100 executive actions on his first day, with a focus on immigration. Speaking to Fox News, Mr Donalds said: "When Americans see deportations or repatriations happen, they're gonna be like thank you. "They're gonna be like, this is the stability that we were asking for. Daddy's back." Vladimir Putin took a swipe at Joe Biden as he congratulated Donald Trump on his inauguration on Monday, 20 January. The Russian President welcomed the 47th president's intention to open a dialogue with Moscow, something he says was halted "through no fault of ours by the outgoing administration." During a video call with members of Russias Security Council just before the inauguration ceremony, Mr Putin welcomed Mr Trump's "statements about the need to do everything to prevent World War III." He emphasised that a dialogue between Russia and the US should be based on equal basis and mutual respect." Palestinian prisoners released by Israel after three hostages left Hamas captivity in an exchange described conditions in prison as very difficult and chaotic. Hadia Shatara and Khalifa Jarrar are two of 90 Palestinian prisoners and detainees returning home on Monday (20 January) to jubilant friends and relatives. Ms Jarrar, 62, said: The situation in the prison is very difficult and we wish freedom for the male and female prisoners." Ms Shatara added: Today, the basic necessities of life in prison are almost nonexistent. Today, prisoners, both male and female, are suffering from complete deprivation of basic rights, such as food, cleaning supplies, and essential items. Partner Content There was a net increase of 6,212 jobs, with employment increasing across Enterprise Irelands three core economic sectors Despite the significant global challenges of recent years, Ireland continues to be one of the strongest-performing economies within the EU and this success is underpinned by our resilient Irish enterprise base. Export-focused Irish-owned companies which remain headquartered here are economic pillars in every town and village across the country and are key drivers in the Irish economy, last year making a spend of almost 40bn in the local economy. Results published last week showed that direct employment at companies supported by Enterprise Ireland increased to a record 234,454 in 2024. Throughout last year, Irish companies which Enterprise Ireland is proud to work with created 15,741 new jobs, with almost two-thirds (64pc) of these new jobs located around the country, outside of Dublin. There was a net increase of 6,212 jobs, with employment increasing across Enterprise Irelands three core economic sectors in 2024; Technology & Services (+2pc), Industrial and Life Sciences (+3pc) and Food and Sustainability (+3pc). Particularly strong employment growth was delivered by companies in the Climate, Sustainability and Agritech sub-sectors, which increased by 8pc. These positive results are a testament to the capabilities, resilience and growth ambition of Irish companies and are an encouraging start to 2025, notwithstanding the ever-changing operating environment with potential challenges on the horizon including global uncertainty, increased business costs, and climate change, among others. It is with great pride that Enterprise Ireland started this new business year by last week presenting these positive and encouraging results from our clients, who continue to show immense spirit, innovation and agility as they navigated the challenges and embraced the opportunities which last year brought. In order to remain competitive, we believe Irish businesses need to continue to be agile and ready to diversify. Irish companies can, and will be, the prime driver of our economy with their strong leadership and ability to innovate, adapt and embrace new technologies to evolve and grow being critical to achieving that position. One such example is Galway-based company Aerogen, Enterprise Irelands largest medtech company, which last week announced a planned transformational 300m investment and will lead to the creation of 725 new jobs. Supporting ambitious businesses like Aerogen is strongly aligned with Enterprise Irelands ambition to make Irish-owned companies the primary driver of our economy. We have been proud to support Aerogen throughout its journey over the last 25 years and look forward to working with them as they continue to grow. 2024 also marked the final year of Enterprise Irelands three-year strategy Leading in a Changing World, and we are proud that Enterprise Ireland- backed client companies have substantially exceeded our key targets to create 45,000 new jobs by 2024 and increase exports to 30bn. Over the three-year period Enterprise Ireland client companies created 50,931 new jobs and at the end of 2023, over 34bn in exports was recorded.. During that period we also supported 479 new start-up businesses seeding the next generation of scaling Irish businesses. The results announced last week are a really strong platform on which to further grow and expand Irelands enterprise base in a sustainable way over the next five years. Global enterprise will of course continue to face challenges and disruption over the months and years ahead, but it will also bring opportunities and Irish companies are well-positioned to capitalise on those opportunities. Enterprise Ireland is committed to supporting Irish-owned businesses to start, grow and scale, and we look forward to continuing to work with our clients on their journey to achieve their global ambition, providing a platform for strong economic growth. Kevin Sherry is an Executive Director at Enterprise Ireland It becomes the first university to work with Ripple, the company that developed the crypto token XRP Trinity College Dublin is partnering with crypto company Ripple to set up a new blockchain research initiative focusing on challenges in cryptocurrency, cyber security and the fintech sector. The project will be supported by $200,000 (194,531) in funding over a period of two years. It will be set up at the Adapt Research Ireland Centre at the university. Ripple, a company that offers digital asset infrastructure for financial institutions, is funding the project as part of their University Blockchain Research Initiative (UBRI). The Ripple Blockchain Collaboratory will be led by Trinitys School of Computer Science and Statistics Professor Hitesh Tewari. It will serve as a hub for research and project-based learning. We are delighted to be the first university in Ireland to receive support through Ripples UBRI programme, said Professor Tewari. The Ripple Blockchain Collaboratory will provide a platform for advancing blockchain research, allowing our students and staff to research and develop solutions that address real-world challenges in fintech, cyber security, and privacy. The partnership will see faculty and graduate students at the research centre trying to understand the role of emerging technologies in the future of the financial and technology sectors, particularly from an Irish perspective. It will also focus on the research and development of new projects such as a decentralised social media network a platform that can operate without a central authority offering users more privacy and control. Working on the UBRI programme also means that Trinity will manage an XPR Ledger (XPRL) validator. XRP is Ripples cryptocurrency and the validator would function as a decentralised blockchain ledger that helps the university communicate with Ripples larger network. Hosting an XRPL validator will allow Trinity researchers to contribute directly to the global infrastructure of blockchains. By hosting an XRPL validator at Trinity, were connecting the university to the heart of decentralised technology, enabling groundbreaking work in areas like fintech, cyber security, and next generation blockchain solutions, said Lauren Weymouth, senior director of university partnerships at Ripple. Ireland has established itself as a leading hub for blockchain and cryptocurrency advancements, and Ripples UBRI program is excited to collaborate with Trinity College to drive more innovation in this thriving ecosystem, The programme will also focus on building engagement within the blockchain and fintech communities locally through seminars, conferences, and workshops to help create a more public understanding of the potential of cryptocurrencies and blockchain systems. The UBRI has partnered with a number of institutions globally to work on similar research programmes. For Trinitys students, this means connecting with industry leaders through Ripples global events. Forecasting well means seeing the unseen and theres no sure-fire way to do it but there are a few hacks you can follow Each year forecasts dot financial outlets from Dundalk to Denver professing to know year-ahead outcomes. Currently, fog over the outlook is unusually thick like low visibility at the Cliffs of Moher, it can hide real danger. Let me do something different for you: Show you what wont happen, three scenarios looking similarly likely and how to navigate present uncertainty. In my 50-plus years of professional investing, I have learned that forecasting well means seeing the unseen. Not secret information, but elephants, good or bad, hiding in plain sight. Not so easy. It takes three steps. First, assess possibilities by weighing economic factors, political drivers and sentiment. Then, envisage what everyone sees and what they miss or cant fathom from mass human bias. Lastly, assign probabilities. If one outcome is significantly most likely, it is the forecast. This process eliminates one 2025 scenario for global stocks: low double-digit returns. In 1995, I proved that where they cluster is the consensus which markets pre-price fully a year out and simply doesnt happen like magic. Considering 54 forecasters of Americas S&P 500, the worlds most forecasted index they now cluster around 10pc to 13pc. Too popular. So that wont happen. Others scatter widely around that. But three outcomes look similarly unloved hence similarly likely. None dominate. US stocks could boom 20pc or greater. No-one forecasts that. Or they could fall slightly, maybe about -7pc. Or, low single-digit gains, like 4pc. Whichever path US stocks take, global and eurozone stocks surely follow. For US and eurozone stocks, the correlation co-efficient is 0.80. Considering 1.00 is identical movement and -1.00 exact opposite, it proves Europe and America wiggle tightly together. Wall Street and Ireland routinely go the same direction. Speeds simply vary. Current market drivers, especially politics and sentiment, are in flux. But clarity will come. Lets dig deeper into likely scenarios. The happiest scenario, up 20pc or more, would shock most investors. Three straight years over 20pc is legendarily rare. With virtually no-one expecting it, it becomes more likely, as sentiment swings, if economic and political realities slightly exceed expectations. Over 80pc of years over 20pc are followed by positive years. Politically, US presidential inaugural years, like 2025, have been positive 60pc of the time since 1926. Still, 40pc of inaugural years fall modestly. Last years US election result made Republican investors giddy... perhaps excessively. Stocks will pre-price doing what few expect. With politics, they usually perversely invert from bias. Generally, US investors lean conservative, viewing Republicans as pro-business and Democrats the reverse. Hence, in presidential election years when Democrats won, caution kept returns below average. Republican victories, like 2024, buoy returns. But presidents routinely achieve less than proponents hoped or opponents feared. In inaugural years, this creates positive surprise with Democratic presidents and typically above-average returns. With Republican presidents, all but four inaugural years were negative. Trump could exceed expectations like he did in 2017. But tiny House of Representatives and Senate margins could clog Congress. The third scenario: Stocks rise slightly amid duelling, geographically divided sentiment. We all know European bears stew over tariffs and slow rate cuts. But American bulls tout American Exceptionalism and Trump 2.0. These two groups may offset delivering wiggles and waggles netting too little for anyone. My prescription? Wait for early signs favouring one scenario. They will come. Maybe elephants in plain sight within Senate confirmation hearings for Trumps voluminous lesser appointees (the non-headliners who actually shape policy). Or, as German and French political chaos yield gridlocked coalitions, as Ireland seems set for. The answers should reveal something significant most miss. Assuming I see something significant, Ill report back. Meanwhile, my advice is to own stocks. Why? The riskiest possible move is exiting then having stocks skyrocket. Those missed returns which inherently would compound thereafter otherwise, are impossible to recoup without wild risks that easily backfire. Fundamental rule: If you havent a valid reason to be bearish, meaning knowing something big and bad others dont know, always be bullish. Why? Global stocks have risen in over two thirds of history.So, I will patiently keep seeking good or bad elephants hiding in plain sight and be back to you. Ken Fisher is founder and executive chair of Fisher Investments, a global investment firm managing over 290bn. In Ireland he now writes exclusively for Sunday Independent Non-bank lenders were providing 20bn in credit to households and small businesses at the end of 2023, according to an analysis done by Banking & Payments Federation Ireland (BPFI) of data from the Central Bank. This amounted to about 15pc of all outstanding household and small-business credit. Over half of it was made up of residential mortgages to homeowners, amounting to 8.1bn, and to landlords, worth 2.2bn. Non-bank lenders are different to other financial institutions in that they do not offer deposit accounts to consumers or businesses, and instead get the money they loan from parent companies, often international banks or manufacturers. About one third of the value of new lending to SMEs and one fifth of the value of outstanding credit (4.5bn) came from those non-bank lenders, according to the BPFI. They also continue to extend their mortgage books, with Central Bank data showing that they accounted for 39,965 of the outstanding private dwelling home mortgages by the end of last June, an increase of almost 16pc year on year. Brian Hayes, chief executive of BPFI, contends that non-bank lenders are now a vital segment of the Irish financing eco-system, creating greater choice and competition for consumers and businesses. They are actively increasing their mortgage activity, managing almost 45,000 homeowner mortgages by the end of September, an increase of 25pc year on year, he said. They also provide a wide range of consumer-credit solutions such as credit cards, personal loans and asset finance, and play a substantial role in the car finance sector, especially in the provision of hire purchase and personal contract plans through car dealers. Mr Hayes says non-bank lenders also play a key role in funding SMEs, accounting for about one third of the value of new lending and one fifth of the value of outstanding credit to the end of 2023. Among the credit products they provide to small firms are business leasing, plus loan, mortgage and working capital finance. 8.1bn was lent to homeowners in mortgages According to the BPFI analysis, non-banks and specialist banks accounted for an estimated 72pc of the outstanding value of personal-asset finance, including car finance, at the end of 2023. This was valued at 3.5bn. According to a separate analysis published today by CRIFVision-Net Data, 23,384 new businesses were launched in Ireland last year. This was the second-highest number in over a decade. There was a 5.5pc increase year-on-year in start-ups of limited companies, and a similar rise in sole traders and partnerships. The strongest performing sectors for start-up growth were motor, real estate, transport, storage and communication. The construction sector also saw robust activity in 2024 with 2,392 start-ups representing a 3pc increase compared to 2023, demonstrating Irelands on-going demand for housing and infrastructure projects, the analysis says. Gemini, the cryptocurrency trading hub owned by the US billionaire Winklevoss twins, has chosen Malta as its regulatory hub in a move that could put the companys Dublin headquarters into question Gemini co-founders the Winklevoss twins with the companys former head of Europe, Gillian Lynch and former Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar Gemini, the cryptocurrency exchange founded by the US billionaire Winklevoss twins, has snubbed Ireland in favour of Malta as its new European regulatory hub. The move comes less than a year after Gemini picked Ireland as its EU headquarters, at the time citing its positive view of the Irish regulatory landscape. However, the mood within the crypto industry toward Ireland appears to have cooled in recent months, with delays on key regulatory decisions here. Geminis choice of Malta looks likely to see key roles reassigned from Dublin to the Mediterranean, according to industry insiders. Gemini has electronic money institution (EMI) authorisation here, as well as being registered as a virtual asset service provider (Vasp). The company recently replaced Gillian Lynch as its head of Europe with Mark Jennings. The biggest challenge we had was allocating resources to be able to build the necessary infrastructure to support MiCA, Mr Jennings told the online publication Cointelegraph on the rationale for picking Malta. The biggest point for most of the kinds of global exchanges is how we build a locally compliant custody offering. There is a lot of infrastructure required to do that. Gemini co-founders the Winklevoss twins with the companys former head of Europe, Gillian Lynch and former Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar Today's News in 90 Seconds - January 20th Geminis choice of Malta for its Mica regulatory hub could see Ireland lose out in the competition to win financial crypto regulatory development at a formative stage. The Irish Independent has approached Gemini on the issue. Despite Mica being applicable since the start of 2025, the Irish Central Bank has only begun a process of recruiting consultants to advise it on how to form an approach on regulating crypto companies under the new European framework. This has been negatively received as lack of interest for regulating the crypto industry, according to industry executives who have spoken to the Irish Independent. The Irish Central Banks view of cryptocurrency firms has been critical, with governor Gabriel Makhlouf describing them as Ponzi schemes. Practically all trade in goods will be duty-free, including for farm products such as Mexican chicken and asparagus and European milk powder, cheese and pork, albeit with some quotas. Photo: Getty The European Union and Mexico revived a stalled free trade agreement on Friday, days before the return to the White House of Donald Trump, who has threatened both sides with tariffs. The two parties are seeking to update their trade accord from 2000, which covers only industrial goods, by adding services, government procurement, investment and farm produce, including European milk powder. EU proponents say the bloc urgently needs new partners to reduce its reliance on China, particularly for critical raw materials, and to insulate it from Trump tariffs. Last month, It struck a deal with South America's Mercosur bloc. "The modernised deal offers a renewed platform for coordination on future challenges a especially important given that the EU and Mexico are both in the crossfire of Trump's tariff threats," said Borja Gimenez Larraz, the European lawmaker overseeing the planned free trade agreement. EU and Mexican negotiators reached an initial deal in 2018, and agreed in 2020 to grant reciprocal market access to each other's tenders for public contracts. However, a final agreement was delayed due to Mexico's energy sector reform to give constitutional preference to state power generator CFE, which the Congress approved last year. This removed potential benefits for EU energy companies and so revisions were agreed - reducing EU quotas for Mexican exports of beef, poultry and ethanol and adjusting local content rules to make it easier for the EU to export electric vehicles and batteries to Mexico than the other way around. Practically all trade in goods will be duty-free, including for farm products such as Mexican chicken and asparagus and European milk powder, cheese and pork, albeit with some quotas. The EU currently exports about 2 billion euros ($2.06 billion) of agrifood products by year to Mexico, its second largest trading partner in Latin America. The EU is Mexico's third-largest trading partner overall. The agreement will allow Mexican companies to bid for government contracts in Europe and EU companies for those in Mexico, including at state level. Mexico, which wants to reduce its reliance on the United States, has said the deal would grant it better access for products including orange juice, tuna, asparagus, honey, egg white albumin, as well as "equitable access" for meat products. It is also set to recognise "geographical indications" for certain food and drink, a key EU demand, such as specifying that only cheese from Greece can be called Feta. IFA President Francie Gorman said based on an initial assessment of the document, a lot of the commitments lacked specifics and funding details. Farm organisations have broadly welcomed the draft Programme for Government, but IFA said it lacked specific financial commitments. IFA President Francie Gorman said based on an initial assessment of the document, a lot of the commitments lacked specifics and funding details. A lot of the commitments in the document are consistent with IFA policy, but it does not contain any clarity on the level of funding for farm schemes, he said. I would acknowledge the strong commitments in relation to fighting to retain the Nitrates Derogation for our grass-based system. The commitment to oppose the current Mercosur deal is also important as the changes made in December are of no help to Ireland. I also want to recognise the commitment on live exports. ICMSA President Denis Drennan said sections dealing with agriculture contained much that was both interesting and encouraging and aside from the ambitions set out, there was an admirable change in tone evident that saw farming and food production as the positive force in Irish life that it undoubtedly was, and not some necessary evil that had to be curbed and handled. Measurable progress towards each must be achieved by publicly announced dates, said Drennan. We must know when we are going to get to these objectives and more importantly the civil servants and other policymakers have to be made to realise that these are real targets to be hit and not just wouldnt it be nice-style aspirations. ICSA President Sean McNamara said while these commitments are important, they remain only promises until fully delivered. For cattle and sheep farmers, the commitments to increasing financial supports and reducing administrative burdens are encouraging, but commitments alone are not enough. We fully intend to hold the Government accountable for these promises, he said. We also want to see payments for suckler, beef and sheep farmers front-loaded, so that the biggest financial boost can happen in year one of the Government term. This would help keep these farmers in business rather than forcing them to give up, as has been the case in recent times. He said the upcoming CAP negotiations will be a defining moment and called on the incoming Government to fight hard to secure a budget increase, simplified payment schemes, and additional funding outside CAP for environmental measures. With Ireland assuming the EU presidency in 2026, there is a significant opportunity to shape CAP in a way that genuinely benefits Irish farmers, and this opportunity must be seized. He also said a strong and unified opposition to the Mercosur trade deal is another area where action not just words is required. This draft Programme for Government contains many positive commitments, but words alone are not enough; delivery is what truly matters, said McNamara. We look forward to engaging on these many important issues with the new Minister and Ministers of State within the Department of Agriculture once the Government is formed. The Irish Natura & Hill Farmers Association (INHFA) welcomed key elements, but said the lack of detail relating to many supports, especially for sucklers and sheep, is a feature that must be addressed. INHFA President Vincent Roddy stated that farmers needed specifics around these supports, detailing what the monetary increase will be and when. He also stressed that the implementation will ultimately decide the success of this programme. He said the continuation of the carbon tax is a tax on farming and rural Ireland and has contributed to an increase in the cost of living. However, the Environmental Pillar said it shows a worrying shift away from the necessary momentum and action to address our climate and biodiversity crises and provide for a sustainable society. Environmental Pillar member and head of advocacy with An Taisce, Dr Elaine McGoff, said: In contrast to very clear commitments for more public money for various farm activities, the programme is vague in committing funding to farmers for nature restoration. Without new and additional funding, farmers wont have the support they need to restore nature. A farmer who knocked down and uprooted up to 250 mature and semi-mature trees near the Ballyhoura Mountains Special Area of Conservation in Co. Cork has been given five months to continue remedial works to repair the damage done before he is sentenced in the District Court. Daniel Finn who is his 70s and from Tevenie, Dromina, Charleville Co. Cork appeared before Judge Colm Roberts at Mallow District Court. Defence solicitor Marie Ford said that her client sincerely apologised for his mistake adding that it was never Mr Finns intention to cause harm. She said that Mr Finn was anxious to put right the damage and had already undertaken substantial remedial works. She told the court that Mr Finn had planted one kilometre of whitethorn hedging at a cost of 2,200 as well as 1.8 acres of native broadleaf trees including silver birch, rowan, oak and alder at a cost of 10,087. She added that he has also engaged with a local European Innovation Partnership (EIP) water project. Judge Colm Roberts said: I am happy he realises the error of his ways. I dont believe he was being deliberately destructive, it was more recklessness than hatred for the environment. What Im thinking is, I wouldnt mind some of those remedial works to be further bedded down. The judge said that it was to Mr Finns credit he has: Reflected on the situation and moved on that reflection. The case was adjourned to June 16, 2025 for an update on the progress of remedial works which will inform the penalty. At a previous hearing in October 2024 Mr Finn pleaded guilty to committing offences contrary to the Wildlife Act of 1976. The offences took place between March 1 and August 31 2023 at Stream Hill, Doneraile, Co. Cork. National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) conservation warden, Clare Deasy told the court that she visited the impacted site at Stream Hill in Doneraile, Co Cork on 27 April 2024. Ms Deasy said that around 250 mature and semi mature trees had been knocked and uprooted in an area adjacent to the Ballyhoura Mountains Special Area of Conservation. She told Judge Colm Roberts that a combined total of 3.7 hectares of vegetation, including scrub and trees, had been removed from the site. Significant destruction had also been caused to an aquatic and fisheries habitat in a watercourse known to support salmonids. Ms Deasy said that a significant amount of hedgerow was also removed in addition to the destruction of 350m of river habitat along the banks of the stream. She said that Mr Finn had claimed that he was improving the land for agriculture. She added that it could take a hundred years to replace the trees destroyed by Mr Finn. A Portadown peace line that has been standing for 27 years has been successfully removed by the Department of Justice (DoJ) with local agreement. When justice functions were devolved to the Assembly in 2010, there were 59 recognised interface security structures transferred from the NIO to Stormont, a third of which have been removed, a third reduced and a third remain a work in progress. Under the Together: building a united community (T:buc) Strategy, the DoJ-led Interfaces Programme worked with the local community and Armagh City, Banbridge & Craigavon Borough Council to remove the three-metres-tall metal structure at Water Street, Portadown. Contractors remove the interface at Water Street, Portadown. Picture: Michael Cooper Northern Ireland Justice Minister Naomi Long said: Removing these physical barriers makes a positive contribution to building a truly shared society in Northern Ireland. Significant collaboration has been going on behind the scenes and I commend the local community for supporting this significant step forward. Community and residents groups which have been extensively involved in the process for years have supported the progress. Drumcree Community Trust said it welcomes the removal of the Water Street interface and looks forward to the regeneration of the area. Obins Street and Park Road Community Association, also welcoming the removal, said: We, along with others from within the community, have been working tirelessly for some years and are excited, given the proposed redevelopment of Water Street an area that has been lying derelict for many years. Contractors remove the interface at Water Street, Portadown. Picture: Michael Cooper A spokesperson for Parkmount Orange Lodge added: After consultation with lodge representatives, we welcome the redevelopment of the Water Street area and look forward to all sections of our community receiving further redevelopment and much needed investment. Lord Mayor Sarah Duffy added: The removal of this interface barrier at Water Street is the culmination of extensive work and community consultation, and council would like to pay tribute to all community representatives who gave their time so freely and tirelessly. This is also an important step in the regeneration of this area and we are hopeful for what the future may bring for local residents. A developer is planning to regenerate and redevelop the derelict site. A YOUNG man who booked a one-way ticket to Spain before he was due to testify at a high-profile murder trial and then "legged it" across a dual carriageway when Gardai were accompanying him from Marbella back to Ireland has been jailed for four months. Screengrabs of the scam ads using the Taoiseach's image Screengrabs of the scam ads using the Taoiseach's image Screengrabs of the scam ads using the Taoiseach's image Screengrabs of the scam ads using the Taoiseach's image Screengrabs of the scam ads using the Taoiseach's image The Government will clamp down on identity fraud, Taoiseach Simon Harris has said, after fake adverts with his image flooded X in recent days. Mr Harris has appeared to threaten legal action against Elon Musk after false adverts of news articles circulated on the social media platform last week. The articles, with provocative headlines, claimed to be from the Irish Independent and had photographs of the Taoiseach. One headline in a fake advert claimed Bank of Ireland was suing the Taoiseach for comments he made during a live broadcast. The advert did not specify what these comments were, instead indirectly enticing social media users to click on the link. The bank later clarified to say it was not suing Mr Harris. The adverts have been reported to X by the Taoiseachs office and he said he is considering further action. He said the use of his images is deeply concerning as it can lead to scams and people losing money. Screengrabs of the scam ads using the Taoiseach's image Today's News in 90 Seconds - January 20th I believe as a government we also need to examine how laws can be strengthened following a number of high-profile cases which seek to deceive people, he told the Irish Independent. I will ensure this is something that is assessed in the time ahead. Mr Harris said he was concerned about bad actors enticing people to click into ads which use photographs of well-known figures. The use of my images on a number of online scam ads is deeply concerning given the aim of fraudsters involved is to exploit people which can lead to serious consequences, including financial loss, he said. Social media companies need to take this seriously and protect those using their websites from falling victim to this despicable act. The Taoiseach appeared to threaten legal action on the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, and owned by billionaire Mr Musk. Screengrabs of the scam ads using the Taoiseach's image Mr Musk is a close ally of US president-elect Donald Trump and is the co-lead of a new Trump administration advisory body called the Department of Government Efficiency. My office has reported these scams to the social media company on which they have appeared, and I am considering taking further action on the matter, said Mr Harris. Screengrabs of the scam ads using the Taoiseach's image Social media companies have a duty to protect people who use their service, and this is another example of how they are not playing their part in doing so. Incoming Taoiseach Micheal Martin is taking legal action against Google over fake and defamatory ads that were linked to him. Screengrabs of the scam ads using the Taoiseach's image The High Court previously issued a court order to force the multinational to hand over information about the adverts. Separately, broadcaster Miriam OCallaghan received an unreserved apology from Facebook as part of the settlement of her High Court action over several defamatory and untrue adverts that were posted on the social media platform. Included in the settlement agreement, Meta Platforms Ireland, formerly known as Facebook Ireland, agreed to establish an additional scam ad reporting tool which will allow Irish users to report more details on misleading adverts to a specialist team within Facebook for review. Screengrabs of the scam ads using the Taoiseach's image Speaking after the settlement, Ms OCallaghan said it was a good day following a five-year battle over the misleading ads which, she said, had caused her distress and had damaged her reputation. The Irish Independent has also sought to raise concerns with X about the fake adverts using its branding. Hundreds are flocking to Mount Melleray in Waterford as one of Ireland's most famous abbeys will close on Sunday after almost two centuries. The Cistercian abbey - which was founded by monks fleeing the French Revolution - will close on Sunday as three communities merge and relocate to Roscrea in Tipperary. The decision by the Mount Melleray, Mellifont (Louth) and St Joseph (Tipperary) communities to merge was taken due to falling numbers and the dramatically increasing age profile of the monks involved. On November 3, the monks in all three communities agreed to unite - with Mount Melleray falling victim to the drastic measures to ensure the monks have a future in Ireland. It remains unclear what will happen to Mount Melleray, which boasts several large accommodation blocks, a large church as well as numerous general use structures. There are also a number of farm buildings associated with the abbey's former involvement in agricultural operations. The Cistercian Order - also known as the Trappists - admitted it was a very difficult decision to leave their historic home. After much reflection and soul searching we as an Order have had to make some very difficult decisions with the aim of ensuring a future for Cistercian life in Ireland, the order said. We have been confronted with these difficult decisions as we address the reality of falling numbers and ageing communities; issues which other similar communities are also addressing at this time. With effect from January 26, three of our communities, namely, Mount Melleray, Mellifont and Mount St Joseph, which since November 3, the Feast of St Malachy, have already merged as one new single community, will be based, for an interim period, at Roscrea. This new community has been given the name of The Abbey of Our Lady of Silence'. Mount Melleray in Waterford Today's News in 90 Seconds - January 19th The imminent closure of Mount Melleray has seen huge numbers of people travelling to the abbey for Mass, Confession and prayer. Such are the large numbers that waiting times for the final Confessions at Mt Melleray have extended to several hours. The abbey was beloved of those seeking quiet and solace - but also became hugely important over the decades to other groups ranging from the scouts who staged huge camps at the sprawling facility to Alcoholics Anonymous who held weekly meetings there as well as special retreats. Mt Melleray's closure has come as a second major blow to the religious infrastructure in the south east with Clonmel Friary, which was founded in 1269, closing on December 31 last. The abbey was founded on May 30, 1832, at Scrahan outside Cappoquin in west Waterford. It was established by 64 Irish and English monks who had been expelled from the abbey of Melleray after the French Revolution of 1830. They came to Ireland under the leadership of Fr. Vincent de Paul Ryan who, after a brief stay in Kerry, selected the west Waterford site as their new home. Monks called the new abbey 'Mt Melleray' in honour of the motherhouse they were evicted from in France. They settled on a mountainside site provided by local landlord Sir Richard Keane and their initial abbey was little more than a large cottage and attached shed. On the feast of St. Bernard, 1833, the foundation stone of the new monastery was blessed by the Most Rev. WilliamAbraham, Bishop of Waterford and Lismore. Mount Melleray got its first 'daughter house' when monks from Ireland helped establish St Bernard's Abbey in England two years later. In 1849, monks from Mount Melleray helped found New Melleray in Iowa in the US. In August 1933, under the presidency of Joseph Cardinal McRory, the monastery celebrated its centenary with the foundation stone of the new abbey church being laid. The church was completed and solemnly blessed on November 26, 1935. Many of the expanded buildings at Mount Melleray were constructed with cut limestone blocks from Mitchelstown Castle in north Cork which was burned to the ground during the Civil War and finally demolished in 1930 with its materials sold off. In June 1946, the President Sean T O'Kelly paid a State visit to Mount Melleray. Finally, in 1952, a new church was consecrated at Mount Melleray by the Bishop of Waterford. In 2008, Dom Eamon Fitzgerald, the Abbot of Mount Melleray, became the first Irish Abbot General of the Cistercian Order. A parish priests appeal to the countrys bishops to issue one standardised guideline on funeral eulogies that can be applied consistently in every diocese has been ruled out. Fr Michael Toomey, a parish priest in the diocese of Waterford and Lismore, told the Irish Independent that at the moment, it depends on where a person dies and their parish priest as to whether a eulogy is permitted. Every diocese is different and has a different policy in regard to eulogies or what we call a word of thanks at funerals. Referring to it as a postcode lottery, he said the bishops can see the differences between dioceses on eulogies. What is happening in one parish may not be allowed by the priest in the next parish. That is wrong, he said. While some priests allow a eulogy, Fr Toomey said some refuse. There have been horror stories of eulogies lasting up to 45 minutes. Some can be inappropriate with bad language. You are in the house of God and people forget that. The challenge is trying to get the balance right. If we had a collective guideline that allowed one person to speak for less than five minutes either before the funeral mass or after it, I think that would solve all the problems. It would give clarity. Fr Toomey also criticised the fact that an exception is sometimes made to allow a eulogy for a politician or a pop star but not for ordinary parishioners. It is very important that you treat everyone equally, he said. If you allow it for a dignitary or someone who is famous, you need to do the same for Mary Murphy down the road. When you start treating people differently that is wrong. He said the funeral of Shane MacGowan last year was way too much and got out of hand. Fr Tim Hazelwood The issue of funeral eulogies was raised on RTEs Liveline recently when Donegal woman Dee McGettigan revealed a parish priest refused to allow her family say anything at the joint funeral for their parents who died two days apart during Christmas 2023. When asked about Fr Toomeys proposal, a spokesperson for the countrys bishops referred to the universal instruction applying to priests throughout the world. At funeral masses there should usually be a short homily, but to the exclusion of a funeral eulogy of any kind, it states. Martin Long said the Order of Christian Funerals, published by the Irish Bishops Conference, incorporates this international norm across Irelands 26 dioceses. He said it is the responsibility of each bishop to implement this guidance in his diocese. Fr Michael Toomey in the Franciscan Friary in Clonmel, Co Tipperary Today's News in 90 Seconds - January 20th Cloyne, Raphoe and Meath specifically rule out any eulogy at funerals. Fr Tim Hazelwood of the Association of Catholic Priests serves in Cloyne. He supports Fr Toomeys call as it is the practice on the ground in parishes. The problem is the extremes. The blanket no to a eulogy or when the eulogy is 40 minutes long because someones ego takes over, Fr Hazelwood said. Simon Harris at Talbot Hotel, Stillorgan, Dublin, to discuss ratification of the Programme for Government. Photo: PA Fine Gael members have voted to ratify the draft programme for government that will underpin a coalition with Fianna Fail and a group of independents. Fine Gael has ratified the programme for government by 93.9pc, with only 6.1pc voting No. The margin is slightly ahead of the 93pc achieved by Fianna Fail members at a special Ard Fheis on Sunday. The massive majorities allow for a new Grand Coalition to be formed on Wednesday when the Dail next meets with Micheal Martin elected Taoiseach for the first three years and Simon Harris for two years from late 2027. Returning officer Annette Kent said: I can confirm that the party has approved the Programme for Government. Across electoral colleges, 93.9pc voted Yes and 6.1pc voted No. This means that Fine Gael can now enter Government. Party leader and outgoing Taoiseach Simon Harris said: Fine Gael has been engaging with members across the country over recent days outlining our commitment to deliver on the issues that matter to people. I am really pleased members have voted overwhelmingly in favour of the Programme for Government. We will enter this Government with an absolute determination to deliver support for small businesses, more homes and home-ownership, and a radically different approach to disability services. We will always back farmers and rural Ireland. The Fine Gael team will now deliver that agenda in Government. Earlier today a source from inside the room said the Fine Gael proposal to enter Government again with Fianna Fail would pass overwhelmingly. The votes from a parliamentary party ballot at Leinster House were carried in boxes to Fine Gael headquarters in Mount Street. Another source said an approval for coalition, with Independents as well as Fianna Fail, is a sure thing pointing out that the parliamentary party has a 65pc weighting in the overall, and that 100pc endorsement by TDs, Senators and MEPs can be expected. It wont be much short of that anyway, a source added. Simon Harris at Talbot Hotel, Stillorgan, Dublin, to discuss ratification of the Programme for Government. Photo: PA Today's News in 90 Seconds - January 20th Fianna Fail members yesterday voted overwhelmingly to ratify the draft programme for government for Irelands new ruling coalition. The party faithful resoundingly endorsed by 812 votes to 62 the governance plan that was recommended by Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin. The vote at Sundays ard fheis party conference in Dublin was a prerequisite ahead of a sitting of the Dail parliament on Wednesday when the new coalition comprising Fianna Fail, Fine Gael and several independent TDs will be officially appointed. After weeks of negotiations following Novembers general election, Fianna Fail and Fine Gael put together a workable Dail majority with the backing of the Regional Independents grouping of TDs and two independent TDs from Co Kerry, brothers Michael and Danny Healy-Rae. While Fianna Fail organised the one-off conference to rubber-stamp the programme for government, Fine Gael held five regional meetings, the last two of which will take place in Meath and Cork on Sunday afternoon. The 162-page programme for government, published during the week, includes smaller class sizes, reduced childcare costs and more gardai among its priorities. Mr Martins longer turn in the rotating Taoiseach arrangement is reflective of the fact Fianna Fail emerged from the election with 10 more seats than Fine Gael 48 to 38. The Fianna Fail leader described the 93pc endorsement of the party membership as emphatic. Outgoing Health Minister Stephen Donnelly said he is looking forward to spending more time with his family as he hands over the job to a new TD this week. The 49-year-old father of three boys, who was first elected a TD in 2011, lost his seat in the Wicklow-Wexford constituency in the last general election. He now plans to include more time with my family than was possible over the last few years, he told the Irish Independent. He has not sought a seat in the Seanad, so will not be part of the next Oireachtas. Asked he had finished with politics, the former management consultant with McKinsey, said it is too early to say. He helped co-found the Social Democrats in July 2015 and topped the poll in 2016 before leaving the party, joining Fianna Fail in February 2017. Wicklow became a four-seater after the creation of the Wicklow-Wexford constituency, losing a seat. Outgoing Health Minister Stephen Donnelly. Photo: Frank McGrath Today's News in 90 Seconds - January 20th Mr Donnelly said he believes the redrawing of the constituency created difficulties for him. He said he has spent the last few weeks overseeing the winter virus and trolley surge, as well as plans to roll out free HRT which he said will happen in around two weeks. The last few years in particular have been very intense. I have three sons. I was taking my photos off the Department of Health laptop and looking back five years and my oldest is now 15. He was a child when I went in and he is now six foot two and looks down at me, he told The Pat Kenny Show on Newstalk radio. I have a lot of catching up to do. I am immensely proud and honoured to serve in government and be Minister for Health, but it meant I was not the dad I was meant to be, or the husband, son, brother or friend. Reflecting on the election, he said too many things went in the wrong direction including the constituency re-draw. Had that not happened, I think I would have taken a seat. Simon Harris becoming Taoiseach we share the same town. Health is a difficult ministry. What gets covered and what we discuss nearly all the time are things that are not working, for good reason, and we dont talk about the important progress that gets made. He said there are huge challenges for patients and staff, but over the last five years there has been a lot of progress. But he said too many people are still on waiting lists and on trolleys. There is still a long way to go and we need to be very humble, he added. Commenting on being in charge of the Department of Health, he said there is nothing close to the complexity of healthcare. Mr Donnelly said when he took over as Health Minister, the HSE did not have a culture of productivity and the information technology needed to measure it. The new public-only contract for hospital consultants and the move from five to seven days a week for regular care in hospitals have made a difference, he said. He also said he believes the first children could be treated in the new National Childrens Hospital by the end of this year. Aontu leader Peadar Toibin has defended his decision to join the technical group of Independents Opposition parties are expected to put forward a joint submission to oppose some of the Regional Independents Group sitting in opposition. The row centres on whether a group of Independents who support the Government but are not given government roles can get speaking time in the Dail during opposition slots. The Regional Group of Independents are to get four junior ministerial roles, while Michael Healy-Rae is also in line to become a minister of state. Opposition parties have criticised a move by the remaining four Independents to form a technical group that would give them speaking time in the Dail. Five opposition groups are to make a joint submission to oppose the proposal, saying they are united together in challenging any interpretation of standing orders that would facilitate this. The Regional Independent Group: Kevin 'Boxer' Moran, Noel Grealish, Gillian Toole, Michael Lowry, Marian Harkin, Barry Heneghan and Sean Canney. Photo: PA Today's News in 90 Seconds - January 20th The Labour Party has prepared a draft submission to the Ceann Comhairle that contradicts the claim that the Independents can form a technical group which would "eat into Dail time that is allocated to the opposition". In a statement, a spokesman for Sinn Fein called on the Ceann Comhairle to publish the legal advice received last week. "In order for the Ceann Comhairle to be satisfied that the three Regional Independent TDs should be permitted to form a technical group, she would need to be satisfied that they are "members in opposition"," the statement added. "It is difficult to see how such a conclusion could be reached on any rational basis given that the group participated in government formation talks with Fianna Fail and Fine Gael, reached an agreement with those parties on the text of the Programme for Government, members of that group are to become junior ministers in that Government including some who will sit at Cabinet and the lead negotiator on behalf of the Regional Independent Group who now wishes to be recognised as a "member in opposition" has made a public statement to the effect that the group would 'support the next government on the good days and the bad days'." Labour TD Duncan Smith said opposition parties working together to oppose the proposal will have a bigger impact. The whips are working actively on a joint submission, Labour TD Duncan Smith said. We are altogether on this. All our legal advice is more or less saying the same thing as well, which is encouraging, he added. Sinn Fein has also criticised Aontu leader Peadar Toibin for agreeing that his party's two TDs join the technical group of Independents, as it needs a minimum of five TDs to be recognised. "The disgraceful proposition of the group of so-called independents, who authored and negotiated this programme for government, then sitting on the opposition benches is a charade that could not happen were it not for the support of Aontu leader Peadar Toibin," said Sinn Fein TD for Meath West, Johnny Guirke. Social Democrats deputy leader Cian O'Callaghan said: "It is outrageous that regional, Independent TDs, who negotiated a programme for government and intend to wholeheartedly support the incoming administration, are attempting to hijack opposition speaking time in the Dail. "This farce could come to an immediate end if Aontu, whose two TDs are in the regional independent group, left that grouping. "This would bring the number of TDs in that group below the threshold of five TDs, which secures Dail speaking rights." In a statement, Mr Toibin defended the move. "Currently, if you are not in a Technical Group, you have little or no speaking rights," he said. "You have to beg, borrow, and steal one minute here and two minutes there to speak. You have no Leaders' Questions. You have to enter a lottery to question a minister. You have no committee membership in order to hold ministers to account. "Sinn Fein should remember this well, as they were in a similar situation when Caoimhghin O Caolain was their Dail leader. Unfortunately, they seem to have lost their Standing Order reform zeal since those days. "Aontu has always called for the Standing Orders of the Dail to be reformed to allow for each TD to be able to speak in the Dail on an equal basis. This should be the democratic basis of any parliament, and it would prevent the current difficulties." Annual licences will be required for the sale of tobacco and nicotine-inhaling products. Stock image: PA Retailers selling tobacco and vapes will face fees of up to 1,000 a year under a new licensing regime coming into force from next year. Health Minister Stephen Donnelly said he hopes the new annual fee will act as a disincentive for some retailers to stock these products at all and that the Government aims to eliminate tobacco use. Mr Donnelly and junior health minister Colm Burke announced a new licensing system for the retail sale of tobacco and nicotine-inhaling products, such as e-cigarettes and vapes. These changes will come as part of the remaining sections of the Public Health Act 2023 as the new licensing system will be enforced from February 2, 2026. People wishing to sell tobacco products from one or more premises currently need to register and pay a once-off fee of 50 while there are no requirements for those wishing to sell nicotine-inhaling products. Under the new licensing system, annual licences will be required for the sale of tobacco and nicotine-inhaling products for each premise, with applications made to the HSE National Environmental Health Service which has been given the power to issue licences. New regulations set the annual licence fee at 1,000 for the sale of tobacco products and 800 for the sale of nicotine-inhaling products. Annual licences will be required for the sale of tobacco and nicotine-inhaling products. Stock image: PA Today's News in 90 Seconds - January 20th Licences can be revoked or suspended and will not be issued for temporary or mobile premises, such as pop-up shops at festivals. There will also be a requirement for retail workers selling these products to be over 18 years old, with some exceptions for family members. Under the new law, the National Environmental Health Service has been given the power to publish the names of businesses that have been convicted of tobacco-control offences. Mr Donnelly said: It is my intention that a licensing regime for nicotine-inhaling products will similarly reduce the number of outlets where they are sold, in turn reducing the use of vapes by young people and non-smokers. Im confident that the significant further 13-month lead-in time will ensure retailers have sufficient notice to prepare for this. It will be another important achievement within our overall strategy to reach a tobacco-free Ireland. Mr Burke said that tobacco products cause an estimated 4,500 deaths in Ireland each year. Last year, the Government passed laws banning the sale of tobacco products and vapes to under-18s. Schools have issued a stark warning to parents about highly addictive nicotine pouches being used by students. The tiny pouches, which users tuck inside their lip in order to get a nicotine hit, fall outside of existing laws on tobacco or vapes. Principals have said that the strength of some of the unregulated nicopods is such that they suspect students may be getting irritable in class as a result, and it is impossible to know how many are using them. A south Dublin secondary school was the latest to alert parents that discarded pouches were being found by staff. Principals are calling on the HSE to issue a health advisory notice around the use of these pouches. While the pouches do not contain tobacco, they are modelled on an old Scandinavian tobacco product called snus, which was placed behind the top lip and left in place. Various websites sell the products online, with tins containing a number of pouches costing around 5, and deals available on buying multiple tins. There are 15 to 20 pouches in a tin, but some have up to 25. They are sold in different flavours and different strengths. One reviewer wrote: Nice minty flavour and good buzz. In its notice to parents, the Dublin school said a number of used nicotine/tobacco pouches have been found while the school was being cleaned. These small pouches are generally placed behind the upper lip, resting on the upper gum for a period of time until the effect wears out, it said. They are odourless and very small and as such are near impossible to detect. These tobacco/nicotine products are banned in school in line with our substance abuse policy. The note added that although there are relatively low numbers of teenagers who smoke cigarettes, addiction to nicotine is an ongoing issue due to the availability of vapes and pouches, and urged parents to contact their GP for advice if their child has an addiction to the products. It also supplied contact numbers for HSE and drug and alcohol helplines. Paul Crone, director of the National Association of Principals and Deputy Principals, said an increasing number of schools have been sending notices to parents about the pouches. The snus-style products tend to be pure nicotine in the pouch, and because of its small size, we havent a clue how many are using them, he said. It could also potentially explain why some of the students might be irritable due to nicotine, or the lack of nicotine if there is an addiction issue. Id say at this stage a lot of schools have sent letters out. We have called on the HSE to issue a health advisory notice around these pouches. This would allow schools the opportunity to begin the conversation with parents and students. He said this would mean schools could contact parents to alert and advise them without parents worrying that there might be an epidemic in a particular school. We had a webinar with well over 100 school leaders recently where we had access to all the HSE resources around nicotine for communicating with teenagers, we agreed that schools could link up with their local HSE if they needed continual individual support, and we spoke about the development of a policy for schools to help them address this issue, Mr Crone said. They are not tobacco products, so they dont fall under that legislation, and if kids are buying these pouches off the internet, there is no regulation, so you dont know what youre getting, he added. A spokesperson for the HSE said synthetic nicotine pouches are legal to sell in Ireland and are not covered under any existing tobacco control legislation. Legal restrictions, such as age, apply to the sale of tobacco and nicotine-inhaling products like e-cigarettes, but do not yet apply to these new oral nicotine products, they said. A Department of Education spokesperson said it works with the Department of Health and other agencies to support students in the area of health, the aim being to equip students with the skills and knowledge to enable them to make the right choices for healthy lifestyles throughout their lives. The importance of making healthy choices is included in curricular developments, in particular the new Junior Cycle SPHE specification published in May 2023, and has been introduced for first-years in all schools from September 2023, the spokesperson said. The learning outcomes also include considering the societal and other influences affecting young people when it comes to making healthy choices, the consequences of using addictive substances whether now or in the long-term, and skills and strategies to help them make informed choices to support their health and well-being. Blue Monday falls on the third Monday in January. Photo: Getty The festivities of Christmas and New Year's Eve have officially come to an end, and Blue Monday has arrived. Returning to work following the break over December can understandably prove to be a challenge and prompt a bout of the January blues with cold rainy weather and the feeling of a winter funk. This culminates with the most depressing day of the year, known as Blue Monday, which falls today, January 20th, 2025. But what is Blue Monday and how can you beat the blues? What is Blue Monday? The term Blue Monday originates from UK travel company Sky Travel, which first came up with the concept in a press release in 2005. The travel company named Blue Monday the most depressing day of the year as it is often when most are struggling financially, the weather is far from optimal and failed new year resolutions are commonplace, culminating in a low mood for many. When is Blue Monday in 2024? Blue Monday usually takes place on the third Monday in January. It can also fall on the second or fourth Monday. This years Blue Monday is today, January 20. Is Blue Monday backed up by science? Blue Monday is more shrouded with controversy than actual science. The 2005 press release by Sky Travel claimed Blue Monday was calculated by taking into account various factors, which included debt levels, temperatures, days until the next bank holiday, the number of days since pay day and average hours of daylight. The formula, which calculated the most depressing day, was an equation that allows us to work out the day with the highest depression factor which you can then use as a focus for making things better, booking your holiday etc... Dr Dean Burnett, a tutor at Cardiff Universitys division of psychological medicine and clinical neurosciences, rubbishes this claim, calling Blue Monday nonsense. He added: The equation wasnt the result of some psychological study by a reputable lab, it combines things that have no quantifiable way of being combined. How to beat Blue Monday Go for a walk. If you arent ready to go outside, bring the outside in by adding plants or plastering nature scenes in pictures across your home. A study from 2013 suggested this does wonders for your psychological health. You dont need to hit the gym to benefit from cardio. Play your favourite songs and dance like nobodys watching. Cardio is great for mental health and happiness. Spend time with a loved one and check in on each others mental health. Alternatively, if you dont feel like you have someone to talk to, Samaritans is available on 116 123. Start to think of failure as a lesson. Many people become so gripped by their fear of failing that it keeps them from taking chances and growing. Adjust your perspective so that you see failure as learning. This article was first published in 2024 'Hurried child syndrome': Is it any wonder parents are shattered by the end of the day when there is a new trend to digest daily? A father-of-two found with cuts on his knuckles and shouting aggressively on a Dublin street at night had been drinking whiskey which he did not usually do, a court heard. Giorgi Sarkisiani (34) was stressed and missing his family in his native Georgia when the disturbance happened. Judge David McHugh said he would strike the case out, leaving him without convictions if he made a 200 charity donation. Mr Sarkisiani, with an address at Ranelagh Road, pleaded guilty to public intoxication and threatening, abusive or insulting behaviour. Blanchardstown District Court heard gardai were on patrol on Main Street, Clondalkin at 10.30pm on October 13 last year when they heard aggressive shouting coming from the village area. They located the accused, who was in a highly intoxicated state, was shouting in a threatening manner and had cuts on his knuckles, Garda Sergeant Maria Callaghan said. He was arrested for his own safety and brought to Clondalkin garda station. Mr Sarkisiani, who had no previous convictions, had been in Ireland for three years. He worked in construction but was currently unemployed, his solicitor Daniel Cahalane said. A man threw a brick at his ex-partners car window, smashing it in an incident after their relationship finished poorly, a court heard. Separately, Aidan John Devereux (52) shouted abuse at gardai when they stopped him driving near his home. Devereux, of Greenfort Crescent, Clondalkin, pleaded guilty to criminal damage and threatening, abusive and insulting behaviour. Blanchardstown District Court heard in the damage incident, Devereux was outside his ex-partners home in Lucan on November 24, 2023. He was shouting up at a window when he picked up a brick and threw it at the womans parked car, smashing the back passenger window. In the public-order incident, gardai stopped him driving at Greenfort Crescent, Clondalkin last October 30 and asked for his licence. Devereux became aggressive and exited the car, swearing at gardai, saying: F**k off, have you nothing better to do? Dont f**king talk to me. He was arrested and brought to Ronanstown garda station where he continued to act aggressively. Garda Sergeant Maria Callaghan told the judge the accuseds ex had not wished to make a victim impact statement. Devereux was trying to get hold of a document at the time he caused the damage, defence solicitor Mervyn Harnett said. They no longer had contact and Devereux wanted to draw a line under it. Judge David McHugh adjourned the case to April for a community service suitability report. Yevgeny Bestuzhev is a Russian dissident, which also makes him an idealist, an optimist and a dreamer. But the most remarkable thing about him is that he is free. All eyes will be on Donald Trump today as he becomes the 47th US president. Photo: AP The boys are back in town or this time around its the tech bros who are coming to town. Donald Trump will be inaugurated as the 47th president of the United States today, taking up his second term of office. Due to the weather conditions in Washington DC, the inauguration will take place indoors. Mother Nature will prevent the returning president from claiming his inauguration drew the largest crowd since Woodstock. Nonetheless, Trump will find space in the Rotunda of Capitol Hill for the big tech CEOs now aiming to seek his favour, including Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, Tim Cook and Sundar Pichai. In his final address to the nation, outgoing president Joe Biden warned of the growing power of Americas ultra-wealthy, and cautioned that an emerging oligarchy threatened the foundations of US democracy. Trump holds no such qualms about his new friends in the broligarchy. Trump, once again, is vowing to shake up the US government and world affairs in pursuit of American interests. His inaugural address at the start of his first term eight years ago was not a portrayal of optimism. He made an unapologetically populist and nationalistic speech, headlining with the phrase America First as he signalled how he would govern in his first term. America and world will be watching to see what his take is this time and whether his term in office will be as seemingly chaotic as his first four years. The imminent arrival of Trump in the White House is already shaping world affairs. The welcome ceasefire coming into effect in Gaza yesterday was unquestionably influenced by the new US president and neither side wanting to take their chances with his irrational whims. Next up, this continent will be observing his attitude towards the war in Ukraine and the future of Nato as Russias aggression starts a new Cold War with or without American involvement. A Trump supporter poses ahead of a rally for his inauguration today. Photo: Reuters Trump takes the stage at Washington victory rally Trumps approach to trade will have significant consequence for Ireland, a base for many of those US tech companies, along with other American multinationals in the pharmaceutical, services and manufacturing sectors. The presidents threat to clamp down on these firms is easier said than done. But if he does build a proverbial wall between US companies and their international offices then it will affect current and future foreign direct investment into this country. An area where the Trump doctrine of Make America Great Again, championed by the so-called MAGA movement, comes into conflict with the tech sector is on immigration. Tech firms want access to the best talent in the world, regardless of their nationality, and want to be free to bring workers to the United States. But the Trump administration is expected to bring in stringent immigration policies, including tighter visa requirements, longer processing times and increased denial rates. These restrictions will also apply to highly skilled workers, which may make foreign bases in Ireland even more important for big tech. The Trump effect is far from black and white. A fundraising appeal aimed at covering the funeral costs of a caring and beautiful mother of five who was killed in her own home in Cavan just over a week ago has more than doubled its intended 20,000 target within days of its initiation. Fifty-five-year-old Annie Heyneman died from injuries sustained in her home at Kilnavert, close to Ballyconnell, Co Cavan on January 11. Her Dutch born husband Henk is continuing to recover from wounds sustained in the same incident after he was rushed by ambulance to Cavan General Hospital. Follow Independent Cavan on Facebook The couples son, Danny Heyneman (31), of Kilnavart, Ballyconnell, Cavan, has since been charged with Ms Heynemans murder and the attempted murder of Henk Heyneman contrary to common law. In the days since, locals have attempted to rally around the Heyneman family by establishing an online fundraising drive in a bid to provide financial assistance and to honour the legacy of one of the localitys most affable of characters. Friends of the late Ms Heyneman said the decision, which was given the seal of approval by the Heyneman family, was motivated to recognise Ms Heynemans kind, caring and beautiful nature while also allaying any financial hangovers associated with her husbands rehabilitation at home. Annie was a kind, caring and beautiful soul who dedicated her life to her family and community in which her passing has left a gaping hole, read a post on the Heyneman Family GoFundMe page. As well as helping towards funeral costs, it will also help to support Henk once he returns home with any additional care he may need. An intended target of 20,000 was swiftly eclipsed within 72 hours as over 700 donations saw the fundraiser reach just shy of 50,000 by Monday morning. The appeal also told of how the events of the past nine days had left the Heyneman family heartbroken with friends and neighbours now firmly intent on navigating them through this difficult time. I know we as a community want to come together to show this wonderful family our support (and) to show we are behind them and grieving alongside them, the page read. A spokesperson on behalf of the appeal also passed on their appreciation to all those who had prayed and offered heartfelt messages of support over the past week and a half. Thank you so much to everyone for your support, said the spokesperson. I know the family are eternally grateful for the love and support at this time. I have clearly underestimated us as a community and have raised the target to reflect this. To donate to the The Heyneman Family fundraiser, click here. Cllr Garret Kelleher is running for election to the Seanads Industrial and Commercial Panel. Image: Garret Kelleher Facebook A Ballincollig-based representative is running for election to Seanad Eireann this month. Cork City South West councillor Garret Kelleher is in the running for one of the nine seats on the Seanads Industrial and Commercial Panel. The Fine Gael politician was put forward as a nominee by the Construction Industry Federation and the Seanad Elections selection process verified his candidacy courtesy of his experience of industry and commerce. Cllr Kelleher, who lives with his family in a residential area of Ballincollig, holds a Bachelor of Commerce from UCC and a Masters Degree in Government and has been a Cork City representative since 2019. He unsuccessfully ran as a candidate for Cork North-Central in last Novembers General Election. He previously worked in the European Commission in Brussels and Luxembourg in the Directorate General for Health & Consumer Protection and served on the European Health Security Committee and the European Stockpiling Committee. He is also chairperson of the Beal na mBlath General Michael Collins Committee and a member of Ballincollig Tidy Towns. View of the approved development with 2m high native hedgerow in winter. Planning permission has been granted for a large solar farm to be developed on farmland near Mitchelstown. The solar photovoltaic energy regeneration scheme will have a total area of 3.76ha within the townlands of Ballybeg and Turbeagh, just south of Mitchelstown. The solar farm was proposed by Ballybeg Solar Ltd and county planners have allowed a period of 10 years for its development. The permission shall be for a period of 40 years from the date of the commissioning of the solar array. The development will consist of the installation of 4,182 ground mounted solar photovoltaic arrays, a 20kV substation, the installation of 120m of 20kV underground electrical cabling from the substation to an existing pole and overhead line to connect to the national grid. An existing site entrance from a local road will be upgraded to serve as a permanent entrance while associated developments, like the upgrading of 80m of existing tracks and installing 435m of new 3m-wide access track. County planners received the application from Ballybeg Ltd on June 28. Following submissions and revisions regarding the proposed solar farm, planning was approved for the development on January 14. The final senior executive planners report noted that any further expansion of the development was considered favourably on the basis of the scale and the fact it is serving a family farm. The planning permission comes with 50 conditions attached, including several aimed at protecting the local environment. One condition states that the developments site layout shall be amended to provided for a minimum of a 15m solar panel-free buffer zone in the interests of residential and visual amenity. Latest breakdown for passengers at Clongriffin Dart Station 'Temporary' access to Clongriffin Dart Station has been in place for 14 years The lift at Clongriffin Dart station has been 'severely vandalised' and is out of action yet again The lift at a Dublin Dart station is out of action yet again, after it was severely vandalised over the weekend. The breakdown of the lift at Clongriffin Dart Station is the latest in a long-running saga which has seen the lift out of service on multiple occasions. A temporary stairwell access point managed on behalf of the owners by Richmond Homes has been in place for more than 14 years, and residents have experienced multiple issues on the Baldoyle side. Samantha OFlanagan, from the Myrtle the Coast Residents Association, has been campaigning for the past two years to address both the long and short-term access issues. She shared a picture of the lift, saying: This leaves public transport inaccessible for people with mobility challenges, parents with buggies, etc. 2025 and were still fighting this fight. The lift at Clongriffin Dart station has been 'severely vandalised' and is out of action yet again She said that week after week, she has been continuing to send emails, contact landowners, and engage with public representatives, but the situation continues to deteriorate. The escalating levels of anti-social behaviour in the area are deeply concerning, and the recent vandalism is yet another stark example of the problem, she said. This is not an isolated incident, its part of a broader pattern that needs urgent action. While we welcome the NTAs plans to install CCTV in the coming months, it is clear that cameras alone are not enough to solve this issue. The stairwell itself is a significant part of the problem. Its enclosed, secluded design creates an environment that facilitates anti-social behaviour. As a community, we need the long-term plans for the stairwell prioritised buildings similar to those on the Clongriffin side. Until then, we need comprehensive security measures. The area between Baldoyle and Clongriffin requires a stronger garda presence. At the moment, theres a distinct lack of visible policing, primarily due to limited garda resources. 'Temporary' access to Clongriffin Dart Station has been in place for 14 years It also seems like a very disjointed approach to policing in the area. Baldoyle falls under the jurisdiction of Howth Garda Station, while Clongriffin is managed by Coolock Garda Station. The anti-social behaviour affecting both communities appears to be interconnected, yet the lack of collaboration between the stations means these issues are not being addressed effectively. We need a formal partnership between Howth and Coolock Garda Stations to ensure a coordinated response to anti-social behaviour across both communities. Residents deserve to feel safe in their community. The current situation is unacceptable, and action must be taken, she added. The Irish Independent previously reported on two attacks at Clongriffin Dart station on the same evening last year. Fingal County Council met with the National Transport Authority (NTA) in February 2024 and was told that a number of remediations would be carried out. A spokesperson for the National Transport Authority a tender competition for the Provision of Clongriffin Lift Replacement and Maintenance was advertised last November. This tender covers the replacement of the existing lift and lift core at Clongriffin Station, as well as monitoring and maintenance for five years. The evaluation of tenders is on-going at present. It is anticipated that tenders will be awarded by the end of February 2025, the spokesperson said. Under the scope of services the successful tenderer has been requested to achieve the Completion of the works within 20 weeks of contract award. This period allows for the lead in time associated with the production of a suitable lift car unit. The timeline cannot be agreed until the appointment of the successful tenderer. NTA is continuing to liaise with other stakeholders in the area to secure the necessary approvals and licences to undertake the works. Richmond Homes has been contacted for comment. The vision for Dublin's old graving docks, inspired by a similar development in Berlin The old graving docks are located near the Grand Canal Basin where the Liffey and Dodder rivers meet A number of residents in Dublins Docklands are urging Waterways Ireland to implement plans that would transform the capitals historic graving docks into a community and wellbeing oasis. The Grand Canal Dock Residents Association has crafted a proposal for an exciting temporary use development featuring a floating lido, saunas, food trucks and a pocket forest to revitalise the old graving docks. The team behind the project includes several experts, led by Dave Smith, owner of The Space Between yoga studio on Fenian Street and Micromedia, who has been a resident of the area for 20 years. Michael Ingle, the head of the Residents Association, said the key objective of the project is public enjoyment. For too long, this space has been a wasteland. We envision a beautiful place where people can gather, play and recharge, he said. With the Dodder Greenway terminating here, its the perfect moment to create something exceptional that will benefit the entire city. The vision for Dublin's old graving docks, inspired by a similar development in Berlin Other key people behind the project include acclaimed designers, a community engagement specialist, and a former Dublin City Council Planning Chief. The project team said it has received unanimous support from Docklands residents. They envision saunas, all-weather seating to enjoy the views, a pocket forest, a floating lido, a living canvas art installation, food trucks, and an events space. They added that former Lord Mayor of Dublin and newly elected Fine Gael TD, James Geoghegan, has expressed his support for the project. Green Party Councillor Claire Byrne, Fianna Fail TD Jim OCallaghan, and Labour leader Ivana Bacik, were all impressed by the proposal and have also expressed their encouragement and support. The location is magical, Dave Smith, the project lead, said. Sitting between neighbourhoods old and new, it offers a unique opportunity to bridge this diversity, delivering a vital shared amenity one that is accessible both inter-generationally and cross-community, realistically achievable, and, most importantly, immediately actionable. With Waterways Irelands partnership and our exciting team, this project represents a rare chance to create something truly exceptional, he added. The team says their proposal, called the Graving Docks Initiative, will address the longstanding challenge in the neighbourhood of a lack of green, open, and civic spaces. A spokesperson for Waterways Ireland said: Waterways Ireland owns the freehold interest docks for City Block 19 in the North Lotts and Grand Canal Dock SDZ Planning Scheme. The site was fully transferred to Waterways Ireland in July 2024. The graving docks on the site are of significant architectural, historical, archaeological, cultural and technical interest and are listed on Dublin City Councils Record of Protected Structures with statutory protection. Any redevelopment of City Block 19 would have to retain the docks in situ. The site has a development designation of 30pc Community Recreational Cultural, 30pc Commercial, and 40pc Residential. Waterways Irelands goal is the sustainable development of iconic / transformative projects, aiming to create an urban space that is a giant urban playground and showcase heritage assets, like the Sea Lock Gates dating from 1796. The organisation has partnered with Failte Ireland on a Strategic Asset Development Strategy that will be delivered in late 2025 to enhance the canal and docklands areas. Waterways Ireland also requires the site for significant infrastructural repair works to the Sea Lock Gates at Camden Lock, which will allow sea-going craft, including tall ships to once again enter Grand Canal Dock. The Sea Lock Gates, which are also protected, will be restored to preserve the heritage asset. Waterways Ireland is committed to engaging with local communities and stakeholders. We met with representatives of the Grand Canal Dock Residents Association in December and agreed to consider their proposal. Following the completion of the strategy in late 2025, the organisation plans an extensive public consultation process, ensuring that all concerns and suggestions are considered, they added. A mural, by artist Emmalene Blake, was removed from Shaku Maku restaurant in Rathmines last year Dublin City Council has ordered Dublin pub Peadar Browns to remove its mural A Dublin pub has said it is disappointed that Dublin City Council has ordered the removal of a mural dedicated to the Palestinian People, with the words Saoirse Don Phalaistin (Peace for Palestine). Peadar Browns pub, on Clanbrassil Street, said: Disappointed that Dublin City Council has ordered the removal of our Palestinian mural this morning. However, nothing said about our Katie Taylor mural on the back wall of the building, strange. The pub then asked people to sign a petition in favour of keeping the mural, which it said was erected to represent the voice and sentiments of the cosmopolitan city, Dublin. The petition already has almost 2,000 signatures. Peadar Browns said it believes the order from the council to remove the mural contradicts the values and ethos of the citizens they represent. Embracing calls for peace should be paramount, not alienating those who promote it, it said. Its disheartening to recall that a Gallup Poll reported in The Journal showed majority of Irish people support Palestines right to statehood. Therefore, this disdainful act calls into question the representativeness of our city council. This is why we demand Dublin City Council to not only reverse their order, but also to issue a written apology to the owner of Peadar Browns Public House. We stand united, advocating for peace in Palestine and upholding the respect for artistic freedom in our city. Its time to rectify this. Please sign this petition and stand up for free speech and the right to peace. Owner of Peadar Browns, Aidan Brown, told the Irish Independent he has received nine registered letters from the council ordering the removal of the mural he would like to keep in place. Dublin City Council should be supporting small businesses and not persecuting us over a mural, he said. He also said he has received a lot of support from TDs, including People Before Profits Paul Murphy. Sinn Fein TD Mark Ward supported the cause after posting a picture of himself outside the pub yesterday. He tagged Dublin City Council in his post and urged people to sign the petition, adding that the order to remove the artwork was disgraceful. A spokesperson for Dublin City Council said: This matter is the subject of a live planning enforcement investigation. No further comment can therefore be made at this time. This is the second time the council has ordered the removal of a pro-Palestinian mural after forcing Palestinian-owned restaurant, Shaku Maku, to remove their mural dedicated to children in Gaza in October last year. A mural, by artist Emmalene Blake, was removed from Shaku Maku restaurant in Rathmines last year The mural, painted by street artist Emmalene Blake, depicted the suffering of Palestinians, particularly children, and was created in November 2023. At the time, Dublin City Council said its Planning Enforcement Section does not make comments on specific live enforcement cases. However, in general terms, murals on the facade or gable walls of a building requires a prior grant of planning permission regardless of their content, it added. Shaku Maku restaurant owner, Adnan Shabab, said the artwork highlighted the devastating toll of the conflict, but complied with the council's request. It was also announced yesterday by Foreign Affairs Minister Micheal Martin that the Occupied Territories Bill would be abandoned in its current form and replaced by new legislation. The soon-to-be elected Taoiseach said a new bill banning the import of goods from areas of Palestine illegally occupied by Israeli settlers is needed because the legislation drafted by Independent Senator Frances Black is unconstitutional. Pay and display machines across carparks in Galway city are now accepting coins. The announcement was made by Galway City Council this morning, January 20, after nearly two weeks in which the service was interrupted. On January 8, the local authority announced that the 90 pay and display machines across the city would be out of order until further notice due to a judicial review. The issue resulted in several complaints from many motorists and the issue was also brought to Januarys Galway City Council meeting, where one councillor described the situation as a complete shambles. Todays announcement comes just one day after the grace period issued by the local authority last week. In order for the public to get familiar with the alternative payment options, parking fines for non-payment of parking on-street and in Galway City Council carparks were not enforced until Sunday January 19. From today, payment options for parking now include: pay and display machines (coins only); Galway City Parking app, online on GalwayCityParking.ie, or by phone calling 0818 300 161 (by card); in retail outlets in Galway City (with cash or card). Galway City Council thanked all motorists for their patience while this issue was being resolved. Minister for Education and Kerry T.D Norma Foley has confirmed additional facilities for Nano Nagle special school in Listowel. The news comes after she recently announced that St Francis Special School in Beaufort will get five new classrooms, a sensory room, a music room, a cookery room and a withdrawal room. Nano Nagle Special School in Listowel will get funding from the Department of Education for the refurbishment of its existing home economics room into a special education room. The new special class being facilitated via the refurbishment works will accommodate six new students in time for the next school year in September. Nano Nagle Special School has already been given the go ahead for a four-classroom extension, which will further expand its capacity. Work on this project will begin this year. Minister Foley said: This exciting new development will support the excellent work that happens every single day in Nano Nagle Special School. We have also had the recent positive announcement about a major new development in St Francis Special School in Beaufort. It is part of a programme of increased investment in special education that has included the approval of 16 new special schools and the doubling of special classes to more than 3,300 across the country. I look forward to seeing the works in Nano Nagle Special School progressing in a timely fashion. Minister Foley, who was a member of the negotiating team that put together the draft Programme for Government, welcomed its commitment to provide therapists to work in schools with children. This will allow children, beginning with those attending special schools, to access essential therapies they need, such as speech and language therapy and occupational therapy. We are committed to further expanding this service to children in special classes and in mainstream schools. There is a recognition in the Programme for Government of the need to recruit more therapists to provide these services in schools. There is a commitment to double the number of college places for speech and language therapists, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, educational psychologists and any other specialists required. The provision of a therapy service in schools is an addition to HSE Primary Care and Childrens Disability Network Teams, which will continue to offer children one-to-one appointments with therapists. Gerard (Ger) Doran from Kilkenny has been remembered as a truly wonderful and kind person A group of work friends have set up a Go Fund Me page for the family of a Kilkenny man and beloved colleague whose warmth, dedication, drive, intelligence, passion and friendship will be missed by everyone who knew him. The late Gerard (Ger) Doran. Photo: RIP.ie Gerard (Ger) Doran from Loughboy in Kilkenny sadly passed away peacefully in St. Lukes Hospital in Kilkenny on Sunday, January 5, aged just 31. His work colleagues from CyberMaxx have launched a fundraiser in memory of Gerard and to help support his family following his death. "With sorrow and deep sadness CyberMaxx mourns the loss of a beloved colleague, Gerard (Ger) Doran of Kilkenny, Ireland at the young age of 31. Ger was a cherished member of our Ireland Security Operations Team (SOC) team since March 2018 and contributed immensely to the business during his tenure, wrote work colleague and friend, Brian Ahern, on the GoFundMe page. "Ger absolutely adored those he worked with at CyberMaxx, said Brian. Ger always expressed how it was his honour and privilege to have the opportunity to work at the company, and to be surrounded by so many brilliant minds. "Despite the health challenges Ger faced, he was driven every day to want to be with his team; and as he would say to me and not let them down. Gers warmth, dedication, drive, intelligence, passion and his friendship will be greatly missed by all those who had the pleasure to work, and more importantly, to know him. Gerards work colleagues now want to help look after his family during this difficult time following his death. "Ger leaves behind his wife Chloe, who he married in September 2021, and who stood by his side lovingly everyday, said Brian. "The loss of Ger at such a young age places financial pressures on Chloe for which we are seeking heartfelt donations for the benefit of Chloe as she mourns the loss of her loved husband and best friend. The fundraiser has already raised over 9,300 to date, a testament to Gerards popularity in Kilkenny and beyond. To donate please click here "Gerard passed away on January 5, 2025, peacefully, at St. Luke's Hospital in the company of his wife Chloe, read his death notice on RIP.ie "Beloved husband of Chloe, Gerard will be deeply missed by his heartbroken wife, his parents Brian and Bernie, brothers Ian and Tristan, sister Lesley Anne, parents-in-law Tony and Lil, brothers-in-law David and Vincent, nephew Ted, niece Rose, aunts, uncles, extended family, neighbours and a wide circle of friends. Follow Independent Kilkenny on Facebook Since news of Gerards passing broke, tributes have poured in for the young Kilkenny man. "He was a lovely young man with a great sense of humour. Everyone was very fond of Ger and he won't be forgotten, wrote one mourner on RIP.ie. Another mourner added: He was a truly wonderful and kind person to work with, always bringing a smile and positivity to those around him. My thoughts and prayers are with all of the family. May he rest in peace. A 24-year-old man who targeted users of the Grindr dating app to rob them has been jailed for a total of eight-and-a-half years. Last November, Michael Quinn, Cara Close, Priorswood, Coolock, Dublin 15, pleaded guilty to four charges on the indictment. The offending occurred in Dundalk over a four-week period in June and July of 2023 and involved three victims. At the time the defendant was living with his girlfriend at an address in Muirhevnamor. He would contact the other men and arrange to meet. On each occasion he produced a knife. In one instance he took out two knives before demanding his victims wallet and phone. Mr Quinn, who has previous convictions in Ireland and the UK, had been on remand since July 22, 2023, two days after the last attack. He pleaded guilty to robbing Victim A on June 24, 2023, of an iPhone, mobile phone, driving licence and bank cards, and falsely imprisoning him. He admitted assaulting Victim B causing him harm on the following July 18, and robbing Victim C two days later of 60 cash and a Revolut card. The defendant was arrested after being recognised by a garda, who had seen images circulated by the crime unit. He had 30 previous convictions including assault causing harm, theft and burglary. Judge Dara Hayes imposed a 10-and-a-half-year sentence for the first robbery with the final two years suspended, and seven years concurrent for falsely imprisoning the same victim. Three-and-a-half years were handed down for assaulting the second man, causing him harm and five years and nine months for robbing the third victim. Those sentences were also concurrent and backdated. Mr Quinn must place himself under the supervision of the Probation Service for 18 months post release. Michael Quinn Today's News in 90 Seconds - January 20th Wexford has been dealt a major blow on Tuesday with news that global employer BNY Mellon is to close its office in the town. The global financial firm employs approximately 310 employees in the Drinagh office, on the outskirts of Wexford town. There had been widespread reports in recent days that jobs at the firm were in jeopardy. These fears were confirmed on Tuesday morning following a meeting between management and staff where the company has confirmed that it is closing its Wexford office. BNY established a presence in Ireland in 1994 and services global clients from offices in Cork, Dublin and Wexford. It is believed that the Cork and Dublin sites are not affected by today's developments. "At BNY we continually evaluate our real estate footprint to ensure we are operating efficiently. We are intending to close our Wexford office. We remain committed to serving our clients and relationships in the Irish market and internationally," the company said on Tuesday. The company said they will not be commenting during the employee collective consultation process, but it is understood around 5pc of the Wexford workforce will be offered the chance to work remotely, with the remaining 95pc being told their jobs are to be relocated or made redundant. Speaking to the Wexford People on Tuesday afternoon following the official announcement, a member of staff at the BNY Wexford branch said: Everyone's in a bit of shock. Its a blow and Im p*****d, for want of a better word, the parent-of-one said. If we get the option of moving to Dublin or redundancy, I mean, our families and homes are here. If I wanted to be in Dublin, I would have gone to Dublin. Our doctors are here. My childs school's here. Everything's here, we've got a life going in here in Wexford. The staff member also outlined that, despite the announcement, their fate is still undecided as consultations are to take place in February regarding exactly how many are to be kept on. Its still very much the case that no one knows anything, and even though theyve said whats going on, were still left in the dark and staff are going to have to scramble to look for a job in Wexford. It's not fair. They should have announced this better, or given people more warning, but instead its been lumped on our lap. It kind of makes you realise that you are replaceable very quickly in companies, they said. All staff have been asked by management to resume with business as usual in a professional manner, while it is understood that staff were not afforded the opportunity to ask questions at Tuesday's meeting. Reacting to the announcement, Wexford Labour Party TD George Lawlor, said the situation is appalling for the workforce. The manner in which the staff have been treated here is appalling. The rumours have been circulating for months about this, and to announce today that less than 5% will work from home and some of the rest will be offered redundancy, and some of the remaining workforce will be asked to relocate to Dublin if they have an Ireland only contract, it is a huge blow to the workers and their families and a huge blow to the economy of Wexford. I certainly will be calling on the newly instated enterprise minister, whoever he or she may be, to come to Wexford to meet, in the first instance, with the BNY management here locally and then globally, to discuss the situation, because it would appear that Cork or Dublin are not affected by this. The BNy Mellon offices at Drinagh, Wexford. Today's News in 90 seconds - 21st January 2025 If the statement from the [current] Minister is to be believed last night, it is really difficult to understand what the difference between Wexford, Cork and Dublin is, he continued. We have a very skilled workforce, a highly talented workforce, and the workforce that need to be reinstated in either the BNY Mellon plant in Wexford, if this could be reversed, or a new equivalent business to be attracted to Wexford, because this workforce is something I know that employers would be only too delighted to hold on to. On Monday, Enterprise Minister Peter Burke said: "Our thoughts are with the affected workers at this difficult time, and I can confirm that all available supports from Government and from our agency the IDA will be made available to impacted staff," he said. Also speaking on the matter, Independent Wexford county councillor Leonard Kelly said that this is a devastating blow to Wexford, and that the closure is going to be quite traumatic for some staff and their families. Id encourage the staff to talk to professionals if theyre starting to notice that general mood or well being has been impacted by what is happening, whether it be a counsellor or career guidance coach or life coach in terms of getting the best advice that they can to allow them to move forward, said Cllr Kelly. This is a major trauma for so many people there, and the future will seem uncertain for many but with the correct supports, it is something that they can move forward with, as we acknowledge that this is something that is incredibly sad for each and every person involved, and obviously for Wexford itself to see high quality jobs lost. The Indo Daily: Why is even the mention of water charges like playing with fire for politicians? Researchers reveal how much screen time a day affects a toddlers development Report says the public health impacts are likely to be significant Breaching screen time limits meant eight-year-olds were more likely to be in the bottom third of their class educationally. Photo: Getty Charles Hymas Telegraph Media Group Holdings Ltd Mon 20 Jan 2025 at 03:30 Children aged under two who spend more than one-and-a-half hours a day watching TV or online have weaker language skills and are more likely to misbehave at ages four and eight, a UK study has revealed. Trump says his team is in process of removing over one thousand Biden appointeesHe launches sweeping border crackdown, mass deportation pushOrders federal workers to return to the office five days a weekRolling back protections for transgender people and terminating diversity, equity and inclusion programmes Donald Trump began his presidency with a dizzying display of force, signing a blizzard of executive orders that signaled his desire to remake American institutions while also pardoning nearly all of his supporters who rioted at the US Capitol on January 6, 2021. Trump is announcing a new partnership that has committed to investing at least $500 billion in artificial intelligence infrastructure on his first full day in office. Trump has been joined by Masayoshi Son of SoftBank, Sam Altman of OpenAI and Larry Ellison of Oracle at the White House. He says their new entity, Stargate, will make a tremendous investment in what he says will be the largest AI infrastructure project, by far, in history. Hes calling it a resounding declaration of confidence in Americas potential since he won. While Trump has used similar announcements to show that his presidency is boosting the economy, there were already expectations of a massive buildout in data centers and electricity plants needed for the development of AI. Congressional Republican leaders emerged from a lengthy hours-long meeting at the White House with plans to push ahead on what Trump has previously called a big, beautiful bill to hold their priorities. Were moving forward on reconciliation with one bill, said House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La. House and Senate Republicans have been at odds over strategy, with Senate Majority Leader John Thune pushing a two-bill approach but House GOP leaders dug in on a single package. Hes got a resolve, you could just see it, Scalise said of Trump. He came here to really solve the problems that our countrys facing, and do it quickly. Former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms disputed Trumps assertion that he fired her from the Presidents Export Council, posting on Instagram a resignation letter she said she sent to Biden on Jan. 4 that said she was resigning from her position effective Monday. You cant fire someone who has already resigned, she wrote. dsf House and Senate leaders including Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune did not speak to reporters before leaving the White House late Tuesday afternoon. Trump directed his Justice Department to pause enforcement of the TikTok ban until early April, but a host of questions remain - including whether Trump has the authority to issue such an order and whether TikToks China-based parent would be amenable to selling the popular social media platform. Elon Musk gestures at the podium inside the Capital One arena in Washington on the inauguration day of Donald Trump's second presidential term. Photo: Reuters Right-wing extremists are celebrating Elon Musks straight-arm gesture during a speech Monday, although his intention wasnt totally clear and some hate watchdogs are saying not to read too much into it. Musk himself was dismissive of the critics who saw it as a Nazi salute, though he didnt offer further explanation. But the confusion and plea for calm hasnt stopped critics and fans alike of the worlds richest man from reading into the gesture what they wanted. Marco Rubio was confirmed by the Senate for secretary of state with unanimous support. Now comes the hard part that could make or break his tenure: retaining the full backing of his new boss, Donald Trump. President Donald Trump issues pardons for January 6 defendants in the Oval Office. Photo: Reuters Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer is mocking Trumps promise of a golden age, saying the flurry of executive orders the president signed created a golden age for big monied interests and law-breaking Jan. 6 rioters. With a flick of a pen, President Trump took steps to make it harder to enroll in health care, and did nothing, nothing for lowering the cost of groceries, housing or other aspects of everyday living, Schumer said. It aint a golden age for you, average American, thats for sure, Schumer said. President Donald Trump will sit down with Fox News Channel host Sean Hannity on Wednesday, the network announced. Hannity, a long-time backer of Trump and his agenda, will tape the appearance from the Oval Office Wednesday and it will air during his show at 9 p.m. Eastern. The network says Trump and Hannity will discuss the executive orders hes signed thus far, his first 100 days in office and news of the day. The National Treasury Employees Union late Monday filed a lawsuit against the new Trump administration over the Presidents executive order that reclassifies large numbers of federal employees with the intent of making them at-will workers. The lawsuit states that the executive order is contrary to Congresss intent in establishing broad protections for most federal employees. Donald Trump signs executive orders after his inauguration. Photo: Carlos Barria/Reuters NTEU National President Doreen Greenwald said Trumps action is a dangerous step backward to a political spoils system that Congress expressly rejected 142 years ago, which is why we are suing to have the order declared unlawful. Bolton has been the subject of assassination plots by Iran. He served in Trumps administration for nearly a year and a half as national security adviser before releasing a book in 2020 that was sharply critical of Trump and embarrassing for the president amid his failed reelection effort. I am disappointed but not surprised that President Trump has decided to terminate the protection previously provided by the United States Secret Service, Bolton said in a statement. Its the latest in a string of actions by Trump in his first hours in office to punish political opponents. President Joe Biden extended Secret Service protection to Bolton in 2021 in light of ongoing threats from Iran, and his Justice Department charged an Iranian official a year later with trying to orchestrate a plot of Boltons life. That threat remains today, as also demonstrated by the recent arrest of someone trying to arrange for President Trumps own assassination, Bolton said. The American people can judge for themselves which President made the right call. President Donald Trump on Tuesday will announce investments worth up to $500 billion for infrastructure tied to artificial intelligence by a new partnership formed by OpenAI, Oracle and SoftBank. The new entity, Stargate, will start building out projects needed for the further development of the fast-evolving AI in Texas, according to the White House. Joining Trump for the announcement fresh off his inauguration will be Masayoshi Son of SoftBank, Sam Altman of OpenAI and Larry Ellison of Oracle. Speaking at the World Economic Forum annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland, Gov. Andy Beshear said any policies that jeopardize jobs, health care, safety, schools and other issues that the American people are worried about thats when we should be pushing back. He expressed concerns about the prospect that tariffs which Trump has promised could drive up prices, recalling how retaliatory tariffs against U.S. goods in the presidents first term affected products like Kentucky bourbon. That was hundreds of millions of dollars of negative economic impact that we are still feeling that cost jobs that cost us in exports, Beshear said. Eighteen states, plus the District of Columbia and San Francisco sued in federal court to block Trumps order. New Jersey Democratic Attorney General Matt Platkin said Tuesday the president cannot undo a right written into the Constitution with a stroke of his pen. Presidents have broad power but they are not kings, Platkin said. Not long after Trump signed the order, immigrant rights groups filed suit to stop it. Chapters of the American Civil Liberties Union in New Hampshire, Maine and Massachusetts along with other immigrant rights advocates filed a suit in New Hampshire federal court. The suit asks the court to find the order to be unconstitutional. The 14th Amendment did not always guarantee birthright citizenship to all U.S.-born people. Congress didnt authorize citizenship for all Native Americans born in the United States, for instance, until 1924. In 1898, an important birthright citizenship case unfolded in the U.S. Supreme Court. The court held that Wong Kim Ark, who was born in San Francisco to Chinese immigrants, was a U.S. citizen because he was born in the country. After a trip abroad, he had faced denied reentry by the federal government on the grounds that he wasnt a citizen under the Chinese Exclusion Act. But some advocates of immigration restrictions have argued that while the case clearly applied to children born to parents who are both legal immigrants, its less clear whether it applies to children born to parents without legal status. Birthright citizenship means anyone born in the U.S. is a citizen, regardless of their parents immigration status. People, for instance, in the United States on a tourist or other visa or in the country illegally can become the parents of a citizen if their child is born here. Its been in place for decades and enshrined in the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, supporters say. But Trump and allies dispute the reading of the amendment and say there need to be tougher standards on becoming a citizen. Trump moved to end birthright citizenship when he ordered the cancellation of the constitutional guarantee that U.S.-born children are citizens regardless of their parents status. Trump Fresh off his trip to the inauguration, New York City Mayor Eric Adams said he had instructed officials to lawfully cooperate with Trumps agenda around immigration and other issues, while flatly refusing to criticize the president or any of his policies. Im not going to be warring with the president, Adams told reporters. Im going to be working with the president. Adams was elected as a Democrat and previously criticized the abusive rhetoric and tactics of the first Trump era. But he has increasingly embraced Trump in recent months, raising speculation that he is angling for a pardon in his federal case on bribery and campaign finance charges. On Tuesday, Adams declined to say whether he opposed Trumps executive orders that pardoned Jan. 6 defendants, revoked birthright citizenship and withdrew the U.S. from the Paris climate agreement. And he repeatedly ducked questions about how the city would respond to large-scale immigration raids promised by Trump. You shouldnt start out the gate criticizing, Adams said. You should start trying to collaborate, trying to cooperate. It came as Rubio took the helm of the State Department just hours after taking the oath of office. Trumps first confirmed cabinet appointment, Rubio entered the department through its main entrance to loud applause and cheers before addressing his new employees in the same lobby in which former Secretary of State Antony Blinken delivered farewell remarks to the building Friday. The voters decide the course of our nation, both domestically and abroad, and they have elected Donald J. Trump as our president when it comes to foreign policy on a very clear mission, Rubio said. And that mission is to ensure that our foreign policy is centered on one thing, and that is the advancement of our national interest, which (was) clearly defined through his campaign as anything that makes us stronger or safer or more prosperous. Trump has been publicly skeptical of the value of the State Department since his first term in office and, as he has done with with other agencies, accused some in the diplomatic corps of working to blunt or derail his policy priorities. Some senators are urging Collins to fight the federal hiring freeze Trump declared Monday, saying it will sap the Department of Veterans Affairs ability to provide medical care or even run veteran cemeteries. This hiring freeze should not apply to direct care workers, said Maine Sen. Angus King, an independent who caucuses with Democrats. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a Connecticut Democrat, noted the text of the order says it wont adversely affect Social Security, Medicare and veterans benefits. He asked Collins whether that meant the VA was exempt from the freeze. Collins said hes still examining what it means but we support the presidents initiative in this phase. Collins also said he believes there are numerous opportunities to streamline the VA, but said Trump will protect care. I was told by the president to take care of veterans, Collins said. Were going to take care of veterans. Speaking at a Federalist Society forum Tuesday, John Yoo, a University of California law professor and former government official whos promoted the idea of expansive presidential authority, said Trumps decision to allow TikTok to continue to operate, for now, appears to run afoul of the law that called for it to shut down by Sunday. The law gave the president the authority to extend the deadline, but Yoo noted that the window when that was allowed had closed by the time Trump took office and signed the order. Yoo also said the order to end birthright citizenship appears to be unconstitutional. And sending to the military to seal the southern border may have gone too far, he said, because it relies on the premise that the U.S. is being invaded. Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen said during the forum that the state could consider suing the Trump administration to try to undo Trumps executive order allowing TikTok to continue operating. Collins says he supports giving veterans access to private medical care but is disavowing any intention to privatize or dismantle the existing VA health system. There will always be a VA health system for the veteran Collins said. But he says the VA exists for the veterans and that particularly newer veterans may prefer private providers. Democrats are urging Collins to protect the current system, saying it provides valuable expertise. But some Republicans in particular say it should be easier for veterans to access private medical care because of long distances. Scott Bessent is one step closer to confirmation after a favorable committee vote. He was approved with a bipartisan tally of 16-11. The vote clears the way for the full Senate to weigh his confirmation in the coming days. The approval came over the protest of Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden who said, this nominee is not square on his taxes. Former Trump White House strategist Steve Bannon cheered the vote, saying on his podcast that Bessent was magnificent. Former U.S. Rep. Doug Collins said hell reexamine whether the Department of Veterans Affairs should provide abortions, repeatedly saying in his confirmation hearing Tuesday that he believes a 1992 law bans the VA from performing abortions. The law specifically stated that the VA is not to be doing abortions , said Collins, a former Republican congressman from Georgia. The situation came up in 2022, in which they were told to look at a rule that would get around that. To me, its time for us to take a look at the rule and make sure, just as in every other area of VA life, that were actually doing what the law and the intent of this body is. The Biden administration announced in 2022 that VA facilities would provide abortion counselling and abortions to veterans when when the life or health of a pregnant veteran was endangered by a pregnancy or when a woman became pregnant because of rape or incest. The men were freed in a swap with the Taliban brokered by Bidens administration. We celebrate the release of Ryan Corbett and William McKenty who will soon reunited with their families and loved ones, and also thank the Government of Qatar for their assistance, National Security spokesperson Brian Hughes said in a statement. The Trump Administration will continue to demand the release of all Americans held by the Taliban, especially in light of the billions of dollars in U.S. aid theyve received in recent years. The deal to free Corbett and McKenty was completed by Biden administration officials before the Democratic administrations term ended Monday, according to a Trump administration official who was not authorized to comment publicly and requested anonymity. The two U.S. citizens were exchanged for Taliban figure Khan Mohammed, who was serving two terms of life imprisonment in California on drug trafficking and terrorism charges. With President Trump in attendance, the Right Rev. Mariann Budde, the Episcopal bishop of Washington, gave a sermon focused on national unity. She said they gathered to pray for unity as a people and a nation not for agreement, political or otherwise but for the kind of unity that fosters community across diversity and division. She ended her sermon with a direct appeal to Trump, to have mercy on LGBTQ+ people and undocumented migrant workers: You have felt the providential hand of a loving God. In the name of our God, I ask you to have mercy on the people in our country who are scared now. Budde has criticized Trump before, rebuking his racialized rhetoric and blaming him for inciting violence on Jan. 6. She was outraged in 2020 after Trump staged an appearance in front of St. Johns Episcopal Church. He held up a Bible after the area had been cleared of peaceful protesters. Donald Trump held back from imposing trade barriers on his first day back as president (AP Photo/Ben Curtis) Follow our live blog to stay up to date as Mr Trump is changing governance in the US within hours of taking office. Spanish prime minister Pedro Sanchez will propose a ban on people from outside the European Union buying homes in the country, as part of a broader attempt to confront a housing crisis. The government will propose prohibiting non-EU foreigners from buying houses in our country, when neither they nor their families live here and therefore they are speculating, Mr Sanchez said yesterday at a Socialist Party rally. Reinstallation of a statue of Spanish conqueror of the Incan Empire Francisco Pizarro, in Lima. Photo: Alessandro Cinque/Reuters A statue of a Spanish conquistador has controversially been reinstated in the centre of Perus capital city, bucking the anti-colonialist global trend. The decision to refurbish and return Francisco Pizarro on his horse was met with a backlash from indigenous people who have campaigned for relics of colonial Spain to be removed. British family of Hamas hostage urge Israel to let them tell him tragic news of wife and daughters Hostage Eli Sharabi (52), is likely unaware his British wife Lianne and their daughters were killed, a family member has said Stephen Brisley, whose sister Lianne Sharabi and nephews Noiya and Yahel Sharabi, were murdered by Hamas on October 7, and the brother-in-law of Eli Sharabi who is still a hostage, speaking during a press conference in September Rachel Vickers-Price Mon 20 Jan 2025 at 07:47 The British family of Eli Sharabi, one of the hostages still held by Hamas, are appealing to authorities in Israel to be the ones to tell him his wife and daughters have died. Families of remaining Israeli hostages are waiting for news on their loved ones after three women were reunited with relatives following their release by Hamas on the first day of a ceasefire deal. British Israeli Emily Damari, who was held in captivity for more than 15 months in what was described as ongoing torture for her family, was among those freed on Sunday hugging loved ones in tearful reunions once she made it to Israel. How Israeli hostages were freed after 471 days but not before heart-stopping delay World held its breath as ceasefire deal teetered on the edge after technical issue Red Cross ambulances are surrounded by Palestinian civilians as they await the handover of the hostages by Hamas in Gaza City. Photo: Mahmoud Al-Basos/Reuters Henry Bodkin Telegraph Media Group Holdings Ltd Mon 20 Jan 2025 at 03:30 With guns being brandished, the distinctive green Hamas headbands and the din of the crowd, it must have seemed like the fateful day they were captured all over again. Itamar Ben-Gvir had threatened to leave on Thursday after details of the agreement with the terror group were announced. The deal will release almost 2,000 Palestinian prisoners during phase one of the ceasefire, in return for 33 of the 97 Israeli hostages held in Gaza. Irish people mark Donald Trumps inauguration in Washington DC: We want to be part of history I think hes class, he gets stuff done Mixed views on the president-elect from expats but all agree that interesting times lie ahead Merchandise for sale in Washington. Photo: Barbara McCarthy Barbara McCarthy Mon 20 Jan 2025 at 03:30 We do big crazy here, you guys do little crazy in Ireland, a passer-by informs me as I cross Pennsylvania Avenue towards the Capitol in Washington. Uzbekistan has 24 Industrial Economic Zones, especially in pharmaceuticals and other manufacturing sectors, including IT parks Our government is willing to offer land, support infrastructure, tax benefits and cheap power to Indian companies bringing technology, skilled labour and capital to our country. Uzbekistan can be a gateway for Indian companies to the 300 million consumer market of the CIS region, with which it has a trade agreement, said Mr. Rustambaev. The Ambassador also called on Honble Governor of Maharashtra H.E. Mr. C.P. Radhakrishnan to discuss areas for strengthening trade and investment relations between Uzbekistan and Maharashtra. In order to deepen bilateral cooperation, Honble Prime Minister of India is slated to visit Uzbekistan later this year and this will be his fourth visit during his tenure as Prime Minister. There is tremendous scope to enhance economic cooperation as Uzbekistan is endowed with rich natural resources and geographical advantage as it can be the gateway to the CIS region, Iran and also to the Europe. Even though Uzbekistan is a landlocked country, it can be accessible through Chabahar Port and Bandar Abbas. World Trade Center Mumbai hosted H.E. Mr. Sardar Rustambaev, Ambassador of Uzbekistan to India to discuss emerging areas of economic cooperation between both the countries and strategies to deepen bilateral partnership across various sectors.On this occasion,mentioned, ."The Ambassador informed that Uzbekistan has preferential market access to Europe under GSP regime and it has signed preferential trade agreement with the USA. Uzbekistan has 24 Industrial Economic Zones, especially in pharmaceuticals and other manufacturing sectors, including IT parks. .The Ambassador pointed out that in the last 10 years, industrial landscape of Uzbekistan has transformed significantly. He said, Uzbekistan needs Indian technology and skills for further development of the industrial ecosystem. The country is the leading manufacturer of home appliances, including air conditioners. Uzbekistan has emerged as a leading automobile and auto-component manufacturing hub in the CIS region. More than 20 automobile brands from South Korea, China and other countries have set up production facilities for tyres, plastics, accumulators and other auto-components. Uzbekistan also has an electric vehicle manufacturing ecosystem as we produce and supply power trains to Brazil and other countries.The Ambassador invited Indian gems and jewelry to invest in Uzbekistan. He mentioned, Earlier in his welcome remarks,mentioned, .During the event, leaders from Indias gems and lab-grown diamond industry expressed willingness to partner with Uzbekistan in terms of mining reserves, technology exchange, scaling up their operations and establishing manufacturing facilities in Uzbekistan. I invite Letter of Intent from Indian gems and jewelry companies for partnership so that I can take this forward with the relevant Ministry in Uzbekistan, the Ambassador assured.The Ambassador also highlighted scope for collaboration in tourism and education sectors. He said, Uzbekistan is becoming a popular tourist destination as the number of Indian tourists has more than doubled to 80,000 last year and this year, it may exceed 1 lakh. More than 10,000 Indian students are studying in Uzbekistan and 20,000 Indian workers are employed in our country.Dr. Kalantri suggested Indian companies to benefit from the tax and infrastructure benefits provided by the Uzbek government. He also invited Uzbek companies to participate in Government of Indias Make in India and Production Linked Incentive (PLI) schemes. The event was also attended by Mr. Khurshidbek Samiev, Trade Economic Counsellor, Embassy of Uzbekistan in India and members of Indian trade and industry.During his visit to Mumbai, H.E. Mr. Rustambaev had successful meetings with captains of Indian industry from logistics, pharmaceuticals, textile, gems & jewelry, telecom and other sectors. Specifically, the Ambassador met Mr. Prakash Hinduja and Mr. Ashok Hinduja from the Hinduja Group, Mr. K.P. Nanavati, President, Reliance Industries, Mr. Puneet Chhatwal, Managing Director & CEO, The Indian Hotels Company Limited (IHCL), and also senior officials of Gold Star Diamonds, Sonani Group and Reliance Jio. The Ambassador also had fruitful meetings with Bollywood Film Producer and Director Mr. Boney Kapoor, Ms. Hema Malini, Mr. Mithun Chakravorty and other celebrities to promote collaboration in film production and distribution. Jack OTT Release Details: Siddhu Jonnalagadda, who last starred in the successful sequel Tillu Square (DJ Tillu 2), is now ready to arrive on the big screen with his next. Directed by Bommarillu Bhaskar, the film is set to offer a new genre to the audience with its tagline Konchem Crack. If you are wondering where to watch the film on OTT, then Jack will be streaming on Netflix after its theatrical run. Everything we know so far about Jack Jack is a spy action comedy entertainer, marking a fresh collaboration between Siddhu Jonnalagadda and Bommarillu Bhaskar. Both are venturing into a new genre intending to deliver a unique and engaging cinematic experience. The film produced by BVSN Prasad under the Sri Venkateswara Cine Chitra banner promises to bring a fun and comedic ride to the audience. The film which was extensively shot across Nepal recently completed its filming. This Achu Rajamani musical also stars Prakash Raj and Vaishnavi Chaitanya. Jack is set to hit theatres on April 10, 2024. Internet is excited for Jack Several users have taken to the internet and shared their excitement. One person wrote, Jack of all trades and master of everything. Another said, Success means that is u bro... U deserve it @siddu_buoy luv u man. The third one expressed, Super Hit Now North And East Side Also Come More Fans Siddhu Bro Congratulations. The fourth user expressed, Tillu Bro.. indulo indian RAW agent gaa chestunnava Endi. Backdrop lo manchiga kashmir kanapaduthondi. Are you excited about Siddhu Jonnalagadda's Jack? Share your thoughts @indiatimes. For more news and updates from the world of OTT, and celebrities from Bollywood and Hollywood, keep reading Indiatimes Entertainment. Muthukumaran wins Bigg Boss Tamil Season 8: Bigg Boss Tamil Season 8 concluded on Sunday (January 19) with a grand grand episode, which saw Muthukumaran emerge as the winner. The YouTube creator had a memorable stay on the show, impressing the audience with his articulate thinking and command of the language. This paved the way for his victory. Muthukumaran to enter Kollywood? Muthukumarans big win on the Vijay Sethupathi-hosted show has the potential to open new avenues for him. According to Ramesh Bala, an analyst, Muthukumarans experience has an anchor and his immense popularity is likely to help him secure the opportunity to host events or shows on popular TV channels. He already has a YouTube channel. His stint on Bigg Boss Tamil will help the channel become more popular. He may also anchor a show on TV or do something along similar lines. Bigg Boss has always provided participants with a platform to go to the next level, he told Indiatimes. Interestingly, some of the previous contestants of Bigg Boss Tamil made a name for themselves in the film industry after their stint on the reality show. Take Kavin for instance, The actor successfully transitioned from TV to films after appearing on Bigg Boss Tamil Season 3. He is best known for his work in Dada and Lift. Similarly, Harish Kalyan made an impact on Bigg Boss Tamil Season 1 and emerged as the second runner-up. This helped him deliver a hit with Pyaar Prema Kaadhal in which he appeared alongside Raiza Wilson. Raiza too was a participant on the inaugural season of the reality show. Given this, Ramesh Bala feels there is a strong possibility of Muthukumaran bagging film roles. There will be movie opportunities. Of the previous contestants, some of the girls became heroines. Also, Bigg Boss helps people secure better pay and move from one tier to the other. If an actor is in tier 4, Bigg Boss may help them move to tier 2 or something along those lines. The pay and all will be better, he said. He added one is expected to get clarity on his future plans in the coming weeks About Bigg Boss Tamil Season 8 Coming back to Bigg Boss Tamil Season 8, it kicked off on October 6, 2024, with Vijay Sethupathi serving as the host. Makkal Selvan replaced Kamal Haasan, who had hosted the previous seven seasons but refused to return this time due to prior commitments. Like the previous installments, the eighth one too featured several twists and turns. Muthukumaran, Pavithra Janani, Raayan, VJ Vishal, and Soundarya outlasted the other participants to make it too the finale. Most polls predicted a tough fight between the YouTuber and Soundaraya. However, Muthukumaran eventually edged past the competition to take home the trophy. For more news and updates from the world of OTT, and celebrities from Bollywood and Hollywood, keep reading Indiatimes Entertainment. Republic Day is one of the most important national holidays in India, celebrated every year on 26 January. It marks the day when India adopted its Constitution and officially became a republic in 1950. The 76th Republic Day on 26 January 2025 will be celebrated with great enthusiasm and patriotic spirit across the nation. Republic Day history India gained freedom from British rule on 15 August 1947, but it was on 26 January 1950 that the Constitution of India came into force. This new Constitution replaced the Government of India Act, 1935, which was a colonial-era law, and established India as a fully independent republic. The date 26 January was chosen to honour the Purna Swaraj declaration made in 1930 by the Indian National Congress, which called for complete independence from British rule. The Constitution, prepared under the guidance of Dr B.R. Ambedkar, was finalised on 26 November 1949 and implemented on 26 January 1950. How Republic Day is Celebrated in India Credit: Freepik Republic Day is celebrated with parades, cultural performances, and patriotic events. The grandest celebration happens in New Delhi, featuring a spectacular parade at the Kartavya Path (previously Rajpath). Parade Highlights: The day starts with the President of India hoisting the national flag, followed by a 21-gun salute. Military forces, police, and paramilitary units take part in a march, showcasing their skills and discipline. The day starts with the President of India hoisting the national flag, followed by a 21-gun salute. Military forces, police, and paramilitary units take part in a march, showcasing their skills and discipline. Tableaux: Each state and government department presents beautifully decorated floats, called tableaux, to display their culture and achievements. The theme for the 76th Republic Day Parade 2025 is " - ", which means " Golden India - Heritage and Development ". Each state and government department presents beautifully decorated floats, called tableaux, to display their culture and achievements. The is " ", which means " ". Cultural Performances: Schoolchildren and artists perform dances, speeches, essay competitions and songs, reflecting Indias rich cultural heritage and unity. Republic Day Chief Guest and Its Importance Every year, India invites a foreign leader as the chief guest for the Republic Day celebrations. For the 76th Republic Day, Indonesias President Prabowo Subianto will attend as the chief guest. His presence will strengthen the relationship between India and Indonesia. Beating Retreat Ceremony The Republic Day celebrations end with the Beating Retreat ceremony on 29 January at Vijay Chowk in New Delhi. Bands from the Indian Army, Navy, and Air Force perform music, including patriotic and traditional tunes. The event concludes with the national anthem, "Jana Gana Mana," and a spectacular retreat. Honouring Achievements with Awards On the eve of Republic Day, the President of India presents the prestigious Padma Awards: Padma Vibhushan: For exceptional and distinguished service. For exceptional and distinguished service. Padma Bhushan: For distinguished service of a high standard. For distinguished service of a high standard. Padma Shri: For outstanding service in any field. These awards are given to individuals who have made significant contributions to the country. Engaging Citizens in Celebrations Ahead of Republic Day 2025, the Ministry of Defence and MyGov are inviting citizens to take part in contests and events. This initiative aims to encourage people to celebrate the values of democracy and strengthen the spirit of the republic. Republic Day is a reminder of Indias journey as a democratic nation. It celebrates the countrys unity in diversity, its rich heritage, and the values enshrined in the Constitution. As the 76th Republic Day approaches, it is a time for all Indians to reflect on the sacrifices of the past and look forward to building a stronger nation. Let us all celebrate this special day with pride and honour the legacy of our great republic. For more informative articles on historical and upcoming events from around the world, please visit Indiatimes Events. Republic Day 2025 celebrations are bringing significant changes to flight operations at Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA). With over 1,300 flights operating daily, IGIA is one of the busiest airports in the world. However, in light of security and ceremonial needs, flight restrictions have been imposed during the Republic Day period. Temporary Flight Restrictions at Delhi Airport The Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) has announced that from January 19, 2025, to January 26, 2025, no flights will land or take off between 10:20 AM and 12:45 PM each day. These restrictions aim to ensure the safety of the Republic Day celebrations, which are attended by high-profile dignitaries and involve heightened security measures. (Also Read: Republic Day speech ideas in English) Kind attention to all flyers! pic.twitter.com/yWfzhrsfSl Delhi Airport (@DelhiAirport) January 18, 2025 DIAL released a statement on X, formerly known as Twitter, saying, "As per the NOTAM (Notice to Airmen) issued for Republic Day week, no flights will arrive or depart from Delhi Airport between 10:20 AM and 12:45 PM IST." Passengers travelling during this period are advised to check their flight schedules with the concerned airlines for updated timings and further details. (Also Read: Republic Day essay ideas) Security Advisory for Republic Day 2025 In addition to flight restrictions, several traffic and aerial guidelines have been issued. Traffic diversions are in place on Kartavyapath, Rafi Marg crossing, Janpath crossing, Mansingh Road crossing, and C-Hexagon during Republic Day parade rehearsals, which run from January 17 to January 21, between 10:15 AM and 12:30 PM. Ban on Drones and Other Aerial Platforms The Delhi Police has prohibited the operation of sub-conventional aerial platforms, including drones, paragliders, and quadcopters, over the national capital. This restriction, effective from January 18 to February 1, 2025, is a preventive measure to counter potential threats. A statement by the Delhi Police Commissioner highlighted that such platforms could be misused by anti-social elements or terrorists to jeopardise public safety and disrupt the celebrations. Prohibited aerial platforms include: Paragliders and para-motors Hang gliders and UAVs Remotely piloted aircraft and quadcopters Hot air balloons and microlight aircraft Para-jumping from aircraft Theme and Chief Guest for Republic Day 2025 This year's theme for Republic Day is Swarnim Bharat: Virasat aur Vikas, showcasing Indias rich cultural heritage and progressive development. The celebrations will also mark the 75th anniversary of India-Indonesia diplomatic relations, with the newly-elected Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto expected to be the chief guest. However, an official confirmation of his attendance is awaited. Travel Tips for Passengers If you plan to travel through Delhi Airport during Republic Day 2025, heres what you should do: Check Flight Schedules: Confirm your flight timings with your airline to avoid last-minute surprises. Confirm your flight timings with your airline to avoid last-minute surprises. Arrive Early: Allow extra time for security checks and possible delays. Allow extra time for security checks and possible delays. Follow Traffic Updates: Be mindful of traffic restrictions around parade rehearsal sites and plan your commute accordingly. Republic Day 2025 is an occasion of national pride, and the temporary flight restrictions and advisories at Delhi Airport are necessary steps to ensure a smooth and secure celebration. Keep yourself updated and plan your travel accordingly to avoid inconvenience. For more informative articles on historical and upcoming events from around the world, please visit Indiatimes Events. Whether youre a resident, a business owner, or an investor, Dubais focus on health and livability offers opportunities that are as inspiring as its ambitions. The Emirate for some time now has been setting new global benchmarks for health, productivity, and innovation, transforming itself into a global hub for well-being. With initiatives like the Dubai Fitness Challenge, pedestrian-friendly urban planning, and advanced wellness programs, the city redefines living well. From mindfulness retreats to innovative therapies, all are readily available, catering to diverse needs. Entrepreneurs, investors, and top talent are drawn to Dubai's health ecosystem, recognising that a healthy workforce is a productive and innovative one. Strategic Health & Wellness Initiatives Taken In Dubai With a thriving market that spans fitness centres, spa retreats, organic nutrition, and wellness tourism, the city has positioned itself as a global wellness hub. High-quality healthcare services, wellness-oriented real estate, and wellness-centric government initiatives like the Dubai 30x30 Fitness Challenge have further fueled the growth. With an affluent population valuing self-care and world-class infrastructure, Dubai is a top destination for wellness seekers and businesses. Aligned with its vision for a healthier city, the Dubai Walk Master Plan, approved by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, aims to create a pedestrian-friendly metropolis by 2040. The plan includes 6,500 km of walkways, green spaces, shaded areas, and smart climate control, enhancing accessibility, safety, and connectivity under the '20-Minute City' concept. The Dubai Fitness Challenge (DFC), launched in 2017 by His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, promotes 30 minutes of daily exercise for 30 days. In 2024, DFC saw a record 2.73 million participants in events like Dubai Run and Dubai Ride, inspiring over 13 million people since its inception and contributing to improved physical health, mental well-being, and sleep quality. The Emirates commitment to wellness extends to events like the World Biohack Summit 2024, which focused on Human Performance Optimisation. Shihab Makaniyil, CEO of ShopDoc, a digital-first healthcare platform, said, Our integration of wellness technology and data-driven care aligns with the World BioHack Summits vision, promoting optimisation of health through cutting-edge innovation. The summit explored key pillars like Longevity, Peak Performance, Age Reversal, Recovery, and Mental Health through expert keynotes, panels, and immersive workshops, offering attendees hands-on experience with the latest wellness advancements. Image credit: Dubai Fitness Challenge Instagram How Dubais Policy-Driven Wellness Initiatives Are Shaping A Healthier City? Dubai's strategic focus on livability is redefining it as a global wellness hub. Aakanksha Tangri, founder of Re:Set and Forbes Middle East 30 Under 30 honoree, highlights, Initiatives like the Dubai Fitness Challenge, Dubai Walk, and Dubai Run, led by the Crown Prince, have transformed the city into a wellness hub. Beyond physical health, the $105 million Mental Well-Being Support Program reflects the leaderships commitment to a healthier, happier city. Makaniyil added, Dubais policymakers drive digital health innovation through initiatives like Dubai Health Strategy 2021 and free zones such as Dubai Healthcare City, fostering seamless tech integration and key collaborations for scaling platforms like us. We received significant support from initiatives like Sheikh Hamdans Dubai Metaverse Assembly and prominent entrepreneurs. Improved Quality Of Life The livability in Dubai offers easy access to fitness facilities, green spaces, and wellness programmes. Makaniyil noted, Dubais vision to be one of the healthiest cities in the world gives us confidence in its potential as a long-term base for innovation, growth, and impact. This dynamic is crucial for retaining talent long-term, particularly in sectors like healthcare, where well-being and work-life balance are paramount.. For residents, this means a better quality of life; for businesses, a healthier, more motivated workforce. Attracting Global Talent As professionals prioritise cities that foster career growth and balanced lifestyles, Dubai stands out with its inclusive approach to mental and physical health. We work closely to provide multilingual well-being programmes specifically tailored for UAEs migrant workers, who play a vital role in the city's development yet are often overlooked in traditional corporate well-being initiatives. Our multilingual well-being programs cater to everyonefrom CEOs to migrant workersensuring equitable mental healthcare access, shared Tangri. Makaniyil highlighted, The focus on mental well-being has driven the growth of our U OK? programme, while the emphasis on fitness supports our Thrive campaign. Dubais reputation as a global healthcare hub has also shaped our MedX initiative, facilitating seamless international medical tourism. Additionally, our ANGELS Caregivers program addresses the healthcare needs of elderly parents in India for Indian expatriates in Dubai, showcasing a commitment to holistic care across borders. Diverse Wellness Options Dubais wellness ecosystem extends beyond fitness, offering world-class centres, holistic health programmes, and alternative therapies tailored to diverse lifestyles. Tangri emphasised, When adequate, effective, and proactive mental health and well-being support is provided, it contributes to reducing healthcare costs, improving productivity, increasing societal happiness levels, and enhancing community cohesion. Improved mental health metrics can positively influence physical health outcomes. Issues such as diabetes, stress, and heart conditions are often linked to mental well-being, and addressing mental health can have a domino effect on physical health metrics. This diversity adds to the citys appeal, offering something for everyonewhether they are health-conscious residents or business travellers seeking rejuvenation. Highlighting holistic wellness, Makaniyil said, Citywide health campaigns have created opportunities in fitness tech, corporate wellness, and personalised healthcare. The demand for preventive care has opened doors for collaborations with fitness centres, mental health experts, and nutritionists, aligning perfectly with ShopDocs offerings. Image credit: Dubai Run Prospects for Indian Entrepreneurs in Dubai Dubais commitment to becoming a global wellness hub offers Indian startups and enterprises immense opportunities in the expanding health sector. Indian and other global businesses can make a significant impact by participating in Arab Health 2025, the 50th-anniversary edition of this premier global healthcare exhibition, taking place from January 2730 at the Dubai World Trade Centre. With 180 countries participating, hosting more than 3,800 exhibitors and welcoming over 60,000 healthcare professionals, the event provides an unparalleled global platform for organisations to collaborate with Dubai-based healthcare providers, and showcase innovations in medical technology. Makaniyil noted, Collaborating with Dubai-based healthcare providers, participating in medical tourism initiatives, and showcasing expertise in areas like Ayurveda and holistic care can help Indian businesses differentiate themselves in this competitive market. Echoing this, Tangri added, With the Indian governments push for Ayurveda and holistic health, startups and companies can leverage growing awareness in the UAE and the West by bringing traditional Indian therapies to the masses. Shared values and proximity make Dubai an ideal market for Indian health tech startups to access high-income consumers. The Broader Impact The broader impact of Dubais health and wellness initiatives extends far beyond individual well-being. These efforts are driving significant economic growth by creating new industries, generating employment, and contributing to the citys GDP. Prominent startups like ShopDoc are spearheading innovation with a global medical tourism and wellness payment card, AI-driven radiology tools with TCS, and the worlds first digital eye test with Digiteyez Corporation. Makaniyil has also added that ShopDoc plans to make a $50 million investment to set up a luxurious medical tourism and wellness ecosystem that connects Dubai with Malabar-Mangalore region, bordering the South Indian states of Kerala and Karnataka. The idea is to bring together the ancient traditional medical practices of Kerala with UAEs modern and cutting-edge facilities. Tangri highlights the governments role in raising awareness about well-being, making it easier for the private sector to adopt employee wellness initiatives. This evolving ecosystem strengthens Dubais position as a global leader in health, benefiting local and international stakeholders alike. Conclusion Dubais health-first approach is reshaping urban living while setting new global benchmarks in healthcare innovation. This transformation not only enhances the citys livability but also creates unparalleled opportunities for international partnerships, paving the way for a healthier, more collaborative future. When in South Korea, you can't skip an aegyo, but Robert Pattinson making finger hearts while blushing was definitely something that fans didn't have in our 2025 bingo card. Pattinson is all set to star in Mickey 17, and he recently attended the press call for the film in South Korea with director Bong Joon Ho. Clips of the actor making finger hearts and doing aegyo have now been shared online on his fan pages, and his fans, including us, are in disbelief. Robert Pattinson makes finger hearts and does aegyo at the Mickey 17 press call Robert Pattinson is making waves in South Korea, and it's not just because of his dashing good looks or his upcoming movie Mickey 17 with director Bong Joon Ho. A video of him doing an adorable aegyo, as he makes finger hearts coyly, during the press call has left fans swooning. For those who may not know, aegyo refers to a charming or cute display of affection in Korean. The video was shared by a fanpage, Robert Pattinson Photos, on X, with the caption: "Babe, wake up; the first Robert Pattinson aegyo just dropped." baby wake up the first robert pattinson aegyo just dropped pic.twitter.com/BeoMyqgQTc Robert Pattinson Photos | Fansite (@pattinsonphotos) January 20, 2025 'A cultural crossover moment': Fans react to Robert Pattinson's aegyo Fans took to the comments section of the post to share their reaction to the actor's cute expressions, with one writing, "Robert hyung graduating from the university of aegyo with summa cum laude." robert hyung graduating from the university of aegyo with summa cum laude Kuro (@kuuroishi) January 20, 2025 Another user wrote, "Looks like Robert Pattinson has embraced a new side of his charm by doing aegyo, which is a cute, affectionate gesture popular in Korean culture, often seen among K-pop idols." Looks like Robert Pattinson has embraced a new side of his charm by doing aegyo, which is a cute, affectionate gesture popular in Korean culture, often seen among K-pop idols Sujan.S (@SSinha19181) January 20, 2025 "As a Twihard and a Kdrama Stan, I never thought a day like this would come," a third individual added. As a Twihard and a Kdrama Stan, i never thought a day like this would come. Kikayskee (@YuleeRK) January 20, 2025 "It's quite the cultural crossover moment, blending Pattinson's global celebrity status with a beloved aspect of Korean pop culture," stated another user. It's quite the cultural crossover moment, blending Pattinson's global celebrity status with a beloved aspect of Korean pop culture Sujan.S (@SSinha19181) January 20, 2025 Robert Pattinson gushes about director Bong Joon Ho During the press call, Robert Pattinson was seen singing praises of Bong Joon Ho, calling him one of the top directors in the world. The actor also shared his long-time admiration for Bong's work, citing Memories of Murder as a film that left a lasting impression on him. "I watched Memories of Murder years ago, and I was amazed at how it navigated between absurdities and serious situations so freely," he said, adding, "Actors want to work with someone who challenges their limits and brings out new possibilities. Director Bong is exactly that kind of filmmaker." About Mickey 17 Based on the novel of the same name by Edward Ashton, Mickey 17 is about a disposable employee who is sent to the ice world of Niflheim as part of a human expedition to colonize the planet. Whenever Mickey17 dies, a new clone is regenerated with most of his memories intact, allowing him to continue his work on the planet. The film will be released in the US on March 7. For more news and updates from the world of OTT, and celebrities from Bollywood and Hollywood, keep reading Indiatimes Entertainment. Bollywood actor Saif Ali Khan, on January 16, survived a major attack at his Bandra residence by an intruder during an attempt of burglary. The actor sustained a total of six wounds, out of which two injuries were deep; however, he is out of danger now and is recovering after undergoing multiple surgeries. Amid all this, a team of Mumbai police is investigating the case and is likely to recreate the crime scene. According to reports, the accused involved in the high-profile case is a 30-year-old Bangladeshi man. The man was arrested in the morning on the day after the incident took place near Thane city. After this, a court in Mumbai remanded the man, Shariful Islam Shehzad Mohammad Rohilla Amin Fakir, who was in police custody for five days. Mumbai police likely to recreate the crime scene A report by the ToI revealed that the police will likely take Shehzad to Saif Ali Khan's home in Bandra during the five days of his remand to recreate the crime scene, which is a part of their investigation. According to a police official statement, the accused sneaked into the actor's apartment in the early hours of January 16 with the intention of theft. SHOCKING Two lawyers fought over representing Bangladeshi accused Mohammad Shariful Islam Shehzad in Saif Ali Khan Case. Scene turned DRAMATIC in Court To defuse the situation, the magistrate said to both the competing lawyers "You both can appear" Mohammad Shariful pic.twitter.com/cqa5JuSF4v L.R.MEENA (@LRMEENA91383442) January 20, 2025 How did the accused enter Saif Ali Khans apartment? The preliminary reports of the investigation suggest that the man climbed the stairs to the seventh-eighth floor of the building where Saif Ali Khan stays. The accused then entered the duct area, climbed to the 12th floor using a pipe, and entered the actor's flat via the bathroom window. This was when he came out from the bathroom, Saif Ali Khan spotted him, which then led to a chain of events that culminated in the knife attack, the police officials explained earlier. Maharashtra government downplays attack on Saif Ali Khan, but three high-profile incidents in a year raise serious concerns about the state's law and order situation. If celebrities are not safe, what about the common man? Gautham Machaiah (@GauthamMachaiah) January 20, 2025 A few more details about the case A statement released by the police noted that several investigating teams were created to investigate the crime scene, and the case has been registered under sections 311, 312, 331 (4), 331 (6), and 331 (7) of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS). To stay updated on the stories that are going viral, follow Indiatimes Trending. The Bigg Boss 18 finale wasnt just about the winnerit was Salman Khans comments that left everyone questioning the shows future. The beloved host, who has been steering the Bigg Boss ship for over a decade, playfully hinted during the finale that he might not return next season. Cue gasps and a lot of Nooo! from the finalists and the audience. Salman Khan to quit hosting Bigg Boss from next season? Salman, in his signature style, joked, Meine 15-16 season host kar chuke hainagle season nahi hoga mujhse (I have hosted 15-16 seasons, I cant do the next one). While the crowd laughed, the undercurrent of disbelief was hard to miss. Was he serious? Salman Khan and Aamir Khan recreated their "Do Mastane" iconic moments from Andaz Apna Apna in Bigg Boss 18 Grand FINALE. pic.twitter.com/PBdf4yBEfZ #BiggBoss_Tak (@BiggBoss_Tak) January 19, 2025 Salman Khan expresses his happiness of Bigg Boss 18 ending He further teased, I am toh so happy ki aaj last day hai stage ka, I am waiting to lift hands and get done. It sounded like a joke, but fans who know Salmans love-hate relationship with the show are wondering if theres a hidden truth. Bigg Boss 18 dominated top Google searches in 2024 The Salman Khan stardom #SalmanKhan pic.twitter.com/6Ga3JpZpmn Surajit (@surajit_ghosh2) December 13, 2024 Salman Khans hinting towards quitting in Bigg Boss 13 This isnt the first time Salman has hinted at leaving. Bigg Boss 13 was another hotbed of controversy, especially during the infamous Sidharth Shukla-Rashami Desai tea-flinging drama. Back then, Salman reportedly expressed his frustration to the producers, suggesting they find someone else to manage the chaos. While he stayed on, fans got a glimpse of how taxing hosting can beeven for a superstar. However, this time, Salmans tone seemed lighter. The finalists, including Vivian Dsena, Rajat Dalal, and eventual winner Karan Veer Mehra, appeared shocked but quickly laughed it off. Former contestants chimed in, expressing their gratitude for Salmans mentorship. Karan Veer Mehra became the winner of Bigg Boss 18 As the night ended with Karan Veer Mehra lifting the trophy, viewers were left with a bittersweet feeling. Was Salmans comment just another playful jab, or was it a genuine farewell? Either way, the idea of Bigg Boss without Salman is hard to digest for fans. For now, well have to wait and see if Salman Khan walks back into the Bigg Boss house next season or if this was truly his curtain call. Overseas Chinese in Tanzania celebrate upcoming Spring Festival in style Xinhua) 11:24, January 20, 2025 DAR ES SALAAM, Jan. 19 (Xinhua) -- More than 300 overseas Chinese in Tanzania gathered in the port city of Dar es Salaam on Saturday to celebrate the upcoming Spring Festival, which marks the first day of the lunar calendar. The celebration was guided by the Chinese Embassy in Tanzania and organized by overseas Chinese; the audience enjoyed a gala featuring traditional Chinese music, dance, and other performances. Chinese Ambassador to Tanzania Chen Mingjian said the Spring Festival is the social practice of the Chinese people to celebrate the traditional New Year, which has been included in the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. The Spring Festival falls on Jan. 29 this year, marking the beginning of the Year of the Snake. It is an important part of traditional Chinese culture, carrying the common expectations of mankind for reunion, happiness, satisfaction, and well-being, Chen said. "We look forward to working with everyone in the New Year to make the China-Tanzania friendship tree more deeply rooted and fruitful," she said. "Watching all these programs, I can truly feel that the festive atmosphere is becoming more vivid and the spirit of the Spring Festival is all around," said Zhou Dao, a Chinese logistics worker working in Tanzania. An early move into the Spring Festival mode would greatly help promote excellent traditional culture, boost the development of the holiday consumer market, and balance supply and demand, said Zhou Qingjie, a professor at China's Beijing Technology and Business University. (Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Zhong Wenxing) Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis congratulated the new US president Donald Trump on his inauguration. In a post in English on X, Mitsotakis said: Heartfelt congratulations to Donald Trump on being sworn in as the 47th President of the United States. Greece is committed to our strong strategic partnership and looks forward to working with your administration to advance security, stability, and shared prosperity. iefimerida.gr A recent poll conducted by Action24 sheds light on public opinion surrounding the candidacy of Kostas Tasoulas for the Presidency of the Republic. The survey focused on two key areas: the reception of the three declared presidential candidates and the public perception of Mr. Tasoulas, who is expected to succeed Katerina Sakellaropoulou in the role. Mr. Tasoulas leads the pack with 47.8% of respondents expressing a positive view of his candidacy, compared to 47.2% holding a negative opinion. This marginally favorable balance makes his bid the most positively received among the three candidates. The survey also noted that all three candidates enjoy levels of support higher than the electoral strength of the parties that nominated them, whether measured by parliamentary or European election results. Louka Katseli, nominated by Syriza, received a 40.1% approval rating, with 53.3% of respondents expressing a negative opinion. Meanwhile, Pasoks candidate, Tasos Giannitsis, garnered 37% approval against 48.9% disapproval. For Mr. Tasoulas, support is especially strong within right-leaning constituencies, where he enjoys 70.6% approval among conservatives, 68.9% among center-right voters, and 46.7% in centrist circles. The poll also highlights public confidence in Mr. Tasoulass ability to fulfill the institutional demands of the presidency. A majority, 59.5%, believe his political experience equips him for the role, with the highest support coming from conservative voters (74.6%), the center-right (73.3%), and centrists (66.6%). Even among center-left respondents, 55% expressed confidence in his capability. Regarding his ability to unify and foster collaboration, 45.4% of respondents see Mr. Tasoulas as a figure capable of bringing people together, though 50.1% hold the opposite view. The highest approval for this trait is again found among conservatives (67.3%), the center-right (62.3%), and centrists (48.3%). When it comes to representing Greece on the international stage, 54% believe Mr. Tasoulas would perform this role effectively, while 41.3% disagree. Support for his diplomatic potential is strongest among conservatives (69.2%), the center-right (70.9%), and centrists (62.6%). Finally, 45% of respondents think Mr. Tasoulas can garner broad social acceptance and consensus, though 49.5% disagree. His strongest backing in this regard comes from conservatives (65.5%), the center-right (59.6%), and centrists (49.3%). The results suggest that Mr. Tasoulass candidacy resonates well with voters across a range of political spectrums, solidifying his position as a leading contender for the presidency. iefimerida.gr Socio-political commentator and former lawmaker, Shehu Sani has sounded a warning to African countries about the implications of Donald Trumps return to the United States presidency. Sanis caution comes as Trump begins his second term in office, sparking concerns about the potential impact on Africa-US relations. In a post via X on Monday, Sani described Trumps presidency as a great challenge to the world, noting that his American Nationalist and Businessman Vs the World approach would lead to discomfort. Advertisement Sani wrote: Mr Trump takes over the American Presidency today. A disruptor takes power. Its going to be a great challenge to the World. Its going to be an American Nationalist and Businessman Vs the World. He will pull the plug or change the plugs at the UN, EU, NATO and the American relations with the World. READ ALSO: Recover Stolen Nigerian Assets, Bar Corrupt Officials From US SERAP Petitions Trump Sani also warned that Trump would be feared and not loved and would face resistance from both allies and foes. Furthermore, he expressed concern that Trumps policies would have a negative impact on Africa, stating that the continent should not expect anything much from Trump, even though Biden didnt do much either. As the Trump administration begins to implement its policies, African countries will be watching closely to see how their relationships with the US will evolve. Trump will today, Monday assume office as next US President, after he defeated Democrat Kamala Harris in Novembers election. He previously served as US President between 2017 and 2021 Fomer Nigerian Minister of Aviation, Femi Fani-Kayode, has slammed British Conservative Party leader, Kemi Badenoch, over her latest criticism of Nigeria. Badenoch, a Nigerian-born British citizen, has been a vocal critic of her country of birth, its government, and system. In her recent speech at an event hosted by Onward, a British think tank, Badenoch described the Nigerian government as terrible and warned of the risks of Britains system sliding into the same situation. Advertisement She stated, I dont want Britain to be poor like Nigeria, my wealthy family became poorer there because of the terrible Government. Fani-Kayode however responded via X on Monday labeling Badenoch an insufferable creature that should be declared a persona non grata. According to him, I would rather live in poor Nigeria than in rich Britain where men marry men, women marry women, homosexuality and bisexuality is encouraged Paedophilia is celebrated, transgenders are empowered, bestiality is tolerated, gender is eroded, perverts, deviants and child predators hold sway, children are gang-raped and politicians are pedophiles. READ ALSO: Were Saddened By Badenochs Terrible Rhetoric Against Nigeria, Rishi Sunak Never Weaponised Indias Vices Presidency I would rather live in poor Nigeria than rich Britain where Christians are derided, Muslims are hated, churches are empty, mosques are bombed, blacks are treated like filth, Arabs are seen as scum and Indians and Pakistanis are regarded as garbage. I would rather live in poor Nigeria than rich Britain where knife-crimes and stabbings are rife, Zionists are worshipped, genocide-enablers and war criminals are leaders. Fani-Kayode further described Badenoch and her party as a right-wing racist political party led by a psychologically-disturbed, self-hating Aunty Jemima and female Uncle Tom. He accused her of taking pride in being described as the proverbial house n*gger who takes pleasure in consistently denigrating 250 million Nigerian people. The former Aviation Minister noted that, Nigeria may be poor but at least we are not subject to all these vices and afflictions. At least, we hold fast to our Christian and Muslim values, we know God and we will not burn in hell for eternity for trying to replace Him with our accursed arrogance, insolence, pride and vanity and our insatiable love and celebration of wealth and power. Surely it is time to declare this insufferable creature persona non grata and stop it from coming to our shores. This is not the first time Fani-Kayode has clashed with Badenoch. Celebrity barman Cubana Chief Priest has denied recent claims made by his alleged Kenyan baby mother, Hellen, who accused him of abandoning two children in Malaysia. The allegations, which surfaced along with older photos of Cubana Chief Priest with two children, led to speculation that he was the father. In response, the celebrity barman took to Instagram on Sunday to reject the accusations, sharing images of the childrens true parents. Advertisement READ MORE: Children Are Blessings Yet You Abandoned Two Sons In Malaysia Alleged Baby Mama Calls Out Cubana Chief Priest He also expressed regret over the embarrassment caused to the family, attributing the situation to the difficulties that come with fame and wealth. He added to one of the posts: My family that year for KL, Big Solo thank you for everything, we go link up soon. Sorry for the embarrassment na wetin too much money & fame dey carry come. Its well. In a separate post, he reflected on naming his son Obinna as a tribute to one of the individuals in the photos, and expressed a wish to reunite with old friends. Named my son Obinna after this young dude. God knows how big Obinna & Princess will be now. I must definitely link up soon, Big Solo, @mr.bekyzz so many Sri Putramas memories just flashed, he added. This family photo puts the allegations to rest, with attention now turning to Hellens next step in her dealings with the billionaire businessman. SEE POST: Operatives of the Federal Capital Territory Police Command have arrested a gang leader, identified as Abubakar Idris and his accomplices for allegedly killing one Ibrahim Danfulani over a disputed marriage proposal. INFORMATION NIGERIA learnt that the suspect was angered by Danfulanis intentions to marry a woman in whom he had made significant financial investments. It was gathered that Abubakar, along with his accomplices, attacked the victim with knives, leading to his tragic death on November 27, 2024. Advertisement This was confirmed in a statement by FCT Police Commands Spokesperson, Josephine Adeh. Josephine added that the gang allegedly stole 18 cows belonging to the victim, as compensation for Idriss financial losses. She said: In a dramatic turn of events, Nishi, who had fled the scene of the crime, was trailed and arrested in Nasarawa State. READ MORE: FCT Police Arrest Mother For Abandoning Newborn Baby He was caught while planning on recruiting new gang members to execute his sinister plot to return and kill the woman. The swift and coordinated efforts of the FCT Police Command, in collaboration with residents of the Agaita community in Karu, led to the successful arrest of all suspects, who are now in police custody and will face prosecution to ensure justice is served. The 6 Division of the Nigerian Army has arrested 25 suspected oil thieves, including four members of the disbanded Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), during a recent operation in the Niger Delta. As part of the operation, the operatives destroyed 23 illegal refining sites and recovered 45,000 litres of stolen products, intensifying efforts to curb oil theft and illegal refining in the region. Lt. Col. Jonah Danjuma, Acting Deputy Director of 6 Division Army Public Relations, confirmed this in a statement made in Port Harcourt on Sunday and distributed to newsmen. Advertisement Danjuma stated that the suspected IPOB members were apprehended in Oshimili LGA of Delta State, following a series of operations carried out by troops in the Niger Delta region from January 12 to 19, 2025. READ MORE: Hoodlums Face Punishment In Lagos For Defecating On Pedestrian Bridge The statement said, Troops 6 Division have continued the push against economic sabotage and associated crimes in the Niger Delta Region (NDR) with several successes recorded. These operations led to the deactivation of 23 illegal artisanal refineries, the destruction of 14 boats, and the arrest of 25 oil thieves, including four suspected members of the proscribed Independent People of Biafra in Delta State, with over 45,000 litres of stolen products recovered. The operations were conducted across the joint operations area with other sister services from 12-19 January 2025. In Rivers State, the operations resulted in the impoundment of a truck conveying over 15,000 litres of stolen products along the East-West Road by Tank to Eneka in the Obia-Akpor Local Government Area. Around the Karakarma area in Degema LGA, troops deactivated seven illegal refining sites, impounded four fibre boats, and recovered over 12,000 litres of stolen products. Similarly, around Bille, also in Degema LGA, two illegal refining sites, three receivers, and three pots of different sizes stocked with over 2,400 stolen products were handled. Additionally, troops also made inroads into the Imo Riverside, where 13 illegal refining sites, 25 drum pots, 24 receivers and 6 metal containers were destroyed with over 7,000 litres of stolen products recovered. Others include several empty gallons, four hollow pipes, motorcycles and a boat used for the heinous crime were taken out. At the Oga-Ama corridor in Buguma LGA, four boats and over 2,700 litres of stolen products were deactivated and recovered respectively. Troops also arrested a suspected tugboat and a barge around Finima in Bonny LGA. The barge was alleged to be carrying stolen Automotive Gas Oil. It continued, While, in Delta State, a sting operation was conducted, where troops arrested four suspected members of the proscribed IPOB at Power line Bonsac general area in Oshimili LGA. Several items were recovered from members of the irredentist group. This was in addition to several motorcycles intercepted while conveying stolen products around Abor Community Junction to Kwale in Ndokwa West LGA. Relatedly, along Yokri River in Burutu LGA, five dugout pits with unquantified quantities of stolen products were destroyed. The statement also mentioned that in Bayelsa State, along the Okarki to Otuasega road in Ogbia LGA, troops intercepted two Toyota Avalons with registration numbers AN AUG 964 TN and BY SAG 513 EA, both loaded with an undisclosed quantity of illegally refined AGO. The vehicles and products have been handled in line with the subsisting operational mandate. While in Akwa, troops maintain the requisite operational posture to ward off criminal elements, the Army 6 Division spokesman stated. Speaking, the General Officer Commanding, 6 Division of the Nigerian Army, Major General Jamal Abdussalam, commended the determination of the troops and encouraged them to further increase their operational tempo. They were also tasked by Abdussalam with preventing criminal elementsespecially IPOB membersfrom gaining any traction in the Niger Delta. Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, has warned against creation of State and Community policing. The former governor of Rivers State, who was once a strong supporter of of the idea, stated that many State governors will politicize the idea. He added that the governors will be using the police to harass anyone who speaks against their administration. Advertisement Addressing newsmen on Sunday, Wike said that the adoption of state or community policing would birth autocratic governors in many states. He said: In Nigeria, what system do we run? Is Abuja different from Nigeria when you talk about the police? People have been recommending community policing and state police. READ MORE: Wike Vows To Prosecute Arrested Vandals, Buyers Of Manhole Covers In FCT Knowing where we are, and where we are from, if you allow that, so many people would not come out of their houses. So, I said lets try it first and see how it works. But so many people said theres no need to try, that we have seen that if they allow state policing today, nobody would oppose any state governor. It is either you would die for murder or for armed robbery. Our institutions are not such that are independent. Speaking o we his early support for State policing, Mr. Wike stated that Nigeria system is not strong enough to implement the idea. He added: The mere fact that I supported state police [when I was governor], if I was wrong, I was wrong. If I was right, I was right, he said. What we are saying is that our institutions are not strong to be independent of manipulation by the system. Nyesom Wike, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, has launched a scathing attack on Adolphus Wabara, the Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Partys Board of Trustees. Wike accused Wabara of fueling the crisis within the PDP, stating that he would have disowned Wabara if he were his father. Speaking during a media chat in Abuja on Sunday, Wike blamed the actions and utterances of some PDP leaders for the partys backwardness. Advertisement He specifically criticized the attempts to remove the Acting National Chairman, Umar Damagum, and the National Secretary, Sam Anyanwu, despite court rulings. READ ALSO: APCs Plot To Turn Nigeria Into One Party Statell Be Resisted PDPs Wabara Vows Wike emphasized, If Wabara were my father, I would have disowned him. He doesnt deserve to be a leader. No wonder Obasanjo made a presidential broadcast about his acts of corruption. He further stated, It doesnt bother me at all. The matter is in the hands of the courts, and the party constitution is clear. Some people are trying to manipulate the situation, but it will not succeed. The matter is in the courts, and we should respect the rule of law. Wike also stressed the importance of resolving issues within the Party, particularly with the upcoming convention. He advocated for the convention to take place as scheduled in December, allowing for the transition to a new executive. Former president Goodluck Jonathan has appealed to Nigerians to remain in their country and build it amid economic hardship. Jonathan urged Nigeria citizens to remain hopeful and committed to nation-building, emphasizing that the challenges facing the country are surmountable. The former president led this out over the weekend in Karu Local Government Area of Nasarawa State during the commissioning of the Soybean Plant and Refinery of the CSS Group and the birthday celebration of Prof. John Kennedy Opara, former Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Christian Pilgrims Commission (NCPC). Advertisement Addressing the audience, the Mr. Jonathan, while speaking over the ongoing trend of migration, popularly referred to as Japa, urged Nigerians to focus on developing their homeland. READ MORE: No One Becomes General Without Fighting Wars Jonathan To Gov Fubara He said: You dont need to Japa. Those countries you are running to were built by people. We must build this country together, and invest in it so that the youths can get jobs. We must not run away from our responsibilities. This country belongs to all of us, and we must not abandon it. Bayelsa State Governor Duoye Diri also emphasized on Jonathans message, urging Nigerians to remain optimistic about the countrys future. There is hope in Nigeria. So those who want to Japa, please, dont Japa. Nigeria is a blessed country. If we all key into what the private sector is doing, no one will Japa. An unidentified man has died while attempting to vandalise electrical cables on a transformer near Ribadu Square in Jimeta, Yola North Local Government Area of Adamawa State. SP Suleiman Nguroje, spokesperson for the Adamawa State Police Command, said in a statement on Sunday that the deceaseds body had been transferred to a hospital for examination. The police have initiated an inquiry to acquire additional information about the incident. Advertisement READ MORE: Ogun Police Arrest Teenager For Allegedly Stealing Roofing Sheets From Church The statement read: The Adamawa State Police Command, on 19th January 2025, discovered the body of an unidentified person at an electric transformer along Ribadu Square at about 6:00 AM. The individual was attempting to vandalise some electrical cables when part of his body came in contact with live electric current, causing an electric shock and severe injuries, leaving him unconscious. The Adamawa State Commissioner of Police, CP Dankombo Morris, has strongly warned the public to steer clear of electrical transformers. He also advised citizens to immediately report any suspicious behaviour or individuals seen loitering near such facilities to authorities so that appropriate action can be taken. The incident highlights the dangers of tampering with electrical systems, as well as the importance of increased attention in protecting public infrastructure. Ondo State Chapter of the Social Democratic Party has rejected the outcome of January 18th, 2025 Local Government elections in the state. The opposition party alleged widespread manipulation by the ruling All Progressives Congress. INFORMATION NIGERIA reports that SDPs reaction is coming, following results announcement by Chairman of Ondo State Independent Electoral Commission, Joseph Aremo on Sunday, declaring APC winner of 18 LGAs in the state. Advertisement In a statement on Monday, leader of thr opposition party in the state, Gbenga Akinbuli, decried the election as fraudulent, citing ballot stuffing, non-provision of critical electoral forms, and intimidation of opposition members. He added that the poll lacked credibility and called for its immediate cancellation. The statement reads: The ruling All Progressives Congress manipulated the exercise, which the good people of the state know was a massive selection, not an election. READ MORE: Ondo Gov Mocks PDP, Says Fear Of Losing LG Poll Responsible For Sudden Withdrawal The election should be cancelled based on the lack of credibility, non-provision of Form ECA, ballot stuffing, and the biased conduct of security personnel. We have video evidence showing a police officer allegedly supervising the harassment of our chairmanship candidate in Odigbo, Mr. Jimmy Akiyan, Akinbuli alleged, calling on the Inspector General of Police to investigate. A man identified as Nasiru Isiaka was reportedly killed during a cult clash on Sunday in Owo town, Owo Local Government Area of Ondo State. This incident occurred less than a week after four individuals were shot dead during a clash between two rival cult groups in the town. Reports indicate that during the clash on Sunday, the deceased was shot in the head by two masked men, suspected to be members of a rival group, in the LA Gbanasa area of the ancient town. Advertisement When contacted, Funmilayo Odunlami, the State Police Public Relations Officer, confirmed the occurrence and identified the deceased as a renowned cult member who was on the police commands wanted list. READ MORE: Two Arrested As NAFDAC Seals Abuja Pharmacy For Expired Drugs Sales The PPRO said, The command can confirm the murder of one Nasiru Isiaka, aged 40 years, a notorious cultist who has been on the police wanted list. The police at A Division, Owo, received a distress call today (Sunday) reporting that someone was shot at LA Gbanasa area of Owo by two masked men. On arriving at the scene, the police discovered that the deceased was a cultist who participated in the End SARS protests, attacked Uso Division, and stole an AK-47 rifle and a bulletproof vest belonging to the police. He was also involved in the killing of one Adedeji Rafiu, a.k.a. P.A. His remains have been deposited at the morgue. Odunlami stated that efforts were underway to apprehend the masked men who carried out the attack. Some properties worth millions of naira have been destroyed in a fire outbreak that occurred at a popular Vita foam store located on Ibrahim Taiwo Road, Kano State. It was gathered that the unfortunate incident happened on Sunday, around 6:30 PM. In a statement by Kano State Fire Services Spokesman, Saminu Yusif Abdullahi on Monday, disclosed that the command received an emergency call from one of its staff members, Idris Isah Charo, about the inferno. Advertisement He added that firefighters from several metropolitan stations were swiftly mobilized and arrived at the scene within minutes. The statement reads: On Sunday, January 19, 2025, at about 18:30 hrs, the state fire service control room received an emergency call from one of our staff, SFS Idris Isah Charo, informing us of a fire incident at Ibrahim Taiwo Road, Yan Kafifa Fagge LGA. READ MORE: Textile Shops Destroyed As Fire Ravages Popular Kano Market Shortly after receiving the distress call, the crew on duty from different fire stations within the metropolitan city of Kano were mobilised to the scene of the incident, but the victim was conveyed to the hospital for medical attention before the arrival of our men. On arrival at the scene of the incident at about 18:34 hrs, the firefighters discovered that a house, popularly known as Gidan Alhaji Muhammadu, Mai Katifa, about 100 x 100 ft, used as a mattress store, Vita from Plaza, caught fire from the last floor. This caused the burning of a mattress store, one shop and one toilet, which were all burnt to the upper floor. Pastor Idowu Iluyomade, the suspended pastor of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), City of David Parish, has established a new ministry in Lagos known as The Family Fellowship. A viral video shared on X Monday morning captured Iluyomade celebrating with members during the inaugural service of his new ministry, held at the Civic Centre, Victoria Island, Lagos. Advertisement The Sunday morning service was filled with joyous dancing and celebrations. READ MORE: EFCC Files Charges Against Former Mercy Chinwo Label Boss For Alleged Fraud In Judikays Earnings Iluyomade announced the launch of the new ministry on Instagram, extending an open invitation to the public to join the fellowship. He wrote, The Family Fellowship invites you specially. Join us tomorrow at the Civic Centre for a special time in the Lords presence. Promises to be a great experience. Iluyomade, who previously served as the senior pastor of City of David Parish, was suspended by the RCCG in 2024 following controversy over his wife, Pastor Siju, hosting a lavish 60th birthday celebration shortly after the tragic deaths of Herbert Wigwe, a prominent church member and former Access Bank CEO, along with his wife and son. The celebration, held just weeks after Wigwes passing in a helicopter crash in the United States, drew widespread criticism, with many deeming the timing insensitive. Wigwe, a major supporter of the church, had been instrumental in its growth before his untimely death. In response to the backlash, the RCCG Governing Council convened a panel to investigate the incident. Iluyomade and his wife were suspended for three months in June 2024 and then reassigned to worship at the churchs headquarters in Ebute Metta. The couples suspension became a topic of further discussion after they were excluded from attending the Wigwe familys funeral. The Iluyomades have now founded their own ministry to pursue their spiritual mission. See some reactions to the trending video Ayinke Ade wrote, This one has no remorse whatsoever Ogboye Official wrote, Called by God, suspended by man. Una well done Omoyeni Ojeifo wrote, This heavenly race. I no go really tire Jarvis Olamide wrote, They cant do nothing afterward because they know all they gotta do is brainwash people to drop money. They got their own lifestyle Emelda Ifeme2 wrote, Business must continue Precious Capable wrote, Business must be made A recent tanker explosion in Suleja, Niger State has prompted the Federal Government to take swift action. Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, disclosed on Sunday that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has ordered the immediate relocation of victims from Suleja General Hospital to tertiary health facilities. Idris stated that the move aims to provide prompt and improved medical care for the victims. Advertisement The Minister of Heath and the National Emergency Management Agency and all agencies of government will ensure that all these victims are immediately evacuated and taken to Intensive Care Unit of the immediate available tertiary institutions, he said. During a visit to the State, the minister expressed concern over the loss of lives and the need for emergency medical attention. READ ALSO: Japa: Stay In Your Country, Develop It Ex-President Jonathan, Gov Diri Beg Nigerians President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is deeply saddened by what has happened. He asked us to come here to see the situation, Idris said. The Minister also revealed that a high-powered committee has been set up to investigate the root and immediate causes of the incident and recommend effective solutions to prevent future occurrences. The President is really saddened by what has happened and he is worried to the extent that he has said that a high-powered committee is set up to look at these incidences, Idris explained. The committee comprises various stakeholders, including the Ministry of Information and National Orientation, Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, and the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA). TikTok has resumed operations in the United States after a short nationwide shutdown due to a federal ban, which raised national security concerns over its ownership by a Chinese company. The ban, implemented on Sunday, temporarily took TikTok offline, leaving more than 170 million users in the US unable to access the platform. The ban also resulted in the app being removed from Apple and Googles digital stores to comply with federal regulations. Advertisement However, Donald Trump, the United States president-elect, has committed to postpone the bans implementation through an executive order on his first day in office. READ MORE: TikTok Removed From US App Stores As Ban Takes Effect In a statement on X, TikTok appreciated Trump for providing the necessary clarity and assurance for service providers to support the app without fear of penalties. In agreement with our service providers, TikTok is in the process of restoring service. We thank President Trump for providing the necessary clarity and assurance to our service providers that they will face no penalties providing TikTok to over 170 million Americans and allowing over 7 million small businesses to thrive, the company said. Its a strong stand for the First Amendment and against arbitrary censorship. We will work with President Trump on a long-term solution that keeps TikTok in the United States. Reports indicate that some users were able to gain partial access to TikTok shortly after the announcement, though the app remains unavailable for download on Apple and Googles stores. Polytechnic workers across Nigeria are set to embark on a three-day warning strike from Wednesday, January 22, to Friday, January 24, 2025. The workers, under the Senior Staff Association of Nigeria Polytechnic (SSANIP), are protesting against the alleged marginalization of non-teaching staff members and the denial of their deserved career progression. In a letter dated January 14, addressed to the Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa, the unions secretary, Nura Gaya, stated that the warning strike has become necessary to emphasise our position concerning the ongoing plot by certain stakeholders to unjustly deprive Non-Teaching Staff of Polytechnics and Similar Institutions of their rightful progression to the peak of their careers. Advertisement Gaya emphasized that SSANIP has consistently championed the cause of equity and justice within the Polytechnic system and has repeatedly called for the implementation of career progression policies that accommodate both Teaching and Non-Teaching Staff. READ ALSO: Unpaid Salaries: Ondo Resident Doctors Embark On Indefinite Strike He further regretted that, previous engagements with relevant authorities have yielded little to no tangible results, and the current machinations against Non-Teaching Staff represents a direct affront to these efforts. Gaya noted that the strike is, therefore, a warning to underscore the seriousness of our grievances and our unwavering commitment to ensuring that Non-Teaching Staff are not marginalized or denied their deserved career progression which if heeded will not in any way be a deprivation to the Teaching Staff as both category of workers have distinct salary structure. The union stated it remains open to constructive dialogue and hopes that the matter will be resolved amicably to avert further disruptions in the polytechnic system. The Nigerian presidency has condemned the Conservative Party leader, Kemi Badenoch, for her disparaging remarks about Nigeria. Badenoch, who was born in Nigeria, has been critical of her country of origin, saying she doesnt want Britain to be like Nigerias terrible government that destroys lives. In response, Daniel Bwala, Special Adviser to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Policy Communications, on Sunday, expressed disappointment over Badenochs comments. Advertisement I truly wish that sister Kemi Badenoch would avoid denigrating Nigeria, the country of her origin, as a weapon to please her far-right base, Bwala wrote on X. READ ALSO: I Dont Want Britain To Be Poor Like Nigeria, My Wealthy Family Became Poorer There Because Of Terrible Govt Kemi Badenoch Bwala noted that Rishi Sunak, the former UK Prime Minister, never used his country of origin, India, to score political points. Rishi Sunak never weaponized the gang rape and other vices in India; the country of his origin just so he would impressed the far right base. She is smart, intelligent, and we are proud of her rise in the politics of the UK; but we are equally saddened by her terrible rhetoric against Nigeria, Bwala added. The Nigerian presidencys reaction comes after Badenochs speech at an event organized by Onward, a British think tank, where she emphasized the need for trust-building in Britain, warning that the UK could become like Nigeria if its system is not reformed. Nyesom Wike, Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), has taken Arise News Channel to task over its reporting, emphasizing the importance of accurate and proper interpretation of news. This took place during ministerial media chat on Sunday, while responding to an Arise News Channels correspondents reference to the Supreme Courts ruling that the FCT holds the status of a State. Wike addressed the reference, clarifying that the interpretation was specific to elections and did not officially designate the FCT as a State. Advertisement He criticized the channel for spreading misinformation, saying That is why in your station, you carry wrong stories. According to him, What the Supreme Court interpreted as FCT having the status of a state is proven by elections. They have the status in elections. The Minister also highlighted the distinction between the FCT and states, noting that the FCT is not a member of the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) and does not receive allocations like states do. Because FCT is not a state, that is why it is not a member of FAAC. It does not collect from the Federation Account. We only take from what the federal government takes, which is 1%, he said. Wike further admonished the Arise News correspondent, urging him to relay the Supreme Courts interpretation correctly. READ ALSO: God Has Given Me Good Health Wike Dispels Health Challenge Rumours So when you are saying the Supreme Court interpreted, give the proper interpretation. And thats why when I see what you people do in your station, I say, where are these people coming from? Political interpretation that FCT is seen as a state does not mean that FCT is a state. The exchange intensified when the correspondent argued that the constitution designates the President as both the President and Governor of the FCT. Wike countered sharply, How can one person be the President and the Governor at the same time? No, no, no, Mr. Arise, answer the question, he charged. Asked about President Bola Tinubus commendation of his work as FCT Minister, Wike dismissed the question as being laced with mischief. Ask yourself the question, how would you feel if your boss says he is satisfied with your work? Even though the question was mischievously asked by Arise, with all due respect, thats how we will kill journalism, he added. The former Rivers State Governor also criticized Arise News anchor Dr. Reuben Abati for accusing him of land-grabbing during a presidential media chat with President Bola Tinubu. Wike claimed that Abati was embarrassed after the President addressed the issue, saying To the Glory of God, he was embarrassed, and after Mr. President answered, he couldnt ask any more questions. He was embarrassed shamelessly. Notorious terrorist leader, Bello Turji is currently on the run after a fierce battle with troops of Operation Fansan Yamma in Zamfara. The military operation, which took place on January 17, resulted in the killing of Turjis son and several other terrorists. According to a statement by the Director Defence Media Operations, Major General Edward Buba, the troops carried out a coordinated operation along the Shinkafi, Kagara, Fakai, Moriki, Maiwa, and Chindo axis. Advertisement The operation not only resulted in the killing of Turjis son but also destroyed the terrorists logistics hub and rescued several kidnapped hostages. The statement added that The terrorist leader, Bello Turji, in a gross cowardly act escaped abandoning his son and combatants. READ ALSO: Hes A Dead Man Walking Military Threatens To Eliminate Bello Turji This development comes after news of the deaths of Turjis son and loyalists circulated in the Arewa community, eliciting excitement among many. In a related development, the troops also destroyed another terrorist camp known as Idi Mallam along Zango Kagara Forest. During the encounter, the troops neutralized three terrorists and arrested three suspected collaborators. The military also recovered two machine guns, one AK47 Rifle, and rescued 61 rustled cattle and 44 sheep. The military has assured that Troops are sustaining the onslaught against the terrorist. Overall, troops continue to demonstrate commitment to the safety and protection of all citizens across the country. A 77-year-old North Philadelphia woman was stabbed by a son who then barricaded himself in her apartment for almost two hours Sunday morning, police said. Officers got a call about a man armed with a knife assaulting a woman inside an apartment on the 1200 block of Fairmount Avenue around 9:30 a.m. When police arrived at the scene, the victims 54-year-old son had a knife and refused to leave the apartment, police said. The standoff escalated to a barricade situation at 10:10 a.m. Medics were able to access the victim and take her to Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, where she was reported in stable condition Sunday afternoon with a stab wound to the shoulder, police said. Shortly after 11:30 a.m., police took her son into custody and recovered the knife used to stab her, police said. He sustained minor injuries, according to police, who did not specify how or what type. He was taken to Pennsylvania Hospital for treatment, police said. Central Detectives are investigating. No charges had been reported filed as of Sunday afternoon. Philadelphia police say an officer was hit by a person driving a car outside Lincoln Financial Field Sunday night around the end of the Eagles playoff game against the Los Angeles Rams. Read more A person driving a car outside Lincoln Financial Field around the time the Eagles playoff game against the Los Angeles Rams ended hit a Philadelphia police officer Sunday night, police said. The officer, assigned to the traffic division, was struck at around 5:57 p.m. at 1000 Pattison Ave., police said in a statement. Police described the car only as a civilian vehicle. The officer was taken to Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in an ambulance. Police had made one arrest in the case, but did not provide any additional details on the crash or the officers condition. The Thomas Jefferson Windsor chair is shown at the American Philosophical Society. The chair is going to be one of the items for a Declarations Journey exhibit that will also feature the metal prison bench on which the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. drafted his famous Letter from a Birmingham Jail. Read more When envisioning its major exhibition marking the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence in 2026, the Museum of the American Revolution sought out objects that represent the documents enduring power, complexity, and unfilled promise. Two of those items, the museum said on Monday, will be the plain, old-fashioned chair that Thomas Jefferson used while drafting the Declaration in Philadelphia in 1776, and the hard metal prison bench from which the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. composed his famous Letter from a Birmingham Jail in 1963. Advertisement Two very different pieces of seating furniture that grapple with important moments in American history, said senior curator of the Revolution Museum, Matthew Skic. A direct way of prompting that the American Revolution, as we see it today, the experiment in liberty, equality, and self-government sparked in the 18th century, is unfinished and yet enduring. The museums announcement represents the first details of its acquisitions for The Declarations Journey, running from Oct. 18 through Jan. 3, 2027, and billed as one of the key public events in Phillys celebration of Americas Semiquincentennial. The museum also announced additional grant funding for the long-planned exhibit, including a combined $600,000 from the Pew Center for Arts & Heritage, the Philadelphia Funder Collaborative for the Semiquincentennial, and the National Endowment for the Humanities. Four years in the making, The Declarations Journey will include about 100 other objects exploring how the Declaration inspired revolutions and freedom movements through the centuries and how leaders from Frederick Douglas to King and Eleanor Roosevelt to Harvey Milk deployed its powerful words in fights for rights. But it will be the chair and the bench that first greet visitors. Artists have long explored the powerful link between Jefferson and King. Most notably on the National Mall, where Kings monument gazes across the Tidal Basin at the Jefferson Memorial. The exhibit will represent the first time the two iconic relics have ever been displayed side-by-side We want this juxtaposition to be a signpost that this exhibition is not just a story about 1776, Skic said. It begins in 1776, but then shows the journey that the Declaration has symbolically gone on. Built from poplar and mahogany and other woods, the Windsor chair is believed to be the one Jefferson used in his Market Street boardinghouse during that hot and world-changing summer of 1776. He then brought the chair back to his Monticello home, where he eventually altered it to include a swivel and writing arm. After Jefferson died in 1826, his eldest daughter eventually gave the chair to a Philly lawyer, and later attorney general of Pennsylvania, John Kintzing Kane. He then donated the chair to the American Philosophical Society, across from Independence Hall, where it has since been housed. The APS will loan the chair to the Revolution Museum until March 2026, when it will be replaced by another chair owned by Jefferson, and displayed back at the APS. It was the height of the Civil Rights Movement in 1963 when King sat down to write on the simple steel prison bench. He had gone to Birmingham to lead a new campaign of nonviolent resistance and boycotts, and expected to be jailed. He penned his famous missive during a weeklong prison stay, first on margins of newspaper and scraps of papers from guards, and then a writing pad supplied by his lawyer. In the open letter, King hearkens back to Jeffersons own words, arguing that people have a moral responsibility to break unjust laws and to take direct action rather than waiting for justice. The two objects make for a remarkable juxtaposition, said Michelle McDonald, director of the American Philosophical Societys Library & Museum. It brings this idea of 18th-century promise, incomplete promise, and puts it next to King and the 20th century Civil Rights Movement, she said. And that was what Martin Luther King and the Civil Rights movement was an absolute reckoning of taking the same language, the same ideals, and saying, but now its time to make good. Roosevelt Poplar, president of the Philadelphia Fraternal Order of Police, speaks during a news conference in 2023 introducing then-new Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel. Read more When Philadelphias police union was negotiating its last contract in 2021, calls to abolish and defund the police still echoed across the city. The national reckoning over police brutality in the wake of George Floyds murder had not yet stalled. City Council voted 16-1 in May of that year to create a new civilian watchdog group to investigate police misconduct. Advertisement Even so, the resulting police contract that summer included significant raises for Philly cops with only modest changes to the officer disciplinary process. Now, the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 5 is returning to the negotiating table with a new wish list for 2025: More money, less oversight. In addition to standard contract requests such as pay raises and a more favorable vacation policy the police union is seeking to roll back transparency and accountability measures that predate the COVID-19 pandemic and civil unrest of 2020. The FOP, for instance, wants to end the police departments nearly 10-year-old policy of releasing the names of most officers involved in shootings. It also wants to prevent the Citizens Police Oversight Commission (CPOC) from investigating police misconduct. And it wants to restrict outside access to currently available records such as those detailing how fired officers return to the force through the once-secretive grievance arbitration process. Roosevelt Poplar, president of the FOP in Philadelphia, told his members last month that the package of proposals fairly compensates you for your stellar job performance and accurately reflects the sacrifices that you and your families make on a daily basis, according to a statement posted on the unions website. READ MORE: Citizens Police Oversight Commission pushes for more investigative power as Philly prepares to negotiate FOP contract The FOP also wants officers to be able to live in New Jersey and Delaware, and for the city to provide a 10-year, $100,000 interest-free loan to any officer who purchases a home in Philadelphia. For each year of service, the city would forgive $10,000 of the loan, the union has proposed. For its part, city officials want all new officers to live in Philadelphia; give CPOC the power to conduct independent investigations of officers; and make changes to the Heart and Lung disability program that has been widely abused by police officers and was the subject of an Inquirer investigation. Police are now working under a one-year extension to the 2021 contract. The extension included a 5% raise and runs through June 2025. Both the FOP and city officials declined to comment on negotiations. The FOP will likely have more leverage this year than in 2021 because the department remains understaffed and cannot afford to lose more officers: It is funded for about 6,380 officers but employs only about 5,000. The local and national political environment is also more favorable to police today, with the 2023 election of Mayor Cherelle L. Parker, who ran on a law-and-order platform, and police reform initiatives around the country having largely fallen short. Advocates for stronger police oversight in Philadelphia are concerned that the FOP is seeking to push its advantage to chip away at public transparency requirements. On the one hand, they got to represent their membership and push as far as they can. But at the expense of what? asked Michael Mellon, colead of the Police Accountability Unit at the Defender Association of Philadelphia. Its at the expense of transparency and the public knowing whats going on with the police department and its officers. Keeping records in the dark Under the privacy and family safety section of the FOP proposals, the union is seeking to prevent the city from releasing police personnel records that are otherwise covered by an exemption in the Right-to-Know Law. In 2019, The Inquirer obtained 170 previously confidential police arbitration opinions and settlements through that state public-records law. The newspapers Fired, then rehired investigation showed that the FOP had been successful in overturning or reducing police discipline about 70% of the time since 2011. City lawyers stated then that such records are exempt from disclosure under the Right-to-Know Law, but that then-Mayor Jim Kenneys administration agreed to waive the exemption because there was a strong public interest in disclosure. READ MORE: Inside the once-secret misconduct files of 27 Philadelphia police officers Today, the city routinely releases those arbitration records. But the FOP is seeking to stop the city from waiving those exemptions. If successful, Mellon said, that could mean a return to the days when problem cops fired by the police commissioner sometimes repeatedly were quietly reinstated with no explanation. No one knew what was happening or the reasoning, Mellon recalled. The FOP also wants to stop the police department from providing officer disciplinary records to any outside entity, including the district attorneys office and any civilian review board or commission, without new standards approved by the union. The identities of police officers involved in shootings would remain confidential unless they are charged criminally, under the FOPs contract proposals. That would reverse a policy that then-Commissioner Charles Ramsey instituted in 2015 under which the names are typically released within 72 hours. Devontae Torriente, a legal fellow at the National Police Accountability Project who has researched Philadelphia police reform efforts, said some of the unions proposed restrictions around public records would amount to setting us back decades. The public cant effectively oversee and provide accountability to the police department if it doesnt know whats going on, he said. Its a critical part of the understanding to know what offenses and patterns exist. Fear of losing more police Last week, 10 City Council members sent a letter to Parker urging her administration to enshrine CPOCs investigatory power in the new FOP contract. The letter called the citizen commission essential to addressing generations of eroding trust around the police department. But Joseph Giacalone, a retired New York Police Department sergeant and adjunct criminal justice professor at Pennsylvania State Universitys Lehigh Valley campus, said Council members need to acknowledge that the FOP has the upper hand. If they didnt watch the last presidential election closely, where blue cities turned purple, I think theyre in for a rude awakening, Giacalone said. READ MORE: The Philly Police Department is short 1,300 officers. Heres why the situation is about to get worse. Giacalone said the next FOP contract needs to be generous enough to prevent more officers from leaving. He also questioned the effectiveness of citizen oversight boards, which have a mixed record around the country. Many members, he argued, dont have the law enforcement or tactical experience to effectively investigate police officers. Theyll ask why you had to shoot him in the chest, and why didnt you shoot him in the leg, Giacalone said. They watch too many episodes of CSI: Miami. Councilmember Curtis Jones Jr., who authored the CPOC legislation and signed the letter last week to Parker, said he was open to compromise. Jones said he considered the current FOP leadership under Poplar to be more flexible than in the past. It was not unreasonable, Jones argued, for the union to want to shield the identities of officers involved in shootings while they are under investigation. They have a job to do to defend their members, Jones said. We cant be overly harsh, but we cant live in a society that does not have consequences. As for giving CPOC the power to investigate cops, Jones told a Parker administration official at a Council hearing in November that it is nonnegotiable and needs to be included in the FOP contract. Dont come back here without that, he said. CPOC now has a seat at the contract negotiating table, said agency executive director Tonya McClary. While negotiations have just begun, McClary said the FOPs initial proposals represent a significant step back for police reform initiatives, some of which had already been litigated years ago. It really does undermine transparency, she said. To be honest with you, its a little alarming. TikTok went dark for over 12 hours and many fans of the social media site in Philadelphia werent happy. The short-lived drought of lip-synced videos and makeup tutorials came after the company voluntarily shut down its app in the United States on Saturday night, after a Supreme Court ruling that upheld a congressional ban passed last year. Advertisement Forcing Chinese-based parent company ByteDance to sell the social media platform became a major talking point for Republicans, who cast it as a Trojan horse for spying or the dissemination of propaganda. Attempts to access TikTok, which has about 170 million users in the United States, resulted in an error message acknowledging the ban. But the ban proved temporary at least for now. As of Sunday afternoon, TikTok announced it would restore its U.S. services based on President-elect Donald Trumps promised executive order. Welcome back! Thanks for your patience and support. As a result of President Trumps efforts, TikTok is back in the U.S.! a message now reads upon opening the app. Yet even the temporary suspension of service evoked a mixture of anger to indifference from six Philadelphians interviewed Sunday morning. Heres what they had to say about their brief TikTok-less lives: Eric Melton, Germantown, student Any other morning Eric Melton, 18, would have been scrolling through TikTok until his bus arrived at the corner of Chelten and Wayne Avenues. But Saturday night a pop-up appeared on the app. It was like Sorry, TikTok isnt available right now, and I went, Oh! Its back to Instagram, I guess, Melton said, discarding competing short-form video site RedNote as an alternative. As the hours went by, a sense of loss set in. Everybody went to TikTok during COVID. It was like a little app that we all kind of came together on and now they shut it down, Melton said. This feels kind of like a culture shutdown. YouTube shorts and Instagram reels served him as an alternative in the hours since the ban. But, they werent even enough to capture the teenagers attention for a full morning. Eventually he switched to listening to music while he waited for a bus. I think I am better off putting all that time into crochet; I am making a little green blanket for my girlfriend, she doesnt know it yet, Melton said. But, I hope TikTok comes back for sure. James Brown, South Philadelphia, student James Brown, walking past Smith Recreation Center, estimated he had regularly used the app for about a year. Still, he was angry. It hurt seeing it go down, said the 22-year-old from South Philadelphia. He was frustrated he couldnt even access existing videos he had saved to watch later. And Brown said he felt like he was being cut off from a valuable resource. I use it for informational stuff, he said. Especially cooking and learning little hacks, stuff like that. Ariel Baumet, Germantown, educator Ariel Baumet hasnt been on TikTok since the end of COVID quarantine, but she was living the ban through her teenage daughters eyes. Its important to validate their feelings, Baumet said. People have a hard time with it because theyve really built communities through this platform, its almost like they are grieving. The apps endless, fast-paced scroll was incompatible with the teachers lengthy attention span. But she still understood how the ban could trigger negative emotions in users nationwide. They have authentic connections through this platform that if youre not on [TikTok] you may not understand fully. Its OK to feel pretty bad about losing that, Baumet said. And for folks not affected by the ban, its a good time to practice empathy, she added. Denise Ross, South Philadelphia, parent Denise Ross, waiting for a bus in Point Breeze, had never even used TikTok. But she still felt the aftereffects of the ban through her two teenage children. They were livid. Theyre really upset about it. They used it every day, she said. While some proponents saw the ban as having the positive side effect of forcing youths off their phones and back to real life, Ross doesnt share that view. That dont bother me, she said of their daily use of the app. They enjoy it, it makes them happy. But Ross also said she thought the ramifications of the ban, even temporary, would be more far-reaching than annoyed teens. Its going to be a big thing. Theres a lot of people who go on there to make money, she said. A lot of people are going to be very disappointed. Zane Foggie, Germantown, student Zane Foggie was shocked when he couldnt unwind scrolling through TikTok on Saturday night. I thought I had more time on the app, Foggie said with a note of sorrow. As a teenager, he was used to spending about four hours a day on the app, particularly watching viral dances he didnt dare to re-create, but found amusing. Yet, that is not what he expected to miss the most. It gave me easy access to a lot of information, and it just made things more convenient, Foggie said. TikTok opened my eyes to just different forms of life and different ways people can express themselves. Seeing this diversity from a young age made him more willing to get to know and listen to people with different interests than his own, Foggie said. The ban made him reconsider spending so much time online. I should probably just reinvent myself and find more hobbies, Foggie said. Molly Thornton and Korey Turner, Germantown, interior designer and small-business owner, respectively Molly Thornton used to wake up and look for fashion and design inspiration on TikTok, until the app didnt let her Sunday morning. I was a little upset at first, but I feel like overall it would be better for my well-being since I wont spend as much time on my phone, said the interior designer. I am going to probably read more now, spend more time in my career, maybe even do pilates. Her boyfriend, Korey Turner, on the other hand, was saddened to see small businesses left without a main platform. As a small-business owner, I realized how much this is going to affect small businesses, Turner said, hoping traffic generated by TikTok users moving to Instagram reels would get other small businesses discovered on the photo app. As the pair headed to the grocery store Sunday morning to find a new post-TikTok normal, they also said no to alternatives like RedNote, due to the language barrier. Both said they hoped the ban would be short. I think theyre going to plan to bring TikTok back so Im kind of holding out for that, Thornton said. Whats next? Trump has already signaled his support for a resolution to the conflict over the social media platform. The restoration of service followed a series of posts from Trump indicating he was amenable to a 90-day grace period. SAVE TIKTOK, Trump posted on the social media site X on Saturday. Yet the more long-term solution is hazier. Proponents of the ban have pushed for a sale, while Trump even floated the idea of the U.S. taking a 50% ownership stake in the app. Foggie, the teen from Northwest Philadelphia, predicted a similar outcome even before the service came back online. Watch Trump come to office, reinstate it, and then take all the credit for it, he said Sunday morning. Where Martin Luther King Jr. believed in fulfilling the promises of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, Donald Trump has consistently sought to undermine the republic in ways great and small, writes Helen Ubinas. Read more Since the U.S. first began observing a federal holiday to honor Martin Luther King Jr. in 1986, the day has twice overlapped with a public presidential inauguration: Bill Clinton in 1997 and Barack Obama in 2013. It will happen again Monday when convicted criminal Donald Trump is sworn in a second time. Advertisement If it wasnt a cruel calendar coincidence, Id swear the universe was messing with us. On a day meant to honor one mans dream for America, well also be ushering in the nightmare of another. Where King envisioned a nation where people are judged by the content of their character, not the color of their skin or their background, Trump was sued for racial discrimination in the 1970s, called for the execution of four innocent Black and Latino teenagers in the 1980s, and has continued to perpetuate discriminatory actions throughout his life and in his presidency. Where King believed in fulfilling the promises of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, which he called great wells of democracy, Trump who was impeached twice has consistently sought to undermine the republic in ways great and small, including by abusing his office for personal gain, using law enforcement to clear protesters so he could hold up a Bible for a photo op, and trying to overturn the 2020 election. Where Kings vision was rooted in the American dream, in liberty and justice for all, Trumps is fueled by pettiness, vengeance, division, and flagrant inequality of justice in action. Ten days before his inauguration, Trump was sentenced to an unconditional discharge, meaning he faced no penalties, for hush-money payments to an adult film star before the 2016 election. And so, instead of walking into a jail cell, Trump who has threatened to be a dictator on Day One of his second term will take the nations center stage, where he is expected to sign several executive orders that include: Starting mass deportations of migrants. Ending birthright citizenship to target children born of undocumented immigrants. Reinstating travel bans. Rolling back Biden administration policies on, well, almost everything. Reshaping the federal government by firing federal employees he considers his enemies within. Pardoning patriots criminals who were convicted for their role in the insurrection he incited at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. The convergence of dates a collision between the dreamer and the schemer has been called many things: An insult, a mockery. A cruel twist of fate. A cosmic joke on the same level as Trump comparing himself, and his crowd sizes, with King. When I called on the Rev. Mark Kelly Tyler, the former pastor of Mother Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church, he wasted no time characterizing the juxtaposition as deeply disturbing. Tyler was one of the Philadelphians I sought out ahead of Novembers election to talk about how we might best cope with the possibility of a Trump 47 presidency. I turned to him again on the eve of Trumps second inauguration to talk about how some are choosing to cope or not with the dueling dates, from choosing to celebrate King on a different day to spending Monday in service instead of stress-watching the surreal spectacle. What a blow to what could have been. Imagine, if you will, the imagery and inspiration if, on this MLK Day, we were inaugurating our first Black woman and person of South Asian descent to the presidency. A dream deferred. But not lost, Tyler reminded me. Never lost. Tyler, a historian, said in these challenging days, he is reminded of other setbacks including the end of Reconstruction in 1877 after the inauguration of the 19th president, Rutherford B. Hayes. Progress may have rolled back, but it wasnt permanently halted. In one of his more popular speeches, which he delivered in 1965 on the steps of the Alabama state Capitol at the end of the march from Selma, King famously said, The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice. And yet, this year I found myself drawn more to one of his later works. Just before he was shot and killed in 1968, King wrote his fourth and final book, Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community? at a low point in his activism amid uncertainty about the movements future and a nation deeply embroiled in the Vietnam War. It is a question as relevant today as it was back then. Its been long too long that the nation has waited to fulfill Kings dream. And I can imagine that for a lot of younger people for whom the 1960s might as well be the 1700s, this might all sound like magical thinking as the world burns. But while the road and personalities may change, the direction doesnt. Forward, Tyler plainly said. There is no going backward, he added. There is no standing still. Forward may not be as fast as it would have been under a different president, but we march forward nonetheless. On this MLK Day especially, may the message of resilience and resistance ring louder than any coming from the Capitol in Washington. President-elect Donald Trump promised increased immigration restrictions and a closed border in the campaign that made him president. His inauguration on Monday could immediately usher in major policy changes that will have ramifications locally. Trump has pledged to quickly issue a series of orders to toughen and expand federal immigration enforcement by deporting millions of undocumented immigrants, jailing migrant families, repealing birthright citizenship, and targeting sanctuary cities like Philadelphia. Advertisement People familiar with one plan told NBC News that Trump intends a major policy reversal concerning ICE, freeing the enforcement agency to arrest immigrants in places where agents have been officially dissuaded from taking action, including churches, schools, and hospitals. While its unclear exactly who might be targeted, the scope, or how the government would carry out large-scale operations, advocates are already bracing for potential impact. All of a sudden, the shackles are really off, said Cris Ramon, senior adviser on immigration for UnidosUS, the national Latino civil rights organization in Washington. Youre really expanding the ability of ICE to do a lot more enforcement. Its going to put a lot of lives in a precarious situation. Trumps immediate actions will likely be a series of executive orders to bolster Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials to send a message that the border is closed, according to reporting from Politico. He has promised an unprecedented campaign to kick out those who lack legal permission to be in the United States about 13 million people, roughly the population of Pennsylvania. Experts who study immigration say that would be difficult to accomplish, requiring billions in tax dollars and an unrivaled government mobilization to remove several times the number of all those currently held in American jails and prisons. At the same time, they say, even partial Trump-administration success could cause huge disruption, not only to those who would be arrested and detained, but to the economy and to American civic life as millions of workers, neighbors, and family members are sent out of the country. An immediate local target would be the 47,000 undocumented people in Philadelphia, part of 153,000 statewide. An additional 440,000 live in New Jersey. Councilmember Rue Landau is already planning a Trump Preparedness Hearing on Wednesday to explore Philadelphias readiness and commitment to protecting immigrant, LGBTQ+, and other marginalized communities in preparation for the impending Trump administration. Pro-immigrant groups in the Philadelphia region have been preparing for a second Trump presidency since the November election and some say they intend to be more strategic this time around. During Trumps first term, his threats around immigration could quickly propel people into the streets to protest. Often those threats were empty. But the response tied up and exhausted those who opposed his policies. Now, said Jasmine Rivera, executive director of the Pennsylvania Immigration Coalition, an advocacy group, were focusing on solutions how to disrupt this deportation machine. Last month the coalition helped organize a demonstration for migrants that temporarily blocked traffic at the foot of the Ben Franklin Bridge and saw 13 protesters taken into police custody. Several Philadelphia groups have planned local events to counter Trumps inauguration with music, prayer, and protest. And District Attorney Larry Krasner has warned he would not hesitate to charge ICE officers with crimes if they should violate the law while taking official action. We are simply not going to allow the abuse of authority, hate crimes, activity that endangers children in violation of laws in Pennsylvania, he said last month. Krasners comments revealed the challenge to those who seek to resist uncertainty around the level of aggressive immigration enforcement that Trump intends to mount. The president-elect confirmed he plans to try to use the U.S. military to carry out deportations, the first domestic deployment of troops under the Insurrection Act since the 1992 Los Angeles riots, Politico reported. Will Philadelphia remain a sanctuary city? Trump has said he wants to punish sanctuary cities, places that limit their cooperation with federal immigration authorities if they refuse to help carry out deportations. Thats become a contentious issue in Philadelphia, where Mayor Cherelle L. Parker has passed up chances to firmly reassert the citys position. The Parker administration says its focused on improving public safety and quality of life for Philadelphians, not on responding to Trumps rhetoric. It says the citys 2016 executive order directing its workers to respond to judicial warrants, not to ICE-issued detainers to hold immigrants in custody, remains in place. But that message from Parker sparked protest from immigrant allies in Philadelphia and contrasted not only with some Democratic leaders in other cities but with her predecessor, former Mayor Jim Kenney. The Kenney administration fought and won a major federal lawsuit in 2018 over Trumps effort to make local police help enforce federal immigration laws, kicked ICE out of a database it believed the agency was using to find undocumented people, and barred city employees from asking residents about their immigration status. This is not a time for lack of clarity, in terms of actions or intention, Erika Guadalupe Nunez, executive director of the Latino advocacy group Juntos, told The Inquirer last month. She needs to say it. In Washington, Republicans have already initiated legislation to crack down on illegal immigration. U.S. Rep. Dan Meuser (R., Pa.) said Trump, with the help of Congress, will in short order deliver on promises that returned him to the White House. Asked about fears that those policies could target undocumented immigrants living in the country for decades who have not committed crimes aside from entering illegally, Meuser scoffed. Theres not going to be anything scary. Its gonna start with criminals. Its gonna start with those that we know are here that are engaged in criminal acts, he said. Its just going to go back to how immigration was handled for the last 100 years, up until maybe 15 or 20 years ago. Democrats have shown more willingness to back GOP-led immigration bills that target undocumented immigrants accused of committing crimes. The Laken Riley Act cleared its last major hurdle Friday and will likely become the first major immigration bill passed by Congress after Trump is sworn in. An initial version of the bill, which passed the House with the support of 48 Democrats last week, would require undocumented immigrants accused of crimes as minor as theft to be held by ICE and face possible deportation. Democrats opposing that bill have warned that it could have tragic consequences for undocumented immigrants falsely accused of crimes and give outsized power to local attorneys general. Some of those same Democrats worry about what Trumps impending orders could mean for their constituents. We know theres an effort to scare people and we fully expect in the days following inauguration that were going to see some headline-grabbing enforcement action, said U.S. Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon (D., Pa.). But Scanlon cautioned that mass deportations would require Congress to approve billions of dollars in funding and urged constituents not to panic. Breathe. Take a deep breath. Dont freak out, Scanlon said. We have wonderful, wonderful advocacy groups in the Philadelphia region who can help people understand what their rights are, and were just gonna try to navigate it as humanely and rationally as we can. The pilgrimage to Washington ahead of Inauguration Day is underway, with many capturing the significance in photos despite a gloomy weather backdrop Sunday. Read more WASHINGTON President-elect Donald Trumps decision to move his inaugural ceremonies inside will protect thousands from the dangerous cold but it also means most people bound for here wont be able to attend the festivities. Trump announced on Friday that the swearing-in would move from the steps of the Capitol, where risers and a huge stage had already been erected, into the Capitol Rotunda given temperatures as low as 15 degrees slated for Monday. Advertisement I dont want people hurt or injured in any way, he posted on Truth Social. Its the first time the ceremony wont take place outside of the Capitol since 1985 when Ronald Reagan moved his second inaugural inside. The Joint Inaugural Committee said Saturday that due to the change, the vast majority of ticketed guests will not be able to attend the ceremonies in person. Only people who had tickets to the presidential platform and members of Congress can attend in person, the committee said. We strongly suggest people who are in Washington for the event attend other indoor events at indoor venues of their choice to watch the inauguration, the committee said. More than 200,000 tickets were issued for the inaugural celebration when it was outside and for the parade, which would have wound from the Capitol to the White House. Now the parade and a livestreamed watch party have been moved to the Capital One Arena, which has a capacity of 20,000. Sen. Dave McCormick (R., Pa.) posted on X on Sunday that the Capital One Arena will open at 7 a.m. Monday and access will be on a first-come basis. Members of Congress who get several hundred tickets each to give to constituents were instructed to tell ticket holders those tickets are now commemorative, since the majority wont be granted access. In an email to House offices, the House sergeant-at-arms asked that constituents be told their tickets will no longer get them access to watch the proceedings in person. Because of the cold weather, the inauguration will be held inside at the Capitol Rotunda. Tickets won in our office lottery are now commemorative and cant be used to attend the ceremony, U.S. Rep. Chrissy Houlahan (D., Pa.) posted on X. Mary Gay Scanlon, a Democrat who represents parts of Delaware County, said Friday shortly after the decision was made that her office had given out about 250 tickets that were no longer valid. U.S. Rep. Dan Meuser (R., Pa.) said Friday his office fielded 2,000 requests for about 200 tickets. Pennsylvanians worked very hard to get the win in Pennsylvania, Meuser said Friday, noting help by 10,000 plus volunteers, including people that were never involved in politics before. And its reflected in how many people we have coming down from Pennsylvania, he said. Joseph Soliziz, a lawyer for the oil and gas industry, came up from Houston after getting tickets for the inauguration. His plan now was to try and get into the Capital One Arena by getting there bright and early Monday. But he said his spirits werent dampened. The atmosphere is so positive, he said at Union Station after buying a new Trump 47 ball cap. Lori Boddy, 66, and Marjorie Shelp, 72, friends from South Carolina, took photos in rain that was turning to hail outside of the Capitol. We were really, really disappointed and at first I thought like, do we even go? Boddy said. But were going to the Palmetto Ball and a watch party, and just being in D.C. when this is happening, I could cry just talking about it. Shelp, who is originally from Quakertown but moved to South Carolina four years ago, said coming to Washington was about showing support for Trump, whose campaign she volunteered with. You know he wanted his people here with him, she said. Hes fought long and hard to get here. Adman clears sidewalk on southeast corner of Allegheny Avenue and North 22nd Street Monday morning after Sunday's snowfall, which was the city's biggest of the season so far. Read more Some Alaskans evidently left their freezer doors open. Whatever the explanation, Philadelphians and much of the nation are experiencing one pervasive and impressive cold spell. Advertisement One measure of the power and coverage of the Arctic air mass that could drive temperatures to near zero in the Philly region this week, is the fact that a winter storm warning was in effect Tuesday and Wednesday for New Orleans and the Gulf Coast, where some areas were under blizzard warnings. It may end up being a historic winter storm for some of those areas, said Marc Chenard, senior forecaster at NOAAs Weather Prediction Center. Meanwhile, temperatures in Anchorage, Alaska, were averaging almost 11 degrees above normal in January through Sunday, when it got all the way to 35 degrees. Philadelphia is unlikely to see 35 until the weekend, and on Monday, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware were among more than 35 states from the Rockies to the Atlantic Coast that were under a weather service cold weather advisory. Lows even in the city are forecast to fall into the single digits Wednesday, with below-zero wind chills, the National Weather Service says. Highs might not reach 20 Tuesday and Wednesday. The Philadelphia School District will operate on a two-hour delay Tuesday, as will Archdiocesan elementary schools in the city. READ MORE: Philly schools will have a delayed opening on Tuesday Expect several days of so-called black ice, as the daytime melt refreezes on paved surfaces, something that was evident late Monday afternoon. Melting occurs at temperatures well below freezing: The late-January sun is more powerful than probably most people realize. What are the chances that Philly hits zero for the first time since 1994? Its not impossible that temperatures at Philadelphia International Airport make a run at hitting zero for the first time in 31 years, said Alex Staarmann, meteorologist at the weather service Mount Holly office. However, that is a long shot. The likelihood of that happening would have been higher had five or six inches of refrigerating snow landed Sunday, he said, but the official total was two inches, and that was all but certain to flatten to an inch or less rather quickly with winds eroding the snow cover. That said, snow is generously layered across much of the region. The weather service reported totals of three to six inches in the citys neighboring counties to the north and west; two to three inches in the city, northern Delaware, and nearby South Jersey; and less to the south and east. Especially at night, the snow is going to have a chilling effect on what already is an air mass plenty cold in its own right. With clear skies and light winds, any daytime warmth captured by snow escapes rapidly into space after sunset. Staarmann said the best chance for a goose-egg at PHL would be early Thursday, when conditions may be ideal. Winds will be frisky Tuesday morning, and cloud cover is expected early Wednesday as the Gulf storm slides off the Atlantic coast. What are the chances of more snow in the Philly region? Nothing is imminent. That Gulf Coast storm may stay so far south that it spares even Atlanta, said Dave Dombek, senior meteorologist at AccuWeather Inc., as the cold, dry air suppresses the storm track. Temperatures are due to moderate on the weekend, climbing well into the 30s by Saturday and perhaps reaching 40 on Sunday, close to normal. However another system may affect the region with rain or snow late in the weekend, Dombek said. Then, computer models favor another cold shot at the end of the month, he said. In the short term, expect temperatures the next three days to average 15 to 20 degrees below normals with icing increasing on area streams. Does the ice on Philly-area waterways pose any threat? Its been awhile since weve seen so much ice on the areas waterways, said Sarah Johnson, the weather service warning coordination meteorologist in Mount Holly, adding that the Rancocas Creek in South Jersey was ice-covered. Ice also has developed on the Schuylkill. Ice-jamming can create natural dams and exacerbate flooding during rainstorms when the weather has turned milder. Although icing isnt an immediate threat, it is possible that the cold spell this week could increase ice buildup, said Elena MacFarlande, hydrologist with the weather services Middle Atlantic Forecast Center, in State College, and bears watching. Fortunately, said Dombek, no dramatic thawing is expected within the next 10 days, although the European forecast model was hinting at a significant warmup in early February, circa Groundhog Day. One historical note regarding Anchorage and Philadelphia Sundays high up that way wasnt close to a daily record. That distinction belongs to Jan. 20, 1961, when it reached 50 degrees. As so often happens when the cold empties out of Alaska, it slides this way. On that date, Philadelphians awoke to more than a foot of snow in the heart of one of the coldest and snowiest winters on record. I feel the parametric world has greatly expanded over the last couple of years and has become a mainstay of the insurance world, he said. I have much faith and excitement about how the product and solutions will evolve over the next few years. Other operators in the area are experiencing similar difficulties. Alan Wang, an accommodation provider, said his insurance premiums exceed $20,000 annually, while tourism operator Adrian Manikas turned to an overseas insurer after being unable to secure a quote from Australian companies. Manikas was able to obtain a policy with business continuation coverage, but it excludes bushfire risks in key areas, limiting its usefulness. While we still have many fallen trees to clean up and power is not yet fully restored, we will commence damage assessments to allow homeowners, residents, local councils, and other government stakeholders to fully understand the impacts of this severe weather, she said. diagnosing injuries and coordinating care; reviewing the workers condition and determining capacity for work; communicating with employers about return-to-work plans; and referring workers to rehabilitation services as needed. The 2023 legislation reinforces the right of injured workers to choose their treating doctor and outlines the roles and limitations of medical practitioners in the compensation process. For example, doctors are expected to offer opinions on medical conditions related to reported workplace incidents but are not responsible for determining the validity of a workers claim. The new offerings also include increased transit mode options, with coverage now available for cross-border Mexico, air and ocean; higher policy limits, with truckload limits raised to $2 million for approved commodities and cross-border limits increased to $1 million; expanded commodity approvals, including high-value items such as laptops, tablets and mobile phones, and a streamlined process, which reduces required fields for faster access to instant quotes. Climate change is also cited as an influence, with its destabilizing effects fueling terrorism in affected regions such as Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. Other drivers include the refugee crisis, the cost-of-living crisis, and global instability, all of which have the potential to foster disenfranchisement and susceptibility to radicalization. WTW prides itself in being able to serve clients globally, and obtaining our reinsurance broker license in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia further enhances our international capabilities, Thomson-Hall said. We are thrilled to have Mohammed join us at this pivotal time in our evolution to broaden our reinsurance capabilities and drive new growth opportunities in this vibrant market. The European Commission intends to propose a ban on the use of PFAS, or forever chemicals, in consumer products, with exemptions for essential industrial uses, the EUs environment chief told Reuters. PFAS, or Perfluoroalkyl and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances, do not break down in the environment, raising concerns about the consequences of them building up in ecosystems, drinking water and the human body. They are used in thousands of items, from cosmetics and non-stick pans to aircraft and wind turbines, due to their resistance to extreme temperatures and corrosion. What we know we are looking for is a ban in consumer products, EU Environment Commissioner Jessika Roswall told Reuters in an interview. This is something that is important for us human beings, of course, but also for the environment, but I think also for the industry so they know how they can phase out PFAS. Two Years Ago Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden backed a broad ban on PFAS almost two years ago yet Roswall said the EUs proposal is not likely to come together before next year at the earliest, as essential exemptions are determined. Asthma inhalers and semiconductors used in green technologies such as electric vehicles are some of the potential essential uses, she noted, though these too will face restrictions, including on how they are disposed of. Industrial applications such as plastics and electronics production account for most PFAS use, according to data from Nordic countries chemicals agencies. Work by the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) to assess the scope of the ban has drawn thousands of comments from, among others, trade associations representing the car, clean energy and plastics sectors, seeking exemptions such as one sought for fluoropolymers, a PFAS used in everything from waterproof clothes to solar photovoltaic cells. Litigation Over PFAS Research linking PFAS exposure to health issues including liver damage, lower birth weights and testicular cancer is raising litigation risks for companies, Jefferies analysts said in a note this month. U.S. lawsuits have yielded settlements worth more than $11 billion involving companies including 3M and Chemours Co. over contamination of water. Companies in Europe could face a wave of litigation over pollution or downplaying its environmental and health harms, said Helene Duguy, a lawyer at environmental law firm ClientEarth. ClientEarth is closely monitoring companies conduct on PFAS and will not shy away from action, Duguy told Reuters. (Reporting by Kate Abnett in Brussels; additional reporting by Ludwig Burger in Frankfurt; editing by Jason Neely) Four of Canadas biggest banks are leaving the industrys top climate-finance alliance, joining Wall Street peers and extending an exodus that started in early December. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, Toronto-Dominion Bank, Bank of Montreal and National Bank of Canada said Friday that theyre no longer members of the Net-Zero Banking Alliance. All four added that theyre still committed to meeting climate-related targets. The departures raise further questions about NZBAs future. Defections from the group began last month when Goldman Sachs Group Inc. left. The firms exit was followed by Morgan Stanley, Wells Fargo & Co., Bank of America Corp., Citigroup Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. Investor Climate Group Suspends Activities After BlackRock Exit: Reuters Exclusive The moves coincide with intensifying Republican attacks on what US conservatives call woke capitalism and criticisms that such voluntary alliances havent had a meaningful impact on reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Now, the defections are stretching to Canada. Banks that sign up to NZBA commit to transition their financed emissions to align with pathways to net zero by 2050 at the latest, according to the groups website. Theyre also required to provide 2030 targets to show theyre on track, and to document their progress. NZBA sent a message to members earlier this week, saying it was focusing on its next phase to continue to help banks manage their climate-related risks and opportunities. The alliance, which was convened by the United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative almost four years ago, still has more than 135 members from over 40 countries, according to its website. BMO Chief Executive Officer Darryl White said at an industry conference last week that the bank supports the transition to a low-carbon economy regardless of the mechanism. He added that the company also has a commitment, particularly here in Canada, to our legacy energy customers completely. We wont abandon that. In announcing its decision to leave NZBA, BMO said Friday that it has robust internal capabilities to implement relevant international standards, supporting our climate strategy and meeting regulatory requirements. Toronto-Dominion said in its statement that it has the resources, relationships and capabilities to continue to advance our strategy, deliver for our shareholders, and advise our clients as they adapt their businesses and seize new opportunities. Montreal-based National Bank, Canadas sixth-largest lender, said it has decided to streamline how we report on our plans and our progress. CIBC said the company recognizes the scale and urgency of climate change and our stated goals and commitments remain the same Canadian banks were some of the biggest providers of finance to oil, gas and coal in 2024, with Toronto-Dominion, Royal Bank of Canada, BMO and CIBC ranking among the top 10 for such deals, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The biggest provider of fossil-fuel finance last year was JPMorgan. Other climate alliances also have lost high-profile members. Just over a week into the new year, BlackRock Inc. said it was ending its membership in the Net Zero Asset Managers initiative. The firm, which was among a group of asset managers singled out in a lawsuit led by Texas alleging antitrust breaches due to the adoption of pro-climate strategies that suppress coal production, said staying inside NZBA had and exposed it to legal inquiries. In 2023, a net zero group for insurers saw a mass walkout amid GOP litigation threats. A similar group for investors, Climate Action 100+, was hit by high-profile defections last year as the asset management arms of Goldman and JPMorgan, as well as Pacific Investment Management Co. all left. Related: Copyright 2025 Bloomberg. Topics Canada Numbers The cell door could only open about a foot before it hit the mattress on the floor and the inmate lying on top of it. The prison officer asked if we could have a look inside. The inmate on the mattress pulled himself up and stepped out. He was clearly agitated and sported a fresh black eye. Ya wouldnt let a dog live in there, he said. Ive bites all over me and Im all cramped, pointing to red marks on his arms and legs and rubbing his shoulders. A second prisoner appeared from the gloom inside and walked quietly out. A foreign national, he looked a bit bewildered. Stooping under the doorway we entered, and were immediately hit by the heat and thick, stuffy air. The mattress was positioned across the floor. It was in poor condition, torn in parts and barely an inch thick. On the far right of the cell was a narrow single bed, positioned lengthways towards the door. On the left, facing the door, was a toilet, open to the rest of the cell, bar a small 3ft high screen separating it from the bed. The toilet had no seat or lid. It neither looked nor smelled the best. Mountjoy Prison governor David Treacy: A prison should be 90% capacity to give you wriggle room to manage for incidents, but we are at 120%. Picture: Moya Nolan The toilets leaking, said the prisoner. We had to get the mop head and ram the mop into it to get it working. The mattress is placed sideways so he can watch the TV on the wall. When he sleeps he turns it lengthways. This means the mattress lies between the toilet and the cell door. Most prisoners choose to lie with their head to the door rather than in front of the toilet. The reason why is obvious, but it means when prisoner officers open the door they can bang it against the prisoners head, such is the lack of space. Standing in the middle of the cell and stretching hands out either side leaves little over a half of foot of space. Were living like animals, said the prisoner, who appears to be under the influence of some substance. Its wrecking my mental health, bleeding brutal it is. I know its a prison and all." Crisis situation Governor David Tracey, who had told the prisoner to be honest, didnt hold back himself. We are in a crisis here, with overcrowding. And its not just Mountjoy, its Cork, they all are. We head to other cells in Mountjoy, the most well-known of the countrys jails, right in the heart of Dublin's north inner city. On the day of our visit, January 14, there were 922 prisoners in the jail a prison which has maximum space for 755 people. A prison should be 90% capacity to give you wriggle room to manage for incidents, but we are at 120%, Mr Tracey said. Governor David Treacy in one of the cells where bunkbeds accommodate two prisoners at Mountjoy. Picture: Moya Nolan Irish Prison Service (IPS) figures show there are 5,041 prisoners for 4,543 spaces across the country with Limerick Female Prison at 152% capacity, followed by Dochas Womens Prison (121%), Limerick Male (119%) and Cork Prison (118%). The increase in numbers has been particularly sharp in Mountjoy. On the same date in 2023, there were 777 inmates in Mountjoy, meaning it has jumped by 19% in the last year. On the same date in 2022, there were 676 prisoners representing a massive 36% rise in numbers in just three years. Mr Tracey said they were given 114 bunk beds in July 2023 to cope with the rising numbers. This meant single beds were taken out of cells and bunk beds, narrower in size, were put in their place. IPS figures show there are 330 bunk beds across all prisons. On the day of our visit, there were 82 mattresses on floors in Mountjoy accounting for a third of the 252 mattresses in use across the prison system. That compares to 213 at the end of last December, 77 in December 2023, and 30 in December 2022. Chief Officer Alan Marrey calls to another cell and two inmates exit. The mattress is facing the door with the top of it pulled up and resting against a plastic chair, which, in turn, is against the toilet. This allows the inmate to lie down with his head propped up to watch the TV. A cell for one prisoner. Picture: Moya Nolan Ya have to make the most of it, the prisoner said, half smiling. Asked how he would sleep, he pushed the mattress in front of the bed, squeezing it between the bed and the wall at the door. Its better than having it in front of the toilet, it gives more room, he said. He lay down to demonstrate. He has to push his legs up in a spoon shape in order to sleep. You cant stretch your legs out so its very cramped. Mr Tracey said cells are supposed to be a home for inmates: It should be their place to relax. "When they are outside they are puffing their chest out and all the bravado. "So when they go into their cell they should be able to be themselves, have alone time, watch the telly or whatever. He said overcrowding was a double whammy for prisons not only does it mean cells are overcrowded, but all the services from exercise, to rehabilitation, to school as well as family visits are cut. This is because prison officers can, and regularly are, called to assist with essential functions, such as bringing prisoners to court or to hospital. If we have an extra 200 prisoners that means more court appointments, more hospital escorts, Mr Tracey said. That means officers are taken from other areas visits, schools, exercise, tuck shop to help with the greater number of escorts." Tensions That causes frustration. Tensions have definitely increased because of overcrowding and reduced access to services. He added: I want prisoners to be out of their cells during the day doing things, being active, be it the gym or school or kitchen or whatever and come back to their cells then, not just in their cells on top of each other. He said all of these things has led to incidents. We have had a 20% increase in interventions, he said, referring to where prison officers have to go into cells and break fights up or where a prisoner is causing a disturbance. A cell in Mountjoy Prison with a mattress on the floor to accomodate a second prisoner because of overcrowding. Picture: Moya Nolan You have situations where some prisoners smash the sinks in the cells, smash their toilets and staff come in and thats what they find. Mr Tracey said there are dangers for prison officers inside cells: They have kettles, so they can be used and prisoners will make a weapon out of anything. He said that while figures for last year are not yet available, there had been a 22% increase in prisoner-on-prisoner violence in 2023 across the system, which he said generally reflected the situation in Mountjoy. We stop at another cell. This one has bunk beds. The two inmates step out as we head inside. The cell is the smallest weve seen so far. Standing in the middle of the cell and stretching your hands out either side just leaves a gap of a couple of inches to the walls. You literally cant swing a cat, Mr Tracey said. The cell is immaculately clean and tidy. The inmates dont mind doubling up. We get on with other, one said. Asked about using the toilet, the first prisoner said: When he goes to the toilet I sit and watch telly and have my back to him, to give him some privacy. Gangland Mountjoy has other pressures too, not least drugs and mental health. We have 16 protection groups in Mountjoy, meaning factions, some of them gangs, and those people cant mix. We have senior gangland figures here, he said. These 16 groups, including the Kinahan cartel, comprise 313 prisoners over a third of the entire population in the prison. Keeping them apart is a full-time logistical headache, Mr Tracey said. We have oversight bodies ensuring that they get access to education, exercise, rehabilitative services, so there has to be very strict timetabling, he said. With over 70% of prisoners coming from an addiction background, dealing with the drugs trade is a full time business. Drones are the latest threat in recent years. Barbed wire and fencing at Mountjoy. Picture: Moya Nolan Id say we have a drone every day, two every day coming up to weekends, Mr Murray said. They will burn through the net [covering the yards] if they are hot enough. "Prison officers check the nets in the morning and before and after exercise. He said an inmate recently told him that a tablet that costs 1 on the street costs 10 inside, meaning it was a lucrative business for the drug bosses inside. One captured drone was carrying about 1,000 tablets while another drone had 10 mobile phones. Vulnerable inmates and prisoners who owe drug debts do all the collecting and hiding and hope they dont get caught. A notice posted on a gate onside Mountjoy Prison, warning of the dangers of drug, Nitazene. Picture: Moya Nolan Up to 18 drone operators, often on nearby streets, have been arrested in operations with local gardai. Mr Tracey said they have had various drug emergencies in recent years and on one occasion, prisoners were cutting their thighs such was the effect the substances were having on them. He also said Mountjoy was witnessing a huge upsurge in prisoners presenting with significant mental health issues. Mental health crisis While numbers coming into the prison have increased by 19% in the last year, psychiatrists told Mr Tracey that there has been a 63% increase in requests for psychiatric assessment of prisoners. Asked why such a massive increase, Mr Tracey grappled for an explanation: Because of overcrowding, people coming in with mental health presentations, on top of that, addiction, coming from broken homes, homelessness, which is a big factor now. People when they are committed to prison are seen by doctors and nurses and they can refer a prisoner for psychiatric assessment based on the presentation. He said the surge in mental health issues is reflected in demand for psychology appointments: We have a five month waiting list, so many committals will be out before then or shortly after. "Bear in mind that across the system over 70% of people in custody are serving less than 12 months, most of them out in nine months. He said that the resources available in the prison havent increased with the numbers, meaning the waiting list is growing, rather than falling. IPS figures underline the scale of demand for psychology services: As of January 3, 524 people were being seen by the Psychology Service, with a further 2,078 on the waiting list. That totals 2,600 inmates, more than half of all prisoners in the system. The new Central Mental Hospital in Portrane promised to address the stubborn blockage in the system for decades whereby prisoners with the most severe psychiatric illnesses numbering around 15-20 could not be transferred because of lack of space. But Mr Tracey said the brand new facility in north Dublin has created very, very few spaces for prisoners. But he said that, in addition to the fact that CMH is a therapeutic facility, albeit a secure one, and prisons were not a therapeutic facility, prison psychiatrists cannot compel a seriously ill prisoner to take his or her prescribed medication, whereas in the CMH they can. We have guys who think we are poisoning their food and these kind of situations can result in frustration and violence, he said. Progression unit closed The tour leaves Mountjoy for what was the progression unit for well-behaved inmates engaged in rehabilitation services before release which had to close because of the general need for prison spaces. Specifically, the Irish Prison Service needed a facility to house the ever-growing numbers of sex offenders, who have to be housed separately. On the day of the visit, there were 208 in what is now called Mountjoy West 143 of them sex protection prisoners. The remaining inmates are in the life sentence prisoners unit and others are near the end of long sentences. This facility is more modern. A lot of refurbishment work in ongoing or nearing completion, including two new landings, comprising 52 new single cells, which are in a better condition than the ones in Mountjoy. A cramped cell in Mountjoy. Picture: Moya Nolan Snagging is being done at the moment, so they will be operational soon, Mr Tracey said. They are single cell for the time being, but that could change in six or nine months time, you could have two in a cell. We cant rule it out. Assistant governor Patrick Moran said the cells will be for the growing numbers of sex offenders. In another area, 16 new video booths are being designed, along with holding cells and toilets, to facilitate court sittings, increasing their number from the current five. The adjacent school caters for up to 340 inmates in the two prisons and provides everything from reading and writing, to arts and crafts, recording studio, to cookery and barista training. Plans and promises In a statement, the IPS said the Government had provided significant capital funding and that over 200 extra spaces had been created in recent years. It said Justice Minister Helen McEntee had secured funding of 525m for prisons and probation in Budget 2025, an increase of 79m. This will allow for the recruitment of 150 prison officers and 155 new prison spaces by the end of the year. It includes 53m capital funding (up 22.5m). The statement said the IPS was working with the department to progress plans for 1,100 extra spaces between 2024 and 2030. Shortly after the visit, the government published the programme for government, which promised 1,500 extra prison spaces. It is expected that the first phase of these extra spaces wont start coming on stream until 2027 and 2028. But prison bosses know they cant build their way out of the overcrowding problem. There have been countless reports on expanding alternatives to custody. Apart from more spaces, the only other options are more people on temporary release (typically around 500 per month) and more community sanction alternatives for the courts. Both would need a significant increase in the number of probation officers and a belief among judges that there are proper community options available. There are almost 1,000 people on remand, compared to 830 in December 2022, adding to prison pressures. The programme does mention more electronic tagging for prisoners and implementation of the high-level task force on mental health, which would see diversion of offenders with a mental illness from jails to much-needed community services. Haunted Mountjoy is still haunted by the savage murder of an inmate in an overcrowded holding cell on August 1, 2006. Gary Douch, from Coolock, north Dublin, was with six other prisoners, including his killer Stephen Egan, who had been previously diagnosed as acutely psychotic and a having a history of extreme violence. Gary Douch was killed in an overcrowded holding cell. A commission of investigation into Mr Douchs horrific death, carried out by senior counsel Grainne McMorrow, said overcrowding at Mountjoy completely undermined the ability of the prison to respond to Douchs request for protection and was critical in the circumstances leading to his death. Every year on August 1, the Mountjoy governor joins Mr Douchs mother to lay flowers at his grave, Mr Tracey said. There are many who fear a similar reoccurrence, with both the IPS and Mr Tracey placing much of the credit in preventing it on the work and dedication of prison officers. Many people suspect it may take another tragedy, like that of Gary Douch, to get ministers and the cabinet to treat prison overcrowding as the crisis that Mr Tracey believes it already is. Irelands billionaires added an additional 13bn to their wealth last year, the equivalent to 35.6m each day, according to a new report from Oxfam Ireland. The charity called for greater taxation on extreme wealth as its latest report, Takers not Makers, found that it now takes just five days for those in the richest 1% of the population to earn what someone in the bottom 50% of the population earns in a year. The charity says the rapid increase in the wealth of elites in Ireland is representative of international tends which saw billionaire wealth surge by $2 trillion (1.95tn) in 2024. Globally, nearly four new billionaires were minted every week last year. If these trends continue, to accelerate, Oxfam predicts that the world will have at least five trillionaires by 2035. Oxfams report was published to coincide with both the annual gathering of billionaires at the Swiss resort of Davos, and Donald Trumps inauguration as the 47th president of the US. Oxfam Ireland chief executive Jim Clarken said the capture of the global economy by a privileged few has now reached heights once considered unimaginable. Oxfam Ireland CEO Jim Clarken said the capture of the global economy by a privileged few has now 'reached heights once considered unimaginable'. Picture: Stephen Collins/Collins He said this unprecedented acceleration of the wealth of the worlds richest individuals is coming during a period in which their influence and power is also skyrocketing. Mr Clarken also predicted that Donald Trump will be a president of and for billionaires who will use his power over the worlds largest economy to slash taxes for the ultra-rich and mega-corporations at the expense of everyone else. He stated that Oxfams latest report challenges the popular perception that the vast wealth of billionaires is deserved or based on merit. Oxfam calculates that 36% of billionaire wealth is now inherited," he said. This report shows how extreme wealth is not simply a function of talent or ingenuity alone but built on the back of the work of countless others and taxpayer investment. Meanwhile, global poverty remains at 1990 levels. We must first acknowledge the disparity and set about reversing the trend." Oxfam says the findings of its latest report demonstrate that global inequality is is built upon a legacy of historical colonialism. The report states that 77% of the worlds billionaire wealth is now concentrated in the global north, despite these countries accounting for just 21% of the global population. Low- and middle-income countries, the report notes, are now spending on average nearly half of their national budgets on debt repayments. Aside from calling for greater taxation of extreme wealth in Ireland, Oxfam Ireland urged the next Government to advocate for debt cancellation, living wages, and fair-trade practices, to commit to climate justice by ramping up domestic climate action, and to provide greater financial support to countries in the global south experiencing climate breakdown and related hunger and conflict. Incoming taoiseach Micheal Martin has stood by his previous criticism of Michael Lowry in 2011 after the publication of the report of the Moriarty Tribunal, but has defended Mr Lowry's role in negotiating a programme for government. There were tense exchanges at the Fianna Fail ard fheis in Dublin, as Mr Martin was questioned on Mr Lowrys role in the incoming government and the preceding negotiations. Fianna Fail formally voted to go into government on Sunday, with 93% of party delegates backing the programme for government. The Moriarty Tribunal was established in 1997 to examine payments made to former taoiseach Charles Haughey and to Mr Lowry, an independent TD for Tipperary North and former cabinet minister. The report found that Mr Lowry had received payments in exchange for favours, but he has rejected the findings of the report and denied all wrongdoing in the years since. In 2011, after the publication of the report, Mr Martin said that it was a deep indictment of Mr Lowrys behaviour and called on the TD to resign his seat in the Dail. At the time, he added that it had exposed serious malpractice and corruption. However, asked about how he reconciled his statements in 2011 with Mr Lowrys involvement in the incoming government and its formation, Mr Martin said that he stood by his previous comments. What I said back then stands. What was revealed in the Moriarty Tribunal was shocking and was wrong, and I condemned it at the time, still do, Mr Martin said. Michael Lowry has been elected at every general election since the report of the Moriarty Tribunal was published. Picture: Leah Farrell Mr Martin said that the people of Tipperary and from other constituencies elected independent TDs, and that it was his obligation to form a new government. Its with quite a number of independents, not just Michael Lowry, but all of the others get forgotten about in all the assessment of this and commentary on this. The Sean Canneys of this world, the Marian Harkins and so on, Mr Martin said. You [the media] seem to ignore their participation as members of a regional group. Mr Martin said that he did not in any way condone the actions covered by the Moriarty Tribunal, but that Mr Lowry has been elected at every general election since it was published. We cant ignore that, I cant ignore the mandates that independents have received. Mr Martin stressed that Mr Lowry would not be a minister in the incoming coalition. I dont think theres anything corrupt in the policy platform. I dont think anybody is suggesting that there is, Mr Martin said. There were tense exchanges between Mr Martin and the media, with the incoming taoiseach saying that media commentators were unhappy with the 2024 election result Ive watched the agenda in the last couple of weeks, its as if a lot of people in the commentary world are very disappointed with the outcome of this election, Mr Martin said. From day one, its been negativity all the way towards this government and it hasnt even been established. There needs to be a bit of balance here, Michael Lowry is not in government. He was nominated by the Regional Independents Group to chair their group for the negotiations. Meanwhile, Fine Gael held its final regional events in both Cork and Meath, with party TDs and Senators set to cast their vote on whether to go into coalition on Monday. Tented accommodation for international protection applicants in Clare has been branded unsafe in a report by the Health Information and Quality Authority. The inspection report on Knockalisheen was among nine to be published by Hiqa on Monday and examined conditions in permanent and tented accommodation at the Clare site. During the inspection last October, there were 289 residents at the site, with accommodation in six blocks and 13 military-style tents holding up to eight people each. While the report noted there had been an improvement in some conditions at the site since the previous inspection last May, it noted: There continued to be deficits across a number of the national standards, some of which impacted on the health, safety and welfare of residents. "Sufficient action had not been taken by the service provider to create a consistently safe environment for residents or to ensure a zero-tolerance approach to violence was fostered. In addition, the standard of accommodation provided was not adequate for some residents who lived in cramped, undignified and unsafe spaces. The report highlighted health and safety concerns in both the accommodation blocks and the tented areas, with inspectors noting: The conditions for residents living in the tented area had improved slightly but risks which were identified during previous inspections continued to exist, including cramped, undignified living spaces with limited storage and no privacy available for residents. There were numerous insects present in two tents observed by the inspectors, overloaded electrical sockets and uncomfortable temperatures within the tents. "While residents were provided with lockers, headboards and some wardrobe space since the last inspection, residents told inspectors that they were dissatisfied with the accommodation, which was 'not suitable for people to live in', particularly on a long-term basis. Concern was raised about overcrowding in the Clare site, with the report detailing about a family where siblings, aged over 10 years, and who were of different genders, were required to share a bedroom as there was no alternative sleeping arrangement available to them". Residents at the Clare facility told inspectors they sometimes felt unsafe or had witnessed incidents in the centre that made them fearful or scared. The report said parents described placing restrictions on their childrens movement, to prevent them from witnessing aggression or substance misuse in the environment of the centre. Aramark, which operates the centre, said additional training for conflict management and management of violence and aggression was underway for its staff. The Hiqa reports contained concerns about some centres not having attained the appropriate Garda vetting for staff. For example, the Johnston Marina facility in Tralee, Co Kerry, was described as having recruitment practices which were not safe or effective. The report outlined: Garda vetting was out of date for two staff members, one of whom was a named designated liaison person for the centre. The operators of the centre, Onsite Facilities Ltd, said it had since completed a vetting compliance review for all staff, ensuring 100% of staff have completed Garda vetting and, if necessary, international police checks. A member of the Irish Defence Forces who spurned the consensual offer that was made to him in a selfish, arrogant and forceful way has been jailed for eight-and-a-half years for the rape of a fellow soldier at a Dublin hotel three years ago. Kielan Mooney (aged 30) of Bloomfield Park, Derry, was convicted following a trial at the Central Criminal Court last December on a count of anal rape, oral rape and rape of the woman at the Dublin hotel on July 26, 2021. He had pleaded not guilty to a total of six charges two charges of rape, two charges of oral rape, a charge of anal rape and a charge of sexual assault. The jury failed to reach a verdict on the three remaining charges. The now 24-year-old woman, who is also a serving soldier of the Irish Defence Forces, has indicated that while she is content for Mooney to be named in the reporting of the case, she does not wish to be identified. Sentencing Mooney on Monday, Mr Justice Tony Hunt said Mooney spurned the consensual offer that was made to him in a selfish, arrogant and forceful way and had no respect for the limits she [the woman] wanted to place on sexual activity. He simply took what he wanted from the encounter and had no respect for her wishes, the judge said. The judge said the woman had always been very frank that the background to the rape was clearly consensual. It was her prerogative and privilege to make a decision as to who and when she would have sexual activity and who, when and the level of that activity, Justice Hunt continued. 'Gross overstatement' At a previous sentence hearing last December, a number of affidavits were presented to the court which described Mooney, a father of five, as very family-orientated, a dedicated father, someone who works exceptionally hard to make sure his children know they are loved and also as a man who idolises his children. On Monday, Grainne ONeill BL, prosecuting, told Justice Hunt that following newspapers reports of that hearing, two women contacted the Director of Public Prosecutions to rebut that evidence. The women, who each have two children with Mooney, said that Mooney has not seen his children, that he does not pay maintenance and that it is always hard work with him as he never really wants to see them. One of the women said Mooney always put his social life and lifestyle ahead of her children with him. She said he is not a good person, not a good role model and she would never let Mooney near her children. Mr Justice Hunt said it was clear from the statements from these two women that Mooney has had no meaningful or positive contact with these children over a long period of time. He described those earlier testimonials in relation to Mooney being a good father as a false prospectus and a gross overstatement that his children will miss him if remanded in custody. Mr Justice Hunt also noted that Mooney applied for bail on conviction by the jury, and while bail was refused and Mooney was remanded in custody pending sentence, one of the reasons he was looking for bail was to give him the opportunity to say goodbye to his children. I believe I have been significantly misled as to the material that was put forward and also the basis of a bail application pending conviction at trial. I dont take it lightly, someone trying to pull the wool over my eyes, Mr Justice Hunt said. Sentencing In sentencing Mooney, Mr Justice Hunt said there was no recognition of the verdict of the jury and Mooney does not appear to show any remorse for the significant harm he caused. He referred to suggestions during the trial that the woman had made the allegations on the basis of some disappointment on her behalf with how things went. I dont buy that for one moment and the jury clearly dont either. She is clearly a robust person who would take such disappointments in a normal way without making false allegations, the judge continued. He said it was very clear that something had happened that was radically wrong and radically different from what the woman had consented to. Justice Hunt set a headline sentence of nine-and-a-half years which he applied as a global sentence for the offences Mooney had been convicted of by the jury. He acknowledged that Mooney had made a positive contribution in terms of joining the army and was prepared to serve in that way and in a disciplined way of life that military service requires. But I have to bear in mind that his behaviour (during the rape) was ill-disciplined. Mr Justice Hunt said it was apparent from the womans demeanour both during the trial and in giving her victim impact statement that the rapes had impacted her life and career. Mr Justice Hunt said: I wish her well and hope she is able to put this behind her and get on with her life in a positive way. I have no doubt that she is strong enough to do that. Mr Justice Hunt said he had intended to reduce the headline sentence by two years but he would not do that now given the evidence he received on Monday in relation to Mooneys mitigating factor that was falsely put forward. No court should be put in a position of being faced with a false prospectus, the judge said before he added that this was a warning to anyone who is considering overselling themselves in terms of mitigation. He imposed a jail term of eight-and-a-half years. He also imposed a two-year post-release supervision order and said that Mooney must engage with the Probation Service for two years upon his ultimate release from prison. The jail term was backdated to when Mooney first went into custody last December. Fine Gael has "overwhelmingly" voted to ratify the programme for Government after a vote was held on Monday. Party members had their say with 93.9% voting to accept the programme for Government as agreed between Fine Gael, Fianna Fail, and Independents last week. "This means that Fine Gael can now enter Government," said the returning officer and chair of the Fine Gael executive council, Annette Kent. Following the result of the vote, Fine Gael leader Simon Harris said he was pleased that members voted to deliver a programme for Government 'to secure Ireland's future'. 'Absolute determination to deliver "We will enter this Government with an absolute determination to deliver support for small businesses, more homes and homeownership, and a radically different approach to disability services," said Mr Harris. "We will always back farmers and rural Ireland. The Fine Gael team will now deliver that agenda in Government." Monday's vote follows Fianna Fail's which was held at a special ard fheis on Sunday, where the vast majority of members also backed the programme for Government. With both parties having accepted the deal, the path is now clear for Micheal Martin to be voted in as the Taoiseach when the Dail resumes on Wednesday. Once appointed, Mr Martin will announce his Cabinet. So, two big events in my life this week. Both anticipated with much relish. The programme for government and the Trump inauguration[/url[. Thats how sad I am. Mind you, if Im being exact, I was anticipating events from Washington with no small amount of trepidation. The other big event, Im afraid to say, stirred an awful lot of deja vu in my bosom. And I wasnt wrong about either of them. Ive helped to write programmes for Government in my time. One, in 1992, was called the Programme for a Partnership Government the first time that term was ever used to describe a coalition in Ireland. That programme was largely written by myself and Fianna Fails Martin Mansergh. However, it was very heavily based on the Labour manifesto for the 1992 election which was written by a team headed up by William Scally, Dick Springs economic adviser at the time. He essentially produced the core of the key policies. Everyone involved in the writing of that programme reported daily to their political masters. And the document concentrated on policy, with a little bit about government structure. We invented the programme manager system to expedite delivery of our commitments. That system was sneered at by all and sundry, but has come to be seen as an essential component of any successful coalition. Im telling you all this because I believe a programme for government must be a political document, written by political people. They have to be free to ask questions of the relevant civil servants, but the writing the priorities, the emphasis, the commitments, and the language must be political. I take programmes for government seriously. When theyre published, I go to the trouble of printing them out, reading them, analysing them. When I can stay awake that is. Heavens above, what an awful yoke this programme for Government is The worst thing about it is that there isnt a serious political hand to be seen anywhere. I can almost identify by name the civil servants from various government departments who wrote it. What clearly happened was a couple of senior people offered a list of boxes to be ticked to the party leaders (both exhausted, no doubt) and once they got the green light, they ordered up a few paragraphs about every item. The result and I hope youll forgive the vulgarity is a terrible heap of old shite. No inspiration, no imagination, no courage. Look at page 27, where theyre promising to keep the money flowing to the greyhound industry for another five years. Did nobody ask why? Micheal Martin TD shakes hands with Charlie McConalogue after the Programme for Government was approved at the Fianna Fail special ard fheis over the weekend. Picture: Damien Eagers Why more millions to support a dying industry? Why more millions for the kind of cruelty that has led to the sport being banned in most of the rest of the world? Perhaps the most disappointing bit of the entire document is the section related to disability. I know youve heard me on this subject before but I really thought this might be different. It featured hugely in the election campaign, with both Taoiseach and Tanaiste pledging to be champions this time. Instead, theyre going to prioritise the publication of a new National Disability Strategy. God help us all. The last one withered on the vine several years ago, and years of futile work has already gone into trying to get a replacement with no serious political input whatever. The disability programme is actually insulting in parts Consider this solemn commitment for example: They will work to reduce the 24-hour notice requirement for disabled users of rail services. At present, anyone with a disability who needs support to get on a train needs to give a full days notice before that support will be guaranteed. The Government could reduce that requirement to an hour with one phone call instead they will work to reduce the requirement. Who writes this drivel, and who lets them get away with it? Theres no drive here, no hard-edged sense of purpose in any of it. Theyre going to reform the Disability Act (they know its an obscene joke); theyre going to consider multi-annual funding; they will consider measures to attract and retain staff (in the teeth of an existing crisis); they will work through industrial relations mechanisms to resolve the pay issues that are driving people out of the sector. And on and dreary on with no commitment that any of this will be driven at senior Cabinet level. Maybe Im completely misreading it. I really, really hope I am, because believe it or not I want this programme to make a huge difference. However, I can see nothing more than the same old same old in any of this. If this is all there is, across the span of our economic and social hopes and dreams, this Government is going to be mainly remembered for how dull it is. US president Donald Trump, centre, takes part in a signing ceremony in the President's Room after the 60th presidential Inauguration on Monday. Surrounding the president are, from left: Senator John Thune, senate minority leader Chuck Schumer, senator Deb Fischer, senator Amy Klobuchar, US vice president JD Vance, first lady Melania Trump, house speaker Mike Johnson, house majority leader Steve Scalise, and house minority leader Hakeem Jeffries. Picture: Melina Mara/The Washington Post via AP As Lincoln might say, however, fervently do we pray that the next four years in the US might also be remembered as dull. On the evidence of yesterdays inauguration in Washington, thats not likely. Abraham Lincoln's two inaugural addresses in the 1860s have gone down in history as among the greatest political speeches ever written. Their rhetoric soared at times to the stars. They were models of reconciliation at the beginning and the end of a civil war Phrases such as with malice toward none and the better angels of our nature will last forever. Donald Trump is not that man. His first inaugural address was described by one ex-president, George W Bush, as weird shit. Yesterdays was worse. His first inaugural was dark and menacing, this one was boastful and self-aggrandising and also dark and menacing. This man, who believes in nothing, actually asserted that he was saved by God to make America great again. He didnt have the grace to thank his predecessor for his stewardship and, instead, launched into a series of lies about the state of the economy and crime rates. After his formal speech, he went to speak to his own Maga crowd. On and on he went, claiming that he was even cheated out of winning California, and endless rubbish about his famous wall. Watching Trump pandering to his own, airing all his grievances, you know that absolutely nothing has changed. The same lies, the same self-pity. Meanwhile, two extraordinary things happened. First, the outgoing president felt obliged to issue pardons to a significant number of people whose only crimes were that they had pursued long careers of public service. He felt he had no choice because these were people who had been threatened by Trump for the crime of doing their duty. Secondly, Trump made it explicitly clear that he will immediately issue a series of executive orders that will take America backwards. People whose gender and identity or skin colour place them in a minority, from this moment on, could be subject to discrimination that hasnt been possible for 30 years or more. Ive always loved America, its landscape, and its people. After today, I fear for it more than ever. If Trump keeps his promises, there may be no way back. My first thought is of Bette Davis ascending the stairs in 1950's All About Eve. She turns towards her audience, smiles, and says, "Fasten your seatbelts. It's going to be a bumpy night. My second is less whimsical. A scowling man is answering a question at a town hall meeting in Iowa in December 2023. His friend, a polemicist named Sean Hannity, asks, "You would never abuse power as retribution against anybody?" The man immediately responds, "Except for Day One. We're closing the border and we're drilling, drilling, drilling. "After that, I'm not a dictator. He does not address the issue of abusing power for "retribution". And on Monday, it will be day one of Donald Trump's second stay in the White House. The Method of the Madness The difficulty in analysing and anticipating Trump is that the methods used for assessing presidents or, indeed, for most rational people do not apply. There are few coherent sentences, let alone policies. Intentions are conveyed in late-night, all-caps tweets rather than considered statements or the outcomes of meetings. Impulse supersedes consideration. Instead, you have to start with Trump's view that his presidency, like his approach to business, is all about personal gain. It is the transaction that burnishes his ego. It is the calculation of a "win" for him and a "loss" for in Trump's world, there has to be a loser as well as a winner for his perceived opponent. It is the thought process not of a president for the people, but of a wannabe autocrat for himself. That quest for personal power can be linked to Trump's obsessions. He wins if his constructed foes of migrants and asylum seekers lose. So he declares the wall with Mexico, the separation of children from their parents, and from day one of Trump 2.0, the deportation of millions of people. He wins if his enemies of environmental activists lose. Donald Trump is back in the White House. Picture: Matt Rourke/AP So following his impulses wind turbines killing birds and "driving whales crazy", global warming "a hoax", and climate change "a scam" on day one, he shouts, "Drill, Baby, Drill", and strips fossil fuels of regulations. He wins if other nations lose. On day one he announces tariffs. Maybe 5%, 10%, 20%, 60%, or more. Maybe just on China or maybe on many countries, including Ireland. Maybe on some sectors or maybe on all. But definitely some trade-based punishment to proclaim his "victory". And, of course, he has to win over those who tried to hold him politically and legally accountable. So on day one, revisiting his denial of the result of the 2020 presidential election, he pardons some of his supporters convicted over their involvement in the 2021 Capitol attack. He puts his loyalists in charge of agencies, such as the justice department and the FBI, to limit their operations, firing their employees, and turning them against his "enemies". He threatens politicians, judges, and civil servants. The Trumpists Behind The Curtain The next step is to match up Trump's whim with the measured ambitions of those around him. One starting is Project 2025, the 900-page blueprint in which many Trumpists set out their ideas for a return to power. In the guise of fighting "woke revolutionaries" to "dismantle the administrative state", the contributors detail the mission to bend US agencies to Trump's will, with job protections for many civil servants removed. The defence secretary will dismiss generals, admirals, and commanders on the pretext that they are pursuing diversity. The secretary of state will purge "large swathes" of diplomatic staff who are "left wing". The intelligence community will pursue the "widely promoted 'woke' culture that has spread throughout the federal government with identity politics and 'social justice' advocacy". To end the independence of the federal reserve over monetary and fiscal stability, it will be headed by a Trumpist appointee or an alternative body will be established. That mission explains some of Trump's cabinet nominees. Defence nominee Pete Hegseth, a Fox TV personality, has railed about "woke" commanders who should be removed. Pete Hegseth, defence secretary nominee. Picture: Alex Brandon/AP The nominee for FBI director, Kash Patel, undermined the Trump-Russia investigation and now has a target list of personnel whom he says are part of the "deep state". The first nominee for attorney general, republican Matt Gaetz, was an avid promoter of Trump's falsehoods. He fell because of payments for sex and for drugs; however, his replacement, former Florida attorney general Pam Bondi, has echoed Trump's calls to prosecute his political opponents. But what of Trump's advisors behind the scenes? That is where uncertainty rushes in. Some commentators question Trump's threat by noting that he lacks the organisation, coherence, or attention span to implement his thought bubbles. However, that does not apply to those around him. For example, dedicated xenophobe Stephen Miller has been a key part of Trump's team since the 2016 campaign. One of the architects of the "Muslim Ban" in the chaotic first week of Trump's first term, he is now deputy chief of staff for policy. That could indicate not only sweeping moves against undocumented immigrants and asylum seekers but also legal immigrants. Publicly, Trump's "border czar" Tom Homan has asked for $86bn (83.5bn) to deport millions of people. But privately, he has told republican lawmakers to temper their expectations because of cost. So what happens in the gap between Trumpian rhetoric and budgetary reality? Trump continues to promise big, beautiful tariffs, such as 60% on China and 25% on Canada, Mexico, and other countries. But his advisors are leaking contradictory messages to media. Some say Trump can invoke a national economic emergency to implement his plan. Others say the tariffs will come in gradually. Others says they will be only on certain sectors, a message immediately derided by Trump as "fake news". The Art of the Bully The resolution? Trump thrives not only on the destruction of actions taken, but on the sword of Damocles of those which may or may not ever be implemented. For Donald Trump is a bully. He has always been a bully in business. He has been a bully in his personal life. And he thrives on being a bully in politics. A bully does not have to hit you to cause pain. Trump advisor Steve Bannon. File picture: Steven Hirsch/New York Post via AP, Pool He can inflict damage just by holding you in limbo over if and when you will be hit. In his inaugural speech in 2017, written by hard-right advisers Miller and Steve Bannon, Trump spoke of "American carnage". Of course, he then promised, "A new vision will govern our land," but that was just for show. It is his spectacle of carnage that took Trump to the steps of the Capitol on January 20, 2017. It was his personal carnage that sent his supporters up them almost four years later. And it is the threat of carnage in America and abroad that will accompany him on Monday. Buckle up for the bumpiest of nights and days. Hamas militants handed over Israeli hostages to members of the International Committee of the Red Cross on Sunday in Gaza City. The hostages got into vehicles of the ICRC as masked and armed Hamas fighters surrounded the vehicles and chanted "God is the greatest. Soon after, the Israeli military said it was receiving the hostages, identified by the prime minister's office as Romi Gonen, Doron Steinbrecher and Emily Damari. An Israeli official told Reuters the Red Cross said they were in good health. Palestinians burst into streets to celebrate and began returning to the rubble of bombed-out homes on Sunday after a ceasefire deal halted fighting in Gaza, while three female hostages freed by Hamas were reunited with their mothers inside Israel. Armed Hamas fighters drove through the southern city of Khan Younis with crowds cheering and chanting. In the north of the territory, bombed into oblivion in the war's most intense fighting, people picked their way on narrow roads through a devastated landscape of rubble and twisted metal. "I feel like at last I found some water to drink after being lost in the desert for 15 months," said Aya, a displaced woman from Gaza City who has been sheltering in Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip for over a year. In Tel Aviv, hundreds of Israelis in a square outside the defence headquarters watched a live broadcast from Gaza showing the hostage release on a giant screen. The crowd cheered, embraced and wept as three female hostages could be seen getting into a Red Cross vehicle surrounded by armed Hamas fighters. Soon after, the Israeli military said Romi Gonen, Doron Steinbrecher and Emily Damari had been reunited with their mothers at a meeting point inside Israel, close to the kibbutz and nearby music festival where they had been abducted in the October 7 Hamas raid that precipitated the war in 2023. The three appeared in good health in a video later released by the military. Romi Gonen, right, and her mother Merav hold each other near kibbutz Reim, southern Israel after Romi was released from captivity by Hamas militants in Gaza, Sunday, Jan. 19, 2025. (Israeli Army via AP) Damari, who lost two fingers when she was shot the day she was abducted, could be seen smiling and embracing her mother as she held up a bandaged hand. "I would like you to tell them: Romi, Doron and Emily an entire nation embraces you. Welcome home," Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu told a commander by phone as the hostages were driven across the border. In the Israeli-occupied West Bank, buses awaited the release of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli detention. Hamas said the first group to be freed in exchange for the hostages includes 69 women and 21 teenage boys. The first phase of the truce in the 15-month-old war between Israel and Hamas took effect following a three-hour delay during which Israeli warplanes and artillery pounded the Gaza Strip. That last-minute Israeli blitz killed 13 people, according to Palestinian health authorities. Israel blamed Hamas for being late to deliver the names of hostages it would free, and said it had struck terrorists. That last-minute Israeli blitz killed 13 people, according to Palestinian health authorities. Hamas said the holdup in providing the list was technical. "Today the guns in Gaza have gone silent," US president Joe Biden said on his last full day in office, welcoming a truce that had eluded U.S. diplomacy for more than a year. "It was a long road," Biden said. "But we've reached this point today because of the pressure Israel built on Hamas, backed by the United States." The truce calls for fighting to stop, aid to be sent in to Gaza and 33 of nearly 100 Israeli and foreign hostages to go free over the six-week first phase in return for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails. For Hamas, the truce could provide an opportunity to emerge from the shadows after 15 months in hiding. Hamas policemen dressed in blue police uniform swiftly deployed in some areas. About 90 Palestinian prisoners have been released in exchange for three Israeli hostages handed over by Hamas to Israel, as part of the ceasefire deal aimed at ending 15 months of war. The prisoners, most of whom were freed in the early hours of Monday from Ofer prison in Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, were welcomed by thousands of people celebrating, waving the flags of Palestine and Hamas. Mothers, fathers, siblings and friends had waited for hours in the cold to embrace their loved ones as part of the agreement. Among those released was Shatha Jarabaa, 24, who was arrested over a social media post criticising the brutality of Israels campaign in Gaza. Im very happy! Thank God Im outside. They treated me very bad in prison. It was horrible, she said. In this photo released by the Israeli Army, Emily Damari, right, and her mother Mandy embrace near kibbutz Reim, southern Israel after Emily was released from captivity by Hamas militants in Gaza, Sunday, Jan. 19, 2025. (Israeli Army via AP) She was greeted by her father, Nawaf Jarabaa, 63, who said earlier: Im happy, but not too happy My daughter was arrested simply for expressing her ideas The thing that bothers me the most is that people think that the Israelis have only behaved this way towards us since 7 October, but the truth is that it has always been like this. His anticipation was also tempered by the fact that two other children were not included in the deal. Another prisoner released was Ahmad Khsha, 18, who was arrested in January 2024 in Jenin. They arrested me because my brother died during a shootout in Jenin. After he died, they arrested me. They raided our cells on Saturday before releasing us and threw teargas at us. They tortured us in the cell, every day. They also tortured and mistreated the women. Osama Shadeh, who was waiting to be reunited with his 17-year-old daughter Aseel, said: Its hard to describe the emotion were feeling at this moment. My daughter was arrested on 7 November 2024 when she was protesting against the killing of Palestinian children in Gaza. She was waving a Palestinian flag. Israeli soldiers shot her in the foot and handcuffed her. They accused her of trying to stab the soldiers. The fact that she is being released now means that Israel knew that my daughter had done nothing wrong. Yet they kept a minor in jail for over a year. Khawlaha Mahfouz, 53, whose daughter Ayat, 33, from Hebron, was arrested in June 2024 for an attempted stabbing attack also expressed mixed feelings. Im happy, [but] at the same time, my heart is sad and I dont feel ready to celebrate with all that is happening in Gaza. In Al Fawakeh square in Ramallah, hundreds of people chanted: The people want the Al-Qassam Brigades, referring to Hamas armed wing in Gaza. In the Palestinian Territories, the release of prisoners and the ceasefire was perceived as a victory for Hamas over Israel. But in East Jerusalem, the homes of at least four prisoners in East Jerusalem were reportedly raided by Israeli security forces who seized flags and symbols associated with Palestine with soldiers explicitly warning relatives against speaking to the media. The Israel Prison Service said on Friday that it would take measures to prevent any public displays of joy by families of Palestinian prisoners released in the deal. A Red Cross convoy arrives to collect Israeli hostages released after a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas took effect. Picture: AP Photo/Abed Hajjar On Sunday, three women held hostage by Hamas in tunnels beneath Gaza, Damari, 28, Romi Gonen, 24 and Doron Steinbrecher, 31, were released and reunited with their mothers. Videos showed them in apparent good health though they are expected to spend a few days in hospital. In one video Damari, who lost two fingers when she was shot the day she was abducted, smiled and hugged her mother as she held up a bandaged hand. The first phase of the truce took effect following a three-hour delay during which Israeli warplanes and artillery pounded the Gaza Strip. The last-minute blitz killed 13 people, Palestinian health authorities said. Israel claimed it had struck terrorists although Al Jazeera reported that at least two missiles hit a family travelling on a donkey cart as they tried to return home. The attack killed Ahmed al-Qidra and two of his seven children, the broadcaster reported. Minutes after the truce began, the United Nations said the first trucks carrying desperately needed humanitarian aid had entered the Palestinian territory. An Egyptian source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said 260 trucks of aid and 16 of fuel had moved into the Israeli-controlled Kerem Shalom crossing between Israel and Gaza and the Nitzana crossing between Egypt and Israel before entering Gaza. Thousands of displaced Palestinians also set off across the landscape to return home. In the northern area of Jabalia, hundreds streamed down a sandy path, heading to an apocalyptic landscape piled with rubble and destroyed buildings. We are finally in our home. There is no home left, just rubble, but its our home, said Rana Mohsen, 43, back in Jabalia. There is no detailed plan in place to govern Gaza after the war, much less rebuild it. Nine in 10 homes have been destroyed as well as schools, hospitals, shops, mosques and cemeteries. The World Health Organization said on Sunday it was ready to pour aid into the territory, but that it would need systematic access across the territory to do so. Until the truce, Israel had complete control over the volume and nature of aid allowed into Gaza, leaving it on the verge of famine several times. Warning that the health challenges ahead are imm Humanitarian aid trucks enter through the Kerem Shalom crossing from Egypt into the Gaza Strip, as a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas went into effect. Picture: AP Photo/Mariam Dagga ense, the Geneva-based agency put the cost of rebuilding just the health system at billions in investment. Today the guns in Gaza have gone silent, US President Joe Biden said on his last full day in office, welcoming a truce that had eluded US diplomacy for more than a year. Weve reached this point today because of the pressure Israel built on Hamas, backed by the United States. Under the first phase of the deal reached between Israel and Hamas, which is to last 42 days, the militant group has agreed to release 33 hostages including children, women (including female soldiers) and men aged over 50, in exchange for hundreds of Palestinians held in Israeli jails. In the second phase of the ceasefire deal, the remaining living hostages are due to be sent back and a corresponding ratio of Palestinian prisoners will be freed, and Israel will completely withdraw from the territory. The specifics are subject to further negotiations, which are due to start 16 days into the first phase. The third phase will address the exchange of bodies of deceased hostages and Hamas members, and a reconstruction plan for Gaza will be launched. Arrangements for future governance of the strip remain hazy. About 100 of the Palestinian prisoners slated for release are serving life sentences for violent attacks on Israelis; others were jailed for lesser offences, including social media posts, or held in administrative detention, which allows for the pre-emptive arrest of individuals based on undisclosed evidence. According to a copy of the agreement seen by the Guardian, nine ill and wounded Israelis will be released in exchange for 110 Palestinians serving life sentences in Israeli jails. About 180 prisoners will reportedly be deported to Turkey, Qatar and Algeria. Palestinians stand amongst the destruction caused by the Israeli air and ground offensive. Picture: AP Photo/Mohammad Hajjar Men aged over 50 on the list of 33 hostages will be released in return for prisoners serving life sentences at a ratio of 1:3, and 1:27 for other sentences. According to figures published by the Israeli NGO HaMoked, as of January 2025 there were 10,221 Palestinians in Israeli prisons. About 3,376 of them are held under administrative detention, while 1,886 are classified as unlawful combatants, which also allows detention without charge or trial. The Israel Defense Forces and Israeli government say the measures comply with international law. Palestinians have long alleged that imprisonment is a key element of Israels 57-year-old occupation: various estimates suggest that up to 40% of Palestinian men have been arrested at least once in their lives. - The Guardian The mother of missing American journalist Austin Tice has made her first visit to Syria in almost a decade, saying that the administration of US President-elect Donald Trump has offered support to help find her son. Debra Tice made the remarks at a news conference in Damascus during her first visit to the country since insurgents toppled President Bashar Assad last month. She did not present any new findings in the ongoing search. Austin Tice disappeared near the Syrian capital in 2012, and has not been heard from since then apart from a video released weeks later that showed him blindfolded and held by armed men. Tens of thousands of people are believed to have gone missing in Syria since 2011, when countrywide protests against Mr Assad spiralled into a devastating civil war. Ms Tice said she remains hopeful that her son is alive and well (Sana via AP) Outgoing US President Joe Biden told reporters at the White House in December that he believes Washington can bring Mr Tice back, while admitting that we have no direct evidence of his wellbeing. Ms Tice said: I have great hope that the Trump administration will sincerely engage in diligent work to bring Austin home. His people have already reached out to me. I havent experienced that for the last four years. Syrias former government had publicly denied that it was holding her son, but Ms Tice hopes she will find him with the help of the new leadership. In December, she said the family had information from an unidentified source that her son was alive and well. She said on Monday she still believes he is alive and in good health. Ms Tice received a pledge that the Trump administration would help in the search (Sana via AP) Austin, if you can somehow hear this, I love you. I know youre not giving up, and neither am I, she said. Ms Tice said she had a productive meeting with Ahmad al-Sharaa, the leader of Syrias new administration, who she said was dedicated and determined to bring back Austin and others who have gone missing in the country. She also visited two military intelligence prisons in Syria, known for their mass incarceration and systematic use of torture, which she described as an unbelievably, horrible nightmare. Mr Tice, who is from Houston, has had his work published by The Washington Post, McClatchy newspapers and other outlets. An Italian journalist who was detained in Iran has said she assumed she would have been held much longer, and said her boyfriends contact with Elon Musk might have been fundamental to her release. In her first televised interview since her release on January 8, Cecilia Sala referred to the three-nation negotiation that resulted in her freedom after 21 days in detention. Ms Sala, 29, was arrested in Tehran just days after Italy detained an Iranian national, Mohammad Abedini, on a US warrant, and their fates became intertwined. After three weeks of negotiations that Premier Giorgia Meloni called diplomatic triangulation, Ms Sala went home and Mr Abedini returned to Iran. The journalist with the Chora Media podcast platform and Il Foglio daily said her boyfriend Daniele Ranieri had contacted Mr Musks Italy representative, Andrea Stroppa, after noting a report that the Tesla and SpaceX chief had met with Irans UN ambassador, suggesting he had contacts with Tehran. The United States and Iran do not have diplomatic relations. Cecilia Sala was detained on December 19 as she was reporting in Iran (Filippo Attili, Italian Government Office via AP) Ms Sala told the talk show Che Tempo Che Fa (What the Weathers Like): You understand that its a case that concerns Iran, Italy, and the United States, so Elon Musk becomes a fundamental person. The only response Daniele got from Andrea Stroppa was he is informed. After Ms Sala was released, Mr Musk tweeted that he played a small role in her liberation. But referring to a New York Times story about his role, Mr Musk said he did not have any interaction with Iran. Just recommended support from the US side. While the negotiations were under way, Ms Meloni flew to Mar-a-Lago and met with Trump. Mr Stroppa has since tweeted a photoshopped image of Mr Musk eating a plate of pasta, a reference to a reported promise by Ms Salas mother to cook Mr Musk his favourite pasta the next time he is in Italy, to thank him for his intervention. Ms Sala, deprived of news from the outside world, assumed she would have been held for much longer, given other Western prisoners have been held for over a year or more. She said she also feared Mr Trumps arrival in the White House could have meant a much longer detention, because of regional tensions between Israel and Iran. If Donald Trump had come out in the press saying publicly that he wanted particular retaliation against some Iranians, my situation could have been very complicated, she said. I was sure that I would be inside a lot more, because everybody else has been inside a lot more. Kept in solitary confinement without her glasses or contact lenses that she needs to see, Sala said she was interrogated while hooded, for up to 10 hours a day, by someone speaking perfect English and who knew a lot about Italy. She was denied an English-language Koran that she requested and said she felt reality slipping away. There were these neon lights on for 24 hours a day. You lose faith in your head when you dont talk for days. You dont trust your memory and even responding to your interrogators becomes a pretty heavy psychological game, she said. Now free, she said she has moments of euphoria tinged with bouts of anxiety that Ill learn how to manage. Donald Trump plans to issue a flurry of executive orders and directives after he is sworn in as US president on Monday to put his stamp on his new administration on matters ranging from energy to immigration. Two sources familiar with the planning said more than 200 such orders and directives could be released starting on Day One in what is known internally as a "shock and awe" effort. Here is what we know about the executive orders so far: IMMIGRATION Trump plans to take a flurry of executive actions aimed at cracking down on legal and illegal immigration and ramping up deportations after he enters the White House on Monday, an incoming Trump administration official said. Trump intends to declare illegal immigration at the US-Mexico border a national emergency to support the construction of a border wall and send additional troops to the border, the official said. Trump will issue a sweeping proclamation that aims to block access to all asylum at the Mexico border, the official said. He will also issue an order intended to end birthright citizenship for US-born children whose parents lack legal immigration status, the official said. Citing the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution, the official said in a briefing: "The federal government will not recognize automatic birthright citizenship for children of illegal aliens born in the United States. We are also going to enhance vetting and screening of illegal aliens." The US Constitution's 14th Amendment provides for granting citizenship to "all persons born or naturalized in the United States." Any move by Trump to end birthright citizenship would face a legal challenge. ENERGY One of Trump's orders on Monday will declare a national energy emergency aimed at "unleashing affordable and reliable American energy," an official with the incoming White House said. Trump, who vowed during his campaign to "drill, baby, drill," will also sign an executive order focused on Alaska, the official said, adding that the state was critical to US national security and could allow exports of LNG to other parts of the United States and allies. Sources familiar with the plans of members of Trump's transition team have said that Trump is considering executive orders to target everything from electric vehicles to withdrawing again from the Paris climate agreement, an action he took in his first administration. Members of his transition team are recommending sweeping changes to cut off support for electric vehicles and charging stations and to strengthen measures blocking the import of cars, components and battery materials from China, according to a document seen by Reuters. The transition team also recommends imposing tariffs on all battery materials globally, a bid to boost US production, and then negotiating individual exemptions with allies, the document shows. Trump's executive orders will also likely seek to roll back Biden's climate regulations on power plants, end his pause on liquefied natural gas exports, and revoke waivers allowing California and other states to have tighter pollution rules. TARIFFS Trump will issue a broad trade memo on Monday that stops short of imposing new tariffs on his first day in office, but rather directs federal agencies to evaluate US trade relationships with China, Canada and Mexico, an incoming Trump administration official said. The Republican incoming president has pledged tariffs of 10% on global imports, 60% on Chinese goods and a 25% import surcharge on Canadian and Mexican products, duties that may upend trade flows, raise costs and draw retaliation. The official, confirming a Wall Street Journal report, said Trump will direct agencies to investigate and remedy persistent trade deficits and address unfair trade and currency policies by other nations. The memo will single out China, Canada and Mexico for scrutiny but will not announce new tariffs, the official said. It will direct agencies to assess Beijing's compliance with its 2020 trade deal with the US, as well as the status of the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement, or USMCA, the official said. Trump believes tariffs would help boost economic growth in the United States, although opponents warn that the costs would likely be passed along to consumers. TRANSGENDER RIGHTS Trump will issue an executive order proclaiming that the US federal government will only recognize two sexes, male and female, an incoming White House official said on Monday. Trump has vowed to sign an executive order ending transgender rights in the SU military and inside SU schools. As for transgender athletes, he told a rally on Sunday that he would act on his first day to stop the participation of trans athletes in women's sports. DIVERSITY PROGRAMS Trump will also issue an order ending "radical and wasteful" diversity, equity and inclusion programs inside the federal government, an incoming White House official said on Monday. During his first term, Trump signed an executive order to curtail efforts to address racial disparities in the workplace, through programs including diversity training inside companies. Biden reversed that executive order on his first day in office in January 2021, and Trump is likely to reinstate his original order early in his second term, and perhaps on his first day in office. Trump has also criticized "diversity, equity and inclusion" policies inside universities. PARDONS Trump has also said he will take action immediately on taking office to issue pardons for some of the hundreds of people convicted or charged in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the US Capitol by his supporters. GENDER-AFFIRMING CARE Trump said in a campaign video in 2023 that on his first day in office he would revoke the Biden administration's policies that provide information and resources to those seeking medical care so they can align their bodies with the gender they identify with. That care can include hormone therapy and surgery. DRUG CARTELS Trump plans to classify drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations in an early executive order, Punchbowl News reported on Sunday, fulfilling a promise he made on the campaign trail to crack down on the sources of the lethal opioid fentanyl. REQUIRING FEDERAL WORKERS TO RETURN TO THE OFFICE Trump has railed against work-from-home arrangements for tens of thousands of federal employees, which were greatly increased during the covid-19 pandemic, and he has vowed to end them. In December, Trump said if federal workers refuse to return to the office, theyre going to be dismissed. By forcing government workers back into the office Trump and his allies hope it could trigger large-scale resignations, which would assist in their goal of reducing the size of the federal bureaucracy. President Donald Trump has vowed to rename North Americas tallest peak, Denali in Alaska, as Mount McKinley reviving an idea he floated years ago that at that time saw strong pushback from state political leaders. Mr Trump said he planned to restore the name of a great president, William McKinley, to Mount McKinley, where it should be and where it belongs. President McKinley made our country very rich through tariffs and through talent. Mr Trump also announced plans to change the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America. A short time from now, we are going to be changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America. Messages left for Alaskas three-member Republican congressional delegation and Republican Gov Mike Dunleavy were not immediately returned. Alaskas US senators in 2017 vehemently opposed a prior suggestion by Mr Trump that the name Denali be changed back to Mount McKinley. In 2015, then-president Barack Obama changed the name to Denali to reflect the traditions of Alaska natives and acknowledge the preference of many Alaska residents. The federal government in recent years has sought to change place names considered disrespectful to native people. Denali is an Athabascan word meaning the high one or the great one. The 20,310-foot mountain, snow-capped and dotted with glaciers, is in Denali National Park and Preserve. A prospector in 1896 dubbed the peak Mount McKinley after President William McKinley, who had never been to Alaska. The name was formally recognised by the US government until Mr Obama changed it in spite of opposition from lawmakers in McKinleys home state of Ohio. Mr Trump raised the notion of a name change again during a rally late last year, following his election. McKinley was a very good, maybe a great president, Mr Trump said in December. They took his name off Mount McKinley, right? Thats what they do to people. President Donald Trump (Al Drago/Pool Photo via AP) President Trump also said that he will change the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America, repeating an idea he first brought up earlier this month during a news conference. America will reclaim its rightful place as the greatest, most powerful, most respected nation on Earth, inspiring the awe and admiration of the entire world, he said on Monday. A short time from now, we are going to be changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America. It is his latest suggestion to redraw the map of the Western Hemisphere. Mr Trump has repeatedly referred to Canada as the 51st State, demanded that Denmark considers ceding Greenland, and called for Panama to return the Panama Canal. Mr Trump also spoke about taking back the vital waterway during his inaugural speech. An N.C. House Select Committee is recommending that the General Assembly change a state law forcing districts to start school the Monday closest to Aug. 26 and end no later than the Friday clo 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. A tenuous ceasefire in the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict is currently in effect, following a significant exchange in which three hostages were swapped for 90 Palestinian prisoners, aimed at bringing an end to over 15 months of warfare in Gaza. The three women hostages released yesterday have been reunited with their families and taken to a hospital in central Israel, where doctors reported that they are in stable condition. Shortly thereafter, in the West Bank, Palestinian prisoners released by Israel left Ofer prison on buses around 1 a.m. (11 p.m. Irish time yesterday), greeted by jubilant crowds celebrating their return in the nearby town of Beitunia. We need your consent to load this comcast-player content. We use comcast-player to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content. Manage Preferences The militant group Hamas declared that Gaza and its inhabitants will rise again and rebuild the territory that has endured over 15 months of relentless bombardment. Gaza, with its resilient and noble people, will rise again to reconstruct what the occupation has devastated and persist in steadfastness until the occupation is vanquished, Hamas stated in a declaration made on the second day of the ceasefire with Israel. For 471 days, the systematic crimes of the occupation have not deterred our people or their courageous resistance from holding onto the land and combating the aggression. A view of Palestinians continuing to return to their homes following the ceasefire agreement between Hamas and Israel. The truce commenced on the eve of Donald Trumps second presidential inauguration, with the former president claiming credit for the agreement after months of ineffective negotiations. Mr. Trump mentioned on NBC that he had urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to put an end to the war. If plans proceed as intended, the implementation of the truce is expected to unfold over several weeks, with only the initial phase of the truce having been agreed upon so far by all parties involved. Despite potential dangers, hundreds of Palestinians were making their way through the devastated landscape in Jabalia, one of the areas worst affected by the war. We are finally home. There is nothing left, just debris, but its still our home, stated Rana Mohsen, 43. People gather around a Red Cross bus carrying approximately 90 Palestinian prisoners who were freed. The initial 42-day truce was facilitated by Qatari, U.S., and Egyptian mediators. This ceasefire should allow for a substantial influx of much-needed humanitarian aid into Gaza, as more Israeli hostages are released in return for Palestinians held in Israeli prisons. According to the agreement, Israeli forces are expected to withdraw from some areas of Gaza while negotiations for a permanent ceasefire commence. During this first phase, 31 of the Israeli hostages taken during Hamass attack on October 7, 2023, are to be returned from Gaza in exchange for around 1,900 Palestinians. Reunited The first three released hostages, Emily Damari, Romi Gonen, and Doron Steinbrecher, returned to Israel after being handed over by Hamas fighters to the Red Cross in a busy square in Gaza City, surrounded by armed men in military fatigues and balaclavas. In Emilys own words, she is the happiest girl in the world; shes got her life back, remarked Damaris mother Mandy, adding that her daughter is doing much better than we ever expected, despite having lost two fingers. Emily Damari (R) was one of three Israeli hostages released by Hamas. Damari, a British-Israeli dual national, was at home in Kfar Aza, southern Israel, when Hamas militants attacked on October 7, 2023, injuring her hands and legs before taking her hostage. Ms. Steinbrechers family stated that our heroic Dodo, who endured 471 days in Hamas captivity, begins her rehabilitation journey today. In Tel Aviv, crowds erupted in joy as they awaited news of the hostages release, with the Hostages and Missing Families Forum campaign group celebrating their return as a beacon of light. Concerns grew in Israel regarding the next phases of the truce, with columnist Sima Kadmon cautioning in the Yedioth Ahronoth daily that upcoming hostage releases may be more distressing. Some will be brought home on gurneys and in wheelchairs. Others will return in coffins. Some will arrive wounded and traumatized, with much of the footage unable to be aired, she wrote. Journalist Avi Issacharoff, a creator of the popular series Fauda, criticized the Israeli government for what he claimed was its failure to prepare for the day after the war. Following the release of the three women hostages, the Israel Prison Service confirmed that 90 Palestinian prisoners had been freed. Palestinians raise national flags along with Hamas and Hezbollah banners as they sit atop the Red Cross bus carrying the prisoners early this morning. In Beitunia, near Ofer prison, Palestinians cheered and shouted as buses arrived, with some climbing atop the bus and waving a Hamas flag. All the prisoners released today feel like family to us. They are one of us, even if they arent blood relatives, Amanda Abu Sharkh, 23, told AFP. One freed prisoner, Abdul Aziz Muhammad Atawneh, described prison as hell, hell, hell. The next hostage-prisoner exchange is scheduled for Saturday, a senior Hamas official informed AFP. International Committee of the Red Cross president Mirjana Spoljaric urged all parties to adhere to their commitments to ensure the next operations can take place safely. Nothing left Reports from Gaza revealed isolated incidents of violence since the ceasefire took effect. Medics indicated that eight individuals had been struck by Israeli fire in Rafah this morning, though their conditions were not immediately available. The Israeli military stated it was investigating these reports. Palestinian Emergency Services mentioned ongoing searches for thousands of Palestinians believed to be trapped under rubble, with residents expressing shock at the devastation witnessed on the second day of the ceasefire. We are searching for 10,000 martyrs whose bodies remain beneath the rubble, said Mahmoud Basal, spokesperson for the Palestinian Civil Emergency Services. Displaced Gazan Mohamed Gomaa, who lost his brother and nephew during the conflict, commented, It was a huge shock, and countless people are feeling this shock due to the destructionits total destruction. This isnt akin to an earthquake or flood; no, whats happened is a war of extermination. UN relief chief Tom Fletcher reported that 630 trucks carrying urgently needed aid entered Gaza within hours of the ceasefires commencement, with 300 heading to the north of the territory. This truce aims to pave the way for a permanent resolution to the conflict, although arrangements for a second phase have not yet been finalized. Palestinians have begun returning to heavily damaged areas of Gaza. Thousands of Palestinians carrying tents, clothing, and personal belongings were seen making their way home yesterday after the war displaced the majority of Gazas 2.4 million residents. Returning Jabalia resident Walid Abu Jiab observed massive, unprecedented destruction, remarking that there is nothing left in northern Gaza, which has experienced intense violence in recent months. In Deir el-Balah, central Gaza, displaced 70-year-old Umm Hasan al-Buzom declared she would crawl her way back home if necessary. But we cant return for fear that the (Israeli) occupation forces might shoot at us. The World Food Programme announced it was working diligently to deliver food to as many Gazans as possible. We are aiming to reach one million individuals in the shortest possible timeframe, stated its deputy executive director, Carl Skau. The wars previous truce, which lasted one week in November 2023, similarly facilitated the release of hostages held by militants in exchange for Palestinian prisoners. Read more: Ceasefire leaves shattered Gaza and divided Israel in its wake. Gazan children expected to arrive shortly for treatment. Trucks carrying humanitarian aid arrive in the Gaza Strip. Aid workers reported that northern Gaza was particularly hard hit, lacking essential supplies such as food, shelter, and water. The World Health Organization expressed readiness to funnel aid into Gaza but indicated it would require systematic access across the territory for effective distribution. WHOs chief, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, later stated on X that revitalizing the health system in Gaza will be a complex and formidable task, given the extent of the destruction. The ceasefire in #Gaza and the commencement of the hostage and prisoner release process bring immense hope for millions whose lives have been profoundly impacted by the conflict. It is a moment I have long advocated for and hoped to see. However, addressing the overwhelming health needs and (REST OF TWEET) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@DrTedros) January 19, 2025 On the eve of the truce, Mr. Netanyahu referred to the initial phase as a temporary ceasefire, asserting that Israel had U.S. support to resume military actions if necessary. Hamass armed wing, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, stated that their compliance with the ceasefire would be dependent on the enemys commitments. A man raises the Palestinian flag as Gazans return home to parts of the Gaza Strip following the ceasefire agreement between Hamas and Israel. Read the latest Middle East stories. Rebuilding Gaza post-war will necessitate billions of dollars. A recent UN damage assessment revealed that clearing over 50 million tonnes of rubble remaining from Israels bombardment could take two decades and cost up to $1.2 billion (1.16 billion). The debris is suspected to contain asbestos, with some refugee camps impacted during the war known to have been constructed using such materials. Israels objective in the conflict was to eliminate Hamas and dismantle the extensive tunnel network it constructed underground. The October 7 Hamas attack, the deadliest in Israels history, resulted in the deaths of 1,210 individuals, primarily civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures. Out of the 251 hostages taken, 91 remain in Gaza, including 34 that the Israeli military reports are deceased. According to the health ministry in Hamas-controlled Gaza, the death toll in the war between Israel and Hamas has reached 46,913. TikTok Working to Restore Service in the US TikTok announced it is in the process of restoring its service in the United States, stating that it will collaborate with President-elect Donald Trump on a long-term strategy to keep the social media platform operational in the country. The app, owned by Chinese company ByteDance, halted operations for its 170 million American users following the implementation of a law banning its continued use due to concerns regarding the potential misuse of American data by Chinese authorities. In a post on X, TikTok expressed gratitude to Mr. Trump for providing the necessary clarity and assurance to our service providers that they will face no penalties for offering TikTok to users in the U.S. Its a strong position for the First Amendment and against arbitrary censorship, the company stated. I would like the United States to hold a 50% ownership stake in a joint venture, Mr. Trump mentioned on social media. The White House emphasized that it is up to the incoming administration to take appropriate actions. These developments follow comments from Mr. Trumps incoming national security adviser, Mike Waltz, who told CNN that the Republican has not dismissed the possibility of continued Chinese ownership of TikTok, coupled with firewalls to ensure that data is protected on American soil. Mr. Waltz added that Mr. Trump is working to save TikTok and that an extension is necessary to evaluate potential deals regarding the app. He noted that every company in China has some link to the Chinese Communist Party. TikTok notified users attempting to access the app in the U.S.: A law banning TikTok has been enacted in the U.S. Unfortunately, that means you cant use TikTok for now. We are fortunate that President Trump has indicated he will collaborate with us on a solution to reinstate TikTok once he takes office. Please stay tuned. Other ByteDance-owned apps, including the video editing tool Capcut and the lifestyle app Lemon8, were also offline and unavailable in U.S. app stores. Users attempting to log into TikTok were greeted with a message indicating that the law would force us to make our services temporarily unavailable. Were working to restore our service in the U.S. as soon as possible. It remained unclear whether any U.S. users could still access the app; however, it was no longer functional for many, and those trying to access it through a web application saw the same notification of its unavailability. The Chinese-owned app, which has captivated nearly half of all Americans, fueled small businesses and influenced online culture, previously stated that it would cease operations in the U.S. unless President Joe Bidens administration provided assurances to companies like Apple and Google against enforcement actions upon a bans implementation. Under a law passed last year, which was upheld on Friday by a unanimous Supreme Court, the platform had until today to sever ties with its China-based parent, ByteDance, or shut down its U.S. operations to address concerns related to national security threats. The White House reiterated that it is up to the incoming administration to act. We see no reason for TikTok or other companies to take actions in the next few days before the Trump administration assumes office on Monday, press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre stated. TikTok did not respond to a request for comments on the latest White House statement. The Chinese embassy in Washington accused the U.S. of employing unfair state power to suppress TikTok. China will take all necessary measures to resolutely safeguard its legitimate rights and interests, a spokesperson declared. VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESS Newswire / January 20, 2025 / AZARGA METALS CORP. ("Azarga Metals" or the "Company") (TSX-V:AZR) is pleased to announce the closing of a non-brokered private placement of common shares in the capital of the Company ("Common Shares"), as announced on December 31, 2024, by the issuance of 36,666,666 Common Shares at an issue price of $0.03 per Common Share for aggregate gross proceeds of $1,100,000 (the "Private Placement"). In addition, the Company has entered into a debt settlement agreement with each of Gordon Tainton ("Tainton"), the Company's President and Chief Executive Officer, and Golden Oak Corporate Services Ltd. ("Golden Oak"), a company controlled by the Chief Financial Officer and Corporate Secretary of the Company. Tainton and Golden Oak have each agreed to forgive 80% of unpaid fees up to and including December 2024, leaving a balance owing to Tainton and Golden Oak of $125,900 (the "RP Debt"). The RP Debt shall be paid 50% on closing of the Private Placement and 50% over the six-month period thereafter. The Company intends to use the proceeds of the Private Placement on its 100% owned high-grade copper-rich VMS Marg project located within the Keno Hill Silver District of the Yukon Territory, to settle trade payables of $133,000, to settle the RP Debt, and for general and administrative expenses. Early Warning This portion of this new release is issued pursuant to NI 62-103, which also requires an early warning report to be filed on SEDAR+ (www.sedarplus.ca) containing additional information with respect to the foregoing matters. A copy of the related early warning report ("EWR") may be obtained on Azarga Metals SEDAR+ profile. In connection with the closing of the Private Placement Junbord International Limited ("Junbord"), a BVI corporation, acquired ownership and control of 18,333,333 Common Shares of the Company. Prior to completion of the Private Placement Junbord did not own or control any Common Shares of the Company. Upon completion of the Private Placement Junbord owns and controls an aggregate of 18,333,333 Common Shares, representing approximately 24.9% of the issued and outstanding Common Shares. The Common Shares were acquired in a private placement transaction which did not take place through the facilities of any market for the Company's securities. This transaction was completed for investment purposes and Junbord could increase or decrease its investment in the Company at any time, or continue to maintain its current investment position, depending on market conditions or any other relevant factor. The Common Shares were acquired for aggregate consideration of $550,000, pursuant to the available prospectus exemptions contained in National Instrument 45-106. In connection with the closing of the Private Placement, Superb Standard Limited ("Superb Standard"), a Hong Kong corporation, acquired ownership and control of 18,333,333 Common Shares of the Company. Prior to completion of the Private Placement Superb Standard did not own or control any Common Shares of the Company. Upon completion of the Private Placement, Superb Standard owns and controls an aggregate of 18,333,333 Common Shares, representing approximately 24.9% of the issued and outstanding Common Shares. The Common Shares were acquired in a private placement transaction which did not take place through the facilities of any market for the Company's securities. This transaction was completed for investment purposes and Superb Standard could increase or decrease its investment in the Company at any time, or continue to maintain its current investment position, depending on market conditions or any other relevant factor. The Common Shares were acquired for aggregate consideration of $550,000, pursuant to the available prospectus exemptions contained in National Instrument 45-106. Following closing the Private Placement Alexander Molyneux's ("Molyneux") interest in Azarga Metals has decreased below 10% to approximately 9.04% of Azarga Metals issued and outstanding Common Shares. Molyneux did not participate in the Private Placement and continues to own 6,662,640 Common Shares of Azarga Metals. An EWR will be filed by Molyneux on Azarga Metal's company profile on SEDAR+. Molyneux holds the Azarga Metals Common Shares for investment purposes and could increase or decrease his investment in the Company at any time, or continue to maintain his current investment position, depending on market conditions or any other relevant factor. Following closing the Private Placement Blake Steele's ("Steele") interest in Azarga Metals has decreased below 10% to approximately 8.53% of Azarga Metals issued and outstanding Common Shares. Steele did not participate in the Private Placement and continues to own 6,287,881 Common Shares of Azarga Metals. An EWR will be filed by Steele on Azarga Metal's company profile on SEDAR+. Steele is a director of the Company and will continue to report on SEDI as an insider of the Company. Gordon Tainton, President and Chief Executive Officer For further information please contact: Doris Meyer, at +1 604 536-2711 ext. 3 or visit www.azargametals.com. The address of the corporate office of Azarga Metals is Unit 1 - 15782 Marine Drive, White Rock, BC V4B 1E6, British Columbia, Canada. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any of the securities in the United States. The securities have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act") or any state securities laws and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to U.S. Persons unless registered under the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws or an exemption from such registration is available. Cautionary Statement This news release contains forward looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities laws. The use of any of the words "ambition", "estimate", "concluded", "offers", "objective", "may", "will", "should", "potential" and similar expressions are intended to identify forward looking statements. In particular, this news release contains forward looking statements concerning the intended uses of the proceeds of the Private Placement and the results of exploration on the Marg Project. Although the Company believes that the expectations and assumptions on which the forward looking statements are based are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on the forward looking statements because the Company cannot give any assurance that they will prove correct. Since forward looking statements address future events and conditions, they involve inherent assumptions, risks and uncertainties. Actual results could differ materially from those currently anticipated due to a number of assumptions, factors and risks. These assumptions and risks include, but are not limited to, assumptions and risks associated with the state of equity financing markets, and results of future exploration activities by the Company. Management has provided the above summary of risks and assumptions related to forward looking statements in this news release in order to provide readers with a more comprehensive perspective on the Company's future operations. The Company's actual results, performance or achievement could differ materially from those expressed in, or implied by, these forward looking statements and, accordingly, no assurance can be given that any of the events anticipated by the forward looking statements will transpire or occur, or if any of them do so, what benefits the Company will derive from them. These forward looking statements are made as of the date of this news release, and, other than as required by applicable securities laws, the Company disclaims any intent or obligation to update publicly any forward looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise. NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO UNITED STATES NEWSWIRE SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES Miroir Discovery 3.12 g/t Au over 19.35 m occurring 225 m north of the Valentre target Aiguille Discovery 8.99 g/t Au over 3.1 m occurring 150 m south of the Valentre target Valentre 142 Au mineralized intercepts identified, supporting zone continuity between Central Duparquet and Dumico target areas that demonstrates a robust resource expansion opportunity VANCOUVER, BC, Jan. 20, 2025 /CNW/ - First Mining Gold Corp. ("First Mining" or the "Company") (TSX: FF) (OTCQX: FFMGF) (FRANKFURT: FMG) is pleased to announce new drilling results from the 2024 Phase 3 diamond drilling program at its Duparquet Gold Project ("Duparquet Project" or the "Project") located in Quebec, Canada. First Mining has identified two new discovery gold zones during the expansion drilling at the Valentre target. Assay results for the newly discovered "Miroir Zone", located north of the Valentre target, returned 3.12 g/t Au over 19.35 m, including 5.47 g/t Au over 9.6 m. Further drill results from the program identified a second discovery, the "Aiguille Zone", occurring south of the Valentre target, returning 8.99 g/t Au over 3.1 m. In total, 142* unique mineralized intercepts in 16 drill holes have been encountered in the Valentre expansion area, including the new discoveries at Miroir and Aiguille. These new drill results support a strong continuity in mineralization within the Central Duparquet, Valentre and Dumico ("CVD") area, while highlighting an affinity for additional discovery zones with increasing exploration at the Duparquet Project. "The discovery of these two new gold zones at our Duparquet Gold Project demonstrates the continued success of our exploration program at the Project," stated Dan Wilton, CEO of First Mining. "With more than two full exploration seasons now under our belt at Duparquet, our team is producing exceptional drill results with a degree of predictability supported by a robust geoscience foundation. On top of the existing mineral resource base of 3.44 Moz of Measured & Indicated resource and 2.64 Moz of Inferred resource, these results demonstrate that Duparquet is well positioned to achieve significant resource growth, demonstrating that Duparquet is one of the strongest gold-endowed assets in Canada, strategically located in the heart of the Abitibi gold belt in Quebec." A map highlighting the target locations in the CVD area, including Miroir and Aiguille, as well as locations of recent drill holes is presented in Figure 1, and corresponding assay highlights are presented in Table 1, with full assay results listed in Table 2 and drill hole locations in Table 3. *Represents all intercepts reporting above 0.4 g/t Au over 3 m in the CVD area, supporting mineralization continuity Table 1: Selected Significant Drill Intercepts, 2024 Phase 3 Drill Program CVD Target Area Hole ID From (m) To (m) Length (m) Grade (Au g/t) Target DUP24-035 93.0 100.0 7.0 2.07 Valentre DUP24-035 inc. 95.0 96.0 1.0 8.88 Valentre DUP24-035 157.3 160.5 3.2 4.14 Valentre DUP24-035 inc. 159.4 160.0 0.6 9.42 Valentre DUP24-036 215.2 225.4 10.2 3.27 Valentre DUP24-036 inc. 220.5 225.4 4.9 5.23 Valentre DUP24-037 72.75 82.9 10.15 2.11 Valentre DUP24-038 83.0 85.2 2.2 12.46 Valentre DUP24-038 inc. 84.45 85.2 0.75 27.40 Valentre DUP24-041 169.90 185.0 15.1 3.54 Central Duparquet DUP24-041 inc. 177.35 184.0 6.65 5.53 Central Duparquet DUP24-041 353.1 364.15 11.05 1.87 Aiguille DUP24-041 inc. 359.1 359.8 0.7 8.35 Aiguille DUP24-043 308.84 326.32 17.48 2.16 Valentre DUP24-043 inc. 314.56 318.52 3.96 4.55 Valentre DUP24-043 and inc. 325.79 326.32 0.53 11.80 Valentre DUP24-044 545.9 549.0 3.1 8.99 Aiguille DUP24-044 inc. 548.0 549.0 1.0 15.50 Aiguille DUP24-048 6.75 26.1 19.35 3.12 Miroir DUP24-048 inc. 15.5 25.1 9.6 5.47 Miroir DUP24-048 inc. 22.1 25.1 3.0 11.26 Miroir *Reported intervals are drilled core lengths (true widths are estimated at 75-85% of the core length interval, assay values are uncut) Upcoming Duparquet Exploration Programs A portion of the upcoming drill programs will be focused at the newly discovered Miroir and Aiguille discovery zones, where the aim is to continue advancing and drill testing the exploration potential along strike and at depth (Figure 2). The CVD area has returned significant upside and value to the Duparquet project to date and it will remain a focus area for exploration optimization and potential extension of the mineral resource. Further drilling will also provide advancement at the highly prospective Buzz target and North Zone with a focus on growth as well as the top regional targets delineated in 2024, further supporting opportunity for new discoveries. "For 2025, our team is planning for increased drilling programs that will capitalize on our momentum through a continued opening of the exploration space at Duparquet," stated James Maxwell, VP Exploration and Project Operations of First Mining. "We anticipate expanded outcomes with each additional drill metre by leveraging our foundational geoscience platforms to establish the Duparquet Project as a top-tier gold endowment in the Abitibi Greenstone Belt." Central Duparquet, Valentre and Dumico ("CVD") The 2024 drilling program at the CVD area totalled 16 holes and 4,644 m. The CVD drilling campaign was aimed at testing approximately 200 m of strike length at the targeted area, which has demonstrated significant potential for resource expansion through on-strike extension drilling and north and south step-outs within the CVD area (Figure 2). Expanding the exploration search space is a core aspect of the growth strategy for the Project, including the evaluation of areas that have never been drill tested. Recent results in the CVD area have demonstrated a high degree of mineralization continuity, along with two new gold discoveries (Miroir and Aiguille), located to the north and south of the Valentre target. These results have expanded the CVD target area, which now boasts a gold mineralization footprint extending 1,700 m east-west in a corridor approximately 500 m wide. The depth potential remains largely underexplored, presenting significant opportunities for further evaluation. Additional Details on CVD, Aiguille, and Miroir Drilling CVD The Valentre portion of the CVD drilling strategy has been focused on targeting the mineralization continuity of multiple gold zones that occur within an underexplored area east of the main Duparquet resource centre where the opportunity for significant strike extension has been identified. The Valentre target area spans approximately 200 m along strike between two established centres of mineral resource wireframes (Central Duparquet and Dumico), where drilling aims to support continuity and ultimately provide a new centre for resource growth. First Mining completed an initial drill test to derisk this opportunity during their Phase 1 drill program conducted in 2023 (see press release date September 5, 2023) that returned a total of six discrete gold intercepts central to the area, which prompted additional drilling. Recent results from the 2024 drilling programs have returned further supporting intercepts which include 3.27 g/t Au over 10.2 m from 215.2 m to 225.4 m in drill hole DUP24-036, 2.11 g/t Au over 10.15 m from 72.75 m to 82.9 m in drill hole DUP24-037, and 2.16 g/t Au over 17.48 m including 3.96 g/t Au over 4 m from 314.56 m to 318.52 m, and including 11.80 g/t Au over 0.53 m from 325.79 m to 326.32 m in drill hole DUP24-043 (Figure 3). The drill data collected to date is now being integrated into updated geoscience models, aimed at developing new and refined wireframes within the trend. These updates will support potential resource additions while targeting higher-grade zones for exploration at depth where the target remains open. The Central Duparquet and Dumico portion of the CVD drilling strategy was focused on potential resource expansion at depth and increasing the geoscience confidence of the controls on mineralization along strike between the Central Duparquet, Valentre, and Dumico areas. In 2024, the Central Duparquet drill program comprised three holes - DUP24-027 (see press release date August 28, 2024), DUP24-041, and DUP24-044, with DUP24-041 returning 3.54 g/t Au over 15.1 m from 169.9 m to 185.0 m. This program was successful in testing the secondary plunge to the higher-grade zones in the Central Duparquet area. The higher-grade zones are theorized to plunge steeply to the west or near-vertical along the main mineralization trend, and in this area they remain open at depth. The 2024 Dumico drill program comprised one drillhole (DUP24-047) which returned 1.56 g/t Au over 10.80 m from 235.2 m to 246.0 m, including 1 m at 6.84 g/t Au from 238.0 m to 239 m. This program was successful in further expanding and confirming the resource potential at depth in the Dumico area. Gold mineralization at the CVD area is hosted within mineralized silica- and sericite-altered syenite units with very fine-grained disseminated pyrite ranging from 0.5 - 3%. Gold mineralization is also coincident with dark smokey quartz veins and veinlets, with up to 3% fine-grained disseminated pyrite mineralization. The gold-mineralized quartz veins are hosted within syenite units, and intervals of alternating syenite and mafic and ultramafic volcanic units. Miroir The new gold discovery, Miroir, was identified during the recent Valentre expansion drilling. Drill hole DUP24-048 was collared 250 metres to the north of Valentre in an effort to step back and drill under areas of previous drilling success at Valentre (see press release dated August 28, 2024), and to intersect the underexplored northern contact of the mafic volcanic-syenite contact area which has demonstrated a stronger affinity for higher-grade mineralization in the North Zone target area of the Project. The Miroir zone is located 225 m to the north of the Valentre target and is initially intercepted at bedrock level, making it an extremely encouraging shallow exploration opportunity for further advancement (Figure 5). Assays from drill hole DUP24-048 in the Miroir zone returned 3.12 g/t Au over 19.35 m from 6.75 m to 26.10 m, including 5.47 g/t Au over 9.60 m from 15.5 m to 25.1 m (Figure 4). Miroir mineralization is hosted within a silica-altered basalt unit with up to 5% very fine-grained fracture-controlled pyrite mineralization and fine-grained disseminated pyrite mineralization that occurs immediately adjacent to the contact with the CVD syenite. Rheologic contrast between the geochemically favourable volcanic host rock units and the syenite are interpreted as favourable settings for gold mineralization and are being prioritized as high-value exploration drilling targets at the Duparquet Project. Strong grade and width accompanied by these factors are similar to that seen at the North Zone target and are thought to "mirror" recent success in drilling at the North Zone where results included 5.97 g/t Au over 33.0 m in hole DUP24-024 (see press release dated June 18, 2024) and which is located approximately 1,500 m to the northwest of the Miroir Discovery. Aiguille The second new gold discovery, Aiguille, was also identified during the 2024 follow-up drilling at Valentre. Drill hole DUP24-041 was extended beyond the target depth by site geologists, owing to a change in the expected geology surrounding Valentre identified during the drilling. Lithologies intersected were syenite units with favourable sericite alteration and fine-grained disseminated pyrite sulphide mineralization, which were fairly continuous in an area where volcanic lithologies are typically intruded by lesser syenite units and bounded by gabbro. A geoscience-driven extension of this drill hole resulted in the discovery of the Aiguille zone, with hole DUP24-041 returning 1.87 g/t Au over 11.05 m from 353.1 m to 364.15 m, including 8.35 g/t Au over 0.7 m from 359.1 m to 359.8 m. An adjustment in the next CVD hole delivered even more favourable results, with hole DUP24-044 returning 8.99 g/t Au over 3.10 m from 545.9 m to 549.0 m, including 15.5 g/t Au over 1.0 m from 548 m to 549 m (Figure 6). The discovery zone is located 150 m south of the main Valentre area and remains significantly underexplored, promoting positive opportunities for further drilling at Aiguille with a focus on delineating additional zones and an area for further expansion, at relatively higher grades for the Project. Aiguille mineralization is hosted within silica- and sericite-altered syenite units and graphitic argillite, with fine-grained disseminated pyrite mineralization up to 5% and dark smokey quartz veining. Increased volume and scale in combination with the mineralization styles including sulphides and veins is interpreted as being attributable to the returned higher Au grades, in comparison to the conventional CVD mineralization overall. First Mining will follow up with additional drilling at this target area in 2025, with an opportunity to expand and extend the mineralization up-dip and along strike. Table 2: Phase 3 Valentre, Central Duparquet, Dumico, Aiguille, and Miroir Drilling - Assay Results Hole ID From (m) To (m) Length (m) Grade (Au g/t) Target DUP24-034 18.75 19.50 0.75 0.79 Valentre DUP24-034 24.75 25.55 0.80 0.53 DUP24-034 32.40 41.00 8.60 0.55 DUP24-034 46.85 48.25 1.40 0.77 DUP24-034 52.00 53.00 1.00 0.46 DUP24-035 34.85 35.60 0.75 0.65 Valentre DUP24-035 82.70 83.55 0.85 0.44 DUP24-035 88.50 89.30 0.80 0.41 DUP24-035 93.00 100.00 7.00 2.07 DUP24-035 inc. 95.00 96.00 1.00 8.88 DUP24-035 115.10 116.80 1.70 0.44 DUP24-035 133.10 140.25 7.15 1.34 DUP24-035 157.30 160.50 3.20 4.14 DUP24-035 inc. 159.40 160.00 0.60 9.42 DUP24-036 113.00 114.00 1.00 0.60 Valentre DUP24-036 128.00 129.00 1.00 0.45 DUP24-036 147.55 148.45 0.90 0.40 DUP24-036 156.75 160.00 3.25 0.43 DUP24-036 164.65 165.30 0.65 0.58 DUP24-036 179.00 181.00 2.00 1.16 DUP24-036 186.50 187.50 1.00 0.45 DUP24-036 199.95 201.25 1.30 0.71 DUP24-036 215.20 225.40 10.20 3.27 DUP24-036 inc. 220.50 225.40 4.90 5.23 DUP24-037 23.00 25.00 2.00 0.85 Valentre DUP24-037 29.00 30.00 1.00 0.50 DUP24-037 38.40 39.40 1.00 1.32 DUP24-037 62.35 68.25 5.90 1.07 DUP24-037 72.75 82.90 10.15 2.11 DUP24-038 16.65 19.15 2.50 0.52 Valentre DUP24-038 24.00 25.00 1.00 1.16 DUP24-038 35.00 36.00 1.00 0.58 DUP24-038 77.25 78.00 0.75 1.25 DUP24-038 83.00 85.20 2.20 12.46 DUP24-038 inc. 84.45 85.20 0.75 27.40 DUP24-038 107.85 119.00 11.15 0.87 DUP24-038 131.00 131.95 0.95 0.68 DUP24-038 184.00 186.40 2.40 0.64 DUP24-039 25.00 26.00 1.00 0.45 Valentre DUP24-039 37.00 37.85 0.85 0.47 DUP24-039 109.10 118.25 9.15 0.65 DUP24-039 133.65 134.45 0.80 0.44 DUP24-039 180.40 181.40 1.00 0.43 DUP24-040 22.00 23.70 1.70 0.54 Dumico DUP24-040 34.00 34.70 0.70 0.88 DUP24-040 87.75 88.45 0.70 0.57 Valentre DUP24-040 107.70 108.40 0.70 0.42 DUP24-040 155.00 159.00 4.00 0.87 DUP24-040 166.00 166.75 0.75 0.90 DUP24-040 181.00 186.50 5.50 0.63 DUP24-041 134.00 135.80 1.80 3.33 Central Duparquet DUP24-041 169.90 185.00 15.10 3.54 DUP24-041 inc. 177.35 184.00 6.65 5.53 DUP24-041 191.00 196.00 5.00 0.83 DUP24-041 201.50 211.00 9.50 1.92 DUP24-041 inc. 204.00 205.00 1.00 7.23 DUP24-041 219.30 224.05 4.75 1.01 DUP24-041 299.65 300.35 0.70 0.50 DUP24-041 353.10 364.15 11.05 1.87 Aiguille DUP24-041 inc. 359.10 359.80 0.70 8.35 DUP24-043 107.30 107.85 0.55 1.03 Valentre DUP24-043 248.20 249.20 1.00 0.57 DUP24-043 294.54 295.76 1.22 0.51 DUP24-043 308.84 326.32 17.48 2.16 DUP24-043 inc. 314.56 318.52 3.96 4.55 DUP24-043 and inc. 325.79 326.32 0.53 11.80 DUP24-043 329.65 335.17 5.52 1.62 DUP24-043 345.30 346.39 1.09 1.08 DUP24-043 351.82 372.63 20.81 1.56 DUP24-043 inc. 357.96 365.74 7.78 3.31 DUP24-043 422.34 422.93 0.59 0.44 DUP24-043 429.02 431.02 2.00 0.97 DUP24-043 442.05 445.74 3.69 2.00 DUP24-043 454.85 455.44 0.59 0.75 DUP24-044 11.00 11.90 0.90 0.59 Central Duparquet DUP24-044 35.00 41.00 6.00 1.73 DUP24-044 286.00 288.15 2.15 1.00 DUP24-044 301.30 305.00 3.70 1.82 DUP24-044 321.00 340.00 19.00 1.13 DUP24-044 345.00 360.00 15.00 1.27 DUP24-044 inc. 355.00 356.20 1.20 7.09 DUP24-044 377.45 378.00 0.55 0.55 DUP24-044 403.50 404.00 0.50 4.66 DUP24-044 473.50 474.50 1.00 0.98 Aiguille DUP24-044 500.40 501.00 0.60 3.33 DUP24-044 540.90 541.90 1.00 0.40 DUP24-044 545.90 549.00 3.10 8.99 DUP24-044 inc. 548.00 549.00 1.00 15.50 DUP24-047 33.80 34.50 0.70 0.54 Dumico DUP24-047 48.00 50.00 2.00 0.62 DUP24-047 55.00 56.00 1.00 0.50 DUP24-047 59.00 60.95 1.95 1.81 DUP24-047 103.00 106.45 3.45 1.22 DUP24-047 114.00 115.10 1.10 0.61 DUP24-047 210.50 214.45 3.95 0.75 DUP24-047 218.50 219.50 1.00 0.69 DUP24-047 226.00 228.00 2.00 0.75 DUP24-047 235.20 246.00 10.80 1.56 DUP24-047 inc. 237.00 242.00 5.00 2.86 DUP24-047 inc. 238.00 239.00 1.00 6.84 DUP24-047 251.40 255.00 3.60 1.32 DUP24-047 266.25 266.85 0.60 1.18 DUP24-047 271.00 274.00 3.00 1.55 DUP24-047 355.00 356.50 1.50 0.86 DUP24-047 359.00 359.75 0.75 0.73 DUP24-047 371.05 371.80 0.75 0.42 DUP24-047 382.25 382.75 0.50 3.13 DUP24-047 387.00 388.00 1.00 0.40 DUP24-047 411.00 411.70 0.70 0.45 DUP24-048 6.75 26.10 19.35 3.12 Miroir DUP24-048 inc. 18.50 25.10 6.60 6.97 DUP24-048 inc. 22.10 25.10 3.00 11.26 DUP24-048 68.00 69.00 1.00 1.04 Dumico DUP24-048 81.00 82.00 1.00 1.61 DUP24-048 217.40 218.60 1.20 1.13 DUP24-048 241.00 241.50 0.50 0.61 Valentre DUP24-048 255.30 257.70 2.40 0.41 DUP24-048 269.00 270.00 1.00 0.87 DUP24-048 273.00 281.30 8.30 0.65 DUP24-048 inc. 273.00 275.00 2.00 1.77 DUP24-048 289.00 290.50 1.50 0.70 DUP24-048 318.80 319.50 0.70 1.37 DUP24-048 343.70 356.00 12.30 1.75 DUP24-048 inc. 346.10 354.25 8.15 2.50 DUP24-048 inc. 348.85 351.00 2.15 6.14 *Reported intervals are drilled core lengths (true widths are estimated at 75-85% of the core length interval; assay values are uncut) Table 3: Phase 3 Drill Hole Locations, Valentre and Central Duparquet Targets Hole ID Azimuth () Dip () Length (m) Easting Northing DUP24-034 180 -45 99 633402 5373823 DUP24-035 180 -68 201 633406 5373864 DUP24-036 180 -57 288 633471 5373931 DUP24-037 180 -47 141 633450 5373834 DUP24-038 180 -50 195 633520 5373867 DUP24-039 180 -45 195 633580 5373864 DUP24-040 180 -45 261 633587 53739122 DUP24-041 195 -65 462 633311 5373895 DUP24-043 175 -55 534 633406 5374053 DUP24-044 180 -47 600 633317 5374059 DUP24-047 180 -60 453 633733 5374033 DUP24-048 180 -55 402 633594 5374045 Note: Collar coordinates in UTM NAD 83 z17 About the Duparquet Gold Project The Duparquet Project is geologically situated in the southern part of the Abitibi Greenstone Belt and is geographically located approximately 50 km north of the city of Rouyn-Noranda. The Project benefits from easy access and proximity to an existing workforce and infrastructure, including road, rail and hydroelectric grid power. The Duparquet Project currently hosts an NI 43-101 compliant gold resource of 3.44 million ounces in the Measured & Indicated category, grading 1.55 g/t Au, and an additional 2.64 million ounces in the Inferred category, grading 1.62 g/t Au. First Mining completed a Preliminary Economic Assessment1 ("PEA") on the Project in 2023 (see news releases dated September 7, 2023 and October 23, 2023). The Duparquet Project totals approximately 5,800 hectares focused on an area of 19 km of strike length along the prolific Destor-Porcupine Fault Zone, along with numerous mineralized splays and influential secondary lineaments. The Duparquet Project includes the past-producing Beattie, Donchester and Duquesne mines as well as the Central Duparquet, Dumico and Pitt Gold deposits. 1 Further details on the Duparquet PEA can be found in the technical report entitled "NI 43-101 Technical Report: Preliminary Economic Assessment, Duparquet Gold Project, Quebec, Canada" dated October 20, 2023, which was prepared for First Mining by G Mining Services Inc. in accordance with NI 43-101 and is available under First Mining's SEDAR profile at www.sedarplus.ca Analytical Laboratory and QA/QC Procedures All sampling completed by First Mining within its exploration programs is subject to a Company standard of internal quality control and quality assurance (QA/QC) programs which include the insertion of certified reference materials, blank materials and a level of duplicate analysis. Core samples from the 2024 drilling program at Duparquet were sent to AGAT Laboratories, with sample preparation in Val d'Or and analysis in Thunder Bay, where they were processed for gold analysis by 50 gram fire assay with an atomic absorption finish. Samples from selected holes were sent to AGAT Laboratories in Calgary, Alberta, for multi-element analysis (including silver) by inductively coupled plasma (ICP) method with a four acid digest. AGAT Laboratories systems conform to requirements of ISO/IEC Standard 17025 guidelines and meets assay requirements outlined for NI 43-101. Qualified Person James Maxwell, P.Geo., VP, Exploration and Project Operations for First Mining, is a "Qualified Person" for the purposes of NI 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects and has reviewed and approved the scientific and technical disclosure contained in this news release. About First Mining Gold Corp. First Mining is a gold developer advancing two of the largest gold projects in Canada, the Springpole Gold Project in northwestern Ontario, where we have commenced a feasibility study and permitting activities are on-going with a final Environmental Impact Statement / Environmental Assessment for the project submitted in November 2024, and the Duparquet Gold Project in Quebec, a PEA-stage development project located on the Destor-Porcupine Fault Zone in the prolific Abitibi region. First Mining also owns the Cameron Gold Project in Ontario and a portfolio of gold project interests including the Pickle Crow Gold Project (being advanced in partnership with Firefly Metals Ltd.) and the Hope Brook Gold Project (being advanced in partnership with Big Ridge Gold Corp.). First Mining was established in 2015 by Mr. Keith Neumeyer, founding President and CEO of First Majestic Silver Corp. ON BEHALF OF FIRST MINING GOLD CORP. Daniel W. Wilton Chief Executive Officer and Director Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements This news release includes certain "forward-looking information" and "forward-looking statements" (collectively "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable Canadian and United States securities legislation including the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this news release. Forward-looking statements are frequently, but not always, identified by words such as "expects", "anticipates", "believes", "plans", "projects", "intends", "estimates", "envisages", "potential", "possible", "strategy", "goals", "opportunities", "objectives", or variations thereof or stating that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved, or the negative of any of these terms and similar expressions. Forward-looking statements in this news release relate to future events or future performance and reflect current estimates, predictions, expectations or beliefs regarding future events. All forward-looking statements are based on First Mining's or its consultants' current beliefs as well as various assumptions made by them and information currently available to them. 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. Forward-looking statements reflect the beliefs, opinions and projections on the date the statements are made and are based upon a number of assumptions and estimates that, while considered reasonable by the respective parties, are inherently subject to significant business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties and contingencies. Such factors include, without limitation the Company's business, operations and financial condition potentially being materially adversely affected by the outbreak of epidemics, pandemics or other health crises, and by reactions by government and private actors to such outbreaks; risks to employee health and safety as a result of the outbreak of epidemics, pandemics or other health crises, that may result in a slowdown or temporary suspension of operations at some or all of the Company's mineral properties as well as its head office; fluctuations in the spot and forward price of gold, silver, base metals or certain other commodities; fluctuations in the currency markets (such as the Canadian dollar versus the U.S. dollar); changes in national and local government, legislation, taxation, controls, regulations and political or economic developments; risks and hazards associated with the business of mineral exploration, development and mining (including environmental hazards, industrial accidents, unusual or unexpected formations, pressures, cave-ins and flooding); the presence of laws and regulations that may impose restrictions on mining; employee relations; relationships with and claims by local communities, indigenous populations and other stakeholders; availability and increasing costs associated with mining inputs and labour; the speculative nature of mineral exploration and development; title to properties.; and the additional risks described in the Company's Annual Information Form for the year ended December 31, 2023 filed with the Canadian securities regulatory authorities under the Company's SEDAR+ profile at www.sedarplus.ca, and in the Company's Annual Report on Form 40-F filed with the SEC on EDGAR. First Mining cautions that the foregoing list of factors that may affect future results is not exhaustive. When relying on our forward-looking statements to make decisions with respect to First Mining, investors and others should carefully consider the foregoing factors and other uncertainties and potential events. First Mining does not undertake to update any forward-looking statement, whether written or oral, that may be made from time to time by the Company or on our behalf, except as required by law. Cautionary Note to United States Investors The Company is a "foreign private issuer" as defined in Rule 3b-4 under the United States Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and is eligible to rely upon the Canada-U.S. Multi-Jurisdictional Disclosure System, and is therefore permitted to prepare the technical information contained herein in accordance with the requirements of the securities laws in effect in Canada, which differ from the requirements of the securities laws currently in effect in the United States. Accordingly, information concerning mineral deposits set forth herein may not be comparable with information made public by companies that report in accordance with U.S. standards. Technical disclosure contained in this news release has not been prepared in accordance with the requirements of United States securities laws and uses terms that comply with reporting standards in Canada with certain estimates prepared in accordance with NI 43-101. NI 43-101 is a rule developed by the Canadian Securities Administrators that establishes standards for all public disclosure an issuer makes of scientific and technical information concerning the issuer's material mineral projects. VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESS Newswire / January 20, 2025 /Q Precious and Battery Metals Corp. ("QMET" or the "Company") (CSE:QMET)(Frankfurt:0NB)(OTC:BTKRF) is very pleased to present the results of core samples taken from drill holes 24LCS-02 and 24LCS-03 from their La Corne South project. Three drill holes were completed in the fall of 2024, with the results from holes 24LCS-01 and 24LCS-03 returning robust VMS-style mineralization with elevated copper, zinc, silver, and gold. The below table summarizes the drill hole collar information; HOLE id Azimuth Dip Depth UTM E UTM N LCS-24-01 040 -45 144.6 297970 5354750 LCS-24-02 055 -45 144 297970 5354750 LCS-24-03 054 -45 137.65 297942 5354812 From drill holes 24LCS-02 and 24LCS-03, significant downhole intercepts were returned primarily from hole 24LCS-03, including; 108.75-109.75 - 2.68% copper, and 23.45 ppm silver 110.2-111.4 - 2.66% copper, and 24.05 ppm silver *True widths of mineralization have not yet been determined The above intercepts are within a larger envelope of mineralization from 104.85 metres to 112.75 metres down hole. A table summarizing the results from holes 24LCS-02 and 24LCS-03 is provided below; Hole_id SampleID From To width Cu% Agppm Au gpt Sulphides LCS-24-02 E184001 123.65 124 0.35 0.117 0.806 0.017 Na LCS-24-03 E184046 96.1 97 0.9 0.216 1.105 0.041 Chalcopyrite-pyrrhotite LCS-24-03 E184057 104.85 105.35 0.5 0.246 2.56 0.013 Pyrrhotite-pyrite(-chalcopyrite) stockwork LCS-24-03 E184058 105.35 106 0.65 0.162 1.525 0.004 Chalcopyrite LCS-24-03 E184059 106 106.55 0.55 0.355 3.38 0.011 Chalcopyrite LCS-24-03 E184061 106.55 107.1 0.55 0.716 6.65 0.018 Semi-massive pyrrhotite-chalcopyrite over 10cm within a halo of disseminations LCS-24-03 E184062 107.1 107.75 0.65 0.498 4.62 0.039 Semi-massive pyrrhotite-chalcopyrite within a halo of disseminations LCS-24-03 E184063 107.75 108.25 0.5 0.381 3.42 0.01 Semi-massive pyrrhotite-chalcopyrite within a halo of disseminations LCS-24-03 E184064 108.25 108.75 0.5 0.368 3.46 0.008 Semi-massive pyrrhotite-chalcopyrite within a halo of disseminations LCS-24-03 E184065 108.75 109.25 0.5 2.02 19.4 0.07 Semi-massive pyrrhotite-chalcopyrite within a halo of disseminations LCS-24-03 E184066 109.25 109.75 0.5 3.34 27.5 0.106 Semi-massive pyrrhotite-chalcopyrite within a halo of disseminations LCS-24-03 E184067 109.75 110.2 0.45 0.483 4.69 0.007 Semi-massive pyrrhotite-chalcopyrite within a halo of disseminations LCS-24-03 E184068 110.2 110.8 0.6 2.2 20.8 0.045 Semi-massive pyrrhotite-chalcopyrite within a halo of disseminations LCS-24-03 E184069 110.8 111.4 0.6 3.11 27.3 0.028 Semi-massive pyrrhotite-chalcopyrite within a halo of disseminations LCS-24-03 E184071 111.4 112 0.6 0.1155 1.22 0.008 Pyrite-chalcopyrite LCS-24-03 E184072 112 112.75 0.75 0.424 3.8 0.009 Pyrrhotite-chalcopyrite A weighted average copper equivalent for hole 24LCS-03 continuous intercept from 104.85 metres to 112.75 metres downhole depth is calculated as; 1.17 % copper equivalent** over 7.9 metres* *True widths of mineralization have not yet been determined **Copper equivalents utilize CAN $124.54 per gram gold, $1.41 per gram silver, and $4.50 per pound copper. As previously reported, significant downhole intercepts from hole 24LCS-01 were summarized as follows (previous News Release September 2024): 122.75-123.3 - 4.2% copper, 4% zinc, 0.17 ppm gold, and 30.3 ppm silver 123.3-123.85 - 1.9% copper, 3.17% zinc, and 14.7 ppm silver 123.85-124.4 - 0.79% copper, 1.3% zinc, and 7.33 ppm silver 125.5-126 - 2.61% copper *True widths of mineralization have not yet been determined The weighted average for the total mineralized zone from 102.15 metres to 127.6 metres in hole 24LCS-01 was calculated at: 0.83% copper equivalent over 25.45 metres **Copper equivalents utilized USA $80 per gram gold, $0.95 per gram silver, $1.30 per pound zinc, and $4.2 per pound copper. The results from holes 24LCS-01 to 24LCS-03 continue to support multi-element VMS targeting on the property. Elevated results were obtained from semi-massive to massive sulphides including pyrite, pyrrhotite, chalcopyrite, and sphalerite as logged by the geologists. Holes 24LCS-02 and 24LCS-03 did not contain significant zinc or nickel values as those obtained in hole 24LCS-01. Drill holes 24LCS-01 to 24LCS-03 tested an approximate 50 metres of target strike length indicated from the TDEM conductor and magnetic high discovered by QMET geophysical surveys. Two intriguing TDEM targets have been interpreted to exist approximately two kilometres to the south-east of the location of holes 24LCS-01 to 24LCS-03 (see news release dated January 6, 2025). Permit extensions are currently in process to allow drill access construction to these new targets. The permit should be available in the next few weeks, after which diamond drilling will continue. Explo-Logik Inc, located in Val d'Or, is managing the drill program including core logging and sampling at their facility. A total of 278 samples of core were directly delivered by Explo-Logik staff to the ALS laboratory in Val d'Or, Quebec. The samples underwent ALS ME-MS61L process that uses 4-acid digestion of pulverized samples followed by mass spectrometer detection for 48 elements, and process Au-ICP21 that analyzes for gold, platinum, and palladium using fire assay. For quality assurance and control Explo-Logik inserted blanks, standards, and duplicates at one insert for every 10 samples. The QMET geologic team is very pleased with the results obtained from holes 24LCS-01 to 24LCS-03 as they support the exploration model for multi-element volcanic-hosted sulphides at La Corne South. The company is looking forward to continued drill testing of similar targets. The next phase of drilling is now scheduled to continue this Winter. Q PRECIOUS & BATTERY METALS CORP QMET exploration programs undertaken in Quebec are supervised by Dr. Mathieu Piche, OGQ, with office located north of Val d'Or. He is also a Q Precious & Battery Metals company director. The company has 100% interest in mineral claims within Quebec, targeting critical and precious metals. Projects include the La Corne SouthVMS+ Pegmatite Lithium Project, McKenzie East Gold property, and the recently acquired Pontax Lithium and Versant rare earth elements (REE) properties. Cautionary Statement This press release contains forward-looking statements based on assumptions as of that date. These statements reflect management's current estimates, beliefs, intentions and expectations; they are not guarantees of future performance. The Company cautions that all forward-looking statements are inherently uncertain and that actual performance may be affected by a number of material factors, many of which are beyond the Company's control. Such factors include, among other things: risks and uncertainties relating to exploration and development; the ability of the Company to obtain additional financing; the Company's limited operating history; the need to comply with environmental and governmental regulations; fluctuations in the prices of commodities; operating hazards and risks; competition and other risks and uncertainties, including those described in the Company's Prospectus dated September 8, 2017 available on www.sedar.com. Accordingly, actual and future events, conditions, and results may differ materially from the estimates, beliefs, intentions, and expectations expressed or implied in the forward-looking information. Except as required under applicable securities legislation, the Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise forward-looking information. On behalf of the Board of Directors Richard Penn CEO (778) 384-8923 Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - January 20, 2025) - Riley Gold Corp. (TSXV: RLYG) (OTCQB: RLYGF) ("Riley Gold" or the "Company") provides an exploration update for the Company's Pipeline West/Clipper Gold Project ("PWC") located in the Cortez mining district of the Battle Mountain - Eureka Trend. PWC is operated by Kinross Gold U.S.A., Inc. ("Kinross"), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Kinross Gold Corporation (TSX: K) (NYSE: KGC), under an exploration earn-in agreement executed in March 2024 whereby Kinross has the right to earn up to 75% of PWC by spending USD$20,000,000 (for full details of the Kinross agreement please see the March 14, 2024 news release). Kinross initiated its first PWC framework drill hole (PW24-01) in July 2024 to test for favourable lower plate carbonate Carlin type host rocks. The inaugural core hole was spotted using geologic and geophysical interpretations and was drilled to 3,597 feet (1,096 m). The drill hole was designed to identify local stratigraphy in a large area within the 25 km PWC land package with no previous deep drilling. PW24-01 successfully intercepted a 1,251 foot (380 m) thick structurally complex section of lower plate carbonates starting at a depth of 2,346 feet (715 m) including 1,193 feet (364 m) of structurally thickened Devonian Wenban Formation. PW24-01 demonstrates that known Cortez District host lithologies exist at explorable drill depths over a contiguously large, untested area proximal to the Pipeline complex area. "Finding meaningful gold discoveries in Nevada are time, capital and knowledge intensive; as a result, having experienced partners and operators like Kinross combined with strong technical expertise (Mr. Paul Dobak - Riley Gold) is critical for success. Kinross has successfully identified stratigraphy and lithology at explorable depths similar to that of local large gold deposits like the Fourmile discovery and the Cortez Complex owned and operated by Nevada Gold Mines LLC ("NGM"). The technical committee, lead by Kinross, is happy with the information derived from the first hole under the program and we look forward to continued drilling in 2025", commented Todd Hilditch, CEO of Riley Gold. Assays from ALS Labs (Reno, NV) confirm mafic and felsic dikes, and narrow zones of alteration in silicified structures, that encountered Carlin-type geochemistry (As-Hg-Tl) and low-level gold. PW24-01 returned gold in dikes in the upper plate up to 0.29 parts per million ("ppm") over a 5-foot (1.5 m) section from 1587 feet (483 m) and elevated trace element geochemistry including arsenic up to 438 ppm antimony up to 17.2 ppm and thallium up to 2.6 ppm. In the lower plate Wenban Formation over a 15-foot (4.6 m) section starting at 3467 feet (1057 m), samples returned elevated pathfinder elements including mercury up to 8.24 ppm, arsenic up to 287 ppm, antimony up to 41.9 ppm and thallium up to 2.12 ppm. The elevated pathfinder elements give indication of Carlin-type fluids circulating within structural zones. These results and interpretations have provided Kinross with a better understanding of the property and have aided in decision making for the next round of planned drilling. 2025 Kinross Drill Planning & Map (Figure 1) Additional drilling is expected to begin in Q2 2025 and will be in part based on gold and pathfinder surface geochemistry results from a successful soil survey as well as further interpretation of the stratigraphy and geochemistry learned from PWC 01-24. A comprehensive geologic model is being built for comparison with the many Cortez Districts >5.0-million-ounce gold discoveries. The new step-out wide spaced framework drill holes are being spotted approximately 1.5 km to 2 km (up to 6,500 feet) northwest of the first Kinross drill hole (see Figure 1 below) and will include northwest vectoring to the highest-grade surface geochemical gold anomalies from the soil survey near the intersection of two major structures. The primary target is a large, disseminated gold deposit peripheral to the Gold Acres stock, which is the geologic setting for NGM's Pipeline gold deposit. Figure 1 - 2025 Drill Target Area Kinross Agreement Overview Riley Gold entered into an exploration and venture option agreement (the "Agreement") with Kinross on March 13, 2024. The Agreement grants Kinross the right to earn up to a 75% interest in Riley Gold's PWC by spending a minimum of US$20 million (see news release dated March 14, 2024 for details). PWC is located in Lander County, Nevada and consists of approximately 24.7 km in the heart of the significant gold producing Cortez District (Battle Mountain - Eureka Trend). Kinross is funding and operating PWC and has a strategic 9.9% (on a partially diluted basis) equity interest in the Company acquired through a private placement. About PWC PWC constitutes a very prospective exploration property for Carlin-type, disseminated and replacement gold deposits. PWC consists of a land package totaling approximately 24.7 km of unpatented mining claims and patented fee lands adjoining NGM. PWC is situated along the Cortez Structural Zone of the exceptionally productive Cortez Trend within the Battle Mountain - Eureka Trend in north central Nevada (Figure 2). The Cortez and Pipeline complexes (adjoining Riley Gold's PWC boundary) are top producers within Nevada, a State that has consistently produced between 4-5 million ounces of gold a year. Figure 2: PWC Location (project boundary approximate) Qualified Person This news release has been reviewed and approved by Richard DeLong, P.Geo., Director of Riley Gold and a 'qualified person', as defined by National Instrument 43-101, Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects. About Riley Gold Corp. Riley Gold is an exploration and development company focused in Nevada, USA, with assets that include the Pipeline West/Clipper Gold Project located in the Battle Mountain Eureka Trend (within the Cortez District) and the Tokop Gold Project located within the Walker Lane Trend. Riley Gold's founders and leadership team have a proven track record of maximizing shareholder value during each phase of the mining life cycle: exploration, development, and production. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Cautionary statement regarding forward-looking information This press release contains statements which constitute "forward looking information" under applicable Canadian securities laws, including statements regarding plans, intentions, beliefs and current expectations of the Company. The words "may", "would", "could", "will", "intend", "plan", "anticipate", "believe", "estimate", "expect" and similar expressions, as they relate to the Company, or its management, are intended to identify such forward-looking information. Although Riley Gold believes that the expectations reflected in these forward-looking statements are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on them because Riley Gold can give no assurance that they will prove to be correct. Since forward looking statements address future events and conditions, by their very nature they involve inherent risks and uncertainties and the Company's future business activities may differ materially from those 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 or business conditions and the ability to obtain the requisite approvals of the TSX Venture Exchange when necessary. Investors are cautioned that any such forward-looking information is not a guarantee of future business activities and involves risks and uncertainties. Additional information on these and other factors that could affect Riley Gold operations and financial results are included in reports on file with Canadian securities regulatory authorities and may be accessed through the SEDAR+ website (www.sedarplus.ca).There can be no assurances that such information will prove accurate and, therefore, readers are advised to rely on their own evaluation of such uncertainties. The Company does not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking information except as required under the applicable securities laws. Cranbrook, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - January 20, 2025) - DLP Resources Inc. (TSXV: DLP) (OTCQB: DLPRF) ("DLP" or the "Company") announces appointment of Derek White to the Board of Directors and an exploration update for 2025. Appointment of Derek White to the Board of Directors DLP Resources has appointed Derek White as an independent, non-executive director, as of January 20, 2025. Derek previously worked for a number of base metals focused companies in exploration, development, operations and financing. Mr. White brings over 35 years of international experience in the mining industry to this role. Mr. White is the recently retired President and CEO of Ascot Resources Ltd. Before joining Ascot, Mr. White acted as a Principal of Traxys Capital Partners LLP, a private firm specializing in the mining and materials sectors. Prior to joining Traxys, Mr. White was the President and CEO of KGHM International Ltd. from 2012 to 2015 overseeing six mining operations and four large development projects in Canada, the United States and Chile. He also held the positions of Executive Vice President, Business Development/CFO from 2004 to 2012 of Quadra FNX Mining Ltd. Mr. White has held executive positions in business development, operations and finance with BHP Billiton Plc, Billiton International Metals BV and Impala Platinum Holdings Ltd., in Vancouver, Toronto, London, The Hague, and Johannesburg. Mr. White holds an undergraduate degree in Geological Engineering from the University of British Columbia and is also a Chartered Accountant. Mr. White also currently serves as a director of Boliden AB and Hayasa Metals Inc. James Stypula, Executive Chairman and co-founder of DLP said "Derek has acted as an advisor to the Company since its inception and we are glad to have Derek become a full member of the Board of Directors. Derek's prior experience in Copper and Molybdenum and his project development and finance experience both in both North and South America will be helpful to the Company, especially as it enters into the next phase of the project development." Exploration Update Aurora - Porphyry Copper-Molybdenum Project DLP's flagship project is the Aurora porphyry copper-molybdenum project in southern Peru (Figure 1). Drilling to date indicates world class size with high-grade Cu-Mo system starting at surface. Copper-molybdenum-silver mineralization have been intersected in all 23 holes drilled to date with continuity observed over an area of approximately 1100m x 950m x 1000m. Drilling of the 18,305m on the project since 2022 to December 2024 has confirmed the deposit is open to depth to beyond 1192m, deepest hole, and also open to north, east, south and west (Figures 2, 3 and 4). Summary of 2024 Drill Program on Aurora 10 Holes (8,394.53m) completed in 2024 with 2 drill rigs. See Table 1 for results. Intersected Cu-Mo-Ag in all holes. Excellent Mo grades continue to 1000+m. Permitting in place for 30 drill platforms. Metallurgical study completed. High recoveries of Cu, Mo, Ag to saleable concentrates 95.8% Cu, 86.4% Mo and 89.3% Ag. No significant deleterious elements in saleable concentrates. Concentrates produced included: Copper concentrate of 28.7% Cu. A molybdenum concentrate of 49.7% Mo. NI 43-101 Maiden Resource Estimate on track for Q1-2025. DLP is on track to earn 100% of Aurora by 2026. Strong support of local community of Parobamba and community agreement in place to 2026. Table 1. Aurora 2024 Drill Results - Significant Intervals Summary of Significant Intercepts - 2024 Drill Results Hole From To Interval1 Cu (total) Mo Ag Cueq* ID m m m % % g/t % A24-014 107.00 309.00 202.00 0.25 0.0068 2.93 0.31 Includes 219.00 285.00 66.00 0.42 0.0022 4.89 0.47 A24-015 362.00 793.00 431.00 0.20 0.0388 1.75 0.41 793.00 972.50 179.50 0.05 0.1244 0.50 0.70 A24-016 0.00 1080.15 1080.15 0.15 0.0318 1.41 0.32 Includes 0.00 89.00 89.00 0.31 0.0003 20.03 0.48 864.00 1080.15 216.15 0.09 0.1397 0.62 0.82 A24-017 0.00 125.00 125.00 0.63 0.0001 0.67 0.64 Includes 31.00 125.00 94.00 0.81 0.0002 1.03 0.82 A24-018 164.00 1118.00 954.00 0.23 0.0214 2.09 0.36 A24-019A 34.30 94.00 59.70 0.40 0.0001 0.58 0.41 A24-020 3.00 1061,35 1058.35 0.13 0.0493 1.14 0.38 Includes 187.00 1061.35 874.35 0.14 0.0595 1.26 0.44 Includes 405.00 615.00 210.00 0.21 0.0092 2.54 0.27 Includes 405.00 463.00 58.00 0.33 0.0133 4.42 0.43 Includes 722.00 1061.35 339.35 0.10 0.1323 1.21 0.76 Includes 722.00 1006.00 284.00 0.12 0.1473 0.81 0.87 A24-021 2.50 1192.15 1189.65 0.17 0.0279 1.92 0.32 Includes 155.00 279.00 124.00 0.30 0.0083 4.14 0.38 Includes 441.00 759.00 318.00 0.28 0.0094 2.29 0.35 Includes 441.00 1192.15 751.15 0.18 0.0398 1.92 0.39 Includes 889.00 1192.15 303.15 0.10 0.0797 1.14 0.49 A24-022 0.00 1007.50 1007.50 0.14 0.0438 1.71 0.37 Includes 159.00 533.00 374.00 0.23 0.0174 1.97 0.32 533.00 1007.50 474.50 0.06 0.0771 0.50 0.44 Includes 591.00 847.00 256.00 0.18 0.1203 0.69 0.68 Note: *Copper equivalent grades (CuEq) are for comparative purposes only. Mo and Cu are uncut and Ag values are cut to 100g/t, and core recovery is assumed to be 100% for the entire drilled lengths. The project is at an early stage of exploration and recoveries of Cu 95.8%, Mo 86.4%, and Ag 89.3%, as determined from the recent metallurgical study, are assigned to the CuEq calculations. Conversion of metals to an equivalent copper grade based on these metal prices is relative to the copper price per unit mass factored by conceptual recoveries for those metals normalized to the conceptualized copper recovery. The metal equivalencies for each metal are added to the copper grade. The formula for this is: CuEq % = Cu% + (Mo% * (Mo recovery / Cu recovery) * (Mo $ per lb / Cu $ per lb) + (Ag g/t * (Ag recovery / Cu recovery) * (Ag $ per oz/ 31.1034768) / (Cu $ per lb* 22.04623)). *Copper equivalent calculations use metal prices of Cu - US$3.34/lb, Mo - US$18/lb and Ag - US$21.87/oz. 1 Intervals are downhole drilled core lengths. Drilling data to date is insufficient to determine true width of mineralization. Mo and Cu are uncut and Ag values are cut to 100g/t. Esperanza Copper-Molybdenum Project The 4,600 Ha, 100% DLP owned, Esperanza Cu-Mo project is located ~35 km SW of the Cerro Verde Mine in Arequipa (Figures 1 and 5). Detailed sampling and mapping in 2024 confirmed the potential for a large porphyry copper-molybdenum system extending over approximately 4km x 2km (Figure 6). Rock samples returned up to 4.71% Cu, 130.5 Mo, 7930ppm Zn and 383ppm Co (see DLP Resources Inc. press releases dated March 12 and April 25, 2024). Geophysics is being planned for early 2025 to establish drill targets. Mr. Gendall, President and CEO commented: "We have had a very successful 2024 with the expansion of the Aurora copper-molybdenum mineralization over an area of approximately 1100m x 950m x 1000m deep. With 18,305m in 23 drill holes now completed on the project we are confident that the NI 43-101 preliminary resource estimation currently being done by AMC consultants will confirm Aurora to be a world class porphyry copper-molybdenum system. The NI 43-101 resource estimation will be delivered in Q1 of 2025. Further to the very successful 2024 drill campaign at Aurora we are extremely pleased to welcome Derek White to the Board of Directors. Derek has extensive knowledge on capital markets, mergers acquisition and development of projects which is welcomed as DLP moves forward with the next phase of development of the Aurora project in 2025" Award Grants The Company also announces that it has issued an aggregate of 552,100 incentive stock options ("Options"), and 52,100 restricted share units ("RSUs") to certain directors and officers of the Company. Each Option is exercisable by the holder to purchase one common share of the Company at an exercise price of $0.19 for a period of three years. Each RSU entitles the holder to be issued one common share of the Company upon vesting. The RSUs will vest after one year, under the terms of the Company's long-term incentive plan. Also, regarding the January 9, 2025 Award Grant, there were an additional 84,474 RSU's granted to an officer than reported in the news release of that same date. Aurora Project Aurora Project is an advanced stage porphyry copper-molybdenum exploration project in the Province of Calca, SE Peru (Figure 1). The Aurora Project was previously permitted for drilling in 2015 but was never executed. Thirteen historical drillholes, drilled in 2001 and 2005 totaling 3,900m were drilled over an area of approximately 1000m by 800m, cut significant intervals of copper and molybdenum mineralization. From logging of the only three remaining holes DDA-01, DDA-3A and DDA-3 and data now available, it appears that only three of the thirteen holes tested the enriched copper zone and only one hole drilled deep enough to test the primary copper and molybdenum zone (see DLP Resources Inc. news release of May 18, 2021). Salient historic drillhole data of the Aurora Project are: 190m @ 0.57% Cu, 0.008% Mo in DDA-1 with a high-grade intercept of 20m @ 1.01% Cu related to a supergene enrichment zone of secondary chalcocite; 142m @ 0.5% Cu, 0.004% Mo in DDA-3; 71.7m @ 0.7% Cu, 0.007% Mo in DDA-3A (see historical Focus Ventures Ltd. news release July 11, 2012); and One of the historical holes ABC-6 drilled on the edge of the system intersected 78m @ 0.45% Cu and 0.107% Mo (Figure 2). A review of the historical drilling indicates that the majority of the thirteen holes were drilled in the leached and partially leached zones of the porphyry system. Ten of the thirteen holes never fully tested the oxide and secondary enrichment zone and/or the primary copper zone at depth encountered in DDA-01. Copper-molybdenum mineralization is hosted by quartz-feldspar porphyries intruded into slates-hornfels and pelitic sandstones belonging to the Ordovician (439 - 463 ma) Sandia Formation. Figure 1: DLP Project areas in Peru with Aurora and Esperanza Projects Shown. Figure 2: Aurora Project - Plan view showing historic drilling and drilling by DLP in 2022-2023 with Final hole of 2024 highlighted in blue. Figure 3: Aurora Project - Plan view showing DLP and historic drillholes with greater than 0.25% CuEq* footprint of mineralization. Figure 4: Aurora Project -NW-SE section 1-1 showing DLP and historic drillholes. Greater than 0.25% CuEq* mineralization shell shown in yellow. Mo shown to left of drill hole and Cu within drill hole. Figure 5: Esperanza Porphyry Copper-Molybdenum Project - Claim map showing the 100% owned DLP claims (red) in Southern Peru surrounded by claims of Major Companies. Figure 6: Esperanza Porphyry Copper-Molybdenum Project - Simplified plan of interpreted alteration and anomalous rock geochemistry from 2024 program. Qualified Person David L. Pighin, consulting geologist and co-founder of DLP Resources, is the qualified person of the Company as defined by National Instrument 43-101. Mr. Pighin has reviewed and approved the technical contents of this news release. About DLP Resources Inc. DLP Resources Inc. is a mineral exploration company operating in Southeastern British Columbia and Peru, exploring for Base Metals and Cobalt. DLP is listed on the TSX-V, trading symbol DLP and on the OTCQB, trading symbol DLPRF. Please refer to our web site www.dlpresourcesinc.com for additional information. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information This release includes certain statements and information that may constitute forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws. Forward-looking statements relate to future events or future performance and reflect the expectations or beliefs of management of the Company regarding future events. Generally, forward-looking statements and information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "intends" or "anticipates", or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "should", "would" or "occur". This information and these statements, referred to herein as "forwardlooking statements", are not historical facts, are made as of the date of this news release and include without limitation, statements regarding discussions of future plans, estimates and forecasts and statements as to management's expectations and intentions with respect to drilling on the Aurora Project in Peru. These forwardlooking statements involve numerous risks and uncertainties, and actual results might differ materially from results suggested in any forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, among other things drill results expected from the Aurora Project in Peru. Although management of the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking statements or forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements and forward-looking information. Readers are cautioned that reliance on such information may not be appropriate for other purposes. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking statement, forward-looking information or financial out-look that are incorporated by reference herein, except in accordance with applicable securities laws. We seek safe harbor. VANCOUVER, BC, Jan. 20, 2025 /CNW/ - Quimbaya Gold Inc. (CSE: QIM) ("Quimbaya" or the "Company") is pleased to announce the appointment of Ricardo Sierra B.Sc., as Vice-President of Exploration effectively immediately. A native of Colombia, Mr. Sierra currently resides in Manizales which is close to Medellin, a short distance from the Company's main projects. Ricardo Sierra is a professional Economic Geologist with over 18 years of exploration experience in Colombia-Chile-Cuba-Brazil in orogenic, mesothermal, porphyry type deposits, epithermal systems, skarn and stratabound deposits. Juan Ricardo Sierra started his career with Anglo American as an Exploration geologist in greenfield and brownfield exploration, supervising diamond drilling on their Colombian and Chilean properties. His knowledge in vein systems, critical in understanding mineralization processes, was honed while Exploration Superintendent with Continental Gold (acquired by Zijin Mining Group for CA $1.9 billion in 2020) on their Buritica (Antioquia) Au/Ag deposit. While at Continental Gold, Mr. Sierra also participated in their regional exploration (Choco, Narino, Cauca, Antioquia). After leaving Continental in 2020, Continental Gold worked as Exploration Manager, Collective Mining Inc. (TSX: CNL). Since 2021, Mr. Sierra has been consulting to various companies active in Colombia, Brazil and Cuba including Quimbaya Gold. Mr. Sierra Largo graduated in 2007 as a Geologist from Universidad de Caldas (Colombia). He is a member of the Australian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (MAusIMM) and is a Qualified Person (QP) as defined by National Instrument 43-101, also he is Competent Person (CP) of Comision Colombiana de Recursos y Reservas Mineras (CCRR) and Volunteer member of the Copper innovation HUB. "Ricardo has already established himself a key member of our technical advisory committee," said Alexandre P. Boivin President and CEO of Quimbaya Gold. "Given his direct exploration experience in Antioquia, Colombia, he is the right person to help lead us in making the next great gold discovery in one of the best gold rich districts on the planet." Quimbaya also announces that it has entered into a debt settlement agreement (the "Debt Settlement') with a creditor of the Company (the "Creditor"), pursuant to which the Company will issue to the Creditor, and the Creditor agreed to accept, an aggregate of 22,058 common shares at a price of $0.34 per share in full and final settlement of accrued and outstanding indebtedness in the aggregate amount of $7,500. All securities to be issued in connection with the Debt Settlement will be subject to a four-month hold period from the closing date under applicable Canadian securities laws. About Quimbaya Quimbaya is active in the exploration and acquisition of mining properties in the prolific mining districts of Colombia. Managed by an experienced team in the mining sector, Quimbaya is focused on three projects in the regions of Segovia (Tahami Project), Puerto Berrio (Berrio Project), and Abejorral (Maitamac Project), all located in Antioquia Department, Colombia. Quimbaya Gold Inc. Follow on X @quimbayagoldinc Follow on LinkedIn @quimbayagold Follow on Instagram @quimbayagoldinc Follow on Facebook @quimbayagoldinc Cautionary Statements This press release includes certain statements and information that may constitute forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws. All statements in this news release, other than statements of historical facts, including statements regarding future estimates, plans, objectives, timing, assumptions or expectations of future performance, including without limitation, statements regarding the completion of the Offering and the timing thereof, and the anticipated use of proceeds of the Offering are forward-looking statements and contain forward-looking information. Generally, forward-looking statements and information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "intends" or "anticipates," or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results "may," "could," "should" or "would" or occur. Forward-looking statements are based on certain material assumptions and analyses made by the Company and the opinions and estimates of management as of the date of this press release, including, but not limited to, that the Company will complete the Offering on the terms disclosed, that the Company will receive all necessary regulatory approvals for the Offering, that the Company will use the proceeds of the Offering as currently anticipated; and assumptions relating to the state of the financial markets for the Company's securities. These forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements or forward-looking information. Important factors that may cause actual results to vary, include, without limitation, that the Company may not be able to raise funds under the Offering, as currently anticipated, that the Company may fail to receive any required regulatory approvals for the Offering, that the Company will not use the proceeds of the Offering as anticipated, market volatility, unanticipated costs, changes in applicable regulations, and changes in the Company's business plans. Although management of the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking statements or forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements and forward-looking information. Readers are cautioned that reliance on such information may not be appropriate for other purposes. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking statement, forward-looking information or financial outlook that are incorporated by reference herein, except in accordance with applicable securities laws. The Canadian Securities Exchange (CSE) has not reviewed, approved, or disapproved the contents of this press release. Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - January 20, 2025) - Myriad Uranium Corp. (CSE: M) (OTCQB: MYRUF) (FSE: C3Q) ("Myriad" or the "Company") is pleased to announce an expansion of the Copper Mountain Project Area, from approximately 4,200 acres to approximately 9,320 acres. The selection of newly-acquired areas was guided by insights from the Company's 2024 maiden drill program, proprietary historical data, and advice from Jim Davis, who was General Manager of Union Pacific's exploration program at Copper Mountain during the 1970s. The newly-acquired areas include prospects, generally known as Railroad, Steffen Hill, Cedar Ridge, Mole, West Mesa, and Lucky Cliff, plus extensions into areas of known mineralisation adjacent to Fuller/Utah, Mint, Arrowhead, Midnight, and Knob (see Figure 1 below). Most of the new areas have historically confirmed uranium mineralisation at surface or subsurface and may be prospective for other minerals, as described in historic reports: Railroad: 3 of 5 holes drilled by Anaconda intersected >0.01% eU 3 O 8 . One hole (CM 5-3) intersected 0.1% over 6 ft at 585 ft depth, as well as 400 - 500 ppm at 622 ft, 937 ft and 943 ft. O . One hole (CM 5-3) intersected 0.1% over 6 ft at 585 ft depth, as well as 400 - 500 ppm at 622 ft, 937 ft and 943 ft. Knob: A speculative target of <500,000 lbs eU 3 O 8 at 0.15% was anticipated by Union Pacific, based on limited drilling data. O at 0.15% was anticipated by Union Pacific, based on limited drilling data. Cedar Ridge: Sandstone-hosted mineralisation with up to 0.12% eU 3 O 8 detected in outcrop. Limited drilling done historically, but no physical data is available. O detected in outcrop. Limited drilling done historically, but no physical data is available. Steffen Hill (various areas): No specific targets have been identified yet and data is limited, but historic drilling appears to have targeted mineralisation in sandstones. Individual logs show signs of mineralisation (>200 ppm) at 150 ft and 450 ft in certain areas. Lucky Cliff: Relatively shallow mineralisation reported. Limited logs available indicate grades >500 ppm eU 3 O 8 with one hole reported to contain 85 ft of 0.12% eU 3 O 8 . All areas have significant expansion potential beyond known mineralisation, including at depth. Union Pacific estimated that the potential within their existing deposit areas could exceed 65 Mlbs with further exploration. An assessment by Bendix for the NURE program concluded that the mineral endowment within the known deposit areas could exceed 200 Mlbs and could exceed 600 Mlbs in the greater Copper Mountain district. Some of the newly-acquired areas were previously targeted for uranium mineralisation in sandstone. This is important because sandstone-hosted deposits could be more amenable to in-situ recovery methods, if the conditions are favourable. All of the new areas were acquired by staking. A small percentage of tenements at Copper Mountain are split, in that only subsurface rights are held. In those cases, surface access will be negotiated on a case-by-case basis with surface rights holders as required. Figure 1. The Copper Mountain Uranium Project. Myriad's CEO, Thomas Lamb, commented: "I've referred to the blue sky potential of Copper Mountain in the past, but perhaps without the emphasis it deserved, since we didn't have all key areas tied up. But now I feel more comfortable doing so. During the 1970s Union Pacific estimated the potential of known deposits and prospects within their areas at Copper Mountain at over 65 Mlbs. But subsequent estimates by experts such as Bendix (for the US Department of Energy) and the authors of a 2010 comprehensive data review for Neutron Energy (now part of enCore) put the district's potential even higher. All the historical reports suggest something similar: 'Field work, drilling and evaluations of the data produced has established that there is potentially a very large resource of uranium at Copper Mountain. Perhaps as much as several hundred million pounds. - Neutron Energy, 2010' We intend to control the key areas that will enable us to test this potential. Previous exploration has shown that the newly-acquired areas have exciting potential and could significantly increase our mineral endowment at Copper Mountain. I should remind readers that all of the estimates of potential I refer to, and, indeed, any other estimates in this news release, are 'historical estimates'. Geological models by various experts suggest that deeper thrust faulting across the Copper Mountain District may have acted as conduits for fluid movement. At Canning, for example, this could have resulted in the potentially significant mineralisation below Union Pacific's 500-600 foot "hard deck" maximum drilling depth that we encountered. It is this deeper mineralisation that Anaconda was chasing at our newly-acquired Railroad prospect and their initial intercepts from just a few holes may help substantiate the hypothesis that there is connected deeper mineralisation across Copper Mountain. I think it's apposite here to quote Jim Davis and D.T. Wilton (2010): 'The Copper Mountain Uranium District has an enormous uranium endowment in the granites which make up the core of the Owl Creek mountain range. This uranium endowment, mobilized by extensive hydrothermal solutions acting within a complex structural system and demonstrated host situations, represents an attractive potential for large uranium deposits based on world class models, including the French granites; Nabarlek, Australia and Beaverlodge, Canada.' As you can see, we have a tremendously positive outlook for Copper Mountain. Our plan for 2025 includes new exploration plans for the numerous prospects identified at Copper Mountain, each having the potential to yield exciting results and increase the overall potential of Copper Mountain, which could become one of Wyoming's largest uranium districts." Chemical Assays Are Delayed The Company advises that a significant number of the core and chip samples from its recent drill program are testing above ALS Laboratories' radioactivity thresholds for sample preparation and chemical assay. ALS has informed Myriad that samples with radioactivity levels between 3 to 10 Sv/h will require shipment to their Vancouver facility for processing, whereas samples with radioactivity levels above 10 Sv/h cannot be processed by them. We have located alternative analytical services in the USA with Paragon Geochemical in Sparks, Nevada, and samples are already on their way there. As a result of this change, chemical assay results will be delayed several weeks beyond our target schedule. Engagement of VSA Capital The Company is pleased to announce that it has entered into a financial advisory services agreement with VSA Capital Limited ("VSA"), an arm's length party, to provide financial advisory and research services to Myriad. The agreement has a term starting on January 15, 2025 and runs until January 15, 2027, unless renewed by the parties. Either party has the right to terminate the agreement after 12 months by providing not less than three months' notice of termination. Under the agreement, VSA will receive a fee of 25,000 (approximately CAD$44,000) for services in the first year and 30,000 (approximately CAD$52,500) for services in the second year. VSA can be contacted at Park House, 16-18 Finsbury Circus, London, England EC2M 7EB; Tel: +44(0)20 3005 5000; This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Andrew Monk, Chief Executive Officer of VSA Capital, commented: "The fundamental and geopolitical backdrop to the uranium market is rapidly evolving and securing transparent and reliable supply is becoming increasingly important, particularly for the USA and North America. VSA Capital is pleased to be working with Myriad Uranium providing the company with the necessary strategic and corporate financial advice as they seek to advance their portfolio of assets in Wyoming. We will seek to leverage our significant expertise in the mining sector to support Myriad and its stakeholders' objectives." Historical Estimates While Myriad Uranium has determined that the historical estimates described in this news release are relevant to the Copper Mountain Project Area and are reasonably reliable given the authors and circumstances of their preparation, and are suitable for public disclosure, readers are cautioned to not place undue reliance on these historical estimates as an indicator of current mineral resources or mineral reserves at the Project Area. A qualified person (as defined under NI 43-101) has not done sufficient work to classify any of the historical estimates as current mineral resources or mineral reserves, and Myriad Uranium is not treating the historical estimates as a current mineral resource or mineral reserve. Also, while the Copper Mountain Project Area contains all or most of each deposit referred to, some of the resources referred to may be located outside the current Copper Mountain Project Area. Furthermore, the estimates are decades old and based on drilling data for which the logs are, as of yet, predominantly unavailable. The historical resource estimates, therefore, should not be unduly relied upon. Inherent limitations of the historical estimates include that the nature of mineralisation (fracture hosted) makes estimation from drill data less reliable than other deposit types (e.g. those that are thick and uniform). From Myriad Uranium's viewpoint, limitations include that the Company has not been able to verify the data itself and that the estimate may be optimistic relative to subsequent work which applied a "delayed fission neutron" (DFN) factor to calculate grades. On the other hand, DFN is controversial, in that the approach is viewed by some experts as too conservative. Nevertheless, it was applied in later resource estimations by Union Pacific relating to Copper Mountain. To verify the historical estimates and potentially re-state them as current resources, a program of digitization of available data would be required. This must be followed by re-logging and/or re-drilling to generate new data to the extent necessary that it is comparable with the original data, or new data that can be used to establish the correlation and continuity of geology and grades between boreholes with sufficient confidence to estimate mineral resources. Qualified Person The scientific or technical information in this news release respecting the Company's Copper Mountain Project has been approved by George van der Walt, MSc., Pr.Sci.Nat., FGSSA, a Qualified Person as defined in National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects. Mr van der Walt is employed by The MSA Group (Pty) Ltd (MSA), a leading geological consultancy providing services to the minerals industry, based in Johannesburg, South Africa. He has more than 20 years industry experience and sufficient relevant experience in the type and style of mineralisation to report on exploration results. The information and interpretations thereof are based on the Qualified Person's initial review of historical reports, which were recently obtained by the Company. The information did not include original data such as drilling records, sampling, analytical or test data underlying the information or opinions contained in the written documents. Therefore, the Qualified Person has not reviewed or otherwise verified the information and has not done sufficient work to classify the historical estimates as current mineral resources or mineral reserves. The Qualified Person considers the information to be relevant based on the amount and quality of work undertaken and reported historically. A more thorough review of any available original data will be undertaken and reported on in more detail in future releases. About Myriad Uranium Corp. Myriad Uranium Corp. is a uranium exploration company with an earnable 75% interest in the Copper Mountain Uranium Project in Wyoming, USA. To date, Myriad has earned a 50% interest in the Project. Copper Mountain hosts several known uranium deposits and historical uranium mines, including the Arrowhead Mine which produced 500,000 lbs of eU3O8. Copper Mountain saw extensive drilling and development by Union Pacific during the late 1970s including the development of a mine plan to fuel a planned fleet of California Edison reactors. Operations ceased in 1980 before mining could commence due to falling uranium prices. Approximately 2,000 boreholes have been drilled at Copper Mountain and the Project Area has significant exploration upside. Union Pacific is estimated to have spent C$117 million (2024 dollars) exploring and developing Copper Mountain, generating significant historical resource estimates which are detailed here. Myriad recently concluded a 34-hole maiden drill program in November 2024 which encountered significant high grade uranium mineralisation that exceeded expectations, provided verification of historical exploration work, and encountered mineralisation in deeper zones, which opens exciting new potential for the Copper Mountain Uranium Project. A comprehensive news release regarding the drilling can be viewed here. A recent detailed update with Crux Investor can be viewed here. The Company's presentation can be viewed here. News releases regarding historical drilling can be viewed here and here. For further information, please refer to Myriad's disclosure record on SEDAR+ (www.sedarplus.ca), contact Myriad by telephone at +1.604.418.2877, or refer to Myriad's website at www.myriaduranium.com. Forward-Looking Statements This news release contains "forward-looking information" that is based on the Company's current expectations, estimates, forecasts and projections. This forward-looking information includes, among other things, the Company's business, plans, outlook and business strategy. The words "may", "would", "could", "should", "will", "likely", "expect," "anticipate," "intend", "estimate", "plan", "forecast", "project" and "believe" or other similar words and phrases are intended to identify forward-looking information. The reader is cautioned that assumptions used in the preparation of any forward-looking information may prove to be incorrect, including with respect to the Company's business plans respecting the exploration and development of the Company's mineral properties, the proposed work program on the Company's mineral properties and the potential and economic viability of the Company's mineral properties. Forward-looking information is subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the Company's actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Such factors include, but are not limited to: changes in economic conditions or financial markets; increases in costs; litigation; legislative, environmental and other judicial, regulatory, political and competitive developments; access to minerals where the surface rights above them have not been settled; and technological or operational difficulties. This list is not exhaustive of the factors that may affect our forward-looking information. These and other factors should be considered carefully, and readers should not place undue reliance on such forward-looking information. The Company does not intend, and expressly disclaims any intention or obligation to, update or revise any forward-looking information whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable law. The CSE has not reviewed, approved or disapproved the contents of this news release. Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - January 20, 2025) - Dryden Gold Corp. (TSXV: DRY) (OTCQB: DRYGF) ("Dryden Gold" or the "Company") is pleased to announce drill results that continue to expand on the Elora Gold System ("Elora") in the Gold Rock Camp ("Gold Rock"). The Phase 6 drill program was completed during November 2024 and consisted of four holes totaling 1,172 meters. The program was designed to follow up on Phase 5 drilling which returned 8.93 g/t gold over 12.45 meters and 30.72 g/t gold over 5.70 meters. The Company continues to successfully target and intersect the depth and strike expansion on the initial structure at Elora. Dryden Gold is fully funded with a $5.8 million exploration budget for 2025, and drilling is scheduled to resume in February 2025. Drill Highlights: Hole KW-24-026 intercepted the mineralized zone at approximately 190 meters from surface and returned 5.92 g/t gold over 12.34 meters , including 19.43 g/t gold over 1.74 meters and 42.40 g/t gold over 0.50 meters . intercepted the mineralized zone at approximately 190 meters from surface and returned over , . Hole KW-24-028 was drilled 60 meters northeast along strike of hole KW-24-026 and returned 3.88 g/t gold over 13.81 meters , including 12.51 g/t gold over 3.50 meters and 10.60 g/t over 0.51 meters . was drilled 60 meters northeast along strike of hole KW-24-026 and returned over , . KW-24-029 was drilled 90 meters northeast along strike of hole KW-24-026 intercepting 4.17 g/t gold over 5.75 meters , including 17.30 g/t gold over 1.18 meters . was drilled northeast along strike of intercepting over , . Hole KW-24-027 was drilled 20 meters deeper than KW-24-026 and intercepted 0.91 g/t gold over 16.55 meters. The results from these four holes further confirm the Elora Gold System's impressive width and continuity of mineralization. This drill program, which included the Company's broadest step-out holes, and the Team's additional interpretation of historic data, highlights the potential for continued mineralization and exploration along strike at Elora. Drill permits have been submitted and are currently pending approval paving the way for future exploration to the northeast. The reinterpreted historical data shows high-grade mineralization under the historic Elora/Jubilee Mine, which could expand the strike-length of this structure up to 500 meters. The exploration permit will also allow the Company to drill test under the historic Laurentian Mine one kilometer to the north as well as more effectively test the Elora Gold System at depth. "The results from the Elora Gold System continue to demonstrate the significant potential of this initial high-grade structure," commented Maura Kolb M.Sc., P.Geo., President of Dryden Gold. "The intercepts from this phase of drilling confirm both the continuity and grade of mineralization along strike and at depth. We have also been working on integrating more historical data into our geological interpretation of this Elora structure. The new contoured long section in Figure 1 shows how open the system is for testing at depth and along strike to the northeast. These step-out holes represent an important advancement in understanding the controls of high-grade gold at Elora and highlight its potential for further exploration. These results reinforce our confidence in the Elora Gold System and the Gold Rock Camp as a cornerstone asset for Dryden Gold. We remain focused on expanding Elora by identifying and defining additional structures to the northeast," furthered Ms. Kolb. "I am extremely proud of our technical team as they continue to generate deeper high-grade gold intercepts on Elora," stated Trey Wasser, CEO of Dryden Gold. "As we continue to see deeper high-grade results, the market is beginning to believe that the Dryden Gold District is a true Archean Lode system that likely has very deep roots. With a fully funded treasury this should be a transformational year for Dryden Gold. While generating the impressive drill results, the Team has also had a very busy regional exploration program in 2024. The mapping and sampling program has generated an exciting project pipeline with regional targets at Hyndman, Sherridon as well as new Gold Rock targets at Mud Lake and Mosher Bay, all to be advanced in 2025," furthered Mr. Wasser. Figure 1: Elora Initial Structure Contoured Long section The highest-grade areas of mineralization in this phase of drilling at Elora were preferentially correlated with felsic dykes that were noted adjacent to these mineralization contacts. The geology team is working on better understanding the composition, orientation, and extent of these dykes as they likely represent the gold mineralization fluid pathways. Mineralization in holes KW-24-026, -028 and -029 were a combination of foliation parallel pyrite and pyrrhotite with quartz veining. Hole KW-24-027 displayed a higher percentage of quartz veining with pyrite and chalcopyrite mineralization. The host rock for all four holes was a combination of basalt, pillow basalt, and conglomerate. Dryden Gold remains committed to advancing the growth of its flagship Gold Rock Camp project while actively pursuing and evaluating regional exploration targets within its resource pipeline. The company holds an extensive 70,000-hectare land package in the Dryden area, offering district-scale exploration potential. Ongoing early-stage exploration programs are being conducted on the Hyndman and Sherridon projects, as well as within the Gold Rock Camp. Table 1: Dryden Gold - New Elora Drill Holes. Intervals with a grade x width of over 20 are bolded below. Target Area Drillhole From To Length (m)* Grade (g/t Au) Elora KW-24-026 215.46 227.80 12.34 5.92 including 216.80 218.54 1.74 19.43 and including 222.64 223.14 0.50 42.4 Elora KW-24-027 71.70 72.40 0.70 3.04 228.00 244.55 16.55 0.91 Elora KW-24-028 53.50 56.59 3.09 1.59 127.00 128.00 1.00 1.39 140.00 144.64 4.64 0.86 170.93 172.67 1.74 1.95 260.10 273.91 13.81 3.88 including 260.10 263.60 3.50 12.51 and including 272.76 273.27 0.51 10.60 Elora KW-24-029 56.60 57.85 1.25 2.99 276.00 281.75 5.75 4.17 including 278.82 280.00 1.18 17.30 *Reported intervals are drilled core lengths; assay values are uncut Qualified Person The technical disclosure in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Maura J. Kolb, M.Sc., P.Geo., President of Dryden Gold and a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 of the Canadian Securities Administrators. Analytical Laboratory and QA/QC Procedures All sampling completed by Dryden Gold Corp. within its exploration programs is subject to a Company standard of internal quality control and quality assurance (QA/QC) programs which include the insertion of certified reference materials, blank materials, and a level of duplicate analysis. Drill samples from the 2024 program were sent to Activation Laboratories, with sample preparation and analysis in Dryden, where they were processed for gold analysis by 50-gram fire assay with an atomic absorption finish and over limits determined by Fire Assay with a gravimetric finish. Select samples were analyzed using metallic screens. Activation Laboratories systems conform to requirements of ISO/IEC Standard 17025 guidelines and meets assay requirements outlined for NI 43-101. ABOUT DRYDEN GOLD CORP. Dryden Gold Corp. is a fully funded exploration company focused on the discovery of high-grade gold mineralization listed on the TSX Venture Exchange ("DRY") and on the OTCQB marketplace ("DRYGF"). The Company has a strong management team and Board of Directors comprised of experienced individuals with a track record of building shareholder value through property acquisition and consolidation, exploration success, and mergers and acquisitions. Dryden Gold controls a 100% interest in a dominant strategic land position in the Dryden District of Northwestern Ontario. Dryden Gold's property package includes historic gold mines but has seen limited modern exploration. The property hosts high-grade gold mineralization over 50 km (about 31.07 mi) of potential strike length along the Manitou-Dinorwic deformation zone. The property has excellent infrastructure, enjoys collaborative relationships with First Nations communities and benefits from proximity to an experienced mining workforce. For more information go to our website www.drydengold.com. Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements The information contained herein contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of applicable securities legislation. Forward-Looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to the acquisition of the Property, receipt of corporate and regulatory approvals, issuance of common shares; future development plans; future acquisitions; exploration programs; and the business and operations of Dryden Gold. Forward-Looking statements relate to information that is based on assumptions of management, forecasts of future results, and estimates of amounts not yet determinable. Any statements that express predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions or future events or performance (often but not always using phrases such as "expects", or "does not expect", "is expected", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", "plans", "budget", "scheduled", "forecasts", "estimates", "believes" or "intends" or variations of such words and phrases or stating that certain actions, events or results "may" or "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken to occur or be achieved) are not statements of historical fact and may be "forward-looking statements." Forward-Looking statements are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties which could cause actual events or results to differ from those reflected in the forward-looking statements, including, without limitation: risks related to failure to obtain adequate financing on a timely basis and on acceptable terms; risks related to the outcome of legal proceedings; political and regulatory risks associated with mining and exploration; risks related to the maintenance of stock exchange listings including receipt of TSX Venture Exchange approval for the acquisition of the Property; risks related to environmental regulation and liability; the potential for delays in exploration or development activities; the uncertainty of profitability; risks and uncertainties relating to the interpretation of drill results, the geology, grade and continuity of mineral deposits; risks related to the inherent uncertainty of production and cost estimates and the potential for unexpected costs and expenses; the possibility that future exploration, development or mining results will not be consistent with the Company's expectations; risks related to commodity price fluctuations; and other risks and uncertainties related to the Company's prospects, properties and business detailed elsewhere in Dryden Gold's and the Company's disclosure record. Should one or more of these risks and uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described in forward-looking statements. Investors are cautioned against attributing undue certainty to forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date hereof and Dryden Gold and the Company does not assume any obligation to update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances. Actual events or results could differ materially from Dryden Gold's and the Company's expectations or projections. Ceremony held in Zambia to celebrate upcoming Chinese Spring Festival Xinhua) 13:14, January 20, 2025 Mulambo Haimbe, Zambia's minister of foreign affairs and international cooperation, speaks during the 2025 Zambia-Chinese Spring Festival Temple Fair in Lusaka, Zambia, Jan. 19, 2025. (Xinhua/Peng Lijun) LUSAKA, Jan. 19 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese Embassy in Zambia on Sunday held the 2025 Zambia-Chinese Spring Festival Temple Fair with a display of Chinese culture in celebration of the upcoming Spring Festival, which marks the first day of the lunar calendar. The ceremony, organized in cooperation with the Zambia Chinese Association, was held at the Levy Shopping Mall in Lusaka, the country's capital, and attracted scores of both Chinese people and local people, officials from the Chinese embassy and the Zambian government, and representatives of Chinese enterprises operating in Zambia. The celebration featured various Chinese cultures, including a kung fu performance. Chinese food was also on display, while Chinese companies took advantage of the ceremony to showcase their products and services. China's Spring Festival falls on Jan. 29 this year, marking the beginning of the Year of the Snake. In December last year, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization inscribed "Spring Festival, social practices of the Chinese people in celebration of the traditional new year" on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. In his remarks, Han Jing, Chinese ambassador to Zambia, said the ceremony has been a brand-name event for Chinese compatriots in Zambia to gather together to celebrate the Chinese New Year. He said 2025 is the year of the snake, which symbolizes power, wealth, and longevity in traditional Chinese culture, which will also be key in the bilateral relations between China and Zambia. "The Spring Festival is a universally recognized cultural symbol with the longest history, richest content, and the widest influence in China. It is enriched with the Chinese people's blessings for a better life and our love for family and the country," Han said. According to him, the embassy will continue to implement the philosophy of people-centered development and the principle of diplomacy for the people. The year 2024 witnessed steady progress in China's economic development, fruitful achievements in scientific and technological innovation, and a faster forming process of new productive forces, the ambassador added. Mulambo Haimbe, Zambia's minister of foreign affairs and international cooperation, said the event was not only an event for the Chinese community in Zambia but also a great platform for cultural exchanges between the two peoples. Haimbe, who sent best wishes to China in the new year, said the comprehensive strategic and cooperative partnership between the two countries achieved bountiful fruits and brought tangible benefits to the people of both countries last year. "Zambia and China have maintained close cooperation and joined hands to promote modernization and build a community of shared future." Zambia expects more tourists, investment, and technology transfer from China this year, he said, adding that Zambia is committed to adhering to the one-China policy and safeguarding the foundation of mutual political trust. "We are ready to work with the Chinese embassy and the Chinese community to create a conducive business environment and promote bilateral cooperation in all dimensions," the minister said. A Kung Fu performance is staged during the 2025 Zambia-Chinese Spring Festival Temple Fair in Lusaka, Zambia, Jan. 19, 2025. (Xinhua/Peng Lijun) A teacher from the Confucius Institute at the University of Zambia teaches a child to fold paper cranes during the 2025 Zambia-Chinese Spring Festival Temple Fair in Lusaka, Zambia, Jan. 19, 2025. (Xinhua/Peng Lijun) Mulambo Haimbe, Zambia's minister of foreign affairs and international cooperation, dots the eye of a dragon during the 2025 Zambia-Chinese Spring Festival Temple Fair in Lusaka, Zambia, Jan. 19, 2025. (Xinhua/Peng Lijun) A teacher from the Confucius Institute at the University of Zambia teaches students to make Chinese knots during the 2025 Zambia-Chinese Spring Festival Temple Fair in Lusaka, Zambia, Jan. 19, 2025. (Xinhua/Peng Lijun) (Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Zhong Wenxing) Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - January 20, 2025) - South Pacific Metals Corp. (TSXV: SPMC) (FSE: 6J00) ("SPMC" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that further to its press release of December 11, 2024, the Company has increased the size of its previously announced non-brokered private placement offering (the "Offering"), due to increased investor interest, to up to 13,125,000 units of the Company ("Units") at a price of C$0.48 per Unit for gross proceeds of up to C$6,300,000 (the "Offering"). Each Unit will consist of one (1) common share of the Company ("Share") and one-half (1/2) of one (1) Share purchase warrant, whereby each whole Share purchase warrant ("Warrant") will be exercisable at $0.90 into an additional Share for a period of 24 months from the date of issuance. If the volume weighted average trading price of the Shares on the TSX-V is equal to or greater than C$1.20 for a period of 10 consecutive days, the Company will have the right to accelerate the expiry date of the Warrants by providing notice that the Warrants will expire on the date that is not less than 10 days from the date such notice is provided by the Company to the warrant holders. All securities to be issued in connection with the Offering will be subject to a four-month hold period in accordance with applicable securities legislation. Finder's fees may be applicable and the net proceeds of the Offering will be used to carry out exploration work on the Company's properties in Papua New Guinea and for general administrative and working capital purposes. The Offering is expected to close on or about January 29, 2025 (the "Closing Date") and is subject to certain conditions including, but not limited to, the receipt of all necessary regulatory and other approvals including the approval of the TSX Venture Exchange ("TSXV"). The securities described herein have not been, and will not be, registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act"), or any state securities laws, and may not be offered or sold within the United States except in compliance with the registration requirements of the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws or pursuant to available exemptions therefrom. This release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any securities in the United States. About South Pacific Metals Corp. South Pacific Metals Corp is an emerging gold-copper exploration company operating in the heart of Papua New Guinea's proven gold and copper production corridors. With an expansive 3,100 km land package and four transformative gold-copper projects contiguous with major producers K92 Mining, PanAust and neighbouring Barrick/Zijin, new leadership and experienced in-country teams are prioritizing thoughtful and rigorous technical programs focused on boots-on-the-ground exploration to prioritize discovery across its portfolio projects: Anga, Osena, Kili Teke and May River. Immediately flanking K92's active drilling and gold producing operations to the northeast and southwest, SPMC's Anga and Osena Projects are located within the high-grade Kainantu Gold District - each having the potential to host similar-style lode-gold and porphyry copper-gold mineralization as that present within K92's tenements. Kili Teke is an advanced exploration project situated only 40 km from the world-class Porgera Gold Mine and hosts an existing Inferred Mineral Resource with multiple opportunities for expansion and further discovery. The May River Project is located adjacent to the world-renowned Frieda River copper-gold project, with historical drilling indicating potential for a significant, untapped-gold mineralized system. SPMC common shares are listed on the TSX Venture Exchange (TSXV: SPMC), the OTCQB Marketplace, and Frankfurt Stock Exchange (FSE: 6J00). Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Disclaimer and Forward-Looking Information This news release contains certain "forward-looking information" and "forward-looking statements" (collectively, "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable securities legislation. All statements, other than statements of historical fact included herein, including without limitation, statements relating the future operations and activities of SPMC, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are frequently, but not always, identified by words such as "expects", "anticipates", "believes", "intends", "estimates", "potential", "possible", and similar expressions, or statements that events, conditions, or results "will", "may", "could", or "should" occur or be achieved. Forward-looking statements in this news release relate to, among other things, statements in respect of the size and use of proceeds of the Offering, and the timing and ability of the Company to close the Offering, including obtaining approval of the Offering from the TSX-V. 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. Forward-looking statements reflect the beliefs, opinions and projections on the date the statements are made and are based upon a number of assumptions and estimates that, while considered reasonable by SPMC, are inherently subject to significant business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties and contingencies. Many factors, both known and unknown, could cause actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from the results, performance or achievements that are or may be expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements and the parties have made assumptions and estimates based on or related to many of these factors. Such factors include, without limitation, the ability to complete the Offering on the terms proposed and the ability to obtain necessary approvals, including the approval of the TSX-V, proposed exploration work, the results of exploration, continued availability of capital, and changes in general economic, market and business conditions. Readers should not place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements and information contained in this news release concerning these items. SPMC does not assume any obligation to update the forward-looking statements of beliefs, opinions, projections, or other factors, should they change, except as required by applicable securities laws. VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Jan. 20, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- SAGA Metals Corp. ("SAGA" or the "Company") (TSXV: SAGA) (OTCQB: SAGMF) (FSE: 20H), a North American exploration company focused on critical mineral discovery, is pleased to announce the completion of an initial petrographic / petrological analysis, confirming the presence of uraninite, a key uranium mineral, hosted within the pegmatites identified along the 18km trend; verified through uranium count radiometrics and surface sampling at the Double Mer Uranium project in Labrador, Canada. SAGA Metals flagship Double Mer Uranium Project Labrador, Canada The Double Mer Uranium Project is SAGA Metals' flagship project, covering 1,024 claims across 25,600 hectares in eastern-central Labrador, approximately 90km northeast of Happy Valley-Goose Bay. Leveraging significant historical exploration, SAGAs exploration team validated key data and built upon the Companys understanding of the projects uranium potential. This work has refined the understanding of the uranium targets within the zone, specifically supporting the decision to initiate a 1500-2500m drill program at the Luivik zone. SAGA sees the Double Mer Uranium Project as a promising addition to the significant uranium projects already established in Labradors Central Mineral Belt (CMB), including Paladin Energys Michelin and Atha Energys CMB discovery. With encouraging surface samples and geophysical data, SAGA believes Double Mer could offer comparable large-tonnage uranium potential. Figure 1: Regional map of the Double Mer Uranium Project in Labrador, Canada Drilling set for Double Mer Uranium Projects Luivik zone: Maiden Drill Programs: Drilling is scheduled to commence in Q1 2025 with a minimum 1,500m program. Drilling is scheduled to commence in Q1 2025 with a minimum 1,500m program. Double Mer Uranium Drilling Location: This drill program will systematically grid and evaluate the anomalies of the Luivik zone, providing comprehensive data on its uranium potential. This drill program will systematically grid and evaluate the anomalies of the Luivik zone, providing comprehensive data on its uranium potential. Double Mers Luivik Zone Potential: The westernmost area of the 18km radiometric trend showcases potential for secondary fluid enrichment that can be conducive to uranium mineralization with 300m width and potentially a 1km strike containing samples up to 0.3692% U 3 O 8 . The westernmost area of the 18km radiometric trend showcases potential for secondary fluid enrichment that can be conducive to uranium mineralization with 300m width and potentially a 1km strike containing samples up to 0.3692% U O . Petrographic and petrologic analysis: Indications from the recent study suggest pegmatites in the Luivik zone are genetically related to the pegmatites through the entire 18km trend. The Luivik zone has been prioritized for drilling due to its anomalous uranium (U 3 O 8 %) geochemistry, along with clear signs of alteration and fluid enrichment. This zone exhibits Iron phase IOCG (Iron Oxide Copper Gold) fluid characteristics, such as high concentrations of smoky quartz and iron carbonate staining, which are indicators of late fluid flow. These characteristics will be carefully monitored as it can have the potential to enrich uraniferous units and mark the highest-grade intercepts. Consistent CPS (counts per second) readings further highlight the Luivik zone's uranium potential, making it a top target for exploration. The Luivik zone boasts a width of 300 meters between samples with a cut-off of 0.015% U 3 O 8 and anomalous grades over 0.11% U 3 O 8 to a high of 0.3692% U 3 O 8 in a single sample. The uranium count radiometrics suggest that the anomalous pegmatites which predominantly hosts the Luivik zone may extend upwards of 1km or greater. The zones favorable mineralogy is complemented by logistical advantages. Located just 1km from Double Mers main camp, the Luivik zone offers easy access for drilling teams, with snowmobile trails in place to support active drilling operations, ensuring both practical and cost-effective program execution. Figure 2: The Luivik zone in the west of the Double Mer Uranium Property. Mapped pegmatites with amphibolite mafic rocks which sit in place with much of the mineralized trends. Petrographic and Petrologic Conclusions at the Double Mer Uranium Project: Selected samples from the Double Mer Uranium project were collected by SAGAs exploration team during 2024s surface program for the purposes of petrography, mineralogical and petrochemical interpretations. These results help understand the genesis of the uriniferous pegmatites, guiding 2025s drill programs, and further surface exploration work across the 25,600-hectare property. The pegmatites can be subdivided into two subgroups based on radioelement and rare earth-bearing minerals in association with the mafic mineral abundance of biotite. The radioelement-bearing pegmatite is characterized by aggregates of black biotite interstitial to feldspars and quartz. The biotite aggregates are the loci for very fine-grained euhedral uraninite crystals. The second pegmatite subgroup contains more sparsely distributed plates and discontinuous stringers of black biotite interstitial to feldspars and quartz. Euhedral allanite crystals are sparsely distributed interstitial to feldspars and quartz. This Allanite is a light rare element-bearing (lanthanum and cerium) with very fine-grained disseminated thorite through the allanite. Both pegmatite subgroups occur in close spatial association at the outcrop-scale. Analyzing and interpreting the 53-element geochemical database derived from 289 samples collected during the 2024 exploration program has shown unequivocally that both pegmatite subgroups are genetically related and belong to the same magmatic event. Further studies will be conducted in the future to determine the evolutionary timing of each subtype. Since the Double Mer Uranium property covers an 18km long radiometrically anomalous pegmatite domain, the exploration significance of these petrographic-petrochemical findings with interpretations are: pegmatites with aggregated biotite represent a first-order lithology to sample for uranium mineralization and a thorium + rare earth-enriched pegmatite may indicate the presence of additional nearby uranium-bearing pegmatite. Petrographic work and analysis completed by Dr. Al Miller With an Honours B.Sc. and Ph.D., Dr. Miller brings over 25 years of consultancy experience in mineral deposits and previously worked for 25 years with the Geological Survey of Canada, where he specialized in large-scale mapping and deposit evaluation. His expertise covers a wide range of minerals, including uranium, gold, nickel-copper-platinum group elements (Ni-Cu-PGE), and copper-gold porphyry. He has also contributed to global exploration efforts across Canada, the Americas, China, and Russia. With numerous publications to his name, his extensive industry experience includes roles as a Director, Chief Geologist, VP of Exploration, and Head of Technical Teams for several exploration companies. Michael Garagan, CGO & Director of SAGA Metals Corp. discusses drilling strategy: We are very encouraged by these petrographic results. Not only does this confirm the presence of uraninite in the pegmatites but the fact they are genetically related along an 18km trend is very encouraging. The team has since arrived in Labrador preparing for the drill program at the Radar Ti-V project while coordinating the final setup at the Double Mer camp. This is a busy and exciting time for SAGA and sets the tone for lots of catalysts in 2025. About SAGA Metals Corp. SAGA Metals Corp. is a North American mining company focused on the exploration and discovery of critical minerals that support the global transition to green energy. The company's flagship asset, the Double Mer Uranium Project, is located in Labrador, Canada, covering 25,600 hectares. This project features uranium radiometrics that highlight an 18-kilometer east-west trend, with a confirmed 14-kilometer section producing samples as high as 4,281ppm U 3 O 8 and spectrometer readings of 22,000cps. In addition to its uranium focus, SAGA owns the Legacy Lithium Property in Quebec's Eeyou Istchee James Bay region. This project, developed in partnership with Rio Tinto, has been expanded through the acquisition of the Amirault Lithium Project. Together, these properties cover 65,849 hectares and share significant geological continuity with other major players in the area, including Rio Tinto, Winsome Resources, Azimut Exploration, and Loyal Lithium. SAGA also holds secondary exploration assets in Labrador, where the company is focused on the discovery of titanium, vanadium, and iron ore. With a portfolio that spans key minerals crucial to the green energy transition, SAGA is strategically positioned to play an essential role in the clean energy future. For more information, contact: SAGA Metals Corp. Investor Relations Tel: +1 (778) 930-1321 Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. www.sagametals.com The TSX Venture Exchange has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the accuracy or adequacy of this release. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Service Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Qualified Person Peter Webster P.Geo. CEO of Mercator Geological Services Limited is an Independent Qualified Person as defined under National Instrument 43-101 and has reviewed and approved the technical information related to the Double Mer Uranium Project disclosed in this news release. Cautionary Disclaimer TORONTO / Jan 20, 2025 / Business Wire / Trigon Metals Inc. (TSX-V: TM, OTCQB:PNTZF) (Trigon or the Company) announces that its Kalahari Copper Project (the Project) has been awarded one of only three spots in the 5 million UNDERCOVER research project funded by the European Union (EU). The UNDERCOVER (Unified Novel Deep ExploRation for Critical Ore discoVERy) research project aims to enhance the responsible supply of raw materials. The Projects objectives include advancing deep mineral exploration technologies, stimulating research and development, and enabling their responsible exploitation by exploration and mining stakeholders within the EU. Key Highlights of the Program The UNDERCOVER research project has been granted 5 million from the EU, with Trigons Kalahari Copper Project selected as one of three exploration projects included in the initiative. This research program will span three years starting January 1, 2025, focusing on developing innovative methods for successful exploration of Critical Raw Materials under cover. The Kalahari Copper Project, a joint venture project between Trigon and Ongwe Minerals, covers 765,000 hectares within the highly prospective Kalahari Copper Belt in Namibia, the western extension of the highly prospective copper belt in Botswana. One drillhole adjacent to the eastern border of Trigons Kalahari Copper Project has intersected 83m at 0.7% Cu and 17g/t Ag. The widespread Kalahari sand cover across much of the Project area necessitates a strategic exploration approach, and advancements in exploration research achieved through the UNDERCOVER project will support these efforts. Jed Richardson, CEO and Executive Chairman of Trigon Metals, commented, "Its an honour to be selected to participate in such an innovative and potentially transformative project. We look forward to working with all parties to achieve the ambitious goals of UNDERCOVER." Proposed Strategic Sale of the Kombat Mine Trigons management team continues to advance the sale of the Kombat Mine to Horizon Corporation Ltd. (Horizon). Trigon and Horizon have begun collaborating on mine planning and management, working towards completion of the definitive documentation. Initial capital has been advanced in accordance with the terms of the loan agreement between Trigon and Horizon. The terms of the Proposed Transaction are available to view in the Companys previous press release dated December 16, 2024. Due to the recent mine interruption, Trigons management team is communicating with its insurance adjustors in Namibia on its business interruption and mechanical claim that occurred on January 16, 2025. Further Details of The Research Project that Aims to Develop Deeper Critical Raw Material Exploration The EUs ambitious goals as outlined in the Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA), NetZero Industry Act and the European Green Deal will lead to an increase in critical raw material (CRM) demand. To meet the demand, the utilization of the deposits deeper in the bedrock needs research and development. The Geological Survey of Finland (GTK) is coordinating the EU Horizon Europe project that is creating a paradigm shift in the exploration of deep critical raw materials. The project aims to develop deep CRM exploration. This will be done by transforming the mineral systems concept into the first viable strategy for systematically exploring CRM deposits hidden deeper under cover or in the bedrock. The project will develop and integrate novel geophysical technologies and methods that are both cost-effective and environmentally friendly. Strong Network of International and European Cooperation The research project will run for three years and was launched on January 1, 2025. The 5-million-Euro project brings together 16 partners from Finland, France, Germany, Czech Republic, Portugal, Namibia, and Canada. The consortium includes geological surveys, universities, research institutes, exploration companies, industrial clusters, and Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), highlighting a strong network of international and European cooperation. This collaboration fosters the exchange of knowledge and expertise across borders, aiming at a comprehensive approach to deep mineral exploration. By leveraging the strengths of each partner, the project aims to achieve significant advancements in sustainable raw material exploration, says Jochen Kamm, Research Professor, Geological Survey of Finland. In addition to this, the project will cooperate with other EU projects dealing with deep exploration challenges. Qualified Person The scientific and technical information in this release has been reviewed and approved by Dr. Andreas Rompel, Pr.Sci.Nat. (400274/04), FSAIMM, the Companys qualified person as defined in National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects. Trigon Metals Inc. Trigon is a publicly-traded Canadian exploration and development company with its core business focused on copper and silver holdings in mine-friendly African jurisdictions. Currently, the Company has operations in Namibia and Morocco. In Namibia, the Company holds an 80% interest in five mining licences in the Otavi Mountainlands, an area of Namibia widely recognized for its high-grade copper deposits, where the Company is focused on exploration and redevelopment of the previously producing Kombat Mine. Cautionary Notes This news release may contain forward-looking statements. These statements include statements regarding the UNDERCOVER project, prospectivity and mineralization of the Kalahari Copper Project, the Companys strategies and the Companys abilities to execute such strategies, the Companys expectations for the Kombat Mine, the loan and sale to Horizon and the timing thereof and the Companys future plans and objectives. These statements are based on current expectations and assumptions that are subject to risks and uncertainties. Actual results could differ materially because of factors discussed in the management discussion and analysis section of our interim and most recent annual financial statements or other reports and filings with the TSX Venture Exchange and applicable Canadian securities regulations. We do not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, except as required by applicable laws. Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Both sides in the fighting between the Democratic Republic of Congo's army and a Rwanda-backed militia have likely broken the rules of war by firing explosives into civilian-packed areas, Amnesty International said Monday. More than 100 civilians were killed in the eastern DRC as a result of the indiscriminate use of ground-launched rockets in the first half of 2024, the rights group said in a new report. Both the Congolese army and the M23 Movement, an armed group claiming to defend ethnic Tutsis, were at fault for the rise in the use of the "inherently inaccurate" weapons, it said. Since its resurgence in late 2021, the M23 -- with the support of 3,000 to 4,000 Rwandan soldiers -- has seized vast swathes of the DRC's mineral-rich east, triggering a humanitarian crisis and displacing thousands. Vowing to retake its lost territory, the DRC's army has retaliated in counter-offensives with the support of pro-Kinshasa militias. In fighting between January and July 2024, "inaccurate explosive weapons with wide area effects (were) used in densely populated areas more than 150 times," the Amnesty report found. "These attacks, which killed more than 100 civilians and wounded hundreds, violated international humanitarian law and likely constitute war crimes," it added. Amnesty said the International Criminal Court (ICC) should consider investigating these attacks "as war crimes, with a view to bringing to justice those suspected of responsibility. "The Congolese authorities have shown they are unwilling or unable to do so," Amnesty added. The ICC said last year it was relaunching its probe into the conflict. Amnesty asserted that neither the DRC nor the M23's leadership had responded to the investigation's preliminary findings, published last December. "The M23 and Congo's army must stop bombing civilians immediately," said Amnesty International's Secretary General Agnes Callamard. Clashes have intensified in recent weeks despite Angolan-led efforts to put a stop to the fighting. On Saturday evening the M23 made fresh gains, taking control of the mining town of Lumbishi in South Kivu. Home to a string of rival armed groups and ethnic so-called "self-defence" militias, the eastern DRC has been riven with conflict for the past three decades. Todd Buchwald, the U.S. ambassador-at-large for global criminal justice from 2015 to 2017, describes the new potential sanctions for the International Criminal Court (ICC) as draconian and compares them to those the U.S. government uses against persons who pose grave national security threats, like al Qaeda members and other terrorists: They are designed to cut off any possible avenue for such persons to receive funds or other support. The courts president Tomoko Akane in her statement to the ICCs annual meeting last December used the same terms: The Court is being threatened with draconian economic sanctions () as if it was a terrorist organisation, she said. These measures would rapidly undermine the Courts operations in all situations and cases and jeopardise its very existence. The Congressional sanctions on the ICC are now with the U.S. Senate, but as President Donald Trump is inaugurated, his new administration may implement sanctions whether mandated by lawmakers or not. This call for sanctions happens as for the first time, the Court has issued arrest warrants against a U.S. ally, the leadership of Israel. Exactly what form these sanctions will take, whether they will encompass the whole institution or just individuals, is still unknown and will be up to President Trump. The 2002 Hague Invasion Act The U.S. has a long history of rejecting the Courts jurisdiction, especially whenever the Republicans have been in power. Back in 2002 just as the court came into being, the U.S. Congress passed the American Service Members Protection Act (ASPA), known as The Hague Invasion Act, to protect its servicemen and women from investigation. But those restrictions turned out to be largely navigable, at least as a legal matter, notes Buchwald. The international community has come to live with the ASPA, and it has not precluded the United States from being supportive of most of the Courts activities. Indeed, Court officials have appreciated that support. For Buchwald, the current approach is of a different order: Its true that the ASPA contained a provision authorising the use of force which received a lot of attention. But in the real world, it served basically as a political expression of disapproval and there was never a serious issue about using that authority to invade the Hague. This is different. This is not meant to be lived with. This is meant to destroy the Court unless it changes course, he says. This legislation is really a frontal assault to try to squeeze the life out of the court unless it changes course, whereas the ASPA was more aimed at restricting the ability of the U.S. government to provide support to it. Harold Koh, who was the legal advisor at the State Department under Obama and held a senior position in the Clinton administration, recalls that when the Bush administration pushed for enactment of the ASPA in 2002, then-Senator Chris Dodd had inserted in it the Osama bin Laden exception, which allowed the U.S. to support pursuing someone like Osama bin Laden. It was that exception, says Koh, that was used to support the ICC at the beginning of the Biden administration. Yo-yo relationship The analogies used to describe the U.S. relationship with the ICC all recognise how up and down it has been, especially according to which party has run the administration. I think its fair to say that the Biden administration has been the most supportive of the ICC of any of the U.S. administrations. And so thats a high watermark. And were now going back down to a low watermark, Koh says. For Kip Hale, the founding director of the American Bar Associations ICC Project that focused on U.S.-ICC relations through public and private means, the relationship is more as a pendulum swinging, two steps forward, two steps back, and that Is also due to a lack of knowledge about the ICC. I cant tell you how many meetings Ive had on Capitol Hill where both Republican and Democrat staffers are just operating on the premise that theres some sort of bipartisan consensus that the ICC is bad. And they dont even know why. If you would ask them, they have no idea. They just take it as gospel. I think its more of a yo-yo, says Milena Sterio, professor of Law at Cleveland State University. When you look at the U.S. relationship with the Court starting back in 1998, things have gone back and forth with different presidential administrations, with basically the Democrat administrations being a lot more supportive of the Court, she says, adding : Weve seen that under the Biden administration, which was willing to support the court on the Ukraine investigation, for example. The Obama administration similarly was supportive of the court in limited ways. And then, weve seen, for example, the Bush administration very hostile to the court, negotiating these bilateral agreements with other countries left and right to make sure that they wouldnt extradite anybody to the court. And then the peak of the hostility obviously is with the Trump administration. For Adam Keith, senior director for accountability at Human Rights First, an NGO, and former senior policy advisor at the State Department, this also just highlights more than ever the importance of the court not becoming dependent on or limited to U.S. support because of how unreliable, and in the best case off and on fickle it is. This is obviously more than just turning off support. Its going to go into a sort of economic war with the court, which is whats so horrifying about it. The reasons of the Trump administrations ire It was in 2020, under a previous ICC prosecutor that the Court attracted the ire of Donald Trumps administration. Fatou Bensouda had not yet officially opened the investigation into Palestine, but had asked the Court to go ahead with an investigation into Afghanistan, including alleged crimes by U.S. forces, such as acts of torture, cruel treatment, outrages upon personal dignity, rape and sexual violence committed in that country 2003 and 2004, and later in CIA black sites in Poland, Romania and Lithuania. The sanctions themselves as opposed to other more diplomatic measures to protest against the Courts actions came as a surprise to most observers. Because it hadnt been done before, we were all taken aback and all surprised, says Sterio, because imposing sanctions against an international institution or against an international institutions high-level official is so unprecedented. In an interview, Bensouda said it was clear that to a very large extent, it was these two cases, Afghanistan and Palestine, that probably led to the sanctions, although she argues that she was able to justify that she was not overreaching, but acting within the legal framework. She says she had the evidence to move forward with this but it landed me in trouble. John Bolton [Trumps former national security adviser] certainly had made threats against the Court and called it an illegitimate institution, Sterio recalls, but I personally did not expect that sanctions would be imposed because up until that point, sanctions had been used against individuals like El Chapo, narco-terrorists or traffickers, and against individuals associated with Al Qaeda. Sanctioning ICC officials from small African countries In 2020, two individuals, both from small African states, were singled out for the sanctions. The Courts prosecutor Bensouda is Gambian and Phakiso Mochochoko, a long-serving Court official and head of the jurisdiction, complementarity and cooperation division of the Office of the prosecutor, is from Lesotho. Looking back, Keith notes the singling out of people from weaker states. For example, the then Canadian deputy prosecutor to Bensouda who was presumably in the chain of command in the offending investigation, didnt end up on the sanctions list. That gap indicates the lobbying behind the scenes from U.S. allies to protect their citizens. In 2020 the close allies filter, as Keith calls it, was seemingly in effect, where the people who ended up coming out on the sanctions list were the ones from countries whose governments probably didnt have much clout or ability to push back on the U.S.. And in the end, you end up only with a couple of black African ICC officials. And thats appalling in its own specific way, says Keith. The effects on the individuals sanctioned in 2020 were severe. A source close to Bensouda who prefers to stay anonymous described how the then-ICC prosecutor could not withdraw money from a cash machine. We know from 2020, when the ICC prosecutor and one of her deputies were on the sanctions list, that it was a challenge for them to keep their business services and vendors continuing to engage with them, says Keith. He says that the details of how they managed to keep going during the 8-months of sanctions are not publicly known: A lot of the responsibility falls on the Dutch government as the host country of the court. Bensouda said that she had repeatedly told the Assembly of States Parties, different states, and NGOs, that a red line has been crossed and it should not be allowed to stay this way because its the prosecutor, it is the Office of the prosecutor that has been sanctioned. And this is totally wrong. The sanctions challenged in U.S. courts Sterio is one of a small group who challenged the order in 2020 through a federal court. All of us generally believed that imposing sanctions against the ICC is not just ridiculous, but threatens this entire world of international criminal justice, because it inhibits the Courts ability to function freely, she says. It improperly tries to influence the Court into dropping certain investigations. And instead of the United States positioning itself as a leader in international criminal justice, it actually puts the U.S. at the opposite end of the spectrum, where were really doing everything to inhibit the court. She explains she had dual motives: a selfish one, and then a more altruistic one. The way that the sanctions regime was structured that time, was that dual nationals even though U.S. citizens could potentially be the target of sanctions. There are so many different ways in which academics like me who focus on international criminal law would be exposed. So the selfish reason was that I knew I was exposing myself to sanctions. But she was also challenging the principle. Together with other dual national academics and the Open Society Justice Initiative, an American NGO, she challenged the presidents Executive Order as unconstitutional based on First Amendment grounds because it inhibited our ability to engage in free speech. She says that approach was also a strategical calculation: The First Amendment argument was the best one to bring in U.S. federal courts because our judges are very sensitive to those types of constitutional arguments. They dont necessarily care as much about the ICC, but they do care about free speech. Such challenges, says Keith, are sometimes only workable at the margins of a policy decision. They werent able to challenge the foundation of the sanctions programmes or to say, 'hey, you cant put Fatou Bensouda on the sanctions list, he says, because there is a lot of deference to the executive branch by the courts when national security statutes are involved and the authority of the president is extremely broad, flexible, and expansive. Nevertheless, Sterio believes they achieved an important victory of principle when they got a preliminary injunction against the sanctions. The standard for granting the preliminary injunction here in the United States is that you have to show a likelihood of victory on the merits and you have to show a risk of irreparable harm. So that was already a large preliminary victory, because the judge agreed with us that we were likely to win on the merits and that we were exposing ourselves to this risk of irreparable harm. Biden lifts the sanctions But the case was overtaken by political events. President Biden was elected in November 2020, and was inaugurated in January 2021. Koh recalls how the Biden administration started with the Trump executive order hanging over its head and how hard they worked to lift it. I was in the administration at the time. We all worked on it and it wasnt as easy a job to get it lifted as you might have thought. There were different people, particularly from the Defence Department who were pushing to keep it in place as a way of warning the court against pursuing American soldiers in Afghanistan. But they ended up not doing that. And so that objection evaporated. We were hoping that the sanctions would be overturned on day one of Biden in office, recalls Sterio. However, they remained in place and it wasnt until April that they were overturned. But she believes the legal challenge played a role: The governments substantive deadline to provide an answer on the merits to our complaint was due on a Monday and the sanctions regime was overturned on Friday. And I do not believe that that was a coincidence. I dont think that they wanted to be on record defending the sanctions. The second part of this article, which details the potential consequences of these sanctions and their conditions of application, is available here. Swedish prosecutors on Monday asked a court to remand in detention a convicted Swedish jihadist for his suspected involvement in the 2014 killing of a Jordanian pilot in Syria. Osama Krayem, 32, has already been sentenced for his involvement in the 2015 attacks in Paris and the attacks in Brussels a year later. Prosecutors requested he be remanded in detention in his absence for "severe war crimes and terrorist crimes" over his suspected role in the murder of the Jordanian pilot. Krayem is currently serving a jail sentence in France. The prosecutor's request is a common step before a formal charge when the suspect is out of the country. An aircraft belonging to the Royal Jordanian Air Force was shot down in Syria on December 24, 2014, and the pilot was captured by the Islamic State (IS) the same day near the central city of Raqqa, Sweden's Prosecution Authority said. The pilot was locked in a cage and burned alive. Images of his death were broadcast by the jihadist group. "No other individual has been prosecuted for this act, and the man we have requested to be detained will be the first for whom prosecution may take place," deputy chief prosecutor Henrik Olin said. The authority said the act was considered "one of the most brutal murders committed by IS during the war in Syria". "The pilot was incapacitated and subjected to an extremely cruel act in violation of the laws of war. "The fact that the execution was then filmed and the film distributed constitutes an additional violation of his person," senior prosecutor Reena Devgun said. Krayem, who is from Malmo in southern Sweden, joined IS in Syria in 2014 before returning to Europe. In June 2022, he was sentenced to 30 years in prison in France for assisting in the planning of the 2015 Paris attacks, in which 130 people died. The following year, he was given a life sentence in Belgium for participating in the bombings on March 22, 2016, at Brussels' main airport and on the metro system, which killed 32 people. The Swedish Prosecution Authority said it would not comment further on the case until it had reached a decision on whether to charge Krayem. Prosecutors said that if the case went to trial, they would request Krayem's extradition from France to attend it. A hearing to decide whether he will be remanded in detention in his absence was scheduled for Tuesday, the Stockholm district court said. Rival Cypriot leaders met Monday to discuss opening more crossing points across the divided island, the United Nations said, as part of trust-building efforts to revive stalled peace talks. President Nikos Christodoulides of the Greek-speaking, internationally recognised Republic of Cyprus and Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar met in the buffer zone that has split the Mediterranean island for decades. The meeting, mediated by UN Special Representative Colin Stewart, followed an October 15 informal dinner hosted by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres with both leaders in New York. Christodoulides said he submitted an eight-point package of proposals to Tatar, leader of the breakaway Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. "I referred to crossing points as well as other ideas which we discussed in New York," Christodoulides told reporters, adding that the proposals also include the creation of a truth commission. "These ideas received a positive response from the secretary-general, but there was no positive reaction from Mr Tatar," Christodoulides said. The United Nations said the two leaders agreed that opening new crossings could foster people-to-people contacts, strengthen economic ties, build trust and help to create a more positive climate for peace talks. The Mediterranean island is split between the Republic of Cyprus, an EU member, and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, which is only recognised by Turkey and covers about a third of island including parts of the capital Nicosia. Turkey has kept troops on the island since its 1974 invasion, triggered by a Greek-backed coup. There are currently nine crossings along the UN-patrolled Green Line that separates the two sides. Calls have grown for more crossings along the 180-kilometre (110-mile) buffer zone to ease access for people in remote areas. Thousands cross daily for work, education, or medical care, using the nine crossings operational since 2003. Reunification efforts brokered by the United Nations have been frozen since talks collapsed in 2017. Monday, January 20, 2025 - Many supporters of South Koreas embattled president, Yoon Suk Yeol, on Sunday morning, January 19 stormed a court building after his detention was extended, smashing windows and breaking inside leading to the injury of 9 police officers, while about 40 people suffered minor injuries. Yoon, on Wednesday, became the first sitting South Korean president to be arrested as he faces allegations of insurrection related to his short-lived December 3 declaration of martial law that has plunged the country into political turmoil. Shortly after the court announced its decision around 3 a.m. (1800 GMT) on Sunday, Yoons supporters stormed the building, overwhelming riot police trying to keep them at bay. Protesters blasted fire extinguishers at lines of police guarding the front entrance, then flooded inside, destroying office equipment, fittings, and furniture, footage showed. Meanwhile, the police restored order a few hours later, saying they had arrested 46 protesters and vowing to track down others involved. Acting President Choi Sang-mok, in a statement, said the government expressed strong regret over the illegal violence, which he said is unimaginable in a democratic society. He added that the authorities would step up safety measures around gatherings. Watch videos below Currently in front of the Constitutional Court, Yoon supporters are shouting "election fraud" holding American flags and "Stop the steal" banners pic.twitter.com/cDySnOLfWe Raphael Rashid (@koryodynasty) January 19, 2025 Monday, January 20, 2025 - A lady has fallen victim to a burglary incident after two thugs broke into her rented house in Utawala and made away with her TV screen and laptop. In the CCTV footage, the suspects are seen getting out of the apartment carrying the stolen items before boarding a getaway motorbike and speeding off. According to the victim, she moved into the apartment barely a week ago. The ruthless burglars dealt her a major blow because she used the stolen laptop to run her errands. Sharing the video on her X account, she wrote, Nairobi itanionyesha maneno. Sijakaa ata wiki moja wezi ndo hao My laptop and a Tv gone hivo tu. Mind you I'm supposed to report to work tomorrow with the same Laptop, Watch the CCTV footage below. Nairobi itanionyesha maneno. Sijakaa ata wiki moja wezi ndo hao My laptop and a Tv gone hivo tu. Mind you I'm supposed to report to work tomorrow with the same Laptop pic.twitter.com/rctCojRu61 Jeannette Brendah (@jeanbrendah) January 19, 2025 The Kenyan DAILY POST. Monday, January 20, 2025 - An upcoming Kenyan producer is counting losses after thugs broke into his recording studio and almost swept it clean. They stole computers, microphone, sound card, and hard disk, where he had stored clients projects. He broke down as he recorded a video inside his studio which was broken into over the weekend. Nitaanzia wapi sasa, he lamented amid tears. The video comes at a time when burglary cases are on the rise due to tough economic times. So many cases of burglary of late. As the economy goes south, a section of Kenyans see it fit to steal consumer electronics especially those containing intellectual property. A sad state of affairs. When I told you useless pieces of shit not to listen to @bonifacemwangi , you pic.twitter.com/TGLcfZrdLg Francis Gaitho (@FGaitho237) January 20, 2025 The Kenyan DAILY POST. Monday, January 20, 2025 - Socialite Pascal Okechukwu aka Cubana Cheifpriest has denied having kids in Malaysia. He came out with this clarification after Hellen Mutinu, the Kenyan woman claiming to be his baby mama, alleged via her Instagram page that he has two children he abandoned in Malaysia. In a post shared on his Instastories on Sunday afternoon January 19, Chiefpriest indicated that the children being flaunted as his are his friend's kids. Monday, January 20, 2025 - US President-elect, Donald Trump's incoming administration plans to immediately order a series of deportation raids targeting illegal immigrants after his inauguration. Chicago is expected to be the first major city targeted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents as part of Operation Safeguard, the New York Times reported, citing two people familiar with planning the undertaking. The massive deportation operation is expected to target criminals and gang members in the United States illegally and run for one week. Trump has promised to conduct the largest deportation program in U.S. history. Up to 200 ICE agents are being sent to Chicago to help kick off the operation on Tuesday, the Wall Street Journal reported. The agency has already asked agents to volunteer for the post-inauguration raids. "There's gonna be a big raid across the country," Tom Homan, who will be in charge of U.S. borders once Trump takes office, told Fox News in an interview. Homan has previously said he will instruct ICE agents to carry out raids on illegal immigrants at their workplaces. In addition to Chicago, the sweeping crackdown will also target other major U.S. cities with large immigrant populations. Trump is set to take the oath of office on Monday, January 20, in an inauguration that will take place indoors. Monday, January 20, 2025 Deputy President Kithure Kindiki may find it difficult to navigate through the Mt. Kenya region going forward. This is after two Mt. Kenya governors appeared to set him up against the residents, accusing him of abandoning the region. Speaking over the weekend, Nyeri Governor Mutahi Kahiga and Tharaka Nithis Muthomi Njuki faulted Kindiki over what they termed as leaving the mountain behind and prioritizing the rest of Kenya. They urged Kindiki to embark on uniting the mountain first instead of being President William Rutos stooge and doing as directed. Muthomi Njuki go and tell Kindiki to stop being afraid. He has not even come home in fear of being impeached. Did Gachagua die since he was impeached? Kahiga quipped. He has never come home because he has been asked not to come to the mountain because his job is to unite Kenyans. How can you unite Kenya when you have not united your home? Ending his impassioned speech, Kahiga spoke to the deputy president directly, imploring him to break the shackles holding him back and visit the region with his head held high. Echoing his remarks, Governor Njuki rained jabs at DP Kindiki stating that Tharaka Nithi had yet to reap any benefits despite producing a second-in-command. We are happy we got a Deputy President but that cannot be enough. We want the right to development promised during the campaigns to be achieved, he stated. Since resuming office in October last year, Kindiki has received mixed reception in the region with a section still rooting for the impeached DP Rigathi Gachagua. However, Kindiki prominently avoided any public politicking in his few visits to the region, choosing to instead, further the government agenda. The Kenyan DAILY POST. Monday, January 20, 2025 - Members of the public were treated to a dramatic incident after a woman went berserk and vandalized Ethiopian Airlines offices at Bruce House in Nairobi Central Business District. Reports indicate that the infuriated woman claimed that she had been defrauded by the company. She stormed the offices on Monday breathing fire and took the matter into her own hands. Other disgruntled customers expressed their dissatisfaction with the company, especially the refund policy after the video was shared on social media. When customer feedback forms don't work, I guess 'DIY renovations' become the next best option. Ethiopian Airlines might want to reconsider their refund policy before Bruce House gets a full makeover, an X user wrote. They defrauded me a flight ticket. Two silly airlines. KQ and Ethiopian Airlines, another user wrote. Watch the videos. A woman vandalized Ethiopian Airlines offices at Bruce House, Muindi Mbingu Street, Nairobi CBD on Monday, claiming she decided to take matters into her own hands after being allegedly defrauded by the company. pic.twitter.com/ZzEEBS9ivI Cyprian, Is Nyakundi (@C_NyaKundiH) January 20, 2025 The Kenyan DAILY POST. Monday, January 20, 2025 - Below is a statement by Former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua following the brutal murder of influential Molo youth leader Raymond Otieno. The level of political intolerance and repression in our country is reaching unproportionate and alarming levels. The gruesome and brutal murder of Raymond Otieno of Molo over the weekend is a clear testimony of another strategy of infusing fear among Kenyans in a pathetic and archaic strategy to silence government critics after failed abductions. How can a great Nation like Kenya slip into the trenches of a failed State where children and women have no breathing space? To the family of Raymond Otieno and the people of Molo, I share in your pain and grief. My deepest sympathies to you all. As we mourn the death of this promising young man, who was a great human rights defender and champion, we call for justice. His killers must be brought to book come what may. The Government of Kenya cannot afford to sit on the fence on this matter. May God rest the Soul of Raymond Otieno in eternal peace and comfort his family and the people of Molo. The Kenyan DAILY POST. Monday, January 20, 2025 Former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has accused President William Ruto of being behind the plan to isolate Mt. Kenya. The nefarious plot against Mt. Kenya was broached by Webuye West MP Dan Wanyama who advised the president to forget about the rebellious Central Kenya and focus on Western Kenya. However, in response, Gachagua claimed that Ruto was the one who sent him to say so. He accused the president of using MPs as mouthpieces for his alleged political agenda. According to Gachagua, the comments made by the MP were not his own but directives from Ruto. The former Deputy President claimed that Ruto orchestrates political narratives by instructing leaders on what to say during public forums. When you hear MPs talking, he (Ruto) is the one who has sent them. I was with him, and he would instruct me on what to say. "I complied for a while but later stopped listening to him. He sits there with a pen instructing leaders on what to say. It reached a point when he would instruct me on what to say, but I'd get to the podium and speak about other things," Gachagua said. "The MP from Western who is saying that Mt. Kenya would be isolated, that is not the MP speaking, that is William Ruto; that is his plan. But it will not happen, he added. Gachagua also assured the people of Mt. Kenya of his commitment to unity, warning Ruto against any attempts to divide the region. "I want to promise you, President Ruto, you will not succeed in isolating the people of Mt. Kenya from the rest of Kenya. You will not succeed in dividing Mt. Kenya East and West; it will not happen," Gachagua concluded. The Kenyan DAILY POST. Monday, January 20, 2025 - Former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has vowed to ensure that the Mt Kenya region forms the next government. Speaking on Sunday at PCEA church in Laikipia County, Gachagua accused President William Ruto of betraying the Mt Kenya region. The former second in command stated that in 2027, he would lead the region to form a government with political leaders who respect the region. According to Gachagua, the region has numerical strength. It only needs to remain united and ensure it has the right friends ahead of the 2027 General Election. "God-willing, I will lead the Mt Kenya region into the government. That will be a government that respects Mt Kenya people and works for them. And that will happen. "We have the numbers, all that we need is unity and the right friends," Gachagua said. The Kenyan DAILY POST. Monday, January 20, 2025 - Former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has vowed to do everything within his power to ensure that President William Ruto loses the 2027 General Election. Speaking during a church service at PCEA Emmanuel Matanya, Waguthiru Parish, Laikipia East, Laikipia County, Gachagua accused Ruto of being a pathological liar, a character he said gave him a lot of trouble while he served under him. As faithful Christian, you may not be able to cope with a person who lies all the time. I was opposed to the tendency of lying to people and thats why I opted to leave, Gachagua stated. This Mt Kenya Region. God willing, I will lead this region into government, and a government that respects them and works for them. And that is going to happen. We have the numbers and all we need is to create unity and get the right friends, he added. Gachagua said that the President had the intention of breaking ranks with the Central region after he ordered MPs from the Rift Valley to vote for a legislator from a different region for the East Africa Legislative Assembly. He narrated how a scuffle erupted after he protested to Ruto for ordering MPs from his home area of Rift Valley to vote for a person who is not from Mt Kenya region yet the community had given him 47 per cent of the votes that made him president. He stated that he opposed the decision but the President dared him not to try to interfere with the decision. The former Mathira MP regretted that he was not able to detect Rutos motive early before he went all out to drum up support for his presidency in Mt Kenya. The Kenyan DAILY POST. Monday, January 20, 2025 - Former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has vowed to ensure President William Ruto is not re-elected during the 2027 presidential election. Speaking in Laikipia County on Sunday after attending a church function, Gachagua vowed to ensure Ruto is not re-elected in 2027, accusing him of planning to oppress the region. "We will not allow Ruto to return in 2027 because his intention is to oppress the people of Mt Kenya," he said. The former deputy president once again hinted at forming a coalition with wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka and former Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang'i to make Ruto a one-term president. "I want to tell you not to fear. We have many friends in Luhyaland, Kambaland, Maasai, and Kisiiland. Let us be united so that we can be strong," Gachagua stated. The Kenyan DAILY POST. Monday, January 20, 2025 - Polly Irungu, a Kenyan-born photographer and journalist, has announced her exit from the White House after nearly three years as Vice President Kamala Harris's official photo editor. Taking to social media, Irungu, who was born in Nairobi and moved to United States at the age of four, growing up in Kansas and Oregon, expressed gratitude for the opportunity to work at such a prestigious institution. Time flies! Today is my last day at the White House serving as the Official Photo Editor for Vice President Kamala Harris and as an Official White House Photographer. Irungus passion for photography began in her youth, saving for her first camera while working at McDonalds. Her impactful storytelling earned her the 2024 Eric Allen Outstanding Young Alumni Award from the University of Oregon. Her departure coincides with Donald Trump being sworn in as the United States 47th President. The Kenyan DAILY POST Monday, January 20, 2025 - A section of Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) members from the Gusii region have threatened to leave the party, citing discrimination. The members, led by Kitutu Chache South MP Anthony Kibagendi, Bomachoge Borabu MP Obadiah Barongo, and Charles Onchoke (UPA), expressed concerns about alleged discrimination against the Gusii community within the Raila Odinga-led party. The lawmakers accused the ODM leadership of sidelining Kisii leaders, citing unfair representation in parliamentary committees as a significant grievance. Kibagendi pointed out that in the 13th Parliament, three MPs from the Kisii region serve on only one committee each, while ODM MPs from other regions hold memberships in up to three committees." Furthermore, the MPs lamented that no legislator from Gusii holds a chairperson or vice-chairperson position in any committee in either the National Assembly or the Senate. Members of the public and our supporters should know the extent of this disparity. Despite our unwavering loyalty to the party, we have been relegated to minor roles while others enjoy undue privileges, Kibagendi said. We have genuinely been very patient and respectful, despite extended periods of discrimination, Kibagendi added. The furious leaders also expressed frustration over unfulfilled promises regarding representation on the powerful Budget and Appropriations Committee. They revealed that ODM leadership had assured them one of the five members from Luo Nyanza would relinquish their slot for a Gusii representative, a promise that was never honoured. The Kenyan DAILY POST. Monday, January 20, 2025 - Slain youth leader and activist Raymond Otieno alias Molo Prezident had accused the area Member of Parliament Kimani Kuria of using police officers to harass him. Speaking at a public function before he was killed by unknown assailants on Saturday night, Otieno claimed that the MP got him arrested on trumped-up charges to intimidate him for criticizing his leadership. Otieno was a fierce critic of the Molo MP and had declared his interest in the Molo Parliamentary seat in 2027. According to former KTN journalist Saddique Shaban, MP Kimani Kuria had issued threats to the slain activist, claiming that he led Gen Zs to burn down his house last year during the anti-government protests. The people of Molo allege that you wanted this man to pay for leading Gen Z protests that burned down your house. "If you truly forgave and forgot, why is your most ardent critic in Molo, dead? "Do you have blood in your hands? Did you kill him? Shaban posed and shared a video of Otienos last words before was killed. The People of Molo allege that you wanted this man to pay for leading Gen Z protests that burned down your house. If you truly forgave and forgot, why is your most ardent critic in Molo, dead? Do you have blood in your hands? Did you kill him? https://t.co/pwzk0T8VXF pic.twitter.com/j0EgqXdQUV Saddique Shaban (@SaddiqueShaban) January 20, 2025 The Kenyan DAILY POST. Monday, January 20, 2025 - A businessman, John Tafara Madzikatire allegedly killed himself outside his girlfriends home in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. The married father-of-two and owner of a butchery was found dead with a gunsh0t wound to the head on Saturday, January 18, 2025. Police were called to Cowdray Park suburb at around 9PM after residents reported finding the body of a man inside a black Mercedes parked in the street. Law enforcement sources said he had a large amount of cash on him in various currencies, including over US$4,000 and R19,000. Police have launched an investigation into the incident. Monday, January 20, 2025 - President William Ruto's senior economic advisor, Moses Kuria, has sent a coded message after Mungiki leader Maina Njenga and his goons disrupted a prayer rally organized by Dorcas Gachagua in Nyeri on Saturday. During the occasion, Maina accompanied by rowdy youths stormed Kamukunji stadium and forced Dorcas to flee Reacting to the shameful incident, Kuria in a short message stated "My heart bleeds Reacting to Kuria's tweet, most Kenyans suggested that the Kenya Kwanza administration was allegedly allowing the return of the Mungiki sect. Some said it would be more dangerous for the government to allegedly deploy the Mungiki gang in its fight with former deputy president Rigathi Gachagua over the control of the Mt Kenya region. The Kenyan DAILY POST. Monday, January 20, 2025 - President William Ruto has urged his predecessor Uhuru Kenyatta to stop inciting the Kenyan youth. On Friday, Uhuru, who spoke at a burial, urged the Kenyan youth to fight for their rights. However, during his tour of Western Kenya on Sunday, President Ruto criticized former President Uhuru Kenyatta for inciting the youth, describing his remarks as disrespectful to the current administration. he Head of State stated that those inciting the youth had nothing to offer, having run out of ideas and meaningful agendas, and had therefore resorted to violence. He said leaders should join him to create opportunities for the youth. Our young people deserve the best from us as parents, government, and leaders. We dont need to incite our children to engage in violence and chaos. "Our young people of Kenya dont need violence or confrontational they want opportunities, they want jobs and they want to engage in business and that is what we should be doing as leaders instead of inciting them to violence, destruction, and many things that will not solve their problem and the problem of our country, Ruto said. The Kenyan DAILY POST. Monday, January 20, 2025 - President William Ruto's Senior Economic Advisor, Moses Kuria, has shared a cryptic message after former Mungiki Leader Maina Njenga stormed and disrupted a prayer event organized by former Deputy President Rigathi Gachaguas wife, Pastor Dorcas. Dorcas had organized the peaceful prayer event in Nyeri before it turned chaotic, forcing her to flee for safety. Maina Njenga arrived in Black SUVs accompanied by a large group of rowdy youth who were waving their hands in jubilation and were heard cheering loudly, bringing the event to a standstill. Attendees of Dorcas' event were heard questioning why the youth were disrupting the peaceful gathering led by the former deputy president's spouse. Reacting to the events in Nyeri, Kuria shared a coded message, leaving Kenyans guessing what he meant. In a tweet, Kuria said his heart was bleeding even though he did not give reasons why. "My heart bleeds," Kuria said. Reacting to Kuria's tweet, most Kenyans suggested that the Kenya Kwanza administration was allowing the return of the Mungiki sect. Some said it would be more dangerous for the government to deploy the Mungiki gang in its fight with Gachagua over the control of the Mt Kenya region. The Kenyan DAILY POST. Monday, January 20, 2025 Trans Nzoia Senator Allan Chesang has exposed the deep-rooted corruption in the government of President William Ruto. Speaking during an interdenominational prayer service at Cheptais Boys High School in Trans Nzoia County on Sunday, an event attended by the Head of State, Chesang claimed there was too much corruption at Access to Government Procurement Opportunities (AGPO). Chesang alleged that AGPO has failed to benefit thousands of Kenyan youth as intended, citing corruption as the primary obstacle. As a result, he asked President William Ruto to establish a task force to investigate the AGPO over claims of bribery and fraud. ''Your Excellency, you should create for us just a single task force for investigating Access to Government Procurement Opportunities (AGPO) in this your government,'' Chesang urged. According to the youthful Senator, some people at AGPO have been taking advantage of the youth, women, and people living with disabilities (PWDs) by using their ID cards to register companies. AGPO, a Kenyan government initiative designed to empower marginalized groups including women, youth, and persons with disabilities (PWDs) by granting them access to government procurement and tenders, has been under public scrutiny regarding its effectiveness in improving the livelihoods of the youth. The lawmaker further noted that since the program's launch in 2013 by then-President Uhuru Kenyatta and his Deputy William Ruto, its primary objective remains unfulfilled. Additionally, Chesang advocated for the establishment of a task force to investigate the authority's operations, asserting that it could be a key step toward addressing the mystery of youth unemployment. The Kenyan DAILY POST. Monday, January 20, 2025 - An elite police officer who has been instrumental in eradicating banditry in the North Rift is among the police officers deployed to Haiti by the government to fight criminal gangs. The cop identified as Salah is among the best marksmen in the highly-trained Rapid Response Unit (RDU). Bandits in the North Rift reportedly fear him because of his shooting skills. The government has deployed 217 more police officers to Haiti as part of a multinational force to curb gang violence plaguing the Caribbean nation. The police officers departed from Kenya on Friday. Below are photos of the elite cop. The Kenyan DAILY POST. Monday, January 20, 2025 Anxiety has gripped State House after former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua revealed that he will be making a big political announcement later this month. Speaking while attending a Church Service at PCEA Emmanuel Matanya, Waguthiru Parish, Laikipia East Constituency, Laikipia County, Gachagua told Kenyans to wait patiently for his next political move which will be revealed by the end of the month. At the same time, the former DP went on another tirade against President William Ruto as he called on the Mount Kenya region to stay united. Without mentioning names, the impeached former DP denied endorsing anyone for any political seat, as he revealed he would announce his next political move at the end of January. "Let me say those people who come to see me at Wamunyoro. I hear on TV saying that Gachagua has endorsed so and so to become governor. Let it be known that I am only listening to opinions," Gachagua said. "I've listened to your opinions and by the end of the month, I'll send back a report to you, he added. In the same service, the former DP also strongly hinted at forming an alliance with all of Ruto's adversaries to mount a formidable challenge to the President in the next election. "I want to tell you not to fear. We have many friends in Luhyaland, Kambaland, Maasai, and Kisiiland. Let us be united so that we can be strong," Gachagua said. The Kenyan DAILY POST. Monday, January 20, 2025 - Former Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang'i has declared his intention to run for president in the 2027 elections. Matiangis announcement came due to public demand after it emerged that President William Ruto was leading the country in the wrong direction. According to sources, Fred Matiangi's bid for the presidency is reportedly backed by a powerful godfatherformer President Uhuru Kenyatta. Allies of the former president said Uhuru plans to back and fund Matiang'i to dethrone Ruto in the 2027 race. According to Jubilee honchos, Uhuru is coordinating everything, including reaching out to other leaders to support Matiang'i. He noted that Uhuru has already contacted some ODM party leaders to rally behind the former Interior CS. "As things stand, Matiangi is the Jubilee Party candidate for the presidency in 2027. It is coordinated. Uhuru is trying to put the opposition together to support Matiangi. He is the one behind all these plans, he said. This was confirmed by Jubilee Secretary-General Jeremiah Kioni, who noted that discussions are at an advanced stage to form a formidable coalition to face Ruto in 2027. He said Uhuru's party is working closely with Matiang'i, Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka, Eugene Wamalwa, George Natembeya and Okiya Omtatah. We are working with Matiangi, Kalonzo, Wamalwa, Natembeya, Omtatah basically with all those leaders who think that change is necessary. "What I can confirm to you is that coalition building is on, and the desire to work together is there with everybody, every Kenyan who thinks change is necessary but the role each of us will play will be determined by Kenyans themselves," Kioni said. The Kenyan DAILY POST. Monday, January 20, 2025 - TikTok has stopped working in the United States and disappeared from Apple and Google app stores shortly before a federal ban on the Chinese-owned short-video app was due to take effect. The companys app was removed Saturday evening from prominent app stores, including those operated by Apple and Google, and its website told users that the short-form video platform was no longer available. When users opened the TikTok app on Saturday, they encountered a pop-up message that said, Sorry, TikTok isnt available right now, and prevented them from scrolling through videos. A law banning TikTok has been enacted in the U.S., the message said. Unfortunately that means you cant use TikTok for now. We are fortunate that President Trump has indicated that he will work with us on a solution to reinstate TikTok once he takes office, the notice continued, in a reference to President-elect Donald Trumps pledge to save the platform. The company told its users to stay tuned. Before that announcement went out, TikTok had said in another message to users that its service would be temporarily unavailable and told them its working to restore its U.S. service as soon as possible. But how long the platform will remain dark is unclear. In an interview with NBC News on Saturday, President-elect Donald Trump said he was thinking about giving TikTok a 90-day extension that would allow them to continue operating. If such an extension happens, Trump, who once favoured a TikTok ban said it would probably be announced Monday, the day that he is sworn in as president. TikTok CEO Shou Chew is expected to attend Trumps inauguration with a prime seating location. In 2024, Biden signed the law that put the current ban in place, which gave the apps owners until Sunday to either shut down or sell to a buyer not defined as a foreign adversary of the United States. Rep. Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., introduced the original bill and it passed with veto-proof majorities and support from both Democrats and Republicans. In Washington, lawmakers and administration officials raised concerns about the app, which they see as a national security threat due to its Chinese ownership. TikTok is owned by ByteDance, a technology company based in Beijing that operates the well-known video editing apps CapCut and Lemon8, both of which were also unavailable for service on Saturday evening. Monday, January 20, 2025 - Ukraine has revealed that it launched a pair of attacks on oil depots in western Russia, the latest in Kyivs air assaults against strategic targets on Russian soil. According to Kyivs General Staff, its forces had struck storage facilities overnight in the Kaluga and Tula regions. It said in statements on each attack that damages were still being assessed, adding that the depots supported Moscows war effort in Ukraine. Meanwhile, Kalugas regional governor, Vladislav Shapsha, on Telegram said that a fire had broken out after an industrial site was hit in the city of Lyudinovo. He later said seven drones had been downed, with one landing in a non-residential area. Both sides in Russias almost three-year-old invasion of Ukraine have sought to improve their positions ahead of Mondays inauguration of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, who has said he would seek a swift end to the war. On his part, Tulas regional governor, Dmitry Milyaev, via Telegram, said that a fuel and lubricant tank had caught fire at a facility in the region as a result of a Ukrainian drone attack. Ukrainian forces have stepped up strikes inside Russia, primarily on oil depots and military production facilities, as they struggle to hold back steady Russian advances on the battlefield in eastern Ukraine. Russia has also carried out regular air strikes on Ukrainian towns and cities, killing four people on Saturday in a missile attack on central Kyiv. Monday, January 20, 2025 - President William Ruto has finally broken his silence following former President Uhuru Kenyatta's remarks, urging Gen Z to rise and fight the Kenya Kwanza administration for their rights. Speaking during an interdenominational prayer service at Cheptais High School in Bungoma County yesterday, Ruto accused Uhuru of inciting the youth against him and his government and dismissed Uhurus advice to the young people, terming it inciteful and dangerous. According to Ruto, young Kenyans should not be pitted against each other, emphasizing that what they need instead are job opportunities to keep them engaged. ''Our young people deserve the best from us. Let us not pit our children against each other. These young Kenyans do not need violence or confrontation,'' Ruto stated. The Head of State further stated that leaders should rise to the challenge of encouraging young people to engage in meaningful economic activities instead of incitement. ''They want jobs and opportunities to engage in business and that is what we should be doing as leaders instead of inciting them to violence,'' he added. On Friday, Uhuru urged Gen Zs to continue fighting for their rights, just two months after a symbolic handshake with Ruto following a closed-door meeting at his Ichaweri home in December last year. ''The problem of people nowadays is people are afraid. Gen Zs are the story of the future. Fight for your rights. Fight to ensure you are getting what is rightfully yours,'' Uhuru stated. ''Don't stand and watch as your wealth is taken from you. Everything is worth fighting for. If you do not fight for it, don't cry if it is taken away,'' he added. Uhuru's sentiments, however, elicited mixed reactions with Ruto's allies jumping to the defence of their boss. The Kenyan DAILY POST. Monday, January 20, 2025 - Prime Cabinet Secretary, Musalia Mudavadi, has expressed bewilderment over the domestic opposition to Raila Odinga's bid for the African Union Commission (AUC) chairmanship. In an interview with NTV on Sunday, Mudavadi wondered why many Kenyans are opposed to Raila Odingas AUC bid yet he is a Kenyan. "Why would someone not wish for a Kenyan to succeed in a continental role that we have not secured in decades? "Is it jealousy? Is it somebody being petty or is it malice? These are the questions that we ask ourselves," Mudavadi said. Mudavadi went on to address the actions of some Kenyans who have taken to social media and direct communication channels to dissuade other African nations from supporting Odinga's candidacy. "Kenya for the first time, has the greatest opportunity to chair the African Union Commission, which we have never ever chaired. "Why would a Kenyan be bitter, that a fellow Kenyan is going to have an opportunity of that nature? "So that you spend time trying to send social media messages to various governments in the continent, telling them not to vote for the Kenyan candidate?" Mudavadi questioned. Raila Odinga is currently the front-runner in the race to succeed Mousa Faki as the next AUC chairperson, with African heads of state and government set to make their decision in February. The Kenyan DAILY POST. Monday, January 20, 2025 - Kakamega County Senator, Dr. Boni Khalwale, has asked President William Ruto to come clean on last week's merger between United Democratic Alliance (UDA) and Musalia Mudavadis Amani National Congress (ANC). Speaking on Monday, Khalwale said there is no clarity about how the Luyha nation will work with President Ruto's 2027 political plans after the ANC and UDA merger last week. He said despite the merger, most of the people from Western Kenya do not understand the outcome and what that means about their stake in government and the future. According to Khalwale, Nyanza and the Mount Kenya region know how they will work with President Ruto going forward, but Western Kenya is in the dark. "From the bottom of my heart, we want our people to move with you, if they must walk with you, they must first understand you,'" Khalwale said. "From the signs, I can see that the people of Mount Kenya know where they are going with you, similarly, Nyanza knows where they are going with you."' Khalwale said the leadership of UDA and ANC must step out and explain the meaning of the merger to the people of Western Kenya. "Your Excellency, we the people of his region have seen you have signed a pact with ANC and UDA. But the leadership of the two parties have never come to tell us what they are doing and where they are taking us, that is not the way to leave people.'' "I, therefore, want clarity on the way we are going to partner in the politics of Kenya, if there is clarity in the way we are doing politics as a government,'' he said. The Kenyan DAILY POST. Monday, January 20, 2025 - An American woman from Pennsylvania said she falsely accused an innocent man she never met of trying to rape and kidnap her all because he looked 'creepy'. Anjela Borisova Urumova, 20, pleaded guilty to filing a false police report against 41-year-old Daniel Pierson, whom she accused of attempting to kidnap and rape her. Pierson was held on a $1 million bail, charged with multiple felonies and spent a month in jail as a result of the false claims. According to the Bucks County District Attorney's Office, Urumova alleged that on April 16, 2024, Pierson attacked her outside of a supermarket. She claimed that he had pulled her pants down and struck her in the face. 'As part of the investigation, Middletown Township Police collected and reviewed available surveillance videos from multiple retailers in the area of the reported attack, and a detective with the Bucks County District Attorney's Office conducted a forensic review of Urumova's cellphone data,' the DA's office said in a release. 'The review led to the discovery of multiple inconsistencies and contradictory information with Urumova's account of the attack.' Urumova was confronted by authorities and 'admitted she lied about the entire incident', confirming she hadn't been attacked by anyone, prosecutors said. Urumova also said that she 'specifically targeted' and identified Pierson as her attacker because she had 'seen him and the truck in the past' and was able to describe him and the vehicle to the police. She described the vehicle as a dark blue Ford F-150 pickup truck with a 'thin blue line' sticker on the back windshield with visible dents and rust on the exterior. The injury to her face was allegedly due to an altercation with a family member. 'Her grandmother, who Urumova claimed suffered from dementia, did not recognize her as she entered the house and threw a plastic object at her, striking her in the lip. This incident allegedly caused the laceration to her lip that she later blamed on Pierson,' the criminal complaint said, Law & Crime reported. Urumova pleaded guilty to seven misdemeanour charges: one count each of false alarm to an agency of public safety and tampering with or fabricating physical evidence, two counts of false reports, and three counts of unsworn falsification to authorities. The charges against Pierson were dropped, and he was freed. Common Pleas Judge Stephen Corr deferred sentencing so she can undergo a pre-sentence investigation. MARTIN Heydon is heavily tipped for promotion in the new Government, and is widely expected to move up one office - from Minister for State in the department to actually being the next Minister for Agriculture. Speaking with The Kildare Nationalist briefly on Monday lunchtime (20 January) Deputy Heydon said: It would be the honour of my life if I was appointed, but I genuinely dont know. It is flattering to be tipped, but many politicians have been predicted for Cabinet seats only to be disappointed, he cautioned. Its been 21 years since Charlie McCreevy, and 28 years since Fine Gael had Minister in Kildare South in Alan Dukes, he said. Were too big a county not to have one [Ministry], Im aware Im in the mix, but I wont know until Wednesday, he said. Cllr Ivan Keatley, the man who replaced Heydon on Kildare County Council in 2011, said: Obviously, it would be great for south Kildare to have a minister. We havent had one in 20 years since Charlie McCreevy, and thats too long. I know Martin has worked very hard to get himself into a position of influence, but wed be very disappointed here if he didnt get it." A man that formerly held that very job Wexford farmer and former Fine Gael TD Ivan Yeates said: I am reliably told that Martin Heydon will be the next Minister for Agriculture, and you can quote me on that. Backing this up, one major bookmaker has quoted Heydon as odd-on favourite for the job. He is to the manor born, in this respect, as he lives on the family farm, and attended agricultural college in Kilkenny. He has served a solid apprenticeship in the Department, having been Minister for State in Agriculture and Marine for the entirety of the last Government, and previously Chair of Fine Gaels Internal Committee on Agriculture and Rural Affairs between 2011 and 2016. Following this, Heydon was chair of his partys Parliamentary Party from 2016 to 2020. He was first elected as a a 33-year-old in 2011 when he topped the poll and was elected on first count, 3,000 votes over quota. Heydon is married to pharmacist and two-time All-Star Brianna, who captained Kildare to All-Ireland glory in 2004, and last year came out of retirement at 42 years of ace to help her club win a fifth county title. THE father of a man who died from head injuries following an incident outside a pub in Monasterevin has described to a jury the moment he knew his son was gone when he saw him gurgling and his eyes rolling in his head. Sean Kavanagh (26) with an address at St Marys Lane, Church Avenue, and Calvin Dunne (24) of Abbey View, both in Monasterevin, Co Kildare, have pleaded not guilty to the murder of Dylan McCarthy on or about 22 August 2022. Both men have also pleaded not guilty to violent disorder on 21 August 2022, at Dublin Road, Monasterevin, while Mr Kavanagh has pleaded not guilty to a charge of assault causing harm to Dylans father Eamon McCarthy on the same date and at the same location. It is the States case that Dylan McCarthy (29) died following an incident in Monasterevin in which he received punches from Mr Kavanagh and Mr Dunne, before he received a vicious kick to the head from Mr Dunne while he was attempting to get up off the ground. The jury has been told that both men have claimed they were acting in self-defence and that Dylan McCarthy was himself involved in violence on the night. Giving evidence to prosecuting counsel Seoirse O Dunlaing SC today (FRI), Eamon McCarthy said he had travelled to Monasterevin from his home in Limerick on 21 August 2022 with his son Dylan and Dylans partner Aoife Talty to celebrate the birth of his daughter Orlas baby. Mr McCarthy told the court that his wife Marita stayed at home to look after their grandson while he, Dylan, Ms Talty, Orla and her partner Glen Brogan went out. Dylan McCarthy who died following the incident in Monasterevin in 2022 Mr McCarthy said when they left the first pub they heard music coming from another establishment, which he now knows to be the Bellyard pub, and someone in the group said well go in for one. This was around 11.45pm, he said, and after ordering drinks, the group started to dance to the band who were playing, and they were all enjoying ourselves. Mr McCarthy said when a drink was spilled, a barman came out and was cleaning the floor with blue kitchen roll when Dylans girlfriend said she would give him a hand. She put her leg on it and he basically pushed her leg away and said f**k away from it. I said: youre a gas man to do that to a woman, Mr McCarthy told counsel. He immediately turned to me and said: Do you want a piece of me?. I said no were here to enjoy ourselves. He repeated it, I said, no were here to enjoy ourselves, said the witness. Mr McCarthy said the barman then went for Glen and he got in-between them. He said there was another barman who came in on Dylans face. He said he didnt know any of these men and that after he broke up what was happening, he said the barmen were dragging Aoife and Dylan out the door. He said when he got to the porch at the front door, he saw a man who had Dylan by the throat and he was gouging his eyes. Thats my fucking son thats what I said, Mr McCarthy told the jury. I pulled your mans hands off Dylan. I got a dig into the back of the head and I was shoved out the door. He said at this point he put his foot in the door to stop them closing it and there were two men who were outside who said: Dont let them close the door, theyll kill him inside there. Mr McCarthy said the next thing he remembered was getting up off the ground. He said there was a man walking down towards him who said: Im already after bursting your face twice dont come back for a third time. The witness said he told the man he was going up to his son and the man then hit a belt into his face. Asked by Mr O Dunlaing to describe the man, the witness said he had facial hair and a black top on. Mr McCarthy said after he was punched, he fell to the ground and when he eventually got up he went up to Dylan. I knew my son was gone at that stage, he told the court. His eyes were rolling in his head and he was gurgling. He said an ambulance arrived and gave medical assistance to his son who was then brought to hospital. A short time later, the witness said he was also removed from the scene by ambulance and brought to Portlaoise hospital before he was transferred to Dublin. Mr McCarthy said he sustained a fractured jaw and required surgery and five plates to treat his injuries. He also sustained a broken nose and a hairline fracture around one of his eye sockets, he confirmed to counsel. He said he waited until after Dylans funeral had taken place to have the operation. Asked by Mr O Dunlaing how those injuries were received, the witness said it was from the punch from the person who came down the road towards him. Under cross-examination, Michael Lynn SC, representing Mr Kavanagh, put it to the witness that in his witness statement, the barman said the group became aggressive and Mr McCarthy had commented to the owner of the bar: You come outside with me and Ill pull the eyes out of your head. Mr McCarthy said this was not true. Counsel said the other witness, who is the licence owner of the bar, said he told the group: Lads I think its time to go and they told him to go f**k myself. F**k you. F**k off. Dont be acting the prick. No, I dont recall that, Mr McCarthy replied. CCTV footage from inside and outside the pub at the time of the incident was then played in court. Mr Lynn put it to the witness that he had placed Mr Kavanagh in a headlock. It looks like I pulled him away from my son, said Mr McCarthy. Mr McCarthy denied a suggestion by John Fitzgerald SC, representing Mr Dunne, that Ms Talty was getting in the way or making a nuisance of herself rather than trying to help. Mr Fitzgerald asked the witness if, having viewed the footage, he still maintained that he had only made one comment to the barman. That was the extent of what the jury has just watched, is that right? counsel asked. Thats why I recall yes, said Mr McCarthy before rejecting suggestions that his recollection might be wrong. The trial commenced on Thursday and continues this week before Ms Justice Caroline Biggs and the jury of 10 men and two women. It is expected to involve 97 witnesses and will last over two weeks. A planning application from Kilkenny Carlow Methodist Society seeking permission to conduct works at Wesley House in William Street, Kilkenny City (adjacent to the Methodist Church) has been refused by Kilkenny County Council. Sought was permission for the change of use of the three-storey dwelling to three individual single bed apartments and all associated site works. Also sought was the removal of an existing two-storey side extension and external fire escape stairs and its replacement with a three-storey enclosed stairwell to the side of the existing four-bedroom, three storey dwelling, with 3 proposed storage sheds attached to the rear of the proposed extension. Permission was refused by Kilkenny County Council on January 7, 2025. According to the local authority, "The proposed development will result in the substantial loss of fabric from the building in the form of the internal stairs, doors and architraves on first and second floors to fit the proposed development. The building is a significant item of architectural, artistic, historical, and social special interest and the proposed development would be inimical to the heritage and conservation policies and objective of the Kilkenny City & County Development 2021 2027 and would therefore be contrary to the proper planning and development of the area." FOR MORE LOCAL NEWS, CLICK HERE The Department of Integration have confirmed that from January 2025 onwards, "Josephine's Road House, Main Street, Urlingford, County Kilkenny, will be used as a temporary accommodation centre for people fleeing the war in Ukraine." This confirmation comes following recent correspondence relayed to the Department from Kilkenny Live, highlighting recent activity around the site. A Department spokesperson stated that the centre 'will be entirely made up of people who are Beneficiaries of Temporary Protection (BOTPs)'. "The profile of arrivals from the war in Ukraine to date is mainly women and children," the spokesperson added. READ NEXT: Kilkenny legend claims county is 'in trouble' if they lose these two 'massive games' "The people allocated accommodation in this location will be moving from alternative State-provided accommodation in the general area, where possible. "All accommodation provided by the Department is temporary, and people fleeing the war are informed of this when they request accommodation from the State." There had been concern amongst some who demonstrated in the area last year that the site would be used as an IPAS centre for International Protection Applicants. The Department of Integration have also confirmed that 424 contracts to provide accommodation to Ukrainians fleeing the war came to an end last year across Ireland. These contracts provided accommodation for approximately 15,000 people - and led to many Ukrainians being moved across county lines. In Kilkenny City, for example, many of the residents at Kilkenny Manor, situated on the grounds of the former St Josephs industrial school, were forced to move at short notice in September. Children attending local schools, parents who had secured jobs in the community and elderly residents who had finally found a place to call home since fleeing the conflict that engulfed their country once again had their lives thrown into limbo. Kilkenny TD John McGuinness described the process of relocating Ukrainian refugees at the time as inhumane. They are being shipped around the country like animals, he told Kilkenny Live. This also follows a series of changes introduced by the government regarding support for Ukrainian refugees. FOR MORE LOCAL NEWS, CLICK HERE OXFAM Ireland has published a new report titled, 'takers not makers' which shines a light on the richest people in the country. The report shares interesting information to help us picture how wealthy these people are: Irish billionaire wealth could carpet the whole of Phoenix Park in 50 notes almost 1.5x over In 2024, billionaire wealth increased by 13 billion or 35.6 million per day. There were two new billionaires in 2024. It takes just 5 days for someone in the top 1% to make what the average person in the bottom 50% makes all year. A combined total of 50 billion euro amounts to the total wealth of the eleven billionaires, according to OXFAM Ireland. We are witnessing the rise of a modern oligarchy, where wealth is used to build and consolidate political power and vice versa. Meanwhile, global poverty remains at 1990 levels. We must first acknowledge the disparity and set about reversing the trend. Jim Clarken, Oxfam Ireland CEO said. Mr Clarken added, Its time for governments to stop protecting billionaires and to prioritise investing in people. A fairer, more equal world is essential for a liveable planet, global democracy and the eradication of poverty. Urgent change is needed. Oxfam Ireland is urging the next Government to: Tax extreme wealth to pay for public services, honour our international commitments and to broaden our own tax base. We propose a flat rate of 1.5% on all net wealth, that is real wealth, above. Lead efforts for a more multilateral world by advocating for debt cancellation, democratisation of international institutions like the UN, the World Bank and the IMF and regulate corporations to ensure living wages and fair-trade practices. Commit to climate justice by ramping up our domestic climate action and providing greater financial support for countries in the global south experiencing climate breakdown and related hunger and conflict. OXFAM Ireland is a registered charity dedicated to helping climate change, poverty and injustice around the world. READ NEXT: ALERT: Met Eireann warns of 'damaging wind gusts' as low-pressure system approaches The full report can be read here. Guidelines on the use of restraint on young people in schools fall short of what is needed to protect children, several senior experts have said. The Special Rapporteur on Child Protection and the Childrens Ombudsman have said the guidelines need to be changed to promote a more child-centred system, in particular to protect children with special educational needs. In December, the Department of Education published new guidelines on the use of restraint on children in Irish schools. This includes a reporting mechanism that will come into force in September, where incidents of restraint being used will have to be reported to the National Council for Special Education. The guidelines state that seclusion is inappropriate and should not be used in schools, and while restraint may be needed as a last resort, particularly where there is a risk to someones physical safety, the Departments strong ambition is to phase out the use of restraint in schools. AsIam and Inclusion Ireland have said some elements of the guidelines are welcome, such as the ban on seclusion. At an event held in Dublin by the two advocacy groups, Special Rapporteur on Child Protection Caoilfhionn Gallagher KC said that restraint being used as a last resort should move from being accepted in principle to put into practice. In my view, the view as I understand it, of the Ombudsman and the view of AsIAm and Inclusion Island, is that the guidelines as currently constituted fall short of what is needed, and do not provide that protection that children need, Ms Gallagher KC said. So we have a lot to do in a short space of time before we hit September, and thats why having this conversation just before there is a new minister is so critical. She also raised concerns about the NCSE not having the powers to investigate serious incidents when they occur. This could, remarkably, result in a situation where at local level, information is known about an instance, which might be very serious and may have resulted in physical injury, and you have generic information provided to the national level body, but the national level body has no way of knowing who the child is, who the staff member is. If this is a staff member whos done it multiple times with multiple children, theres no way of knowing that. She said that in other settings such as prisons, hospitals and residential care settings, there is significant oversight and robust reporting mechanisms for incidents. Why are schools different? Because were talking about restraint, whether its applied by a member of teaching staff, or whether its applied by a Garda, or whether its applied by a prison officer, (it) can have those same devastating results. Speaking at the same event, Ombudsman for Children Dr Niall Muldoon quoted Martin Luther King who said social progress never rolls in on the ways of inevitability. Time itself becomes an ally of the primitive forces of social stagnation. He said that advocacy groups, parents of children with special educational needs and the vast majority of educators are trying to make a difference, but somebody somewhere is slow to allow safe, appropriate and proportionate guidelines to be developed which are child-centred. Each year, we receive complaints from parents about harm by their children as a result of use of seclusion and restraint, and oftentimes those parents are left unaware that these incidents have occurred, and as many of their children may be non verbal, its use only comes to light when harm has been done. Thats not a child-centred system. If a child falls in the playground and cuts themselves, there is a report made somewhere. Theres a report made up the line in case theyre sued. You cannot possibly have restraint or seclusion without the parents being informed immediately. Thats not child-centred. Thats not even human-centred. He added: Our view is that the current complaints process is not sufficiently robust to adequately deal with the matter of restraint against a child in a crisis situation. In our letter to the Department previously, we recommended inserting more detailed information in the guidance about how schools should approach the examination and investigation of complaints. Parent Kevin McGowan, of the advocacy group Chasing Justice, said that when it comes to child protection, the current system is broken. He said the system does look to log the actions of the adult taken before the behaviour took place, and whether there was an action that triggered the child. There is no focus on whether those triggers happened in the room. The questions we have is what triggered it?' Assistant Chief Inspector at Department of Education Brendan Doody said the Department was satisfied that the guidelines sufficiently protect and take account of the rights of the child, but added that this did not mean it was the perfect version that will apply from here ad infinitum. Mr Doody said the reporting requirement of use of restraint applies to all children and not just children with special educational needs. He said the reporting requirement will apply from September to give time for one-day training of school staff, but emphasised they are not being trained to restrain young people. So the idea here is that the three key words that are underpinned by entirety of the document prevention, early intervention, de-escalation that we build capacity of all and sundry working in the student system so that they are able to de-escalate, so that they are able to apply the most beneficial preventative measures, so that they are able to intervene, to recognise the triggers, to ensure that actually restraint isnt required as a measure. He said that currently, the Department of Education has no official data to inform how frequently restraint is used in schools. He said that the Department expects the data being collected from incidents being reported from September to inform future guidelines. We have individual contact with parents, parent groups, with the advocacy groups, and they make us aware of examples, and theyre very awful examples, really, really awful examples that some children have experienced in school and their parents have experienced in challenging in engaging with the school system. All of that needs to be improved. The BBC reports: Treasury minister Tulip Siddiq has resigned after growing pressure over an anti-corruption investigation in Bangladesh. Siddiq, whose role as Economic Secretary to the Treasury included tackling corruption in UK financial markets, was named last month in an investigation into claims her family embezzled up to 3.9bn from infrastructure spending in Bangladesh. Her aunt is the former Bangladeshi prime minister Sheikh Hasina, head of the Awami League, who fled into exile after being deposed last year. Siddiq, Labour MP for Hampstead and Highgate, also came under intense scrutiny over her use of properties in London linked to her aunts allies. The Financial Times reported that one of the properties, a flat in Kings Cross, had been given to her by a person connected with the recently ousted Bangladeshi government. According to the Mail on Sunday, in 2022 Siddiq had denied the flat was a gift and insisted her parents had bought it for her and had threatened the paper with legal action preventing publication of a story. Labour sources subsequently told the newspaper the flat had been gifted to Siddiq by a property developer with alleged links to her aunt. Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup. Weather Alert ...WIND ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM NOON FRIDAY TO 1 AM CDT SATURDAY... * WHAT...South winds 20 to 30 mph with gusts up to 55 mph expected. * WHERE...Portions of south central, southwest, and west central Illinois and central, east central, northeast, and southeast Missouri. * WHEN...From noon Friday to 1 AM CDT Saturday. * IMPACTS...Gusty winds will blow around unsecured objects. Tree limbs could be blown down and a few power outages may result. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... Winds this strong can make driving difficult, especially for high profile vehicles. Use extra caution. && By Yi Whan-woo An instance of mob violence that erupted on Sunday in protest of a courts decision to formally arrest President Yoon Suk Yeol is feared to negatively impact Koreas sovereign credit rating. A sovereign credit rating is a measure of a country's creditworthiness. A poor or worsening rating can have serious consequences for a countrys economy, as it affects borrowing costs for both the nation and financial and business entities, with these costs ultimately being passed on to the public. As Yoon was being arrested over his martial law declaration, some of his supporters unleashed their anger by breaking into the court and leaving a trail of destruction. This brazen act of violence against the judicial system appears not to have been taken into account when three global credit agencies expressed a common view that Koreas credit rating would remain stable, even after Yoon's short-lived attempt to impose martial law on Dec. 3, 2024. However, the three agencies Moody's Ratings, Fitch Ratings and S&P Global Ratings later assessed that prolonged political instability could negatively affect the nation's credit rating, as the unrest rattled the stock market, the Korean currency and other parts of the economy. The violent situation could undermine efforts by the nation's economy-related ministries and government institutions to promote Korea as possessing a strong and stable democratic system to foreign investors after the martial law debacle, according to experts. Under the circumstances, the mob violence shows that the political turmoil can escalate further, increasing the risk of a cut on Koreas credit ratings, Chung-Ang University economics professor Ryu Deok-hyun said. While the three agencies typically update their respective ratings each spring, the professor noted that their updates could come earlier. He pointed out that Moodys downgraded Frances credit rating in December following a monthslong political crisis and the disputed appointment of the prime minister. A researcher at a private economic think tank said on condition of anonymity that the Constitutional Court should review Yoons impeachment case as quick as possible, adding Once a credit rating is downgraded, it takes years to recover. The researcher warned that a possible downgrade of the rating could prompt foreign investors to pull their money out of the Seoul market, which, in turn, could lead smaller domestic investors to take similar action. S&P has maintained Korea's long-term sovereign credit rating unchanged since August 2016 at AA, the third-highest rating. Moodys has also kept its rating for Korea at Aa2, the third-highest level on the companys table, since December 2015. Fitch has maintained Korea's sovereign credit rating at AA-, the fourth-highest level, since September 2012. Korea's credit ratings have improved steadily since their decline during the Asian financial crisis in the late 1990s. By Jun Ji-hye Financial authorities in Korea have established final guidelines to prevent illegal naked short selling. Under these regulations, the authorities plan to complete the computerization of short selling transactions by the end of March, after which such activities will be fully permitted again. The countrys ban on short selling was put in place in November 2023 and was originally set to expire at the end of June 2024. But it was pushed back to March 31 this year. On Sunday, the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS), together with the Korea Exchange, announced that the integrated short selling guidelines have been finalized. The core of the guidelines focuses on strengthening management responsibilities for global investment banks (IBs), institutional investors and financial investment firms to prevent illegal naked short selling, which is prohibited in the domestic market. The financial watchdog decided to differentiate the level of internal control standards for each corporation based on the potential for naked short selling. Institutions that engage in large-scale short selling transactions such as those with short selling balances of 0.01 percent of the issued shares or 1 billion won ($685,000) or more along with financial investment firms playing roles of market makers or liquidity providers will be required to establish their own short selling balance management systems. Institutional investors will be required to disclose the purpose of borrowing stocks, specifically for short selling, starting from the borrowing stage, and to manage borrowed stocks separately for this purpose. Previously, institutions had managed borrowed stocks for various purposes, such as short selling, cash collateralized transactions and securities lending, under a unified system. The responsibility of securities firms receiving short selling orders has also been strengthened. These companies will be required to verify annually whether institutions, such as IBs, have established internal control standards and computerized systems. The results of this verification must be reported to the FSS within one month. To enable the information linkage between large-scale short selling firms and the Korea Exchanges central short selling monitoring system (NSDS), the new regulations require each firm to submit their daily balances and transaction details for all stocks they hold to the exchange within two business days. The exchanges market surveillance committee has been granted the authority to request these submissions. This measure aims to establish a foundation for the exchange to verify the accuracy of the information entered into the NSDS. The financial authorities plan to finalize the regulatory amendments by March after making a pre-announcement of the rules by Jan. 31 and completing the necessary administrative procedures. The FSS will hold a briefing for securities firms receiving short selling orders later this month. Next month, an open discussion with investors will be held on topics such as the computerization of short selling and improvements to market infrastructure, a FSS official said. In March, we will hold a ceremony for the system linkage between the exchange and firms, as well as a demonstration of the NSDS. Korea pledged on Monday a record amount of financing support for exporters to mitigate any negative impact from changes in U.S. trade policies as Donald Trump was poised to be sworn in for his second presidency. The government plans to provide 360 trillion won ($247.74 billion) worth of policy financing to exporting companies through state-run banks and institutions this year, according to a statement released by the finance ministry. "There are concerns that external uncertainty will be heightened under the incoming U.S. administration and adversely affect exports," the ministry said. The ministry said it would also boost insurance support to guard against foreign exchange volatility to 1.4 trillion won this year, from 1.2 trillion won last year, and spending on government projects, such as trade fairs and delegations, to 2.9 trillion won from 2.1 trillion won. Sectors particularly under threat of new U.S. policies are semiconductors and rechargeable batteries, the ministry said, whereas defence, nuclear energy and shipbuilding sectors are seen as more promising because of room for cooperation with the United States. U.S. President-elect Trump, who takes office later on Monday, has pledged to impose stiff tariffs on major trading partners, such as Mexico, Canada and China, which are also expected to affect Korean companies running factories in those countries. Economists say there are worries that the Trump administration will introduce trade policies against Korea too, after Asia's fourth-largest economy earned a record-high surplus of $55.7 billion in trade with the U.S. in 2024, up 25.4 percent from 2023. The Korea International Trade Association, Korea's biggest group of exporting companies, projects export growth to slow to 1.8 percent this year. Last year, Korea's exports rose 8.1 percent to a record high of $683.7 billion, as sales to the U.S. rose 10.4 percent. (Reuters) By Pyo Kyung-min For star chef Edward Lee, visiting Korea feels like living a new life. "I'm 52, and at my age, most individuals don't have the chance for another life," Lee said during a press conference at a hotel in Seoul's Gangnam District on Thursday. "To have this opportunity to visit Korea and meet new people has completely changed my life. I feel young again. I feel like a child. There's already a lot I know about Korean culture, but experiencing it here is entirely different." From finishing as a runner-up in Netflix's hit cooking competition "Culinary Class Wars" to being recognized on Korean streets by fans eager to snap a selfie with him, the chef's journey in Korea felt like wonder after wonder. This rediscovery extended to his mother, Lee Soon-ja, who accompanied her son on his current trip to Korea. Present at the press conference, she described witnessing her son's success in their homeland as "simply surreal." "Coming to Korea with my son's sudden invitation and then seeing people recognize him on the streets and attending events like this all feel like walking on air," she said. Lee and his mother visited Korea in line with the Korea Image Awards on Jan. 15, where the chef received the Stepping Stone Bridge Award for promoting Korea's reputation to the global audience. While the trip itself is not rare for the chef as he frequently visits Korea for television appearances, including the ongoing "Chef & My Fridge" and the upcoming tvN series "Edward Lee's Country Cook" this trip marked the first in a decade that he traveled with his mother. The chef spoke fondly of how their bond deepened as he grew older. "When I was a child, our family was far from wealthy. My mother worked early mornings and returned home late at night," he recalled. "We didn't spend much time together, but growing up as an adult, I understood why she wasn't home." Food eventually became the bridge that brought them closer. "We got closer when I became an adult. We used food as a way to communicate. It became a very important way for us to talk," Lee said. For the chef, cooking is obviously more than just sustenance it's a medium for storytelling. "Every chef has a different approach, and there's no right or wrong. That's what makes cuisine beautiful everyone has a unique perspective. For me, since I majored in literature, food is always a story," he said. "I don't cook just to make delicious food. Food is my paint. When I have something to say, I cant paint or play an instrument. Food is my means to talk because I'm a chef and cooking is the only thing I'm good at. You can cook to make money or for your family, but I think some chefs cook because they have something to say." Lees deep appreciation for storytelling in food is part of why he loves Korean cuisine. To him, it embodies not just stories but an entire history. "Korean food starts with 'jang' (traditional fermented sauces), which has such an ancient history. The flavors come from generations. Eating and making Korean food feels like you're tasting history. It's delicious, and fermented food makes you crave more, but it also makes you think about the past," he explained. "Traditional food from different nations aren't just trends and to think about how it has fed a nation for generations just feels so amazing." As Korean food gains global popularity, Lee offered a fresh perspective on the phenomenon, drawing from his experiences in the U.S. "When I was a young chef in restaurant kitchens, chefs my age hung out after work late at night, but there's usually nothing to eat. In New York's Koreatown, places were open 24 hours. My American friends and I would go there and eat kimchi, 'galbi' (grilled ribs) and 'seolleongtang' (ox bone soup) We were all young back then and now we all have our own restaurants. That influence was crucial," he said. "Additionally, my generation children of Korean immigrants have pursued our own dreams while appreciating Korean culture and bringing creativity to it. Over the past 10 to 12 years, that appreciation skyrocketed." Despite his desire to connect with his roots, Lee doesn't consider himself a traditional Korean chef. "At the end of the day, I'm an American chef. When I cook, I focus on expanding Korean ingredients. I do make certain dishes like 'kimchi jjigae' (kimchi stew) and 'jjajangmyeon' (black bean noodles), but I don't call myself a 'hansik' (Korean food) chef. I want to credit the chefs dedicated to traditional Korean cuisine they are the masters. I'm someone who wants to be creative." Although there is great demand from Korean fans eager to taste his creations, Lee's respect for Korean cuisine has kept him from opening a restaurant in Korea for now. "I don't want to open a restaurant and then just leave. I don't want to disappoint Korean people. If I open one, it will be when I can fully commit my time and energy. Maybe in a couple of years," he said. North Korea on Monday denounced Japan's recent opening of a new diplomatic mission to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), accusing the country of dangerously escalating the military tension in the region. The North's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) issued the criticism in an article attributed to an international security analyst, following Japan's formal inauguration of an independent mission to NATO last week to bolster cooperation. "Japan set up its independent mission in NATO at a time when the security environment in the Asia-Pacific region is more seriously threatened due to the U.S. provocative military hegemony," the KCNA said. "This is a dangerous act of adding new instability to the regional situation." The KCNA also accused Japan of "extremely escalating the military tension in the region" by tightening military cooperation with NATO, "pursuant to the U.S. strategy for world domination to expand NATO's sphere of influence into the Asia-Pacific region." It also called Japan "a war criminal state" and "an anti-peace force," accusing it of threatening the Asia-Pacific region and the rest of the world through its "admission to aggressive military blocs, undisguised arms buildup and ceaseless war drills." "The tightened nexus" between Japan and NATO is a serious threat to international peace and security, the KCNA added. Since Russia's war against Ukraine and its growing ties with North Korea, NATO has strengthened its links with Japan, South Korea and other countries in the Indo-Pacific region. North Korea has frequently responded with sharp criticism to such moves. (Yonhap) North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has encouraged and expressed gratitude to troops deployed to fight for Russia in its war against Ukraine, in what appeared to be his New Year's message sent to them, according to a news report. The Washington Post on Sunday (local time) published a report on handwritten pages relaying messages from Kim, dated from Dec. 31 and Jan. 1, saying that they may have been sent to the troops from Pyongyang or written down by North Korean soldiers who listened to their commanders read the messages from Kim out loud. An image of one letter, dated Dec. 31, handwritten in blue ink and signed by Kim, showed him saying, "I don't even know how I can find the words to properly encourage and express gratitude for your dedication and tireless efforts." The report said that it was found by Ukrainian special forces troops on a North Korean soldier in Russia's Kursk region. "You experienced heartbreaking sacrifices and the joys of costly battle victories, many noble combat experiences, the priceless feeling of genuine camaraderie and patriotism, all so far away from the motherland," the letter also noted, adding, "I really miss you comrades." The letter also wished the troops good health until their assigned military mission ends in victory and urged them to double down on courage in the fighting. North Korea is estimated to have sent some 11,000 troops to support Russia in its war against Ukraine. Of those, about 300 are believed to have been killed, with some 2,700 others wounded, according to South Korea's spy agency, the National Intelligence Service. (Yonhap) North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's powerful sister issued a rare statement on her country's stance on a summit meeting with Belarus on Monday, marking her first media remarks in about two months. Kim Yo-jong, vice department director of the Workers' Party of Korea's Central Committee, clarified a recent report by Russia's TASS news agency quoting the Belarusian president as saying that North Korea and other Asian countries proposed a top-level meeting to discuss cooperation, according to the Korean Central News Agency. "If I comment on the report of Itar-Tass on the speaking of the Belarusian president that we proposed a top-level meeting to Minsk for a discussion of the issue of cooperation, there is no such thing, at least, as far as I know," Kim said. She noted, "I know well that the Belarusian side has been hoping for the top-level contact with the DPRK from at least two years ago," adding that "if Belarus hopes to develop a cooperative relationship with the DPRK, it is important to clarify its intention correctly." DPRK stands for North Korea's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. "Such veracity and frankness" should be the starting point in the relations between the two countries, and her country would welcome it if Belarus wishes to develop friendly and cooperative relations with North Korea from this stand, she stated. The report marks Kim's first remarks carried by North Korea's official media since her criticism on Nov. 26 regarding propaganda leaflets and accompanying items sent to the North from South Korea. Kim, whose official remarks have mostly focused on issues regarding Seoul, Washington or Tokyo, may have decided to speak publicly about Belarus a diplomatically less significant subject probably because it involved a potential summit meeting involving Kim Jong-un. North Korea is currently seeking to strengthen ties with Belarus, an Eastern European nation close to Russia, after holding foreign ministers' talks in July last year. During a regular press briefing, Koo Byoung-sam, spokesperson for South Korea's unification ministry, emphasized the need to monitor how bilateral relations between North Korea and Belarus evolve in the future. "We once again sternly emphasize that Belarus and North Korea must adhere to the United Nations Security Council's sanctions resolutions against North Korea when engaging in bilateral relations," Koo noted. (Yonhap) Incoming US leader likely to focus on freezing NK nukes over complete denuclearization By Lee Hyo-jin As U.S. President Donald Trump's return to power is expected to reshape the global landscape, one key question lingers: Will the world witness another bromance between Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un? Although North Korea may not be at the top of the incoming American leader's agenda amid other pressing global issues, analysts say that Trump may eventually seek to revisit his unfinished business with Kim, following their failed summit in Hanoi in 2019. In the latest campaign trails, the outspoken Republican boasted his personal ties with Kim and the "love letters" they previously exchanged, claiming that the North Korean leader would be missing him. However, Trump now faces a tougher, more emboldened Kim. The reclusive regime has significantly advanced its nuclear weapons capabilities since Trump's first tenure. Adding a new complex layer to the equation is Russia, which has emerged as North Korea's main backer with their burgeoning military ties. "From Kim Jong-un's perspective, even though he is still disappointed by the failed negotiations, Trump's return is an opportunity. While he outwardly says he wont negotiate with any U.S. governments, Kim would think that negotiating with Trump, rather than any other U.S. leader, offers the highest possibility of achieving sanctions relief," said Lim Eul-chul, an expert on North Korea at Kyungnam Universitys Institute for Far Eastern Studies. Cho Han-bum, a senior researcher at the Korea Institute for National Unification, a state-run think tank, viewed that Trump could reach out to Kim sooner than expected. "Trump appears to be prioritizing global affairs over domestic issues for now. Early in his term, hes likely to focus on resolving the war in Ukraine, conflicts in the Middle East and North Koreas nuclear threats a 'triple crown' that could earn him a Nobel Peace Prize nomination," Cho said. Pyongyang also appears to be signaling for reengagement with Washington. Days before Trump's inauguration, North Korea fired several missiles on Jan. 6 and 14. These latest shows of force were seen by some as an attempt to escalate tensions ahead of Trump's return and draw his attention. However, even if negotiations resume, experts see it as unlikely to achieve the ultimate goal of completely denuclearizing North Korea. This long-standing objective of the U.S. government on the Korean Peninsula has become increasingly elusive. Trump would seek to secure tangible achievements this time, as it is his last term in office. As such, managing North Koreas nuclear threats through a disarmament deal to ease direct threats to Washington might sound more pragmatic than pursuing the increasingly elusive goal of complete denuclearization. "Trump is likely to start with smaller deals, such as an arms control agreement or disarmament. But given the ongoing stalemate on the Korean Peninsula, I would consider these achievements to be 'big deals,'" Lim said. Cho offered a similar analysis, saying that Trump's focus will likely be on nuclear disarmament. "If a 'Hanoi summit season 2' were to happen, Trump is likely to accept a reduction or freeze of the North's nuclear capabilities," he said. "He now understands that nuclear disarmament is a more realistic goal than denuclearizing Pyongyang." If U.S.-North Korea diplomacy, which has been long-stalled, were to resume, Kim would hope the Trump administration would recognize North Korea as a nuclear state a designation the regime has long sought. Trump's Defense Secretary nominee Pete Hegseth described North Korea as a "nuclear power" in written answers submitted to the Senate ahead of his confirmation hearing on Jan. 15. "The DPRK's status as a nuclear power, its intense focus on increasing the range of missiles capable of delivering nuclear warheads and its growing cyber capabilities all pose a threat to stability on the Korean Peninsula, in the Indo-Pacific region and globally," he wrote, referring to North Korea by its official name the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. Hegseths comments immediately sparked controversy among officials in Seoul as it marked a departure from the previous stance of U.S. officials, who have consistently refused to publicly recognize North Korea as a nuclear power state. Another variable in a potential Trump-Kim dialogue is Russian President Vladimir Putin. Unlike in 2019, Kim now has a reliable ally in Putin, who appears to have promised to deliver what Kim wants whatever that may be in exchange for thousands of North Korean troops dispatched to support Russia in its invasion of Ukraine. "I don't expect Pyongyang-Moscow ties to block North Korea from engaging with the U.S. Instead, Kim is likely to leverage the North Korea-Russia alliance as a bargaining chip in negotiations with Washington," Lim said. The expert added that Kim is likely to walk a fine line between Putin and Trump, trying not to spoil his relationship with the Russian leader in case talks with Trump fall through again. Idea of South Korea going nuclear gains traction By Kwak Yeon-soo Donald Trumps return to the White House is fueling a fierce debate in South Korea, where experts are deliberating whether his administration will demand an increase in defense sharing costs and draw down U.S. Forces Korea (USFK). Many speculate that Trumps transactional approach to foreign policy and his comments about treating South Korea like a money machine will leave Seoul to wonder if it should acquire its own nuclear weapons rather than relying on U.S. extended deterrence. In December, Trump named Elbridge Colby as the Pentagons under secretary for defense for policy. Colby has stressed that the U.S. needs to focus more on China and its allies' need to bear greater cost-sharing responsibilities. He also raised fears that the U.S. might withdraw its troops stationed in South Korea. Trump has been complaining that too much money is spent on maintaining U.S. troops on the Korean Peninsula and Korea-U.S. joint military exercises, so it is highly likely that he will try to downsize its troops stationed in South Korea and reduce joint military exercises after taking office, Cheong Seong-chang, director of the Center for Korean Peninsula Strategy at the Sejong Institute, said. However, Cha Du-hyeogn, principal fellow at the Asan Institute for Policy Studies, said it wont be easy for the U.S. to withdraw its troops from South Korea or raise Seoul's share of the costs for stationing the USFK. The Trump administration hopes to focus on U.S.-China strategic competition and wants South Korea, Japan and many others to pay more for hosting U.S. troops in their countries. However, it takes considerable time to relocate troops. The USFK also holds strategic value in terms of dealing with potential security challenges from China, Cha said. Trump may call for the renegotiation of a recently agreed-upon defense cost-sharing deal between Seoul and Washington, but its not going to gain much support not even from Republican senators. In October last year, South Korea and the U.S. struck the latest five-year deal for the Special Measures Agreement (SMA), outlining that Seoul will pay 1.52 trillion won ($1.04 billion) in 2026, up from 1.4 trillion won in 2025, for hosting 28,500 USFK troops. Possibility of Seoul deploying own nuclear weapons Experts were divided over whether South Korea needs to develop and deploy its own nuclear weapons. The idea of South Korea going nuclear has been gaining traction reflecting a growing distrust in U.S. extended deterrence. A poll conducted by the East Asia Institute in October showed that 47.4 percent of respondents up from 26.2 percent a year earlier disagreed with the notion that the U.S. nuclear umbrella is sufficient to counter North Koreas nuclear threat. Public confidence in U.S. extended deterrence is expected to weaken in the foreseeable future. South Korea needs to go nuclear to deter North Korean aggression. If we see a reduction in U.S. forces in Korea or a cutback in joint military exercises, support for nuclear armament here will likely increase further, Cheong said. Jung Dae-jin, professor of global business at Halla University, said that if the U.S. pursues direct talks with North Korea an approach that sidesteps participation by South Korea it may lead to a surge in public support for Seoul going nuclear. We need to persuade the U.S. that excluding us from any meaningful negotiations between the U.S. and North Korea may threaten the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) and is ultimately unhelpful to the U.S., he said during a forum hosted by the Peaceful Unification Advisory Committee, Wednesday. Weeks ahead of Trumps inauguration, the U.S. reaffirmed its enduring and ironclad security commitment to South Korea and renewed a warning that any nuclear attack by North Korea against the U.S. and its allies will result in the end of the recalcitrant regime. Cha said South Korea is far from developing its own nuclear weapons due to political and economic considerations. Although we could consider possessing our own nuclear armaments as a last resort, there are plenty of other viable options to deter North Korea's nuclear threats. The Korea-U.S. alliance and U.S. extended deterrence will remain strong under Trump, he said. Cha explained that South Korea would need to withdraw from the NPT in order to develop its own nuclear weapons, which is not a feasible idea because it would weaken the Seoul-Washington alliance. It would severely damage our reputation and relationship with other countries in both economic and security terms. The U.S. would not grant exceptions and would impose sanctions on South Korea, he said. Vipin Narang, the Frank Stanton professor of nuclear security and political science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said the Nuclear Consultative Group (NCG), launched during the Joe Biden administration, will continue meeting under Trump. I personally don't think Trump would support South Korean independent nuclearization, he said during a recent virtual forum hosted by the Institute for Corean-American Studies, a nonprofit research organization. "I still believe that it's in South Korea's interest to ensconce itself in the extended deterrence umbrella because its not as if South Korea can get nuclear weapons overnight. There will be a window of vulnerability against a nuclear North Korea that will have an incentive to try and stop South Korea potentially through the use of force. Korea and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) will conduct combined drills in the Middle East nation in February, Seoul's defense ministry said Monday, as part of efforts to bolster their defense cooperation. Under the plan, service members of the Korean Army, Navy and Marine departed for the UAE from a naval base in Jinhae, 312 kilometers southeast of Seoul, earlier in the day to attend the combined exercise scheduled for Feb. 10-20, according to the ministry. The upcoming exercise, organized upon Abu Dhabi's request, will take place at Al Hamra Training Center and waters off Abu Dhabi and involve a 4,900-ton Korean warship as well as 14 pieces of equipment, including the K2 tank and K9 self-propelled howitzer, the ministry said. On the sidelines of the training, Korea plans to showcase its homegrown weapons systems and hold military exchange activities, such as discussing ways to expand cooperation with high-level officials, it added. The defense ministry expected the combined drills to enhance the military's capabilities to conduct joint operations as well as boost arms exports. Last year, the Korean Army conducted its first overseas drills involving the K2 and K9 in Qatar, as part of efforts to bolster cooperation with counterparts in the Middle East. (Yonhap) The state anti-corruption agency said Monday it is "strongly" considering bringing President Yoon Suk Yeol in by force as he repeatedly defies its orders to appear for further questioning over his failed martial law bid. Yoon, who has been held at the Seoul Detention Center since last Wednesday and was placed under formal arrest Sunday, snubbed an order by the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) to appear for questioning at 10 a.m., the second day in a row he has done so. "At this stage, I can say we are strongly considering bringing him in by force," a CIO official told reporters. "We have not ruled out a visit to the detention center for questioning and are considering that as well." Yoon will be held in custody until Jan. 28, and if a court grants an extension, until Feb. 7, the official said. The CIO will continue talks with the prosecution over when to transfer the case to them for further investigation and potential indictment. The impeached president faces charges of leading an insurrection and abusing his power through his short-lived imposition of martial law on Dec. 3. He was formally arrested early Sunday after a court issued a warrant to extend his detention over concerns he might destroy evidence. Large numbers of Yoon's supporters stormed the court after the warrant's issuance in protest, injuring police officers and damaging the building. The CIO official said the agency will seek the cooperation of the police to ensure the safety of investigators probing the case. (Yonhap) Ninety people have been detained in connection with violent disorder that occurred at the Seoul Western District Court and the Constitutional Court over the weekend during protests against the formal arrest of impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol, the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency (SMPA) said Monday. Police will first seek an arrest warrant for 66 of them, and five already underwent a related court hearing on the day, the SMPA said. Of the 66 detainees, 46 are charged with violently storming the Seoul Western District Court early Sunday morning after the court issued an arrest warrant for Yoon, 10 with blocking a car carrying prosecutors and investigators in charge of Yoon's case, and another 10 with climbing over the walls of the court or assaulting police officers, the SMPA said. The agency said three YouTubers are included among the 46 courthouse intruders. The 90 people apprehended for violence ranged in age from their teens to their 70s, and those in their 20s and 30s accounted for 51 percent, or 46 people, the SMPA noted, vowing to seek stern punishment for all illegal acts and their perpetrators. (Yonhap) President to attend hearing on his impeachment trial Tuesday By Anna J. Park As President Yoon Seok Yeol continues to refuse requests to appear for questioning, the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) attempted to carry out compulsory apprehension procedures in order to forcibly bring him in for interrogation. After the Seoul Western District Court approved his arrest warrant early Sunday, Yoon did not respond to the CIO's request to appear for questioning, which was originally scheduled for 10 a.m. Monday. This marks the fourth time the president has refused to cooperate with the CIO's investigation since he was hauled off to a detention center last Wednesday. "Given the current situation, the CIO is seriously considering bringing him in [for questioning] by force," a CIO official told reporters on Monday. Although the current law lacks specific provisions allowing for the compulsory apprehension of an arrested suspect, the CIO believes it is possible, citing a 2013 Supreme Court precedent. Later in the day, investigators from the CIO went to the detention center in an attempt to forcibly bring the president in for questioning, but they returned without him after trying until almost 10 p.m. "This afternoon, several CIO officials entered the area of the detention center where the president is being held. They attempted to forcibly bring him to the CIO office for questioning," Seok Dong-hyeon, one of Yoon's legal counsels, said in a statement to reporters. The lawyer added that Yoon was busy at the time, consulting with his legal team for his impeachment trial. To obtain meaningful statements, the CIO maintains that in-person questioning with Yoon is essential. The CIO also requested a ban on visitors for Yoon, citing concerns over evidence tampering. As a result, the president is permitted to meet only with his legal counsel and no one else. While the CIO was initially expected to investigate Yoon until Friday, it now believes it can continue questioning him until Jan. 28. This extension accounts for the four days lost due to Yoon's petition for a detention review and the subsequent warrant review hearing. The investigative body plans to transfer Yoon to a special prosecution team after approximately 10 days of investigation. Since prosecutors can extend the detention period of an arrested suspect by another 10 days, Feb. 7 is expected to be the expiration date for Yoon's arrest warrant. As of Monday afternoon, no decision has been made regarding when the case will be sent to the prosecution, and discussions were still underway. Yoon's lawyers said the president will attend the third hearing of his impeachment trial at the Constitutional Court on Tuesday. Mindful of protesters who stormed the Seoul Western District Court following the approval of the arrest warrant for the president, the Constitutional Court stated it would enhance security measures to protect the court justices. "The protection of Constitutional Court judges is currently ensured, with police officers accompanying the judges. If necessary, we will strengthen the security measures further," an official from the court said. By Kang Seung-woo JINJU, South Gyeongsang Province Jinju, a medium-sized city in the southern part of the country, is gaining attention for its recognition as the birthplace of Korean entrepreneurship. This reputation is largely rooted in the intriguing fact that a modest elementary school in the city is the alma mater of the founders of Samsung, LG, GS and Hyosung business groups. Building on this legacy, the city is actively positioning itself as the capital of Korean entrepreneurship. Through initiatives such as the establishment of the Jinju K-Entrepreneurship Center, it is working to promote its entrepreneurial spirit both domestically and internationally. As K-entrepreneurship itself is not just a past heritage and rather, it is a value enough to motivate current generations to open up a better future, we believe that its education to the youth is imperative, Jinju Mayor Jo Kyoo-il said in a recent interview with The Korea Times. According to the mayor, Jinju K-entrepreneurship embodies the corporate values collectively pursued by the founders of global companies from the city, including Samsung, LG, GS, and Hyosung. These values include patriotism and love for the people, patriotic business practices, humanistic human resource management, and socially responsible corporate profit management. Above all, Jinju K-entrepreneurship respects human beings and values community, he added. To this end, the city established the Jinju K-Entrepreneurship Center in April 2022 by remodeling Jisu Elementary School in Seungsan Village, an institution once attended by Samsung founder Lee Byung-chul, LG founder Koo In-hwoi, GS co-founder Hur Man-jung, and Hyosung founder Cho Hong-jai, with the school having been relocated. As of December 2024, some 160,000 people have visited the center, according to Jinju City. For domestic promotion, the municipal government has published and distributed 500 textbooks on the K-entrepreneurship to elementary and middle schools in Jinju, set to be used this year. Our first goal is to extend the textbook to schools in South Gyeongsang Province, Jo said. After that, the city plans to spread K-entrepreneurship to other parts of the nation, a process already underway. In March 2024, Jinju City and the Gyeonggi Province education office reached an agreement to promote entrepreneurship education across elementary, middle and high schools in the nations most populous region, aiming to expand its reach. Given that the founders of major business conglomerates attended the same school in this small town, the city has garnered international attention as well. Amid growing interest, it hosted a global forum, or the Jinju International Forum on Entrepreneurship, in 2023 and 2024. The forums organizing committee collaborated with high-profile organizations, including the International Council for Small Business, the Caux Round Table and the World Economic Forum to host various sessions. We have made efforts to increase the participation of global organizations in the forum, Jo said, adding the event will return this year. When the number of participating organizations from around the world reaches around 10, the promotion of K-entrepreneurship will gain momentum. A recent milestone in this effort is the partnership with the University of Utah Asia Campus, located in Songdo, Incheon. Under a trilateral memorandum of understanding (MOU) involving the Jinju K-Entrepreneurship Foundation, the parties have agreed to establish a collaborative framework aimed at spreading K-entrepreneurship globally. We expect the MOU to lay the foundation for students abroad to access K-entrepreneurship, Jo said. Amid emerging challenges such as the transition to a digital era, climate change and population decline, the mayor emphasized that K-entrepreneurship should be highlighted as a guiding spirit of the times to address these obstacles and shape a better future. I believe in the strength of entrepreneurship. Jinjus K-entrepreneurship, rooted in human dignity, can serve as a ladder to create new value for the 21st generation and inspire hope for a brighter tomorrow. The global spread of K-entrepreneurship could also invigorate small and medium-sized businesses worldwide, he added. By KTimes Far-right YouTubers and media outlets have amplified conspiracy theories about Chinese interference in Koreas elections, even citing baseless claims to support President Yoon Suk Yeols narrative. During the impeachment trial on Thursday, Bae Jin-han, a lawyer representing the president, claimed, The National Election Commission's (NEC) password 12345 for its electronic system appears to be a connection code between Chinas central and local governments, as if it were designed to grant access through China. Yoons legal team justified the necessity of declaring martial law to take control of the NEC and resolve election fraud suspicions, pointing to these claims as evidence. They also alleged that fake ballots had been inserted, citing conspiracy theories spread by far-right YouTube channels that China and North Korea influence ballot handling. Despite the NECs repeated denials of such allegations, the conspiracy theory that China interfered in the election continues to spread rapidly, even making its way into impeachment hearings. What began as common suspicions of vote manipulation by losing political factions has morphed into a baseless conspiracy theory accusing China of meddling in Koreas elections. The spread of this theory has gone so far that sitting ruling party lawmakers have incited public fear, claiming that a large number of Chinese nationals are attending rallies in support of Yoons impeachment. This article explores how these unfounded allegations gained traction and why such conspiracy theories persist. 'Anti-state forces' Yoon has repeatedly alluded to alleged Chinese interference in letters addressed to his supporters. In a letter sent from his residence on Jan. 1 and in a handwritten note shared before his arrest on Jan. 15, Yoon referred to anti-state forces multiple times. He warned of the dangers posed by these forces both within and outside the country and said, Hostile influence operations by external sovereignty-infringing forces must always be countered. Yoon also claimed that some domestic political groups align with these external forces to gain political power. Experts believe Yoons references to anti-state forces point to China. Political commentator Kim Min-ha wrote on his website, Since North Koreas actions are considered hostile acts by a non-state entity, they are not referred to as sovereignty infringement. The term clearly aligns with conspiracy theories propagated by far-right groups, which frame China as the anti-state force. Kim said that Yoons narrative echoes baseless claims that Chinese Communist Party spies are controlling Koreas legislative and judicial branches and orchestrating election fraud. This alignment, he argued, fuels conspiracy theories rather than quelling them. Recently, a far-right media outlet, Sky Daily, published an article titled, "99 Chinese nationals arrested at election training center and sent to U.S. military base in Japan," alleging that martial law forces detained Chinese nationals at an election training center during the crisis. The report provided no evidence to support these claims. As the article spread rapidly among Yoons supporters, the NEC promptly refuted it, saying, "This report is entirely false. During the martial law period, the election training center was running educational programs for NEC employees, and no martial law forces entered the building." The NEC is considering legal action, including requesting a correction, but Yoons legal team still cited the article during the Jan. 16 impeachment hearing as evidence of election interference. SisaIN, a progressive weekly magazine, pointed out that one source of this fake news stemmed from its own exclusive report from Dec. 24 last year, titled "90 Civilians and NEC Staff Detained at the NEC Training Center on Dec. 3." The outlet explained that keywords such as "Chinese nationals," "spies," and "U.S. military" were arbitrarily added to distort the original article, leading to the spread of false information. The original report merely stated that martial law forces and police had been deployed to the NEC training center on Dec. 3 to control access during a training session involving NEC staff and external lecturers, without any mention of Chinese nationals or related terms. Vote recounts to election conspiracy Refusing to accept election results and calling for a recount have long been a common response from losing factions. However, these claims began to escalate into full-blown conspiracy theories during the 18th presidential election, when progressive broadcaster Kim Ou-joon raised suspicions that the election, won by former President Park Geun-hye, had been rigged. Kim presented what he called the "K-value 1.5," a figure he claimed indicated that the proportion of ballots manually recounted after being classified as "unclassified" by the ballot sorting machine showed Park Geun-hye's votes were 1.5 times higher than Moon Jae-in's. Kim argued that the "K-value" should normally equal "1," and any deviation from this, particularly a value of 1.5, suggested potential vote manipulation. This claim was later turned into the 2017 film, "The Plan." However, Newstapa, an investigative media outlet, after analyzing the issue with experts, revealed that in the 19th presidential election, the K-value for Democratic Party of Korea candidate Moon Jae-in, compared to Liberty Korea Party candidate Hong Joon-pyo, was also around 1.6 similar to the figure observed in the 18th election. This undermined Kim Ou-joons argument, as it lacked sufficient evidence. Social critic Park Kwon-il said, Even after the K-value theory was debunked, Kim Ou-joon never issued an apology. While its hard to claim that todays far-right conspiracy theories are directly caused by Kims allegations, this theory has become an excuse for conspiracy narratives on both the progressive and conservative sides. Rise of anti-China sentiment The spread of conspiracy theories about Chinese interference coincides with growing anti-China sentiment, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic. Kim Hak-joon, author of "The Era of Ordinary Ilbe," analyzed the far-right online community known as "Ilbe" and noted that anti-China rhetoric surpassed regional prejudices starting in late 2019. "Distrust of China among the conservative right intensified during the pandemic, fueled by propaganda opposing the Moon Jae-in administrations COVID-19 policies," he said. Kim also highlighted the role of YouTubes algorithm in amplifying conspiracy theories. "Unlike online communities where diverse opinions occasionally surface, YouTubes algorithm continuously feeds similar content, reinforcing users beliefs and trapping them in a filter bubble," he said. Political scientist Park Sang-hoon, head of the publishing company, Humanitas, said that political polarization has made society more susceptible to conspiracy theories. "Both major parties have focused on catering to their bases, deepening divisions and creating fertile ground for conspiracy theories," he said. While conspiracy theories may never be completely eradicated, Park stressed the importance of fostering a society capable of managing their impact. "Conspiracy theories stem from human limitations, but we must work toward a society where they remain contained and do not disrupt the social fabric," he said. This article from the Hankook Ilbo, a sister publication of The Korea Times, is translated by a generative AI and edited by The Korea Times. Over half of apprehended protesters in 20s and 30s By Lee Hyo-jin Police sought the arrest of 66 out of the 90 suspects who were apprehended in connection to the violent protests at a Seoul court by President Yoon Suk Yeol's supporters, law enforcement authorities said Monday. Of the 90 apprehended suspects, whose ages range from teenagers to those in their 70s, 46 are in their 20s and 30s, according to the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency. Three of them are YouTubers. The number of arrests may rise as police continue to analyze phone records and YouTube videos for further evidence of the chaotic scene. These suspects now face legal consequences for their involvement in the violent assault on the Seoul Western District Court early Sunday morning, when dozens of protesters stormed the facility in protest of its decision to issue an arrest warrant for the president over his botched martial law imposition. It remains to be seen exactly what charges the suspects will face in their unprecedented attack on the judiciary, but the primary allegations include trespassing on public property and obstructing official duties, including assaulting police officers. Depending on the results of the ongoing investigation, charges could extend to rioting, which carries a penalty of up to 10 years in prison or a fine of 15 million won. A quiet yet tense atmosphere surrounded the court in Mapo District on Monday afternoon, with only a few officials seen coming in and out of the heavily guarded facility. Several police buses were parked along the main entrance as officers patrolled the area near the gate. They stood watch, conducting identity checks and permitting entry only to authorized officials. Beyond the fence, staffers were seen working to repair the court's shattered windows and walls. At the back gate, a damaged sign reading "Seoul Western District Court Back Gate" was leaned against the fence a grim reminder of the mob violence. The court said scheduled hearings and daily operations were being carried out on Monday without disruption despite the unsettling attack. However, the incident has caused significant financial losses and left employees grappling with emotional trauma. Things were quite chaotic this morning, with everyone talking about what happened. But were doing our best to get it together and continue our work," a court employee told The Korea Times on condition of anonymity. I was at home when it happened, she said. I heard about the damage to the court property, but Im not sure how or when we will be compensated. My electric bike, which was parked near the court, was damaged, along with several other motorcycles nearby. Cheon Dae-yup, head of the National Court Administration, an administrative body under the Supreme Court, said that the top court is considering lawsuits against the protesters seeking compensation for the damage. "The sustained material damage from the illegal violent incident is estimated at 600 million won ($414,000) to 700 million won," Cheon said during a National Assembly session. The damaged property includes shattered walls and windows, surveillance camera storage devices, computer monitors, desks and other office equipment, along with sculptures and other art displayed at the facility. "There have been calls from judges to ensure that all individuals involved in the unlawful acts are held fully accountable," he said in response to a lawmakers inquiry about the compensation plan. Cheon also said while no staffers were physically injured, they have been left with psychological trauma. According to a report by the court submitted to Rep. Seo Young-kyo of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea, approximately 25 staff members were inside the court during the incident. The mob stormed the court just minutes after it announced the issuance of an arrest warrant for Yoon at 3 a.m. on Sunday. Court employees attempted to barricade the first-floor entrance using vending machines and other materials, but their efforts were in vain. The mob forced its way inside at around 3:21 a.m., prompting the staff to flee to the rooftop, where they used chairs and other objects to barricade the door and waited for over an hour before the violence subsided, the report stated. Around 1,400 police officers, including riot units, entered the court at approximately 3:32 a.m. and began apprehending the protesters. During the incident, 51 police officers were injured, with seven of them sustaining serious injuries such as fractures. The violence also extended to journalists who were at the scene, as protesters became aggressive toward them. Many of Yoon's staunch supporters have openly expressed hostility toward media outlets they accuse of spreading fake news about the president. According to journalists on the scene, the protesters verbally and physically assaulted reporters and seized their camera equipment. Footage captured by some journalists shows the protesters attempting to steal memory cards and damaging equipment. "This indiscriminate assault on the press is an unprecedented and shocking act," a coalition of journalist associations said in a statement. "There should be no leniency for the rioters who have shaken the rule of law." Acting President Choi Sang-mok is likely to demand the National Assembly reconsider an opposition-proposed bill that calls for a special counsel probe into impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol over insurrection charges, a government official said Monday. On Friday, the bill, proposed by the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), was passed during a parliamentary plenary session, despite unanimous opposition from lawmakers of the ruling People Power Party. "Acting President Choi is deliberating how to handle the special counsel probe bill," the finance ministry official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Choi had vetoed a similar DPK-proposed bill on Yoon, stressing the need for bipartisan agreement. The latest bill omits allegations that Yoon has committed "treason" by attempting to provoke a deliberate conflict with North Korea, which were previously part of the bill rejected by Choi. The ruling party had still criticized the DPK-proposed bill as being "overly broad," and said it would propose its own version that does not include insurrection charges over Yoon's failed martial law bid. The latest bill passed by the opposition-led parliament is unlikely to be included in the motion for the Cabinet meeting scheduled for Tuesday, the ministry official noted. The official noted it was difficult to say whether the bill passed with bipartisan support, while there also existed questions over the need for a special counsel given that the president is already in detention. (Yonhap) PPP leads DPK by wide margin for first time in 6 months By Jung Min-ho The approval rating of the ruling People Power Party (PPP) surpassed that of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), despite an ongoing criminal investigation into President Yoon Suk Yeol, according to a new poll released on Monday. The survey, conducted by Realmeter, found that 46.5 percent of 1,004 respondents expressed support for the PPP, an increase from 40.8 percent the previous week. In contrast, 39 percent indicated support for the DPK, a decrease from 42.2 percent. This is the first time in six months that the PPP's support rate has surpassed the DPK's by more than the margin of error, which stands at 3.1 percent, according to the pollster. When asked which political party they would prefer to win the next presidency, 48.6 percent of respondents said they would support the current ruling party, while 46.2 percent favored one of the opposition parties. The survey results indicate that the conservative voters are becoming more united, driven by a growing distrust of the DPK and negative sentiment toward its leader, Rep. Lee Jae-myung, who is widely seen as the front-runner in the upcoming presidential election, according to experts. Just three weeks ago, following the president's impeachment at the National Assembly, the gap appeared insurmountable, with more than 60 percent of respondents expressing a preference for one of the opposition parties over the PPP. A poll conducted in the fourth week of December 2024 showed that the rate of those who called for opposition-led changes in government was nearly twice as high as that of people who wanted the ruling party to retain power. But since then, the gap has steadily narrowed to the point where the two sides are now almost equal, Realmeter said. This result comes after the arrest of Yoon, who is expected to be indicted on charges of insurrection, abuse of power and other offenses related to his decision to impose martial law on Dec. 3. Yoon, as president, has been at the center of attention in public surveys. But now the focus seems to have shifted to [DPK leader] Lee after Yoons dramatic fall, Hong Hyeong-sik, a political analyst, told The Korea Times. The figures also indicate that many individuals who consider themselves politically neutral share concerns about the potential rule of the DPK, a sentiment echoed by most conservatives. Last week, the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials and the police deployed thousands of officers to forcibly detain the president. This unprecedented and televised event may have contributed to further uniting conservatives, who are increasingly concerned about the long-term impact of DPK rule, given the party's comfortable majority in the Assembly, experts said. Meanwhile, many politically neutral voters may have felt disillusioned by the DPK's aggressive actions, which they viewed as threats to core democratic values, such as freedom of speech. "For instance, the DPK threatened to file a criminal complaint against a pollster that released a survey result it deemed 'favorable' to the PPP. It also established a 'democratic police station' to combat 'fake news.' Such actions have alarmed many people who deeply care about democratic values and fear what the DPK might do to undermine them," Hong said. According to a poll carried out by Hankook Research at The Korea Times request last month, the DPK chairman was found to be a favorite to win the next presidential election, with 35 percent supporting him, far ahead of rivals including Daegu Mayor Hong Joon-pyo and Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon. Chinese VP urges U.S. companies to contribute more to China-U.S. relations Xinhua) 13:33, January 20, 2025 WASHINGTON, Jan. 19 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Vice President Han Zheng said Sunday that it is hoped that U.S. companies will continue to invest and take root in China, play an active role as a bridge, and make greater contribution to the stable, sound and sustainable development of China-U.S. relations. Han made the remarks while meeting with representatives of the U.S. business community. Han is in Washington, D.C. to attend the inauguration ceremony of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on Monday as Chinese President Xi Jinping's special representative at the invitation of the U.S. side. Han said that China and the United States share extensive common interests and vast space for cooperation, adding that a good start and stable development of China-U.S. relations align with the common well-being of both peoples and meet the shared expectation of the international community. As an enduring backbone supporting China-U.S. relations, the U.S. business community has been a participant, witness, contributor and beneficiary of China-U.S. economic and trade cooperation as well as China's reform and opening-up, Han said. China will unswervingly advance reform and opening-up, and continue to improve and optimize the business environment, he added. (Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Zhong Wenxing) The police said Monday patrol cars will be stationed around the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) during commute hours to ensure the safety of investigators involved in President Yoon Suk Yeol's martial law case. Patrol cars will be positioned at the main entrance of the government complex in Gwacheon, just south of Seoul, where the CIO office is located, and at Gwacheon Police Station, from 7:30 a.m. to 8:50 a.m. and from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m., according to the police. The measure will be in place until the martial law investigation is completed. "We have decided to assign patrol cars to the locations as the CIO requested cooperation in the protection of its employees," a police officer said. The decision came after angry protesters broke into the Seoul Western District Court early Sunday after the court issued a warrant to formally arrest Yoon as part of the CIO's investigation into his Dec. 3 martial law declaration. On Saturday evening, some protesters surrounded two vehicles of CIO investigators as they left the court following a hearing and smashed windows of the vehicles. (Yonhap) Yoon supporters should stop violence, coercing judges Angry protesters broke into the Seoul Western District Court early Sunday morning after the court approved a warrant for the arrest of detained President Yoon Suk Yeol. Yoon became the first sitting president to be arrested. Some demonstrators shouted at the police who were trying to prevent them from entering, directing their anger at the judge who issued the warrant. Several people were injured in the ensuing chaos. Meanwhile, many others outside the court continued chanting pro-Yoon slogans. The protesters were part of the large group of Yoon supporters hundreds of thousands who had gathered in front of the court the previous day. These supporters had rallied peacefully as the detained president arrived to attend the court's review of the warrant sought by the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO). Some supporters had even spent the night outside, anxiously awaiting the court's decision. They were devastated when the warrant was approved. While their frustration is understandable, violence is never the solution. It cannot be justified under any circumstances. Threatening judges, no matter how unfavorable the decision, is inappropriate and unacceptable. Tensions have risen between Yoon's supporters and the judiciary as the president's fate now rests with the eight Constitutional Court justices. In addition to the impeachment trial, Yoon is also preparing for another legal battle with the CIO on charges of insurrection. Judges who issued warrants to search and arrest Yoon, along with the Constitutional Court justices, have become targets of extreme Yoon supporters. The Constitutional Courts website message board has been inundated daily with accusations against the court and its justices, accusing them of bias in handling the impeachment trial. So Jun-sub, a judge at the Seoul Central District Court, received a death threat after rejecting a petition to release Yoon on Thursday. An internet user posted that he would kill So if he encountered him. The Seoul Metropolitan Polices cybercrime unit immediately launched an investigation. On Saturday, the individual, whose name has not been released for privacy reasons, turned himself in and was taken into custody. The police emphasized the seriousness of the case and stated that individuals who post such threatening messages will be prosecuted in accordance with the law. Like Judge So, judges handling Yoons legal battle with the CIO are facing various threats from his supporters. Yoons legal team filed an unsuccessful petition to release him before the CIO sought the arrest warrant on Friday. Supporters of the president hoped for the court's approval of the petition and attempted to influence the judge by staging tireless pro-Yoon rallies. Whenever the court's decisions went against their wishes, protesters accused the judges of making "unlawful, biased" decisions. On Saturday, they occupied the roads surrounding the Seoul Western District Court, holding energetic yet peaceful rallies in an attempt to save the president from impeachment. They chanted slogans such as Acquit the president, Dissolve the CIO and The impeachment motion is a sham. Freedom of speech and association must be safeguarded in a democratic nation like South Korea. However, there are boundaries that must not be crossed. Criticizing judges or the judiciary is acceptable as long as it is done peacefully. But coercing judges, resorting to blackmail and issuing death threats are entirely unacceptable. Judges' decisions should be respected once they are made. However, this does not necessarily mean they are flawless. Some judges have become the object of controversy with what their opponents see as their seemingly biased rulings. For starters, controversy erupted when the Seoul Western District Court approved warrants to search and detain Yoon at his residence in central Seoul's Hannam-dong. Yoon's followers claimed the presidential residence is a military facility, requiring investigators to obtain approval from the person in charge of the facility. The court issued the warrants with a note granting the CIO investigators unrestricted access, rebuffing the claim from Yoons legal team. CIO should have been able to secure more persuasive legal ground to prevent unnecessary disputes from arising. Judges speak through their verdicts. The judiciary is expected to be impartial, ensuring that trials are fair and just. Judges and Constitutional Court justices must remain mindful of the gravity of their decisions, striving to make fair rulings based solely on the law. Their decisions should leave no room for controversy. Despite the controvery over the fairness of the court's ruling, there should not be any attempts to trespass at the courthouses, as this is equivalent to eroding the very foundations of democracy and the value of rule of law. Such riots should not be tolerated at any rate and must be sternly punished in accordance with related laws and rules. Shift in policies will trigger stable, revised international order By Lee Jong-eun President Donald Trump has returned to the Oval Office, becoming the first U.S. president since Grover Cleveland in 1892 to serve a second nonconsecutive term. Unlike his initial presidential victory in 2016, his second win has elicited less international shock and fewer domestic protests. However, beneath the surface of relative calm, multiple anxieties linger about what the next four years of his presidency may bring. Internationally, there are concerns that Trumps second term could usher in more radical and turbulent changes than his first. No longer constrained by the need to run for reelection and likely to fill White House and Cabinet positions with personally loyal and ideologically aligned officials, the Trump administration is expected to be more assertive in advancing its America First foreign policy. Building on policies implemented during his first term, Trumps second term could further weaken U.S. commitments to international institutions and agreements, escalate geopolitical tensions with China and Iran, disengage from certain regional conflicts in Europe and Asia, and elevate protectionist barriers to international trade. Trumps recent comments regarding the acquisition of Greenland and the Panama Canal have also heightened concerns about his administrations pursuit of stronger regional hegemony in the Americas. These international challenges are not predisposed to escalate into international catastrophes. While the geopolitical shifts that began during Trumps first term may accelerate in his second, my hope is that through engagement and collaboration, international and U.S. policymakers can ensure changes take place with mitigated costs, a predictable trajectory and an eventual transition to a revised, yet relatively stable international order. First, the Trans-Atlantic alliance is likely to undergo adjustments as the Trump presidency shifts U.S. strategic priorities away from Europe and increases pressure on European allies to bolster their military capabilities. The Russia-Ukraine war will likely conclude with an armistice, with Europe expected to shoulder a greater share of the responsibility for Ukraines reconstruction and postarmistice security. My hope, however, is that the balance of power between Europe and Russia will be preserved, deterring Russias further territorial ambitions. Second, the Trump presidency is likely to withdraw again from the Paris Climate Accords and prioritize energy security over reducing carbon emissions. U.S. restrictions on fossil fuel drilling and exports will likely be loosened, potentially encouraging other countries to adopt similar measures. My hope is that the Trump administration can be persuaded to also support the development of alternative energy technologies to maintain the U.S.' technological competitiveness with China in the energy sector. Third, the U.S.-China geopolitical rivalry will likely intensify over trade, technology and control of maritime routes. U.S. allies, in particular, may face increased pressure to explicitly align with the U.S. and decouple from China. My hope is that domestic economic interests would incentivize the Trump administration to maintain overall trade relations with China, similar to U.S.-Soviet trade relations during the Cold War. Trumps aversion to entrapment in overseas wars may help restrain security tensions over areas such as Taiwan and the South China Sea from escalating into conventional military conflicts. Fourth, as in his first term, Trump may withdraw the U.S. from certain international institutions such as the World Health Organization and UNESCO. My hope is that the Trump administration will support other institutions and partnerships that are perceived as aligning with U.S. strategic interests. In the Asia-Pacific region, the Trump administration may continue to strengthen security partnerships such as the Quad (Australia, India, Japan, United States) and AUKUS (Australia, United Kingdom, United States) to bolster strategic containment against China. Additionally, the administration may be persuaded to view economic partnerships with other countries as beneficial to revitalizing the U.S. domestic manufacturing sector and offsetting the costs of trade conflicts with China. Lastly, South Korea and Japan will likely face pressure to justify the strategic value of their security alliances with the United States, including potentially contentious negotiations over the cost and size of U.S. troop deployments in their countries. During Trumps second term, North Koreas nuclear threat may be sidelined in favor of other domestic or international priorities, or alternatively, a deal may be proposed that would recognize North Korea as a de facto nuclear state. My hope is that South Korea and Japan will effectively communicate their economic, technological and military contributions to the burden-sharing of U.S. geopolitical strategy in the Asia-Pacific. Whether by supporting South Korea and Japan in enhancing their nuclear deterrence capabilities, driving a wedge in the China-Russia-DPRK strategic alignment, or maintaining a robust U.S.-ROK-Japan trilateral partnership, the Trump administration may be persuaded to help its allies maintain strategic balance even achieve superiority in Northeast Asia. DPRK stands for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, North Korea's official name. ROK stands for the Republic of Korea, South Korea's official name. Of course, hope alone does not guarantee a favorable outcome. Some diplomatic overtures may fail to satisfy Trumps transactional approach to bargaining, potentially resulting in negative consequences for the affected regions. Even when transactional deals are achieved, individual countries may face significant economic and security burdens, as well as heightened geopolitical uncertainties, during a second Trump presidency. It may be helpful, however, to recall the successful international agreements achieved during Trumps first term, such as the renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement and the U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement. Trumps America First agenda may be complemented with America First, but Not Alone through skillful strategic and diplomatic statecraft. As diplomacy played a crucial role in ensuring the Cold War ended not with a bang but a whimper, diplomacy may play a crucial role in ensuring the geopolitical changes of Trumps second term unfold as a wave, not tsunami. With strategic agility and a measure of good fortune, I hope countries will navigate the geopolitical wave toward eventual international stability one that encompasses liberal and illiberal, U.S.-aligned and non U.S.-aligned countries under a new pattern of the international system. Following Hegels thesis-antithesis-synthesis dialectics, the new system may be different from the Liberal International Order, but enforces its own rules for order and coexistence. Lee Jong-eun is an assistant professor of political science at North Greenville University. Historic city paves way for progress and entrepreneurship By Kang Seung-woo JINJU, South Gyeongsang Province Jinju, a historic city in South Gyeongsang Province, is renowned for its rich cultural and intellectual heritage. In 2018, the Korea Academic Society of Business Administration honored Jinju as the "capital of Korean entrepreneurship," highlighting its pivotal role in shaping the nation's entrepreneurial spirit. At the heart of this recognition lies the Jinju K-Entrepreneurship Center, a hub dedicated to fostering innovation, honoring the citys storied legacy and inspiring future generations of innovators. The establishment of the Jinju K-Entrepreneurship Center in 2022 is deeply connected to the citys educational history, particularly through Jisu Elementary School in Seungsan, a 600-year-old settlement known for its cultural and economic prominence. This seemingly modest institution carries an extraordinary legacy as the alma mater of the founders of Samsung, LG, GS and Hyosung four of Korea's most influential conglomerates. While these visionary leaders did not attend the school at the same time, their shared educational background underscores the schools pivotal role in shaping Koreas entrepreneurial landscape. In a symbolic move, the school has been relocated, with its original building now serving as the home of the Jinju K-Entrepreneurship Center. This transformation reflects the citys intent to honor its historical roots, while embracing and promoting innovation. Building on this legacy, Jinjus municipal government sought to create a space that could both celebrate its historical significance and serve as a catalyst for modern innovation. The Jinju K-Entrepreneurship Center serves as a testament to the citys commitment to nurturing entrepreneurs and honoring its role in the development of Koreas economic giants. Jinjus entrepreneurial heritage extends far beyond the achievements of its corporate luminaries. Jinjus spirit of innovation dates back to the 16th century, inspired by Jo Shik, a renowned Korean philosopher and Confucian scholar. Jo, who spent a significant part of his life in Jinju, was known for his progressive ideas and practical approach to governance and economics. His teachings emphasized four core values: inner harmony, national patriotism and empathy, talent development and accountability and responsibility. These principles align closely with the ethos of entrepreneurship, providing a philosophical foundation that continues to inspire the citys innovative spirit. Jos influence is evident in Jinjus historical role as a center of commerce and intellectual exchange. The citys vibrant marketplaces and thriving industries during the Joseon Dynasty laid the groundwork for its modern identity as a hub of innovation. By connecting Jos philosophical principles to the accomplishments of contemporary entrepreneurs, Jinju has solidified its reputation as the birthplace of Korean entrepreneurship. The Jinju K-Entrepreneurship Center serves as a multifaceted space: a museum, an innovation hub and a training ground for aspiring entrepreneurs. Its exhibits show the achievements of Jinjus most famous business leaders, highlighting the global impact of their companies and the foundational values that drove their success. Interactive displays and multimedia presentations bring to life the stories of the Samsung, LG, GS and Hyosung founders, inspiring visitors to dream big and think creatively. Beyond its role as a historical archive, the center is also a forward-looking institution. It offers workshops, mentorship programs and networking opportunities for startups and small businesses. By connecting emerging entrepreneurs with seasoned professionals, the center seeks to cultivate a new generation of innovators who can build on Jinjus rich legacy. "Jinjus designation as the capital of Korean entrepreneurship was not merely symbolic; it was a recognition of the citys enduring contributions to Koreas economic development. This title reflects Jinjus historical significance, its educational achievements and its unwavering commitment to nurturing a culture of innovation that continues to drive the nations progress," Jinju K-Entrepreneurship Foundation Chairman Kim Jong-wook said. The citys leadership has embraced this identity, using it to attract investment and promote local industries. Initiatives like the K-Entrepreneurship Center are part of a broader strategy to position Jinju as a leader in sustainable development and technological advancement. The story of Jinju and the K-Entrepreneurship Center serve as a powerful reminder of the value of honoring the past, while looking to the future. By celebrating its unique history and investing in innovation, Jinju has positioned itself as a beacon of entrepreneurship in Korea and beyond. As the city continues to build on its legacy, the Jinju K-Entrepreneurship Center will play a crucial role in shaping the next generation of leaders, Kim said. Whether through its educational programs, its celebration of historical achievements, or its support for emerging businesses, the center embodies the spirit of resilience and ingenuity that defines Jinjus entrepreneurial heritage. In doing so, it ensures that the citys legacy as the birthplace of Korean entrepreneurship will endure for generations to come. Shin to attend Davos Forum to discuss sustainable future in AI era By Lee Min-hyung LG Chem Vice Chairman and CEO Shin Hak-cheol will extend his chairmanship of the Chemical & Advanced Materials Industry Governors of the World Economic Forum (WEF) for another year until 2025, marking the first time that a chairman of the committee has been reappointed, the firm said Sunday. Shin has served as the committee chair since 2023, generating tangible outcomes in encouraging more Asian firms in the relevant industries to participate in the joint drive for eco-friendly energy and materials transition. He will fly to the Switzerland city of Davos to attend this years WEF, which runs for five days starting Monday, marking his fifth consecutive year of participation. The upcoming forum will be held under the key theme of collaboration for the intelligent age, with a group of 2,700 experts in business, economy, politics and academia in attendance to discuss sustainable future in the era of artificial intelligence. The WEF decided to extend Shin's term in recognition of his strong global network and leadership among its member companies amid growing geopolitical uncertainties sparked by the incoming Donald Trump administration in the United States. Shin was also invited as a guest speaker to the Global Plastics Action Partnership hosted by the United Nations Environmental Programme. He will strengthen exchanges with participants to the event under the key theme of circular economy for plastics. As the head of the global chemical firm, Shin will also introduce its eco-friendly materials business strategy during the event. Global leading firms unwaveringly prepare for a sustainable future with the focus on low carbon emission and eco-friendly businesses, even if the global uncertainty is escalating rapidly, Shin said. LG Chem will also achieve sustainable growth by securing competitive edges with our three core growth engines, such as battery materials, eco-friendly and sustainability materials. Shin will also join the Global Impact Coalition this year for the first time among Korean business leaders and join forces with executives from major chemical firms, such as BASF, to conduct joint projects from investment to research and production in the area of eco-friendly materials. By Ko Dong-hwan Korean tobacco giant KT&G expanded its factory in Turkey as part of its efforts to become a global top-tier company and strengthen its international operations. The expansion ceremony, held in Tire, Izmir Province, on Thursday, was attended by 50 key participants, including KT&G CEO Bang Kyung-man, Tire District Gov. Vural Karagul, Korean Ambassador to Turkiye Jeong Yeon-doo, Tire Mayor Hayati Okuroglu and Ugur Yalcn, president of the Department of Tobacco and Alcohol. KT&G has invested more than $60 million (87.5 billion won) to install two new high-tech manufacturing facilities at the factory. The factory, expanded 1.5 times, now has a total area of 25,000 square meters. Following the upgrade, it houses four cigarette-making machines with an annual production capacity of 12 billion sticks. This latest move brings KT&G's total investment in the Turkey factory to $110 million. The expansion also created 60 new jobs, increasing the factory's workforce to over 200 employees. The factory will serve as KT&G's strategic hub and primary manufacturing facility to address the growing export demands of the steadily expanding Northern African and Latin American markets. In 2008, KT&G established its first overseas factory in Turkey, marking the beginning of its global expansion. Since then, the company has strengthened its international operations and is currently constructing factories in Indonesia and Kazakhstan, with the Kazakhstan facility set for completion within the year. The company aims to leverage its global manufacturing network to establish a fully localized value chain encompassing manufacturing, operations and distribution, while also enhancing profitability. The factory expansion is part of the growth investments announced by KT&G during its Future Vision Declaration Ceremony in January 2023. At the event, KT&G outlined its mid- to long-term vision of becoming a global top-tier company and unveiled a growth strategy centered on three core businesses: next-generation products, overseas cigarettes and health functional foods. The company aims to increase the proportion of its global revenue to 50 percent by 2027. The factory expansion has made the Turkey factory a global hub that will tow the growth of KT&G's global business and an outpost for a leap to a global top-tier (company), our group's vision for the future, Bang said, adding that KT&G will continue to reinforce its competitive capabilities by investing in the three core businesses and its readiness for the future. Construction firms, equipment makers boost ties with war-torn country By Park Jae-hyuk Donald Trumps inauguration as the 47th U.S. president on Monday (local time) has been boosting prospects of Korean construction companies, equipment makers and tech firms aiming to take part in the $900 billion project to rebuild Ukraine. Although it was reported earlier this month that the new U.S. president has pushed back his campaign pledge to end the war in Ukraine in 24 hours to several months, expectations are rising that the post-war reconstruction of the Eastern European country could start soon, considering the recent ceasefire in Gaza, which took effect a day before Trumps inauguration. Amid the growing hope for another peace treaty, TYM said Monday that it held a ceremony last Friday to celebrate another donation of its farming machines to Ukraine. Oleksandr Koren, first secretary of science and technology issues at the Ukrainian Embassy in Seoul, joined TYMs employees at the ceremony in expressing their wishes for the people of Ukraine to regain their peaceful everyday lives as soon as possible. According to TYM, the size of its latest donation to Ukraine reaches 550 million won ($379,000). The company added that the accumulative size of its donations to the war-torn country amounts to 1.3 billion won. While maintaining our close partnership with Ukraine and continuously looking for ways to support the country, we will do our best to become a good partner to restore its agriculture, a TYM official said. Daedong, a major rival of TYM, also said last Thursday that it initiated the shipment of its tractors to the Ukrainian market. This came after the agricultural equipment maker signed an agreement with a Ukrainian importer last November to supply 30 billion won worth of tractors over the next three years. The celebration of the shipment from the companys Daegu factory last Wednesday was also attended by Ukrainian Sen. Oleksandr Denysenko and Andrii Vieshkin, counsellor of economic issues at the Ukrainian Embassy in Seoul. Starting from 2025, we will expand our presence in Ukraine, Daedong Vice President Lee Jong-sun said. We will do our best to keep contributing to Ukraines agriculture and to play a major role for the long-term development of the countrys farming industry. DR & Aju, one of the major law firms here, emphasized that Korean companies participation in the Ukraine reconstruction project will help Asias fourth-largest economy take a leap forward. Ukraine is the most ideal country to rebuild, considering its large territory, ample agricultural and mineral resources, population of 35 million and possibility of massive financial support from the United States and Western Europe, DR & Aju Senior Adviser Byun Ji-hyun said at a seminar hosted by the law firm last Thursday. The seminar attracted officials from Samsung Electronics, KT, POSCO International and major construction firms, such as Samsung C&T, Daewoo E&C, POSCO E&C and Dongbu Construction, in addition to state-run enterprises, including Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power and Korea Water Resources Corp. Byun, a career diplomat, anticipated that peace talks between Ukraine and Russia will proceed in the wake of Trumps inauguration. Ukrainian lawyer Vasyl Pop-Stasiv from a local office of the global law firm Taylor Wessing also gave a presentation via online, as the two law firms signed a partnership in 2014. He encouraged Korean companies to enter the Ukrainian market, introducing the European countrys streamlined procedures to establish local subsidiaries and various incentives for foreign direct investments. Offering price set at 61,900 won, valuing digital service firm at $4.14 bil. By Nam Hyun-woo LG CNS initial public offering (IPO) is gaining traction, with the company setting its offering price at the high end of its desired price range. With subscriptions for retail investors set to open on Tuesday, there is growing interest in how much the stock price will surge on its debut day. According to its regulatory filing, Monday, LG CNS finalized its public offering price at 61,900 won, the highest limit of the proposed range of 53,700 won ($37.01) to 61,900 won. A total 2,059 institutional investors participated in the book building process, proposing their desired prices and number of shares. According to the company, the total amount of money proposed during the process reached 76 trillion won, with about 99 percent of them proposing over 61,900 won per share. Since LG CNS will offer over 19.37 million shares, the company will be able to raise 1.2 trillion won ($823.55 million), which will be the biggest amount following LG Energy Solutions lucrative IPO in 2022, which raised 12 trillion won. This will make LG CNS valued at approximately 6 trillion won. Gaining interest is the closing price for the first day of its trading. LG CNS provides system development, operation and cloud services based on its software capabilities, and is now expanding its business to digital transformation, cloud computing, smart factories and artificial intelligence (AI). Since 2020, the company has been shattering records in its yearly revenues, with operating profit also showing a similar trajectory. Its sales grew by 66.8 percent from 3.36 trillion won in 2020 to 5.6 trillion won in 2023. The company also reported 3.54 trillion won in accumulated sales from January to September last year. On Monday, the company said it signed a memorandum of understanding with U.S.-based Bear Robotics on developing logistics automation solutions based on autonomous mobile robots. Hanwha Securities analyst Eom Su-jin said LG CNS is attractive in its solid revenue growth, transition to AI, sales outside of LG Group and high operating margin, noting that the companys business portfolio is expanding from supporting digital transformation to AI transformation. Weighing on LG CNS price is investors concerns that the 50 percent of shares offered through the IPO are existing shares. This means that the IPO may benefit exiting investors instead of being a resource for the companys investment. The 50 percent of the shares which will be offered for the IPO are held by a special purpose company set up by Macquarie Private Equity. The company, named Chrystal Korea, is the second-largest shareholder in LG CNS. Due to this structure, analysts often compare LG CNS IPO with that of HD Hyundai Marine Solution, which comprised 50 percent of its offering with existing shares. Upon its debut in May, the ship parts company saw its share price end up rising 96.52 percent on the first day of its trading, a disappointing increase given that many newly listed stocks doubled or even quadrupled during their debut. In response to these concerns, LG CNS largest shareholder, LG Corp., and Chrystal Korea decided to lock up their holdings 67.51 percent of all LG CNS shares for six months following the IPO, which will address fears that an additional chunk of shares may be put up for sale shortly after the listing. We would like to express a deep gratitude to institutional investors who have highly evaluated LG CNS potential for future growth as a leader in customers' digital transformation, LG CNS CEO Hyun Shin-gyoon said in a statement. Through this IPO, we aim to further enhance our technological capabilities and actively expand our global operations to lead the global AI transformation market. Hamas released three Israeli hostages and Israel released 90 Palestinian prisoners on Sunday, the first day of a ceasefire suspending a 15-month-old war that has devastated the Gaza Strip and inflamed the Middle East. The truce allowed Palestinians to return to bombed-out neighborhoods to begin rebuilding their lives, while relief trucks delivered much-needed aid. Elsewhere in Gaza, crowds cheered Hamas fighters who emerged from hiding. Fireworks were launched in celebration as buses carrying the Palestinian prisoners arrived in Ramallah on the West Bank, where thousands of people waited to welcome them. Those freed from Israeli prisons included 69 women and 21 teenage boys from the West Bank and Jerusalem, according to Hamas. In Tel Aviv, hundreds of Israelis cheered and wept in a square outside the defense headquarters as a live broadcast from Gaza showed three female hostages getting into a Red Cross vehicle surrounded by Hamas fighters. The Israeli military said Romi Gonen, Doron Steinbrecher and Emily Damari had been reunited with their mothers and released a video showing them in apparent good health. Damari, who lost two fingers when she was shot the day she was abducted, smiled and embraced her mother as she held up a bandaged hand. "I would like you to tell them: Romi, Doron and Emily an entire nation embraces you. Welcome home," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told a commander by phone. At Sheba Medical Center, the women were reunited with their families in long embraces that went from tears to laughter. A smiling Damari was draped in an Israeli flag. They were among more than 250 people abducted and 1,200 killed in a Hamas raid on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, Israel has said. More than 47,000 Palestinians have since been killed in Israeli attacks, according to medical officials in Gaza. Nearly the entire 2.3 million population of Gaza is homeless. Around 400 Israeli soldiers have also died. The truce calls for fighting to stop, aid to be sent in to Gaza and 33 of the nearly 100 remaining Israeli and foreign hostages to go free over the six-week first phase in return for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails. Many of the hostages are believed to be dead. In the north of the Gaza Strip, Palestinians picked their way through a devastated landscape of rubble and twisted metal that had been bombed into oblivion in the war's most intense fighting. "I feel like at last I found some water to drink after being lost in the desert for 15 months," said Aya, who said she had been displaced from her Gaza City home for more than a year. The first phase of the truce took effect following a three-hour delay during which Israeli warplanes and artillery pounded the Gaza Strip. That last-minute blitz killed 13 people, Palestinian health authorities said. Israel blamed Hamas for being late to deliver the names of hostages it would free, and said it had struck terrorists. Hamas said the holdup in providing the list was technical. "Today the guns in Gaza have gone silent," U.S. President Joe Biden said on his last full day in office, welcoming a truce that had eluded U.S. diplomacy for more than a year. "We've reached this point today because of the pressure Israel built on Hamas, backed by the United States." For Hamas, the truce provided an opportunity to emerge from the shadows after 15 months in hiding. Hamas policemen dressed in blue police uniforms swiftly deployed in some areas, and armed fighters drove through the southern city of Khan Younis, where a crowd cheered, "Greetings to Al-Qassam Brigades," the group's armed wing. "All the resistance factions are staying in spite of Netanyahu," one fighter told Reuters. 'Hamas will never govern Gaza' There is no detailed plan in place to govern Gaza after the war, much less rebuild it. Any return of Hamas will test the patience of Israel, which has said it will resume fighting unless the militant group is fully dismantled. Hardline National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir quit the cabinet over the ceasefire, though his party said it would not try to bring down Netanyahu's government. The other most prominent hardliner, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, stayed in the government but said he would quit if the war ends without Hamas completely destroyed. The truce took effect on the eve of Monday's inauguration of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump. Trump's national security adviser-designate, Mike Waltz, said that if Hamas reneges on the agreement, the United States would support Israel "in doing what it has to do." "Hamas will never govern Gaza. That is completely unacceptable," he said. The streets in shattered Gaza City were already busy with groups of people waving the Palestinian flag and filming the scenes on their mobile phones. Several carts loaded with household possessions travelled down a thoroughfare scattered with rubble and debris. Ahmed Abu Ayham, 40, of Gaza City said that while the ceasefire may have spared lives, the losses and destruction made it no time for celebration. "We are in pain, deep pain and it is time to hug one another and cry," he said. (Reuters) TikTok restored service in the United States Sunday after briefly going dark, as a law banning the wildly popular app on national security grounds came into effect. The video-sharing platform credited President-elect Donald Trump, who retakes power on Monday, for making the reversal possible though the outgoing administration of President Joe Biden had earlier said that it would not enforce any ban. TikTok had shut down in the United States late Saturday as a deadline loomed for its Chinese owners ByteDance to sell its U.S. subsidiary to non-Chinese buyers. Earlier Sunday, as millions of dismayed users found themselves barred from the app, Trump promised to issue an executive order delaying the ban to allow time to "make a deal." He also called in a post on his Truth Social platform for the United States to take part ownership in TikTok. Trump said he "would like the United States to have a 50 percent ownership position in a joint venture," arguing that the app's value could surge to "hundreds of billions of dollars maybe trillions." "By doing this, we save TikTok, keep it in good hands," wrote Trump, who had previously backed a TikTok ban and during his first term in office made moves towards one. In a statement posted on X following Trump's comments, TikTok said it "is in the process of restoring service." "We thank President Trump for providing the necessary clarity and assurance to our service providers that they will face no penalties providing TikTok to over 170 million Americans." Beijing on Monday urged Washington to listen to "rational voices" over the ban. Foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning also said China attached "great importance to and protect data privacy and security." "We have never and will not ask companies or individuals to collect or provide foreign data located in foreign countries in a way that violates local laws," she said. TikTok, which was back online in the United States by Sunday afternoon, did not address Trump's call for part American ownership of the app. Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives told AFP the episode "marked a big win for TikTok and a political win for Trump," likening the episode to "high-stakes poker between the U.S. and China." President proof? At a pre-election rally Sunday evening at a Washington sports arena, Trump hammered home his enthusiasm for saving the app, telling the crowd: "Frankly, we have no choice, we have to save it," while indicating that there were a "lot of jobs" involved. "We don't want to give our business to China, we don't want to give our business to other people," Trump told his supporters. The law allows for a 90-day delay of the ban if the White House can show progress toward a viable deal, but so far ByteDance has flatly refused any sale. The Biden administration said it would leave enforcement of the law to Trump. From teenage dancers to grandmothers sharing cooking tips, TikTok has been embraced for its ability to transform ordinary users into global celebrities when a video goes viral. But it is also rife with disinformation, and its Chinese ownership has long spurred national security fears, internationally as well as in the United States. Sunday's blackout came after the U.S. Supreme Court on Friday upheld the legislation banning it pending any sale. Trump, who signed an executive order stepping up pressure on ByteDance to sell in 2020, has since credited the app with connecting him to younger voters. It is unclear what the incoming president can do to lift the ban unless ByteDance ultimately sells, however. "Congress wrote this law to be virtually president-proof," warned Adam Kovacevich, chief executive of industry trade group Chamber of Progress. Besides removing TikTok from app stores, the law requires Apple and Google to block new downloads, with the companies liable for penalties of up to $5,000 per user if the app is accessed. Oracle, which hosts TikTok's servers, would also be legally obligated to enforce the ban. 'I love TikTok' In Europe, TikTok's suspension drew praise from the foreign minister of Estonia, Margus Tsahkna, who said on X that banning the platform "must be considered in Europe as well." The ban also became a hot topic at the Australian Open in Melbourne, where American tennis player Coco Gauff scrawled "RIP TikTok USA" on a courtside camera. Meanwhile, in the U.S. state of Wisconsin, a man was accused of setting a fire early Sunday at an unoccupied building where a member of Congress keeps an office "in response to recent talks of a TikTok ban," police in the city of Fond du Lac said in a statement. A last-minute proposal made Saturday by the highly valued start-up Perplexity AI offered a merger with the U.S. subsidiary of TikTok, a source with knowledge of the deal told AFP. The proposal did not include a price but the source estimated it would cost at least $50 billion. (Reuters) Daily News 20 / 01 / 2025 Commission welcomes the integration of the revised Code of conduct on countering illegal hate speech online into the Digital Services Act The Commission and the European Board for Digital Services welcome the integration of the revised Code of conduct on countering illegal hate speech online + into the framework of the Digital Services Act (DSA) , which encourages voluntary codes of conduct to tackle risks online. The Code of conduct+, which builds on the 2016 on the initial Code of conduct on countering illegal hate speech online was signed by Dailymotion, Facebook, Instagram, Jeuxvideo.com, LinkedIn, Microsoft hosted consumer services, Snapchat, Rakuten Viber, TikTok, Twitch, X and YouTube. The Code of conduct+ will strengthen the way online platforms deal with content that EU and national laws define as illegal hate speech . The integrated Code of conduct will facilitate compliance with and the effective enforcement of the DSA when it comes to risks of dissemination of illegal content on their services. Executive Vice-President Henna Virkkunen in charge of Tech Sovereignty, Security and Democracy, said: In Europe there is no place for illegal hate, either offline or online. I welcome the stakeholders' commitment to a strengthened Code of conduct under the Digital Services Act. Cooperation among all parties involved is the way forward to ensure a safe digital space for all. Michael McGrath , Commissioner for Democracy, Justice, the Rule of Law and Consumer Protection, said : Hatred and polarisation are threats to EU values and fundamental rights and undermine the stability of our democracies. The internet is amplifying the negative effects of hate speech. I intend to work tirelessly to counter hate speech and hate crime in the EU. We trust this Code of conduct+ will do its part in ensuring a robust response. We stand, altogether, for a Europe united against hatred . Find more information in our press release . ( For more information: Thomas Regnier Tel: +32 2 299 10 99; Patricia Poropat Tel: +32 2 298 04 85 ) EU and Malaysia relaunch free trade agreement negotiations Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Prime Minister of Malaysia Anwar bin Ibrahim have announced the relaunch of negotiations for an ambitious, modern and balanced EU-Malaysia free trade agreement (FTA). The EU is Malaysia's 4th largest trade partner, with trade in goods worth 45 billion in 2023, and trade in services worth 11 billion in 2022. Deeper trade ties with Malaysia - a major economy in South-East Asia - would boost EU competitiveness and economic security through new business opportunities and stronger supply chains, unlocking new export possibilities and improving access to sources of raw materials. A statement by President von der Leyen is available online. The agreement will aim to build the EU-Malaysia partnership on robust commitments on labour rights and climate and environmental protection, while furthering the EU's strategic engagement with the rapidly growing Indo-Pacific region. The EU and Malaysia are committed to advancing swiftly in the FTA talks and aim to hold a first substantive round of negotiations in the coming months. The EU text proposals will be published after the first negotiating round, in line with the EU's transparency policy. A Sustainability Impact Assessment has also been carried out in support of the negotiations, analysing the possible economic, environmental, human rights and social impacts of the agreement. Following his meeting with Malaysian Minister for Investment, Trade and Industry Tengku Zafrul Aziz on Sunday, Commissioner for Trade and Economic Security Maros Sefcovic said: I warmly welcome the relaunch of our negotiations with Malaysia, marking the beginning of an important upgrade to our trade relationship with this vibrant economy in south-east Asia. These negotiations come at a crucial moment. In today's shifting geopolitical landscape, it is essential to build new partnerships, foster collaboration, and explore fresh opportunities. Through these talks, we are doing just that. A modern and dynamic free trade agreement will bring mutual benefits, opening doors to new business opportunities and enhancing the resilience of our supply chains. We look forward to a productive first round of negotiations in the coming months. (For more information: Olof Gill Tel.: +32 2 296 59 66; Ana Apse-Paese Tel.: +32 2 298 73 48) EU challenges China at WTO on royalties for EU high-tech sector The European Commission has requested consultations at the World Trade Organi z ation (WTO) aiming to remove unfair and illegal trade practices by China in the sphere of intellectual property . China has empowered its courts to set binding worldwide royalty rates for EU standard essential patents , without the consent of the patent owner. This pressures innovative European high-tech companies into lowering their rates on a worldwide basis, thus giving Chinese manufacturers cheaper access to those European technologies unfairly. It also unduly interferes with the competence of EU courts for European patent issues . It is the firm view of the EU Commission that such practices are inconsistent with the WTO Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS). Since no satisfactory negotiated solution has been forthcoming from China, the EU is compelled to request consultations as a first step in this dispute settlement procedure at the WTO , with the aim to ensure that its high-tech industries notably in the telecoms sector can effectively exercise their patent rights and protect their investments in innovation. Maros Sefcovic , Commissioner for Trade and Economic Security, said: The EU's vibrant high-tech industries must be allowed to compete fairly and on a level playing field. Where this is not the case, the Commission takes decisive action to protect their rights. R&D is an engine for innovation that ensures EU leadership in developing future technologies, and it needs to be properly rewarded. We challenge these unfair trading practices at the World Trade Organization. More information is available in the press release online. (For more information: Olof Gill Tel.: +32 2 296 59 66; Ana Apse-Paese Tel.: +32 2 298 73 48) La Commission sollicite differents points de vue sur le futur pacte europeen pour les oceans La Commission europeenne a lance aujourd'hui un appel a contributions pour recueillir des points de vue et faconner le pacte europeen pour les oceans . Annonce par la presidente von der Leyen dans ses orientations politiques , le pacte europeen pour les oceans vise a maintenir un ocean sain, resilient et productif; promouvoir une economie bleue durable et competitive, y compris la peche et l'aquaculture; et uvrer a la mise en place d'un agenda complet pour la connaissance, la recherche et l'innovation dans le milieu marin, ainsi que pour l'investissement. Les parties interessees auront jusqu'au 17 fevrier 2025 pour apporter leur contribution. Les commentaires recueillis serviront a faconner le pacte europeen pour les oceans, que la Commission entend presenter a temps pour la troisieme conference des Nations unies sur les oceans, qui se tiendra en juin 2025. Vous trouverez de plus amples informations sur l'appel a contributions sur notre site web et sur le portail Donnez votre avis . (Pour plus d'informations: Maciej Berestecki Tel . +32 2 29 66483 ; Anna Wartberger Tel. +32 2 298 20 54 ) Ouverture de l'appel a candidatures pour le Prix des jeunes entrepreneurs europeens La Commission europeenne a ouvert aujourd'hui les candidatures pour le Prix des jeunes entrepreneurs europeens , destine a valoriser les initiatives novatrices des jeunes a travers l'Europe. Ce prix permettra a de jeunes innovateurs d'acceder a de precieuses opportunites de mentorat et de financement. Les presentations finales auront lieu le 5 juin, a l'occasion de la Journee europeenne de l'industrie , a Rzeszow, en Pologne. Les finalistes y presenteront leurs projets a des dirigeants d'industrie, des decideurs politiques et investisseurs potentiels de toute l'Europe. Chacun des 10 finalistes recevra un accompagnement personnalise d'une valeur maximal de 20 000. Celui-ci inclut conseils d'experts de l'industrie, acces a des reseaux professionnels et outils pratiques pour les aider a developper leurs idees et a garantir leur reussite sur long terme. Le prix des jeunes entrepreneurs europeens est un concours celebrant l'innovation et l'esprit d'entreprise dans tous les secteurs. Ouvert aux entrepreneurs de moins de 40 ans issus de diverses domaines, le concours vise a donner aux jeunes pousses et aux innovateurs les competences, les connaissances et les ressources necessaires pour prosperer dans un paysage economique de plus en plus competitif. Les candidats sont invites a soumettre des projets qui correspondent aux priorites de l'Union europeenne, telles que la durabilite, la transformation numerique et les retombees sociales positives. Les inscriptions sont ouvertes jusqu'au 14 mars 2025. (Pour plus d'informations: Lea Zuber Tel.: + 32 2 295 62 98; Federica Miccoli Tel.: + 32 2 295 83 00) Commission clears acquisition of Leoni by Luxshare The European Commission has approved, under the EU Merger Regulation, the acquisition of (i) sole control of one business segment of LEONI AG (Leoni') of Germany by Luxshare Limited (Luxshare') of China; and (ii) of joint control of another business segment of Leoni by Luxshare and Mr Stefan Pierer of Austria. Currently, LEONI is ultimately solely controlled by Mr Stefan Pierer. The transaction relates primarily to the manufacturing of wiring and electronic equipment for motor vehicles. The Commission concluded that the notified transaction would not raise competition concerns, given the companies' limited combined market position resulting from the proposed transaction. The notified transaction was examined under the simplified merger review procedure. More information is available on the Commission's competition website, in the public case register under the case number M. 11783 . (For more information : Lea Zuber Tel.: +32 2 295 62 98; Sara Simonini - Tel.: +32 2 298 33 67) Commission clears acquisition of Tricentis by GTCR and Insight Partners The European Commission has approved, under the EU Merger Regulation, the acquisition of joint control of Tricentis Corporation (Tricentis') by GTCR LLC and Insight Venture Management, LLC (Insight Partners'), all of the US. The transaction relates primarily to the information technology, software and computer services sectors. The Commission concluded that the notified transaction would not raise competition concerns, given that the companies are not active in the same or vertically related markets. The notified transaction was examined under the simplified merger review procedure. More information is available on the Commission's competition website, in the public case register under the case number M.11834 . (For more information : Lea Zuber Tel.: +32 2 295 62 98; Sara Simonini - Tel.: +32 2 298 33 67) ANNOUNCEMENTS The Commission announces 116-Million Support Package for Ukrainian Children in Polish Schools, Engages in Youth Policy Dialogue In Poland, Executive Vice-President for Social Rights and Skills, Quality Jobs and Preparedness, Roxanna Minzatu , unveiled today a package to aid the integration of 30,000 Ukrainian pupils into Polish schools , together with the Polish Minister for Funds and Regional Policy, Katarzyna Peczynska-Naecz. It combines 96 million from the European Social Fund Plus ( ESF+ ) with another 20 million from the Polish government, and will be used to hire intercultural assistants, provide training for teachers, and improve psychological care, among other initiatives. Following the ceremony, Executive Vice-President Minzatu met with Ministers Barbara Nowacka (Education) and Katarzyna Kotula (Equality), and will later meet Minister of Science and Higher Education Marcin Kulasek. She will then participate in a Youth Policy Dialogue , engaging with young people from across Poland on media literacy, disinformation, and active citizenship. The dialogue will inform the Commission's Review of the Digital Education Action Plan and future Roadmap for digital education and training . On Tuesday, she will meet social partners for her first social policy dialogue and attend the informal meeting of EU education ministers, which will continue through Wednesday, and is centred on advancing quality inclusive education in the EU . Her visit concludes with meetings with European Affairs, Social Policy and Family, and Education and Science committees, and a media doorstep. Executive Vice President Minzatu said: Polish people have opened their hearts and their homes to welcome Ukrainians since Russia's illegal invasion in February 2022. Many of those fleeing were children, and continuing with school education is essential for their development. The funds announced today will support Ukrainian school children attending schools in Poland, help them better integrate into society and improve their future prospects in the labour market. Today's world is very much a digital world, and my first dialogue with young people will discuss how disinformation can thrive online. We need our young people to have the skills necessary to understand what is truth and fact, and what is fake news and disinformation. By equipping them with digital skills and boosting digital literacy, we help make young people more savvy in a digital era. With our young people more informed, our societies are more resilient. Today's Youth Policy Dialogue can be followed online from 16:00 CET. (For more information: Eva Hrncirova Tel.: +32 2 298 84 33; Anna Gray Tel.: +32 2 298 08 73) L'Eurogroupe et les ministres des affaires economiques et financieres se reunissent a Bruxelles le 20 et le 21 janvier Les ministres des finances de la zone euro et de l'UE seront a Bruxelles aujourd'hui et demain pour les reunions de l'Eurogroupe et du Conseil ECOFIN. Aujourd'hui, le commissaire Dombrovskis et la commissaire Albuquerque represente ront la Commission lors de la reunion de l'Eurogroupe . L'Eurogroupe debattra d'abord des priorites et des defis pour la zone euro dans le nouveau cycle politique. Les ministres discuteront aussi de l'utilisation de technologies innovantes dans le reglement des transactions et examineront l'etat d'avancement du projet de l'euro numerique. Le commissaire Dombrovskis participera a la conference de presse qui suivra la reunion, vers +/- 18h45 HEC. Ce soir, lors d'un diner informel organise par la presidence polonaise qui precedera la reunion de l'ECOFIN de demain, les ministres discuteront des relations economiques transatlantiques ainsi que de l'integration du marche energetique de l'UE. Demain, le vice-president executif Sejourne , le commissaire Dombrovskis et la commissaire Albuquerque representeront la Commission lors du Conseil ECOFIN . Lors du petit-dejeuner, ils procederont a un echange de vues sur l'impact economique et financier de l'agression de la Russie contre l'Ukraine, en presence du ministre ukrainien des Finances, Serhiy Marchenko. La presidence polonaise du Conseil presentera ensuite son programme de travail, suivi d'un debat politique sur la competitivite et la charge reglementaire. De plus, le Conseil devrait adopter des recommandations sur les plans budgetaires structurels a moyen terme , y compris des recommandations adressees aux Etats membres actuellement soumis a une procedure de deficit excessif. La Commission presentera le rapport sur le mecanisme d'alerte 2025 et ses recommandations sur la politique economique de la zone euro. Enfin, les ministres feront aussi le point sur la mise en uvre du mecanisme de relance et de resilience et devraient adopter des decisions d'execution approuvant les plans de relance et de resilience modifies de la Grece, de Chypre et de l'Espagne. Par ailleurs, la presidence polonaise presentera l'etat d'avancement des propositions legislatives dans le domaine des services financiers. L e commissaire Dombrovskis participera a la conference de presse qui aura lieu apres la reunion, vers +/- 14h00 HEC. (Pour plus d'informations: Balazs Ujvari - Tel.: +32 2 295 45 78; Francisca Marcal Santos - Tel.: +32 2 299 72 36 ) Commissioner Sefcovic hosts EU-India High Level Trade and Investment Dialogue Over the weekend, Commissioner for Trade and Economic Security Maros Sefcovic received in Brussels a delegation led by Minister for Commerce and Industry of India Piyush Goyal. As part of the EU-India High Level Trade and Investment Dialogue , the two sides took stock at political level of progress in the EU-India Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations, notably on core issues of economic interest to both partners. The two sides agreed to aim for a win-win outcome that supports the two economies in developing reliable clean tech supply chains fit for decades to come. Commissioner Sefcovic said: The EU-India partnership is an important one for today as well as for the years to come and therefore, we share the objective to take it to the next level. We have therefore dedicated the past two days to discussing the best way forward for our trade and investment to reach new heights. Our teams now have the necessary steer to keep up the pace in our talks . The second EU-India Trade and Technology Council (TTC) plenary meeting, expected to be scheduled soon, was also discussed, taking stock of how work is advancing in the different strands. In the margins of the High-Level Dialogue, Commissioner Sefcovic also hosted a trilateral meeting with Minister Goyal and Director-General of the World Trade Organization Ngozi Okonjo -Iweala. They exchanged views on ways to ensure that the multilateral trading system is made fit for purpose for the 21 st century. India is a strategic partner for the EU, and the Commission is committed to developing the EU-India Strategic Agenda, while engaging in advancing negotiations for a balanced, ambitious, comprehensive and mutually beneficial FTA (resumed in 2021 ) , together with the negotiations for an investment protection agreement and an agreement on geographical indications. Statements by both the Commissioner and Minister are available on EbS . (For more information: Olof Gill Tel.: +32 2 296 59 66; Ana Apse-Paese Tel.: +32 2 298 73 48) Le commissaire Brunner se rend en France pour discuter des priorites en matiere de securite et de migration Magnus Brunner , commissaire charge des Affaires interieures et de la Migration, est aujourd'hui a Paris pour rencontrer le premier ministre, Francois Bayrou, et le ministre de l'Interieur, Bruno Retailleau. Les discussions seront centrees sur les priorites essentielles dans les domaines de la securite et de la migration. Concernant la securite, les sujets de discussion porteront notamment sur la future strategie de securite interieure, le renforcement du role d'Europol, la lutte contre la drogue et la criminalite organisee, ainsi que la lutte contre le terrorisme et la prevention de la radicalisation. Quant a la migration, l'accent sera mis sur la mise en uvre du pacte sur la migration et l'asile et sur la future proposition de la Commission relative a une nouvelle legislation sur les retours. (Pour plus d'informations : Markus Lammert Tel. : + 32 2 296 75 33 ; Elettra Di Massa Tel. : + 32 2 298 21 61) Liste des points prevus a l'ordre du jour des prochaines reunions de la Commission Veuillez noter que ces informatio ns sont d onn ees so us reserve de modifications . Prochains evenements de la Commission europeenne Eurostat : communiques de presse Zarazeno po 20.01.2025 11:01:00 Zdroj Evropska komise en Original ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/api/documents?reference=MEX/25/295&language=en lang en guid /MEX/25/295/ WTO consultation on China's royalties for high-tech sector The European Commission has requested consultations at the World Trade Organization (WTO) aiming to remove unfair and illegal trade practices by China in the sphere of intellectual property. China has empowered its courts to set binding worldwide royalty rates for EU standard essential patents, without the consent of the patent owner. This pressures innovative European high-tech companies into lowering their rates on a worldwide basis, thus giving Chinese manufacturers cheaper access to those European technologies unfairly. It also unduly interferes with the competence of EU courts for European patent issues. It is the firm view of the EU Commission that such practices are inconsistent with the WTO Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS). Since no satisfactory negotiated solution has been forthcoming from China, the EU is compelled to request consultations as a first step in this dispute settlement procedure at the WTO, with the aim to ensure that its high-tech industries notably in the telecoms sector can effectively exercise their patent rights and protect their investments in innovation. Next Steps The dispute settlement consultations that the EU requested are the first step in WTO dispute settlement proceedings. If they do not lead to a satisfactory solution within 60 days, the EU can move towards the litigation phase and request that the WTO set up a panel to rule on the matter. Background This case concerns standard essential patents, which protect technologies essential for the manufacture goods that meet a standard, for example 5G for mobile phones. European companies hold many such high-tech patents, notably in the telecom sector, which give them a technological edge. By fixing worldwide royalty rates for such patents, China attempted to force EU companies to give Chinese manufacturers cheaper access to that European technology. Chinese court's practice of fixing worldwide royalty rates for standard essential patents is related to another dispute that of anti-suit injunctions also currently being challenged by the EU at the WTO. The Chinese anti-suit injunctions effectively restrain high-tech patent holders by fining or otherwise sanctioning them if they seek to enforce their intellectual property rights through a non-Chinese court. The WTO Panel established in that case (DS 611) is expected to issue a Report in the first quarter of 2025. For More Information EU Request for consultations Dispute settlement DS611 case summary Quote The EU's vibrant high-tech industries must be allowed to compete fairly and on a level playing field. Where this is not the case, the Commission takes decisive action to protect their rights. R&D is an engine for innovation that ensures EU leadership in developing future technologies, and it needs to be properly rewarded. We challenge these unfair trading practices at the World Trade Organization. Maros Sefcovic, Commissioner for Trade and Economic Security; Interinstitutional Relations and Transparency 2025-01-19 How to Choose the Best Privacy Screen Guards for Laptops, Monitors, and Mobiles in India VMPL New Delhi [India], January 20: In a world where digital security and eye health are becoming increasingly critical, privacy screen guards have emerged as essential tools for both professionals and everyday users. 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(ADVERTORIAL DISCLAIMER: The above press release has been provided by VMPL. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of the same) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) =true',550, 550)"> Jammu, Jan 20 (PTI) Senior BJP leader and former Rajya Sabha member Shamsher Singh Manhas died after a prolonged illness at his residence here on Monday, his party colleagues said. Manhas, 65, is survived by his wife, son and a daughter. Also Read | Stallion India Fluorochemicals IPO: Check GMP, Price Band, Subscription Status and Other Details. Jammu and Kashmir Lt Governor Manoj Sinha expressed grief over Manhas's death. Saddened by the demise of veteran leader and former MP Rajya Sabha He was always committed to the well-being of the people," the LG said in a post on X. Manhas, a former president of the Jammu and Kashmir unit of BJP, was sick for the past nearly six months and breathed his last at his Toph Sherkhanian residence in Jammu late this afternoon, BJP's national executive member Ravinder Raina told PTI. Also Read | ICSI CSEET Results 2025 Released: CS Executive Entrance Test Result Declared on icsi.edu, Know How to Check Result Here. Paying rich tributes to Manhas, Raina said he was a bold voice of Jammu and Kashmir who represented the people in the Rajya Sabha for five years from 2015. He was a disciplined soldier of BJP and his death is an irreparable loss to the party and the community, Raina said. People will always remember his contribution to their welfare, Raina said. (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Raipur (Chhattisgarh) [India], January 20 (ANI): A group of assistant teachers protesting against their termination on the streets of the city were detained in Raipur city, a senior police officer said. Last month, the Chhattisgarh government initiated the process to terminate over 2,800 primary school teachers holding B.Ed degrees, in compliance with the Chhattisgarh High Court order of April 2024. The HC had ruled on April 2 that B.Ed holders were not eligible for the position of primary teachers, thus allowing individuals with a Diploma in Elementary Education (D.El.Ed) to fill these roles. Also Read | Delhi Assembly Elections 2025: Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath To Hold 14 Rallies for BJP From January 23. Speaking to ANI, City Superintendent of Police, Ajay Kumar Yadav said, "These are B.Ed candidates who had been protesting against their termination. They were asked to carry out their protest legally. They had no permission to sit and protest here, despite that, they blocked the road. They were requested for about 10 hours to vacate the way since the entire city was facing troubles." According to the SP, the protest caused significant disruption in the area on Sunday, leading to the police action after prolonged attempts to resolve the situation peacefully failed. Also Read | January 20 Birthdays and Birth Anniversaries: Know About Famous People and Celebrities Born on January 20. He further added, "On the orders of the SDM, they were removed from here with the aim to clear the way." Earlier, BEd assistant teachers blocked busy Telibandha road in Raipur, in support of their demands, including job security.The demand the state government to safeguard their jobs Recently, several male B.Ed. assistant teachers tonsured their heads while female teachers also cut their hair in support of their demands. A student while being detained said, "We were just asking for our rights. Whoever is responsible this, why are being punished for this?" A protestor while being detained told ANI, "Our children have been protesting here for a month. That's why we parents have come here. And you see what our regime is doing today, they are dragging us like animals. We are not thieves, robbers or Naxalites, we are the parents of teachers." Notably, the Chhattisgarh High Court in its judgement had pronounced B.Ed teachers, who have been doing government job for the last 15 months, ineligible for the post. (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], January 20 (ANI): Delhi Police has busted an interstate gang of illegal firearm suppliers with the arrest of its three members and recovery of several firearms. The operation was carried out by the team of Special Staff of Delhi Police of North district. The recovered items included five semi-automatic pistols, six country-made pistols (desi kata) and 28 live cartridges. Also Read | Beant Singh Assassination Case: 'Take Decision on Balwant Singh Rajoana's Mercy Petition by March 18': Supreme Court Issues Deadline to Centre. According to the Delhi Police, the accused were also involved in supplying firearms to criminals involved in the infamous Pragati Maidan Tunnel Robbery case of 2023. Among the three accused, two of them have been involved in the supplying of illegal firearms for the past 20 years. Also Read | RG Kar Rape-Murder Case Verdict: Victim's Father Demands Maximum Punishment for Convict Sanjay Roy Ahead of Sentence Pronouncement, Heavy Security Outside Sealdah Court. This comes ahead of the Delhi assembly polls scheduled to be held on February 5 as the Model Code of Conduct is enforced. Earlier on January 19, Delhi Police nabbed a liquor supplier for smuggling and transporting illicit liquor across the Haryana-Delhi border ahead of Republic Day and the upcoming Delhi Assembly elections. The incident occurred at around 7.15 am on Sunday. The Anti-Narcotics team of the South-West District apprehended one supplier and seized one van along with a consignment of illicit liquor, including Desi and English whiskey. The accused has been identified as Sagar @Monti, a resident of Ratiram Bag, Village Palam, New Delhi. He was caught while attempting to smuggle a large consignment of illicit liquor into Delhi from Haryana while one of the main accused Amit Palamia has escaped from the spot. The action was taken after the police received the secret information that a notorious liquor supplier, Amit Palamia is attempting to transport illicit liquor into Delhi. Acting on the information, the police laid a trap near the Green Orchid Farm on the Dwarka Expressway, where they intercepted a van. (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], January 20 (ANI): The 7th India-France Maritime Cooperation Dialogue held in New Delhi focused on discussions on enhancing cooperation in the Indian Ocean Region and reaffirmed both countries shared vision for maritime security. The dialogue held on January 14 co-chaired by Pavan Kapoor, Deputy National Security Advisor, National Security Council Secretariat, India, and Alice Rufo, Director General for International Relations and Strategy, Ministry for the Armed Forces, France, according to an official release from Ministry of External Affairs. Also Read | January 21 Birthdays and Birth Anniversaries: Know About Famous People and Celebrities Born on January 21. According to the release, both countries discussed enhancing their cooperation in the Indian Ocean Region and reaffirmed their shared vision for maritime security, a key element of the India-France Strategic Partnership. India and France reiterated their strong commitment to upholding international law, supporting multilateralism, including through regional organisations, respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, and protecting freedom of navigation, the release added. Also Read | Kanpur Shocker: Couple Dies Suicide by Consuming Poison in Uttar Pradesh, Probe Underway. Recalling their vision for a free and open Indian Ocean Region, first expressed in the 'Joint Strategic Vision of India-France Cooperation in the Indian Ocean Region' in 2018, India and France agreed to support free and secure access to sea lanes of communications through collaboration between their maritime assets and organisations. France welcomed the participation of the Indian Navy in the Combined Maritime Forces and looks forward to India's leadership of the appropriate Combined Task Forces, the release stated. India and France agreed to develop a joint assessment of the threats to maritime security in the region; to counter illicit maritime activities, including piracy and armed robbery, maritime terrorism, contraband smuggling, Illegal Unreported and Unregulated fishing; hybrid as well as cyber security threats and marine pollution. Both countries agreed to strengthen existing mechanisms of cooperation such as implementation of the agreed framework of exchange of information through enhanced information exchange between Information Fusion Centre-Indian Ocean Region, Gurugram and Regional Coordination Operations Centre, Seychelles and Regional Maritime Information Fusion Centre, Madagascar in the Indian Ocean Region and explore opportunities for coordinated surveillance whilst deployed to counter threats to maritime security in the region. India and France committed to mutually support each other in maritime security engagements and constructs, the release stated. As part of their joint commitment towards the conservation of biodiversity and the protection of oceans, India and France also agreed to preserve marine resources in the Indian Ocean Region, through the United Nations Ocean Conference. Both countries welcomed the progress made on biodiversity and blue economy during the last bilateral dialogue on blue economy and ocean governance, and agreed to pursue cooperation at the regional level, as members of the Indian Ocean Rim Association, the release added (ANI) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Mahakumbh Nagar (UP), Jan 20 (PTI) Abhay Singh, who gained fame as 'IITan Baba' at the Maha Kumbh with the claim of being an aerospace engineer from IIT-Bombay, has been banned from the Juna Akhara camp, with its spokesperson describing him as "educated lunatic" who "abused" his guru. Juna Akhara's international spokesperson Srimahant Narayan Giri said Abhay Singh's act goes against the guru-disciple tradition and sanyas (renunciation). Also Read | Stallion India Fluorochemicals IPO: Check GMP, Price Band, Subscription Status and Other Details. "He (Singh) had not become a sadhu. He came here from Lucknow just like that and was roaming around as a self-proclaimed sadhu," Giri told PTI on Monday. According to him, Singh had come to the Maha Kumbh in Prayagraj with Mahant Someshwar Guru. "He is an educated lunatic. He used abusive language against his Guru Mahant Someshwar Puri on social media. So he has been banned from coming to the akhara camp and its surroundings," Giri said. Also Read | ICSI CSEET Results 2025 Released: CS Executive Entrance Test Result Declared on icsi.edu, Know How to Check Result Here. Reacting to the development, Singh said on social media that he left the akhara when its members refused to let him stay there. Asserting that he had plans to stay at the akhara for four-five days to observe its functioning, he said that everything went wrong after gaining fame. Juna Akhara's international spokesperson said that discipline is paramount at the akhara and one who does not have respect for the guru will not have any respect for the Sanatan Dharma either. "Every member of the Akhara has to live in discipline. But Abhay Singh broke this tradition by insulting his guru. In view of this, the disciplinary committee of the akhara recommended action against him and he was expelled," Giri added. When asked about his expulsion, Singh said, "When the akhara refused to let me come, I left from there. After all, it is their property." To a question who his Guru is, he said, "I learn from whoever I meet. Even in the akhara, it was Lord Shiva who taught me how to meditate. My parents spent money on my education, but where was the love?" "My plan was to stay there for four to five days, and I had come to see the work of the Akharas. But after gaining fame, everything went wrong," Singh added. (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Mahakumbh Nagar (UP), Jan 20 (PTI) Inspired by a 2,500-year-old Persian technique, pontoon bridges are serving as a vital link between the Sangam and the 4,000-hectare 'akhada' areas, connecting 25 vibrant sectors at the Maha Kumbh. More than 1,000 people worked at least 10 hours a day for over a year to construct pontoons for 30 bridges, claimed to be the largest such project till date. Also Read | Delhi Weather Forecast and AQI Update: Air Quality in National Capital Plummets to 'Very Poor' Category Amid Cold Wave, Rainfall Likely on January 22 and 23. Over 2,200 black floating iron capsules, weighing five tonnes each, have been used to construct the bridges for facilitating the movement of vehicles, pilgrims, sadhus and workers at the world's largest cultural-cum-spiritual event. Each bridge, being called a floating marvel, can withstand up to five tonnes. Also Read | Magic Mushroom Not Narcotic Substance Under NDPS Act: Kerala High Court Grants Bail to Man Accused of Possessing 276 Grams of Magic Mushrooms Containing Psilocybin. The bridges are serving as vital links between the Sangam and the akhada areas, said Mahakumbh Nagar Additional District Magistrate Vivek Chaturvedi. "The bridges are an integral part of the Maha Kumbh, offering a low-maintenance solution for the vast crowds. However, their operation requires constant monitoring, ensuring the safety and the smooth movement of devotees round-the-clock. We have CCTV cameras on each bridge and the footage is constantly monitored through the Integrated Command and Control Centre," he told PTI. "Each bridge underwent several tests before being deemed fit for use. They are designed in such a way that they can handle the passage of a large number of people simultaneously," he added. The pontoon bridges were first used in 480 BC by Persian king Xerxes I during his invasion of Greece. These bridges were also used by the Zhou dynasty in China during the 11th century BC. In India, the first pipa bridge was built in October 1874 over the Hooghly river between Howrah and Kolkata. Designed by British engineer Sir Bradford Leslie, the bridge was supported by wooden pontoons. Damaged by a cyclone, it was eventually dismantled in 1943. The Rabindra Setu, famously known as the Howrah Bridge, was constructed in its place. Maha Kumbh, a mega-religious event, organised every 12 years, is being held in Prayagraj from January 13 and will continue for 45 days. More than seven crore pilgrims have so far taken a holy dip at the Sangam -- the confluence of the Ganga, Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati rivers. Alok Kumar, an engineer from the public works department, explained that pipa bridges were temporary structures built with large hollow iron containers (pontoons) floating on the water surface. These are commonly called "pipe ka pul" in Prayagraj. "These bridges have been built to facilitate movement not only for the public but also the grand entry of 13 akhadas, chariots, elephants, horses and more than 1,000 vehicles during the Amrit Snan," Kumar said. He said he was entrusted with the task of building pipa bridges in August 2023. "To construct 30 pipa bridges, 2,213 pontoons were used -- the highest number ever. More than 1,000 workers, engineers and officials worked tirelessly, often for 14 hours a day. The construction of these bridges was completed last October and subsequently handed over to the mela administration," he said. "The construction of 30 pipa bridges over the Ganga for the Maha Kumbh is the largest such project till date. After the fair's conclusion, these bridges will be dismantled and stored for future use at other locations," he added. The hollow pontoons, made of strong iron sheets, are lowered into the river with the help of cranes. Girder beams are then placed on them and secured with nuts and bolts. Hydraulic machines are used to accurately position the pontoons. Thick wooden planks, sandy soil and iron angles are used to further stabilise the bridges. Finally, checker plates are laid on the surface to ensure the bridge remains strong for the movement of pilgrims and vehicles. "Each pontoon weighs about five tonnes, yet it floats. The secret lies in Archimedes' principle. When an object is submerged in water, it experiences an upward force equal to the weight of the water displaced by it. This principle helps the heavy pontoons stay float," Kumar said. "The design of the bridges is such that they can withstand up to five tonnes of weight. If the weight exceeds this limit, there is a risk of the bridge being damaged or sinking. Therefore, crowd management is crucial," he added. Uttar Pradesh government officials said construction of the 30 pipa bridges cost Rs 17.31 crore. "The bridge from the Shri Nagvasuki Temple to Jhusi is the most expensive, costing Rs 1.13 crore. The Gangeshwar and the Bharadwaj bridges cost between Rs 50 lakh and Rs 89 lakh," a senior government official said. "After the Maha Kumbh, these bridges will be disassembled and stored in safe locations. Some of the bridges will be stored in Sarainayat (Kenihar), Trivenipuram, and Parade Ground in Prayagraj. Others may be repurposed as temporary bridges in various districts of Uttar Pradesh," 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) Sopore (Jammu and Kashmir) [India], January 20 (ANI): The search operations are underway in Jammu and Kashmir's Sopore district to track down terrorists. The search operation is being carried out by the Kashmir Police, Indian Army and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) at Zaloora village near Sopore. Also Read | How To Buy Trump Coin, Melania Coin? Check Step-by-Step Guide To Get $TRUMP and $MELANIA Cryptocurrency Tokens on Different Crypto Exchange. This comes after Security forces and police busted a hideout during a cordon and search operation in Sopore, police said on Sunday. The CASO was launched in the area of Zaloora. The area has been cordoned off after gunshots were heard in the area. Also Read | Uniform Civil Code: Uttarakhand Cabinet Approves UCC Manual; Dates of Implementation To Be Announced Soon, Asserts CM Pushkar Singh Dhami. "During a CASO launched by Police & SFs at Zaloora, Sopore a hideout was busted. During the same, fire was observed from inside. Area cordoned off," Kashmir Zone Police said in a post on X on Sunday. (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, January 20: On a crisp Monday morning, as the cold wave gripped Srinagar, the iconic Dal Lake stood as a breathtaking canvas, its surface glistening under a thin layer of frost. As per the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), a cold wave is continuing in Srinagar, with temperatures dipping to a low of -2C. The city is expected to see a maximum temperature of 7C, accompanied by a partly cloudy sky throughout the day. Chilly Bhallesa of Doda district has also turned into a picturesque white wonderland after snowfall. Meanwhile, a huge influx of tourists thronged to the famous Guldanda meadow of Jammu and Kashmir's Bhaderwah. This comes after the authorities allowed traffic movement on the Bhaderwah-Pathankot National Highway after the clearance of snow up to Guldanda. The Gulanda meadow is covered in a large amount of snow which tourists were seen enjoying. Jammu and Kashmir Weather Forecast: IMD Predicts Rain, Snowfall in Coming 5 Days As Bandipora Receives Fresh Snowfall. This site of Bhaderwah has emerged as a favourite destination of the Jammu region as tourists are thronging from different parts of the country to enjoy the mundane beauty. The snow-filled Guldanda meadow of Bhaderwah, located at a height of more than 10,000 feet above sea level, is attracting the heavy influx of tourists to enjoy the snow in the famous tourist destination of the Jammu region in the territory. Weather Forecast: IMD Predicts Rain and Snowfall in Jammu-Kashmir, Ladakh, and Himachal Pradesh Today. Thin Layer of Frost Blankets Dal Lake #WATCH | J&K | Scenic visuals emerge from Srinagar's Dal lake amidst the cold wave. As per the IMD, the lowest temperature in Srinagar is -2C and the maximum is 7C with a forecast of a partly cloudy sky. pic.twitter.com/0sSPnBq1PB ANI (@ANI) January 20, 2025 Bhallesa Turns Into Winter Wonderland #WATCH | J&K: Bhalessa area of Doda turns into a winter wonderland after fresh snowfall pic.twitter.com/B3U99WQGKO ANI (@ANI) January 19, 2025 Tourists are also enjoying the beauty of snow at Guldanda Meadow and describing it as one of the best places to visit. They also appealed to others to visit Bhaderwah and explore it. It is notable that after a heavy snowfall, the roads leading to Guldanda and other tourist destinations were closed but with the efforts of the District Administration led by DC Doda Harvinder Singh and BRO, the Bhaderwah-Basholi-Pathankot highway has been restored and traffic movement has been allowed for the visitors. (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Nandurbar (Maharashtra) [India], January 20 (ANI): An incident of stone pelting occurred in Maharashtra's Nandurbar city after two groups came face to face following an accident between a rickshaw and a motorcycle, the police said on Monday. According to the police, the incident happened after an accident occurred in the city. Also Read | Stocks To Buy or Sell Today, January 20, 2025: Dixon Technologies, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Titan Among Shares That May Remain in Spotlight on Monday. Police forces are deployed on the spot to control the situation. There have been no property damage or casualties reported yet. "Around 10 pm yesterday, people of a particular community started pelting stones. Earlier in the day, an offence was registered about an incident, in the background of which the stone pelting took place. Police forces deployed on the spot controlled the situation, as a result of which violence did not spread to other areas. No property damage or casualty has been reported. Registration of the offence is being done. We have identified a few suspects..." ASP Shravan S Dutt said. Also Read | Delhi Assembly Elections 2025: Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath To Hold 14 Rallies for BJP From January 23. Further details are awaited. (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, Jan 20 (PTI) The NHRC on Monday said it issued a notice to the Kerala government and the state's police chief over reports alleging sexual abuse of a Scheduled Caste girl in Pathanamthitta district. The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) observed in a statement that the content of the media report, if true, raised a serious issue of the girl's human rights violation. Also Read | January 21 Birthdays and Birth Anniversaries: Know About Famous People and Celebrities Born on January 21. According to the media report, published on January 15, the girl -- now 18 years old -- had alleged in her complaint that she was sexually abused by several individuals, it said. The matter came to light during counselling conducted by the Child Welfare Committee after her teachers at an educational institution informed the panel about noticeable changes in her behaviour, the NHRC said in the statement. Also Read | Kanpur Shocker: Couple Dies Suicide by Consuming Poison in Uttar Pradesh, Probe Underway. The NHRC "has taken suo motu cognisance of the reported sexual abuse of a girl belonging to the Scheduled Caste in Pathanamthitta district of Kerala and arrest of 44 people so far out of 59 accused in the 30 FIRs in the matter". "Reportedly, two of the accused are absconding abroad and the remaining 13 others are yet to be arrested," it added. The commission has issued notices to the Kerala chief secretary and the director general of police, seeking a detailed report. The report is expected to include the status of the FIR, the girl's health and medical care, counselling and compensation, if any, provided to her in the matter, within two weeks, the rights panel said. (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Jaipur (Rajasthan) [India], January 20 (ANI): Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma on Monday while addressing the pre-budget discussion held in two sessions said that there is immense potential for industry in the state, and industry and service sectors, contribute three-fourth to the economy of Rajasthan, as per a release by the CMO. He said that the state government is creating a favourable environment for both these sectors so that the resolution of taking the state's economy to 350 billion dollars could be fulfilled. Also Read | January 21 Birthdays and Birth Anniversaries: Know About Famous People and Celebrities Born on January 21. He further said that after proper examination of the suggestions of the representatives, every possible effort would be made to include them in the upcoming budget 2025-26, the release stated. The session was attended by representatives of industry, trade, tax advisory associations and service sector at the Chief Minister's Office on Monday. Also Read | Kanpur Shocker: Couple Dies Suicide by Consuming Poison in Uttar Pradesh, Probe Underway. The Chief Minister further said that along with strengthening the economy, industrial growth also provides employment opportunities to the people. He further said that in the very first year of its tenure, the state government had taken decisions like organizing the Rising Rajasthan Summit, implementing new policies for the economic sector, signing big investment agreements, which gave a new impetus to the economic direction in the state. The Chief Minister said that due to the efforts of the state government, today Rajasthan is creating a special identity in all sectors like industrial development, investment, health, education, tourism. Due to the investment friendly policies of the state, registrations of MSMEs are increasing rapidly. In the last one year, about 5 lakh micro, small and medium enterprises have been registered and Rajasthan ranks fourth in the registration of MSME units. He further said that Rajasthan, the country's largest state, was now becoming a land of great opportunities. The state had also become a leading state in solar and wind energy production. Sharma said that the government had strengthened the state's economy with efficient financial management in a short period, as a result of which the growth rate of GSDP in 2024 has been recorded at 12.56 percent. He said the state's capital expenditure was also increased by 65.94 percent. The Chief Minister said that Rajasthan Investment Promotion Scheme-2024 has been brought by the state government, which will promote balanced and inclusive development and employment opportunities of the state. Sharma further said that the government is committed to the overall development of agriculture and farmers. The government transferred the additional installment of Kisan Samman Nidhi amounting to Rs 650 crore directly into the bank accounts of 66 lakh farmers. For the first time in the history of Rajasthan, such a huge amount was directly transferred to the bank accounts of the farmers of our state by the state government. He said that the state government has given financial approval for setting up 11 new industrial areas, allotment of plots to five new Ram Janaki industrial areas. Various steps have been taken for industrial development including financial approval and land allotment for Unity Mall. Sharma further said that tax was not just a medium of revenue collection, but it was the basis of development of the state. The state government is working by imbibing the principle that the tax income should be used for maximum public welfare works. He said that work was being done to spread the benefits of development to every section of society by spending the revenue earned through taxes in the areas of education, health, infrastructure and social welfare. The Chief Minister said that the state government had taken unprecedented decisions to provide relief to the common people. "Our government rationalized the prevailing VAT rates on diesel and petrol and reduced them by 2 percent, as a result of which there was uniformity in the rates and oil was available to the common man at cheaper rates," the CM said. The VAT rate of CNG and PNG was reduced from 14.5 percent to 10 percent. During this, the industrialists expressed gratitude to the Chief Minister for successfully organizing the Rising Rajasthan Summit. The meeting was attended by CII, Rajasthan Chambers of Commerce and Industries, Forty Rajasthan Chapter Dalit Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industries, Bharatiya Udyog Vyapar Mandal, Rajasthan Food Products Trade Association, Garment Export Association of Rajasthan, Rajasthan Sarafa Association, ASSOCHAM, FICCI and Rajasthan Tax Bar Association. Rajasthan Tax Consultant Association, Laghu Udyog Bharti, Rewari Industrial Association, Federation of Mines Association, Vishwakarma Industrial Organization, Kota Industries Association, Steel Chambers, Soap Manufacturing were also present. Representatives of organizations from various sectors including oil, cement, plastic, ceramic, township, real estate, and textile were present. On this occasion, Deputy Chief Minister Diya Kumari, Industries Minister Colonel Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, Minister of State for Industries KK Vishnoi, Additional Chief Secretary Energy Alok, Additional Chief Secretary Finance Akhil Arora, Additional Chief Secretary (Chief Minister's Office) were also present. Shikhar Aggarwal, Principal Secretary to the Government Industries, Ajitabh Sharma, Principal Secretary to the Government Revenue, Dinesh Kumar, Principal Secretary to the Autonomous Government Department, Rajesh Yadav and Principal Secretary to the Government Urban Development, Vaibhav Galaria and other concerned officers were present. (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], January 20 (ANI): The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed the plea filed by the mother of Atul Subhash, a Bengaluru techie who died by suicide in 2024, seeking custody of her four-year-old grandson. A bench of Justices BV Nagarathna and Justice Satish Chandra Sharma interacted with the child through video conferencing before allowing him to remain with the mother Nikita Singhania. Also Read | Kanpur Shocker: Couple Dies Suicide by Consuming Poison in Uttar Pradesh, Probe Underway. Earlier, the apex court had said that the issue of custody of Subhas's child could be raised before the court conducting the trial. The top court while hearing a habeas corpus plea filed by Subhash's mother Anju Devi seeking the custody of her grandson had even remarked that she was "stranger to the child". Also Read | Delhi Assembly Elections 2025: Employment for Youngsters Will Be My Top Priority in Next 5 Years, Says AAP Supremo Arvind Kejriwal (Watch Video). 34-year-old Subhash was found hanging at his house in Bengaluru's Munnekolalu on December 9, 2024, leaving behind video and written notes, alleging harassment by his estranged wife, Nikita Singhania, and his in-laws. Later they were arrested on charges of abetting Subhash's suicide and granted conditional bail. On January 4, Bengaluru's City Civil Court granted bail to Nikita Singhania, wife of Atul Subhash who died by suicide along with Nisha Singhania, Mother in law and Anurag Singhania, Brother in law. The alleged accused in the case--Nikita Singhania, Nisha Singhania, and Anurag Singhania--were arrested on December 15. After the arrest, all three accused were remanded to judicial custody. (ANI) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Jammu, Jan 20 (PTI) Security has been beefed up in Jammu ahead of Republic Day celebrations, with the police making the M A Stadium, the main venue of the function, out of bounds for public as a precautionary measure. The security wing of the Jammu and Kashmir Police has taken control of the stadium, where Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha will preside over the Republic Day function with Chief Minister Omar Abdullah as the chief guest. Also Read | Ravi Teja Shot Dead in US: 26-Year-Old Student From Hyderabad Killed by Unidentified Assailants in Washington DC (See Pics and Videos). "The security has been beefed up ahead of Republic Day. The security wing of police has taken charge of the main venue," a senior police official said. Officials said that the venue has been restricted to the general public as a security measure. Sanitization of the main venue and its surrounding areas has been completed, they added. Also Read | Bengaluru: Youth Attempts Suicide by Jumping in Front of Train at Jalahalli Metro Station, Miraculously Saved As Train Stops Just in Time. Station house officers and sub-divisional officers have been directed to conduct checks in their respective areas and maintain round-the-clock vigilance to ensure incident-free Republic Day celebrations. Lieutenant Governor Sinha will preside over and take the salute at the main function at M A Stadium in Jammu. Chief Minister Abdullah will be the chief guest at the event. Deputy Chief Minister Surinder Choudhary and Cabinet ministers Javid Ahmad Dar, Sakina Itto, Satish Sharma, and Javed Rana will take the salute at functions in Srinagar, Baramulla, Anantnag, Kathua, and Udhampur districts, respectively, as per an order issued by the General Administration Department. In the remaining 14 districts, respective District Development Council (DDC) chairpersons will take the salute at the main functions to be held at the district headquarters. The security forces have intensified checking of vehicles and pedestrians across several parts of the Jammu region, particularly in border areas, the officials said. 'Nakas' and mobile vehicle checkpoints (MVCP) have been set up at intersections within the city, and its entry and exit points, they added. Police and CRPF personnel have been deployed in key areas, the officials said. Security arrangements across the Jammu region have been bolstered, with personnel from the Army, BSF, CRPF, police, and village defence guards (VDGs) maintaining heightened vigilance along the International Border (IB), Line of Control (LoC), and in sensitive hinterland areas of various hilly and border districts. Patrolling along the IB and LoC by the BSF and Army has been intensified, while border police units and members of VDGs have been activated to prevent any infiltration attempts. (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Srinagar, Jan 20 (PTI) An Indian Army soldier was killed following an overnight encounter with terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir's Sopore area, officials said on Monday. Sepoy Pangala Kartheek was injured in the exchange of fire with terrorists in a hideout at Zaloora Gujjarpati in Sopore police district and died as he was being evacuated from the scene of the gunbattle, they said. Also Read | Uniform Civil Code in Uttarakhand: Marriage Registration, Live-In Provisions Retained; Personal Law Disputes Excluded As UCC Approved by State Government. Security forces laid out a cordon on Sunday when they noticed fire while busting a militant hideout. They maintained tight vigil at Zaloora Gujjarpati during the night and intensified searches for suspected terrorists in the area this morning, the officials said. "All Ranks of the Chinar Corps salute the supreme sacrifice of Braveheart Swr Pangala Kartheek, who laid down his life in the line of duty. Chinar Warriors salute his immense valour and sacrifice, express deepest condolences and stand in solidarity with the bereaved family," Srinagar-based Chinar Corps of the army posted on its X handle. Also Read | Union Budget 2025-26: COAI Releases Recommendations to Ministry of Finance, Calls for Further Reforms To Revitalise Telecom Industry. (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Jaipur, January 20: A first-year student of Malaviya National Institute of Technology (MNIT) here allegedly committed suicide by jumping from sixth floor of the college hostel, police said on Monday. A suicide note was found at the spot but police did not divulge the details. Assistant Commissioner of Police, Malviya Nagar, Aditya Poonia said Divya Raj (21), a first-year student of B.Arch at MNIT and a resident of Pali district, jumped from the sixth floor of the college hostel on Sunday night. Jaipur: Man Attempting Suicide Saved in Rajasthan After Friend Saw His Facebook Livestream. "The body has been shifted to the mortuary of Jaipuria hospital for post-mortem examination, " he said. Suicide Prevention or Mental Health Helpline Numbers: Tele Manas (Ministry of Health) 14416 or 1800 891 4416; NIMHANS 080-46110007; Peak Mind 080-456 87786; Vandrevala Foundation 9999 666 555; Arpita Suicide Prevention Helpline 080-23655557; iCALL 022-25521111 and 9152987821; COOJ Mental Health Foundation (COOJ) 8322252525. (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Adilabad, January 20: A van carrying around 60 devotees en route to a temple overturned on a ghat road near Malepur village in Narnoor area and many were injured, police said. According to the police, the injured devotees, all from Suryaguda village, were rushed to a nearby hospital for treatment. Sub Inspector from Narnoor Police Station said, "The van overturned while travelling through the ghat road on Sunday. We are currently investigating the situation and providing assistance to the injured." Further details about the accident are awaited. Suryapet Road Accident: 2 Dead, 5 Others Injured After Private Bus Hits Another Vehicle While Overspeeding Near SV College in Telangana. On Saturday, at least two people were killed and four others were injured in a road accident near Venkateshwara Engineering College in Suryapet. The incident occurred around 2 am when a private bus travelling from Guntur to Hyderabad collided with another bus from behind. The Suryapet police attributed the accident to overspeeding. Telangana Road Accident: 2 Killed, 2 Others Injured As Speeding Car Rams Into Lorry on Warangal-Hyderabad Highway; Disturbing Videos Surface. The inspector of the Suryapet police station said, "An accident occurred around 2 am this morning near Venkateshwara Engineering College in Suryapet, where a private travels bus travelling from Guntur to Hyderabad collided with another bus from behind due to overspeeding." According to the police officials, "Two people died, one is in serious condition, and three others suffered injuries in the accident. We have registered a case and shifted the bodies to Post Mortem Examination (PME) centre." (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Dehradun, January 20: A cabinet meeting was held on Monday at the State Secretariat under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, where the cabinet approved the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) manual. The approval follows a thorough scrutiny by the legislative Department, which had already reviewed the manual. On UCC, Uttarakhand CM Pushkar Singh Dhami Said that our government kept the promises we made before the 2022 elections. He asserted that the dates of implementation will be announced soon. No Guidelines Issued to States to Implement Uniform Civil Code: Centre. "We had promised the people of Uttarakhand in 2022 that we would bring the UCC Bill as soon as our government was formed. We brought it. The draft committee drafted it, it was passed, the President approved it and it became an act. The process of training is also almost complete... After analysing everything, we will announce the dates soon," Dhami said to media persons after the meeting. Uniform Civil Code in Uttarakhand: UCC To Be Implemented in State This Month, Says CM Pushkar Singh Dhami. The BJP government introduced the UCC Bill during a special session of the Uttarakhand Legislative Assembly on February 6 this year and it was passed with a comfortable majority a day later on February 7. Following the Uttarakhand Assembly, the UCC Bill was passed in February, and President Droupadi Murmu signed it on March 13, paving the way for Uttarakhand to potentially become the first state in India to enact the UCC. The Uniform Civil Code seeks to establish a set of uniform personal laws that apply to all citizens, regardless of religion, gender, or caste. This would cover aspects such as marriage, divorce, adoption, inheritance, and succession. (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Dehradun (Uttarakhand) [India], January 20 (ANI): Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Monday appealed to the people to vote in favour of BJP's Dehradun Municipal Corporation mayor candidate Saurabh Thapliyal and all BJP councillor candidates in the upcoming civic polls. Addressing a gathering at an OBC conference in Dehradun, Dhami highlighted the BJP government's commitment to the upliftment of the exploited, deprived, and backward classes. He emphasised that the benefits of various public welfare schemes launched by the BJP government are reaching every section of society. Also Read | January 21 Birthdays and Birth Anniversaries: Know About Famous People and Celebrities Born on January 21. Dhami also expressed the BJP's commitment towards the OBC society, stating that concrete work has been done for the OBC society for the first time after independence. He added that the BJP has taken a bold decision by implementing OBC reservation in 30 municipal bodies and mayor posts in the civic elections. The Chief Minister described the government's achievements, including implementing a strict anti-conversion law, taking action against land jihad, and freeing over 5,500 acres of land from encroachment. He also mentioned that Uttarakhand is soon going to become the first state in the country to implement the Uniform Civil Code. Also Read | Kanpur Shocker: Couple Dies Suicide by Consuming Poison in Uttar Pradesh, Probe Underway. Accusing the Congress of doing politics of lies, confusion, and appeasement, Dhami appealed to the people to support the BJP. Furthermore, CM Dhami participated in the 'OBC Sammelan' organised in Niranjanpur, Dehradun. The Chief Minister has been actively campaigning for the BJP in the upcoming municipal corporation elections. He addressed a public meeting in Rishikesh, seeking support for mayoral candidate Shri Shambhu Paswan and other councillor candidates from the city. Dhami expressed confidence that the people of Rishikesh would once again support the BJP, forming a "triple engine government" in the civic elections. Additionally, he participated in a roadshow in support of BJP's municipal president candidate, Kishore Bhatt and other councillor candidates from the Uttarkashi Municipal Area. He reiterated his confidence that a triple-engine government would be formed in all municipal bodies across the state, given the overwhelming public support. The State Election Commission of Uttarakhand has officially announced the dates for the Municipal Local Body General Elections for the year 2024-25. The elections will be held for 11 municipal corporations, 43 municipal councils, and 46 Nagar Panchayats across the state on January 23, with the counting of votes scheduled for January 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, Jan 20 (PTI) The Delhi Police Monday said it has busted an interstate gang of firearms suppliers operating in the national capital, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh with the arrest of three persons. An official said that police have recovered five semi-automatic pistols, six country-made pistols and 28 live cartridges from the accused. Also Read | 8th Pay Commission for Pensioners: What Will Be Minimum Pension if Fitment Factor Raised to 2.86? Check Details Here. The investigation into the matter began on December 15 last year, when the police received information about Kuldeep, a known criminal, planning a robbery in Delhi's Burari area. The accused was arrested and a semi-automatic pistol was seized from him, the police official said. "Kuldeep was previously implicated in the 2023 Pragati Maidan tunnel robbery case. Interrogation revealed that after securing bail in that case, he reconnected with Pradeep, a co-accused, who introduced him to arms dealer Praveen. Kuldeep admitted to purchasing illegal firearms from Praveen," Deputy Commissioner of Police (North) Raja Banthia said. Also Read | How To Buy Trump Coin, Melania Coin? Check Step-by-Step Guide To Get $TRUMP and $MELANIA Cryptocurrency Tokens on Different Crypto Exchange. The officer further said that following Kuldeep's arrest, the team tracked Praveen's movements across Uttar Pradesh and Haryana. The police deployed two teams to Meerut and Bagpat to monitor his activities. On January 14, Praveen was apprehended in Rohtak in Haryana, the DCP said. Praveen's disclosure led to a recovery of two semi-automatic pistols, six country-made pistols and 22 live cartridges from Meerut. He confessed to supplying weapons for over two decades, including to criminals involved in the Pragati Maidan tunnel robbery. Further interrogation pointed to Julfiqar alias Hazi Guddu, a 52-year-old arms supplier based in Meerut. On January 16, police apprehended Julfiqar and seized two semi-automatic pistols and six cartridges from his house, police said. According to them, Julfiqar was previously linked to an illegal firearms factory in Muradnagar in 2021. (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, Jan 20 (PTI) Issues pertaining to the proposed free trade agreement (FTA) between India and Oman are expected to figure during the visit of Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal to Muscat next week, an official said. Though the negotiations for the proposed agreement were concluded, Oman has sought revision of its market access offers on some products. Also Read | 8th Pay Commission for Pensioners: What Will Be Minimum Pension if Fitment Factor Raised to 2.86? Check Details Here. On January 14, India and Oman held the fifth round of talks for the agreement, which is aimed at boosting bilateral economic ties. The negotiations for the agreement, officially dubbed as Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), formally began in November 2023. In such agreements, two trading partners either significantly reduce or eliminate customs duties on a maximum number of goods traded between them. Also Read | How To Buy Trump Coin, Melania Coin? Check Step-by-Step Guide To Get $TRUMP and $MELANIA Cryptocurrency Tokens on Different Crypto Exchange. They also ease norms to promote trade in services and attract investments. The official said the Union minister is visiting the West Asian nation for the eleventh session of the India-Oman Joint Commission Meeting (JCM). The two-day meetings will start on January 27. The tenth meeting was held here in May 2022. Ways to promote bilateral trade and the proposed FTA may figure in the meetings, the official said. Oman is the third largest export destination among the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries for India. India already has a similar agreement with another GCC member UAE which came into effect in May 2022. The bilateral trade has declined to USD 8.94 billion (exports USD 4.42 billion and imports USD 4.5 billion) in 2023-24 from USD 12.39 billion (exports USD 4.47 billion and imports USD 7.91 billion) in 2022-23. India's key imports are petroleum products and urea. These account for over 70 per cent of imports. Other key products are propylene and ethylene polymers, pet coke, gypsum, chemicals, and iron and steel. According to the think tank GTRI (Global Trade Research Institute), Indian goods worth USD 3.7 billion like gasoline, iron and steel, electronics, and machinery may get a significant boost in Oman, once both sides reach a comprehensive free trade agreement. These goods at present face a 5 per cent import duty in Oman. Oman's import duty ranges from 0 to 100 per cent along with the existence of specific duties. A duty of 100 per cent is applicable on specific meats, wines and tobacco products. Reduction in import duties under the CEPA will allow Indian products to enter the Omani market at competitive prices. With a population of 1.4 billion compared to Oman's 5 million, India represents a vast consumer market for Oman. However, Oman's higher per capita income (USD 25,060) compared to India's (USD 2,370) could mean a demand for more diversified and possibly higher-value goods and services in Oman, which India could aim to supply, the GTRI has 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, Jan 20 (PTI) Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Monday said the country will safeguard the interests of small and medium units in the diamond industry and has requested the EU to extend the deadline for technology-based certification in the sector. The minister, who is in Brussels, met with the delegation of Antwerp World Diamond Centre (AWDC) and conveyed India's stand on safeguarding the interests of its small and medium enterprises and individuals in the diamond industry. Also Read | January 21 Birthdays and Birth Anniversaries: Know About Famous People and Celebrities Born on January 21. "Also, deliberated on the progress of the request made to the (EU) Trade Commissioner regarding an extension of the deadline for technology-based certification, highlighting its crucial role in supporting Indian small businesses and protecting consumer interests in the diamond sector," Goyal said in a post on X. He also held discussions with senior management of several European companies and heads of business associations in Brussels. Also Read | 8th Pay Commission for Pensioners: What Will Be Minimum Pension if Fitment Factor Raised to 2.86? Check Details Here. "Conveyed to them India's commitment to a fair, equitable, and commercially meaningful Free Trade Agreement. Underlined that India offers a great investment opportunity and called upon captains of industry to explore its fullest potential," 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) New Delhi, Jan 20 (PTI) Indian Railway Finance Corporation Ltd (IRFC) on Monday reported a 2 per cent increase in net profit to Rs 1,631 crore for the third quarter ended December 2024. The NBFC, under the administrative control of the Ministry of Railways, had earned a net profit of Rs 1,599 crore in the year-ago period. Also Read | 8th Pay Commission for Pensioners: What Will Be Minimum Pension if Fitment Factor Raised to 2.86? Check Details Here. The total income of the company rose to Rs 6,766 crore in the October-December period from Rs 6,740 crore in the year-ago period, IRFC said in a regulatory filing. The total expenses of the Mini-Ratna company during the period under review fell marginally to Rs 5,136 crore from Rs 5,141 crore in the corresponding period a year ago. Also Read | How To Buy Trump Coin, Melania Coin? Check Step-by-Step Guide To Get $TRUMP and $MELANIA Cryptocurrency Tokens on Different Crypto Exchange. The networth of the company rose to Rs 52,046 crore at the end of December 2024 compared to Rs 47,443 crore at the end of third quarter of previous fiscal. The company raised Rs 6,600 crore via bonds during the quarter to fund business expansion. (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Washington DC [US], January 20 (ANI): Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs Penny Wong expressed her faith in Australian Ambassador to the US, Kevin Rudd for forming an effective relationship with the Trump administration. When she was asked if she was confident that Trump will not make any changes to the AUKUS arrangement, she said that she was pleased to hear positive comments made by nominee for Secretary of State Senator Rubio. Also Read | Donald Trump Inauguration 2025 Full Guest List: Which Foreign Leaders Are Attending Donald Trump's Swearing In? Is PM Narendra Modi Going?. "I was very pleased to see the very positive comments that the nominee for Secretary of State Senator Rubio made about AUKUS. I was very pleased to see them. And I have been very pleased to see over many months now the bipartisan support in the Congress for AUKUS as this is one of the ways in which partnerships and alliances can be utilised to enhance collective deterrence and collective strength. And that is so important for peace and security," she said. When asked by the media what her views were on Trump's proposal of spiking the defence budget of the NATO to 5 per cent, Wong said that they are on a pathway to increasing the defence budget, and it comes under AUKUS. Also Read | How To Buy Trump Coin, Melania Coin? Check Step-by-Step Guide To Get $TRUMP and $MELANIA Cryptocurrency Tokens on Different Crypto Exchange. Wong said that Rudd's effective working caused the AUKUS legislation to come to effect. "I think that is demonstrated, isn't it? I mean, we've seen the AUKUS legislation shepherded through. We've seen this visit organised. We've seen the invitation to the inauguration for both me and also Ambassador Rudd, and I think that speaks for itself," she said. AUKUS is the military technology partnership between Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States. Talking about Trump's proposal about NATO lifting defence spending to five per cent, she said that they were on a pathway of increasing the defence budget. "Look, we are on a pathway of increasing defence expenditure. That is the case. And a part of that is expenditure under the AUKUS agreement, which is a collaboration between the three countries in order to assure, amongst other things, assure stability and peace in the region, to assure deterrence and to enhance Australia's maritime capability. So, you know, we are on a trajectory which is seeing increasing defence spending. Our focus is very much on how do we continue to deliver on AUKUS, because we do believe that capability is so important for deterrence, which is the way in which you can secure peace," she said. As per ABC News, on January 16, Rubio appeared to have ended months of speculation on whether the Trump administration would back the AUKUS submarine deal, saying it will have Trump's strong support. (ANI) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Dhaka, Jan 20 (PTI) Bangladesh's interim government on Monday said it will equip the country's paramilitary border guards with non-lethal sound grenades and tear gas canisters, mirroring practices adopted by its Indian counterpart. Home Affairs Adviser retired Lieutenant General M Jahangir Alam Chowdhury confirmed the decision during a press briefing at the Secretariat here. Also Read | US Inauguration Day 2025: Full Schedule of Donald Trump Including Oath Ceremony Time in India. "We have already approved the procurement of sound grenades and tear gas shells for Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB), he told reporters in reply to a question after a meeting on law and order attended by Social Welfare Adviser Sharmin Murshid and Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus' special assistant Khuda Baksh. When asked about India's potential reaction to the move, Chowdhury said there is no reason for New Delhi to view the decision "negatively", as its Border Security Force (BSF) has already employed similar non-lethal weaponry along the shared border. Also Read | UK Shocker: 43-Year-Old Man Found Dead After Week-Long Search Following Alleged Assault at Home in Lancashire, 4 Arrested. He, however, asserted that the border situation is stable and there are "no major problems" at the moment. While BGB is currently equipped with lethal arms for critical situations, Chowdhury emphasised the importance of augmenting their capacity to maintain peace and respond swiftly during emergencies. Bangladesh and India share a 4,096-km-long international border. Five states -- Assam, West Bengal, Mizoram, Meghalaya, and Tripura shares borders with Bangladesh. According to weaponry experts, sound grenades, also known as stun grenades, are non-lethal explosive devices used to disorient individuals temporarily mobs with loud noise and intense flashes. Tear gas, meanwhile, induces severe eye irritation, blurred vision, burning sensations, and respiratory distress, making it effective for crowd control. Last week, BSF troops used a stun grenade to successfully thwart a smuggling attempt in North 24 Parganas district along the India-Bangladesh border in West Bengal. In a related development, the government also announced new uniforms for various security forces. Chowdhury said police personnel will don "iron-colour" uniforms, while the elite Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) comprising members of the army, navy, air force, and regular police will adopt olive-green attire. The para-police force Ansar will transition to uniforms in a "golden wheat" colour. (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Washington, DC, January 20: US President-elect Donald Trump and his family arrived at the St, Johns Episcopal Church to attend a church service ahead of his inauguration as the 47th President of the United States. From its organization as a parish in 1815, St. John's, has been a powerful symbol of faith in the heart of the US capital. Steeped in a rich history its is dubbed the "Church of the Presidents." The ceremonial proceedings are set to take place at the US Capitol Rotunda, where Trump will take the oath of office today, roughly two weeks after his electoral college victory was officially certified by Congress. After this Church Servic President-elect Trump and his family will attend a service before proceeding to Blair House, the President's Guest House. Donald Trump Swearing-In Ceremony: EAM S Jaishankar To Represent PM Narendra Modi As His Special Envoy at Inaugural Function in Washington DC. Donald Trump and Family Attend Church Service Before Inauguration #WATCH | President-elect Donald Trump and his wife, Melania Trump, arrive at St Johns Episcopal Church in Washingtons Lafayette Square for a morning service ahead of his swearing-in as the 47th US president (Source - US Network Pool via Reuters) pic.twitter.com/aPmNNpkODT ANI (@ANI) January 20, 2025 Following this, a formal welcome ceremony will take place at the North Portico. US President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden will greet Vice President Kamala Harris and her husband, Second Gentleman Douglas Emhoff, before welcoming President-elect Trump and First Lady Melania Trump. Vice President-elect JD Vance will be sworn in first, followed by Donald Trump, who will take the oath of office and deliver his inaugural address. After the swearing-in, President Trump will take part in the signing ceremony in the President's Room, a tradition that began in 1981 with President Ronald Reagan. This event marks one of the first official actions of the newly sworn president, where he signs nominations and various memorandums or proclamations. US Inauguration Day 2025: Full Schedule of Donald Trump Including Oath Ceremony Time in India. Following the signing, a luncheon will be held, and Trump will take part in the review of the troops before heading to Capitol Hill to join the inaugural parade. Later, Trump and his wife will participate in a signing ceremony at the White House and deliver remarks at the Convention Centre. The evening will conclude with the first dance at the Liberty Ball, followed by participation in the Commander-in-Chief Ball and the United Station Ball. The day will end with Trump's return to the White House. (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], January 20 (ANI): External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar met with Japan's Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya on January 19, 2025, in Washington DC. This meeting marked the second face-to-face discussion between the two officials, following their earlier interaction during the G7 Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Italy in November 2024, an official press release by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) stated. Also Read | Donald Trump Swearing-In Ceremony: EAM S Jaishankar To Represent PM Narendra Modi As His Special Envoy at Inaugural Function in Washington DC. "Good to meet with FM Takeshi Iwaya of Japan. Reviewed the progress in our bilateral cooperation. Also discussed developments pertaining to Quad," EAM Jaishankar posted on X. https://x.com/DrSJaishankar/status/1881111287650025761 Also Read | US Inauguration Day 2025: Full Schedule of Donald Trump Including Oath Ceremony Time in India. During their bilateral talks, both Ministers focused on strengthening cooperation in several key areas, including political, security, economic, technological, and people-to-people exchanges. They expressed satisfaction with the current pace and breadth of collaboration, recognising the importance of maintaining regular strategic communication. This will be facilitated through mechanisms like the Strategic Dialogue and the 2+2 Dialogue of Foreign and Defence Ministers. Minister Jaishankar extended an invitation for Minister Iwaya to visit India, further bolstering bilateral ties. A major highlight of the meeting was the announcement of the India-Japan Year of Science, Technology, and Innovation, marking the 40th anniversary of the Memorandum of Understanding on Science & Technology cooperation signed in 1985. Both Ministers emphasised the significance of this milestone in the history of India-Japan relations, reaffirming their commitment to advancing mutual efforts in these fields over the next year, the press release stated. They also discussed the continued importance of people-to-people exchanges, with a focus on areas such as technology, education, and skill development, which are expected to further cement the friendship between the two nations. The meeting underscored the deep and enduring relationship between India and Japan, rooted in mutual trust, shared democratic values, and a common commitment to regional peace and stability. The strong partnership between the two countries extends beyond governmental ties to cultural and civilizational exchanges that have shaped their history. For instance, Japan's spiritual and cultural connections with India trace back to ancient times, including the consecration of the Buddha statue in Nara by the Indian monk Bodhisena in 752 AD. Indian figures such as Swami Vivekananda, Rabindranath Tagore, and Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose have also played significant roles in strengthening this bond. In recent years, the Indian community in Japan has been growing, particularly with the arrival of IT professionals and engineers. Over 40,000 Indians now live in Japan, with a substantial number of students pursuing higher education, including doctoral courses. The Nishikasai area of Tokyo has emerged as a focal point for the Indian community, and the establishment of several Indian schools reflects the increasing demand for educational resources. (ANI) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Washington, January 20: TikTok is back in the US after President-elect Donald Trump on Sunday praised it and said let the government own 50 per cent of the popular short video sharing platform. TikTok went dark in the US on Saturday night because of a legislation, but it was back within less than 24 hours after Trump vowed to issue an executive order on his first day in office to delay the enforcement of the law. The short-video app is used by 170 million Americans. "As of today, TikTok is back. You know, I did a little TikTok thing. We have a guy, TikTok Jack. He's a young kid, like 21 years old. We hired this guy and I went on TikTok. We went on TikTok as Republicans never won the youth vote. They won a lot of votes, but they never won the youth vote. But we won the youth vote by 36 points. So I like TikTok," Trump told his supporters at a victory rally here. TikTok Back in US: ByteDance Begins Restoring TikTok Services in America Less Than 24 Hours After App Went Dark, Thanks President-Elect Donald Trump. "Who in this audience goes with TikTok? Many? Frankly, we have no choice. We have to save a lot of jobs. We don't want to give our business to China. We don't want to give our business to other people," Trump added. Stating that the solution to the TikTok issue is a joint venture, Trump said, "They did that a long time ago when they had a different president. They didn't know that I was going to be the president. So I said, very simply, a joint venture. If you don't approve, they're out of business. They're worth nothing. If you do approve, they're worth like a trillion dollars." "So, I said, I'll approve, but let the United States own 50 per cent of TikTok. I'm approving on behalf of the nation. So, they'll have a partner, the United States, and they'll have a lot of bidders, and we will do what we call a joint venture deal," the President-elect said. "We're not putting up any money. All we're doing is giving them the approval, without which they have nothing, Trump said, adding, "Whether you like TikTok or not, we're going to make a lot of money." TikTok Ban on Hold: ByteDance Starts Restoring TikTok Services in US, Thanks Donald Trump for Assuring That Service Providers Won't Face Penalties. Meanwhile, TikTok credited Trump's intervention for providing "clarity and assurance" to its service providers, enabling the app's rapid return. The law, signed by President Joe Biden last April, required ByteDance, TikTok's Chinese parent company, to divest the app by January 19 to avoid a ban. While Trump's move has sparked hope among TikTok users, questions remain about how he will reconcile his executive action with the legislation. (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Polowce (Poland), Jan 20 (AP) Poland's six-month presidency of the European Union is firmly focused on security. As Europe's biggest land war in decades rages, fewer places highlight the challenges and contradictions of defending the bloc and its values more starkly than the border with Belarus. Some 13,000 border guards and soldiers protect around 400 kilometers (250 miles) of border. It's become a buffer zone since Belarus' ally, Russia, invaded neighbouring Ukraine three years ago. Similar fortifications farther north line Poland's frontier with the Russian region of Kaliningrad. Also Read | BP Layoffs: British Petroleum Company To Lay Off Around 4,700 Employees, 3,000 Contractors To Save Costs, Rebuild Investors' Confident in Energy Stock. Poland is Ukraine's top logistical backer. Most of the Western-supplied arms, ammunition and equipment helping to keep Ukraine's armed forces afloat transit through. Russia, meanwhile, uses Belarus as a staging ground for its invasion. At the border near the town of Polowce, a 5.5-meter (18-foot) steel barrier strung with razor wire and topped by security cameras separates once-friendly communities that war has turned into wary rivals. Drones, helicopters and armoured vehicles keep watch. Also Read | HD Hyundai Electric Q4 Results: South Korean Electric Equipment Maker's Net Profit Falls 10.9% to 123.9 Billion Won Due to One-Off Costs. The border crossing is closed. Around 40 border guards and troops could be seen on Jan. 16, when the Polish EU presidency invited 60 reporters from international media to witness the security effort. The road was strewn with layers of concrete obstacles and concertina wire likely to dissuade an advancing army. Border guards peered into Belarus. It's needed, the government in Warsaw says, because Russia and Belarus are waging a particular kind of hybrid warfare: helping groups of migrants mostly from Africa or the Middle East to break through the border to provoke and destabilize Poland and the rest of Europe. We have tightened our visa policy, and above all we have decided to suspend the right to asylum wherever we are dealing with mass border crossings organized by Belarus and Russia, Prime Minister Donald Tusk told reporters on Friday. When migrants are equated with danger Almost 30,000 attempted border crossings were spotted last year. Most are young men, often from Ethiopia, Eritrea and Somalia. Polish authorities say they arrive in Belarus on tourist or student visas and are helped across for a fee ranging from $8,000 to $12,000. Poland says they're assisted by the Belarus security services and other organizers. They're mostly Ukrainians, perhaps fallen on hard times since fleeing the war. They can earn $500 for each person they help, border officials say. Border guards claim to be routinely attacked. One guard was killed last year and several injured. They say that migrants shoot slingshots, throw small explosives or rocks, or use pepper spray on guards. More than 400 incidents were recorded last year in this section of the border, with 307 people hospitalised. The deputy commander of the Podlaski border guard division, Col. Andrzej Stasiulewicz, said the migrants are hard to discourage. Warning shots don't work, so force is needed, he said. Reporters were shown video and photos purported to show migrants assailing the border. Stasiulewicz said their actions are very unpredictable, and very precise and coordinated. Medical aid group Doctors Without Borders paints a different picture. The charity says it's treated more than 400 people since November 2022, many of them stranded for weeks in uninhabitable forests and exposed to violent practices at the border. People suffered from exhaustion, hypothermia, dehydration and mental health issues. Last year, it noted a sharp increase in people carrying the scars of physical assaults, including bruises and dog bites. It's almost impossible to independently verify such reports. The area is off limits. NGOs and media must apply for a permit to enter. EU and international agencies that work with migrants are not invited either, although migrants are provided with their contact details should they want to complain. Turnbacks not pushbacks, Poland insists Stasiulewicz said those who force their way in are sent back to Belarus, which is in line with our legal framework. The Norwegian Refugee Council, a migrant aid charity, has another take. It said that nearly 9,000 violent pushbacks have been reported by NGOs in what it describes as Europe's death zone since 2021. Pushbacks depriving someone who may be in fear for their safety of their right to apply for asylum are illegal under international law. Polish Undersecretary of State Maciej Duszczyk rejects the pushback allegations. He prefers "turnbacks. The rationale is that migrants are obliged to apply for asylum in good faith at open border points, not force their way in. The nearest place they can do that is in Terespol, about 100 kilometers (60 miles) south of Polowce. Halting asylum in the name of security As far as the Polish authorities are concerned, their methods are working. The number of people arriving in Polowce has dropped significantly. Around 670 people applied for asylum there last year, and none to mid-January. The Office for Foreigners was empty when reporters visited. To keep numbers down, the government intends to suspend asylum applications in times of crisis. A draft law winding its way through parliament would see the border shut for 60 days if Warsaw suspects that migrants are being weaponized should they approach the border in large groups, try to intimidate Polish officers or damage border infrastructure. If anyone uses violence against the border guards, we close the border, Duszczyk said. Doctors Without Borders says this could have dramatic consequences. It's urged Poland to drastically change course of action" and do all it can to protect migrants and refugees. But EU leaders signed off on Poland's actions at a summit last month. Countries on Europe's eastern flank received a greenlight to suspend the right to protection when they believe that Belarus and Russia are weaponizing migrants. When security and migration get political Ultimately, security and migration policies are highly politicized. Tusk has been in power for more than a year but his party's candidate in a presidential election in May faces a strong challenge from a nationalist opponent. The EU shifted further right in June after elections to the European Parliament, with nationalists and populists shaking Europe's foundations, particularly in major powers France and Germany. Tusk believes that tough migration policy can win back voters. If we do not want to hand over these matters to radicals, extremists, populists, we must find the right answers so that no one in the world doubts that democratic states are able to effectively defend themselves against illegal migration, he said on Friday. He described the tough protection" of borders as a "sacred duty. Poland's borders also make up the 27-nation EU's external frontier. For Tusk, his country's security is Europe's security. It's a similar argument made by Hungary's staunchly nationalist prime minister, Viktor Orban. (AP) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Washington DC [US], January 20 (ANI): External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Monday met Japan's Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya in Washington DC. Jaishankar said they discussed the progress in their bilateral cooperation and took stock of Quad's developments. Also Read | TikTok Back in US: President-Elect Donald Trump Says 'Let America Own 50% of Short Video Sharing Platform'. In a post on X, he said, "Good to meet with FM Takeshi Iwaya of Japan. Reviewed the progress in our bilateral cooperation. Also discussed developments pertaining to Quad." https://x.com/DrSJaishankar/status/1881111287650025761 Also Read | Donald Trump To Sign Barrage of Executive Orders After Being Sworn In as US President, Will Designate Mexican Drug Cartels As 'Foreign Terrorist Organizations'. Prior to that, Jaishankar also met Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs Penny Wong in Washington DC. He said he enjoyed their discussion on the state of the world. "Delighted to meet FM Penny Wong, a Quad colleague, in Washington DC today. As always, enjoyed our discussion on the state of the world." https://x.com/DrSJaishankar/status/1881076556669530478 Jaishankar is representing the Indian government at the swearing-in ceremony of US President-elect Donald Trump as the 47th US President. He is set to attend the swearing-in ceremony at the invitation of the Trump-Vance Inaugural Committee, according to a Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) press release. During the visit, Jaishankar will also have meetings with representatives of the incoming administration, as well as some other dignitaries visiting the US on that occasion. In a press release, MEA said, "On the invitation of the Trump-Vance Inaugural Committee, External Affairs Minister (EAM) Dr S Jaishankar will represent the Government of India at the Swearing-In Ceremony of President-Elect Donald J. Trump as the 47th President of the United States of America." The ceremonial event is set to take place on Monday, approximately two weeks after Trump's electoral college win was certified by the US Congress. Earlier on January 17, he joined US Ambassador to India, Eric Garcetti for the opening of the US Consulate in Bangalore. Hailing the step as an important moment in the India-US ties, Jaishankar also announced that India will soon be opening its consulate in Los Angeles. While addressing the gathering, Jaishankar highlighted several aspects of the India-US ties and said that the opening of the consulate was long due. (ANI) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Kolkata, January 20: A special court in Kolkata, on Monday will pronounce the sentence for civic volunteer Sanjay Roy, the sole convict in the case of ghastly rape and murder of a woman doctor of state-run R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital. The woman's body was found in the hospital premises in Kolkata in August 2024. The special court judge Anirban Das convicted Roy on January 18. The proceedings of the special court will start on Monday at around noon and in the beginning, the judge will allow Roy as well as the victims of the parents to present their concluding statements on the matter. Thereafter the special court judge will pronounce the sentence in the case. RG Kar Case Verdict: Kolkata Court Pronounces Accused Sanjay Roy Guilty of Rape-Murder of Doctor at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital. The judge, on January 18, had already made it clear that the maximum punishment in the case could be the death penalty, while the minimum punishment in the matter could be life imprisonment. Although the process of sentence against Roy in the matter of the crime of rape and murder will be completed on Monday, the angle of investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) as regards tampering and altering of evidence in the matter will be still alive. The CBI, sources said, had already informed the special court that the scope for filing a supplementary charge sheet on the tampering of evidence angle is still open, which the case in this particular angle keeps pending. Last year, the former and controversial principal of R.G. Kar Sandip Ghosh and the former SHO of Tala Police Station Abhijit Mondal were granted default bail by the same special court, as the CBI failed to file the supplementary charge sheet against the duo within 90 days of their arrest. RG Kar Case Verdict: Main Accused Sanjay Roy Found Guilty in Rape-Murder Case. Both Ghosh and Mondal were accused of misleading the probe and tampering with the evidence when the Kolkata Police was investigating initially. Later, the CBI took charge of the investigation on Calcutta High Court's order. The body of the victim doctor was recovered from the seminar hall within R.G. Kar premises on the morning of August 9 last year. The initial investigation into the matter was started by a special investigation team of Kolkata Police, who arrested Roy. However, the CBI started an investigation five days after the date of the crime and thereafter Roy was handed over to the central agency officials by the city police. The trial process in the matter started on November 11 last year, 59 days after the body of the victim was discovered. The conviction process was completed on January 18, which was 162 days from the date of the crime. Now, the sentence will be pronounced on Monday exactly 164 days from the date of the crime. (The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 20, 2025 08:45 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com). The student Ravi Teja died on the spot when he was shot at a gas station. According to the North American Association of Indian Students (NAAIS), the incident occurred hours before President Donald Trumps inauguration for his second term. On January 20, the Supreme Court said that either the Union Government will take a decision or the court will decide on the merits of the mercy petition filed by Balwant Singh Rajoana, Babbar Khalsa terrorist, who is seeking commutation of the death sentence awarded to him in the Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh assassination case. As per the details of the case, Balwant Singh Rajoana is seeking commutation on the grounds of delay in considering the mercy petition pending before the President of India since 2012. In 2007, Singh, a police officer in Punjab was convicted by a special Central Bureau of Investigation Court, under various sections for an incident involving a deadly suicide bombing at the Chandigarh secretariat complex. The incident had taken place on August 31, 1995, wherein the then Chief Minister of Punjab, Beant Singh along with 16 others, lost their lives. Balwant Singh Rajoana Is Seeking Commutation of the Death Sentence Awarded to Him 'Either You Decide Or We'll Hear' : Supreme Court Gives Last Chance To Union On Balwant Singh's Mercy Plea, Posts On March 18 |@1Simranbakshi #SupremeCourt https://t.co/DGbUuehrAq Live Law (@LiveLawIndia) January 20, 2025 (SocialLY brings you all the latest breaking news, viral trends and information from social media world, including Twitter (X), Instagram and Youtube. The above post is embeded directly from the user's social media account and LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body. The views and facts appearing in the social media post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY, also LatestLY does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.) Three Israeli women, Romi Gonen, Doron Steinbrecher, and Emily Damari, were released by Hamas after 471 days in captivity. Romi, 24 years old, was captured during her attempt to flee the Nova music festival during the 7 October 2023 Hamas attack. Doron, 31-year-old, a veterinary nurse, and Emily, 28-year-old, who holds dual British-Israeli citizenship, were also freed. Their release marks the first phase of a ceasefire and hostage release agreement between Israel and Hamas, which aims to free a total of 33 hostages over six weeks. The women were welcomed back to Israel on Sunday and emotionally reunited with their families. Gaza Ceasefire-Hostage Deal Comes Into Effect After Israel Confirms Getting List of Hostages. Who Are the 3 Israeli Hostages Released by Hamas Prepare to cry. Romi Gonen, Emily Damari, and Doron Steinbrecher are reunited with their families in hospital. pic.twitter.com/TWMCje0xCT Aviva Klompas (@AvivaKlompas) January 19, 2025 First moments of Romi, Emily, and Doron reuniting with their families. : IDF Spokespersons' Unit pic.twitter.com/tEVx5G8SnB Government Press Office (@GPOIsrael) January 19, 2025 (SocialLY brings you all the latest breaking news, viral trends and information from social media world, including Twitter (X), Instagram and Youtube. The above post is embeded directly from the user's social media account and LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body. The views and facts appearing in the social media post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY, also LatestLY does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.) The Associated Press For 12 years, Dr. Albert Johnston and his wife had a secret--a secret they kept from friends, neighbors, even their children. But in 1941, their secret came out--each was part black. The fair-skinned Johnstons had raised four children and built a life in Keene and Gorham, N.H., while passing as white. The whole world knew their story 8 years later when it was presented, lightly fictionalized, in Lost Boundaries, in which Mel Ferrer (El Greco, War and Peace) made his film debut. Advertisement The doctor is now dead, but his family and members of the movies cast and crew reunited in Keene last week with a screening and small reception to celebrate a revolutionary film and friendships that withstood a revelation that was, in its time, shocking. That was the point of the story, the fact that something positive happened, that there wasnt any problem as a result of it, Albert Johnston Jr. recalled. Albert Johnston, a Chicago native, and his blue-eyed wife, Thyra Baumann, born in New Orleans, had no thought of passing after their 1924 marriage when he was a premed student at the University of Chicago. But things changed when he tried to find work as an intern. Hospitals that accepted black interns were full, and others would not accept him because he was part black. Advertisement At last, Maine General Hospital in Portland accepted Johnston without asking his race. In 1929, the internship over, the family moved to Gorham, N.H., and Johnston went into successful private practice. The family moved to Boston in 1937 so Johnston could study radiology at Harvard Medical School. He returned to Gorham a year later, moving to Keene in 1939. It was there, just before World War II, that the truth came out. In 1941, he volunteered for the Navy and won a lieutenant commanders commission in July. But a few days later, a Navy intelligence officer visited the doctor and said, We understand . . . you have colored blood in your veins. Advertisement Who knows what blood any of us has in his veins? Johnston replied. About a month later, he was notified that his commission had been revoked because of an inability to meet naval physical requirements. He then told his children about their background. Despite the familys fears, townspeoples feelings were generally unchanged when the news spread, which surprised the Johnstons and many others. I would say 80% of the people didnt care, didnt make any difference. Why would it? Albert Johnston Jr. said from Hawaii, where he and his parents moved in the 1960s. If youd lived in New Hampshire all your life, knew all your friends . . . theyre going to be surprised, theyre going to be amazed, but theyre still your friends. There were, of course, a certain small amount of people who were die-hards who would have always lived with a sense of bigotry. In the movie, however, the family is roundly rejected once their secret is revealed. It was Albert Johnston Jr., then a music theory student, who got the film started by telling the family story to producer Louis de Rochemont, who lived in Newington, Conn., at the time. The March of Time producer sent author W.L. White to write the familys story, which was printed in Readers Digest in 1947. De Rochemont, now dead, fought with MGM over suggested script changes and ended up financing the film himself. He shot it in New Hampshire and Maine seacoast towns. Advertisement When Lost Boundaries came out--premiering in Keene on July 24, 1949--it was banned in some cities but was lauded by Life and Newsweek magazines and the New York Times, in which critic Bosley Crowther said it had extraordinary courage, understanding and dramatic power. The movie won the prize for best script at the Cannes Film Festival. This was a very, very radical departure from any kind of fiction film anybody was making in the country, Ferrer said, noting its documentary style and controversial topic. It was a picture which broke a tremendous number of shibboleths, and it established a new freedom in making films. Albert Johnston Jr. said de Rochemont deliberately picked unknown white actors--Ferrer and the late Beatrice Pearson, who had been in just one film before Lost Boundaries and who abandoned her career a short time later. Though some critics, film buffs and historians have criticized the movie for casting whites in the lead roles, as was done in such other movies at that time as Show Boat and Pinky, the film did feature a few black actors, including Canada Lee and Leigh Whipper. The movie has also been criticized for creating an unbelievable premise: that the couple are forced to leave their black community because other blacks reject their whiteness. At that time, well before the slogan black is beautiful permeated black society, fair skin was more acceptable in the black community than dark skin. Keene and Gorham were fictionalized as the single Keenham, character names were changed (the family became the Carters), and the family was reduced to two children in the film, directed by Alfred L. Werker. But most incidents were authentic, Albert Johnston Jr. said. Advertisement Lost Boundaries fell into obscurity when the company that owned it, Film Classics, folded; its catalogue was sold to Warner Bros. The chance of rereleasing or televising it now is slim because it is unclear who owns the distribution rights. The movie was shown on TV years ago. I think its the best picture I was ever in as an actor, said Ferrer, now 71, from his home outside Santa Barbara. I still feel that way. . . . I thought it was a great opportunity for all of us. Ferrer, who went on to become a producer and director, felt strongly enough about the story to go against the advice of his booking agency and make his screen debut in the film. The move could have destroyed his career. But all of us had a certain real conviction about the theme of the picture and the content of the picture, and I didnt hesitate. The Johnston family was, and is, proud that their story was used to promote racial understanding, said Albert Johnston Jr., a retired department store buyer and composer who is now 63. We thought it was quite a historical first and that it contributed immensely to the thinking of society, he said. IF JANUARY 20 IS YOUR BIRTHDAY: Your drive and initiative may give you an edge in business and a good eye for moneymaking strategies during the coming weeks. Your intelligence about practical issues could give you a chance to make a few extra dollars in late February and early March. Social activities may become a distraction in late March but might also trigger your competitiveness in April. Consider focusing on constructive activities in May but you should likely wait until June to launch key plans and projects. You may have more support, better luck, and receive recognition for your efforts. Romantic ideals could become a motivating force in July when you may be more sensitive and romantic than usual. You might be more sensitive to your own body as well, possibly making this a good time to put healthy habits in place. You may welcome changes that occur in August because they could give you the freedom and excitement you crave. AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Strategic moves could add to your savings. It might be a lucky break or some wise advice that helps you preserve or expand your financial freedom. Romantic moments may need to wait for better timing. PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Let your imagination run free, even if youre confined to a routine task. You might see all the shades of gray while a partner sees only black and white. Real love may bridge temporary differences of opinion. ARIES (March 21-April 19): Think of things that provide efficient solutions. The simplest explanation could prove to be the right one. You may have a tendency to look for complicated solutions when the truth is right in front of you. TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Dare to be different. Thinking outside the box could provide the insights needed to solve a lingering issue. Consider refreshing your love life by trying a new approach, if single. Dont be afraid of being an original. GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Plan for your future without neglecting the present. You may recognize the need to take good care of your possessions and manage resources. Schedule your routine appointments to stay in tip top shape. CANCER (June 21-July 22): Walk a mile in someone elses shoes, learn to appreciate the hard work it takes to reach the finish line. While you may be strict with your finances, you can always afford to be compassionate and loving towards people. LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Your perspective on life may become more materialistic and practical. It could be a good idea to get organized and keep a low profile. Focus on building solid foundations to turn your goals and ambitions into reality. VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Take time to reflect on your feelings. You might be feeling more self-conscious than usual, but that doesnt mean the world is scrutinizing you. Enjoy time with loved ones, and you may soon forget your worries. LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Your instincts about personal matters could be spot on. Others may be using less than ideal tactics or seeming demanding in an effort to get ahead. You cant go wrong by being compassionate toward everyone. SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Unexpected news might leave you feeling unsettled until you have time to process all the information. Consider all angles before making a major decision, as it could be easy to overlook a crucial fact or problem. SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Misunderstandings might be cleared up with a simple conversation. Getting honest answers could be more important than winning. A loved one may provide a calming influence by understanding your needs. CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Timing is everything. Your intimate knowledge of whats happening behind the scenes could make you seem like a genius when events unfold. Show empathy, even when making tough decisions. BIRTHDAY STAR: Actor Evan Peters was born in St. Louis, Missouri, on this day in 1987. This birthday star won a 2021 Emmy Award for his role as Colin Zabel in the mini-series Mare of Easttown. He earned another Emmy nomination in 2023 for his portrayal of Jeffrey Dahmer on Monsters. Peters played various roles on American Horror Story from 2011-2021. On the big screen, Peters played Quicksilver in the X-Men film franchise. _______ Timing affects outcomes. Explore the power of actionable astrology with Helenas personalized Star-Timer calendars: https://bit.ly/4eClZHS 2025 Tribune Content Agency, LLC. I behold the surest pledges that as on one side, no local prejudices, or attachments; no separate views, nor party animosities, will misdirect the comprehensive and equal eye which ought to watch over this great assemblage of communities and interests. George Washington, 1789 Inaugural Address And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you ask what you can do for your country. John F. Kennedy, 1961 Inaugural Address It is the American sound. It is hopeful, big-hearted, idealistic, daring, decent, and fair. Thats our heritage, thats our song. We sing it still. Ronald Reagan, 1985 Inaugural Address The presidential inaugural address, given on the day a new president is sworn into office, has long produced memorable messages that resonate to this day. In recognition of the storied address, the Committee of Seventy, a 120-year-old nonprofit and nonpartisan group from Philadelphia that promotes civic engagement, asked high school students to write essays where they acted as speechwriters for or offered advice to Republican Donald Trump as he takes his second oath of office today. Two of the prize winners and six of the 12 honorable mention recipients are students at Whitehall High School where their social studies teacher is Steven Adams, according to a press release. The first prize of $200 went to Miriam Feday, a Whitehall senior. Another Whitehall senior, Synthia Layous, was one of two $100 second-prize winners. Whitehall students receiving honorable mentions include senior Austin Fares, sophomore Cameron Herring, senior Cindy Jiang, sophomore Lamitta Layous, senior Peter Raffoul and senior Braedyn Zappe. The contest was part of the Committee of Seventys Can We Talk? Program, which teaches high school and college students the core principles of civil dialogue and gives them the experience of productive conversation. Following are Miriam and Synthias essays. You can read a list of all winners and their essays here. Miriam Feday, Whitehall senior Extremism and violence undermine everything this country stands for, and we cannot let them take control. Over the past few years, weve witnessed the damage division can cause. Weve seen communities torn apart by senseless violence, families torn apart by ideological divides, and hardworking Americans left behind by systems designed to uplift everyone. These are not isolated incidents; they are a reflection of our shared values growing further and further apart. As a nation, we have the power to choose a different path, one where unity is prioritized, and our freedoms are protected. Throughout history, our democracy has thrived most when we stood together and not when we allowed the loudest voice in the crowd to drown everyone else out. From the Civil War to this Gilded Age, extremism has cost us. Today we have the choice to either allow hatred and fear to dictate our future, or to build a nation that reflects the best of who we truly are. This path forward will not be easy, but it is necessary. Unity does not require uniformity, it demands compromise. It calls us to listen to who we disagree with and to find common ground when it feels impossible. We must reject the voices that build division and amplify those who believe in something greater than themselves. Synthia Layous, Whitehall senior My fellow Americans, today we stand at an inflection point in our nations history. The problems we confront division, uncertainty, and global instability demand not just strong leadership but a new commitment to our common values. In these turbulent times, we must remember that our strength has always come from our unity. Our differences in opinion, background, and belief make America beautiful. Time and time again, we have proven what we can achieve when we stand together. In the aftermath of September 11th, in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, and recently as we battled the COVID-19 pandemic our nation came together to support one another with compassion, resilience, and a shared purpose. But we must ask ourselves: why should it take tragedy to bring us together? Lets carry that same spirit of unity into our everyday lives. Lets face the challenges of inequality, climate change, and economic recovery with the same resolve we show in times of crisis. I pledge to listen, to lead with integrity, and to fight for the needs of every American, not just those who support me. Together, we must rebuild trust in our institutions, revitalize our economy, and bridge social gaps that divide our fabric. Let us concentrate on that which brings us together: the hope of a better life for our children, the pursuit of liberty, and opportunity for all. Today I ask you to join me in beginning this new chapter. One in which the American spirit is lifted by the brightness of a new dawn. NEW YORK (AP) President Donald Trumps second inaugural address sounded a lot like his first, with a sweeping indictment of the country he inherits and grand promises to fix its problems. Eight years ago, Trump described American carnage and promised to end it immediately. On Monday, he declared that the countrys decline will end immediately, ushering in the golden age of America. Trump added a long list of policies that sounded more at home in a State of the Union speech than an Inauguration Day address. But the broad themes were fundamentally Trumpian, setting himself up as a national savior. Breaking tradition, the Republican president delivered his remarks from inside the Capitol Rotunda due to the bitter cold outside. He spoke to several hundred elected officials and pro-Trump VIPs, tech titan Elon Musk among them. Here are some takeaways from the speech: A promise of an American golden age From the start, Trumps speech tracked his campaign rally approach: big promises of national success due to his leadership, with plenty of sweeping indictments of the status quo. Our sovereignty will be reclaimed. Our safety will be restored. The scales of justice will be rebalanced, he continued. Our top priority will be to create a nation that is proud, prosperous and free. The underlying presumption, of course, is that Trump is inheriting what he called throughout the 2024 campaign a failed nation. He vowed to send troops to the U.S.-Mexico border, boost domestic oil production and impose tariffs to enrich our citizens. Trump calls Americas past leadership corrupt Trump described Americas leadership over the last four years as incompetent and corrupt, echoing some of the darker rhetoric he used daily on the campaign trail. He did not mention his predecessor, former President Joe Biden, or any other Democrats by name. But there was no question about whom he was talking. We now have a government that cannot manage even a simple crisis at home, while at the same time stumbling into a continuing catalog of catastrophic events abroad, Trump charged. He said the current government protects dangerous immigrants instead of law-abiding citizens, protects foreign borders at the expense of American borders and can no longer deliver basic services in times of emergency. All of this will change starting today, and it will change very quickly, he said. As of Monday, Republicans control all three branches of the federal government. A perceived triumph over dark forces Even before Trump began to speak, a religious and political ally, the Rev. Franklin Graham, touched on one of the new presidents most common themes how hes been persecuted by unnamed evil forces. Graham talked of Trumps enemies and the darkness of the last four years for Trump personally. When Trump spoke, he tied attempts to prosecute him for trying to overturn his election loss to Biden into his allegations of weaponization of the Justice Department, referencing the federal and state indictments against him. Trump then linked those cases to the attempt to assassinate him in Butler, Pennsylvania, last July. The journey to reclaim our republic has not been an easy one, that I can tell you. Those who wish to stop our cause have tried to take my freedom and, indeed, to take my life, Trump said. The shooter was an apparently disturbed local 20-year-old man who had no documented ties to the Biden administration, the federal government or any other opponents Trump has criticized. Trump then used striking language to explain how he survived. I was saved by God to make America great again, Trump said to applause. Lying about wildfires Trumps lament about the state of the nation included disbelief that the fires around Los Angeles were still burning without a token defense. Thats false. Firefighters have been battling the blazes since they erupted and have made significant progress. The Eaton fire is 87% contained, and the Palisades fire 59% contained, according to CalFire. A peacemaker and a conqueror Trump has vowed to stop foreign wars and celebrated his role in helping implement a ceasefire in Gaza. A peacemaker and a unifier, thats what I want to be, Trump said. Moments later he was vowing to regain the Panama Canal from Panama. Were taking it back! Trump declared, having previously declined to rule out using military force. He pledged to pursue policy that expands our territory and to put U.S. astronauts on Mars a promise undoubtedly popular with Musk, a major Trump supporter who has long pursued the same goal. That cuts to the heart of one of the many contradictions in Trumps movement. The new president revels in a confrontational, macho approach that revved up his support among young men. His political career has been built on seeking conflict and tearing down rivals. Yet Trump has also positioned himself as someone wholl end conflicts and usher in peace. A lineup of tech titans The audience in the Capitol Rotunda included some of the nations most powerful tech titans, who have moved to embrace Trump since his victory. Alongside Musk were Google CEO Sundar Pichai and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. Facebook owner Mark Zuckerberg and Apple CEO Tim Cook were also in the audience. Musk, tapped along with fellow entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy to head the Department of Government Efficiency, had prime seating behind Trumps children and in front of many of his Cabinet nominees. While the business leaders were allowed to bring their spouses, members of Congress were not. Thousands of his supporters watched a broadcast of the swearing-in at Capitol One Arena instead. A range of reactions behind Trump The Rotunda crowd was heavily tilted in Trumps favor, most of those in attendance clapping and even roaring during his speech. But one prominent seating section former presidents, first ladies and vice presidents was largely muted. After Trump repeated his vow to take over the Panama Canal, complete with the false claim that China runs the intercontinental channel, Biden and former Vice President Kamala Harris, among others, sat stone-faced, as did former President Bill Clinton. Hillary Clinton, the former secretary of state who lost to Trump in 2016, turned to her left, saying something in former President George W. Bushs direction. Bush, who was famously reported to have joked that Trumps first inaugural address was weird, was smirking. Less than two weeks ago, Trump was largely ignored at former President Jimmy Carters funeral. Trump chatted with former President Barack Obama, but the rest of the former presidents and their wives bypassed him without a greeting. A different scene indoors Inaugural speeches are traditionally delivered on the National Mall in front of tens of thousands of cheering supporters, many of them average voters from across America, who traveled great distance to witness history in person. Not this one. Trump delivered his speech in front of a crowd estimated at only around 600 in the Capitol Rotunda, which was limited to members of Congress, Cabinet nominees, Trumps family, business leaders and political VIPs. Its noteworthy that four years ago, violent Trump loyalists stormed the Capitol Rotunda as members of Congress and Vice President Mike Pence feared for their lives. Pence attended Monday, though his wife, former second lady Karen Pence, did not. Speaking to supporters after seeing off Biden outside the Capitol, Trump said he was glad they had moved the ceremony indoors. We were freezing, he told them. You would have been very unhappy. The second second inaugural The speech had controversial moments, but Trump said afterward that it could have been much more so. Trump headed from the rotunda to the Capitol Visitor Center to thank supporters who had watched his address on screens. Then he gave a speech that was longer than the inaugural and much more freewheeling. The new president said he had wanted to talk about supporting the people arrested for storming the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. He did not go there, he said, only because first lady Melania Trump and Vice President JD Vance talked him out of the idea. They said, Please, sir, its such a beautiful, unifying speech. Please, sir, dont say these things, Trump said. I decided Im not going to make this speech complicated. Im going to make it beautiful. Im going to make it a unifying speech. Still, Trump made clear that he is going to help supporters arrested for storming the Capitol hostages, he called them and said that his actions would speak louder than any words. More than 1,230 people have been charged with federal crimes in the riot, ranging from misdemeanor offenses like trespassing to felonies like assaulting police officers and seditious conspiracy. Trump also criticized Bidens decision to pardon his family members and members of the Jan. 6 congressional committee. He called out Republican members of that committee former Reps. Liz Cheney of Wyoming and Adam Kinzinger of Illinois by name. By Steve Peoples, Nicholas Riccardi and Bill Barrow Todd Burns was suspended about 4 feet above the floor of Albert Ponds, beside a portal augured into the shallow depths below. He was seated on a bucket atop ice, about 4 1/2 inches thick strong enough to hold him and his gear as he kept his eyes fixed upon the multicolored monitor of a fish-finder sonar screen. It was tracking where his bait was and anything that might come close enough for a look. Finally got ice, the Plainfield Township resident told a visitor whod stopped by for a look. Albert Ponds, a stones throw from Route 33 in Bushkill Township, is one of several bodies of water in the Lehigh Valley that have frozen over sufficiently this winter to permit ice fishing. Certainly compared to the last two years, I know 22 to 23 it was extremely limited to one week of safe ice, and then 23 to 24 was kind of the same thing, said Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission Waterways Conservation Officer Zachary Rudd. Burns was out last Tuesday afternoon, fishing a couple of different holes for crappies, bluegills, pickerel and maybe bass. Hed dragged a sled through a thin layer of snow over the clear ice, with little bubbles embedded over the pond that can reach 20 feet deep in spots. He had two short rods going one with a little spoon called a Swedish Pimple and the other with a tungsten jig, each affixed with wax worms. He wore the bib overalls of an insulated float suit over a winter active-wear jacket with yellow-handled, retractable-spiked awls slung over his neck to help pull himself to safety, were he to fall in. A balaclava hung loose around the opening to the jacket, beneath a winter hat. On really cold days, hes been known to wear two pairs of socks and insulated boots. Todd Burns, of Plainfield Township, gets out for some ice fishing Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2025, on Albert Ponds in Bushkill Township.Kurt Bresswein | For lehighvalleylive.com Fishing for 60 years, he said he only took up ice fishing about four years ago: I didnt know what I was missing. About a 20-minute drive northwest on Minsi Lake, Milford Kasebier was using a tip-up in a hole created with an augur attached to a battery-powered drill. Wearing lined pants over thermal underwear and a Carhartt coat with the hood up, and also with ice awls around his neck, he was using shiners, or minnows, and hoping to catch a couple of pickerel. All but trout are catch-and-release at Minsi Lake in Upper Mount Bethel Township as the state and Northampton County look to rebuild the fish populations there after Minsi was drawn down in 2017 for repairs and refilled in 2020. We havent really had any good ice fishing years to speak of since then, Rudd told lehighvalleylive.com. So the fish population continues to grow, as far as size and abundance. Obviously you can only harvest the trout still at that point, but hopefully well hear some kind of anecdotal stories of people catching some nice stuff through the ice there. Kasebier has pulled some trout in the 14-to-16-inch range out of the ice at Minsi Lake in years past. Milford Kasebier, of Upper Mount Bethel Township, pauses to talk with a visitor while ice fishing Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2025, at Minsi Lake.Kurt Bresswein | For lehighvalleylive.com Aside from Albert Ponds and Minsi Lake, other hotspots for ice fishing in the region include Tobyhanna Lake, which is scheduled in spring 2026 for its own dam-replacement project, Shohola Lake and Promised Land State Park in the Pocono Mountains region. A bit closer is Beltzville State Park in Carbon County, where anglers have been ice fishing along both the Pine Run and Preachers Camp boat launches, Ranger Joseph Andrews said. As far as how thick the ice is, we dont know, Andrews told lehighvalleylive.com. We leave that up to the fishermen to make their own decision on that one. Thats the story at most ponds and lakes, including Nockamixon State Park in Bucks County. What I understand is that there are some ice fishermen at the end of Haycock Cove, Nockamixon park Manager Obie Derr said Thursday. Its the first time in a number of years because we just havent had ice. Signage warns of ice dangers Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2025, at Minsi Lake in Upper Mount Bethel Township.Kurt Bresswein | For lehighvalleylive.com Anglers heading onto the ice to fish will take sample borings to make sure its thick enough. Unseen dangers that can render ice too thin in spots include vegetation or other objects sticking out that can absorb heat, wind and any kind of moving water. Kasebier, at Minsi Lake, said theres a current from a creek that runs through there and can make for ice a couple of inches thinner than in other spots. He has inch markings on the handle of a ladle, drilled full of holes, that he uses to both gauge the thickness of the ice and to scoop out chunks as they refreeze. You want to pay attention, he said out on Minsi Lake last Tuesday. You just got to be cautious and conservative. For more tips and an interactive map of destinations for ice fishing, visit the Fish and Boat Commissions website at pa.gov. The site offers up the following safety tips for ice fishing: Never fish alone: A buddy can save your life in an emergency and help you get warm and dry after a dunking. Test the ice: Drill or spud a sample hole from a pier or dock, if available, before venturing out. Make some more experimental holes to measure the ice as you move from shore. Stay alert for differences in the ice thickness and appearance as you move. Wear a life jacket: A life jacket is as important when ice fishing as when fishing from a boat in summer. A life jacket will keep you afloat if you break through the ice and can help insulate you from cold water. Wear ice picks: Ice picks or awls are handheld, spiked devices that you can use to pull yourself out of the water should you break through the ice. Without them, it can be nearly impossible to gain traction with your hands. The paired picks are linked by a rope or coil and worn around the neck for quick access, if needed. Carry rope: If youre fishing a reasonable distance from shore, take along a rope long enough to tie off to a tree. Spread the rope on the ice so that its near your fishing locations and can be grabbed quickly. If its too far from shore to tie off, carry rope that can be thrown to someone in trouble. Make an emergency plan: Discuss with your buddy what youll each do in case something bad happens. Working through accident scenarios beforehand cuts your response time when speed and sound decisions mean the difference between life and death. Be aware of changing conditions: Underwater springs, entering streams, current, wind and snow cover can all erode ice thickness across short distances or during the intervening time between trips. Be careful after new snowfall. Snow can hide thin ice, pre-existing holes and inhibit freezing. Avoid ice fishing on rivers. Flowing water presents too many unknowns, and if you fall through the ice, you can swept away from the hole. Stay away from structures: Snags, logs, stumps and rocks absorb sunlight and emit heat. Stay a respectful distance from any natural or manmade material and be careful around or over weed beds. Decomposing plant matter releases heat and can melt the ice from underneath. Carry a change of dry clothes: Stash a change of dry clothes in your vehicle. If you get wet, a new set of warm, dry clothes will help prevent hypothermia. Dress right: Wear layers, including a wool sweater or other garment under a water-and-wind-resistant shell. Wool retains your body heat, even when wet. Always wear a hat when ice fishing. An uncovered head loses a lot of heat heat you may need if things go wrong. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to lehighvalleylive.com. Kurt Bresswein may be reached at kbresswein@lehighvalleylive.com. Investigations are ongoing into the construction of walls and other flood defences in Portarlington which should have been built to protect the town by the end of 2024. Surveys, reports and designs have also yet to be completed more than seven years after flooding led to political promises that the town would finally get permanent protection. The incoming minister Kevin Boxer Moran promised Portarlington and Mountmellick would get protection after both towns were hit by flooding in late 2017. A project team contracted in 2020 to deliver a Portarlington plan but its work has fallen behind its own self-published timelines for the delivery of protection for a town that is at flood risk. Portarlington is flood prone due to the River Barrow flowing through the low-lying town. Experts have been appointed and investigations and planning is underway but the engineering firms contracted by Laois County Council and overseen by the Office of Public Works (OPW) have yet to complete their assessments as to how to protect the fast-growing Laois Offaly town. A dedicated OPW website provides the latest information on what work lined up for the start of this year. It confirms that survey work is not complete. "Personnel from Ground Investigations Ireland working on behalf of Laois County Council for the Portarlington Flood Relief Scheme will be conducting site investigation works to obtain details about the soil strata commencing in January 2025. Affected landowners have been contacted by letter. "Precision Utility Mapping has been appointed to carry out a utility survey in January 2025, using Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) methods to aquire mapped subsurface information," it said. Nevertheless, a newsletter published last November claims progress is ongoing in terms of development of the scheme design, engineering surveys and environmental assessments. "Scheme development and design of Portarlingtons Flood Relief Scheme - is being advanced by Binnies and Nicholas ODwyer (B/ NOD), together with Laois County Council, Offaly County Council and the projects Steering Group which consists of members from the (OPW)," it said. However, the completion of final plans is some way off. "The Environmental Impact Assessment Report (EIAR) is awaiting the completion of the Stage I Scheme design before more progress can be made," it said. Such reports are complex to prepare but must accompany any project that will have an impact on the environment such flood defences. Newsletters produced for the project also show defences should already be in place. MORE BELOW PICTURE. The January 2021 newsletter published a provisional table which showed that construction would start in 2023 and be completed in 2024 with the defences operational at the end of last year. The four-year-old survey indicated the urgency of delivering a Port Flood Relief Scheme. "Having suffered many previous flooding events, notably in August 2008, winter 2015/16 and November 2017, calls for a sensitive flood relief scheme to be constructed and protect Portarlington from future flood events have intensified," it said. It said Black and Veatch and Nicholas ODwyer were appointed by Laois County Council in August 2020 to develop a flood relief scheme to protect Portarlington which is socially, environmentally, economically, and technically acceptable. "The works likely to take place in all areas are hard defences (walls & embankments), improvement of channel conveyance (maintenance & culvert upgrade) with a possibility of increased floodplain storage where appropriate," it said. The most recent newsletter in a series of 10 since 2021 says the aim is to submit a planning application for the scheme by the end of quarter 3 this year. Published in November 2024, it claims a delay in submitting the planning application compared to a previous newsletter was due to further design adjustments, required as a result of consultations. It claims that the team is taking "proactive measures" to meet the scheduled milestones. Outgoing Minister of State Sean Fleming says he has the 'ability, experience and drive' to serve as a minister in the new Government but he has had no indication whether he will be reappointed or not. The re-elected Laois TD Sean Fleming or new Fine Gael TD Willie Aird confirmed to the Leinster Express / Laois Live that they would be willing to serve if appointed. Dep Fleming was a junior minister in the Departments of Finance and Foreign Affairs in the last Government. He was appointed by Micheal Martin in a ministerial reshuffle after Barry Cowen was sacked as agriculture minister in 2020. It was the TD's first ministerial role since he was elected in 1997. The Castletown-based TD confirmed his interest in serving once again after serving five years in two departments. "Absolutely. I have the experience, ability and drive to it," he told the Leinster Express / Laois Live. While the identities of independents getting ministerial posts have emerged, Dep Fleming insisted that he does not indicate as to who will serve as senior or junior ministers. He said this may not be known until "hours" beforehand. New Laois Fine Gael TD Willie Aird told the Leinster Express / Laois Live that he would be happy to serve in a ministerial capacity. However, the Fine Gael poll-topper said has received no indications that he was being considered for a role. Micheal Martin will name Cabinet Ministers on Wednesday when the new Government is expected to be formed. A record number of 23 junior ministers are likely to be appointed on Thursday. The Taoiseach will agree on the ministerial teams in consultation with the Fine Gael leader Simon Harris. MORE BELOW PICTRURE. Dail meeting. Pic: Maxwell's The TD said it was important for Laois and Midland counties to be represented at the Ministerial level. He said he could also provide representation for parts of Tipperary. Meanwhile, both TDs commented on what the programme for the Government might deliver for Laois. Dep Fleming said it was very clear that a policy called 'Securing Ireland's future' specifically does not include a list of projects. "It is not a project programme. That will emerge from the National Development Plan, the public spending estimates and capital budgets from Departments," he said. The Fianna Fail TD said several big Laois projects have already been listed for development including new secondary schools for Portlaoise and Portarlington. As to his own view, he said money needs to be allocated to staff the extension to St Vincent's Hospital in Portlaoise. "The staffing issue hasn't been dealt with so that is a major priority," he said. Dep Fleming agreed that road projects need to be advanced such as the Northern Orbital Route in Portlaoise and an N80 bypass for Mountmellick. He added that flood defences in Mountmellick will come first and must be factored into any road plan. "One project cannot compromise the other," he said. Dep Aird agreed that there were no individual commitments for Laois in the Government programme and the National Development Plan would offer the opportunity for local projects to be advanced. The Fine Gael TD said a new Portlaoise courthouse is a priority for him and he wants it delivered as soon as possible. He said the courthouse is the subject of one of his first questions he is posing in the Dail. He insisted that Fine Gael TDs would not lose out to the independent TDs when it comes to including projects in the National Development Plan. Budding Laois scientist Joshua Corbett from Vicarstown who won second place in his category at the 2025 BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition in Dublin, but he is not sitting back. The impressive fifth year student at St Marys CBS Portlaoise wants to continue his research into therapy for people suffering central nervous system disorders like Multiple Sclerosis. He spoke to the Leinster Express / Laois Live following his win about his ambitions. My project, Development of a Novel Nano-QSAR Model to Predict Drug Delivery of Nanoparticles to the Brain, focuses on using machine learning to overcome the challenges of delivering medicine across the blood-brain barrier. Joshua with his biology teacher Emily Barrett and St Mary's CBS vice principal Cyril Mulligan. It aimed to address gaps in understanding how nanoparticle, an emerging way of carrying medicine, properties affect brain targeting and drug biodistribution. My study integrated physicochemical and administration data of 403 nanoparticles from previous studies into predictive models to evaluate blood-brain barrier permeability, time to maximum concentration, and drug residence. These models, developed using machine learning algorithms like Random Forest and XGBoost, allow for rapid computer screening of drug carrier designs, reducing reliance on expensive experimental studies. This work is particularly impactful in advancing therapies for central nervous system disorders, by addressing a critical bottleneck in drug development by bridging laboratory findings with clinical applications, Joshua explained. Winning his award at the national science show was a big moment. Hearing my name was an incredible moment, and I felt a rush of pride and joy. But honestly, what has stayed with me more is the reaction Ive received since winning. So many people have shared their personal stories, thanking me for working on something that touches so many lives. Its a powerful reminder of why I pursued this project, he said. A lot of time went into the project. This work took months of dedication, and there were times I felt like giving up. But I didnt, because the clock is ticking. Every four seconds, these conditions claim another life. Winning the award is amazing, but for me, its not the end, its just a milestone. Theres so much more to do in this field, and my biggest reward is knowing my work has brought us one step closer to better treatments. To anyone out there, regardless of age or background: you can make a difference. Science is about persistence, and progress is possible if we commit to the work. So yes, Im proud of the award, but Im even more motivated to keep pushing forward, he said. He said that the BT Young Scientists exhibition was fantastic. The exhibition was absolutely fantastic, one of the best experiences of my life. From the moment I walked in, I was surrounded by so many brilliant and passionate young scientists, and it was truly inspiring. I realised it wasnt just about showcasing my work; it was about being part of a community of people all working to solve real-world problems. I feel incredibly lucky to have been honoured in the way I was, but what stayed with me most was the chance to meet others who are just as passionate about science and innovation. Its an experience I think everyone should have whether youre a participant or just visiting. Its inspiring to see the creativity and dedication of so many young minds in one place, the Vicarstown teen said. The 2025 BT Young Scientist & Technology exhibition at the RDS. Photos courtesy of Emily Barrett, Biology teacher, CBS. He reveals his high hopes for his future. I plan to study electronic engineering at university and see where that path takes me, but my research journey definitely wont stop there. Im eager to access a lab in the future to test many of my findings and to continue advancing this work. In the long term, Id love to pursue a career in nanoinformatics, combining nanotechnology and data science to drive innovation in medicine. One dream of mine is to eventually establish a non-profit organisation focused on developing advanced nanomaterials and medicines that can benefit people worldwide, ensuring accessibility and impact for everyone, Joshua Corbett said. "My project doesnt focus on a specific disorder but rather the mechanism by which medicine is delivered. To put my work into perspective, neurological and central nervous system disorders alone account for over 10 million deaths annually worldwide. Much of this is due to the inefficiencies in how we deliver treatments, rather than the treatments themselves. "One major advantage of my work is that it speeds up how we screen and evaluate potential therapies. Right now, even if we developed a cure for cancer tomorrow, it could take 10 to 15 years before its approved and reaches patients. My project could shave years off that process, saving both time and significant costs, while potentially improving outcomes for millions. "This technology isnt limited to one disease it has applications for thousands, from Alzheimers and Parkinsons to depression and brain cancer. What excites me most is the possibility of seeing cures not just therapies emerge within my lifetime. If people across the globe collaborate in pursuit of something greater, I truly believe transformative progress is within reach," the young scientist said. He explained his inspiration for the project. "I cant say Ive personally struggled with one of these conditions, or that a close relative has, although I, like most people, know others who have. But my motivation was more about responsibility. I dont think its right to sit on the sidelines when you have the ability to make a difference. I feel a personal obligation to stand up and take action, especially in an area where progress could save millions of lives. "As for how I came up with the idea, I want to be clear: this kind of work isnt like something out of Hollywood. There wasnt a single aha moment or light switch that went off in my head. It was the result of months of research, reading, and trial and error. I went through dozens of ideas that I ended up discarding because they were too narrow in application, too costly, or simply infeasible. "Ultimately, I wanted to work on something with real-world impact, something that could potentially address thousands of diseases by improving how we deliver treatments," Joshua said. He is deeply thankful to his family and teachers. "My parents, Catherine and James, have been incredibly supportive throughout this journey. Their patience and kindness, especially in the final weeks and days before the Young Scientist exhibition, meant so much to me. I even pulled an all-nighter to finish my poster and report book, and I doubt Id have managed it without their encouragement. "Id also like to thank my teachers at St. Marys CBS for fostering my love of science. The schools environment has been so inspiring and played a huge role in shaping my interest in this field. In particular, I want to thank Ms. Barrett, who supported me from the moment I came to her with my idea at the start of the school year. She even accompanied me to the exhibition and has been there every step of the way. Im incredibly grateful for her guidance and enthusiasm," Joshua Corbett said. Met Eireann has issued an official Weather Advisory for Laois and the rest of Ireland for weather that could turn into the next winter storm. Met Eireann says it issues Weather Advisories are issued up to about a week ahead to provide early information on the potential for hazardous weather. The Advisory issued on Monday, January 20 says a deepening Low-Pressure system is forecast to track close to Ireland on Thursday night and during Friday. "Very strong winds are likely across the country with the potential for damaging wind gusts and disruption in places. High seas and spells of heavy rain are expected also," says the advisory. Met Eireann's official storm forecasting partner in the UK is the Met Office. The UK's National Weather Services has already issued two Status Yellow wind warnings for Northern Ireland and Scotland. It says a powerful Jet Stream will develop above the North Atlantic this week, with perhaps the strongest winds of the winter so far. This means a return to wet and windy conditions in the UK by Friday with some disruptive weather likely. Met Eireann, the Met Office and their counterparts in the Netherlands (KNMI) jointly name storms. Storm Eowyn is the next official storm on list of storms for the 2024/25 winter season. The national outlook overview from Met Eireann is that the weather turn colder from Tuesday night with scattered showers. It says more unsettled conditions will develop on Thursday, with very strong winds and heavy rain possible on Friday and at the weekend. MORE BELOW x POSTS. Weather Advisory for Ireland Keep up to date with https://t.co/e0QpncNS7O and our App for any warning updates. pic.twitter.com/upmLshJUFy Met Eireann (@MetEireann) January 20, 2025 Weather for the week ahead Mostly cloudy through to midweek with only light falls of rain Turning colder from Tuesday night, with more unsettled weather developing Thursday onwards Advisory issuedhttps://t.co/w5QtJ1V6un pic.twitter.com/MaaCUem4Qz Met Eireann (@MetEireann) January 20, 2025 A powerful Jet Stream will develop above the North Atlantic this week, with perhaps the strongest winds of the winter so far This means a return to wet and windy conditions in the UK by Friday with some disruptive weather likely. Keep up to date with the forecast. pic.twitter.com/DCPvsRBboT Met Office (@metoffice) January 19, 2025 Met Eireann says Advisories may also be employed when a sum of weather elements acting together create a significant hazard such as winds which may not be up to warnings strength but which, when combined with high tides and significant swell, generate a risk of flooding. National Forecast from Met Eireann on at 3.58pm on Monday, January 20. Monday night: Mist and fog developing in many places tonight, turning dense in some areas leading to impaired visibility and hazardous travelling conditions. Mostly cloudy in the south and east with patchy rain and drizzle, clear spells and a few showers elsewhere. Lowest temperatures of 0 to 5 degrees in a light southerly or variable breeze. Tuesday: Mist and fog will be slow to clear on Tuesday morning. A dry day for many with sunny spells and scattered showers. Cloudier at first in the south and east with outbreaks of rain and drizzle, though it will brighten up there in the afternoon. Highest temperatures of 5 to 9 degrees in a light southwest or variable breeze. Plenty of dry weather overnight with clear spells and scattered showers, most frequent in the west and north. Areas of mist and fog will develop once again, with some dense pockets possible in a light southerly or variable breeze. Some frost patches developing too with lowest temperatures of -1 to +3 degrees. Wednesday: A brighter day with mist and fog slowly clearing to leave sunny spells and scattered showers. Highest temperatures of 5 to 8 degrees in light to moderate northwesterly winds. Dry for most at first overnight with clear spells and well scattered showers. Cloud will build from the west overnight with showery outbreaks of rain spreading eastwards. Becoming breezier with winds increasing moderate to fresh southerly. Lowest temperatures of 1 to 4 degrees. Thursday: Wet on Thursday morning with widespread rain. The rain will clear to scattered showers and sunny spells in the afternoon, with the chance of hail. Blustery in moderate to fresh westerly winds and highest temperatures of 5 to 9 degrees. Friday: There is some uncertainty in the forecast for Friday but current indications suggest that it will be a very windy day with near gale force southwesterly winds developing, potentially reaching gale force in places. Heavy rain at first, possibly turning to sleet or snow locally. The rain will clear to sunshine and showers through the day. Afternoon highs of 7 to 11 degrees. Next weekend: Remaining very unsettled at the weekend with strong winds and the potential for further heavy rainfall. Met Eireann asks the public to lease check the met.ie website and app for updates to forecasts and warnings in the coming days. The weather advisor is valid to 00:00 Saturday, January 25. A garda was spat at and called a little faggot by a man who was detained in west Kildare, Naas District Court was told. The court heard that two gardai were called to the scene, a private residence at Allenwood North. Anthony Mockler, 32, whose address was given as 1 Woodlands, Blakestown, Dublin 15, was prosecuted for breaching the Public Order Act on February 13, 2022. Sgt Mary Meade said the parents of the mans girlfriend had summoned the man who was intoxicated and abusive and had left the house. When the gardai arrived, she added, he became highly abusive and aggressive towards them. The man was detained and conveyed to Naas garda station. The court heard the defendant had five previous convictions. Read more Kildare news Solicitor David Powderly said the man is currently serving a sentence with a release date in 2032. Mr Powderly said he is making good use of his time in custody and had completed a number of courses, including one on how to deal with anger. He has some insight into his offending, added Mr Powderly. Judge Desmond Zaidan noted that the man is serving a long sentence and applied the Probation Act. A GoFundMe page has been set up for the family of a Kildare man who was tragically killed when his car entered the Grand Canal near Kilmeague on December 22. Delivery driver Jason Hallahan, aged in his 40s, of Prosperous and Clondalkin, was taken from the water and treated by paramedics but was pronounced dead at the scene. The incident happened at Grangeclare West, Kilmeague at around 8pm on December 22 2024. A Suzuki Swift vehicle was later removed from the canal with the assistance of Garda divers. Mr Hallahan is deeply regretted by his loving daughter Evelyn, partner Sharon, mother Patricia, father Seamus, uncles, aunts, cousins and a large circle of friends. Mia Swords is daughter to Sharon, Jay's partner. Mia said of the fundraiser: I started the fundraiser to support Evelyn with her future, she's 13 so it's just to support her through her future and to kind of fill in what Jay would have done for her. Evelyn is a fantastic gymnast, like she was 18th in the nationals in her last competition. So he was at every single competition, he never missed one and he always provided for that, for her training and for the competition fees as well. Mia adds: Jay and Evelyn were exceptionally close and my mum is Sharon, who is his partner. But her and Jay were exceptionally close, he would go out to work and while he was at work he would be ringing her every chance he could get, just to talk to her. Jay was really fun-loving, sociable, just joyful. He just took life so lightly I suppose, but in a good way, he didn't take life too seriously. When we were kids he would just play jokes and pranks and that sort of thing. He'll be missed tremendously, an awful lot. For Evelyn I don't know how you can put into words how that would affect her or how much he'll be missed by her. She asks him every day, but she's too young to understand everything so it's incredibly difficult. At the time of going to press, the GoFundMe for Jay Hallahan - https://www.gofundme.com/f/jason-jay-hallahan - had raised in excess of 2,300. The GoFundMe noted: 'Any funds raised go towards funeral costs and a small amount for Evelyn's future like gymnastics and college fees. 'Everything donated,whether big or small, is greatly appreciated by Jay's family and will go a long way in providing security to his daughter.' Dee Ahearn, CEO of Kildare charity Barretstown, Irelands largest and most established provider of therapeutic camps and programmes for children with cancer and other serious illnesses, was recently recognised as a Business 100 Honouree in New York City. Irish Americas Business 100 honours the best and the brightest Irish and Irish American leaders, representing some of the most innovative and influential organisations in the world. At the gala luncheon at the Metropolitan Club in New York in December, Ahearn was recognised for her contribution at the helm of Barretstown, which was founded by US Actor and Philanthropist Paul Newman and modelled on his famous Hole In The Wall camps across America. Since becoming CEO of Barretstown in 2010, Ahearn has increased the number of children and family members affected by cancer and other serious illnesses served by 1000%, with the charity now supporting 22,000 annually. Furthermore, under Ahearns leadership, fundraising income has grown from 4 million to over 10 million. Commenting on this recognition, Dee Ahearn said: Im deeply honoured and grateful to be recognised as one of Irish Americas Business 100. It is a privilege to serve the children of Barretstown and for that to be recognised in the US among Irish and Irish American business leaders signifies the vital impact of Barretstown. Since opening our gates over 30 years ago, Barretstown has provided vital support to more than 125,000 campers through our life-changing therapeutic programmes and all of this is only possible through what we do as a team. What has been achieved to date, is only possible because of the unwavering commitment of the team, who are dedicated to making a positive impact in the lives of children and their families impacted by serious illness. Naas Lions Club launched the Message in a Bottle campaign on Tuesday January 14, at Naas Garda Station, with An Garda Siochana delighted to be on board with this great initiative. Emergency services members together with local community groups gathered with members of Naas Lions for the launch including Civil Defence, Order of Malta, National Ambulance Service & Fire Service, Alone, Naas General Hospital, Naas Men's Shed, Naas Care of the Aged, Sallins Sunshine Club. This is an initiative that the Lions club are hoping to roll out in the Naas District and then to be further rolled out within the Division, with the intent to roll it out on a national level. The aim of the initiative is to encourage people to keep their personal and medical details in a common place (mainly the top shelf of the fridge) where it can be easily found in an emergency. It is intended to help emergency services save valuable time identifying someone in difficulty and will quickly provide their emergency contacts. The 'message in a bottle' is a simple form that consists of all personal details and medical details for a person. This form is to be filled out and then popped into the bottle. The form will take approximately 10 minutes to complete. This bottle is then kept in the fridge so emergency services will know exactly where it is in the event of an emergency. The bottle will have two labels. One is fixed on the inside of the front door of the house and the other on the door of the fridge, so it can be easily accessed by emergency services. The bottle will cost 1, a small cost to pay which could help save someones life and the main target audience is for vulnerable people living on their own, elderly and people who have medical conditions. However, the initiative is open and inclusive of anyone who wants to adopt into their homes. Photos by Tony Keane Damian Carberry, Message In a Bottle District Officer for Lions International, with Luke Sparrow, President of Naas Lions launching their Message in a Bottle initiative at Naas Garda Station, Tuesday, January 14. USE THE ARROWS OR 'NEXT' TO BROWSE THROUGH THE FULL GALLERY St Brendans Church of Ireland in Birr will host an afternoon of choral and modern classics with the fabulous Ballymore Connect Choir from Ballymore Eustace and their special guests, Virtuoso Chamber Choir, on Saturday 1 February at 4pm. Founded in 2019, Ballymore Connect Choir is one of the largest community choirs in Kildare. With a current membership of close to 100 voices, over 70 will perform in Birr next month. Under the musical direction of Owen C Lynch, the choir performs regularly in concert and enjoy fundraising for various local charities. Their programme of music in Birr will include Owen's special arrangements of Red Is The Rose, What A Wonderful World, Rainbow Connection, Song Sung Blue, World In Union and some familiar classics from musicals. Birr native Aoife Garry is part of the choir: This is a very special concert for me and I am thrilled that the choirs first tour is to my hometown. We are all very excited about the performance. I was delighted to be able to ask my long-time friends and the group I used to sing with many years ago, the wonderful Virtuoso Chamber Choir, to perform as special guest artists on the day. I want to say a sincere thank you to Reverend Arthur Minion who very kindly offered the church to us as a venue. A special word of thanks also to Maureen de Forge and the Birr Festival of Music team for doing such a fabulous job and taking all of the organisation out of our hands. This promises to be a fabulous concert and we hope to see you there. The concert proceeds will be donated to the Church of Ireland Restoration Fund. Speaking ahead of the concert, Reverend Arthur Minion explained how the funds raised will support vital work: The current phase of restoration work on the fabric of the church is to address the ingress of water along the lead valley taking the water from the roof on the north side of the church. A lead valley runs inside the parapet along the length of the walls of both the north and south sides of the church. The evidence of the problems can be seen at various points at the top of the walls inside the church where the plasterwork and paint work is compromised. A donation from the proceeds will also be made to Offaly Hospice. This concert is proudly supported by Birr Festival of Music, the towns annual classical musical festival. Tickets 15 (children 5) + booking fee Junshi Biosciences Announces Commercialization Partnership with LEO Pharma for Toripalimab in Europe SHANGHAI, Jan. 20, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Shanghai Junshi Biosciences Co., Ltd (Junshi Biosciences, HKEX: 1877; SSE: 688180), a leading innovation-driven biopharmaceutical company dedicated to the discovery, development, and commercialization of novel therapies, and its wholly-owned subsidiary, TopAlliance Biosciences Inc. (TopAlliance Biosciences), announced a distribution and marketing partnership with LEO Pharma for toripalimab in Europe. This collaboration aims to promote the accessibility of toripalimab in Europe, offering high-quality, innovative treatments to patients across up to 32 European countries. Toripalimab, independently developed by Junshi Biosciences, is a monoclonal antibody targeting PD-1 for the treatment of multiple malignant tumors. To date, toripalimab has been approved for marketing in over 35 countries and regions around the world. In 2024, toripalimab received approvals from both the European Commission (EC) and the UK Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) for the following indications: 1) in combination with cisplatin and gemcitabine for the first-line treatment of adult patients with recurrent, not amenable to surgery or radiotherapy, or metastatic nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC); 2) in combination with cisplatin and paclitaxel for the first-line treatment of adult patients with unresectable advanced, recurrent, or metastatic esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). Toripalimab is the first and only drug in Europe for the treatment of NPC, and the only first-line treatment for advanced or metastatic ESCC, regardless of tumor PD-L1 expression status. Under the agreement, LEO Pharma will be responsible for toripalimab's distribution, promotion, sales, etc., in up to 32 countries, including all member states of the European Union (EU) and the European Economic Area (EEA), as well as Switzerland and the United Kingdom. TopAlliance Biosciences Europe will remain the Marketing Authorization Holder (MAH) for toripalimab in Europe, retaining responsibility for product development, manufacturing, registration, pharmacovigilance, quality management, etc. LEO Pharma will make payments, including an upfront payment, milestone payments if LEO Pharma wishes to pursue any subsequently approved indications, and a revenue share of a double-digit percentage on the net sales of toripalimab throughout the collaboration territory. Dr. Sheng YAO, Senior Vice President of Junshi Biosciences and CEO of TopAlliance Biosciences, said, "The partnership with LEO Pharma has established a significant milestone for Junshi Biosciences in the European market and is closely aligned with the company's global expansion strategy. Europe has been identified as a pivotal strategic region for the corporate business growth. As the Marketing Authorization Holder (MAH) of the product in Europe, the company has already established a local operational center and is actively collaborating with local health authorities to prepare for the successful commercial launch of toripalimab in Europe. As a century-old multinational pharmaceutical company headquartered in Europe, LEO Pharma has established a mature distribution network and rich marketing expertise in the local markets. By leveraging both parties' strengths in R&D, manufacturing, and commercialization, we believe toripalimab will be efficiently integrated into the Europe markets benefitting local patients-in-need. Moving forward, we will continue to implement our ?In China, For Global' strategy and work with partners to provide high-quality, innovative therapies from China to patients worldwide." Jean Monin, Executive Vice President of Thrombosis Business Unit, LEO Pharma, commented, "We are excited to partner with Junshi Biosciences, supplementing LEO Pharma's Thrombosis business, which already serves patients with cancer-associated thrombosis. The distribution and marketing partnership for LOQTORZI brings an important new treatment option to areas of high unmet medical need and focuses on a specialty hospital product that complement our existing heparin-based anti-coagulation treatments for cancer-associated thrombosis and other specialty patients. Leveraging our commercial platform, LOQTORZI will create valuable synergies and drive continued growth." About Toripalimab Toripalimab is an anti-PD-1 monoclonal antibody developed for its ability to block PD-1 interactions with its ligands, PD-L1 and PD-L2, and to induce PD-1 receptor internalization (endocytosis function). Blocking PD-1 interactions with PD-L1 and PD-L2 promotes the immune system's ability to attack and kill tumor cells. More than forty company-sponsored toripalimab clinical studies covering more than fifteen indications have been conducted globally by Junshi Biosciences, including in China, the United States, Europe, and Southeast Asia. Ongoing or completed pivotal clinical trials evaluating the safety and efficacy of toripalimab cover a broad range of tumor types, including cancers of the lung, nasopharynx, esophagus, stomach, bladder, breast, liver, kidney, and skin. In the Chinese mainland, toripalimab was the first domestic anti-PD-1 monoclonal antibody approved for marketing (approved in China as TUOYI). Currently, there are ten approved indications for toripalimab in the Chinese mainland: unresectable or metastatic melanoma after failure of standard systemic therapy; recurrent or metastatic nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) after failure of at least two lines of prior systemic therapy; locally advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma that failed platinum-containing chemotherapy or progressed within 12 months of neoadjuvant or adjuvant platinum-containing chemotherapy; in combination with cisplatin and gemcitabine as the first-line treatment for patients with locally recurrent or metastatic NPC; in combination with paclitaxel and cisplatin in first-line treatment of patients with unresectable locally advanced/recurrent or distant metastatic esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC); in combination with pemetrexed and platinum as the first-line treatment in EGFR mutation-negative and ALK mutation-negative, unresectable, locally advanced or metastatic non-squamous non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC); in combination with chemotherapy as perioperative treatment and subsequently with monotherapy as adjuvant therapy for the treatment of adult patients with resectable stage IIIA-IIIB NSCLC; in combination with axitinib for the first-line treatment of patients with medium to high risk unresectable or metastatic renal cell carcinoma (RCC); in combination with etoposide plus platinum for the first-line treatment of extensive-stage small cell lung cancer (ES-SCLC); in combination with paclitaxel for injection (albumin-bound) for the first-line treatment of recurrent or metastatic triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). The ten indications have been included in the National Reimbursement Drug List (NRDL) (2024 Edition). Toripalimab is the only anti-PD-1 monoclonal antibody included in the NRDL for the treatment of melanoma, perioperative treatment of NSCLC, treatment of RCC and treatment of TNBC. In October 2024, toripalimab for the treatment of recurrent or metastatic NPC was approved in Hong Kong SAR, China. Internationally, toripalimab has been approved for marketing in the United States, the European Union, India, the UK, Jordan, Australia and other countries and regions. In addition, toripalimab BLAs are under reviews in many countries around the globe, including the Singapore Health Sciences Authority (HSA). About LEO Pharma LEO Pharma is a global company dedicated to advancing the standard of care through innovation for the benefit of people with skin conditions. LEO Pharma also provides anti-coagulant therapy for cancer patients and other specialty patients. LEO Pharma is co-owned by majority shareholder the LEO Foundation and, since 2021, Nordic Capital. LEO Pharma offers a broad portfolio of treatments, serving 100 million patients annually. Headquartered in Denmark, LEO Pharma has a global team of 4,000 people. In 2023, the company generated net sales of $1.6 billion. For more information, please visit: https://www.leo-pharma.com. About Junshi Biosciences Founded in December 2012, Junshi Biosciences (HKEX: 1877; SSE: 688180) is an innovation-driven biopharmaceutical company dedicated to the discovery, development and commercialization of innovative therapeutics. The company has established a diversified R&D pipeline comprising over 50 drug candidates, with five therapeutic focus areas covering cancer, autoimmune, metabolic, neurological, and infectious diseases. Five of the company's products have received approvals in China and international markets, one of which is toripalimab, China's first domestically produced and independently developed anti-PD-1 monoclonal antibody. Toripalimab has been approved in over 35 countries and regions including China, the US, and Europe. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Junshi Biosciences actively shouldered the social responsibilities of a Chinese pharmaceutical company through its involvement in developing etesevimab, MINDEWEI, and other novel therapies for the prevention and treatment of COVID-19. With a mission of "providing patients with world-class, trustworthy, affordable, and innovative drugs," Junshi Biosciences is "In China, For Global." At present, the company boasts approximately 2,500 employees in the United States (San Francisco and Maryland) and China (Shanghai, Suzhou, Beijing, Guangzhou, etc.). For more information, please visit: http://www.junshipharma.com. Junshi Biosciences Contact Information IR Team: [email protected] + 86 021-6105 8800 PR Team: Zhi Li [email protected] + 86 021-6105 8800 LEO Pharma Contact Information PR Team: Jeppe Ilkjaer [email protected] +45 30 50 20 14 20 january 2025 at 06:15 News published onand distributed by: SEIU Local 2: Halifax area could see its first ever large-scale private sector janitorial strike next week HALIFAX, Nova Scotia, Jan. 20, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Three hundred private sector cleaners could soon be on the picket lines across the HRM. The workers, who are employed by GDI Integrated Facility Services, have been without a contract since the end of September 2024. A final conciliation meeting between the employer and the workers' Union, SEIU Local 2, is scheduled for Thursday, January 23, 2025. If an agreement is not reached, the strike will start on Monday, January 27, 2025. A mass rally at Purdy's Wharf is being planned. The cleaners are seeking raises that keep up with the increased cost of living, improved access to health benefits, retirement security, and language that would protect them from unfair workloads and protect their jobs from being subcontracted out. There is a sense that momentum is building amongst the employees. This past weekend over 170 workers attended strike preparedness trainings at the Homewood Suites in downtown Halifax. A vast majority have publicly pledged to actively take part in the strike. "I heard hotel staff said that this was the largest union meeting they had ever seen at the property," said Omar Joof, one of the workers and a member of the union's bargaining committee. "At one point there was standing room only." Workers overwhelmingly approved a strike on November 16, 2024. So far, not enough progress has been made on workers' main concerns to avoid a strike. In fact, GDI isn't negotiating with the union and hasn't responded to the union's proposals for the last two negotiating meetings, including the first conciliation meeting. "GDI workers in Toronto, Ottawa and Vancouver have most of these things we are asking for," said John Paluku, one of the cleaners. "Why is GDI leaving Nova Scotian workers behind? We've seen the highest cost of living increases in the country. We will not be bullied into accepting a substandard contract." Most GDI cleaners in the HRM make between $15.60 and $16.45 an hour and are living paycheck to paycheck. The minimum wage in Nova Scotia is $15.20 as of April 1, 2024. "Two thirds of workers do not qualify for health benefits," said Joof. "All workers deserve the peace of mind of having benefits and shouldn't be forced to choose between paying for medications and rent." GDI cleaners work at nearly fifty properties in Halifax, including the Ferry Terminals, commercial offices like Purdy's Wharf, malls like the Halifax Shopping Centre and Mic Mac Mall, and government properties like the RCMP headquarters in Dartmouth. For more information visit www.JusticeforJanitors.ca SEIU Local 2 represents 20,000 workers in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Ontario, British Columbia, and Alberta. We are proud members of the largest, fastest growing, and most dynamic union in North America. Media Contact: Diego Mendez [email protected] 416-476-7762 20 january 2025 at 06:55 News published onand distributed by: Hong Kong Airlines Returns to the North American Market and Celebrates the First Flight to Vancouver, Canada HONG KONG, Jan. 20, 2025 /CNW/ -- Hong Kong Airlines resumed direct flights to Vancouver, Canada, on 18 January. Celebrations were held at Hong Kong International Airport and Vancouver International Airport to mark the relaunch. Before the flight took off, senior management from Hong Kong Airlines and senior representatives from the Airport Authority Hong Kong attended a ceremony at the boarding gate, interacted with the first flight's passengers, and distributed bespoke souvenirs. Hong Kong Airlines Chairman Mr Yan Bo said: "We are delighted to reinstate the Vancouver service, offering passengers more flight choices. Vancouver was Hong Kong Airlines' first North American destination, which was first launched in June 2017, and has always been popular. Resuming this route not only marks our official return to the North American market but also demonstrates the progress of our strategic transformation from a regional to an international airline earlier this year and boosting our confidence in expanding our global route network coverage." To further enhance the passenger experience, the airline has curated a selection of Hong Kong-style in-flight meals for this route, offering a variety of Chinese, Western, and vegetarian options for both business and economy-class passengers. Hong Kong Airlines President Mr Jeff Sun said, "Our Hong Kong-Vancouver route is operated by Airbus A330-300 aircraft, providing a high-quality and unique long-haul flight experience. Passengers from both Hong Kong and Canada can experience our attentive service and delicious meals, reflecting Hong Kong Airlines' customer-centric service approach and commitment to serving passengers in North America and around the world. This also underscores our vision of becoming a leading full-service airline in the region and internationally." As a full-service airline, Hong Kong Airlines has actively improved its services and expanded its operations in recent years. Through strategic route network optimisation and fleet adjustments, it now serves over 30 destinations, demonstrating a strong recovery. Last year, flight numbers fully recovered to pre-pandemic levels, with an average passenger load factor of approximately 85% and over 5 million passengers carried. To support business growth, the company will continue to expand its fleet size as needed to further increase its capacity. By then, a fleet with diverse configurations will enhance operational flexibility and coverage, providing passengers convenient access to travel across mainland China, Japan, South Korea, and Southeast Asia via Hong Kong, as well as popular global travel destinations such as Australia, the United States, Canada, and Europe. Hong Kong Airlines flight schedule* between Hong Kong and Vancouver is as follows (All times local): Route Flight Number Departure Arrival Frequency HKG ? YVR HX080 22:10 18:10 Tue 23:50 19:50 Sat YVR ? HKG HX081 01:50 07:00+1 Wed, Sun * Flight number and schedule may change without prior notice For high-resolution photos, please download here: https://bitly.cx/SL0m About Hong Kong Airlines Established in 2006, Hong Kong Airlines is a full-service airline firmly rooted in Hong Kong. The airline flies to 30 destinations across the Asia Pacific, and currently maintains interline and codeshares with multiple airline partners and ferry service providers. Hong Kong Airlines operates an all-Airbus fleet. It has been awarded the internationally acclaimed four-star rating from Skytrax since 2011. For more information, please visit hongkongairlines.com or our social media channels on LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. SOURCE Hong Kong Airlines 20 january 2025 at 06:50 News published onand distributed by: Bird River Announces Share Purchase Agreement to Acquire Mining Rights in Mexico NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO U.S. NEWSWIRE SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES Bird River Resources Inc. (the "Company") (CSE:BDR) announces that it has entered into a share purchase agreement (the "Definitive Agreement") with a private corporation existing under the laws of the State of Delaware (the "Shareholder"), and a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Shareholder existing under the laws of Mexico ("Mexico HoldCo"), pursuant to which the Company will acquire a 100% interest in two gold projects located in the San Miguel region (the "San Miguel Project") through the acquisition of a 100% (the "Interest") of the issued and outstanding shares of Mexico HoldCo (the "Proposed Transaction"). All currency references in the news release are in Canadian currency unless otherwise noted. The Mining Right Interests The San Miguel Project is located about 65 kilometers east from the city of Mazatlan, Mexico and accessible via a paved road and Mexico HoldCo is the sole owner of two mineral property interests in the region, which span approximately 50 hectares and 69 hectares, respectively (collectively, the "Mineral Property Interests"). Mexico HoldCo also holds a right of use option on the Shareholder's mill processing plant located 75 kilometers southwest of the San Miguel Project. Additionally, four international mining companies have operating mines in two states within this region. The Proposed Transaction Pursuant to the terms of the Definitive Agreement, the Company will acquire the Interest in consideration for: a cash payment of $200,000 payable to the Shareholder on the date of closing of the Proposed Transaction (the " Closing Date "); and 3,125,000 common shares of the Company (the "Payment Shares") to be issued to the Shareholder on the Closing Date. In addition, the Company will grant to the Shareholder on the Closing Date, a 2.0% net smelter royalty derived from the future production from the Mineral Property Interests (the "NSR"). pursuant to the terms and conditions of a net smelter royalty agreement to be entered into between the Company and the Shareholder as of the Closing Date (the "NSR Agreement"). The NSR Agreement will also include a buy-back right granted to the Company, whereby the Company shall have the option to purchase from the Shareholder, half of the NSR, thereby reducing the royalty percentage of the NSR from 2.0% to 1.0%, for aggregate consideration of $1,000,000. The Proposed Transaction is an arm's length transaction pursuant to the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange (the "Exchange"). The Proposed Transaction remains subject to certain closing conditions including, without limitation: (a) the receipt by the Company and the Shareholder of all necessary corporate and regulatory approvals (including the approval of the Exchange, if applicable); (b) each party's representations and warranties in the Definitive Agreement being true and correct in all material respects as of the Closing Date; (c) each party meeting its terms and conditions and completing its covenants and obligations as contained in the Definitive Agreement; (d) delivery of applicable legal opinions concerning the titles to the Mineral Property Interests; and (e) other closing conditions customarily found in transactions similar to the Proposed Transaction. There can be no guarantees that the Proposed Transaction will be completed as contemplated or at all. Concurrent Financing In connection with the Proposed Transaction, the Company will complete a best efforts non-brokered private placement of Common Shares at a price of $0.04 per Common Share for minimum gross proceeds of $400,000, which will be used to fund: (i) the expenses of the Proposed Transaction, (ii) the exploration and development of the Mineral Property Interests, and (ii) working capital requirements of the Company following completion of the Proposed Transaction (the "Concurrent Financing"). The Common Shares will be offered by way of private placement pursuant to exemptions from prospectus requirements under applicable securities laws. The securities issued pursuant to the Concurrent Financing will be subject to resale restrictions, including a hold period of four months and one day from the date of issuance, in accordance with applicable Canadian securities laws. The Concurrent Financing is subject to the final approval of the Exchange and any other applicable regulatory approvals. In connection with the Concurrent Financing, the Company may pay a finder's fee to certain arm's length finders in accordance with the policies of the Exchange. The securities of the Company referred to in this news release have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act"), or any state securities laws. Accordingly, the securities of the Company may not be offered or sold within the United States unless registered under the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws or pursuant to an exemption from the registration requirements of the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws. This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of any offer to buy any securities of the Company in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful. About Bird River Established in 1958, Bird River is a Winnipeg, Manitoba based diversified resource company which currently holds a net royalty smelter interest in a platinum palladium property in the Bird River Sill area of northeastern Manitoba near the Ontario border. Management and the Board of Directors are currently focused on the renewable power sector and the resource industry. Additional information regarding the Company is available at www.sedarplus.ca. For further information, please contact: Jon Bridgman, CEO & Director Bird River Resources Inc. Tel: 1-877-587-0777 Email: [email protected] Cautionary Note Regarding Forward Looking Statements This news release contains certain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Any statements that express or involve discussions with respect to predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions or future events or performance (often, but not always, using words or phrases such as "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", "plans", "estimates" or "intends" or stating that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved) are not statements of historical fact and may be considered forward-looking statements. Examples of forward-looking statements in this news release include, amongst others, the completion of the Proposed Transaction on the terms described herein or at all, the receipt of all necessary corporate and regulatory approvals (including the approval of the Exchange) for the Proposed Transaction, the completion of the Concurrent Financing, and the satisfaction of all conditions to the closing of the Proposed Transaction. Forward-looking statements are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties which could cause actual events or results to materially differ from those reflected in the forward-looking statements. Except as required by applicable securities laws, the Company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements in the event that management's beliefs, estimates or opinions, or other factors, should change. Neither the CSE nor its market regulator (as that term is defined in the policies of the CSE) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this press release. SOURCE: Bird River Resources Inc. 20 january 2025 at 08:00 View the original press release on ACCESS NewswireNews published onand distributed by: Dividend Select 15 Corp. Declares Monthly Dividend TORONTO, Jan. 20, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Dividend Select 15 Corp. (The "Company") declares its monthly distribution of $0.05667 per Equity share. The distribution is payable February 10, 2025 to shareholders on record as of January 31, 2025. Under the distribution policy announced in September 2014, the monthly dividend payable on the Equity shares is determined by applying a 10.00% annualized rate on the volume weighted average market price (VWAP) of the Equity shares over the last 3 trading days of the preceding month. As a result, Equity shareholders of record on January 31, 2025 will receive a dividend of $0.05667 per share based on the VWAP of $6.80 payable on February 10, 2025. The yield will remain stable at 10.00% (based on the VWAP) under this distribution policy. Since inception, Equity shareholders have received a total of $10.82 per share inclusive of this distribution. The Company invests in a portfolio of 15 Canadian companies selected from the following 20 company universe which are among the highest Canadian dividend yielding stocks. Bank of Montreal BCE Inc. CIBC CI Financial Corp. Cenovus Energy Inc. Enbridge Inc. Great West Lifeco Inc. Loblaw Companies Limited National Bank of Canada Ovintiv Inc. Power Corporation of Canada Royal Bank of Canada Sun Life Financial Inc. TELUS Corporation The Bank of Nova Scotia The Toronto-Dominion Bank Thomson Reuters Corporation TMX Group Inc. TransAlta Corporation TC Energy Corporation Distribution Details Equity Share (DS) Record Date: Payable Date: $0.05667 January 31, 2025 February 10, 2025 20 january 2025 at 09:00 News published onand distributed by: Bureau Veritas to Acquire a Leading Buildings & Infrastructure Business in Italy in Line With LEAP I 28 Bureau Veritas, a global leader in Testing, Inspection, and Certification services, announced that it has signed an agreement to acquire Contec AQS and its two owned subsidiaries Exenet and PMPI. The planned acquisition is aligned with Bureau Veritas' LEAP | 28 strategy to expand its leadership in the Buildings and Infrastructure market. Bureau Veritas contributes to safer, sustainable, and resilient buildings and infrastructure, delivering comprehensive solutions covering the full life cycle of assets. This acquisition will expand Bureau Veritas' Buildings and Infrastructure footprint in Italy. Contec AQS, Exenet and PMPI are established Italian brands delivering comprehensive services and technical expertise in the Buildings and Infrastructure sector. They cover construction, infrastructure and Health, Safety & Environment (HSE) domains for public authorities, infrastructure operators, and private manufacturing companies. The company employs c.190 highly skilled experts and is expected to deliver c. ?30 million in revenue in 2024. "This acquisition is in line with our objective of expanding our leadership in the infrastructure space in Europe, as planned in our LEAP | 28 strategy." Said Hinda Gharbi, Chief Executive Officer of Bureau Veritas, "Within Italy, the addition of these three companies will augment our capabilities and bring additional benefits to our clients." Alberto Palombarini ? CEO, Contec AQS, added: "Our historic collaboration with Bureau Veritas has confirmed the strong fit between their technical capabilities and ours. This strategic union will not only enhance our service delivery offering to our clients, it will also consolidate our position as a partner of choice by reaching a critical mass in our Italian home market." The transaction is expected to be closed by the end of March 2025, once customary closing conditions have been met, including regulatory clearance. *** About Bureau Veritas Bureau Veritas is a world leader in inspection, certification, and laboratory testing services with a powerful purpose: to shape a world of trust by ensuring responsible progress. With a vision to be the preferred partner for customers' excellence and sustainability, the company innovates to help them navigate change. Created in 1828, Bureau Veritas' 83,000 employees deliver services in 140 countries. The company's technical experts support customers to address challenges in quality, health and safety, environmental protection, and sustainability. Bureau Veritas is listed on Euronext Paris and belongs to the CAC 40, CAC 40 ESG, SBF 120 indices and is part of the CAC SBT 1.5 index. Compartment A, ISIN code FR 0006174348, stock symbol: BVI. For more information, visit www.bureauveritas.com, and follow us on LinkedIn. Our information is certified with blockchain technology. Check that this press release is genuine at www.wiztrust.com. 20 january 2025 at 13:05 News published onand distributed by: New low carbon floating hotel and visitor destination proposed for Vancouver waterfront VANCOUVER, BC, Jan. 20, 2025 /CNW/ - A new 250-room floating hotel is being proposed for Vancouver by Finnish hotel developer, Sunborn International Holding (SBIH). In partnership with the Vancouver Harbour Flight Centre (VHFC), the hotel will be a unique, world-class hospitality venue, bringing new jobs, economic growth, and creating a new destination on the water. "The new floating hotel will be a jewel for the crown of Vancouver's waterfront," says Graham Clarke, Chairman of VHFC. "The new property will contribute to the urgent need for hotel rooms in Vancouver in an innovative and effective way, with no permanent footprint or environmental ramifications, adding new public spaces, viewpoints, cafes and restaurants to Vancouver's vibrant waterfront." The proposal would create 250 new hotel rooms, without taking scarce real estate away from other important local priorities in the city landscape. If approved, Sunborn Vancouver will be built off-site eliminating any disruptive impact and will be an environmentally friendly development, sourcing its power needs from renewable energy. The hotel's renewable energy systems are expected to reduce its power consumption by 60-70%. With plans to directly connect to the Vancouver Convention Centre's existing infrastructure, the new low carbon floating hotel will operate like a normal building on land, with no discharge to the water. Sunborn Vancouver will also not use fossil fuels and creates no emissions from engines or generators. "We are excited about the opportunity to bring our new generation of low carbon floating hotels to the Vancouver waterfront," says Hans Niemi, CEO of Sunborn International. "The vessel will be newly built for Vancouver and our intention is to develop a beautiful on-the-water hotel, blending seamlessly and adding new spaces for the public to enjoy." The floating hotel, its amenities and associated services, are anticipated to create more than 200 direct new jobs and is a fully privately funded development project. Sunborn International and its partners are undergoing a rezoning process with the City of Vancouver, and pending approval, the new hotel is scheduled to open in 2027. For more information about the Sunborn Vancouver development visit: www.sunbornvancouver.ca High-resolution media images are available for download at: https://we.tl/t-uwELAUxlqP PROJECT SUPPORT Royce Chwin President & CEO, Destination Vancouver "The proposed hotel is a new and unique attraction that would complement the existing offerings from our destination, as well as bringing 250 new hotel rooms. In our view, a bespoke floating hotel development would enhance our waterfront and we look forward to working with Sunborn and their partners in promoting this new attraction and hotel to our global visitors." Ken Cretney President & CEO, PavCo (Vancouver Convention Centre) "Vancouver is facing a significant shortage of hotel rooms and we are excited to see the proposal to develop a unique hotel property on the waterfront. The new hotel will enhance the destination and generate not only economic impact, but also community benefit. The project aligns very well with our commitment to environmental sustainability and the new low carbon hotel will complement the sustainability program that exists in the West building of the Vancouver Convention Centre." Andrew Voysey Executive Vice President, Ledcor Properties "Considering that virtually all the Coal Harbour ODP area has been developed, this project is an innovative and very sensible solution. Delivering a new hotel to support growth in tourism and convention activity, while seamlessly integrated and complementing the area's existing uses." BACKGROUND Sunborn International Founded and headquartered in Finland, Sunborn is a family-owned hospitality company, with hotel operations, real estate, and property development globally since 1973. Sunborn International Holding (SBIH) is one of the world's leading floating real estate developers and has been operating modern, purpose-built floating hotels since 1998. Currently, their portfolio includes yacht hotels at Royal Victoria Dock in London and Ocean Village in Gibraltar. As well as the proposed Vancouver hotel development, SBIH is planning to expand its fleet with new hotels in leading cities around the world. The company has a program to develop sustainable, low carbon floating hotels and is working with innovation partners to achieve this goal. Further information: www.sbih.group SOURCE Sunborn Vancouver 20 january 2025 at 13:28 News published onand distributed by: We Are China World's tallest bridge connected in Guizhou Ecns.cn) 14:38, January 20, 2025 Aerial view of the construction site of the Huajiang Grand Canyon Bridge in southwest China's Guizhou Province, Jan. 17, 2025. (China News Service/Qu Honglun) The Huajiang Grand Canyon Bridge was connected on Friday. With a designed deck height of 625 meters and a main span of 1,420 meters, the bridge surpasses the Beipanjiang Bridge that measures 565 meters in height on the expressway linking Hangzhou in Zhejiang Province and Ruili in Yunnan Province as the new highest bridge in the world. Aerial view of the construction site of the Huajiang Grand Canyon Bridge in southwest China's Guizhou Province, Jan. 17, 2025. (China News Service/Qu Honglun) Aerial view of the construction site of the Huajiang Grand Canyon Bridge in southwest China's Guizhou Province, Jan. 17, 2025. (China News Service/Qu Honglun) Aerial view of the construction site of the Huajiang Grand Canyon Bridge in southwest China's Guizhou Province, Jan. 17, 2025. (China News Service/Qu Honglun) Aerial view of the construction site of the Huajiang Grand Canyon Bridge in southwest China's Guizhou Province, Jan. 17, 2025. (China News Service/Qu Honglun) Aerial view of the construction site of the Huajiang Grand Canyon Bridge in southwest China's Guizhou Province, Jan. 17, 2025. (China News Service/Qu Honglun) Aerial view of the construction site of the Huajiang Grand Canyon Bridge in southwest China's Guizhou Province, Jan. 17, 2025. (China News Service/Qu Honglun) Aerial view of the construction site of the Huajiang Grand Canyon Bridge in southwest China's Guizhou Province, Jan. 17, 2025. (China News Service/Qu Honglun) Aerial view of the construction site of the Huajiang Grand Canyon Bridge in southwest China's Guizhou Province, Jan. 17, 2025. (China News Service/Qu Honglun) Aerial view of the construction site of the Huajiang Grand Canyon Bridge in southwest China's Guizhou Province, Jan. 17, 2025. (China News Service/Qu Honglun) (Web editor: Tian Yi, Zhong Wenxing) IRISH Olympic flag bearer Sarah Lavin has officially launched Milford Care Centre's annual 10km run/walk fundraiser. As Milford Care Centre's ambassador and longstanding advocate and supporter, the Lisnagry native expressed her commitment to this cause. "I am excited to support and raise awareness for the crucial work done by Milford Care Centre. It is incredibly important and brings great value to the Mid-West region. I urge everyone to help Milford in raising the necessary funds for their services, said Sarah. Now celebrating its 13th year of running, the event will be operating both in a physical and virtual capacity, giving participants the opportunity to take part in the event starting on the grounds of the University of Limerick or within their own locality and around the world in the virtual event on Sunday, February 16. Supported by Dell Technologies and Stryker, participants of all levels and abilities are welcome, with all proceeds supporting the work of Milford Care Centre Mid-West. CEO of Milford Care Centre, Mary O'Brien, conveyed her gratitude to Dell and Stryker for their support of this event and her appreciation of the participants taking part. "We are thrilled to welcome each participant to our first flagship fundraiser of 2025. Your participation and generosity are crucial in raising the vital funds needed for Milford Care Centre. Your unwavering support allows us to continue providing high-quality specialist palliative care and older persons services in the Mid-West region. We extend our heartfelt thanks to everyone involved and wish all participants, whether near or far, the very best of success with our event," said Mary. READ MORE: Homecoming concert for Limerick's Derek Hickey Sean O'Reilly, VP Fulfillment & Logistics and DELL Technologies Campus Leader notes "We are proud to continue our support for Milford Care Centre's annual 10km run/walk, aimed at raising funds for its services. At Dell Technologies, we have a rich history of engaging in community initiatives, and Milford Care Centre is particularly cherished by our team at the Limerick campus. We are committed to helping Milford secure the necessary funds to sustain their essential services for those all that need it, across the Mid-West. Many of the employees are looking forward to participating in the run. We invite you to join us on the day and support Milford," outlined Sean. Register before Friday, January 31 to receive the early bird rate of 20, registration is 25 thereafter. Participants can register for the event at www.milfordcarecentre.ie. For more information please contact the Milford Care Centre fundraising department on 061 485860. A JURY has been sworn in to hear the trial of a Limerick man accused of indecently assaulting two girls in the 1980s. The jury of six men and six women were empanelled before Judge Colin Daly at Limerick Criminal Circuit Court this Monday morning. The defendant, who cannot be named for legal reasons, is aged in his 60s. He has pleaded not guilty to three counts of indecently assaulting an underage female on dates unknown between January 3, 1984 and May 31, 1989. Two of the alleged offences are said to have occurred at a property in Limerick and one of the alleged offences is said to have occurred in a shed at the same address. The accused has also pleaded not guilty to two counts of indecent assault on a second underage female on dates unknown between January 1, 1983 and December 31, 1984 at the same address in Limerick. READ MORE: Limerick found to be second-highest county with personal injury claims per population The case is being prosecuted by John OSullivan BL, instructed by State solicitor Padraig Mawe, with the assistance of a number of both serving and retired gardai. The accused is represented by Anthony Sammon SC, appearing with Yvonne Quinn BL, instructed by Julianne Kiely. Judge Daly said the trial will commence at 10.30am on Tuesday. LIMERICK further education centres will be hoping to benefit from the latest 60m funding announcement by Minister Patrick ODonovan TD. With nine Further Education Training (FET) campuses across Limerick city and county, Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science Patrick ODonovan TD said the funding boost is a significant milestone to drive energy efficiency and decarbonisation in these buildings. For the first time in the FET sector, the Energy Efficiency and Decarbonisation Pathfinder Programme will seek to reduce carbon emissions, enhance energy performance and build capacity to ensure they lead by example in the transition to a sustainable future. READ ALSO: Stores eco-friendly gains are well-earned Minister ODonovan said: This marks a significant milestone in our journey towards a sustainable future for lifelong learning. The 60m Energy Efficiency and Decarbonisation Capital Investment Programme for FET centres is not just an investment in our infrastructure, but an investment in our people and our planet. This initiative underscores our commitment to reducing carbon emissions and fostering innovation, ultimately securing a more sustainable and prosperous future for all. Co-funded under Project Ireland 2040, this initiative is part of Irelands Climate Action Plan. Minister of State at the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications Ossian Smyth TD said: The programme is designed to successfully deliver significant energy savings and emissions reductions in the FET centres, taking an exemplary lead role in energy efficiency, climate action and investment in developing our people. However, it goes further than that, because while this programme aims to develop a foundation for sustainable practices across the FET sector itself, it is also another example of the public sector leading by example. This helps to encourage and inspire those who may use these centres and the wider public to also take climate action. SOLAS, in partnership with the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) and the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science established the Pathfinder Programme as a collective group. Avril Behan, director FET College of the Future in SOLAS, who have a centre in Raheen Business Park, said: This is an important step forward as it will ensure that some of our key FET campuses are compliant with climate action targets. This funding will support ETBs to improve energy efficiency, reduce carbon emissions, and expand their leadership role within their communities. The Pathfinder Programme is part of a holistic package of supports being provided to the FET Sector that also includes over 24m in Green Devolved Capital Grants over the next three years. As an organisation, we are committed to sustainability, economic resilience, and a future for our learners. The Pathfinder and Green Devolved funding supports ensure that FET will play an important part in contributing to a greener, more sustainable world. Micheal Martin stood by his past criticism of Michael Lowry as he defended negotiating the programme for government with the controversial independent TD. Mr Martin once called on Tipperary North TD Mr Lowry to resign from the Dail after a corruption investigation heavily criticised his conduct. During at times heated exchanges with reporters on Sunday, the Fianna Fail leader was challenged on how he could justify striking a coalition deal with Mr Lowry, who chaired the Regional Independents negotiating team, given the damning findings of the Moriarty Tribunal. The tribunal, which was established in 1997, examined payments to former Irish premier Charles Haughey and Mr Lowry and other matters relating to the contentious awarding of a mobile phone operating licence in Ireland. Among its findings, the tribunal criticised former Fine Gael minister Mr Lowrys behaviour as profoundly corrupt to a degree that was nothing short of breathtaking. The 70-year-old politician, who has always denied wrongdoing, has served as an independent TD since leaving Fine Gael in the 1990s. Pressed on the matter on Sunday, Mr Martin stressed that Mr Lowry would not be a minister in the new coalition. He also made clear he stood by his past criticism of Mr Lowry but insisted he had to respect the mandate he has repeatedly secured from voters in Tipperary. Mr Martin also suggested that Fianna Fail and Fine Gael had limited options for coalition partners, as he claimed Labour and the Social Democrats were not disposed to going into government. First of all, what I said back then stands, what was revealed in the Moriarty Tribunal was shocking and was wrong, and I condemned it at the time and still do, he said. The people of Tipperary and the people of a number of other constituencies have elected independents. I have an overriding obligation now to form a government and to work to form a government, and its with quite a number of independents, not just Michael Lowry, but all the others that get forgotten about in all of the assessment of this and commentary on this. He added: So we have, yes, negotiated with Regional Independent group. They elected Michael Lowry as their chair. It was clear the Labour Party and the Social Democrats were not really in a position or disposed to going into government. Thats the reality of that. Im determined to form a government that lasts five years, and Im going to do that, and likewise in the last government we enabled it to go five years. And I dont in any way condone what happened or the actions that were covered by the Moriarty Tribunal, but the people of Tipperary have elected Michael Lowry as well, we cant ignore that. I cant ignore the mandates that independents have received. Mr Martin claimed a negative agenda was being pursued to criticise the government before it was even officially appointed. Its as if a lot of people in the commentary world are very disappointed with the outcome of the election, he said. And from day one, its been negativity all the way towards this government, and it hasnt even been established. There needs to be a bit of balance here. Michael Lowry is not in government, he was nominated by the Regional Independent group to chair their group for the negotiations. We met them, we met the negotiating team, and met all of the independents myself before we got down to negotiation. And weve negotiated a policy platform, which I think is a good, positive policy platform for the next five years, and thats it. I mean, as I said, the alternatives facing us are very much determined by the decision of the Irish people in the Dail that theyve re-elected with quite a number of independents, with quite a number of small parties, and with three parties in around 20% each. And that means there will be coalition governments formed now and well into the future. Last week, Mr Lowry accused members of the media of trying to undermine his mandate. Asked whether he could commit not to engage in behaviour similar to that outlined in the Moriarty Tribunal, he said: The media has been over-consumed by this. You have given the past month trying to undermine my position and the very strong mandate I got from the people of Tipperary and north Kilkenny. Youve been ranting for the last month in your publications. Let me say I enjoy the confidence of my group. I also enjoy the confidence of the Taoiseach (Simon Harris) and Tanaiste (Micheal Martin) in the negotiations that I had. He added: Unlike you, they respected the mandate that I have from the people. Google, doubling down on artificial intelligence (AI) to fuel revenue growth, is witnessing increased enterprise interest in agentic workflows, according to Oliver Parker, vice president of global Generative AI (GenAI) go-to-market at Google Cloud. In the last few months, the interest has been growing significantly, Parker noted during a recent interview in India. AI agentsautonomous systems capable of decision-making and actionare designed to perform tasks with minimal human intervention. From driverless cars to smart home assistants and trading bots, these agents represent a critical evolution in AI technology. Read this | AI and GenAI are transforming robotics: ABB robotics global head Googles newly launched AgentSpace platform enables businesses to create AI-powered workflows that integrate seamlessly into operations, offering tools for tasks like enterprise search and data interaction. It is "taking AI beyond developers to the business layer," Parker explained. Over the past year, Google has poured resources into developing agentic models. These systems can process broader contextual data, anticipate multiple steps ahead, and execute tasks autonomously under human supervision. CEO Sundar Pichai underscored this shift in a December blog post announcing Gemini 2.0, describing it as the foundation for the next era of models built for this agentic era." Building agentic systems in low-code environments is emerging as the quickest way to drive enterprise value. When to use AI agents? The value of agentic systems lies in their ability to trade off latency and cost for enhanced task performance, and those using these systems should consider when this tradeoff makes sense, noted a 20 December blog by tech company Anthropic. However, companies need to deploy these systems judiciously, Parker said. Think of a model as an engine and an agent as a car," he explained, emphasizing that many enterprises embed large language models (LLMs) into workflows without creating fully autonomous systems. For cost-sensitive and latency-critical use cases, Google offers Gemini Flash, a model optimized for speed and affordability. In contrast, Gemini Pro caters to reasoning-intensive tasks, albeit at higher costs and slower response times. Parker cited a Southeast Asian chat assistant as an example of Gemini Flashs utility, while Gemini Pro excels in scenarios requiring complex decision-making. Googles AI strategy extends to Vertex AI, its enterprise developer platform that supports diverse models. Partnerships with Anthropic, Cohere, Mistral, and Metas Llama further underline Googles commitment to flexibility, offering enterprises a suite of AI tools tailored to their needs. Enterprise adoption of AI is accelerating globally, despite concerns about return on investment (ROI). Parker observed that while US enterprises focus on extracting value from business platforms, countries like India and Chinatraditionally developer-centricare increasingly embracing higher-level services. Building agentic systems in low-code environments is emerging as the quickest way to drive enterprise value," he said. Success stories such as Apollo 24/7 Healths AI-powered consultation assistant highlight the transformative potential of these solutions. These systems streamline processes and enhance user experiences while driving down costs. Read this | How AI, GenAI malware is redefining cyber threats and strengthening the hands of criminals Over the next 1224 months, well see progress in models and platforms, with enterprise value shifting beyond developers to packaged solutions like agent-based platforms," Parker said, citing AgentSpaces seamless integration with tools like ServiceNow, Workday, and Salesforce. Tackling rising competition However, competition in this space is heating up in the cloud infrastructure services space, which includes infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS), platform-as-a-service (PaaS) and hosted private cloud services. Third-quarter enterprise spending on cloud infrastructure services was $84 billion worldwide, up $15.7 billion or 23% from the third quarter of 2023, according to the Synergy Research Group, with generative AI being a major factor behind the market acceleration. That said, Amazon maintains a strong lead with a 31% market share, followed by Microsoft (20%) and Google (13%). Among the tier two cloud providers, those with the highest year-on-year growth rates include Oracle, Huawei, Snowflake and Cloudflare, according to Synergy Research. Parker countered, "Google's vertically integrated stackfrom silicon to infrastructureprovides a unique advantage, allowing us to optimize for cost, latency, accuracy, and performance. This approach enables tailored solutions across diverse use cases, such as leveraging long context windows (up to 2M tokens in Flash)". Google, according to Parker, anticipates a shift toward AI-first tech stacks, "which may redefine the hyperscaler (big cloud services providers) landscape as companies prioritize AI partnerships over traditional infrastructure". He added that Google has made "significant improvements over the past year, reducing errors and enhancing reliability". For regulated environments, human oversight remains crucial. Tools like grounding with Google Search enhance accuracy, particularly for currency and factual checks, "although no model is flawless yet", Parker asserted. As an employee myself, I use tools like our Gemini system daily, showcasing the importance of adopting advanced technologies. Google, he added, is also championing energy efficiency--from water cooling data centres to optimizing tensor processing units (TPUs), "maintaining leadership in sustainability while meeting AI compute demands." Ongoing learning But what skills will employees need in this era of high automation? "As an employee myself, I use tools like our Gemini system daily, showcasing the importance of adopting advanced technologies," Parker said. He acknowledged that skilling the workforce is criticalnot just for technical teams but across the board. Parker also underscored the importance of multimodal AI, like the company's Gemini models, which integrate text, speech, images, and video. Over 80% of recent meetings highlighted the growing demand for such capabilities, which open up new use cases and solidify AI's role in enhancing human productivity," he said. Training, according to Parker, isn't just about building AI but also using it effectively. "For instance, in 2023, we committed to training 1 million people in two years, but we achieved that goal within 12 months by leveraging platforms like YouTube and targeting diverse audiencesstartups, traditional workers, and beyond," he added. Also read | Five artificial intelligence trends to track in 2025 Acknowledging that the pace of change is challenging, Parker said Google is adapting by rapidly developing content and using its vast resources to distribute it. Education helps people see AI as an economic benefit rather than a threat to their skills, he concluded. SINGAPOREChina suggested it was willing to work with Donald Trump to keep TikTok operating in the U.S. The Chinese Foreign Ministry said Monday that companies can make their own decisions on operations and acquisitions, a reversal of the governments previous position that it would block any forced sale of TikTok. It was the ministrys first comment after Trump said Sunday, a day before his inauguration, that he wanted U.S. and Chinese interests to split control of the app 50-50. TikToks founder, Zhang Yiming, has one connection that could help smooth the way for dealmaking: Elon Musk. Zhang, Chinas richest person, and Musk, a Trump confidant and the worlds richest person, spoke last year after it became apparent that Congress would pass a law to ban TikTok in the U.S., according to people familiar with the matter. The law passed in April 2024 and went into effect Sunday following a Supreme Court ruling that it was constitutional. After a frenetic weekend when TikTok went dark for about 14 hours in the U.S., the app resumed operations, and the company credited assurances by Trump. Zhang has a 21% equity stake in TikToks Beijing-based parent, ByteDance, and majority control over the company through extra voting rights. In a reminder of the Chinese governments influence, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said any deal should comply with Chinese regulations. Musk has repeatedly argued against banning TikTok and has generally positive relations with Chinese officials. Tesla, Musks electric-vehicle company, has a major presence in China. Chinese officials have internally discussed allowing Americans they trust such as Musk to invest in TikToks U.S. operations. It couldnt be determined whether Beijing directly discussed this idea with either Musk or ByteDance leadership. Musk met Chinese Vice President Han Zheng, who is attending Trumps inauguration, over the weekend. ByteDance has tried to avoid leaving an impression that it is following Beijings lead when determining TikToks future. Zhang has deliberately distanced himself from Chinese officials, people close to him said. The ByteDance founder, who no longer holds an executive position at the company, isnt a member of Chinas ruling Communist Party. Kevin Zhou, founder of Chinese tech-news outlet Pandaily, said he initially introduced Zhang to Musk in 2014, before TikTok was created. Zhou said he accompanied the then-little-known entrepreneur on a visit to Teslas California office. According to the journalist, Zhang compared Musk to Apple founder Steve Jobs but said Musk was bolder and had greater vision. He is my hero," Zhou recalled Zhang saying. Zhang and Musk lost touch over the next decade, so Zhou said he reconnected the pair last year after Musk said in March that he opposed banning TikTok. Zhou said Musk had forgotten that he had previously met the TikTok founder. Write to Raffaele Huang at raffaele.huang@wsj.com and Stu Woo at Stu.Woo@wsj.com The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) has ordered the liquidation of Go First, marking the end of 20 months of insolvency proceedings for the struggling budget airline. Go First, which filed for bankruptcy in May 2023, had a 6.9% market share in Indias aviation sector at the time. However, the airlines assets were effectively wiped out after the Delhi High Court allowed lessors to repossess its fleet of 54 planes. While GoFirst is the second major airline to get grounded in the last 6 years, along with Jet Airways, there is likely no major impact on sentiments for the sector. India's aviation growth story remains intact on the back of robust domestic demand and expansion by players like Air India, Indigo, and Akasa. Indian airlines have over 1500 aircraft on order, and the sector is set to grow. Experts believe the government needs to ensure the working environment for the sector is healthy, with ATF (Aviation Turbine Fuel) brought under GST. CEO of Avialaz Consultants Sanjay Lazar told Mint, "The closure of GoFirst has put a slight dampener on the aviation market in India, which has become a duopoly. However, there is ample interest from foreign investors in the Indian aviation sector, given necessary protections. There should be a more amiable environment for airlines that can then flourish and pass on the benefits to passengers." Lazar added that India is a huge aviation market and there is still a great opportunity for at least one more full-service carrier (FSC) and two ultra-low-cost carriers (ULCC). He also stressed, "The government must bring ATF under a uniform GST and rationalize taxes and levies for airlines. The approval by the Union Cabinet of India of the 'Protection and Enforcement of Interests in Aircraft Objects Bill, 2024' will add a lot of comfort to foreign lessors and investors, as it aims to enforce the provisions of the Cape Town Convention." Financial woes and consumer protection concerns Go Firsts financial troubles had begun when its former promoter, the Wadia Group, filed for voluntary bankruptcy i, citing delays in securing engines from Pratt & Whitney. The major reason why Go First was unable to revive is the Delhi High Court's decision on April 26, 2023. The court directed the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to deregister the airlines leased planes, following a plea by lessors who sought to reclaim their assets. Although a clarification from the Ministry of Corporate Affairs on October 4, 2023, exempted aircraft-related transactions from the IBC moratorium, it came too late to save the airline. This left Go First without any planes, and as a result, an interested buyera consortium including SpiceJets Ajay Singh and EaseMyTrips Nishant Pittiretracted their bid. The airlines financial troubles were triggered when its former promoter, the Wadia Group, filed for voluntary bankruptcy, citing delays in receiving engines from Pratt & Whitney. Also Read: CoC recommends EY honcho as new liquidator in Go First case As the airline is now in liquidation, many passengers are still waiting for refunds. Industry insiders, who did not wish to be named, revealed that travel agents in India are staring at losses between 150-300 crore after Go First was grounded. Prakash believes that the government also needs to act on consumer protection in case of an airline failure. He said, "The government needs to look at a mandatory insurance scheme on tickets. There can be a small charge on every ticket. This can act as a safety net if the travel agent or airline fails. A consumer needs that protection so that passengers are able to recover their money." Ticket Agents Association of India (TAFI) told Mint that there were signs for a long time that Go First would not survive. He said, "While the financial losses will be much lesser in comparison to the bankruptcy of the other two airlines, the government needs to ensure there is a healthy environment for airlines in India. The market is growing, domestic demand is robust, and we definitely need more airlines. We need an environment that makes it viable for airlines to fly in the country. The government should figure out a way to bring Air Turbine Fuel (ATF) under GST. There need to be some concrete steps by the central government on this." According to legal experts, avenues to get refunds from the liquidated airline are grim. The refunds of the passengers shall fall under operational debt, which under the waterfall mechanism falls quite low in the hierarchy of the debts repayment sequence under Section 53 of the I&B Code, so chances of passengers receiving their money are slim," said Daizy Chawla, Managing Partner at S&A Law Offices. In September 2023, Go First filed for liquidation, stating that it had no viable assets and no feasible plan for revival. Later, NCLT appointed Dinkar Venkatasubramanian as the new liquidator, who took charge of the affairs from the previous Resolution Professional, Shailendra Ajmera. The airline owes approximately 6,200 crore to creditors, with significant claims from the Central Bank of India ( 1,934 crore), Bank of Baroda ( 1,744 crore), and IDBI Bank ( 75 crore). Meanwhile, Go First has engaged a US-based litigation finance firm, Burford Capital, to finance its arbitration case against Pratt & Whitney, the engine manufacturer. The airline is seeking over $1 billion in damages from Pratt & Whitney, citing faulty engines that led to the grounding of its planes. Burford Capital is prepared to provide $20 million in the first tranche to finance the arbitration. In addition, the lenders, including the Central Bank of India, are looking to recover at least 50% of their dues through the sale of a 94.7-acre land parcel in Thane, Mumbai owned by Wadias. Bengaluru/Mumbai: Private equity firm Multiples is looking to launch a $300-400 million continuation fund to remain invested in three of its portfolio companies, three people familiar with the matter told Mint . "The assets include Vastu Housing Finance, APAC Financial Services Pvt Ltd and Quantiphi," one of the people cited above said. "The fund is expected to roll out in the coming month and the firm wants to continue backing some of these assets," the person added. Mint first reported on Multiples exploring a continuity vehicle in May last year. Also Read: Why continuation funds are the new favourites in investor arsenals The development comes as investors look to stay invested in successful portfolio companies even as their fund cycle nears an end to allow their backers, also called limited partners, an exit route. Such sophisticated vehicles have been on the rise among venture capital and private equity firms amid a broader liquidity crunch. Multiples, Vastu, APAC and Quantiphi did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The private equity firm invested in Vastu in 2016, in APAC Financial Services in 2018 and in Quantiphi in 2019. Multiples had invested in these companies from Fund 2, which was raised in 2015 and had a corpus size of $550 million. With close to $3 billion under management, the private equity firm invests in sectors like financial services, pharma and healthcare, consumer tech, and enterprise technology. In 2023, it announced its first close of its fourth fund at $640 million. It has also clocked notable exits in companies, including Dream11, Livpure, Delhivery, PVR Cinemas and RBL Bank. Besides Multiples, India Quotient, Kae Capital, Westbridge Capital and Lightbox are exploring similar structures, Mint reported earlier. In July, Lightbox confirmed that it is considering a $100 million continuity vehicle to continue backing Rebel Foods, Zeno Health, PayMate and Furlenco, among others. Also Read: VC firm Lightbox considers $100-million continuation fund to back mature startups While this is more common in overseas markets, India is also seeing an uptick in continuity funds as investors look at exits. In April, private equity firm ChrysCapital closed its largest ever continuation fund at $700 million, anchored by investors including HarbourVest Partners, LGT Capital Partners, and Pantheon Ventures. Samara Capital also raised a $150 million continuation fund in 2023 while Blume, an early-stage venture capital firm, raised a 200 crore fund. Globally, notable examples include early-stage investment firm Antler's $285-million fund, Investcorp's $185-million fund, New York-based Hildred Capital Management's $750-million fund, and Carlyle's $2.2-billion fund. While the primary exit avenue has proven to be an initial public offering, experts and industry executives expect that exits in India will be a mix of mergers and acquisitions and secondary transactions, which include continuation vehicles, going forward. Also Read: Small investments surge as new wave of angel investors enters startup scene, seeking lucrative returns Broadly, continuation funds provide an exit for limited partners while allowing investment firms to remain invested in high-performing portfolio companies. These funds support trophy assets that need more time to reach their full potential beyond the typical fund cycle. Since a fund lifespan cannot be in perpetuity, as instructed by regulators, continuation funds offer an effective exit route for limited partners, giving them a level of certainty on the returns they will get. They also eliminate the early risk factor for new investors, as they will know the assets they will be backing, as opposed to a traditional fund where a venture capital or a private equity firm, known as general partners, scout for new opportunities. Global investors like Pantheon and HarbourVest have expressed interest in ramping up their investments in the country. As LPs become more confident about exit routes in India, strategies like a continuation vehicle are coming of age. "This approach provides general partners with the flexibility to continue managing and growing these assets, while also offering liquidity to limited partners who wish to exit," said Siddharth Mody, partner at JSA Advocates. He added that this could benefit investors by avoiding premature exit to maximize value creation. Mody said this could also allow general partners to time exits based on favourable market conditions instead of being bound by conventional fund expiration deadlines that typically have an 8-10-year tenure. Broadly, investors have noted that India's private equity and venture capital ecosystem has matured significantly and as a result, the adoption of continuation funds has gained momentum. Mody attributed this to a host of factors, including a need for liquidity, a rise in secondary transactions and policy frameworks that support the transfer of unliquidated assets from expiring schemes to new schemes. "In the future, continuation funds are poised to see increased adoption to optimize returns and adapt to evolving market conditions," he concluded. Bengaluru: Quick-commerce platform Zepto's new head office in Bengaluru will be managed by Smartworks Coworking Spaces Ltd, a flexible workspace operator, said two people familiar with the matter. Also Read | Zepto to file IPO draft papers by March-April as it transitions to marketplace model The startup, which is shifting base from Mumbai, is expected to move into its new office in April. Zepto was also in talks with operators such as WeWork India, IndiQube and Awfis, before finalizing the transaction with Smartworks, the people cited earlier said on the condition of anonymity. Last year, Zepto had signed a lease agreement for a 209,588 sq. ft commercial space in Bengaluru's Sarjapur Road. As the operator, Smartworks will design, build, operate and manage Zepto's new workspace, which was earlier a shopping centre named Total Mall. It will also manage a dark store or warehouse of Zepto on the ground floor of the office building. Also Read | Zepto to become profitable in FY26, hopeful for IPO plans next year: CEO Aadit Palicha Mint had reported last October that Zepto is planning to appoint a managed workspace operator for its new headquarters. The management contract has a five-year tenure, including a two-year lock-in period," said the first person. Zepto and Smartworks didn't respond to Mint's queries. Zepto has over 2,000 employees and plans to double its workforce in the coming year, said the second person. Its new office facility can accommodate 3,500-4,000 seats. Also Read | Zeptos FY24 revenue doubles to 4,454 crore in its first year as unicorn Bengaluru dominates office space absorption Bengaluru dominated office space absorption in 2024, a year that witnessed a historic high of 79 million sq. ft in leasing across nine cities, as per estimates by property advisory CBRE India. The share of flexible workspaces in India's overall commercial office market is also growing, with rising demand from homegrown and global firms for modern office spaces. Last year, flexible space operators accounted for 19% of the total leasing activity, the CBRE report said. The flexible workspace model offers both co-working spaces and managed office solutions or customised workspaces for specific companies. The Zepto-Smartworks contract falls into the second category. Smartworks in December received the approval from Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) for an initial public offering (IPO). It plans to raise funds through a fresh equity issue worth 550 crore along with an offer for sale. As of March 2024, Smartworks was operational in 13 Indian cities, with a portfolio of 41 centres spanning 8 million sq. ft. Smartworks has been steadily growing its managed and serviced workspace portfolio, to cater to enterprises. The contract with Zepto is in line with its business strategy," said the second person. Meanwhile, Zepto, which promises to deliver anything from grocery to cosmetics within about 10 minutes, is also expected to file the draft papers for an IPO this year. In August, it secured financing of $340 million led by US-based venture capital firm General Catalyst, at a valuation of $5 billion. It had gained its unicorn status in 2023, when it raised $200 million at a valuation of $1.4 billion. Bengaluru: Shorter deal tenures, more frequent renewalsthat is the scenario Indias top software services companies are likely to face going forward. Independent experts said the shorter tenures are a result of economic uncertainty in advanced markets and the fast-changing nature of modern technologies, and could pose challenges to the IT services companies. Mumbai-based Tata Consultancy Services Ltd, the countrys largest IT services company, even saw some clients taking lesser time in awarding contracts, with its top executive remarking that the company has seen deal cycles falling by a few weeks. We looked at deals that are more than $20 million and above, there is a deal cycle reduction also, which also shows that the decision-making is also improving largely," K. Krithivasan, the companys CEO and managing director, said in a post-earnings interaction with analysts on 9 January. Pointing out that TCS reported deal cycles shortening in the December quarter compared to the September quarter, Keith Bachman, analyst at BMO Capital Markets, said, We think this is encouraging with regard to CY25 growth improvement vs CY24." CY refers to calendar year (January-December). Also read | Mid-sized Indian IT companies lead AI charge with new investments TCSs total contract value or TCV expanded 18.6% sequentially to $10.2 billion for the quarter ended December 2024. This includes existing contracts and new projects. According to the management of HCL Technologies Ltd and Wipro LtdIndias third-largest and fourth-largest IT services companies, respectivelyseveral Fortune 500 companies are awarding them work of much shorter tenures. We are also noticing the average duration of signed deals getting shorter," C. Vijayakumar, CEO and managing director of HCL Tech, said in a post-earnings interaction with analysts on 13 January. He added that the shift towards shorter tenured deals naturally leads to moderated TCV (total contract value), but the more important metric in this context is ACV (annual contract value) and it is quite good (grown 9% sequentially)". If I look at the pipeline, it seems to be very similar to what it has been in the last few quarters, but bookings in Q3 are definitively the deal tenure has come down," said Aparna Iyer, chief financial officer of Wipro, in response to a question during the companys post-earnings interaction with analysts on 17 January. Also read | Why IT services firms dont offer full-year guidance but set lofty goals To be sure, second-largest Infosys Ltd, also based in Bengaluru, did not see any material change in the deal cycle, its CEO and MD Salil Parekh said in response to a question from Mint at the companys post-earnings press conference on 16 January. He added that deals awarded by financial institutions and retailers are quicker to wrap up as non-essential spending in these sectors have picked up. The companys large deal TCV, which it defines as contracts worth more than $50 million, went up 4.2% sequentially to $2.5 billion. On the other hand, fifth-largest Tech Mahindra Ltd did not comment on deal cycles or tenures. To be sure, none of the countrys top five IT services companies call out annual contract values. Expert views While the managements of these companies did not specify the reasons behind the shortening of deal tenures, a Mumbai-based analyst working at a global investment bank said that customers of IT services companies are not awarding larger tenure contracts because they are not sure of their spending. Clients might be uncertain regarding the macroeconomic impacts and are ambiguous of their spending patterns," this analyst said on condition of anonymity. A second analyst, too, attributed the reduction in deal tenures to an uncertain business environment. Also read: Mint Primer | IT services: When will the tide turn? Deal tenures are shortening because every time we go through a transitory phase in technology, clients become more cautious. Today, the transition is towards AI," said Ashutosh Sharma, vice-president and research director at Forrester Research, a Massachusetts-based research advisory firm. Clients dont want to make long-term business plans when they are not sure of the business environment. They are more keen to take different spending approaches as business conditions change and hence are committing to short-term contracts," said Sharma. A third analyst said clients are waiting to award long-term contracts to IT services companies because of automation. They (clients) think they can achieve a better deal if they wait for AI and automation to become more mainstream, which would ultimately end up saving their costs as lesser people would be billed," said R. Ray Wang, founder of Constellation Research. Forresters Sharma added that reduction of deal timelines could pose a challenge to IT outsourcing companies. IT services companies would now have to not just execute better but also offer more to clients as more deals come up for renewals each year. Performance details HCL Tech, which is the countrys third-largest software services company, grew the fastest of each of the top five IT services companies in the three months through December 2024. Its revenue grew 2.6% sequentially to $3.53 billion. Unlike its peers, which experienced a weak third quarter due to holidays that result in lesser working days, the third quarter is strong for HCL Tech because of software licence renewals in that period. The company gets 11% of its revenue from its software products arm. Also read | Lessons for Indian IT services firms as Accenture, IBM lead GenAI charge In contrast to HCL, Bengaluru-based Wipro fared the worst of the countrys top five IT services companies. Its revenue fell 2% sequentially to $2.61 billion for the October-December 2024 period. While there are differences between the two companies revenue performance, the value of contracts has come down for both, making them the only two companies of the countrys top five to report a sequential drop in contract value. HCL Techs contract value of new deal wins was down 5.5% sequentially to $2.1 billion at the end of the three months through December 2024. On the brighter side, this was still an 8.7% increase from the year-ago period. Wipros total contract value, which it defines as the value of all orders booked during the period, fell 1.3% sequentially and 7.3% on a yearly basis to $3.51 billion in the October-December 2024 period. Tech Mahindra, like HCL Tech, calls out net new deal wins but only those valued at more than $5 million. Its contract value of new deal wins rose 23.5% sequentially to $745 million as of the third quarter. WASHINGTONThe last time Rebecca Lavrenz was here she was in a federal courtroom, standing trial for her participation in the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. On Sunday, Lavrenz, 72, returned to the scene of the crimethis time in triumph. She had come to Washington to celebrate President-elect Donald Trumps second inauguration. So besieged was she by well-wishers and admirers that she kept misplacing her handbag in a hotel lobby packed with men in black ties and women in sequined gowns. With the distraction of Lavrenzs red pumps, it was easy to overlook the black monitor around her left ankle. She had been found guilty and sentenced in August to six months of home detention. Lavrenz learned on Thursday that a judge would allow her two days leave to attend the inauguration. I get so emotional," she said, her face knotting in tears, as she tried to make sense of the past four years. It makes me realize how much people love our country." A day earlier, Michelle Garthe, 61, a retired schoolteacher, was also overcome by emotion. Garthe and her husband, Kevin, 62, had taken a train from Carbondale, Ill., to join the Peoples March, a progressive protest against Trump. It turned out to be a pale and rainy version of the original Womens March that confronted Trump after his first victory in 2016. While that garnered an estimated million attendees around the worldincluding Garthethis one was estimated to have fewer than 30,000. Many were seasoned activistsfor the Palestinian cause, trans rights, climate justice, womens rights, Congo, Sudan, and the Communist Partyas if the mainstream Democratic stock had boiled for too long and been reduced to the bones. I needed to see people on the same side," Garthe explained, sobbing, as she and her husband trudged away from the Lincoln Memorial. All around, merchants were setting up stands to hawk souvenirs to the Trump supporters who would soon overtake the city. On this inaugural weekend Washington had the feel of a wartime capital changing hands, one army staging a staggering retreat, another breaching the gates and preparing to claim its spoils. Despair was being chased out by celebration. The tides were reversing. Heightening the strange atmospherics was a sudden shift in the weather that brought snow and sent temperatures plunging. There were also the Village People. They reunited to perform on Sunday with a shimmying Trump in a spectacle that was surreal even by MAGA standards. Its been four long years. Its felt like 400 years," Stephen Miller, the senior Trump adviser and architect of the president-elects immigration crackdown, said in a fire-and-brimstone address at the Sunday rally. He was welcomed to the dais by the AC/DC anthem Thunderstruck." No longer would the rest of the world kick us around," Miller promised. Theyre not going to abuse us. Theyre not going to exploit us." While the city teemed with expectant donors, Republican Party officials and the joyous MAGA faithful, arguably none felt the whipsaw of emotion quite like Lavrenz and her fellow J6ers, as they call themselves. Four years ago, they marched on the city as vandals. In the ensuing months, many were taken down in FBI raidssometimes turned in by family members. Even those who avoided criminal charges and jail time say they were left with a lasting stigma and a kind of bewilderment at how they had been viewed. On Saturday evening, a few dozen of them were gathered in a place far removed from the fancy inaugural balls but which had become hallowed ground: the sidewalk outside the Central Detention Facility, a prison in the southeast corner of the city where dozens of J6ers are being held. It was the 901st night of a regular vigil, but this time charged with excitement that Trump was returning to the White House and, in just two more days, might offer deliverance in the form of pardons. Its an exciting time because Donald Trump will keep his promises," said Ben Pollock, who was waving an American flag with a torn Trump banner that was from Jan. 6. He had a son and daughter who were both still in prison for their involvement in the insurrection. I should probably be in there, too," he reflected. The vigil featured candles and music, unabashed patriotism and religiosity, and occasional dancing. In abstract terms, many swore hostility to the media" while, in practice, they were politeeven solicitouswith actual reporters. Inmates, meanwhile, would take turns calling in from the prison just across the street, their conversations broadcast on a loud speaker. Every so often, one could be seen clad in an orange jump suit and waving from a window across the razor wire. In all its prayers, rituals and anointed saints, it was an attempt to make the criminal sacred. Even with Trumps restoration at hand, not everyone was jubilant. It was hard to come here today," said Bob Bagley, 72, a retired police officer from The Woodlands, Texas, who hadnt been in Washington since Jan. 6. I swore Id never come back because of the evil that happened that day." Bagleys speech was halting, and he seemed visibly stricken at times. He was plagued, he said, by the idea that the wider public would never understand what he believed was the truththat the violence that day had been engineered by the government. It was a great day until it wasnt," he said, recalling the tear gas. Lavrenz, who runs a bed-and-breakfast, also remembered the day that wayalthough she didnt appear to be haunted by it. Perhaps that was because of her faith. It was exactly where God told me to be," she said. Her son had urged her to come to Washington on the day of the riots, and she made the two-day drive from Colorado after praying on it. God, she recalled, then led her into the Capitol to defend democracy. I want you to carry my presence into the building if the doors open," she recalled the message. The spiritual experience was so intense on that day, she said, that she scarcely recalled the violence unfolding around her. Even if Trump were to offer her a pardon, Lavrenz said, she might turn it down because she is determined to see out her appeal. Not so Brandon Straka, who defies the usual preconceptions about the J6ers. A gay hairstylist who lived in New York City for 20 years, Straka was devastated when Hillary Clinton lost in 2016. But he had eventually become disillusioned and then carved out a career as an influencer encouraging other Democrats to go MAGA as head of the #WalkAway campaign. Straka was at the Capitol on Jan. 6, and has spent the past four years confined to his home state of Nebraska, where he had been riding out the Covid pandemic when the FBI came knocking. He was sentenced to three years of probation for his participation in the riots. Like Lavrenz, he had come to Washington for the inauguration with permission from the Justice Department. But he had turned down dozens of invitations to attend celebratory balls and political events and was mostly laying low in an Airbnb. For me, personally, this has been a very long and brutal four years. Its been very hard," Straka said on Sunday night. His probation ends next weekafter which he plans to return to New York. Still, he was desperate for exoneration in the form of a pardon. Until I find out what [Trumps] going to do tomorrow, I just cant let go," he said. Am I on the list or not on the list?" China dominates the global market for the small, inexpensive drones that have transformed the worlds battlefieldsand Beijing hasnt been shy about keeping the industry under its thumb. For U.S. companies, dependence on China has become untenable, particularly as Beijing shows it is willing to cut off their access to essential supplies. In Taiwan, that spells opportunity. Vice Premier Cheng Li-chiun, who heads a government program to develop the islands drone sector, said in a recent interview that the development of a democratic supply chain" starring Taiwan is an inevitability. However, recent examples of Beijing punishing companies for their ties to Taiwan have made U.S. businesses cautious in their efforts to avoid China in the production of drones, an industry where commercial ambitions and national security intersect. American companies also worry they will find themselves in the crossfire of any rising tensions between the U.S. and China after President-elect Donald Trump takes office. Its not just lets swap out of China and go to Taiwan," said Mike Sims, co-founder and chief executive of U.S. startup Empirium, a marketplace that helps companies including drone makers find China-free parts and services. Its essentially just a delicate business environment." The delicacy of working with Taiwan is a challenge to Taiwans aspirations to become a powerhouse drone-parts supplier and build a drone army to defend itself against a potential invasion by China, which claims the island as its own. U.S. drone maker Skydio experienced the perils of relying on Chinese supply in October, when Beijing blacklisted the company. Skydio had found itself cut off from the Chinese batteries it needed. Chinas government said it was responding to Skydios sales in Taiwan, where the companys drones are used by the National Fire Agency. The company has also delivered drones to Ukraine for use in its war with Russia. This action makes clear that the Chinese government will use supply chains as a weapon to advance their interests over ours," Skydio Chief Executive Adam Bry wrote in an October blog post. No Western drone manufacturer is safe," he added. The company approached the Taiwan government, and Taipei saw an opening. Taiwan officials connected Skydio with local battery suppliers, according to Cheng and other people familiar with the matter. Skydio is in talks with these suppliers, which are part of a government-backed coalition to bolster Taiwans domestic drone industry. It has also approached other Taiwanese suppliers about filling the gap left by China. The company hasnt settled on a new battery supplier and is speaking with manufacturers in other countries. It said it expects to have a full stock of batteries in the spring. Chinas sanctions forced it to scale back the number of batteries on its drones from three to one. Limiting batteries curtails the drones performance. Skydio, meanwhile, has been outspoken with policymakers and regulators about the risk of the U.S. being so dependent on Chinese drones, including those of Shenzhen DJI Technology, the worlds largest small-drone manufacturer. The U.S. government has declared DJI to be a national security threat. Many U.S. drone companies will likely buy sparingly from Taiwans suppliers and source their parts from around the globe, having paid the price for their singular reliance on China. Working with Taiwan comes with some unquantifiable costs, companies say. Chiefly, that Beijing will punish any company that does business there or, in a more drastic scenario, will seize the island and take ownership of its industries. Taiwan, and its boosters, are undaunted. You kind of have to find the natural substitute to China, and its Taiwan," said Sims. We see this as a gold rush in a way. I think its going to be a boomtown." Taipei has plans to invest at least $1.35 billion over four years in its effort to foster domestic drone capacity and cut out China. This non-red trend, its a huge potential business opportunity for Taiwan," Cheng said, using another term for the shift away from China. Well be keeping a close eye on the requirements from key partners like the U.S., especially around requests for excluding Chinese components," Cheng said. Taiwan is bracing for further shifts in the tense relationship between Beijing and Washington, with Trump threatening tariffs on China from the moment his term in the White House begins on Monday. Beijing is finding ways to strike back. Chinas Ministry of Foreign Affairs said last month that it was imposing sanctions on more than a dozen additional U.S. drone-technology companies, including some that supply drones to Ukraine in its war with Russia. Many of the companies had already moved to suppliers outside of China. China dominates the worlds supply of batteries, motors, sensors and rare-earth materials that are vital to parts of the defense industry. Nearly all the components in first-person-view dronesthose that use real-time video feeds, the type widely used in Ukraineare manufactured in China, even though many were invented in the U.S., according to a study by Massachusetts Institute of Technology researchers Edlyn Levine and Fiona Murray. It is the absolute dominance of the supply chain," said Murray. Taiwan sees its expertise in making advanced semiconductors and other tech products as the groundwork for a competitive drone industry. This year the government is putting at least $10 million into research and development for drone chips, Cheng said. Cybersecurity is another critical area where her government is working to ensure Taiwanese-made drones meet Western standards, she said. Taiwanese supplies tend to be slightly more expensive than their Chinese counterparts, but cost less than supplies from tech hubs in other democracies such as South Korea and Japan. Seattle-based BRINC Drones gets critical components from Taiwan, and is leaning on a mix of Taiwanese, American and other allied suppliers to stay clear of China, executives said. Chinas dominance, however, remains daunting. China has a grip on the ingredients for many of the components used in drones and other defense-related products. China supplies more than 90% of the magnets needed for motors. Batteries are built with minerals that come from China or are processed in China. Manufacturers around the world are nervous to do business with a company blacklisted by China for fear of retaliation from Beijing. China intends to weaponize its control over drone components," said Craig Singleton, senior China fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a Washington think tank. The Chinese understand our supply chains better than we do." China has blocked the export of certain critical minerals to the U.S., including gallium, which is used in equipment needed by the U.S. military. There are also some essential drone parts that Taiwan manufacturers are finding too costly to assemble, such as the gimbal system, which combines an optical lens with thermal sensors and stabilizers. Taiwan produces the parts, but most are shipped to China for assembly. Taiwanese suppliers could produce entire batteries domestically to ensure supply-chain security, as long as keeping costs low isnt the main priority, said Joe Chiu, who co-leads an Economy Ministry-backed consortium to explore export opportunities. However, Chiu, an executive of Aerospace Industrial Development Corporation, which makes jet fighters for the Taiwanese Air Force, said suppliers also fear retaliation from Beijing, given some still have business ties or operations in China. They also have to think about geopolitical tensions," Chiu said. They want to do business with both sides, but they just cant afford to risk offending either one." Chiu noted that Taiwanese suppliers who are in talks with their American counterparts would want to keep a low profile. If a company has nothing to do with China," he said, they really wouldnt have to worry about this at all." Write to Joyu Wang at joyu.wang@wsj.com and Heather Somerville at heather.somerville@wsj.com As Indias leading information technology firms release their quarterly earnings, the picture remains subdued. Revenue growth continues to lag, and the absence of major deals, coupled with persistent attrition, underscores the sectors ongoing challenges. Still, a cautiously optimistic tone is emerging, fuelled by hopes of a recovering demand environment and increased client spending. Heres whats unfolded so far. First, the financials. Quarterly results from Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Infosys, HCL Technologies, and Wiproreleased last weekreveal that revenue growth remains tepid. While the December quarter traditionally sees slower momentum due to seasonal furloughs and fewer working days, year-on-year figures also failed to inspire. The combined revenue growth for the top four players has struggled to exceed 3% in any of the last seven quarters, slipping further to just 1% in the December quarter. TCS and HCL Tech both reported a drop in year-on-year revenue growth, with TCS at 5.6% and HCL Tech at 5.1%. Infosys posted an improvement, with revenue growth rising from 5.1% to 7.6%, while Wipro reported a marginal increase in topline after five consecutive quarters of contraction. Net profit figures offered some optimism. TCS reported its strongest gains in six quarters, Infosys reached a three-quarter high, and Wipro hit at least a two-year peak. Sequentially, too, net profits improved for all except Wipro. Read this | Indian ITs top 5 might end this fiscal year a little better than the last Looking ahead, the sector anticipates a potential rebound in the final quarter of the fiscal year. Three of the four companies have raised their revenue guidance for 2024-25, citing improvements in discretionary spending by clients. Headcount woes Rising attrition emerged as a key theme in the latest quarterly results of Indias IT majors. Attrition rates for all four companiesmeasured as the percentage of employees leaving over the past 12 monthsreached their highest levels in at least four quarters. Wipro led the pack with an attrition rate of 15.3%, followed by Infosys at 13.7%, HCL Technologies at 13.2%, and TCS at 13%. While these figures remain well below the 20%+ rates seen in 2022, they highlight a persistent challenge for the sector. Net workforce addition also slowed significantly. The four companies collectively added just 1,198 employees during the quarter, a steep decline from the 6,900 added in the previous quarter. TCS and Wipro reported net losses of 5,370 and 1,157 employees, respectively, in the December quarter. At the same time, employee costs as a share of revenue fell across the board. HCL Technologies and Infosys reported the most significant reductions, with wage costs dropping to 55.5% and 51.3% of revenue, down from 57.2% and 52.6% in Q2. TCS reported a modest decline from 57% to 56.2%, while Wipro saw a slight reduction from 60.4% to 59.9%. Year-on-year, too, TCS, Infosys, and Wipro reported declines, while HCLTech recorded an increase. Looking ahead, Infosys plans to hire over 20,000 freshers in 2025-26, while TCS continues its trainee onboarding programme. Absent deals A persistent challenge remains the scarcity of mega contracts. Both Wipro and Infosys reported lower total contract values (TCV) in the third quarter compared to the prior year, underscoring the impact of subdued large-scale deal activity across the sector. TCS, however, stood out, posting a 26% year-over-year increase in TCV, bucking the broader trend. Read this | Q3 throws focus on deal cycle, tenure for India's biggest IT service providers The lack of mega deals was evident in the companies' high-value clients, signalling that global customers exercised caution on large IT projects during the December quarter. An analysis of clients generating over $100 million in annual revenue shows stagnation in recent quarters, with both TCS and Wipro reporting quarter-on-quarter declines in this segment. However, TCS maintained year-over-year growth in its high-value client portfolio. The Indian IT sector is navigating a period of uncertainty, with global economic factors weighing on demand. Given the industrys significant exposure to the US market, policy shifts under the new US administration will be closely monitored for their potential impact on client spending and deal pipelines. Cell and gene therapy startup Immuneel Therapeutics, which launches its CAR-T cell therapy to treat adult patients with lymphoma on Monday, is focused on making it affordable for cancer patients in India, having brought down costs to about 10% of what they are globally, according to a senior executive. The startup, co-founded by Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, was the first company in India to conduct CAR T-cell therapy trials in 2022. The therapy, called Qartemi, is used to treat adult B-cell non-hodgkin lymphoma, and has been licensed from the Hospital Clinic de Barcelona (HCB) of Spain. CAR T-cell therapy involves genetically engineering a patients T cells, a type of white blood cell, to recognize and attack cancer cells more effectively. The Bengaluru-based startup has partnered with hospitals such as Narayana Health, Apollo Hospitals, CMC Vellore, and Manipal Hospitals to administer the treatment and is in the process of partnering with more. In July 2024, we got the approvals to treat patients in the commercial and real world setting in India," Amit Mookim, chief executive officer, Immuneel Therapeutics, told Mint. And we are now in the process of training, accrediting the hospitals, starting to treat patients." Making strides CAR T-cell therapy, currently used as a second or third line of treatment in India, is very nascent but the country is making strides in innovation. Immuneels Qartemi is not the only product in the market. Laurus Labs and IIT Bombay-backed ImmunoACTs CAR-T therapy was launched last year in April. Aurigene Oncology, a Dr Reddys subsidiary, is also working on the therapy and announced promising results from a phase 1 study for patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma in October 2024. Also read | Govt may propose duty cuts for rare-disease medicines, cancer drugs in budget to ease burden on patients Indias cancer burden is growing, with around 120,000 new blood cancer cases and over 70,000 deaths annually from leukemia, lymphoma, and multiple myeloma. According to estimates by Immuneel, there are at least 1,000 to 1,500 eligible CAR-T patients in the country currently. The startup has a rigorous screening process to select patients who fit the bill and aims to address at least 20% of those patients in this calendar year, Mookim said. As the therapy moves to being a first line of treatment in India, following the developed world, the number of patients will increase, he said. So far, about 160 patients have been treated using Qartemi, including about 140 in Europe and the rest in India. Cost a key deterrent The therapy is relatively nascent and comes at a high cost. Globally, it can cost anywhere between $350,000 and $700,000. Immuneel has brought down the cost to about $60,000-70,000 in India. At anywhere between 51 lakh to 60 lakh, this is still prohibitive for a majority of Indians. It's too early [to tell] whether Indian patients or doctors would adopt this kind of treatment, because of the high cost," Tausif Shaikh, India analyst- pharma and healthcare, BNP Paribas, told Mint. Immuneel is working on innovation and lowering manufacturing costs to make it more affordable in India. One of the ways in which we are [looking at] bringing the input costs down is whether we can locally manufacture some of the input materials, because a lot of the reagents and the input materials are imported currently," Mookim said. Theyre also looking at bringing down logistics costs. Also read | Cancer was fastest-growing ailment in 2024: Medi Assist report We follow global standards to ship the product. We will continue to do that, but over a period of time, as the product becomes more stable, we'll try and see how we could bring some of those costs down as well," he added. The startup sees India being at the forefront of CAR T-cell therapy innovation. We have very deep investments in manufacturingwe are constantly retesting and testing to ensure global quality and also doing a lot of innovation," Siddhartha Mukherjee, director and co-founder, Immuneel Therapeutics, told Mint. India will become, and has already become, one of the manufacturing innovation hubs for CAR-T therapy. So it would be a lot of innovation in that area in the futurebut quality and efficacy [must] come first." The startup, founded in 2019, raised 100 crore in funding in July 2024 in an extended Series A funding round and was valued at 488 crore as of April 2024. And read | AstraZeneca gets CDSCO approval for cancer treatment drug Durvalumab Chennai: The most recent dream run for poly vinyl chloride (PVC) and steel manufacturers in India, ironically, coincided with the pandemic. Global supply lines were disrupted, imports dropped, and domestic prices rose sharply. The price of hot rolled steel coil touched a peak of 67,000 per tonne while that of suspension PVCthe most consumed variety used for making pipes and wireswas 1,85,000 per tonne. PVC players such as Reliance, Chemplast Sanmar and Finolex Industries and steel majors, Tata Steel and JSW Steel, raked in large profits, paid off debts and built strong cash reserves. But the good times lasted just a couple of years. In 2022, China embraced its zero covid policy and shut down large swathes of its country. Soon, predatorily priced Chinese importswhere the landed cost of imports is either lower than the cost of production or locally sold pricestarted flooding the Indian market. Prices tanked. Suspension PVC imports from China is set to jump six-fold between 2021-22 and 2024-25 (see chart). Not surprisingly, PVC prices have since crashed to 80,500 per tonne levels. The steel industry also faces a similar scenario. Chinese imports have almost quadrupled in the same period (see chart). Add to this, the imports routed through countries such as Vietnam. After a gap of five years, India became a net importer of steel in 2023-24. That gap is set to widen significantly this year. Domestic steel prices of hot rolled coils (HR coils), a steel product, have fallen to 46,000 per tonne currently; Tata Steels profits are down and in the last one year, the steel makers shares have barely moved, ending 20 January at 131.47 a piece. This sharp fall in profit (pure play PVC companies are in losses) comes despite a strong domestic demandIndian manufacturers are operating their capacity at more than 80%. Continued imports from China at discounted pricing have impacted the profitability of domestic companies. If not addressed through additional duties, the surge in imports can likely delay expansion by domestic players," Sehul Bhatt, director of research at Crisil Market Intelligence & Analytics, warned. While Steel and PVC are among the most affected sectors on account of low-priced Chinese imports, the situation is the same for many other commodities as well. Overall, imports from China have more than doubled in the last five years (see chart). Trump effect The problem is set to worsen as Donald Trump begins his second term as the President of the US. During his election campaign, he has threatened tariffs of up to 60% on Chinese exports. In 2023, Chinese exports into the US aggregated $500 billion. If Trump imposes such tariffs, Chinese exports to the US are expected to fall by 85%. This output will find its way into other markets, including India. This is already happening to some extent. Since Trumps first trade war in 2018, Chinese overall trade surplus has doubled to $820 billion levels. But its trade surplus with the US, however, remained at $340 billion, same as in 2018. This indicates that Chinas exports have found their way to other markets. Without doubt, it will add to the misery and aggravate the situation. India is among the very few large growing markets," said Manish Mishra, chief of corporate affairs, Tata Steel. How prepared is India to protect its domestic industry from cheap imports? The myth Globally, India is seen as one of the most protectionist nations. Its share of anti-dumping measures, globally, is estimated at 15%far higher than its 2.4% share in global trade. In 2023, India opened 45 anti-dumping investigations, the second highest after the US, which initiated 64 cases. Between 1984 and 2024, it initiated 514 anti-dumping and countervailing duty (CVD) investigations and imposed duties in 315 cases. CVD is imposed on imported goods to offset the subsidies that are given by the exporting country. It is a myth that India is protectionist. We may have filed a large number of anti-dumping and CVD cases but in value terms, they are very small," said Rajiv Arora, former additional director general (foreign trade), Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR). The organization is responsible for protecting the interest of the domestic industry by investigating and levying anti-dumping duty, CVD and other safeguard duties. Also, India is a large growing market with a low-cost mindset. Naturally, it is a fertile dumping ground. India is a L1 (in the world of business contracts, L1 stands for the lowest bid in a tender)country. It is price that matters, not quality or source of imports," said N. Krishnamoorthy, deputy managing director, commercial, Chemplast Sanmar, a large PVC producer. The Indian trade remedial system isnt very effective either, experts said. It is tardy and is in desperate need of reform. In its absence, Indias response to predatorily priced imports has been slow, insufficient and ineffective causing a lot of damage to the local industry," said Arora. Mint reached out to Darpan Jain, director general of DGTR, seeking his views, but did not receive any response. First line of defence Quality control order (QCO), a non-tariff measure that ensures imports are subjected to the same quality standards as domestic producers, is the first line of defence that is available to local manufacturers. It is imposed by various ministries as per the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) Act. India has implemented BIS norms for over 700 products domestically. But QCOs are not in place for imports of all products. PVC manufacturers have been seeking a QCO for about two years now. They have good reasons for it. Unlike Indian players, Chinese producers manufacture PVC through the carbide route that uses mercury as a catalyst, which is not environmentally-friendly. The government saw merit in the case and finally issued a QCO in February 2024. The order had to come into effect from August last year. But its implementation has been extended twice, first to December 2024 and now to June 2025.Thats because BIS has been unable to certify enough foreign manufacturers who are eligible to export to India. To protect consumer interestand ensure availability of the product in IndiaQCOs cannot be implemented unless BIS certifies a certain number of foreign manufacturers. When it comes to QCOs, we are still in transition and BIS is not geared enough to implement them quickly," said Arora. Ideally, it should come into force within six months," added Krishnamoorthy. Mint made repeated attempts to seek clarifications from BIS but without success. Second line of defence The anti-dumping and CVD offer the second line of defence for local players against unfairly priced imports. Safeguard duty protects the domestic industry from a sudden surge in imports. Here, too, Indias record has been found wanting. For one, the time taken by DGTR to levy these tariff measures is much longer than its peers. It takes anywhere between 18 to 30 months from the start of dumping to imposition of duties," said A.K. Gupta, founder and director, TPM Consultants, a consultancy into trade remedies. Other countries do it in 9 to 12 months. This is because DGTR demands at least 12 months of data as evidence. There is no law which states that 12 months data is needed. Even six months is enough," said Gupta. That apart, the case should ideally be initiated within 15 days of the filing of the application. In other countries, cases are initiated once there is prima facie evidence and then the investigation begins. But DGTR generally takes a couple of months or more to initiate a case as its officers first start a preliminary investigation, which takes weeks before they even accept the case. This is a typical Indian bureaucratic mindset," said Arora. It takes anywhere between 18 to 30 months from the start of dumping to imposition of duties A.K. Gupta Many times, the delay results in DGTR seeking a fresh set of data as happened recently with the steel industrys application on imports from Vietnam. The application was filed in April 2024 with data on dumping till December 2023. As the case was not initiated before the end of June, DGTR sought a fresh set of data till March 2024. The industry submitted the data, and the process was finally initiated in August and is still ongoing. The industry has, in December, filed an application for imposition of safeguard duty on flat steel imports. The PVC industry had sought anti-dumping duty on suspension PVC early last year. The case was initiated in March 2024 and an interim duty was recommended at the end of October. An importer went to court against the interim duty and the stay was finally vacated in December, but the interim duty is yet to be notified by the finance ministry. No immediate relief Experts say that the PVC sector was lucky to have got an interim duty in the first place. Unlike other countries, DGTR has been quite reluctant to impose interim duty. Of the 353 instances of anti-dumping duties levied since 1984, interim duties were imposed only in 62 cases. The global practice is to first impose interim duty if there is prima facie evidence and then go for detailed investigation," said Gupta. He blames the non-imposition of interim duty on the workload among DGTR officers. Levying an interim duty multiplies the workload," he added. View Full Image The PVC industry had sought anti-dumping duty on suspension PVC last year. DGTR has about 25 officers while its equivalent organization, in the US, has over 250. Each officer, at any given time, handles 10 to 20 cases. In the US and EU, it is not more than two or three cases," said Arora. Another sore point is the lesser duty rule. Unlike the US, where anti-dumping duty is levied on the full value of dumping, India has passed a unique non-injurious price (NIP) law that calculates the price at which an exporter can sell in India without hurting the domestic industry. This is typically lower than the actual dumping margin. Anti-dumping duty is the lower of the two. This is done to ostensibly protect the interests of consumers. But the way the non-injurious price is calculated ensures that the final duty is far lower than what it should be," said Gupta. Take the case of Soda ash companies. The price of soda ash,used to produce soaps and detergents, is 20 per kilogram and 98% of it is produced in Saurashtra. To transport it to south India, it costs 12 as freight. For calculating NIP, freight cost is not considered. Imports now feed soda ash demand in south India.The same is the case with hydrogen peroxide, a bleaching agent used to manufacture hair dye, toothpaste and so on. Industries have been impacted in east India as imports from Bangladesh have flooded the region. In short, Indias trade remedial measures need a strong dose of organizational reform (strengthening of DGTR), policy reform (end lesser duty rule, at least with respect to China), procedural reform (speed up the process and impose interim duty as a norm) and structural reform (better coordination between finance and commerce ministries), Arora further said. Consumer vs industry Between 1991 and August 2020, only 0.7% of all DGTR recommendations were rejected by the finance ministry. But between September 2020 and March 2023, the rejection rate shot up to 63%. It is currently at the 19% level. This is because the finance ministry tilted towards protecting consumers interest first, especially after the pandemic. View Full Image After the pandemic, the Indian government became a big consumer of products such as steel. (Mint) Not everyone agrees. The US, EU and Canada have retained the tariffs that were levied in 2018 to thwart similar large-scale imports from China. India, too, had many tariffs that were allowed to expire. Are these countries any less consumer-focused than India?" asked Krishnamoorthy. There is yet another reason. The fact that the government was a large capital expenditure spender post-pandemic, and the biggest consumer of products like steel, played a part. They were worried that duties will increase prices," said Tata Steels Mishra. Such a strategy is a double-edged sword. End users are sacrificing their long-term interests at the altar of short-term profits," said Ramkumar Shankar, managing director, Chemplast Sanmar. China is sitting on a 100 million tonne surplus steel capacity. Imports from China will continue to flood into India. If we do not act against dumping, the ability of the domestic industry to expand capacity will be hit. We will become import dependent," warned Mishra. India plans to take its steel capacity to 300 million tonne (mt) from the current 180mt by 2030-31 and this needs an investment of $120 billion. Sanjiv Puri, president of the Confederation of Indian Industry and CMD, ITC Ltd, highlighted this issue while speaking to Mint recently. He said that Chinas excess capacity was responsible for India Incs inability to ramp up private investment. If they (China) dump stock overseas, we cannot export. And when it comes to dumping in India, it affects us directly," he said. Going ahead, the governments ability to balance this conflicting interestof consumers and industrycould be severely tested. The market is a pendulum that forever swings between unsustainable optimism and unjustified pessimism," said Benjamin Graham The Nifty 100 is a benchmark stock market index in India that tracks the performance of the top 100 companies listed on the National Stock Exchange (NSE). It is a broader index compared to the Nifty 50 and represents the combined performance of the Nifty 50 and Nifty Next 50 stocks. The companies included in the index are leaders across various sectors including financial services, IT, consumer goods, healthcare, energy, and industrials. In 2024, the Nifty 100 index exhibited a modest performance. The index moved from 21,934.7 on 1 January 2024 to 24,495.6 on 31 December 2024, reflecting an increase of 11.7%. This growth was fueled by foreign investors turning net buyers in November 2024 after a period of record selling, boosting liquidity. Political stability, India's higher weighting in the MSCI All-Country World Index, and rising domestic investments bolstered investor confidence. Strong sector performance in real estate, pharmaceuticals, and energy also contributed to the gains. However, a few sectors like banking, fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG), and metals sectors underperformed compared to others. Thus, we applied a screener to identify the biggest wealth destroyers from the Nifty 100 index. These are not stock recommendations. Investors should do their own research and do due diligence before considering any investment in the stock market. Also, investors should pay close attention to corporate governance while performing their due diligence. So, lets look at the five worst-performing stocks in the Nifty 100 in 2024. #1 IndusInd Bank IndusInd Bank is a commercial bank. It provides a wide range of banking products and financial services to corporate and retail clients besides undertaking treasury operations. The bank recorded gross non-performing asset (GNPA) of 2.11% in Q2FY25 against 2.27% in FY22; net non-performing asset (NNPA) of 0.64% in Q2FY25 vs 0.64% in FY22 and net interest margin (NIM) of 4.08% in Q2 FY25 vs 4.2% in FY22. In 2024, shares of IndusInd Bank fell 40%. The banks stock faced selling pressure due to rising delinquencies, particularly in its micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSME) and commercial vehicle (CV) loan segments. This deterioration in asset quality led to increased provisions, impacting profitability. Additionally, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) imposed restrictions on the bank, including halting the onboarding of new customers and issuing fresh credit cards, due to IT deficiencies and compliance issues. These regulatory actions raised concerns about the bank's operational robustness. However, if we take a longer period, the company's revenue has grown at a compounded average growth rate (CAGR) of 16% in the last three years, while its net profit has grown at a CAGR of 45%. This has resulted in healthy return ratios. The company's three-year average return on equity (RoE) and return on capital employed (RoCE) were 13.5% and 6.9%, respectively. The banks management remains cautiously optimistic about asset growth, particularly in microfinance and vehicle finance. Going forward, IndusInd Bank will maintain a balanced approach to secured asset growth while being cautious in unsecured lending. #2 Asian Paints Asian Paints is one of the largest home decor companies in India. The 80-year-old company has major brands like Asian Paints, Berger, Apco, etc. under its umbrella. The company is into wall paints, wall coverings, waterproofing, texture painting, wall stickers, mechanized tools, adhesives, modular kitchens, sanitaryware, lightings, soft furnishings, and uPVC (polyvinyl chloride) windows. In 2024, shares of Asian Paints fell 33%. The companys stock faced selling pressure due to sluggish demand in both urban and rural markets, leading to lower sales volumes. This downturn was attributed to a slowdown in the real estate sector and reduced consumer spending on discretionary items. Additionally, there was a significant increase in the prices of raw materials, particularly crude oil derivatives, which are essential in paint production. The elevated input costs compressed profit margins, adversely affecting the company's profitability. Nevertheless, if we take a longer period, the company's revenue has grown at a CAGR of 18% in the last three years while its net profit has grown at a CAGR of 20%. This has resulted in healthy return ratios. The company's three-year average RoE and RoCE were 27.8% and 33.6%, respectively. Its debt-to-equity ratio was as low as 0.1 on 31 March 2024. Since new products contribute to 12% of revenue; a strong focus on innovation remains a key strategy for the company. As of Q2 FY25, Asian Paints major capex for brownfield expansion stands completed and backward integration projects are on track. The company expects improved margins in the second half of the financial year as the full realization of recent price increases is anticipated. For the third quarter of the financial year, Asian Paints had a cautious outlook due to a high base from last year and current demand conditions. #3 Nestle India Nestle India is a subsidiary of Nestle SA which is a Swiss multi-national company (MNC), holding a 62% stake. The company is primarily involved in the FMCG business which incorporates product groups such as milk products and nutrition, prepared dishes and cooking aids, powdered and liquid beverages and confectionery. It owns brands such as Nescafe, Maggi, Milkybar, Kit Kat, Milkmaid, etc. In 2024, shares of Nestle India fell 21%. The companys stock faced selling pressure due to reports in 2024 alleging that Nestle's baby food products in India contained higher sugar levels compared to those sold in Europe. This raised health concerns and attracted regulatory scrutiny, negatively impacting investor sentiment. Additionally, in October 2024, the company reported a marginal decline in its profit after tax (PAT) for the September quarter, which led to a nearly 4% drop in its share price. This decline was attributed to rising input costs and competitive pressures affecting profitability. The company's revenue has grown at a CAGR of 5% in the last three years while its net profit has grown at a CAGR of 7%. Despite such low growth rates, the company boasts robust return ratios. The company's three-year RoE and RoCE were 121% and 152%, respectively. To top it off, its debt-to-equity ratio was as low as 0.1 on 31 March 2024. Recently, the company has invested in a new factory in Odisha to showcase the future of food processing. Going forward, as part of its strategy to shore up volume growth, Nestle India plans to expand its distribution network, aiming to increase touch points from 5.1 million to 6 million over the next 4-5 years, enhancing market penetration. Having already reached 200,000 villages, the company will now start to stabilise because the incremental cost of distribution is to be met with incremental revenue. Thus, it will now focus more on depth of distribution rather than increasing the number of villages. Currently, the premium products category is generating 12-13% of overall sales. Nestle expects to grow that number to 15-16% in the medium term and 20% in the longer term. Recently, the company has also entered a joint venture (JV) with Dr. Reddy's to take a plunge in the health sciences business. The industry has an opportunity of more than 230-240 billion in the country. #4 Tata Consumer Products Tata Consumer Products has a presence in the food and beverages business in India and internationally. It is among the top 10 FMCG companies in India. Some of its renowned brands are Tata Salt, Tata Tea, Tetley, Himalayan bottled drinking water, Eight o Clock coffee, Tata Sampann, etc. Tata Starbucks is a joint venture between Tata Consumer Products and Starbucks Corp. of America wherein the company is working towards expanding the presence of Starbucks retail coffee stores in the subcontinent of India. In 2024, shares of Tata Consumer Products fell 14%. The companys stock faced selling pressure due to muted financial performance. In Q2 FY25, the company reported a modest 0.9% increase in consolidated net profit to 3.7 bn, primarily impacted by elevated tea costs in the Indian market. Despite a 12.9% increase in revenue to 42.2 bn, the modest profit growth led to a nearly 10% drop in the share price. Additionally, the broader consumer goods sector faced challenges, as highlighted by significant declines in major consumer stocks. For instance, Godrej Consumer Products experienced a 10.2% drop due to a weak sales and margin forecast, which negatively impacted the entire sector, including Tata Consumer Products. Coming to the financials, the company's revenue has grown at a CAGR of 9% in the last three years while its net profit has grown at a CAGR of 10%. This has resulted in mediocre return ratios. The company's three-year average RoE and RoCE were 7.3% and 9.7%, respectively. However, its debt-to-equity ratio was as low as 0.2 on 31 March 2024. Recently, tea costs have increased 25-30%, and the company has not fully passed these costs onto consumers yet. A staggered price increase strategy is being employed for tea and salt to mitigate the rising costs. The international business of the company, particularly in the UK, is performing strongly, with Tetley becoming the second-largest branded tea player. The newly acquired businesses of the company, Capital Foods and Organic India, are showing positive growth trends. Capital Foods grew 25% quarter-on-quarter and Organic India, 45%. The integration of these businesses is complete, with a focus now on scaling and leveraging synergies for improved profitability. Tata Starbucks has expanded to 457 stores across 70 cities, but traffic has been a concern, with revenue growth of only 2%. New initiatives are being rolled out to drive traffic, including a new classic range of food and beverages to attract consumers. The companys management expressed cautious optimism regarding the recovery in volumes and profitability amid rising input costs and competitive pressures. #5 Avenue Supermarts Avenue Supermarts (DMart) is a national supermarket chain, with a focus on value-retailing. It offers a wide range of products with a focus on foods, non-foods (FMCG), general merchandise, and apparel product categories. It follows the "everyday low cost - everyday low price" strategy, focusing on competitive procurement, operational efficiency, and cost-effective distribution to offer value-for-money pricing to customers. In 2024, shares of Avenue Supermarts fell 12%. The companys stock faced selling pressure due to disappointing Q2FY25 financial results. The company reported a consolidated net profit of 6.6 billion, marking a modest 5.8% YoY increase. Revenue rose by 14.4% to 144.4 billion. However, these figures fell short of market expectations, leading to a significant drop in share price. To top it off, Avenue Supermarts faced operational hurdles, including a slowdown in same-store sales growth and pressure on earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) margins, attributed to higher operating expenses aimed at improving service levels. Additionally, the rapid expansion of online grocery services, particularly in metropolitan areas, intensified competition. This shift in consumer behavior impacted DMart's sales growth and profitability. The company's revenue has grown at a CAGR of 28% in the last three years while its net profit has grown at a CAGR of 32%. This has resulted in healthy return ratios. The company's three-year average RoE and RoCE were 14.1% and 18.4%, respectively. Its debt-to-equity ratio was as low as 0.1 on 31 March 2024. Going forward, the company plans to add 40-50 stores annually with a long-term goal of increasing this number to 60-70 stores per year. The current average store addition rate is around 40 stores per annum, which management indicates may not support a 15-20% CAGR growth rate. DMart Ready, the companys e-commerce arm, has seen a reduction in pickup points from 573 to 341, with a strategy shift to improve operating leverage by increasing the range of services. Due to this, the companys management has emphasised a cautious approach to scaling the DMart Ready business, prioritising model refinement over rapid revenue generation. DMart maintains a gross margin range of 14-15.5%, with low expectations to return to higher levels seen pre-covid (27-28%). Overall, the company is optimistic about long-term growth but acknowledges the need to address current challenges, particularly in-store additions and operational efficiencies. Snapshot of Worst Performing Stocks in the Nifty 100 in 2024 Apart from the stocks listed above, heres a table that shows the worst performing stocks in the Nifty 100 in 2024. View Full Image ... Conclusion Overall, certain sectors and companies in Nifty 100 did face challenges amid broader market growth in 2024. Factors such as economic pressures, sectoral underperformance, and company-specific issues contributed to their decline. While these stocks may have struggled last year, investors need to recognise that market conditions can shift, and potential opportunities may arise for those willing to navigate volatility. Monitoring these stocks and their fundamentals will be crucial for identifying potential recovery or exit points in the future. Additionally, it's essential to conduct due diligence by assessing a companys financial health, growth potential, and corporate governance practices. Happy Investing. Disclaimer: This article is for information purposes only. It is not a stock recommendation and should not be treated as such. This article is syndicated from Equitymaster.com In a recent statement, L&T chairperson S.N. Subrahmanyan insisted on the necessity of a 90-hour workweek, sparking a whirlwind of criticism and prompting discussions about the ideal number of hours for work. The key to achieving work goals effectively, whether in a startup or a legacy organisation, lies not in the quantity of hours spent working but in the quality of those hours. In an age dominated by technology, several apps promise people the ability to work smarter, faster, and make the most out of 24 hours in a day. Many turn to time trackers, digital planners and habit trackers to maximise productivity. Also read: The rise and fall of Indians in the US Productivity, however, doesnt need apps or technology; it is not about ticking off tasks on a digital checklist. It hinges on the quality of engagement and self-awareness. This is called mindful productivity, which essentially focuses on understanding personal rhythms and goals, ensuring one completes an assigned task without feeling overwhelmed at any point, and also have a life outside working hours. Mindful productivity denotes the notion of awareness, encapsulating the practice of focusing on present experiences and observing thoughts and feelings without judgment. As Professor Ruth Baer explains in the article, Mindfulness Training as a Clinical Intervention: A Conceptual and Empirical Review, in the journal Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice, mindfulness is bringing ones complete attention to the experience occurring in the present moment, in a non-judgmental or accepting way." Rooted in ancient Buddhist traditions, its practical applications today are vital. This presence of mind allows individuals to tackle challengesbe it last-minute additional tasks or urgent deadlineswith clarity and composure. Consider being asked to handle a client meeting without prior intimation while youre in the middle of finishing a project. The sudden task can affect your concentration and the way youve planned the day. Instead of being stressed, pause and take deep breaths to centre your thoughts. Evaluate the importance of both tasks and be willing to shift focus towards the upcoming meeting. Set an intention for how you will participate in the meeting, focusing on active listening and note-taking to capture essential points. After the meeting, reflect on key takeaways before returning to the project. Lets take another instance: You had to submit a presentation to your manager the next morning but they have asked for the final PPT within the next two hoursaround when you also have to walk your pet dog. How will you balance the two tasks? Set a timer so you have time to devote to the presentation. Stay present while working; for mindful productivity to work, youve to treat work hours as sacred. Once the timer goes off, walk your dog and disconnect from work. During the walk, engage with your surroundings to enhance mental clarity. After returning, work on your presentation with a refreshed mindset. By following mindful approaches, you can shift focus and address the unique pressures of todays workplace, like the always-on culture, where an incessant flow of notifications and updates creates an overwhelming environment. Mindfulness provides a necessary refuge to recalibrate. It also helps equip individuals with the resilience to manage financial concerns at a time when theres uncertainty related to jobs, and societal strife. Practising mindfulness cultivates inner peace in chaotic times. Most importantly, mindful productivity helps in promoting mental and physical well-being. Lets talk numbers Optimal productivity doesnt mean working long hours. Studies suggest effective work can be conducted within a five-hour workday. In fact, working without breaks hurts employee well-being as well as organisational success. In a 2001 article in the journal Annual Review of Psychology, researchers Christina Maslach, Wilmar B. Schaufeli, and Michael P. Leiter argue that relentless pressure stifles creativity and innovation. This diminishes productivity and increases absenteeism, costing companies talent and morale. Prioritising mental health is not only beneficial but essential for sustainability and growth of companies. While digital tools aid productivity, an overreliance on them may add pressure and inhibit peak performance. Completing tasks through technology might not yield the quality of engagement necessary for true success; one often completes tasks merely to check them off on a to-do list instead of focusing on deeper engagement. Research suggests to-do lists create undue pressure, shifting the focus from clarity of intention to mere completion. Instead, dedicating time to meaningful work and focusing intensely on tasks without distraction enhances productivity and growth. Working two-four hours uninterrupted daily promotes depth over breadth. Some techniques, rooted in traditional methods, that make discipline and commitment a regular practice include: Mindfulness in daily activities: Infuse mindfulness into your routines, such as showering or commuting, turning mundane tasks into opportunities for awareness. During your commute, observe the scenery around or focus on your breath instead of scrolling your phone. Nature immersion: Spending time in nature and engaging the senses provides a powerful way to connect with the present and reduce stress. Practise sitting quietly in a natural setting, closing your eyes, and tuning in to the surrounding sensations and sounds. Journalling: Reflect on thoughts and feelings and identify patterns and areas that need attention. Try maintaining a gratitude journal, spending 10-15 minutes writing it before going to bed. You can use prompts like What am I feeling right now?" or What do I need to let go of?", to deepen self-awareness. Does multitasking help? Multitasking, often celebrated as a hallmark of efficiency, reduces productivity and effectiveness by as much as 40%, according to the American Psychological Association. Rather than attempting to manage multiple tasks, focusing on one task at a time allows for intentional living and enhanced clarity. The illusion of multitasking obscures the path to true productivity and mental sharpness. In todays performance-driven world, mindfulness is essential, not a luxury. By prioritising mindful habits, high-achievers can cultivate sustainable success at work and have a good life outside of work hours. Jayashree Mahesh is associate professor (management), BITS Pilani. Also read: Your guide to cracking the business casual dress code The taxation framework in India primarily focuses on individuals whose income is being assessed on an individual basis. Income earned from jointly owned property is taxed proportionately among co-owners based on their share in the ownership. There are, however, certain concepts such as clubbing of income or the concept of a Hindu Undivided Family (HUF), but these concepts have very limited applicability. The family unit constitutes the foundational element of Indias demographic and societal structure, with our cultural and social fabric intricately woven around this system. However, our tax laws are rather aloof to the concept of family. India remains significantly behind other jurisdictions that have tailored their tax systems to reflect the economic realities inherent in family-based structures. Many nations have adopted the family as a central construct in their tax frameworks and have undertaken a comprehensive reappraisal of existing tax assessment methodologies, in response to evolving social and economic dynamics. Some of the key jurisdictions around the world have already adopted some forms of family unit taxation. Key examples are: The US: Married couples can file taxes jointly that enable income splitting and access to tax credits like the child tax credit. Germany: The "Ehegatten splitting" system allows couples to pool incomes, lowering tax liability when earnings differ significantly. France: The "Quotient Familial" system allocates household income across a family coefficient, reducing taxable income for larger families Japan: Dependent and spousal deductions reduce taxable income based on family size Belgium, Luxembourg, Switzerland, and Portugal, offer joint taxation, income splitting, and deductions, ensuring equitable tax treatment for families. Also Read: Can India transition to a single income tax rate? Review of the existing system The recognition and valuation of social institutions for tax purposes remains an under-explored area of legal study. Historically central to Hindu society, the joint family system is a unique institution. However, it only captures select elements of taxability arising out of jointly held businesses and properties. Moreover, it has become a subject of extensive litigation and, like many other time-honoured practices, is now reduced to a ritualistic formality. Drawing some inspiration from some other jurisdictions where family unit has better assimilation in their tax laws, we should focus on the following reforms: Mechanism for joint filing of tax returns for married couples like the US by introducing a new Form, allowing income to be split and deductions to be claimed collectively. Implement a system for pooling family incomes and allowing for collective deductions, ensuring the tax burden is shared equitably across family members. Introduce or expand tax credits specifically for dependents, including children and elderly family members, recognizing the financial responsibility families bear for their dependents. Expand the scope of HUF provisions to include non-Hindu families and other family structures, allowing all families to benefit from this tax status. Also Read: Budget 2025 | Tax breaks to spur spending, boost economy? Conclusion It is not essential that we ape the procedures evolved in other countries, but we must attempt to adapt what has been tested and found efficient elsewhere while preserving the best in our own codes. We must certainly aim to create a more equitable and culturally aligned tax regime. The author is partner at Nangia Andersen LLP, a tax consulting firm. Also read | Tax breaks, reforms, and returns: Why NRIs are banking big on India The governments decision to set up the 8th Pay Commission for salary revision is hard to reconcile with its oft-vocalized stance in favour of fiscal prudence. Agreed, the period of the 7th Pay Commission, which came into effect in 2016, will end in 2026. So there was a case for setting up a new one. Also, acting a year in advance will give the Centre sufficient time to consider its recommendations. But the timing of the announcement, just three weeks before Assembly polls in Delhi, where Indias ruling Bharatiya Janata Party is trying to dislodge the Aam Aadmi Party from power, suggests an attempt to win brownie points with the electorate. Delhi houses many central employees and even the state governments staff can expect pay hikes in tandem with theirs. What is far from clear is whether these salaries should be raised at all and if the public exchequer can afford to bear the burden of this largesse. Take these one by one. Is there really a case for another Pay Commission? No, according to economist and former chief statistician of India, T.C.A. Anant. In an op-ed for Mint, he recently pointed out that the typical entry-level wage in government is much higher than at a comparable level in the private sector. As he put it, a case could well be made that most government employee salaries need to be adjusted downwards to align their standard of living with what they might reasonably have expected when they joined government service." Add to that perks like free or subsidized access to medical care, job security and pensioneven under the New Pension Scheme, government employees have an edge over their private-sector counterpartsand the case for a wage hike gets even weaker. Also Read: The National Pension System was tweaked for flexibility but awaits tax clarity This is not to say that salary structures in general should not be reviewed periodically. As chief economic advisor V. Anantha Nageswaran has argued, bigger private sector pay cheques would stoke demand and aid the economy. The same could be said of all remuneration in India. But why should sarkari salaries mechanically be raised, rather than rationalized, every decade without a comprehensive review of productivity levels? Also, why should positions, once created, continue in perpetuity? Pay scales ought to go by market principles. One way would be to trace what economists call an indifference curve between private-sector and public employment that takes differences in perks and work pressure into account. At the macro level, large jumps in government pay could play havoc with its finances, forcing budget cutbacks on essential developmental needs that cater to all Indians, rather than just privileged government employees. Especially since public sector units and state governments usually follow suit. According to a study by the Institute of Economic Growth for the 15th Finance Commission, There is a positive and significant impact of salary and pensions on the fiscal and revenue deficit of the central government. A similar association is observed for states where the salary/GDP ratio is found to be positively and significantly associated with the fiscal deficit." Since the Centre is committed to a fiscal deficit of less than 4.5% of GDP in 2025-26, down from the 4.9% budgeted for the current fiscal year, and plans to keep that gap small enough for its debt burden to decline as a proportion of GDP from 2026-27 onwards, there is no space for extravagance. The 8th Pay Commission should bear that in mind and keep its salary increases modest. In recent years, several grievances have been filed against the National Green Tribunal (NGT) in the Supreme Court, claiming that it has overstepped its jurisdiction. Consequently, the apex court has instructed the NGT to review its orders. In some notable cases, the Tribunals decisions have been overturned. Insofar as the NGT is doing a specialized job, it cannot use powers that the legislature has not given it. That needs a review. The NGT was established following a spate of writs filed by advocate M.C. Mehta in the Supreme Court which led to the establishment of a green bench in the court and few landmark judgements. Later, the NGT Act was adopted in 2010 to establish an exclusive quasi-judicial tribunal with jurisdiction over all civil cases related to the environment. However, the Act does not explicitly grant the Tribunal suo motu powers (which would let cases be taken up by it on its own accord). It has also faced several challenges that have hindered its effective functioning, and the exercise of suo motu powers has been a source of controversy, sparking debates about judicial overreach. The NGTs efficiency in handling complex cases is commendable, providing much-needed relief in a country faced with rapid industrialization and ecological degradation. Also Read: India should rely on itself to tackle the environmental challenges it must Unlike traditional courts, it is empowered to devise its own rules of procedure, guided by principles of natural justice, operating independently of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908. The NGT has made outstanding efforts to uphold the causes for which it was established, often earning praise for its proactive stance. A recent research study conducted by CUTS International for Niti Aayog examined the Sterlite Copper case in Thoothukudi, Tamil Nadu. It argued in favour of the NGT and lauded its order, given the territorial contours of the case. It further highlighted the need to expand the Tribunals jurisdiction to include state government actions. This was a case where the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board had ordered the permanent closure of the copper plant on environmental concerns. This order was challenged at the Tribunal, which ruled in favour of reopening the plant, considering the fact that there was no serious case of environmental damage. It was clearly a botch-up by the state government that had adversely affected the livelihoods of the citys local population. However, the Supreme Court later set aside the NGTs order, stating that the Tribunal lacked jurisdiction to entertain appeals against state government orders, in spite of the fact that the Tribunal is headed by a retired Supreme Court judge. The case underscores the balance that the NGT must maintain between its mandate and the limits imposed by its governing legislation. It has been argued by critics that the Tribunal has, at times, overstepped its statutory mandate, venturing into legislative domains. Cases such as the stalling of a Shimla development plan and the penalty imposed on Grasim Industries Ltd based solely on the recommendation of expert committees vividly illustrate these challenges. Both the orders were simultaneously quashed and overturned. In these instances, the Tribunal was criticized for exceeding its statutory mandate and failure to uphold the principles of natural justice. In another landmark case, Municipal Corporation of Bombay vs Ankita Sinha, the Supreme Court affirmed that the NGT can take up cases suo motu. Here, the assertion is that the initiation should be society-centric. The Tribunal can only take up a case on its own for two purposes: to improve conditions and to prevent harm. By establishing clear criteria and procedures, the NGT can ensure that suo motu actions are consistent, focused on societal benefits and aligned with its goals of preventing harm and promoting environmental well-being. More recently, concerns have been raised about a policy change on the NGTs part. According to it, the Centre must approve real estate projects, rather than states. While this shift in its directive may have been intended to address inconsistencies and inefficiencies on the part of states in their environmental clearance processes, it undermines the federal structure enshrined in the Indian Constitution. Land is a subject under the state list in the Seventh Schedule and this decision diminishes state authority over land use. It also complicates real estate project approvals, adding to delays and causing economic losses. Although central oversight of large-scale projects that may have a significant public impact is prudent, local authorities are still better equipped to appraise real estate projects, given their understanding of regional needs and ecological concerns. The NGT has undeniably been a trailblazer in addressing Indias pressing environmental challenges, offering swift justice in an arena often overshadowed by bureaucratic delays. The Supreme Courts observation in the Grasim case serves as a timely reminder that bypassing established legal norms, even for noble causes, can set a dangerous precedent. Such actions can erode public trust in institutions and foster perceptions of overreach. These challenges highlight the need for an independent review of the Tribunals scope to refine its processes, align its actions with statutory mandates and maintain a collaborative relationship with other public authorities. A re-imagined National Green Tribunal, bolstered by clearer legislative provisions and transparent guidelines, would be able to navigate these complexities more effectively. Finding a balance between ecological preservation and legitimate development is not only necessary, but also a major responsibility of governance in a rapidly industrializing nation. By maintaining procedural fairness and consistently addressing grievances, the Tribunal can strengthen its role as a leading institution. This will help champion environmental justice while promoting sustainable progress. Pragya Tiwari of CUTS International contributed to this article. The authors are, respectively, vice president of Pune International Centre and secretary general of CUTS International. Indias economy is poised to become the worlds third largest and a key growth driver will be startups. Accordingly, with a view to building a strong ecosystem for nurturing innovation and encouraging investments in it, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the Startup India initiative in 2016. The government unveiled a plan comprising 19 action points across areas such as simplification and handholding", funding support and incentives" and industry-academia partnership and incubation." In the last 10 years, over 120,000 startups have been registered in India, making it the third largest startup ecosystem and home to the third highest number of startup unicorns (privately held ventures with valuations of over $1 billion), rising from just one in 2011. The emerging trends in this rapidly evolving entrepreneurial ecosystem include (a) rising gender parity, (b) a mindset shift towards entrepreneurship and (c) digital public infrastructure that aids informal entrepreneurship. In terms of the broader business environment beyond technology, the gender gap between male and female entrepreneurship is narrowing. A confluence of government efforts and press coverage has helped bring about a wide mindset change from people being job seekers to job creators. Starting with school education, efforts in recent years have focused on creativity and innovation. Digital payment interfaces (QR codes) are being used to pay instead of cash by businesses in even remote locations. For India to realize its Viksit Bharat ambition of development by 2047, it needs to democratize entrepreneurship to reach more regions of the country. The major components of funding support and incentives" are (a) Fund of Fund Scheme (FFS), (b) Startup India Seed Fund Scheme (SISFS), and (c) Credit Guarantee Scheme for Startups (CGSS). The FFS, with a corpus of 10,000 crore, facilitates the equity funding needs of startups. The SISFS, with an outlay of 945 crore, aims to provide financial assistance in the form of grants to startups for proof of concept, prototype development, product trials, market entry and commercialization. The CGSS, with a corpus of 1,000 crore, enables startups to raise debt by providing guarantees to their lenders. Lately, venture capital (VC) funding has slowed as funders have turned more cautious and selective. Exit options for VCs tend to prove costly for startups. The banking sector too perceives high risk of mortality associated with startups, coupled with lack of collateral. Hence, risk mitigation through a credit guarantee structure arose as a demand. As loans from banks offer startups a cheaper way to meet their long-term capital needs, the CGSS launch was a welcome government move. It came into effect on 6 October 2022 and backstops debt funding up to 10 crore per borrower, enabling startups to access much-needed collateral-free debt. This schemes key features include: (a) a completely digital and automated process; (b) member lending institutions (MLIs) checking if eligibility parameters are met; (c) collateral free loans to startups recognized by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade; and (d) lending through two models, namely (i) transaction-based on a single borrower basis for banks/non-banking financial companies (NBFCs)/financial institutions (FIs), and (ii) umbrella lending on a portfolio basis for alternate investment funds (AIFs). The scheme catalyses entrepreneurship by providing credit support to innovators and encouraging financial institutions to provide early-stage debt funds. The schemes MLIs are scheduled commercial banks, financial institutions, NBFCs registered with the Reserve Bank of India with a minimum net worth of 100 crore and credit rating of BBB and above, and AIFs registered with the Securities and Exchange Board of India. As on 31 December, the total number of lenders registered under the scheme stood at 28, which includes public sector banks, private sector lenders, all India financial institutions, foreign banks, NBFCs, small finance banks and AIFs. Cumulatively, 257 loans worth 601.86 crore have been guaranteed under the scheme so far and employment generation through these startups stands at 20,871 individuals. Women borrowers get special benefits. The scheme covers 18 states across India, including Assam. More than 50 startups are located in Tier II (including Lucknow, Nashik, Jaipur, Cochin and Indore) and Tier III (including Akola, Medchal, Tonk and Rangareddy) cities, helping new businesses across the country. The list of borrowers supported include 19 export-oriented units and 19 import substitutive units. As many as 123 and 84 beneficiaries are from the manufacturing and services sectors, respectively. Major segments represented include IT (37), capital goods (26), textiles (22) and consumer services (20). As many as 17 startups have promoters from disadvantaged groups. Of the total portfolio, around 75% of the loans are for working capital support, helping startups meet their operational needs. This credit guarantee scheme, with customized changes over time, can help revolutionize Indias startup financing ecosystem. These are the authors' personal views. The authors are, respectively, chief executive officer, National Credit Guarantee Trustee Company Limited (NCGTC); and director, ministry of finance as well as NCGTC. As a fragile cease-fire begins in Gaza, Israel hasnt fulfilled its top war aim: to destroy Hamas. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is promising his frustrated right-wing supporters that hell deliver the promised total victory" later. Hamas is claiming a win despite its heavy losses, and parading its fighters in the streets of Gaza, because it has reached its own goal of surviving the onslaught. Yet the strategic gains from 15 months of war in the Middle East are almost all on Israels side. The country has emerged stronger from its longest-ever war, having cut several of its adversaries down to sizeeven though they still pose a threat and years of lower-level fighting could follow. For Israelis, inflicting heavy blows against the ring of adversaries built around it by Iran is an accomplishment that outweighs their diplomatic isolation, outside a few staunch Western allies, in a world largely appalled by the scale of destruction in Gaza. Meanwhile the Palestinian national causewhich Hamas sought to revive, with itself at the headis facing bleak prospects for decades, while Palestinians mourn their heaviest death toll in the century-old conflict. Despite widespread international sympathy, the Palestinians are more divided internally, more isolated in the region, and face an Israel that after Oct. 7, 2023 is even more firmly against a Palestinian state. The conflict was triggered by the Hamas-led surprise attack on southern Israel that October day and, according to Israeli officials, left around 1,200 dead and some 250 people taken hostage. The war isnt over. Netanyahu, under fire from far-right coalition partners, is stressing that Israel can resume the fight after the cease-fires first phase. Israel and Hamas began accusing each other of reneging on details of the deal even before the first Israeli hostages returned home from Gaza on Sunday. Much could hinge on whether President-elect Donald Trump, whose Middle East priorities include normalized relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia, maintains the pressure to end the fighting. Israels foes, including Hamas and the Lebanese militia Hezbollah, are expected to do their best to recover from their battering by Israeli forces and re-arm. Irans nuclear ambitions remain the biggest worry for many Israeli policymakers. If the lessons from Oct. 7 are learned, then Israel will identify threats as they develop and attack them quickly, to prevent them from growing," said Michael Milshtein, a former head of Palestinian affairs for Israeli military intelligence and scholar at Tel Aviv University. The Gaza truce that began on Sunday, like the brittle cease-fire in Lebanon since November, might lead to years of lower-level conflict, not peace. Despite Israels massive firepower and tactical dominance of every battle in Gaza, it has struggled to eliminate Hamas, a U.S.-designated terrorist group, or break its control over the population. Hamas militants have regrouped in one city after another as Israeli forces pummeled them, then moved on. By this winter, Israeli troops had cleared Hamas out of some neighborhoods three times. Hamas lost thousands of fighters and most of its senior commanders, but has found plenty of new recruits among Gazas large population of young men. Their level of training is likely poor, but little skill is needed for planting bombs or keeping the population in check, Israeli analysts and military officials say. In the most recent battles in northern Gaza, Hamas continued to take heavy losses but killed dozens of Israeli soldiers. Hamas in Gaza are badly beaten but not broken," said Yuli Edelstein, a senior lawmaker in Netanyahus Likud party. Hamas remains a movement with deep roots and continuing support in Gaza society, despite a backlash from some Palestinians over the devastating war that its actions triggered. The cease-fire deal and the release of hundreds of Palestinian militants from Israeli jails could further bolster its standingeven if it is formally excluded from a future local government. The most important thing for them is to survive as a political entity," said Eyal Berelovich, a civilian analyst for Israels armed forces and a military historian at Jerusalems Hebrew University. If they can do that, then they will probably try to re-establish themselves as a military entity with enhanced personnel." Israels government and military have been blaming each other for months over the failure to stamp out Hamas. Senior army figures complain about the lack of a plan to bring in an alternative authority to run Gaza and squeeze out Hamas, without which Israels battlefield efforts could be wasted. Netanyahu repeatedly has ordered the military to finish the job of destroying Hamas, maintaining that political plans for Gaza are a matter for later. On the Israeli side, there is disappointment and frustration about the war in Gaza," said Milshtein. But Israel has a lot of strategic achievements. It caused severe damage to all its enemies. They are not the same threats that they were on Oct. 7. Israels deterrence is much improved, and the society demonstrated its resilience." The real defeat for Hamas came not amid the rubble of the Gaza Strip, but on Israels other fronts, where Hamass allies in what is known as Irans axis of resistance suffered a string of setbacks. The all-out regional war on Israel that was dreamed of by Hamass Gaza chief Yahya Sinwar, the mastermind of Oct. 7 who was killed by Israeli troops last fall, turned into a fiasco. Hezbollah was badly mauled last fall when Israel, profiting from years of intelligence work, destroyed much of its leadership and its arsenal of missiles. Iran engaged in its first direct exchanges of fire with Israel but came off worst in the aerial barrages. Two large-scale Iranian missile salvos against Israel did little damage, while Israeli planes destroyed much of Irans air defenses. Worse still for Tehran, Hezbollahs drubbing by Israel led indirectly to the surprise downfall of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad. Iranian forces retreated from Syria and lost not only an ally but their overland supply route to Hezbollah as well. Hamas lost a lot of fighters and equipment and infrastructure, but what forced it to the negotiating table was the changed regional situation, plus the arrival of Trump," said Ofer Fridman, a former Israeli officer and war-studies scholar at Kings College London. Without those two factors, judging by the past year and a half, they could have continued." The war has further harmed Palestinians prospects for achieving national self-determination, which had already grown dim in the past 15 years. Hamass attack on Israel has led to the leveling of much of Gaza and nearly 47,000 dead in the enclave, according to Palestinian authorities. On the morning of Oct. 7, I fully realized that Hamas has led us into a dark tunnel," said Dina Muhammad, a mother of three children from Gaza. The idea behind October 7 is the worst thing to happen to the Palestinian cause since its inception. It was reckless and completely uncalculated." Currently sheltering in a refugee camp in central Gaza, she hopes her family can return to their home in Gaza City after a year of repeated displacement, like most of the Palestinian enclaves population. Hamass main rival, the secular nationalist Fatah party that controls the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank, has become tainted by years of corruption, authoritarianism and collaboration with Israels occupation forces. Palestinians are poised between a leadership representing paralysis on the one hand and a leadership of destruction and suicide on the other," said Hussein Ibish, senior fellow at the Arab Gulf States Institute, a think tank in Washington. The Palestinian Authority, aiming to show the U.S. and Israel that it should be involved in governing Gaza, in recent weeks waged a battle against militants in the refugee camp of Jenin, long a focal point of militancy in the West Bank. The security forces of the increasingly unpopular authority achieved little beyond cementing their image as Israels deputy sheriff. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is in a difficult position, and his actions in Jenin were an attempt to gain Trumps approval," said Mustafa Ibrahim, a Palestinian political commentator. The volatile West Bank is where the unresolved Israeli-Palestinian conflict could next boil over. The cease-fire deal and prisoner swap, if fully carried out, could see the return of hundreds of Palestinian militants to the West Bank, where Israels economic restrictions have caused unemployment to soar and left the Palestinian Authority struggling to pay salaries, including for its security forces. Rising violence by Israeli extremist settlers is also destabilizing the territory, fueling support for militant groups among Palestinians. The West Bank is unfortunately going to be the new front," Milshtein said. Anat Peled contributed to this article. Write to Marcus Walker at Marcus.Walker@wsj.com North Korean television viewers had a treat just after New Years Day. The state broadcaster aired 72 Hours", a new film, according to NK News, a North Korean-focused news site. The movie tells the story of the first three days of the Korean war and how the conflict was started by the evil South. (In fact, North Koreas founder, Kim Il Sung, launched the initial attack.) Among the propaganda messages embedded in the tale, a big one is the importance of close ties with Moscow. The films fans include the Russian ambassador in Pyongyang, North Koreas capital. These days Russia and North Korea are writing a new battlefield history together. North Korea has dispatched some 12,000 troops to fight in Vladimir Putins war against Ukraine. The soldiers are believed to be some of North Koreas most elite, hailing from the Storm Corps", a special-forces outfit whose lineage may trace back to units sent on a daring but ultimately unsuccessful mission to assassinate South Koreas president in 1968. North Koreans began appearing at the Ukrainian front in early November and have entered in recent weeks into ever fiercer combat in Russias Kursk region, where Ukrainian forces seized territory last year. The idea to send troops to aid Russia apparently originated from the North Korean side. The deployment brings big risks for Kim Jong Un, the countrys leader. The fighting has been gruelling. North Korean troops appear ill prepared for modern drone warfare and for the flat, open landscape around Kursk, unlike the mountainous terrain back home. On January 11th Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraines president, said Ukraine had taken two North Korean soldiers prisoner. South Korean intelligence agencies estimate that perhaps 300 North Korean soldiers have been killed and another 2,700 wounded. Ultimately such losses may influence North Korean society as well", says Kim Yung-ho, South Koreas minister of unification. What does Mr Kim get in exchange? Probably more of the assistance that was already being sent in exchange for North Korean ammunition: fuel, food and other resources, which help North Korea withstand Western sanctions. Since North Korea began aiding Russias war effort around mid-2023, there have been unprecedented levels of traffic" observed in satellite imagery of customs areas between the two, says Victor Cha of the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, an American think-tank. South Korean intelligence agencies reckon the North Korean state may be receiving as much as $2,000 per month for each soldier it sends. North Korea is also seeking higher-end capabilities. Designs for intercontinental ballistic missiles and re-entry vehicles, as well as submarine and satellite technology, are thought to be on the wishlist. Such assistance can be harder to spot. Its a blueprint in a suitcase; we wont necessarily see it," says Bruce Klingner of the Heritage Foundation, another American think-tank. Western governments assess that Russia has become more willing to share technical knowledge that it once considered off-limits. During a recent visit to South Korea, Antony Blinken, Americas secretary of state, said that America believes Russia intends to share advanced space and satellite technology with North Korea in exchange for battlefield help. Yet the exchange goes beyond material goods or weapons designs. There is also a softer tech transfer" taking place, says Peter Ward of the Sejong Institute, a South Korean think-tank. North Korea can see how its ammunition and missiles perform in real battlefield conditions and against Western air-defence systems. Soldiers are also getting rare real-world exposure to the front, and have an opportunity to learn from Russias experience of modern warfare. But the most vivid lesson appears to be about the importance of drones and electronic warfare on modern battlefields. In November Mr Kim visited a North Korean factory to inspect drone demonstrations and ordered large-scale production of suicide-drones. There are limits to what can be gleaned. Russia may be keener to use North Korean troops as cannon fodder than to involve them in sophisticated operations. Many of the soldiers will never make it back to North Korea, says Jenny Town of the Stimson Centre, a think-tank in Washington. Those who do survive may learn plenty that their regime prefers they had not. Controlling access to information among soldiers on the front is tricky. Troops may also be able to see how wealthy Russia and Ukraine are by comparison with their homeland. They will come back with valuable experience, but possibly also dangerous ideas," says Andrei Lankov of Kookmin University in Seoul. Mr Kim has clearly decided the potential rewards outweigh any risks. The ultimate prize may be forging a longer-term strategic partnership that outlasts the war in Ukraine itself. Sending soldiers to die for Mr Putins ambitions is certainly one way to signal commitment. As Ms Town puts it: Theres a blood debt now." The Economist Newspaper Limited. All rights reserved. From The Economist, published under licence. The original content can be found on www.economist.com Germany confirmed its first case of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) since 1988. The disease was detected in water buffalo in the state of Brandenburg. The German authorities have put in place strict controls to prevent onward spread and are investigating the circumstances of the outbreak. Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue TD, said I am dismayed to hear of the outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in Germany today. I know this is a terrible blow to German farmers, particularly the affected herdowner and their neighbours. I know the German authorities are working hard to resolve this. I want to urge everyone in Ireland, particularly farmers, to stay vigilant and to protect our Irish livestock. FMD is a highly contagious viral disease of cattle, sheep, pigs and other cloven hoofed animals. It causes very significant economic losses, due to production losses in the affected animals and due to the loss of access to foreign markets for animals, meat and milk for affected countries. FMD does not infect humans and does not pose a food safety risk. Ireland is free of FMD, having had its last case in 2001. The Department is taking action to protect Irish livestock following this outbreak. The Department has confirmed that no animals susceptible to FMD (i.e. cattle, sheep, pigs, etc) have been imported into Ireland from Germany since 1st November 2024, which is long before the case in Germany would have been first infected. If a FMD case were to be identified in Ireland, the infected herd would be culled, the site disinfected, and a 3k protection zone and 10k surveillance zone set up, within which very strict movement controls and testing would be imposed. A national movement ban is very likely to be imposed in the first days after any initial FMD case. If a case of FMD were to occur in Ireland, it would lead to the immediate loss of market access for Irish animals and animal products. Read next: https://www.longfordleader.ie/news/local-news/1705149/longford-s-laurel-lodge-provides-a-good-quality-of-life-says-hiqa.html A womans actions were branded despicable as she was banned from driving for parking in a hospital disabled space in the Midlands. Brigid Ann McInerney (65) of New Road, Portlaoise was found guilty of parking in a disabled space at Dublin Road, Kilminchy, Portlaoise on July 9, 2024. Detective Garda JP OBrien said he was on an armed escort to the hospital on the date in question and noticed a number of disabled spaces taken up by cars. He said he gave her an hour and a half to move but she didnt. Also read: Driver in Longford convicted for second time for parking in a disabled space Judge Andrew Cody said the parking spaces are for the elderly and vulnerable in society. Nowhere is it more important than at the entrance to a hospital, said Judge Cody. Also read: Longford's Maura Higgins celebrates release of Molly Mae's new documentary He described the incident as "absolutely despicable as he handed down a six month driving ban and fined the woman 750. The defendant was not in attendance at the sitting of Portlaoise District Court. Also read: Man who pleaded guilty to Longford drug driving offence put off road for one year Over 100 students across Ireland participating in the Webwise Safer Internet Day (SID) Ambassador Training Programme 2025. One of these students hails from Longfords own Mean Scoil Mhuire. This peer-led initiative equips students with the knowledge and skills to run their online safety campaigns in their schools and local communities. As part of the programme, Elisha Macko from Mean Scoil Mhuire Longford attended an in-person training day in Dublin, where she received support and guidance from the Webwise Youth Advisory Panel. Also Read: Exlcusive Sneak Peak revealed at Longford Lights launch The Ambassador Training Programme empowers students to take a leading role in creating a safer, better internet by tackling key issues like online bullying, misinformation, well-being, privacy, and digital rights. The theme for Safer Internet Day 2025, happening on Tuesday, February 11th, is "Prepare / Protect / Thrive: Navigating Algorithms and Influencers." This years campaign encourages schools, parents, young people, and educators to explore how algorithms and influencers shape young peoples online lives. The aim is to equip children with the skills to navigate the opportunities and challenges of these powerful online influences. Also Read: Longford Nursing Home receives rave review in recent HIQA Report Safer Internet Day (SID) is an EU-wide initiative to promote a safer internet for all users, especially young people. It is promoted in Ireland by the Oide Technology in Education and Webwise, with over 200,000 people taking part in last years celebrations. Want to get involved? Everyone has a role to play in creating a safer internet. Schools, parents, and young people can access free resources and activity ideas! Here are 3 simple steps to take part in SID 2025: Register your activity; use the free resources; and visit the Safer Internet Day Hub. Also Read: Gardai in Midlands arrest man following discovery of 70,000 worth of cocaine About Webwise Webwise is the online safety initiative of the Department of Education and co-funded by the European Commission. It promotes safer, better internet use through awareness campaigns and educational resources for teachers, students, and parents. Webwise develops resources to help teachers integrate digital citizenship and online safety into teaching and learning in their schools. Webwise also provides information, advice, and tools to parents to support their engagement in their childrens online lives. Also Read: Longford engineer honoured as finalist for the 2024 Chartered Engineer Award Through initiatives like the Webwise Youth Advisory Panel, Webwise creates youth-focused awareness campaigns and training on key online safety issues. Find out more at webwise.ie. The Longford Lights Seminar brought together over 80 local, national and international artists and local community group representatives earlier this month. The seminar is part of the preparations for the festival which returns to Longford Town from Thursday, 20 to Sunday, 23 February. Organised by Longford County Councils County Longford Arts Service and the Mide Arts Group, the seminar took place in the Backstage Theatre in Longford, festival partner for Longford Lights 2025. Artists came from the United Kingdom, and all over Ireland. Local groups in attendance included Longford Federation of the Irish Countrywomens Association, Longford Scouts and participating schools. At the seminar attendees got to see the artist team led by the festivals Artistic Director Caroline Conway. Some of the artists involved also presented the work they are bringing to the festival this year and attendees had an opportunity to participate in a lantern making workshop. Also Read: Longford Student is a leading figure in promoting online safety Following on from this Seminar, Caroline and her team will be busy with further preparations for the upcoming festival. This includes developing an art piece in Connolly Barracks. Each community group and school will collaborate with the artist to progress ideas and complete each artwork. This artwork will come together to create a large-scale immersive experience using sound, light, space and pyrotechnics. Longford County Council Cathaoirleach Cllr Mark Casey, Great progress is being made for Longford Lights 2025, with excellent artists on board making innovative artwork. It is great also to see the active involvement of local schools and community groups and organisations from right across County Longford. These experiences help us to come together and learn new skills. It is definitely time to start getting your tickets and preparing your visit to Longford Lights 2025. Also Read: Carrigy pleased by progress on new county Longford Primary Care Centre Longford County Council Chief Executive Paddy Mahon said, Through the Arts Service, the Council is proud to support Longford Lights 2025. It is great to see the work put in so far, it is sure to be an excellent event, one which will welcome many people to our county town and one which Longford Town can be proud of. Longford County Council Acting Arts Officer and festival producer Shane Crossan said, Longford Lights was the biggest community-based art illumination festival in Ireland last year with over 12,000 people attending. This year we have ambitious plans to expand the festival with more local and national artists and more Longford community groups participating. Longford Lights 2025 Assistant Artistic Director Tommy Casby discussed the importance of the seminar for helping everyone get ready for this years festival. This is a great way to energise everyone involved in the project. It gives everyone a chance to get acquainted and share their work. Also Read: Longford Farming: January farm management tips from Teagasc Backstage Theatre manager Mona Considine said The festival is going from strength to strength and Backstage Theatre are delighted to be involved. This year Backstage are participating in the festival by performing an exciting family-friendly play called Luminaria. The play will be staged in St John's Hall across from the festival. Bernie McBrien from Longford Scouts who is looking forward to the festival added, Whats really great about this festival is the inclusion of groups and schools across the county. It gives the whole community a chance to work with professional artists and create something absolutely amazing. Longford Scouts have come up with this years festival theme of Spectacular Lightness. The group made a submission to be involved in the festival which was inspired by their love of camping. Longford Lights 2025 takes place from 6pm to 10pm from Thursday, 20 to Sunday, 23 February. Large attendance is anticipated so to avoid disappointment book tickets now on Longfordlights.ie. For updates, follow Longford County Council on social media and visit Longfordcoco.ie. Local News By Chris Boyle Published: January 20 2025 The Town of Brookhaven INTERFACE program provides a variety of goods and services to those in need through volunteerism and generous donations from their partners. At the January 9 Town Board meeting, the Brookhaven Town Board honored the Red Knights Motorcycle Club New York Chapter 26 for co-sponsoring the annual holiday Teddy Bear Run to collect donations of new Teddy Bears for thousands of needy children in Brookhaven Town. The annual run kicked off at noon and ended with a special lunch at Painters Restaurant in Brookhaven hamlet where many non-riders also met and the first 100 riders received a free t-shirt. The Teddy Bear Run 2024 collected nearly 500 Teddy Bears for children in need. The Town of Brookhaven INTERFACE program provides a variety of goods and services to those in need through volunteerism and generous donations from their partners. The Town greatly appreciates the efforts of the volunteers and the generosity of Town residents who donate to all these worthy causes. For more information, go to the Town website. Credit: Town of Brookhaven Local News By Chris Boyle Published: January 20 2025 Up to Six Inches of Snow Across New York City, Long Island and Westchester; Up to Eight Inches of Snow Across the Mid-Hudson and Capital Regions. Governor Kathy Hochul today urged New Yorkers to take precautions as a combination of lake effect snow, winter storms and extreme cold are expected across the state this week. This afternoon and continuing through tonight, widespread snow is expected in New York City, Long Island and Westchester County with up to six inches possible in the most persistent bands. The Mid-Hudson and Capital Regions can expect up to 8 inches or more of snow today through Monday morning. Starting late tonight and continuing through Wednesday, lake effect snow that could bring up to three feet of snow in the strongest bands, is expected in areas of Western New York, the Finger Lakes, Central New York and the North Country that are close to Lakes Erie and Ontario. Additionally, beginning Monday, much of New York State will experience bitter cold temperatures with potential feels-like temperatures as low as negative 25 degrees. New Yorkers should monitor their local forecasts and take action to prepare for winter weather and freezing cold temperatures. As winter storms, extreme cold temperatures and lake effect snow move into our state today and over the coming days, Ive directed our state agencies to mobilize their resources as we prepare to respond to this weather system, Governor Hochul said. These conditions pose an extraordinary risk to anyone who is exposed to the elements or is unable to adequately heat their home, and I encourage New Yorkers to take precautions to keep themselves and their families safe. For a complete listing of weather alerts, visit the National Weather Service website at alerts.weather.gov. New Yorkers are also encouraged to sign up for emergency alerts by subscribing to NY Alert at alert.ny.gov a free service providing critical emergency information to your cell phone or computer. Agency Preparations New York State Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services The Divisions Office of Emergency Management is in contact with their local counterparts and is prepared to facilitate requests for assistance. State stockpiles are staffed and ready to deploy emergency response assets and supplies as needed. The State Watch Center is monitoring the storm track and statewide impacts closely. Visit dhses.ny.gov for winter preparedness tips. New York State Department of Transportation The State Department of Transportation is monitoring weather conditions and is prepared to respond with 3,671 supervisors and operators available statewide. All field staff are available to fully engage and respond. Staff can be configured into any type of response crew that is needed plow, drainage, chipper, load and haul, cut and toss, etc. All available response equipment is ready to deploy. To assist with operations in the Hudson Valley, 30 staff members, including 20 snow plow operators, six equipment operator instructors, and four supervisors are being deployed to the region from other areas throughout the state. Statewide equipment numbers are as follows: 1,641 large plow trucks 351 large loaders 159 medium duty plows 52 tow plows 34 snow blowers 20 graders For real-time travel information, motorists should call 511 or visit https://www.511ny.org/#:Alerts, New York State's official traffic and travel information source. Metropolitan Transportation Authority The Metropolitan Transportation Authority is closely monitoring weather conditions to ensure safe, reliable service. There are no changes to our weekend or holiday scheduled service. MTA employees will be poised to respond to any weather-related issues. To reduce potential disruptions, added MTA crews will be deployed to inspect tracks and switches throughout the network. NYCT Buses will have snow fighter vehicles throughout the city, and all routes in the Bronx and Manhattan will be chained for Sunday service. All articulated buses will be removed from service on Sunday. Additional crews and equipment at bridges and tunnels will be ready for rapid response. Customers are encouraged to check new.mta.info for the latest service updates and to use caution while navigating the system. Customers may sign up for real-time service alerts via text or email. Alerts are also available via the MTA app and the TrainTime app. Thruway Authority Thruway Authority staff are monitoring the forecast and ready to respond with 688 operators and supervisors available. Statewide equipment numbers and resources are listed below: 354 large and medium duty plow trucks 10 tow plows 65 loaders 113,000+ tons of salt on hand Variable Message Signs and social media (X, formerly known as Twitter, and Facebook) are utilized to alert motorists of winter weather conditions on the Thruway. New this snow and ice season, all of the Thruway's more than 250 heavy-duty plow trucks are equipped with green hazard lights, complementing the standard amber hazard lights. Green lights are intended to improve visibility and enhance safety during winter operations, particularly in low-light conditions and poor weather. Drivers are reminded that Thruway snowplows travel at about 35 miles per hour which in many cases is slower than the posted speed limit in order to ensure that salt being dispersed stays in the driving lanes and does not scatter off the roadways. The safest place for motorists is well behind the snowplows where the roadway is clear and treated. The Thruway Authority encourages motorists to download its mobile app which is available for free on iPhone and Android devices. The app provides motorists direct access to real-time traffic information, live traffic cameras and navigation assistance while on the go. Motorists can also sign up for TRANSalert emails and follow @ThruwayTraffic on X for the latest traffic conditions along the Thruway. New York State Department of Public Service New York's utilities have about 5,500 workers available statewide to engage in damage assessment, response, repair and restoration efforts across New York State, as necessary. Agency staff will track utilities' work throughout the event and ensure utilities shift appropriate staffing to regions that experience the greatest impact. New York State Police State Police have instructed all Troopers to remain vigilant and will deploy extra patrols to affected areas as needed. All four-wheel drive vehicles are in service and all specialty vehicles, including Utility Terrain Vehicles and snowmobiles, are staged and ready for deployment. New York State Department of Environmental Conservation DEC Emergency Management staff, Environmental Conservation Police Officers, Forest Rangers and regional staff remain on alert and continue to monitor the developing situation and weather forecasts. Working with partner agencies, DEC is prepared to coordinate resource deployment of all available assets, including first responders, to targeted areas in preparation for potential impacts due to snow. DEC reminds those responsible for the removal and disposal of snow to follow best management practices to help prevent flooding and reduce the potential for pollutants like salt, sand, oils, trash and other debris from affecting water quality. Disposal of snow in local creeks and streams can create ice dams, which may cause flooding. Public and private snow removal operators should be aware of these safety issues during and after winter storms. Additional information is available at Division of Water Technical and Operational Guidance Series: Snow Disposal. Unpredictable winter weather and storms in the Adirondacks, Catskills and other backcountry areas can create unexpectedly hazardous conditions. Visitors should be prepared with proper clothing and equipment for snow, ice and the cold to ensure a safe winter experience. Snow depths range greatly throughout the Adirondacks, with the deepest snow at higher elevations in the High Peaks region and other mountains over 3,000 feet. Lower elevation trails have mixed conditions of snow, ice, slush and mud including many trails in the Catskill Mountains where the potential for icy conditions exists. While ice is beginning to form on some waterways, DEC advises outdoor enthusiasts to review ice safety guidelines before heading out. Hikers are advised to temporarily avoid all high-elevation trails as well as trails that cross rivers and streams. Hikers in the Adirondacks are encouraged to check the Adirondack Backcountry Information webpages for updates on trail conditions, seasonal road closures and general recreation information. Backcountry visitors should Hike Smart and follow proper safety guidelines. Plan trips accordingly. In an emergency, call 9-1-1. To request Forest Ranger assistance, call 1-833-NYS-RANGERS. Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation New York State Park Police and park personnel are on alert and closely monitoring weather conditions and impacts. Response equipment is being fueled, tested and prepared for storm response use. Park visitors should visit parks.ny.gov, check the free NY State Parks Explorer mobile app, or call their local park office for the latest updates regarding park hours, openings and closings. Port Authority The Port Authority monitors weather conditions across all its facilities. In the event of severe weather, the agency issues travel alerts and updates as needed via facility email alerts and on social media. For the latest information about Port Authority facilities, please check social media, sign up for PA Alerts, or download one of the PA mobile apps, including RidePATH, which provides real-time updates and alerts for PATH service. Safety Tips Travel Some of the most important tips for safe driving include: Monitoring the forecast for your local area and areas you may be travelling to. Avoiding unnecessary travel. If you must travel, make sure your car is stocked with survival gear like blankets, a shovel, flashlight and extra batteries, extra warm clothing, set of tire chains, battery booster cables, quick energy foods and brightly colored cloth to use as a distress flag. If you have a cell phone or other communications device such as a two-way radio available for your use, keep the battery charged and keep it with you whenever traveling. If you should become stranded, you will be able to call for help, advising rescuers of your location. The leading cause of death and injuries during winter storms is transportation accidents. Before getting behind the wheel, make sure that your vehicle is clear of ice and snow; good vision is key to good driving. Plan your stops and keep more distance between cars. Be extra alert and remember that snowdrifts can hide smaller children. Always match your speed to the road and weather conditions. It is important for motorists on all roads to note that snowplows travel at speeds up to 35 mph, which in many cases is lower than the posted speed limit. Oftentimes on interstate highways, snowplows will operate side by side, to safely clear several lanes at one time. Motorists and pedestrians should also keep in mind that snowplow drivers have limited lines of sight, and the size and weight of snowplows can make it very difficult to maneuver and stop quickly. Snow blowing from behind the plow can severely reduce visibility or cause whiteout conditions. Motorists should not attempt to pass snowplows or follow too closely. The safest place for motorists to drive is well behind the snowplows where the roadway is clear and salted. Never attempt to pass a snowplow while its operating. Power Outages Check with your utility to determine area repair schedules. If you lose power, turn off or unplug lights and appliances to prevent a circuit overload when service is restored; leave one light on to indicate when power has been restored. If heat goes out during a winter storm, keep warm by closing off rooms you do not need. To Report an Electric Outage, call: Central Hudson: 800-527-2714 Con Edison: 800-752-6633 National Grid: 800-867-5222 NYSEG: 800-572-1131 O&R: 877-434-4100 PSEG-LI: 800-490-0075 RG&E: 800-743-1701 Heating Safety Use only safe sources of alternative heat such as a fireplace, small well-vented wood or coal stove or portable space heaters. When using alternative heat sources such as a fireplace, woodstove, etc. always make sure you have proper ventilation and follow manufacturer's instructions. Keep curtains, towels, and potholders away from hot surfaces. Have a fire extinguisher and smoke detectors and make sure they work. If you use kerosene heaters to supplement your regular heating fuel, or as an emergency source of heat, follow these safety tips: Follow the manufacturers' instructions. Use only the correct fuel for your unit. Refuel outdoors only and only when the unit is cool. Keep the heater at least three feet away from furniture and other flammable objects. When using the heater, use fire safeguards and ventilate properly. For more winter safety tips, visit https://www.dhses.ny.gov/winter-weather-safety. For all non-emergency service needs in New York State before, during or after a storm, call 211 or visit http://www.211nys.org/. Crime By Chris Boyle Published: January 20 2025 The manager of H Hookah Lounge, Anmol Dhawan, 30, of Melville, was issued a receipt and seven hookahs were seized. Suffolk County Police on Saturday, January 18 cited the manager of a Huntington Station lounge during a New York State Liquor Authority compliance check. In response to community complaints, Second Precinct Crime Section officers, in conjunction with Second Precinct Patrol officers, New York State Liquor Authority, Town of Huntington Fire Marshall, and Town of Huntington Code Enforcement Inspector, conducted a SLA Inspection at H Hookah Lounge, located at 107 East Jericho Turnpike, at approximately 12 a.m. During the inspection, police observed numerous patrons smoking hookahs, which was not licensed by the Town of Huntington. The manager of the Lounge, Anmol Dhawan, 30, of Melville, was issued a receipt and seven hookahs were seized. The Town of Huntington Fire Marshall and Town of Huntington Code Enforcement Inspector issued 12 combined Building, Fire and Code Violations to the owner. The State Liquor Authority observed that the lounge was illegally operating as a night club, with a DJ playing music and a dance floor. The Liquor Authority issued numerous citations for violations and the establishment was closed for the night. Unlike Sir Keir Starmer (who, rather ominously, says he wants to mainline the technology into Britains veins) Im broadly pessimistic about AI. We may not be talking existential doomif you ask me, the chances of humanity being wiped out by AI are no higher than 60 or 70 percentbut eliminating jobs and spreading misinformation is bad enough. I just cant see this thing ending well. Still, every cloud has a silver lining. The future may be gloomy, thanks to the corporate worlds unthinking embrace of AIs dubious merits, but the situation is bringing some benefits in the short term. And frankly, I think we should take the wins where we can find them. Im talking, of course, about Apple Intelligence specifically. Partly because Im more interested in Apple than other tech companies, and partly because Apples AI platform is that much more likely to be somewhat constrained by social ethics and the principles of data privacy. The company isnt perfect by any means, but as a general rule its reliance on customer goodwill incentivizes better behavior. While were on the subject of incentives, lets talk about products. Apple came late to the AI party, and is extremely keen to catch up; this motivates the company to get as many customers using Apple Intelligence as possible, as soon as possible. And this means that the cheapest and therefore biggest-selling products need to support Apple Intelligence. The 4th-gen iPhone SE and 11th-gen iPad are both expected to launch in March or April and thanks to Apple Intelligence, they are set to be considerably more powerful than we would otherwise expect. The new iPhone SE will probably boast an A17 Pro processor (a nice jump from the A15 on the previous model) and 8GB of RAM (up from 4GB) for the simple reason that anything less would not be enough to support Apple Intelligence. The 11th-gen iPad, meanwhile, will enjoy an even bigger step up from the A14 to the A17 Pro, which is far more muscle than Apples entry-level tablet would get in a world without Apple Intelligence. The Mac has benefitted from Apple Intelligence as well. Predictive Code Completion in Xcode 16, part of the Apple Intelligence suite, requires 16GB of RAM, which left out many Apple silicon Macs when it launched with macOS Sequoia 15. Subsequently, several Macs got a bump to 16GB in the fall, including the M2 and M3 MacBook Airs, entry-level MacBook Pro, and M4 Mac mini. Weve been complaining about 8GB of RAM for years, and thanks to Apple intelligence, we finally got it. Under normal circumstances, Apple likes to improve its products as slowly as possible; its philosophy is that each device should be exactly as much of an improvement on the previous model as is necessary to persuade customers to upgrade, and not one gigabyte more. Budget iPad and even Mac buyers in 2025 are unlikely to regard either the processor or RAM as dealbreakers, so Apples instinct would naturally be to offer the bare minimum. But because Apple needs those things to make it onto the specs sheet, its suddenly practical and cost-effective to include them. Funny how that works out. Of course, Apple Intelligence isnt just here to force Apple to improve the spec lines of its budget mobile devices. Its here to create wildly inaccurate notification summaries and put illustrators out of work. Its here to sidetrack Apple software engineers for several years when they could be working on something worthwhilelike fixing Siri, for example. Oh but David, I hear you cry, Siri is being fixed as part of the Apple Intelligence project. To which I answer, possibly (although I havent noticed much improvement so far), but Siri is at its worst on the HomePod, and the HomePod cannot run Apple Intelligence. I suppose we can look forward to the HomePod miraculously leaping up to Apple Intelligence-ready specs in the near future. But that isnt much consolation to me. Foundry Welcome to our weekly Apple Breakfast column, which includes all the Apple news you missed last week in a handy bite-sized roundup. We call it Apple Breakfast because we think it goes great with a Monday morning cup of coffee or tea, but its cool if you want to give it a read during lunch or dinner hours too. Trending: Top stories Apples string of failures shows just how badly things need to change. Go home Mark Zuckerberg, youre drunk. Apples stuffed 2025 release calendar is missing one very important product. The iPhone 17 will be a small step backwardagain. Apples Calculator app will get one of its best features back in iOS 18.3. Podcast of the week If you thought 2024 was a pretty good year for Apple products, 2025 looks to be even bigger. On the latest episode of the Macworld Podcast, were talking about Apples loaded release schedule for the year. If youre pondering some major Apple purchases this year, youll want to listen in! You can catch every episode of the Macworld Podcast on Spotify, Soundcloud, the Podcasts app, or our own site. Reviews corner The rumor mill Apples fall launches are shaping up to be a little smarter than usual. Apple is looking to snatch back the limelight with a huge year for the iPhone. iPhone SE 4 dummy model reveals key features of Apples next budget phone. The M4 MacBook Air is set to kick off a loaded 2025 for the Mac. Apple Intelligence brings a huge spec bump for the basic iPad. Hackers have devised a simple text scam to bypass Apples iPhone protections. New Mac malware can bypass Apples XProtect security scanner. Apple tweaks AI notification summaries in iOS 18.3 following outcry. Researcher finds a vulnerability in the iPhone USB-C controller. Apple releases first MagSafe Charger firmware in nearly two years. And with that, were done for this weeks Apple Breakfast. If youd like to get regular roundups, sign up for our newsletters. You can also follow us on Facebook, Threads, or Twitter for discussion of breaking Apple news stories. See you next Monday, and stay Appley. Manchester, VT (05254) Today Mainly cloudy. A few peeks of sunshine possible. High 47F. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight Cloudy early, becoming mostly clear after midnight. Low 26F. Winds light and variable. I recently got a little wistful over my all-time favorite imperial IPA: Building 8s The Double. Of course, that beer is lost to history since Building 8 closed last year. Fortunately, there are plenty of good local/regional imperial IPAs that help fill that void. I was on an imperial IPA kick recently and decided to write about two of them: one from Western Massachusetts and one from Vermont. Lets head north first and talk about Fiddlehead Imperial IPA. Fiddlehead, out of Shelburne, Vermont, has long been a favorite brewer of mine. The companys Fiddlehead IPA is a go-to brew. There might be some confusion, however, about this imperial version. Fiddlehead already has an imperial IPA named Second Fiddle. So when I happened upon this other one, I was curious. One difference is that Second Fiddle is dry-hopped. It also has a slightly lower alcohol content, landing around 8.2%, compared to the 9% of Fiddlehead Imperial IPA. But what about the flavor? Both are very heavy on citrus notes, and the Imperial IPA is a bit hazier. Second Fiddles aroma and first sips are more to my liking, as it leans closer to a West Coast IPA but neither beer is in the classic West Coast category. The Imperial IPA is thicker on the palate and finishes somewhat sweeter, although not cloyingly so. Both are enjoyable, but I think I prefer Second Fiddle by a slight margin. Heading back to Western Massachusetts, I grabbed a four-pack of Microburst Imperial IPA from New City Brewing in Easthampton. Although Ive always enjoyed it, Ive never really investigated it outside of having one or two at the brewery itself, so I wanted to sample it in a less casual setting. The first thing youll notice is that Microburst separates itself from a lot of imperial IPAs on the market these days, as it falls much closer to the West Coast IPA style than most. While there is definitely a juicy presence to the aroma probably due to the Citra hops the flavor centers more on some earthy and piney notes played by the Simcoe hops and possibly the Willamette hops which are also in the blend here. The alcohol level comes in at 8.2%, and while its not overwhelming, its a bit more noticeable than many of the juicier (and frankly often candy-like) imperial IPAs out there today. To me, thats a welcome change of pace. The beer has a nice, full mouthfeel and a slight chewiness, probably due to the use of oats in the grain bill. The oats also seem to provide a nice finish to the beer dry and sustained. These two beers show that the style has a lot of diversity, depending on the brewer. In a few weeks, Ill be writing about a few other imperial IPAs Ive had over the past few months. If you have any favorites, please send them along to geolenker@yahoo.com. SPRINGFIELD - Playing for AZ Compass Prep, Kaden and Kalek House showed why they are both top recruits at the 2025 Hoophall Classic. The twins, sons of former Boston Celtic Eddie House, combined for 27 points and nine assists in the loss to Long Island Lutheran. The House twins will play one more game at Hoophall, against Montverde Academy at 5 p.m. on Monday. By Gerry Shih, Shira Rubin, Miriam Berger After 15 months of war, a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip took effect Sunday morning, paving the way for a dramatic day that saw Hamas free the first of 33 Israeli hostages three women who had languished in captivity for 471 days. In exchange, Israel was supposed to release 90 Palestinian prisoners on Sunday - all of them women and children but shortly past midnight local time, families that had gathered outside the Ofer Prison in the West Bank were still waiting in the cold. The ceasefire was initially scheduled to begin at 8:30 a.m. local time, but was delayed after Hamas was late to provide the hostages names to mediators, and Israel carried out last-minute strikes against the militant groups facilities, the Israeli military said. Eventually, the guns fell silent. And once Israel announced that the ceasefire would begin at 11:15 a.m., Palestinians launched into jubilant celebrations in the streets of Gaza while Israelis streamed into the Tel Aviv plaza known as Hostages Square to await the return of the first three hostages, identified as Roni Gonen, 24; Emily Tehila Damari, 28; and Doron Steinbrecher, 31. A total of 33 Israeli hostages, most of whom are presumed to be alive, will be gradually freed on every seven days over the next 42 days under the ceasefire agreements first phase. If negotiations over the more politically fraught second phase succeed in the coming weeks and the truce holds, an additional 64 hostages are set to be freed. Its not clear how many of the remaining hostages are alive or dead. Live footage carried by the Al Jazeera news network showed a chaotic scene in Gaza Citys bombed-out Saraya Square on Sunday afternoon, as workers from the International Committee of the Red Cross, which is responsible for the hostage transfers, arrived to retrieve the three Israelis from Hamas. Hundreds of Palestinian civilians swarmed the vehicles and climbed atop billboards to catch a glimpse of the hostage handover as ranks of masked Hamas fighters toting assault rifles struggled to control the crowd. Shortly after 5 p.m., Hamas gunmen opened the doors of a white minivan, flashed a thumbs up and shuffled the Israeli hostages into the waiting Red Cross vehicles, sparking feverish celebrations in the square, footage showed. The hostages were driven back toward the Gaza border, where they were received by Israeli security forces shortly after sundown. By 6 p.m., hundreds of Israelis had gathered in Hostages Square to watch newscasts shown on giant television screens. The crowd cheered, clapped, cried and hugged one another when each incremental update was reported: as the women were handed back to the Israel Defense Forces, as they were reunited with their families, as they were determined to be in a good state after a preliminary medical check. Some sang in unison: Time has come to return home. In this photo released by the Israeli Army, Emily Damari, right, and her mother Mandy use a smart phone near kibbutz Reim, southern Israel after Emily was released from captivity by Hamas militants in Gaza, Sunday, Jan. 19, 2025.(Israeli Army via AP) Beyond the preliminary medical assessment, little was known Sunday night about the status of the three women, or the injuries or traumas they bore. A screenshot of Damari on a FaceTime call with her family, which was released by the IDF, showed her in a green sweatshirt, smiling next to her mother, raising a hand with only three fingers because of injuries she sustained during her abduction. After 471 days Emily is finally home, said Mandy, Emilys mother, in a statement released by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, which represents most of the hostage families. While Emilys nightmare in Gaza is over, for too many other families the impossible wait continues. On X, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu heralded their return. Romi, Doron, and Emily - an entire nation embraces you; welcome home, he wrote on X. This moment was achieved thanks to the sacrifice and bravery of our heroic fighters - Israels heroes. I promise: we will bring everyone home. Even though the ceasefire appeared to begin without major hiccups, Netanyahu and the incoming Trump administration have emphasized in recent days that the reprieve in fighting was only temporary as they began to lay out conditions for resuming the war. Since the ceasefire deal was announced last Wednesday, Netanyahu has come under immense pressure from his far-right coalition partners who complained that the truce was leaving Hamas and its fighters entrenched in Gaza, and the Israeli leader has hinted that he could return to the Palestinian territory to finish the job. In an address late Saturday, the eve of the ceasefire, Netanyahu said the aims of what he called Israels War of Resurrection in Gaza remained unchanged: to bring back all of the hostages, to eliminate Hamas military and governance capabilities and to ensure that threats to Israel would no longer emanate from Gaza. Both President Trump and President Biden gave full backing to Israels right to resume fighting if Israel concludes that the negotiations for the second phase are futile; I deeply appreciate this support, Netanyahu told his nation. I also appreciate President Trumps decision to lift all remaining restrictions on the supply of critical weapons and munitions to Israel. If we need to return to fighting, we will do so in new ways and with immense force. Even though Gaza has been devastated - with much of the enclave leveled by bombing and nearly 47,000 people killed, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants - Israeli hard-liners have urged Netanyahu to unleash greater punishment on Hamas and Gaza. On Saturday, Netanyahus former Minister of National Security Itamar Ben Gvir, who quit the government to protest the ceasefire but promised to return to the fold if fighting were to resume, urged the prime minister to recover the remaining hostages through the use of force, cutting fuel supplies, and halting humanitarian aid - not through surrender. In Washington, incoming national security adviser Michael Waltz also reiterated that the Trump team had assured the Israeli government that if Hamas doesnt abide by this deal in any way, we will be with them. In a media blitz across several Sunday morning talk shows, Waltz credited President-elect Donald Trump as playing a decisive role in reviving the long-stalled ceasefire negotiations something that has been acknowledged by Israelis across the political spectrum and even Hamas leaders. I think what youre seeing is a level of trust and confidence in this incoming Trump administration that wasnt there before, frankly, from the Israelis, Waltz said on CNNs State of the Union. Thats why Bibi Netanyahu felt comfortable pushing this through his government, as tough as it has been. Hamas, meanwhile, struck a conciliatory note and promised to uphold the ceasefire. It also tried to project an image of its military strength and popularity in Gaza undiminished while framing the moment as a victory. During the day, fighters from its military wing, the Izzedine al-Qassam Brigades, dressed in crisp fatigues and toting Kalashnikovs, triumphantly sped through the enclaves ruined streets in a cavalcade of SUVs. After nightfall, the Brigades released a propaganda video showing its fighters giving the three Israeli hostages gift bags and paper certificates before they were released to cheering crowds in Saraya Square. The Qassam Brigades spokesman, Abu Obaida, appeared on television, exulting about what he called legendary battles against Israeli forces and pledging that the militia would now abide by the agreement. In a speech carried by Al Jazeera, Abu Obaida accused Netanyahu of prolonging the war and urged the ceasefires mediators, including the United States, Qatar and Egypt, to help prevent the deal from collapsing prematurely. We are keen on the success of all the terms and stages of the agreement to spare the blood of our people, Abu Obaida said. And we call on all mediators to oblige the enemy to do so. In the West Bank town of Beitunia, outside the Ofer Prison, Palestinian families waved flags, distributed sweets and huddled around a fire in the cold as they waited for the release of their relatives. According to the Palestinian Prisoners Club, the list of 90 detainees who would be freed late Sunday included 69 women and 21 children. As crowds gathered, Israeli security forces fired tear gas outside the prison. Only prisoners from the Israeli-occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, and not Gaza, are scheduled for release Sunday. Israeli officials say they increased security presence in the West Bank to prevent riots or celebrations following the prisoners release. Khowla al-Kawasmi, 53, drove more than two hours from the West Bank city of Hebron to wait for her daughter Ayat Mahfouz, 33, to be released. Ayat was arrested July 14 for allegedly trying to stab a soldier in Hebrons Old City, a charge her mother denied. When Ayat was young, Kawasmi said, she lost an eye when Israeli forces fired a teargas canister at her. We are happy, we didnt expect her to be released, Kawasmi said. But, she added, our happiness is mixed with bitterness because of the war. Neither your enemy nor your friend would like to see this bloodshed. Standing in the crowd at Tel Avivs Hostages Square, Gil Dickmann, an Israeli whose cousin, Carmel Gat, was kidnapped on Oct. 7, 2023, also described a day of mixed emotions. According to an Israeli military assessment, Gat was among six hostages who were killed in late August by their captors after ceasefire talks broke down. At a meeting with Netanyahu earlier this month with other hostage families, the prime minister told Dickmann that the deal that was finalized last week was the same one that was championed by the Biden administration and offered to Israel and Hamas earlier this month. Dickmann questioned why the deal couldnt be done earlier. We feel enormous pain that Carmel is not here, that the opportunity was missed to bring her and the five others back, he said. But we are crying tears of joy just seeing the faces of Emily, Romy, and Doron, just knowing they are with their mothers, he added. And yet, also, there are so many other families who have hostages in Gaza, who live this fear that what happened to Carmel could happen to them, too. - - - Rubin reported from Tel Aviv and Berger from Beitunia in the occupied West Bank. Sufian Taha in Beitunia, Mohamad El Chamaa in Beirut, Hajar Harb in London and Hazem Balousha in Toronto contributed to this report. A Boston police officer was injured Saturday morning when they were bitten by a pitbull while executing a search warrant in Dorchester, police said. Just before 7 a.m. Saturday, officers saw a 26-year-old man driving away from a triple decker in a residential neighborhood. Shortly after, they stopped the man at the intersection of Theodore and Martin streets, where they told him of the four search warrants obtained for him and his residence. During the traffic stop, the man told police multiple people were inside the residence, as well as a friendly pitbull, police said in a statement. When officers entered the residence to execute the warrant, one officer was attacked and bitten by the dog. They managed to fend off the dog and retreat outside, police said. While outside, the officer received additional medical aid from fellow officers, who applied a tourniquet. The injured officer was taken to a hospital for treatment. During the search, officers detained three other people, including a 33-year-old man. Officers found a trafficking amount of cocaine, scales, baggies, cutting agents, and other items consistent with drug distribution and a 9-mm ghost gun with a magazine loaded with 17 rounds of ammunition, police said. Both the 26-year-old man and the 33-year-old man are set to be arraigned in Boston Municipal Court in Dorchester. Animal Control later responded to safely remove the dog, police said, which had been secured in a room. Fisher College student Taylor Wilkinson has been identified as the woman killed in a hit-and-run crash in Bostons Roxbury neighborhood Saturday evening. The Suffolk County District Attorneys Office confirmed that Wilkinson was the 20-year-old victim of the crash Monday afternoon. In a statement, District Attorney Kevin Hayden confirmed that investigators are still working to identify the driver involved in the crash. In addition to being Martin Luther King Jr. Day and President Donald Trumps inauguration day, Monday marks one of the first days of the year on which it is free to visit national parks. This year, in addition to Jan. 20, there are five days on which all National Park Service sites that charge an entrance fee will offer free admission to everyone. Note that other fees including timed entry or reservation fees may still apply. 2025 National Park Free Entrance Free Days: The closest national park to Massachusetts is Acadia National Park, which is approximately 300 miles away in Bar Harbor, Maine. All the money from national park entrance fees remains in the National Park Service, and at least 80% stays in the park where it was collected, according to the park service. For more information on national park entrance fees, visit the National Park Service website. A body found floating near an East Boston bridge on Saturday was identified as a missing East Boston woman, the Suffolk County District Attorneys office said. Boston Police officers and the departments Harbor Patrol Unit responded to a radio call reporting an object in the water near the bridge at around 7:20 a.m. Saturday, the department said. When they arrived, they found a dead body floating in the water. The body has since been identified as that of 61-year-old Elba Portillo. There is no indication of foul play in Portillos death, NBC10 Boston reported, citing the Suffolk County District Attorneys office. Boston Police asked for the publics help finding Portillo on Jan. 13, a month after she was last seen. Portillo was last seen around 9:30 a.m. on Dec. 13, 2024 near Marion Street in East Boston after leaving for work. She never arrived to work. Portillo, who suffered from insomnia and potentially early stages of dementia, had gone missing in the past and liked to sit along the waterfront in East Boston, police said. President Donald Trumps inauguration as the nations 47th chief executive on Monday was a source of celebration for the Republican and his supporters. But in heavily Democratic Massachusetts, activists, advocates and elected leaders alike braced themselves for what was expected to be a blizzard of presidential actions with wide-ranging impacts across the Bay State. Trump, the first president since Grover Cleveland to serve nonconsecutive terms, set the tone immediately, vowing the start of a golden age that would make the United States the envy of every nation. From this moment on, Americas decline is over, he declared. Carrying through on a campaign promise, Trump told the crowd in the U.S. Capitol rotunda that he would sign an order declaring a national emergency at the southern border, setting a new and harder line of immigration that would directly impact Massachusetts and other states with large migrant populations. All illegal entry will immediately be halted, Trump said, adding the new administration would begin the process of returning millions and millions of "criminal aliens" to their home countries. Boston, and other self-described sanctuary cities across the commonwealth, are expected to be top targets for immigration raids conducted by U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement officers, the Boston Herald reported Monday, citing sources. The Republican also declared that as of today, it will be the official policy of the U.S. government that there are only two genders, male and female. He also vowed to end what he said was a government policy of social engineering race and gender into every aspect of public and private life. We will forge a society that is color-blind and merit-based, he continued. Such a declaration could have sweeping impacts on the states employers and its colleges and universities, which have embedded anti-discrimination policies. Trumps return to the White House came as the nation paused to commemorate the birthday of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Trump mentioned the slain civil rights leader, promising that we will make his dream come true. Massachusetts Republicans welcomed Trumps new tone. Voters have sent a strong message that they want a secure border, an economy where prices stabilize and wages rise, and businesses that are free to prosper, state Republican Party Chairperson Amy Carvenvale said. They want America to be respected on the world stage and our citizens to come first. This includes addressing the issue of criminal illegal immigrants by ensuring deportation efforts are prioritized for those who endanger our communities at taxpayer expense, Carnevale continued. The reaction among Democrats was more muted. And only a handful of Massachusetts lawmakers were slated to attend the ceremony in the Capitol. They included U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and U.S. Reps. Jake Auchincloss, D-4th District; Katherine Clark, D-5th District, the Democratic whip; Seth Moulton, D-6th District; Richard Neal, D-1st District, and Lori Trahan, D-3rd District, The Boston Globe reported. Moulton, of Salem, previously told MassLive, he considered attendance at Trumps swearing-in a distasteful patriotic duty. Other Massachusetts lawmakers opted to skip the ceremony. They included U.S. Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass, who was slated to attend an MLK Day observance in Springfield, as well as U.S. Reps. William Keating, D-9th District, and Ayanna Pressley, D-7th District. Pressley, of Boston, was scheduled to hold what her office described as a Day of Beloved Community at the Bruce C. Bolling Municipal Building in downtown Boston on Monday afternoon. In an email to supporters, Pressley left little doubt where she stood on the transfer of power taking place in the nations capital. She said she had hoped to spend Monday watching Vice President Kamala Harris, whom Trump defeated at the polls last November, take the oath of office. She described Harris as a Black woman who has fought relentlessly for civil rights. Instead, America faces a profound and painful contradiction: as we mark the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, a white supremacist will retake the highest office in the land, poised to inflict a world of hurt and harm on the communities we hold dear, she wrote. Warren, in a separate email to her supporters, said she hoped for Trumps success as he carries through on campaign promises to bring down costs for working families and unrig our economy Nonetheless, this is a serious look-in-the-mirror moment for our country, the Cambridge lawmaker continued, adding that Trumps return to power will initiate an era where our nation will be tested at every turn. The more populist aspects of Trumps inaugural address, which included promised tariffs on foreign goods, the end of electric vehicle mandates, and a national emergency on energy intended to encourage fossil fuels, also were met with a guarded response from Democrats. House Democrats will partner with anyone serious about lowering costs, Clark, the No. 2 House Democrat, posted on X. But we will stand up to anyone seeking to further rig the economy in favor of the billionaire class at the expense of hard-working Americans. In a text to supporters sent out moments after he finished his remarks, Trump initiated a 24-hour presidential fundraising blitz, as he exhorted loyalists to remember we are one movement, one people, one family, one glorious nation under God. 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A native of Ballyhaunis, Professor McHugh is the first person from the Republic of Ireland to receive the prestigious Fellowship award. Professor McHugh was awarded the EUROMECH Solid Mechanics Fellowship for his outstanding scientific contributions to biomechanics, biomedical engineering and mechanical engineering and the development of biomedical engineering research and education programmes. By honouring him in such a way, the EUROMECH Council recognises eminent scientific contributions to the advancement of Solid Mechanics. The prestigious accolade is awarded to just three Fellows every three years, and there currently are only 20 EUROMECH Solid Mechanics Fellows. The European Mechanics Society will officially confer a Fellowship on Professor McHugh at the 12th European Solid Mechanics Conference, which takes place in Lyon, France in July. I am delighted to become a Fellow of the European Mechanics Society, said Professor McHugh. It is an enormous honour to have my contribution to research and scholarship, and its application in technological development and education, recognised in this way. I look forward to supporting the work of the Council and to continue to work with colleagues from across Europe and beyond to identify and promote new research directions. Originally from Ballyhaunis, Professor McHugh is an internationally recognised research leader in biomedical engineering and his research is focused on fundamental developments and applications of computational and experimental methods in biomechanics, tissue mechanics and medical implants and devices. He has been a pioneer in the development of biomedical engineering research and education in Ireland and internationally. Professor McHugh joined the University in 1991 and was appointed as the first Established Professor of Biomedical Engineering in 2007. He has served as Dean of College of Engineering and Informatics, Head of School of Engineering, and as Deputy President and Registrar of the University, and was appointed as Interim President of University of Galway in September 2024. The European Mechanics Society is an international scientific organisation whose objective is to engage in all activities to promote the development of mechanics as a branch of science and engineering, ranging from fundamental research on the behaviour of solids and fluids to applied research in engineering. The status of Fellow of EUROMECH is awarded to members of the Mechanics community who have contributed significantly to the advancement of mechanics and related fields. This may be through their original research and publications, or their innovative contributions in the application of mechanics and technological developments, or though their distinguished contribution to the discipline in other ways. A MAN who smashed a table at his mother's home in Mayo on Christmas night was sentenced to 180 hours community service in lieu of four months in prison. Charlie McDonagh of 18 Barrycourt Road, Coolock, Dublin 17 appeared before Castlebar District Court where he was charged with criminal damage and public order offences following an altercation in Castlebar in the early hours of St Stephen's Day. Court presenter, Sergeant John O'Reilly explained that on December 26, 2024 at 1.50am, gardai were called to a disturbance at Cois Abhainn, Castlebar where a man was breaking up a house. When they arrived they observed a man with a torn t-shirt who informed gardai that his brother, Mr McDonagh was smashing up the house. Sgt O'Reilly explained that the defendant was intoxicated and shouting abuse at his mother. He was directed to leave but he failed to do so and was arrested. Ms Kathleen Henry, counsel for Mr McDonagh said her client had gone to the house for Christmas and had taken too much alcohol and wished to apologise for his behaviour. She said he was living in Dublin with his wife and wished to reassure the court that this won't happen again. The court was told that Mr McDonagh had a number of previous convictions but Ms Henry said he had not committed an offence in a number of years and this was out of character. She added that her client states that a table he broke in the house has been replaced. Judge Fiona Lydon said that because of the number of convictions she would consider imposing community service if he is suitable. After she was informed Mr McDonagh was suitable, she imposed 180 hours community service in lieu of four years imprisonment. THREE students from Mount Saint Michael Secondary School in Claremorris have created an app designed to help parents, teachers, and young children learn Irish Sign Language (ISL). The app created by Alicia Ward, Aoibhinn Jennings and Mary Josephine Ward earned a runners-up award in the Junior Technology category at SciFest@Teen-Turn. Their app, developed as part of their Teen-Turn programme, aims to empower families and educators to better communicate with and support children who rely on ISL for learning and interaction. The trio are all participants in Teen-Turns afterschool Project Squad, which aims to empower young women through STEM education. They undertook the programme under the mentorship of their teacher, Stephanie Hogan. Their app, developed as part of their Teen-Turn experience, aims to empower families and educators to better communicate with and support children who rely on ISL for learning and interaction. The project was inspired by the lack of resources and training for ISL in educational settings. We wanted to make a difference for children who use ISL by creating something practical and accessible, said one of the team members. Its about bridging the gap and making learning inclusive for everyone. Alicia Ward, Aoibhinn Jennings and Mary Josephine Ward also participated in the recent BT Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition along with seven other projects from Mount Saint Michael. All students spoke positively about their experience of Teen Turn. It was incredible to have access to mentors and resources that helped us turn our vision into a real, working app. I couldnt believe that I could actually make an app, it was my first time ever coding and I absolutely loved it, Alicia Ward commented. Micheal Martin has vowed to prove the naysayers wrong and show that Irelands next ruling coalition can deliver on its ambitious programme for government. The Fianna Fail leader, who is poised to become Taoiseach for the second time on Wednesday, bemoaned what he described as negativity around the new government before it has even been formally appointed. The Tanaiste was commenting ahead of a vote by his partys membership to ratify the draft programme for government he has agreed with Fine Gael and several independent TDs. Mr Martin was given a standing ovation as he was introduced to the Ard Fheis conference in Dublin ahead of the party faithfuls internal debate on the proposed governance plan. The event is taking place just days before the Tanaiste is due to become Taoiseach again on Wednesday. Fianna Fail and Fine Gael, which led the last government in Dublin, are set to continue their coalition partnership, this time with the support of a number of independent TDs. The new administration will be formally appointed in the Dail on Wednesday if, as expected, the Fianna Fail and Fine Gael memberships ratify the programme for government. After weeks of negotiations following Novembers general election, the two parties put together a workable Dail majority with the backing of the Regional Independents grouping of TDs and two independent TDs from Co Kerry, brothers Michael and Danny Healy-Rae. While Fianna Fail has organised a one-off conference to rubber-stamp the programme for government, with the vote result to be announced on Sunday evening, Fine Gael is holding a series of five regional meetings, the last two of which will take place in Meath and Cork on Sunday afternoon. The results of the secret ballots held at the Fine Gael meetings will be announced on Monday. Mr Martin insisted the coalition would be judged on actions and not words as he addressed the media ahead of the Ard Fheis. Its an exciting day for the party in launching and in approving an exciting and comprehensive programme for government, which reflects the mandate we received during the last general election, he said. It will deal with the critical issues and challenges facing the country, and will also protect Irelands future, both economically and in terms of our position within the European Union and in the context of the geopolitical turbulence that is impacting on countries all over the world. Its very ambitious, but again, like all programmes for government, its the actions of government and the delivery by government is what really will matter. Theres a certain negativity has emerged in terms of the commentary on this government. Its as if certain people are disappointed with the result of the general election. And I picked that up from the day of the election count itself, when I observed various columnists and media analysis almost bemoaning the fact that those who got elected to form a government got elected to form a government. The fundamental point is action does speak louder than words ultimately, and if you look at the last government, for example, some of the more radical things we decided on were not in the programme for government. Mr Martin said the government would be robust in responding to its critics. The Government isnt even formed yet, hasnt been approved by the Dail, and the naysayers are out in large numbers, he said. Our job will be to prove them wrong over the next five years. The 162-page programme for government, published during the week, includes smaller class sizes, reduced childcare costs and more gardai among its priorities. Mr Martin is expected to replace Fine Gael leader Simon Harris as Taoiseach when the Dail meets on Wednesday. He will hold the office for three years before it reverts back to Mr Harris for the final two years of the mandate. Mr Martins longer turn in the rotating taoiseach arrangement is reflective of the fact Fianna Fail emerged from the election with 10 more seats than Fine Gael (48 to 38). The ratification process is taking place amid a row over the prospect of some of the independent TDs who support the new government being allowed to take speaking time usually allocated to opposition parties and groups. Ceann Comhairle Verona Murphy wrote to TDs on Friday clarifying that standing orders in the Dail parliament allow for the members of the Regional Independents group who are not government ministers or ministers of state to be part of a technical group on the opposition benches. A recognised group has more speaking rights within the Dail chamber than an unaffiliated backbencher, such as the entitlement to ask questions to the Taoiseach during Leaders Questions. Opposition parties have criticised the bid to form the new technical group, claiming it would see opposition speaking time swallowed up by supporters of the coalition. Both Sinn Fein and Labour have described the prospect of TDs who negotiated the programme for government availing of opposition speaking rights as a farce. Ms Murphy has asked TDs who do not agree with the advice she has received to make submissions outlining a proposed alternative process. Asked about the controversy, Mr Martin claimed the public were not excited about the issue. Theyre clearly TDs that are supporting the government, which has happened in the past by the way, he said of the group. Its not for me to adjudicate on that. Thats a matter for the Dail itself. Im a member of government, and Ill assess the situation and form my own opinion in terms of the legal precedents that apparently may be there. Im just saying that the public arent as excited about an issue like that. The public are interested in the fundamentals that are facing us in terms of critical challenges facing this country. The Irish President has rejected calls from Israels outgoing ambassador to the country to cancel a planned speech to mark National Holocaust Memorial Day. Dana Erlich accused Michael D Higgins of making anti-Israeli statements and said he should stay away from the event planned for the Mansion House in Dublin next Sunday in light of the concerns of the Jewish community. In December, the Israeli government announced plans to close its embassy in Ireland as it accused the Irish government of antisemitic rhetoric and pursing extreme anti-Israel policies. The move came after Ireland formally recognised the state of Palestine and amid moves by the government to ban imports from the Occupied Palestinian Territories. In response to the Israeli governments move, President Higgins said it was a deep slander and gross defamation to accuse Irish people of being antisemitic and said it was part of a pattern to damage Ireland. In an interview with the Independent on Sunday newspaper, Ms Erlich said Mr Higgins presence at the memorial event would overshadow it. The fact that, right now, we are not talking about the event, but we are talking about his presence. I think it distracts from the event, she said. If there were many events it would have been different, but I think the president has many opportunities to speak about and echo his opinions I think on that event it should be something solemn, focusing on Holocaust remembrance, Holocaust education, and preventing antisemitism from rising again. In response, a statement on behalf of President Higgins said: All of President Higgins statements will show, through this work in politics and as President, that he has again and again strongly condemned antisemitism, Islamophobia and all forms of racism. Evidence of this is clear on the public record, in print and on the public website of the President of Ireland. Throughout his life, President Higgins has stressed the importance of values that respect the fullness, importance and dignity of all of humanity in its diversity. Included in the Presidents statements is, for example, the clear suggestion that any targeting of Jewish or Israeli people in Ireland is completely wrong and should be addressed immediately by the State and non-State actors. The statement went on to highlight public comments in which the president had expressed support for the Jewish community. It continued: As to the horrific circumstances of the present, the President has strongly expressed the hope that a hostage release and ceasefire agreement such as will bring the release of all hostages and an end to the horrific loss of life and destruction which has taken place can be agreed, and his hope that it can be the beginning of a meaningful discussion and sustained diplomatic initiative from the international community to bring a lasting peace and security to Israel, Palestine and the greater region a peace for which so many have hoped for so long. The President received an invitation from Holocaust Education Ireland to address what it an important, solemn and public occasion commemorating a genocide which we must never forget and from which we must learn the National Holocaust Memorial Day Commemoration, which will take place in the Mansion House on 26 January. This will be the seventh time that President Higgins has accepted an invitation and spoken at this event. Irelands deputy premier Micheal Martin said it was right that President Higgins addressed the event. I think the presidency is the highest office in the land and I think our president is a very wise, well-rounded individual, the Tanaiste told reporters in Dublin on Sunday. He has studied politics and history, and I think he is in a position to deliver an appropriate and well-balanced contribution to that event. I think hes been consistent throughout his life in respect of being against antisemitism and being pro-tolerance and inclusivity, and so I do think its appropriate, as our head of state, that he would deliver that, particularly in the context of the world that we are in today. by Fern Siegel , January 20, 2025 VML appointed Eric Campbell as CEO of VML North America. Based in New York, he will remain as VMLs global chief client officer, reporting to global CEO, Jon Cook. The dual role sustains client services globally. Campbell, a 25-year VML veteran, will work closely with Mel Edwards, global president, to deepen connections between North America and VMLs global offices. After a strong year in 2024, Im excited to build on that momentum with our North America teams. The strength of our leadership, our celebrated creativity and our expansive capabilities in this region are unmatched. I look forward to introducing new innovative offerings, like cutting-edge AI capabilities through WPP Open, to VML and WPP client partners in the year ahead, said Campbell. VML North America generates more than 40% of the company's global revenue. Recent new business wins include Grand Marnier, Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Kohls, Krispy Kreme, Perrigo, Pizza Hut and TruGreen. by Laurie Sullivan , Staff Writer @lauriesullivan, January 20, 2025 TikTok through the years has gobbled up data based on human behavior, specifically from those based in the United States. The ByteDance company has generated a treasure trove for any AI-based search engine that could train its large language models (LLMs). Perplexity AI reportedly on Saturday submitted a bid to TikToks parent ByteDance to merge with its U.S. operations. The combined companies could create a new company. If Perplexity merged with TikTok, it would give the company access to an immense user base and the data needed to feed its AI-driven search engine. The new structure would allow for most of ByteDances existing investors to retain their equity stakes and bring more video and training data to Perplexity, a source told CNBC. The move -- a merger rather than a sale -- could satisfy the Department of Justices concerns over data collection by the Peoples Republic of China, which has access to data of all Chinese-based and Chinese-run companies. advertisement advertisement Last week, the Supreme Court upheld a law that will ban TikTok un the U.S. unless the company separates from its Chinese-owned parent company. On Saturday, President Donald Trump said that he would likely give TikTok a 90-day reprieve on Monday. TikTok users woke Sunday morning to an app that was down, but by midday President-elect Donald Trump had issued an executive order to allow time for ByteDance to work with the new administration on a long-term solution. BrightEdge, which focuses on AI and SEO, last week released a report detailing analysis of Perplexity, and other AI engines, across nine industries. Perplexity distinguishes itself through visual integration and related content connections, the analysis found. When explaining technical concepts such as data modeling, Perplexity pairs clear explanations with visual examples, making complex topics easier to understand at a glance. Tying in information about human behavior would make ad targeting that much more precise. BrightEdge also noted a fundamental flaw in Perplexity's handling of time-sensitive queries, which could be alleviated by merging with TikTok, giving it real-time information and data. Other than Perplexity, there have been many reports on possible suitors including Elon Musk, whom the Chinese government has been evaluating as a potential new owner, as well as investors Kevin OLeary and Frank McCourt, who have offered about $20 billion to buy TikTok. TikTok reportedly has been estimated to be worth as much as $50 billion for its algorithms and ability to generate revenue for small businesses, influencers, and advertisers. Entrepreneurs and influencers will say that free speech and business is behind the need to keep running TikTok in the U.S., but for TikTok its likely the data. TikTok also has been exploring revenue streams beyond advertising, such as in-app purchases and e-commerce, further contributing to its overall growth, Statista reported. Those who want the U.S. government to uphold the ban argue that TikTok collects data related to references, location and behavioral trends about those who live in the U.S. And while some say it is no different from what Google, Microsoft, Meta and X collect, all that data is not going to China's government, which presents security concerns. by Wendy Davis @wendyndavis, January 20, 2025 The tech industry organization NetChoice is pressing to block a new Tennessee law that prohibits Meta Platforms, TikTok, Snap and other social media companies from allowing minors under 18 to create accounts, without parental consent. The "Protecting Children from Social Media Act, which took effect January 1, also requires social media platforms to verify all users ages. On Thursday, NetChoice asked U.S. District Court Judge Eli Richardson in Nashville to issue a temporary restraining order blocking enforcement of the law, arguing that it violates the First Amendment, and that its members are facing irreparable harm. NetChoice noted in its new request that the hyperlocal social platform NextDoor has already blocked users under 18 from its platform due to the law. As of January 1, Nextdoor has lost -- and will continue to lose -- its First Amendment right to curate and disseminate speech to minors in Tennessee looking to engage with neighbors to get a babysitting job, find a lost pet, or participate in neighborhood activities, NetChoice wrote. advertisement advertisement Minors in Tennessee correspondingly are losing and will continue to lose their First Amendment right to speak and receive speech on Nextdoor, NetChoice added. The group says it is requesting a temporary restraining order as soon as possible to prevent the ongoing irreparable harm that NetChoice members have been suffering since before the Act took effect January 1, 2025. NetChoice originally sued in October to block the law, but the judge assigned to the matter -- U.S. District Court Judge William Lynn Campbell Jr. in Nashville -- removed himself from the case before issuing a decision because he had held stock in Meta when the complaint was filed. Last week, the case was reassigned to Richardson. NetChoice argues that the law violates the First Amendment by requiring all new users, minors as well as adults, to verify their ages. That mandate unlawfully bars access to speech entirely for those unwilling or unable to provide the requisite documentation, the group writes. The organization adds that the parental consent requirement tramples on teens' First Amendment rights to access content. The group notes that the Supreme Court voted 7-2 in 2011 to strike down a California law that banned the sale of violent video games to minors, without parental consent. Richardson has ordered Tennessee officials to respond to NetChoice's request by January 23. Other states including New York, Maryland, Arkansas, Mississippi, Ohio, Utah, Texas and California have passed statutes that either restrict teens' use of social media, or limit companies' ability to serve content to teens. Many of those laws are being challenged in court, and so far judges have blocked all or parts of some measures in Arkansas, Mississippi, Ohio, Utah, Texas and California. Catch up with all the latest and the most trending national and international news in healthcare and medical sciences from across the globe. Listings are in alphabetical order. LANGKAWI, Malaysia (AP) Southeast Asian foreign ministers gathered Sunday for their first meeting this year under the regional bloc's new chair, Malaysia, seeking a breakthrough over Myanmars drawn-out civil war and territorial disputes in the South China Sea. The retreat on the idyllic northern resort island of Langkawi was the first major meeting of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations hosted by Malaysia. Officials said it aims to chart the blocs direction for the year as it tries to resolve Myanmar's deadly four-year crisis and tensions over Chinas increasing assertiveness in the South China Sea. Malaysian Foreign Minister Mohamad Hasan said Myanmar represented by a low-level Foreign Ministry official after its junta leaders were barred from formal ASEAN meetings briefed the gathering about plans for a general election this year. But the bloc wants Myanmar's government to ensure peace before any polls are held, he said. We said the election has to be inclusive. The election cannot be in isolation, it has to involve all stakeholders, he told a news conference at the end of the retreat. We told them the election is not our priority. Our priority is to stop the violence. The crisis in Myanmar has emerged as one of the blocs biggest challenges since a military coup ousted an elected civilian government in February 2021, plunging the country into conflict. It has sparked an armed resistance movement, with rebel forces now controlling large parts of the country. The war has killed tens of thousands of people, and displaced millions. ASEANs peace plan and other efforts to seek a solution have so far been futile, hampered by the bloc's non-interference policy and the Myanmar junta's refusal to comply. The military government hopes an election will legitimize its rule, but critics say polls are unlikely to be free or fair. Malaysia, which brought Myanmar into ASEAN during its chairmanship of the bloc in 1997, is expected to take a more proactive stance as the Myanmar crisis has led to the flourishing of criminal activities, online scams and human trafficking along Myanmars border. Hasan said Malaysia had appointed Othman Hashim, a former foreign ministry senior official, as special envoy for ASEAN chair to Myanmar to engage various factions in the country to find a way forward. We have no intention to carve out Myanmar, he said, adding that dialogue and diplomacy were the best strategies to help the country return to a democratic path. Hasan said the meeting also discussed implications of the second term of incoming U.S. President Donald Trump on the region amid its rivalry with China. He said ministers raised concerns that competition between the major powers may increase tensions and have spillover effects in the region. He said ASEAN ministers stressed the urgency to bolster regional unity and make economic integration a top priority amid the global uncertainties. We must ensure that ASEAN remains our central go-to platform for solution seeking... We are the speakers and not the spoken-for. We must drive our own path forward, he said. Tensions in the South China Sea, one of the world's vital shipping lanes, were also high on the agenda following violent confrontations in the waters last year. Hasan said the ministers called for accelerated negotiations between ASEAN and China on a code of conduct in the waterway. Officials earlier targeted them for conclusion in 2026 but the talks have stalled over disagreements including whether the pact should be binding and its scope of coverage. We stressed that the South China Sea must remain peaceful and stable, Hasan said. ASEAN members Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei along with Taiwan have overlapping claims with China, which asserts sovereignty over virtually all of the South China Sea. Chinese and Philippine vessels clashed repeatedly last year. Chinese forces also assaulted Vietnamese fishermen and Chinese patrol vessels ventured into areas that Indonesia and Malaysia claim as exclusive economic zones. ASEAN has not openly criticized China, which is the blocs top trading partner. As chair, Malaysia is likely to push for quiet diplomacy as it balances security challenges with economic gains, analysts say. It would be pragmatism on Malaysias side, as the country as well as ASEAN as a whole lack the diplomatic and military heft to confront China on the South China Sea, said Muhamamd Faizal Abdul Rahman, a research fellow at Singapore's S.Rajaratnam School of International Studies. Since incoming President Donald Trump announced his campaign for reelection, the public has weighed and dissected the merits and shortfalls of his aims for the military. But what has been missing is how these promises or inferences might come to fruition and what challenges they may face on their way to implementation. In this episode, we spoke to two experts with collective decades of experience in analyzing military policies, both foreign and domestic. We talked about five promises or policies floated in the media that will likely see early headway in Trump's military. Using the active-duty military for mass deportations. Rollbacks on transgender troop policies. Replacing "woke" generals. Restoring Confederate base names. And keeping the military "out of wars." We asked the experts: Are these possible? And if so, what would they look like in practice? Host Drew F. Lawrence interviews military policy experts on Trump's plans for the military. Additional Resources Listen, rate, and subscribe! Spotify Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Transcript: SPEAKERS Michael O'Hanlon, NBC News, Katherine Kuzminski, Drew F. Lawrence, President Donald Trump President Donald Trump We want a strong and powerful military, and ideally we don't have to use it. They said 'He will start a war.' I'm not going to start a war. I'm going to stop wars...And we have some very bad people. We have some sick people, radical left lunatics, and I think they're the -- and it should be very easily handled by, if necessary, by National Guard, or if really necessary by the military, because they can't let that happen. Drew F. Lawrence Since announcing his campaign for re-election, the public has weighed and dissected the merits and shortfalls of incoming President Trumps aims for the military. But what has been missing, in our view, is how these promises or inferences might come to fruition and what challenges they may face on their way to implementation. In this episode, we spoke to two people with collective decades of experience in analyzing military policies, both foreign and domestic. We talked about five promises or policies floated in the media that will likely see early headway in Trumps military. Using the active military for mass deportations. Rollbacks on transgender troop policies. Replacing woke generals. Restoring Confederate base names. And keeping the military out of wars. We asked the experts: are these possible? And if so, what would they look like in practice? For Military.com, my name is Drew Lawrence. It is January 17th. And this is Fire Watch. I spoke to Michael O'Hanlon, the director of research in the Foreign Policy Program at the Brookings Institution, where he focuses on the use of military force and American national security. I also spoke to Katherine Kuzminski, the director of the Military, Veterans and Society Program at the Center for a New American Security. She focuses on personnel issues in the force and civil-military relations. You'll hear from both of them throughout this episode. So before we get into these individual topics, I'm wondering if you could tell us what you're keeping an eye out for in the first part of Trump's presidency as it relates to the military. Katherine Kuzminski The first thing I'm taking a look at is who we're going to have in senior leadership positions on the civilian side...for each of the services, and we now have a full slate of nominees for military department secretaries. But it will really matter who some of these under secretaries and assistant secretaries of defense and each of the military departments are, because those are the folks who will be charged with diving deep onto specific parts of how the military operates. Michael O'Hanlon It was an open question to me as to whether Trump would, in fact, stand by Hegseth, who really does not seem super well qualified...but he did stand by him, and you know, and he persuaded most Republican senators, maybe all Republican senators, to do so as well. Now, I don't think Hegseth is a fool, but I seriously question whether he's been following key strategic issues studiously enough, whether he gets too caught up in certain ideological debates. That may be why Trump likes him. It's a reason why I'm wary about him, even though I think he's probably smart enough to do the job, he hasn't necessarily been preparing himself, given his relative interests and his desire to sort of fight the culture wars, more than to protect the nation and win its wars. You know, I also feel that Trump has indicated more of a seriousness by contrast, not only with the Rubio and Waltz appointments, but also with the Kellogg appointment, the retired General Keith Kellogg who is now going to be Trump's envoy, or special representative for Ukraine, and Kellogg's a guy who I've known for a long time and who stood by Trump for a long time, 10 years, going back to the original campaign, and certainly is a person that some people would criticize for his politics, but he's not a nasty guy. He's just simply like Trump and been a quiet advisor and supporter, and he's also a long standing serious supporter of American defense policy, going back to as many years in uniform. So, if Trump were just going to pull out the rug from Ukraine, he wouldn't have put Kellogg in the job. I don't think. So there is stuff to hold on to. There is hopefulness in the broader set of messages, but there are also a lot of big questions. NBC News Well, now let's turn to a development in one of President-elect Trump's campaign promises, mass deportations of undocumented immigrants. President Donald Trump It's like an invasion from within. And we're going to have the largest deportation in the history of our country. NBC News Mr. Trump further outlined his deportation plan yesterday by responding true to a truth social post that's his social media platform, saying he will declare a national emergency and use military assets to deport undocumented immigrants. Michael O'Hanlon I don't really know how you use the military to go around knocking on people doors and asking to see their ID cards, because that requires a process -- it might sound simple, but it requires a process of adjudicating when if somebody runs away from you, what do you do? How much force do you use to stop them? If they claim that they've got old ID papers -- Some of those look forged, but you're not sure how to assess if they forged. Is that really a job we think the military has been trained to carry out? And so when you work through the scenarios, you work through the tactical situations, it's just hard for me to see how the military does much more than provide general backup. But the more logical thing is to use the military at the border where the mission can be a little bit more simply specified. Obviously, military personnel are very smart. I'm not suggesting they're not as smart as American police, but they're trained to do different jobs. And they're not really trained to ascertain whether, in a mixed population of illegals and legals, a given person should be arrested, pursued whatever. In fact, we know that even when we're trying to do this sort of thing in a foreign land, like in Iraq or Afghanistan, with counter insurgency warfare, and we're trying to find the insurgents or the terrorists. It's very hard work, and we usually need to almost restructure and retrain the military to do this if we're going to do it well. In Iraq, it took four years before we got to the right approach. Now, legally, you can find a way to do it. Posse Comitatus allows the National Guard to do this kind of work, as long as they're not federalized. The Insurrection Act of 1807, allows even regular army to do it if the president declares an insurrection. And I don't put that past Trump, if things get bad enough, I don't think he will start with that. President Donald Trump With a stroke of my pen on day one, we're going to stop the transgender lunacy. Drew F. Lawrence In November, several media outlets reported that Trump was weighing immediate medical discharges for transgender service members. One estimate from a nonprofit said that there are currently about 15,000 transgender troops in the military. A spokesperson for Trump did not deny the possibility of the plan, but told us that, "no decisions on the issue have been made unquote." And going back to his first term, Trump reversed an Obama-era policy to allow transgender Americans to serve. In light of public comments denouncing Biden's reinstatement of the transgender service member policy from Sec Def nominee Pete Hegseth, the long and consistent policy could see yet again, another reversal. Katherine Kuzminski Yeah, so this one is certainly complicated, and again, he did make moves in his first administration, but didn't necessarily talk about this on the campaign trail. For the audience, whenever something is a policy, that is fully owned by the executive branch, and so a president or a secretary of defense can change policy without having to go to Congress. Michael O'Hanlon And even if you don't always institute a policy, you can create a climate that is less, you know, welcoming, and convince some people to leave. Katherine Kuzminski If the policy were to change, does that mean you grandfather all the folks who are currently serving and just make it a policy for those who would enter in the future? Or are you separating individuals who are currently serving? So what will be left to commanders is to figure out how to discharge individuals with dignity for the service that they have provided to the nation, but if the policy changes, commanders won't be in a position to push back on the policy. Drew F. Lawrence Also in November, The Wall Street Journal reported that Trump's transition team was considering a draft executive order that would establish something called a "warrior board" to review whether top generals lack the requisite responsibilities to lead the military. And Military.com, reported that senior military officials were concerned the order would cut generals that Trump considers "woke" broadly defined as those who supported diversity initiatives or vaccinations, for example. President Donald Trump Our generals and our admirals are now focused more on this nonsense than they are on our enemies. You see these generals lately on television. They are woke. Michael O'Hanlon You know, if you were going to convene these kinds of warrior boards and try to get rid of, I think we have about 1000 flag officers in the US military. So that's one, two, three and four star general or admiral. And let's say that's the population that you're worried about, and you want to make some substantial dent in that population, so you want to maybe get rid of, let's say, dozens. That's going to be a pretty tall order to find dozens of people who have done egregiously woke things by whatever standard that would be defined. It would also create a requirement for many of the rest of that 1000-strong general, flag officer population to watch this happen. Or maybe even testify against their fellow generals and admirals. If Trump wants to do that, he's going to be weakening our military vis a vis China and other real threats. So what I think is more likely, is they will have their decision about which one or two or three or four or five sacrificial lambs to go after, or, you know, symbolic representations of the supposed wokeness and then claim that by firing them, they either took such people out of crucial positions or sent a message to the rest of the force to stop being so darn woke. Katherine Kuzminski But the question of, can a president unilaterally fire general officers? The answer is yes. What a president can't do is unilaterally then back fill that position so they can nominate a new, say, combatant commander or service chief, but then that individual has to be confirmed by the Senate. The real challenge on the norm side is the perception that partisan alignment is a requirement for the job. General Officers are political actors. They are operating within a context where they're fighting for resources, for their service, for their combatant command. And so they are political positions, but they are not partisan positions. These individuals have been nominated to each successive rank by different presidents. So that matters, because we want to have consistency over administrations within our military profession. President Donald Trump Should we change the name from Fort Liberty back to Fort Bragg? So here's what we do. We get elected. I'm doing it. I'm doing it. Michael O'Hanlon Yeah, you know, anything that's been legislated would presumably have to be unlegislated and and I just can't believe that Republicans are going to fall in line on this kind of an issue when they have such a narrow majority. Katherine Kuzminski This is one where the law is what will constrain President Trump. The law keeps base names from being named after Confederate generals. However, it does not remove the President's authority or the executive branch's authority to rename bases. So the the furthest you could push it is to rename these bases something entirely new, but the law constrains him from renaming them after Confederates. The campaign promises and some of the comments that came up in Hegseth nomination of, we want to focus on lethality. We want an army that -- or a military that wins...The Confederates lost, right? And so that's also part of the debates, and part of the support for removing Confederate base names was not necessarily -- for some -- about the complicated history of the United States, but that these guys are losers. President Donald Trump Remember when crooked Hillary Clinton used to say 'he's going to get us into a war? Look at him. Look at his rhetoric.' I said, 'No, my rhetoric is going to keep us out of wars. That's what happened. We had no wars. Drew F. Lawrence And my last question is a broad one, because it's a campaign promise that entails keeping the military "out of wars." And at the same time, you know, he has suggested using, or at least his inner circle has suggested using the military for actions against the cartels in Mexico and South America. Michael O'Hanlon I appreciate his desire to stay out of wars. And in fact, we've had a tradition since World War II of a lot of presidents, I think, exceeding their constitutional authority. And I think we need Congress playing a bigger role in decisions on the use of force more generally, and we need to be aware that we Americans, even though we tell ourselves we're a peaceful people, we're often very assertive around the world, including and especially in Latin America, historically. But then to come back to your specific question about cartels, of course, attacking them could be the exception ... that destroys the rule in this case. If we could solve the problem of fentanyl with one splendidly surgically, you know, Israeli-style 1967 surprise attack on 20 drug labs in Mexico and elsewhere, with or without the permission of those governments, that would be an interesting idea. And everything I know historically about trying to attack these kinds of targets with air power or Special Forces makes me wary that we can be successful. Anytime we think we can just deal with a criminal government like the Taliban in Afghanistan or Saddam Hussein in Iraq and do it surgically, we've been proven wrong. The fascinating thing about Trump and his relationship with the Republican Party, is that he wound up being one of the toughest critics of George W Bush, and he could get away with that and still win a republican nomination. So he understood that Republicans themselves had decided that the support they gave to some of these interventions of the early 21st century maybe was misplaced. Or at least the way it was translated into policy, was badly done, and maybe some of these illusions we were given of how it could all be a cake walk, to use the words of one of Bush and Rumsfeld's advisors, that that was unfortunate. So we got to be really careful about being talked into the possibility of future cake walks over new problems like drug production near our own borders. Drew F. Lawrence Thank you for listening to this episode of Fire Watch. Thank you to our executive producers, Zach Fryer-Biggs and Jared Keller. If you enjoyed this episode, give us a rating. And as always, thanks for listening. ANN ARBOR, MI - From media stars to presidential candidates to notorious serial killers, University of Michigan Medical School has seen its list of famous alumni pass through its doors the last 175 years. There are many less famous names with outsized accomplishments. Theres Homer Stryker, the founder of the Stryker Corporation that brought innovations to orthopedic care and medical staff convenience. Theres also Tomo Inouye, a Japanese doctor who founded the Japanese Medical Womens Society. KENT COUNTY, MI A pair of Michigan State Police patrol vehicles were struck in West Michigan caused by slick road conditions. The two cruisers were hit before noon on Monday, Jan. 20, while troopers assisted motorists on the snow-covered highways. JACKSON COUNTY, MI Try this lemon meringue pie, and visit these restaurants for Dry January in Jackson County. Here are those stories and other recent Jackson County-area business news you may have missed. Find lemon meringue pie, cupcakes for every season at For Goodness Cakes in Michigan Center Heather Watson is always playing with new recipes and flavors. This is how she keeps things fresh at For Goodness Cakes in Michigan Center. Watson opened the bakerys storefront in September 2022. She adds to her menu with rotating cupcakes, cookies, brownies, cake pops and cheesecakes, she said. I feel like a mad scientist back here playing with stuff, Watson said. Read the full story here. Ways to stick with Dry January in Jackson County Jackson County residents looking to reset themselves after the holidays can through some Dry January mocktails in the area. The start-of-the-year trend has people abstaining from drinking alcohol for the month. However, people shouldnt just settle for water and sodas, when restaurants in the area offer mocktails and non-alcoholic drinks. Here are some of the great places you can check out for a booze-less drink in Jackson County. Read the full story here. Jackson YMCA opens new wellness center, lobby with more to come in 2025 Since breaking ground in January 2024, construction at the new Jackson YMCA has been making good progress. The Y at 127 W. Wesley St. has been working on a $25 million capital campaign since 2017 to create a reimagined facility. Phase one of the project completed near the end of 2024, and phase two is underway. So far, members have enjoyed the new, completed amenities, CEO Shawna Tello said. Read the full story here. Find a 10-patty burger at Trackside Eatery & Pub in Albion While Shawn and Francine Ruddock live in Florida, they spend a lot of their time with family in Michigan. After hearing from Albion residents that there was a need for a place to grab breakfast, they decided it was a good chance for them to invest in the downtown. Since March, the two have worked to open Trackside Eatery & Pub, which is now ready to feed customers. The eatery opened two weeks ago and has been busy since, Francine said. The Ruddocks pride themselves in serving elevated comfort food, Shawn said. Read the full story here. Chick-fil-A anticipates spring opening in Jackson Progress is underway to construct a new fast-food eatery for hungry Jacksonians. Popular chain Chick-fil-A announced it was opening a new location in Jackson in September of 2024. Since, construction has been moving along quickly, and the new restaurant is expected to open in the spring, a Chick-fil-A, Inc. spokesperson wrote in an email. Read the full story here. Want more Jackson-area news? Bookmark the local Jackson news page or sign up for the free 3@3 Jackson daily newsletter. LUDINGTON, MI Charges are pending against four men who were arrested after leading police on a foot chase that ended with injuries to multiple officers. Three of the men taken into custody are from Manistee while the fourth resides in Coopersville. Their ages range from 18 to 20 years old, police said. The coldest air that weve felt in six years has Michigan in its icy grips today. The cold blast originating in northern Siberia is going to stick with us into Wednesday - rivaling the last deep freeze of this type we felt in 2019 when the Polar Vortex dipped down to send our temps plummeting. A safety risk to talk about: With temperatures this low, the time to frostbite damage on exposed skin is just 30 minutes or less, the National Weather Service (NWS) said. In the Upper Peninsula where there is an Extreme Cold Warning, time to frostbite can be 10 minutes or less. Arctic air and the coldest daytime temperatures in 6 years are here Monday and Tuesday, returning to the teens and 20s later in the week, NWS meteorologists in Grand Rapids said. Lake-effect snow showers will persist much of the time, with greatest accumulation west of U.S. 131. Frostbite is possible in 30 minutes with wind chills dipping as low as -20 degrees. Forecast through Friday for Mid-Michigan and West Michigan.Graphic provided by the National Weather Service High temperatures will stay in the single digits across the Lower Peninsula today. And while wind chills are expected to hit -20 to -25 degrees overnight the next couple nights, daytime feels like temps wont be much better. Even with the sun out, the wind chills could still be 10 below zero during the day. So if you have to go out, remember your big coat, a scarf to cover your face, gloves and a hat. Pets should be brought indoors. An Arctic air outbreak remains underway. Wind chills each morning between -25 to -15 will only rise to around -10 to -5 in the afternoon, the NWS team in Detroit said today. A cold weather advisory is in effect until Wednesday afternoon. Lake effect snow showers likely today, with better accumulating chances between I-94 to I-69. A dusting, up to a fluffy inch, will be possible. Chinese companies to take active role at Davos, reinforcing globalization vision Global Times) 14:47, January 20, 2025 As geopolitical tensions, economic transformation, and technological advancements continue to reshape the world, the 2025 World Economic Forum (WEF) Annual Meeting - often dubbed the "bellwether of the global economy" - is set to kick off on Monday in Davos-Klosters, Switzerland. Over the years, the number of Chinese companies attending has steadily increased, and in this European town symbolizing "globalization," they are sending a strong message of their commitment to participating in global markets and upholding globalization. Solar photovoltaic technology is now advancing at an unprecedented pace, surpassing even the most optimistic forecasts, and it has become the driving force behind the global energy transition, leading Chinese solar company LONGi Green Energy Technology said in a statement sent to the Global Times on Sunday. During the WEF annual meeting, LONGi will join forces with global partners to explore ways to drive innovation and the deployment of solar photovoltaic technology, contributing to the global energy transition and energy equity, and helping to create a low-carbon, inclusive and sustainable future, the company said. Yidu Tech, a leading player in China's artificial intelligence healthcare sector, will make its fifth appearance at the meeting. On this prominent global stage, Yidu will draw on its understanding of the healthcare industry and innovative mindset to work alongside global experts and scholars in shaping the future of digital healthcare, the company said in a statement sent to the Global Times on Sunday. The five-day annual meeting convenes close to 3,000 leaders from various industries around the world. A total of 350 government leaders will attend the event, according to the WEF's official website. Chinese Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang is scheduled to attend the meeting and visit Switzerland and the Netherlands from Sunday to January 24, according to China's Foreign Ministry. Ding will deliver a special address at the opening plenary of the annual meeting, Guo Jiakun, a spokesperson for the Foreign Ministry, told a press conference on Friday. "By attending the annual meeting, China looks forward to strengthening exchanges and communication with other parties, enhancing understanding and trust, pooling consensus for cooperation, upholding true multilateralism, jointly advocating an equal and orderly multipolar world and mutually beneficial and inclusive economic globalization, and contributing to improving global economic governance and boosting world economic growth," Guo noted. "Chinese companies have actively participated in the Winter Davos for years, signaling their commitment to global markets and open cooperation," Hu Qimu, deputy secretary-general of the digital-real economies integration Forum 50, told the Global Times on Sunday. Hu said that the biggest risk the firms face when expanding abroad currently is institutional risk - such as anti-dumping investigations - rather than market risk. "With limited capacity to manage these risks, companies need to collaborate with the government, and the forum offers a platform for businesses to showcase themselves, discover opportunities, and understand the policy risks and directions of their target markets," Hu said. At the 2024 Winter Davos Forum, a 140-member Chinese delegation, including 10 ministerial-level officials, attended, representing various sectors such as finance, technology, education, and culture, according to media reports. In recent years, an increasing number of Chinese companies have proactively become partners with businesses abroad to strengthen mutually beneficial cooperation and leverage complementary advantages. At the same time, they are actively fulfilling their corporate social responsibilities by creating jobs, improving infrastructure, and making positive contributions to local economic and social development, as well as enhancing the well-being of local communities. According to the Xinhua News Agency, in 2023, Chinese companies operating abroad paid a total of $75.3 billion in various taxes to host countries and regions. As of the end of 2023, the total number of employees working for these companies abroad had reached 4.29 million, including 2.57 million local employees, an increase of 77,000, accounting for nearly 60 percent. As of the end of 2023, domestic investors from China had established 48,000 overseas enterprises in 189 countries and regions globally, covering more than 80 percent of countries and regions worldwide, with an overall good operating condition, according to a report released in September 2024 summarizing China's foreign direct investment performance in 2023. More and more Chinese companies are taking the initiative to join hands with host country enterprises to strengthen mutually beneficial cooperation and complement each other's advantages, per the Xinhua report. At the same time, they actively fulfill their corporate social responsibilities by creating job opportunities, providing vocational training, improving infrastructure, and integrating into local communities, making positive contributions to the economic and social development of the local area and enhancing the well-being of the people. (Web editor: Tian Yi, Zhong Wenxing) Samir Jain is a Jaipur-based astrologer who has over 28 years of experience in the field of Astrology, Numerology, Palmistry and Vastu Shastra. He is also an expert in Jain Temple Vastu and Jain Jyotish. For more details, visit planetsastro.com, call/WhatsApp +91 8696930617 or email jainksamir@gmail.com. Neha Mewari USER CONSENT We at moneycontrol use cookies and other tracking technologies to assist you with navigation and determine your location. We also capture cookies to obtain your feedback, analyse your use of our products and services and provide content from third parties. 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He writes on the Indian money markets, RBI, Banks and NBFCs. He tweets at @manishsuvarna15. Contact: Manish.Suvarna@nw18.com Manish M. Suvarna USER CONSENT We at moneycontrol use cookies and other tracking technologies to assist you with navigation and determine your location. We also capture cookies to obtain your feedback, analyse your use of our products and services and provide content from third parties. By clicking on 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies and other tracking technologies. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy. *We collect cookies for the functioning of our website and to give you the best experience. This includes some essential cookies. Cookies from third parties which may be used for personalization and determining your location. By clicking 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies to enhance your personalized experience on our site. 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I Accept Saurav Pandey USER CONSENT We at moneycontrol use cookies and other tracking technologies to assist you with navigation and determine your location. We also capture cookies to obtain your feedback, analyse your use of our products and services and provide content from third parties. By clicking on 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies and other tracking technologies. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy. *We collect cookies for the functioning of our website and to give you the best experience. This includes some essential cookies. Cookies from third parties which may be used for personalization and determining your location. By clicking 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies to enhance your personalized experience on our site. 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I Accept Donald Trump vows to help troubled Hollywood with Mel Gibson, Jon Voight and Sylvester Stallone Sarika Sharma USER CONSENT We at moneycontrol use cookies and other tracking technologies to assist you with navigation and determine your location. We also capture cookies to obtain your feedback, analyse your use of our products and services and provide content from third parties. By clicking on 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies and other tracking technologies. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy. *We collect cookies for the functioning of our website and to give you the best experience. This includes some essential cookies. Cookies from third parties which may be used for personalization and determining your location. By clicking 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies to enhance your personalized experience on our site. 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I Accept Shah Rukh Khan reacts after Chris Martin gives a shoutout to him during Coldplay concert, writes, "My brother, you make me feel special" Vaishnavi Gavankar USER CONSENT We at moneycontrol use cookies and other tracking technologies to assist you with navigation and determine your location. We also capture cookies to obtain your feedback, analyse your use of our products and services and provide content from third parties. By clicking on 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies and other tracking technologies. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy. *We collect cookies for the functioning of our website and to give you the best experience. This includes some essential cookies. Cookies from third parties which may be used for personalization and determining your location. By clicking 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies to enhance your personalized experience on our site. 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By clicking on 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies and other tracking technologies. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy. *We collect cookies for the functioning of our website and to give you the best experience. This includes some essential cookies. Cookies from third parties which may be used for personalization and determining your location. By clicking 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies to enhance your personalized experience on our site. 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I Accept Anson Funds, in focus over Hindenburg ties, is a registered FPI in India B Kumar USER CONSENT We at moneycontrol use cookies and other tracking technologies to assist you with navigation and determine your location. We also capture cookies to obtain your feedback, analyse your use of our products and services and provide content from third parties. By clicking on 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies and other tracking technologies. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy. *We collect cookies for the functioning of our website and to give you the best experience. This includes some essential cookies. Cookies from third parties which may be used for personalization and determining your location. By clicking 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies to enhance your personalized experience on our site. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy *I agree to the updated privacy policy and I warrant that I am above 16 years of age I agree to the processing of my personal data for the purpose of personalised recommendations on financial and similar products offered by MoneyControl I agree personalized advertisements and any kind of remarketing/retargeting on other third party websites I agree to receive direct marketing communications via Emails and SMS Please select (*) all mandatory conditions to continue. I Accept Slower loan growth, rising stress: What do bank earnings tell us about state of economy? Dinesh Unnikrishnan is Editor-Banking & Finance at Moneycontrol. Dinesh heads the Banking and Finance Bureau at Moneycontrol. He also writes a weekly column, Banking Central, every Monday. Dinesh Unnikrishnan USER CONSENT We at moneycontrol use cookies and other tracking technologies to assist you with navigation and determine your location. 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For more details you can refer to our cookie policy *I agree to the updated privacy policy and I warrant that I am above 16 years of age I agree to the processing of my personal data for the purpose of personalised recommendations on financial and similar products offered by MoneyControl I agree personalized advertisements and any kind of remarketing/retargeting on other third party websites I agree to receive direct marketing communications via Emails and SMS Please select (*) all mandatory conditions to continue. I Accept Paras Bisht USER CONSENT We at moneycontrol use cookies and other tracking technologies to assist you with navigation and determine your location. We also capture cookies to obtain your feedback, analyse your use of our products and services and provide content from third parties. By clicking on 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies and other tracking technologies. 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I Accept Rohit Singh USER CONSENT We at moneycontrol use cookies and other tracking technologies to assist you with navigation and determine your location. We also capture cookies to obtain your feedback, analyse your use of our products and services and provide content from third parties. By clicking on 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies and other tracking technologies. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy. *We collect cookies for the functioning of our website and to give you the best experience. This includes some essential cookies. Cookies from third parties which may be used for personalization and determining your location. By clicking 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies to enhance your personalized experience on our site. 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By clicking on 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies and other tracking technologies. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy. *We collect cookies for the functioning of our website and to give you the best experience. This includes some essential cookies. Cookies from third parties which may be used for personalization and determining your location. By clicking 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies to enhance your personalized experience on our site. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy *I agree to the updated privacy policy and I warrant that I am above 16 years of age I agree to the processing of my personal data for the purpose of personalised recommendations on financial and similar products offered by MoneyControl I agree personalized advertisements and any kind of remarketing/retargeting on other third party websites I agree to receive direct marketing communications via Emails and SMS Please select (*) all mandatory conditions to continue. I Accept January 20, 2025 / 20:07 IST Krishna Kumar, co-founder and CEO of Cropin, at the World Economic Forum discussed the need for the government to speed up processes of agri stack. Agriculture starts from land ownership. Once you digitize the farmer, and land ownership, you can build a lot of businesses on top of itFor instance, if a grower wants a loan, a bank needs to underwrite. (For this) the bank needs more data and risk analysis needs to be done. Same for insurance products, or a marketplace. A lot will be built on it (agri stack). So think of it like the internet. Once you have an agri stack, you will see a lot of solutions and products getting built on top of it", said Kumar. The government is doing their bit and they are on the right track. One of our requests is to expedite this. Its faster than before, but still quite slow from our lens. We want to see that translating much faster. It definitely has a lot of value. Because once you create digital infrastructure for agriculture or otherwise, it accelerates growth. We have seen this happen with payments as well", he added Davos 2025: Vedanta 2.0 is all about transformation we're looking at doubling our production of zinc and aluminium, says HZL chairperson Bhavya Dilipkumar USER CONSENT We at moneycontrol use cookies and other tracking technologies to assist you with navigation and determine your location. 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I Accept Lovisha Darad Lovisha is passionate about domestic and global equity market development. She writes stories exclusively on equities from a fundamental perspective, gathering insights from niche market gurus. Lovisha Darad USER CONSENT We at moneycontrol use cookies and other tracking technologies to assist you with navigation and determine your location. We also capture cookies to obtain your feedback, analyse your use of our products and services and provide content from third parties. By clicking on 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies and other tracking technologies. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy. *We collect cookies for the functioning of our website and to give you the best experience. This includes some essential cookies. Cookies from third parties which may be used for personalization and determining your location. By clicking 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies to enhance your personalized experience on our site. 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I Accept RBI's daily VRR auction may not help higher liquidity deficit, experts say Manish M. Suvarna is Senior Correspondent at Moneycontrol. He writes on the Indian money markets, RBI, Banks and NBFCs. He tweets at @manishsuvarna15. Contact: Manish.Suvarna@nw18.com Manish M. Suvarna USER CONSENT We at moneycontrol use cookies and other tracking technologies to assist you with navigation and determine your location. We also capture cookies to obtain your feedback, analyse your use of our products and services and provide content from third parties. By clicking on 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies and other tracking technologies. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy. *We collect cookies for the functioning of our website and to give you the best experience. This includes some essential cookies. Cookies from third parties which may be used for personalization and determining your location. 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I Accept 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 Naina Sood USER CONSENT We at moneycontrol use cookies and other tracking technologies to assist you with navigation and determine your location. We also capture cookies to obtain your feedback, analyse your use of our products and services and provide content from third parties. By clicking on 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies and other tracking technologies. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy. *We collect cookies for the functioning of our website and to give you the best experience. This includes some essential cookies. Cookies from third parties which may be used for personalization and determining your location. By clicking 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies to enhance your personalized experience on our site. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy *I agree to the updated privacy policy and I warrant that I am above 16 years of age I agree to the processing of my personal data for the purpose of personalised recommendations on financial and similar products offered by MoneyControl I agree personalized advertisements and any kind of remarketing/retargeting on other third party websites I agree to receive direct marketing communications via Emails and SMS Please select (*) all mandatory conditions to continue. I Accept Tushar Goenka is a breaking news reporter who focuses on startups. Interested in venture capital, quick commerce, e-commerce, food delivery and D2C. 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 Tushar Goenka USER CONSENT We at moneycontrol use cookies and other tracking technologies to assist you with navigation and determine your location. 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I Accept Parimal Peeyush USER CONSENT We at moneycontrol use cookies and other tracking technologies to assist you with navigation and determine your location. We also capture cookies to obtain your feedback, analyse your use of our products and services and provide content from third parties. By clicking on 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies and other tracking technologies. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy. *We collect cookies for the functioning of our website and to give you the best experience. This includes some essential cookies. Cookies from third parties which may be used for personalization and determining your location. By clicking 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies to enhance your personalized experience on our site. 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I Accept In this editing of Moneycontrol Pro Panorama: Indian banks gearing for change in new year, how the trading cycle will fare in 2024... USER CONSENT We at moneycontrol use cookies and other tracking technologies to assist you with navigation and determine your location. We also capture cookies to obtain your feedback, analyse your use of our products and services and provide content from third parties. By clicking on 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies and other tracking technologies. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy. *We collect cookies for the functioning of our website and to give you the best experience. This includes some essential cookies. Cookies from third parties which may be used for personalization and determining your location. By clicking 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies to enhance your personalized experience on our site. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy *I agree to the updated privacy policy and I warrant that I am above 16 years of age I agree to the processing of my personal data for the purpose of personalised recommendations on financial and similar products offered by MoneyControl I agree personalized advertisements and any kind of remarketing/retargeting on other third party websites I agree to receive direct marketing communications via Emails and SMS Please select (*) all mandatory conditions to continue. I Accept C Uday Bhaskar is Director, Society for Policy Studies, New Delhi. Views are personal and do not represent the stand of this publication. Namrata Agarwal USER CONSENT We at moneycontrol use cookies and other tracking technologies to assist you with navigation and determine your location. We also capture cookies to obtain your feedback, analyse your use of our products and services and provide content from third parties. 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For more details you can refer to our cookie policy. *We collect cookies for the functioning of our website and to give you the best experience. This includes some essential cookies. Cookies from third parties which may be used for personalization and determining your location. By clicking 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies to enhance your personalized experience on our site. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy *I agree to the updated privacy policy and I warrant that I am above 16 years of age I agree to the processing of my personal data for the purpose of personalised recommendations on financial and similar products offered by MoneyControl I agree personalized advertisements and any kind of remarketing/retargeting on other third party websites I agree to receive direct marketing communications via Emails and SMS Please select (*) all mandatory conditions to continue. I Accept Bush doof parties have been all the rage along one popular beach path recently. A bush doof party was discovered after a walker came across a string of lights along Federation Walk in the Gold Coast. Source: ABC/Supplied A string of lights along a popular beach path led an unsuspecting walker straight toward a bush doof just over a week after a fire from a similar unauthorised party wrecked havoc nearby. The events are believed to be professionally run and connect a network of eager partygoers who are notified last minute where they can enjoy a celebration in the outdoors but often leave the area in a worse condition than they found it. The event was to be held on January 10 along the Federation Walk Coastal Reserve at the Spit in the Gold Coast, an area where the state government invested $8 million in a revegetation programme planting up to 350,000 plants. However, as the site was discovered before the party had begun, it was reported to the City of Gold Coast council who shut it down due to the risk it posed on restoration efforts. "These parties are impacting it all terribly," Lyn Wright from Friends of Federation Walk told Yahoo News. "There's a tremendous amount of birds that benefit from those sites where there is growing vegetation, and the plants themselves are damaged. There is a lot of impact on the flora and fauna." ADVERTISEMENT Hundreds of people were expected to show up and despite this bush doof being stopped, many locals are on high alert for the next one, with many eager for them to be discontinued for good. "It's criminal. Any party that's going to be a commercial party and serving alcohol and creating a disturbance, there has to be a heavy fine for those who even attend... there's no licence," Wright said The party was reported to council and shut down before it commenced. Source: Supplied Partygoers face $800 fine for hosting bush doof events The City of Gold Coast Council told Yahoo News party hosts can face fines of up to $806 if found responsible for unauthorised events like this as they pose a severe impact on the environment. ADVERTISEMENT "The City takes steps to prevent unauthorised parties and events in our public spaces and natural areas. These events can damage plants and trees, trample ecological restoration areas and also cause stress to native wildlife, and have negative impacts on amenity," a spokesperson said. It is unclear if attendees face a fine. The council has a zero-tolerance approach to the events and urges the public to report them to their website. Federation Walk was engulfed in flames over the first hours of New Year's Eve after a fire started at a bush doof and burned through two hectares of land, 9News reports. Due to the unregulated nature of these parties, there have been alarming incidents reported from events in the past. Then 21-year-old Rob Fairchild was missing for several days after he attended a bush doof party in 2014, getting lost and becoming hypothermic before rescuers found him. In 2022, the government approved a $250,000 reward in a police appeal for information after a 31-year-old woman was bashed and sexually assaulted at a similar event at Broome's Cable Beach. Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@yahoonews.com. You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube. China both hopeful and on edge as Donald Trump returns to White House 101Reporters USER CONSENT We at moneycontrol use cookies and other tracking technologies to assist you with navigation and determine your location. We also capture cookies to obtain your feedback, analyse your use of our products and services and provide content from third parties. 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I Accept Joe Biden pardons Dr Anthony Fauci, Mark Milley in effort to guard against potential retribution by Donald Trump 101Reporters USER CONSENT We at moneycontrol use cookies and other tracking technologies to assist you with navigation and determine your location. We also capture cookies to obtain your feedback, analyse your use of our products and services and provide content from third parties. By clicking on 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies and other tracking technologies. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy. *We collect cookies for the functioning of our website and to give you the best experience. This includes some essential cookies. Cookies from third parties which may be used for personalization and determining your location. By clicking 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies to enhance your personalized experience on our site. 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I Accept Manjiri Patil USER CONSENT We at moneycontrol use cookies and other tracking technologies to assist you with navigation and determine your location. We also capture cookies to obtain your feedback, analyse your use of our products and services and provide content from third parties. By clicking on 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies and other tracking technologies. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy. *We collect cookies for the functioning of our website and to give you the best experience. This includes some essential cookies. Cookies from third parties which may be used for personalization and determining your location. By clicking 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies to enhance your personalized experience on our site. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy *I agree to the updated privacy policy and I warrant that I am above 16 years of age I agree to the processing of my personal data for the purpose of personalised recommendations on financial and similar products offered by MoneyControl I agree personalized advertisements and any kind of remarketing/retargeting on other third party websites I agree to receive direct marketing communications via Emails and SMS Please select (*) all mandatory conditions to continue. I Accept Immigration, living costs, energy: Executive orders Trump plans to carry out on Day 1 of presidency Chhabi Kala USER CONSENT We at moneycontrol use cookies and other tracking technologies to assist you with navigation and determine your location. We also capture cookies to obtain your feedback, analyse your use of our products and services and provide content from third parties. By clicking on 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies and other tracking technologies. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy. *We collect cookies for the functioning of our website and to give you the best experience. This includes some essential cookies. Cookies from third parties which may be used for personalization and determining your location. By clicking 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies to enhance your personalized experience on our site. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy *I agree to the updated privacy policy and I warrant that I am above 16 years of age I agree to the processing of my personal data for the purpose of personalised recommendations on financial and similar products offered by MoneyControl I agree personalized advertisements and any kind of remarketing/retargeting on other third party websites I agree to receive direct marketing communications via Emails and SMS Please select (*) all mandatory conditions to continue. I Accept Trump inauguration: Macron urges Europe to 'wake up' and spend more on defence 101Reporters USER CONSENT We at moneycontrol use cookies and other tracking technologies to assist you with navigation and determine your location. We also capture cookies to obtain your feedback, analyse your use of our products and services and provide content from third parties. By clicking on 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies and other tracking technologies. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy. *We collect cookies for the functioning of our website and to give you the best experience. This includes some essential cookies. Cookies from third parties which may be used for personalization and determining your location. By clicking 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies to enhance your personalized experience on our site. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy *I agree to the updated privacy policy and I warrant that I am above 16 years of age I agree to the processing of my personal data for the purpose of personalised recommendations on financial and similar products offered by MoneyControl I agree personalized advertisements and any kind of remarketing/retargeting on other third party websites I agree to receive direct marketing communications via Emails and SMS Please select (*) all mandatory conditions to continue. I Accept Debaroti Adhikary USER CONSENT We at moneycontrol use cookies and other tracking technologies to assist you with navigation and determine your location. We also capture cookies to obtain your feedback, analyse your use of our products and services and provide content from third parties. By clicking on 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies and other tracking technologies. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy. *We collect cookies for the functioning of our website and to give you the best experience. This includes some essential cookies. Cookies from third parties which may be used for personalization and determining your location. By clicking 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies to enhance your personalized experience on our site. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy *I agree to the updated privacy policy and I warrant that I am above 16 years of age I agree to the processing of my personal data for the purpose of personalised recommendations on financial and similar products offered by MoneyControl I agree personalized advertisements and any kind of remarketing/retargeting on other third party websites I agree to receive direct marketing communications via Emails and SMS Please select (*) all mandatory conditions to continue. I Accept Building Inspector Russell McCarthy took one look at the listing and said it simply 'wasn't good enough'. The studio apartment in Balcatta, Perth has a surprising feature in the middle of the living area. Source: Reddit A rental property in the heart of a major Aussie city has been blasted for one glaringly, unhygienic detail with a building inspector telling Yahoo News he could "tear it apart limb for limb". The studio apartment in Balcatta, Perth was advertised online for a weekly price of $350, but it doesn't appear to meet minimum building hygiene requirements, inspector Russell McCarthy said. Why? Because the four-walled living space was completed with a toilet in the middle, opposite the fridge. "They can't just throw everything into a room and say, 'she'll be alright, mate'," McCarthy said. "With regards to the National Construction Codes, there's expectations of privacy, there's expectations of expelling foul air from the building. Properties have got to meet ventilation requirements and none of that would be achieved here. "From a building approval angle, I could tear it apart limb for limb. It's just not good enough," he said. Building Inspector Russell McCarthy said he could 'tear apart' the rental based on its lack of ventilation, inability to expel four air and privacy. Source: Reddit Building inspector calls the rental an 'insult' to the public The advertised rental listing copped heavy criticism online and the listing agency, Celsius Property Group at East Victoria Park, has advised Yahoo News the property has since been withdrawn and is no longer available for rental. ADVERTISEMENT It is understood the property owners are undertaking further works to ensure the property meets all the required building codes for occupancy. McCarthy wondered why something like that would have been listed. "It insults the general consumer," he said. "When I'm looking at this property, it looks relatively modern. It looks relatively new, and therefore it would have to comply with modern regulations, it's not a heritage system, and and the council wouldn't accept that as well." After the listing was flagged on Reddit, Aussies joked the resident could at least watch your microwave meal cooking while on the toilet. Others called the Aussie rental market a "grim" place, with one man comparing the listing to a "prison cell", not dissimilar to another Sydney rental listed in June 2023. McCarthy has urged anyone who inspects a property like this, or even sees one online, to "report it first and foremost to the council". ADVERTISEMENT It's the latest "disappointing" property McCarthy has come across and he's seen his fair share of those, he told Yahoo News. He previously called Western Australia's construction industry a "wild west" as the lack of an independent regulator has led to many homeowners copping builders' shoddy work. Unlike other states, those checking compliance of construction work are usually employed by builders and none are required for renovation work. This leaves many in the industry "cutting corners". "There is a practical element of construction but there is also a legal element of it," he said. In the past five years, McCarthy said he has not inspected one new build that was "defect-free". Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@yahoonews.com. You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube. Sheetal Kumari USER CONSENT We at moneycontrol use cookies and other tracking technologies to assist you with navigation and determine your location. We also capture cookies to obtain your feedback, analyse your use of our products and services and provide content from third parties. By clicking on 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies and other tracking technologies. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy. *We collect cookies for the functioning of our website and to give you the best experience. This includes some essential cookies. Cookies from third parties which may be used for personalization and determining your location. By clicking 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies to enhance your personalized experience on our site. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy *I agree to the updated privacy policy and I warrant that I am above 16 years of age I agree to the processing of my personal data for the purpose of personalised recommendations on financial and similar products offered by MoneyControl I agree personalized advertisements and any kind of remarketing/retargeting on other third party websites I agree to receive direct marketing communications via Emails and SMS Please select (*) all mandatory conditions to continue. I Accept 1/18 A SYMBOL OF INNOVATION: Airships, once symbols of innovation, offer a glimpse into aviation's past and its potential future. Could these eco-friendly giants replace polluting planes, paving the way for greener skies? Explore their incredible history and their role in sustainable aviation solutions today. (Image: @engineers_feed/X) 2/18 EARLY AIRSHIP DREAMS: The idea of airships dates to the 17th century, with Francesco Lana de Terzi's copper sphere concept. Henri Giffard's steam-powered airship achieved the first powered flight in the 19th century, covering 20 miles. A model is displayed at London's Science Museum. (Image: Wikimedia Commons) 3/18 NAVIGABLE BALLOON : Frenchman M. Dupuy de Lome's 1872 airship used hand-cranked propellers instead of steam, making its lone flight a milestone. With advancements in aluminium and rip-resistant fabrics, the dream of engine-powered, navigable airships began to take shape, revolutionising early aviation design. (Image: Wikimedia Commons) 4/18 VON ZEPPELIN: From military service to aviation pioneer, von Zeppelin pursued lighter-than-air flight. His LZ1 debuted in 1900, sparking interest. By 1906, a successful 24-hour flight secured him a government contract for 100 airships, revolutionising aviation and cementing his legacy. (Image: Wikipedia) 5/18 ZEPPELIN LZ1: Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin, a German aristocrat, revolutionised airship design with his rigid framework concept. His prototype, Zeppelin LZ1, debuted in 1900, marking a groundbreaking moment in aviation history and setting the stage for rapid airship development. (Image: Library of Congress) 6/18 ZEPPELIN's DESIGN: Von Zeppelin's invention featured a skeletal frame with a hydrogen-filled envelope for buoyancy. A gondola beneath housed passenger cabins and a cockpit, separated by a hermetic roof. The iconic Hindenburg, later built by Zeppelins company, became a symbol of airship innovation worldwide. (Image: Wikimedia Commons) 7/18 WORLS WAR I: During World War I, German airships began as reconnaissance tools but evolved into bombers targeting British cities. By 1916, searchlights, ground guns, and fighter planes exposed their weakness to explosive shells. Vulnerable to hydrogen fires, airship raids ceased in 1917 amidst the ongoing war. (Image: @engineers_feed/X) 8/18 ZEPPELIN LEGACY: The German-built zeppelins, named after their creator, were iconic in aviation. The first commercial airship, LZ 127 Graf Zeppelin, launched in 1928. At 776 feet long, it could carry 50 people, including 24 passengers and 36 crew members. (Image: @SolBrah/X) 9/18 HINDENBURG GRANDEUR: The Hindenburg, the largest rigid airship ever built, measured 803 feet in length and 135 feet in diameter. With over seven million cubic feet of gas capacity, it could carry 72 passengers in luxurious private cabins. (Image: AP) 10/18 LUXURIOUS AMENITIES: The Hindenburg featured a dining room, lounge, observation deck, and a smoking room. Its dining area was exquisite, with fine linens and crystal, while the twin-berth cabins mirrored luxury train accommodations, offering passengers an upscale travel experience despite the hydrogen risk. (Image: airships.net) 11/18 NAZI PROPAGANDA TOOL: Before Nazi rule, the Hindenburg was in production. The Nazis used it for propaganda, showcasing German power. Joseph Goebbels orchestrated patriotic flights, including one for the 1936 Berlin Olympics, promoting reoccupation and Nazi ideals. (Image: AP) 12/18 LOUNGE AND DECK: Guests relaxed in armchairs, socialised, played cards, or browsed the onboard library. The observation deck offered stunning views, while the Bauhaus-inspired design featured lightweight materials like foam walls, plastic washbasins, and aluminium furniture. (Image: AP) 13/18 LUXURY TRAVEL: In the early 20th century, airships symbolised progress and luxury. These majestic vessels evolved from basic cabins to opulent long-haul journeys. By the 1930s, travellers could enjoy a lavish three-day trip from Germany to Brazil, complete with fine dining and socialising at 1,000 feet. (Image: Central Press) 14/18 TRAGIC END: The airship era ended with the Hindenburg disaster on 6 May 1937. The explosion killed 35 of 97 people aboard. The cause remains debated, and the iconic event, captured on camera, led to the cancellation of future Hindenburg-class models.(Image:@fasc1nate/X) 15/18 DECLINE OF AIRSHIPS: The Second World War accelerated advancements in fixed-wing aircraft, pushing airships into obscurity. The Hindenburg disaster severely damaged public confidence, and since then, airships have primarily been used for unmanned aerial surveys or advertising. (Image: @GoodyearBlimp/X) 16/18 MODERN INNOVATION: In the last decade, airships have seen a resurgence. Companies like Lockheed Martin and HAV are reimagining their use for cargo, aid, surveillance, and tourism. Modern airships, filled with helium instead of hydrogen, are now safer and more efficient. (Image: @BlimpMedia/X ) 17/18 MODERN SUSTAINABLE AVIATION: The Airlander, an efficient and quiet airship, consumes just 10% of a helicopters fuel. It can remain airborne for five days and aims to become zero-carbon. Passenger compartments vary from first-class cabins to 90-seat train carriages. (Image: Hybrid Air Vehicles) 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 Aihik Sur USER CONSENT We at moneycontrol use cookies and other tracking technologies to assist you with navigation and determine your location. We also capture cookies to obtain your feedback, analyse your use of our products and services and provide content from third parties. By clicking on 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies and other tracking technologies. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy. *We collect cookies for the functioning of our website and to give you the best experience. This includes some essential cookies. Cookies from third parties which may be used for personalization and determining your location. 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I Accept Davos 2025: Bajaj Allianz can withstand any turbulence, Allianz withdrawal not a cause of worry: CEO Tapan Singhel 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 Anand J USER CONSENT We at moneycontrol use cookies and other tracking technologies to assist you with navigation and determine your location. We also capture cookies to obtain your feedback, analyse your use of our products and services and provide content from third parties. By clicking on 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies and other tracking technologies. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy. *We collect cookies for the functioning of our website and to give you the best experience. This includes some essential cookies. Cookies from third parties which may be used for personalization and determining your location. 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I Accept Davos 2025: India best lift-off country in Asia for anything on tech, says Zoom COO 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 Reshab Shaw USER CONSENT We at moneycontrol use cookies and other tracking technologies to assist you with navigation and determine your location. We also capture cookies to obtain your feedback, analyse your use of our products and services and provide content from third parties. By clicking on 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies and other tracking technologies. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy. *We collect cookies for the functioning of our website and to give you the best experience. This includes some essential cookies. Cookies from third parties which may be used for personalization and determining your location. By clicking 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies to enhance your personalized experience on our site. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy *I agree to the updated privacy policy and I warrant that I am above 16 years of age I agree to the processing of my personal data for the purpose of personalised recommendations on financial and similar products offered by MoneyControl I agree personalized advertisements and any kind of remarketing/retargeting on other third party websites I agree to receive direct marketing communications via Emails and SMS Please select (*) all mandatory conditions to continue. I Accept Davos 2025: US AI export controls could harm both India and US, says Andrew Ng 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 Aihik Sur USER CONSENT We at moneycontrol use cookies and other tracking technologies to assist you with navigation and determine your location. We also capture cookies to obtain your feedback, analyse your use of our products and services and provide content from third parties. By clicking on 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies and other tracking technologies. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy. *We collect cookies for the functioning of our website and to give you the best experience. This includes some essential cookies. Cookies from third parties which may be used for personalization and determining your location. By clicking 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies to enhance your personalized experience on our site. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy *I agree to the updated privacy policy and I warrant that I am above 16 years of age I agree to the processing of my personal data for the purpose of personalised recommendations on financial and similar products offered by MoneyControl I agree personalized advertisements and any kind of remarketing/retargeting on other third party websites I agree to receive direct marketing communications via Emails and SMS Please select (*) all mandatory conditions to continue. I Accept India plans to share worries over US AI chip curbs with Trump administration Danish Khan is the editor of Technology and Telecom. He was previously with the Economic Times and has tracked the sector for 13 years. 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 Danish Khan USER CONSENT We at moneycontrol use cookies and other tracking technologies to assist you with navigation and determine your location. We also capture cookies to obtain your feedback, analyse your use of our products and services and provide content from third parties. By clicking on 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies and other tracking technologies. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy. *We collect cookies for the functioning of our website and to give you the best experience. This includes some essential cookies. Cookies from third parties which may be used for personalization and determining your location. By clicking 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies to enhance your personalized experience on our site. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy *I agree to the updated privacy policy and I warrant that I am above 16 years of age I agree to the processing of my personal data for the purpose of personalised recommendations on financial and similar products offered by MoneyControl I agree personalized advertisements and any kind of remarketing/retargeting on other third party websites I agree to receive direct marketing communications via Emails and SMS Please select (*) all mandatory conditions to continue. I Accept 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 Ankita Chakravarti USER CONSENT We at moneycontrol use cookies and other tracking technologies to assist you with navigation and determine your location. We also capture cookies to obtain your feedback, analyse your use of our products and services and provide content from third parties. By clicking on 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies and other tracking technologies. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy. *We collect cookies for the functioning of our website and to give you the best experience. This includes some essential cookies. Cookies from third parties which may be used for personalization and determining your location. By clicking 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies to enhance your personalized experience on our site. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy *I agree to the updated privacy policy and I warrant that I am above 16 years of age I agree to the processing of my personal data for the purpose of personalised recommendations on financial and similar products offered by MoneyControl I agree personalized advertisements and any kind of remarketing/retargeting on other third party websites I agree to receive direct marketing communications via Emails and SMS Please select (*) all mandatory conditions to continue. I Accept 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 Reshab Shaw USER CONSENT We at moneycontrol use cookies and other tracking technologies to assist you with navigation and determine your location. We also capture cookies to obtain your feedback, analyse your use of our products and services and provide content from third parties. By clicking on 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies and other tracking technologies. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy. *We collect cookies for the functioning of our website and to give you the best experience. This includes some essential cookies. Cookies from third parties which may be used for personalization and determining your location. By clicking 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies to enhance your personalized experience on our site. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy *I agree to the updated privacy policy and I warrant that I am above 16 years of age I agree to the processing of my personal data for the purpose of personalised recommendations on financial and similar products offered by MoneyControl I agree personalized advertisements and any kind of remarketing/retargeting on other third party websites I agree to receive direct marketing communications via Emails and SMS Please select (*) all mandatory conditions to continue. I Accept Veteran Aussie journalist and news presenter Andrew "Lofty" Lofthouse has announced his retirement from 9News after 17 years with the network. Lofthouse announced his decision on Monday, citing health reasons for his departure. He first joined 9News Queensland as a weekend presenter, before transitioning into the weekly spotlight a year later where he has been a daily constant in the lives of viewers, 9 said in a statement. 9News Queensland News Director Brendan Hockings called Mr Lofthouse a rare gem and exceptional talent. He is the journo who offers to carry the tripod. The colleague who makes you a cuppa. The news anchor who doesnt see himself as any more than part of the team, Hockings said. The example he has set as a newsman is the gold standard." Lofthouse said it has been an "amazing privilege" working at the network. Im currently dealing with a bit of a health issue so now is a good time for me to pull back and slow down a little after a dream career, he said. - With NCA NewsWire Samsung Galaxy S25 series launch event: Time, date, how to watch and all that's expected 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 Aabhas Sharma USER CONSENT We at moneycontrol use cookies and other tracking technologies to assist you with navigation and determine your location. We also capture cookies to obtain your feedback, analyse your use of our products and services and provide content from third parties. By clicking on 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies and other tracking technologies. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy. *We collect cookies for the functioning of our website and to give you the best experience. This includes some essential cookies. Cookies from third parties which may be used for personalization and determining your location. By clicking 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies to enhance your personalized experience on our site. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy *I agree to the updated privacy policy and I warrant that I am above 16 years of age I agree to the processing of my personal data for the purpose of personalised recommendations on financial and similar products offered by MoneyControl I agree personalized advertisements and any kind of remarketing/retargeting on other third party websites I agree to receive direct marketing communications via Emails and SMS Please select (*) all mandatory conditions to continue. I Accept TikTok back online in the US, thanks Trump for providing clarity 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 Aabhas Sharma USER CONSENT We at moneycontrol use cookies and other tracking technologies to assist you with navigation and determine your location. We also capture cookies to obtain your feedback, analyse your use of our products and services and provide content from third parties. By clicking on 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies and other tracking technologies. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy. *We collect cookies for the functioning of our website and to give you the best experience. This includes some essential cookies. Cookies from third parties which may be used for personalization and determining your location. By clicking 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies to enhance your personalized experience on our site. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy *I agree to the updated privacy policy and I warrant that I am above 16 years of age I agree to the processing of my personal data for the purpose of personalised recommendations on financial and similar products offered by MoneyControl I agree personalized advertisements and any kind of remarketing/retargeting on other third party websites I agree to receive direct marketing communications via Emails and SMS Please select (*) all mandatory conditions to continue. I Accept To the dismay of visitors and local residents, those with jet skis and boats will not be able to use the popular launch area over the Australia Day weekend. Residents and visitors to a popular camping area have erupted after a decision to close access to the river for boats and jet skis over one of the busiest periods of the year, branding the decision "ridiculous". NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service announced Bonnie Vale boat launch in Bundeena, a small village within the Royal National Park, would be temporarily closed over the Australia Day long weekend. The access point will be shut from 9pm on Friday, January 24 to 7am on Tuesday, January 28 during the most popular time of the year leaving residents who use the launch point daily to claim they were not consulted, branding the move "so unfair". Andrew Petty had forked out over $300 for his family to enjoy a camping holiday in the area over the Australia Day weekend and had intended to use the boat ramp to go fishing and take the kids out on the water. ADVERTISEMENT "Its very disappointing for kids and adults alike," he told Yahoo News Australia, adding that their plans have now been ruined. "We have one of the most beautiful waterways for all to use. We pay our boating licence, registration, fishing licence, national park entry fee, camping fee and are denied access to the only ramp on that side of the Port Hacking." Petty claims the next nearest ramp is over an hour's drive away. Bonnie Vale boat launch is popular among visitors to the Royal National Park as well as locals. Source: Facebook 'Hooning' jet ski users blamed for beach launch point closure While he does not doubt the area on the southern outskirts of Sydney gets incredibly busy with both visitors and boats, he believes it's the behaviour of a small minority doing the wrong thing who is to blame for the decision to close access to the launch area. He believes "hooning" jet ski riders are the cause of the closure. ADVERTISEMENT "Maritime dont have the resources to prevent jet ski hooning so their alternative is to just force close the ramp and hire in traffic cops to police ramp access," he claims. "The problem with that plan is that most jet skiers are launching on the north side of Port Hacking and driving over on the water." Local resident Tracy branded the move "another example of a government agency creating a problem instead of looking for more practical solutions". She told Yahoo "traffic congestion has always occurred" and penalising boat users "will not solve the problem. Many of the visitors will not be aware of this closure until they get to the National Park. This is only fuelling tensions on an already controversial day. Those visitors are going to be feeling excluded and not welcome." She says the boat ramp offers a safe access point for leaving the isolated Bundeena area in an emergency. It's understood NSW Maritime officers are out on the water every day of the year and especially so on one of the country's busiest weekends. Authorities say that those attempting to hit the popular Port Hacking River one of the most notorious spots for jet-ski infringements in the state often cause significant traffic congestion on nearby roads when the Royal National Park reaches capacity. They say the closure will reduce congestion and separate swimmers from watercraft users, improving the safety in the area. ADVERTISEMENT "Public safety is always our number one priority, and this temporary closure ensures Bonnie Vale remains a safer and more enjoyable space for all visitors over the long weekend," NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service Royal Area Manager, Brendon Neilly, said. "The temporary closure will reduce traffic congestion in the area, and separate swimmers and watercraft users, improving safety for everyone enjoying the area," Heathcote MP Maryanne Stuart added. Authorities launch jet-ski crackdown across state Earlier this month, NSW Maritime officers said the popularity of jet skis is booming, with over 92,000 riders licensed in NSW a 43 per cent increase from five years ago. ADVERTISEMENT Over January 11 and 12, officers conducted nearly 2,000 vessel safety checks statewide, including around 600 jet skis. Officers issued 95 penalty notices and 256 official warnings over that weekend, with a quarter of those offences relating to jet skis. The top offences related to licensing and registration, lifejackets and safety equipment (15 per cent) breaches. Its the school holidays, the weather is hot, and were seeing huge volumes of jet-ski riders right across the state," NSW Maritime officer Jay Ruming said. In the past 12 months, NSW has recorded 1,700 jet-ski infringements. Source: NSW Maritime Most of these riders are behaving in a manner that doesnt put lives at risk or discourages people from enjoying our waterways at the best time of the year to do so. Unfortunately, a small minority of these riders continue to do the wrong thing on our waterways through aggression, recklessness or inexperience. Our data tells us that jet skis are heavily over-represented in serious injury incidents. People involved in an accident on a jet ski have a 50 per cent likelihood theyll suffer a serious injury. Since the beginning of summer, there have been 10 jet ski-related incidents according to Maritime NSW. Its important jet-skiers know they need to stay at least 30 metres away from other vessels, objects or the shore when travelling six knots (11km/h) or more. They also, where possible, need to stay at least 60 metres away from people or dive flags," he added. Love Australia's weird and wonderful environment? Get our new newsletter showcasing the weeks best stories. After battling a blaze, one firefighter was looking out the window of the truck when he spotted the sad scene. A tiny joey was rescued after becoming tangled in a fence. Source: Supplied Volunteer firefighters are renowned for being some of the most selfless and community-minded people in the country. And one fire crew who had just tackled a blaze in the Victorian countryside proved exactly that after making an incredible chance discovery from the fire truck that ended up saving a life. Country Fire Authority (CFA) volunteer Brody was looking out the window of the truck after tackling a fire which broke out in Donnybrook, a suburb on the outskirts of Melbourne, when he noticed "by accident" a tiny kangaroo joey caught up in a fence. With the baby's mother nowhere to be seen, the joey would have faced certain death overnight if it wasn't for the selfless volunteers who scooped her up in his arms and saved her. "Not only did they manage to get the fire under control but they saved a little girl from certain death," wildlife rescuer Krysti Severi from Rescue Rehabilitate Release told Yahoo News. "She rode back to Kalkallo CFA where she received a once-over from the firefighters there. Kept her warm and safe until I got there." Volunteer firefighter Brody rescued the tiny kangaroo joey from the fire. Source: Facebook Firefighters praised for heroic kangaroo act The selfless act of rescuing the helpless joey has prompted an outpouring of support from the community for the life-saving actions of the fire service. ADVERTISEMENT "She was so exhausted and so tired," Krysti said. "One lucky little joey to have been spotted and saved. Well done all involved, you are all amazing," commented one Aussie. Many were left wondering what they could do to help and Krysti suggested donating. "Donating to the CFA of course but donating to the smaller wildlife shelters and rescuers," she said. "The rescuers do a lot of the transports with their own fuel and looking for injured wildlife." Krysti told Yahoo that it highlights the suffering that bushfires can cause in the hours, days and weeks following an inferno. Luckily, the little one appears to be doing just fine despite the traumatic event. Bushfire season 'just getting started', Country Fire Authority warns The touching scene comes as firefighters urge Aussies to "be prepared and remain vigilant" with recent bushfires such as those that burned through the Grampians posing as a stark reminder. ADVERTISEMENT As Aussies head outdoors for the Australia Day weekend, CFA Chief Officer Jason Heffernan encouraged travellers to familiarise themselves with the fire danger ratings of the area they are heading to and to monitor conditions through more than two sources of information. While the recent bushfires have been contained by the incredible work of our dedicated firefighters, fire risk will continue to linger over the coming months, he said. He also urges those firing up their barbecues and outdoor cooking appliances this weekend to make sure they are properly extinguished before walking away. Our messages remain clear check your equipment for any faults before use and always have someone by the fire. We also recommend having at least 10 litres of water or a hose nearby," he said. Give yourself some clearance from walls, fences and flammable materials of at least three metres and continue to check wind conditions are suitable before igniting any flame. ADVERTISEMENT We know campfires, spit roasts, pizza ovens and fire pits will be popular this weekend, however if they are not within a properly constructed fireplace or exceed one metre by one metre in size, they can pose a serious fire risk. Outdoor cooking tips: Clear space Set up your barbecue, fire pit, spit roast, pizza oven or smoker on a stable, non-flammable surface with 3 metres of clear space around and above the fire. Never leave a fire unattended and keep at least 10 litres of water or hose nearby. Use water to fully extinguish Don't walk away or go indoors before the fire is fully out. Ensure fire is lit in a properly constructed fireplace or in a trench at least 30cm deep. Check for gas leaks on your barbecues do this by spraying soapy water on the connections and hoses. If there is a leak, bubbles will appear when you turn on the gas. Never use your barbecue indoors , and ensure there is enough clearance from walls, fences, and other flammable items. Call Triple Zero (000) if you're unable to extinguish the fire safely. Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@yahoonews.com. You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube. White House Image - mml View Photo President Joe Biden delivered his Farewell Address to the Nation. Biden was Mondays KVML Newsmaker of the Day. Here are his words: This will be my final address to you from the American people from the Oval Office, from this desk as president. And Ive been thinking a lot about who we are and, maybe more importantly, who we should be. Long ago, in New York Harbor, an ironworker installed beam after beam, day after day. He was joined by steelworkers, stone masons, engineers. They built not just a single structure but a beacon of freedom. The very idea of America was so big, we felt the entire world needed to see the Statue of Liberty, a gift from France after our Civil War. Like the very idea of America, it was built not by one person but by many people, from every background and from around the world. Like America, the Statue of Liberty is not standing still. Her foot literally steps forward atop a broken chain of human bondage. Shes on the march, and she literally moves. She was built to sway back and forth to withstand the fury of stormy weather, to stand the test of time, because storms are always coming. She sways a few inches, but she never falls into the current below an engineering marvel. The Statue of Liberty is also an enduring symbol of the soul of our nation, a soul shaped by forces that bring us together and by forces that pull us apart. And yet, through good times and tough times, weve withstood it all. A nation of pioneers and explorers, of dreamers and doers, of ancestors native to this land, of ancestors who came by force, a nation of immigrants who came to build a better life, a nation holding the torch of the most powerful idea ever in the history of the world that all of us all of us are created equal. That all of us deserve to be treated with dignity, justice, and fairness. That democracy must defend and be defined and be imposed, moved in every way possible. Our rights, our freedoms, our dreams. But we know the idea of America our institution, our people, our values that uphold it are constantly being tested. Ongoing debates about power and the exercise of power, about whether we lead by the example of our power or the power of our example, whether we show the courage to stand up to the abuse of power or we yield to it. After 50 years at the center of all of this, I know that believing in the idea of America means respecting the institutions that govern a free society: the presidency, the Congress, the courts, a free and independent press. Institutions that are rooted not they just not to reflect the timeless words, but they re- they they echo the words of the Declaration of Independence: We hold these truths to be self-evident. Rooted in the timeless words of the Constitution, We the People. Our system of separation of powers, checks and balances, it may not be perfect, but its maintained our democracy for nearly 250 years longer than any other nation in history thats ever tried such a bold experiment. In the past four years, our democracy has held strong. And every day, Ive kept my commitment to be president for all Americans through one of the toughest periods in our nations history. Ive had a great partner in Vice President Kamala Harris. Its been the honor of my life to see the resilience of essential workers getting us through a once-in-a-century pandemic, the heroism of service members and first responders keeping us safe, the determination of advocates standing up for our rights and our freedoms. Instead of losing their jobs to an economic crisis that we inherited, millions of Americans now have the dignity of work; millions of entrepreneurs and companies creating new businesses and industries, hiring American workers, using American products. And together, weve launched a new era of American possibilities one of the greatest modernizations of infrastructure in our entire history, from new roads, bridges, clean water, affordable high-speed Internet for every American. We invented the semiconductor smaller than the tip of my little finger. And now its bringing those chip factories and those jobs back to America where they belong, creating thousands of jobs. Finally giving Medicare the power to negotiate lower prescription drug prices for millions of seniors. And finally doing something to protect our children and our families by passing the most significant gun safety law in 30 years and bringing violent crime to a 50-year low. Meeting our sacred obligation to over 1 million veterans so far who were exposed to toxic materials, and to their families providing medical care and education benefits and more for their families. You know, it will take time to feel the full impact of all weve done together. But the seeds are planted, and theyll grow and theyll bloom for decades to come. At home, weve created nearly 17 million new jobs more than any other single administration in a s- single term. More people have health care than ever before. And overseas, weve strengthened NATO. Ukraine is still free. And weve pulled ahead of our competition with China. And so much more. Im so proud of how much weve accomplished together for the American people. And I wish the incoming administration success, because I want America to succeed. Thats why Ive upheld my duty to ensure a peaceful and orderly transition of power to ensure we lead by the power of our example. I have no doubt that America is in a position to continue to succeed. Thats why, in my farewell address tonight, I want to warn the country of some things that give me great concern. And this is the dangerous concer- and thats the dangerous concentration of power in the hands of very few ultra-wealthy people, and the dangerous consequences if their abuse of power is left unchecked. Today, an oligarchy is taking shape in America of extreme wealth, power, and influence that literally threatens our entire democracy, our basic rights and freedoms, and a fair shot for everyone to get ahead. We see the consequences all across America. And weve seen it before, more than a century ago. But the American people stood up to the robber barons back then and busted the trusts. They didnt punish the wealthy. They just made the wealthy pay the by play by the rules everybody else had to. Workers won rights to earn their fair share. You know, they were dealt into the deal, and it helped put us on the path to building the largest middle class and the most prosperous century any nation the world has ever seen, and weve got to do that again. In the last four years, that is exactly what weve done. People should be able to make as much as they can, but pay play by the same rules, pay their fair share in taxes. So much is at stake. Right now, the existential threat of climate change has never been clearer. Just look across the country, from California to North Carolina. Thats why I signed the most significant climate and clean energy law ever ever in the history of the world, and the rest of the world is trying to model it now. Its working, creating jobs and industries of the future. You know, weve proven we dont have to choose between protecting the environment and growing the economy. Were doing both. But powerful forces want to wield their unchecked influence to eliminate the steps weve taken to tackle the climate crisis to serve their own interest for power and profit. We must not be bullied into sacrificing the future, the future of our children and our grandchildren. We must keep pushing forward and push faster. There is no time to waste. Its also clear that American leadership in technology is unparalleled an unparalleled source of innovation that can transform lives. We see the same dangers of the concentration of technology, power, and wealth. You know, his farewell address, President Eisenhower spoke of the dangers of the military-industrial complex. He warned us then about, and I quote, the potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power, end of quote. Six day lec- six decades later, Im equally concerned about the p- potential rise of a tech-industrial complex that could pose real dangers for our country as well. Americans are being buried under an avalanche of misinformation and disinformation enabling the abuse of power. The free press is crumbling. Editors are disappearing. Social media is giving up on fact-checking. The truth is smothered by lies told for power and for profit. We must hold the social platforms accountable to protect our children, our families, and our very democracy from the abuse of power. Meanwhile, artificial intelligence is the most consequential technology of our time perhaps of all time. Nothing offers more profound possibilities and risks for our economy and our security, our society, our very for humanity. Artificial intelligence even has the potential to help us answer my call to end cancer as we know it. But unless safeguards are in place, AI could spawn new threats to our rights, our way of life, to our privacy, how we work, and how we protect our nation. We must make sure AI is safe and trustworthy and good for all humankind. In the age of AI, its more important than ever that the people must govern. And as the land of liberty, America not China must lead the world on the development of AI. You know, in the years ahead, it will help to be its going to be up to the president, the presidency, the Congress, the courts, the free press, and the American people to confront these powerful forces. We must reform the tax code not by giving the biggest tax cuts to billionaires, but by making them begin to pay their fair share. We need to get dark money thats that hidden funding behind too many campaigns contributions we need to get it out of our politics. We need to enact an 18-year time limit term limit time and term for the strongest ethics ref- and the strongest ethics reforms for our Supreme Court. We need to ban members of Congress from pra- from trading stock while theyre in the Congress. We need to amend the Constitution to make clear that no president no president is immune from crimes that he or she commits while in office. The presidents power is limit- its not absolute, and it shouldnt be. And in a democracy, theres another danger to the concentration of power and wealth. It erodes a sense of unity and common purpose. It causes distrust and division. Participating in our democracy becomes exhausting and even disillusioning, and people dont feel like they have a fair shot. But we have to stay engaged in the process. I know its frustrating. A fair shot is what makes America, America. Everyone is entitled to a fair shot not a guarantee, but just a fair shot, an even playing field going as far as your hard work and talent can take you. We can never lose that essential truth remain who we are. Ive always believed and Ive told other world leaders America can be defined by one word: possibilities. Only in America do we believe anything possible, like a kid with a stutter from modest beginnings in Scranton, Pennsylvania, and Claymont, Delaware, sitting behind the this desk in the Oval Office as president of the United States. Thats the magic of America. Its all around us. Upstairs in the residence of the White House, Ive walked by a painting of the Statue of Liberty I dont know how many times. In the painting, there are several workers climbing on the outstretched arm of the statue that holds the torch. It reminds me every day I pass it of the story and soul of our nation and the power of the American per- people. Theres a story of a veteran this is a veteran, a son of an immigrant, whose job it was to climb that torch and polish the amber panes so rays of light could reach out as far as possible. He was known as the keeper of the flame. He once said of the Statue of Liberty, quote, speaks a silent universal language, one of hope, that anyone who seeks and speaks freedom can understand. Yes, we sway back and forth to withstand the fury of the storm, to stand the test of time a constant struggle constant struggle, a short distance between peril and possibility. But what I believe is the America of our dreams is always closer than we think. And its up to us to make our dreams come true. Let me close by stating my gratitude to so many people. To the members of my administration, as well as public service and first responders across the country and around the world, thank you for stepping up to serve. To our service members and your families, its been the highest honor of my life to lead you as commander in chief. And, of course, to Kamala and her incredible partner a historic vice president. She and Doug have become like family. And to me, family is everything. My deepest appreciation to our amazing first lady, who is with me in the Oval today, for our entire family. You are the love of my life and lifes of my love. And my eternal thanks to you, the American people. After 50 years of public service, I give you my word, I still believe in the idea for which this nation stands, a nation where the strengths of our institutions and the character of our people matter and must endure. Now its your turn to stand guard. May you all be the keeper of the flame. May you keep the faith. I love America. You love it too. God bless you all. And may God protect our troops. Thank you for this great honor. The Newsmaker of the Day is heard every weekday morning at 6:45, 7:45 and 8:45 on AM 1450 and FM 102.7 KVML. Governor Gavin Newsom And President Donald Trump View Photo Los Angeles, CA Later this week, President Donald Trump says he will visit California to view the destruction caused by the fires in Los Angeles. At a rally ahead of todays inauguration, Trump stated, I want to send our love to everyone affected by the terrible wildfires raging in California. Were praying for you all, and we love you all. We are going to be there very soon. Im going to go out there on Friday to see it and to get it moving back. Were going to get some of the best builders in the world and well get it moving back. Governor Gavin Newsom sent a letter to the incoming President last week, inviting Trump to come to California, and urging him not to politicize the disaster. That came after a war of words with the Governor earlier calling a special session to Trump-proof the state, and President Trump later criticizing the Governor for his handling of the fires. The just-started fight over how and how much to pay for houses destroyed or damaged in the extensive and still-burning Los Angeles foreshadows yet another ratchet down in living standards for Americans. The notion that it is economically and politically unworkable to insure against climate change is just starting to take hold in the business community. But the immediate focus still seems to be on how to tinker with insurance, as in how to preserve the private insurance industry, as well the related issue of how not to have government budgets at various levels consumed by the costs of socializing these risks. And so the current battles are over who will bear costs, as opposed to trying to deal with systemic issues, such as how housing in many markets was already unaffordable to many due to neoliberal, rentier-friendly policies. Forgive me for using a new article by Greg Ip at the Wall Street Journal as a barometer of what I call leading edge conventional wisdom, here among the finance executives and finance-connected policymakers. Ip for many years was the Fed reporter for the Wall Street Journal and was influential, seen as preferred outlet for the central banks thinking. After a stint at the Economist as its US economics editor, he returned to the Journal as its chief economics commentator. I think of him as bankings answer to the Washington Posts spook whisperer David Ignatius. Theres an underlying incoherence to the Ip article, The World Is Getting Riskier. Americans Dont Want to Pay for It. While he does a good job of setting forth many of the parameters of the problem, of climate change plus high real estate costs translating into loss exposures that are buckling and look likely to break the current insurance, model, he averts his eyes from what is sure to follow next. On the real estate front, high cost and/or thin coverage insurance will translate into much more stringent, as in generally much reduced levels of lending against property. That means lower real estate prices, which is a loss of wealth. This isnt just at the individual level; think of all of the public pension funds and insurers (!!!) invested in real estate funds and public REITS. Even more telling, dean of quantitative investment analysis Richard Ennis concluded that the reason stock and real estate prices have become more correlated is that public companies have substantial real estate exposure, with the market value of owned real estate representing as much as 40% of the value of US traded equities. What is disconcerting is that Ip rolls together other areas in which risks have been more and more socialized to argue that they will in the end need to be restricted somehow, specifically banking and health insurance. In the banking arena, the proximate cause goes back to the blatant Obama-Geithner-Bernanke failure to implement tough regulations in the wake of the global financial crisis. To remind readers, the US was in such a panic when Obama took office, and eager for strong leadership, that he could have made FDR-level reforms but instead chose to preserve the status quo ante as much as possible. An example: the extension of guarantees to money market funds on the same basis as banks, which pay deposit insurance for that privilege, should have been rolled back over time to a modest level, like $25,000, and the funds should have been charged FDIC-like fees for the privilege. Instead, Ip cites the bailout of uninsured depositors in the Silicon Valley and Signature Bank as proof of the over-socialization of risk. Here I agree, but Ip fails to explain what went on. The uninsured depositors in both institutions consistent substantially of very connected individuals (why they had such big balances at banks as opposed to in Treasuries is beyond me, since these customers were typically sophisticated investors and/or had financial advisers), so this was a politically-driven rescue. The press misleadingly made much of companies that have to hold large balances at banks, if nothing else right before they issue payroll checks, when they could have been bailed out separately. Moreover, it is just about never mentioned that the Fed once offered accounts to banks for precisely this purpose, assuring the safety of funds on deposit for payrolls, but lobbyists got the Fed out of that business. On the health insurance front, Ip is even more misleading. Nowhere does he acknowledge that the US has uniquely expensive healthcare. Here in Thailand, with GDP per capita of only $7,000, a visit to a doctor is 30 baht ($1) in a Thai hospital (nearly all doctors practice out of hospitals). Another indicator: rabies shots are famously expensive in the US. Here they are cheap, and I am told about half the Thais have had them (due to the large number of feral dogs around temples). And health care is considered to be high caliber by global standards due to the monarchy having made it a priority. That is likely a contributor to Thais now having a higher life expectancy than Americans. So the high cost of insurance here is due to the supersized cost of medical care, which in large measure to neoliberalism and looting, such as allowing drug companies to advertise drugs on TV, which substantially contributes to pharma companies spending more on advertising than they do on R&D. Yet Ip tries to sell the idea that evil Obamacare is the cause: In fact, long before that [Luigi Mangione] shooting, the Affordable Care Act had constrained insurers ability to base premiums on risk, by prohibiting them from charging more to people with pre-existing conditions or denying coverage altogether. The ACA also stipulated that insurers spend at least 80% to 85% (depending on the plan) of premiums on benefits. So while denials, deductibles and copays may, at the margin, affect profits, ultimately they serve to control premiums. Help me. When the ACA was passed, the stock prices of insurers went up. That is because they were allowed LOWER benefit payouts relative to premiums than was prevalent at the time (90% was the norm then). And as most Americans know, Obamacare plans regularly offer thin networks and have such high deductibles so as not to qualify as what most think of as health insurance, but instead high-cost catastrophic coverage plans. In addition, not only are Obamacare plans attractive for insurers, but they also represent only a comparatively small portion of the insurance market.1 But with this detour to establish where Ip is coming from, lets turn to the main event, his take on Los Angeles and the looming problem of climate change damaging real estate on a widespread basis. From his story: The latest example is California. Earlier this month, JPMorgan estimated the fires around Los Angeles had inflicted $50 billion in losses, of which only $20 billion were insured.. Hundreds of thousands of homeowners shifted to Californias state-run backstop, the Fair Plan, whose exposure has tripled since 2020 to $458 billion. It has only $2.5 billion in reinsurance and $200 million in cash. Ip does not source his claim about the FAIR plan. Other sources confirm the general picture is dire, but Ip seems to be over-egging the pudding. From the Los Angeles Times over the weekend: Forking over billions of dollars could wipe out the plans $377 million in reserves, as well as $5.78 billion worth of reinsurance the FAIR Plan announced Friday it had. The reinsurance requires the plan to pay the first $900 million in claims and has other limitations. Reserves and cash are not the same thing (FAIR can presumably sell assets to monetize more of its reserves but the Journal under-reporting the reinsurance total is a serious lapse. The LA Times story usefully points out that most of the destroyed Los Angeles homes did not have insurance through FAIR, although its figures are number of homes, and not insured value: Based on preliminary estimates released Friday, the plan said that it has insured 22% of the structures within the Palisades fire zone as defined by Cal Fire, giving it a potential loss exposure of more than $4 billion. And it has insured 12% of the structures in the Eaton fire zone, giving it a potential exposure there of more than $775 million. So far, the plan said it has received 3,600 claims but expects that number to grow and has boosted staff to handle the volume. It said it typically receives claims representing 31% of its total exposure, but its actual losses can be different. But either way, FAIR is set to be hit with more in claims than it can pay out. So what happens then? Again from Ip: If the Fair Plan runs out of money, it can impose an assessment on private insurers to be partly passed on to all policyholders. In other words, the costs of the disaster will be socialized. Notice the argument that follows: A central feature of insurance is risk pooling: The combined contributions of the community cover the losses incurred by members of the community in a given year. Another feature of private insurance is actuarial rate-making, that is, calibrating premiums to the customers risk. Thats to prevent adverse selection, in which only the riskiest people buy insurance, and moral hazardthe tendency to encourage risk by undercharging for it. But some activities or individuals are so risky they could never obtain, or afford, private insurance. Thats when risk gets socialized. The federal governments expansion since the 1930s has largely been through the provision of insurance: Social Security, unemployment insurance, health insurance for the elderly and poor, deposit, mortgage, and flood insurance and, after Sept. 11, 2001, terrorism insurance. In other words, the coming climate change crisis, which indeed IS uninsurable, is serving to make an argument against all sorts of government provided guarantees, many of which would be affordable if properly run (start with Social Security, where the easy fix is raising the wage cap on payroll taxes, unemployment insurance, and deposit insurance, which is underpriced, albeit allegedly not severely). A new article in Dissent by Moira Birss and MacKenzie Marcelin describes how the slow motion collapse of homeowners insurance is further along in Florida: Floridas political leadership has attempted to address these problems with market deregulation and financial incentives. Several public institutions also help to prop up the private insurance market, including Citizens Property Insurance Corporation, a nonprofit public company created as an insurer of last resort in 2002, and the Florida Insurance Guaranty Association, a state-run fund that pays policyholder claims in the event that an insurer goes bankrupt. Despite these efforts, Florida is having trouble retaining large, national, diversified insurance companies, which are more financially stable and often more affordable Without this ability to spread risk, small insurers are much more dependent on transferring financial risk to other entities, like reinsurers (insurers for insurers), the costs of which they then pass on to consumers. And consumers in Florida are paying the price: homeowners insurance rates in the state are the highest in the nation, averaging over $10,000 per household per year. In some counties, people are paying over 5 percent of their income on policies with Citizens. Despite these problems, Floridas politicians have continued to prioritize creating favorable regulatory conditions for private insurers. One way theyve done this is to impose a depopulation mandate on Citizens, meaning it must force some of its current policyholders off its plans and onto private plans, even if those plans are more expensive. Despite this, Citizens is now the largest insurance company in the state. Policymakers in the state have responded with measures to raise Citizens premium rates and further encourage depopulation To address this issue, state leaders have permitted Citizens to levy emergency fees on nearly all statewide property insurance policies for as long as is required to repay debt. This means that a serious financial loss for Citizens and other Florida insurers could result in additional fees for residents already dealing with a catastrophe. The Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund (a state-run provider of insurance for insurers) and the Florida Insurance Guaranty Association are backed up by yet more emergency fees on policyholders, meaning they could face multiple stacking fees during a devastating hurricane season. Unlike most pieces on this coming train wreck, the Dissent authors Birss and Marcelin are so bold as to propose a remedy. Its impressively comprehensive, and could go a fair distance towards alleviating the severity of the coming train bearing down on large chunks of the built environment. But it does not acknowledge that a lot of communities should be relocated in full sooner rather than later, something societally we are not set up to do. And as you can see, it suffers from other versions of the classic Maine problem, You cant get there from here, starting with who will pay and how to get buy-in to the massive new government powers that would be necessary. Well excerpt a few paragraphs to give readers an idea: If we want different outcomes, we must reimagine our disaster risk finance system so it reduces risk and provides protection fairly. Thats why we propose a new policy vision for home insurance in the United States: housing resilience agencies (HRAs). Given that insurance markets and much risk reduction and emergency management are regulated and managed at the state level, our policy proposal focuses on state- and territory-level implementation. State HRAs would have two primary functions: to coordinate and oversee comprehensive disaster risk-reduction activities, and to provide public disaster insurance that offers equitable protection. An HRA in Florida, for example, might implement a roof-strengthening program in the historically Black Miami neighborhood of Liberty City so homes are better protected against hurricanes, and then provide affordable insurance for those same homes. HRAs would coordinate and oversee comprehensive disaster risk reduction to limit damage before disasters strike. As such, HRAs would play a key role in land use policy by developing, implementing, and enforcing building codes for preventing construction of new housing and other infrastructure in high-risk areas, like easements or setbacks along coastal and other flood-prone areas. Such restrictions are essential to ensure that the rich dont get to keep building in beautiful but risky areas and then demand disaster relief paid for with public money. HRAs would also carry out holistic, community-oriented risk reduction and decarbonization for existing housing that would combine structural fortifying measures with energy efficiency updates. And they would institute comprehensive, science-based, equitable, and democratic mechanisms to proactively protect people at the greatest risk of disaster by supporting them in relocating to safer, affordable housing. Even with all these risk-reduction measures, disaster insurance will still be necessary. And it is public disaster programs that provide the best way to spread the risk of unpreventable disasters and ensure equitable access to post-disaster recovery funds, all without the rent-seeking of private insurers. Coverage would be available for homeowners, renters, mobile-home dwellers, and affordable housing providers. Private insurers would still provide the standard policies that cover things like kitchen fires and burglaries, but the HRA would provide disaster insurance for alla kind of Medicare-for-All system for home insurance. Please read the article in full, since it has considerably more informative detail on developments in Florida. Despite the disaster in Los Angeles, Florida is the canary in the coal mine as far as home insurance adaptations to climate change are concerned. But as for the remedies Birss and Marcelin propose, if we lived in a world where solutions like that were possible, we would not be in this mess in the first place. _____ 1 From Census.gov. The direct-purchased insurance category is overwhelmingly Obamacare but there are some like me who have oddball non-Obamacare direct-purchased policies: Biden administration expands forced labor ban, adds 37 Chinese companies to entity list The Biden administration added 37 Chinese companies to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) Entity List, targeting firms involved in forced labor in Xinjiang, bringing the total to 144. Huafu Fashion, a major textile manufacturer, and 25 of its Xinjiang-based subsidiaries were added to the list, highlighting their involvement in forced labor practices. Eleven Chinese solar and mining companies were included in the list, targeting firms involved in mining critical minerals and manufacturing inputs for solar modules with polysilicon from Xinjiang. Reports by researchers and academics, such as Adrian Zenz, have provided evidence of the coercive nature of Xinjiang's labor transfer programs and the continuation of forced labor practices. The EU is considering a bloc-wide ban on products made with forced labor, while the Chinese government continues to deny allegations of forced labor in Xinjiang. Outgoing President Joe Biden's administration has expanded its ban on imports from Chinese companies involved in human rights abuses to combat forced labor in Xinjiang, an autonomous territory in northwest China. According to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the Biden administration added 37 companies in China to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) Entity List on Jan. 14. The new additions, effective last Jan. 15, include Huafu Fashion, one of the world's largest textile manufacturers, along with 25 of its subsidiaries and 11 Chinese solar or mining companies. This expansion brings the total number of companies on the UFLPA Entity List to 144. The UFLPA, enacted in December 2021, bans businesses from importing products from companies on the list unless they can prove that no forced labor was involved in the production. Homeland Security Secretary (HHS) Alejandro Mayorkas explained that the expanded list demonstrates the administration's "relentless fight against the cruelty of forced labor. Huafu Fashion, a key player in the textile industry, is highlighted for its extensive supply chain operations in Xinjiang, from cotton planting to yarn spinning and textile manufacturing. Among the 25 subsidiaries added to the list, 22 are located in Xinjiang, further cementing the company's ties to the region's forced labor practices. Research by the Helena Kennedy Centre for International Justice at Britains Sheffield Hallam University has linked Huafu to state-sponsored labor transfer programs within and outside Xinjiang, raising serious concerns about the company's compliance with international labor standards. (Related: Biden's FAREWELL LECTURE criticizes abuse of power, misinformation, and the military industrial complex everything his regime EXPLOITED every day for 4 years.) The expansion of the UFLPA Entity List also targets companies involved in mining critical minerals and manufacturing inputs for solar modules with polysilicon from Xinjiang. These companies include Jiangsu Meike Solar Technology, Baotou Meike Silicon Energy and Xinjiang Energy (Group), among others. Since the early 2000s, the Chinese regime has promoted labor transfer programs in Xinjiang, claiming they are aimed at poverty alleviation. However, researchers argue that these programs are coercive and serve more sinister purposes, such as reducing the density of the Uyghur population. Adrian Zenz, a senior fellow at the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation, has provided evidence that highlights the systemically coercive nature of Xinjiang's labor transfer programs. These findings have further strengthened the case for the UFLPA Entity List and the need to address forced labor in Xinjiang. Beijing keeps denying allegations of forced labor In 2024, a report by Adrian Zenz, an academic sanctioned by Beijing, revealed that forced labor practices against the Uyghur ethnic group in China's Xinjiang region are not only continuing but are intensifying. According to the report, published in the Jamestown Foundation China Brief, "forced labor transfers" of Uyghur Muslim workers in 2023 "exceeded those from the previous year and surpassed state-mandated quotas." The report details the expansion of the "Poverty Alleviation Through Labor Transfer program," which is the only forced labor policy directly linked to the production of cotton, tomatoes and tomato products, peppers, seafood products, polysilicon for solar panels, lithium for electric vehicle batteries and aluminum for batteries, vehicle bodies and wheels. Zenz described China's industrial parks as "premier destinations for the most coercive forms of labor transfers and the forced work placements of re-education detainees." This new evidence is expected to intensify the debate in the European Union regarding a bloc-wide ban on imports of products made with forced labor. The ban, currently in its final stages of negotiation, would enable customs authorities in EU countries to remove products from the market if they are found to have been made using forced labor. Despite the mounting evidence of forced labor, the Chinese regime has repeatedly denied such allegations, attributing them to "anti-China" individuals and organizations in the West. Read more similar stories at JoeBiden.news. Watch this new music video by the Health Ranger Mike Adams titled "Where The Money Go Joe." This video is from the Health Ranger Report channel on Brighteon.com. More related stories: Biden shields nearly 1 million migrants who invaded the U.S. from deportation, including gang affiliates. Biden considers preemptive pardons for Fauci, others as Trump presidency looms. Biden announces additional $500M military aid for Ukraine as California wildfires displace 70,000 residents. Sources include: ZeroHedge.com Politico.eu Brighteon.com Britains systemic capitulation to Pakistani-Muslim rape gangs is a moral bankruptcy and cultural submission This has been a difficult piece to write. At a deeply personal level researching on the serial rape and abuse of thousands upon thousands of underage British girls by men of mostly Pakistani Muslim heritage that went on unabated for decades, aided by nearly every arm of the British state that systematically tried to brush the horror under the carpet has been a humbling, upsetting and even a bruising experience. (Article republished from FirstPost.com) As an Indian sitting in India, and as someone whose job it is to write, the degrees of separation and professionalism should have insulated me somewhat as I went through the details of dreadful depravity that those defenceless children were subjected to. But it didnt. I missed a self-imposed deadline chiefly because as I went down the rabbit hole, it was increasingly impossible to remain objective. How can one remain objective when one encounters accounts of minor girls subjected to gang anal rape using a pump by five or six men? In his sentencing remarks in 2013, Judge Peter Rook writes, at one point the child had four men inside her. A red ball was placed in her mouth to keep her quiet. Or in Telford, one of those mill towns in the unfashionable part of north England where white, working-class girls were being abused by an organised network of Pakistani Muslim paedophiles by thousands. One such was Lucy Lowe, who died at 16 alongside her mother and sister when her abuser set fire to her home in 2000. She had given birth to Azhar Ali Mahmoods child when she was just 14, and was pregnant (with Mahmoods unborn) when she was killed. In Telford alone, notes The Telegraph, at least 1,000 girls were abused in the town between 1980 and 2009. Thousands and thousands of mostly white (some Sikh), underage girls were gang raped, sodomized, beaten up, drugged, abused, humiliated and passed around like pieces of meat. The accounts are horrific. Reading the details takes away a little part of the soul. Yet these must be read. The world must know how the British state not only failed in its primary duty of protecting the most vulnerable and defenceless part of its population, but worse, is guilty of collusion with the sexual predators. From the police, administration, political leadership, civil society or the media every part of the state apparatus either looked away, pretended that the evil does not exist, or even more tragically went after the parents and whistleblowers to penalise them instead. American journalist Dominic Green, writing in the Free Press, says the grooming and serial rape of thousands of English girls by men of mostly Pakistani Muslim background over several decades is the biggest peacetime crime in the history of modern Europe. It went on for many years. It is still going on. And there has been no justice for the vast majority of the victims. Judge Rooks observations after the trial of Akhtar Dogar, Anjum Dogar, Kamar Jamil, Mohammed Karrar and Basam Karrar in 2013, paint a picture of unimaginable depravity, exploitation and abuse that sends a chill through the spine. The physical and emotional trauma inflicted upon the victims prompted the mother of a 15-year-old to say how by the time the pack of wolves were done with her, there was not much left of her apart from aggression. You took her soul. She felt as though it had been ripped out. The Pakistani-Muslim child rape gangs, euphemistically referred to as Asian grooming gangs in British media and establishment to avoid mentioning the ethnicity of the criminals, would not only ply the teenage victims with drugs and alcohol to make them malleable for abuse, but force them into providing sex to vast numbers of strangers for money. Up to four or five men would be invited to addresses so they could have sex with her. Men were brought from Bradford, Leeds, Slough and London. Sometimes the sex would be photographed no doubt to lure more customers." If she resisted, she would be coerced. Customers would become angry. For instance, if oral sex was required, her head would be pushed down, her hair pulled and she would be slapped. Strangers would burn her with cigarettes. A stranger almost throttled her. One deliberately scratched her vagina with his nails. One inserted a hairbrush into her vagina. The victims, consequently, suffer from nightmares, panic attacks and flashbacks, some have been diagnosed with Post Traumatic Distress Disorder, and suffers from bouts of anxiety and depression self-loathing difficulties in relationships and carry a great burden of shame and embarrassment about what happened Staggeringly, the scale of the abuse is still unknown. Former UK Independence Party leader Lord Malcolm Pearson at a recent British parliamentary intervention put the number of young, white minor girls raped and abused by Muslim men of Pakistani descent at 250,000. Lord Malcolm Pearson of Rannoch, UK calls out how Britain's Grooming Gangs are largely Pakistani Muslim men. It is estimated that around 250,000, young white British minor girls have been victims of rape and sexual abuse by Pakistani Muslim men. Due to political correctness and pic.twitter.com/zYUcMvnPFZ INSIGHT UK (@INSIGHTUK2) January 5, 2025 The paedophile network followed a certain modus operandi, systematically targeting mostly poor children from broken homes who resided in care facilities. They would be enticed with taxi rides, sweets, trinkets and food, and as Green points out in FP, the rapists after their own gratification would pass them around family and friendship networks, pimp them into similar networks in other cities, then discard them as they reached the age of consent This pattern was repeated in as many as 50 cities across the country, including in leafy Oxford and liberal Bristol. A 2014 inquiry estimated that 1,400 girls had been serially raped in Rotherham alone. The abuse, by some accounts, started in the 1960s with the settlement of Pakistani and Bangladeshi Muslim immigrants. The natural question that any sane person would ask is how did the British state for decades allow such a monstrous crime to take place at a mass scale? Was their collective conscience sucked out by dementors? Why and how did it fail not only in its duty, but become a willing accomplice in perversion of law and natural justice by its non-action and worse, attempted suppression of details? Despite the horrific aspects coming to light of late mainly due to the relentless amplification of the case by Elon Musk on his social media platform why did the ruling Labour Party and most British politicians join hands to cancel calls for a new public inquiry into the grooming gangs, despite the fact that more than three-quarters of Britons right now want a national investigation into the scandal? To answer these questions, one must observe the peculiar conditions of developed Europe where multiculturalism has become a state religion, and it cannot be allowed to fail no matter the cost. It is evident that the post-second World War liberal consensus is in a shambles across the West. The stubborn belief in multiculturalism was in part an ideological conviction, and in part a clever moral justification for the urgent need to import migrant labour since fertility rates have been crashing (most acutely) in the rich world. Europe must import more working hands or else its wheels would stop rolling. Importing labour is the easy part. Trouble begins when western society is confronted with a religion and culture that holds medieval views towards women, is prone to ghettoisation, resists assimilation in western societies, considers western culture as alien and prioritizes community bonding. For instance, Badrul Hussain, a member of the Newcastle rape gang, when caught travelling on public transport without a ticket, told the female ticket inspector, All white women are only good for one thing. For men like me to use like trash. Thats all women like you are worth. Other testimony from victims details how frequently they were referred to as white slags or white whores, reports The Telegraph. What the West does not want to acknowledge owing to an epidemic of political correctness that Canadian professor and author Gad Saad calls suicidal empathy is that owing to their rapidly growing numbers and religious unity, members of this insular culture not only hold enormous power to mould the politics in western democracies, but also possess increasing ability to exploit the loopholes of an open democratic system. They also find in the apologetic West a bunch of self-hating people and a virtue-signalling submissive culture that can be dominated, bullied and subjugated. In Unherd, Dominic Adler, a former police officer, writes that as an officer of the law for 25 years, Ive watched senior officers, faced with uncomfortable truths, wriggle like greased piglets. Ive witnessed logic-defying decisions for nakedly political reasons The answer, in the end, is simple. Racism, for police services from Chester to Penzance, remains the original sin This institutional reticence over race goes beyond the police themselves: even the Independent Office for Police Conducts (IOPC) review of the rape gang scandal tiptoed around the heritage and religion of offenders. The scale of this institutional submission is unimaginable. It perverted the principles of natural justice. The Dharma of administrators and rulers is to govern with fairness and implement the rule of law. The primary duty of a society is to protect its children. It is the key social contract that sustains human civilization and even the natural world. If leaders suffer a collective failure in in enforcing the terms of the social contract protecting children from harm due to empathy, greed or fear, the societal norms come unstuck. As Sam Ashworth-Hayes and Charlie Peters write in The Telegraph, Denial about the extent of the problem is rooted deep in Britains political system. At times, it appears that the governments approach to multiculturalism is not to uphold the law, but instead to minimise the risk of unrest between communities. Confronted with gangs of predominantly Pakistani men targeting predominantly white children, the state knew exactly what to do. For the good of community relations, it had to bury the story. The officers, administrators, council members and leadership were mortally scared and told a distresses parent in Rotherham that the entire town would erupt if the routine abuse of white children by Pakistani heritage men became public knowledge. There are several issues at work here. First, the rich West, having risen above sustenance concerns and in possession of tremendous wealth and priviledge, is looking for ways to feel morally superior and greater dignity. These feelings are tied to their sense of self-worth in absence of a third world to be colonised and modernised or wars to be won. By dint of suicidal empathy, cultural relativism and an urgent need to feel socially and morally superior, the West has decided that the ills of Islamism, the tenets of a totalitarian ideology that holds seventh century views on women and acts in ways that violates every thread of modern civilizational existence is a perception problem and can cease to exist if we broaden our provincial minds. This fatal dialectic gives rise to the woke mind virus that creates the perfect environment for political Islam and its veto of intolerance to take over. The second issue, as former police officer Adler writes in Unherd, is that the police were petrified of race-related violence and chief constables were inclined to see the rape gang scandal as another intractable problem, confined to a marginalised section of the white underclass. To pick at that particular scab might risk public disorder. Better to speak to community leaders to keep the peace, even at the price of allowing organised paedophile networks to operate in plain sight. Take the case of the 2014 Jay inquiry into the grooming gang scandal in Rotherham, that found children were doused in petrol and threatened with being set alight, threatened with guns, witnessed brutally violent rapes and were threatened that they would be the next victim if they told anyone. Girls as young as 11 were raped by large numbers of male perpetrators, one after the other. What was the police response? As The Telegraph reports, In the same town, a senior police officer allegedly said the abuse had been going on for 30 years, adding with it being Asians (read Pakistani Muslims), we cant afford for this to be coming out. In other words, the British state has steadily lost the monopoly over violence. Instead, an outgroup that is ready to indulge in violence to have its way the veto of violence is now dictating terms and state policy. In an inversion of administrative priorities, British cops were more scared of a race-related outbreak of aggression that can only happen if the larger Muslim community goes up in arms against the cops for hauling the rape-gang suspects than the possible perpetrators of a riot. This submission of monopoly over violence, and appeasement of a community to buy peace at the cost of young girls being brutalized is a key reason behind police inaction and state failure. The British states moral bankruptcy holds crucial lessons for administrator everywhere. Institutional reticence in the face of absolute evil is incentivization of evil. The hapless, young children who were abandoned by the state to their fate have suffered double injustice. Lets hope a modicum of sanity prevails and the conspiracy of silence is broken in Britain. The country owes its children better governance than an orchestrated deception. Read more at: FirstPost.com Francesco Garripoli on the Health Ranger Report: Hurricane Helene and North Carolinas HIDDEN LITHIUM Hurricane Helene caused catastrophic damage in North Carolina, leaving roads, bridges and entire towns destroyed. Survivor Francesco Garripoli described it as the worst disaster he has witnessed. North Carolina is home to a significant lithium deposit, and a mining permit was granted just months before the hurricane. Garripoli questioned if the storm was a coincidence or a strategic move to facilitate corporate exploitation and resource extraction. The lithium mining process is highly water-intensive and releases toxic arsenic, posing severe environmental and health risks. The storm has left the French Broad River contaminated with toxic waste. The state's power grid was severely damaged, with some substations submerged. FEMA's response was criticized as inadequate, and the focus on aid to Ukraine was seen as a priority over domestic preparedness. Local communities, farmers, churches and nonprofits like Community Awake have stepped up to provide aid and supplies to survivors, highlighting the importance of community resilience in the face of disaster. However, the article raises concerns about the future impact of lithium mining on the region. As Hurricane Helene leaves North Carolina in ruins, survivors like Francesco Garripoli are raising alarming questions about the timing of the disaster. With the state sitting on one of the richest lithium veins in the United States and a major mining permit issued just months ago Garripoli suggested the storm may have been a convenient way to displace communities and clear the way for corporate exploitation. The lithium mining process, which requires vast amounts of water and releases toxic arsenic, could further devastate the region. Is this disaster a tragic coincidence or a calculated move for resource extraction? A storm of unprecedented destruction Garripoli, a survivor of Hurricane Helene and founder of the nonprofit Community Awake, reported from his Wuji Mountain retreat in Asheville, North Carolina during a "Health Ranger Report" interview with Mike Adams. The devastation, he said, is unlike anything he's ever witnessed even compared to hurricanes he's endured in Florida, Hawaii and Hong Kong. Roads that have stood for over a century are gone. Bridges designed to withstand historic floods have been obliterated. Entire towns like Marshall have been washed away. The internationally recognized senior Qigong teacher mentioned the river rose 27 feet above its normal level and this wasn't just a storm but a cataclysm. The destruction has left thousands stranded, without power, water, or access to basic supplies. Garripoli, however, credits his survival to meticulous preparation. His retreat center, built with underground utilities, a 545-foot-deep well and a hydroelectric-powered community coop, has remained operational despite the chaos. North Carolina is home to one of the richest lithium deposits in America, a resource critical for the production of lithium-ion batteries used in electric vehicles and renewable energy storage. In April 2024, an Australian mining company and key supplier for Tesla was granted a permit to begin lithium extraction in the state. The timing of this permit, just months before Hurricane Helene, has raised eyebrows. (Related: Western North Carolina has world's richest lithium, purest quartz deposits: Is Hurricane Helene a land grab by DOD to steal these valuable resources?) Lithium mining is a water-intensive process that releases toxic arsenic into the environment. The extraction requires vast amounts of land, often displacing communities and devastating ecosystems. Garripoli warned that the storm may have been a catalyst for corporate land grabs. The author and lecturer added they have been trying to get the land since 2018 in order to mine lithium. The storm's aftermath has left more than just physical destruction. The French Broad River, one of the oldest rivers in the world, is now contaminated with toxic waste from a nearby PVC pipe manufacturing plant. Volunteers helping with cleanup efforts are wading through hazardous sludge, unaware of the dangers. "The water is absolutely toxic," Garripoli warned while adding that people need to be cautious in going through this kind of situation. A fragile grid and a failing response The power grid in North Carolina has been decimated. Duke Energy reported 370 substations offline, some completely submerged. Restoring power could take months, leaving residents vulnerable as winter approaches. Garripoli pointed to a troubling lack of preparedness at the federal level. He stated the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) can't even respond to roadside emergencies. Worse, the administration of outgoing President Joe Biden has sent thousands of transformers to Ukraine instead of stockpiling them in the country. The failure of government agencies to provide timely aid has forced communities to rely on grassroots efforts. Local farmers, churches and nonprofits like Community Awake are stepping up, distributing food, water and supplies to those in need. The devastation in North Carolina is a stark reminder of the fragility of modern infrastructure and the importance of preparedness. But it also raises troubling questions about corporate greed, government negligence and the potential for engineered disasters. In the face of unprecedented challenges, the people of North Carolina are proving that resilience and community can overcome even the darkest of times. But as the lithium mines loom on the horizon, the fight for their land, their water and their future is just beginning. Follow Disaster.news for more news about natural disasters like Hurricane Helene. Watch the full interview between Francesco Garripoli and the Health Ranger Mike Adams below. This video is from the Health Ranger Report channel on Brighteon.com. More related stories: Hurricane Helene leaves millions without power and dozens dead and the post-storm situation is only getting worse. HURRICANE HELENE MYSTERY: Weather modification, climate intervention and the planned destruction of a region for the U.S. governments pilfering of natural resources. Hurricane Helene swept through hundreds of toxic industrial sites are all those chemicals now in the drinking water? Sources include: Brighteon.com CommunityAwake.org Germanys nuclear paradox: Importing expensive power after shutting down its own reactors Germany, which previously relied on nuclear energy, is now importing expensive nuclear-generated electricity from France to cope with energy shortages. The decision to phase out nuclear power has left Germany vulnerable to energy shortages, leading to higher electricity costs and supply risks. Critics argue that abandoning nuclear power has undermined Germany's climate goals, increased reliance on fossil fuels, and failed to reduce carbon emissions effectively. As the federal election approaches, opposition leaders are calling for a reversal of the nuclear phase-out, while the current government remains committed to its green energy agenda. The energy crisis is raising questions about the sustainability of Germany's green energy transition and its reliance on intermittent renewable sources. As Germany heads into a pivotal federal election, its energy policy is under intense scrutiny. The nation, once a leader in nuclear energy, has been forced to import expensive nuclear-generated electricity from France to keep its lights on. This ironic twist comes just five weeks before Germans cast their votes, raising questions about the sustainability of the countrys green energy transition. Germanys decision to phase out its nuclear power plantsa cornerstone of its Energiewende (energy transition) policyhas left it vulnerable to energy shortages and soaring prices. With unfavorable weather conditions reducing wind and solar power generation, the country is now relying on French nuclear energy to meet its electricity demands. This reliance on imports has sparked a heated debate about the wisdom of abandoning nuclear power, especially as other nations double down on it as a clean, reliable energy source. The cost of going nuclear-free Germanys energy woes are not new. Since the closure of its last nuclear power plant in April 2023, the country has faced recurring energy shortages, particularly during periods of low renewable energy output. This winter, a high-pressure weather system has brought overcast skies and weak winds, drastically reducing solar and wind power generation. Friday is a very weak day. There will also be little wind on Saturday. Monday will be almost a total loss for wind energy. Tuesday will also be difficult. The high-pressure system is extremely stable, warned weather expert Karsen Brandt from Donnerwetter.de, as cited by Bild. With domestic renewable energy production faltering, Germanys grid operators have turned to France, where nuclear power plants are running at full capacity. This reliance on imports has driven up costs, with electricity prices on the exchange soaring to as high as 1,156 per megawatt-hour during shortages in December. Energy expert Prof. Manuel Frondel of the RWI Institute summed up the situation bluntly: By phasing out nuclear power and coal, we have become heavily dependent on foreign countries and accepted higher supply risks. A historical miscalculation Germanys nuclear phase-out was set in motion in 2011, following the Fukushima disaster in Japan. The decision, spearheaded by then-Chancellor Angela Merkel, was met with widespread criticism. Critics argued that abandoning nuclear powera zero-emission energy sourcewould undermine Germanys climate goals and increase reliance on fossil fuels. The irony is stark: while Germany has spent billions on its Energiewende, its carbon emissions have risen as coal and gas plants replaced shuttered nuclear reactors. Meanwhile, France, which embraced nuclear energy in the 1970s under the Messmer Plan, has achieved significant emissions reductions and energy security. Frances nuclear success story is a testament to the benefits of standardized reactor designs and centralized planning. By the 1990s, nuclear power was supplying over 75% of Frances electricity needs, and the country has since become a net exporter of energy. In contrast, Germanys Energiewende has been plagued by high costs and inefficiencies. A study by the OECD found that household electricity prices in Germany increased by 50% from 2006 to 2017, driven by subsidies for renewable energy. Meanwhile, Frances electricity costs are 40% lower, despite producing twice as much clean energy. Political backlash and calls for reversal As Germanys energy crisis deepens, opposition leaders are calling for a reversal of the nuclear phase-out. Alice Weidel, co-leader of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, has branded wind turbines windmills of shame and pledged to revitalize Germanys nuclear energy sector. They switched off the last nuclear power plant to even more create a shortage of energy, so either you must be very stupid or you just hate your own country, Weidel said during a recent conversation with U.S. billionaire Elon Musk. Musk, a vocal advocate for nuclear energy, echoed Weidels sentiments. Germany should really keep its nuclear power plants running. I think thats extremely important, he said. The SPD-Green coalition government, however, remains committed to its green energy agenda. But with energy prices soaring and supply risks mounting, the policy is increasingly viewed as a failure. The road ahead Germanys energy dilemma underscores the challenges of transitioning to a renewable energy-based economy. While the Energiewende was hailed as a bold experiment, its reliance on intermittent energy sources has left the country vulnerable to shortages and price volatility. As the federal election approaches, the debate over nuclear energy is likely to intensify. Opposition leaders are pushing for a return to nuclear power, arguing that it is essential for energy security and climate goals. Meanwhile, the current government is under pressure to address the growing backlash against its energy policies. The stakes are high. Germanys energy futureand its ability to meet its climate targetshangs in the balance. As the world watches, the question remains: will Germany double down on its green energy experiment, or will it reconsider the role of nuclear power in its energy mix? For now, the irony is undeniable: a nation that once led the charge against nuclear energy is now importing it at a premium to keep its lights on. Sources include: RMX.news CarbonCredits.com World-Nuclear.org LAs wildfires expose stark divide: Millionaires hire $2,000-an-HOUR private firefighters while regular homeowners are left to fend for themselves Los Angeles wildfires have highlighted stark inequalities, with wealthy residents hiring private firefighters at rates up to $2,000 an hour to protect their mansions while ordinary homeowners rely on an overwhelmed public fire department. The wildfires have forced over 100,000 evacuations, destroyed 12,000 structures, and claimed at least 25 lives, with the death toll expected to rise. Many residents, unable to return due to unsafe conditions, face significant losses, including homes and personal belongings. Private firefighting companies, increasingly hired by wealthy individuals, provide specialized services, including fire retardant and water from clients' pools. Critics argue this diverts resources from the broader community and exacerbates inequality, as seen in cases like millionaire Keith Wassermans public plea for private firefighters. Investigators are examining systemic issues, such as dry fire hydrants and a decommissioned reservoir, that hindered firefighting efforts. As wildfires continue to ravage Los Angeles, a glaring disparity has emerged between the citys wealthiest residents and everyone else. While millionaires shell out thousands of dollars an hour for private firefighters to protect their mansions, ordinary homeowners are left to rely on an overwhelmed public fire department, with many watching helplessly as their neighborhoods burn to the ground. The wildfires, which have forced more than 100,000 people to evacuate, have destroyed over 12,000 structures and claimed at least 25 lives, with the death toll expected to rise. For many residents, the disaster has been compounded by the realization that their citys resources are stretched too thin to save their homeswhile the wealthy can simply pay for protection. Private firefighting companies, which typically contract with governments and insurance firms, have increasingly offered their services directly to wealthy homeowners in recent years. These companies arrive with their own trucks, hoses, fire retardants and even water supplies, often drawing from clients swimming pools when fire hydrants run dry. But their services come at a steep cost. Some firms charge up to $2,000 an hour, with daily rates reaching $10,000 for larger teams. Chris Dunn, owner of private firefighting firm Covered 6, told reporters his phone has been "ringing off the hook" as desperate millionaires scramble to protect their properties. In one instance, a reporter observed a private crew standing guard outside a mansion, its roof continually drenched by water sprayers, while neighboring homes burned. The sight of private firefighters saving the homes of the wealthy has sparked outrage among Angelenos who feel abandoned by their city. Keith Wasserman, a millionaire real estate investor, ignited a firestorm on social media after posting a plea for private firefighters to save his Pacific Palisades home. "Will pay any amount," he wrote, later deleting the post after facing backlash. Critics accused Wasserman of prioritizing his property over the lives of firefighters and the needs of his neighbors. "His family is evacuated, and hes trying to hire private firefighters to risk their lives to save a home he most certainly has insured," wrote one critic. "Incredibly tone-deaf," added the critic. Residents are frustrated because it's still unsafe to return to their homes The frustration is palpable among the tens of thousands of residents who have lost everything. Many have been unable to return to their neighborhoods, which remain under evacuation orders due to downed power lines, gas leaks, and toxic debris. At Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) disaster recovery centers, displaced residents are filing for one-time payouts of $770, seeking help with prescriptions and replacing lost identification. Albert Partovi, an 81-year-old Pacific Palisades resident, lost his 4,500-square-foot home in the first hour of the fire. "I thought, 'I'm going to come back in a day or two,'" said Partovi. He added that he didnt even take his computer and he only brought several bags. (Related: Los Angeles wildfires: A city in flames, a community in crisis.) Others, like a man who identified himself as Brian, have been living out of their cars after fleeing their homes with little more than the clothes on their backs. Briand admitted that it "gets cold at night," adding that a volunteer gave him a blanket. The disparity between the haves and have-nots has become a flashpoint in a city already known for its stark income inequality. While private firefighting companies argue that they supplement overstretched public resources, critics say they divert attention and resources from the broader community. An X user said that "The rich suffer zero consequences of anything, even cataclysmic natural disasters," adding that "[p]rivate and firefighter should not be in the same sentence." The wildfires have also exposed systemic failures in the citys fire response. Investigators are probing whether dry fire hydrants and a decommissioned reservoir hampered efforts to contain the flames. Meanwhile, the LA Fire Department has faced criticism for not deploying hundreds of available firefighters and engines in advance of the fires, despite warnings of life-threatening winds. Fire Chief Kristin Crowley defended the departments actions, claiming that they "did everything in our capability to surge where we could." But for many residents, the damage has already been done. As the fires continue to burn, the divide between those who can afford private protection and those who cannot grows ever wider. For Tonita Fernandez, a 69-year-old Altadena resident who recently remodeled her home to provide for her five adopted children, the loss is devastating. "Then the fire comes, and everything goes up in smoke," she said. With no significant rain in sight and the threat of more red flag warnings next week, the situation remains dire. For the wealthy, private firefighters may offer a lifeline. But for the rest of LA, the wildfires are a stark reminder of the citys inequalities and the urgent need for a more equitable response to disaster. Go to Disaster.news for more updates on the LA wildfires. Watch this clip about wildfire smoke, now considered California's biggest health threat. This video is from the NewsClips channel on Brighteon.com. More related stories: Democrat officials redirect California wildfire relief funds to personal PACs. EXODUS: How wildfires, crime and woke policies are driving residents out of California. L.A. wildfires: Winds ease, but authorities warn of renewed danger next week. Armed Californians defy evacuation orders to protect homes from looters amid wildfire chaos. Lessons from the Los Angeles fires. Sources include: NYPost.com LATimes.com DailyMail.co.uk Brighteon.com Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist arrested for possession of AI-generated child pornography Darrin Bell, Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoonist, was arrested for possession of child pornography, including AI-generated material. An investigation by the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force Program revealed Bell uploaded 134 videos of child sex abuse material. Bell was arrested on Jan. 15, and bail was set at $1 million; he is scheduled to appear in court on Jan. 17. Bell's comic strip, "Candorville," has been suspended from the Washington Post and other outlets due to the controversy. Macmillan, publisher of Bell's 2023 visual memoir, has suspended distribution of his work pending further information. Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoonist Darrin Bell has been arrested on charges of possession of child pornography, some of which was allegedly generated by artificial intelligence. According to the Sacramento County Sheriff's Office, detectives from the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force Program received a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children about someone who had uploaded 18 files containing child sex abuse material or child pornography. Following an investigation, detectives discovered that the account was owned and controlled by Bell, who had uploaded a total of 134 videos. (Related: Former ABC reporter James Gordon Meek, who "debunked" Pizzagate scandal, pleads guilty to child pornography charges.) "Sacramento Valley Internet Crimes Against Children Detectives (ICAC) conducted an investigation stemming from a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) related to someone uploading Child Sex Abuse Material (CSAM), also referred to as child pornography. The tip was related to 18 files containing CSAM. The investigation continued, and a total of 134 videos of CSAM were located and linked to the same account, owned and controlled by 49-year-old Darrin Bell," the Sacramento Sheriff posted on X. The police immediately issued a residential search warrant at Bell's home on Jan. 15, where they discovered evidence related to the case, including "computer-generated/AI" child pornography. The 49-year-old artist was subsequently arrested and booked into the Sacramento County Main Jail for possessing child exploitation material. He is currently in custody, with bail set at $1 million, and is scheduled to appear in court on Jan. 17. Bell has been stripped of comics syndication amid controversy Bell is a renowned cartoonist and comic strip creator whose works have appeared in prominent news outlets, including the Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, New Yorker and San Francisco Chronicle. His comic strip, "Candorville," features young Black and Latino characters living in a city and often offers social and political commentary. He was the first African American to win the Pulitzer Prize for editorial in 2019 and was honored by the Pulitzer Prize committee for his "beautiful and daring editorial cartoons that took on issues affecting disenfranchised communities, calling out lies, hypocrisy and fraud in the political turmoil surrounding the Trump administration." However, the arrest has led to immediate consequences for Bell's professional career. "Candorville," which appears on The Post's website and in its daily and Sunday editions, has been suspended from the comics lineup for the time being. The strip will appear in the Jan. 19 Sunday comics section because of production deadlines. Counterpoint Media, Bell's syndicator, said on Jan. 16 that Bell has been suspended from contributing to its daily newsletter. However, reruns of "Rudy Park," a syndicated comic strip no longer in production, would continue to be distributed for now. Macmillan, the publisher of Bell's 2023 visual memoir, "The Talk," said that they are "aware of the arrest of Bell. These are disturbing allegations, and we take this matter extremely seriously. At this time, we are allowing due process to take its course and will take appropriate action as we get more confirmed information." Furthermore, a cartoon created by Bell titled "The Groomer" resurfaced on his X account after his arrest. The cartoon depicts an elephant-like figure flashing a group of children in front of a mirrored storefront, with the word "BIGOTRY" tattooed on the figure's chest. Twisted.news has more stories like this. Watch the video below that talks about horrifying child sexual abuse. This video is from the Airtv International channel on Brighteon.com. More related stories: Warrant issued for child pornography at Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, artist Sally Mann's work at center of controversy. Prominent LGBTQ activist and president of a university queer organization ARRESTED for downloading child pornography. Transgender pedophile arrested for production, distribution and possession of child pornography. Gay former Democratic mayor sentenced to 150 years behind bars for 140+ counts of child pornography, but will only serve 30 years. Former Planned Parenthood director commits suicide following police raid and child pornography investigation. Sources include: RT.com X.com WashingtonPost.com NYPost.com Brighteon.com Sadiq Khan faces scrutiny over reluctance to address questions about grooming gangs Mayor Sadiq Khan faced criticism for his reluctance to address questions about grooming gangs in London, accused of evading direct answers by asking for clarification on the term. Khan conceded young people in London were exploited but refused to directly acknowledge the issue of grooming gangs, prompting accusations of prioritizing political caution over public safety. Home Secretary Yvette Cooper announced a 10 million initiative for local reviews into grooming gangs, but this was met with skepticism from critics and survivors, who argued it was inadequate and lacked transparency. Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp and survivors, like Elizabeth from the Rotherham grooming gangs, criticized the initiative as insufficient, demanding a more comprehensive national inquiry. The controversy highlights the mounting pressure on Khan to address critical issues like knife crime and public safety, with critics accusing him of failing to confront the grooming gangs issue head-on. In a tense exchange at the London Assembly, Mayor Sadiq Khan faced sharp criticism for his apparent reluctance to address questions about grooming gangs operating in the capital. The heated debate, which unfolded earlier today, saw Khan repeatedly ask for clarification on the term grooming gangs, prompting accusations of evasion and a lack of accountability. The confrontation began when Susan Hall, former leader of the London Conservatives, pressed Khan on whether he was aware of grooming gangs in London. Hall referenced the notorious abuse scandals in towns like Rotherham and Bradford, where predominantly Pakistani-heritage men were convicted of sexually exploiting vulnerable young girls. However, Khans response was met with disbelief. Can she define what she means by that? he asked, prompting Hall to elaborate. The sort of gangs that groom young girls at a young age for sex. How much clearer do you want me to be? Hall retorted, visibly frustrated by Khans repeated requests for clarification. The Mayor conceded that young people in London were exploited but insisted that the exploitation was not as defined by Hall. His refusal to directly acknowledge the issue drew swift condemnation from critics, who accused him of prioritizing political caution over public safety. The exchange occurred just hours before Home Secretary Yvette Cooper announced a 10 million ($12.2 million) initiative to fund five local reviews into grooming gangs. The reviews, led by Tom Crowther KC, will focus on Oldham Council and four other pilot areas. However, the announcement was met with skepticism from both opposition politicians and survivors of grooming gangs, who argue that the measures fall short of addressing the scale of the problem. Survivors and politicians demand action as government announces limited inquiry Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp criticized the initiative as totally inadequate, emphasizing the need for a comprehensive national inquiry. It will only cover a fraction of the towns affected, and the inquiries appear they will not have the powers they need, he said. Philps comments echoed the concerns of survivors, who fear that the reviews will fail to deliver justice or transparency. Elizabeth, a survivor of the Rotherham grooming gangs, described the initiative as a whitewash in an interview with GB News. There is nothing transparent. Im back to the fight again. Its not enough at all, she said. Im sure were just hearing the same old stuff. They are taking part in covering the cover-up once again. Hall, who has been vocal in her criticism of Khans handling of the issue, accused the Mayor of shirking his responsibilities. Everyone across this country knows what the grooming gangs are, and I dont believe Khan for one minute when he says its unclear, she told GB News. Young girls were hopelessly abused, and may yet still be suffering abuse if these gangs continue to operate. This isnt about politicswe need answers, and we need them now. The controversy comes amid growing scrutiny of Khans leadership, with critics accusing him of failing to address critical issues such as knife crime and public safety. GB News has reported evidence of grooming gangs operating in over 50 towns across Britain, many of which involve perpetrators of Pakistani heritage. The revelations have reignited debates about cultural sensitivities and the need for accountability in addressing systemic failures. As pressure mounts on Khan to provide clarity and take decisive action, the question remains: will the Mayor confront the issue head-on, or will his evasive responses further erode public trust? For survivors like Elizabeth, the stakes could not be higher. Im back to the fight again, she said, a stark reminder of the human cost of inaction. Sources include: TheNationalPulse.com X.com GBNews.com Delayed evacuation order in Pacific Palisades wildfire left homes burning and roads gridlocked, AP finds The first evacuation order was issued approximately 40 minutes after homes began burning, highlighting critical gaps in emergency response. Severe winds grounded aerial firefighting efforts, while hydrants ran dry due to high demand. A nearby reservoir was also empty for repairs. Prior experience with wildfires likely contributed to the relatively low casualty count, with residents like Robert Trinkkeller acting swiftly to protect their properties. The Pacific Palisades' limited road access exacerbated evacuation efforts, resulting in traffic jams and panic among evacuating residents. The wildfire exposed the need for enhanced emergency communication and evacuation plans in fire-prone areas to better prepare and protect communities. A devastating wildfire that tore through the affluent Pacific Palisades community in Los Angeles on Jan. 7 exposed critical gaps in emergency response, as an Associated Press analysis revealed that the first evacuation order was issued approximately 40 minutes after homes had already begun burning. The delay, coupled with gridlocked roads and overwhelmed resources, highlights the challenges of managing fast-moving wildfires in a region increasingly prone to such disasters. Despite the chaos, nearly all residents escaped safely, a testament to individual initiative and the community's heightened awareness of fire danger. The Pacific Palisades wildfire, fueled by Santa Ana winds gusting up to 100 mph, became one of the most destructive in California history, killing at least 10 people and annihilating much of the community nestled in the Santa Monica Mountains. The fires rapid spread was evident by 11:27 a.m. when scanner traffic revealed homes were already ablaze. Yet, the first evacuation order for the hardest-hit neighborhoods wasn't issued until 12:07 p.m., by which time roads were clogged with fleeing residents. Darrin Hurwitz, a resident whose home bordered Topanga State Park, evacuated more than an hour before receiving the official order. "This would have been a different situation if it had been in the middle of the night," Hurwitz said. "If it had taken 30 to 45 minutes to get our phones buzzing, it would have been a potentially big issue." His home was among those destroyed. (Related: L.A. wildfires: Winds ease, but authorities warn of renewed danger next week.) Challenges in emergency response The delayed evacuation order is just one of several issues that complicated the fire response. Severe winds grounded aerial firefighting efforts, while hydrants ran dry due to unprecedented demand. A nearby reservoir was empty for repairs, and the Los Angeles Fire Department chose not to pre-deploy approximately 1,000 available firefighters and dozens of water-carrying engines, according to the Los Angeles Times. The timing of the evacuation order has raised concerns about the effectiveness of public alert systems, which were later plagued by erroneous or outdated notifications. Many residents turned to Watch Duty, a nonprofit app providing real-time updates on wildfires, evacuations and shelters. Los Angeles city fire and emergency management officials declined to address specific questions about the evacuation delay. In a statement, the Los Angeles County Office of Emergency Management emphasized that preemptive warnings about severe fire weather had been issued and urged residents to be prepared. "These alerts were sent as timely as possible and were intended to wake up people if they were sleeping or draw their attention to the fire," the statement said. Meanwhile, the Pacific Palisades community's prior experience with wildfires likely played a role in the relatively low casualty count. Residents like Robert Trinkkeller, a 68-year-old mortgage broker, acted swiftly upon spotting the fire. Trinkkeller, who had long prepared to defend his property, saved his home using buckets of pool water after the hose ran dry. "It was moving pretty quickly, and I knew it was going to be bad, but it's about 1,000 times worse than anything I could have imagined," he said. The community's geography, however, posed significant challenges. With only two main roads connecting the Highlands neighborhood to the rest of Los Angeles, traffic jams during evacuations were inevitable. A panicked police officer reported a burning car on Palisades Drive, urging drivers to abandon their vehicles and flee on foot. The wildfire underscores the need for improved emergency communication and evacuation plans in fire-prone areas. Eric Link, a fire protection engineer at the National Institute of Standards and Technology, noted that while providing early warnings is crucial, fast-changing conditions can outpace information dissemination. "As much lead time as can be provided to the public is the goal, but in rapidly developing cases, the fire may be there quicker than the information can be transferred," Link said. Maryam Zar, chair emeritus of the Pacific Palisades Community Council, acknowledged the inherent risks of living in a region vulnerable to both earthquakes and wildfires. "The fact they evacuated the entire community is pretty impressive," she said, reflecting on the relatively low loss of life despite the fire's ferocity. Disaster.news has stories related to this. Watch the video below that talks about how LA firefighters race to contain flames before winds pick up. This video is from the TrendingNews channel on Brighteon.com. More related stories: A CITY IN FLAMES: Los Angeles mourns as wildfires claim homes, memories and lives. L.A. wildfires cause $250 billion in damages, becoming one of costliest disasters in U.S. history. As Los Angeles wildfires burn, social media points to Israeli-made fires in Gaza. Armed Californians defy evacuation orders to protect homes from looters amid wildfire chaos. EXODUS: How wildfires, crime and woke policies are driving residents out of California. Sources include: APNews.com Breitbart.com Brighteon.com Forever chemicals in pesticides: New studies reveal alarming epigenetic effects and rising health risks Endocrine-disrupting pesticides (EDPs), including PFAS, are linked to epigenetic changes, multigenerational health risks, and diseases like cancer and immune disorders. PFAS-laced pesticides are found in food, household products, and fluorinated plastic containers, exposing humans through food, air, and skin contact. Regulatory agencies like the EPA are criticized for inadequate oversight and waiving critical toxicity studies for pesticides. Organic land management is urged as a safer alternative to petrochemical pesticides and synthetic fertilizers. Immediate action is needed to address the rising contamination and long-term health impacts of EDPs on future generations. A growing body of research is sounding the alarm on the widespread use of endocrine-disrupting pesticides (EDPs), particularly per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), which are increasingly found in agricultural and household products. These "forever chemicals," known for their persistence in the environment and human body, are now linked to epigenetic changes that can alter gene expression and lead to multigenerational health risks. Despite mounting evidence, regulatory agencies like the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) continue to approve these chemicals, raising concerns about their long-term impact on public health. A recent review published in Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety by researchers from Hebei Agricultural University and the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences highlights the epigenetic effects of EDPs, including PFAS. These chemicals mimic natural hormones, disrupting endocrine systems and leading to reproductive issues, cancer, immune disorders, and developmental problems. Epigenetic changes, which alter gene expression without modifying the DNA sequence, can occur through mechanisms like DNA methylation and chromatin modifications. For example, studies show that exposure to the fungicide flutolanil increases DNA methylation in zebrafish ovaries, causing endocrine disruption and developmental harm in offspring. Similarly, the insecticide sulfoxaflor disrupts steroid hormone biosynthesis in bees, while the fungicide epoxiconazole interferes with fetal development by altering maternal steroid hormone levels. These chemicals can interfere with the normal functioning of target tissues by altering their response to hormonal signals, thereby affecting various physiological processes including reproduction, development, the nervous system, the immune system, and even the process of carcinogenesis [causing cancer], the researchers wrote. How are we exposed? EDPs enter the human body through food, air, and skin contact. PFAS-laced pesticides are commonly used on staple crops like corn, wheat, and strawberries, as well as in household products like flea treatments and insect sprays. A study by the Environmental Working Group (EWG) found that 14% of U.S. pesticide active ingredients are PFAS, with nearly one-third of newly approved ingredients in the past decade containing these chemicals. PFAS are also leaching into pesticides from fluorinated plastic containers, a process that creates long-chain PFAS like PFOA and PFOS, which are linked to cancer and immune system damage. This is truly frightening news, said Nathan Donley of the Center for Biological Diversity. Lacing pesticides with forever chemicals is likely burdening the next generation with more chronic diseases and impossible cleanup responsibilities. Regulatory failures Critics argue that the EPAs regulatory framework is ill-equipped to address the risks posed by PFAS and other EDPs. The agency often waives immunotoxicity study requirements for pesticides, limiting its ability to detect harm. The blame for this contamination crisis lies squarely on the EPAs shoulders, said Kyla Bennett of Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility. The researchers emphasize that the biological mechanisms of EDPs are not fully understood, making it difficult to assess their cumulative and synergistic effects. Combined exposure to multiple EDPs has been indicated to have a synergistic effect, they noted, calling for a comprehensive evaluation of pesticide toxicity. Advocates urge the adoption of organic land management practices to eliminate the use of petrochemical pesticides and synthetic fertilizers. Organic methods safeguard public health and biodiversity, said Beyond Pesticides, a nonprofit organization advocating for safer alternatives. As PFAS contamination continues to rise, the need for stricter regulations and better oversight is clear. Without immediate action, the long-term health consequences of these endocrine-disrupting chemicals will only grow, leaving future generations to bear the burden. The evidence is undeniable: PFAS and other endocrine-disrupting pesticides pose a significant threat to human health and the environment. From altering gene expression to contaminating waterways, these chemicals are leaving a toxic legacy that demands urgent attention. As regulators grapple with the complexity of these substances, the public must push for safer alternatives and stricter oversight to protect our health and the planet. Sources for this article include: BeyondPesticides.org EWG.org CNN.com Team AGES and Mike Adams: How decentralized health and spiritual transformation will trigger the GREAT AWAKENING in 2025 The failures of centralized healthcare, highlighted during the COVID-19 pandemic, have exposed profit-driven agendas and dependency on pharmaceuticals. Experts urge individuals to reclaim health sovereignty through personal choices and natural health principles. A shift from profit-driven healthcare to outcomes-based systems is underway. Decentralization empowers individuals to take control of their health, emphasizing clean air, water, organic nutrition and education as foundational elements. While centralized AI platforms pose risks of censorship and manipulation, decentralized AI, like Brighteon.ai, offers hope by providing uncensored access to natural health knowledge. Experts warn against AI-controlled healthcare and the dangers of transhumanism. Physical health is deeply connected to spiritual well-being. Panelists stress the transformative power of faith, discernment and positivity, advocating for a holistic approach to healing. The panelists encourage rejecting Big Pharma's influence, embracing natural health principles and participating in the decentralized health revolution. Resources like the docuseries "Cleansing the Causes of Cancer" provide guidance for this transformation. As the world grapples with the collapse of centralized systems governments, healthcare and even information platforms a profound shift is underway. The year 2025 marks the dawn of a new era in medicine, one defined by decentralization, spiritual awakening and a return to natural health principles. In a recent groundbreaking "Health Ranger Report" interview on Brighteon.com, Mike Adams sat down with four leading natural health experts Drs. Bryan Ardis, Ed Group, Henry Ealy and Jana Schmidt or Team AGES to explore how this transformation is reshaping humanity's approach to health and healing. The failures of centralized medicine were laid bare during the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, where profit-driven agendas overshadowed patient care. Ardis emphasized the dangers of relying on Big Pharma and government agencies for health decisions. "Your health is dictated by your personal choices," he stated, urging individuals to reclaim their health sovereignty. Group echoed this sentiment, calling the current era "The Great Awakening," where people are increasingly rejecting disinformation and embracing truth. The panelists agreed that centralized systems, including the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) under it, have perpetuated a cycle of dependency on pharmaceuticals and insurance companies. Ardis shared his personal story of raising four children without health insurance, saving over $250,000 by prioritizing natural health principles and paying for medical services out-of-pocket. He advised viewers: "Health insurance companies and Big Pharma control the outcomes, but you just need to learn how to exit safely these actual systems. (Related: Health insurance companies driving up healthcare spending in America) Decentralization is not just a buzzword, it's a movement. Ealy highlighted the need to shift the healthcare paradigm from profit-driven models to outcomes-based systems. "What if doctors got paid when their patients were healthy?" he asked. This radical rethinking of healthcare aligns with the broader collapse of centralized governments worldwide, creating an opportunity for individuals to take control of their health. Schmidt emphasized the importance of education in this transition. The founder of Jana's All Natural and board-certified naturopathic doctor stated that people are crying out for true healthcare and not sick care. The panelists stressed the need for clean air, clean water and organic nutrition as foundational elements of health. The role of AI and the spiritual dimension of health Artificial intelligence (AI) emerged as a critical topic in the discussion. While centralized AI platforms, like those controlled by Big Tech, continue to censor and manipulate information, decentralized AI offers hope. Adams introduced Brighteon.ai, a free, open-source AI platform set to launch in March 2025. This "Noah's Ark of natural health information" will provide access to knowledge on herbs, nutrition and natural remedies, empowering individuals to bypass censorship and take charge of their health. However, the panelists warned of the dangers of centralized AI, particularly in medicine. Ealy expressed concern about AI-controlled healthcare systems replacing human doctors. Group meanwhile highlighted the transhumanist agenda, where nanotechnology and AI threaten to control human minds and bodies. The founder and CEO of Global Healing warned that when people become 51 percent cyborg, they lose their humanity and become controllable AI beings. Throughout the discussion, the panelists emphasized the inseparable connection between physical health and spiritual well-being. Ealy described his personal journey from doubt to faith, calling it a transformative experience. Ealy, the founder of the Energetic Health Institute stressed that falling in love with God again is a powerful medicine that people need. Schmidt echoed this sentiment, urging people to seek discernment and surround themselves with positivity. As the interview concluded, the panelists issued a call to action: Take control of your health, reject the lies of Big Pharma and embrace the decentralized, natural health revolution. The upcoming docuseries, "Cleansing the Causes of Cancer", available on BrighteonUniversity.com, offers a roadmap for this transformation. Follow HealthCoverage.news for more news about healthcare in America. Watch Dr. Simone Gold explaining what is next for the U.S. healthcare system in this clip. This video is from the Flyover Conservatives channel on Brighteon.com. More related stories: The Evolution of Health Awareness, Spiritual Awakening, and Decentralization: A Deep Dive with David Wolfe and Mike Adams. Americas healthcare system is far too expensive due to CORPORATE GREED. Dr. Robert Malone: Decentralization is the key to overcoming medical, govt tyranny. Sources include: Dropbox.com HealingForTheAGES.com 1 HealingForTheAGES.com 2 HealingForTheAGES.com 3 Denmark to bolster Arctic defense with new military airbase in Greenland Denmark plans to build a new military airbase in Kangerlussuaq, Greenland, to enhance its Arctic and North Atlantic defense capabilities. This follows renewed U.S. interest in the region and growing geopolitical tensions. The airbase will accommodate up to 94 personnel, serve as a hub for Danish F-35 fighter jets and long-range drones, and protect critical infrastructure. The project is estimated to cost over $150,000 for new aircraft alone. Denmark's move reflects a shift towards a more proactive military presence in the Arctic. This comes in the wake of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's statements regarding Greenland's strategic importance, despite the U.S. embassy denying plans to expand its military presence on the island. Greenland's strategic location makes it a focal point for global powers. Russia has also expressed interest in the Arctic, increasing the region's vulnerability to potential threats due to the lack of comprehensive airspace monitoring. Denmark's efforts to assert sovereignty and strengthen its defense capabilities must balance the interests of its closest ally, the United States, with the aspirations of Greenland's population for greater autonomy or independence. This delicate balancing act highlights the complex dynamics in the region. Denmark is set to strengthen its Arctic and North Atlantic defense capabilities with the construction of a new military airbase in Greenland, according to a confidential report from the Danish armed forces. The move comes amid growing geopolitical tensions in the region and follows renewed U.S. interest in the strategically significant island. The 22-page report, drafted in September 2024 and obtained by Danish state broadcaster TV2, outlines plans to establish the airbase in Kangerlussuaq, a settlement located approximately 300 kilometers north of Greenlands capital, Nuuk. The facility is expected to serve as a hub for Danish F-35 fighter jets and long-range drones, enhancing the kingdoms ability to monitor and defend its Arctic territories. "The base will be especially required to receive Danish fighter jets (F-35) to periodically stay and land in Kangerlussuaq due to periodic readiness to repel attack and protect sovereignty, as well as show force ... within the territory of the Kingdom of Denmark," the report stated. The project, estimated to cost over $150,000 for new aircraft alone, will accommodate up to 94 personnel and is designed to safeguard critical infrastructure, including undersea cables, power plants and oil storage facilities. Additionally, Denmark plans to establish a mobile military base in Greenland, which can be relocated using transport aircraft, and expand the Arctic Command headquarters in Nuuk by adding 58 personnel to its current staff of 70. A strategic shift in the Arctic The decision to bolster Greenlands defenses reflects Denmarks acknowledgment of its limited capabilities in identifying and responding to threats in the Arctic, North Atlantic and Baltic Sea regions. The report emphasizes the need for a more proactive military presence in the Arctic, despite Denmarks official policy of maintaining the region as a zone of low tension. "Although Denmarks official policy is to avoid military conflicts, preserving the Arctic as a zone of low tension, the military command recommends a more active offensive presence in the future," TV2 reported, citing the document. The move also comes in the wake of U.S. President-elect Donald Trumps recent remarks about the strategic importance of Greenland. In December, Trump called U.S. control of the island an "absolute necessity" for national security, sparking a diplomatic row with Denmark. Greenland, an autonomous territory within the Kingdom of Denmark, has repeatedly stated that it is not for sale. "We have neglected for many years to make the necessary investments in ships and in aircraft that will help monitor our kingdom, and that is what we are now trying to do something about," Danish Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen told journalists earlier this month. Geopolitical implications and regional tensions Greenlands strategic location makes it a focal point for global powers, particularly as melting ice opens new shipping routes and access to untapped natural resources. The U.S. already maintains a permanent presence at the Pituffik air base in northwestern Greenland, which plays a critical role in the U.S. ballistic missile early-warning system. However, the U.S. embassy in Copenhagen has denied plans to expand its military footprint on the island. "There are no plans to increase the United States' current military presence in Greenland," a spokesperson told Reuters. "We will continue to work closely with Copenhagen and Nuuk to ensure any proposals meet our common security needs." Meanwhile, Russia has also expressed interest in the Arctic, with the Kremlin describing the region as part of its "zone of strategic national interests." Analysts warn that the lack of comprehensive airspace monitoring in Greenland leaves the region vulnerable to potential threats. "There is no real monitoring of the airspace in Greenland; it is largely a free-for-all," said Jens Wenzel, an analyst at Nordic Defense Analysis. A delicate balancing act For Denmark and Greenland, the situation represents a delicate balancing act. While Denmark seeks to assert its sovereignty and strengthen its defense capabilities, it must also navigate the interests of its closest ally, the United States, and the aspirations of Greenlands population, many of whom favor greater autonomy or outright independence. "They're walking a tightrope," said Lin Alexandra Mortensgaard, a Greenland expert at the Danish Institute for International Studies. "It's a balance between representing an autonomous territory and representing a sovereign state while still taking the requirements of Denmark's closest ally seriously." As Denmark moves forward with its plans, the Arctic remains a region of growing strategic importance, with global powers vying for influence. The new airbase in Kangerlussuaq marks a significant step in Denmarks efforts to secure its position in this increasingly contested frontier. Sources include: Sputnik.com Tass.com Reuters.com Southern California city considering ending sanctuary status to align with Trumps immigration agenda El Cajon, California, is considering repealing its sanctuary city status, aligning with President Donald Trump's immigration enforcement agenda and diverging from Californias broader resistance to federal immigration policies. El Cajon, a diverse city with nearly 30 percent foreign-born residents, has long benefited from Californias sanctuary laws, which limit local police cooperation with federal immigration authorities. Proponents argue that ending sanctuary status would enhance public safety by addressing violent crimes linked to undocumented individuals, while critics warn it will foster fear, distrust and racial profiling, undermining community-police relations. El Cajon Mayor Bill Wells emphasizes compliance with federal law and the U.S. Constitution's supremacy clause, but the city council postponed voting on the resolution due to concerns about its language and potential impact on immigrant communities. The city of El Cajon, a diverse community in San Diego County, California, is at the center of a heated debate over immigration policy as it considers repealing its sanctuary city status. This move would align the city with President Donald Trump's promised mass deportation agenda, setting it apart from much of California, which has fiercely resisted federal immigration enforcement efforts. El Cajon, home to over 100,000 residents, is one of the most multicultural cities in San Diego County, with nearly 30 percent of its population born outside the United States. For years, Californias sanctuary laws have shielded undocumented immigrants by limiting local law enforcements cooperation with federal immigration authorities. These laws prevent police from questioning individuals about their immigration status or notifying federal officials about detainees release dates. (Related: Trumps bold plan: Military deployment and mass deportations to secure the border.) However, El Cajon Mayor Bill Wells argues that the city's sanctuary status puts it at odds with federal law. "This is not about turning our police force into Border Patrol agents," Wells emphasized. "It's about cooperating with the federal government and following the law." He warned that the city could face legal consequences if it fails to comply with federal immigration enforcement, while state laws threaten to prosecute local officers who do cooperate. The debate came to a head during a recent city council meeting, where residents and activists voiced strong opposition to the proposed resolution. Pedro Rios, a local immigrant rights advocate, accused the measure of being driven by "anti-immigrant fervor" and fearmongering. "It suggests that people should be scared of immigrants because they are criminals," Rios said. "This will turn migrants into outcasts and targets of hate." Anti-sanctuary resolution would allow local authorities to comply with federal immigration officers The resolution, which declares the city's intent to assist federal immigration authorities, cites concerns about public safety. It references a report from Immigration and Customs Enforcement claiming that thousands of undocumented individuals released into the U.S. have been convicted of or charged with violent crimes, including assault, sexual assault, homicide and human trafficking. The resolution argues that ending sanctuary status would protect residents from such threats. But critics say the measure is unnecessary and harmful. One resident at the meeting expressed fear that police would target him "simply because of my dark skin." Others warned that the resolution would erode trust between law enforcement and immigrant communities, making it harder for police to solve crimes and keep neighborhoods safe. Wells insists the resolution has been misunderstood. "The intention is not to have our police department rounding people up," he said. "It's about staying compliant with federal law." Wells also pointed to the U.S. Constitutions supremacy clause, which holds that federal law takes precedence over state law. Despite Wells' assurances, the city council postponed a vote on the resolution after three of its four members raised concerns about the language and potential impact. Councilman Gary Kendrick stressed the importance of safeguarding everyones rights, noting that immigrants are "very much a part of the fabric of our society." The council agreed to rewrite the resolution and revisit the issue at a future meeting. Watch this warning from President Donald Trump aimed at officials that lead sanctuary jurisdictions. This video is from the NewsClips channel on Brighteon.com. More related stories: Sanctuary cities on notice: Trump ally's legal group targets officials for violating immigration laws. Representative Tenney calls for defunding sanctuary cities and sanctuary CAMPUSES at U.S. universities. San Diego County Sheriff refuses to comply with attempts to turn the county into a sanctuary for illegals. Sources include: TheNationalPulse.com Fox5SanDiego.com Brighteon.com House passes bill targeting DEPORTATION of illegal immigrants convicted of violent crimes against women and children The U.S. House of Representatives passed HR 30, which would make individuals convicted of severe crimes against women and children inadmissible to the U.S. and subject to deportation. The bill, dubbed the Preventing Violence Against Women by Illegal Aliens Act, includes provisions for deportation for individuals convicted of crimes such as domestic violence, stalking, child abuse, sexual offenses and violating protection orders. The bill, introduced by Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC), passed with a 274-145 vote on Jan. 16, with some surprising Democratic support. Democrats who opposed the bill viewed it as demonizing immigrants, while supporters, including Rep. Tom McClintock (R-CA), argued that it was necessary to protect women and children. The legislation has sparked a heated debate in Congress, with Democrats accusing Republicans of fearmongering and Republicans questioning Democrats' stance on protecting women. The U.S. House of Representatives has passed a bill that would enhance restrictions on illegal immigrants convicted of severe crimes against women and children. HR 30, dubbed as the Preventing Violence Against Women by Illegal Aliens Act, seeks to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to make individuals convicted of crimes such as domestic violence, stalking, child abuse or sexual offenses inadmissible to the U.S. and subject to deportation. (Related: Illegal immigrant ARRESTED for sexually assaulting 13-year-old girl in Michigan.) The legislation, spearheaded by Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC), includes provisions for deportation for individuals convicted of crimes such as violating protection orders, neglect or abandonment. The bill also ensures that perpetrators of sexual assault and violence against women and children are not allowed to enter or remain in the United States. "We are fed up with headlines about women losing their lives or becoming victims of assailants who trespassed into our country illegally under the Biden-Harris border crisis. This legislation sends a strong message: If you are an illegal who has committed acts of violence against women, you will not find sanctuary here," Mace said at the first introduction of HR 30. The bill, which passed in the 118th Congress with a 274-145 vote on Jan. 16, with surprising support from over a quarter of Democrats was already sent to the Senate Judiciary Committee for review. Its passage follows the successful push for the Laken Riley Act, which requires the detention of migrants arrested for theft. Rep. Tom McClintock accuses Democrats of hypocrisy on "war on women" over immigration bill HR 30 sparked a heated debate during the hearing when Democrats who opposed it viewed it as demonizing immigrants. "Here we are again, debating another partisan bill that fearmongers about immigrants, instead of working together to fix the immigration system," said Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) said. "I probably shouldn't be too surprised. Scapegoating immigrants and attempting to weaponize the crime of domestic violence is appearing to be a time-honored tradition for Republicans." Democrat Rep. Jerry Nadler echoed similar sentiments and argued that its redundancies would not result in additional dangerous individuals facing immigration consequences. Supporters of the legislation, including Rep. Tom McClintock (R-CA), argued that Democrats were being hypocritical in their stance on the "war on women" regarding abortion, but appeared indifferent about allowing sexual offenders and child abusers into the country. McClintock questioned the Democrats' opposition, stating, "If that's true, why do they oppose it?" Mace also highlighted several instances of illegal immigrants committing sex offenses, including the rape of a nine-year-old girl in Ohio. "How many American women and girls have been battered and bloodied due to this insanity?" she asked. "Under my bill, any illegal alien who commits a sex crime is inadmissible to our country and immediately deportable. We shouldn't let them into our country under any circumstances, and if we catch them, we send them back." Head over to Migrants.news for similar stories. Watch Pinal County, Arizona Sheriff Mark Lamb warning that "people who don't love America" are blending in with the gotaways that authorities fail to catch in the clip below. This video is from the GalacticStorm channel on Brighteon.com. More related stories: Illegal immigrant from Dominican Republic ARRESTED for drug and weapon trafficking at taxpayer-funded migrant shelter. Illegal alien who entered the country undetected has been arrested, charged with CHILD RAPE in Massachusetts. Illegal immigrants are throwing away their military IDs before entering America, says Border Hawk's Dan Lyman. Sources include: YourNews.com TheHill.com ABCNews4.com MSN.com Brighteon.com Biden calls for CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT to end presidential immunity Days before leaving the White House, former President Joe Biden has called for a constitutional amendment to get rid of presidential immunity. Biden's proposal follows a controversial Supreme Court decision which granted presidents broad immunity for "official acts" conducted while in office. Biden claims the Supreme Court ruling has "fundamentally changed" the American principle that no person is above the law. Biden's proposal is unlikely to pass due to the difficult nature of passing a constitutional amendment, which requires the approval of two-thirds of both houses of Congress and the ratification of three-quarters of state legislatures. In his final address from the Oval Office, former President Joe Biden has called for a constitutional amendment that will ensure that no president is immune from prosecution for crimes committed while in office. The remarks, delivered just days before President Donald Trump's inauguration, are being interpreted as a parting shot at his successor, who has repeatedly invoked presidential immunity to fend off legal challenges. Biden's speech centered around his claim that it is right that no person, not even the president, should be above the law. "We need to amend the Constitution to make clear that no president, no president, is immune from crimes that he or she commits while in office," Biden declared. "The president's power is not unlimited. It's not absolute. And it shouldn't be." (Related: Trump supporters celebrate Supreme Court ruling on qualified presidential immunity.) The outgoing president's call for reform comes in the wake of a controversial Supreme Court ruling last July, which granted the president of the United States broad immunity for "official acts" performed in office. The decision was hailed as a significant victory for conservatives and for Trump himself, who has been arguing in his legal battles that he should not be prosecuted for actions he undertook as president. The ruling left many legal experts and critics, including Biden, deeply concerned. The president warned that the decision fundamentally changed the long-standing principle that no one is above the law and opened the door to potential abuses of power. While Chief Justice John Roberts emphasized that the president is not immune from being prosecuted for unofficial acts, the ruling left it to lower courts to determine what constitutes an "official act," creating a gray area that critics argue could be exploited. Biden proposal unlikely to pass in incoming Republican-dominated federal government Bidens proposal to amend the Constitution faces steep odds. The process of passing a constitutional amendment is notoriously difficult due to its need for the approval of the vast majority of elected federal and state representatives. Firstly, two-thirds of both the House and Senate need to approve the amendment. After that, at least three-quarters of state legislatures or 38 states need to ratify the amendment. The last time the Constitution was amended was in 1992 following the passage of the Twenty-Seventh Amendment, which states that laws that increase or decrease the pay of Congress members may take effect only after the next House of Representatives election. Last year, a Manhattan judge sentenced Trump to no penalty in his hush money case, allowing him to avoid jail time or fines as he prepares to reclaim the presidency. Trump has vowed to appeal the ruling, but the broader implications of his legal battles have reignited debates about accountability and the limits of executive power. Watch this video featuring Biden's and Trump's reactions to the Supreme Court's presidential immunity ruling. This video is from the TrendingNews channel on Brighteon.com. More related stories: Trump files 3 motions to dismiss Georgia election case, citing PRESIDENTIAL IMMUNITY. Trump petitions Supreme Court to pause in considering presidential immunity claim. Supreme Court wont fast-track decision on Trump presidential immunity claim in election interference case. Trumps sentencing INDEFINITELY POSTPONED by NY Judge Merchan following Supreme Court ruling about presidential immunity. Trump files 3 motions to dismiss Georgia election case, citing PRESIDENTIAL IMMUNITY. Sources include: NYPost.com TheHill.com MSN.com Brighteon.com Strait of Malacca: A global chokepoint where a strong American Navy can prevent Chinese expansionism The Strait of Malacca is a vital maritime choke point, handling over 30 percent of global crude oil trade and $3.5 trillion in annual trade, with 90,000 vessels passing through annually. China heavily depends on the strait, with 80 percent of its maritime energy imports and 60 percent of global trade relying on this route, prompting efforts to reduce vulnerability through alternatives like the proposed Kra Canal in Thailand. The U.S. has strengthened its military presence in the region, including agreements with Singapore and Malaysia, to secure control over the strait and counterbalance Chinas influence. Regional cooperation and U.S.-China rivalry shape the straits future, with both nations vying for influence amid risks of piracy, environmental disruptions and potential geopolitical conflict. The Strait of Malacca, a narrow waterway connecting the Indian and Pacific Oceans, is one of the worlds most critical maritime choke points. Over 30 percent of global maritime crude oil trade passes through this 550-mile-long strait, with more than 90 percent of that oil originating from the Persian Gulf and Africa. For China, the strait is a lifeline. Eighty percent of its maritime energy imports and 60 percent of its global trade rely on this route. Yet, the strait is also a flashpoint for geopolitical tensions, as the United States strengthens its military presence in the region and China seeks alternatives to reduce its dependence on this vulnerable artery. The straits strategic importance has only grown over time. Historically, it has been a vital trade route since the days of the Silk Road, linking East Asia with the Middle East, Europe, and Africa. Today, it handles $3.5 trillion in annual trade, with 90,000 vessels passing through its waters each year. However, its narrowest points, such as the Phillips Channel near Singapore, are just 1.7 miles wide, creating bottlenecks that slow traffic and increase risks. The U.S. has long recognized the strait's strategic value. In 2019, Singapore and the U.S. signed a protocol amending a 1990 agreement, allowing U.S. warships to use Singaporean facilities. This move solidified Singapore as the home of the largest U.S. military base in Asia, with the U.S. Navy's Seventh Fleet able to deploy to the Indian Ocean and the Gulf region within 24 hours. The U.S. has also deepened military cooperation with Malaysia, the Philippines and other Southeast Asian nations, ensuring its ability to control the strait in times of conflict. (Related: Malaysia, which controls 25 percent of the world's sea route trade via the Strait of Malacca, announced it is joining BRICS.) China lobbying Thailand to build new canal as alternative to Malacca Strait For China, this U.S. presence is a source of concern. In 2003, then-Premier Hu Jintao coined the term "Malacca Dilemma" to describe Chinas vulnerability to a potential naval blockade. A blockade could cripple Chinas economy, as its strategic oil reserves would last only 60 days. To mitigate this risk, China has pursued alternatives, including the Belt and Road Initiative, which aims to create new trade routes bypassing the strait. One such alternative is the proposed Kra Canal in Thailand, a 100-kilometer (62 miles) artificial waterway that would connect the Gulf of Thailand to the Andaman Sea through the Isthmus of Kra. This canal would shorten shipping routes by 1,000 kilometers (621 miles), reducing reliance on the Strait of Malacca. Chinese state-owned companies have already conducted feasibility studies and have been busy over the past decade lobbying the Thai government to begin construction. However, the project still faces significant hurdles, including environmental concerns, internal political instability especially in 2014 following a military coup in Bangkok and opposition from Singapore, which stands to lose its status as a maritime hub. All these roadblocks have stalled the beginning of the project. Despite these challenges, the Kra Canal remains a tantalizing prospect for China. "The canal would be controlled by China," wrote analyst and international relations expert Giancarlo Elia Valori for Modern Diplomacy. "And while Thailand may not operate it as planned, it would reap the greatest benefits." The strait's challenges extend beyond geopolitics. Piracy, once a major threat, has declined significantly due to increased military patrols by the U.S., China and regional navies. However, environmental issues like haze from Indonesian bushfires continue to disrupt shipping. Singapore has taken a leading role in addressing these problems, using satellite imagery to monitor fires and coordinating with Indonesia to mitigate their impact. Regional cooperation is key to maintaining the straits security and efficiency. The U.S. has worked to strengthen ties with Indonesia, which plays a pivotal role in the straits governance. Meanwhile, China has invested heavily in Malaysia and other Southeast Asian nations, seeking to build trust and secure its interests. The Strait of Malacca is a microcosm of the broader U.S.-China rivalry. While both nations benefit from the strait's role as a global trade artery, their competing interests could destabilize the region. The U.S. seeks to maintain its military dominance, while China is determined to reduce its reliance on this vulnerable choke point. As tensions rise, the straits future remains uncertain. "The Malacca Strait is critical for U.S. military effectiveness in the region," said Lucas Myers, an Asia Program Senior Associate for the Wilson Center. "Protecting access to it and denying it to China during a wartime scenario is paramount." Watch this clip warning about China's plans to set up military facilities overseeing the Strait of Malacca and the Straits of Hormuz. This video is from the channel Chinese Taking Down Evil CCP on Brighteon.com. More related stories: Red Sea shootdown: Did the Houthis play a role in the U.S. Navy's "friendly fire" incident? SABOTAGE? Chinese vessel accused of intentionally severing undersea cables in Europe. Geopolitical analyst warns of economic chaos should Iran shut down Strait of Hormuz. China continues to threaten Taiwanese airspace, regularly deploying WARPLANES to cross Taiwan Strait median line. U.S. warns China about plans to increase military drills in South China Sea region. Sources include: WilsonCenter.org ModernDiplomacy.eu NavalInstitute.com.au Brighteon.com Massive fire at Moss Landing battery plant raises safety concerns amid Californias clean energy push A fire erupted Thursday at the Vistra Energy battery storage plant in Moss Landing, California, leading to evacuations of 1,500 residents and road closures. The incident reignited concerns about the safety of lithium battery storage systems, a crucial component of Californias transition to renewable energy. History of Incidents and Scrutiny: This is the fourth fire at the Moss Landing site since 2019, leading to growing calls for improved safety measures and transparency. Community Impact and Evacuations: The fire disrupted life in the coastal community, with local schools and businesses shutting down and temporary evacuation centers set up. Investigation and Future Implications: The cause of the fire is under investigation, and the incident highlights the need for robust safety protocols and transparent oversight in scaling up renewable energy infrastructure. A massive fire erupted Thursday, Jan. 16, at the Vistra Energy battery storage plant in Moss Landing, one of the largest facilities of its kind in the world, sending plumes of hazardous black smoke into the air and triggering widespread evacuations. The blaze, which began around 3 p.m., has reignited concerns about the safety of lithium battery storage systems, a critical component of Californias transition to renewable energy. The fire, which flared up again Friday afternoon after smoldering overnight, forced the evacuation of approximately 1,500 residents and prompted road closures, including a stretch of Highway 1. By Friday night, officials lifted evacuation orders for about 1,200 residents after air quality monitoring confirmed no threat to human health. Im happy to announce at this point that most of the fire is out, said Chief Joel Mendoza of the North County Fire Protection District during a Friday morning press conference. We have very little active fire, very little products of combustion being released into the atmosphere. A critical facility in Californias clean energy strategy The Moss Landing plant, operated by Texas-based Vistra Energy, is a cornerstone of Californias ambitious clean energy goals. The facility, which stores electricity generated from solar and other renewable sources, was expanded in 2023 to hold 750 megawatts of electricityenough to power thousands of homes. Its role in stabilizing the states power grid is vital, especially as California phases out fossil fuels. However, the fire has cast a spotlight on the risks associated with lithium battery storage. Lithium battery fires are notoriously difficult to extinguish due to the high temperatures and toxic gases they emit. Firefighters opted to let the blaze burn out within the plants concrete structure rather than risk exposure to hazardous conditions. The fire suppression system, which had worked in prior situations, wasnt sufficient, and the fire overtook the system, Mendoza said. A history of incidents and growing scrutiny This is not the first fire at the Moss Landing site. Previous incidents in 2021 and 2022 were attributed to sprinkler malfunctions and system flaws, prompting California Governor Gavin Newsom to sign legislation requiring battery storage plants to develop emergency response plans with local fire departments. This is the fourth fire since 2019, said Monterey County Supervisor Glenn Church during a press conference. This has got to be the last one. The facilitys history of incidents has raised questions about the adequacy of safety measures. In 2021, a software error caused the plants heat suppression system to activate prematurely, dousing batteries with water and causing significant downtime. A similar incident occurred in 2022, leading to further investigations and safety upgrades. Despite these efforts, Thursdays fire has reignited calls for transparency and accountability. I am deeply concerned and have serious questions about the safety of this battery energy storage plant, said Assemblymember Dawn Addis (D-Morro Bay). I am exploring all options for preventing future battery energy storage fires from ever occurring again on the Central Coast. Community impact and ongoing concerns The fire has disrupted life in Moss Landing, a small coastal community about 77 miles south of San Francisco. Highway 1 remains closed in both directions, and local schools and businesses were shuttered Friday. The Castroville Recreation Center served as a temporary evacuation center, with the Red Cross providing shelter for 37 people, three dogs and a cat. Monterey County Sheriff Tina Nieto confirmed no injuries were reported, and air quality monitoring systems detected no dangerous gases. However, residents were advised to stay indoors, keep windows and doors closed, and limit outdoor exposure as a precaution. As the fire smoldered, officials emphasized the importance of community safety. Its imperative that residents heed the evacuation order and take the direction of law enforcement and fire personnel, said Monterey County spokesperson Nicholas Pasculli. Looking ahead The cause of the fire remains under investigation, and Vistra Energy has pledged to cooperate fully with authorities. Our top priority is the safety of the community and our personnel, said Vistra spokesperson Jenny Lyon. The incident underscores the challenges of scaling up renewable energy infrastructure while ensuring public safety. As California continues to expand its battery storage capacitywhich has grown sevenfold since 2020the Moss Landing fire serves as a stark reminder of the need for robust safety protocols and transparent oversight. For now, the focus remains on containing the fire and supporting affected residents. But as the smoke clears, the broader implications for Californias clean energy future will undoubtedly come into sharper focus. Clean energy facilities have a responsibility to be operated safely and to protect the surrounding communities, said U.S. Representative Jimmy Panetta. I urge this battery facility to be transparent and cooperate with authorities to address this emergency situation swiftly. Sources include: WattsUpWithThat.com MerceryNews.com RenewableEnergyWorld.com Pentagon ends contract with Booz Allen Hamilton after employees secret tape reveals controversial claims against Trump The Pentagon terminated its contract with Booz Allen Hamilton following a hidden camera investigation that revealed a senior Booz Allen employee making controversial claims about secret meetings and political commentary involving high-ranking military officials. Jamie Mannina, a former FBI agent and Booz Allen contractor, boasted about his access to top military leaders and involvement in classified discussions in a covert recording aired on a news channel. Mannina openly criticized President Donald Trump, labeling him a "sociopathic narcissist" and mentioning efforts to oppose Trump's actions through coordination with retired military leaders. The revelations raised concerns about national security and the integrity of the Pentagon's operations, with the Pentagon quickly distancing itself from Mannina's remarks. Sources familiar with the transition planning for Trump's incoming administration revealed that a list of military officers to be fired is being drawn up, targeting those connected to Mark Milley, Trump's former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. This marks a dramatic departure from past transitions of power. The Department of Defense has terminated its contract with Booz Allen Hamilton following a hidden camera investigation that revealed a senior Booz Allen employee making explosive claims about secret meetings and controversial political commentary involving high-ranking military officials. Jamie Mannina, a former Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agent and Booz Allen contractor working with the Pentagon's Joint Staff, was caught on tape at a Spanish restaurant discussing his access to top military leaders and his involvement in confidential discussions. In the covert recording, Mannina, who reportedly worked as a special agent with the FBI, detailed his connections to top military leaders and his involvement in secret meetings. (Related: Questions continue to rise over the Pentagon's alleged role in undermining U.S. military strength and national security.) "I work at this top consulting firm and my client is the Pentagon. I work in the Joint Staff, which is the top military command," he stated. Mannina also boasted about his history in the intelligence community and his work against President Donald Trump. "When Hillary Clinton lost, I went into the intelligence community and became an FBI special agent, so I became a spy hunter. I'm in conversation with a couple of retired generals to explore what we can do. There are two or three-star generals and admirals." The footage, which aired on a prominent news channel, captures Mannina openly criticizing Trump, labeling him "a sociopathic narcissist" who prioritized his name and wealth over national interests. He further revealed efforts to thwart Trump's potential actions, mentioning his coordination with retired military leaders. "We have these huge meetings with military leaders in a very secure room called The Tank," Mannina explained. These revelations also highlighted discussions about artificial intelligence technology and strategies involving "501(c)(4)" groups aimed at opposing Trump. Mannina's claims about his access to classified information and his involvement in sensitive discussions have raised serious concerns about national security and the integrity of the Pentagon's operations. Trump transition team planning mass firing of military officers Sources familiar with the transition planning for Trump's incoming administration have also revealed a list of military officers to be fired. The sources, who requested anonymity to speak candidly about the plans, said the list of potential dismissals is still in its early stages and could evolve as the administration takes shape. However, the scale of the proposed changes has raised eyebrows within the military establishment and among national security experts. Trump has long been critical of defense leaders who have spoken out against him, and during his campaign, he expressed a desire to fire "woke" generals and those responsible for the troubled withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021. The incoming administration's focus appears to be on U.S. military officers connected to Mark Milley, Trump's former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Milley was quoted in Bob Woodward's recent book "War," calling Trump "fascist to the core." This perceived disloyalty has earned him the ire of Trump and his allies, who view him as a prime target for dismissal. The second source familiar with the planning said, "Every single person that was elevated and appointed by Milley will be gone. There's a very detailed list of everybody that was affiliated with Milley. And they will all be gone." The Joint Chiefs of Staff, comprising the highest-ranking officers in the U.S. military, include the heads of the Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, National Guard and Space Force. The planned firing of these leaders would be a dramatic departure from past transitions of power. Visit Trump.news for updates about President Donald Trump. Watch the video below where Sen. Jim Banks (R-IN) talks about the GOP being unified behind Trump. This video is from the NewsClips channel on Brighteon.com. More related stories: Media's failed smear campaign against Trump cabinet nominees highlights declining influence. EPA advisor admits Biden is funneling BILLIONS to climate groups before Trump takes office. Zuckerberg's meeting with Trump preceded fact-checking policy shift, GOP senator reveals. Lavrov: Outgoing Biden administration SABOTAGING Trump's efforts to end Russia-Ukraine war. Trump unveils $20 billion data center plan with Emirati billionaire's investment. Sources include: TheExpressTribune.com MSN.com Yahoo.com Brighteon.com Progressive worldviews are based upon a collection of myths Michael Huemers Progressive Myths is a powerful critique of contemporary progressive dogmas that eviscerates popular cliches with clinical precision. The University of Colorado philosophy professor probes a variety of explosive topicsranging from racial and gender disparities to environmental and economic concernsaiming to expose exaggerations and misrepresentations often-perpetuated by progressive narratives. (Article republished from Mises.org) Progressive Racial Myths Huemer begins by dissecting myths surrounding race, particularly in the domain of police violence and systemic racism. A prominent thread in progressive discourse is that American police disproportionately kill unarmed black individuals due to systemic racism. However, his interrogation of recent data on police shootings reveals that in 2018, 54 unarmed white people were killed compared to 36 unarmed black individuals. Moreover, conveniently omitted from debates on police misconduct, is that black Americans are overrepresented as dangerous criminals and constitute 43 percent of cop-killers. Huemer finds it odd that progressives can appreciate that most victims of police violence are men because their heightened exposure to violence increases the probability of them having negative interactions with the police. Yet, using this logic to understand why black offenders are shot at higher rates, is a struggle. Admitting that the negative picture of blacks painted by statistics stems from their conduct offends elite sensibilities, however, concocting strange theories to indict the American legal system for racism will not help blacks nor will it protect the victims of crime who are disproportionately black Americans. Unrelenting in his approach to dismantling myths, he undercuts the credibility of implicit bias, another edifice of progressive propaganda. Citing 2016 research by Carlson and Agerstrom, Huemer highlights that the widely promoted Implicit Association Test (IAT) does not reliably predict discriminatory behavior. Evidently, priming subjects with images of admirable black people and villainous white people shapes how people perceive race on racial IATs. However, drawing on a meta-analysis by Forscher et al 2019, he notes that there is no evidence suggesting that modifying the Implicit Association Tests translates into behavioral change. These findings undermine the progressive argument that implicit bias is a primary driver of systemic inequality. Heumer concludes that although implicit bias is not a legitimate construct, the concept persists because it is essential to the project of academics who consider themselves crusaders for social justice. Unwavering in his assault on progressive fables, Heumer debunks stereotype threat with clarity. This is the idea that individuals underperform due to awareness of negative stereotypes about their group. Stereotype threat is perceived as gospel in progressive circles, despite the failure of multiple replication studies to reproduce the original findings. According to an analysis by Russell Warne, only one of four replication attempts marginally succeeded. Even more shocking is the observation that when subjects are tested in real-world scenarios the stereotype effect fades, thus indicating that it could be an indication of measurement errors. Invariably, the stereotype test is a sophisticated excuse for the underperformance of some minority groups, but unfortunately it lacks analytical value. Unafraid of refuting incorrect narratives, Huemer challenges the toxic notion that drug laws are inherently racist. Critics often cite the harsh penalties for crack cocaine use compared to powder cocaine as evidence of racial bias. However, Huemer points out that the sentencing disparity before 2010 reforms was far less extreme than claimed. Crack offenders received an average of 9.6 years in prison compared to 7.3 years for powder cocaine users, a ratio of 1.3:1not the exaggerated 100:1 ratio often cited. Moreover, harsher penalties for crack were implemented due to its association with more violent crimes, rather than racial motivations and the clamp down on drugs was overwhelmingly supported by Democrats and black politicians who thought they were debilitating black communities. Progressive Feminist Myths Steadfast to defending truth, the book also combats feminist myths relating to gender, particularly the wage gap and sexual assault statistics. A prevalent theme in feminist literature is that women earn significantly less than men due to systemic sexism. Huemer counters this by noting that men, on average, earn more because they are more likely to work in dangerous, high-stress, and competitive jobs. When comparing childless, college-educated men and women, the evidence reveals that women earn approximately 18 percent more than their male counterparts. Moreover, contrary to feminist rantings that women are penalized by society, Heumer shows thatrather than penalising femalessociety rewards them by sponsoring initiatives to advance women in business. For example, the US Small Business Administration has an office to provide a wide range of support for female entrepreneurs, but there is not a comparable office serving men. On the topic of sexual violence, Huemer discredits the ubiquitous claim that 25 percent of women are sexually assaulted during college. Instead, he argues that the true figure is between 1 percent and 5 percent, based on more rigorous data. Additionally, he addresses the contentious issue of false rape allegations, referencing a study by Eugene Kanin, in which 45 out of 109 rape allegations in a small city were found to be false. While this does not diminish the severity of actual sexual assaults, it punctures the progressive doctrine that false accusations are exceedingly rare. Progressive Wealth Myths Another critical topic Huemer tackles is the myth of generational wealth perpetuating inequality. Contrary to popular belief, most US millionaires79 percentreceived no inheritance. This statistic refutes the progressive narrative that wealth inequality is ineluctably a result of inherited privilege. Instead, it underscores the role of individual initiative, financial literacy, and entrepreneurship in wealth accumulation. With equal force, Heumer invalidates the thesis of America being an immobile society. Using tax data from 2015, he explains that America remains a mobile society where those at the bottom are most likely to experience income mobility. Progressive Pseudo-Scientific Myths Interestingly, Huemers critique also encompasses scientific assertions, especially those pertaining to public health and climate change. On the topic of mask efficacy, Huemer quotes studies indicating that cloth masks are not only ineffective but may also increase the risk of disease. For instance, one study found that wearing cloth masks resulted in a nearly sevenfold increase in influenza-like illness compared to wearing no mask. This evidence overturns the progressive insistence on mask mandates as a universally-effective measure. Climate changeanother bedrock of progressive ideologyis addressed with nuance. Huemer affirms the fact of global warming, but critiques alarmist narratives that predict imminent societal collapse. Rather than reinforcing alarmist sentiments, Heumer contends that mainstream scientists such as Adam Schlosser and Michael Mann concur that the probability of climate change leading to human extinction is low. By emphasizing the distinction between reasonable concern and outlandish rhetoric, Huemer advocates for evidence-based policymaking to minimize the harms of climate alarmism. A hallmark of Progressive Myths is Huemers clear writing. He selects topics that can be evaluated through clear, objective evidence, avoiding abstract philosophical debates. Although complicated topics are explored in the text, Heumer distills them in a simple manner for a lay audience. This approach enhances the books accessibility and persuasiveness, allowing readers to focus on tangible facts rather than ideological speculation. Huemer also interrogates the social mechanisms that amplify these myths. He attributes their persistence to tribalism, media sensationalism, and groupthink in academia. By signaling adherence to these narratives, individuals acquire social capital within progressive circles, further entrenching false beliefs. Limitations Despite its positives, Progressive Myths is not without limitations. Many of the myths covered by Huemer are widely believed, however, they have been routinely debunked by other authors. For example, Wilfred Reilly, Heather Macdonald, and a host of others have skewered the progressive philosophy of a racist justice system. Huemers chapters on the racist justice system would have been more radioactive if he had amassed data showing that high rates of crime in the black population are not peculiar to America. Blacks in England and Wales are also overrepresented in crime. Secondly, Huemer surprisingly omitted a discussion on racial disparities in income. Exploring group disparities in income would have created an opportunity to examine racial differences in intelligence and personality alongside their genetic correlates. In the section on income myths, Huemer briefly discussed the link between genes and the transmission of human capital, which highlights his familiarity with the research on genes and social mobility, but this should have been elaborated in the text. Huemers book is being promoted by well-known conservative publications and mainstream intellectuals, so if he had chosen to engage in controversial research on genetics his book would have been the gateway to politically incorrect science. Similarly, when scrutinizing scientific myths, Huemer opted to focus on trivial doomsday predictions with a track record of inaction, when he should have introduced the public to the studies of Oxford-educated scientist Ralph Alexander. Unlike mainstream pundits, Alexanders research excoriates the myth that extreme weather events are becoming frequent due to climate change, instead he posits that such events are not increasing. Another downside is that when refuting the myth of the gender pay gap, Huemer relied on Warren Farrells landmark, but dated, study. Since the publication of Farrells 2005 research, we have been exposed to a litany of empirical studies challenging the orthodox opinions on the gender pay gap. One of the latest responses is a paper by Valentin Bolotnyy and Natalia Emanuel that attributes the gender pay gap to inflexible work schedules, which contradict the care-giving responsibilities of women. Equally surprising, Huemer avoided addressing the assumption that the paucity of women in STEM indicates sexism. There is an avalanche of studies commenting that this is because men and women have different intellectual styles. Of relevance is that larger sex differences in STEM have been observed in more gender equal countries which has led some to speculate that STEM disparities could have a biological underpinning. Including these discussions would make Progressive Myths a more intriguing book. Indeed, debunking all myths would be impossible, but before reading the book, this writer was expecting Huemer to smash the Overton window. Notwithstanding these omissions, Progressive Myths is an entertaining and incisive critique of contemporary progressive narratives. For curious people seeking to understand the deficits of progressive ideology, Progressive Myths is an essential read. It not only exposes the flaws in specific claims but also offers insights into the broader cultural and psychological forces that sustain these myths. As society grapples with increasingly polarized debates, Huemers call for intellectual honesty and critical thinking is both timely and necessary. Read more at: Mises.org Republican lawmakers push to reinstate Remain in Mexico policy Republican lawmakers have introduced legislation to reestablish the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP), also known as the "Remain in Mexico" policy, originally implemented by President Donald Trump in his first term but was repealed by former President Joe Biden. Rep. Roger Williams (R-TX) introduced the Make the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP) Mandatory Act, arguing that the policy is crucial for restoring law and order at the border and prioritizing the safety of Americans. The Biden administration's rollback of MPP and other enforcement measures has led to record-breaking numbers of migrants crossing the border, straining resources and prompting calls for stricter policies. Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) reintroduced the Clear Law Enforcement for Criminal Alien Removal (CLEAR) Act, which aims to strengthen collaboration between state, local and federal law enforcement to apprehend and deport criminal illegal aliens. The CLEAR Act includes provisions to authorize state and local law enforcement to enforce federal immigration laws, share detailed immigration information and provide grants for enforcing immigration laws, constructing detention facilities and training law enforcement. Republican legislators in the House have introduced a bill that would reestablish the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP), commonly known as the "Remain in Mexico" policy. MPP, originally implemented in 2019 by President Donald Trump through executive order during his first term, required asylum seekers to remain in Mexico while their U.S. immigration cases were processed. However, former President Joe Biden dismantled the policy in 2021 on his second day in office. On Jan. 16, a few days before the inauguration of Trump, Rep. Roger Williams (R-TX), introduced the Make the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP) Mandatory Act in the House. The MPP Mandatory Act seeks to mandate the reinstatement of the MPP. Roger argued that the policy is essential for restoring law and order at the border. "Biden's first action upon taking office four years ago was to reverse President Trump's 'Remain in Mexico' policy," Williams said. "The consequences have proven deadly. My bill lays the groundwork to restore law and order and secure our nation by federally mandating that those awaiting a court date do so from their country of origin. We are a land of laws; it's time we act like it and put the safety of Americans first." (Related: More refugees are choosing to remain in Mexico with its booming economy rather than try to enter the U.S.) The Biden administration's rollback of MPP and other enforcement measures has coincided with record-breaking numbers of migrants crossing the border, straining resources and prompting calls for stricter policies. Blackburn reintroduces CLEAR Act to boost deportations of criminal aliens The Senate, meanwhile, held a hearing to discuss the reinstatement of the Clear Law Enforcement for Criminal Alien Removal (CLEAR) Act. That same day, Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) reintroduced CLEAR, a bill designed to strengthen the collaboration between state, local and federal law enforcement agencies to apprehend and deport criminal illegal aliens. Its key provisions include authorizing state and local law enforcement to enforce federal immigration laws, penalizing states or localities that prohibit such cooperation by withholding specific federal funds; requiring the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to share detailed immigration information, including data on individuals with final removal orders, overstays or revoked visas; and providing grants to states and localities for enforcing immigration laws, constructing detention facilities and training law enforcement. "[Former] President Biden's lax border policies have allowed dangerous criminals to remain in the United States, jeopardizing the safety of innocent Americans," Blackburn said. "The CLEAR Act will ensure state and local law enforcement have the tools needed to protect our communities." These bills are expected to face stiff opposition from Democrats who advocate for more lenient immigration policies. However, Blackburn remains optimistic about advancing these measures, calling for bipartisan support to address what she deems a national crisis. "These bills are about protecting Americans and restoring the rule of law. The time for action is now," Blackburn said. Visit InvasionUSA.news for similar stories. Watch this episode of the "Health Ranger Report" to hear the full interview of Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, and his confidential informant within Border Patrol. This video is from the Health Ranger Report channel on Brighteon.com. More related stories: Texas Rangers, Border Patrol reclaim Rio Grande island previously used as base of operations by Mexican drug cartels. CONFIRMED: Mexican cartels are now INSIDE the U.S. forming gangs and SNIPER NESTS to take out Americans. El Paso, Texas to issue ID CARDS for homeless people, ex-convicts and illegals living in the city starting April 2024. Texas AG Paxton SUES Biden's DHS for cutting razor wire barriers that block ILLEGALS from entering the U.S. SANCTUARY OVERLOAD: Texas sends more buses full of ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS to Democrat-controlled sanctuary cities. Sources include: YourNews.com MSN.com Brighteon.com Trumps pardon promise for Jan. 6 defendants sparks debate over justice, loyalty and democracy President-elect Donald Trump's pledge to pardon individuals involved in the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot has sparked a heated debate over presidential power and the rule of law. Supporters argue that the defendants were unfairly targeted, while critics warn that pardons would reward violence and undermine accountability. Vice President-elect J.D. Vance has suggested that violent offenders should not be pardoned, drawing backlash from some within the MAGA movement. The constitutional authority for presidential pardons is broad, but critics argue that pardoning January 6 defendants would send a dangerous message about political loyalty and accountability. Trump's handling of the pardons will serve as a litmus test for his presidency and the future of American democracy, highlighting the tension between loyalty and justice. As President-elect Donald Trump prepares to take office for his second term, his pledge to pardon individuals involved in the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot has ignited a fierce debate over the limits of presidential power, the rule of law and the implications for American democracy. Trump has repeatedly described the rioters as political prisoners and great patriots, vowing to issue pardons in the first hour of his presidency. However, critics argue that such a move would reward violence, undermine accountability and set a dangerous precedent for the future. The case for pardons: Loyalty and injustice Trumps supporters, including prominent figures like Gary Heavin, founder of American Patriot Relief, argue that the January 6 defendants were unfairly targeted and prosecuted. Heavin, who appeared on Ron Pauls program, outlined a comprehensive plan to assist pardoned individuals, including transportation, housing and ongoing support. These are patriots who were persecuted for exercising their First Amendment rights, Heavin said. We owe it to them to right this wrong. Organizations like the J6 Pardon Project and Stand In The Gap have rallied behind the cause, framing the pardons as a necessary correction to what they describe as government overreach. The vileness of Democrats has no limit, wrote Paul Craig Roberts, a conservative commentator, in a recent column. Roberts argued that pardons are only the first step, calling for restitution for the defendants and prosecution of Department of Justice and FBI officials involved in their cases. However, Vice President-elect J.D. Vance has introduced a caveat to Trumps blanket pardon promise, suggesting that those who committed violence on January 6 should not be pardoned. If you protested peacefully on January the 6th and youve had [Attorney General] Merrick Garlands Department of Justice treat you like a gang member, you should be pardoned, Vance said on Fox News. If you committed violence on that day, obviously you shouldnt be pardoned. Vances comments drew immediate backlash from some within the MAGA movement. All of the J6 defendants must be saved, wrote Philip Anderson, a January 6 defendant arrested on misdemeanor charges. JD Vance is wrong, and I hope Trump will save his own supporters. Critics warn of a dangerous precedent Opponents of Trumps pardon plan argue that it would reward violence and undermine the rule of law. Joyce Vance, a former U.S. attorney, described the move as a grotesque misuse of the pardon power, warning that it would put the presidential seal on crimes that go to the heart of an attack on our democracy. The January 6 riot resulted in over 1,200 criminal charges, including 120 cases involving the use of deadly or dangerous weapons and assaults on law enforcement officers. More than 140 police officers were injured during the attack, and members of Congress fled the Capitol in fear for their lives. Critics argue that pardoning individuals convicted of such acts would send a message that political loyalty outweighs accountability. The notion that Stewart Rhodes could be absolved is frighteningand ought to be frightening to anyone who cares about democracy, said Judge Amit Mehta, who sentenced the Oath Keepers leader to 18 years in prison for seditious conspiracy. The constitutional authority for presidential pardons is broad, but historically, clemency has been granted to individuals who demonstrate remorse, rehabilitation, or extenuating circumstances. President Bidens recent pardons and commutations, for example, focused on nonviolent offenders who had shown a commitment to rebuilding their lives. By contrast, many January 6 defendants have expressed defiance rather than remorse. A test of leadership and principle As Trump prepares to take office, his handling of the January 6 pardons will serve as a litmus test for his presidency. For his supporters, it is a chance to correct perceived injustices and reaffirm his commitment to the MAGA movement. For critics, it is a potential endorsement of violence and a threat to democratic norms. The debate underscores a broader tension between loyalty and justice, with implications that extend far beyond the fate of the January 6 defendants. As Trump weighs his decision, the nation watches closely, aware that the outcome will shape not only his legacy but also the future of American democracy. Sources include: PaulCraigRoberts.org BrennanCenter.org NewRepublic.com Trump proves critics wrong, appoints prominent LGBT figures to key administrative roles President Trumps administration is quietly reshaping the narrative on LGBTQ+ representation in government, even as critics continue to paint him as anti-gay. President Trump is appointing several openly gay and lesbian individuals to high-profile roles in his administration, including Scott Bessent, who could become the highest-ranking openly gay official in U.S. history as Treasury Secretary. The appointments challenge Democratic rhetoric that Trumps presidency is hostile to LGBTQ+ rights. Vice President Kamala Harris and the Human Rights Campaign, have warned of dire consequences for LGBTQ+ Americans under a second Trump term. Supporters argue that Trumps decisions are merit-based, reflecting his focus on qualifications rather than identity markers. Trump is bucking the media and Democratic Party's hysteria When President Trump announced his latest round of administration appointments, few expected the list to include a significant number of openly gay and lesbian individuals. Yet, as the dust settles, its clear that Trump is defying criticsby tapping members of the LGBTQ+ community for top roles. From Scott Bessent, a hedge fund manager poised to become Treasury Secretary, to Richard Grenell, a seasoned diplomat and former acting Director of National Intelligence, Trumps picks are making history. This development stands in stark contrast to the narrative pushed by Democratic leaders and activists, who have repeatedly warned that a second Trump term would endanger LGBTQ+ rights. Former Vice President Kamala Harris, for instance, has claimed that the freedom to love who you love openly and with pride is at stake. Meanwhile, organizations like the Human Rights Campaign have described Trumps presidency as horrific for LGBTQ+ Americans. But the reality, according to those within Trumps orbit, is far more nuanced. Trump is guided by a merit-based approach to hiring Bill White, a top Trump fundraiser and the incoming U.S. ambassador to Belgium, summed up the administrations philosophy succinctly: When it comes to whether youre gay or straight, black or white and all those markers others calculatePresident Trump is decision blind. He bases his decision on the kind of job he knows you will do, period. This sentiment was echoed by Scott Bessent during his confirmation hearing. I sit here knowing that President Trump chose me because he believes I am the best candidate, not because of my sexual preference, Bessent said. I think it is a tribute to President Trump that he looks at people as people. The appointments reflect a broader trend within the Trump administration, which has quietly prioritized qualifications over identity politics. Among the notable picks are Tammy Bruce, a former Fox News contributor and new State Department spokesperson, and Jacob Helberg, the undersecretary of state for economic growth, energy, and the environment. Trumps appointments are not without precedent. During his first term, he appointed Randy Berry as ambassador to Nepal and James Abbott to the Federal Labor Relations Authority. Abbott, who was recently confirmed unanimously by the Senate, is now serving a five-year term. Gregory Angelo, president of the Log Cabin Republicans, praised Abbotts confirmation, noting that it was based on merit. Abbott earned this post, pure and simple, Angelo said. Log Cabin Republicans submitted a letter in support of James nomination, he has been a longtime member of our Washington, D.C. chapter, and I was personally in attendance at his hearing, so naturally this is something Log Cabin Republicans across the country are celebrating. For many within the LGBTQ+ community, Trumps appointments are a step in the right direction for a government that should look at qualifications instead of sexual preference and identity. Trumps appointments reflect a merit-based approach that prioritizes qualifications over identity, challenging the hysterical notion that his presidency is inherently hostile to LGBTQ+ Americans. Sources include: NYPost.com WhiteHouse.gov WashingtonBlade.com Trump rescues TikTok, proposes 50% U.S. ownership to avert ban TikTok was temporarily shut down in the U.S. due to a Biden administration law requiring ByteDance to divest or face a ban over national security concerns. President-elect Donald Trump intervened, proposing a 50% U.S. ownership stake in TikTok through a joint venture to address security risks and save the app. The app was restored to U.S. users after Trumps intervention. Critics argue TikTok poses surveillance risks, while supporters highlight its cultural and economic impact, sparking debates over free speech and national security. TikToks long-term future remains uncertain as ByteDance resists selling the app and Chinese officials oppose selling its algorithm, key to its success. TikTok, the wildly popular Chinese-owned video-sharing app, was restored to U.S. users on Sunday after a brief shutdown, thanks to President-elect Donald Trumps intervention. The app, used by over 170 million Americans, had gone dark earlier in the day following a Biden administration-enforced law requiring its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, to divest or face a nationwide ban. Trumps executive order, set to be signed Monday, delays the ban and proposes a groundbreaking solution: a 50% U.S. ownership stake in TikTok through a joint venture. This move not only saves the app but also reignites a heated debate over national security, free speech, and the future of one of the worlds most influential social media platforms. The Biden administrations push to ban TikTok stems from mounting concerns over national security. Critics argue that the app, owned by Beijing-based ByteDance, could be used as a tool for Chinese surveillance, potentially exposing sensitive user data to the Chinese government. The bipartisan law, signed by President Biden in April, required ByteDance to sell TikTok to a U.S.-approved buyer or face a ban. The law also prohibited American companies like Apple and Google from hosting the app in their stores, effectively cutting off its distribution. TikToks abrupt shutdown on Sunday morning was a preemptive move to avoid hefty penalties under the law. The app disappeared from app stores, but later it was restored and users were greeted with a message thanking Trump for his efforts to restore service. Trumps proposal: A 50% U.S. stake Trumps solution to the TikTok dilemma is both bold and unconventional. In a statement on Truth Social, he proposed a joint venture that would grant the U.S. a 50% ownership stake in the app. By doing this, we save TikTok, keep it in good hands, and allow it to stay up, Trump wrote. Without U.S. approval, there is no TikTok. With our approval, it is worth hundreds of billions of dollarsmaybe trillions. The proposal aims to address national security concerns while preserving the apps economic and cultural impact. Trump emphasized that the U.S. government would not fund the deal but would provide regulatory approval. Were going to have a lot of bidders, he said at a rally on Sunday. The United States will do what we call a joint venture. The TikTok saga highlights the delicate balance between safeguarding national security and protecting free speech. On one hand, critics argue that allowing a Chinese-owned app to operate in the U.S. poses significant risks. On the other hand, banning TikTok could set a dangerous precedent for censorship. The app has become a vital platform for creativity, entrepreneurship, and political expression, particularly among young Americans. Whats next for TikTok? While Trumps intervention has temporarily saved TikTok, its long-term future remains uncertain. The Biden administrations law still requires ByteDance to divest, and its unclear whether a 50% U.S. ownership stake would satisfy congressional concerns. ByteDance has so far resisted selling the app, and Chinese officials have indicated they would not allow the sale of TikToks algorithm, the key to its success. As political wrangling continues, TikToks fate hangs in the balance. For now, the app is back online, and its users are breathing a sigh of relief. But whether TikTok remains a fixture in American life or becomes a casualty of geopolitical tensions will depend on the outcome of high-stakes negotiations in the weeks and months ahead. Sources for this article include: ZeroHedge.com ReclaimTheNet.org CNN.com USAToday.com KAILI, Jan. 19 (Xinhua) -- A "village gala" was held on the train No. 5640 running on the Guiyang-Yuping railway on Saturday, during which folk customs and specialty food of Miao and Dong ethnic groups were displayed for passengers along the way. The pair of "slow trains" No. 5640 and No. 5639 run in Guizhou Province between Yuping Dong Autonomous County of Tongren City and provincial capital Guiyang City. The trains pass through several townships in Qiandongnan Miao and Dong Autonomous Prefecture, connecting more than 100 ethnic minority villages along the route. Temporary fairs are also held aboard the trains where passengers can purchase goods in preparation for the upcoming Chinese Lunar New Year. Beijing (Gasgoo)- On January 16, 2025, Valeo, a global supplier of smart cabin and lighting solutions, held a grand opening ceremony for Valeo New Energy Lighting (Changshu) Co., Ltd. This marks a significant milestone in the localization of Valeo's special lighting R&D and production capabilities in China. Photo credit: Valeo China plays a pivotal role in Valeo's lighting innovations. In 2024, Valeo's China team developed a dynamic smart LED ambient lighting system for Geely's premium new energy vehicle brand ZEEKR, earning a spot in the "Top 100 Players of China's New Automotive Supply Chain" rankings of the Gasgoo Awards 2024. This system features 170 independently controlled LEDs for customizable color and brightness, seamlessly integrated with vehicle communication systems. Its refined optical lens design and 8mm light source spacing ensure smooth and dynamic visual effects for diverse cabin lighting scenarios. Valeo established its first factory in Changshu in 2016, which has since become the company's key production base for wiper systems and new energy power systems in China. Valeo New Energy Lighting (Changshu) Co., Ltd., founded on February 4, 2024, expands the group's footprint with an 8,000-square-meter intelligent production facility, set to double in size to 16,000 square meters in 2026. The new facility will produce a wide range of products, including ambient lighting systems, human-machine interaction lighting, high-mounted brake lights, rear position lamps, emblem lights, and grille lighting, further enhancing Valeo's innovation and manufacturing presence in China. Trump to issue sweeping executive orders on immigration, energy, and federal reform on Inauguration Day President Trump will sign over 200 executive actions on his first day, targeting immigration, energy, and government operations to fulfill campaign promises. A national emergency will be declared at the southern border, reinstating the "Remain in Mexico" policy and designating drug cartels as terrorist organizations. Energy policies will include withdrawing from the Paris Climate Accord, pausing offshore wind leases, and renaming the Gulf of Mexico the "Gulf of America." Federal workforce reforms will end DEI programs, implement merit-based hiring, and suspend security clearances for 51 officials linked to the Hunter Biden laptop controversy. President Donald J. Trump will take the oath of office for his second term today, and he is expected to immediately sign more than 200 executive actions, marking one of the most ambitious first-day agendas in U.S. history. These orders, aimed at reshaping federal policy on immigration, energy, and government operations, fulfill key campaign promises and signal a dramatic shift from the Biden administrations priorities. From securing the southern border to renaming the Gulf of Mexico, Trumps actions aim to restore what he calls American sovereignty and prioritize the interests of U.S. citizens. Border security and immigration overhaul Central to Trumps first-day agenda is a sweeping immigration crackdown. The president-elect will declare a national emergency at the southern border, directing the U.S. military to work with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to fully secure the border. He will also reinstate the Remain in Mexico policy, requiring asylum seekers to wait in Mexico while their claims are processed. In a move to combat drug cartels, Trump will designate them as foreign terrorist organizations, unlocking new authorities to dismantle their operations. The president is issuing a historic series of executive orders and actions that will fundamentally reform the American government, including the complete and total restoration of American sovereignty, a senior administration official told Fox News Digital. Additionally, Trump will close the border to all illegal aliens via proclamation and grant emergency authorities to swiftly return apprehended individuals to their countries of origin. These measures, coupled with the construction of new border wall sections, underscore Trumps commitment to what he calls the most secure border in U.S. history. Energy independence and environmental rollbacks Trumps energy policies will also take center stage. He will pause all offshore wind leases, terminate the electric vehicle mandate, and abolish the Green New Deal. The president-elect will withdraw the U.S. from the Paris Climate Accord, a move he previously made during his first term but was reversed by President Biden. A senior official described the energy executive order as addressing every single energy policy, including liquid natural gas, fracking, pipelines, and permitting. Trump will also fully unleash Alaskan energy production, which the administration views as critical to national security. In a symbolic gesture, Trump will rename the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America, a move he says honors American greatness. The order will direct the Secretary of the Interior to update federal communications and maps to reflect the new name. Trumps executive actions will also target the federal workforce. He plans to reassert presidential control over the bureaucracy, implementing a merit-based hiring review and ending Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs across federal agencies. This is about stopping corrupt, abusive behavior and re-focusing the government on its fundamental duties to the American people, the senior official said. The president-elect will also establish a biological sex definition, reversing Biden-era policies on gender identity. Additionally, he will suspend security clearances for 51 national security officials who disputed the authenticity of Hunter Bidens laptop ahead of the 2020 election. Promises made, promises kept Trumps first-day actions reflect his campaign mantra: Promises made, promises kept. From reducing the cost of living for American families to reining in federal overreach, the administration is poised to deliver on its pledge to restore what it calls the Golden Age of America. As soon as President Trump places his hand on the Bible and swears the Oath to the United States Constitution, the Golden Age of America will begin, said White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt. The American people will have a leader who will deliver on the promises he made to restore our countrys greatness. With legal challenges likely, the Trump administration is prepared for a contentious start to its second term. However, these executive actions represent a bold step toward reclaiming American sovereignty and prosperity. Sources for this article include: News.Yahoo.com NYPost.com CNN.com W.E.F. C40 SMART CITIES: Dystopian nightmare where elitist ruling class can literally SHUT OFF power, vehicles, food, internet and money anytime for any reason The World Economic Forum (WEF) has established C40, a program aimed at creating "smart cities," which are portrayed as a dystopian society where the elite control all aspects of citizens' lives through digital means. In a smart city, every essential service can be remotely controlled and potentially shut down by the authorities, including food rations, electricity, transportation, and internet access, as a form of punishment or during emergencies declared by the rulers. Shyam Batra, a candidate for Mayor of London, warns that the C40 initiative could lead to a situation where cities resemble "open prisons," with strict controls over citizens' movements, access to resources, and even their daily calorie intake. The implementation of C40 is already underway in London, with plans to expand to other major cities, potentially involving the destruction and reconstruction of urban centers, as seen in the hypothetical scenario of Los Angeles being rebuilt for the 2028 Olympics. This suggests a broader agenda of social control under the guise of technological advancement and environmental sustainability. The World Economic Forum (WEF), an independent international organization of elitists and globalists committed to taking over the world tyranny style, has created C40, a code name for smart cities. Smart cities are a dystopian nightmare that the WEF is trying to implement right now, where everything is electric and can be turned off with the flick of a switch by the ruling elites, including digital currency, electric AI-controlled vehicles, smart-metered tiny homes, all public transportation, the internet, and all food will be rationed daily by the dictators, through a calorie-limited maximum amount allotted via text messaging. You cant make this stuff up. The candidate for Mayor of London, Shyam Batra, is blowing the whistle on how evil this plan really is, stating that all food, power, electricity, and banking can be turned off with the flick of one switch if the populace violates any rules. Did you just post some criticism of the government on social media? Read your incoming text message from the C40 dictator: No food credit rations for you today; you violated community standards. Did someone say someone somewhere in the city has the flu? It must be the next pandemic. Read your incoming text message from the C40 Dictator: Emergency notice: The entire city is on lockdown due to a novel flu virus outbreak. No power for electric vehicles will be available until further notice. Do not leave your home for any reason. Violators will be prosecuted and no food rations will be delivered to you. WEF has already signed up with Londons Mayor for London to convert to C-40, and all of the metropolitan cities of the world are next, if WEF has their way A C-40 is basically an open prison, says Shyam Batra, like an infinite COVID-19 pandemic situation. There will be no jobs for anyone in the city that are outside of the 15-minute city, and there will be no vehicles, machines, tractors, or manufacturing plants that function on gas or diesel fuel at all. Its a diabolical plan to control every facet of every persons life, so dont be fooled into thinking its just some cool, modern, green-friendly way to save the world from climate change. Its undercover depopulation, and forced-vaccination at gunpoint will shortly follow in all C-40s. More likely than not, Los Angeles is being burned to the ground right now to prepare to rebuild it as a C-40 city in preparation for the 2028 Olympics being held there. Expect more metropolitan cities to suddenly burst into flames in the next couple years to force everyone into compliance. George Orwell was right about everything. He somehow knew the future, or the W.E.F. is just following his fictional playbook. View this post on Instagram A post shared by True Perspective (@trueperspectiv3) Can you say smart city without coughing into your Fauci Flu face diaper? Tune your apocalypse dial to preparedness.news for updates on real news about surviving the Democrat-controlled energy weapons that destroy entire cities while mainstream media calls it climate change. Sources for this article include: NaturalNews.com InfoWars.com Shanghai (Gasgoo)- On January 16, EHang, a Chinese urban air mobility (UAM) technology platform company, announced that its flagship pilotless passenger-carrying eVTOL (electric vertical take-off and landing) aircraft, the EH216-S, has completed the inaugural flight in downtown Shanghai. Besides, the company plans to launch the regular pilot operation for the eVTOL aircraft sightseeing route along the Huangpu River at Longhua Airport in Shanghai. Photo credit: EHang Longhua Airport serves as a key hub for the development of Shanghai's low-altitude economy, offering ideal conditions for low-altitude activities such as air mobility, tourism and sightseeing, emergency rescue, and logistics. This flight showcased EH216-S's capabilities for commercial operations in urban sightseeing and travel, and laid a solid foundation for the future regular commercial operations of urban air taxis. The EH216-S for this debut flight is one of the aircraft products that EHang delivered to its client Shanghai Hynfar Aviation Co., Ltd. (Hynfar Aviation). With Longhua Airport as the base, EHang plans to collaborate with Hynfar Aviation and New Margin Eastwood Fund to establish diverse low-altitude eVTOL aircraft commercial operational scenarios including passenger transport and urban sightseeing in the entire area of Shanghai, and further expanding to cities and regions along the Yangtze River Delta. This collaboration aims to bring urban air taxis to more cities. Mr. Zhao Wang, EHang's Chief Operating Officer, stated: "As the world's first pilotless passenger-carrying eVTOL that has obtained the Type Certificate, Production Certificate, and Standard Airworthiness Certificate from the CAAC, EH216-S's successful debut flight in Shanghai has a great demonstration importance, signifying that large central cities in China are on the verge of entering the era of urban air taxi flight scenarios. With metropolises gradually advancing the development and operations of the low-altitude economy, EHang's pilotless passenger-carrying eVTOLs are poised to become a key driver in UAM transformation. Looking ahead, we will fully leverage our first-mover advantage as the world's first certified eVTOL company and join hands with Hynfar Aviation, which has been deeply rooted in the civil aviation field for many years, and combine the all-encompassing layout and rich cultural and tourism resources of the New Margin Eastwood Fund in the low-altitude economic sector, to actively promote market-oriented, EH216-S commercial operations in Shanghai and the Yangtze River Delta region. Together, we will explore the diversified application scenarios within the low-altitude economy and jointly build a smarter and more efficient UAM ecosystem, making air taxi rides a part of consumers' daily travel routines." Shanghai (Gasgoo)- In 2024, BYD exported 3,582 new energy buses in the overseas market, representing a 13.79% year-on-year (YoY) jump and raising its market share to 23.19% in China's corresponding segment, according to a post on BYD Commercial Vehicle's WeChat account. Photo credit: BYD Commercial Vehicle In early November 2024, the 150th pure electric bus manufactured by BYD's German factory rolled off the production line, signifying the company's deep presence in the German market and underscoring its competitive strength in Europe. In the South African market, BYD secured an order for 120 buses in July 2024 through a partnership with local prominent bus operator Golden Arrow. In October, the first batch of 20 pure electric buses for this order rolled off the production line at BYD's Qingdao factory. These buses were designed to meet local climate conditions, forming South Africa's first electric bus fleet. In addition, BYD made strides in other countries and regions last year. In July, BYD secured an order for 160 12-meter all-electric buses in the procurement project from Azerbaijan's government, providing the country with a green and eco-friendly public transport solution. BYD's Hungarian electric bus factory rolled off its 700th vehicle, further cementing its position in the European market. In September, BYD delivered 100 pure electric buses to CUTCSA, Uruguay's electric bus operator. As part of its global market expansion, BYD has been advancing the construction of overseas factories and has established sales networks across over 50 countries and regions. Up until now, BYD has sold over 110,000 new energy buses, covering over 400 cities worldwide. Due to scheduled maintenance from Saturday, March 15, 2025, at 10 PM to Sunday, March 16, 2025, at 2 AM, there may be interruptions for our News Gazette Digital subscribers. During this time frame, please click on any News Gazette website content without logging into your News Gazette Digital subscription account. Thank you for your patience during this scheduled maintenance. Shanghai (Gagsoo)- On January 17, China successfully launched the "Lantan-1" satellite from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center using a Long March-2D carrier rocket. The satellite entered its designated orbit, marking the mission as a success. Photo credit: GEESPACE The Lantan-1 was manufactured at Geely's Satellite Super Factory at the end of December last year, with the comprehensive involvement of GEESPACE, the satellite technology and commercial services company invested by Zhejiang Geely Holding Group. The satellite is primarily overseen by Hangzhou Dianzi University, with key parameters validated by the Second Institute of Oceanography, China's Ministry of Natural Resources, the payload developed by the Hangzhou Institute of Advanced Studies, and the satellite platform manufactured by GEESPACE. This satellite is entirely designed, manufactured, and applied by Zhejiang province's companies and institutes, making it a key infrastructure for marine scientific research and environmental monitoring. The Lantan-1 satellite focuses on remote sensing monitoring of water quality in the province's estuaries, bays, and nearshore waters, as well as remote sensing patrols of sea discharge outlets, providing support for ecological environmental protection and marine resource management. Wu Zhihua, the head of the satellite platform from GEESPACE, explained that the satellite has low maintenance costs and can achieve long-term autonomous operation in orbit for up to one month thanks to the in-house developed algorithm software. The satellite also has high versatility, with a universal integrated electronic system developed for different types of satellites ranging from 50kg to 500kg. Through a high payload-to-weight ratio design, the satellite weighing 66kg can carry a payload of about 30kg, reducing costs while increasing effectiveness. Geely's Satellite Super Factory integrates aerospace and automotive manufacturing capabilities. The factory has so far delivered 33 satellites into orbit, with a 100% delivery success rate and a cumulative in-orbit operation time of over 14,000 days. Currently, the facility has an annual production capacity of 500 satellites, with a daily output of 1 to 2 satellites. The factory has managed to reduce satellite manufacturing costs by approximately 45%. Scientists have unveiled a novel mosquito control strategy: genetically engineered fungi that spread through mating. This strategy offers hope for reducing malaria in high-risk regions. Research: Transmission of transgenic mosquito-killing fungi during copulation. Image Credit: Kateryna Kon / Shutterstock In a recent study published in the journal Scientific Reports, a team of researchers in Burkina Faso and the United States investigated a novel method for controlling malaria-transmitting mosquitoes using genetically modified fungi that can kill mosquitoes through sexual transmission. The study explored the transmission efficiency, virulence, and mortality effects of these fungi under semi-field conditions while addressing the challenges in enhancing existing vector control tools. The researchers obtained ethical approvals from the Burkina Faso National Biosecurity Agency and other regulatory bodies, ensuring compliance with biosafety guidelines. Background Global Malaria Burden: In 2022, malaria affected approximately 249 million people, leading to 608,000 deaths, with 80% of fatalities occurring in children under five, emphasizing the urgent need for innovative control strategies. Malaria remains a significant global health challenge, especially in tropical and subtropical countries. Moreover, traditional methods such as insecticidal nets and indoor spraying often successfully target indoor mosquitoes but fail to address outdoor-resting populations. These exophilic mosquitoes exhibit diverse behaviors that make them difficult to manage with current strategies. Innovative biological approaches, such as using entomopathogenic fungi, which naturally infect and kill mosquitoes, are being explored extensively in recent research. However, these fungi often show limited efficiency due to low transmission rates. While genetic engineering of the fungi to produce lethal toxins has improved their impact even at minimal doses, transmission remains challenging. Research indicates that a single transgenic fungal spore can be lethal to mosquitoes, significantly reducing the need for high inoculum loads observed with wild-type fungi. Sexual transmission of these fungi during mosquito mating offers a promising way to reach both indoor and outdoor populations. About the study Extended Infectious Period: Male mosquitoes treated with transgenic fungi remained infectious for up to 24 hours, but fungal effectiveness declined after 48 hours as symptoms began to impair their ability to transfer spores effectively. The present study evaluated the ability of genetically engineered mosquito-killing fungi to spread through sexual transmission and cause significant mortality in outdoor and indoor mosquito populations. The researchers used two fungal strainsa wild-type strain and a transgenic strain expressing insect-specific toxinsto infect male mosquitoes. The study was conducted in laboratory and semi-field environments to mimic natural conditions. Adult Anopheles coluzzii mosquitoes, reared from larvae in an area with insecticide-resistant mosquitoes, were exposed to the fungal spores. The researchers treated the male mosquitoes with fungal spores and then allowed them to mate with uninfected females. They then analyzed fungal transmission by measuring the proportion of females with fungal spores, the number of spores transferred, and the resulting mortality rates. The study examined survival rates of female mosquitoes following exposure to males treated with either transgenic or wild-type fungi at different post-treatment intervals. The researchers also assessed whether contact with surfaces where treated males rested could lead to spore transmission. Findings indicated that females did not acquire fungal infections from contact with resting surfaces, reinforcing that direct mating is the primary mode of transmission. Additionally, the team investigated how mating rates and female mortality varied depending on the fungi type, treatment timing, and environmental factors such as the positioning of mosquito swarms relative to sunset, which influenced the number of mating pairs. Major findings The researchers found that transgenic mosquito-killing fungi are significantly more effective at causing mortality in female mosquitoes through sexual transmission than wild-type fungi. When males treated with transgenic fungi mated with uninfected females, up to 89.33% of the females died within two weeks, which was significantly greater than the 68% 4% mortality observed among the female mosquitoes exposed to males treated with wild-type fungi. Furthermore, infection experiments demonstrated that males remained capable of transmitting spores for up to 24 hours post-treatment. The transgenic strain proved particularly lethal, even with minimal spore transfer, due to the expression of an insect-specific toxin. Females exposed to transgenic fungi showed higher mortality rates despite receiving similar spore loads as those exposed to wild-type fungi. However, fewer females died when exposed to males infected for 48 hours, suggesting a decline in fungal transmission effectiveness over time as infected males exhibited symptoms. Economic Impact: Malaria has significant economic consequences, particularly in Africa, where it is estimated to result in $12 billion in annual losses due to increased healthcare costs, reduced productivity, and adverse effects on tourism. The study also revealed that females did not acquire infections by coming in contact with surfaces where infected males had rested. This indicated that direct mating is the primary mode of fungal transfer. Furthermore, mating rates were unaffected by the fungal treatment within the first 24 hours, suggesting that the presence of fungal spores on males did not deter female mosquitoes from mating. This finding supports the potential combination of transgenic fungi with other mosquito control strategies, such as the Sterile Insect Technique (SIT) and Wolbachia-based approaches. Interestingly, fewer females died after mating with males infected for 48 hours compared to 24 hours, likely due to reduced spore transfer as fungal symptoms also began manifesting in the males. In semi-field experiments, mating rates were influenced by environmental factors such as the proximity of swarms to sunset locations, but the mortality patterns observed in the laboratory were consistent in these more natural settings as well. These results highlighted the potential of transgenic fungi to serve as an effective tool for mosquito control, especially when integrated with other strategies. Furthermore, the study underscores the need for preliminary field evaluations of mating site characteristics to maximize transmission efficiency in real-world conditions. Conclusions To conclude, the study demonstrated that genetically modified mosquito-killing fungi could effectively transmit lethal infections during mating and significantly reduce mosquito numbers. Furthermore, the transgenic fungal strains outperformed the wild-type fungi and provided a promising approach for malaria vector control. By targeting both indoor and outdoor populations, this method also addressed the limitations of existing interventions. However, the persistence of fungal effectiveness over time and environmental influences on mating rates should be carefully considered for large-scale deployment. insights from industry Arvonn Tully and Esther Kieserman Yokogawa Life Science In this interview, NewsMedical speaks with Arvonn Tully and Esther Kieserman from Yokogawa Life Science about how confocal-based high-content imaging is advancing core facility research and improving data reliability. Could you introduce yourselves and share your background, particularly your work with confocal-based high-content imaging and analysis? Esther Kieserman (EK): I have worked in the microscopy industry all throughout my career, starting back in my sophomore year of college. I earned a Ph.D. in molecular biology focusing on confocal-based imaging, and my postdoctoral work primarily involved widefield microscopy. I then spent approximately three years working in a microscopy core facility, during which time I transitioned from being a microscope user to a microscopist. Before joining Yokogawa Life Science's team in February 2024, I would say that I had limited direct experience with high-content imaging. I spent about five years working with traditional microscopes, followed by four years focused on training, application support, and technical assistance. Microscopy has always been a constant in my career, and high-content imaging represents a unique, specialized branch of this field. My background in traditional microscopy gives me a fresh and well-rounded perspective when approaching confocal-based high-content imaging and analysis. Arvonn Tully (AT): I have been part of Yokogawas High Content Analysis team since May 2020. Before that, I spent 14 years working with 3D image analysis software in the research microscopy field, collaborating closely with the Imaris and Arivis teams across North America. During this time, I supported labs, core facilities, biotech, and pharmaceutical companies, both before and after sales, helping them get the most out of their imaging tools. What I enjoy most is helping researchers turn their ideas into meaningful 3D measurements. My background in scientific research has been invaluable as I have worked to bring high-content analysis into 3D environments, particularly in drug discovery. I am especially passionate about using models like spheroids, organoids, and patient-derived tissues to create more realistic and physiologically relevant studies. Confocal microscopy, with its ability to optically section through 3D cultures, plays a key role in exploring the behavior of cells within these complex systems, and I am thrilled to be part of such innovative work. Image Credit: Ellen Curtis/Shutterstock.com Esther, from your experience in managing core facilities, what are the primary challenges these facilities face regarding resource allocation, data handling, and throughput? EK: A primary challenge for core facilities is acquiring sufficient resources to invest in new technology or having the foresight to keep pace with technological advancements. Core directors must invest in "future-proofed" equipment to ensure their facilities remain attractive to both the institutions researchers and the new researchers they are trying to recruit. The funding cycle, at least in the United States, is long. Core facility managers must make decisions months, if not years, in advance of placing a piece of equipment in their facility. This can significantly strain the core and impact its ability to secure further funding if the equipment choice is incorrect and remains unused. Data management has consistently posed issues for core facilities. Ten years ago, we used external servers with time limitations on local data storage. This challenge has since intensified as data production speeds have increased and researchers generate more data per experiment. Compounding this issue is the growing size of data files, which demand more computer storage. We frequently encounter situations where a single overnight experiment can occupy an entire multi-terabyte hard drive. Throughput is also a major concern. Researchers in core facilities typically pay hourly to use equipment, whether it be a flow cytometer, a confocal microscope, or even a standard compound microscope. Costs rise if specialized assistance is required. The price also increases if a researcher needs a core manager to conduct a flow cytometry run, image brain slices on the confocal, or analyze a sample through mass spectrometry. Researchers and industry experts aim to maximize the data they obtain from their investments; thus, any equipment downtime can be detrimental to project progress. How do you see confocal-based high-content imaging addressing some of these challenges, particularly in streamlining workflows and enhancing data reliability? EK: Confocal-based high-content imaging can address several core facility challenges, especially in terms of throughput. High-content imaging and analysis alleviate strain on more specialized equipment. While not a direct replacement for flow cytometry, a high-content system can serve as a quick alternative for a panel of up to four colors, offering a convenient way to count cell populations without needing to spend time dissociating cells into suspension. Instead of utilizing an expensive point-scanning confocal microscope, researchers can achieve a similar quantity and quality of images using a spinning disk-based high-content system within the same timeframe. In many cases, high-content analysis systems are a direct replacement or even an improvement over traditional methods. Once the parameters are defined, high-content imagers consistently execute experiments with precision, ensuring reliability and reducing the influence of biased analysis routines. This consistency not only enhances the accuracy of results but also eases the mental burden on researchers. With less time spent managing repetitive tasks, researchers can focus on asking innovative questions, exploring creative ideas, and advancing their projects. The reliability of data is a major advantage, allowing researchers to concentrate on experimental design without the added concern of whether the experiment will run smoothly. This frees up their time and energy to focus on other important tasks within the lab or facility. Arvonn, given your expertise in software analysis, can you elaborate on the role of software in making confocal-based high-content imaging a valuable tool for core facilities? AT: Automation advancements are a game-changer for core facilities, making it easier to get researchers up to speed and significantly boosting the reliability of research data. High-content imagers, for instance, allow scientists to gather meaningful results much faster than traditional microscopes ever could. These microscopes are fully automated and user-friendly, operating more like plug-and-play devices. Their defined workflows not only simplify tasks but also minimize training time and reduce the likelihood of user errors. In today's research landscape, automation is essential for scaling experiments. The bar for publishing papers has risenexperiments now require much larger sample sizes to confirm the validity of results, with ten samples no longer cutting it. High-content confocal microscopes rise to this challenge with advanced spinning disk technology. Unlike traditional laser point-scanning confocals, they use 1,000 light beams simultaneously to capture images more quickly and with greater sensitivity. This speed and precision are vital for producing high-quality data. How does implementing confocal-based high-content imaging differ between industrial and academic core facilities? Have you observed unique challenges or advantages? EK: Industrial core facilities are often among the first to adopt high-content imaging systems, typically investing in equipment tailored to specific projects and operating it continuously for those purposes. For industrial users, repeatability and minimal downtime are crucial, as experiments often run 24/7. In these settings, ease of use becomes a major advantage, especially since troubleshooting during off-hours can be challenging. These systems need to perform reliably every time they are used. In contrast, academic core facilities tend to prioritize versatility, seeking equipment that is both user-friendly and adaptable to a variety of applications. For instance, a confocal high-content system can easily be adjusted to handle tasks as varied as scanning 3D live cells and imaging brain tissue slices. Do you find that data analysis requirements differ between industrial and academic settings? AT: Analysis in industrial settings generally follows one of two approaches: targeted or comprehensive. Targeted groups use well-characterized assays that address specific questions about cell populations. The other approach involves measuring everything and using deep learning tools to identify distinct phenotypes and effects in secondary data analysis. As core facilities evolve, how does high-content imaging integrate with other core technologies like flow cytometry or genomics? Do you foresee a trend toward a multimodal approach? EK: High-content imaging is increasingly being adopted in non-traditional imaging cores, especially flow cytometry. Systems like the CQ1, which can save data in FCS format, offer researchers the flexibility to work with various dyes and collect substantial data from images. While it does not fully replace an 18- or 20-dye flow cytometer panel, it provides a valuable starting point for comprehensive flow cytometry experiments. Image Credit: Yokogawa One major advantage of high-content imaging is its ability to streamline simpler flow experiments. Researchers can skip steps like removing cells from plates or transferring them into flow solutions or machinery. Instead, they can go straight from incubation to data collection, preserving time-based data that is often lost in traditional flow cytometry processes. Confocal high-content imaging and flow cytometry are on track to become industry-standard multimodal technologies. There is also increasing interest in combining confocal imaging with mass spectrometry cores. This integration offers a unique ability to merge spatial and temporal data from imaging with mass spectrometry analysis, delivering deeper insights into cell-to-cell heterogeneitycritical for advancing disease research and treatment strategies. Could you share some insights on managing high-volume image data? What practices do you recommend for core facilities to streamline data storage, analysis, and accessibility? AT: Effective data storage policies are critical for core facilities, ensuring clear guidelines on retention periods and backup options to address user errors. While storage needs vary, many publications require raw data to be stored for up to seven years. Collaborating with users to develop storage and sharing solutions is key, with tools like Omero often used to manage metadata and analysis results. Cloud storage is another option, though it can be prohibitively expensive for individual labs. Some forward-thinking labs are adopting multi-petabyte storage solutions within a single on-site rack. This setup supports internal access while aligning with FAIR standards, providing a path for broader data sharing with the research community. Data analysis tools also involve trade-offs. Open-source options are cost-effective and customizable but may require additional training and support, making their overall cost comparable to commercial software, which provides more comprehensive support. Facilities must weigh these factors to select the best tools for their needs. How can confocal-based high-content imaging and advanced analytics improve the overall experience for researchers and technicians within core facilities? AT: High-content imaging systems streamline workflows, optimizing them to address specific assay questions at scale. Features like automatic batch processing and integration with scheduling software enable researchers to run large-scale experiments with minimal time spent at the microscope. Automated data transfer and compatibility with third-party analysis tools further boost efficiency, allowing researchers to focus on insights rather than logistics. Looking forward, what improvements would you like to see in high-content imaging technology and analysis software to enhance the capabilities of core facilities? EK: From my experience in microscopy, flexibility, upgradability, and futureproofing are crucial for core facilities. Managers want assurance that their investment will remain functional and attractive for at least five years. High-content systems should become more upgradeable without sacrificing their ease of use. Innovations like these will help core facilities offer better services, improve data quality, and support cutting-edge research across various disciplines. AT: The next major step is an increased focus on 3D spatial biology. Research has shown that 3D cellular biology differs significantly from 2D monolayers. The research community has likely reached the limit of 2D studies, and it is time to explore 3D interactions of cells in physiologically relevant environments. Some questions can only be addressed through 3D live cell models and fixed tissue, which could revolutionize pharmacology and personalized cell therapies. It really is an exciting time for the field. About Arvonn Tully Arvonn Tully is a 3D image analysis expert with over 15 years of experience developing innovative solutions for complex biological challenges. In particular he is interested in sub cellular tracking, neuronal reconstruction, and finding solutions for complex analysis problems. Prior to Yokogawa, Arvonn worked at other image analysis companies specializing in 3d visualization and analysis of large multi-dimensional images. He trained thousands of users in 3d Image analysis and developed numerous novel 3d analysis solutions. In particular he developed a bouton finder, and a novel solution to identifying and tracking the contact area in 3d between touching endosomes. He started his career in biological research at Dr. Levitan's Lab in University of Pittsburgh Medical College. There he used several imaging techniques to study the biophysics of large dense core vesicle mobility using D. melanogaster neuromuscular junctions. Originally from Virginia, he grew up in the mountains and playing in the halls of Virginia Tech. About Esther Kieserman Dr. Esther Kieserman is a skilled microscopist with over 20 years of experience specializing in confocal-based imaging and development of innovative microscopy techniques. She earned her undergraduate degree at Carnegie Mellon University and went on to earn a Ph.D. in molecular biology in the lab of Dr. John Wallingford at UT Austin. Esther completed her postdoctoral research in the lab of Dr. Rebecca Heald at UC Berkeley. Before joining Yokogawa Life Science in February 2024 as Head of 3rd Party Collaborations and Marketing Manager, Esther spent several years at Johns Hopkins Universitys microscopy core facility and nine years at Nikon Instruments, where she worked on sales, training, application support, and technical assistance. Originally from upstate New York, Esther is an avid animal lover and enjoys caring for her rabbits. With a rich background spanning research, technical support, and commercial applications, she brings a well-rounded and comprehensive perspective to the field of high-content microscopy. About Yokogawa Life Science We have 30 years of experience in this life science field and will respond to customer's problem solving with cutting-edge solutions. Our confocal scanner unit CSU series enables 3D observation of the cells in detail and dynamics of organelles inside cells. Since the CSU series is capable of high-speed shooting, it is also suitable for observing high-speed life phenomena. In addition, the CSU series is a multi-point confocal method which is extremely gentle to cells, best suitable for long-term live cell observation. Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality globally, posing a particularly significant threat to people with HIV (PWH). To address this, CVD prevention plans rely on prediction models like atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) risk scores to estimate the risk of heart disease. However, previous studies have called into question whether these commonly used prediction models perform well among people with HIV, and there remains a gap in understanding of what these scores mean for PWH in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital, a founding member of the Mass General Brigham healthcare system, in collaboration with an international team of investigators, conducted a study to evaluate how well existing ASCVD risk estimates could be used to predict cardiovascular outcomes in global populations with HIV. Their findings are published in Lancet HIV. Their prospective cohort study used data from Randomized Trial to Prevent Vascular Events in HIV (REPRIEVE) to analyze individuals with HIV who were from low-, middle-, and high-income countries across several continents. The researchers found that for those in REPRIEVE, current risk models underestimated cardiovascular events in both women and black men in high income countries (HICs), while overestimating cardiovascular events for all PWH in LMICs. These findings allow researchers to fine-tune cardiovascular disease prediction models for people living with HIV. Assessing the accuracy of these predictions in subgroups of the population is possible because of carefully developed outreach and enrolling a diverse study population representing all people at risk." Patrice Desvigne-Nickens, MD, medical officer, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) Steven Grinspoon, MD, a co-lead study author and chief of the Massachusetts General Hospital Metabolism Unit in the Endocrinology Division of the Department of Medicine, agrees. "This study underscores the need for nuanced, region-specific and population-specific CVD prediction models that accurately reflect cardiovascular risk for PWH, including those living in LMICs," he explained. "Our team calculated correction factors for the underestimates, with future work needed to validate these values in an external cohort. We anticipate that experts on guideline committees will recognize our findings and may consider stronger treatment recommendations for women and black or African American men living with HIV in HICs," said co-lead author Markella Zanni, MD, director of Women's Health Research in the Metabolism Unit at Massachusetts General Hospital. With the expanding legal cannabis edibles market in the US comes the need for quick, precise examination of the molecular content of cannabis edible products to regulate and reduce fraudulent product production. Image Credit: Victor Moussa/Shutterstock.com Cannabis edible products are made using cannabis extract. The primary active ingredients in cannabis extract are cannabinoids.1 Of the 100+ cannabinoids currently described, delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD) are the most commonly consumed for medicinal and recreational use.2 THC is a psychoactive cannabinoid that has been shown to have important antiemetic and analgesic properties. CBD, on the other hand, is non-psychoactive and generally used for anxiolytic, antiseizure, and anti-inflammatory purposes. 3,4 With such rapid growth in the cannabis market in the United States, many regulation challenges have arisen. One of the major problems now is the production of counterfeit cannabis edible products made using synthetic chemicals. Counterfeit edibles pose a great safety threat to consumers and reduce consumers trust in the legal market. Pittcon 2025: Mar 1-5 Register for Pittcon 2025 Boston Convention and Exhibition Center Boston, MA Now, important advancements in spectroscopy for the analysis of cannabis edible products are evolving to combat this issue. The US legal cannabis market: Growth and challenges Driven by consumer preferences for smoke-free cannabis products and greater recognition of marijuanas medicinal properties, the United States legal cannabis edibles market was valued at 8.01 USD in 2022. Popular cannabis products include gummies, chocolates, hard candies, and cannabis-infused beverages, with baked goods being the most popularly consumed cannabis-infused food items in the States.5 One issue with the US legal cannabis market is the increased potency of edibles, which varies between brands and can be falsely represented on packaging. This increased potency, combined with delayed onset effects, of cannabis edibles can result in overconsumption and potential adverse experiences.6 Regulation of cannabis edible products is also not policed at the federal level, and only local brand protection is available, resulting in the production of fake, counterfeit versions of nationally reputed brands that consumers will seek out.7 These counterfeit sellers are incorporating synthetic cannabinoids into their products, reducing the quality and safety of the product because it is less expensive, quicker, and easier to produce.8 Accurate, fast, and simple molecular analysis of cannabis edible products is, therefore, central to policing counterfeit cannabis edibles. The role of spectroscopy in the analysis of counterfeit cannabis edibles Although the most predominantly used spectroscopy techniques have been gas chromatography and high-performance liquid chromatography, infrared and Raman spectroscopy are now being successfully applied in the analysis of cannabis counterfeit products. These vibrational spectroscopy methods are highly advantageous in the analysis of cannabis edible products because they have increased user-friendliness, extremely rapid testing, and high accuracy.9 Portable infrared and Raman spectroscopy devices are now becoming more readily available and financially accessible, facilitating accurate and fast onsite testing for the policing of cannabis production facilities and dispensaries. Pittcon is dedicated to exploring the most recent advancements in the molecular analysis of cannabis edibles, hosting a seminar series on the detection and analysis of counterfeit cannabis products. This series includes the following talk, Combatting Counterfeit Cannabis Edibles with Laboratory and Portable Spectroscopy, presented by Brooke Kammrath from the Forensic Science at the University of New Haven and Co-Executive Director of the Henry C. Lee Institute of Forensic Science. Counterfeit products are an interesting and varied issue within forensic science, threatening public health and violating intellectual property. Brooke Kammrath will discuss the problems associated with the rise of counterfeit cannabis edible products, including the varying sources and differing quality, which have not been scientifically investigated. She will highlight the value of portable infrared and Raman spectroscopy devices in the identification of counterfeit edible packaging and the edibles themselves and determine the best analytical scheme for their identification and classification. She will also draw light on the success of the LightLab portable HPLC cannabis analyzer for edible products and suggest the need for a multi-toolkit approach.10 Reports now state that the illegal cannabis market is dominated by organized crime groups counterfeiting publically highly regarded cannabis brands. Experts will gather at Pittcon to discuss these topics, drawing information from non-governmental organizations (NGOs), the US Farm Service Agency (FSA), leading forensic university research groups, and commercial organizations that specialize in portable spectroscopy devices.11 Richard Crocombe, principal of Crocombe Spectroscopic Consulting, will delve further into the use of portable instruments for the identification of counterfeit products during his talk, Detection and Analysis of Counterfeit Pharmaceutical and Cannabis Products Via Portable Instruments in the Field. He will outline the successful specialization, supply, training, and deployment of portable instruments for molecular analysis of counterfeit products, as well as offer a broad overview of accompanying challenges and how to overcome them.11 Fast, accurate, and relatively easy identification and quantification of natural and counterfeit cannabis edible products is required for effective regulation of the cannabis market to ensure consumer safety. Portable spectroscopy instruments are vital for such analysis, and Pittcon is at the forefront of technological advancements that have pioneered this valuable field of molecular research. Conclusion Pittcon offers a vital platform for the discussion of molecular analytical research, including the success of Raman and infrared spectroscopy in combatting counterfeit cannabis edibles. These techniques are at the forefront of overcoming the challenge of counterfeit cannabis edibles, and the increased portability of these instruments is helping to give researchers and regulators the upper hand. This seminar series is one of many exciting and innovative talk sessions that will be hosted at Pittcon. To find out more, visit the Pittcon website. References Blake, A. and Nahtigal, I. (2019). The evolving landscape of cannabis edibles. Current Opinion in Food Science, 28, pp.2531. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cofs.2019.03.009. McClements, D.J. (2020). Enhancing Efficacy, Performance, and Reliability of Cannabis Edibles: Insights from Lipid Bioavailability Studies. Annual Review of Food Science and Technology, 11(1), pp.4570. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-food-032519-051834. Araujo, M., Almeida, M.B. and Araujo, L.L.N. (2023). The cannabinoids mechanism of action: an overview. BrJP, (online) 6, pp.109113. https://doi.org/10.5935/2595-0118.20230028-en. Abramovici, H. (2013). INFORMATION FOR HEALTH CARE PROFESSIONALS Cannabis (marihuana, marijuana) and the cannabinoids Dried or fresh plant and oil administration by ingestion or other means Psychoactive agent. Available at: https://www.canada.ca/content/dam/hc-sc/documents/services/drugs-medication/cannabis/information-medical-practitioners/information-health-care-professionals-cannabis-cannabinoids-eng.pdf. Global Market Insights Inc. Cannabis Edibles Market Statistics | Growth Forecasts 2032. (online) Available at: https://www.gminsights.com/industry-analysis/cannabis-edibles-market. Barrus, D., et al. (2016). Tasty THC: Promises and Challenges of Cannabis Edibles. Methods Rep RTI Press. (online) https://doi.org/10.3768/rtipress.2016.op.0035.1611. Denton, A. WHY BRAND ENFORCEMENT LAWS FOR MEDICAL MARIJUANA ARE DEFICIENT, AND WHAT IT MEANS FOR THE INDUSTRYS PRODUCT SAFETY EFFORTS. (online) Available at: https://www.mitchellwilliamslaw.com/webfiles/Denton_article.pdf (Accessed 16 Jan. 2025). Synthetic cannabinoids: What are they? What are their effects? | HSB | NCEH (2017). http://med.iiab.me/modules/en-cdc/www.cdc.gov/nceh/hsb/chemicals/sc/default.html. Amorn Slosse, et al (2023). Analytical strategies for herbal Cannabis samples in forensic applications: A comprehensive review. Wires Forensic Science, 5(3). https://doi.org/10.1002/wfs2.1479. Pittcon.(2025). Combatting Counterfeit Cannabis Edibles with Laboratory and Portable Spectroscopy. (online) Available at: https://labscievents.pittcon.org/event/pittcon-2025/planning/UGxhbm5pbmdfMjQ1MzY4Mg== (Accessed 16 Jan. 2025). Pittcon. (2025). Detection and Analysis of Counterfeit Pharmaceutical and Cannabis Products Via Portable Instruments in the Field. (online) Available at: https://labscievents.pittcon.org/event/pittcon-2025/planning/UGxhbm5pbmdfMjQ1MzY4MQ== (Accessed 16 Jan. 2025). About Pittcon Pittcon is the worlds largest annual premier conference and exposition on laboratory science. Pittcon attracts more than 16,000 attendees from industry, academia and government from over 90 countries worldwide. Their mission is to sponsor and sustain educational and charitable activities for the advancement and benefit of scientific endeavor. Pittcons target audience is not just analytical chemists, but all laboratory scientists anyone who identifies, quantifies, analyzes or tests the chemical or biological properties of compounds or molecules, or who manages these laboratory scientists. Having grown beyond its roots in analytical chemistry and spectroscopy, Pittcon has evolved into an event that now also serves a diverse constituency encompassing life sciences, pharmaceutical discovery and QA, food safety, environmental, bioterrorism and cannabis/psychedelics. Sponsored Content Policy: News-Medical.net publishes articles and related content that may be derived from sources where we have existing commercial relationships, provided such content adds value to the core editorial ethos of News-Medical.Net which is to educate and inform site visitors interested in medical research, science, medical devices and treatments. 8th Pay Commission Pay Matrix: Check Salary Hike, Fitment Factor For Central Govt Employees Curated By : News18.com Last Updated: January 21, 2025, 10:20 IST For the 8th Pay Commission, it is widely expected that the fitment factor will rise to 2.86, potentially increasing the minimum basic pay to Rs 51,480. 8th Pay Commission Pay Matrix. The 8th Pay Commission, approved last week by the Union Cabinet, is expected to be implemented from January 1, 2026, effecting higher salaries for central government employees. A primary focus of this revision is the Pay Matrix, which structures salaries across different job levels. A key component of this calculation is the fitment factor, which determines the increase in basic pay. Understanding the Fitment Factor related stories The fitment factor is a multiplier applied to the current basic pay to calculate the new salary under the revised Pay Matrix. Under the 7th Pay Commission, the fitment factor was set at 2.57, which increased the minimum basic pay from Rs 7,000 to Rs 18,000. For the 8th Pay Commission, it is widely expected that the fitment factor will rise to 2.86, potentially increasing the minimum basic pay to Rs 51,480, a jump of 186 per cent over the current Rs 18,000. However, the net salary hike might be lesser due to various deductions. Job Roles Across Pay Levels The Pay Matrix covers a wide range of positions, each aligned to specific levels: Level 1: Peons, Attendants, MTS (Multi-Tasking Staff) performing essential support tasks. Level 2: Lower Division Clerks (LDCs) managing clerical and routine administrative duties. Level 3: Constables and Skilled Trades Staff in police, defense, or public services. Level 4: Stenographers (Grade D) and Junior Clerks managing transcription and documentation. Level 5: Senior Clerks, Assistants, or Technical Staff providing higher-level administrative or technical support. Level 6: Inspectors, Sub-Inspectors, and Junior Engineers (JEs) in technical or supervisory roles. Level 7: Superintendents, Section Officers, or Assistant Engineers (AEs) handling project management or complex administrative tasks. Level 8: Senior Section Officers or Assistant Audit Officers, managing audits or higher administrative functions. Level 9: Deputy Superintendents of Police (DSPs) or Accounts Officers, responsible for operational or financial management. Level 10: Group A Officers, such as Assistant Commissioners or entry-level officers in services like IAS, IPS, and IFS. top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all Conclusion The 8th Pay Commission promises a transformative shift in the salary structure of central government employees, with the fitment factor expected to rise to 2.86. While these projections provide a glimpse into potential changes, the final recommendations will determine the exact salary revisions. For now, government employees can look forward to a significant financial boost that reflects their valuable contributions to the nation. First Published: January 20, 2025, 09:57 IST Bharti Airtel Ties Up With Bajaj Finance To Offer Loans, EMI Card | Details Here Reported By : News18.com Last Updated: January 20, 2025, 18:20 IST Under the agreement, Airtel will initially offer Bajaj Finance's retail financial products on its Airtel Thanks App, and later through its nation-wide network of stores. Airtel customers can now apply for the Airtel-Bajaj Finserv Insta EMI card via the Airtel Thanks App and later through its nation-wide network of stores. Telecom major Bharti Airtel on Monday said it has entered into a strategic partnership with Bajaj Finance, to create a digital platform for financial services. Under the agreement, Airtel will initially offer Bajaj Finances retail financial products like gold loans and EMI cards on its Airtel Thanks App, and later through its nationwide network of stores. The one-of-a-kind partnership brings together Airtels highly engaged customer base of 375 million, 12 lakh+ strong distribution network, and Bajaj Finances diversified suite of 27 product lines, and distribution heft of 5,000+ branches and 70,000 field agents," according to a joint statement by Bharti Airtel and Bajaj Finance. related stories Airtel will initially offer Bajaj Finances retail financial products on its Airtel Thanks App for seamless and secure customer experience, and later through its nation-wide network of stores, it said. The combined strength of the companies digital assets will enable Airtel and Bajaj Finance to significantly deepen penetration of financial products and services," according to the statement. So far, two products of Bajaj Finance have been piloted on the Airtel Thanks App. By March, four products of Bajaj Finance will be available to customers on the Airtel Thanks App. These include gold loan, business loan, a co-branded Insta EMI Card and personal loan, it said. Airtel will progressively offer close to 10 financial products of Bajaj Finance within this calendar year," according to the statement. Gopal Vittal, vice-chairman and MD, Bharti Airtel, said, Airtel and Bajaj Finance, two trusted names in this country, have the shared vision of empowering millions of Indians with a diverse portfolio of financial needs. We are building Airtel Finance as a strategic asset for the group and will continue to invest in and grow the business. Today, we are trusted by over 1 million customers and our vision is to make Airtel Finance a one-stop shop for all the financial needs of our customers." Rajeev Jain, managing director, Bajaj Finance, said, Our partnership with Airtel not only leverages Indias digital infrastructure for inclusive growth but also brings together the expertise and reach of two of Indias leading and most-trusted brands." top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all According to the statement, Airtel customers have the opportunity to apply for the Airtel-Bajaj Finserv Insta EMI card via the Airtel Thanks App and later through its nation-wide network of stores. Airtel-Bajaj Finserv EMI card provides access to a range of offers available to Bajaj Finance customers. Users will benefit from flexible EMI options and payment plans for purchasing various goods, including electronics, furniture and groceries at over 1.5 lakh partner stores across more than 4,000 cities. Additionally, the co-branded card is applicable for e-commerce transactions on multiple platforms," it added. First Published: January 20, 2025, 12:32 IST Hindenburg's Nate Anderson Faces Scrutiny For Sharing Report With Hedge Fund Curated By : News18.com Last Updated: January 20, 2025, 09:43 IST Nate Anderson, 'activist' shortseller who has announced shutting down of his almost eight years old research firm Hindenburg, is under cloud for alleged links with hedge funds Nate Anderson disbands Hindenburg Research Nate Anderson, the activist short-seller behind Hindenburg Research, which he recently announced will be shutting down after nearly eight years, is facing scrutiny over alleged connections with hedge funds in preparing reports targeting companies, according to a Canadian portal citing documents filed in an Ontario court. In a series of filings related to a defamation lawsuit in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, Moez Kassam, head of Canadas Anson hedge fund, claimed his firm shared research with a wide variety of sources," including Hindenburgs Nate Anderson. related stories The Market Frauds portal reported that court documents suggested Hindenburg collaborated with Anson in preparing a report, with potential implications for securities fraud under US law. If short sellers fail to disclose their involvement with hedge funds in crafting bearish reports, it could lead to charges by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Short sellers borrow securities, sell them, and hope to repurchase them at a lower price after their reports trigger a decline in stock value. The involvement of hedge funds, which could place parallel bets, raises concerns about possible manipulation of stock prices. While Anson and Kassam could not be immediately reached for comment, Anderson did not respond to an email inquiry. We know for a fact, from email exchanges between Anderson and Anson Funds, that he was working for Anson, publishing reports as directed by them, from price targets to specific content," the website claimed. At no point did Anderson have editorial control; he was told exactly what to publish." Market Frauds also provided screenshots of email interactions, allegedly obtained from the Ontario court documents, which show communication between Hindenburg and Anson that supports these claims. The portal added, There are multiple counts of securities fraud for both Anson Funds and Nate Anderson, and weve only reviewed 5% of the documents so far. Its almost certain that once the full exchange is examined by the SEC, Nate Anderson will face securities fraud charges in 2025." Initially, Hindenburg stated that it received hundreds of leads each year from diverse sources," including industry experts, whistleblowers, and other investors, and maintained editorial independence. In 2020, Hindenburg published a report critical of Facedrive, a Canadian company that went public via a reverse merger. Court documents revealed that Anson had prior knowledge of the reports publication and had communicated with Anderson about it. The filings follow a long-running investigation by the US Justice Department and the SEC. In June, Anson Funds Management and Anson Advisors Inc. agreed to pay $2.25 million to settle SEC charges for failing to disclose payments to publishers of bearish research, without admitting or denying wrongdoing. top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all Last week, Anderson announced the closure of Hindenburg Research, which gained global attention in 2023 after releasing explosive reports on the Adani Group, triggering political controversy and significant financial losses. While Anderson did not specify the reasons for shutting down the firm, he expressed a desire to spend more time with family and friends. In his farewell announcement, Anderson said, Nearly 100 individuals have been charged civilly or criminally by regulators, at least in part, due to our work, including billionaires and oligarchs. We shook some empires that needed shaking." First Published: January 20, 2025, 07:36 IST Stocks To Watch: Wipro, Paytm, Zomato, Indian Hotels, Adani Energy, And Others Reported By : News18.com Last Updated: January 20, 2025, 08:10 IST Stocks to watch: Shares of firms like Wipro, Paytm, Zomato, Indian Hotels, Adani Energy, and others will be in focus on Monday's trade Stocks To Watch Today. Stocks To Watch On January 20: Markets remained volatile on Friday, slipping nearly half a percent after three consecutive days of gains. In todays trading, shares of Wipro, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Zomato, Motilal Oswal, Adani Energy, and others will be in focus due to various news developments and third-quarter results. Earnings Today: Several major companies are set to announce their quarterly earnings on January 20, including One 97 Communications (Paytm), Zomato, Dixon Technologies, Oberoi Realty, Sunteck Realty, APL Apollo Tubes, ICICI Securities, L&T Finance, MCX India, Central Bank of India, IDBI Bank, Indian Overseas Bank, Indian Railway Finance Corporation, Jammu & Kashmir Bank, and Newgen Software Technologies. related stories Listings Today: Laxmi Dental (Mainline) and Barflex Polyfilms (SME) will list on the exchanges. Wipro: Q3 net profit increased to Rs 3,354 crore from Rs 3,209 crore QoQ, while revenue rose to Rs 22,319 crore, slightly surpassing estimates. EBIT rose to Rs 3,864 crore, with margins improving to 17.31%. The company declared an interim dividend of Rs 6 per share. Tech Mahindra: Q3 net profit declined to Rs 983 crore from Rs 1,250 crore QoQ. Revenue remained flat at Rs 13,290 crore, while EBIT improved to Rs 1,357 crore, with margins rising to 10.21%. The company secured $745 million in net new deals. Kotak Mahindra Bank: Q3 net profit grew 10% YoY to Rs 3,300 crore from Rs 3,000 crore. Interest income rose to Rs 13,400 crore from Rs 11,800 crore. GNPA was stable at 1.50%, and NNPA improved to 0.41% from 0.43% QoQ. ICICI Lombard General Insurance: Q3 net profit surged 68% YoY to Rs 724 crore, with revenue rising to Rs 5,045 crore from Rs 4,305 crore. The combined ratio improved to 102.7% from 103.6%. Indian Hotels: Q3 net profit increased to Rs 582 crore from Rs 452 crore YoY and Rs 555 crore QoQ. Revenue rose to Rs 2,533 crore from Rs 1,964 crore, and EBITDA grew to Rs 962 crore, with margins improving to 37.97% from 37.29%. Chennai Petroleum: Turned profitable in Q3 with an EBITDA of Rs 240 crore, compared to a loss of Rs 675 crore in the previous quarter (QoQ). Margins improved to 1.54% from -4.68%. Net profit stood at Rs 10.5 crore, compared to a loss of Rs 630 crore QoQ. Revenue rose to Rs 15,600 crore from Rs 14,400 crore. Adani Energy Solutions: Announced the acquisition of Superheights Infraspace for Rs 475 crore, representing a 100% equity purchase. Rallis India: Q3 net profit fell to Rs 11 crore from Rs 24 crore YoY and Rs 98 crore QoQ. Revenue declined to Rs 520 crore from Rs 560 crore YoY, while EBITDA dropped to Rs 44 crore, with margins contracting to 8.43% from 10.37%. Hyundai India: Launched the Creta EV at an introductory price of Rs 18 lakh, with all variants priced below Rs 20 lakh. TD Power Systems: Secured an order worth Rs 57 crore from NPCIL for the supply of induction motors. Tata Motors: Unveiled the Harrier EV at Auto Expo 2025 and announced plans to establish 500 EV chargers across India. RBL Bank: Q3 net profit declined to Rs 32.6 crore from Rs 230 crore YoY. Interest income rose to Rs 3,500 crore from Rs 3,200 crore. Provisions increased to Rs 1,180 crore from Rs 618 crore, while GNPA rose slightly to 2.92% from 2.88%. NNPA improved to 0.53% from 0.79%. top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all IOL Chemicals and Pharma: Received EDQM certification for its Mesalazine" product, enabling exports to Europe and other CEP-accepting countries. Control Print: Q3 net profit declined to Rs 8.3 crore from Rs 13.4 crore YoY, despite a rise in revenue to Rs 103 crore from Rs 88.6 crore. EBITDA fell to Rs 17.3 crore, with margins contracting to 16.73% from 24.63%. The company declared a dividend of Rs 4 per share. First Published: January 20, 2025, 08:10 IST Amitabh Bachchan Sells Apartment In Mumbai For Rs 83 Crore, Makes 168% Gain Reported By : News18.com Last Updated: January 20, 2025, 13:04 IST The duplex apartment in Mumbai's Oshiwara was purchased by Amitabh Bachchan for Rs 31 crore in April 2021 and has been sold for Rs 83 crore in January 2025, reflecting a remarkable 168 per cent increase in value. Amitabh Bachchan's property is located in The Atlantis, a residential project by Crystal Group in Oshiwara, spread across 1.55 acres, offering 4, 5, and 6 BHK apartments. Bollywood icon Amitabh Bachchan has sold his duplex apartment in Oshiwara, Mumbai, for Rs 83 crore, according to property registration documents. The property is located in The Atlantis, a residential project by Crystal Group in Oshiwara, spread across 1.55 acres, offering 4, 5, and 6 BHK apartments. The duplex apartment was purchased by Bachchan for Rs 31 crore in April 2021 and was currently sold for Rs 83 crore, reflecting a remarkable 168 per cent increase in value, according to Square Yards analysis, based on a review of IGR registration documents. The sale transaction was registered in January 2025. related stories As per the IGR registration documents reviewed by Square Yards, the premium duplex apartment spans a built-up area of 529.94 sqm (nearly 5,704 sqft) and a carpet area of 5,185.62 sqft (nearly 481.75 sqm). It also features a spacious terrace measuring 445.93 sqm (nearly 4,800 sqft) and includes six mechanized car parking spaces. The transaction incurred a stamp duty payment of Rs 4.98 crore and registration charges of Rs 30,000. The apartment was given on rent to actress Kriti Sanon in November 2021 for a monthly rent of Rs. 10 lakh and a security deposit of Rs. 60 lakh, according to IGR lease documents reviewed by Square Yards. top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all Oshiwara, a bustling neighbourhood in western Mumbai, is known for its vibrant lifestyle and strategic location near the Lokhandwala Complex. Well-connected by roads and the Mumbai Metro, it offers a seamless blend of urban convenience and modern living. Amitabh Bachchan, the iconic Bollywood actor, is celebrated for his towering presence and unmatched acting skills. With a career spanning over five decades, he has delivered unforgettable performances in films like Sholay, Deewar, and Piku. Known as the Shahenshah of Bollywood, he has won numerous accolades, including four National Film Awards, the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, and multiple Filmfare trophies. His global recognition includes the Padma Shri, Padma Bhushan, and Padma Vibhushan honours. First Published: January 20, 2025, 12:54 IST Budget 2025: Income Tax Cut Likely; Know Tax Deductions Available Under Old Tax Regime For FY25 Curated By : News18.com Last Updated: January 23, 2025, 23:14 IST Ahead of the Budget 2025, here's a comprehensive guide to the key deductions available under the old tax regime. As a measure to promote investment and employment, the government had in the July Budget, provided a presumptive taxation regime for non-residents, engaged in the business of operation of cruise ships. The Union Budget 2024-25 is just around the corner, and as Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman prepares to unveil the roadmap for Indias economy, taxpayers are keenly awaiting any announcement on the income tax relief. Though the major tax relief is likely to be announced for the new tax regime, taxpayers need to know the current deductions available under the old tax regime. Heres a comprehensive guide to the key deductions available under the old tax regime: related stories 1. Section 80C: Investments and Expenses Section 80C is the most popular avenue for tax savings, allowing a maximum deduction of up to Rs 1.5 lakh. Common qualifying investments and expenditures include: Life Insurance Premiums Employee Provident Fund (EPF) contributions Public Provident Fund (PPF) National Savings Certificate (NSC) Five-year tax-saving fixed deposits with banks or post offices Principal repayment of a home loan Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana (SSY) contributions Tuition fees for children (restricted to two children) 2. Section 80CCD(1B): Additional Deduction for NPS Taxpayers contributing to the National Pension System (NPS) can claim an additional deduction of Rs 50,000 under Section 80CCD(1B) over and above the Rs 1.5 lakh limit under Section 80C. This is particularly beneficial for long-term retirement planning. 3. Section 80D: Health Insurance Premiums Under Section 80D, deductions are available for health insurance premiums paid for self, family, and parents: Up to Rs 25,000 for premiums for self, spouse, and dependent children. An additional Rs 25,000 (Rs 50,000 if parents are senior citizens) for premiums paid for parents. Preventive health check-up costs of up to Rs 5,000 can also be claimed (included within the overall limits). 4. Section 24(b): Home Loan Interest Interest paid on a home loan for a self-occupied property can be claimed as a deduction under Section 24(b): Up to Rs 2 lakh per year for self-occupied property. For properties rented out, there is no upper limit on interest deduction, but the net loss from house property is capped at Rs 2 lakh. 5. Section 80E: Interest on Education Loan The interest paid on an education loan for higher studies (self or dependents) can be claimed as a deduction under Section 80E. There is no upper limit, but the deduction is available for a maximum of 8 years or until the loan is fully repaid, whichever is earlier. 6. Section 80G: Donations to Charitable Institutions Taxpayers can claim deductions for donations made to specified funds and charitable institutions. The deduction is typically 50 per cent or 100 per cent of the donated amount, depending on the organization, and subject to certain limits. 7. Section 80TTA and 80TTB: Interest on Savings Under Section 80TTA, individuals can claim a deduction of up to Rs 10,000 on interest earned from savings accounts. Senior citizens can claim up to Rs 50,000 under Section 80TTB for interest earned from savings accounts, fixed deposits, or recurring deposits. 8. Section 80DD and 80DDB: Disability and Medical Expenses Section 80DD provides deductions for expenses incurred for the treatment of a dependent with a disability, ranging from Rs 75,000 to Rs 1.25 lakh. Section 80DDB allows deductions of up to Rs 40,000 (Rs 1 lakh for senior citizens) for expenses incurred on specified medical treatments. 9. Section 80GGC and 80GGB: Political Contributions Deductions are allowed for contributions made to political parties: 80GGC: For individuals contributing to political parties. 80GGB: For corporate entities making similar contributions. 10. Standard Deduction for Salaried Individuals Salaried individuals can claim a standard deduction of Rs 50,000, which is directly subtracted from the gross salary. 11. Section 87A: Tax Rebate Individuals with taxable income not exceeding Rs 5 lakh are eligible for a rebate under Section 87A, effectively eliminating their tax liability. The government is expected to announce income tax cut for individuals in the upcoming Union Budget 2025-26. According to reports, in the upcoming Budget 2025 session of Parliament, the government is likely to introduce a new income tax bill to simplify the current I-T law, make it comprehensible and reduce the number of pages by about 60 per cent. top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all The new Income Tax law will be introduced in the Budget session of Parliament. It will be a new law and not an amendment to the existing Act. Currently, the draft law is being vetted by the law ministry and it is likely to be brought in Parliament in the second half of the Budget session," according to a PTI report citing a source. Sitharaman in her July Budget had announced a comprehensive review of the six-decade old Income Tax Act, 1961, within six months. First Published: January 20, 2025, 11:56 IST Beijing (Gasgoo)- From January 14 to 16, 2025, the Future Minerals Forum (FMF) was held at the King Abdulaziz International Conference Center in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Hyperview-Aramco's next-generation zero-carbon hydrogen-powered smart heavy-duty truck debuted at the event. Photo credit: Hyperview Hyperview, a Chinese company in autonomous driving and green transportation, partnered with Saudi Aramco last year to launch this groundbreaking hydrogen-powered truck, marking a major milestone in new energy intelligent heavy-duty vehicles. The truck features a 240-kW advanced fuel cell system, 59 kg of usable hydrogen, and a 72-kWh power battery, delivering a range of 800 km on a full hydrogen and electricity charge. Designed to meet the demands of long-haul transport and heavy payloads, the vehicle also integrates leading Level-3 autonomous driving capabilities. These functions include precise route planning and collision prevention, significantly enhancing logistics efficiency and reducing operational costs. Aligned with Saudi Vision 2030's carbon reduction goals, this hydrogen-powered truck addresses the mining industry's urgent need for decarbonization amid increasing global focus on climate change. Offering a zero-emission and efficient solution for mining logistics, it demonstrates how hydrogen trucks can reduce emissions from traditional fuel-powered vehicles, accelerating the sector's green transformation. KCET 2025 Syllabus Released, Application Process To Begin On January 23 Curated By : News18.com Last Updated: January 20, 2025, 16:12 IST KCET 2025: According to the official schedule, the exam will be held on April 16 and 17 in two shifts -- from 10:30 AM to 11:50 PM and from 2:30 PM to 3:50 PM. KCET consists of four subjects: physics, chemistry, biology, and mathematics (Representative/File Photo) The Karnataka Examinations Authority (KEA) will commence the registration process for the Karnataka Common Entrance Test (KCET) on January 23, 2025. The board has also released the full exam syllabus for all subjects physics, chemistry, biology, and mathematics. According to the official schedule, the exam will be held on April 16 and 17 in two shifts from 10:30 AM to 11:50 PM and from 2:30 PM to 3:50 PM. Candidates who are willing to pursue engineering can register for KCET 2025 by visiting the official website of the Karnataka Examinations Authority at kea.kar.nic.in, once the link is activated. The last date to register is February 21. The exam will be held in pen and paper mode. The KCET Kannada language exam will be held on April 18, 2025, at Bengaluru, Bellary, Bidar, Belgaum, Vijayapur, and Mangalore centres for outlying and bordering Kannadiga candidates. related stories KCET consists of four subjects: physics, chemistry, biology, and mathematics. Each paper carries 60 marks. Check the full syllabus here. KCET 2025: How to Apply? The Karnataka Common Entrance Test registration process consists of filling out the application form, uploading scanned documents, payment of the fee, and final submission. Step 1: Visit the official website kea.kar.nic.in Step 2: Click on the KCET 2025 registration link. once available. Step 3: Complete the registration process by entering the required details. Step 4: Fill out the KCET application form 2025 Step 5: Upload the required documents and pay the application fee. Step 6: Submit the application form and print a hard copy for future reference. top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all KCET 2025: Application Fee Candidates from general merit, 2A, 2B, 3A, and 3B candidates are required to pay an application fee of Rs 500 to register for the exam whereas the ones belonging to scheduled caste (SC), and scheduled tribe (ST) must pay Rs 250 while filling out the application form. On the other hand, candidates originating from other states and not Karnataka are required to pay an application fee of Rs 750 whereas foreign candidates need to pay Rs 5,000 for the same. First Published: January 20, 2025, 16:06 IST Rajasthan Govt School Principal, Teacher Suspended After Caught Kissing, Hugging On CCTV Curated By : News18.com Last Updated: January 20, 2025, 18:02 IST Videos of the school principal and the teacher kissing, hugging, and engaging in indecent acts inside the school premises went viral on social media A preliminary investigation is underway (Image: Twitter) The principal of a government school in Rajasthans Chittorgarh was caught kissing a female teacher on CCTV following which they have been suspended due to inappropriate behaviour. Videos of them kissing, hugging, and engaging in indecent acts inside the school premises went viral on social media. In another video, the principal has been caught chewing tobacco while sitting at his office desk in the school. An inquiry committee has been set up and a preliminary investigation is underway, District Education Officer Rajendra Sharma told reporters. A video of the school went viral. We have initiated the preliminary investigation. Both the principal and the teacher have been suspended. We have also formed an inquiry committee. They will report to us within 2-3 days. We will take appropriate action and punish them," he said. related stories #WATCH | Chittorgarh, Rajasthan: On the viral video of a school principal and a teacher, District Education Officer Rajendra Sharma says, The video of a school went viral. We have initiated an investigation Both of them have been suspended We have also formed an pic.twitter.com/NFfG2TfkV3 ANI MP/CG/Rajasthan (@ANI_MP_CG_RJ) January 20, 2025 ALSO READ | Teacher Suspended For Cutting Girls Hair in MPs Ratlam, To Face Criminal Case Too top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all Earlier in October last year, Rajasthans education department had suspended the teacher of a government school for allotting random marks to students without checking their answer sheets for the Class 10 Board exam. Senior teacher Nimisha Rani was suspended with immediate effect for giving arbitrary marks without checking the answer sheets of the science exam held for Class 10 of the Rajasthan Board of Secondary Education, an official statement read. The examiner did not evaluate the answer sheets of science in the Secondary Examination 2024 and gave marks only in total, which is a serious negligence, the education department had said, reported PTI. Education Minister Madan Dilawar had issued a suspension order against the teacher. First Published: January 20, 2025, 17:39 IST WB NEET PG Counselling 2024 Round 3 Registration To Begin Tomorrow, Seat Allotment Result On February 1 Curated By : News18.com Last Updated: January 20, 2025, 17:03 IST The WB NEET PG 2024 round 3 seat matrix will be released on January 27 and candidates will be able to fill in their choices by January 29 Eligible candidates can apply for the counselling process by visiting the official website of WBMCC, wbmcc.nic.in (Representative/File Photo) The West Bengal Medical Counselling Committee (WBMCC) will commence the registration process for the round 3 National Eligibility Entrance Test Postgraduate or NEET PG counselling 2024 process tomorrow, January 21. Eligible candidates can apply for the counselling process by visiting the official website of WBMCC, wbmcc.nic.in, once the link is activated. As per the eligibility criteria, general category candidates with 15 percentile or more and SC, ST, OBC, and PwD candidates with 10 percentile or above are eligible to apply for round 3. The last date to apply is January 23, up to 6 PM. related stories The WB NEET PG 2024 round 3 seat matrix will be released on January 27 and candidates will be able to fill in their choices by January 29. The seat allotment result will be issued on February 1. Selected candidates will have to visit the assigned colleges for document verification to secure admission between February 3 to 5, 2025. West Bengal NEET PG 2024 Round 3 Counselling: How to Apply? Step 1: Go to the official website at wbmcc.nic.in. Step 2: Visit the PG Medical Counselling tab available on the homepage. Step 3: Search and click on the PG counselling registration link. Step 4: Register yourself. Fill out the form with the required details. Step 5: Download and take a print of the page for future reference. WB NEET PG Counselling 2024: Documents Required NEET PG 2024 admit card NEET PG 2024 rank card NEET PG 2024 rank card Four copies of recent passport-size photograph Verified slip and seat allotment letter Final MBBS or BDS mark sheet MBBS, BDS degree certificate, or provisional degree certificate Permanent registration certificate Domicile certificate top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all PwD certificate, if applicable Following the conclusion of round 3 counselling, the West Bengal NEET PG online stray vacancy round counselling will begin on January 10. The application process will continue till January 12 and the seat matrix result will be out on February 14. Candidates will be able to fill out their choices between February 14 to 16. The seat allotment result will be declared on February 19 and candidates will have to complete the physical reporting and admission process between February 20 to 22. First Published: January 20, 2025, 16:48 IST Delhi Elections Turn Into Sop Opera, But Whose Freebie Promises Will Voters Trust? Written By : News18.com Last Updated: January 20, 2025, 08:30 IST The womens allowance scheme to be rolled out in Delhi, by whichever party wins these elections, will nearly double the citys subsidy bill to Rs 22,000 crore every year The next 15 days will see people, and especially women, weigh the promises of AAP, BJP, and Congress and vote accordingly on February 5. (Representational image: News18) The Aam Aadmi Party is giving 200 units of free electricity and 20,000 litres of free water a month to domestic consumers, free bus rides for women, and has promised Rs 2,100 a month for women if it is in power again. It has also promised free electricity and water for those staying on rent. related stories The Congress has promised Rs 2,500 a month for women and 300 units of free power, but it is a small player in the Delhi polls. The big counter in fact has come from the Bharatiya Janata Party, which has promised Rs 2,500 to women every month and gas cylinders at Rs 500. The party is also expected to announce certain units of free power and free water. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has promised that no existing public welfare scheme in Delhi will be stopped. Freebies have determined the outcome of the Delhi elections in a big way, both in 2015 and 2020, when AAP won with massive mandates on the back of its sops. But this time, the BJP is posing a strong challenge with counter-freebies. The big question is, who will the people of Delhi believe in now? We will come to that just in a bit. First, let us look at the burden of the freebies on the exchequer. An estimated Rs 11,000 crore is spent on subsidies in Delhi every year, like free electricity, free water, and free bus rides for women. The womens allowance scheme to be rolled out in Delhi, by whichever party wins these elections, will nearly double the citys subsidy bill to Rs 22,000 crore every year. Delhi has for long not been a revenue-deficit state but is poised to become one given the rising freebie bill. But Delhi is not the only region that is getting weighed down under the rising bill of monthly payouts to women, which is becoming a standard poll promise across India. Lets talk about some history. It all started in West Bengal in 2021, when Mamata Banerjee first brought the Lakshmir Bhandar scheme for women. Presently, Rs 1,000-Rs 1,200 per month is given to women under it. The scheme has had a deep impact on the Trinamool Congresss poll successes in West Bengal. The Congress took a leaf out of Mamata Banerjees book to promise Rs 1,500 per month for women during the 2022 Himachal Pradesh elections and won the state. In 2023, the BJP jumped onto the bandwagon with the then chief minister of Madhya Pradesh, Shivraj Singh Chouhan, rolling out the Ladli Behna Yojana, under which Rs 1,250 per month is given to women. This scheme was seen as a major reason for the BJPs thumping win in Madhya Pradesh. In the same year, the Gruha Lakshmi scheme was launched by the Congress government in Karnataka with a monthly assistance of Rs 2,000 for women, again a promise that brought it to power in the elections. 2024 saw a flurry of states launch similar schemes. Chhattisgarh rolled out the Mahtari Vandana Yojana with Rs 1,000 per month for women after a poll promise by the BJP that gave it a win. The Congress promised the Maha Lakshmi Scheme with Rs 2,500 a month for women in the Telangana elections and won the state. The JMM government in Jharkhand started the Maiya Samman Yojana in 2024 before the elections, offering Rs 1,000 monthly assistance to women, and was victorious. Finally, the BJP in Maharashtra rolled out its women scheme at Rs 1,500 per month and won the recent elections with a huge majority. So all parties have realised the winning mantraa monetary scheme for women, as they are a major vote bank. Now, the big question: whose promises will work in Delhi? In past elections, what has been seen is that the first-mover advantage is key when it comes to offering womens schemes. Whichever party can give the money first gets the pole position, compared to the party promising it. That means the incumbent party invariably has an advantage. We have seen this both in Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra, where the BJP government sent some instalments of the money to the bank accounts of women before elections and won the polls as women trusted that party more whose government was already giving the money. In rural areas of the country where women have invariably been dependent on the men in the family for money to run the household, the money coming directly into their bank accounts is a major empowering tool that gives them financial independence. During our travels in earlier elections, women told us stories of how they had bought sarees for themselves and clothes or books for their children out of this money. There was also an apprehension that if the party giving the money goes out of power, the scheme may stop. This was despite the other party also offering a similar scheme. The situation in Delhi is, however, somewhat different. In a city that has seen a massive rollout of freebies by the AAP government, the womens scheme could not be launched by the party before these Delhi elections. Also, in Punjab, the AAP government has not been able to deliver the womens scheme it promised during the assembly elections. The arrest of Arvind Kejriwal in the alleged liquor scam derailed the rollout of the womens scheme in Delhi, though Rs 2,000 crore was allocated for the scheme in last years Delhi budget. Once Arvind Kejriwal came out on bail, he resigned as the chief minister, further delaying the rollout of the scheme. The Delhi cabinet finally approved the scheme last month, with Arvind Kejriwal promising Rs 2,100 a month for women if his party comes to power again. But the fact remains that no woman in Delhi has got the money so far. Now, the BJP has upped the stakes, saying it will pay Rs 2,500 per month to women if it comes to power in Delhi after a gap of 27 years. top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all So while AAP is asking people to trust its earlier record of freebie delivery and says it guarantees the Rs 2,100 rollout for women after elections, the BJP is promising a higher amount of Rs 2,500, citing its record of delivering the promise in Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra. In the next 15 days, people, especially women, will weigh the promises of AAP, BJP, and Congress and vote accordingly on February 5. Delhiites are keeping their cards close to the chest. First Published: January 20, 2025, 08:30 IST Has China Discovered The Cheapest Hack To Reach The Moon? | Explained Curated By : Translation Desk Last Updated: January 20, 2025, 18:52 IST China's Institute 165 has successfully completed three tests of a liquid oxygen-kerosene engine in one day. The use of kerosene and liquid oxygen provides a cost-effective solution, while also boosting the rocket's power China is developing the Long March 9 spacecraft, comparable to SpaceX's Starship. (AP File) When it comes to producing the most affordable goods globally, China remains at the forefront. The nation has astonished even a technologically advanced country like the United States with its prowess in reverse engineering. Recently, China embarked on another significant experiment aimed at reducing the costs associated with space launches. This technology could also help reduce the cost of lunar missions. While India is also pursuing this technology, China has not only conducted successful experiments but has also made significant advancements in its development. related stories What Milestone Has China Achieved Chinas Institute 165, part of the Sixth Academy of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC), has achieved a significant milestone by successfully completing three consecutive tests of a liquid oxygen-kerosene engine in a single day. This accomplishment marks substantial progress in Chinas development of main propulsion engines for its next generation of launch vehicles, ultimately enabling the nation to launch missions at an accelerated rate. China has tested this technology With this engine combination, Chinas rockets will be able to carry a 500-ton payload into space. Additionally, using a liquid oxygen kerosene engine will make Chinas spaceflight significantly more cost-effective, a characteristic for which the country is known. In April last year, China successfully conducted a parallel ignition test of four engines using this liquid oxygen kerosene technology. How useful are these engines Usually, the engines of rockets carrying satellites or spacecraft require not only fuel but also a supply of oxygen to maintain combustion. This is where liquid oxygen, acting as an oxidiser, becomes essential in rocket technology, specifically in medium cryogenic engines. The combination of kerosene and liquid oxygen offers a cost-effective solution, while also enhancing the rockets power. Both substances are easily storable and manageable. This technology offers advantages in engine design, requiring less space and weight compared to conventional engines. Chinas ongoing efforts to refine this technology are steadily enhancing its rocket capabilities. These experiments will prove invaluable for future space missions, including the nations ambition to land astronauts on the moon by 2030. Special preparations for lunar exploration top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all China invests heavily in its space programme but also makes significant efforts to minimise mission costs. In addition to government research, private companies in China are actively involved in these endeavours. Regarding lunar exploration, China is developing the Long March 9 spacecraft, comparable to SpaceXs Starship, with a projected payload capacity of 1,500 kg. China has also developed specialised spacesuits for its astronauts lunar missions. The nations accomplishments, including reaching the far side of the Moon, retrieving lunar samples, and deploying a rover on Mars, are remarkable. Given these achievements, experts believe Chinas goal of landing astronauts on the Moon by 2030 is plausible. Location : China First Published: January 20, 2025, 18:52 IST Israel-Hamas Ceasefire: Who Are 33 Hostages Set For Release, Does This Mean The War Will Now End? Curated By : News18.com Edited By: Shilpy Bisht Last Updated: January 20, 2025, 17:19 IST Negotiations are expected to reach the second and third phases of the agreement, which are expected to end the war. The talks will begin on the 16th day of the implementation of the ceasefire deal Although Israel has not committed to end the war, but it has said it will take part in the negotiations to progress the ceasefire agreement to the next phases. (AP Photo) The first phase of the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas began on Sunday, as part of which 90 Palestinian prisoners and detainees were freed from Israeli jails and into the occupied West Bank. Now, Hamas is set to release 33 Israeli hostages over the next six weeks as part of the agreement. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement that the government is committed to the return of 94 remaining hostages, most of whom were captured during the Hamas-led attack in Gaza on October 7, 2023. related stories How Will Phase I Of The Ceasefire Deal Work? Israels government press office on Sunday confirmed the names of the 33 captives due for release, 31 of whom were kidnapped on October 7. The two others have been held since 2014 and 2015. Among those due for release are the two youngest hostages held by Hamas Kfir and Ariel Bibas who, if alive, would be 2 and 5 years old, respectively. Three Israeli women hostages, who were released on Sunday, were confirmed as 24-year-old Romi Gonen, 31-year-old Doron Steinbrecher and 28-year-old Emily Damari. In return, Israel is expected to release almost 2,000 Palestinian prisoners. Around 90 were already released from Israeli jails on Sunday. The Israeli government has approved the release of 737 Palestinian prisoners and detainees and 1,167 Gaza residents. The Gaza-based Prisoners Media Office, however, said Israel will release 1,737 Palestinian prisoners, including 120 women and children. Nearly 300 Palestinians serving life sentences will also be among those released, according to their office. It is unclear why both sides issued different figures. How Important Is The Hostage Deal For Israel The release of the captives has been one of the primary objectives of Israel, but it also arguably contradicts one of the other stated goals the complete defeat of Hamas. This is because Hamas had offered to release the captives since the war began as part of a deal that would end the war, as per a report by Al Jazeera. The return of the captives is the primary demand of many Israelis. Their pictures on the posters are displayed across Israel, and bring them home now" is the regularly heard at protests. However, some families of hostages are split over the deal and other issues. A minority group in Israel representing some captives families, The Tikva Forum, has opposed the latest ceasefire agreement. In a statement, the group said on social media that it objected to an agreement with Hamas, which it called a terror organization that should be destroyed". What Does It Mean For Hamas? One of the main goals of the Hamas in the Gaza war was to win the release of thousands of Palestinians in Israeli jails, accused of violence against Israeli soldiers and civilians. Many Palestinians have also criticised the Israeli judicial system for falsely implicating some Palestinians. One such notable exchange took place in 2011 when Yahya Sinwar, the former political chief of Hamas and the architect of the October 2023 attack, was released from an Israeli jail along with 1,000 others as part of an exchange for Gilad Shalit an Israeli soldier captured by Hamas in a cross-border raid in 2006. Upon his release in 2011, Sinwar pledged to work hard to free all prisoners, especially those who serve high sentences, whatever the price," according to a report by The New York Times. He was killed by Israeli soldiers three months ago in Gaza. Has Prisoner Trade Taken Place Before? In 2003, the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah exchanged a kidnapped former Israeli colonel and the bodies of three Israeli soldiers killed during a cross-border raid for more than 400 prisoners held in Israel and nearly 60 bodies. In 1985, the Israeli government traded more than 1,100 prisoners including some convicted of perpetrating or masterminding attacks on Israelis for three Israeli soldiers captured during the Israeli invasion of Lebanon. Some of the released prisoners eventually became senior militant leaders, as per The New York Times. During the last temporary ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas in November 2023, Israel released roughly three prisoners women and minors for each hostage returned to Israel. Ultimately, Hamas freed about 100 hostages including more than 20 who were not Israeli and were not included in the deal with Israel in exchange for about 240 prisoners held by Israel. What Happens Next In War? Negotiations are expected to reach the second and third phases of the agreement, which are expected to end the war. The talks will begin on the 16th day of the implementation of the deal, CNN said, quoting an anonymous Israeli officer. Although Israel has not committed to end the war, but it has said it will take part in the negotiations to progress the ceasefire agreement to the next phases. Mediators in Cairo, including Egypt, Qatar and the US will monitor the implementation of the deal. The Israeli officer also said Israel is keen on bringing back home all the hostages and does not guarantee that the ceasefire will last beyond the first stage. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar told CNN that Israel had not achieved its goal of defeating Hamas, saying the group was still in power in Gaza". He stressed that the agreed ceasefire is temporary and it is not automatic to move from one phase to the other phase." Who Are The 33 Israeli Hostages To Be Released Over The Few Weeks? According to the Times of Israel, Israel has not been told how many of the 33 are alive. It will receive a full status report on all those on the list seven days into the ceasefire. Some unconfirmed media reports have said Israel has insisted on first receiving the living among the 33, with bodies returned at the end. The schedule for the release will see three hostages returned on the first day of the ceasefire and four more returned on the seventh day. Subsequently, three hostages will be returned every week for a period of four weeks. Finally, 14 hostages will be returned on the final, sixth week of phase one. The following is the list of hostages to be freed by Hamas: Romi Gonen, 23 Emily Damari, 27 Arbel Yehud, 29 Doron Steinbrecher, 31 Ariel Bibas, 5 Kfir Bibas, 2 Shiri Silberman Bibas, 33 Liri Albag, 19 Karina Ariev, 20 Agam Berger, 21 Danielle Gilboa, 20 Naama Levy, 20 Ohad Ben-Ami, 58 Gadi Moshe Moses, 80 Keith Siegel, 65 Ofer Calderon, 54 Eli Sharabi, 52 Itzik Elgarat, 70 Shlomo Mansour, 86 Ohad Yahalomi, 50 Oded Lifshitz, 84 Tsahi Idan, 50 Hisham al-Sayed, 36 Yarden Bibas, 35 Sagui Dekel-Chen, 36 Yair Horn, 46 Omer Wenkert, 23 Sasha Trufanov, 28 Eliya Cohen, 27 Or Levy, 34 Avera Mengistu, 38 Tal Shoham, 39 top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all Omer Shem-Tov, 22 The one person who was on the Saudi outlets list and who is not on the release list is Youssef Hamis Ziyadne, 54, who was confirmed last week to have been killed in captivity, and whose body was recovered by the Israel Defense Forces. First Published: January 20, 2025, 17:12 IST Will Trumps Declassification Solve Martin Luther King Jr, Kennedy Murder Mysteries? Curated By : News18.com Last Updated: January 22, 2025, 17:51 IST Trump plans to declassify documents related to the assassinations of 1960s: The US could never stop speculating about the incidents. The real-life drama became a topic of many a movies, shows and investigative articles and books (From left) Martin Luther King Junior, John F. Kennedy and Robert F. Kennedy. (News18/AP File) In what may end years of intrigue, US President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to de-classify the documents related to the assassination of US President John F Kennedy, Senator Robert Kennedy, and civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. In the coming days, we are going to make public remaining records related to the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, his brother Robert Kennedy, as well as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and other topics of great public interest," Trump said at a rally in downtown Washington on Sunday. related stories Even though the official investigations have concluded, the US never got all answers and hence could never stop speculating about the incidents in the 1960s. The real-life drama entered reel, making it a topic of many a movies, shows and investigative articles and books. Heres a look at the three assassinations and the conspiracy theories around them: NOVEMBER 22, 1963: JOHN F. KENNEDY ASSASSINATED John F. Kennedy, the 35th president of the United States, was shot dead while riding in a presidential motorcade through Dealey Plaza in Dallas, Texas on November 22, 1963. Lee Harvey Oswald, a former U.S. Marine, was arrested for shooting at Kennedy from the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository. However, American nightclub owner Jack Ruby shot Oswald dead in the basement of Dallas Police Headquarters on live television two days later. Ruby was found guilty and sentenced to death, but his conviction and death sentence were overturned on appeal. He was granted a new trial, but he was diagnosed with cancer, and died of a pulmonary embolism on January 3, 1967. The probe In 1964, the Warren Commission concluded that Ruby acted alone and killed Oswald on impulse for the Kennedy assassination. The FBI, the Dallas Police Department, the United States Secret Service, and the House Select Committee on Assassinations (HSCA) all supported this conclusion. The conspiracy theories From the involvement of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), Mafia, Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson, Cuban Prime Minister Fidel Castro, to the KGB, conspiracy theorists have explored the assassination from every angle. A look at the key ones: Multiple gunmen theory: Witnesses reported hearing shots from the grassy knoll area in Dealey Plaza, suggesting a second shooter. This theory gained traction after the 1979 HSCA concluded that Kennedy was probably assassinated as a result of a conspiracy" based on acoustic evidence that was later challenged. The trajectory of the bullet called as the magic bullet" theory hinted at a possibility of multiple shooters. CIA: According to theorists, the CIA allegedly wanted Kennedy dead because of his perceived lack of support for Cold War strategies. Mafia: The Kennedy administrations crackdown on organised crime, led by Attorney General Robert Kennedy, which many thought angered the Mafia and led to them getting rogue CIA agents to carry out the assassination. Soviet or Cuban government plot: Some believe the Soviet government orchestrated the assassination for U.S. Cold War policies or that Kennedys opposition to Fidel Castro and the CIAs repeated attempts to overthrow him led to revenge. Military-industrial complex: JFKs push to de-escalate tensions with the Soviet Union and his intent to withdraw troops from Vietnam may have threatened the interests of defense contractors and military leaders. Some point to President Dwight D. Eisenhowers farewell address, where he warned of the growing power of the military-industrial complex. Lyndon B. Johnsons role: Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson allegedly had personal and political reasons to want Kennedy out of the way. Cover-up theories: There were numerous theories on suppression of evidence and deaths of witnesses under suspicious circumstances, fueling speculation about a larger cover-up. APRIL 4, 1968: MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. ASSASSINATED Martin Luther King Junior, an American civil rights activist, was fatally shot at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee, on April 4, 1968. James Earl Ray, a fugitive from the Missouri State Penitentiary, was arrested on June 8, 1968, at Londons Heathrow Airport, extradited to the United States and charged with the crime. On March 10, 1969, he pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 99 years in the Tennessee State Penitentiary. He later made many attempts to withdraw his guilty plea and to be tried by a jury, but was unsuccessful. Ray died in prison in 1998. The conspiracy theories The conspiracy theories around the assassination suggest the involvement of the U.S. government, the mafia, and Memphis police: In 1993, Loyd Jowers, an American restaurateur and the owner of Jims Grill, a restaurant near the Lorraine Motel, alleged that the assassination was part of a conspiracy involving the U.S. government, the mafia, and Memphis police. The King family believes that James Earl Ray was a scapegoat for the assassination. Ray was identified from fingerprints on the gun he left behind. Martin Luther King III had said, That weapon was not the weapon. Youre going to kill somebody and then drop the gun right there?" In 1999, the King family filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Jowers for $10 million. Ray claimed that a blond Cuban handler named Raoul" directed him to buy the rifle used in the assassination. JUNE 5, 1968: ROBERT KENNEDY SHOT AT On June 5, 1968, Robert F. Kennedy was shot by Sirhan Sirhan at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles, California. He was pronounced dead the following day. Sirhan, a Palestinian who held strong anti-Zionist and pro-Palestinian beliefs, testified in 1969 that he killed Kennedy with 20 years of malice aforethought". He was convicted and sentenced to death. Due to People v. Anderson, his sentence was commuted to life in prison in 1972 with a possibility of parole. His parole request has been denied numerous times. The conspiracy theories Sirhan Sirhan: Immediately after his arrest, Sirhan told his captors that hed made the decision to kill Kennedy only three weeks earlier, reports the Israeli news organisation Haaretz. On the radio, he had heard a speech delivered by the candidate during a visit to a synagogue, in which Kennedy promised to arm Israel with dozens of warplanes, calling it the lesson hed learned from the Six-Day War a year earlier." The second shooter: Los Angeles County Coroner Thomas Noguchi maintained that Kennedy was shot from behind and at a closer range, which witnesses said Sirhan could not have done. Security guard as second shooter: Eugene Cesar was the security guard who was standing behind Robert F. Kennedy when the presidential candidate was assassinated. Cesar was standing directly behind Kennedy and gave different versions of his movements" and different accounts of when he drew his gun. Hypnosis: Though Sirhan admitted at his trial in 1969 that he shot Kennedy, he claimed from the start that he had no memory of doing so. Sirhans lawyers have explored whether he was hypnotised to begin shooting his gun" when given a certain cue. CIA: In 2006, filmmaker Shane OSullivan stated that while researching a screenplay based on the hypnosis theory, he uncovered a new video and photographic evidence" suggesting that three senior CIA operatives were behind the killing. THE DECLASSIFICATION Classification is the administrative process by which the federal government controls how executive branch officials handle information whose potential public exposure is deemed likely to damage national security. Any documents containing that information are supposed to be marked, and only officials with proper security clearances and a need to know" are permitted to see them or be told of their contents. top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all The legal basis for the classification system comes from the presidents constitutional authority as commander in chief. Outside of a deliberate process, a president personally effectuating the declassification of information normally happens just by saying something publicly, or even posting it on X. Presidential declassification allows the executive branch to make once-secret information public, but it is a powerful tool with significant implications for governance, public trust, and accountability. First Published: January 20, 2025, 13:11 IST Trump Or Biden: Who Deserves More Credit For The Israel-Hamas Ceasefire Deal? Explained Curated By : News18.com Edited By: Shilpy Bisht Last Updated: January 20, 2025, 11:01 IST Many experts believe that Donald Trump was not a key player in the ceasefire negotiation deal as the agreement was essentially in the same three phases drafted by the Joe Biden team. But they argue that the recent events just made it possible for the... Read More Although Joe Biden didnt give any specifics of the deal to the reporters at a media briefing, he did suggest that it could set the stage for an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel. (AP Image) US President-elect Donald Trump had declared he would put an end to the Gaza war while campaigning in the 2024 federal election. Ten days before the inauguration, his envoy called Israel to announce he was coming to Tel Aviv to meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Steve Witkoff, a New York real estate developer and investor, was reportedly instrumental in delivering the message to Netanyahu that Trump wanted the deal in place by the time he takes office next week. related stories But President Joe Biden confirmed in a statement on Wednesday that the deal was based on the precise contours" of a May 2024 ceasefire plan that was endorsed unanimously" by the United Nations Security Council. He also credited the work of key negotiators, including Egypt and Qatar, and extreme pressure" on Hamas for helping to secure the truce. While US officials have credited the collaboration between Trumps special envoy Witkoff, and Bidens Middle East representative Brett McGurk for securing the deal, the president-elect sought to claim much of the credit for himself on Thursday. This EPIC ceasefire agreement could have only happened as a result of our Historic Victory in November," he wrote on his social network Truth Social. How Trumps Envoy Secured The Deal When Witkoff landed Tel Aviv last Saturday, in the middle of the Jewish Sabbath, he was told by Netanyahus aides that he would have to wait for a few hours for a meeting. Witkoff, a Jewish, said that would not be happening", and Trump was in a hurry. Thus, he wanted to get on a mission, as per a report by the Guardian. When Witkoff sat down with Netanyahu, he made it clear what Trump expected from his government. He told the Israeli PM: The president has been a great friend of Israel, and now its time to be a friend back," The Wall Street Journal reported. After the meeting, Netanyahu ordered a delegation to Doha, Qatar, including spy chiefs and a top aide, with a mandate to reach the deal. Last Sunday, discussions began. The two teams of negotiators set off each day from their separate hotels to the same Qatari government residence, where they had rooms on separate floors to ensure they never came face to face, the Guardian reported. The negotiators, which included Qataris, Egyptians and Americans, stretched talks throughout the night, ending only at 4 am, the report mentioned. The deal looked within the reach on Wednesday, but a planned press conference with the Qatari Prime Minister, Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, was delayed time and again. It was only minutes after the deal had been agreed. Witkoff had been by his side throughout, reminding of Trumps demands and how the American president wanted display of power and prestige before he returns to the White House. How The Biden Administration Hammered Out The Deal According to the Biden teams ceasefire and hostage deal, the first stage allows for the release of hostages and Palestinian prisoners during a halt to fighting, and a surge in aid into Gaza. The most difficult questions about the future of Gaza, including how it will be governed and whether Israeli forces will keep a foothold will be tackled in the second stage of negotiations. During his farewell address from the Oval Office on Wednesday night, Biden said, This plan was developed and negotiated by my team and will be largely implemented by the incoming administration. Thats why I told my team to keep the incoming administration fully informed." A senior Biden administration official told reporters that Witkoff helped deliver the deal, working alongside Bidens envoy, McGurk, who has been in Doha since January 5. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters that Biden had wanted the Trump team involved because Trump will be tasked with implementing the ceasefire deal. Although Biden didnt give any specifics of the deal to the reporters, he did suggest that it could set the stage for an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel. For the Palestinian people, a credible, credible pathway to a state of their own. And for the region, a future of normalization, integration of Israel and all its Arab neighbors, including Saudi Arabia," he said. What Do Experts Say On Trump Vs Biden Negotiations? Some experts note that Witkoffs involvement in the negotiations was key to striking a deal with Israel and Hamas. Before Witkoffs trip to Tel Aviv, the only party which was not agreeing to the ceasefire was Benjamin Netanyahu", Anurag Mishra, US political analyst at the International Team for the Study of Security Verona, told France 24, adding that Witkoff was the instigator of meetings with Netanyahu in which the Israeli PM ultimately agreed to the ceasefire. Moreover, the relations between Biden and Netanyahu had been rocky, with the Israeli leader making no bones about his support for Trump. According to The New York Times, Trump was the first person that Netanyahu called to thank for his part in the agreement. The Israeli PM named Trump at the beginning of an official statement while President Biden was not mentioned until the fourth paragraph. Shahin Modarres, an international security expert at ITSS, Trump was hoping for an early ceasefire deal before he takes office so that he could devote his time to Iran. Many experts agree that Trump was not a key player in the ceasefire negotiation deal as the agreement was essentially in the same three phases. But they argue that the recent events just made it possible for the deal to happen. top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all The significant hit Hezbollah sustained over the summer followed by the fall of the Assad regime [in Syria] and also the limited, but nevertheless effective, Israeli attacks on Iran put Netanyahu in a better strategic position and gave him more internal legitimacy," Amnon Aran, a specialist in the Israeli-Palestine conflict at City University of London, told France24. Asher Kaufman, a professor of history and peace studies at Indianas University of Notre Dame, also noted that progress in the ceasefire talks came amid a shifting landscape in the Middle East, although he did attribute the success to Trump, as reported by NBC News. First Published: January 20, 2025, 10:55 IST What Is The Philadelphi Corridor And Why Does Netanyahu Want Control Over It? | Explained Curated By : Translation Desk Last Updated: January 22, 2025, 11:50 IST Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu argued that controlling the Philadelphi corridor is essential to block Hamas smuggling tunnels and prevent attacks like October 7, 2023 which led to the war Gaza's border with Egypt, known as the Philadelphi Corridor, is a critical lifeline for Hamas. (AP File) A ceasefire has begun between Israel and Hamas, marking a turning point in the 15-month war. The agreement, brokered by Qatar, the US, and Egypt, will see Hamas release hostages in several phases. In return, Israel will release 737 Palestinian prisoners. The first phase will involve the release of 33 hostages by Hamas. Additionally, 600 trucks carrying relief materials and 50 fuel tankers will be permitted into Gaza daily. related stories However, the ceasefire terms also stipulate withdrawal from the Philadelphi Corridor, an area Netanyahu is reluctant to relinquish. What is the Philadelphi Corridor? The Philadelphi Corridor, a 14 km long and 100-metre-wide strip of scrubland and sand dunes on the Gaza side of the border with Egypt, encompasses the Rafah crossing and extends to the Mediterranean Sea. Designated as a demilitarised zone following Israels withdrawal from Gaza in 2005, the corridors history is rooted in the 1979 Camp David Accords between Israel and Egypt. This agreement permitted Israel to station a limited military presence within the corridor. Subsequent to Israels withdrawal, responsibility for the corridor fell to the Palestinian Authority. Egypt, until Hamass takeover of Gaza in 2007, had deployed 750 policemen to the area in an effort to curb smuggling. In May of the previous year, Israel reoccupied the Philadelphi Corridor. Israel will leave Philadelphi Corridor Previously, Israel resisted any mention of withdrawing from the Philadelphi Corridor during ceasefire negotiations. However, under the current agreement, the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) will execute a phased withdrawal from both the Netzarim and Philadelphi Corridors. The IDF presence in these areas will progressively diminish, culminating in a complete withdrawal from the Philadelphi Corridor by day 50. Subsequently, Egypt will assume responsibility for security at the Rafah crossing. Earlier Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu maintained that Israel must control the so-called Philadelphi corridor to prevent Hamas from replenishing its arsenal through a network of smuggling tunnels in the area. Netanyahu reasoned this is necessary to ensure the group can never again launch an attack into Israel like the one on October 7, 2023 that led to the war. Why is the Philadelphi Corridor important? The Gaza Strip is bordered by Israel on two sides and the Mediterranean Sea on another. Gazas border with Egypt, known as the Philadelphi Corridor, is a critical lifeline for Hamas. top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all Hamas has been smuggling deadly weapons into Gaza through this route. By controlling this corridor, Israel could effectively turn the entire Gaza Strip into an open-air prison. Weapons and other goods are smuggled through tunnels and border crossings. Additionally, Hamas uses the Philadelphi Corridor to move its operatives in and out of Gaza. Despite Egypts continuous efforts to stop this activity, Hamas smuggling operations persist. Evidence also suggests that the Mediterranean Sea has been used to smuggle weapons. Location : Israel First Published: January 20, 2025, 18:54 IST When Will Uniform Civil Code Be Implemented As Uttarakhand Govt Clears Manual, What Will Change? Curated By : News18.com Edited By: Shilpy Bisht Last Updated: January 20, 2025, 14:30 IST Uttarakhand CM Pushkar Singh Dhami hinted that the final notification on UCC likely to be issued this month. The bill was passed in the Assembly last February and was approved by the President in March Uniform Civil Code makes it obligatory for the man and woman, who are living in Uttarakhand to submit a statement of the live-in relationship to the registrar concerned. (Getty Images) The Uttarakhand government on Monday approved the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) manual in a cabinet meeting held at the state secretariat. Uttarakhand CM Pushkar Singh Dhami hinted that the final notification on UCC likely to be issued this month. We had promised the people of Uttarakhand in 2022 that we will bring the UCC Bill as soon as our government is formed. We brought it. The draft committee drafted it, it was passed, the President approved it and it became an act. The process of training is also almost complete After analysing everything, we will announce the dates soon," he said. related stories Reports suggest that Dhami had earlier said the UCC would be implemented in the state during the auspicious phase that begins with Makar Sankranti. The Bill was one of the poll promises of the BJP during Assembly elections in Uttarakhand in 2022. What Is The Uniform Civil Code? The UCC means one law that would be applicable to all religious communities in matters such as marriage, divorce, inheritance, adoption, maintenance etc. India has a uniform or one set of criminal code for all its citizens but doesnt have uniform civil law. Tribals have been kept out of the UCC ambit, and has a complete ban on practices like halala, iddat, and talaq (customs related to marriage and divorce in Muslim Personal Law). The UCC, which has 392 sections under seven schedules, is based on over 750-page draft, spread in four volumes, prepared by an expert committee formed by the government in June 2022, to examine the way the law can be introduced in the state. The five-member expert committee, headed by Retd. Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai, had submitted its draft to Uttarakhand on February 2, 2024, which was subsequently passed by the State Cabinet on February 4. The Bill, after it was passed in the Assembly during a special session, was sent for Governors nod and was approved by the Lt. Gen Gurmit Singh (Retd) on February 28. Under Article 201 of the Constitution of India, the President gave assent to the Uniform Civil Code Uttarakhand 2024 Bill passed by the Uttarakhand Legislative Assembly, on March 11 2024, and it is published as Act Number 3, the year 2024, of Uttarakhand for general information. The government has already formed a committee to make rules and implementation of UCC which is headed by retired IAS officer and UCC draft committee member Shatrughan Singh. What The Constituent Assembly Said About UCC Dr BR Ambedkar, who was chairperson of the drafting committee of the Indian constitution, said, We have a uniform and complete Criminal Code operating throughout the country, which is contained in the Penal Code and the Criminal Procedure Code. We have the Law of Transfer of Property, which deals with property relations and which is operative throughout the country. Then there are the Negotiable Instruments Acts: and I can cite innumerable enactments which would prove that this country has practically a Civil Code, uniform in its content and applicable to the whole of the country." Important Court Judgments Favouring UCC Shah Bano Case: The Supreme Court remarked, A common civil code will help the cause of national integration by removing disparate loyalties to law which have conflicting ideologies." Sarla Mudgal Versus Union of India: In this case the apex court stated, Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru, while defending the introduction of the Hindu Code Bill instead of a uniform civil code, in the Parliament in 1954, said I do not think that at the present moment the time is ripe in India for me to try to push it through". It appears that even 41 years thereafter, the Rulers of the day are not in a mood to retrieve Article 44 from the cold storage where it has been lying since 1949". It added, The governments which have come and gone have so far failed to make any effort towards unified personal law for all Indians". The reasons are too obvious to be stated. The utmost that has been done is to codify the Hindu law in the form of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955. The Hindu Succession Act, 1956, the Hindu Minority and Guardianship Act, 1956 and the Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act, 1956 which have replaced the traditional Hindu law based on different schools of thought and scriptural laws into one unified code. When more than 80% of the citizens have already been brought under the codified personal law there is no justification whatsoever to keep in abeyance, any more, the introduction of uniform civil code" for all citizens in the territory of India." UCC In Goa: In a 2019 succession case of a Goan resident, the Supreme Court observed, It is interesting to note that whereas the founders of the, Constitution in Article 44 in Part IV dealing with the Directive Principles of State Policy had hoped and expected that the State shall endeavour to secure for the citizens a Uniform Civil Code throughout the territories of India, till date no action has been taken in this regard. Though Hindu laws were codified in the year 1956, there has been no attempt to frame a Uniform Civil Code applicable to all citizens of the country despite exhortations of this Court". What Will Change For Couples In Live-In Relationships? Section 378 of the UCC bill makes it obligatory for the man and woman, who are living in the state, regardless of whether they are residents of Uttarakhand or not, to submit a statement of the live-in relationship" to the registrar concerned. If the couple is living outside, the residents of Uttarakhand will have to submit a status of their live-relationship to the registrar within their jurisdiction. The legislation says a delay of even month in registration or furnishing false information would attract a jail term up to six months and a fine of Rs 25,000. Authorities can issue a notice to the couple on their own or based on a complaint for not registering their relationship. According to the legislation, children born out of the live-in relationship shall be legitimate", and the child will enjoy same rights and benefits as from legally wedded parents. The bill also mandates payment of maintenance, similar to marriage, in case the woman is deserted by her partner in a live-in relationship. In case the couple wants to end their relationship, they will have to give a notice to the other party and the Registrar to ensure that the termination is recognised by the authorities. Impact On Personal Laws Adoption: The UCC will bring uniformity, which means, communities, which were currently not allowed to legally adopt a child, may be given such an option. At present, the Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act (1956) is meant only for Hindus, Jains, Sikhs and Buddhists. Muslim community: If UCC is adopted, practices such as contract marriage (mutah), Nikah halala, misyar marriage, and polygamy would likely become ineffective. Even the minimum marriage age under the Shariat law would be changed. The UCC will bring more accepted ways through which both Muslim men and women can end their marriage. top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all Christian Marriage: At present, the Catholic law recognises a Christian marriage as permanent, indissoluble, while some may also recognising it as a contract. The UCC will bring uniformity in marriages. Sikh Community: The Anand Marriage Act of 1909 governs the marriage laws of Sikhs. However, there is no provision for divorce. If the UCC is introduced, a common law for divorce is likely to be applied to all communities, including Sikhs. First Published: January 20, 2025, 11:43 IST Shanghai (Gasgoo)- On January 17, 2025, Li Auto officially inaugurated its German R&D Center in Munich. As the company's first overseas R&D hub, the center represents a significant milestone in Li Auto's global R&D strategy implementation. Prior to this, Li Auto established R&D centers in Beijing and Shanghai, focusing on core technology development and innovation. The new German center will leverage the advantages of international talent and technology exchange, fostering a diverse and innovative culture while expanding the company's global vision and bringing its technologies to the world stage. Photo credit: Li Auto The German R&D Center will collaborate with the Chinese R&D team to drive next-generation technology advancements in four key areas: advanced design, power semiconductors, intelligent chassis systems, and electric powertrains. In design, Li Auto has built a "two countries, three locations" global design innovation framework to attract and cultivate top automotive design talent. The German center will work closely with the company's Chinese teams, adhering to its forward-thinking design language to create groundbreaking vehicle designs. The power semiconductor, a core technology for electric vehicles, is another focus. Li Auto has already developed its first-generation SiC (silicon carbide) power modules in China, which offer higher energy conversion efficiency and reduced size compared to mainstream alternatives. By integrating multiple components into the electric motor controller, these modules improve vehicle space utilization, enable lightweight designs, and reduce energy consumption. The China-Germany R&D teams will jointly focus on developing the next generation of power semiconductor technologies. The intelligent chassis-by-wire system is central to integrating artificial intelligence into vehicles. Li Auto's German team will support the China-located headquarters in advancing key chassis technologies, including brake-by-wire, steer-by-wire, and fully active suspension systems, as part of its next-generation research initiatives. Strategically, the German center will also assist Li Auto in gaining insights into the European market, establishing compliance with European automotive regulations, and adapting its products to local user preferences. Do Good For Future Generations: Fathers Message From Karnataka For Canada PM Contender Chandra Arya Reported By : News18.com Last Updated: January 20, 2025, 07:00 IST "[Chandra Arya] should work towards building and cementing good relations with other countries, especially India, says Govindaiah Chandra Arya is an Indian-origin Liberal MP. (X) Nonagenarian K. Govindaiah would usually receive a call from his son Indian-origin Canadian MP Chandra Arya between 6 pm and 7 pm IST. However, on January 5, Govindaiah received a call from him at 10 am. That was very unusual." So I asked him the reason, and he told me, Appaji, I am planning to run for the post of the Canadian Prime Minister (PM) and am going to file my nomination in a few hours." related stories He told me he wanted to seek my blessings. I am a firm believer in God and told him that as a family, when we take up something, we do it well. I prayed to God that let his ambitions be fulfilled." Following Justin Trudeaus resignation as the Canadian Prime Minister and leader of the Liberal Party, Arya, an already elected MP from Nepean, Ottawa, recently announced his candidacy for the Liberal leadership post. Govindaiah was bursting with pride as he recalled how Aryas father-in-law had often discussed with him that his son would become a good politician and go places. This prediction is now coming true," he said. Arya stated, I am running to be the next Prime Minister of Canada to lead a smaller, more efficient government to rebuild our nation and secure prosperity for future generations." He outlined his plans that include making Canada a sovereign republic, raising the retirement age, introducing a citizenship-based taxation system, and recognising Palestine as a state. Arya also spoke about the struggles many Canadians, especially young people dealing with affordability issues, face and the challenges of the middle class. Arya stressed the need for strong leadership to rebuild the economy, create equal opportunities, and secure a better future for all. I am running for the position of Prime Minister of Canada.Our nation faces structural challenges that require tough solutions.We must make bold political decisions to secure prosperity for our children and grandchildren.I have outlined everything in the statement provided pic.twitter.com/bIdK0RFX18 Chandra Arya (@AryaCanada) January 12, 2025 THE GREAT EXPECTATIONS If elected, his father has a word of advice for him. First, do something good for the future generations of Canada and also ensure that they find a progressive leader in you. Secondly, work towards building and cementing good relations with other countries, especially India." Arya was first elected to the House of Commons of Canada in 2015. He announced his plans to transform Canada into a sovereign republic" and increase the retirement age in his official video message announcing his candidature. Known to be a staunch supporter of Hindu Canadians, he had also spoken against the pro-Khalistani movement in the country. He condemned the act of a group of pro-Khalistanis attacking Hindu-Canadian devotees inside the Hindu Sabha temple in Brampton and had said that under the guise of freedom of expression", extremists are getting a free pass in Canada. When this was happening, we were all scared. I really thought something bad would happen, as they might do something to him. Luckily, it did not. Chandra called me and told me there was nothing to worry about as things were under control in Canada," said Govindaiah, recalling the time of the incident. Arya has also taken a tough stand on relations between Ottawa and New Delhi and has been known to have debated with parliamentarians, including his own Liberal caucus colleagues, on India-Canada relations and the actions of Sikh separatists in Canada. Recalling Aryas early days in India, Aryas father said that after completing his MBA, Arya had been offered some lucrative positions in multinational companies in the UAE as well as in Canada. At no point did he show any interest in active politics. His focus was always on trying to channel his resources and capabilities to give his family a good and stable life." We came from a family of 16 members. We were a large joint family staying together. I had a government job and somehow I tried to balance family. He would manage any role he has taken with ease. Even if he becomes the PM, I think he will do it with confidence," said Govindaiah. THE SPEECH IN KANNADA Arya, who hails from Sira in Karnatakas Tumakuru district, made his father proud when, during one of his speeches after being elected as an MP, he decided to address the House in Kannada, his native tongue. It is a proud moment for about five crore Kannadigas that a person from Sira taluk of Tumakuru district in Karnataka has been elected as a Member of Parliament in Canada and is now speaking in Kannada in this esteemed institution." He ended the speech with the words written by Kannada poet laureate Rashtrakavi Kuvempu Elladaru iru enthadaru iru endendigu nee Kannadavaagiru, Kannadave Sathya Kannadave Nithya" (meaning, no matter where you are in the world, Kannada, Kannadigas identity, and heritage will always remain supreme). This particular speech made Govindaiah so proud, as he himself had been a Kannada enthusiast and during his service was tasked by the Karnataka government to translate various forms and applications for the Commercial Taxes Department, where he was working, from English to Kannada. top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all I had the opportunity to work for my mother tongue, my matru bhasha, and till today it is used across the department," said Aryas father. Impressed with my work, the government even offered me an honorarium, which I flatly refused. This was because I was serving my mother tongue. It is this same pride and need to serve our mother tongue, Kannada, that I see in Arya when he made that address in Kannada," recalled Govindaiah. First Published: January 20, 2025, 07:00 IST India-Oman Free Trade Agreement Likely On Agenda During Piyush Goyal's Muscat Visit Next Week Published By : PTI Last Updated: January 20, 2025, 18:45 IST On January 14, India and Oman held the fifth round of talks for the agreement, which is aimed at boosting bilateral economic ties. Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal Issues pertaining to the proposed free trade agreement (FTA) between India and Oman are expected to figure during the visit of Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal to Muscat next week, an official said. Though the negotiations for the proposed agreement were concluded, Oman has sought revision of its market access offers on some products. related stories On January 14, India and Oman held the fifth round of talks for the agreement, which is aimed at boosting bilateral economic ties. The negotiations for the agreement, officially dubbed as Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), formally began in November 2023. In such agreements, two trading partners either significantly reduce or eliminate customs duties on a maximum number of goods traded between them. They also ease norms to promote trade in services and attract investments. The official said the Union minister is visiting the West Asian nation for the eleventh session of the India-Oman Joint Commission Meeting (JCM). The two-day meetings will start on January 27. The tenth meeting was held here in May 2022. Ways to promote bilateral trade and the proposed FTA may figure in the meetings, the official said. Oman is the third largest export destination among the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries for India. India already has a similar agreement with another GCC member UAE which came into effect in May 2022. The bilateral trade has declined to USD 8.94 billion (exports USD 4.42 billion and imports USD 4.5 billion) in 2023-24 from USD 12.39 billion (exports USD 4.47 billion and imports USD 7.91 billion) in 2022-23. Indias key imports are petroleum products and urea. These account for over 70 per cent of imports. Other key products are propylene and ethylene polymers, pet coke, gypsum, chemicals, and iron and steel. According to the think tank GTRI (Global Trade Research Institute), Indian goods worth USD 3.7 billion like gasoline, iron and steel, electronics, and machinery may get a significant boost in Oman, once both sides reach a comprehensive free trade agreement. These goods at present face a 5 per cent import duty in Oman. Omans import duty ranges from 0 to 100 per cent along with the existence of specific duties. A duty of 100 per cent is applicable on specific meats, wines and tobacco products. top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all Reduction in import duties under the CEPA will allow Indian products to enter the Omani market at competitive prices. With a population of 1.4 billion compared to Omans 5 million, India represents a vast consumer market for Oman. However, Omans higher per capita income (USD 25,060) compared to Indias (USD 2,370) could mean a demand for more diversified and possibly higher-value goods and services in Oman, which India could aim to supply, the GTRI has said. First Published: January 20, 2025, 18:42 IST Indian Student From Hyderabad Shot Dead In US; Family In 'Complete Shock' Curated By : News18.com Last Updated: January 20, 2025, 19:59 IST Koyyada Ravi Teja, 26, was shot by unidentified miscreants in Washington DC and died on the spot after suffering serious bullet injuries. Ravi Teja from Hyderabad was shot dead in Washington Avenue. (Photo: X) In a tragic incident, a 26-year-old Indian student from Hyderabad was shot dead in the United States. Unidentified assailants opened fire on Koyyada Ravi Teja in Washington DC, leaving his family in shock and grief. Teja suffered fatal bullet injuries and died on the spot after he was shot at by the miscreants, as per several reports citing preliminary information from his family. Ravi Teja was a native of RK Puram at Green Hills Colony, Chaitanyapuri in Hyderabad. related stories Teja went to the United States in 2022 to pursue his masters degree. After he completed his studies, he was actively looking for a job in the hopes of starting his career before it came to a shocking end with his death. His family back in Hyderabad is in complete shock. I cant speak, no father can. No one should face this situation, how he went and how hes returning, my son," Tejas father K Chandramouli broke down while speaking to Times Now. Indian students have often fallen prey to gun violence. In November, Sai Teja Nukarapu (22), a student from Telanganas Khammam district was shot dead by some miscreants at a gas station near Chicago in the United States where he was working, his family members said. Sai Teja completed his BBA in India and was pursuing MBA in the United States. One of the relatives of the victim told the media that he was doing a part-time job at the gas station. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said he is deeply grieved at this news." Our Consulate is rendering all possible assistance to the family," he said in a post on X. The Consulate General of India in Chicago also demanded immediate action against the culprits responsible for killing the student. top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all Almost a year ago, Vivek Saini, an Indian student, who was engaged in part-time work at a convenience store in the US state of Georgia, died in the hands of a homeless man for whom he provided health and shelter for many days. The homeless man killed the Indian student on January 16. Witnesses told US local news media outlet WSB-TV that Faulkner attacked Vivek with a hammer late at night after he asked him to leave the store. First Published: January 20, 2025, 15:21 IST Kejriwal Is Silent After Finding Out Bangladeshi Infiltrator Involved In Saif Ali Khan Attack Case: BJP Last Updated: January 20, 2025, 12:19 IST Taking a dig at AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal, who demanded the resignation of the central government over an attack on Bollywood star Saif Ali Khan, the BJP on Sunday said the former Delhi chief minister has been mum since learning that the attacker was a... Read More BJP slammed Arvind Kejriwal for his silence over reports of Bangladeshi infiltrator involved in Saif Ali Khan case. Taking a dig at AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal, who demanded the resignation of the central government over an attack on Bollywood star Saif Ali Khan, the BJP on Sunday said the former Delhi chief minister has been mum since learning that the attacker was a Bangladeshi infiltrator. The Mumbai Police said earlier in the day that Mohammad Shariful Islam Shehzad, a Bangladeshi national who had illegally entered India and changed his name to Bijoy Das, was arrested from Thane in connection with the attack on Khan on January 16. related stories Kejriwal, who vocally reacted on the day Khan was attacked, has gone silent upon learning that the attacker is a Bangladeshi citizen, Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva said. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has been saying from day one that Rohingya Muslims and Bangladeshis pose a security threat" not just to Delhi but to the entire country. However, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), led by Kejriwal, provides them shelter and fosters them in Delhi, Sachdeva charged. Kejriwal, who showed deep concern after Khan was attacked, now has a responsibility to condemn the Bangladeshi individual involved in it, he said. Ahead of the February 5 Delhi Assembly polls, the BJP has charged AAP MLAs and leaders with helping illegal Bangladeshis and Rohingya Muslims stay in Delhi and providing them with money, electricity and water connections. The saffron party has also alleged that these people were provided with documents by the AAP to become voters so that they can be used as a vote bank. In a post on X, AAPs chief national spokesperson Priyanka Kakkar said the prime minister and the Union home minister should apologise to Khans family, and alleged that Bangladeshi infiltrators" have entered different parts of the country in the last 10 years due to their failures". Kejriwal slammed the Centre on Thursday over the attack on Khan. The BJP-led central government must resign if it cant protect our borders, country, national capital and the people of India," he had said. The former Delhi chief minister had also said that attacks on celebrities were not new, citing a firing incident outside actor Salman Khans house and the killing of his friend Baba Siddique in Mumbai. . top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all . First Published: January 20, 2025, 12:19 IST Kerala Lottery Results LIVE: Win Win W-805 Winners For 20 January, 2025 Announced; Here's Full List Published By : Trending Desk Last Updated: January 23, 2025, 09:27 IST Kerala Lottery Results Today: Here's full list of winning numbers for Win Win W-805 lucky draw for Monday, January 20, 2025. Kerala Lottery Win Win W-805 Results: The first prize winner of Win Win W-805 will get Rs 75 lakh. (Image: Shutterstock) KERALA LOTTERY WIN WIN W-805 RESULT ON MONDAY, 20.1.2025, LIVE UPDATES: The Kerala State Lottery Department has announced the results of the Win-Win W-805 lottery for Monday, January 20. The grand prize winner will receive a monetary reward of Rs 75 lakh, with Rs 5 lakh awarded to the second-place winner and Rs 1 lakh to the third-place winner. Check the Live Updates and Full List of Winning Numbers below. ALSO READ: Kerala Lottery Results: Karunya Plus KN-557 Winners For 23 January, 2025; First Prize Rs 80 Lakh! related stories FULL LIST OF WINNING NUMBERS FOR WIN WIN W-805 LOTTERY WINNING NUMBER FOR 1ST PRIZE OF RS 75 LAKH IS WO 123416 (KAYAMKULAM) Agent Name: SHIJI P A Agency No.: A 5594 WINNING NUMBER FOR 2ND PRIZE OF RS 5 LAKH IS WX 273773 (CHITTUR) Agent Name: N SHOUKKATH ALI Agency No.: P 2034 WINNING NUMBER FOR 3RD PRIZE OF RS 1 LAKH ARE WN 883746 WO 937849 WP 774595 WR 537413 WS 183395 WT 748568 WU 633042 WV 166927 WW 646008 WX 168588 WY 602434 WZ 888405 WINNING NUMBERS FOR CONSOLATION PRIZE OF RS 8,000 ARE WN 123416 WP 123416 WR 123416 WS 123416 WT 123416 WU 123416 WV 123416 WW 123416 WX 123416 WY 123416 WZ 123416 WINNING NUMBERS FOR 4TH PRIZE OF RS 5,000 ARE 0039 0111 0155 1075 1160 1211 1350 1660 1827 2023 2093 4482 4530 4848 6350 7899 8296 9273 WINNING NUMBERS FOR 5TH PRIZE OF RS 2,000 ARE 1950 2991 5273 5661 5804 5993 6692 6870 7186 9451 WINNING NUMBERS FOR 6TH PRIZE OF RS 1,000 ARE 1790 1867 2188 2925 4506 4988 5009 6524 6693 6985 7937 8388 9367 9467 WINNING NUMBERS FOR 7TH PRIZE OF RS 500 ARE 0003 0020 0085 0162 0244 0454 0560 0866 0898 0967 1054 1102 1152 1309 1494 1547 1776 1842 1975 2240 2268 2385 2591 2600 2712 2717 2780 2950 2977 3175 3377 3682 3882 4074 4078 4114 4397 4584 4633 4793 5228 5247 5424 5462 5538 5601 5654 5702 5772 5868 5928 5997 6130 6483 6504 6741 6790 6798 6972 7192 7304 7475 7483 7558 8008 8113 8134 8183 8327 8516 8550 8601 8727 8818 9175 9227 9291 9397 9741 9772 9853 9934 WINNING NUMBERS FOR 8TH PRIZE OF RS 100 ARE 0084 0226 0282 0318 0323 0346 0415 0511 0719 0767 0829 0857 0905 0926 0962 1027 1106 1127 1167 1255 1304 1358 1402 1476 1682 1691 1703 1799 2075 2096 2131 2140 2145 2169 2282 2322 2384 2416 2622 2629 2736 3022 3184 3357 3639 3689 3899 3910 3998 4001 4042 4065 4131 4175 4183 4277 4318 4434 4487 4552 4632 4684 4749 4763 4946 5105 5288 5299 5353 5399 5484 5688 5864 5886 5913 5954 6126 6260 6261 6357 6527 6604 6625 6629 6709 6833 6890 6928 6977 7011 7013 7087 7139 7275 7300 7422 7436 7488 7588 7835 7906 7911 7939 7941 8001 8048 8129 8214 8255 8266 8373 8467 8470 8741 8769 9039 9212 9233 9308 9353 9368 9400 9460 9699 9818 9851 HOW TO CHECK WIN-WIN W- 805 RESULTS? The Kerala Lottery Departments official website, keralalottery.info, will include the Win-Win W-805 lottery results. As an alternative, you can personally confirm the results by going to the Kerala Government Gazette office. How to Claim Your Prize Money: To determine if you are a winner, compare your ticket number with the results released in the Kerala Government Gazette. If your ticket number matches a winning number, you can claim your prize. Winners must claim their prize within 30 days of the results announcement. Head to the Kerala Lottery headquarters at Gorky Bhavan to collect your prize. When collecting your prize, make sure to bring your winning ticket along with a valid photo ID for verification. DOCUMENTS REQUIRED TO CLAIM PRIZE MONEY? 1. A self-attestation photocopy of the winning ticket on both sides. 2. Passport-sized photographs signed by a Gazette officer. 3. The participants signed copy of their PAN card. 4. Complete the online prize claim form and attach a revenue stamp before submitting it. 5. Valid identifying documents, including voter IDs, Aadhaar cards, PAN cards, or ration cards. HOW TO DOWNLOAD A PDF WITH A FULL LIST OF WINNING NUMBERS? Go to the Kerala Lottery Departments official website at keralalotteries.info or keralalotteryresult.net. Click on the appropriate link to know the Win-Win W-805 lottery results. The results page will display the draws winning numbers. top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all Search the website for the results download option. Click the link to view and evaluate the lottery results in PDF format. Location : Thiruvananthapuram [Trivandrum], India First Published: January 20, 2025, 09:00 IST Maha Kumbh 2025: How Fire Caused By Cylinder Blast Was Doused In Just 22 Minutes Curated By : Translation Desk Last Updated: January 20, 2025, 12:31 IST A police supervisor at the Integrated Control Centre said they work 10-hour shifts monitoring live feeds. He shared that a call center handles pilgrim complaints which are linked to helplines and emergency services The local administration provided crucial support in extinguishing the fire at Gita Press camp in Mahakumbh area. (AP File) A vast temporary city, sprawling across 10,000 acres and accommodating over one crore pilgrims and sadhus at any given time, presents a unique challenge for crowd management. With approximately 20 lakh visitors each day, the Integrated Control Command Center diligently monitors the situation to ensure smooth operations and prevent any unfortunate incidents. More than 400 people in each of the four Integrated Control and Command Centres (ICCC) constantly watch live footage and data from hotspots on large screens and monitor the flow of crowds and pilgrims. To achieve this, a team of more than 3,000 cameras, underwater drones, and more than 60,000 personnel have been deployed on the ground. related stories The Maha Kumbh commenced in Prayagraj on January 13 and will continue for 45 days. Over seven crore pilgrims have already partaken in the holy bath at the Sangam, the confluence of the Ganga, Yamuna, and Saraswati (invisible) rivers. The ICCC is providing comprehensive surveillance for security, crowd management, and crime prevention. According to Amit Kumar, the Superintendent of Police and officer in charge of the Integrated Command and Control Centre (ICCC), who is an IPS officer of the Uttar Pradesh cadre, the data is being captured accurately to eliminate guesswork. This is the first time that Artificial Intelligence (AI) is being used for crowd management on this scale globally. Over 3,000 cameras have been installed in the fair area and the city, 1,800 of which are AI-enabled. This eliminates guesswork, with all operations based on real-time data," he said. Explaining the methodology, Amit Kumar said that whenever the crowd at a particular place exceeds the prescribed limit, an alert pops up on the screen, and the information is relayed to the wireless grid. Subsequently, teams on the ground swing into action, and diversions are made as needed. There are 13 contingency plans defined in the SOP, each with a different methodology. He further stated that every time a barricade breaks, a jam occurs due to the merging of traffic from all directions, or even a fire breaks out, an alert is triggered. Fire controlled in 22 minutes The fire caused by a cylinder explosion on Sunday at the Gita Press camp in Sector 19 of Maha Kumbh area was also reported to the ICCC within seconds, and water tenders reached the location within seven minutes. The fire was extinguished in 22 minutes, and there were no casualties. Speaking about the incident, Gita Press trustee Krishna Kumar Khemka told IANS, The fire originated not on our premises, but in an adjacent area behind the boundary line. The fire spread rapidly, engulfing Gita Press and intensifying in strength. Although thankfully no lives were lost, the blaze resulted in significant material damage, reducing goods to ashes. All individuals on our premises are safe." He said, A fire destroyed 170 cottages, resulting in losses estimated to be in the crores. The local administration provided crucial support in extinguishing the fire, with the fire brigade responding swiftly to control the blaze. Chief Minister Yogi visited the scene to assess the situation and issue instructions to officials. Additionally, PM Modi was briefed on the incident, and the administration is providing full cooperation. Services will resume on Monday as the community moves forward." God has tested us, and we will pass this test. We are working with the utmost caution. The fire, which started today, reached the kitchen, and after that, there was a cylinder blast. However, everyone is safe." He continued, This incident occurred due to misfortune. It would be unfair to attribute blame or investigate anyone. We do not have any enemies. Our spirits remain high, and the administration has pledged their support. We are fully motivated and will complete the Kalpavas," Khemka added. 4 ICCCs, round-the-clock monitoring top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all A police supervisor posted at the command centre explained that they work in 10-hour shifts to maintain constant surveillance of the live feed. A dedicated call centre receives complaints and notifications from pilgrims. He added that the call centre is integrated with the police helpline, womens helpline, fire, and ambulance services. Four ICCCs are operational at the Maha Kumbh: one at the main office, one in the city, and two in the Jhunsi and Arail areas. Over 60,000 police personnel and 56 police stations have been established to ensure security. Additionally, 30 pontoon bridges, along with grand entry and exit gates, are under camera surveillance. The ghat and other areas within the fairgrounds are also being monitored. Location : Prayagraj, India First Published: January 20, 2025, 12:26 IST Rape Victim's Testimony On Higher Pedestal Than Injured Witness's Account: SC Reported By : LawBeat Last Updated: January 20, 2025, 13:46 IST However, there cannot be conviction solely upon the statement of a rape victim particularly when there are material contradictions in her version, the court added. Supreme Court of India (File Photo) The Supreme Court recently observed that the evidence of a rape victim has to be placed on a very high pedestal, much higher than that of an injured witness. However, there cannot be conviction solely upon the statement of a rape victim particularly when there are material contradictions in her version, it added. A bench of Justices MM Sundresh and Rajesh Bindal dismissed an appeal filed by the Uttar Pradesh government against the Allahabad High Courts order that had overturned the conviction of one Mahendra and another by the trial court for the offences punishable under Section 366 and 376(g) of the Indian Penal Code. related stories The High Court had not only found material discrepancies in the evidence adduced by the prosecutrix under Section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 vis-a-vis her examination before the trial court, but also had found that the statement of the Investigating Officer was totally contrary to the prosecutrixs statement. The top court noted that this contradiction also extended to the recovery made from the prosecutrix and the accused. This aspect has been considered at length by the High Court, apart from giving cogent reasoning for disbelieving the evidence of the prosecutrix, the bench said. No doubt, it is true that the evidence of a prosecutrix has to be placed at a very high pedestal, much higher than that of an injured witness, but when there are material contradictions making the Court disbelieve the evidence of a prosecutrix, one cannot render a conviction solely relying upon the same," the bench stated. Finding no reason to interfere with the impugned order, the court dismissed the state governments appeal. The High Court in its April 8, 2016 judgment had held the prosecutions case was a bundle of false allegations and improbable facts, due to which the trial court misled itself and incorrectly convicted the accused. It had noted that the prosecutions version, particularly the victims statement, was shaky and unreliable. It had further referred to the medical evidence, which failed to show any signs of injury, either externally or internally, on the victims body. If an 18-20 years old girl is kidnapped and raped for one hour, I am sure injuries are a must, but in the present case, medical evidence does not support the commission of rape. In this particular case and the manner in which rape is said to have been committed, bruises, scratches and abrasions on the writs, breast, face and neck should have been found by the doctor. Thus, the medical evidence also does not support the prosecution case and here another dent is proved in the prosecution version," the High Court judge had observed. top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all The Sessions Court in Jhansi had earlier convicted the accused, sentencing them to ten years of rigorous imprisonment. However, the High Courts ruling found the evidence insufficient to support the charges. The Supreme Court, finding no reason to interfere with the High Courts order, upheld the decision and dismissed the states appeal. First Published: January 20, 2025, 13:46 IST 'We Must Rise Above Life For Life Instinct': Court In RG Kar Verdict Amid Calls For Sanjay Roy's Death Penalty Curated By : News18.com Last Updated: January 20, 2025, 20:33 IST RG Kar Rape-Murder Case: The Kolkata court which sentenced Sanjay Roy to life imprisionment said that the modern justice system must rise above the instinct of "an eye for an eye." RG Kar rape and murder case convict Sanjay Roy sent to life imprisonment | Image/ANI RG Kar Rape-Murder Case: The Kolkata court which refused to award the death penalty to Sanjay Roy, but sentenced him to life imprisonment, for the rape and murder of a trainee doctor at the citys RG Kar Hospital last year, said that the modern justice system must rise above the instinct of an eye for an eye." The court order came as CBI, the family of the victim and doctors demanded for death penalty for Sanjay Roy, claiming that life imprisonment punishment is not enough and that they would approach the higher court with their demand. related stories Sealdah Court judge Anirban Das held that the case doesnt fall into the rarest of the rare" category, which could have led to a death sentence for Roy, and sentenced the convict to life imprisonment till death. The court also ordered him to pay Rs 10 lakh to the trainee doctors family. In the realm of modern justice, we must rise above the primitive instinct of an eye for an eye or a tooth for a tooth or nail for a nail or a life for a life," the court order accessed by CNN-News18 read. The measure of a civilized society lies not in its ability to exact revenge, but in its capacity to reform, rehabilitate and ultimately heal, the court added in its judgement on RG Kars rape and murder case. Public Emotion Must Not Influence Court Explaining his decision of not awarding capital punishment to the convict, Justice Das held that the judiciarys primary responsibility is to uphold the rule of law and ensure justice based on evidence, not public sentiment. It is of prime importance that the court maintain its objectivity and impartiality by focusing solely on the facts and evidence presented during the trial, rather than being swayed by public opinion or emotional reactions to the case," he said. Sanjay Roy Escapes Death Penalty Sealdah Court judge Anirban Das explained his decision of not considering the RG Kar rape and murder case as rarest of rare by noting that the crime, although heinous, did not qualify for the factors set to define rarest of the rare" case. I think this is not a case of rarest of the rare. Thats why I am giving you imprisonment till your death," the judge said while announcing the quantum of punishment for Sanjay Roy. The judge said that sentencing should rely on the evidence presented and pointed out that Sanjoy Roy had already provided extensive statements during his three-hour questioning by the lawyers. The verdict would be based on the evidence presented," Justice Das had clarified before pronouncing the judgment. top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all Roy was convicted in the rape and murder case on Saturday, with Justice Das informing him that the minimum sentence being faced by him was life imprisonment, while the maximum sentence could be the death penalty. The body of the female postgraduate trainee was discovered in a seminar hall at the hospital in the early hours of August 9, 2024. She was killed after being raped. Sanjay Roy, a civic volunteer, was arrested the following day in connection with the crime. Later, the CBI took over the investigation and filed a charge sheet related to the case, paving the way for Roys conviction. First Published: January 20, 2025, 19:39 IST RG Kar Rape-Murder Case: Bengal Govt To Plead For Sanjay Roy's Capital Punishment At High Court Curated By : News18.com Last Updated: January 20, 2025, 20:17 IST The victim's family and several political leaders were dissatisfied when a Kolkata court gave life imprisonment to Sanjay Roy for raping and murdering a trainee doctor in RG Kar Hospital last year. West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee said she was not satisfied with the RG Kar Hospital Rape-Murder Verdict awarding life in prison to Sanjay Roy. (PTI file photo) West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday said the state would appeal to the High Court to seek capital punishment for Sanjay Roy the accused in the RG Kar Hospital Rape-Murder Case who was sentenced to life imprisonment by the Sealdah court today. This came after the parents of the deceased 31-year-old medic and several political leaders, including Mamata Banerjee herself, expressed dissatisfaction by the Sealdah courts verdict, where it denied the Central Bureau of Investigations (CBI) request for the death penalty to Roy and awarded him with life imprisonment, observing that it was not rarest of the rare" case. related stories Taking to X, Banerjee said, In the RG Kar junior doctors rape and murder case, I am really shocked to see that the judgement of the Court today finds that it is not a Rarest of Rare case!" In the R.G. Kar junior doctors rape and murder case, I am really shocked to see that the judgement of the Court today finds that it is not a Rarest of Rare case!I am convinced that it is indeed a rarest of rare case which demands capital punishment. How could the judgement Mamata Banerjee (@MamataOfficial) January 20, 2025 I am convinced that it is indeed a rarest of rare case which demands capital punishment. How could the judgement come to the conclusion that it is not a rarest of rare case?! We want and insist upon death penalty in this most sinister and sensitive case," she added. Mamata Banerjee said capital punishment had been granted to convicts in such crimes over the last 3-4 months and questioned the exception in this case, which shook the medical fraternity and sparked widespread protests. I strongly feel that it is a heinous crime that warrants capital punishment. We will plead for capital punishment of the convict at the High Court now," she added. What Did The Court Say? The court sentenced Roy to life imprisonment for raping and murdering a trainee doctor in RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in August last year and asked him to pay Rs 50,000 fine. Judge Anirban Das also directed the state of West Bengal to pay Rs 17 lakh to the victims family as compensation, which they denied. As the order was pronounced, the court told Roy that he was guilty in the case and that the CBI had advocated for a death penalty for him. However, the court mentioned that this was not the rarest of rare cases", as argued by the probe agency. No death penalty, only life imprisonment, because death took place thats why life imprisonment. Rs 10 lakh he has to give to the victims family," the judge further said. However, the trainee doctors father, who was also present in the court at the time of the order, refused to accept Rs 10 lakh from the accused and said he only wanted justice. The judge later said that the primary responsibility of the judiciary is to uphold the rule of law and ensure justice based on evidence, not public sentiment. It is of prime importance that the court maintain its objectivity and partiality by focusing solely on the facts and evidence presented during the trial, rather than being swayed by public opinion or emotional reactions to the case," Das said. In the realm of modern justice, we must rise above the primitive instinct of an eye for an eye" or a tooth for a tooth" or nail for a nail" or a life for a life". Our duty is not to match brutality with brutality, but to elevate humanity through wisdom, compassion and a deeper understanding of justice," he added. Politicians Express Dissatisfaction With Verdict The verdict received mixed reactions from the public, with political leaders calling it a travesty of justice. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) demanded appeal in the case and accused the West Bengal government of destroying evidence and weakening the case. top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all Life imprisonment and a 50,000-rupee fine for Sanjoy Roy, accused in the RG Kar rape and murder case, is a travesty of justice. The verdict must be appealed. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee must stop shielding the criminal," said BJP IT Cell In-Charge Amit Malviya, calling for a probe in the role of Kolkata Commissioner and CMs role in destruction of evidence. CPI(M) leader Brinda Karat also expressed dismay with the verdict. Kerala court gave death sentence to a girl because the girl was proven to have poisoned her boyfriend It shows the failure of our laws to bring justice in cases of crimes against women, particularly rape and murder because there are such different standards which are being applied," she said. First Published: January 20, 2025, 19:54 IST 'Not Rarest Of Rare Cases': Kolkata Court Gives Life Term To RG Kar Rape-Murder Convict Sanjay Roy Curated By : News18.com Last Updated: January 20, 2025, 17:29 IST A Kolkata court on Monday awarded life imprisonment to Sanjay Roy, convicted of raping and murdering a postgraduate doctor at Kolkata's RG Kar Medical College. RG Kar rape-murder case accused Sanjay Roy (L)/Protests in demand for justice for the victim (R) (Photos: PTI) Sanjay Roy, convicted of raping and murdering an on-duty doctor at Kolkatas RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, was on Monday awarded a life term by a city court, which also ordered him to pay Rs 10 lakh to the trainee doctors family. The court also imposed a fine of Rs 50,000 on Roy. Additionally, the court asked the state government to provide Rs 17 lakh in compensation to the victims family. related stories RG Kar Rape-Murder: Why Kolkata Court Judge Labelled Case As Not Rarest Of Rare As the order was pronounced, the court told Roy that he was guilty in the case and that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had advocated for a death penalty for him. However, the court mentioned that this was not the rarest of rare cases", as argued by the probe agency. Sanjay Roy, you were told that you are guilty, the CBI advocated for a death penalty. However, this is not the rarest of rare cases," the court said. No death penalty, only life imprisonment, because death took place thats why life imprisonment. Rs 10 lakh he has to give to the victims family," the judge further said. However, the trainee doctors father, who was also present in the court at the time of the order, refused to accept Rs 10 lakh from the accused and said he only wanted justice. Responding to the doctors father, the judge said, This is statutory, thats why I have ordered the accused to pay the amount to you." Roy was on January 18 convicted under charges which entailed a minimum sentence of life imprisonment, while the maximum could be capital punishment. RG KAR RAPE-MURDER CASE: JUDGE SPEAKS TO ACCUSED Ahead of pronouncing the quantum of punishment, the Kolkata court judge told accused Sanjay Roy that he may get life imprisonment, a capital punishment for the crime he had committed. He could also be sentenced to life, the court had said. Responding to the judge, the accused claimed that he had not done anything and that he was being framed in the case. Roy also argued that he was not being allowed to speak and was being tortured. I have not done anything, I have been framed," he said, adding, They have not allowed me to speak, and have tortured me, made me sign a lot of documents." The CBI took me for a medical test, but then they changed their direction and went to three places, then took for the medical test," Roy claimed. To Sanjay Roys claims, the Kolkata court judge said, I gave you three hours during the trial, and you know the best what happened." My judgment will be based on the evidence which has come to the fore, and all your statements are on the record," the judge told Roy. Considering all this, I felt that you are guilty. Today, I am asking you about the punishment," the judge said. The court also asked Roy if his family keeps in touch with him, to which Roy said that he was not in touch with anyone. As the judge asked Roy if he wanted to say something else, he again claimed that he had been framed. Travesty Of Justice: BJP Demands Appeal In RG Kar Rape-Murder Verdict, Mamata Also Unhappy CBI SOUGHT DEATH PENALTY As the court asked the CBI about its stance on the punishment for Sanjay Roy, the probe agency termed Roys crime as the rarest of rare cases" and said he should be awarded a death penalty. The CBI, referring to the trainee doctor, said the victim was a meritorious student and was an asset to the society. This is the rarest of rare cases. She was a meritorious student, and was an asset to the society," the CBI told the court. The Supreme Court has already taken a suo moto cognizance of the case. This has shaken the nation. If doctor students are not safe, then what can be said? In our submission, we will say this is a rarest of rare cases, and only a death penalty can bring confidence to the society," the CBI told the court. Meanwhile, the lawyer for Sanjay Roy countered the CBIs claims and said this was not the rarest of rare cases. They (the CBI) mentioned this was a rarest of rare cases, but this is not. You have to bring evidence that this person cannot be reformed since the Supreme Court has spoken about reform," Roys lawyer said. Amid the arguments, the lawyer for the doctors parents said there should be a death penalty for Roy since he had been found guilty. The movement of this accused person that night shows where he was going around. He has been found guilty," the lawyer for the doctors parents said. This person (Sanjay Roy) is a civic volunteer, he was into the welfare of patients. We pray for the highest punishment for him, that is a death penalty," he said. RG KAR RAPE-MURDER CASE The court of Additional District and Sessions Judge Anirban Das in Sealdah had declared Roy guilty of rape and murder of the postgraduate trainee at the hospital on August 9 last year. The gruesome crime had led to nationwide outrage and prolonged protests. The investigation into the case was transferred from the Kolkata Police to the CBI by the Calcutta High Court. top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all Roy, a former civic volunteer with the Kolkata Police, was arrested on August 10, a day after the 31-year-old medics body was found in the seminar room of the hospital. Found guilty of sexually assaulting the doctor and throttling her to death, Roy was convicted by the judge under Sections 64, 66 and 103(1) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). First Published: January 20, 2025, 14:52 IST Beijing (Gasgoo)- On January 17, 2025, BAIC Group's premium electric vehicle brand ARCFOX announced a collaboration with NIO Power to integrate their charging networks, offering ARCFOX owners a more extensive, efficient, and user-friendly charging service across China. Photo credit: ARCFOX Under the agreement, the ARCFOX charging platform will connect fully with NIO Power's network, which spans 9 north-south and 9 east-west highways, covering 19 major city clusters. Charging stations are available from Fuyuan in the east to Kashgar in the west, from Mohe in the north to Sansha in the south. ARCFOX vehicle owners can access over 9,000 ultra-fast charging piles and 5,400 destination charging piles via the ARCFOX app, benefiting from smarter, more seamless charging experiences. Photo credit: ARCFOX This partnership reflects ARCFOX's commitment to providing convenient and worry-free mobility. The addition of NIO Power's extensive and reliable charging resources significantly expands the charging ecosystem for ARCFOX vehicles, enabling users to travel freely without being constrained by charging infrastructure. The collaboration ensures that electric vehicles can reach destinations traditionally accessible only by fuel-powered cars, fostering a more efficient, intelligent, and convenient travel ecosystem. By integrating industry resources and embracing open cooperation, ARCFOX strengthens its competitive edge and influence in the new energy vehicle market. This partnership not only supports the brand's continued growth but also addresses the increasing demand for greener and more efficient mobility solutions, paving the way for a sustainable transportation future. 'Rarest Of Rare': CBI Seeks Death Penalty For RG Kar Convict Sanjay Roy, His Lawyer Counters Reported By : News18.com Edited By: Vani Mehrotra Last Updated: January 20, 2025, 14:17 IST Ahead of the court's order, the CBI has called for a death penalty for Sanjay Roy, citing the RG Kar rape and murder as a "rarest of rare case" involving a meritorious trainee doctor. Kolkata: Junior doctors take out a rally to demand justice for the alleged rape and murder of a woman medic (Photo: PTI) Ahead of the Kolkata courts order in the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital rape and murder case, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Monday opined in the court that the crime committed by accused Sanjay Roy was amongst the rarest of rare cases" and that he should be awarded a death penalty for the same. The CBI also mentioned that the trainee doctor the victim in the case, was an asset to society and was a meritorious student. related stories This is a rarest of rare cases. The victim in the RG Kar Medical College rape and murder case was a meritorious student and was an asset to the society," a representative for the CBI told the court. The Supreme Court has already taken a suo motu cognizance of the case, which shook the nation," he said, adding, If our doctor students are not safe, then what else can be said?" In our submission, we will say this is the rarest of rare cases. Only a death penalty can bring confidence to the society," the CBI said. This came as the court asked the CBI for its views on the punishment that should be awarded to Sanjay Roy. Responding to the CBI, the lawyer for accused Sanjay Roy argued that this was not the rarest of rare cases. They (the CBI) mentioned this was a rarest of rare cases, but this was not. You have to bring evidence that this person cannot be reformed since the Supreme Court has spoken about reform," the accuseds lawyer argued. Meanwhile, the parents of the victim pressed for a death penalty. The movement of this person that night showed where he was going. He has been found guilty," the lawyer for the doctors parents said, referring to Sanjay Roy. This person is a civic volunteer, he was into the welfare of patients. We pray for the highest punishment, which is the death penalty," the lawyer added. WHAT SANJAY ROY TOLD THE COURT In the court, Sanjay Roy claimed he was innocent and had been wrongly held guilty. I am being framed, and have not committed any crime. I have not done anything and still, I have been held guilty," Roy told the court ahead of sentencing in the case. top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all On January 18, Roy was held guilty of sexually assaulting the doctor and throttling her to death in August last year. He was convicted by Judge Anirban Das of the Additional District and Sessions Court under Sections 64, 66, and 103(1) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) on Saturday. First Published: January 20, 2025, 13:44 IST RG Kar Rape-Murder: Why Kolkata Court Judge Labelled Case As 'Not Rarest Of Rare' Curated By : News18.com Last Updated: January 20, 2025, 16:37 IST RG Kar Rape-Murder Case: Sanjay Roy, convicted of raping and murdering an on-duty doctor at Kolkatas RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, was awarded a life term by a city court Sanjay Roy was convicted in the RG Kar rape-murder case on Saturday | Image/ANI RG Kar Rape-Murder Case: A Kolkata court on Monday, while pronouncing its judgment in the case related to the rape and murder of a trainee doctor at Kolkatas RG Kar Hospital last year, refused to award the death penalty to the convict Sanjay Roy. Sealdah Court judge Anirban Das held that the case doesnt fall into the rarest of the rare" category, which could have led to a death sentence for Roy, and sentenced the convict to life imprisonment till death. But why did the case fail to secure the rarest of rare" category, given the crime was heinous and brutal? related stories The prosecution demanded the death penalty for Roy, while the court ruled otherwise, stating that the case did not meet a threshold for capital punishment. The Central Bureau of Investigation, which is probing the case, and victims family had sought the death penalty for the convict. This is a case which comes under the rarest of rare category. The maximum punishment, which is the death penalty, should be awarded to Roy to maintain peoples faith in society," the CBI argued in the court. RG Kar Case: Why It Was Not Rarest Of Rare The expression rarest of rare" cases was coined by the Supreme Court in 1980 while dealing with a case involving Bachan Singh and the State of Punjab. Since then, capital punishment, synonymous with the death penalty, has been given to the convict in rarest of the rare" cases in India. Sealdah Court judge Anirban Das explained his decision of not considering the RG Kar rape and murder case as rarest of rare by noting that the crime, although heinous, did not qualify for the factors set to define rarest of the rare" case. I think this is not a case of rarest of the rare. Thats why I am giving you imprisonment till your death," the judge said while announcing the quantum of punishment for Sanjay Roy. The judge said that sentencing should rely on the evidence presented and pointed out that Sanjoy Roy had already provided extensive statements during his three-hour questioning by the lawyers. The verdict would be based on the evidence presented," Justice Das had clarified before pronouncing the judgment. After considering arguments from both parties, Justice Das noted that life imprisonment was an appropriate sentence for Roy, keeping in mind the following factors: Criteria for Death Penalty: While the crime was brutal, the judge determined that it did not meet the rarest of the rare" standard required for capital punishment. While the crime was brutal, the judge determined that it did not meet the rarest of the rare" standard required for capital punishment. Possibility of Reform: The defence successfully argued that the prosecution had not established that Roy was beyond reform, which is a prerequisite for awarding the death penalty. Roy was convicted in the rape and murder case on Saturday, with Justice Das informing him that the minimum sentence being faced by him was life imprisonment, while the maximum sentence could be the death penalty. top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all He was found guilty under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) sections 64 (rape), 66 (causing injury resulting in the death of rape victim), and 103 (1) (murder). Section 103(1) provides for the death penalty or life imprisonment; section 66 provides for imprisonment of not less than 20 years, which may be extended to life; and section 64 lays down imprisonment of not less than 10 years, which may extend to life in prison. The body of the female postgraduate trainee was discovered in a seminar hall at the hospital in the early hours of August 9, 2024. She was killed after being raped. Sanjay Roy, a civic volunteer, was arrested the following day in connection with the crime. Later, the CBI took over the investigation and filed a charge sheet related to the case, paving the way for Roys conviction. First Published: January 20, 2025, 16:37 IST Sanjay Roy Escapes Death Penalty: RG Kar Not Rarest Of Rare | Key Factors In Capital Punishment Reported By : News18.com Edited By: Ashesh Mallick Last Updated: January 20, 2025, 16:46 IST Sealdah Court pronounced its sentence in the RG Kar rape and murder case and awarded life imprisonment to Sanjay Roy, the accused in the case. The court said that it was not "rarest of the rare" case. Accused of RG Kar rape and murder case, Sanjay Roy sentenced to life imprisonment (ANI File Image) The Sealdah Court on Monday sentenced Sanjay Roy the convict in the RG Kar rape and murder case to life imprisonment, denying CBIs request for a death penalty. The CBI, during the concluding arguments ahead of the pronouncement of the sentence, had argued that it was the rarest of the rare case" and therefore sought a death penalty for the convict. Roys lawyer had cited some cases in his counter-argument and said that it is not the rarest of the rare case". related stories After the court assembled at 2.45 pm today to pronounce its sentence, the judge observed that it was not the rarest of the rare case", and awarded a life sentence to Roy who persistently claimed innocence throughout. On January 18, he was convicted under charges under which he could be awarded a minimum sentence of life imprisonment, and the maximum could be capital punishment. The parents of the deceased medic said they were not satisfied with the verdict of the court. We are shocked. How is this not the rarest of rare cases? An on-duty doctor was raped and murdered. We are dismayed. There was a larger conspiracy behind this crime," the mother told news agency PTI. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee also questioned the CBI investigation in the case. All of us had demanded a death sentence, but the court has given a life term until death. The case was forcibly taken from us. Had it been with the (Kolkata) police, we would have ensured that he was served a death sentence," she claimed. What Are The Factors Determining Rarest Of Rare Case? Aggravating circumstances: The crime must be extremely brutal and culpable. The crime must be extremely brutal and culpable. Mitigating circumstances: The offenders background, mental state, and potential for rehabilitation must be considered. The offenders background, mental state, and potential for rehabilitation must be considered. Collective conscience: The crime must shock the collective conscience of society. The crime must shock the collective conscience of society. Uncommon crime: The crime must be unusual and for which no alternative punishment is viable. The crime must be unusual and for which no alternative punishment is viable. Public abhorrence: The crime must be so heinous that it warrants public abhorrence. The crime must be so heinous that it warrants public abhorrence. Response to societys cry for justice: The punishment should respond to societys cry for justice against the criminal. Rarest Of Rare Cases In The Past In the past, the Supreme Coirt has maintained capital punishment in rarest of rare" cases. In the Nirbhaya rape-murder case, the apex court held that it fell under the rarest of rare" classification and awarded the death penalty to the accused. Bachan Singh Vs State of Punjab: The expression rarest of rare cases was coined by the Supreme Court for the first time in this case, which stipulated that the death penalty should be granted in the gravest of cases and life imprisonment would be the rule. Kehar Singh Vs Delhi Administration: The Supreme Court affirmed the death penalty to Kehar Singh, Balbir Singh and Satwant Singh for planning and carrying out the murder of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. The court held that the homicide is one of the rarest of rare cases in which extraordinary punishment should be sought. Dhananjoy Chatterjee Vs State of WB: The Supreme Court awarded the death penalty to the accused who raped and murdered an 18-year-old girl in 1990, deeming it falling in the rarest of the rare category. The court observed that the cases of rape against the helpless woman and the minor girl cannot be taken leniently. The accused was hanged in 2004. Md. Ajmal Md. Amir Kasab Vs State of Maharashtra: Ajmal Kasab was convicted and sentenced to death for his role in the Mumbai terror attacks in 2008. The Supreme Court observed that the offence committed by the appellant was a matter of national security which can never be pardoned and dismissed his appeal. Kasab was hanged in 2012. Mukesh and others Vs State for NCT of Delhi: Six accused were convicted for the brutal rape and murder of a 23-year-old girl in Delhi in 2012, which shook the nation. The Court observed that this case came under the category of rarest of the rare and upheld the death penalty for four of the accused. A minor was sent to juvenile court, while another died by suicide. The four accused were hanged in 2020. What Did Judge Say During Sentence Pronouncement? The judge said, No death penalty, only life imprisonment, because death took place thats why life imprisonment. Rs 10 lakh he has to give to the victims family". top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all The victims father, who was also present in the court, refused to accept Rs 10 lakh from the accused and said that he only wanted justice. This is statutory, thats why I have ordered the accused to pay the amount to you," the judge said. First Published: January 20, 2025, 15:29 IST 300 Cops, 72 Hours, A UPI Payment: Before Saif Attacker's Arrest, A Big Manhunt And A Key Mistake Curated By : News18.com Last Updated: January 20, 2025, 10:26 IST Mumbai Police arrested Shariful Islam, who allegedly attacked actor Saif Ali Khan, after a 72-hour operation involving 300 cops, 600 CCTV scans, and a UPI payment for food. Saif Ali Khan (L)/His attacker arrested (R) (Photos: PTI) Thirty-year-old Shariful Islam Shehzad Mohammad Rohilla Amin Fakir a Bangladeshi national, was on Sunday arrested for allegedly breaking into actor Saif Ali Khans residence and attacking him during a burglary attempt in the early hours of January 16. According to the details, the Mumbai Police had involved more than 300 cops to arrest the accused an operation, that lasted 72 hours. Nearly 600 CCTV cameras were also scanned in the process. related stories The accused was finally arrested from Maharashtras Thane after details of his UPI payment emerged. In one of the CCTV videos, the police also saw the accused getting off a bike and tracked down the two-wheeler using its number. Further investigations into the case revealed that Shehzad had illegally entered India and was living under the false name Bijoy Das. He had earlier done a reiki of Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khans Mannat bungalow on January 14. However, failed to barge inside because of high security. Mumbai Police arrested Shahzad for attacking actor Saif Ali Khan. Financially struggling, Shahzad planned robberies at celebrity homes, including actor Shah Rukh Khans and Saifs. After failing to rob Saifs house, he attacked the actor and fled HOW WAS SAIF ALI KHANs ATTACKER TRACED? As the CCTV footage of the building in Bandra where Saif Ali Khan, his wife Kareena Kapoor Khan and their sons live was scanned, the police noticed the suspect leaving the building after the attack. This mighty powerful highly intelligent spy evaded security at the Main Gate of Saif Ali Khans building & entered Saifs house at 10th floor.He stabbed Saif Ali Khan 6 times, again evaded security and escaped. Believe it if you want. pic.twitter.com/ySMN74DZ8f Incognito (@Incognito_qfs) January 16, 2025 Police then scanned several hours of footage from across the city to locate the suspect. He was captured on a CCTV camera in DN Nagar in the Andheri area, getting off a two-wheeler. The vehicle was later traced using its registration number. While the CCTVs were being scanned thoroughly, the police took the help of local intelligence inputs and zeroed in on a rented accommodation at Koliwada in Worli. The investigating team found that the accused lived with three others, IANS quoted sources in the police as saying. A police team went to this accommodation and questioned the people living there. They managed to get the suspects name and related information. Police also got his phone number and tracked his phone location, the sources added. The accused was reportedly hiding in a thicket on a deserted road in Thane. Police first surrounded him from all sides and then took him into custody. SAIF ALI KHANs ATTACKER BOUGHT PARATHA, WATER The accused made a UPI payment via Google Pay to a local vendor for a paratha and a water bottle, near Century Mill in Worli. The police first traced the vendor, reportedly identified as Naveen Ekka, to Janata Colony where he was staying along with four or five other workers. As they questioned Ekka, he told the police that the accused had made a UPI payment for a paratha and the water bottle. It was then when the police found the phone number of the accused and traced him to Thane, where more searches led to a dense mangrove cluster near a labour camp. As the police team searched the area, they saw someone sleeping on the ground. However, the person stood up and started running as an officer moved closer. He was soon caught and overpowered. ACCUSED WORKED AT A RESTAURANT During investigations, the police learnt that the accused used to work as a housekeeper at The Blair All Day restaurant near the Hiranandani area of Thane. The Manager of the restaurant revealed that a third-party vendor got him the job at the restaurant. The accused worked at the restaurant from September 2024 to December 2024. Nelson Salda, Manager of The Blair All Day restaurant was quoted by IANS as saying, We discontinued his contract after December 15. He worked with us only for two months. He used to work in the housekeeping department according to the standard procedure of the restaurant. He told us his name was Bijoy Das. He was decent as an employee." HE WAS INVOLVED IN THEFT According to reports, the accused in Saif Ali Khans attack case also worked in the Worli area and had once stolen a diamond ring belonging to a customer. The case was revealed after the customer had filed a complaint with the police and the CCTV cameras were scanned. He was fired from his job following the incident. SAIF ALI KHANs ATTACKER A BANGLADESHI NATIONAL Police said they did not find any Indian document from Shehzad but found evidence that established he is a Bangladeshi national who crossed over illegally. During questioning, he claimed that he did not know that he was breaking into Saif Ali Khans home. IANS quoted sources as saying that the accused told police that he used the rear staircase and air-conditioning ducts to go inside the building. He also said it was the first time he had entered the building. Police said they may recreate the scene with the accused. Addressing a press conference, Dikshit Gedam, DCP, Crime Branch Mumbai, said, There is primary evidence to anticipate that the accused is a Bangladeshi. He does not have valid Indian documents. Some seizures indicate that he is a Bangladeshi national." He said, The accused came to Mumbai nearly six months ago. After that, he started living in various other areas and came to Mumbai 15 days ago He was using Vijay Das as his current name." He used to work in a housekeeping agency. After entering India illegally he changed his name," the DCP said. #WATCH | Saif Ali Khan Attack case | Mumbai: DCP Zone 9 Dixit Gedam says, Prima facie the accused is a Bangladeshi and after entering India illegally he changed his name. He was using Vijay Das as his current name. He came to Mumbai 5-6 months ago. He stayed in Mumbai for a few pic.twitter.com/r08nkk6ott ANI (@ANI) January 19, 2025 SAIF ALI KHANs ATTACKER IN CUSTODY Soon after his arrest, a court remanded Shehzad in five-day police custody after observing that the polices contention of an international conspiracy could not be ruled out. The police told the court that the accused was a Bangladeshi national and they needed to find the real motive behind attacking the actor. The police also said they needed to find out if there was an international conspiracy linked to the case. Accepting the polices contention after perusing documents on record, the court said the prosecutions submission of international conspiracy cannot be said to be impossible". However, defence lawyer Sandeep D Sherkhane contended his client was residing in the country for several years and has vital documents (for staying in the country) and that his family is also living in India. The case has been hyped because of the presence of actor Saif Ali Khan, the defence lawyer further submitted. SAIF ALI KHAN ATTACKED top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all The Bollywood actor was repeatedly stabbed with a knife by an intruder inside his 12th-floor apartment in Satguru Sharan building in upscale Bandra on January 16. The 54-year-old actor underwent an emergency surgery at the Lilavati Hospital where he was rushed following the incident that took place around 2.30 am. He is recovering and may be discharged soon, doctors have said. First Published: January 20, 2025, 08:30 IST Kerala Woman Found Guilty Of Poisoning Boyfriend Sharon Raj, Handed Death Sentence Curated By : News18.com Last Updated: January 20, 2025, 15:12 IST Greeshma was found guilty of murder on Friday, January 17. Greeshma convicted in 2022 Sharon Raj murder case | Image/X In a landmark judgement, a court in Kerala awarded death penalty to a 24-year-old woman in connection with the sensational murder of her boyfriend in 2022. The woman, identified as Greeshma, was found guilty of murder on Friday, January 17. The Neyyattinkara Additional District Sessions Court had reserved the sentencing for Monday, January 20. The court also sentenced her uncle, Nirmalakumaran Nair, the third accused in the case, to three years of imprisonment. related stories While pronouncing the quantum of punishment, the court noted, The act of inviting Sharon over under the pretext of sexual intimacy and subsequently committing the crime cannot be ignored. It is the States responsibility to ensure punishment for criminal acts. Evidence such as Sharon recording a video of the suspicious juice, despite Greeshma asking him not to record, indicates that he suspected something was wrong. Sharon fought for his life for 11 days without even consuming a drop of water." Convict Betrayed The Trust Of Her Boyfriend: Court The court further noted that the convict betrayed the trust of her boyfriend by manipulating him emotionally. The court added that she has no evidence to support claims of mental pressure from the deceased. Greeshmas defence that Sharon had physically abused her also lacks any proof. On the contrary, Sharon had never blamed her in any messages or communications. While Sharon remained committed to the accused, she was simultaneously in contact with her fiance," the court further observed. Greeshma, had appealed for leniency in sentencing by citing her academic achievements, lack of prior criminal history, and the fact that she was a single child. In its 586-page verdict, the court noted that there was no need to consider the convicts age given the gravity of the crime committed. The court found Greeshma guilty under several charges, including Sections 302 (murder), 328 (causing harm to a person using poison or other harmful substances), 364 (kidnapping or abducting to murder) and 203 (destruction of evidence, or providing false information to protect an offender from legal punishment) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). The victim, Sharon Raj, was a native of Parassala in the Thiruvananthapuram district. The 23-year-old BSc Radiology student, was killed in a cold-blooded poisoning by his girlfriend, who reportedly used a pesticide-laden concoction to succeed in her motive in 2022. How The Crime Unfolded The crime unfolded when Greeshma lured the victim to her house at Ramavarmanchirai, Kanyakumari, and poisoned him with a lethal mix of paraquat, a potent herbicide, and an Ayurvedic tonic on October 14, 2022. She plotted the murder reportedly after Sharon refused to end their relationship, despite her marriage being finalised with an Army man from Nagercoil. top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all Sharon succumbed to multiple organ failure on October 25 in 2022, 11 days after ingesting the poison, said officials, adding that the spiked drink severely damaged his kidney, liver and lungs. During the initial probe, it was known that Sharons family had repeatedly contacted Greeshma to inquire about what she had given him, but she withheld the truth. The police later stated that Sharons life could have been saved had she revealed the truth earlier. Location : Thiruvananthapuram [Trivandrum], India First Published: January 20, 2025, 13:04 IST Soldier Killed In Encounter With Terrorists In J&K's Sopore Last Updated: January 20, 2025, 17:15 IST The soldier was injured in the exchange of fire with terrorists in a hideout at Zaloora Gujjarpati in Sopore police district and died as he was being evacuated from the scene of the gunbattle Security forces laid out a cordon on Sunday when they noticed fire while busting a militant hideout. (IMAGE: PTI/REPRESENTATIVE) An Indian Army soldier was killed following an overnight encounter with terrorists in Jammu and Kashmirs Sopore area, officials said on Monday. The soldier was injured in the exchange of fire with terrorists in a hideout at Zaloora Gujjarpati in Sopore police district and died as he was being evacuated from the scene of the gunbattle, they said. top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all related stories Security forces laid out a cordon on Sunday when they noticed fire while busting a militant hideout. They maintained tight vigil at Zaloora Gujjarpati during the night and intensified searches for suspected terrorists in the area this morning, the officials said. Further details are awaited. Location : Srinagar, India First Published: January 20, 2025, 17:15 IST Timeline Of Events Leading To Verdict In RG Kar Doctor's Rape-Murder Case Published By : PTI Last Updated: January 20, 2025, 18:47 IST In-camera trial begins at Sealdah court on November 12, 2024. On October 6, 2024, West Bengal Junior Doctors' Front launches fast unto death at Esplanade, urging government to meet rest of their demand and also ensure justice for their deceased colleague. (Image: News18/File) As a Kolkata court sentenced Sanjay Roy to life imprisonment till death on Monday after holding him guilty of the rape and murder of a doctor at the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital on August 9 last year, here is a timeline of the events since the heinous crime that triggered nationwide outrage and protests across West Bengal: August 9, 2024: Body of post-graduate trainee doctor found in seminar hall on third floor of the hospital. related stories August 10, 2024: Kolkata Police arrest its civic volunteer Sanjoy Roy, describing him as the only accused in the case. August 12, 2024: CM Mamata Banerjee visits residence of the deceased 31-year-old doctor, tells Kolkata Police that they have to crack the case in a week or otherwise she will hand the investigation to CBI. Amid protests by junior doctors over the incident, RG Kar Medical College and Hospitals principal Sandip Ghosh resigns. Hours later, government moves him to Calcutta National Medical College and Hospital. August 13, 2024: Calcutta High Court hands investigation to CBI. It also asks Sandip Ghosh to go on a long leave. CBI takes Sanjay Roy into custody. August 14, 2024: Lakhs of people take to the street across West Bengal as part of Reclaim the Night protest, seeking security of women. Amid protests, mob vandalises parts of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Tala. August 17, 2024: IMA calls for nationwide suspension of health services in protest for 24 hours. August 18, 2024: Supreme Court takes suo motu cognisance of the case. August 20, 2024: Supreme Court excoriates West Bengal government over delay in filing FIR and allowing thousands of miscreants to vandalise the hospital. It constitutes 10-member National Task Force (NTF) to formulate protocol for ensuring safety and security of doctors and other healthcare professionals. It also orders deployment of CISF at the hospital to enable doctors to resume work. August 21, 2024: CISF takes over security of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital. Kolkata Police suspend three police officers in connection with the vandalism at the hospital on August 14. August 27, 2024: Students outfit Chhatra Samaj marches to state secretariat Nabanna, demanding CM Mamata Banerjees resignation. After being stopped midway, activists clash with police, resulting in injury to several people. September 2, 2024: CBI arrests Sandip Ghosh in connection with allegations of financial fraud at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital. September 10, 2024: Junior doctors begin sit-in outside Swasthya Bhavan, the headquarters of the state Health Department in Salt Lake, even as their cease work continues. September 14, 2024: CBI charges Sandip Ghosh with delay in lodging FIR in rape and murder of the doctor, and tampering of evidence. The agency also arrests Tala police stations officer-in-charge Abhijit Mondal in same case. September 16, 2024: Agitating junior doctors meet Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee as the protests cripple healthcare services across West Bengal. September 17, 2024: Kolkata Police Commissioner Vineet Goyal removed after CMs meeting with agitating medics, IPS officer Manoj Kumar Verma appointed in his place. Director of Health Services (DHS) Debashis Halder, Director of Medical Education (DME) Kaustav Nayak and Deputy Commissioner of Kolkata Polices North Division Abhishek Gupta also removed. September 19, 2024: Junior doctors announce withdrawal of stir. October 6, 2024: West Bengal Junior Doctors Front launches fast unto death at Esplanade, urging government to meet rest of their demand and also ensure justice for their deceased colleague. October 7, 2024: CBI files charge sheet against Sanjoy Roy in Sealdah court. October 21, 2024: Junior doctors end their 17-day fast after meeting with CM Mamata Banerjee at state secretariat Nabanna. November 12, 2024: In-camera trial begins at Sealdah court. November 29, 2024: CBI files 125-page charge sheet in financial irregularities case, Sandip Ghosh named as accused. December 13, 2024: Sandip Ghosh and Abhijit Mondal get bail in case related to evidence tampering, delay in filing FIR as CBI fails to files charge sheet against them within mandatory 90-day period. January 9, 2025: Trial of rape and murder case concludes at Sealdah court. top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all January 18, 2025: Court holds Sanjay Roy guilty under Sections 64 (rape), 66 (punishment for causing death), and 103(1) (murder) of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). January 20, 2025: Sealdah court sentences Sanjay Roy to life imprisonment till death, directs state to pay compensation of Rs 17 lakh to family of deceased doctor. First Published: January 20, 2025, 18:27 IST 'China Is Operating': Donald Trump Vows US 'Taking Back' Panama Canal Despite 'Peacemaker' Pledge Published By : AFP Last Updated: January 21, 2025, 00:20 IST President Trump, in his second inaugural address, vowed to take back the Panama Canal, citing Chinese influence. He also pledged an "America First" policy and cast himself as a peacemaker. In his inauguration speech at the US Capitol, Trump said as of today, it will henceforth be the official policy of the United States government that there are only two genders, male and female. (Photo: AP) President Donald Trump on Monday cast himself as a peacemaker in his second inaugural address, but immediately vowed that the United States would be taking back" the Panama Canal. Trump issued the threat, without explaining details, after weeks of refusing to rule out military action against Panama over the waterway, which the United States handed over at the end of 1999. related stories Above all, China is operating the Panama Canal, and we didnt give it to China, we gave it to Panama. And were taking it back," Trump said after being sworn in inside the US Capitol. Panama maintains control of the canal but Chinese companies have been steadily increasing their presence around the vital shipping link between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Panama denies that China has any role in running the canal, and has repeatedly asserted its sovereignty over the waterway since Trump first threatened to take it over after he was elected in November. At his inauguration, Trump said that the United States has been treated very badly from this foolish gift that should have never been made." The purpose of our deal and the spirit of our treaty has been totally violated. American ships are being severely overcharged and not treated fairly in any way, shape or form, and that includes the United States Navy," he said. Marco Rubio, Trumps choice for secretary of state, stopped short of threatening military action during his confirmation hearing last week but warned that China through its influence could effectively shut down the Panama Canal to the United States in a crisis. This is a legitimate issue that needs to be confronted," Rubio said. Trump has also not ruled out force to seize Greenland, an autonomous territory of NATO ally Denmark where Russia has been increasingly active as ice melts due to climate change. The Panama Canal was built by the United States mostly with Afro-Caribbean labor and opened in 1914. US President Jimmy Carter, who died last month, negotiated its return in 1977, saying he saw a moral responsibility to respect a less powerful but fully sovereign nation. Peacemaker and unifier Trump pledged an America First" policy of prioritizing US interests above all else. He has put a top priority on cracking down on undocumented immigration and said he will deploy the military to the border with Mexico. But Trump also cast himself as a peacemaker and pointed to a Gaza ceasefire deal whose implementation began Sunday. My proudest legacy will be that of a peacemaker and unifier. Thats what I want to be a peacemaker and a unifier," he said. The Gaza ceasefire, which includes an exchange of hostages and prisoners, follows the outlines of a proposal outlined in May by then-president Joe Biden, but it was pushed through after intensive last-minute diplomacy by envoys of both Biden and Trump. Trump has also promised to end the war in Ukraine by pushing for compromises a contrast to Bidens approach of supporting Kyiv to a potential military victory. Despite Trumps vow to be a unifier, he immediately fired a symbolic but provocative shot above the bow to Mexico. top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all Trump in his address said that the United States would start referring to the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America" making the water body the latest in the world whose name is disputed between neighbors. America will reclaim its rightful place as the greatest, most powerful, most respected nation on Earth, inspiring the awe and admiration of the entire world," Trump said. Location : Washington D.C., United States of America (USA) First Published: January 21, 2025, 00:06 IST Vantara To Offer Chain-Free Haven For 20 Elephants Rescued From Logging Industry Curated By : News18.com Last Updated: January 20, 2025, 23:49 IST In addition to providing lifelong care for the elephants, the Vantara project will offer new livelihood opportunities for former owners, mahouts, and their families In the logging industry, elephants are constantly chained and deprived of the freedom to roam and engage in natural behaviours. (Image: News18) Vantara, a rescue centre for captive elephants and other wild animals in Gujarats Jamnagar, is all set to welcome 20 elephants that were rescued from the logging industry in Arunachal Pradesh. These animals will now be able to live free of chains and never be pushed into labour. Founded by philanthropist Anant Ambani, Vantara will be home to these rescued elephants 10 males, eight females, one sub-adult and calf each. The rescue operation was carried out with the approval of a high-powered committee formed by the Tripura High Court and entrusted by the Supreme Court. It had the full consent of the owners of the animals. related stories Among the rescued elephants is Laxmi, a 10-year-old captive-born sub-adult that struggles to bear weight on her hind legs due to deep and untreated wounds. It also suffers from a fresh and painful one-inch diameter hole piercing its sensitive right ear pinna both inflicted during the taming process to establish human dominance. Maya, a two-year-old captive-born calf, was rescued alongside its mother, Rongmoti, who endured large harness-induced lesions on its chest and buttocks from prolonged logging work. Ramu, a bull elephant, was found heavily restrained with both its forelegs and hind legs tightly tethered together to control its musth period lasting four to six months resulting in immense physical and psychological distress. Babulal, another bull elephant, suffered from a severely broken and bleeding tail, caused by a conflict with a wild bull elephant during foraging. Years of captivity had stripped it of natural instincts needed to defend itself. NEW OPPORTUNITIES FOR OWNERS, MAHOUTS In addition to providing lifelong care for the elephants, the project offers new livelihood opportunities for the owners, mahouts, and their families at Vantara. They will undergo intensive training in humane and scientifically backed methods of elephant management, ensuring a future of compassionate care for the animals and empowering their caregivers with the knowledge and skills to support this approach. The organisation has secured all required documentation under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, including obtaining a no-objection certificate from the Gujarat forest department and a transport permit from the Arunachal Pradesh forest department. The elephants will be transported in specially designed elephant ambulances, with the calf Maya travelling alongside its mother. A dedicated team of more than 200 experts, including elephant veterinarians, paravets, senior caretakers, and ambulance drivers from Vantara, will ensure the safe and compliant transportation of the animals, adhering to strict transportation guidelines and animal welfare standards. WHAT HAPPENS TO ELEPHANTS IN THE LOGGING INDUSTRY? In the logging industry, elephants are forced to carry heavy logs and work for long hours. They endure physical abuse, malnutrition, arthritis, and lack of medical care. Constantly chained, they are deprived of the freedom to roam and engage in natural behaviours. These harsh conditions also inflict severe psychological trauma, often evident in the form of stereotypic behaviours such as head bobbing, swaying, and weaving, leading to long-term welfare compromises. Despite their intelligence and social nature, these elephants are treated as machines, stripped of their dignity and well-being. At Vantara, they will have the opportunity to rejuvenate and live as elephants should. A research paper published in 2020 in Gajah, the biannual journal of the IUCN/SSC Asian Elephant Specialist Group, reveals that a significant number of privately owned elephants are bred in captivity in Arunachal Pradesh. These elephants are often managed in close proximity to forested areas, where captive cow elephants come into contact with wild bulls. However, private ownership of elephants is declining, as the demand for their use in forestry operations has diminished following the logging ban. Tabang Jamoh, divisional forest officer in Namsai, said, With an active breeding population of approximately 200 captive elephants in Arunachal Pradesh, DNA profiling is being conducted to closely monitor their health and welfare. The transfer of 20 elephants to the Radhe Krishna Temple Elephant Welfare Trust at Vantara, as directed by the Supreme Court-appointed committee, ensures a brighter future for these animals. This initiative enhances animal welfare while providing local communities with alternative livelihoods, striking a balance between conservation, community well-being, and forest protection." top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all Dr Sorang Tadap, veterinary officer at Itanagar Biological Park, said: Captive elephants often suffer from severe health issues, including injuries, arthritis, and psychological trauma due to harsh labour, training, and prolonged chaining. Many calves sustain deep leg injuries during training, while adults face ongoing risks from conflicts with wild bulls. There is an urgent need for dedicated hospital facilities offering round-the-clock care and physiotherapy, which our state currently lacks. It is encouraging to see facilities like Vantara providing advanced medical treatment and lifelong care for rescued elephants, setting a vital benchmark for their welfare." An elephant owner, Chow Thamasala Mein, highlighted the uniqueness of the initiative. With wood logging banned, we no longer wish to use our elephants for such labour. We are pleased they will now live a life of care at Vantara. This initiative also provides stable jobs and a steady income for our families, securing a brighter future for our children," Mein said. Location : Jamnagar, India First Published: January 20, 2025, 23:48 IST Maha Kumbh 2025: Do Naga Sadhvis Participate In Amrit Snan During Menstruation? Curated By : Translation Desk Last Updated: January 20, 2025, 13:52 IST Like their male counterparts, Naga Sadhvis have to undergo rigorous penance and sadhana. They adhere to strict rituals and need to pass several tests before their penance culminates at the Maha Kumbh Naga Sadhvis wear saffron garments that are specifically unstitched. (PTI File) The Maha Kumbh Mela is underway in Prayagraj, with millions of devotees, including sadhus and saints, in attendance. This festival of faith holds great significance for those who have come to bathe at the confluence of the rivers during this auspicious time. Naga Sadhus hold a special allure for people from India and abroad. Their world, shrouded in mystery, piques the curiosity of many. However, it is the Naga Sadhvis who garner even greater interest. People are particularly keen to understand how women enter this ascetic order and the rules that govern their lives. related stories Just as Naga Sadhus undertake rigorous penance and sadhana during the Maha Kumbh, Naga Sadhvis also adhere to numerous challenging rituals and regulations. They too must pass stringent tests before their penance culminates at the Maha Kumbh. This raises a common question: what happens if a Naga Sadhvi experiences menstruation during the Maha Kumbh? Are they permitted to bathe? Lets delve into this matter with insights from Pandit Ramakant Mishra. Do Naga Sadhvis participate in Amrit Snan during menstruation? If Naga Sadhvis are menstruating at the time of Amrit Snan during Maha Kumbh, they are permitted to take Ganga water in their hands and sprinkle it on their bodies. This signifies that the Naga Sadhvi has bathed in the Ganga. However, they are not permitted to go to the banks of the Ganga. They remain in their camp and bathe by mixing Ganga water with water available there. Naga Sadhvis cannot perform Sadhna during their periods; therefore, they engage in mental Jaap. Rules for Naga Sadhvis The life of a Naga Sadhvi differs significantly from that of their male counterparts. Their rules, lifestyle, and traditions are more demanding. For instance, Naga Sadhvis wear saffron garments that are specifically unstitched. Naga Sadhvis must shave their hair and perform their own Pind Daan. Additionally, they are required to provide proof of their qualification and devotion to God to their guru. Juna Akhara is the largest and oldest Akhara in the country. A significant number of Nagas Sadhvis are associated with it. During Kumbh, Mai Bada is established for Naga Sadhvis, providing accommodation for all the Naga Sadhvis. top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all Takes 1012 years to be initiated The process of becoming a Naga Sadhvi, like that of their male counterparts, takes 1012 years. However, the criteria for women differ. While men undergo a process of genital deactivation to adhere to celibacy, women must pledge to follow celibacy. Demonstrating their commitment to this pledge often takes women 10 to 12 years. Location : Prayagraj, India First Published: January 20, 2025, 13:47 IST Throwback To When Lara Dutta Painted The Town Blue In A Maxi Dress Published By : Trending Desk Last Updated: January 20, 2025, 16:34 IST Put together by her stylist, Sugandha Sood, Lara was seen in the stunning dress from the shelves of House Of Pinks. Yet again, Lara Dutta has mesmerised her fans in a beautiful maxi dress. (Photo: Instagram) Lara Dutta never fails to grab the eyeballs of fashionistas with her impeccable sartorial choices. The model-turned-actress blends classic sophistication and modern flair, making her a fashion icon for graceful elegance. Apart from her stylish wardrobe, the actress has a special space for chic looks, and the recent one is no different. Yet again, the beauty has mesmerised her fans in a beautiful maxi dress for GlobalSpa Magazine photoshoot by the beach. The former Miss Universe recently dropped pictures of herself on the social media platform Instagram, dressed in an electric blue number that makes it difficult for fans to take their eyes off her. Put together by her stylist, Sugandha Sood, Lara was seen in the stunning dress coming from the shelves of Dubai-based brand House Of Pinks. related stories The monochrome number featured a sweetheart neckline with adjustable spaghetti straps. The ruched detailing and a delicate rose applique at the waist added a feminine charm to the outfit. What made the ensemble even more special was the thigh-high slit, which added a touch of glamour and drama to the outfit. Dont miss out on the cutout design in the ensemble that raised the oomph factor. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Lara Dutta Bhupathi (@larabhupathi) Now that we are done decoding her glamorous attire, lets take a closer look at her accessories, glam makeup, and stylish hairdo. With minimal yet impactful accessories, dewy makeup, and a playful hairstyle, Lara Dutta completed her look for the shoot. The diva said goodbye to heavy accessories and opted for a few pairs of accessories, allowing the saree to be the star of the show. She picked a pair of oversized pearl studs from PERLE jewels and some chunky gold rings from the brand A Little Extra. top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all With the help of celebrity makeup & hair artist Shraddha Mishra, Lara went for a dewy and glam look. With a flawless base, the actress looked beautiful in soft, blushed cheeks, glittery blue eyeshadow, feathered brows, mascara-coated lashes, winged eyeliner, pink lipstick, and a beaming highlighter that enhanced her features and added radiance to her overall look. As for her hair, the tresses were styled in soft, wavy curls with a few strands of her hair cascading down her face. This hairstyle was styled aptly for an easy breezy beach look. First Published: January 20, 2025, 16:34 IST Akshay Kumar Reacts To Saif Ali Khans Stabbing Incident, Says Brave Of Him That He Protected His Family Curated By : News18.com Last Updated: January 20, 2025, 20:30 IST The Mumbai police have apprehended the prime suspect, Mohammed Shehzad, who was captured in Thane on January 19 Akshay Kumar reacts to Saif Ali Khan's stabbing incident Saif Ali Khan has recently sustained multiple injuries due to a robbery attempt incident at his residence on January 16. The actor is currently admitted to Lilavati Hospital and is undergoing treatment. Many celebrities have reacted to the incident and called it shocking. Akshay Kumar also reacted and mentioned that Saif Ali Khan is brave. Attending an event today, Akshay Kumar said, Its very nice that he is safe. Its very good. We are happy. The whole industry is happy that he is safe. It was very brave of him that he protected his family and hats off to him." He further added, Meine uske saath ek film ki hai Main Khiladi Tu Anari lekin agli baar agar hum karenge toh banayenge film Tu Khiladi." (I did a film with him called Main Khiladi Tu Anari, but next time if we do a film together, well make it Tu Khiladi). related stories The Mumbai police have apprehended the prime suspect, Mohammed Shehzad, who was captured in Thane on January 19. Saif Ali Khans condition remains stable, though his injuries were severe. Surgeons successfully removed a 2.5-inch blade fragment lodged in his spine during an extensive operation. The actor is now under observation as the police continue their investigation into the incident and Shehzads background. Akshay Kumar is all set to make his Telugu debut in Kannappa. Today, he unveiled his first look as Lord Shiva. In no time it went viral and fans were also seen reacting to it. The film is slated for release on April 25, 2025 and also stars Kajal Aggarwal, Mohan Babu, Madhoo, and Mohanlal in pivotal roles. Taking to his Instagram handle, Akshay Kumar shared the look in which he is seen dressed as lord Shiva. He is seen holding trishul and damru. Stepping into the sacred aura of Mahadev for #Kannappa. Honored to bring this epic tale to life. May Lord Shiva guide us on this divine journey. Om Namah Shivaya!" read the caption. One of the fans wrote, Wow this movie amazing." Many dropped heart emojis in the comment section. His Sky Force is all set to release on January 24. As the film heads for its release, a new poster has been released. It has gone viral and fans are also seen reacting to it. Sky Force is releasing on January 24 and also stars Sara Ali Khan and Nimrat Kaur. Taking to their Instagram handle, Veer Pahariya shared the poster in which they are seen in uniform. An untold chapter of bravery based on a true story, is reaching your nearest cinemas in just 5 days! #SkyForce releasing in cinemas this Republic Week, on 24th January," read the caption. Helmed by Sandeep Kelwani and Abhishek Kapur, the film is based on a true story about the 1965 India-Pakistan Air war. First Published: January 20, 2025, 20:30 IST Bhagyashree Says 'Secure Indian Borders' After Saif Ali Khan Was Was Attacked By Bangladeshi Curated By : News18.com Last Updated: January 20, 2025, 10:38 IST Bhagyashree condemned the attack on Saif Ali Khan and lauded the police for their prompt investigation. An intruder stabbed Saif Ali Khan several times at his Mumbai residence on Thursday (Image/File) While Saif Ali Khan is recovering at the Lilavati Hospital, his fans and colleagues are concerned about his health and safety. Following an attempted robbery at his Mumbai residence on Friday, the actor sustained multiple injuries and had to undergo surgery. Now, Bhagyashree has addressed the matter and has asked for increased border security. While speaking to ANI, she said, When incidents like this happen in Mumbai, then everyone gets tensed. The local public too. Its not about Bollywood, its about the safety of everyone. Everyones safety is under a question mark. And especially if an immigrant does something like this, then we should definitely secure our Indian borders, very important." related stories We who live in Mumbai are very shocked by what happened because Mumbai is considered as one of the safest cities in India hah. So, after the incident, obviously, everyone is tense. But the Police are doing their job well. And I think in the latest news, the assailant has been caught. Therefore, I hope the legal process starts soon." Mumbai Police on Sunday arrested the main accused in connection with the stabbing case of Saif Ali Khan from Mumbais Thane. The accused, Mohammed Aliyan, was arrested from the Labour Camp area in the city. The police later identified him as Mohd Shariful Islam Shehzad, who they claim is a native of the Jhalokati district in Bangladesh. The Mumbai Police had formed over 10 teams to nab the accused, with over 100 officials involved in the operation. The Bandra Court on Sunday remanded the arrested accused to five-day police custody. The court said that the demand for custody of the accused is justified as it is an early stage of investigation. For the unversed, an attempted robbery took place at Saif Ali Khans home in Bandra. After a scuffle with the robber, the actor was left heavily injured. Saif Ali Khan was stabbed six times, including in his neck and shoulder, at his Bandra West apartment around 2:30 am on Thursday. He was rushed to the Lilawati Hospital for treatment where a 2.5-inch piece of the blade was removed from his spine after a five-hour-long surgery. First Published: January 20, 2025, 10:38 IST BLACKPINK Jennies Birthday Was All About Delicious Cakes And Seaweed Soup Published By : Trending Desk Last Updated: January 20, 2025, 11:49 IST BLACKPINKs Jennie had cut a series of cakes to mark her birthday. Jennie made her solo debut in 2018. (Photo Credits: Instagram) BLACKPINKs Jennie celebrated her 29th birthday on January 16, receiving heartfelt wishes and love from her fans and friends. Just days after her birthday, the K-pop idol shared a series of pictures from the low-key celebrations on her Instagram account. She gave her fans a glimpse of all the cakes she had cut and even expressed her gratitude to everyone who sent warm wishes on her special day. The 29-year-old K-pop idols Instagram post opened with a picture of her making a wish before blowing out the candle placed on a scrumptious cake. Jennie was wearing a traditional Korean dress. Next, she included a photo of a bowl of seaweed soup, which South Koreans usually consume on their birthdays as a gesture to honour their mothers. related stories In the next picture, Jennie adorably poses with a vanilla cake decorated with different types of berries. The following two photos feature glimpses at two small cakes that the idol cut to celebrate her birthday. In the next slides, the BLACKPINK member gives her fans a closer look at her birthday OOTDs. In one of the pictures in her post, Jennie could also be seen sitting behind a three-layered pink-coloured princess-themed cake with white frosting. The idol hilariously pinned the Happy Birthday tag on her head, instead of placing it on the cake, thus exuding queen-like vibes. The BLACKPINK member concluded her carousel by adding a few other pictures of her birthday cakes and flowers. View this post on Instagram A post shared by J (@jennierubyjane) In the caption, Jennie wrote, Thank you for all the sweet bday wishes," and mentioned the same in Korean as well. Her post caught the attention of her fans, who were happy to see their favourite artist celebrate her special day with much enthusiasm. Prior to sharing pictures from her birthday celebration, Jennie dropped a set of photos on her Instagram account, seemingly teasing her fans by dropping hints about her upcoming album. The BLACKPINK member, who made her debut as a soloist in 2018, is yet to release a full-length album. The recent glimpses which she shared on her 29th birthday came as a surprise to her fans and left them excited for Jennies new project. View this post on Instagram A post shared by J (@jennierubyjane) In a few pictures, she could be seen at a recording studio, seemingly working on her new music. She could also be seen shooting at some outdoor locations. In the caption, Jennie added, COMING SOON FOR YOU ALL," which created a lot of buzz among her fans. First Published: January 20, 2025, 10:46 IST Chris Martin Thanks India For Forgiving Britain For Colonialism At Coldplay Mumbai Show: 'All The Bad Things...' Curated By : News18.com Last Updated: January 20, 2025, 09:35 IST Coldplay Mumbai Concert 2025: Chris Martin took a moment to apologise for colonialism, drawing loud cheers and shrieks from the crowd in Mumbai. Chris Martin apologises for colonialism at Coldplay concert in Mumbai . Coldplay lit up Mumbai with an electrifying performance with their Mumbai concert 2025 that left fans spellbound. Frontman Chris Martin, known for his charming humility, took a moment to apologise for colonialism, drawing loud cheers and shrieks from the crowd. In his speech, he said, This is our fourth visit to India, and the second time to play and the first time weve played our own show, and we couldnt ask for a better audience to play to. So thank you for coming today, everyone. Its amazing to us that you welcome us, even though we are from Great Britain. Thank you for forgiving us for all of the bad things Great Britain has done, and very welcome us to your home." related stories The long-awaited Coldplay Mumbai concert has finally kicked off at the DY Patil Stadium on Saturday, and the excitement surrounding the grand show was palpable. Chris Martin warmly greeted thousands of his fans who gathered to witness the British alternative rock band perform live. Several videos from the concert went viral on social media. One particular video of Chris Martin speaking in Hindi took social media by storm! During the Coldplay Mumbai concert, Chris spoke to his fans in Hindi, expressing his excitement to be performing here in this city. He said, Good evening everybody. Aap sabka bohot swagat hai. Mumbai mein aakar humein bohot Khushi ho rahi hai (Welcome everyone. We are very happy to be in Mumbai)," and fans went gaga over him. They can be heard cheering and screaming with joy as Chris spoke in Hindi. He further added that the band is extremely happy to be here since this is their first real show in India. We are so happy to be here. This is our first real show in India. So thank you. Namaste," he said. Coldplay is kicking off their highly anticipated Music of the Spheres World Tour with three performances at D.Y. Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai on January 18, 19, and 21, 2025. Additionally, they will also be performing at Ahmedabads Narendra Modi Stadium on January 25 and 26, 2025. These shows mark Coldplays return to India after their performance at the 2016 Global Citizen Festival. First Published: January 20, 2025, 09:10 IST Chum Darang Breaks Silence On 'Romantic Bond' With Karan Veer Mehra: 'Sirf Ghar Ke Andar Ke Liye...' | Exclusive Curated By : News18.com Last Updated: January 23, 2025, 13:40 IST Chum Darang opened up about her relationship with Bigg Boss 18 winner Karan Veer Mehra. Karan once told Chum he was surviving on the show because of her. (Photo Credits: Instagram) The grand finale of Salman Khans Bigg Boss 18 was held on Sunday night with Karan Veer Mehra emerging victorious as the fan favourite. Throughout his Bigg Boss 18 journey, Karans bond with Chum Darang became a highlight and fans appreciated their support for one another. Some even speculated that the two shared a romantic connection. During an exclusive chat with News18 Showsha, Chum Darang was asked if she had a romantic bond with Karan Veer Mehra. This friendship will go on. Hum logo ne sirf ghar ke andar ke liye friendship nahi banaya hai, definitely. The friendship will continue outside the house also," she said. related stories When prodded further to reveal if she and Karan are romantically involved, Chum laughed and said, I dont know that." Chum Darang was also among the finalists with Karan Veer Mehra. After her eviction, she said on the show, I want you to win, Karan, please win. Trophy ghar aana chahiye." Chums wish came true as Karan Veer Mehra lifted the Bigg Boss 18 trophy and won a cash prize of Rs 50 lakh. Other contestants who were a part of the finale besides Karan were Vivian Dsena, Rajat Dalal, Avinash Mishra, Eisha Singh and Chum Darang. After her eviction and Karans win, Chum told us, I am feeling happy. A bit disappointed that I didnt win the trophy but I was in the top five and my friend won." Chum Darang said that being in the top five was not a surprise for her. I was expecting to win the trophy also. It didnt happen, no problem," she shared. The Bigg Boss 18 finale was held in Mumbais Film City on Sunday, January 19. The mega show, hosted by Salman Khan, was attended by several celebrities including Aamir Khan and Veer Pahariya. Bollywood superstar Aamir Khan joined his son, Junaid Khan, and Khushi Kapoor to promote their upcoming movie, Loveyapa. Former Bigg Boss finalists, Ankita Lokhande and Vicky Jain also attended the finale and talked about their upcoming show, Laughter Chefs 2. While Karan Veer Mehra won Bigg Boss 18, Vivian Dsena was the runner-up. First Published: January 20, 2025, 08:07 IST Diljit Dosanjh Announces Punjab '95 Won't Release On Feb 7: 'It Pains Us To Inform...' Curated By : News18.com Last Updated: January 21, 2025, 02:24 IST Just a week ago, Diljit Dosanjh released an exciting trailer for the film, reassuring followers that Punjab '95 would be released worldwide on February 7. Diljit Dosanjh's film Punjab '95 has faced several hurdles due to censorship issues. Diljit Dosanjhs much-anticipated film Punjab 95, which has been delayed for over a year due to issues with the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC), will no longer release on February 7, as initially planned. The film, based on the life of human rights activist Jaswant Singh Khalra, has been facing ongoing struggles with censorship, leading to the unfortunate postponement. Taking to Instagram, both Diljit Dosanjh and producer Honey Trehan shared the news, expressing their regret over the delay. We are sorry and it pains us to inform that the movie Punjab 95 will not release on 7th Feb due to circumstances beyond our control," the duo wrote in the joint statement, leaving fans disappointed by the unexpected setback. related stories Just a week ago, Diljit released an exciting trailer for the film on social media, reassuring followers that Punjab 95 would be released worldwide on February 7. In a post, he even promised, P.S. Full Movie, No Cuts," which garnered significant attention and anticipation. However, the trailer was subsequently removed from YouTube in India, with users receiving a message reading, The uploader has not made this video available in your country." Despite the trailer accumulating over 300,000 views within 20 hours, this move only intensified the films controversies surrounding censorship. The film, which portrays the harrowing story of Jaswant Singh Khalra, who exposed the extrajudicial killings of Sikh youth by the Punjab Police in the 1990s, has been subjected to substantial interference from the CBFC. Initially, the board proposed 120 cuts to the film. Khalra, who was kidnapped and murdered by the police in 1995, became a symbol of resistance against state violence. Six Punjab Police officers were later convicted for his abduction and killing. Khalras wife, Paramjit Kaur Khalra, has fiercely opposed the censor boards demand for cuts, stating that the film, which was created with the familys consent, should be released unaltered. The film should be shown to the world without any cuts," she stated, voicing her concern about the historical accuracy and importance of her husbands story. As of now, fans will have to wait for further updates on when Punjab 95 will finally hit screens. First Published: January 21, 2025, 02:24 IST How Much Did Saif Ali Khan Pay The Auto Driver Who Took Him To Hospital? Curated By : Translation Desk Last Updated: January 20, 2025, 11:10 IST The auto rickshaw driver said that he initially did not recognize Saif Ali Khan. He only realised that it was him after dropping him and his son at Lilavati Hospital The auto driver said that he took Saif Ali Khan to Lilavati Hospital in 7-8 minutes. (X@ANI) An auto-rickshaw driver swiftly transported actor Saif Ali Khan to Lilavati Hospital the night he was attacked, enabling him to receive timely medical treatment. According to some media reports, the rickshaw driver refused any payment from Saif for this act of service. I was called there (Bandra Police Station) for questioningI did not think about money that nightI have not been contacted by Kareena Kapoor or anyone else so far. I have not had any conversation with them," Bhajan Singh, the auto-rickshaw driver said speaking to ANI. related stories Watch the video here: #WATCH | Mumbai: Bhajan Singh, the auto-rickshaw driver who took Actor Saif Ali Khan to Lilavati Hospital, says "I was called there (Bandra Police Station) for questioningI did not think about money that nightI have not been contacted by Kareena Kapoor or anyone else so pic.twitter.com/pXHPsSkOp2 ANI (@ANI) January 18, 2025 In the early hours of January 16, Saif Ali Khan was repeatedly stabbed with a knife by an intruder inside his 12th-floor Bandra apartment. Despite having access to multi-crore cars, the Pataudi Palace owner found himself reliant on a rickshaw. What did the auto-rickshaw driver who took Saif to the hospital say? The auto-rickshaw driver who took Saif to Lilavati Hospital has described the events and narrated his account. His back was hurt. I felt very bad because he was bleeding. I had no idea that Saif Ali Khan was sitting in my rickshaw. I thought that some injured person must have been sitting thereWhen Saif and his son got down from the rickshaw after going to Lilavati Hospital, I realised that the star actor was sitting in the rickshaw," he said. My rickshaw arrived at the emergency gate just as an ambulance was departing. Seeing the commotion, the hospital staff immediately rushed towards us. By then, they had realised it was Saif Ali Khan. Blood was flowing profusely from a wound in his back," he added. Elaborating on his account, he said, When Saif approached my rickshaw, he walked slowly, accompanied by two of his children, including his youngest son, Taimur. Two women, with quiet efficiency, helped him into the rickshaw." I was completely focused, my only concern being to get the injured person to the hospital swiftly. While we were in the rickshaw, Saif asked how long it would be until we reached the hospital. Seven or eight minutes later, I parked the rickshaw at the hospital gate," he added. According to some reports, Saifs eldest son, Ibrahim Ali Khan took his father to the hospital. However, one of the doctors at Lilavati Hospital mentioned that Saif arrived at the hospital in an auto-rickshaw with his 8-year-old son, Taimur Ali Khan. Why was Saif taken to the hospital in a rickshaw instead of a car? Given the urgency, Saif Ali Khans need for immediate transport to the hospital was crucial. When his driver proved unavailable, having already ended his shift at 11 pm, swift action was imperative. Any delay in seeking medical attention following the attack could have had severe consequences. Saifs son, Ibrahim Ali Khan, demonstrated quick thinking and practicality by utilising a readily available rickshaw to transport his father to the hospital. First Published: January 20, 2025, 11:07 IST Manoj Bajpayees Heart Is Full With The Response To Satya Re-Release Even After 26 Years Published By : IANS Last Updated: January 20, 2025, 14:27 IST National Award-winning actor Manoj Bajpayee is celebrating the re-release of his cult-classic Satya. Manoj Bajpayee played Bhiku Mhatre in Satya. National Award-winning actor Manoj Bajpayee is celebrating the re-release of his cult-classic Satya. On Monday, the actor took to his Instagram, and shared a video from a theatre in Pune where patrons can be seen enjoying the movie and the superhit song Sapne Mein from the film. He wrote in the caption, Even after 26 years, Satya is still filling up theatres and winning hearts all over again. Theres something magical about watching this cult classic on the big screen, the emotions, the music, the unforgettable storytelling. Its an experience that never gets old. Thank you, @rgvzoomin, for creating this timeless masterpiece. And a big salute to the phenomenal team". related stories The crime film, directed by the legendary Ram Gopal Varma, changed the face of Hindi cinema, and was the precursor to many modern day noir dramas like Gangs of Wasseypur or Mirzapur. The film served as a launch vehicle for many talents including the technicians in Hindi cinema, who would go on to become the established names in Bollywood including Anurag Kashyap, who co-wrote the script with Saurabh Shukla, Manoj Bajpayee, music composer Sandeep Chowta and others. The film released a few months prior to the Shah Rukh Khan-starrer Kuch Kuch Hota Hai which turned out to be a blockbuster banking on the usuals of the Bollywood at its time. However, its Satya which emerged as a cult in the following years garnering huge critical acclaim. Prior to Satya, RGV made his Hindi cinema debut with Rangeela. The filmmaker is known to have revolutionised not just Hindi cinema (courtesy the path-breaking music of Rangeela and the creative use of camera as a storytelling device) but also the Telugu with another film, Shiva which starred Nagarjuna Akkineni in the lead. First Published: January 20, 2025, 14:27 IST Saif Ali Khan Attack: Was The Accused A National-Level Wrestling Champion From Bangladesh? Curated By : News18.com Last Updated: January 20, 2025, 18:06 IST Bollywood star Saif Ali Khan was critically injured in a shocking stabbing incident on January 16 during an attempted robbery at his Bandra residence. Saif Ali Khan was stabbed multiple times during an attempted robbery at his Bandra home. On January 16, Bollywood star Saif Ali Khan was gravely injured in a shocking stabbing incident during an attempted robbery at his Bandra residence. The actor sustained multiple stab wounds, including serious injuries to his neck and shoulder, and is currently recovering after a five-hour surgery at Lilavati Hospital. The Mumbai police have apprehended the prime suspect, Mohammed Shehzad, who was captured in Thane on January 19. In a startling twist, authorities revealed that Shehzad is a former national-level wrestler from Bangladesh. Allegedly entering India illegally, he had been living under the alias Vijay Das to avoid detection. His wrestling background is believed to have given him the physical strength to overpower Saif Ali Khan and others present during the attack. related stories Following the incident, Shehzad reportedly moved between Bandra, Dadar, Worli, Andheri, and Thane to evade arrest, ultimately hiding in a labor camp in Thane. During interrogation, he confessed to his wrestling career in Bangladesh, adding a surprising dimension to the case. Investigators suspect that his physical prowess, honed during his wrestling days, played a critical role in the assault. This is not Shehzads first brush with the law. Months earlier, while employed in Worli, he was accused of stealing a diamond ring and was subsequently dismissed. Afterward, he worked briefly at a Thane restaurant until December 2024, before turning to criminal activities. The defense lawyer has challenged claims about Shehzads nationality, asserting that he has lived in Mumbai for over seven years with his family. This statement contradicts police reports that he entered India illegally from Bangladesh and adopted a false identity. Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar weighed in on the incident, stating that the accused was apparently unaware that he had broken into the home of a prominent Bollywood actor. The attack occurred in the early hours of January 16, around 2:30 a.m. Saif Ali Khans condition remains stable, though his injuries were severe. Surgeons successfully removed a 2.5-inch blade fragment lodged in his spine during an extensive operation. The actor is now under observation as the police continue their investigation into the incident and Shehzads background. First Published: January 20, 2025, 18:06 IST Saif Ali Khan Stabbing: Accused Plotted To Hold Son Jeh Hostage For Rs 1 Cr Ransom? Curated By : News18.com Last Updated: January 20, 2025, 20:26 IST Saif Ali Khan Stabbing Case: The Bollywood actor was stabbed multiple times by an intruder at his Mumbai residence on January 16 Saif Ali Khan Stabbing Case | Image/ANI Saif Ali Khan Stabbing Case: After arresting the accused in connection with the stabbing case of Saif Ali Khan, the Mumbai Police widened their scope of investigation to determine whether the attack was part of a plot to kidnap the actors younger son for ransom. Saif Ali Khan fell victim to a violent incident when the accused, Shariful Islam Shehzad, broke into his residence in Mumbais Bandra West and stabbed him multiple times. He was rushed to Lilavati Hospital for treatment by his seven-year-old son, Taimur. related stories Police sources stated that they are investigating whether the accused entered Khans premises with the intent to kidnap his younger son Jeh for ransom or simply to commit theft, noting that the attacker required a large sum of money to escape back to Bangladesh. Intruders Demand Eliyama Philip, a 56-year-old nurse employed at Khans home, was the first to encounter the intruder, according to the First Information Report (FIR) filed at Bandra Police Station. He demanded Rs 1 crore and, when I resisted, he attacked me with a stick and blade," she told the police. Philip sustained injuries to her wrists and hands during the attack. She described the attacker as a slim-built man in his late 30s with a dark complexion, who entered the compound through an adjacent property. CCTV footage revealed him wearing a t-shirt, jeans, and an orange scarf. The commotion woke up the nanny, Junu, who screamed for help, alerting Khan and his wife, Kareena Kapoor Khan. They quickly rushed to the scene, where Khan attempted to intervene but was stabbed multiple times in the neck, shoulder, back, and wrist. Attacker Arrested The Mumbai Police arrested the main accused in connection with the stabbing case of Bollywood actor Saif Ali Khan from Maharashtras Thane in the wee hours of Sunday. The accused, Shariful Islam Shehzad, was arrested from the Labour Camp area in the city, said police. They added that he worked as a housekeeping staff at Rickys bar in Thane and went by the name, Vijay Das, in fear of getting caught. He was later remanded to 5-day police custody by a court in Mumbais Bandra. The accused will remain under police custody till January 24. First Published: January 20, 2025, 19:58 IST Maharashtra Govt Defers Appointments Of Nashik, Raigad Guardian Ministers After Backlash Reported By : News18.com Last Updated: January 20, 2025, 09:14 IST The controversy erupted when the government announced NCP leader and Cabinet Minister Aditi Tatkare as Guardian Minister of Raigad, while senior BJP leader and Cabinet Minister Girish Mahajan was appointed for Nashik. Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis with Deputy CM Eknath Shinde (PTI Image) Amid mounting discontent in Nashik and Raigad, the Maharashtra state government has temporarily stalled the appointment of Guardian Ministers for these districts. The decision follows widespread protests and growing anger among Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde faction) supporters, who demanded an equitable and transparent process for these crucial ministerial roles. The controversy erupted when the government announced NCP leader and Cabinet Minister Aditi Tatkare as Guardian Minister of Raigad, while senior BJP leader and Cabinet Minister Girish Mahajan was appointed for Nashik. Supporters of Shiv Senas Eknath Shinde faction were enraged, as they had anticipated Bharat Gogawale to secure the Raigad post and senior Shiv Sena leader and Cabinet Minister Dada Bhuse to be appointed for Nashik. related stories Local Shiv Sena supporters argued that the appointments overlooked regional representation and failed to prioritise local issues. Protests intensified, with demonstrators calling for a more inclusive and consultative approach. Responding to the public outcry, the state government convened an urgent meeting and decided to defer the appointments pending further discussions with stakeholders. One of the key grievances driving the unrest was the perceived sidelining of local leaders and institutions in favor of political appointees. Critics warned that such decisions alienate communities and undermine democratic values. Leaders from both Nashik and Raigad urged the government to reconsider, emphasising that prolonged public resentment could harm governance and derail development efforts in the regions. The protests reached a boiling point in Raigad, where demonstrators burned effigies and blocked roads, leading to hours of disruption. In Nashik, rallies and protests organised by political activists and locals echoed similar frustrations. The escalating tensions prompted authorities to deploy additional security to maintain law and order. Amid the unrest, the resignation of Prakash Desai, a prominent leader from Raigad, added fuel to the fire. His departure sparked speculation of internal divisions within the ruling alliance. Meanwhile, opposition leaders seized the opportunity to criticise the government for its failure to engage meaningfully with local communities. They cautioned that further delays in resolving the issue could erode public trust in the administration. top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all In Mahad, Raigad district, protests against Aditi Tatkare and her father, NCP state president Sunil Tatkare, turned tense as Shiv Sena leader Bharat Gogawales supporters attempted to block the Mumbai-Goa Highway. This decision is unexpected and shocking," remarked Gogawale while reacting to the appointment of Tatkare. In a bid to ease tensions within the alliance, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis halted the appointments of Nashik and Raigad Guardian Ministers before departing for the World Economic Forum in Davos. Residents in both districts, however, remain cautious, demanding a transparent and participatory decision-making process that addresses their concerns. Many believe that only such measures can ensure lasting solutions aligned with the aspirations of local communities. First Published: January 20, 2025, 09:14 IST 'Travesty Of Justice': BJP Demands Appeal In RG Kar Rape-Murder Verdict, Mamata Also Unhappy Curated By : News18.com Last Updated: January 20, 2025, 20:17 IST The Sealdah court sentenced Sanjay Roy to life imprisonment for raping and murdering a trainee doctor in RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in August last year and asked him to pay Rs 50,000 fine. The BJP and the TMC expressed dismay over the Sealdah court's verdict in the RG Kar Hospital rape-murder case. The Sealdah Court on Monday sentenced Sanjay Roy the convict in the RG Kar rape and murder case to life imprisonment, denying CBIs request for a death penalty. The verdict received mixed reactions from the public, with political leaders calling it a travesty of justice". The court sentenced Roy to life imprisonment for raping and murdering a trainee doctor in RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in August last year and asked him to pay Rs 50,000 fine. Judge Anirban Das also directed the state of West Bengal to pay Rs 17 lakh to the victims family as compensation, which they denied. related stories The CBI had argued that the case constituted as the rarest of the rare" and sought the capital punishment for the accused. However, the judge observed that that it was not the rarest of the rare case, and awarded a life sentence to Roy who persistently claimed innocence throughout. Travesty Of Justice: Politicians React To Verdict The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) reacted angrily to the RG Kar rape-murder verdict, blaming the West Bengal government of destroying evidence and weakening the case, calling for it to be appealed in a higher court. Life imprisonment and a 50,000-rupee fine for Sanjoy Roy, accused in the RG Kar rape and murder case, is a travesty of justice. The verdict must be appealed. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee must stop shielding the criminal," said BJP IT Cell In-Charge Amit Malviya, calling for a probe in the role of Kolkata Commissioner and CMs role in destruction of evidence. Life imprisonment and a 50,000-rupee fine for Sanjoy Roy, accused in the RG Kar rape and murder case, is a travesty of justice. The verdict must be appealed. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee must stop shielding the criminal. Agencies also need to investigate the role of Amit Malviya (@amitmalviya) January 20, 2025 BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla said West Bengal has become most dangerous for women and accused the Trinamool Congress (TMC) of defending rapists. Verdict has been delivered but Justice is awaited fully.. West Bengal police had destroyed a lot of evidence to weaken the case when CBI stepped in," he said. Verdict has been delivered but Justice is awaited fully.. West Bengal police had destroyed a lot of evidence to weaken the case when CBI stepped in..From day 1 TMC only didBalatkari bachaoSaboot mitaoApradhi bachao Even parents & SC admitted this Under TMC, West Bengal https://t.co/437yOP4HXD Shehzad Jai Hind (Modi Ka Parivar) (@Shehzad_Ind) January 20, 2025 CPI(M) leader Brinda Karat also expressed dismay with the verdict. Kerala court gave death sentence to a girl because the girl was proven to have poisoned her boyfriend It shows the failure of our laws to bring justice in cases of crimes against women, particularly rape and murder because there are such different standards which are being applied," she said. Mamata Banerjee Not Satisfied With Verdict Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee also said she was not satisfied with the verdict and reiterated that her party wants the capital punishment for the accused. We have always demanded capital punishment and we continue to stand by it. However, this is the courts decision and I cant say much about this. For three other cases, state police ensured capital punishment through thorough investigations concluded within 54-60 days," she said. Banerjee said that had the case been under the purview of Kolkata police, the death penalty would have been assured. Even though we had said that we would hand over the case if needed, the case was deliberately taken away from us," she said, saying it took the CBI five months to seek the death penalty for Roy. Our primary goal was always to secure the harshest possible punishment for the convict. I am not satisfied with this verdict," she said. Later, Mamata Banerjee said her government would appeal to the High Court to seek capital punishment for Sanjay Roy. I am convinced that it is indeed a rarest of rare case which demands capital punishment. How could the judgement come to the conclusion that it is not a rarest of rare case?! We want and insist upon death penalty in this most sinister and sensitive case," she added. Mamata Banerjee said capital punishment had been granted to convicts in such crimes over the last 3-4 months and questioned the exception in this case, which shook the medical fraternity and sparked widespread protests. I strongly feel that it is a heinous crime that warrants capital punishment. We will plead for capital punishment of the convict at the High Court now," she added. In the R.G. Kar junior doctors rape and murder case, I am really shocked to see that the judgement of the Court today finds that it is not a Rarest of Rare case!I am convinced that it is indeed a rarest of rare case which demands capital punishment. How could the judgement Mamata Banerjee (@MamataOfficial) January 20, 2025 We are not satisfied with the verdict of the Court. The court gave death sentences in those cases which were under West Bengal police. The RG Kar case was under the CBI, had it been under Kolkata police, the punishment would have been the death penalty," senior TMC leader Kunal Ghosh told ANI. We Are Shocked: Family Dismayed With Verdict The parents of the deceased medic in the RG Kar Hospital case said they were not satisfied with the verdict, claiming the investigation was done half-heartedly and several other culprits involved in the crime were shielded. We are shocked. How is this not the rarest of rare cases? An on-duty doctor was raped and murdered. We are dismayed. There was a larger conspiracy behind this crime," the mother told news agency PTI, saying they would appeal to a higher court. The victims father refused to accept any compensation, saying he only wanted justice for his daughter. I dont think money can compensate any death. It was the liability of state to protect ur daughter as she was on duty (when she was raped and murdered). This is a statutory provision. If you take it, you can use it," said the judge. top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all The gruesome crime on August 9, 2024, had led to nationwide outrage and prolonged protests. Roy, a former civic volunteer with the Kolkata Police, was arrested on August 10, a day after the 31-year-old medics body was found in the seminar room of the hospital. Found guilty of sexually assaulting the doctor and throttling her to death, Roy was convicted by the judge under Sections 64, 66 and 103(1) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). First Published: January 20, 2025, 17:11 IST Uttarakhand UCC: Person In Live-In Relationship To Tell Partner Before Leaving, Share Consent With Govt Reported By : News18.com Edited By: Oindrila Mukherjee Last Updated: January 20, 2025, 20:04 IST According to the draft recommendations of the Uttarakhand UCC, which is likely to be notified this month, live-in couples will be required to register themselves on a state government portal The final countdown for the notification of the UCC began as the Pushkar Singh Dhami-led cabinet gave its nod to the procedures and rules on January 20. (Image: ANI/File) Under the Uniform Civil Code in Uttarakhand, which is likely to be notified this month, if one person in a live-in relationship decides to sever ties, they will have to inform their partner and share their consent on an online government portal. According to officials, live-in couples in Uttarakhand will be required to register themselves on this state government portal. The final countdown for the notification of the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) began on Monday as the state cabinet gave its nod to the procedures and rules. related stories The hill state will become the first in India to adopt the much-debated civil code. It was our promise that the BJP government will bring UCC (in Uttarakhand). After getting assent from the President last year, the draft committee prepared a detailed report. The officials have been trained and now we will notify UCC very soon," Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami told News18. Uttarakhands civil code promises equal rights to women irrespective of their religion. The draft committee had recommended several measures, including registration of live-in couples. The idea is to protect rights, particularly rights of women. There have been instances when women feel cheated once the partner leaves, and it unnecessarily leads to a long legal battle," an official said. ALSO READ | RSS Pushes For Phased Rollout Of Uniform Civil Code, Backs Uttarakhand Model To Ease Transition top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all The draft recommendation approved by the state government includes norms on giving maintenance to children born to live-in couples. Besides, under the UCC, marriage registration will be mandatory irrespective of the personal laws. Officials said the idea behind registration is to have a data bank, where a persons marital status and date of separation, if any, granted by the court can be determined. Location : Dehradun, India First Published: January 20, 2025, 19:55 IST Microsoft Is Killing The Office Brand To Push Copilot For The AI Future: What It Means Curated By : News18.com Last Updated: January 20, 2025, 16:46 IST Microsoft confirmed the big change back in 2023 and now users are seeing it across different products like Word, Excel and more. Microsoft is bringing Copilot to all its products, including Office Microsoft is saying goodbye to one of the popular brand names in its lineup that millions recognise for its features. We are talking about the iconic Office lineup which is now rebranded to the Copilot moniker as the company plans for the AI future in the market. Yes, the Office lineup which includes products like Excel, Word and Powerpoint is now getting a major Microsoft 365 rebrand as the company is killing the old brand name, as mentioned in a report by Windows Latest. related stories Microsoft already had changed to Office 365 earlier but using Copilot as the new brand name seems rather confusing and most likely people will have mixed feelings about this change. All In For AI Microsoft is heavily invested in the AI future and its early investment in OpenAI was just the start of this scenario. Bringing Copilot into the catalogue has largely been linked to its AI efforts and it seems moving from Office to Copilot (even with a new logo) also shows where the popular Microsoft products might be moving to in the foreseeable future. The report says the new brand is already making itself present on Windows 11 albeit to a select group for now. top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all The company has clearly talked about the reasons for making the rebranding, which was decided and announced back in 2023 through a detailed event. Microsoft even claimed bringing Copilot across its products is part of a whole new way to work. AI is the future, and most tech companies have made it clear with their recent launches and upgrades. Windows 11 is heavily AI-based, and it even needs an NPU to pull through these AI features on-device. So, Office going Copilot is hardly surprising, especially if the products like Office and Excel will be getting an AI boost, and bringing them under the Copilot umbrella helps Microsoft have a clear AI identity in the market and make it easier for the consumers to know about its plans. Location : Redmond, Washington State, USA First Published: January 20, 2025, 16:46 IST Microsoft Is Taking On Google And OpenAI With AI-Based Search But Not For Everyone Curated By : News18.com Last Updated: January 20, 2025, 11:24 IST Windows 11 will be getting new AI features, including a new way to Search but Microsoft is once again blocking access to these tools for old users. Windows 11 is getting new AI features but limited to those with the new PCs Microsoft is entering the AI search battle with its own version that is now being tested with Windows 11 users and will be available for the public in the coming months. The AI search battle has kicked off with giants like Google and OpenAI offering their versions in the market, and Microsoft is understandably looking to enter the mix to help improve its stature in the AI race. The Windows 11 beta version is giving us a glimpse of how the AI feature will work through Search but the support is limited to people who are using one of the latest Windows 11 laptops. related stories Windows 11 AI Search Test: What You Need Microsoft is going one step at a time with the AI search which is not the recall feature that has faced privacy concerns earlier. The biggest issue with the new AI feature for Windows is that you need to have the latest Copilot Plus PCs that are available in the market. The main reason for this limitation is linked to the hardware on these PCs that comes with a built-in NPU to process the AI queries on-device which keeps it secure for the users. This also means millions of Windows users will either have to forget using the AI tools or be forced to upgrade to the latest Snapdragon X-powered machines. top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all Thats not all, the Windows 11 AI search will work for local file formats like TXT, JPEG, PDF and PNG among others. The company does plan to integrate OneDrive cloud data to the service but that might need them to ditch the on-device support and link to the internet to make it work. Going by these features, the Windows 11 AI search seems different from Google and OpenAIs offering but a gradual evolution could change that picture in the near future. Location : Delhi, India First Published: January 20, 2025, 11:24 IST Chinese Man Spends Rs 3.5 Crore To Build Life-Size Replica Of Shin Chans House Curated By : Trending Desk Last Updated: January 20, 2025, 16:34 IST From the parking space to the living room, every element of Shens house will remind fans of the Shin-chan comics. Shen also wants to recreate Futaba Kindergarten from the Shin-chan comics. (Photo Credits: X) If you are an anime fan, Shin-chan has to be on your watchlist. The Japanese comedy series revolves around the life of a mischievous five-year-old boy, Shinnosuke Nohara, who lives with his parents, sister and a pet in the town of Kasukabe. Fuelled by his love for Shin-chan, a Chinese man has invested $400,000 (approximately 3.5 crore) in recreating the iconic House of Nohara featuring red and white bricks. It was a long-standing dream for the 21-year-old who started working on the unique project after taking over his familys sheep farm, as reported by Record China. Shen spent nearly one year on the venture, with construction beginning in July last year. He struggled a lot to secure the official rights for the property. Shen had to locate the exclusive licensing agent for Crayon Shin-chan in China. He then needed five trips to Shanghai to complete the deal. Shens mother also supported him financially to make his deal come true. related stories From the parking space to the interior, the living room to the balcony, every element of Shens house will remind fans of the Shin-chan comics. The property covers an area of nearly 100 square metres. Once completed, it is expected to attract many tourists and anime enthusiasts. After the housing project is wrapped up, Shen wishes to recreate Futaba Kindergarten from the comedy series which he will turn into an educational centre, as per RecordChina. In future, the youngster hopes to build the entire Kasukabe town where fans will be able to enjoy a real-life experience of the world of Shin-chan. top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all Crayon Shin-chan was created by Yoshito Usui. The anime was first launched as a comic in 1990. The manga series quickly rose to fame, thanks to its relatable character and humorous storyline. Its popularity skyrocketed after Shin-chan made its television debut on TV Asahi in Japan in 1992. Even after Usuis demise in 2009, the production team kept on bringing new stories under the banner of Yoshito Usui & UY Studio to continue the legacy of Shin-chan. Apart from the television show, the character has also inspired several animated movies and video games. Location : Delhi, India First Published: January 20, 2025, 16:34 IST Donald Trump's Meme Coin Tanks As Melanias Crypto Enters The Market Curated By : News18.com Last Updated: January 20, 2025, 09:36 IST Three days after the launch of Donald Trump's meme coin, his wife, Melania Trump, introduced her own rival meme coin. Donald Trump and Melania Trump (Reuters) Donald Trumps official meme coin $TRUMP, which he launched on January 17, has plummeted nearly 40 per cent after his wife and soon-to-be First Lady, Melania Trump, launched her own meme coin early today January 20 (late Sunday US time). Announcing the launch of her meme coin, Melania wrote on X (formerly known as Twitter), The Official Melania Meme is live! You can buy $MELANIA now." She also shared a link to a website selling the cryptocurrency. related stories The Official Melania Meme is live!You can buy $MELANIA now. https://t.co/8FXvlMBhVf FUAfBo2jgks6gB4Z4LfZkqSZgzNucisEHqnNebaRxM1P pic.twitter.com/t2vYiahRn6 MELANIA TRUMP (@MELANIATRUMP) January 19, 2025 According to a report by Forbes, Trumps meme coin, $TRUMP, was ranked among the top 20 cryptocurrencies by market capitalisation, reaching an impressive $14 million. My NEW Official Trump Meme is HERE! Its time to celebrate everything we stand for: WINNING! Join my very special Trump Community. GET YOUR $TRUMP NOW. Go to https://t.co/GX3ZxT5xyq Have Fun! pic.twitter.com/flIKYyfBrC Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 18, 2025 However, hours before Trumps oath, the launch of Melania Trumps cryptocurrency, $MELANIA, sent the value of Trumps coin into a sharp decline. As people rushed to buy Melanias meme coin, it pushed its value to over $7.41, giving it a fully diluted market capitalisation exceeding $5 billion. Both Melanias and Trumps coins are built on the Solana network. According to CoinMarketCap, Trumps meme coin initially launched at $0.18, has risen significantly to $44.08, while Melanias coin currently stands at $7.41. top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all As per the official website of the crypto, 80 per cent of Trumps meme coin is held by Trump Organisation affiliate CIC Digital, and Fight Fight Fight an entity co-owned by CIC Digital. Earlier, the US President-elect pitched himself as crypto president" at a tech fundraiser in San Francisco as he slammed Democrats attempts to regulate the sector. He also proposed a bitcoin reserve, which would allow the federal government to buy and sell bitcoin. He also said that Bitcoin has shattered one record after another at his rally. First Published: January 20, 2025, 08:39 IST Maha Kumbh 2025 Sees A Massive 300% Rise In Brand Spending Compared To 2013 Curated By : Trending Desk Last Updated: January 20, 2025, 17:47 IST The sacred Maha Kumbh began on January 13 and will continue until February 26. Maha Kumbh is taking place in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh. (Photo Credits: Instagram) Maha Kumbh, the worlds largest spiritual gathering, is not just a sacred event but also a massive platform for brands to engage with audiences on a national scale. With millions of devotees coming from all corners of the world, the event offers marketing opportunities, transforming it into what marketers call a cultural jackpot." The 2025 edition of Maha Kumbh has witnessed a dramatic rise in advertising and marketing spending. Compared to the 2013 edition, expenditure has surged by a staggering 300% and even against the 2019 Ardh Kumbh, there is a reported growth of 70-100%, Moneycontrol reported. related stories In 2013, marketing budgets ranged between Rs 1,200 crore and Rs 1,500 crore with a focus on traditional media print, radio and outdoor ads. By 2019, the spending rose to Rs 2,000 crore Rs 2,500 crore as the incorporation of digital campaigns and influencer marketing began. For Maha Kumbh 2025, the estimated spend is expected to exceed Rs 4,500 crore. As per the report, top-tier brands are reportedly dedicating 15-25% of their annual marketing budgets to Maha Kumbh, while regional players are allocating 25-30%. FMCG companies like HUL and ITC are leading the pack with spending exceeding Rs 120 crore to enhance visibility through hoardings, on-ground activations and transit advertising. Telecom brands like Airtel are reportedly spending Rs 80 crore-Rs 100 crore each on 5G promotions. Digital platforms, Paytm and Flipkart, are targeting rural consumers with budgets of Rs 50 crore-Rs 70 crore. Healthcare and wellness brands have allocated approximately Rs 30-Rs 50 crore towards kiosks, sponsorships and awareness initiatives. Moneycontrol reported FMCG brands dominate the marketing landscape at Maha Kumbh 2025, contributing a significant 35% of the total spending. BFSI (banking, financial services and insurance) follows with 20% of the overall expenditure while telecom brands come in third with a contribution of 15%. FMCG and telecom brands are spending between Rs 50-100 crore each to promote their products. Smaller regional brands and start-ups, however, are working with budgets of Rs 5-Rs 10 crore, targeting specific groups of people with their local campaigns. The report citing experts mentioned that big brands were setting aside 15-25% of their yearly marketing budget for Maha Kumbh 2025 while regional brands are going even higher, spending 25-30%. Both outdoor and digital platforms are playing their significant roles in Maha Kumbh. Outdoor advertising takes up around 25-40% of the marketing budget with rates soaring due to high demand. Key locations like the Sangam ghats and entry points now cost Rs 10-Rs 15 lakh per hoarding per month, compared to Rs 6-Rs 9 lakh in 2019. Premium spots such as billboards on the main ghats are priced between Rs 25-30 lakh per month. top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all Brands are allocating 40% of their budgets to online campaigns. For event-related campaigns, CPMs (cost per thousand impressions) are reaching Rs 600 to Rs 800. Influencer marketing is also making a mark, taking up 10% of ad spends. Local influencers who connect with audiences through regional content are charging Rs 2-Rs 9 lakh per post while macro influencers demand Rs 10-Rs 30 lakh. Location : Delhi, India First Published: January 20, 2025, 17:47 IST Maha Kumbh 2025: This Young Man Is Skating 600km From Chhattisgarh To Reach Prayagraj Curated By : Translation Desk Last Updated: January 20, 2025, 09:06 IST Maha Kumbh 2025: Ajay, an avid skating enthusiast, has set out on a 600-kilometre journey from Sakti in Chhattisgarh to Prayagraj entirely on skates Covering 80-100km a day, Ajay Nishad rests in hotels or lodges each evening. (News18 Hindi) The worlds largest religious gathering, the Maha Kumbh Mela, is underway in Prayagraj, attracting devotees from across the globe. Several sadhus and saints are making their way to the fair from all over the country. Ajay Nishad, a young man from the village of Sakreli in Sakti district of Chhattisgarh, is also embarking on this journey, but in a unique way. Ajay, an avid skating enthusiast, has set out on a 600-km journey from Sakti to Prayagraj entirely on skates. related stories Sharing his passion, he said, I love skating, and wherever I travel, I try to do so on skates. This time, Im skating my way to the Kumbh Mela in Prayagraj." Covering 80-100km a day, Ajay rests in hotels or lodges each evening. This is Ajays first time undertaking such a lengthy journey. He noted that poor road conditions in some areas make skating challenging, forcing him to either walk or hitch a ride. Carrying a bag weighing 20 to 25 kg and a saffron flag that waves as he skates, Ajay is determined to complete his journey. Previously, Ajay has skated to well-known temples near Sakti, including Turridham, Madwarani, Chandrapur, and Pithampur, covering distances of 50 to 100 km. However, this 600-kilometre trip marks his longest journey yet. top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all Along the way, Ajay has encountered many kind-hearted individuals who have offered him financial assistance and meals, inspiring him to continue his unique pilgrimage to the Maha Kumbh. ore than 7 crore devotees, Kalpavasis and revered seers have taken a holy dip at the Triveni Sangam during the Maha Kumbh so far. The Uttar Pradesh government estimates that more than 45 crore people will attend the Maha Kumbh this time. Location : Prayagraj, India First Published: January 20, 2025, 09:06 IST Rajasthan Man Calls Off Engagement, Girl's Family Chops Off His Brother's Moustache Curated By : Translation Desk Last Updated: January 20, 2025, 10:18 IST The dispute reportedly arose when the grooms family broke off the engagement after his sister disapproved of the bride-to-be Defending his family, the groom said the the bride-to-be shown to him in the photograph and the one he was actually expected to marry were two different women. (News18 Hindi) Broken engagements lead to disputes, bad blood and even brawls. But in this one incident, it led to a young man being parted with his moustache. The incident, which has gone viral, has been reported from Karauli district in Rajasthan, where the bride-to-bes family chopped off the moustache of the grooms brother after the latters family called off the engagement. The incident unfolded in full public view as the crowd watched on. The dispute reportedly arose when the grooms family broke off the engagement after his sister disapproved of the bride-to-be. Enraged by their decision, the brides family held the brother of the groom and shaved off his moustache as people watched on. Some even filmed the incident and uploaded the video on social media. related stories The video, which went viral, shows the spectators seated around, discussing the broken engagement while the grooms brother is made to lose his moustache. As the video of the incident went viral, the groom uploaded another video in which he presented his side of the story. Asserting that his family was not at fault for breaking off the engagement, he said the bride-to-be shown to him in the photograph and the one he was actually expected to marry were two different women. He says that when his family came to know of this deception", they told the brides family that they need more time to decide on the engagement. Breaking down, he says his family has been deeply wronged". He claims that his family neither broke off the engagement nor formally agreed to it. An attempt was made to put us under unnecessary pressure. We were publicly humiliated," he said. top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all The man, who remains unidentified, has also sought protection from the police. He alleged that pressure is being exerted on him to reach a compromise by accepting monetary compensation. Nadauti police station in-charge Mahendra Kumar said no formal complaint has been received from either party yet. The police are currently monitoring the situation. Location : Karauli, India First Published: January 20, 2025, 10:18 IST Software Engineer Recalls How He Nearly Escaped Job Scam In Delhi: Preying On Innocent Curated By : Trending Desk Last Updated: January 20, 2025, 10:31 IST A software engineer recently shared his harrowing ordeal on Reddit, revealing how he was nearly scammed during what he thought was a job interview. The interview took place in Kirti Nagar, Delhi. (Representative Image) Job interviews can be stressful but for one man, the experience turned into a pretty scary" ordeal. A software engineer shared on Reddit how he was nearly scammed during what he thought was a genuine job interview. In a post titled, The dangerous interview that I had in Delhi as an innocent fresher. Made me realise the world is so vile," he explained that, as a fresh graduate, he was contacted by a consultancy that claimed to help candidates secure positions in top companies. Trusting their pitch, the user agreed to attend an interview in Kirti Nagar, Delhi. However, upon reaching the venue, he immediately felt something was off as the building looked shady." There were African bodyguards standing outside, which immediately felt off. I asked one of them where the interview was, and he told me to go inside, where HR would be waiting," the user added. related stories Inside, he was greeted by a woman in her mid-30s who claimed to have connections with prestigious companies. To convince him, she even showed fake" pictures of candidates she had placed in firms like Microsoft. She asked about my skills, and when I mentioned Java, she started asking me questions. I deliberately gave wrong answers just to test her, and she still told me I did great. At that point, I knew something was wrong. Because she had no knowledge about Java," the user continued. The situation took a darker turn when the woman demanded Rs 3,000 as a fee for her services. He wanted to leave but felt stuck as there was a bouncer near the door and several men outside. Thinking on his feet, he handed over Rs 500 and claimed he needed to step outside to withdraw the remaining amount. I convinced her, and the bodyguard followed me down the stairs. As soon as I was out of the building, I ran as fast as I could and took a metro because I knew he wouldnt follow me on a public road," he shared. It was such a frustrating experience. I had travelled a long distance for that interview, as I was already struggling to get calls. This scam made me feel even more down and defeated during that time. Its sad that these scammers are out there preying on innocent people," the Redditor concluded. The post quickly gained attention online with many social media users sharing their own encounters with similar scams. One user commented, Remember sharing your experience about this will actually save many people out there, Hope the necessary action is taken against those scammers." Another user shared, These scams are common in Delhi, I was scammed too in my early stage. Never ever feel terrible in such experiences. Try hard, one day you will get a good job. This experience will teach the value of a job, a value that our parents tried to teach us." top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all My friend had faced a similar issue in Gurugram. An unregistered startup visited her college, conducted the first round of aptitude tests and called selected candidates to location. Three men were waiting inside the room and they had to pay whatever they could to get out of there. This was back in 2017," someone else wrote. An individual expressed their shock, writing, This is probably the worst of all Ive heard of so far." Location : Delhi, India First Published: January 20, 2025, 10:31 IST This Woman Lost Her Coldplay's Mumbai Concert Tickets, Can You Believe It? Curated By : Trending Desk Last Updated: January 20, 2025, 13:25 IST Prachi Singh shared her heartbreaking story on Instagram about how she lost her tickets just before the concert. The woman's domestic help threw away the tickets while cleaning. (Photo Credits: Instagram) Coldplays much-anticipated return to India after nine years kicked off with a bang in Mumbai. The recent Coldplay concerts in Mumbai on January 18 and 19 witnessed a massive crowd and left fans mesmerised by the British rock bands spectacular performance. While many had a blast at the event, a sorrowful incident involving misplaced concert tickets garnered attention online. The incident was shared on social media by a fan who was eagerly anticipating the show. Prachi Singh took to Instagram to share her heartbreaking story about how she lost her tickets just before the concert. The text description of the video read, Coldplay ke tickets kachre mein chale gaye." In the video caption, she wrote, Yes, so this disaster happened. Yesterday we got two Coldplay tickets and they were kept in a wrapper on the dining table. Today we got ready; the driver was waiting and while leaving we couldnt find the bands and our maid said that they were thrown away while cleaning." related stories View this post on Instagram A post shared by Prachi Singh (@prachisingh2202) The viral clip shows Prachi in anguish as sanitation workers search through the trash for the missing tickets. The building staff were so kind; they actually helped us search through all the garbage disposed of that day. Its okay, guys. I guess it wasnt meant to be this time," she further added. Prachi sarcastically tagged the band in her Instagram post and urged them for replacement tickets, writing, @coldplay pls give two tickets." top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all Since being posted, the video has gone viral and amassed over five million views and 46,000 likes. The clip has also garnered hundreds of comments, with many sharing their sympathy and disbelief. A user wrote, What a nightmare before the concert! I feel so bad for her." Another added, How could this happen? Such a heart-breaking story." Someone else mentioned, Maybe it wasnt meant to be. Better luck next time." A person also stated, What kind of management these days doesnt send tickets on your mail/WhatsApp." As part of the Music of the Spheres World Tour," the band will next perform at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai on January 21. On the other hand, the Ahmedabad concert is scheduled to take place on January 25 and 26 at the Narendra Modi Stadium. The January 26 show will be streamed live on Disney Hotstar. Location : Delhi, India First Published: January 20, 2025, 13:25 IST Last Updated: January 21, 2025, 15:22 IST United States Presidential Inauguration LIVE: Donald Trump is sworn in as the 47th US President in the US Capitol Rotunda in Washington, DC, on January 20, 2025. (AFP photo) Donald Trump Presidential Inauguration Highlights: Donald Trump was sworn in for a historic second term as president following which he announced a series of measures including invoking national emergency at southern border and renaming Gulf of Mexico to Gulf of America. With one hand raised and the other on a Bible given to him by his mother, the 47th US president solemnly took the oath of office beneath the vast Rotunda of the US Capitol. Trump won a historic election in November last year, defeating his Democratic rival Kamala Harris, in what was expected to be a close contest, by a comfortable margin. His return as the US President is a significant moment in American history as he will become the only second president to come back to power non-consecutively. Follow LIVE updates here: Trump Proposes '50% US Ownership' Of TikTok: 'Without Our Approval, There Is No...' Curated By : News18.com Last Updated: January 20, 2025, 10:11 IST Donald Trump, who is set for his inauguration on Monday, said that he will issue an executive order to delay the TikTok ban enforcement for 90 days. Donald Trump Proposes '50% US Ownership' Of TikTok (Reuters Image) TikTok, which went dark across the US, began restoring its services on Sunday following incoming President Donald Trumps assurance to revive the platforms access in the country after his inauguration on Monday. Earlier on Saturday, TikTok was forced to suspend its operations in the United States, which fell in line with the ban order by the outgoing Biden administration. related stories TikTok Thanks Trump The Chinese company thanked Trump for the necessary clarity and assurance" of its resumption. We thank President Trump for providing the necessary clarity and assurance to our service providers that they will face no penalties providing TikTok to over 170 million Americans and allowing over 7 million small businesses to thrive. Its a strong stand for the First Amendment and against arbitrary censorship. We will work with President Trump on a long-term solution that keeps TikTok in the United States," TikTok said in a statement. It hailed the incoming President and said that TikTok is back in the US as a result of President Trumps efforts". The Chinese companys praise for Trump followed Trumps post on his social media platform Truth Social where he said that he will issue an executive order on Monday to extend the period of time before the laws prohibitions take effect". Trump Proposes 50% US Ownership Deal To TikTok However, Trump also proposed a 50% ownership deal to TikTok to stay alive in the US. I would like the United States to have a 50% ownership position in a joint venture. By doing this, we save TikTok, keep it in good hands and allow it to say up. Without U.S. approval, there is no Tik Tok. With our approval, it is worth hundreds of billions of dollars maybe trillions," Trump said. TikTok went dark for its 170 million American users on late Saturday before a law to ban it on the grounds of national security came into enforcement on Sunday. US authorities had warned that ByteDance, TikToks Chinese parent company, could pose a risk of Americans data being misused. top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all Notably, Trumps recent remarks on TikTok are contrasting to what he said during his first term between 2017 and 2021. He earlier wanted to ban the Chinese app, raising concerns that the company was sharing the personal information of US citizens with the Chinese government. However, recently, he credited the app with helping him get young voters votes in the November 2024 polls, and said that he has a warm spot in my heart for TikTok". Location : Washington D.C., United States of America (USA) First Published: January 20, 2025, 09:54 IST Crackdowns On Border, Citizenship And Gender Likely On Donald Trumps First Day In Office Curated By : News18.com Last Updated: January 21, 2025, 03:06 IST Donald Trump will make major changes to the US immigration, economy and diversity policies on the first day of his return to the White House. The move adheres to a promise Trump made during his campaign and will please critics who say it was an overly generous magnet for more people to come to Mexico's border with the United States. (IMAGE: REUTERS file) US President Donald Trump will declare a national emergency at the US-Mexico border, resume the construction of the border wall and deploy troops along the border as soon as takes office, signing off executive orders. He also plans to end birthright citizenship for children of illegal immigrants and reinstate the Remain-in-Mexico policy, according to officials speaking to news agencies Reuters and Associated Press. He will also issue an executive order ending DEI initiatives within the federal government. Another order will define US policy to recognize only two sexes, male and female. related stories He also plans to rename the Gulf of Mexico and Alaskas Mount Denali soon after becoming the 47th President of the United States, according to a report by the New York Post. The report said that the Gulf of Mexico will be renamed the Gulf of America and Denali, North Americas tallest mountain, will be changed back to its old name, Mount McKinley. The mountains name was changed to Denali by former US president Barack Obama in 2015. The report also said that Trump will end birthright citizenship for children of illegal immigrants through an Executive Order on his first day in office. The federal government will no longer grant immediate citizenship to children of illegal immigrants born in the US, starting from the date the order takes effect, the newspaper said in a report. These Executive Orders are among the 10 Trump plans to sign on his first day after returning to the White House for a second time. Officials also said that the US President will end the catch and release" policy, reinstate the Remain in Mexico" program and resume construction of the border wall. Trump will also declare a national emergency for the border, they said while speaking to the New York Post. The national emergency will authorize the deployment of armed forces and the construction of physical barriers along the border. The secretary of defense will have the authority to send additional forces, including members of the armed forces and the National Guard. The incoming administration will direct the defence department to seal the border" which is in line with the incoming US Presidents common sense immigration policy". A report by the BBC said that the most of executive actions to be taken by Trump today pertain to the US-Mexico border. On Migration Donald Trump will be declaring a national emergency at the border and sending more troops there along with more manpower. Officials are being instructed to restart construction of the US-Mexico border wall. Officials said that the Republican wants to revoke birthright citizenship to the children of immigrants who are living in the US illegally. He is bringing back the so-called Remain-in-Mexico policy, keeping migrants in Mexico for their asylum hearings. On Economy The Republican also will establish a national energy emergency which he says will allow the US to produce more natural resources and create jobs. He will also put an end to the electric vehicle mandate". He will direct the government to evaluate US trade ties with China but will not impose new tariffs now, according to the Wall Street Journal. top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all Diversity and gender Trumps executive order will also end DEI [diversity, equity and inclusion] inside the federal government". Another order would define that it is a policy of the US to recognize two sexes male and female". Location : Washington D.C., United States of America (USA) First Published: January 20, 2025, 20:17 IST Trump Vows Big Before Inauguration, Says 'Will Quickly Release JFK, Robert Kennedy, MLK Assassination Files' Curated By : News18.com Last Updated: January 20, 2025, 09:21 IST Donald Trump is set to return to the White House on Monday after his inauguration event. He has vowed to make public classified files related to assassination of John F. Kennedy, Robert Kennedy, and Martin Luther King Jr. US President-elect Donald Trump (Reuters Image) US President-elect Donald Trump on Sunday vowed to de-classify the documents related to the assassination of US President John F Kennedy, Senator Robert Kennedy, and civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. Trumps big promise came on the eve of his inauguration at the Capitol where he will be sworn-in as the 47th US President on Monday. related stories In the coming days, we are going to make public remaining records related to the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, his brother Robert Kennedy, as well as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and other topics of great public interest," Trump said at a rally in downtown Washington. He had promised on his campaign trail that he would release the classified intelligence and law enforcement files on the assassination of President John F Kennedy (JFK) in 1963. Notably, Trump had made a similar promise during his first term at the office from 2017 to 2021, and in fact, he did release some documents related to JFKs killing. However, in the end, he bowed to pressure from the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and did not release a significant chunk of documents, keeping them under wraps. He cited national security concerns for the same. However, Trump did not specify the documents he would release, neither did he promise a blanket declassification. Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy were both assassinated in 1968. The JFK assassination has been a point of discussion and debate in the United States for long as the killing was attributed to a sole gunman, Lee Harvey Oswald. While the Justice Department and other federal government bodies have maintained that conclusion for decades, the Americans, on the contrary, believe his death was a result of a wider conspiracy, according to the polls. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., chosen by Trump to lead health and human services, is the son of Robert Kennedy and the nephew of President John F. Kennedy (JFK). He has claimed that the CIA was involved in his uncle JFKs assassination, a claim the agency has dubbed unfounded. Kennedy Jr. also believes his father was killed by more than one shooter, a view that is in contradiction to the official reports. Trump will take more than 200 executive actions as he assumes office on Monday, according to his aides, The New York Post reported. top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all The actions include 50 executive orders which are legally binding, including some relating to border security and domestic energy production. (With Reuters inputs) Location : Washington D.C., United States of America (USA) First Published: January 20, 2025, 08:45 IST Golden Age Of America Begins Now: US President Donald Trump Begins Second Term With Plethora Of Promises Curated By : News18.com Last Updated: January 21, 2025, 02:51 IST Donald Trump declared the start of a "Golden Age of America" in his first remarks upon returning to the White House. US President Donald J. Trump speaks after being sworn in during the ceremony for the inauguration of Donald Trump as the 47th president of the United States takes place inside the Capitol Rotunda of the US Capitol building in Washington, DC. (IMAGE: REUTERS) US President Donald Trump in his inauguration speech said Americas golden age" has begun on Monday as he made a return to the White House. He said that the decay of America" comes to an end with his ascent to the Oval Office. He said his inauguration is a new liberation" for the US. He announced a slew of measures he will take with respect to immigration. He said he will impose a national emergency at the US-Mexico border and will send troops and more manpower along the border. related stories Donald Trump Inauguration LIVE: Catch Latest Updates Trump said America will become a manufacturing nation once again" and said he will help lower prices of daily products. He said the electric vehicle mandate will be revoked in order to save auto workers while addressing the gathering at the Capitol Rotunda in Washington DC. The golden age of America begins right now. From this day forward, our country will flourish and be respected all over the world. We will be the envy of every nation and we will not allow ourselves to be taken advantage of any longer," Donald Trump said. Before his White House return, Trump vowed to impose 25 percent tariffs on Canadian and Mexican imports, and an additional 10 percent on Chinese goods, if they did not do more about illegal immigration and the flow of fentanyl into the United States. America First From Day One The Republican said that America First" will remain the motto of his administration and said he will reclaim sovereignty. ALSO READ | Trump Vows To Plant Stars And Stripes On Mars, Gets A Thumbs Up From Elon Musk | Watch The scales of justice will be rebalanced. The vicious, violent, and unfair weaponization of the Justice Department and our government will end. And our top priority will be to create a nation that is proud, prosperous, and free," he said. He also said that he will start imposing tariffs to protect American citizens in his nationalistic speech. I will immediately begin the overhaul of our trade system to protect American workers and families," he said at the US Capitol. Instead of taxing our citizens to enrich other countries, we will tariff and tax foreign countries to enrich our citizens," Trump added. Cartel Gangs Now Terrorists In a bid to crack down on illegal drug trade, he said drug cartel gangs will be designated as terrorist organisations". First, I will declare a national emergency at our southern border," Trump said. All illegal entry will immediately be halted, and we will begin the process of returning millions and millions of criminal aliens back to the places from which they came. I will send troops to the southern border to repel the disastrous invasion of our country. Under the orders I signed today, we will also be designating the cartels as foreign terrorist organisations," he said. Only Two Genders The Republican said the government will not socially engineer race and gender in public and private life and said that he is signing an order that only allows people to identify as either male or female. As of today, it will henceforth be the official policy of the United States government that there are only two genders, male and female. This week, I will also end the government policy of trying to socially engineer race and gender into every aspect of public and private light. We will forge a society that is colourblind and merit-based," he said. Take Control Of Panama Canal He also took a dig at China and said the US will take over the Panama Canal, which he claimed is run by China, since the US helped build the canal that joins the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. We didnt give it to China, we gave it to Panama. And were taking it back," said Trump, who has previously not ruled out using military force against Panama. Panama fired back by saying that the waterway will remain Panamanian. Space Race With SpaceX CEO and ironclad ally Elon Musk in attendance, he also said the US will fulfil its manifest destiny" and send its astronauts to space, bringing a wide grin in the face of the worlds richest man. We will pursue our manifest destiny into the stars, launching American astronauts to plant the Stars and Stripes on the planet Mars," he said in his inauguration speech at the US Capitol in Washington. More drilling, fewer EVs Trump used his inauguration speech to preview a raft of sweeping energy-related federal orders aimed at undoing Bidens climate legacy. The inflation crisis was caused by massive overspending and escalating energy prices, and that is why today I will also declare a national energy emergency. We will Drill, baby, drill!'" Trump said. top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all With my actions today, we will end the Green New Deal, and we will revoke the electric vehicle mandate, saving our auto industry." Trumps reference to the Green New Deal" likely alludes to the Inflation Reduction Act his predecessor Joe Bidens signature climate law that channels billions into clean energy tax credits. Location : Washington D.C., United States of America (USA) First Published: January 20, 2025, 22:44 IST Iran Expresses Hopes Trump Administration Will Adopt 'Realistic' Approach To Region Published By : AFP Last Updated: January 20, 2025, 18:19 IST Iran also lambasted the outgoing administration of Joe Biden over its support for Israel in its war with Hamas. In 2018, Trump withdrew the US from a landmark nuclear deal with Tehran. US President-elect Donald Trump (Reuters Image) Iran said Monday it hoped the incoming US administration under Donald Trump would adopt a realistic" approach and show respect" for the interests of countries in the region. Trump will be sworn in for a second term as US president on Monday. related stories We hope that the approaches and policies of the (new) US government will be realistic and based on international law and respect for the interests and desires of the nations of the region, including the Iranian nation," said foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei during a weekly press briefing. Baqaei lambasted the outgoing administration of Joe Biden over its support for Israel in its war with Hamas. He also said Bidens administration had failed to show any seriousness" in reviving the nuclear deal with Iran. During his first term, Trump pursued a policy of maximum pressure" against Iran, withdrawing the United States from a 2015 landmark nuclear deal which imposed curbs on its nuclear programme in return for sanctions relief. Tehran adhered to the deal until Washingtons withdrawal in 2018, but then began rolling back its commitments. Efforts to revive the pact have since faltered. The deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), provided for the snapback mechanism which allowed signatories to reimpose United Nations sanctions on Iran in cases of the significant non-performance" of commitments. The option to trigger the mechanism expires in October this year. Baqaei warned of a proportionate and reciprocal" response if the mechanism was triggered. Abusing this mechanism will mean that there will no longer be a justification or reason for Iran to remain in some relevant agreements," he said. Iranian diplomats have previously warned that Tehran would withdraw" from the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty if the mechanism was triggered. top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all Last week, Iran held discreet nuclear talks with Britain, Germany and France, known as the E3, which both sides described as frank and constructive". Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi later said European powers appeared serious about finding ways to revive nuclear negotiations, adding that it was not clear whether the Trump administration intends to return to the negotiations". Location : Tehran, Iran First Published: January 20, 2025, 18:19 IST Gaza Ceasefire Passes 1st Hurdle As Israel-Hamas Exchange 3 Hostages For 90 Palestinian Prisoners Curated By : News18.com Last Updated: January 20, 2025, 08:34 IST Israel said that it has released 90 Palestinian prisoners after Hamas freed three hostages on Sunday. This completed the first phase of the three-phased truce between Israel and Hamas. Israel-Hamas truce (AP Image) As the first phase of the ceasefire began on Sunday, Israel released 90 Palestinian prisoners on Monday after Hamas handed over three Israeli hostages. The move from both sides completed the first exchange under the truce which is aimed at bringing an end to over 15 months of war in Gaza. The initial 42-day truce was brokered by mediators from Qatar, the US, and Egypt. related stories Israel-Hamas Ceasefire The three hostages, all women, which were released by Hamas on Sunday were reunited with their families and taken to the hospital where they were declared to be in stable condition. In the Israeli-occupied West Bank, hours later, Palestinian prisoners released by Israel as part of the exchange departed Ofer prison on buses around 1:00 am (2300 GMT Sunday). Jubilant crowds warmly celebrated their arrival in the nearby town of Beitunia. Thousands of displaced Palestinians across the devastated Gaza Strip set off to return to their homes as the ceasefire took effect on Sunday morning. We are finally in our home. There is no home left, just rubble, but its our home," Rana Mohsen, 43, said, after returning to Jabalia. The truce is aimed at providing humanitarian aid to Gaza and restoration of peace in the region. During the initial truce, 33 Israeli hostages, including 31 abducted during Hamass October 7, 2023, attack, are set to be returned from Gaza in exchange for approximately 1,900 Palestinian detainees. Among them, over 230 Palestinian prisoners serving life sentences for fatal attacks against Israelis are scheduled for deportation, according to a list released by Israeli authorities. Two Hamas officials indicated that these prisoners would primarily be deported to Qatar or Turkey. The Israel Prison Service confirmed the release of 90 prisoners on early Monday. Soon after the truce began on Sunday, the United Nations said that the first trucks carrying humanitarian aid had entered the Palestinian territory. Welcoming the truce, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said, It is imperative that this ceasefire removes the significant security and political obstacles to delivering aid." According to the aid workers, northern Gaza was particularly hard hit and there was a severe crisis of essentials including food, shelter and water. The World Health Organization said that it was ready to send aid into Gaza, but added that it would require systematic access" across the territory for the purpose. Restoring the health system in Gaza will be a complex and challenging task, given the scale of destruction," WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on X. Hamas Gives Gift Bag To Released Hostages The three Israeli hostages Emily Damari (28), Romi Gonen (24), and Doron Steinbrecher (31) were each given a gift bag during their release to remember their captivity by Hamas. According to reports, these bags had their photos in captivity, a picture of Gaza, and a certificate. Hamas made a propaganda film about the release of the three women they kidnapped over a year ago. They gave them gift bags with certificates inside. Like they were on a student exchange from Hell. This is one of the SICKEST things Ive ever seen. Monsters. pic.twitter.com/iuqlmi8D0c Heidi Bachram (@HeidiBachram) January 19, 2025 top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all Their video was released holding the bags and smiling ahead of their freedom. (With AFP inputs) Location : Israel First Published: January 20, 2025, 08:12 IST The MND: Taiwan will return and have a better future 20:35, January 18, 2025 By Chen Lei, He Shuyin ( China Military Online Senior Colonel Wu Qian, spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of National Defense, made the remarks at a regular news conference on Friday. Question: According to the "Taiwan Central News Agency", Lai Ching-te, leader of the Taiwan region recently said that countries like China and Russia threaten the rule-based international order and undermine peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region and beyond. Therefore, Taiwan needs to continue to raise "defense budget" and enhance "defense capabilities." What's your comment? Wu Qian: Lai Ching-te and his kind have betrayed their ancestors and what he said was far away from the truth. International documents including the Cairo Declaration and the Potsdam Proclamation have confirmed that the Taiwan region should be returned to China. Such fact is an important part of the post-WWII international order. The victory and outcome of the WWII must be respected and safeguarded. There is no other status of the Taiwan region in the international law than being a part of China. The Lai Ching-te administration, in collusion with foreign forces, has been making constant provocations for "Taiwan independence". It is now the biggest source of chaos that undermines peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and the Asia Pacific. We warn the Lai Ching-te administration and separatists for "Taiwan independence" that any attempt to seek independence by force is just like holding back the tide with a broom, and will eventually lead to self-destruction. Those seeking "Taiwan independence" will never have a good end. The PLA will spare no effort to fight separatism and promote national reunification. We have full confidence that the Taiwan region will return to the motherland and will have a better future after its return. (Web editor: Peng Yukai, Du Mingming) The 2025 Lunar New Year falls on Jan. 29. It coincides with the date of new moon and signals the start of the Year of the Snake. At the Lunar New Year Wishing Wall in the park, visitors shared their messages of hope, health and happiness for the year ahead. by Xinhua Writers Tan Jingjing, Gao Shan LOS ANGELES, Jan. 19 (Xinhua) -- Disney California Adventure Park kicked off its 2025 Lunar New Year celebrations during the weekend, featuring a variety of Asian cultural performances, culinary delights and fun festivities. The park, located in Anaheim, Southern California, is adorned in brilliant red and gold, symbolizing good luck, health and prosperity. The annual celebrations have drawn visitors around the world in recent years. The 2025 Lunar New Year falls on Jan. 29. It coincides with the date of new moon and signals the start of the Year of the Snake. At the Lunar New Year Wishing Wall in the park, visitors shared their messages of hope, health and happiness for the year ahead. "Best fortunes to all the California fire victims and their families! We pray for them and all their losses of the New Year and Beyond," says a card written by a visitor named D.M. Moralos. Chinese calligraphy demonstrations by local artisans were another attraction. Roger Sueng, one of the calligraphers, told Xinhua he was glad to introduce Chinese traditional art to American audiences. Many Americans have great interest in Chinese calligraphy, and "love" and "good fortunes" are among the most popular Chinese characters they would like to have, Sueng said. China's legendary warrior character Mulan and her wisecracking dragon friend Mushu led the way in a Lunar New Year Procession, which honors family, friendship and the potential for a fortune-filled year. A dazzling nighttime water show, Hurry Home, tells visitors the story of a little lantern's quest to reunite with family for the annual celebration of good luck and fortune. Accompanied by a stirring musical score, created by Academy Award-winning Chinese-born American composer Tan Dun, visitors are immersed in the magic of a six-minute tale. Lunar New Year marketplaces and dining locations at the park offer an array of dishes and beverages inspired by Asian cuisines, prepared with a uniquely Disney twist. Among the flavorful selections are scallion pancake tostada, shrimp fried noodles, kung pao beef and tropical coconut drink. "Southern California is such a huge melting pot of all kinds of cultures. Lunar New Year celebrations help us to explore Asian cultures, and enhance our understanding about each other," said Rebekah Negrete, a resident of Long Beach, Southern California. The Chinese New Year celebration, also known as Spring Festival, has been officially inscribed by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Negrete said it would help promote the Chinese culture to the world. "It's wonderful that we can all embrace each other's different heritage." The Lunar New Year festivities at Disney California Adventure Park run from Jan. 17 through Feb. 16. Jaishankar Holds Bilateral Meetings With Counterparts From Japan, Australia In Washington Published By : & PTI Last Updated: January 20, 2025, 12:36 IST An initiative of the Donald Trump administration in its first term, QUAD comprises Australia, India, Japan and the United States. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar with his Counterparts From Japan and Australia (Image: X/@DrSJaishankar) External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Sunday held meetings with his counterparts from Australia and Japan here during which they discussed bilateral issues and those pertaining to QUAD. An initiative of the Donald Trump administration in its first term, QUAD comprises Australia, India, Japan and the United States. related stories The outgoing Joe Biden administration elevated it to the leadership level. A QUAD ministerial is expected to be the first order of business in terms of international meetings of Marco Rubio once he is confirmed by the US Congress and sworn in as the Secretary of State, which is reflective of the importance given to this grouping by the second term of the Trump administration. Delighted to meet FM @SenatorWong, a Quad colleague, in Washington DC today. As always, enjoyed our discussion on the state of the world," Jaishankar posted on X after meeting Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong. Good to meet with FM Takeshi Iwaya of Japan. Reviewed the progress in our bilateral cooperation. Also discussed developments pertaining to Quad," he said in another post after his meeting with the Japanese foreign minister. According to informed sources in the transition team, Rubio and President-elect Trump has made it a priority to take the India-US relationship to the next level. Rubio is keen to have his first bilateral with Jaishankar once he is confirmed as Secretary of State, the sources said. The meeting might happen within a few hours of Rubio arriving at the Foggy Bottom headquarters of the State Department. Rubios Senate confirmation is expected on Monday evening, and he is likely to be sworn in as the top American diplomat soon. All three QUAD foreign ministers are here to attend the inauguration of Trump as the 47th president of the US on Monday. top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all Earlier, Vice President-elect JD Vance welcomed Chinese Vice President Han Zheng to the US for the inauguration. The two leaders discussed a range of topics including fentanyl, balancing trade, and regional stability, a media release said. Location : Washington D.C., United States of America (USA) First Published: January 20, 2025, 12:36 IST Jeff Bezos' Fiancee Lauren Sanchez Trolled For Wearing 'Inappropriate Lace Bra' At Trump Inauguration Curated By : News18.com Last Updated: January 21, 2025, 00:10 IST Social media users slammed Lauren Sanchez as being 'incredibly inappropriate dressed for a state occasion'. Jeff Bezos fiancee Lauren Sanchez faces backlash for her revealing outfit at Trump inauguration. Lauren Sanchez, the fiancee of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, raised eyebrows in a white blazer and lace bralette at President-elect Donald Trumps inauguration on Monday. Sanchez, a former journalist, received a rare invitation to Mondays ceremony. Due to the freezing weather, the event was relocated indoors, and the limited space in the Capitol rotunda meant that even members of Trumps incoming administration were unable to bring their spouses. Several governors, including Ron DeSantis of Florida and Brian Kemp of Georgia were directed to an overflow room to view the ceremony. related stories Sanchez appeared with Bezos inside the Capitol Rotunda Monday morning ahead of the official swearing-in ceremony. Standing alongside other tech executives like Metas Mark Zuckerberg, Googles Sundar Pichai and Teslas Elon Musk, Sanchez was spotted wearing a laced bustier underneath a tailored single-breasted white blazer with cross-over lapels from Alexander McQueen. Social media users slammed Sanchez as being incredibly inappropriate dressed for a state occasion" and joked that she had been dressed by Victorias Secret for the inauguration." Jeff Bezos future wife Lauren Sanchez is incredibly inappropriately dressed for a state occasion. Someone should have told her that having her white lace bra out on display is not acceptable," wrote X user Brittany Gadoury. Lauren Sanchez wears lingerie top inside the Capitol Rotunda at the Inauguration. Is this appropriate? pic.twitter.com/OKWmpl5Qe9 Oli London (@OliLondonTV) January 20, 2025 Jeff Bezos future wife Lauren Sanchez is incredibly inappropriately dressed for a state occasion. Someone should have told her that having her white lace bra out on display is not acceptable. pic.twitter.com/MvwyvuI6R3 Brittany Gadoury (@brittanygadoury) January 20, 2025 Lauren Sanchez is wearing a corset bra under her jacket. Wild outfit for the Trump inauguration," said James Dean. Other X users also deemed the outfit as out of place" for a significant occasion like the swearing-in ceremony of a US president. Lauren Sanchezs outfit for the inauguration of the President of the United States is downright appalling. A white suit paired with a lingerie overload lace bodysuit is not only inappropriate but outright disrespectful for such a monumental and historically significant event," read a comment on X. top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all Seems @JeffBezos girlfriend, Lauren Sanchezs, shirt was delayed by @amazon delivery. So, she just went with a jacket and bra. Classy. #Inauguration2025 pic.twitter.com/T3YEslnHyV Woody Wachmann (@WoodysWorldTV) January 20, 2025 Bezos, who is currently ranked the second richest man in the world behind Elon Musk also in attendance donated $1 million to Trumps inauguration fund. Amazon is also streaming the ceremony on Prime Video. Location : Washington D.C., United States of America (USA) First Published: January 21, 2025, 00:06 IST Panama Canal Is And Will Remain Panamanian: Panama President Fires Back At Donald Trump Curated By : AFP Last Updated: January 21, 2025, 01:18 IST US President Donald Trump said the waterway that connects the Pacific and Atlantic oceans is American and will be taken back. A worker talks on a walkie talkie as a cargo ship navigates through Cocoli locks during a test of the new set of locks of the Panama Canal expansion project on the Pacific side in Cocoli, on the outskirts of Panama City, Panama. (IMAGE: Reuters) Panama on Monday rejected President Donald Trumps pledge that the United States would be taking back" the Panama Canal, saying the key interoceanic waterway would remain under its control. I must comprehensively reject the words of President Donald Trump," President Jose Raul Mulino said in a statement published on social media. related stories The canal is and will remain Panamas," he added, dismissing Trumps claim that China is operating the canal. There is no presence of any nation in the world that interferes," Mulino said. top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all The canal was built by the United States and opened in 1914. It was handed to Panama on December 31, 1999, under treaties signed some two decades earlier by then-US president Jimmy Carter and Panamanian nationalist leader Omar Torrijos. Location : Panama City, Panama First Published: January 21, 2025, 01:18 IST Taliban's Deputy Leader Urges Afghan Govt To Lift Education Ban On Girls Published By : Reuters Last Updated: January 20, 2025, 19:45 IST The Taliban have earned global criticism - even from Islamic scholars - for its harsh restrictions on women, including barring girls from attending schools after sixth grade. The Taliban government has imposed a series of harsh restrictions on women. (Reuters) The Talibans acting deputy foreign minister called on his senior leadership to open schools for Afghan girls, among the strongest public rebukes of a policy that has contributed to the international isolation of its rulers. Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanekzai, who previously led a team of negotiators at the Talibans political office in Doha before US forces withdrew from Afghanistan in 2021, said in a speech at the weekend that restrictions on girls and womens education was not in line with Islamic Sharia law. related stories We request the leaders of the Islamic Emirate to open the doors of education," he said, according to local broadcaster Tolo, referring to the Talibans name for its administration. In the time of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him), the doors of knowledge were open to both men and women," he said. Today, out of a population of forty million, we are committing injustice against twenty million people," he added, referring to the female population of Afghanistan. The comments were among the strongest public criticism in recent years by a Taliban official of the school closures, which Taliban sources and diplomats have previously told Reuters were put in place by the supreme spiritual leader Haibatullah Akhundzada despite some internal disagreement. The Taliban have said they respect womens rights in accordance with their interpretation of Islamic law and Afghan culture. They made a sharp u-turn on promises to open high schools for girls in 2022, and have since said they were working on a plan for the schools to re-open but have not given any timeline. They closed universities to female students at the end of 2022. top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all The policies have been widely criticised internationally, including by Islamic scholars, and Western diplomats have said any path towards formal recognition of the Taliban is blocked until there is a change on their policies towards women. A Taliban administration spokesman in the southern city of Kandahar where Haibatullah is based did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Stanekzais remarks. Location : Kabul, Afghanistan First Published: January 20, 2025, 19:45 IST 'It Was My Honour': Vivek Ramaswamy Leaves DOGE After Trump Takes Charge, To Run For Ohio Governor Curated By : News18.com Last Updated: January 21, 2025, 08:33 IST Donald Trump had named Vivek Ramaswamy to co-lead the government agency efficiency booster along with Elon Musk. House Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik (R-NY), President-elect Trump's nominee to be US ambassador to the United Nations, Vivek Ramaswamy, and Trump's Secretary of Homeland Security nominee Kristi Noem applaud on the day of US President Donald Trump's Presidential Inauguration at the Rotunda of the US Capitol in Washington, US. (IMAGE: REUTERS) Biotech entrepreneur and former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy will leave the Department of Government Efficiency (Doge) to run for governor in Ohio, which is his home state. Trump appointed Ramaswamy to co-lead the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) alongside Tesla CEO Elon Musk. related stories Taking to X, Ramaswamy said, It was my honor to help support the creation of DOGE. Im confident that Elon & team will succeed in streamlining government." Ill have more to say very soon about my future plans in Ohio. Most importantly, were all-in to help President Trump make America great again!" he added. top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all It was my honor to help support the creation of DOGE. Im confident that Elon & team will succeed in streamlining government. Ill have more to say very soon about my future plans in Ohio. Most importantly, were all-in to help President Trump make America great again! https://t.co/f1YFZm8X13 Vivek Ramaswamy (@VivekGRamaswamy) January 20, 2025 But Musks team was growing frustrated" with Ramaswamys lack of participation in DOGE. The broadcaster said there was tension between DOGE staff and Ramaswamy. Location : Washington D.C., United States of America (USA) First Published: January 21, 2025, 02:39 IST Welcome Home: Joe Biden, Jill Host Donald Trump, Melania At White House | Watch Curated By : News18.com Last Updated: January 20, 2025, 21:20 IST US President Joe Biden welcomed Donald Trump to the White House before Trump's inauguration. Biden and Trump, along with their wives, exchanged brief remarks and rode together to the Capitol. US President Joe Biden, Senator Amy Klobuchar, Democrat from Minnesota, and President-elect Donald Trump depart the White House for the US Capitol in Washington, DC. (IMAGE: AFP) US President Joe Biden welcomed his successor Donald Trump to the White House for a courtesy visit on Monday, ahead of the latters inauguration. Accompanied by First Lady Jill Biden, the outgoing president welcomed Trump and his wife Melania, exchanging brief remarks before they walked inside the building. related stories JUST IN: Pres. Biden and first lady Jill Biden greeted President-elect Donald Trump and Melania Trump back to the White House. "Welcome home," Pres. Biden was heard saying. Follow live updates: https://t.co/aNb2zQSu1b #InaugurationDay pic.twitter.com/WzYajE0z0r ABC News (@ABC) January 20, 2025 Welcome home," Biden said to Trump as he and First Lady Jill Biden greeted their successors at the front door to the presidential home. Trump and outgoing President Joe Biden traveled by motorcade together to the US Capitol, where the inauguration was being held indoors due to bitter cold. top videos View all Swipe Left For Next Video View all Earlier, they and their spouses met for a traditional tea at the White House. When Biden was asked, before the tea, how hes feeling, he said: Good, its a beautiful day". Location : Washington D.C., United States of America (USA) First Published: January 20, 2025, 21:20 IST I have been against a TikTok ban for a long time, because it goes against freedom of speech. That said, the current situation where TikTok is allowed to operate in America, but ???? is not allowed to operate in China is unbalanced. Something needs to change. https://t.co/YVu2hkZEVZ Breastfeeding women in Alabama will be excused from jury duty, the state's highest court ordered unanimously on Friday, in response to public outcry from a mother who said that she was threatened with child protective services for bringing her nursing infant into court. The Alabama Supreme Court issued an administrative order that requires Alabama judges to have written procedures excusing breastfeeding mothers from jury duty. Previously, state code did not specifically make exemptions for nursing mothers, the AP reports. Twenty-two states in the US have bills that make specific exemptions for nursing mothers, according to a 2021 report by the National Conference of State Legislators. A similar bill was introduced in the Alabama legislature in 2022, but it was killed before it reached a vote. The order came in response to outcry after Kandace Brown complained on Facebook that a Jefferson County circuit court judge threatened to call the Department of Human Resourceswhich includes child protective servicesunless Brown arranged for someone else to pick up her 3-month-old from the courthouse. Brown said two other mothers who brought their children were told the same. Brown also said that she submitted forms to get excused from jury duty before she was summoned to court, but was denied. "If I'm still breastfeeding, I'm going to have to (bring the baby). I don't have a choice. Like she would literally starve for the day or the week if I was chosen," Brown wrote in the post. Brown wrote that when she was finally dismissed, she was told that she would be summoned again the next day and that she would have to leave her infant at home. "No ma'am I cannot pump and get her to take a bottle. How can you tell me how to feed my child?!" Brown wrote. Several mothers came forward with similar stories after Brown published her story, which had more than 1,000 likes on Facebook on Saturday. (More Alabama stories.) On Lake Naivasha, Kenya, fishermen face growing challenges due to the invasive water hyacinth. After one group says they spent over 18 hours entangled by the weed, they've lamented its impact on their trade. Previously abundant catches have dwindled dramatically, with daily yields dropping from 90 kilograms to just 10 to 15 kilograms, as reported by local fishermen like Simon Macharia. This disruption is causing substantial economic losses, with significant declines in fishing, tourism, and transportation sectors across the region. Originating from South America, the water hyacinth was introduced to Kenya in the 1980s and thrives in polluted waters. Its rapid spread over Lake Naivasha creates dense mats that block sunlight and hinder water flow, endangering aquatic life. Despite attempts to control it by mechanical removal or biological means, the plant's persistence remains formidable. Environmental scientist Gordon Ocholla explains that chemical solutions could harm other aquatic organisms, complicating eradication efforts. In response, innovative solutions have emerged, such as the initiative by Kenyan start-up HyaPak. Founded by Joseph Nguthiru, this venture converts water hyacinth into biodegradable packaging. Partnering with local fishermen, HyaPak processes around 150 kilograms of the plant weekly, creating 4,500 biodegradable packages for agricultural use. While this approach shows promise, scaling it to effectively combat the invasive plant's prevalence poses significant challenges. Experts caution that without large-scale solutions, the economic and ecological impacts of water hyacinth in Kenyan lakes will continue. (This story was generated by Newser's AI chatbot. Source: the AP) Oregon man Negasi Zuberi has received a life sentence in federal prison following his conviction for kidnapping and sexually assaulting two women in separate attacks. Zuberi, 31, was sentenced in Medford on Friday after being found guilty in October of charges including kidnapping, engaging in criminal sexual activity, illegal possession of a firearm, and an attempted jailbreak. At the sentencing hearing, one victim stated, "This is not a man who deserves to be around others." In a series of horrifying crimes, Zuberi posed as an undercover officer in July 2023 to abduct a woman for prostitution in Seattle. He confined her in a cinder block cell within his Klamath Falls garage, where she managed to escape by breaking down the door. Zuberi was eventually captured in Reno, Nevada. Authorities linked him to another incident in May 2023, where he was charged with kidnapping a woman outside a bar in Klamath Falls and subjecting her to sexual abuse. Despite evidence presented against him, during a lengthy 11-day trial, Zuberi maintained his innocence and pleaded not guilty. He attempted to testify on the trial's final day, but this request was denied since he had previously waived that right. Assistant United States Attorney Jeffrey Sweet condemned Zuberi, labeling him as a "serial predator" who pursued women with malicious intent. (This story was generated by Newser's AI chatbot. Source: the AP) Opera tenor Christopher Macchio will perform the national anthem at President-elect Trump's Monday inauguration, although he will face a smaller audience than anticipated. Initially expecting a crowd of over 250,000, the ceremony has been moved indoors to the Capitol Rotunda due to plummeting temperatures, accommodating only 600 attendees. Despite the adjustment, Macchio expressed optimism, saying, "from a musical and vocal perspective, it's actually a good thing." Macchio's connection to Trump began nine years ago when he performed at a New Year's Eve event and later at Trump's 70th birthday. His continued performances at various Trump events, including the White House memorial for Trump's brother and the 2020 Republican National Convention, solidified their friendship. Asked to perform at the inauguration shortly after a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, Macchio was informed he was the "first and only choice" for the anthem. Macchio hopes Americans appreciate the music regardless of their political affiliation. He stated, "I hope that they'll give me that kind of opportunity to just listen and just really connect with the music." Macchio aims to advocate for classical music education and says he's discussing whether there's a way to work with the administration on that. Lady Gaga performed the anthem at Joe Biden's inauguration. (This story was generated by Newser's AI chatbot. Source: the AP) Over the weekend, violence in northeastern Colombia, following the suspension of peace talks with the National Liberation Army (ELN), resulted in over 80 deaths and left another 20 injured. Thousands have been displaced, forced to flee into the mountains or seek refuge in government shelters, as the Colombian army works to evacuate residents. Community leader Carmelo Guerrero was among those killed, according to a report from a government ombudsman agency. The attacks occurred in the Catatumbo region near the Venezuelan border, with at least three peace talk participants reportedly kidnapped. Amidst this crisis, Defense Minister Ivan Velasquez emphasized the need to prioritize saving lives and ensuring community security. Meanwhile, officials prepared emergency supplies for roughly 5,000 affected individuals. Governor of North Santander, William Villamizar, highlighted the dire situation, stating, "Catatumbo needs help." The escalation comes after Colombia ended peace talks with the ELN, sparking urgent appeals for the insurgents to cease hostilities and allow humanitarian aid into the region. The ELN, involved in territorial clashes with former members of guerrilla group FARC over control of coca-rich lands, justified its aggressive actions as a response to ongoing provocations. As displacement continues, local official Jose Trinidad expressed fear of a worsening humanitarian crisis and implored armed groups to pursue a peaceful resolution to spare civilians from further suffering. (This story was generated by Newser's AI chatbot. Source: the AP) Ahead of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Oxfam International has reported a stark increase in billionaires' wealth, which surged three times faster in 2024 than the previous year. Notably, Oxfam projects five trillionaires will emerge over the next decade, a significant leap from its earlier forecast of one. The organization's report, titled "Takers Not Makers," was released as approximately 3,000 influential figures gather in the Swiss Alps. It presents a grim picture of inequality, pointing out that global poverty levels have stagnated since 1990. Oxfam advocates for governments to impose higher taxes on the ultra-wealthy and to dismantle what it calls the "new aristocracy." This aligns with outgoing President Joe Biden's recent call for billionaires to "pay their fair share." Highlighting ongoing global issues, Oxfam noted the striking disparity in earnings, with the world's 10 wealthiest individuals gaining an additional $100 million daily on average. The group also criticized the economic system, suggesting that billionaires have substantial sway over economic and social policies that further enrich them. This conversation takes place amidst the backdrop of the annual Davos meeting, which will cover issues such as economic inequalities, AI advancements, and geopolitical tensions. Donald Trump, starting his second presidential term, will participate by video on Thursday, with discussion topics including conflicts in Ukraine and Sudan, and a recent cease-fire between Hamas and Israel. (This story was generated by Newser's AI chatbot. Source: the AP) Descendants of victims of the infamous "Jack the Ripper," the serial killer who terrorized London's East End and is tied to about a dozen murders in the late 1880s and early 1890s, are demanding a new inquiry be opened after DNA evidence has pointed to a not-so-new suspect. Per the UK Times , the revival of interest in the case started in 2007, when researcher Russell Edwards got his hands on a blood-spattered shawl said to belong to Catherine Eddowes, Jack the Ripper's fourth victim, who was killed in September 1888. CBS News reports that Edwards later had seven tiny DNA segments extracted from the blood on the shawl, and that DNA was found to match with Karen Miller, a direct descendant of Eddowes, confirming that the blood on the shawl was indeed that of Eddowes. Meanwhile, DNA from semen stains on the shawl synced up with a relative of Aaron Kosminski, a barber who'd emigrated to England from Poland sometime in the 1880s. Kosminski, who didn't live far from the murder scenes, had actually been named as a suspect in the original investigation by London police, but he was never arrested and charges were never brought. Instead, Kosminski was placed in an asylum in 1891 after he threatened his sister with a knife; he was kept in similar custody until he died in 1919 of gangrene. Now Miller, 53, and descendants of four other Jack the Ripper victims want the attorney general to approve a new inquest, even though just two years ago he rejected such a request based on a lack of evidence. "The name Jack the Ripper has become sensationalized," Miller says, per the Times. "It has gone down in history as this famous character." But "what about the real name of the person who did this? Having the real person legally named in a court ... would be a form of justice for the victims." (More Jack the Ripper stories.) A Texas woman has been awarded nearly $3 million from a barbecue restaurant chain after she says she was scalded by too-hot barbecue sauce in a takeout order. Per the negligence suit filed by 19-year-old Genesis Monita, she and her sister visited a Bill Miller Bar-B-Q in San Antonio on May 19, 2023, and had pulled into a parking space after going through the drive-thru to chow down on their breakfast tacos, reports KENS . "When Ms. Monita took the container of [barbecue] sauce it was so hot that it caused her to drop the container and spill the sauce on her right thigh, causing a second-degree burn," the complaint alleged. The suit accuses the eatery of serving "dangerously hot" barbecue sauceMonita's legal team says Bill Miller Bar-B-Q has a safety policy of cooking the sauce to no more than 165 degrees Fahrenheit, but in this case had served it at nearly 190 degrees. The complaint also notes that the sauce was served in a plastic cup instead of in a Styrofoam container, and that Monita wasn't warned on just how hot the sauce was. Per KABB, Monita and her mother both took the stand during the trial on Thursday to describe how the incident had affected her, causing her to miss work and school from her "severe injuries." The two women noted that Monita also suffered from depression and isolation as a result of the accident. Attorneys for the restaurant chain said they offered to pay for her medical clinic bill, wages from lost work, and car cleanup, but that Monita refused to settle for that. story continues below The restaurant's lawyers also argued that Monita was still employed by the same employer and only went to the medical clinic one time for treatment. On Friday, a jury awarded her $1.8 million in punitive damages, as well as $900,000 in compensatory damages, per KENS. It's not clear yet if Bill Miller Bar-B-Q will appeal. Chron.com notes this case is reminiscent of one filed more than three decades ago in which a New Mexico woman sued McDonald's after she says she was burned by too-hot coffee from its drive-thru. She settled with the chain for an undisclosed amount. (More lawsuit stories.) China executed two men on Monday for committing murderous attacks, amplifying fears over "revenge on society crimes." Fan Weiqu, 62, drove a car into a crowd in Zhuhai last November, killing at least 35. Meanwhile, 21-year-old Xu Jiajin fatally stabbed eight people, injuring 17 others, at a vocational school in Wuxi. State media revealed the men were executed following court approvals. Fan's attack was reportedly motivated by dissatisfaction with his divorce settlement, making it China's deadliest assault in more than a decade. Xu was discontented with his failed exam results and low internship pay. State broadcaster CCTV confirmed their executions, part of a wider call for preventative measures against such crimes by President Xi Jinping. The two men had received death sentences from the intermediate people's courts in Zhuhai and Wuxi last December, later ratified by the Supreme People's Court. The executions highlight the severity with which China penalizes mass attacks, the true extent of which remains shrouded in government secrecy. story continues below Traditionally, China is believed to execute more individuals annually than all other countries combined, though official figures are not disclosed. While gunshot has been the conventional method, the use of lethal injections is increasingly prevalent. The handling of these cases underscores the state's firm stance on maintaining social order through stringent legal recourse. (This story was generated by Newser's AI chatbot. Source: the AP) Axel Rudakubana on Monday pleaded guilty to murdering three young girls and injuring 10 others during a stabbing attack at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in Southport, England, on July 29. The incident unfolded on the first day of summer vacation, and the 18-year-old's guilty plea came at the start of his trial at Liverpool Crown Court. He also pleaded guilty to charges related to the possession of the poison ricin and having an al-Qaeda manual. The attack sparked a week-long wave of unrest across England and Northern Ireland, fueled by misinformation that falsely identified Rudakubana as an asylum-seeker; he was born in Wales to Rwandan immigrants. Far-right groups attacked mosques and migrant accommodations, and more than 1,200 individuals were arrested, with hundreds sentenced to up to nine years in prison. This case has not been officially labeled as terrorism as the motive remains unknown. Alice Dasilva Aguiar, Elsie Dot Stancombe, and Bebe King were killed in the attack, which left eight other girls, their teacher, and a bystander who tried to intervene injured. The trial is expected to last four weeks. (This story was generated by Newser's AI chatbot. Source: the AP) "The golden age of America begins right now," President Trump said Monday at the start of his first speech as the nation's 47th president. In his roughly 30-minute address after being sworn into office, Trump repeated a similar theme over and over: "From this day on, America's decline is over." A sampling of lines, via the Hill, CNN, the New York Times, and the AP: "My life was saved for a reason," Trump said, referencing the July assassination attempt against him. "I was saved by God to make America great again." The US, he said, is a nation willing to spend "in the defense of foreign borders but refuses to defend American borders." Trump said he would immediately declare a national emergency at the southern border, send troops there, and send back "millions and millions" of undocumented migrants. He said the US will recognize only two genders, "male and female." He also promised to "forge a society that is colorblind and merit based." "We will drill, baby, drill." Hunter Biden isn't the only member of his family with a presidential pardon. In his last minutes in office, Joe Biden pardoned his three younger siblings and two of their spouses. He issued blanket pardons for his brother James and James' wife, Sara; his sister Valerie and her husband, John Owens; and his brother Francis, the AP reports. None of them had been charged with any crimes. "My family has been subjected to unrelenting attacks and threats, motivated solely by a desire to hurt methe worst kind of partisan politics," Biden said. "Unfortunately, I have no reason to believe these attacks will end." It was his last statement as president, the New York Times reports. "The issuance of these pardons should not be mistaken as an acknowledgment that they engaged in any wrongdoing, nor should acceptance be misconstrued as an admission of guilt for any offense," Biden said. The White House announced the pardons with less than 20 minutes remaining in Biden's presidency, when he had already entered the Capitol Rotunda for the swearing-in of President Trump, the Times reports. In another last-minute action, Biden commuted the life sentence of Indigenous activist Leonard Peltier, convicted in the 1975 murders of two FBI agents, to home confinement, the Wall Street Journal reports. Biden also pardoned two Democratic politicians: Former Kentucky state Rep. Gerald Lundergan and former Columbia, South Carolina city council member Ernest William Cromartie. Lundergan was convicted of making illegal contributions to his daughter's unsuccessful US Senate campaign and Cromartie was convicted of tax evasion, the AP reports. Earlier Monday. Biden pardoned Anthony Fauci, among others. (More President Biden stories.) Italian journalist Cecilia Sala has expressed relief following her release from 21 days of detention in Iran, attributing her swift return partly to a connection with Elon Musk. In a recent interview, Sala discussed the complex diplomatic negotiations that involved Italy, Iran, and the United States, which led to the swap of Sala for Iranian engineer Mohammad Abedini. The negotiations were described by Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni as involving "diplomatic triangulation." Sala, who reported for Chora Media and Il Foglio, was detained in Tehran shortly after Abedini's arrest in Italy on a US warrant, linking their fates. Her boyfriend, Daniele Ranieri, played a crucial role by reaching out to Musk's Italy representative upon learning of Musk's meeting with Iran's UN ambassador. Sala emphasized the importance of these connections, noting, "Elon Musk becomes a fundamental person." Following her release, Musk clarified his involvement as minimal, stating he recommended support from the US side. During her detention, Sala faced harsh conditions, including solitary confinement and long interrogations while hooded. She spoke of psychological stress due to sensory deprivation and lack of news from the outside world. Sala admitted fears that geopolitical tensions could have prolonged her captivity, noting concerns over former President Trump's possible influence. Now free, she continues to grapple with the psychological aftermath. (This story was generated by Newser's AI chatbot. Source: the AP) TDT | Manama Email: mail@newsofbahrain.com Private-sector maternity leave may extend to 70 days, with an extra 15 unpaid days, under a proposed amendment to Bahrains Labour Law. MP Hanan Fardan has put forward the plan, which aims to improve support for working mothers and bring Bahrain closer to practices in nearby countries. The amendment would revise paragraph A of Article 32 of the Labour Law in the Private Sector, issued under Law No. 36 of 2012. The proposed text reads: A female worker is entitled to 70 days of paid maternity leave, covering the period before and after childbirth, provided she submits a medical certificate from a recognised government health centre or an employer-approved clinic specifying the expected delivery date. Additionally, the female worker may take an unpaid leave of 15 days related to childbirth, in addition to the aforementioned leave. Guidance The proposal looks to other countries for guidance. In Saudi Arabia, women are entitled to 10 weeks of fully paid maternity leave under the Labour Law, with up to four weeks allowed before the expected delivery date. Meanwhile, in Egypt, women receive 90 days of fully paid leave, spanning pre- and post-delivery periods. The explanatory note for the proposal points to constitutional principles that safeguard equality for women while balancing their work and family responsibilities. Clause B of Article 5 of the Constitution affirms equal opportunities for women in political, social, cultural, and economic life, provided these align with Islamic values. Additionally, Clause A of Article 92 empowers members of Parliament to propose legal changes. MP Fardan explained: The legislative authority has a responsibility to revisit and adjust laws when circumstances demand, particularly those that touch on key social structures. This proposal seeks to provide a stronger framework for supporting working women and their families. The proposed change is designed to enhance conditions for working mothers and ensure Bahrains labour policies remain competitive. It also reflects a broader effort to update workplace regulations to meet the needs of todays MP Hanan Fardan workforce. TDT | Manama Email: mail@newsofbahrain.com Poet Ali Abdullah Khalifa has been awarded the prestigious COLAPESCE Award for Creative Excellence in Global Cultural Achievement for the year 2024 by the Center for Folk Heritage Studies at the University of Messina, one of the leading universities in southern Italy. The award recognizes Khalifas outstanding research and contributions over more than fifty years in preserving his countrys folk heritage and connecting it to the intangible cultural heritage of the world. His early work, such as the guidebook he created for Danish Professor Paul Olson in 1963 and Swiss Professor Simon Gergi in 1966, marked the beginning of his journey. His significant fieldwork, which he conducted and encouraged in various regions of the Arabian Gulf, including the Dhofar and Suhar regions in Oman and the Wadi Al-Dawasir area in Saudi Arabia in 1978, also contributed to this recognition. Khalifa further supported the field through his editorial work on the Iraqi journal Folk Heritage and the founding of the Gulf States Folk Heritage Center in Qatar in 1981, funded by seven countries. The award also acknowledges Khalifa's role in organizing four major international scientific conferences in Doha in 1983, which brought together top global academic experts to develop fieldwork collection plans and train locals in collection, documentation, and preservation techniques. These efforts led to the formation of numerous research teams that have worked since 1983 to gather the oral heritage of the Gulf and the Arabian Peninsula, as well as the establishment of the peer-reviewed scientific journal Folk Lore in Qatar in 1985. Khalifa also founded the Popular Culture Archive for Studies, Research, and Publication in Bahrain in 2008, with support from His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa. The archive served as the foundation for Folk Culture, an internationally recognized journal that published peer-reviewed research in six languages for 17 years, distributed in 167 countries, and accessed by thousands through its website (www.folkculturebh.org). The journal became a prominent academic resource, adopted by major global universities for faculty promotion. Its widespread recognition is considered one of the achievements of King Hamads reform project. Professor Lelo Alessandro, the president of the award's judging committee, praised Khalifas extraordinary efforts, noting his active participation in major international organizations such as WIPO, ALICSO, and IOV. In 2016, Khalifa was unanimously elected as the first president of the International Organization of Folk Art (IOV) in Bergamo, Italy. He established the organizations first presidential office in Manama, Bahrain, with local Bahraini staff. Additionally, he facilitated the sending of Bahraini students to pursue graduate studies in folklore in the UK, Egypt, and Tunisia. Khalifa also brokered an unprecedented agreement for cooperation between six international organizations, further aligning their goals and activities, which garnered special attention from UNESCO. TORONTO, Jan. 19, 2025 /CNW/ - As elected officials from across Ontario gather at the 2025 Rural Ontario Municipal Association conference, the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) has launched a public campaign in advance of a potential provincial election calling for clear commitments from all provincial parties to enhance quality of life in our communities. AMO has launched a public awareness campaign to ensure voters and all provincial parties understand what provincial support is needed to deliver a high quality of life to all Ontarian (CNW Group/Association of Municipalities of Ontario) AMO has launched a public awareness campaign to ensure voters and all provincial parties understand what provincial support is needed to deliver a high quality of life to all Ontarian (CNW Group/Association of Municipalities of Ontario) AMO has launched a public awareness campaign to ensure voters and all provincial parties understand what provincial support is needed to deliver a high quality of life to all Ontarian (CNW Group/Association of Municipalities of Ontario) AMO's campaign, Vote like your quality of life depends on it, seeks to ensure that voters know what kind of provincial support their municipalities need to deliver the quality of life they expect. It also seeks to ensure that provincial parties know what commitments are needed to appeal to people who live, work and invest in Ontario's communities. The non-partisan campaign focuses on three areas where provincial partnership can improve quality of life and community well-being: curbing reliance on municipal property taxes to fund provincial responsibilities; investing in local infrastructure to build housing; and, tackling homelessness. AMO is using advertisements across various print and digital channels, such as newspapers, online media, and social media, to amplify the urgency of these issues to all provincial leaders, and the public. "Municipalities are the foundation of Ontario's economic prosperity and quality of life," said AMO President Robin Jones. "But the funding arrangements that municipal governments rely on to deliver services and infrastructure are broken. Ontarians should demand that all provincial parties commit to the necessary actions to keep our communities safe, affordable, and prosperous." With strong provincial-municipal partnerships, Ontario can build opportunity and deliver the quality of life its residents deserve. Take action for your community and urge your provincial representatives and candidates to take action. Then, vote like your quality of life depends on it. Learn more at VoteONqualityoflife.ca. About AMO The Association of Municipalities of Ontario aims to make municipal governments stronger and more effective through advocacy, training and events, and business services. Through AMO, Ontario's 444 municipalities work together to achieve shared goals and meet common challenges. For more information: Brian Lambie, AMO Media Contact, 416-729-5425, [email protected], Visit AMO's website SOURCE Association of Municipalities of Ontario LONDON, ON, Jan. 20, 2025 /CNW/ - Defeat Duchenne Canada is proud to celebrate its 30th anniversary, marking three decades of relentless progress in the fight against Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD). On January 30, 2025, this milestone celebration will launch with the announcement of more than $900,000 in new research grants awarded to two world-class scientists advancing critical breakthroughs in DMD treatment and care. John Davidson and his son, Jesse, during the 1995 Walk Across Ontario (CNW Group/Defeat Duchenne Canada) The organization was launched in 1995 when founder John Davidson pushed his son, Jesse, in a wheelchair nearly 3,500 kilometres across Ontario to raise awareness of DMD, the organization has grown into a national leader, supporting research into DMD treatments and advocacy to support Canadians with DMD. Since then, Defeat Duchenne Canada has united families, funded millions of dollars in research worldwide, and advocated for safe, effective, and affordable treatments for all Canadians affected by DMD. "Our 30th anniversary is a moment of reflection and renewal," said Lisa McCoy, CEO of Defeat Duchenne Canada. "We're celebrating the extraordinary progress we've achieved together while reaffirming our commitment to building a world free of Duchenne. These new research grants symbolize the hope, determination, and innovation that drive us forward in our mission." The 2025 research grants will support groundbreaking projects tackling critical topics like Gut Microbiota Functionality and AAV Gene Therapy. These initiatives reflect Defeat Duchenne Canada's enduring mission to fund innovative solutions, enhance quality of life, and ultimately find a cure. With this year's grants, the organization has surpassed $18.6 million in total funding since its inception, supporting transformative research and advancing global knowledge of Duchenne muscular dystrophy with a goal to have committed $20M to research by the end of 2025. Join the Celebration The 30th-anniversary event will take place virtually on January 30, 2025, at 6:30 PM ET, preceding the annual Research Grant Announcement. Highlights include inspiring remarks from founder John Davidson, reflections on three decades of progress, and presentations from this year's grant recipients. This event is open to all, uniting families, supporters, and advocates across Canada in a shared vision for a future free of Duchenne. Register today at defeatduchenne.ca/30years. About Defeat Duchenne Canada Defeat Duchenne Canada is the country's only national charity dedicated to ending Duchenne muscular dystrophy. Our goal is to provide leadership in research, advocacy, and support to ensure every Canadian affected by Duchenne can live a long and active life. Learn more at defeatduchenne.ca SOURCE Defeat Duchenne Canada Media Inquiries: Bobbi Vasher, National Manager of Marketing and Communications, P: 226-268-0513, E: [email protected] Home furnishing retailer also adds playful advertising to showcase commitment to affordability BURLINGTON, ON, Jan. 20, 2025 /CNW/ - While affordability concerns continue to capture the hearts and minds of Canadians, IKEA continues to pass along savings to shoppers with more investment into lowering prices on even more products and rolls out entertaining advertising to promote the commitment. IKEA Canada invests an additional $50M to reduce prices on hundreds more products. Home furnishing retailer also adds playful advertising to showcase commitment to affordability. (CNW Group/IKEA Canada Limited Partnership) IKEA Canada invests an additional $50M to reduce prices on hundreds more products. Home furnishing retailer also adds playful advertising to showcase commitment to affordability. (CNW Group/IKEA Canada Limited Partnership) IKEA Canada invests an additional $50M to reduce prices on hundreds more products. Home furnishing retailer also adds playful advertising to showcase commitment to affordability. (CNW Group/IKEA Canada Limited Partnership) IKEA Canada invested more than $80M last year to lower prices on more than 1,500 products across its range. This year, IKEA Canada continues its commitment to making their range more affordable by investing more than $50M to lower prices on more than 550 products. Clever advertising creative that reinforces the brand's commitment to help Canadians find well-designed, affordable solutions that also help them to enjoy a better everyday life at home, begins to land on broadcast, out-of-home, digital and social media nationally from January to April 2025. In keeping with the brand's playful tone and manner, the new advertising creative uses tropes from high-end lifestyle brand advertising to celebrate the high quality and accessible design of IKEA products. IKEA Canada's new "Actually, it's IKEA" campaign initially mimics aspirational brand ads but ultimately reinforces the retailer's commitment to making great design accessible to the many. "Our products and home furnishing solutions bring joy to people every day and have helped millions to fulfil their dream of a beautiful and affordable home," notes Selwyn Crittendon, CEO and Chief Sustainability Officer at IKEA Canada. "As Canadians continue to be extra cautious about their spending, we remain committed to supporting them with incredible value for money across our range." Products and services to side with the many IKEA Kitchens continue 25% lower than a year ago, while home furnishing accessories and solutions across the IKEA range also see lower prices to start the new year. To support simple updates at home that don't stress the wallet, IKEA Canada has lowered prices on hundreds of products including: IKEA Canada also launched financial services last year aiming to make home furnishings more accessible and convenient for Canadians. With IKEA Financial Services, Canadians can enjoy well-designed, sustainable home furnishing solutions that make their homes work for them, on financial terms that suit their budget. For the many Canadians eager to access simple and straightforward financing solutions through a trusted source, they can now find convenient and transparent financial services in-store and online at IKEA Canada and IKEA.ca/FinancialServices. ABOUT IKEA CANADA Founded in 1943 in Sweden, IKEA is a leading home furnishing retailer, offering a wide range of well-designed, functional home furnishing products at prices so low that as many people as possible can afford them. IKEA Canada is part of Ingka Group which operates 400 IKEA stores in 31 countries, including 16 in Canada. Last year, IKEA Canada welcomed 32.6 million visitors to its stores and 162.6 million visitors to IKEA.ca. IKEA Canada operates business through the IKEA vision - to create a better everyday life for the many people and does so through its local community efforts and sustainability initiatives. For more information on IKEA Canada, please visit IKEA.ca. SOURCE IKEA Canada Limited Partnership For media inquiries: Alicia Carroll, PR Leader, IKEA Canada, [email protected] The nations second largest city is trying to survive a dystopian nightmare, and some Republicans are recommending unique remedies. An Iowa congressman, Zach Nunn, suggests that disaster aid should be withheld from Los Angeles until California atones for bad behavior, and that blue states who have run away with a broken tax policy like New York and New Jersey should be treated the same way until their governors change their tune. Sen. John Barrasso of Wyoming -- the guy who once warned that a Green New Deal would ban cheeseburgers and milkshakes -- said it was unspecified policies of the liberal administration that caused the LA wildfires, and as a result there should be strings attached to any federal aid for California. Others lounging in the green rooms of Fox and Newsmax believed that the catastrophe was mishandled because this not a joke the LA Fire Department is led by a lesbian who attained the rank of Chief because of DEI. It goes on like that, but the bottom line is Donald Trumps soldiers are all-in on the president-elects strategy to withhold disaster relief for LA, unless Republicans get everything we want in the next federal budget. If that sounds like a vile reaction to an American catastrophe one in which dozens died, an area the size of 2.5 Manhattans has been incinerated, and 150,000 people have lost their homes this is your official reminder that the modus operandi at MAGA Central is to use everything as a political poker chip, and handle blue-state disasters with a firehose of lies and demagoguery. This is disgusting, partisan behavior. Trump said he'll hold LA disaster funds hostage until Republicans get everything we want in the federal budget. He's using fire victims as leverage to rush through tax cuts for billionaires. CA fire victims are not DC's political pawns. https://t.co/yrJVeKw68O Katie Porter (@katieporteroc) January 17, 2025 It was only last month that Congress sent $110 billion in disaster relief to six states all but one had a Republican governor to help rebuild the American South from the destruction of hurricanes Helene and Milton. Unless the media missed something, Joe Biden did not tell Ron DeSantis to buzz off because Florida hadnt adopted enough green policies. New Jerseyans know that the GOP has played this hand before: The Republicans held up aid after Superstorm Sandy slammed the Democratic Northeast, a maneuver that Chris Christie blamed largely on Speaker John Boehner, whose one-upmanship he called disgusting. Now Speaker Mike Johnson Trumps House puppet and proud son of Louisiana, a disaster-prone moocher state -- wants to condition wildfire relief on policy concessions. Thats not to say California should not take a very long look at its wildlife mitigation policies of course it should. It would be even better if disaster relief took climate change policies into consideration around the country. But on his bosss orders, Johnson wants to tie relief to a debt ceiling increase a must for Trump and daring the Democrats to blink. This is Trumps America, where tragedy is leverage and Republicans must pass a party purity test. C'mon. We aren't idiots. Republicans never ask for "strings" attached to disaster funding for Republican states. This isn't about helping California. This is about punishing California because it votes for Democrats. https://t.co/0IYXKQs0Bl Chris Murphy (@ChrisMurphyCT) January 12, 2025 As Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) is blunt: Republicans never ask for strings attached to disaster funding for Republican states, he said. This isnt about helping California. This is about punishing California because it votes for Democrats. And it is dangerous territory. It portends the breaking apart of the country, former Rep. Tom Malinowski told us, though Democrats would never respond in kind by conditioning relief to red states. So were left with one party still loyal to the patriotic tradition of putting country first bearing all the responsibility to hold things together in America and the other doing whatever the hell its leader wants, with no accountability except to him. Some elected officials need to be reminded that wildfires dont care how people vote. The 120-mph winds and brick-sized embers crashing through the windows of California homes dont care what party they support. Natural disasters dont consider that California paid $83 billion more to the federal government than it received, or that Louisiana took $34 billion more than it paid to the feds. But conditional relief is gaining momentum through the GOP ranks, because it is now party doctrine to accept Trumps cruelty as the art of a deal. Its deplorable and clearly un-American, because the moral calculus should be clear. It used to be, when there was a concept of morality at the helm of the Republican Party. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. My thoughts and prayers are with the great people of Tennessee during these terrible wildfires. Stay safe! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 29, 2016 Bookmark NJ.com/Opinion. Follow on Twitter @NJ_Opinion and find NJ.com Opinion on Facebook. New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy wont be in D.C. for Donald Trumps inauguration after all. The governor and First Lady Tammy Murphy have canceled plans to travel to Washington for the event Monday because of the winter storm that hit the Garden State on Sunday, his office announced. U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas) suggested on Sunday that tech billionaire Elon Musk helped rig the presidential election in Pennsylvania for President-elect Donald Trump. Trump narrowly won the critical swing state of Pennsylvania over Vice President Kamala Harris last fall, which clinched his return to the White House. During his pre-inauguration rally speech on Sunday, Trump lauded Musk for all his help with the campaign. His praise of Musk raised questions from Crockett, an outspoken progressive in the U.S. House of Representatives. Its pretty amazing, but he did that, and then he journeyed to Pennsylvania, where he spent, like, a month and a half campaigning for me in Pennsylvania. And hes a popular guy, and he was very effective, Trump said at one point. And he knows those computers better than anybody. All those computers, those vote counting computers, and we ended up winning Pennsylvania, like in a landslide so it was pretty good. Its pretty good. So thank you to Elon, he added. Trump: He was very effective. He knows those computers better than anybody. Those vote counting computers. And we ended up winning Pennsylvania like in a landslide. It was pretty good. Thank you to Elon pic.twitter.com/czocksYsBU Acyn (@Acyn) January 19, 2025 Crockett weighed in on Trump thanking Musk in a post on social media platform X. So Trump is rambling on about he and Elon rigging the election?! Am I missing something or is he confessing to yet another damn crime?! she wrote on X. Theres been no widespread claims of voter fraud in the 2024 election. Trump also suggested that he is only the president now because the election was rigged in 2020, a claim that also has no evidence. So Trump is rambling on about he and Elon rigging the election?! Am I missing something or is he confessing to yet another damn crime?! https://t.co/aDdOqjyNWM Jasmine Crockett (@JasmineForUS) January 20, 2025 Musk has emerged as one of Trumps top allies ahead of his inauguration on Monday, serving as one of the president-elects closest advisers. He has also been taken with leading the new Department of Government Efficiency to reduce the size of the federal government and its spending. During Sundays rally, Musk said were looking forward to making a lot of changes. What matters going forward is to actually make significant changes, cement those changes and set the foundation for America to be strong for a century, for centuries, forever, he said. Trump has been promising a flurry of executive action on Day 1, and there are executive orders already prepared for his signature. Those orders will end diversity, equity and inclusion funding, crack down on border crossings and ease regulations on oil and natural gas production. The Republican has promised dozens of actions, though its unclear whether hell make good on his pledge to do them all on his first day. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Outgoing President Joe Bidens latest decision to issue preemptive pardons may infuriate people on both sides of the aisle. During his last hours in office, Biden issued preemptive pardons to Dr. Anthony Fauci, retired Gen. Mark Milley and members of the House committee that investigated the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol. The move comes as President-elect Donald Trump has threatened to go after his political rivals, including those who investigated the Capitol riot. White Township Committee is expected to deliberate more on the consequences of a majority vote in favor of leaving the townships prohibition on cannabis businesses unchanged. Voters sided 1,450 to 1,295 on the non-conditional ballot question in November in favor of denying any cannabis businesses to operate within the township. A 2021 rule already prohibits all cultivation, manufacturing and distribution. A clerk for the township confirmed the township will continue its discussion in January next month as an old order of business. No action will be taken. Elected officials initially approved an ordinance in June 2024 to rollback prohibitions on cannabis businesses. That measure wouldve allowed cultivators, growers and manufacturers to conduct business in certain parts of the township. Retailers, wholesalers and warehouses would not be permitted. After a backlash by residents opposed to the ordinance, officials opted instead to put the issue on the November ballot question. The ordinance presented by the township committee has not yet been carried to a second vote, records show. A presentation by the township in October asked residents to weigh the stakes of the potential revenue against the public health and welfare issues presented by opponents. White Township Committee is scheduled to meet on Feb. 12 inside the municipal building. Glenn Epps can be reached at gepps@lehighvalleylive.com or glenn_epps_on X (formerly known as Twitter.com), Facebook and Threads. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe to lehighvalleylive.com today. 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. Winds picked up and temperatures began to drop as an arctic blast descends upon south Louisiana and it's going to get colder and snow is on the way, according to the National Weather Service. Temperatures were already near freezing at 10:30 p.m. Sunday night and are expected to dip to the high 20s by sunrise Monday, with wind chills in the teens. A hard freeze is likely in cities north of the Interstate 10/12 corridor, the NWS said. The bone-chilling weather will continue through Thursday morning. It's likely temperatures will remain at or below freezing all day Tuesday as snow invades, with Wednesday lows expected to dip into the teens to mid-20s. So the very idea that more than 170 million Americans have voluntarily installed the TikTok app and increasingly use it to absorb news as well as dance videos and other entertainment drives most cyber-savvy senior government officials in the Biden administration crazy. Senator Mark Warner of Virginia, until recently the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, declared TikTok could become the most powerful propaganda tool ever. As one exiting senior official described the problem, why go to work every day to pull suspect Chinese malware out of the nations telecommunications system when a majority of Americans are happily going to the App Store and installing Chinese computer code, of mysterious origin, directly onto their iPhones and Androids? But sorting out the threat and what the government is really worried about has not been easy. Even in classified sessions, members of Congress say, the TikTok threat has only been described in the vaguest of terms. There is no smoking gun, no clear-cut case of the Chinese governments exploiting the app to, say, influence an election or track the movement of key intelligence targets. (There have been some specific cases in which TikTok developers in China could gain access to personal information on Americans.) So the argument about the risk has typically been described in hypothetical terms: The government fears that under Chinese law, TikTok executives could be ordered to let disinformation seep into the app, and thus deep into the cerebral cortexes of several generations of Americans. In its arguments to the court, the government made the case that because TikTok collects so much data on its users their interests, their preferences, sometimes even their geolocation that China could use the data for espionage or blackmail or to advance its geopolitical interests by sowing discord and disinformation during a crisis. The Supreme Court has usually given a fair bit of leeway to the government to assess national security threats. And the governments core argument is that the only way to mitigate the threat is to take the writing of the code for the TikTok app out of the hands of engineers working for ByteDance, the Chinese company that controls the platform and that develops the code in enormous secrecy in laboratories around the world. Instead, it would move to American soil, presumably out of the reach of Chinas ministry of state security. Rosa Garcia, a real estate agent, eagerly greeted a young woman and her family when they showed up on Saturday at 1 p.m. for an open house in Pasadena, Calif. Ms. Garcia, 50, who has been working in real estate for 24 years, has a personal interest in the three-bedroom home listed for $2.175 million. Her nephew bought it last year as an investment, and she lent him money to renovate the kitchen and two-and-a-half bathrooms. When they were making plans to flip the home, they could not predict the catastrophic fires that have engulfed Los Angeles, threatening their property and upending the real estate market. Pasadena neighbors Altadena, a community where at least 16 people were killed and more than 7,000 structures have been destroyed by the Eaton fire. But Pasadena, a picturesque city at the foot of the San Gabriel mountains, escaped the fires largely unscathed. Mr. Miller described, while providing little detail, executive orders to undo actions taken by President Biden to institute diversity, equity and inclusion measures in federal agencies, and to roll back protections for transgender people receiving some government services. Mr. Trump also plans to reinstate an order he issued during his first term to create a new category of federal workers, known as Schedule F, that would lack the same job protections enjoyed by career civil servants, who are supposed to be hired according to merit and cannot be arbitrarily fired. That would allow his administration to shift large numbers of federal workers into a new status over which it could keep a much tighter rein, including the ability to hire and fire them more easily. The order is significant as Mr. Trump and Mr. Miller have a deep hostility toward large portions of the federal bureaucracy, which the president-elect often derisively calls the deep state. Mr. Trump is also planning a string of orders related to energy policy, much of which arise from pledges to encourage offshore drilling and end the electric vehicle tax credit, as well as stop spending on Mr. Bidens climate policies. And on immigration, as The New York Times has reported, Mr. Trump is planning to designate drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations; declare a border emergency to allow him to go around Congress and surge money and potentially military resources to the border; and declare a public health emergency to essentially seal the border as the administration did during the coronavirus pandemic. He also is expected to curtail asylum grants and step up detentions and deportations. Mr. Miller has been leading the executive order process throughout the transition, aiming for as much secrecy as possible and only opening the aperture internally as time went on so that various agency heads could see some of the work. He has been using a team of lawyers to vet them. The sounds of celebration replaced those of explosions in the Gaza Strip on Sunday as a fragile cease-fire came into effect after 470 days of war, allowing some hostages to return home to Israel, Palestinians imprisoned in Israel to be released, and displaced Gazans to search for what was left of their homes. Under the terms of the laboriously reached deal, fighting between the Israeli military and Hamas militants stopped at 11:15 a.m., raising hopes for a more lasting end to a war that has plunged the Middle East into fear and uncertainty. The first hostages three women seized when Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023 were released shortly afterward. Early Monday morning, the Israeli prison service said it had released 90 Palestinian prisoners being held in Israel, where they were met by excited family members. At the same time, stepped-up aid deliveries over 630 trucks in a single day made their way into Gaza. BEIJING, Jan. 18 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping said on Saturday that he is ready to work with Vietnamese leaders to deepen strategic mutual trust, strengthen practical cooperation, and push for new achievements in building a China-Vietnam community with a shared future that carries strategic significance. Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, made the remarks when exchanging congratulations with General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee To Lam and Vietnamese President Luong Cuong over the 75th anniversary of diplomatic ties. Xi said that China and Vietnam, two friendly socialist neighbors, represent a community with a shared future that carries strategic significance. Since the establishment of diplomatic ties 75 years ago, the two sides have fought side by side and supported each other in their struggle for national independence and liberation, Xi said, adding that "So profound is the friendship between Vietnam and China, because we are both comrades and brothers" has become the most vivid portrayal of the relations between the two parties and countries. In advancing socialism, the two sides have learned from each other and forged ahead hand in hand, thereby deepening their comprehensive strategic cooperation, he said, adding that China and Vietnam share the same ideals and pursue a shared future, which is the most striking feature of the relations between the two parties and countries. Recalling his successful visit to Vietnam in 2023, Xi said that the two sides pledged to work for a China-Vietnam community with a shared future that carries strategic significance, raising up the relations between the two parties and countries to a new stage. As changes of the world, of the times and of history are unfolding in unprecedented ways, Xi said, China and Vietnam continuing to follow in good faith the path of socialism has a bearing on the future of the two parties and countries as well as the future of the global socialist cause, and is of great significance to the peace, stability, development and prosperity of the region and the world at large. Xi said that he attaches great importance to the growth of bilateral relations and is willing to work with Vietnamese leaders to take the opportunity of the 75th anniversary of diplomatic ties and the China-Vietnam Year of People-to-People Exchanges, keep in mind the original mission and forge ahead on the new journey toward socialist modernization, so as to deliver more benefits to the two peoples and make important contributions to revitalizing the world socialist cause as well as pushing for human development and progress. For his part, To Lam said that over the past 75 years, the two parties and countries have gone hand in hand and have forged a deep traditional friendship described as "So profound is the friendship between Vietnam and China, because we are both comrades and brothers." He noted that the Vietnamese party, government and people have always taken developing good relations with China as a consistent stand and top priority in Vietnam's foreign policy. Against the backdrop of profound and complex changes in the international and regional situation, with the socialist cause of the two countries entering a critical stage, top leaders of the two parties and countries have agreed to build a Vietnam-China community with a shared future that carries strategic significance, noted To Lam. He expressed his firm belief that under the personal attention and guidance of leaders of the two parties and countries, various departments of the two sides will work closely together to push the building of a Vietnam-China community with a shared future to a new level. Luong Cuong said that experiences over the last 75 years have proved that the consolidation of bilateral traditional friendship is in line with the fundamental aspirations and long-term interests of the two peoples, and will contribute to regional and world peace, stability, cooperation and development. Vietnam is willing to work with China to continuously deepen their comprehensive strategic cooperation and promote the building of a Vietnam-China community with a shared future that carries strategic significance, he said. He expressed the belief that under the strong leadership of the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core and under the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, China will achieve the goals and tasks set forth at the 20th CPC National Congress and build China into a great modern socialist country that is prosperous, strong, democratic, culturally advanced, harmonious and beautiful. On the same day, Chinese Premier Li Qiang exchanged congratulatory messages with Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh. Li said that he is willing to work with Pham Minh Chinh to earnestly implement the important consensus reached by the top leaders of the two parties and countries, and push the development of bilateral relations and bilateral cooperation in various fields to a new level. Pham Minh Chinh pledged Vietnam's readiness to work with China to strengthen supervision and guidance to various departments and localities, so as to speed up the implementation of important cooperation plans and promote the implementation of the consensus on six major goals reached by leaders of the two parties and countries. Back in 2019, when the leaders of CvilleBioHub were outlining the groups strategic plan, they set an objective of doubling the size of the biotechnology industry in the Charlottesville area by 2030. Nikki Hastings, co-founder and executive director of the nonprofit organization dedicated to connecting and enhancing the life sciences community in the city, laughed when she recalled how aspirational she and her colleagues were back then. But, a recent $4.3 million award from the GO Virginia state economic development initiative is turning those dreams into a reality. It feels very real, Hastings said of that 2030 deadline now. The funds will go toward the creation of the Commonwealth BioAccelerator, a first-of-its-kind laboratory accelerator in Central Virginia that will provide the infrastructure, resources and networking opportunities for up-and-coming life sciences companies. Those groups can apply for a one- to two-year program and, after being vetted by a panel of industry experts and CvilleBioHub team, will be able to access a wet lab and equipment. By providing a solution to the need for turnkey labs for our community, said Hastings, companies will instead be able to dedicate their time and energy toward the production of much-needed technological advances in medical devices, treatments and digital health aids. Theyre not focused on the core business and thinking about the core technologies and the things they need to do on that front, Hastings told The Daily Progress. Its a distraction and keeps us from being competitive as a region by not having this kind of space. She also pointed out that the accelerator program will connect the companies with established partners in the industry through Lunch and Learn events, one-on-one meetings with experts, and lawyers to assist with intellectual property rights. We can start attracting new companies to the region as a result of this type of infrastructure, because of all of the great things that are surrounding us. Were just one piece of the puzzle, said Hastings. We can have a greater economic impact and grow in a way that we couldnt without this infrastructure. The lab will be based out of the top floor of a building in the University of Virginias North Fork Discovery Park just north of Charlottesville that boasts offices, research labs, conference rooms, communal spaces and a kitchen. That 6,500 square feet of space was originally intended to be a part of the UVa Biocomplexity Institute, but as the space is not being used by the institute at present, the university pledged to lease it to CvilleBioHub for three years. Already, there is plenty of interest in the lab accelerator, said Hastings. CvilleBioHub is in active discussions with four entities looking to begin work as soon as February. Hastings was recently in San Francisco for the J.P. Morgan annual health care conference, where CvilleBioHub was able to connect with even more companies searching for a home for their new budding idea. CvilleBioHub was founded in 2016 by Hastings, who holds a doctorate in biomedical engineering and also serves as an adjunct professor at the UVa McIntire School of Commerce, and other professionals from multiple local life sciences businesses who saw a need for more connectivity among the various actors in the industry. Another incentive for fledgling companies to participate in the Commonwealth BioAccelerator is its proximity and partnership with both the university and its future Manning Institute of Biotechnology. The planned, four-story, 350,000-square-foot building at UVas Fontaine Research Park just east of the city is expected to attract hundreds of scientists not only from UVa but outside the region and state as well to focus on curing the incurable and becoming the vanguard of gene and cell therapies. It has been touted by UVa and state officials as Virginias answer to North Carolinas well-known Research Triangle, which brings together the biotechnology work of researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, North Carolina State University and Duke University and an international assortment of life sciences companies. Were getting on the national scene with the Manning Institute of Biotechnology. Thats really shifted many of the conversations weve had outside of the state, said Hastings. With the Manning Institute bringing new researchers with new ideas and potentially commercial opportunities to bring new drugs to market and new technologies to market and life sciences, we need a space for those companies to grow those ideas. Paul Manning, CEO of health care research investment firm PBM Capital and a member of UVas governing Board of Visitors, made a historic donation of $100 million to the establishment of the institute in January 2023. The establishment of the Commonwealth BioAccelerator is a pivotal development for the regions biotech industry, Manning recently said in a statement announcing the CvilleBioHub award. This initiative will create a dynamic environment for life sciences companies to thrive, accelerating innovation and commercialization. We are proud to support this transformative project that will drive economic growth and improve lives through cutting-edge research and treatments. The connection with UVa is not the only partnership that made the project, which came with a total cost of $7.5 million, possible. In addition to private philanthropy and $100,000 from the schools entrepreneurship initiative, the city of Charlottesville contributed $75,000 and Albemarle Countys office of economic development gave $300,000. Emily Kilroy, director of economic development for Albemarle County, told The Daily Progress that this was a program the county was proud to support given its impact on expanding and investing in the local startup and biotechnology ecosystem. Biotech activity has been growing and maturing in our region over the past several years, said Kilroy. This wet lab accelerator provides an opportunity for a physical center for the biotechnology and life sciences sector to collaborate and cross-pollinate, while supporting startup companies for future success. The ballerina Maria Tallchief was having dinner with her husband, the choreographer George Balanchine, at the Russian Tea Room in Manhattan when the impresario Sol Hurok approached their table. Dont you think its time to have your wife dance Firebird? Hurok, who owned the Chagall sets and costumes for the ballet, asked Balanchine as he invited himself to a seat. My reaction was pure terror, Tallchief recalled of that dinner in the 1940s in her memoir. So many had danced The Firebird before her. Tamara Karsavina, the Russian ballerina who originated the role in 1910, was so sublime in it that it helped make her, and the ballet, famous. Tallchief wouldnt even be the first in America: The British dancer Alicia Markova had performed it beautifully in 1945. Could I live up? Tallchief asked herself. Balanchine set to work reviving the ballet, and Tallchief rehearsed until his vision was reflected in her every movement. When his Firebird premiered in 1949 at New York City Ballet, there was a collective gasp as Tallchief leaped into the arms of Francisco Moncions Prince Ivan, plunging into a supernatural backbend, the tips of her fingers grazing the floor, her head tilting to catch the light. Tallchief, a Native American ballerina of the Osage Nation, had redefined the role. Her centennial is this year she died in 2013, at 88 and she remains widely regarded as Americas first prima ballerina and one of the most renowned Native American dancers. Her achievements have been celebrated with awards like the National Medal for the Arts (in 1999) and more unusual honors, too: There is a Maria Tallchief quarter, released in 2023, and even a Maria Tallchief Barbie. But her legacy rests on what she brought to the art form in the 1940s, 50s and 60s a series of revelations about what ballet could be and what a ballerina could look like. The end of a presidency tends to bring a rush of last-minute monument making, and Joe Bidens was no different. In his final week in office, he designated nearly 850,000 acres of federal land in California as two new national monuments. Biden, headlines noted, had protected more land than any president in history some 674 million acres. But amid all the fanfare, another piece of news out of the White House passed with little notice: the signing of legislation allowing a monument dedicated to American women to be built on the National Mall. When completed, the Womens Suffrage National Monument will be the first on the Mall honoring women and their history. But it could also very well be the last, given a 2003 law banning new monuments there. The site of the suffrage memorial has yet to be determined. And there is no design yet. But that its backers won a rare exception illustrates the complexities of navigating the intricate politics surrounding the most symbolically freighted patch of civic real estate in America. Hello again, from a TikTok refugee. Nihao. Hello. I think I came to Red Note with a sense of rebellion, that if theres going to be some of our opportunity taken away, then we may as well just go all the way with it. This idea that well just flock back to whatever weve had in the past. Because we have no better options. No, we have options. This is the free market showing you what they want. This just happens to be the one where it seems to be the most people were going to. What happened in the past 24, 48 hours was something I would say phenomenal. And its never happened before. I made a video after I saw whats happened on Xiaohongshu, TikTok refugees just flooding in. Our first reaction was do you have a cat? So cat tax means show my pet. OK, well, I have a dog. I can do that. People are talking to each other. Some of them are actually sharing their farm life in America. And thats really fascinating. People are curious about my artistic style, which is different than traditional Chinese. I posted a video explaining the concept of sweet tea, which everyone was baffled by how much sugar. A lot of people are interested in what it looks like to be a woodworker in the United States. I think theres a lot of common ground that we share. I can see why that would be potentially limiting. For my case, It doesnt feel like that. I think I can talk about woodworking and that should be able to be there. I remember even 20 years ago when we dont have a wall on our internet, people in every country could just actually talk to each other. I just wish that this sweetness and friendliness and this conversation between these two groups of people can just last longer. As climate change, combined with new development, increases the chances that wildfires strike more densely populated parts of the world, concerns over toxic releases are likely to grow. For Los Angeles, the toxic smoke means that the eventual death toll from the fires, as well as longer-term health burdens, is likely to grow. Breathing in lead can damage the brain and nervous system, particularly in children. Levels of lead in the air during the fires briefly but dramatically exceeded the long-term safety levels set by the Environmental Protection Agency. Chlorine can damage the lungs and respiratory tract. Overall, high levels of particle pollution in wildfire smoke have been linked to increased risk of cardiovascular and respiratory illnesses and death. President Trump on Monday signed an executive order to withdraw the United States from the Paris Agreement, the pact among almost all nations to fight climate change. By withdrawing, the United States will join Iran, Libya and Yemen as the only four countries not party to the agreement, under which nations work together to keep global warming below levels that could lead to environmental catastrophe. The move, one of several energy-related announcements in the hours following his inauguration, is yet another about-face in United States participation in global climate negotiations. During his first term Mr. Trump withdrew from the Paris accord, but then President Biden quickly rejoined in 2020 after winning the White House. Scientists, activists and Democratic officials assailed the move as one that would deepen the climate crisis and backfire on American workers. Coupled with Mr. Trumps other energy measures on Monday, withdrawal from the pact signals his administrations determination to double down on fossil-fuel extraction and production, and to move away from clean-energy technologies like electric vehicles and power-generating wind turbines. Mayor Eric Adams of New York City traveled to Washington on Monday for President Donald J. Trumps inauguration, following weeks of speculation over whether the mayor would attend and the motivations behind his overtures toward Mr. Trump. Mr. Adams, a Democrat, had planned to appear at two events in New York City in honor of Martin Luther Kings Birthday. But shortly before 8:30 a.m. Monday, his office announced that Mr. Adams had accepted a last-minute invitation to the inauguration. Fabien Levy, a spokesman for the mayor, posted on social media that Mr. Adams had been invited in the early hours of Monday morning and that he had accepted on behalf of New York City. As the mayor has repeatedly said, America has chosen a new national leader and we must work together to build a safer, stronger and more affordable New York, Mr. Levy said. Over and over the delegates wrangled with the question of how to protect a president from foreign influence and his own worst instincts. Alexander Hamilton, the great champion of a powerful sole executive, made an eloquent case for life tenure. Nothing, he said, better insulated a president from corruption, which reared its head with every election. It fell to the 81-year-old Franklin to point out that some individuals outlived their prime. Ultimately, the convention settled on a presidential term of four years, to be repeated without limit. As to executive powers, Franklin objected to any kind of absolute presidential veto. One man, he reasoned, cannot be believed to possess more wisdom than both branches of the legislature. The questions around the limits of the office so baffled the convention that it settled on how to remove a president before it had defined what one did. Mason and Franklin embraced impeachment. The president did not occupy a law-free zone. The only alternative method by which a president might be removed, Franklin added, was by assassination, which left its victim not only deprived of his life but of the opportunity of vindicating his character. If few could imagine a national executive who was not a monarch, most in that airless Philadelphia room knew what one looked like. He was a six-foot-tall colossus who presided over the convention as he had presided over the Continental Army. George Washington was 55; it was generally assumed that he would serve as president until his death. One South Carolinian later wrote that he believed presidential power would not have expanded as it did had not many of the members cast their eyes towards General Washington as president; and shaped their ideas of the powers to be given to a president by their opinions of his virtue. It might well, he worried, turn out that the matchless patriot had inadvertently set the country on a dangerous course. Franklin agreed. The first man would be a good one, he observed, but nobody knows what sort may come afterwards. (He could not have guessed that the next would be his longtime nemesis John Adams.) By the time Jefferson unloaded on Adams, nearly every literate American had read the Constitution. As the bruising battle for ratification was about to make clear, you could oppose British rule and still oppose the new confederation; Jefferson was far from alone in tripping over the design of the presidency. When he invoked Poland, what he feared was a president who could by law be removed every four years but who never was. He railed against the idea that an American president might serve more than one term. If outvoted by a slim margin, he warned, the president would pretend false votes, foul play, hold possession of the reins of government. Other Virginians shared his concerns. If ever he violates the laws, one of two things will happen: Patrick Henry pointed out. If he be guilty, will not the recollection of his crimes teach him to make one bold push for the American throne? Will not the immense difference between being master of everything and being ignominiously tried and punished powerfully excite him to make this bold push? Support was strong among newspaper-heavy, urban areas and weak among the rural populace, who viewed the Constitution with indifference and suspicion. President Trump delivered a searing Inaugural Address on Monday, taking aim at the Biden administration, which he accused of a horrible betrayal, and promising to make the United States the envy of every nation, proud, prosperous and free. Heres what Times Opinion columnists and contributors thought of his speech. Best Moment Kristen Soltis Anderson I enjoyed the closing: Ambition is the lifeblood of a great nation. The call to adventure and greatness was powerful. Yes, we got American decline, but the theme was not decline. It was this: I return to the presidency confident and optimistic. Josh Barro Trump promised to export American energy all over the world a shrewd move that would grow the economy, lower consumer prices, offer Europe a reliable alternative to Russian gas and leave us less at the mercy of OPEC. Ross Douthat It was a tie between him promising to plant the Stars and Stripes on Mars and to rename Denali Mount McKinley. One of my favorite kampongs includes the area east of the Water Castle and the Pasar Ngasem market, an area infiltrated by some tourist shops but still lovely and various in its architecture as it bumps up against old royal walls and buildings. The other is the kampong near the Masjid Ghedhe Mataram mosque in the old-city area of Kotagede. This 18th-century mosque, the oldest in the city, should be seen for the architectural stylings of its gates and walls, which incorporate Hindu motifs that have long influenced Javanese design. Then walk east and south through a warren of homes. The kampong begins wealthy (try a fancy coffee at the Longkang Kotagede cafe, or find the funkier, banyan-shaded Legian cafe), and then drifts south into an area of trees, animals and shambolic shared spaces, where it evokes a timeless country village. Having seen the temples, sampled the warungs, walked the kampongs, and imagined the Cosmological Axis, you are now a certified Yogya visitor. As one world-traveling local resident, who lived in Sacramento and Chiang Mai, Thailand, among other places, told me, The tourists who do come to Yogya come back. Its Yogyas universe, we just visit it. Follow New York Times Travel on Instagram and sign up for our weekly Travel Dispatch newsletter to get expert tips on traveling smarter and inspiration for your next vacation. Dreaming up a future getaway or just armchair traveling? Check out our 52 Places to Go in 2025. Tall and elegant, she was an engaging, charismatic speaker. She spoke to you, rather than at you, the journalist and novelist Anna Quindlen said in an interview on Monday, a kind of authenticity with a touch of Texas. During her 12-year-term, Ms. Richards orchestrated Planned Parenthoods evolution into a potent political organization and the countrys largest provider of reproductive and womens sexual health care. She grew its base of supporters and volunteers from 2.5 to 11 million. From the time President Trump was first elected in 2016, until early 2018, Planned Parenthood added 700,000 new donors, a record for so short a period. Yet it was during her tenure that the organization became increasingly embattled, as her home state led the charge to defund Planned Parenthood, barring clinics from offering state-funded programs that included contraception, breast and cervical cancer screenings, and H.I.V. prevention. Texas finally stripped the organization of its funding altogether, resulting in the closing of hundreds of clinics. Since 1977, under the Hyde Amendment, Congress has banned the use of federal funds for abortion, except in cases of rape or incest or to save the life of the mother. But as Ms. Richards declared over and over, abortions were a small fraction of the health-care services that Planned Parenthood affiliates provided to women, and reducing any of its funding, she said, would impact those who needed it the most. Then, in 2015, in a sting operation set up by an anti-abortion activist, Planned Parenthood employees in California were videotaped explaining how the organization offered fetal tissue to researchers, though the activists falsely claimed that Planned Parenthood was selling the tissue for profit, which is illegal. The videos ignited a firestorm among conservatives and a contentious congressional hearing to investigate Planned Parenthoods practices. Ms. Richards responded with a video of her own, assailing the false allegations and apologizing for the employees seeming lack of compassion. As soon as an evacuation order was lifted in her neighborhood, Arlynn Page raced back to her charred street in Altadena, Calif., to see what was left of her hillside home. The two houses next door were rubble, but hers was unscathed. Then she went inside. A stinging haze hung in the living room. Her mattresses, rugs and couches reeked like a chemical campfire. Ms. Page, 55, flung open the windows and doors to let in the breezy afternoon air, but she was still choking. I have such a headache, she said through a mask. Theres so much smoke. This was the vexing reality that thousands of displaced people across Los Angeles faced, as they were allowed back home this weekend for the first time since fleeing the firestorms. Their homes had escaped the annihilation that burned 12,000 other structures, but were nonetheless filled with ash and smoke damage. As waves of residents return to their homes in the coming weeks, many more people are likely to encounter similar surprises. Wildfires not only burn down structures, but emit smoke, ash and heat that suburban homes are rarely built to withstand. The pardons were a remarkable coda to Mr. Bidens 50-year political career, underscoring the mistrust and anger that the president feels about Mr. Trump, the man who preceded and will succeed him in office. Mr. Biden had repeatedly warned that Mr. Trump was a threat to democracy in America. But he also said that he believed in the rule of law, and was confident in the stability of the institutions of law enforcement. The pardons like one that he did earlier for his son, Hunter Biden, threatened to challenge that assertion. In his statement, Mr. Biden explained his action. I believe in the rule of law, and I am optimistic that the strength of our legal institutions will ultimately prevail over politics, Mr. Biden wrote. But baseless and politically motivated investigations wreak havoc on the lives, safety and financial security of targeted individuals and their families. Even when individuals have done nothing wrong and will ultimately be exonerated, the mere fact of being investigated or prosecuted can irreparably damage their reputations and finances. Mr. Biden also commuted the life sentence for Leonard Peltier, the Native American activist who was convicted of killing two F.B.I. agents in 1975 on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. Mr. Biden said that his action would allow Mr. Peltier, who is 80 years old, to serve the remainder of his time in home confinement. In his statement, White House officials noted that Tribal nations, Nobel Peace laureates, former law enforcement officials (including the former U.S. attorney whose office oversaw Mr. Peltiers prosecution and appeal), dozens of lawmakers, and human rights organizations strongly support granting Mr. Peltier clemency, citing his advanced age, illnesses, his close ties to and leadership in the Native American community and the substantial length of time he has already spent in prison. Elon Musk ignited speculation and chatter online when he made a hand gesture twice during a speech celebrating President Trump on Monday. Speaking at a celebratory rally at the Capital One Arena in Washington hours after Mr. Trump was sworn in as president, Mr. Musk thanked the crowd for choosing Mr. Trump during a fork in the road of human civilization. Mr. Musk, who leads Tesla, SpaceX and the social media platform X, and who backed Mr. Trump last year during his presidential campaign, added, I just want to say thank you for making it happen thank you. The billionaire then grunted and placed his hand to his heart before extending his arm out above his head with his palm facing down. After he turned around, he repeated the motion to those behind him. Mr. Musk spent time on Sunday at the Washington headquarters of his rocket company, SpaceX, before speaking at Mr. Trumps inauguration on Monday. His government-cutting team has largely spent the past two months at the companys downtown offices, joined by a number of engineers who hail from Silicon Valley and are planning to be dispersed across the federal government, with a goal of placing about two people at each major agency. At least some of these employees carry navy blue mesh baseball caps in all-white capital letters reading DOGE, as Mr. Musks project is informally known. Many aspects related to Mr. Musks efforts have been shrouded in secrecy. It remains unclear whether he is going to become a special government employee for his project to recommend dramatic cuts to federal programs. The Department of Government Efficiency is not an official department. His allies have been considering his options over the last several weeks, with an eye on making sure that he is minimally restricted by ethics laws. The question of Mr. Musks formal status carries legal ramifications because different rules apply when government work is performed by private citizens or by officials. The different legal categories include conflict-of-interest restrictions for government employees that could be significant since Mr. Musks companies have billions of dollars in government contracts, and requirements about when deliberations may be kept confidential or must be performed in public view that could affect the rollout and reaction to his proposed cuts. The Pentagon on Monday removed a portrait of Gen. Mark A. Milley, the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, from a corridor of the building filled with paintings of all of his predecessors. The decision to take down the portrait was an early salvo by the new administration against a military establishment that President Trump has assailed for a variety of perceived offenses. The portrait of the now retired General Milley went up last week in the last days of the Biden administration. Less than two hours after Mr. Trump took the oath of office, Pentagon officials had taken it down. A U.S. official said that the White House ordered the removal. The official declined to speak further. Mr. Trump has called General Milley a woke train wreck. The president has complained in particular about the generals calls to his Chinese counterpart during the waning weeks of Mr. Trumps first term, an act the president, in a post on Truth Social, called so egregious that, in times gone by, the punishment would have been DEATH! When Donald J. Trump takes the oath of office on Monday in a rare indoor inaugural ceremony under the Capitol dome, the grand Rotunda will be packed with dignitaries, lawmakers and supporters of the incoming president. It is the same ornate hall, inspired by the Pantheon in Rome, where presidents and other dignitaries have lain in state and solemn national ceremonies are held. But four years ago, the Rotunda was the backdrop for one of the darkest moments in the countrys history, when it teemed with a rowdier crowd of Trump supporters: the mob that overran the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, in a violent attempt to prevent the certification of Joseph R. Biden Jr.s election. Rioters radicalized by Mr. Trumps lie of a stolen election swarmed through the Rotunda that day and clashed with police. Some mounted the statues of prominent American figures including Presidents Ronald Reagan and Gerald Ford. They traversed the storied chamber as they roamed between the House and Senate and sought to disrupt a joint session of Congress, strewing trash and debris in the usually immaculate center of the building, which often overwhelms visitors with awe as they get their first glimpse of the soaring interior. Mainstream conservative lawmakers and politicians from Europe are planning to attend President-elect Donald J. Trumps inauguration. But the European contingent is also expected to include leaders of some parties that are on the right-wing fringes in their own countries or have only recently begun to gain greater acceptance at home. Many of the European politicians who have flocked to Washington share Mr. Trumps anti-immigrant fervor. Headlining the European attendees is Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni of Italy, according to her official agenda. Ms. Meloni, a conservative, was one of the first leaders to visit Mr. Trump at Mar-a-Lago after his election, on Jan. 4. Ms. Meloni, who is trying to stop the flows of migrants to her country, is considered one of Europes strongest leaders, and her supporters hope that she will emerge as a privileged ally of Mr. Trump in Europe. Donald J. Trump has said he will quickly release records relating to the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, his brother Robert F. Kennedy and the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. as part of measures to restore confidence in government. The assassinations, particularly that of the president, who was shot dead in Dallas in November 1963, have been the subject of decades of controversy as well as conspiracy theories. Mr. King was shot and killed in Memphis in April 1968, while Robert F. Kennedy was shot and killed in California that June, shortly after winning Californias Democratic primary. The three deaths shook America in different ways, and historians view each as a turning point in the tumultuous decade. As a first step toward restoring transparency and accountability to government, we will also reverse the over-classification of government documents, Mr. Trump said at a rally on Sunday ahead of his inauguration, adding that documents related to other topics of great public interest would also be declassified. Its all going to be released, Uncle Sam, he said. Mr. Trumps statement will likely generate particular interest among his supporters, given the fascination he has expressed with certain conspiracies and the fact that he survived an assassination attempt in July when he was shot and wounded while running for president. Sheriff Tom Schmerber, an elected Democrat in Maverick County, Texas, was watching on a television in his office near the U.S.-Mexico border on Monday as President Trump delivered his second inaugural address. Its all about common sense, Mr. Trump was saying, as he promised drastic changes to the nations immigration system. I hope so, Mr. Schmerber replied to the television, with some skepticism. There were immediate changes especially for migrants with pending appointments to meet with immigration officials but along much of the border, already quieted by recent Biden administration policy changes, the dominant feeling was anxious anticipation, tinged with confusion. When Mr. Trump said from the U.S. Capitol that he would send federal troops to the border, Sheriff Schmerber wondered how they would operate legally. At least 80 people are dead and more than 18,000 have been forced to flee their homes in Colombia, officials say, amid fierce clashes between two rival armed groups on the border with Venezuela. The violence, carried out over the last four days in a northeast region called Catatumbo, is some of the worst the country has suffered through in recent years. And it has raised concerns that the country is moving in the opposite direction of total peace a goal made a priority by the countrys leftist president, Gustavo Petro, who is more than halfway through his four-year term. The Colombian leader visited the region on Friday, writing on X that his government stands with the people of Catatumbo. He has also sent troops and humanitarian assistance. Displaced families are taking refuge in a stadium in Cucuta, a border town better known in recent years for receiving Venezuelan migrants. In some places, Colombians are fleeing into Venezuela home to its own humanitarian crisis and the Venezuelan autocratic leader there, Nicolas Maduro, has promised to send them aid. For the second time in less than decade, Mexico is preparing to negotiate with President-elect Donald J. Trump, who is threatening the neighboring country with sky-high tariffs, mass deportations and military strikes on cartels. The stakes are huge for Mexicos 130 million people. Among major economies, Mexico is exceptionally dependent on the United States, sending about 80 percent of its exports to the American market. Mexicos top negotiators are adopting an assertive stance to negotiating with Mr. Trump this time around. Some of them can draw from experience dealing with the first Trump administration: Mexicos populist president at the time, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, forged a warm relationship with Mr. Trump, and Mexico avoided steep tariffs while acceding to demands to curb migration. We will find a solution because we have structural advantages, Marcelo Ebrard, the economy minister, said this month, listing factors like greater economic interdependence between the two countries and declines in fentanyl deaths and migration. Gazans took in the scale of devastation to their old neighborhoods and Israelis awaited news about three newly released hostages as a day-old cease-fire between Hamas and Israel continued to hold on Monday. With the 15-month war paused, Palestinians have been returning to parts of the Gaza Strip they had fled, picking their way through vast swaths of rubble and trying to salvage what they could a sofa, a mattress, a chair or a crate from the wreckage of their former homes. People can barely recognize the crushed places where they used to live, said Montaser Bahja, an English teacher, a day after visiting his old neighborhood in the northern city of Jabaliya. In a video shared with The New York Times, Mr. Bahja, 50, can be seen hurrying through the streets with his son Alhassan, 21, and trying to reconcile the piles of rubble that loom on either side with their memories. Hours after the cease-fire between Israel and Hamas took effect, a senior Hamas official said that the militant group was ready to start a dialogue with the United States, making a rare overture to a country that Hamas has long excoriated for supporting Israel. The comments made by the official, Mousa Abu Marzouk, who is based in Qatar, suggest that at least some senior members of Hamas hope it can engage directly with the incoming Trump administration even though the United States has designated Hamas as a terrorist organization since 1997. Mr. Abu Marzouks remarks may also indicate that Hamas feels buoyed by the cease-fire and believes there could be an opportunity to expand the groups international relations. Were prepared for a dialogue with America and achieving understandings on everything, Mr. Abu Marzouk, the first leader of Hamass political office, said in a phone interview on Sunday. Beyond the United States, numerous Western countries also consider Hamas to be a terrorist organization, including Britain and Canada. But Hamas has made some efforts to improve relations with Western governments, including by issuing a policy document in 2017 that took more moderate positions than its founding charter. The document called the establishment of a Palestinian state along the pre-1967 borders between Israel and the West Bank and Gaza a formula of national consensus, but it also rejected recognition of Israel. The group has refused to renounce violence and recognize Israel, and after the Hamas-led assault on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, it was forcefully condemned by the United States and European countries. The attack, analysts say, was a reflection of the ascendancy of hard-line leaders in the group advocating for violent conflict over long-term understandings with Israel. President Trump, however, has previously demonstrated willingness to meet with longtime foes of the United States such as Kim Jong-un, the leader of North Korea. Mr. Abu Marzouk, a native of Gaza and a former resident of Northern Virginia, is a member of Hamass political office, but it is not clear whether he speaks on behalf of all senior Hamas leaders, including Mohammed Sinwar and Izzeldin al-Haddad, hard-line military commanders in Gaza. He is considered to be one of the more pragmatic voices in Hamas and leads Hamass foreign relations office. Other senior Hamas officials have invested more in developing ties with members of the so-called axis of resistance, including Iran, the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, Iraqi militias, and the Houthis in Yemen. Mr. Abu Marzouk, 74, said Hamas was also ready to welcome an envoy from the Trump administration in the coastal enclave, despite longstanding American policy to provide Israel with billions of dollars in weapons and defend it at international institutions. Hamas, he added, would even provide such a visitor with protection. He can come and see the people and try to understand their feelings and wishes so that the American position can be based on the interests of all the parties, and not only one party, he said. On Saturday, NBC News reported that Steve Witkoff, Mr. Trumps Middle East envoy, was weighing a visit to Gaza to help maintain the cease-fire agreement, citing an anonymous Trump transition official with direct knowledge of the cease-fire process. The comments by the Hamas leader were in stark contrast to many Hamas statements during the first Trump administration that blasted the relocation of the U.S. Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, the recognition of Jerusalem as Israels capital, cutting off aid to Palestinians, and a peace plan that heavily favored Israeli positions. After the previous Trump administration presented its plan, Hamas referred to it as the deal of shame. One reason Hamas may want to reach out to the United States is to secure the entry of materials needed to reconstruct Gaza without conditions that could undermine its ability to remain the most dominant Palestinian group in the territory. Hamas will likely need to offer some compromises if it wants enough aid to rebuild Gaza to flow into the enclave. Until now, Hamas leaders have expressed readiness to give up civilian governance in Gaza, but without dismantling its military wing a dynamic that analysts have said would be similar to Hezbollahs role in Lebanon before its last conflict with Israel. Steven Cheung, Mr. Trumps incoming White House director of communications, didnt immediately respond to a request for comment. Mr. Abu Marzouk also offered high praise for Mr. Trump for his involvement in helping broker the cease-fire agreement between Israel and Hamas and called him a serious president. If not for President Trump, his insistence on ending the war, and his dispatching of a decisive representative, the deal wouldnt have happened, said Mr. Abu Marzouk, referring to Mr. Witkoff. While the deal calls for an eventual cessation of military operations and hostilities permanently, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel has repeatedly suggested that the Israeli military will resume attacking Hamas after some hostages held by militants are released. Alongside Qatar and Egypt, members of the Biden administration, including White House official Brett McGurk and C.I.A. director Bill Burns, played critical roles in putting together the cease-fire deal. But Mr. Witkoff helped encourage Israel to approve it by telling Mr. Netanyahu that Mr. Trump wanted it completed, according to officials briefed on the talks who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive diplomacy. Still, Mr. Abu Marzouk insisted Mr. Trumps role was crucial to getting the agreement across the finish, especially in applying pressure on Mr. Netanyahu. Truthfully, Trump gets the credit for ending the war, he said. The mother of Austin Tice, an American journalist abducted in Syria, said on Monday that she had met with Syrias new leader in Damascus and expressed hope that a page will be turned in the more than decade-long search for her son. Debra Tice gave a news conference in Damascus on Monday after the meeting with Ahmed al-Shara, whose rebel group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham led the sudden offensive last month that toppled President Bashar al-Assad, ending more than 50 years of Assad family rule in Syria. Syrias state news agency also reported on the meeting, posting pictures of her in conversation with Mr. al-Shara at the presidential palace. Although she had no new information on her sons whereabouts, Ms. Tice, who arrived in Damascus on Saturday, said she felt optimistic that Syrias new rebel leaders would help her and Syrian families searching for loved ones still missing after being held in the old regimes notorious prisons. It was so wonderful to learn that they are dedicated and determined to bring home my son and your sons, Ms. Tice said, addressing Syrians searching for missing loved ones as well. They know what we are going through. Kenny Holston/The New York Times Words Used in Donald Trumps Second Inaugural Address On Monday, President Donald J. Trump spoke more than 2,800 words during his second Inaugural Address. The ceremony was moved indoors to the Capitol Rotunda because of cold weather. Excluding common and routine words, his most frequently spoken words were: President Trumps performance was relatively muted as he listed complaints against the Biden administration and reiterated many of the dozens of promises he had made on the campaign trail. He is expected to sign close to 100 executive orders on Monday afternoon. His most spoken word was American, with 21 mentions: The American dream will soon be back and thriving like never before. Nation was tied for second place with 20 mentions: Ambition is the lifeblood of a great nation. And right now, our nation is more ambitious than any other. Theres no nation like our nation. Trumps Inauguration Eve Victory Rally Tomorrow at noon, the curtain closes on four long years of American decline. Scott Olson/Getty Images The day before the inauguration, President-elect Trump held a victory rally at an arena in Washington. His 58-minute speech was over 8,000 words long and filled with misleading claims and greatest hits from his campaign speeches. His most frequently spoken word was people, which he used 56 times: People are happy. People are happy. Its been a long time. TikTok was mentioned 12 times, ahead of a promised executive order to postpone a federal ban of the app. Biden, 2021 We have learned again that democracy is precious. Democracy is fragile. Pool photo by Tasos Katopodis/EPA, via Shutterstock Four years ago, President Joseph R. Biden delivered his Inaugural Address to a masked and socially distanced audience, two weeks after a crowd attempted to disrupt the ratification of the 2020 election results. President Biden used the words unity or uniting 11 times, and stressed that we must end this uncivil war that pits red against blue, rural versus urban, conservative versus liberal. He mentioned democracy 11 times, but did not speak the word Trump. Trump, 2017 This American carnage stops right here and stops right now. Doug Mills/The New York Times President Trumps first Inaugural Address had a grim tone, and was memorable for words and phrases that were spoken only once: carnage, hardships, trapped in poverty, rusted-out factories, depletion, disrepair and decay. Obama, 2013 A decade of war is now ending. An economic recovery has begun. Chang W. Lee/The New York Times President Barack Obama used the phrase we must 10 times during his second Inaugural Address, in a forceful defense of modern liberalism: We must act, knowing that our work will be imperfect. We must act, knowing that todays victories will be only partial. Obama, 2009 Our nation is at war against a far-reaching network of violence and hatred. Todd Heisler/The New York Times President Obama was sworn in before a massive crowd and spoke for about 20 minutes at his first inauguration, promising to begin again the work of remaking America. Bush, 2005 The best hope for peace in our world is the expansion of freedom in all the world. Ozier Muhammad/The New York Times President George W. Bush began his second term in 2005 without using the words Afghanistan, Iraq, Sept. 11 or terrorism. Instead, his second Inaugural Address framed his first term as a defense of freedom, which he mentioned 27 times, more than once in every 100 words. Bush, 2001 I will work to build a single nation of justice and opportunity. Paul J. Richards/AFP Four years earlier, President Bushs first Inaugural Address asked Americans to join together in a common national purpose after the disputed election of 2000. One of his most frequently used words was citizens: I ask you to be citizens: citizens, not spectators; citizens, not subjects; responsible citizens, building communities of service and a nation of character. Harrison, 1841 The longest Inaugural Address. President William Henry Harrison gave the longest Inaugural Address in American history, speaking 8,445 words over nearly two hours in wet and freezing weather. He spoke at length about the power granted by the Constitution to the various branches of government. President Harrison died a month later, possibly from pneumonia that developed at his inauguration, or from a combination of pneumonia and typhoid fever. Washington, 1793 The shortest Inaugural Address. George Washingtons second Inaugural Address was the shortest to date, at only 135 words: Fellow citizens: I am again called upon, by the voice of my country, to execute the functions of its Chief Magistrate. When the occasion proper for it shall arrive, I shall endeavour to express the high sense I entertain of this distinguished honor, and of the confidence which has been reposed in me by the people of United America. Previous to the execution of any official act of the President, the Constitution requires an oath of office. This oath I am now about to take, and in your presence; that if it shall be found, during my administration of the Government, I have in any instance, violated, willingly or knowingly, the injunction thereof, I may (besides incurring Constitutional punishment) be subject to the upbraidings of all who are now witnesses of the present solemn ceremony. Washington, 1789 The first Inaugural Address. Washington delivered his first Inaugural Address in Federal Hall in New York City, which was briefly the nations capital. He described his conflicting emotions about being summoned by my Country out of retirement at his Mount Vernon estate, a retreat which I had chosen with the fondest predilection. In one measure of how political language has shifted, Washington used an average of 62 words per sentence in his first Inaugural Address, compared with 10 words per sentence for President Biden and 15 words for President Trumps first Inaugural Address. El Inmortal (The Immortal), is an iconic building in the Ecuadorian city of Machala famous for its precarious look due to having an unusually narrow ground floor. Located on the corner of Pichincha and Buenavista streets in the center of Machala, The Immortal has been defying earthquakes in Ecuador for more than 30 years. Looking at it, you would think that the slightest tremor would be enough to bring the four-storey building down, but you would be wrong. It has survived serious quakes, including one in 2023 measuring 6.5 degrees on the Richter scale, with minimal damage. Its most famous for having the upper three floors overhanging a whopping five meters without any pillars for support. Its now legendary resistance to earthquakes despite its precarious appearance has earned it the nickname The Immortal. The most famous building in Machala made national news headlines in Ecuador in 2023, following a 6.5-degree earthquake. Several newspapers and TV stations reported that the iconic building had tilted forward slightly and that it was at risk of collapsing. The sidewalk around the building was taped for the safety of pedestrians, and technicians from the Riska Management Secretariat were asked to inspect the building. We do not want false rumors, false comments. The only thing we ask of the citizens is to calm down, Willman Sanchez, the owner of The Immortal, told El Universo in 2023. The building meets all the requirements; it was built by engineer Jorge Manzano, the structural engineer who built the tallest buildings in Guayaquil. The building is safe! Sanchez told journalists that he asked the technicians to come down and inspect the building to put peoples minds at ease. People have been speculating about when or how The Immortal was going to crash for decades, because of its unusual appearance, but the buildings owner says that it has an extremely strong base and a very deep foundation. Its hard to argue with Sanchez. The Immortal has been standing for over three decades and has withstood at least eight serious earthquakes during that time. Its unconventional, no doubt about it, but its definitely not as unsafe as it looks. The Immortal houses several businesses on its ground floor, and a number of apartments on its upper stories. Subida Impossivel (Impossible Climb) is a challenging motocross hill-climbing event in Portugal that more than lives up to its suggestive name. Every year, dozens of experienced motocross bike riders gather in the Portuguese city of Silves for a chance to become legends among their peers. Subida Impossivel is one of the toughest motocross challenges in the world, requiring perfect control of the bike in order to complete a 110-meter-long course up a rocky hill. 110 meters may not seem like much for professional riders, but keep in mind that in some places, the gradient is over 80%, not to mention the unpredictable terrain and a very narrow course. Lets just say that its not called Impossible Climb for nothing and that there is a reason why only a handful of participants have completed the hill climb in over two decades. Because Subida Impossivel is so difficult to complete, sometimes riders win just by climbing the farthest up the hill before finally succumbing to gravity or going outside the clearly defined lines of the course. For example, last year, Joao Lourenco managed to cross the finish line, but he ended up being disqualified for going outside the lines, so first place went to Luis Romao, who climbed 72 meters and 50 centimeters before falling off his motorbike. To complete the course, participants must reach the top of the hill without their feet touching the ground. According to the Albufeira Motorcycle Club, which organizes the event, the riders ability to control his machine, combined with a lot of determination, are fundamental to success, challenging the limits of both. The complexity of the terrain pushes the riders and machines to the limit. The rocky terrain is especially problematic because it affects traction, so by pushing the bike too much, you risk losing control, while not pushing it hard enough means you cant fight the pull of gravity efficiently. Injuries rarely occur, but some participants have reported ruining their bikes at Subida Impossivel. I guess its all part of the experience. THE Senior Choir of the Sacred Heart School, Tullamore, is set to captivate audiences with their upcoming live performance on RTE as part of the televised Sunday Mass on Sunday, January 26. This special Mass, to be celebrated by the schools chaplain, Fr Joe Campbell, is expected to provide a spiritually enriching experience for viewers. The liturgy will feature a stunning selection of sacred music, including compositions by some of Irelands foremost liturgical composers. Under the expert guidance of the schools music department, the Senior Choir has curated a repertoire that highlights the depth and beauty of Irish liturgical traditions. The school says the choir's upcoming performance stands as a testament to the students dedication, talent, and passion for sacred music. In preparation for this significant event, the choir recently travelled to St Patricks College, Maynooth, for a choral workshop. The day offered the students a valuable opportunity to refine their performance, explore the picturesque South Campus, and sing in the historic Gunn Chapel, renowned for its exceptional acoustics and rich history. This live broadcast from the RTE studios in Donnybrook will allow viewers to experience a moment of inspiration and connect with Irelands profound musical and spiritual heritage, the school says, and is a unique opportunity to witness the fruits of the choirs hard work and dedication. The performance comes at the end of Catholic Schools Week which runs until Saturday, January 25. Tune in to RTE 1 on Sunday, January 26, at 11am to enjoy the liturgy and celebrate the remarkable achievements of the Sacred Heart Schools Senior Choir. The Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles has been raising pay for more than half of its employees since August, based on a study by the same international consulting firm that is now helping Gov. Glenn Youngkin's administration review the salary structure for classified state employees. Project Upshift began after the department commissioned a study more than a year ago by Deloitte, a London-based accounting and consulting company, to reevaluate the salaries it pays to employees, especially those in the agency's 76 customer service centers, to reduce a high turnover rate for its staff. "We had an unsustainable level of turnover," said DMV Commissioner Gerald Lackey, who estimated that the agency was losing frontline workers at a rate of 35% to 46% per month before the pay raises began in August. Lackey, whom Youngkin appointed in March 2023, said people spraying vehicles at a nearby carwash were making more money per hour than people at the front counter of the DMV's headquarters at 2300 W. Broad St. in Richmond. "By and large, the biggest contributing factor was we didn't have competitive wages," he said in an interview. The agency estimates that 60% of its roughly 2,000 employees are getting a boost in salaries to bring them at least to the market minimum, while not reducing the salaries of people who earn more than the market minimum for their position. As a result, he said turnover in September dropped to 1.5% and has stayed there. Some DMV employees say privately that the review has not considered years of service and expertise, so those workers have been left out. "Most of the people who are affected by the lack of a raise are older people," said one longtime DMV employee who asked not to be identified. Lackey said the DMV will address those issues in a second phase over the next 12 months to classify employees as "emerging, seasoned and expert," based on 13 factors for determining pay, including tenure and job experience. He acknowledged concerns expressed to him by some longtime employees, but said he had assured them that the agency would address pay for more experienced workers in the next phase. "I've had zero grievances," he said. Lackey said the current pay initiative, which will be completed this month, focuses on employees "making below the minimum for their roles." He said the DMV is paying for the initiative with about $10.6 million in annual operating savings from cost-saving measures that employees helped to identify. He said the agency paid Deloitte about $1 million for the study. The pay raises are expected to cost about $9 million a year. The DMV funds its operations with money that it collects through a variety of user fees, not general tax funds appropriated in the state budget. Lawmakers surprised Still, the initiative came as a surprise last week to the General Assembly money committees, which also appropriate nongeneral fund money to state agencies and monitor how they spend it. The House Appropriations and Senate Finance & Appropriations committees said they were unaware of the DMV project until the Richmond Times-Dispatch asked about it in recent days. "We definitely should have our eyes on it," said Sen. Jennifer Boysko, D-Fairfax, who chairs the Senate Transportation Committee and serves on the Senate Finance subcommittee for transportation with oversight of the DMV. The Department of Human Resource Management is responsible for overseeing pay and benefits for about 57,000 classified employees, which does not include faculty and staff at public colleges and universities. It just notified legislators that it is working in partnership with Deloitte to review the state's salary structure, which is based on pay bands adopted about 25 years ago. Director Janet Lawson told the House Appropriations subcommittee on compensation and retirement on Monday that the initiative would identify ways to align state employee compensation with "market best practice" to ensure that salaries are comparable to those "for employees in the private sector of the commonwealth in similar occupations." In an interview on Friday, Lawson called the current pay structure "outdated" and said she has asked Deloitte to reevaluate the salary bands "to see what's in the best interest of the state's workforce." She said she had recommended Deloitte to DMV before it launched the initiative in November 2023. Del. Rod Willett, D-Henrico, who chairs the House Appropriations subcommittee and represents "a ton of state employees" in his Richmond-area district, initially did not know about the project, but he subsequently spoke to DMV officials about the initiative. "I applaud DMV for working to get in front of the attrition issue in their customer service area," Willett said on Friday. "They have put together a comprehensive plan and communicated with all staff. There was no need to inform the money committees, given their nongeneral fund structure, but they did coordinate with DHRM [the Department of Human Resource Management]." Lackey said the annual savings that are paying for the raises were not part of the changes in DMV operations Youngkin's chief transformation officer, then Eric Moeller, pushed after the COVID-19 pandemic. The DMV came under heavy criticism from the public and some legislators of both parties when it closed its customer service centers to walk-in traffic during the pandemic and required customers to make appointments to avoid waiting in crowds for service. The transformation office focused primarily on customer service, pushing the department to reduce wait times from 37 minutes to 10 minutes, both for walk-in and same-day scheduled appointments. The office said it also helped DMV modernize its website and customer call center, and helped streamline operations over two years. Youngkin created the chief transformation office immediately after he was inaugurated three years ago. Just before the inauguration, longtime Commissioner Rick Holcomb retired after 19 years and service under five governors, beginning with Gov. George Allen. The governor's first pick to replace Holcomb was Peter Lacy, former head of the Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles, but Youngkin rescinded the offer in May 2022 after an Indianapolis newspaper reported that Lacy had resigned from his job there the day after appearing to be drunk at an executive meeting. Linda Ford, deputy commissioner and chief operating officer, served as interim commissioner until Youngkin appointed Lackey, a former efficiency executive at GAF, a global roofing company, and a former business efficiency executive at McKinsey & Co., the same global business management consulting company where Moeller had worked. Lackey said the agency distributed the Deloitte study to employees in August and outlined the phases of adjusting salaries for those who earned less than the private market minimums for comparable jobs. "Although as a state agency we may never be able to pay at the high end of what the private sector does, we do want to take care of you as best we can through compensation and our other benefits," reads a DMV fact sheet about the initiative from August. The department started in August with employees at customer service centers, law enforcement offices and its call center about half of DMV staff. The next month, the initiative completed a review of law enforcement offices, truck weigh stations and its customer service management office. In October, it reviewed information technology and legal affairs offices. It moved to staff at its Richmond headquarters and support divisions beginning in November and continuing through the end of this month. No matter when it made the decision, DMV said the pay raises would be retroactive to Aug. 25. The department said it based its decision on salary research to establish market pay levels for each position. "If our research shows you are under-compensated, then we aim to make the necessary adjustments through January 2025," the Project Upshift fact sheet reads. "Although we are limited by our budget, we plan to be sure everyone is at least in line with the market minimums. In other words, we will adjust pay to be minimally comparable to like jobs in the private sector." The fact sheet adds: "If you appear to be compensated above the market, we will not be reducing your compensation." The initiative has evaluated more than pay levels. It has also been addressing "clarity around job expectations" by reevaluating and updating job descriptions as well as establishing requirements for job performance. "You don't just give people more money," Lackey said. "You have to rewrite their job descriptions." DMV is also using the initiative to improve "paths for career advancement." Lackey said the results justify the expense. "They vote with their feet," he said, "and only 1.5% of them are walking out the door." It took more than a dozen years from the time members of Petersburgs Tabernacle Baptist Church first imagined repurposing the 12 acres the church owned next to its sanctuary into affordable housing until the first shovelful of dirt turned. But with 47 units that opened in 2011, the Rev. Robert Diggs and the congregation are trying to tackle the affordable housing challenge. They hope to build 58 more units next to their Claiborne Square development. They think some tweaks to state law could help address some of the hurdles and roadblocks that slowed their first effort. Affordable housing is one of the hottest topics before the 2025 General Assembly. Legislators are wrestling with the often-fractious issues that swirl around local zoning and land use and a growing concern that buying a home or renting an apartment is beyond the reach of too many Virginians. The congregation is proud of everything that weve done, Diggs said. Our churches in the hood basically we have changed the landscape of Petersburg. A lot of work needed to happen first: streets, sidewalks, water and sewer connections, and those have been major roadblocks for several projects. Diggs said it took federal funds and ground clearing help from the National Guard to prepare the Claiborne Square site for construction. The bill for the second project the worshipers at Tabernacle would like to do looks like it will total $900,000. Senate Bill 1178 proposed by state Sen. Ghazala Hashmi, D-Chesterfield, and House Bill 2153 proposed by Del. Betsy Carr, D-Richmond would open a door for localities interested in helping religious groups develop their buildings or land for affordable housing. It would help them seek state Department of Housing and Community Development funds for infrastructure work. The legislation would also let localities set up faith and housing programs. It would create expedited or simplified zoning and permitting processes for religious organizations or property tax-exempt nonprofit organizations to develop or use their lands or facilities for affordable housing. Zoning and permitting are challenges several congregations interested in developing housing have faced as did Charlottesvilles Hinton Avenue Methodist Church when it wanted to build a 15-unit home for people with developmental disabilities. Neighbors said there were already too many apartments in the area. Despite initial approval of the idea, when it turned out that renovating an existing structure would not work and that a new building was required, which would have required more than 15 units to be financially viable, the increase was more than the city council would accept. There is a crisis in affordable housing throughout Virginia, with a shortage of 200,000 plus units. There is also a crisis within many faith communities with declining membership and exacerbated financial hardship, said Sheila Herlihy Hennessee, director of faith organizing for the Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy. These factors have led congregations around Virginia to consider how their property can be used in a mission-oriented way to address the affordable housing crisis, she said. Hashmis and Carrs bills would allow but would not require programs or zoning charges. In this way they differ from a bill that would require localities to approve accessory dwelling units also known as mother-in-law suites or granny flats in areas zoned for residential use. That measure, House Bill 1832, was reintroduced this year after a House of Delegates committee sidelined similar measures last year. Senate Bill 839 from Sen. Schuyler VanValkenburg, D-Henrico, also would require zoning changes: It would automatically allow multifamily apartment buildings in commercial districts. Zoning and site plan approval, as Hinton Avenue Methodist found, can quickly raise NIMBY Not in my backyard concerns. These can also be an issue for recovery residences, the group houses that offer a haven for people struggling with addictions. That along with her visits to see that these homes actually work prompted Del. Carrie Coyner, R-Chesterfield, to introduce House Bill 2289. It says zoning ordinances must allow certified recovery residences, with no more than eight residents, in areas zoned for single-family residences, with no more restrictions than are imposed on such homes. People struggling with substance abuse can need to be where they can stay clean and are surrounded by people trying to stay clean, Coyner said. I met one man living in Henrico, in recovery residence, who was really from Chesterfield, who told me he couldnt go home because of all the triggers and people hed run into there. Virginia law already says group houses for up to eight people with disabilities are allowed in residential areas. Coyners bill covers recovery residences that meet standards set by national regulatory bodies and says the properties are not allowed to provide medical care. Federal fair housing law covers this, but some local officials have a different interpretation or arent aware, said Sarah Scarbrough, founder and director of REAL LIFE. The Richmond nonprofit group helps people recovering from substance abuse. Among other things, it has 11 recovery houses with 131 beds. Many participants were previously homeless or had come from jail. For many, its simply a question of being away from the places and people they knew as they were taking drugs or drinking for a few months. Some people find they need to get away from where they lived, so they can live a different life, Scarbrough said. Other lawmakers are proposing affordable housing ideas, Del. Elizabeth Bennett-Parker, D-Alexandria, introduced House Bill 1973. It would give localities a first right of refusal on houses and apartments where federal rent subsidies support a landlords income. That first right of refusal would kick in if the landlord wants to sell the property. Rent subsidies help low- and moderate-income families hold down their out-of-pocket costs for rent to 30% of income by making up the difference between what they can afford and the market rate for rent. She said more than 7,000 affordable rental units in Virginia are at risk of dropping participation in public support programs during the next five years. That number is projected to increase to almost 30,000 in the next 10 years. We have an affordable housing crisis with these units and cannot afford to lose them, she added. State Sen. Jennifer Boysko, D-Fairfax, and Del. Nadarius Clark, D-Suffolk, have bills that would cap increases in rent to the Consumer Price Index or 7%, whichever is less. These are Senate Bill 1136 and House Bill 2175. Reports that hedge funds and other big investors are snapping up single-family residences and trailer parks are boosting rents and requiring people to move, prompted state Sen. Glen Sturtevant, R-Chesterfield, to introduce Senate Bill 1140, which would limit such purchases. VanValkenburg, meanwhile, wants to set a target for localities to expand their housing stock. Under his Senate Bill 975, if they dont make a good-faith effort through zoning or other measures to hit a 1.5% average increase in housing units over the next five years, the state, instead of city councils or county boards of supervisors, could step in to clear the way for multifamily projects. Other housing bills include: Senate Bill 832, filed by state Sen. Mamie Locke, D-Hampton, which would set up a pilot program to provide state rent subsidies for families with children under 16 and with income below 50% of the area median. House Bill 1718, filed by Del. Marcia Cia Price, D-Newport News, which would authorize localities to sue slumlords to enforce health and safety requirements in the Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act. House Bill 2229, filed by Del. Rae Cousins, D-Richmond, would end a requirement that tenants be current in rent when suing to force a landlord to repair defects that affect health and safety. House Bill 2047, filed by Del. Bonita G. Anthony, D-Norfolk, would ban landlords from using algorithmic device services, blamed for forcing rents higher in several communities, to set rent amounts. Sri Lanka welcomes Gaza ceasefire agreement Posted by Editor on January 20, 2025 - 9:49 am The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Employment, and Tourism of Sri Lanka has welcomed the recent ceasefire agreement in Gaza. In a statement released today (January 20), the Ministry expressed hope that the ceasefire, which facilitates the exchange of hostages and detainees, the return of displaced persons to their homes in Gaza, and the delivery of humanitarian aid, will remain intact. The Ministry also voiced optimism that these measures will lead to lasting peace in Palestine and the region. Actor Vijaya Rangaraju who passed away in Chennai a week after suffering from a heart attack, had acted in over 400 films, in a career spanning over four decades. Though he made his debut in movies with the Telugu film 'Seetha Kalyanam', it was his role in Mohanlal-starrer 'Vietnam Colony' that made him popular. He then made a mark in Telugu and Tamil films. Here's a look at some of his most popular works. Vietnam colony Who can forget Paravur Rawther, the terrifying villain from Siddique-Lal's superhit movie 'Vietnam Colony', immortalised by Vijaya Rangaraju? Vijaya once revealed it was action choreographer Mafia Sasi who recommended him for the role of Rawther. Malayali audiences will never forget the introduction scene of his character in the movie. Bhairava Dweepam Vijaya was cast as the villain Bhairavudu opposite Telugu superstar Nandamauri Balakrishnan in the movie 'Bhairava Dweepam'. Though filmmakers reportedly planned to cast big names from the Hindi film industry to play the villain, one of the producers decided to cast Vijaya after seeing his performance as a villain in 'Vietnam Colony'. Though he acted in Telugu films before 'Bharaiva Dweepam', it was this film that gave him a break within the industry. Yagnam Vijaya's performance as Nayudamma in 'Yagnam', which hit theatres in 2004, won him critical acclaim. The actor played the archrival of a gang leader Reddappa (Devaraj) who unites with him after the latter's daughter falls in love with a man named Seenu played by Gopichand. ADVERTISEMENT Magarayudu Though Vijaya kept getting back-to-back films after his successful debut in Malayalam and consequent success in Telugu, he had to take a break for nearly two years after which he returned with 'Maga Rayudu,' in which he played Jinnah. The film was directed by E V V Satyanarayana and stars Karthik, Babu Mohan, and Brahmanandam. Thiruvananthapuram: The 15th Kerala Legislative Assembly paid heartfelt tributes to former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh during its 13th session on Monday. Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan lauded Singhs significant contributions to Indias economic growth, highlighting his forward-thinking policies that modelled the nations development on successful Southeast Asian economies. "Although there were differences in our policy perspectives, Dr Manmohan Singh's commitment to constitutional values and the democratic system is truly commendable," Vijayan said. He described Dr Singh as not only a brilliant financial advisor but also a staunch advocate of secular values. ADVERTISEMENT The Chief Minister also underscored Singhs pivotal roles as the RBI Governor and Finance Minister in the Narasimha Rao government, noting his visionary approach to economic reforms. Leader of the Opposition VD Satheesan highlighted Singhs pro-people policies during his tenure as Prime Minister, including the waiver of Rs 72,000 in farm loans. Satheesan also credited Singh for strengthening India's social welfare programmes, such as MGNREGA and NRHM, which filled the national coffers while ensuring equitable redistribution of resources. ADVERTISEMENT Speaker AN Shamseer, Kanhangad MLA E Chandrasekharan, IUML leader PK Kunhalikutty, Kaduthuruthy MLA Mons Joseph, Thiruvalla MLA Mathew T Thomas, and Piravom MLA Anoop Jacob also offered glowing tributes to Singh. The proceedings for the day were adjourned following the obituary reference. Steven Sahiounie, journalist and political commentator President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told his cabinet, "A new era has begun in Syria... Turkey has shown what kind of will it has to protect its survival and security. If it comes to that again, 'we may come suddenly one night'. The circle is narrowing for the separatist organization and its extensions in Syria. As the government and the alliance, we will achieve our goal of a terror-free Turkey, one way or another. Of course, we hope this will happen safely. If this road is blocked and dynamited, then we will not hesitate to strike with the iron fist of the state wrapped in velvet gloves." Erdogan wants to eliminate the SDF, the armed wing of the semi-autonomous Kurdish administration in Syria. Ankara views the US- supported SDF as terrorists with links to the PKK, who have killed 30,000 over decades of terrorism. Now that Erdogan has a willing partner in Damascus, Ahmed Sharaa, the commander of the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), Erdogan sees a window of opportunity to eliminate the threat of the SDF while using HTS as a proven fighting force. Erdogan has promised his people that he will return millions of Syrian refugees amid a growing public resentment. However, many Syrians have been living in Turkey for more than a decade and have become accustomed to civil, minority, and women's rights in the secular nation. With news reports of the new Sharaa administration using Islamic law as the civil code, and a history of oppression of women in Idlib under HTS, Syrians are reluctant to go home to a country without democracy, after experiencing the highly developed secular democracy in Turkey. Initially, the Syrian community abroad have been overjoyed that the corrupt dictator, Bashar al-Assad, was driven from power by HTS on December 8, but now many are wondering how can they go home to a country without adequate electricity, schools and hospitals? Many are saying they will wait a few years to see if the infrastructure can be repaired, and if a secular democratically elected government can be formed. Experts worry that if Syrians don't go home from Turkey, the Turkish citizens may say "Syria is safe. Why don't you return?" For many years, the Turkish locals have turned violent against the Syrian refugees, whom they view as taking away jobs from locals, and causing a negative effect on the economy by draining away benefits for refugees. Next Page 1 | 2 | 3 (Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher). Well, here we are: After a long presidential campaign full of warnings from each "major" party campaign about the horrible things the other "major" party's candidate would do to us if elected, Inauguration Day approaches. On January 20, Donald Trump begins his second (non-consecutive) term as president of the United States. Within days -- possibly within hours -- we'll start finding out how accurate his opponents' warnings were, and whether or not he really intends to keep his own campaign promises. To some degree, the warnings and the promises are identical. For example, Trump would say he promises, and his opponents would say he threatens, to launch mass abductions, cagings, and deportations of immigrants. In other cases, the promises keep changing, often in contradictory ways that leave us just guessing at what he intends to do, especially vis a vis foreign policy. Some of his supporters expect Trump, based on his own statements, to negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine and put Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu on a leash in Gaza. Others among his supporters expect, again based on his own statements, to double down on US support for Ukraine and/or Israel. What do I expect? Plenty in general, but nothing in particular other than the usual theatrics from Trump, from "both sides of the aisle" in Congress, and from the media. I expect, in a word (er, acronym), BOHICA. That's an old bit of military slang for the predictable recurrence of negative events: "Bend Over, Here It Comes Again." Popular perceptions of Trump tend toward the superlative. To his supporters, he's a fearless, iconoclastic, possibly even divinely ordained, leader figure, disrupting the establishment to Make America Great Again. To his opponents, he's a whiny, self-dealing criminal in terms of personality, literally Hitler reincarnate and possibly even the Antichrist in terms of politics. In my opinion, he's just another politician, albeit one with a flair for the dramatic and a firm grasp of what H.L. Mencken called "the whole aim of practical politics .... to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, most of them imaginary." Every president, without exception, finds ways to be worse than the previous one. Some presidents also find ways to be better than their predecessors. Next Page 1 | 2 (Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher). CONSTITUTION RATIFIED Why do we, the people of the United States, including our Congress and the President, allow the Supreme Court (6) to change wording in the Constitution when the Supreme Court has no jurisdiction both as to law or fact except under such regulations as the Congress shall make (Article III sec 2 para 2) . Our founders never intended to allow any branch of government to use the Constitution as toilet paper, but it appears that the Supreme Court (6) thinks they can. The Constitution (the supreme law of the land) was voted on and ratified September 17, 1787. The Constitution is the document by which our Democracy is guided not the Supreme Court (6 with bath robes). The Constitution is a written gift from the founders with direction from them and others life's experiences. A set of rules all Americans of the United States must follow if we want this our Democracy to work for all. The Constitution was ratified by the conventions of nine states (12 present). It's not perfect, but it was a bold first step forward. Following the ratification of the Constitution (articles VI and VII), it was presented to the citizens of the United States so that they could all see what so many patriots died for, over the course of a 7 yr. period of war. They could proudly turn the pages while they read the words written there that would guide them down a democratic path for many years to come. One of the delegates recorded in his journal a brief episode Involving Benjamin Franklin who was asked by a woman when The convention ended, "well, doctor, what have we got, a Republic or a Monarchy?" The elder statesman answered, "A republic, if you can keep it." One of the Articles that was ratified at that convention was Article (V). Article (V) specifically stated, the congress by 2/3 of both houses if they deem it necessary, shall propose Amendments to this Constitution, or on the Application of the legislatures of 2/3 of the several states shall call a Convention for proposing Amendments. There is no other way, this means the Supreme Court has no Jurisdiction or authority in amending the constitution (the law of the land) they can submit their appellate decision to 2/3 of congress or 2/3 of states legislatures for an amendment change. However, if the congress or the states legislatures vote no, the appellate decision is null and void. The Supreme Court has no authority to change any wording (amend) any Article or Amendment in the Constitution without Article (V) authority. Even if the Supreme Court appellate decision is adopted by congress or the Legislatures the appellate decision must be ratified by 3/4 of the state's conventions before it becomes part of the law of the land. At that point changes that were ratified amendments to articles or new amendments, would have to be published to reflect the change and dates of ratification. In that way all members of the United States can read the words and know what the law of the land is. You simply cannot write decisions on lunch sacks or on old IRS forms put them in a drawer and pull them out when it's convenient and declare past notes, now supersede the constitution, this proves our Government works. Sorry, it don't work that way!! For example (1), Citizens United Corporations are People Dumb donkey nonsense decisions written by the Supreme Court such as citizens united, corporations are people and money is their speech implying bribery is legal. The very idea that the Supreme Court would entertain the Idea that corporations are people and their money is speech is utterly ridiculous and irresponsible. Nowhere in the Constitution do those words appear. Why would they? In 1787 the word Corporation did not appear anywhere and the word Corporation certainly was not considered a person. Amendment (XIV) mentions persons, however, there is no mention of Corporation anywhere. Moreover Article II sec. 4 of the Constitution states, Bribery is an impeachable offence. It was written in to the Constitution in1787 and it remains there today 238 years later. This is contrary to the idea that bribery is legal! Article III Sec. 2 paragraph 2 reads the Supreme Court shall have appellate jurisdiction, both as to law and fact, with such exceptions and under such regulations as the Congress shall make . In other words the Supreme Court must petition congress for authorization per Article (V) to amend anything in the constitution. Reasoning and logic was used at the time of the constitution ratification but our supreme court in later years only have shown disrespect and contempt for we the People's Constitution (the law of the land) and the patriots who died not ever realizing it. If the Supreme Court wants corporations to be people, and money to be speech and bribery legal they must follow Article (V) Guidelines. (1) Petition congress for a 2/3 vote or 2/3 of Legislatures of several states vote for their appellate decision. If the vote for corporations to be people passes, (2) then 3/4 of the several states legislatures must then ratify the yes vote. Only then will Citizens United be a law. Citizens United is not in the Constitution! We the people have been hood winked by the Supreme Court and others, into thinking they have the authority to amend the constitution at their whim. Well they don't! Congress or the president must reverse the Citizen's United scam immediately until Article (V) has been applied properly, if at all. Note : Article (XIV) sec 1 states what a United States Citizen/person is. There is no language in the constitution that states Corporations are persons . If it's not in the Constitution and ratified it's not a (law of the land). EXAMPLE (2) Insurrection Given, Donald Trump has committed insurrection per Amendment (XIV) Sec 3, he gave aid and comfort to the insurrectionists who broke in and damaged the capitol building on January 6, where 5 people died and some 170 plus were hospitalized. As a result, Donald Trump gave aid and comfort by telling the National Guard to stand down and not give assistance to the capitol police while they were beaten, kicked, pepper sprayed, and flag pole jabbed while the flags were still on the poles. This was allowed to go on for more than an hour before the National Guard was allowed to assist the Capitol police. The insurrectionists tried to locate Vice president Pence and speaker Pelosi with the intension of killing them while Donald Trump stood by and watched on the monitor. President Trump was found to be insurgent. Meaning he cannot hold a state or federal office again. However, the Supreme 6, desperate to give President Trump more time to run for office, hugged the word Hold and irresponsibly ruled that he does not "hold" the office of presidency he is only running for the office of presidency therefore he can run for office of Presidency. A higher order thinking group would reason if you cannot hold the office, then to run for the office would be redundant and lack reality. The majority of citizens in the United States know this and know Donald Trump should not have been able to run for the presidency if he cannot hold office, it's a simple concept. Amendment (XIV) sec. 3, simply stated no person shall hold any office having previously taken an oath of office who shall have engaged in insurrection or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. Next Page 1 | 2 (Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher). Like the Republican Party whose senators will make Pete Hegseth the next U.S. Secretary of War, Hegseth is a bad joke. The Democratic minority in the horribly unrepresentative Senate is a joke you might hear at an amateur mic night. Hegseth is a guy who has reportedly shouted "Kill all Muslims." Nobody asked him if he had done that or if he agreed with it -- not even when he claimed to have been labeled an extremist purely for having a Christian tattoo. He's a guy who has told troops in Iraq to disobey an order and shoot on sight rather than only when threatened. No senator asked who was included in acceptable targets or why. He's said the Geneva Conventions should be ignored. One Republican senator asked him how many pushups he could do and how many human genders there are. Several asked if he'd be sure to spend a lot on weapons. (He would.) While Hegseth denounces government spending and has appeared in photographs wearing "Big Government Sucks" on his chest, on Tuesday he repeatedly claimed -- falsely and laughably -- that Congress had cut military spending during Biden's years in the White House. Asked by Senate Armed "Services" Chairman Roger Wicker if spending less than 3% of GDP on militarism endangered the United States (Wicker seemed to falsely suggest that the United States does spend less than that) Hegseth agreed. He agreed despite repeatedly pretending -- just like each of his predecessors -- that he would cut spending and make the Pentagon pass an audit (not in order to have any idea whether it is spending too much or too little, but just because it's a thing you say on these occasions). Nobody mentioned the latest Trump standard of 5% or bothered to consider that the more nations spend on war the more wars they get, or that -- even if that were not true, even if war spending prevented wars, as myth would have it -- the amount needed would have nothing to do with the size of an economy. Despite ever increasing military spending for many years, Senator Wicker opened the proceedings on Tuesday by promising more warmongering than ever and suggesting that civilian leadership of the military was a problem to be mitigated by putting a "war fighter" in charge. Hegseth let us know that there is no racism in the U.S. military, that every story of his public drunkenness and sexual abuse is a lie, and that -- contrary to everything he's said and written -- he thinks women should have a fair share of the slaughter. Accused of rejecting international law by Ranking Member Jack Reed, Hegseth opened by shredding the separation of church and state. Senator Kevin Cramer later told Hegseth that he had earned his support just by saying "Jesus Christ." (To which I immediately responded by screaming "Jesus Christ!") Reed, to his credit, asked about Hegseth's past support for pardoning war criminals. Hegseth, during the hearing, openly said that he wanted every last member of Hamas killed. Nobody objected in the least or asked whom he counted as members of Hamas. The most popular line of questioning was about women and their role in the military -- on which Hegseth conveniently reversed his traditional view. He claimed there was a conspiracy against him in the media. He avoided answering a lot of questions, and had refused to meet with all but one Democratic senator beforehand. Chairman Wicker refused to allow more than one round of questioning. The new Democratic Senator from Michigan Elissa Slotkin opened by bragging about having been in the CIA in Iraq helping to destroy that country. Then she asked whether Hegseth would disobey an illegal order (obviously she herself would not), and Hegseth refused to answer. She asked if he had discussed using the military domestically. He refused to answer except to refer to using it at the Mexican border, which seemed fine to her. So she asked if he would use the military for detentions, and he refused to answer. Hegseth frequently did promise to "return the Pentagon back to war fighting" and to establish a "warrior ethos." He said that last bit often enough to have made some big bucks if "Warrior Ethos" were a breakfast cereal that had hired him for advertising. What does he think the Pentagon has been doing? He claimed on Tuesday that Trump had changed the rules to allow more killing in Iraq, but also claimed that Trump had waged no wars, but also claimed that because of Biden he, Hegseth, would need to bring war-fighting back to the Pentagon. Did Hegseth cost past organizations a fortune? Did he suggest that leftists and Democrats are enemies of the state? Did he cheat on his wives? We knew all these answers going in and coming out. And why Senator Tim Kaine is so interested in Hegseth's wives is beyond me. The hearing added little. Senator Mazie Hirono did ask if Hegseth would refuse an order to shoot protesters in the legs (an idea Trump seems to get all the credit for despite Biden's fondness for it), or an order to invade Greenland or Panama. Hegseth notably refused to answer any of those questions. Fun times ahead, world! Duluth, Minnesota (OpEdNews) January 16, 2025: As I write today, American liberals and progressives have listened to President Joe Biden's sober nationally televised "Farewell Address" in which he praised our American experiment if representative democracy, did not mention Trump by name, and warned us about the tech oligarchy - a warning comparable to President Dwight Eisenhower's waring in his "Farewell Address" about the military-industrial complex. Now, American liberals and progressive are bracing ourselves for Trump's second term as the president of the United States. In the present essay, I have no new political advice to offer my fellow American liberals and progressive as to how to best prepare for the next four years with Trump once again the president of the United States. Rather, the present essay is categorized under the category of life arts, as are many of my recent OEN articles. However, I do not offer the present essay as some kind of distraction from the real dangers of oligarchy that President Biden warned us about in his "Farewell Address." In my estimate, the American men today who contribute the most to the dangers that President Biden warned us about are conservative American men - in short, they are not American liberals and progressives. Now, in the present essay, I address myself primarily to American liberal and progressive men as I write about what I refer to here as life arts. Now, in a recent series of seven OEN articles, I have drawn extensively of the thought of the late Jungian psychotherapist and psychological theorist Robert Moore (1942-2016; Ph.D. in religion and psychology, University of Chicago, 1976) of the Chicago Theological Seminary about the eight archetypes of maturity and their sixteen accompanying "shadow" forms. In my recent series of seven OEN articles in which I discussed Moore's thought (between September 17, 2024, and January 10, 2025), I have also discussed his thought in connection with mom-son fantasy skits in mom-son porn videos on the internet and in DVDs: (1) "Robert Moore on Optimal Human Psychological Development" (dated September 17, 2024). (2) "Thomas J. Farrell's Encore on Robert Moore" (dated October 10, 2024). (3) "Texas' War on Porn, and Robert Moore's Theory of the Archetypes of Maturity" (dated December 6, 2024). (4) "On Interpreting the Ubiquitous Mom-Son Porn on the Internet" (dated December 19, 2024). (5) "Some Reflections on the Work of C. G. Jung and Walter J. Ong" (dated December 28. 2024). (6) "Some Personal Reflections About Porn" (dated January 2, 2025). Next Page 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 (Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher). Anything going on next week? Oh, yeah. We're getting a new president. Are you planning on watching our first convicted felon president get inaugurated on Monday? You know what else Monday is, don't you? Martin Luther King Day. That's right-- "we're inaugurating a racist on a national holiday commemorating the revered civil rights icon. If someone were to write it, it would be too implausible to believe. But here we are. In case you're one of the growing throng planning to refuse to dignify the corporate media networks with more ratings Monday afternoon, there are things you can do to keep your blood pressure in check and fulfill the call to service to which Dr. King dedicated his life. First, Americorps offers many opportunities to volunteer delivering food to the food insecure and/or transportation limited, providing unhoused individuals with winter clothes, or donating hygiene products and clothing to local shelters. Also offering volunteer opportunities is the "Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change" (aka, "The King Center"). This year's theme is "Mission Possible: Protecting Freedom, Justice, and Democracy in the Spirit of Nonviolence." Teach for America has published an impressive list of "19 Resources and Ideas to Celebrate the MLK Day of Service," one of which is "Explore the Idealist website for volunteer tasks and other locally based volunteer opportunities." More suggested actions are to get involved with your local historical society or support the National Civil Rights Museum; or, locate a civil rights museum nearest you and pay it a visit. There are likely volunteer opportunities at it as well. The Civil Rights Project provides an alphabetical list of civil rights organizations. Even though the 2025 election season might seem like a lifetime away, parties are preparing now. This is the time period in which potential candidates for office begin reaching out to their local party committees for endorsements. So it's a perfect time to contact your local board of elections office and sign up to become an election worker, or help people register to vote. If a virtual approach you can do from home interests you, Catchafire offers those volunteer opportunities. Volunteer to transcribe historical documents through the Smithsonian Digital Volunteer program or the Library of Congress which offers a transcription program with "By the People," a volunteer endeavor designed to improve search, readability, and access to handwritten and typed documents, including the sight impaired. Next Page 1 | 2 (Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher). "Remember, democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. There never was a democracy yet that did not commit suicide." --John Adams, 1814 Barack Obama knew what was coming. During his first State of the Union Address in 2010, President Obama alerted the joint session of Congress of a Supreme Court decision a few days earlier that would in effect destroy democracy in our country. That ruling, on January 21, Citizens United vs. the FCC, gave America's wealthiest citizens the right to own American elections. The Supreme Court had just "reversed a century of law," Obaba said, "that I believe will open the floodgates for special interests -- including foreign corporations -- to spend without limit in our elections." It was then that conservative Justice Samuel Alito noticeably shook his head and muttered what appeared to be "not true." But President Obama was correct. What limited influence the average voter had disappeared in favor of the needs and desires of billionaires and big corporations. Does voting even matter? (Image by AEC images) Details DMCA Most Americans would be surprised to learn there is no limit on how much any one person can spend to support a presidential candidate. The Supreme Court decided that anyone can, in effect, spend unlimited amounts of money to help their favorite candidates. It's actually worse, as we will see shortly. There is a nominal spending limit for giving to presidential candidates--the Federal Election Commission in 2024 set the individual limit at $3,300 per person. Most Americans would consider that amount to be fair and reasonable. The Supreme Court thought otherwise. The Court, in its ultra-conservative wisdom, ruled that there shouldn't be any spending limit at all, as long as the money goes through Political Action Committees (PACs) and is not directly coordinated with candidates. America's powerful right-wing plutocracy was now able to use their enormous monetary advantage to blast out enough misinformation, confusion, and conspiracy theories to help enable a mentally unstable, sex-abusing felon and career grifter to become president of the United States---twice. The Democratic Party tried to take advantage of these new rules, of course, but couldn't compete with the Republicans. Democrats are a fair-minded, polite political party, hesitant to make major changes and upset political norms. The GOP has no such qualms. They are less interested in policies and compromise, and more concerned with ideology and greed. The key to attaining their goals was a Super PAC. A variation of a political action committee, a Super PAC may raise and spend unlimited amounts of money from corporations, unions, individuals, and associations to influence the outcome of elections. Most disturbing of all, supporters can easily avoid disclosure of their identity by reporting a non-disclosing nonprofit or shell company as the donor, what some call money laundering. Illegal foreign donations can also be covered up this way. It is now obvious that unlimited and anonymous money has replaced American democracy in the 21st century. I t is why Donald Trump will enjoy another term as president. Voters are inundated with pleas from candidates for $10 and $25 during election season, and feel good helping their office-seeker, while the world's richest person, Elon Musk, is probably laughing. He was able to give his preferred presidential choice, Donald Trump, more than $250 million, and he could have donated much more. All this combined with an archaic Constitutional voting system with an electoral college that allows candidates with lesser popular votes to win the presidency. By any definition, this is not democracy. The Democrats had the same opportunities as the GOP, but started from a position far behind their rival party. Starting in the 1970s, conservative, wealthy Republicans put in place strategies enabling them to drastically change the American political landscape to favor the right wing. Tobacco lawyer and soon-to-be Supreme Court Justice Lewis Powell was instrumental in planning this pro-business strategy with his 1971 "Powell Memo." In 1978 Justice Powell, writing the majority opinion in Bellotti, wrote that corporations had the same free speech rights as "people," i.e. no restrictions on campaign donations. There began a concerted effort to solidify a pro-business, right-wing ideology in multiple institutions. Large amounts of wealth jump-started conservative think tanks like the Heritage Foundation and American Enterprise Institute. Even though it took years to see profits, wealthy idealogues gladly sponsored conservative media, from television (Fox News) and right wing hate radio talk shows (Rush Limbaugh) to right-wing internet and social media sites. Powerful organizations and lobbies, especially the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) were instrumental in pushing this pro-big business point of view in Congress. Liberals watched helplessly, lacking wealthy patrons willing to spend money on unprofitable progressive causes. Air America talk radio folded when it couldn't make money, and left-leaning think tanks and social media didn't have the resources to compete with these powerful and motivated plutocrats. Ronald Reagan became president in 1981 and conservatism became more fashionable. Between 1980 and 1986 the U.S. had 13 billionaires, That number surged to 99 by 1990, thanks to favorable laws and tax rates. Today the number of billionaires exceeds 800. The entire GOP and some Democratic lawmakers have been essentially bought off by billionaires and big corporations, and make sure their wealthy donors get exactly what they pay for. Total spending on federal elections skyrocketed from millions to billions, much of it in "dark (untraceable) money." State elections helped put more Republicans in office, and the courts turned further to the right. American democracy in the 21st century? For all practical purposes, it doesn't exist. Will democracy ever return? It would be possible only if Americans were smart enough to allow public financing of elections. Private money corrupts elections, so public financing would be the best hope to restart democracy. Money should not affect elections. Public financing would be the last and only hope of regaining America's lost democracy. Kirill Ilinski, a Russian-born British scientist, is known for his unique contribution to finance through applying gauge theory, a concept borrowed from physics. This theory, traditionally used in understanding the fundamental forces of nature, was adapted by Ilinski to explain financial markets. His approach links the world of physics with economics, offering a new way to understand asset pricing and market behaviour. What is Gauge Theory? In physics, gauge theory is a framework used to explain how certain fields behave under different forces. It describes how particles interact with each other under forces like gravity and electromagnetism. Ilinski applied this concept to finance, particularly in understanding how asset prices change over time. He suggested that the movement of prices in the financial market could be understood in a similar way to how particles move in physical space. Applying Gauge Theory to Finance Ilinski's theory focuses on arbitrage, the practice of taking advantage of price differences in markets. In simple terms, arbitrage happens when an asset is priced differently in different markets, and traders can profit from this imbalance. According to Ilinski, this process is similar to the way forces act on objects in physical space. He proposed that financial markets are not always in equilibrium, meaning prices are not always balanced. Instead, markets experience fluctuations and inefficiencies, similar to how physical systems operate in non-equilibrium conditions. His model describes how these imbalances can be measured and understood using mathematical tools from gauge theory. Key Contributions Ilinski's work provides a new perspective on how prices change in financial markets. His theory connects financial arbitrage to the concept of "curvature" in differential geometry, a branch of mathematics. In his model, the movements of prices and assets are similar to the movement of objects in space, and arbitrage can be seen as a form of "curvature" in financial markets. Next Page 1 | 2 (Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher). A public letter to Congressman Jared Golden" of Maine, USA who voted with 243 Legislators to sanction the ICC: Your decision to vote in favor of sanctioning the International Criminal Court of Justice, (ICC) which had ordered Israel to take steps to prevent genocide in Gaza, was dismaying. This recent vote to sanction the ICC by Representatives of Congress erodes the ability of the high court to adhere to the principles of " International Humanitarian Law, whose purpose is the reduce suffering during war". The legislators passed this so-called "illegitimate Court Counteraction act" by a vote of 243-140, mostly supported by 198 Republican legislators. The question is why you, "as our Representative, felt it necessary to join in support of a far-right regime in the Israeli Knesset, led by a man who is roundly d"isliked by most citizens of Israel. The intent of the legislation was to sanction anyone who assists the ICC in its attempts"to prosecute a citizen of an allied country" (ie Israel). In this case, it involved posting arrest warrants for Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant for their leadership in promoting genocide in Gaza. Perhaps it would be to your benefit" to do some serious reading on the horrors taking place in Gaza, with 46,500 civilians having been killed, including 16,000 children, by Israel bombs, supplied by the U.S.. Several highly regarded Israeli historians have written about the plight of the Palestinians", which has now fallen upon extreme destitution, as most of their homes, hospitals and schools have been destroyed by a continual barrage of bombing. In addition, even many "temporary tents, inhabited by refugee families, have been bombed. The Israeli military (IDF) is being urged on by the extremist leadership in the Knesset in a process of "ethnic cleansing". Israeli historians have taken note of this attempt to exterminate a population, "including such well-known historians as Avi Shlaim, an Oxford University scholar raised in Israel who served with the IDF; Shlomo Sand who teaches in Tel Aviv University and has written books including "The Invention of the Jewish People"; Ilan Pappe, an historian teaching at Reading University in the UK who has written "The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine". Rep Golden, it appears that you are making decisions based on a very limited understanding of the history of Palestine. Are you aware that 5-6 million acres were expropriated from 750,000 Palestinians in 1947, forcing them into homelessness, and into becoming refugees, many having no choice but to move to Gaza. It is shameful that you take the part of a right -wing cabal, led by a man totally lacking in empathy, not only for the thousands of children being killed by the IDF bombing, but also, until recently, for his unwillingness to negotiate in good faith, for the release of Israeli "hostages. Next Page 1 | 2 (Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher). Steven Sahiounie, journalist and political commentator On January 13, the President of the International Court of Justice, Nawaf Salam, was designated Prime Minister of Lebanon by the newly elected President Joseph Aoun, after receiving the greatest support from among Lebanon's 128 members of Parliament. Hezbollah and its ally, the Amal Movement, did not vote along with their fellow members of Parliament, and had preferred the other candidate, caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati. On January 9, Joseph Aoun was elected by the Lebanese parliament to be President of Lebanon, an office that had laid vacant for two years. Aoun enjoys the support of the United States and Saudi Arabia, and his election marks a shift in the power balance since Hezbollah was severely degraded by Israel in the 2024 war. In his former role as commander of the Lebanese Army, Aoun played a critical role in the implementation of a US-brokered ceasefire deal between Israel and Hezbollah. Lebanon's constitution calls for the President to be a Maronite Christian, the President to be a Sunni Muslim, and the Speaker of the Parliament to be a Shiite. Nabih Berri, the head of the Amal Movement, has been the Speaker for decades. Judge Salam is outside of the ruling class, as is Aoun. Members of Parliament voting for the position of the Prime Minister voiced wanting to see a new type of office holder in Lebanon, one which is not weighted down by the baggage of past history. The 2019 crisis in Lebanon has been blamed on the wealthy ruling elite who have been accused of systematic corruption. On January 12, Israel carried out air strikes in Lebanon, targeting areas in the east and south, with the Israeli military saying it hit Hezbollah targets including smuggling routes along the border with Syria. The airstrikes come during a fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, which came into effect on November 27, 2024. On December 8, 2024, Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad fled to Moscow along with his relatives and billions of dollars of public funds accumulated over 24 years of corruption. While the Syrian people cheered his ouster, Hezbollah and Iran were dealt a severe blow, as he was their ally and used Syria as the transit hub of Iranian smuggled weapons to Lebanon. Hezbollah finds itself in a weakened state, having suffered from months of airstrikes, targeted assassinations, and a ground invasion. The loss of Syria's Assad cannot be overly emphasized, as he had allowed Iran and Hezbollah free rein in Syria for years in exchange for personal protection. Saudi Arabia has reemerged as a political influence in Lebanon after Iran has been pushed out. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman sent his emissary, Prince Yazid Bin Farahan, to Beirut shortly before Aoun was elected President. Saudi-Lebanese tensions began after the 2005 assassination of Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, who was a Saudi-Lebanese dual citizen. Recently, the cousin of Asma, the wife of Bashar al-Assad, said in an interview from Beirut that Assad ordered the Hariri murder. The United Arab Emirate's President, His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, sent a high-level delegation to Beirut to prepare to reopen the UAE embassy in Beirut. The delegation announced UAE's unwavering position toward Lebanon's unity, national sovereignty, and territorial integrity. In 2019, Lebanon plunged into a financial and social crisis after violent street protests erupted across the country. Protesters accused the wealthy ruling elite of corruption after the banks closed and the Lebanese Lira began its decent downwards. This crisis pitted the poor and the working-poor against the small segment of the mega-wealthy in Lebanon, who traditionally control the government and its functions. Riad Salameh was governor of Lebanon's central bank, Banque du Liban, from April 1993 until July 2023. He is the most prominent face of the corrupt 'political gang' in Lebanon. In September 2024 he was arrested, accused of embezzling $330 million from the financially stricken country. He is alleged to have siphoned the funds into Europe and the US, while using girl friends and relatives in his corrupt scheme. His vast real estate empire across Europe has been seized by the judiciary for a total value of about $92 million. European banks allowed about $100 million of suspicious funds to flow through Luxembourg-based companies used by Salameh to funnel funds out of Lebanon. Next Page 1 | 2 (Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher). Steven Sahiounie, journalist and political commentator Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promised to change the map of the Middle East, and he has been successful in his stated goal. The Middle East has been changed forever in the time period from October 7, 2023 to the end of December 2024. US Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, in the summer of 2006 in Beirut, delivered a similar promise of a 'New Middle East' as the US assisted and supported Israel in their attack on Hezbollah, the Lebanese resistance militia backed by Iran. Israel lost that war, and was unable to invade the south of Lebanon, or degrade the Hezbollah leadership, or military capability. In the time period between the end of summer 2006 and October 7, 2023, Hezbollah was able to amass a huge arsenal of weapons, and recruit and train commandos. The weaponry was domestically made, or smuggled from Iran via land and air coordinated with the Assad regime in Syria and their Iranian partners. Prior to October 2023, Hezbollah was said by analysts to be on parity with Israel concerning weapons. Netanyahu took office on December 29, 2022, and promised he would deliver two goals during his term. His first goal was to expand the Jewish settlements in the West Bank, which are seen as illegal by international law, and the second goal was to sign a normalization agreement with Saudi Arabia. Netanyahu is kept in office by a religious extremist coalition which have expanded the illegal settlements, and have supported officially sanctioned brutality directed at Palestinians living under occupation in the West Bank. On September 22, 2023, Netanyahu declared, "I believe that we are at the cusp of an even more dramatic breakthrough: an historic peace with Saudi Arabia." Netanyahu had addressed the UN General Assembly and held up his map titled "The New Middle East." On October 7, 2023 Hamas, and other armed Palestinian resistance groups, carried out a large-scale attack on Israel killing and taking hostages to Gaza. In retaliation, Israel launched a huge attack on Gaza which has taken over 40,000 lives, mostly women and children, and is ongoing. In solidarity with the Palestinians, Hezbollah began attacking Israel on October 8 which resulted in significant deaths and property damage inside Israel until a ceasefire went into effect on November 26, 2024. On July 19, 2024, the International Court of Justice ruled that the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories, and the Jewish settlements, were all illegal under international law. The Middle East will remain in crisis until the Palestinian people are free. With the current Netanyahu government, and the US government always subservient to Israel, hopes are dim for a peaceful Middle East, regardless of normalization treaties, or flimsy Band-Aids. By August 9, 2024 the US Biden administration was still holding on to hope for the possibility of an Israeli-Saudi agreement, which the US President Joe Biden saw as a strategic accomplishment for his time in office, but by September 18, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman stated his Kingdom would not normalize relations with Israel until the Palestinian people entered into the two-state solution called for by the UN, US and the international community. On September 17, 2024, pagers began exploding across Lebanon and Syria. Later, Netanyahu admitted he had ordered the covert operation, despite criticisms from some of his cabinet who disapproved. As a result, 39 died and 3,400 were injured. This attack took out many of the upper echelon of Hezbollah leaders and commandos. The next day a similar attack occurred among those using walkie-talkies. Netanyahu had killed or maimed many of the key actors in Hezbollah without an invasion, or firing a shot. This covert attack shook Hezbollah and its operatives to the core, and signaled the beginning of the degrading of the threat of Hezbollah. Just 10 days later, on September 27, another death blow was delivered when Israel targeted and killed Hezbollah's charismatic leader, Hassan Nasrallah, who had been the face of resistance since 1992. While the ideology of resistance to occupation can never be eliminated until the Palestinians have their own land, the loss of Nasrallah can never be under estimated. On September 30, Israel began a ground invasion of Lebanon from the south. The remaining Hezbollah commandos continued to put up a fight, and the invasion was very difficult for the Israeli military. They lost many personnel, vehicles and tanks. All during this period, Israel had carried out devastating airstrikes across Lebanon, and concentrated on the southern portion of Beirut which was home to Shiites, Hezbollah operatives, and supporters. Israel successfully degraded the weapon storages and commandos on the ground. In a weakened position, Hezbollah agreed to a ceasefire which began on November 26 and is currently holding. While the ceasefire agrees to plans for Israel to leave Lebanese territory, they have not, and perhaps will not in the future. Netanyahu promised the Jews living in the north of Israel they could go home and be safe, and he has delivered on that promise. Gaza is in ruins, resembling the aftermath of a carpet-bombing campaign, and Hamas leadership are killed, while commandos and weaponry are degraded. Lebanon's south looks similar to Gaza after the Israeli bombings, and Hezbollah is at its weakest point. With two victories under his belt, Netanyahu next turned his attention to Syria, part of the axis of resistance along with Iran, and Hezbollah. With the White House is flying on auto-pilot after the Trump election win, Netanyahu knew he must strike while the iron is hot. He could not afford to miss the historical opportunity to knock out Gaza, Hezbollah and Syria all in a trifecta. On December 8, the Syrian dictator, President Bashar al-Assad, fled Damascus for asylum in Moscow. In less than two weeks, the Islamist armed group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), commanded by Abu Mohammed al-Jolani of Idlib, had taken Aleppo, Hama, Homs and Damascus almost without a battle. With just 35,000 armed troops, HTS liberated Syria from the corrupt Assad regime. The Syrian Arab Army fell like a house of cards after an international deal was made, and implemented with multiple moving parts. Assad, his family of blood-sucking criminals, Hezbollah, and the Iranians all fled the scene in a panic. The Russians left slowly, and might be back depending on new deals pending. Next Page 1 | 2 (Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher). John Winthrop 17th cent. American Antiquarian Society portrait. (Image by Wikipedia (commons.wikimedia.org), Author: Unknown author Unknown author ; when donated to the AAS, it was thought to be by a follower of Anthony van Dyck; Appletons' Cyclopdia of American Biography (1889, v.6, facing p. 572) attributes it to van Dyck.) Details Source DMCA Part Three: Violent English Settler Colonialism in North America up to the Revolution and Founding of the United States Part A: Puritan New England Today, a shameless serial liar, sexual predator, ignoramus, grifter, convicted felon, and anti-immigrant lout will be inaugurated as the 47th President of the United States (POTUS). I will not refer to him as such. Instead, he always will remain the LOTUS, "Lowlife of the United States". Having just completed a brief review of the history of the Puritans of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century New England, I'm convinced that neither the 47th president nor his supporters would have been permitted to live there. They actually sent people packing. Whereas Part Two of this article examined the violent Spanish invasion and looting of the Americas in the sixteenth century, Part Three examines a similar invasion and looting by the English, commencing in the seventeenth century. Their genocidal settler colonialism, inspired by insatiable greed for land, would eventually sweep across our country. As Alan Taylor writes, in American Colonies: The Settling of North America (Penguin, 2001), "From the start, the English subtly differed from the French and the Spanish in a greater readiness to detect fundamental difference in color and to share some political rights with common 'white' people. In the colonies, that difference grew stronger over the generations as British America developed an especially polarized conception of race in tandem with greater political power for common whites. Unlike the French and the Spanish, the British colonies relied in war primarily on local militias of common people, rather than professional troops. That increased the political leverage of common men as it involved them in frequent conflicts with Indians and in patrolling the slave population. In those roles, the ethnically diverse militiamen found a shared identity as white men by asserting their superiority. defined against Indians and Africans conveniently cast as brutish inferiors. To avoid alienating the militiamen, British colonial elites gradually accepted a white racial solidarity based upon subordinating 'blacks' and 'reds'" (Taylor, p. xiii). Sixteenth century England had solidified its dehumanized Christian White supremacy by contrasting it with the non-white "other." David M. Goldenberg, writing in his book, The Curse of Ham: Race and Slavery in Early Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, (Princeton, 2003), credits Kim Hall for identifying this process. He writes, "I referred earlier to Kim Hall's study that showed how the colors black and white 'became in the early modern period the conduit through which the English began to formulate the notions of "self" and "other."' It wasn't a recognition of color difference, or even an ethnocentric preference, that was new in sixteenth-century England. It was the appropriation of these differences to support a racial ideology." Further quoting Hall, Goldenberg adds, "Traditional terms of aesthetic discrimination and Christian dogma became infused with ideas of Africa and African servitude" (Goldenberg, p. 199, citing Kim F. Hall, Things of Darkness: Economies of Race and Gender in Early Modern England, Cornell, 1995, p.4). The English also acquired these prejudices from their earlier centuries-long brutal and inhumane treatment of the so-called inferior Irish, who they repeatedly assaulted and colonized. As Jane Ohlmeyer writes in "How Ireland served as a laboratory for the British Empire" (Trinity College, 31 December 2023), "England first invaded Ireland in 1169." "During the Nine Years War (1594-1603) English forces used scorched earth tactics and starvation to secure submission. Roughly 20 percent of the Irish population died during the war of the 1640s".Eyewitness accounts (known and the '1641 Depositions') recorded the brutal assaults, stripping, torture, rape and reproductive violations inflicted on women." In the 17th century, when the English began to settle America, Thomas Hobbes and other Anglo thinkers developed the concept of "confident ascendency," an unfounded conceit, given the cultural superiority of the Aztec and Inca civilizations, that Europe and Europeans were superior to Indigenous peoples, "to justify Indigenous dispossession and replacement" (Born in Blood: Violence and the Making of America, Scott Gac, Cambridge, 2024, p. 4). The objective was to replace Indians with lower class English white supremacists. It's now called "Settler colonialism." And, as Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz has demonstrated, in her book, An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States, (Beacon, 2014), "Settler colonialism is inherently genocidal in terms of the genocide convention" (Kindle location 288). The English reflexively considered themselves racially superior to Indians and Blacks. But, as Bernard Bailyn notes in his book, The Barbarous Years: The Peopling of British North America: The Conflict of Civilizations, 1600-1675, Knopf, 2002, the English were every bit as barbarous. "Ordinary crimes were punished by public floggings that could be severe, and those convicted of treason and some felonies were hanged before large and enthusiastic crowds, cut down while still alive, disemboweled, castrated, beheaded, and hacked into quarters for display" (Bailyn, p. 41). If this sounds like the Jim Crow American South, centuries later, when little girls would come straight from church to marvel in amusement at the lynching, roasting, and dismemberment of Blacks, simply remember that these were the type of English settlers who came to dominate North America. Commenting further about these supposedly superior people, Bailyn adds: "Women were not mutilated, but for heresy, treason, or killing husband or master, they could be burned at the stake, though compassionate executioners might strangle them before lighting the fire. And some of the most serious offenders were broken on the wheel - that is spread-eagled in public spectacles, their bones smashed, their bodies eviscerated before final execution, their heads and quartered bodies displayed prominently in public places" (Ibid). In the Massachusett language, the territory of the New England shore was named Dawnland, and the Indians living there considered themselves "People of the First Light" (1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus, Charles C. Mann, Vintage, 2011, p. 43). "Sixteenth-century New England housed 100,000 people or more, a figure that was slowly increasing. Most of the people lived in shoreline communities, where rising numbers were beginning to change agriculture from an option to a necessity" (Ibid., p. 48). Nevertheless, "In the last decades of the sixteenth century, in the years just preceding the first English settlements, measles, smallpox, and other virulent diseases were beginning to sweep through the most exposed groups and were carried by them into the interior" (Bailyn, p. 30). Such facts would have been beside the point to renowned writer, Richard Haklyut the younger, who, in 1584, attempted to persuade Queen Elizabeth I and her advisors to colonize America. His "Discourse of Western Planting" was pure propaganda, but contained elitist cultural concepts that would guide English colonialism. First was his generally accepted assumption that America was a wasteland. Next Page 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 (Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher). Malaysias second 5G operator U Mobile reportedly intends to complete the rollout its 5G network by mid-2026, and says it wont need to partner with other operators to do it. According to a report from The Edge Malaysia, U Mobile chairman Vincent Tan told a media briefing that the telco which is tasked with deploying the countrys second wholesale 5G network to compete with Digital Nasional Berhad (DNB) will roll out the 5G network over the next 15-18 months. Tan also said denied industry analyst comments that U Mobile would struggle to roll out the network all by itself, saying U Mobile has the experience and the funding it needs to get the job done, the report said. Tans comments came after Hong Leong Investment Bank said in a research note last week that the 5G deployment will be an uphill task for U Mobile considering its size and financials unless it finds a partner or considers a merger. A research note from Kenanga Research said likewise, saying that CelcomDigi or Maxis would be viable partners to consider, the report added. Concerns about U Mobiles financials are nothing new analysts made similar observations shortly after the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) named U Mobile as the countrys second 5G operator last November. Last week, U Mobile signed a MoU with CIMB Bank to extend financing support for its 5G network rollout. Tan also said U Mobile is looking at Huawei or ZTE as potential vendor partners for the network. They will be supplying the 5G equipment and provide financing, he said. Meanwhile, Tan confirmed that U Mobile is still looking at an IPO as a fundraising option to be launched by the end of 2025, the report added. We hope to submit the proposal by the next few months and be listed on Bursa Malaysia by the end of this year, he said. Tan said it was too early to say how much money the IPO would pull in. However, when reports of a U Mobile IPO emerged in July 2024, Reuters said the listing could raise more than US$500 million, although that was on the assumption that the telco would file its IPO application the following month, which it didnt. U Mobile has had IPO ambitions as far back as 2016. (Image by public domain) Details DMCA Although a number of US cities have passed legislation which seeks to regulate or limit the use of increasingly controversial Facial Recognition Technology (FRT,) progressive Portland, Oregon has passed the toughest laws in the nation, outright banning its use by any city agency including police, and it's use in public-facing public accommodations. Public accommodations are any business that is open to the general public as a matter of routine business. Boston, San Francisco, and Oakland are other cities also have passed ordinances governing FRT, but the laws are relatively weak and often merely direct city departments not to abuse the technology. Portland takes the position that the technology is inherently at odds with human freedom and equal treatment under the law. Some argue that AI Facial Recognition street cameras are inherently unconstitutional, because this constitutes a 24/7 search. The US Constitution guarantees that searches many be performed only on probable cause and/or with a warrant. Evidence obtained by illegal search must be thrown out, even if it uncovers a crime. As in China, AI Facial Recognition can constantly match people on the street or in stores with their identities, and track and store their movements into a massive AI database. AI-driven facial recognition technology is also increasingly used by police to attempt to identify culprits in crimes, by running faces against massive databases of anyone whose facial data has been by either governments or third party vendors. Racist Algorithms Facial recognition algorithms used in this technology have become highly controversial for their clear and consistent bias against people of color, who have repeatedly been wrongly identified by the computers as the perpetrators of a crime. This month a man filed a lawsuit in a case in which he was wrongly arrested for the robbery of a Sunglass Hut in Houston in 2022, based on an FRT match. He was thrown in jail, gang raped, then released with all charges dismissed. The man in the Houston case is Harvey Eugene Murphy Jr., who was arrested after FRT had made a match. Anytime someone posts his or her picture online, or submits to a "video selfie" of the kind states and the US government is asking for in order to "verify identity," the images are likely to wind up in a massive database of the kind Mr. Murphy was in. Many states are "partnering" with third party vendors such as ID.me. In an explosive January 15, 2025 Washington Post article on the inherent dangers of using facial recognition in law enforcement, the Post writes: "We've seen this before. Many times. Galtin and Vernau join a growing list of those known to have been wrongfully arrested around the United States based on police use of face recognition. They include Michael Oliver, Nijeer Parks, Randal Reid, Alonzo Sawyer, Robert Williams, and Porcha Woodruff. It is no coincidence that all six of these people, and now adding Christopher Galtin to that list, are Black." In 2020 Boston passed a ban on the city's use of FRT, citing an MIT Media Lab study which showed that darker-skinned women are nearly 35% more likely to be misidentified by facial recognition technology than lighter-skinned white men. The ordinance was passed unanimously and authored by now-Boston-Mayor Michelle Wu. Next Page 1 | 2 | 3 (Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher). While finishing this Substack, I learned about the explosive fire that started January 16, 2025 at Moss Landing, California's Vistra Power Plant, the world's largest battery energy storage facility, housing tens of thousands of lithium-ion batteries. By Friday, January 17, flames had consumed 75% of the facility's batteries. Toxic fumes from the batteries' chemicals forced evacuations and closed roads around Moss Landing. Because the highly-charged batteries can't be extinguished-- they must burn out-- this fire and its toxins could burn for a long time. Batteries' toxic gases can cause respiratory, skin and eye problems. Toxic gases from burning lithium-ion batteries can contaminate wildlife such as Monterey Bay's unique tidal wetland. This is the fourth fire at the Moss Landing battery storage facility. Referring to last week's explosive fire, County Supervisor Glenn Church said, "This is a wake-up call for the industry. If we're going to move ahead with sustainable energy, we need a safe battery system in place. State-of-the-art safety protocols did not work." County officials lifted evacuation orders Friday evening after the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency found "no threat to human health". Still, Highway 1 remains closed, and health officials in Monterey, San Venito and Santa Cruz counties advise residents to stay indoors, turn off ventilation systems and limit outdoor exposure. www.ksbw.com provides live updates. WILDFIRES AND URBAN FIRES When the Los Angeles fires started January 7, I learned about the differences between wild and urban fires. Wildfires occur in forests or grasslands, fueled by trees or other vegetation. More than 80% of wildfires start by human activities like abandoned cigarettes, campfires and barbeques. Wildfire smoke can penetrate deep into peoples' lungs and aggravate heart and lung diseases. Urban fires-- conflagrations-- are fueled by combustible construction materials including wood framing, plastics, metals, furniture fabric and solar panels (hazardous waste). Because of houses' flammable contents, urban fires burn extremely hot and generate toxic emissions. High winds and insufficient water supply intensify urban fires. Burning houses emit chemical toxins and generate more heat than burning trees (which, if alive, hold fire-resistant moisture). While powerlines and transformers are designed to withstand wind speeds up to 56mph, some gusts in the LA fires exceeded 100mph. INCLUDING LITHIUM-ION BATTERIES IN FIRE RISK ASSESSMENTS Here's a question: How do lithium-ion batteries contribute to urban fires? Like much of the world, Southern California is now dotted with lithium batteries at every telecom cell site (for backup in the event of a power outage); in every electric vehicle, e-bike and hoverboard; in every EV charger; in laptops, tablets and smartphones-- and their chargers; in smart utility meters on grid-connected houses and buildings; in off-grid rooftop solar PV systems' batteries; in battery energy storage systems (BESS) for large-scale solar facilities and wind facilities. That's a lot of lithium-ion batteries. Next Page 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 (Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher). Six Ways to Bring Manufacturing Back and Stop Them From Leaving the Country By Joel D. Joseph, Founder, Made in the USA Foundation During first term in office, President Trump lost U.S. manufacturing jobs. Outlined below is a roadmap to create jobs in the United States and stop them from leaving. 1. Require the Army and Navy PXs to Buy American This is the easiest way to create jobs in the United States. We the people own thousands of Army and Navy stores across the United States. Unfortunately, these stores buy and sell mostly imported products. The President can require AAFES (Army & Air Force Exchange Service) and NEXCOM, (the Naval Exchange Service Command) to buy American. These stores now import billions of dollars-worth of clothing and other products. During President Trump's first term, I asked Peter Navarro, Trump's Made in the USA czar, to do this. Navarro's reply was that he was unable to do do so. This is the easiest way for Trump to create more than 100,000 manufacturing jobs in U.S. Walmart creates thousands of manufacturing jobs by buying American-made products. For example, Walmart has worked with American Giant, a large T-shirt and sweatshirt manufacturer to produce modestly-priced clothing for Walmart stores. If Walmart can do it, so can AAFES and NEXCOM. The Navy Exchange Service Command reported annual sales of $2.3 billion in 2023 with a profit of $45 million. The Army & Air Force Exchange Service reported $8.5 billion in revenue for the fiscal year 2022. 2. Reduce Income Taxes for Domestic Manufacturers If a company manufacturers 100 percent of its products in the USA, it should not have to pay a federal income tax. Very few companies do this as most products contain some foreign content. We can implement a sliding scale for USA manufacturers, depending on how much of their products are made in the United States. If a company produces one half of its goods in the United States, it would pay income tax at half the rate of other corporations. This would encourage companies to increase the domestic content of their products. 3. Modify the WARN Act to Require Closing Factories to Offer the Factory for Sale to Domestic Entities The WARN Act (Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act of 1988) currently requires companies that plan to close factories to give notice. This federal law should be modified to require factories that plan to close to offer the factory for sale to its hometown or to its employees. The law should also provide funding for saving factories. Many factories close in this country without giving their workers and their hometowns the chance to keep the factory in business. Next Page 1 | 2 (Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher). Our leaders lied to us about Korea. They lied about Vietnam. They lied about Kosovo. Professor Jeffrey Sachs: "In 1999, we bombed Belgrade for 78 days. The point of that was to break Serbia in two, to create a new state, Kosovo, where we have the largest NATO military base in southeast Europe." They lied about Afghanistan. They lied about Iraq. They lied about Libya. They lied about Syria. They're lying about Gaza. They're lying about the need for war with China. They're lying about Ukraine. Professor John Mearsheimer: "Putin did not want this war. He went to great lengths before February 24, 2022, when the war started, to head it off at the pass. He wanted to come up with a diplomatic solution. And then shortly after the war broke out in February, he was negotiating with the Ukrainians to work out a deal. All he really cared about, it's quite clear from all of the reports of the people who were involved in the discussions, was he wanted a neutral Ukraine. And if he'd gotten a neutral Ukraine, this is right after the war started, I believe there's a good chance the war could have been shut down. But it was the Americans and the British who moved in and basically told Zelensky that he had to walk away from the negotiations. Because we believed that we could win the war." Why should we believe them, when they say we have to spend so much money on the military? When they say " that we can't afford a decent life here in America, for Americans. When they say " that you and I don't deserve, our fair share of our nation's vast wealth. Next Page 1 | 2 (Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher). This article originally appeared at TomDispatch.com. To receive TomDispatch in your inbox three times a week, click here. From its very first moments, this country was a nation of immigrants. In fact, Native Americans aside, what could the first settlers in North America, no less the "first" Americans, have been but immigrants? And who in this country can't trace his or her roots somewhere in the past, recent or distant, to immigrants? My own grandfather was born in what's now Ukraine and, after many adventures, arrived in this country from Germany in the early 1890s with the equivalent of 50 cents in his pocket. Donald Trump's grandfather, "a 16-year-old German barber, bought a one-way ticket for America, escaping three years of compulsory German military service. He had been a sickly child, unsuited to hard labor, and feared the effects of the draft. It might have been illegal, but America didn't care about this law-breaking -- at that time, Germans were seen as highly desirable migrants -- and Trump was welcomed with open arms." Had Donald Trump been president back then, it seems that he would, in essence, have tossed his own grandfather out of the country. Of course, this is the man who, running for office in 2024, threatened to "carry out the largest domestic deportation operation in American history." This is the man who, once again president, has labeled the present immigration situation "an invasion of our country" and has threatened to declare a national emergency, using the National Guard and the military to handle mass deportations of "illegal" immigrants and -- before he's done -- who knows who else. "On Day One," as he put it, "I will launch the largest deportation program in American history to get the criminals out." (Of course, Defense Department officials have already privately called such a program "unrealistic and unserious," or simply "insanity," but who cares about their opinions? Not Donald Trump, that's for sure.) But here's something that neither our next president nor anyone else I know of has even suggested: that our military forces are, in their own strange way, migrants (and, if you think about it, given this country's grim Global War on Terror, in much of the world distinctly illegal ones at that). With that in mind, let TomDispatch regular Andrea Mazzarino who, as a military spouse, has seen the migrant life of American forces in an up-close-and-personal fashion, introduce you to the other "migrants" in America. Tom American Troops as Migrants Or Launching a War on America Itself By Andrea Mazzarino This country, once a haven for immigrants, is now on the verge of turning into a first-class nightmare for them. President Donald Trump often speaks of his plan to deport some 11.7 million undocumented immigrants from the United States as "the largest domestic deportation operation in American history." Depending on how closely he follows the Project 2025 policy blueprint of his allies, his administration may also begin deporting the family members of migrants and asylum seekers in vast numbers. Among the possible ways such planning may not work out, here's one thing Donald Trump and the rest of the MAGA crowd don't recognize: the troops they plan to rely on to carry out the deportations of potentially millions of people are, in their own way, also migrants. After all, on average, they move from place to place every two and a half years -- more if you count the rapid post-9/11 deployments and the Global War on Terror that followed, often separating families multiple times during each soldier's tour of duty. Soldiers, sailors, and airmen know what it means to be out of place in a new community or in a country not their own. President Trump and his crew are counting on our armed forces being able to live with forcibly taking people from their homes and separating families right here in the United States, an experience that many of them are all too familiar with. As a military spouse myself, I wonder how amenable they will be to the kinds of orders many Americans can already see coming their way. An Uncertain Future Donald Trump's goals have been outlined in countless campaign speeches, rallies, and press conferences, as well as in Project 2025. According to Tara Watson and Jonathon Zars of the Brookings Institution, his administration could, in fact, do a number of different things when it comes to immigrants. One possibility would be to launch a series of high-profile mass deportation events in which the military would collaborate with federal, state, and local law enforcement, instead of leaving such tasks to Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the agencies typically responsible for managing migration. To do so, the federal government would have to expand its powers over local and state jurisdictions, including by imposing stiff penalties on sanctuary cities, where local officials have been instructed not to inquire about people's immigration status or implement federal deportation orders. Watson and Zars assume that the policies of the second Trump administration will impact a number of other vulnerable groups as well. For example, about four to five million people with temporary parole status (TPS) or a notice to appear in immigration court are seeking asylum, having fled political persecution or humanitarian disasters in their home countries. Millions of them would (at least theoretically) have to return to the situations they fled because the new administration may not grant their petitions. It could even try to repeal TPS for the approximately 850,000 individuals who already have it. It might also reinstitute the "remain in Mexico" policy last in place in 2019, which required Central and South Americans requesting asylum to wait on the Mexican side of our southern border -- a measure the Biden administration repealed due to significant safety concerns. Also at risk would be the two-year grace period granted to approximately half a million people from war-torn or politically unstable countries like Haiti, Ukraine, and Venezuela, while new people would probably no longer be admitted under that program and asylum might be denied to those caught up in this country's backlogged immigration courts. Additionally, President Trump could try again to end Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, a protected status that now covers more than half a million young people who came to this country as kids. His administration would also undoubtedly slow-walk legal paths to immigration, like the granting of student and work visas to people from China, and could institute policies that would make it ever more difficult for immigrants to access services like Medicaid and public education. His divisive rhetoric around immigrants, calling them "vermin" who are "poisoning the blood of this country," has already created a climate of fear for many migrants. A Merging of Powers Next Page 1 | 2 | 3 (Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher). cosford by nigelrenny Attribution-ShareAlike License (Image by nigelrenny) Details DMCA Trump's 2nd Inauguration on Martin Luther King's Birthday - Both Spoke Against U.S. Regime Change Wars. by jay janson Noting a Coincidence As it turned out, Trump's 2nd Inauguration as President of the United States of America falls on Martin Luther King's birthday, a federal holiday (King being the only American to be presently so honoured). Interestingly, both had spoken against U.S. regime change wars, but whereas King paid for his outspoken condemnation of America's atrocity wars with his life, Trump, though initially denouncing the regime change wars as money better spent at home, once in office, seemed to have dutifully served the deep state industrial military complex in its wars and violent foreign policies just as every other U.S. president since Franklin Roosevelt. On April 5, 1967, newspapers all around the world headlined in large bold print "KING CALLS US GOV GREATEST PURVEYOR OF VIOLENCE IN WORLD during a sermon in New York City." One year later, on 4 April 1968, Martin Luther King was shot dead and a nationwide wave of riots erupted in more than 100 cities. A 1999 civil trial found that Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination was part of a national conspiracy. The jury found that government agencies, were involved in the assassination. During his first campaign for president, Donald Trump publicly expressed opposition to U.S. involvement in regime change wars. During his 2016 presidential campaign, he frequently criticized past U.S. military interventions in countries like Iraq, Libya, and Syria, arguing that they were costly, destabilizing, and not in the best interests of the United States. Trump's rhetoric often emphasized prioritizing domestic issues over foreign interventions. However, in spite of his having spoken out against regime change wars, once in office, his administration's actions-- such as increased sanctions, military strikes (e.g., in Syria), and his approach toward Iran and Venezuela-- were inconsistent with his stance while a presidential candidate. This contradiction is an expected manifestation of the present and past deep state control over any and all U.S. presidents. Ergo, maybe not expect any transition toward peaceful diplomacy, and not be surprised if there are more assassinations during U.S.A.'s continuing hegemonic military imperialism. It has become known that global defense spending surged by 9% to an unprecedented $2.2 trillion in the past year, as reported by the British military think tank, the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS). This increase is attributed to various global conflicts, including Israel's war on Gaza, ongoing tensions in Ukraine, and escalating concerns in the Indo-Pacific region. Amidst this "era of insecurity," there's a notable shift in the global defense-industrial sector, with the US and European nations significantly increasing their production of military hardware, including missiles and ammunition, to address the chronic underinvestment of previous decades. The defense industry's boom underscores a wider economic narrative where geopolitical conflicts inadvertently fuel industrial growth. European spending on US military hardware is described as "a generational-type investment," with recent years' expenditure matching the total of the previous two decades. Beyond immediate defense sector gains, the conflict and subsequent US aid to Ukraine are reshaping global economic landscapes. From surging LNG exports to Europe to increased foreign direct investment in the US, the war's economic implications are vast, albeit with a nuanced impact on national employment and income levels, the WSJ report said. Statistics from previous armed conflicts in the world demonstrated that only the American military industry can save the US economy. The fact is that in the post-war period the United States emerged from the war as the main beneficiary. Labor productivity in the United States increased sharply during the war period, and the GDP growth rate was a record 15-17% per year in 1941-1944, and with the end of the war in 1945, the GDP growth rate began to fall. As soon as the war ended, the arms supplies ended, because the US supplied weapons both to fascism and to the Soviet Union under Lend-Lease. Thus, totaling $11.3 billion, or $180 billion in today's currency, the Lend-Lease Act of the United States supplied needed goods to the Soviet Union from 1941 to 1945. The war ended, and the rate of economic growth ended. And when there was a war in Korea, the US had 8% GDP growth, not bad either. By 1950, the US gross domestic product was 50% of the world's total. Nowadays nothing has changed. The war in Ukraine has sharply increased demand for American weapons, with exports rising to a record $238 billion in 2023, according to the State Department report. The State Department summary said that the volume of arms deals, as well as military equipment and services, which the U.S. government had concluded with the governments of other countries increased especially strongly in FY2023. Their total value increased by 56%, to $81 billion. The remaining $157.5 billion came from direct sales by American defense companies to their customers. Their volume also increased by 2.5% compared to FY2022. American weapons and military equipment are also being purchased outside of Europe. The US administration even does not try to hide the fact that military aid to Ukraine, among other things, contributes to the growth of the US economy itself. Ukrainian war provides American military industry with new orders. Some of these orders are directly related to supplies to Ukraine, and some come from countries that have decided to completely or partially abandon Russian suppliers. So, American aid to Ukraine and European rearmament flow back to the US defense industrial base. In the two years since the beginning of war in Ukraine, the U.S. defense industry has experienced a boom in orders for weapons and munitions. Business is coming from European allies trying to build out their military capabilities as well as from the Pentagon, which is both buying new equipment from defense manufacturers and replenishing military stocks depleted by deliveries to Ukraine. As one of the main weapon manufacturer the US once again is the key beneficiary from wars and conflicts in the world. "I do believe that the public should have a part in the evaluation of the superintendent." - Scott Schmerelson Superintendent Carvalho addresses the District on the first night of the fire crisis (Image by LAUSD) Details DMCA With continued red flag warnings keeping Angelenos on edge, the ongoing crisis has greatly affected the country's largest democratically controlled school district. Palisades Charter Elementary and Marquez Charter Elementary were destroyed, other schools are in areas still affected by mandatory evacuations, and poor air quality plagues the entire region. With criticism of his handling of the crisis mounting, LAUSD Superintendent Alberto Carvalho was given time during the January 14, 2025 Board meeting to address concerns. He admitted that plans in place to handle this type of disaster "failed to work adequately" and blamed the problem on the data not matching the conditions on the ground. According to Carvalho, the decision to keep schools open was based on conditions on Tuesday night and these conditions had deteriorated significantly by Wednesday morning. Clueless: A writing prompt provided for an online lesson for students of a school closed by mandatory evacuations (Image by LAUSD) Details DMCA It is hard to believe that decisions affecting the safety of the district's students were made by staring at data instead of getting a feel for conditions on the ground. As Carvalho was announcing that schools would remain open on Wednesday, hurricane-force winds were blowing throughout the city and many areas were without power. He says that the decision was made based on one fire burning, the one in the Pacific Palisades, but by 6:30 PM another had started in Altadena and soon turned into a conflagration. By 10:30 PM there was also another major fire burning in Sylmar, placing large areas of the northern San Fernando Valley in danger of requiring evacuation. The LAUSD School Board was scheduled to evaluate the Superintendent's performance at their meeting on January 15th. It is assumed that the failures in leadership were included in this assessment, but we will never know for sure because it was conducted in a closed session. Before the elected Board Members retreated behind closed doors out of the public's prying eyes, they were required to hear public comment. The following is mine: Carl Petersen is a parent advocate for public education, particularly for students with special education needs, who serves as the Education Chair for the Northridge East Neighborhood Council. As a Green Party candidate in LAUSD's District 2 School Board race, he was endorsed by Network for Public Education (NPE) Action. Dr. Diane Ravitch has called him "a valiant fighter for public schools in Los Angeles." For links to his blogs, please visit www.ChangeTheLAUSD.com. Opinions are his own. RMD Law - Personal Injury Lawyers is excited to announce the launch of its new scholarship program, designed to empower students and highlight the values of responsibility, resilience, and learning from life's unexpected moments. This $2,500 scholarship aims to support students in their educational journeys while encouraging creativity and personal growth. Scholarship Details Award Amount: $2,500 Submission Deadline: December 30, 2025 Winner Announced: January 15, 2026 Eligibility Requirements To apply, students must meet the following criteria: - UnionPay International (UPI), which delivers cross-border payment solutions to the worlds largest cardholders, has announced a strategic partnership with Malaysian financial institution Bank Simpanan Nasional (BSN) to launch the UnionPay QR payment in Malaysia in the first half of 2025. The partner say that the collaboration underscores both parties commitment to advancing digital payment solutions in Malaysia and enhancing the countrys evolving payment ecosystem. Through this partnership, BSN will join UnionPay as a member, expanding its portfolio of payment system operators to include UnionPay alongside Visa, Mastercard and MyDebit. As the third-largest debit card issuer in Malaysia, managing over six million debit cards nationwide, BSN is adapting to evolving consumer preferences for e-wallets and contactless transactions. In a strategic move to strengthen its presence in the digital payment landscape, BSN is expanding its payment and acceptance solutions to include QR payment. It says that this initiative will empower customers, particularly digitally savvy and travel-oriented young consumers, to make seamless domestic and international payments through UnionPays secure and widely accepted QR payment system. Dr. Jian Jiangtao, Regional Head of UnionPay International (Southeast Asia) explains: This partnership allows us to expand our digital payment solutions while contributing to the growth of Malaysias digital payment ecosystem. With this virtual QR Pay solution, consumers will benefit from greater convenience, security, and control over their spending, enhancing their financial experiences, especially during cross-border travel. Encik Jay Khairil, Chief Executive of BSN adds: This partnership with UPI marks a significant milestone in BSNs digital transformation journey. The QR payment solution enables customers to transact effortlessly across UnionPays extensive network, including China and other participating countries. BSNs facilitation of QR Pay acceptance amplifies our commitment to supporting micro-businesses and SMEs in adopting cashless payment solutions. DEAR PEOPLES PHARMACY: Why dont some medical professionals recognize norovirus more readily? My friend had vomiting with diarrhea, stomach cramps and fever. When she described her illness to me via text, I suggested it could be norovirus. When she called her doctor as I recommended, he told her that norovirus is mainly a childhood disease, so unlikely to affect my elderly friend. Her primary care physician said it was probably just the flu but offered no prescription or advice. I was shocked! Every doctor should know about norovirus. Whats more, Id expect a doctor to be more concerned about an immunocompromised senior like my friend developing an infection. Am I wrong? A. We are surprised that your friends doctor was so cavalier. Norovirus is often called the cruise ship virus, though it certainly is not restricted to cruises. Most people suffering norovirus in that setting are not children. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, people of all ages can get sick with norovirus, which is the leading cause of vomiting and diarrhea in the U.S. It is widespread this winter! Another reader reported her experience: I contracted norovirus several weeks ago. Suddenly, I found myself on the floor vomiting, followed by severe diarrhea. I felt cold and clammy and was too weak to move. Several days later, I developed excruciating pain in my colon. I went to the ER and was admitted to the hospital. A fecal test revealed norovirus. After three weeks, my GI tract is still not back to normal. Im a healthy person, but this bug really gave me a beating. Norovirus spreads very easily, and people may still be contagious even a week or two after recovering. The main danger is dehydration. No drugs cure norovirus. * * * In their column, Joe and Teresa Graedon answer letters from readers. Write to them in care of King Features, 628 Virginia Drive, Orlando, FL 32803, or email them via their website: www.PeoplesPharmacy.com. Their newest book is Top Screwups Doctors Make and How to Avoid Them. (c) 2025 King Features Syndicate, Inc. Families and individuals in need can pick up a food box on Monday at a middle school in east Portland. The annual food distribution event on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, organized since 2021 by the Portland-based nonprofit Sunshine Division, will distribute 3,400 food boxes. Its funded by a $95,000 grant from Kaiser Permanente. Some 1,400 food boxes will be available to families and individuals to pick up from 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., no questions asked, at Oliver Middle School at 15840 S.E. Taylor St. in Portland. Culturally specific food boxes Black, Latinx and Halal will also be available. Another 1,000 food boxes will be delivered to families through Sunshine Divisions home delivery program. And the remaining 1,000 deliveries will be made by partner agencies and organizations in Cowlitz, Clark, Washington, Clackamas and Marion counties. The home deliveries and bulk food deliveries have already been claimed. The food distribution event recognizes that essential nutritious food is in fostering vibrant, healthy communities, Sunshine Divisions executive director Kyle Camberg said in a statement. We are grateful to partner with (Kaiser Permanente) again this year to honor the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. and serve our community in this enormous way, Camberg said. Sunshine Division is a nonprofit that serves tens of thousands of households in the Portland metro area every year through its food pantry, weekly home-delivery program, holiday meal delivery program and bulk food distribution. It also provides brand-new school clothing for about 500 children annually. Gosia Wozniacka covers environmental justice, climate change, the clean energy transition and other environmental issues. Reach her at gwozniacka@oregonian.com or 971-421-3154. Our journalism needs your support. Subscribe today to OregonLive.com. A massive aquifer is stored just beneath volcanic rocks at the crest of the central Oregon Cascades possibly the largest aquifer of its kind in the U.S., according to researchers at the University of Oregon. The discovery could have implications for water users in the region as drought and extreme weather limit snowpacks, rainfall and water availability. According to a study published earlier this week, at least 81 cubic kilometers of active groundwater is currently stored at the Cascade Range crest in an area near the Santiam Pass. Thats more than four times the capacity of Crater Lake, which holds approximately 18.7 cubic kilometers of water. It is a continental-size lake stored in the rocks at the top of the mountains, like a big water tower, Leif Karlstrom, the University of Oregon earth scientist who led the study, said in a press release. Karlstrom said there are similar large volcanic aquifers north of the Columbia Gorge and near Mount Shasta, but the Cascade Range aquifer appears to be the largest mapped thus far. Though scientists have long known that the mountains in Oregon hold water, they were not sure just how much. The University of Oregon team along with scientists from other universities, the U.S. Forest Service and the U.S. Geological Survey initially set out to better understand how water moves through the volcanic landscape and in the process discovered the massive aquifer under the rocks. Using deep drill holes dug in the 1980s and 1990s to explore geothermal energy resources, the scientists were able to infer how deeply groundwater was infiltrating through cracks in the volcanic rocks to map the volume of the underground reservoir. Because the drill holes did not cover a larger area, scientists said the size of the aquifer may be more massive than they were able to measure. While that much water is good news in the era of climate change, its unclear whether the discovery could help solve Oregons water woes. Like other groundwater aquifers, this one needs to recharge and hence is dependent on a good snowpack which is forecast to rapidly decrease in the Cascades in the coming decades. It is a big, active groundwater reservoir up there right now, but its longevity and resilience to change is set by the availability of recharging waters, Karlstrom said. The findings also point to heightened volcanic hazards in the area, the scientists said, as magma interacting with lots of water often leads to explosive eruptions. Gosia Wozniacka covers environmental justice, climate change, the clean energy transition and other environmental issues. Reach her at gwozniacka@oregonian.com or 971-421-3154. Our journalism needs your support. Subscribe today to OregonLive.com. If you or someone you know may be experiencing a mental health crisis, contact the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline by dialing or texting 988. BIRMINGHAM, Ala. Frank Wampol had a dark realization when he came across some alarming data a few years ago: More than 5,000 male construction workers die from suicide annually five times the number who die from work-related injuries, according to several studies. Thats considerably more than the suicide rate for men in the general population. To say this is a crisis would be an understatement, said Wampol, vice president of safety and health at BL Harbert International, a construction company based in Birmingham with over 10,000 employees. Since then, the company has added mental health first-aid training for on-site supervisors and distributed information about suicide prevention to laborers in the field. The efforts are part of a larger push led by the industry and supported by unions, research institutions, and federal agencies to address construction workers mental health. But initiatives to combat this mental health crisis are tougher to implement than protocols for hard hats, safety vests, and protective goggles. And some of the potential solutions, such as paid sick leave, have drawn pushback from the industry as it eyes costs. Safety experts have long been concerned about the physical hazards of construction work. The Fatal Four hazards are falls, electrocutions, being struck by an object like a brick or a crane boom, and getting caught between two objects, according to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Only in recent years have the psychosocial hazards of construction work moved onto the public radar. Studies paint a grim picture, said Douglas Trout, an occupational medicine physician and deputy director of the Office of Construction Safety and Health at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. In addition to high suicide rates, drug use is rampant, especially opioids such as heroin and fentanyl. A recent study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that construction ranks highest in overdose deaths by occupation. Rates of suicides and overdose deaths are some of the worst outcomes related to mental health conditions, Trout said. And unfortunately, these are the more measurable ones. Less measurable but also prevalent among construction workers are anxiety and depression, which often remain undiagnosed. Almost half of construction workers have experienced symptoms of both, a rate higher than that of the general U.S. population, according to a preliminary 2024 study by the Center for Construction Research and Training, an arm of North Americas Building Trades Unions. But fewer than 5% of construction workers reported seeing a mental health professional, compared with 22% of all U.S. adults, according federal statistics. The combination of high-hazard environments and organizational factors puts construction workers at particular risk for mental health issues, Trout said. Construction is a high-stress occupation involving long hours, extended separation from family and friends, and low job security due to the industrys cyclical nature. Even though health insurance and workers compensation are offered by some contractors, paid sick leave for laborers, craft workers, and mechanics is not standard. While 18 states and Washington, D.C., have approved laws requiring paid sick leave and federal contractors have to offer it, the mandates dont apply to many construction workers. And industry advocates are pushing back against such legal requirements, claiming they dont fit the transient and seasonal nature of construction work. If workers get injured, they often try to tough it out and get back to the job as quickly as possible, said Nazia Shah, director of safety and health services at the Associated General Contractors of America, the countrys largest construction trade association. To manage pain from injuries, workers often resort to prescription opioids. Some then develop a dependency and turn to street drugs. Its a vicious cycle, Shah said. If a worker is fatigued, distracted by pain or personal issues, or impaired by some type of substance, the results can be catastrophic, said Wampol, a 20-year industry veteran who went into construction after retiring from a career as a firefighter and paramedic. The biggest step, Shah said, is breaking the stigma and normalizing conversations around mental health. The hurdles are particularly high in this male-dominated field, where harassment and bullying are common and speaking up about emotional hardships is often considered a sign of weakness, Shah said. Several organizations, including the Associated Builders and Contractors, have created short toolbox talks to review the signs and symptoms of mental health issues, the risks of self-medicating with drugs and alcohol, and the resources available through health insurance and employee assistance programs. Some, such as the AGCs Missouri Chapter, hand out hard-hat stickers, cards, and hope coins small tokens that symbolize support. They all serve as conversation starters and include information on the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline in English and Spanish. Many contractors hold regular stand-downs, with supervisors halting work at a construction site to provide on-the-spot training related to a specific mental health issue. Others, such as BL Harbert, offer health education fairs and team with local health clinics for lunch-and-learn events. But Stanley Wheat, an on-site safety manager at BL Harbert, said that even the best policies, procedures, and training materials wont stick without making an effort on the ground. A PowerPoint presentation alone wont cut it. Youve got to know your people, and youve got to engage them. Wheat, a military veteran who has worked in construction for over two decades, said its important to make rounds several times a day at a job site getting to know the workers and observing changes in their behaviors. You start noticing the guy whos isolating himself, sitting alone at lunch, not talking with anybody, he said. Wheat can relate. His uncle died by suicide, but his family would never talk about it. During his time in the military, Wheat said, he went to rehab for drug and alcohol addiction. He dropped out of college to work in construction. Ive been there, he said. I skinned my knuckles. I pulled my back. I worked injured. Wheat tries to strike up conversations with workers who he thinks are having a rough time. He listens, sometimes shares his personal story, and suggests resources for help. Peer-to-peer support is among the more promising concepts in the effort to curb the mental health crisis in construction. Workers often dont want to talk with management or outsiders, Trout said, but they usually trust each other. One successful model is Mates, a program for mental health and suicide prevention that originated in Australia in 2008. The idea is to train on-site personnel workers, foremen, superintendents to spot and support co-workers in crisis, offer a confidential space to talk, and guide them to help if needed. The volunteers, called connectors, are typically identified by green hard hat stickers. Efforts are underway to bring a formalized Mates program to the U.S., Trout said. Other, often small and local initiatives are being implemented, too. Some contractors have hired full-time wellness coordinators or bring mental health care providers to construction sites so employees can start appointments immediately. A few companies have put dedicated trailers on their job sites that serve as quiet rooms, with lounge chairs, board games, and video consoles, so workers can take a moment to decompress. Many contractors also have added naloxone an emergency medication used to reverse opioid overdoses, often known by the brand Narcan to on-site medical kits. Going forward, as President-elect Donald Trump takes office next week, the industry faces major uncertainties, including possible ripple effects from tariffs, mass deportations, tax cuts, and deregulation. No matter what comes, Wampol said, the construction industry needs to understand that the investment in mental wellness and suicide prevention programs creates a healthier, more productive workforce and, ultimately, a better bottom line. KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs of KFF the independent source for health policy research, polling and journalism. The praise team at Vancouver Avenue First Baptist Church welcomed attendees to the North Portland space on Sunday afternoon with a joyful rendition of This Little Light of Mine. The choirs energy brought attendees to their feet. Churchgoers clapped along to the beat, swaying back and forth. At the back, one visitor played a tambourine above her head adding another dimension to the performance. As the praise team belted out the final words to the song, the crowd erupted in cheers, beginning the service with a triumphant energy. The diverse and multi-faith congregation at Vancouver Avenue First Baptist Church convened on Sunday to honor Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. on the day before the national holiday that honors him. The service was also dedicated to the civil rights work of Rosa Parks, Kings wife Coretta Scott King and his daughter, Yolanda King. Vancouver Avenue First Baptist Church in North Portland commemorated Dr. Martin Luther King on Sunday, Jan. 19., 2025, with the 19th Empower the Dream Annual Inter-Faith & Community Service. The nearly three-hour service brought together interfaith religious leaders and public officials to speak on Kings enduring legacy in the community today. Mark Graves/The Oregonian The 19th Empower the Dream Annual Inter-Faith & Community Service brought together interfaith religious leaders and public officials to speak on Kings enduring legacy in the community today. The speakers urged people to follow Kings legacy of battling racism and hate and to care for others in their community. King was a pastor himself, and once preached at the Vancouver Avenue church, built in 1909. It is the only church in Oregon that King addressed in his civil rights tour to the Northwest in 1961. King, assassinated in 1968, would have turned 96 this year. Rabbi David Kosak, Senior Rabbi at Congregation Neveh Shalom, delivered the keynote speech, beginning with a tribute to King and the historic connection between King and the church. Vancouver Avenue First Baptist Church in North Portland commemorated Dr. Martin Luther King on Sunday, Jan. 19., 2025, with the 19th Empower the Dream Annual Inter-Faith & Community Service. The nearly three-hour service brought together interfaith religious leaders and public officials to speak on Kings enduring legacy in the community today. Rabbi David Kosak, Senior Rabbi at Congregation Neveh Shalom, (pictured) delivered the keynote speech, beginning with a tribute to King and the historic connection between King and the church. Mark Graves/The Oregonian It is also deeply humbling to speak here on this weekend from this pulpit where, as you heard earlier, none other than the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. also spoke with not one iota of false humility, Kosak said. This space is more than a building It is a place where history and faith have come together. Echoes of amen and hallelujah punctuated his words. Kosak urged the audience to work towards unity, justice and positive change in their communities and the world. Vancouver Avenue First Baptist Church in North Portland commemorated Dr. Martin Luther King on Sunday, Jan. 19., 2025, with the 19th Empower the Dream Annual Inter-Faith & Community Service. The nearly three-hour service brought together interfaith religious leaders and public officials to speak on Kings enduring legacy in the community today. Mark Graves/The Oregonian Dr. King was not just a leader, Kosak said. He was a moral exemplar, someone whose likes and teachings continue to inspire us to do the right thing, even when its difficult, even when theres threat involved. Secretary of State Tobias Read, Multnomah County Chair Jessica Vega Pederson and Mayor Keith Wilson also delivered messages of hope to the audience. This day is about reflecting on the fight for civil rights, Pederson said. Civil rights are about access to the same laws, the same treatment under the laws, access to education. But we have so many people who are struggling just in the day to day to feel heard, to feel wanted, to feel accepted, to feel like they can make it to the next day. Vancouver Avenue First Baptist Church in North Portland commemorated Dr. Martin Luther King on Sunday, Jan. 19., 2025, with the 19th Empower the Dream Annual Inter-Faith & Community Service. The nearly three-hour service brought together interfaith religious leaders and public officials to speak on Kings enduring legacy in the community today. Secretary of State Tobias Read, (pictured) Multnomah County Chair Jessica Vega Pederson and Mayor Keith Wilson also delivered messages of hope to the audience. Mark Graves/The Oregonian Throughout the service, leaders worked to uplift Kings philosophy of selfless love and justice, interspersed by musical performances by the Pacific Youth Choir. The choir has been a part of the annual service for the past decade, said Chris Maunu, the choirs artistic director. On Sunday, the high school students performed the national anthem and a South African freedom song. The great thing about performing in a music ensemble is, youre always in service of something bigger than yourself as an individual, Maunu said. And this is certainly the case where we can use music to inspire and hopefully help make the world a little bit better. Chiara Profenna covers religion, faith and cultural connections. Reach her at 503-221-4327; cprofenna@oregonian.com or @chiaraprofenna. The Oregonian/OregonLive receives support from the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust to bring readers stories on religion, faith and cultural connections in Oregon. The Oregonian/OregonLive is solely responsible for all content. A housing, homelessness and behavioral health crisis. Flagging student test scores. Billions of dollars needed for road and bridge repairs. Oregon legislative leaders will kick off their 2025 session this week at the Capitol with no shortage of significant challenges to tackle and tame. And while Democrats and Republicans say right now that they share a focus on other key areas of concern such as making life more affordable for Oregonians and greater accountability of state government the finer details around those common goals could prove divisive in the coming months. On the latest Beat Check, reporters Sami Edge and Shane Dixon Kavanaugh offer a Salem legislative preview. You can support local journalism by becoming a subscriber to The Oregonian/OregonLive. Explore more of our podcasts and sign up to get newsletters for the latest news and top stories. -- Shane Dixon Kavanaugh covers Portland city government and politics, with a focus on accountability and watchdog reporting. Reach him at 503-294-7632 Email at skavanaugh@oregonian.com Follow him on X or on Bluesky @shanedkavanaugh Log on if you are already subscribed or Subscribe... The Biden Administration has fallen for a trap. Like the proverbial genie from the lamp, it has granted three wishes to dictator Raul Castro in exchange for the release of 553 prisoners (it is not yet clear how many of these are political prisoners) in his last week in the White House. Thus, these prisoners have been conditionally released, which means that at any time during the remainder of their sentences they could be put back in prison, if the authorities so decide, such that they remain prisoners at the mercy of the dictatorship's plans. These negotiations between the United States Government and the regime in Havana, facilitated by the Vatican's mediation, were carried out behind the backs of Cuba's democratic forces and civil society. Not even the relatives of the political prisoners, or the Cuban Catholic Church, knew what was happening. Most of the families of the prisoners still do not know what will happen, revealing the contempt on the part of the negotiators the Biden administration, the Vatican, and the Castro regimetowards an oppressed majority that has decided to oppose the tyranny on the island, organized into civil society and political opposition groups. This is a gesture that would be inconceivable and unacceptable in any other country in the world. Among the concessions the Administration granted to Castroism are striking the Cuban regime from the list of State Sponsors of Terrorism, the suspension of Chapter III of the Helms-Burton Act, and the lifting of restrictions on companies linked to the military conglomerate GAESA, directly associated with the Ministry of the Interior, the Armed Forces, and systematic human rights violations. Being included on the list of countries sponsoring terrorism entails significant symbolic and practical consequences. It recognizes the regime as an actor that promotes or facilitates terrorist activities, which reinforces its international isolation and limits its ability to access financial resources and diplomatic support. Exclusion from this list not only allows the regime to shirk its responsibility for activities such as supporting insurgent groups in Latin America, including the FARC and LNA, as well as harboring international criminals, but also sends a dangerous message: flagrant violations can be ignored in the interest of "diplomacy." By being removed from this list the Cuban regime regains access to international financial institutions and improves its prospects of obtaining foreign investments. This comes at a time when its economy is on the verge of collapse, not because of the US embargo, as official propaganda contends, but because of the endemic corruption, mismanagement and brutal repression, which quashes any initiatives by citizens. This financial relief is a lifeline for a system that is reeling, but that will not hesitate to use these resources to strengthen its repressive apparatus. Chapter III of the Helms-Burton Act allows U.S. citizens, including naturalized Cubans, to sue foreign companies that profit from properties confiscated by the regime after 1959. Its suspension guarantees impunity for expropriations carried out without compensation, an act of massive dispossession that affected thousands of families and companies. By suspending this provision the U.S. Government makes it easier for Cuban oligarchs and their foreign partners to continue to exploit confiscated property without any fear of the legal consequences of doing so. This measure not only perpetuates a historical injustice, but also rewards a regime that has used these properties to enrich a privileged elite, while the majority of Cubans languish in poverty. In addition, it strengthens the State's control over strategic sectors of the economy, such as tourism, managed mostly by military companies, and perpetuates Cuban citizens' exclusion from participating in their own economy. The military conglomerate GAESA (Grupo de Administracion Empresarial S.A.) is the economic cornerstone of the Cuban regime. It controls a wide range of sectors, from tourism and retail to telecommunications and banking. GAESA is not a conventional economic entity, but rather a tool of Cuba's military and repressive apparatus. It finances activities including mass surveillance, the repression of dissidents, and social control. The lifting of restrictions on companies linked to GAESA allows them to continue operating in the international market unhindered, attracting investments and foreign currency that will be used to maintain the repressive status quo. This not only perpetuates human rights violations, but also thwarts any possibility of economic empowerment for Cuban citizens. In a context in which small private companies face suffocating restrictions, strengthening GAESA is tantamount to reinforcing the state/military monopoly over the economy. These three concessions are not isolated gestures, but rather a political and economic godsend for a regime facing unprecedented popular discontent. Instead of weakening it, they bolster its ability to oppress and control Cubans. At a time when protests in Cuba have demonstrated the people's willingness to fight for their freedom, these international measures directly undermine their efforts. These concessions also have broader implications for the region. They boost the influence of a regime that has exported its model of repression and control to other Latin American countries, such as Venezuela and Nicaragua. At the same time, it sends a worrying signal to other authoritarian regimes: international pressure can be neutralized through negotiations that ignore victims and prioritize geopolitical interests. For our part, we will welcome the political prisoners released with open arms, but we will not lose sight of the fact that releases cannot become the pretext to justify agreements that perpetuate an oppressive cycle of tyranny. Freedom is not a concession by the regime. While the United States Government negotiates in the name of stability, Cuban society continues under a dictatorship that uses repression as its main tool of control. Governments and international organizations must understand that negotiating with dictatorships is not a path to peace and stability. It is not just about releasing a group of political prisoners, but about ensuring that there are no more arbitrary arrests, that human rights violations do not go unpunished, and that civil society has the space to build its future. Cubans will continue to fight. We know that freedom is not given away or negotiated, but rather conquered, and it will not be schemes by Washington or Brussels, nor the regime's concessions, that define Cuba's destiny. An elementary school teacher in New Jersey has been charged with sexual assault and child endangerment after she fathered a child with a student she is accused of abusing inside her home. Laura Caron, 34, was arrested earlier this week on charges of first-degree aggravated sexual assault, second-degree sexual assault, and second-degree endangerment to the welfare of a child. The charges stem from an allegation that she sexually assaulted a young boy from the age of 11 through 15 while he was living in her home. The assault allegedly happened between 2016 and 2020, according to a press release from Cape May County Prosecutor's Office. In addition, Caron was also accused of having a child with her student. Their baby was born in 2019 when the student was 13 and Caron was 28. How Did Caron Meet the 13-Year-Old Boy? Authorities say the teacher met her victim and his brother when she taught them in the fifth grade at Middle Township Elementary School. She and the victim's family became friends. The children were initially allowed to stay with Caron each week until they began living permanently with her for a four-year period. The case came to light after the victim's father made a social media post last December where he pondered how Caron's 5-year-old child looked very similar to his son. Read Also: Two Teenage Rape Victims Arrested After Killing Their Father in Revenge for Sexually Assaulting Them A subsequent investigation revealed that the victim's sister thought Caron and her brother had started sleeping in the same bed when he was 11. She also revealed that Caron would enter the bathroom and lock the door when her brother would shower. Furthermore, authorities found that the victim admitted that he was the father of Caron's child in a text message to his sister. Caron and the boy, who is now between 19 and 20 years old, remained in contact until the victim's father made the online post, per The Independent. Charges Filed Against the NJ Elementary School Teacher Caron was taken into custody "without incident" on Wednesday and is currently being held at the Cape May County Correctional Facility. She may face up to 20 years in prison if found guilty of aggravated sexual assault and get an additional term of up to 10 years for the other charges. She has been placed on paid administrative leave by the Middle Township School District, according to CBS Philadelphia. A Chinese woman who was previously diagnosed with infertility gave birth just hours after she was told that she was over eight months pregnant. The 36-year-old woman from Hangzhou, China, has captured widespread attention on Chinese social media following her unexpected delivery. The woman, identified only as Gong by the South China Morning Post, was previously told she was sterile and unable to bear a child due to an unspecified womb syndrome. She and her husband had later inquired about possibly undergoing in vitro fertilization (IVF) but were rejected due to her weight. Her weight was not specifically mentioned, but it was noted that Gong was "tall and fat" and that she was addicted to desserts. Her Unexpected Pregnancy and Giving Birth Gong visited Zhejiang Provincial People's Hospital after she suffered from numbness in her arms and extremely high blood pressure. She was only set to receive treatment for hypertension but had been asked to undergo ultrasonic examination when doctors learned that she had not had her menstruation for months. It was then discovered that she was pregnant. Doctors later deemed her health condition critical and immediately performed an emergency caesarean section (C-section), where they delivered a healthy baby boy. "There were only four hours from finding out I was pregnant to the birth of my baby," she said. The boy weighed 2 kilograms at birth. Other Unexpected Pregnancies Gong's extraordinary pregnancy is one of the few cases of unexpected pregnancies in recent years. In 2019, Elizabeth Kough made headlines when she became pregnant after having both fallopian tubes removed. Kough, who already had three children, underwent a bilateral salpingectomy in 2015 to prevent future pregnancies and reduce her risk of ovarian cancer. Despite the procedure's near 100% effectiveness, Kough discovered she was pregnant in 2019 and gave birth to a healthy baby boy. For perspective, the rate of pregnancy for women who have had their fallopian tubes partially removed is about 7.5 per 1,000. There is no available data on the pregnancy rate for women who underwent fill removal, such as Kough, largely because it is rare. Im very pleased to announce here that the Interpreter Foundation has chosen to make its 2022 docudrama, Undaunted: Witnesses of the Book of Mormon, available online at no charge. Undaunted was created to accompany the Foundations 2021 dramatic theatrical film, Witnesses. We hope that you will take advantage of this offering and that you will call it to the attention of others who may also be interested. Please help us to spread the word. We want it to be seen! Thats why we made it! Our timing for this release is not coincidental: During the month of February, the Come, Follow Me curriculum of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will turn to the translation of the Book of Mormon and to the Three and Eight Witnesses to the gold plates. We believe that both students and teachers of Come, Follow Me will find value in this film, which features dramatic recreations of the experiences of the Book of Mormon witnesses as well as expert commentary from scholars. You can access Undaunted via this new Interpreter Foundation website: The Witnesses Initiative. Im grateful to the donors, as well as to the volunteer and professional workers, who have made this all (and much else) possible. Its probably time for another illustration of human folly. This one is drawn from my reading in a new book, by the Catholic New Testament scholar Brant Pitre, that is entitled Jesus and Divine Christology (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2024): As with the other epiphanic acts of Jesus, the transfiguration has a remarkable history of rationalistic exegesis that makes it necessary to begin by emphasizing what the gospel accounts do not say. For example, they do not say that Peter, James, and John fell asleep and (somehow collectively) dreamed that Moses and Elijah were present and that Jesus conversed with them until the illusion was dispelled by the first confused moments after their awakening. Nor do they say that the three disciples awoke and saw Jesus talking with two strangers who were illuminated by the beams of the rising sun, so that their drowsiness, and the clouds which in an autumnal sunrise float to and fro over those mountains, left them with the vague undefined impression of having been in contact with apparitions from a higher sphere. Finally, the Gospels certainly do not say anything about Jesuss face being lit up when, in a flash of insight, he suddenly realized his death was going to be salvific. (88, omitting footnote references) Okay. So you dont want to accept the gospel accounts of Christs glorious transfiguration. I get it. And I can understand simply rejecting them as invented fictions. But such attempts as those mentioned above, to preserve the story while explaining it away, strike me as quite simply ridiculous. Earlier in the week, I shared some entertaining attempts, gathered by Professor Pitre, to rationalize the New Testament stories of Jesus walking on the water. (See Strolling On The Ice Floes Of The Galilee?) They reminded me of a tale recounted by Fawn M. Brodie, No Man Knows My History: The Life of Joseph Smith [New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1945], 84: It seems that, at one point in his life of deceptive yarn-spinning and self-glorification, Joseph Smith decided to demonstrate his prophetic status and power by walking on water. He planned the event very carefully: Somehow almost completely unseen and unsuspected by any passersby, he built a wooden platform out into a local lake. He constructed the platform just under the surface of the water, so that nobody could know that it was there. Alas, though, for the crafty pseudo-prophet, one person had seen him building the platform and had immediately grasped Josephs fiendish plan. Accordingly, after Joseph had finished his work and had gone home for the night, ready (as he imagined) for the phony miracle that he intended to perform the next day, the meddling cynic stealthily went out and removed several of the wooden planks that made up the secret platform. The following day, Joseph emerged triumphantly before an eager and credulous crowd. At first, the miracle seemed to be really happening, right before their eyes. But then, suddenly, he fell through the hole in his wooden platform down into the lake. Everybody but the embarrassed Joseph Smith was edified and highly amused. The story about Joseph pretending to walk on water is acknowledged even by critics and enemies of the Restoration as bogus. It never happened. Nothing like it ever happened. Still, Fawn Brodie included it in her reductionist biography of the Prophet. Baseless though this story may be, she wrote, it is none the less symbolic. But, inquiring minds want to know, of what, exactly, is it symbolic? Its just false. Its not true. So why include it? Presumably because it fit the image of Joseph Smith that Mrs. Brodie was attempting to create in the minds of her readers, and indeed perhaps in her own mind. There is no other adequate reason. (For further background on the non-incident, see Stanley J. Thayne, Walking on Water: Nineteenth Century Prophets and a Legend of Religious Imposture, Journal of Mormon History 36:2 [Spring 2010]: 160.) Immediately after I posted my first links here to critical comments about the current Netflix hit miniseries, American Primeval, The Usual Suspects mocked and faulted me for my supposed hatred and fear of anything about my faith that isnt sanitized and hagiographic propaganda. But the negative responses to American Primeval have been mounting up, and Im not actually the author of any of them: Barbara Jones Brown, Religion News Service: What American Primeval gets wrong about Mormon and American history: The shows depiction of hood-wearing, sinister Mormons slaughtering emigrants, US Army troops and Shoshone people all within a few days is a sensationalized fabrication intended to entertain.' Barbara Jones Brown is the co-author, with Richard E. Turley, of Vengeance Is Mine: The Mountain Meadows Massacre and Its Aftermath (Oxford University Press, 2023). What does the popular new Netflix series, American Primeval, get wrong about the Utah War? Just about everything. Matt Grow, Deseret News: What the tired tropes of American Primeval get wrong about Brigham Young, early Latter-day Saints: The Netflix miniseries is a false depiction that draws on negative stereotypes, writes the managing director of church history for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Matt Grow (Ph.D., University of Notre Dame) is a trained academic historian. Darren Parry, Deseret News: American Primeval: How this Native American historian reconciles hard history with the storytelling of Hollywood: Historical fiction should not be a tool to justify modern biases or to create villains or heroes; it should challenge us to see beyond the stereotypes, he writes. The Shoshones play a central role in the plot of American Primeval. Darren Parry is the former Chairman of the Northwestern Band of the Shoshone Nation. Scripture Central: Latter-day Saints Representation Done Wrong | Filmmakers Speak Out On American Primeval: A review with Latter-day Saint Filmmakers Barrett and Jessica Burgin about how Latter-day Saints (Mormons) are portrayed in the new Netflix drama American Primeval. We also discuss misrepresentation of Latter-day Saints in media and what we can expect looking forward. Unfortunately, though, American Primeval is having an impact. (In the article to which I link above, Barbara Jones Brown cites some viewer reactions that are genuinely concerning and unfortunate. I wouldnt be surprised if responses of this kind were to lead to violence, whether inside the United States or beyond.) To provide some rough idea of what viewers of American Primeval, and readers about it, are learning, I cite passages from representative recent articles about the miniseries: ScreenRant: Netflixs New Western Series Becomes Global Success Now, Netflixs new Western series, which chronicles the violent origins of the American frontier, has arrived and is already making waves. . . . Netflixs new Western series follows a mother and son who flee from their past and form a found family while also confronting the harsh reality of freedom and cruelty in the American frontier, including the violent conflict between the Mormon religion and culture during the Utah War in 1857. Now, shortly after its release on January 9, Netflixs new Western series has become a global success. American Primeval ranks second on Netflixs Global Top 10 shows for this week behind Missing You with 10.4 million views and 52.4 million hours viewed. It finished above Jerry Springer: Fights, Camera, Action, Raw: 2025 on January 6, Departure season 1, Virgin River season 6, Gabriel Iglesias: Legend of Fluffy, Black Doves season 1, Departure season 2, and The Night Agent season. American Primeval is in the Top 10 in 68 countries around the world. . . . American Primeval has resonated with audiences worldwide, likely because of its unflinching portrayal of history and human nature. . . . [Director Peter] Berg, with his eye for historical accuracy, has helped elevate the series beyond typical Western fare. This meticulous care put into crafting the series has provided American Primeval with an authenticity that appeals to a wide audience, even in a market saturated with more mainstream shows. And this is the, umm, historical accuracy that viewers of American Primeval are being given: Klein Felt, The Direct: Heres What Mormons Think of American Primeval on Netflix (Theyre Not Happy): Some viewers are not happy with how their community is portrayed in the new Netflix series. The series version of the real-life religious leader [Brigham Young] is portrayed as largely evil, helping perpetrate the devastating Mountain Meadows Massacre. Klein Felt, The Direct: American Primeval: Was Brigham Young Evil? Netflix Portrayal Vs. Real-Life Details: Netflixs hit new mini-series sets itself in the real-world story of the fight for Utah and Americas West. In the series, Young (played by Kim Coates) is portrayed as a mainly evil presence, serving as the primary antagonist of the shows ongoing conflict. . . . While Young is depicted in the series as the mastermind behind this bloody affair, that is not necessarily the case in real life. The Telegraph (United Kingdom): American Primeval and the bloody truth about the Mormon massacre of 1857: Its one of the most harrowing scenes in Netflixs grim Western. But is its depiction of the Mountain Meadows atrocities accurate? A new article appeared earlier today in Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship: Small Hinges, Great Doorways: How Some Descendants of an Enslaved Youth Unexpectedly Became Prominent Utah Citizens, written by Jeffrey M. Bradshaw Abstract: A vivid illustration of how the doorways of history turn on small hinges is found in the Howell family tradition about Wilford Woodruffs short stay at the home of slaveholders in the South, where it appears he may have taught a 14-year-old enslaved boy named Jackson Howell. Decades later, Jacksons son Paul C. Howell would migrate to Utah and become a prominent citizen of Salt Lake City. Later, Pauls son, Abner, would serve a unique mission and would continue to speak and serve in the Church. Several Church leaders played a key role in the story of the Howell family throughout the years when priesthood and temple restrictions remained in place. Dr. Bradshaws article was accompanied online by Interpreting Interpreter: A Hinge for the Howells, which was written by Kyler Rasmussen: This post is a summary of the article Small Hinges, Great Doorways: How Some Descendants of an Enslaved Youth Unexpectedly Became Prominent Utah Citizens by Jeffrey M. Bradshaw in Volume 63 of Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship. All of the Interpreting Interpreter articles may be seen at https://interpreterfoundation.org/category/summaries/. An introduction to the Interpreting Interpreter series is available at https://interpreterfoundation.org/interpreting-interpreter-on-abstracting-thought/. A video introduction to this Interpreter article is now available on all of our social media channels, including on YouTube at The Takeaway Bradshaw tells the story of Abner Howell, a prominent African American Latter-day Saint in the early 20th century. Bradshaw proposes that Abners grandfather may have been a slave boy that Wilford Woodruff recorded teaching in Arkansas in 1835, and presents new records that shed light on Abners mission to reactivate Black members in various parts of the U.S. We said our final farewell to my wifes ninety-eight year-old father today. It was a wonderful funeral, full of tears and humor. As Ive said many times before, the funeral of a good person can be one of the best, most inspiring, and most humbling meetings that we have and my father-in-law was a remarkably good man in every respect. The only thing that went awry was that one of his sons, who had flown over from his home in the Washington suburbs of Portland to be with his clearly dying father and then to assist with funeral preparations, became very ill last night and was unable even to attend his fathers services today. That seems to me deeply sad. What it meant was that his wife had to read his remarks today and that, in his stead, it was I who dedicated and consecrated the grave in the Salt Lake Cemetery. Only a few feet to the east from where the burial took place today, which was amidst the graves of other members of my wifes family, is the unostentatious marker of Harold B. Lee, eleventh president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. And maybe about a hundred feet further eastward from President Lees grave is the small but moving monument shown above. Heres some background on my interest in it: Back in 2013, I was moved by the obituary notice for Matthew Stanford Robison that appeared in the Deseret News: https://www.deseretnews.com/article/682084/Obituary-Matthew-Stanford-Robison.html I saw that notice at just about the time that a national atheist organization in what was plainly intended as an in-your-face jab at the benighted Latter-day Saints was very publicly planning to hold its national convention in Salt Lake City, and I commented on it in a blog post, as follows: I know the arguments against theism reasonably well, and I dont discount their force. By natural temperament, as it happens, Im more inclined to skepticism than to faith. There are legitimate reasons for disbelief, though I ultimately find the reasons for belief more persuasive and find belief itself far more satisfying. What Ive never understood, though, is how some people can seriously claim that atheism represents good news. I can understand coming sadly to the conclusion that life is purposeless, that the cosmos doesnt care, and that, at death, we and our loved ones cease to exist. I simply cant grasp why anybody would find this a message to be enthusiastic about. I simply cannot imagine a more glorious, joyous message than the one that is implicit in the grave monument shown above. Certainly the message that were here briefly, pointlessly, and then rot, that all human relationships end in death if they havent already ended before, doesnt quite compare. And almost every other message or fact seems trivial nonsense by contrast. I cant help but think of my father-in-laws passing as a liberation. He had become very deaf, and his vision became poor. And, in his last months, his mind was noticeably less clear. He has now burst through those limitations. But back to todays funeral. At the conclusion of her remarks, my wife read a poem that has been credited to Henry Van Dyke. Many of you will, no doubt, be familiar with it. It expresses very well my own view of the subject: I am standing upon the seashore. A ship at my side spreads her white sails to the morning breeze and starts for the blue ocean. She is an object of beauty and strength. I stand and watch her until at length she hangs like a speck of white cloud just where the sea and sky come to mingle with each other. Then, someone at my side says; There, she is gone! Gone where? Gone from my sight. That is all. She is just as large in mast and hull and spar as she was when she left my side and she is just as able to bear her load of living freight to her destined port. Her diminished size is in me, not in her. And just at the moment when someone at my side says, There, she is gone! There are other eyes watching her coming, and other voices ready to take up the glad shout; Here she comes! And that is dying. We had a service at the graveside, following the funeral at the mortuary chapel. My father-in-law enlisted in the Navy in 1945, when he was eighteen. But his service was cut short by, among other things, the surrender of Germany and the capitulation of the Empire of Japan. Accordingly, he was never particularly proud of his military career. However, his family requested a military honor guard, and I must say that I was impressed by it. (It was a Navy group, but one of his granddaughters is an active-duty Air Force officer currently stationed near Washington DC and, happily, she was allowed to participate with the honor guard, in uniform.) I wish that we had done the same for my own fathers graveside service. He was already serving in the Army when Pearl Harbor was attacked, and he remained enlisted til the conflict was oer that is, until the end of the Second World War, by which time he was attached to the Eleventh Armored Division of General George S. Pattons Third Army. The chaplain of the Naval Honor Guard recited a poem that I had never heard before. However, I was able to track it down online, and I found that it was written in May 1942 by one Sherman Walgren, who was (along with the future stage and screen actor Jason Robards) a sailor aboard the cruiser USS Northampton, which was sunk by Japanese torpedoes on 30 November of that same year at the Battle of Tassafaronga. Here is the poem that was recited early this afternoon: What is it the billowing waves impart, and repeat and repeat with each dash What is the pounding in my heart? Im sailing home, at last. The salt spray stings on the naked cheek, and the wind sings in the mast, but it only sings because it knows, Im sailing home, at last. Was it centuries since we sailed away Out of the harbor there, or was it only yesterday I dont know, nor care. For gone are the lonely nights and the days mid tropical isles alone and gone is the hunger countenanced there, At last Im sailing home. And tho the sailor sails the seas and in distant places roam There is no call thats quite so sweet as the call Im Sailing Home My father-in-law has gone home. We will sorely miss him. If, however, there was ever an honorable return, his was one. May his memory be a blessing. Episode 8: What was the Cost of Being a Witness? Once again, in a bid to support teachers and students of the 2025 Come, Follow Me curriculum, which turns shortly to the translation of publication of the Book of Mormon, the Interpreter Foundation is making materials from its Witnesses film project as available as possible to the public. Here, for example, is a short-video feature that we think some of you might find interesting. And we encourage you to share it further: Witnesses of the Book of MormonInsights: What price did the witnesses pay for being witnessesand for never denying their testimonies of the Book of Mormon? This is Episode 8 of a series compiled from the many interviews conducted during the course of the Witnesses film project. . . . These additional resources are hosted by Camrey Bagley Fox, who played Emma Smith in Witnesses, as she introduces and visits with a variety of experts. These individuals answer questions or address accusations against the witnesses, also helping viewers understand the context of the times in which the witnesses lived. This week we feature Gerrit Dirkmaat, Associate Professor of Church History and Doctrine at Brigham Young University. For more information, go to https://witnessesofthebookofmormon.org/. Learn about the documentary movie UndauntedWitnesses of the Book of Mormon at https://witnessesundaunted.com/. Posted from Bountiful, Utah Anita Beckett, my mother, died on January 12, 2025, at the age of 93. This is the eulogy I gave at her funeral on Friday, as best I can remember. For most of us, our mothers are our first teachers. I cant ever remember my mother saying hey John, come over here Ive got something I want to teach you. But I learned so much just from listening to her, watching her, and being around her. And so I want to tell you three things my mother taught me. My mother taught me to manage money. My father had many skills, but money management wasnt one of them. And so sometime before I was born, my parents came to an agreement. My father would bring his paycheck home, sign it and hand it to my mother. She would take it to the bank, hold out enough cash to give them both an allowance, and deposit the rest in the checking account. Bills would come in the mail she put them in the letter file next to the telephone on the kitchen wall. Some of you may remember that phone, but I doubt you remember the letter file. I do. Then after payday shed take out all the bills, open them up, and start writing checks. I watched her pay the electric bill, the water bill, the doctor bill. This was before ordinary people had MasterCard and Visa, but we had Penneys and Sears. She would look at the statement, look at the checkbook, and decide how much she could pay on them. I remember how happy she was when she could pay them off. When I got out on my own I did pretty much the same things, and I still do, because my mother taught me to manage money. My mother taught me to respect women. One of the checks my mother wrote every month was to the little Baptist church where we went. And because this was a small independent Baptist church, the first Wednesday of every month was business meeting. I didnt want to be there, but I was there, and I paid attention. And so I knew the treasurer did for the church pretty much what my mother did for our family count the money, put it in the bank, pay the bills, sketch out a budget and make sure we didnt spend more than we had. At one point the treasurer either died or moved away, and I told my mother you should be the church treasurer. My mother laughed. And it wasnt a funny laugh. Ill never forget what she said: the men of that church would never let a woman manage the churchs money. And I was genuinely confused why not? I may have been 8 or 10, but I could see that being treasurer only required two things. You had to be good at basic math. I was really good at math, but most of the other kids in my class who were good at math were girls. And two, you had to be responsible and honest and that doesnt have anything to do with gender either. Now, my mother had no desire to be church treasurer that was one more headache she didnt need. But the fact that she couldnt be church treasurer made me mad. It wasnt fair didnt and it didnt make sense. This was the early 1970s, and every time I heard someone say girls cant play sports or women cant fly fighter jets or a woman cant be President I heard the men of that church telling my mother she couldnt be treasurer, and I got mad all over again. Ive always tried to do better over the years, because my mother taught me to respect women. My mother showed me God. My father like to talk about his religion (I may have inherited a bit of that). But my mother was no less devout, no less committed to her religion, to her faith, than he was, even though she didnt talk about it. She just lived it. I watched her care for my fathers mother in her final days. She did the same thing for her father, and then later when her mother got cancer. She nursed my father back from three heart attacks. She took care of my brothers when they couldnt take care of themselves. The church taught me about God the Father. She showed me God the Mother, loving her children unconditionally, and never ever turning her back on them. My mother showed me God. My mother was a very private person, and not just with her religion. But sometimes, when it was just the two of us, shed lower her guard and talk about her life and her dreams. When she was a little girl she wanted to be a missionary to China. She admitted she had no desire to be a missionary, but she wanted to go to China, and in the 1930s the only way anybody she knew got to China was as a missionary. She worked as an airbrush artist, doing portrait reproductions in the pre-Photoshop era. She loved to draw and paint and she was very good at both. In a different time, under different circumstances, she could have gone to college, gone to art school, and become one of the most important artists of our time. Or not I dont know if she would have wanted that. But in a better world she would had that opportunity. When I think about the opportunities she didnt have, it makes me mad. And it makes me feel guilty, because I know Im one of the primary beneficiaries of the decisions she made, however freely or unfreely they were made. In matters like these, at times like this, words are entirely inadequate. And also, words are all we have. And so I offer these words: thank you for being my mother. Police in New York City have arrested a man in connection with the beating death of former 24-7 Spyz frontman Peter Forrest. Billboard.com reported that police took Sharief Bodden, 29, into custody on Friday, January 17 and charged him in the killing of Forrest. He reportedly faces charges of murder, manslaughter, criminal possession of a controlled substance and criminal possession of a weapon. Fans planning to hit Las Vegas in February to see the Scorpions play will have to wait a while as the bands drummer, Mikkey Dee, continues to recover from a recent health scare. The band made the announce Friday on X. We regret to inform you that due to Mikkey Dees ongoing recovery from his recent hospitalization, we have made the decision to postpone our Coming Home to Las Vegas residency to August 2025, the post read. The health and well-being of our brother is of the utmost importance. The announcement came just a week after Dee took to Instagram to lash out at reports that he was leaving the band. NO, I AM NOT LEAVING SCORPIONS! he wrote. I am back home recovering from sepsis and doing good progress! Never mind these bastards making up fake stories. If its not on my official pages, dont trust a word! / Mikkey! Dee, who is also the former drummer for the legendary band Motorhead, recently revealed to fans that he battled sepsis in December and nearly died in a hospital. He told Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet that he sprained his foot in early December and was dealing with a mild fever and inflammation after. However, Dee said that just before Christmas his ankle swelled up like hell, then it took on a weird shape and appearance and looked like an overcooked ham. I became very ill so I had to go by ambulance to Sahlgrenska and there they found out I had sky-high values, so I became priority one there, he added. Dee said he ended up having to have three surgeries. They cut away what was dead and infected and badly infested, he said. It was not a good journey I was on. Another day and Id be playing drums with (deceased Motorhead frontman) Lemmy in heaven. I can say that. Martin Luther King Jr. Day honors the legacy of the civil rights activist who strove for equal rights and is most known for his I Have A Dream speech at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. Martin Luther King Jr. was a pivotal voice throughout the civil rights movement and influenced many others to speak and march alongside him. On the third Monday of each January, Americans honor the memory of the Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King, Jr. A Baptist minister from the southern state of Alabama, Dr. King was a leader in the U.S. Civil Rights Movement, advocating social change through non-violent means. On January 15th, he would have turned 96 years old. The country young Martin was born into was one of racial segregation and discrimination by design. Most southern states were governed by so-called Jim Crow laws, local and state legislation that codified and enforced segregation and behavior of the non-white population. But Dr. King believed in the biblical proposition that all people are created equal in the image of God. In keeping with the motto he chose for his civil rights movement, he set out to redeem the soul of America. Believing that "change does not roll in on the wheels of inevitability, but comes through continuous struggle," Dr. King organized and participated in mass-action boycotts, sit-ins, peaceful marches and other non-violent acts of civil disobedience. Dr. King once stated that "an individual who breaks a law that conscience tells him is unjust, and who willingly accepts the penalty of imprisonment in order to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice, is in reality expressing the highest respect for the law." And so, activists sometimes deliberately, but peacefully and respectfully, broke laws aimed at segregating the white citizenry from the non-white, thus hoping to bring attention to the inherent unfairness of such legislation. Dr. Kings greatest achievements came with the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act which outlawed employment discrimination and segregation in public places, and the 1965 Voting Rights Act. These two victories had a major impact not only on the United States, but around the world. Dr. King once said that Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that. These words guided his lifes work, but ultimately, anothers hatred cost him his life at a young age. He was thirty-nine years old when an assassin's bullet cut him down on April 4th, 1968. But his legacy lives on. In time, all segregationist laws were repealed, and discrimination is a legally punishable and punished offence. Dr. King's life is well summed up in his own words: "The quality, not the longevity, of one's life is what is important. By Jean Marbella, Baltimore Sun (TNS) BALTIMORE Once, it was somewhere. If you drive there, youre driving through my backyard, Rochelle Atkins said. I tell my grandchildren, thats where I used to live, by the lamp post. Her childhood home at 1916 W. Mulberry St. is long gone, demolished, along with nearly 1,000 others, to construct a highway meant to extend west, from downtown Baltimore to I-70. But in the face of opposition, work was halted after about 1.4 miles, leaving behind the truncated Highway to Nowhere. This month, Baltimore received $85.5 million in federal funds to begin repairing the neighborhoods scarred from being slashed in two by a sunken six-lane highway dropped in their midst. Entrance and exit ramps over Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard will be torn down, and a block-long portion will be capped to restore some of the walkability and public gathering spaces lost to the highway. But for some of those whose families were among the 1,500 residents displaced by the early 1970s construction, there is skepticism. They have heard previous lofty improvement plans that sought community buy-in but never came to pass. Primary among them: the Red Line light rail that would have brought jobs, development and modern transit to and through the area but was killed by Gov. Larry Hogan in 2015. Promises made, promises not kept, said Glenn Smith, 75. People are getting tired of going to meetings. Smiths family had been forced to leave their home at 2400 Lauretta Ave. in 1969 to make way for the highway, he said, although ultimately it never extended that far west. Where do you put your trust when youve been constantly misled and have reaped no benefits from any of these projects? Smith said. Today, once thriving neighborhoods are pocked with tired or vacant rowhouses, some just shells with trees growing through them, and weedy, neglected open lots. It was not always like this, Smith said. There was disinvestment, he said, a creation of poverty. As The Baltimore Sun wrote at the time, once the neighborhoods in the planned highways path were targeted for demolition, there was little incentive or even permission to maintain or improve them. The city would not issue repair permits, James D. Dilts wrote in October 1968 in his Baltimore Sun column, The Changing City. The homeowners were left with slum streets and declining property values. That had consequences for the Black residents whose houses were in the way of the planned highway. The city was offering prices based on the fallen value of their property (which the city caused in the first place), Dilts noted. Not only that, houses were more expensive since they had bought theirs and further, being [Black], their choices were limited. His pieces detailed meetings and years of turmoil over the expressway, of homeowners fighting for their homes and neighborhoods. These homes is all we have, one resident told state lawmakers at a meeting. We lived in the projects before; this is the first house weve had of our own, Dilts quoted Ada Wells, who lived on Pulaski Street just north of Franklin Street. It was one of the best looking neighborhoods in the city. Now its a haunted village. She and her husband, John, were part of a successful effort to get homeowners replacement value rather than market value for their houses. They ultimately moved to the county. Atkins thinks if the highway hadnt forced her family out, they would still be living there. It was a good life on Mulberry Street, Atkins said. My house was open to everybody, and if I went across the street, it was like home. Atkins, who was a student at Western High School at the time, lived with her grandmother, who resisted selling her home until just about the whole block was empty in 1968, Atkins said. By then, her grandmother was widowed and in her 70s; what she received for giving up her home was nowhere near enough to buy another house. They moved to a rental in Park Heights, Atkins said, where she was miserable in a home that leaned to the left from what seemed to be foundation issues and missed her friends. Decades later, two of them surprised her with a visit to her workplace she was a supervisor in the citys Department of Social Services which led to a reunion in October 2003. They gathered regularly until recently, when the pandemic and their own getting up in years made that more difficult. Such decades-later reunions were not uncommon among various groups of friends displaced by the highway. The neighborhood was a tight neighborhood, Smith said. If you only saw how thriving it was before, said his sister, Catherine Pearson, 81. We all played outside, we skated, played dodge ball, jumped rope, jacks. In the summer, wed sit on the porch, wed sleep on the glider we didnt have air-conditioning. Wed leave our doors open, she said. We had no fear. She was in her 20s, and Smith was 19 and just drafted into the Marines, when the family moved. Pearson said her father, a widower with eight children, was threatened with eminent domain if he didnt sell the house. They moved to Windsor Hills in Northwest Baltimore. We got displaced from the friends we grew up with, Pearson said. Looking back, it really crushed us. She said shes not sure what the plans are for the Highway to Nowhere, only that its too late for us. They cant restore what was. With projects underway such as the Reconnecting Communities Program the source of the new federal funding and the Red Line proposal revived by Gov. Wes Moore, Smith has organized neighborhood groups on either side of the highway to advocate for residents interests. Reconnecting Communities in West Baltimore Coalition includes neighborhoods like Harlem Park, Lafayette Square, Poppleton and Rosemont. What stopped the highway before it continued further west and split even more neighborhoods was citizen activism, what Dilts called a strange coalition of West Baltimore homeowners, those fighting to protect Leakin Park and still others trying to protect Federal Hill and Fells Point from yet another highway. The fight stopped a massive and ever-changing plan to build highways that would cut through those and other areas to connect Interstates 95, 83 and 70. The fightfamously launched the career of the former U.S. senator, Barbara Mikulski. The road lobby had this aura of invincibility, said Stuart Wechsler, then a staff member of the Congress of Racial Equality, or CORE, which was drawn into the battle against the highways. What we did with the expressway is a template of what could be done and should be done, said Wechsler, who went on to work for the Rouse Company and Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development. It was a real David and Goliath moment. Despite their success in saving other parts of the city, he said, the Highway to Nowhere is a tragedy. The current effort to fix the damage of the highway is just the latest. Back in 1997, for example, then-Mayor Kurt L. Schmoke suggested tearing all or part of it down. Despite those dashed plans and the trauma of her familys uprooting, Atkins remains hopeful, for her city as a whole and her old neighborhood in particular. I love Baltimore, I would never live anywhere else, she said. Its still my home, and its a great home. Perhaps the influx of funds and attention will uplift those who live along the highway, and theyll come to love it as much as she did growing up there, she said. Make it a good community, give people jobs, Atkins said. Give people a desire to want to live in the area and be proud of where they are. 2025 Baltimore Sun. Visit baltimoresun.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. By Colleen Long, The Associated Press WASHINGTON President Joe Biden on Sunday posthumously pardoned Black nationalist Marcus Garvey, who influenced Malcolm X and other civil rights leaders and was convicted of mail fraud in the 1920s. Also receiving pardons were a top Virginia lawmaker and advocates for immigrant rights, criminal justice reform and gun violence prevention. Congressional leaders had pushed for Biden to pardon Garvey, with supporters arguing that Garveys conviction was politically motivated and an effort to silence the increasingly popular leader who spoke of racial pride. After Garvey was convicted, he was deported to Jamaica, where he was born. He died in 1940. The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. said of Garvey: He was the first man, on a mass scale and level to give millions of Black people a sense of dignity and destiny. Its not clear whether Biden, who leaves office Monday, will pardon people who have been criticized or threatened by President-elect Donald Trump. Issuing preemptive pardons for actual or imagined offenses by Trumps critics that could be investigated or prosecuted by the incoming administration would stretch the powers of the presidency in untested ways. Biden framed the commutations and pardons as in keeping with the sacred covenant of our nation. Speaking to the Royal Missionary Baptist Church in South Carolina, Biden said that when people we love fall and make mistakes, Americans pick them back up. We dont turn on each other. We lean into each other. Thats the sacred covenant of our nation. We pledge an allegiance, not just to an idea, but to each other, Biden said. FILE - Virginia House of Delegates speaker, Del. Don Scott, D-Portsmouth, waves to family in the gallery during the opening of the 2024 session of the Virginia General Assembly at the Capitol, Jan. 10, 2024, in Richmond, Va. (AP Photo/Steve Helber, File)AP Biden has set the presidential record for most individual pardons and commutations issued. He announced on Friday that he was commuting the sentences of almost 2,500 people convicted of nonviolent drug offenses. He also gave a broad pardon for his son Hunter, who was prosecuted for gun and tax crimes. The president has announced he was commuting the sentences of 37 of the 40 people on federal death row, converting their punishments to life imprisonment just as Trump, an outspoken proponent of expanding capital punishment, takes office. In his first term, Trump presided over an unprecedented number of executions, 13, in a protracted timeline during the coronavirus pandemic. A pardon relieves a person of guilt and punishment. A commutation reduces or eliminates the punishment but doesnt exonerate the wrongdoing. Among those pardoned on Sunday were: Don Scott, who is the speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates in a chamber narrowly controlled by Democrats. He was convicted of a drug offense in 1994 and served eight years in prison. He was elected to the Virginia legislature in 2019, and later became the first Black speaker. I am deeply humbled to share that I have received a Presidential Pardon from President Joe Biden for a mistake I made in 1994 one that changed the course of my life and taught me the true power of redemption, Scott said in a statement. Virginia Gov. Glenn Younkin, a Republican, said in a statement that Scotts success and determination to reshape his future was inspirational for all of us. Immigrant rights activist Ravi Ragbir, who was convicted of a nonviolent offence in 2001 and was sentenced to two years in prison and was facing deportation to Trinidad and Tobago. Kemba Smith Pradia, who was convicted of a drug offense in 1994 and sentenced to 24 years behind bars. She has since become a prison reform activist. President Bill Clinton commuted her sentence in 2000. Darryl Chambers of Wilmington, Delaware, a gun violence prevention advocate who was convicted of a drug offense and sentenced to 17 years in prison. He studies and writes about gun violence prevention. Biden commuted the sentences of two people: Michelle West, who was serving life in prison for her role in a drug conspiracy case in the early 1990s. West has a daughter, Miquelle West, who has written publicly about the struggle of growing up with a mother behind bars. I was only a little girl when my mom dropped me off for school one morning and never picked me up, she said in a statement thanking Biden. I have grown up and lived my entire adult life under the cloud of mandatory life in prison. Today, after more than 30 years hoping and advocating every day that her life sentence could somehow be reduced, the clouds have parted. I finally see the sunshine and a bright future for us both. Robin Peoples, who was convicted of robbing banks in northwest Indiana in the late 1990s and was sentenced to 111 years in prison. The White House said in a statement that Peoples would have faced significantly lower sentences today under current laws. Associated Press writers Darlene Superville in Charleston, South Carolina and Gary D. Robertson in Raleigh, North Carolina, contributed to this report. LOS ANGELES Southern Californians are bracing for gusty winds and a heightened risk of wildfires less than two weeks after deadly blazes that have killed at least 27 people and ravaged thousands of homes broke out The National Weather Service has issued a warning of a particularly dangerous situation for parts of Los Angeles and Ventura counties from Monday afternoon through Tuesday morning due to low humidity and damaging Santa Ana winds. Gusts could peak at 70 mph (113 kph) along the coast and 100 mph (161 kph) in the mountains and foothills. Windy weather and single-digit humidity are expected to linger through Thursday, said Rich Thompson, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service. He said the fire risk is also elevated because the region hasnt seen rain since April. Critical fire weather with wind gusts up to 60 mph (97 kph) was also forecast for other Southern California communities on Monday and Tuesday stretching to San Diego, with residents urged to take steps to get ready to evacuate such as creating an emergency kit and keeping cars filled with at least a half tank of gas. FILE - An aerial view shows the devastation by the Palisades Fire Thursday, Jan. 16, 2025 in Malibu, Calif. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)AP The warnings come as firefighters continue to battle two major blazes in the Los Angeles area, the Palisades and Eaton fires, which have destroyed more than 14,000 structures since they broke out during fierce winds on Jan. 7. The Palisades fire was 52% contained on Sunday and the Eaton fire 81% contained, according to fire officials. Firefighters said they have have made progress on the perimeter of the Palisades fire, which has charred more than 37 square miles (96 square kilometers) near the Pacific coast, but there are areas in the interior that continue to burn, said Dan Collins, a spokesperson for the Palisades fire incident. There is always a possibility in a red flag warning something hot, or some type of burning material from the interior, could be perhaps whipped up and blown across the containment lines, Collins said. While firefighters are fairly confident the Eaton fire further inland will remain contained, there are concerns a new fire could break out with vegetation especially dry for this time of year, said Carlos Herrera, an Eaton fire spokesperson. FILE - A firefighter battles the Palisades Fire around a burned structure in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, Jan. 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Etienne Laurent, File)AP California Gov. Gavin Newsom has positioned 45 fire engines across the region in addition to water-dropping aircraft and hand crews to enable a quick response should a new fire break out, according to the governors office of emergency services. This proactive approach has proven to be a critical component of Californias wildfire response strategy, reducing response times and containing fires before they escalate, the office said. Damage estimates have continued to climb for the Palisades and Eaton fires nearly two weeks since they began. Inspectors have fanned out to check buildings and assess damages, but Collins said it is impossible to know whether the remaining structures affected in the Palisades fire are intact. Our damage inspection teams have to inspect every structure within the fire perimeter, Collins said. Theyre about two-thirds of the way done. Fire officials said they were focused on repopulating evacuated areas, with residents allowed to return Sunday to the hillside area of Pacific Palisades known as the highlands. FILE - The Palisades Fire ravages a neighborhood amid high winds in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, Jan. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope, File)AP Authorities said two people were arrested Saturday while attempting to enter an evacuation zone for the Palisades fire and are being investigated for impersonating firefighters. The pair were wearing turnout gear and claimed to be from an Oregon fire agency, but they werent, and the truck they were driving had been bought at auction, the Los Angeles County sheriffs department said in a statement. Donald Trump created a bit of a social media stir and even had a congresswoman asking exactly what he meant, with a comment he had about Elon Musk during his Make America Great Again Victory Rally, on Sunday. On the eve of his inauguration, Trump praised Musks work with SpaceX before quickly moving into the work that he did on the campaign trail. All Americans are included in Donald Trumps presidency or The Trump movement includes all Americans making America great as our patriotic and civic duty. Trumps inauguration on January 20 symbolizes a shift in the demeanor of the United States to be morally centered on family values and productivity. MAGA is not derogatory. It is not fascist. MAGA is an affirmation of love for family and community. All Americans are included. At a time when the U.S. is faced with mounting threats from abroad, President Trump is a strong leader who will unify Americans, and bridge the vast bipartisan gap to defeat the scourge that is plaguing our society. Together we will move forward toward prosperity, safety, and security in a clean environment where our children are free to play and learn without unnecessary distractions. 2025 will turn over a new leaf for the United States of America. Sean Guay, Hummelstown, Pa. Former Pittsburgh Steelers outside linebacker Melvin Ingram made it known he was not happy with how he was being used in the 2021 season. When he did not get the role he was expecting, Ingram requested a trade, and landed with the Kansas City Chiefs after the Steelers moved on from him. On the I Am Athlete podcast, Ingram discussed just how he got out of Pittsburgh. He said he stopped showing up to everything, including practices and games, to force the trade. Ingram told the Steelers to call him once he was traded. I just kept it a buck, Ingram said. I stopped going to everything. Call me when you trade me. I dont even play like that. Ingram did not win a Super Bowl with the Chiefs that year, and would later leave to join the Miami Dolphins in pursuit of that ring. That year, the Steelers let Bud Dupree go to the Tennessee Titans, and Alex Highsmith stepped up to be the starter. Ingram thought he would come in and start across from T.J. Watt, but that never came to fruition. Encore Slots Player Strikes $1.1 Million Jackpot on a $9 Bet Stephanie Freeland Casino Content Executive Copy link An extraordinary stroke of luck transformed a $9 wager into over $1.1 million for an anonymous slots player at Encore, located on the Las Vegas Strip. The life-changing win occurred last Thursday when the player hit the jackpot on a Wheel of Fortune Diamond Spins 2x Wilds slot machine. First 2025 Jackpot: Lucky Gambler Wins $1.1 Million in Las Vegas The guest's incredible payout amounted to $1,183,314.91, marking the first major jackpot of 2025 for this specific machine. 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Share this article Sergei Varnaev Gets His Breakout Moment in Merit Western High Roller Tim Baker Live Reporter Copy link After being branded as the bubble boy of the Warm Up event earlier in this series, Sergei Varnaev raised himself from the dust of the desert to claim the coveted title of the 2025 Merit Poker Western Series $5,300 High Roller. In true Wild West fashion, Varnaev rode through a battlefield of 174 players inside the luxurious Crystal Cove Hotel and Casino. The event boasted a guaranteed prize pool of $800,400, and it was Varnaev who showed the most grit and determination throughout to be able to lift the trophy and earn a career-best score of $200,000, proving that redemption is sweeter than gold. The final table unfolded like a high-stakes poker shootout, lasting just four levels. Varnaevs journey to glory culminated in a heads-up duel with overnight chip leader Lyudmil Ivanov, which ended after only one hand. This victory not only quintupled Varnaevs lifetime earnings but also cemented his name among the champions of Merit Poker. Merit Poker $5,300 High Roller Final Table Results Place Player Country Prize 1 Sergei Varnaev Russia $200,000 2 Lyudmil Ivanov Bulgaria $134,000 3 Maxime Chilaud France $89,900 4 Maher Achour Tunisia $65,000 5 Bogdan Jontulovic Serbia $50,000 6 Mehmet Demirkol Turkey $39,000 7 Ludovic Uzan France $30,000 8 Sachin Joshi United Kingdom $23,000 9 Xin Tang China $18,000 Sergei Varnaev Winner's Reaction Speaking about his journey, Varnaev reflected on overcoming the psychological toll of bubbling the Warm Up. When he found himself all-in with Ace-King against pocket eights during a crucial hand, he admitted, "I was nervous. Ive been playing for seven years, and moments like that test everything youve learned." Despite his nerves, Varnaevs skill and resilience carried him through. This was his first final table appearance at Merit Poker, though hes no stranger to the winners circle. "I was at EPT here last year and even won a small tournament. This is my second trophy." Varnaev shared. Reflecting on the final table, Varnaev humbly noted that no standout hands secured his victory. "I made a couple of bluffs, but its just like...the dealers helped me," he said with a smile. As for whats next, Varnaev hinted at taking a well-earned break before deciding whether to saddle up for the Main Event. Final Table Action With the average stack at the start of the final table being just 24 big blinds, the short stacks didnt take long to get their chips into the middle. After one level of cagey play, Xin Tang was the first to bust in ninth place when his Big Slick lost to the ace-jack of Maxime Chilaud, who hit a four-flush. Sachin Joshi followed shortly after, exiting in eighth place. Despite having two overcards and a gutshot straight draw, Joshi couldnt improve against the ace-high of Ivanov. On the very next hand, Ludovic Uzan departed in seventh place after he three-bet jammed with a suited connector. Unfortunately for Uzan, Bogdan Jontulovic called with ace-queen, and the board didnt offer any help, leaving Uzan to collect his payout. Varnaev stayed quiet during the early stages of the final table but soon came to life, taking down a significant three-bet pot against Chilaud. This hand moved Varnaev from fifth to second in the chip counts and marked the beginning of his ascent to victory. Ivanov continued to hold the chip lead, steadily increasing his stack and separating himself from the field. Mehmet Demirkol made a few pay jumps but was eliminated in sixth place when his pocket deuces ran into Jontulovics flopped set. Shortly after, Maher Achour narrowly avoided elimination against Ivanov, as the board ran out in his favor, allowing him to survive a bit longer. Mehmet Demirkol Level 29 proved pivotal for Varnaev. A well-timed squeeze play saw him claim the chip lead, and a subsequent check-shove against Chilaud further extended that. Meanwhile, Jontulovics stack dwindled until he was left with just seven big blinds. His tournament ended when he got all-in with a flush draw, only to run into Varnaevs pocket kings. Jontulovic departed in fifth place, while Varnaevs dominance grew. Achour, despite surviving multiple all-ins, eventually ran out of luck and exited just short of a podium finish. His elimination at the hands of Varnaev left only three players in contention for the trophy. By the start of three-handed play, Varnaev held more than half the chips in play and applied relentless ICM pressure on his opponents. Chilaud earned the tournament's bronze medal after shoving from the small blind with king-jack, only to be called by Varnaevs suited queen. The board hit Varnaev hard, and he sent Chilaud to the rail in third place. Lyudmil Ivanov When heads-up play began, Varnaev held a commanding six-to-one chip lead over Ivanov. On the very first hand, all the chips went into the middle. Varnaev shoved the button with jack-ten, and Ivanov called with ace-deuce. A ten on the flop followed by another ten on the turn sealed the deal, crowning Varnaev as the 2025 Merit Poker Western Series High Roller champion. Ivanov, despite his runner-up finish, secured another six-figure payday but remained without a Merit Poker title. Share this article Double Delight for Stefan Lazar Who Claims GUKPT Coventry Main and Side Event Titles Matthew Pitt Senior Editor Copy link The 2025 Grosvenor UK Poker Tour (GUKPT) exploded into action in Coventry during the past week, with bumper crowds seen in most of the events. Stefan Lazar will forever look back fondly on this opening leg, not least because he came out on top in two events, including the massive Main Event. Lazar had a shade under $10,500 in recorded live tournament winnings before GUKPT Coventry, with 1,020 being his largest haul. Check his Hendon Mob profile in a couple of days, and you'll see a victory in the 250 Pot-Limit Omaha 4/5/6/ Card worth 5,630, plus him triumphing in the 1,250 Main Event for an additional 70,830. Winning any tournament generates a huge ROI for the lucky player, but Lazar's ROI was boosted further because he won his 1,250 Main Event ticket in a 140 cashout satellite at the Grosvenor G Casino in Coventry! That 140 investment is now worth 70,830, and would have weighed in at 80,680 had he not struck a deal when the tournament was three-handed. 2025 GUKPT Coventry Main Event Final Table Results Rank Player Prize 1 Stefan Lazar 70,830* 2 Keith Littlewood 53,750* 3 Alex Montgomery 53,750* 4 A.A 28,610 5 Stephen Barnes 20,760 6 Jamie Bott 15,590 7 S.S. 11,950 8 Jamie Le 9,270 9 Stephen McCabe 7,360 *reflects a three-handed deal The money bubble burst on Day 2 when Jack Allen lost a coinflip against Calogero Morreale. Allen busted in 45th place with Morreale eventually busting in 21st place. Others who finished in the money place but fell shy of a seat at the final table included David Docherty, Mitchell Johnson, Thomas Clack, Yucel Eminoglu, Chris Da-Silva, Bobby James, Niall Farrell, Keith Johnson, Michael Kane, Christopher Johnson, and Luke Porter. At the final table, Lazar thwarted Stephen McCabe's attempts to double up. McCabe committed his last 11 big blinds with ace-queen only for Lazar to call with pocket queens. An ace-less board later and McCabe was gone. 250,000 Guaranteed in the 2025 GUKPT Manchester Main Event It Runs Jan 29-Feb. 11 Jamie Le's impressive run of form continued in Coventry but he had to make do with an eighth place finish in the Main Event. Le squeezed all-in for 13 big blinds after Keith Littlewood had opened and "S.S." called. Only Littlewood called, showing queen-jack. Le flipped over ace-six and was ahead, but lost his stack courtesy of a jack on the turn. Seventh place went to the player calling themself "S.S." They picked up the first five-figure prize from the pot, namely 11,950. Littlewood then claimed the scalp of Jamie Bott, coming from behind as he did when he eliminated "S.S." Bott was all-in with ace-four against Littlewood's king-nine, who turned a nine to reduce the final table to only five players. Those five became four after Stephen Barnes' demise. Barnes, who won the 888poker UKPL Manchester Main Event for 58,000 in August 2024, three-bet all-in for 20 big blinds from the big blind with king-jack, but Alex Montgomery called from the small blind with ace-ten. An ace on the turn left Barnes drawing dead. Another anonymous player, going by "A.A." fell in fourth, prompting the remaining three players to strike a deal. Everyone locked in 53,750, leaving 17,080 and the trophy up for grabs. Montgomery bowed out in third. The popular pro won his GUKPT Coventry Main Event seat in a satellite and turned that into 53,750. Earlier in the series, Montgomery was the runner-up in the 1,650 High Roller for 35,830, a profitable stop for the Manchester man. The one-on-one battle between Lazar and Littlewood went the way of the former. For Littlewood, that meant the second-best score of his career, beaten only by the $72,929 he banked for an eighth-place finish in the $1,000 Mini Main Event at the 2022 World Series of Poker (WSOP). Lazar held the trophy aloft and posed for winner's photos before heading to the cashier's desk to collect a career-high 70,830, his reward for leaving 367 opponents in his wake. 2025 GUKPT Coventry Side Event Results Event Entrants Prize Pool Champion Prize 1,650 High Roller 127 180,975 Thomas Clack 55,200 250 Mini Main 772 159,850 Muhammad Makhmood 31,150 200 Opener 901 149,795 Tony Horn 30,140 550 GUKPT Cup 151 71,720 Robert Boon 16,500 250 PLO 4/5/6 Card 130 27,170 Stefan Lazar 5,630 200 Turbo 72 12,310 Steve Roberts 3,000 200 Closer 50 8,550 Catalin Zamfir 2,990 330 PLO 4 Card Bounty 47 13,920 Christopher Flint 2,000* 150 Seniors 72 9,080 Paul Marvin 1,911 Thomas Clack triumphed in the 1,650 High Roller for an impressive 55,200, outlasting 126 opponents. Muhammad Makhmood won the 250 Mini Main Event. Some 772 entrants created a 159,850 prize pool, from which Makhmood claimed 31,150. The 200 Opener was the biggest tournament at GUKPT Coventry in terms of the number of entrants. Tony Horn came out on top of a 901-strong field to bank 30,10, defeating Sinead Davenport heads-up for the title. GUKPT Manchester Runs from January 30 to February 11 Players don't have time to rest on their laurels because the second leg of the 2025 GUKPT is only days away. GUKPT Manchester runs from January 30 through February 11 at the Grosvenor Casino Bury New Road. It includes a 1,250 Main Event that saw 436 players enter in 2024. Frenchman Vincent Meli outlasted them all and walked away with 83,897. Share this article Justin Tsui Tops Record-Breaking WSOPC Marrakech Main Event Maxime Taldir Live Reporter Copy link In 2024, Max Deveson played until the early hours of the morning to win the World Series of Poker Circuit Marrakech Main Event. This year, Justin Tsui didnt even wait until midnight to be crowned the 2025 winner. Out of a record-breaking field of 1,523 entries, which generated a total prize pool of 19,421,500 MAD (approximately 1,877,955), Tsui navigated his way to the top, claiming his first WSOPC ring and a career-best cash prize of 2,700,000 MAD. Spanish players Gandalf and Aitor Cruz secured second and third place, respectively. Meanwhile, Paul Tedeschi and French content creator Mathieu Choffardet fell short of bringing the ring back to France, finishing in fourth and fifth place. 2025 WSOPC Marrakech Main Event Results Place Player Country Prize (in MAD) Prize (in EUR) 1 Justin Tsui Hong Kong 2,700,000 MAD 261,900 2 Gandalf Spain 1,840,000 MAD 178,480 3 Aitor Cruz Spain 1,300,000 MAD 126,100 4 Paul Tedeschi France 965,000 MAD 93,605 5 Mathieu Choffardet France 720,000 MAD 69,840 6 Ina Spain 545,000 MAD 52,865 7 Dinesh Alt Switzerland 425,000 MAD 41,225 8 Mike Mcmanaman Spain 345,000 MAD 33,465 9 Volga Uyanik France 280,000 MAD 27,160 Winner's Reaction Tsuis relationship with Marrakech began when he visited as a tourist a decade ago. Since then, he hadnt returned to Moroccountil this week: I have friends who come to Marrakech every year, so this time, I told myself I would join them. I decided on Tuesday that I was going to come and play the tournament. I landed on Thursday morning, busted my first bullet, and reentered on Friday, Tsui shared. After navigating a very smooth Day 2, Tsui advanced to Day 3 with a strategy influenced by ICM dynamics.From 15 players, there were so many short stacks while I was third in chips that I just had to keep folding because of ICM. Then, once we were three-handed and then heads-up, I started playing more aggressively to try to win the tournament, he explained. Justin Tsui This calculated approach paid off, earning him the title that adds to an already impressive run in 2024. The last 6-7 months have been crazy with a couple of big final tables, so it feels good to take the ring and the trophy, he said moments after his win. Ive been playing poker for more than ten years, so its always been a dream to win a big tournament. And there were very good players here, so I feel very fortunate to win this one. In addition to the prize money, Tsuis victory secured his entry into the next WSOP Tournament of Champions. I didnt know about that, but I was going to the US anyway, he laughed. For now, he plans to return to Hong Kong in March and then probably to the Irish Open in April, to see if he can replicate his success in Marrakech in Ireland. Final Day Action Just 29 hopefuls remained heading into the final day, with Anthony Apicella leading the pack. However, a bad run of cards, compounded with an ace-queen vs. ace-king encounter, saw the series' High Roller winner depart in 13th place. Alone Zagury (10th - 230,000 MAD) ultimately bubbled the final table, which began with four out of nine players holding under ten big blinds. Volga Uyanik was the first to fall in 9th place (280,000 MAD) against Choffardets kings. Cruz then seized control of the table, participating in nearly every hand. Although he doubled up a few opponents, Cruz also eliminated Mike McManaman (8th - 345,000 MAD), Dinesh Alt (7th - 425,000 MAD), and Ina (6th - 545,000 MAD) before the dinner break. Play resumed with a setup between Choffardets ace-king and Justin Tsuis queens. The coin flip landed in Tsuis favor, giving him the chip lead. Paul Tedeschi and Gandalf attempted comebacks, but Tsui ended Tedeschis run in 4th place (965,000 MAD) by calling the Frenchmans shove with pocket sevens. Aitor Cruz (3rd - 1,300,000 MAD) was next to fall to Tsui, and the heads-up play between Tsui and Gandalf was short-lived, as Tsui needed only a few hands to claim victory and be crowned the WSOPC Marrakech Main Event champion. Share this article The $5,300 High Roller at the 2025 Merit Poker Western Series is nearing its dramatic conclusion, with the final nine players ready to compete for the title and a $200,000 top prize from the impressive $800,400 prize pool. After three days of high-stakes poker at the Crystal Cove Hotel and Casino, everything is in place for an unforgettable finale. Leading the charge is Bulgarias Lyudmil Ivanov, the only player to cross the three-million mark with 3,100,000 chips. Ivanov, with multiple final table appearances at Merit events, including a sixth-place finish in the 2022 High Roller, is poised to chase his first victory on this prestigious stage. Final Table Seat Draw Seat Player Country Chip Count Big Blinds 1 Mehmet Demirkol Turkey 1,120,000 14 2 Bogdan Jontulovic Serbia 2,770,000 35 3 Sergei Varnaev Russia 2,320,000 29 4 Sachin Joshi United Kingdom 675,000 8 5 Xin Tang China 1,290,000 16 6 Ludovic Uzan France 1,490,000 19 7 Maher Achour Tunisia 1,665,000 21 8 Lyudmil Ivanov Bulgaria 3,100,000 39 9 Maxime Chilaud France 2,955,000 37 Close behind is Frances Maxime Chilaud, who brings 2,955,000 chips into todays finale. Chilaud is no stranger to success at Merit events, boasting five final table appearances since 2022, including three victories. Among his standout achievements are triumphs in the 2023 Merit Poker Carmen Series Main Event, where he took home the top prize of $376,800, and victory in the Merit Vintage Series High Roller. With his impressive resume, Chilaud will be looking to cement his status further by adding another coveted Merit High Roller title to his collection. Serbias Bogdan Jontulovic, fresh off a runner-up finish at the 2024 Gatsby Gala High Roller, sits third with 2,770,000 chips, the majority of which came from an astounding hero call yesterday for his tournament life with just ace-high. Jontulovic will be aiming to go one step further this time and get his hands on the trophy. Bogdan Jontulovic Russias Sergei Varnaev enters with 2,320,000 chips after a fantastic Day 3 performance that included eliminating Gaspare Sposato in a cooler, aces vs kings. Joining him at the top half of the leaderboard is Tunisias Maher Achour, who ended the day with 1,665,000 chips after bursting the bubble and maintaining consistent aggression. Further down the leaderboard, Frances Ludovic Uzan (1,490,000) and Chinas Xin Tang (1,290,000) will look to climb the rankings early, while Turkeys Mehmet Demirkol (1,120,000) and the United Kingdoms Sachin Joshi (675,000) round out the final table as the short stacks. Joshi faces an uphill battle but has proven his resilience having been all-in and at risk twice during the last two levels of play yesterday. At the same time, Demirkol will aim to find timely spots to apply maximum ICM pressure and attempt to extend his chip lead. Ludovic Uzan Cards will be in the air from 1 p.m. local time, and 16 minutes are remaining on level 26, where blinds are 40,000/80,000 with an 80,000 big blind ante. The average stack is roughly 1,900,000 chips, which equates to 24 big blinds. Each player has already secured a payout of $18,000, but with the whopping $200,000 top prize on the line, every hand has the potential to be a turning point as they battle for the High Roller title. Remaining Payouts Place Prize 1 $200,000 2 $134,000 3 $89,900 4 $65,000 5 $50,000 6 $39,000 7 $30,000 8 $23,000 9 $18,000 Stay tuned to PokerNews as the final nine compete for glory and the right to be crowned the 2025 Merit Poker Western Series High Roller champion! Moncks Corner, SC (29461) Today Partly cloudy. High near 75F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight Some clouds this evening will give way to mainly clear skies overnight. Low 48F. Winds light and variable. Chloe Barlow is a multimedia reporter straight out of the Midlands. She trained in journalism at both the University of South Carolina and Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. She covers a wide breadth of South Carolina news, but she is especially interested in accountability and justice reporting. Charleston, SC (29403) Today Partly cloudy this morning, then becoming cloudy during the afternoon. High 72F. Winds SSW at 10 to 15 mph.. Tonight Some clouds this evening will give way to mainly clear skies overnight. Low 51F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph. Mount Pleasant, SC (29464) Today A mix of clouds and sun early followed by cloudy skies this afternoon. High 72F. Winds SSW at 10 to 15 mph.. Tonight Clear to partly cloudy. Low 51F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph. "We wanted to help the people out there. I'm a person that loves people," Brunson said. "It could be us instead of them. God teaches us to love other people. I just felt led to help these people. ... Every little bit is going to add up and help them." The Hurricane Helene chicken bog benefit is a first for Cooks for Christ, Brunson and 25-year volunteer Beverly McKee said. All previous Chicken Bog Benefits have helped individuals with their medical needs. Cooks for Christ has given donations for other relief efforts, Brunson said, but hasn't conducted a fundraiser. The difference between chicken bog benefits for people and the Hurricane Helene fundraiser, McKee said, is volunteers are doing all the work. The organization's core volunteers met and decided to take on the challenge, McKee said. The volunteers are asking for food orders, supplies and baked goods. At the group's usual benefits, the families in need ask for the baked goods for the bake sale, she said. Volunteers are working hard because there isn't any family support this time. "In other words, we are going around to bakeries asking for baked goods. We are just stepping up to the plate and asking our friends and asking our families," McKee said. People already have donated money and food for this fundraiser, Brunson said. Volunteers are contacting people for monetary and food donations. Checks should be made out to Samaritan's Purse, McKee said. After the Jan. 23 chicken bog benefit, McKee said she will take the donations and the money raised at the chicken bog benefit to Samaritan's Purse. This fundraiser has received a lot of support from the community, McKee said. "I definitely believe we will hit the $60,000 goal," McKee said. Cooks for Christ volunteers believe every penny raised will help recovery efforts in the Carolinas, McKee said. Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh (left) and Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala co-chair the press briefing in Prague to announce the results of their summit meeting, January 20, 2025. Photo: VGP The latest decision was made during the summit meeting between Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala. "No country in Asia with which we have such a profound and open relationship as Viet Nam and this is the right time to decide to turn the relationship to a new page," Prime Minister Fiala said at a press briefing following the summit meeting. The relationship has been very successful, with the two-way trade increasing rapidly, emphasized Fiala, adding that Czech companies are interested in investing in Viet Nam. Fiala affirmed that Viet Nam represents the most important partner of the Czech Republic in Southeast Asia, with huge cooperation potential. Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala witness the signing of an agreement on cooperation in education and training between the Vietnamese Government and the Czech Government in Prague, the Czech Republic, January 20, 2025. Photo: VGP Prime Minister Pham, for his part, thanked the Czech side for its warm hospitality during his visit, saying he had a fruitful meeting with his Czech counterpart. Pham expressed his gratitude to the Czech Republic for its wholehearted and pure assistance for Viet Nam over the last 75 years. The new partnership framework established today means the Czech Republic is the first strategic partner of Viet Nam in Central and Eastern Europe, noted the Vietnamese Prime Minister Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala witness the signing of an agreement on cooperation in pilot training between Vietjet Air of Viet Nam and F Air of the Czech Republic in Prague, January 20, 2025. Photo: VGP He suggested both sides strive to raise the two-way trade to US$5 billion, consolidate and strengthen defense-security cooperation, and facilitate cultural and people-to-people exchanges Pham called on both countries to continue close coordination at international and multilateral forums in a bid to contribute to further elevating each side's role, position and prestige on the international arena. Pham took the occasion to invite Prime Minister Petr Fiala to visit Viet Nam again and conveyed the greetings and invitations from General Secretary To Lam, President Luong Cuong, and Chairman of the National Assembly Tran Thanh Man to senior Czech leaders to visit the Southeast Asian country. On the occasion, the two Prime Ministers witnessed the signing of agreements on cooperation in the fields of education and training and pilot training between the two countries./. The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has yielded to the intense pressure from telecommunication companies (telcos) to raise calls and data costs, PREMIUM TIMES can authoritatively report. Except there is a last-minute change in plans, the NCC will announce today (Monday) its approval for the telcos to increase their tariffs, a top NCC official confided in one of our editors. For a long time, telcos have been pressing the NCC for approval to charge subscribers higher prices due to what they described as rising operational costs, particularly the high cost of diesel used to power their stations. Industry sources familiar with the matter told PREMIUM TIMES on Monday that telcos consume approximately 40 million litres of diesel monthly to power their stations, resulting in significant operational costs. Additionally, the sources said telcos require more financial investment to acquire specialised software and hardware upgrades to maintain and improve their services. The companies also claimed that last years naira devaluation imposed severe financial difficulties on them. The NCCs approval will allow telcos to raise their charges within the existing tariff range of N6.40 to N50, which was set in 2013. The exact new tariff rates are expected to be announced later today. 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 telcos had initially requested between a 100 and 300 per cent increase in tariff, but the NCC approved a 50 per cent increase to help keep the companies afloat. They have been running at losses, an official source familiar with the matter said. We have to do something so they do not collapse. He said the decision to increase tariffs is necessary to alleviate telcos financial pressures while allowing them to maintain and improve their services. Industry relies on sophisticated and specialised software and hardware. Telcos are making losses. We have a problem, and urgent action is needed. In the past year, we have pushed and pushed. The industry needs cash flows. MTN recently raised money from commercial papers at 20 per cent. If we do not take decisive action, imagine a Nigeria without connectivity. The Nigerian telecommunications sector recorded a major milestone with establishing the Nigerian Telecommunications Limited (NITEL) in 1985, with the merger of two government entities, the telecoms arm of the Post and Telecommunications (P&T) department under the Ministry of Communications and the Nigerian External Communications (NET). As the countrys sole telecommunications provider, NITEL offered services to mostly organisations and affluent Nigerians. However, decades later, the Nigerian government began liberalising the telecommunications sector, allowing private companies to enter the market. This led to the establishment of several telecom companies, including MTN Nigeria, Glo Mobile, Airtel and 9mobile, among others. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print Old Man Awuley was the one who introduced the storytelling segment sessions. Grey-haired with a small pot belly traced to frequent stopovers at Ataa Oseis nearby palm-wine joint, he used to come to James Town from Swalaba for the panlogo fiesta every weekend. He had lived in James Town for years. Then, suddenly after retiring from his civil service work at Usher Fort, he relocated without notice to High Street, Swalaba, uptown Accra. Abcdefghijklmnoppanlogo alogo logo ligi mao mao, panlogo alogo logo ligi The seething seaside scene swinging to this ancient panlogo beats was James Town, a fishing community in Accra, the capital city of Ghana. Decembers harmattan dusk gradually swallowing the area wasnt strong enough to subdue the powerful panlogo blasts of a small gathering of young folks working on make-shift instruments to produce the songs. Fists were the microphones. Steel spoons and nails were knocked symmetrically on cans and bottles and tins that used to house foods, drinks and beverage. Together with drumming done on cardboard and wood, untrained voices rendered a thousand and one parts that went beyond the four traditional bass, alto, tenor and soprano musical arrangements. The group churned out panlogo melodies and dance steps and gymnastics that assured the environment that although the sun was departing with its genial heat, there was vibrant throaty artistry to release another kind of friendly glow. There was no vacuum. Nature would always replace the sun with the moon. But poor moon couldnt give sunlight. It would only offer dusk illumination, under which to tell tales. No more. Old Man Awuley was the one who introduced the storytelling segment sessions. Grey-haired with a small pot belly traced to frequent stopovers at Ataa Oseis nearby palm-wine joint, he used to come to James Town from Swalaba for the panlogo fiesta every weekend. He had lived in James Town for years. Then, suddenly after retiring from his civil service work at Usher Fort, he relocated without notice to High Street, Swalaba, uptown Accra. It was only a physical movement; his soul didnt quit the area by the Atlantic shore. His spirit was knit to James Town. He used to tell his young friends that there was a long story behind his love for James Town. Then why did you leave? Akwele asked. She was one of the two dancing female members of the panlogo group. Im going to let you know one of these days. 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 Family? No, AkweleNot now. Youre curious. Be careful. Remember, curiosity killed the cat. One of these days, well insist you let us know why you moved. Youd be forced to let us know or wed not entertain the community. The James Town mantse (king) would hear about our protest. That came from Korkor. She paired with Akwele in the outfits dances. They were a lethal combination if they raised an insurrection; they were unstoppable, even if Old Man Awuley and the other three male components were not on their side. The girls hardly fell apart. Which was odd for two combustible figures. The ladies now got support from the band leader, Addo. Numo, he started as he arranged the musical contraptions for the days business. Numo was the deferential name they all used to address their founder. Its like were all going to be on the side of our women o! He turned to Dodoo, the vocalist. What do you think about the history of Numo and James Town and his operating away from home? Im for the story. But theres business tonight. Ive polished my voice for this hour. I dont want to squander my investment on talk, please. Lets handle Numo after we play today. I agree with Dodoo. Lets resolve Numos matter after tonight, Tawiah said. He was the composer. If we go into debating it now, Ill forget all my unscripted masterpieces when it comes to singing them. So they gave their leader a reprieve. But he came up with conditions. The group listened, prepared to accept his terms, if that would finally lead them into a dark past. Each of you must tell me two stories. Either about yourselves or your communities, past or present. When youve given me ten of them, Ill release to you all my lifeFrom A to Z. I wont stop at P as we do in panlogo. Do you even know why we dont go beyond P? Its in the luggage I will offload. So, who kicks off? Please also remember that we resolved some time ago that what we get from the public at Xmas season wouldnt be shared among us. Were going to be giving it to charity: orphans, widows, the vulnerable, and the needy clan. The troupe often had a good day. Passersby stopped to appreciate their Mantse Agbonaa shows. There was an iron box that received whatever amount dropped into your mind to offer: coins and cedi notes. Sometimes you were simply moved to stay and join the dancing ladies as you relished the beats and songs. Others expressed their approval by giving them money or inviting them for lunch at Anti Amas chop bar the following day. They were once taken to a tailor for two sets of uniform for shows. On a good weekend, they could earn a thousand cedis. Southpaw Korkor, who doubled as the treasurer, raised her left hand to indicate she would start the adesan hearing. She first told the story of how she and her twin sister played tricks on men and made merchandise of the pranks. But once, they were exposed and embarrassed and disgraced. In the other tale, the dancer said in school at Adabraka, downtown Accra, she disguised as a boy and found herself in a boys hostel. She fled when she eavesdropped on one of the boys who discovered her gender; he was planning a nocturnal raid on her. Akwele was next, relating how she once pretended to be pregnant. At home in the morning hours, she would dash to the toilet several times, and locked away from her parents, shed feign throwing up in the manner of women in early pregnancy. I always enjoyed watching all the household speak in hushed tones. They would say, Whos fathering the baby? How did she get it? As if they didnt know how babies are made. Her second story was how she was almost arrested and prosecuted when, upon discovering that her horserace-betting ticket lost, she altered the figure to a winning one. The cashier she presented the disfigured slip to raised an alarm; but she was fleet-footed, disappearing swiftly into the crowd. Dodoos tales werent about himself, but his parents love for the Church and children. They began preparing for what to give the poor and the Church at Christmas as soon as one was over. So, from January of every year, he said theyd, begin skipping meals every day to save to enable them give to the Church, the deprived in the neighbourhood and the children whose parents couldnt afford new clothes and food at YuletideFrom them l learnt the virtues of saving and giving sacrificially. In his second adesan, Dodoo said his elder sister ran away from home on the day two men came for her hand in marriage. She confided in Dodoo that she didnt know how it happened, swearing she had no prior arrangements for the men to bring their elderly kinsmen for the ceremonies on the same day. Because I was the closest to my sister and everybody was coming to me for her whereabouts, which I wasnt aware of at the time, I also fled home. In his first tale, Addo said when he was a schoolboy, he was at the Black Star Square in Accra during one of Ghanas Independence Day anniversaries. He was allowed to shake hands with JJ Rawlings, Ghanas legendary revolutionary leader. It was televised nationwide. When I got back home at Kokomlemle, parents had lined up their children in kilometre-long queues to shake my hands so they could tap from my contact with JJ. They said they wanted the kids to be like the Ghanaian hero. In his second tale, Addo said he ceased eating dog peppersoup when they brought a man to a herbalist for healing. The mans wife complained that she couldnt sleep because in bed her man barked like a dog, instead of snoring. The herbalists remedy: first, they should look for one of the puppies mothered by the dog that found its way into the belly of the barking man. The medicine man would make a concoction with the small dog to cure the mans malaise. Thereafter he must stop taking canine meals. Finally, it was Tawiahs turn. Once upon a time, I dreamt that I was a millionaire. When I woke up, I realised I had slept for five years. Many Christmases had gone past me. But I didnt bother about that. I was asking everybody, Where are my millions? They said a man came to them saying I gave him a signed authority to cart away the money so I can use it in the future. He said he was looking for the man who took his dream fortune. He was also waiting for the arrival of the future storing his riches. Tale Number Two also had to do with a dream. Tawiah saw himself installed a king. There was unimaginable grandeur, splendour and glamour around him. It surpassed anything he had ever seen on earth. So he refused to return to reality. His people feared he had died. But the doctors said he was alive. It was a sorcerer who unraveled the mystery. The young man is enjoying life in another world. He wont come back to this world unless you threaten him with live burial. Go get a coffin and make preparations for his interment. Hed fear to be buried alive. It worked. I scrambled out of bed, accusing my parents and the sorcerer, Youre wickedIts you who would go into the coffin for denying me my reign as a king. Numo Awuley had his ten tales. He called for a palongo stage to precede his own story. A small group of the public was forming around them, expecting a performance. It must be special, to rhyme with the Yuletide. They started. ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPpalongo alogo logo ligi The whole scene erupted into ecstasy and electric euphoria that the area hadnt experienced for ages. The dancing women gyrated, joined by some in the crowd. The vocalists and the drummers and whoever had a part to play put up acts as if it was an Olympic Games competition with lucrative awards for the best participants. Suddenly, there was a tumultuous eruption of big brass band music of Christmas carols that seemed to have come from across the street, close to the Atlantic beach that overlooked where Numo Awuleys group was reaching its feverish peak. This new entry of beats, complete with a large army of trumpeters, saxophonists, percussionists, flutists, pianists, vocalists and dancers, all numbering about one thousand mounted on a long multi-tyre wagon, snaked along the street, followed by thousands more people, who were now being joined by the panlogo fans and the entire James Town population. It was a new sensation in the neighbourhood: mobile music machine meandering the roads, and taking a whole community, especially children, with them. They were all abandoning their beloved panlogo. Where were they following the new beats to? Was this a replay of Pied Piper? Old Man Awuley and his group were still asking questions as the Xmas songs from the mammoth trailer blared in the street. Banji Ojewale, a author and journalist, sent this story from Accra, Ghana. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print Gunmen on Sunday invaded the Celestial Church of Christ (CCC) in Idiroko, Ipokia Local Government Area of Ogun State, and shot a 54yearold prophet, Yomi Adetula, dead. Until his death, Mr Adetula was the director of Anti-Arms Smuggling for the Social Orientation and Safety (So-Safe) Corps in Ogun State. PREMIUM TIMES gathered that the assailants stormed the CCC Eagle Parish along Baggage Road, Odo Eran, Idiroko, around 10:30 a.m. and opened fire during the service. The gunmen, numbering three, reportedly shot at Mr Adetula, who appeared to be the target and mangled his head with an axe. The Ogun Police Spokesman Omolola Odutola confirmed the incident on Sunday afternoon. Police officers raced to the scene and saw Oomi Adetula, M, aged 54 years, lifeless in the pool of blood which stained his white celestial garment, lying face up. On careful observation, his body was riddled with bullets and his head was not speared to ensure the victim was dead; it was mangled with an axe. On police inquiry, the information further gathered that three men came into the church, brought out long double barrel gun aimed at their target and fired a shot that brought the deceased down, she said. Article Page with Financial Support Promotion Nigerians need credible journalism. Help us report it. Support journalism driven by facts, created by Nigerians for Nigerians. Our thorough, researched reporting relies on the support of readers like you. Help us maintain free and accessible news for all with a small donation. Every contribution guarantees that we can keep delivering important stories no paywalls, just quality journalism. SUPPORT NOW x Do this later The police spokesperson said the corpse had been deposited at the General Hospital Morgue, Ilaro. She added that the command had begun moves to arrest the suspects who fled into the border area. Normalcy has been restored, and a possible clue will be revealed in the coming days as an investigation has been launched into the unfortunate occurrence, Odutola said. Meanwhile, the Foundation for Investigative Journalism (FIJ) said Mr Adetula was one of its witnesses in its defence of the libel lawsuit filed by IBD Dende in response to its (FIJs) undercover investigation and subsequent documentary on smuggling by its founder, Fisayo Soyombo. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print A former RCCG Senior Pastor, Idowu Iluyomade, has floated a new church, The Family Fellowship, in Lagos; it is a modest gathering compared to the City of David Parish, which he oversaw alongside his wife, Siju, from 16 September 2007 until he was reportedly suspended in June 2024. At the passing of Pastor Eskor Mfon, he was appointed the pastor in charge of the City of David and the Head of the Apapa family. The Iluyomades suspension followed the elaborate 60th birthday celebration of his wife, Siju, on 18 February 2024. This celebration stirred up more controversy than just a mere celebration, as it was held in the wake of the death of the then Chief Executive Officer of Access Bank, Herbert Wigwe, a prominent member of the church. They were initially replaced by Pastor Charles Kpandei of the churchs Resurrection Parish Region 11 with immediate effect. However, Pastor Kayode Pitan and his wife, Femi Pitan, now head the City of David Parish of the RCCG. After the play out of these, the pastor and his socialite wife Siju had been off social media for months but returned in August 2024 as he paid tributes to his father. 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 This was followed by successive appearances at other events, including the 80th birthday party of Nigerias first minister of industry, Nike Akande, in Lagos in November 2024. The Family Fellowship The Family Fellowships inaugural Sunday service was held amid pomp and elaborate social media coverage. The sermon was precise and soul-stirring, touching on popular biblical themes of favour and mercy. Delivering his sermon, Mr Iluyomade said, I have had challenges, but I also have testimonies because I understand the importance of the word of God. He then elaborated on the preachings of faith and Gods mercy by sharing the story of the Roman centurion who asked Jesus to heal his paralysed servant, as documented in the Bible in Matthew 8:5-13. In this story, the famous pastor drove home his teachings on faith. Afterwards, a church member testified about how the inaugural service idea was conceived in less than two days. He said, This church is where everybody who matters in this country will be. Were talking of a church coming to Eko axis, and we will be the first active church. Its one thing for you to build; its another thing for you to have a presence online. By Gods grace, well be the first active church here, and itll come to pass in the next three months. By Gods grace, we will be extremely comfortable here for our stay. By the time the news starts going around, I am sure the pastor has prophesied that there will be two services by next Sunday. But coming here was a decision made on Friday, and I told the pastor, You need to go back to your old self; you dont know who you are and the grace you carry. The pastor asked where the money was coming from. We will say one thing, and the pastor will say, Are you sure? But God is bringing everything together. His wife, Siju, was conspicuously absent from the service. Aside from his pastoral calling, Mr Iluyomade also has a flair for music. He and his wife released the single No One Can Thank You Enough in November 2024 across all streaming platforms. Mr Iluyomade posted on his social media handles that he got the inspiration for the song from heaven while asleep. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print Since the controversial crossdresser Idris Bobrisky Okuneye fled Nigeria in November after several failed attempts, he hasnt ceased to comment on national issues, especially when it has to do with the EFCC. Recall that Bobriskys trouble-filled year began on 25 March 2024 when videos of him spraying naira notes at a high-profile event surfaced online. In October, PREMIUM TIMES reported that Bobrisky faced two arrests the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) and the EFCC while attempting to flee Nigeria amid his ongoing legal troubles. And so when the EFCC announced the death of Aminu Salisu, an assistant superintendent of the commission, killed in Anambra during an operation to arrest some suspected internet fraudsters on 17 January, Bobrisky slammed the anti-graft agency in a lengthy social media rant. Recounting his experience with the EFCC, Bobrisky had nothing nice to say. He alleged that they invaded his privacy and attempted to access his Instagram and WhatsApp conversations to no avail. I just dont like reading anything about EFCC online because I want to throw up anytime I read about them. You are asking the public to be human about the loss of one of your staff, but you are the most wicked people in Nigeria. You searched my house, seized my phone for over a week, and went through my emails. The social media celebrity alleged that EFCC asked him to provide the phone number of a popular Nigerian influencer, but he declined. 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 When I was in your custody, you took me to my house and searched it. When I asked you why, you claimed I was into money laundering. You want to check if I am not printing money in my house. Police are a hundred per cent better than you all one million times. After writing my statement, you asked me to give you Papayas number. I told you I do not have her number. Even if I am not talking to her, I wont be heartless to set her up like that cos I was not trained to be a snitch. Good citizen On 12 April, Justice Abimbola Awogboro sentenced Bobrisky to six months in prison for currency abuse, denying him the option of a fine. The sentence was notable as Bobrisky, who identifies as female, was incarcerated in a male correctional facility. Reflecting on his ordeal, Bobrisky insisted that he is a law-abiding Nigerian citizen who would never evade arrest or an EFCC invitation. He said: I am a good citizen who obeys laws. If not, I would have flown out of Nigeria immediately after I got your invitation letter because I had two country visas on my passport. But I said no. I am a public figure. Let me honour their invitation. Lastly, business owners stop selling their stuff in dollars. They are using that to arrest people, too. One of my friends is their victim. They went to his store and pretended to be customers who wanted to purchase one of the items in the store. They offered to pay in dollars, and he told them to pay, so they arrested him. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print Donald Trump has been sworn in for a second term as president of the United States, and with his return comes an overhaul of the countrys governance, including its policies at home and abroad. Unpredictability is Mr Trumps hallmark, leaving the world on edge as he begins his second presidential term. Aside from his electoral victory, the Republican Partys control of the Senate and the House of Representatives gives Mr Trump the power to implement his agenda. With a Congress aligned with his priorities and a conservative-leaning Supreme Court, Mr Trumps administration is expected to face minimal institutional resistance in enacting its policies. His America First foreign policy, which essentially defined his previous administration, will likely continue. The policy focuses on American interests while sidelining global cooperation. His past record as president and his statements during the campaign have raised fears and concerns in many parts of the world. In Nigeria, many citizens and analysts have raised concerns about his immigration and potential trade and vaccination plans. Travel Ban At the forefront of President Trumps policies is the crackdown on immigration. During the 2024 election, the president vowed to begin his second term by controlling legal migration and deporting those in the US without legal status. 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 his first term (from 2017 to 2021), Mr Trump entered the White House intending to reduce legal immigration by 63 per cent and was wildly successful in this goal. His efforts were multifaceted, with a travel ban being one of the most prominent actions. This policy, initially issued as an executive order, restricted entry to the United States for citizens of several predominantly Muslim-majority countries, such as Libya, Syria and Yemen. He later expanded the ban to include Nigeria and some other African countries. The travel ban was overturned in 2021 after Joe Biden became president. However, President Trump has vowed to reinstate his travel ban. Some experts have said Nigeria is likely to be one of the countries to be affected. A professor of foreign policy at Obafemi Awolowo University, Femi Mimiko, told PREMIUM TIMES that Nigeria can expect President Donald Trumps second administration to be generally unfavourable politically and economically. The president, according to him, has scant respect for the continent, referring to it as made up of shithole countries that he would rather keep out of the US. Things are going to be a bit rough for Nigerian and African illegal immigrants, because, shorn of all facade, much of the vituperations from Mr Trump on illegal immigration are directed at people of colour, he stated. Vaccine production President Trumps second-term cabinet appointments highlight his penchant for making unconventional and polarising choices. One such was the appointment of Robert Kennedy Jr. to lead the Department of Health and Human Services: a man whose views health officials have described as dangerous to public health. If the nomination is confirmed by Congress, Mr Kennedy will head the agency that oversees everything related to health, including drugs, vaccines, food safety, medical research, and medical aid in the US. However, Mr Kennedy is one of the worlds most influential anti-vaccine campaigners. His nomination as Secretary of Health and Human Services raised significant concerns about vaccine production and healthcare due to his long-standing scepticism about vaccine safety and efficacy. He has consistently questioned the safety and efficacy of routine vaccines, including those for hepatitis B and influenza. Additionally, he has propagated a debunked claim linking the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine to autism a theory rooted in flawed research from the 1990s. The study, authored by Andrew Wakefield, was later discredited, retracted, and deemed fraudulent, leading to Mr Wakefield losing his medical license. Subsequent scientific investigations have repeatedly confirmed that there is no connection between the MMR vaccine and autism. Mr Kennedy also referred to the Covid vaccine as the deadliest vaccine ever made, despite data showing it is overwhelmingly safe. The US has been a key player in global health initiatives, providing vaccines through organisations like GAVI, the Global Fund, and USAID; with Nigeria being a major beneficiary of such vaccines. For instance, in 2024, the US Agency for International Development (USAID) donated 10,000 doses of the Mpox vaccine to Nigeria to aid the countrys efforts in managing the ongoing Mpox outbreak. This donation came shortly after Nigeria received four million doses of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine from the US. In 2021, Nigeria received approximately 3.6 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine, further highlighting the critical role the US plays in Nigerias vaccination initiatives. A shift in US health policy can affect vaccine supplies to countries like Nigeria, especially if it undermines vaccine trust or reduces funding for international health programmes. Global oil production Aside from this, President Trump has also promised to sign an executive order declaring a national energy emergency. He aims to boost US oil and gas production and lower costs for US consumers. According to experts, if the U.S. ramps up its oil output, it could potentially lower global oil prices and weaken OPECs ability to control pricing through production cuts or quotas, as the market would become more competitive with US oil flooding the market. Oil accounts for a large percentage of Nigerias export revenue and national income, and as such, a sustained decrease in global prices could undermine government budgets, disrupt foreign exchange reserves, and lead to higher fiscal deficits. However, Yinka Tella, spokesperson for the Nigerians in Diaspora organisation (NiDO), said US oil production is unlikely to affect global trade. According to him, the US is not concerned about oil exports but is more focused on producing enough oil for domestic use. He said, The US is not really into exports. The country is more concerned with producing enough for domestic consumption and storing it for rainy days. So, essentially, it cannot affect OPEC. Also, Nigerias oil industry has changed with the establishment of the Dangote refinery and other private refineries that are in the way. Over time, we might not have much to export anymore, he added. The AGOA agreement The African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) has been a significant source of support for African countries, allowing them to export goods to the United States duty-free and quota-free. However, there is a growing concern that these benefits could be eliminated or significantly modified when the law is to be renewed later this year. According to experts, the trade pact, which allows duty-free, quota-free access for African exports to the US, may face significant hurdles under the new administration. For Nigeria, it has provided unhindered market access to the USA, but Mr Trump now demands reciprocity in trade. He has asked that African countries consider opening their markets to more American goods in exchange for continued benefits under the AGOA. According to the Council of Foreign Relations, this could flood the continent with cheap American goods. In a report, the non-profit said the new presidents current language suggests that the trade programme, introduced in 2000 under former president Bill Clinton, is set to undergo a radical transformation. The prospect of a protectionist trade agenda underscored by sweeping tariffs is proving a significant concern for many governments, and noneally or otherwiseare seemingly safe. This growing anxiety raises questions about the possible scenarios facing Africans, the report read. According to Mr Mimiko, Mr Trumps second term will generally be unfavourable politically and economically for Nigeria and Africa. He said that although his focus would be on undercutting China worldwide, including in Africa, President Trump might be unwilling to offer some of the developmental goodies that China will be more willing to provide. Trump would latch onto bullying tactics. However, this may not work. This is why it is apposite and commendable that Nigeria has taken partner membership in BRICS, one organisation that promises to be a veritable bulwark against the imminent harassment of weaker nations of the Global South by the Trump administration. Beyond this, I expect the Trump administration to be generally noisy and unhinged, especially in its first two years before the midterm elections. But by and large, my hunch is that American democratic institutions are going to hold up and frustrate many of the hifalutin but impracticable ideas Trump has been banding around, he said. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print The first 90 Palestinian prisoners to be released by Israel under the terms of the Gaza ceasefire deal were freed hours after an agreement took effect on Sunday. The agreement is to halt the fighting that has devastated the coastal territory; local media cited Israeli authorities as confirming. Local media outlets, including the Times of Israel, cited the prison authority as confirming the release, saying that most of the freed prisoners were women and minors. The majority of the detainees came from the West Bank, while others were from East Jerusalem, according to the reports. Palestinian media showed the footage and pictures of what they said were released prisoners arriving in Ramallah. On Sunday, the Palestinian militant organisation Hamas released the first three Israeli hostages as part of the ceasefire agreement. They were transferred by the Palestinian militant group Hamas to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) on Sunday afternoon. 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 Among those transferred were three women, named by the Israeli military as Romi Gonen, Emily Damari and Doron Steinbrecher. They were then transferred to Israeli forces and transported to a hospital in Tel Aviv, where they were greeted by family. A Hamas spokesman had confirmed that four more Israeli hostages would be released next Saturday. This will be part of the deal to exchange 33 hostages for 1,904 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails over the course of six weeks. READ ALSO: Trump launches cryptocurrency days before presidential inauguration Following months of stalemate in the 15-month Gaza war, a three-stage ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas was brokered on Wednesday, capping months-long efforts by the U.S. Others are; Egypt and Qatar to mediate between the warring parties. The first stage of the ceasefire agreement also foresaw the Israeli military withdrawing from densely populated areas of the Gaza Strip. (dpa/NAN) Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print People participate in an activity celebrating Chinese New Year at Singapore Chinese Cultural Centre, Singapore, on Jan. 19, 2025. Celebrations and cultural activities are being held around the globe to welcome the upcoming Chinese New Year. (Photo by Then Chih Wey/Xinhua) People learn to make Chinese New Year decorations using red packets at a craft workshop in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, Jan. 18, 2025. Celebrations and cultural activities are being held around the globe to welcome the upcoming Chinese New Year. (Photo by Liang Sen/Xinhua) A girl creates a Chinese New Year decoration using red packets at a craft workshop in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, Jan. 18, 2025. Celebrations and cultural activities are being held around the globe to welcome the upcoming Chinese New Year. (Photo by Liang Sen/Xinhua) A girl receives Spring Festival decorations during the 11th "China in My Imagination" children's painting contest in Mexico City, Mexico, Jan. 18, 2025. Celebrations and cultural activities are being held around the globe to welcome the upcoming Chinese New Year. (Xinhua/Li Mengxin) A girl learns to make Spring Festival decorations during the 11th "China in My Imagination" children's painting contest in Mexico City, Mexico, Jan. 18, 2025. Celebrations and cultural activities are being held around the globe to welcome the upcoming Chinese New Year. (Photo by Francisco Canedo/Xinhua) People learn Chinese paintings at a Chinese culture promoting event in Budapest, Hungary, Jan. 17, 2025. Celebrations and cultural activities are being held around the globe to welcome the upcoming Chinese New Year. (Photo by Attila Volgyi/Xinhua) Children hold sugar figures at a Chinese culture promoting event in Budapest, Hungary, Jan. 17, 2025. Celebrations and cultural activities are being held around the globe to welcome the upcoming Chinese New Year. (Photo by Attila Volgyi/Xinhua) A contestant pose for photos with her family during the 11th "China in My Imagination" children's painting contest in Mexico City, Mexico, on Jan. 18, 2025. Celebrations and cultural activities are being held around the globe to welcome the upcoming Chinese New Year. (Xinhua/Li Mengxin) A man tries Suzhou embroidery at a Chinese culture promoting event in Budapest, Hungary, Jan. 17, 2025. Celebrations and cultural activities are being held around the globe to welcome the upcoming Chinese New Year. (Photo by Attila Volgyi/Xinhua) People pose for photos with lanterns in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Jan. 18, 2025. Celebrations and cultural activities are being held around the globe to welcome the upcoming Chinese New Year. (Xinhua/Chong Voon Chung) People enjoy themselves during a parade with fish-shaped lanterns in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Jan. 18, 2025. Celebrations and cultural activities are being held around the globe to welcome the upcoming Chinese New Year. (Xinhua/Chong Voon Chung) People enjoy themselves during a parade with fish-shaped lanterns in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Jan. 18, 2025. Celebrations and cultural activities are being held around the globe to welcome the upcoming Chinese New Year. (Xinhua/Chong Voon Chung) Editor: WRX The National Assembly Joint Committee on Solid Minerals has invited the Minister of Finance, Wale Edun, and his Budget and Economic Planning counterpart, Atiku Bagudu, to appear before it over inadequate budgetary allocation to the Federal Ministry of Solid Minerals Development. Chairman of the committee, Ekong Samson, announced the invitation when the Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dele Alake, appeared before it to defend the allocation to the ministry in the 2025 budget on Monday. Mr Alake had told the committee that he lobbied the budget minister and the Director-General of the Budget Office of the Federation, Tanimu Yakubu, to increase the allocation to the ministry. He said when he noticed that the initial budget envelope for his ministry was N5 billion, he immediately engaged with key government officials, including the Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Atiku Bagudu, and the Director-General of the Budget Office of the Federation, Tanimu Yakubu. In fact, to let you know, the envelope we first received was N5 billion. I dont know if you are aware of that. It was N5 billion. The permanent secretary is here, and the night before the president came here when we were working on the rehearsal of the budget speech, the Director of Budget came in, and the Minister of Budget and I took them up in the presence of the president. And what did they do? They promised that it would be done. So, again the following day, after the presidents presentation, we found N9 billion, he narrated. The minister said even after getting a positive response from the president, he intensified his efforts to get additional allocation, but all his efforts were unproductive. 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 There is no way that I can begin to tell you, except I have videos that I can show you of the several engagements that we had with the relevant budgetary authorities and individuals driving this process, and at every turn, we received very positive responses. Now, distinguished Senators and Honourable Members, when we have received very positive responses from those who are saddled with the responsibility of putting our budgets together, what else could we have done? There was no way we would rig their hands, and I dont have the authority to compute the figures myself. Tinubu committed to solid minerals and diversification When asked why his close relationship with President Tinubu did not translate to securing a more significant budget increase, Mr Alake explained that not everything he discussed with the president could be made public. Many members here have rightly noted that yes, my relationship with the president should be counted upon, I agree in-toto but there are several things that cannot be said in the open. I cannot be divulging the conversations I have had with the president on this issue in the open, he said. The minister emphasised that Mr Tinubu is passionate about diversifying the economy, a cornerstone of his administrations Renewed Hope Agenda. I am a manager of information, and I have done that for over 40 years, and I know how delicate information is. So, I give information on the-need-to-know basis or in private. So in short, the president is not unaware of our strides in the solid minerals sector. Every minute I am with him, apart from other issues that we discuss, or the assignments that he gives to me, I draw tales of solid minerals and we discuss all ratifications. He also told lawmakers that Mr Tinubu knows the funding challenges facing the solid minerals sector and that the president is committed to growing the industry. I want to also emphasise or maybe remind distinguished senators and honourable members that if the president were not in tune or in sync with our vision, the diversification of the economy away from oil would not be a critical part of his programme of Renewed Hope Agenda. It wouldnt be. He coined it, he carved it. So, I want us to understand the fact that it is not because the president has not been intimated of the need for upward review that we are having this situation, not at all, and this is not to absolve the president of anything. I am just laying bare the facts, the minister said. Lawmakers express disappointment over inadequate budget allocation Despite Mr Alakes lobbying efforts, several members of the Senate Committee on Solid Minerals expressed surprise that a government committed to economic diversification did not allocate enough funds in the budget to one of the most viable non-oil sectors. Mr Samson noted that in other countries, solid minerals are the backbone of their economies, with substantial annual funding provisions for sectoral development. We have seen how some economies are being managed. If we dont invest in solid minerals, how do we diversify our economy? We have to diversify, and we must do it masterfully. Summon Mr Samson then directed the minister of finance, minister of budget, and the director-general of the budget office to appear before the committee members to explain the reasons for not allocating enough funds for the Solid Minerals ministry. So, those concerned (Edun, Bagudu, Yakubu) have to appear before the joint committees to give us clear insights on what they intend to do, he said. Also, the Chairman of the House Committee on Solid Minerals, Gaza Jonathan, argued that the Nigerian government is unprepared for economic diversification. In response to the lawmakers concerns, the committee thereafter suspended the budget defence session, scheduling it for Tuesday to allow the invited ministers to appear to provide further clarifications on the allocation. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print The National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) has fixed N8.7 million as the Hajj fare for intending pilgrims from Southern States and N8.3 million for those from Borno and Adamawa Zone. The Executive Chairman of NAHCON, Abdullahi Usman, made this known in a statement by its Assistant Director, Information and Publication, Fatima Usara, on Monday in Abuja. Mr Usman, a professor, also said that intending pilgrims from the Northern Zone would pay N8.4 million as Hajj fare for the 2025 pilgrimage in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The NAHCON boss described the hajj fare as a product of extensive collaboration with all stakeholders. He appreciated the support of the presidency and the Forum of Executive Secretaries of State Pilgrims Welfare Boards, Agencies and Commissions. The National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON), under the leadership of its Chairman, Prof. Abdullahi Usman, is pleased to announce the hajj fare for the 2025 season. The fare was announced sequel to the approval from the Office of the Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. 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 2025 Hajj fare for Borno and Adamawa zones intending pilgrims is N8.33 million. Similarly, the cost of the 2025 Hajj for intending pilgrims from the Southern states is N8. 78 million, while intending pilgrims from the Northern zone will pay N8. 46 million.. He said the leadership of NAHCON, in collaboration with the representative of the presidency, Ameen Amshi (special assistant to the president on special duties), did their best to maintain the hajj fare within the same range as previously charged. This modest effort on the fare was reached after extensive consultations to ensure inclusivity in this important decision-making process. For further details and breakdown of the fare, please visit the NAHCON website on nahcon.gov.ng or through States Pilgrims Welfare Boards. The chairman urged prospective pilgrims to take note of the timelines and the Saudi guidelines, while emphasising the importance of early payment and timely registration to avoid last-minute inconveniences. READ THE FULL STATEMENT BY NAHCON BELOW NAHCON Announces 2025 Hajj Fare The National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON), under the leadership of its Chairman, Professor Abdullahi Saleh Usman is pleased to announce the Hajj fare for the 2025 season. The fare was announced sequel to approval from the Office of the Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Indeed NAHCON Chairman and his team in collaboration with representative of the Presidency, Malam Ameen Amshi, who is Special Assistant to the President, Special Duties did their best to maintain the Hajj fare within the same range as previously charged. Others who actively participated in stemming the cost are leadership of State Executive Secretaries, namely Malam Idris Ahmad Almakura, the Forum Chairman who doubles as the Executive Secretary (E.S) of Nasarawa State Pilgrims Welfare Board, his colleague from Kebbi State and Deputy Chairman of the Forum, Alhaji Faruku Aliyu Yaro, with their Secretary and E.S of Adamawa State, Alhaji Abubakar Salihu among others who worked tirelessly to ensure that the fares do not skyrocket. This modest effort on the fare was reached after extensive consultations to ensure inclusivity in this important decision-making process. The 2025 Hajj fare for Borno and Adamawa zone, intending pilgrims are expected to pay N8,327,125.59 (eight million, three hundred and twenty-seven thousand, one hundred and twenty- five Naira fifty-nine kobo). Similarly, the cost of 2025 Hajj for intending pilgrims from Southern states is N8, 784, 085.59 (eight million, seven hundred and eighty-four thousand, eighty-five Naira Naira fifty-nine kobo). Intending pilgrims from the Northern zone will pay N8, 457,685.59 (eight million, four hundred and fifty-seven thousand, six hundred and eighty-five Naira fifty-nine kobo). Professor Saleh commended the whole team describing the Hajj fare as a product of extensive collaboration with all stakeholders. He appreciated the support of the Presidency and Forum of State E.S. The Chairman urged prospective pilgrims to take note of the timelines and Saudi guidelines while emphasizing the importance of early payment and timely registration to avoid last-minute inconveniences. For further details and breakdown of the fare, please visit the NAHCON website on nahcon.gov.ng or through States Pilgrims Welfare Boards. Fatima Sanda Usara, Assistant Director Information and Publication For Chairman NAHCON 20/1/2025 Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print Governor Alex Otti of Abia State has outlined the state governments forward-thinking vision for healthcare improvement. Mr Otti disclosed this on Sunday when the Revive Medical Mission, a team of Belgian medical experts, visited him in Nvosi, Isiala Ngwa South Local Government Area of Abia State. The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the team is in Abia to collaborate with the states medical experts on government-organised medical outreach initiatives. The governor highlighted that the states healthcare vision centred on infrastructural development, functionality, and strategic partnerships to achieve a healthier population in Abia. He expressed his administrations commitment to enhancing healthcare services by retrofitting and rehabilitating 200 Primary Healthcare Centres (PHCs) within the first 100 days of his tenure. According to him, plans are underway to extend the rehabilitation efforts to all 948 PHCs across the state as part of a comprehensive strategy to reform the health sector. Governor Otti disclosed that the government had designed a unique prototype for PHCs, reflecting the administrations strategic planning for healthcare delivery. 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 governor emphasised that the PHCs would undergo rehabilitation and be adequately staffed to ensure effective service delivery. He also reiterated the governments commitment to engaging with medical missions and recognised their valuable contribution during the 2024 outreach. Mr Otti expressed his administrations willingness to continue collaborating with medical experts to advance his health sector rebuilding agenda. We value feedback, which has been crucial in inviting the medical mission back, he noted. At least 100 surgeries would be conducted. The state Commissioner for Health, Enoch Uche, added that the medical outreach aligned with the states vision of making quality healthcare accessible to all residents. Mr Uche, a professor, expressed optimism that at least 100 surgeries and more than 1,000 consultations would be conducted during the outreach. He explained that at the governments request, the medical team was providing free healthcare services, including consultations and surgeries, as part of their partnership with local experts. The government has allocated funds for the installation of new anaesthesia and surgical equipment, with costs running into hundreds of millions, Mr Uche said. Earlier, De Gazelle Herman, medical team leader, thanked the government for its hospitality and partnership in the outreach. He assured the people of Abia that the team was dedicated to making a significant impact during their stay. We aim to perform as many surgeries and consultations as possible, focusing on conditions like goitres, hernias, and other health issues. Over the next two weeks, we will provide extensive consultations and quality care, said Mr Herman, a medical doctor. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print Governor Sheriff Oborevwori of Delta State said he recently queried two civil servants for allegedly certifying uncompleted projects and paying the contractors. Mr Oborevwori disclosed this on Sunday at the retirement thanksgiving service in honour of Joy Enwa, the outgoing accountant general and permanent secretary of the state Ministry of Finance. The News Agency of Nigeria reports the service was held at the Cathedral Church of St. Peter, Asaba. The governor warned that his administration would not spare any government official found to have certified uncompleted or poorly executed projects for payment. He said that his administration wants to ensure that the people receive value for every project executed by the state government. Mr Oborevwori lauded the theme of the homily, The Choice of a Good Name, and admonished civil servants in the state to desist from actions that could jeopardise their careers. This message speaks loudly on what I have been doing in the past one week; the message is key to all our civil and public servants because a lot has been happening and I am happy for the choice of the topic. 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 All that civil servants needed since I came into office I have done for them. What else do they need? After fuel subsidy removal, we paid them transport allowance for three months, we paid promotion arrears of over N5.6 billion, and we were also the first to pronounce and pay the New National Minimum Wage. As I am standing here, I am very, very angry for what civil servants are doing. Two civil servants have been issued query for issuing certificates for jobs that have not been completed and payments made. I know the ethics. Next week, I will announce their names, and we will look at it, following due process. You know, in this government, if you do well, space will be given to you to do more, the governor said. He congratulated Mrs Enwa on her achievements and her growing through the ranks to the echelon of her career. ALSO READ: Oborevwori urges Nigerians to remain optimistic amid economic hardship He said, The calibre of people that have come today to honour her on retirement is a clear testament to the fact that she did well in service. The sermon In a sermon, the Bishop of the Diocese of Asaba, Kingsley Obuh, charged everyone in a position of trust to embrace a good name for posterity. He congratulated Mrs Enwa on her successful retirement as the accountant-general of the state and permanent secretary in the civil service. Mr Obuh advised her to keep radiating the good traits that endeared her to all while in service. He said a good name can be earned through honourable behaviour, godly wisdom, moral courage and personal integrity. He said no position is permanent, hence the need to leave enviable legacies while in active service. He further advised Mrs Enwa to use the remaining years of her life to serve God and humanity. The bishop also commended the governor for his giant strides in all sectors and urged him to continue pursuing his M.O.R.E Agenda. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print The Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), Anambra State, has said Joshua Ikechukwu, who was accused of shooting dead Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) officer Aminu Salisu, is not a medical doctor. The association noted in a statement on Monday that claims in the media that he is a member of staff of the Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital (NAUTH) has already been debunked by the hospitals management. The statement was signed by Obiaeli Ifeanyi, the secretary of the Anambra State chapter of NMA, and posted on the associations official X handle. The NMA also said Mr Ikechukwu is not a member of the Awka zone of the association, adding that no member has been able to identify such a name as either a colleague or member of NMA. Joshua Chukwubueze Ikechukwu is not a medical doctor (not even an academic doctor) as widely published by the media though he deals on medical supplies and has been addressed as Doctor, the statement added. According to the statement, the claims that the accused person is a doctor is an attempt to drag the medical profession in the mud. The NMA further urged media organisations and others from describing the suspect as a medical doctor. Article Page with Financial Support Promotion Nigerians need credible journalism. Help us report it. Support journalism driven by facts, created by Nigerians for Nigerians. Our thorough, researched reporting relies on the support of readers like you. Help us maintain free and accessible news for all with a small donation. Every contribution guarantees that we can keep delivering important stories no paywalls, just quality journalism. SUPPORT NOW x Do this later We also demand immediate retraction of all defamatory publications from the EFCC & media where the suspect was addressed as a medical doctor. We urge the media to do due diligence before making their publications, it said. The NMA commiserated with the EFCC and the bereaved family on the unfortunate incident, while noting that the medical profession is a noble one and Nigerian doctors are responsible and remain law abiding. Mr Salisu, an Assistant Superintendent of the EFCC, was reportedly killed on Friday by Mr Ikechukwu, a suspected internet fraudster, during a raid in Awka, Anambra State. The suspect was arrested by the police on Saturday while he was hiding in the ceiling of his neighbours room after the crime. Mr Salisu, who was confirmed dead following the shooting, was flown to Sokoto State for burial. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print The police in Akwa Ibom State said they have arrested a pastor for allegedly raping his teenage daughter. Timfon John, the police spokesperson in Akwa Ibom, disclosed this while briefing reporters at the police headquarters in Uyo on Monday. She shared the text of the press briefing in a WhatsApp group. Ms John, a deputy superintendent of police, identified the suspect as Louis Mevoweoyo. She said the suspect hails from Ughelli North Local Government Area of Delta State but resides in Ibiono Ibom Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom. Investigations revealed that the suspect had been sexually assaulting the victim since she was 12 years old, with the latest incident occurring in December 2024, Ms John said without providing details. The suspect will be prosecuted, she added. Ms John said another suspect, Daniel Umoh, alias Akaka, from Abak Itenghe, Abak Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom, was arrested for allegedly raping a girl. 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 suspect, armed with a machete, attacked and dragged the victim into the bush, where he forcefully had unlawful carnal knowledge of her. Investigations revealed a history of sexual assault by the suspect on other teenage girls. The spokesperson described the arrests, along with others, as significant achievements by the police within a week in the state. Child trafficking suspects Ms John also briefed reporters on the arrest of two suspected child traffickers, Roseline Dennis and Sunday Ekong in Akwa Ibom on 14 January. Both suspects are from Ikwen village in Obot Akara Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom. The police said the suspects abducted two children, aged two and four, from a school, St. Joseph Catholic School, Ikot Ofon Ikono, in Akwa Ibom, with a plan to transport them to Umuahia, Abia State and sell them off, but were intercepted and the children rescued and handed over to their parents. Another set of suspected child traffickers from Abia State Okwondu Nkpurunna, Vivian Chamdin, Okozie Amarachi, Christina Onyechi were caught trafficking two children, aged 11 and 12, from Ikot Edibom Village, Nsit Ubium Local Government Area (of Akwa Ibom), and Mkpatak village, Essien Udim Local Government Area (of Akwa Ibom). The victims were rescued unhurt in Abia State. They will soon be reunited with their families while the suspects will be charged in court, the spokesperson said. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print The National Assembly Joint Committee on Steel Development says it has uncovered some fraudulent activities in the Federal Ministry of Steel Development. Members of the committee disclosed this when the Minister of Steel Development, Shuaibu Audu, appeared before it to defend the ministrys allocation in the 2025 Budget on Friday. The committee said the officials allegedly engaged ghost contractors to execute projects listed in the 2024 budget. They said there was no evidence of the implementation of several supposedly awarded and funded projects. The committee members also found inconsistencies in the financial breakdown the ministry provided. Projects show no evidence of execution or impact During the session, the Chairperson of the House of Representatives Committee on Steel Development, Zainab Gimba, condemned the lack of accountability in project execution, noting that an appraisal of the ministers report exposed multiple financial discrepancies. A first-hand appraisal of the 2024 submissions shows some budget infractions as funds allocated for unspecified capacity-building programmes and skills training initiatives in the steel sector show no evidence of execution or impact, she 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 Mrs Gimba, who represents the Bama/Ngala/Kala Balge federal constituency of Borno State, alleged that these projects risk being classified as ghost projects designed to divert public funds. She also pointed out that administrative and recurrent costs significantly increased in 2024 without proportional increases in the ministrys activities or outputs, a possible indicator of mismanagement or misallocation of funds. Violations of the Fiscal Responsibility Act Mr Gimba also flagged legal violations in the ministrys handling of funds. She noted that several projects under the ministry, particularly those linked to Ajaokuta Steel company, failed to meet the criteria prescribed by the Fiscal Responsibility Act, which mandates efficient use of public resources and proper accountability for project outcomes. Also, we identified some legal Infractions, such as violations of the Fiscal Responsibility Act. The Act mandates efficient use of public resources and accountability for project outcomes. Several projects, especially related to Ajaokuta Steel, failed to meet these criteria, she stated.. Projects violate financial regulations Act Mrs Gimba also discovered that many expenditures violated Nigerias Financial Regulations, requiring every disbursed fund to be accounted for with appropriate documentation. There are ghost projects which are a direct violation of Nigerias Financial Regulations, which require all expenditures to be backed by documentation and outcomes. We advise you to make all necessary submissions on these to the committee secretariat, she added. Demand for forensic audit The lawmaker called for an independent forensic audit of the ministrys accounts due to the financial mismanagement cited in the report. She recommended that an external auditing firm be engaged to scrutinise all expenditures and contracts awarded in 2024. On this note, we recommend conducting a Forensic Audit. There should be engagement of independent auditors to scrutinise expenditures and contracts for 2024, Mrs Gimba said. She also assured the committee would enhance its oversight functions in 2025 and promised to hold the ministry accountable for further infractions. We will strengthen oversight in 2025 because, looking at the Ministry of Steel Developments 2025 Executive Budget, we see a high proportion of personnel costs at 57.2 per cent. Mrs Gimba expressed dissatisfaction over the lack of transparency from agencies under the Ministry of Steel Development. She warned that the National Assembly would no longer tolerate attempts to withhold critical budgetary information. It is equally disappointing and unfortunate to recollect how the agencies under the ministry failed to provide enough information to the Committee during their budget defence. We will not leave any stone unturned in the discharge of our legislative duties. It is a fact that if the legislature does not rigorously examine and debate the law, its powers will be seen as not being effectively exercised, and the governments accountability to the electorate for its fiscal strategy and strategic budget allocation will be undermined. ALSO READ: FG signs agreement with Russian Consortium to rehabilitate Ajaokuta steel plant She further emphasised that lawmakers would use all constitutional provisions at their disposal to prevent future misappropriations. We want to state unequivocally that we will never allow such affronts or practices to happen again because we would not hesitate to apply the hammer according to the powers statutorily vested on our committee, Mr Gimba stated. We cant keep repeating the same mistakes every time The Senate Committee on Steel Development Chairman, Patrick Ndubueze, also complained about the ministrys inefficiencies. Mr Ndubueze, a senator for Imo North, called for a stronger focus on capital projects rather than wasteful recurrent expenses. Nigeria cant make much progress without a solid steel industry. We have to place emphasis on capital projects, not payment of salaries. For us to do well, we cant be repeating the same mistakes every time. We expected that the ministry would have improved by now, he said. Other committee members also echoed the sentiments of the two chairpersons. They stressed the urgent need for an independent audit to unravel the full extent of the financial irregularities. Minister promises reform Responding to the lawmakers concerns, Mr Audu pledged to address all the issues raised and implement corrective measures. He assured the committee that the ministry would make significant improvements in executing its 2025 budget. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print A one-time managing director of First Bank of Nigeria Plc (now FBN Holdings) Bisi Onasanya has denied playing a role in the alleged N12.3 billion advanced fee fraud leveled against him and others during his time at the lender. In a statement released by his communication advisor, Michael Osunnuyi, Mr Onasanya dismissed the accusation as baseless, and unfounded noting the unease it has caused among family, associates and friends. Our attention has been drawn to allegations and charge sheet circulating on social media suggesting Dr Bisi Onasanyas involvement in a purported commercial loan controversy at First Bank 12 years ago, Mr Osunnuyi said. His stellar reputation of integrity, built over four decades of impeccable professional service, cannot and will not be tarnished by these false allegations and incorrect charges. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission last week launched a lawsuit against Mr Onasanya, Oba Otudeko (formerly FBN Holdings chairman) and two others for colluding to obtain N12.3 billion credit facilities from the bank in 2013. Nigerias top anti-corruption agency claimed they executed the plot by giving the impression that V-Tech Dynamic Links Limited and Stallion Nigeria Limited applied for the loans. They also face charges for taking N6.2 billion of the proceeds of the act for personal use. 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 According to the prosecutor, the defendants made a false document authorisation to issue investment certificate to First Bank for use by the bank under the guise that the certificate is genuine and came from V-Tech Links Dynamic Limited. Mr Otudeko, an insider told PREMIUM TIMES on Friday, left Nigeria aboard a British Airways flight on Thursday. Their arraignment is to commence on Monday at the Federal High Court in Lagos, but the EFCC said the trial would proceed in case Mr Otudeko fails to show up, vowing to issue a bench warrant for his arrest should that happen. Mr Onasanya, his spokesperson said on Sunday, is willing to work together with the EFCC. The statement disclosed that the ex-First Bank of Nigeria Plcs chief has not been issued any invite since an investigation by the EFCC since 2017. What is baffling is that a commercial transaction which occurred in 2013 and was thoroughly investigated eight years ago, where Dr. Onasanya established his innocence and non-involvement in the commercial transaction controversy, has now resurfaced in 2025 in the form of criminal prosecution. This is beyond his imagination, the statement said. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print Nigerian stocks took one of its biggest hit in months in the week that just went by as investors interest in industrial goods equities diminished, prompting sell-offs. In whole, investors risk appetite for shares was much subdued relative to penultimate week, with transaction volume falling more than half. Yet, the outlook is in no way gloomy for the year. Analysts at the investment bank Cardinal Stone are betting that Nigerian stocks will deliver a stronger yield than 2024 this year, putting their forecast at around 40 per cent. PREMIUM TIMES has assembled some stocks with fundamentals and other potential, adopting key analytical approaches to save you the hassle of randomly picking equities for investment. The selection, a product of analytical market watch, offers a guide to entering the market and taking strategic positions in hopes that equities will increase in value with the passage of time. This is not a buy, sell or hold recommendation but a stock investment guide. You may need to involve your financial advisor before taking investment decisions. Dangote Cement Dangote Cement tops this weeks pick for trading close to its lowest price in 52 weeks. 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 relative strength index (RSI) of the cement maker is 13, while its price-to-earnings (PE) ratio is 14x. The price-to-book (PB) ratio is 3.9x. Sovereign Trust Insurance Sovereign Trust makes this weeks list for trading below its intrinsic value, brightening its chances of strong price appreciation in the future. The insurers RSI is 51.7, while the PE ratio is 7.2x. The PB ratio is 0.4x. United Bank for Africa (UBA) UBA features on this weeks list for currently trading below its intrinsic value. The lenders RSI is 50.9, while the PE ratio is 1.8x. Its PB ratio is 0.3x. Julius Berger Julius Berger appears in the pick for trading close to its two-week low. Its RSI is 0.1, while the PE ratio is 14.2x. The PB ratio is 1.5x. Total Energies Total Energies appears on the list for trading significantly below its underlying value. The companys RSI is 56.6, while its PE ratio is 7.7x. Prestige Assurance Prestige Assurance makes the cut for currently trading below its intrinsic value. The underwriters RSI is 58.8, while the PE ratio is 5.1x.. The PB ratio is 0.9x. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print After over three weeks of holiday, the members of the House of Representatives on Tuesday held their first plenary session of the year. The session was symbolic, marking the beginning of legislative activities for the year. Following Tuesdays session, the lawmakers adjourned for another two weeks to allow committees to conclude their work on the 2025 budget. Even during the plenary session, the presiding officer, Deputy Speaker Ben Kalu, had to appeal to lawmakers to remain in the chamber as many preferred to attend budget defence sessions in their respective committees. Towards the end of the session, about 22 lawmakers were present in the chamber, far below the 121-member quorum prescribed by the Constitution. Although sitting without a quorum is a recurring issue, the budgetary season further exacerbated the situation. Another Rep dies On Wednesday, the death of Oriyomi Onanuga, the deputy chief whip of the House, was announced, adding to the list of deceased members of the lower chamber. 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 Other lawmakers of the current House who have passed away are Ekene Adams, Olajide Akinremi, and Isa Dangoyaro. Mrs Onanuga was reported to have died after a brief illness. Concerns have been raised over the rate of deaths among lawmakers. In the last Assembly, Mr Kalu, then the Houses spokesperson, attributed the high death rate to pressure from constituents. He had told journalists that many lawmakers are overwhelmed by demands from their constituents. As Deputy Chief Whip, Mrs Onanuga was known for listing her numerous chieftaincy titles when introducing herself during plenary. My name is Otunba, Yeye Oge, High Chief, Honourable Oriyomi Onanuga, she would typically say before adding her nickname, Ijaya. Budget Defencebalancing speed and due diligence The defence of budget proposals by ministries, departments, and agencies (MDAs) was in full swing last week. The National Assembly plans to pass the budget before 30 January. Heads of MDAs were juggling appearances before different committees of the House and Senate. In some instances, House committees held joint sessions with their Senate counterparts to expedite the process. However, concerns have been raised that lawmakers may sacrifice due diligence for speed. The budget is expected to be passed before the lawmakers reconvene on 28 January. Budget Defence: We need more moneyThe usual cry. Most agencies appearing before various committees to defend their allocations in the 2025 budget have echoed the same refrain: We need more money; our allocation is too meagre. During budget defence sessions, the agencies decried their allocations and lobbied lawmakers for more money From the Ministry of Defence to the Ministry of Solid Minerals, the demand for more funds was incessant. Last week, the Minister of State for Defence, Bello Matawalle, even promised that with adequate funding, they could clear bandits as soon as possible. These calls for increased allocations come even though the national budget already stands at N49.7 trillion. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print Poroshenko: Trump's return to the White House is a window of opportunity, we must find a way to work together Photo: https://eurosolidarity.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/img_0953-1-756x438.jpeg Petro Poroshenko, the leader of European Solidarity and Ukraine's fifth president (2014-2019), believes that Donald Trump's return to the White House presents a narrow window of opportunity, and it is imperative to find a way to collaborate. "Based on my three years of experience working with Trump, I can assure you that his return to the White House represents a narrow window of opportunity, but we must find a way to work together," he wrote on X in the early hours of Monday. Poroshenko emphasized that Trump's return is not only a challenge but also a chance. "We must remember that Trump is different from President Biden. Biden is a president of values, while Trump is a president of 'price,'" the politician said. According to Poroshenko, Trump was the first U.S. president to provide a military aid package that included lethal weapons to Ukraine. He also introduced sanctions against Nord Stream without consulting European partners, delaying its launch by several years. Additionally, Trump directed the U.S. Secretary of State to support the recognition of Ukraine's independent Orthodox Church. "President Trump is practical, decisive, and concrete. This is a highly responsible time, and perfect coordination with all our Western partners is essential. If Putin wins in Ukraine, it would spell disaster for global security," Poroshenko stressed. A popular Sokoto-based Islamic cleric, Murtala Asada, who often criticised terrorism kingpin Bello Turji, has survived an assassination attempt at his residence in the Sokoto metropolis Some masked armed men reportedly attacked Mr Asadas residence, but he repelled them with gunshots, several of his colleagues said. One of the colleagues, Musa Lukuwa, told a Friday congregation that the incident occurred Tuesday night. He said one of the attackers scaled the fence of Mr Asadas residence to open the gate for his accomplices, who arrived at the house in vehicles. Luckily for the cleric who was watching the attackers from his CCTV camera, he fired gunshots which forced them to abandon their mission and fled the scene, Mr Lukuwa said. He urged the congregation to obtain guns with permits from relevant authorities for self-defence as Mr Asada did. Other sources in Sokoto said the attacker who climbed the fence attempted to kill the gateman, but Mr Asadas gunfire forced him to abandon the attempt. 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 No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, but the cleric and Mr Turji have been in a digital fight over the months, with the terrorist daring the cleric to identify his location and fight him like a man. Mr Asada had, in a viral video in September last year, prayed for the killing of Mr Turji, like his boss, Halilu Sububu, who was killed by security forces, for his atrocities against innocent residents of the area. Responding in a video message, Mr Turji also threatened to kill Mr Asada and accused him of inflaming the crisis in the area instead of fostering solutions to it. The police in Sokoto State are reportedly investigating the CCTV footage. But the police spokesperson in the state, Ahmed Rufai, said he was yet to be briefed about the incident. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print The scheduled arraignment of former First Bank Nigeria (FBN) Holdings chairman Oba Otudeko, alongside former managing director of First Bank Plc, Bisi Onasanya, and two others over fraud charges, suffered a setback at the Federal High Court in Lagos on Monday. The judge, Chukwujekwu Aneke, rescheduled the N12.3 billion fraud case to 13 February over the defendants absence and lack of prior service of the charges on them. Last week, Nigerias anti-graft agency, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), filed charges against Mr Otudeko, who is the founder and chairman of Honeywell Group, and others for colluding to obtain N12.3 billion credit facilities from the bank in 2013. Other defendants are Mr Onasanya; a former board member of Honeywell, Soji Akintayo, and a firm, Anchorage Leisure Ltd. PREMIUM TIMES reported how Mr Otudeko flew to London on Friday after the news of the lawsuit came to the fore. Court hearing None of the defendants appeared in court for their scheduled arraignment on Monday. However, they were all represented by their respective lawyers. 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 Otudeko was represented by Bode Olanipekun, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN). Adeyinka Olumide-Fusika, a SAN, appeared for Mr Onasanya. While Kehinde Ogunwumiju, a SAN, appeared for Mr Akintayo, Adeogun Philips, also a SAN, announced appearance for the firm Anchorage Leisure. The defence lawyers said their clients were not served with the charges. But Mr Otudekos lawyer, Mr Olumide-Fusika, informed the court that he was willing to accept service of the charge for his client. Following a directive by the judge, the prosecution counsel gave a copy of the charge to Mr Olumide-Fusika. Mr Olanipekun told the court that he was protesting against the non-service of the charge on Otudeko and two others charged along with him. The judge raised the question of how the defence lawyers came about appearing in court for their clients if they were not served. In response, Mr Olanipekun, told the court that on 17 January, the media was agog with screaming headlines, indicating that the defendants were to be arraigned on Monday. He showed to the court several national daily newspapers containing reports of the lcase and went on to read out portions of the reports showing that the defendants were to appear before the judge. Mr Olanipekun described such conduct as unfair, especially as no charge was served on his client. In response, the prosecution lawyer, Rotimi Oyedepo, a SAN, said that between 16 to 19 January, the prosecution made unsuccessful efforts to effect service on the defendants. He also informed the court that the prosecution filed a motion for substituted service of the charge at the last known addresses of the defendants. After the prosecution moved the application for substituted service, the judge issued an order to serve the charges on the defendants through their last known addresses. The court, subsequently, adjourned the case till13 February for arraignment of the defendants. READ ALSO: Oba Otudeko jets out to London as EFCC moves to arraign him Background EFCC alleged in the charge marked FHC/L/20C/2025 that the defendants obtained N12.3 billion from First Bank under false pretences. According to EFCC, the defendants obtained the sum in tranches in 2013 and 2014 in Lagos State. The anti-graft agency added that the defendants altered a document to deceive the bank. According to the EFCC, the four defendants committed the alleged fraud in tranches of N5.2 billion, N6.2 billion, N1.5 billion and N500 million, between 2013 and 2014 in Lagos. The prosecution accused the defendants of obtaining the sum of N12.3 billion from First Bank Limited on the pretence that the said sum represented credit facilities applied for by V-Tech Dynamic Links Limited and Stallion Nigeria Limited, which representation they knew to be false. Some of the offences were said to contravene have contravened section 8(a) of Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act of 2006 and section 15 (2), 15(3) and 18(c) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, 2011 The prosecution also said other offences contravene section 3(6) of the Miscellaneous Offences Act, 2004. (NAN) Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print The Nigerian military has announced the killing of the son of Bello Turji, a notorious terrorist who has carried out several attacks on communities in the North-west. Military spokesperson Edward Buba said the younger Turji was killed on Friday when troops attacked Mr Turjis stronghold in the Fakai high ground area of Zamfara. He did not disclose the age of the younger Turji but suggested he was also a combatant. Mr Buba, an army major general, in his Monday statement, said several other terrorists were also killed in the attack. However, the ringleader, Mr Turji, escaped, he said. He said the terrorist leaders son was killed alongside scores of other terrorists during a coordinated operation between troops of Operation Fansan Yamma and the militarys air component. Mr Buba added that the operation was conducted on 17 January along Shinkafi, Kagara, Fakai, Moriki, Maiwa and Chindo axis. According to him, the intensity of troops firepower resulted in high terrorist casualties and their logistics hub destroyed. 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 operations also resulted in the rescue of several kidnapped hostages held captive by Bello Turji. The terrorist leader, Bello Turji, in a gross cowardly act escaped abandoning his son and combatants, he said. Mr Turji is one of Nigerias most notorious terrorists. Apart from attacking communities in north-west Nigeria, killing and kidnapping at will, he also often releases videos where he brags about his attacks and dares the military. His escape from the Friday attack indicates he could still continue his terror activities. Mr Buba said the troops also destroyed another terrorist kingpin camp known as Idi Mallam along Zango Kagara Forest, killing three terrorists and apprehending three suspected collaborators. He noted that troops recovered two machine guns and one AK47 Rifle with a magazine containing 11 rounds of 7.62 mm ammunition. Other things the troops recovered were 61 rustled cattle and 44 sheep among other sundry items. Troops are sustaining the onslaught against the terrorist. Overall, the troops continued to demonstrate commitment to the safety and protection of all citizens across the country, he said. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Monday, 20 January 2025 arraigned a former Managing Director of Assets Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON), Ahmed Kuru, and four others for allegedly defrauding Arik Airline N76 billion and $31.5 million. Other defendants are former Receiver Manager of Arik Airline Ltd, Kamilu Omokide, Chief Executive Officer of the airline, Captain Roy Ilegbodu, and Super Bravo Ltd and Union Bank plc. The defendants were arraigned before Justice Mojisola Dada of the Special Offences Court sitting in Ikeja, Lagos, on a six-count charge bordering on theft, abuse of office and stealing by dishonestly taking the property of another. The defendants, however, pleaded not guilty to all the six counts when they were read to them. Count one reads: That you, Union Bank Nigeria Plc, sometime in 2011 or thereabouts, in Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, with the intention of causing and/or inducing unwarranted sale of Arik Air loans and bank guarantees with Union Bank, made false statements to the Assets Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON), regarding Arik Air Limiteds performing loans, following which you transferred a bogus figure of N71, 000,000,000.00 (Seventy-One Billion Naira) to AMCON. Count two reads: That you, Ahmed Lawal Kuru, Kamilu Alaba Omokide as Receiver Manager of Arik Air Limited, and Captain Roy Ilegbodu, Chief Executive Officer of Arik Air Limited in Receivership, sometime in 2022 or thereabout, in Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this honourable court, fraudulently converted to the use of NG Eagle Limited the total sum of N4,900,000,000.00 (Four Billion Nine Hundred Million Naira only), property of Arik Air Limited. Count five reads: That you, Kamilu Alaba Omokide, Ahmed Lawal Kuru and Capt. Roy Ilegbodu, on the 12th day of February, 2022 or thereabout, in Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, being public officers, directed to be done in abuse of the authority of your office and with intention of obtaining undue advantage for yourself and cronies an arbitrary act, to wit: intentionally authorizing the tear down and destruction of 5N-JEA with Serial No. 15058 valued at $31.5million (Thirty One Million, Five Hundred Thousand Dollars), an arbitrary act, which act is prejudicial to the economic stability of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and Arik Air Limited. 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 counsel to the first and third defendants, Prof Taiwo Osipitan, SAN, informed the court of a motion for bail application dated November 28, 2024 and November 29, 2024 for the two defendants. Osipitan prayed the court that the defendants be granted bail on liberal terms. According to him, the first defendant had no criminal records and that the EFCC granted him administration bail which he didnt jump. We pray the court grants bail to the two defendants on the same liberal terms given to them by EFCC, he said. EFCC counsel, Wahab Shittu, SAN, filed counter-affidavits dated 2 December 2024 against the first defendant and also another counter affidavits dated December 22, 2024 against the third defendant. Shittu prayed the court to dismiss their bail applications. According to him, the two defendants are facing serious offences of economic sabotage. However, he agreed with the second and third defence counsel that they are presumed innocent pending the determination of the court. Shittu , however, added that the temptation of the defendants leaving the country was very high. He thereafter prayed that accelerated hearing be granted, and the defendants international passports be seized by the court. But if my lord decides to be magnanimous to grant them bail, we shall be praying for stringent conditions because we are particular about their attendance in court. We urge that they should submit their international passports with the court in order to ensure that they come for trial, he said. The counsel to the second defendant, Olasupo Shasore, SAN, in his motion for bail dated December 6, 2024 and filed on the same day, urged the court to also grant bail to his client on self recognition. The prosecuting counsel in his counter affidavits dated 17 January 2025, opposed the bail application of the second defendant. He said the application for bail was incompetent and should be struck out. Shittu cited relevance laws to buttress his argument. My lord, the record of this court is to the effect that the second defendant, at one point, absconded in which your lordship had to issue a bench warrant. The learned silk for the second defendant is not the defendant on trial and it is very unhealthy for a counsel to stand as a surety for a defendant. I urge my lord, in exercising his discretion, to take all this into consideration because our concern is the appearance of the second defendant in court so that he does not abscond. After listening to the arguments from all the parties, Justice Dada granted bail to the defendants in the sum of N20 million naira each with two sureties in like sum. The sureties must be gainfully employed and deposed to means of identification. She also directed that the defendants must submit their international passports with the registrar of the court. Justice Dada adjourned the matter till March 17, 18, and 19, 2025 for commencement of trial. Dele Oyewale Head, Media & Publicity January 20, 2025 Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print Tanzania has confirmed the outbreak of Marburg Virus Disease (MVD) in the Northwestern Kagera region, following the identification of one positive case after laboratory analysis of suspected cases. This was announced on Monday by Tanzanias President Samia Hassan during a press briefing in the countrys capital, Dodoma, alongside the Director-General of the World Health Organisation (WHO), Tedros Ghebreyesus. WHO recently issued an alert on a suspected outbreak of Marburg disease in the Kagera region, with eight reported deaths out of nine cases. The global health body raised concerns about cross-border transmission due to the proximity of the Kagera region to international borders with Rwanda, Uganda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Situation report in Tanzania According to the press release on the website of the WHO Africa Region, laboratory tests confirmed one patient was infected with the Marburg virus, while other suspected patients tested negative. Mrs Hassan expressed confidence in the countrys ability to contain the outbreak, citing past successes in managing similar health crises. Laboratory tests conducted at Kabaile Mobile Laboratory in Kagera and later confirmed in Dar es Salaam identified one patient as being infected with the Marburg virus. Fortunately, the remaining suspected patients tested negative, the president 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 We have demonstrated in the past our ability to contain a similar outbreak and are determined to do the same this time around. She noted that a total of 25 suspected cases have been reported as of 20 January, all of whom have tested negative and are currently under close follow-up. The cases have been reported in Biharamulo district in Kagera. WHO efforts The statement noted that WHO is supporting Tanzanian health authorities to enhance key outbreak control measures including disease surveillance, testing, treatment, infection prevention and control, and case management. Mr Ghebreyesus said the WHO is committed to supporting the government of Tanzania to bring the outbreak under control as soon as possible, and to build a healthier, safer, fairer future for all the people of Tanzania. He said this is a time for collaboration, and commitment, to protect the health of all people in Tanzania, and the region, from the risks posed by this disease. Also, WHO Regional Director for Africa, Matshidiso Moeti emphasised the importance of the presidents declaration and the governments measures in tackling the Marburg virus disease outbreak. Ms Moeti said the priority is to support the government to rapidly scale up measures to effectively respond to this outbreak and safeguard the health of the population. More efforts Tanzania previously reported an outbreak of the Marburg virus in March 2023, the countrys first- in the Kagera region. The outbreak resulted in nine cases, with eight confirmed and one probable, and six deaths with a case fatality rate of 67 per cent. In response to the current outbreak, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) is deploying a team of 12 public health experts to provide on-ground support in surveillance, diagnostics, and community engagement. The team comprises epidemiologists, risk communication experts, infection prevention and control specialists, and laboratory experts. According to the Director-General of Africa CDC, Jean Kaseya, the agency has committed $2 million to support the Tanzanian governments efforts to contain the outbreak. This funding will be used to deploy public health experts, strengthen diagnostics, and enhance case management. Building on Tanzanias commendable response during the 2023 outbreak, we are confident that swift and decisive action, combined with our support and those of other partners, will bring this outbreak under control, Mr Kaseya said. More about the Marburg virus MVD, a highly infectious disease similar to Ebola, is transmitted through direct contact with bodily fluids of infected individuals or surfaces contaminated with these fluids. It is another example of zoonoses such as Lassa fever. The virus spreads through human-to-human transmission via direct contact with the blood, secretions, organs or other bodily fluids of infected people, and with surfaces and materials contaminated with these fluids. According to NCDC, the initial symptoms of the disease include sudden onset of high fever, chills, headache, body aches which may be accompanied by a rash, most prominent on the chest, back and stomach, nausea/vomiting, chest pain, sore throat, abdominal pain by the fifth day of illness. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print Amnesty International has called for an investigation into alleged threats to the lives of Hamdiyya Shariff and her lawyer, Abba Hikima. Ms Shariff faces charges of using abusive language against Sokoto State Governor Ahmad Aliyu and inciting disturbance for criticising the governor. The organiation also called for their protection in a statement posted on its website on Monday. Ms Sharriff was first arrested on 9 November 2024, detained, and then subsequently released. She was then abducted on 13 November 2024 by armed men while on her way to collect her phone from a charging point. She was beaten, thrown out of a moving tricycle and left with severe injuries. Ms Shariff, aged 18, was again arrested and charged in a Sharia court for the use of abusive language and criticisms against constituted authority in the state in a TikTok post advocating for displaced people. The director of Amnesty International Nigeria, Isa Sanusi, said apart from facing persecution for exercising freedom of expression, Ms Shariff and her lawyer are being subjected to threats, including phone calls and in-person confrontations by sponsored thugs and individuals claiming to be intelligence agents. Abuse of power Speaking on what played out at a recent hearing on the case, Mr Sanusi said Ms Shariffs lawyer, Mr Hikima, had to apply for and obtain armed police protection due to the hostile atmosphere within the court premises. Article Page with Financial Support Promotion Nigerians need credible journalism. Help us report it. Support journalism driven by facts, created by Nigerians for Nigerians. Our thorough, researched reporting relies on the support of readers like you. Help us maintain free and accessible news for all with a small donation. Every contribution guarantees that we can keep delivering important stories no paywalls, just quality journalism. SUPPORT NOW x Do this later While in Sokoto, for the trial, they were also stalked at their hotel, accosted and intimidated by some individuals, he added. These actions represent an alarming abuse of power and a calculated attempt to intimidate and punish those who speak out for their society and lawyers defending them. The hostilities being faced by Hamdiyya Sidi Sharif and Barrister Abba Hikima are increasingly making their appearance in court in Sokoto dangerous, the lead of the global rights group said. Sokoto State Governor Mr. Ahmed Aliyus frightening intolerance of dissenting voices through heavy handed clampdown on critics is unacceptable in a free society. No one should be punished solely for expressing an opinion that is contrary to that of the government. The Nigerian authorities must guarantee the safety of Hamdiyya and Barrister Abba Hikima, particularly during court appearances and their stay in Sokoto for the trial. The Amnesty International called on the Sokoto State Government and the Nigerian security forces to direct efforts towards curbing the countrys incessant insecurity instead of suppressing dissident voices. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print A former Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Michael Aondoakaa, has explained his decision not to testify in the ongoing arbitration proceedings between Sunrise Power and Transmission Company Ltd and the Federal Government of Nigeria. The arbitration proceedings are ongoing at the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), Pars, France. Mr Aondoakaa said he was neither intimidated nor pressured by the government to withhold his testimony in the high-profile legal dispute as claimed in media reports. Some reports had said Mr Aondoakaa suddenly left Paris, France, after filing a witness statement in support of Sunrise, claiming that he was summoned back to Nigeria by President Bola Tinubu. The report described the overall strategy of the Sunrise team to allege witness intimidation by the Nigerian government and secure the sympathy of the tribunal members. Reason for refusing to testify Mr Aondoakaa described the reporting attributing his decision not to testify in the case to the governments intimidation as false and misleading. I hereby state categorically that the said narrative, as contained in the said viral reports on the social media space, is false and does not in any way reflect the true state of the matter, he stated in a press release on Monday. 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 According to him, the decision not to testify was purely personal and voluntary. I hereby state categorically that at no time whatsoever was I ever approached by any official or representative of the Federal Government of Nigeria or any other person whatsoever on the issue of the Sunrise Power Arbitration, neither was I at any time or in any way or in any manner intimidated by any person or government official with regards to the said arbitration as insinuated in the said viral publications Mr Aondoakaa stated/ The former AGF explained that his witness statement was initially prepared in response to references made to him during the arbitration proceedings. However, he later reconsidered his involvement after reviewing the broader context of the case. Since no evidence was presented to the tribunal regarding the references to my person, and considering that the matter involves several former Attorneys General, I believe my testimony is not crucial to the case, he stated. Without giving details, Mr Aondoakaa said that paragraphs 165 and 166 of the statement of defence of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (FRN) contained unfounded allegations against him. Mr Aondoakaa said he did not testify to avoid misleading the tribunal, adding that his testimony would not have provided a conclusive position on the dispute. The former Attorney General also said that his clarification was necessary to prevent the public from being misled by inaccurate media reports. I feel it is important to set the records straight so that the public is not swayed by erroneous narratives being circulated, he added. Background The legal dispute between Sunrise Power and Transmission Company Ltd and the Federal Government of Nigeria revolves around the controversial contract for the construction of the 3,050-megawatt Mambilla Hydropower Project in Taraba State. The dispute began on 10 October 2017, when Sunrise Power filed an arbitration case against Nigeria, seeking $2.354 billion in damages for an alleged breach of a 2003 agreement. The original deal granted the company exclusive rights to execute the power project under a Build, Operate, and Transfer (BOT) arrangement. In its claim, Sunrise Power argued that the Nigerian government violated the agreement by engaging Sinohydro Corporation Limited, a Chinese firm, to take over the project. As a result, Sunrise Power also included Sinohydro as a party to the arbitration proceedings. To resolve the dispute, the Nigerian government entered into a settlement agreement with Sunrise Power on 21 January 2020. Under the terms of the agreement, the government committed to paying the company $200 million within 14 days of signing, along with a 10 per cent penalty in case of default. Additionally, the deal reinstated Sunrise Power as the local content partner for the hydropower project, valued at $5.8 billion. The settlement agreement was signed on behalf of the federal government by the then Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malamii, and the former Minister of Power, Sale Mamman. Representing Sunrise Power, its Chairman and CEO, Leno Adesanya, endorsed the agreement. This settlement was intended to facilitate the withdrawal of the arbitration case at the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC). However, the government failed to keep to the agreement because the China Exim Bank, which is expected to provide 85 per cent of the joint funding with the federal government for the Mambilla project, had insisted on compliance with due process and terms of the November 2017 engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract signed with the partners before releasing the funds. As a result of the failure of the federal government to fulfil its financial obligation of $200 million to Sunrise Power, Femi Falana, the companys lawyer, filed a fresh lawsuit at arbitration court on 11 May 2021 demanding $400 million. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print While substantial progress has been made, Africa is yet to achieve the vision outlined in Agenda 2063, The Africa We Want. Continuity in leadership is essential to sustain ongoing interventions and navigate the complexities of political affairs, peace, and security on the continent. Ambassador Adeoyes re-election would ensure the continuation of impactful initiatives and leverage his deep familiarity with the departments operations. His candidacy has received strong support, including an endorsement from ECOWAS, positioning him as the most experienced and qualified choice for the role. Africa has undergone significant evolution across various fronts. The continents socio-political and economic landscapes are rapidly transforming, even though considerable challenges remain. These include authoritarian backsliding, conflicts, and insecurity. In response, the African Union (AU) established the Department of Political Affairs, Peace, and Security (PAPS) to promote democratic governance and deepen the culture of peace and security on the continent. PAPS operates through two directorates: Governance and Conflict Prevention (GCP) and Conflict Management (CM). The former focuses on promoting democratic governance and preventing conflicts, while the latter specialises in conflict management and prevention. Currently, the department is led by Ambassador Bankole Adeoye, a seasoned diplomat with extensive experience in democratic governance, international development, peace, and security. Ambassador Adeoye has served as the AU Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace, and Security for nearly four years and will seek re-election during the 46th Ordinary Session of the Executive Council in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, from 12-13 February. His vision emphasises accelerating the implementation of the African Peace and Security Architecture (APSA) and the African Governance Architecture (AGA), guided by shared values of peace and development. Achievements of the PAPS under Ambassador Adeoye Over the past three going to four years, the PAPS has made significant strides. Peace enforcement has been prioritised as a strategic tool to combat violent extremism and terrorism. The department facilitated the peace process that led to the signing of the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement between Ethiopia and the Tigray Peoples Liberation Front in Pretoria on 2 November 2, 2022. In addition, PAPS provided strategic and operational support to the Peace and Security Council (PSC), enhancing early warning systems and informed decision-making through regular consultations. Preventive diplomacy has also been strengthened through regular interactions between Commissioner Adeoye and AU Chairs Special Representatives in conflict zones. The AUs mediation efforts have successfully de-escalated tensions in several member states. Notably, the AU Inter-Regional Knowledge Exchange (I-RECKE) program, launched in Zambia in July 2022, promotes cross-regional learning and innovation among key stakeholders. PAPS, under Ambassador Bankole Adeoye, has reaffirmed the AUs zero tolerance for unconstitutional changes of government, working to mainstream the African Charter on Democracy and Elections into school curricula. The department revitalised the AU election observation system by institutionalising post-election preventive diplomacy and increasing the participation of women and youth, who now constitute nearly 60 per cent of AU election observer missions. The PSCs decisions have been implemented through forums such as the Accra Declaration I and II, addressing unconstitutional changes of government (UCGs). PAPS has also provided technical assistance to election management bodies, political parties, and civil society organisations, while initiatives like the PAPS e-Candidatures Portal facilitate streamlined submission and processing of candidatures from AU member states. 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 Key Contributions and Initiatives Peace and Security Operations: PAPS supported the transition of the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) to the African Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS) and bolstered counterterrorism efforts through multilateral coalitions such as the SADC Mission in Mozambique and the G5 Sahel Force. The department also provided non-lethal military equipment for peace support operations. Resource Mobilisation: PAPS mobilised strategic resources for the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF) and other peacebuilding initiatives. The department operationalised the AU Centre for Post-Conflict Reconstruction and Development (PCRD) in Cairo, Egypt, and revised the AU-PCRD Policy to include Child Protection, Youth Inclusion, and Environmental Sustainability. Silencing the Guns by 2030: A Monitoring and Evaluation Framework for the AU Master Roadmap was developed, alongside operationalising the African Standby Force. Two child protection policies were also introduced. Sustainable Financing: Under Adeoyes leadership, the AU adopted the Consensus Paper on Predictable Financing for Peace and Security Activities, influencing UN Security Council Resolution 2719 (2023). Capacity Building: The department provided technical support to member states on transitional justice, human rights, and governance. It facilitated the establishment of the Office of the AU Envoy on the Prevention of Genocide, now held by His Excellency Adama Dieng. Technical Support to Member States on transitional justice: The department is currently providing technical assistance to various member states implementing transitional justice mechanisms and this has led to the establishment of African Women and African Youth for Transitional Justice Platforms. Looking Ahead While substantial progress has been made, Africa is yet to achieve the vision outlined in Agenda 2063, The Africa We Want. Continuity in leadership is essential to sustain ongoing interventions and navigate the complexities of political affairs, peace, and security on the continent. Ambassador Adeoyes re-election would ensure the continuation of impactful initiatives and leverage his deep familiarity with the departments operations. His candidacy has received strong support, including an endorsement from ECOWAS, positioning him as the most experienced and qualified choice for the role. In conclusion, re-electing Ambassador Bankole Adeoye as the Commissioner for PAPS would provide stability and continuity, enabling the AU to build on the foundation of his achievements and accelerate progress toward a peaceful and prosperous Africa. Brian Kwayedza writes from Harare, Zimbabwe. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print To avert civilian casualties, a safe corridor that goes south into Nigeria should be opened for the mass evacuation of non-Boko Haram elements in the combat area, after which a comprehensive wetting of the area is sustained until insurgents are defeated once and for all. The leadership of the Nigerian State and the armed forces must adopt this option as the final solution before drone-flying insurgents acquire air power capabilities. A recent Boko Haram terror attack on a farming community in Kukawa Local Government Area of Borno State may have left over 40 people dead. The attack, which took place at about 5 p.m. on Sunday 12 January, is coming after a similar attack by drone flying insurgents on a military unit that left scores of personnel dead. These recent attacks are stack reminders of the unending Boko Haram terror and insurgency that has plagued Nigerias North-East corner for more than 14 years since it started effectively in 2010 in Borno State. Founded by Mohammed Yusuf, an influential Muslim cleric and virulent advocate of Islamism in Nigeria, the Boko Haram group whose official name is Jamaat Ahl as-Sunnah Wa lid Dawah wal Jihad (Group of the people of Prophetic tradition of propagation and armed struggle) has as its ultimate goal, the forceful obliteration of Nigeria and its replacement with an Islamic state. True to their name, the Borno based group started out in 2002 as an Islamist advocacy Salafi movement that propagated (Dawah) the return of the Muslim ummah to the puritan prophetic tradition as a complete way of life (Ahl as-Sunnah). And in the estimation of Mohammed Yusuf, all forms of innovation not practiced by the Prophet of Islam, including Western Education, was a sin. But the gradualist approach of Dawah failed to achieve the implementation of Sharia in Borno State, and armed struggle (Jihad) was launched in 2010. Since 2010 when the insurgency started, the Boko Haram terror group has killed thousands of people and displaced millions into camps both within and outside Nigeria. From staging massive bombing campaigns in urban centres including Abuja, Nigerias capital city, to occupying territories in rural areas and the sacking of military formations, the Boko Haram insurgency has been Nigerias biggest security challenge after the Biafra/Nigeria civil war. And to contain what is essentially Nigerias greatest security challenge in supposedly peace times, the Federal Government of Nigeria has equally launched the largest military operation to defeat the Boko Haram insurgency and restore normalcy. Code named Operation Hadin Kayi, with air, land and water components, Nigerias military forces have been engaged in a war on terror and counter-insurgency in the North-East. Whilst the military may have succeeded in containing and confining the insurgency to the north-east corner of the country, the war is nevertheless still raging with heavy civilian and military casualties. And many worry that the confinement of the Boko Haram insurgents to the North-East might just be a strategy of the terrorists to drain and exhaust the armed forces of Nigeria in one theatre of war and thereafter take over the country by a simple call to prayer. The unending war on terror and the continuous loss of both civilian and military lives calls to question the current combat strategy of the armed forces and a need to review it urgently. to achieve this final solution, Operation Hadin Kayi should be renamed Operation Wetie as the new module of operation should shift from ground operations to sustained periods of aerial bombardment (wetting) of the entire combat area (Borno/Yobe axis) and to be followed with armoured and artillery clearance operations. The armed forces of Nigeria, like its counterparts all over the world, are not oriented for the asymmetrical and non-conventional warfare that is being waged by the Boko Haram insurgent group. And his explains the limited success achieved so far. To change the tide in the theatre of the war against terror and bring to a decisive end the decades long conflict will be for the armed forces to change the war from asymmetrical and non-conventional to symmetrical and conventional warfare as a final solution to this challenge. And to achieve this final solution, Operation Hadin Kayi should be renamed Operation Wetie as the new module of operation should shift from ground operations to sustained periods of aerial bombardment (wetting) of the entire combat area (Borno/Yobe axis) and to be followed with armoured and artillery clearance operations. Article Page with Financial Support Promotion Nigerians need credible journalism. Help us report it. Support journalism driven by facts, created by Nigerians for Nigerians. Our thorough, researched reporting relies on the support of readers like you. Help us maintain free and accessible news for all with a small donation. Every contribution guarantees that we can keep delivering important stories no paywalls, just quality journalism. SUPPORT NOW x Do this later To avert civilian casualties, a safe corridor that goes south into Nigeria should be opened for the mass evacuation of non-Boko Haram elements in the combat area, after which a comprehensive wetting of the area is sustained until insurgents are defeated once and for all. The leadership of the Nigerian State and the armed forces must adopt this option as the final solution before drone-flying insurgents acquire air power capabilities. Majeed Dahiru, a public affairs analyst, writes from Abuja and can be reached through dahirumajeed@gmail.com. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print Under four weeks, two major cybercrime academies where youths were studiously tutored in digital-related heists were uncovered in Lagos and Abuja by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), following actionable intelligence. The operations ripped to the ribbon, the foreign dimensions of the illicit activity. This should trigger concerted efforts by all to decimate this sub-culture, which has created an image crisis for the country and its citizens abroad. In Lagos, a total of 792 suspects were rounded up in a seven-storey building in Victoria Island on 10 December. They comprised 148 Chinese nationals, 40 Filipinos, two persons from Kazakhstan, one Pakistani and one Indonesian. The Abuja raid on 9 January at a hotel led to the arrest of 105 suspects, with Chinese citizens on the roll too. The foreigners were alleged to be the resource persons training their Nigerian accomplices on how to initiate crypto currency investment and romance scams by using other peoples identities. The suspects numbers and the sophistication of their operations were astounding, while the edifice used could easily be mistaken for the corporate headquarters of a bank. Little wonder, therefore, that the EFCC described it as a landmark discovery. All the floors of the building, the EFCC stated, were equipped withhigh-end desktop computers. On the 5th floor alone, investigators recovered 500 SIM cards of local telecoms that were bought for communications. Their Nigerian accomplices were recruited by the foreign kingpins to prospect for victims online through phishing, targeting mostly Americans, Canadians, Mexicans and several others from European countries. In their modus operandi, these foreign scammers take over from the Nigerians once there is breakthrough in a deal. On the Abuja raid, the suspects, comprising 67 males and 38 females, were allegedly involved in a hotel review job scam targeting victims and hotels in Europe, the EFCC statement further explained. A business apartment in Gudu, an Abuja suburb, was where they were apprehended. Both the current and past EFCC leadership have had to decry the alarming increase in cybercrimes involving youths in the country. As of November 2023, the commissions Director, Legal and Prosecution Department, Sylvanus Tahir, revealed that 1,084 cybercrime and 395 Advanced Fee Fraud convictions were secured. In the agencys scorecard from 29 May 2033 to 29 May 2024 under the Tinubu administration, its chairman, Ola Olukoyede, flaunted 3,175 convictions, which included cybercriminals, and the recovery of N156.2 billion ill-gotten cash. 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, he expressed concern that in spite of this commendable performance, the commission is deeply worried about increasing involvement of young people, including students, in cybercrime, popularly known as yahoo-yahoo. Hundreds of suspects are arrested monthly, with many of them ending up in jail. At Effurun, Delta State, 150 cybercrime trainees were nabbed by military authorities of 3 Battalion, Nigerian Army Barracks, in September 2024 and handed over to the Police. The Delta State Police Command should explain what happened to them ultimatelty. PREMIUM TIMES is deeply concerned about this festering social anomie, which is clearly the product of moral atrophy in a society largely adrift. The glamorisation of wealth plays a significant role in normalising and legitimising online romance fraud argues Suleman Lazarus, a cybercrime expert, who is a Visiting Fellow at the Mannheim Centre for Criminology at the London School of Economics (LSE). We agree. This bizarre social order needs to be remedied. It is a task that requires collective social consciousness of the broken moral fabrics of the society and the need for aggressive values reorientation. A political leadership that shows the light for people to follow is pivotal in this effort. Doubtlessly, too much unexplained wealth flaunted by public officials and captains of the corporate world, unfortunately, provide perverse incentives to youths to hit this highway of surreal and fraudulence to make it in life. In our cities, outlets for the perpetration of yahoo-yahoo crimes are well known. Nothing is hidden anymore about these operations. Even when not easily known to some, the extravagant lifestyles of the perpetrators, the posh cars they drive, their open philandering, exhibitions and giveaways of huge amounts of cash in social gatherings and other indecorous activities, easily give them away. Their violent protest in Osogbo, against an EFCC raid of their hideouts in an estate in 2021 to arrest some suspects, compelled them to barricade roads and make bonfires, whilst firing gunshots. The EFCC, in a statement released on Sunday, lamented how one of its operatives was fatally shot on 17 January by an Internet fraudster in an operation to arrest 37 suspects operating in a two-storey building in Awka, Anambra State. These acts of audacity and impunity should not be condoned by any government. Ours shouldnt be a society in which youths revile the dignity of labour, trade or artisanal apprenticeship that could equip them with skills-set to be productive citizens, while preferring the easy way to life. Nigerias image has been so sullied abroad to the extent that securing visas or travel documents to some countries are either difficult or outlawed. While we find the EFCCs efforts so far quite laudable, they would need to intensify their crackdowns and not be weighed down by the phoenix-like manifestations of cybercrime and related vices. How the commission handles the Chinese suspects will be of utmost public interest. Nigeria would be shooting itself in the foot and deepening the criminality by allowing diplomacy to supervene, which, in turn, will let the foreigners off the hook. Our fears are grounded in precedence and the degree at which the Tinubu government is beholden to China, through the numerous loans it has secured from the Asian country. Western and other world leaders exploit Nigerias weak regulations, incompetent leadership and economic vulnerabilities to demand the release of their nationals caught on the wrong side of our laws. This is a perverse, diplomatic gesture they, however, never reciprocate. A case in point was the release of the Russians arrested in the MT African Pride vessel involved in oil theft in 2005. Again, Tigran Gambaryan, a US citizen, and the Head of Binances Financial Crime Compliance, was freed after eight months in detention last October, after taking into consideration some critical international and diplomatic issues, the EFCC lawyer, R.U Adaba, had told the court. Incredibly, this was against the backdrop of another Binance executive, Nadeem Anjarwalla, who fled Nigeria using a smuggled passport while in custody in Abuja. Binance had faced charges involving the non-payment of a slew of taxes, including the VAT and company income tax, whilst aiding customers to evade taxes through its platform. These examples contrast sharply with the 5,000 Nigerians who were convicted of crimes and are serving various jail terms in Dongguan prison in China, as of December 2024. Times without number, the US authorities, had worked in concert with Nigeria to extradite fugitives for prosecution in their domain. This is normal. Therefore, to buckle to any diplomatic pressure on the foreign criminals apprehended will inadvertently validate the licenses to their Nigerian trainees to continue to perpetuate the crimes they were arrested for. The foreign fraudsters guile of using Nigerians as cannon fodder or cover up for their vices has immensely tarnished our national image. More importantly, the expose has settled one fact: that not all Business Compromise Emails (BEMs) or other transnational crimes that originate from here are masterminded by Nigerians. If these fraudsters are not embroiled in a scam like this, they get involved in the illegal mining of gold and other solid minerals or oil theft. Apparently, there is an element of official corruption and incompetence in our immigration service at play here. The kind of visas granted to these suspects should be interrogated. Foreigners with work permits need to be regularly monitored to see that they are operating within the framework of the permits given to them. The breaches evident in the cases under review are enough to put the Minister of Interior and his long chain of line officers on the spot. Youths embracing this burgeoning underworld haven of scam and its attendant unearned wealth, are advised to quit as it is ruinous. Hustle Kingdom (HK) schools, as cyber training networks are code-named, can never replace centres for skills acquisition, secondary schools or higher institutions where focused youths are trained for a better future. While there is the prevalence of economic hardship, no doubt, but this cannot be an excuse for anyone to take to crime for survival. To do so means courting self-immolation ultimately; a fact that the travails of Rammon Abbas, alias Hushpuppi, a Nigerian cybercrime kingpin, serving 20-year jail term in the US since 2022, epitomises. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print Prior to his inauguration, Trump promises to end the war in Ukraine On the eve of his inauguration, U.S. President-elect Donald Trump promised to "end" to the war in Ukraine and stop the chaos in the Middle East. I will end the war in Ukraine, I will stop the chaos in the Middle East, and I will prevent World War III from happening, Trump said speaking at a rally in Washington. When the 60,000-litre petrol tanker detached from its head and fell near Sabon Kasuwa in Dikko, Gurara LGA of Niger State, around 7 a.m. on Saturday, no one saw what was coming. Some poverty-ravaged residents only gathered to scoop the spilling fuel while the truck driver tried to evacuate the fuel into another tanker using a pumping machine. Unfortunately, fire erupted, killing those scooping up the fuel and other people passing by. The fire, which raged for several hours before firefighters doused it, also destroyed multimillion Naira goods. The Niger State Emergency Management Agency (NSEMA), in a statement, estimated the death toll from the incident to be more than 80. This was as fuel kept dripping from the exploded tanker a day after the incident. The dead were given a mass burial at the premises of Dikko Primary Healthcare (PHC), where many of the victims were evacuated. While the authorities said the fire was ignited by the people trying to scoop up fuel, the residents blamed economic hardship for the fatal scramble. 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 PREMIUM TIMES will bring you a detailed report about those who lost their lives and what their unforeseen deaths mean to their families. Horror in pictures Here, we tell the story through horrid pictures taken of the incident. Many of the pictures taken are unsuitable for publication. FRSC officer and volunteers evacuating the bodies into a truck [PHOTO CREDIT : Yakubu Mohammed ] Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print Governor Umo Eno of Akwa Ibom State said payment of new minimum wage to civil servants in the state will begin this January, dismissing being pressured by Organised Labour. Once that report is presented those that were verified we would pay from 1 November this January. It does not need any letter from anybody. Mr Eno stated this on Sunday at the 2025 Thanksgiving Service of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Akwa Ibom State Council, held at his country home, Ikot Ekpene Udo, Nsit Ubium Local Government Area of the state. Themed Grace upon grace, the event had journalists, members of the political class and others in attendance. In his remark at the event, the Chairperson of NUJ in the state, Amos Etuk, who will be exiting the office later in the year after serving for two terms of six years, thanked members of the union and the state government for supporting his administration. Mr Etuk specifically thanked Governor Eno for being the first sitting governor in the state to attend the unions event in person. He also appreciated the governor for mobilising contractors to complete a project for the union at its secretariat. Minimum wage payment to begin in January Governor Eno approved N80,000, an amount that is N10,000 higher than the N70,000 approved by the federal government as the new minimum wage for workers in the state, but conditioned the commencement of payment to completion of a staff verification exercise. 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 Citing Japa Syndrome, Mr Eno said there were a lot of ghost workers in the civil service, which the staff audit intended to fish out before implementing the new minimum wage. He, however, bowed to pressure from Organised Labour in the state and signed an agreement to begin payment in December but later unilaterally backed out of the agreement, doubling down on completion of verification as a condition for payment. In a letter dated 16 January and addressed to Mr Eno, Labour said if the minimum wage is not paid in January, it would be left with no option but to shut down the state workforce. Unfortunately, despite the conclusion of the exercise on 3 January, credible information suggests that the Government is no longer prepared to fulfil that commitment as alleged January salaries have been computed using the old template, the Labour said. The Labour urged the government to direct the issuance of minimum wage circulars with salary templates to respective ministries, departments and agencies for implementation. At the event, Mr Eno said he learnt verification was completed and would be presented to him by the Head of Civil Service tomorrow (Monday), stressing that verified workers will get payment beginning in January. Let no one deceive you that they pressure me, nobody pressures me, he said, referring to the threat by Labour to shut down the state workforce if minimum wage payment does not begin in January. One day I will allow you to embark on strike and see whether the government will not progress, the governor added. He took a swipe at Organised Labour in the state for leaking a letter they wrote to him to the press, saying he was yet to receive it when he saw it in the press, an action he described as an insult. Mr Eno further berated Labour for always threatening him with strikes. The governor queried why Labour didnt strike when past administrations were owing N97 billion, referring to retirees gratuities and pensions he inherited. READ ALSO: Gov Eno approves N150million for widows of fallen soldiers I have paid N47 billion (so far), and this month, I will continue to pay it; it is when you want to strike. What does your strike imply, he said, alluding to Labour in the state. If youve not been verified into the state civil service I will not pay you. Strike anyhow you want. For those that have been verified this January, we would pay you from 1 November and we would start to pay. That has been our commitment. I dont go back on those things I say. The governor acknowledged workers as the backbone of the state and promised to work with them to ensure their welfare is paramount. Mr Eno thanked NUJ for hosting the Thanksgiving Service in his country home and for supporting the government and announced a donation of an SUV for the chairperson of the union and 11 cars for members of the executives. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print The Catholic Diocese of Warri, Delta State has suspended a priest, Daniel Oghenerukevwe, for allegedly getting married in the United States. The suspension is contained in a statement dated 16 January and signed by the Diocesan Bishop, Anthony Ewherido and Chancellor, Clement Abobo. According to the statement, the suspended priest had been out of active ministry and without any official assignment in the US. The priest, the statement said, contacted the bishop on 30 November 2024, requesting to be released from canonical obligations of the church. The diocese reverted to him, asking him (the priest) to submit documents required to initiate the process. However, on 29 December 2024, Fr, Oghenerukevwe entered into marriage with Ms Dora Chichah at the Streams of Joy Church in Dallas, USA, the diocese said, adding that the marriage footage has been widely circulated on social media including Facebook. By this action, Rev. Fr. Daniel Okanatotor Oghenerukevwe has incurred a Latae Sententiae suspension in accordance with the provisions of Canon 1394 S1, and I, Most Rev. Anthony Ovayero Ewherido, Bishop of Warri, do hereby officially decree that he is suspended from the exercise of sacred ministry. As a result, the diocese has barred the suspended priest from functioning as a priest of the Catholic Diocese of Warri in any capacity. 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 All canonical implications associated with this suspension take immediate effect (cf. Can. 1333), the statement added. The diocese said the suspended priest retains the right to petition for the revocation or amendment of the decree but must demonstrate a willingness to reform. PREMIUM TIMES could not reach the suspended priest for comment at the time of this report. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print The police in Anambra State said their Special Anti-Cultism Squad in Enugwu-Ukwu has detained three suspects and recovered a black-coloured Lexus 330 SUV from them. Tochukwu Ikenga, the police spokesperson in the Anambra, disclosed this in a statement made available to the News Agency of Nigeria in Awka on Sunday. Mr Ikenga, a superintendent of police, said the operatives intercepted the suspected car thieves on Wednesday. They were driving the vehicle without a plate number in the Kwata Junction area, Awka. Operatives of the Special Anti-Cultism Squad Enugwu-Ukwu, while on patrol in the morning of 15 January, intercepted three occupants of a black-coloured Lexus 330 SUV without a number plate at Kwata Junction, Awka, Mr Ikenga stated. He explained that during interrogation, the suspects Ifesinachi Okonwko, 22, Chisom Okafor, 20, and Oderah Ebenezer, 20 all male, confessed that they stole the car at Isuaniocha village, Awka North. The spokesperson also stated that the suspects confessed to being members of the same criminal gang terrorising the people of Awka. He urged anyone looking for the vehicle with highlighted features to come to the police headquarters, Awka, with valid proof of ownership for verification and possible collection. 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 (NAN) Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print A 40-year-old man has allegedly stabbed his brother-in-law to death in Imo State, Nigerias South-east. The man, Uchenna Okpara, allegedly attacked the victim, Uchenna Unakalamba, with a broken bottle during an argument. In a statement on Sunday, the police spokesperson in Imo State, Henry Okoye, said the suspect, Mr Okpara, had been arrested by police operatives from the Anti-Kidnapping Unit. Mr Okoye, a deputy superintendent of police, said the incident occurred on Thursday in Ubomiri, a community in Mbaitoli Local Government Area of the state. The police spokesperson said the incident followed a minor dispute in the family. Responding to a distress call, police operatives apprehended the suspect and recovered the weapon. The victim was confirmed dead at the hospital, and the suspect remains in custody pending the conclusion of investigations and subsequent prosecution, 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 A video clip obtained by PREMIUM TIMES showed the suspect confessing that he stabbed the victim to death out of anger because he (Unakalamba) attacked him with a small knife during a disagreement. Arrest of kidnapper during shootout Mr Okoye said, in a separate incident, police operatives dismantled a notorious kidnapping syndicate on Thursday in Imo State. The spokesperson said the operatives carried out the operation in a forest near Agwa, a community in Oguta Local Government Area of the state. He said the operation, which was in response to a tip-off, led to the arrest of one suspect, Ozioma Dike, after a shootout. He is expected to be arraigned in court after the conclusion of the investigation, the police said of Mr Dike. Mr Okoye said that during the shootout, other members of the syndicate fled into the bushes. Recovered from the suspect were a pump-action rifle loaded with seven live rounds of ammunition and an iPhone belonging to a victim who had been kidnapped on 8 January 2025, in Ubomiri, Mbaitoli Local Government Area, he said. During interrogation, the suspect confessed to being part of a group responsible for several kidnappings in Ubomiri, Ogbaku, and Ohii communities within Mbaitoli Local Government Area. The police spokesperson said efforts were ongoing to track down other fleeing suspects. Mr Okoye said the Commissioner of Police in Imo State, Aboki Danjuma, has assured residents of Imo of the commitment of the police to eradicate kidnapping and other crimes in the state. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print Just a week after four people were killed in a violent confrontation between rival groups in Owo, Ondo State, another life has been claimed. Isiaka Nasir, 40, described as a known member of one of the gangs, was killed. This has raised concerns that this latest incident could ignite a fresh wave of bloodshed in the community. Despite a brief pause in the violence, tensions remain high, and authorities fear that retaliatory attacks could escalate the situation further. Witnesses report that two masked men attacked Mr Nasir in the town and killed him. The Ondo State Police Command confirmed the incident, noting that Mr Nasir had been on its wanted list for being a notorious criminal. The command can confirm the murder of one Nasir Isiaka, aged 40 years, a notorious cultist who has been on the police wanted list, Funmilayo Odunlami, the police public relations officer, said in a statement on Sunday. The police at A Div Owo today received a distress call that someone was shot at the Gbanasa area of Owo by two masked men. On getting to the scene, the police discovered that the deceased was a cultist who participated in the End SARS Protest, attacked the Uso division, and stole an AK 47 and bulletproof belonging to the police. He also participated in the killing of one Adedeji Rafiu, aka PA. His remains have been deposited in the morgue by the police, and efforts are on to apprehend the men behind the mask. 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 Ondo State has been a hotbed of violence in the last week, and several deaths have been recorded from communal and cult clashes. There have been two communal clashes at Iwaro Oka and Gbalegi village in Akure, which resulted in six deaths. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print Ahead of the conduct of the 22 February local government election in Osun, the state chapter of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) on Monday told the Osun State Independent Electoral Commission (OSSIEC) not to succumb to the alleged plot by the All Progressives Congress (APC) to stop the exercise. The party said it observed an alleged campaign of calumny from some quarters aimed at thwarting the poll in the state, saying the electoral body should remain committed and proceed with the conduct of the election. The NNPPs position followed the APCs claims that OSSIEC chairperson Hashim Abioye was ineligible to conduct the election. The APC argued that there are pending court litigations over Abioyes membership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which disqualifies him from presiding over the exercise. However, the NNPP noted that the electoral body had expended a huge amount of state resources on the preparation for the council poll since last January, hence the need to see it through. According to a statement signed by the NNPP chairperson in Osun State, Tosin Odeyemi, and made available to the journalists in Osogbo, the party contended that only an enemy of democracy would, out of selfish interest, attempt to stop the planned election. It reads, I was surprised seeing so much misinformation flying around on social media recently about next months poll. Why would anybody wait till this moment before raising any objection to the poll or its handlers? We have been showing concerns about the way the ruling party in the state has been spending our collective money. 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 Any reasonable person in Osun would know that OSSIEC had committed a lot to this election. Our party, together with other political parties in the state, All Progressives Congress (APC) inclusive, held a meeting with OSSIEC some months ago where we all passed a vote of confidence on the Hassim Abioye-led commission. Pictures dont lie. The representative of the APC was there, raising no objection to the move. He was there throughout the meeting in acceptance of all what we did that day. Why making moves that can jeopardise the process now? We all clamoured for local government autonomy. How are we going to experience it when some people are planning to stop the polls? Things are not going well at the grassroots in Osun since the state governor hijacked its administration. Now that we are hopeful of having democratically elected people at the local level, some are planning to send us back to square one. No way! We are calling on OSSIEC not to be deterred, put everything in order, and ensure a free and fair local government election in the state, the statement concluded. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print Ogun State Governor, Dapo Abiodun, has disclosed that the 17-kilometer Sango-Ijoko road would be divided into two sections to allow for its quick completion as he announced the immediate construction of the road. The governor also added that the 3.25 kilometers Alagbole-Ajuwon-Akute road in Ifo Local Government Area of the state would be ready for commissioning by the end of February 2025. The governor made these known during the inspection of several roads under construction in Ifo 2 state constituency. About four months ago, we were here in response to the fact that our attention was drawn to the state of roads in Ifo 2, particularly Alagbole-Ajuwon, Denro-Ishashi-Akute, Ajuwon-Akite, Ijoko-Sango, and Lambe. I came here and promised that within a few months I would be back to commission all those roads that were in deplorable condition. Today, we are here; Alagbole-Akute is completed and 100% ready for commissioning, Ajuwon-Akute is ongoing, it is about 3.25 kilometers, and by Gods grace, by the end of February, it will be totally completed. Sango-Ijoko is a long road. We started it from the Sango area; we have an outstanding 17 kilometers, and we have decided to divide it into two sections of 8 kilometers each, Abiodun said. The Governor hinted that he had instructed the Commissioner for Works and Infrastructure that construction must start immediately at the worst sections of the raod, adding that the decision to ascertain those portions of the road would be collectively taken by the government and the residents. Article Page with Financial Support Promotion Nigerians need credible journalism. Help us report it. Support journalism driven by facts, created by Nigerians for Nigerians. Our thorough, researched reporting relies on the support of readers like you. Help us maintain free and accessible news for all with a small donation. Every contribution guarantees that we can keep delivering important stories no paywalls, just quality journalism. SUPPORT NOW x Do this later Governor Abiodun continued : I am giving you my commitment because this constituency is of extreme importance to us; it is our border community with Lagos State, and there is a lot of cross-border migration between us and Lagos. It is important for us to make that cross-border experience as pleasurable as possible for the citizens, and that is our 100% commitment. Governor Abiodun, therefore, urged the residents of the local government to use the road responsibly and maintain it to serve its original purpose. In his remarks, the Chairman of Ifo CDC, Akangbe Olatunde, commended Governor Abiodun for the ongoing construction on the Ajuwon-Akute road, saying that the Governor has brought joy to the people of Ifo Local Government. The Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Development, Hadijat Adeleye, noted that the people of the area had gone through so much pains in the past with the neglect of the area by previous administrations. We have gone through so much sufferings in this area, we have really seen so much. We are bordered by Lagos, but yet, we dont have anything to show for it. But God sent someone; he sent Governor Dapo Abiodun to come and give us succour and lifted our spirits by bringing us out of the dust that we are known for in Ifo 2, we are most grateful to him, she said. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print LONDON, Jan. 20, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- In anticipation of the World Economic Forum's 2025 Annual Meeting in Davos this week, themed Collaboration for the Intelligent Age, a new interview series has just gone live. The series, produced by Acumen Media & hosted on CBS News online, features conversations with influential business leaders who are driving meaningful impact in alignment with the shared goals of governments and organizations worldwide. Davos Interviews 2025 Trailer Through these candid discussions, the series explores how businesses are tackling some of the most pressing challenges of our timesustainability, technological innovation, and social equity. Each leader sheds light on their organisation's strategies, achievements, and collaborative efforts to create a more intelligent, interconnected, and equitable future. "This year's Davos theme is a call to action," said Paolo Emilio Zanini, CEO of Acumen. "Our interview series showcases the power of collaboration in navigating the complexities of today's world while laying the foundation for transformative solutions." The series, now available on CBS News, provides actionable insights into how industries are aligning with global priorities to advance innovation and drive sustainable development. Join the conversation and be inspired by the leaders shaping the Intelligent Age. Watch the full series on https://www.cbsnews.com/video/playlist/davos-interviews/ Acumen Media stands as a leader of insightful storytelling, shaping narratives that resonate and inspire. Known for its meticulous attention to detail, the company blends creativity with purpose to deliver content that not only informs but captivates. With a deep commitment to authenticity and innovation, Acumen Media crafts compelling stories that connect with audiences across cultures and industries. Through its visionary approach, Acumen Media continually pushes the boundaries of what content can achieve, setting a standard for excellence and leaving an indelible mark on the media landscape. Learn more about our projects and campaigns on: Acumen Stories Watch 'The Davos Interviews' series cbsnews Watch our other series on YouTube Visit Acumen Media's LinkedIn CONTACT: Jack Boyson, j.boyson@acumenmedia.com Video: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2601615/Acumen_Media_Davos.mp4 SIGN UP FOR THE DAILY JWR UPDATE. IT'S FREE. (AND NO SPAM!) Just click here. For the second time this month, former first lady Michelle Obama is snubbing Donald Trump, yet another sign that sore loser Democrats can't handle Trump's election victory. Mrs. Obama, who has been touted as a possible presidential contender in the future, is boycotting Trump's Inauguration today the most prominent political figure to do so, though Democrats who won't go are refusing to call it a boycott. "I think it's just kind of a general conflict of logistics," U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said of her skipping the event. Sure, right. Other lawmakers said they were not attending the Inaugural festivities because it occurs on Martin Luther KIng, Jr. Day. Michelle Obama's snub is raising speculation she could be setting herself up for a more active political role in the Democratic Party. U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) and other elected Democrats like have also announced that they won't be going to the Inauguration. "Former President Barack Obama is confirmed to attend the 60th Inaugural Ceremonies," his office said in a statement. "Former First Lady Michelle Obama will not attend the upcoming inauguration." It's the second time Obama will be skipping a face to face encounter with Trump. She also did not attend former President Jimmy Carter's funeral services earlier this month. Mrs. Obama missed the Carter funeral due to a "scheduling conflict," her office claimed. But it was obvious she wanted to avoid sitting next to Trump during the services. That role went to her husband, Barack Obama, who pleasantly chatted with Trump during the services while other former presidents and their spouses largely ignored the President-elect. Mrs. Obama has accused Trump of being a racist who can't handle Black and female politicians. "For years, Donald Trump did everything in his power to try to make people fear us," Mrs. Obama said at last year's Democratic convention, where she was given a prominent speaking role. "See, his limited, narrow view of the world made him feel threatened by the existence of two hard-working, highly educated, successful people who happen to be Black." Trump's election victory has now exposed Michelle Obama as one of many Democrats too upset to confront Trump in a public space but that could still happen. The Inauguration could lay bare the wounds that many Democrats have felt with the election. Don't expect Jill Biden or many others to give Trump a warm greeting on stage. (COMMENT, BELOW) Joe Battenfeld Boston Herald/(TNS) Joe Battenfeld is a veteran Boston Herald political columnist and multimedia reporter. Previously: Ninety-three drones out of 141 shot down at night, 47 lost from location Air Force Photo: https://www.facebook.com/GeneralStaff.ua/ On Monday night, Russian invaders attacked Ukraine with 141 Shahed-type attack drones and various types of imitation drones, 93 UAVs were shot down, 47 drones were lost from location and did not reach their targets, according to the Telegram channel of the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. "As of 08:00, the elimination of 93 Shahed-type attack UAVs and other types of drones in Poltava, Sumy, Kharkiv, Cherkasy, Chernihiv, Kyiv, Khmelnytsky, Vinnytsia, Kirovohrad, Dnipropetrovsk, Mykolaiv, Kherson and Donetsk regions has been confirmed," the report says. It is reported that on the night of Monday (from 19:00 on January 19), the enemy attacked by the 141st Shahed-type attack UAV and various types of simulator drones from five directions: Millerovo, Orel, Bryansk, Kursk, Primorsko-Akhtarsk of the Russian Federation, and also used the Iskander-M ballistic missile from Kursk region in Sumy region. Forty-seven enemy simulator drones were lost locationally (without negative consequences), two of them flew to the Russian Federation. The air attack was repelled by aviation, anti-aircraft missile forces, electronic warfare units, mobile fire groups of the Air Force and the Defense Forces of Ukraine. Forecasts converge on freezing precipitation and accumulation across Greater Houston as National Weather Service upgrades advisory to a Winter Storm Warning Three staging sites set-up and approximately 1,200 additional mutual aid workers set to arrive tomorrow to support potential restoration efforts CenterPoint to activate its emergency operations center Monday afternoon ahead of the projected start of precipitation CenterPoint urges customers and the public to be weather alert and have a plan to stay safe and warm through freezing temperatures and precipitation HOUSTON, Jan. 19, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- CenterPoint Energy continues to execute its cold weather readiness plan and actively monitor the weather for new developments. Weather forecasts continue to converge on a major winter storm, now named Enzo, impacting the Greater Houston area beginning Monday evening, with wintry precipitation and significant accumulation forecasted across the region this week. The company has secured an additional 1,200 mutual aid workers to support potential restoration efforts. CenterPoint's emergency operations center will be activated Monday evening ahead of the projected arrival of wintry precipitation and the company is standing up three staging sites and pre-positioning crews across its service territory to respond, if needed, as safely and as quickly as possible. CenterPoint's Emergency Preparedness and Response, Meteorology and Operations teams will remain on alert throughout the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday weekend and continue to utilize in-house and third-party weather modeling and historical data from previous weather events to plan for all potential impacts to CenterPoint's system. In preparation for the mixture of snow, sleet and freezing rain anticipated to impact the region, the National Weather Service has upgraded the Winter Storm Watch to a Winter Storm Warning for Southeast Texas beginning at 6 p.m. Monday through 6 p.m. Tuesday. On Friday, ERCOT issued a Weather Watch from Monday to Wednesday due to extreme cold weather across the ERCOT region, higher electrical demand and the potential for lower reserves. At this time, according to ERCOT, grid conditions are expected to be normal, but CenterPoint teams remain ready to respond if that should change. "As our CenterPoint teams stand up these staging sites and begin onboarding approximately 1,200 mutual assistance workers who've answered the call to support potential restoration efforts, we continue to diligently monitor the weather and our systems and prepare for potential impact. We want our customers to be confident in the numerous cold weather preparations CenterPoint has already executed from our winter readiness plan and to know we have plans in place to support their communities during this week's forecasted severe weather. We also want to urge our customers to stay weather alert, have an emergency plan in place and take steps now to prepare, especially customers who rely on life-sustaining equipment," said Darin Carroll, Senior Vice President of CenterPoint's Electric Business. Cold weather preparations The company has a cold weather readiness plan in place and has performed a series of proactive pre-winter preparedness actions to strengthen and winterize its infrastructure across Texas, including inspecting and testing cold-weather critical equipment. In addition to securing an additional 1,200 mutual aid resources to assist with restoration efforts, additional call center resources have been secured in anticipation of call volume rising and support platforms have been load-tested to meet higher demand as customers seek information during and after the storm. CenterPoint is also deploying cold weather mitigations across its electric and natural gas infrastructure, coordinating with relevant local emergency responders and government officials and making plans to mobilize emergency response resources. Stay informed before, during and after the storm with CenterPoint's Storm Center, Power Alert Service and the CenterPoint Texas X account CenterPoint is encouraging all customers to prepare and have a plan to stay safe during Winter Storm Enzo. Customers can read the latest news on CenterPoint's preparedness and response efforts, view important safety tips and access the company's 2025 Winter Energy Guide by visiting CenterPointEnergy.com/StormCenter. While CenterPoint continues to provide information around this weather event to its 2.8 million electric customers, including those designated as critical care, the company also encourages all electric customers to enroll in the company's Power Alert Service to receive winter storm outage details, estimated restoration times and customer-specific restoration updates by phone call, text or email. Customers can also follow @CenterPoint_TX to receive the most up-to-date information on the company's operations in the Greater Houston area and across Texas. For the latest weather information for the Greater Houston area, see updates from the National Weather Service Forecast Office in Houston/Galveston at www.weather.gov/hgx. Safety reminders CenterPoint reminds customers to stay safe during and after winter storms: Downed power lines: Stay at least 35 feet away from downed power lines and report them to CenterPoint at 713-207-2222. Be especially mindful of downed lines that could be hidden and treat all downed lines as if they are energized. Stay at least 35 feet away from downed power lines and report them to CenterPoint at 713-207-2222. Be especially mindful of downed lines that could be hidden and treat all downed lines as if they are energized. Work crew safety: Be cautious around work crews and give them plenty of room to safely assess damage and make repairs. Be cautious around work crews and give them plenty of room to safely assess damage and make repairs. Portable generators: Only use a portable generator in a well-ventilated area and never run it inside or in a garage to avoid carbon monoxide (CO) fumes, which can be deadly. Only use a portable generator in a well-ventilated area and never run it inside or in a garage to avoid carbon monoxide (CO) fumes, which can be deadly. Use space heaters safely: Make sure space heaters have an automatic shut-off, and keep children, pets and all items at least three feet away from it. A space heater that uses natural gas, propane or wood should be vented to the outside. Stoves and ovens should never be used for space heating. Make sure space heaters have an automatic shut-off, and keep children, pets and all items at least three feet away from it. A space heater that uses natural gas, propane or wood should be vented to the outside. Stoves and ovens should never be used for space heating. Electric system safety: Never connect a portable electric generator directly to a building's electrical system during a power outage; electricity could back-feed into the power lines, potentially endangering CenterPoint workers. Never connect a portable electric generator directly to a building's electrical system during a power outage; electricity could back-feed into the power lines, potentially endangering CenterPoint workers. Preserving food during outages: Avoid opening freezers and refrigerators during outages to preserve food. Avoid opening freezers and refrigerators during outages to preserve food. Natural gas safety: Natural gas is odorized with a distinctive, strong odor, often compared to rotten eggs or sulfur. If a natural gas odor is detected inside a home or building, leave immediately on foot. Do not use electric switches, telephones (including cell phones), or anything that could cause a spark. Once in a safe location, call both CenterPoint Energy and 911. Do not use email or the Internet to report the leak and never attempt to repair a natural gas leak yourselfleave all repairs to trained technicians. For leaks outside, leave the area on foot and move in an upwind direction away from the leak or vapor cloud to a location where the smell of gas is no longer present. Warn others to stay away from the leak and abandon any equipment being used in or near the area. Once in a safe location, call both CenterPoint and 911 to report the leak. Natural gas is odorized with a distinctive, strong odor, often compared to rotten eggs or sulfur. If a natural gas odor is detected inside a home or building, leave immediately on foot. Do not use electric switches, telephones (including cell phones), or anything that could cause a spark. Once in a safe location, call both CenterPoint Energy and 911. Do not use email or the Internet to report the leak and never attempt to repair a natural gas leak yourselfleave all repairs to trained technicians. For leaks outside, leave the area on foot and move in an upwind direction away from the leak or vapor cloud to a location where the smell of gas is no longer present. Warn others to stay away from the leak and abandon any equipment being used in or near the area. Once in a safe location, call both CenterPoint and 911 to report the leak. Know the signs of CO poisoning: Early symptoms such as headache and fatigue are similar to the flu, but without a fever. Continued CO exposure can lead to more severe headaches, dizziness, nausea, difficulty thinking clearly and fainting. If everyone in a household is experiencing these symptoms, it could be CO poisoning. If symptoms suggest CO poisoning, leave the area immediately, get fresh air and call 911. Early symptoms such as headache and fatigue are similar to the flu, but without a fever. Continued CO exposure can lead to more severe headaches, dizziness, nausea, difficulty thinking clearly and fainting. If everyone in a household is experiencing these symptoms, it could be CO poisoning. If symptoms suggest CO poisoning, leave the area immediately, get fresh air and call 911. Gas meter maintenance: Remove large icicles hanging over meter assemblies and appliance vents. Use a broom not a shovel to clear snow from the meter. If the gas meter is encased in ice, do not attempt to melt and/or chip the ice, as this could cause damage to the meter. Allow the ice to melt on its own. Remove large icicles hanging over meter assemblies and appliance vents. Use a broom not a shovel to clear snow from the meter. If the gas meter is encased in ice, do not attempt to melt and/or chip the ice, as this could cause damage to the meter. Allow the ice to melt on its own. Call before digging: Call 811 to locate utility lines prior to digging on a property. For more information, contact Communications [email protected] SOURCE CenterPoint Energy AUSTIN, Texas, Jan. 19, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Lightspeed Restoration of Austin proudly announces its opening as a locally owned and operated business dedicated to providing the Austin community with fast, reliable, high-quality restoration services. Lightspeed Restoration specializes in water damage restoration , fire damage restoration, disaster recovery, and reconstruction, offering comprehensive solutions tailored to meet the unique needs of homeowners and businesses. Lightspeed Restoration of Austin is Owned and Operated Locally by the Friedman Family Jonathan and Samantha Friedman, the proud owners of Lightspeed Restoration of Austin, founded the business to combine their passion for helping others with a deep commitment to exceptional service. "As members of the Austin community, we're thrilled to contribute to our neighbors' well-being by providing critical restoration services when they're needed most," said the Friedmans. "We pride ourselves on accountability, honesty, and delivering results that exceed expectations." Equipped with state-of-the-art technology and staffed by a team of highly trained professionals, Lightspeed Restoration of Austin is available 24/7 to assist with emergencies of all sizes. The company understands that disasters can be life-changing and emotionally challenging. That's why their approach focuses on restoring properties and providing compassionate support during difficult times. With a dedication to precision, safety, and efficiency, Lightspeed Restoration aims to ease the burden of recovery and help clients regain a sense of normalcy. Why Choose Lightspeed Restoration of Austin? Rapid Response: 24/7 availability to address urgent restoration needs. 24/7 availability to address urgent restoration needs. Experienced Team: Skilled professionals focused on quality and safety. Skilled professionals focused on quality and safety. Comprehensive Services: Expert solutions for water, fire, disaster recovery, and reconstruction. Expert solutions for water, fire, disaster recovery, and reconstruction. Accountability and Honesty: A commitment to integrity in every project. A commitment to integrity in every project. Community-Focused: Locally owned and deeply invested in Austin's well-being. For more information about Lightspeed Restoration of Austin or to request emergency services, call 512-428-8309 or visit https://lightspeedrestoration.com/austin-tx/ . Media Contact: Phone: 512-428-8309 Email: [email protected] Website: https://lightspeedrestoration.com/austin-tx/ For press inquiries or more information about our services, please reach out to us anytime. About Lightspeed Restoration Lightspeed Restoration is a trusted leader in the restoration industry, offering comprehensive solutions for water damage, fire damage, disaster recovery, and reconstruction. Dedicated to rapid response, superior craftsmanship, and outstanding customer service, Lightspeed Restoration is committed to helping Austin homeowners and businesses recover and rebuild after disasters. To learn more, visit us at https://lightspeedrestoration.com/austin-tx/. SOURCE Lightspeed Restoration of Austin This special lineup of instruments will be on display at The 2025 NAMM Show in Anaheim, California, through Saturday, January 25, with more exciting releases to come. D-3 MILLIONTH The Martin D-3 Millionth is a breathtaking celebration of Martin Guitar's rich legacy, craftsmanship, and the people behind it all. This limited-edition Dreadnought, marking the 3 millionth serialized Martin guitar, is a masterpiece in both sound and design that celebrates the "& Co." in the company's name. Its top depicts a cross section of an American sycamore tree, featuring rings made of real sycamore and solid gold representing each year of the company's growth, with diamonds marking major milestones in Martin's 192-year history. The theme of "past, present, and future" is woven into every ornate detail, including its ebony headplate showcasing a diamond-filled Moravian star and an engraved 14-karat palladium pickguard, with rubies marking each of Martin's three Nazareth-area factory locations since 1839. On the back of the guitar, which is made of rare and coveted Brazilian rosewood, a beautiful sycamore tree of gold and pearl pays tribute to the countless employees who have left their fingerprints on the company's legacy, from its early days in New York City to its longtime home in Nazareth, Pennsylvania. With only three of these guitars in existenceand only one for sale (serial number 3,000,002)this awe-inspiring instrument is both a tribute to the workers who built the brand and a testament to the innovation that keeps Martin at the forefront of acoustic excellence. D-300 Inspired by the D-3 Millionth, the top of this limited-edition Dreadnought also represents the cross section of an American sycamore tree, with rings made of real sycamore and silver representing each year of the company's growth, and solid gold dots marking pivotal moments in Martin's history. Its Brazilian rosewood back features a sycamore tree made of abalone, symbolizing the countless employees who have left their mark, while rubies embedded in the inlaid ebony pickguard represent Martin's three Nazareth-area factory locations since 1839. With European flamed maple binding, gold Waverly tuning machines with Liquidmetal posts and custom brass knobs, and Liquidmetal bridge pins with bezel-set emeralds, the D-300 is both a visual and sonic masterpiece, honoring Martin's enduring commitment to quality, artistry, and the workers who built the brand. Only 30 of these guitars are available for purchase. GRAND J-28E DN For the first time in over a century, Martin is thrilled to offer a one-of-a-kind double-neck instrumentthe Grand J-28E DN. As a member of the popular Standard Series lineup, this all-new guitar combines Martin's renowned quality and craftsmanship with modern innovation, featuring an acoustic-electric with a twelve and six-string neck, giving you the versatility to explore new sounds, tunings, and musical textures all on one guitar. Its powerful Grand Jumbo body delivers a bold, resonant tone, with solid East Indian rosewood back and sides and a solid spruce top that ensures balance and clarity across all playing styles. This double-neck guitar took years to perfect, and thanks to cutting-edge technology at Martin's Nazareth factory, the Grand J-28E DN, featuring two compound dovetail neck joints and unique X bracing, is now available to the public. Both necks feature a smooth satin finish and ebony fingerboard, with the six-string neck offering a slightly slimmer profile at the nut. It also includes built-in custom Fishman electronics, making it ready for the stage and studio. With classic 28-style appointments and endless sonic possibilities, this guitar is a dream for players seeking an extraordinary instrument that's anything but standard. CENTENNIAL 1 CONCERT UKE Celebrate a major milestone of Martin craftsmanship with the limited-edition Centennial 1 Concert Uke. This understated yet elegant ukulele honors 100 years of Martin producing concert-sized ukes, which have been cherished by players worldwide since 1925. Crafted from solid sinker mahogany, reclaimed from the depths of Belizean rivers, this uke has a rich, warm tone and a striking grain that only nature could create. Its concert size offers a coveted balance, sitting between the smaller soprano and larger tenor, making it comfortable to play while delivering full, resonant sounds. The neck is also made from sinker mahogany paired with an East Indian rosewood fingerboard that stops at the body joint, a nod to vintage ukulele design that opens up more of the instrument's top for increased resonance. With only 91 instruments available, this vintage-inspired uke is a rare find for players and collectors alike. It even includes a commemorative paper label inside to mark this special milestone, featuring an image of the North Street factory where the first concert ukes were handcrafted 100 years ago. CENTENNIAL CONCERT UKE Only offered through 2025, this vintage-inspired ukulele also honors 100 years of Martin manufacturing concert-sized ukes. Crafted in Navojoa, Sonora, Mexico, it's made from solid genuine mahogany, offering a blend of warmth and brightness with a punchy midrange that makes every note sing, while its select hardwood neck features an East Indian rosewood fingerboard that stops at the body joint. Coupled with spruce bracing, the design allows the body to resonate freely, resulting in a powerful, dynamic tonal response that honors the heritage of Martin's original concert ukuleles. Modern upgrades include Graph Tech RATIO tuning machines, giving you the convenience and stability of a geared tuner while keeping the look and feel of a vintage friction peg. It also includes a commemorative paper label inside, featuring an image of the historic North Street factory, and is snugly housed in a softshell case. The Centennial Concert Uke offers the chance to own a piece of Martin's rich musical history, celebrating the world's oldest surviving ukulele manufacturer. CEO-11 The Martin CEO-11 is a striking, limited-edition acoustic-electric that blends artistry and craftsmanship in a way only Martin can. Designed by President and CEO Thomas Ripsam, this Grand Auditorium (M) model features a figured white oak multi-piece back and sides paired with an FSC-certified European spruce top, offering a rich, dynamic sound that's both powerful and warm. The eye-catching New Horizons blue burst top and dark mahogany-colored sides create a look that's as bold as the sound it creates. Unique inlays, including a custom Unalome symbol on the headplate, add a personal touch that speaks to finding your creative path. With a two-piece flamed maple neck, European flamed maple binding, and scalloped spruce X bracing, the CEO-11 invites you to connect with your sound and express yourself fully. It's equipped with Fishman Aura VT Blend electronics, custom-voiced to Thomas' preference, ensuring that its tone stands out wherever you play. The number 11, a "master number" that symbolizes intuition and creativity, aligned perfectly with the guitar's artistic vision, acting as a subtle reminder of the journey every artist takes to find their true voice. Limited to only 1,111 models, the CEO-11 is built for players looking to make a statementsonically and visuallywhile staying true to Martin's legacy of unleashing the artist within. Each guitar includes a blue paper label signed and numbered by Thomas. 00L OLIVER The Martin 00L Oliver is a stunning new model born from a unique collaboration between Martin Guitar and renowned artist Julie Heffernan. This limited-edition acoustic features Heffernan's captivating oil painting Self-Portrait as Arms and the Men, beautifully reproduced on its FSC-certified solid spruce top. Heffernan's painting transforms the guitar into a canvas that tells a story every time you play it. Her surrealist landscape lays bare the conflict between nature and humankind's impact on the planet, and the result is something you can both showcase and play. Beyond its eye-catching artwork, the 00L Oliver, named after Heffernan's son, is crafted with premium materials and appointments. With a sloped-shoulder Grand Concert body, its solid medium-flame koa satin back and sides bridge the gap between the rich tones of rosewood and the warm, resonant qualities of mahogany. Its FSC-certified satin spruce top also delivers balanced projection while underscoring Martin's commitment to sustainability. With only 104 instruments available, the 00L Oliver is a harmonious blend of art and music, inspired by Heffernan's visionary artwork and Martin's legacy of excellence. Whether you're a collector, musician, or lover of fine art, this guitar promises to inspire creativity and unleash your inner artist. D-ROBERT GOETZL 10 The D-Robert Goetzl 10 is a one-of-a-kind creation that lets both music and art take flight. Hand-painted by acclaimed artist Robert Goetzl, this stunning Martin Dreadnought features a vibrant hummingbird surrounded by bright, blooming flowers, bursting with color and life. Just like a hummingbird, this guitar is light and agile, yet full of energy and vibrancy. The solid spruce top, adorned with Goetzl's artwork, ensures the guitar's rich, resonant tone soars, while the solid East Indian rosewood back and sides provide deep bass and lush overtones. Goetzl worked closely with Martin's expert craftspeople to bring his vision to life. "Not only are they making a beautiful body for me to work on, but once I hand it over, they help really make it special," says Goetzl. From the hand-painted top to the final touches added by Martin's team of artisans, this guitar is a true collaborative effort. Complete with an abalone rosette, Waverly gold tuners, and a genuine mahogany neck, the D-Robert Goetzl 10 is a striking piece of playable art. Whether it's perched on your wall or in your hands, this bird is ready to sing. For more information about these and other Martin releases, visit martinguitar.com. ABOUT C. F. MARTIN & CO. C. F. Martin & Co. has been making the finest handcrafted acoustic guitars for nearly two hundred years. For some of the biggest names and the most revered musical legends across every genre and every decade. And we've been doing it with pure artistic passion, a deep love for all things music, and an unwavering commitment to our community and the environment. But most importantly, we're still doing it... for you. For current and future generations of pioneers, rebels, and dreamers. For the beginners, the pros, and everyone in between. We believe music is an unstoppable force. It raises us up. Tells our truths. Gets us on our feet. Expresses our deepest heartaches. And our greatest joys. So, we'll continue to make the very best acoustic instruments and strings for as long as there are people like you who love music and love making it. We want to be there to help you tell your story. To help you share your music with the world. To help unleash the artist within. We're ready for the next two hundred years. Want to come with us? Visit martinguitar.com. SOURCE C.F. Martin Guitar Co. DOWNERS GROVE, Ill., Jan. 20, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Dover (NYSE: DOV) today announced that it has acquired Cryogenic Machinery Corp. ("Cryo-Mach"). The acquisition will become part of the PSG business within Dover's Pumps & Process Solutions segment, expanding Dover's presence in the cryogenic end market. Headquartered in North Hollywood, California, Cryo-Mach is a specialized designer and manufacturer of mission-critical cryogenic centrifugal pumps, mechanical seals, and accessories. Cryo-Mach's products will expand Dover's participation in cryogenic applications, such as liquified oxygen, argon, and nitrogen, and allows further participation in the industrial gas and transportation markets. The acquisition also expands PSG's core portfolio with cryogenic centrifugal pump technology while further diversifying PSG within the cryogenic end market. "We are thrilled to add Cryo-Mach to our best-in-class portfolio of pump businesses," stated Karl Buscher, President of PSG. "This acquisition strengthens PSG's position within cryogenics and is consistent with our strategic approach of expanding our core and securing access to adjacent markets that enable sustainable, profitable growth." Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. About Dover: Dover is a diversified global manufacturer and solutions provider with annual revenue of over $7 billion. We deliver innovative equipment and components, consumable supplies, aftermarket parts, software and digital solutions, and support services through five operating segments: Engineered Products, Clean Energy & Fueling, Imaging & Identification, Pumps & Process Solutions and Climate & Sustainability Technologies. Dover combines global scale with operational agility to lead the markets we serve. Recognized for our entrepreneurial approach for over 70 years, our team of approximately 24,000 employees takes an ownership mindset, collaborating with customers to redefine what's possible. Headquartered in Downers Grove, Illinois, Dover trades on the New York Stock Exchange under "DOV." Additional information is available at dovercorporation.com. Forward-Looking Statements: This press release contains "forward-looking" statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, as amended, including statements regarding the anticipated effects of the transaction. All statements in this document other than statements of historical fact are statements that are, or could be deemed, "forward-looking" statements. Forward-looking statements are subject to numerous important risks, uncertainties, assumptions, and other factors, some of which are beyond the Company's control. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations include, among other things, general economic conditions and conditions in the particular markets in which we operate, changes in customer demand and capital spending, competitive factors and pricing pressures, our ability to develop and launch new products in a cost-effective manner, and our ability to realize synergies from newly acquired businesses. For details on the risks and uncertainties that could cause our results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements that may be contained herein, we refer you to the documents we file with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023, and any subsequently filed Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and Current Reports on Form 8-K. These documents are available from the SEC, and on our website, www.dovercorporation.com. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Investor Contact: Media Contact: Jack Dickens Adrian Sakowicz Vice President - Investor Relations Vice President Communications (630) 743-2566 (630) 743-5039 [email protected] [email protected] SOURCE Dover Market Size Overview of Enterprise Performance Management PUNE, India, Jan. 20, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- The Global Enterprise Performance Management (EPM) Market is experiencing robust growth, driven by increasing demand for data-driven decision-making and streamlined financial processes. In 2023, the market was valued at USD 6,283.84 million and is anticipated to reach USD 12,037.00 million by 2032, reflecting a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.42% during the forecast period. This growth is fueled by the adoption of advanced analytics, cloud-based solutions, and the integration of artificial intelligence into performance management systems. Organizations across industries are leveraging EPM tools to enhance operational efficiency, ensure regulatory compliance, and achieve strategic business objectives. Additionally, the growing focus on business agility and real-time insights is further propelling the market. North America and Europe remain dominant regions, while Asia Pacific is emerging as a significant growth hub due to rapid digital transformation in the region. Preview the report with a detailed sample and understand how it can benefit your business strategy. Request a free sample today - https://www.credenceresearch.com/report/enterprise-performance-management-market Enterprise Performance Management Market Drivers Increasing Demand for Data-Driven Decision-Makin The growing need for data-driven decision-making is a significant driver of the Enterprise Performance Management (EPM) market. Organizations are increasingly adopting EPM solutions to analyze vast volumes of data, derive actionable insights, and enhance strategic planning. For instance, 90% of enterprise businesses report that data is becoming increasingly important to their overall business. This trend is further fueled by the growing complexity of business environments, where real-time performance tracking has become critical for competitiveness. Approximately 73.5% of managers and executives at data-leading companies worldwide state that their decision-making processes are always data-driven. Adoption of Cloud-Based EPM Solutions The shift toward cloud-based EPM solutions is another key market driver. Cloud platforms offer scalability, cost efficiency, and seamless integration with existing enterprise systems, making them highly attractive to organizations of all sizes. This transition is also supported by advancements in cloud security and accessibility, enabling businesses to deploy these tools without significant infrastructure investments. For example, 89% of Oracle Cloud EPM users are planning users, significantly higher than the overall survey average of 69%. Integration of Advanced Technologies The integration of artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), and predictive analytics into EPM systems is transforming enterprise performance management. These technologies enable enhanced forecasting, anomaly detection, and process automation, reducing manual intervention and improving decision-making accuracy. AI and ML systems can optimize performance based on business goals, directly affecting drivers like revenue, costs, and customer satisfaction. This integration helps organizations make more accurate predictions and streamline operations. Focus on Regulatory Compliance and Financial Transparency Increasing regulatory requirements and the demand for financial transparency have accelerated the adoption of EPM tools. These solutions help organizations streamline reporting, ensure compliance, and meet audit requirements efficiently, driving their widespread use across sectors. For instance, Oracle Cloud EPM helps organizations meet evolving regulatory requirements such as IFRS standards and ESG guidelines. EPM systems enhance financial management by integrating various processes, ensuring consistency and accuracy in financial reporting. Enterprise Performance Management Market Restraints The Enterprise Performance Management (EPM) market faces challenges primarily due to high implementation costs and complexities associated with integrating EPM solutions into existing IT infrastructure. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) often find it difficult to adopt these systems due to budget constraints and limited technical expertise. Additionally, data security and privacy concerns, especially in cloud-based deployments, act as significant barriers. The steep learning curve and resistance to change from traditional systems further hinder market growth. Lastly, frequent updates and maintenance requirements can lead to operational disruptions, impacting the willingness of organizations to fully embrace these solutions. Preview the report with a detailed sample and understand how it can benefit your business strategy. Request a free sample today - https://www.credenceresearch.com/report/enterprise-performance-management-market Growth Opportunities in the Enterprise Performance Management Market Expansion of Cloud-Based EPM Solutions The increasing adoption of cloud-based technologies presents significant growth opportunities for the Enterprise Performance Management (EPM) market. Cloud-based EPM solutions offer cost-efficiency, scalability, and accessibility, making them ideal for businesses of all sizes. As organizations prioritize digital transformation, the demand for cloud-native tools is expected to rise, especially in emerging economies where the initial investment in on-premise systems can be prohibitive. Integration with Emerging Technologies The integration of advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), and predictive analytics is reshaping the EPM landscape. These technologies enhance forecasting accuracy, automate routine tasks, and provide real-time insights, helping organizations make proactive decisions. The development of AI-driven EPM systems is expected to create substantial opportunities for vendors to differentiate their offerings and attract tech-savvy enterprises. Rising Demand from SMEs Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are increasingly recognizing the value of EPM tools in improving operational efficiency and strategic planning. Vendors offering affordable and user-friendly solutions tailored to SMEs can tap into this growing segment. Simplified deployment processes and subscription-based pricing models further support the adoption of EPM systems in this market. Focus on Industry-Specific Solutions Developing industry-specific EPM solutions offers an opportunity to address unique business needs in sectors such as healthcare, manufacturing, and retail. Customizable dashboards and features aligned with industry-specific key performance indicators (KPIs) can attract more businesses seeking tailored performance management tools. Enterprise Performance Management Market Segmentation Analysis Based on Component The Enterprise Performance Management (EPM) market is segmented into software and services. Software solutions dominate the market as they encompass tools for financial planning, budgeting, and performance analytics, catering to the growing need for automated processes in business operations. These tools enable organizations to streamline workflows and enhance decision-making. Services, including implementation, consulting, training, and support, are also witnessing growth as companies seek expert guidance to optimize EPM software usage and adapt to evolving business environments. Based on Deployment The deployment segment is categorized into on-premise and cloud-based models. On-premise solutions are preferred by organizations requiring full control over their data and infrastructure, often in industries with stringent security and compliance requirements. In contrast, cloud-based EPM solutions are gaining significant traction due to their cost-efficiency, scalability, and ease of deployment. The cloud model is particularly popular among small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and organizations with distributed operations, as it offers seamless integration and accessibility. Based on Function EPM solutions are utilized across various functions, including finance, human resources (HR), supply chain, and others. The finance segment leads the market, driven by the increasing need for enhanced financial planning, forecasting, and real-time performance monitoring. The HR segment is also expanding as businesses adopt EPM tools to improve workforce planning and talent management. Similarly, the supply chain function benefits from EPM by optimizing logistics, procurement, and inventory management. Other functions, such as marketing and sales performance tracking, contribute to the market's growth. Based on Industry Vertical The market spans multiple industry verticals, including BFSI, IT and telecom, retail, manufacturing, healthcare, energy and utilities, and others. The BFSI sector is a prominent adopter of EPM solutions for compliance and financial reporting. IT and telecom companies leverage EPM for resource allocation and operational efficiency, while retail businesses use these tools to optimize inventory and sales strategies. Manufacturing industries focus on cost management and production planning through EPM solutions. In healthcare, EPM is employed for budgeting and regulatory compliance. Additionally, the energy and utilities sector uses EPM to enhance asset management and operational performance, while other sectors like education and government also contribute to market growth. Based on Component: Software Services Based on Deployment: On-premise Cloud Based on Function: Finance Human Resources (HR) Supply Chain Others Based on Industry Vertical: BFSI IT & Telecom Retail Manufacturing Healthcare Energy and Utilities Others Based on the Geography: North America U.S. Canada Mexico Europe UK France Germany Italy Spain Russia Belgium Netherlands Austria Sweden Poland Denmark Switzerland Rest of Europe Asia Pacific China Japan South Korea India Australia Thailand Indonesia Vietnam Malaysia Philippines Taiwan Rest of Asia Pacific Latin America Brazil Argentina Peru Chile Colombia Rest of Latin America Middle East UAE KSA Israel Turkey Iran Rest of Middle East Africa Egypt Nigeria Algeria Morocco Rest of Africa Tailor the report to align with your specific business needs and gain targeted insights. Request customization now - https://www.credenceresearch.com/report/enterprise-performance-management-market Regional Analysis of the Enterprise Performance Management Market North America North America dominates the Enterprise Performance Management (EPM) market, driven by the presence of major technology providers and the widespread adoption of advanced business solutions. The region's mature corporate ecosystem, coupled with a high emphasis on financial transparency and regulatory compliance, has fueled the demand for EPM tools. The United States leads the market due to its large-scale enterprises, technological advancements, and significant investments in cloud-based solutions. Canada also contributes to market growth, particularly in industries such as BFSI and healthcare. Europe Europe holds a substantial share in the EPM market, supported by stringent data governance regulations like GDPR and the increasing adoption of digital transformation initiatives across industries. Key countries, including Germany, the United Kingdom, and France, are at the forefront of EPM adoption due to the need for efficient financial management and operational transparency. Additionally, the region's focus on sustainability and energy efficiency has encouraged industries such as manufacturing and energy to integrate EPM solutions into their operations. Asia Pacific The Asia Pacific region is expected to witness the fastest growth in the EPM market, driven by rapid economic development, digital transformation, and the expansion of SMEs. Countries like China, India, and Japan are major contributors, with organizations increasingly adopting cloud-based solutions to improve agility and streamline operations. The region's burgeoning IT and telecom sectors, along with government initiatives promoting digitalization, further support market growth. Latin America In Latin America, the EPM market is steadily expanding due to the growing adoption of advanced business management tools among enterprises seeking to enhance financial planning and operational efficiency. Brazil and Mexico are key markets, with industries like retail, manufacturing, and BFSI adopting EPM solutions to improve decision-making and resource allocation. The region's increasing focus on cloud adoption also plays a pivotal role in driving growth. Middle East & Africa The Middle East and Africa (MEA) region is gradually embracing EPM solutions, particularly in sectors such as energy, utilities, and BFSI. Countries like the UAE and Saudi Arabia are investing in digital transformation to improve financial reporting and operational efficiency. Additionally, the region's growing reliance on cloud-based platforms and its focus on modernizing traditional industries are expected to create opportunities for EPM solution providers. Top Companies Infor Inc Planful (formerly Host Analytics) Workiva Cch Tagetik- Wolters Kluwer N.V . . IBM Anaplan, Inc Sap SE Board International S.A Workday Adaptive Planning Oracle Latest Developments: September 2024 : IBM Corporation acquired Accelalpha, a global Oracle services provider, to enhance its Oracle consulting capabilities, including enterprise performance management (EPM). This acquisition strengthens IBM Consulting's expertise in implementing and managing Oracle Cloud Applications, particularly Oracle's EPM suite. Accelalpha, headquartered in Bellevue, Washington , brings substantial experience in Oracle Cloud EPM, supporting businesses in achieving digital transformation and competitive advantage. : IBM Corporation acquired Accelalpha, a global Oracle services provider, to enhance its Oracle consulting capabilities, including enterprise performance management (EPM). This acquisition strengthens IBM Consulting's expertise in implementing and managing Oracle Cloud Applications, particularly Oracle's EPM suite. Accelalpha, headquartered in , brings substantial experience in Oracle Cloud EPM, supporting businesses in achieving digital transformation and competitive advantage. June 2024 : SAP SE acquired WalkMe Ltd., a leader in digital adoption platforms, to boost its business transformation capabilities. By integrating WalkMe's guidance and automation tools into SAP's Business Transformation Management portfolio, SAP aims to help businesses adopt new technologies more efficiently and realize greater value from IT investments. : SAP SE acquired WalkMe Ltd., a leader in digital adoption platforms, to boost its business transformation capabilities. By integrating WalkMe's guidance and automation tools into SAP's Business Transformation Management portfolio, SAP aims to help businesses adopt new technologies more efficiently and realize greater value from IT investments. May 2024 : IBM Corporation updated its watsonx platform at the THINK conference, introducing new AI features, including open-source Granite models for code generation and application modernization. The launch of InstructLab with Red Hat enables businesses to build domain-specific AI models, making AI more accessible and cost-effective. : IBM Corporation updated its watsonx platform at the THINK conference, introducing new AI features, including open-source Granite models for code generation and application modernization. The launch of InstructLab with Red Hat enables businesses to build domain-specific AI models, making AI more accessible and cost-effective. May 2024 : Workday, Inc. acquired HiredScore, an AI-driven talent orchestration provider, to enhance its HR technology offerings. This acquisition strengthens Workday's AI platform, improving tools like Workday Skills Cloud and Talent Marketplace while advancing talent intelligence capabilities for its customers. : Workday, Inc. acquired HiredScore, an AI-driven talent orchestration provider, to enhance its HR technology offerings. This acquisition strengthens Workday's AI platform, improving tools like Workday Skills Cloud and Talent Marketplace while advancing talent intelligence capabilities for its customers. May 2024 : Anaplan, Inc. acquired Fluence Technologies, a provider of cloud-based financial consolidation solutions, to enhance its Connected Planning platform. This integration streamlines financial consolidation, close, and disclosure management, enabling improved financial decision-making and operational efficiency. : Anaplan, Inc. acquired Fluence Technologies, a provider of cloud-based financial consolidation solutions, to enhance its Connected Planning platform. This integration streamlines financial consolidation, close, and disclosure management, enabling improved financial decision-making and operational efficiency. December 2023 : OneStream partnered with KPMG Spain to support Spain -based enterprises in financial transformation and reducing business complexities. The partnership offers advanced solutions by combining their expertise. : OneStream partnered with KPMG Spain to support -based enterprises in financial transformation and reducing business complexities. The partnership offers advanced solutions by combining their expertise. April 2023 : Oracle launched an updated version of EPM Automate, introducing new commands for account reconciliation, data management, profitability and cost management, and financial consolidation, improving operational efficiency. : Oracle launched an updated version of EPM Automate, introducing new commands for account reconciliation, data management, profitability and cost management, and financial consolidation, improving operational efficiency. December 2023 : KPMG Spain and OneStream announced a strategic alliance to drive financial transformation and simplify complex enterprise processes in Europe . : KPMG Spain and OneStream announced a strategic alliance to drive financial transformation and simplify complex enterprise processes in . November 2023 : Jedox partnered with Fincons Group to help businesses align operational and financial plans and gain actionable insights from real-time data to improve performance. : Jedox partnered with Fincons Group to help businesses align operational and financial plans and gain actionable insights from real-time data to improve performance. October 2023 : NetSuite launched NetSuite Enterprise Performance Management, designed to enhance business visibility and decision-making for finance leaders. : NetSuite launched NetSuite Enterprise Performance Management, designed to enhance business visibility and decision-making for finance leaders. February 2023 : FPT Software partnered with Anaplan Asia Pacific to deliver cloud-based enterprise performance management solutions to businesses across Southeast Asia . : FPT Software partnered with Anaplan Asia Pacific to deliver cloud-based enterprise performance management solutions to businesses across . January 2023 : OneStream partnered with Extreme Solutions to offer software and implementation expertise, transforming financial processes for enterprises in Portugal and EMEA. : OneStream partnered with Extreme Solutions to offer software and implementation expertise, transforming financial processes for enterprises in and EMEA. August 2022 : Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. selected Anaplan, Inc. to streamline global operations by collecting and analyzing data across its businesses, enabling real-time performance management and faster decision-making. : Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. selected Anaplan, Inc. to streamline global operations by collecting and analyzing data across its businesses, enabling real-time performance management and faster decision-making. July 2022 : Oracle Corporation released EPM 11.2.10 on Oracle Software Delivery Cloud. This version included updates like Java 8 Update 331, Oracle 21c database support, and enhancements to EPM security and functionality. Reasons to Purchase this Report: Gain a comprehensive understanding of the market through qualitative and quantitative analyses, considering both economic and non-economic factors, with segmentation and sub-segmentation details provided in terms of market value (USD Billion). Identify regions and segments expected to experience the fastest growth or dominate the market, with a detailed analysis of geographic consumption patterns and the factors driving or hindering market performance in each region. Stay informed about the competitive environment, with rankings of major players, recent product and service launches, partnerships, business expansions, and acquisitions from the past five years. Access detailed profiles of major market players, including company overviews, insights, product benchmarking, and SWOT analysis, to understand competitive advantages and market positioning. 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The company is a market research and consulting firm serving governments, non-legislative associations, non-profit organizations, and various organizations worldwide. We help our clients improve their execution in a lasting way and understand their most imperative objectives. Contact Us Mitul Dean Tower C-1105 , S 25, Akash Tower, Vishal Nahar, Pimple Nilakh, Haveli, Pune 411027, India [email protected] www.credenceresearch.com SOURCE Credence Research Inc. "Capture and Business Development Excellence Partnering with the Leading Government Contractor Performance Assessment Reporting System (CPARS) Ratings and Performance Management Company" BOCA RATON, Fla., Jan. 20, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- GARDANT GLOBAL (GARDANT) is a US owned and operated leading provider of Strategic Management Consulting Services for Government and Industry in both the domestic and international markets announced a Strategic Partnership with GovConRx. This partnership will expand GARDANT's offerings by adding GovConRx's contract performance management and CPARS ratings improvement services designed to increase the overall contract win percentages of the GARDANT clientele. GARDANT is headquartered in Boca Raton, Florida and has delivered Business Development, Capture Management and Proposal Development support consulting services for over 18 years, producing more than $350B in contract awards for their clients. GovConRx, a well-known Virginia-based organization has successfully helped government contractors win, manage and keep their federal contracts healthy since 2018. GovConRx provides solutions addressing all aspects of contract performance management with a specific focus on improving contractor's CPARS ratings for better past performance references. The GovConRx Acquisition Advisory Team consists of experienced and respected former federal senior acquisition executives and practiced contracting officials with exceptional reputations, multi-agency relationships and proven success ensuring contractors get the highest accurate CPARS ratings they deserve. GARDANT, through this partnership with GovConRx can now offer its clients complete Contract Performance Management Support with advice and insights from former acquisition experts leveraging true Contracting Officer's perspectives. For further information about this or other services please contact GARDANT GLOBAL at +1-561-465-7491 or [email protected] SOURCE GARDANT GLOBAL More than 80% of Physicians Observe Sex Differences in Disease Progression and Treatment Response, Yet Less than 30% Feel Equipped to Address Them FAIRFIELD, N.J., Jan. 20, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- The Healthcare Businesswomen's Association (HBA) and FemTechnology today announced findings from a global survey of specialist physicians regarding the state of women's healthcare, and the gaps that must be addressed. This survey gathered insights directly from 200 physicians from the United States, Germany, Brazil, Thailand, Egypt, and Morocco. From diverse practice settings, these physicians offered a broad perspective on healthcare delivery across the following specialties: oncology, ophthalmology, endocrinology, cardiology, and neurology. Key Survey Findings: More than 80% of physicians observe sex differences in disease progression and treatment response, yet less than 30% feel equipped with resources to address them. More than 53% of responding physicians cited insufficient sex and gender-specific research and treatment guidelines as a major concern in their ability to deliver clinical care. Nearly 47% acknowledged that systemic biases, including unconscious gender stereotypes, undermine the quality of care their patients receive. 53% of respondents highlighted that cultural stigma and lack of awareness contribute to creating significant patient barriers, particularly in middle- and low-income countries, delaying symptom recognition and treatment. And even when women do go to access care, inadequate knowledge of sex-specific symptoms often results in missed referrals, compounded by limited access to specialists, which 45% of physicians flagged as a critical gap. "There is a huge gap in terms of the resources clinicians feel equipped to care for more than half of their patient population," said Mary Stutts, CEO of the HBA. "And we know clinicians are very much aware of this gap. They know that the healthcare system does not work for women, and they are actively looking for solutions to redefine the baseline. Currently, clinicians do not yet have the tools necessary to deliver the best care." "This is a massive market opportunity: physicians and patients are demanding better solutions, and the companieswhether pharma, med tech, or insurersthat move first will secure a critical advantage," said Oriana Kraft, CEO of FemTechnology. "Policymakers have a chance to lower barriers and incentivize innovation, accelerating progress. Bridging this gap isn't just about equityit's the key to unlocking personalized, effective care and transforming modern medicine." "In a world of breakthroughs in medicinefrom genomics, precision medicine, and AI-driven diagnosticsa glaring gap remains: the lack of sex- and gender-specific data and guidelines in healthcare," said LaToya Tapscott, senior director of the HBA Think Tank. "Despite mounting evidence of critical biological, hormonal, and metabolic differences between men and women, these distinctions are often overlooked in research, clinical protocols, and treatment strategies. As a result, women frequently receive care based on models designed for men, leading to misdiagnoses, delayed treatments, and suboptimal outcomes." Key Learnings Research Gaps in Women's Health Significant gaps exist in gender-specific research which impedes both the understanding and treatment of many health conditions that affect women. Significant gaps exist in gender-specific research which impedes both the understanding and treatment of many health conditions that affect women. Impact of Hormonal Changes on Health The hormonal changes experienced throughout a woman's life, and a lack of knowledge of their effects, significantly impacts disease management and health outcomes across all therapy areas. The hormonal changes experienced throughout a woman's life, and a lack of knowledge of their effects, significantly impacts disease management and health outcomes across all therapy areas. Barriers to Access and Quality of Care Multiple gender, cultural, socioeconomic, and systemic barriers impede a woman's access to quality healthcare services across all geographies. Multiple gender, cultural, socioeconomic, and systemic barriers impede a woman's access to quality healthcare services across all geographies. Demand for Preventative and Diagnostic Solutions There are growing demands for effective preventative and diagnostic solutions tailored to the unique health needs of women. There are growing demands for effective preventative and diagnostic solutions tailored to the unique health needs of women. Opportunities for Personalized Medicine The shift towards personalized medicine can present unprecedented opportunities to develop targeted therapies that account for women's biological differences. Recommendations for action from the HBA Think Tank and FemTechnology: Collecting Data and Closing the Gaps: Real-World Data to Establish Sex-Specific Guidelines Why It Matters: Women face a significantly higher risk of severe side effects in many treatments, as seen in oncology. Without sex-specific insights, these disparities will persist, increasing the risk of harm and widening inequities in care. Women face a significantly higher risk of severe side effects in many treatments, as seen in oncology. Without sex-specific insights, these disparities will persist, increasing the risk of harm and widening inequities in care. Redefining the Baseline: Expanding the Definition of Women's Health What's Needed: Solutions that combine patient-reported data, real-time analytics, and actionable frameworks to create a new gold standard for care delivery. These tools not only address immediate patient needs but also drive long-term systemic change. Solutions that combine patient-reported data, real-time analytics, and actionable frameworks to create a new gold standard for care delivery. These tools not only address immediate patient needs but also drive long-term systemic change. Centralizing Resources: Building a Model of Care That Works for Women Why It Matters: Women are the cornerstone of healthcareserving as the majority of patients, caregivers, and decision-makersyet they are consistently underserved. Addressing this isn't just a moral imperative; it's an opportunity to transform healthcare. By building a system that connects biological realities with social contexts and personal priorities, we can reduce inefficiencies, lower costs, and improve outcomes. Tailored, centralized care isn't just a solution for womenit's a roadmap to a more equitable, effective healthcare system for everyone. Women are the cornerstone of healthcareserving as the majority of patients, caregivers, and decision-makersyet they are consistently underserved. Addressing this isn't just a moral imperative; it's an opportunity to transform healthcare. By building a system that connects biological realities with social contexts and personal priorities, we can reduce inefficiencies, lower costs, and improve outcomes. Tailored, centralized care isn't just a solution for womenit's a roadmap to a more equitable, effective healthcare system for everyone. Incentivizing Change: Bridging the Gap Between Innovation and Implementation Why It Matters: The backend of healthcarehow treatments are prescribed, protocols are designed, and outcomes are measuredremains outdated and poorly equipped to meet the needs of half the population. Without incentivizing systemic change, progress on the front end will stall, and the potential for breakthroughs will remain untapped. First movers who invest in these changes now will not only improve health outcomes but also shape the future of healthcare, reaping financial and reputational rewards in the process. Survey methodology and full report availability A collaboration between the HBA's Think Tank and FemTechnology, this survey was completed by 200 physicians from the United States, Germany, Brazil, Thailand, Egypt, and Morocco. Responses were collected via an online questionnaire that included physicians from diverse practice settings and offered a broad perspective on healthcare delivery across the following specialties: oncology, ophthalmology, endocrinology, cardiology, and neurology. Physician respondents were mostly male with more than five years of patient care experience, representing a diverse range of geographic and economic contexts. The full report titled "The Hidden Gaps: Unveiling the Impact of Overlooked Women's Health in Clinical Practice" by Mary Stutts, HBA CEO, LaToya Tapscott (HBA Think Tank Senior Director), and Oriana Kraft (FemTechnology CEO) is available HERE. About the Healthcare Businesswomen's Association (HBA): The Healthcare Businesswomen's Association (HBA) is a global organization dedicated to furthering the advancement and impact of women in the business of healthcare. With more than 80 locations throughout the world, the HBA serves a community of more than 85,000 individuals and nearly 150 Corporate Partners. The HBA provides access to industry thought leaders and influencers; educational programs to develop leadership skills; and distinctive global recognition of outstanding individuals and companies to promote visibility of their achievements in advancing gender parity in the workplace. www.hbanet.org About the HBA Think Tank The HBA Think Tank is a research-driven, collaborative hub dedicated to addressing systemic barriers and advancing opportunities for women in healthcare. As part of the Healthcare Businesswomen's Association (HBA), the Think Tank equips companies with actionable insights, benchmarking tools, and innovative strategies to foster meaningful change. Its mission spans four critical areas: leadership representation, amplifying women of color, workplace health and wellness, and financial acumen. Through cutting-edge research, expert collaboration, and customized solutions, the Think Tank empowers organizations to transform their workplaces, enhance health outcomes for women, and lead the way in creating a more equitable healthcare ecosystem. About FemTechnology FemTechnology is a company dedicated to building the future of women's healthcare by addressing the gender health data gap and driving innovation across the women's health ecosystem. From their global FemTechnology Summit, which brings together thought leaders to catalyze change, to their university series, which scouts groundbreaking research and amplifies its impact, FemTechnology connects insights to action. At the core of their work is ORI, a personalized health navigation platform that centralizes best-in-class solutions in women's health. ORI collects and analyzes data to uncover hidden cost drivers, provide actionable workforce insights, and implement tailored strategies. It empowers employers to reduce healthcare expenses, optimize benefits, and improve employee outcomes while ensuring women have seamless access to personalized care that meets their unique needs. For more information, please visit www.femtechnology.org . About ORI Developed by FemTechnology, ORI is a personalized health navigation platform designed to close gaps in women's healthcare, reduce employer costs, and improve employee outcomes. By centralizing best-in-class solutions in women's health and providing actionable data on workforce health trends, ORI helps organizations uncover hidden cost drivers, optimize benefit utilization, and implement actionable, tailored strategies for women's health. Employers gain a nuanced understanding of their workforce's needs through anonymized, aggregated data, along with evidence-based recommendations and targeted interventions to reduce absenteeism and healthcare expenses. Employees benefit from seamless access to personalized care options, ensuring their unique health needs are met effectively and efficiently. Media Contacts: Lana Rushing Rushing PR for the HBA [email protected] 310-428-1805 Patrick Bartosch HBA (Europe, on-site at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting, Davos) [email protected] +43-677-61832305 SOURCE Healthcare Businesswomen's Association BEIJING, Jan. 20, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- In 2024, China's total goods imports and exports in yuan terms grew by 5 percent year-on-year to reach 43.85 trillion yuan ($5.99 trillion). This is the latest scorecard for the country's foreign trade. So, what does this 5-percent growth tell? Some view the growth rate as "a normal thing," given that China is already the world's largest goods trader and the country also recorded a GDP growth rate of 5 percent in 2024. However, others see the result as "not easy", considering that the external environment was turbulent, with numerous unstable and uncertain factors. Internally, China is grappling with the pressures of transitioning from the old to new growth drivers, facing significant challenges and difficulties. Both viewpoints are reasonable. But some foreign media outlets have offered a more balanced and objective assessment. For an economy that has faced numerous challenges, including geopolitical tensions in recent years, the foreign trade numbers are not only impressive but also demonstrate the country's enduring economic adaptability. In other words, the 5-percent growth in foreign trade not only sheds light on the resilience of the Chinese economy but also offers a clear indication of the long-term positive trajectory of its economic development. Economic resilience China's foreign trade surpassed the 42-trillion-yuan and 43-trillion-yuan thresholds last year, hitting an all-time high. The new milestone saw the country's foreign trade volume jump by 2.1 trillion yuan in just 12 months. The sheer size of the total value and the incremental volume would be unimaginable without a strong, complete industrial and supply chain system - and this is where China's economic resilience derives from. China's home appliances industry offers a vivid example of the country's strong supply chain, having undergone a phase of industrial upgrade and now claiming a foothold in the mid-to-high end of the global value chain. The industry has evolved from original equipment manufacturer (OEM) production to independent design and, most recently, to overseas expansion, with an export growth of 15.4 percent recorded last year. Whether it's the intelligent home appliance, portable "power bank," or massive offshore maritime engineering equipment, China has the capacity to provide whatever the international market demands. Thanks to a complete and continuously upgrading industrial system, China's manufacturing value-added accounts for about 30 percent of the global total to date, with more than 40 percent of major industrial products ranking among the world's highest in terms of output. China is the only country in the world that homes all industrial categories listed in the United Nations industrial classification. Its exports cover a wide range of products with high quality, from home appliances, textiles, and furniture, to ships, automobiles, and industrial robots. Notably, the drivers of export growth are undergoing a steady transition, shifting towards new gear and constantly gaining new momentum. China's economic resilience also originates from its unwavering innovation and perseverance. Last year, Chinese automaker Chery Group exported 1.145 million vehicles, a 21.4 percent increase year-on-year. Behind this impressive figure, as well as the group's rise from a "small hut" of less than 10 square meters in 1997 to a globally competitive auto brand, lies a path of independent innovation. The company has built a relatively complete vehicle intelligence ecosystem and established multiple overseas research and development (R&D) centers and production bases. Moreover, the ability to ramp up innovation is clearly reflected in the Chinese trade industry's rapid adjustment of methods and strategies in response to the ever-changing geopolitical environment in the world. This trend is especially prominent among Chinese private enterprises, which are known for their market sensitivity and adaptability. The private companies are leading the charge in driving innovations amid external uncertainties. It is also important to note that China's economic resilience is built on the win-win philosophy of "harmony and symbiosis" as well as "shared responsibility and mutual assistance." "Only when countries develop together can there be true development, and only when countries prosper together can there be true prosperity." China not only says this but also does it. On December 1, China took the initiative to give all the least developed countries (LDCs) with which it has diplomatic relations zero-tariff treatment for 100-percent tariff lines. This led to an 18.1-percent increase in imports from these countries in December, accelerating by 5.8 percentage points compared to the January-November period. The China-Maldives Free Trade Agreement officially took effect on January 1. The next day, a Chinese furniture maker applied for a certificate of origin from customs in Shaoxing, East China's Zhejiang Province, which gave the company a tariff reduction of nearly 10,000 yuan on its spring mattress exports to the Maldives. Inclusive, green trade Last year, China had import and export records with almost all countries and regions in the United Nations' statistical grouping, and the country also achieved import and export expansion with over 160 trade partners. The data speaks volumes for China's inclusive foreign trade. By consistently advocating for inclusive and shared economic globalization, and steadily expanding voluntary and unilateral openness, China has been making friends with sincerity and pragmatic cooperation. Now, the country's "circle of friends" spans across the globe, with the international market continuously evolving. China's huge market also brings shared benefits to the world. In 2024, China imported 18.39 trillion yuan and is expected to maintain its position as the world's second-largest importer. The potential of China's massive market lies not only in its large population but also in the rapid growth of domestic consumption. The Chinese market is set to continue to release immense potential through a healthy interaction with the international market place. The underlying theme of China's foreign trade is shaped by sustainability and green initiatives. Chinese green product exports have not only enriched global supply but also made a significant contribution to the global fight against climate change and the transition toward green, low-carbon economies. In 2024, China's electric vehicle exports exceeded 2 million for the first time. If these vehicles were lined up end to end, they could stretch from Beijing to Rome, just as the old saying goes "all roads lead to Rome." Meanwhile, last year, China's wind turbine exports jumped by 71.9 percent, and the value of photovoltaic product exports topped over 200 billion yuan for four consecutive years. Entering 2025, the uncertainty of the external environment is poised to bring more challenges to the effort to stabilize foreign trade. However, the more turbulent the times are, the more China should maintain its strategic focus. It is important to note that the fundamentals of China's long-term economic development have not changed and will not change. "As always, we grow in the wind and rain, and we get stronger through hard times. We must be confident." The article was originally published on the frontpage of the People's Daily on January 20, 2025 SOURCE Global Times BEIJING, Jan. 20, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- On Jan 14, the opening day of the 2025 World Future Energy Summit (WFES 2025) in Abu Dhabi, JA Solar signed a 1.25GW module procurement agreement with China Energy Engineering Corporation (CEEC). The agreement secures JA Solar as the exclusive supplier of high-efficiency n-type photovoltaic (PV) modules for the Abydos Phase II 1GW+600MWh PV-Storage Project, the largest of its kind in Africa, developed by AMEA Power and constructed by CEEC. JA Solar Signs 1.25GW Module Deal with CEEC to Supply Africas Largest PV-Storage Project The signing ceremony was attended by numerous key stakeholders of the project, including Hussain Al Nowais, Chairman of AMEA Power; Mahabir Sharma, CTO of AMEA Power; Aqueel Bohra, CIO of AMEA Power; Shupeng Su, President of CEEC Egypt International; and Tony Zhu, President of the Photovoltaic and Energy Storage BG at JA Solar. Sicheng Yang, Deputy General Manager of CEEC Zhejiang Thermal Power Construction Co., Ltd., International Engineering Division, and the Sales Director for JA Solar in the Middle East region, signed the agreement on behalf of their respective companies. Spanning approximately an impressive 20 square kilometers, the project will feature Africa's largest PV installation alongside the continent's largest battery storage system. Upon completion, it is expected to generate approximately 3,000 GWh annually, supplying electricity to more than 500,000 households and offsetting more than 1 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions per year. The project will significantly enhance Egypt's renewable energy share and grid stability, marking a milestone in the development of PV and storage solutions in Egypt and across Africa. Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly expressed high expectations for the project, noting its critical role in advancing Egypt's Clean Energy Action Plan and fostering sustainable environmental and economic growth. He encouraged the participating Chinese enterprises to leverage their strengths, increase investments in Egypt, and contribute to the country's Vision 2030 goals by enhancing the quality and efficiency of the electricity supply. Also of significance is the news that one of Africa's largest grid-connected PV project, the 500MW Abydos Solar PV Plant, has been successfully completed through the collaboration of AMEA Power, CEEC, and JA Solar, with JA Solar supplying all PV modules for the project. The signing of the Phase II agreement not only reflects the strong results achieved in previous collaborations but also underscores the shared commitment to driving Africa's renewable energy development and creating new milestones in the PV industry. Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2601561/JA_Solar_Signs_1_25GW_Module_Deal_with_CEEC_to_Supply_Africa_s_Largest_PV_Storage_Project.jpg VICTORIA, Seychelles, Jan. 19, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- KuCoin, a top global exchange, is thrilled to announce the addition of the Official Trump (TRUMP) token to its Spot trading platform, a milestone reflecting their commitment to broadening the diverse trading portfolio. Trading for TRUMP begins with a call auction on January 18, 2025, from 13:00 to 14:00 UTC, followed by regular trading at 14:00 UTC. Deposits are open immediately on the SOL-SPL network, with withdrawals starting at 10:00 on January 19, 2025. $TRUMP token encapsulates a moment that transcended into a viral meme, symbolizing a remarkable chapter in digital culture. This token leverages the viral nature of modern memes to offer a unique asset in the blockchain space. The token is supported on KuCoin by trading bots including Spot Grid, Infinity Grid, and AI-driven strategies, enhancing trading flexibility and options for users. To celebrate this launch, users depositing $TRUMP before January 22, 2025, will receive a 30 USDT trading fee discount, enhancing their trading experience. For more details about the token and to participate in the offering, visit KuCoin's official website . About KuCoin Founded in 2017, KuCoin is one of the pioneering and most globally recognized technology platforms supporting digital economies, built on a robust foundation of cutting-edge blockchain infrastructure, liquidity solutions, and an exceptional user experience. With a connected user base exceeding 38 million worldwide, KuCoin offers comprehensive digital asset solutions across wallets, trading, wealth management, payments, research, ventures, and AI-powered bots. KuCoin has garnered accolades such as "Best Crypto Apps & Exchanges" by Forbes and has been recognized among the "Top 50 Global Unicorns" by Hurun in 2024. These recognitions reflect its commitment to user-centric principles and core values, which include integrity, accountability, collaboration, and a relentless pursuit of excellence. Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2601301/image_5002362_32841334.jpg Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2356857/KuCoin_Horizontal_Green_LOGO_Logo.jpg President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy has signed a decree on sanctions blocking propagandists who work for Russia. I have just signed a decree enacting the NSDCs decision on sanctions. We are blocking propagandists working for Russia, individuals who have sided with the enemy, and those aiding Russia in continuing the war, Zelenskyy said in a video address on Sunday, which was published on Telegram. Additionally, we are continuing to revoke state honors only those who truly dedicate their lives to Ukraine deserve the title of Hero of Ukraine, he added. In addition, Zelenskyy announced new sanctions decisions. "They will be announced soon," he said. Cialfo, Singapore based edtech leader, has undergone a corporate restructuring to form the foundational building block of Manifest Global. based edtech leader, has undergone a corporate restructuring to form the foundational building block of Manifest Global. New Delhi -based Kaaiser becomes Manifest Global's first strategic investment. SINGAPORE, Jan. 19, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Manifest Global, a pioneering global education investment firm headquartered in Singapore, announces its establishment as the parent company of Cialfo, Explore, and Kaaiser; some of the most reputable and trailblazing brands of the global education industry. With the vision to connect the world through growth, prosperity, and innovation, Manifest Global is poised to redefine global standards of excellence and innovation in the world of international student mobility. It aims to do so by empowering stakeholders across the education ecosystem to connect with each other through the best of technology and gold standards in services. Cialfo, a Singapore-based edtech leader since 2017, has undergone a corporate restructuring to form the foundational building block of Manifest Global. Now operating as distinct entities under Manifest Global, Cialfo serves the K12 market, Explore focuses on student and counselor outreach for university stakeholders, and Kaaiser has built a world class brand within Student Placement Services. This corporate evolution reinforces Manifest Global's dedication to creating a world where every student, irrespective of background, gains access to premier higher education opportunities. Rohan Pasari, CEO of Manifest Global, shared, "Manifest Global marks the beginning of an ambitious chapter in our journey to reshape global education. By uniting brands like Cialfo, Explore, and now Kaaiser under one visionary group, we are creating a unified ecosystem dedicated to the mission of simplifying global student mobility and fostering meaningful connections between students, parents, educators, and services based institutions worldwide." Investment in Kaaiser: Strengthening Global Student Mobility As part of this transformational journey, Manifest Global is delighted to announce a strategic investment in Kaaiser, a New Delhi-based education company renowned for its expertise in international student counseling. Established in 1997, Kaaiser is a trusted member of the Association of Australian Education Representatives in India (AAERI) and has played a pivotal role in enabling Indian students to explore the best education opportunities in Australia and beyond. In fact, Kaaiser represents the prestigious Group of 8 universities from Australia: a rare feat in itself. Kaaiser's exceptional reputation, and deep-rooted partnerships with leading Australian universities positions it as a valuable addition to Manifest Global's portfolio. Speaking on the investment in Kaaiser, Rohan added, "Kaaiser's reputable pedigree and legacy in the Indian international higher-ed market, combined with their committed expertise in connecting students with top-tier institutions made them a natural fit for Manifest Global. Together, we're not just investing in a company; we're investing in the future of countless students who will benefit from expanded access and resources." Kapil Chandok, Founder-Director of Kaaiser, remarked, "Becoming part of Manifest Global's portfolio is a transformative step for Kaaiser. This investment allows us to amplify and enhance the student's journey and experience right from application to enrolment. We wish to further our mission of enabling access to quality international education by leaning on Manifest's visionary leadership and access to its world class technology and operational efficiency." About Manifest Global Manifest Global is a global education investment firm headquartered in Singapore, specializing in building companies that connect the world towards growth, prosperity, and innovation. With a portfolio of brands including Cialfo, Explore, and Kaaiser, Manifest Global is dedicated to enhancing global student mobility and fostering an interconnected education ecosystem. It's backed by prominent global funds including Susquehanna Asia Venture Capital, Square Peg Capital, Tiger Global, SEEK Growth, DLF Ventures, Cercano Management, January Capital, and more. For more information, visit manifest.inc. About Cialfo Cialfo is the world's leading AI-powered platform for high school college counseling, streamlining the career exploration, college search, and application sending process. It equips counselors with a comprehensive workflow solution and provides students with a centralized hub for profile building, career exploration, and university discovery. Learn more at cialfo.co. About Kaaiser Established in 1996, Kaaiser is a premier education consultancy based in New Delhi, India. With over 29 years of experience in facilitating international student mobility, Kaaiser is a trusted name in the industry, representing the entire Group of Eight (Go8), an elite group of Australia's top research universities. Kaaiser is also proud member of the Association of Australian Education Representatives in India (AAERI). Learn more at kaaiser.com. SOURCE Manifest Global LOS ANGELES, Jan. 20, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Mercury General Corporation (the "Company" or "Mercury") is providing more information about the recent Southern California Wildfires, known as the Palisades and Eaton fires (collectively, the "Wildfires"), and the Company's reinsurance program. Most of the affected areas are closed due to ongoing hazardous conditions. The Company has received many claims and is using aerial images to assist in determining whether properties are total losses. Claims continue to be reported, and Mercury has mobilized our catastrophe loss team, assisting our customers with their claims and replacement housing. As of the date of this press release, Mercury has already paid $80 million to policyholders primarily for living expenses and housing contents, and has started to pay out dwelling claims at the Coverage A limit for verified total losses. The Company has sufficient liquidity to meet the increased levels of payments. The Company's catastrophe reinsurance treaty allows for the combining of events that occur within a 150-mile radius as a single occurrence. Additionally, if each individual event is classified as its own catastrophic event by the Property Claims Service ("PCS"), a unit of the Insurance Services Office, each event can be considered a separate occurrence. In the case of the Palisades and Eaton wildfires, the PCS has designated each as a separate event. The Company has not yet determined if it will consider the Wildfires as two separate events. As more information becomes available to the Company, including regarding any subrogation potential, the Company will evaluate whether it will consider the Wildfires as two separate events. Under a two-event scenario, the Company may elect to use reinsurance limits of up to $1,290 million for the first event and reinstated limits up to $1,238 million for the second event. In this scenario, the Company would be responsible for the first and second event retentions of $150 million each, and up to a $101 million reinstatement premium for total retention and reinstatement premiums of $401 million. In addition, the Company would have co-participation up to $52 million for losses in excess of $650 million on the second event. The Company may seek to acquire additional reinsurance if reinstated limits are used by the second event, for the stub period ending on June 30, 2025, the expiration date of the current contract. About Mercury General Corporation Mercury General Corporation (NYSE: MCY) and its subsidiaries are a multiple line insurance organization offering predominantly personal automobile and homeowners insurance through a network of independent producers and direct-to-consumer sales in many states. For more information, visit the Company's website at www.mercuryinsurance.com . The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 provides a "safe harbor" for certain forward-looking statements. Certain statements contained in this report are forward-looking statements based on the Company's current expectations and beliefs concerning future developments and their potential effects on the Company. There can be no assurance that future developments affecting the Company will be those anticipated by the Company. Actual results may differ from those projected in the forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements involve significant risks and uncertainties (some of which are beyond the control of the Company) and are subject to change based upon various factors, including but not limited to the following risks and uncertainties: changes in the demand for the Company's insurance products, inflation and general economic conditions, including general market risks associated with the Company's investment portfolio; the accuracy and adequacy of the Company's pricing methodologies; catastrophes in the markets served by the Company; uncertainties related to estimates, assumptions and projections generally; the possibility that actual loss experience may vary adversely from the actuarial estimates made to determine the Company's loss reserves in general; the Company's ability to obtain and the timing of the approval of premium rate changes for insurance policies issued in the states where it operates; legislation adverse to the automobile insurance industry or business generally that may be enacted in the states where the Company operates; the Company's success in managing its business in non-California states; the presence of competitors with greater financial resources and the impact of competitive pricing and marketing efforts; the Company's ability to successfully allocate the resources used in the states with reduced or exited operations to its operations in other states; changes in driving patterns and loss trends; acts of war and terrorist activities; pandemics, epidemics, widespread health emergencies, or outbreaks of infectious diseases; court decisions and trends in litigation and health care and auto repair costs; and legal, cybersecurity, regulatory and litigation risks. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as the result of new information, future events or otherwise. For a more detailed discussion of some of the foregoing risks and uncertainties, see the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission on February 13, 2024. SOURCE Mercury General Corporation CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va., Jan. 20, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- MicroAire Surgical Instruments, the global leader in power-assisted liposuction, is pleased to announce the acquisition of NEOSYAD, an innovative medical device company that developed a breakthrough technology for adipose tissue engineering. This strategic move reinforces MicroAire's commitment to advancing medical innovation and strengthening its leadership in the adipose tissue market. NEOSYAD recently received EU MDR approval for their AdiMate device and Adipure single-use kit. Thanks to its patented "all-in-one" concept and integrated proprietary software, AdiMate optimizes operating times by combining the infiltration, liposuction, and adipose tissue preparation (lipofilling) functions. The protocol integrated in the machine allows tissue purification in less than 10 minutes in a completely automatic way, while guaranteeing unmatched adipose tissue quality and viability. Strengthening MicroAire's Adipose Tissue Leadership MicroAire's PAL handpiece is the #1 power-assisted liposuction device in the United States and a global leader among plastic surgeons. The acquisition of NEOSYAD marks a significant step forward in MicroAire's vision to strengthen its leadership in the global adipose tissue market. Jerome Barrillon, President of MicroAire, shared his enthusiasm for the partnership: "We are thrilled to welcome the NEOSYAD team into the MicroAire family. Their expertise, innovative products, and dedication to advancing adipose tissue technologies perfectly align with our mission to enable better patient outcomes and support plastic surgeons worldwide." Barrillon further emphasized the strategic fit: "NEOSYAD's advanced adipose tissue technology complements MicroAire's existing portfolio and will help us accelerate our vision of expanding our leadership in the adipose tissue market. Together, we are poised to deliver unparalleled value to our customers and drive innovation in this growing field." Regis Roche, NEOSYAD's co-founder and President, commented: "We are delighted to join forces with MicroAire, a company that shares our commitment to innovation and excellence in adipose tissue processing. This partnership represents a unique opportunity to scale our groundbreaking solutions and bring the benefits of AdiMate and Adipure to a broader global audience." Roche continued: "Our technology has already demonstrated excellent results in enhancing outcomes for patients, particularly in breast reconstruction procedures. By ensuring a higher quality of purified fat and significantly reducing operating times, we enable surgeons to perform procedures with greater precision and efficiency. Together with MicroAire, we aim to make these advanced solutions more accessible to patients worldwide, offering them a safer, more effective option for restoring their confidence and well-being." Media Contact: David Kraus Senior Director, Strategy & Customer Excellence MicroAire Surgical Instruments [email protected] SOURCE MicroAire WASHINGTON, Jan. 20, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- The National Electrical Contractors Association (NECA) congratulates President Donald J. Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance on their inauguration as the 47th President and 50th Vice President of the United States. "On behalf of NECA's member companies and the electrical construction industry, we extend our best wishes for success as they lead our nation forward. We are optimistic about the opportunities to work with President Trump, Vice President Vance, and their administration to address critical issues facing our industry and the nation," said David Long, CEO of NECA. "NECA remains committed to advancing policies that drive economic growth, supporting the skilled trades, and enhancing the resilience of our nation's infrastructure." NECA with President Trump & Vice President Vance to support economic growth, skilled trades and national infrastructure. Post this NECA looks forward to collaborating with the administration on key areas of shared interest, including: Tax Policy: Advocating for tax policies that promote business growth and investment in the construction industry, including making permanent the majority of provisions enacted by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. Advocating for tax policies that promote business growth and investment in the construction industry, including making permanent the majority of provisions enacted by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. Infrastructure Modernization : Advocating for robust federal investment in modernizing the nation's electrical grid, transportation systems, and renewable energy projects to ensure a reliable and sustainable future. : Advocating for robust federal investment in modernizing the nation's electrical grid, transportation systems, and renewable energy projects to ensure a reliable and sustainable future. Energy Transmission and Distribution : Supporting policies that prioritize the modernization of the nation's energy transmission and distribution systems. These efforts include enhancing permitting reform, grid reliability, reducing energy loss, and ensuring that power is delivered efficiently and effectively to meet the demands of businesses and consumers. : Supporting policies that prioritize the modernization of the nation's energy transmission and distribution systems. These efforts include enhancing permitting reform, grid reliability, reducing energy loss, and ensuring that power is delivered efficiently and effectively to meet the demands of businesses and consumers. Workforce Development : Partnering to strengthen workforce training initiatives, support registered apprenticeship programs, and ensure the next generation of skilled electricians and contractors is ready to meet growing demands. : Partnering to strengthen workforce training initiatives, support registered apprenticeship programs, and ensure the next generation of skilled electricians and contractors is ready to meet growing demands. Retainage Reform : Pushing for reforms to reduce the burden of retainage and ensure timely and fair payments for contractors and subcontractors. : Pushing for reforms to reduce the burden of retainage and ensure timely and fair payments for contractors and subcontractors. Regulatory Certainty: Collaborating on reducing regulatory barriers that hinder innovation and efficiency in electrical construction while maintaining high safety and quality standards. "This is a pivotal time for our industry and the country," Long said. "NECA is ready to work alongside the Trump-Vance administration to achieve meaningful outcomes that benefit businesses, workers, and communities across the United States." As a leading voice in the electrical construction industry, NECA represents over 4,000 member companies who employ more than 500,000 workers nationwide. Our members are at the forefront of building and maintaining the systems that power America, and we are eager to partner with the new administration to advance our shared vision for progress and prosperity. ABOUT THE NATIONAL ELECTRICAL CONTRACTORS ASSOCIATION NECA is the voice of the $250 billion electrical construction industry that brings power, light, and communication technology to buildings and communities across North America. NECA's national office and 118 local chapters advance the industry through advocacy, education, research, and standards development. Go to www.necanet.org for more information. SOURCE National Electrical Contractors Assoc Inc. WASHINGTON, Jan. 20, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- WHAT: The Press Freedom Center at the National Press Club will host a press briefing featuring Debra Tice, mother of Austin Tice, an American journalist detained in Syria since 2012. Debra Tice will share insights from her recent advocacy trip to Syria and Lebanon, where she met with regional leaders and participated in key events aimed at securing her son's release. WHEN: Friday, January 24, 2025, 10:00 AM WHERE: The National Press Club, 529 14th Street NW, 13th Floor, Washington, D.C. WHO: Debra Tice , mother of detained journalist Austin Tice , mother of detained journalist Emily Wilkins , President, National Press Club DETAILS: The event will begin with a discussion between Emily Wilkins and Debra Tice, followed by an open Q&A session. Debra Tice will provide an update on her advocacy efforts and discuss the outcomes of her trip to Syria, where she engaged in productive discussions with high-level officials, attended Mass in Damascus, and held a press conference in collaboration with Families for Freedom, a Syrian NGO focused on supporting families of detainees. At that news conference in Damascus, Tice also revealed that she has already had discussions with the Trump Administration about Austin's case. This briefing offers a unique opportunity for journalists to hear firsthand about the ongoing efforts to secure Austin Tice's release and the broader implications for press freedom and international diplomacy. RSVP: This event is open only to credentialed journalists and National Press Club members. Advance registration is required. Please RSVP by emailing Bill McCarren at [email protected]. For additional details or interview requests, please contact Bill McCarren at 202-662-7534 or [email protected]. SOURCE National Press Club ATLANTA, Jan. 20, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Pyramid Consulting, Inc., a global leader in workforce and technology solutions, announces a transformative partnership with Dynatrace (NYSE: DT). The partnership establishes Pyramid Consulting, Inc., and its technology division, Celsior, as a premier Global Systems Integrator (GSI) for Dynatrace and enhances our capabilities to drive digital transformation and superior IT performance management for our clients worldwide. "Our partnership with Dynatrace is all about innovation and efficiency. It is a pivotal step towards enhancing our digital transformation capabilities," said Sanjeev Tirath, CEO and Co-founder of Pyramid Consulting, Inc. "By integrating the AI-powered analytics and automation capabilities from Dynatrace, we are poised to deliver even more robust IT performance management solutions that will drive significant value for our clients." Dynatrace offers advanced observability, continuous runtime application security, and AIOps to deliver intelligent automation and actionable insights from data. Pyramid Consulting will utilize its dedicated team of Dynatrace experts to deliver services, including application assessment, bespoke solution development, and continuous managed services to enhance customers' access to real-time monitoring and cloud-managed services for optimized performance and innovative solutions. "We're excited to bring cutting-edge observability to more organizations through our partnership with Pyramid Consulting," said Jay Snyder, SVP, Global Partner and Alliances at Dynatrace. "This collaboration will enable teams to unlock the full potential of their IT environments through advanced data insights. Together, we're committed to helping our customers ensure business agility, increase efficiency, and accelerate innovation so they can drive improved business outcomes." "Teaming up with Dynatrace enhances our ability to offer top-tier digital transformation services," said Vishak Mallya, EVP and COO at Celsior, the technology solutions and services division of Pyramid Consulting. "Our focus will be on leveraging comprehensive observability and automation capabilities from Dynatrace to optimize our clients' applications and infrastructure, ultimately improving their operational resilience." About Pyramid Consulting, Inc. Pyramid Consulting is a global leader in workforce and technology solutions that helps clients navigate competitive and challenging markets. Its award-winning family of brands Pyramid Talent, Celsior, and GenSpark operate together to deliver seamless and integrated solutions through multiple delivery models across five continents and 25+ countries. Founded in 1996 and headquartered in Atlanta, Pyramid Consulting serves 125+ Fortune 500 companies across all major industries by engaging 6500+ consultants. For more information, please visit https://pyramidci.com/ Copyright 2024 Pyramid Consulting, Incorporated. All rights Reserved. About Celsior Celsior, a technology solutions and services division of Pyramid Consulting, specializes in advanced technology solutions that encompass a range of services from software development and IT consulting to digital transformation. With a team of highly skilled professionals, Celsior is dedicated to delivering innovative, outcome-based technology solutions with a boutique approach, treating every client as top-tier. For more information, please visit www.celsiortech.com. SOURCE Pyramid Consulting, Inc NEW YORK, Jan. 19, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Why: Rosen Law Firm, a global investor rights law firm, reminds purchasers of American Depositary Shares ("ADS") of Rentokil Initial plc (NYSE: RTO) between December 1, 2023 and September 10, 2024, both dates inclusive (the "Class Period"), of the important January 27, 2025 lead plaintiff deadline. So what: If you purchased Rentokil ADSs during the Class Period you may be entitled to compensation without payment of any out of pocket fees or costs through a contingency fee arrangement. What to do next: To join the Rentokil class action, go to https://rosenlegal.com/submit-form/?case_id=31778 or call Phillip Kim, Esq. toll-free at 866-767-3653 or email [email protected] for information on the class action. A class action lawsuit has already been filed. If you wish to serve as lead plaintiff, you must move the Court no later than January 27, 2025. A lead plaintiff is a representative party acting on behalf of other class members in directing the litigation. Why Rosen Law: We encourage investors to select qualified counsel with a track record of success in leadership roles. Often, firms issuing notices do not have comparable experience, resources, or any meaningful peer recognition. Many of these firms do not actually litigate securities class actions, but are merely middlemen that refer clients or partner with law firms that actually litigate the cases. Be wise in selecting counsel. The Rosen Law Firm represents investors throughout the globe, concentrating its practice in securities class actions and shareholder derivative litigation. Rosen Law Firm achieved the largest ever securities class action settlement against a Chinese Company at the time. Rosen Law Firm was Ranked No. 1 by ISS Securities Class Action Services for number of securities class action settlements in 2017. The firm has been ranked in the top 4 each year since 2013 and has recovered hundreds of millions of dollars for investors. In 2019 alone the firm secured over $438 million for investors. In 2020, founding partner Laurence Rosen was named by law360 as a Titan of Plaintiffs' Bar. Many of the firm's attorneys have been recognized by Lawdragon and Super Lawyers. Details of the case: According to the lawsuit, defendants made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (1) Rentokil experienced levels of disruption in the early pilots of the Terminix integration; (2) Rentokil experienced significant, ongoing, self-inflicted execution challenges integrating Terminix; (3) the disruption and execution challenges imperiled Rentokil's integration plan for Terminix; (4) Rentokil and Terminix were still two separate businesses that were not yet integrated; (5) Rentokil's failure to integrate Terminix negatively impacted the Rentokil's business and operations, particularly organic revenue growth in North America; and (6) as a result of the above, defendants' positive statements about the Rentokil's business, operations, and prospects were materially false and misleading and/or lacked a reasonable basis at all relevant times. When the true details entered the market, the lawsuit claims that investors suffered damages. To join the Rentokil class action, go to https://rosenlegal.com/submit-form/?case_id=31778 or call Phillip Kim, Esq. toll-free at 866-767-3653 or email [email protected] for information on the class action. No Class Has Been Certified. Until a class is certified, you are not represented by counsel unless you retain one. You may select counsel of your choice. You may also remain an absent class member and do nothing at this point. An investor's ability to share in any potential future recovery is not dependent upon serving as lead plaintiff. Follow us for updates on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-rosen-law-firm or on Twitter: https://twitter.com/rosen_firm or on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rosenlawfirm. Attorney Advertising. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Contact Information: Laurence Rosen, Esq. Phillip Kim, Esq. The Rosen Law Firm, P.A. 275 Madison Avenue, 40th Floor New York, NY 10016 Tel: (212) 686-1060 Toll Free: (866) 767-3653 Fax: (212) 202-3827 [email protected] www.rosenlegal.com SOURCE THE ROSEN LAW FIRM, P. A. SAN DIEGO, Jan. 19, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Robbins LLP informs investors that a class action was filed on behalf of all persons and entities that purchased or otherwise acquired Block, Inc. (NYSE: SQ) Class A common stock between February 26, 2020 and April 30, 2024. Block is a financial technology conglomerate. For more information, submit a form, email attorney Aaron Dumas, Jr., or give us a call at (800) 350-6003. The Allegations: Robbins LLP is Investigating Allegations that Block, Inc. (SQ) Misled Investors Regarding the Company's Compliance Leading to it Illegal Use According to the complaint, during the class period, defendants failed to disclose: (a) that Block had engaged in widespread and years-long compliance lapses at Square and Cash App, including by failing to conduct basic due diligence regarding its customers' identities or the nature of customer transactions so as to prevent the platforms from being used for illegal or illicit activities; (b) that Block had effectively created a haven for widespread illegal and illicit activities on its Square and Cash App platforms by imposing minimal obligations on customers seeking to open accounts, transact, and deposit or withdraw funds; encouraging the use of bitcoin; and pressuring the Company's banking partners to forgo ordinary KYC due diligence activities; (c) that thousands of transactions on Square and Cash App were made in connection with a wide variety of illegal and illicit activities, including, inter alia, money laundering, child sexual abuse, sex trafficking, drug trafficking, terrorism financing, contract killings, and illicit payments to entities and persons subject to economic sanctions; (d) that Block allowed its customers to withdraw funds even after the accounts had been flagged for potentially illegal or illicit activities; (e) that Block customers could open up multiple accounts using fake identities in order to engage in illegal or illicit activities; (f) that Block's senior leadership and the Board had failed to correct identified compliance deficiencies despite numerous red flags, internal employee reports of deficiencies, and customer complaints; (g) that Block's Cash App user metrics had been artificially inflated through the use of fake accounts and the ability of criminals and other bad actors to open multiple accounts; and (h) that, as a result of (a)-(g) above, Block was subject to a material, undisclosed risk of its conduct being exposed, thereby exposing the Company to reputational harm, adverse regulatory actions, the loss of business activity, and adverse impacts to the Company's operations and financial results. On news of this wrongdoing, the price of Block's stock declined, harming investors. What Now: You may be eligible to participate in the class action against Block, Inc. Shareholders who want to serve as lead plaintiff for the class should contact Robbins LLP for information. A lead plaintiff is a representative party who acts on behalf of other class members in directing the litigation. You do not have to participate in the case to be eligible for a recovery. If you choose to take no action, you can remain an absent class member. For more information, click here . All representation is on a contingency fee basis. Shareholders pay no fees or expenses. About Robbins LLP: A recognized leader in shareholder rights litigation, the attorneys and staff of Robbins LLP have been dedicated to helping shareholders recover losses, improve corporate governance structures, and hold company executives accountable for their wrongdoing since 2002. To be notified if a class action against Block, Inc. settles or to receive free alerts when corporate executives engage in wrongdoing, sign up for Stock Watch today. Attorney Advertising. Past results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Contact: Aaron Dumas, Jr. Robbins LLP 5060 Shoreham Pl., Ste. 300 San Diego, CA 92122 [email protected] (800) 350-6003 www.robbinsllp.com SOURCE Robbins LLP JOHANNESBURG, Jan. 20, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- The online casino industry in Africa is poised for rapid growth in 2025, and South Africa is at the forefront of this revolution. As one of the continent's most advanced markets, South Africa is shaping trends that are set to influence how online gaming evolves across the region. From technological innovation to user-centric platforms, South Africa is cementing its reputation as a leader in the online casino space. Innovation Meets Regulation One of the key factors enabling South Africa's leadership is the balance between innovation and regulation. The country has established a robust framework for online gambling, ensuring player safety while fostering innovation among operators. This regulatory environment attracts world-class developers and service providers, allowing local players to enjoy cutting-edge games and features. In 2025, expect a surge in virtual reality (VR) casino games, personalised gaming experiences, and AI-driven customer supportall trends likely to emerge first in South Africa before spreading to the rest of Africa. Local Payment Solutions for a Seamless Experience South African casinos are addressing one of the biggest barriers to entry for players: payment methods. With the rise of local solutions like 1ForYou Vouchers and Capitec Pay, players can now deposit and withdraw seamlessly, even if they lack traditional banking access. This innovation will set a precedent for neighbouring countries, making online casinos more accessible to a wider audience across the continent. Empowering Players Across Africa As South Africa leads the charge, one of the most exciting developments is the focus on player empowerment. South African operators are raising the bar by offering transparent terms, generous bonus structures, and educational resources to help players make smarter choices. Features like no deposit bonuses, free spins no deposit, slots real money, and loyalty programmes are becoming standard, providing more value to players and ensuring they stay engaged. This player-centric approach is expected to ripple across Africa, inspiring other markets to adopt similar practices. A Gateway for International Operators South Africa's leadership is not only influencing local players but also positioning the country as a gateway for international operators looking to expand into Africa. With its robust infrastructure, tech-savvy population, and a deep understanding of the local gaming culture, South Africa is an ideal testing ground for new technologies and games. Global brands are increasingly partnering with South African affiliates and operators to introduce innovations that meet the needs of African players, further solidifying the country's influence in the region. Community and Responsible Gaming at the Core Another significant trend is the emphasis on community and responsible gaming. South African platforms are leading the way by integrating tools for self-regulation, offering support for problem gambling, and fostering an online environment that prioritises player well-being. By blending fun with responsibility, South Africa is setting a benchmark for what sustainable online gaming should look likenot just for Africa, but for the global online casino industry. SouthAfricanCasinos.co.za Leads the Conversation Bart Charrings, a lead writer and expert at SouthAfricanCasinos.co.za, highlights the role South African affiliate sites play in shaping this dynamic landscape. "At SouthAfricanCasinos.co.za, we pride ourselves on providing not just reviews, but insights that empower players to make informed decisions. Our unique focus on local payment methods, mobile-optimised platforms, and beginner-friendly guides sets us apart from the competition," says Charrings. SouthAfricanCasinos.co.za is also known for its in-depth coverage of South African-specific trends, including how local regulations impact the gaming experience and what players can expect from the latest casino launches. By bridging the gap between players and trustworthy operators, the site is a key resource for South Africans seeking safe and enjoyable online casino experiences. About SouthAfricanCasinos.co.za SouthAfricanCasinos.co.za is a leading affiliate website dedicated to helping South African players navigate the online casino industry. The site offers comprehensive reviews, expert insights, and guides tailored to local players. Whether you're a seasoned player or a beginner, SouthAfricanCasinos.co.za provides the tools you need to enjoy online gaming responsibly and safely. For more information, visit www.SouthAfricanCasinos.co.za. SOURCE South African Casinos WASHINGTON, Jan. 20, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Below is the statement from Lynne Kristensen, spokesperson for the Independent Medical Alliance (IMA) formerly the FLCCC Alliance, in response to the pardon of Anthony Fauci. "The entire world is asking why Anthony Fauci needed a pardon if he's supposedly done nothing wrong? In fact, Fauci led the ivory-tower medical establishment in a shameful COVID response which served as a wake-up call to front-line doctors across the globe. Just remember what happened: Accomplished doctors were silenced and threatened with loss of their practice and financial ruin if they spoke out against Fauci's mandates. Family members were denied the right to say goodbye to their dying loved ones. Schools were closed, causing generational harm to children. The very fabric of public trust in the medical community was shredded by Fauci. "But it was never about 'getting' Anthony Fauci. Our goal is to ensure this never happens again. We commend Acting HHS Secretary Dorothy Fink for her even-handed approach to examining these events, and we look forward to working with President Trump and Secretary Nominee Kennedy to fully investigate the COVID-19 response. We need to ensure there are safeguards in place to prevent someone like Anthony Fauci from having the raw power and dictatorial mandates to ever again undertake such horrific and shameful actions." About IMA (Formerly FLCCC Alliance) The Independent Medical Alliance is a nonprofit, 501(c)(3) organization and coalition of physicians, nurses, and healthcare professionals united by a mission to restore trust and transparency in healthcare. The organization's mission is one driven by Honest Medicine that prioritizes patients above profits and emphasizes long-term wellness and disease prevention through empowerment of both physicians and their patients. With a focus on evidence-based medicine, informed consent, and systemic reform, IMA is driving a movement to create a more compassionate and effective healthcare system. For more information about the Independent Medical Alliance, visit www.IMAhealth.org Contact Lynne Kristensen [email protected] SOURCE Independent Medical Alliance Deputy Minister of Defense of Ukraine for European Integration Serhiy Boyev discussed plans for industrial cooperation in the defense industry with Special Envoy of the President of France for Ukraine's Relief and Reconstruction Pierre Heilbronn, the press service of the Defense Ministry reports. "Ukrainian production facilities need additional funding to fully utilize their capacities. We produce shells, artillery mounts and long-range drones. But air defense remains an important need - we are ready to discuss options for joint production of air defense systems and interceptors for them," Boyev emphasized during a discussion of Ukraine's priority strategic projects in the defense industry for 2025 and ways to finance them. He stressed that France is a leader in production of air defense and missile defense systems, and it is important that cooperation between Ukraine and France in this area develops. "This is important not only to strengthen the capabilities of the Ukrainian defense forces now, but also to ensure long-term production and defense capability in the future," Boyev added. LOS ANGELES, Jan. 20, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Vision Films ("Vision") announces the North American Transactional VOD release of TV personality and relationship expert Aaron Jordan Jr.'s full-length feature Dating My Past on February 11, 2025. Based on Jordan's successful book, "The Power Within, A Woman's Worth: From Both Sexes," the film is a contemporary Black love story that sheds light on the complexities and personal battles of dating in today's world, emphasizing self-reflection, love, and the journey of self-discovery. Written, directed by and starring Ricky Burchell and executive produced by Aaron Jordan Jr., the film was shot on location in and around the Nashville suburb of Murfreesboro and was first screened on the Caribbean island Curacao. Dating My Past Feature Film Poster Synopsis: A couples therapist uses the lessons she learned from past relationships with three exes: one with whom she can't deny the chemistry, one a sensitive artist, and one that's seemingly too perfect, to help a struggling couple. As she shares her past with them, all soon realize that true love requires not only being with the right person, but also searching your soul to find your best self. Watch the trailer: https://youtu.be/lsRCUAGswkI Lise Romanoff, CEO & Managing Director of Vision Films says, "We're thrilled to bring Dating My Past to audiences in time for Valentine's Day. It is a movie about the lessons learned from loves and losses and takes audiences on a relatable and emotional ride." Executive Producer Aaron Jordan Jr. shares, "I am deeply grateful for this wonderful opportunity to bring Dating My Past to a wider audience. This opportunity creates a pathway for audiences worldwide to be immersed in a film that speaks to real human experiences. Our stories of love, self-reflection, and the lessons we learn along the way are stories worth telling." Filmmaker Ricky Burchell adds, "Get ready to laugh, cry, and cheer with Dating My Past! As a filmmaker, seeing this film come to fruition is a dream come true for us all. Aaron as a producer, Chanelle as an actress, and I, as writer and director, have all poured our hearts into this project. Witnessing our collective dreams become reality with the film about to be released is almost beyond words. I am incredibly grateful and excited for the world to see our dream and vision on screen." Lead actress Chanelle de Lau shares, "Sometimes, to find love in the present, we must confront the ghosts of our past. Lexie's journey is one so many can relate tonavigating healing, confronting old wounds, and finding the courage to break cycles and negative patterns in love. I hope this film inspires others to embrace their healing journeys and approach love with renewed strength and perspective." The film stars Chanelle de Lau (Tone-Def Underground), Ricky Burchell (AM Radio, Consider the Lilies), Memphis native and stage actor Cameron L. Mitchell (Nashville Rep), Alex Sauceman (3 Days 3 Nights), Key Symone (No Rest for the Wicked), Sheila Ann Smith (Eating Me Up), and Erica Barr (Consider the Lilies). As the film delves into the protagonist's (Chanelle De Lau) emotional journey through former relationships and her quest for clarity and healing, it brings to life the book's powerful message on love, loss, and the universal experience of self-discovery. The film will be available on major streaming and cable platforms across the US and Canada on February 11 including iTunes, AppleTV, Vimeo, GooglePlay and Vudu. For more information about the film and Mr. Jordan's book, please visit www.aaronjordanjr.com. About Vision Films Vision Films is a leading independent sales and VOD aggregator specializing in the licensing, marketing, and distribution of over 800 feature films, documentaries, and series from some of the most prolific independent film producers in the world. Led by Lise Romanoff, Managing Director/CEO Worldwide Distribution, Vision Films releases 2-4 films a month across Theatrical, VOD, DVD, and television platforms. visionfilms.net Media Contact: Andrea McKinnon 8184159442 [email protected] SOURCE Vision Films, Inc. Female healthcare employees, the very professionals tasked with improving women's health, face significant barriers to accessing and navigating care in the workplace. FAIRFIELD, N.J., Jan. 20, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- The Healthcare Businesswomen's Association (HBA) and FemTechnology today announced results of a groundbreaking global survey exposing critical gaps in workplace support for women's health. This survey gathered insights directly from more than 1,000 female employees working in the healthcare sectorcovering 42 countries and 6 continentsto better understand their authentic experiences and pressing needs, highlighting that women's health is not just a personal concern but a corporate priority with substantial impacts on productivity and financial well-beingfor both women and organizations. Key Survey Findings 70% of respondents reported losing 1-5 days of productivity in the past month due to women's health issues. 61% of respondents indicated they'd taken time off due to women's health conditions. Only 10.14% of respondents agreed that their employer provides adequate education and resources on women's health issues affecting work. 76% of respondents indicated interest in a tool provided by their employer that would facilitate their ability to navigate women's health. 74% of women expressed interest in a tool that aligns their specific symptoms with employer-provided benefits. Many employees experience discomfort discussing women's health at work, with 61% agreeing there is a stigma associated with these discussions. "Women's health isn't a personal issueit's a business imperative with massive economic implications," said Mary Stutts, CEO of the HBA. "We know from the Bureau of Labor Statistics that women comprise nearly 80% of the healthcare workforce in the United States and between 65% to 70% globally, according to the World Health Organization. Unsupported health conditions translate to thousands of dollars per employee every year, adding up to millions in hidden costs for companies. A healthcare system built around a one-size-fits-all model fails the workforce. These failures ripple across organizations in tangible ways: lost productivity from untreated health issues, disengagement as employees struggle to balance work and unmet care needs, and missed innovation as talented women are held back or leave roles that don't support them. "The data is undeniable: women are navigating systems that weren't designed for them, and companies are paying the pricelosing millions in hidden costs because workplace systems fail to support women," said Oriana Kraft, CEO of FemTechnology. "Closing these gaps isn't just the right thing to doit's the key to unlocking productivity, driving innovation, and securing a competitive edge in the modern workforce. By incorporating a navigation tool that aligns employee needs with employer offerings, companies can create clarity and deliver customized treatment options while streamlining access to care," Kraft added. "Women are key contributors to the workforce investing in women's health is the smartest decision a business can makefor its people, its bottom line, and its long-term success." Stutts added, "Women are essential to organizational success, yet gaps in support result in direct costs from absenteeism, retention and turnover, as well as indirect losses in engagement and innovation. Ignoring these gaps drains value that companies could reclaim through targeted support. Healthcare sector employers have an opportunity to step up and lead the way for the rest of the corporate world to follow." LaToya Tapscott, senior director of the HBA Think Tank, echoed these sentiments: "Supporting women's health is more than a benefits upgrade; it's a strategic investment that lowers costs, enhances well-being, and sets a new standard for workplace success. For businesses ready to act, this isn't just a moment for changeit's a chance to lead, compete, and thrive in the modern economy. Companies that prioritize women's health have an unprecedented opportunity to gain an economic edge, unlock untapped productivity, and build a more resilient, high-performing workforce." Recommendations for Action from the HBA Think Tank and FemTechnology: The gaps in women's health support are vast and deeply embedded in current healthcare models. However, there are actionable steps that employers can take to create a more inclusive, equitable health landscape for female employees. Here's how to start closing the gap, why it matters, and the impact it can create: Centralize resources to create a new care model for women's health Women currently face a fragmented system that's difficult to navigate, and physicians who have not been trained on how to support their needsleading to missed opportunities for support and increased out-of-pocket costs. Allowing women to easily access and understand all available benefits related to their unique health needs, covering everything from reproductive health to chronic condition support, would ensure that women can connect to the care they need without undue complexity, improving engagement with health benefits, reducing delays in accessing care, and ensuring employees feel supported by their organization. Reconsider how 'women's health' is defined within your organization and what is being done to address it Survey responses highlight that conditions such as Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), pelvic floor dysfunction, Factor V, PCOS, and endometriosis are essential women's health issuesnot just those traditionally linked to reproductive transitions like fertility, pregnancy, and menopause. Investing in support for these conditions, along with chronic issues like cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and mental health, which often present differently in women, can reduce hidden costs for companies. Addressing these conditions with a gender-informed approach, will allow employers to reduce the costs associated with these conditions (in terms of healthcare expenses and productivity losses), benefiting both employees' well-being and companies' bottom lines. Invest in listening to women Investing in a tool that maps out gaps in women's healthcare and captures direct feedback from female employees presents a valuable opportunity for companies. Such a platform would allow women to input their health concerns, identify areas where benefits exist to meet their needs, and receive support where there are existing gaps. By collecting this feedback, employers can gain insights into the most pressing health needs and adjust their benefits to better support women across different life stages. This proactive approach not only helps close care gaps but also demonstrates a commitment to women's health, fostering a more engaged, satisfied, and resilient workforce. Survey methodology and full report availability A collaboration between the HBA's Think Tank and FemTechnology , this survey was completed by 1,081 women in the Healthcare Businesswomen's Association community from 42 countries and 6 continents. The survey was designed to gather insights into respondent experiences with women's health issues and their workplace impact. It was distributed via email and social media over a four-week period, and included a combination of Likert-scale questions, multiple-choice items, and open-ended questions, allowing for both quantitative analysis and qualitative insights. Responses were collected anonymously to protect participant confidentiality and encourage candid responses. The data was analyzed using descriptive statistics for quantitative items, while qualitative responses were thematically summarized to identify recurring themes and illustrative quotes. The full report titled "The State of Women's Health in the Workplace" by Mary Stutts, HBA CEO, LaToya Tapscott (HBA Think Tank Senior Director), and Oriana Kraft (FemTechnology CEO) is available HERE . About the Healthcare Businesswomen's Association (HBA): The Healthcare Businesswomen's Association (HBA) is a global organization dedicated to furthering the advancement and impact of women in the business of healthcare. With more than 80 locations throughout the world, the HBA serves a community of more than 85,000 individuals and nearly 150 Corporate Partners. The HBA provides access to industry thought leaders and influencers; educational programs to develop leadership skills; and distinctive global recognition of outstanding individuals and companies to promote visibility of their achievements in advancing gender parity in the workplace. www.hbanet.org About the HBA Think Tank: The HBA Think Tank is a research-driven, collaborative hub dedicated to addressing systemic barriers and advancing opportunities for women in healthcare. As part of the Healthcare Businesswomen's Association (HBA), the Think Tank equips companies with actionable insights, benchmarking tools, and innovative strategies to foster meaningful change. Its mission spans four critical areas: leadership representation, amplifying women of color, workplace health and wellness, and financial acumen. Through cutting-edge research, expert collaboration, and customized solutions, the Think Tank empowers organizations to transform their workplaces, enhance health outcomes for women, and lead the way in creating a more equitable healthcare ecosystem. About FemTechnology: FemTechnology is building the future of women's healthcare by addressing the gender health data gap and driving innovation across the women's health ecosystem. From their global FemTechnology Summit, which brings together thought leaders to catalyze change, to their university series, which scouts groundbreaking research and amplifies its impact, FemTechnology connects insights to action. At the core of their work is ORI, a personalized health navigation platform that centralizes best-in-class solutions in women's health. ORI collects and analyzes data to uncover hidden cost drivers, provide actionable workforce insights, and implement tailored strategies. It empowers employers to reduce healthcare expenses, optimize benefits, and improve employee outcomes while ensuring women have seamless access to personalized care that meets their unique needs. For more information, please visit www.femtechnology.org . About ORI: Developed by FemTechnology, ORI is a personalized health navigation platform designed to close gaps in women's healthcare, reduce employer costs, and improve employee outcomes. By centralizing best-in-class solutions in women's health and providing actionable data on workforce health trends, ORI helps organizations uncover hidden cost drivers, optimize benefit utilization, and implement actionable, tailored strategies for women's health. Employers gain a nuanced understanding of their workforce's needs through anonymized, aggregated data, along with evidence-based recommendations and targeted interventions to reduce absenteeism and healthcare expenses. Employees benefit from seamless access to personalized care options, ensuring their unique health needs are met effectively and efficiently. Media Contacts: Lana Rushing Rushing PR for the HBA [email protected] 310-428-1805 Patrick Bartosch HBA (Europe, on-site at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting, Davos) [email protected] +43-677-61832305 SOURCE Healthcare Businesswomen's Association BEIJING, Jan. 20, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Lijiang City, located in southwest China's Yunnan Province, is renowned for its rich cultural heritage and breathtaking landscapes. Over the years, it has emerged as a sought-after destination for sojourn tourism, offering tourists an opportunity to deeply engage with local life and traditions. Thanks to the local government's rural revitalization initiative, Puji Village, a traditional ethnic settlement in Lijiang famous for its charming stone streets, picturesque courtyards, and unique cafes, has developed homestays, agritourism, and stargazing tours, drawing new residents from cities like Shanghai, Beijing, and beyond. These "new villagers" actively engage in local activities, from farming to cultural practices like the Dongba blessing and Naxi music performances. In addition, Puji Village regularly hosts unique festivals, offering "new villagers" a chance to celebrate with local residents and experience the joy of the festivities. For those seeking artistic inspiration, the Sunshine 100 Snow Mountain Art Village provides an ideal retreat. With over 10,000 square meters of public cultural space, the art village provides artists with a vast platform to nurture creativity and foster collaboration. By blending stunning natural landscapes with profound cultural traditions, Lijiang has firmly established itself as an ideal destination for sojourn tourism, offering visitors a harmonious balance of relaxation and cultural enrichment. Original link: https://en.imsilkroad.com/p/344015.html SOURCE Xinhua Silk Road SHENZHEN, China, Jan. 20, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- CES 2025, held from January 7-10 at the Las Vegas Convention Center, once again solidified its role as the premier global platform for technological innovation, with ZHAOWEI (Shenzhen ZHAOWEI Machinery & Electronics Co., Ltd) making a strong impression. As a leading provider of intelligent robotics and high-performance motor solutions, ZHAOWEI showcased its groundbreaking Dexterous Hand, alongside other pioneering solutions across consumer electronics, automotive, and medical sectors. These innovations reinforced ZHAOWEI's position as a key player in shaping the future of robotics and micro-drive systems. The exhibition attracted significant attention from some of the most influential leaders in the technology and manufacturing industries. Notably, ZHAOWEI's booth was visited by Seok Woo Nam, Chief Technology Officer of Samsung, as well as senior representatives from Apple, Amazon, TCL, Sony, and Fuji. These high-profile visitors underscored the growing importance of ZHAOWEI's innovations and highlighted the company's pivotal role in advancing next-generation technologies. Key Product Highlights ZHAOWEI's Dexterous Hand was one of the most talked-about exhibits at CES 2025. Visitors had the opportunity to experience the hand's real-time demonstrations, interacting with its intricate capabilities of visual sensing, tactile perception and remote control. Here is what makes this model a standout: Advanced Flexibility and Precision 17-20 Degrees of Freedom : Leveraging a sophisticated blend of parallel and linear motors, the product's expansive range of motion makes it capable of handling complex, intricate tasks with exceptional accuracy, which is highly desirable in industries such as manufacturing, healthcare, and logistics. : Leveraging a sophisticated blend of parallel and linear motors, the product's expansive range of motion makes it capable of handling complex, intricate tasks with exceptional accuracy, which is highly desirable in industries such as manufacturing, healthcare, and logistics. Independent Joint Movement: Each joint's autonomy allows for precise, coordinated operations, such as gripping, twisting, and delicate object manipulation with exceptional accuracy. This function is critical for tasks like assembly, surgery, or even handling delicate materials. Human-like Dexterity The human-like movement facilitated by the combination of independent finger control and force feedback makes it an ideal solution for environments where human-like interaction with objects is required, such as collaborative robotics in industries or prosthetic devices. facilitated by the combination of independent finger control and force feedback makes it an ideal solution for environments where human-like interaction with objects is required, such as collaborative robotics in industries or prosthetic devices. This feature enhances its appeal in sectors requiring high adaptability, such as medical robotics, where the ability to perform delicate procedures or handle various instruments with care is crucial. Compact and Durability Its compact and lightweight design makes it perfect for integration into existing robotic systems where space is limited or weight is a concern. This is particularly advantageous for industries that require lightweight solutions without sacrificing performance, such as drones, automation in tight spaces, and wearable robotics. makes it perfect for integration into existing robotic systems where space is limited or weight is a concern. This is particularly advantageous for industries that require lightweight solutions without sacrificing performance, such as drones, automation in tight spaces, and wearable robotics. Built to withstand continuous use, the durability and long service life of the Dexterous Hand ensure it delivers long-term value. This is especially important in industries where high-volume, continuous operation is necessary, reducing the need for frequent maintenance or replacements. "We are proud to have participated in CES 2025 and to have engaged with some of the most influential figures in the global tech landscape," said Li Haizhou, Chairman of ZHAOWEI. "This year's exhibition provided us with an invaluable opportunity to showcase our latest advancements and forge meaningful connections with key stakeholders. We look forward to continuing our efforts in shaping the future of intelligent systems and driving technological progress across multiple sectors." ZHAOWEI is unwavering in its commitment to sustaining its innovative spirit and expanding its global influence. A key part of the company's growth strategy is its international expansion, with a particular focus on strengthening its presence in the North American market. In July 2024, ZHAOWEI established its fully owned U.S. subsidiary, ZW Drive Inc. This strategic move is designed to enhance the company's service capabilities in North America, meet local market demands more effectively, and foster closer collaboration with customers and partners in the region. About ZHAOWEI Founded in 2001, ZHAOWEI specializes in developing advanced micro drive systems. With over two decades of experience in the field of micro drive, ZHAOWEI's expertise not only lies in providing a wide option of high-performance motors but also in developing tailored drive systems for clients' applications. Known for its relentless commitment to innovation and quality, ZHAOWEI partners with global leaders to deliver technologies that drive progress and enhance human life. SOURCE ZHAOWEI Photo: https://www.facebook.com/RedCrossUkraine The Ukrainian Red Cross Society (URCS) continues to assist with evacuations from Donetsk region. Recently, the Ukrainian Red Cross emergency response team in Donetsk region successfully evacuated four people The operation was complex and required coordinated communication between several emergency response teams, URCS said on Facebook Monday. One crew of volunteers from the Donetsk regional emergency response team of the Ukrainian Red Cross evacuated people from Sloviansk and transported them to Pavlohrad. In the city, the family was met by the Dnipro regional emergency response team and taken to Dnipro. In cooperation with the Bilyi Yanhol (White Angel) unit, another crew from the Donetsk regional emergency response team carried out an evacuation from Lyman. One person was transported to a train in Kramatorsk, while the other was taken to a meeting point along the route where the Kirovohrad regional emergency response team took over for further evacuation to Kropyvnytskyi. Photo: https://eurosolidarity.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/img_0953-1-756x438.jpeg The fifth president of Ukraine, Petro Poroshenko, who last year changed his tax residency from Kyiv to the Horodkivka territorial community, paid UAH 47 million in taxes in this small town in Vinnytsia region at the beginning of this year. "I paid UAH 47 million in taxes in the small town of Horodkivka in Vinnytsia region this year alone," Poroshenko himself wrote on the social network X. He specified that in January 2024 he transferred UAH 96 million in taxes, of which about UAH 50 million went to the accounts of the territorial community, while this year the community will receive more than UAH 25 million out of his UAH 47 million. According to Poroshenko, the community will use his funds to build a road worth UAH 78 million, and he will allocate the missing UAH 2-4 million for this purpose from his personal accounts. A year earlier, the fifth president said that by changing his tax residency he wanted to organize an experiment that could later be extended to other communities with the participation of other major taxpayers in the country. He explained the choice of Horodkivka, with a budget of about UAH 105 million in 2024, by the fact that it is closely connected with the activities of his father, and one of the sugar factories of the Podillia company operates here. "I am glad that we managed to cover the great needs of several cities and towns with such an experiment," Poroshenko summed up. Photo: https://eurosolidarity.org/2025 The European Solidarity faction has accused the Verkhovna Rada leadership of manipulation when forming a delegation to participate in the Ukraine-NATO Parliamentary Counciland demanded the observance of the quota principle and transparency in the formation of all interparliamentary delegations. "On January 20-22, Brussels is hosting a meeting of the Ukraine-NATO Parliamentary Council attended by the Ukrainian parliamentary delegation, which traditionally consists of representatives of the official delegation of the NATO PA [Parliamentary Assembly] with the participation of delegated members of factions and groups, also ex officio the delegation includes the first deputy chairman of the Verkhovna Rada and the heads of the Foreign Affairs and European Integration Committees. Under unclear circumstances, a non-factional MP [...] M. [Maryana] Bezuhla found herself in the delegation. [...] There are questions to the chairman of the Verkhovna Rada [Ruslan Stefanchuk] regarding the authority and legal grounds for the presence of the non-factional MP Bezuhla in the permanent delegation of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine to the NATO PA," the political force said in a statement published on the party's website on Monday. The European Solidarity recalled that the permanent delegation of the Verkhovna Rada to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly includes 24 MPs, and the deputy chairman of the delegation is still Bezuhla, who was included in the delegation as a representative of the Servant of the People parliamentary faction. However, she was later expelled from the faction and is currently a non-factional MP. The statement notes that in accordance with the provision on permanent delegations of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine in the parliamentary bodies of international organizations, exclusively deputy factions registered in the Verkhovna Rada are subject to forming the delegation. "Participation of unauthorized persons in the work of the delegation undermines the principles of legitimacy of the representation of the Ukrainian parliament in the work of such an authoritative institution as the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, destroys the authority of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine in the current system of interparliamentary relations," the faction said. The European Solidarity demanded from the leadership of the Verkhovna Rada to provide documents on the basis of which Bezuhla is included in the delegation. "We demand from the leadership of the Verkhovna Rada to stop manipulating their powers and playing along with Bankova [Street, the address of the Office of the President of Ukraine] in discrediting the Parliament. It is not worth turning the work of the Ukrainian delegation to NATO into an absurdity," it said. 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 New York, Jan 20 : Vivek Ramaswamy, who was appointed by US President-elect Donald Trump as the co-head of a body to improve government efficiency, is planning to run for governor of Ohio, according to media reports. USA Today reported on Sunday that according to a source close to him, Ramaswamy will announce his run for governor "shortly". If elected, he would become the third Indian-American elected governor, after Bobby Jindal in Louisiana and Nikki Haley in South Carolina, all Republicans. The three made unsuccessful bids for the party's presidential nomination. An avowed anti-Left crusader, Ramaswamy, 39, ran against Trump for the Republican Party's presidential nomination but dropped out to become one of his most vociferous supporters. Trump appointed him to be the co-head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) with Elon Musk after having hinted during the campaign that he may even be considered for Secretary of State. "He's really smart, and I hope he's going to be involved in our administration," Trump said. "We can put him in charge of one of these big monsters (in government) and he'll do a better job than anybody you can think of." At the DOGE, only an advisory body outside the government, Ramaswamy, who has a strong personality and is a multi-millionaire, was overshadowed by Elon, who has a stronger personality, is a multi-billionaire and closer to Trump. While DOGE's role has to be firmed up, Ramaswamy's position is even vaguer, and a run for governor gives him an out. Last week there were reports that Trump recommended that Ramaswamy take the Senate seat vacated by Vice President-elect JD Vance if it was offered to him. But Ohio Governor Mike DeWine, who appoints an interim Senator, chose Lieutenant Governor Jon Husted who was considered his possible successor. That opened the gubernatorial run for Ramaswamy, who will have to first win the Republican nomination for the election in November next year, along with Midterm polls for Congress. Ohio's Attorney General Dave Yost and Treasurer Robert Sprague were reported to be preparing to run for the nomination. The state is overwhelmingly Republican, giving whoever is the party's candidate a smooth path to the governorship. Trump won it with a lead of over 11 per cent, and Republicans have a commanding majority in both Chambers of the legislature. Ramaswamy, whose net worth Forbes puts at $960 million, has a financial advantage in the race as he can himself finance the campaign, unlike his rivals. He made his fortune first as a biotech entrepreneur and now runs a hedge fund that he co-founded. In August, Ramaswamy had shown interest in running for both Senator and governor. In an interview with the Outback website, Ramaswamy said, "Governor is something that people are pushing me for a lot in Ohio. And how could I not consider it?" "But also, there's JD Vance, a Senate seat that's now open in my home state in Ohio, and I think that's something that a lot of people have really pushed me to consider," he added. Washington, Jan 20 : US Vice-President-elect JD Vance met with Chinese Vice President Han Zheng on Sunday, a day before he and President-elect Donald Trump will be sworn into office, as confirmed by a news statement from the Trump-Vance transition team. The meeting, which took place on Sunday, covered a variety of important topics that are crucial for the relationship between the two countries. Among the key issues discussed during the meeting were the pressing matter of fentanyl, a potent synthetic opioid that has been a major concern in the US and has been linked to China. Both parties likely discussed strategies to combat the production and distribution of this dangerous drug. Both Vance and Han discussed an array of topics, including fentanyl, balancing trade and regional stability, the Trump-Vance transition team said in a statement. Additionally, the meeting touched upon the topic of trade balance between the two nations. Achieving a fair and mutually beneficial trade relationship is essential for both the US and China, and discussions on this front are crucial for maintaining economic stability and growth. The two leaders also addressed the importance of regional stability in the context of their bilateral relations. Ensuring peace and security in the region is a shared goal that requires cooperation and dialogue between the two countries. It is noteworthy that Han Zheng, as China's special representative, is expected to attend the upcoming presidential inauguration of JD Vance on Monday. This signifies the importance that China places on its relationship with the US and the new administration. Trump invited Chinese President Xi Jinping to attend the inauguration after winning last year's presidential election. Xi has sent Han in his place. Vance's meeting with Han follows a recent phone call between Trump and Xi. During the call, the two leaders discussed issues including TikTok, trade and Taiwan. It was the first known phone call between the two heads of state since Trump's election in November. The Wall Street Journal reported on January 18 that Trump has told advisers he wants to travel to China after he takes office. If the trip happens, it would mark his second visit to China as President. Trump travelled to Beijing in 2017 during a trip to Asia where he visited several other countries. In conclusion, the meeting between Vance and Zheng marks an important step in strengthening the relationship between the two countries and addressing key issues of mutual concern. The outcomes of this meeting are likely to have a significant impact on future interactions and cooperation between the US and China. Washington, Jan 20 : US President Joe Biden said the "guns in Gaza have gone silent" as Hamas handed over three hostages -- the first group to be released under a ceasefire deal between Israel and the militant group that took effect on Sunday. "The deal that I first put forward last May for the Middle East has finally come to fruition. The ceasefire has gone into effect in Gaza, and today, we're seeing hostages being released -- three Israeli women held against their will in the dark tunnels for 470 days," Biden said in remarks from Charleston, South Carolina, on Sunday. "After so much pain, destruction, loss of life today, the guns in Gaza have gone silent," he added. Displaced Gazans have started returning to their homes, while aid trucks laden with much-needed supplies have crossed into Gaza. The three Israeli hostages released by Hamas on Sunday are now back in Israel, according to a statement from the Israeli military. Romi Gonen, Doron Steinbrecher, and Emily Damari are being reunited with their mothers, who travelled to Re'im in southern Israel, to meet them. "The released hostages are currently on their way to an initial reception point in southern Israel, where they will undergo an initial medical assessment," the military said. They will then be transferred to Sheba Medical Center in Tel Aviv. Earlier, the Red Cross transferred the hostages to the Israeli military in Gaza, the military said in a statement. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has credited both the outgoing Biden administration and President-elect Donald Trump's transition team for helping secure the deal. Biden's team worked on the pact for many months, keeping the incoming Trump administration closely apprised on the final contours of negotiations. President Biden told reporters on Sunday that he was pleased that both his administration and President-elect Donald Trump's transition team spoke as "one voice in the final days" to reach a Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal. "It was both necessary and effective and unprecedented, but success is going to require persistence and continuing support for our friends in the region, and the belief in diplomacy backed by deterrence," Biden said in remarks from Charleston, South Carolina. "Now it falls on the next administration to help implement this deal," he added. Following his remarks, Biden was asked if he had concern about Hamas potentially regrouping. He responded, "No." Sunday marks the final full day of the Biden administration, as Trump is set to be inaugurated on Monday. Washington, Jan 20 : President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to issue an executive order delaying a looming ban on the widely popular app to allow time to "make a deal" and called for the US to take part-ownership in TikTok. Trump's announcement came on Sunday, hours after TikTok went dark in the US under a law banning it in the name of national security, as a deadline for its Chinese owners ByteDance to sell its US subsidiary to non-Chinese buyers lapsed. The law however includes a clause allowing for a 90-day delay if the White House can show progress toward a viable deal, but so far ByteDance has flatly refused any sale. Outgoing President Joe Biden's administration said it would leave the matter to Trump -- who takes office on Monday -- and that it would not enforce any ban. "I will issue an executive order on Monday to extend the period of time before the law's prohibitions take effect, so that we can make a deal to protect our national security," Trump said on his Truth Social platform. He said he "would like the US to have a 50 per cent ownership position in a joint venture," arguing that the app's value could surge to "hundreds of billions of dollars -- maybe trillions". "By doing this, we save TikTok, keep it in good hands," Trump wrote. But Tiktok is also rife with disinformation, and its Chinese ownership has long spurred national security fears, internationally as well as in the US. In an earlier message to dismayed users trying to access the app on Sunday, TikTok said "we are fortunate that President Trump has indicated that he will work with us on a solution to reinstate TikTok once he takes office. Please stay tuned!" Trump, who had previously backed a TikTok ban and during his first term in office made moves towards one, did not offer further details on how such a deal would work. Sunday's blackout came after the US Supreme Court on Friday upheld the legislation banning it pending any sale. But the app now has a fan in Trump, who -- since signing an executive order stepping up pressure on ByteDance to sell in 2020 -- has since credited the app with connecting him to younger voters. It is unclear what the incoming President can do to lift the ban unless ByteDance sells, however. "Congress wrote this law to be virtually president-proof," warned Adam Kovacevich, chief executive of industry trade group Chamber of Progress. Besides removing TikTok from app stores, the law requires Apple and Google to block new downloads, with the companies liable for penalties of up to $5,000 per user if the app is accessed. Oracle, which hosts TikTok's servers, would also be legally obligated to enforce the ban. Other social media platforms such as X were flooded with memes and comments mourning the move Sunday -- though some posts were more cynical, with many pointing to Trump's own previous efforts to ban TikTok. In Europe, TikTok's suspension drew praise from the Foreign Minister of Estonia -- among the countries most resilient to disinformation, according to the European Media Literacy Index. The proposal did not include a price but the source estimated it would cost at least $50 billion. Frank McCourt, the former Los Angeles Dodgers owner, has also made an offer to purchase TikTok's US activities. Nandurbar : , Jan 20 (IANS) An incident of stone-pelting and arson occurred between two groups within the limits of the Nandurbar City police station in Maharashtra late on Sunday night (January 19). The situation escalated following a minor accident that took place on Sunday morning between an auto rickshaw and a motorcycle, leading to unrest in the area. Some individuals, reportedly social activists, attempted arson and threw stones, prompting swift action from the Nandurbar police. "Around 10 p.m. yesterday, people of a particular community started pelting stones. Earlier in the day, an offence was registered about an incident, after which the stone pelting took place. Police forces deployed on the spot controlled the situation as a result of which violence did not spread to other areas. No property damage or casualty has been reported. Registration of offence is being done. We have identified a few suspects," said Nandurbar Superintendent of Police (SP), Shravan S. Dutt. Upon receiving information about the incident, a large contingent of Nandurbar City Police was deployed to the spot, and the situation was brought under control. According to reports, the clashes took place between 10 and 10:30 p.m. in the Trikoni Building, Halwai Mohalla, and Chirag Galli areas of Nandurbar city. In response, the police stationed heavy security in these areas and managed to stabilise the situation within a short time. Some establishments sustained damage during the stone-pelting, and there was an attempt to set another commercial establishment on fire. To disperse the mob and restore order, the police fired tear gas shells. Although the immediate tension has subsided, an uneasy calm prevails in the affected areas. The police have taken several individuals into custody and are actively searching for others involved in the violence. Speaking about the incident, Nandurbar SP, Shravan S. Dutt, urged residents to remain calm and avoid falling prey to rumours. He appealed to citizens not to take the law into their own hands and to report any incidents of violence to the police immediately. Heavy police deployment remains in place in the affected areas to maintain peace and order. Mumbai, Jan 20 : Amitabh Bachchan shared that his Sunday at the gates of his home in Mumbai were filled with love and affection. The megastar said that he is rewarded every week. The cine icon took to his blog, where he wrote: "The Sunday at the gates of J as ever were filled with love and affection from the Ef in majority and the well wishers in their screams of affection." "I am rewarded each Sunday for it to be in the continuity of my time that I anxiously give time to." Talking about work, he said: "Plans for the work ahead have been rigid and unbending .. and they shall in time feel the considered opinion of the many .. till then though these connects give assurance that another day has gone bylove and more." Last week, the thespian paid a tribute to "Ganga Maiya" amidst Mahakumbh, which began on January 13. Big Big shared a montage of people taking a dip in the holy river, along with the words, "Jai Ganga Maiya Ji Ki", and "Jai Maa Yamunotri". He captioned the post with an Om emoji. Prior to this, Amitabh took to his official X (formerly Twitter) account and penned a cryptic tweet saying, "Mahakumbh Snan Bhava" Talking about Amitabh Bachchan's work, Big B last graced the screens with the Tamil action entertainer "Vettaiyan". He was seen with Rajinikanth, Fahadh Faasil, Rana Daggubati, along with Manju Warrier, Ritika Singh, Dushara Vijayan, Rohini, Rao Ramesh, Abhirami and Ramesh Thilak in secondary roles. "Vettaiyan" revolves around the life of Athiyan (Rajinikanth), a seasoned police officer who ends up killing an innocent person during an encounter. Bankrolled by Lyca Productions, the music for the drama has been composed by Anirudh Ravichander. The cinematography for the film has been handled by S. R. Kathir, while Philomin Raj has performed the editing. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text Tel Aviv, Jan 20 : The Israel Prison Service announced on Monday the release of 90 Palestinian prisoners as part of a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas. On Sunday, Israeli authorities began transferring Palestinian detainees to Ofer Prison in the West Bank, preparing them for release. The process coincided with the Red Cross meeting Hamas forces to secure the transfer of three Israeli hostages, who were later brought to Israel, reports Xinhua news agency. The three womena"Emily Damari, 28, a British-Israeli, Doron Steinbrecher, 30, a veterinary nurse, and Romi Gonen, 23, abducted from the Nova music festivala"were the first hostages freed after 471 days in captivity. Their release marked the initial stage of the agreement, which outlines the release of 33 Israeli hostages by Hamas and 990 to 1,650 Palestinian prisoners by Israel. As part of the deal, the first group of 90 Palestinian prisoners, mostly women and children from West Bank and East Jerusalem, underwent medical checks and identification procedures before being handed to the Red Cross. Hamas, in turn, transferred the three Israeli hostages through the Red Cross to Israeli forces near the Gaza border, where they were reunited with their families. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described the moment as significant, stating, "The three went through hell." IDF Spokesman Daniel Hagari expressed gratitude for their return while emphasising that Israeli forces are prepared for any violations of the agreement. Hamas spokesperson Abu Ubaida reiterated the group's commitment to the ceasefire, contingent on Israel's adherence. He described the October 7 assault, which killed 1,200 people in Israel and led to the kidnapping of 250 others, as a "turning point" in the conflict. The ceasefire deal, which aims to halt hostilities after over 15 months of intense Israeli airstrikes in Gaza, marks the beginning of six weeks of calm. The phased release of hostages and prisoners is seen as a critical step towards reducing tensions between the two sides. Photo: https://t.me/DBRgovua/5112 Employees of the State Bureau of Investigations (SBI), in cooperation with the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), detained the former commanders, two generals and a colonel, due to whose negligence the enemy was able to seize part of the territory of Kharkiv region in May 2024, the SBI informs. "Former commanders of the Kharkiv Operational and Tactical Group of Forces, the 125th Separate Territorial Defense Brigade, and the 415th Separate Rifle Battalion of the 23rd Separate Mechanized Brigade, due to their negligent attitude to military service, allowed Russian Federation troops to seize part of the territory of the Lyptsi village territorial community of Kharkiv district," it said in a statement on Monday. According to the Bureau, the actions of the commanders led to the loss of personnel and weapons and disrupted measures to defend the state border in the area of their responsibility. The SBI stresses that the brigadier general defined defense positions for the 125th Brigade, which did not correspond to its combat capabilities, moreover, he had other units that could have reinforced these positions. The commander also made a number of other mistakes, including not fully specified the directions of the main enemy strikes, insufficiently controlled the organization of preparation and conduct of defense actions. "He did not timely maneuver the forces and means of the grouping, did not organize the support of the brigade's units by artillery and air forces," the SBI said. The former commander of the 125th Brigade, Lieutenant General, also "underestimated the enemy's capabilities to restore the offensive in the brigade's defense area, inadequately responded to the enemy's build-up of combat capabilities and threats." In particular, according to the Bureau, he did not ensure the arrangement of combat guard positions, did not take measures to staff the brigade, determined exaggerated combat missions for battalions, did not conduct operational and tactical calculations, did not organize proper equipment of strongholds, engineering barriers, etc. In addition, according to the SBI, the former brigade commander, having information about the preparation of enemy offensive actions, did not bring it to his subordinates, did not ensure maximum mobilization and presence of all personnel of the brigade, including officers at their positions. "Already in battle, he did not organize proper fire support of brigade units by artillery; did not ensure the effective use of brigade reserves, interaction of the brigade with other units and did not know the real state of affairs on the battlefield," it said. The former commander of the 415th Battalion of the 23th Brigade did not organize the defensive battle in the settlements of Strilecha, Chervoni Lyptsi and Slobozhanske, which were in the battalion line of defense, did not determine what objects to include in the strongholds and how to prepare them for protection, ways to counter the underground mine warfare of the enemy, places of equipment of storage facilities and depots. "During the repulsion of the enemy offensive, he did not report to the senior commander on the results of the defense battle, did not take measures to stop the unauthorized departure of twelve servicemen of the battalion and gave a single combat order in the absence of an order from the senior commander. Also, the former commander ignored and did not fulfill the order of the brigade commander to retake the lost positions," it said. The SBI stresses that because of these violations, the enemy "seized the positions of the units of the first and second echelon of battalions, which led to the loss of personnel, penetration of the enemy in the defense strip to a distance of up to 10 kilometers in depth and loss of control over part of the territory along the state border of Ukraine." The Bureau reports that after the detainees are brought to Kyiv, they will be reported on suspicion of a military official's negligent attitude to service committed under martial law, which entailed grave consequences (Part 4 of Article 425 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine). The former commander of the 415th Battalion will be additionally notified of suspicion of desertion from the battlefield (Article 429 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine). The sanction of the articles provides for punishment of up to ten years of imprisonment. It is also planned to apply to the court with a petition to select a preventive measure in the form of detention for the suspects. Procedural guidance is provided by the Prosecutor General's Office of Ukraine (PGO). An informed law enforcement source told Interfax-Ukraine that it is about Brigadier General Yuriy Halushkin, Lieutenant General Artur Horbenko, and Colonel Illia Lapin. Earlier, Editor-in-Chief of the Censor publication Yuriy Butusov said on the Telegram channel that the SBI intends to bring suspicion against several military officers: Colonel Dmytro Riumshyn, former Commander of the 155th Anne of Kyiv Brigade; Brigadier General Yuriy Halushkin, former Commander of the Kharkiv Operational and Tactical Groud Of Forces; Lieutenant General Artur Horbenko, former Commander of the 125th Lviv Territorial Defense Brigade as well as the former Deputy Commander of the 125th Brigade. According to Butusov, Riumshyn was detained in Rivne, where he had arrived to serve in the Zakhid (West) Operational Command reserve battalion. "Halushkin and Horbenko will receive suspicion for official negligence in connection with the failure of defense and loss of controllability of troops on the Kharkiv axis on May 10, 2024," he said. New Delhi, Jan 20 : Days ahead of the upcoming Delhi Assembly polls, The Republican Party of India (RPI) President and Union Minister Ramdas Athawale has criticised the Aam Aadmi Party convenor and former Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for failing to fulfill all the poll promises despite being in power for the last 15 years. While speaking to IANS, Athawale also said that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will form the government with a landslide victory in Delhi in the Assembly polls scheduled to take place on February 5. The Union Minister also added that Arvind Kejriwal failed to fulfill his poll promises to provide permanent houses to the underprivileged and slum dwellers residing in the national capital. On the other hand, the BJP under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has already fulfilled the promise of giving permanent housing to slum dwellers living in the city, Athawale added. "The BJP will form the government this time in Delhi while the AAP will be booted out of power for the last 15 years," he said. Commenting on the recent attack on Arvind Kejriwal's convoy attacked while conducting a door-to-door campaign in the New Delhi Assembly constituency where the AAP accused the BJP of "orchestrating attacks" to kill the AAP convenor, Athawale said: "It is not the BJP but the people of Delhi who are targeting Kejriwal with stones and bricks after he failed to fulfill the promises based on which he was voted to power for the last 15 years in Delhi. Therefore, the AAP must not come to power at any cost in the upcoming Assembly polls." Earlier on January 18, AAP released a video of the incident, claiming Kejriwal's vehicle was attacked with stones and bricks. The party also shared the video on X, accusing the BJP of attempting to harm Kejriwal. Commenting on the Opposition alliance, Athawale claimed, "There is a clear division in the INDIA bloc." "While the AAP and Congress had an alliance during the Lok Sabha elections, they are now at odds. The AAP has declared that it will fight alone in Delhi, and the Congress is also contesting independently. Although some smaller parties are supporting the AAP, it won't make a significant difference. The INDIA bloc is fractured, in my view," he said. The Union Minister also refuted that investigative agencies in Delhi were functioning according to law while citing the arrests of Arvind Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia, Sanjay Singh, and other AAP leaders. "Arvind Kejriwal has been accused of being involved in receiving commission worth crores of rupees in connection with the liquor policy scam in Delhi," Athawale said. "The BJP has the upper hand in Delhi because of Narendra Modi's work, which will resonate with the people. This time, they will give the BJP the opportunity to form the government," he added. Canberra, Jan 20 : Scientists have called for acoustic technology to track white sharks off the coast of South Australia (SA) to prevent attacks on humans. Four people have died in shark attacks at South Australian beaches since May 2023, including 28-year-old surfer Lance Appleby who was killed by a suspected great white shark earlier this month, reports Xinhua news agency. The spate of attacks has prompted scientists to advocate for deploying acoustic technology at popular beaches across the SA coast to monitor tagged white sharks. Over 200 white sharks have already been tagged in waters off the SA coast as part of a monitoring program for the diving industry. The tags emit a unique sound pulse that is detected by underwater receivers, which in turn transmit the location data via satellite. A small number of receivers have already been deployed along the coastline of Adelaide, SA's capital, for research purposes, but shark expert Charlie Huveneers from Flinders University said that they could be used more widely to reduce the risk of shark attacks. He said the real-time receivers could be used to notify the public and authorities when a shark is nearby. "This information can be used by the public to be better informed about the risk of shark bites and to leave the water when a potentially dangerous shark is nearby," he told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). Russ Bradford from national science agency the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) said the east coast state of New South Wales (NSW) spent approximately 20 million Australian dollars ($12.4 million) over the last 10 years tagging sharks and installing acoustic receivers. He told ABC that a similar program in SA could be useful alerting water users to the presence of a shark. According to the NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development, the state's shark tagging program is estimated to be the largest in the world. In 2023, the 37 acoustic receivers along the NSW coast recorded 62,835 shark detections, 34,929 of which were great white sharks. A spokesperson for the state government of SA told the ABC that expanding SA's acoustic receiver program for the purpose of reducing the risk of shark bites would be inefficient and impractical due to the length of the state's coastline. Seoul, Jan 20 : A total of 86 angry supporters of impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol have been apprehended for storming a court and are likely to face severe legal consequences, sources said. From Saturday to early Sunday, police arrested the protesters for breaking into the Seoul Western District Court in anger over the court's decision to formally arrest Yoon for his failed martial law attempt, Yonhap news agency reported. Yoon's supporters forcefully entered the court by climbing over walls and breaking windows while hurling plastic chairs, trash and other objects, and spraying a fire extinguisher at police officers stationed around the building. They were part of an estimated crowd of 44,000 supporters of Yoon who had gathered outside the court Saturday as the impeached president attended a hearing regarding the extension of his detention. Some protestors engaged in physical altercations with police officers as they tried to breach the court grounds, ignoring repeated warnings from law enforcement that their actions could result in arrest or potentially trigger a crowd crush. According to sources, the arrested protesters face charges ranging from minor offenses, such as damaging public property -- punishable by up to three years in prison or a fine of 5 million won ($3,400) -- to more severe charges. In the most serious cases, they could face up to 10 years in prison or a fine of 15 million won for riot-related offenses. Some journalists who covered the incident, including those from Yonhap News Agency, and broadcasters KBS, MBC and MBN, were found to have been assaulted and threatened by protesters. Earlier in the day, the Supreme Prosecutors Office described the violence against law enforcement and vandalism as "grave crimes" that undermine the rule of law and the judicial system. It has instructed the Seoul Western District Prosecutors Office to set up a team to "sternly" address the matter and said prosecutors would work closely with the police on the investigation. Police also formed a special investigation team to probe the incident and determine further actions against those involved. They said they would deal "sternly" with those who broke the law. Meanwhile, police on Sunday apprehended a man who climbed over the wall of the Constitutional Court for a suspected break-in of the building. The Constitutional Court has been deliberating whether to uphold Yoon's impeachment or reinstate him. Police also arrested a man who possessed a crowbar at an exit of Anguk subway station near the Constitutional Court, and another man was caught in front of the court building on suspected obstruction of official duties. It is not currently known whether the three apprehended men in the vicinity of the court are Yoon supporters. In a message to reporters, the Seoul Western District Court said it will return to normal operations Monday and scheduled trials will be held as planned. But access to the court using vehicles will not be allowed Monday, and visitors will be subject to identification checks, it said. Chennai, Jan 20 : With the Erode East by-election scheduled for February 5, the DMK is going all out to secure a significant victory margin. The bypoll was necessitated after the passing of veteran Congress leader E.V.K.S. Elangovan, who had become an MLA after the death of his son, Thirumahan Everaa, due to a sudden heart attack on January 4, 2023. In the 2023 by-election, Elangovan defeated AIADMK candidate K.S. Thenarassu by a margin of 66,233 votes. However, this time around, the AIADMK and BJP have opted not to contest the election. The DMK has fielded its leader and propaganda committee state joint secretary, V.C. Chandhirakumar, against Naam Tamilar Katchi (NTK) candidate K. Seethalakshmi. It is worth noting that in the 2023 by-election, NTK's candidate, Menaka Navaneethan, managed to secure only 10,827 votes. Despite the absence of strong opponents like the AIADMK and BJP, the DMK is leaving no stone unturned in its campaign to ensure a resounding victory. DMK youth wing leader and Deputy Chief Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin was spearheading the election campaign in Erode East. Meanwhile, Chief Minister M.K. Stalin instructed the party leadership to focus on winning the seat with a substantial margin. Senior DMK leader and party organising secretary R.S. Bharathi emphasised that the party is taking the election seriously, dismissing claims that the DMK might relax its efforts due to weak opposition. DMK Erode district secretary and local minister S. Muthusamy was leading the on-ground campaign in the urban constituency. He, along with local district and division secretaries and MP Prakash, has been conducting door-to-door campaigns with the candidate, V.C. Chandhirakumar. Within a week of announcing their candidate, the local DMK unit has covered 10 of the 30-plus wards in the constituency, which is entirely urban. Senior DMK leader and state PWD minister E.V. Velu will visit the constituency later in the day to assess the situation. The DMK sees this by-election as an opportunity to reinforce its support base, especially following controversies such as the Anna University sexual assault case and allegations of declining law and order in Tamil Nadu. While Chief Minister Stalin's participation in the campaign remains unconfirmed, Deputy Chief Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin, along with other senior ministers, is expected to lead the charge. The Vikravandi by-election, which was retained successfully under Udhayanidhi Stalin's leadership, provided confidence to the party in securing Erode East with a thumping majority. R.S. Bharathi reiterated, "We will not take this bypoll lightly." Seoul, Jan 20 : North Korea on Monday denounced Japan's recent opening of a new diplomatic mission to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), accusing the country of dangerously escalating the military tension in the region. The North's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) issued the criticism in an article attributed to an international security analyst, following Japan's formal inauguration of an independent mission to NATO last week to bolster cooperation. "Japan set up its independent mission in NATO at a time when the security environment in the Asia-Pacific region is more seriously threatened due to the US provocative military hegemony," the KCNA said. "This is a dangerous act of adding new instability to the regional situation." The KCNA also accused Japan of "extremely escalating the military tension in the region" by tightening military cooperation with NATO, "pursuant to the US strategy for world domination to expand NATO's sphere of influence into the Asia-Pacific region." It also called Japan "a war criminal state" and "an anti-peace force," accusing it of threatening the Asia-Pacific region and the rest of the world through its "admission to aggressive military blocs, undisguised arms buildup and ceaseless war drills." "The tightened nexus" between Japan and NATO is a serious threat to international peace and security, Yonhap news agency reported quoting KCNA. Since Russia's war against Ukraine and its growing ties with North Korea, NATO has strengthened its links with Japan, South Korea and other countries in the Indo-Pacific region. North Korea has frequently responded with sharp criticism to such moves. Seoul, Jan 20 : South Korean arrested President Yoon Suk Yeol will not appear for further questioning over his failed martial law bid Monday, his lawyers said. Yoon has been ordered by the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) to appear for questioning at 10 a.m. after he failed to appear the previous day, Yonhap news agency reported. The CIO is expected to forcibly bring him in or visit him at the Seoul Detention Center where he has been held since last Wednesday if he continues to resist the orders. Yoon was placed under formal arrest early Sunday after a court issued a warrant to extend his detention over concerns he might destroy evidence. Earlier on Sunday, the anti-corruption investigation agency said that Yoon will be banned from meeting visitors other than his lawyers. The Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) made the decision after a court granted a warrant earlier in the day to formally arrest impeached President. The CIO said it has sent a document of its decision to a detention centre in Uiwang, just south of Seoul, where Yoon is in custody, citing concerns about destroying evidence. The measure will be effective until he is indicted. With the CIO's move, First Lady Kim Keon Hee and other people close to Yoon will not be permitted to meet the arrested president. Legal experts said the CIO's decision is seen as aimed at preparing for the possibility that Yoon's side could file a court petition to review whether his formal detention is appropriate. With the issuance of the arrest warrant, Yoon has become the first sitting president to be formally arrested. The impeached president faces charges of leading an insurrection and abusing his power through his short-lived imposition of martial law on December 3. Mumbai, Jan 20 : The 30-year-old Bangladeshi national, Mohammad Shariful Islam Shehzad, arrested on charges of stabbing actor Saif Ali Khan after breaking into his house, had recced the residences of several Bollywood celebrities before committing the crime, the police sources said. During interrogation, Shehzad disclosed that he had scoped out Saif Ali Khan's house in the 12-storey building, Satguru Sharan, and Shah Rukh Khan's Mannat, among many others. To access these high-profile residences, he used a ladder to assess entry points. However, he abandoned plans to target Mannat due to its heightened security and high walls, the sources stated. On January 15, Shehzad carried out a detailed recce of Saif Ali Khan's house, identifying an easy way to gain entry. He returned later that night, entering the building at 1:37 a.m. on January 16. Once inside, he was unable to execute the robbery as planned and, in a panic, attacked Saif Ali Khan before fleeing empty-handed. Sources revealed that Shehzad had been unemployed for a month and was desperate to return to Bangladesh. Lacking the financial means to arrange his journey, he sought help from various people but was asked to pay a sum he could not afford. He decided to rob a celebrity's home to fund his return. His plan was inspired by an auto driver who had pointed out the houses of Shah Rukh Khan and Saif Ali Khan during a casual conversation in Bandra. Police stated that Shehzad had a clear opportunity to steal cash and jewellery from Saif Ali Khan's home, but his fear of getting caught caused him to flee without taking anything. After the failed attempt, he kept a close watch on the investigation through news channels, saving screenshots of suspects shown by the media. These images were later recovered from his mobile phone. Mumbai Police had initially detained two other suspects based on resemblance to Shehzad, but he continued to evade capture. The breakthrough came on Sunday morning when Shehzad was arrested near Hiranandani Estate in Kasarvadavali, Thane, around 35 kilometres from Saif Ali Khan's residence. He had been hiding in a labour camp in a forested area. Upon realising the police were closing in, Shehzad attempted to evade arrest by hiding in bushes, but he was apprehended after a seven-hour search operation. According to DCP Dixit Gedam, Shehzad did not possess any Indian identification documents, and evidence found on him confirmed his Bangladeshi nationality. Police revealed that he had been living in Mumbai for four months under the alias Bijoy Das. Following his arrest, Shehzad reportedly confessed to the crime, stating, "Haan, maine hi kiya hai" (Yes, I did it). He was remanded to police custody for five days, during which investigators plan to recreate the crime scene at Saif Ali Khan's Bandra residence as part of the probe. The failed robbery attempt has highlighted the vulnerability of high-profile residences despite security measures. Mumbai Police continue their investigation to gather further details about the accused's activities and background. Chennai, Jan 20 : Tamil superstar and founder-president of the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK), Vijay, is set to meet the people protesting against the proposed Greenfield Airport Project in Parandur on Monday. Vijay left his Neelankarai residence this morning to interact with the protesters, who have been agitating against the airport project for more than 900 days. The meeting is scheduled to take place at a wedding hall in Ekanapuram from noon to 1 p.m. N. Anand, the general secretary of TVK, told the media that Vijayas sole objective is to meet with the affected people at Ekanapuram. The meeting was initially planned to be held at Ambedkar Thidal in Ekanapuram. However, due to overnight rain and restrictions imposed by the Kancheepuram police, the venue was shifted to the wedding hall. The proposed greenfield airport at Parandur has become a contentious issue, with local residents and farmers expressing concerns over the projectas potential environmental and social impacts. The villagers argue that the project, which requires the acquisition of 5,746 acres across 20 villages, will destroy fertile agricultural land and eco-sensitive water bodies, threatening their livelihoods. Residents of Ekanapuram, one of the largest affected villages, have been at the forefront of the protests. They have boycotted gram sabha meetings, and elections, and have even passed resolutions demanding the projectas cancellation. The Union government announced Parandur as the airport site in August 2022, and the project is expected to be completed by 2028. However, opposition to the airport has been growing steadily. Despite the Tamil Nadu Revenue Departmentas assurances that land acquisition will proceed only after consultations with the affected communities, the villagers remain resolute in their resistance. On the Pongal day, two TVK state office-bearers, Jagannathan and Ayyanathan, visited Ekanapuram and identified five acres of land for organizing the gathering. Vijayas planned visit is seen as an effort to lend support to the villagers and amplify their concerns. The police have frequently restricted access to the protesting villages, erecting barricades and checking vehicles to prevent outsiders from entering. Protest marches organised by groups such as the BJP, PMK, Puthiya Thamizhagam, and the anti-corruption group Arappor Iyakkam have been either denied or revoked. Vijayas visit is expected to attract significant media attention and bolster TVKas public traction. It also has the potential to influence the political narrative surrounding the issue. For the villagers, his visit could serve as a morale booster in their continued opposition to the project. --IANS aal/dpb -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text Guwahati, Jan 20 : Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma is in Seoul in South Korea and he has a series of meetings on Monday with the top industry players there for the upcoming investment summit in Guwahati -- Advantage Assam 2.0, officials said. Sarma is set to stay in Seoul for three days after meeting top industrialists and he will head to Tokyo afterwards. He will be in Japan for two days to showcase Assam's potential to become a industrial hub in future. The CM visited Banpo Hangang River Park in Seoul on Sunday and he compared this with the Brahmaputra Riverfront which is coming up in Guwahati. Taking to X, he wrote, "On a visit to South Korea for #AdvantageAssam2 Roadshow, I had a chance to go to the Banpo Hangang River Park, a thoughtfully crafted island for the leisure of Seoul residents, nestled on the banks of the Han River. Our Guwahati Riverfront is also shaping up with the same philosophy and will be opened soon for public." The Advantage Assam summit will highlight on attracting investors across the globe to invest in the state. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will kickstart the summit. According to Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, the event, which is set for February 25 and 26, would also highlight the traditional Jhumur dance of the tea tribe clans. Sarma said, "This summit is a platform to showcase Assam's rich traditions to a global audience in addition to attracting investors." A spectacular Jhumur dance performance with more than 7,500 dancers and artists will be part of the event. It will be an extraordinary show, the CM said. The preparations are underway for this cultural event. The Chief Minister said, "Perfect execution will be ensured by master training workshops, constituency-level sessions, district-level performances, and final rehearsals in Guwahati." The concert, which is planned for either day of the summit, is anticipated to make a lasting effect on those present. New Delhi, Jan 20 : The Congress on Monday slammed the BJP over the registration of an FIR against Congress MP and Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, in Assam for his "Indian state" remark. Congress spokesperson Abhay Dubey alleged that the BJP is "afraid" of Rahul Gandhi and is resorting to such measures. The FIR, registered in BJP-ruled Assam's largest city, Guwahati, pertains to Gandhi's recent remarks and invokes sections 152 and 197(1)d of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, which address actions endangering India's sovereignty, unity, and integrity. The complaint was filed by Monjit Chetia, who accused the Congress leader of exceeding the boundaries of free speech. Responding to the development, Dubey told IANS, "The BJP is so afraid of Rahul Gandhi that it has filed an FIR against him. However, no BJP-ruled state can diminish Rahul Gandhi's resolve and commitment towards his goals." Chetia, in his complaint, alleged that Gandhi's remarks posed a "serious threat to public order and national security." The FIR stems from a statement made by Gandhi during the inauguration of the Congress' new headquarters in Delhi. Reacting to Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat's comment on India's "true independence," Gandhi had said, "Do not think we are fighting a fair fight. If you believe this is merely against a political organisation like the BJP or RSS, understand that they have captured almost every institution in our country. We are now up against the Indian state itself." The Congress leader's recent visits to various states have also drawn political attention. During his visit to Patna, Gandhi addressed the 'Samvidhan Suraksha Sammelan' and met with Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) supremo Lalu Yadav and his son, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav. However, speculation about strained ties within the INDIA bloc surfaced as Gandhi reportedly avoided meeting Mamata Banerjee during his visit to West Bengal and skipped meeting Akhilesh Yadav in Uttar Pradesh. Reacting to the speculations, Dubey dismissed the claims, stating, "The BJP is spreading baseless rumours. Even if Rahul Gandhi pays a personal visit to Lalu Yadav, the BJP finds a problem with it." "As far as the INDIA bloc is concerned, its leaders meet on one platform whenever a formal meeting is scheduled," Dubey clarified. Photo: https://t.me/Denys_Smyhal/9378 During a working meeting with a delegation of the Lithuanian Seimas led by Speaker Saulius Skvernelis, support for Ukraine, defense cooperation and sanctions against Russia were discussed, Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal has said Monday. "I thanked for the weighty contribution to strengthening Ukrainian defense. In particular, for the decision to allocate annually 0.25% of GDP to support our state. Also, I noted the importance of Lithuania's financing the production of Ukrainian drones in Ukraine. Attention was paid to increasing investment in our defense industry and the creation of joint defense enterprises. This will strengthen the Ukrainian economy and defense production," he said on the Telegram channel. The Prime Minister noted support for Ukraine's European and Euro-Atlantic aspirations. "Lithuania remains one of Ukraine's biggest advocates in this and other directions. I am extremely grateful for everything that Lithuania and the Lithuanian people have done and continue to do for Ukraine. I am confident that the new composition of the Seimas will continue to support Ukrainians in the hard fight against the Russian aggressor," he said. Earlier, Lithuanian Prime Minister Gintautas Paluckas said during his visit to Kyiv in December 2024 that his country was ready to invest in the production of Ukrainian missile drones, as well as to expand cooperation with Ukraine in the field of training and education of the Ukrainian military. Mandya : , Jan 20 (IANS) Shops and traditional markets in Karnataka's historical town of Srirangapatna remained closed on Monday following a bandh call given by farmers' organisations and Hindu activists to protest against the inclusion of farmers' lands as Waqf properties. The farmers are protesting the inclusion of their lands in the Record of Rights, Tenancy, and Crops (RTC) records as Waqf properties. Locals alleged that the land records of more than 50 farmers in the villages of Kiranguru, Shettyhalli, Baburayanakoppalu, and Darasakuppe now show their properties as owned by the Waqf board. This development has caused panic and concern among the farming community in the region. Although the records indicate that the properties are in the possession of the farmers, the ownership is attributed to the Waqf board. Farmers noted that whenever there is a sale deed or a loan involved, the names of the bank or relevant parties are typically mentioned in the records. However, in this case, without any such transactions, the land records have been updated showing the Waqf board as the owner. The issue came to light when some farmers reviewed their RTC records for property sales or division purposes. Hindu activists also alleged that several historical monuments in and around Srirangapatna, including the aMaddina Manea (armoury), have been listed as properties of the Waqf board. The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), Bajrang Dal, Raitha Sangha, Mandya Rakshana Vedike, and other organisations have come together to protest the development and called for a voluntary bandh on Monday. Farmers planned to stage a protest with their cows and other cattle. In response to the bandh call, local business owners and shopkeepers did not open their establishments in Srirangapatna. The town, historically significant as the former capital of the Mysuru kingdom under Tipu Sultan, witnessed widespread support for the protest. The BJP earlier launched a statewide agitation regarding the Waqf row under the slogan "Our Land, Our Right". Following massive protests, the Congress-led Karnataka government announced the withdrawal of notices issued to farmers by the Waqf board. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Minister for Waqf and Housing Zameer Ahmad Khan assured the House that any discrepancies in the land records would be corrected. They also stated that the Waqf board would not claim ownership of temple properties. Kolkata, Jan 20 : Veteran CPI(M) leader and former party legislator Tanmoy Bhattacharya, accused last year of sexual harassment of a woman journalist associated with a local Youtube channel, will remain suspended for another six months. The decision of the party's state committee in West Bengal taken last year was endorsed at the two-day central committee meeting that concluded at New Town in the northern outskirts of Kolkata on Sunday evening, confirmed a central committee member on Monday morning. Bhattacharya had, however, kept himself incommunicado from the media till the time the report was filed and hence his reaction to the matter was not available. The two-day central committee meeting of the party was presided over by the party's existing politburo coordinator and the former general secretary Prakash Karat. The post of CPI(M) general secretary is lying vacant currently because of the sudden and untimely demise of the party's erstwhile portfolio holder Sitaram Yechury last year. Yechury's successor will be announced at CPI(M)'s forthcoming party Congress at Madurai in Tamil Nadu in April. In October last year, the female reporter attached to an independent YouTube channel on Facebook accused Bhattacharya of making "sexually inappropriate" behaviour with her while she went to his residence to interview him then. The state committee of the CPI(M) suspended him the same day and also initiated an internal probe against him by the party's internal complaints committee. Later, based on the FIR filed by the reporter at Baranagar Police Station, Bhattacharya was summoned by the cops several times for questioning. However, no coercive action was initiated against him by the police administration. Bhattacharya had been vehemently denying the accusation of sexual harassment. He has also claimed that the charges of sexual harassment against him were a "well-planned plot" to malign his image. "I am a communist and will continue to remain so till my last breath. If I am proven innocent I will continue as a CPI(M) activist. If I am held guilty by my party and expelled, I will remain a communist till my last day. Even if I cannot continue as a CPI(M) activist, I will continue as a communist," Bhattacharya had said earlier. New Delhi, Jan 20 : In an interim order passed on Monday, the Supreme Court directed the halting of trial court proceedings in a defamation case filed by a BJP worker against Congress MP Rahul Gandhi over the latter's alleged defamatory remarks against Union Home Minister Amit Shah. During one of his public speeches in Jharkhand's Chaibasa before the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the senior Congress leader had called Shah a "murder accused". A bench headed by Justice Vikram Nath took note of the submission advanced on Rahul Gandhi's behalf that only an aggrieved person and not a proxy third party can institute a criminal defamation complaint. Staying the defamation proceedings till further orders, the Bench, also comprising Justice Sandeep Mehta, remarked, "If you are not the person aggrieved, how can you have a proxy filing of complaint?" "Issue notice to the state of Jharkhand and the complainant. All proceedings in the trial shall remain stayed till further orders," ordered the apex court. In February last year, the Jharkhand High Court dismissed Rahul Gandhi's plea for quashing the criminal defamation case filed by BJP leader Navin Jha. Gandhi imputed the BJP leadership to be "liars" who are "drunk with power" and BJP workers will accept a person "accused of murder" as the party president but people will never accept the same in the Congress party. "The people of this country will accept a lying Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leadership drunk with power because they know that, what the Bharatiya Janata Party is designed for. [T]hey will, accept a man accused of murder as the President of Bharatiya Janata Party but the people will never accept the same in the Congress Party," said Rahul Gandhi. The complaint said that Rahul Gandhi's statement was not only false, rather, it was an insult to all workers, supporters and the leaders who have been working selflessly for the BJP. In its judgement, a bench of Justice Ambuj Nath of the Jharkhand HC said that the imputation was prima facie defamatory in nature and a prima facie case under sections 499/500 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) was made out against Rahul Gandhi for imputing the BJP leadership as liars and drunk with power. New Delhi, Jan 20 : The ongoing investigation into the stabbing of Bollywood actor Saif Ali Khan has drawn criticism over its handling and the political blamegame surrounding it. Senior NCP (SP) leader Majeed Memon has raised concerns over the lack of confidentiality in the investigation and the subsequent political furore, particularly with parties bickering over accused's Bangladeshi nationality and on how he managed to sneak into the Indian territory. Memon questioned the conduct of the investigation, emphasizing the need for discretion in handling such a high-profile case. "The investigation is at a very critical stage. When a police officer investigates a serious and highly publicised case, it is expected that they do so confidentially. If they seek publicity, it is as if they are abandoning their role as a police officer and becoming an actor," he remarked, adding that publicising sensitive details compromises justice. He warned against politicizing the case, noting that BJP would likely use this incident to attack AAP, alleging that the accused entered India via Delhi. "The issue of how these Bangladeshis enter the country and engage in such activities needs to be addressed. But mixing politics with governance and justice is unjust," he said. According to the sources, some reports have surfaced claiming that the accused has confessed to the crime, but Memon dismissed this approach as counterproductive. "Every hour, news is coming out saying the accused has confessed, but if he has confessed, the case would be closed. This kind of publicity is against justice," he said. He further added, "It is shameful that such people are continuing their activities in a city like Mumbai without anyone knowing. Now, this person is said to be Bangladeshi. Has it been confirmed whether he is Bangladeshi, Pakistani, or from somewhere else?" Memon concluded by urging authorities to focus on evidence and judicial processes rather than fueling political narratives. He criticized both ruling and opposition parties for using such incidents to gain political mileage, which he argued undermines the victimas quest for justice. Mohammad Shariful Islam Shehzad, the 30-year-old Bangladeshi national arrested for allegedly stabbing actor Saif Ali Khan during a failed robbery attempt, told police that he was a wrestler in Bangladesh before coming to India, sources said. New Delhi, Jan 20 : People with pockets of fat hidden inside their muscles are at a higher risk of dying or being hospitalised from a heart attack or heart failure, regardless of their body mass index, according to research on Monday. The new study, published in the European Heart Journal, adds evidence that existing measures, such as body mass index (BMI) or waist circumference, are not adequate to evaluate the risk of heart disease accurately for all people. The study showed that people with higher amounts of fat stored in their muscles were more likely to have damage to the tiny blood vessels that serve the heart (coronary microvascular dysfunction or CMD). They were also more likely to die or be hospitalised for heart disease. People who had high levels of intermuscular fat and evidence of CMD were at an especially high risk of death, heart attack, and heart failure. "Knowing that intermuscular fat raises the risk of heart disease gives us another way to identify people who are at high risk, regardless of their body mass index. These findings could be particularly important for understanding the heart health effects of fat and muscle-modifying incretin-based therapies, including the new class of glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists," said Professor Viviany Taqueti, Director of the Cardiac Stress Laboratory at Brigham and Women's Hospital, US. The study analysed muscle and different types of fat in 669 people to understand how body composition can influence the small blood vessels or 'microcirculation' of the heart, as well as the future risk of heart failure, heart attack, and death. These were followed up for around six years. Besides checking how well their hearts were functioning, the team also used CT scans to analyse each patient's body composition, measuring the amounts and location of fat and muscle in a section of their torso. Further, the team calculated the ratio of intermuscular fat to total muscle plus fat -- a measurement they called the fatty muscle fraction. For every 1 per cent increase in fatty muscle fraction, there was a 2 per cent increase in the risk of CMD and a 7 per cent increased risk of future serious heart disease, regardless of other known risk factors and body mass index. On the other hand, people with higher amounts of lean muscle had a lower risk. Fat stored under the skin (subcutaneous fat) did not increase the risk. "Compared to subcutaneous fat, fat stored in muscles may be contributing to inflammation and altered glucose metabolism, leading to insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome. In turn, these chronic insults can cause damage to blood vessels, including those that supply the heart, and the heart muscle itself," Professor Taqueti said. The team is assessing the impact of treatment strategies including exercise, nutrition, weight-loss drugs, or surgery, on body composition and metabolic heart disease, to help lower the risk for people with fatty muscles. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text Dehradun, Jan 20 : The Pushkar Singh Dhami-led Cabinet approved the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) manual during a meeting at the state secretariat on Monday, with the dates for its implementation to be announced soon. The Cabinet approved the manual after making partial amendments to the rules recently prepared for implementing the UCC. The amended rules, examined by the Law Department, were discussed and finalised during the meeting chaired by Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami. Addressing the media post-meeting, CM Dhami emphasised the government's commitment to fulfilling its electoral promise. "We had promised the people of Uttarakhand during the 2022 elections that the UCC will be implemented as soon as our government is formed. We brought it, the draft committee drafted it and it was passed. The President then approved it and it became an Act. The process of training is also almost complete," Dhami stated. He further noted the significance of Uttarakhand becoming the first state in India to implement the UCC, saying, "We have completed analysing it and discussed it in the Cabinet today. The dates will be announced soon. Since we are setting a precedent, it is essential to thoroughly examine and prepare for its implementation." The UCC will create a unified legal framework for all religious communities in areas such as marriage, divorce, inheritance, adoption, and maintenance. While India has a uniform criminal code, a similar civil law framework does not currently exist. The law explicitly excludes tribal communities and bans practices like 'halala', 'iddat', and 'talaq', which are part of the Muslim Personal Law. The UCC, comprising 392 Sections under seven schedules, is based on a detailed 750-page draft spread across four volumes. This draft was prepared by a five-member expert committee formed in June 2022 to examine the introduction of the law in Uttarakhand. The committee, led by Retired Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai submitted its draft to the state government on February 2, 2024. The draft was passed by the State Cabinet on February 4, followed by the Assembly during a special session. It received the approval of Uttarakhand Governor Lt. Gen Gurmit Singh (Retd) on February 28, making it a landmark legislation in Indian legal history. Bengaluru, Jan 20 : A youth attempted suicide by jumping in front of a train in the Jalahalli station of Metro's Green Line on Monday in Bengaluru. The loco pilot managed to stop the train just in time, and the youth was saved. Bengaluru, Jan 20 (IANS) A youth attempted suicide by jumping in front of a train in the Jalahalli station of Metroas Green Line on Monday in Bengaluru. The loco pilot managed to stop the train just in time, and the youth was saved. According to sources, the youth jumped onto the tracks and lay down there as the Metro train was arriving. The loco pilot after observing the youth on the track managed to stop the train and the youth did not suffer injuries. Following the incident, the Metro train service on the line was stopped and commuters were severely inconvenienced during the peak hour of the first day of the week. More details were awaited. The Metro authorities are yet to issue an official statement regarding the incident. On January 5, a 23-year-old youth from Kerala attempted suicide by jumping before the Metro train at the Jalahalli station. He suffered grievous head injuries and burns on his chest. The train operations had come to a standstill for 48 minutes during the evening peak hours. On New Yearas Day, a woman jumped onto the tracks to retrieve her fallen mobile phone and brought the Purple Line train operations to a halt during the evening peak hours. On September 17, 2024, a 30-year-old man from Bihar attempted suicide by trying to come under the Metro train at Jnanabharathi Metro Station. The metro staff acted swiftly and used the Emergency Trip System (ETS) to rescue the man. No injuries were reported. However, the authorities quickly resumed services on the route after a brief interruption. On March 21, 2024, a man committed suicide by jumping on the metro railway track and coming under the train in Bengaluru. The incident had taken place at the Attiguppe Metro Station. The man had come under the train and was dragged by the train. His body was charred and stuck under the metro train. Bengaluru, Jan 20 : Karnataka BJP on Monday claimed that incidents of attacks on cows by fanatical forces were being planned to provoke and hurt Hindu sentiments in the state. Leader of Opposition R. Ashoka said on Monday that the Karnataka government must take this issue very seriously and put an end to these heinous acts immediately, else there would be an intense statewide protest. Ashoka further stated, "Before the furore over the shocking inhuman incident of slashing of the udders of three cows during a festival in Chamarajpet subsided, another heinous act has come to light. "In Salakoda village of Honnavar taluk, in Karwar district, miscreants have once again indulged in cruelty by slaughtering a pregnant cow, removing the calf from its womb, discarding it, and taking away the meat." "Honorable Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, repeated attacks on cows suggest a larger conspiracy at play. It appears to be a major jihadi plot involving fanatical and fundamentalist forces," Ashoka underlined. The incident of slashing of udders of three cows had created communal tension in Bengaluru. Though the police had arrested one person in connection with the incident, the BJP had cried foul play by the government and staged a protest in this regard. Close on the heels of this slashing of udder of cows, miscreants cutting the tail of a cow and inflicting injuries on the back of the animal had come to light in Nanjangud town of Mysuru district. The latest incident had taken place in Karwar district when the pregnant cow had gone out to graze. Commenting on the organisation of centenary celebrations to commemorate the occasion of completion of 100 years of Mahatma Gandhi taking over as the AICC President at Belagavi by the ruling Congress in Karnataka, Ashoka questioned, "Does following Gandhi's ideals mean looting the funds of the Valmiki Development Corporation, which were meant for the welfare of the underprivileged? Or does it mean grabbing Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) sites that were meant for the homeless to build shelter?" "Does adopting Gandhi's principles mean using the freedom that Gandhi secured to justify anti-national elements shouting 'Pakistan Zindabad'? Or does it mean remaining silent when the sacred cow is slaughtered?" Ashoka slammed. Ahmedabad, Jan 20 : The Adani Group Chairman, Gautam Adani, on Monday, told students that India, he sees now is alive with runways and "you are India's global ambassadors in the making". Addressing an event at the Adani International School here, Gautam Adani told the students they are the wings that will lift India. "You are part of a generation that has more potential than any generation that has come before it. You will do both take India to the world and bring the world to India. And, my young friends, in this new India, education is your greatest foundation to differentiate," the Adani Group Chairman noted. Sharing his own early education days, he said, "When I started my journey, I did not have a roadmap, resources or connections." "All I had was a dream -- a dream to build something meaningful, something that could contribute to boosting my own confidence. I would dream of this every single day. And as I look back -- I can say that dreams are not the privilege of the rich. They are the reward of those who dare to believe and work tirelessly," Gautam Adani told students. While the Adani Group is today India's fastest-growing conglomerate and has set the pace to create more new businesses than any other business house in the country, "our journey is not just about creating businesses", he emphasised. "Every decision we made, every risk we took, was driven by one goal: how can we create something that serves the greater good? It has been about having the courage to give wings to our dreams and the tenacity to fly higher and faster than anybody else. It is about setting a benchmark not to measure against others but to measure ourselves against our own capabilities," Gautam Adani stressed. He advised parents to equip their children with resilience, empathy and the ability to serve others. "Your children get more than just your wealth; they get your values. Encourage them to explore, to innovate, to dream. But also give them roots so they never forget the soil they came from. Teach them that success is not just about personal achievement," said Gautam Adani. New Delhi, Jan 20 : The Government's initiative to promote renewable energy through the Pradhan Mantri Surya Ghar scheme has reached Poonch, a district located along the India-Pakistan Line of Control (LoC). The scheme was inaugurated in Poonch with Satpal Sharma, a resident of Power House Mohalla, Ward No. 8, becoming its first beneficiary. Expressing his happiness, Satpal Sharma remarked, "I am the first person to install this solar induction under the Prime Minister's scheme. Earlier, we faced frequent disruptions and power cuts, but this will no longer be an issue. I encourage all residents of Poonch to take advantage of this scheme." Satpal Sharma has installed a 3-kilowatt solar panel on the roof of his house. The solar panel system, costing approximately Rs 1.68 lakh, has been subsidised by the government, with Sharma receiving a subsidy of Rs 94,000. The solar installation is expected to provide 24-hour electricity, significantly improving the quality of life for Sharma and his family. The scheme has brought a sense of relief to many families in the region who have long suffered from inconsistent electricity supply. Satpal's relative, Nishchal Sharma, shared his thoughts on the initiative, "In Poonch, the condition of electricity was a major problem. Power cuts used to disrupt children's studies and our daily activities." "We live near the border and are grateful that PM Modi thought about us and introduced this scheme. Power cuts were a constant problem. Children couldn't study, motors stopped working, and inverters often failed. Now, solar panels with capacities of 1kW, 2kW, and 3kW are being installed here. The best part is that these panels come with a 25-year warranty. We thank Prime Minister Modi for this life-changing initiative." The PM Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana, the world's largest domestic rooftop solar initiative, is transforming India's energy landscape with a bold vision to supply solar power to one crore households by March 2027. Launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on February 15, 2024, this groundbreaking initiative aims to provide free electricity to households by facilitating the installation of rooftop solar panels. Ukrainian MP, leader of the European Solidarity party Petro Poroshenko considers it possible to provide Ukraine with an invitation to the North Atlantic Alliance at the organization's summit in The Hague. "We must strengthen sanctions, we must strengthen our unity, we must again pass from the Parliamentary Assembly a request to grant us, perhaps at the summit in The Hague, an invitation to NATO. That is possible. And I think it would be great if we made that joint request to President [of the United States Donald] Trump on the inauguration day. Dear President, make NATO big again," he said at a meeting of the Ukraine-NATO Interparliamentary Council in Brussels on Monday. According to a statement on the European Solidarity's website, Poroshenko emphasized that Putin does not need Crimea or Donbas, his "main plan is to destroy NATO, Europe, democracy and freedom." He said that more than 60% of the artillery shells used by Russia to attack Ukraine in December and January are North Korean-made, and only 20% are made in Russia. "Russia and North Korea together produce more artillery shells than all NATO countries. This is another proof that we must be ready for this war," Poroshenko said. The party leader also noted that NATO should invest in the security and defense sector and learn from the Ukrainian experience how to fight back. The NATO summit will be held on June 24-26 in The Hague, the Netherlands. Kolkata, Jan 20 : With final statements of the convict and prosecutor in the case of R.G. Kar rape and murder of a woman doctor over at around 1.10 p.m. on Monday, the judge of the special court, Anirban Das, will pronounce the sentence at 2.45 p.m. Immediately after the final statement proceedings process was over, the judge directed that his courtroom be vacated immediately since he needed some time to pen the final order of sentence. During the 40-minute hearing, the sole accused in the case Sanjay Roy, an erstwhile civic volunteer attached to the state police, continued to claim innocence. He even claimed that he was beaten up and forced to sign a written statement. On the other hand, the counsel of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) claimed that since Roy's offence was among the "rarest of rare crimes", and demanded that he should be accorded the highest punishment which is the "death penalty". Already on January 18, the day when Roy was convicted in the case, the judge of the special court had made it clear that the maximum punishment in the case could be the "death penalty", while the minimum punishment in the matter could be "life imprisonment". The body of the victim doctor was recovered from the seminar hall within R.G. Kar premises on the morning of August 9 last year. The initial investigation into the matter was started by a special investigation team of Kolkata Police, who arrested Roy. However, the CBI started an investigation five days from the date of the crime following an order of the Calcutta High Court and thereafter Roy was handed over to the central agency officials by the city police. The trial process in the matter started on November 11 last year, 59 days after the body of the victim was discovered. The conviction process was completed on January 18. Now, the sentence will be pronounced at 2.45 p.m. on Monday exactly 164 days from the date of the crime. Mysuru, Jan 20 : A Kerala businessman was attacked by a gang of four robbers and robbed of his car and cash in Karnatakas's Mysuru district, officials said on Monday. A video taken by some passersby has gone viral on social media raising concerns in the state. According to police, Sufi, a businessman from Kerala was waylaid at Harohalli village in Jayapura Hobli in the district on Monday by a gang of four masked men. The businessman was dragged out of the vehicle by the robbers, threatened and pushed away. The gang then made away with the cash and the vehicle from the spot. The crime was committed in broad daylight on a busy road. Sources said that Sufi was going to Kerala from Karnataka. After Sufi approached the police, the jurisdictional Jayapura police rushed to the spot and filed a case. The police alerted all check posts on the route to Kerala and barricades have been erected at places. The incidents of bank robberies and a shootout, in which one of the staffers of the ATM vehicle was killed, were reported from Bidar and Mangaluru shocking the state. Following the daring robberies, the police department has come under pressure. The latest incident has raised further concerns about the absence of fear in criminals. An armed gang of five dacoits looted more than Rs 12 crore worth of gold after threatening the bank staff with guns, swords, and knives in the Mangaluru district of Karnataka last Friday. The incident raised concerns, coming just a day after two robbers shot dead an ATM cash vehicle staffer and looted Rs 93 lakh in cash in Bidar city of the state. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah attending an event in Mangaluru city held an emergency meeting with senior police officers and ordered urgent action to nab the dacoits. The special teams to nab the robbers in the Bidar bank robbery and shootout case are also travelling across the country and are not able to crack the case. The police are yet to nab the accused in the case. The police department has formed eight teams under the leadership of ACP Dhanya Nayak to crack the case of Mangaluru bank dacoity. Two suspected persons are being grilled in the case. The same Mangaluru bank was robbed in 2017. The police teams have gone to Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Mumbai and Goa. On October 28, 2024, the robbers broke open a window of the building of the State Bank of India (SBI) and looted Rs 12.95 crore worth of gold jewellery. The gang had also taken away the DVR and CCTV installed in the bank. The police are suspecting the involvement of the same gang behind these incidents. Chennai, Jan 20 : The Avadi Police in Tamil Nadu is searching for the main accused in the brutal murder of two brothers, both classified as "C" category rowdies and history-sheeters. Chennai, Jan 20 (IANS) The Avadi Police in Tamil Nadu is searching for the main accused in the brutal murder of two brothers, both classified as "C" category rowdies and history-sheeters. The incident occurred on Saturday, January 18 and a special investigation team revealed that the murders were triggered by a quarrel between the brothers Rettamalai Srinivasan (27) and Stalin Srinivasan (24) and a man named Ganesh. Following the altercation, Ganesh and his associates, Madesh and Tarun, fled and remain at large. According to sources, the brothers, reportedly under the influence of alcohol, got into a verbal altercation with the trio, who rode past them on a two-wheeler near Ayalacheri on the evening of January 18. After a heated exchange, the trio initially left but later returned with more men and deadly weapons. The group attacked the brothers, who attempted to flee. However, the attackers first cornered Stalin on Ayalacheri Main Road and stabbed him to death. They later pursued and killed Rettamalai in a grove at Dhanalakshmi Nagar. The Avadi Police recovered the bodies and sent them for post-mortem examination at the Government Kilpauk Medical College Hospital. Five suspects N. Praveen (19), P. Balaji (25), M. Karthik (20), N. Naveen Kumar (20), and K. Sathya (20), all residents of Pattabiram have been arrested and remanded in judicial custody. Inspector Jagannathan of Pattabiram Police Station has been suspended for alleged inaction regarding monitoring history-sheeters in his jurisdiction. Sources informed IANS that Inspector Jagannathan failed to act on a list of history-sheeters provided by headquarters, which had instructed Station House Officers to keep a close watch on their movements. The suspension comes after the murder G. Rettamalai Srinivasan and G. Stalin. The duo had several cases registered against them at the Pattabiram Police Station. The Tamil Nadu Police have been under intense scrutiny following the brutal murder of BSP Tamil Nadu President K. Armstrong on July 5, 2024. The incident raised questions about the state's law and order situation. In response, Chennai Police intensified their actions against criminal elements, leading to a series of controversial encounter killings. The key accused in Armstrong's murder, Thiruvengadam, was killed in an alleged police encounter. According to the police, Thiruvengadam, who was directly involved in the murder, was shot dead while being brought to the Madhavaram Lake premises to gather evidence. The police claimed they were forced to open fire after he attempted to attack them when his handcuffs were removed. In another incident, a history-sheeter named Kakkathope Balaji, who had over 60 criminal cases against him, was killed in an encounter at Vyasarpadi. The police stated that Balaji tried to attack them, prompting them to fire in self-defence. Additionally, Chennai Police shot and killed an underworld don known as 'Seizing' Raja. Raja, who had been arrested in Andhra Pradesh, was being brought to Chennai when he was killed in what police described as a self-defence encounter. The State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) has taken cognisance of these killings and has summoned Chennai City Police Commissioner M. Arun to provide an explanation. Commissioner Arun, who assumed office on July 7, 2024, remarked during a media interaction that the police would "deal with rowdies in the language they understand," signaling a tough stance against criminal activities. The recent events have sparked debates about law enforcement methods, accountability, and human rights concerns, drawing both criticism and support from various quarters. Srinagar, Jan 20 : A soldier was injured on Monday in fresh firing between the joint security forces and the terrorists on the second day of an anti-terror operation in Jammu and Kashmir's Sopore sub-division. Officials said that the soldier was injured as firing resumed during the encounter between terrorists and security forces in the Gujjarpati area of Zaloora in the Sopore sub-division. "Operation was started in the area yesterday following information about the presence of terrorists in there. The operation was suspended yesterday as the vigil was tightened to plug the escape routes of the hiding terrorists. With the first light today, fresh firing resumed. In the ensuing encounter a soldier has been injured," officials said. The injured soldier has been shifted to a hospital for treatment, the officials added. On Sunday, joint teams of the army, Jammu and Kashmir police and the CRPF cordoned off the Gujjarpati area during which a hideout was busted. During the searches, the security forces were fired upon triggering an encounter. Officials said that the operation was going on and further details are awaited. It must be mentioned that the security forces have carried out aggressive operations against terrorists, their over-ground workers (OGWs) and sympathisers. The Lt Governor, Manoj Sinha ordered the hot pursuit of terrorists after they carried out some dastardly attacks after the peaceful, people-participative Lok Sabha and Legislative Assembly elections. Intelligence agencies suggest that the handlers of terrorists sitting across the border in Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) have been frustrated by the huge participation in these elections by the people. Intelligence agencies suggest that the handlers of terrorism have directed terrorists to carry out attacks against the army, security forces, police and civilians to show their presence in order to instil fear in the minds of the common peace-loving citizens of the union territory. Yangon, Jan 20 : Myanmar's police have seized 966,000 stimulant tablets in Myanmar's Shan state, the official Global New Light of Myanmar reported on Monday. Acting on a tip-off, a joint anti-narcotic task force intercepted a vehicle in Kengtung township of Shan state on January 16 and confiscated the drugs. The seized drugs had a street value of over 380 million kyats (about $0.18 million), it said. Investigations showed that the seized stimulant tablets were intended to be trafficked from Mong Ping township to Tachileik township in Shan state, Xinhua news agency reported. The suspects who were involved in the case were charged under the country's law, and further investigations are ongoing, the report said. Earlier on January 6, Myanmar authorities seized 91 kg of heroin blocks in eastern Myanmar's Shan state, as reported by the state-run daily Myanma Alinn. Acting on a tip-off, anti-narcotics police had searched a vehicle in Kengtung township in Shan state on January 1 and seized the narcotics, the report stated. The confiscated narcotics were worth 1.365 billion kyats (about $650,000), and two suspects were arrested in connection with the case, it added. According to the investigation, the drugs were being transported from Kunhing township to Tachileik township in Shan state. The suspects were charged under the country's law, and further investigations were ongoing. Earlier on January 4, Myanmar authorities had seized 60 kg of ICE (methamphetamine) in eastern Myanmar's Shan state, as reported by the state-run daily The Mirror. Acting on a tip-off, anti-narcotics police had searched a vehicle in Kengtung township in eastern Shan state on December 30 and confiscated the narcotics, the report said. The seized drugs were valued at 480 million kyats (about $228,571) on the black market, and a suspect was arrested in connection with the case. Investigations revealed that the drugs had been transported from Mong Ping township to Tachileik township in Shan state. The suspect was charged under the country's law, and further investigations were ongoing. On January 3, the newspaper had reported that authorities seized 40.2 kg of heroin blocks and 200,000 stimulant tablets in the same region. Acting on another tip-off, anti-narcotics police had searched a vehicle in Mong Pan township of southern Shan state on December 28, 2024, and seized the narcotics. The confiscated drugs were worth approximately 540 million kyats (about $257,142), and two suspects were arrested in connection with the case. The suspects were charged under the country's law, and further investigations were ongoing. Kolkata, Jan 20 : Asfakullah Naiya, one of the leading faces of the junior doctors' movement against the rape and murder of a junior doctor of R.G. Kar Medical College & Hospital, on Monday approached the Calcutta High Court challenging summons from the Bidhannagar City Police. Kolkata, Jan 20 (IANS) Asfakullah Naiya, one of the leading faces of the junior doctorsa movement against the rape and murder of a junior doctor of R.G. Kar Medical College & Hospital, on Monday approached the Calcutta High Court challenging summons from the Bidhannagar City Police. The single-judge Bench of Justice Trithankar Ghosh has admitted the petition and the matter will come up for hearing this week. Incidentally, Naiyaas petition at the Calcutta High Court comes on the same day when a special court in Kolkata is scheduled to pronounce the sentence against the sole convict in the rape and murder, Sanjay Roy, an erstwhile civic volunteer attached to Kolkata. Earlier on January 16, Naiya was slapped with a show-cause notice by the West Bengal Medical Council based on a complaint against him for working as an ENT specialist at a private medical service provider in the state, despite not possessing the necessary qualification for the same. On the same day, the Bidhannagar City Police issued summons to him in the same case and a team of cops also reached his residence at Kakdwip in South 24 Parganas district. However, when the cops reached his residence Naiya was at the hostel of R.G. Kar, where he is currently undergoing his post-graduation with specialisation in ENT. Naiya has claimed that he is being harassed by the state and police administration because he actively participated in the protests over the rape and murder of the lady junior doctor. Meanwhile, Naiya has also received support in the matter from civil society and the common people. Now, finally on Monday, he approached the Calcutta High Court challenging the police summons. The body of the lady doctor was recovered from the seminar hall of R.G. Kar on the morning of August 9 last year. What followed was a series of protests by the representatives of the medical fraternity in the state and common people where Naiya was seen to be a leading face. New Delhi, Jan 20 : Between 1765 and 1900, the richest 10 per cent in the UK extracted wealth from India alone worth US$33.8 trillion in today's money -- enough to carpet the surface area of London in the 50-pound notes almost four times over, an Oxfam global report said on Monday. According to authors Utsa Patnaik and Prabha Patnaik, of the US$64.82 trillion extracted from India by the UK over a century of colonialism, US$33.8 trillion went to the richest 10 per cent. In the UK, a significant number of the richest people today can trace their family wealth back to slavery and colonialism, specifically the compensation paid to rich enslavers when slavery was abolished, the report stressed. "The modern multinational corporation is a creation of colonialism. It was pioneered by such corporations as the East India Company, which became a law unto itself and was responsible for many colonial crimes," said the Oxfam report. In 1750, the Indian subcontinent accounted for approximately 25 per cent of global industrial output. However, by 1900, this figure had precipitously declined to a mere 2 per cent. "This dramatic reduction can be attributed to Britain's implementation of stringent protectionist policies against Asian textiles, which systematically undermined India's industrial growth potential. US$64.82 trillion was drained from India by Britain over 200 years," the report's findings showed. In 2024, globally total billionaire wealth increased by $2 trillion, with 204 new billionaires created. This is an average of almost four new billionaires per week. "Total billionaire wealth grew three times faster in 2024 than in 2023. Each billionaire saw their fortunes grow by $ 2 million a day on average. For the richest 10 billionaires their fortunes grew by US$100 million a day on average," the report showed. Last year, Oxfam forecasted a trillionaire within a decade. If current trends continue, there will now be five trillionaires within a decade, it added. Vijayapura : , Jan 20 (IANS) In a shocking incident, three labourers in Karnataka's Vijayapura district were brutally thrashed by their employer for returning late to work after festival celebrations, said officials on Monday. A video showing the labourers being assaulted with iron pipes by three men went viral in the state, raising widespread concern. According to the police, the incident occurred at a brick factory near Star Chowk in the Gandhinagar locality on the outskirts of Vijayapura city. The victims have been identified as Sadashiva Madar, S. Babaladi, and Umesh, who are from Chakkaliki village in the state's Bagalkot district. Preliminary investigations revealed that the owner of the brick factory, Khemu Rathod, had the labourers punished inhumanely for a trivial reason. Vijayapura Superintendent of Police (SP) Laxman B. Nimbargi stated to the media that legal action would be taken against Khemu Rathod and others involved in the incident. Police sources revealed that the labourers had taken an advance payment from the accused owner, Khemu Rathod, after agreeing to work in his brick factory. They had gone to their native village to celebrate the Sankranti festival but returned four days late. The delay enraged Khemu Rathod, who verbally abused them first and questioned their being late. Despite the victimsa assurances that they would complete the pending work, the accused became furious. He got all three labourers tied with ropes and then assaulted them inhumanely. The video shows the three labourers with their hands and legs tied, made to sit with their legs stretched out. While one of the accused's associates holds a victimas hair and stands on their knees, another is seen beating the victimas feet with an iron pipe with full force. All three victims are seen being punished in the same manner, screaming and wailing in pain as they endure the assault. The police have registered a case and launched an investigation into the matter. Mumbai, Jan 20 : Bollywood actor Saif Ali Khan, who continues to recover after a knife attack, will not be discharged on Monday in all likelihood. The team of medical professionals have decided to keep the actor under supervision for one more day. As per the sources, the actor will be discharged either on Tuesday or Wednesday. Saif was stabbed multiple times in an attempt to fight off a burglar during the wee hours of Thursday. The actor sustained six stab wounds, two of which are said to be serious as they are closer to his spine. The incident took place at 2:15 am when the burglar allegedly barged into their Bandra home, and attacked their house help and then Saif when he intervened. The actor was woken up by the commotion in his son Jehas room. He went inside the room to see the culprit arguing with their house help, looking at this, Saif intervened to save the house help with bare hands to fight off the intruder. Mumbai police have arrested the accused from Thane, and have given the statement on the accused being a Bangladeshi national who illegally entered India. The attacker, identified as Mohammed Shehzad, was a national-level wrestling champion when he resided in Bangladesh. Earlier, Shehzad had said in his statement that he was unaware about the identity of the actor. He is in police custody after he was produced in the Bandra Court on Sunday. The accusedas statement about him being oblivious to the celebrity status of the actor seem to be congruent to the statement of the rickshaw driver, who also said that he didnat realise that he was taking the Bollywood actor to the hospital. The rickshaw driver also said that the actoras elder son, Taimur, from his marriage with Kareena Kapoor Khan, accompanied him to the police station. At the time of incident, the actoras wife Kareena Kapoor Khan was present at home along with other members of the family as they all were sleeping. Amaravati, Jan 20 : Telugu Desam Party (TDP) MLA Kolikapudi Srinivasa Rao, who has been at the centre of a few controversies, appeared before the disciplinary committee of the party here on Monday. The MLP from Tiruvuru in NTR district gave his explanation before the committee comprising senior leader and state government advisor M.A. Sharif, Minister B.C. Janardhan Reddy, politburo member Varla Ramaiah, MLC P. Anuradha and Road Transport Corporation (RTC) chairman K. Narayana. Ever since his election in June last year, Srinivasa Rao has been at the centre of controversies. TDP president and Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu has taken serious note of his behaviour. The MLA is facing the ire of the TDP leadership over the January 11 incident in which a woman, who was upset with the MLAas behaviour, attempted suicide. The party leadership had earlier warned Srinivasa Rao to mend his ways. As there was no change in his style of functioning, he was summoned before the disciplinary committee. Earlier, Chief Minister Naidu had summoned the MLA and advised him to change his attitude. He was also summoned before the coordination committee headed by party state president Palla Srinivasa Rao. The MLA is allegedly involved in a family dispute among the brothers in Gopalapuram village of A. Konduru mandal in Tiruvuru Assembly constituency. There are allegations that he abused and attacked a woman, who is a supporter of the opposition YSR Congress Party. The woman attempted suicide by consuming poison following the incident. Srinivasa Rao interfered in a dispute among three tribal brothers over the use of a cement road laid recently. While one of them is a supporter of the YSRCP, the other two are said to be sympathisers of TDP. Alleging that the MLA had attacked a woman belonging to the family, her relatives staged a protest. Earlier, the MLA had landed in another controversy. A group of women from Chittela village staged a dharna alleging that the MLA behaved rudely with self-help group members and other women. A journalist had also lodged a complaint with the Chief Minister that his behaviour with the media was not good. In October last year, he had made controversial remarks against farmers at a meeting. Accusing farmers of not supporting him, the MLA remarked that even dogs have loyalty. Ukrainian Ambassador to the United States Oksana Markarova is attending the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump and Vice President J. D. Vance. "The inauguration of President Trump and Vice President Vance will start in 30 minutes," the ambassador said on Facebook, attaching a photo from the ceremony. The swearing-in of Donald Trump and Vice President J. D. Vance, as well as the president's inauguration speech, will start at noon in the United States (19:00 Kyiv time). The guests have already taken their seats before Trump's inauguration ceremony. Among them are businessman and inventor Elon Musk, Italian Prime Minister Giorgio Meloni and Argentine President Javier Milei; Chinese Vice President Han Zheng; former U.S. Presidents Bill Clinton, George Bush Jr. and Barack Obama, entrepreneurs Mark Zuckerberg and Jeff Bezos. After Trump's inauguration speech, outgoing President Joe Biden is expected to leave the ceremony by helicopter, in accordance with tradition. Trump will then sign a number of key documents in the presidential room in the Capitol building. In particular, Trump announced plans to sign a series of executive orders on his first day in office regulating various areas from border security to oil and gas production. After that, the president and his wife will go to a dinner organized by the Joint Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies of the U.S. Congress. Later, the parade in honor of the presidential inauguration will begin. It was originally planned to go from the Capitol building along Pennsylvania Avenue to the White House, but due to bad weather it was moved to the Capital One Arena. The last time this happened was in 1985, when Ronald Reagan took the oath of office in the Capitol Rotunda. According to the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies, about 800 people are expected to attend Trump's inauguration in the Capitol Rotunda, another 1,300 in Emancipation Hall, and another 500 in the theater at the Capitol Visitor Center. About 2,600 people are expected to attend the inauguration in the Capitol building, CNN said. Beijing, Jan 20 : The China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) on Monday unveiled logos for three key missions in China's manned space programme this year. The logos were for the launches of the crewed spaceships Shenzhou-20 and Shenzhou-21, and the cargo craft Tianzhou-9, Xinhua news agency reported. According to the CMSA, these new logos symbolise the courage and determination of Chinese astronauts and their commitment to exploring the mysteries of the universe. A logo has been designed for each manned mission since China's first manned spaceflight Shenzhou-5 in 2003. The CMSA has opened logo solicitation for the country's space missions since 2023 and has maintained this approach since then. As per the CMSA, crews for the Shenzhou-20 and Shenzhou-21 missions will consist of three astronauts each. Shenzhou-20 is set to dock with the radial port of the space station's core module, while Shenzhou-21 will dock with its front port. The main tasks of the astronauts will include extravehicular activities, cargo outbound deliveries via the station's cargo airlock module, and the conducting of space science experiments and technology tests. In the second half of 2025, China plans to launch the Tianzhou-9 cargo spacecraft from the Wenchang Space Launch Site in its southern Hainan Province. This mission will deliver supplies for astronauts, propellants to ensure the space station's operation, various types of payloads, and more. China's manned space station project has entered its application and development stage -- with two manned spacecraft missions and one to two cargo missions planned annually. Meanwhile, the Shenzhou-19 crew members, currently onboard China's space station will conduct their second extravehicular activities (EVAs) within the next few days, the CMSA said recently. Since completing their first spacewalk on December 17, 2024, the crew has undertaken a series of tasks, including inspections and maintenance of the space station's equipment, system-wide pressure emergency drills, and preparations for the second EVAs. The agency confirmed that the three Shenzhou-19 crew members are in good health, and the space station is operating smoothly, providing optimal conditions for the upcoming EVAs. New Delhi, Jan 20 : Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, has written to Delhi Chief Minister Atishi and Union Health Minister J.P. Nadda, highlighting the dire need for improved facilities for patients and their families at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Delhi. "During my recent visit, I was saddened to see hundreds of patients and their family members huddled on the footpath and in the subway in the bitter winter cold, with only thin blankets to protect them, without drinking water or sanitation facilities. "Many of these patients travel from across the country, spend their life savings, and wait for months on end for medical care at India's premier medical institution. I am sure you will agree that no one should face such hardship, especially while already battling serious medical conditions," LoP Rahul Gandhi wrote in the letter. Describing the condition at AIIMS further, Congress MP Rahul Gandhi said, "I witnessed patients and their families forced to sleep in freezing conditions under the metro station near AIIMS. They have no access to basic amenities such as drinking water or toilets, and the area is surrounded by heaps of garbage. This reflects not only the neglect of these individuals but also the inadequacies in providing affordable and quality healthcare in their home regions." Emphasising the humanitarian aspect, LoP Gandhi expressed hope that his letter would prompt immediate action. "I urge the Chief Minister of Delhi and the Union Health Minister to address this crisis urgently. Additionally, I hope the Central government allocates significant resources in the upcoming budget to strengthen the public healthcare system," he added. Rahul Gandhi also shed light on the overburdened state of AIIMS Delhi, calling it a national concern. "The Government of India should work with the AIIMS leadership, the Government of Delhi and charitable organisations to provide heating, bedding, water and shelter to patients, and expand facilities for accommodation. In addition, reducing the long wait times at each step of treatment, and providing patients information about wait times, would help reduce patients' uncertainty," Rahul Gandhi said. "As a first step, operationalising the newly-established AIIMS facilities across the country should be prioritised to reduce the strain on Delhi AIIMS," the former Congress chief recommended. Furthermore, LoP Gandhi proposed broader reforms in public healthcare infrastructure, saying, "It is crucial to strengthen the healthcare system at all levels -- primary, secondary, and tertiary -- through collaborative efforts with state governments. Central schemes such as Ayushman Bharat should be reviewed and expanded to minimise out-of-pocket expenses for patients by widening eligibility criteria, increasing the number of empanelled hospitals, and covering a broader range of conditions." In addressing the rising costs of private healthcare, Rahul Gandhi called for detailed scrutiny to ensure affordability and accessibility for the public. "The sharp increase in private healthcare costs further burdens families and needs urgent examination," Rahul Gandhi stated. Washington, Jan 20 : As millions all over the world anxiously wait for Donald Trump's second inaugural address late Monday evening, India time, after he is sworn into office for another presidential term, several foreign leaders, tech billionaires and top celebrities have started arriving in the US capital to attend the ceremony that will take place inside the Capitol Rotunda. As people queue up for the ceremony, Politico revealed that seven Democrats, who had boycotted Trump's first inauguration in 2017, are also going this time. Breaking tradition, several foreign leaders will also be attending the high-profile ceremony. "Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni will attend the inauguration ceremony of US President-elect Donald Trump," stated the Italian Government Presidency of the Council of Ministers. Argentina's President Javier Milei, who has already addressed a couple of events - including at the Milken Centre in Washington DC on Sunday - has called the inauguration of President Trump as a milestone event in "global crusade for freedom" and the "clearest evidence that a new era has begun". Ecuador's President Daniel Noboa, El Salvador President Nayib Bukele, former Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawieck have also been invited. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who may not be able to make it for the inauguration stated over the weekend that "everything will change" after Trump takes office. "A different day will dawn over the Western world; four bitter, difficult, painful years, punctuated by failures, will come to an end: democratic governance," Orban said on Friday in a radio programme. External Affairs Minister (EAM) S. Jaishankar will be representing India at the swearing-in ceremony and will also have meetings with representatives of the incoming administration, as also some other dignitaries visiting the US on the occasion. According to the New York Times, Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg and Jeff Bezos, three of the world's wealthiest men, are expected to be among the major tech executives who would sit in a "position of honour on the dais" at Trump's inauguration, possibly along with Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook. Regular attendees would include President Joe Biden and Jill Biden, former President Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton, former President George W Bush and Laura Bush, and former President Barack Obama. While Team Trump had struggled to invite big celebs and performers in 2017, top stars are slated to perform at the inauguration ball this time. It includes Grammy-winner Nelly, Lee Greenwood, Kid Rock, Billy Ray Cyrus, Christopher Macchio and many more big names. Guwahati/Itanagar, Jan 20 : Security personnel seized drugs and ganja (cannabis) worth Rs 2.38 crore and arrested three drug peddlers during the past 24 hours in three northeastern states -- Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram, officials said on Monday. Drugs worth Rs 1 crore were recovered in southern Assamas Cachar district and a person was arrested in this connection, officials added. Police intercepted a vehicle at Digharkhal Toll Gate in Cachar district after it came from neighbouring Mizoram. Over 8,640 bottles of Codeine Phosphate cough syrup and 2 kg ganja, valued at Rs one crore were recovered from the vehicle. Various cough syrups were used as drugs in different northeastern states and neighbouring Bangladesh. Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma in a post on X appreciated the police for the seizure of the drugs. In Arunachal Pradesh, ganja worth about Rs 1.33 crore was seized in West Kameng district. A police official said that over 1,654 kg of cannabis was seized at Betchilling village under Kalaktang police station area. The cannabis were contained in various bags and trunks. The police registered a case under the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act 1985 and search is on to apprehend those involved in cannabis smuggling, official said. In Mizoram, Assam Rifles in coordination with Excise and Narcotics department recovered 7.16 gram heroin worth Rs 5.01 lakh from Siaha Town and apprehended two drug peddlers. Seizure of drugs, mostly smuggled from Myanmar, is a regular occurrence in the northeastern states, especially in Mizoram, Assam, Tripura and Manipur. Various drugs, especially heroin and highly addictive methamphetamine tablets are often smuggled into the northeastern states of India from Myanmar, which shares a 1,643 km-long unfenced border with four northeastern states -- Arunachal Pradesh (520 km), Manipur (398 km), Nagaland (215 km) and Mizoram (510 km). Washington, Jan 20 : US law enforcement personnel are on high alert and have closed many roads in Washington, DC, as the capital city prepares for an inflow of inauguration crowds. Many streets around the Capitol, the White House, Capital One Arena, and areas in between have been sealed off with fences or barricades for a few days or longer. On Sunday afternoon, workers were still erecting fences, especially around Capital One Arena, as the inauguration address, prayers and other speeches were announced to be relocated inside the Capitol Rotunda. The relocation made Capital One Arena an important platform where US President-elect Donald Trump held a rally on Sunday and would meet his supporters shortly after the inauguration ceremony on Monday. The safety perimetre around Capital One Arena was expanded, and additional checkpoints were established to prevent a recurrence of the recent terror attack in New Orleans, according to a local report quoting Matt McCool, the US Secret Service special agent in charge of the Washington field office, Xinhua news agency reported. Besides police officers, National Guard units were heavily present around Capital One Arena, where approximately 20,000 attendees gathered for a Trump rally. Four subway stations will be fully closed on Monday, and various bridges and ramps from Virginia to Washington, DC, could also be closed on Inauguration Day. Twenty-five thousand law enforcement personnel are reportedly on duty for public safety during the inauguration process. People waited in line for hours to attend the rally, which stretched over a mile. However, thousands could not enter due to limited capacity, and some chose to leave as rain and snow began falling on the capital in the afternoon. Trump will be sworn in at noon on Monday with the temperature to be around minus five degrees Celsius. Leah Aguanno, a Trump supporter from Westfield, New Jersey, waited hours in line on Sunday, holding a Trump-Vance flag. "Even though the weather is bad, I'm still happy to be here to be part of this. It's a moment in history, and I'm expecting great changes and many orders to be reversed tomorrow after Trump is in office," said Aguanno. Aguanno told Xinhua she hoped that Trump would lift the ban on TikTok and work something out with China regarding the wildly popular social media platform. "I think TikTok has changed a lot of people's lives and gave a lot of people a purpose," said Aguanno. Chazz Hanson, another Trump supporter from Pickens County, Georgia, told Xinhua he got a ticket to Capital One Arena on Monday to watch Trump's inauguration address live. Hanson was optimistic that Trump would make necessary changes, noting that the past three years have been challenging. New Delhi, Jan 20 : India's coffee exports have almost doubled in the last four years to touch $1.29 billion in FY 2023-24 from $719.42 million in 2020-21 with the country becoming the seventh-largest coffee producer globally, according to a statement released by the Commerce and Industry Ministry on Monday. In the first half of January 2025, India exported over 9,300 tonnes of coffee with top buyers including Italy, Belgium, and Russia. The countryas coffee exports have grown significantly due to the increasing global demand for its rich and unique flavors. Approximately three-fourths of Indiaas coffee production consists of Arabica and Robusta beans. These are primarily exported as unroasted beans. However, there is a growing demand for value-added products like roasted and instant coffee, further fuelling the export boom. Due to the rise of the cafe culture, higher disposable incomes and a growing preference for coffee over tea, coffee consumption in India is also steadily increasing. This trend has been observed particularly in both urban and rural areas. Domestic consumption has increased from 84,000 tonnes in 2012 to 91,000 tonnes in 2023. This surge reflects a broader shift in drinking habits, as coffee becomes a staple in daily life, the statement said. India's coffee is primarily grown in the ecologically rich Western and Eastern Ghats, areas famous for their biodiversity. Karnataka leads in production, contributing 248,020 MT in 2022-23, followed by Kerala and Tamil Nadu. These areas are home to shaded plantations that not only support the coffee industry but also play a vital role in preserving the natural environment, helping to maintain the ecological balance of these biodiversity hotspots. To enhance coffee production and meet growing domestic and international demand, the Coffee Board of India has launched several important initiatives. Through the Integrated Coffee Development Project (ICDP) the focus is on improving yields, expanding cultivation in non-traditional regions and ensuring the sustainability of coffee farming. These measures are part of a comprehensive strategy to strengthen India's coffee industry, increase productivity and improve its global competitiveness, the statement said. A prime example of the success of this is Araku Valley, where nearly 150,000 tribal families in collaboration with the Coffee Board and the Integrated Tribal Development Agency (ITDA) have increased coffee production by 20 per cent. This achievement is backed by loans from the Girijan Co-Operative Corporation (GCC). It shows how coffee farming empowers communities and supports the vision of Aatmanirbhar Bharat. These initiatives, combined with export incentives and logistical support, are playing a crucial role in expanding Indiaas coffee industry. They help improve both domestic production and global competitiveness, firmly establishing India as a leading player in the global coffee market, the statement added. Interestingly, Indiaas journey with coffee began centuries ago, when the legendary holy saint Baba Budan brought seven Mocha seeds to the hills of Karnataka in the 1600s. His simple act of planting these seeds in the courtyard of his hermitage in Baba Budan Giri unknowingly set in motion the rise of India as one of the world's prominent coffee producers. Over the centuries, the cultivation of coffee in India has evolved from a humble practice to a thriving industry with the country's coffee now widely loved across the globe. Tokyo, Jan 20 : The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) has called for continued caution over potential tremors and tsunamis despite a gradual decrease in seismic activity a week after the magnitude 6.6 earthquake struck the Kyushu region. The earthquake caused a tremor measuring 5 Lower on the Japanese seismic intensity scale in Miyazaki City and other areas, generating a tsunami with a height of 20 centimetres. Since the January 13 earthquake, 12 aftershocks measuring 1 or higher on the seismic intensity scale have been recorded by 11 am local time on Monday, national broadcaster NHK reported. The JMA stated that seismic activity was highly active for three days following the initial quake but has since decreased. While the likelihood of another tremor with a similar intensity of 5 Lower has diminished, residents are urged to maintain preparedness for both earthquakes and tsunamis, Xinhua news agency reported. Last week, Japan's Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) signed an agreement with Kumamoto prefecture to further develop a programme that estimates building damage caused by earthquakes using satellite imagery, local media reported. Under the partnership announced on Friday, JAXA will utilise approximately 200,000 data on building damage from the 2016 Kumamoto earthquake to refine and enhance the accuracy of its technology, which is expected to be deployed nationwide, Kyodo News reported. The programme will compare satellite images taken before and after an earthquake to assess the extent of structural damage within 2-3 hours of observation. The programme can function effectively during nighttime and adverse weather conditions, according to the report. JAXA anticipated the programme will be operational within a few years. Last month, Japanese media reported that the Cabinet Office's disaster management division plans to assign designated officers to each prefecture starting next fiscal year as a preparation for possible major disasters such as a Nankai Trough megaquake or a Tokyo metropolitan earthquake. The Cabinet Office is moving forward with plans to deploy approximately 50 officers across prefectures to focus on promoting stockpile management and volunteer collaboration in normal times while taking charge of assessing damage and organising evacuation shelters during disasters, Xinhua news agency reported. To support the initiative, the Cabinet Office plans to double its current staff of 110 and seek a corresponding increase in its budget for the upcoming fiscal year, according to national broadcaster NHK, citing interviews with government officials. The latest initiative is part of the broader goal of establishing a 'Disaster Management Agency' by fiscal year 2026. Recent disasters, such as the Noto Peninsula earthquake, revealed challenges such as limited supplies in municipal stockpiles and delays in setting up evacuation shelters in Japan. The Japanese Government has an emergency broadcasting system called 'J-Alert'. This system ensures that critical information reaches people in affected regions during various crisis, such as earthquakes, tsunamis, civil protection, and more. J-Alert employs various methods to communicate with the public. Besides, since 2007, smartphones have been installed with an earthquake early warning system that sounds an alarm immediately before an earthquake strikes. The first of its type in the world, this system generates an alert based on initial small tremors that occur seconds or tens of seconds before a large quake, urging people to prepare for evacuation. The system uses seismometers and seismic intensity metres that measure the tremors from the Japan Meteorological Agency (roughly 690 locations nationwide) and a seismographic observation network from the National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Prevention (roughly 1000 locations nationwide). Seoul, Jan 20 : South Korean Police on Monday made another unsuccessful attempt to search the Presidential Security Service (PSS) and a presidential safe house as part of their investigation into President Yoon Suk Yeol's failed martial law bid. At around 1:30 p.m., investigators arrived at the presidential office in the central Seoul district of Yongsan, where the PSS is located, and the safe house in the Samcheong-dong neighbourhood to try to secure surveillance camera footage. The safe house is where Yoon met with the national and Seoul police chiefs to discuss his martial law plans three hours before he announced the decree on December 3. Investigators sought to obtain surveillance camera footage from the safe house, with the server stored at the PSS office, to identify the people who entered the premises before and after Yoon's declaration of martial law and what instructions they received. However, they had to leave the premises slightly after 5 p.m. as the PSS denied access, citing laws requiring the consent of responsible authorities for searches of locations involving military secrets or classified government data, Yonhap news agency reported. The raid comes a day after Yoon was placed under formal arrest on charges of leading an insurrection and abuse of power and as senior PSS officials have either resigned or are under investigation in connection with the case. Previous attempts to search the locations largely failed due to resistance from the PSS. Earlier in the day, Yoon Suk Yeol was moved to a solitary cell in the Seoul Detention Center's general wing after being formally arrested over the weekend, a correctional official said. Yoon was transferred to a 12-square-metre cell at the detention center in Uiwang, south of Seoul, on Sunday after the Seoul Western District Court issued a warrant for his formal arrest, according to Shin Yong-hae, commissioner general of the Korea Correctional Service. Jaipur, Jan 20 : Rajasthan Assembly Speaker Vasudev Devnani experienced a sudden health emergency on Monday while attending a conference in Patna. After complaining of chest pain, he was immediately taken to the Indira Gandhi Institute of Cardiology at the Patna Medical College and Hospital, where he underwent angiography. Doctors have stated that his condition is now stable. Devnani was in Patna to participate in the two-day 85th All India Presiding Officers' Conference. During the event, his health unexpectedly took a turn for the worse. Though his personal assistant assured that Devnani was now doing well, he did not confirm reports of a heart attack. According to doctors at PMCH, Devnani was admitted to the hospital's Indira Gandhi Institute of Cardiology and his condition remains stable as of now. Meanwhile, a team of heart specialists is being dispatched from Jaipur to Patna to assist in Devnani's treatment. They are travelling via a special plane, following updates received by Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma and Health Minister Gajendra Singh Khimsar, who have been closely monitoring the situation. The Health Minister expressed surprise over the incident, noting that Devnani has always been health-conscious, walking 5 kilometers daily and often advising others to do the same. He suggested that stress might have played a role, given Devnani's otherwise good health. He said, "Vasudev Devnani has always been conscious about his health. He walks 5 kms daily and he also keeps advising us to walk. He did not have any such disease; it could be anxiety. I am surprised how a person who is so alert can have heart problems." Earlier on Monday, the 85th All India Presiding Officers' Conference was inaugurated by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla in Patna. The All India Presiding Officers' Conference is being attended by Presiding Officers from 56 legislatures across the country. This marks the third time Bihar is hosting the conference, with the last event held in 1982, as many as 43 years ago. Kolkata, Jan 20 : As a special court in Kolkata on Monday sentenced Sanjay Roy, convicted in the case of ghastly rape and murder of a junior women doctor of the state-run R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital within the hospital premises in August last year to life imprisonment, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee expressed her displeasure and dissatisfaction over the quantum of sentence. "We demanded 'death penalty' for the convict. I don't know how had the case been in our hands (state police or Kolkata Police), the death sentence would have been pronounced much earlier," the Chief Minister told mediapersons just after the sentence was pronounced by the special court. However, when specifically asked whether the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had failed to carry out the investigation properly, thus leading to just "life imprisonment" and not the "death penalty", the Chief Minister refused to make any direct comment. "I do not want to say anything on these lines. All I can say is that recently in the three cases of similar rape and murder which were handled by the state police, the 'death penalty' was pronounced within a much shorter period," the Chief Minister said. BJP's IT Cell chief and the party's central observer for West Bengal Amit Malviya issued a statement that the verdict by the special court must be appealed and the Chief Minister should stop shielding the criminals. "Agencies also need to investigate the role of the then Kolkata Commissioner and the Chief Minister in the destruction of evidence. Justice must not only be done but must also be seen to be done," Malviya's statement read. Senior advocate of Calcutta High Court and CPI-M Rajya Sabha member, Bikas Ranjan Bhattacharya, however, said that in his opinion, life imprisonment for Roy is quite a strong punishment. "Personally, I feel that in a civilised country, 'death penalty' should not prevail," he said. While pronouncing the quantum of sentence on Monday afternoon, the judge of the special court Anirban Das, also made it clear that the CBI's contention that Roy's offence in the matter was "the rarest and rare crimes" was not tenable. The forced departures, aimed at establishing a decisive break from the Biden administration, will see an exodus of decorated veterans of the Foreign Service, including John Bass, the undersecretary for management and acting under secretary for political affairs, and Geoff Pyatt, the assistant secretary for energy resources, said the officials, who like others spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss personnel decisions ahead of Monday's inauguration. Requesting the resignations, the prerogative of any incoming administration, indicates a desire to quickly shift the tone and makeup of the State Department as Trump seeks to upend the global diplomatic chess board after four years of President Joe Biden. Key priorities for Trump include imposing sweeping tariffs on allies and adversaries, ending the war in Ukraine, solidifying the wobbly ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, and deporting millions of undocumented immigrants. "It is entirely appropriate for the transition to seek officials who share President Trump's vision for putting our nation and America's working men and women first. We have a lot of failures to fix and that requires a committed team focused on the same goals," said a spokesperson for the transition team. The State Department declined to comment. On Friday, the Trump team made clear to many of the department's career officials serving as assistant secretaries and in other high-level positions that they would not be needed beyond Monday. Some incoming presidents choose to keep a larger stable of career diplomats in senior roles until handpicked political appointees receive Senate confirmation. Instead, Trump has authorized the selection of more than 20 "senior bureau officials" to take over various divisions where leadership posts are being vacated this week. A number of those officials served in key roles in the State Department and the National Security Council during the Trump's first term, and some have been pulled out of retirement, said officials familiar with the matter. The hiring of the senior bureau officials was first reported by Fox News. The departures of Bass and other key officials had not been previously reported. Trump campaigned on dismantling what he has called the "deep state" of federal bureaucrats whom he views as lacking loyalty and undermining his agenda. He has pledged to kill workforce protections for thousands of government employees in a move expected to face significant legal challenges. His pick for secretary of state, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Florida), said the State Department needs to prioritize Trump's "America First" agenda, and he vowed to make the department "relevant again." "What has happened over the last 20 years under multiple administrations is the influence of the State Department has declined," Rubio said at his confirmation hearing last week. "We have to be at that table when decisions are being made, and the State Department has to be a source of creative ideas and effective implementation." One senior official who was asked to resign said he was willing to serve longer to help bridge the gap but underscored that this is Trump's call to make. "We should all wish the new team success," the official said. A second diplomat who was asked to resign said the Trump team handled the matter professionally and made clear the request wasn't personal. "They want to have people in place whom they've worked with before who are known quantities," the official said. One such official is Lisa Kenna, who heads the State Department's intelligence arm called the Bureau of Intelligence and Research. Kenna worked as the executive secretary for then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. She is expected to reprise that role and serve also as acting under secretary for political affairs. The latter job is one of the most challenging in the building, overseeing regional bureaus from Asia to Latin America to Africa to Europe. "They're both full-time jobs," one official said. Kenna did not respond to a request for comment. Last week, Trump's aides asked three senior career diplomats who oversee the department's workforce and internal coordination to resign in a move reported by Reuters. The career officials were Dereck Hogan, Marcia Bernicat and Alaina Teplitz. The top diplomat for East Asia, Dan Kritenbrink, served his last day as assistant secretary on Friday and will retire Jan. 31. Kritenbrink, like Bass, Pyatt and other career officials, served in influential positions under both Democratic and Republican administrations. Another career diplomat said the forced resignations are occurring "a little quicker" than in previous administrations but that it is common for a new administration to eventually pick new career diplomats for Senate-confirmed positions like those held by Bass and Pyatt. Other officials expressed frustration that the request to resign, on the Friday before the inauguration, came with little warning and they have no indication whether they may apply for other jobs within the department. It's unclear how far the Trump administration will go in rooting out perceived enemies at Foggy Bottom, which Trump often calls the "Deep State Department." The top Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Rep. Brian Mast of Florida, has told reporters that pushing back against "woke" bureaucrats should be a priority. Anyone "nefariously supporting a radical agenda should be aware that we'll be looking for them," he said last week, "and we will be looking for creating authorities to make sure that their existence doesn't continue in the State Department." Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico agreed on Monday during talks on the need to establish a just and lasting peace in Ukraine, Erdogan said at a press conference following the meeting. "Of course, we discussed the war in Ukraine, which is now affecting all of Europe. (...) Before the conflict worsens, it is necessary to establish a just and lasting peace in Ukraine," Erdogan said. In addition, Erdogan announced his intention to maintain contacts with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump to discuss the war in Ukraine and its end. "Trump has said before that he will end the Russia-Ukraine war. We in Turkey are ready to do our part to end the war. I plan to raise this issue in my discussions with Trump," Erdogan said. Chandigarh, Jan 20 : Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Bikram Singh Majithia on Monday demanded withdrawal of the Z-plus security cover given to Bibhav Kumar, former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's OSD as well as Advisor to Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann. Majithia said: "Forget norms, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has even thrown morality to the winds by granting Z-plus security cover to a person who was accused of molesting AAP MP Swati Mahiwal." Asserting that there was no need to provide security cover to Bibhav Kumar, Majithia said "since Bibhav lives in Delhi, his security can be overseen by the Delhi Police. Providing his seven security personnel round the clock is not justified under any circumstances". Asking Chief Minister Mann to tell Punjabis why he had taken this decision in his capacity as Home Minister, Majithia said: "The AAP government has failed to provide security and safety to tax-payers in Punjab. It has failed to rein in gangsters and now even terrorist activities are on the rise. "Jails have become a haven for criminals from where they conduct their criminal activities. In such a situation, the (Punjab) Chief Minister should be allocating personnel on policing duties instead of taking steps to please his boss Kejriwal," he said. He also appealed to the Punjab Police to boycott this patently wrong decision. Responding to Bibhav Kumar's appointment in November last year, BJP National General Secretary Tarun Chugh had launched a scathing attack on Kejriwal and Mann. His remarks came in response to Maliwal's post on social media platform X, in which she claimed that Kejriwal had rewarded Kumar by appointing him as the Chief Advisor to Punjab's Chief Minister. Maliwal claimed that the assault, which allegedly took place at Kejriwal's residence on May 13 last year, was followed by Kumar's promotion to a top administrative position in Punjab, highlighting the 'true face' of the AAP in its treatment of women. She criticised Kejriwal and accused him of "rewarding Kumar", despite the Supreme Court labelling him a "goon". Tehran, Jan 20 : The Iranian army's ground force launched a two-day military drill on Sunday in the northeastern Khorasan Razavi province, said local authorities. The exercise aims to enhance the troops' combat capabilities and showcase the Iranian armed forces' new weapons and gears, according to a press release from the army's public relations on Monday. The first stage of the exercise, involving artillery, armoured, airborne, drone, electronic warfare and missile units, began in Torbat-e Jam County on Sunday night, it said. In the first phase of the "offensive-security" drill, the ground force's special rapid reaction units practiced capturing mock terrorist leaders and senior members before they could enter the country, carrying out specialised operations with drones, missiles, bombs, helicopters and armored vehicles, it added. The Iranian armed forces have conducted several drills over the past few days and plan to hold more during the coming weeks to maintain and enhance their military preparedness against potential threats, Xinhua news agency reported. Earlier this month, Iran's armed forces held a large-scale joint air defence exercise near the Natanz uranium enrichment facility in central Isfahan province. The 'Eqtedar' (Power) 1403 exercise was launched in the first week of the year on the orders of Khatam al-Anbia Air Defence Base Commander Qader Rahimzadeh, IRIB TV said. The first phase involved Aerospace Force units of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) conducting "all-out point defence of the nuclear site against numerous aerial threats under tough electronic warfare conditions," according to IRIB. IRGC spokesman Ali-Mohammad Naeini said that the annual drills aim to maintain and improve military preparedness, counter potential military threats and acts of sabotage, and boost national morale. Iran signed a nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), with world powers in July 2015, agreeing to put some curbs on its nuclear programme in return for the removal of sanctions. The United States, however, pulled out of the deal in May 2018 and reimposed sanctions on Iran, prompting Tehran to scale back its commitments under the deal. The talks to revive the JCPOA began in April 2021 in Vienna, Austria. Despite several rounds of talks, no significant breakthrough has been achieved. New Delhi, Jan 20 : In a bid to further revitalise the telecom industry, the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) on Monday released the telecom industry's recommendations for the upcoming Union Budget 2025-26 to the Ministry of Finance. Considering the huge capital that Telecom Service Providers (TSPs) have to invest in the current scenario, especially for the deployment of 5G, COAI recommended that the Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF) levy be abolished. "Alternatively, the government may consider the suspension of the USO contribution of 5 per cent of AGR, till the existing USO corpus of over Rs 86,000 crore is exhausted," said the apex telecom industry body. COAI also recommended that the license fee be urgently reduced from 3 per cent to 1 per cent, so that it just covers the administrative costs by the DoT/government, thereby relieving the TSPs from additional financial burden. The industry is also concerned over the present definition of Gross Revenue (GR), as it covers revenue from all telecom activities. The COAI also recommended that the definition of GR be made precise, stipulating that the revenue from activities for which no license is required should not be a part of GR. "Further, we strongly believe that large traffic generators (LTG) should take the responsibility of participating in the development of telecom infrastructure as they ride on the networks created by telecom companies, earn profits, but don't pay anything for creation of the infrastructure," said the COAI. It recommended that LTGs should pay to USO fund/Digital Bharat Nidhi Fund and thereby contribute to the Indian digital economy. Owing to the intense price competition in the market, the telecom industry in India has consolidated from over 10 companies in 2017 to 3 private and 1 public sector company, which is an optimal structure and encourages healthy competition. "Further to the above, cash flow and projections of some of the players in the telecom industry have also been adversely impacted post the Supreme Court Ruling of 2019, in the context of calculation of Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR), whereby telecom operators are required to pay additional AGR dues basis the revised computation, over a longer period of time," said the COAI. COAI also requested the government to clarify that service tax is not payable on incremental License Fees (LF) and Spectrum Usage Charges (SUC) arising from the Supreme Court's AGR ruling. Over the past 5 to 6 years, the government has gradually increased the customs duty on telecom equipment to 20 per cent, adding a significant financial burden on telecom companies and significantly impacting the rollout of 5G services in India. COAI has requested for exemption from the levy of BCD be granted on the telecom equipment under CTH 8517, which has been increased from October 11, 2018, which will alleviate the cost challenges associated with deploying this critical infrastructure. New Delhi, Jan 20 : The Uniform Civil Code (UCC) rules approved by the Uttarakhand government on Monday avoided the controversial proposals for creating a separate process to resolve disputes related to personal laws. The rules proposed by the Shatrughan Singh Committee for the UCC initially presented to the Chief Minister on October 18, 2024, were subject to some revisions. The extensive 400-page document has been condensed to under 100 pages, with only provisions concerning registration of marriage, divorce, inheritance, and live-in being retained, sources said. As a result, the revised UCC rules approved by the Uttarakhand government on Monday no longer include the proposal for a separate process to handle disputes related to personal laws, sources added. The enforcement of the UCC is likely to be announced on January 26, with the government waiting for the conclusion of local body elections, which are currently under the model code of conduct. Meanwhile, this move has raised a few questions about the decision vis-a-vis public interest. The reported revision of the original rules a" particularly the removal of judicial processes for resolving disputes in personal matters a" has raised eyebrows. These changes were reportedly made following recommendations from the Law, Justice and Legislative Affairs department, which oversees the stateas judicial processes. A key concern is the purported rejection of public suggestions made during the UCC consultations, where people voiced the need for improvements in judicial processes, said sources. The decision to discard these recommendations calls into question whether the UCC's implementation is genuinely in the public interest, ask sources. Sources also ask as to why public consultations were held if their inputs were to be ignored? And why was the Committee formed if its extensive work was ultimately dismissed? Significantly, the Act was drafted based on a report from a government-appointed panel chaired by retired Supreme Court judge Ranjana Prakash Desai. The five-member panel conducted several public meetings and consultations with diverse stakeholders throughout the state to compile the report. Analysts ask whether the entire exercise was a mere formality, intended to pacify public sentiment without delivering meaningful reform. The recent suicide of Atul Subhash, which cast a shadow over the judicial system, has once again highlighted the need for reform. With the UCC aiming to address these very concerns, purported rejection of certain reforms raises a crucial question as to whether the people will be getting real justice, or will it continue the status quo of harassment. New Delhi, Jan 20 : After the success of DigiLocker for citizens, the government on Monday launched 'Entity Locker', a cutting-edge digital platform designed to transform the management and verification of business and organisation documents. New Delhi, Jan 20 (IANS) After the success of DigiLocker for citizens, the government on Monday launched aEntity Lockera, a cutting-edge digital platform designed to transform the management and verification of business and organisation documents. National eGovernance Division (NeGD), under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), has developed the secure, cloud-based solution that simplifies the storage, sharing, and verification of documents for a wide range of entities, including large organisations, corporations, micro, small, and medium Enterprises (MSMEs), trusts, startups and societies. Entity Locker is built on a robust technological framework that integrates with multiple government and regulatory systems, offering real-time access and verification of documents through integration with government databases; consent-based mechanisms for secure sharing of sensitive information; Aadhaar-authenticated role-based access management to ensure accountability; 10 GB of encrypted cloud storage for secure document management; legally valid digital signatures for authenticating documents. The platform is a critical component of Indiaas Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI), aligning with the vision of the Union Budget 2024-25 for enhanced digital governance and ease of doing business. By consolidating these features, the platform aims to minimize administrative overhead, reduce processing times, and enhance operational efficiency for businesses, said the ministry. Entity Lockeras seamless integration with systems such as the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, the Goods and Services Tax Network (GSTN), the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) and other regulatory institutions provides businesses instant access to critical documents. It streamlines document sharing and access with partners and stakeholders, ensures accountability by tracking all document-related activities, consolidates storage and security to reduce administrative overhead and minimises document processing times and operational bottlenecks. The platform supports various use cases, including vendor verification on the procurement portal; expedited loan applications for MSMEs; FSSAI compliance documentation; vendor verification during registration in GSTN, MCA and tendering process; and streamlined corporate annual filings. New Delhi, Jan 20 : In no immediate relief to the 2020 national capital riots accused Tahir Hussain, the Supreme Court on Monday adjourned hearing on his petition seeking interim bail for campaigning ahead of the Delhi Assembly elections. Asaduddin Owaisi-led All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) has fielded Tahir Hussain as a candidate from the Mustafabad constituency. A bench of Justices Pankaj Mithal and Ahsanuddin Amanullah could not take up Tahir Hussain's special leave petition for hearing due to paucity of time but listed the matter for hearing on January 21. When mentioned for urgent hearing, Justice Mithal-led Bench remarked: "It is easy to win elections sitting in jail. All such persons should be barred from contesting the elections." Last week, the Delhi High Court turned down Tahir Hussain's plea for interim bail but granted him parole to enable him to file nomination papers for the upcoming Assembly polls. As per the order of the Delhi High Court, Tahir Hussain, while out on custody parole, will not have any access to the phone or the Internet, will not interact with any person except the officials concerned in the nomination process, and will not address the media. Further, family members of Hussain may remain present, but they would not be permitted to click photographs of the filing of the nomination or to post the same on social media, the court order had said. Disposing of Hussain's plea for interim bail, a bench of Justice Neena Bansal Krishna ruled: "Merely because the Applicant/Petitioner had earlier been a Municipal Councilor, cannot be a peculiar circumstance entitling him to grant the Interim Bail. "Considering the antecedents, nature of allegations and having regard to the totality of circumstances, he (Hussain) is granted Custody Parole for subscribing the oath and to complete the formalities in respect of filing his Nomination Papers," it said. On January 14, the Justice Krishna-led Bench reserved its decision after hearing the arguments raised by senior advocate Rebecca John, representing the former Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) councillor, and Additional Solicitor General Chetan Sharma, who appeared on behalf of Delhi Police. Opposing Hussain's interim bail plea, ASG Sharma said that the AIMIM candidate, facing "gruesome allegations", may file his nomination papers from Tihar jail or under custody parole. Sharma added that there is no fundamental right to contest elections and if released on interim bail, Hussain may influence witnesses. "We are conceding that custody parole be granted to facilitate him to file nominations. Like others he can also contest," he said, referring to the former councillor's involvement in several criminal cases, including under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and the UAPA (Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act). On the other hand, senior advocate John pleaded that Tahir Hussain be released on interim bail, from January 16 to February 9, for filing nominations and for the election campaign. John repeatedly laid emphasis that Hussain be temporarily released for campaigning. Tahir Hussain's counsel argued that the former AAP councillor should be released on interim bail since he needed to file nomination papers physically and give a true account of his assets. The counsel cited the interim bail granted to Jammu and Kashmir leader Engineer Rashid, accused in a terror funding case being probed by the National Investigation Agency (NIA), for election-related purposes. New Delhi, Jan 20 : Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva and North West Delhi MP Yogender Chandolia on Monday live-streamed and "exposed" on social media the grim state of Central Government-constructed flats in the JJ Cluster area of Bawana which AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal has "refused" to distribute to the needy. New Delhi, Jan 20 (IANS) Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva and North West Delhi MP Yogender Chandolia on Monday live-streamed and "exposed" on social media the grim state of Central Government-constructed flats in the JJ Cluster area of Bawana which AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal has "refused" to distribute to the needy. The field visit came a day after Kejriwal offered to build new affordable houses for sanitation employees in NDMC and MCD, inviting sharp criticism from the BJP which slammed the former Chief Minister for not utilising the already available houses for the poor and "selling fresh dreams" to them. The two BJP leaders' visit was focused on highlighting Kejriwal's "double standards" under which he did not allot 50,000 flats to sanitation workers and slum dwellers just because of "political rivalry" with the Narendra Modi government. Addressing the media, Sachdeva said, "Today, we inspected the dilapidated flats, which are a consequence of Kejriwal's obstinacy and political rivalry, thereby exposing his double standards." The BJP leaders highlighted how the flats' walls have collapsed due to a lack of maintenance and the premises are covered with dense growth of wild plants and weeds. Sachdeva accused the Kejriwal government of wasting public funds, pointing to these ruined government flats as glaring evidence. He claimed that 50,000 flats were left to decay solely because Kejriwal insisted on renaming the flats after himself and sought personal credit for the Central Government's project. The Delhi BJP chief stated that the Central government allocated around Rs 12,000 crore for constructing these flats for sanitation workers and the poor. However, even after being elected as Chief Minister thrice, Kejriwal neglected their allotment to the needy and, instead, made hollow promises of building new flats. Sachdeva assured that once a BJP-led government comes to power in Delhi, the party will repair these flats just as the Central government has built solid houses for four crore rural and urban citizens across India. Highlighting the Modi government's contribution, he mentioned that "Swabhimaan Apartments" were gifted to Delhi's underprivileged by the Central government. In contrast, the Kejriwal government ignored a departmental request for Rs 250 crore to renovate these flats, allocating Rs 1 lakh instead. He added that Kejriwal's "duplicitous" policies, treating the poor solely as a vote bank, stand exposed, and his excuses are now wearing thin. Chandolia criticised the Kejriwal government for its injustice towards the underprivileged, stating, "Kejriwal did not deliver what he promised and only acted in ways that were detrimental during his tenure." Chandolia warned that Kejriwal believes he can continue deceiving Delhi's residents as he has for the past 10 years but he may not succeed. Bhubaneswar, Jan 20 : Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Monday said that his mineral-rich state of Odisha's contributions towards the economic prosperity of India is unparalleled. He also termed Odisha as aRatna Garbhaa, a treasure trove of natural wealth. While speaking at the 3rd Mining Ministersa Conference in Konark, CM Majhi said: "Every corner of Odisha is rich in valuable mineral resources. Odisha truly is 'Ratna Garbha', a treasure trove of natural wealth. The contribution of our state to Indiaas economic prosperity is unparalleled, and we take great pride in being a key driver in our nationas growth." He also mentioned the possible presence of much needed and very scarce lithium in one of the districts of Odisha during the preliminary survey of the Geological Survey of India. The Chief Minister asserted that this is very good news for the EV battery industry. CM Majhi also stated that Odisha is enriched and it also has coal. He noted that the full potential of mineral rich Odisha hasnat yet been found due to various reasons including a strong political will. CM Majhi said all these shortcomings will change now for the betterment of people of the state. "From just one major steel plant at Rourkela, now Odisha boasts of more than three dozen of major steel plants and is rightly called the steel capital of India, accounting for about 25 per cent of India's total steel output," he added. The Chief Minister also stated that the stateas steel output is expected to increase substantially by 2030. He further added that the state government is committed to transform Odisha as global industrial hub so it is investing heavily in the steel and mining sector. He further noted that three eastern Indian states -- Odisha, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand -- produce and supply more than two thirds of all the base metals demands of the country. "In order to fulfil the dream of becoming a developed nation by 2047 as envisioned by PM Modi, these three states will fuel the growth and Odisha will play a major part in this," added CM Majhi. Highlighting the need for sustainable mining, the Chief Minister exhorted the delegates to find a way to move towards a consumption-led mining activities from the present export-led mining economy. He also advised the mining industry to adopt modern technology such as drones and artificial intelligence technology to bring down the operational cost while at the same time conserving the environment. CM Majhi also asserted that India has already achieved the target of 200 gigawatts and is poised to achieve the ambitious target of producing 500 gigawatts of renewable energy by 2030 as envisioned by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. "Now the next big thing will be green hydrogen in which Odisha is going to be a major player in the coming years. So, in a nutshell, both development and environment can co-exist and it is our responsibility to give a greener earth to our future generation," said CM Majhi. Jaipur, Jan 20 : Rajasthan Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma on Monday said that his government has been creating a favourable environment for the industrial and service sectors so that the resolve for a $350 billion state economy can be fulfilled. He said that after proper examination of the suggestions of the representatives, every effort will be made to include them in the upcoming budget of 2025-26. CM Sharma said this while addressing the pre-budget discussion held in two sessions with representatives of industry, trade, tax advisory associations and the service sector in the Chief Minister's Office on Monday. He said that along with strengthening the economy with industrial growth, people also get employment opportunities. He said that in the very first year of its tenure, the state government took decisions like organising the Rising Rajasthan Summit, implementing new policies for the economic sector, making big investment agreements, which gave a new impetus to the economic direction in the state. CM Sharma said that due to the efforts of the state government, today Rajasthan is having a special identity in all areas like industrial development, investment, health, education, tourism. MSME registrations are increasing rapidly due to the investment-friendly policies of the state, he said. In the last one year, about 5 lakh micro, small and medium enterprises have been registered and Rajasthan ranks fourth in the registration of MSME units. He said that Rajasthan, the largest state in the country, is now becoming a land of big opportunities. The state has also become a leading state in solar and wind energy production, CM Sharma said, adding that "our government has strengthened the economy of the state with efficient financial management in a short period, as a result of which the growth rate of GSDP has been recorded at 12.56 per cent in 2024". He said that the capital expenditure of the state has also increased by 65.94 per cent. The Chief Minister said that the Rajasthan Investment Promotion Scheme-2024 has been brought by the state government, which will promote balanced and inclusive development and employment opportunities of the state. CM Sharma said that the government is committed to the overall development of agriculture and farmers. The government transferred an additional installment of Rs 650 crore of Kisan Samman Nidhi to 66 lakh farmers directly into their bank accounts. For the first time in the history of Rajasthan, such a huge amount was transferred directly to the bank accounts of the food producers of our state by the state government. He said that the state government has taken various steps for industrial development including financial approval for the establishment of 11 new industrial areas. "Our government rationalised the prevailing VAT rates on diesel and petrol and reduced it by 2 per cent, as a result of which there was uniformity in the rates and the common people also got oil at cheaper rates. Also, the VAT rate of CNG and PNG was reduced from 14.5 per cent to 10 per cent," he added. Bhopal, Jan 20 : The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has conducted fresh round of raids at the premises of ex-RTO constable Saurabh Sharma and his associated and recovered illegal properties of worth several crores. The raids were carried out at various premises situated in Bhopal and Gwalior districts of Madhya Pradesh and in Pune (Maharashtra) on January 17, the ED said in a statement on Monday. "During the search operations, account balances in the bank accounts amounting to Rs 30 lakh was frozen and unexplained cash of Rs 12 lakh and silver amounting to 9.9 kg of worth around Rs 9.17 lakh were seized," the ED statement read. The agency has also recovered digital devices and copies of property documents, it added. Further investigation in the matter was underway, it added. The searches were carried out on the basis of FIR registered by Special Police Establishment (SPE) of Madhya Pradesh Lokayukta police against Saurabh Sharma. "Scrutiny of said FIR revealed that Saurabh Sharma has amassed disproportionate assets worth crores of rupees in the name of his family members and associated firms and companies," the ED statement read. Earlier, the ED had conducted raids at the premises of Saurabh Sharma and his associates on December 27, 2024. Besides ED, Income Tax Department and the Special Establishment Police (SEP) of state Lokayukta has also carried out separate searches at several premiers of Sharma and his associates in multiple locations. The first recovery took place during a Lokayukta raid last week, where anti-corruption officials discovered that Sharma was in possession of movable assets worth Rs 7.98 crore, including Rs 2.87 crore in cash and 235 kg of silver. Subsequently, the Income Tax Department conducted another raid, uncovering 52 kg of gold bars worth Rs 40 crore and over Rs 11 crore in cash from an abandoned SUV in Bhopal. Following the Lokayukta FIR, the ED has launched a money laundering investigation against Sharma, and raids were held in Bhopal, Gwalior, and Jabalpur on December 27, and also seized financial documents, assets, and electronic data from laptops and computers at various locations. UNICEF (United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund) allocated about UAH 28.5 million to 98 educational institutions of Chernihiv region in the current academic year, which will be used to repair food units and prepare for winter, Head of the regional military administration Viacheslav Chaus said. "For the first time in Chernihiv, Head of the UN Children's Fund Representative Office in Ukraine Munir Mammadzade. At our meeting, my messages are unchanged. The focus is on the safety and health of children. This includes shelters, food units, and logistics. It is important that the assistance from UNICEF is also unchanged," Chaus said in Telegram on Monday. He said that thanks to UNICEF assistance, "94 schools in 38 communities of the region and four lyceums received UAH 290,500 each, almost UAH 28.5 million. The funds were allocated for the current academic year to repair food service areas and prepare educational institutions for winter." Chaus also thanked UNICEF for its assistance to the region's health facilities. "In particular, UNICEF financed repairs at Chernihiv Regional Children's Hospital, and also purchased vehicles, generators and medical equipment." According to Chaus, thanks to UNICEF assistance, youth spaces were created in six communities of the region (Chernihivska, Kulykivska, Menska, Bakhmatska, Nizhynska and Bobrovytska). "Our focus is on our people. The youth," Chaus noted. "UNICEF assistance also covers other areas. Thank you for this support," the administration's head said. Mangaluru, Jan 20 : Karnataka Police have apprehended three dacoits in connection with the robbery at the K.C. Road branch of the Kotekar Agricultural Cooperative Bank near Ullal in Mangaluru, police sources confirmed on Monday. The accused have been identified as Murugundi Devar, Prakash alias Joshwa, and Manivannan. Mangaluru Police Commissioner Anupam Agarwal stated that the accused were arrested from various locations across Tamil Nadu. The police have also seized two pistols and swords. The accused are residents of Tirunelveli in Tamil Nadu and have been living in the Dharavi area of Mumbai. The incident took place on January 17, when an armed gang of five dacoits looted more than Rs 12 crore worth of gold after threatening the bank staff with guns, swords, and knives in the Mangaluru district of Karnataka. The accused used a car registered in Maharashtra for the crime. After committing the crime, they fled to Tirunelveli in Tamil Nadu via Kerala. "This crime would not have been possible without the involvement of local elements. We suspect collusion and are interrogating the arrested suspects," Police Commissioner Anupam Agarwal said. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah attending an event in Mangaluru city had held an emergency meeting with senior police officers and ordered urgent action to nab the dacoits. According to the police, the dacoits barged into the K.C. Road branch of the Kotekar Agricultural Cooperative Bank in Mangaluru in a car, threatening the staff with guns, swords, and knives. They made off with gold articles worth over Rs 12 crore and Rs 5 lakh in cash. The gang filled gold and cash into four to five bags before disappearing. Following the preliminary investigation, the police suspected the involvement of insiders. The bank's CCTV cameras had been sent for repair the day the crime occurred, which had raised suspicions. In light of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah's visit to Mangaluru, the police department was busy making security arrangements. The bank is located in a region with a large population from the minority community, and the road was empty as many had gone to offer prayers. The police believe the dacoits studied the situation and planned the robbery accordingly. The police department formed eight teams under the leadership of ACP Dhanya Nayak to crack the case. Two suspected persons were earlier grilled in the case. The same Mangaluru bank was robbed in 2017. The police teams had gone to Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Mumbai and Goa. The latest incident raised concerns, coming just a day after two robbers shot dead an ATM cash vehicle staffer and looted Rs 93 lakh in cash in Bidar city of the state. On October 28, 2024, the robbers broke open a window of the building of the State Bank of India (SBI) and looted Rs 12.95 crore worth of gold jewellery in Nyamati town of Davangere district. The gang had also taken away the DVR and CCTV installed in the bank. The police are suspecting the involvement of the same gang behind these incidents. Chennai, Jan 20 : Tamil Nadu CPI-M state secretary P. Shanmugham has urged the Union Education Ministry to dismiss V. Kamakoti, Director of IIT-Madras, over his remarks promoting the purported medicinal benefits of cow urine (gaumutra). Shanmugham criticised Kamakoti's comments, claiming that they could promote unscientific beliefs among the public. He warned that such statements from the head of a premier technical institution could undermine faith in scientific advancements and foster superstition. Shanmugham remarked, "The actions and statements of Kamakoti make it increasingly difficult to differentiate between an IIT director and an RSS propagandist." He also referenced findings from researchers at the Indian Veterinary Research Institute, who have reportedly stated that cow urine is harmful to health. The CPI-M leader demanded Kamakoti's removal from his position as director and called for the withdrawal of his academic degrees, including his doctorate. Shanmugham further accused Kamakoti of using his role at IIT-Madras to "advance RSS propaganda", which he described as dangerous for the democratic environment of Tamil Nadu. CPI state secretary R. Mutharasan also criticized Kamakoti's remarks, calling them irresponsible. "At a time when modern science is making groundbreaking discoveries in medicine, it is unacceptable for someone in Kamakoti's position to promote unverified claims. The medicinal properties of cow urine have not yet been scientifically confirmed," he stated. The controversy arose after Kamakoti, during a public address on Pongal Day, praised the medicinal value of cow urine. He cited the example of a Hindu sanyasi who reportedly recovered from a high fever after consuming it. Kamakoti claimed, "Cow urine has antibacterial and antifungal properties. For digestive issues, IBS, and other illnesses, it serves as an effective medicine." His remarks sparked widespread criticism in the state with Congress leader Karti Chidambaram describing the comments as "peddling pseudoscience" and called them "most unbecoming" on social media platform X. DMK spokesperson T.S. Elangovan suggested that Kamakoti should be reassigned to a medical college, saying, "Centre should transfer him to AIIMS instead of IIT." However, BJP state president K. Annamalai defended Kamakoti, stating, "It is unfortunate that a decorated academic and expert in AI and quantum computing is being criticised for following his dharma. Everyone has the right to practice their religion. I urge critics to respect the sanctity of institutions and cease protests." --IANS aal/dan Bhubaneswar, Jan 20 : The Youth Congress workers on Monday staged a huge protest at Lower PMG area here targeting the state government over various issues including price rise, unemployment, deteriorating law and order, etc. The police intercepted the protesters while they were marching towards the residence of Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi to stage a 'gherao'. The protest was led by Uday Bhanu Chib, the national president of Indian Youth Congress and other senior party leaders. "The Chief Minister of Odisha has turned into a 'Puppet CM'. He should think about providing jobs to youths of Odisha and liberate them from addiction to drugs. But the Odisha CM is only following the instructions of Amit Shah and Narendra Modi and allowing his friends to set up industries here. We are protesting to awaken the puppet CM, Amit Shah and Prime Minister Narendra Modi to provide jobs to Odisha youths and bring down price rise in the state," said Uday Bhanu. He further claimed that Odisha does not need a puppet government that is being operated by Home Minister Amit Shah from Delhi. "Odisha needs a Chief Minister who will think about the youths of Odisha and provide jobs to them and liberate them from the clutches of drug addiction," he said. Another Congress leader said that the state government canat suppress the voice of the party and this agitation will be intensified in the future. Meanwhile, taking a dig at the Congress, BJP Odisha Yuva Morcha President Abhilash Panda on Monday said that the opposition Congress is in a dire situation and holding the protest to save their identity. He further said that none in Odisha is required to take their protest seriously. He also expressed confidence that the Mohan Majhi-led BJP government will do what the congress failed during their 55 years' rule in Odisha. It is pertinent here to mention that the main opposition, Biju Janata Dal had also staged a massive protest in Bhubaneswar a couple of days back targeting the state government over its failure to check the skyrocketing prices of essential commodities in the state. New Delhi, Jan 20 : Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convenor Arvind Kejriwal, who is contesting the Delhi Assembly elections for the fourth time, has been accused of attempting to win votes using "goons". New Delhi, Jan 20 (IANS) Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convenor Arvind Kejriwal, who is contesting the Delhi Assembly elections for the fourth time, has been accused of attempting to win votes using "goons". The allegations came after an incident happened around 1 PM on Monday when Kejriwal was scheduled to address an election rally at MP Flats in New Delhi. Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Rajya Sabha MP Sandeep Pathak was also present with him. Some residents claimed that there was an altercation and manhandling during the event. Several individuals spoke to the news agency IANS about the incident. Poonam Singh, a staff member working at the MP residence, shared her experience. "I was standing to speak to Arvind Kejriwal about my issue when MP Sandeep Pathak tried to stop me and said I could meet him at home to resolve the problem. I told him that I didn't want to meet him at home because Kejriwal had never visited here in 10 years. Since he was here today, I wanted to discuss my issue with him directly, but I was not allowed to meet him," she said. Poonam further alleged, "Kejriwal claims that the electricity is free, but despite working at the MPs' residence, I received an electricity bill of Rs 9,000." She continued: "Kejriwal was supposed to hold a rally here in the afternoon. When I arrived, I saw three or four people distributing pamphlets. One of them asked me to take a photo, and I clicked their photo and video with my phone. Shortly after, over 100 people gathered out of nowhere and started misbehaving. When I raised my voice, half of them were sent away. I want to ask Kejriwal how he was allowed to gather more than 100 people in this upscale area. In 10 years, why hasn't he ever come to understand the condition of the people here? The people here will not vote. We need shelter because, after five years, we are evicted from MPs' residences and left to live on the streets with our children. There are no Mohalla Clinics here. I even called Kejriwal's PA and the AAP MP for help, but no one responded. Even during the pandemic, the AAP MP did not help." Local resident Santosh added, "Kejriwal has visited here twice in 10 years. Once when there was a Mata Ki Jagran (religious event). We want to ask why we haven't been given employment." Other locals also accused AAP MP Sandeep Pathak of misbehaving with them. Chennai, Jan 20 : Well known director Sudha Kongara has penned a heart-felt tribute to late producer Mano Akkineni, who incidentally was also her best friend. Taking to Instagram, Sudha Kongara, who is now directing her next film featuring Sivakarthikeyan in the lead, posted a picture of herself with producer Mano Akkineni that was shot way back in 2008 in Panvel. She wrote, "My first producer and my best friend. RIP Mano Akkineni. And may you shine as bright amongst the stars above as you did when you shone on this earth. I will miss you terribly. You have always watched my first cuts and been my first audience.This film I'm doing today I dedicate to you Mano, because I know you will be watching my every move as one of the biggest lovers of cinema, cinema and more cinema. Two crazy fan girls - 2008, Panvel." Sudha Kongara's first Tamil film 'Drohi' was produced by Mano Akkineni. The film featured Srikanth and Vishnu Vishal along with Shamna Kasim and Poonam Bajwa in the lead. The film had music by Selvaganesh and cinematography by Alphonse Roy. The film, which was edited by Sreekar Prasad, hit screens in September 2010. Meanwhile, Sudha Kongara's film with Sivakarthikeyan is a period drama which will be on a big scale. Sivakarthikeyan, during a recent interview to a publication, had disclosed that actors Sreeleela and Atharvaa too were part of the film and that G V Prakash was scoring the music and Ravi K Chandran was handling the camera. The actor also disclosed that Ravi Mohan was playing the antagonist in the film and that the character he (Ravi Mohan) was playing was a "very, very strong character" and that he was very happy when Ravi said 'yes' to it. Washington, Jan 20 : Outgoing President Joe Biden welcomed President-elect Donald Trump to the White House on Monday morning for a traditional tea ceremony with two words: "Welcome home", according to media reports. Washington, Jan 20 (IANS) Outgoing President Joe Biden welcomed President-elect Donald Trump to the White House on Monday morning for a traditional tea ceremony with two words: "Welcome home", according to media reports. Biden and first lady Jill Biden received President-elect Trump and Melania Trump for a brief ceremony after which they would leave together for the US Capitol where the incoming President will be administered the oath of office by Chief Justice John Roberts. Guests for the swearing-in had begun arriving at the Capitol Rotunda where the ceremony will take place; indoors instead of the traditional venue outside. This will only be the second instance of the swearing-in taking place indoors; the last time was in 1985 when President Ronald Reagan took the oath for his second term. Trump's return to the White House is also only the second time for an American President to serve two non-consecutive terms. The first was Grover Cleveland at the end of the 19th century. The swearing-in will be attended by Trump's nominees to the cabinet such as Marco Rubio, for secretary of state, who is expected to be the first to be confirmed, as early as Monday. President-elect Trump started Monday's inauguration proceedings by attending a private service at St John's Church with the incoming first lady Melania Trump, Vice-President-elect JD Vance and wife Usha Vance and some members of the cabinet. No TV cameras were allowed inside but the Trump inauguration team released pictures from inside that showed other attendees including Trump's sons Barron Trump, Don Trump Jr, Eric Trump and his wife Lara Trump, Ivanka Trump and her husband Jared Kushner. Also among Trump's guests were Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Amazon's Jeff Bezos, Apple's Tim Cook, Tesla and Space X's Elon Musk, and Google's Sundar Pichai. They would go on to also attend the swearing-in ceremony in the Capitol Rotunda. Former President Bill Clinton and his wife Hillary Clinton, former President George W Bush and his wife Laura Bush, and former President Barack Obama minus his wife Michelle Obama will attend the oath-taking ceremony as is the tradition, which was broken by President Trump who skipped Biden's inauguration in 2021. As the ceremonies and partying continues into the evening and night, Trump's aides were working on a spate of executive orders implementing some of the President-elect election promises, including immigration. The President-elect told guests at a dinner on Sunday night that there are close to 100 such orders. Ten of them will be about immigration and among others one will rename the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America. Mumbai, Jan 20 : Actress Shilpa Shetty Kundra, who was last seen in the streaming series 'Indian Police Force', is sharing her fitness advice for keeping those glutes perfectly toned. On Monday, the actress took to her Instagram, and shared a video of herself from her fitness session. The video shows her performing squats with the help of a trainer as they joined their feet and squatted down. The actress was unable to get the right form of the squats exercise but cracked it by the third attempt. She wrote in the caption, "Squat, squat till you get those glutes. What's a challenge without a little struggle? Third attempt, but I got it done! Set the tone for your week. Push your limits and surprise yourself". Earlier, the actress and her husband, Raj Kundra's premises were raided by the Enforcement Directorate (ED). After this, Raj had issued a public statement about him fully complying with the authorities. Raj took to the Stories section of his Instagram, and penned a long note. He wrote, "To whom it may concern, While the media seems to have a flair for drama, let's set the record straight: I'm fully complying with the ongoing investigation that has been unfolding for the last four years. As for the claims of 'associates', 'pornography' and 'money laundering', let's just say that no amount of sensationalism will cloud the truth, in the end, justice will prevail". He further mentioned, "A note to the media: It's unacceptable to repeatedly drag my wife's name into unrelated matters. Please respect the boundaries. #ED". The recent ED searches were part of an ongoing investigation into an alleged money laundering case. On October 3, Kundra, who is facing accusations of money laundering through bitcoin, received a notice from the Enforcement Directorate, instructing him to vacate his Juhu bungalow and Pune farmhouse. In response, he filed a petition with the Mumbai High Court challenging the notice. The businessman was arrested by the Mumbai Crime Branch in July 2021 in connection with the case, facing multiple charges under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Information Technology Act. He was later granted bail by a city court. -- Except for the title, this story has not been edited by Prokerala team and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed Washington, Jan 20 : Outgoing President Joe Biden and his incoming successor President-elect Donald Trump rode together to the US Capitol for the latter's oath-taking ceremony after a traditional tea ceremony at the White House along with their wives, Vice-President Kamala Harris and her incoming successor J D Vance and their spouses. Jill Biden and Melania Trump rode together to the Capitol in a separate car as did Vice-President Kamala Harris and her successor J D Vance. They had gathered at the White House for a traditional tea ceremony, at which Biden welcomed the incoming president with two words: "Welcome home", according to media reports. Guests for the swearing-in had begun arriving early at the Capitol Rotunda where the ceremony will take place indoors instead of the traditional venue outside because of frigid conditions. This is only the second instance of the swearing-in taking place indoors -- the last time being in 1985 when President Ronald Reagan took the oath for his second term. Trump's return to the White House is also only the second time for an American president to service two non-consecutive terms. The first was Grover Cleveland at the end of the 19th century. The swearing-in will be attended by Trump's nominees to the cabinet such as Marco Rubio, for Secretary of State, who is expected to be the first to be confirmed, as early as Monday; Robert Kennedy Jr., Doug Burgum, Kristi Noem, Pete Hegseth and others. Among the first high-ranking officials to arrive at the Capitol Rotunda on Monday was General C Q Brown, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who is sitting on the platform where Trump will take his oath. Current and former House and Senate leaders have also arrived, including former Republican Leader Mitch McConnell and his wife former Trump Cabinet member Elaine Chao. Former House speakers Kevin McCarthy, John Boehner and Newt Gingrich also took their seats. According to pool reports, supporters were filing into Emancipation Hall at the Capitol, the overflow viewing room in the Capitol Visitor Centre, where the President-elect is expected to speak after the inauguration ceremony. Notable attendees include AI billionaires Sam Altman and Alexandr Wang, YouTube influencers and brothers Logan and Jake Paul, New York Mayor Eric Adams, mixed martial artist and boxer Conor McGregor, comedian and podcaster Theo Von and former race car driver Danica Patrick. House and Senate spouses have also been seated in the overflow space. President-elect Trump started Mondayas inauguration proceedings by attending a private service at St John's Church with the incoming first lady Melania Trump, Vice-President-elect JD Vance and wife Usha Vance and some members of the cabinet. No TV cameras were allowed inside but the Trump inauguration team released pictures from inside that showed other attendees included Trump's sons Barron Trump, Don Trump Jr, Eric Trump and his wife Lara Trump, Ivanka Trump and her husband Jared Kushner. Also among Trump's guests were Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Amazon's Jeff Bezos, Apple's Tim Cook, Tesla and Space X's Elon Musk, Google's Sundar Pichai. They would go on to also attend the swearing-in ceremony in the Capitol Rotunda. Former President Bill Clinton and his wife Hillary Clinton, former President George W Bush and wife Laura Bush, former President Barack Obama minus his wife Michelle Obama will attend the oath-taking ceremony as is the tradition, which was broken by President Trump who skipped Biden's inauguration in 2021. As the ceremonies and partying continued into the evening and night, Trump's aides were working on a spate of executive orders implementing some of the President-elect's election promises, including immigration. The President-elect told guests at a dinner Sunday night that there are close to 100 such orders. About 10 of them will be about immigration and among others one will rename the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America. Jaipur, Jan 20 : Rajasthan Assembly Speaker Vasudev Devnani (77) on Monday suddenly fell ill in Patna and was admitted to Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH) after complaining of chest pain. However, his condition is stated to be stable now. After being discharged from the hospital, Devnani flew back to Jaipur on a special flight around 6 p.m. He was treated at the Indira Gandhi Institute of Cardiology (IGIC) within PMCH, where heart-related tests were conducted. Although angiography was recommended, he declined the procedure, citing a previous angiography conducted last year. He left the hospital at approximately 5:15 p.m., stating that his health was fine and attributing his discomfort to acidity. "I came for medication, and I am heading back to Rajasthan," he said. Earlier, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla visited the hospital around 4:30 p.m. to check on Devnani. IGIC Director Dr. Sunil Kumar confirmed Devnanias stable condition and reiterated that further treatment would be pursued in Jaipur. Devnani had travelled to Patna to attend the two-day All India Presiding Officers' Conference, inaugurated by Om Birla. His health deteriorated during the event and he was promptly taken to the hospital. Dr. I.S. Thakur, Superintendent of PMCH, stated that Devnani was referred to the IGIC for further evaluation and is currently in good health. Bihar Legislative Assembly Speaker Nandkishore Yadav clarified that Devnani experienced chest pain and gas-related issues in the morning but did not suffer a heart attack. Bihar Health Minister Mangal Pandey added that doctors conducted all necessary heart-related tests, which returned normal results. "There is no indication of a heart attack, and his condition is now normal," Pandey said. A team of heart specialists from Jaipur was sent to Patna to oversee the treatment of Assembly Speaker Vasudev Devnani. The team included Dr. Deepak Maheshwari, Principal of SMS Medical College and Senior Cardiologist, along with Dr. Girdhar Goyal, Additional Superintendent of SMS Hospital, and a nursing staff member. They travelled to Patna via a special plane, assessed Devnani's condition, and later accompanied him back to Jaipur. Earlier, Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma and Health Minister Gajendra Singh Khinvsar had received updates on Devnani's health from Patna and decided to send the medical team for his care. Health Minister Gajendra Singh Khinvsar said, "Vasudev Devnani has always been proactive about his health. He walks five kilometres daily and often encourages others to maintain an active lifestyle. He had no prior illness. Amaravati, Jan 20 : On the first day of his visit to Davos on Monday to take part in the World Economic Forum (WEF) summit, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu made a strong pitch for investment into the state. Naidu, who is leading a state government delegation, held a series of meetings with investors and business leaders, showcasing vast potential of Andhra Pradesh as an investment destination. He met Indian Ambassador to Switzerland Mrudul Kumar in Zurich and discussed opportunities for Swiss companies to invest in Andhra Pradesh. Mrudul Kumar told Chandrababu Naidu that over 350 Switzerland companies including Nestle, Novartis and ABB have their units in various parts of India and more industrialists are ready to invest in the country. Chandrababu Naidu said that Andhra Pradesh has a lot of opportunities in sectors like pharmaceuticals, medical devices, technical, textiles and rail components manufacturing. The Chief Minister sought the Indian envoy's cooperation for cooperation between universities in Switzerland and Andhra Pradesh including the upcoming skill and AI universities. Chandrababu Naidu also informed Mrudul Kumar that the most efficient youth in all sectors is available in Andhra Pradesh to extend their services through the work-from-home system. Minister for Education, IT and Electronics Nara Lokesh sought Indian envoyas cooperation for setting up units by pharma giants like Novartis, Roche, Lonza and Alcon in Andhra Pradesh. Lokesh told him that the state government recently announced new industrial policy and several investor-friendly schemes. The state government is extending attractive incentives to companies in sectors like manufacturing, textile, missionary, hardware and electricals, rail component manufacturing, pharma and manufacturing medical equipment. Mrudul Kumar arranged a meeting between the Chief Minister and the Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) of four top Swiss companies and several personalities. Chandrababu Naidu focussed on investment opportunities in Andhra Pradesh, focusing on leveraging the state's skilled workforce and invited the top businessmen to invest in Andhra Pradesh by utilising the business-friendly policies of both the Centre and the state along with the infrastructural advantages besides the skilled human resources. The Chief Minister highlighted advantages for investments in Andhra Pradesh like availability of the advanced research and development centres, close collaborations for innovation hubs and incubators besides joint ventures in advanced manufacturing sectors like aerospace, automotive, and energy. The Indian ambassador in Switzerland promised to extend necessary cooperation inviting the Swiss companies to set up their units in Andhra Pradesh. Union Civil Aviation Minister K. Ram Mohan Naidu, State Industry Minister T.G. Bharat, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Andhra Pradesh Economic Development Board (APEDB) Saikanth Sarma and others were present. Along the entire frontline, since the beginning of the day and as of 16:00, some 64 combat clashes have been recorded, almost half, 29, are in Pokrovsk axis, where eight battles are still ongoing, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said. "Since the beginning of the day, the total number of combat clashes along the entire front line is 64. The occupiers continue to use aviation and carry out attacks in the east and south of our country, as well as in Kursk region of Russia. The defense forces are holding the lines and taking the necessary measures to prevent a breakthrough of the defense," the General Staff said in a Telegram statement on Monday. According to the statement, three times since the beginning of the day, the Russians attacked the units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in Kursk axis, carried out 15 air strikes, while dropping 23 UABs on the Russian territory. It is indicated that the occupiers do not stop using artillery on the territories of the regions bordering Russia. The areas of the settlements of Mykhalchyna-Sloboda and Mkhy in Chernihiv region; Ulanove, Ponomarenky, Starykove and Popivka in Sumy region; Tymofiivka in Kharkiv region came under enemy fire. It is reported that in Kharkiv axis, the Armed Forces of Ukraine repelled one enemy assault near Vovchansk, in Kupiansk two assaults on Petropavlivka and Zahryzove. According to the report, in Lyman direction, the enemy is attacking in the areas of Nadia, Novoyehorivka, Makiivka and Terny. In total, seven battles have been recorded in this direction since the beginning of the day, one of them is still ongoing. Enemy aircraft in this area carried out UAB strikes on Zeleny Hai, Drobysheve and Zelena Dolyna. "In Siversk axis, the occupiers tried to advance in the direction of Verkhniokamianske, and were repulsed," the General Staff said. In Kramatorsk axis, the Defense Forces repelled seven enemy attacks near the town of Chasiv Yar and in the direction of Stupochky, and three battles are currently ongoing. Mykolaivka and Stupochky are under attack from the invaders' aerial bombs. It is reported that in Toretsk direction, the enemy attacked our troops' positions eight times in the area of the settlements of Toretsk, Krymske and Ozarianivka. The enemy also dropped aerial bombs on Kostiantynivka and Katerynivka. "Today, in Pokrovsk direction, the enemy attacked the positions of our defenders 29 times in the areas of the settlements of Vodiane Druhe, Myroliubivka, Yelyzavetivka, Myrnohrad, Kotlyne, Nadiivka, Andriivka, Shevchenko, Dachne, Ulakly and Yantarne, eight clashes are still ongoing. Pershe Travnia, Troyanda and Pokrovsk were subjected to airstrikes by UABs," the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said. In other axes, there have been no significant changes in the situation. Moscow, Jan 20 : Russian President Vladimir Putin said Monday his country is open to dialogue with the new US administration over the Ukraine crisis. "The most important thing is to eliminate the root causes of the crisis," Putin said during a meeting with members of the country's Security Council, according to a statement from the Kremlin. He reiterated that a potential resolution of the Ukraine crisis should not involve a temporary truce to regroup forces for further conflict but "long-term peace" based on respect for the legitimate interests of all countries in the region. "The assumption is that dialogue will be built based on equality and mutual respect, considering the important role that our countries play concerning the key issues, including strategic stability and security," Putin said. The Russian leader stressed that Moscow has never rejected dialogue and has always been open to cooperation with any U.S. administration. Meanwhile, Putin congratulated Trump on his inauguration, Xinhua news agency reported. During the meeting, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov confirmed that Moscow is prepared for contact with the new US administration and other Western leaders. Also, on Monday, the Russian foreign ministry said that Moscow would be ready to resume dialogue with Japan if Tokyo took concrete steps to abandon its unfriendly policies. "Russia is ready to consider Japan's initiatives to resume dialogue, given that they are backed by practical steps from Tokyo that demonstrate a rejection of unfriendly policies," the ministry said in a statement issued in light of the 100th anniversary of diplomatic ties between Russia and Japan. Russia believes there are sensible politicians and public figures in Japan who recognize the harmful impact on the Japanese people of the anti-Russian discourse of official authorities, it added. Kolkata, Jan 20 : Hours after a special court here awarded life imprisonment to Sanjay Roy, the sole accused in the rape and murder of a lady doctor at R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital in August last year, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announced that West Bengal government will challenge the order in Calcutta High Court soon. In a statement issued on Monday morning, she had also made it clear that the state government will be seeking the "death penalty" at the Calcutta High Court for the victim. "I strongly feel that it is a heinous crime that warrants capital punishment. We will plead for capital punishment of the convict at the High Court now," the statement by the Chief Minister said. According to her, she is deeply shocked at the judgment of the special court which does not consider the crime as the "rarest of rare crimes." "I am convinced that it is indeed a rarest of rare cases which demands capital punishment. How could the judgment come to the conclusion that it is not the rarest of rare cases? We want to insist upon the death penalty in this most sinister and sensitive case," the Chief Minister's statement read. "Recently, in the last 3/4 months, we have been able to ensure capital/ maximum punishment for convicts in such crimes. Then, why, in this case, has capital punishment not been awarded?" the Chief Minister's statement added. Earlier in the day, immediately after the sentence was pronounced, the Chief Minister expressed her displeasure and dissatisfaction over the quantum of the sentence. "We demanded the 'death penalty' for the convict. I don't know how..Had the case been in our hands (read state police or Kolkata Police), the death sentence would have been pronounced much earlier," the Chief Minister told media persons just after the sentence was pronounced by the special court. However, when specifically asked whether the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had failed to carry out the investigation properly thus leading to just "life imprisonment" and not "death penalty," the Chief Minister refused to make any direct comment. "I do not want to say anything on these lines. All I can say is that recently in the three cases of similar rape and murder which were handled by the state police, the "death penalty' was pronounced within a much shorter period," the Chief Minister said. Guwahati, Jan 20 : Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Monday said that his state is now prepared for becoming an ecosystem of automobile manufacturing ecosystem that can transform the entire northeast. Sarma is on a visit to the South Korean capital Seoul to showcase Assamas strength to come up as a potential destination for investments. The state government will host an investment summita"Advantage Assam in the February month in Guwahati. Addressing top industry players in Seoul, the Assam CM said: "I am of the firm belief that if Assam can house an automobile manufacturing ecosystem, we could transform the socio-economic landscape of the North East. "Today during my meeting with CEOs and Leaders from South Koreaas automobile ancillary firms, I have offered them the unstinted support of our State, should they choose to build a base in Assam. With easy access to Indiaas $100 billion auto industry and that of South East Asia, Assam offers them unparalleled advantages." CM Sarma also met a delegation of the Korean International Trade Association (KITA) and held a discussion on investment prospects in Assam. He said: "Had a great meeting with the delegation of the Korean International Trade Association (KITA). It is the countryas largest business organisation representing over 73,000 companies. We are specially exploring how Assam can leverage KITA's vast network to ensure newer markets for Assamas tea, silk and agri products among others." The Assam Chief Minster also said: "I had an excellent discussion with Kyungsung Kang, the President of Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) and his team in Seoul today. We discussed a shared strategy to explore avenues of partnership for growth and development in fields of trade, commerce, industry and skilling for mutual benefits of Assam and Korean businesses." Notably, the Advantage Assam summit will highlight on attracting investors across the globe to invest in the state. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will kickstart the summit. According to Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, the event, which is set for February 25 and 26, would also highlight the traditional Jhumur dance of the tea tribe clans. Sarma said: "This summit is a platform to showcase Assam's rich traditions to a global audience in addition to attracting investors." A spectacular Jhumur dance performance with more than 7,500 dancers and artists will be part of the event. It will be an extraordinary show, the CM said. New York, Jan 20 : In his final hours as President, Joe Biden granted pardons to Anthony Fauci, who led the campaign against the Covid pandemic, and others who might become targets of prosecutions in the incoming administration of Donald Trump. The wide-ranging preemptive pardons covered former chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley, and the members and staff of the Congressional panel that investigated the January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. Trump had targeted some of them personally, and others as a group during his campaign for President. He will also announce his own set of pardons after assuming the presidency. He has said that he would pardon those convicted or facing trial for their actions during the January 6 riots. It is up to those Biden pardoned to accept or reject the reprieve and some may refuse them as they may view getting the pardon as an admission of guilt. Announcing the pardons, Biden said, "Even when individuals have done nothing wrong and in fact have done the right thing and will ultimately be exonerated, the mere fact of being investigated or prosecuted can irreparably damage reputations and finances". Fauci, who stood at the side of Trump during the pandemic giving updates and directing the action, said, "Let me be perfectly clear: I have committed no crime and there are no possible grounds for any allegation or threat of criminal investigation or prosecution of me." But, he said, "The mere articulation of these baseless threats, and the potential that they will be acted upon, create immeasurable and intolerable distress for me and my family." Trump broke with Fauci under pressure from an extreme right wing of his base that opposed the lockdowns and the vaccine mandates and Trump accused him of misleading the nation and cast his research institution's scientific cooperation with Chinese counterparts in a sinister light. Trump said that Milley should be "executed" for speaking to the Chinese military chief after the January 6 episode. The general had reportedly warned China against exploiting it. Biden's pardons covered Liz Cheney, the daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney, who broke with Trump citing his role in the riots and his character and was the only Republican lawmaker to serve on the panel investigating the attack. The pardons were also extended to the police who were involved in enforcing the law on January 6 and testified before the Congressional panel. Biden had earlier pardoned his son Hunter who was facing sentencing after conviction on gun charges and trial on tax evasion charges. He also pardoned about 2,500 people convicted of drug charges. In keeping with his personal belief against the death penalty, he commuted the sentences of those on federal death row. In December, Biden issued pardons to about 1,500 people convicted of non-violent offences and they included four Indian Americans. New Delhi, Jan 20 : The NHRC has taken suo motu cognisance of the reported sexual abuse of a girl belonging to the Scheduled Caste in Kerala and arrest of 44 people, seeking a report from the state government within two weeks, an official said on Monday. So far, 59 accused have been named in 30 FIRs filed in connection with the matter in Pathanamthitta district. Two of the accused have fled the country and 13 others are yet to be arrested. The Commission has observed that the contents of the media report, if true, raise a serious issue of the human rights violation of the victim girl. It issued notices to Keralaas Chief Secretary and the Director General of Police, calling for a detailed report in the matter. The NHRC said the report should include the status of the FIR, the victimas health and the medical care, counselling and compensation, if any, provided to her in the reported matter within two weeks. According to the media report, carried on January 15, the girl, who is now 18 years old, reportedly alleged in her complaint that she was sexually abused by several individuals. The matter came to light during counselling conducted by the Child Welfare Committee, after the victimas teachers at an educational institution informed the panel about noticeable changes in her behaviour. Earlier this month, the NHRC took cognisance of an incident in Karnataka in which a 72-year-old man committed suicide on December 25 after a public hospital in Bengaluru declined to provide him treatment under the Ayushman Bharat scheme. As per a media report, the state-run Kidwai Memorial Institute of Oncology had denied him the benefit of Rs 5 lakh cover under the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB PM-JAY) for which he had enrolled himself, stating that state government orders in this regard had not arrived yet. Observing that the contents of the media report, if true, raised a serious issue of violation of human rights, the Commission said that a few more cases regarding the problems being faced by the beneficiaries of the AB PM-JAY scheme for senior citizens had also been mentioned in the news report. Taking suo motu cognisance of the matter, the NHRC issued notices to the Secretary of the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and the Chief Secretary of Karnataka and called for a detailed report on the matter. Washington, Jan 20 : Business mogul and Republican Party member Donald Trump returned to the White House on Monday for a historic second term by taking the oath as the 47th President of the US. The oath was administered by Chief Justice John Roberts at the Capitol Rotunda. Earlier, outgoing President Joe Biden and Trump rode together to the US Capitol for the latter's oath-taking programme after a traditional tea ceremony at the White House along with their wives, Kamala Harris and her successor J.D. Vance and their spouses. Jill Biden and Melania Trump rode together to the Capitol in a separate car as did Kamala Harris and her successor J.D. Vance. This is only the second instance of the swearing-in taking place indoors -- the last time was in 1985 when President Ronald Reagan took the oath for his second term. Earlier, Biden welcomed Trump to the White House for a traditional tea ceremony with two words: "Welcome home", according to media reports. Guests for the swearing-in had begun arriving at the Capitol Rotunda where the ceremony took place; indoors instead of the traditional venue outside. This was only the second instance of the swearing-in took place indoors; the last time was in 1985 when President Ronald Reagan took the oath for his second term. Trump's return to the White House is also only the second time for an American President to serve two non-consecutive terms. The first was Grover Cleveland at the end of the 19th century. The swearing-in was attended by Trump's nominees to the cabinet such as Marco Rubio, for secretary of state, who is expected to be the first to be confirmed, as early as Monday. Trump started Monday's inauguration proceedings by attending a private service at St John's Church with the incoming first lady Melania Trump, J.D. Vance and wife Usha Vance and some members of the cabinet. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Amazon's Jeff Bezos, Apple's Tim Cook, Tesla and Space X's Elon Musk, and Google's Sundar Pichai also attended the swearing-in ceremony. Former President Bill Clinton and his wife Hillary Clinton, former President George W Bush and his wife Laura Bush, and former President Barack Obama minus his wife Michelle Obama attended the oath-taking ceremony as is the tradition, which was broken by President Trump who skipped Biden's inauguration in 2021. New Delhi, Jan 20 : The Congress on Monday hit out at Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convenor and former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for not including the priests of Valmiki and Ravidas temples in the party's honorarium scheme. The AAP announced the Pujari-Granthi Samman Yojana in December and under the scheme, the party promised to give Rs 18,000 to temple priests and granthis from gurdwaras if voted to power. Congress MP and party General Secretary Jairam Ramesh in a lengthy post on X criticised Kejriwal over the non-inclusion of Valmiki and Ravidas temples' priests, saying the move exposed the AAP and the party convenor's anti-Dalit mindset. "Arvind Kejriwal recently announced pay salaries to priests and granthis but he did not make any such announcement regarding Buddha Vihar and Valmiki and Ravidas temples. This once again exposes the anti-Dalit thinking of Aam Aadmi Party and Arvind Kejriwal. Their anti-Dalit mentality is not hidden from anyone. Many examples of this have come out earlier also," Jairam Ramesh wrote. Further criticising the AAP, the senior Congress leader mentioned: "Among the more than 10 Rajya Sabha MPs of AAP, not even one is from SC/ST or OBC category. Arvind Kejriwal, while being the Chief Minister, had humiliated and removed Dalit leader Rajendra Gautam from his cabinet. AAP is weakening the reservation system in Delhi by promoting the practice of contracting." Ramesh said that in the last 10 years, the share of SC, ST, OBC in the consultants hired in various departments has been negligible. His party has also been quite vocal on the issue of caste census, but according to Ramesh, "Arvind Kejriwal maintains silence on the issue of caste census". "Today, when Congress leader and former MP Udit Raj was protesting against the injustice being done to Dalits by the Aam Aadmi Party, he was arrested. But the Dalit community is now understanding their superficial politics very well and is going to teach them a lesson for the betrayal done to them in this election," he wrote on X. The elections for the 70-member Delhi Assembly will be held on February 5. The AAP is eyeing a third term even as it faces a significant challenge from a resurgent BJP as well as Congress. Amaravati, Jan 20 : Andhra Pradesh's Industry Minister T. G. Bharath on Monday said that IT and Education Minister Nara Lokesh will become Chief Minister of the state in the future. "Whether someone likes it or not, Lokesh garu is the future. He will become the Chief Minister in future," Bharath said in the presence of Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu and his son Nara Lokesh while addressing the Telugu Diaspora in Zurich. Bharath and Lokesh are part of the delegation being headed by Naidu at the World Economic Forum's annual summit at Davos. The Industry Minister praised Lokesh as a young and highly educated leader. "There is no one among 175 MLAs and 25 MPs who studied at Stanford," he said. Bharath said that TDP has a long-term vision and clarity with regard to its future. The minister's remark came even as the TDP directed its leaders in Andhra Pradesh not to publicly air their views to elevate Lokesh as the Deputy Chief Minister. The party leadership issued orders amid growing demand from TDP leaders to promote the TDP general secretary as Deputy Chief Minister. The TDP told its leaders that any decision will be taken in consultation with leaders of the coalition. TDP is heading the ruling coalition, which has Jana Sena and BJP as the other two partners. Jana Sena leader Pawan Kalyan is currently the Deputy Chief Minister. During his address to the Telugu Diaspora in Zurich, Chief Minister Naidu said that he was fortunate enough to have been born in the Telugu community. "If there is any rebirth I will be too happy to take birth as a child of Telugu. Wherever I am my heart always yearns for the Telugu community," observed the Chief Minister. Maintaining that he always encouraged the youth to join politics, Chandrababu felt that the development of any nation is possible only with the youth. The TDP president said that if a politician earns money he or she will command no respect. "As I am into politics my wife looks after business while the Minister for IT and Electronics, Nara Lokesh, is into politics his wife, Brahmani, takes care of the business activities. My intention is that the Telugu community should be in number one position by 2047," the Chief Minister observed. Earlier, amid growing demand for a Deputy Chief Minister post to Lokesh, TDP issued a gag order to the leaders to avoid speaking publicly or talking to the media on the issue. The leaders have been directed to desist from voicing personal opinions. They were told that the leaders of the coalition will discuss and take whatever decision is to be taken. During a meeting in Mydukur in YSR Kadapa district on January 18, TDP politburo member Srinivas Reddy requested Chief Minister and TDP national president N. Chandrababu Naidu to promote Lokesh as the Deputy Chief Minister. Subsequently, several leaders supported the demand for Lokesh's elevation. Lokesh, son of Chandrababu Naidu, is the minister for Information Technology, Electronics and Education. He is also the national general secretary of the party. Senior leader and former minister Somireddy Chandramohan Reddy, former MLA S.V.S.S. Varma, Rajahmundry Urban MLA Adireddy Vasu and others publicly demanded that Lokesh should be appointed the Deputy Chief Minister. The demand to promote Lokesh as Deputy Chief Minister assumes significance in view of the feeling among a section of TDP leaders that Jana Sena leader and Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan is trying to project himself as the second most prominent person in the government after Chief Minister Naidu. A section of TDP leaders are also reported to be unhappy over some of the actions and outbursts of Pawan Kalyan. They are keen to see Lokesh as Deputy Chief Minister to counterbalance the growing influence of the actor-politician. The TDP leadership intervened to ask the leaders not to speak publicly on the issue to avoid giving the impression that all was not well within the ruling coalition. Lokesh's supporters within TDP hope that Chandrababu Naidu will take a decision to elevate him after a discussion with the leaders of BJP and Jana Sena. Washington, Jan 20 : President Donald Trump on Monday said he will issue executive orders that will declare a national emergency along the border and all illegal entry will be immediately halted, adding that he will start the process of sending back people who came to the U.S. illegally. Trump also said he will be ordering troops to secure the border. The President announced a slew of measures that he said would end American decline and mark the beginning of a golden age. They include a new body to collect tariffs levied on foreign products, renaming the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America and starting the process to bring back the Panama Canal under U.S. control. His office also said in a factsheet that the US will be withdrawing from the Paris Climate Accord, which he had done in the first term as well. "I will declare a National Emergency at our southern border," Trump said in his inaugural address of executive orders that will be issued by his administration. "All illegal entry will immediately be halted, and we will begin the process of returning millions and millions of criminal aliens back to the places from which they came. We will reinstate our Mexico policy. I will end the practice of catch and release, and I will send troops to the southern border to repel the disastrous invasion of our country," he said. President Trump also said he would be announcing new tariffs as he had promised and indicated on the campaign trail. "I will immediately begin the overhaul of our trade system to protect American workers and families. Instead of taxing our citizens to enrich other countries, we will tariff and tax foreign countries to enrich our citizens. We are establishing an external revenue service to collect all tariffs, duties and revenues. There will be massive amounts of money pouring into our treasury coming from foreign sources, the American dream will soon be back and thriving like never before to restore competence and effectiveness to our federal government," he said. The President did not specify what tariffs will be levied and on whom. On foreign policy broadly, he said that as in his first term "we will again build the strongest military the world has ever seen. We will measure our success, not only by the battles we win, but also by the wars that we end, and perhaps most importantly, the wars we never get into." "My proudest legacy will be that of a peacemaker and unifier," he said. "That's what I want to be, a peacemaker and a unifier. I'm pleased to say that, as of yesterday, one day before I assumed office, the hostages in the Middle East are coming back home to their families. America will reclaim its rightful place as the greatest, most powerful, most respected nation on earth, inspiring the awe and admiration of the entire world," he added. He added that he would issue an order in a short time to change the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America. He said that the US will take back the Panama Canal. "We have been treated very badly from this foolish gift that should have never been made and Panama's promise to us has been broken. The purpose of our deal and the spirit of our treaty have also been violated. American ships are being severely overcharged and not treated fairly in any way, shape or form, and that includes the United States Navy. And above all, China is operating the Panama Canal. And we didn't give it to China. We gave it to Panama, and we're taking it back," the President said. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy noted the work of law enforcement agencies, saying that mistakes in the management of brigades and moneyed "military commissars" all this requires an investigation and fair answers. "Today, there is also good work by the State Security Service of Ukraine, the State Bureau of Investigations, the National Police, the prosecutor's office on justice in Ukraine, in particular in military matters. And moneyed 'military commissars,' and situations like in Kharkiv region, when the Russian army tried to occupy our land and again reach Kharkiv, and criminal mistakes in the management of brigades, all this requires an investigation and fair answers. I thank law enforcement officers for today's steps, and it is important that people feel that status or any yesterday's merits do not cancel the rule of law," Zelenskyy said in a video address on Monday evening. Earlier it was reported that SBI employees, in cooperation with the SBU, detained former commanders: two generals and a colonel, due to whose negligence the enemy was able to seize part of the territory of Kharkiv region in May 2024. Patna, Jan 20 : Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Monday highlighted key challenges and opportunities in strengthening parliamentary democracy while speaking at the All India Presiding Officers Conference in Patna. Addressing the gathering, Birla emphasised the need for cooperation from all political parties to address disruptions in legislative proceedings, which he termed a serious challenge. "Coming to the Well of the House, creating a ruckus, and adjourning proceedings are significant issues that require serious discussion. All parties must work together to resolve this. A serious decision must be taken here," Birla said while speaking at the two-day programme. He called for collective efforts to uphold the dignity and productivity of legislative institutions. Birla, meanwhile, expressed satisfaction with the increasing adoption of digital processes in legislative assemblies across the country. He said: "I am happy that digital work is now being done in most assemblies. If the proceedings of the Assembly and Lok Sabha are integrated into one platform, meaningful discussions will become more feasible. By 2025, we aim to achieve the goal of One Country, One Legislation." Birla also voiced concern over the declining frequency of Assembly sessions, urging presiding officers to ensure that legislative institutions remain robust and effective. Reflecting on the legacy of the Indian Constitution, he said: "After years of discussion, Baba Saheb (B.R. Ambedkar) drafted a Constitution that not only guides India's democracy but also serves as a model for democracies worldwide. We must further strengthen this institution." The Speaker highlighted the historical role of Presiding Officers' Conferences in shaping democratic traditions. "Many significant decisions have been made in these conferences, both before and after independence. Democratic institutions have come closer to the people. We implemented many good traditions and laws that have played a crucial role in strengthening democracy," he said. Om Birla also highlighted Bihar's rich legacy of knowledge, spirituality, and political contributions. The Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, while addressing the conference, spoke of Bihar's pivotal role in shaping India's identity as a land of knowledge and inspiration. "The land of Bihar is the land of education and knowledge. Institutions like Nalanda and Vikramshila have illuminated the world with their wisdom. This conference on this historic land will send a new message to our democratic institutions," Birla said. He paid homage to eminent personalities from Bihar, including the first President, Dr. Rajendra Prasad, who played a crucial role in framing the Constitution. Birla also lauded Karpoori Thakur, a stalwart from Bihar, who devoted his life to fighting for the poor, and referenced Lord Buddha, whose teachings of compassion and peace originated from Bihar and resonate globally. Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman Harivansh echoed similar sentiments, underscoring the importance of rising above personal and party interests to strengthen democracy, as envisioned by B.R. Ambedkar. Harivansh also took the opportunity to praise Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar for his governance and transformative policies. "After Nitish Kumar came to power in 2005, he not only focused on development but also worked to preserve Bihar's heritage. In 2006, Bihar became the first state to provide 50 per cent reservation for women in local bodies, which was a revolutionary step," Harivansh said. Bihar Assembly Speaker Nand Kishore Yadav, while welcoming the participants, emphasised the potential of the conference to reshape perceptions about Bihar. "The misconceptions about Bihar will be removed by this conference," he asserted, highlighting the positive recognition Bihar received during the event. The conference has been an occasion to celebrate Bihar's contributions to democracy and governance, while also deliberating on improving legislative practices. However, the absence of both Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Leader of Opposition Tejashwi Yadav drew attention. Their non-participation sparked discussions, with observers questioning the reasons behind it. The conference aims to conclude with resolutions aimed at fortifying democratic institutions and fostering cooperative governance across states. New Delhi, Jan 20 : The Adani Group Chairman, Gautam Adani, on Monday met the Israeli Ambassador to India, Reuven Azar, and his wife Rachel Azar along with other officials, and discussed India-Israel collaboration. In a post on X social media platform, Gautam Adani said the company remains committed to continuing to invest and expand its partnership with Israel. "Honoured to meet with Israeli Ambassador H.E. @ReuvenAzar and Mrs Rachel Azar, along with their team. Had productive discussions on doing our part for supporting India-Israel collaboration, particularly regarding India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) and defence partnerships," the Adani Group Chairman posted. "Through Haifa Port and Adani Israel Ltd, the Adani Group remains firmly committed to continuing to invest and expand our enduring partnership with Israel," he added. In 2023, The Adani Group acquired the strategic Israeli port of Haifa for $1.2 billion. The Port of Haifa is the second largest port in Israel in terms of shipping containers and the biggest in shipping tourist cruise ships. The India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) is an important initiative that can add to India's maritime security and faster movement of goods between Europe and Asia. The IMEC was launched during India's G20 presidency and aims to integrate India, Europe, and the Middle East through UAE, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Israel and the European Union. Lower logistics costs, faster connectivity and secure movement of goods are dependent on better cooperation in this area. Adani Ports is the largest port developer and operator in India with seven strategically located ports and terminals on the west coast and eight ports and terminals on the east coast, representing 27 per cent of the country's total port volumes. The company is also developing a transhipment port at Colombo and Container Terminal 2 at Dar Es Salaam Port in Tanzania. Patna, Jan 21 : A complaint was lodged against former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in Patna Civil Court on Monday for his alleged derogatory remarks about the people of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. The statement in question was made by Kejriwal on January 9 which sparked outrage among residents of the two states. The complaint was filed by advocate Bablu Kumar under Section 356 of the Bhartiya Nyay Sahita (BNS). According to Kumar, the statement insulted the dignity and sentiments of the people of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. The case will be heard in the Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) Court on January 21. "This complaint has been filed because Arvind Kejriwal's statement has hurt the sentiments of people from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh," Kumar said. Advocate Rishikesh Narayan Singh, representing the case, stated that Kejriwal's comments amounted to a deliberate insult to the people of the two states. "We have filed the complaint in the Patna Civil Court, demanding an apology from Kejriwal. His statement was not just inappropriate but has caused emotional and social harm to the people of Bihar and UP," Singh said. The controversy surrounding former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal continues to escalate as 11 cases have been filed against him in connection with his alleged objectionable remarks about the people of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh so far. Advocate Rishikesh Narayan Singh emphasised the significant contribution of the people of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh to Kejriwal's political rise. "The people of Bihar and UP have played an important role in making Kejriwal the Chief Minister of Delhi. They worked hard and voted to form his government. Despite their contributions, Kejriwal used indecent and objectionable language against them, which is unacceptable," Singh said. He further highlighted the legal implications of such remarks under Section 356 of the BNS. "The language used by Kejriwal is indecent and offensive. Under Section 356 of BNS, there is a provision for two years imprisonment and a fine for making such statements. Kejriwal must apologise to the people of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh and the nation as a whole," he said. The hearing for the latest complaint is scheduled to take place in the Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) court on January 21 (Tuesday). Bhopal, Jan 21 : A RTI activist Ashish Chaturvedi, who is one of the whistleblowers of the Vyapam Scam, has been booked for allegedly abusing and misbehaving with Special Armed Force (SAF) jawans deployed for his security. According to official information, the action came following a complaint lodged by a SAF jawan, alleging that Chaturvedi forced them to perform his household chores and would abuse them if they refused to perform the domestic work. The incident took place in Chandrabadni of the Jhansi Road police station area, where some jawans were posted for Chaturvedi's security. Chaturvedi, a resident of Jhansi, has been provided security following directions from the Madhya Pradesh High Court in 2022. According to official information, Ramu Singh Kushwaha (one of the three SAF jawans) first informed his higher-ups about the incident and then complained to the local area police station on Monday. Kushwaha, who is posted to 13 battalion in SAF jawan and is a resident of Bhind, accused Chaturvedi of threatening to kill him and other security personnel if they refused to obey his orders. Along with Kushwaha, Assistant Sub-Inspector Sarvesh Singh, Constable Nandkishore Bohra, and Yogendra Singh were also deployed for Chaturvedi's security. Superintendent of Police (SP) Dharamvir Singh said that RTI worker Ashish Chaturvedi was provided security within the Jhansi Road police station. Security guards were deployed for the RTI activist's security. ASI Singh added that an application has been given at the police station by his security personnel that Chaturvedi is constantly harassing them and giving them death threats. "After investigation, a case has been registered under Section 353, 506, and 294 of the IPS Act. An audio clip has been given by the security personnel as evidence. Further investigation is underway," he said. The multi-layer Vyapam Scam which involved a large-scale cheating ring in the Madhya Pradesh Professional Examination Board (MPPEB) examination, was exposed in 2013. Dubai, Jan 21 : The Desert Vipers' undefeated streak finally met its match on Monday, as the Dubai Capitals delivered a stunning six-wicket victory in the ITT20 Season 3 at the Dubai International Stadium. A dominant bowling performance, spearheaded by Dushmantha Chameera and Zahir Khan's three-wicket hauls, restricted the Vipers to 139. Gulbadin Naib then led the chase with a fiery 78-run innings off 51 balls, ensuring the Capitals broke a three-match losing streak. Despite the low first innings total, skipper Lockie Ferguson kept the Vipers in the scheme of things with a sizzling opening spell. Ferguson picked up Ben Dunk and Khalid Shah in the second over to leave the Capitals in trouble at 17/2. Though the run rate was on track, opener Shai Hope was run out for eight runs, following a mix-up with Gulbadin Naib in the sixth over. Naib, who was also dropped for two runs earlier in the innings, redeemed himself in the very next over as he took down Nathan Sowter for three sixes, bringing the required run rate to less than six runs an over. With Sikandar Raza at one end, Naib blitzed his way to a 31-ball half-century, including two fours and three sixes. The pair brought up a 50-run stand for the fourth wicket in just 36 balls. As a result, at the 14-over mark, the Capitals were well entrenched in the driver's seat needing 32 runs in 36 balls. Raza, who had taken few chances so far, was caught off Mohammad Amir's shorter one for 24 runs in 26 balls in the 15th over. Najibullah Zadran joined Naib as the latter continued to dominate the Vipers' bowling attack. Naib launched two more sixes as the Capitals scaled the target in 17.4 overs. Batting first, the Vipers made a brisk start, reaching 48/1 at the end of the Power-play. Fakhar Zaman set the tone early, smashing a six and a four before being bowled by Dushmantha Chameera in the second over. Dan Lawrence, coming in at number three, matched Zaman's intent, while Alex Hales anchored the innings from the other end. However, the Capitals took control in the middle phase despite a 58-run stand between Hales and Lawrence. The Vipers suffered a triple blow in quick succession, losing Hales, Lawrence, and Sam Curran across three overs. Haider Ali dismissed Hales for 34 in the tenth over, followed by Lawrence's 24-run effort being curtailed by Gulbadin Naib. Curran was then stumped off Sikandar Raza for three runs, leaving the Vipers struggling at 80/4 in 11.3 overs. The collapse continued as the Vipers were bowled out for 139 in 20 overs. Brief contributions from Azam Khan (10) and Wanindu Hasaranga (13) ended with both falling to Zahir Khan. Sherfane Rutherford provided a glimmer of hope, striking three sixes in his 27 runs off 24 balls, but Chameera struck for the third time in the penultimate over to halt his charge. Player of the Match, Gulbadin Naib said, "We were at the bottom of the table, so we were looking for momentum. There's still a long way to go. It's not easy facing bowlers of this quality. Luckily, I gave myself some time. After the drinks break, the staff told me I was looking good, so I said to Sikandar, I will play to my strengths." Desert Vipers captain, Lockie Ferguson said, "It was a tough one. We were probably a few runs short and had some chances. They bowled well, and the pitch spun. There's a quick turnaround again, but the boys have been batting beautifully." Brief scores: Desert Vipers 139 all out in 19.5 overs (Alex Hales 34; Dushmantha Chameera 3-26, Zahir Khan 3-34) lost to Dubai Capitals 140/4 in 17.4 overs (Gulbadin Naib 78 not out; Lockie Ferguson 2-29) by six wickets. -- Except for the title, this story has not been edited by Prokerala team and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed Washington, Jan 21 : Leaders from the NATO to majority of European countries on Monday congratulated US President Donald Trump on his return to the White House, as he officially took office at his inauguration ceremony. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said that with Trump back in the office "we will turbo-charge" defence spending and production, likely referring to Trump's push for European countries to shoulder a greater burden of defending themselves. "My warm congratulations to @realDonaldTrump on his inauguration as 47th President of the USA, and to @JDVance as Vice President. Together we can achieve peace through strength -- through @NATO," he wrote on X. Trump has been a frequent critic of the NATO alliance. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday congratulated Republican Party member Donald Trump on his return to the White House for a historic second term. Trump took the oath as the 47th President of the US during a programme held at the Capitol Rotunda. Taking to X, PM Modi wrote: aCongratulations my dear friend President @realDonaldTrump on your historic inauguration as the 47th President of the United States! I look forward to working closely together once again, to benefit both our countries and to shape a better future for the world. Best wishes for a successful term ahead." Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni offered her best wishes to Trump for the beginning of his new mandate. On X, Meloni said she is certain that the friendship between the two nations and the values aathat unite them will continue to strengthen the collaboration between Italy and the US, facing global challenges together. "Italy will always be committed to consolidating the dialogue between the US and Europe, as an essential pillar for the stability and growth of our communities," added Meloni, whose political positions are said to be closer to Trump's than most other European leaders. "Congratulations Donald Trump on being sworn in as 47th President of the United States. All the best from Poland and the EU Presidency," Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on X. In his congratulatory message, Slovenia's Prime Minister Robert Golob pointed to the long-lasting friendship and rich bilateral relations between Slovenia and the US. "Only together can the European Union and US make a great impact in addressing global challenges of today's international community," he added. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky also congratulated Trump in a post On X, saying: "President Trump is always decisive, and the peace through strength policy he announced provides an opportunity to strengthen American leadership and achieve a long-term and just peace, which is the top priority." Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a post on X said: "I believe that working together again we will raise the US-Israel alliance to even greater heights." "On behalf of the people of Israel, I also want to thank you for your efforts in helping free Israeli hostages," Netanyahu added. "I look forward to working with you to return the remaining hostages, to destroy Hamas' military capabilities and end its political rule in Gaza, and to ensure that Gaza never again poses a threat to Israel," he said. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in a post on X wrote: "Since Trump repeatedly said he would end the Russia-Ukraine war, we as Turkey will do whatever necessary in this regard. We need to resolve this issue as soon as possible. This issue will be on our agenda with our talks with Trump, and we will take our steps accordingly. I wish Trump's second term would bring good for all humanity." "Congratulations, President Trump. Canada and the US have the world's most successful economic partnership. We have the chance to work together again -- to create more jobs and prosperity for both our nations," Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said. Congratulating Donald Trump on becoming the new US President, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula Da Silva in a post said: "On behalf of the Brazilian government, I congratulate President Donald Trump on his inauguration. Relations between Brazil and the US are marked by a history of cooperation, based on mutual respect and a historic friendship. Our countries have strong ties in various areas, such as trade, science, education and culture. I am sure that we can continue to make progress in these and other partnerships." Britain's Prince Charles wrote: "The king has sent a personal message of congratulations to President Trump on his inauguration, reflecting on the enduring special relationship between the UK and US, according to Buckingham Palace. Sweden Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson in a post on X said: "Warm congratulations @realDonaldTrump on being sworn in as the 47th President of the United States. Sweden looks forward to continued close cooperation with the U.S." Finland President Alexander Stubb wrote: "I would like to extend my heartfelt congratulations to you @realDonaldTrump as you assume office as the President of the United States. The US is our key strategic partner and ally. I look forward to close cooperation during your term." Jonas Gahr Stoere, the Prime Minister of Norway, said: "I congratulate President Donald Trump. The United States is Norway's most important ally, and there are strong ties between our two nations. I look forward to a good working relationship with President Trump and his new administration." European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen offered her best wishes for Trump's tenure as 47th US President, saying the bloc looks forward to working closely with him to tackle global challenges. "Together, our societies can achieve greater prosperity and strengthen their common security. This is the enduring strength of the transatlantic partnership," she said on X. European Council President Antonio Costa also expressed best wishes to Trump and reiterated the EU's desire to work closely with him to tackle global challenges. European Parliament President Roberto Metsola expressed her "very best wishes" to the American people at the start of a new chapter. "Europe stands ready to work together as friends and partners, to shape a world of stability, opportunity, and hope," she said. EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas congratulated Trump and said the bloc is looking forward to continuing their partnership. "The transatlantic bond has brought prosperity and strength to both sides of the Atlantic. Together, we are stronger and safer to tackle global challenges," she wrote on X. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz congratulated Trump, saying the US is Germany's closest ally and the aim of their policy is "always a good transatlantic relationship". "The EU, with 27 members and more than 400 million people, is a strong union," he wrote on X. "On behalf of the United Kingdom, I send my warmest congratulations to President @realDonaldTrump on his inauguration as the forty-seventh President of the United States," British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said in a video message. He added: "The special relationship between the UK and the US will continue to flourish for years to come." Simon Harris, the Irish taoiseach (Prime Minister), warmly congratulated Trump and wished him every success in his return term. "This is a very important moment for President Trump personally and for the United States. As the torch of democracy passes peacefully from one leader to the next, I send him, and the people of the United States, my very best wishes," he said in a statement. Romanian President Klaus Iohannis also congratulated Trump, saying that Romania, "a close Strategic Partner of the US," wishes him the best of success for this important new mandate. "We need a strong&vibrant #Transatlantic link, to the benefit of our joint security & prosperity," he wrote on X. The Netherlands Prime Minister Dick Schoof congratulated Trump and Vice President JD Vance, touching on the "long-standing historic ties" between the US and the Netherlands. "We're strong allies and work together closely, both bilaterally and in international forums like NATO. I look forward to continuing this partnership with President @realDonaldTrump and Vice President @JDVance," he wrote on X. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez congratulated Trump, adding: "We look forward to working with the new US Administration to strengthen the strategic relationship between our countries and address common global challenges." During his first term as President in 2017-2021, Trump's relations with longstanding European allies tended to be less than warm, but Monday's messages from continental leaders clearly voiced hope that his return to the White House would see friendlier ties. Martin Luther King, Jr. said the goal of the civil rights movement should be to turn an enemy into a friend. It can be done, he said, because people arent simply good or evil. There is something within human nature that can respond to goodness, King said. So that a Jesus of Nazareth or a Mohandas Gandhi, can appeal to human beings and appeal to that element of goodness within them, and a Hitler can appeal to the element of evil within them. Three years after writing that, in one of the darkest moments of the civil rights movement, King eulogized four girls who were killed in church on a Sunday morning in Birmingham, Alabama. Earlier that year, Eugene Bull Connor had attacked Kings non-violent troops with fire hoses and police dogs. Alabamas governor, George Wallace, had proclaimed segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever. And Wallace had suggested, What this country needs is a few first-class funerals. Piling hurt upon hurt, the white citizens of Birmingham mostly boycotted the funeral. That eulogy might have been a moment for King to lay off from his in every heart, there is some good and we must have faith in white people messages. But at the funeral, this is what King said: We must not lose faith in our white brothers. Somehow we must believe that the most misguided among them can learn to respect the dignity and worth of all human personality. So what happened to those misguided white brothers from 1963? What happened to Wallace and Connor? For that matter, what happened to Sheriff Jim Clark, whose troopers attacked John Lewis and other peaceful marchers with billy clubs, tear gas, and trampling horses on the Edmund Pettus bridge? Did they learn to respect the dignity and worth of all human personality? Well, Connor died ten years later, apparently unrepentant. Clark lived a long life. He ran a series of fraudulent businesses, did time for marijuana trafficking, and died in 2007, shortly before Obama became president. Late in life he said he would do it all over again if given the chance. Wallace lost his wife to cancer and ran for president as a segregationist alternative to the major parties. In 1968, he won five states. Then he got shot (and became partially paralyzed), found Jesus, renounced racism, crowned the first black homecoming queen at the University of Alabama, got himself elected for a fourth term as governor (with 90% support among black voters), and appointed more black people to government positions than had ever been done in Alabama. This is roughly equivalent to an epilogue in which Matt Gaetz becomes a modestly-effective Governor of Florida and, while there, he depoliticizes the department of justice, narrows the gender wage gap, and prepares his state for the impact of climate change. Even then, Wallace never led Alabama through the basics of remedial justice. Under his leadership, Alabama never prosecuted the four terrorists who bombed 16th St. Baptist Church. It never compensated victims like Sarah Collins who, though blinded in one eye, survived the bombing that killed her sister and three friends. She spent the next several decades bearing responsibility for her own medical bills, and she still lives in Birmingham. Wallace, Connor, Clark. These three men are a tiny sample. Taken alone, they are not a great record for Kings gold-standard aspiration to make a brother of his enemy. But there is a second, bronze standard accomplishment that gets lost in that assessment. King so altered the system in Alabama and in America that it denied those men the rewards of evil. It no longer promoted its worst people to the top. After the civil rights movement, Connor and Clark languished in obscurity while Wallace re-invented himself for a society that had been restructured to promote a different kind of man. The reform was incomplete. But it was successful enough to suggest both that misguided people can respond to good, like Wallace did, and that a perverse system can be altered to promote a better kind of person to the top. The law cannot make a man love me, King says. But it can restrain him from lynching me. And I think thats pretty important too. Photo: https://eurosolidarity.org/2025 President Zelensky finally implemented Ukrainian legislation on the deprivation of awards of state traitors and the Kremlins fifth column. It is worth recalling: the bills on the deprivation of awards were registered by peoples deputies of democratic factions, including from the EU, immediately after the full-scale invasion. But they waited three years for submission to the hall, approval and signing. European Solidarity insists that it is necessary to stop the informal coalition of Servant of the People and the OPZH, which now actually exists in the Verkhovna Rada. Deputies who were elected from the OPZH should be deprived not only of awards, but also of mandates and the right to sit in the Verkhovna Rada! To do this, it is necessary to vote on the resolution and bill on the deprivation of mandates of representatives of banned parties, which were registered by Eurosolidarity a long time ago. These bills have been pending for two years, but they are being blocked by Bankova. We demand that they be submitted to the session hall for consideration as early as February, on the first plenary day of the new session. Deputies from banned parties must bear real, not decorative, responsibility for their anti-Ukrainian actions and calls. They must be deprived of their parliamentary mandates, not just awards. It is surprising that the name of A. Portnov, Yanukovychs lawyer, who still heads the Ukrainian courts, was not included in the list of sanctioned persons. Despite the fact that the petition for sanctions against Portnov gained the necessary number of votes and he is under sanctions from partner countries, the presidents office never dared to synchronize these sanctions. And this only confirms Bankovas close ties with Portnov and the dependence of the judicial system on the Portnov family. The EU joins the demands of activists and NGOs regarding the need to synchronize sanctions with our American and European partners against traitors who have Russian citizenship, in particular, Portnov, Kuzmin and others. The absence of their names in the NSDC decision is surprising, and the authorities previously allowed them to escape. Ukraine is long overdue to synchronize the sanctions regime with its European and American partners and introduce sanctions against all criminals and traitors who have Russian passports. As for traitors with Ukrainian citizenship, it is important to act within the Ukrainian legal framework, relying on court decisions. The EU advocates for strict political and legal responsibility for collaborators and traitors. At the same time, it is important that the Ukrainian authorities act within the legal framework, and that the National Security and Defense Council does not replace the prosecutors office and courts, the entire law enforcement system of the country. It is good that the authorities have finally noticed the anti-Ukrainian activities of the fugitive Voloshyn and imposed sanctions against him. But criminal cases are still open for Voloshyns false libels against the warrior, hero, and our party member O. Pogrebysky. We demand that the authorities apologize to Oleksandr for the politically motivated cases and close them. Everyone involved in advancing the Kremlins agenda and undermining the foundations of national security must be held accountable. And this is not about the loss of orders and medals, but about strict legal and political responsibility to Ukraine within the framework of the Ukrainian legal field. The fall of the brutal Assad regime marks a critical opportunity for the United States to remove itself entirely from Syria, avoiding entanglement in further war. American troops have been in Syria for the past decade with the primary objective of defeating the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), a goal which has effectively been fulfilled since March of 2019 when the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) raised victory flags over the caliphates last stronghold. That same year, then-President Donald Trump ordered the withdrawal of remaining troops from Syria, aligning with his rhetoric regarding ending endless wars and prioritizing Americas vital interests. Trump did not follow through on this order due to opposition from within his cabinet. Thus, despite achieving the main objective of eliminating the threat posed by ISIS, about 2,000 U.S. military personnel remain in Syria, a number that was only recently revealed by the Pentagon. Now that Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) fighters have effectively driven out the authoritarian Assad regime, the argument for U.S. retrenchment from Syria is more pertinent than ever. As regional actors clearly have a much greater stake in Syrias future, the U.S. would do well to remove its military personnel before they get caught in the crossfire. Three U.S. troops were killed in January 2024 in a drone attack on a U.S. base near Jordans border with Syria by Islamic Resistance in Iraq. Yet, U.S. troops remain exposed to flashpoints of escalatory fighting near the Euphrates River, where Iranian-backed militias have historically been active. Amidst the chaos in Syria, U.S. troops remain sitting ducks with little to no reason for being there. Additionally, Washingtons NATO treaty ally Turkey has recently launched attacks on Kurdish groups in Syria, with which U.S. troops fought to combat ISIS. With Israel installing troops in southern Syria through what it calls a temporary defensive position, there is no coherent reason for the United States to maintain forces in what could become a proxy war battleground. Washington can take a hands-off approach and acknowledge the futility of preserving a remnant of the global war on terror. Even though ISIS was defeated in 2019, the Biden administration has committed to maintaining U.S. forces in Syria to counter ISIS and support local partners on the ground. But as Defense Priorities Daniel Depretis noted, the U.S. does not need endless ground deployments to conduct counterterrorism to prevent a resurgence of ISIS. U.S. interests in the Middle East are quite limited and include defending against anti-U.S. terrorist threats, preventing long-term disruptions to the flow of oil in the international market, and ensuring that no singular power can dominate the region. None of these objectives are advanced by American troops in Syria. Doubling down on failed interventionist policies only exposes the U.S. military to long-term entrapment. Like the U.S. Invasion of Iraq in 2003 and the U.S. mission to support Saudi Arabia in its offensives in Yemen, prolonged involvement in Syria makes scaling back or withdrawing more difficult. Undoubtedly, the notion of complete withdrawal has faced intense backlash. Proponents of maintaining a U.S. presence in Syria have long opined about a potential power vacuum in the country, which appears more likely after the rebel victory. But, given the internal and external constraints that its key allies Russia and Iran are facing, Moscow and Tehran will likely be unable to interfere in Syria enough to change the facts on the ground. Meanwhile, U.S. troops are reportedly not involved in the ongoing rebel operations there. Countering Iranian influence in the region has long served as a justification for maintaining U.S. forces in Syria. Since HTSs establishment in 2012, the Sunni Islamist group and Tehran have had an adversarial relationship. With HTS having successfully led the rebel victory in Syria, the flow of Iranian weapons to Hezbollah could be impeded. Since Washington has no real interest in supporting either side of this rivalry, the incoming administration can overhaul U.S. policy in Syria by removing its troops in Syria entirely. A troop withdrawal from Syria is long overdue. Without a clear and well-defined mission since the defeat of ISIS, American servicemembers should not be exposed to the risk of being caught up in future instances of violence. Trump can and should make good on his instincts and finally bring these troops home. Alex Little is an M.S. graduate of Georgia Tech specializing in Russian and Central Asian affairs and a Young Voices contributor. Find a great selection of commercial real estate, manufactured homes, timeshares and more for Sale Buy real estate. Find a great selection of commercial real estate, manufactured homes, timeshares and more for Sale in US and Canada. Search Real Estate ABC / Reality TV World By Elizabeth Kwiatkowski, 01/20/2025 ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Elizabeth Kwiatkowski is Associate Editor of Reality TV World and has been covering the reality TV genre for more than a decade. winner Chock Chapple has shared the latest on his wedding planning with fiancee Joan Vassos Chock, 61, shared that he and Joan are inching their way to the altar during a Q&A session with his followers via Instagram Stories on Tuesday, January 14.When a fan asked Chock to unveil his wedding date, Chock replied, "We get asked that all the time.""Somebody today at lunch said, '[2025]?'" Chock recalled. "And I said, 'Maybe at the end of 25 or [2026].'"Chock teased that he and Joan, 62, are "getting closer" to tying the knot but they're enjoying their engagement and "having a lot of fun together" in the meantime."We're just getting to know each other, and so this is time well spent," Chock noted.Chock also noted how he and Joan are continuing their search for an apartment in New York City. He said the pair have plans to look at more places in SoHo at the end of the week.Joan and Chock got engaged on finale, which aired in November 2024.After going public with their relationship, the couple said they were planning to begin apartment hunting in the Big Apple in December.While Joan and Chock are going to continue living in different states due to their jobs and responsibilities in Maryland and Kansas, respectively, their NYC apartment will provide them a convenient meet-up location.Joan and Chock revealed to People late last year that they'd like to find a "love shack" with at least two bedrooms so their friends and family can visit.Joan said she believes this home away from home will be a "great place for us to really continue getting to know each other and in a totally different place, a place that both of us have always wanted to go."Joan apparently views her future in New York City as a very exciting new chapter in her life."It's going to be a little bit of an adventure and having an adventure in this stage is kind of unique and so really feeling super lucky that we get to do this together," Joan added at the time.Both Joan and Chock have always wanted to live in New York, and Chock pointed out how his kids "absolutely love" the city as well.Chock and Joan also teased on the "Bachelor Happy Hour" podcast late last year how they also have a lot of traveling in store for 2025."We've got four big trips coming up in 2025, so it's going to be a busy year! And that's just what we've got [lined up] for now," Chock gushed to Joe Amabile and Serena Pitt Joan and Chock shared how they'll be traveling to Africa, France, Spain and the Caribbean."We have time and we have resources now. Chock isn't retired, but he can leave his business and it runs pretty well without him, as long as he has some oversight," Joan explained."And I have taken a leave of absence and so I'm currently not working. We can now concentrate on our relationship, and I feel that's really important in the beginning."As far as wedding planning goes , Joan quipped, "He asks me every day, 'When are we getting married?!' And I don't know yet! Everybody is hounding me."star went on to confirm, "We are going to get married. I'm just not, like, totally sure!"Chock agreed and said they were in "no rush" to tie the knot.But during a subsequent appearance on "The Viall Files" podcast, Joan and Chock revealed how they'd like to have a televised wedding in order to include Bachelor Nation.Joan and Chock also revealed that they could imagine themselves getting married in 2025 or early 2026 Interested in more The Bachelor news? Follow our Bachelor Nation News Page on Facebook or join our The Bachelor Facebook Group 'If the Trump administration decides to put guardrails on H-1B visas, that will surely impact both US and Indian firms.' IMAGE: Tesla CEO and X owner Elon Musk -- who first came to the US on an H-1B visa and was criticised by Trump supporters for defending the scheme -- at a rally with US President-elect Donald J Trump, in Washington, DC, January 19, 2025. Photograph: Brian Snyder/Reuters With US President-elect Donald Trump all set to take over for a second term, Dr Mukesh Aghi, president and CEO of the Washington-headquartered US-India Strategic Partnership Forum, which has top companies from both the countries as its members, discusses the challenges and opportunities between the two nations in a video call with Surajeet Das Gupta/Business Standard. There is a big battle brewing between Trump and his advisor Elon Musk, who support H-1B visas, and the MAGA (Make America Great Again) group that wants jobs to go to Americans. Will this mean that the visa programme will be adversely impacted? The whole H-1B visa was set up to bridge the gap between supply and demand of tech workers for US companies, that is highly skilled workers who could come in and be productive from day one. But as time went by, a substantial number of staffing companies started abusing the system by bringing in low-skilled workers and cornering permits. That sent a wrong message to local workers as, in some cases, they were laid off in lieu of H-1B workers, mainly due to cost. However, this has given ammunition to those who are opposed to illegal immigration and that has made it difficult for tech companies which want to be competitive. How serious is the issue? We reckon that as much as 30 to 40 per cent of the H-1B visas go to these staffing companies. And, on average, they offer salaries ranging from $80,000 to $100,000 per annum compared to global tech companies which offer wages from $120,000 to $150,000 per annum. So, the gaming has made it challenging for us to justify more and more legal immigration. But it is also true that most H-1B visa workers want to stay back and apply for green cards. Is that an area for concern for the MAGA group? We have over one million-plus Indians waiting to transit from H-1B visa to a green card, where there is a cap of 7 per cent every year. So, it will take a long time. However, the efforts to remove or relax that cap are also construed by those opposing illegal immigration as a move to inundating the US with low-level immigrant workers. We have 5.2 million Indian Americans and the number has gone up in the past few years, and with one million-plus waiting for green cards, it will go up again. H-1B visas have worked very well with 70 per cent of them being given to Indian workers. However, if the Trump administration decides to put guardrails, that will surely impact both US and Indian firms. In his first tenure as President, Trump tried to push tech firms to pay higher salaries to H-1B visa holders, but it did not work. Will this be tried again? And what is the solution firms are looking at? The new administration will surely push hard for it. It will certainly impact the staffing companies. But a fine balance in wages has to be made, because if you push it too high, tech firms will shift the jobs to other countries. What we need to do proactively is to look at some of these staffing companies and find out a way to ensure that gaming the system is minimised. If we don't, the anti-immigration lobby will ask for reduction of the visas. What are US firms doing to mitigate the situation if H-1B is curtailed? Global tech companies are increasingly hiring more graduates from US universities because they (hirees) know the culture and it is easier to hire. About 70 per cent of the students in the graduate programmes are international students and majority of them are Indians and Koreans. Does cutting H-1B visas have an economic impact too? Has an impact assessment been done? A 10 per cent reduction in H-1B visas will have an impact of $86 billion on US GDP, and for every 10 denial of visas, nine of the jobs would move out of the country. Trump has called India tariff king, so do we see punitive duties on Indian exports coming? While tariff is important, it is a tool to negotiate other things what US firms have put on the table before the Trump team is asking for a level playing field with Indian firms, more market access, and transparency in policymaking. Trump is also worried about the US's burgeoning trade deficit with many countries, including India. He has made it clear he will take action to reduce it. What do you think India should do? At an overall level, the US has a trade deficit of $45 billion with India. But this can be solved overnight if India imports more energy products from the US, which New Delhi had started doing during Trump's first term. After all India spends $120 billion on energy, but the problem was that incumbent President Joe Biden stopped exports to India. The China-plus-one strategy has helped Vietnam far more than India. Do you see that change with Trump coming into power? Vietnam is a beneficiary because of the free trade agreement with the US, but now they have a problem of scale and capacity as they do not have enough people. Also, they do not have a big domestic market like India's. US companies are very positive on India. They expect stress points between the US and China to go up so they need to ensure their supply chain is undisturbed. Therefore, India becomes a pivotal part of US companies strategy. Photograph curated by Satish Bodas/Rediff.com Feature Presentation: Aslam Hunani/Rediff.com US President-elect Donald Trump and his family arrived at the St, Johns Episcopal Church to attend a church service ahead of his inauguration as the 47th President of the United States. IMAGE: US President-elect Donald Trump, his wife Melania Trump (fourth from left), US Vice President-elect JD Vance (left) and his wife Usha Vance (second from left) attend a service at St. John's Church on the inauguration day of his second Presidential term in Washington, US January 20, 2025. Photograph: Carlos Barria/Reuters From its organisation as a parish in 1815, St. John's, has been a powerful symbol of faith in the heart of the US capital. Steeped in a rich history it is dubbed the "Church of the Presidents." The ceremonial proceedings are set to take place at the US Capitol Rotunda, where Trump will take the oath of office on Monday, roughly two weeks after his electoral college victory was officially certified by Congress. After this Church Servic President-elect Trump and his family will attend a service before proceeding to Blair House, the President's Guest House. Following this, a formal welcome ceremony will take place at the North Portico. IMAGE: Donald Trump's daughter Ivanka Trump arrives for a service at St. John's Church. Photograph: Jeenah Moon/Reuters US President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden will greet Vice President Kamala Harris and her husband, Second Gentleman Douglas Emhoff, before welcoming President-elect Trump and First Lady Melania Trump. Vice President-elect JD Vance will be sworn in first, followed by Donald Trump, who will take the oath of office and deliver his inaugural address. After the swearing-in, President Trump will take part in the signing ceremony in the President's Room, a tradition that began in 1981 with President Ronald Reagan. IMAGE: Trump's son Eric Trump arrives for a service at St. John's Church. Photograph: Jeenah Moon/Reuters This event marks one of the first official actions of the newly sworn president, where he signs nominations and various memorandums or proclamations. Following the signing, a luncheon will be held, and Trump will take part in the review of the troops before heading to Capitol Hill to join the inaugural parade. Later, Trump and his wife will participate in a signing ceremony at the White House and deliver remarks at the Convention Centre. The evening will conclude with the first dance at the Liberty Ball, followed by participation in the Commander-in-Chief Ball and the United Station Ball. The day will end with Trump's return to the White House. The 30-year-old man arrested for stabbing and injuring actor Saif Ali Khan slept soundly after the attack and changed his clothes before heading to Worli, a police official said on Monday. Photograph: Sahil Salvi for Rediff.com IMAGE: Mohammad Shariful Islam Shahzad, the prime accused in the Saif Ali Khan attack case being taken to Bandra court from Khar Police station . The Mumbai police on Sunday arrested the accused, Shariful Islam Shehzad Mohammad Rohilla Amin Fakir, a Bangladeshi national, in neighbouring Thane city. According to the police, the accused had entered the Bollywood star's home in the Satguru Sharan building in upscale Bandra in the early hours of January 16 with the intention of theft. Khan (54) was stabbed multiple times in the attack, after which he underwent a five-hour surgery at nearby Lilavati Hospital. The official said after attacking the actor, the accused had a restful sleep at a bus stop, changed his clothes and reached Bandra railway station, from where he travelled to Dadar and later to Worli before heading to Thane city. Shehzad had taken all precautions to evade the police but got caught because of his backpack, he said. The official said the police had observed the backpack the accused was carrying in the CCTV footage they analysed, and this gave a direction to the probe. Later, with the help of CCTV, drum data and online payment, the police trace the accused. With the help of the image of the accused's face captured on CCTV, the police analysed persons with criminal records who looked like him and detained a few suspects. But when nothing came out of this, they checked the CCTV footage from the Bandra area again, the official said. The accused was seen in a CCTV footage walking towards the Bandra railway station around 7 am, and he had changed his clothes, he said. Shehzad, who had worked in a pub in Worli in the past, stayed on the premises on the night of January 16 and went unnoticed. The next day, he approached a labour contractor in the area for work and left for Thane. The official said the labour contractor provided Shehzad's mobile number to the police, and it was found that he had done some online transactions while on the run. A court has remanded the accused in five-day police custody after observing that the police's contention of an international conspiracy cannot be ruled out. Shehzad has been charged under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita sections 311 (robbery or dacoity with the intent to cause grievous hurt or death), 331(4) (house-breaking) and other offences as well as provisions of the Passport Act. Indian Institute of Technology-Madras director V Kamakoti, who stirred a controversy by saying that Gaumutra (cow urine) has medicinal properties, on Monday claimed that top journals in the US have published papers on scientific evidence to this effect. IMAGE: IIT-Madras director V Kamakoti. Photograph: ANI Photo Justifying his recent comments, Kamakoti said Gaumutra has anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, and anti-inflammatory properties. "This has been scientifically demonstrated. Journals in the United States have published the scientific evidence," he told reporters here. Based on its medicinal properties, cow urine was available for sale online, Kamakoti said when asked about his controversial remark during the Pongal celebrations. While addressing the 'Go Samrakshana Sala" event on Maatu Pongal day (on January 15) dedicated to cows, Kamakoti reportedly stated that cow urine has anti-bacterial, and anti-fungal properties and can heal a variety of illnesses, including irritable bowel syndrome. Members of various political parties criticised the IIT director for his remarks that went viral on social media. He shared articles published in 'Nature', a scientific journal, in June 2021 in which the scientists associated with the Animal Biotechnology Centre and Cell Biology and Proteomics Lab of the National Dairy Research Institute, published the result of peptide profiling in cow urine. The authors concluded that the discovery of thousands of endogenous peptides in cow urine contributes to various bioactivities associated with urine. BAKU, Azerbaijan, January 20. On January 19, natural gas supplies to Bulgargaz were resumed under a long-term contract with Azerbaijan, Trend reports with reference to the company. On January 6, 2025, the company received a notification about technical problems that resulted in the temporary suspension of gas supplies from Azerbaijan from January 7, 2025. During the temporary suspension, Bulgargaz continued to meet all requests from its customers from various sources. These included reserves in the Chiren underground gas storage facility, imports of previously delivered liquefied natural gas (LNG) stored in Turkiye, as well as LNG supplies from the terminal in Alexandroupolis, Greece. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar is carrying a letter from Prime Minister Narendra Modi for US President Donald Trump, sources said on Monday. Jaishankar is representing PM Modi as his special envoy at President Trump's inaugural function on Monday, the sources said. IMAGE: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar addresses during the inauguration ceremony of the US Consulate, in Bengaluru, January 17, 2025. Photograph: ANI Photo Trump is taking charge as the 47th President of the US. The external affairs minister's presence at the presidential inauguration is in line with India's general practice to send special envoys to attend the swearing-in ceremony of heads of state and government, the sources said. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh attended the swearing-in ceremony of the president of Nigeria in May 2023 while then Minister of Earth Sciences Kiren Rijiju attended the swearing-in ceremony of Maldivian president in November 2023, the sources said citing past precedents. Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari attended the swearing-in ceremony of the Iranian president in July last year and MoS for external affairs Pabitra Margherita attended the oath taking ceremony of president of Indonesia and president of Mexico in October 2024, the sources said. In June 2022, the then MoS for external affairs Raj Kumar Ranjan Singh attended the swearing-in ceremony of the president of Philippines, they added. The Mumbai police will likely recreate the crime scene at the Bandra home of Bollywood actor Saif Ali Khan, who was repeatedly stabbed by an intruder, an official said. The accused in the high-profile case, a 30-year-old Bangladeshi man, was arrested on Sunday morning from neighbouring Thane city. IMAGE: Bangladeshi national Shariful Islam Shehzad Mohammad Rohilla Amin Fakir was arrested in the Saif Ali Khan attack case from Thane, neighbouring Mumbai, January 19, 2025. Photograph: ANI on X A court in Mumbai remanded the accused, Shariful Islam Shehzad Mohammad Rohilla Amin Fakir, in police custody for five days. According to the official, the police will likely take Shehzad to Khan's home in Satguru Sharan building during these five days to recreate the crime scene as part of their investigation. Shehzad sneaked into the Bollywood star's apartment in the early hours of January 16 with the intention of theft, police had said. Preliminary investigation suggests that he climbed the stairs to the seventh-eighth floor of the building where Khan and his actor wife, Kareena Kapoor Khan, live with their children and domestic staff. He entered the duct area, climbed to the 12th floor using a pipe and entered the actor's flat through a bathroom window. He then came out from the bathroom, where the actor's staff spotted him, leading to the chain of events that culminated into the knife attack, an official had said earlier. The 54-year-old actor was stabbed multiple times in the attack, after which he underwent a five-hour surgery at nearby Lilavati Hospital. Richard Verma, the highest-ranking Indian-American official in the State Department, has expressed optimism about the future of US-India ties and emphasised the need to base the relationship on shared values rather than mere transactional dealings. Photograph: ANI Photo Verma, Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources, said he is not worried about the differences between the US and India as they make the relationship more dynamic. "What I don't want this to become, though, is a transactional relationship where we're just looking to sell things or you're looking to have us buy things, Verma told PTI in an interview on Friday, as he prepares to leave office. "That is not a deep, consequential relationship built on values. I think staying true to those principles is really...important, " said Verma, who previously served as America's Ambassador to India, making him the first Indian American in that position. President Joe Biden will cede power to President-elect Donald Trump on Monday, marking Verma's last day in office. Verma has been a key contributor to the US-India relationship over the past two and a half decades, during which bilateral ties have grown significantly. Confident that the India-US relationship, which enjoys bipartisan support, would continue to grow at the same speed, he hoped that this would not become a transactional relationship in the coming years. "I hope not. I don't think so, " he said when asked if he fears this becoming a transactional one over the next few years. "This is up to the next administration. That's why I keep going back to this need to support individuals in their journeys and making sure that they feel like they're welcome here in the United States and that they're respected and that kind of rule of law applies equally to everyone, " he said. "So, I can't speak for what will happen next. I just know there's incredible bipartisan support for the relationship..., " he said. Verma said there is so much that the two nations can do together. "Again, space cooperation we haven't looked at, " he said. "I look at how we share technology and intelligence. I look at how we do joint production and development of some of the most advanced systems and how we are prepared to defend the international order, " he said. He also spoke about the importance of the Quad in defending the international order. The Quad is a multilateral framework comprising India, Australia, Japan, and the US, with a shared commitment to upholding a free, open, and inclusive Indo-Pacific, amidst China's aggressive behaviour in the strategically vital South China Sea. "That's what the Quad has been about. That's what some of our other arrangements where we set the principles for this century and what it means to operate so that people have freedom, security and dignity. That's a great development on the security side, " he said. "That has really sent a powerful signal to adversaries and to people who are trying to disrupt that international order, " Verma said. A close confidant of President Biden, with whom he has worked for nearly a quarter of a century and outgoing Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Verma was also given additional responsibilities of the US Special Representative for Ukraine's Economic Recovery from former Commerce Secretary, Penny Pritzker. He said the US-India ties have grown significantly in the last 25 years. "Over time, we've built out the key categories. When I look at 25 years, 2000 versus 2025, we had no defence trade in 2000. Now that number is well north of USD 20 billion. In the year 2000, our two-way trade numbers were quite small. We are now north of USD 200 billion in two-way trade in goods and services, " he said. -- Lalit K Jha in Washington, DC The Delhi assembly which held 74 sittings over its five-year term, met for an average of 15 days a year. On the days it met, the assembly sat for an average of three hours. IMAGE: Former Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal speaks during the Delhi assembly winter session, November 29, 2024. Photograph: ANI Photo The outgoing seventh Delhi assembly was the worst performer in terms of the total number of sittings held, largely due to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to an analysis by PRS Legislative Research. This pertains to assemblies that completed their full five-year term since Delhi's first assembly (1993-1998). The Union Territory is set to go to the polls in a single phase on February 5, with results to be declared on February 8. The outgoing assembly, which held 74 sittings over its five-year term, met for an average of 15 days a year. On the days it met, the assembly sat for an average of three hours. It passed only 14 Bills during the term, the fewest of any previous full-term assembly. None of these Bills were referred to committees for further scrutiny. According to the analysis, within each year of the seventh assembly, sessions were adjourned without being prorogued and were divided into parts. This led to the House meeting for just one or two days on several occasions. While the lieutenant governor of Delhi summons and prorogues sessions, the assembly Speaker calls for sittings during a session. Of the 14 Bills passed by the outgoing assembly, five amended laws to increase the salaries and allowances of legislators, ministers, the Leader of the Opposition, the chief hip, the Speaker, and the deputy speaker. These Bills were passed in July 2022 and received Presidential assent 225 days later, in February 2023. Similar Bills passed by the previous assembly did not receive the lieutenant governor's assent. Of the 74 sitting days, Question Hour was held on only nine. Members are required to submit questions 12 days in advance. On other occasions, assembly meetings were announced with an average of seven days' notice, leaving insufficient time for questions to be submitted. Between 2020 and 2025, MLAs asked an average of 219 questions per year. In comparison, MPs in the Lok Sabha asked an average of 8,200 questions annually during the same period. In 2021, the Committee on Questions examined the response to a question and concluded that the response was incorrect, amounting to a breach of privilege. It recommended that the matter be referred to the Privileges Committee. In 2022, sitting days on which question hour was held the Speaker referred the matter of unsatisfactory replies to questions to the Privileges Committee. The matter is currently pending with the Committee, the analysis said. During the winter session in 2024, the Speaker observed that departments such as revenue, services, land and building, and home do not submit replies to questions, undermining Question Hour, it said. The assembly's 70 legislators asked 15 questions on average. MLAs from the Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party, numbering 8, asked 40 questions on average, and MLAs from the ruling Aam Aadmi Party, numbering 62, asked an average of 11 questions. According to the PRS Legislative Research, state assemblies often have separate discussions on the annual budget and expenditure budget of ministries. However, the Delhi assembly combined these discussions. During the seventh assembly, the budget discussion lasted for four hours. The assembly has 33 committees, and their performance was below par, according to the analysis. For example, the committee on petitions presented four reports, down from 27 in the previous term. It looked at issues such as disbursal of old-age pension and functioning of outpatient department counters in Delhi government hospitals. During the sixth assembly (2015 to 2020), committees presented 50 reports, compared to only 20 in the seventh in the outgoing House. Feature Presentation: Aslam Hunani/Rediff.com A high-level inter-ministerial team on Monday investigated for nearly six hours in the Badhaal village of Jammu and Kashmir's Rajouri district to ascertain the causes of deaths of 17 members of three families under mysterious circumstances, officials said. IMAGE: Army personnel deploy in Budhal village to provide essential supplies, including food, water, and shelter, to the residents after the 16 deaths due to a mysterious illness, in Rajouri, Jammu and Kashmir, January 20, 2025. Photograph: ANI Photo The village also witnessed the burial of a 15-year-old girl who died in a Jammu hospital on January 19 and a subdued wedding of one inhabitant during the day amid massive activities surrounding the 16-member central team's visit. The central team, headed by a director-rank officer in the Union ministry of home affairs and including several experts, reached Rajouri district headquarters on Sunday. The team members received a briefing from senior district, health and police officers before heading to the village early on Monday. Union Home Minister Amit Shah ordered the constitution of the inter-ministerial team to ascertain the causes of the deaths in the three families related to each other in the remote village, about 55 km from Rajouri town, between December 7 and January 19. The officials said the team, accompanied by dozens of senior officers of various departments, reached Badhaal around 11.30 am and visited the bereaved families, even as gravediggers were preparing the last resting place of Yasmeen Kousar (15) -- the sixth child of Md Aslam who breathed her last at the SMGS Hospital in Jammu on January 19. The central team divided itself into two groups and undertook an investigation, including collecting samples, they said. National Conference leader and local MLA Javid Iqbal Choudhary said the team's visit was meant to carry forward the ongoing investigation to ascertain the cause of the deaths. "Earlier, health teams from the ICMR (Indian Council of Medical Research), AIIMS (Delhi), PGI (Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research in Chandigarh) and others from premier institutions visited the village along with a full-fledged laboratory. They were all experts in the field and the visit of this inter-ministerial team is to carry forward that investigation," he said. The officials said Kousar's body reached the village late in the afternoon and was buried in the new graveyard set up adjacent to her five siblings and grandparents who died over the past week. Nine members of two families died in the village between December 7 and 12. Additional district magistrate (Kotranka) Dil Mir carried out the proceedings of sealing Aslam's single-storey thatched-roof home shortly after the experts accompanying the team collected samples from there. "This is the house where eight of the deceased persons were living and the seizure is routine work. The house, along with the house of another victim, Fazal Hussain, were sealed earlier and reopened to facilitate the experts to collect samples," Mir told PTI. He said the government had already banned holding any feast, whether related to weddings or religious ceremonies of the dead, for the time being, similar to the restrictions imposed during the COVID-19 pandemic, as the investigation to ascertain the causes of the deaths was yet to be completed. "The people are fully cooperating as they understand the gravity of the situation," the officer said. While the village is in grief, one resident -- Ikhlaq Shah -- tied the knot in a simple function that saw the groom accompanied by four of his close relatives and friends visiting the home of the bride in the nearby Draj village and performing 'nikah'. "We cancelled the marriage function due to the grief in the village but performed the nikah ceremony, according to the already-announced schedule," Shah's relative Md Hafeez said. He said they had sought permission from the executive magistrate concerned and added that no one was invited to the function. According to the officials, the central team, in collaboration with the local administration, would work on providing immediate relief as well as taking precautionary measures to prevent such incidents in the future. Experts from some of the most reputable institutions in the country have been arranged to manage the situation and understand the causes of the deaths. The patients complained of fever, pain, nausea, intense sweating and loss of consciousness before dying within days of their admission to hospitals. Earlier, a Jammu and Kashmir government spokesperson had said that investigation and samples empirically indicated that the incidents were not due to a communicable disease of bacterial or viral origin and that there was no public health angle. The police have also set up a special investigation team after certain neurotoxins were found in the samples of the dead. Authorities recently sealed a spring in the village after its water tested positive for some pesticides or insecticides. The additional deputy commissioner ordered the sealing of the spring, along with deployment of two to three security personnel round-the-clock, at the water resource in the village. "It is a precautionary measure We are already providing them (villagers) fresh water through tankers," he said. After breaking much sweat, the Mumbai police on Sunday arrested 30-year-old Bangladeshi man, Mohammad Shariful Islam Shehzad, from Thane for allegedly stabbing actor Saif Ali Khan at his Bandra residence. IMAGE: Police personnel stand guard at actor Saif Ali Khan's building 'Satguru Sharan' in Mumbai. Photograph: ANI Photo According to police, Shehzad sneaked into the Bollywood star's apartment in the early hours of January 16 with the intention of theft. Preliminary investigation suggests that he climbed the stairs to the seventh-eighth floor of the building where Khan and his actor wife Kareena Kapoor live with their children and domestic staff. "He entered the duct area, climbed to the 12th floor using a pipe and entered the actor's flat through a bathroom window. He then came out from the bathroom, where the actor's staff spotted him, leading to the chain of events that culminated into the knife attack," the official said. The official said the accused started arguing with a nanny in Khan's house and demanded Rs 1 crore. Hearing the ruckus, Khan arrived at the spot and held the attacker from the front. "The accused was startled and stabbed Khan in his back. Khan later locked the flat believing the accused was pinned inside. However, he managed to flee from the same area from where he had entered," the official said. He said police recovered a hammer, screwdriver, nylon rope and other materials from his bag, which suggests he may have criminal antecedents. The accused realised that he had attacked a Bollywood star only after seeing television news and social media posts, the official said. The 54-year-old actor underwent an emergency surgery at the Lilavati Hospital where he was rushed following the incident that took place around 2.30 am. He is recovering and may be discharged soon, doctors have said. The police said Shehzad hails from Jhalokathi, also called Jhalakathi, district in southern Bangladesh's Barisal division, adding that he was in Mumbai for the past five months, during which he did petty jobs, including at a housekeeping agency. Shehzad was nabbed at Hiranandani Estate on Ghodbandar Road. The police officer said Shehzad had changed his name to Vijay Das after entering India illegally from Bangladesh. A Kolkata court sentenced Sanjay Roy to life imprisonment until death on Monday after he was convicted of raping and murdering an on-duty doctor at the state-run RG Kar Medical College and Hospital. IMAGE: RG Kar doctor's rapist-murderer Sanjoy Roy to life imprisonment . Photograph: ANI Photo Additional district and sessions judge in Sealdah, Anirban Das, had on Saturday found Roy guilty of committing the crime against the postgraduate trainee doctor on August 9 last year. The heinous crime triggered nationwide outrage and prolonged protests in West Bengal. The court also ordered Roy to pay a Rs 50,000 fine and directed the state government to pay compensation of Rs 17 lakh to the family of the deceased doctor. Judge Das stated that the crime did not fall under the "rarest of the rare" category, which justified the decision to not impose the death penalty on the convict. Roy, a former civic volunteer with the Kolkata police, was found guilty under Sections 64 (rape), 66 (punishment for causing death), and 103(1) (murder) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. The CBI prayed for the death penalty. The defence lawyer prayed that a jail term be given instead of the death penaltythis crime does not fall under the rarest of the rare category, the judge said. The judge stated that under Section 64, life imprisonment is being given, along with a fine of Rs 50,000. An additional five months of imprisonment will be imposed upon non-payment of the fine, he added. Under Section 103(1), Roy has been sentenced to life imprisonment with a Rs 50,000 fine, and another five months in jail if the fine remains unpaid. Additionally, under Section 66, he has been sentenced to life imprisonment till death, the judge said. All the sentences will run concurrently, the judge said. Since the victim died while on duty in the hospital, her place of work, it is the responsibility of the state to pay compensation to the family of the doctor Rs 10 lakh for the death and Rs 7 lakh for the rape, Das said. The judge informed Roy that he had the right to appeal against the decision before the Calcutta high court and that he would be provided legal aid if needed. The sentence was passed after the judge heard the final statements of the convict, his defence counsel, the victim's family, and the Central Bureau of Investigation. Earlier in the day, Roy claimed in the court that he was innocent and had been "wrongly held guilty." "I am being framed and have not committed any crime. I have not done anything, and still, I have been held guilty," Roy told the court ahead of sentencing in the case. During the proceedings, the CBI lawyer and the counsel for the victim's parents pleaded for the highest penalty for the convict, calling the crime "rarest of the rare." The parents of the deceased woman medic in the RG Kar rape-murder case said they were not at all satisfied with the verdict of the court pronouncing life-term imprisonment until death, as well as the financial assistance, and would move to a higher court seeking justice. They claimed that the investigation was done half-heartedly and several other culprits involved in the crime were shielded. "We are shocked. How can this not be the rarest of the rare case? An on-duty doctor was raped and murdered while being on duty. We are dismayed. There was a larger conspiracy behind this crime," the mother said. Upon the announcement of the compensation, the father of the deceased doctor said they did not want any compensation. The father added that they would continue their fight until all the other culprits were brought to book. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee also expressed dissatisfaction with the court's verdict and asserted that had the case been handled by the Kolkata Police, the death penalty would have been ensured. "All of us have demanded the death sentence, but the court has given a life term until deathThe case was forcibly taken from us. Had it been with the (Kolkata) police, we would have ensured that he was served a death sentence," she told reporters. BJP's IT department head Amit Malviya, who is also his party's organisational co-incharge for West Bengal, called for appealing against the judgement and for probe agencies to investigate the role of the then Kolkata commissioner and the state's chief minister Mamata Banerjee for allegedly destroying the evidence. He said on X, "Life imprisonment and a 50,000-rupee fine for Sanjoy Roy, accused in the RG Kar rape and murder case, is a travesty of justice. The verdict must be appealed." Senior BJP leader Agnimitra Paul also expressed dissatisfaction with the sentencing and demanded capital punishment and a supplementary charge sheet, as well as further investigation to find out other culprits involved in the crime. The junior doctors, who were at the forefront of the protests following the crime, have called for further investigation into the larger conspiracy allegations raised by the victim's parents. The crime sparked nationwide protests, particularly from junior doctors in Kolkata, who demanded justice for the victim and stronger security measures in state-run hospitals. Initially investigated by Kolkata Police, Roy was arrested on August 10, a day after the medic's body was found in a seminar room of the hospital. The Calcutta high court later transferred the case to the CBI, which had sought the death penalty for Roy. The Supreme Court on Monday posted after two weeks the hearing on the plea filed by a Bihar police woman officer against a Patna high court order that quashed the FIR against an IPS officer whom she accused of rape on the false promise of marriage. IMAGE: A view of the Supreme Court of India. Photograph: ANI Photo A bench of Justices Pankaj Mithal and Ahsanuddin Amanullah adjourned the matter observing the petition required certain corrections. The court asked advocate Ashwani Kumar Dubey, appearing for the woman, to carry out the amendments. The woman is currently posted as a superintendent of police with Patna CID. The plea argued the high court order passed on September 19, 2024, was "perverse, devoid of any legal merits, beyond the facts of the case" besides being "contrary to the settled law". The FIR was lodged against IPS officer Pushkar Anand and his parents at Mahila police station in Bihar's Kaimur on December 29, 2014 on a complaint by the woman officer. While Anand was booked for rape and criminal intimidation, among others, his parents were booked for abetting the crime. The complainant alleged two days after she joined as the deputy SP in Bhabua, Anand, who was the SP, started showing friendly gestures towards her through social media. He allegedly showed inclination to marry her, she reciprocated and the two developed physical relations, she alleged. However, the marriage did not materialise for their horoscopes didn't match, the woman said. "The high court failed to appreciate that the respondent number 2 (IPS officer) at the time of commission of offence was posted as a superintendent of police and the petitioner was posted as subordinate officer to him and thus, the respondent number 2 was in power and authority to influence to his subordinate officer, i.e., petitioner and being an authority, he committed the offence and also assured to get married to her which he later denied by citing vague reasons," the plea said. The high court, it said, also failed to appreciate that a bare perusal of the FIR and the chargesheet established the offence was committed and the FIR prima facie discloses the commission of the offence. The high court said in its order the woman was in a relationship with the IPS officer for quite some time and willingly stayed and established physical relations with him. "If the relationship is not working out for reasons beyond the control of the parties, it cannot be a ground for lodging a case against the petitioner for offence punishable under Section 376 of the IPC. Hence, initiation of criminal proceeding by the informant against the petitioner is wholly unwarranted," it said. It was well known that Reliance boss Mukesh Ambani and wife Nita would be attending Donald Trumps inauguration on January 20. IMAGE: Nita Ambani, Mukesh Ambani meet US President-elect Trump. Photograph: ANI Photo Still, it was an aha! moment to spot Indias leading industrialist at the service at St Johns church ahead of Trumps inauguration, and then to see him heading to US Capitol Hill Rotunda for the inauguration in the company of the Big 4 Tim Cook of Apple, Jeff Bezos of Amazon, Sundar Pichai of Google and Mark Zuckerburg of Meta/Facebook. Mukesh and Nita, who have been in Washington, DC, since Saturday for the inauguration, met US President-elect Donald Trump on Sunday, ahead of his inauguration on Monday. The couple are expected to have a prominent spot at the ceremony, seated together on the platform with other notable guests, including Trump's Cabinet nominees and elected officials. There will also be a Cabinet reception and a Vice President's dinner that the Ambani's will attend. Mark Zuckerberg is co-hosting a black-tie reception Monday with the Republican mega-donor Miriam Adelson to celebrate the inauguration. The Ambani's are expected to attend this reception as well. TikTok began restoring service to its users in the United States on Sunday, less than 24 hours after the app went dark under a new federal ban and expressed gratitude to United States President-elect Donald Trump for "providing the necessary clarity and assurance." IMAGE: A man films a TikTok video outside the US headquarters of the social media company TikTok in Culver City, California, US. Photograph: Fred Greaves/Reuters In a post on X on Sunday, TikTok stated, "In agreement with our service providers, TikTok is in the process of restoring service. We thank President Trump for providing the necessary clarity and assurance to our service providers that they will face no penalties providing TikTok to over 170 million Americans and allowing over 7 million small businesses to thrive." "It's a strong stand for the First Amendment and against arbitrary censorship. We will work with President Trump on a long-term solution that keeps TikTok in the United States," the post added. President-elect Donald Trump, speaking at a rally, vowed to issue an executive order on his first day in office to delay the enforcement of the law, ensuring the short-video app used by 170 million Americans remains operational. "We have to save it," Trump declared, signalling plans for a joint venture that would grant the US a significant ownership stake in the platform. TikTok credited Trump's intervention for providing "clarity and assurance" to its service providers, enabling the app's rapid return. The law, signed by President Joe Biden last April, required ByteDance, TikTok's Chinese parent company, to divest the app by January 19 to avoid a ban. While Trump's move has sparked hope among TikTok users, questions remain about how he will reconcile his executive action with the legislation. -- By Seema Hakhu Kachru from Houston With inputs from ANI BAKU, Azerbaijan, January 20. The captain of an Aeroflot aircraft operating the Moscow (SVO) Dubai route requested an emergency landing at Heydar Aliyev International Airport, Trend reports. The reason for this request was the deteriorating health of one of the passengers. The Boeing 737-800 aircraft successfully landed at the airport at 06:27 local time. The passenger promptly received the necessary medical assistance. It should be noted that Heydar Aliyev International Airport regularly conducts training exercises to ensure readiness for emergency situations and to maintain the safety of passengers and crew members. Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Monday said the rules under Uniform Civil Code have been approved and the date of its implementation will be announced soon. IMAGE: Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami during a public meeting in support of BJP candidate Sushma Dimri for Jyotirmath Municipality president election, in Chamoli, January 15, 2025. Photograph: ANI Photo After chairing a state cabinet meeting, Dhami said that preparations for implementing the UCC in the state are almost complete. "The training process for the UCC implementation is almost complete. During the cabinet meeting, we discussed implementing it as soon as possible. After reviewing everything, we will soon announce its implementation date." In December, Dhami had announced that UCC would be implemented in January. With municipal elections scheduled for January 23 and results expected on January 25, speculation is rife that the governmnet might announce UCC implementation on Republic Day. Responding to a question, the chief minister said that its implementation will bring a big change in the state. He added that his party had promised to bring UCC before the 2022 elections, and the process was initiated in the first cabinet meeting after assuming power. He said, "We constituted an expert committee to draft the UCC, following which a bill was passed in the state assembly." The chief minister said the Governor and subsequently the President gave the assent to the bill on March 12, 2024 making it an Act. Uttarakhand is set to become the first state in independent India to implement uniform laws for all its citizens, he said. Dhami dismissed the Congress's allegations that UCC represents divisive politics, calling them baseless. He said, "This is not any divisive politics. UCC has a uniform system and uniform law for all. The UCC includes detailed provisions related to marriage, divorce, annulment of marriage, willful and non-willful succession and live-in relationship. Officials said to ensure seamless implementation of the state government has implemented state-of-the-art technology based arrangements, allowing citizens to access services conveniently. A dedicated portal has been developed, providing an online platform for registration of marriages, divorces, rights of succession, live-in relationship and their termination, they said. Citizens can complete these registration from their home using mobile phones, he added. Common Service Centre has been authorised by the state government to make the online registration facility simple and easy for the citizens, they added. In hilly and remote areas, where there is no access to internet facility, CSC agents will go door-to-door to provide the facilities to citizens, they said. The officials said the gram panchayat development officer has been appointed as the sub-registrar for registration related work in rural areas. To simplify the facility of registration in UCC, the option of registration with Aadhar card has also been given. Information about the status of your application related to registration can be obtained through e-mail and SMS. Arrangements have also been made to make complaints of citizens through online portal, they added. Additional district and sessions judge of Sealdah court, Anirban Das, awarded life imprisonment till death to convict Sanjay Roy for the crime. The prosecution had prayed for the death penalty for the convict. IMAGE: Abhaya Mancha supporters hold a demonstration rally demanding justice during convict Sanjay Roy's hearing in the RG Kar rape-murder case, in Kolkata, January 20, 2025. Photograph: ANI Photo The victim's parents, a section of doctors and civil society organisations said they are unhappy with the order and will move the higher court. Das said that the measure of a civilised society lies not in its ability to exact revenge, but in its capacity to reform, rehabilitate and ultimately to heal. "In the realm of modern justice, we must rise above the primitive instinct of 'an eye for an eye' or 'a tooth for a tooth' or 'nail for a nail' or 'a life for a life'," the court observed. "Our duty is not to match brutality with brutality, but to elevate humanity through wisdom, compassion and a deeper understanding of justice," the trial court judge said in the 172-page judgement. He said that this case does not meet the stringent criteria for being classified as "rarest of the rare". The judge said that the Supreme Court has consistently emphasised that the death penalty should be used only in exceptional circumstances where the collective conscience of the community is so shocked that it expects the holders of judicial power to inflict the death penalty. Judge Das said that given these considerations, it would be inappropriate to accede to the prosecution's request for the death penalty. "While acknowledging the immense grief and suffering of the victim's parents, for which no sentence can provide complete solace, the court's duty is to pass a sentence that is proportionate, just and in accordance with established legal principles," the court observed. While ordering rigorous imprisonment for life and a fine of Rs 50,000 each on two counts of rape and murder and rigorous imprisonment for the remainder of the convict's natural life for causing injury during the act of committing rape on the victim that led to her death, the court directed that all the sentences will run concurrently. "In the instant case, it was established that at the time of commission of the offence of rape, the accused committed throttling associated with smothering, which was the proximate cause of death of the victim. "Accordingly, without any hesitation, I hold that the charge under Section 66 (punishment for causing death or resulting in persistent vegetative state of victim) of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) was also established against this accused," the court said in its order. Observing that the convergence of forensic findings - the physical evidence of sexual assault and the DNA matches from various samples - constructs a compelling scientific narrative, the court said that it not only confirms the presence of Sanjay Roy at the place of occurrence but also directly links him to the violent acts perpetrated against the victim. The court said that the forensic evidence forms a cornerstone of the prosecution's case, offering objective, scientific corroboration of the charges and leaving little room for alternative explanations. "The nature of this crime is particularly heinous, characterised by its brutality and the vulnerability of the victim. "The act of manual strangulation coupled with smothering indicates a prolonged and deliberate infliction of suffering," the court said, observing, "the additional element of sexual assault compounds the gravity, reflecting a complete disregard for human dignity and life. US President Joe Biden greeted his successor Donald Trump at the White House Monday morning with the message 'welcome home' as his motorcade arrived at the official presidential residence. IMAGE: US President-elect Donald Trump and his wife Melania Trump meet with President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden at the White House on inauguration day of Donald Trump's second presidential term in Washington, DC on January 20, 2025. Photograph: Nathan Howard/Reuters Moments before reporters asked him what his message was, Biden replied, 'Joy' and then paused a bit and said, 'Hope'. "Welcome Home," Biden greeted as Trump stepped out of the SUV in the North Portico of the White House. When Biden and the First Lady were waiting for the arrival of Trump and incoming First Lady Melania Trump, Biden was asked if he had written a letter to Trump. He replied, "Yes." When asked what he said, Biden replied, 'That's between Trump and me . The two then went inside the White House for their traditional tea. Traditionally, the outgoing president leaves a letter for his successor. Trump, 78, was sworn in as the 47th president of the United States. He succeeds Biden, 82. Trump had lost the 2016 election to Biden. In the November 2020 elections, Trump defeated Vice President Kamala Harris, both in popular votes and electoral college numbers. Moments earlier, outgoing Vice President Kamala Harris and the Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff welcomed their successor -- J D Vance and his Indian-American spouse Usha Vance. As the Vance couple stepped up for a handshake, Harris said, 'Congratulations' to her successor. Vance is wearing a dark blue suit, overcoat, and red tie. Usha is wearing a light pink coat. Before the arrival of Vance, Harris was asked how she was feeling about this day, and she replied, "This is democracy in action." The two couples posed for photos and then walked inside the White House. Earlier in the morning, Trump along with his family and senior officials from his administration attended service at the historic St. John's Episcopal Church a short distance from the White House. The service lasted for about 25 minutes, closing out with a rendition of 'America the Beautiful'. Among those spotted were Ivanka Trump, Lara Trump, Robert F Kennedy Jr, Tulsi Gabbard and Argentinian President Javier Milei. While exiting, he nodded acknowledgement to several attendees on the way out and briefly patted Milei on the arm. Others who attended the service were Apple's Tim Cook, Rupert Murdoch, Senator Marco Rubio, Sean Duffy, TikTok CEO Shou Chew, Elon Musk, incoming National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, FBI Director nominee Kash Patel, Chief of Staff, Susie Wiles, Indian-American Vivek Ramaswamy, Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, Lauren Sanchez, and former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson. After the tea, Biden and Trump drove down to Capitol Hill for the formal inauguration ceremony, which has been moved inside the Rotunda from outside the Capitol Hill facing the majestic National Mall. A woman was found infected with human metapneumovirus (HMPV) in Ahmedabad on Monday, the development coming just hours after health authorities announced there were no active cases of the infection in the state following the discharge of six patients. IMAGE: A hospital staffer inspects medical equipment inside the isolation emergency ward for the HMPV, at Civil Hospital in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, January 7, 2025. Photograph: ANI Photo A 69-year-old woman from Mehsana district admitted to a private hospital in Ahmedabad has been detected with HMPV, a release from the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation's health department informed. "The woman was found positive for HMPV in a test conducted on January 18. She was admitted to the hospital on the same day for cough as well as difficulty in breathing. She does not have any travel history," the release said. Earlier in the day, officials said there are no active cases of HMPV in Gujarat currently. The first case was recorded in the state on January 6 when a 2-month-old boy from neighbouring Rajasthan was detected with HMPV here, an official had said. The infant has been discharged, the official added. Later, four cases were recorded in Ahmedabad and one in Sabarkantha district, he said. "As of now, there is no active HMPV case in Gujarat. All six patients have been discharged from hospitals following recovery. The 8-year-old boy who was on ventilator support at a private hospital in Himmatnagar in Sabarkantha was also discharged a few days ago," additional director (public health) Dr Nilam Patel said in the morning. The AMC had also said there were no active cases in the city as five HMPV patients receiving treatment in hospitals were discharged. HMPV was first discovered in 2001 and belongs to the Paramyxoviridae family. It is closely related to the Respiratory Syncytial Virus. It spreads through respiratory droplets from coughing or sneezing, as well as by touching contaminated surfaces or coming into direct contact with infected individuals. 'So much more than food': From small collective to member-owned grocery store, Brattleboro Food Co-op still thrives at 50 A square dance event in 2023 celebrated new flooring at Windham Elementary School. The town is currently looking at ways to best use the building now that it will no longer serve as an elementary school. Now, its been 15 years. Most of the girls that are coming in here today dont know anything about Jessica, said Debbie Bolognani. But, she BAKU, Azerbaijan, January 20. UK Ambassador to Azerbaijan Fergus Auld has visited the Alley of Martyrs in Baku in connection with the 35th anniversary of the January 20 tragedy, Trend reports via Auld's X publication. It's with deep sorrow that I honor the memory of the heroes who gave their lives for the freedom and independence of Azerbaijan during the bloody events of January 20, the publication said. On January 20, 1990, the Soviet army forces entered Baku to suppress the masses protesting the USSR-supported Armenian aggression based on territorial claims against Azerbaijan. The entry of Soviet troops resulted in an unprecedented tragedy for Azerbaijan. The brave souls of Azerbaijan placed their nations freedom, honor, and dignity above all, giving their lives and becoming martyrs. Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel Russian forces have carried out more than 2,100 aerial strikes on Ukraine over the past week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on March 9, as Russia has stepped up attacks on its neighbor and reported battlefield gains ahead of Kyiv's high-stakes talks with US representatives in Saudi Arabia. Ukraine Invasion: News & Analysis RFE/RL's Ukraine Live Briefing gives you the latest developments on Russia's invasion, Western military aid, the plight of civilians, and territorial control maps. For all of RFE/RL's coverage of the war, click here. It comes as US President Donald Trump questioned the long-term viability of Ukraine itself. When asked in a Fox Business TV interview whether he was worried that decreased US support for Ukraine could endanger that country's survival, he responded: "Well, it may not survive anyway." "But, you know, we have some weaknesses with Russia -- you know, it takes two," Trump added. Zelenskyy said in a social media post that Russian forces this week deployed 1,200 guided aerial bombs, nearly 870 attack drones, and more than 80 missiles of various types. The Russian Defense Ministry, meanwhile, announced the recapture of several villages and towns on March 9 in its Kursk region -- as well as new settlements in eastern Ukraine -- with unconfirmed reports that thousands of Ukrainian troops risk being encircled by Russian forces. It comes a day after Russian air strikes killed at least 50 people in the eastern Donetsk region, according to local officials, with at least 11 deaths reported in the city of Dobropillya. "Such strikes show that Russia's goals are unchanged," Zelenskyy wrote on social media late on March 8. "Therefore, it is very important to continue to do everything to protect life, strengthen our air defense, and increase sanctions against Russia. The series of strikes and battlefield pressure represent another setback for Kyiv ahead of crucial talks with the United States next week in Saudi Arabia, where Ukrainian officials will meet with their US counterparts for negotiations around how to end the three-year war. The Institute For The Study of War, a Washington-based think tank that tracks battlefield developments, said Russian forces have "intensified their multidirectional campaign to eliminate the remaining Ukrainian salient in Kursk" in the last two days. According to DeepState, an open-source military tracker linked to the Ukrainian Army, the Russian moves followed a "breach" in Ukrainian defense lines near the town of Sudzha, which remains under Kyiv's control but is facing growing pressure from Russian units. Pro-Russian war bloggers who closely track frontline developments in the war also reported that Russian special forces walked inside a gas pipeline to strike Ukrainian units from the rear in Kursk late on March 8 to gain a foothold outside of Sudzha. According to the reports, the pipeline was used to surprise Ukrainian units and cut off their supply lines as the Kremlin pours more manpower into kicking Kyiv out of Russian territory. RFE/RL was not able to independently verify the accounts, but Ukrainian officials confirmed that Russian "sabotage and assault groups" used the pipeline to get access to Sudzha. "At present, Russian special forces are being detected, blocked, and destroyed. The enemy's losses in Sudzha are very high," Ukraine's General Staff said in a Telegram post on March 8. Ukraine aimed to hit back by launching a drone overnight at an industrial facility in the Russian region of Chuvashia, some 1,300 kilometers from the Ukrainian border. The strike is one of the deepest yet into Russian territory by a Ukrainian drone, and it hit its target but caused no casualties, according to Russian authorities. Ousting Ukrainian forces from Kursk with the talks in Saudi Arabia approaching looks to be part of Moscow's strategy. In August 2024, thousands of Ukrainian soldiers seized roughly 1,300 square kilometers of Russia's western Kursk region, a move which Kyiv later characterized as an attempt to gain a bargaining chip for future negotiations and draw Russian troops away from the front line in eastern Ukraine. Russian forces have managed to claw back large chunks of territory in Kursk, but Ukraine has retained a foothold that now risks being shrunk down further leading into the key talks. Ukraine 'Fully Committed' To US Talks With his attention fixed on the upcoming talks, Zelenskyy said Ukraine is "fully committed" to having a constructive dialogue with US representatives in Saudi Arabia next week over a potential peace settlement. "Ukraine has been seeking peace from the very first second of this war. Realistic proposals are on the table. The key is to move quickly and effectively," he posted on X. The Ukrainian president said he will travel to Saudi Arabia and meet with Saudi Prince Muhammad bin Salman on March 10. Afterward, a delegation of Ukrainian diplomatic and military representatives will stay for a March 11 meeting with a US negotiating team. "On our side, we are fully committed to constructive dialogue, and we hope to discuss and agree on the necessary decisions and steps," Zelenskyy said. Zelenskyy will not be part of the US-Ukraine talks, which will instead be done by a delegation including Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha, Zelenskyy's chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, and Defense Minister Rustem Umerov. They will meet with a US delegation that will reportedly include Trump's envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and national-security adviser Mike Waltz. Rubio departed for Saudi Arabia late on March 9, the State Department said. In remarks late on March 9, Trump told reporters he expects results from the Saudi talks. "We're going to make a lot of progress, I believe, this week," Trump said. The upcoming talks in Saudi Arabia are the culmination of weeks of tough diplomacy and negotiations spearheaded by Washington since it met with a Russian delegation in Riyadh in February. US-Ukraine ties have since frayed, with tensions culminating in an Oval Office argument in late February between Zelenskyy, Trump, and US Vice President JD Vance that saw the Ukrainian president leave the White House without signing a crucial minerals deal with Washington. Since then, the Trump administration has paused military shipments and intelligence sharing with Ukraine. The full extent of the intelligence cutoff is unclear, but it has sparked fears that it could lead to Ukrainian setbacks on the front lines as Russia looks to press for the advantage. In his March 9 remarks to reporters, Trump said he believed Ukraine would eventually sign a minerals deal with the United States. But -- amid reports he would want even more actions out of Kyiv -- Trump added that "I want them to want peace. They haven't shown it to the extent they should." European countries like Britain and France have stepped up to provide more intelligence sharing with Ukraine but are reportedly still not able to replace the full scope of US capabilities. Waltz suggested on March 5 that Trump may lift the pause on military aid once peace negotiations are arranged and confidence-building measures take place. When asked on March 9 whether he would end the suspension of intelligence-sharing with Kyiv, Trump said, without elaborating, that "we just about have. We just about have." In the days leading up to the talks, Trump offered criticism of Moscow's increased attacks on Ukraine in the lead up to talks and mentioned potential sanctions against the Kremlin. But he also said Russian President Vladimir Putin was doing what anybody would do" and he told reporters in the Oval Office on March 7 that he finds it "easier" to work with Russia than Ukraine and that Putin "wants to end the war." Incoming U.S. President Donald Trumps inauguration is likely to herald a tectonic shift in Washingtons policy on Ukraine, with a declared push for a peace or cease-fire deal and a clear desire for U.S. disengagement. That has led European leaders to discuss previously unthinkable ideas about how to ensure Ukraines postwar security without U.S. involvement. Top of the list is French President Emmanuel Macrons suggestion of deploying European military forces to Ukraine if a deal is agreed. First mooted nearly a year ago, it was reinvigorated after Trumps election victory. Last month, Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto said Rome would be willing to join a potential mission and his German counterpart, Boris Pistorius, said Berlin was preparing and considering scenarios. But these two examples highlight the enormous obstacles to such a mission. Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said such discussions were premature. Given Nazi Germanys invasion of the Soviet Union -- including Ukraine -- during World War II, it is also hard to imagine German forces deployed in the country. European Union Foreign Affairs chief Kaja Kallas said that as long as Russia was shelling Ukraine, we have nothing to talk about. Of course, she meant publicly. But her comment underlines another factor that may make a European military role a nonstarter: Russian President Vladimir Putin. I think there is absolutely no indication that at the moment Putin is interested in negotiations at all, said Ian Bond, deputy director of the Center for European Reform, a think tank. You know, Putin thinks he's winning. A 'Tall Order' Bond is not alone in this assessment. Trump appears to disagree, stating at his January 7 Mar-a-Lago news conference that he believed he could achieve a deal within six months. But even then, theres no sign that Putin would agree to a European force. Nicu Popescu, at the European Council on Foreign Relations, sees a further difficulty. As a permanent member of the UN Security Council, Moscow can block any peacekeeping mission. The problem with traditional peacekeeping missions is that they are bound by UN decisions, meaning Russia could veto it or terminate the mission at any time. Such a mission would also not be limited to Western countries but also have troops from other parts of the world, he said. Popescu, who was Moldovan Foreign Minister in 2021-2024, said the discussion among European leaders is not about peacekeepers. Whats being discussed is a military presence to prevent another war. It means troops, not lightly armed peacekeepers, but equipped with antiaircraft, anti-electronic warfare capacities, to defend cities like Odesa and Kyiv. Popescu admits that is a tall order for European armies. Britain and France have Europes strongest militaries, but are overstretched. In Britain, the military has been largely focused on anti-terror and counterinsurgency operations since the September 11 attacks in the United States in 2001. It has been through cuts in the last decade and a recent parliamentary report said Britain was underprepared to counter the Russian threat. In July, Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced a review of defense strategy, declaring that Britains armed forces were hollowed out. The French Army has greater numbers than the British but has also been stretched by yearslong combat deployments across Africa. French experts have voiced doubts about its capacity for a higher-intensity conflict, such as Ukraine. We only have six long-range rocket launchers left, we do not have any real means of combating drones, noted Leo Peria Peigne from the French Institute of International Relations in November. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has said security guarantees for Kyiv to end Russia's war would only be effective if the United States provides them. Some advocates of a European military presence say it would only be possible with U.S. help in areas such as planning, logistics, and intelligence. Political Constraints Adding to these military constraints are political ones. Would European governments really be willing to deploy significant forces to Ukraine against Russias wishes and without U.S. involvement on the ground? The idea could be deeply unpopular with public opinion. Polling in Western Europe has consistently shown low levels of support for sending troops to Ukraine. The risks of sending such a contingent, even in a noncombat role, would be enormous. Rules of engagement would have to be set covering how to respond if they are fired on by Russian forces, and the political fallout of casualties could be huge. Macron already has his back to the wall after losing his majority in Frances National Assembly. Starmer has only just returned his Labour Party to office after 14 years in opposition. Both leaders have a lot to lose from a bloody crisis involving their soldiers in Ukraine. Many would also point to the danger of escalation. This appears to be one reason outgoing U.S. President Joe Bidens administration ruled out any military presence in Ukraine. Still, some analysts argue that the situation on the battlefield could get so bad that European leaders feel compelled to act. If you are Poland, the prospect of the collapse of Ukraine with millions of refugees flowing across your borders and Russian forces coming up to your border is much, much worse than the prospect of having to do more to shore up Ukraine's current front lines, said Ian Bond. But, he added, We're a very, very long way away from that. In the village of Bibaj, located in southeastern Kosovo near the U.S. Bondsteel base, citizens celebrated the inauguration of U.S. President Donald Trump. The villagers expressed hope that the Trump administration would continue to support Kosovo, particularly in resolving issues with Serbia. TikTok, owned by the Chinese company ByteDance, went offline in the United States shortly before a federal ban took effect on January 19 only for it to return around 12 hours later. The app proclaimed that "TikTok is back in the U.S.! through a notification to its users. It attributed its return to incoming U.S. President Donald Trump, who said on January 19 that that he would issue an executive order following his inauguration on January 20 to delay enforcement of the law that required ByteDance to sell TikTok to a non-Chinese owner or face a ban. The decision marks the latest installment in a whirlwind of developments involving TikToks fate that could also have major repercussions for the global technology competition between China and the United States and set the tone for Trump's dealings with Beijing. The popular video platform is Chinas first global app and has outperformed U.S.-owned rivals such as Instagram, Facebook, and X. The issue of Chinese ownership is what put TikTok in the crosshairs of the U.S. Congress, which passed a law in April 2024 over national security concerns, including the spread of misinformation and espionage. TikTok is the international version of ByteDances Douyin, which serves markets in Hong Kong and China and adheres to Beijings strict censorship apparatus. While also a successful business, its popularity and influence has been a global boost for Beijing. ByteDances unwillingness to divest ownership also shows both the value placed on its proprietary algorithm and on TikTok remaining a Chinese company. An Overture At Home And Abroad While Trumps move to give TikTok a reprieve to find a solution is also influenced by U.S. domestic politics, the incoming presidents decision could also affect his relationship with Chinese leader Xi Jinping. After first supporting a ban before coming out against it, Trump also revealed on January 17 that he had spoken to Xi and discussed TikTok, among other issues. The issues that prompted the ban on TikTok still remain. Cybersecurity firms have suggested that the app can collect user data beyond what content they view on TikTok, and China enacted a law in 2017 that compels Chinese nationals living abroad to cooperate with its intelligence apparatus. Public examples of this are few, but in 2023, a British journalist had her data and location tracked by TikTok employees in China and the United States. U.S. court filings from a former ByteDance employee also outlined how the Chinese Communist Party accessed company data to spy on pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong in 2018. Now Trump's decision offers an early bellwether for how he will handle relations with China. Trump's last presidential term from 2017 to 2021 was characterized by his tough line on China and the targeting of Chinese companies at home and abroad against the backdrop of a deepening technology race between Beijing and Washington. That competition hasnt gone away, but Trump -- at least in the early days of his incoming presidency -- appears to be looking to strike a different tone. The Wall Street Journal reported on January 18 that Trump wants to visit Xi in China in his first 100 days after taking office and has expressed an openness to negotiations with the Chinese leader on a range of issues. The URL has been copied to your clipboard The code has been copied to your clipboard. As Donald Trump gets set to move into the White House again as U.S. president, here are three potential flash points between Washington and Brussels. RFE/RL's Europe Editor Rikard Jozwiak explains. That is the end of our live coverage of the inauguration of Donald Trump as the 47th U.S. President. Trump spoke of his desire to be a peacemaker and unifier in his inaugural address but also declared a national emergency at the US-Mexico border. Thank you for joining us. BAKU, Azerbaijan, January 20. The US Charge d'Affaires in Azerbaijan, Hugo Guevara, shared a post on social media to mark the 35th anniversary of the January 20th tragedy, Trend reports. Guevara expressed condolences to the families and loved ones of the victims of this tragic event. "Today, we honor the memory of those who heroically gave their lives for the homeland in the tragic events of Black January. We offer our sincere condolences to their families and loved ones in remembrance of the great sacrifice they made," the post said. Today marks the 35th anniversary of the January 20th tragedy. On the night of January 19th through 20th, 1990, without prior announcement of a state of emergency, the Soviet army launched military operations against Azerbaijan. As a result, 147 people were killed, 744 were severely injured, and 841 people were illegally arrested. The actions of the Soviet army also led to the destruction of 200 apartments, homes, and both private and state property. The first to express his position on these bloody events was National Leader Heydar Aliyev. On January 21st, 1990, he made a statement at the Permanent Mission of Azerbaijan in Moscow, sharply criticizing those responsible for the events. Heydar Aliyev stated that he considered the actions to be alien to law, democracy, and humanism and contrary to the principles of building a rule of law in the country. January 20th, 1990, emerged as a valiant page in Azerbaijan's quest for freedom and the preservation of its land. Even as time flows onward, the Azerbaijani people hold tightly to the memory of that harrowing night, their hearts filled with a profound disdain for those who orchestrated this calamity. In remembrance of those lost to the heartbreaking occurrences of January 20, this day has been designated as a Day of National Mourning in Azerbaijan. Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel By David Young, PA Micheal Martin stood by his past criticism of Michael Lowry as he defended negotiating the programme for government with the controversial Independent TD. Mr Martin once called on Tipperary North TD Mr Lowry to resign from the Dail after a corruption investigation heavily criticised his conduct. During at times heated exchanges with reporters on Sunday, the Fianna Fail leader was challenged on how he could justify striking a coalition deal with Mr Lowry, who chaired the Regional Independents negotiating team, given the damning findings of the Moriarty Tribunal. The tribunal, which was established in 1997, examined payments to former Taoiseach Charles Haughey and Mr Lowry and other matters relating to the contentious awarding of a mobile phone operating licence in Ireland. Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin faced reporters questions on Sunday evening (Gareth Chaney/PA) Among its findings, the tribunal criticised former Fine Gael minister Mr Lowrys behaviour as profoundly corrupt to a degree that was nothing short of breathtaking. The 70-year-old politician, who has always denied wrongdoing, has served as an independent TD since leaving Fine Gael in the 1990s. Pressed on the matter on Sunday, Mr Martin stressed that Mr Lowry would not be a minister in the new coalition. He also made clear he stood by his past criticism of Mr Lowry but insisted he had to respect the mandate he has repeatedly secured from voters in Tipperary. Mr Martin also suggested that Fianna Fail and Fine Gael had limited options for coalition partners, as he claimed Labour and the Social Democrats were not disposed to going into government. First of all, what I said back then stands, what was revealed in the Moriarty Tribunal was shocking and was wrong, and I condemned it at the time and still do, he said. The people of Tipperary and the people of a number of other constituencies have elected independents. I have an overriding obligation now to form a government and to work to form a government, and its with quite a number of independents, not just Michael Lowry, but all the others that get forgotten about in all of the assessment of this and commentary on this. He added: So we have, yes, negotiated with Regional Independent group. They elected Michael Lowry as their chair. It was clear the Labour Party and the Social Democrats were not really in a position or disposed to going into government. Thats the reality of that. Im determined to form a government that lasts five years, and Im going to do that, and likewise in the last government we enabled it to go five years. And I dont in any way condone what happened or the actions that were covered by the Moriarty Tribunal, but the people of Tipperary have elected Michael Lowry as well, we cant ignore that. I cant ignore the mandates that independents have received. Mr Martin claimed a negative agenda was being pursued to criticise the government before it was even officially appointed. Its as if a lot of people in the commentary world are very disappointed with the outcome of the election, he said. And from day one, its been negativity all the way towards this government, and it hasnt even been established. There needs to be a bit of balance here. Michael Lowry is not in government, he was nominated by the Regional Independent group to chair their group for the negotiations. We met them, we met the negotiating team, and met all of the independents myself before we got down to negotiation. And weve negotiated a policy platform, which I think is a good, positive policy platform for the next five years, and thats it. I mean, as I said, the alternatives facing us are very much determined by the decision of the Irish people in the Dail that theyve re-elected with quite a number of independents, with quite a number of small parties, and with three parties in around 20 per cent each. And that means there will be coalition governments formed now and well into the future. Last week, Mr Lowry accused members of the media of trying to undermine his mandate. Asked whether he could commit not to engage in behaviour similar to that outlined in the Moriarty Tribunal, he said: The media has been over-consumed by this. You have given the past month trying to undermine my position and the very strong mandate I got from the people of Tipperary and north Kilkenny. Youve been ranting for the last month in your publications. Let me say I enjoy the confidence of my group. I also enjoy the confidence of the Taoiseach (Simon Harris) and Tanaiste (Micheal Martin) in the negotiations that I had. He added: Unlike you, they respected the mandate that I have from the people. Fr Donal Morris, the youngest Irish-born priest of the Diocese of Elphin who sadly passed away last week following an illness, has been described as a man "who lived his life and his priesthood with great humanity and humour". The congregation at his concelebrated Funeral Mass in the Church of St Patrick, Ballinaheglish today also heard that the late parish priest of Kilbegnet and Glinsk was professional up until the very last and was a person of great courage. The Bishop of Elphin Kevin Doran also spoke of how Fr Donal was generous with the gift of himself, while he also spoke of his integrity as a priest. He had a desire to live a full life, the Bishop said adding that he did so with great humanity and humour. Fr Jim Murray from Sligo, in his homily, said that during Fr Donals days in the hospice he made many friendships and his ability to integrate was a source of consolation for him. He added: First and foremost he was a son, brother and uncle and he had a caring relationship with his family. He often spoke of his family with affection. As a priest he had the ability to lead. He was a man of deep faith and a loyal friend. He also believed in practicing what he preached. He had a deep sense of justice and fought for the truth, Fr Murray added. He concluded by saying Fr Donal is still watching and caring and loving us in his own way. During the Mass his coffin was adorned with symbols of his priesthood, his stole, a bible, chalice and crucifix while chalices of the Eucharist were presented during the offertory. Originally from Dublin, Fr Donal grew up in Ballinaheglish, in the parish of Oran. He studied at CBS Roscommon and, following his Leaving Certificate, began his journey to priesthood by undertaking the pre-seminary formation year at Donamon, in the same parish where he had served for the past five years. He subsequently completed his formation for the priesthood at St. Patricks College, Maynooth and was ordained on June 4th, 1995. His first assignment was as a curate in Kilmurry in the parish of Tulsk, after which he served as chaplain at Castlerea Prison for seven years. On completing his service in the prison, he was assigned to the parish of Knockcroghery, and later to St. Josephs Parish, Boyle. In 2014 he went as administrator to the parish of Loughglynn. "His final assignment was to the parish of Kilbegnet and Glinsk where, in spite of his declining health, he gave himself very generously in the service of his parishioners up to the time of his death," said Bishop Doran on learning of his death. He also graduated with an MA from Milltown Institute and a JCL from the University of Leuven. He is survived by his parents, Eamon and Kathleen; brother, Edward; sisters, Carol (Fox), Catriona (Hynes) and Audrey (Morris); their spouses Michelle, Ronan, Denis and Enda; his nieces, Rachel, Roisin, Aoife, Cora and Aoibhinn; nephews, Daniel, Ruairi, Tommy, Fionn and Liam; uncles, aunts, cousins, relatives, friends and friends in California. Donal is also mourned by Bishop Doran, his brother priests in the diocese of Elphin and elsewhere. Following his funeral mass he was laid to rest in Oran Cemetery. Wanda J. Tofte, 81, Sidney, MT, passed away Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025, at St. Vincents Health Care, Billings, MT, surrounded by her family. Memorial Services will be held on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025, at 11 a.m., at Peoples Congregational Church, Sidney, MT, with Pastor Sione Fungalei officiating. A luncheon will follow services at the church for a time of fellowship and sharing. The service will be livestreamed directly on Wandas obituary page on our website: http://www.fulkersons.com. Fulkerson Stevenson Funeral Home, Sidney, MT, is assisting the family. Remembrances, condolences, and pictures may be shared with the family at http://www.fulkersons.com. RG Kar Rape and Murder Case: Sanjay Roy Sentenced to Life Imprisonment The CBI, which led the investigation, had sought capital punishment for the accused. RG Kar Rape and Murder Case Verdict Latest News Today: The Sealdah Civil and Criminal Court sentenced Sanjay Roy, the accused in the RG Kar Medical College rape and murder case, to life imprisonment on Monday. Alongside the sentence, the court imposed a fine of Rs 50,000 on Roy. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which led the investigation, had sought capital punishment for the accused. During the sentencing, the court addressed Roy, stating, "The charges against you have been proven." Advertisement Accused Claims Innocence Sanjay Roy maintained his innocence throughout the trial, alleging he was "falsely implicated." Speaking in court, Roy said, "I have not done anythingneither rape nor murder. I am innocent and was tortured into signing documents." Defense and Prosecution Arguments Roys lawyer argued against the death penalty, emphasizing the possibility of reformation. "Even in rarest of rare cases, there should be a scope for rehabilitation. The prosecution must prove why the accused is beyond reform," the defense stated. On the other hand, the victims family and their lawyer demanded the death penalty. "We want the maximum punishment," said the victim's father, vowing to continue their fight for justice both in court and on the streets. Advertisement Chief Ministers Statement West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee expressed her government's commitment to justice in the case. "We cooperated fully with the investigation. Although the judiciary took its time, we always wanted the victim to get justice," Banerjee said. Background of the Case The case pertains to the brutal rape and murder of a trainee doctor at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital. Her body was discovered on August 9, 2024, in the hospital's seminar room. The incident triggered widespread outrage and protests across West Bengal. Sanjay Roy, a civic volunteer at the hospital, was arrested shortly after the incident. On Saturday, the court found him guilty under sections 64, 66, and 103/1 of the Bengal Penal Code. Advertisement The court noted, "The accused entered the seminar room of RG Kar Medical College, assaulted, and murdered the victim while she was resting." Public Reaction The verdict has elicited mixed reactions, with many welcoming the life imprisonment sentence as a step toward justice, while others, including the victims family, believe the punishment should have been harsher. The case serves as a stark reminder of the need for stringent measures to ensure the safety of women and accountability for such heinous crimes. Advertisement (For more news apart from RG Kar Rape and Murder Case Verdict Latest News Today, stay tuned to Rozana Spokesman) Farmers Postpone March to Delhi, Leader Sarwan Singh Pandher Calls for Dialogue Pandher also made an emotional appeal to farmer leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal, urging him to end his hunger strike. Chandigarh: Farmer leader Sarwan Singh Pandher has announced the postponement of the planned farmers march to Delhi, initially scheduled to begin on January 21, by five days. The march, which was set to feature a group of 101 farmersreferred to as a 'jatha'will now commence on January 26. Pandher urged the government to initiate talks promptly to address farmers concerns. This is not a condition but a heartfelt request to the government to open channels for dialogue, said Pandher during a press conference. Advertisement Appeal to Jagjit Singh Dallewal Pandher also made an emotional appeal to farmer leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal, urging him to end his hunger strike. I request him to have food and present his viewpoint before the Centre. Hunger strikes weaken the body but dialogue strengthens the movement, he said. Call for Unity The decision to delay the march and Pandhers appeal are seen as efforts to maintain unity among farmers while emphasizing the importance of constructive engagement with the government. The farmers collective has been pressing for various demands, including the legal guarantee of Minimum Support Price (MSP) and the withdrawal of cases against farmers from the previous agitation. March Rescheduled for Republic Day The decision to hold the march on January 26, coinciding with Republic Day celebrations, is expected to draw significant attention to the farmers cause. Pandher clarified that the delay was a strategic move to give the government time to respond while maintaining the farmers resolve to continue their struggle. Advertisement As the farmer unions await a response from the Centre, the rescheduling of the march signals their willingness to seek dialogue over confrontation, underscoring their commitment to peaceful advocacy for their rights. BAKU, Azerbaijan, January 20. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkiye has expressed condolences to Azerbaijan on the 35th anniversary of the January 20th tragedy, Trend reports. "We respectfully honor the memory of our Azerbaijani brothers who died for the independence of their country on January 20, 1990," the ministry said in a post on its official X page. To note, today marks the 35th anniversary of the January 20th tragedy. On January 20, 1990, the Soviet army forces entered Baku to suppress the masses protesting the USSR-supported Armenian aggression based on territorial claims against Azerbaijan. The entry of Soviet troops resulted in an unprecedented tragedy for Azerbaijan. The brave souls of Azerbaijan placed their nations freedom, honor, and dignity above all, giving their lives and becoming martyrs. Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel Inderjit Kaur Becomes Ludhiana's New Mayor: Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann Congratulates AAP has solidified its position in the Ludhiana Municipal Corporation by reaching the majority mark. Ludhiana Mayor Elections Latest News Today: In a major victory for the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Inderjit Kaur has become the Mayor of Ludhiana Municipal Corporation. Alongside her, the party has selected Rakesh Parashar for the role of Senior Deputy Mayor and Prince Johar as Deputy Mayor. Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann Congratulates the Team Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann shared his support for the nominees on Twitter, writing: "Aam Aadmi Party has nominated Inderjit Kaur for the post of Mayor of Ludhiana Corporation, Rakesh Parashar for Senior Deputy Mayor and Prince Johar for Deputy Mayor. Best wishes to these three candidates and councilors in advance." Advertisement AAP Secures Majority in Ludhiana Municipal Corporation AAP has solidified its position in the Ludhiana Municipal Corporation by reaching the majority mark of 48 seats in the 95-member House, ensuring smooth sailing for its nominees. This majority was achieved after Mamta Rani, a councillor from Ward 41, switched allegiance from the Congress to AAP on Saturday. In the Municipal Corporation elections held on December 21, 2024, AAP emerged as the single-largest party, securing victories in 41 wards. Since then, the party has gained further momentum, with two independent councillors, four from the Congress, and one from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) joining its ranks, bringing their total strength to 48. Leadership Announcement With Inderjit Kaur set to assume the role of Ludhianas Mayor, AAP aims to implement its vision for the city, focusing on citizen welfare and infrastructure development. Rakesh Parashar and Prince Johar will complement her leadership in their respective deputy roles. Advertisement A New Chapter for Ludhiana As the AAP prepares to take charge, the party has expressed confidence in its ability to drive transformative change in Ludhiana. The new leadership under Inderjit Kaur will be tasked with addressing pressing urban challenges, including waste management, infrastructure upgrades, and improved civic amenities. The political developments in Ludhiana mark a significant achievement for the Aam Aadmi Party, signaling its growing influence in Punjabs political landscape. With a majority in the House and a clear mandate, the party is poised to bring its governance model to one of the states largest cities. (For more news apart from Ludhiana Mayor Elections Latest News Today, stay tuned to Rozana Spokesman) January 20, 2025 UPDATE A roundup of domestic and international news Newsflash Newsroom, 20.01.2025, 20:14 White House. The President of Romania, Klaus Iohannis, congratulated, on Monday, his American counterpart, Donald Trump, on his inauguration, also stressing the need for a strong and vibrant transatlantic connection. The return of President Donald Trump to the White House is a historic moment, which will have positive echoes as far as Romania is concerned, the Prime Minister of Romania, Marcel Ciolacu, said, after the US President-elect took the oath on Monday. Marcel Ciolacu stated, in a message posted on his Facebook page, that, in the two telephone conversations he had with President Trump, one in Bucharest and one in Budapest, together with Prime Minister Viktor Orban, he made sure that Romania was on the agenda of the new American president, both in terms of security and major investments. The President and Vice President of the USA Donald Trump and J.D. Vance respectively were sworn in before a crowd of former presidents, elected officials and family members gathered at the US Capitol in Washington, D.C. Trump stated that, in the first hours of his presidency, he will sign almost 100 so-called executive orders. The measures announced by Donald Trump include the building of an anti-missile shield to protect the United States, the relaxation of environmental protection regulations and boosting oil extraction. Government. Mondays meeting of the leaders of the PSD-PNL-UDMR governing coalition, in which the internal polls regarding Romanians voting intentions in the May presidential elections were to be analyzed, was postponed. The leaders of the three parties were supposed to make a decision regarding a common candidate for the presidential elections, after several politicians were tested, including the former Liberal president Crin Antonescu and the leaders of PSD and PNL. This week, the Liberals and the Social-Democrats should, decided upon a joint candidacy for the presidential elections, given that the Social Democrats have not yet validated Crin Antonescus candidacy. The PSD leader Marcel Ciolacu called a meeting of the partys leadership for Tuesday to discuss the joint candidacy with the Liberals. Elections. As of Monday, until March 20, Romanians domiciled or residing abroad who wish to vote in the presidential elections in May by mail, can register online on the portal www.votstrainatate.ro. The Permanent Electoral Authority has also announced that, for those interested in registering as voters in a diaspora station, the deadline is March 4. We recall that the Government has recently decided that voting outside the country should take place from Friday to Sunday, May 4, and on the last day the polling stations should close at 21.00 local time in Romania. The presidential elections were annulled at the end of last year by the Constitutional Court. Cooperation. The Romanian and Hungarian Foreign Ministers, Emil Hurezeanu and Peter Szijjarto, met on Monday in Bucharest, on the occasion of the Hungarian dignitarys participation in an international conference in the field of energy. The two agreed on the development of economic cooperation through the implementation of joint projects in areas such as infrastructure, transport and energy. The Romanian Foreign Minister emphasized the need to provide more substance to the Romanian-Hungarian strategic partnership, a fundamental element of bilateral cooperation, and highlighted the concerns regarding the security challenges generated by the aggression of the Russian Federation in Ukraine, as well as their multiple implications, reiterating Romanias consistent stand. Emil Hurezeanu also stressed Romanias support for Republic of Moldova (ex-Soviet, predominantly Romanian-speaking), including in the field of energy. Hostages. The next release of Israeli hostages kidnapped by the Palestinian Hamas terrorists and transferred to the Gaza Strip will take place next Saturday, when four persons are to be freed Radio Romania correspondent in Israel says. Three Israeli female hostages were released on Sunday after 15 months of captivity since the Hamas terrorist attack, which led to the war in Gaza. One of the hostages also has Romanian citizenship and another one is of Romanian descent. Authorities in Bucharest hail the release of the first round of hostages upon the ceasefire agreement in Gaza. Fair. Romania is participating this week in the Green Week exhibition in Berlin, the Agriculture Ministry in Bucharest says. Until January 26, the Romanian stand will be offering samples of Romanian natural food, such as cheese, meat, honey, dairy and bakery products, several types of brandy, wine and cold-pressed oil registered or under registration with European quality systems. Last year, the Green Week event in Berlin was visited by 300 thousand people. (MI) Reactions as three Gaza hostages freed The Gaza ceasefire agreement is showing its first results: 90 Palestinian prisoners and 3 Israeli hostages have been freed Photo: Agerpres / EPA Bogdan Matei, 20.01.2025, 14:00 Three Israeli hostages were released on Sunday by the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, more than 15 months after they were kidnapped in a terrorist attack on October 7, 2023, which triggered the war in the Gaza Strip. Israel, in turn, freed 90 Palestinian prisoners, teenagers and women, from its prisons. It was the first exchange of prisoners after the ceasefire agreement in the Palestinian enclave. Radio Romanias correspondent in Israel reports that Romi Gonen, Doron Steinbrecher and Emily Damari, aged between 24 and 31, were released after 471 days of captivity, and adds that, after an initial checkup, the three were taken to a hospital in the center of the country, where they will remain for several days, for full examinations. They seem to have returned to the country in good health. Doron Steinbrecher, a veterinary assistant, also has Romanian citizenship. Romi Gonen, a dancer, has Romanian roots, as do several hundred thousand other Israelis. Through its ministry of foreign affairs, Romania welcomes the release of the first Israeli hostages after 15 months in captivity. In a statement, Bucharest thanks all the national stakeholders, including top-level institutions, for their excellent and permanent cooperation. The release of the first hostages after the agreement was signed is a time of joy and relief for the families. The ceasefire agreement must be fully implemented in order to ensure the safe return of those still detained and to end the suffering of their families and loved ones, as well as of the civilian population in Gaza. At the same time, the implementation of the agreement paves the way for a lasting peace, which would ensure the security of the region as well as the reconstruction and humanitarian assistance in Gaza, the statement reads. Romania also praises what it calls the substantial efforts of the United States, Egypt and Qatar in brokering the deal between Israel and Hamas. Under the agreement, a total of 33 hostages and over a thousand Palestinian prisoners should be released in a first stage. The deal would also increase the volume of humanitarian aid for the population of Gaza, where, since the start of the Israeli military intervention, almost 47,000 people have been killed. In a second stage, Hamas is to release the last 65 hostages, while Israel is to pull out its troops from the enclave. According to Romanian mass media, Romanias Ambassador to Israel Radu Ioanid calls for moderate optimism, because the situation in the Middle East is very fluid, and what is gray today is pink tomorrow and black the day after. (AMP) World Bank revises downward Romanias outlook Romanias economic growth rate will slow down in 2025, according to the World Bank. Photo: Mediamodifier / pixabay.com Stefan Stoica, 20.01.2025, 13:50 Romanias economic growth rate will slow down in 2025, according to the World Bank. The Romanian economy will register an advance of only 2.1% this year, compared to a level of 3.8% estimated in the middle of last year, according to the World Banks Global Economic Prospects report , made public recently. The institutions forecast for next year is also revised downwards, from 3.8% to 2.6%. According to the World Bank, growth in Central Europe is forecast to rebound to 2.8% in 2025 and 3% in 2026, driven by robust private demand. However, export from Central Europe is expected to remain modest due to subdued growth in the euro area. Investment, particularly in Poland and Romania, is projected to gain traction from structural reforms and delayed EU funding, experts of the international institution say. These countries have disbursed 19% and 33%, respectively, of their Recovery and Resilience Facility allocations, with approximately 13% of milestones achieved and positively assessed, the report shows. Despite the inflow EU funding, recently announced fiscal consolidation measures have contributed to notable downward revisions to Romanias outlook since June. At the beginning of February, an IMF mission will travel to Bucharest, for meetings with representatives of the new Romanian Government and the National Bank. The visit aims to analyze recent economic and financial developments and update the macroeconomic outlook. At the end of last year, Fitch rating agency revised downwards its outlook for Romanias GDP growth for 2025 and 2026, to 1.4% and 2.2% respectively, given a less pronounced recovery in the euro area. In fact, the World Bank forecasts that, in the euro area, GDP would grow by only 1% in 2025, after estimating an advance of 1.4% in June. The worsening prospects come against the backdrop of reduced consumption, low corporate investments and weak industrial development. The World Bank draws attention to the effects that the problems facing Germany, which is responsible for almost 30% of the euro areas GDP, may have. In addition, the World Bank warned that potential additional 10% tariffs by the United States could decrease the already fragile global economic growth by 0.3% if the US trading partners impose their own tariffs. The potential additional tariffs would shrink US economic growth by 0.9%, estimated at 2.3% in 2025. Foreign direct investment in developing countries is now half their level in 2000, and global trade restrictions are five times higher than the average in 2010-2019, the World Bank reports. Japan will on Monday release November numbers for core machinery orders, highlighting a modest day for Asia-Pacific economic activity. Orders are expected to slip 0.7 percent on month and climb 5.6 percent on year after rising 2.1 percent on month and 5.6 percent on year in October. Japan also will see final November figures for industrial production and the tertiary industry activity index. Previously, production was down 2.3 percent on month, while the tertiary index had a score of 0.30. The People's Bank of China will set January's prime loan rate for one- and five-year loans; they're expected to hold steady at 3.1 percent and 3.6 percent. Malaysia will provide December data for imports, exports and trade balance. Imports are expected to rise 3.3 percent on year, up from 1.6 percent in November. Exports are called higher by an annual 9.0 percent, accelerating from 4.1 percent in the previous month. The trade surplus is pegged at MYR16.60 billion, up from MYR15.30 billion a month earlier. Hong Kong will see unemployment data for December, with the jobless rate expected to hold steady at 3.1 percent. For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com Economic News What parts of the world are seeing the best (and worst) economic performances lately? Click here to check out our Econ Scorecard and find out! See up-to-the-moment rankings for the best and worst performers in GDP, unemployment rate, inflation and much more. Producer prices data from Germany is due on Monday, headlining a light day for the European economic news. At 2.00 am ET, Destatis is scheduled to issue Germany's producer prices for December. Prices are forecast to grow 0.3 percent on month, slower than the 0.5 percent increase in November. Half an hour later, producer price data is due from Switzerland. Economists expect prices to grow 0.2 percent on month, in contrast to the 0.6 percent decline in November. At 3.00 am ET, quarterly unemployment data is due from Spain. At 5.00 am ET, Eurostat publishes euro area construction output data for November. For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com Business News Oil prices drifted lower on Monday, after having risen more than 1 percent last week, marking their fourth consecutive weekly rise. Benchmark Brent crude futures dipped 0.3 percent to $80.52 a barrel in European trade, with a weaker dollar helping limit overall losses. WTI crude futures were down 0.4 percent at $77.11. Investors exercised caution ahead of Donald Trump's inauguration as U.S. President later in the day. Trump is set to sign over 200 executive actions immediately, addressing issues like border security and energy production. These could include the relaxation of curbs on Russia's energy sector in exchange for a deal to end the Ukraine war. "Before I even arrive at the Oval Office, shortly after we win the presidency, I will have the horrible war between Russia and Ukraine settled," Trump vowed in a June rally. The focus will also be on his policy announcements, including tariffs that could have the biggest impact on the global and markets. For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com Market Analysis Moldova's industrial production contracted for the fourth straight month in November, albeit at a weaker pace than in the previous month, figures from the National Bureau of Statistics showed on Monday. Industrial production dropped 3.6 percent year-on-year in November, much slower than the 8.5 percent fall in October. The easing trend in decline was driven by a 68.2 percent jump in the production of utilities. Production in the extractive industry remained unchanged, while manufacturing output showed a sharp decline of 17.1 percent. On an adjusted basis, industrial output was 2.0 percent lower compared to last year. On a monthly basis, industrial production climbed a seasonally adjusted 9.5 percent in November, slower than the 14.0 percent increase seen a month ago. This was the third successive rise in a row. For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com Business News Three armed suspects were busy robbing a check-cashing business in Commerce City, Colorado, when another thief mucked up their getaway plans, 9News-TV reported. The robbers' vehicle, which was probably stolen, was outside when a woman jumped in and took off with it, leaving the teenage suspects to try to escape on foot. Police were able to capture two of them, along with loaded firearms, and arrest them. The car thief was still at large. [9News, 12/19/2023] In Wheat Ridge, Colorado, police caught up with a burglar who had hired an Uber for use as a getaway car, 14News-TV reported. Jose Guadalupe Perez-Gallardo was taken into custody as he approached his hired ride, carrying a backpack with $8,600 worth of stolen Milwaukee-brand tools inside. "Ordering an Uber as your getaway driver makes it that much easier for us to find you," the Wheat Ridge Police Department posted online. [14News, 1/3/2024] BAKU, Azerbaijan, January 20. The French Ambassador to Azerbaijan Anne Boillon shared a post on social media to mark the 35th anniversary of the January 20 tragedy, Trend reports. "On this day of mourning the 35th anniversary of the Black January tragedy we join our European colleagues in honoring the memory of the victims of the January 1990 events," the post read. To note, today marks the 35th anniversary of the January 20th tragedy. On January 20, 1990, the Soviet army forces entered Baku to suppress the masses protesting the USSR-supported Armenian aggression based on territorial claims against Azerbaijan. The entry of Soviet troops resulted in an unprecedented tragedy for Azerbaijan. The brave souls of Azerbaijan placed their nations freedom, honor, and dignity above all, giving their lives and becoming martyrs. Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel Honda has patented a new motorcycle in India that takes a neo-retro Roadster approach. Going by Hondas past patenting exercises, one would think that this is just a global vehicle and that the company is protecting its IP here in India. However, this looks like an affordable motorcycle that the company might launch in India. 2025 Honda CB300R Patented? One look at this patent design, anyone would dismiss it as a CB300R with a slightly updated design to make it more neo-retro than it already is. This could be true as well. However, there seems to be more about this patent design than what meets the eye. On closer inspection, one can see that it has an air-cooled engine. For context, Honda CB300R has a liquid-cooled engine, which doesnt have fins on the engine block for air-cooling. That said, liquid-cooled engines on Jawa and Yezdi motorcycles get these fins just for aesthetic purposes, which is great attention to detail. We can expect Honda to do something similar with 2025 CB300R. If this is true, we might be looking at the new CB300R with an updated design it desperately needs. It gets a new LED headlight, almost identical to the one seen on global 2025 CB300R. Theres a new fuel tank with less clutter and simpler tank shrouds. Theres a beefier belly pan and more muscular body panels on rear subframe. Turn indicators are now circular and so are the instrument cluster and ORVMs. The main change can be seen at the rear where we get a new design with a tail tidy. Wheels and tyres look the same and the brakes seem to be carried over too. Exhaust end-can looks the same as current CB300R, with a new heat shield. USD front forks and rear mono-shock are carried over as well. Is this a Neo-Retro Hornet 2.0? Theres a good probability that Honda might be carving a new version of Hornet 2.0 that takes a neo-retro roadster design. Yamaha has used this formula and has created FZ-X, based on FZ street bike. If this is true, we can see the same 184.4cc single-cylinder air-cooled engine that generates 17.3 bhp and 15.9 Nm, mated to a 5-speed gearbox. Given the higher performance ceiling, this new Honda Roadster motorcycle will rival the likes of TVS Ronin and Royal Enfield Hunter 350. Honda could achieve an excellent power-to-weight ratio, similar to CB300F and CB300R. For context, RE Hunter 350 delivers 20.2 bhp and 27 Nm but weighs up to 181 kg. We can expect it to launch by the end of 2025. Stepping its game against Hero MotoCorp, Honda Motorcycles & Scooters India (HMSI) has just launched 2025 Livo 110cc commuter motorcycle. This is Hondas weapon against the likes of 110cc commuters like Hero Passion, Bajaj Platina 110 and TVS Star City. The motorcycle is now OBD2B compliant as well. 2025 Honda Livo Launch The launch price for 2025 Honda Livo with OBD2B compliance starts from Rs 83,080 (Ex-sh) for the base Drum variant, while Disc variant has been priced at Rs 85,878 (Ex-sh). There are three colour options for 2025 Honda Livo Pearl Igneous Black with Orange Stripes, Pearl Igneous Black with Blue Stripes and Pearl Siren Blue. Where design is concerned, Livo takes a sporty approach with a muscular fuel tank. What amplifies its presence more, are tank shrouds that are finished in a contrasting colour. Honda has also incorporated attractive graphics, which can be seen on fuel tank, headlight and side body panels. Owing to its commuter roots, Honda Livo gets a long single-piece seat along with a conventional pillion grab rail. The main highlight with 2025 Honda Livo is the fully digital instrument cluster that shows a multitude of information like real-time mileage, ECO indicator, distance to empty (DTE), service due indicator and gear position indicator. Other notable additions include a side stand sensor with an engine cut-off feature. Componentry-wise, we still get the same RSU telescopic front forks, twin rear shock absorbers, 18-inch alloy wheels wrapped with 80/100 tyres and CBS (Combi Braking System). Powertrains-wise, we get the same 109.51cc single-cylinder air-cooled engine that is capable of generating 8.7 bhp of peak power at 7,500 RPM and 9.3 Nm of peak torque at 5,500 RPM, mated to a 4-speed gearbox. This powertrain is now OBD2B compliant too, like most new motorcycles in its segment. Statement from HMSI Introducing the updated Livo, Mr. Tsutsumu Otani, Managing Director, President & CEO, Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India, said, We are happy to announce the launch of the new 2025 Livo. At Honda, we are committed to setting new standards in the commuter motorcycle segment. The 2025 Livo reflects our dedication to delivering a premium experience for our customers in the 110cc category with its vibrant styling and new features. We are confident that the new Livo will strongly cater to the diverse needs of Indian riders. Commenting on the launch, Mr. Yogesh Mathur, Director, Sales and Marketing, Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India, said, The Honda Livo has been a trusted choice for our customers and with the 2025 model, we aim to further strengthen its position in the market. The integration of OBD2B technology underscores Hondas commitment to sustainability and compliance with evolving regulations. By enhancing both technology and aesthetics, we aim to offer our customers a motorcycle that seamlessly combines innovation and practicality. We believe that it will be a trusted companion for riders across India to Live Life, Livo Style. Toyota Kirloskar Motors has seen a 16.45% improvement in its YoY sales in December 2024. Sales grew by 16.45% to 24,887 units in the past month. This was a volume growth of 3,515 units over 21,372 units sold in Dec 2023. Its MoM sales performance however, suffered a 1.18% setback from 25,183 units sold in Nov 2024. Toyota Sales Breakup Dec 2024 YoY Vs MoM Toyota Hycross saw the highest sales in Dec 2024 with 5,960 units sold. This was a 44.84% YoY growth from 4,115 units sold in Dec 2023. The Hycross currently commands a 23.95% share in the company portfolio well over the 18.68% share held in Nov 2024 when sales had stood at 4,703 units. Toyota recently introduce a price hike for the Hycross effective from Jan 2025. Prices have been increased by a maximum of Rs 36,000 depending on variant. At No. 2 was the Toyota HyRyder with 4,770 unit sales last month. This rebadged version of the Maruti Grand Vitara, is a compact SUV suffered a 4.14% YoY and 1.79% MoM de-growth. It was however, at No. 4 on the list of compact SUV sales last month after the Hyundai Creta, Maruti Grand Vitara and Tata Curvv/EV. Higher sales were reported for the Toyota Crysta with 3,740 unit sold last month, a 0.62% YoY and 18.20% MoM growth to command a 15.03% share in the company portfolio. On the other hand, Glanza sales declined severely. Sales dipped to 3,487 units, down by 14.70% over 4,088 units sold in Dec 2023. MoM sales fell by 8.38% when compared to 3,806 units sold in Nov 2024. There were also 2,628 units of the Toyota Taisor, the sub 4 meter SUV sold last month even as sales declined by 27.40% from 3,620 units sold in Nov 2024. The Fortuner too suffered a YoY and MoM decline to 2,206 units in Dec 2024. Prices of the Fortuner too have been hiked with the start of the New Year by upto Rs 50,000. Toyota Rumion in High Demand in Dec 2024 Toyota Rumion, the 7 seater MPV, has seen strong demand in Indian markets. Sales grew to 1,775 units in Dec 2024, up 113.09% over just 833 units sold in Dec 2023. Its MoM sales however, declined marginally by 1.55% from 1,803 units sold in Nov 2024. Also posting strong MoM demand was the Hilux, sales of which grew by 14.09% Mom to 170 units in Dec 2024 up from 149 units sold in Nov 2024. The Hilux however suffered a steep 47.20% YoY decline. It recorded 322 unit sales in Dec 2023 relating to a 152 unit volume decline. Lower down the sales order was the Camry and Vellfire. Camry sales were at 88 units relating to a YoY and MoM decline. Vellfire on the other hand showed off strong YoY growth by 70.72% to 63 units from 37 unit sales of Dec 2023. MoM sales declined by 26.74% from 86 unit sales of Nov 2024. Martyr, injuries due to bombs and remnants of Zionist enemy in Rafah A Palestinian citizen was martyred, and eight others were injured on Monday, including three children, due to remnants left by the Zionist enemy forces in citizens' homes following their withdrawal. The injuries were caused by bullets and shrapnel from Zionist bombs. Medical and local sources said that citizen Mahmoud Muammar was martyred and others were injured due to the explosion of an explosive object from the remnants of the Zionist enemy east of Rafah city. Facebook Facebook Whatsapp Whatsapp Telegram Telegram Email Email Print Print [Mon, 20 Jan 2025 16:17:52 +0300]Gaza - Saba:Medical sources at the European Hospital in Khan Yunis reported that four citizens arrived from Rafah, south of the Gaza Strip, at the hospital's emergency room after being injured by shrapnel and bullets from the enemy forces.Local sources reported that a Zionist "Quadcopter" drone dropped a bomb on citizens in Rafah, south of the Gaza Strip, while they were inspecting their homes from which they were displaced during the aggressive war on the city.The sources noted that three children were injured with varying degrees of severity, as a result of tampering with serious Zionist violations left behind by the enemy forces inside and around the houses and areas from which they withdrew based on the ceasefire understandings. BAKU, Azerbaijan, January 20. Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Georgia to Azerbaijan Zurab Pataradze, together with the heads of accredited diplomatic missions and staff of the Georgian Embassy, paid tribute to the martyrs who sacrificed their lives for the freedom of their homeland 35 years ago, Trend reports, citing a post by the embassy on Facebook. "As a result of the brutal suppression of protests by Soviet troops on January 20, 1990, peaceful civilians were killed. To honor their memory, heads of diplomatic missions visited the Alley of Martyrs and laid flowers on the graves of those who died for the homeland. January 20 became a tragic yet heroic page in the modern history of the Azerbaijani people, marking the day of the fight for freedom and territorial integrity of the homeland," the publication reads. To note, today marks the 35th anniversary of the January 20th tragedy. On January 20, 1990, the Soviet army forces entered Baku to suppress the masses protesting the USSR-supported Armenian aggression based on territorial claims against Azerbaijan. The entry of Soviet troops resulted in an unprecedented tragedy for Azerbaijan. The brave souls of Azerbaijan placed their nations freedom, honor, and dignity above all, giving their lives and becoming martyrs. Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel BAKU, Azerbaijan, January 20. The time and venue of the next meeting of the foreign ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia haven't been agreed upon yet, Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov told reporters during his visit to Alley of Martyrs on the occasion of the 20 January tragedy, Trend reports. Peace treaty negotiations continue with Armenia. The foreign ministries are negotiating a more extensive draft peace treaty. These are being conducted regularly. Several meetings have taken place over the past year. Currently, there is no specific agreement on the time and place of the next meeting, he noted. According to him, the peace treaty process will continue in 2025. We are waiting for serious practical steps from Armenia, the minister added. Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel AstraZeneca announced on Monday that it has secured approval from the US Food and Drug Administration, alongside Daiichi Sankyo, for Datroway, or datopotamab deruxtecan, a treatment for adult patients with previously treated, unresectable or metastatic hormone receptor-positive, HER2-negative breast cancer. The FTSE 100 pharmaceuticals giant said the approval was based on results from the TROPION-Breast01 phase three trial, which demonstrated a 37% reduction in the risk of disease progression or death compared to chemotherapy. It said the trial showed that patients treated with Datroway experienced a median progression-free survival of 6.9 months, compared to 4.9 months for those receiving chemotherapy. The hazard ratio for disease progression or death was 0.63, with a 95% confidence interval of 0.52 to 0.76 and a p-value of less than 0.0001. It said the safety profile of Datroway was consistent with previous findings, with an interstitial lung disease rate of 4.2%, the majority of which were low grade. Datroway is a TROP2-directed antibody drug conjugate that was discovered by Daiichi Sankyo and is being jointly developed and commercialised with AstraZeneca. The approval marked the first for Datroway in the US, and would contribute to AstraZenecas goal of delivering 20 new medicines by 2030. Regulatory submissions for Datroway were meanwhile currently under review in the European Union, China and other regions. With this first approval of Datroway in the US, we continue to deliver on our ambition for antibody drug conjugates to improve upon and replace conventional chemotherapy for the treatment of multiple cancers, said Dave Fredrickson, executive vice-president of AstraZenecas oncology haematology business unit. We are proud to bring Datroway to people living with metastatic HR-positive, HER2-negative breast cancer, and this approval marks the eighth new medicine of the 20 we have set out to deliver across AstraZeneca by 2030. At 0847 GMT, shares in AstraZeneca were up 0.38% at 10,980p. Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com. Shares in Reach were rising on Monday morning, after it reported strong fourth-quarter trading leading it to expect full-year results ahead of current market expectations. The London-listed news publisher, which counts titles such as the Daily Mirror and the Express among its assets, said it would release its full-year results on 4 March 2025. Reach also announced an estimated 5m additional funding requirement for the West Ferry Printers Pension Scheme, which its inherited in its 2018 acquisition of Express Newspapers. The shortfall was identified during due diligence to prepare the scheme for a buy-out. It said it expected to make the payment in 2025, confirming that similar errors had not been found in its other pension schemes. The issue was unrelated to the 2022 triennial valuations of its remaining schemes, which remained unchanged, the board explained. Reach also said it had completed the refinancing of its banking facilities, securing a 145m revolving credit facility with a four-year maturity to December 2028, with an option to extend by up to one year. The facility included a 72.5m uncommitted accordion feature, with financial covenants remaining unchanged. At 0851 GMT, shares in Reach were up 21.53% at 87.5p. Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com. TikTok said on Sunday that it was restoring services in the US after Donald Trump pledged earlier in the day to give the video app a reprieve on its US ban. Trump wrote on Truth Social that after taking office on Monday he would sign an executive order allowing the Chinese-owned video app additional time to find a buyer before facing a total shutdown, and proposing that the US or an American firm take a 50% ownership stake. Guardian The average London worker could quit their job in August and still be paid what an average worker in Burnley would make in a year, according to a report highlighting Britains stark regional pay divide. Calling on the government to close regional pay divisions and increase economic growth, the Centre for Cities said the average annual wage for an employee in London was almost 20,000 higher than in the lowest-paid places in the UK. Guardian Ministers must enforce a ban on foreign state ownership of newspapers to force the sale of The Telegraph by an Abu Dhabi fund, the former Conservative leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith has said. He accused the Government of foot-dragging over the process out of concern for relations with the United Arab Emirates, which has been overseeing what has been dubbed the auction from hell. Telegraph Airbus is providing financial assistance to some of its industrial suppliers in an attempt to raise production in 2025 despite continuing disruption to the supply chain since the pandemic. Last year the company missed its delivery targets primarily because of issues at one of its main engine providers, CFM, a joint venture between Americas GE and Safran of France. The Times The cost of improving the Office for National Statistics labour market survey has almost doubled over the past year amid persistent delays to its publication, underscoring concerns over the validity of UK economic data. A response to a freedom of information request from The Times revealed that the agency has spent 40.4 million on creating the transformed labour force survey, up from an earlier estimate of 24.1 million. The Times The Adani Group has kept on the same two big US law firms-Kirkland & Ellis and Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP-to fight their civil and criminal cases against charges by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, as well as the Eastern District of New York. According to sources, charges include allegations that the company provided more than $250 million in bribes to Indian government officials to secure the solar energy contracts for Adani Green Energy Ltd (AGEL). On November 21, the US authorities filed charges against Adani Group founder Gautam Adani, his nephew Sagar Adani, and other officials for allegedly bribing someone. However, AGEL said that Gautam Adani, Sagar Adani, and senior executive Vneet S. Jaain have not been charged with FCPA violations. The cases, consolidated under a single judge in a US court, underscore heightened scrutiny on Adani Group executives. Former Azure Power executives Ranjit Gupta and Rupesh Agarwal face charges of conspiracy to violate the FCPA, while individuals linked to Canadian institutional investor CDPQ, including Cyril Cabanes, Saurabh Agarwal, and Deepak Malhotra, are accused of obstruction of justice, including tampering with evidence and withholding critical information. Quinn Emanuel is a Los Angeles-headquartered global litigation firm, having successfully tried more than 2,300 cases with an 88% success rate. The firm focuses on securities litigation, product liability, and regulatory investigations and has served the most notable clients such as Google, Apple, Microsoft, and Uber. Kirkland & Ellis, headquartered in Chicago, has offices in 21 locations around the world and specializes in high-stakes commercial disputes, intellectual property litigation, and white-collar cases. The firm has represented companies like Johnson & Johnson and Volkswagen in complex environmental and product liability cases and has advised tech giants like Facebook and Google. Neither the Adani Group nor the two law firms have responded to queries about the ongoing legal proceedings. The Indian government is considering waiving a major chunk of the adjusted gross revenue (AGR) dues of Vodafone Idea Ltd. and Bharti Airtel Ltd., which may give both the debt-ridden telecom operators significant relief. This may improve the financial prospects and stock performance of the two companies substantially, Citi said. This move could be announced in the Union Budget on February 1, 2025. This will mean waiving 50% of the interest and 100% of penalties on AGR dues, keeping the principal amount intact. The reduction in the outstanding AGR liability of Vodafone Idea is estimated to be around Rs 52,000 crore, which works out to about 75% of its total AGR dues, equivalent to a debt reduction of about 25%. The relief will also mean an upside of Rs 7 per share for Vodafone Idea. Likewise, Bharti Airtel might experience a decline of Rs 38,000 crores in liabilities that could have a potential upside of about 4% in equity. This development may be a watershed moment for Vodafone Idea. The company has been facing mounting financial challenges, compounded by the Supreme Court's September 2024 dismissal of its curative petition regarding AGR dues. This relief might just be what the doctor ordered for much-needed cash flow to pay off debt repayments, especially with looming government spectrum and AGR payment obligations. Citi has put Vodafone Idea's target price at a13 per share, keeping in mind the over-leveraged balance sheet. The rating reflects the vulnerabilities of the company's financial situation and the critical need for continued government support. Operational recovery is assumed post-fundraising efforts, though Vodafone Idea remains classified as 'high risk'. Bharti Airtel should benefit from potential relief, and the brokerage maintains its target price of Rs 1,900 per share. However, risks include delays in tariff hikes, increased competition, higher-than-expected capital expenditure on 5G, and underperformance in specific segments like homes and DTH. Again, potential AGR waiver could also go in favor of Indus Towers Ltd. because the company derives considerable sustenance from the strength of financial stability at the hands of telecom clients. Since Vodafone Idea's uncertainties have come down while the outlook for the Indian telcos sector is looking promising, Citi has placed Indus Towers on 'Upside Catalyst Watch'. The bank has pegged the target price for the entity at Rs 485, showing optimism over its prospects. If implemented, this AGR relief would be a turning point for the Indian telecom industry, particularly for Vodafone Idea, which has been unable to raise funds due to the mounting debt. Bharti Airtel, though less stressed financially, would benefit incrementally and further consolidate its market position. The electric vehicle (EV) major BYD is focusing more on the launches of electric vehicles in the price range of Rs 25-45 lakh, even as it continues to size up demand at more affordable prices. Rajeev Chauhan, head of electric passenger vehicles in India, said the company is keeping its focus in this price band as it measures customer preferences. This is also as BYD looks to widen its footprint in the Indian EV market. Chauhan had, in September 2024, stated that the company was exploring launching new SUVs in two price bands- Rs 20-25 lakh and Rs 40-45 lakh - a decision for which is likely to be taken before the year-end. At Bharat Mobility Global Expo, BYD showcased its luxury electric SUV, Sealion 7, priced between Rs 40-45 lakh. Deliveries of Sealion 7 will start from March 7, 2025. "We are currently focused on the Rs 25-45 lakh segment, and we are giving more emphasis to this range. Hence, we launched the electric premium SUV Sealion 7 at this expo. Though we have products for the sub-Rs 25 lakh range, we would wait a little more to enter that market", said Chauhan. He also stated that Mahindra & Mahindra and Hyundai had launched their electric vehicles in the sub-Rs 25 lakh space recently, so it was competition galore. On being asked if being a Chinese company has been a deterrent for BYD to invest in India, Chauhan said, "Such is the hue and cry in the media, but what is important is a 'win-win' situation for everybody". He said BYD is open to investments but is taking a cautious, step-by-step approach. "We want customers to first experience our technology, and we are still in the process of building trust and confidence", he added. Chauhan further clarified that the company is not in talks with any potential Indian partners for a joint venture at this stage. In terms of sales, BYD India witnessed a good growth in 2024. It sold 3,500 vehicles compared to 2,500 units in 2023. Chauhan is positive about the future. "In 2025, we are expecting double-digit growth for sure", he said. At present, BYD imports all its vehicles from China to India. However, government regulations stipulate that a company is allowed to import no more than 2,500 units of a single model annually. This cap can be lifted if the vehicle obtains a homologation certificate from the Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI), which ensures that the vehicle meets Indian safety and regulatory standards. Chauhan confirmed that BYD can sell unlimited units of its Atto 3 model, as it has already received the homologation certificate. Acquiring homologation for the eMax7 model is under way, and the company also decides if it should apply for a certificate for the Sealion 7. At the expo, BYD also debuted the Sealion 6-a plug-in hybrid vehicle. "We are judging customer interest for a plug-in hybrid like Sealion 6, and it is in evaluation at present", Chauhan said. A few luxury carmakers have already ventured into this segment, and few manufacturers have taken the same road in India. According to data from the Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (Fada), around 99,165 electric cars were sold in India in 2024, a 20% year-on-year growth. Tata Motors continues to lead the EV market in India with a 62% market share. BAKU, Azerbaijan, January 20. Negotiations on Azerbaijani vessels detained in Eritrea continue, Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov told reporters, Trend reports. The minister noted that negotiations with Eritrea are being conducted through the embassies in Ankara and Moscow, as well as the mission in New York. "As soon as the first information about the capture of Azerbaijani ships in Eritrea came in, the Foreign Ministry took immediate action. Azerbaijan does not have a diplomatic mission in Eritrea. However, the ministry is actively engaging with the relevant structures. Negotiations with the other side are ongoing, and in recent weeks, there has been a positive dynamic in the negotiations," he added. On November 7, 2024, the CMS Pehlvan, CMS Igid, and CMS-3 vessels, operated by the Caspian Marine Services B.V. branch in Azerbaijan, sailing under the country's flag and operated by the Azerbaijani branch of Caspian Marine Services B.V., were forced to enter the territorial waters of the State of Eritrea due to worsening weather conditions during their journey to Abu Dhabi (UAE) via the Suez Canal. Despite prior communication with the port authorities of the State of Eritrea during the vessels' transit, the failure to provide the required information promptly led to the vessels' entry into the country's 12-mile territorial waters being considered unauthorized. Consequently, Eritrean authorities detained the aforementioned vessels. The 18 crew members on board are all citizens of Azerbaijan. Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel At the Bharat Mobility Global Expo 2025, the Indian Space Research Organisation and the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorization Center demonstrated space technologies with high potential for transformation in the automobile sector. Among these, 43 cutting-edge technologies were put up for exhibition. They included imaging sensors, pressure sensors, gyroscopes, accelerometers, noise suppression systems, and special coatings. All of these were focused on safety, performance, and sustainability for the vehicle. The focus of this collaboration is to reduce the dependence of the automotive sector on imported technologies and support the vision of Atmanirbhar Bharat, self-reliant India. ISRO and IN-SPACe aim to contribute to the growth of the domestic automotive industry while advancing global competitiveness through the integration of space-grade innovations into automotive applications. On 20th January, 2025, IN-SPACe, along with Automotive Component Manufacturers Association of India (ACMA), conducted a session called 'ISRO Technologies for Automotive Sector'. In the session, presentations were done by ISRO experts from various centers like Space Applications Centre, Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, and Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre. The scope for using space technology in automotive sectors and for conducting pilot collaborative projects between the research institutions and the automotive industries were discussed. Director Technical Directorate at IN-SPACe, Dr. Rajeev Jyoti, explained that working in close collaboration with the automotive industry would be an important step for easy adaptation of ISRO's technology into Indian shores. The initiative will spur self-reliance, he said, by encouraging production of critical components such as sensors in the country. PepsiCo India and Tata Consumer Products have partnered to collaborate in the packaged snacks segment, a significant partnership four years after the dissolution of their joint beverage venture, NourishCo. Unlike their previous 50:50 joint venture, this collaboration is not a formal joint venture but a strategic alliance to leverage their respective brand strengths. This alliance will bring together PepsiCo's popular Kurkure snack brand with Tata Consumer's recently acquired Ching's Secret, a prominent name in noodles and condiments. Aastha Bhasin, Marketing Director for Kurkure & Doritos at PepsiCo India, described the initiative as a 'milestone collaboration', emphasizing the growing demand for fusion flavors in India. The collaboration comes as the Indian snacks market, valued at Rs 42,695 crore, witnesses rapid growth and intense competition, particularly from regional and direct-to-consumer (D2C) brands. The ethnic packaged snacks segment is expanding at a rate exceeding 20%, further fueled by regional players offering competitive pricing and attractive retailer margins. Major players like ITC, Haldiram, Bikanerwala, and Parle Products dominate the market alongside PepsiCo, which includes Lays and Doritos in its portfolio. As per a study by IMARC, the Indian snacks market is likely to nearly double in size by 2032 at Rs 95,521.8 crore. Tata Consumer, with its acquisition of Capital Foods the manufacturer of Ching's Secret and Smith & Jones for Rs 5,100 crore in 2023will combine its strength with PepsiCo's strong foothold in the Indian snacks space. According to industry insiders, the alliance might be expanded into other products of the two companies' portfolios if the response is good from consumers. The challenge of the venture is not absent as consumer taste may be unpredictable, and the synergy of brands could pose some complexities to the alliance. In a parallel development, PepsiCo's global headquarters is said to be in exploratory talks with Haldiram Snacks Food to acquire a minority stake in India's largest ethnic snacks company. While the discussions remain preliminary, PepsiCo has expressed interest in the potential deal. Haldiram posted revenue of Rs 12,800 crore in FY24 and offers over 500 snack varieties, including namkeen, sweets, and ready-to-eat products. President-elect Donald Trump is reportedly considering a visit to China after taking office, aiming to strengthen relations with Beijing. Additionally, Trump has spoken to his advisors about the possibility of a trip to India. According to sources familiar with the discussions, The Wall Street Journal cited that Trump wants to travel to China to improve ties with President Xi Jinping. This comes despite Trump's earlier election campaign threats to impose higher tariffs on Chinese imports, which have strained U.S.-China relations. This desire to visit China is part of a broader effort to manage relations with Beijing, complicated by trade tensions and other issues. The report also pointed out that Trump has been conducting preliminary discussions with advisors regarding a visit to India, with the possibility of it taking place as early as April or even later in the fall of 2025. It is said that External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar's visit to Washington DC around Christmas last month began the conversations for a potential visit. India is getting ready to host the upcoming QUAD Summit, which comprises leaders from Australia, Japan, and the United States. It is speculated that Trump may invite Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi for a meeting at the White House in the spring of 2025, further signaling the deepening ties between the two nations. External Affairs Minister Jaishankar is likely to represent India at the event. On the diplomatic front, Trump had a conversation with Chinese President Xi Jinping the previous day, an important exchange between the two leaders. Xi has appointed Vice-President Han Zheng to attend Trump's inauguration, which is the first time a senior Chinese official will be present at a U.S. presidential inauguration.is likely to represent India at the event. He had referred to his telephone call with Xi as 'very good' post-conversation while remaining optimistic on solving issues between the two countries. "Just spoke to Chairman Xi Jinping of China", he posted on Truth Social. "Expecting a great relationship. I expect to solve many problems together, and immediately". The discussion between Trump and Xi covered various topics, including trade, fentanyl, and the Chinese app TikTok. Trump also stressed his hope to work together with Xi to promote global peace and safety. It would come at a time of heightened tensions between the U.S. and China, as Trump is already advocating for new tariffs and is urging China to take action against chemical producers that supply fentanyl to Mexican cartels. Vietnamese electric vehicle giant VinFast is set to make India a major export hub globally, with the initial focus on markets in West Asia and Africa. The first phase of the $2 billion facility in Thoothukudi, Tamil Nadu, is expected to be operational by mid-2025, marking a significant step in VinFast's expansion plans. VinFast, the global rival of Tesla, revealed its first electric vehicles for India at the Bharat Mobility Global Expo 2025, two all-electric premium SUVs VF 7 and VF 6, which will hit the market later this year. The company also plans to develop a comprehensive ecosystem of EVs, including the production of batteries and the installation of charging stations throughout the country. V-Green is a subsidiary of VinFast that is looking to co-invest in the construction of charging infrastructure in India. VinFast Asia CEO Pham Sanh Chau said the strategic location for its India business was Thoothukudi due to its closeness to both the seaport and the airport, allowing for easy exports into global markets. VinFast already has two plants in Vietnam - one with 50,000 units and the other with 100,000 units. The company aims to serve the domestic Indian market as well as the markets of West Asia and Africa through its Thoothukudi facility. The construction of the plant is in the first phase with an investment of $500 million. Chau also emphasized that the company has a localization approach, and they will manufacture the batteries in India and tie up with local dealers in all the major metros and Tier-1 cities. "We came here with a vision to stay long-term and invest heavily in the Thoothukudi factory", he said. The facility will generate around 3,0003,500 local jobs. The India-centric premium SUVs, VF 7 and VF 6, from VinFast are expected to hit the markets in the second half of 2025. Ashwin Ashok Patil, Deputy CEO of Sales and Marketing at VinFast India, said that the company will be appointing dealers across key towns in India and will be very focused on an omni-channel presence. The company is holding talks with the Indian government to understand how it can leverage the country's EV policy, said Chau. "We think our premium products, including the VF 7 and VF 6, will help increase adoption of electric vehicles in India", he added. The firm is positioning itself as a premium carmaker that would target high-end Indian middle-class buyers by offering features like ten-year warranty and a battery leasing system. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. A New Springville man faces possible prison time after pleading guilty to felony charges stemming from the 2022 deaths of two men at a makeshift recording studio in Midtown Manhattan. Justin Rodriguez, 20, is scheduled to be sentenced March 18 in Manhattan Supreme Court. He faces anywhere from probation to seven years incarceration. His attorney, Mark Fonte, declined to comment. TikTok announced it is restoring service Sunday after President-elect Donald Trump said he would issue an executive order to pause the ban on the wildly popular app. TikTok shut down operations late Saturday night, hours before a ban on the app was set to take effect. Anyone opening the TikTok app was greeted with a short message and unable to do anything else. We regret that a U.S. law banning TikTok will take effect on January 19 and force us to make our services temporarily unavailable, the initial message read. Were working to restore our service in the U.S. as soon as possible, and we appreciate your support. Please stay tuned. Scrolling Twitter because TikTok is gone but every tweet is about TikTok, one social media user observed after the ban. Just a few hours later, the message was changed to read in part: We are fortunate that President Trump has indicated that he will work with us on a solution to reinstate TikTok once he takes office. Trump, who will be sworn in Monday, has gone back and forth on a TikTok ban during his political career. In June 2020, he said he was considering a ban and in August 2020 he issued a vague executive order about the app. But after President Biden signed the actual ban which passed Congress with bipartisan support into law in April 2024, Trump started to argue that he would save TikTok if elected. On Sunday morning, he posted on social media that he would issue a 90-day extension and pause the law. However, his proposed solution involved TikTok owner ByteDance selling a 50% stake in the app to U.S. interests. ByteDance has said previously that it has no plans to sell TikTok. Several deals have been proposed that would see U.S.-based corporations take control of the app, but none have been completed. Without U.S. approval, there is no Tik Tok, Trump wrote Sunday morning. With our approval, it is worth hundreds of billions of dollars maybe trillions. TikToks sudden shutdown Saturday night came as a surprise to many. Tech experts said the so-called TikTok ban law did not actually prevent the app from functioning in the U.S. but instead banned it from application stores. TikTok was indeed removed from Apples App Store and Googles Play Store, so it can no longer be downloaded through major channels. In agreement with our service providers, TikTok is in the process of restoring service, the company posted shortly after noon Sunday. We thank President Trump for providing the necessary clarity and assurance to our service providers that they will face no penalties providing TikTok to over 170 million Americans and allowing over 7 million small businesses to thrive. Its a strong stand for the First Amendment and against arbitrary censorship. We will work with President Trump on a long-term solution that keeps TikTok in the United States. (Joseph Wilkinson, New York Daily News (TNS)) 2025 New York Daily News. Visit nydailynews.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. Candace Gonzalez, CEO of the New York Center for Interpersonal Development (NYCID), has dedicated nearly her entire life to helping others. Originally from Brooklyn, Gonzalez moved to Staten Island in 1979 and began her professional journey in 1985, when she started working as an executive assistant at a local nonprofit. During her time at Northfield Community Local Development Corporation (LDC), Gonzalez supported the Port Richmond community through the advancement of affordable housing and the promotion of economic development. While working at Northfield Community LDC, Gonzalez started volunteering with the New York Center for Interpersonal Development (NYCID), a nonprofit committed to building community and nurturing personal growth by promoting conflict management, social-emotional learning, and youth development. In 1982, NYCID was chosen to create Staten Islands first Community Dispute Resolution Center (CRDC), an alternative to criminal litigation in which mediators help to solve disputes. Gonzalez first became involved with NYCID as a CRDC mediator, helping to mediate custody disputes, housing issues, child custody, school-based mediation services, and small claims and financial cases. I had an itch to do something more with my life, says Gonzalez. When I found out about mediation, I thought, Hey, thats something I can wrap my head around, so I went to the training and completely fell in love with mediation. It brought me so much joy. Shortly after she began volunteering with NYCID, Gonzalez was offered a position as executive assistant and jumped at the opportunity to deepen her engagement with the organization. At the time, NYCID was a budding nonprofit with less than 10 employees, and Gonzalez worked side-by-side with the original CEO, Dominick J. Brancato, to help build upon NYCIDs growing services. Driven by her dedication to nonprofit work, Gonzalez returned to her education and began attending the Metropolitan College of New York while working full-time at NYCID and raising a family. In 2000, Gonzalez graduated as valedictorian with a bachelor of human services and immediately went on to obtain her graduate degree. Three years later, Gonzalez graduated with a master of public administration from Columbia Universitys School of International and Public Affairs. Recognizing Gonzalezs commitment to both the organization and her education, NYCID quickly moved Gonzalez up the ranks, elevating her to director of administrative services in 2000, and later director of conflict resolution services in 2002. In both of these roles, Gonzalez gained key administrative and programmatic skills, secured funding for, developed, and implemented new programming, and acted as a liaison for government officials, city and state agencies, and private organizations. In 2004, Gonzalez took on the role of senior director of programs, responsible for the administration of NYCIDs programs and providing one-on-one supervision to NYCIDs six program team leaders. Just one year later, Gonzalez became NYCIDs associate executive director, working with Brancato to manage, uplift, and build upon the quickly growing organization. We do a lot of work with at-risk youth; That tends to be a sweet spot for us because we relate well to the kids and are able to help those who need it the most, said Gonzalez. We plant seeds for them and hope that the seeds grow, and we never know what kind of impact were going to make. I lead the organization every day with the goal of making lasting changes in the community. Under the direction of Gonzalez and Brancato, NYCID began working directly in schools across Staten Island, offering not only mediation services but also workforce training, job placement, interpersonal skills, and educational support. Every year, over 5,200 4 to 24-year-olds participate in NYCID programs, resulting in 2,000 earned diplomas and 1,000 internships and job placements. We came from very humble beginnings and grew into a mid-sized organization, reminisces Gonzalez. We take our mediation and conflict work and turn it into effective communication, threading that needle through all of our programs. Our staff is all trained in effective communication, and we always stress that when working with the kids. After nearly 15 years serving as both associate executive director and executive director and helping to bring in over $5 million in grant funding, Gonzalez was appointed chief executive officer in 2018. Upon Brancatos retirement, he was thrilled to leave NYCID in Gonzalezs hands, having worked with her since 1996 to create the organization that we see today. In her role as CEO, Gonzalez oversees the 90 full-time employees, 300 part-time employees, including interns that NYCID employs, in addition to managing a $17.5 million budget and supervising daily operations. NYCID has grown tremendously under Gonzalez, who pours her heart into the work that she does. The organization currently serves approximately 10,500 New Yorkers each year through its various life-changing programs. While based on Staten Island, NYCID also works with residents of the other boroughs, creating a strong presence throughout New York City. In addition to the CDRC and their school-based programs, NYCID also offers after-school enrichment programs, several transfer high schools and community schools, dropout prevention services, workforce development, crime prevention programs, and professional development training. NYCID has become a pillar of Staten Island, guiding countless individuals and improving relationships through constructive problem-solving, effective communication and intercultural awareness. NYCIDs impact reaches far beyond the borough, serving as a stellar example for other organizations to model themselves after. For her accomplishments, Gonzalez is being honored with a Louis R. Miller Business Leadership Award, which she will receive in the Not-for-Profit Businessperson category. The awards, which are presented by the Staten Island Chamber of Commerce and the Staten Island Advance, honor the memory of Louis R. Miller, a businessman and West Brighton resident who was also a community leader. Gonzalez is the second person at NYCID to receive the Louis R. Miller Business Leadership Award, following in the footsteps of Brancato, who was honored by the Staten Island Chamber of Commerce in 2012. Gonzalez has shown through her work over the last 28 years that she is fully committed to bettering the lives of Staten Islanders and making a lasting impact on the borough that she has called home. In addition to her contributions through NYCID, Gonzalez is also a member of the Staten Island Chamber of Commerce and serves on the Board of Directors at Nonprofit Staten Island and the Rolling Hills Estates. Gonzalez has also received a certificate from the Staten Island Leadership Institute, as well as being a New York State Unified Court System Certified Mediator. The work that we do is incredibly rewarding. Our tagline is improving lives, but in our world, we dont always see that return right away, says Gonzalez. But when you do see it, when you get to experience being a part of changing someones life, its a feeling like no other. Its the greatest gift. Questionnaire Current occupation and title: Chief executive officer (CEO) of NYCID. Hometown: Arden Heights. Past occupation/s and titles: Executive assistant for Northfield Community LDC, various positions at NYCID. Community involvement: Current board member of Nonprofit Staten Island, Audit Committee chair for Nonprofit Staten Island, board member of Northfield Community LDC (Secretary) and Rolling Hills Estate, past board positions: Village Parks, secretary. Some of my life goals include: More traveling The best part of my job: The best part of my job is working with a committed staff that enjoys the work that they do. The most difficult part of my job: The most difficult part of the job is to see viable programs receive budget cuts and not being able to pay staff a markable salary. My life philosophy: My life philosophy is Things happen for a reason that sometimes we dont understand right away, but eventually we see that it was the right thing. I am most proud of: My family and the work I do at NYCID. Something that no one knows about me: I played the violin at the Worlds Fair in the 6th grade. The quality I like best about myself: My ability to find humor in all situations. Personal interests and hobbies: Reading, crosswords (word games). I laugh at: Myself. I am really good at: In the face of hard times I have been able to stay steadfast and keep people calm all while keeping the mission in the forefront. I admire: People who are honest. Some important things I would like you to know about me: I like to have fun. I got my masters in public administration from Columbia University while being a full-time mom and working full time at NYCID. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Permission granted. Staten Island Borough President Vito Fossella , following a request to statement regarding New York Gov. Kathy Hochuls decision to direct flags across New York State to fly full staff for Donald Trumps inauguration. We want to thank Governor Hochul for hearing our request and issuing an order for flags across the state of New York to fly full staff tomorrow for the inauguration of President Trump. The Governor deserves credit for recognizing the importance of coming together as a nation and encouraging unity among all New Yorkers and Americans. Despite U.S. flag code restrictions, many flags in the United States will be at full staff. Just 22 days ago, the 39th president Jimmy Carter passed away. Flag code law states that the flag on a presidents inauguration day must be flown half-staff 30 days from the death of a former president. Shortly after Carters death, Hochul stated that flags in New York would be flown at half-staff. President Jimmy Carter embodied decency and integrity throughout his life of public service, Hochul, a Democrat, said at the time. Ill never forget as a teenager meeting him in Buffalo. He was an inspiration to me and so many Americans. Our hearts are with the Carter family during this difficult time. In a letter to the state governor, Fossella declared that by raising the flags in New York to honor Trumps inauguration would serve as a symbol of unity and respect. Today, we look ahead to the future of our country, stated Fossella. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul is urging New Yorkers Sunday to take precautions as a combination of lake effect snow, winter storms and extreme cold are expected across the state this week. This afternoon and continuing through tonight, widespread snow can be expected throughout the city, Long Island and Westchester County, with up to six inches possible in the most persistent bands. The Mid-Hudson and Capital Regions can expect up to eight inches or more of snow today through Monday morning, while starting late tonight and continuing through Wednesday, lake effect snow that could bring up to three feet of snow in the strongest bands, is expected in areas of Western New York, the Finger Lakes, Central New York and the North Country that are close to Lakes Erie and Ontario. Additionally, beginning Monday, much of the state will experience bitter cold temperatures with potential feels-like temperatures as low as negative 25 degrees. New Yorkers should monitor their local forecasts and take action to prepare for winter weather and freezing cold temperatures. As winter storms, extreme cold temperatures and lake effect snow move into our state today and over the coming days, Ive directed our state agencies to mobilize their resources as we prepare to respond to this weather system, Hochul said in a statement. These conditions pose an extraordinary risk to anyone who is exposed to the elements or is unable to adequately heat their home, and I encourage New Yorkers to take precautions to keep themselves and their families safe. In New York City, forecasters are predicting a rapidly intensifying storm known as a bomb cyclone which is set to bring heavy snow and plummeting temperatures to New York City this afternoon and evening, according to AccuWeather. For a complete listing of weather alerts, visit the National Weather Service website at alerts.weather.gov. New Yorkers are also encouraged to sign up for emergency alerts by subscribing to NY Alert at alert.ny.gov a free service providing critical emergency information to your cell phone or computer. For more winter safety tips, visit https://www.dhses.ny.gov/winter-weather-safety. For all non-emergency service needs in New York State before, during or after a storm, call 211 or visit http://www.211nys.org/. BAKU, Azerbaijan, January 20. Head of the State Security Service, Colonel General Ali Naghiyev, and employees of the Service honored the memory of heroic sons of the Fatherland who sacrificed their lives for the independence and territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, laid carnations on their tombs in the Alley of Martyrs on the occasion of the 35th anniversary of the January 20 tragedy, Trend reports. The wreath was laid on behalf of the personnel of the State Security Service at the Eternal Flame monument. The tombs of security officers buried in Baku's Alley of Martyrs were also visited. To note, today marks the 35th anniversary of the tragedy of January 20. The deployment of combat units of the Soviet army on January 20, 1990, against the broad masses of people who came out to the streets and squares of Baku to express their resolute protest against the aggressive actions of Armenia, which put forward territorial claims to Azerbaijan, and the patronage of the USSR leadership led to an unprecedented tragedy in Azerbaijan. The brave souls of the Fatherland, for whom the freedom, honor, and dignity of their country and people were uppermost in those tragic days, gave their lives in the name of the Fatherland, climbing to the pinnacle of martyrdom. Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. In a last-minute change of plans, Mayor Eric Adams is attending the inauguration of Donald Trump at the U.S. Capitol on Monday after receiving an overnight invitation from the incoming president, according to a press release from the Mayors office and multiple reports. Adams canceled previously scheduled engagements that included events in Manhattan and Brooklyn honoring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Followed by an appearance on CBS News: The Inauguration of Donald Trump. A spokeswoman for City Hall said Trumps camp reached out to Adams around 2 a.m. Monday saying the president-elect personally asked for him to attend, the Daily News reported. Donald Trump, right, and JD Vance, left, on stage before taking their oaths of office during the Inauguration ceremonies in the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Monday, Jan. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Morry Gash, Pool)AP Critics of Adams overtures toward Trump which in some regards pre-date the election have speculated its an attempt for legal help from the White House, as the conservative Democrat is scheduled to go on trial in April on federal corruption charges. The invite to the inauguration comes days after Adams reportedly traveled to Florida for a sit down with Trump. The purpose of the talk was to discuss New Yorkers priorities, the mayors spokesperson, Fabien Levy, said Thursday, the Associated Press reported. Mayor Adams stated afterward his legal case was not discussed. People sit before the 60th Presidential Inauguration in the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025. (Chip Somodevilla/Pool Photo via AP)AP In September, a federal grand jury indicted Adams on charges he accepted luxury travel perks and illegal campaign contributions from foreign nationals, in exchange for favors that included helping Turkish diplomatic officials resolve issues with fire safety inspectors at a diplomatic building in Manhattan. Adams, who is scheduled to go on trial in April and has pleaded not guilty to the charges, has said his prosecution is politically motivated, stemming from his criticism of outgoing President Bidens handling of the national migrant crisis, the Daily News reported. This image provided by the Office of the New York Mayor shows New York Mayor Eric Adams, right, meeting with President-elect Donald Trump's incoming "border czar" Tom Homan, left, and President Joe Biden's Department of Homeland Security Official Kenneth Genalo at Gracie Mansion in New York, Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024. (Mayoral Photography Office | Michael Appleton via AP)Mayoral Photography Office | Michael Appleton via AP Trump was himself convicted last year in state court in New York of falsifying records at his business, though a judge declined to impose any punishment at sentencing, citing constitutional hurdles. As president, Trump would have the power to pardon the embattled mayor, or also could potentially pressure the Justice Department to drop the charges. In December, he said would consider pardoning Adams. After the mayor was indicted, Trump also said he suspected the charges were brought because Adams had criticized President Joe Bidens immigration policies. The favorable relationship between the two parties, meanwhile, predates the election. When Adams voiced interest in working with Trump in the spirit of overcoming political differences in the interest of New York City, the AP reported. The possibility of the US outlawing TikTok kept influencers and users in anxious limbo during the four-plus years that politicians and judges debated the fate of the video-sharing platform. The moment its fans dreaded arrived on Sunday (AEDT) when the platform went dark in response to a federal ban. By early Monday, TikTok said it was restoring services to users in the US after President-elect Donald Trump on Truth Social said he would issue an executive order giving TikToks China-based parent company ByteDance extra time to find an approved buyer before a ban goes into full effect. The Chinese government is unlikely to approve a sale that includes TikToks coveted algorithm. Credit: AP Several parties have expressed interest in buying the platform, but ByteDance has repeatedly said it does not plan to sell. Experts have also said the Chinese government would be unlikely to approve a sale that includes TikToks coveted algorithm. How much is TikTok worth? Advertisement Eating outRestaurant news Green ants, quandong and finger lime: Former Noma chef reveals exciting new Kiln menu Copenhagen-based Beau Clugston takes over the Ace Hotel Sydney restaurant this week. Heres what to expect. Scott Bolles January 21, 2025 Save Log in , register or subscribe to save recipes for later. You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from your saved list to add more. Save this article for later Add articles to your saved list and come back to them anytime. Got it Share Beau Clugstons debut menu at Sydneys Kiln restaurant kicks off this week, with the chef-owner at Copenhagens acclaimed Iluka restaurant delivering a daring flex and feel for native Australian ingredients years in the making. Clugstons tartare dish is a mix of kangaroo and mussels, the emulsified shellfish included to counteract the lean marsupial meat. I wanted to get something in there to mimic fat, the chef says. Elsewhere, green ants creep onto the menu, and pickled quandong is paired with tuna, almond and cucumber. 1 / 12 Former Noma chef Beau Clugston was born and raised in Sawtell on the NSW north coast. Nikki To 2 / 12 Paperbark package filled with leek, lovage, Monforte cheese and finger lime. Nikki To 3 / 12 Kingfish tart. Nikki To 4 / 12 Plum shiso granita. Nikki To 5 / 12 From left: Andy Bowdy, Isobel Little and Beau Clugston. Nikki To 6 / 12 Eye fillet with onion and ice plant. Nikki To 7 / 12 Oysters with rhubarb. Nikki To 8 / 12 Sweet potato with saltbush. Nikki To 9 / 12 Nikki To 10 / 12 Tuna with almond, cucumber and quandong. Nikki To 11 / 12 Kangaroo tartare with emulsified mussels. Nikki To 12 / 12 Tomato prawn crudo with king prawn and oyster, tomato, strawberry, lemon aspen and green ants. Nikki To Previous Slide Next Slide The chef focuses on seafood from the North Sea at Iluka, a restaurant Danish newspaper Weekendavisen named Restaurant of the Year in 2022. So how is he up to speed on Australian ingredients? Born and raised in Sawtell on the NSW North Coast, Clugston headed overseas 20 years ago, spending time at Gordon Ramsays restaurants in Britain before working his way up the ranks at Rene Redzepis famed Noma restaurant in Copenhagen. Advertisement It was in his role as head of research and development at Noma that Clugston had his food awakening to the ingredients of his own country. Sent to Australia to scout for Nomas 2016 pop-up at Barangaroo, he criss-crossed the country. Skull Island prawns with native greens paste, strawberry gum and eucalyptus at Kiln. Nikki To I remember these Aboriginal elders wrapping mud clams in paperbark, dropping them in the fire and saying theyre ready when they sing, he says. At Kiln, the paperbark package is filled with leek, lovage, Monforte cheese and finger lime. There are some finger limes grown in France, thats about it, Clugston says of his access to Australian ingredients in Europe. When the chef flew home and got off the plane, he was hit by the warmth and immediately switched to the Australian summer. The dish on Kilns new menu that encapsulates that feeling mixes king prawn and oyster, with tomato, strawberry and lemon aspen. And a sprinkling of green ants. Advertisement Clugstons chef-partner deal with Ace Hotel Sydney and its signature rooftop Kiln restaurant will involve alternating 12-week stints between Sydney and Copenhagen. He replaces maverick Sydney chef Mitch Orr, known for his high-wire Jatz crackers, who departed Kiln two years after it opened. Clugston also has some heavy-hitter help in the kitchen. Isobel Whelan-Little (former executive chef at Albertos and Caterpillar Club) has stepped in for the next few months, and Sydney cake cowboy Andy Bowdy will look after the pastry section. Photo: Nikki To Where Clugston has taken cannoli and transformed it into a savoury version with chicken livers and Davidson plum, Bowdy is staying in the sweet lane with a deep-fried play on mango sticky rice, and a dessert of apricot and burnt honey. Andys changed a few things, turning down the sugar and upping the intensity. Clugston says. Its a monster truck compared with Iluka, Clugston says of Kiln compared with his pint-sized restaurant in Copenhagen. Ive only missed five services in five years at Iluka, he says. Hell see how the year pans out with the commute, but he is keen to move home with his family, which might mean eventually selling Iluka. Former Noma chef returns to Australia to helm kitchen at hip hotel restaurant Kiln Restaurant reviews, news and the hottest openings served to your inbox. Sign up Advertisement Tips & adviceChicken Goodbye dry stir-fries: The simple trick to silky, juicy chicken breast every time Velveting produces light, tender succulence, and helps sauce cling onto proteins. Heres how to do it. Kevin Pang January 21, 2025 Save Log in , register or subscribe to save recipes for later. You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from your saved list to add more. Save this article for later Add articles to your saved list and come back to them anytime. Got it Share The chicken pieces in chef Elmo Hans kung pao are so remarkably tender that when teeth meet meat, the poultry barely offers a fight. The dish he serves at Shanghai Terrace, a fine dining restaurant in the Peninsula Chicago Hotel, is a faithful interpretation of the classic, but noteworthy in that it includes chicken breast instead of thighs. White meat, in less capable hands, can quickly dry out and toughen into shoe leather. Like many Chinese chefs, Han employs a simple method of marinating and flash-cooking that can make lean meat and seafood silky: its called velveting. Chicken breast benefits from velveting before being stir-fried. William Meppem Think of stir-fried broccoli beef, where the sauce enrobes rather than merely coats the meat. Velveting is the reason. Without it, the sauce falls off the pieces, and itll taste bland, Han said. It helps the sauce cling onto the ingredients. In Stir-Frying to the Skys Edge, the definitive book on stir-frying, author Grace Young wrote, No other cooking technique produces such light, delicate, tender succulence. Advertisement The process starts with marinating sliced meat and seafood in a protective coating of cornflour, egg whites and seasonings. After the meat is blanched with a quick dip in hot oil or boiling water, the drained pieces are covered in a gel-like barrier, which yields an extra level of tenderness in the finished dish. EASY RecipeTin Eats sizzling Mongolian beef stir-fry While chefs in restaurant kitchens opt for hot oil, the method works just as well with boiling water. Even cuts like chicken breast become supremely juicy when marinated and dunked in bubbling water. Theres no one way to velvet. Most commonly, thinly sliced chicken breast, fish fillets or leaner cuts of beef and pork are combined with cornflour, egg whites and a liquid marinade such as soy sauce. Vegetable oil is added if the meat will be blanched in boiling water. Some cooks add a small amount of bicarbonate of soda (baking soda), which acts as a meat tenderiser and slows muscle fibres from seizing up during cooking, and other seasonings. Advertisement This kung pao chicken packs a punch, in a velvet glove. William Meppem The marinade is massaged into the meat, and according to Han, who grew up in Beijing and learned this technique at age 17, there must be a gentleness to the process. When preparing his kung pao, he spent two straight minutes working the marinade into the chicken, applying a soft and steady pressure with both hands. At Shanghai Terrace, Han marinates the meat for several hours before he blanches it for no more than 90 seconds in a wok of hot oil. At home, blanching in boiling water has many advantages namely that its healthier, not as messy and less dangerous. Whichever way its flash-cooked, the meat is then strained and ready for stir-frying with other ingredients. Because youre creating this thin surface over the protein, everything is effectively being steamed at a low temperature. It creates a much more moist end product. Andrew Wong In a way, velveting is a safeguard measure. In professional Chinese kitchens, gas burners heat woks to such high temperatures that it often resembles cooking over a jet engine. Velveting creates a shell for whatever meat youre marinating, a bubble to protect it, so the moisture cant go out as easily, said ArChan Chan, the chef of Hong Kongs Ho Lee Fook, a contemporary Cantonese restaurant. Advertisement Andrew Wong, the chef of Londons two Michelin-starred A.Wong, said that even when velveted meats are cooked in hot oil, the effect is less frying than it is steaming. He said velveting is about creating barriers, equally effective in stir-fried or steamed dishes. Because youre creating this thin surface over the protein, everything is effectively being steamed at a low temperature, he said. It creates a much more moist end product. Wong, who was born in Britain, recommends velveting in non-Chinese applications, too. He has employed it in chicken and mushroom pie and chicken casserole. Coq au vin, beef stroganoff, youll notice a massive difference with velveting. Stir-fried chicken with asparagus and capsicum. William Meppem Advertisement Butter-soy chicken and asparagus stir-fry Velveting does the heavy lifting in this lightning-quick stir-fry, tenderising the chicken before its tossed with vegetables in a savoury sauce of butter, soy sauce and lemon. To speed things along further, you can prep the vegetables while the chicken marinates. INGREDIENTS For the chicken 1 boneless, skinless chicken breast (280-340g), or 2 smaller chicken breasts (about 170g each), thinly sliced 1 tsp cornflour tsp baking soda tsp sugar tsp salt 1 tsp soy sauce black pepper 1 tbsp vegetable oil 1 tbsp egg white (from 1 egg; save the rest for an omelette) Advertisement For the stir-fry 1 tbsp vegetable oil 100g asparagus (4-5 medium stalks), cut into 2.5cm pieces 6 large button mushrooms, quartered (about 100g) red capsicum, sliced salt and black pepper 3 tbsp butter 1 tbsp soy sauce 1 lemon wedge toasted sesame seeds, for serving (optional) cooked rice, for serving METHOD Marinate the chicken: In a bowl, combine chicken, cornflour, baking soda, sugar, salt, soy sauce and a few cracks of black pepper. Add the oil and 1 tablespoon of egg white. Using a spoon, mix until well combined and the chicken appears glossy and velvety. Cover bowl and refrigerate chicken for at least 30 minutes and up to 2 hours. When chicken is marinated, place a colander in your sink. In a saucepan, bring 4 cups of water to a boil. Carefully add marinated chicken to the boiling water. Use tongs or chopsticks to separate the pieces (some egg white may float to the surface). Cook for 90 seconds, then drain the chicken in the colander. Shake the colander to remove excess liquid (the chicken wont be fully cooked yet). Start the stir-fry: Heat the oil in a large nonstick frypan or wok over medium-high. When the oil is hot (it should flow quickly when you tilt the pan), add the asparagus, mushrooms and capsicum and stir-fry until lightly browned, about 4 minutes. Transfer chicken from the colander to the pan and add a pinch of salt and pepper. Stir-fry constantly for 1 minute. Push the chicken and vegetables to one side of the pan and reduce heat to medium-low. In an empty area of the pan, add the butter, allowing it to melt and sizzle. Then pour the soy sauce onto the butter and stir to combine. Push the chicken and vegetables into the sauce and stir-fry for 30 seconds. (The sauce should cling to the chicken.) Transfer to a platter and squeeze juice from the lemon wedge over top. Sprinkle with sesame seeds, if using. Serve immediately with rice. Serves 2-4 Advertisement The best recipes from Australia's leading chefs straight to your inbox. Sign up The commission reviewed 33 human rights complaints received by it and its predecessor between 2022 and 2024. The watchdog did not review every complaint it received because some fell outside its scope. In 64 per cent of those it did examine, the watchdog identified issues with missing, incorrect or incomplete authorisation paperwork. Of those 21 cases, it was not known or clear whether bodily restraint was properly authorised under the relevant legislation in four instances. Fourteen, or 42 per cent of complaints, did not document or demonstrate that appropriate facilities and amenities were provided. Of the four cases in which patients had an advanced statement of preferences in place, these care plans were considered in only two instances. Most of the complaints examined by the commission related to physical restraint, mechanical restraint or both. More than half of the incidents occurred in an emergency department. Recommendation 54 of the Royal Commission into Victorias Mental Health System proposed the elimination of restrictive practices within 10 years. The state Labor government accepted this recommendation, which is due to come into effect by 2031. Fairfield-based mental health advocate Julie Dempsey gave evidence to the royal commission and told The Age she had been restrained on almost every occasion she had entered the hospital system for mental health treatment. She was first hospitalised in 1981, when she was in her early 20s, and was diagnosed with schizophrenia a year later. Dempsey said a particularly bad experience with forcible restraint, which occurred in 2008, had left her completely broken. She said being taken down in full view of other patients was not only humiliating for her, but distressing for others. She added that on one occasion when she was placed in seclusion, she was put in a room without a bedpan and male nurses would stand in the doorway when she was escorted to use a toilet. She didnt want to shower because of the same privacy issues. During other times, there would be male security guards observing her being stripped and injected with medication. The ill-fitting pyjamas she would eventually be put in, she says, partially exposed her breasts. The local security guard, Id see him at the shops. Hed seen me stripped. That was so humiliating and degrading. For Dempsey, what happened to her wasnt just something to be reported on paper, it was a breach of basic human rights. You feel like an animal in a zoo. I think sometimes animals in the zoo get treated better than people being subjected to restrictive practices. My personal message is we need to get serious about culture change. Its not enough to have laws in place and a new Mental Health and Wellbeing Act and a few posters on the wall. Unless they do dedicated culture-focused work led and informed by people with lived experience, real, meaningful change for consumers is going to be hard. Loading According to the latest national figures, during the 2022-23 financial year, there were just over 1100 instances of mechanical restraint across Australia. Physical restraint was used in 16,452 cases. There were six instances of seclusion per 1000 bed days in Australia during the 2022-23 financial year. In Victoria, there were 10 instances of seclusion per 1000 bed days between July and September last year. Advocates are awaiting the latest figures for the use of restraint, which the government says are held by the Office of the Chief Psychiatrist. The first plank in Victorias strategy for the elimination of seclusion and restraint is almost a year overdue. Consultation closed in July 2023, and an interim report has not been released publicly, despite a commitment to do so by early last year. Victorian Mental Illness Awareness Council spokesperson Meghan Bourke said this was one of the reasons why she was not surprised by the commissions findings. Were supposed to eliminate these practices six years from now, she said. Not only do we not have a strategy where is it? but where is the funding commitment? There is no meaningful commitment to eliminate these practices. Bourke said seclusion and restraint was a key advocacy area for her organisation. This is where a lot of the harm occurs. We know that folks who experience restrictive practices are more likely, once they leave a service, to go out and harm themselves. So its a bit of a joke sometimes when people say were worried about you, so thats why were doing this for you. Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission consumer commissioner Maggie Toko said: Restrictive practices can be harmful and traumatic, and we need services to step up, take their reporting responsibilities seriously and provide consumers with the quality of treatment they deserve. An Allan government spokesperson said there had been a 20 per cent reduction in the use of physical restraint and a 30 per cent decline in the use of mechanical restraint in the 18 months to April 2024. State opposition mental health spokeswoman Emma Kealy. Credit: Eddie Jim We take the matters highlighted in the report very seriously, the spokeswoman said. We are working with the Department of Health on the relevant steps to monitor, address and improve these issues. The department will host a clinical forum in March with emergency department bosses to discuss the issues they are experiencing and offer support. The spokesperson did not say why the interim seclusion and restraint elimination strategy has not been released publicly. Coalition mental health spokeswoman Emma Kealy said Mental Health Minister Ingrid Stitt needed to explain what had happened to the strategy. The biggest issue with seclusion and restraint is its the simplest but most brutal way to deal with insufficient staffing, and goes to broader workforce shortage issues, Kealy said. Its a double failure for Labor they have fallen behind on implementation to the royal commissions recommendations around ending seclusion and restraint within 10 years, plus have failed to begin the workforce capacity work that was recommended in the interim report way back in 2019. Loading An RSL WA board member has laid bare what unfolded during a police-backed search of the Nollamara premises it seized from the Veterans Motorcycle Club, including the discovery of ammunition, magazine clips and pharmaceuticals. Taking the witness stand in the WA Supreme Court on Monday, RSL board member Trent Mongan told the court Police Minister Paul Papalia and federal Defence Minister Matt Keogh were among those called before the club was evicted from the Sylvia Street property on February 6, 2024. The Nollamara RSL. Credit: Google Mongan told the court he arrived flanked by locksmiths and police, a move he said was aimed at distancing the league from anything unfavourable it feared may be found after tasking officers with conducting an occupiers search. The police attendance was not part of any criminal investigation into the club. The court heard the search recovered 35 rounds of live and dummy ammunition, magazine clips and boxes of pharmaceuticals, some of which had been imported from overseas. The family of a driver who died in a horrific crash that claimed four lives near Perth Airport have broken their silence a week after the incident. Rabin Rawal, 43, was driving in the wrong direction along Leach Highway when his Toyota RAV4 hit a taxi and burst into flames. Rabin Rawal. Rawal died at the scene. Police are investigating whether the incident was a murder-suicide. Taxi driver Sendeku Tesema, 58, was also killed, along with his two passengers, a 56-year-old woman and her 81-year-old mother who were believed to have been returning home from a holiday. Details has been added (first version published at 17:38) BAKU, Azerbaijan, January 20. In accordance with the instruction of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Azerbaijani citizen Safarli Farid, detained in 2023 in the Islamic Republic of Iran, was transferred to Azerbaijan within the framework of international legal cooperation on January 18, 2025, Trend reports via the joint statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the State Security Service of Azerbaijan. Farid Safarli was reunited with his family after undergoing a medical examination. The adoption of necessary measures to protect the rights and interests of citizens of the Republic of Azerbaijan abroad will continue. NAPLAN data reveals that around a third of students from disadvantaged backgrounds are behind the minimum standards in literacy and numeracy, and a quarter of school students from low-socioeconomic backgrounds need additional support in meeting those standards. Andy Mison, president of the Australian Secondary Principals Association, says were seeing increasing concentrations of disadvantage in Australia, which is having a detrimental impact on disadvantaged students education and exposure to opportunity. The numbers of kids who are in schools where more than 50 per cent of that schools population come from the lowest socioeconomic background is growing, he says. Professor Redmond says students growing up with poverty also face more pressure at home, which can adversely affect their education. Parents may be unable to provide the kind of support that schools demand of parents to help with homework and the like, he says. Mison says we need to keep students engaged at school because a good education offers life skills that go beyond the classroom. Andy Mison, president of the Australian Secondary Principals Association. Credit: The Smith Family Attending school is really important to get self-esteem, engagement skills and social skills all those things that are important for life, Mison says. Education provides the opportunity to do things like play team sport or do public speaking or play in a band or join a Dungeons and Dragons club. These things are so important because they create a sense of belonging, which helps peoples wellbeing, something particularly important when times are rough. What needs to be done With 80 per cent of disadvantaged students attending public schools, Mison says funding for those schools must be a priority. Australias a very wealthy country by any measure and most of our kids are doing pretty well comparatively in [tests like] NAPLAN, he says. But what we are seeing is that where there are high concentrations of disadvantaged kids and families, those communities are falling further behind. Professor Redmond wants to see a fairer resource allocation between government and non-government schools. Even within the public school system, schools in privileged areas tend to have more resources because parents can put in, and students are less likely to be disadvantaged in other ways, such as with respect to disability, he says. Education efforts need to start early, with recent Grattan Institute research showing children who start school behind are, on average, four years behind in maths and more than five years behind in reading by the time they reach Year 9. For James, a Learning for Life sponsorship from The Smith Family that provides financial support for school essentials like uniforms, books and excursions, as well as access to learning and mentoring programs, proved a game-changer, helping him transition from that C grade student to be dux of his school. Knowing that someone I didnt even know was putting their time and money into me, I felt really motivated and almost obligated to take advantage of the opportunities, he says. I was able to get a laptop in Year 10 and now Im getting assistance with textbooks at university. I could also see it meant my mum was less stressed as well she wasnt sighing as much. Hes now halfway through a mechanical engineering degree and working towards a 100km run next year. I started hearing about all of these jobs that studying could lead to fancy words that I had never heard before. Once you start getting an understanding of the opportunity you actually have, its a way to break that [poverty] cycle, he says. When I was five years old, I wanted to find a job where I would be able to make anything, so if my mum didnt have it, I could give it to her. Now Im able to do electrical work and theres so much Im able to fix at home, which is saving thousands of dollars. By sponsoring a child with The Smith Family, you can help provide the financial, practical and emotional support to help them make the most of their education and break the cycle of poverty. Penny Nelson is one of the hundreds of thousands of Australians who have switched from a petrol-powered car to a hybrid, choosing a Toyota RAV4 to cut fuel bills. I just needed to downsize to something a little bit smaller and its definitely more fuel efficient, said Nelson, who lives in Caringbah in Sydneys south. Penny Nelson recently bought a Toyota RAV4 hybrid vehicle. Credit: Wolter Peeters I occasionally have to drive down to Wagga to my daughter, and I can get down there with just under a full tank, which is really good. Sales of new hybrid cars are booming. Australians bought 172,696 traditional hybrids which have a diesel or petrol engine as well as an electric motor that recharges as the car decelerates last year, up 76 per cent on 2023. Premier Jacinta Allan has urged pro-Palestinian protesters to abandon their weekly demonstration in central Melbourne in light of the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. In a hardening of her governments position against the CBD protests staged every Sunday since Hamas October 2023 atrocities that provoked Israels 15-month war on Gaza Allan said the ceasefire deal should end the disruption on Melbournes streets. Demonstrators during the pro-Palestinian rally in Melbournes CBD on Sunday, hours before the Gaza ceasefire came into force. Credit: Luis Enrique Ascui There is hurt on both sides here, she said on Monday. What does not heal that hurt, what does not do the work to mend our social cohesion, is continuing to bring that sort of disruption to our streets. If they can find a space for a ceasefire in the Middle East, surely we can find a space for these protests to come to an end in Melbourne. Retired postie John Patmore looks sadly around his cluttered single room in a Paddington boarding house and sighs. This was meant to be my forever home, said Patmore, 70, gazing at the table covered in his worldly possessions, the rickety screens hiding his bed in the corner and the tiny kitchen alcove he has to inch into sideways to get past the fridge. Resident John Patmore has lived in his Paddington boarding house apartment for 17 years. Credit: Dion Georgopoulos I thought Id be able to live here til the day I die after my super started to run out. But now This place is going to close on January 31, and were all being kicked out. Ive got nowhere to go. Its just so overwhelming. Patmore is one of 32 battlers living in two old boarding houses on Selwyn Street which have been bought by a developer who plans to turn them into four luxury houses and has notified all residents the power will be cut off and the locks changed on February 1. The Santa Ana winds are forecast to batter Southern California again, fuelling dangerous fire conditions over the next few days. At 6am AEDT on Monday, the US National Weather Service issued a red flag warning about extremely critical conditions for the Malibu Coast with northeasterly surface winds up to 48-64km/h and gusts around 97-113km/h. A weather system is expected to hit Southern California late on Monday afternoon AEDT, bringing amplified winds and dangerous fire-weather conditions from mid-morning Tuesday until early Wednesday AEDT. A critical warning was also extended to the coast in Orange County and northern San Diego County, where northeasterly surface winds could reach 32-48km/h. Washington: The Albanese government has moved to shore up its relationship with Donald Trump, with Australias US ambassador Kevin Rudd seeking to smooth over tensions with the incoming president as Foreign Minister Penny Wong prepares to meet with his pick for top diplomat. On the eve of Trumps inauguration, Wong, who is in Washington to attend the historic event, said the government was looking forward to working with the new Trump administration to advance their shared economic and security interests. Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong attended Donald Trumps inauguration. Credit: Bloomberg Noting that every new presidency is a day of profound importance to the world, Wong said that China, trade and the AUKUS submarine pact would be on her agenda when she meets with Trumps nominee for Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, and other members of Congress during her visit. If you look at how I and others have spoken about the challenge and opportunity that China presents, including for the stability of the region, I think theres a lot of similarity in the way in which we can discuss China, she said. Washington: It was an inauguration that set the tone for a second-term presidency more emboldened and unchecked than the first. Six months after he was almost assassinated, Donald Trump embarked on one of the most expansive demonstrations of presidential power in years, using his inauguration speech to unveil a blizzard of executive actions that he said would usher in a new golden age and a revolution of common sense. President Donald Trump during his address at his inauguration. Credit: AP Americas decline is over, he said. Speaking in the Capitol rotunda the same building his supporters stormed four years ago as they tried to stop Joe Bidens election victory Trump vowed to immediately declare a national emergency at the US-Mexico border and send the military to ensure illegal immigrants stayed out. PHILIPSBURG:--- Residents in the Killebard, Catapult Drive, and surrounding areas, please be advised of an ongoing fire in the hills of Cul de Sac. The incident was reported on January 19th, 2025, shortly after 6:00 PM. Police and fire department teams have been dispatched to the location. For your safety, part of L.B. Scott Road has been partially closed, and authorities are urging nearby residents to evacuate the area due to the heavy smoke and potential hazards. Please follow instructions from emergency personnel and avoid the area if possible. Stay safe and updated as the situation . ~St. Maartens own speaks at the largest conference in the region on fintech~ PHILIPSBURG:--- Ife Badejo, Founder and CEO of Islandpreneur International, is one of the speakers at Fintech Islands, the largest conference focused on financial technology (fintech) in the Caribbean region. Fintech Islands, which takes place at the Wyndham Grand Barbados from January 22-24, 2025, is focused on three key pillars: policy, entrepreneurship, and talent. The vision is twofold: to bring together a community of leaders that are redefining financial services and to serve as a catalyst for a more inclusive financial system in the Caribbean and around the world. Some of the key tracks at FinTech Islands are: Intelligent Money, which explores fintech at intersection between artificial intelligence and humanity; Digital Transformation, which focuses of inclusive innovation in financial services; Modernizing Payments, with deep dives discussing instant, interoperable, and borderless payments. Ife Badejo is scheduled to be one of the judges of the fintech startup competition, alongside other esteemed judges such as: Nneka Etoniru - EVP Global Brand Strategy, Avenue Z; Chris Cochran, the Executive Director of Entrepreneurs Across Borders; Simon Johnson, Investment Officer at IDB Lab of Inter-American Development Bank (IDB); Uriridiakoghene (Ulili) Onovakpuri - Managing Partner, Kapor Capita; and last but certainly not least Rohan Marley, Athlete & Entrepreneur and Founder & CEO, Marley Coffee & Lion Order. Nine companies within the fintech space will pitch their ideas to win the grand prize of $10 000, 1st runner up prize of $5000, or a 2nd runner up prize of $2500 and be showcased at the largest fintech conference in the region with hundreds of leaders from around the world present. Ife is also going to moderate a fireside chat on Artificial Intelligence for Genuine Good: Can AI Be the Great Equalizer in Emerging Markets? with expert Andrew Eklund, founder and CEO of Ciceron, an innovation agency with a marketing performance output. Ife is the only person from St. Maarten to speak at FinTech Islands 2025. Ife has been an advocate for fintech solutions for the small businesses on the island since 2017. Most recently in her role as Vice President of the St. Maarten Chamber of Commerce and Industry (COCI), she helped to design and facilitate a roundtable discussion: Unlock Global Payments hosted by COCI. This discussion brought together different key stakeholders to address some of the challenges and help to build strategic relationships to facilitate more fintech solutions on St. Maarten, especially for micro, small, medium enterprises (SMEs). Through, Islandpreneur, Ife works with local and international stakeholders to help island-based businesses to innovate, scale, and thrive by equipping them with actionable insights, global network of experts, and a community of like-minded entrepreneurs. Recently, Islandpreneur launched its membership program called The Inner Circle to provide even more resources to its dedicated community of serious and ambitious islandpreneurs. Ife Badejo and Islandpreneur are grateful to all key partners over the years that have supported the variety of initiatives. This expansion into regional and global opportunities is a testament to their support and belief in our entrepreneurs. A new partner that has helped to make this opportunity possible is Florida based communications company, VoiceLogix. For more information about projects or membership, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or whatsapp +1-721-520-0033. PHILIPSBURG:--- UNICEF the Netherlands has officially concluded the Child Resilience and Protection Project (CRPP). Executed in collaboration with the Government of Sint Maarten, the project has made significant strides in creating safer, more resilient environments for children and families. The success of the CRPP would not have been possible without the dedication and collaboration of our partners. The Government of Sint Maarten, particularly the Child Protection Working Group (CPWG), has played a pivotal role in driving progress and setting the foundation for future child protection initiatives. We celebrate these achievements while recognizing that the journey to improving childrens lives continues, states Sacha Bokkerink, Advocacy and Programmes Director at UNICEF the Netherlands. As part of the CRPP and to ensure the sustainability of its efforts, a five-year strategic plan and multi-annual work plan were developed for the National Child Protection Platform (NCPP). This platform provides a clear roadmap for collaboration of partners working towards strengthening and expanding child protection systems in Sint Maarten. This body, comprising representatives from multiple government, non-government and community stakeholders working in the Child Protection sector, will work closely with the CPWG to execute its vision. Additionally, a Youth Sounding Board is envisioned to further engage young people in shaping child protection policies and initiatives. Child protection challenges often require an inter-ministerial approach. The National Child Protection Platform will play a vital role in ensuring coordination and alignment, with youth engagement as a core priority, explains Soraya Agard-Lake, CRPP Focal Point for the Government of Sint Maarten and Head of the Department of Youth. Meaningful youth participation has been a cornerstone of the CRPP. Initiatives like the Youth Roundtable Conference have provided young people with opportunities to voice their perspectives on critical issues, including mental health, education, and social challenges. Insights from these forums informed key initiatives, such as mental health panel discussions and the production of the short film What If I Told You, which explores the impact of childhood experiences and the role of supportive adults. The film, along with child rights presentations were shared with over 500 primary school students. In partnership with the Court of Guardianship, the CRPP introduced several advancements in child protection. The newly implemented Child Safety Code offers professionals a streamlined five-step process for identifying and reporting suspected child abuse. The Interisland Protocol, developed in collaboration with child protection agencies across the Dutch Caribbean, ensures the safe relocation of children during disasters while prioritizing their rights and well-being. A comprehensive communication package, including an animation video, supports its implementation. Standard Operating Procedures for suspected child abuse cases have also been incorporated into Court of Guardianship protocols, improving referral pathways and intervention processes. Streamlining these systems enhances communication and follow-up between key organizations, such as Turning Point, Safe Haven, SMMC, J&IS, and the Police Department, notes Kimberly Dort-Brown, Head of the Court of Guardianship. | The CRPP also supported disaster preparedness in schools. In collaboration with the Student Support Services Division, the project supported the development of school safety plans, distributed safety training materials, and introduced tools like the School Safety & Emergency Response Handbook and Drill Guidelines for Schools. A hurricane preparedness game Hurrycane Run, custom-designed for Sint Maarten, was also developed to engage primary school students. Recently, the Positive Parenting Support Program (PPSP) was officially launched as a key initiative under the CRPP. Tailored specifically for Sint Maarten, the program aims to strengthen parent-child relationships and promote child development. To date, 58 Facilitators and 18 Master Trainers have been certified to deliver workshops on effective communication, behaviour management, and emotional well-being. Organizations like the Judicial & Institutional Services (J&IS), the Methodist Church, and individual trainers are already utilizing the curriculum. As the program expands in 2025, it is expected to benefit even more families across the island. The development of a Positive School Connection Program (PSCP) marked a start to addressing school violence. A mini pilot program was implemented in primary schools (MAC St. John Campus and Oranje School) and secondary schools (Sundial and MAC High School), targeting both teachers and students. In addition, 12 teachers and professionals were trained as Master Trainers. The PSCP provides a comprehensive approach that aims to equip educators and students with the tools to create supportive and inclusive school climates, ultimately contributing to violence prevention and improved student well-being. The fifth and final edition of Growing Up Safe Sint Maarten Magazine is set to be disseminated in January 2025, marking the culmination of five impactful years. With over 120 articles published, the magazine has shed light on critical child protection topics while amplifying the voices of children, families, and professionals. Moving forward, it will continue as an online platform at www.growingupsafe-sxm.com, providing access to resources, publications, and tools to inform policies and inspire action. UNICEF the Netherlands extends its deepest gratitude to the Government of the Netherlands and the World Bank for their support and resources, as well as to all our government partners, the community organizations and professionals whose commitment has been instrumental in the projects impact. We thank everyone who has contributed to this journey and invite all stakeholders to remain steadfast in their commitment to Sint Maartens children, concludes Bokkerink. DAVOS, Switzerland, January 20. President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev met with Nick Studer, CEO of Oliver Wyman Group, at the latters request, on January 20 in Davos, Trend reports. Nick Studer highlighted the potential areas of cooperation between Oliver Wyman Group, a leading international strategic management company, and various institutions in Azerbaijan. He highlighted interest in Azerbaijan's economic transformation process, the development of various sectors of the insurance and financial markets, the implementation of projects in the energy sector, including both traditional and green energy, agricultural product exports, as well as the localization of the value chain with a focus on new trade opportunities in the region. Studer also commended Azerbaijan's achievements. The President welcomed the companys interest in Azerbaijan and discussed establishing cooperation between Oliver Wyman Group and relevant Azerbaijani institutions. China urges US to listen to 'rational voices' over TikTok ban Beijing, Jan 20 (AFP) Jan 20, 2025 China on Monday urged the United States to listen to "rational voices" over the social media platform TikTok, as a law banning the wildly popular app on national security grounds came into effect. "We hope that the US side will seriously listen to rational voices and provide an open, fair, just, and non-discriminatory business environment for market entities from all countries operating in the United States," foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said. "TikTok has been operating in the United States for many years and is deeply loved by American users," Mao said. "It has played a positive role in promoting domestic employment and driving consumption in the US," she added. TikTok restored service in the United States Sunday after briefly going dark, crediting President-elect Donald Trump, who retakes power on Monday, for making the reversal possible. The outgoing administration of President Joe Biden had earlier said that it would not enforce any ban. TikTok had shut down in the United States late Saturday as a deadline loomed for its Chinese owners ByteDance to sell its US subsidiary to non-Chinese buyers. EU launches new WTO case against China high-tech patent rules Brussels, Belgium, Jan 20 (AFP) Jan 20, 2025 The European Union launched a new challenge at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) on Monday against China's rules on royalty rates for high-tech patents, amid escalating trade tensions between Beijing and Brussels. The European Commission accused China of pressuring innovative European high-tech companies into lowering their rates by allowing its courts to set binding worldwide royalty rates. "The EU's vibrant high-tech industries must be allowed to compete fairly and on a level playing field," said Maros Sefcovic, the EU's trade commissioner. "Where this is not the case, the Commission takes decisive action to protect their rights". The action comes amid increasing trade tensions between China and the EU. Beijing and Brussels have taken a series of tit for tat measures, slapping tariffs or launching probes and lawsuits over alleged unfair practices relating to a wide range of products including electric cars, cheese and brandy. The latest challenge revolves around so-called "standard essential patents" protecting technologies enabling the manufacturing of goods to meet a certain standard. European companies hold many such patents, notably in the telecom sector, according to the EU. By letting its court set worldwide royalty rates for those patents, China was forcing EU companies to give its firms cheaper access to those technologies, the 27-nation bloc alleged. The case is related to another challenge launched in 2022 where Brussels accused Beijing of preventing European tech companies from using foreign courts to defend their patents. EU launches new WTO case against China high-tech patent rules Brussels, Belgium, Jan 20 (AFP) Jan 20, 2025 The European Union launched a new challenge at the World Trade Organization (WTO) on Monday against China's rules on royalty rates for high-tech patents, amid escalating trade tensions between Beijing and Brussels. The European Commission accused China of pressuring innovative European high-tech companies into lowering their fees by allowing its courts to set binding worldwide royalty rates. "The EU's vibrant high-tech industries must be allowed to compete fairly and on a level playing field," said Maros Sefcovic, the EU's trade commissioner. "Where this is not the case, the Commission takes decisive action to protect their rights". The action comes as trade tensions are soaring worldwide, with tariff-loving Donald Trump set to be inaugurated as US President. It adds to a longer-running spat between Beijing and Brussels, which has seen the pair accuse each other of unfair practices and take a series of tit-for-tat measures. The EU slapped hefty tariffs on electric cars made in China last year. In turn, Beijing targeted European brandies and launched probes into EU subsidies of some dairy and pork products. The latest challenge revolves around "standard essential patents" protecting technologies enabling the manufacturing of goods to meet a certain standard. European companies hold many such patents, notably in the telecom sector, according to the EU. By letting its courts set worldwide royalty rates, China was forcing EU companies to give its firms cheaper access to those technologies, the 27-nation bloc alleged. The practice also unduly interfered with the competence of EU courts for European patent issues, according to the commission. Brussels said it requested consultations at the WTO -- the first step of the international body's dispute settlement procedure -- because "no satisfactory negotiated solution has been forthcoming from China". Under WTO rules, the two parties have 60 days to settle the matter before the claimant can request that a panel be set up to rule on it. Beijing said on Monday it "regrets" the EU's decision to launch this new challenge at the WTO. "China strictly adheres to WTO rules and its accession commitments, continuously improving intellectual property rights protection legislation and enforcement," Beijing's Commerce Ministry said in a statement. "China will...firmly safeguard its legitimate rights and interests," it said. The case is related to another challenge launched in 2022 where Brussels accused Beijing of barring EU owners of high-tech patents from turning to European courts to protect their intellectual property. China is the EU's second-largest trading partner for goods after the United States. Bilateral trade reached EUR739 billion ($762 billion) in 2023, according to the commission. The Embassy of the Republic of Azerbaijan carried out a number of information regarding the January 20 tragedy, which constitutes a heroic chronicle of the history of the Azerbaijani people's fight for liberty. With the aim of conveying this bloody action committed against our people to the world in more detail, the Embassy published a material entitled "January 20 - The chronicle of honour and heroism of Azerbaijan" on the "NewsCentralAsia" information portal, which is considered one of the most influential resources in Central Asia, as well as the abovementioned information, was sent to local mass media. The material emphasized that the January 20 tragedy had a decisive impact on the formation of the Azerbaijani national identity, and became a turning point in the restoration of Azerbaijan's state independence. It was emphasised that this event, along with the tragedy, was engraved in the history of Azerbaijan as a day of national pride. It was highlighted that currently, the flag of Azerbaijan is waving in all sovereign territories of the country. A glorious era began in the history of modern Azerbaijan with the restoration of the country's territorial integrity and sovereignty, and the souls of the sons of the Motherland who were martyred for the freedom, independence, and territorial integrity of Azerbaijan 35 years agoduring the bloody events of January 20, 1990 - were also in peace. At the same time, taking into account the irreplaceable role of the Internet and social networks in the dissemination of information in the modern world, the Embassy has posted extensive information and video materials on the January 20 tragedy in Turkmen, English, Russian and Azerbaijani on its website and social media accounts in order to convey this bloody action committed against our people to the world in more detail. Moreover, Statements have been released by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Commissioner for Human Rights on January 20 - National Mourning Day. Iran says hopes Trump will take 'realistic' approach to region Tehran, Jan 20 (AFP) Jan 20, 2025 Iran said Monday it hoped the incoming US administration under Donald Trump would adopt a "realistic" approach and show "respect" for the interests of countries in the region. Trump will be sworn in for a second term as US president on Monday. "We hope that the approaches and policies of the (new) US government will be realistic and based on international law and respect for the interests and desires of the nations of the region, including the Iranian nation," said foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei during a weekly press briefing. Baqaei lambasted the outgoing administration of Joe Biden over its support for Israel in its war with Hamas. He also said Biden's administration had failed to "show any seriousness" in reviving the nuclear deal with Iran. During his first term, Trump pursued a policy of "maximum pressure" against Iran, withdrawing the United States from a 2015 landmark nuclear deal which imposed curbs on its nuclear programme in return for sanctions relief. Tehran adhered to the deal until Washington's withdrawal in 2018, but then began rolling back its commitments. Efforts to revive the pact have since faltered. The deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), provided for the snapback mechanism which allowed signatories to reimpose United Nations sanctions on Iran in cases of the "significant non-performance" of commitments. The option to trigger the mechanism expires in October this year. Baqaei warned of a "proportionate and reciprocal" response if the mechanism was triggered. "Abusing this mechanism will mean that there will no longer be a justification or reason for Iran to remain in some relevant agreements," he said. Iranian diplomats have previously warned that Tehran would "withdraw" from the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty if the mechanism was triggered. Last week, Iran held discreet nuclear talks with Britain, Germany and France, known as the E3, which both sides described as "frank and constructive". Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi later said European powers appeared serious about finding ways to revive nuclear negotiations, adding that it was not clear whether the Trump administration "intends to return to the negotiations". Pair admit to Frenchman's murder after more than 20 years on run Nancy, France, Jan 20 (AFP) Jan 20, 2025 Two men admitted on Monday to the 2003 murder of a Frenchman when they appeared in court after more than two decades on the run. The lifeless body of salesman Philippe Charuel was discovered in February 2003 in a ditch by a road in Gondreville, eastern France. According to the investigation, two young prostitutes had reported having been bothered by Charuel while he was leaving a bar near the train station in the city of Nancy on the night of February 19-20, 2023. He was then taken into a car, a black BMW, by two men, who were later identified as Christian Rad and Vasile Ostas. After nearly 22 years in hiding, the two fugitives, who were involved in pimping according to the Spanish police, were arrested in August 2023 near Barcelona. They had been living in Catalonia for about 20 years, under false identities. The two men had already been sentenced in absentia in 2011 to 30 and 26 years in jail. Vasile Ostas, 52, a Romanian national, told the court he "admitted" the facts and said he was "sorry" on numerous occasions. "I hit him but I didn't want him dead," he said of Charuel. "I ask forgiveness from the victim's family" and "from French society". Christian Rad, Ostas' 40-year-old nephew, also admitted he had hit the victim "with my hands", in the presence of the two women and his uncle. "I saw a lot of violence. It was a shock for me too. I thought a lot about (Charuel's family) all evening," he said. Charuel was described as "a man without a past history" who frequented nightclubs, had recently separated from his wife and was the father of a young child. His body was found with 20 injuries to the abdomen, several broken ribs and "numerous wounds and injuries" on the face, including a fractured jaw and missing teeth, presiding judge Therese Diligent said. The verdict is expected on Friday. Putin says open to Ukraine talks with Trump, hopes for 'lasting peace' Moscow, Jan 20 (AFP) Jan 20, 2025 Russian President Vladimir Putin said Monday he was open to talks on the Ukraine conflict with Donald Trump's incoming US administration, adding he hoped any settlement would ensure "lasting peace". Trump is set to be sworn in for a historic second term as US president Monday, having promised to reach out to both sides and bring a swift end to the nearly three-year conflict. "We are also open to dialogue with the new US administration on the Ukrainian conflict," Putin said in televised remarks, congratulating the Republican on his upcoming inauguration. "As for the settlement of the situation itself, I want to emphasise that its goal should not be a brief truce... but a lasting peace based on respect for the legitimate interests of all people," he added. "We will, of course, fight for the interests of Russia, for the interests of the Russian people." Trump said last year that the Ukraine-Russia conflict was "dying to be settled" and that he would speak to both Moscow and Kyiv to avoid "World War III". Putin said he "welcomed" Trump's desire to prevent a third world war. "We certainly welcome this attitude and congratulate the president-elect of the United States on taking office," he said. Colombia's defence ministry says 20 dead in Amazon guerilla violence Bogota, Jan 20 (AFP) Jan 20, 2025 Colombia's security forces on Monday struggled to contain a surge in left-wing guerilla violence that has now killed more than 100 people in five days and threatens to derail the country's troubled peace process. Even as thousands of soldiers rushed to quell violence near the northeastern border with Venezuela -- where more than 80 have been killed and 11,000 displaced by days of fighting -- the defense ministry reported a similar outbreak of fighting in a remote Amazon region. A ministry official told AFP that 20 people had been killed in fighting between rival left-wing guerillas in Guaviare department. The Amazon clashes involved rival FARC splinter groups -- leftwing guerillas who, unlike the rump Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, have not signed peace accords. The violence is a fresh challenge for Colombia's leftist president Gustavo Petro who has staked his political fortunes on a policy of "total peace." In the face of some public opposition, Petro launched negotiations with the various hardline armed groups that still control parts of Colombia after being elected in 2022. Critics allege that his conciliatory approach has emboldened groups who are often funded by the proceeds of cocaine and other trafficking, and allowed them space to grow in power and influence. A 2016 peace deal with FARC was hailed as a turning point in the six-decade-long conflict between Colombian security forces, guerrillas, right-wing paramilitaries and drug gangs, which has left nearly half a million people dead. But dissident factions continue to control territory in several parts of Colombia, the world's biggest cocaine producer. BAKU, Azerbaijan, January 20. Joint investigations are underway into the crash of the Azerbaijan Airlines (AZAL) jet en route Baku-Grozny on December 25, 2024, near the city of Aktau, in coordination with the relevant authorities of Kazakhstan and Russia, including the Prosecutor's Office and law enforcement agencies, the Prosecutor General of Azerbaijan Kamran Aliyev told reporters, Trend reports. "By the order and instruction of President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, all relevant state structures have been mobilized in connection with the investigation of the AZAL plane crash near Aktau, and they are carrying out their tasks according to their responsibilities. Criminal cases have been initiated in three countries Russia, Kazakhstan, and Azerbaijan concerning the aviation accident. Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, and Russia's relevant authorities have gathered evidence, which they will later jointly analyze to identify the responsible parties. Currently, the Russian Investigative Committee and the Prosecutor General's Office are conducting the necessary investigative actions in this direction," he added. On December 25, an Embraer 190 passenger plane belonging to Azerbaijan Airlines (AZAL), en route from Baku to Grozny, crashed about 3 kilometers from Aktau airport. There were 67 people on board (62 passengers and five crew members). The incident claimed the lives of 38 people, and 29 were injured. Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel Adam Al-Attar KC, for a group of Class A creditors known as the Class A Ad Hoc Group, said in written submissions that the Class B groups case is obviously weak and does not need expert evidence, adding that the JRC is not a negative control right, i.e. veto, as to who might bid to provide equity. This is a position supported by what Ruislip estate agent Peter Lawrence, Founder at Lawrence Rand, is seeing on the ground: We have high hopes for a strong year in 2025, with a larger pipeline of sales compared with the start of last year. We expect a solid first three months in exchanges and completions. After the cold snap weve just had, viewings, offers and sales being agreed are picking up again at a solid rate. Sellers seem to be listening to our valuation recommendations more than previously, I think this down to expectations being more realistic, and an understanding that mortgage costs are now much higher. I'm sorry, but ADHD has become a scam that is wildly overdiagnosed and an excuse for poor behaviour I'm sorry, but ADHD has become a scam that is wildly overdiagnosed He is not expected to receive a whole life order because he was 17 at the time of the murders the measures can normally only be imposed on criminals aged 21 or over, and are usually only considered for those aged 18 to 20 in exceptional circumstances. It would have been agonising for one to come out and not another, so this is really special for them. They are really fabulous women who have been so strong, he said. Mr Lammy replied: Im not as worried as some are, and the reason is because whilst there is this debate and Donald Trump has continued to push it about our commitment to defence spending, it is important to say that if we let Putin win, defence spending across all of our countries will rocket. The Prime Minister paid tribute to the depth of friendship between the 47th president and the UK, and pledged to continue to work together to ensure the success of both our countries and deliver for people on both sides of the Atlantic. He said on Monday: As for the resolution of the situation (in Ukraine) itself, I would like to emphasise that the goal should not be a brief ceasefire, not some kind of period of respite that would allow a regrouping and rearmament of forces, but a long-term peace based on respect for the legitimate interests of all people and all peoples who live in the region. Britain will rightly demand answers. And we will leave no stone unturned in that pursuit. At the centre of this horrific event, there is still a family and community grief that is raw; a pain that not even justice can ever truly heal. But in response to LaCivitas scorn, Lord Darroch said the new ambassador shouldnt take all of this stuff too seriously, adding: You get this sort of stuff going on all the time, you need to have a thick skin, and you need to manage it and to get through it, to weather it, as it were, so Lord Mandelson is a very experienced politician, Im sure he can cope with this kind of stuff. SIGN UP FOR THE DAILY JWR UPDATE. IT'S FREE. (AND NO SPAM!) Just click here. Today, America's uniquely unique "peaceful transition of power" will (supposedly) be over and Donald J Trump will be beginning his first full day as America's forty-seventh president. As I said the day after his tremendous victory, he should skip all the inaugural bollocks in DC and just have a brisk businesslike swearing-in on the Rio Grande by a justice of the peace (Coolidge-style) followed by 47's personal arrest and deportation of the first "undocumented" migrant to attempt to walk into America on his watch. It was a wholly serious suggestion - because America is dying before your eyes and there is no time to waste. I mean, when one of the most famous towns on the planet can't get water into its hydrants, is this really the time for a parade of 973 fire trucks? Besides, the incoming president loathes the Chief Justice, and with good reasons, which have been added to in recent days. Why does Trump require the "validation" of John Roberts? Alas, the forty-seventh president has decided to go for the usual and wholly un-republican bollocks - but with a few innovations: Dearborn's Imam Husham Al-Husainy is scheduled to deliver a 'prayer' at Trump's inauguration . He's an Iraqi Hezbollah supporter with ties to Iran who delivered a DNC prayer attacking the US, pushed fake 'Islamophobic' hate crimes and wanted to impose Sharia law Thread pic.twitter.com/OVwjraZ1Ic Daniel Greenfield - "Hang Together or Separately" (@Sultanknish) January 13, 2025 More in The New York Post. There shouldn't be an imam at the inauguration, whether or not he was "the public face of The Detroit Free Press's campaign against Trump's travel ban". It gives the impression that America is the Denny's salad bar of religions, and not a country that arises from a very specific inheritance - and that kind of thinking has screwed the entire western world. Yet, even so, this guy is straight out of September 12th, when the geniuses around Bush thought the priority was to get him to a mosque photo-op with a bunch of Taqiyya boys. The incoming Administration now says the situation is "being handled". There shouldn't have been a "situation" to be "handled" in the first place. I regret my suggestion was not taken up. ~On a related theme, a headline from The Spectator: Is Westminster forgetting about the grooming gangs already? You do surprise me! Of course, in order to forget them, you would have had to remember them in the first place. And the entire apparatus of the British state is dedicated to ensuring that never happens. So was this just another of those periodic eruptions I've seen so many of? After which the country's depraved ruling class goes back to looking the other way while white English working-class girls go back to getting gang-raped and sodomised and urinated on and doused in petrol and dangled off balconies? Same time next year? ~It's only a couple of weeks since incoming presidential chief of staff Susie Wiles reminded fellow Trump nominees to "refrain from any posting on social media". This was directly in response to the H1B visa spat starring ...Elon Musk. So, whether or not Musk is a "nominee" in the sense of requiring Senate confirmation, it seems to me that he would not be denouncing members of allied governments as "rape genocide apologists" without at least an implied go-ahead from the President-Elect. It is a slightly more hardcore version of Trump's references to the PM of a friendly neighbour as "Governor Trudeau" of the American state of Canada. And, unlike the latter, it has the merit of being true: almost all UK establishment figures since Gordon Brown have spent the last decade-and-a-half being "rape genocide apologists". Nevertheless, it is too much for the Rt Hon Sir Ed Davey, Leader of the Liberal Democrat Party and a man who is to village postmasters what Sir Keir Starmer is to white working-class schoolgirls. Sir Ed has had enough: What exactly do I fail to understand about your failure to stop the mass rape of little girls in Britain, you sniveling cretin? Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 7, 2025 Indeed. All while Sir Ed and Sir Keir were self-garlanding. Knighthood is supposed to be an order of chivalry. Where's the chivalry in accepting, as Sir Keir's Ginger Growler does in Oldham, that, because Labour is electorally dependent on a Muslim vote that includes both the rapists and their protectors on the local council, a small number of young girls ("small" as in half-a-million) have to put up with a bit of anal gang rape in the interests of "celebrating diversity"? A couple of other thoughts re Elon Musk. At this shingle we've been on this outrage for a long time, and we've gotten nowhere with Labour, Tories or anyone else who matters. It has become a "story" only because Musk decided to make it one. This is the media environment of 2025: You have to be the wealthiest man in the world, the owner of one of the Internet's biggest "platforms" and a sidekick of Donald J Trump even to get it into the news cycle for a week or two. There is no bench of farm-team Elon Musks able to do likewise for other issues. As to the implication that Musk is a "foreigner" "interfering" in the internal affairs of the United Kingdom, well, he's a Canadian via South Africa - or a South African via Canada, according to taste. So as a point of English law he is not a "foreigner": he's a British subject - or, if you prefer, a Commonwealth citizen. If he moved to the snivelling cretin's constituency tomorrow (which he could, very easily), he would be eligible to vote or stand against the sniveller at the next election. But this is way beyond that: If Sir Keir is foolish enough to "summon" the US Ambassador, His Excellency should decline to accept the premise - that the state has the right to restrict the speech of persons objecting to cover-ups of child rape. If the government of, say, Slovenia were complicit in "the mass rape of little girls", I think citizens of, oh, Slovakia would be entitled to express their revulsion - especially given the silence of the natives and their worthless media. The same people who huff about western leaders not bringing up LGBTQWERTY rights with Putin now insist that the gang rape of children is just a local cultural phenomenon no outsider is entitled to weigh in on. Mark's international bestseller America Alone: The End of the World as We Know It. If you haven't read the book during its first seventeen years, well, you're missing a treat. It's still in print in hardback and paperback. (Buy it at a 77% discount by clicking here or order in KINDLE edition at a 47% discount by clicking here. Sales help fund JWR) (COMMENT, BELOW) Mark Steyn is an international bestselling author, a Top 41 recording artist, and a leading Canadian human rights activist. Among his books is "The Undocumented Mark Steyn: Don't Say You Weren't Warned". (Buy it at a 49% discount by clicking here or order in KINDLE edition at a 67% discount by clicking here. Sales help fund JWR) BAKU, Azerbaijan, January 20. The 35th anniversary of the January 20 tragedy is marked today, Trend reports. The Azerbaijani people honor the blessed memory of the victims of the January 20 tragedy. On the night of January 19-20, 1990, as a result of military aggression of the units of the Soviet Army and special forces, as well as contingents of internal troops against Azerbaijan, civilians, including children, women and elderly were massacred in the cities of Baku, Sumgayit, Lankaran and Neftchala by order of the USSR leadership. As a result of the occupying forces military aggression 149 civilians were killed, 744 were seriously injured, and 4 people went missing. The Soviet army sent to the country in order to forcefully suppress the mass protests of the Azerbaijani people and the national independence movement started in response to the discrimination policy of the USSR leadership against the people of Azerbaijan, the deportation of hundreds of thousands of Azerbaijanis from their historical lands in the territory of present-day Armenia, and Armenias unfounded territorial claims against Karabakh, committed an unprecedented massacre against the civilian population grossly violating international law and the Constitution. Now both clients understood the importance of being able to represent everybody. Thats what a legal system is all about. And my concern about attacks on lawyers for doing particular cases is that it undermines faith in the legal system, Lord Hermer said. As the Duke of Rothesay, Charles was appointed Colonel in Chief of the regiment in 1978 and remained so until its amalgamation with the Queens Own Highlanders in 1994. Ms Parham, 44, who lives in Stamford, Lincolnshire, and works in the food industry, told the PA news agency: It was Christmas Eve and I found a message from Jim that had been sat in my Facebook Messenger junk messages for six months, so it was sort of magic that Id stumbled across this message. Ive had the privilege of running over 170 marathons, been to some incredible places in the world, but I dont think any challenge is going to be quite like this, purely because of the environment, the distance. It seems that, instead, members of his circle have begun to backtrack on his big promises. Keith Kellogg, who was picked by the president-elect as the US special envoy to Ukraine, has suggested a 100-day time limit to end the war instead. Lets set it at 100 days and move all the way back and figure a way we can do this in the near term to make sure that the solution is solid, its sustainable, and this war ends so that we can stop the carnage, he told Fox News in December. BAKU, Azerbaijan, January 20. On the occasion of the 35th anniversary of the January 20th tragedy, the leadership and staff of Azerbaijan's Ministry of Health visited the Alley of Martyrs to honor the memory of those who died for the freedom of Azerbaijan, Trend reports. "The heroic sons and daughters of the homeland who gave their lives for freedom have written a new, bright chapter in the heroic history of our people. January 20th became a turning point in the life of the Azerbaijani people. The difficult but glorious path, which began in 1990, reached its most glorious peak with the Victory in Karabakh. This great victory, achieved under the leadership of the victorious Supreme Commander-in-Chief Ilham Aliyev, is inscribed in golden letters in the centuries-old history of our people," the ministry said in a statement. Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel BAKU, Azerbaijan, January 20. The martyrs of the January 20 tragedy have been commemorated in Azerbaijan's liberated Khankendi city, Khojaly district and Asgaran town, Trend reports. The movement of vehicles and pedestrians was suspended for one minute at 12:00 (GMT +4) to honor the martyrs' memory. On January 20, 1990, the Soviet army forces entered Baku to suppress the masses protesting the USSR-supported Armenian aggression based on territorial claims against Azerbaijan. The entry of Soviet troops resulted in an unprecedented tragedy for Azerbaijan. Valiant sons and daughters of Azerbaijan put the countrys freedom, honor, and dignity above everything else, sacrificed their lives, and became martyrs. Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel BAKU, Azerbaijan, January 20. The time and venue of the next meeting of the foreign ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia haven't been agreed upon yet, Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov told reporters, Trend reports. Peace treaty negotiations continue with Armenia. The foreign ministries are negotiating a more extensive draft peace treaty. These are being conducted regularly. Several meetings have taken place over the past year. Currently, there is no specific agreement on the time and place of the next meeting, he noted. According to him, the peace treaty process will continue in 2025. We are waiting for serious practical steps from Armenia, the minister added. Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel AGERPRES special corespondent Florin Stefan reports: Both in Romania and at the European level, the investigations currently carried out must present to the people at least preliminary conclusions before the start of the campaign for the presidential elections, because the people must vote knowingly, PNL MEP Siegfried Muresan said on Monday in Strasbourg. The MEP, who holds the position of vice-president of the European People's Party (EPP) group in the European Parliament, referred to the official investigation launched in mid-December by the European Commission against TikTok for its failure to limit interference in the elections, as well as to the wider investigation announced by the Romanian authorities on this topic, which was also welcomed by the EP president Roberta Metsola. "I believe that people have the right to know what happened. They have the right to know what were the methods used by those who tried to illegitimately influence the elections in Romania (...) and I hope that the results of the investigations will appear in the following weeks", Muresan told a briefing for Romanian journalists. He admitted that these investigations launched by the European Commission against TikTok and X may last for months, but he appreciated that "the fact that this investigation has started is a good thing and means that the risk of spreading fake news on this platform is reduced to some extent". Muresan also admitted that the efforts to combat such interference were more effective in the Republic of Moldova, "because there the authorities were aware before the elections of the risk of interference, they informed and educated the citizens better", including with the help of civil society. "We believed that this type of interference cannot take place at the level of the European Union, in a member state of the European Union, but in the meantime I think that everyone understood that the Russian Federation wants to weaken the European Union, wants to weaken the institutions at European level and also wants the weakening of institutions at the national level, wants people to no longer trust justice, democratic institutions of the state and, in fact, wants destabilization", explained the vice-president of the EPP group in the EP. On the other hand, Siegfried Muresan emphasized that it is necessary to publish at least the preliminary results of the investigations before the start of the campaign for the first round of the presidential elections in Romania. "I think we should at least have preliminary results before people go to the polls. People must vote knowingly. People must be informed, they must know how social networks were used during the election campaign to misinform them and even to manipulate them", he emphasized, specifying that this is valid "both in Romania and at the European level". Horror Vacui, the longest theatrical event in the world, is set to take place at the Galateca Art Gallery in Bucharest, from February 15 to 22, being organised by the A.R.T. Fusion Association, under the Papercuts platform umbrella, to bring into discussion abandonment, "a profound rift in Romania's history", as more than one million children were abandoned during the communist period, informs a press release sent to AGERPRES on Monday. Horror Vacui is a large-scale artistic act, a durational theatre performance supported by over 500 actors 24 hours a day and will be a world premiere. The event aims to mediate emotionally and to call for the recognition of a part of Romania's traumatic past, to shed light on the issue of child abandonment in our country and the history of this phenomenon during the communist period, the press release shows. Maia Morgenstern, Ofelia Popii, Ada Gales, Mihaela Sirbu, Richard Bovnovski, Nicoleta Lefter, Tudor Cucu Dumitrescu, as well as Kate Pendry, a British-Norwegian actress and winner of the Ibsen Prize, are some of the actors that will be participating in the event, alongside internationally renowned writers and journalists. "These are complicated times, when isolation and abandonment persist in various forms around us. We think of Papercuts as a platform for civic fitness, a space of mediation between the past and the future. With Horror Vacui, we seek to write, alongside spectators, an open letter to the Romanian state, so that it publicly recognizes the horrors committed between 1966 and 1990 and it makes this recognition a promise for the future. More than a million children abandoned then are now part of society, but face difficulties integrating. Horror Vacui is an attempt of art to strengthen its political and empathic potential," Alexandru Ivanoiu, actor, playwright and initiator of the project, was quoted as saying in the press release. The public is invited to contribute testimonials or personal stories of abandonment, which can be included in the performance and interpreted by the actors, by visiting https://bit.ly/formular-papercuts. Volunteers can also sign up on the same form to support the event on site, specifies the source. "This cultural approach tries to bring into question a profound rift in Romania's history. Over a million children were abandoned during the communist period, becoming victims of a system that turned them into 'nobody's children'. Until today, the Romanian state has no concrete data about this tragic reality and continues to ignore its responsibility towards this vulnerable part of society. Papercuts and Horror Vacui push the boundaries of culture and social engagement and come to provoke a recognition of the past, creating premises for a more responsible future," the press release states. Horror Vacui - "the emptiness phobia" - deals with abandonment, emptiness and collective responsibility. The performance will take place for seven days non-stop, with an impressive artistic effort: 505 actors, three per hour, 505 texts about emptiness and the antonym of abandonment. These texts, half of which are based on testimonies and stories archived by the Museum of Abandonment, outline a collective meditation on acknowledging the past and rebuilding the future. The initiative aims to create an intimate and continuous space of dialogue towards finding solutions. This space will act as a bridge between the past and the future, keeping presence and reflection alive throughout the week. An essential element of the project is that, no matter the moment, in this place in Bucharest there will always be someone available to talk about these topics, whether the public comes to listen or not, the organisers explain. Participation is free and the detailed program will be announced soon on the project's social networks. The Museum of Abandonment is a partner in this project, providing an archival and emotional setting to explore the theme. "The Museum of Abandonment aims to bring to light this huge collective trauma in Romania - abandonment. The more we ignore this wound, the deeper it will dig into the social fabric, necrotizing more and more layers of the collective emotional. Horror Vacui and the Papercuts project hope to be a trigger for action and responsibility. If we want a more inclusive, more empathetic, more responsible society, we each have something to do in this sense," emphasized Oana Dragulinescu, founder of the Museum of Abandonment. Papercuts is a bilateral initiative funded under the RO-CULTURA Programme, through the National Bilateral Fund of the EEA and Norway Grants. The governments of Hungary and Romania are planning to increase the number of border crossing points between the two countries in order to put an end to long waiting times, Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Szijjarto declared in Bucharest on Monday, adding that both sides are committed to further developing mutually beneficial cooperation, news agency MTI reports. After talks with several members of the newly inaugurated Romanian Cabinet, Szijjarto referred to the strategic importance of developing cross-border infrastructure. A statement by the Hungarian Foreign Ministry noted that Romania became a full-fledged member of the Schengen Area during Hungary's EU Presidency and border controls were "finally eliminated", reducing "uncertainty arising from long waiting times". Szijjarto welcomed the upcoming increase in the number of border crossings from 12 to 22, thereby reducing the average distance between crossings from 37 km to 20 km. He noted that an agreement on opening further crossings is in the pipeline, and that Romania and Hungary have also signed an agreement on rebuilding the bridge in Magyarcsanad (Hungary) and Cenad (Romania) and constructing a new railway line between Szeged and Timisoara. Peter Szijjarto praised Romania as "one of Hungary's most important economic partners" and its third largest export market. Hungarian companies such as Hell, Mol, Wizz Air and Richter are market leaders in Romania, he added. Energy cooperation between the two countries, the Hungarian top diplomat said, greatly enhanced the security of supplies for both countries. The Hungary-Romania interconnector delivered 1.7 billion cubic meters of gas to Hungary last year, and Romania is preparing to tap a new offshore gas field. "If all goes well," this could provide new resources to Central Europe by 2027, the Hungarian foreign minister added. "In this new situation, we have a legitimate interest in expanding gas trade cooperation. The relevant talks are already underway between our companies," he went on to say. Meanwhile, a joint-venture has been created to prepare Hungary's cooperation with Azerbaijan, Romania and Georgia to import green energy from the Caucasus region, Szijjarto said. He also welcomed the inclusion of the Hungarian Democratic Union of Romania (UDMR) in the new Romanian Cabinet, stating that hopes are high that this will massively improve bilateral cooperation, and voicing appreciation for the fact that the UDMR heads ''two important ministries", Development and Finance. ''There is no doubt in Romania that the UDMR politicians are trustworthy and that they will add considerable value to the government's performance," he remarked. In talks with his Romanian counterpart Emil Hurezeanu, Szijjarto stated that the focus will be on pragmatic cooperation and they were in agreement that Central Europe needs peace, development and stability. A new chapter begins in the history of the United States of America with the second term of President Donald Trump, Save Romania Union (USR) President Elena Lasconi says. America represents for Romania a "point of support" in terms of national security, says Lasconi in a message sent on the occasion of Donald Trump's inauguration. "Today a new chapter begins in the history of the United States of America, with the second term of President Donald Trump. It is a chapter that I look forward to with hope, even if others await it with anxiety. What matters to us, as Romanians, is the special relationship with the USA - we have a strategic partnership, we were and are loyal allies, and America is for us the point of support when it comes to security our national", Lasconi wrote on Facebook on Monday. She expresses her belief that Donald Trump's term will be "much different" from President Biden's and that in four years "many things will be different" from now. "President Trump has the DNA of a businessman, so his global economic approaches will be very different from those of his predecessors, and this will have planetary effects. Romania will have to adapt as best as possible, to be able to keep up with the changes at world level. For the good of the United States, but also for the good of Romania, I wish President Donald Trump a successful mandate and hope that he will be successfully involved in finding solutions to problems that are also Romania's, in particular to Russia's military aggression on the Ukrainian territory", adds Lasconi. Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu has expressed his appreciation for the high-level efforts to free the hostages in the Gaza Strip, recalling the strategic partnership between Romania and Israel. "After 470 days of captivity, two women with Romanian citizenship and Romanian origin have been released from Gaza and will return home following the agreement between Israel and Hamas. Their courage to resist in captivity in such difficult conditions is a source of inspiration for us all. I would like to express my appreciation for the sustained and substantial efforts of the high-level mediators from Qatar, the US, Egypt and Israel who have made it possible for this good news to reach the families of the hostages today," the Prime Minister posted on Facebook. According to him, the full implementation of the agreement needs to continue so that all hostages can be released safely and we remain in solidarity with the families who are still waiting for their loved ones to return home. In a message broadcast simultaneously on X, Marcel Ciolacu recalled the strategic partnership between Romania and Israel. "Romania and Israel share a relationship of strategic importance, and solidarity is part of our ties. We will continue our joint efforts to promote peace and security and to implement the various economic and security projects that we have agreed on with Prime Minister Netanyahu," the prime minister said. He announced that preparations are being made for the joint government meeting to be held in Bucharest, in which the Israeli prime minister is invited to participate. AGERPRES The Romanian short film "Tell me a poem", made in 2023 by Elena Chirila and Ana Gurdis, will be screened at the London Short Film Festival 2025, which takes place between January 17-26, in most cinemas in London, according to the Romanian Cultural Institute in London. Director Elena Chirila, together with co-director Ana Gurdis, will represent the film and will hold Q&A after the screening on January 23. "Tell Me a Poem" is a Romanian production, a video-poem that combines poetry and documentary. The film tells the author's experience of surviving domestic violence and the process of finding herself, in a context marked by uncertainty and anxiety. It is a reflection on a woman's struggle to free herself and find her voice and inner strength, in a journey of self-discovery and healing. The film was made with support from Creative Europe - Executive Agency for Education and Culture (EACEA) and co-financed by the Administration of the National Cultural Fund. The film was made as part of the ECHO III Bucharest 2023 Film Residency by the RHEA Artistic Exploration Platform. The London Short Film Festival is held annually in January at various locations in London. Founded in 2004, the festival celebrates short film productions from every genre, including drama, comedy, horror, science fiction, documentary, experimental, animation, music and low-budget films. Senate head and interim Chairman of the National Liberal Party (PNL) Ilie Bolojan termed on Monday the opposition's move toward suspending President Klaus Iohannis from office as a "political game" which most likely won't get to be voted on in Parliament. "There are three aspects here. The first one is this being a political game. After ten years in office, President Iohannis's level of confidence has indeed plunged, and as such anyone who criticizes him, anyone who asks him to step down from this temporary position before the May election is knocking on already open doors of the public opinion. Those who request his suspension and withdrawal are doing a political game, with the upcoming presidential election and the consolidation of their public image in mind. (...) The second aspect is related to the calendar of the potential suspension. Presuming that this suspension procedure takes place through Parliament, and assuming that the referendum actually passes, we would exceed the date set for the presidential election, therefore it's a nonsense since we already have the presidential calendar established and we know that the first round is on May 4 and the second round on the 18th. Pursuing this procedure would only result in new presidential elections, but after this date. If somehow it could be carried out faster, let's say that it would buy us a few more months. Last but not least, it's a matter of responsibility towards our country," Bolojan told Euronews. He pointed out that Romania is in a tight corner as regards the budget and any political instability translates into financial costs for the country. "From the point of view of responsibility, voting on this is out of question, but not because we would support President Klaus Iohannis, but rather out of responsibility for Romania, because this does not help us at all," the PNL leader said. Bolojan was also asked about the scenario of President Iohannis resigning his mandate and the Senate head becoming caretaker president. "Such a hypothesis is a different situation that does not interfere with the elections, in the sense that the date is clearly established, but it is one thing for this process to take place normally - and this depends on the decision of a certain person - and it's something else to speculate on a situation of aversion, of lack of support to play on politically. The concern for stability and responsibility comes from Romania's situation," the PNL interim Chairman said. The Young People's Party (POT) announced last week that 161 POT, AUR and SOS lawmakers signed for the suspension of President Klaus Iohannis, and the signatures were submitted to the Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies. Senate President Ilie Bolojan on Monday welcomed the release of hostages following the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, stressing that it must continue. "Following the truce between Israel and Hamas, three women have been released from captivity in Gaza. Among them, a woman of Romanian-Israeli citizenship and a woman of Romanian origin. Their courage and resilience in the face of hardship inspire respect. It is essential that this truce continues and that all hostages are released and that Israelis and Palestinians live in peace. We remain in solidarity with the families still waiting for the return of their loved ones," Bolojan wrote on the Senate Facebook page. Hamas on Sunday handed over three Israeli hostages, who are currently at the Sheba Hospital in Tel Aviv. On Monday morning, Israel released the first group of 90 Palestinian prisoners, most of them women and children, as part of the ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip that came into force on Sunday 11:15 am local time (09:15 GMT), EFE reported. AGERPRES The President of the Senate, Ilie Bolojan, had a meeting with the representatives of the American company Lockheed Martin, one of the world leaders in the defense industry and aerospace technology. "The discussions focused on topics of common interest, in particular technology sharing and economic partnerships. The meeting confirmed the mutual commitment to support innovation and research. The two delegations discussed the investment that Lockheed Martin is considering for the development of a factory dedicated to the production of high-capacity batteries at Sinteza Oradea, together with the national industry, as well as the implementation of research programs, including artificial intelligence", reads a release posted on Monday on the website of the Senate. According to the cited source, the company aims to develop the project in Romania into a European hub in the field of energy efficiency and security, and the research and the necessary components to be carried out with research institutions and companies in Romania. The president of the Senate assured the representatives of Lockheed Martin of institutional support for the implementation of this investment. BAKU, Azerbaijan, January 20. I came here secretly by train from Moscow 35 years ago, the famous photographer Reza Deghati said, Trend reports. He noted that the territory was filled with people. Everyone was crying. Baku's roads were closed. Foreign journalists were not allowed here. Only I was able to make it. I came from Paris to Moscow and from there to Baku. If I had been caught, I would have been wiped out, he noted. Degati emphasized that he was able to secretly conduct filming in Baku for three days. I filmed everything that happened. I found the bodies of the Martyrs in the morgues and photographed them, filming the wounded in the hospital. Baku was full of Soviet tanks. After the shoot, I returned to Moscow with a false document and then drove to Paris. In Moscow, I said that I came here from Paris to shoot an opera, he noted. To note, today marks the 35th anniversary of the January 20 tragedy. The deployment of combat units of the Soviet army on January 20, 1990, against the broad masses of people who came out to the streets and squares of Baku to express their resolute protest against the aggressive actions of Armenia, which put forward territorial claims to Azerbaijan, and the patronage of the USSR leadership led to an unprecedented tragedy in Azerbaijan. The brave souls of the Fatherland, for whom the freedom, honor, and dignity of their country and people were uppermost in those tragic days, gave their lives in the name of the Fatherland, climbing to the pinnacle of martyrdom. Tony Messenger Metro columnist Follow Tony Messenger Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Save Manage followed notifications Close Followed notifications Please log in to use this feature Log In Don't have an account? Sign Up Today When St. Louis County Councilman Dennis Hancock was accused last year of violating the states prohibition against nepotism, he pleaded ignorance. I wasnt aware of this, he said in an August phone call with county counselor Dana Redwing. She informed Hancock that he had to resign his council seat because he hired his stepdaughter to be an office assistant. No one made me aware of this, he said of the nepotism ban that has been in Missouris constitution since 1875. Hancock asked Redwing if the problem would go away if his stepdaughter resigned. No, she told him. Later, when then-St. Louis County Prosecutor Wesley Bell moved to legally oust Hancock because of the nepotism violation, Hancock again said he didnt know he was doing anything wrong. I wasnt aware that it was in the state constitution, Hancock told reporters. That statement was not true. Conversation between Dana Redwing and Councilman Dennis Hancock St. Louis County Counselor Dana Redwing tells Councilman Dennis Hancock he forfeited his council seat because he hired Hollie Galati, his stepdaughter. In fact, Hancock made clear in an email more than seven years ago that he knew about the nepotism clause and its requirement that an elected official resign after a violation. In the 2017 email to the Fenton Board of Aldermen, Hancock accused Alderman Joe Maurath of nepotism. Hancock was acting as a Fenton citizen, though he had previously served as the citys mayor. Earlier that year, then-Fenton Mayor Michael D. Polizzi had appointed Kevin Sherrel to the citys Planning & Zoning Commission. Sherrel is married to the niece of Maurath, the alderman. Maurath voted to approve the appointment. Alderman Maurath violated the Missouri Constitution when he voted for the appointment of his nephew, Hancock wrote in the email to the mayor and aldermen. The email, which I obtained a copy of, points out that the penalty for that is very clear: He shall thereby forfeit his office. Clearly Alderman Maurath knew that Mr. Sherrel was his nephew. And he could have avoided this entire episode by simply abstaining from the vote ... But he cannot claim ignorance of the law. Neither can Hancock. In 2017, Hancock thought nepotism was so important that he accused the Board of Aldermen of corruption if they didnt act to remove Maurath from office. You all swore an oath to defend the constitution of the state of Missouri, Hancock declared in his email. If you choose not to do that, then in my opinion you are violating your oath. When I wrote recently of Hancocks failure to acknowledge his violation, I suggested he should have used Google to save himself the legal trouble he faces. Theres a long history of nepotism cases in Missouri, and the result is almost always the same. It turns out, Hancock took my advice seven years before I gave it. As an elected official, it is his responsibility to educate himself, Hancock wrote in 2017 about Maurath. He couldve asked the City Attorney for an opinion; he couldve done a Google search (which is what I did), or he couldve called the Missouri Ethics Commission. Maurath, now the mayor of Fenton, was excluded from the email Hancock sent but has since seen a copy. He never resigned, and neither the council nor the county prosecutor forced any action. It was an oversight on my part. I probably should have abstained, he told me this week in an interview. I asked what he thought about Hancock now pleading ignorance of the law. Theres proof in the pudding right there, he said of the 2017 email. You dont forget something like that. Hancock hasnt yet responded to the legal action seeking his removal from office. The case is still pending in St. Louis County Circuit Court. In a phone interview this weekend, Hancock said he vaguely remembers the circumstances surrounding his 2017 email. When I asked if the email erases any doubt he knew about the nepotism law when he hired his stepdaughter, he clammed up. Im not saying anything, he said. Im really uncomfortable with this line of questioning. Hancock later texted me to say he would not comment on pending litigation. But he may also be uncomfortable with the closing lines he wrote in that 2017 email. There is no gray area here; there is no lesser penalty available due to extenuating circumstances, Hancock wrote of Missouris nepotism law. I hope that each of you can summon the courage to do what needs to be done. The Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Philippine Sea (CG 58), departs from Naval Station Norfolk, Jan. 20, 2025. (Evan Thompson/U.S. Navy) The Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Philippine Sea (CG 58) has set sail on its final deployment after more than 35 years of service. The Philippine Sea left Monday from Naval Station Norfolk for a scheduled mission to the U.S. 4th Fleet area of operations. The ship and crew will play a pivotal role in enhancing regional security and supporting bilateral and multinational efforts to counter challenges unique to 4th Fleet, Adm. Daryl Caudle, commander, U.S. Fleet Forces Command, said in a service news release. This deployment also underscores our commitment to building a resilient and adaptable force that meets global demands while fostering trust and interoperability with our global maritime partners. The ship will support Joint Interagency Task Force South (JIATF-South) to deter illicit activity along Caribbean and Central American shipping routes. The Philippine Sea recently returned from action in the Middle East as part of the Eisenhower strike group that included the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower and the guided-missile destroyers USS Mason and USS Gravely of Destroyer Squadron 22. The strike group saw the first air-to-air engagement against drones and the first combat employment of the precision-guided Joint Direct Attack Munition bombs as the carrier defended merchant ships against almost daily attacks in the Red Sea from Houthi rebels in Yemen. In January 2024, Philippine Sea was among the ships that launched strikes in Yemen in response to weeks of attacks from the militant group on commercial shipping lanes Among other highlights of the Philippine Seas career: In June 2024, Philippine Sea assisted in the rescue of the crew of a merchant vessel attacked by Iranian-backed Houthis in the Red Sea. A helicopter from Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron 74 airlifted 24 civilian mariners from the ship to Philippine Sea. In February 2023, the Philippine Sea joined the USS Oscar Austin and the USS Carter Hall in a recovery effort for the Chinese spy balloon shot down by an F-22 after its long saga traveling across the U.S. In January 2014, Philippine Sea fired Tomahawk missiles in the Persian Gulf during a strike against Islamic State of Iraq and Syria targets. On Sept. 14, 2012, the Philippine Sea carried the cremated remains of Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon, to where they were buried at sea in the Atlantic Ocean. Some of Philippine Seas awards: Combat Action Ribbon (2023-2024); Joint Meritorious Unit Award (1991); Navy Unit Commendation (1991, 2001, 2013); Navy Meritorious Unit Commendation (1994, 2017). The Philippine Sea, named for the Battle of the Philippine Sea during World War II, began its service 1989. It is expected to be decommissioned this year. Members of the U.S. military Joint Honor Guard parade as they rehearse ahead of the upcoming presidential inauguration, at the North Lawn in front of the White House in Washington, Sunday, Jan. 12, 2025. (Ben Curtis/AP) The three popular pillars of Donald Trumps electoral success have been grievances about immigrants, unfair trade practices by other countries, and American forever wars overseas. The last one of these beefs was legitimate and fueled by the interventionist U.S. superpowers major quagmires or debacles in Cuba, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Iran, Lebanon, Somalia, Iraq, Libya and Afghanistan. As an example, a recent op-ed by John F. Sopko, who, as special inspector general for Afghanistan reconstruction since 2012, chronicled the profligate waste of lives and money during the latter half of the two-decade U.S. fiasco in Afghanistan, convincingly argued that bureaucratic incentives in the U.S. military and other agencies to claim success rendered the truth of failure to long be kept from American taxpayers. That problem can be found in the other American catastrophic failures as well. To his credit, during his first presidential term Trump had concluded the Afghan War was a loser, signed an agreement with the Taliban to withdraw U.S. forces from Afghanistan, but failed to carry it out before he left office. Joe Biden, his successor, after a short delay, agreed with Trump about the war and took a big hit in the popularity of his new administration when the U.S.-supported Afghan regime collapsed rapidly during the American troop withdrawal, leading to some chaos and more American and Afghan deaths. Bidens bad experience is why politicians and bureaucrats stay in foreign quagmires; because they dont want to be tarred with the almost inevitable friction and blame that comes with cutting national losses and exiting. Thus, during his second term, because of his prior campaign rhetoric about ending forever wars, Trump might be expected to be leery of using threats or intimidation that could lead to armed conflict or even a long-term military bog abroad. Yet during the interregnum between his recent election and inauguration, he has complained about high fees to transit the Panama Canal and threatened to take it back (presumably with military force since the Panamanians are unlikely to volunteer giving back the Canal Zone), menacingly demanded to buy Greenland, and joked about making Canada the 51st state. Finally, during the campaign, Trump was asked by Fox News about launching cross-border military attacks on Mexican drug cartels and replied, Mexico is gonna have to straighten it out really fast, or the answer is absolutely. Mark Esper, one of Trumps defense secretaries during his first term, claims Trump asked for military options against the cartels and was barely talked out of ordering them. Trumps current aides are building the case for employing such drastic options during a second term. Most of Trumps implicit or explicit threats so far have been directed at much weaker countries in the Western Hemisphere. Yet during his first term, he also threatened countries in East Asia and the Middle East and took aggressive action in the latter region. Before doing an about face and trying to negotiate with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, Trump had implicitly threatened nuclear war with the hermit kingdom by saying that North Korea would be met with fire and fury and frankly power, the likes of which this world has never seen before. It also was reported that Trump privately discussed the possibility of using a nuclear weapon on North Korea and blaming it on another country. In the Middle East, Trump rashly canceled the multilateral agreement with Iran to limit its nuclear program in exchange for the relaxation of economic sanctions and later assassinated the second most powerful Iranian official when he visited Iraq, thus roiling relations with both countries. His proposed appointees for secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth, and ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, oppose Palestinian self-determination and seem to embrace a Greater Israel. This view usually advocates annexing the West Bank and resettling Gaza after Palestinians are removed. Finally, Trump has vowed to put fewer limits on weapons exports to Israel than even the few the Biden administration imposed. Thus, in a second term, even if Trump avoids U.S. military quagmires on the ground, he may still take or allow allied countries to undertake aggressive military action. Lets hope his macho bluster against friendly countries in the hemisphere or adversaries further abroad is just to get some sort of negotiating advantage, because even limited military actions such as, cross-border attacks against Mexican drug cartels, especially without the Mexican governments consent could turn into disastrous bogs if things dont go well; Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan come to mind. Ivan R. Eland is Senior Fellow at the Independent Institute and director of the Independent Institutes Center on Peace & Liberty. (TeleGeography, Global Energy Monitor, OpenStreetMap via The Washington Post) LONDON Ruptures of undersea cables that have rattled European security officials in recent months were likely the result of maritime accidents rather than Russian sabotage, according to several U.S. and European intelligence officials. The determination reflects an emerging consensus among U.S. and European security services, according to senior officials from three countries involved in ongoing investigations of a string of incidents in which critical seabed energy and communications lines have been severed. The cases raised suspicion that Russia was targeting undersea infrastructure as part of a broader campaign of hybrid attacks across Europe, and prompted stepped-up security measures including an announcement last week that NATO would launch new patrol and surveillance operations in the Baltic Sea. But so far, officials said, investigations involving the United States and a half-dozen European security services have turned up no indication that commercial ships suspected of dragging anchors across seabed systems did so intentionally or at the direction of Moscow. Instead, U.S. and European officials said that the evidence gathered to date including intercepted communications and other classified intelligence points to accidents caused by inexperienced crews serving aboard poorly maintained vessels. U.S. officials cited clear explanations that have come to light in each case indicating a likelihood that the damage was accidental, and a lack of evidence suggesting Russian culpability. Officials with two European intelligence services said that they concurred with U.S. assessments. Despite initial suspicions that Russia was involved, one European official said there is counter evidence suggesting otherwise. The U.S. and European officials declined to elaborate and spoke on the condition of anonymity, citing the sensitivity of ongoing investigations. The probes center on three incidents over the past 18 months in which ships traveling to or from Russian ports were suspected of severing key links in a vast underwater network of conduits that carry gas, electricity and internet traffic to millions of people across northern Europe. In the most recent case, Finland seized an oil tanker suspected of dragging its anchor across an undersea power line connecting Finland and Estonia. Finnish authorities said the vessel, the Eagle S, is part of a shadow fleet of tanker ships helping Moscow sell oil on global markets in violation of international sanctions. Previous cases involved a Hong Kong-registered container ship, the NewnewPolar Bear, that ruptured a natural gas pipeline in the Gulf of Finland in October 2023, and a Chinese ship, the Yi Peng 3, that cut two data cables in Swedish waters in November last year. Russias denials of responsibility have been greeted with deep skepticism by European officials confronting a broader wave of hybrid attacks attributed to Moscow. U.S. and European security officials last year disrupted an alleged Russian plot to smuggle incendiary devices on cargo planes in an apparent trial run for later attacks targeting the United States and Canada. U.S. intelligence officials also warned German authorities that Russia was planning to assassinate the chief executive of one of Europes largest weapons producers, a company that had announced plans to build an ammunition manufacturing facility in Ukraine. At the same time, European security officials have accused Russia of using proxies to carry out hundreds of arson attacks, rail disruptions and smaller sabotage operations aimed at sowing divisions in Europe and sapping support for Ukraine. Against that backdrop, the damage to seabed systems added to a European sense of being under siege. German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius called the anchor-dragging incident in November sabotage and said nobody believes that these cables were accidentally severed. Weeks later, Finnish President Alexander Stubb said a Christmas Day incident was definitely linked to Russia. Experts have also said that the seabed cases fit a pattern of Russian aggression. The severing of cables may very well be random accidents, said Eric Ciaramella, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace who previously served as the United States deputy national intelligence officer for Russia. But its hard to rule out a concerted Russian campaign when [Moscows] intelligence services are trying to assassinate German business executives, starting fires at factories across Europe, and putting bombs on cargo planes. The emerging view among Western spy agencies that accidents and not Russia are likely to blame for the undersea damage was dismissed by some critics of Russia. Pekka Toveri, who represents Finland in the European Parliament and previously served as the countrys top military intelligence official, said that the seabed cases are part of a typical hybrid operation from Moscow. The most important thing in any hybrid operation is deniability, Toveri said. Russias security services may have succeeded in not leaving any proof that would hold up in court, he said, but to conclude that they were accidents is total B.S. Toveri and others cited anomalies in the behavior of the vessels involved as well as evidence that Russia has for decades devoted extensive resources including a dedicated military unit known as the General Staff Main Directorate for Deep Sea Research to mapping Western seabed infrastructure and identifying its vulnerabilities. At least two of the ships suspected of causing damage appear to have dragged their anchors 100 miles or more across seafloor. A ship that dropped an anchor by accident, Toveri said, would immediately be dragged so noticeably off course that crews would scramble to bring the vessel to a stop and assess the damage. Mike Plunkett, naval expert at Janes, said that aside from a very loud splash, there will also be a lot of noise from the anchor chain paying out through the hawse hole. He described the chances of three anchor-dropping incidents in the Baltic region since 2023 as vanishingly small although not zero. But he said it was extremely difficult to prove intentional sabotage. The timing of the incidents has heightened suspicion. The most recent cases, in November and December, damaged undersea energy lines at a time when Baltic nations are accelerating efforts to disconnect their power grids from Russia a move that gained urgency after Russias 2022 invasion of Ukraine. There are also reasons to question why Russia would risk targeting undersea systems in waterways now lined by NATO-member countries. Doing so could endanger oil smuggling operations Russia has relied on to finance the war in Ukraine, and possibly provoke more aggressive efforts by Western governments to choke off Russias route to the North Atlantic. At a Baltic summit in Helsinki on Jan. 14, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte announced plans for new patrols by frigates, aircraft, submarine satellites and a small fleet of naval drones designed to detect undersea sabotage. Despite advances in undersea surveillance capabilities, attributing attacks has proved difficult. The bombing of the Nord Stream gas pipelines between Russia and Germany in September 2022 was initially widely blamed on Russia but is now believed to have been carried out by a senior Ukrainian military officer with deep ties to the countrys intelligence services. Finland took a more aggressive approach to the Dec. 25 case of cable damage, forcing the Eagle S into Finnish waters before police and coast guard authorities boarded the vessel by helicopter. Members of the crew suspected of being on duty during the anchor-dragging damage are barred from leaving Finland while the investigation moves forward. A Nordic official briefed on the investigation said conditions on the tanker were abysmal. Weve always gone out with the assumption that shadow fleet vessels are in bad shape, the official said. But this was even worse than we thought. Herman Ljungberg, a lawyer who represents the owner of the Eagle S tanker, acknowledged in a telephone interview that the vessel was carrying Russian oil but denied that it was in violation of international law or that the crew had intentionally caused any damage. European security officials said that Finlands main intelligence service is in agreement with Western counterparts that the Dec. 25 incident appears to have been an accident, though they cautioned that it may be impossible to rule out a Russian role. A spokeswoman for Finlands National Bureau of Investigation, which is leading the investigation of the Eagle S, said that the bureaus probe is still open, and it is too early to make final conclusions of the causes or combinations behind the damages. Dixon reported from Riga, Latvia, and Stanley-Becker from Washington. Ellen Francis in Brussels contributed to this report. BAKU, Azerbaijan, January 20. The 35th anniversary of the January 20 tragedy was honored today in the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic, Trend reports. According to information, the authorized representative of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan in the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic, Fuad Najafli; representatives of the state and government; deputies of the Supreme Majlis; consuls general of the Republic of Turkiye and the Islamic Republic of Iran in the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic; servicemen of the Nakhchivan garrison; members of the Veterans of Nakhchivan and Families of Martyrs of Nakhchivan NGOs; as well as hundreds of residents of Nakhchivan city came to the Alley of Martyrs to commemorate martyrs. The National Anthem of the Republic of Azerbaijan was first performed with the accompaniment of the Military Band. Then the authorized representative, state and government representatives visited the graves of the martyrs and laid carnations on the graves. Fuad Najafli met with the family members of the martyrs and expressed his respect. The monument in memory of the martyred soldiers of the Turkish army, who came to the aid of Nakhchivan in the struggle against the Armenian Dashnaks in 1918-1920, and the monument of Mother were also visited in the Alley of Martyrs, to which flowers were laid. To note, today marks the 35th anniversary of the tragedy of January 20. The deployment of combat units of the Soviet army on January 20, 1990, against the broad masses of people who came out to the streets and squares of Baku to express their resolute protest against the aggressive actions of Armenia, which put forward territorial claims to Azerbaijan, and the patronage of the USSR leadership led to an unprecedented tragedy in Azerbaijan. The brave souls of the Fatherland, for whom the freedom, honor, and dignity of their country and people were uppermost in those tragic days, gave their lives in the name of the Fatherland, climbing to the pinnacle of martyrdom. Russia President Vladimir Putin shown here with Donald Trump at the G20 Summit in 2019 said Russia is ready for talks with the U.S. on the war in Ukraine as he offered congratulations to incoming President Trump on his inauguration. (Mikhail Klimentyev, Sputnik, AFP via Getty Images/TNS) (Tribune News Service) President Vladimir Putin said Russias ready for talks with the U.S. on the war in Ukraine as he offered congratulations to incoming President Donald Trump on his inauguration. We congratulate the U.S. president-elect on taking office, Putin said Monday at a televised meeting of his security council ahead of the inauguration in Washington. Russia welcomed Trumps desire to restore direct contacts and his statements on the need to prevent a third world war, he said. We are open to dialogue with the new U.S. administration on the Ukrainian conflict, Putin said. Its goal should not be a short truce, not some kind of respite for regrouping forces and rearmament with the aim of subsequently continuing the conflict, but a long-term peace based on respect for the legitimate interests of all people, all nations that live in this region. Trump said earlier this month that a meeting with Putin is being set up, raising the prospect that he could push to start negotiations to make good on his pledge to bring a swift end to the war in Ukraine. The two leaders havent yet spoken directly since Trump won election as president in November. Putin usually holds televised meetings of his security council on Friday. The decision to broadcast Putins remarks on Monday, hours before Trump takes office, underlined the Kremlins eagerness to establish relations with the new president and to try to gain advantage in any negotiations. Putin has said repeatedly that hes open to talks about a settlement to Russias nearly three-year-long war, even as he also insists he wont give up territories that his army seized in the east and south of Ukraine since he ordered the full-scale invasion. With Russian forces advancing steadily on the battlefield, the Kremlins likely to take a hard line in any talks. Russia will demand that Ukraine abandon its ambition to join the NATO alliance and become a neutral state with a limited army in any talks with Trump, according to people familiar with the matter. Trump so far hasnt outlined publicly how he intends to bring Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to the negotiating table. Zelenskyy signaled in an interview with Polish media last week that the war, which started in February 2022, is more likely to end this year because of Trumps sway over Russia. Trump really wants to end the war, he said. Hes able to put the pressure, influence Russia. Advisers to the incoming U.S. president are crafting a wide-ranging sanctions strategy to facilitate a Russia- Ukraine diplomatic accord in the coming months, people familiar with the matter said last week. One set of policy recommendations if the Trump administration believes a resolution to the war is in sight involves some good-faith measures to benefit sanctioned Russian oil producers that could help seal a peace deal, the people said. A second option would build on the sanctions, ramping up pressure even further to increase leverage. 2025 Bloomberg L.P. Visit bloomberg.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Debra Tice, the mother of missing journalist Austin Tice, speaks Jan. 20, 2025, at a news conference at the Four Seasons Hotel in Damascus. (Salwan Georges/The Washington Post) DAMASCUS The mother of American journalist Austin Tice, who has been missing in Syria since 2012, said Monday during a visit to the Syrian capital that the incoming Trump administration has offered to help uncover long-awaited answers about the fate of her son. Tices mother, Debra Tice, addressed reporters at a news conference in Damascus on her first visit to the capital in almost a decade, a visit made possible by the astonishing collapse of President Bashar al-Assads regime here last month. I have great hope that the Trump administration will sincerely engage in diligent work to bring Austin home, Debra Tice said. Trumps people have already reached out to me. I havent experienced that for the last four years, she said, comments that implied that the incoming team appeared more proactive than the Biden administration when it came to her sons case. The mothers visit to Syria included a meeting with the countrys interim leader, Ahmed al-Sharaa, who was the commander of the Islamist militant group that led Assads ouster and who is formerly known by his nom de guerre, Abu Mohammed al-Jolani. The meeting was the latest leg in Debra Tices long quest to learn the fate of her son, a Marine veteran and freelance journalist who had worked from Syria for The Washington Post. Austin Tice was abducted from a checkpoint outside Damascus in August 2012. A video that surfaced weeks later showed him blindfolded and in the custody of armed men. The U.S. government, based on an intelligence analysis, deemed that video to be staged by the Syrian regime in an effort to make it appear that Islamist militants had seized him. The journalist is one of more than 100,000 people that monitoring groups say went missing under Assads regime, most of whom are believed to have died inside jails run by the countrys military or intelligence services. In the month since the regimes fall, families of the forcibly disappeared have traveled from prison to prison, seeking documents or eyewitness testimony that can shed light on what happened to their loved ones. Successive American administrations have made attempts to speak with Syrian officials about Austin Tice but never achieved meaningful cooperation: The regime steadfastly refused to acknowledge that it held him. Leads about his whereabouts have gone nowhere or run dry. Other wrongfully detained Americans in Syria have been brought home, but Austin Tices case has remained unresolved. At a news conference in Washington in December, Debra Tice said she had no doubt that Austin was alive and well, citing a significant source she did not name. Her remarks came after the Tice family met with Biden national security adviser Jake Sullivan and State Department officials in Washington. We have from a significant source that has already been vetted all over our government: Austin Tice is alive. Austin Tice [is being] treated well. And there is no doubt about that, she said at the time. U.S. officials, however, said privately that they did not have any information to corroborate that view and said many tips and leads over the years had not panned out. Often, current and former U.S. officials said, the sourcing of information on Austin Tice has been unreliable hearsay or information passed along in the hope of receiving a reward. At the news conference Monday in Damascus, Debra Tice said that as part of her search, she had visited two detention centers in the city in recent days, traveling a path well worn by countless other relatives of the disappeared since Assad was toppled and his security personnel vanished. I hardly even know what to say about this experience, she said. Horrible, awful, terrible nightmare. Nakashima reported from Washington. Palestinians return to their homes in Rafah following the start of a ceasefire in Rafah, on Jan. 19, 2025. (Ahmad Salem/Bloomberg) The Gaza ceasefire has entered a second day, with hundreds of aid trucks cleared to enter the war-ravaged strip after the initial hostages-for-prisoners exchange. What comes next is far from certain. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus administration has been jeopardized by the U.S.-backed deal, with one far-right cabinet member pulling his faction out of the ruling coalition in protest. A second, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, has vowed to follow suit if the 15-month war against Iran-backed Hamas doesnt resume in six weeks. That could create a minority government. In Gaza, the question of who will run the territory of 2.2 million people and oversee rebuilding efforts is unresolved. Hamas militants, masked and armed, poured into the streets after the ceasefire was confirmed to show they havent been defeated. Meanwhile, the Palestinian Authority, which controls part of the West Bank but was formally pushed out of Gaza by Hamas in 2007, says its in charge, issuing video footage of the group operating bulldozers and instructing banks to resume services. Israeli officials confirm the PA will soon start to play a role administering the passage of aid through the Rafah crossing from Egypt to Gaza, along with representatives from the European Union and a private U.S .security company. This is similar to the arrangement before 2007s military coup, although the PA has continued to fund and influence various policies in Gaza since then. Israel has said that neither Hamas nor the PA will be permitted to run Gaza, although it hasnt said who will. Another factor is the fate of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who have been forced out of northern Gaza, many of whom are expected to try and return home despite the areas almost total devastation by Israeli bombardments. Temporary housing will be provided, but if the fighting resumes, theyll be in acute danger. 2 phases The Israel-Hamas ceasefire, mediated by Qatar and Egypt as well as the U.S., specifies a six-week process whereby 33 Israelis are released for some 1,900 Palestinians based on a complicated formula 30 prisoners for civilian hostages, 50 for soldiers. The next exchange is Saturday. At the same time, Israeli troops are due to retreat to the periphery of Gaza while humanitarian aid enters. In two weeks, the sides are scheduled to begin negotiations for the second phase of the truce, which is aimed at a permanent end to hostilities and a full exit of Israeli forces. Netanyahu has repeatedly said there can be no such arrangement without the removal of Hamas from military and civilian authority, increasing the likelihood of the war restarting. If that happened, more than 60 hostages would remain in captivity, something many Israelis say they wont tolerate. National security will suffer unless all of the women and men being held captive return home, wrote veteran commentator Ron Ben-Yishai in Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper on Monday, reflecting a majority Israeli view based on opinion polls. Otherwise, this will remain an open wound that will have destructive consequences. Netanyahus recent statements suggest that if Hamas doesnt resign during the upcoming talks and hand over its arms, the war will restart. Hamas statements make clear it has no such intention. That said, Palestinian Authority officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, say Hamas knows it cant continue to rule and expect reconstruction funds to be released by foreign governments. The two sides are quietly discussing how to bring the PA back without humiliating Hamas leaders, they say. This too goes against Israeli wishes, but much depends on how incoming President Donald Trump sees the situation. While the outgoing administration of Joe Biden took part in negotiations for months, a recent push by Trump was crucial in getting an agreement over the line. At a rally a day before his Monday inauguration, Trump praised the freeing of hostages, saying, we achieved an epic ceasefire agreement as a first step toward lasting peace. How that peace will be brought about was left unstated. Hezbollah redux Israeli officials say that if the PA returns to Gaza and Hamas remains in any capacity, theres a risk of a repeat of the situation in Lebanon where another Iran-backed militia, Hezbollah, became a powerful armed force behind a toothless government unable to stop its attacks. Hezbollah began attacking Israel in solidarity with Hamas soon after the Gaza war erupted in October 2023, and a ceasefire to pause the ensuing conflict in Lebanon was signed in late November. That deal which seeks to strengthen the role of Lebanese and international forces in maintaining peace expires on Jan. 27. Hamas and Hezbollah are both designated terrorist organizations by the U.S. and many other countries. The Israel-Hamas war began when thousands of Hamas operatives crossed into Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people and abducting 250. Israel responded with a punishing assault that has killed more than 46,000 Gazans, according to Hamas authorities, and reduced vasts stretches of the strip to wreckage and debris. Meanwhile, the prospective release of hundreds of jailed Palestinian militants back to the West Bank has quickened Israeli preparations for a possible flare-up there. So has what Israel sees as an increase in Iranian weapons supplies to Hamas in the West Bank. We must be ready for significant counterterrorism operations in Judea and Samaria in the coming days to preempt and apprehend the terrorists before they reach our civilians, the military chief of staff, Lt.-Gen. Herzi Halevi, said on Monday, after a soldier on patrol in the West Bank was killed in an overnight landmine attack. He was using the biblical name for the West Bank, which is common in Israel. With assistance from Fadwa Hodali and Dan Williams. 2025 Bloomberg L.P. Robert G. Salesses, deputy director of the Pentagons Washington Headquarters Service, has been appointed the acting defense secretary. (Stars and Stripes) WASHINGTON Robert Salesses will serve as President Donald Trumps acting defense secretary as the nomination of Pete Hegseth to lead the Defense Department lingers in the Senate. Mr. Robert G. Salesses was sworn in at [12:01 p.m.] to serve as the acting secretary of defense today at the Pentagon, said a defense official who spoke on condition of anonymity. Salesses is the deputy director of the Pentagons Washington Headquarters Service, the agencys administrative branch. The service includes all the Capitol Region support services, including facilities management and the office of general counsel and others that support the military branches and Pentagon leadership. Salesses served as a Marine in the Gulf War, earning a Bronze Star, The Associated Press reported. Hegseth could see his nomination as defense secretary advanced by the Senate Armed Services Committee as early as Monday, but the full Senate might not vote on his nomination until later this week. The White House also announced Monday other acting secretaries until the posts are filled by appointment. Mark Averill will serve as acting Army secretary, Terence Emmert as acting Navy secretary, Gary Ashworth as acting Air Force secretary and Todd Hunter as acting Department of Veterans Affairs secretary. Members of the Texas National Guard on patrol in May 2022, in Eagle Pass, Texas. President Donald Trump pledged Monday, Jan. 20, 2025, to send more troops to the U.S. border with Mexico under an emergency declaration. (Rose L. Thayer/Stars and Stripes) President Donald Trump pledged Monday to send more troops to the U.S. border with Mexico under an emergency declaration that he intends to sign soon after entering the White House for his second term in office. I will send troops to the southern border to repel the disastrous invasion of our country, Trump said during his inaugural address from the U.S. Capitol. As commander in chief, I have no higher responsibility than to defend our country from threats and invasions, and that is exactly what I am going to do. We will do it at a level that nobody has ever seen before. The deployment will include the armed forces, including the National Guard to assist existing law enforcement, according to a news release from the incoming Trump administration. The move to declare an emergency at the border echoes back to executive actions taken by Trump in his first term as president. He first deployed the National Guard to the southwest border in April 2018, then supplemented them with active-duty troops seven months later. The use of troops was later criticized by the National Guards top officer as having no military training value. Meanwhile, he diverted more than $10 billion from the Defense Department, including money flagged for military construction projects, to build a wall along the border. When Joe Biden took office in 2021, he halted most border wall construction and rescinded the national emergency. However, Biden kept the National Guard working along the border and about 2,500 are now deployed there, according to the Pentagon. ASTANA, Kazakhstan, January 20. The World Bank (WB) has updated forecasts for Kazakhstan's GDP growth in 20252026, Trend reports. The World Bank (WB) forecasts Kazakhstan's GDP growth at 4.7 percent in 2025 and 3.5 percent in 2026; thus, the World Bank has confirmed the forecasts made in October. In 2024, according to the WB's estimate, the country's GDP growth will be 4 percent, slowing down compared to 5.1 percent in 2023.The WB estimates that the GDP growth of Central Asian countries in 2025-2026 will be 5 percent and 4.2 percent, respectively. "The growth of Kazakhstan's economy, supported by oil production growth, is expected to contribute to the recovery," the report specifies. To note, in 2023, Kazakhstan's GDP growth was 5.1 percent. Mr Alexander Smyth BL appealed the decision to refuse two separate gun licences he had for two firearms a .410 over under shotgun and a .22 rifle A Donegal barrister and veterinary practice owner has been ordered to take an anger management class following a court hearing in the aftermath of a decision by An Garda Siochana to refuse him two gun licences. Mr Alexander Smyth BL appealed the decision of An Garda Siochana to refuse two separate gun licences he had for two firearms a .410 over under shotgun and a .22 rifle. Chief Superintendent Goretti Sheridan refused the licence which Mr Smyth held since 2008 on the basis of the display of intemperate habits. The appeal against this decision, under section 15A of the Firearms Act, was held at Letterkenny District Court before Judge Alan Mitchell. In making his decision to grant the appeal on Friday afternoon, Judge Mitchell said a firearms licence is a privilege, not a right. Mr Smyth was ordered to complete an anger management course within 12 months of the court date and to read a book called How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie and write a report on five actions from the book. Mr Smyth, who is a barrister, represented himself in the appeal. Mr Smyth owns Smyths Veterinary Practice in Convoy, Co Donegal which has around 4,500 customers and he is also on the board of trustees at the Irish Red Cross. In June 2023, Chief Superintendent Goretti Sheridan, who was Superintendent at the time, refused Mr Smyths applications for two separate firearms. It was then refused by Inspector Paul McHugh, now the acting Superintendent. Chief Superintendent Sheridan said she believed the appellant had displayed anti-social and aggressive behaviour in recent times which led her to believe it was not in the public interest for Mr Smyth to have a firearm. Correspondence alerting Mr Smyth to the decision said he had been disentitled to hold a firearm due to intemperate habits and both firearms were then surrendered to gardai. The court heard Mr Smyth attended a meeting with Chief Superintendent Sheridan on January 10, 2024 to outline the rationale for the decision and a letter was sent on January 17, 2024 outlining the reasons discussed. Chief Superintendent Sheridan said she had received a report from the local Sergeant Michael Kilcoyne and she had consulted the Garda Pulse system as part of her investigation into Mr Smyth. Chief Superintendent Sheridan said there were four incidents outlined in the appeal which she believed showed a pattern of behaviour. Chief Superintendent Sheridan said she does not refuse an application easily but in this occasion, having reviewed the incidents and spoken with witnesses, Mr Smyth did not satisfy her that he was suitable to carry a firearm. She noted there was over 5,000 firearm licences issued in the Letterkenny Garda District. During cross examination, Mr Smyth questioned whether Chief Superintendent Sheridan had attempted to give him a chance to respond to her concerns or make any queries about his good character. He pointed out he had assisted gardai on numerous occasions when they required veterinary services or aid with wild animals while he also outlined that he was involved with the Irish Red Cross for 10 years. The court heard he was previously granted a gun licence in 2020. Letterkenny Courthouse. The first alleged incident occurred on August 30, 2017 when two Department of Agriculture officials visited Smyths Veterinary Services in Convoy, which is owned by Mr Smyth. Louis Riordan and John McConville gave evidence of attending the veterinary practice for the purpose of obtaining records. Mr Riordan said Mr Smyth became aggressive and it was agreed that Mr Riordans colleague, Mr John McConville returned the next day to collect the records requested. Mr Smyth denies any aggressive behaviour and said he emailed over records to the officials that day and other documents were provided the following day as agreed. Mr McConville also gave evidence and said Mr Smyth went from amicable to explosive and was shouting and roaring. The witnesses explained a garda had attended the scene that day, however, Garda Gerard Hardiman explained the two inspectors called into the garda station to make a note of what allegedly happened at the practice but did not lodge a formal complaint. Mr Smyth questioned the credibility of the witnesses due to the inaccuracy about the garda attending the scene. Mr McConville returned to the practice the following day accompanied by a garda. The second incident involved Detective Garda John OSullivan who observed a Donegal registered land cruiser with a dash master parked at an Applegreen Filling Station in Letterkenny in 2021. The detective explained he introduced himself and asked Mr Smyth about the emergency light on his vehicle. He said Mr Smyth explained he was a paramedic in Northern Ireland and was allowed to use the light, however, when the detective pointed out to Mr Smyth he should not have the equipment displayed in Donegal, Mr Smyth became confrontational. I would not say aggressive but he was short and curt, said Detective OSullivan. Detective OSullivan said he reported the incident to gardai and it appeared on the Pulse system. Mr Smyth said he cited legislation which he claimed permitted him to use the blue light and he showed Detective OSullivan his medical kit in the back of the vehicle. Mr Smyth said the light was not turned on at the time and no offence had been committed. The third incident involved a woman, Elaine Kelly, bringing her dog, Bailey, to the veterinary practice on December 7, 2021. Ms Kelly claimed that Mr Smyth directed insults towards her and told her to get off the property. Mr Smyth admitted it was a poor choice of words and was not gentlemanly. Ms Kellys husband Jay Ayton also arrived at the scene and CCTV of a verbal confrontation between the three individuals was viewed by the court. Mr Ayton claimed Mr Smyth had produced a badge and said he would arrest him. A fourth incident involved an allegation of assault in August 2022 and the court heard Mr Smyth had been subject to a Probation Order and this was currently under a Judicial Review in the High Court. Mr Smyth also called a number of witnesses who provided character references and gave evidence in the appeal. Dr Lesley Trenier, a veterinary surgeon and Mr Smyths ex-wife, explained she was the vet in the practice which Mr Smyth owned. She said Mr Smyth had previously carried out work on behalf of gardai and charities and said if there was an emergency where an animal was injured or a wild animal case such as foxes or deer needing to be euthanised, then Mr Smyth was often called upon. Mr Smyth asked Dr Trenier if she had any concerns about his use of a firearm and she said no. First Aider Mr Martin McDaid along with Mr Graham Moore, Ms Shauna McBride, a registered veterinary nurse, and Veterinary surgeon George Bularca also gave evidence and provided character witnesses in the case. Mr Smyths current partner, Lyndsay Pettigrew, said Mr Smyth had a very busy life as he volunteered for the Red Cross but he was always very helpful and did not harm people. It is his job to help people, said Ms Pettigrew. Samuel Smyth, twin brother of Mr Smyth, also gave a character reference and said the pair used to take part in shooting competitions when they were young. He said the pair were taught the safety of guns and his brother never displayed any danger with a gun. He said his brother had always been very good with a gun and kept them safe and in good condition. Mr Smyth told the court he does not drink, take drugs or smoke. He said he had experience with target firearms from a young age and would have taken part in competitions ran by schools and community centres using air guns. He first applied for a gun in 2008 and held a licence until 2023. He explained he had a complex history having trained as a welder originally before moving onto work as a security officer and was registered and licenced with the Private Security Authority of Ireland, before undertaking medical training and completing locum work. He also holds an Open University Degree and had qualified as a barrister in 2023. In 2016, he was appointed Commissioner of Oaths and had worked with the Irish Red Cross for over 10 years. He was appointed a National Trustee to the Irish Red Cross in 2022. Mr Smyth said he follows the law to the letter and there was no accusation of a weapon being produced in any dispute. Mr Smyth said the two guns a shotgun and a rifle which were used on his farm, his fathers farm and his uncles farm. Judge Mitchell said there seemed to be a theme of confrontation and questioned if he had a hot temper, to which Mr Smyth replied, Everyone has a temper. I wouldnt say it is a short fuse. In submissions, Mr Smyth said shooting was a way of life and the refusal of a licence would prevent him from taking part in sporting activities. In regards to farming, Mr Smyth said gun was essential as last year, he had lost a lot of bales due to vermin, and this year he did not make any bales. Mr Smyth said there was no indication he was reckless with a gun or was a danger with a gun at any time since gaining a licence in 2008. He argued the reasons given for the refusal were generic and impersonal, which Judge Mitchell noted that the applicant has the right to be given a reason for the refusal and it would have been preferable if a more comprehensive reasoning was supplied to the applicant. Judge Mitchell said the reason for the refusal was given as intemperate habits and four incidents had been referred to in the evidence given. Judge Mitchell said he found the evidence of the two officials from the Department of Agriculture who visited Smyths Veterinary Practice to be more persuasive. In relation to the incident with Detective Garda John OSullivan regarding an emergency light being on display in Mr Smyths vehicle, Judge Mitchell said the evidence was the conversation became heated and confrontational and said he found the evidence of the Garda to be more persuasive. In reference to the incident involving Ms Kelly, who attended the veterinary practice, Judge Mitchell said she had received insults and abuse and she had contacted gardai and her fiance following the interaction. Judge Mitchell added there was video footage presented of the incident and he found Ms Kelly to be credible and persuasive. He added that he believed Mr Smyths behaviour was inappropriate which in turn caused an escalation. In reference to the fourth incident, Judge Mitchell acknowledged that a section two assault charge had been dismissed under the probation act and was currently being appealed to the High Court. Judge Mitchell said while the court does not condone the behaviour of Mr Smyth, there has been no evidence to suggest the production of a firearm or no threat of using a firearm in any of the incidents. He said he can only make a decision based on the evidence provided to the court and noted there had been no order to revoke his licence made by gardai. Judge Mitchell said he would allow the appeal but said the appeal should come as a wake up call for Mr Smyth. He added Mr Smyth has lessons to learn and self-reflection to do. Judge Mitchell reminded Mr Smyth a revocation application could be applied for if further incidents arose. Mr Smyth was ordered to engage in an anger management course to be completed within 12 months of the court date the condition was not added as a pre-condition and the licence can be approved before completion. He was also ordered Mr Smyth to read How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie and write a report to be supplied to Chief Superintendent Goretti Sheridan on five actions from the book. Mr Smyth said he would take the judges comments on board. James Donegan (31) was immediately restrained by a plainclothes garda A shop customer punched a cashier in the head in an aggressive moment of madness after disputing the amount of change he had been given. James Donegan (31) was immediately restrained by a plainclothes garda who was standing behind him in the queue for the counter at the petrol station store. Judge Gerard Jones told Donegan he would get a one-month suspended sentence if he paid 1,000 compensation to the victim, who had pleaded for the accused not to be sent to jail. Donegan, with an address at Deerpark House, Tyrone Court, Dublin 8 admitted assault causing harm to the man. Blanchardstown District Court heard Detective Garda Kevin Carty was among customers in the Maxol shop, Long Mile Road, Drimnagh on April 14, 2022. When he got near the counter, he could see Donegan arguing with the shop worker in a disagreement over the price of some item he had paid for and the change he was getting. Gda Carty saw Donegan assaulting the staff member who was behind the shop counter by punching him to the head. He immediately restrained the accused, who was very compliant and apologetic. The victim was badly bruised and sought medical attention but there were no long-term injuries. It was a moment of madness that happened in the heat of an argument, defence barrister Ciaran MacLoughlin said. He lost his cool briefly and has regretted it ever since, Mr MacLoughlin said. There was a disagreement about the change he received, the injured party went to get the manager and from behind the counter, (Donegan) struck him a punch, he said. Donegan was homeless at the time, had suffered a bereavement and was under intense stress. The judge said the shop victim had gone through an incredibly challenging period as a result of the assault and was a decent man who did not want to see Donegan go to prison. The judge adjourned the case for a year, telling Donegan if the money was not paid he would be jailed for three months and should have his bags packed for Mountjoy. Joanne Davies after she died after being struck by a truck from the Healy-Rae company while she was walking across a zebra crossing Since November 2023, Danny Healy-Rae and his wife Eileen have transferred their shares in Healy-Rae Plant Hire to their son, Johnny A company established by Kerry TD Danny Healy-Rae has accepted liability for the death of a mother of six in seven High Court cases taken by her children that accused the company of negligence. Healy-Rae Plant Hire, based in Kilgarvan, was sued in seven separate cases by the family of Joanne Davies after she died in July 2020 after being struck by a truck from the Healy-Rae company while she was walking across a zebra crossing in Killarney. Ms Davies, also known as Joanne Downey, was 50 when she lost her life. Sean Tangey, the driver of the truck, was found not guilty of careless driving causing death following a criminal trial last June attended by Danny Healy-Rae and his son Johnny, who is the plant-hire firms managing director. The Davies family left Tralee Circuit Criminal Court in tears after the jury returned a unanimous not guilty verdict Mr Tangey, who was driving within the 50kmh speed limit, had said he had not seen Ms Davies before the collision. Gardai had said he should have seen her and put the point of impact at near the middle of the pedestrian crossing. The Davies family left Tralee Circuit Criminal Court in tears after the jury returned a unanimous not guilty verdict in Mr Tangeys case. Joanne Davies Judge Colin Daly addressed the family and said this was difficult for them. They had suffered a great loss and he offered his condolences. Company records show that since November 2023, Danny Healy-Rae and his wife Eileen have transferred all their shares in Healy-Rae Plant Hire to their son, Johnny, through a series of transfers. The last share transfer completed in March 2024. The company, whose major clients include Kerry County Council, has accumulated profits of 4.78m. Healy-Rae Plant Hire has been in operation for almost 70 years and has always endeavoured to ensure best safety practices Ms Davies was well known in Killarney as she volunteered at the Killarney Legion GAA club by cooking meals for its teams even after her children had stopped playing. Fergal Moynihan of Killarney Legion GAA said Ms Davies was like a second mother to many players. The seven civil cases filed against Healy-Rae Plant Hire, which includes one representing Ms Davies entire family, had been set down for trial before last Christmas. The company was preparing to defend the cases and deny liability. However, the company, which is represented by its insurers FBD in the cases, has since accepted liability in all cases. The only matter still to be resolved is the assessment of damages. The cases are listed for mention on the High Court personal injury list in Cork tomorrow for assessment of damages only. Five of the children, including one minor, are represented by Malone Hegarty solicitors, and one, Katrina Horan, is represented by OConnor ODonoghue. Danny, left, and Michael Healy-Rae. Photo: Collins The threshold for personal injury claims in the High Court is 60,000, meaning the Healy-Rae firm is facing claims in excess of 420,000. Johnny Healy-Rae did not respond to a request for comment this weekend. In a statement issued in 2022, he said: Healy-Rae Plant Hire has been in operation for almost 70 years and has always endeavoured to ensure best safety practices and legal responsibility are maintained. Healy-Rae Plant Hire has several safety procedures, audits and training for all employees above and beyond what is statutory required. Healy-Rae Plant Hire is also an accredited company in safety, environmental and quality. Danny Healy-Rae and brother and fellow Kerry TD Michael Healy-Rae last week struck a deal with Fine Gael and Fianna Fail to support them in forming a new government. It will involve Michael Healy-Rae becoming a junior minister. He told reporters at Leinster House: We are going to use our position now, the two of us, in supporting the government and in supporting Kerry in what I would like to call a better and stronger way than what we might have been able to do in the past. The Estonian contract killer plead guilty to one count of murder, and one count of attempted murder. Kinahan hitman Imre Arakas has been sentenced to 10 years behind bars for the murder of Lithuanian MMA fighter Remigijus Morkevicius and the attempted murder of Gija Zabachidze according to 15min.lt . The sentence was handed down in a Kaunas court on Monday after Arakas pleaded guilty to crimes last September. Arakas appeared at the hearing today in which the court read out a 51-page verdict. Sporting a Lonsdale branded navy wool hat over his long grey hair, Imre Arakas was photographed inside the courtroom as he sat behind a glass divider listening to the judge read out his sentence. He was handed down eight years for the attempted murder of Zabachidze in July 2016 and nine and a half years for the murder of Morkevicius in December 2016, with the court ruling he will spend 10 years behind bars. His sentence will be also be backdated to when he was first taken into custody. According to local news reports, the court is unclear when exactly the 66-year-old may be released. He was also found guilty of the illegal possession of firearms, ammunition, and explosives or explosive materials. Remigijus Morkevicius (34) was shot seven times with a Kalashnikov assault rifle outside his home in Kaunas, Lithuania. Arakas had attempted to carry out the murder previously but the gun he tried to use jammed, and his target fled. The Estonian hitman, nicknamed The Butcher told the court he was offered 50,000 for the hit by his associate Tomas Helinas, who instructed him on behalf of two other men. He told the court that Helinas also made him an offer of 25,000 to murder Zabachidze. He attempted to carry out the hit on Zabachidze, but he survived and testified in court as a witness for the state. He is now in witness protection. In testimony to the court, Arakas expressed his regret as he apologised for killing Morkevicius: "I have to say that I'm very sorry, I'm sorry. It was the biggest mistake of my life. If I could change anything, I wouldn't do it again. The prosecution said his guilty plea, remorse and apologies to the victims were all mitigating factors in the case. Compensation amounting to 266,000 has been awarded to victims in both cases. The girlfriend of Remigijus Morkevicius and the couples two children were each awarded 50,000 in damages. Another one of his children was also awarded 50,000 in damages and 51,000 in maintenance. He also has to pay 15,000 to the government for costs relating to the Zabachidzes treatment after the attempted murder. Zabachidze himself did not file a civil suit. Arakas has 20 days to appeal the sentence. The defendants looked physically relieved when the not guilty verdicts were announced Four off-duty PSNI officers were today found not guilty of being involved in a "fracas'' in a Belfast city centre kebab shop. Victoria Bell (39), Dean McCallum (37), Mark Fulham (29) and Taylor Annett (25), whose addresses were given as c/o PSNI headquarters in east Belfast, went on trial last week and denied a single charge they each faced of affray which is unlawful fighting in public. The off-duty officers had been out in Belfast celebrating Mark Fulham's birthday prior to the disturbance and all four accepted that by the time they went to City Kitchen in High Street for food, they were drunk. Both in their interviews in February 2022 and during the trial, all four officers said they acted in self-defence and that the force they used was necessary and proportionate. The incident occurred in the early hours of January 8, 2022. It was the Crown's case that a male customer, Graham McCullough, entered the kebab shop and whilst waiting on his food he witnessed and heard an interaction between the four defendants and a man wearing a red hat sitting on his own at another table. Concerned about the interaction, Mr McCullough intervened which resulted in a fracas breaking out and the PSNI being called to the scene. During the trial at Belfast Crown Court, the defendants accepted that at no point during the incident did any of them reveal they were police officers. When the jury of eight men and four women returned to court today (Monday), they were asked by the court clerk if they had reached a verdict on which they all agreed. The foreperson replied: "Yes''. The foreperson then returned not guilty verdicts for the charge of affray against each defendant standing in the dock of the court. The defendants looked physically relieved when the not guilty verdicts were announced, with Victoria Bell letting out a gasp at the jury's decision. After thanking the jury for their attention throughout the case, Judge Gordon Kerr KC told them were they free to leave the court. When the judge asked prosecutor Kate McKay if there was anything further against the defendants, she replied: "No, Your Honour''. Addressing the four defendants, Judge Kerr told them: "You are free to go.'' The first officer called to give evidence during the third day of the trial was Dean McCallum. He confirmed that he and his co-accused had been socialising and had gone to the City Kitchen for food after a night's drinking. Describing the mood between he and his friends as "jovial" in the kebab shop, Mr McCallum was asked by defence barrister Ian Turkington KC when he first became aware of Mr McCullough. He replied: "I noticed he was looking at us, I thought he looked a bit agitated." Mr McCallum said he couldn't recall the context of the conversation with the man in the red hat but there was "no malice offered to him." He was then asked about the initial interaction with Mr McCullough and Mr McCallum said "he shouted over towards us ...something like 'leave him alone' and it was in an aggressive tone. I was taken aback and surprised by why he was saying that to us." Mr McCallum said he told Mr McCullough to 'calm down' as they were 'just having a conversation' with the man in the red hat. CCTV of the incident was then played and Mr McCallum was asked to comment on what happened. He said that after Mr McCullough pushed one of his friends, he tried to take control of his arm "so that he wouldn't assault anybody else" and was "trying to reason with him so it wouldn't go any further". Mr McCullough then headbutted Mr McCallum twice, others in the group became involved and, according to Mr McCallum, efforts were made to restrain Mr McCullough and "reason" with him. Telling the jury Mr McCullough was "aggressive and becoming more and more violent", Mr McCallum said "at this point I was concerned it was escalating and getting out of control." Mr McCallum said that during the struggle he "issued strikes" to "try and take the fight" out of Mr McCullough - who was subsequently brought to the ground by the group of colleagues. Whilst Mr McCullough was prone, Mr McCallum accepted he had his knee on his back "to try and keep him down" and said he feared there would be a risk of further violence. When asked by Mr Turkington if he told Mr McCullough that he and his group were police officers, Mr McCallum said he didn't. Saying his "sole focus" was to restrain Mr McCullough, Mr McCallum said: "There are many people who dislike the police, particularly in Northern Ireland... and sometimes that can worsen the situation." Under cross-examination by Crown barrister Kate McKay, she suggested to Mr McCallum that what happened was a "drunken brawl" and that at points certain he was not acting in self-defence. Rejecting this, Mr McCallum said: "I was defending myself and I was in fear of further violence." The second officer to give evidence was Victoria Bell. When she was asked by Mr Turkington what her involvement was, Ms Bell said: "I was trying to help my friends restrain a man that had just been violent to two of my friends." Ms Bell said that during a "grapple" she was "face-palmed quite heavily" then punched by Mr McCullough. She was also asked about what happened when Mr McCullough's girlfriend entered the kebab shop and Ms Bell said the other woman ran in, that her "teeth were gritted" and that she was "aggressive." Ms Bell said she told the other woman to 'stay out of it' and that she was grabbed by the hair which was "painful". Accepting that at one point they were both grabbing each other by the hair, Ms Bell said the other woman assaulted her friends, that she was "relentless" and that she tried to restrain her and told her repeatedly to 'calm down.' Ms Bell was also involved in the struggle with Mr McCullough and when she was asked by Mr Turkington about her use of force, she said she believed it was necessary and was used to defend herself and her colleagues from a "vicious assault." When Mark Fullam was called to the witness stand, he said the incident in City Kitchen left him "shocked" and "in fear." During the struggle with Mr McCullough, Mr Fullam - who at one point was pushed to the ground - can be seen on the CCTV footage punching him in the lower back area several times. Describing Mr McCullough as "extremely strong", Mr Fullam said his strikes had little effect. He also told the jury that despite Mr McCullough's partner striking him in the face several times, he did not retaliate but he tried to "keep her away from the rest of the guys and to stop her assaulting anyone else." When Ms McKay suggested to Mr Fullam that he was "part of a melee, a drunken brawl where you were all out of control", he replied "I absolutely disagree with that." The fourth and final officer who gave evidence was Taylor Annett who told the jury he sustained a broken nose in the incident. Saying Mr McCullough "assaulted every single one of us", Mr Annett said the actions he took were in a bid to "de-escalate" the situation. Confirming he punched Mr McCullough in the back several times, Mr Annett said he was "trying to defend myself and my friends and trying to stop me from being assaulted." Mr Annett added that whilst he and his friends were trying to restrain Mr McCullough, he was "actively trying to break free and assault us." Like his three co-accused, Mr Annett rejected the Crown's suggestion that the force he used was disproportionate and excessive. Barrog Healthcare was paid 21m by child and family agency between 2019 and last year The owner of a major service provider for Tusla and the HSE paid almost 223,000 to a liquidator to settle claims he misappropriated cash from his previous employer. The settlement was made by James Webb, managing director of Barrog Healthcare, without admission of any wrongdoing. His Dublin-headquartered company has been paid tens of millions of euro by child and family agency Tusla and the HSE to provide care services for vulnerable children and young adults since it was set up in 2019. Prior to that, Mr Webb (46) was a manager with Intensive Community Programmes (ICP), a firm in Naas, Co Kildare, that offered similar services but collapsed into liquidation, leaving creditors with a deficit of close to 1m. Earlier this week, the High Court disqualified ICP owner Bernard Morrin from acting as a company director for 12 years after liquidator John Healy, of Kirby Healy Chartered Accountants, found transfers and cash withdrawals exceeding 700,000 were made for the benefit of him and his family. In an affidavit opened in court, the liquidator also claimed a former manager at the company, who he did not name, misappropriated 354,029 through a widely abused petty cash system. This cash was paid by Mr Morrin into an account held personally by the manager, the liquidator said. Sums were then withdrawn from that account and receipts were to be provided to the company to vouch that any expenditure was bona fide. But Mr Healy said his investigation found considerable funds were used for personal expenditure. This, he said, included transfers to the managers wife and daughter, family holidays, including to Banna Beach Resort in Co Kerry, financing for his vehicle, alcohol and lottery tickets, and shopping trips to premium outlets, including Kildare Village and Best Menswear. The liquidator said other items of personal expenditure included the payment of utility bills for the mans home in Clondalkin, Dublin, takeaway meals, expensive meals regularly involving alcohol at restaurants and hotels, gym memberships, grocery shopping in supermarkets near his home, and expenses associated with his dog, including the cost of kennels and pet food. In the affidavit, Mr Healy said he issued proceedings under the Companies Act to recoup the money, but these were settled on confidential terms in advance of a hearing. The proceeds were paid into the liquidation. While Mr Healy did not name James Webb in the affidavit and declined to comment on the case, company filings and correspondence to creditors reveal Mr Webb was the manager in question. Three payments totalling 222,998, and listed under the heading settlement in liquidation accounts filed with the Companies Registration Office (CRO), were recorded as being made by Mr Webb between April 2021 and December 2022. Bernard Morrin, director of Intensive Community Programmes (ICP) leaving the High Court. Photo: Steve Humphreys A letter from the liquidator to ICPs creditors in August 2021 also said proceedings issued against Mr Webb had been compromised through a without prejudice settlement. The letter said the specific terms of the settlement were confidential and that it had been reached without any admission of wrongdoing on the part of Mr Webb. However, it went on to say Mr Webb had agreed to make substantial payments to the liquidator in instalments. In the letter, Mr Healy said he had taken legal advice and considering the alternative of pursuing lengthy and expensive litigation, he had no doubt the settlement was in the best interests of creditors. In the interim, the firm set up by Mr Webb after leaving ICP has prospered. In a podcast last year, Mr Webb said there were over 200 people working for Barrog Healthcare and that it had operations in Dublin, Kildare, Wicklow and Cork. He said he planned to double and triple the size of its operations. Tusla said it used Barrog Healthcare to provide care services for children and young people, including short-term arrangements, where it has not been possible to secure a residential placement from Tusla residential services. Figures provided by Tusla show it spent more than 21.7m on Barrog Healthcare services between 2019 and last year. This included 841,759 spent in 2023, which Tusla classified as being for so-called special emergency arrangements or SEAs unregulated accommodation where children are put into rented houses or other properties run by care staff from private companies. Tusla has become increasingly reliant on SEAs due to a shortage of group care homes and foster carers. HSE accounts show the firm received close to 2.6m in revenue grants from the HSE between 2019 and 2023. Mr Webb did not respond after we contacted his companys office in Dublin this week looking to speak to him. He also did not respond to emailed queries regarding the allegations made in the liquidators affidavit. The revelations raise serious questions about the level of oversight Tusla and the HSE have over funds paid to external care service providers. Under contractual and service agreements, ICP was obliged to provide various reports, including in relation to its financial affairs and use of funds, to both organisations. The issues that appear to have been identified by the liquidator and revealed in the recent court case related to the misuse of company funds, such as petty cash accounts, by its director and a manager were not something Tusla would have been privy to But at the High Court hearing where Mr Morrin was disqualified, Mr Justice Michael Quinn said it was clear inadequate reporting was made to Tusla and also to the HSE in respect of fairly significant amounts of money. In a statement, Tusla said it will look to understand if additional controls and oversight are required to be put in place in its dealings with such companies. The statement continued: With respect to private companies, Tusla examines their financial sustainability prior to securing services and puts in place oversight to ensure that the services contracted for meet the required standards. The agency monitors the company through annual reviews and external auditor reports. In the case of Intensive Community Programmes Limited, the issues that appear to have been identified by the liquidator and revealed in the recent court case related to the misuse of company funds, such as petty cash accounts, by its director and a manager were not something Tusla would have been privy to during the time of the contracted arrangements. It is crucial to emphasise that providers are responsible for maintaining their own internal financial practices, including the legal use of funds. The board of each provider is tasked with overseeing internal governance and ensuring adherence to standards of financial integrity. I was shocked the former manager did what he did. Then I was very shocked when I discovered the amount of money involved and how long it had been going on for Asked what steps it takes to ensure funds paid to external service providers are spent for the purpose they are given, the HSE said it obtains copies of the financial statements submitted to the CRO by such companies, reviews their status with the CRO and obtains a copy of a tax clearance certificate. The HSE statement made no mention of any further checks or monitoring. In court on Monday, Mr Morrin said: I was shocked the former manager did what he did. Then I was very shocked when I discovered the amount of money involved and how long it had been going on for. He claimed the petty cash situation should have been easily uncovered by ICPs accountants. Mr Morrin said he learned of the issue in May 2018 and that the former manager left the company about a month later. He resigned effectively when I put it to him. I was very careful not to accuse him. I just said: Look, the receipts arent there, said Mr Morrin. The liquidator found Mr Morrins failure to put in place proper financial controls resulted in the manager having free rein with significant amounts of cash on a weekly basis. In relation to the liquidators findings that transfers and cash withdrawals exceeding 700,000 were made for the benefit of him and his family, Mr Morrin claimed it had been his understanding this was income. He said he had relied on the firms accountants to be compliant. They told me it was in compliance, he said. However, the court heard no PAYE or PRSI was paid in respect of the withdrawals and transfers. The liquidator said the sums included tuition fees and lodging costs for Trinity College and UCD, where Mr Morrins children attended, and payments to Trailfinders and Freedom Travel that appeared to be for family holidays rather than any form of business expenditure. Sherry shot and fatally wounded Jason Hennessy Sr before himself being dragged to the ground and beaten to death. Three men will find out next month whether they are guilty of murdering a gunman who was beaten to death when he opened fire and fatally wounded Jason Hennessy Sr in a busy restaurant on Christmas Eve 2023. Mr Justice Kerida Naidoo, presiding at the three-judge, non-jury Special Criminal Court today adjourned the case until February 17, after telling the parties that the court is not yet in a position to deliver a judgment. The trial, which took place last year, heard that Tristan Sherry and a second gunman entered Browne's Steakhouse in Blanchardstown on December 24, 2023 where Jason Hennessy Sr and about 30 others had gathered. Sherry shot and fatally wounded Hennessy Snr before himself being dragged to the ground and beaten to death. The prosecution said Sherry died from blunt force injuries and stab wounds which were delivered while Sherry lay on the ground having been disarmed. Defence lawyers suggested that their clients had acted out of fear, self-defence or under provocation due to Sherry coming into the restaurant and opening fire on a group of people, including children, who had gathered for a Christmas party. Three men are charged with Sherry's murder. They are Noah Musueni (18), Corduff Park, Blanchardstown; David Amah (19), Hazel Grove, Portrane Road, Donabate, Dublin; and Michael Andrecut (23), Sheephill Avenue, Blanchardstown. Jonas Kabangu (19), Corduff Park, Blanchardstown and 18-year-old Diarmuid O'Brien of Corduff Place, Blanchardstown are charged with violent disorder at the same location on that date. Jason Hennessy's Sr's son, Brandon Hennessy (21), of Sheephill Avenue, Dublin 15 is also charged with violent disorder. All accused have pleaded not guilty. Paramilitary leaves jail behind for leafy suburbs as partner sets up dog-grooming service Real IRA thug Nathan Kinsella is back on the streets after serving a one-year sentence for tax offences. He was spotted near his partner Jennifer Dunnes dog grooming business in west Dublin, which she set up last October. Kinsellas involvement in the murky world of Dublins dissident republicans was previously revealed during the trial of Jim Mansfield Jr. But since then, Kinsella has been living a pleasant lifestyle in a 1.5 million six-bed home in Blackrock and driving a high-spec Audi. After leaving Clondalkin in his Audi this week he drove back to the house in Blackrock which the Sunday World previously revealed is registered to builder Gerry McGreevy, who is also a known associate of Jim Mansfield Jnr. Nathan Kinsella Last year, he was sentenced at the Special Criminal Court for failing to declare money he said came from a wealthy friend. Because the money also went through Ms Dunnes account she too was initially charged with the same offence but the case against her was dropped. In October, she set up Pooch Pampering, which operates from a retail outlet in Clondalkin. Kinsella is believed to have met Dunne while she was working for the shamed hotel tycoon Jim Mansfield Jr. At the time, Kinsella was a frequent visitor to Tasaggart House, the Mansfield family home, and was regularly seen in the socialites company. Nathan Kinsella (left) and with Jim Manfield Jr In 2022, the Sunday World published photographs of Mansfield and Kinsella together at Mondello Park motor-racing circuit. The relationship started when Kinsella was among those brought in by Mansfield to protect him from other criminals he feared. A witness in the Mansfield trial said that at one stage the hotelier was paying Alan Ryan 2,500 a week for security. Kinsella was arrested and charged as an IRA member after a paramilitary colour party fired shots over Ryans grave at the funeral. He got a two-year sentence in 2014 after pleading guilty to IRA membership . The Real IRA criminal based in Dublin became infamous for threatening drug dealers to hand over cash to them and ultimately led to Ryans murder. Nathan Kinsella in his Audi car Kinsella was shot in the legs in November 2012 by members of the Real IRA from the north of Ireland, but he refused to make a statement to Gardai. Last year, it emerged that Kinsella was linked to an incident in which a Longford drug dealer was held hostage in his own house. A Criminal Assets Bureau investigation into the Longford incident revealed how Kinsella and Ryan were once spotted talking to a gang member who was allegedly held hostage in his house by four men. Thomas Oliver Keenan was the target of an alleged false imprisonment at his home in 2011, which gardai believe was over a drug debt owed to republican figures, it was stated in evidence. Keenan had previously served five years for drugs and was described as one of the first significant suppliers of drugs in the Longford area. Kinsella was one of four men arrested and later released without charge over the incident and was later observed with Ryan talking to Keenan outside a courtroom. He was also at the heart of events on Mansfield properties several years ago and which were detailed during Jim Mansfield Jrs trial for kidnap. A court heard that Kinsella, at one point, used Mansfields family home, Tasaggart House, as an office along with Alan Ryan. They were being paid thousands to protect Mansfield from gangs and criminals who claimed that he owed them money, it was claimed. Jennifer Dunne Mansfield Jr was found not guilty of kidnap but guilty of impeding the course of an investigation and spent 18 months in prison. The court heard he had employed members of an INLA group to protect him and his property and later hired Ryan and Kinsella. But he then brought in a third terror grouping, including Border Fox, Dessie OHare and Declan Whacker Duffy to take over as his security. Kinsella was spotted as he travels to and from Blackrock The ensuing row led to the kidnap of his fathers former security chief Martin Byrne, who went on Witness Protection to give evidence about his ordeal. During his trial on tax offences last year it was heard that a total of 230,000 had been lodged into three accounts, two controlled by Ms Dunne and one by Kinsella himself. Kinsella admitted to gardai he had no taxable income for that period and had been on unemployment payments. Jennifer Dunne's dog-grooming service He told gardai in voluntary interviews that he had lived with a friend, a multi-millionaire, who would loan or gift money to him. He said he lived with this man from 2016 to 2019, that he did not pay rent and when he needed money, he would ask for it and his friend would provide it. Jailing him at the Special Criminal Court, Mr Justice Michael MacGrath said the court had concerns about the explanations Kinsella gave of receiving money. Judge Desmond Zaidan bound him to the peace for six months before urging the teenager to either get a skill or a job and stop wasting his life. A bungling burglar who hid inside the toilets of a shop until it closed was left red-faced when he had to ring the gardai to rescue him after he became trapped inside. Our pictures show 19-year-old John Paul Carthy enduring a walk of shame from Athy District Court on Tuesday after Judge Desmond Zaidan bound him to the peace for six months before urging the teenager to either get a skill or a job and stop wasting his life. Ive heard of dumb criminals, Judge Zaidan remarked, but this beats them all. Appearing before the court in a grey Under Armour tracksuit, Carthy, of Ardrew Halting Site in Athy, was due for sentencing on three charges to which hed previously entered a plea of guilty. He was accused of entering as a trespasser the XL shop in Dun Bhroin on March 18, 2024, with the intent to commit theft. He was accused of entering Aldi in Monasterevin on March 23, 2024, also with the intent to commit a theft. The XL shop targeted by Carthy And he was accused of entering the Tegral Building on the Kilkenny Road in Athy on September 7, 2023 with the intent to commit an offence. Carthy had previous form at the XL shop, having stolen a 5 Christmas bauble in December 2022, only for a staff member to confiscate his change on his next visit. Solicitor Jacqui McManus told the court this week that her client is now doing very well and looking sharp after getting a haircut. Addressing the court, Sgt Dave Hanrahan told the court how on the day of the trespass offence, Carthy had concealed himself in the toilet of the shop until it closed. John Paul Carthy He noted there was a second charge of burglary arising from a separate incident at Aldi in Monasterevin. You couldnt make it up, said the judge. You went into the shop to steal and ended up getting stuck. Ive heard of dumb criminals but this beats them all. Sgt Hanrahan noted that Carthy was given the benefit of the Probation Act in May 2024 on a charge of theft. Ms McManus said she was asking the court to give her client a chance. Judge Zaidan then inquired of Carthy whether he was working or whether he was going to get a job. John Paul Carthy had gone to the XL shop to steal When Carthy responded that he is not currently working, Ms McManus told the court she would have him call into her office on Friday to discuss his future. If you get yourself a skill, you wont be misbehaving like this, Judge Zaidan told Carthy. Imposing a peace bond of 100 in the defendants own bond, he warned him: Basically, if you misbehave in the next six months and come back before me, Ill jail you for six months. Pick up a skill. You dont have to be Einstein. He then asked Carthy what his New Year resolution was. I have no resolution, Carthy responded. You should, countered the judge. Dont come back in here before me. 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. A video on his own phone implicated him in the crime Gucci mob gangster Eric ODriscoll is in the running for Irelands dumbest criminal after content on his own phone incriminated him of serious crime. The 23-year-old senior lieutenant in the notorious Finglas gang ruled by Mr Flashy has pleaded guilty before the Special Criminal Court of recklessly discharging a firearm after a video was discovered on the mobile phone he left behind in a taxi. Nicola speaks to Niall Donald about the Gucci Gang, Mr Flashy and a chaotic criminal. MORE EPISODES Ex-IRA man with knowledge of Lynskeys final days says sixth body found in Comiskey plot is Disappeared victim A sixth body found in the Comiskey plot is believed to be that of IRA man Joe Lynskey A former IRA man with a detailed knowledge of the final days and death of Belfast man Joe Lynskey says his remain have been found. Sources close to the investigation into the Disappeared IRA victim confirmed to the Sunday World this week that a sixth body had been found in the family plot of the Comiskey family, which officially held five bodies. Earlier this week, a spokesman for the Commission for the Return of Victims Remains said tests to establish the identity of human remains exhumed before Christmas were still ongoing. Joe Lynskey, a former Cistercian monk from Belfast who later joined the IRA, was abducted, murdered and secretly buried by the IRA in 1972, one of 17 victims who disappeared without trace decades ago. But an ex-IRA man from the border region interviewed by the Sunday World recalled in detail events leading up to Lynskeys disappearance and death. And he insists the current scientific process of examining human remains removed in a grave belonging to the family of former Bishop of Ferns, Brendan Comiskey, will simply confirm his claim they belong to the missing Belfast IRA man. He said: I know these things take time. But when the tests are complete and hopefully that will be soon they will corroborate that the remains are those of Joe Lynskey. He added: Confirmation will also hopefully bring peace to the Lynskey and Comiskey families. And it will finally draw a veil over what can only be described as a sordid episode. Last November, the organisation tasked with tracking down the remains of 17 people disappeared by republican paramilitaries confirmed it had carried out an exhumation at a grave in a Catholic cemetery at Annyalla, near Clontibret. The remains of the Comiskeys exhumed in Co Monaghan by experts searching for Disappeared victim Joe Lynskey were reinternered to the family plot this week. The grave is the final resting place of the parents and three brothers of the former Bishop Comiskey. It was later confirmed the remains of an unidentified sixth person had also been exhumed along with five members of the Comiskey family. And the commission tasked with finding the remains of the Disappeared also confirmed it had received information relating to suspicious activity in a Co. Monaghan graveyard in the 1970s. But a spokesman insisted details of the Lynskey story played out in the Disney+ TV drama Say Nothing around the same time were purely coincidental. The Sunday World revealed how the IRA had taken advantage of a fire tragedy at the Comiskey family farm to cover its tracks surrounding the execution of Lynskey. In August 1972, following a court-martial, the IRA Intelligence Officer was found guilty of almost sparking an all-out feud with the rival Official IRA. Former bishop of Ferns Brendan Comiskey pictured during a confirmation cermony in 1997 . Photo P.J.Browne Lynskey was driven across the border to Monaghan town by IRA volunteer Delours Price, who was a member of a secretive IRA group called The Unknowns. Once in Monaghan, Lynskey was ordered to remain in the home of a known republican, but he was free to come and go as he pleased. He had accepted his fate, our IRA source claimed. Lynskey, a 40year-old single man and a former Cistercian monk from Belfasts Harrowgate Street, had become romantically involved with the wife of a young IRA man under his command. And as a means of removing his love rival from the stage, on June 19 1972 he arranged for the man to be shot in a doorstep attack at his home and Lynskey blamed the action of the Officials, sparking a feud. Local sources say Lynskey spent most nights drinking tea and discussing republican history with his host. But after 10 weeks living south of the border, an incident occurred which sealed Lynskeys fate. A fire at the farmhouse home of the then Fr Comiskeys parents on November 9 1972 claimed the life of the clergymans mother Clare (75). But the Comiskey family tragedy had coincidentally provided the Provo leadership with the opportunity it had been waiting for. A Monaghan IRA man suggested that after executing Lynskey, volunteers could secret his lifeless body in Clare Comiskeys open grave hours before her burial. The grim recommendation also tied in with Joe Lynskeys last request that his remains were to be buried in consecrated ground, in keeping with Catholic doctrine. A IRA man, who had been a member of the IRA in Monaghan told the Sunday World this week two IRA from Belfast travelled to Monaghan with orders shoot Lynskey. Joe Lynskey with the Price sisters in Say Nothing According to the former IRA source, local republicans who had built a close relationship with Lynskey refused to carry out the grim task. And again, according to our source, IRA men entered the open grave already prepared for Mrs Comiskey, where they increased its depth just enough to accommodate another body. The condemned man was allowed to produce a set of Rosary beads. And again, according to the former IRA man, he prayed for a few moments. And when Lynskey had finished, one of the Belfast IRA men stepped forward and shot him once in the head. His remains were placed inside the Comiskey grave and quickly covered over with compressed soil. Later, the remains of Clare Comiskeys husband Patrick and those of their sons Sean, Edmund and Maurice were also placed in the family grave. For fully 52 years, no one outside of the IRA was aware Lynskeys remains had also been hidden in the grave. The Sunday World later learned that Bishop Comiskey who will be 90 in August had personally granted permission for his parents grave to be reopened and the exhumation to go ahead. he Sunday World revealed the remains of all five members of the Comiskey family removed from the plot had been returned to their final resting place. Earlier this week, top London detective Jon Hill who heads the told the Sunday World scientific testing to verify the identity of the sixth remains found in the grave was ongoing. Marco Christian da Costa (55) was killed in a single-vehicle crash on the N71 in Clonakilty town at approximately 12.15am on Tuesday, 14 January. The father-of-one who lost his life in a horror Cork crash last week will be laid to rest tomorrow evening. Marco Christian da Costa (55) was killed in a single-vehicle crash on the N71 in Clonakilty town at approximately 12.15am on Tuesday, January 14. He was pronounced dead at the scene and his body was removed to Cork University Hospital for a post-mortem examination. Mr da Costa, who lived in Gullane, Clonakilty, is survived by his mum Sandy, daughter Stella, and brothers Nunu, Tyrone and William. His funeral arrangements were announced in a notice on RIP.ie, which reads: Reposing in OSullivans Funeral Home, Clonakilty on Tuesday, January 21, 2025, from 5pm to 6pm. Cremation will take place privately. Mr da Costa was a well-known face in Clonakilty and worked as a bartender at The Courtyard Bar. His colleagues shared their devastation in a heartfelt social media tribute on social media, remembering the father-of-one as a charming man. The tribute reads: "This morning, we received the tragic news that our friend and work colleague Marco da Costa was involved in a fatal car accident. "We are devastated by this news. Marco started work at The Courtyard last year and made many friends along the way with his charming personality. "Our sympathies go out to Marcos work colleagues, friends and family, especially his little girl Stella and his great friends Lynne and Rob. Thank you to everyone for reaching out to us today to offer their support. "Marco was a true gentleman, and we will miss him dearly. Another mourner described him as a beautiful and kind human being, writing: Marco was one in a million. Such a beautiful and kind human being! Youll be missed Marco. Thank you for always being so kind and supportive to me in my short time knowing you Fly high. Supermarket says its a mystery how it was still on shelf Newborn baby hospitalised after Dunnes Stores sold baby formula that was nine years out of date A newborn baby was hospitalised after drinking baby formula bought in a supermarket that turned out to be almost nine years out of date. A court has heard it was a mystery how the product had remained on the shelf in a Dunnes Stores outlet for so long before being fed to the five-week-old child. The retail giant has been ordered to pay 10,000 to charity to avoid a conviction after admitting it failed to immediately notify authorities that it sold baby food that was injurious to human health. Dunnes Stores has also agreed to pay over 33,000 in legal and investigative costs after entering a guilty plea to the charge at Navan district court on Friday. The court heard that a member of the public bought 13 bottles of Aptamil baby milk at the store on Trimgate Street in Navan on February 8 last year. Two days later, the father was feeding the baby, who had digested between 50ml and 60ml before getting sick and refusing to drink any more. The father noticed there was discolouring in the bottle and when the packaging was checked, it had a best before date of June 9, 2015. Another bottle had a best before date of February 3, 2024. The baby was brought to Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda where it was kept overnight under observation, but didnt require any treatment. A doctor at the hospital contacted with Dunnes Stores in Navan the following day and informed them of the incident. On February 14, 2024, a senior environmental health officer attended the Dunnes Stores branch and spoke to the deputy store manager, who was aware of the complaint. A stock check had been performed, with eight bottles of baby formula found with a best-before date of March 3, 2024, and short dates of March 9, 2024. These were removed from the shelves. On February 15, the store confirmed to the HSE that Dunnes Stores head office had been notified of the complaint made. An investigation was launched by the HSE and the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI), and a prosecution was brought under the European Communities (General Food Law) Regulations 2007. On Friday, Dunnes Stores entered a guilty plea on a single count of failing to immediately inform the authority or the official agencies of any grounds for believing that a food it had placed on the market may be injurious to human health. Counsel for Dunnes Stores Brian Gageby BL. Photo: Frank McGrath Brian Gageby BL, defending, said it was an unusual case and a mystery to his clients of how the lone bottle of infant formula had been on the shelf for that period of time. The court heard that at the time, regular three-month stock takes were carried out on baby food, and that products with a shelf life of shorter than four weeks would be removed. Counsel said that Dunnes Stores had taken the matter extremely seriously and that monthly stock checks are now carried out of baby food products. He said that the HSE and FSAI should have been informed immediately but werent and that the case fell through the cracks. Mr Gageby said his client has no previous convictions and has 118 stores in the Republic of Ireland, employing around 17,000 people. He told Judge Eirinn McKiernan that Dunnes Stores has also agreed to pay costs in the case, including over 8,000 in legal costs and more than 23,000 in investigation fees. Mr Gageby said the company secretary, Tom Sheridan, was in court and that the company was prepared to make a sizeable contribution to charity. Judge McKiernan directed Dunnes Stores to make a payment of 10,000, broken down to three separate groups Barnardos, Foroige, and MCDAR. The case is listed for mention again in four weeks time to ensure the donation and costs have been paid. Salt Spray Surf School on Ohope Beach celebrates its 21st anniversary this summer. For the owner Ollie Dobbin, teaching people how to surf is more than a job, it is a way of life. He said there is no better feeling than teaching someone how to surf. The 24-year-old instructor who was born-and-raised in Whakatane runs the popular Salt Spray Surf School on Ohope Beach. Theres a reason why Im such a happy-go-lucky guy, and its because I get to see that moment on someones face every single day, he said with a laugh. Its not just kids, but all the way up. The oldest person who Ive taught to surf is 78 and we got her standing up on a surfboard. When people realise they can surf, its an amazing moment. Dobbin said far too people sit on the beach and watch surfers from a distance. They write themselves off and never give it a go. They dont really understand the feeling that a surfer experiences when they catch a wave its incredible and you know, its doing something thats bigger than you. Dobbin has run the Salt Spray Surf School for seven years. From October last year, Dobbin and his partner Rique Brown founded Takutai Adventure Company which parents Salt Spray Surf School, Dream Bean Coffee and Takutai Adventure at the Wharf. Salt Spray has been a permanent fixture on Ohope Beach for 21 years, which makes it one of the longest running surf schools in New Zealand. It was established in 2003 by local surf legend Bevan (Beaver) Porter and his partner Yvonne. Ollie Dobbin (in the background) teaches Georgia Thornton (6) how to surf on Ohope Beach. Supplied photo Dobbins proud to continue the legacy and contribute to his home community. Weve got a unique community around the surf school in Ohope Beach. Beaver who started it still lives up the driveway thats directly opposite us, so we interact with him every day. The person who owned it after Beaver and before me, Debra Cederman has moved back, and shes working for me again. Dobbin said every instructor at Salt Spray, bar one who is from England, are all local surfers who have grown up in Ohope Beach. So, its a really locally owned, run and operated kind of business and that means a lot. Dobbin has come full circle. He learned how to surf at Salt Spray Surf School when he was nine years old. He fell in love with the sport and hasnt looked back. Hes also carrying on the legacy of his parents who are both teachers. So, Ive loved teaching as well and mixing those two passions. So, mixing being a surfer and loving the ocean, and then being able to pass on some of my experience to other people. Surfing is a sport, but it becomes a lifestyle. The affable instructor has simple advice for anyone who is keen to give surfing a go. You dont want to be one of those guys who is sitting on the beach, trying desperately to get a tan, and looking at surfers going: Man, I wish I could do that. There are no excuses. Give it a go. It will change your life. Dobbin said there were so many things that he loves about surfing. Its good for your mindset, its good for exercise and its a sport for life. We also teach people a lot about ocean safety, so they know how to manage the conditions. In 2023 ACC accepted 5582 surfing related injuries in Aotearoa, which came at a cost of $13.3 million to help people recover. The Bay of Plenty region had the second highest number of surfing-related injuries in 2023 (764 ACC claims) behind Auckland (1328). These injuries cost $2.5 million to help people recover. ACC injury prevention leader James Whitaker has surfed for 30 years. He said anyone who enters the surf needs to respect the ocean. The ocean is beautiful and provides a lot of joy its also bigger and more powerful than any of us and needs to be respected. Whitaker said it pays to take a moment before you get stuck in. Monitor the conditions and the risks before you get out there, then take the safest options. If youre in doubt, finding something else to do might be the best option. Surfing New Zealand chief executive Ben Kennings said there were more than 300,000 recreational surfers in Aotearoa. He said surf schools across Aotearoa play an important role in introducing people to the sport. Kennings encouraged New Zealanders to give the sport a go, but they need to make sure they surf at their skill level. Surfing is awesome, but we need to acknowledge that our sport does have its dangers. Its about knowing how to minimise the risks and that comes with experience. Kennings sad people have a world of information on their phones and its a good idea to use it. Assessing the conditions in front of you is great and understanding forecasts helps you make more informed decisions be that the predicted wind, swell or tide times. While most people try to avoid crowded line-ups, its important to surf with others too. If you get into difficulty or get injured, another surfer can assist you to shore or call for help. Plus, surfing is more fun with mates. Surfing by the numbers in New Zealand -There are more than 300,000 recreational surfers. -In 2023 ACC accepted 5,582 surfing related injuries. -In 2023, the Bay of Plenty region had the second highest number of surfing-related injuries (764 ACC claims) behind Auckland (1328). -There are 27 Approved Surf Schools across Aotearoa to help people learn to surf -For more information: https://surfingnz.co.nz/surf-schools/ The Herald Travels annual search for New Zealands best beaches is under way for another year, and the competition is hot: Will fan-favourite Ohope retain the crown? Or will an underdog rise to the challenge? Our readers have been busy nominating their favourite slices of paradise in five key categories, with our top 50 finalists unveiled on Sunday. Well be profiling the top 10 in each of the five categories over the next week starting today with one of the most competitive categories, Best Family Beach. So what makes the perfect family-friendly coastline? Think about your favourite spot to take the kids for a day of sunbathing, sandcastles, swimming and (safe) family fun. Your checklist might include safety measures (flags and lifeguards), stretches of grass for picnicking, shade to keep cool, and all-important facilities such as toilets, showers, playgrounds and, of course, an ice cream truck. Bay of Plenty paradise Ohope has long been a fan favourite in the Heralds annual search for New Zealands best beach. The coastal destination secured the title of 2024s Best Family Beach, and has once again secured a top-10 slot in 2025. Ohope boasts a solid reputation for safety, and has long been considered one of the safer beaches in the motu. The pohutukawa-framed coastline is characterised by an 11km stretch of shimmering white sand, providing plenty of space for families, sunbathers and fitness enthusiasts alike. Its also recognised for its surf, offering a fun outlet for hard-to-please teens (it may even keep the Im so BORED moaning at a minimum). Orewa Beach. Photo / 123RF The next nominee is Aucklands Orewa, a beach that nabbed an impressive four slots in this years top 50. Situated roughly 40km north of Aucklands CBD, the popular beach is the linchpin of Orewas bustling coastal township. Attracting surfers, swimmers, runners and families alike, theres plenty of space for activities along its 3km stretch of golden sand. The beach itself borders the town centre, flush with restaurants, cafes and yes, ice cream. Take the kids out for a day of family fun, followed by a casual beachside dinner. Kaiteriteri Beach seen from above. Photo / Nelson Tasman Tasman enclave Kaiteriteri has once again secured a coveted top-10 slot. Complete with golden sand and clear turquoise water, the burgeoning spot ultimately trumped Ohope for the title of Best Camping Beach in 2024, and placed second in the Best Family Beach category. It also ranked a respectable third in the search for the Best Hidden Gem although its likely the wonders of this best-kept secret wont stay hidden for much longer. Thirteen kilometres from Motueka and a gateway to the Abel Tasman National Park, Kaiteriteri is an ideal stop on a family getaway to the Tasman region, with water activities to enjoy and beachside dining to boot. Whangamata Beach. Photo / 123RF Popular summertime hotspot Whangamata is yet another nominee for Best Family Beach this year. Internationally renowned for its surfing opportunities, its estuaries are also ideal spots for kayaking or stand-up paddleboarding in other words, theres fun for the whole family. Its 6km of sand is within close proximity to the local township (meaning food is always within walking distance) and is patrolled throughout the summer by Surf Life Saving NZ. Other facilities include an esplanade, access points for mobility-impaired visitors, parking and a boardwalk. Waipu Cove. Photo / Michael Cunningham If youre looking for a day of rest and relaxation with your nearest and dearest, Northlands Waipu could be an ideal destination. A small settlement with strong Scottish roots, this township is home to Waipu Cove: a secluded yet safe stretch of sand thats perfect for swimming, surfing and fishing. Theres a popular beachside cafe for breakfast, lunch or dinner, and plenty of picturesque walks to enjoy particularly the rock formations along the Waipu Coastal Walkway. Plus, you can always leave stroppy teens to frolic on the sand while you explore the local museum or art gallery. Hahei is regularly voted one of the best beaches in New Zealand. Photo / 123RF Another beach that came close to eclipsing the famed Ohope last year was Hahei, which Herald readers also placed on the Best Camping Beach podium. The Coromandel hotspot, a fan favourite among holidaymakers, is framed by pohutukawa trees and boasts a well-established resort: think barbecues, rope swings, and 6.5ha of beachfront real estate. The offshore islands help break the waves, making this sheltered bay an ideal spot for swimming, boating and fishing. The local township has shops and eateries, while the settlement itself is a walkable distance from the world-renowned Cathedral Cove and its limestone arch: perfect to explore on a sunny day with the family. Its worth noting the track from Hahei Beach to the Grange Road entrance remains closed due to ongoing land instability following the cyclones during the summer of 2023. The Mautohe Cathedral Cove Track reopened on December 1: check for updates here. Waihi Beach. Another nominee is Waihi in the western Bay of Plenty, a well-established family favourite during the summer months. With 9km of white sand to enjoy, Waihi is one of the countrys safest surf beaches and borders a vibrant beachside village, flush with boutiques and eateries. A gateway to the famed Coromandel Peninsula, the beach is a mere two hours from Auckland, 50 minutes from Tauranga, and 90 minutes from Hamilton, making it an easily accessible coastal escape. The bustling local community is a perfect place to spend a long weekend with the kids, with plenty of local spots to explore. Maunganui Beach has nabbed four nominations in the top 50. Photo / Western Bay of Plenty Tourism and Visitors Trust Arguably one of New Zealands most well-known beaches, Mount Maunganui in the Bay of Plenty has a reputation for a reason. A popular surf destination, the sparkling white-sand coastline stretches from the base of the towering extinct volcano Mount Maunganui, itself a social media hotspot due to the stunning 360-degree vistas viewable from the summit. Like many other nominees in the Best Family Beach category, the main beach borders an array of cafes, eateries and boutique shops to peruse. The warm sand is heavily dotted with sunbathers and people-watchers during the summer, while neighbouring Pilot Bay is an ideal spot for relaxed swimming. Theres plenty to see and do in the area, making it an ideal getaway for exploration and family fun. Matapouri Bay. Photo / Whangarei District Council Matapouri Bay on Northlands Tutukaka Coast is another family-friendly destination, with safe swimming spots and gentle waves perfect for boogie-boarding. Pick up a parcel of fish and chips or an ice cream from the local store and take in the pristine golden sand of this sheltered oasis. The secluded bay, about 36km northeast of Whangarei, boasts stunning vistas from the shoreline; views of the turquoise water and puriri, pohutukawa and kowhai can also be seen along the walkways between Matapouri and neighbouring Whale Bay. Outdoor activities can also be enjoyed here, from diving to snorkelling and fishing. Takapuna Beach. Photo / Hayden Woodward And last but not least, Takapuna a stalwart of Aucklands upmarket North Shore. A popular choice during the summer months, this golden beach is a hotspot for outdoor activities, fitness enthusiasts, swimmers and sunbathers, complete with a sprawling grassy embankment to picnic upon or relax with friends and family. There are plenty of shady spots, plus a wide variety of restaurants, cafes and shops to explore just a mere three-minute walk from the sand. This inner-city escape can get crowded during the summertime, so make sure to arrive early to nab nearby parking and a primo spot. How to vote Voting closes at 11.59pm on Sunday, January 26. The 2025 Best Beaches winners will be announced on Sunday, February 2. Check out the New Zealand Herald from Monday to Friday this week for profiles on each of the finalists. Go to nzherald.co.nz/bestbeach to vote or fill out the entry form. Students could face implications with their payments if they dont apply for their student loans on time, says a student who has been through the process. The Tauranga woman, who wishes to remain anonymous, wants to share her experience to help other avoid unnecessary stress. The first semester of the tertiary education year is about to begin, and Studylink is reminding all students to ensure they have applied for their student loans or allowances. A student talks about their experiences with applying as first-time students to Studylink and the unexpected challenges they faced. A student said applying for a student loan can be a tedious and painful process, and students shouldnt leave applying until the last minute. As a returning student it doesnt take quite as long to reapply for a student loan, but it was a very long and confusing process as a first-time student. Applying for a student loan requires a lot of documentation which you need to verify before submitting. The student said you need to follow three steps in the beginning, which can take a while if you havent sorted out your documents and verified them. First you need to create a RealMe login which allows you to verify your identity. Then you need to complete an eligibility test to see how much money you can you for your loan and living expenses. Thirdly, you need to complete an online application. After the first three steps are complete, the student said Studylink will send you some forms in the mail. The you will need to supply your supporting documents to Studylink. Once these steps have all be completed you just have to log in to MyStudyLink to check your application status. If your application is approved, you can see how much youll get and when your payments will start. For those who still havent applied, its not too late, but its important to apply as soon as possible so that all the information can be sorted before the study begins, said Ministry of Social Development Centralised Services general manager Paula Ratahi ONeill. Whether youre a first-time student or a returning student, its important that your application isnt left until the last minute. Our message to students who havent already applied for their StudyLink student loan or allowance please apply right away, said Ratahi ONeill. Studylink holds a campaign every year to encourage students to apply before December 16. Most students respond well to our annual campaign and get their applications in by December 16. This allows time to work through the application process, any requests for supporting documentation and receive confirmation from education providers before students start their 2025 study. Our team is working hard assessing thousands of applications and finalising student loans and allowances, so students can start their studies with their finances sorted. To date, 97,583 students have applied for study in 2025, which is currently 12,200 more than the same time last year. Ratahi ONeill said every year, some students leave it to the last minute, and then it becomes really stressful as they wait for their application to be approved. There is still time to get applications in, but apply now, she said. Students can apply even if they havent decided where or what they will be studying or if they are still waiting for their NCEA result. Getting your application in starts the process, while you are working through all the steps. She encouraged students to double-check their applications to ensure everything has been included in support of their application before it is sent to Studylink. You can update your application details or withdraw your application at any time. Studylink can help pay for study costs in a variety of ways, including compulsory course fees, course-related costs (e.g., books, laptops, etc), day-to-day living costs, and other costs for disabilities and childcare. How much you get depends on your age, income and course type, said the Studylink website. Once Studylink has confirmed your enrolment and your applications are approved, they will tell you exactly who youre able to get based on your circumstances. If you apply late or dont complete your enrolment with your education provider, this will affect when you can get your payments. To apply, visit https://studylink.govt.nz/online-services/apply/index.html To find out more about paying back your loan, visit https://studylink.govt.nz/finished-study/your-loan.html Heavy rain and strong winds are returning to the north of New Zealand. MetService warns of strengthening easterly winds, heavy rain and the potential for thunderstorms from Monday afternoon and into Tuesday across Northland, Auckland and Coromandel. During Tuesday afternoon, the rain spreads into Tairawhiti with periods of heavy rain expected north of Tolaga Bay. The heaviest rain is forecast for northern and eastern areas of Northland; a heavy rain warning and severe thunderstorms watch cover the region. MetService warns of strengthening easterly winds, heavy rain and the potential for thunderstorms from Monday afternoon and into Tuesday across Northland, Auckland and the Coromandel. Photo / supplied Rainfall totals of 90-120mm are possible between Monday afternoon and Tuesday morning with intense bursts of rain and thunderstorms. A heavy rain warning is also in place for Coromandel Peninsula, where rain is expected to feed in from the east throughout Tuesday. Severe Weather Watches also cover the Auckland Region (including Great Barrier Island) as rain spreads over the area during Tuesday, accompanied by strong easterly winds, which may reach severe gale force in exposed parts of the region. The driving force for the wet and windy weather is an area of low pressure that sinks towards Aotearoa New Zealand from the north before tracking eastward across the upper North Island. Its been a dry but cool start to 2025, so these heavy rain warnings for Northland and the Coromandel are the first of the year, said MetService Meteorologist John Law. The potential for intense downpours and thunderstorms within the broader rain band means some areas, especially in Northland, could experience significant rainfall in a short period. The low pressure will also be delivering gusty easterly winds to Northland and Auckland, with gusts around 100 km/h in the most exposed locations. The strongest winds and wettest weather will affect areas exposed to the east, Law said. For Auckland, the heaviest rain is likely to fall north of Orewa, while the strongest winds will impact the eastern coast. MetService urges residents in affected regions to monitor the latest severe weather warnings and watches at metservice.com. A severe thunderstorm watch indicates conditions are favourable for severe thunderstorms in and near the watch area. People should remain vigilant for threatening weather and stay updated on potential thunderstorm warnings. Julio J. Portabales Malaga Monday, 20 January 2025, 15:04 Compartir They walked and walked, with little more than the clothes on their backs and with no fixed destination, but with the certainty that what had been their home was no longer a safe place. This was the experience of the inhabitants of villages in the north of Malaga province and the Cadiz mountains in the midst of Spain's Civil War, when the national troops took towns in the northern part of the province and hundreds of people fled their homes to seek refuge elsewhere, trying to avoid being captured. Almost a century later, these municipalities have not forgotten the suffering of their ancestors, who lost everything while looking for safety. The Marcha Las Huias is a route initiated in 2023 that brings together hundreds of people from different parts of Malaga province. Together they walk a path that ends at a common point, recalling a historical episode deeply marked in the memory of the older generation. Now in its third year, this event will take place on Saturday 25 January, with Alcala del Valle as the final destination. Teba will be one of the starting points for this walk, recalling in particular the exodus experienced by its population. On 15 September 1936, the Nationalists took the municipality in an operation that also included Antequera, Ronda, Campillos, Sierra de Yeguas and practically the entire northern part of the province. The main objective of the advance of the troops from Seville and Cadiz, through the mountains, was to reach Malaga city. The Marcha Las Huias is a route started in 2023 that brings together hundreds of people from different parts of Malaga. Juan Fuentes, president of the Asociacion para la Recuperacion de la Memoria de Historica de Teba, explains that the night of 14 September is known as "la noche de la huia" (the night of the escape). That night, most of the population of Teba left the village for fear of reprisals, aware that the troops were executing people as they passed through. With just the essentials in their hands, the families sought refuge in the area that was still holding out. "The front remained in Ardales until February 1937. They also had refuge in Casarabonela and Valle de Abdalajis, which were still in the hands of the Republic," says Fuentes. His own testimony is particularly striking: "My parents, aged six and eight, arrived at a farmhouse in Casarabonela, where they spent five months with other neighbours from Teba". Many others took refuge in nearby sierras and mountains, facing extreme conditions. On 7 February 1937, Malaga fell completely under the control of Franco's troops, along with the Republican fronts resisting in places like Ardales and Casarabonela. Some families fled to Almeria, while many returned home after hearing that only those who had committed "blood crimes" would be persecuted. However, the return was difficult. Many families found their homes had been ransacked: "They left valuable belongings behind and when they returned, they found that everything had been stolen. The doors were open and there was nothing left," recalls Fuentes. Moreover, the older men were arrested on their return, locked up in makeshift jails until they could prove their innocence. "Those who had committed blood crimes never returned," he says. News That night entire families left their homes, not knowing where to go or what the future would hold. Even the children, who years later recounted their stories of escape, experienced that night with a mixture of anguish and disorientation. "I remember clearly how that sense of desperation was experienced in the village," says Juan Fuentes, who experienced the stories of those times first-hand. Today, the participation of so many young people in the march is not only a tribute, but a way of transmitting to them the weight of that historical memory. "My parents arrived in Casarabonela, where they spent five months with other neighbours from Teba," explains Juan Fuentes. The 'March of the Huias' is a way of keeping the memory of those times alive and bringing it into the present. For Juan Fuentes, participating every year is a deeply emotional experience, as it reminds him of what his parents and many others went through as children. "It is true that we do it in a more cheerful atmosphere, but I also try to imagine what it was like for them, walking without food and often in the dark," he reflects. Fuentes also draws parallels with current situations, such as those experienced by refugees in Ukraine or Gaza, where thousands of people are forced to flee their homes. "Unfortunately, this is still happening," he says. For him, this type of event is fundamental in order not to forget and to preserve the collective memory: "It is something that should never be forgotten". The 'Marcha Las Huias' continues to be an act of historical memory and vindication, a reminder of the injustice experienced by so many families who were forced to flee their homes. More people than ever are expected to join in this year, with a significant number of young generations who, through this route, learn about the difficult moments that marked the history of their country. In addition, the march continues to be a key tool for raising awareness and promoting peace, making it clear that, despite the passage of time, historical memory must be preserved and passed on to new generations. Nuria Triguero Malaga Monday, 20 January 2025, 14:09 Compartir The project to build a cutting-edge microchip research and manufacturing centre in Malaga received a decisive boost last Friday with the signing of the transfer of rights to the allocated site on Malaga's TechPark (51,229 square metres) from the Junta de Andalucia to central government. This plot is where IMEC will build its second manufacturing hub, the only one outside Belgium, where it is based. This company is a world leader in semiconductor research and development and has chosen the coity to open its first laboratory outside its headquarters in Leuven. Two fundamental details of this initiative "key to Europe's technological sovereignty", as the Minister for Digital Transformation Oscar Lopez has described it, have also finally been announced: its total cost, which will be 615 million euros (500 million euros of which will be provided by the Spanish government), and the planned opening date, which is some time in 2030. The signing of this transfer of land and other agreements linked to the project took place at an event held in an office building owned by Malaga TechPark, which is right next to the land where the headquarters of IMEC Spain will be built. Proof of the importance of what happened there on Friday was the presence of Junta president Juanma Moreno, two ministers from Madrid - the aforementioned Oscar Lopez and Deputy PM Maria Jesus Montero, whose presence in Malaga for another event allowed her to join the meeting at the last minute, a Secretary of State and two regional ministers from the Junta (Carolina Espana and Rocio Blanco). Malaga city was represented by Mayor Francisco de la Torre and Rector for the University of Malaga (UMA) Teo Lopez and over 100 representatives from other public and private institutions. For IMEC there was the Vice-president Jo de Boeck. There has been no recent event with such a concentration of governing bodies and dignitaries in Malaga. The occasion merited it. After two years of working in the background, information being provided in dribs and drabs and a few doubts raised, IMEC (the Interuniversity Microelectronics Centre) now has a plot of land, a budget, a memorandum of understanding (MoU) and a definite timetable. Together with the agreement for the transfer of the site made between the Junta and the Sociedad Espanola de Transformacion Tecnologica (SETT), two other documents were also signed on Friday. Firstly, the Ministries for Digital Transformation and the Civil Service, and of Science, Innovation and Universities have signed with the Junta and Malaga city council an amendment to the general agreement signed in July 2024 to promote the project, updating the previous commitments made. The second was the signing of the MoU between IMEC and the Spanish government that sets conditions for both parties to meet the overall objective of the project. Maria Jesus Montero: "500 million contributed by Spanish national government" The headline figure was given by Maria Jesus Montero, who joined the event at the last minute in a 'canutazo' informal statement to media professionals organised minutes before the official call for the institutional act and signing of agreements. "There are 615 million euros of investment, that is to say, not a trivial amount, of which the Spanish government is contributing 500 million," she announced. "Malaga city council and the Andalusian regional government are making the land available to make it possible to erect this building, which we hope will be available from 2030 onwards." Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez announced three months ago that the first 105 million euros of those 500m had been committed to help this project materialise and that the monies were destined to pay for IMEC's "advisory work". Minister Oscar Lopez gave details of the following items that will be used to advance the roadmap: "The government of Spain has committed another 9 million euros for the development of all the technical projects prior to the construction of the building. And an additional 227 million euros have been earmarked for the construction of the facilities." The aim, he added, is to be able to put the construction work out to tender in 2026. In addition to providing most of the land (worth 10 million euros), the regional government will pay for most of the investment in equipment, amounting to 120 million euros. Then, once IMEC is up and running, the Junta will cover a third of the operating costs, according to Carolina Espana, regional minister of Economy. For its part Malaga city council has contributed a 4,565 square-metre plot of land to complete the area to be occupied by IMEC and has made a commitment to speeding up the project's urban planning process. With this project, "Malaga becomes the technological capital of southern Europe", placing itself "at the forefront of innovation and production capacity" of semiconductors, key to chip manufacturing, stressed Deputy PM Montero, adding in the moment that "a giant step is taken to conquer the future" in Malaga TechPark, making it a "magnet for attracting technology companies and job creation." This manufacturing and R&D centre will generate 250 jobs in the initial stages, but there will be many more indirect jobs arising from what could be called the 'IMEC effect': there are already supplier companies or clients of the Belgian company interested in setting up in Malaga TechPark and the project, supported by all three levels of government together with the Leuven Institute, foresees the promotion of a whole ecosystem of start-ups and joint research projects with the UMA. "Surely they do not fully visualise the importance of this project that we are promoting. Believe me, this project is different; it is of transcendental importance. It is surely the most important project in Europe to position Europe where it wants to be: to strengthen its strategic sovereignty and reduce its foreign dependence in an area that is increasingly sensitive and important, that of microelectronics", stated Lopez. The minister from Madrid referred to this project as "another step forward" in the Spanish government's commitment to "a digital revolution that combines competitiveness with social and territorial cohesion; a revolution based on public-private collaboration." Juanma Moreno: "The great technological and innovative south of Europe" Junta president Juanma Moreno said: "We are taking a strategic, decisive step, after the many we have taken, towards the achievement of a project that is tremendously exciting for Malaga and the whole of Andalucia, Spain and Europe. The setting up of a large IMEC innovation centre on Junta de Andalucia land is a great landmark moment. A Belgian company that is a world leader in semiconductor R&D and which could have chosen anywhere in the world to open its second hub, but it has chosen to come to Andalucia. And the choice is no coincidence, but the result of an ambitious commitment we have made to position Andalucia as the great technological and innovative south of Europe." "This project represents a turning point for IMEC. For the first time in our history, we will operate a large facility outside Belgium through IMEC Spain. This step underlines our commitment to advancing innovation in Europe, fostering collaboration that transcends borders," said VP Jo de Boeck. "We will work with cutting-edge technology and industry standards, create new materials and innovative components; we will develop advanced systems. This facility will attract top talent from academia and industry. Our aim is to facilitate the transition from the lab to the factory, with a focus on sectors such as automotive, health and defence". Malaga, he added, is "a city with talent and leadership that will strengthen its role as a strategic centre. We want the impact to reach the whole region and the country, improving productivity and training the next generation of technological talent," stated the IMEC executive. De la Torre: "It's a great opportunity for the city" Malaga's mayor, Francisco de la Torre, highlighted the "great opportunity" that the arrival of IMEC represents for the city, not only for its productive fabric but also for the university. He views it as a project that is going to become a reality thanks to the "collaboration" between the governing bodies, also mentioning the city's contribution to the project: in addition to the land that has been handed over and the commitment to speed up the planning procedures, city hall is going to create an incubator dedicated to microelectronics projects to help "to create a complementary ecosystem to the one that exists in Leuven." The mayor did not miss the opportunity to throw down a gauntlet to the ministers who attended the event with regard to the city's new auditorium, which the Ministry of Culture has been refusing to finance. "We have to continue this line of collaboration in other projects as well, such as in the cultural field. We are sure that we will succeed. Technology and culture are Malaga's two strengths, and how can we not offer good opera and concerts to those who come to work at the IMEC," he said, half in jest, half in earnest. BAKU, Azerbaijan, January 20. The 16th meeting of the Joint Economic Commission between Azerbaijan and Iran is set to unfold in Tehran, Iran, on January 21-22, Trend reports citing the Iranian Ministry of Roads and Urban Development. Irans Minister of Roads and Urban Development Farzaneh Sadegh and Azerbaijans Deputy Prime Minister Shahin Mustafayev will lead the meeting. The meeting will see a 40-member delegation from Azerbaijan, where discussions are set to touch on a range of topics such as the economy, transportation, banking, investment, energy, tourism, and more. A cooperation agreement is anticipated to be signed on January 22 following the conclusion of discussions on these matters. Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel Pilar Martinez Malaga Monday, 20 January 2025, 13:09 Compartir Ryanair's move to cut 800,000 seats from its offer of summer flights to Spain has sparked concern on the Costa del Sol. Despite the airline dropping 12 routes in a move protesting against Spanish airport operator Aena and its "excessive" airport fees, Ryanair is calling for calm. Elena Cabrera, Ryanair's country manager for Spain and Portugal, pointed out the importance of Malaga Airport in the carrier's network and said they are maintaining their commitment to the destination, where they even plan to grow at a rate of 7% in summer. "The Costa del Sol airport will continue to be one of the pillars of our activity in Spain," Cabrera added. In 2024, Ryanair carried the most passengers on the Costa del Sol, transporting 7.6 million passengers. The figure represents 30.5% of the total number of passengers who passed through Malaga Airport last year, in what was the best year in the airport's 105-year history. 6,000,000 These are the passengers that Ryanair expects to carry this summer at Malaga Airport. Cabrera said the Irish airline expects to carry some six million passengers in the 2025 summer season, a 7% increase compared to last year. "Despite the cuts of 800,000 seats that mainly affect regional airports due to Aena's disproportionate taxes, Ryanair will continue to grow by 5% this year at Spain's major airports," she said. Last year, the company forecast carrying 5.1 million passengers on the Costa del Sol during high season, from the end of April until the last weekend of October. The historic figure involved flying passengers to 90 destinations to which the carrier flies from Malaga Airport on 16 aircraft based at these facilities, 11 of them of a new generation that reduce CO2 emissions by 20% and noise pollution by 50%. At the time, Cabrera pointed out that "since April, flights from Malaga are three percentage points above the average occupancy of the airline's network in Europe", and that the average figure is 94%, which means that the airline's planes on routes to or from the Costa del Sol fill 97% of their seats. "It is a destination that always works very well," Cabrera added. Malaga is therefore left out of the fight Ryanair has started with Aena in Spain for what it considers to be "abusive airport taxes" and which has resulted in the carrier dropping 12 routes routes and 800,000 seats for its 2025 summer offer. It will cease operations at two airports and reducing air traffic at five others, due to a lack of incentives at regional airports and "excessive" taxes applied by Aena. Ryanair chief executive Eddie Wilson described Aena's measures as "ineffective" and not supporting the government's objectives of achieving more traffic at Spain's regional airports. Ryanair announced it will cease operations at Jerez and Valladolid, withdraw an aircraft based at Santiago de Compostela and reduce air traffic at Vigo by 61%; Santiago, by 28%; Zaragoza, by 20%; Asturias, by 11%; and Santander, by 5%. Aena dismissed Ryanair's claims as "spurious", considering that with the announcement of the cuts it wants to "put pressure on institutions". "Aena regrets that Ryanair uses spurious arguments that do not correspond to the reality of airport rates in Spain to confuse citizens and shamelessly put pressure on national and regional public institutions," a statement from Aena said. Ideal Granada Monday, 20 January 2025, 14:52 Compartir Aena, Aeropuertos Espanoles y Navegacion Aerea, is the public company that manages 46 airports and two heliports in Spain and it has responded publicly to Ryanair to deny the Irish low-cost airline's claims about the way it operates in Spain. Ryanair has stated, as SUR's sister newspaper Ideal published on Saturday 18 January, that it does not fly to from Granada because of airport charges. In this way, the Irish airline directly confronted Aena which it blames for mismanagement of regional airports across Spain. Aena's response to Ryanair's claims was immediate. "Ryanair does not invest in European airports, but in the aircraft it purchases for its fleet, and therefore the direct recipients of the billion-dollar investments that Ryanair recites like a litany are the companies that manufacture these aircraft (mainly Boeing), which are mostly not located in the areas to which Ryanair refers," explained Aena in a first direct response. The statement went on to explain that investments in Spanish airports are made and financed by Aena. For this reason, Aena's airport tariffs and the commercial incentives to airlines paid by Aena are public and transparent and, therefore, can be easily consulted. At the end of October 2024, Aena explained that it approved a new specific commercial incentive, paid for by the state-owned company, for the 17 so-called regional airports (less than three million passengers per year) that had not recovered pre-pandemic traffic levels: a 100 per cent discount to airlines for airport security and PRM (passengers with reduced mobility) for additional passengers compared to the equivalent season in 2023. This incentive, the statement explained, was in addition to the pre-existing commercial incentive approved by Aena for the period 2024-2026 which is a 100 per cent discount to airlines on the passenger fare for all additional passengers for each airline in respect of passengers in the equivalent season in 2023. Aena categorically stated that, at the regional airports targeted by Ryanair, the application of the Aena commercial incentives, available to all airlines, reduces the airport charges actually paid by any airline to around two euros per passenger. Aena is categorical in its criticism of the Irish airline: "Although disguised with grandiloquent rhetoric, Ryanair's aim with its constant public 'pressing' is simple: to use a large part of Spanish airports for free, which would break the long-term financial viability of the Spanish airport system, whose current operation is considered by experts to be an example of good international management". Aena said, "Ryanair intends to achieve a transfer of income: that Aena's shareholders - among which are all Spanish citizens, as the Spanish State owns 51 per cent of the company - transfer their money into the pockets of the airline's shareholders and managers." Finally, Aena concluded, "We cordially urge Ryanair to abandon its inveterate and unfortunately famous mendacious, aggressive and threatening business and communication strategy, which it is very difficult not to interpret as blackmail to Aena, to the territories and, ultimately, to the Spanish people". Edurne Martinez Madrid Monday, 20 January 2025, 13:03 | Updated 13:11h. Compartir Budget Irish airline Ryanair has announced it will drop 12 routes to Spain - 800,000 seats for its summer offer - as the carrier ups its protest against Spanish airport operator Aena and its "excessive" airport charges. The low cost airline is also citing ineffective incentives at regional airports and will cease operations at Jerez and Valladolid airports. Ryanair will withdraw a plane based in Santiago de Compostela and reduce air traffic in Vigo (-61%), Santiago (-28%), Zaragoza (-20%), Asturias (-11%) and Santander (-5%) in what they consider a "completely avoidable" loss. It is accusing Aena of a "monopoly", and although it is not the first time it has done so, the carrier is intensifying its protests this time. Following the announcement, Jerez city council said Aena "does not have the capacity to reduce taxes". "It is not good news that Ryanair is cancelling its operations at Jerez Airport next summer and it would be necessary to analyse this case with Aena and at the same time continue working, as has been the case up to now, to recover other routes," the council said in a statement. Aena described Ryanair's claims as "spurious" and pointed out that the demands of the airline, which wants a reduction in airport taxes, could be against the law. "Aena regrets that Ryanair uses spurious arguments that do not correspond to the reality of airport rates in Spain to confuse the public and shamelessly put pressure on national and regional public institutions," a statement from Aena said. The average fare airlines will pay to Aena from 1 March will be 10.35 euros per passenger, "the lowest in Europe", the operator pointed out, and said that Ryanair increased its activity by 8.75% in 2024 with the same rate. The operator also pointed out that data for the summer 2025 season shows Ryanairs overall seat capacity in Spain is set to grow compared to last summer, despite reductions at some regional airports. The carrier's chief executive, Eddie Wilson, pointed out an increase of 1.5 million seats for next summer, despite cutting its offer at smaller airports by 18%. Aena pointed out that regional airports have access to commercial incentives that can reduce rates to approximately two euros per passenger. The operator also claimed that Ryanairs decision to reduce operations in regional areas while growing at larger tourist airports demonstrates a commercial choice, not a response to airport fees. Finger Lakes Distilling Co. opened its second location at 1143 Elmira St. (Route 13) in Newfield, Tompkins County in December. Courtesy Finger Lakes DistillingSYR When Finger Lakes Distilling Co. opened on the southeastern shore of Seneca Lake in 2007, it was one of the first craft spirits makers in the state. Now, 18 years later, its growing into its second location. The new tasting room and shop is at 1143 Elmira Road (Route 13) in Newfield, just west of Ithaca. It joins the original location at 4676 Route 414 in Burdett, north of Watkins Glen. Weve had a good year, and this is an exciting time for our industry, Finger Lakes owner Brian McKenzie said. Its a good time to grow a little. The Newfield location is currently open from 1 to 8 p.m. Friday, Saturday and Sunday, but should have expanded days and hours by spring, McKenzie said. It features tastings, bottles for purchase and light food. The new tasting room is located near Robert Treman State Park, and not far from Ithaca Beer Co. There are plenty of other breweries, wineries and other craft beverage producers in the area. The distilling of all Finger Lakes' whiskeys, gins, vodkas and other spirits will remain in Burdett, along with the original tasting room. Both locations will be used for storage and aging of spirits, McKenzie said. Eventually, all of Finger Lakes bottling operations will transfer from Burdett to Newfield, he said. Really the reason behind this is the Newfield site has that space we can use for bottling, McKenzie said. And we got to the point where need more room for storage. Finger Lakes Distilling Co. opened its second location at 1143 Elmira St. (Route 13) in Newfield, Tompkins County, in December. Courtesy Finger Lakes DistillingSYR Finger Lakes Distilling is best known for its whiskeys (bourbon, rye etc.) and gins under the McKenzie name, plus others like Seneca Drums Gin and Glen Thunder, an unaged corn whiskey (think moonshine). It also makes liqueurs, brandies and more. As a farm distillery, Finger Lakes makes use of local grains (and fruits like grapes) in its products. The newest product line, called Macs, is what McKenzie described as premium well drinks, which are intended to be lower priced and good for mixing in cocktails. Finger Lakes Distilling has also collaborated with Ithaca Beer Co. on a new product that is a distilled version of Ithacas signature Flower Power IPA. It is expected to launch soon. Owner Brian McKenzie with bourbon barrels at Finger Lakes Distilling, Burdett, N.Y. SYRDon Cazentre Don Cazentre writes for NYup.com, syracuse.com and The Post-Standard. Reach him at dcazentre@nyup.com, or follow him at NYup.com, on Twitter or Facebook. TikTok restored service to users in the United States on Sunday just hours after the popular video-sharing platform went dark in response to a federal ban, which President-elect Donald Trump said he would try to pause by executive order on his first day in office. Trump said he planned to issue the order to give TikToks China-based parent company more time to find an approved buyer before the ban takes full effect. He announced the move on his Truth Social account as millions of U.S. TikTok users awoke to discover they could no longer access the TikTok app or platform. But by Sunday afternoon, a message greeted those who signed on thanking them and the president-elect for their support. As a result of President Trumps efforts, TikTok is back in the U.S.! the message read. TikTok said it shut down the platform late Saturday because of a federal law that required parent company ByteDance to sell its U.S. operation by Sunday. Google and Apple also removed TikTok from their digital stores. The law, which passed with wide bipartisan support in April, allows for steep fines. While the company that runs TikTok in the U.S. said on X that the steps Trump outlined Sunday provided the necessary clarity and assurance to our service providers that they will face no penalties, the TikTok app remained remained unavailable for download in Apple and Googles app stores. It was a brilliant marketing stunt for both TikTok and incoming president Donald Trump, Jasmine Enberg, an analyst with market research firm Emarketer, said. By abruptly shutting off service, TikTok proved how unpopular the ban was among its users. Why was TikTok banned? What can Trump do about it? The law that took effect Sunday required ByteDance to cut ties with the platforms U.S. operations due to national security concerns. However, the statute authorized the sitting president to grant a 90-day extension if a viable sale was underway. Although investors made some offers, ByteDance has said it would not sell. Trump said his order would extend the period of time before the laws prohibitions take effect and confirm that there will be no liability for any company that helped keep TikTok from going dark before my order. It wasnt immediately clear how Trumps promised action would fare from a legal standpoint since the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously upheld the ban on Friday and the statute came into force the day before Trumps return to the White House. Rep. Mike Gallagher, a Republican from Wisconsin and the bills author, said on Fox News Sunday that there is no extension for TikTok. Let me tell you, as the person who wrote the bill, the extension was within the 270-day window, which closed at 12:01 a.m. this morning, he said, adding that only if the president certifies there are legally binding documents showing a divestiture is on the way would there be an extension. I think Trump can at least make an argument that the language is meant to cover any president, University of Richmond law professor Carl Tobias said. Some lawmakers who voted for the sale-or-ban law, including some of Trumps fellow Republicans, remain in favor of it. Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas warned companies Sunday not to provide TikTok with technical support. Any company that hosts, distributes, services, or otherwise facilitates communist-controlled TikTok could face hundreds of billions of dollars of ruinous liability under the law, Cotton wrote on X. Think about it. Constitutional and business law attorney Kirk McGill said he thinks Trump lacks the legal authority to suspend the ban but its unlikely the question would reach a court in the time it might take TikTok to find a buyer. Its also unlikely that Apple or Google will face legal consequences if they move forward with Trumps demands, given that his administration would have to initiate any prosecutions, McGill said. In the next week or two, before the courts have the chance to do anything, this is certainly going to be a political fight, not a legal one, McGill said. TikTok shuts off but only temporarily? The on-and-off availability of TikTok came after the Supreme Court ruled that the risk to national security posed by TikToks ties to China outweighed concerns about limiting speech by the app or its millions of U.S. users. When TikTok users in the U.S. tried to watch or post videos on the platform as of Saturday night, they saw a pop-up message under the headline, Sorry, TikTok isnt available right now. A law banning TikTok has been enacted in the U.S., the message said. Unfortunately that means you cant use TikTok for now. The app was removed late Saturday from prominent app stores and remained so as of Sunday afternoon. Apple told customers it also took down other apps developed by ByteDance. They included Lemon8, which some influencers had promoted as a TikTok alternative, the popular video editing app CapCut and photo editor Hypic. Apple is obligated to follow the laws in the jurisdictions where it operates, the company said. Google declined to comment. Apple did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment on the days developments. Experts had said the law as written did not require TikTok to take down its platform, only for app stores to remove it. Current users expected to continue to have access to videos until a lack of updates caused the app to stop working. After TikTok was back online Sunday, content creator Tiffany Watson, 20, said she was pretty hopeful it would stay up. At the same time, Watson said her dedication solely to the platform declined during the months the threat of a ban loomed. Overall, I hope that creators will succeed and find community in spite of the unpredictability of TikTok, she said. Will the bans timing help TikTok? Trumps plan to spare TikTok on his first day in office reflected the bans coincidental timing and the unusual mix of political considerations surrounding a social media platform that first gained popularity with often silly videos featuring dances and music clips. During his first presidential term, Trump in 2020 issued executive orders banning dealings with ByteDance and the owners of the Chinese messaging app WeChat, moves that courts subsequently blocked. Trump has since credited TikTok with helping him win support from young voters in last years presidential election. TikTok CEO Shou Chew is expected to attend Trumps inauguration with a prime seating location. Trumps choice for national security adviser, Michael Waltz, told CBS News on Sunday that the president-elect discussed TikTok during a weekend call with Chinese President Xi Jinping and they agreed to work together on this. The Biden administration has also stressed in recent days that it did not intend to implement or enforce the ban before Trump takes office on Monday. Who are possible buyers of TikTok? ByteDance has publicly insisted it would not sell TikTok, and no likely buyer has emerged. On Saturday, artificial intelligence startup Perplexity AI submitted a proposal to ByteDance to create a new entity that merges Perplexity with TikToks U.S. business, according to a person familiar with the matter. Perplexity is not asking to purchase the ByteDance algorithm that feeds TikTok users videos based on their interests. In Washington, lawmakers and administration officials have long warned that the algorithm is vulnerable to manipulation by China. To date, the U.S. has not publicly provided evidence of TikTok providing user data to Chinese authorities or tinkering with the algorithm to benefit Chinese interests. Another unknown is whether Trump will remain a TikTok fan. Hes flip-flopped on his stance toward TikTok before, and theres no guarantee he wont do so again, EMarketers Enberg said. ASTANA, Kazakhstan, January 20. Top representatives from prominent German firms, including John Deere, DF Deutsche Forfait AG, BVVG, and Innari, are exploring collaborative ventures with Kazakhstan in the agro-industrial sector, along with potential investment prospects in the nation's economy, Trend reports. A Kazakh delegation led by Deputy Minister of Agriculture Yermek Kenjehanuly visited Germany to participate in agricultural events and conduct strategic negotiations. During the visit, meetings were held with Germany's Minister of Agriculture Cem Ozdemir and the Parliamentary State Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture, Oliver Nick. The parties discussed bilateral cooperation and the creation of a Regional Center for Sustainable Agriculture for Central Asian countries. The idea of establishing the Regional Center for Sustainable Agriculture was first proposed by Kazakhstan's President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev during his official visit to Germany in 2023. On January 18-19, the delegation participated in the 16th Berlin Conference of Agriculture Ministers and the international exhibition "Grune Woche." Kazakhstan presented its agro-industrial potential and investment opportunities and discussed prospects for cooperation with international partners. The visit confirmed the strong interest of German companies in investing in Kazakhstan's agricultural sector. Between 2005 and 2024, Germany's direct investments in Kazakhstan's economy reached around $6.7 billion, with a whopping 90 percent funneled into the non-extractive sector. Over a thousand companies backed by German investment are making their mark in Kazakhstan. Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel The News in Brief Monday, January 20, 2025 Mikheil Kavelashvili, the president elected by the Georgian Dream party, has pardoned 613 convicted individuals in connection with the Epiphany holiday. This decision was announced on Kavelashvili's Facebook page.Kavelashvili's pardon has sparked controversy due to the ongoing legitimacy dispute surrounding his presidency. His legitimacy is not recognized by Georgia's fifth president, Salome Zourabichvili, opposition parties, many in Georgian society, several non-governmental organizations, and a significant portion of the international community.In the published statement, Kavelashvili emphasized that the pardon was based on the exclusive powers granted to him by the Georgian Constitution, and he highlighted the act as being in the interest of humanism and state interest. "With shown humane attitude, pardoned persons were given the opportunity to return to their families and become full-fledged members of society," he wrote.However, the statement did not provide specifics on which crimes or legal articles were covered by the pardon.The Office of the Public Defender has issued a statement addressing the detention of nine individuals under administrative procedures on January 18. Representatives from the Public Defender's office visited the detainees, some of whom alleged verbal abuse and unethical behavior by the police. Two detainees also reported potential excessive force and improper treatment.In response, the Public Defender has referred the cases to the Special Investigation Service for further legal action and pledged to pursue appropriate measures regarding other reported rights violations.The statement also highlighted concerns over regulations banning the wearing of face masks, which some detainees cited as a reason for their arrests. The Public Defender noted that while similar restrictions exist in some Western countries, international human rights standards and European Court of Human Rights practices emphasize that such bans must not be absolute or blanket measures.The office reiterated the importance of balancing freedom of expression with security interests, calling for a more nuanced approach in legislation to ensure human rights are upheld. Dr. Karen Daly appointed as Head of Teagasc Environment, Soils and Land Use Research Department Dr. Karen Daly has been appointed as Head of the Environment, Soils and Land Use (ESLU) Research Department in Teagasc, based in Johnstown Castle, Co. Wexford. Dr. Daly graduated from Trinity College Dublin with a B.A. in Chemistry. She went on to complete a Masters in Synthetic Organic Chemistry. She also obtained a PhD. in Environmental Science from Trinity College Dublin, and has recently obtained a Graduate Certificate in Strategic Leadership from DCU. Dr. Daly has over 24 years experience leading research projects and teams focussing on topics such as: soil health; soil phosphorus and water quality; catchment and farm-scale water quality risk assessment; and farm-scale mitigation measures for water quality protection. More recently she has been advancing the research and innovation in spectroscopy and proximal sensing for environmental samples. She is recognised internationally for her expertise and has 95 peer reviewed scientific publications, and has mentored 17 students to the award stage of PhD. Her work on soil, phosphorus and water quality has been translated into nutrient management advice that informs policy as well as on-farm advice, and is trusted for providing sound scientific advice for policy and practice. Congratulating Dr. Daly, John Spink, Head of the Teagasc Crops, Environment and Land Use Programme said: Im delighted to have Karen as part of the management team and look forward to working with her. The Environment, Soils and Land Use (ESLU) Research programme has grown significantly in recent years with additional work related to greenhouse gasses, water quality and biodiversity. Karens expertise and experience will be invaluable in managing the large team now based in Johnstown Castle, he said. Commenting on the appointment, Dr. Karen Daly said: Its a privilege to work with the high performance team here in Johnstown Castle, and I look forward to leading the department in developing innovative solutions to support the agri-food sector. Lazy Learner Newbie Join Date: Aug 2022 Location: Gurugram Posts: 10 Thanked: 57 Times Re: 2025 Hyundai Creta Electric Review 1. Owned Creta 1.6 Diesel since 2017 2. Just previous year got another Creta 1.5 diesel to replace the aspire diesel. 3. Currently yours truly owns Tiago EV and ZS EV and the extended family owns a Curvv EV 55. So the below comments are basis a customer who already owns this segment car and has done ~ 50k km in EVs. Quote: Vikram9193 Originally Posted by The review should be updated to state that a subsequent software update will enable faster charging in H2 2025, ........ I honestly thought Hyundai had taken leave of their senses. Quote: samitjain Originally Posted by I think they have prices creta EV very well. The main competition for Creta EV is Creta itself. .... I think it will be a Moderate success. Quote: Contrapunto Originally Posted by The pricing is curious though. Its on par with competition, but nothing compelling. I am expecting their top trim to rub shoulders with a large number of very competent born-electric models. What Curvv gets extra - + Better Range & Battery + Faster Charging + Powered Tailgate + V2V charging + R18 alloy wheels + Charging/Welcome/goodbye animation + Flush door handles + 12.3" infotainment with WIRELESS ANDROID AUTO / APPLE CARPLAY + Arcade app suite (games, Prime, Hotstar, Youtube, etc.) + Projector LED headlamps + LED fog lamps + multi color ambient light and Many more... Price - Curvv cheaper by 2.24L INR. with all the above, that is the point everyone here is making. Quote: Sabyasworld Originally Posted by Not at all the pricing most were expecting (including me), overpriced by at least 2 lakhs. It seems that Hyundai is heavily banking on the Creta brand value to drive sales. I will be surprised if it sells more than 2K per month. Quote: Nithesh_M Originally Posted by Although I agree with the sentiment about the pricing being way too optimistic, I won't be surprised if this thing achieves Hyundais monthly target of 2k units. . . . So even if this Creta EV is a jugaad like the other non Born electric vehicles, this has a good chance to find its own niche loyal Hyundai customers. Windsor - 3k+ / month Nexon - ~ 1.5 k / month Punch - ~ 1.5 k / month Curvv - ~ 1.2 k / month Hyundai's management knew what the prices will be before Media drive happened. Believe me, they are no idiots who have not studied market. They knew they were goofing up. Their solution : - Create a marketing Creta will be priced very competitive and their target is @2k / month. Not even Punch ev / Nexon ev are able to selling those volumes. Their actual target maybe <1000 units per month. my guess : ~ 500-700 units per month. But they wont say it. 2k / month was just to get the hopes and brand high. Initially till March 25, they will dispatch to dealers in high numbers as they also need to meet their CAFE targets. Plus send a pseudo message that it is successful and what not. Look at sales chart of Exter for reference, initially high dispatches and bragging about no. of bookings to having discounts already in Dec 24, within 6 months of sales. To present where it struggles to cross 7-7.5 k per month. Quote: shyampsunder Originally Posted by Charging port in front center means you can always charge as long as car can reach close to the charger. ...... I prefer charging port in the front any day. While port on the front appears better and feels you will be able to charge easier by getting close to charger, IT IS NOT. REASON - ALL DC FAST CHARGERS HAVE THIER CHARGER CABLE ON THE SIDES. and that is the reason you will see all the global OEMs with BEVs, they have charging port on side. It gets much easier for customer. Lets say the spot on left is free and your port is also on left. You simply park as usual and connect it. If spot on right is free, you just need to reverse park it and again you are sorted. Always and always the charger will be placed ahead of the rear part of parking. So if the port is on front center, you go out, grab the cable and pull it backwards. For better clarity i am attaching the images of famous EV charger aggregators in India. Tata Power : highest no. of DC fast chargers in India. Charger cables on side. Statiq : Charger cables on side Hyundai : Charger cables on side. from what was shown in Auto expo, Both Maruti and Tata are also establishing similar setup for chargers. Quote: Hayek Originally Posted by Think very smart pricing by Hyundai. The Creta is a super hit - and I think this EV will be one too. .......Think people acting as if NMC cells are inferior are very misinformed - the fact is that all high end EVs use NMC cells, and in an ICE conversion, the NMC cells help maximise battery capacity with relatively small loss of space. Will the Mahindra duo sell more? Perhaps - if they prove reliable and well tuned. But for the time being, until Mahindra gets its production act together and establishes its reliability and quality, the Creta is likely to be the #1 pick in its segment. 2. For EVs, customers look for value offered to them. 3. With Mahindra's new products, they have shown their reliability game has improved way ahead of what people think. Credits to where they are due. Quote: princely_pauper Originally Posted by To be honest, I think despite the high pricing, people would gobble the Creta EV up. In India, the car market is more about emotions than logic. People see a trusted brand like Creta, they'll buy it in a heartbeat over newer names, not even looking at specs if it has basics covered. Customers who are going for an EV and have done their research, i doubt they will end up with this product. Quote: guptad42 Originally Posted by The Creta EV could sell decent numbers initially to the Creta brand faithful, but why would Hyundai want volumes to peter out? Perhaps, Hyundai need to sell only a few thousand pieces to earn enough credits to beat the risk of CAFE penalties. This year they certainly will again face the same. Till March end Hyundai will push dealer dispatches to meet the CAFE criteria, even if the demand is not there. After April, sales number will reflect the actual demand of the car. I expect discounts by June / July on the car. But considering Hyundai, they will never announce that there is discount on Creta. One of my friend recently got a Creta few months back, almost all the dealerships were giving discount of ~ 50k to him. And that is before this december discounts. Yet Hyundai never tells there is discount on Creta as it will mean the golden period for Hyundai is over and they are competing for sales just like Maruti and KIA, no more premium brand pulling factor. Quote: GoBabyGo Originally Posted by My initial impressions about Creta EV which I saw in Bharat Mobility Expo today:- Trust me, this is the best overall package under 25 lacs for an EV for the family use. Except 5% to 10% people looking for performance oriented SUV, 90% people will love the overall package. ....... .... I was upset with the pricing, however, now I feel that Creta can become best selling or second best selling EV in India in coming months. The product may be sorted in other aspect but no sense in it if we don't factor in the price asked by brand. Ask any EV buyer about it. Mahindra BE 63 79 kWh Pack 3 is @ 26.9L. So going by 1L for 10kWh, 59 kWh Pack 3 will be 24.9 L , with better features, Battery, Range and BEV advantage. Tata Curvv 55 again with better range, features and other is good 2.4L cheaper. For Creta EV, prices make it just an inappropriate choice vs a balanced car in other aspect. This may come as bashing Hyundai, but let me put some facts straight in the start1. Owned Creta 1.6 Diesel since 20172. Just previous year got another Creta 1.5 diesel to replace the aspire diesel.3. Currently yours truly owns Tiago EV and ZS EV and the extended family owns a Curvv EV 55.So the below comments are basis a customer who already owns this segment car and has done ~ 50k km in EVs.H2 2025 from what i could catch from some sources is post Oct 2025, lets just keep Oct/Nov 2025. that is good 9-10 months far, almost a year. Basis what little i understand of Automotive, if it is taking ~ 9-12 months for you in a launched product, it only means you thought about it now. So Hyundai did only think about it when all the bashing got online, since the start of Jan 2025.On par with competition?? Lets for the same compare Curvv EV 55 top (@21.99L) to Creta EV 51.4 top (@24.23l).What Curvv gets extra -+ Better Range & Battery+ Faster Charging+ Powered Tailgate+ V2V charging+ R18 alloy wheels+ Charging/Welcome/goodbye animation+ Flush door handles+ 12.3" infotainment with WIRELESS ANDROID AUTO / APPLE CARPLAY+ Arcade app suite (games, Prime, Hotstar, Youtube, etc.)+ Projector LED headlamps+ LED fog lamps+ multi color ambient lightand Many more... Price - Curvv cheaper by 2.24L INR. with all the above, that is the point everyone here is making.Let us just see the monthly sales of top EVs in last 6 months.Windsor - 3k+ / monthNexon - ~ 1.5 k / monthPunch - ~ 1.5 k / monthCurvv - ~ 1.2 k / monthHyundai's management knew what the prices will be before Media drive happened. Believe me, they are no idiots who have not studied market.They knew they were goofing up. Their solution : - Create a marketing Creta will be priced very competitive and their target is @2k / month.Not even Punch ev / Nexon ev are able to selling those volumes.But they wont say it. 2k / month was just to get the hopes and brand high.Initially till March 25, they will dispatch to dealers in high numbers as they also need to meet their CAFE targets. Plus send a pseudo message that it is successful and what not. Look at sales chart of Exter for reference, initially high dispatches and bragging about no. of bookings to having discounts already in Dec 24, within 6 months of sales. To present where it struggles to cross 7-7.5 k per month.As someone who drives both models, one with port at the front (ZS EV / Curvv EV at times) and one on the side (@Tiago)While port on the front appears better and feels you will be able to charge easier by getting close to charger, IT IS NOT.REASON - ALL DC FAST CHARGERS HAVE THIER CHARGER CABLE ON THE SIDES.and that is the reason you will see all the global OEMs with BEVs, they have charging port on side. It gets much easier for customer.Lets say the spot on left is free and your port is also on left. You simply park as usual and connect it.If spot on right is free, you just need to reverse park it and again you are sorted.Always and always the charger will be placed ahead of the rear part of parking. So if the port is on front center, you go out, grab the cable and pull it backwards.For better clarity i am attaching the images of famous EV charger aggregators in India.Tata Power : highest no. of DC fast chargers in India. Charger cables on side.Statiq : Charger cables on sideHyundai : Charger cables on side.from what was shown in Auto expo, Both Maruti and Tata are also establishing similar setup for chargers.1. Not priced well2. For EVs, customers look for value offered to them.3. With Mahindra's new products, they have shown their reliability game has improved way ahead of what people think. Credits to where they are due.In a way, i agree. Majority of Creta EV sales will be coming from people who wants a Creta. People who were looking for an ICE maybe converted by Hyundai sales to EV.Customers who are going for an EV and have done their research, i doubt they will end up with this product.Totally Agree https://indianexpress.com/article/bu...crore-9694105/ This year they certainly will again face the same. Till March end Hyundai will push dealer dispatches to meet the CAFE criteria, even if the demand is not there.After April, sales number will reflect the actual demand of the car.I expect discounts by June / July on the car.But considering Hyundai, they will never announce that there is discount on Creta.One of my friend recently got a Creta few months back, almost all the dealerships were giving discount of ~ 50k to him. And that is before this december discounts. Yet Hyundai never tells there is discount on Creta as it will mean the golden period for Hyundai is over and they are competing for sales just like Maruti and KIA, no more premium brand pulling factor.Yes and no.The product may be sorted in other aspect but no sense in it if we don't factor in the price asked by brand. Ask any EV buyer about it.Mahindra BE 63 79 kWh Pack 3 is @ 26.9L. So going by 1L for 10kWh, 59 kWh Pack 3 will be 24.9 L , with better features, Battery, Range and BEV advantage.Tata Curvv 55 again with better range, features and other is good 2.4L cheaper.For Creta EV, prices make it just an inappropriate choice vs a balanced car in other aspect. Last edited by Lazy Learner : 19th January 2025 at 20:09 . Through the looking glass: As the clock struck midnight on January 1, 1990, the world unknowingly stepped into a new chapter of digital threats. Few realized that the largest cybercrime investigation of its time was about to unfold, sparked by what would come to be known as the world's first ransomware. The attack, masterminded by American biologist Dr. Joseph Lewis Andrew Popp Jr., arrived via a seemingly innocuous 5.25-inch floppy disk labeled "AIDS Information Introductory Diskette 2.0." This digital Trojan horse found its way into the hands of approximately 20,000 unsuspecting victims, including subscribers of PC Business World magazine, various mailing list recipients, and even delegates attending a World Health Organization conference on AIDS. The attack was carefully timed to exploit the global anxiety surrounding the AIDS epidemic. In the late 1980s, AIDS was instilling fear and uncertainty in populations around the world. At the same time, awareness of computer viruses was minimal, let alone the concept of malware designed for extortion. Dr. Popp exploited this confluence of health anxiety and technological naivety. While crude by today's standards, the "AIDS Information" ransomware was groundbreaking for its time. The malware encrypted file names rather than the files themselves. This proved to be a crucial weakness, allowing for countermeasures to be developed. Two software tools, "AIDSOUT" and "AIDSCLEAR," were swiftly created by John Sutcliffe and Jim Bates to combat the threat and assist affected users. Despite these remedies, several organizations suffered significant financial losses and data destruction from the attacks. One of the most severe cases involved an Italian health organization, which reportedly lost a decade of invaluable research data to the malicious program. Dr. Popp was eventually caught and following his arrest and extradition, the 41-year-old biologist exhibited a series of bizarre behaviors that led to him being declared mentally unfit to stand trial by a London psychiatrist. Eyewitness accounts described Popp wearing condoms on his nose, carrying a cardboard box, and engaging in other eccentric actions. This behavior ultimately landed him in London's Maudsley Hospital instead of prison. Also read: The Evolution of Ransomware How Did We Get Here? However, the sophistication of the attack, as well as the significant financial investment required to carry it out, raises questions about Popp's alleged mental state. The distribution costs alone were estimated at 10,000 equivalent to approximately 31,794.86, or $38,600, in today's currency. Additional expenses included registering the "PC Cyborg" company in Panama and securing accommodation in London. Despite these substantial upfront costs, the potential returns were considerable. The ransom demands were structured such that even if only 1 percent of the victims paid, the operation would yield a handsome profit. What just happened? It's been an eventful weekend for TikTok. US users found they were unable to access the app on Saturday, the day before the law banning it in the United States came into effect. But services were being restored on Sunday when President Donald Trump said he would sign an executive order to delay the ban, giving TikTok more time to reach a deal that will allow it to stay in the US. On Saturday, TikTok lived up to its threat to cut user access for users in the US ahead of the January 19 ban. Anyone in the country logging into the app was met with a message that read: "Sorry, TikTok isn't available right now. A law banning TikTok has been enacted in the U.S. Unfortunately, that means you can't use TikTok for now." "We are fortunate that President Trump has indicated that he will work with us on a solution to reinstate TikTok once he takes office. Please stay tuned!" The blackout didn't last long. TikTok's services began returning on Sunday, for which the company thanked Trump. "As a result of President Trump's efforts, TikTok is back in the US," it wrote in a message. Related reading: Meta could make billions from TikTok ban, but the app's future remains uncertain In a statement, TikTok thanked Trump for "providing the necessary clarity and assurance to our service providers that they will face no penalties (for) providing TikTok to over 170 million Americans and allowing over 7 million small businesses to thrive." It added that the company would work with Trump "on a long-term solution that keeps TikTok in the United States." Despite being tough on China and attempting to ban the app during his first term in office, Trump has opposed the TikTok ban, claiming the app helped him win the youth vote. He has promised to delay the law's implementation, even though it is already in effect, by up to 90 days after his inauguration. The law had required Chinese owner ByteDance to sell TikTok's US operations by January 19 to continue operating in the US. Speaking about TikTok at a rally on Sunday, Trump said, "Frankly, we have no choice. We have to save it." The incoming president wrote on his Truth Social platform that he wanted a "joint venture" in which the US government would own 50% of the company. Trump said the executive order would specify there would be no liability for any company that helped keep TikTok from going offline before his order. The Biden administration had said it would not enforce the law in its last hours of office, leaving it up to the incoming Trump administration. But TikTok still pulled its services on Saturday. When asked about TikTok and Trump seeking a deal, China's foreign ministry said on Monday that it believed companies should "decide independently" about their operations and deals. "TikTok has operated in the US for many years and is deeply loved by American users," ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said. "We hope that the US can earnestly listen to the voice of reason and provide an open, fair, just and non-discriminatory business environment for firms operating there." Senate Intelligence Committee Chair Tom Cotton, a Republican senator from Arkansas, doesn't share Trump's soft spot for TikTok. He wrote that any company that helps TikTok stay online, such as Google or Apple, would be breaking the law. "Any company that hosts, distributes, services, or otherwise facilitates communist-controlled TikTok could face hundreds of billions of dollars of ruinous liability under the law, not just from DOJ, but also under securities law, shareholder lawsuits, and state AGs," Cotton wrote. Any company that hosts, distributes, services, or otherwise facilitates communist-controlled TikTok could face hundreds of billions of dollars of ruinous liability under the law, not just from DOJ, but also under securities law, shareholder lawsuits, and state AGs. Think about https://t.co/XamZ1qAk2K Tom Cotton (@SenTomCotton) January 19, 2025 TikTok is no longer available on the Apple App Store or Google Play Store at the time of writing. It was reported last week that Chinese officials were considering selling TikTok to X owner Elon Musk. Serving tech enthusiasts for over 25 years.TechSpot means tech analysis and advice you can trust WTF?! Although it appears that TikTok will continue to be accessible in the US, many people were upset when they temporarily lost access to the app. One 19-year-old Wisconsin teen was so angry at the prospect of his beloved TikTok being banned that he set fire to a congressman's office. Shortly after 1 am on Sunday, police officers with the City of Fond du Lac responded to reports of a fire at 525 N. Peters Avenue. The burning building is leased by US Representative Glenn Grothman, one of the Republicans who voted in favor of the law forcing TikTok to sell its US operations or be banned in the United States. 19-year-old man 'angry about TikTok ban' arrested for setting fire at U.S. Rep. Glenn Grothman's office, police say pic.twitter.com/oIARR743Nh BNO News Live (@BNODesk) January 19, 2025 Nobody was hurt in the fire and the damage has been contained. Thank you to the FDL firefighters and police officers for your swift response. https://t.co/SsIXChMSK6 Rep. Glenn Grothman (@RepGrothman) January 19, 2025 Police later arrested a Menasha man on suspicion of setting the fire. Channel 3000 reports that he admitted to committing arson, which was a response to the TikTok ban. The building was unoccupied at the time of the fire and no one was injured. Police officers used fire extinguishers to control the flames until firefighters arrived. A photo of the office's charred door and air conditioner unit has been going viral on social media, writes Gizmodo. The unnamed teen is being held at the Fond du Lac County Jail while the arson charge is being referred to the County District Attorney's Office. It appears that the fire was started after TikTok stopped US users from accessing the app on Saturday, hours before the law banning the app came into effect. The person responsible for the fire might regret his actions even more upon discovering that TikTok started restoring its US services on Sunday after Trump said he would sign an executive order to delay the ban, giving TikTok more time to reach a deal that will allow it to continue operating in the United States. Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform that he wanted a "joint venture" in which the US government would own 50% of the company. Exactly how that would work remains unclear, but it sounds as if Elon Musk won't be buying the app, which had been rumored. Editor's take: The energy sector has embraced the term "net-zero hero," which refers to actions consumers take to help the environment, such as installing solar panels or buying an electric car. It's little wonder the sector favors this term because, as new research shows, focusing on consumer actions allows it to downplay its own responsibility for reducing carbon emissions. The energy sector's narrative of individual responsibility in combating climate change is being challenged by new research from the University of Sydney. The study, which analyzed hundreds of public reports and media releases from the Australian energy industry, reveals a pervasive storyline promoting the concept of a "net-zero hero" an individual consumer who can significantly impact climate change through personal choices and actions. Associate Professor Tom van Laer, an expert in the influence of storytelling on behavior at the University of Sydney Business School, led the research. His analysis, spanning 2015 to 2022, examined material from 44 Australian energy market entities, including energy providers, non-governmental organizations, and policymakers. The research uncovered a consistent message across the energy sector: consumers can play a pivotal role in saving the planet by making thoughtful choices. These actions include purchasing eco-friendly vehicles, turning off appliances, using off-peak hot water, and installing solar panels. The narrative suggests that by understanding, monitoring, and managing their energy consumption, individuals can make a meaningful difference. Australia leads developed nations in per-capita greenhouse gas emissions at 14.51 tonnes per person, with the energy sector accounting for nearly half of the country's total emissions. The United States follows closely behind at 13.64 tonnes per person. Globally, the energy sector consumes the largest share of energy, using over one-third of the world's fuel supply. However, van Laer argues that this narrative, while seemingly aspirational, overlooks the broader context of essential corporate and regulatory changes. By creating a "mythical market" of small-scale energy consumers where everyone supposedly contributes equally to total emissions the energy sector minimizes the accountability of larger entities that have a far more substantial environmental impact. He cautions that without adequate support systems, consumers may struggle to fulfill the role of a net-zero hero. Furthermore, the overwhelming responsibility placed on individuals could lead to feelings of helplessness and disengagement rather than empowerment. Australia leads developed nations in per-capita greenhouse gas emissions at 14.51 tonnes per person, with the energy sector accounting for nearly half of the country's total emissions. The United States follows closely behind at 13.64 tonnes per person. Globally, the energy sector consumes the largest share of energy, using over one-third of the world's fuel supply. Van Laer argues that instead of placing an unrealistic burden on individual consumers, efforts should focus on addressing the systemic changes necessary for a genuine environmental impact. If you are on the lookout for the best Apple Watch faces then this article will definitely help you out. With a 36% market share, the Apple Watch is the most-sold smartwatch in the world. Apple watches come with a lot of features to keep track of your health such as a step counter, heart rate monitor, ECG monitor, SPO2 sensor which is really useful during covid, fall detection, crash detection, and much more. Apple has recently launched the Apple watch series 8, Watch SE, and Apple Watch Ultra which has lots of fitness and health-related improved features such as a body temperature sensor, Blood Oxygen apps, and emergency SOS over satellite. Most new smartwatches come with customizable watch faces which allow you to customize the way your watch looks. Apple offers a lot of watch faces for you to use on your watch so lets check out some of the Best Watch Faces For the Apple Watch. Best Apple Watch Faces 1. Metropolitan (watchOS 9) Metropolitan is a new watch face from watchOS 9. It is a clean and minimalistic face that is great for both casual and semi-formal situations. The watch face also shows four complications in the 4 corners to maintain its minimalistic style. In terms of customization, you can select from four different watch styles, five different dial options, and a bunch of colors to match any outfit you own. If you want a watch face with a minimal design that still shows you the information you need, Metropolitan is one of the best Apple Watch Faces for you. 2. Astronomy (watchOS) Astronomy is one of the most beautiful Apple Watch Faces available. It allows you to choose from views of the Earth, the Moon, and the Solar System. It continuously updates as the day goes by. For example, you can see the sunrise and sunset as they happen in real-time. You can also turn the digital crown to view the light and shadows on Earths face in the coming hours. While the app does not show many complications except the battery percentage, it is one of the best Apple Watch Faces if you prefer form over functionality. The Astronomy watch face might also drain a bit more battery since it is updating throughout the day.3. 3. Playtime (watchOS 9) While Playtime might look like it is built for kids, it is weirdly fun no matter what your age is. The Playtime watch face is a collaboration between Apple and Joi Fulton. The watch face allows you to turn the digital crown to change the background, you can also tap on the faces of the characters and theyll react to you. Like Astronomy, Playtime also prioritizes form over function and does not show you any complications. However, if you want a fun watch face or have kids who love to play with your Apple Watch then Playtime is one of the best Apple Watch Faces for you. 4. Lunar (watchOS 9) If you are someone who wants a lot of information and a beautiful watch face, Lunar is the one for you. It is especially useful to people who keep track of the lunar calendar. It comes with support for three lunar calendars: Hebrew, Chinese and Islamic. Like Metropolitan, Lunar shows four complications in the four corners. In terms of customization, there arent many here: you can only change the color of the second hand and switch between an analog and a digital clock. The Lunar Watch face might feel a bit overwhelming at first but it is perfect for people who like to keep track of the lunar calendar. 5. Modular The Modular watch face keeps true to its name. If you want a watch face with a digital clock and lots of complications then Modulars the one for you. You can choose between different complications such as timers, alarms, weather, etc. Whats more, is that Modular has got space for up to six complications. Modular has also got a ton of customization options, you can choose between different colors, turn on or off background colors, and more. In short, if you are someone who likes a lot of information on their watch face, Modular is one of the best Apple Watch Faces for you. 6. Infograph As the name suggests, the Infograph watch face is loaded with information. You can add up to 8 complications. You can also use some of these complications to launch third-party apps. Like other watch faces, Infograph has an element of personal preference, some think the watch face looks too cluttered while others think it looks perfect. If you are someone who likes to use an analog watch along with a lot of complications then Infograph is one of the best Apple Watch Faces for you. 7. California If you want a watch face for a formal occasion, California is the perfect Apple Watch Face. The watch face looks classy and minimalistic. The watch face gives you a few customization options such as the ability to change dial markers. The watch face also allows you to choose between the circular and full-screen options. If you choose the circular option, you can add four complications to the four corners, just like metropolitan and Lunar. If you want a formal watch face then California is one of the best Apple Watch Faces for you. 8. Portraits The Portraits watch face is one of the most popular apple watch faces. It uses the portrait photos on your iPhone to create a depth effect on your watch with the time behind your photo. You can choose up to 24 portrait shots from your iPhone and youll see a different photo every time you open your Apple Watch. Portraits allow you to choose between three clock styles: Classic, Modern, and Rounded. You can also choose two complications: one in the middle and one in the bottom. Turning the digital crown also allows you to zoom in and out of the photos which is pretty cool. 9. Liquid Metal, Fire/Water While these are separate watch faces, theyre pretty much the same except for the element used. These watch faces show animations recorded by apple on your Apple Watch. You can choose between liquid metal, water, and fire. Like California, you can use these watch faces in both full-screen and circular options. I would recommend the full-screen option for a more immersive animation. However, if you want complications on your watch face, you can choose the circular option as well. If you want one of the coolest-looking Apple Watch faces made, then these are the ones for you. 10. Simple As the name suggests, this is one of the most minimalistic watch faces you can find. It is perfect for anyone who just wants a clean and simple watch face without any complications (pun intended). While the Simple does allow you to add complications, you can just use the date complication for one of the most minimalistic Apple Watch faces youve seen. 11. Numerals Duo Another simple and minimalistic watch face, Numerals Duo is great for casual wear such as going out with friends to the mall or going to the beach. The watch does not display any complications but just the time with the hours and the minutes in different colors. In terms of customization, you can choose different color schemes for the hours and the minutes and there are some clock styles available too. Numerals Duo is one of the best Apple Watch faces for casual outings. 12. Contour (Apple Watch Series 7 Only) Contour is a beautiful Series & exclusive watch face. Like some others we have seen on the list, Contour is simple and minimalistic and is great for casual wear. The numbers, stretch over the edge of the display and the watch face gradually changes to highlight the current hour. In terms of customization, you can choose from two styles: regular and rounded, you can also customize the background color and dial color. 13. Solar Solar is an interactive watch face that displays the position of the sun at different times of the day. It shows four complications in the four corners of the screen. You can also turn the digital crown to see the position of the sun at different times of the day. The face even marks the twilight, sunset, dawn, and other times right on the watch face. In terms of customization, you can choose between an analog and a digital clock to display the times. You can also tap the watch face to see the length of the day. 14. Memoji If you love showing people your Memoji, then the Memoji watch face is perfect for you. While the watch face does not show many complications, it is great to see your Memoji animate on the screen. It is a simple watch face and is great for casual wear. It does not offer anything in terms of customizability with the only customizable option being the character. 15. Photos The Photos watch face is like Portrait just without the depth effect. You can choose up to 24 photos and you get to see a different photo every time you raise your wrist. If you have a bunch of wallpaper-esque shots, the photos watch face may be one of the best Apple Watch Faces for you. In terms of customization, all you can do is change where the time is located. 16. Timelapse Are you a travel enthusiast and want to see the world? Then Timelapse watch face can be a start. It includes cities such as New York, Hong Kong, Mack Lake, London, Shangai, and more. The watch face changes dynamically as time passes through the day. It shows iconic and globally famous monuments of different cities. You can tweak the watch face to show a particular city throughout the day and change it at night. The Timelapse watch face detects your location to show day based photos during the day and evening photos as the Sun sets in your area. 17. Toy Story The Toy Story watch face for Apple Watch is a special watch face that is available as part of the Disney Pixar Toy Story collection of watch faces for Apple Watches. It features characters from the Toy Story movies, including Woody, Buzz Lightyear, and Jessie, in a variety of different animation styles. Tap on the characters to make them speak in their voice. You can also select the time here appears at the top-right along with all the Toy story characters. 18. GMT Watch Face Keeping track of multiple time-zones can become a difficult task at times. GMT watch face can help you in that regard. It displays the current time in multiple time zones. The watch face shows the primary time zone in the center, and additional time zones can be displayed in the corners of the watch face. You can customize the GMT watch face by selecting which time zones you want to display, and you can also choose from a variety of different styles and colors for the watch face. To use a GMT watch face, you will need to set the local time zone for your Watch and then set the time zone for the secondary display. This can usually be done through the Apple Watch app on your iPhone or through the Watch app on your Apple Watch. 19. Meridian The Meridian watch face is an ideal choice for people who prefer a clean, uncluttered look for their watch face, and want a watch face that is easy to read at a glance. Meridian Always supports On Display and is amongst the best AOD watch face for Apple Watch. This Apple watch face is inspired by the design of sundials, which use the position of the sun to tell the time. It includes a complication that displays the current time, and you can customize the watch face by selecting different colors and styles for the dial and the markings around the edge. This Apple watch face is inspired by the design of sundials, which use the position of the sun to tell the time. It includes a complication that displays the current time, and you can customize the watch face by selecting different colors and styles for the dial and the markings around the edge. 20. Way Finder Do you often find yourself stranded in unfamiliar places then Way Finder watch face can be the way to go. Find your way through widgets such as a compass, a map, and a display that shows the current time and location. Coupled with a compass, take advantage of the map display on the watch. This shows your current location and can help you orient yourself in relation to your surroundings. In addition to the compass and map, the Wayfinder watch face also includes a display for the time and date, as well as a number of complications (small displays that show additional information). In addition to the compass and map, the Wayfinder watch face also includes a display for the time and date, as well as a number of complications (small displays that show additional information). These complications can include your activity level, the weather, and more. You can customize which complications are displayed on the watch face and how they are arranged, giving you the flexibility to view the information that is relevant to you. 21. Siri This Apple watch face is ideal for users with Siri as their daily driver around everything, using the personal assistant to its full length and breadth. The watch face includes a number of features that are designed to make it easier for you to stay on top of your schedule, stay connected with your loved ones, and get things done. One of the main features of the Siri watch face is its ability to show you relevant information and recommendations based on your current location, the time of day, and your past behavior. For example, if you are at the gym in the morning, the watch face might show you a reminder to start your workout or suggest a playlist to listen to while you exercise. If you are at home in the evening, the watch face might show you a reminder to turn off the lights or suggest a movie to watch. 22. Typograph Typography takes the drivers seat here. Numbers and the alphabets take you back to the olden times. The Typograph watch face displays the time using a series of numbers and letters that are arranged in a circular layout around the center of the watch face. The hours are displayed using the numbers 1 through 12, while the minutes are displayed using a series of letters that spell out the word MINUTES. The watch face also includes a display for the date, as well as a small indicator that shows the current phase of the moon. You can apply different color schemes and fonts to match your personal taste. Typograph watch face also includes a number of complications (small displays that show additional information). These complications can include your activity level, the weather, and more. 23. Pride Watch Face Go to a Pride event or LGBTQ+ event sporting a Pride watch face. We get a colorful and vibrant design that is inspired by the rainbow flag, which is a symbol of pride and diversity. The watch face displays the time using a series of rainbow-colored stripes that are arranged in a circular layout around the center of the watch face. The hours are represented by stripes of different colors, while the minutes are represented by stripes of different shades within the same color. There is a small indicator on the watch that shows the current phase of the moon. What Is A Watch Face? Think of a watch face as a home screen for your smartwatch. Just as your home screen display your most-used apps and important information, a watch face displays time and other information you might need such as your steps, heart rate, calories burnt, etc. Just as you use wallpaper and different themes to customize your home screen, you can use different watch faces to display different information in a different styles. How To Add A Watch Face To Your Available Faces Press the digital crown to go to the Apple watch face. Now, touch and hold the display. Swipe all the way to the right and tap the add button. Turn the digital crown to browse all watch faces. Once you find a watch face you like, click on add. If the watch face can be customized, you can see all the options available and go through them. If the watch face doesnt have any customization options, it becomes your current watch face immediately. Press the digital crown twice to go back to your watch face. How to Change A Watch Face on Your Apple Watch Press the digital crown to go to the Apple watch face. Now, touch and hold the display. Swipe left or right from edge to edge to see the watch faces you have added to your available faces. Stop when you get to the watch face you want to use. How to Delete A Watch Face On Your Apple Watch Press the digital crown to go to your watch face. Now, touch and hold the display. Swipe left or right from edge to edge to find the watch face you want to remove. Swipe up and tap Remove. Is there 3rd party Apple Watch faces? Currently, Apple does not allow installing Watch Faces from third parties. CONCLUSION These were the best Apple Watch Faces, and you should choose one according to your liking. You can tell us about other great Apple Watch Faces in the comments below. ExpressVPN, the premium VPN provider with an increasingly robust suite of end-to-end online security features, has launched a 7-day free trial offer on X in the most dramatic fashion, taking over the social networks Trends feed on the day of the U.S. presidential inauguration. Encouraging people across America and all over the world to #TakeBackControl of their digital privacy, rights, and ultimately freedom, anyone using X on the day of President Trumps return to the White House will see ExpressVPNs messaging front and center on the social network. ExpressVPNs message is one for all Americans, no matter where they sit on the political spectrum: digital rights are human rights and your data is worth protecting. The message from ExpressVPN today is the same as it is every day: digital rights are human rights. What you do with your data is your choice. No one should make it for you, and were here to give everybody the chance to take back that control for free, said Lauren Hendry Parsons, ExpressVPN. Hendry Parsons added: All thats different today is that, due to the monumental significance of any U.S. presidential inauguration, were choosing to shout it to America and the world louder than ever before. ExpressVPN has never before offered a free trial this widely and its mission is clear: ensure everybody can experience what real digital freedom tastes like, on the biggest day for the worlds biggest democracy. What actually is ExpressVPN all about? Lets take a closer look. Try ExpressVPN free to see what a premium VPN really looks like ExpressVPN is trusted by millions of people worldwide to protect their data, and in an increasingly crowded market, is an industry leader in security. 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Dont think youre getting just a singular product with Express, if you sign up for the two year plan, youll also get a built-in password manager, ad blocker, phishing and malware protection, tracker blocking, and Identity Defender, which monitors the dark web and alerts you if your data has been leaked, as well as removing your information from data brokers to prevent exploitative ads. But best of all, youll get up to $1 million in coverage to recover the costs if youre a victim of identity theft. You can even install ExpressVPN on a WiFi router to protect your entire household. Plus, with parental control features, you can protect your family from malicious and fake websites, as well as blocking adult content for your kids. Right now, new American customers can enjoy a 7-day free trial on all plans, provided they act fast the offer ends at 11:59 PDTon Monday, January 20! Its the perfect way to #TakeBackControl of your data and see how a VPN helps you securely access your favorite apps, websites, and streaming services from anywhere in the world. How to get ExpressVPN for free You can get the one of the best VPNs on the market for free in three easy steps: Sign up at the ExpressVPN website . Download the apps to your favorite devices. Log in and connect with a single click! Once youre connected, youll be protected with cutting-edge encryption that keeps your internet traffic safe from hackers, cybercriminals, and even spying governments. Better still, with ExpressVPNs proprietary Lightway protocol, your data is safe against quantum computing threats thanks to its ML-KEM post-quantum protection. Is ExpressVPN good? ExpressVPN is trusted by millions of people worldwide to protect their data, and is an industry leader in security. You dont have to take their word for it though, because ExpressVPN regularly commits to independent audits of its apps, privacy policy, and infrastructure. These independent audits prove that ExpressVPN is doing exactly what it says on the tin no more, no less. To find out more about its transparency and audits, check out the ExpressVPNs Trust Centre. What else can I do with ExpressVPN? Dont think youre getting just a singular product with Express, if you sign up for the two year plan, youll also get a built-in password manager, ad blocker, phishing and malware protection, tracker blocking, and Identity Defender, which monitors the dark web and alerts you if your data has been leaked, as well as removing your information from data brokers to prevent exploitative ads. But best of all, youll get up to $1 million in coverage to recover the costs if youre a victim of identity theft. You can even install ExpressVPN on a WiFi router to protect your entire household. Plus, with parental control features, you can protect your family from malicious and fake websites, as well as blocking adult content for your kids. Dont miss out So what are you waiting for? Make the most of ExpressVPNs free trial, and take back control of your data today! If thats not good enough, new subscribers even get a 30-day money-back guarantee to fall back on. ??Try ExpressVPN BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan, January 20. Kyrgyzstan has carved out a spot among the top 50 nations for effectively putting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) into action, landing at 45th in the world rankings, according to Chairman of the Cabinet of the Ministers Adylbek Kasymaliev, Trend reports. He made this announcement during a meeting with Antje Grawe, UN Resident Coordinator in Kyrgyzstan. During the meeting, the two officials reviewed the achievements of Kyrgyzstan's cooperation with the UN throughout 2024, as well as outlined future plans for continued collaboration. Kasymaliev emphasized that Kyrgyzstan is committed to further progress, setting an ambitious goal of joining the top 30 countries in the SDG implementation rankings by 2030. He also highlighted the countrys continued focus on promoting the mountain agenda, an initiative central to Kyrgyzstan's development, and outlined key strategic projects, including the construction of the Kambar-Ata-1 hydropower station and the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway. Additionally, significant events in 2024 were discussed, including President Sadyr Zhaparov's participation in the 79th UN General Assembly and the visit of UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to Kyrgyzstan. In turn, Grawe reiterated the UN's support for Kyrgyzstan's initiatives, affirming the organization's readiness to assist in their realization and advocate for Kyrgyzstan on the international stage. The Sustainable Development Index (SDI) measures how efficiently countries balance human development with ecological limits. It compares a nation's human development score (life expectancy, education, income) to its ecological overshoot, which is the excess consumption and emissions beyond planetary boundaries. Countries that excel in development while staying within ecological limits rank highest. Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel 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 The price of bitcoin has hit a new all-time-high amid a crypto market frenzy fuelled by incoming US president Donald Trump. The worlds leading cryptocurrency reached above $109,000 for the first time in its history on Monday morning, just hours before Trump is due to take office. Bitcoins latest price surge follows the launch of Trumps own cryptocurrency, as well as that of his wife Melania. $TRUMP and $MELANIA were both released over the weekend, with Trumps coin reaching a market cap of more than $5 billion. The overall crypto market is now up by more than half a trillion dollars over the last week, reaching a new record high of $3.74 trillion on Monday. Trump has promised the crypto industry that he will make the US the bitcoin capital of the planet as president. The incoming US president has pledged to set up a strategic bitcoin reserve, with speculation that it may be among his first executive orders after entering the White House on Monday. We believe Trump will turn some of his crypto rhetoric into action in his first 90 days in office and this should catapult prices, Ed Hindi, chief investment officer at Tyr Capital, told The Independent. Creating a US bitcoin strategic reserve will be one of them. Other countries will be forced to follow suit and hence create a price action virtuous cycle. Other industry figures have warned of the crypto markets unpredictability, with some noting that so-called meme coins like $TRUMP and $MELANIA are particularly susceptible to price volatility. This is a revival of the meme coin trend we saw in 2021 and 2022, where many young, inexperienced investors got burned by extreme volatility. Without doubt, investors will get burned by this frenzy too, said Nigel Green, chief executive of wealth management advisory firm deVere Group. Lets be very clear: this is more gambling than investing... Theyre mostly not buying because they think the coin has inherent value, theyre buying because they hope others will drive the price higher, allowing them to sell at a profit. 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 The Government has confirmed plans to introduce digital driving licenses, accessible via a new gov.uk app launching this summer. The initiative aims to modernise access to government services and will eventually allow the public to store a range of official documents within a secure digital "wallet" housed within the app. Initially, the app will feature a veteran card, followed by a pilot programme for digital driving licenses later this year. The digital wallet will leverage existing smartphone security features, such as facial recognition, mirroring the technology used for mobile payment systems. The digital licence will be optional, with physical documents remaining valid. What is the gov.uk wallet? The digital wallet will be similar to your Apple or Google wallet and will leverage existing smartphone security features, such as face or fingerprint recognition, to keep your details safe. The veteran card will be first available to add to the wallet followed, later in the year, by a pilot programme for digital driving licences. Science and Technology Secretary Peter Kyle said, that by the end of 2027, the Government hoped to have a range of documents available inside the wallet, including DBS checks and every other credential issued by the government. How could the wallet be used? The digital licence could be accepted as a form of ID when voting, purchasing alcohol or boarding domestic flights. Possible features include allowing users to hide their addresses in certain situations, such as in shops or bars. Mr Kyle said: Gov.UK Wallet will mean that every letter or identity document you receive from the government could be issued to you virtually. For people who choose to use Gov.UK Wallet, they will find it easier to prove theyre entitled to benefits or check their age when buying alcohol or DIY equipment, with more security and trust than ever before. Crucially, it also opens huge opportunities to make interacting with public services much easier by putting people in control of their own data. Will the app and digital licences be mandatory? Physical licences will still be issued and the new digital identities will not be mandatory. Crucially, the Government will stop short of introducing compulsory national ID cards, which were pushed for by former prime minister Tony Blair and William Hague. Nearly 50 million Britons have either a provisional or full driving licence. The photocard driving licence was introduced to the UK in 1998. It had to be used in conjunction with a paper counterpart until that requirement was abolished in 2015. When will the wallet be launched? The new app will be launched this summer with the digital driving licences pilot set to launch later in 2025. Why is the Government implementing digital driver licences? A Government spokesperson has said: This Government is committed to using technology to make peoples lives easier and transform public services. Technology now makes it possible for digital identities to be more secure than physical ones, but we remain clear that they will not be made mandatory. The French Government has introduced legislation to allow motorists to carry a valid electronic copy of their driving licence and identity card via an official mobile app. EU member states are mandated to introduce at least one form of digital ID by 2026. open image in gallery An illustration of the new digitalised driving licence in France ( AFP via Getty Images ) Keir Starmer last week unveiled plans to champion AI, describing it as a unique chance to boost growth and raise living standards. Tech entrepreneur Matt Clifford has written an AI opportunities action plan, of which ministers have accepted all recommendations. The plan is aimed at improving the UKs use of artificial intelligence technology. Sir Keir said: Harnessing AI and using it to deliver our plan for change requires ambition, purpose and focus. This is a unique chance to boost growth, raise living standards, transform public services, create the companies of the future in Britain and deliver our plan for change. Among the recommendations the Government has accepted is a commitment to set out within six months plans to improve the UKs AI infrastructure. Ministers will aim to expand the UKs sovereign, publicly owned AI capacity twentyfold by 2030, and plan to deliver a new state of the art supercomputing facility for research purposes. DUSHANBE, Tajikistan. January 20. Currently, there are 160 companies with Iranian capital operating in Tajikistan, Trend reports. According to the press service of the Tajik president, this was mentioned during a meeting between Tajik President Emomali Rahmon and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian. It was also noted that in 2024, the volume of goods transportation between the two countries increased 3.2 times compared to the previous two years. During the talks, the expansion of cooperation in various sectors, including mineral processing, building materials production, food, medical, energy, agriculture, and the extensive use of Tajikistan's free economic zones, was discussed. The transport and transit potential of Iran, particularly the Chabahar and Bandar Abbas ports, were highlighted as beneficial for both sides. The presidents emphasized the importance of further activating the Intergovernmental Commission on trade, economic, technical, and cultural cooperation, as well as the regular work of the Council and the Joint Committee on Entrepreneurship and Investments. They also discussed the comprehensive implementation of the Trade and Economic Cooperation Program up to 2030 and its action plan. On January 15, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian arrived in Tajikistan on a state visit. 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 week before Christmas in 2021, Elon Musk tweeted: Traceroute woke_mind_virus. It referred to a computing tool used to track the source and spread of information, in this case the woke mind virus. The centi-billionaire believed it was this culture of social justice that had caused him to become estranged from his transgender daughter. In the three years since, Elon Musk has gone from sharing memes about fringe cryptocurrencies and promoting clean energy technologies, to spreading extremist conspiracy theories and provoking outrage for an alleged fascist salute at an event on the day of Donald Trumps inauguration. This transition from an apolitical moderate to a far-right provocateur can perhaps be pinpointed to a single event maybe even that single tweet. According to Musks biographer Walter Isaacson, the transition of his child had a profound impact on Musks world view, with the rejection of him as a father triggering his descent towards fringe conspiracies and setting him on a trajectory towards becoming a leading figure in the culture war. When she turned 18 in April 2022, his daughter legally changed her name from Xavier Musk to Vivian Jenna Wilson, declaring to the court: I no longer live with or wish to be related to my biological father in any way, shape or form. Musks girlfriend at the time Claire Boucher, known professionally as Grimes told Isaacson that she had never seen him as heartbroken about anything. Having previously donated to Barack Obamas Democratic Party, Musk now associated the party with this woke agenda that had turned his child against him. This woke-mind virus resides primarily in the Democratic Party, he told Isaacson. He set out his shifting political stance in a tweet in May 2022. In the past I voted Democrat, because they were (mostly) the kindness party, he wrote. But they have become the party of division and hate, so I can no longer support them and will vote Republican. Now, watch their dirty tricks campaign against me unfold. At the time, Musk still had a deep disdain for Donald Trump, but his anti-woke comments drew in right-wing provocateurs like the Canadian psychologist Jordan Peterson, while also distancing himself from progressive friends and even partners. When he sent alt-right memes and conspiracy theories to Grimes in 2022, she reportedly replied: Is this from 4chan or something? Youre actually starting to sound like someone from the far right. Grimes has publicly sided with Musks daughter since splitting up, and is now involved in a custody battle over the other children they share. Musks external strife appears to be directly correlated to the complications within his own internal family dynamics. In an interview with Peterson last year, Musk publicly spoke about his reasoning behind his daughters estrangement for the first time and the motivation it instilled in him to undergo his own political and moral transition. Essentially my son is dead, he said. Killed by the woke mind virus. So I vowed to destroy the woke mind virus after that. And were making some progress. It was a quick capitulation from centrist moderate to far right instigator for Musk. His tweet about finding the origin of the woke mind virus came just three months after tweeting: I prefer to stay out of politics. Since taking over Twitter and renaming it X, Musk is now becoming radicalised by his own social media platform. Its algorithm, which is designed to keep people engaged, appears to be serving him increasingly extreme content, at least according to his likes and retweets. Musk has consistently presented himself as a champion of free speech, with his takeover preceding a mass unblocking of accounts that had previously been banned for spouting extremist views. (It is worth noting that simply writing the word cisgender is enough to get an account temporarily banned, as Musk considers it a slur.) One of those welcomed back was convicted criminal and anti-Islam campaigner Tommy Robinson. Despite having less than a million followers on X in the weeks following his reinstatement, his posts were viewed more than a billion times thanks in part to Musk actively responding to Robinsons anti-immigration posts, which have amplified his false claims to his 214 million followers. open image in gallery The logo of social media firm X - formerly Twitter - on a smartphone screen in Frankfurt am Main, western Germany, on 11 March, 2024 ( Getty Images ) Some believe that Musks engagement with such accounts, and the stoking of fears by calling out Prime Minister Keir Starmer about so-called two-tier policing, is designed to increase traffic and attention to his beleaguered site. But others suggest it is a direct result of the time he spends on X. If you look at it over time, he was somebody who was talking about solving climate change and working on big things, and then all of a sudden has drifted into this echo chamber of conspiracy theories and science denial on extremism and racism, Sander van der Linden, a professor of social psychology and disinformation at the University of Cambridge, told The Independent. How do you find yourself in such an environment? Whats changed between then and now is that hes spending a lot of time on X. 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 Hours before the second inauguration of president-elect Donald Trump, incoming first lady Melania Trump has launched her own cryptocurrency. The Official Melania Meme is live! You can buy $MELANIA now, Melania Trump posted on X in the early hours of Monday. The launch of $Melania comes just days after Mr Trump launched his own meme coin, and appeared to briefly tank the value of $Trump before it then rebounded. The meme coins official website says the cryptocurrency is created and tracked on the Solana blockchain. Meme coins are defined as any cryptocurrency that is named after characters, individuals, animals or artwork. The Official Melania Meme is live! You can buy $MELANIA now. https://t.co/8FXvlMBhVf FUAfBo2jgks6gB4Z4LfZkqSZgzNucisEHqnNebaRxM1P pic.twitter.com/t2vYiahRn6 MELANIA TRUMP (@MELANIATRUMP) January 19, 2025 Both the $Trump and $Melania coins have risen in value since launch but are also seeing volatile trade, and their respective websites note that the cryptocurrencies are not intended to be, or the subject of an investment opportunity or a security. The $Trump website describes the token as an expression of support for the new president. What to expect in second Trump term Its time to celebrate everything we stand for: WINNING! Join my very special Trump Community, the president-elect said in a post late on Friday. The $Trump meme coin has a total market valuation of about $12 billion (9.8bn) and the $Melania cryptocurrency stands at just over $2 billion, according to the CoinMarketCap website. My NEW Official Trump Meme is HERE! Its time to celebrate everything we stand for: WINNING! Join my very special Trump Community. GET YOUR $TRUMP NOW. Go to https://t.co/GX3ZxT5xyq Have Fun! pic.twitter.com/flIKYyfBrC Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 18, 2025 Mr Trump has suggested that as president he would issue an executive order to make crypto a policy priority, marking a shift from the Biden administration which probed the crypto industry over concerns about fraud and money laundering. The president-elect ran a campaign that promised to end the persecution of the crypto industry, and to position the US as the bitcoin superpower of the world. He even floated the idea of using bitcoin to pay off the $35 trillion national debt in August. Hand them a little crypto check, right? Well hand them a little bitcoin and wipe out our $35 trillion, he told Fox Business. The president-elect has also invested personally in NFTs, or nonfungible tokens. He reported earning between $100,000 and $1 million last year from digital trading cards portraying him in cartoon-like images, including as an astronaut, a cowboy and a superhero, the Associated Press reported. As of Monday morning, the price of bitcoin remained at record-high levels above $108,000 since crossing the $100,000 mark on Friday. Close TikTok goes dark in the U.S. 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 The Chinese-owned social media app TikTok has hailed President Trumps efforts as it confirmed it is back online in the U.S. following a brief shutdown. TikTok went offline in the U.S. at about 10.30 p.m. Eastern time on Saturday before the ban went into effect on January 19. But on Sunday morning President-elect Donald Trump intervened and vowed to issue an executive order on Monday in a bid to get TikTok back online again. When users logged in to the app on Sunday afternoon, they were greeted by the message: Welcome back! Thanks for your patience and support. As a result of President Trumps efforts, TikTok is back in the U.S.! However, the app remained unavailable for redownload for many users in app stores as of Sunday late afternoon. The company behind the app released a statement crediting the president-elect for providing clarity to tech companies. We thank President Trump for providing the necessary clarity and assurance to our service providers that they will face no penalties providing TikTok to over 170 million Americans and allowing over 7 million small businesses to thrive, TikTok said. During his first administration, Trump pushed for a ban on the app over national security concerns. TASHKENT, Uzbekistan, January 20. Chinese investments in Uzbekistan amounted to over $10 billion by the end of 2024, with bilateral trade turnover amounting to $13.1 billion, Trend reports. These achievements were highlighted during the Uzbek-Chinese Business Forum held in Tashkent, organized in collaboration with the Embassy of China in Uzbekistan. The forum marked a significant step in strengthening economic ties, fostering new projects, and enhancing trade between the two countries. It was attended by Yu Jun, Ambassador of China; senior officials; and over 400 business representatives from Uzbekistan and China. Speakers emphasized the rapid growth of Uzbek-Chinese cooperation, noting that China is now Uzbekistans largest trade and investment partner. Currently, 3,357 enterprises involving Chinese capital operate in Uzbekistan, with Chinese companies actively implementing projects in sectors such as energy, light industry, infrastructure development, food production, and geological exploration. Participants at the forum were informed about Uzbekistan's favorable business conditions, including measures to protect entrepreneurs rights and facilitate investment. The government reiterated its commitment to supporting business initiatives throughout the project lifecycle. The event also featured presentations on Uzbekistan's investment and tourism potential and organized B2B and B2G meetings, enabling participants to establish partnerships, discuss promising projects, and finalize agreements. Meanwhile, Uzbekistan's foreign trade turnover with China totaled $11.2 billion from January through November 2024. This is 8.9 percent less compared to the same period last year ($12.2 billion from January through November 2023). China became the leader among Uzbekistan's largest trading partners over the mentioned period. It's looking increasingly likely that South Louisiana is going to get a winter storm to remember in the coming week, according to local weather forecasters, complete with four consecutive days of freezing temperatures and the possibility for inches of snow. TASHKENT, Uzbekistan, January 20. The Central Bank of Uzbekistan and major international financial organizations, including the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Asian Development Bank, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, International Finance Corporation, and Islamic Development Bank, discussed the development of cooperation, Trend reports. During the discussions, participants reviewed the progress of ongoing collaborations and explored avenues for enhancing partnerships through the Central Banks forthcoming initiatives scheduled for this year. Particular attention was given to the critical role of international financial institutions in providing expert recommendations and technical assistance. These contributions are seen as vital for bolstering the Central Banks operational capacities, increasing financial accessibility for the population and small businesses, and fostering the growth of Uzbekistan's financial markets. Emphasis was placed on leveraging global best practices and pursuing joint research efforts to achieve these goals. The meeting wrapped up with a shared pledge to maintain ongoing communication and collaborate on rolling out new initiatives in the upcoming months. Results from the program confirm the existence of a shallow, coherent zone of potentially open-pittable gold mineralisation on the western side of McNabs East, within an extensive gold system that remains untested at depth and open along strike. Ordells flagship Barimaia gold project is an advanced exploration project with significant historical drilling results. Ordell acquired an 80.3 per cent interest in Barimaia from Genesis Minerals, which is now a major shareholder of Ordell with an 8 per cent interest. However, Barimaia was never fully explored by Genesis due to its other commitments, although the company successfully identified an extensive gold system at the project, supported by historical RC drilling results pointing to good shallow open pit potential. The project is strategically located within a stones throw of at least three gold processing plants, including the adjacent Ramelius Resources Mt Magnet mill, 70km from Spartan Resources Dalgaranga mill and 80km from Westgold Resources Tuckabianna mill. The company is planning to launch a more extensive program of about 5000m of reverse circulation drilling at Barimaia in February. The upcoming program will include infill drilling at McNabs East to close up the current 100m drill section spacing and will also include first-pass extensional drilling in areas where previous air-core (AC) drilling was undertaken in 2019 and 2021. Additionally, the new program will test depths between 100m and 200m in selected areas and will also include additional AC drilling east and north of the currently defined mineralisation at McNabs. Ordell says drilling of the McNabs East western zone will comprise a significant part of the companys big drilling program slated for February. ------------------ Sierra Nevada Gold drill core at 258.5m showing vein with massive galena, iron-poor zinc sulphide (sphalerite), manganese oxide and silver-rich sulpho-salts. Sierra Nevada Gold (ASX:SNX) Hit: 4.88m at 481g/t silver, 0.61g/t gold, 0.6 per cent copper and 0.4 per cent antimony from 87.78m. Sierra Nevada Golds Phase 1 reverse-circulation (RC) drilling at its Endowment Mine within the overall Blackhawk epithermal project area pulled up a big silver hit while targeting a remnant ore position between the 3rd and 4th mine levels on the historic Endowment Vein. The headline drill hit from the latest campaign is 4.88m at 481g/t silver, 0.61g/t gold, 0.6 per cent copper and 0.4 per cent antimony from 87.78m The vein was targeted based on indications from historic mine records pointing to part of the vein not having been mined, with drilling successfully spearing through an inter-stope zone to jag the vein which remains open down-plunge to the east. The Endowment Mine is the biggest of the historic mines in the locality and was initially mined in the 1860s, with most mining completed by the 1880s and a total production being reported of 70,000 ounces of gold equivalent. The operations inability to process sulphide ores and prevailing depressed economic conditions led to the cessation of mining in the 1920s, although mineralisation remains within reach of current infrastructure. Notably, the area has seen little modern-day exploration before Sierra Nevada Gold acquired the ground, with the latest prior exploration in the area being undertaken in the mid to late 1980s by American Gold Resources. The focus of recent exploration has been on defining shallow oxide gold and silver deposits, with two shallow oxide resources being estimated by AGR at Silver Gulch and Morning Star, which also lie within the overall Blackhawk project Importantly, before Sierra Nevada Golds presence, no exploration drilling was recorded within 600m of the Endowment Mine due to previous ownership issues. The companys other drilling at the adjacent near-surface South Vein turned up additional silver hits, including 6.1m going 66.04g/t silver in one hole and 1.22m at 82.80g/t silver in a second hole. Geochemically the South Vein is like the Endowment Vein, characterised by high silver, antimony, ore-grade lead, zinc and elevated copper and manganese. Interestingly, apart from its big hit in the Endowment Vein, the headline hole also punched through a 1.22m section of the South Vein which assayed a serious 275g/t silver, 3.65 per cent lead, 6.47 per cent zinc, 0.40 per cent copper, and 0.21 per cent antimony from 37.79m. Sierra Nevada has identified a big high-grade intermediate sulphidation epithermal (ISE) silver-gold-lead-zinc vein field which is related to the adjacent big Blackhawk porphyry system just south of the epithermal field. The ISE vein system covers about 5 sq. km and is open under cover both to the north and north-east, with about 22.5 line kilometres of veins recorded so far. Sierra Nevada is continuing its mapping and sampling and has identified additional veins within the ISE vein field. ------------------ Asian Battery Metals (ASX:AZ9) Hit: 6.1m of 4.16 per cent copper, 3.51 per cent nickel, 0.93g/t 3E and 0.13 per cent cobalt from 98.2m. Last week Asian Battery Minerals landed a 6.1m hit grading 4.16 per cent copper, 3.51 per cent nickel, 0.93g/t 3E and 0.13 per cent cobalt from 98.2m. A 3E value refers typically to the combined value of assays for gold, platinum and palladium. The result, from one of the last four holes analysed in its 2024 Phase 2 drilling program, was designed to confirm the extent of high-grade mineralisation in the companys Oval gabbroic intrusion. The intercept is book-ended by two broad, lower grade mineralised zones, the first of which is a dense, disseminated intercept of 26.2m at 0.44 per cent copper, 0.52 per cent nickel, 0.12g/t 3E and 0.03 per cent cobalt from 78.2m. The second zone comprises a net-textured 15.3m assaying 1.15 per cent copper, 0.79 per cent nickel, 0.35g/t 3E and 0.04 per cent cobalt from 104.3m. Three of the last four drillholes analysed targeted electromagnetic (EM) conductors identified from downhole (DHEM) responses, which the company believes could represent base metal mineralised targets. The headline hole probed a strongly conductive DHEM plate in the northern half of the Oval body, which is strongly expressed in high-resolution magnetics as a 500m long, 125m wide ovoid body oriented to the north-northwest. The hole successfully encountered low to highly mineralised gabbroic rock from 16m depth to 142.2m, including the foregoing intercepts. A second hole in the final suite of four was collared 35m east of and on an opposing azimuth to the headline hole. It targeted a separate DHEM conductor for which the source turned out to be a broad high-grade intersection in the northern third of the Oval area that includes a massive sulphide intercept of 1.8m at 3.21 per cent copper, 3.32 per cent nickel, 0.69g/t E3, and 0.14 per cent cobalt from 105m. The 1.8m at 3.21 copper intercept lies within a broader mineralised zone comprising 19.8m at 1.23 per cent copper, 0.98 per cent nickel, 0.36g/t 3E and 0.05 per cent cobalt from 91.2m. The 19.8m zone also includes three other significant intercepts of disseminated, semi-massive and massive mineralisation in gabbro, the best of which are 6.6m going 1.56 per cent copper from 96.0m and 2.4m at 1.52 per cent copper and 1.39 per cent nickel from 102.6m. The third drillhole targeted an off-hole conductor plate that had been determined by DHEM surveying of a nearby previous hole. It intercepted 18.5m of lower grade mineralised gabbro from 13.5m to 32m, although it includes 3.2m running 0.50 per cent copper, 0.38 per cent nickel, 0.30g/t 3E and 0.02 per cent cobalt from 25m. Further support was lent to the intriguing possibilities presented by the Oval body, with the fourth drillhole testing the southern extremity of the Oval gabbroic intrusive and the zone of contact with its enclosing sediments. That hole was also intended to provide a vector for a subsequent DHEM survey to sniff out any new useful conductors within range. It intercepted disseminated mineralised gabbro with 5m going 0.17 per cent copper, 0.17 per cent nickel, 0.03g/t 3E and 0.01 per cent cobalt from 126m. The companys recent drilling has focused mainly on identifying high-grade mineralisation in the gabbro at the Oval project. It views the multiple intercepts of massive sulphide mineralisation with their varying ratios of metal throughout the Oval intrusion as encouraging for the possibility of finding one or more deeper sources of high-grade copper-nickel-platinum group mineralisation. For its follow-up 2025 exploration program, Asian Battery Metals plans to focus on scoping out the overall scale of the Oval mineralisation and to target possible deeper magmatic sources at the prospect. It also plans additional exploration for potential extensions of Oval and nearby look-alike prospects. Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: mattbirney@bullsnbears.com.au Advertisement Eating outJust open Back to work? 10 new Melbourne CBD spots for fast noodles, hefty banh mi and ace coffee Impress your office pals with bright bakeries to sweeten meetings, lunchtime bargains that you can afford to keep on rotation, and cafes hidden in plain sight. Emma Breheny January 19, 2025 Save Log in , register or subscribe to save recipes for later. You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from your saved list to add more. Save this article for later Add articles to your saved list and come back to them anytime. Got it Share As featured in the February 2025 hit list. See all stories . Ready to hit refresh on your office routine? The city is dotted with new hole-in-the-wall spots for light Japanese lunches, gorgeous takeaway coffee bars thatll brighten your morning, and speedy sit-down restaurants serving noodles loaded with smoky flavour. Cafes Milkbar is a new cafe in Docklands doing all-day breakfast, hearty salads and more. Supplied Milkbar The workers of deep Docklands will appreciate this new spot from a pair of hospitality pros: Matt Ward and Matt Vero who run Teos Pizza and Railway Wine in Melbournes south-eastern suburbs. Theyre running a tight menu that includes all-day breakfast fare such as chilli scrambled eggs, lunch dishes such as gnocchi with tomato sugo and mozzarella, and salads including a Caesar and a Moroccan lamb number. Advertisement 691 La Trobe Street, Docklands, milkbardocklands.com.au Market Lane has added another coffee bar to its city footprint. Supplied Market Lane (Mitchell House) Could this be the most beautiful grab-and-go coffee spot in Melbourne? Literally tucked into a nook of Mitchell House, its got a striking green-tiled facade offset by an ultra-minimal fitout that lets the buildings 1930s modernist beauty shine. A stand-up bar is there for Italian-inspired coffee moments, but otherwise get your iced filter, oat milk latte or long black to take away. 356 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne, marketlane.com.au Advertisement Project Zero Its hard to find serenity on King Street, but Project Zero has done the impossible. Tucked into a walkway beside a Meriton hotel, its gleaming space-age fitout is matched by equally adventurous coffee beans, such as Lamington with a juicy sweetness. A handful of seats and pastries from Austro round things out. 1/140 King Street, Melbourne, projectzero.coffee Sandwiches and bakeries Banh Mi Stand Advertisement The size of this shop is in inverse proportion to its banh mi, which are seriously stacked with herbs, texture and condiments. Its also one of the few places youll find confit duck banh mi. Get it on its own or take it up a notch with the GOAT, which combines duck with hunks of crisp-skinned pork, plum sauce and chilli crisp. There are simpler fillings like smoky grilled chicken, and veg-friendly options include honey and soy-marinated mushroom. Come hungry. 300 Flinders Lane, Melbourne, instagram.com/banhmistandmelbourne Hectors Deli has opened its first location in the middle of the CBD. Supplied Hectors Deli Hectors first city shop answers the prayers of many an office worker. Slotting nicely into a stretch of Little Collins that includes Raya bakery-cafe and N.Lee banh mi shop, the timber-panelled and terrazzo-tiled space has a few bright red stools for dine-in, but youre more likely to be getting your beef and pickle toastie to go. Early starters (or hungover rascals) will appreciate the McMuffin-like breakfast sandwich and, for summer, a BLT has joined the morning menu to make the most of peak tomato season. Advertisement 61 Little Collins Street, Melbourne, hectorsdeli.com.au The Bloom-tini, served here as an iced strawberry matcha. Supplied Bloomwood At this light-filled bakery, chefs pipe mascarpone flowers onto danishes, dust the tops of croissants with matcha, and fill pastries with batons of chocolate cake. The Bloom-tini is the drink thats all over TikTok, with three pinkie-size croissants for dipping into an iced strawberry-matcha (or another drink of your choice). Pastries change often and are influenced by everything from the internet (hello, viral Dubai chocolate croissant) to its chefs cultural backgrounds, including Malaysian and Korean. Topped focaccias are also available. 121 Exhibition Street, Melbourne, instagram.com/bloomwoodmelbourne Advertisement Noodles and more Hit Penang hawker spot Kakilang has opened a second location in the heart of Melbourne. Supplied Kakilang Char Koay Teow A leader of Melbournes char kwai teow game is now cooking in one of the most convenient locations you could ask for, with trams whizzing past the door every few minutes. Kakilangs owners Ping Chng and Patricia Cheong hail from Penang and proudly showcase the islands hawker dishes, including a dark and smoky version of char kwai teow and the prawn noodle soup Penang hokkien mee, plus toast with kaya (coconut and pandan spread) and soft-boiled eggs. Also in Balwyn. 190 Bourke Street, Melbourne, instagram.com/kakilangckt Advertisement Onigiri Kitchen on Degraves Street in Melbourne offers light Japanese lunches, including rice balls. Hugh Davison Onigiri Kitchen Move over sushi: Onigiri is the hand-held lunch of choice in Japan, bought from convenience stores in cleverly wrapped parcels. While our 7-Elevens arent up to Tokyo standards, this Onigiri Kitchen location is Melbournes hole-in-the-wall pitstop for Japanese rice balls filled with kimchi, honey and soy pork, and karaage chicken. There are also bentos, shokupan toasties and airy tofu doughnuts. 1 Degraves Street, Melbourne, onigiri.au R.Harn Advertisement Southern Thai food rules at the second restaurant by the Soi 38 team, and at lunch the menu is helpfully geared to solo diners. Find comfort in crab fried rice and hokkien mee noodles, vibrant texture and colour in salads such as khao yum, and deeply savoury flavours in kanom jeen, the curry and rice noodle dish thats a hallmark of coastal Thai cooking. Its opposite Melbourne Central station, so express lunches are on the cards. 264 La Trobe Street, Melbourne, instagram.com/r.harn Kajikens noodles are designed to be tossed together as soon as theyre served. Supplied Kajiken Good lunch options west of William Street are rarer than good Marvel movies these days. That makes the arrival of this Japanese dry ramen specialist at Southern Cross even more exciting. Dry ramen sounds like punishment, but these well-dressed squiggly noodles come in 11 varieties with 14 ways to customise your bowl boredom is not a possibility. Advertisement Restaurant reviews, news and the hottest openings served to your inbox. Sign up Lara Wood brought her five-year-old son Jonah, who has been attending the centre for the past year, to assess the damage. She lifted him onto her shoulders to get a better view. I explained to him what happened. He said he was scared but wanted to come to see for himself, she said. Lara Wood took her five-year-old son Jonah Wood to assesses the damage at his child care centre. Credit: Kate Geraghty Jonah said he could see three broken windows from his vantage point. He is due to start primary school this week, but many families have been left scrambling to find alternative care. Only About Children chief executive Anna Learmonth confirmed the centre would remain closed until further notice. Were shocked and horrified to see the damage thats occurred, she said. The entire community is on alert. Catch the bastards There have been at least nine major antisemitic incidents in Sydney since the one-year anniversary of the October 7 Hamas attacks. Three attacks one in Dover Heights on Friday, and two incidents in Woollahra, have involved cars being doused in flammable liquid before being set alight. An accelerant was also used in an attack on a Newtown synagogue. In October, two buildings at Bondi Beach, including a kosher restaurant, were also set alight. The Maroubra centre was visited by the NSW premier and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Tuesday morning. Minns said antisemitic attacks in Sydney were becoming more sophisticated and dangerous. It is completely disgusting, and these bastards will be rounded up by NSW Police, he said. It breaks your heart that we have animals in our city that are prepared to burn down a childcare centre to make this point. He said police would consider designating the incident as a terrorist offence if extra resources and power were needed to investigate it. Police will not hesitate to make that designation if they believe its appropriate to conduct the investigation, he said. The prime minster said he utterly condemned this evil hate crime. Childcare centres are places of joy and harmony what we saw overnight, in the middle of the night, with this attack, is the latest in a series of antisemitic hate crimes, Albanese said. This is a place for children and families, and it should never have been denigrated by this despicable and horrifying crime. Police Commissioner Karen Webb announced an additional 20 investigators for Strike Force Pearl in response to the attack, effectively doubling their number. Pearl was set up to investigate rising cases of antisemitic attacks in Sydney. Loading Patrols around significant Jewish sites and place of worship across Sydney had also been stepped up, she said. Wake-up call Rabbi Goldstein from the Maroubra Synagogue couldnt say whether his nearby synagogue was the intended target of the attack. He said the community refused to be scared, and would come together to support the centre and each other. Were not terrified, were just saddened that this can happen in such a peaceful and beautiful part of Sydney. Many people ... have young families here and young children to go to the schools here, and its just so shocking that it would happen in such a peaceful area, he said. We as Jewish people ... show strength and courage in the face of darkness and hatred, we bring light, peace and love, and we join together as a community. Members of Fire and Rescues investigation unit with an accelerant detection dog at the Only About Children childcare centre. Credit: Kate Geraghty However, head of legal at the Executive Council of Australian Jewry Simone Abel had no doubt the attack on the multifaith daycare centre was a case of mistaken identity. Its a wake-up call to the Australian community at large because, unfortunately, antisemitism is a disease, and it spreads, she said. [These attacks] are a prelude of whats to come. She said the council welcomed the news of a national cabinet, announced by the prime minister on Tuesday morning in response to the attacks, but said there was a sense of frustration it had taken so long. We havent seen the kind of response that we needed to see earlier on, she said. NSW Jewish Board of Deputies president David Ossip said the incident was the latest in a domestic terrorism campaign. These depraved and cowardly terrorists need to be swiftly apprehended, or we will continue to see an escalation of these acts of terror. Loading Last week, the former home of prominent Jewish Australian Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-chief executive Alex Ryvchin was targeted in a firebombing. Two vehicles were set ablaze, multiple vehicles were painted with antisemitic graffiti, and the Dover Heights home was splashed with red paint. Upon seeing images of the burnt-out childcare centre on Tuesday morning, Ryvchin said families may no longer feel safe sending their children to daycare. To plan and execute the firebombing of a childcare centre requires a depth of savagery that is difficult to imagine. Today, families will be having conversations about whether its safe to send their children to the places where they should be safest, he said. The right-leaning mayor of the northern suburban City of Whittlesea will run as an independent in next months Werribee byelection, promising to direct preferences to whichever major party backs a return to mandatory Australia Day citizenship ceremonies. Aidan McLindon was elected Whittleseas first new mayor in four years two months ago. He announced his candidacy in the February 8 byelection on Monday morning and said he believed he could be kingmaker in Werribee a seat Labor has held safely for decades. Mayor of Whittlesea Aidan McLindon will run in the Werribee byelection, calling for a return to mandatory Australia Day citizenship ceremonies. Credit: Simon Schluter Asked why he was campaigning in Werribee about 50 kilometres from Whittleseas council offices in South Morang McLindon said he believed local government in Victoria is currently a false democracy because the Local Government Act prevented councillors from speaking freely on all issues. He will not step down as Whittlesea mayor while he campaigns for the Werribee byelection, which has been triggered by the retirement of long-serving Victorian treasurer Tim Pallas. If China can make a deal with Trump that is acceptable to both sides, we may be able to avoid a major showdown. However, if this is not possible, then China has to be prepared for a tariff war, trade war, tech war, whatever it takes, between the two sides. Trade-war footing There are clear signs China has been steeling itself for the fight. The latest customs data released last week laid bare how the country has front-loaded its exports, rushing them out the door in anticipation that Trump will make good on his tariff threat. China announced it had achieved a record trade surplus in 2024 of almost $US1 trillion, a figure that will only fuel outrage in the US and other western countries that cheap Chinese goods are swamping overseas markets, backed by state subsidies. Data indicates American companies have been stockpiling Chinese products to pre-empt new tariffs, with exports to the US hitting a two-year high in December of almost $US49 billion, according to a Bloomberg analysis. Chinas exports to Vietnam also peaked, driven in part by companies shifting manufacturing or rerouting products destined for the US through Vietnam. Beijing implemented a string of aggressive trade measures in the lead-up to Trumps inauguration, marking an escalating tit-for-tat retaliation to the Biden administrations years-long efforts to strangle Chinas access to advanced chips and AI technology through export blacklists and controls. Even in his waning hours in office, Biden signed off on a flurry of new technology restrictions aimed at stymying Chinas military advancement. To counter this, Beijing this month took a leaf from Washingtons playbook and added 28 American entities to its new export control list to safeguard national security, banning the sale of dual-use technologies to companies including Boeing Defense, Lockheed Martin, and Raytheon. It has also launched an antitrust investigation into US chipmaker Nvidia and last month banned the export to the US of key rare minerals used in semiconductors and defence technologies. This can be interpreted as Beijings effort to build up some bargaining chips for US-China negotiations in the coming months on technological policy competition, says Zhao Minghao, a professor of international relations at Fudan University in Shanghai. Zhao says there is an active debate in China about whether Trumps tariff threats are designed as leverage to bring Beijing to the negotiating table, or whether they are a means to an end, a tool for achieving the economic de-coupling with China that key figures in the incoming administration want to see. Loading No one can be sure or sure what Donald Trump wants and what his economic and trade policy team want, he says. A grand bargain on trade? Many experts dismiss outright the idea that a sweeping grand bargain one that deals with tariffs, sanctions and export blacklists, let alone such foreign policy issues as the status of Taiwan between Trump and Xi is possible. Security concerns involving China are deeply entrenched in Washington on both sides of the political aisle and it was Trumps first administration that began efforts to cut off Chinas access to high-tech chips. The Chinese government is under no illusion that the Trump presidency will mark any kind of improvement of relations between both countries, says Dr Benjamin Ho, of Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. There may be small concessions here and there, on trade, on fentanyl, but nothing strategic. Instead, a narrower deal on trade that resembles the phase one deal agreed to under Trump 1.0 is more feasible, says Capital Economics chief Asia economist Mark Williams. Loading The centrepiece of the Trump 1.0 deal involved China agreeing to buy an additional $US200 billion of US products, in exchange for a rollback of some tariffs. But Chinas commitments were unrealistic from the outset and hindered by the COVID pandemic, and it failed to meet them. The failure of the phase one deal would hang over any negotiations, Williams assessed in a recent research note to investors. How Trump proposes to implement the tariffs, whether through phased-in approach or as a blunt instrument hitting all Chinese imports with debilitating duties, will also determine Beijings negotiating stance, says Zhu Feng, dean of the School of International Studies at Nanjing University. President-elect Donald Trump has pledged to slap Chinese imports with tariffs of up to 60 per cent when he takes office. Credit: AP Pounding China with overwhelming tariffs will force China into a corner and there will be no place for us to manoeuvre from, Zhu says. Another key factor in any deal negotiation is Chinas flagging economy, which is being dragged down by domestic challenges namely the long tail of its property market collapse. A slew of measures announced by authorities last year, including a $US1 trillion stimulus package aimed at spurring confidence and getting Chinese consumers to spend, has so far failed to significantly kickstart its economy. Its possible we will see a mismatch between what Trump wants and what Beijing can offer, Zhao says. Loading Recent efforts by China to foster warmer ties and goodwill with Australia, UK and parts of Europe, as well as measures such as expanding visa-free travel to China to many countries, were also part of Beijings preventative strategy to ameliorate a plunge in US-China relations, Zhao says. A win-win gloss to an entrenched superpower rivalry Xis words to Trump on Fridays phone call raised to a leader-level the diplomatic platitudes of mutually beneficial cooperation that Beijing has pumped out for months in preparation for Trump 2.0. Its a message that Chinas vice president Han Zheng will take to Washington DC on Tuesday when he attends Trumps inauguration as Xis stand-in. Trump, too, has leaned into the quixotic posturing, repeatedly praising Xi as amazing, inviting him to his inauguration, and even going so far as to proclaim in December that China and the United States can together solve all of the problems of the world. This effusive rhetoric belies a widely accepted view in both Beijing and Washington that the US-China relationship under Trump 2.0 will continue to be defined by an intense superpower rivalry and deep suspicion, with national security the foremost concern. Beijing is also acutely aware that Trump has stacked his team with China hawks, among them Mike Waltz as national security adviser and Marco Rubio, his pick for Secretary of State. Rubio was unambiguous last week when he told his Senate confirmation hearing China was the most potent and dangerous nation the US had faced in its history. Its important for China to engage Trump directly and also as early as possible. We do not want his national security hawks to control his China policy, Wu says. New Delhi: The death of an Indian man working for the Russian army in Ukraine has brought renewed focus to the Kremlins use of foreign nationals from North Koreans to Cubans on the front lines and revived a thorny issue in the otherwise thriving relationship between New Delhi and Moscow. Nearly 100 Indians have been lured to Russia by offers of jobs or education, only to find themselves forced into service by the army, according to Indian government statements and interviews with families of men sent to fight in Ukraine. This month, Binil Babu, a 32-year-old electrician from the southern state of Kerala, became at least the 10th Indian to die in the war, drawing a sharp response from officials here. The matter has been strongly taken up with the Russian authorities in Moscow as well as with the Russian embassy in New Delhi today, a spokesman for Indias Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement. We have also reiterated our demand for the early discharge of the remaining Indian nationals. Mohammed Imran holds a picture of his brother Indian national Mohammed Asfan who last called family from the Russian city of Rostov-on-Don before being deployed to fight for Russia in Ukraine. Credit: AFP Moscow has consistently denied any wrongdoing and has promised to release Indians from its armed forces. The Russian Government has at no point of time been engaged in any public or obscure campaigns, more so in fraudulent schemes to recruit the Indian nationals for military service in Russia, the Russian embassy in New Delhi said in August. Jerusalem: Israel and Hamas agreed on an initial six-week truce in part by putting most intractable disputes off until a nebulous second phase which neither side is sure they will reach. Under the agreement, 16 days into the initial ceasefire, Israeli and Hamas officials are expected to begin negotiating the next steps: an end to the war, release of remaining living hostages from the Gaza Strip and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the territory. Members of the Izzedine al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, celebrate the ceasefire in Deir al-Balah. Credit: AP Israeli leaders have long insisted that they will not end the war until Hamas is destroyed. That appeared far from reality on Sunday as Hamas militants, some waving rifles, fanned out in parts of Gaza in pick-up trucks, in a show of authority to Palestinians and Israelis alike. Israel and Hamas have both preserved some of their bargaining chips. At the end of the 42-day truce, Hamas will still have around two-thirds of the 98 remaining hostages, including dozens who are believed to be dead. Israel will still occupy parts of Gaza, and hold major prisoners, including Marwan Barghouti, a militant leader and Palestinian political figure. TASHKENT, Uzbekistan, January 20. The Competition Committee of Uzbekistan has given the green light for Emirati-based Ittihad Investment Central Asia Holding Ltd to take full ownership of Chorsu Real Estate Development by acquiring 100 percent of its shares, the committee told Trend. After a thorough review by the committee's special commission, it was concluded that the deal would not negatively impact market competition. As a result, the application was approved, and the transaction has been green-lit. Ittihad Investment Central Asia Holding Ltd. is involved in the creation of specialized holding companies. Chorsu Real Estate Development LLC was founded in May 2024 and focuses on residential construction projects. Its authorized capital amounts to 102.6 billion soums ($7.9 million). Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel Today is America's 2nd Independence Day - Watch the Inauguration and Festivities LIVE Let freedom Ring Broadcast starts at 8:55AM ET-5:55AM PT The United States of America was blessed on July 4, 1776, to announce its Independence, which also signaled the right of all other people with national aspirations to rise up and break their bondage to foreign rulers and delusional autocrats. America has withered through some difficult storms that threatened to re-impose a yoke on our people. The last four years, under a mentally-impaired huckster and his dictatorial political party, was as grave a threat as our country has ever faced. But miracles do happen, and lightning can strike twice in the same place. Today, January 20, 2025, America will celebrate its second Independence Day. Treasure this day as it marks a rebirth of American ideals. What makes the day particularly significant is that it falls on Martin Luther King Day. Dr. King was a great American who fought for the civil rights of all Americans, not just Americans with dark-colored skin. If he were alive today, I believe he would be a guest of honor at the inauguration of our 47th president, Donald Trump. BAKU, Azerbaijan, January 20. Sanctions imposed on Iran have never hindered the development of Iran's relations with the countries, the countrys spokesperson for the Foreign Ministry Esmail Baghaei said at a press conference in Tehran on January 20, Trend reports. According to him, Iran's agreements with various countries are signed based on the existing potentials and necessities at the bilateral level. Baghaei noted that in this regard, sanctions will not affect Iran's Comprehensive Strategic Partnership agreement with Russia. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a comprehensive strategic partnership agreement between Iran and Russia in Moscow on January 17. In November 2018, the US imposed new sanctions against Iran over Iran's nuclear program. Over the past period, the sanctions have affected Iranian oil exports and more than 700 banks, companies, and individuals. Admn fails to curb sale of Chinese Manja Staff Reporter DURG, Accidents due to banned Chinese Manjha are happening in regular basis in Durg-Bhilai. On Saturday another accident occurred in Bhilai township area due to the banned Chinese Manjha where a woman sweeper sustained injuries in her hand. Later, she had to be taken to Supela hospital for treatment. This is the third accident due to Chinese Manjha in Bhilai city. It needs a mention here that Chinese Manjha is banned in the State. Despite this, Chinese Manjha is being sold secretly in Durg-Bhilai. The administration is not able to stop the sale of Chinese Manjha. Due to this, accidents are happening on regular basis. During treatment, Chaiti Bai told that she was doing cleaning work in the morning. During garbage collection, suddenly a kite got cut from somewhere and fell on her. It had a Chinese manjha (string). She started removing the manjha from herself. Meanwhile, a bike rider passed by and the manjha got stuck in it and pulled. The womans hand got cut due to the pulling of the manjha. Later other sanitation workers took Chaiti Bai to the hospital. It may be noted that this is the third accident due to Chinese manjha in Bhilai city alone. At the same time, this is the second incident within a week. Four days ago, Firoz Khan, a resident of Faridnagar, was going on his bike over the Power House flyover bridge. Then a flying kite came in his face and he got cut near his nose and eye. Likewise, about 21 days ago, Rameshwar Bele, a resident of Housing Board Kohka, had his throat slit. On December 26, Bele had gone to Sector 7 on a bike with his wife Neetu. He was returning home from there in the evening. When he reached near Supela Laxmi Market, suddenly a kite came flying and its Manjha got stuck in his throat and his throat got slit. Later, he was treated at Sparsh Hospital. After 3-hour delay Israel-Gaza TRUCE BEGINS 3 Israeli hostages released DEIR AL-BALAH (Gaza Strip) : Hamas provided 3 names, who were set to be released, before the start of the ceasefire. Due to delay, an Israeli airstrike killed at least 26 people in Gaza THREE Israeli hostages released from Gaza have been handed over to Israeli forces there in the first test of a fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. The three hostages are Romi Gonen, 24, kidnapped from the Nova music festival, and Emily Damari, 28, and Doron Steinbrecher, 31, kidnapped from Kibbutz Kfar Aza. Later on Sunday, Israel is expected to release around 90 Palestinian prisoners. A gradual release of 33 captives over the next six weeks has been agreed on. In exchange, Israel will release almost 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and Palestinians from Gaza who have been detained. The truce has sparked hope and trepidation. Many Israelis fear that the three-phase deal could collapse before all hostages return, and they worry who has died in captivity. Some 250 people were kidnapped during Hamas October 7, 2023, attack that triggered 15 months of war. Almost 100 hostages had remained in Gaza after the rest were released or their bodies recovered. The first three hostages set to be released from Gaza were transferred to the Red Cross and were on their way toward Israeli forces, the Israeli military announced hours after the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas took hold. Israeli media, carrying live footage from Qatar-based Al Jazeera, showed the hostages walking between vehicles as their convoy moved through Gaza City, surrounded by a huge crowd, with many people holding up phones and filming. The vehicles were accompanied by armed men who wore green Hamas headbands and struggled to guard the cars from an unruly crowd that swelled into the thousands. Meanwhile, in Tel Aviv, thousands of people gathered to watch the news on large screens erupted in cheers. For months, many had gathered in the square to demand a ceasefire deal. The deal ushers in an initial six-week period of calm and raises hopes for the release of dozens of militant-held hostages and an end to the devastating 15-month war. A last-minute delay by Hamas put off the truces start by nearly three hours and highlighted its fragility. Even before the ceasefire took effect, celebrations erupted across the territory and some Palestinians began returning to their homes. Israel earlier announced the names of the first three hostages to be freed in exchange for the planned release of 90 Palestinian prisoners. The truce, which started at 11:15 A.M. Local time, is the first step toward ultimately ending the conflict and returning nearly 100 hostages abducted in Hamas October 7, 2023 attack. An Israeli official confirmed that Romi Gonen, 24, Emily Damari, 28, and Doron Steinbrecher, 31, were set to be released later Sunday. Kakasaheb Koyte pays courtesyvisit to Aditya Anagha Society Business Reporter : During his recent visit to the city, Kakasaheb Koyte, Chairman of Maharashtra State Co-operative Societies Federation Limited, Mumbai, paid a courtesy visit to Aditya Anagha Multi State Credit Co-Operative Society Ltd. Koyte was in the city to review the preparations for the International Co-operative Conference to be held at Shirdi on February 9. On the occasion, Koyte appreciated the office-bearers of the Aditya Anagha Multi State Credit Co-Operative Society and its employees for their futuristic vision. Earlier, Sameer Saraf, Chairman of the Aditya Anagha Multi State Credit Co-Operative Society, welcomed Koyte. Apart from this, Poonam Saraf, Assistant Director of the society, gave a brief report of the society. Shantilal Singi, Vice Chairman, Rajudas Jadhav, Director, Sudarshan Bhalerao of a credit society in Chikhali, Nilima Bawane, Chairman of The Dharampeth Mahila Society, and Anagha Saraf, Founder of Aditya Anagha Multi State Credit Co-Operative Society, were also present. Securities fraud, faulty disclosures made by Hindenburg and founder: Reports NEW DELHI : SUBSTANTIAL evidence has begun to emerge against the controversial short-seller Hindenburg Research and its founder Nathan Anderson in a court battle in Ontario, Canada, exposing Hindenburgs secret ties, and potential securities fraud and faulty disclosures made by the firm and the founder, according to media reports. There are multiple counts of securities fraud for both Nate Anderson and Anson Funds, and we have only reviewed 5 per cent of the material as of the time of writing, said a report by Market Frauds, a Canadian online investigative news outlet. It is almost certain that when the entire exchange between Hindenburg and Anson reaches the SEC, Nate Anderson will be charged with securities fraud in 2025, the report states. Hindenburgs decision to abruptly close down operations has taken many by surprise, particularly due to its timing -- just three days before Donald Trumps inauguration. In November 2024, Bloombergs Crack Research team published an extensive report, the first in a series exposing the covert forces behind various short-sellers and research firms, including Hindenburg. The report, titled Short-Sellers Secret Talks and Alliances Emerge in Court Battle, centred on firms, including Hindenburg Research and Anson Funds, a Canada-based fund operated by Moez Kassam, of Indian origin. Denying any relationship with Anson, Hindenburg told Bloomberg that it receives hundreds of leads each year from diverse sources. We rigorously vet each lead and have always maintained full editorial independence over our work, it said. Following the article, Anderson also publicly denied any partnership with Anson or anyone else. However, leaked emails suggest otherwise. Dozens of emails exchanged between Hindenburg and Sanjeev Puri of Anson in 2019 over a trade indicate that Anson took the editorial lead, with Hindenburg having little to no editorial control. It is still uncertain whether there were any financial arrangements between the two. Sources indicate that the Adani Group, which did not sue the short-seller, initiated covert investigations with foreign intelligence partners last year to counter those working against them. Hindenburg first released its report on the Adani Group in January 2023, leading to a market valuation loss of over $150 billion. The role of Anson in the attacks on the Adani Group remains unclear, with some reports alleging that its backers include organised crime. Marissa Siegal Kassam, the wife of Ansons founder, and Mahua Moitra were colleagues at JP Morgan, where Moitra worked for nearly 12 years. Moitra was the one who initiated the attacks on the Adani Group in the Lok Sabha post-Hindenburg report. Trumps second innings as US President starts today WASHINGTON : DONALD Trump arrived in Washington to celebrate with family, supporters and political allies ahead of his second inauguration on January 20, a triumphant return for the Republican four years. Trump arrived in Washington as organisers of Mondays Inauguration Day ceremony were scrambling to move inside most of the outdoor events, including the swearing-in of President and Vice President that traditionally takes place on the steps of the US Capitol, due to forecasted frigid temperatures. It will be the first time since President Ronald Reagan took the oath of office in 1985 for his second term that the ceremony will be moved inside the US Capitol. Trump made his way from West Palm, Florida, with his wife Melania Trump and their son Barron aboard a US military C-32 aircraft on a flight dubbed Special Air Mission 47 a nod to Trump becoming the 47th President on Monday. Business tycoon Mukesh Ambani and his wife Nita will attend US President-elect Donald Trumps second inauguration that will also likely be attended by some of Americas most influential billionaires and politicians as well as foreign leaders and celebrities. The Ambanis, who reached US capitol Washington on January 18, were part of a select 100 who attended an intimate candlelit dinner with trump last evening, sources with knowledge of the matter said. They were perhaps the only Indians to attend the dinner where Vice President-elect JD and Usha Vance also met them. The couple will attend the January 20 inauguration as the personal invitee of the Trump family, they said. An email sent to Reliance Industries Ltd, the company Mukesh Ambani heads as Chairman and Managing Director, for comments remained unanswered. Ambanis share close ties with the Trump family. While many wealthy donors have pledged maximum USD 1 million contributions to Trumps inauguration committee to get access and VIP treatment at the inauguration, the Ambanis have been extended a personal invite by the Trump family, they said. Trumps second inauguration is likely to be a star-studded event. President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, along with their respective spouses First Lady Jill Biden and Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff, as also former Presidents Barack Obama, George W Bush, and Bill Clinton are expected to attend. VNIT, astrologer Acharya Gadge revive ancient Indian timekeeping Staff Reporter : In an extraordinary feat of innovation, astrologer and researcher Acharya Bhupesh Gadge successfully brought ancient Indian timekeeping to life through a clock that maps time according to Tithi (Indian calendar date), Vaar (weekday), and Nakshatra (lunar constellation). Thw invention, supported by the Visvesvaraya National Institute of Technology (VNIT) Nagpur, offers both tradition and technology that could redefine the way time is measured globally. The device is now installed at the Aryabhatta Astronomy Park in Chauki Village, Kanholibara, in Hingna Tehsil, and is now operational. For years, I believed that the Indian system of time mapping is not just traditional but highly scientific. I wanted to prove it through a machine, said an elated Gadge. He added that he wanted to create a device that not only simplified the process but also showed the world the scientific brilliance of ancestors. The project gained momentum when Gadge approached VNIT for technical collaboration, with the support of Dr Pramod Padole, the then Director of VNIT, and faculty members. Explaining the clocks mechanism, Sheetal Raut, VNIT Professor, shared, An algorithm is developed based on the Panchang. It was fascinating to see how accurately our calculations matched the centuries-old Panchang records. The clocks features include a microcontroller that generates pulses and a specially designed stepper motor to indicate Tithi and Nakshatra accurately. Remarkably, the system is energy-efficient, shutting down for 30 minutes daily, and can resume accurate readings even after a day-long power outage. The unveiling also served as a precursor to the National Convention on Indian Knowledge Systems, scheduled to be held at VNIT on February 28 and March 1. BAKU, Azerbaijan, January 20. Iran is holding nuclear talks with three European countries based on the Comprehensive Joint Plan of Action (JCPOA), the countrys spokesperson for the Foreign Ministry Esmail Baghaei said at a press conference in Tehran on January 20, Trend reports. According to him, the Comprehensive Plan of Joint Action is a document approved by the UN Security Council. This document requires the participation of all parties involved in the process. Baghaei noted that Iran's negotiations with European countries have a transparent basis. The first round of dialog between the deputy foreign ministers of Iran and three European countries (the UK, France, and Germany) was held in Geneva on November 29, 2024. The next round of this dialogue was continued on January 13-14 in Geneva. Meanwhile, in January 2016, Iran and the P5+1 group (the US, Russia, China, the UK, France, and Germany) implemented the Comprehensive Joint Plan of Action concerning Irans nuclear program. In May 2018, the US announced its withdrawal from the deal and reimposed sanctions on Iran. By the end of 2020, the Iranian parliament decided to pursue a strategic plan in the nuclear sector to counter the sanctions, leading to a suspension of additional steps and the Additional Protocol as per the nuclear agreement. Consequently, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) faced a reduction in monitoring capabilities by 20-30 percent. BAKU, Azerbaijan, January 20. Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi's visit to New York has been abolished, the countrys spokesperson for the Foreign Ministry Esmail Baghaei said at a press conference in Tehran on January 20, Trend reports. According to him, the Iranian foreign minister was supposed to visit New York last week to attend a UN Security Council meeting on Palestine. Baghaei indicated that this meeting would take place today in New York. However, the visit was canceled due to the processes related to the Gaza Strip over the past two days, mainly over the issue of a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip. To note, Israel and Hamas reached a cease-fire and prisoner release agreement at the Doha talks. The agreement consists of three stages and foresees a prisoner exchange as well as an initial ceasefire; Hamas pledged to release 33 Israeli prisoners of war held in Gaza, while the Israeli side promised to release several Palestinian prisoners held in jails. The agreement entered into force on January 19. BAKU, Azerbaijan, January 20. There is no reason for Iran to remain in certain agreements if the snapback mechanism related to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) is triggered, the countrys Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei told reporters, Trend reports. Speaking at a press conference in Tehran on January 20, Baghaei explained that if the snapback mechanism is activated, as part of discussions among Iran and three European countries, there will be no justification for Iran to remain in the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT). He added that Irans previous threats regarding leaving the NPT are not new, as Iran has long made it clear that, should the snapback mechanism be triggered and maximum pressure be exerted against Iran, the countrys response would be appropriate. "Iran has repeatedly stated that it will never negotiate with any party about military capabilities, and it will not do so in the future," Baghaei said. The first round of the dialogue between the deputy foreign ministers of Iran and 3 European countries (the UK, France, and Germany) was held in Geneva on November 29, 2024. The next round of this dialogue will continue on January 13-14 in Geneva. To note, on January 16, 2016, the JCPOA came into force between Iran and the P5+1 group (US, Russia, China, the UK, France, and Germany) regarding Irans nuclear program. However, on May 8, 2018, the US withdrew from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) between Iran and the 5+1 group (Russia, China, the UK, France, the US, and Germany) and imposed new sanctions on Iran starting from November 2018. By the end of 2020, the Iranian parliament decided to pursue a strategic plan in the nuclear sector to counter the sanctions, leading to a suspension of additional steps and the Additional Protocol as per the nuclear agreement. Consequently, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) faced a reduction in monitoring capabilities by 2030 percent. Iran has officially affirmed that its strategy is not to pursue the development of an atomic bomb and that it does not support the production of weapons of mass destruction. The News in Brief Tuesday, January 21, 2025 The Social Justice Center (SJC) has expressed concerns over the recent pardon of 613 convicts by Georgian Dream (GD) President Mikheil Kavelashvili. The organization criticized the process as being closed and lacking transparency, raising doubts about its motivations.In a statement, the SJC argued that the large-scale pardons, carried out shortly after Kavelashvili assumed office, create the impression that the president exercised this authority in a manner that served "arbitrary, narrow-party interests."Under Georgian law, the power to pardon lies solely with the president, who is not required to justify their decisions or involve a review commission in the evaluation of cases. However, the SJC emphasized that this authority must align with principles of public accountability and transparency."The pardon act itself must respond to the basic principles of politics and public accountability," the SJC stated, adding that the process and criteria used to grant pardons should be disclosed to the public.The organization highlighted several unanswered questions regarding the pardons:- Crimes Pardoned: It remains unclear which offenses were included in the pardon.- Review Process: There is no information about the procedures followed, the material reviewed, or the involvement of experts or commissions in the decision-making process.- Refusals: The public has not been informed about how many pardon requests were denied or the reasoning behind the decisions.On January 20, Georgian Dream (GD) Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze unveiled plans for a new state commission on university reform, aiming to transform Georgia's higher education system over the next four years. Levan Izoria, the former Defense Minister and Ambassador to Germany, has been appointed as the Prime Minister's advisor on education and science to support the initiative.Speaking at a government session, Kobakhidze acknowledged shortcomings in the current higher education system, describing its quality as "not satisfactory." He outlined the commission's mission to "qualitatively transform the university and higher education system" and stressed the need to fully leverage available resources to create a "fundamentally renewed system."While emphasizing the importance of the reforms, Kobakhidze refrained from providing specific details about the commission's operational framework or the steps planned to achieve its objectives.The commission will be chaired by Kobakhidze himself, with Education Minister Aleksandre Tsuladze serving as deputy chair. Levan Izoria will act as the commission's secretary in his capacity as an advisor on education and science. BAKU, Azerbaijan, January 20. U.S. President Donald Trump, in his inauguration speech, announced plans to send troops to the U.S.-Mexico border, Trend reports. I will declare illegal immigration a national emergency, deploy troops to the Mexican border, and reinstate the Remain in Mexico policy, Trump stated. He also vowed to put an end to illegal border crossings and ensure that all migrants caught crossing unlawfully are detained. BAKU, Azerbaijan, January 20. U.S. President Donald Trump expressed dissatisfaction with the fees charged to American-flagged ships for passage through the Panama Canal, Trend reports. American ships are being overcharged and are not receiving fair treatment in any wayeven the U.S. Navy, Trump stated during his inaugural address. And most importantly, China is now running the Panama Canal, but we never handed it over to China. We handed it over to Panama. And we will take it back, he added. Nine brands for the ninth event LVMH Watch Week, originally due to take place in Los Angeles, has been rescheduled due to the devastating wildfires on the west coast of the US. The event will now take place in two phases (20-21 and 30-31 January) and two locations New York and Paris. While meetings with media and clients have been relocated, the new product launches will proceed as planned. WorldTempus will cover these releases from Tuesday and throughout the week. For the first time, LVMH is showcasing all nine of its watchmaking brands at this event: Bulgari, Hublot, Daniel Roth, Gerald Genta, LEpee 1839, Louis Vuitton, TAG Heuer, Tiffany & Co. and Zenith. Frederic Arnault, President and CEO of LVMHs Watch Division, notes: This event allows us to present our latest creations to customers and partners at the start of the year, with exciting surprises and exceptional timepieces to look forward to in 2025. WorldTempus plans to publish around 30 articles, including interviews with CEOs Antoine Pin (TAG Heuer), Benoit De Clerck (Zenith) and Julien Tornare (Hublot). For additional coverage, follow @gmtmagofficial and @worldtempus on social media. A special mention goes to Zenith, which celebrates its 160th anniversary this year. The LVMH Watch Week concept was born in Dubai in 2020. The following two editions adapted to the pandemic with digital formats, followed by a hybrid version in 2023 combining in-person events in Singapore and New York with digital presentations for the rest of the world. Last years event in Miami featured six brands. The tradition of LVMH presenting its watches early in the year dates back to 2017. Initially, the group exhibited at the now-defunct Baselworld, which took place each spring, and strategically positioned itself in Geneva during Januarys SIHH. This was partly to make the most of the visitors to the Geneva event, and partly to send a message to Basel that the start of the year was more advantageous for them. The event, originally named LVMH Watch Days, brought together Hublot, TAG Heuer and Zenith on a CGN steamboat. It evolved into LVMH Geneva Days in 2018 and 2019, when Bulgari was welcomed into the fold. It was probably this decentralised exhibition concept that inspired Bulgari CEO Jean-Christophe Babin to initiate Geneva Watch Days in 2020, when Covid-19 forced the closure of both Baselworld and the SIHH, bringing together 15 brands of all sizes on the shores of Lake Geneva. The experiment was deemed a success, and since then has evolved and grown, with the number of exhibitors quadrupling over five years. LVMH Watch Week 2025 promises an exciting start to the year; our editorial team has selected watches of all colours, shapes and sizes to suit every budget. You have permission to edit this article. Edit Close Future US First Lady Melania Trump has been blacklisted by many American clothing brands. They refuse to dress the public figure in their own images, and this became especially noticeable before Donald Trump's inauguration. ADVERTISIMENT Usually, when the clothes of certain brands are worn by first ladies, they are almost immediately recognized as prestigious, but not in the case of Melania Trump. That is why, according to The Mirror, she turned to European fashion houses for help. According to a source, Women's Wear Daily wrote to 16 American fashion designers about working with Melania Trump. Among them were: Michael Kors, Prabal Gurung, Rachel Scott, Diotima, Henry Zankov, Zankov, Sergio Hudson, Gilles Mendel, House of Gilles, Chloe, as well as Tanner Fletcher, Tanner Richie and Fletcher Kassel. No response was received from any of the magazines. ADVERTISIMENT Back during Donald Trump's first election to the US presidency, fashion designers Marc Jacobs, Jason Wu, Zac Posen and Tom Ford publicly refused to dress Melania Trump. This time, nothing is likely to change. At the same time, the future first lady of the United States often wears clothes by European brands such as Dior. She also often appears in clothes by French designer Herve Pierre. He created a white dress with off-the-shoulder and a thigh-high slit for her for the inaugural ball. After that, Pierre became Melania Trump's chief stylist. He said that he very rarely works directly with designers because of the designers' political views. ADVERTISIMENT "I don't do it because the fashion industry is not very friendly to Trump. It's not a secret. Some people are very open and could do something special. But many people are not," he said. Interestingly, from time to time, the public figure still chooses outfits from American designers. For example, at Donald Trump's first inauguration in 2017, she wore a cashmere dress by Ralph Lauren. Earlier, OBOZ.UA wrote about 5 images of Meghan Markle and Melania Trump that are incredibly similar to each other. They are united by the fact that both worked in the modeling industry. Only verified information is available on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and Viber. Do not fall for fakes! Turkish model Azra Vandan was arrested because she wanted to sleep with 100 men live on her OnlyFans page. Her husband was supposed to be the director and cameraman, but the "shop was quickly closed" by law enforcement. ADVERTISIMENT Azra Vandan wanted to become the first Turkish woman to sleep with a large number of men at once and broadcast it to the whole world. However, according to Ghana Celebrities, in Turkey, a Muslim-majority country, Only Fans has been banned since 2023, so the girl violated local law. The video of her detention was shared on social network X. The video shows that Vandan did not resist, but calmly walked between two police officers. Her husband Pedram was also taken to the police station. However, he did not look as calm, which may indicate that he had an altercation with law enforcement officers. ADVERTISIMENT Currently, the model is facing charges of "indecency" and "resistance to duty," Masala reports. Azra Vandan is one of the most successful OnlyFans models in Turkey. She sought to follow in the footsteps of two other well-known models on the platform: Lily Phillips and Bonnie Blue. Phillips, who started the trend, claimed to have slept with 100 men in less than 24 hours, and Blue - with 1,057 men in 12 hours. Earlier, OBOZ.UA wrote that OnlyFans model staged a nude photo shoot near Windsor Castle. The blogger was photographed near the 900-year-old historic building in a bikini, showing her lush breasts and buttocks due to plastic surgery. Only verified information on our Telegram channel Obozrevatel and Viber. Don't fall for fakes! As Trinamul Congress (TMC) chief and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee prepares to visit North Bengal, internal tensions within the party in Cooch Behar have surfaced. Addressing a public meeting in Dinhata, Cooch Behar MP Jagadish Chandra Barma Basunia made pointed remarks against two senior leaders, Rabindranath Ghosh and Partha Pratim Roy, without naming them directly. Mr Basunia likened them to left-out elephants from the herd, accusing them of engaging in anti-party activities. He warned that their actions would be reported to Mamata Banerjee and party general secretary Abhishek Banerjee. We know how to tranquilize such elephants and bring them back into the herd, he said, urging party workers to remain vigilant against internal sabotage. Rabindranath Ghosh, a former district president and Minister for North Bengal Development, currently serves as Chairman of the Cooch Behar Municipality and Uttar Banga Unnayan Parishad. Partha Pratim Roy, a former MP and district president, is now Chairman of the North Bengal State Transport Corporation. Advertisement According to sources, Mr Roy, who was once close to Mr Ghosh, distanced himself due to leadership differences. However, the two have recently united to challenge the current party leadership. During the meeting, Mr. Basunia accused the duo of conspiring against the partys Lok Sabha candidate in 2024 and attempting to defame district president Abhijit De Bhowmik and Minister Udayan Guho. He alleged that their objective was to weaken TMCs prospects in the 2026 Assembly elections. Mockingly comparing their actions to rogue elephants causing destruction, Mr. Basunia said: If necessary, we will involve the party high command to deal with them. Villagers (party workers) must guard against their destructive politics. He directly addressed Mr. Ghosh, saying: While we respect your past contributions, your recent activities have been detrimental to the party. Accept the leadership of Abhijit De Bhowmik. Advertisement Referring to Mr. Roy, he added: Your prediction of my defeat in the Lok Sabha election was proven wrong. What fuels your anger now. Mr Basunia also highlighted Mr. Ghoshs defeat in the 2021 Assembly elections, questioning his role in undermining the party in key constituencies like Natabari and Tufanganj. When approached for a comment, Rabindranath Ghosh said: Jagadish Chandra Barma Basunia is like my younger brother. I have no comment on his statements. A day after three Rohingya infiltrators, including two women and a man, were nabbed by the city police in Kolkata, Union Minister of State for DoNER and BJP West Bengal Chief Sukanta Majumdar on Sunday accused the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool government of patronising them to stabilise their dedicated vote bank in the state. There are several pockets in the state, including the outskirts of the state capital of Kolkata, mainly adjacent to the fisheries, where these Rohingya infiltrators have established their settlements receiving the patronage of the ruling party and the local administration. They even attack people trying to take photographs of their illegal settlements, Union Majumdar told media persons here. Advertisement He also said that the Border Security Force (BSF) battalions in the state would have to be on alert to prevent such illegal infiltrators from entering the state and endangering the lives of the citizens. Advertisement Three Rohingyas, who were arrested at the busy Sealdah station in central Kolkata on Saturday, were Nur Fatema, Sabu Panekar and Abdul Rahman. Both the women are below 18 years of age. All of them were related and hailed from Myanmars Rakhine province. All entered India illegally without a visa and other related documents. Before illegally entering India, they were sheltered at a refugee camp in Bangladesh. On interrogation, Abdul Rahman admitted that they illegally entered India by paying Rs 20,000 each. Rahman also admitted that their destination was Jammu and Kashmir where they had some prior acquaintances. He admitted that they illegally entered India through one of the porous borders in West Bengal and reached Sealdah station by train on Saturday morning, where they were nabbed. Although, he told the police that they were going to Jammu and Kashmir in search of livelihood. India, now the seventh-largest coffee producer globally, achieved exports worth $1.29 billion in FY 2023-24, nearly double the $719.42 million recorded in 2020-21. In the first half of January 2025 alone, the country exported over 9,300 tonnes of coffee, with Italy, Belgium, and Russia among the top buyers. Advertisement The growing global demand for Indias coffee, known for its rich and unique flavors, has driven this remarkable growth. Advertisement Approximately three-fourths of Indias coffee production comprises Arabica and Robusta beans, primarily exported as unroasted beans. However, there is a rising demand for value-added products like roasted and instant coffee, further boosting exports. Domestically, coffee consumption in India is also on the rise, driven by cafe culture, increasing disposable incomes, and a growing preference for coffee over tea. Consumption has grown from 84,000 tonnes in 2012 to 91,000 tonnes in 2023, highlighting a broader shift in beverage preferences in both urban and rural areas. Indias coffee is predominantly cultivated in the ecologically rich Western and Eastern Ghats, renowned for their biodiversity. Karnataka leads coffee production, contributing 248,020 MT in 2022-23, followed by Kerala and Tamil Nadu. These shaded plantations not only sustain the coffee industry but also play a vital role in preserving ecological balance in these biodiversity hotspots. To meet growing domestic and international demand, the Coffee Board of India has introduced several initiatives under the Integrated Coffee Development Project (ICDP). These include improving yields, expanding cultivation to non-traditional regions, and promoting sustainable coffee farming practices. Such measures aim to boost productivity and enhance the global competitiveness of Indian coffee. A shining example of this success is seen in Araku Valley, where nearly 150,000 tribal families, supported by the Coffee Board and the Integrated Tribal Development Agency (ITDA), have increased coffee production by 20 per cent. Backed by loans from the Girijan Co-Operative Corporation (GCC), this initiative empowers communities and aligns with the vision of Aatmanirbhar Bharat. Indias coffee journey dates back to the 1600s, when Baba Budan, a legendary saint, brought seven Mocha seeds to Karnatakas hills. His act of planting these seeds in Baba Budan Giri laid the foundation for Indias thriving coffee industry. Today, Indias coffee is celebrated worldwide, symbolizing a legacy of quality and flavor that continues to flourish. Senior Congress leader and former Union minister Salman Khurshid on Monday accused the AAP and BJP of playing politics of polarisation of communities for political gains in the upcoming Assembly elections in Delhi. Addressing a press conference at the Delhi Congress office, he said one disturbing trend has been witnessed during the present Delhi Assembly election campaigns by AAP and BJP, i.e. polarisation of communities and groups by announcing various sops to gain political mileage in the polls. Advertisement Attacking the AAP, the former Union minister said, Kejriwal promised that Pujaris and Granthis will be given Rs 18,000 per month if AAP returns to power. But why make such a promise now as Pujaris and Granthis do puja every day. Why were they denied such honorariums till now?. Advertisement Kejriwal misled the Dalits with his Ambedkar scholarship scheme, announced in 2020, and due to fund shortage, Dalit students were not sent abroad, he alleged. Only Rs 25 lakh was distributed in scholarships, but spent Rs five crore for its publicity, Khurshid said. Assembly elections in Delhi are scheduled to be held in a single phase on February 5. The counting of votes will take place on February 8. AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal on Monday, while addressing a public meeting in Gandhi Nagar assembly seat, hit-out at the BJP-led Centre, questioning as to what were the Central governments achievements and works in the national capital as compared to the works done by AAP during the past ten years. Kejriwal also took a dig at BJPs candidate from Gandhi Nagar seat, Arvinder Singh Lovely, alleging that the leader was previously with the Congress and shifted recently to the saffron party, while he holds no ground and is not dependable, as he keeps changing sides. Advertisement He slammed the BJP alleging that the only responsibility of the Centre was to maintain the citys law and order, and they have failed miserably to curb the crime in Delhi. Advertisement He said that he was seeking votes on the basis of works done in the past ten years and accused the BJP of misleading the people, especially the slum dwellers, as they were trying to woo them for the upcoming polls. Kejriwal claimed that the issues that Gandhi Nagar constituency is facing at the present are because of choosing a BJP MLA, who he claimed did not cooperate with the AAP government. He promised to fix all the civic woes like water shortage, sewer overflow and broken roads in the area if the AAP government comes to power and people elect its candidate from Gandhi Nagar seat. Kejriwal claimed that people are saying that once again the AAP is going to form the government in Delhi after the legislative assembly elections. The attack on Bollywood star Saif Ali Khan late on Wednesday night has shaken the netizens. Since the unfortunate incident, several headlines, updates, and speculations have been swirling around. Following a lengthy manhunt, and a grave mistake by the accused of making a UPI payment, the culprit is finally in police custody. On Sunday, the Mumbai police arrested thirty-year-old Shariful Islam Shehzad Mohammad Rohilla Amin Fakir a Bangladeshi national, for allegedly breaking into actor Saif Ali Khans residence. As per the details, the Mumbai Police had involved more than 300 cops to arrest the accused. The manhunt lasted 72 hours and around 600 CCTV cameras were scanned in the process. Advertisement How the accused entered Saifs abode undetected? The cops believe that the accused sneaked past the high-profile buildings security by jumping over the compound wall of an adjacent building. Subsequently, he sneaked into the building via a rear staircase. He reportedly told cops he resorted to air-conditioning ducts to avoid detection. As per reports, Shehzad took the stairs to the seventh or eighth floor and then entered the ducts. He then climbed to the 12th floor and entered the actors flat via a bathroom window. Following this, Saifs staff spotted him, instigating the chain of events that concluded the attack. Advertisement In the CCTV footage of the actors residence, the police noticed the suspect leaving the building after the attack. Police then scanned several hours of CCTV footage from across the city to locate the suspect. Subsequently, Shehzad was captured on a CCTV camera in DN Nagar in the Andheri area, getting off a two-wheeler. The police then traced the vehicle using its registration number. The 72-hour manhunt Moreover, as the CCTVs were being scanned thoroughly, the police took the help of local intelligence inputs. After attacking Khan, Shehzad escaped to Dadar via the Bandra station from where he went to Worli. The police traced the suspects route with the help of CCTV cameras at the Bandra Railway Station, Dadar, and then Worli. Resultantly, they zeroed in on a rented accommodation at Koliwada in Worli. A team of cops then went to this accommodation and questioned the other residents of the area. They managed to get the suspects name and other related information. They also tried to track the suspects phone signal but he turned the device off after a while. After he was seen eating parathas at a food stall, the police located the stall owner. He gave the cops the details of the UPI transaction that Shehzad made to pay for the parathas and a water bottle. This essential clue led police to the labour camp near Ghodbunder, in Thane. The nab After obtaining the number of the accused, the police started scanning the area near the labour camp. Soon, their searches led them to a dense mangrove cluster near a labour camp. In a scene that seems straight out of a movie, the cops reportedly saw someone sleeping on the ground. However, as the person stood up, he started running as an officer moved closer. The police soon caught and overpowered him. The accused worked at a restaurant and was a Bangladeshi national During investigations, the Mumbai police learnt that the accused used to work as a housekeeper at a restaurant near the Hiranandani area of Thane. The Manager of the restaurant revealed that a third-party vendor got Shehzad the job at the restaurant. He worked at the restaurant from September 2024 to December 2024. #WATCH | Saif Ali Khan Attack case | Mumbai: DCP Zone 9 Dixit Gedam says, Prima facie the accused is a Bangladeshi and after entering India illegally he changed his name. He was using Vijay Das as his current name. He came to Mumbai 5-6 months ago. He stayed in Mumbai for a few pic.twitter.com/r08nkk6ott ANI (@ANI) January 19, 2025 Meanwhile, the police noted that they did not find any Indian documents from Shehzad. However, they found evidence emphasising that he is a Bangladeshi national who crossed over illegally. Addressing a press conference, Dikshit Gedam, DCP, Crime Branch Mumbai revealed the details. There is primary evidence to anticipate that the accused is a Bangladeshi. He does not have valid Indian documents. Some seizures indicate that he is a Bangladeshi national. He added, The accused came to Mumbai nearly six months ago. After that, he started living in various other areas and came to Mumbai 15 days ago He was using Vijay Das as his current name. The accused who stabbed Saif Ali Khan taken into custody Following his arrest, a court remanded Shehzad in five-day police custody. This follows the courts observation of the police stating that an international conspiracy could not be ruled out. The police informed the court that the accused was a Bangladeshi national. The cops iterated that they needed to find the real motive behind attacking the actor. Moreover, the police also added they needed to find out if there was an international conspiracy behind the incident. In response, the court said the prosecutions submission of international conspiracy cannot be said to be impossible. Meanwhile, the lawyer representing Shehzad argued that the allegations were false. He stated that his client is being made a scapegoat because a celebrity is involved. Nothing (incriminating) has been recovered from him. However, the suspect himself reportedly accepted his crime. He told the cops, Haan, maine hi kiya hai (yes, I did it). For details on intrusion and Saifs health update, read: Saif Ali Khan attack: the intrusion, the attack, and the actors health Potential areas of ancient crust have been discovered deep in the Earth's mantle. These "sunken worlds," as researchers sometimes call them, were discovered thanks to a new way of measuring the structures of the interior of our planet. ADVERTISIMENT The innovative mapping method gives scientists unique opportunities to explore the previously inaccessible depths of the Earth. However, these mysterious spots appear where they shouldn't be, Space.com writes. For decades, scientists have been building a picture of the Earth's interior using seismographs, three-dimensional images created by measuring how seismic waves from earthquakes reflect deep inside our planet. According to the researchers, this method has helped identify ancient areas of the Earth's crust known as subduction plates, which were pulled into the mantle through subduction zones where tectonic plates meet. For example, in October 2024, experts announced the discovery of a section of the seafloor that had sunk deep into the mantle beneath Easter Island. ADVERTISIMENT Using a new type of seismographic imaging, the scientists showed that they had identified "numerous" potential subduction plates throughout the Earth's mantle. However, unlike previously identified subducting plates, which are in areas where tectonic plates are currently colliding or have previously broken apart, some of the new anomalies are located in places where there has never been any known tectonic activity. It is not clear how they got there. "With the new high-resolution model, we can see such anomalies everywhere in the Earth's mantle. But we don't know exactly what they are," said Thomas Schouten, a doctoral student at the ETH Zurich Geological Institute in Switzerland. ADVERTISIMENT Scientists suggest that the spots found may be made of crustal material left over from the creation of the mantle 4 billion years ago. Or they could be made of other similarly dense material that has grown in the mantle over the past few hundred million years. The researchers also speculate that the newly discovered spots could be subducted plates, mainly because seismic waves travel through them at the same speed. But more research is needed to determine if they are in fact similar. "We need to calculate the different material parameters that can generate the observed velocities of different types of waves. That is, we need to dive deeper into the material properties behind the wave speed," Thomas Schouten emphasized. Only verified information is available on the OBOZ.UA Telegram channel and Viber. Do not fall for fakes! Police recently arrested the man, identified as Mohammad Shariful Islam Shahzad in Saif Ali Khans stabbing case. Now, it has been learned that the accused used to work as a housekeeper at The Blair All Day restaurant near Hiranandani area of Thane. The Manager of the restaurant revealed that a third-party vendor got him the job at the restaurant. The accused worked at the restaurant from September 2024 to December 2024. Advertisement Nelson Salda, Manager of The Blair All Day restaurant was quoted saying, We discontinued his contract after 15th December. He worked with us only for 2 months. He used to work in the housekeeping department. He worked according to the standard procedure of the restourant. He told us his name was Bijoy Das. He was decent as an employee. Advertisement Kareena Kapoor Khan recorded her statement with #BandraPolice about the stabbing incident with her husband, #SaifAliKhan. She told the police that the attacker did not steal anything from the house, but he was very aggressive, and he attacked Saif multiple times. Kareena added pic.twitter.com/xqunCgiRWZ The Statesman (@TheStatesmanLtd) January 18, 2025 DCP, Crime Branch Mumbai, Dikshit Gedam was quoted saying during a press conference, There is primary evidence to anticipate that the accused is a Bangladeshi. He does not have valid Indian documents. Some seizures indicate that he is a Bangladeshi national. Also Read: Saif Ali Khan stabbing: Accused oblivious of victims celebrity status He also mentioned, FIR was registered and one accused has been arrested. His name is Mohammad Shariful Islam Shehzad, he is 30 years old. He entered the house with the intention of robbery. He will be produced in the court and custody will be demanded. The accused came to Mumbai 5 to 6 months ago. After that, he started living in various other areas and came to Mumbai 15 days ago He was using Vijay Das as his current name. He used to work in a housekeeping agency. After entering India illegally he changed his name. If the reports are to be believed, the accused was nabbed near the Hiranandani Estate in Kasarvadavali, around 35 kilometers away from Saif Ali Khans Bandra residence. Mumbai Police arrested the accused during a joint operation conducted by DCP Zone-6 Navnath Dhavales team, along with the Kasarvadavali police. The operation took place at a labour camp near the metro construction site, behind the TCS Call Center in Hiranandani Estate, Thane West. Oscar-winning actor Rami Malek recently shared a harrowing story from his past, revealing an encounter with the Los Angeles Police Department that left him racially profiled and physically thrown onto the hood of a police car. The incident, which took place during a robbery investigation, highlights the actors experience with identity and racial stereotyping. Advertisement In an exclusive interview with The Guardian, Malek recounted how the police mistook him for a suspect in a liquor store robbery. Advertisement According to the actor, the thief had a Latin descent, and Malek, who is Egyptian, fit the vague description. I got thrown on the bonnet of an LAPD cop car because someone had robbed a liquor store and stolen a womans bag. They said the thief was of Latin descent and, You fit the description,' he recalled. The heat from the cars engine, which had been racing to the scene, left him with burnt hands as they pressed him against the vehicle. Malek was accompanied by a friend at the time, who, realizing the mistake, tried to correct the officers. My friend, who was Caucasian, was clever enough to say, Actually, sir, hes Egyptian. Not Latin,' Malek said. Despite the correction, Malek couldnt help but feel uneasy, laughing nervously as he realized the gravity of the situation. I may well be going to jail for something Ive not done, he reflected. The actor, best known for his role as Freddie Mercury in Bohemian Rhapsody, has long spoken about issues of identity and the challenges he faced growing up in the 1990s. In addition to his acting career, Rami Malek is ready to take the stage at Londons Old Vic Theatre as Oedipus and will appear in the upcoming thriller The Amateur. The film, slated for release in April 2025, features Malek as a CIA decoder who goes rogue to avenge his wifes murder. The film also stars Laurence Fishburne, Rachel Brosnahan, and Jon Bernthal. Actor Karan Veer Mehra has made history by clinching the title of Bigg Boss 18, hosted by Salman Khan, after already winning Khatron Ke Khiladi 14. The finale, which aired early Monday, saw Karan outshine his competitor, Vivian Dsena, to take home the coveted trophy. Advertisement In a conversation with ANI, Karan Veer Mehra expressed his joy and reflected on his incredible journey. I feel very happy. I am the chosen one, he shared. Winning back-to-back reality shows is a rare feat. I believed in myself, worked hard, and aimed for the top. Its a dream come true. Advertisement Karan also opened up about the personal growth he experienced during the show. I discovered that I am an emotional person. Earlier, I used to feel bad about crying over small things. But now, Ive realized its okay to embrace my emotions, he said. His journey in Bigg Boss 18 was filled with ups and downs, from fiery clashes with Vivian Dsena and Sara Khan to lighthearted banter with Avinash Mishra. The show also highlighted his romantic connection with actress Chum Darang. Reflecting on his rivalry with Vivian, Karan admitted that competition for the trophy fueled tensions between them. When two people fight for the same prize, some bitterness is inevitable, he explained. I was jealous of how easily things came to him, which Ive admitted multiple times. But hes a good family man, and I respect him for that. The finale featured six contestants: Karan Veer Mehra, Vivian Dsena, Eisha Singh, Chum Darang, Avinash Mishra, and Rajat Dalal. If you thought that Hollywood actor Rami Malek couldnt surpass the level of being a chameleon by perfectly internalising music legend Freddie Mercury in the biopic Bohemian Rhapsody, then him being mistaken for a criminal will shake your belief. The actor was once thrown on the bonnet of an Los Angeles Police Department cop car after he was mistaken for a criminal, reports Female First UK. Advertisement The 43-year-old actor still has vivid memories of being stopped by police officers on the streets of Los Angeles during his younger years. Advertisement Rami told the Guardian newspaper, I got thrown on the bonnet of an LAPD cop car because someone had robbed a liquor store and stolen a womans bag. They said the (thief) was of Latin descent and, You fit the description. I remember how hot that engine was, they must have been racing over there and it was almost burning my hands. He further mentioned, My friend, who was Caucasian, was clever enough to go, Actually, sir, hes Egyptian. Not Latin. I remember laughing in the cop car, thinking, OK, this is a very precarious situation. I may well be going to jail for something Ive not done. As per Female First UK, Rami was born in California to Egyptian parents and he now appreciates the sacrifices his parents made for him after arriving in America. The Oppenheimer star explained, The school system in Los Angeles was not great. She would handwrite these long letters in blue fountain pen explaining our situation. Shed say, Im going to give my kids every opportunity possible. I would hear stories about her being pregnant with my brother and me, and taking three buses, three different buses, to get to work and back. Rami previously admitted that he struggled to fit in during his childhood. The Odisha police in joint operation with its Chhattisgarh and Central Police Reserve Force (CRPF) on Monday gunned down two women cadres of outlawed Communist Party of India (Maoist) outfit in border areas of Nuapada district of Odisha and Gariabandh district of Chhattisgarh, officials said. A joint inter-state operation was launched by police of the two states and CRPF personnel in the border areas of Nuapada district of Odisha and Gariabandh district of Chhattisgarh. Advertisement Two Maoist Cadres (women) were neutralised in the operation. Huge caches of arms, ammunition and Improvised Explosive Devices including a Self-Loading Rifle (SLR) have been recovered by the security forces, the State police said in a statement. Advertisement A massive search operation is underway by the police in the area. It may be recalled that since the night of January 19, there were intelligence inputs about the presence of a large number of Maoists in the Kularighat reserve forest of Chhattisgarh, just 5 km from the border of Nuapada district of Odisha. Accordingly, a joint interstate operation consisting of Special Operation Group (Odisha Police), along with E-30 force of Chattisgarh Police and CRPF was launched. The exchange of fire between the two sides is still continuing since this morning, they concluded. Ahead of the assembly elections in Bihar, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) constituents have started flexing muscles to get a major share in the final seat-sharing arrangement. With the maximum number of MLAs in the current assembly, the BJP eyes the largest share of the pie. Chief Minister Nitish Kumars Janata Dal United (JDU), despite being the third largest party in the assembly, also wants to get an equal number of seats. Advertisement The tussle between the two major parties has put smaller constituents of the NDA in a quandary. Realising this, the smaller parties have started throwing tantrums to make their worth known to the alliance partners. Advertisement The Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) chief Chirag Paswan has started mounting attacks on Nitish Kumar. Only a few days ago, he demanded BPSC re-examination. He said if he were in the Opposition, he would have staged a sit-in protest. But since he is in the government, he cannot do so. His uncle and head of the Rashtriya Lok Janshakti Party Pashupati Kumar Paras, who is still part of the NDA despite being sidelined, minces no words to indicate his differences with the ruling alliance. Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular)s Jitan Ram Manjhi is at the forefront. Upset by the BJPs decision not to share any seat with his party in Delhi assembly elections, he staked his claim to 40 seats in Bihar. Navendu, a political observer, believes Nitish Kumar will make all efforts to retain the seat sharing arrangement of the 2020 assembly elections. In 2020, the JDU had 122 seats while the remaining 121 had gone to the BJP. The JDU had given seven seats from its quota to Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) while the BJP had given nine of its seats to Vikasheel Insaan Party (VIP). Chirag Paswans LJP (R) had contested independently. Now, the scenario has changed. The VIP has left the NDA while the LJP(R) joined the alliance. Nitish will make all efforts to get those 122 seats again, but he will not leave any seat for Chirags LJP (R). Manjhi is also not so close to Nitish. It has complicated the situation. Chirag Paswan and Jitan Ram Manjhis recent outburst was to strengthen their position in the alliance, he said. The Assam Congress has strongly criticized the police case filed against its leader Rahul Gandhi over his Indian state remark during the inauguration of the Indira Bhavan in New Delhi. Addressing the media, Assam Pradesh Congress Committee President Bhupen Borah accused the state police of acting as a tool of the ruling BJP. Advertisement He highlighted the alleged double standards, pointing out that despite the Congress filing three complaints against Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma for communal speeches, no action has been taken. Advertisement Borah further questioned the lack of progress in investigating Sarmas alleged involvement in the Saradha chit fund scam, accusing agencies like the CBI and ED of selective enforcement and favoring leaders from the BJP. The FIR against Rahul Gandhi was lodged at the Pan Bazar Police Station in Guwahati under Sections 152 and 197(1)d of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, which deal with actions that threaten the nations sovereignty and integrity. The complaint was filed by Monjit Chetia, who alleged that Gandhis remarks undermined national unity and posed a significant threat to public order and security. Chetia accused Gandhi of spreading falsehoods and inciting disaffection against the central government out of frustration over the Congress partys electoral defeats. He further stated that Gandhis position as Leader of the Opposition requires him to uphold democratic values, but his comments instead provoke rebellion and threaten national integrity. The Congress has denounced the case as politically motivated and an attempt to stifle dissent, asserting that the BJP is using state machinery to suppress opposition voices. As the inter-ministerial expert team constituted by Union Home Minister Amit Shah reached the Badhaal village on Monday where 17 people, including 12 children, have mysteriously died. The authorities have banned community feasting and sealed a natural water spring in the panic stricken village of the in the Rajouri district near the Line of Control (LOC). Advertisement The 11-member inter-ministerial team has been assigned with the task of probing the mystery deaths. Advertisement The team members, who were briefed by the district administration of Rajouri on Sunday, visited the affected village this morning and collected samples. They also spoke to the family members of the victims. Of the 38 people affected by the mysterious illness, 17 belonging to three families have died since 7 December when the affected people started losing their lives. All six children of Mohammad Aslam were among the dead. Experts from reputed institutions of the country have not yet been able to identify the cause of the deaths. The Central team headed by a director-rank officer, consists of experts from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers and Ministry of Water Resources. It is also assisted by experts from animal husbandry, food safety and forensic science labs. An official said that the team is accompanied by experts from some of the most reputed institutions of the country. Meanwhile, J&Ks Health Minister Sakina Itoo ruled out any viral infection or communicable disease. She said the test reports so far have ruled out viral, bacterial or microbiological infections. However, experts said that certain neurotoxins have been found in the samples of those who have died so far. A Health Department team has conducted a door-to-door survey of over 3,000 residents in the affected area, collecting and testing samples of water, food, and other materials. All test results, including those for influenza and other possible contaminants, came back negative, officials said. The district administration also conducted an aggressive contact tracing, health interventions and took 272 samples. Experts from PGIMER Chandigarh, Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR), National Institute of Virology (NIV), National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Defence Research and Development (DRDO) and other organisations were so far unable to detect the cause of these deaths. Reports said the water samples from the sealed spring have tested positive for pesticides and insecticides after which three policemen have been deployed there to prevent anyone collecting water from there. Union Minister for Agriculture Farmers Welfare and Rural Development Shivraj Singh Chouhan has asked officials to consistently engage with the state governments on agricultural issues as addressing them at the ground level would require involvement of the state government officials. He was holding a review meeting with the senior officials of his Ministry on issues related to the progress of rabi sowing, weather conditions, pest surveillance through National Pest surveillance system (NPSS). Advertisement Marketing of agri products, including the import and export of the produce, also figured in the review meeting. Apart from himself holding a weekly meeting on the farm issues, he said he shall also periodically hold meetings with the state governments at the agriculture ministers level. Advertisement The total area sown as on 17th January is 640 lakh hectares compared to 637.49 lakh hectares in the corresponding period of last year which is higher by 2.51 lakh hectares. The overall crop coverage and crop condition is better than previous year. The sowing of rabi Tomato, Onion and Potato (TOP) are going on and as on date the current year sowing of TOP crops is higher than corresponding period of the previous year. The Mandi prices of wheat (0.46%), Mustard (0.14%), Soybean (0.25%) have increased week on week. whereas Arhar (1.22%), Rice (1.20%) Gram (0.67%), Potato (6.34%) and Tomato (6.79%) have decreased week-on-week. Currently Wheat, Rice, Gram, Mustard and sesame are getting price higher than Minimum Support Price (MSP) in the market. Following an attack on Bollywood actor Saif Ali Khan and subsequent findings related to the incident, Delhi Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena has expressed concerns over the involvement of illegal Bangladeshi and Rohingya infiltrators in criminal activities in the national capital. He has directed the Delhi Police to initiate a special campaign to identify such illegal immigrants. In a communication to the Delhi Police Commissioner on Monday, the L-G emphasized the need for the campaign to be executed in mission mode, utilizing print and social media to raise public awareness about the importance of verifying the identities of construction workers, laborers, and house helps particularly those offering services at lower wages to enhance public safety. Advertisement The Lieutenant Governor has taken note of a serious criminal incident in Mumbai involving a high-profile Bollywood actor, where a Bangladeshi national was implicated in housebreaking and assault. Reports indicate that the individual was living under a false identity and employed at a restaurant, the communication stated. Advertisement The L-Gs letter also highlighted the role of organized syndicates and vested interest groups in facilitating the settlement of illegal immigrants and securing their employment using forged documents such as Aadhaar cards, voter IDs, and ration cards. The L-G advised that Resident Welfare Associations (RWAs) and Shopkeeper Associations be sensitized about the importance of verifying the backgrounds of individuals before employing them. The communication also called for suitable legal action in cases of non-compliance. Archaeologists have uncovered a 1400-year-old secret of large earthen rings in Australia. They are located on the outskirts of Melbourne, in the suburb of Sunbury, and mysteriously rise from the hills. ADVERTISIMENT These earthen rings are not a natural phenomenon. In fact, they are large-scale feats of human endeavor and represent the long and continuous connection of Aboriginal people with the country, Live Science writes. Earthen rings are embankments that were created by digging and filling earth into large circular shapes. Archaeologists have investigated one of these rings and the results have expanded the existing understanding of the richness and diversity of Australia's archaeological heritage, created over more than 65,000 years of continuous occupation by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Earthen rings were created by humans hundreds or thousands of years ago. They did this by excavating and piling earth into a large circle (or circles) up to hundreds of meters in diameter. In eastern Australia, earthen rings are considered symbols of secret and sacred places of initiation and ceremony for various Aboriginal language groups. ADVERTISIMENT Many earthen rings were destroyed after European colonization and land development. It is believed that hundreds of them once existed in New South Wales and Queensland alone. But today only about 100 remain. A smaller number of rings have been documented in Victoria, including five in Sunbury. In 2021-2022, community members conducted the first study and led a new archaeological excavation of one of the rings, known as the Sunbury G ring. It represents a place where indigenous peoples traveled and gathered together, and likely held ceremonies. Sunbury G Ring was first excavated by archaeologist David Frankel in 1979. To date, no other excavations of an earthen ring are known to have been made in Australia. The current research was conducted to re-analyze 166 stone artifacts found during the 1979 excavations. ADVERTISIMENT This involved dating the ring's deposits to determine when it was made. It also involved putting the artifacts together like a puzzle and examining the residue and wear marks on their surfaces and edges. This provides clues to how people living in those years made and used the stone tools in Sunbury G Ring. According to recently published research, the ring was built by people somewhere between 590 and 1400 years ago. They spent time in the area clearing land and plants, raking earth and stones to create the ring mound, and layering rocks to create stone compositions. They also lit fires, made stone tools that they used to fight a variety of plants and animals, and moved objects inside the ring. According to the scientists, this study is the first to combine cultural and archaeological knowledge of earthen rings in Australia and demonstrates the importance of further research and preservation of these earthen rings, as well as others known to be found in eastern Australia. Only verified information is available on the OBOZ.UA Telegram channel and Viber. Do not fall for fakes! External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, who is here to attend US President-elect Donald Trumps swearing-in, met with his counterparts from Australia and Japan during which they discussed bilateral issues and those pertaining to QUAD. Delighted to meet FM @SenatorWong, a Quad colleague, in Washington DC today. As always, enjoyed our discussion on the state of the world, Jaishankar posted on X after meeting Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong. Advertisement Reviewed the progress in our bilateral cooperation. Also discussed developments pertaining to Quad, he said in another post after his meeting with the Japanese foreign minister. Advertisement Jaishankar is also expected to meet the Trump administrations secretary of state-elect Marco Rubio and the other two foreign ministers of QUAD countries. According to sources, Rubio and President-elect Trump have made it a priority to take the India-US relationship to the next level. Rubio is keen to have his first bilateral with Jaishankar once he is confirmed as Secretary of State. Jaishankar will also meet National Security Advisor (NSA)-elect Michael Waltz, who is co-chair of the bipartisan Congressional Caucus on India and Indian Americans. Waltz, once he takes over as NSA, would be co-chairingwith his Indian counterpart Ajit Dovalthe important US-India Initiative on Critical and Emerging Technologies, a collaborative framework for cooperation in technology. This includes joint efforts in fields like artificial intelligence, quantum computing, semiconductors and advanced telecommunications technologies, such as 6G. The Kerala Legislative Assembly on Monday paid tribute to former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, who passed away on December 26. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, Leader of Opposition VD Satheesan, Assembly Speaker AN Shamseer, and other leaders acknowledged Singhs invaluable contributions in various fields. Advertisement Chief Minister Vijayan described Dr Singh as an extraordinary individual, a gifted economist, and a soft-spoken yet resolute patriot who upheld secular values. Advertisement He highlighted Dr Singhs significant role in Indias economic growth, lauding his forward-thinking policies inspired by successful Southeast Asian economies. Although there were differences in our policy perspectives, Dr Manmohan Singhs commitment to constitutional values and the democratic system is truly commendable, said CM Vijayan. Leader of Opposition VD Satheesan praised Singh as an internationally acclaimed economist and an advocate of secular and democratic values. He recalled Singhs pivotal role in implementing economic reforms that bolstered Indias financial progress and his adept leadership during a global recession. Speaker AN Shamseer called Singh a brilliant economist and a determined statesman, emphasizing his exceptional contributions to nation-building both as Finance Minister and as Prime Minister. The budget session of the Assembly, which commenced on Friday, was adjourned on Monday following the tributes to the former Prime Minister. Keeping the heat on the BJP-led Union government to withdraw the draft UGC regulations, Chief Minister and DMK President M K Stalin, on Monday, appealed to his non-BJP counterparts to pass a resolution, in their respective state assemblies on the lines of Tamil Nadu, opposing the guidelines as they are an infringement of federalism. The chief minister also wrote a letter to Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, urging him to withdraw the draft regulations of the UGC, 2024 and 2025. Advertisement Writing to his counterparts in Delhi, Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Telangana, Kerala and Karnataka, he termed the regulations as anti-federal, undermining the autonomy of state-run varsities. I strongly believe that it is essential for all states to take a similar stand like Tamil Nadu. I request you to consider passing a resolution in your august assembly on the same lines as ours. And it is crucial that we stand united against these attempts to centralise power, he said, adding that the proposed guidelines would have far-reaching consequences for the autonomy of universities established by the resources of the states. Advertisement In his letter to Pradhan, the chief minister reiterated the states opposition to the appointment of non-academicians for the post of vice-chancellor and exclusion of the state government in the selection of vice-chancellors. He also expressed grave concern over provisions relating to entrance examinations to UG and PG admissions, 4-year Degree for Arts and Science streams, Eligibility for M.Tech and ME courses and Multiple Entry and Multiple Exit (MEME) system as well as cross disciplinary teachers. These and other such provisions ,may pose serious challenges to academic integrity, autonomy and inclusive development of state universities, he pointed and said these were at variance with the diverse educational landscape of the country. Hence, the new draft regulations, under discussion should be withdrawn forthwith, he added. Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi has written to Union Health Minister JP Nadda, urging him to strengthen public healthcare infrastructure at all levels, from primary to tertiary, in partnership with the state governments. In his letter addressed to the Health Minister, Gandhi referred to his recent visit outside the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) here, and said he was saddened to see hundreds of patients and their family members huddled on the footpath and in the subway in the bitter winter cold, with only thin blankets to protect them, without drinking water or sanitation facilities. Advertisement He pointed out that many of these patients from across the country, spend their life savings, and wait for months on end for medical care at Indias premier medical institution. Advertisement Urging to take immediate and timely steps to address the situation at the premier institute, Gandhi said the Government of India should work with the AIIMS leadership, Delhi government and charitable organizations to provide heating, bedding, water and shelter to patients, and expand permanent facilities for accommodation. In addition, reduce the long wait times at each step of treatment, and provide patients information about wait times, which would help reduce patients uncertainty, he said. Stating that the larger systemic issue is that AIIMS Delhi is overburdened because crores of people do not have access to affordable and high-quality healthcare where they live, Gandhi urged the Health Minister to recognise and address this systemic issue. As a first step, the new AIIMS facilities across the country should be operationalised at the earliest. In addition, the public healthcare infrastructure should be strengthened at all levels, from primary to tertiary, in partnership with state governments. Central healthcare schemes such as Ayushman Bharat should be reviewed to reduce patient out-of-pocket expenses as much as possible, by expanding eligibility, hospitals enrolled, and conditions covered, he said. Referring to the upcoming Union Budget, the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha said, I hope the government will use the upcoming Budget to review its overall approach, and substantially increase its investment in public healthcare. Gandhi also wrote to Delhi Chief Minister Atishi over the matter and requested her to take immediate steps to provide heating, bedding, water, shelter to the patients seeking medical care from AIIMS, New Delhi. Rajasthan Assembly Speaker Vasudev Devnani, who underwent a thorough medical checkup and diagnostic tests at the Indira Gandhi Institute of Cardiology, Patna, following chest pain and restlessness on Monday morning, was shifted to SMS Hospital in Jaipur tonight for observation and further evaluation. The Speaker was brought to Jaipur tonight on the state governments plane under the supervision of a team of doctors led by SMS Medical College Principal Dr Deepak Maheshwari. Advertisement Devnani was immediately taken to SMS Hospital from the airport, where he is being kept under medical observation. Advertisement The Speaker had been in Patna to attend the All-India Parliamentary Presiding Officers Conference. Early Monday morning, he complained of chest pain and discomfort. He was promptly rushed to Patna Medical College and Hospital and later referred to the Indira Gandhi Institute of Cardiology for detailed diagnostic tests and necessary treatment. Doctors at the institute confirmed that all test reports were normal and Devnanis condition is stable. Speaking about his health, Devnani stated: It was an acidity issue. I am feeling fine now and plan to return to Jaipur. Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, the Bihar Assembly Speaker, and other leaders visited the hospital to check on Devnanis health. Rajasthan Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma also called Devnani to inquire about his condition. The Chief Minister arranged for the state plane, accompanied by a team of specialist doctors, including SMS Medical College Principal Dr Maheshwari and RMC Registrar Dr Girdhar Gopal Goyal, to ensure Devnanis safe return to Jaipur. In a relief to the Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, the Supreme Court on Monday stayed proceedings against him before a trial court in Ranchi, Jharkhand, in a criminal defamation case arising from his 2018 speech at AICC plenary session saying that the Union Home Minister Amit Shah was an accused in a murder case. Staying all the proceedings before the trial court in Ranchi till further orders, a bench of Justice Vikran Math and Justice Sandeep Mehta issued notice to the Jharkhand government and the Bharatiya Janata Party leader Navin Jha the complainant before the trial court. Advertisement Issue notice to Jharkhand and complainant. All proceedings in the trial shall remain stayed till further orders, the Court said in its order today. Advertisement The court gave the state government and the complainant Jha, four weeks to respond to Rahul Gandhis petition and two weeks to the Congress leader to file his rejoinder to the reply by the State government and the complainant. Rahul Gandhi has approached the Supreme Court against the 21/16 February 2024, Jharkhand High Court order rejecting his plea for the quashing of the defamation case against him. The complaint initiating the defamation case arose from his speech on March 18, 2018, at the AICC plenary session. In the said speech, Rahul Gandhi was reported to have said, The people of this country will accept a lying Bharatiya Janata Party leadership drunk with power because they know that, what the Bharatiya Janata Party is designed for and further, he had said, They will, accept a man accused of murder as the President of Bharatiya Janata Party but the people will never accept the same in the Congress Party. Appearing for Rahul Gandhi, senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi told the bench that the complaint was filed by a third party and that is not permissible when it comes to the offence of defamation. If you are not the person aggrieved, how can you have a proxy filing of complaint, Singhvi told the bench. Initially on July 7, 2018, Ranchis magistrate court of Ajay Kumar Guria dismissed the complaint by Navin Jha. However, in a criminal revision plea, the Judicial Commissioner, Ranchi, by September 15, 2018, set aside the magistrate courts order. Subsequently ,S.D.J.M. Ranchi on November 28, 2018, in a fresh order held that a prima facie case to be true against Rahul Gandhi under section 500 of the Indian Penal Code and directed for issuance of process. Rahul Gandhi had approached the High Court both against September 15, 2018, order of the Ranchi Judicial Commissioner and November 28, 2018, The Supreme Court on Monday said that people entering poll fray while in jail should be barred from contesting election as it posted for tomorrow (Tuesday January 21) a plea by AIMIM candidate and 2020 North-East Delhi riots accused Tahir Hussain, seeking interim bail for campaigning ahead of Delhi Assembly polls. Adjourning the hearing for Tuesday due to the paucity of time, a bench of Justice Pankaj Mithal and Justice Ahsanuddin Amanullah, however, remarked: These days elections are contested from jail Its easy to win an election sitting in jail all such persons should be barred from contesting. Advertisement The strong observation from the bench came as an advocate representing Hussain mentioned the matter which could not be taken up due to the paucity of time. Hussains advocate said that this is a genuine case. Advertisement Hussain, a former Aam Aadmi Party councilor, was granted custody parole by the Delhi High Court on January 14 to file his nomination from Mustafabad constituency. He has challenged the Delhi High Courts order, which had denied him interim bail to campaign the upcoming Delhi assembly election. In the High Court, Delhi Police opposed Hussains plea for interim bail because of the gravity of allegations, saying he was the main perpetrator of the violence, resulting in the death of several persons. The High Court had said about 11 FIRs were registered against Hussain in connection with the riots and he was admittedly in custody in a related money laundering case and UAPA case. Hussain was booked in the murder case of Intelligence Bureau (IB) officer Ankit Sharma during the 2020 North-East Delhi riots. Violence broke out in North-East Delhi on February 24, 2020, leaving 53 dead. The Uttarakhand Cabinet has granted its final nod to the draft rules of the Uniform Civil Code (UCC).This has cleared the deck for likely implementation of the UCC on January 26. Pushkar Singh Dhami cabinet on Monday moved a step forward as it cleared the lone agenda of the day for likely implementation of the countrys first UCC on republic day. Led by the chief minister himself it cleared the much awaited draft rule of the UCC brought before it. Mondays cabinet meeting was held only for granting stamp to UCC rules. Advertisement In his statement after the cabinet meeting CM Dhami said In 2024 our government fulfilled the 2022 electoral promise made to the people by enacting the UCC. Since then, we were making arduous efforts to expedite procedural formalities and implement the law as early as possible. Its a matter of pride for Uttarakhand that we will be the first state to implement UCC. Now all preparations are over and we will implement it soon. Advertisement Its notable that UCC enacted by the Uttarakhand government will impose a blanket ban on the practices like halala and iddat. Remarriage will not be permitted if either husband or wife are alive. The new personal law in the state emphasises that no condition, irrespective of the religion or community, can stop a woman from remarrying after divorce. UCC also allows that if a person changes his or her religion without consent the other partner will have the right to divorce and alimony. At the time of divorce or domestic quarrel between husband and wife, the custody of a child for up to five years will remain with the mother. Son and daughter will have equal rights in property. UCC homogenised provisions on marriages, divorce, alimony and inheritance irrespective of religions and communities of the citizens in the state. It will be mandatory for every couple to register their marriages and divorce taking place after March 26, 2010. Failure to register marriages will lead to imposition of fine up to Rs 25,000 for. Similarly registration of live-in relationships will also be mandatory with the same penal provisions. The minimum age for marriage of boys and girls will be 21 and 18 years respectively. Women and men will have equal rights and reasons for divorce while the difference between legitimate and illegitimate children will be wiped out. Illegitimate children will also be considered biological children of that couple. Children born through adoption, surrogacy or assisted reproductive technology will be biological kids under the UCC. Property rights of an unborn child will be protected under UCC. Not an employee. No Employer. No fixed working hours. Unlimited Income. Work flexibility. Freedom to work or not on any given day. These are the apparent and enviable characteristics of a gig worker. A utopian situation indeed! But the details show there is more to it than meets the eye. Undoubtedly, the gig economy has grown splendidly fast and is growing faster. It is already contributing a big sum to the GDP, to the exchequer, and more so to gig platforms (the details as we proceed further). But all this, to call a spade a spade, is at the cost of exploiting the gig workers. The gig workers, for example, are the food delivery boys and girls from Swiggy and Zomato-like digital platforms, the drivers of Uber, Ola, or similar ride-hailing services, or Amazon or other e-commerce delivery persons. The labour ministry defines a gig worker as a person who engages in income-earning activities outside of a traditional employer-employee relationship, as well as in the informal sector. Similar is the NITI Aayogs view which stresses gig work to be outside the traditional employer-employee arrangement. Gig workers can be broadly classified into platform and no-platform-based workers. Pla t form workers are those whose work is based on online software apps or digital platforms. The non-platform gig workers are generally casual wage workers and own-account workers in the conventional sectors, working part-time or full-time. Advertisement The gig economy is facilitated by modern information technology, digitalization, use of computers, mobile phones, and mobile applications. It has rapidly grown over the years and is poised to grow much faster in the coming years. Some 7.7 million workers (2.6 per cent of non-agricultural workers or 1.5 per cent of the workforce) were engaged in gig work in India by 2020-21 as per NITI Aayogs estimate although the accuracy of data is not guaranteed. The actual number could be more than double this number as per other estimates. The number is likely to reach 23.5 million (6.7 per cent non-agricultural and 7 per cent of the total) by 2029-30. The Boston Consulting Group puts the number of gig workers in India at 15 million in 2021 and estimates it to increase to 90 million. Advertisement It is likely to add 1.25 per cent to the GDP in the next eight to ten years. The gig economys world market size as per UEF in 2024 was $556.7 billion (equal to Rs. 47 lac crore) and it is likely to reach $1,847 billion (Rs.158 lac crore, or more if the rupee-dollar exchange rate increases) by 2032. The digital platforms are growing fast ~ 140 in 2010 to 777 in 2020 as per a ILO 2021 report. Undoubtedly, the gig economy, the offspring of new technology, and new modes of production and distribution, is booming and changing economic and social relations in tandem. The resultant outcomes the challenges and opportunities, are not difficult to discern given the trends, experiences, and accumulated evidence of the gig economy, particularly of the digital platform- induced urban concentrated (deeply prevalent in about 300 cities) gig work. While technology is the facilitator and the medium for the gig economy its true begetter is the neoliberal economic policy and the fertile ground it created for the fast growth of the gig economy. Some key policy effects unmistakably drive home the point. Firstly, the growth of the Indian economy has been jobless. The employment elasticity, (percentage change in employment in response to one percent change in economic growth) has been declining. For instance, between 2000 and 2012 employment grew by 1.6 per cent against the increase in Gross Value Added of 6.2 per cent. While the GVA further increased to 6.7 per cent between 2012 and 2019 employment grew at 0.01 per cent as per ILO-IHDs India Employment Report 2024. Secondly, employment growth was of poor quality; 90 per cent of the workforce is informally employed. Due to the nature of employment growth since 2019, informal employment in total has been increasing. More casualization is observable, the gig work inclusive. Thirdly, the production process has been capital-intensive and labour-saving naturally with the increasing profit maximization motive of business owners with the newfound support of economic policies. Fourthly, as the ILO report notes, digitalization and introduction of new technologies are changing the structure of industrial employment. There has been a rapid introduction of digitally mediated gig and platform work, which are algorithmically controlled by the platforms and have brought about new features in control of the labour process. Increasingly, platform and gig work have been expanding, but it is, to a large extent, the extension of informal work, with hardly any social security provisions. So, a gig workers life is neither free from bondage nor secure as is made out to be. The so-called flexibility and choice not to work on any day means choosing to starve. What a driver gets every day, taking a ride hailing service as an example, after the expenses including the cut by the platform, is the subsistence amount for the family. That means no freedom to not work. Since the job is algorithmically controlled and monitored, the incentives, disincentives and penalties are promptly applied. The lives of other gig workers like food delivery or Amazon-like platform delivery partners are no different. They get insufficient incomes, and work 12 hours a day or more. They have no provident fund facility, no health insurance like ESI and no other social security benefit employers provide in the organized sector. There is no employer at all who can be made responsible for providing these things. Although legislations are brought in here and there (for example Karnataka and Rajasthan enactments and Social Security Code 2020), gig work is deliberately kept outside the employer-employee relationship. Digital platforms that provide employment continue to be recognized as Aggregators while the workers are treated as contractors. This is not an unintended outcome of technology and changed production relations alone but the fruition of liberal economic policy, to say it at the cost of repetition. The government gradually withdraws from its role in economic activity firmly believing the theoretical underpinning of the market forces doctrine: Business is the business of the business; the government has no business to be in business. With employment opportunities in other sectors getting bleak, and with increasing educated unemployment (28.7 per cent of unemployment among youth with graduate and above qualification in 2022; 11.5 per cent with secondary education; 6.1 per cent with elementary education and 3.2 per cent with below primary education), it seems higher the qualifications higher would be the unemployment. ILO data shows that educated youth are not willing to work in the agriculture sector. Urban migration has also been on the increase: the urban population is expected to increase from 483 million in 2021 to 607 million in 2030. In this background, since the organized sector is not able to provide any employment, youth are forced to take up gig work though remuneration from it is low and the working conditions miserable. The only solace is that this sector provides employment. While employment elasticity in general is declining, that of the gig economy has been increasing significantly. The employment elasticity to GDP growth for gig workers was found to be above one throughout the period 2011-12 to 2019- 20 and was always above the overall employment elasticity, which means better opportunities in gig work. It is clear that the gig platform owners and the aggregators, are doing business using the unemployed youth (the majority of platform workers in developing countries, including India, were younger than 35 in 2021, as per an ILO study) and without providing them adequate or fixed wages, allowances, leave and other benefits, or old age security as provided to regular employees in the organized sector. This is because they do not treat gig workers as their employees nor does any statute mandate them to do so. New technology and the consumers interest in getting services requires the services available through gig platforms. They are a societal necessity. But the exploitation of the principal providers, the gig workers, is a social evil. The solution lies in regulation of the gig industry by recognizing gig platforms as employers and gig workers as their employees. The existing labour laws should cover gig workers. No new laws are necessary. The existing laws are enough to regulate their working conditions like working hours, leave, old age security, etc. We must make the gig economy a part of the organized sector to save our youth and to take the best out of our so-called demographic dividend. (The writer is a development economist and commentator on economic and Social affair) Erotic thriller films combine elements of psychological tension and passion. These stories are often intriguing and exciting due to the combination of deep emotional experiences and unexpected plot twists. Thrillers are like the cinematic equivalent of roller coaster rides. ADVERTISIMENT OBOZ.UA has compiled a rating of the best erotic thrillers. This genre provides an opportunity to examine complex human emotions, conflicts, and experiences through the prism of tension and passion. Eyes Wide Shut Eyes Wide Shut is a psychological thriller by Stanley Kubrick based on the novel by Arthur Schnitzler. The film was released in 1999 and immediately became the subject of numerous interpretations and discussions. William Harford (Tom Cruise) has a seemingly perfect life. However, after his wife confesses her fantasies about another man, William's life changes dramatically. During a party, he accidentally learns about a secret sexual society to which he is invited. William finds himself in a world dominated by sexual fantasies, masquerades and rituals. He tries to unravel the meaning of what he sees, but the deeper he plunges into this strange world, the more confused he becomes. William begins to suspect that there is a criminal conspiracy behind it all. ADVERTISIMENT Wild Things (1998) The film combines elements of crime detective, psychological drama and eroticism to create an intriguing and suspenseful story. When Sam Lombardo (Matt Dillon), a respected teacher and sailing instructor at a Florida high school, is accused of sexually abusing two female students, police sergeant Ray Duckett (Kevin Bacon) is assigned to investigate. The allegations of Kelly Van Ryan (Denise Richards) and Susie Toller (Neve Campbell) are quite contradictory, and it soon becomes clear that not everything is as it seems. This event stirs up the small town and leads to a series of unexpected discoveries and intrigues. With each new plot twist, it becomes more and more difficult to figure out who is really the victim and who is the manipulator. ADVERTISIMENT Basic Instinct (1992) Basic Instinct is a cult erotic thriller from 1992. Director Paul Verhoeven created a film that subverted conventional notions of cinema and sexuality. A former San Francisco rock star is found brutally murdered in his bed. The main suspect is crime novelist Catherine Tremell (Sharon Stone). When police detective Nick Curran (Michael Douglas) is assigned to investigate the case, he finds it increasingly difficult to resist Catherine's temptations, and soon finds himself more involved in the mystery than he could have ever imagined. The detective and the suspect develop a complex relationship, full of passion and mutual accusations. Karren plunges into a world of seductive secrets as he tries to unravel the tangle of lies and betrayals. ADVERTISIMENT The Handmaiden (2016) The film directed by Park Chan-wook is based on the novel by Sarah Waters. It takes place in Korea in the 1930s during the Japanese occupation. Suk-hee (Kim Tae-ri) is hired to serve as a maid to Lady Hideko (Kim Min-hee), a young Japanese heiress who lives in isolation from the world. However, behind this simple story lies a complex plan of deception, in which love, betrayal, greed and passion intertwine. The film touches on important social issues such as colonialism, gender inequality and sexuality. Beautiful landscapes, exquisite costumes and interior details create a unique atmosphere. Crash (1996) ADVERTISIMENT Crash is a 1996 Canadian film directed by David Cronenberg. After a car accident, movie producer James Ballard (James Spader) develops an obsession and fierce sexual attraction to the victims of the crash. When Ballard enters the underground subculture of car accident fetishists, his like-minded friend Helen Remington (Holly Hunter) joins him in the pursuit of unconventional sexual sensations. The film's protagonists derive sexual pleasure from disasters, seeing them as a kind of arousal. This deviant behavior becomes the center of the plot, which explores the dark sides of the human psyche and the impact of modern civilization on the individual. Subscribe to OBOZ.UA's Telegram and Viber channels to keep up with the latest developments. Namibias Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism (MEFT) on Saturday welcomed the recent ranking by Altezza Travel, which placed Namibia as the 4th safest country in Africa. Altezza Travels acknowledgement of Namibias safety, political stability, and well-developed tourism infrastructure is a significant achievement, MEFT spokesperson Romeo Muyunda said in a statement, adding that this ranking not only enhances the countrys international image but also reinforces Namibias position as a prime travel destination. Advertisement According to Muyunda, Namibia was ranked fourth behind Mauritius in first place, Ghana in second, and Zambia in third. Advertisement This ranking points out our peaceful nature as Namibians but also highlights that our collective efforts to ensure peace and stability are being recognized. The ministry would commend the Namibian people, security clusters, law enforcement agencies, and all stakeholders for fostering law and order in the country, he added. Muyunda said safety is an important factor in the travel and tourism sectors; therefore, this ranking gives Namibia more recognition around the globe and will steer more recommendations by travellers to visit the country. The spokesperson noted that even though Namibia is ranked fourth, the ministry believes that the country has the potential to be the safest country in Africa. Meanwhile, the rankings came against the backdrop of the ongoing tourism safety campaign being spearheaded by the ministry in cooperation with the Namibian police, tour operators, and selected regional councils, among others. We must, as a country, prioritize peace and stability as this will not only attract tourists but also much-needed investors that will enhance economic development, he said. Altezza Travel, a destination management company headquartered in Kilimanjaro, Tanzania, compiled the rankings by reviewing leading global studies from recent years, including official statistics and citizens perceptions of personal safety. With just couple of weeks to go for the February 5 Delhi Assembly polls, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convenor and former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, BJPs Parvesh Verma and Congress leader Sandeep Dikshit, who are contesting from New Delhi assembly constituency ,have intensified their efforts to woo voters. This time, the prestigious New Delhi seat is witnessing a triangular contest with political heavyweightsKejriwal, Verma and Dikshit- pitted against each other. Advertisement It is the fourth time, Kejriwal has filed his nomination from the New Delhi assembly constituency. Advertisement In the 2013 Delhi Assembly polls, Kejriwal won the seat against Congress leader and former Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit. In the 2015 Assembly polls, the AAP supremo defeated BJP candidate Nupur Sharma by a margin of more than 35 per cent. In the 2020 polls, he got 46,758 votes, defeating BJPs Sunil Kumar Yadav by a margin of more than 30 per cent. The election campaign for the 2025 Delhi Assembly polls has become a battleground for the AAP, BJP, and Congress, with all parties trading accusations of corruption and misgovernance. Meanwhile, Kejriwal faces allegations in connection with the excise policy case. The Centre has granted the Enforcement Directorate (ED) permission to prosecute him under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). This follows approval from Lt. Governor VK Saxena. Kejriwal and his party have been accused of accepting bribes from the South Group, a cartel alleged to have controlled liquor sales and benefited from the Delhi governments 2021-22 excise policy. Currently out on bail, he has denied the allegations and accused the BJP of using central agencies to target political rivals. The Sheesh Mahal controversy, regarding purported extravagant expenditures on Kejriwals official residence during his tenure as Chief Minister, has also become a central issue in the campaign. Meanwhile, former Delhi Chief Minister Sahib Singh Vermas son Parvesh Verma from BJP exuded confidence and said his AAP rival is going to lose the elections and the BJP will form its government on February 8. Verma, a Jat leader, had also slammed Kejriwal on the reservation issue for the community, saying: Kejriwal was responsible for the AAP governments failure to get a resolution passed on Jat reservation in Delhi Assembly and send it to the Centre. The BJP candidates political career began when he contested the Mehrauli Vidhan Sabha constituency in the 2013 assembly election, which he won by defeating the incumbent MLA Yoganand Shastri. He then went on to win the West Delhi Lok Sabha constituency in the 2014 general elections. In 2019, Verma won a second term as MP from West Delhi. On the other hand,Sandeep Dikshit, son of another former Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, who is also contesting from here, has expressed confidence in securing a victory in the upcoming elections. A former East Delhi MP, he said he is optimistic about the partys prospects, and that his meetings with residents have shown a positive shift in sentiment toward the Congress. I have a very good feeling about our chances, he stated, adding that after meeting numerous people and gauging their opinions on other political parties, he realised that there was growing support for Congress. The election for the 70-member Assembly is set for February 5, with the counting of votes scheduled for February 8. The anti-corruption investigation agency said Sunday that President Yoon Suk Yeol, who was formally arrested over his failed martial law bid, will be banned from meeting visitors other than his lawyers. The Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) made the decision after a court granted a warrant earlier in the day to formally arrest impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol over allegations of insurrection and abuse of power related to his martial law declaration on December 3, Yonhap reported. Advertisement The CIO said it has sent a document of its decision to a detention centre in Uiwang, just south of Seoul, where Yoon is in custody, citing concerns about destroying evidence. Advertisement The measure will be effective until he is indicted. With the CIOs move, First Lady Kim Keon Hee and other people close to Yoon will not be permitted to meet the arrested president. Legal experts said the CIOs decision is seen as aimed at preparing for the possibility that Yoons side could file a court petition to review whether his formal detention is appropriate. The CIO said Sunday it will request Yoon to appear for questioning on Monday as he did not show up for it earlier in the day. With the issuance of the arrest warrant, Yoon has become the first sitting president to be formally arrested. Angry supporters of Yoon stormed into the district court that issued the warrant earlier in the day, destroying office equipment and spraying a fire extinguisher at police officers. In a message released by his lawyers, Yoon called for his supporters to peacefully express their opinions though he understood their resentment. Yoon also said he would not give up on correcting what went wrong even if it takes time, vowing that he would prove the legality of the martial law declaration during the legal proceedings. As millions all over the world anxiously wait for Donald Trumps second inaugural address late Monday evening, India time, after he is sworn into office for another presidential term, several foreign leaders, tech billionaires and top celebrities have started arriving in the US capital to attend the ceremony that will take place inside the Capitol Rotunda. As people queue up for the ceremony, Politico revealed that seven Democrats, who had boycotted Trumps first inauguration in 2017, are also going this time. Advertisement Breaking tradition, several foreign leaders will also be attending the high-profile ceremony. Advertisement Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni will attend the inauguration ceremony of US President-elect Donald Trump, stated the Italian Government Presidency of the Council of Ministers. Argentinas President Javier Milei, who has already addressed a couple of events including at the Milken Centre in Washington DC on Sunday has called the inauguration of President Trump as a milestone event in global crusade for freedom and the clearest evidence that a new era has begun. Ecuadors President Daniel Noboa, El Salvador President Nayib Bukele, former Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawieck have also been invited. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who may not be able to make it for the inauguration stated over the weekend that everything will change after Trump takes office. A different day will dawn over the Western world; four bitter, difficult, painful years, punctuated by failures, will come to an end: democratic governance, Orban said on Friday in a radio programme. External Affairs Minister (EAM) S. Jaishankar will be representing India at the swearing-in ceremony and will also have meetings with representatives of the incoming administration, as also some other dignitaries visiting the US on the occasion. According to the New York Times, Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg and Jeff Bezos, three of the worlds wealthiest men, are expected to be among the major tech executives who would sit in a position of honour on the dais at Trumps inauguration, possibly along with Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook. Regular attendees would include President Joe Biden and Jill Biden, former President Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton, former President George W Bush and Laura Bush, and former President Barack Obama. While Team Trump had struggled to invite big celebs and performers in 2017, top stars are slated to perform at the inauguration ball this time. It includes Grammy-winner Nelly, Lee Greenwood, Kid Rock, Billy Ray Cyrus, Christopher Macchio and many more big names. With time slipping away faster than ever, Indias first-ever micro-drama festival, with its fourth edition, is all set to bring the art of storytelling in its most condensed form. Named after Thespis, the Greek artist believed to be the first to perform on stage, this theatre festival introduces a new concept of ten-minute plays. Secretary of Vriksh the Theatre, Ajith G. Maniyan recalled when the group was planning to stage Hearts That Wrote History a drama based on the life of V.P. Menonthe theatre was struggling for funds. It was Prakash Vaddikal, a Kerala film director, Maniyan remarked, who suggested experimenting with a short-format drama, which gave way to the idea of micro-drama. Although Thespis welcomes participants nationwideand is now hosting its fourth editionMaken pointed out, disappointed, that the theatre continues to struggle with a lack of financial aid. According to him, while this concept of staging a compact play was criticised by many, Sahitya Akademi winner and Malayalam-language playwright and novelist Omchery N.N. Pillai on the contrary, profusely backed the idea. This years event, he added, is also a tribute to Pillai. The novelist passed away on November 22, 2024, at the age of 100. Vriksha the Theatre is one of the first organisations to introduce the idea of micro-dramas. Following the 2017 edition held at the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts in New Delhi, the drama carnival moved to the capitals Kamani Auditorium for its 2018 and 2019 events. Scheduled to take place at LTG Auditorium this year on February 2, the festival is set to feature over 600 artists and 30 plays from multiple Indian languages including Hindi, English, Bengali, Kashmiri, Manipuri, Assamese, Punjabi, Tamil, Marathi, Malayalam, and Urdu. These 30 plays will vie for awards across 10 categoriesBest Production, Best Script, Best Direction, Best Actor, and Best Actress. The Best Play Award, with a cash prize of Rs. 50,000, is the festivals most prestigious title. Source: vrikshthetheatre.org True to tradition, the event will open with a non-competitive Manipuri play directed by Y. Theba Devi, deputy secretary of the Sangeet Natak Akademi in New Delhi. An American performance will take center stage as the international act. We have a total of 80 students in our theatre, said Maniyan, noting that the training offered to these students is free of any cost. Founded in 2015 at Kerala Club in New Delhi with the motto, Art for Humanity, Vriksh the Theatre has consistently championed the cause of using art for social good. This fourth chapter of the Thespis will focus on the upliftment of street children. A bluetooth-enabled auto rickshaw? Or how about one with angular windshields for better visibility and collision protection? Or a heat-reducing paint for the roof and interiors made of water-resistant materials, to withstand Indias long summer and monsoon seasons? The auto in the humble desi auto rickshaw is not just getting a leg up by going electric, it is getting all sexed up with global majors looking at it with new eyes as a solution to Indias, and the worlds, traffic woes. These innovative micro-mobility solutions will not only cater to the Indian market but also has the potential to disrupt urban mobility in key global markets like Europe and Asia, said Tarun Garg, COO of Hyundai India, which unveiled two models, a three-wheeler, as well as a four-wheeler, specifically aimed at micro-mobility. The ubiquitous rick on Indias streets is in for a makeover, with companies ranging from global biggies like Hyundai to local biggies like TVS and Kinetic intent on giving it a makeover. The reason isnt hard to find amidst Indias notorious gridlock that is a daily reality on urban Indias streets, the three-wheeler is considered a quick-fix solution, and even better, it works better both as a commercial goods carrier, as well as an urban last mile passenger mobility solution. There is a reason. Electric three-wheelers have been flying off theershelves over the past few years, as a range of businesses, ranging from food delivery services to e-commerce logistics providers to even small businesses ferrying raw materials have found it to a cost-effective solution. Vehicle manufacturers and EV startups also latched on to it as they discovered that while the rickshaw market, in its combustion engine format, was virtually a monopoly with Bajaj, the electric variant field was wide open for the taking. The result? Last year, India surpassed China as the worlds biggest maker of electric three-wheelers, with a projected growth of more than 13% over the next nine years or so, according to IMARC Group. Of the 40 lakh or so three-wheelers sold in India in 2023, about 10 lakh were electric, perhaps the biggest percentage in electric adoption amongst any vehicle category. A three-wheeler is a business purchase, and last-mile mobility companies are looking at it as it is opex (operational expense) is much cheaper than a CNG or petrol. And you dont have to waste your business hours queuing up at a CNG filling station, said Ishaan Parwanda, director, Trinity Touch, an industrial electrical applications solutions provider. Another attraction is regulations in the electric three-wheeler space is lax compared to other categories. And the supply chain ecosystem already exists, considering that India has a solid history when it comes to three-wheelers. Manufacturing one is easier than the ICE ones. So I guess, everyone is seeing the opportunity, added Parwanda. The export market potential is also crucial since three-wheelers are in use in many South East Asian nations. Even as China and Russia are trying to look for areas where they can pick off the strength of partnerships the US has built together over the years, the US special operations communitywhich is touted to be the most capable in the worldis now increasingly involved in cyber and space domains. According to Chris Maier, assistant secretary of defense for special operations and low-intensity conflict, the special operations forces have changed from being the 'supported' element to being the 'supporting' element as the force is trying to counter China, Russia, Iran and North Korea. Special operators are working hand-in-glove with allies and partners in the Indo-Pacific to deter China and prevent the nation from making a miscalculation, Maier said, adding that they are also working with NATO allies and others to counter Russia. Working closely with allies and partners, according to him, must become a trademark of special operations as this would enable the forces to capitalise on the contacts they have built in the past to bring alliances into the future. ALSO READ: US has 400 nuclear warheads on ICBMs, 970 on submarines, 300 on bombers He noted that the special operations forces give the US military an asymmetrical advantage over any possible adversary, and said processes are in place to keep that advantage going well into the future, according to a US Department of Defence report. "Special operations, by its very nature, is in many countries around the world and operates at the personal level with military leaders of those countries. That alone is an advantage to the United States," Maier said. According to Maier, these forces understand the conditions on the groundthe people involved and the strengths and weaknesses of the forces involvedand hence their reports can make all the difference for decision-makers. This applies not only to counterterrorism operations but also in great power competition with China or Russia, he said. The Indian Army, on Sunday, provided comprehensive training to Village Defence Guards (VDGs) in a forward area of Mendhar sector in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch district. As many as 43 VDG members attended the training session. The aim of the training session, conducted by the Rashtriya Rifles battalion under the aegis of the counter-insurgency force, Romeo, at Balnoi, located near the Line of Control (LoC), was to boost their skills in minor tactics, endurance and firing, security officials said. ALSO READ: All you need to know about Sambhav smartphones, used by Indian Army for secure communication It covered detailed instructions on weapon maintenance for the newly issued Self-Loading Rifles (SLR), insights into the modus operandi of militant groups and grievance redressal. Participants in the session also received practical guidance in cleaning and performing minor repairs on their personal weapons. The event also facilitated an open forum for informal dialogue, encouraging discussions on the current security situation, the officials said. Sonu Soods directorial debut Fateh has received mixed reviews since its release, with many praising him for a good first attempt. Now, the Dabangg actor is ready to make his mark again with a second film, taking on the role of director. Speaking to ANI, the actor said, "Yes, of course, I also have to direct more films. I truly enjoyed directing the film, and it is about the experience and satisfaction you get as a director, so of course, get ready for the second soon." ALSO READ | Fateh review: Sonu Soods directorial debut is a mix of intense gore and shallow narrative Soods attempt at Fateh was not rushed. The 51-year-old recruited international talent for the film's production, bringing in Lee Whittaker, the stunt director for films like Fast Five and Captain Marvel. Whittaker also won the National Film Award for Best Action Director for his work in Baahubali 2: The Conclusion. Sood also managed to feature musical maestro Hans Zimmers work in the film. "I wanted to work with the best of the best in the world. A lot of people, including the action director who shot Fast and Furious, Jurassic Park and the song which was written by Hans Zimmer, To the Moon... so getting all these people from Hollywood was a big challenge but like I said, when you are doing your first you have to make sure you get the best." Fatehs plot chronicles a familiar modern problem cyber scams. The film follows an ex-special ops officer who is pulled out of retirement when a local girl goes missing after she falls into a trap set by the cyber mafia. Highlighting the need for awareness of such scams, Sood said, "Everything that comes, comes with pros and cons. The kind of scams that we come across, those deepfakes, and instant loan apps, always target the needy. It is not about a rich or famous getting scammed but it is about a common man getting scammed and how much suffering they go through. It is something that we need to make aware of every single common man in this country. You have to be very careful while you are using those mobile phones. It has got something that can change life." The actor continued, "You have to be more informed, right and make sure that people around you especially the elders, the common man should be more aware of these scams happening. When you are in need that is the time you are very naive, very vulnerable and you tend to get targeted. I think in schools and colleges it has to be brought to notice this comes that are happening around you. The new generation is more careful about it. Directed by and starring Sood, the film also features Jacqueline Fernandez, Vijay Raaz, Naseeruddin Shah, and Dibyendu Bhattacharya. On the occasion of Penguin Awareness Day, which is celebrated on January 20, Ukrainian polar explorers have disproved 5 most common myths about these birds. It turns out that these cute creatures live not only in the Antarctic. ADVERTISIMENT In a post on the National Antarctic Research Center's Facebook page, researchers from the "Akademik Vernadsky" Polar Station said that all penguins are "sweet and gentle." When they are in danger, they can defend themselves. Myth 1 all penguins live in the Antarctic Penguins live throughout the Southern Hemisphere, including in warm climates. There are 18 species of these birds in total, and only 5 of them are inhabitants of the Antarctic, scientists say. Myth 2 polar explorers turn penguins over because they can't get up on their own "Penguins are extremely agile creatures, although on land they seem to be a bit lumbering. For example, subarctic species can accelerate up to 36 kilometers per hour in the water, hunting for prey or escaping from predators," the Ukrainian polar explorers noted. ADVERTISIMENT And on land, when these birds need to get somewhere quickly, they lie down on their tummies and glide, helping themselves with their legs, biologists explain. Therefore, scientists ensure that penguins do not need human help either in water or on land. This myth appeared after a polar explorer joked in an interview that when an airplane flies in the sky, penguins raise their heads and fall on their backs, and then they can't get up. So biologists have to constantly walk around and turn these animals over. But it was, of course, a joke, the "Vernadsky" researchers emphasize. Myth 3 A real penguin has a black back, white belly, and yellow-orange coloration under the neck and on the cheeks ADVERTISIMENT Scientists refute this statement because different penguins have different colors. Black and white with orange inserts are emperor and king penguins that live in the Antarctic, but not in the area of the Akademik Vernadsky station. Three species of penguins live near the Ukrainian researchers: Adelie, sub-Antarctic, and Antarctic. Myth 4 in the Antarctic, all penguins warm their eggs and chicks on their paws Ukrainian polar explorers say that only emperor and king penguins do this, while those living in the "Vernadsky" area build nests in which they incubate and care for their young. Myth 5 all penguins are cute and gentle Their mimetic appearance makes penguins seem gentle and kind. "They can be surprisingly aggressive, for example, when they are in danger or during the mating season," Ukrainian researchers emphasize. Only verified information is available on the OBOZ.UA Telegram channel and Viber. Do not fall for fakes! A magistrate's inquiry conducted over the encounter of Akshay Shinde, accused in the Badlapur sexual assault case, has held five police personnel responsible for the custodial death of the accused. The magistrate submitted the inquiry report in a sealed cover to the Bombay High Court, while hearing Shinde's father, Anna Shindes plea claiming the police had killed his son in a fake encounter. The officials involved included senior police inspector Sanjay Shinde of the Thane crime branch, assistant police inspector Nilesh More, head constables Abhijeet More and Harish Tawade and a police driver, PTI reported. A division bench of Justices Revati Mohite Dere and Neela Gokhale directed the state government to register a case based on the inquiry report and sought details of the agency that will be probing the case. "The magistrate has conducted an inquiry and submitted its report. In the report, the magistrate has concluded that the five cops are responsible for the death of accused Akshay Shinde," PTI reported quoting the bench. "You (government) are bound to file an FIR based on this magistrate report. Tell us which agency will investigate the matter," the court said. "We shall keep the original report and all documents and witness statements annexed to it with us for now. The prosecution might need it later when it probes the case," the bench observed. The court asked the state government to inform the bench within two weeks, details regarding the probe agency that would be investigating the case. Akshay Shinde (24), an attendant at a school in Badlapur was arrested in August 2024 for allegedly sexually assaulting two minor girls inside the toilet of the school. On September 23 last year, Shinde was killed in an alleged police shootout while being taken from the Taloja prison for questioning. According to police, Shinde snatched the gun from one of the police personnel in the police van, opened fire, and was killed in retaliatory firing. Senior police inspector Sanjay Shinde shot Akshay, while API Nilesh More, two constables and a police driver were present in the van at the time of the shootout. The cost of attending the World Economic Forum (WEF) Summit in Davos is expected to be around Rs 50 crore. While there is a consensus on the importance of representing our state on an international platform, one must question how we can justify such an expenditure given our current financial situation. A delegation of just four or five individuals, including the chief minister and the industries minister, should suffice. What is the rationale behind such an extravagant trip? The state is already burdened with a debt of Rs 7 lakh crore, leaving insufficient funds even for essential commitments. Our treasury is in disarray, so why should we be concerned about this pleasure tour in Davos? Is it really necessary to approach industrialists from our own country abroad to encourage them to invest in Maharashtra? It would be far more practical to meet them within India or to invite them to Maharashtra instead. Clearly, our state cannot afford this extravagance. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis is set to visit Davos from January 20 to 24 for the summit. Last year, the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation allocated Rs 34 crore for this visit. However, a legal notice for Rs 1.58 crore was subsequently issued to the Maharashtra government by a Swiss company for unpaid services rendered at the Forum. The law firm, Juris Wiz, representing the Swiss organisation, Skah Gambh, sent this notice to the then-Chief Minister Eknath Shinde along with other officials. Even the Union Ministry of External Affairs was informed about this issue. Given this precedent, what does the government aim to achieve by going to Davos again this year? Is this not a misuse of public funds? Critics argue that business leaders often engage in mere lobbying and that there is no need to invite them here. Before leaving for Davos, Chief Minister Fadnavis emphasised, "The World Economic Forum gathers global business and political leaders, fostering networking and the exchange of ideas. I intend to leverage this opportunity for significant investment networking and have scheduled numerous important meetings with business and global leaders. I am confident we will attract large-scale investments to Maharashtra." The entire cost of his trip will be borne by the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation. Last year, the state signed investment agreements worth approximately Rs 3.5 lakh crore, spending Rs 34 crores in the process. However, the actual follow-through of these agreements remains questionable, as there have been no concrete developments reported. Historically, numerous grand investment agreements have been touted at Davos, only to fade away without any real outcomes. One must wonder what ultimately results from these tripsaside from pleasure excursions for politicians and officials. Assessing Maharashtra's Success at Davos During last year's World Economic Forum in Davos, a delegation of about 70 individuals, including the then Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, attended the conference. Allegations arose from Aditya Thackeray regarding participation of individuals unrelated to the triphe challenged the government to disclose the names of those who funded their own travel and clarify their roles in the delegation. This issue was overlooked. The government continuously claims that attending Davos results in significant investments, yet last year, projects such as Vedanta-Foxconn and Tata-Airbus were ultimately relocated to Gujarat, despite initial agreements to invest in Maharashtra. The apparent inability of BJP leaders to acknowledge the loss of these projects speaks volumes about their prioritisation and commitment to the state. Past experiences show that significant investment agreements often do not translate into actual benefits for Maharashtra. Maharashtra's financial crisis The state of Maharashtra is undergoing severe financial challenges. According to government data, the fiscal deficit as a percentage of Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) rose from 1.85 per cent in 2022-23 to 2.77 per cent in 2023-24. Similarly, the debt stock against GSDP is projected to increase from 17.26 per cent in 2022-23 to 18.91 per cent in 2026-27. The anticipated revenue for FY25 is Rs 4.99 lakh crore, and the additional burden from welfare schemes, particularly for farmers and women, poses significant fiscal pressure. With substantial portions of revenue allocated to salaries, pensions, and interest payments, the opportunity for developmental projects is severely diminished. Recent patterns indicate a trend of borrowing without substantial investment in infrastructural or developmental projects, leaving the state in a precarious financial position. Rethinking the Need for Extravagance Attending the Davos World Economic Forum incurs significant costs amounting to approximately Rs 50 crore, which is hard to justify under current circumstances. A more efficient delegation should include only essential officialsthe chief minister and the industry minister. Comparisons to previous administrations illustrate that focused, minimal delegations can still secure major investment agreements. Fadnavis has taken on additional financial responsibilities that could further strain the state's already precarious budget. The state must critically assess the true value of these foreign trips versus the pressing needs at home. Given the current economic scenario, can we genuinely afford this "pleasure tour" in Davos? The author is a lawyer and the spokesperson and public relations head of the Shiv Sena Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray party If the ruling Congress in Karnataka is a divided House with constant lobbying for replacement of the state party president, the opposition BJP is ridden with factional feuds too. The demand to replace KPCC chief D K Shivakumar and BJP state president BY Vijayendra within their respective national parties is gaining traction but the chances of a consensus candidate as a successor seems farfetched as internal democracy across all three major political parties in the state is only notional. The Janata Dal Secular, the longest surviving regional party in the state is no different, as JDS patriarch H.D. Devegowdas family controls the party and also the state party chief, in case he is from outside the family. The power tussle between Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and KPCC chief DK Shivakumar factions, or the Vijayendra versus Basanagouda Patil Yatnal-led rebel faction, has left the cadres confused and the party high command helpless as the top post in the party is no longer elected but selected based on the caste and regional considerations. The state party president has seldom been elected though the parties conduct elections to the booth, block, constituency and district units. The district presidents usually form the electorate for picking the state party president. But it is no secret that the district presidents comply with the partys diktat and unanimously choose the party chief. The Siddaramaiah faction has accused AICC general secretary and Karnataka incharge Randeep Singh Surjewala of being partial towards Shivakumar. Home Minister G Parameshwara, Cooperation Minister KN Rajanna and PWD Minister Satish Jarkiholi have been demanding for a full-time party chief indicating that deputy chief minister Shivakumar should relinquish either of the two posts. "In the past, I had quit the cabinet to retain the party presidents post and focus on strengthening the party. The current chief has two major portfolios and it is only prudent to give up one post," said Parameshwar, the longest serving KPCC chief (2010-2018). After S M Krishna, veterans leaders VS Koujalgi, Allum Veerabhadrappa, Janardhan Poojary, Mallikarjun Kharge, and RV Deshpande have held the reins of the party. Parameshwar, a Dalit leaders tenure was extended twice before he was replaced with Dinesh Gundu Rao, who is currently the health minister. Rao quit the post in March 2020, following the partys debacle in the bypolls. After three months, Sonia Gandhi picked Shivakumar, who had come out of Tihar jail on bail in a money laundering case, to lead the party. When Shivakumar took over the top post in the middle of (Covid) pandemic, the party was still smarting from a humiliating defeat in the 2018 Assembly polls and the collapse of the Kumaraswamy-led JDS-Congress coalition government. Shivakumar has completed four years and six months in the post but is unwilling to step down. The KPCC chief post cannot be purchased from a shop. It is earned with leadership qualities and organisational skills," taunted Shivakumar to his detractors, as the Vokkaliga strongman who is patiently waiting for his chance to be the CM, as per a "secret power-sharing pact" mooted by the party high command. In the BJP, the last two decades have witnessed veterans like HN Ananth Kumar, Jagadish Shettar, BS Yediyurappa, DV Sadananda Gowda and Prahlad Joshi occupying the post. In August 2019, Nalin Kumar Kateel, who belongs to the numerically small bunt community from coastal Karnataka, was appointed as part of the BJPs effort to broadbase the leadership. In May 2023, BJP lost power in the state and was reduced to 66 seats. After a six-month-long suspense, the party high command anointed Shikaripura MLA and former chief minister and Lingayat strongman BS Yediyurappas younger son BY Vijayendra as the party chief. The announcement came as a surprise to many as it was a departure from the partys anti-dynastic politics stance. The move also disappointed many senior leaders in the party and the others who were in the race for the top post. Vijayendra, a first-time MLA was appointed the party chief on November 10, 2023, and has since faced resistance from the Yatnal faction, which even accused BJPs Karnataka in-charge Radhamohan Das of "favouritism". The rebel faction has also accused Vijayendra of indulging in "cooperative politics" with the Congress leaders. But Vijayendra had vehemently denied the charge. Amid the demand to replace Vijayendra, Union minister and BJPs internal elections in charge of Karnataka Shivraj Singh Chauhan said, "The only party to have internal democracy is the BJP. Soon, the elections for the state president will start. Once the booth-level elections are completed, the state president will be elected. Sometimes, it will be unanimous." While, the saffron party follows an elaborate exercise of appointing central election officers to conduct elections to the booth, constituency and district committees, the state president election is only a formality and is unanimous. The Yatnal faction is mulling over fielding a candidate to oppose Viyendras re-election. Speculations are rife over Union minister HD Kumaraswamys son Nikhil replacing his father as the state party president. But a pushback from senior leaders like GT Devegowda has led to the party announcing the elections to elect the party president in April. Nikhil, who has suffered three consecutive electoral defeats is a strong contender for the post. The Janata Dal split in 1999 led to JH Patel lending his support to BJP-led NDA and HD Devegowda faction emerged as a rainbow party with tall leaders from different communities. It managed to win 54 out of the 224 seats in the 2004 Assembly polls and became a kingmaker. The party that has its clout in the Vokkaliga belt (Old Mysore region) is struggling to expand its base amid desertion by prominent leaders (including Chief Minister Siddaramaiah) over the last two decades. The family-centric politics has distanced prominent leaders from the party. Though the family has appointed outsiders A Krishnappa or HK Kumaraswamy or CM Ibrahim as the state unit chief, they were only nominal heads. In October 2023, Devegowda, JDS national president, dissolved the state unit and sacked JDS state president CM Ibrahim for "anti-party" activities. With former minister and Devegowdas elder son HD Revanna and his sons Prajwal and Suraj, entangled in criminal cases including kidnap and sexual assault, the party has lost face among its voters and cadres alike. Also, the partys alliance with the BJP is brewing resentment among the local leaders and cadres who feel sidelined. "We will hold elections to elect the state unit president in April. Priority will be given to those who work sincerely for the partys development," said Kumaraswamy, hoping to put up a good show at the upcoming TP and ZP polls. The party chiefs post is crucial and considered as a test of ones organisational skills and an opportunity to garner support from the cadres and party legislators that could help his elevation to the post of the chief minister. Interestingly, the Karnataka Congress has seen at least nine party chiefs since 2000 and only SM Krishna has been elevated as the chief minister. In the BJP, three of the nine party chiefs have become the chief ministers. In the JDS, Kumaraswamy has headed two coalition governments, one each with the two national parties. The richest 10 per cent of the British Empire took home $33.8 trillion from India between 1765 and 1900, according to a report by rights group Oxfam. This amounts to more than half the $64.82 trillion extracted by the colonial power in total, said the report published on January 20. "This would be enough to carpet the surface area of London in British pound 50 notes almost four times over," the report said. The report titled, Takers, not Makers, said British protectionist policies against textiles destroyed India's industrial output. In 1750, India accounted for around one-fourth of the industrial output globally but this plummeted to just 2 per cent by 1900. It stated that the biggest beneficiaries of India's extracted wealth were the richest enslavers who were compensated by the British government while abolishing the racist system. This makes it 52 per cent of the income from India. The UK's middle class was the second biggest beneficiary of the Indian wealth, receiving 32 per cent of the income. The group also pointed out how the British and the Dutch used opium trade to increase the control on colonies. It also alleged that the English East India Company became "a law unto itself", committing colonial crimes and exploitations that are followed by modern multinational corporations. The report added that the colonial history created a "deeply unequal world" wherein the wealth of the Global South is extracted to benefit the Global North. It claimed the wages in the Global South are 87 to 95 per cent than Global North. The inter-ministerial team, formed by Union Home Minister Amit Shah, has begun its investigation into the mysterious deaths of 17 civilians in Budhal village, Rajouri. A senior health official in Rajouri told THE WEEK that the team collected samples of various substances for testing to ascertain the cause of the deaths. Accompanied by senior officers from multiple departments, the team reached Budhal around 11:30 am and visited the bereaved families. An official said the additional district commissioner of Rajouri has sealed a well in the village after water from it tested positive for traces of pesticides. In the meantime, the village is being supplied with drinking water through tankers. The inter-ministerial team includes experts from some of the countrys top institutions. The team was constituted following Home Minister Amit Shah's intervention to uncover the root cause of the deaths. The fatalities, which began in December 2024, were first reported in Budhal village, where several members of a family, including children and their father, exhibited symptoms such as fever, vomiting, dehydration, sweating, and episodic loss of consciousness before succumbing. Later, another family in the same village experienced similar tragedies. After a 40-day pause, the deaths resurfaced when six members of the deceased fathers sisters family fell ill and passed away after consuming food at a gathering marking the 40th day since his death. Despite investigations by teams from the Pune Institute of Virology, DRDO, and Jammu Medical College, no definitive cause has been identified. J&K Health Minister Sakina Itoo has ruled out infection as the cause of the deaths. Jammu and Kashmir Police have set up an 11-member Special Investigation Team to probe other possible reasons behind the fatalities. Protests intensified at Elappully in Kerala's Palakkad district after the state government allowed a private company to set up a brewery unit in the village. The Elappully panchayat governing body, led by the UDF, has demanded that the government withdraw from the project. The Congress party alleges that rules and norms were not adhered to when approving the brewery unit. The panchayat argues that granting permission for the brewery will lead to the rapid depletion of the area's water resources. The state government, however, maintains that all rules and regulations were followed in allowing the unit. On January 15, the state cabinet gave preliminary approval to Oasis Commercial Pvt Ltd to establish an ethanol plant, a multi-feed distillation unit, an Indian-made foreign liquor bottling unit, a brewery, a malt spirit plant, and a brandy/winery plant at Kanjikode in Palakkad district. Opposition leader V.D. Satheeshan has accused the excise minister of acting as a propaganda manager for the company. He alleges that the owners of the firm had been arrested in connection with the Delhi liquor policy case. He also claims that the Central and State Pollution Control Boards had filed cases against the company for allegedly contaminating groundwater across a four-kilometre area in Punjab. Adding to the controversy, senior Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala alleges that the firm was granted permission to operate without inviting a tender. He also cites a 1991 order prohibiting the licensing of new brewery plants in the state. The BJP, which has a strong presence in Palakkad, also opposes the governments move. The party has organised a march to the Elappully panchayat office and alleged that the UDF-ruled panchayat was complicit in the CPI(M)-led state governments decision to grant permission for the plant. However, the Congress maintains that the company misled the UDF-led panchayat by claiming the land was being purchased for a college. Interestingly, the BJP will have to address the Union governments role in the establishment of the brewery. BJP state general secretary C. Krishnakumar explains that the Union government had shortlisted Oasis solely for the production of ethanol. He accuses the state government of attempting to grant permission for the production of foreign liquor. Krishnakumar further argues that the state governments move would divert water resources from the general population to the company, worsening the area's water scarcity. Notably, it was in Palakkads Plachimada that the local population waged a prolonged battle against Coca-Cola, citing excessive water extraction, environmental damage, and associated social, economic, and health problems. Ultimately, Coca-Cola was forced to shut down the factory in March 2004 due to relentless protests and litigation from the community. The Sealdah Court sentenced Sanjoy Roy, the accused in the Kolkata trainee doctor rape and murder case to life imprisonment. The court was of the view that the incident was not rarest of rare case to grant death penalty for the convict. #WATCH | Kolkata, West Bengal: Sealdah court to pronounce sentence in RG Kar rape-murder case, shortly pic.twitter.com/0l7kMvhLPL ANI (@ANI) January 20, 2025 Pronouncing the verdict, Sealdah Civil and Criminal Court Judge Anirban Das sentenced Roy to life imprisonment considering it was not a 'rarest of rare' case. The court also ordered the West Bengal government to pay Rs 17 lakh as compensation to victims family. Earlier, during the hearing on the verdict, the CBIs lawyer had pleaded for the highest penalty for the convict, calling the crime "rarest of the rare". "We pray for the highest penalty to maintain people's faith in society," the agency's counsel told the court, PTI reported. Roy claimed he was being framed in the case and he has not committed the crime. Roy told the court, I have not done anything, still, I have been held guilty. I have not committed any crime. The court found Roy guilty of the crime on Saturday under sections 64, 66, and 103(1) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). The bench had said minimum punishment would be life imprisonment and maximum punishment would be death penalty. Roys counsel argued that the crime did not warrant the death penalty as per directions issued by the Supreme Court regarding awarding the death sentence. The victim, a second-year postgraduate trainee doctor from the chest medicine department of the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital was discovered dead in the seminar hall on August 9 last year. Initially, the Kolkata police led the investigation and arrested Roy, a civic volunteer with Kolkata police, within 24 hours. However, the victims parents and junior doctors at RG Kar raised concerns about the polices handling of the case and the Calcutta High Court transferred the probe to the Central Bureau of Investigation. Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated Donald Trump, who took oath as the 47th president of the United States on Monday. Representing India, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar attended the swearing-in at the White House. "I look forward to working closely together once again, to benefit both our countries and to shape a better future for the world. Best wishes for a successful term ahead!" said Modi. Congratulations my dear friend President @realDonaldTrump on your historic inauguration as the 47th President of the United States! I look forward to working closely together once again, to benefit both our countries, and to shape a better future for the world. Best wishes for a Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) January 20, 2025 As Modi's special envoy, Jaishankar carried a special letter from the prime minister and handed it over to Trump at the ceremony. The EAM said that he was "privileged" to represent India at the swearing-in of Trump. "Privileged to represent India as External Affairs Minister and Special Envoy of PM at the Swearing-In Ceremony of the 47th President of the United States of America today in Washington DC," he said. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh attended the swearing-in of the President of Nigeria in May 2023. The Minister of Earth Sciences Kiren Rijiju attended the swearing-in of the President of Maldives in November 2023. At the White House, tech giants including Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, Google's Sundar Pichai, Meta's Mark Zuckerberg, Tesla CEO Elon Musk and TikTok CEO Shou Chew attended the presidential inauguration. Former US presidents, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama were also present. From India, Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani and his wife Nita Ambani attended the inauguration. Also, notable Indian business leaders including Ashish Jain, MD of Pune-based real estate firm Kundan Spaces, Kalpesh Mehta, founder of Tribeca Developers, and Pankaj Bansal, MD of M3M Developers attended the event. The rift within the Karnataka Congress over replacing the chief minister and the state party president has now led to a few ministers demanding the recall of AICC general secretary and Karnataka in-charge Randeep Singh Surjewala, alleging a "partisan attitude". The ministers in the Siddaramaiah faction expressed their displeasure over Surjewala's "preferential" treatment of the incumbent state party chief D.K. Shivakumar at Belagavi, after the former held a separate meeting with Shivakumar and his brother D.K. Suresh instead of calling a meeting of all the local leaders and ministers. Surjewala who landed in Belagavi two days before the 'Gandhi Bharata' event (on January 21), had ruled out the replacement of the KPCC chief and met minister Satish Jarkiholi after holding a separate meeting with the DK brothers. A miffed Jarkiholi maintained distance from Shivakumar, while his supporters heckled Surjewala during the preparatory meeting. The rebel ministers have reportedly urged Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to complain to Rahul Gandhi against Surjewala and seek his recall from the state. The Siddaramaiah faction believes that Surjewala favours Shivakumar and was responsible for stalling the dinner meeting of Dalit ministers to be hosted by Home Minister G. Parameshwara recently and also hijacking the "Swabhimani Samavesha"an event meant to honour Siddaramaiah at Hassan in December last. The event, initially planned by the chief minister's well-wishers and friends and named Siddaramaiah Swabhimani Janandolana Samavesha turned into a party affair and renamed "Jana Kalyana Samavesha to celebrate the achievements of the Congress government. Satish Jarkiholi, who has been vocal in his demand for a "full-time" state party president, has been at loggerheads with Shivakumar for allegedly challenging the Jarkiholi brothers and their clout in Belagavi by pushing for Women and Child Development Minister Laxmi Hebbalkar. This time, Shivakumar's meeting with Asif Seth, a close aide of Satish has triggered unrest once again in the Congress. Annoyed over the turn of events, Shivakumar who has been patiently waiting for his turn to become the chief minister, dismissed the developments as false. "I have no differences with any leader. I treat ministers, MLAs and party workers equally as I am holding an important position. I don't want to divert the issue as we are here to celebrate an event that laid a good foundation for the party's growth. We have achieved everything through great sacrifice. In my case, I too have sacrificed the CM's post twice. First, when Dharam Singh became the chief minister and second, when Siddaramaiah became the chief minister," said Shivakumar adding to the intrigue. The Bandra Holiday Court in Mumbai witnessed dramatic scenes on Sunday as two lawyers jostled in courtroom to represent the attacker, Mohammad Shariful Islam Shehzad, in the Saif Ali Khan stabbing case. Finally, the magistrate had to intervene to bring the focus back to trial. Mumbai police arrested Mohammad Shariful Islam Shehzad, the suspect in the Saif Ali Khan stabbing case from Thane and he was produced in the court on Sunday. The police sought custody of the accused for further probe and to ascertain the motive behind the attack. However, while Shehzad was made to stand in the box meant for the accused in the back end of the courtroom, the court witnessed dramatic scenes as two lawyers came forward claiming to represent the accused. When Shehzad was presented in court, the magistrate asked if he had any complaints against the police to which Shehzad replied in the negative, PTI reported. However, when he was taken to the box, a lawyer came forward claiming to be appearing for the accused. While Shehzad was about to sign the vakalatamana' (legal document authorising a lawyer to appear in a case), another lawyer jostled his way to the box and took Shehzad's signature on his vakalatamana, creating confusion in the courtroom about who would appear for the accused. As the trial was about to lose track, the magistrate intervened and suggested both the competing lawyers to represent Shehzad. You both can appear, the magistrate said to diffuse the situation; the duo agreed. Considering the polices plea, the court granted cops five-day custody of the accused. According to police, the accused is a Bangladeshi and they suspect whether there is any international conspiracy behind the attack. Actor Saif Ali Khan was attacked during the early hours of January 16 at his residence in Bandra when an alleged burglar managed to sneak into the house. The suspect, who allegedly entered the house for burglary, attacked the actor reportedly with a knife when a scuffle broke out. The actor underwent multiple surgeries at Lilavati Hospital and is likely to be discharged today. During the Soviet era, there were quite a few different bans, the reasons for which remain unclear to this day. For example, the production and sale of ketchup was banned shortly after the country had established its production. ADVERTISIMENT FoodOboz investigated why this happened. As it turned out, one of the reasons was... the name of the product. As you know, the USSR was famous for its dislike of everything foreign, especially the United States. This silent conflict became most acute after World War II. Even the name of the product reminded the Soviet authorities of its "overseas" origin, so it was soon removed from general use. It is interesting that these events took place after Anastas Mikoyan, then People's Commissar of Food Industry, visited the United States in the 1930s and borrowed the technology of ketchup production from that country. He put a lot of effort into making sure that the people of the Union could enjoy its taste. At that time, its appearance caused a real sensation. And after the ban on sales and production, people were offered "Southern", "Krasnodar" and "Spicy" sauces as an alternative to ketchup. They simply had no choice, because ketchup disappeared from store shelves for a long time. The Supreme Court on Monday stayed proceedings of a defamation case filed against Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi in a Jharkhand court. Hearing the Congress leaders plea challenging the Jharkhand High Courts order, a bench comprising Justice Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta passed an interim order staying proceedings against Gandhi in Ranchi Magistrate Court. The bench also issued notices to the Jharkhand government and the complainant Naveen Jha and sought their responses. A defamation case was filed against Gandhi in 2018 over his alleged derogatory remarks against the Bharatiya Janata Party and its leadership. During his speech, Gandhi allegedly said BJP was drunk with power and its leader Amit Shah was a murder accused. While the Ranchi Magistrate Court initially dismissed Naveen Jhas plea, it issued fresh orders after the Ranchi judicial commissioner overturned the judgment and sent it back for review. Though Gandhi approached the Jharkhand High Court against the order, the bench held prima facie, there was a case against Gandhi. The High Court had observed, On the face of it, the statement suggested that Gandhi implied that the leadership of the BJP was intoxicated with power and consisted of deceitful individuals, Bar and Bench reported. "It further means that the party workers of Bhartiya Janata Party will accept such person/persons as their leader. This imputation is prima facie defamatory in nature," the High Court had said. When Mayawatis political stardom was at its peak, she said no family member would be her successor. However, the introduction of Ishan Anand, her nephew, to party leaders, indicates that she is grooming her family to take on the role. Ishan Anand is 26 and has studied law at the University of Westminster, UK. His elder brother, Akash, is the partys national convenor, who after a brief hiatus brought on by fiery speeches is back in the saddle looking after the partys preparations for the Delhi Assembly elections. Both are sons of Mayawatis brother Anand Kumar. Mayawatis brother, once a clerk at the Noida Development Authority, is now in the real estate and hotel business. For now, Ishan is more of an understudy. When Mayawati introduced him to the party leaders, a day after her birthday, she only said that he was currently helping his father in business. For most of the press meeting, Ishan kept taking notes in a diary. One senior party member speculated that Ishan could be groomed more keenly as Akash had, until now, not been able to make any mark on the party. Though the party is not considered to be a serious player in the Delhi elections, if it does not even get a respectable vote share, Mayawati could focus on pushing Ishan into the limelight. Party watchers are also speculating on how the two brothers were placed in the photographs taken on the two days that Ishan made an appearance. On Mayawatis birthday on January 15, both brothers appeared on one side of their aunt, with Akash standing closer to her. Two days later, the brothers flanked Mayawati on either side while Satish Chandra Mishra, the partys national general secretary, stood next to Ishan. People speculate that this is an indication of the growing importance that Mayawati will place on her nephews. When Emily Damari, Romi Gonen and Doron Steinbrecher, the three Israelis held captive in Gaza, were released on Sunday, the Palestine militant group Hamas's operatives were seen gifting them a "bag of souvenirs". Footage released by Hamas showed an operative handing Damari and Gonen, both held together in Gaza, a bag reportedly containing souvenirs of their time in captivity. The bag contained a photo of Gaza, reported Ynet News. The video also showed a terrorist handing them a "release certificate" which was later put in the bag. Hamas are actual psychopaths. They just released a propaganda video of todays hostage release. These murderers dragged civilian women from their homes and from a music festival. Two of them were shot. They held them in barbaric conditions without proper medical treatment for pic.twitter.com/vBGouCYTl7 Aviva Klompas (@AvivaKlompas) January 19, 2025 Israel called this act an exploitation of the hostages held in Gaza for 471 days. "These items are a cynical and psychological exploitation of women who were deprived of their freedom by monsters," an Israeli official was quoted by Ynet. The hostages were driven by IDF and Shin Bet personnel to the border after their handover. They reunited with their loved ones before they underwent initial medical assessments at a complex set up by the IDF near the Gaza border at Reim Base. The Prime Ministers Office released photos and video of the three women meeting with their families at the hospital. Damari, a 28-year-old British-Israeli, was seen with a bandage around her hand as she waved to her relatives. Her family told media persons that she lost two fingers after being shot by Hamas men during the October 7 incident. She was at her home in Kibbutz Kfar Aza when the gunmen burst into her home and shot her dog. Damari suffered bullet wounds as she tried to comfort her dying pet. Gonen too was reunited with her mother, and even met Damari's mother. "You dont understand what your daughter was to me all this time," she reportedly told Damari's mother. Steinbrechers family too published a statement voicing "gratitude to everyone who supported and accompanied us along this journey." Israel hospital says the three women hostages released by Hamas are in stable condition. Romi Gonen, 24, Emily Damari, 28, and Doron Steinbrecher, 31, were released on Sunday after 471 days in Hamas captivity. Prepare to cry. Romi Gonen, Emily Damari, and Doron Steinbrecher are reunited with their families in hospital. pic.twitter.com/TWMCje0xCT Aviva Klompas (@AvivaKlompas) January 19, 2025 Dr Sefi Mendelovich, deputy director general of health at Sheba Medical Centre in Ramat Gan, said all three of them are "stable". She added that they are carrying other all required tests to ascertain the clinical condition of the hostages and it will take some more days. Emily is home pic.twitter.com/JCMmKEAhKr Mandy Damari (@DamariMandy) January 19, 2025 Emily Damari said she is "the happiest" person in the world. "Love, love, love... I have returned to my beloved life," she said. She also posted a "rock on" emoji to symbolise her two missing fingers. She lost her fingers on October 7, 2023, when Hamas militants shot her before abducting her from Kibbutz Kfar Aza. pic.twitter.com/a0rpNDsGjM Lior Berkovic (@lior_berkovic98) January 20, 2025 Her mother Mandy Damari said Emily's health is much better than they had expected. Yesterday, I finally got to hug Emily, just as I had dreamed of doing for a long time, Mandy said is a statement via the Hostages and Missing Families Forum. She said it was a joy to watch "Emily's strength, determination and charisma" after she got home. "She has her life back," the mother added. Thanking the public for supporting them, she said that they are all an integral part of Emily's family. She urged the authorities to ensure the ceasefire remains intact until all hostages return home. Romi Gonen's mother Meirav Leshem Gonen said she could not believe the "new reality" as her daughter returns home, adding that this reality should become true for the remaining hostages too. In another Facebook post, Leshem Gonen said she is in "alternative reality, disconnected from the outside world, in which nothing exists but family." Donald Trump will start implementing a far-reaching agenda when he takes office for the second time on Monday, but a poll finds that despite his claims of an unprecedented and powerful mandate, the incoming Republican president lacks broad support for some of his top priorities. Just over half of US adults favor eliminating taxes on earnings from tips, according to the survey from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, but some of his other pledges like pulling out of the Paris climate agreement, increasing oil drilling on federal lands and imposing new tariffs are less widely favored. There is room for opinion to shift on many of the proposals, since a sizable share of Americans hold a neutral view. But some are more clearly unpopular. A majority of U.S. adults, for instance, oppose pardoning most people who participated in the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, indicating that one of the actions Trump has promised to undertake quickly will likely be unwelcome to many Americans. Heres what Americans think about some of the major actions that Trump has promised including some that could start to take effect as early as Monday. US adults are split on mass deportations, but most support deporting immigrants convicted of violent crime Trump has long promised to deport millions of people in the country illegally, although he fell far short of this goal in his first term. In his second four years in the White House, though, he has pledged to begin the largest deportation program in U.S. history, which could begin as soon as hes sworn in. The poll finds that targeted deportations of immigrants who have been convicted of a crime would be popular, even if they involved immigrants who are in the country legally, but that support doesnt extend to mass deportations. About 8 in 10 U.S. adults favor deporting all immigrants living in the U.S. illegally who have been convicted of a violent crime including about two-thirds who are strongly in favor and about 7 in 10 support deporting all immigrants living in the U.S. legally who have been convicted of a violent crime. Deporting immigrants who are in the country illegally and have not been convicted of a crime is a much more divisive proposal. US adults are slightly more likely to oppose this policy than to favor it, and only about 4 in 10 are in support. Nearly half of US adults oppose tariffs on all foreign goods Tariffs on foreign goods entering the country are one of Trumps proposed fixes for high food prices and illegal immigration, which are issues that motivated many of his voters in November. According to the AP-NORC poll, though, almost half of US adults somewhat or strongly oppose imposing a tariff, also known as an import tax, on all goods brought into the U.S. from other countries. About 3 in 10 are in favor, and about one-quarter are neutral, saying they neither favor nor oppose this policy, which indicates that opinion could move in either direction if the tariffs are implemented. Republicans are much likelier than Democrats and independents to support broad tariffs, but a significant share about 4 in 10 are either opposed or unsure. Just over half of Republicans favor imposing a tariff on all goods brought into the U.S. Only about 2 in 10 support pardoning most Jan. 6 participants Trump promised throughout his campaign to issue pardons to many of the more than 1,500 people charged with crimes for their actions related to the deadly Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, saying he would most likely do it very quickly in a December interview on NBCs Meet the Press. But even if he doesnt use his clemency power on behalf of all the rioters, as some of his supporters have suggested, pardoning many of the participants would be an unpopular move. According to the AP-NORC poll, about 2 in 10 US adults somewhat or strongly favor pardoning most people who participated in the attack. A much larger share about 6 in 10 somewhat or strongly oppose this move, including half who are strongly opposed, and about 2 in 10 are neutral. Members of Trumps own party are divided on the pardons, although theyre more likely to support them overall. About 4 in 10 Republicans favor pardoning many of the Jan. 6 participants, while about 3 in 10 are neutral and about 3 in 10 are opposed. Eliminating taxes on earnings from tips is especially popular with young adults A pledge to exclude workers tips from federal taxes came up frequently on the campaign trail and was also embraced by Trumps opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris. And although it could be costly and difficult to enact, its one of Trumps campaign promises with the highest support from Americans overall. The poll found that just over half of US adults somewhat or strongly favor eliminating taxes on earnings from tips, while about one-quarter are neutral and about 2 in 10 are opposed. The proposal is more popular with Republicans than Democrats, and it also has particularly high levels of support with adults under age 30. US adults are split on whether to increase oil drilling on federal lands Trump has promised to establish American energy dominance in part by boosting oil and gas drilling, including on federal lands. U.S. adults arent so sure about it. The AP-NORC poll found that about one-third of Americans somewhat or strongly favor increasing oil drilling on federal lands, while about 4 in 10 are opposed. The rest about one-quarter say they neither favor nor oppose this move. Increasing oil drilling is broadly popular with Republicans but not with Democrats or independents. About half oppose withdrawing from the Paris climate agreement In his first term, Trump withdrew the U.S. from the Paris climate agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and although President Joe Biden immediately rejoined it upon taking office, Trump has promised to pull out a second time when he takes office. About half of Americans somewhat or strongly oppose that action, and even Republicans arent overwhelmingly in favor, according to the poll. Only about 2 in 10 US adults somewhat or strongly in favor of withdrawing from the Paris agreement, while about one-quarter are neutral. Much of the opposition comes from Democrats, but Republicans display some ambivalence as well. Slightly less than half of Republicans are in favor, while about 3 in 10 are opposed. About half of Republicans and Democrats oppose eliminating the debt ceiling As a government shutdown loomed at the end of last year, Trump proposed raising or even eliminating the debt ceiling, a limit set by lawmakers that determines how much the federal government can borrow to pay its existing bills. The issue could reemerge soon if Trump pushes the expensive tax cuts that he promised on the campaign trail. In general, Trumps stance isnt popular, although theres some room for opinion to shift. About half of U.S. adults oppose eliminating the debt ceiling, while about one-quarter are in favor and about 3 in 10 are neutral. But in another unusual moment of bipartisan accord, Democrats are only slightly more likely than Republicans to oppose getting rid of the debt ceiling. (AP) Donald Trump is returning to the White House ready to immediately overhaul the government using the fastest tool he has the executive order. An incoming president signing a flurry of executive orders is standard practice. Executive orders allow a president to wield power without action from Congress. But there are also limits to what orders can achieve. A primer on how the presidential power works and its often fleeting impact: What are executive orders? Basically, they are signed statements about how the president wants the federal government to be managed. They can be instructions to federal agencies or requests for reports. Many orders can be unobjectionable, such as giving federal employees the day after Christmas off. They can also lay out major policies. For example, President Joe Biden signed an order to create a structure for establishing regulations on artificial intelligence. But executive orders and their policy sausage-making siblings, the proclamation and political memorandum also are used by presidents to pursue agendas they cant get through Congress. New presidents can and often do issue orders to cancel the orders of their predecessors. As the American Bar Association notes, the orders do not require congressional approval and cant be directly overturned by lawmakers. Still, Congress could block an order from being fulfilled by removing funding or creating other hurdles. How common are executive orders? Throughout U.S. history, there have been several thousand executive orders, according to data collected by the American Presidency Project at the University of California, Santa Barbara. George Washington signed eight executive orders, while Franklin Delano Roosevelt did 3,721. During his first term, Trump, a Republican, signed 220. Biden, a Democrat, signed 160 as of Dec. 20. Executive orders are often about political messaging Trump forecasted signing as many as 100 executive orders on his first day, possibly covering deportations, the U.S.-Mexico border, domestic energy, Schedule F rules for federal workers, school gender policies and vaccine mandates, among other Day 1 promises made during his campaign. Hes also promised an executive order to give more time for the sale of TikTok. Trump has asked Rep. Jeff Van Drew, R-N.J., to write an order stopping the development of offshore windmills for generating electricity. Many of Trumps measures are likely to draw Democratic opposition. And in several major cases, the orders will largely be statements of intent based off campaign promises made by Trump. There are limits to the power of executive orders Both Congress and the courts can potentially block executive orders. For example, Congress in 1992 revoked an executive order by then-President George H.W. Bush that would establish a human fetal tissue bank for scientific research by passing a measure that the order shall not have any legal effect. Congress can also deny funding to agencies and hamstring the enforcement of an order. There are also legal challenges based on the argument that a president exceeded his legal authorities. When President Harry Truman tried to seize steel mills during the Korean War, the U.S. Supreme Court said he lacked the authority to take private property without authorization from Congress. (AP) Minister of Jerusalem Affairs and Heritage Meir Porush (UTJ) issued an urgent call on Sunday morning to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and the members of the security cabinet demanding an emergency discussion on increasing security measures in Jerusalem in light of the release of terrorists to east Jerusalem in exchange for the hostages. Porush sent a letter to Netanyahu warning that while the cabinet has already decided on a significant reinforcement of security forces in Yehuda and Shomron, the situation in Jerusalem is more dangerous. In exchange for the release of the three Israeli women who BChasdei Hashem are now safely in Israel, 98 terrorists were released from Ofer Prison on Sunday evening, 78 to Yehudah and Shomron and 12 to eastern Jerusalem. The IDF has significantly increased forces in Yehudah and Shomron to prevent an increase in terror in the wake of the arrival of the terrorists and extra checkpoints were established. Defensive operations have already been carried out in the villages the terrorists were released to and troops are on standby for defensive operations if necessary. However, according to Porush, the IDF has not carried out similar preparations in the Jerusalem area. The release of terrorists living in East Jerusalem significantly challenges the security situation throughout the city, in the absence of any barrier between their residence and the millions of residents and visitors to the city, Porush wrote. Porush added that the situation requires special preparations by all security branches in the city. He is demanding immediate reinforcement of Jerusalem police forces, allocation of additional resources to the Shin Bet, and expansion of the city policing system. We cannot settle for the usual preparations, Porush emphasized in his letter. We must ensure that there is an appropriate security response to the new challenge that has arisen. This concerns the safety of millions of residents and visitors. Porush called for a dedicated discussion in the cabinet to assess the new security risks to the capital. (YWN Israel Desk Jerusalem). REAL-TIME UPDATES ARE CONTINUING ON THE LIVE BLOG The Israeli government has released footage of Romi Gonen, Emily Damari, and Doron Steinbrecher the moment they were reunited with their families in the hospital. Prepare to cry as you watch this bittersweet footage. EARLIER STORY BELOW The Israeli government has shared the first photos of Romi Gonen, Doron Steinbrecher, and Emily Damari reuniting with their mothers following their release from Hamas captivity. The images show Doron embracing her mother, Simona Steinbrecher; Romi hugging her mother, Merav Leshem Gonen; and Emily, along with her mother, Mandy Damari, participating in a video call with other relatives. The mothers waited for their daughters at a dedicated IDF facility near the Gaza border. The three women are now en route by helicopter to a hospital for medical care and will reunite with the rest of their families there. (YWN World Headquarters NYC) The three Israeli hostages released from captivity in Gaza today gained their freedom under humiliating and dehumanizing conditions. The hostagesRomi Gonen, Emily Damari, and Doron Steinbrecherwere handed over to the Red Cross and then the IDF, but not before their captors forced them to endure a series of calculated acts designed to amplify their suffering and mock their release. The hostages were forced to wear necklaces adorned with Palestinian flags and carry gift bags prepared by Hamas. These bags contained maps identifying the locations where they were held, photographs of their time in captivity, and so-called certificates that mocked their horrific ordeal. If that wasnt enough, Hamas then forced them smile and take photos of them with their certificates as well as their gift bags. Hamas then released a video of this. The IDF released a video showing the hostages holding these unsettling items during their transfer to Israeli custody. The footage underscores the extent to which Hamas weaponized the release to deliver a message of cruelty and intimidation, both to the hostages and to the Israeli public. The incident is yet another stark reminder of Hamass brutal tactics and utter disregard for basic human decency. By turning the release of captives into a spectacle of psychological torment, Hamas once again took to the opportunity to demonstrate its commitment to sowing pain and chaos at every opportunity. (YWN World Headquarters NYC) Xinhua News Agency: At the reception for his assumption of office in Beijing on January 17, Secretary-General of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Nurlan Yermekbayev said the top priority of the SCO Secretariat this year is to support Chinas presidency and make the upcoming SCO summit to be hosted by China a full success. Do you have any comment on this? Mao Ning: We congratulate Secretary-General Nurlan Yermekbayev on his assumption of office and will continue to facilitate him in fulfilling his duty, support the SCO Secretariat in strengthening self-building and provide strong support for various cooperation of the SCO members. China sees the SCO as a priority in our diplomacy and stands ready to work with other SCO members and the SCO Secretariat to act on the slogan of Upholding the Shanghai Spirit: SCO on the Move, host a SCO summit featuring friendship, solidarity and fruitful outcomes, draw a blueprint for development, come up with more cooperation measures, improve operational mechanisms, advance high-quality development of the SCO, deliver more tangibly to people of this region and make positive contributions for a more peaceful and prosperous world. CCTV: Its reported that Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas, the IMFs chief economist, said that the 5 percent economic growth reported by China in 2024 was a positive surprise higher than the IMFs projections and that the IMF revised up its economic growth forecast for China for 2025 and 2026. Whats Chinas comment? Mao Ning: In 2024, Chinas economy successfully realized the growth target with its economic output breaking the RMB130 trillion mark for the first time and economic growth equivalent to the annual GDP of a medium-sized country. This speaks to the resilience and potential of Chinas economy and the confidence that Chinas economy has brought to the world. China will stay committed to high-quality development and high-standard opening up, maintain the continued upward trajectory of the Chinese economy, and bring more positive surprises to the global economy. Reuters: TikTok has restored service in the US citing Trumps efforts, but Trump has said that he wants to cut a deal that will see the US have 50 percent ownership in a joint venture. Is China open to a deal with Trump and how might such a deal look like? Mao Ning: TikTok has operated in the US for years and been very popular with American users. It has played a positive role in boosting US employment and consumption. We hope the US will earnestly listen to the voice of reason and provide an open, fair, just and non-discriminatory business environment for market entities from all countries. When it comes to actions such as the operation and acquisition of businesses, we believe they should be independently decided by companies in accordance with market principles. If it involves Chinese companies, Chinas laws and regulations should be observed. NBC: President-elect Trump has also been reported as saying hed like to travel to China in the first 100 days in office. What is your reaction to that? Mao Ning: China stands ready to work with the new government of the US, under the strategic guidance of the presidents of the two countries and in the principles of mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation, to maintain communication, enhance cooperation, properly manage and control differences and secure greater progress in China-US relations from a new starting point. Financial Times: Elon Musk on Sunday said it was unbalanced to allow TikTok to operate in the US and not allow his social media platform X to operate in China. He said something needs to change. Does China have any comment on that? Mao Ning: The Chinese government manages the Internet in accordance with law. We welcome Internet companies across the world to operate in China as long as they abide by Chinas laws and regulations and provide safe and reliable products and services. China Daily: Brazil, the BRICS chair country, announced in a press release the admission of Nigeria as a partner country of the grouping. Whats Chinas comment? Mao Ning: China welcomes and congratulates Nigeria on becoming a BRICS partner country. Nigeria is a major developing country and an important force in the Global South. Its active participation in BRICS cooperation is conducive to its own development, and more importantly, is in the interest of BRICS countries and the Global South. We believe Nigeria will contribute to the development of BRICS mechanism. New partner country joining the BRICS family demonstrates that the BRICS mechanism has greater representation, and BRICS sees its appeal and influence grow more salient. China stands ready to work with other BRICS members and partner countries to uphold the spirit of openness, inclusiveness, and win-win cooperation, expand practical cooperation in various fields, advance the high-quality development of greater BRICS cooperation, and make greater contributions to the building of a community with a shared future for mankind. AFP: Just ahead of Trumps inauguration today, can you tell us what Chinas expectations are for Trumps presidency and perhaps what we can expect in the next few days or weeks with regards to China-US relations and dialogue? Mao Ning: Both countries stand to gain from cooperation and lose from confrontation, this is what the history of China-US relations tells us. We always believe that a steady, sound and sustainable development of China-US relationship serves the common interests of the two countries and is what the international community expects. Following the principles of mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation, China stands ready to work with the new US government to enhance dialogue and communication, properly manage differences, expand mutually beneficial cooperation, find the right way for the two countries to get along with each other in the new era and bring benefits to both countries and the world. Shenzhen TV: Weve learned that Myanmars Tatmadaw and ethnic armed organization Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) held peace talks and signed a ceasefire agreement in Kunming. Can you brief us on the background and details of the peace talks? Mao Ning: In mid-January 2025, with Chinas mediation and effort to drive progress, the Myanmar government and Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army held the seventh round of peace talks in Kunming, Yunnan. The two sides reached and signed a formal ceasefire agreement, and stopped fighting at 12 a.m. on January 18, 2025, Beijing time. The two sides thanked China for facilitating the results of this round of peace talks. Deescalating tensions in northern Myanmar serves the common interests of all parties in Myanmar and regional countries, and is conducive to ensuring the safety and security, stability and development of the China-Myanmar border area. China and Myanmar are friendly neighbors, and we firmly oppose wars and turbulence in Myanmar. We hope that all parties will maintain the momentum of ceasefire and peace talks, earnestly implement existing common understandings, take the initiative in deescalating the situation on the ground, and further negotiate and settle relevant issues through dialogue. China firmly supports Myanmar in safeguarding independence, sovereignty, national unity and territorial integrity, firmly supports Myanmars effort to keep the country peaceful and stable and grow its economy, and firmly supports Myanmar in realizing political reconciliation at an early date and advancing its domestic political agenda under the framework of the constitution. China stands ready to actively promote talks for peace and provide support and help for the peace process in northern Myanmar. Financial Times: Does China have any comment on Trump allowing TikTok to continue operating? It had turned off for a bit and Trump helped it get back online. Does China have any comment on that? Mao Ning: I just answered the question. TikTok has operated in the US for years. It abides by US laws and regulations, has never endangered the USs national security and is liked by many American users. We hope that the US will listen to the voice of reason from various quarters and provide an open, fair, just and non-discriminatory business environment for market entities from across the world. AFP: On the Gaza ceasefire that has just come into effect with some prisoners and hostages already exchanged, does the Foreign Ministry have a comment on the ceasefire deal coming into effect and more broadly on the future of Gaza and the conflict? Mao Ning: China welcomes the coming into force of the agreement on ceasefire in Gaza, and hopes the agreement will be implemented in its entirety and without interruption and that there will be a full and permanent ceasefire in Gaza. China will work with the international community to make unremitting effort for peace and stability in the Middle East. Financial Times: Elon Musk also said it was the right approach to question if you should allow a platform like TikTok to operate that had the potential to harvest American data as well as control the type of content it would broadcast in the US. Does China have any comment on his comments? Mao Ning: We believe that Internet companies need to observe local laws and regulations. As for the Chinese government, we attach great importance to data privacy and security and protect it in accordance with the law. The Chinese government has never asked and will never ask any company or individual to collect or provide data located abroad against local laws. US President-elect Donald Trump has the tools to influence Russian dictator Vladimir Putin to end the war in Ukraine. However, in order to move to any kind of peace process, some initial concessions from Russia are needed. ADVERTISIMENT If they do not, it will be "peace through force." This opinion was expressed in an interview with OBOZ.UA by former Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the United States, former representative of Ukraine to the UN Volodymyr Yelchenko. "First and foremost, I refer to a serious increase in the supply of weapons for Ukraine's needs. Both qualitative and quantitative. Secondly, the maximum strengthening of the sanctions regime. We have already seen the latest move by the Biden administration, which has hit Russia's shadow fleet quite hard. There are many other things," the source said. In his opinion, in principle, it is necessary to introduce the idea of complete economic isolation of Russia, at least from the Western world. Even if the countries of the Global South do not agree to this, they will be forced to join such a regime anyway, because it is a matter of secondary sanctions from the United States. ADVERTISIMENT He says that the Americans are also ready to make progress on the use of Russian assets held in both the United States and Europe. They are putting pressure on Western Europe, where there are even more funds, but the Europeans have not yet gone further than allowing the use of profits from these assets. "These are also good numbers, but it's not all money. For example, if the Americans put pressure on Europe and it agrees to this, then we could offer Trump a very attractive scheme for Ukraine to buy American weapons with this money. And this would be a rather serious step," Yelchenko believes. He also recalled Trump's promise to bring down oil prices. This cannot be done in one or two days, but energy experts believe that if Washington starts doing this now, Russia will feel it very much by the end of 2025 and the Russian economy will collapse. "So all this is real, all this can be done," Yelchenko is convinced. As reported by OBOZ.UA, Mike Waltz, the future national security adviser to the newly elected US president, assures that Trump is determined to end the war in Ukraine. He also named three key issues that, in his opinion, are necessary for this. Only verified information on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and Viber. Do not fall for fakes! The Israel Prisons Service (IPS) has released the first group of 90 Palestinian security prisoners as part of the ceasefire agreement with Hamas, which included the release of three Israeli hostages from Gaza. The prisoners, primarily from the West Bank and East Jerusalem, were transported and processed under strict coordination with Israeli security forces and the International Red Cross. Medical checks and identity verifications were conducted before their release. Of the 90 prisoners, 78 West Bank residents were released at the Beitunia Checkpoint near Ofer Prison, while 12 East Jerusalem residents were transported back to their homes via the Russian Compound detention center in Jerusalem. The released individuals include 69 women, one of whom is a minor, along with eight male minors and 12 men. Most had been convicted of offenses such as incitement, association with terrorism, and disorderly conduct, according to Ynet. This marks the first phase of the ceasefire agreement, which plans the release of nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for hostages held by Hamas. (YWN World Headquarters NYC) An IDF reservist was killed and a battalion commander was seriously injured in a Palestinian village in the northern Shomron overnight Sunday when a roadside bomb exploded on their vehicle. Three other soldiers were also injured in the incident, one moderately and two lightly. The reservist was identified as Eviatar Ben Yehuda, Hyd, 31, from Nitzan, a religious yishuv north of Ashkelon. He is survived by his wife Rivka, two children, his parents, and nine siblings. His levaya is scheduled to take place in Nitzan on Monday at 3:30 p.m. The incident occurred while forces from the Ephraim Regional Brigades 8211th Reserve Battalion were in the Palestinian village of Tammun, near Jenin. The explosive was likely detonated remotely, killing Ben Yehuda, Hyd, who was driving, and seriously injuring the battalion commander who was sitting next to him. According to a Ynet report, most details of the serious incident are still under a gag order. The IDF significantly increased forces and defensive and offensive operations in Yehudah and Shomron ahead of the release of terrorists to the area as part of the ceasefire/hostage deal. (YWN Israel Desk Jerusalem) Thailands Foreign Affairs Ministry welcomed the hostage release deal and called for the immediate release of all those held in Gaza, including Thai nationals. Thirty-one Thai nationals, mostly farmworkers, were taken hostage when the Israel-Hamas war erupted in October 2023. Of those, 23 were released, two were confirmed dead last May and the remaining six are still believed to be in Hamas custody. Released hostages spoke about their conditions in captivity, including brutal beatings. IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari announced in May 2024 that two Thai citizens who were believed to be in captivity in Gaza were murdered by Hamas terrorists on October 7th and their bodies are being held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Thai citizens Sonthaya Oakkharasr and Sudthisak Rinthalak worked in orchards on Kibbutz Beeri before they were savagely murdered. (YWN Israel Desk Jerusalem & AP) Our community is heartbroken over the untimely passing of Bashya Schylander, a devoted wife, mother of four, and a talented designer and architect. Bashyas creativity and dedication were the backbone of her familys stability, both emotionally and financially. Her remarkable talent was reflected in her role as the designer of the state-of-the-art Miami Beach mikvah, and she also assisted in the construction of mikvaos around the worldleaving behind a lasting legacy of beauty and sanctity. After a long and courageous battle with illness, which carried significant expenses, Bashyas tragic loss leaves her husband and four young, unmarried childrenages 10, 13, 14, and 16facing an uncertain future filled with daunting challenges. These children, now without their beloved mothers guidance and care, need our support to secure their education, daily needs, and future life milestones, including the significant costs of weddings. The responsibility of helping them rebuild their lives is one we must share as a community. This campaign was launched to provide the family with the financial security they desperately need. All funds will be used to support the childrens well-being and future and will be overseen by an anash committee headed by Rabbi Leib Schapiro, ensuring every dollar is used responsibly. Click here to donate Let us honor Bashyas memory by stepping forward to support the family she loved so deeply. Your generosity will provide these children with hope, stability, and the knowledge that their community stands beside them in their greatest time of need. Click here to donate Thank you for your kindness and support. The 1.2billion Herald Investment Trust will tomorrow be the first of seven trusts targeted by US raider Saba Capital to face a vote on whether to oust its entire board and replace them with the hedge funds nominees. The other trusts in the crosshairs are Baillie Gifford US Growth, Edinburgh Worldwide, European Smaller Companies, Keystone Positive Change, CQS Natural Resources and Henderson Opportunities. Fears are mounting in the industry that a low turnout among private investors who own shares in the trusts will hand Saba victory. While Saba has stakes in each firm ranging from 19 per cent to 29 per cent, the trusts also have large numbers of retail investors whose votes will prove crucial in deciding the outcome. Swooping: Saba, founded by Boaz Weinstein (pictured with ex-wife Tali Farhadian), is pushing to oust the boards at seven UK investment trusts The US firm needs to win at least 50 per cent support from voting shareholders to succeed. As a result, it will win if other investors do not actively vote against its proposals. This is how investors will be able to vote on Sabas plans at the upcoming meetings. Proxy voting Investors do not have to attend the meetings in person and can instead use proxy votes, where someone else votes on their behalf. But they must ensure they fill out the forms required for proxy voting before a deadline ahead of the vote itself. For some of the trusts, the notice period deadline can fall as much as a week before the meeting, so investors trying to vote by proxy should check with the trusts directly and monitor any announcements. For example, Edinburgh Worldwide Investment Trust announced yesterday that shareholders must submit their voting intentions by 11.45am on February 12 at the latest to be counted. The seven investment trusts that Saba Capital is seeking to take control of Voting through investment platforms Many investors hold their shares in the trusts through investment platforms which use nominee accounts to allow them to cast votes collectively or vote individually. Large platforms such as AJ Bell You Invest, Hargreaves Lansdown and Interactive Investor allow investors to vote with shares held through their accounts at no cost, according to a guide from industry body the Association of Investment Companies (AIC). However, some platforms have deadlines for submitting voting instructions that can be even earlier than the deadlines of the trusts themselves, meaning investors must submit their voting instructions to the platforms as soon as possible. Platforms have been seeking to get individual investors to vote on the Saba Capital proposals, which can be done through their websites. Shareholders holding any of the trusts affected should look out for correspondence or go to the platform websites to find out how to vote. Those who hold shares through investment platforms should check their emails, their inbox on the platform, or contact the platform directly for more information. Shareholders should note that not all platforms automatically inform investors of upcoming votes in companies they are invested in, so some users may need to opt in to receive information and instructions on how to vote. It is also important that investors who hold shares across different accounts, such as in ISAs or a self-invested personal pension (SIPP), make sure all of their shares will be used to vote by the platform through which they are held. Attending the meetings in person Investment trust shareholders are entitled to attend meetings and vote on what happens to the companies that they hold a stake in. However, it is important to note that attending in person does not mean a shareholder can miss the deadline to submit their voting instructions ahead of the meeting date. Those who hold share certificates should be contacted by investment trusts directly to notify them of events and votes, and explain what to do and how to attend a meeting. Mulberrys finance chief has quit as a shake-up of the brand continues. Charles Anderson will step down on January 31, just two months after the luxury fashion label pledged to stem falling sales and widening losses. Mulberry has started a process to find a successor and Anderson will continue to support the business until August. Chairman Chris Roberts hailed Andersons leadership as instrumental in steering the business through a very challenging period. Boss Andrea Baldo is attempting to return the firm to the glory days of Brit-Chic, when its Alexa bag was an It Girl must-have accessory. Baldo has insisted he will renew the brands relevance on home turf after UK sales fell 14 per cent to 31.3million for the six months to September 28. An investment trust targeted by Saba Capital has warned it faces an existential threat if the US corporate raider triumphs in a vote next month. The Edinburgh Worldwide Investment Trust (EWIT) urged shareholders to oppose Sabas plans to oust its board and replace them with its own nominees at a meeting scheduled for February 14. Saba, run by Wall Street financier Boaz Weinstein, owns around 21 per cent of the trust and will win if at least 50 per cent of voting shareholders support the proposals. This means it can succeed if a large number of investors do not show up to vote against the plans. EWITs chairman Jonathan Simpson-Dent accused Saba of an overt land grab and trying to exploit the fact that the trusts large number of retail shareholders do not normally vote. Retail investors hold around 50 per cent of the trusts shares, meaning they have enough power to vote down the US firms proposals. Saba, run by Wall Street financier Boaz Weinstein, owns around 21% of the The Edinburgh Worldwide Investment Trust, and wants to oust the board I am deeply troubled by Sabas proposals. Investment trusts are extremely democratic by construction Sabas proposals are not, Simpson-Dent said. [Shareholders] have chosen Edinburgh Worldwide for its unique and early access to hidden gems, ground-breaking businesses which in many cases are not available on the public markets. Lets not let Saba take that away. Announcing the date of its vote on Sabas plans, EWIT claimed the US firm had no apparent track record of investing in specialist small companies, the main focus of the trust. It added that the hedge funds proposals risked prioritising Sabas commercial self-interest over value creation for the benefit of shareholders. Responding to the announcement, a Saba spokesman said: EWIT has underperformed its benchmark for the last three years and its recent uptick in total return appears to be largely driven by Sabas buying not due to investing in hidden gems in the private markets or making improvements at the board or management level. With assets of 812million, Baillie Gifford-managed EWIT offers investors a portfolio of what it describes as businesses operating at frontiers of technological innovation. Elon Musks Space X is a top holding with Californian quantum computing firm PsiQuantum and Massachusetts-based drug group Alnylam Pharma. It is one of seven investment trusts being targeted by Saba, with Herald the largest trust in the US firms crosshairs set to be the first to face a vote tomorrow. Simpson-Dent told the Mail that Saba was offering a short-termist approach to the trust which he said was a total mismatch with the purpose of the business. Its made it much easier for us to show our investors how different they are to our current approach, he added. The EWIT chairman has been among the sharpest critics of Saba, accusing Weinstein and his allies of trying to make a quick buck by taking over the trusts. Others outside the trust have also critiqued Sabas plans. Baroness Altmann, a former pensions minister, has accused it of trying to hijack the trusts and trying to take advantage of lack of protections for UK retail shareholders. Canadian Pacific Kansas City Limited (NYSE:CP Get Free Report) (TSE:CP) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 7,110,000 shares, a growth of 5.2% from the December 31st total of 6,760,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,850,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.5 days. Institutional Inflows and Outflows A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Grove Bank & Trust grew its position in Canadian Pacific Kansas City by 56.0% during the 3rd quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 362 shares of the transportation companys stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Canadian Pacific Kansas City during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Addison Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Canadian Pacific Kansas City by 246.9% in the third quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 392 shares of the transportation companys stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 279 shares during the last quarter. FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Canadian Pacific Kansas City in the third quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Stonebridge Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Canadian Pacific Kansas City during the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. 72.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors. Get Canadian Pacific Kansas City alerts: Canadian Pacific Kansas City Stock Performance Canadian Pacific Kansas City stock opened at $77.10 on Wednesday. Canadian Pacific Kansas City has a fifty-two week low of $70.89 and a fifty-two week high of $91.58. The firms fifty day moving average price is $75.36 and its 200-day moving average price is $78.89. The stock has a market cap of $71.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a current ratio of 0.53. Canadian Pacific Kansas City Cuts Dividend Canadian Pacific Kansas City ( NYSE:CP Get Free Report ) (TSE:CP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The transportation company reported $0.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.66 by $0.26. Canadian Pacific Kansas City had a return on equity of 8.86% and a net margin of 25.51%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Canadian Pacific Kansas City will post 3.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be paid a $0.1318 dividend. This represents a $0.53 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 28th. Canadian Pacific Kansas Citys dividend payout ratio is currently 18.62%. Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth Several research firms have issued reports on CP. Citigroup increased their target price on Canadian Pacific Kansas City from $88.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their price objective on Canadian Pacific Kansas City from $91.98 to $91.25 and set a market perform rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Canadian Pacific Kansas City from $124.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Loop Capital downgraded shares of Canadian Pacific Kansas City from a buy rating to a sell rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Susquehanna cut their price objective on shares of Canadian Pacific Kansas City from $92.00 to $90.00 and set a positive rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the companys stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $95.45. Read Our Latest Report on CP Canadian Pacific Kansas City Company Profile (Get Free Report) Canadian Pacific Kansas City Limited, together with its subsidiaries, owns and operates a transcontinental freight railway in Canada, the United States, and Mexico. The company transports bulk commodities, including grain, coal, potash, fertilizers, and sulphur; merchandise freight, such as forest products, energy, chemicals and plastics, metals, minerals, consumer products, and automotive; and intermodal traffic comprising retail goods in overseas containers. See Also Receive News & Ratings for Canadian Pacific Kansas City Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Canadian Pacific Kansas City and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. US President-elect Donald Trump has instructed his aides to organize a phone call with Russian dictator Vladimir Putin in the first days after the Republican's inauguration. The purpose of the call is to discuss a personal meeting between the politicians in the near future to try to find a way to end the war in Ukraine. ADVERTISIMENT This was reported by CNN. According to the publication, during the election campaign, Trump promised to end the conflict immediately after taking the oath of office. However, on the eve of his inauguration, there are no signs that the almost three-year war is nearing an end, which is likely to lead to a failure to fulfill this promise. Trump and his team are eager to move quickly to implement the settlement plan, which they envision could be implemented in the first months of his presidency. Direct dialog with Putin will play a key role in this plan. Trump's national security team began preparing a phone call with the Russian dictator several weeks ago. However, the exact date of the call remains uncertain. According to CNN, after Trump takes office, the United States and Russia will be able to start organizing a personal meeting in earnest. Trump himself said that preparations for the talks are already underway, while the Kremlin said that official work on organizing the meeting will begin after his inauguration. ADVERTISIMENT Unlike the current US President Joe Biden, who has not spoken to Putin for almost three years, fearing that any conversation would be useful for resolving the conflict, the Republican acts differently. "Trump sees things differently. His view, as described by someone familiar with his thinking, is that direct communication with Putin is exactly what is needed to find a solution to end the war," the article says. It remains to be seen whether Trump will continue the Biden administration's policy of supplying arms and intelligence to Ukraine. In addition to his stated position against Ukraine's accession to NATO, he did not specify what security guarantees he was willing to offer to meet President Zelenskyy's demands. Also, the US president-elect did not explain who would finance Ukraine's reconstruction, although his previous statements indicate that the United States is unlikely to take on this responsibility. As a reminder, according to Mike Waltz, Trump is determined to bring Russia's war against Ukraine to an end. According to him, Volodymyr Zelensky also says he is ready to cooperate with Trump in this regard. As reported by OBOZ.UA, Trump plans to meet with the Russian dictator "as soon as possible" after his inauguration on January 20. The Kremlin leader, according to the Republican, also wants this meeting because his war against Ukraine is "not going well for him." Only verified information on OBOZ.UA Telegram channel and Viber. Do not fall for fakes! The Ukrainian Defense Forces have recently regained lost ground near the towns of Chasiv Yar and Toretsk in Donetsk Oblast. Russian troops have also made some advances in these areas amid constant offensives, but not everything they boasted about is confirmed. ADVERTISIMENT The situation was described by the Institute for the Study of War (ISW). Analysts refer to geolocation footage published on January 18 and 19. Chasiv Yar According to reports from the frontline, Ukrainian troops have regained their lost positions at the Refractory Plant in the central part of Chasiv Yar. The spokesperson for the Luhansk operational and tactical group, Lieutenant Colonel Dmytro Zaporozhets, said that the Ukrainian Armed Forces repelled Russian attacks of small and medium caliber on the plant's territory. Against this background, pro-war bloggers in Russia claimed that their army units had seized Novopivnichny and Desyatyi neighborhoods, advanced near the refractory plant's shops and in the northern part of the city. However, ISW emphasizes that there is no evidence of this. ADVERTISIMENT At the same time, it is noted that Russian forces advanced along Tolstoy Street in the western part of the city. Also, on January 18-19, the occupiers continued ground attacks in Chasiv Yar itself and to the south of it - near Predtechyno, Stupochky, and Bila Hora. According to military observers, units of the Russian 215th Reconnaissance Battalion (98th Airborne Division), UAV operators of the Terek and Sever-V reconnaissance brigades are operating in the direction of Chasiv Yar; additional units of the same 98th Division and the 200th Motorized Rifle Brigade (14th Army Corps, Leningrad Military District) of the Russian Armed Forces are operating in the city itself. Toretsk The Defense Forces reportedly recaptured the lost positions in southern Shcherbynivka (southwest of Toretsk). However, Russian troops advanced to the north through the territory of the Toretska mine in the north of the city, as well as to the northwest - along Stepan Razin Street in the west of the city. ADVERTISIMENT Once again, ISW found no evidence of propagandists' statements about the alleged capture of half of the Toretsk mine by Russian troops, advances in the area of the Central mine in the city center, and the "clearing" of Ukrainian positions in Krymske (north of Toretsk). Although the occupiers continued their offensive in the Toretsk area, they also advanced north of Toretsk near Diliyivka and southwest near Shcherbynivka. As reported by OBOZ.UA, the Luhansk military operation center noted that in Toretsk, Russians resorted to small-group assaults. Part of the city is under enemy control, while the Ukrainian Armed Forces keep a large part of its territory under fire. Only verified information is available on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and Viber. Do not fall for fakes! A member of the Irish Defence Forces who spurned the consensual offer that was made to him in a selfish, arrogant and forceful way has been jailed for eight-and-a-half years for the rape of a fellow soldier at a hotel in Dublin three years ago. Kielan Mooney, aged 30, of Bloomfield Park, Derry, was convicted of multiple charges, last month, following a trial at the Central Criminal Court. He had pleaded not guilty to a total of six charges - two charges of rape, two charges of oral rape, a charge of anal rape and a charge of sexual assault. The jury found him guilty of three charges but failed to reach a verdict on the three remaining charges. The now 24-year-old woman, who is also a serving soldier of the Irish Defence Forces, has indicated that while she is content for Mooney to be named in the reporting of the case, she does not wish to be identified. Sentencing Mooney this Monday, Mr Justice Tony Hunt said he had spurned the consensual offer that was made to him in a selfish, arrogant and forceful way and had no respect for the limits she [the woman] wanted to place on sexual activity. He simply took what he wanted from the encounter and had no respect for her wishes, the judge said adding that the woman had always been very frank that the background to the rape was clearly consensual. It was her prerogative and privilege to make a decision as to who and when she would have sexual activity and who, when and the level of that activity, Justice commented. READ ALSO: ALERT: Investigation launched after man dies in suspected stabbing near playground At a previous sentencing hearing last December, a number of affidavits were presented to the court which described Mooney, a father of five, as very family orientated, a dedicated father, someone who works exceptionally hard to make sure his children know they are loved and also as a man who idolises his children. During this Monday's hearing, Grainne ONeill BL, prosecuting, told Mr Justice Hunt that following newspaper reports of last month's hearing, two women contacted the Director of Public Prosecutions to rebut that evidence. The women, who each have two children with Mooney, said that he has not seen his children, that he does not pay maintenance and that it is always hard work with him as he never really wants to see them. One of the women said Mooney always put his social life and lifestyle ahead of her children with him. She said He is not a good person, not a good role model and she would never let Mooney near her children. Mr Justice Hunt said it was clear from these statements from these two women that Mooney has had no meaningful or positive contact with these children over a long period of time. He described those earlier testimonials in relation to Mooney being a good father as a false prospectus and a gross overstatement that his children will miss him if remanded in custody. Mr Justice Hunt also noted that Mooney applied for bail following his conviction by the jury. While bail was refused and Mooney was remanded in custody pending sentence, one of the reasons he was looking for bail was to give him the opportunity to say goodbye to his children. I believe I have been significantly misled as to the material that was put forward and also the basis of a bail application pending conviction at trial. I dont take it lightly, someone trying to pull the wool over my eyes, Mr Justice Hunt said. In sentencing Mooney, Mr Justice Hunt said there was no recognition of the verdict of the jury and Mooney does not appear to show any remorse for the significant harm he caused. He referred to suggestions during the trial that the woman had made the allegations on the basis of some disappointment on her behalf with how things went. He said: I dont buy that for one moment and the jury clearly dont either. She is clearly a robust person who would take such disappointments in a normal way without making false allegations." Mr Justice Hunt said it was very clear that something had happened that was radically wrong and radically different from what the woman had consented to. Justice Hunt set a headline sentence of nine-and-a-half years' imprisonment which he applied as a global sentence for the offences Mooney had been convicted of by the jury. He acknowledged that Mooney had made a positive contribution in terms of joining the Defence Forces and was prepared to serve in that way and in a disciplined way of life that military service requires. But I have to bear in mind that his behaviour (during the rape) was ill disciplined. READ ALSO: ALERT: Met Eireann warns of 'damaging wind gusts' as low-pressure system approaches Mr Justice Hunt said it was apparent from the womans demeanour both during the trial and in giving her victim impact statement that the rapes had impacted her life and career. I wish her well and hope she is able to put this behind her and get on with her life in a positive way. I have no doubt that she is strong enough to do that, Mr Justice Hunt said. The judge said he had intended to reduce the headline sentence by two years but he would not do that now given the evidence he received this Monday in relation to Mooneys mitigating factor that was falsely put forward. No court should be put in a position of being faced with a false prospectus, the judge said before adding that this was a warning to anyone who is considering overselling themselves in terms of mitigation. He imposed a jail term of eight-and-a-half years. He also imposed a two year post-release supervision order, directing that Mooney must engage with the Probation Service for two years upon his ultimate release from prison. The prison term was backdated to when Mooney first went into custody last December. It is 1 a.m. and hundreds of people have been waiting for hours in the cold in the West Bank town of Beitunia. They are anticipating the release of 76 out of the 90 prisoners Israel has agreed to free after receiving three of its hostages alive from Gaza. The exchange is delayed, and Israeli troops stationed near the Ofer prison are moving closer to the roundabout. As news spreads that they are approaching, the crowd disperses in a rush, only to slowly return a short time later, like a game among teenagers. Suddenly, everything changes. In the distance, two buses appear bearing the logo of the International Committee of the Red Cross. On board are the Palestinian prisoners 69 of whom are women. The crowd surges forward, and the buses can barely move a few meters before coming to a standstill once again. The sky is illuminated with fireworks, while some of the prisoners raise their hands in the victory sign from inside the vehicles. More and more young people are climbing onto the roofs of the buses, waving flags of Hamas and even the Lebanese militia Hezbollah. Today, families are celebrating the return of their loved ones, but many are also celebrating Hamas survival after 15 months of devastating bombings in Gaza that have finally led to this exchange. One of the chants is The people love the Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas. Another chant praises Yahya Sinwar, the mastermind behind the October 7, 2023 attack, whose death in combat in Gaza has elevated his status among Palestinians. The dominant color on the flags is the green of Hamas. A Palestinian prisoner is greeted as he disembarks from a bus after being released from an Israeli prison, in the West Bank city of Beitunia, early Monday, Jan. 20, 2025. Leo Correa (AP) The prisoners climb down as best they can, but they are quickly engulfed by the crowd. Balkiz Isa Dar Zurob is slow to find her father, but when she sees him, she runs to embrace him, saying, Dad, I want to see my [six] children, I want to see my children! Everything will be fine now, daughter, he replies. Most of the prisoners just want to go home after months in Israeli prisons, which have become hell since the Hamas attack, which fueled a desire for revenge against the Palestinians especially when far-right politician Itamar Ben Gvir held the position of head of prisons (National Security). Since then, dozens of Palestinians have died in custody. The latest, Mohamed Jaber, 22, died on Saturday, according to the Commission for Palestinian Detainees and Prisoners Affairs. He had been in administrative detention for 14 months, a controversial measure under military law through which Israel detains thousands of Palestinians without charge or a trial, often for years, and criticized by human rights organizations and U.N. agencies. In August, the renowned Israeli human rights organization BTselem released a report based on 55 testimonies, concluding that since October 2023, Israel has been carrying out a systematic, institutional policy focused on the continual abuse and torture of all Palestinian prisoners, with both the Supreme Court and the Attorney Generals Office turning a blind eye. A Palestinian prisoner is greeted before she disembarks from a bus after being released from an Israeli prison, in the West Bank city of Beitunia, early Monday, Jan. 20, 2025. Leo Correa (AP) Amid the chaos of celebrations and reunions, a few of the released prisoners share their experiences. One of them, Baraa Fuqaha, recounts spending six months in administrative detention, describing the prison as a cemetery for the living. They were brutal with us, she says. We were kept in cells for 23 hours, sometimes even 24 hours in one day, with over 10 prisoners. We had no winter clothes and only one blanket. They left the windows open, and it was very cold. That was our daily life. Hanan Malawan, 23, has just stepped off one of the buses and is surrounded by a crowd of people taking photos with their phones. They tried to take away our joy until the last day, she says of the five months she spent in prison, which have now come to an end. Yesterday [Saturday], we asked [the guards] if we were leaving or not, and they told us: Youre not leaving at all. We believed them. They gave us breakfast and lunch, saying we werent going anywhere. Then, suddenly, they left me alone in a cell. I almost fainted from fear. After a while, they asked me, Are you Hanan Malawan? I replied, Yes. Then they took me out, and I was jumping for joy. She has returned to her home in the Nablus area of the northern West Bank. Almost everything happening highlights the diminished prestige of the Palestinian Authority (PA), particularly due to its security collaboration with Israel and its subdued role during the Gaza war. In fact, unlike the first prisoner exchange, it has not organized an official reception, likely to avoid further backlash during a period of significant internal disrepute. Palestinian female prisoners wave from inside a bus as they arrive in the West Bank city of Beitunia, early Monday, Jan. 20, 2025. Leo Correa (AP) Especially today. A day when the general sentiment is that it is the use of force specifically the taking of hostages by Hamas that is facilitating the return of the prisoners. Ahmad Hassad, 18, who has been part of two exchanges in this war, speaks bluntly. He was released during the previous ceasefire in November 2023 and re-arrested the following year. Now, he is free again. Thanks to the Al-Qassam Brigades and the fighters in Gaza, who humiliated and painfully beat Israel, he declares. He then gestures disdainfully toward the few members of the PA security forces present: There were clashes in Ofer [between young Palestinians and Israeli soldiers], and none of them came to protect us. What the resistance has done for us has not been done by anyone else, he adds. The demonstrators waved flags of Hamas, the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, and even Hezbollah, a Lebanese militia-party, as well as flags from Yemen, where the Houthi militia had been launching missiles and drones against Israel until Saturday. Very few flags from Fatah, the party of PA President Mahmoud Abbas, were seen. Fatah spokesman Abdel Fattah Dawla, who was at the scene, downplayed the significance of the flags: At the meeting of the Palestinian National and Islamic Forces committee, we agreed to only wave the Palestinian flag. Then there are other people who are free to wave whatever they want. It means nothing. There are quite a few people, but not everyone has dared to come. Several factors have affected turnout. Ultra-nationalist Jewish settlers opposed to the ceasefire in Gaza are stoning cars as they pass through the area, and have burned Palestinian homes and vehicles in collective retaliation. Some families of prisoners are afraid and prefer to wait for their loved ones at home. The memory of the first hostage-for-prisoner exchange in November 2023 also lingers, when Israeli soldiers fired tear gas at the same roundabout to stop the celebrations. They are not allowed to celebrate now either. Mohamed Amer (whose daughter Jenin was released in the exchange) was reminded of this by telephone this afternoon by an officer from the Shin Bet, Israels intelligence service. He told me, I dont want to see a Hamas flag or a celebration. If they raise a single flag, well go into the house, says Amer, as he stands near a bonfire a group of young people had lit to stay warm. Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAIS USA Edition Scientists are pondering whether evolution could have unfolded differently. For instance, was it inevitable that humans would emerge, or are we the product of a series of natural accidents that might not have happened, and would have led to an entirely different world? While there is no definitive answer, artificial intelligence (AI) is now capable of conducting evolutionary experiments. One such study, published last week in the journal Science, reveals alternative pathways in the design of a type of protein that nature did not explore. This technology holds the potential to offer valuable insights for developing new therapies and other applications In his 1989 book Wonderful Life, evolutionary biologist Stephen Jay Gould posed a thought experiment: If the tape of lifes evolution on Earth could be rewound to the beginning and played again, would the outcome be the same as we know it, or something entirely different? Gould argued for the latter. Using the analogy of video games, he suggested that evolution would have followed a very different path, and humans would not have emerged. Replay the tape a million times and I doubt that anything like Homo sapiens would ever evolve again, he wrote. Goulds thesis has sparked widespread debate ever since, with some advocating for determinism and others supporting contingency. In his 1952 short story A Sound of Thunder, science fiction author Ray Bradbury recounted how a time travelers simple act of stepping on a butterfly in the age of the dinosaurs changed the course of the future. Gould made a similar point: Alter any early event, ever so slightly and without apparent importance at the time, and evolution cascades into a radically different channel. Speaking the language of proteins Scientists have been exploring this problem through experiments designed to recreate evolution in the lab or in nature, or by comparing species that have emerged under similar conditions. Today, a new avenue has opened up: AI. In New York, a group of former researchers from Meta the parent company of social networks Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp founded EvolutionaryScale, an AI startup focused on biology. The EvolutionaryScale Model 3 (ESM3) system created by the company is a generative language model the same kind of platform that powers ChatGPT. However, while ChatGPT generates text, ESM3 generates proteins, the fundamental building blocks of life. ESM3 feeds on sequence, structure, and function data from existing proteins to learn the biological language of these molecules and create new ones. Its creators have trained it with 771 billion data packets derived from 3.15 billion sequences, 236 million structures, and 539 million functional traits. This adds up to more than one trillion teraflops (a measure of computational performance) the most computing power ever used in biology, according to the company. ESM3 is a step toward a future in biology where AI is a tool for building from first principles, just as we build structures, machines, and microchips, says Alexander Rives, co-founder and chief scientist of EvolutionaryScale and leader of the new study. He sees biology as the most advanced technology ever created, and one that it is programmable using a common alphabet the genetic code, which is translated into amino acids, the building blocks of proteins. ESM3 understands all this biological data, translates it, and speaks it fluently to use as a generative tool. The protein that wasnt Rives and his collaborators applied ESM3 to the task of creating a new green fluorescent protein (GFP). GFP is a naturally occurring protein that glows green under ultraviolet light and is commonly used in research as a marker. The first GFP was discovered in a jellyfish, but other versions can also be found in corals and anemones. The scientists trained ESM3 to generate a new GFP, and the result surprised them: a fluorescent protein, which they named esmGFP, that is only 58% similar to the most closely related GFP. According to the researchers, this is equivalent to simulating 500 million years of evolution. ESM3 is now available to the scientific community as a new tool for designing proteins with therapeutic functions, environmental remediation capabilities, and other potential applications. Thus, AI has uncovered a path that nature could have taken 500 million years ago, but for reasons unknown, did not. Rives and his collaborators explain that just a few mutations in GFP can destroy its fluorescence. However, ESM3 has found a new realm of fluorescent proteins that could have existed but did not. As they put it, Underlying these sequences is a fundamental language of protein biology that can be understood using language models. Rives and his collaborators explain that only a few mutations in GFP can destroy fluorescence; and that, nevertheless, ESM3 has found a new space of fluorescent proteins that could have been, but were not: Underlying these sequences is a fundamental language of protein biology that can be understood using language models, says Rives. According to Jonathan Losos, a professor at the University of Washington who studies the concept of evolutionary rewinds by observing species in the wild, This study is a brilliant example of how there are many ways evolution could have proceeded. He sees the findings as supporting the idea of contingency, a viewpoint famously argued by Gould. This view is also shared by Zachary Blount, a professor at Michigan State University, who demonstrated the contingency of evolution in a renowned bacteria-growing experiment started in 1988 by his former supervisor, Richard Lenski. The experiment is still ongoing, spanning more than 80,000 generations. The study shows that there are viable biological possibilities that havent evolved (we think) on Earth, suggesting genuine paths that evolution could have taken but didnt because the necessary history didnt happen, Blount says. He also notes that there is some level of determinism in nature, as evidenced by the fact that the ESM3 experiment is 42% similar to other GFPs. While Blount doesnt believe AI will ever fully solve the rewind problem, he acknowledges its potential to help us understand what is contingent, what is not, and why. It gives us ways to explore the realm of biological possibilities, allowing us to compare whats biologically possible to what exists or has existed. Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAIS USA Edition Back in 2019, in the calm, pre-pandemic times, it was said that no one of voting age could understand TikTok. Even its creator, Zhang Yimin, then 36 years old at 41 he would become the richest man in China admitted that he didnt know how to use it, telling South China Morning Post that he was too old for the app. Five years later, TikTok is much more than just teenage territory. It has changed everything in internet culture and has become a digital artifact that is imitated and hated in equal measure. On Saturday, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the TikTok ban in the United States, citing national security concerns. The platform shut down for around 12 hours, but came back after Donald Trump promised to save the app. But for those 12 hours, 170 million users were left grappling with profound boredom and loneliness. An X-ray of TikTok would provide valuable insight into its profound influence on digital life and on the ways we consume and create content online. Its followers many of whom could be classified as addicts only needed 35 minutes of interaction with the platforms algorithm to become captivated, or rather, hooked on its rapid, dopamine-driven rewards. We know this thanks to internal TikTok documents disclosed by NPR. This level of engagement had never been seen before on the internet. Not even Mark Zuckerberg in his prime would have imagined such a level of user engagement. So the first novelty of TikTok is its personalized algorithm, which is so finely tuned that some users feel it can almost read their minds. TikTok doesnt need anything from you to create a fine-tuned profile of your tastes that will keep you glued to the screen. It doesnt need you to define yourself like other social networks do, it only needs you to breathe, exist, and open the app. The first time it will show you a unique video in an infinite loop, and it will start to measure your reactions: a second of viewing indicates interest, a tap on the screen, desire. The algorithm draws up the users profile, not based on their choices but on their behavior, reactions that are often unconscious and that allow it to create an irresistible content feed. This feed, called For You, is powered by a sophisticated machine learning engine, described by ByteDance engineers as complex sublinear computation. For TikTok users, however, the experience couldnt be simpler or more enjoyable: open the app, watch a video, relax, and passively consume content endlessly. They literally dont have to do anything else. The addictive power of this algorithm is so widely recognized that it has become a category of content itself, with videos under the hashtag #tiktokaddict amassing nearly 600 million views. Suddenly, the rest of the internet began to feel outdated and dull. TikTok has accelerated digital culture with its short-video format, defining the internets modern era from 2020 onward. Its meteoric rise has left competitors scrambling to copy the format: Instagram introduced Reels in August 2020, and YouTube followed with Shorts just a month later. Failing to mimic this format quickly became the fastest way to irrelevance on the internet. Even if you dont have a TikTok account, youre likely influenced by its rapid, visually driven culture, as its content is replicated on other platforms in the same style. Its often joked that watching Instagram Reels is like seeing TikTok two weeks late. This insatiable appetite for bite-sized videos has also reshaped how content is consumed in traditional news outlets and on TV. Shows and series are now consumed in fragmented bursts. The rapid, successive dopamine hits fueled by TikToks speed and constant promise of action and novelty have drastically reshaped our attention spans. This shift has even influenced the length of Netflix episodes, many of which now run under 20 minutes a duration that already seems very long to us. TikTok subverts digital aristocracy By prioritising novelty and discovery, TikToks powerful algorithm grants visibility to creators who have barely achieved status on the platform. In other words, a creator can reach the Olympus of virality in 30 seconds, even if they have few followers something thats impossible to achieve on Instagram and YouTube. And, although it is also true that TikTok is not the most lucrative, the algorithms accessibility is addictive. On TikTok, you dont have to be famous; the platform itself makes you famous. TikToks algorithmic infrastructure levelled the playing field, its not the same sanitized Instagram Explore grid or most prominent YouTube creators, Jess Rauchberg, a professor at Seton Hill University in New Jersey and an expert in the economics of digital creation, told the BBC. TikTok has made video the internets mainstay, unlocking global creativity for both established and emerging creators with its sophisticated yet user-friendly editing tools and templates anyone can follow. The result is polished, relatively simple content that has expanded the horizons of creators who didnt even consider themselves audiovisual artists. An endless loop of engaging content, all without lifting a finger (or just one, for scrolling). On TikTok, as mentioned earlier, effort takes a back seat. For some experts, one of its most important merits is that it has eliminated a syndrome that had been weighing down the internet: decision fatigue. On TikTok, you open the app and immediately have a loop of content no decision required. This break from decision-making is very attractive. Short, clever videos appear before our eyes in an endless vertical flow, an infinite scroll that provokes a state very close to happiness. A study by Baylor University in Waco revealed that the experience of TikTokers produces high levels of the flow state and time distortion, conditions typically observed when one is absorbed in a task that provides pleasure and well-being. When, from the outside, we see someone using TikTok, its not difficult to tell that they are engrossed. And it is precisely this self-absorption that highlights the effectiveness of the fortuitous reward system that is in TikToks DNA. With each scroll, something better could come. Or not. We dont know, but it is the uncertainty and the eternal promise of novelty that keeps us hooked. Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAIS USA Edition The countdown is over: arrests and deportations of immigrants in the new Trump era will begin this week. Trump has been warning about this since he secured his return to the White House back in November. And he repeated it again in his last rally as president-elect, held this past Sunday in the nations capital. By the time the sun sets tomorrow evening, the invasion of our borders will have come to a halt and all the illegal border trespassers will, in some form or another, be on their way back home, said the Republican, just 18 hours before being sworn in as the 47th president of the United States. The new government will begin arresting undocumented immigrants after the inauguration on Monday. The raids will begin in Chicago, Illinois, on Tuesday. They will subsequently spread throughout the country, while the administration prepares to carry out the largest deportation program in American history that the Republican promised during his campaign. The first arrests will focus on immigrants with criminal records, but Trump has assured his supporters that his plan is intended to deport all undocumented immigrants in the country. The number is estimated at around 11 million according to official figures but the tycoon has even spoken of as many as 25 million. All eyes are on the first executive orders that the Republican president will sign after his inauguration ceremony. In line with what hes promised, its expected that after taking office Trump will declare a national emergency almost immediately along the southern border of the country. This declaration will allow him to militarize the border area and seal off entry points into the country. Additionally, with this tool, hell have an arsenal of military funds at his disposal, as well as resources to implement his plan for mass detentions and deportations. The fact that the Republican intends to use the declaration of a national emergency in this way has already sparked criticism, since U.S. law prohibits soldiers from directly detaining members of the civilian population. However, Trump has made it clear that hes willing to push the law to the limit, so that he can get what he wants. In his first term, he similarly used emergency authority to access military funds to build sections of his border wall with Mexico, after Congress denied him funding for it. But the Congress of that time which at least tried to curb his most radical immigration policies is very different today. Trump returns to the White House with a Republican majority in both legislative chambers. And hell have this governing majority until at least 2026, when the midterm elections are held. Alongside a friendly judiciary, with numerous judges appointed by him including three of the six justices of the conservative majority on the Supreme Court the possibility of an opposition similar to that which he faced in his first presidency has practically been eliminated. Donald Trump stands in front of part of the border wall with Mexico, in Sierra Vista, Arizona, last August. Rebecca Noble (Getty Images) A pro-Trump Congress The new legislature which began its mandate in early-January already started aligning itself with Trumps immigration program even before he took office. The incoming White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller made sure of this, making multiple visits to the Capitol in recent weeks. Miller is in charge of overseeing the immigration policies of the new government, and will work alongside another anti-immigration hawk and faithful advisor to Trump: Tom Homan. After being at the head of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) during the Republicans first term, Homan now returns as border czar, in charge of planning actions such as the raids that will begin this Tuesday. In the days leading up to the inauguration, Miller held meetings with Republican Party leaders in Congress, in which he conveyed to legislators the urgency of moving forward and facilitating Trumps immigration policies. His message was a hit: everything points to Trump signing the first immigration law of his second term in his first days in office. Its a bill thats already advancing through the Senate, which is set to approve it on Monday. The legislation allows for the deportation of undocumented immigrants who have committed minor crimes (such as shoplifting), even if they havent been convicted. The House of Representatives has already voted in favor of the law and will do so again when it returns to the lower chamber for final approval. It will then reach Trumps desk to be signed into law. The law is named after Laken Riley, a 22-year-old nursing student who was murdered last February on the campus of the University of Georgia. Her killer Venezuelan citizen Jose Antonio Ibarra, who received a life sentence for the crime illegally crossed the border in September 2022. Before the murder, he was arrested for a robbery, but he was allowed to remain free while processing his legal status. It was one of the cases Trump used during the election campaign to advance his theory that migrants who are in the country illegally are all criminals, even though nearly 90% of them have no criminal record. The law which passed in both legislative chambers with key support from some Democratic lawmakers requires ICE to detain undocumented immigrants who are accused or convicted of nonviolent theft, robbery, or assault. Officers must then hold them in its custody until they are removed from the country. Under current law, a person must have been convicted of two misdemeanors or one felony to face deportation. Allies Trump not only holds absolute power in the three branches of the federal government: he also has the support of several Republican governors, who will be key to carrying out his immigration project. Such is the case with Texas, whose governor has offered to host detention centers along the border, which will function as launching pads for the magnates deportations. Or Florida, whose governor Ron DeSantis has emphasized that his administration will collaborate closely with the new federal government on immigration matters. Migrants wait to be processed by U.S. authorities after crossing the border in December 2023. Qian Weizhong (Getty Images) With President Trump taking office, Florida has a unique opportunity to help facilitate the end to Americas immigration crisis, said DeSantis, a former candidate for the Republican presidential nomination, last week. The governor has called a special legislative session on immigration, with the aim of positioning Florida to assist the incoming administration. Among the measures he has proposed is giving local and state security forces the power to arrest and detain undocumented immigrants, while making illegal entry into the United States a crime under Florida law. Currently, illegal entry into the country is only a federal crime. But Trump doesnt only have influence in Republican-led regions: some Democrats have also closed ranks behind him. New York City Mayor Eric Adams the city that has received the most migrants during the massive wave of migration in recent years has assured the media that he will work with the new administration in its deportation campaign. In fact, the Democratic mayor met with Trump three days before his inauguration. In this case, however, immigration policy is not the only thing that has forged this alliance: Trump has stated that hes considering the possibility of pardoning Adams. In September 2024, the mayor was indicted on bribery and campaign finance offenses. He faces a difficult re-election campaign in the coming months. At the same time, some Democratic states including California, Illinois and Colorado will continue to be bastions of resistance to Trumps plans. So will the so-called sanctuary cities cities that, according to local regulations, dont collaborate on immigration matters with the federal government. But whether theyll succeed remains to be seen. New York City is currently one of these sanctuaries, although this may change soon. Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAIS USA Edition Gaza Ceasefire Deal: The Real Winner Though, both the outgoing and the incoming presidents - Biden and Trump, claimed it as their victory, yet in real terms, the deal fructified due to Trumps adamant and no-nonsense attitude in dealing with Netanyahu Monday January 20, 2025 8:00 PM , Asad Mirza [Palestinians celebrating Gaza Ceasefire Deal.] The Gaza ceasefire deal came as a win for Donald Trump, even before he started his next stint as the 47th American President. Though, both the outgoing and the incoming presidents - Biden and Trump, claimed it as their victory, yet in real terms, the deal fructified due to Trumps adamant and no-nonsense attitude in dealing with Netanyahu. The Israeli Prime Ministers office was the last to confirm on early Friday morning (17 January 2025) that a deal has been agreed upon with Hamas. The agreement, which took effect Sunday (19 January), would see a pause to fighting in Gaza and lead to the phased release of hostages and Palestinian prisoners. The deal includes a temporary ceasefire, and involves further three phases of negotiations related to release of hostages and the shape of the new governing authority in Palestine. The deal also allowed displaced Palestinians to return to their homes though after Israels deliberate destruction campaign, which increased in ferocity, resulting in death of 86 Palestinians after the announcement of the deal, and which has rendered many homes no longer habitable. But the Palestinians of the occupied territories wanted to return to their homeland as soon as possible and they welcomed the announcement with cheers and tears. Qatars Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani had said on Wednesday (15 January) that the ceasefire deal would come into effect on Sunday, but added that work on implementation steps with Israel and Hamas was continuing. Apparently, the American President-elect Donald Trump wanted the deal to be effective before his inauguration ceremony. Trump had repeatedly indicated during his election campaign that he would prefer to avoid inheriting the Israel-Hamas war as he prepared to take charge of office on 20 January. Analysts say his impending return to the White House had injected renewed urgency into negotiations on a deal. Reportedly, Trump and outgoing US President Joe Biden both took full credit following the announcement of the ceasefire deal Wednesday after the two American administrations worked together to mediate the truce. The cooperation between the two camps was almost unprecedented, a senior Biden administration official said after the deal was clinched, made possible by a rare intersection of interests between bitter rivals who both saw an opening following Trumps election victory. The Winner: Biden or Trump? Trump had made a big issue of Middle East peace during his presidential campaign and attacked Bidens failure to secure a ceasefire. Steve Witkoff, his surprise appointment as Middle East envoy, was dispatched to Qatar on 22 November - less than three weeks after his election victory, with strict instructions to get the deal clinched. Witkoff, a close friend of Trump, who is also known to Qatari officials through his real estate business, had suddenly become the chief negotiator in an unlikely negotiating team led by Bidens top Middle East adviser Brett McGurk. In directing their envoys to co-ordinate, Biden and Trump both temporarily put aside their fierce personal and political rivalry - a small miracle in its own right. But the deal has definitely added to the pragmatism and astuteness of Trumps stature as a politician. As per behind the scenes reportage published on news website axios.com, Biden and his team set a Gaza deal as their key foreign policy goal for the remaining 10 weeks in the White House. Though the deal as proposed by the Biden administration was on table since May 2024, yet the real push to the efforts was given by Trump after his meeting, following his election victory, with the outgoing-President Biden in Oval House. Later, on prompting by Senator Lindsey Graham, Trump posted on his social media platform Truth Social that if the hostages were not freed by 20 January: "There will be ALL HELL TO PAY in the Middle East, and for those in charge." That created a sense of urgency for the Qatari and Egyptian mediators, but also for Netanyahu, sources familiar with the talks say. Several days later, Sullivan and McGurk travelled to Israel and met Netanyahu. The Israeli Prime Minister told them he wanted a deal on Trump's timeline. Reportedly, intense diplomatic efforts preceded the deal announcement, with Witkoff travelling back to Doha to join McGurk for 96 hours of intense diplomatic negotiations. In another unusual step, the two met together with Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani. Furthermore, the final sprint in the negotiations took place at a Qatari government official residence. Hamas representatives were on the first floor with the Israelis on the second and the Qatari and Egyptian mediators shuttled between them. Both the sides discussed and closed issue after issue, like the redeployment of Israeli forces; what Hamas must do during the ceasefire; the delivery of humanitarian aid; the sequencing of hostages and prisoners release. On Wednesday afternoon, Hamas came back for a meeting with the Qatari and Egyptian mediators and gave its official positive response. After the Israeli prime ministers office confirming the deal, Netanyahu called Trump and thanked him for his help in getting the deal. Only then did he call to thank Biden. This again leads us back to the issue, that who was the real winner in this high-stake deal? Though the efforts started during President Bidens tenure, yet the real push was given by Trump. Donald Trump can be described as a pragmatic, astute businessman, the same traits that he brings to his political actions. He is ready to discard the old political shenanigans, as he not cut from the same cloth as that of usual politicians. Thus, he often takes decisions which confounds the politicians and diplomats, alike, as they lead to quick winnable results. But to achieve all this he doesnt give-up his business goals. Reportedly, Trump and his son-in-law Jared Kushner have vast business investments in Israel. These investments were suffering from the continued war. So, in a manner he has tried to end the war to guard his familys financial interests and also convey to the Israelis that how hell be treating them in the next four years. In sum, the Gaza ceasefire deal could be described as Trumps legacy plus his future action plan for the Middle East, guided by financial interests. (The writer, Asad Mirza, is a New Delhi-based senior commentator on national, international, defence and strategic affairs, environmental issues, an interfaith practitioner, and a media consultant.) Follow ummid.com WhatsApp Channel for all the latest updates. Select Language To Read in Urdu, Hindi, Marathi or Arabic. Welcome Guest! You are here: Home Preventing WW3, Declassification of Imp Files and More Trump Promises New Era A day before taking oath as 47th U.S. President, Donald Trump in a victory rally Sunday promised to stop World War 3, declassification of documents related to JFK, RFK and Martin Luther King assassinations and a new America Monday January 20, 2025 11:51 AM , ummid.com News Network Washington: A day before taking oath as 47th U.S. President, Donald Trump in a victory rally Sunday promised to stop World War 3, declassification of documents related to JFK, RFK and Martin Luther King assassinations and a new America. I will end the war in Ukraine. I will end the chaos in the Middle East, and I will prevent the World War 3 from happening, Trump said while addressing the victory rally in Washington organised as part of three-day celebration to mark his Presidency. And you have no idea how close we are, as supporters clapped and cheered. A day before taking oath as 47th U.S. President, Donald Trump in a victory rally Sunday promised to stop World War 3, declassification of documents related to JFK, RFK and Martin Luther King assassinations and a new America. pic.twitter.com/zQLzB4NeqA ummid.com (@ummid) January 20, 2025 In another important announcement a day before inaugural, Trump also promised he will declassify and release the official documents relating to the assassinations of former U.S. president John F Kennedy (JFK), his brother, closest advisor and 64th United States Attorney General, Robert Francis Kennedy (RFK), and acclaimed American civil rights activist Martin Luther King (MLK). And in the coming days, we are going to make public the remaining records relating to the assassinations of President John F Kennedy, his brother Robert Kennedy and Dr Martin Luther King Jr, Trump announced Sunday January 19, 2025. At the same time, the U.S. President-elect also announced to release all other documents of public interest. All these documents are going to be released from Tuesday, Trump said. [Elon Musk joined Trump rally with his son X.] "Tomorrow at noon, the curtain closes on four long years of American Decline - and we begin a brand-new day of American strength, prosperity, dignity, and pride", Trump said. Trump arrived in Washington last night. He will be sworn in as the new U.S. President after winning the November 2024 elections on Monday January 20, 2025. Earlier, the Trump inaugural was shifted indoors because of bad weather. In the victory rally on the eve of his inauguration, Trump also hailed restoration of Chinese social media platform TikTok. TikTok had stopped its services in the United States following a court order. "As of today, TikTok is back", Trump said suggesting the U.S. will own 50% of the company in what he referred to as a joint venture that would make a lot of money. Trump also told supporters to impose severe limits on immigration on his first day in office, vowing to swiftly fulfill the central promise of his presidential campaign at a rally on Sunday inside a packed Washington arena a day before he returns to power. "By the time the sun sets tomorrow, the invasion of our country will have come to a halt," he said to cheers at a "Make America Great Again Victory Rally" at the Capital One Arena. "Once and for all, we're going to end the reign of a failed and corrupt political establishment in Washington, a failed administration. We're not going to take it anymore," promised Trump. "We're going to bring back law and order to our cities. We're going to restore patriotism to our schools, get radical left woke ideologies the hell out of our military and out of our government. And we are going to make America great again." American billionaire who emerged as one of the key advisors of Trump this election, also talked about peace and promised to stabilize the American civilization for the future of humanity and the planet. This victory is the start. What matters going forward is to actually make significant changes, cement those changes and set the foundation to make America strong for centuries, Musk, who came on stage with his son X following him, said. Elon Musk's son, little X, just followed him on stage at tonight's Trump rally lol "Sorry, little X just followed me on the stage here. He's a very enthusiastic supporter." pic.twitter.com/dp7xQEzyjz Sawyer Merritt (@SawyerMerritt) January 19, 2025 Addressing the victory rally, Trump, also promised the "best 100 days," quipping about the amount of executive orders he will be signing tomorrow "to set our country on the proper course." "Starting tomorrow, I will act with historic speed and strength and fix every single crisis facing our country. We have to do it." Trump went on to talk about how he didn't want to take advice from his advisers who told him to spread out his executive orders. Follow ummid.com WhatsApp Channel for all the latest updates. Select Language To Read in Urdu, Hindi, Marathi or Arabic. In the past year, more has been revealed about Melania Trumps life than in the previous eight. Yet, she remains a complete enigma. The Slovenian model who entered the White House in 2016 and left in 2020 is returning to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue this Monday, though few would have predicted it four years ago. The presidential residence was never to her liking, but her husbands electoral victory has drawn her out of her luxurious residences and placed her in the frigid climate of Washington, D.C. Once again, no one knows what role she will take on, how she will influence her husbands decisions, or what she will do next. As always with Melania Trump, everything remains shrouded in speculation. The first lady released a memoir last October, which she claims was a huge success. This success has now led to her next project: a documentary with Prime Video. Currently being filmed, the documentary will focus on her life and her early days in the White House, as she revealed to Fox News the channel aligned with Trumpism and the only one she grants interviews to, albeit very few. My fans and people would love to hear more from me. So I had an idea to make a movie, to make a film about my life, she told Fox journalist Ainsley Earhardt last week. My life is incredible, its incredibly busy, and I told my agent, go out and make a deal for me. We started the production in November, and we are shooting right now, so its a day-to-day life, what Im doing, what kind of responsibilities I have. People they dont really know, and they will see it. Its day to day from transition team to moving to the White House, packing, establishing my team, the First Lady office, moving into the White House, what it takes to make the residence your home, to hire the people that you need. The deal was a lucrative one: according to industry sources, it was valued at around $40 million. The documentary will be directed by Brett Ratner, who has been virtually blacklisted from Hollywood for a decade due to allegations of sexual harassment and his history of homophobic remarks. While the film has no official release date, it appears to follow a similar trajectory as her memoir. As the saying goes, much ado about nothing. Days before the release of her slim memoir, the former model knew how to make waves: in the final stretch of the electoral campaign, she shifted her position and publicly defended womens right to abortion and control over their own bodies. Expectations were high, but when the book finally arrived, it offered little substance. It provided a sugary recounting of her childhood summers in Croatia, her career as a model, and her first encounters with her husband, along with a superficial review of her time in the White House barely addressing any of the significant issues. But that is Melania (nee Knauss), and that is how the public has known her for years. If her husband is verbose, she is silent. If he lives in a parallel, alternative reality, hers remains a mystery. While he is constantly active on social media, even creating his own platform, she posts very little content. She believes that people have not always fully understood or accepted her: Maybe some people, they see me as just a wife of the president, but Im standing on my own two feet, independent. I have my own thoughts. I have my own yes and no, she told Fox & Friends. I dont always agree what my husband is saying or doing, and thats OK. I give him my advice, and sometimes he listens, sometimes he doesnt, and thats OK. Whatever Melania whispers in Donalds ear remains, of course, unknown. Her public messages are few and far between and, at most, conveyed through her fashion choices. Melania and Donald Trump are greeted by Barack and Michelle Obama upon their arrival at the White House for the inauguration, January 20, 2017. Mark Wilson (Getty Images) Unlike other first ladies who, once in the spotlight, have embraced the media attention, Melania Trump, 54 (22 years younger than her husband), seems to shy away from it. She appears only to be interested in promoting the cause she champions: Be Best, a platform dedicated to combating cyberbullying among children. This is one of the few certainties surrounding her new role as first lady in the presidential mansion that she will continue to advocate for a cause that hits close to home, as she witnessed firsthand how her son Barron was harassed on social media during Trumps previous tenure. I will expand BeBest, she said in the Fox News interview. I started the first in the first administration. I didnt have much support from anyone. I invited all of the streaming platforms to the White House. I had the roundtable, and I didnt have much support from them. And imagine what we could do in those years if they would rally behind me and teach the children what to do to protect them about social media and their mental health, she said with a hint of resentment. Barron, who will turn 19 in March, has always been Melania Trumps top priority. He spent part of his childhood in the White House, but now, as an adult studying at New York University, he has no intention of returning to live with his parents in that gilded cage. I think he will come and visit, Melania Trump said in the Fox News interview, adding that he is also welcome to bring his friends. Whatever he would like to do, she said. I feel that children, we have them til they are like 18, 19 years old. We teach them, we guide them. and then we give them the wings to fly. And I always respect Barrons yes and no and what he likes to do, where he would like to be. And the White House doesnt seem to be that place. Melania and Barron Trump attend a speech by Donald Trump after winning the election, on November 6, 2024 in Palm Beach, Florida. The Washington Post (Getty Images) The Trumps will arrive at the White House on Monday, and their transition team will have just five hours to move in from the time the Bidens leave and they enter, between 8:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m., when the inauguration ceremony begins. As for the first lady, she says she will primarily live in Washington, though not exclusively. I will be in the White House. And you know when I need to be in New York, I will be in New York. When I need to be in Palm Beach, I will be in Palm Beach. But my first priority is, you know, to be a mom, to be a first lady, to be a wife. And once we are in on January 20, you serve the country, she said on Fox, with her signature smile. Although she describes herself as incredibly busy, Melania Trump arrives at the White House more relaxed. She is no longer a rookie, as she herself has acknowledged, and has even taken a jab at the Obamas, claiming that during her first visit, they had very little information because it was withheld from us by the previous administration. But this time I have everything: I have the plans, I could move in, I already packed, I already selected the furniture [...] its a very different transition. The former model will need to hire some more members of her team, but plans to keep it minimal, so as not to spend too much taxpayers money. This time, she will have another advantage: she will be both the mistress and the lady of the house. There will no longer be another royal family in the shadows, as Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner, the presidents daughter and son-in-law key advisers during his first term will not be in Washington. The White House is entirely hers. Whether she likes it or not. Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAIS USA Edition ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 20th Jan, 2025) Federal Minister for Finance, Senator Muhammad Aurangzeb here on Monday departed for Davos, the Swiss city, to participate in the World Economic Forum 2025 annual meeting being held from January 20 to 24. Aurangzeb will meet with political, trade, and business leaders of various countries and international organizations and would also address various sessions and negotiations, clarifying the country's economic landscape, according to press release issued by finance ministry. The Finance Minister will participate, as a panelist, in a high-level discussion on the growing burden of global debt on developing economies during the forum and would present his perspective on establishing strong and resilient economies through fiscal policy adjustments and debt sustainability. Aurangzeb would also participate as a panelist in a high-level discussion on the revolutionary impact of new technologies, especially AI and automation, on promoting trade and investment. He will express his thoughts on leveraging technologies to achieve accurate and profitable trade and investment. The minister is also scheduled to meet with the ministers of Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Qatar, the press release added. Aurangzeb will meet with the heads of international financial and business institutions, organizations involved in sustainable development, and investors and commercial banks, especially from the middle East. He will participate in two separate discussions on "Digital Pakistan" and "Investment in Pakistan", organized by the Pathfinder Group. In addition, he will also give interviews to selected international media representatives during his visit. The 55th annual meeting of the World Economic Forum is being held under the theme "Collaboration for the Intelligent Age. It brings together multiple heads of state and governments, leaders from the private sector and civil society. Over 1,000 high-level representatives from the private sector, young leaders, civil society, and educational institutions will also participate in the forum. The event aims to present solutions based on international cooperation in various economic and development sectors between governments and major international organizations and institutions. ABU DHABI, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News / WAM - 20th Jan, 2025) Environment Agency Abu Dhabi (EAD), Aldar, and environmental charity Emirates Nature-WWF have partnered to support the implementation of marine habitat studies at Saadiyat Marine National Park aimed at preserving the region's unique marine ecosystems. This partnership underscores a shared commitment to environmental sustainability and biodiversity conservation and was initiated when Aldar joined the Abu Dhabi Mangrove Initiative (ADMI) partnership programme in May 2024. By signing EAD's partnership pledge, Aldar has committed to conserving and restoring coastal ecosystems, including mangroves, seagrass, salt marsh, and microbial mats. As part of the collaboration, innovative research and technologies, such as environmental DNA surveys and remote underwater surveys (BRUVs), are being utilised to study the nearshore areas of Saadiyat Marine National Park. The Park, which was formally declared part of Sheikh Zayed Protected Areas Network in 2017, is a protected marine area established and managed by the Agency. The shores of Saadiyat Island are home to an abundance of marine life, including the critically endangered Hawksbill Turtle, dolphins, dugongs, coral, seagrass and mangrove habitats, as well as marine invertebrates. This partnership will explore the development of a blueprint for biodiversity stewardship that can be applied by Aldar across its portfolio and coastal development projects in Abu Dhabi to avoid negative impact to marine species and habitats. In addition, the initiative aims to promote environmental awareness within communities on Saadiyat Island, with the partners hosting a series of community events and citizen science activities. Ahmed Al Hashmi, Executive Director of the Terrestrial and Marine Biodiversity Sector at EAD, said, "Partnerships like this play a pivotal role in advancing our collective mission to study, preserve and restore Abu Dhabi's rich marine biodiversity." Salwa Al Maflahi, Executive Director of Sustainability and Community Outreach at Aldar, stated that through this partnership, the group aims to contribute to the protection of the marine environment on Saadiyat Island and raise environmental awareness among local communities, thereby supporting the creation of a more sustainable future. Laila Mostafa Abdullatif, Director-General at Emirates Nature-WWF, said, ""We look forward to raising awareness of the rich biodiversity of Saadiyat Marine National Park in collaboration with Aldar and the Environment Agency - Abu Dhabi. Community engagement is another key pillar of this initiative, with exciting hands-on events planned to raise awareness about the importance of safeguarding nature and wildlife." Abu Dhabi is home to diverse ecosystems, including mangroves, seagrass meadows, coral reefs, saltmarsh and microbial mats all of which support a wide array of marine and coastal species like dugongs, turtles, and migratory birds. Saadiyat Marine National Park was selected for this project due to its vital role in conserving marine biodiversity. ABU DHABI, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News / WAM - 20th Jan, 2025) H.H. Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Executive Council, has chaired the first Executive Council meeting of 2025. The council reviewed various government plans, projects and service initiatives as part of the Abu Dhabi Customer Experience Strategy, which was approved by the council. The Abu Dhabi Customer Experience Strategy, implemented by the Department of Government Enablement - Abu Dhabi, in collaboration with more than 65 government and semi-government entities across Abu Dhabi, focuses on customer-centric solutions. It aims to provide proactive and innovative services for individuals and businesses, while enhancing the capabilities of frontline employees. The strategy emphasises creative and AI-supported solutions tailored to meet customer needs and expectations in priority sectors. The meeting also reviewed the outcomes of the Abu Dhabi Strategy for People of Determination. The strategy has delivered significant progress in enhancing services and improving the quality of life for this segment of society across key pillars: enablers, employment, education, health and rehabilitation, social care, and universal access, through collaboration with public and private sector partners as well as volunteer organisations (third-sector entities). Implemented by the Department of Community Development Abu Dhabi in coordination with relevant entities, the strategy seeks to empower People of Determination to achieve their aspirations, reflecting the UAE's values of social cohesion and equal support for all segments of the community. Since its launch in 2020, the strategy has achieved key milestones in facilitating the integration of People of Determination into society. Achievements include developing social care services, improving access to facilities and transportation, and implementing accelerated projects to transform Abu Dhabi into a People of Determination-friendly city. These projects include the establishment of 226 inclusive parks and public spaces, improving accessibility to hotels and tourist attractions, launching an inclusion policy in schools, and increasing the number of students of determination integrated into private and charter schools to 13,000. H.H. Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed stated that the UAE leadership is fully committed to empowering People of Determination and integrating them as essential contributors to the national development journey. He directed the launch of the Abu Dhabi Excellence Award for People of Determination Inclusion, recognising the efforts of public, private and third-sector entities in providing inclusive services across health, education, mobility, tourism, and culture. The award also highlights achievements in creating enabling physical and digital environments, facilitating universal access, and supporting the seamless integration of People of Determination into the labour market across vital sectors to further enhance their active contribution and participation in the UAEs economic development. H.H. Sheikh Khaled underscored the importance of building a society that embraces all its members, enabling People of Determination to play an active role in shaping a prosperous and sustainable future. During the meeting, H.H. Sheikh Khaled also approved the Abu Dhabi Government Digital Strategy 2025-2027, marking a significant milestone in the emirates journey toward digital transformation and positioning Abu Dhabi as a global leader in leveraging artificial intelligence (AI). The Abu Dhabi Government Digital Strategy 2025-2027 deploys a AED13 billion investment in digital infrastructure, making Abu Dhabi the first government globally to fully integrate AI into its digital services by 2027. The strategy includes achieving 100 percent adoption of sovereign cloud computing for government operations and digitising and automating 100 percent of processes to streamline procedures, enhance productivity and improve operational efficiency. The strategy is projected to contribute AED24 billion to Abu Dhabis GDP by 2027 while creating more than 5,000 jobs to support Emiratisation efforts. It also aims to transform the customer experience ecosystem and elevate the delivery of government services, improving the quality of life for citizens and residents. Moreover, the strategy seeks to accelerate economic development by creating an integrated environment that attracts global investment and leading companies, generates employment opportunities and enhances government efficiency by reducing operational costs through AI-driven innovation. H.H. Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed highlighted that integrating AI into government services is a cornerstone for achieving the vision of a future-ready government. He emphasised the importance of adopting cutting-edge technologies to elevate government services, align with digital transformation goals and enhance Abu Dhabis global competitiveness. DUBAI, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News / WAM - 20th Jan, 2025) Meydan, member of Dubai Holding Real Estate, has awarded a contract worth over AED 1 billion to Ginco General Contracting LLC for the construction of Phase Two of District One West in the prestigious Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum City. This development presents the next stage in one of the most sought-after gated communities in Dubai, offering an exclusive lifestyle on the waterfront of Crystal Lagoon. Ginco General Contracting, a construction company with over 35 years experience in the region renowned for delivering large-scale luxury projects, has been awarded the contract for the construction of four-, five- and six-bedroom luxury villas as well as associated infrastructure and other works. The project is scheduled for completion in Q1 2028. Khalid Al Malik, Chief Executive Officer of Dubai Holding Real Estate, said, District One West Phase Two at Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum City reflects our unwavering commitment to redefining luxury living within this prestigious master development. With world-class designs and exceptional quality, District One West Phase Two will set new benchmarks in premium residential experiences for our growing base of luxury homebuyers. Masood Gheyath, Managing Director of Ginco General Contracting, added, The construction and real estate sectors are a key driver of economic growth in the UAE, and we are proud to collaborate with Dubai Holding Real Estate on this prestigious project. District One West Phase Two will stand out as a model for excellence, reflecting our shared vision for delivering innovative and high-quality developments. Buckle up your seatbelts. U.S. foreign policy is about to take a 180-degree turn, starting this Monday. The careful cultivation of alliances practiced by the new presidents predecessor Joe Biden and the internationalism of the last 80 years will soon be left in the dust. With Donald J. Trumps return to the White House, America First prevails. As does disruption, the conviction that might equals right and the idea that relations with allies should be transactional. His governing policy involves a peculiar combination of protectionism and imperialist proposals. Trump 2.0 will be much freer in his new term than in the first. Back then, he surrounded himself with a team of experienced advisers who tried to limit his most disruptive instincts. In Congress, he not only had the opposition of the Democrats, but also of the more traditionalist Republican wing. But today, he has surrounded himself with a team of faithful followers who arent going to question him. On Capitol Hill, classic Republicans are the exception not the rule. Much of whats coming was already present in Trumps first term. This includes his admiration for authoritarian leaders, or his conviction that tariffs on foreign products and trade wars are a magic wand with which to stimulate domestic industry (Trump is flirting with the idea of a tariff of 10% on goods from all countries, with a 60% rate for Chinese products). The new president will, once again, increase tensions with allies and demand that NATO members make greater investments in their defense budgets: just two weeks ago, he proposed that a minimum of 5% of each members GDP be devoted to defense. This time around, such approaches will no longer find partner countries unprepared. And, unlike in Trumps first term, for the past year, U.S. allies have been preparing for the return of the Republican. U.S. President Donald Trump meets with China's President Xi Jinping at the start of their bilateral meeting at the G20 leaders summit in Osaka, Japan, June 29, 2019. Kevin Lamarque (REUTERS) Other proposals are new, or have a different tone. In 2019, Trump had already mused about buying Greenland from Denmark. Back then, it sounded like mere bravado. Now, however, he doesnt rule out using force to annex the gigantic Arctic island, which he considers beneficial to national security. He has also proposed the use of force to regain control of the Panama Canal, another obsession of his throughout the presidential transition. Trump has even flirted with the incorporation of Canada as the 51st state, or changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America. Based on such statements, the American continent is going to be a key area for Trumps second administration. He wants to focus on closing the border with Mexico to illegal immigration and on security and trade issues with Canada and Mexico. His nominees to be his number one and number two in the State Department Marco Rubio and Chris Landau, respectively have extensive experience in the region. He has also named a special envoy for Latin America, Mauricio Claver-Carone. But other issues will immediately demand his attention. After the ceasefire agreement in Gaza, the delicate phase of its implementation now begins. Trump will want to follow the events closely. His envoy for the Middle East businessman Steve Witkoff played a role in the negotiations to close the agreement between Israel and Hamas. Trump took credit for this on social media. There are now factors at play in the Middle East that I think we can build upon and may open the door to extraordinary and historic opportunities, said Marco Rubio, in his confirmation hearing in the Senate last week. In addition to Gaza, theres the ceasefire in Lebanon, the fall of Bashar al-Assad in Syria and a weakened Iran. The Trump administration may want to take advantage of the new panorama to expand the Abraham Accords signed in Trumps first term and incorporate the jewel in the crown: normalization between Israel and Saudi Arabia. The new U.S. president will also have to decide the future of the nearly 2,000 U.S. soldiers in Syria, given the risk of the return of ISIS after the fall of Assad. Perhaps nowhere will the first days of the new presidency be watched more closely than in Ukraine. During his campaign, Trump promised to end the war within 24 hours by forcing Kyiv and Moscow to negotiate. Now, the Republican admits that it will take at least six months. Rubio has indicated that both enemies Ukraine and Russia will have to make concessions: Kyiv cannot completely expel an enemy that occupies 20% of its territory, nor can Moscow hope to conquer the entire neighboring country. Relationship with China Barring a surprise, it will be the relationship with China that will emerge as Trumps greatest international challenge. Rubio has described the Asian giant as the most powerful and dangerous adversary that the United States has ever faced. The country competes with the worlds leading power in science, technology, military development and global markets, while dominating some of the main global supply chains. When they write the book about the 21st century [...] the bulk of [that book] will be not just about China, but about the relationship between China and the United States and what direction it went, the senator said at his confirmation hearing. Rubio expressed the new administrations support for Taiwan. The democratically-ruled island is aligned with the United States, although China considers it to be part of its territory and doesnt renounce the notion of achieving reunification by force. But its unclear whether in the event of an attack by Beijing Trump would choose to defend it. In a sign of the importance of the bilateral relationship between the two giants rivals who exchange $500 billion a year in their trade relationship Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping spoke by phone last Friday, in a conversation that included TikTok, fentanyl trafficking, trade ties, Ukraine and Taiwan, among other issues. The American leader had previously invited the Chinese president to his inauguration. In a gesture of deference, Beijing will send Vice President Han Zheng to the ceremony. Both leaders praised their conversation and declared themselves willing to maintain a fluid relationship in the Trump 2.0 era. The American firmly believes we can avoid conflict with the Chinese Communist Party because they need our markets. We are going to use the leverage in a way thats aligned with our national security while we still can., declared Mike Waltz, the new White House national security adviser, during an event at the United States Institute of Peace last week. Waltz also stressed the need to respond to Chinas growing influence in Latin America. He stressed the importance of the United States strengthening its alliances in the Asia-Pacific, reinforcing Taiwans deterrence capacity against China and reducing its dependence on Beijing for materials such as critical minerals. We cannot depend on our greatest adversary for essential supplies, he emphasized. Its unclear whether figures such as Waltz or Rubio will actually be able to influence foreign policy in the Trump universe. The candidate for secretary of state doesnt belong to the presidents inner circle, where some continue to view him with distrust since the primaries that both men contested in 2016. Rubio and Waltz will also have to share their work sphere with a plethora of regional envoys friends or advisers of the president appointed by Trump. This includes Witkoff in the Middle East, former ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell (now envoy to various areas of the world), Claver-Carone, or the special envoy for Ukraine and Russia, General Keith Kellogg. And, of course, Trump often acts on his own impulse when the matter at hand seems too important. Rubio will often find out about policy changes through social media posts by the president, wrote Richard Haas president emeritus of the Council on Foreign Relations in his blog on Substack. Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAIS USA Edition (@ChaudhryMAli88) SHARJAH, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News / WAM - 20th Jan, 2025) Hamad Ali Abdullah Al Mahmoud, Chairman of the Sharjah Economic Development Department (SEDD), assessed the accomplishments of the "Digital Warehouses" project, which is part of the Sharjah Foundation to Support Pioneering Entrepreneurs (Ruwad), after its involvement in the Global Startup Festival COMEUP in Seoul, Korea. The management team of "Digital Warehouses" briefed Al Mahmoud at a meeting at the department's headquarters about the project's services, products, and goals for their participation in the international event. The meeting underscored the project's achievements in marketing and promotion, notably the establishment of a partnership agreement with Korean counterparts. This partnership seeks to draw prominent Korean e-commerce firms to set up their operations in the UAE, particularly in Sharjah. Al Mahmoud conveyed his pride regarding the achievements of entrepreneurial ventures associated with the Ruwad responsibility, highlighting their contribution to the improvement of the entrepreneurial landscape in Sharjah. He highlighted that these projects possess considerable potential to draw in investments and international partnerships, illustrating the crucial role of Emirati entrepreneurs in promoting Sharjah's economic objectives. (@ChaudhryMAli88) Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) Police have arrested three suspects, including a proclaimed offender involved in the murder of three individuals and two members of an extortion gang who demanded PKR 10 million from a businessman under threat of death ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 20th Jan, 2025) Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) Police have arrested three suspects, including a proclaimed offender involved in the murder of three individuals and two members of an extortion gang who demanded PKR 10 million from a businessman under threat of death. A police spokesperson told APP on Monday that Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Police, Syed Ali Raza, announced the arrests during a news conference on Monday, adding that the suspects were apprehended during operations and police recovered weapons, ammunition, a motorcycle, and mobile phones used in the crimes. He said during a press conference at the Rescue 15 Field Office, DIG Raza said that the arrests were made as part of a focused campaign under the special directives of Inspector General of Police Islamabad, Dr. Akbar Nasir Khan, to apprehend proclaimed offenders involved in serious crimes. DIG Raza explained that in Shahzad Town, a police team intercepted two suspicious individuals on a motorcycle. Upon being stopped, the suspects opened fire on the police. However, thanks to bulletproof vests and precautionary measures, the officers remained unharmed. DIG Raza said one suspect, identified as Ghulam Hussain Shah, was arrested on the spot with a 30-bore pistol, while his accomplice managed to escape. Investigations revealed that Shah was wanted in multiple cases, including three murders and the injury of four individuals. He and his accomplices were responsible for a September 26, 2024, shooting in the Ramna area that killed Taseer Hussain Shah and Wajid while injuring another person. Additionally, on January 2, 2025, Shah and his accomplices opened fire in Shahzad Town, killing Syed Aun Shah and injuring three others. Efforts to apprehend his accomplices are ongoing. In another major breakthrough, the Anti-Robbery and Anti-Extortion Unit arrested two suspects, Akram and Muhammad Imran, who demanded PKR 10 million from a businessman via WhatsApp calls, threatening to kill him if the demands were not met. The arrests were made using advanced technical methods. Police also recovered a mobile phone, motorcycle, and weapons used in the crime. DIG Syed Ali Raza reiterated Islamabad Police's commitment to tackling serious crimes and ensuring public safety./APP-rzr-mkz ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 20th Jan, 2025) In a significant step towards combating the growing tobacco epidemic among Pakistans youth, the Society for the Protection of the Rights of the Child (SPARC) on Monday convened a two-day dialogue titled "Discussion on Sustainable Tobacco Control Measures: Protecting Youth from Emerging Health Risks." The participants emphasized the need for strengthening policy frameworks, enhancing enforcement mechanisms, implementing higher tobacco taxes, regulating emerging tobacco products, and developing innovative public advocacy initiatives to protect the health of future generations. Barrister Dr. Muhammad Ali Saif, Advisor to Chief Minister KPK on Information and PRs emphasized on the grave implications of tobacco use on public health and its pervasive impact on society. The health of our future generations is at risk, and it is a challenge we cannot afford to ignore, he remarked. The consequences of inaction are severe, not only in terms of health but also regarding the economic burden and social costs that come with it. Collective action is imperative to safeguard our youth and protect the nation's future. Dr. Khalil Ahmad, Program Manager at SPARC, highlighted SPARCs ongoing initiatives and stressed the urgency for immediate and sustainable interventions. Tobacco use among our youth is a growing epidemic that poses severe health, social, and economic challenges. We must implement robust measures to curb this trend before it spirals out of control, he asserted. Prof. Dr. Matiur Rehman, Dean of Allied Healthcare Sciences at the Health Services academy (HSA), provided a comprehensive analysis of the tobacco epidemic. He stated that over 1.3 billion people worldwide use tobacco, leading to approximately 8 million deaths annually. In Pakistan, the economic burden of smoking on individuals aged 35 and above is estimated at PKR 615.07 billion. Dr. Rehman called for stringent regulations on emerging tobacco products such as e-cigarettes, highlighting their appeal to youth and the evolving regulatory challenges they pose. Dr. Faouzia Hanif, Deputy Director at the Ministry of National Health Services, Regulations & Coordination, revealed alarming statistics about tobaccos health toll in Pakistan, with over 160,000 deaths each year attributed to tobacco-related diseases and nearly 1,200 children aged 1014 years beginning to smoke daily. She underscored the need to strengthen existing laws and adopt new protective measures to reverse this troubling trend. Dr. Muhammad Asif, Chief Health at the Ministry of Planning, Development and Special Initiatives, addressed the broader impact of tobacco on non-communicable diseases (NCDs) like lung cancer, heart disease, and chronic respiratory conditions. He emphasized the importance of an integrated approach combining health warnings, public education, and youth engagement. Mr. Rao M. Rizwan from the Ministry of Climate Change and Environmental Coordination highlighted the environmental consequences of tobacco farming, including deforestation and soil degradation. He urged for sustainable agricultural practices to mitigate these adverse effects. Other key representatives from Federal board of Revenue (FBR), and PEMRA also attended the event and gave their remarks on important tobacco related issues including taxation, and role of media in shaping public opinions. The event concluded with actionable resolutions, including raising tobacco taxes, regulating new tobacco products, and enhancing public advocacy. The dialogue brought together key stakeholders from public health, regulatory authorities, taxation, environmental sectors, and media to explore comprehensive strategies addressing the multifaceted challenges posed by tobacco use among youth. Attendees reaffirmed their commitment to collaborative action. Participants included representatives from government ministries, regulatory bodies, civil society organizations, media, and international health organizations, reflecting a united front for sustainable tobacco control. PESHAWAR, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 20th Jan, 2025) On the directives of the Chief Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Ali Amin Gandapur, over 3,000 kilograms of emergency medicines have been airlifted to the District Headquarters (DHQ) Hospital Parachinar via helicopter. Advisor to the Chief Minister, Barrister Dr. Muhammad Ali Saif, stated that the Medical Superintendent (MS) of Parachinar Hospital had reported a critical shortage of medicines. In response, essential medical supplies were promptly dispatched. Additionally, other necessary items were sent to cater to the needs of residents amid the harsh cold weather. Due to security concerns and blocked roads caused by severe weather conditions, helicopters are being used for the transportation of medicines and supplies. This timely initiative ensures continued medical care for the residents of Parachinar during this challenging time. (@ChaudhryMAli88) ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 20th Jan, 2025) Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif on Monday directed the relevant authorities to prepare a comprehensive report for the construction of new modern hotels and other facilities through joint ventures and public-private partnerships to promote tourism in the country. "With the availability of modern facilities, tourism will be promoted across the country", the prime minister said while chairing a meeting regarding Capital Development Authority (CDA) affairs here. The prime minister appreciated the performance of CDA for successfully organizing the recent international conferences and other events in the Federal capital. "The initiation of international conferences in Pakistan is the certificate of our success on the diplomatic front," he said adding that the confidence of the friendly countries had been restored due to the continued efforts of the incumbent government. The prime minister emphasized the need to further improve hotels, hospitals, and other facilities to host international-level conferences and events in the country. He directed to ensure provision of the international standard facilities for guests coming from friendly countries. He also instructed the CDA to further improve facilities for the residents of the federal capital. The meeting was informed that the pre-feasibility reports regarding the construction of new hotels and the revival of non-operational government buildings in Islamabad had been prepared. The meeting was attended by Minister for Economic Affairs Ahad Khan Cheema, Chairman CDA and other top officials. The OxfordAQA School Leaders Conference, held in the capital city on Monday, brought together a diverse group of educational leaders, policymakers, and academic experts from in and around the city ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 20th Jan, 2025) The OxfordAQA school Leaders Conference, held in the capital city on Monday, brought together a diverse group of educational leaders, policymakers, and academic experts from in and around the city. Leveraging Islamabads unique role as a center for decision-making and policy development, the event focused on exploring innovative strategies to advance teaching, learning, and assessment in Pakistan. Delivering the keynote, Mohyuddin Ahmad Wani, Special Secretary of the Ministry of Federal Education & Professional Training, commented, The OxfordAQA School Leaders Conference in Islamabad presents a unique opportunity to bring together the brightest minds in education, as we chart a way forward for modern education, it is essential to ensure that our schools are not only preparing students for the future but are also leading the way in reshaping educational practices to meet the demands of an ever-changing world. With the theme Innovation in Teaching and Learning, the conference featured distinguished speakers and panelists, including Andrew Coombe, Managing Director, OxfordAQA International Qualifications, and Walid Mushtaq, CEO, Roots International Schools and Colleges. In his welcome address, Arshad Saeed Husain, Managing Director, Oxford University Press Pakistan, emphasized the need for collaborative leadership and global best practices to enhance educational standards. He said, We must realize the potential of learning from each other, and from the indigenous resources that we have in Pakistan.Education has to be relevant to the learner. We at OxfordAQA ensure synthesis of global and local to achieve the right balance. Adding on to Arshads message, Salma Adil, Director of OxfordAQA Pakistan, highlighted the organizations commitment to equipping students with future-ready skills. Amanda Ingram, Director of Exams, British Council, Pakistan, commented, We are delighted to partner with Oxford AQA to provide world-class UK qualifications to Pakistanis across the country.Together, we successfully delivered the inaugural Oxford AQA January 2025 exam series, ensuring exam security, supporting schools, and creating an optimal environment for student success. We look forward to further strengthening this valuable relationship. The event featured insightful discussions on, Future-proofing education to prepare students for an evolving world, Leading change through innovation in teaching and learning, Collaborative leadership in educational management, and Preparing for a digital future with OxfordAQAs forward-thinking assessment framework. A thought-provoking Q&A session with OxfordAQA leadership, including Theresa Crisham-Nimmo, Eoin MacGabhann, and Amanda Ingram, allowed educators to engage directly with global assessment experts. As Pakistan navigates a rapidly evolving educational landscape, the OxfordAQA School Leaders Conference provided a critical platform for stakeholders to exchange ideas and drive meaningful change. About Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is a branch of the University of Oxford, dedicated to global publishing for various audiences. They produce dictionaries, educational materials, children's books, journals, and more. With roots dating back to 1478, OUP received printing rights in 1586, extended to cover all book types in 1636. The Press is overseen by Delegates from the university's faculty who approve proposals and work closely with editors. The Chief Executive, also known as the Secretary to the Delegates, manages OUP's operations. Presently, OUP operates in 50+ countries, publishing in 90+ languages, making it the largest university press globally. (@ChaudhryMAli88) The Supreme Court of Pakistan on Monday granted time to PTI founders lawyer for preparation about objections of registrar office on a petition against alleged rigging in general elections 2024 ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 20th Jan, 2025) The Supreme Court of Pakistan on Monday granted time to PTI founders lawyer for preparation about objections of registrar office on a petition against alleged rigging in general elections 2024. A six-member bench headed by Justice Amin ud Din Khan heard the case filed by Pakistan Tehreek e Insaf (PTI)s founder against alleged rigging in general elections. Petitioners lawyer Hamid Khan appeared before the court and gave arguments on maintainability of the case. During the course of proceeding, Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail remarked that if you think the Election Commission of Pakistan is biased, then you should have gone to the relevant forum. He said that the court have to be told for the notification of each candidate. If there is a difference between Form 45 or 47, then one of them will be correct, he said, adding that a full inquiry is needed to check the form. Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail questioned that if the entire election from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to Balochistan was wrong. There will be a separate inquiry for each constituency and each candidate will tell the allegations of his constituency. He remarked that the issue of rigging in elections had been raised previously as well and an ordinance had to be brought for the inquiry. The matter didnt fall in jurisdiction of this court under article 184. The Deputy Attorney General, on the occasion, said that the Deputy Speaker has also formed a committee on the matter. Justice Mandokhail said that the court has no connection with that committee. Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar asked the petitioners lawyer Hamid Khan to come on next hearing with case preparations. The court, subsequently granted time to the PTI founders lawyer for case preparations and adjourned hearing for indefinite time. Beijing, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 20th Jan, 2025) China on Monday hailed the start of a long-awaited truce aimed at ending more than 15 months of war in Gaza. A ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas formally entered into force on Sunday, paving the way for the exchange of Palestinian prisoners and Israeli hostages. A spokeswoman for Beijing's foreign ministry said "China welcomes the Gaza ceasefire agreement coming into effect". "We hope that the agreement will be fully and continuously implemented, and that a comprehensive and permanent ceasefire in Gaza will be achieved," Mao Ning said at a regular press briefing. "China will continue to work with the international community to promote peace and stability in the middle East," she said. China has historically been sympathetic to the Palestinian cause and supportive of a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestinian conflict. God is great and He knows why he does what he does, according to Sol, who is wearing a borrowed coat, sandals and socks to keep out the cold wind in Ciudad Juarez. Only He knows why she and her two sons, ages 10 and 16, waited for a year for an appointment through the CBP One application to request asylum on humanitarian grounds in the U.S., but never got one. Only He knows why, after the boys turned themselves over to the border patrol after losing sight of their mother, it was then that Sol received the long-awaited confirmation for an interview on January 29, 2025, nine days after Donald Trumps inauguration. At first she was beside herself with excitement, then a sense of dread crept in: What do I do if Trump does away with the appointments? How will I see my children? Sol is a tall, blonde Venezuelan teacher. She scolds the kids at the shelter for smoking as she once did with her students; and she grabs the hot coffee handed out by an NGO to take to an elderly man who cant stand up to get in line. Wait for me here, Ill be right down, Sol tells him. She is one of the thousands of migrants who have been waiting for months on Mexican territory for the U.S. government to confirm their asylum appointment through CBP One, which is free to register to. Its either that or cross the border illegally with a guide or coyote, as they are known. Since the CBP One system was introduced in January 2023, more than one million migrants have opted to take this legal route. But, during his election campaign, Trump promised to get rid of the CBP One system that allows for humanitarian parole: Get ready to leave, he said then, directing the message to anyone who had been granted parole on humanitarian grounds. Now, as he takes his place in the White House, the threat has become real. Fear is everywhere. Priests who manage migrant shelters, such as Juan Fierro, from El buen Samaritano, tell it like this: All this will achieve is to boost crime, without a doubt. Meanwhile, researchers specialized in migration, such as Rodolfo Rubio, from El Colegio de Chihuahua, add: If CBP One disappears, the migrants will have very few options left. Those who are stranded here will have to return to their countries of origin, and many cannot. Either that or they fuel the market for smugglers. People cross the Paso del Norte Border Bridge to begin their asylum application from Ciudad Juarez. Nayeli Cruz The migrants wait, sharing a sense of trepidation. Angelica has been waiting in Juarez for 11 and a half months after leaving Michoacan in Mexico; Gloria and her family have been waiting for 11 months after leaving Guatemala; Roxana Cuyun left Chiapas seven months ago; Irene and her four children have been gone from Puebla, Mexico, for four. All are fleeing violence, domestic violence, organized crime, or their government. All are clicking every day on the application to see if they have been granted an interview; all are concerned for the future, particularly Sol, who has been separated from her children by the border and, perhaps too, the promises of an incoming president. Sol says she was slow to leave Venezuela. She wanted to wait in case things improved at home. She was the principal of a high school in Falcon, in the north of the country, and when she got divorced, she got custody of her three children. Besides giving class, she cleaned hotels and worked in a nursing home, and also set up a business. At one point, she was receiving $20 a month from Nicolas Maduros government as well as her share of police harassment. The first of her family to emigrate was her eldest son, who left for Chicago after being hounded by the Chavista regime. She has not seen him for more than two years. On January 8, 2024, she and the two younger ones tried to follow. The dream has always been the same, for all four to be together again. We crossed all the countries that everyone crosses, and also the jungle, she says quickly, but that is not the worst of the story. On January 22, they settled in Mexico City, where Sol got a night shift in a printing company. That kept them going until the beginning of December 2024, when several groups of Venezuelans decided to try to cross the border into the U.S. The 18th was Migrants Day, but they were misinformed about their chances. Migrants receive food and clothing outside a shelter in Ciudad Juarez. Nayeli Cruz The cold on top of the train... theres nothing that can compare to it, Sol says of the trip on the freight train known as La Bestia (The Beast). Thats what my children endured. That journey was followed by hours on foot, encounters with the police and the National Guard, pleas and fear. Finally, they arrived in Juarez, ready to cross. They tried to do so with a group of families; they crouched in the night, hiding from the trucks that could either belong to border police or a cartel. The cartel may kill you, but the border patrol will send you back, Sol observes. They crossed the river and arrived at the border soaking wet in freezing temperatures. We were misinformed, says Sol. They told us to buy gloves and balaclavas for the cold. But all of that got wet when we crossed the river. Then we had to undress the children and wrap them in a blanket. The temperature is low enough to give you hypothermia if youre wet. They were about three meters from the hole in the border fence when a girl in front of them got caught in the wire and started screaming. The U.S. patrol arrived and made them walk for 12 hours, promising they would be allowed across. There wasnt even a road. It was pure brush, and mud from the river. It was like the jungle all over again. I lost my shoes. I walked barefoot, with cuts on my feet, Sol explains. The group never made it to the other side. When they arrived back at the shelter, almost a day later, the children were feverish. By then, we had no more money, Sol says. They didnt have the 100 pesos a day that the shelter cost per person; they had nothing for food. On January 10, Sols children lost sight of her and ended up handing themselves over to the border patrol. With all weve been through, to be separated now? Am I a bad mother? she asks over and over. Three days after she lost her children, she was notified by email that her CBP One registration had been approved: But just mine, they are already there, she sobs. Its for the 29th, after Trump is in office, and if he cancels the appointment, how do I get through? Do you understand me? How do I get through? I read, I look for news, I get on TikTok, I get on Facebook... and no one has any answers. Sols children are now in a center in Brownsville, Texas, near Matamoros, 12 hours from Juarez. If I get across, I will look for them, and if they are returned, I will go back to wherever they are returned to, she says firmly. The economic situation in your own country forces you to separate from your family members, and if you emigrate you also get separated. Now we are uncertain, but I hope our story will touch someones heart there. That a period of grace will be allowed, and that the appointments that are already approved can go forward and that those that are not, at least give us another option. Many families depend on this to be reunited. The National Guard in Ciudad Juarez. Nayeli Cruz Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAIS USA Edition The mother of American journalist Austin Tice, who was taken captive during a reporting trip to Syria in August 2012, arrived in Damascus to step up the search for her son and said she hopes she can take him home with her. Tice, who worked as a freelance reporter for The Washington Post and McClatchy, was one of the first U.S. journalists to make it into Syria after the outbreak of the civil war. His mother, Debra Tice, drove into the Syrian capital from Lebanon with Nizar Zakka, the head of Hostage Aid Worldwide, an organization which is searching for Austin and believes he is still in Syria. "It'd be lovely to put my arms around Austin while I'm here. It'd be the best," Debra Tice told Reuters in the Syrian capital Saturday, which she last visited in 2015 to meet with Syrian authorities about her son, before they stopped granting her visas. The overthrow of Bashar al-Assad's regime in December by Syrian rebels has allowed her to visit again from her home in Texas. "I feel very strongly that Austin's here, and I think he knows I'm here... I'm here," she said. Debra Tice and Zakka are hoping to meet with Syria's new authorities, including the head of its new administration Ahmed al-Sharaa, to push for information about Austin. They are also optimistic that U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, who will be inaugurated Monday, will take up the cause. "I am hoping to get some answers. And of course, you know, we have [the] inauguration on Monday, and I think that should be a huge change," she said. "I know that President Trump is quite a negotiator, so I have a lot of confidence there. But now we have an unknown on this (Syrian) side. It's difficult to know, if those that are coming in even have the information about him," she said. Her son, now 43, was taken captive in August 2012, while traveling through the Damascus suburb of Daraya. Reuters reported earlier that in 2013 Tice, a former Marine, managed to slip out of his cell and was seen moving between houses in the streets of Damascus' upscale Mazzeh neighborhood. The New York Times first reported that brief escape and recapture. He was recaptured soon after his escape, likely by forces who answered directly to Assad, current and former U.S. officials said. Debra Tice came to Syria in 2012 and 2015 to meet with Syrian authorities, who never confirmed that Tice was in their custody, both she and Zakka said. She criticized outgoing U.S. President Joe Biden's administration, saying they did not negotiate hard enough for her son's release, even in recent months. "We certainly felt like President Biden was very well positioned to do everything possible to bring Austin home, right? I mean, this was the end of his career. This would be a wonderful thing for him to do. So, we had an expectation. He pardoned his own son, right? So, where's my son?" Debra Tice said her "mind was just spinning" as she drove across the Lebanese border into Syria and teared up as she spoke about the tens of thousands whose loved ones were held in Assad's notorious prison system and whose fate remains unknown. "I have a lot in common with a lot of Syrian mothers and families, and just thinking about how this is affecting them do they have the same hope that I do, that they're going to open a door, that they're going to see their loved one?" More than 80 people were killed in the country's northeast over the weekend following the government's failed attempts to hold peace talks with the National Liberation Army, a Colombian official said. Twenty others were injured in the violence that has forced thousands to flee as Colombia's army scrambled to evacuate people on Sunday, according to William Villamizar, governor of North Santander, where many of the killings took place. Among the victims were community leader Carmelo Guerrero and seven people who sought to sign a peace deal, according to a report that a government ombudsman agency released late Saturday. Officials said the attacks happened in several towns located in the Catatumbo region near the border with Venezuela, with at least three people who were part of the peace talks being kidnapped. Thousands of people are fleeing the area, with some hiding in the nearby lush mountains or seeking help at government shelters. "We were caught in the crossfire," said Juan Gutierrez, who fled with his family to a temporary shelter in Tibu after they were forced to leave behind their animals and belongings. "We had no time to grab our things. ... I hope the government remembers us. ... We are helpless here." Colombia's army rescued dozens of people on Sunday, including a family and their pet dog, whose owner held a pack of cold water against the animal's chest to keep it cool as they evacuated by helicopter. Defense Minister Ivan Velasquez traveled to the northeast town of Cucuta on Sunday where he held several security meetings and urged armed groups to demobilize. "The priority is to save lives and guarantee the security of communities," he said. "We have deployed our troops throughout the entire region." Officials also prepared to send 10 tons of food and hygiene kits for approximately 5,000 people in the communities of Ocana and Tibu, the majority of them having fled the violence. "Catatumbo needs help," Villamizar said in a public address on Saturday. "Boys, girls, young people, teenagers; entire families are showing up with nothing, riding trucks, dump trucks, motorcycles, whatever they can, on foot, to avoid being victims of this confrontation." The attack comes after Colombia suspended peace talks with the National Liberation Army, or ELN, on Friday, the second time it has done so in less than a year. Colombia's government has demanded that the ELN cease all attacks and allow authorities to enter the region and provide humanitarian aid. "Displacement is killing us here in the region," said Jose Trinidad, a municipal official for the town of Convencion, located in the North Santander region. "We're afraid the crisis will worsen." Trinidad called on insurgent groups to sit down and hammer out a new agreement so "us civilians don't have to suffer the consequences that we're suffering right now." The ELN has been clashing in Catatumbo with former members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, a guerrilla group that disbanded after signing a peace deal in 2016 with Colombia's government. The two are fighting over control of a strategic border region that has coca leaf plantations. In a statement Saturday, the ELN said it had warned former FARC members that if they "continued attacking the population ... there was no other way out than armed confrontation." The ELN has accused ex-FARC rebels of several killings in the area, including the Jan. 15 slaying of a couple and their 9-month-old baby. Army commander General Luis Emilio Cardozo Santamaria said Saturday that authorities were reinforcing a humanitarian corridor between Tibu and Cucuta for the safe passage of those forced to flee their homes. He said special urban troops also were deployed to municipal capitals "where there are risks and a lot of fear." The ELN has tried to negotiate a peace deal with the administration of President Gustavo Petro five times, with talks failing after bouts of violence. ELN demands include that it be recognized as a political rebel organization, which critics have said is risky. With just moments left before he leaves office, President Joe Biden commuted the life sentence of Indigenous activist Leonard Peltier, who was convicted in the 1975 killings of two FBI agents. Peltier was denied parole as recently as July and wasn't eligible for parole again until 2026. He was serving life in prison for the deaths of the agents during a standoff on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. He will transition to home confinement, Biden said in a statement. The fight for Peltier's freedom is entangled with the Indigenous rights movements. Nearly half a century later, his name remains a rallying cry. An enrolled member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa in North Dakota, Peltier was active in the American Indian Movement, which began in the 1960s as a local organization in Minneapolis that grappled with issues of police brutality and discrimination against Native Americans. It quickly became a national force. The movement grabbed headlines in 1973 when it took over the village of Wounded Knee on the Pine Ridge reservation, leading to a 71-day standoff with federal agents. Tensions between the movement and the government remained high for years. On June 26, 1975, agents came to Pine Ridge to serve arrest warrants amid battles over Native treaty rights and self-determination. After being injured in a shootout, agents Jack Coler and Ronald Williams were shot in the head at close range, FBI has said. Also killed in the shootout was American Indian Movement member Joseph Stuntz. Two other movement members, Robert Robideau and Dino Butler, were acquitted of killing Coler and Williams. After fleeing to Canada and being extradited to the United States, Peltier was convicted of two counts of first-degree murder and sentenced in 1977 to life in prison, despite defense claims that evidence against him had been falsified. Funding cuts to Afghanistan are the biggest threat to helping the countrys women, the chief of a top aid agency warned Sunday. Jan Egeland, the secretary-general of the Norwegian Refugee Council, said women and girls were bearing the brunt of dwindling financial support for nongovernmental groups and humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan. The NRC helped 772,484 Afghans in 2022. That number fell to 491,435 in 2023. Last year, the aid agency helped 216,501 people. Half of its beneficiaries are women. Egeland, who has made several visits to Afghanistan since 2021, said: We see one after the other peer organization cutting programming and staff in the last two years. The biggest threat to programs helping Afghan women is funding cuts. The biggest threat to the future well-being of Afghan women is [the lack of] education. The Taliban takeover in August 2021 drove millions into poverty and hunger after foreign aid stopped almost overnight. Sanctions against the countrys new rulers, a halt on bank transfers and frozen billions in Afghanistans currency reserves have cut off access to global institutions and the outside money that supported the aid-dependent economy before the withdrawal of U.S. and NATO forces. The U.N. and others have urged the international community to continue supporting the beleaguered country. Organizations like the Norwegian Refugee Council have helped keep public services afloat through education and health care programs, including nutrition and immunization. But women and girls face more obstacles in accessing health care and education because of restrictions imposed by authorities and an ongoing shortage of female medical professionals, also exacerbated by Taliban decrees. Egeland said Afghan women and girls had not forgotten world leaders telling them their number one priority was education and human rights. Now we cant even fund livelihood programming for widows and single mothers, he told The Associated Press by telephone from the western province of Herat. The international community provided humanitarian assistance in many countries where they disagreed with local policies. But opposition to Taliban policies, together with a general starving of aid funding in many countries, was worsening the shortfall in Afghanistan, he said. Egeland said most of his discussions with Taliban officials on his trip were about the need to resume classes for women and girls. They still argue that it will happen, but the conditions are not right," he said. "They say they need to agree on what the conditions are. A hospital in Goma has taken in more than 200 wounded since early January as fighting intensifies in eastern Congo, the Red Cross and local sources told AFP Monday. In recent weeks, the Congo's restive east has seen escalating clashes between the Congolese army and the M23 Movement an armed group backed by Rwanda. With the M23 closing in on Goma, the provincial capital's hospital has had to tend to more and more people hit by the fighting, according to the Red Cross. "We have seen an influx of wounded people since the start of January," Myriam Favier, head of the International Committee of the Red Cross in North Kivu province, told AFP. "Between the 1 and 21 of December we saw 100 patients (and) between the 1 and 20 January we had 211 patients," Favier added. On Monday the fighting reached the hills of Sake, a town approximately 20 kilometers west of Goma. Explosions could be heard from Goma in the morning, according to AFP journalists. Since its resurgence in late 2021, the M23 which claims to defend ethnic Tutsis has seized vast swathes of the Congo's mineral-rich east. In early January the M23 seized control of Masisi, the administrative capital of Masisi territory located 80 kilometers from Goma. 'Most alarming' The Congolese army has since been attempting to retake the city in a counteroffensive that has provoked a fresh wave of displacements. More than 230,000 people have fled violence in eastern Congo since the start of the year, the United Nations said Friday, labeling it one of the world's "most alarming" humanitarian crises. Humanitarian charity Doctors Without Borders on Monday said in a statement it was "reiterating" its call for "respect for health and humanitarian facilities." The statement came after two of its workers were "slightly injured when a rocket hit the MSF garage next to the Masisi General Referral hospital [and] ... on the same day, another rocket hit a latrine near the hospital." Several security sources told AFP the intensity of the fighting is currently at a level not seen for months, with a high number of deaths and the use of heavy artillery. An experts report commissioned by the U.N. Security Council said in July that 3,000 to 4,000 Rwandan soldiers had been fighting alongside the M23 rebels and that Kigali had "de facto control" of the group's operations. A ceasefire between Israel and Hamas was holding Monday, with the two sides in the early stages of a six-week pause in fighting that could lead to an end to the war that began in October 2023. So far three of the 99 hostages held by Hamas militants in Gaza have been released, with 30 others set to be freed in the first stage of the agreement. Israel also has set free 90 Palestinian prisoners and detainees, all of them women and teenagers, according to Hamas, with hundreds more to follow. Hamas said Monday it would next release hostages held in Gaza on Saturday in exchange for Palestinian prisoners and detainees who are held by Israel. The United Nations has surged badly needed food aid to Gaza and says it plans to bring in 150 trucks of food every day to help Palestinian civilians who have seen their lives upended by the fighting. The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said 915 aid trucks entered Gaza on Monday. More than 1.8 million people are in need of emergency shelter in Gaza, according to the U.N., which also estimated in a report last year that it could take until 2040 to rebuild the territorys destroyed housing. The ceasefire began around midday Sunday, and hours later a Red Cross convoy brought hostages Romi Gonen, Emily Damari and Doron Steinbrecher safely back to Israel. Early Monday, Israel freed the 90 Palestinian prisoners and detainees, with large buses taking them from Israels Ofer prison just outside the West Bank city of Ramallah. Palestinians crowded the buses, chanting and cheering, as celebratory fireworks burst overhead. The ceasefire came after months of negotiations led by the United States, Egypt and Qatar. The talks intensified during the past few weeks, with teams from both the outgoing administration of U.S. President Joe Biden and the team of incoming President Donald Trump pushing for a deal before Trumps inauguration Monday. Mediators are on standby to address any problems that may arise during the ceasefire, according to media reports. These kinds of deals are never easy to maintain, said Majed al-Ansari, spokesperson for Qatars Foreign Ministry. Any party could consider a threat a reason to violate the parameters of the agreement, and, therefore, we would end up with having to go in and to find a way to resume the ceasefire, the spokesperson added. The current conflict began on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas, a U.S.-designated terror group, attacked Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking 250 hostage. Israels counteroffensive in Gaza has killed more than 47,000, with most of them women and children, although the Israeli military contends, without providing evidence, that it has killed 17,000 militants. In addition to the people being released and aid going into Gaza, the agreement also calls for Israeli troops to pull back into a buffer zone inside the Gaza Strip and for many displaced Palestinians to be allowed to return home. Negotiations on the far more difficult second phase of this ceasefire should begin in just over two weeks. Major questions remain, including whether the war will resume after the first phase and how the rest of the hostages in Gaza will be freed. Some information in this report came from The Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse. Taiwan's premier said on Monday the government faced a crisis in day-to-day operations, including national security, because of large cuts to this year's budget proposed by opposition parties, who have cited a need to cut waste. Although Lai Ching-te won the presidential election last year, his Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lost its majority in parliament, giving the opposition the most seats and legislative control that includes spending proposals. The main opposition party, the Kuomintang (KMT), together with the small Taiwan People's Party, has proposed a record $6.55 billion in cuts to the budget, about 7% of the total, saying they are targeting waste. The opposition has also proposed freezing another $8.25 billion in spending, a number the cabinet said was 20 times higher than the past average, urging calm and rationality. Speaking to reporters ahead of voting on the budget in parliament on Monday and Tuesday, Premier Cho Jung-tai called it an unprecedented "budget storm" that would hurt government functions from national security to health care. "Please withdraw all proposals that would paralyze the government and impact national security," Cho said. "It will lead to administrative departments finding it hard to operate, and even basic tasks will be hard to carry out." "Hostile China will be very pleased," Cho added, pointing to cuts to security units, including the digital ministry, which tackles an average of 2.4 million cyber attacks a day, most of which Taiwan says are launched by Chinese cyber forces. Over the weekend, the defense ministry urged the opposition to rethink a 15% cut to its overseas travel budget, which it said will deal a "very bad impact" to the military's engagements with allies. The opposition has proposed cutting the budgets of some departments, including the China-policy making Mainland Affairs Council, to less than $1. On Saturday, the KMT said that the DPP was trying to protect a "fat cat budget" filled with waste and that the cuts remained in the proposal stage, accusing the ruling party of rumor mongering and trying to spread fear. "The budget cut proposals we have seen so far are all in the state of not yet being finalized, but the DPP is so nervous that they are shouting harder than anyone else to protect the green fat cat budget," it said, referring to the DPP's party color. Xi extends Spring Festival greetings to military veterans Xinhua) 08:02, January 20, 2025 Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), extends Spring Festival greetings to the country's military veterans while attending a gala held by the CMC for retired military officers of Beijing-based troops in Beijing, capital of China, Jan. 17, 2025. (Xinhua/Li Gang) BEIJING, Jan. 18 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping has extended Spring Festival greetings to the country's military veterans. Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), extended the greetings while attending a gala held by the CMC for retired military officers of Beijing-based troops on Friday. Xi joined the veterans to their warm applause, asking them about their health and living conditions. They looked back together on the extraordinary journey of the Party, the country and the military over the past year and major achievements. The veterans vowed to rally more closely around the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, resolutely follow the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, and implement Xi Jinping's thinking on strengthening the military. They pledged to carry on fine traditions, maintain political integrity, and make new contributions to building a strong country and realizing national rejuvenation on all fronts through a Chinese path to modernization. This year's Spring Festival, also referred to as Chinese New Year, falls on Jan. 29. (Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Zhong Wenxing) 116 Ohio Clergy Turn Tables on FFRF Atheist Group: 'Wisconsin Youth Would Benefit from LifeWise' NEWS PROVIDED BY FrontlinesOhio Jan. 20, 2025 LEXINGTON, Ohio, Jan. 20, 2025 /Standard Newswire/ -- Last year the atheist organization, the Freedom from Religion Foundation (FFRF) sent a letter to every Ohio school district discouraging Ohio school boards from participating in LifeWise Academy. While FFRF skeptics believe the released-time religious instruction program disrupts the school day, a large band of faith leaders believe FFRF is pushing the envelope and meddling with their state. In response, the clergy sent a correspondence to over one-hundred Wisconsin school boards encouraging them to allow the voluntary Bible program in their districts. According to Pastor John Bouquet, the Wisconsin-based FFRF is an anti-GOD legal organization that takes great interest in how Ohioans live their lives. In this country, angry atheists are free to be wrong. The FFRFs unsolicited legal advice complaining about our religious holiday displays, police chaplains, state motto, and now released-time religious instruction programs have led to embarrassing defeats. Their donor list in Ohio has got to be shrinking. Pastor Bouquet adds, Released-time instruction was always legal in Ohio, but FFRF was giving out misleading information. When the Attorney General, and then the State Legislature filled in the gaps to solidify released-time, that was a pretty humiliating blow for FFRF, the Ashland County faith leader said. In the legal sense, when it comes to Acts of GOD, they (FFRF) will always be on the losing side. Recently the Ohio legislature passed a law at the end of the 2023-24 session signed by Governor Mike DeWine requiring local school boards to adopt a policy on released-time religious instruction. This new statute opens the door for released-time in every school district in the state, like in Wisconsin, where students are permitted to be dismissed for 1-3 hours per week. The Ohio-based LifeWise Academy launched its two initial Ohio school district pilots the same year lead clergymen from 150 Ohio congregations declared 2019 as The Year of the Bible. Today, LifeWise Academy enrolls nearly 50,000 students from almost 600 public schools across more than 29 states. Consequently, LifeWise has a strong presence in Ohio with 337 school districts presently enrolled. The clergy letter sent to over one-hundred Wisconsin school boards consisted of faith leaders from fourteen different Ohio counties; several of the pastors are elected school board members. Counties with the most lead clergy co-signers included Richland, Crawford, and Ashland Counties. For more information, go to: https://frontlinesohio.com/index.php/2025/01/05/ohio-clergy-turn-tables-on-ffrf-atheist-group-wisconsin-youth-would-benefit-from-lifewise-video/ SOURCE FrontlinesOhio CONTACT: Benjamin Mutti, 419-884-3648, bjmutt@gmail.com President-elect Donald Trump takes the oath of office during the Presidential Inauguration in the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025. Donald Trump on Monday consummated his triumphant return to the presidency of the United States, taking the oath as the 47th president with the intention of exercising power from day one through dozens of executive orders. His return to the White House is marked by promises of political revenge, plans for massive deportations, climate denialism, and a foreign agenda that blends new imperialist desires and isolationism. From this moment on, Americas decline is over, he said to applause. Our nations glorious destiny will no longer be denied. The Golden age of America begins right now, from this day forward America will reclaim its rightful place as the greatest, most powerful, most respected nation on Earth inspiring the awe and admiration of the entire world, he said in an address in which he promised not the Moon but Mars, to the delight of business tycoon Elon Musk, who was present at the ceremony. Bringing up the attempt on his life last July during the campaign, when a bullet grazed his ear, Trump portrayed himself as graced by divine intervention: I was saved by God to make America great again. With no time to lose, he used his speech to announce the first decrees to turn the page on Joe Bidens presidency and to strike a pose of authority on immigration, energy and diversity. According to the new president, January 20, 2025 is Liberation Day. Trump took the oath of office at 12.02 p.m. A volley of cannon fire outside the Capitol marked the beginning of the presidency. Two blocks from the White House, the Proud Boys, one of the groups that led the assault on the Capitol on January 6, 2021, celebrated Trumps return four years after trying to retain power after losing the election. President Donald Trump delivers remarks during inauguration ceremonies at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, on Jan. 20, 2025. Angelina Katsanis (via REUTERS) Today I will sign a series of executive orders. First I will declare a national emergency at our southern border, he said, to long applause. All illegal entry will immediately be halted and we will begin the process of returning millions and millions of criminal aliens back to the places from which they came. And I will send troops to the southern border to repel the disastrous invasion of our country. Under the orders I signed today, we will also be designating the cartels as foreign terrorist organizations, and by invoking the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, I will direct our government to use the full and immense power of federal and state law enforcement to eliminate the presence of all foreign gangs and criminal networks bringing devastating crime to U.S. soil, including our cities and inner cities. The orders, the president added, would signal the beginning of the complete restoration of America and the revolution of common sense. Its all about common sense. His 2017 inauguration address remained in memory as that of American carnage, an apocalyptic description of the country that he still maintains. However, his tone this time was somewhat more constructive. He presented himself as a peacemaker and unifier despite being the most polarizing figure in American politics in recent decades. And, despite the fact that he won the narrowest popular vote victory in decades, with the country almost split in two halves, he hyped his triumph as a closing of ranks around him and his program. As he had throughout the election campaign, the new president also took the opportunity to aim criticism at the previous administration, who he accused of giving unlimited funding to the defense of foreign borders while refusing to defend American borders or, more importantly, its own people. We now have a government that cannot manage a simple crisis at home, while at the same time stumbles into a continuing catalog of catastrophic events abroad. Repeating a recent claim as he promised to expand Americas territory after setting his sights on Greenland Trump went on to say that 38,000 Americans had died in the construction of the Panama Canal, a figure historians have debunked, and told his audience: China is operating the Panama Canal and we didnt give it to China. We gave it to Panama. And were taking it back. The Republican magnate also stated that he would plant the Stars and Stripes on the planet Mars. In a similar vein, Trump announced he had signed an executive order to change the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America. Trump continued with his plans for policy changes, saying that we will forge a society that is color-blind, and merit-based. As of today, it will henceforth be the official policy of the United States government that there are only two genders, male and female. He also said he will declare a national energy emergency and we will drill, baby, drill to boost hydrocarbon production, although the United States has broken oil production records under Biden. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk gestures during a rally on the inauguration day of U.S. President Donald Trump's second Presidential term, inside Capital One, in Washington, U.S. January 20, 2025. Mike Segar (REUTERS) Before the swearing-in ceremony, Trump held a meeting with the outgoing president Joe Biden at the White House. There were 800 guests following the ceremony in the Capitol rotunda, including former presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama, as well as the business tycoon Elon Musk. Another 1,300 people were following the event from indoor rooms due to the bitterly cold weather. Hours before the inauguration, Biden approved pre-emptive pardons for the House committee that investigated the attack on the Capitol and the government team that coordinated the fight against Covid. Beneficiaries include former Representative Liz Cheney, a Republican; Dr Anthony S. Fauci, who was the Chief Medical Advisor to the President from 2021 to 2022 and served as one of the lead members of the White House Coronavirus Task Force under Trump, with whom he was often at odds over Covid policy. Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAIS USA Edition President-elect Donald Trump says that future financial assistance to Afghanistan will be contingent upon the return of U.S. military equipment by the Taliban leaders currently in power. Trumps remarks at a Sunday rally in Washington on the eve of his January 20 inauguration have heightened uncertainty regarding his administrations stance on the crisis-hit South Asian nation. They [Biden administration] gave billions of billions of dollars to the Taliban. They gave our military equipment, a big chunk of it, to the enemy, Trump said. He referred to the tumultuous and hasty withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan in August 2021, ordered by President Joe Biden. If were going to pay billions of dollars a year, tell them were not going to give them the money unless they give back our military equipment. ... So, we will give them a couple of bucks; we want the military equipment back, Trump stated without elaborating. A report issued by the U.S. Department of Defense in 2022 revealed that approximately $7 billion worth of military equipment was left behind in Afghanistan following the completion of the military withdrawal. The equipment in question, which included aircraft, air-to-ground munitions, military vehicles, weapons, communications equipment, and other materials, was subsequently seized by the Taliban. The de facto Afghan rulers have since repeatedly displayed the U.S. military gear in their so-called victory day celebrations over the past three years. The foreign troop exit stemmed from the February 2020 Doha Agreement that the first Trump administration negotiated with the then-insurgent Taliban. Biden completed and defended the military withdrawal, saying the choice he had was either to follow through on that agreement or be prepared to go back to fighting the Taliban. Following the withdrawal, the Biden administration largely isolated the Taliban and imposed new sanctions on the group. Washington, however, has continued to be the largest donor to Afghanistan, a country that the United Nations says is suffering through one of the severest humanitarian crises in the world. U.S. officials have also engaged in diplomatic efforts with the Taliban to negotiate the release of certain U.S. detainees and assisted in relocating Afghan allies who had helped American forces. US gives cash for humanitarian aid The billions of dollars that Trump repeatedly has referred to are likely the cash shipments being channeled through the U.N. and non-governmental organizations to support humanitarian programs in Afghanistan. Washington remains the primary donor and has spent approximately $3 billion in humanitarian aid since the U.S. withdrawal. Thomas Ruttig from the independent Afghanistan Analysts Network warned of challenges for the Taliban under the Trump administration. He noted that some members of Congress and incoming administration officials took part in the 20-year U.S. mission in Afghanistan and have been highly critical of the Taliban. Despite this, he stated that countering regional terrorism is a significant concern in Washington, and it could potentially encourage the Trump administration to seek cooperation with the Taliban to combat terrorist organizations, including the Afghanistan-based affiliate of the Islamic State terrorist organization known as IS-Khorasan. Ruttig said that Tim Burchett, Republican vice chair of the U.S. Congresss Foreign Affairs Committee, recently introduced a bill, the No Tax Dollars for Terrorists Act, to ensure that U.S. tax money does not end up in the hands of the Taliban. The U.N. Assistance Mission in Afghanistan denies that cash shipments for humanitarian programs are financing the Taliban. The mission says the current setup in which cash is physically brought to Afghanistan and placed in designated U.N. accounts in a private bank is in place because of a ban on international banking transfers and ongoing liquidity issues. All these funds are then distributed directly to the United Nations entities, as well as to a small number of approved and vetted humanitarian partners in Afghanistan, according to the mission. Taliban leaders have rejected Trumps assertions that their government received U.S. financial aid, stating that they do not expect or seek any assistance from Washington. Instead, it (U.S.) has confiscated and frozen billions of dollars that rightfully belong to the people of Afghanistan, said a Taliban statement in response to Trumps remarks earlier this month. Ruttig warns that punitive measures and sanctions to pressure the Taliban into submission might also provoke them to stop cooperation with international stakeholders. Today, the US-Taliban Doha Agreement is still considered valid and obliges the Taliban to restrict ISKP and other groups from using their shelter in Afghanistan to commit terrorist acts in the West. This could be jeopardized by new quasi-sanctions on them, he said in written comments. Taliban hopes for better relations Masuda Sultan, an Afghan American advocate for womens rights, is doubtful the new Trump administration will substantially change its stance on the Taliban. Instead, she expects the U.S. will cut aid contributions to U.N.-funded programs like the World Food Program that have supported the countrys most vulnerable. At the same time, Taliban leaders appear publicly optimistic about a favorable shift in U.S. policy under the Trump presidency, attributing this to their Doha pact with his previous Trump administration. Kabul promptly welcomed Trumps election victory just one day after he was declared the winner of the United States presidential vote. The Taliban foreign ministry issued a formal statement expressing its hope that the incoming U.S. administration will adopt a pragmatic approach to ensure tangible advancement in bilateral relations, allowing both nations to open a new chapter of relations grounded in mutual engagement. Earlier this month, Taliban Deputy Foreign Minister Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai commended Trump as a decisive and courageous leader. Stanikzai suggested that Trump reconsider Bidens policy and adopt a new approach. We want to build good relations with the international community and the Western countries, Stanikzai said in televised remarks in local language. An enemy doesnt remain an enemy forever, and a friend doesnt remain a friend forever either, he added. The National Mall in Washington was lined with hundreds of porta-potties Monday, but its unlikely many of the portable restrooms got much use. They had been set up for the hundreds of thousands of people who were expected to watch as Donald Trump took the oath of office to become the 47th president of the United States. But Mondays cold temperatures, which hovered around minus 6.6 degrees Celsius, meant Trumps swearing-in ceremony was moved indoors. The last-minute change left many Trump supporters feeling disappointed because they had traveled to Washington to see Trumps inauguration in person, they told VOA. Unable to watch the inauguration like they had planned, some gathered on the National Mall on Monday morning, as close to the U.S. Capitol Building as the fences allowed. Melanie Voll, from Ohio, had received tickets from her representative, Bob Latta, to watch the inauguration. With this beautiful sunshine, and no wind, its extra disappointing, Voll said. She and her son both wore Make America Great Again hats as they walked down the National Mall. Were from the Midwest, so were used to the cold, she added. Those with tickets for the Presidential Platform and members of Congress were still able to attend the ceremony in person. But moving the inauguration indoors meant the vast majority of ticketed guests, like Voll, were unable to watch the inauguration in person. Friends Emma and Paige, from Kentucky and South Carolina, agreed they were disappointed that the inauguration was moved indoors. Absolutely we were disappointed, Paige said. The whole reason was to come and be able to stand outside and watch it happen, but were still enjoying the day. Its a nice day outside. They declined to share their last names because weve got jobs, Paige said. Carmen and Jeff Mayo, from Yakima, Washington, told VOA they were also disappointed that they couldnt watch the inauguration in person, but added they were happy that Trump would be president again. The main thing is that it happens and that he is sworn into office and the changes begin to occur, Carmen Mayo said. Unable to watch the inauguration outside, some Trump supporters planned to watch from Capital One Arena in Washington. A 76-year-old Falun Dafa member named Angela, who declined to provide her last name, told VOA thats where she was headed after stopping at the National Mall. Falun Dafa, also known as Falun Gong, is a religious movement banned by Beijing. Angela said she voted for Trump because I think the most important thing is that people are kind to each other. While speaking with VOA, she emphasized that she was speaking in her personal capacity, not for the religious organization. Others, like Jeff Wood from Texas, said he wasnt able to buy a ticket to the Capital One event before it sold out. But since he had already planned to come to Washington, he decided to still come. Might as well come see whats happening, he said. Not everyone on the National Mall was a Trump supporter. One man staged a small protest in defense of transgender rights. Civil rights groups say they view Trumps agenda as a threat to transgender rights. Trump on Monday plans to sign an executive order declaring that the U.S. government will recognize only two sexes, male and female, as well as orders rolling back protections for transgender people and diversity, equality and inclusion programs within the federal government, according to an official in his new administration. A trio of Norwegian tourists said it was a coincidence that they were in Washington on Inauguration Day. Its very interesting, Lise Johnsen said. And many vendors on the streets of Washington sold Trump merchandise. One of them, Jordan Steckler, said he didnt support Trump, but that he was selling the merchandise to make money. Other vendors, like Cecelia Garcia, were major Trump supporters. Originally from Mexico but now based in California, Garcia said she drove across the country to sell merchandise on Inauguration Day. Garcia also said she was present during the Jan. 6, 2021, attack at the Capitol, during which Trump supporters tried to overturn the results of the 2020 election. Garcia said she didnt enter the building but was selling her merchandise outside. It was beautiful, she said. On Monday, with just hours left in his presidency, President Joe Biden pardoned members of the House committee that investigated the Jan. 6 attack to shield them from potential politically motivated retribution by the new Trump administration. Trump has said repeatedly that he will pardon people who participated in the attack. Some material in this report is from The Associated Press. Ukraines military said Monday it shot down 93 of the 141 drones that Russian forces launched overnight in attacks targeting regions across the country. The intercepts took place over the Cherkasy, Chernihiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk, Kharkiv, Kherson, Khmelnytskyi, Kirovohrad, Kyiv, Mykolaiv, Poltava, Sumy and Vinnytsia regions, Ukraines air force said. Dnipropetrovsk Governor Serhiy Lysak said on Telegram that Russian attacks, which also included artillery and missiles, damaged four high-rise buildings. Russias Defense Ministry said Monday it destroyed more than 30 Ukrainian aerial drones late Sunday and early Monday. Kaluga Governor Vladislav Shapsha said on Telegram that falling debris from a destroyed drone sparked a fire at a business that was quickly extinguished. In Belgorod, Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said a drone attack hit a car, injuring a woman. The Ukrainian assault also damaged six houses, Gladkov said. Russian air defense also shot down drones over the Bryansk, Kursk, Ryazan, Oryol and Tatarstan regions. Later on Monday, the regional governor of Russias Voronezh region said a falling Ukraine drone sparked a new fire at an oil storage depot in the region. There were no casualties, Alexander Gusev said in a post on Telegram. Russias Defense Ministry also said on Monday that Russian troops took control of the villages of Shevchenko and Novoiehorivka in eastern Ukraine. VOA could not independently verify the battlefield report. Some information for this report was provided by Agence France-Presse and Reuters. Metal fences, concrete barriers and security checkpoints still line many the walkways and cross streets of the National Mall extending from the U.S. Capitol down past some of Washingtons most noted landmarks as the nation prepares to swear in its 47th president. But while the 0.6-square-kilometer (146-acre) swath of land is often the highlight of many a tourist visit, it is no longer the focus of security efforts for when President-elect Donald Trump takes the oath of office for a second time. Frigid temperatures forecast for much of Monday led Trump to move the festivities inside the inauguration to the U.S. Capitol Rotunda and the traditional inaugural parade to the nearby Capital One Arena. The changes, first announced Friday, presented a last-minute hitch for security and law enforcement officials, who had been planning for the inauguration for the past year. And it has left them, and the approximately 25,000 law enforcement and military personnel charged with security, with multiple challenges. We will shift those assets, said the U.S. Secret Services Matt McCool, briefing reporters Sunday. We have not cut anything from what our original plan was, he said. Im very confident, with our partners here, we will be ready. The numbers could make the situation especially trying. Organizers had expected about 250,000 ticketed guests to descend on the U.S. Capitol and the National Mall to watch the inauguration. Only a select few will be allowed into the Capitol Rotunda, which accommodates just 600 people. And the Capital One Area seats just 20,000. If even just a fraction of the 250,000 people who had planned on attending the inauguration try to get to the arena, there could be a crunch. Washington Metropolitan Police Chief Pamela Smith said Sunday her force, bolstered by and about 4,000 police officers from across the U.S., will be ready. Nothing has really changed, Smith told reporters. The police officers that were committed and dedicated to coming here, well be flexible in how well adjust [their] movement. So, we will still have police officers in places and spaces around our city as we initially planned. Some of those officers, Smith said, will still be assigned to the original parade route in anticipation that some people will try to get a glimpse of the presidential motorcade as it goes by. U.S. Capitol Police said they also anticipate having officers on the periphery of the West Front of the Capitol now closed off with the inauguration moved indoors ready to direct ticketed guests who will no longer be able to attend. In addition, the inaugural security contingent, which includes the U.S. Secret Service, the FBI, U.S. Capitol Police, Washington Metropolitan Police, and some 7,800 members of the U.S. Army and Air National Guard, will all be coordinated from a command center linked into an expanded network of cameras keeping watch on the city. And though security measures in some areas, including along parts of the National Mall, have been relaxed, officials said there will be plenty of reminders for anyone coming to Washington that this is no ordinary time. They will see tactical teams, McCool said, during an earlier briefing with reporters last week. They'll see, officers and agents on rooftops, theyll see checkpoints. They'll see road closures and barriers in concrete. Even before the inauguration was moved inside, officials had been preparing for what they described as a higher threat environment, cautioning the security plans for this inauguration were already more robust than in the past. "The biggest threat, I think, for all of us remains the lone actor, said Capitol Police Chief Tom Manger. That threat remains the biggest justification for us being on this heightened stage state of alert. Those concerns were heightened following the New Years Day terror attack and truck ramming in New Orleans and the Las Vegas Cybertruck explosion outside the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada. Earlier this month Capitol Police arrested two men suspected of trying to disrupt the state funeral for former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, one who tried to bring knives and a machete into the Capitol and another who set their car on fire. Research, including a recent survey by the University of Chicago Project on Security and Threats, adds to the concerns. Over 5% of the American public supports the use of force to prevent Donald Trump from becoming president, Robert Pape, the projects director, told VOA. That equates to 14,000,000 American adults, he said. That's an unfortunately disturbing number. Already, Trump was also the target of two attempted assassinations. There is also an ongoing threat from Iran. Despite repeated Iranian denials, U.S. security and law enforcement officials have accused Tehran of trying to kill Trump, unveiling one plot set to be carried out last year, in the days after the U.S. presidential election. For now, though, U.S. officials see no signs of impending trouble. The FBI is not currently tracking any credible or specific threats to the inaugural ceremony or the Capitol complex, the bureaus Washington Field Office told VOA. We will continue to work closely with our partners to share information and identify and disrupt any threats that may emerge. Another source for concern is the tens of thousands of protesters, though so far, there have been no major incidents. Saturdays Peoples March, which was permitted to have as many as 50,000 protesters, sparked only brief tensions with Trump supporters. Another group, called We Fight Back, has permits for protests involving about 10,000 people in across several locations on Monday. Please note that [we] will ensure your right to peacefully protest and assemble, said the Metropolitan Police Departments Smith. However, I want to reiterate, as I always have, that violence, destruction and unlawful behavior will not be tolerated, she said. Offenders will face swift and decisive consequences anyone who thinks that they can come into this city to destroy property, we will be prepared to deal with them. Kim Lewis contributed to this report. The World Health Organization said Sunday it was ready to pour much-needed aid into Gaza after the Israel-Hamas truce takes effect but that it would need "systematic access" across the territory to do so. Much of the Gaza Strip's health infrastructure has been demolished by the more than year-long war between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas before a truce took hold Sunday. While the United Nations' health body was "ready to scale up the response" to address the territory's critical needs, the WHO said, "it is critical that the security obstacles hindering operations are removed." "WHO will need conditions on the ground that allow systematic access to the population across Gaza, enabling the influx of aid via all possible borders and routes, and lifting restrictions on the entry of essential items," the agency said in a statement. Until the truce, Israel had complete control over the volume and nature of aid allowed into Gaza. Warning that the "health challenges ahead are immense," the Geneva-based agency estimated the cost of rebuilding Gaza's battered health system in the years to come at "billions in investment." Last week the WHO put the figure at more than $10 billion. "Only half of Gaza's 36 hospitals remain partially operational, nearly all hospitals are damaged or partly destroyed, and just 38% of primary health care centers are functional," the WHO said. Basing its figures on those provided by the Hamas-run territory's health ministry, which the U.N. considers reliable, the WHO put the war's toll in Gaza at more than 46,600 people killed and over 110,000 injured. A quarter of those injured "face life-changing injuries and will need ongoing rehabilitation," the U.N. body estimated. Around another 12,000 people need to be evacuated for urgent treatment elsewhere, it added, while warning the destruction of health infrastructure had had knock-on effects. The WHO also expressed concern over the "breakdown of public order, exacerbated by armed gangs" interfering with aid deliveries to Gaza. World leaders on Monday are congratulating President Donald Trump on his inauguration as the 47th president of the United States. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was among those who congratulated Trump. President Trump is always decisive, and the peace through strength policy he announced provides an opportunity to strengthen American leadership and achieve a long-term and just peace, which is a top priority, Zelenskyy said. The third anniversary of the Russia-Ukraine war is approaching at the end of February. Trump previously promised to end the Russia-Ukraine war in one day after becoming president, or even before his inauguration. More recently, Trump advisers have said resolving the conflict will now take months or even longer. Trump has voiced skepticism of continued U.S. military support for Kyiv. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also congratulated President Trump. I believe that working together again will raise the U.S.-Israeli alliance to even greater heights, Netanyahu said. A ceasefire between Israel and Hamas began Sunday, just one day before Trump assumed the presidency. I look forward to working with you to return the remaining hostages, to destroy Hamas military capabilities and end its political rule in Gaza, and to ensure that Gaza never again poses a threat to Israel, Netanyahu added. Congratulations also rolled in from NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, as well as U.S. allies like Germany, Italy and Britain. The U.S. is our closest ally, and the aim of our policy is always a good transatlantic relationship, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer pointed to the longtime relationship between the United States and the United Kingdom. For centuries, the relationship between our two nations has been one of collaboration, cooperation and enduring partnership, Starmer said. With President Trumps longstanding affection and historical ties to the United Kingdom, I know that depth of friendship will continue. And Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who attended the inauguration at the Capitol Rotunda in Washington, said she is certain that the friendship between our nations and the values that unite us will continue to strengthen the cooperation between Italy and the USA. But not all of the messages were congratulatory. Panamas President Jose Raul Mulino rejected a portion of Trumps inaugural address, in which Trump reaffirmed his desire to reassert U.S. control over the Panama Canal. The United States fully ceded control of the strategically important canal to Panama in 1999. On behalf of the Republic of Panama and its people, I must fully reject the words outlined by President Donald Trump regarding Panama and its canal in his inaugural speech, Mulino said in a statement. Some information in this report came from Reuters. By Ken Bredemeier Republican Donald Trump was inaugurated again Monday as the 47th U.S. president, calling for a revolution of common sense and vowing to quickly order sweeping policy changes, including the deportation of millions of undocumented migrants living in the United States back to their home countries. The golden age of America begins right now, Trump declared in his half-hour inaugural address. From this moment on, Americas decline is over. We will lead it to new heights of victory and success. There is no dream we cannot achieve. We will not be broken. We will not fail. I return to the presidency confident and optimistic that we are at the start of a thrilling new era of national success. A tide of change is sweeping the country, Trump told a crowd of about 600 people in the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol and millions watching on TV throughout the country. My message to Americans today is that it is time for us to once again act with courage, vigor and the vitality of historys greatest civilization, he said. Trump, 78, was the countrys 45th president, and only the second after Grover Cleveland in the 1890s to serve a second nonconsecutive term. With Trumps inauguration, President Joe Biden leaves office after a single four-year term in the White House. In his address, Trump vowed to quickly carry out a litany of 2024 campaign promises, citing the fact that he swept all seven political battleground states in defeating his Democratic challenger, former Vice President Kamala Harris. Trump said he will "declare a national emergency, close the southwestern U.S. border with Mexico to stem the flow of thousands of migrants seeking to enter the U.S., with many of them looking to escape poverty, crime and unemployment in Central American countries and elsewhere. Trump said he would enforce a stay in Mexico policy for migrants looking for asylum in the U.S. and end the policy of catching other migrants at the U.S. border and then releasing to them to live in the United States while they await adjudication of their asylum requests, a process that can take months, even years. He said he would declare Mexican drug cartels as foreign terrorists, although said nothing about how he would deal with them. On the domestic front, he said he would declare a national energy emergency, even though production is already at a record high. We will drill, baby, drill, he declared emphatically. Trump said he would end Biden policies to promote the production and sale of electric vehicles, while also overhauling U.S. trade policies, imposing new tariffs on key trade partners, levies expected to include those imposed on Canada, Mexico and China. The American dream will soon be thriving as never before, he contended. We will forge a society that is fair and merit based. Much like at a campaign rally last year when Biden was still running for reelection before dropping out in favor of Harris, Trump assailed his predecessors performance in office as Biden sat immediately behind him. We now have a government that cannot manage even a simple crisis at home, Trump said, while at the same time, stumbling into a continuing catalog of catastrophic events abroad. It fails to protect our magnificent law-abiding American citizens but provides sanctuary and protection for dangerous criminals, many from prisons and mental institutions that have illegally entered our country from all over the world. Trump, accompanied by his wife Melania, new Vice President JD Vance and their families, began his second inaugural day eight years after his first by attending a traditional service for incoming presidents at St. Johns Episcopal Church across a park from the White House. Afterward, the Trumps headed to the White House for a preinaugural tea with Biden and first lady Jill Biden, before heading to the Capitol for the swearing-in ceremony. Trump is the oldest person ever inaugurated as U.S. president, eclipsing Biden who was five months younger when he took the oath four years ago. Vance, 40, and most recently a U.S. senator from the Midwestern state of Ohio, was sworn in as the 50th vice president and is the third youngest in history. Trump is also the first felon to serve as U.S. president, after his conviction last year on 34 criminal charges linked to falsifying business records to hide a $130,000 hush money payment to porn film star Stormy Daniels, although a judge declined to penalize him in any way. Charges that Trump tried to illegally overturn his 2020 election loss to Biden were dropped because of a long-standing Justice Department policy against prosecuting sitting presidents. U.S. presidential inaugurations, a symbol of the democratic countrys norms of a peaceful transition of presidential power, are traditionally held on the steps of the Capitol overlooking the vast sweep of the National Mall. But with freezing temperatures hitting Washington, Trump days ago moved the ceremony into the Capitol Rotunda, where 2,000 of his supporters rioted in 2021 to keep Congress from certifying Bidens 2020 victory. Several U.S. billionaires Amazons Jeff Bezos, Metas Mark Zuckerberg and Tesla chief executive and X owner Elon Musk were among those who watched the inauguration, as was TikTok chief executive Shou Zi Chew. Foreign dignitaries were there as well, including Chinese Vice President Han Zheng, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Argentina President Javier Milei and Ecuador President Daniel Noboa. Former U.S. presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama attended the ceremony, unlike Trump, who skipped Bidens swearing-in four years ago and continues to falsely claim that he was cheated out of reelection in the 2020 election by voting irregularities. Trump signaled that he would immediately begin to reshape U.S. policies, either to undo Bidens edicts and implement his own. He could sign some executive orders in the first hours of his new presidency or later this week. Trump also has promised to pardon many of the more than 1,500 of his supporters who rampaged through the Capitol on January 6, 2021, although he has not divulged the scope of his expected order. He did not mention the issue in his inaugural address. The traditional inaugural parade along Pennsylvania Avenue from the Capitol to the White House also was canceled because of the weather, with bands, marching units, drill teams and the like now expected to parade past Trump, his wife and other administration officials at the nearby 20,000-seat Capital One Arena. Lavish black-tie balls are still planned for Monday evening. By Ken Bredemeier A hallmark of the nearly 250-year American democracy is the quadrennial peaceful transfer of presidential power, and it is set to unfold again on Monday, with Donald Trump, the 45th president until he lost his 2020 reelection bid, set to be inaugurated as the countrys 47th leader after winning last Novembers election. Millions of Americans are expected to watch on television as the 78-year-old Trump takes the oath of office for a new four-year term in the White House while President Joe Biden, 82, leaves the presidency after a single term. But only about 600 people will see Trump sworn in live, with the ceremony moved into the U.S. Capitol Rotunda at Trumps behest. An arrival Sunday night of an Arctic blast of frigid air into Washington could push the temperature to -6 Celsius at noon on Monday, when the traditional outdoor swearing-in ceremony would normally be held on the steps of the Capitol overlooking the National Mall. It is expected to be the coldest Inauguration Day in Washington in 40 years, when Ronald Reagans second inauguration was also moved inside in 1985. About 250,000 tickets to Trumps planned outdoor ceremony on the Capitol steps had been handed out to his supporters and dignitaries but inaugural officials said they now can simply keep the ducats as commemorative souvenirs. The traditional inaugural parade along Pennsylvania Avenue from the Capitol to the White House has also been canceled because of the weather, with bands, marching units, drill teams and the like now parading past Trump, his wife, Melania Trump and other officials in his new administration at the nearby 20,000-seat Capital One Arena, with thousands of other celebrants literally left out in the cold. Lavish black-tie balls are still planned for Monday evening. Trumps ascendancy to power again comes with some historical footnotes: He will become the first felon to serve as U.S. president, after his conviction last year on 34 criminal charges linked to falsifying business records to hide a $130,000 hush money payment to porn film star Stormy Daniels, although a judge declined to penalize him in any way. Charges that Trump, a Republican, tried to illegally overturn his 2020 election loss to Biden were dropped when he defeated his Democratic opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, in the 2024 election because of a long-standing Justice Department policy against prosecuting sitting presidents. Trump will also become the second U.S. president to serve a second nonconsecutive term, after Grover Cleveland in the 1890s. Beyond the pomp and circumstances of U.S. inaugurals, both Trumps supportive Republican colleagues and opposition Democrats will be closely watching to see what policy changes he quickly announces with executive orders to undo Biden edicts or simply to push forward with planks from his winning campaign against Harris. Trumps Day 1 promises are wide-ranging, but whether he signs orders affecting all of them or spreads out some of them to the coming days is not certain. Perhaps his most persistent claim from the campaign trail is that he plans to deport more than 11 million undocumented migrants living in the United States, starting with migrants who have been convicted of crimes and then others who have been ordered to return to their home countries after losing asylum bids to stay in the U.S. But an apparent Trump plan to begin the immigration crackdown on Tuesday in Chicago leaked to U.S. media outlets, leaving Trumps handpicked border czar, Tom Homan, to say that that the timing of the deportation plan is now being reconsidered. Were looking at this leak and will make a decision based on this leak, Homan told The Washington Post. Its unfortunate because anyone leaking law enforcement operations puts officers at greater risk. Nonetheless, Homan said the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency will start arresting public safety threats and national security threats on day one. Well be arresting people across the country, uninhibited by any prior (Biden) administration guidelines. Why Chicago was mentioned specifically, I dont know. This is nationwide thing, he said. Were not sweeping neighborhoods. We have a targeted enforcement plan. Trump has also vowed to close the southwestern U.S. border with Mexico and force would-be asylum-seekers to remain in Mexico while their claims to stay in the U.S. are adjudicated. All of his get-tough-on-migrant plans are sure to draw legal challenges from advocates supporting those seeking a new life in the U.S., possibly leaving Trumps actions in limbo for extended periods, weeks, maybe months. Related to immigration, Trump says he wants to end birthright citizenship for anyone born in the United States, although it is part of the U.S. Constitution, so it is not clear how he plans to try to do that unilaterally. Trump has also vowed to quickly impose heightened tariffs on key trading partners, including Canada, China and Mexico. The incoming president says he plans to pardon many of the 1,500 supporters of his who stormed the Capitol building on Jan. 6, 2021, to try to block Congress from certifying that Biden won the 2020 election. Trump has called those arrested and convicted patriots and hostages wrongly prosecuted. It is not clear whether Trump will pardon only those convicted of relatively minor offenses or include those convicted of attacking the 140 law enforcement officials who were injured in the mayhem four years ago. Trump vowed for months to end Russias war on Ukraine before he takes office, but in recent days his aides have said the goal now is to try to reach a truce in the fighting in the first 100 days of his administration, which would be around the end of April. Trump also wants more oil drilling in the U.S. even though in 2023, U.S. energy production exceeded consumption by a record amount, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Two transgender issues have also drawn Trumps attention. Trump has repeatedly referred to transgender women as men, telling his supporters that he will ensure transgender women cannot compete in womens sports. I will keep men out of womens sports, 100%, immediately, first day, Trump told one political rally during the campaign. He also frequently has assailed gender-affirming care, which can include hormone therapy. On day one, I will revoke Joe Bidens cruel policies on so-called gender affirming care. The URL has been copied to your clipboard The code has been copied to your clipboard. An American captured in Washington DC on Monday asking fellow citizens and other nationals to ask him to great incoming President Donald Trump in different languages. (Video: Jonga Kandemiiri) The URL has been copied to your clipboard The code has been copied to your clipboard. Hamas released three hostages Sunday as part of a newly reached ceasefire deal with Israel. U.S. President Joe Biden, on his last full day in office, spoke from Charleston, South Carolina about the development. VOAs Arash Arabasadi has the story. By Yasuo Sekiguchi, KYODO NEWS - Jan 20, 2025 - 11:50 | Feature, Japan, All Japan's social media-influenced youth have begun romanticizing an unknown vintage past as old-fashioned Showa-era cafes, featuring dimmed lighting and cozy furnishings, gain in popularity. It is a nostalgia for a time and place they have never known directly, captured by the coined word "anemoia" describing their longing for this past era of understated elegance. On weekends, customers line up not only in Tokyo but also at famous coffee shops in other parts of Japan, a trend driven by young people wishing to post their photos of this bygone era on Instagram and other social media sites. One of the most popular cafes is Kojo (literally meaning old castle), located near Tokyo's Ueno Station and said to have been established in 1963. As the name suggests, its interior is designed to resemble a European castle, with gorgeous chandeliers and stained glass windows filling out the shop's decor. "The experience was extraordinary, and the patterns on the mugs are really cute," said a 20-year-old female university student visiting from Saitama Prefecture, near Tokyo. "I'll process my photos and upload them to Instagram." Kyoko Matsui, 77, Kojo's second-generation owner, said with a smile, "My father, the first owner, created the restaurant because he was fascinated by medieval Europe. We went through hard times when chain stores were pushing us out, but I'm glad that young people are coming today." Rina Namba -- dressed in an elegant pleated gray dress and black beret reminiscent of the Showa era (1926-1989) -- is a driving force behind the recent boom. She has visited more than 2,000 coffee shops nationwide, and published many books, including a recent photo collection of Showa-era cafes, which she also introduces on Instagram. Speaking during an interview at Yuraku, an old-fashioned coffee shop in Tokyo's Asakusabashi district known for its many wholesale shops and stores that sell traditional Japanese dolls, Namba suggested that the appeal of retro coffee shops resulted from having unique decor and a "freshness" not seen in many big chain stores. "Many of them are privately owned, and the owner's passion and thoughts are reflected in every corner of the shops, so no two shop spaces are the same. Here (at Yuraku), too, the space between the seats is wide, so you can spend your time comfortably," she said. While attributing the boom to the power of social media, she added, "Although many people feel comfortable with the manualized chain stores, I think they feel a freshness in the old-fashioned coffee shops that are not like that." Many famous retro cafes are disappearing due to aging owners and a lack of successors. But there are cases of young people with no family ties to the shops taking up the mantle. In 2023, Miki Takenaka, 32, took over Suzuki in Kyoto's Higashiyama Ward, which had had loyal customers for 53 years -- reopening it as Toto-to. Takenaka had been involved in the restaurant business and thought, "Someday I'd like to open my own shop." When she heard from an acquaintance that the proprietor, who was in his 70s, was closing the coffee shop due to the coronavirus pandemic among other reasons, she went to check it out. "I thought it would be sad to see the shop close because it was a place where locals gathered to relax," she said. She kept the old-style cafe counter and tables the same as before, but introduced new menu items such as pudding. "I hoped to attract new customers while maintaining the Showa-era feel of the previous shop and the local clientele," she said. In discussing the retro coffee shop craze, Namba suggested that "it would be fun to incorporate coffee shop tours into people's daily life, and not just as a passing phase. There are many little-known coffee shops, and I hope people will find their personal favorites." Related coverage: Starbucks Japan to switch to green plant-based straws in January FEATURE: Edible bug businesses 'hearing crickets' at crossroads in Japan Retro Japanese video games enjoy intergenerational revival Dave Chappelle found the sleeves to his suit and did the longest monologue in Saturday Night Live history. At a whopping 17-minutes long, Chappelle touched on such topics as Palestine and his hopes for the new Trump presidency. And while other Chappelle stand-up sets have been full of transphobia, this one was a lot about Jimmy Carter. The comic talked about visiting the Middle East after Chappelles Show, and around the same time as Carter. While I was there, Jimmy Carter said, I want to go to the Palestinian territory, and the Israeli government said, Its too dangerous, and if you go, we cannot protect you. And man, Jimmy Carter went anyway, he said. I will never forget the images of a former American president walking with little to no security while thousands of Palestinians were cheering him on. Chappelle ended with an earnest plea to President Elect Trump, asking the man to follow his wifes slogan and Be Best. Remember, whether people voted for you or not, theyre all counting on you. Whether they like you or not, theyre all counting on you. The whole world is counting on you, he said. I mean this when I say this good luck. Please do better next time. Please, all of us do better next time. Do not forget your humanity, and please have empathy for displaced people, whether theyre in the Palisades or Palestine. Strike comes amid ongoing turmoil on Italy's rail network. Train passengers in Italy face disruption to rail services on the weekend of 25-26 January due to a 24-hour strike by railway workers, affecting train routes across the country. The nationwide strike, called by SGC, CUB and USB trade unions, is scheduled from 21.00 on Saturday 25 January until the same time on Sunday 26 January. The strike action is set to impact regional and long-distance services operated by state rail operator Trenitalia and private rail company Italo as well as Trenord in the northern Lombardia region around Milan. Rail connections to and from Rome's Fiumicino airport may experience delays or cancellations. The fact that the strike is scheduled at the weekend means there won't be guaranteed train services during rush-hour periods, as per the usual weekday regulations. Unions say the reasons for the national dispute include demands for better contracts and rights for employees in the railway maintenance sector. Rail chaos The strike comes amid calls for Italy's deputy premier and transport minister Matteo Salvini to resign over ongoing disruption to the country's rail network. Salvini has linked the "disconcerting" incidents to possible deliberate "sabotage" to railway lines in Padua and Rome. Last week the state-owned railway company Ferrovie dello Stato filed a report with police over a recent spate of "highly suspicious" incidents that have led to major disruption to train services. For official information about public transport strikes in Italy see the transport ministry website. Photo credit: Michael Derrer Fuchs / Shutterstock.com. Article first published on 20 January, updated on 24 January. KYODO NEWS - Jan 20, 2025 - 20:17 | Japan, World, All The trial for Nippon Steel Corp.'s lawsuit seeking to nullify U.S. President Joe Biden's decision to block its $14.1 billion takeover of United States Steel Corp. is set to begin in early February, court documents obtained by Kyodo News showed Monday. The opening brief will be filed by the Nippon Steel side on Feb. 3, with both the plaintiffs and defendants scheduled to finish making their claims in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit by March 17, according to the documents. The administrative lawsuit is expected to end before June 18, the date by which the U.S. government is asking Nippon Steel to abandon the takeover plan, as the court decision is usually made one to two months after the exchange of pleadings, according to legal experts. Nippon Steel also filed a separate civil suit against rival Cleveland-Cliffs Inc., its chief executive and United Steelworkers union leader David McCall earlier at the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania, saying they colluded to block its acquisition of U.S. Steel. The Japanese steelmaker plans to utilize evidence obtained in the civil suit for the administrative suit. In the petition filed to the U.S. court of appeals, Nippon Steel criticized Biden, saying his "decision was predetermined" and that "the statutory national security review 'process' was a sham." The president "ignored the rule of law to gain favor with" the United Steelworkers union, the Japanese company said in a release earlier, referring to the key supporter of Biden's Democratic Party which has opposed the takeover plan. While seeking to nullify Biden's decision, Nippon Steel is also seeking to convince President-elect Donald Trump, who will take office on Monday, of the benefits of the acquisition to the U.S. economy. However, it is unclear if Trump will support the deal as he has publicly opposed the plan before winning the Nov. 5 presidential election. Related coverage: Nippon Steel rebuts Cleveland-Cliffs' U.S. Steel takeover interest Japan PM urges Biden to address concerns over U.S. Steel deal U.S. extends deadline for Nippon Steel to abandon takeover to June 18 There is great excitement building in County Waterford at the moment ahead of a fundraising quiz which will be the first fundraising event of the year for one of the Deise county's hardest working committees. The Tourin Hall Committee will stage the event on Saturday, February 22, and it will take place in the Sportsman's Bar, Cappoquin and will follow on from a very well attended first committee meeting of the year, which took place on Wednesday, January 15. There are great plans in place for the coming year and the committee is working on a very busy calendar of events for 2025 with many enjoyable fundraising events planned. The forthcoming quiz is an annual event and one that is always well supported and as one of those involved in organising it commented: "First up is out annual quiz, scheduled for Saturday, February 22, so get the teams together and start swotting on local knowledge and other random topics." The next committee meeting is scheduled to take place on Wednesday, February 12, at 8pm. New members with an interest in the community, energy and fundraising ideas are always welcome, and anyone interested in getting involved in the community is invited to pop their head in the door at the next meeting and "get stuck in". Met Eireann has issued a yellow weather warning for dense fog in Waterford. The warning is in place from 8pm this evening (January 20, 2025) until 11am on Tuesday. Met Eireann said across the country, there will be areas of dense fog developing, leading to impaired visibility and potentially hazardous travelling conditions. Now a proud Waterfordian, Russ Parsons lived in Los Angeles for nearly 30 years while working as the Los Angeles Times Food Editor and spoke to the Waterford News & Star about the experience of watching from abroad his former hometown be engulfed by terrible wildfires. We have three and possibly four friends who lost everything. One of them was a very, very dear friend and former colleague who had 10 minutes to evacuate. He lost everything. When you think about that getting 10 minutes not only to decide what are the most important things in your life but to get them together and then to get out to save your life. You are running for your life with a freight train of a fire roaring down behind you. It's just appalling. You dont get used to seeing these wildfires, but I have memories of watching the glow of the fires coming over the mountains. The thing that really got me about this incident was the descriptions of the winds. That brought it all back. We think that we get good winds [in Waterford] where it might be 45 or 50 kilometres per hour, he said, explaining that due to the topology of Los Angeles, against the Pacific Ocean and backed against a wall of mountains, it creates a perfect storm for extremely strong winds. There were reports of winds as strong as 100 miles an hour, more than 160kph: "It sounds like a freight train going over your house. On the other side of the mountains are deserts, and there are just very small cracks in those mountains, which mean that when you get the right combination of high pressure over the desert and low pressure over the basin; you can't even imagine how strong the winds are. In the low humidity conditions in Los Angeles, with winds capable of tearing apart the roofs of houses and blowing embers miles across the fire lines, there is a level of constant tension and fear of wildfires breaking out, Russ said. The fires move so quickly, [...] they can be so devastating and they're so random. You know, there'll be blocks of houses that are destroyed, and in the middle of it there will be one house survived for no reason. During his time living in LA, the food writer and author explained that wildfires had become a part of life in the city. It had become almost normal in the same way that earthquakes became almost normal. It took me about a year of living in Waterford before I could put a glass object straight onto my bookshelves because you could never do that in Los Angeles. They even have this type of blue tack called Earthquake Tack to fasten things down in case of an earthquake. It's just one of those things that you adapt to and you live with. But the tension is always there. "We lived through many, many wildfires, we lived through many earthquakes, we lived through riots! We ran the gambit - and this brings it all right back. When you see the pictures of the smoke on the horizon with the sky turning black or a smoky red. We were fortunate that we could never afford to live someplace like Malibu, which burned so regularly, Mr Parsons said, but despite living more than 10 miles from Malibu, he and his wife would have ash from the wildfires collecting on the roof of their car. Its a different experience living in Waterford where there is less risk from such natural disasters but, after five years in the Deise, the tension he felt about the threats from wildfires and earthquakes is being replaced by fears for his home country. With the combination of the political situation in the US - the inauguration and the future administration coming in - and the wildfires; all of the Americans that I know here are experiencing anxiety in a way that they normally don't. High Court reporters Online travel agencies who extract and sell flight schedules and price data from the Ryanair website are substantially overcharging the airlines customers for things like extra baggage and reserved seats, it has been claimed in the Commercial Court. Ryanair DAC has brought proceedings against Spanish firm eDreams Odigeo SA, part of the eDO group, and its subsidiary Vacaciones eDreams SL. They operate through various websites including eDreams, Opodo, Govoyages and Travellink. Ryanair is seeking a number of reliefs including an order restraining the defendants from breaching its terms of use, engaging in misrepresentation, passing off or infringing the airlines intellectual property rights. It also seeks damages. The defendants deny the claims. On Monday, the airline sought but failed to have the case admitted to the fast-track commercial list but eDreams objected on grounds including there had been a delay in bringing it. Martin Hayden SC, for Ryanair, argued there had been no culpable delay in bringing the case. He said Ryanair had been engaged in dealing with several others proceedings against the online agencies in Spain and Germany which had to be referred to in any proceedings brought here. He said all the cases over screen scraping involve similar conduct. The online agencies had approached the matter on the basis that they are not the ones doing it but have engaged third parties to do so, he said. When efforts were made to stop the screen scraping, ways were found around it, he said. Rather than bringing cases against several small operators, Ryanair took cases against larger operators like Onthebeach which took a major length of time to resolve and which ultimately led to distribution agreements with four operators, he said. Similar negotiations with eDreams came to nothing. Ryanair had been prohibited in Spain from referring to the online agencies as pirates, but they are are parasitic enterprises operating at the expense of the airline, he said. Consumers who avail of the online agencies service are being substantially overcharged by up to 200 per cent more for the same services provided by Ryanair, he said. This is done through their prime services in which the consumer pays extra through hidden markups for things like baggage and reserved seats, he said. Michael Howard SC, for the defendants, said delay in bringing commercial cases is not about the parties interests but about the proper use of the courts limited resources. A plaintiff cannot say: I will litigate at my leisure, he said. Ryanair claimed the online agencies desisted from selling its flights for 50 days last year but in fact the airline had adopted sophisticated blocking measures to prevent it. There was delay both before issuing proceedings and further delay afterwards, he said. Mr Justice Mark Sanfey refused to admit the case to the fast-track commercial division, which means it will now go through the High Courts ordinary process. He said there can be legitimate commercial reasons for not suing straight away. However, once negotiations broke down with eDreams last March about signing a distribution agreement with Ryanair, the airline was aware it should have issued proceedings immediately, he said. The defendants have denied Ryanairs claims. In an affidavit replying to the airlines application for entry to the commercial list, Guillaume Teissonniere, general counsel and company secretary of the eDO group, said his client refused to accept the same unreasonable terms it had imposed on other online agencies who entered distribution agreements. While other agencies might be willing to accept those terms to put an end to Ryanairs coercive behaviour, the defendants were, and are not, willing to accept, he said. Heartfelt pleas, flower emojis left in tribute and a baby salmon bowl that left people in tears. It was a dark weekend for TikTok. As US creators counted down to the federal ban, which led to the popular social media app becoming inaccessible to US users on Sunday (AEDT), the platform became a place of panic and mourning. The brief shutdown of TikTok in the US may have seemed like the end of the world, but instead it just taught us a lot about the social media app. Credit: Compiled by Aresna Villanueva. The shutdown ultimately lasted a matter of hours. The app was reinstated after US President-elect Donald Trump announced he would sign an executive order on Monday (US time) to delay the ban by 90 days. Athough the blackout was brief, everything that surrounded it revealed a great deal about TikTok an app that has changed immensely since its early days as a place for dance videos and cute animal content. Under-consumption is trending No-buy or no-spend challenges are nothing new, but the volume of those taking part, at least according to social media, has reached a fever pitch in 2025. Despite its name, no-buy doesnt mean literally buying nothing. Essentials, like food and medication, are obviously allowed, while most participants, like Boyd, have set parameters for themselves, permitting a little discretionary spending. But all have the same unifying thrust: to reduce consumption and find freedom from the endless cycle of consumerism. Loading Nina Gbor, founder of Eco Styles and circular economy and waste program director at The Australia Institute, thinks the no-buy movement is an extension of under-consumption core, a trend revolving around the aesthetics of minimalism that went viral last year. The market is really oversaturated. People are tired of the hauls [videos in which people explain recent purchases] and being told what to buy by influencers, she says. Gbor thinks this fatigue has been intensified by a deepening cost-of-living crisis, which only makes the gap between the rich and the poor more stark. People are tired of seeing celebrities make so much money when everyones struggling, she says. While Gbor has been pleased to see under-consumption move into the mainstream, she hopes its adopters will retain its lessons beyond the lifecycle of a trend. Its right in the word, right? Trends are short-lived, and now we have micro trends. So the worry is that this will just be another trend for a while. It gave us hope Steph Thompson, a 31-year-old content creator, is a few weeks into her second no-buy challenge. At the beginning of 2024, Thompson and her husband decided something needed to change. They were living paycheque to paycheque in Melbourne on a combined income of about $95,000, but both felt they could be saving more. Steph Thompson is going into her second no-buy year. Credit: Penny Stephens Rather than trying to dial back spending, Thompson decided to take a more aggressive approach and go for a year of buying nothing. Sometimes its easier to just cut everything off than try and scale things back, she says. The couples no-buy year had some ground rules: No unnecessary spending; if something broke or ran out, theyd replace it; one takeaway meal and one takeaway coffee were allowed each month, given they came out of the grocery budget; $100 for their birthday and Christmas presents; and $30 each month for activities, provided it got them out of the house. Thompson feels strongly that this wriggle room was essential for their sanity. Loading If youre miserable all the time, its so much harder to fix your spending. So that was really a priority: how do we balance the no-buy year while also making room for having a nice life that we enjoyed? As part of the no-buy, Thompson and her partner made a point of only doing free activities with friends, shopping once a month at Aldi to avoid impulse purchases and only subscribing to one streaming service at a time. While Thompson says the year was hard, particularly when it came to missing out on live music and hobbies, ultimately, the challenge brought them peace. And while frugality can often put a strain on relationships, Thompson says it made her marriage stronger. It gave us hope because when you are in that paycheque-to-paycheque cycle until you actually solidly remove yourself from it, you can feel like youre never going to get out of it. Having made significant contributions to her savings and paid off two small credit cards in 2024 (an impressive feat given her husband was forced to take a pay cut early in the year), Thompson is embarking on another no-buy this year, with slightly more lax rules. Its more of a low spend, Thompson says, but the language of no-buy just helps us stick to it better. The best thing has been the mental clarity For Liz Sunshine, a Melbourne-based photographer, the idea for a no-buy year has been percolating for some time. Having worked in the fashion industry since 2009, shes seen first-hand how social media and fast fashion have driven consumption to its peak. In 2022, she took a month off shopping, although she says she bought clothes in the lead-up and made up for it the following month. Then, in 2023, Sunshine limited her purchases to 27 items. Last year, she reduced this to 12 new items and unlimited secondhand before deciding to go all in on August 1. Melbourne-based photographer Liz Sunshine is halfway through her year of not buying anything. The rules? Nothing wearable, including socks and underwear, no second-hand or vintage, and no clothing swaps. Sunshine allowed herself a modest list of approved purchases, including a rattan beret shed commissioned from a milliner and any photography equipment that needed replacing. Sunshine has been documenting her journey on social media and her eponymous Substack, where shes been exploring her relationship with clothes for the past four years. She says so far, the challenge has been easier than expected. Loading The best thing has been the mental clarity. Im looking at clothes from a new perspective and realigning many areas of my life in small ways. For example, I use social media less but more intentionally; Im reading more and have started knitting again, she says. Like Boyd, Sunshine has used her shopping pause to take stock of her wardrobe but has taken a slightly less aggressive approach. My relationship with clothes is complicated, so my wardrobe has been a complicated space, she says, explaining she has kept some clothes she doesnt wear often or that dont fit her. As a woman whose body always changes with stress, lack of sleep and hormones I decided it was logical to have clothes in two sizes. I dont have fat or skinny jeans, I just have jeans, and I switch them back and forth depending on what feels best, she says. Now at the halfway point, Sunshine says she is focusing on addressing the emotional reasons behind her shopping, collecting inspiration for future outfits and looking at having clothes custom-made locally. You cant shop your way into personal style For many people, fashion is a way of projecting an image of who we are to the world. Shopping, then, is an exercise in crafting our future selves: how often have you bought a dress or belt in the belief it would finally be the piece to complete you? Unable to participate in this, Boyd often felt stuck. I felt really badly dressed and ugly a lot of the time, and it was very hard to not be able to solve that by just buying something ...[but] what I realised is, no one cares about what youre wearing as much as you do. This also allowed her to experiment with existing pieces and play with new ways of dressing. As rates of stealing fail to slow down, what can parents do if they suspect their child is stealing or has been caught doing so? Experts advise an appropriate yet empathic response. Why do young women steal? Today, Meg reflects on her behaviour as a compulsion she couldnt arrest, linking the desire to steal to prescription antidepressants she was taking during that period, which she says made her feel numb. Describing herself as a former shoplifting addict, Meg accrued a small collection of stolen items that had little value. She says she would walk into a store and feel unable to leave without stealing something. When I did it, I would get a rush, she says. I was in control of what I was able to feel. Shoplifting can trigger the brains reward system by releasing dopamine, says Dolly Bhargava, an NDIS specialist behavioural support practitioner. This may explain why women respond to stress with internalising behaviours such as anxiety, depression, withdrawal or self-criticism rather than externalising ones, such as getting into physical fights. Loading Bhargava says stealing can provide a temporary sense of relief or distraction from emotional pain, especially as women are more likely to experience anxiety, depression or low self-esteem, and may use stealing as a way to deal with such emotions. Teenage girls are also likely to steal on succumbing to peer pressure their peers reward them with a feeling of fitting in or social status. Mark Dadds, co-director of the Child Behaviour Research Clinic at the University of Sydney, says shoplifting behaviours in young people can be attributed to: adolescent rebellion; more complex conduct disorders such as naughty behaviours; and, rarely, kleptomania. Conduct disorders which represent behaviours such as dysregulated tantrums, not listening to authority figures and consistently disobeying rules are far better understood in boys than in girls, who present them differently and at a much later stage, Dadds says. Girls dont tend to show it until later in life, in the adolescent years, and theres been so much less work and research documenting these problems in females that we just know so much less about. The crime most committed by women is retail theft; for men and boys its sexual assault. Credit: Flavio Brancaleone While some shoplifting is born out of necessity or typical adolescent rebellion, other kinds of stealing can indicate kleptomaniac traits. Stealing goods that hold little monetary or personal value, stealing goods that are discarded soon after the theft, and acting on impulse rather than preplanning the theft are all behaviours associated with kleptomania, which is classed as a disruptive, impulse control or conduct disorder by the 2022 Diagnostic Manual of Mental Disorders, a comprehensive study of mental disorders in the United States and Canada. Although the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (the body that collects data on all health diagnoses in Australia) does not record data on kleptomania cases, in North America it is diagnosed three times more in women than in men. What to do if you suspect your child is stealing Experts say its important to approach the situation carefully. Child and adolescent psychologist Michael Carr-Gregg recommends keeping an open mind. If you dont have proof that your child is stealing, then it is best not to accuse them of having stolen goods, as unfounded accusations can damage the bond of trust with your child. Instead, parents should set clear expectations about honesty and respect for others property, and indicate that there can be severe consequences for stealing. How to handle confirmed stealing Carr-Gregg advises remembering the goal is to address the behaviour while maintaining a supportive relationship with your child. Its crucial to balance accountability with understanding to help guide them towards better choices in future. The first step for parents who have confirmed their child has stolen something is to stay calm and avoid a harsh reaction. Its important to initiate non-judgmental conversations to better understand the childs motivations. Begin by describing the situation factually. For example, I noticed that [item] was missing and found it in your bag, says Bhargava, who adds that its best to avoid accusing your child of being a thief or any other negative label, but rather to focus on the behaviour and not their individual character. Bhargava suggests that parents ask open-ended questions such as, Can you tell me what happened? or Why did you feel you needed to take that? before assuring their child that it is understandable to experience the feeling of wanting to steal, but there are right and wrong ways of dealing with such urges. Parents can then explain how stealing can affect other people, and the potential consequence of criminal proceedings. When implementing consequences, Carr-Gregg says parents should focus on amends making, rather than punishment, which could include having children return or pay for stolen items and apologising to those affected by the theft, such as store employees and managers. Loading He says parents could also discuss how the child would feel if their items were stolen, and consider seeking professional help if the behaviour persists. If the person is doing it because theyve got impulses, and theyre stealing all the time, thats a mental health problem that needs professional help, Dadds says. If the stealing is just exploratory risk taking, of course, all kids will do that at some point. Theyll test the water, and grab something thats not theirs. Then what we do is stay calm ... but make it absolutely clear that thats not OK. We dont want to humiliate them, we dont want to reject them, and we dont want to make them an isolated monster. We just want to say: Thats not OK, you need to make amends and not do it again. Meg, who never told her parents about her behaviour, is grateful that her compulsion to steal has gone away, although she doesnt completely understand why. I always wonder, why did I ever do that? Why did I push to feel something in that sense? I should have done something healthier. When informed of the commonality of the offence in NSW and Victoria, and that experts believe some retail theft can be a stress response for young women, she expressed relief. I had no idea. I thought I was alone. By Takuya Karube, KYODO NEWS - Jan 21, 2025 - 12:29 | World, All Donald Trump returned to power as the 47th president of the United States on Monday with a pledge to usher in a "golden age of America," unveiling a stack of initiatives reflecting his isolationist and expansionist tendencies that could alter the existing global order and unnerve other countries, even allies. In his inaugural address, Trump said the United States will again regard itself as a "growing nation," one that not only increases its wealth but also "expands our territory," a statement likely to cause some uneasiness in foreign capitals. "From this day forward, our country will flourish and be respected again all over the world," Trump said as he opened his remarks. "We will be the envy of every nation, and we will not allow ourselves to be taken advantage of any longer. During every single day of the Trump administration, I will very simply put America first." Coming back to the White House for a nonconsecutive second term, Trump, 78, vowed to put an end to what he called "America's decline" through his commitments, such as to build the most powerful military the world has ever seen and "tax foreign countries to enrich our citizens." While other countries have been anxious over the potential global consequences of his pursuit of "America First" policies, Trump has reiterated that his administration's key plans include imposing much higher tariffs on China and conducting mass deportations of undocumented immigrants. Without referring to specific diplomatic challenges now faced by the United States, the Republican president said inside the Rotunda of the Capitol, "We will measure our success not only by the battles we win, but also by the wars that we end and, perhaps most importantly, the wars we never get into." Trump, the first convicted felon to enter the White House, voiced his desire to be "a peacemaker and a unifier." After moving into the Oval Office on Monday night, while taking a flurry of questions from reporters, he characterized North Korea as a "nuclear power" and said he believes the country's leader Kim Jong Un should be happy to see his return as president as "we got along very well" last time. It remains unclear if his characterization of North Korea marks any departure from Washington's long-held position of not officially recognizing the country as a nuclear weapons state and aiming for its complete denuclearization. As part of his expansionist vision, Trump said the United States will bring the American flag to "new and beautiful horizons" through actions such as restoring U.S. control of the Panama Canal. Repeating his recent claim that U.S. ships are charged excessive fees by Panama for passing through the canal and asserting the important waterway is under Beijing's strong influence, he said, "We didn't give it to China. We gave it to Panama. And we're taking it back." Moreover, Trump said he plans to rename the Gulf of Mexico the "Gulf of America," as well as trying to send U.S. astronauts to Mars to plant the country's flag on the planet. Having quickly assembled a team of loyalists, Trump appears to be more confident than in his previous four-year term through 2021, during which his administration was roiled by many internal conflicts and marked by high turnover of top officials. Trump and Vice President JD Vance took their oaths of office at the Capitol, the site of a violent attack just over four years ago when supporters of the then-outgoing president disrupted the certification of Joe Biden's 2020 election win, engaging in clashes that led to a handful of deaths and left scores of law enforcement officers injured. On day one, Trump signed a pile of executive orders that follow through on his campaign promises and reverse the Biden administration's actions. Among the orders, he directed that the United States withdraw from the Paris climate agreement, as it did under his first administration, and from the World Health Organization in line with his pre-election pledge. Taking aim at what he called a "national energy emergency," Trump said he will introduce various steps to increase U.S. oil and gas production in an attempt to lower costs for American consumers. Trump added he will halt programs launched by Biden to promote electric vehicles. Other actions decided by Trump include pardoning defendants charged in the assault on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and resurrecting strict border policies from his first term to lay the groundwork for what he has called the largest-ever deportation program in U.S. history. Due to frigid temperatures in Washington, the swearing-in ceremony and the first presidential speech of his second term were held inside the legislative building, with foreign leaders among the attendees after Trump broke precedent by inviting them. They included Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Chinese Vice President Han Zheng and Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya. It is the first time since 1985 that the events have been moved indoors. Later in the day, the inaugural parade, which normally travels from the Capitol to the White House, took place inside a nearby sports arena, with Trump, the 40-year-old vice president and their families in attendance. Trump delivered more remarks denigrating the previous administration. But during the two rally-like speeches, he did not reveal any details about his plans to raise tariffs on imports. When he spoke to the press, however, Trump said he could execute his plan, initially announced in late November, to impose 25 percent duties on imports from Canada and Mexico as early as Feb. 1, blaming the two neighboring countries for not doing enough to block illegal immigration and drug trafficking. Trump, who became the oldest president at the date of this inauguration, has promised to impose 60 percent or higher tariffs on imports from China and a "universal" duty of up to 20 percent on everything else entering the world's largest economy. He has threatened to slap hefty tariffs on imports from foreign countries as a way to seek concessions, a tactic he employed in his last presidency, going beyond the argument that such measures would bring manufacturing jobs back home and increase federal revenue. Related coverage: TikTok restores U.S. service after Trump's vow to delay federal ban China's Xi, Trump hope for "good start" to ties Trump's pick for top diplomat Rubio urges China not to destabilize Asia Geelong sisters Madison, 23, and Isabelle Camm, 19, always dreamt of buying their own homes but didnt think it would be possible any time soon. But after learning about the federal governments Home Guarantee Scheme in mid-2024, the sisters pooled their savings and asked their local bank about a home loan. By November, they had moved out of their parents house and purchased their first home together a three-bedroom property in Leopold. Madison and Isabelle Camm used the Home Guarantee Scheme to buy their first home. Madison and Isabelle are among the 200,000 Australians who have used the federal governments Home Guarantee Scheme to purchase their first property. I found out that you could apply to [the scheme] as siblings, Madison told this masthead. I thought, weve got savings, well just go to the bank and see if its possible, and then if its not, well just go rent. Is the start of a ceasefire the end of a conflict? History says only sometimes. In the Middle East, in particular, permanency is a fluid concept. Within the Gaza ceasefire which came into force overnight exist obstacles to a genuine end to the violence. The foundations of peace rest on reconciling seemingly irreconcilable interests, and building a strength from that fragility. Senior Hamas leader Khalil al-Hayya said he saw the deal as a defeat for Israel. Israel, however, can argue it has had success. In the 15 months since Hamas massacred more than 1200 people in southern Israel and took more than 250 people hostage, Israel has killed Hamas fighters and leaders, including its head in Gaza. It has inflicted damage on a large section of Hezbollah in Lebanon and weakened Irans standing. But, in doing so, it has also killed more than 46,000 Palestinians, according to Gazan health officials. Most of them were civilians, more than 13,000 were children. Gazas infrastructure is destroyed. Almost 2 million people have been displaced. The International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for alleged war crimes. Still, the first part of the three-phase ceasefire has begun. It is planned to last six weeks. The missiles will stop, death and destruction will pause, hope will seep into the air. Israel will withdraw its forces from populated areas of Gaza. Hamas will begin releasing Israeli hostages. The first 33 will include women, the elderly and the wounded; three overnight, four on the seventh day and then three every seven days, and the final 14 in the last week of phase one. For each hostage returned, Israel is to release between 30 and 50 Palestinian prisoners. Washington: The wreath laying, the pledge signing, the swearing-in, the grand speeches all that is just artifice. For the movers and shakers of the United States, the real action takes place at the inaugural balls. While Donald Trump was rallying the working-class true believers at Capital One Arena, the great and the good of the Republican world were pressing their shirts and donning their bow ties for one of the lavish soirees that take over Washington on either side of the presidential inauguration. An attendee looks at a table of food at an inauguration eve celebration. Credit: Graham Dickie/The New York Times I swung an invitation to one of them, which I thought was pretty good for my second week in town. It was hosted by right-wing cable news channel Newsmax, a rapidly growing rival to Fox News and soon-to-be competitor to Sky News in Australia. Shortly before Sunday nights ball, the network held an intimate launch party for the Australian branch, hosted by former ambassador Joe Hockey at the Washington office of his lobby shop Bondi Partners. Alongside Hockey, attendees included two former Liberal state premiers: Dominic Perrottet from NSW and Steven Marshall from South Australia. KYODO NEWS - Jan 20, 2025 - 10:40 | All, Japan, World The foreign ministers of Japan and Australia agreed Sunday that their cooperation with the United States and India under the Quad grouping should continue to ensure stability in the Indo-Pacific region. The meeting between Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya and his Australian counterpart Penny Wong took place in Washington on the eve of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's return to the White House. Iwaya said there is a need, "more than ever," for Japan and Australia to play a leading role in realizing a free and open Indo-Pacific, working hand in hand with the United States and other partners. Iwaya and Wong agreed that the security environment in the region is becoming increasingly severe, and that Tokyo and Canberra will advance "multilayered" cooperation with like-minded countries, according to the Japanese Foreign Ministry. A meeting of the top diplomats of the four countries is expected to take place on Tuesday after Trump's pick for secretary of state, Marco Rubio, is confirmed by the Senate, according to officials involved in its planning. Iwaya and Wong also agreed to boost bilateral cooperation on economic issues, as well as in areas such as cybersecurity and people-to-people exchanges, the ministry said. Iwaya later met separately with Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, who was invited by Trump's team to attend his inauguration ceremony along with the top Japanese and Australian diplomats. During his meeting with Jaishankar, Iwaya said Japan and India share fundamental values and have "a great responsibility for the peace and prosperity of the international community," according to the Japanese ministry. The two also discussed ongoing efforts under the Quad and agreed to make the year from April a period of cooperation on science and technology, as Japan and India in 2025 are marking the 40th anniversary of their partnership in the field, the ministry said. Related coverage: Japan working toward Ishiba-Trump meeting in U.S. before mid-February Japan, South Korea affirm ties' importance amid Seoul political turmoil China's Xi, Trump hope for "good start" to ties KYODO NEWS - Jan 20, 2025 - 20:56 | Japan, World, All The Hiroshima prefectural government said Monday it is inviting U.S. President-elect Donald Trump to its capital city for the 80th anniversary of the United States conducting the world's first atomic bomb attack. "You alone, have the capacity... to lead the world toward the elimination of nuclear weapons, thereby saving humanity from the horrors of nuclear holocaust," Hiroshima Gov. Hidehiko Yuzaki said in a letter addressed to Trump sent via the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo, inviting him to come to the city devastated in the 1945 bombing. "Your visit to Hiroshima, where you will witness the reality of the atomic bombing, will send a powerful message towards the creation of a world free of nuclear weapons," the letter reads. The governor said Trump's visit would encourage leaders from other nuclear-armed countries to take actions for peace and expressed hope that Trump would meet with survivors of the attack, known as hibakusha. Shiro Suzuki, mayor of Nagasaki, the only other Japanese city to suffer an atomic bomb attack, also said at a press conference ahead of Trump's inauguration that he hoped the incoming leader will visit Nagasaki and Hiroshima. "I would like for him to visit the bomb sites and directly witness the reality of the bombings," Suzuki said. Related coverage: Top U.S. officer minimized radiation impact: Army doctor's grandson A-bomb survivor experiences on display in Oslo after Nobel prize win A-bomb survivors testify, push for nuke abolition at Nobel forum Performers dressed as Mulan and Mushu perform during a Lunar New Year celebration at Disney California Adventure Park in Anaheim, California, the United States, Jan. 17, 2025. (Photo by Qiu Chen/Xinhua) The 2025 Lunar New Year falls on Jan. 29. It coincides with the date of new moon and signals the start of the Year of the Snake. At the Lunar New Year Wishing Wall in the park, visitors shared their messages of hope, health and happiness for the year ahead. by Xinhua Writers Tan Jingjing, Gao Shan LOS ANGELES, Jan. 19 (Xinhua) -- Disney California Adventure Park kicked off its 2025 Lunar New Year celebrations during the weekend, featuring a variety of Asian cultural performances, culinary delights and fun festivities. The park, located in Anaheim, Southern California, is adorned in brilliant red and gold, symbolizing good luck, health and prosperity. The annual celebrations have drawn visitors around the world in recent years. The 2025 Lunar New Year falls on Jan. 29. It coincides with the date of new moon and signals the start of the Year of the Snake. At the Lunar New Year Wishing Wall in the park, visitors shared their messages of hope, health and happiness for the year ahead. "Best fortunes to all the California fire victims and their families! We pray for them and all their losses of the New Year and Beyond," says a card written by a visitor named D.M. Moralos. Chinese calligraphy demonstrations by local artisans were another attraction. Actors perform dragon dance during a Lunar New Year celebration at Disney California Adventure Park in Anaheim, California, the United States, Jan. 17, 2025. (Photo by Qiu Chen/Xinhua) Roger Sueng, one of the calligraphers, told Xinhua he was glad to introduce Chinese traditional art to American audiences. Many Americans have great interest in Chinese calligraphy, and "love" and "good fortunes" are among the most popular Chinese characters they would like to have, Sueng said. China's legendary warrior character Mulan and her wisecracking dragon friend Mushu led the way in a Lunar New Year Procession, which honors family, friendship and the potential for a fortune-filled year. A dazzling nighttime water show, Hurry Home, tells visitors the story of a little lantern's quest to reunite with family for the annual celebration of good luck and fortune. Accompanied by a stirring musical score, created by Academy Award-winning Chinese-born American composer Tan Dun, visitors are immersed in the magic of a six-minute tale. Lunar New Year marketplaces and dining locations at the park offer an array of dishes and beverages inspired by Asian cuisines, prepared with a uniquely Disney twist. Among the flavorful selections are scallion pancake tostada, shrimp fried noodles, kung pao beef and tropical coconut drink. "Southern California is such a huge melting pot of all kinds of cultures. Lunar New Year celebrations help us to explore Asian cultures, and enhance our understanding about each other," said Rebekah Negrete, a resident of Long Beach, Southern California. The Chinese New Year celebration, also known as Spring Festival, has been officially inscribed by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Negrete said it would help promote the Chinese culture to the world. "It's wonderful that we can all embrace each other's different heritage." The Lunar New Year festivities at Disney California Adventure Park run from Jan. 17 through Feb. 16. COMMUNITY NOTES: BALLINA - WESTERN PEOPLE (JANUARY 21 EDITION) A collaboration between The Jackie Clarke Collection and Ballina Costume Company later this week will see the completion of the St Brigids Day Cloak. The project to recreate St Brigids Cloak was started in Ballina in 2024, inspired by the addition of a new public holiday in Ireland the year previously to commemorate the Irish saint. Those crafters who were involved in the original creation of the beautiful garment last year are invited to come along to the Jackie Clarke Collection on Pearse Street this Thursday, January 23 at 11.30am to help finish off the cloak in time for St Brigids Day on February 1. The project team will also be sharing some new ideas for community projects with those present. To celebrate Nollaig na mBan in January 2024, Ballina Costume Company and the Jackie Clarke Collection unveiled the Community Quilt, which was made by women from across the diverse communities of Ballina. JAKARTA, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto inaugurated 37 strategic projects related to the construction of power plants on Monday as the country is on track to achieve energy self-sufficiency. In his ceremonial speech during the inauguration held in Sumedang, West Java, Prabowo emphasized that these 37 projects comprise 26 power plants with a total capacity of 3.2 gigawatts, along with 11 transmission networks and substations across 18 provinces. He highlighted that this initiative symbolizes the government's commitment to realizing a sustainable energy transition and ensuring energy independence through the acceleration of national energy infrastructure. "This infrastructure project is a crucial foundation for supporting the economic transformation towards becoming an industrial nation. We aspire to be a modern and advanced country, improve the welfare of the Indonesian people, and eliminate poverty in our nation. For that reason, energy is vital," Subianto said in his speech, which was broadcast virtually. On the same occasion, Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Bahlil Lahadalia noted that 89 percent of the total 3.2 gigawatts comes from clean and renewable energy sources. "This initiative is part of our ongoing efforts to support the President's commitment, both domestically and in international forums, to accelerate the transition from fossil fuel-based steam power plants to new renewable energy," Lahadalia added. SEOUL, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's police on Monday planned to seize martial law documents in presidential office, according to multiple media outlets. HONG KONG, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government on Monday welcomed the decision announced by the London Metal Exchange (LME) to include Hong Kong as an LME warehouse location, saying that the move will consolidate the city's position as an international financial, shipping and trade center. The LME, a subsidiary of the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited, announced on Monday that it would include Hong Kong as an approved delivery point within the LME's global warehousing network and will accept applications from warehouse operators to become approved for the storage of LME-registered brands of metals. Christopher Hui, secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury of the HKSAR government, said that the approval would bring efficient and comprehensive services to the global metal markets, leveraging Hong Kong's institutional and legal advantages, and demonstrating its role as a "super-connector" and "super value-adder" to connect mainland, the world's largest consumer of metals, and international opportunities. The establishment of LME-accredited warehouses in Hong Kong will provide more convenient, more cost-effective, and safer delivery channels for related metals trading in the region. It will also increase the demand for Hong Kong's trade, shipping, warehousing and transportation industries, strengthen Hong Kong's commodities ecosystem, and lay a foundation for future financial-related trading, he added. Hong Kong is striving to create a commodity trading ecosystem, with the latest policy address vowing to capitalize on this opportunity to establish relevant supporting facilities to attract mainland enterprises to engage in commodity trade, especially of non-ferrous metal, in Hong Kong, further expanding the demand for maritime and trade services. Xac minh 'than y' chua ung thu bang phuong phap 'truyen nang luong' "Than y" Nguyen Van Kien (trai) lam viec voi co quan chuc nang - Anh: Cong an cung cap Ngay 28-2, ong Nguyen Tuong Duy - chu tich UBND xa Hai Yang (huyen ak oa, Gia Lai) - cho hay ang phoi hop cac co quan chuc nang xac minh truong hop nguoi xung... An Giang lien tiep xuat hien mua trai mua Mua bat chot giua cao iem ma kh khien nguoi dn bat ngo. Theo ng Luu Van Ninh, Gim oc i Kh tuong Thuy van tinh An Giang, nguyn nhn cua hien tuong ny l do nhieu ong nhiet oi trn cao trong ieu kien La Nina ket hop cua ra pha Nam khoi khng kh lanh... By Akbar Novruz The staff of the Ministry of Economy visited the Alley of Martyrs on the occasion of the 35th anniversary of January 20 - the Day of National Mourning. It was emphasized that the dear memory of the martyrs who sacrificed their lives for Azerbaijan's independence, territorial integrity, and sovereignty was commemorated with deep respect and gratitude, as bouquets of flowers were laid on their graves. January 20, 1990, stands as a symbol of the struggle for freedom and the unyielding will of the heroic Azerbaijani people. This date not only accelerated the process of national awakening but also played a crucial role in the restoration of the Azerbaijani state's independence. It has left an eternal mark on the historical memory of the nation, and the cherished memory of the martyrs will forever live in the hearts of the Azerbaijani people. SYDNEY, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- Two teenagers died on Sunday after a fall at a waterfall in northeast Australia. Police in the state of Queensland said that a 17-year-old girl fell off a waterfall about 2:30 p.m. local time on Sunday at Wappa Falls, 100 km north of Brisbane, and failed to resurface. A 17-year-old boy jumped into the water to try and save her, but also failed to resurface. Emergency services were called to the scene and launched a major search and rescue operation. The girl was found in the water unresponsive and deceased at about 3:30 p.m. and police divers located the boy's body just before 7:30 p.m. The Queensland Police Service said in a statement that the two teenagers were acquainted. Wappa Falls, a popular swimming spot on Queensland's Sunshine Coast, has been closed to the public as police investigate the incident. Police said that reports will be prepared for the coroner for the girl and the boy. Collective opposition must be organised against the bureaucratic imposition of the USO reform pilots by the Communication Workers Union (CWU) hierarchy and Royal Mail management at 37 delivery offices across the UK. The pilot delivery offices are a testing ground for mass job destruction, increased workloads and the gutting of the mail service to be rolled out across 1,200 delivery offices nationally. We appeal to our brothers and sisters at the 37 targeted delivery offices and all other postal workers: Stand together! Hands off our jobs, conditions and the mail service! Dress rehearsal for massive attacks The USO pilots, starting in February, were sprung on us with barely any notice. Behind our backs, Martin Walsh, CWU deputy general secretary, signed a USO Reform Pilot Terms of Reference in December with Royal Mail Chief Operating Officer Alastair Cochrane. They also signed an Enablers Letter headlined: Working together to create the right platform to introduce USO Reform. Daniel Kretinsky, Dave Ward, Royal Mail [Photo: Top left: EP Holding / Bottom left: WSWS / Right: CC BY 2.0] Both documents spell out the CWU Postal Executives full agreement with company plans, backed by Ofcom and the Starmer Labour government, to reform [i.e., dismantle] the USO (Universal Service Obligation). This includes identifying workers deemed surplus to requirements through the imposition of Royal Mails Optimised Delivery Model. Ward has proclaimed the CWUs commitment to no compulsory redundancies, but the Enablers letter states this only applies until the end of the pilot scheme in June! A jobs massacre will follow, as Kretinsky implements the EP Groups strategy for a parcel-led business to compete with Amazon, Evri and UPS. Based on the envisaged success of the pilot scheme, Royal Mail and the CWU state they will conclude a National Agreement on full USO deployment, including resolution of any potential surplus from deploying USO change. The USO pilots are a dress rehearsal for attacks on all postal workers and must be fought on this basis. Lies and subterfuge Ward and Walshs Big Lie is that Royal Mail is reforming the USO, not dismantling it. But the Optimised Delivery Model announced last April set out company plans to slash delivery of Second Class and all letters other than First Class to alternate weekdays to achieve 300 million cost savings with the loss of 7,000 jobs. The pilot scheme co-authored by the CWU will enact this slash and burn agenda, ahead of Ofcoms inevitable seal of approval due in the Summer. Ofcom has already declared the USO is financially unsustainable. CWU officials agree with regulator Ofcom that Royal Mails billionaire investors should not be burdened with a universal six-day mail service to the public. Walshs claim that the USO pilots are about Quality of Service is laughable. The pilot terms of reference states the company must merely match the rock-bottom quality performance for 2023-4 when it failed (yet again) to meet its statutory duties to the public. Communication Workers Union Deputy General Secretary (Postal) Martin Walsh, (left) and CWU General Secretary Dave Ward speaking at a CWU Live event [Photo: screenshot of video: CWU/Facebook] While the mail service is downgraded, the new delivery model gives parcels the same status as First-Class letters six days a week. Workloads will go through the roof. The USO pilot agreement pays lip service to ensuring that individual workload and all tasks are achievable and fair and that duty design changes ensure fatigue is taken account of, but such claims are worthless. Tony Bouch, CWU Outdoor Secretary, has stated the USO changes will mean increased workloads and up to five hours out on delivery. We have already reached that point as we haul around oversized and heavier parcels. The optimised model would push us towards six hours If this is what is being said publicly, what more did Ward and Kretinsky agree in their months of closed-door talks? We have already received information from union reps that under the pilot we would no longer have our own duties, and that two delivery workers would be expected to complete the workload of three. This is in line with the use of AI and other forms of automation in Canada and the US to impose gig economy conditions. The CWU has tried to sugar-coat the USO pilots by touting their agreement with Royal Mail to uplift 11,000 part-timers employed prior to December 2022 to full-time on legacy terms. But Walsh admitted on January 16 that around 11,000 workers on variation contracts had already been working full-time for years, (as far back as 2016 in some cases) while being denied a permanent contract. Even now, the CWU has only agreed to their transfer on a piecemeal basis, with the first group of 8,529 workers offered a permanent job of 37 hours. The CWUs smoke and mirrors has misled thousands of part-time workers to believe they would be uplifted. Permanent employment must be a right available to all workers, not used as a shabby cover for union collusion with management to gut the USO and slash thousands of jobs! Undemocratic stitch-up After the Business Recovery, Transformation and Growth Agreement they rammed through in July 2023, CWU officials know the last thing members will accept is another transformation agenda. That is why the pilots are being brought in over our heads. The CWUs surrender document in 2023 crossed every red line we defended through 18 days of strike action. It ushered in seasonal work rosters, a two-tier workforce, the slashing of sick pay, and the use of PDAs to monitor and discipline frontline staff to drive up workloads. A Royal Mail postal worker delivering mail, May 2024 The USO pilots are being introduced without even a vote by the staff who will be impacted. The CWUs Enablers Letter declares that there will be joint briefing of all the affected Mail Centres and Delivery Offices in January 2025 to present the proposed changes and launch the planned pilot activity. These will be joint meetings of management and union reps. The briefing sessions are aimed at stifling and suppressing the views of postal workers. They have no democratic legitimacy. Postal workers must put a stop to these plans! Emergency meetings should be convened at all affected sites to countermand the CWU hierarchy, reject participation in the pilot schemes, and outline key demands for the protection of jobs, terms and conditions, and the defence of the USO. An appeal for support should be made to workers across Royal Mail, including at Parcelforce and GLS, and to workers at Amazon, UPS and Evri to oppose the race-to-the-bottom. The need for rank-and-file committees CWU Divisional Reps have been called in to roll-out the USO pilots so that Ward and Walsh can peddle their claim that the scheme has the consent of members. But these local officials have done nothing to address our longstanding grievances over management harassment, illegal prioritisation of parcels over letters, and working past our contracted hours to complete deliveries. The divisional reps, on full-time paid release, are doing Royal Mails dirty work. They proposed 34 of the 37 delivery offices on the company hit list for the USO pilots. Postal workers on the picket line at Aylesbury, December 14, 2022 An example is Tam Dewar, CWU Divisional Rep overseeing the pilot at Cumbernauld delivery office in Scotland. The last time he attended the workplace was to justify cutting two duties and increasing workloads. His response to members opposition was to say they had to get real as Royal Mail was a privatised company, which must look after its shareholders. The USO pilot scheme shows how fully the CWU has been integrated with management. The pilot terms of reference states: A National Steering Group, National Functional working groups for Delivery, Processing, Local Distribution, MPUS, Collection and Regional Joint Working Group have been agreed. These groups will align on key areas to ensure the pilots are successful in meeting the objectives of USO reform. These objectives include meeting commercial targets and creating a financially sustainable USO. This is a foretaste of the CWUs 12-page Framework Agreement endorsing Daniel Kretinskys 3.5 billion takeover of Royal Mail, hailed by Dave Ward as a fresh start. Only through organising a rank-and-file rebellion can a genuine fight be waged. We need to establish lines of communication across all workplaces to link our struggles and assert our demands against the profit gouging by Kretinksy and his private equity vultures and asset strippers. To defeat the alliance of Kretinsky, the CWU and the Starmer government we need to turn to our allies in the postal and logistics sector across Europe, Canada, and the US, who are facing the same coordinated attack by corporate and state-owned carriers using AI and other forms of automation to slash jobs and boost profits. Automation should be used to improve working conditions not to line the pockets of billionaire investors. Is the pilot scheme being operated at your workplace? Get in touch to organise a fightback. We appeal to all Royal Mail workers to help distribute this statement. Londons Metropolitan Police carried out a major crackdown on Saturdays national March for Palestine, making 77 arrests. These included the brutal arrest by a 10-man police snatch squad of Chris Nineham, a leading figure in the Stop the War Coalition (STWC). Nineham, the vice chair of STWC, has been head steward of the national Palestine marches, attended by millions in total, that have taken place over the last 15 months in the capital. He was held overnight, charged with organising an illegal demonstration and finally released 19 hours after his arrestnot even allowed to address his supporters outside the police station as his release came with the anti-democratic bail condition that he attend no protests. The delegation from the rally platform making their way from Whitehall to Trafalgar Square. Among them are John McDonnell, Jeremy Corbyn, Stop the War Coalition leader Lindsey German and the Palestine Solidarity Campaign's Ben Jamal While not arrested on Saturday, two of the speakers at the rallyformer Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and his former shadow chancellor, John McDonnell, also a current MPwere set to be interviewed Sunday under caution by the Met. The BBC reported that they will voluntarily attend a police station in the capital as the Met investigates what it says was a coordinated effort by organisers to breach conditions imposed on the event. Saturdays march was the UKs 23rd national protest against the genocide in Gaza and attended by tens of thousands. The organisers faced repeated attempts over the last weeks to have it banned, or massively restricted, and demanded their democratic right to march up until the very eve of the protest. Police eventually permitted it be limited to a static protest in Whitehallthe less than half-a-mile in length road that runs from Trafalgar Square to Parliament Square. Masses of police were mobilised for the dayincluding from other forces around Britaininterspersed throughout the Whitehall area, with roads blocked off in all directions. Police were also stationed in the vicinity of Portland Place, where the march was originally scheduled to have begun, outside the HQ of the BBC. Nineham was arrested following the speeches given at the rally by the various leaders of the Palestine Coalition organising the demonstration. Several condemned the polices attempt, with the backing of a substantial number of MPs, to ban and restrict the march. Ben Jamal, a leader of the Palestinian Solidarity Campaign (PSC), stated at the rallys conclusion that leaders of the six bodies making up the coalition, plus platform speakers will now walk as a delegation towards the BBC. We will carry with us flowers that we intend to lay at the gates of the BBC to protest at their failure to report the truth of genocide and to mark the cost in Palestinian lives of that failure. Jamal pledged, as then occurred, We will walk peacefully, we will walk in silence. If the police stop us, which they probably will, we will lay those flowers at the feet of the police force to mark their complicity in supporting genocide by suppressing protest against that genocide. As fellow speakers, Corbyn and McDonnell, along with Labour MP Apsana Begum, marched with the organisers listed by Jamal. Thousands followed them in silence down Whitehall and into Trafalgar Square. Police claimed in an X post at 3:27 p.m. that those marching were a group which forced its way through the police line and were in breach of the conditions. They should now disperse and leave the area or will be arrested. Arresting Nineham, they dragged him to the ground before locking him in a waiting police van. In a post later on Saturday, Corbyn, a local London MP, stated, This is not an accurate description of events at all We did not force our way through. When we reached Trafalgar Square, we informed police that we would go no further, lay down flowers and disperse. At that point, the Chief Steward, Chris Nineham was arrested. We then turned back and dispersed. The Palestine Coalition also issued a statement opposing the Mets misleading narrative about the events. It added, On the day we were confronted with extremely heavy handed and aggressive policing, noting how the met had imposed a series of complex restrictions with less than a days notice, including preventing assembly right in the centre of Whitehall for part of the day to allow space for a childrens marching band to proceed up and down. This was the Gordons School pipes and drums band, whose annual march commemorates the death of General Charles George Gordon (1833-85)a major figure in British imperialisms colonial history. The statement noted that when the delegation from the platform reached the police line at the top of Whitehall, they were not stopped as expected but were instead invited to proceed into Trafalgar Square by the police. After the delegation were blocked from leaving the square, they requested that a maximum of 25 people be allowed to proceed and were told to wait for a decision, during which time the police violently and for no apparent reason arrested the chief steward of the rally, Chris Nineham. The delegation laid down their flowers and dispersed, while Ben Jamal and Ismail Patel [from Friends of Al-Aqsa] used a megaphone to call on the crowd that had gathered around them to do the same, which people then did. At no point was there an organised breach of conditions imposed by the police. Police officers blocking off an exit in Trafalgar Square The police nonetheless carried out 77 arrests, of which 65 were for breach of conditions [on the protest] and five for public order offences. The BBC reported Sunday that that of those arrested, 24 people had been bailed and 48 remained in custody. Signifying a new stage in the repression of the right to protest, the police described Saturdays events as a coordinated effort to breach Public Order Act conditions and cause serious disruption to Londoners. This was the culmination of a long effort by the police, the BBC and many MPs to disrupt, provoke and stir up animosity against a demonstration which was planned to go ahead weeks ago. On January 10, the Met banned the protest from assembling at the BBCs Broadcasting House headquarters in Portland Place as was planned. The police claimed the ban reflected on the views of local community and business representatives, including congregation members at a synagogue. Under the conditions, Section 12(3) Public Order Act 1986 substantial parts of London were sealed off including roads off Whitehall, off Trafalgar Square, and, as this map issued by the Metropolitan Police shows, a huge area around Portland Place where the BBC is located [Photo: Metropolitan Police] As Nineham noted in a response published January 12, there were two synagogues in the general area The synagogues are not actually on the route, so given the number of synagogues in central London, this decision would mean no Palestine demonstrations in the West End. The banning of the protest at the BBC was demanded by many MPs and a venal media who have slandered the anti-genocide rallies from the outset as hate marches. On January 8, the Sun reported that more than 80 politicians, MPs and peers, implored Met Police chief Sir Mark Rowley to use his powers to change the route of a Palestine Solidarity Campaign protest, claiming previous demonstrations have left the Jewish community feeling intimidated. The march from Broadcasting House was banned the following dayan action opposed by just 39 MPs in a Parliament of 650, showing how far to the right the political establishment has shifted. On January 17, just 24 hours before it was set to go ahead, with the marchs organisers insisting on their democratic right to protest, the Palestinian Coalition issued a statement explaining, Yesterday, the Metropolitan Police publicly announced its intention to force our protest to assemble at Russell Square and threatened to arrest anyone assembling elsewhere. Only after further protests from the organisers did police allow the demonstration to assemble in Whitehall. Tens of thousands of protesters listen to speakers at the rally in Whitehall, London, January 18, 2025 These events confirm that the British stateup to its neck in the slaughter in Gaza and NATOs war against Russiaand headed by Sir Keir Starmers Labour government, has concluded that mass protests against war can no longer be tolerated. They make good on Met assistant commissioner Matt Twists threat last May, speaking about the Gaza protests to the right-wing Policy Exchange think tank: On occasion we did not move quickly to make arrests We are now much more focused on identifying reasonable grounds for arrest, acting where needed, and then investigating, so in these circumstances its very likely arrests would be made more quickly now. But even such repression is just a foretaste of the crackdown to come. On January 14, the Palestinian Coalition revealed that in attempting to ensure their plan for a protest on January 18 went ahead, a meeting was held with the police that day. They explained that the Met had by then advanced, the spurious suggestion that we hold our march on a day other than a Saturdaythe day on which all major demonstrations in London are heldsomething which everybody knows would not be possible on anything like the same scale. During the meeting, the police confirmed that they are seeking to impose an effective ban on protests in support of Palestinian rights at the BBC on any Saturday. Disgracefully, they explicitly conceded that this proscription would not apply to those protesting for other causes including pro-Israel demonstrations. Pseudo-left parties internationally have hailed last months takeover of Syria by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), a group that emerged from the Syrian branch of al-Qaeda. In doing so, these organisations have deepened their protracted alignment with imperialism. What the pseudo-left has for years promoted as the Syrian revolution was in fact a massive regime change operation orchestrated by the US government and its allies, particularly Britain. In 2011, these major powers fomented a civil war in the country, using reactionary Islamist forces as their foot soldiers. The CIA is estimated to have funnelled a billion dollars in arms and cash to these forces, while vast resources were poured in from American imperialisms allies in the Gulf states. Despite having collaborated with imperialism for many years, the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad was viewed as a potential obstacle to untrammelled US dominance of the Middle East. The effort to remove Assad was bound up with hostility in Washington to Syrias close ties to both Iran and Russia. This operation, having laid waste to Syria and resulted in the emergence of ISIS, came to fruition with the HTS takeover of the country last month. That is part of the broader imperialist war drive in the region, including the Israeli genocide of the Palestinians, its war against Lebanon and the US-led threats and military provocations targeting Iran. HTS has pledged to collaborate with the major powers as well as with Israel. A conga line of imperialist representatives have travelled to Syria, meeting with HTS leader Abu Mohammad al-Julani, a longstanding al-Qaeda terrorist who has now been removed from a US government bounty list. All of this has been covered up by the pseudo-left internationally, which has lauded the HTS takeover as the victory of a revolution and the dawn of a new era of Syrian democracy. Omar Hassan [Photo: Facebook/Omar Hassan for Broadmeadows] Socialist Alternative, an Australian pseudo-left group, has gone further than most. Last month, it dispatched one of its leading members, Omar Hassan, to Syria. Hassan, who appears to be the first representative of the international pseudo-left to openly enter Syria under the new regime, has written a series of dispatches for Socialist Alternatives Red Flag publication. Hassans articles can only be described as a pro-imperialist whitewash. At times he makes criticisms of HTS because it is so openly reactionary, but these limited condemnations, serving as political cover for Red Flag, are all within the framework that the ouster of Assad is a victory for the Syrian people and a great advance. In Hassans eight dispatches, published between January 2 and 19, there are some glaring omissions. The words imperialism and imperialist do not appear. There is not a single reference to the US or British governments, or their intelligence agencies, despite them having played such a decisive role in the civil war and immediately developing relations with the HTS regime. Hassan also makes no reference to Turkeys role. That is an especially striking omission insomuch as Turkey, a NATO member, has been the biggest backer of HTS in recent years. Even within the reactionary world of hardline Islamists, HTS has been condemned by some as a puppet of the Erdogan regime, which has subordinated the jihad to the foreign policy interests of Turkey. But, as with the role of the imperialist powers, Hassan avoids what is no doubt a sensitive point for HTS by simply ignoring it. Hassan in raptures on entering free Syria There is an even more glaring omission in the first two dispatches. Hassan does not mention HTS! The first dispatch is rapturously headlined Entering free Syria, but neglects to mention that said free Syria is ruled by a hardline al-Qaeda regime which has stated that even restricted parliamentary elections will likely not take place for four years. That dispatch sets the tone for the rest. It is written in the style of the people seem happy propaganda that has frequently been employed by corrupt writers on behalf of dictatorial and authoritarian regimes. Screenshot of Socialist Alternatives Red Flag [Photo: Red Flag] Whereas crossing the Lebanese border into Syria was once onerous, due to corruption and bribery, now people say that it is not. When we reach the capital, New Years celebrations are in full swing and masses of people are on the streets, Spirits are high and the small number of armed guards seem relaxed etc, etc. Hassan writes: [P]eople are revelling in Assads defeat. Who could blame them? After 54 years of a dynastic dictatorship, the Syrian people are enjoying their first taste of freedom. In the first dispatch, and all subsequent ones, Hassan makes no attempt to define this freedom. Given that HTS has all but ruled out elections, it is not the nominal freedom of capitalist parliamentary rule. Nor is there any suggestion that more fundamental changes addressing social and economic inequality are in the offing. Hassans freedom thus has about as much content and sincerity as that of any bourgeois hack who abuses the term, recalling nothing so much as the statements of war criminals like George W. Bush, Barack Obama and Joe Biden. How Hassan whitewashes al-Qaeda By the third and fourth dispatches some dark clouds have emerged, with Hassan having discovered HTS and some of its reactionary positions. He covered a small protest, opposing HTSs changes to the school curriculum. Hassan writes: Everyone agrees that the pro-Assad propaganda that saturates the textbooks needs to be removed. But the proposed reforms go further They include eliminating lessons on evolution and the Big Bang theory, abolishing all negative references to the Ottoman Empire and denouncing Jews and Christians. The changes were introduced by a HTS decree, but Hassan makes no attempt to square this with his repeated references to freedom. In another dispatch, Hassan is compelled to acknowledge chilling and terrifying reports of HTS forces carrying out sectarian pogroms across the country. Even here, Hassan downplays the implications. A US-backed opposition fighter steps on a broken bust of former Syrian President Hafez Assad in Damascus, Syria, Sunday December 8, 2024. [AP Photo/Hussein Malla] The fact that HTS is murdering and rounding up civilians on the basis of their religion and ethnicity is a stark reminder that the situation in Damascus, where stability reigns and the right to protest and gather peacefully is fairly unchallenged, is not the experience of all Syrians at this time. The HTS reign of terror, Hassan notes, has provoked lively discussion on social media, but at times, these debates can fall into sectarian patterns and discourses. This is not naive complacency on Hassans part. It is a politically criminal attempt to downplay the obvious threat that the imperialist-backed HTS regime poses to the most basic democratic rights of the Syrian people. For years, Socialist Alternative promoted the Islamist insurgency as a revolution, even as sectarian atrocities by HTS and other groups were widely-documented, foreshadowing what is now being perpetrated on a larger scale. Having pointed to the reports of HTS atrocities, however, in a subsequent dispatch published January 13 Hassan recounted his friendly discussions with its fighters. Beneath a headline hailing heroes of the revolution in the southwestern city of Daraa, Hassan writes: In recent times, some of the FSA [Free Syrian Army] brigades in Daraa have begun affiliating to HTS. They were attracted by its superior funding and organisation, but also by what they saw as its success in governing Idlib province. What did these heroes do? During its protracted control of Idlib, HTS established a despotic dictatorship, including widespread human rights abuses, torture and imprisonment. Hassan then recounts the following exchange: Things are great there, almost like Europe, claims an armed guard patrolling the streets. He moved to Idlib just a few months ago after his father was appointed to a leading position within HTS. They returned to Daraa triumphantly, part of HTSs southward march through Hama, Homs and Damascus. Hassan hastens to add that many FSA fighters in Daraa have not joined HTS, and approvingly cites one fighter predicting that the al-Qaeda organisation would be dissolved through a unification of all the armed Islamist groups. Another dispatch promoted the activities of militia groups in the southwestern city of Suwayda. Hassan presented the militia, which are organised along sectarian lines among the Druze minority, as a model of regional autonomy. That position aligns with the major powers that are actively considering a further partition of Syria amid a scramble for influence and control over the geo-strategically critical country. Even while celebrating the autonomy in Suwayda and the absence of a large HTS fighting force, Hassan declared: There is, however, an HTS envoy, Mustafa al-Bakkour, who is in practice functioning as the areas governor, which nobody seems to mind. Hassan in search of the Syrian left Hassan, as is clear, had no difficulty in finding imperialist-sponsored Islamists and various sectarian militias, but for years, Socialist Alternative derided any suggestion that these constituted the main force of the revolution as an Assadist conspiracy theory. Without ever being able to outline political organisations, programs or leaders, they always hinted that there was a progressive element within the insurgency that pointed the way forward. On the ground in Syria, this was Hassans chance to find such a movement. The results he came up with were desultory. A meeting of the left, in which Hassan participated in Damascus was attended by a grand total of 55 people in a city of 2.5 million. There were no young people, Hassan noted. Someone explained to him that was because the youth were less politically engaged, to which Hassan added, Presumably, the winter holidays dont help either. Socialist Alternative has hailed the fall of Assad as a victorious revolution, but has there ever been a genuine revolution in history that has not animated the younger generation, even slightly? The Syrian revolution having come to fruition, almost 14 years after it began, one would imagine that the left would have a detailed and worked out plan for its further development. As per Hassans account, the 55 individuals gathered were essentially at the drawing board stage. They had recently formed something called the Syrian Democratic Movement, and the meeting established a broad consensus on such aims as emphasising womens rights and working towards involving more youth in the movement. If there was something missing from the conversation, it was a focus on economic grievances, Hassan lamented. In other words, the new movement had nothing to say about the social conditions of the working class, much less any program to advance its interests. Another meeting Hassan attended was addressed virtually by Anne Alexander, a prominent representative of the British pseudo-left, whom Hassan described as a Middle East expert. In Hassans recounting, Alexander stressed the need to build and strengthen independent unions that can use their power at the point of production to discipline bourgeois forces like HTS. That is, the consolidation of the HTS regime is a given and should be accepted. The task is to organise independent unions to somehow keep it in check and provide a counterbalance. That is a perspective that dovetails entirely with the interests of the British and American governments, which, while signalling that they will collaborate with the al-Qaeda regime, no doubt wish for some sort of democratic fig leaf, as well as potentially a bourgeois opposition that can be turned to if the Islamist group enters a crisis or gets out of line. As with Alexanders comments, Hassans travelogues paint him as operating like a typical western NGO representative, anxious for an expansion of civil participation, within the framework of capitalist rule and the existing geopolitical order. In addition to the word imperialism, the word socialism does not appear once. There is not a suggestion that he raised with anyone that the only way to secure the social and democratic rights of the Syrian masses was by building a socialist movement of the working class. How has Hassan travelled so freely? Syria, under al-Qaeda rule, is an unlikely destination for a socialist whose political work is largely concentrated in inner-city, bohemian Melbourne. The Australian government currently advises: Do not travel to Syria due to the extremely dangerous security situation and the threat of armed conflict, air strikes, terrorism, arbitrary detention and kidnapping. One sincerely hopes that Hassan has considered these possibilities and that he makes it out of Syria unscathed. Extraordinary recklessness and light mindedness cannot be discounted in his choice to travel to Syria. That would seem the less likely explanation. Under conditions where HTS is consolidating its rule, including through the murder of political rivals, Hassan has been able to travel freely throughout the country. His dispatches are being published more or less contemporaneously, under his real name, for which he has previously stood as a candidate for parliament. Some may find it implausible that while walking the streets of Daraa, Hassan struck up a conversation with a random armed fighter, whose father turned out to be a leading member of HTS. In any event, Hassan is clearly receiving introductions, including to hardened Islamist fighters and leading members of Druze militia. The question is inevitably posed: does Hassan have a security arrangement with HTS? If so, are there certain topics that are off limits, such as the groups close ties to the Turkish regime? Has his travel been facilitated or approved by any other regional states, or in consultation with western agencies? The pseudo-left as an agency of imperialism Whatever the answer to those questions, Hassans trip has an unmistakably pro-imperialist character. It is part of an embrace of the new HTS regime by the major powers and its constituency in the upper middle-class, which was also expressed in a fawning meeting between Germanys Green Party foreign minister Annalena Baerbock, who has championed a feminist foreign policy, and HTS leader al-Julani. Syria's de facto leader Ahmad al-Sharaa, formerly known as Abu Mohammed al-Golani, center, meets with German foreign minister, Annalena Baerbock, left, and French foreign minister, Jean-Noel Barrot, right, in Damascus, Syria, Friday, Jan. 3, 2025. [AP Photo/SANA] Baerbock has been an outspoken supporter of Israels genocide of the Palestinians in Gaza, including by explicitly defending the bombing of schools and hospitals. Hassan and Socialist Alternative have denounced the genocide and been heavily involved in weekly pro-Palestinian protests in Australian cities. But Israel receives scarcely a mention in Hassans dispatches, and that under conditions where the Israel Defence Forces are conducting operations to seize Syrian territory and HTS has pledged a friendly attitude to the Zionist regime. One dispatch recounts a visit by Hassan to Yarmouk, a Palestinian refugee camp in Damascus. It was levelled during the civil war, including through heavy strikes by the Assad regime and the activities of ISIS and al-Nusra, HTSs al-Qaeda linked predecessor. That the Assads repeatedly betrayed the Palestinians and committed crimes during the war is not in doubt, but Hassan makes the following ludicrous statement which would warm the hearts of Zionists everywhere: Indeed, Assads thugs killed more Palestinians in Yarmouk than Israel did in any one of its wars prior to 7 October. Throughout the dispatches, Hassan presents the Assad regime as unspeakably and incomparably evil. That has always been how the pseudo-left has justified its support for the regime-change operation. That the Assad government was reactionary and despotic is clear. That is the case with literally every regime in the Middle East. Genuine socialists explain that the rotten role of the Arab regimes testifies to the bankruptcy of the bourgeoisie in countries of a belated capitalist development. They oppose such regimes from the left, fighting to build an independent socialist movement of the working class against them. For Socialist Alternative and the pseudo-left, the hysterical references to the Assad regime were merely cover to align with imperialism. Socialist Alternative was more explicit that most, with one of its leading members, Corey Oakley, infamously declaring in 2012 that the Syrian civil war meant the time for knee-jerk anti-imperialism has now passed. The world has changed, Oakley asserted, and imperialism, in the sense of Western neo-colonialism, is not the main threat facing the masses of Syria, or of the Arab world as a whole. Basing themselves on that line, Socialist Alternative hailed the advance of the reactionary, CIA-funded Islamists. To the extent that it acknowledged western backing for the rebels, Socialist Alternative lined up with the most hawkish sections of the military-intelligence establishment, insisting that the support was insufficient and calling for greater weapons and funds to be transferred. This was not simply a Syrian question. It marked the open entrance into the camp of imperialism by political forces that had broken from the Trotskyist movement decades before. Having rejected the revolutionary role of the working class in the post-World War II period, these forces became the political representatives of a layer of the middle-class that grew increasingly affluent in the 1980s and 1990s, at the same time that the social position of the working class was under attack. In the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, and amid the emergence of mass social opposition, these forces moved further to the right, aligning with their own governments. That process has only accelerated. Amid a breakdown of capitalism and an eruption of militarism globally, Socialist Alternative, for instance, is not only aligning with the US, Israel and the Australian government in supporting regime-change in Syria. It is also fully backing the US-NATO proxy war against Russia in Ukraine, which threatens nuclear war in Europe. Hassans trip is another demonstration that a genuine anti-war movement, which must be based on the working class and a socialist perspective directed against the source of conflict, capitalism, can only be built through a relentless political fight against the pseudo-left. National Guard soldiers in Altadena, California next to the World Central Kitchen food distribution, January 19, 2025. As Los Angeles faces the devastating aftermath of a series of wildfires, the city stands at a pivotal moment, both in a literal and metaphorical sense. With Donald Trump being inaugurated as the 47th president of the United States on Monday, the unfolding disaster in Southern California highlights the urgent crises confronting humanity and the systemic failures to tackle them. The wildfires have resulted in at least 27 fatalities, forced around 200,000 residents to evacuate and destroyed over 40,000 acres of land along with nearly 15,000 structures, showcasing the increasing frequency and severity of climate-related disasters. Firefighters have made notable strides, managing to contain the Palisades Fire and the Eaton Fire to 52 and 81 percent, respectively. However, the damage inflicted on the landscape and the communities affected is significant. As of Friday night, Cal Fire reported that the Lidia, Archer, Woodley, Sunset, Kenneth, Hurst, and Auto fires were fully contained. However, the forecast of strong, damaging Santa Ana winds on Monday and Tuesday poses a serious threat, as the region remains dangerously dry. The impact of climate change on Californias wildfire risk is increasingly clear. The states increasingly dry conditions are not an anomaly but rather a consequence of a warming planet. Professor John Abatzoglou, a specialist in climate and fire science, remarked for CalMatters, The numbers were literally off the charts, in reference to the unprecedented combination of heat, drought and dryness indices fueling the Los Angeles fires. Yet, despite the growing body of scientific evidence, politicians of all stripes persist in spreading misinformation and neglecting the underlying causes of these disasters. Trumps inauguration on Monday adds a painful irony to the ongoing tragedy. His rise to the presidency symbolizes the emergence of reactionary forces determined to deny science and roll back even the minimal climate measures put in place by previous administrations. Trumps first executive orders in 2017 included pulling out of the Paris Climate Agreement and revoking federal emissions standards, marking a troubling escalation in the US governments neglect to address climate change. Trump has consistently minimized the seriousness of the climate crisis, labeling it as a hoax. He has suggested that victims could have avoided disaster by simply raking their yards and has placed blame on Democrats for spending cuts to social services that he and the Republicans fully endorse and are preparing to launch more significant ones. This distortion of reality not only diverts attention from systemic issues but also seeks to preemptively clear his administration of any accountability. Trump and the Republican Party have already threatened to withhold federal disaster relief, leaving victims to navigate one of the worst fire seasons in history on their own. The human impact of these fires goes far beyond the immediate loss of life. According to Yale Climate Connections, the indirect death toll from the fires in Los Angeles could ultimately reach into the thousands. Prolonged exposure to smoke, displacement, and the breakdown of local healthcare systems have intensified the suffering of many residents. Vulnerable groupsthe elderly, low-income individuals, and those with pre-existing health conditionsare facing the worst of these cascading effects. At the same time, the systemic failures in disaster preparedness and response are glaringly evident. While billionaires like Rick Caruso and Kim Kardashian are able to employ private firefighters to save their properties, Los Angeles housing crisis and increasing inequality have left many residents with no options. Evacuees are crammed into temporary shelters, enduring unsanitary conditions and limited access to essential resources. The responses from state and local officials are woefully inadequate given the magnitude of the disaster. The WSWS spoke to several Altadena residents impacted by the fires. What transpires is the realization of a systemic failure as well as the class character of this social tragedy. A disabled survivor commented about her horrific experience: Ive lived here my whole life. We got an evacuation warning for my home. Went to my uncles on the other side of town where they didnt get an evacuation warning. Left in the middle of the night. His house burned down. And now we dont have any power. She made a connection between the inadequate response to the fires and spending cuts in social programs, including fire department budgets: In Altadena [an unincorporated community in Los Angeles County], were at the whims of LA County, and those cuts mattered, she stated. The response should have been better. And yeah, its just really painful. The future for most people is a difficult one. A lot of my friends have family homes that are gone. Its really sad. I dont know that many of them will be able to rebuild. A lot of them only had those homes because they had them generations ago. A lot of people are hurting and traumatized. She reflected on the ability of the rich to spare themselves from disaster: I think of [Pasadena-born writer] Octavia Butlers writings about kind of the same thing happening, where firefighting [service] is a privilege, not a right, and only the rich are protected, and those with less are just left to fend for themselves. A full accounting of the losses suffered will take months, but they are becoming evident as evacuees tell their stories. Dorothy, another Altadena resident, described her horror: I had a total loss in my house. At 4:30 a.m., my smoke detectors went off and, when I opened my eyes, I couldnt see. When I opened my front door, everything around me was on fire. Dorothy told the WSWS that she runs a daycare for seniors and youth. Its been a heavy process and some of my seniors are still missing. Commenting on the speculative vultures circling the area, she reported: For people to call and wanting to purchase your home asking you if you want to sell your land. You know, its just insane. I dont even know the database that they [speculators] are getting this information from, but a large part of my seniors are being asked to sell their homes, when they havent even processed that theyre homeless. So its just a very egregious situation. Dorothy reacted to the ability of wealthier residents to pay for private firefighting services: I think its very odd because I thought we were one nation, one unit. Thats a human basic need for your government to make sure that youre safe during a natural disaster. That shouldnt be gauged by how much money you have in the bank because my life has the same value as a billionaires life. The homeless people matter just as much as the billionaires. She commented on how major social events expose social reality: In those moments we should have all mattered. I dont try to really engage in those [political] conversations because its too stressful for me. I like to deal with human kindness, but I do recognize the wickedness. Im not ignorant to that, so I dont know the social things that are going on and the depth that I probably should, but it might be time that I dig a little deeper. Mental healthcare workers and other medical practitioners have spoken with the World Socialist Web Site to voice their support for protesting public hospital psychiatrists in New South Wales (NSW). Staff specialist psychiatrist addresses ASMOF press conference, January 15, 2025, in Sydney [Photo: Facebook/ASMOF ] Over 200 staff specialist psychiatrists in NSW public hospitals have tendered their resignations, effective tomorrow, in opposition to the NSW Labor governments refusal to increase its woeful pay offer or address the catastrophic conditions in the seriously under-resourced mental health services. If the resignations occur, there will only be around 90 senior psychiatrists left working in public hospitals in NSW, Australias most populous state. Staff in the sector are covered by the Australian Salaried Medical Officers Federation (ASMOF), which is calling for an immediate 25 percent pay increase. The staff specialist psychiatrists, who undergo 10 years of study and training, have been calling for a decent pay rise and urgent increased funding to services over the past 18 months. According to todays Sydney Morning Herald there are about 90,000 mental health-related presentations to public hospital emergency departments every year, with an average 21-day hospital stay. The NSW government, which is closely collaborating with Mark Butler, the federal minister for health, has categorically rejected the psychiatrists demands. Today, it has declared its intent to take the dispute to the pro-business Industrial Relations Commission for arbitration. That is part of a broader offensive by the governments, state and federal, targeting any struggle by workers. As the WSWS explained last week, meeting the psychiatrists demands means building a unified movement of health workers, throughout the state and nationally, against the governments. That can only be developed in opposition to the health unions, most of which have said nothing about the psychiatrists struggle, as well as the leadership of ASMOF, which is oriented to appealing to the government. The following comment was sent by a NSW mental health nurse, who wants to remain anonymous: I recently heard about a situation in an adolescent mental health inpatient unit where two young people were discharged, not because they were anywhere near well enough to be discharged, but because the unit was closing due to registrar psychiatrist shortages. This is a very high-risk situation for these young people. Early discharge scenarios are happening a lot but to see it with young people, who have their whole lives in front of them but are confronting a serious mental illness, is extremely disheartening and disturbing. Because the government refuses to grant the psychiatrists demands, this is what will happen: 1) There will be more psychiatrist resignations because they will be expected to chop and change and work in areas that are outside their scope of practice. 2) There will be increasing numbers of high-risk patients admitted to low-risk units and potential danger to staff and other inpatients, without the back up of an acute unit in facilities. 3) The psychiatrists that have resigned will move into the private sector and treat the relatively stable patients, which means those with enduring mental illness or in crisis will go untreated. 4) The private sector cannot treat involuntary patients or high-risk patients, so involuntary and high-risk patients have nowhere to go. For the government to say the private sector can treat these patients is downright ignorance or straight out lies. 5) The suicide rate will increase dramatically as mental health episodes go undiagnosed and untreated. Young people with prodromal [early] symptoms will go undiagnosed, leading to a decreased positive outcome for their recovery. 6) GPs, who are not familiar or comfortable with mental illness, will be expected to carry the load with mental health patients in crisis and needing diagnosis and treatment. 7) Regional and rural areas where psychiatrists input is minimal will become even more poorly resourced. 8) More and more junior doctors and mental health nurses will leave because of burnout from the added stress and workloads. To summarise, we face an absolute catastrophe and one that will have far-reaching effects across all communities in NSW. It takes ten years to train psychiatrists, so how will Australia recover from the mass exodus of psychiatrists? A staff specialist psychiatrist who trained and qualified at Concord Hospital in Sydneys western suburbs in the 1980s spoke to the WSWS. He worked in inpatient psychiatric units, in consultation liaison psychiatry in the general hospital and in community mental health services before retiring 2022. His comments have been edited: There have always been problems with public mental health. In the days when asylums were the predominant method of treating seriously mentally ill persons, there were abuses of power and then a movement in the 1970s and 80s to close the asylums or the big psychiatric hospitals down and replace them with community mental health services. This was generally seen as a positive move because the asylums were not very pleasant places and could lead to institutionalised behaviour and prevent patients from forming more normalised relationships with the community. When the de-institutionalisation movement occurred there were funds that could be withdrawn from the inpatient mental health services. These were expected to be applied to services in the community. Its not clear though that all this funding was applied to the community mental health services. The model was to support people with mental illness living in the community. Usually, these individuals wouldnt have the severity of mental illness that is met with in asylums. The development of newer anti-psychotic medication and psychotropic medication made it possible to think about allowing people to be discharged into the community and maintain their mental health. That said, mental health has always tended to be a poor relation of the other medical conditions and had difficulty attracting funding proportionate to the amount of disability caused by mental illness. Public mental health services see some of the most difficult to treat conditions often associated with severe behavioural disorders and disturbances. This creates a predominance of working conditions which are sometimes hazardous and often unpleasant. The existing state of the mental health system is such that resources are being more and more stretched with regards to the treatment of acute mental illnesses. The proposed large-scale resignations will have a very, very disastrous effect on the services. It means reductions in the treatment workforce and the ability of making qualified professional decisions which will probably be left in the hands of more junior and less qualified medical personnel. Staff specialists provide training, mentorship and support for the psychiatry registrars or psychiatrists in training. Itll be very difficult to continue providing accredited training in this situation. Without senior guidance and support the junior doctors will be left in the position of having to make decisions for which they possibly are not qualified. This could lead to mishaps and misjudgments and possibly adverse outcomes. We run the risk of blocking up the beds with patients who havent been receiving the most expert treatment that should be available, and of the services being overrun. For psychiatrists to link up with other healthcare workers is a good idea for some kind of unification of purpose and the development of a broadly accepted plan for providing services. Its good to try and unify the sectors of the workforce to achieve a better outcome. Victorian mental health workers protest on August 3, 2021 [Photo: Health and Community Services Union Facebook] Steve, a retired nurse from Victoria, said: The NSW government claims it can use locum psychiatrists to deal with the issues and is advocating people go to the private system. This wont work and would have a devastating effect on the clients, who cannot easily change from one psychiatrist to another or go to the private system. NSW public hospital psychiatrists should turn to their colleagues across Australia and the rest of the mental health work force. They need rank and file committees of psychiatrists and to appeal to their colleagues in other states to support them. There is no way forward with the unions and the professional associations. Theyre silent on mass murder in Gaza and theyre silent on these other issues too. Psychiatrists in NSW and workers across the country confront a social problem caused by government cuts. Its down to the capitalist class demanding social programs be ended, the provision of those programs be terminated. The government will claim it is the psychiatrists fault for abandoning their patients, but there arent enough psychiatrists, thats a fact. People wait for months, going from acute presentation to acute presentation and every time getting sicker, then becoming homeless or ending in prison. Governments are not providing sufficient funds for training of mental health workers and all the services that need to go with themhousing, secure accommodation. Theres a whole history of defunding and restructuring of public health. Weve seen the closure of psychiatric beds, infectious diseases beds and all sorts of service, basically because the government doesnt want to fund public health care. There probably wouldnt be so much demand if there were other services available, such as accommodation, mental health nurses making sure people have their medication either in the community or in secure facilities. Some social support exists but it is totally inadequate. Just walk around the streets and you see it. A mental health nurse from Victoria sent the following comment: I completely support the NSW psychiatrists. The crisis in NSW is similar to whats happening in Victoria and is caused by the fact that the recommendations from a royal commission into mental health havent been implemented and arent going to be implemented. The NSW government has said that it will try and transfer the public mental health patients to private hospitals. Patients with mental health issues cant quickly change hospitals because different hospitals have different programs and services. You cant change psychiatrists and hope to have continuity of care. And in psychiatry, it is all about rapport and the relationship you have with the psychiatrist. Psychiatrists can provide a plan of care but if you havent got the staff, you cant implement that plan, which is why you have adverse events where people kill themselves in hospital or abscond and then kill themselves. NSW psychiatrists need to get the mental health nurses on side because we are all in this situation together. Mental health is all done in teams, its very collaborative. The psychiatrists need to call out mental health nurses but also general nurses, social workers and psychologists. Everybody should unite and fight for a decent system. Im pretty sure everyone will be involved, because theyre just sick of it. We urge NSW public hospital psychiatrists to contact the Health Workers Rank-and-File Committee to discuss your experiences, conditions confronting medical practitioners and patients in your hospital, and how to establish a rank-and-file committee to take forward this struggle. Contact the Health Workers Rank-and-File Committee (HWRFC): Email: sephw.aus@gmail.com Twitter: @HealthRandF_Aus Facebook: facebook.com/groups/hwrfcaus In defiance of the demands of historians, Holocaust survivors and public opinion, Canadas Liberal government is suppressing an almost four-decade-old secret report that identified some 900 Nazi war criminals who had lived, or were then living, in Canada. This outrageous decision is motivated by fear that the exposure of the identities of the Nazis and Nazi collaborators would damage the NATO-instigated war on Russia over Ukraine. Supporters of the reports suppression have justified it in the name of countering Russian disinformation. What a fraud! It is the Canadian state that is burying the truth. It fears exposure of Canadian imperialisms three-quarters-of-a-century-long alliance with the Ukrainian fascists who collaborated with the Nazis in the commission of monstrous crimes, including the Holocaust, during their self-proclaimed war of annihilation against the Soviet Union. This alliance continuesindeed, it is even more important todaywith the Canadian state and ruling class closely collaborating with the political-ideological descendants of the Nazis Ukrainian accomplices in both Canada and Ukraine. The Liberal governments actions shed critical light on the predatory aims motivating Canadian imperialisms support for the war and the fascistic character of the political forces it is employing to prosecute it. Ottawa has provided over $12 billion in support, including at least $4 billion in military aid, to the fascistic Zelensky regime in Kiev since Russias reactionary, US-NATO-provoked 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Zelenskys government rules like a dictatorship, venerates far-right Ukrainian nationalist Stepan Banderawhose supporters, at his instructions, participated in the Holocaustand has imprisoned socialist opponents of the imperialist-backed war that has already claimed the lives of half-a-million or more Ukrainians. The decision not to release the names of the 900 persons identified in a secret annex to the final report of the government-appointed Deschenes Commission into War Criminals in Canada was taken after closed door consultations with a discrete group of stakeholders last summer and fall. These stakeholders, according to a government press release, included officials from a range of departments including Global Affairs Canada, which coordinates Canadian imperialisms trade, foreign affairs and military interventions. They also included the far-right Ukrainian Canadian Congress (UCC) which has advocated for Nazi collaborators since 1946. Created with state support in 1940, the UCC promoted anti-communism and far-right Ukrainian nationalism during the Cold War. Over the past decade, it has played an even more prominent role, working hand-in-glove with Ottawa in politically preparing and rallying support for the Ukraine war. The UCC fought tooth and nail in the 1980s to prevent the Deschenes Commission from investigating the presence of Nazi collaborators in Canada. The Canadian government rewarded them with an official role at the Commission, where they made every effort to stymie its proceedings. The Commission released a sanitized report in 1986, which amounted to a state cover-up. While the second part of the report, which was kept secret, identified 900 of the most infamous Nazis and Nazi collaborators, it denied that Canada had systematically provided safe haven for Nazi war criminals and collaborators as a matter of state policy. Deschenes tartly dismissed the charge that thousands of them had found refuge in Canada as grossly exaggerated. Were the names of the 900 Nazis released, Canadian imperialism would face a repeat, on a far larger scale, of the scandal that erupted in September 2023 when Canada's parliament gave a unanimous standing ovation to 96 year-old Waffen-SS veteran Yaroslav Hunka. Above Hunka being applauded by the dignitaries in the House of Commons gallery. Canadas then Chief of Defence Staff General Wayne Eyre is on the far left. Last September, the UCC sent a fundraising circular to members requesting funds to sue the government in order to prevent the declassification of the secret annex. The names contained in the Report likely include hundreds of Ukrainian Canadians, veterans of the infamous 14th Galician Division of the Waffen SS, and supporters of the notorious fascists Stepan Bandera and Andrei Melnyk, two rival leaders of the OUN, Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists. Many of those named likely directly participated in the Holocaust of European Jewry. Holocaust survivors and their advocates were shut out of these discussions. Library and Archives Canada, which is charged with preserving the secret report, might as well be holding a stick of political dynamite, which if lit could expose the fact that Canadian imperialisms historical collaboration with Nazis and fascists continues today in Ukraine, where Nazi militia formations such as Azov and Centuria fight with Canadian weapons and training. Ottawa played a central role in integrating these militias into the Ukrainian army, which like the government explicitly embraces Bandera and fights for the subjugation and carve-up of Russia in the interests of imperialism. The Canadian government has tried to obscure the true political motivations behind its refusal to release the names of the Nazi war criminals and collaborators. A spokesperson for Pascale St-Onge, the politically influential Minister for Canadian Heritage under whose ambit the Library and Archives Canada falls, mouthed that it is imperative to release documents in a responsible manner that protects and preserves individual, national and international security. The true meaning of these weasel words was not lost on anyone with even a cursory knowledge of the issues. Even the Globe and Mail, the traditional voice of the Bay Street financial oligarchy, headlined its report on the governments decision, Ottawa advised against releasing names of alleged Nazi war criminals over concerns for Ukraine. The war in Ukraine against Russia is part of Canadian and American imperialisms drive to re-divide the world on a basis more profitable to US, Canadian, and European capitalism. The imperialists have worked to disguise the class character of their war with lies about democracy, human rights, and protecting Ukrainian independence. Identifying the Nazi collaborators would serve to undermine this propaganda. Canadian imperialisms historical relationship with Nazi war criminals and their Ukrainian and other Eastern European fascist collaborators is a well-established fact that no serious historian can call into question. It thoroughly exposes as a fraud every Canadian nationalist pretense the Canadian capitalism and its state constitute a kinder, gentler alternative to the rapacious American dollar republic to the south. Precisely because it is so well-documented, the Canadian state and establishment media have expended vast resources to cover up Ottawas longstanding alliance with Ukrainian fascists and denounce anyone who raises it as a stooge for Vladimir Putin who is promoting Russian propaganda and disinformation. Far from being ancient history, this allianceas the governments determination to prevent light being shone on its beginnings suggestis today more important than ever in advancing Canadian imperialisms interests. As to the nature of those interests, the American warmonger and fascist Senator Lindsay Graham recently bluntly stated them. The war in Ukraine, he declared, is all about money, because Ukraine is sitting on 1 trillion dollars worth of minerals that could be good for our economy. Geographically, Ukraine is also the gateway to a vastly larger stock of natural resource wealth in Russia, along with the capacity to militarily encircle China. Canadian imperialism is in Ukraine for its grubstake in world conquest. If the names of the 900 Nazis were released, Canadian imperialism would face a repeat, on an exponentially larger scale, of the political scandal that erupted after the House of Commons, led by Prime Minister Trudeau, gave a unanimous standing ovation to the 96 year-old Waffen-SS veteran Yaroslav Hunka in September 2023. Hunka, who volunteered to fight for Hitlers Third Reich, was hailed as a Ukrainian hero, who fought the Russians in WWII. Hunka was invited to Parliament as a guest of honour by the Prime Ministers Office, on the advice of influential UCC supporters, to listen to a war mongering speech of Zelensky. Open door policy for Nazis Beginning in 1947, only two years after the end of World War II, the Canadian state began to admit known Nazi war criminals and collaborators to act as an anti-communist vanguard against the working class. Prime Minister Louis St. Laurent wrote in a personal message to the Minister of Labour in 1948 that the fascists were people who have demonstrated that they are free men and are on our side of the line in the fight against Communism. The 900 names contained in the Deschenes Commission Part II Report are those of hardened Nazis against whom the federal Government gathered evidence in advance of prosecutions which were never pursued. But these 900 names are merely the tip of an enormous iceberg, consisting of tens of thousands of lesser-known fascists and collaborators from various Eastern European countries. The UCC militantly opposes the release of the names because they know that Ukrainian accomplices of the Nazis comprise the single largest group of such people. Waffen-SS 14th Galicien Division recruitment poster. The text reads: "He who wants to live must fight, and he who refuses to fight in this world of eternal strugglehe has no right to live. Adolph Hitler" Then underneath: "The Galician SS is going into battle!" The 14th Waffen SS Galician Division, two thousand or more of whose members ultimately found refuge in Canada, was formed in 1943 at the urging of the Ukrainian Central Committee, a branch of the OUN-Melnyk, which was entirely a puppet of the General Government in Nazi-ruled Poland. The Committees newspaper, Krakivski Visti, employed Mikhail Chomiakthe grandfather of Chrystia Freeland, Canadas deputy prime minister and finance minister until her high-profile resignation last month. He was its managing editor, in charge of the papers relations with its Nazi sponsors. The Galician Division is implicated in the mass murder of Poles, Jews and Slovak partisans. It surrendered to the Allies in 1945, only days after cynically re-branding itself the First Division of the Ukrainian National Army, in a vain effort at concealment. Many of the units soldiers joined after previously serving in collaborationist special police battalions which carried out the Holocaust in Ukraine from 1941 to 1942. The UCC has maintained the lie that the Deschenes Commission Report exonerated the entire division in its 1986 whitewash report, which refused to examine evidence available at that time only in the Soviet Union and Poland. When this evidence was subsequently examined, it established beyond any doubt that the division carried out massacres of Poles, Jews and Slovaks. Further, the UCC insists on the fallacy that because the 14th Waffen-SS Galician Division was not named specifically at the Nuremberg Tribunal, its members were therefore innocent. In fact, the Nuremberg Tribunal established that mere membership in any division of the Waffen-SS was a crime in and of itself. When this fallacy is challenged, the UCC declares that Division members had no choice. This too is a bald-faced lie. As a supplementary report to the main Deschenes report authored by the historian Alti Rodal reveals, The influx (of Ukrainian volunteers for the Nazi Division) was so great, that it astonished even the Germans. When this lie falls apart, Ukrainian nationalists retreat to the feeble excuse that Waffen-SS soldiers wearing Nazi uniforms and sworn by oath to obey Adolf Hitler thought they were fighting for Ukraine. The Deschenes Commission entirely ignored an even bigger category of Ukrainian Nazi collaborators who found refuge in Canada, the members of the Banderite wing of the OUN and its Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA), which fought the Soviet Red Army in collaboration with the Nazis. Like many of Melnyks supporters, many members of the UPA, hadat Banderas urgingpreviously joined the Nazi-established Ukrainian Auxiliary Police, which actively assisted the SS in the mass detention and slaughter of Jews. The UPAs principal commander and close Bandera associate, Roman Shukhevych, fought in Nazi Schutzmannschaft battalions tasked with carrying out the Nazi Vernichtungskriegthe war of annihilation against the Soviet Union. The UCC has fought relentlessly to whitewash the crimes of the Nazis Ukrainian accomplices, recasting the UPA, which carried out well-documented mass slaughters of Poles and Jews, as freedom fighters. This includes the lie that the UPA fought both the Nazis and the Soviets. In reality, just 6 percent of OUN/UPA casualties can be attributed to skirmishes with the Nazis. The vast majority were killed fighting the Soviets. In her report, Rodal underlines that it was the conflation of Jews with Bolshevism, via the Nazi amalgam of Judeo-Bolshevism, which provided the principal ideological justification for the Holocaust in Ukraine. She cited an April 1941 declaration of the OUN-B that, The Jews in the USSR constitute the most faithful support of the ruling Bolshevik regime, and the vanguard of Muscovite imperialism in Ukraine. Rodal underlines that the principal and for Jews the most devastating collaboration came from organized sectors of Ukrainian society, such as municipal administrations taken over by Nazi elements, and particularly from the Ukrainian semi-military and auxiliary police formations under German command, who were assigned the specific function of assisting the German police and the SS in the seizure and the shootings of Jews. These are the social elements whose crimes the UCC and the Canadian state seeks to cover-up, whitewash and politically excuse; for whom the Canadian state rolled out its welcome mat after World War II so as to use them as instrument of its Cold War policy; and whose political descendants Canadian imperialism is working with in close concert today. In addition to these Ukrainian war criminals, the Rodal Report, as well as declassified CIA files, establish that Nazi collaborators and fascists admitted to Canada included: Nazi scientists who were personally approved by Prime Minister Louis St. Laurent, and the Minister of Everything C.D. Howe, over the objections of Canadian scientists working in post-war Germany. The project rapidly swelled to admit 71 top Nazi scientists, none of whom have ever been identified. Senior World War II fascist leaders, including Ferdinand Durcansky, and Karol Sidor, the Slovak fascist leaders. Prime Minister St. Laurent intervened personally to bring the latter to Canada. SS officers from Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania complicit in the murders of tens of thousands of Jews and partisans. Concentration camp sadists such as the infamous Radovan Charapic, aka Radon, who were subsequently used by the RCMP as police spies. Charapic was infamous as the deputy commander of the Banjica concentration camp, where more than 3,800 people were murdered. Romanian, Hungarian, Slovak, Serbian, Croat and other fascist and Nazi collaborators, many of whom went on to play leading roles in far-right expatriate organizations in Canada, and who enjoyed the patronage of Canadian governments. Nazi accomplices as a labour police force As the Cold War against the Soviet Union began, Canadian imperialism turned towards Ukrainian Nazi and other collaborators to act as a labour police force against the working class at home. Admitted via the Bulk Labour Program starting in 1947, they were exercising a very healthy anti-communistic influence, according to the Canadian Liberal Senator Thomas Crerar in 1948. This influence included attacking socialist-minded workers with broken glass, clubs, fists and firebombs. From 1948 to the 1960s, Ukrainian Nazi collaborators waged a war of terror in the Canadian labour movement against suspected communists and socialists. Socialist meetings were attacked and broken up. Speakers and attendees were viciously beaten. Winnipeg Tribune, Oct 17, 1949. Ukrainian Nazi collaborators recently arrived in Canada (DPs, or displaced persons, in the headline) attacked a public meeting of Ukrainian socialists in Winnipeg, with the tacit approval of the police. [Photo: Winnipeg Tribune] In 1950, Ukrainian Nazi collaborators bombed Torontos Ukrainian Labour Temple. The prime suspects in the bombing went on to play prominent roles in Canadian society. These included University of Montreal Professor Dmytro Dontsov, and Roman Rachmanny, a supporter of the fascist Stepan Bandera, and founder of the Banderite newspaper Homin Ukrainiy. Rachmanny organized the CBCs Ukrainian language propaganda broadcasts into the USSR. From the 1950s to the 1980s, the Canadian state campaigned for the political break-up of the USSR into petty ethno-states, via the CBCs Ukrainian language service, and via its political sponsorship of the Anti-Bolshevik Bloc of Nations, for whom John Diefenbaker, Prime Minister from 1957 to 1963, emerged as a key political advocate. prime ministers Lester Pearson, Pierre Elliot Trudeau and Brian Mulroney all supported the Ukrainian and Eastern European far-right. When the Stalinist bureaucracy dissolved the USSR in 1991, Ukrainian nationalists became even more important to Canadas imperialist foreign policy, and the nexus of interests and associations between the UCC and the Canadian state consequently grew. For Canadian imperialism, the fascistic-minded Ukrainian nationalist forces which it had incubated for decades suddenly became operational assets which it could deploy in the field, as opposed to merely politically promoting them from afar. Right-wing nationalists such as the teenage Chrystia Freeland actively intervened in Soviet Ukraine, from which Freeland was expelled in 1989. Her mother, Halyna Chomiak, later helped draft Ukraines post-Soviet capitalist constitution. Canadian Ukrainian nationalists found that their fascist weeds at first refused to sprout in Ukraines black earth and had to be carefully transplanted and watered. In her 2015 essay, Putins Big Lie, Freeland remarked, Ukraines national consciousness was weak. This national consciousness in the form of the neo-Nazi Banderite ideology of the OUN, based entirely on lies, had to be force-fed to Ukrainians in Ukraine proper, who through no fault of their own, being estranged from the revolutionary socialist tradition and mercilessly crushed by the economic catastrophe resulting from the destruction of the USSR, had little else to consume. Speaking in the 1990s with the academic Michael Ignatieff, who would later go on to lead the federal Liberal Party, Freeland was even more explicit about the need to inject far-right Ukrainian nationalism into Ukraines body politic. Summarising an interview that he conducted with her when she was still a young journalist, Ignatieff wrote in his Blood and Belonging, It is common [Freeland] says, for Canadian Ukrainians to think of themselves as the true Ukrainians, the ones who kept the faith while among the actual Ukrainians the compulsion and fatalism of the Communist system was working its way into their bones. The Ukrainian Canadians return home expecting a fervently nationalist and religious people, and find instead phlegmatic, ironic, sober, and fatalistic Soviet souls. Independence requires a new human type, but she says it will be a long time coming. Freeland has gone on to become the most powerful exponent of far-right Ukrainian nationalism within the Canadian state. But she is not alone. Former UCC Director Taras Zalusky serves as the Chief of Staff to Bill Blair, the Minister of National Defence. Another former UCC director, Paul Grod, has accompanied Prime Minister Trudeau, his predecessor, Stephen Harper, and other senior Canadian officials on numerous trade and political delegations to Ukraine. Under Liberal and Conservative governments alike, and with the full-throated backing of the NDP and the Quebec sovereignists, Canadian imperialism has worked for the past 30 years to harness independent Ukraine to western imperialism. Canada was the first state to recognize Ukraines independence, when the Stalinist bureaucracy, as the culmination of its betrayals, restored capitalism and dissolved the Soviet Union. Ottawa pressed for NATOs encirclement of Russia, through the incorporation of virtually all of the states of Eastern Europe, and in 2008 urged George W. Bush to bring Ukraine into NATO. As the above-cited comments of Freeland suggest, it worked with the UCC to promote inside Ukraine the virulent brand of anti-Communist, anti-Russian Ukrainian nationalism it had incubated in Canada during the Cold War. Far-right Ukrainian forces spearhead the US-orchestrated 2014 Maidan coup, politically and logistically supported by Canada, that overthrew Ukraines elected pro-Russian president, Victor Yanukovych, and brought to power a pro-NATO, pro-European Union government. With Canadas support, Banderas far-right political descendants have come to play an ever-larger role in the Ukrainian state and military as the most fervent supporters of the war with Russia. This history is one that the Canadian state and its fascist allies do not want workers to hear, because the truth would undermine public support for war. The UCC and the Canadian government have thus sought to silence all principled anti-war voices, campaigning to shut down the meetings of the International Youth and Students for Social Equality, as well as to stop workers from viewing film and art work critical of the war in Ukraine. In Ukraine itself, the socialist Bogdan Syrotiuk, a leading member of the Young Guard of Bolshevik-Leninists, which campaigns for the unification of Ukrainian and Russian workers to stop the war and fights for the overthrow of all the belligerent governments, has been imprisoned for close to ten months. Canadian imperialisms war campaign, to say nothing of the reactionary influence of the UCC, would be seriously undermined if Canadian workers knew the truth about Canadas Cold War alliance with Nazi war criminals and accomplices and what it has spawned in the twenty-first century. This is why the demand must be forcefully raised for the immediate release of the names of the 900 people the Deschenes Commission identified as Nazi war criminals and for full disclosure of all the evidence against them and all files relating to their entry to Canada and subsequent ties to the Canadian state. 25 years ago: Labour Party leader Tony Blair attacks the democratic right of trial by jury On January, 21, 2000, Labour leader Tony Blair visited a school in London, England to supposedly attack forces of conservatism and reaction that were undermining his radical agenda. His phony remarks and public relations show was in response to the House of Lords voting down a government measure to restrict the right to trial by a jury of ones peers. A multi-party alliance voted to torpedo the Criminal Justice (Mode of Trial) Bill by a margin of 222 to 126. The conservative forces opposing the bill, however, did so not out of concern for defending centuries old democratic rights, but to grandstand opportunistically to win votes. Tony Blair, right, with Bill Clinton in 1999 The proposed bill aimed to eliminate the right of defendants in England and Wales to decide in which court their criminal cases would be heard. It included middle-ranking offences such as theft, possession of drugs, assault and bodily harm to another person. Overall, around 280,000 cases were brought to the courts each year in which defendants had the choice to be tried either before magistrates or in Crown court before a jury, all revolving around the defendant's preference. The bill would have placed this decision solely in the hands of the magistrates. Home Secretary Jack Straw, a former opponent of the bill when the Tories had been in power pushing for its implementation, declared it as a modernising reform. This deliberately misleading term had been employed repeatedly over the previous several years to obscure the reactionary content of measures introduced by Labour, particularly in social policy and the field of democratic rights. Revealing the right-wing character of the Labour Party, Blair made the bill the central plank of his tough on crime agenda. According to Labours propaganda, jury trials were not a democratic right in keeping with the principle innocent until proven guilty' but a soft option for criminals. The money expended on such trials was being wasted on providing such a luxury, money in Blairs view that could have been used better by employing more police officers. The legal profession and civil rights groups were repulsed by Labours draconian law-and-order offensive and condemned the bill as an attack on democratic rights. David Pannic, a leading human rights and public law specialist said that defendants facing serious charges would have been tried by representatives of the Establishment and, rightly or wrongly, to be prejudiced against them or ignorant of their personal circumstances. Blair and Straw nevertheless vowed that they would continue the battle to pass the anti-democratic legislation in the guise of fighting the forces of conservatism and reaction, left or right, even when they have superficial popular appeal. 50 years ago: State of emergency declared in Bangladesh On January 25, 1975, Prime Minister Sheikh Mujibur Rahmans government in Bangladesh declared a state of emergency, abolishing constitutional rights and banning all political activities and parties outside of the ruling Awami League (AL). Days later, the AL-dominated legislature passed a law abolishing the constitution and handing virtually all power to Rahman, who was named president for a five-year term. The decree granted the regime sweeping powers, including the ability to seize newspapers and detain individuals indefinitely without trial. It introduced harsh penalties including long prison terms or deportation for political opposition to the government. Fundamental rights like freedom of speech and assembly were quashed. Newspapers critical of the government were shut down and public political activity of any kind was punished with arrest and violence from police and military forces. Rahman had risen to power as a leader of the AL during the independence movement against Pakistan, of which Bangladesh had been a part known as East Pakistan. For his activities Rahman served 12 years in prison, including during the 1971 war of independence. After the war, he quickly assumed the highest positions of power in the new government of Bangladesh, first as president and then as prime minister in 1972. Mujibur Rahman with U.S. President Gerald Ford at the White House in 1974 In power, the AL proved itself to be a vehicle of personal enrichment for its leaders, while the rural masses and working class struggled to rebuild a country that had been ravaged by both civil war and natural disasters. Its economy wrecked, Bangladesh had to rely on foreign aid to stave off bankruptcy. Rahman cultivated relations with US imperialism and met with US President Gerald Ford in 1974 to discuss American access to Bangladeshs large reserves of natural gas. Opposition to the AL quickly grew swiftly in the early 1970s, with left-wing and socialist parties exerting significant influence among the impoverished masses. In response, Rahmans regime unleashed a wave of political repression. The Rakkhi Bahini, a paramilitary force loyal to the government, carried out extrajudicial killings, torture, and other violence targeting opposition leaders, trade unionists, and left-wing student activists. Estimates suggest as many as 30,000 people were killed by state forces and AL militias between 1972 and 1975. The emergency decree of January 1975the culmination of years of mounting crises, including devastating floods, rampant corruption, and political unrestallowed for an even greater escalation of Rahmans authoritarianism. In August 1975, Rahman was assassinated in a military coup. 75 years ago: Pro-Dutch forces in Indonesia launch a failed coup attempt against Sukarno regime On January 22-23, 1950, the Legion of the Just Ruler militia in Indonesia launched a failed coup with the attempt of overthrowing the regime of President Sukarno. The insurrection was aimed at toppling the Republic of Indonesia, proclaimed in August 1945 almost immediately after Japan's defeat in World War II. The Dutch Indonesian Round Table Conference of December 1949 gave conditional recognition to the Republic of Indonesia, but only as a component part of the United States of Indonesia (RUSI), a sort of halfway house between direct control rule and independence. Among the requirements of the agreement reached at the Round Table Conference was Indonesian reparations to the Netherlands for the expenses of its colonial administration, and favorable treatment to Dutch companies. Map of Indonesia, showing its location in South Asia [Photo by LocationIndonesia.svg / CC BY 2.5 The Legion of the Just Ruleror in Indonesian, the Angkatan Perang Ratu Adil (APRA)was headed by Raymond Westerling, a former captain of the Dutch military who personified the attempt of the Dutch to retain a level of control over their former colony. Westerling had gained notoriety for suppressing resistance in 1946 to Dutch rule in Sulawesi with summary executions of dissenting villagers. The coup attempt was directed against the RUSI government, which included both the republic led by Sukarno, and other territories, including those under princely control, remaining under Dutch rule. The RUSI government thus consisted of both pro-republican and pro-federalist factions. Belonging to the latter was Sultan Hamid II, who gave his support to APRA and conspired in the coup along with Westerling. Westerling issued a number of demands to the RUSI government on January 5, which included the recognition of APRA as the official army of the state of Pasundan (today's West Java). After receiving no reply from the government to this ultimatum, Westerling assembled his militia and captured the cities of Bandung, Jakarta, and Buitenzorg. The forces headed by Westerling, some 2,000 strong as estimated by one historian, were ultimately defeated by Indonesian police and military forces. Westerling escaped first to Singapore and then to the Netherlands where he lived until his death in 1987, while Hamid II was arrested in April for his role in the coup. APRA ceased to function within a month after the coup attempt, and later that year the RUSI was dissolved in favour of the modern-day Republic of Indonesia, with the incorporation of the states of Pasundan and West Kalimantan, and the central government based in Jakarta. 100 years ago: Trotsky removed as Commissar of Military Affairs On January 26, 1925, Leon Trotsky was removed from his post as Peoples Commissar of War and Naval Affairs by the machinations of the Stalin clique in the bureaucratic apparatus of the Communist Party and state. The loss of his position was the final blow of a months-long campaign of slander and falsification by Stalin and his collaborators Gregory Zinoviev and Lev Kamenev to distort and magnify pre-revolutionary differences between Trotsky and Lenin as well as to diminish Trotskys decisive role in the Bolshevik revolution of 1917. Photograph of Trotsky from cover of Spotlight magazine, January, 1924 The Stalinist campaign accelerated in response to the publication of Trotskys Lessons of October, which reviewed the class pressures on the Bolshevik Party on the eve of the October Revolution and singled out the hesitation of Bolshevik moderates such as Kamenev and Zinoviev in preparing a seizure of power by the working class. Trotskys removal from this leading position showed how far the factional strength of the bureaucracy against the working-class Bolshevik elements in the party had advanced. The Commissar of War and Military Affairs was one of the highest posts in the Soviet government, and Trotsky was not only the co-leader of the Russian revolution but the founder of the Red Army and its leader during the Civil War of 1918-23. In 1924, the Red Army officer and journalist Larissa Reisners articles and essays on the Russian Civil War, written from 1918 to 1921 and published in Izvestiya and Alexander Voronskys Red Virgin Soil, were collected in book form as The Front, and they give a fitting view of Trotsky as a military leader from a leading participant in the Civil War (Reisner died from typhoid in 1926 but worked with Trotsky after his removal from his post as Commissar. All references to Trotsky were later cut out of her work when her Collected Works was published after her death.) Here is her description of Trotsky at the battle of at Svyazhsk in 1918: All Trotskys organizational genius now became apparent. Across openly sabotaged railway-lines, he managed to get new regiments and artillery through, and everything the army needed for resistance. Trotsky gave his new Red Army a backbone of steel, refusing to yield an inch, inspiring its fighters with his ruthless authority and icy calm. The revolutionary in him was never pushed aside by the soldier, the leader, the commander. And when a deserter was confronted with his terrible voice, he stood in fear of him, as of one of us, a great rebel who would punish anyone guilty of cowardice or treasontreason not only to the army, but to the World Proletarian Revolution. The TikTok Inc. building is seen in Culver City, Calif., on March 17, 2023. [AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes] In an unprecedented move, the US government forced the temporary shutdown of a major social media network, TikTok, for 14 hours on Saturday, setting the stage for future violations of First Amendment rights under the incoming Trump administration. On Saturday, millions of Americans were shocked to find that launching the TikTok app displayed a message announcing its shutdown. Individuals, small businesses, and organizations scrambled to retrieve their data and find alternatives to the widely popular CapCut video editor, also distributed by TikToks parent company, ByteDance. The blocking of a crucial communication tool through government censorship was a shocking awakening to the fact that, in the name of an undeclared war against China, core democratic protections are being stripped away. The shutdown followed Fridays ruling by the Supreme Court, which asserted that the American government had the right to abridge free speech rights on the grounds of national security and force the sale (divestiture) of TikTok. The Court declared, [F]or more than 170 million Americans, TikTok offers a distinctive and expansive outlet for expression, means of engagement, and source of community. But Congress has determined that divestiture is necessary to address its well-supported national security concerns regarding TikToks data collection practices and relationship with a foreign adversary. Jameel Jaffer, executive director of the Knight First Amendment Institute, warned that, with this ruling, the Supreme Court has weakened the First Amendment and markedly expanded the governments power to restrict speech in the name of national security. The shutdown of TikTok services, though temporary, made actual the threat to the First Amendment inherent in the ruling. While the Supreme Court claimed in its ruling that it was not seeking to stifle any particular viewpoint, former Wisconsin Republican Representative Mike Gallagher, the leading sponsor of the bill banning TikTok, has repeatedly made clear that the central aim of the measure is to suppress criticism of US foreign policy. In a statement published in November 2023, the former military intelligence officer turned congressman asserted, 51 percent of Americans ages 18-24 believe Hamas was justified in its brutal terrorist attacks on innocent Israeli citizens on October 7... Where were they getting the raw news to inform this upside-down world view? The short answer is, increasingly, via TikTok. The campaign against TikTok, while initiated under Trump, was actually put into practice under Biden, who signed a bill banning it in August 2024 unless it was sold to an American company. The bill passed overwhelmingly with bipartisan support. The Supreme Courts ruling upholding the TikTok ban took place just two days ahead of the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump, who pledged that he would rule as a dictator on day one. Furthermore, the conditions under which TikTok restored servicebased on private assurances from the incoming presidentunderscore the dictatorial character of Trumps government. He is working to establish the precedent that key civil rights can be granted or revoked at his personal discretion, a hallmark of authoritarian rule. When TikTok resumed service on Sunday, it displayed a message saying, As a result of President Trumps efforts, TikTok is back in the U.S.! Trump posted on his Truth Social network, I will issue an executive order on Monday to extend the period of time before the laws prohibitions take effect so that we can make a deal to protect our national security. He added, I would like the United States to have a 50% ownership position in a joint venture... Without U.S. approval, there is no TikTok. With our approval, it is worth hundreds of billions of dollars - maybe trillions... Therefore, my initial thought is a joint venture between the current owners and/or new owners whereby the U.S. gets a 50% ownership in a joint venture set up between the U.S. and whichever purchase we so choose. Trump has invited TikTok Chief Executive Shou Chew to attend his inauguration on Monday, alongside prominent American oligarchs, including Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Trump has made it clear that he is seeking an arrangement to enable US oligarchs, potentially including billionaire Elon Musk, to take control of a significant share of the company. For this reason, the campaign against TikTok is not only a sweeping attack on the democratic rights of the population, but an act of international piracy, part of an effort by the United States to use its economic and military power to seize control of the commanding heights of the international economy, with social media networks as a critical element. The Trump administrations 2018 National Security Strategy, which proclaimed the doctrine of great power conflict, asserted that the US competition with China required the seamless integration of multiple elements of national power - diplomacy, information, economics, finance, intelligence, law enforcement, and military. The Biden administration embraced this doctrine in its 2022 National Security Strategy, calling for the seamless combination of capabilities, integrating the economic, technological, and information... domains. With Trump set to take office today, his efforts to establish a personalist dictatorship will be emboldened and enabled by this bipartisan campaign to attack democratic rights on the grounds of national security and competition with Russia and China. Members of division of the Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST) Physics and Experimental Operations celebrate the success of an experiment in Hefei, east China's Anhui Province, Jan. 20, 2025. The Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST), dubbed China's "artificial sun," maintained a steady-state high-confinement plasma operation for a remarkable 1,066 seconds on Monday, setting a new world record and marking a breakthrough in the quest for fusion power generation. The duration of 1,000 seconds is considered a key step in fusion research. The breakthrough, achieved by the Institute of Plasma Physics under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, greatly improved the original world record of 403 seconds, which was also set by EAST in 2023. (Xinhua/Zhou Mu) HEFEI, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- The Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST), dubbed China's "artificial sun," maintained a steady-state high-confinement plasma operation for a remarkable 1,066 seconds on Monday, setting a new world record and marking a breakthrough in the quest for fusion power generation. The duration of 1,000 seconds is considered a key step in fusion research. The breakthrough, achieved by the Institute of Plasma Physics under the Chinese Academy of Sciences (ASIPP), greatly improved the original world record of 403 seconds, which was also set by EAST in 2023. The ultimate goal of an artificial sun is to create nuclear fusion like the sun, providing humanity with an endless, clean energy source, and enabling space exploration beyond the solar system. Global scientists have worked for more than 70 years on trying to achieve this feat. However, only after reaching temperatures over 100 million degrees Celsius, sustaining stable long-term operation, and ensuring controllability can a nuclear fusion device successfully generate electricity. "A fusion device must achieve stable operation at high efficiency for thousands of seconds to enable the self-sustaining circulation of plasma, which is critical for the continuous power generation of future fusion plants," said Song Yuntao, ASIPP director. He emphasized that the fresh record is of monumental significance, representing a crucial step toward the development of a fusion reactor. Gong Xianzu, head of the division of EAST Physics and Experimental Operations, said they have upgraded several EAST systems since the last round of experiments. For example, the heating system, which previously operated at the equivalent of nearly 70,000 household microwave ovens, has now doubled its power output while also maintaining stability and continuity. Since starting operation in 2006, EAST has been an open test platform for Chinese and international scientists to conduct fusion-related experiments and research. China officially joined the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) program in 2006 as its seventh member. According to the agreement, China is responsible for about 9 percent of the project's construction and operation -- and ASIPP is the main unit of the Chinese mission. ITER, which is under construction in southern France, will be the world's largest magnetic confinement plasma physics experiment device and the largest experimental tokamak nuclear fusion reactor, once completed. In recent years, EAST has continuously achieved groundbreaking milestones in the high confinement mode, which serves as the fundamental mode for experimental fusion reactors, including ITER and the future China Fusion Engineering Test Reactor (CFETR), providing valuable references for the construction of fusion reactors worldwide. "We hope to expand international collaboration via EAST and bring fusion energy into practical use for humanity," said Song. In Hefei, east China's Anhui Province, where EAST is located, a new generation of experimental fusion research facilities is under construction -- aiming to further accelerate the application and development of fusion energy. Gong Xianzu (4th, L), head of division of the Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST) Physics and Experimental Operations, and other team members celebrate the success of an experiment in Hefei, east China's Anhui Province, Jan. 20, 2025. The Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST), dubbed China's "artificial sun," maintained a steady-state high-confinement plasma operation for a remarkable 1,066 seconds on Monday, setting a new world record and marking a breakthrough in the quest for fusion power generation. The duration of 1,000 seconds is considered a key step in fusion research. The breakthrough, achieved by the Institute of Plasma Physics under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, greatly improved the original world record of 403 seconds, which was also set by EAST in 2023. (Xinhua/Zhou Mu) Gong Xianzu (R), head of division of the Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST) Physics and Experimental Operations, and Lu Kun, deputy director of Institute of Plasma Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (ASIPP), celebrate in Hefei, east China's Anhui Province, Jan. 20, 2025. The Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST), dubbed China's "artificial sun," maintained a steady-state high-confinement plasma operation for a remarkable 1,066 seconds on Monday, setting a new world record and marking a breakthrough in the quest for fusion power generation. The duration of 1,000 seconds is considered a key step in fusion research. The breakthrough, achieved by the Institute of Plasma Physics under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, greatly improved the original world record of 403 seconds, which was also set by EAST in 2023. (Xinhua/Zhou Mu) This photo shows the Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST) in Hefei, east China's Anhui Province, Jan. 15, 2025. The Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST), dubbed China's "artificial sun," maintained a steady-state high-confinement plasma operation for a remarkable 1,066 seconds on Monday, setting a new world record and marking a breakthrough in the quest for fusion power generation. The duration of 1,000 seconds is considered a key step in fusion research. The breakthrough, achieved by the Institute of Plasma Physics under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, greatly improved the original world record of 403 seconds, which was also set by EAST in 2023. (Xinhua/Huang Bohan) This photo shows the Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST) in Hefei, east China's Anhui Province, Jan. 15, 2025. The Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST), dubbed China's "artificial sun," maintained a steady-state high-confinement plasma operation for a remarkable 1,066 seconds on Monday, setting a new world record and marking a breakthrough in the quest for fusion power generation. The duration of 1,000 seconds is considered a key step in fusion research. The breakthrough, achieved by the Institute of Plasma Physics under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, greatly improved the original world record of 403 seconds, which was also set by EAST in 2023. (Xinhua/Huang Bohan) This photo shows the control center of the Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST) in Hefei, east China's Anhui Province, Jan. 20, 2025. The Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST), dubbed China's "artificial sun," maintained a steady-state high-confinement plasma operation for a remarkable 1,066 seconds on Monday, setting a new world record and marking a breakthrough in the quest for fusion power generation. The duration of 1,000 seconds is considered a key step in fusion research. The breakthrough, achieved by the Institute of Plasma Physics under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, greatly improved the original world record of 403 seconds, which was also set by EAST in 2023. (Xinhua/Zhou Mu) Gong Xianzu (C), head of division of the Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST) Physics and Experimental Operations, communicates with team members during an experiment in Hefei, east China's Anhui Province, Jan. 20, 2025. The Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST), dubbed China's "artificial sun," maintained a steady-state high-confinement plasma operation for a remarkable 1,066 seconds on Monday, setting a new world record and marking a breakthrough in the quest for fusion power generation. The duration of 1,000 seconds is considered a key step in fusion research. The breakthrough, achieved by the Institute of Plasma Physics under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, greatly improved the original world record of 403 seconds, which was also set by EAST in 2023. (Xinhua/Zhou Mu) This photo shows the control center of the Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST) in Hefei, east China's Anhui Province, Jan. 20, 2025. The Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST), dubbed China's "artificial sun," maintained a steady-state high-confinement plasma operation for a remarkable 1,066 seconds on Monday, setting a new world record and marking a breakthrough in the quest for fusion power generation. The duration of 1,000 seconds is considered a key step in fusion research. The breakthrough, achieved by the Institute of Plasma Physics under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, greatly improved the original world record of 403 seconds, which was also set by EAST in 2023. (Xinhua/Zhou Mu) Team members of division of the Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST) Physics and Experimental Operations observe data during an experiment in Hefei, east China's Anhui Province, Jan. 20, 2025. The Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST), dubbed China's "artificial sun," maintained a steady-state high-confinement plasma operation for a remarkable 1,066 seconds on Monday, setting a new world record and marking a breakthrough in the quest for fusion power generation. The duration of 1,000 seconds is considered a key step in fusion research. The breakthrough, achieved by the Institute of Plasma Physics under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, greatly improved the original world record of 403 seconds, which was also set by EAST in 2023. (Xinhua/Zhou Mu) Gong Xianzu, head of division of the Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST) Physics and Experimental Operations, communicates with team members during an experiment in Hefei, east China's Anhui Province, Jan. 18, 2025. The Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST), dubbed China's "artificial sun," maintained a steady-state high-confinement plasma operation for a remarkable 1,066 seconds on Monday, setting a new world record and marking a breakthrough in the quest for fusion power generation. The duration of 1,000 seconds is considered a key step in fusion research. The breakthrough, achieved by the Institute of Plasma Physics under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, greatly improved the original world record of 403 seconds, which was also set by EAST in 2023. (Xinhua/Zhang Duan) Gong Xianzu, head of division of the Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST) Physics and Experimental Operations, observes data during an experiment in Hefei, east China's Anhui Province, Jan. 19, 2025. The Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST), dubbed China's "artificial sun," maintained a steady-state high-confinement plasma operation for a remarkable 1,066 seconds on Monday, setting a new world record and marking a breakthrough in the quest for fusion power generation. The duration of 1,000 seconds is considered a key step in fusion research. The breakthrough, achieved by the Institute of Plasma Physics under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, greatly improved the original world record of 403 seconds, which was also set by EAST in 2023. (Xinhua/Du Yu) Gong Xianzu (1st, R), head of division of the Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST) Physics and Experimental Operations, communicates with team members after an experiment in Hefei, east China's Anhui Province, Jan. 16, 2025. The Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST), dubbed China's "artificial sun," maintained a steady-state high-confinement plasma operation for a remarkable 1,066 seconds on Monday, setting a new world record and marking a breakthrough in the quest for fusion power generation. The duration of 1,000 seconds is considered a key step in fusion research. The breakthrough, achieved by the Institute of Plasma Physics under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, greatly improved the original world record of 403 seconds, which was also set by EAST in 2023. (Xinhua/Huang Bohan) Gong Xianzu, head of division of the Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST) Physics and Experimental Operations, observes data during an experiment in Hefei, east China's Anhui Province, Jan. 20, 2025. The Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST), dubbed China's "artificial sun," maintained a steady-state high-confinement plasma operation for a remarkable 1,066 seconds on Monday, setting a new world record and marking a breakthrough in the quest for fusion power generation. The duration of 1,000 seconds is considered a key step in fusion research. The breakthrough, achieved by the Institute of Plasma Physics under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, greatly improved the original world record of 403 seconds, which was also set by EAST in 2023. (Xinhua/Zhou Mu) Team members of division of the Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST) Physics and Experimental Operations observe data during an experiment in Hefei, east China's Anhui Province, Jan. 20, 2025. The Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST), dubbed China's "artificial sun," maintained a steady-state high-confinement plasma operation for a remarkable 1,066 seconds on Monday, setting a new world record and marking a breakthrough in the quest for fusion power generation. The duration of 1,000 seconds is considered a key step in fusion research. The breakthrough, achieved by the Institute of Plasma Physics under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, greatly improved the original world record of 403 seconds, which was also set by EAST in 2023. (Xinhua/Zhou Mu) Elevenlabs AudioNative Player President-elect Donald Trump speaks at a rally ahead of the 60th Presidential Inauguration, Sunday, January 19, 2025, in Washington. [AP Photo/Matt Rourke] Today, the most degraded event in modern American political history is taking place. A convicted criminal, con man and pathological liar, a fascist demagogue in whom ignorance and bigotry vie for control with greed and vanity, will become commander-in-chief of the worlds most powerful military, armed with enough nuclear weapons to incinerate all life on the planet. Nothing marks so clearly the irredeemable collapse of American democracy as the return of Donald Trump to the White House, four years after attempting to overthrow the last election by force and install himself as president-dictator despite his overwhelming defeat at the polls. Trump will be inaugurated as the 47th president of the United States, not by means of a coup detat, as he sought to carry out on January 6, 2021, but thanks to his support in the financial oligarchy that rules America, along with the prostration and bankruptcy of his nominal opponents in the Democratic Party. In March 2003, at the onset of the US invasion of Iraq, the World Socialist Web Site wrote that American imperialism, despite its vast military apparatus, had embarked on a course that would lead to a rendezvous with disaster. It is now possible to give a date for that rendezvous: January 20, 2025. Karl Marx famously declared that history repeats itself, the first time as tragedy, the second time as farce. In the second inauguration of Donald Trump, this aphorism could be modified: the first time as farce, the second time as catastrophe. In elevating Trump for a second time to the presidency, the American ruling class has forfeited all political and moral credibility. It is the beginning of the end for American capitalism. It has sown the wind, and will now reap the whirlwind. In 2017, it could have been saidalbeit wronglythat the entry of Trump into the White House was an aberration, a political accident, or merely the byproduct of Democratic Party incompetence and arrogance. No such claim can be made about the repetition of that event eight years later. It is now clear that Trump represents the quintessence of the American ruling class. His personal characteristics are a hideous expression of the main features of the oligarchy of billionaires whose wealth and power have swelled to unprecedented dimensions over the past four decades. When Trump was first sworn in as president, on January 20, 2017, the Socialist Equality Party (US) issued a statement headlined, The inauguration of Donald Trump: An event that will live in infamy. This is what we wrote eight years ago: The inauguration of Donald Trump as the 45th president is among the most ignominious events in the history of the United States. More than $100 million is being spent on the celebrations of the new presidents installation. In vain! No amount of money can dispel the nauseating stink that pervades every aspect of this inauguration. Nor can the fraudulent orchestration of public festivities conceal the widespread sense that the country, with the installation of the new administration, has embarked on a path that will lead to a disaster of unimaginable dimensions. History has caught up with American capitalism. The protracted process of economic and social decay has been covered over for decades with democratic phrases that served to disguise the gap between the official political myths and the underlying reality. But the mask has now come off. Donald Trump personifies the corruption, ruthlessness, parasitism and essentially fascistic mindset of the capitalist oligarchs who control the United States. Trump will lead a government of the rich, by the rich, and for the rich. The SEP noted the sharp divisions within the US ruling elite, primarily over foreign policy, and whether US preparations for economic and military warfare should be directed first towards Russia, or China, or against its European imperialist rivals like Germany. We warned: However bitter the disputes, all sections of the ruling class are united in their conviction that 1) American imperialism must pursue its global interests even at the risk of war; and 2) the attack on the social interests and political rights of the working class must be intensified. That Trump speaks and tweets not only for himself but on behalf of the ruling class is proven by the fact that his cabinet selections of billionaires and generals are sailing through the Senate confirmation proceedings with negligible opposition. As for Obama, he devoted his final press conference Wednesday to vouching for the political legitimacy of the incoming administration and declaring that, having won, it is appropriate for [Trump] to go forward with his visions and his values. Not only was this assessment vindicated by events; it applies to the political situation today, only exponentially. The outgoing President Joe Biden personifies the decrepit state of the Democratic Party and American liberalism. Despite acknowledging, briefly, that Trump is a fascist, he has pledged the smoothest transition possible. And indeed, much of Trumps fascist program will only extend and intensify the measures already undertaken by the Biden-Harris administration: mass deportations of immigrants; attacks on democratic rights, particularly against those who oppose the policies of American imperialism at home or abroad; economic warfare, political subversion and outright military aggression against countries targeted by Washington. As the SEP declared eight years ago, the alternative to Trump will come only from the American and international working class. The record of the Biden administration is an unanswerable confirmation of this assessment. History will condemn his four years in the White House in much the same way as it has judged Germanys Weimar regime: as an interlude during which the fascist forces were allowed to overcome their initial failures and reemerge as an even greater danger to the democratic and social rights of working people, both in America and around the world. Moreover, with its focus on the escalation of the US-NATO war against Russia in Ukraine, its unshakeable commitment to enabling Israeli genocide in Gaza, and its preparations for even wider wars against Iran and ultimately China, the Biden administration has already begun the first stages of a world war which it now hands off to the crazed militarists of the Trump administration, including figures such as the advocate and defender of war crimes Pete Hegseth, nominated to head the Pentagon. There are many others who share responsibility for the resurrection of Trump. The socioeconomic processes that have given rise to the billionaire oligarchy operate not just through individuals, but through institutions like the corporate media and the political organizations of the affluent middle class, including the pseudo-left. Figures like Bernie Sanders, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and others have advanced a pathetic pseudo-reformism, promoting the fiction that meaningful change could be achieved within the political establishment while serving only to strengthen the stranglehold of the Democratic Party. The organizations of the pseudo-left have worked relentlessly to split the working class through the politics of race, gender and sexual orientation, and block the development of a mass socialist movement against American capitalism. The corporate media has dropped any pretense of a critical approach to the incoming Trump administration, portraying Trump as the choice of the American people with mass popular support. Thugs, quacks and other fascist allies of Trump are treated as political sages, as in Sundays respectful interview by ABC News of Steve Bannon, convicted and jailed for defying a congressional subpoena to testify about his role in the coup attempt of January 6, 2021. When the New York Times wrote yesterday that bristling tension and angry defiance have given way to accommodation and submission, it was speaking for itself, and for the Democratic Party. As Trotsky once remarked, force not only conquers, it convinces. The so-called labor movement, epitomized by unions like the AFL-CIO and UAW, is complicit in this degradation. In a column published Sunday, Shawn Fain, president of the UAW, who was promoted by the entire pseudo-left, pledged to work with the incoming administration, particularly on nationalist economic policy, following the lead of Teamsters President Sean OBrien and others. The entire apparatus of the trade unions functions as adjuncts of corporate management and the state. The return of Trump to the White House marks a new and dangerous phase in the crisis of American capitalism. Trumps administration reflects the desperate effort of the American ruling class to resolve its insoluble contradictions and address the deepening economic crisis and mounting geopolitical tensions through authoritarianism and war. This is part of a global phenomenon, which is evident in all the major capitalist countries. But Trumps return does not signify the consolidation of fascism in America. Trump came to power on the basis of lies, exploiting the disillusionment and anger of broad sections of the population. Between the installation of the new regime and the implementation of his policies lies the resistance of the working class, which is entering into immense social struggles. This vast contradiction defines the current situation. While the ruling class is shifting violently to the right, the general movement of the masses is to the left, toward social and political radicalization, in the US and internationally. And while the ruling class has abandoned the democratic ideals embodied in the Declaration of Independence, and reasserted by Lincoln during the Civil War, the working class has not. They remain deeply embedded in the consciousness of the American masses. These idealsof equality, liberty and justicefind their true expression today in the program of international socialism. The revolutionary movement bases itself on this profound truth. The working class, facing ever-worsening conditions of exploitation and inequality, is the only social force capable of confronting and overthrowing the oligarchy that Trump represents. As the United States and the world enter the period of Trumps second term, the essential task is to build a socialist and revolutionary leadership within the working class. The far-right Austrian Freedom Party (FPO) and the conservative Peoples Party (OVP), currently negotiating a coalition government in the Alpine state, are planning massive attacks on the working class and on migrants. Demonstration against FPO government participation, at the Vienna Ballhausplatz on January 9, 2025 CC BY-SA 4.0] [Photo by C.Stadler/Bwag After coalition negotiations between the OVP, Social Democrats (SPO) and right-wing Neos failed, Federal President Alexander van der Bellen last week commissioned FPO leader Herbert Kickl to form a government. The OVP, which during the election campaign had still been calling Kickl a right-wing extremist and a security risk for Austria, and had ruled out any possibility of government participation under him, has since declared its willingness to serve the fascist as a means of securing a majority. Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg is currently heading the government on an interim basis in place of Karl Nehammer, who resigned as chancellor. The OVP politician had taken over the chancellery for a few weeks in October 2021 after Sebastian Kurz resigned due to corruption allegations. Immediately after the start of negotiations, both parties began to put together an extensive austerity budget. Containing drastic cuts, the budget deficit is to be reduced to below 3 percent, as required by the EU. Currently, depending on the estimate, it is up to 3.7 percent. The dispute over how and over what period the savings will be implemented had led to the failure of the coalition negotiations between the OVP, SPO and Neos. According to the information available so far, the planned savings this year alone amount to over 6.4 billion. Within the next seven years, the government wants to save at least 18 billion. Details of the cuts are not expected until the end of the week, but it is already clear that the cost of the new budget will fall entirely on the backs of the working class. Both parties categorically ruled out any increase in business taxes, such as corporation tax. More than 3 billion are to be saved by cutting grants and subsidies, with the rest to come from reforms and unspecified further measures. It is certain that the cuts will affect public services. Under the catchphrase reducing bureaucracy, massive job cuts are to be made in public administration, but also in hospitals and other social institutions. It has also been decided that all measures to limit climate change will be stopped. Even though most of these are hardly more than symbolic, such as the climate bonus, a yearly payment made to all Austrian residents to encourage sustainable practices, this represents a complete renunciation of any kind of climate protection measures. Even before negotiations began, both parties had declared their intention to cut social benefits. The FPOs demand for a general reduction in social benefits for immigrants also has broad support in the OVP. The proposals here range from halving benefits for immigrants to completely linking benefits to Austrian citizenship. Under the pretext of combating social benefit fraud, both parties introduced a Social Benefit Fraud Task Force in the state of Styria. The OVP-led federal Interior Ministry has regularly praised the task force, so it is expected it will now also be introduced at national level. The real job of the task force is to harass social assistance recipients and cut the benefits to which they are entitled. The budget cuts will also be directed against all workers. It is certain that educational leave (paid further training), will finally be abolished, as long demanded by business associations. At the same time, current daily and weekly working hours are to be extended. There are no concrete plans yet to cut pensions and health services, but both parties have spoken in favour of extensive cuts in these areas in the past. Another focus of the negotiations will be the attack on refugees and migrants. The FPO has aggressively campaigned on the fascist and inhumane demand for remigration. This is now to be implemented. In December, Kickl had already called for priority action to immediately withdraw protection status from refugees from Syria and deport them. Further asylum applications from Syrian refugees will no longer be accepted. The same applies to refugees from Afghanistan. In the fight against illegal migration, both parties are calling for border closures. Border crossings, such as those to the Balkan states, are to be secured with fortified fences. The future government may also target people with a migrant background who have been living in Austria for a long time. A ban on women wearing headscarves in public service, as already set out in the government programme of the FPO and OVP in the state of Styria, could now also be introduced at federal level. Obtaining Austrian citizenship would be reserved exclusively for assimilated persons. The Vienna OVP leader Karl Mahrer has demanded that applicants be checked by the state security service for their level of integration and that their internet activities be monitored. The FPO and OVP also agree on significantly expanding the powers of the police and secret services and using them against any kind of opposition. The FPO wants to set up a central registration office for left-wing teachers. Those recorded could then be threatened with consequences if necessary. Further programmes to combat extremism are also to be established. These will be, as could hardly be expected otherwise, directed against left-wing tendencies. In this context, both parties have called for tightening up the law on voluntary associations and free assembly in order to ban demonstrations and disliked organisations. The reintroduction of conditional mandatory pre-trial detention is already under discussion, which would allow people to be held in pre-trial custody even where there is insufficient suspicion or evidence. Kickls announcement that the coalition negotiations would also deal with the national public broadcaster ORF (Austrian Broadcasting Corporation) can only be understood as a threat to curtail freedom of the press in parallel to the cuts. Meanwhile, right-wing extremists or openly fascist groups have nothing to fear under an FPO government. On the contrary, they could rise directly to high office. Kickl and the FPO maintain close ties to the ethno-nationalist Identitarian Movement, members of which were present at the FPOs election party for the September parliamentary elections. Some of them had their pictures taken making the white power sign alongside Herbert Kickl. He has already publicly stated that the Identitarian Movement was an interesting project worth supporting. The OVP supports the inclusion of these circles. In an interview, the Wiener Standard asked OVP chairman Stocker, So, you do not rule out the possibility that Identitarians could soon be working in state institutions or ministerial offices? To which Stocker replied, I will not control the Freedom Partys personnel lists. I am not the FPOs nanny either. While the establishment parties are helping the far-right extremists to power in order to implement their aggressive domestic and foreign policies, a possible government under the leadership of the FPO faces resistance from the population. In Vienna alone, at least 30,000 people gathered in front of the chancellery on January 9. The demonstrators carried banners with messages such as We dont want a right-wing extremist Austria and Never again [fascism] is now. There were protests in other cities such as Innsbruck, Salzburg and Graz. New Zealands National Party-led coalition government is preparing to introduce a new Regulatory Standards Bill (RSB) which will entrench a set of far-right principles designed to prevent government regulations from negatively impacting private property rights, productivity and profit-making. The bill is being drafted by the libertarian ACT Party, which received 8.6 percent of the votes in the 2023 election but is playing a leading role in implementing the governments agenda of tax cuts for the rich, savage slashing of public services and attacks on workers rights. ACTs Workplace Relations Minister Brooke Van Velden recently introduced new anti-strike laws and announced a reduction in the minimum wage. New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon (left) and Minister for Regulation David Seymour [Photo: NZ Governor-General] The government last year created a new Ministry for Regulation, with ACT leader David Seymour in charge, to review regulations and, in Seymours words, to look for red tape to cut. The RSB will provide the framework for the ministrys work. In a speech to the Wellington Chamber of Commerce on November 19, Seymour complained that in 2015 the cost for businesses to comply with tax and regulatory requirements [was estimated at] $5 billion, or around 1.3 percent of GDP. He promised to return New Zealand to the de-regulatory environment of the 1990s, when corporate taxes were slashed and social welfare, public education and other services were systematically attacked and state-owned corporations were privatised. ACT has been calling for something like the RSB for nearly two decades, supported by the New Zealand Initiative (formerly the Business Roundtable), the countrys main lobby group for big business. An official discussion document on the RSB lists several principles that will be used to evaluate new and existing regulations. The most important one states: Legislation should not unduly diminish a persons liberty, personal security, freedom of choice or action, or rights to own, use, and dispose of property, except as is necessary to provide for, or protect, any such liberty, freedom, or right of another person. As several academics and environmental groups have pointed out, this excludes any consideration of the good of the environment, society, and collective rights and duties. For example, it may be argued that deforestation and pollution by corporations do not directly diminish individual liberty, despite contributing to climate change and the destruction of ecosystems. Similarly, laws and regulations to limit the availability of junk food, alcohol or tobacco might be considered contrary to liberty, freedom of choice and property rights, even if such measures would reduce rates of obesity, diabetes and cancer. The discussion document states that legislation should not take or impair a persons property without good justification and the owner receiving fair compensation for the taking or impairment. Such compensation must be provided to the extent practicable, by or on behalf of the persons who obtain the benefit of the taking or impairment. In a submission on the law, public policy professor Jonathan Boston noted that under this principle someone whose business is impaired by environmental regulations could be entitled to fair compensation, paid by the beneficiaries of such regulations, i.e. the public/taxpayers. In effect, the principle of polluter pays would be replaced with the principle of non-polluters pay, Boston wrote. He likened it to compensating slave owners for their loss of property, instead of compensating slaves for what they have endured. Employers might also argue that costs related to workplace health and safety laws are inconsistent with the RSB, unless they get fair compensation provided on behalf of the people who benefit, i.e. workers. The RSB would impose sweeping limitations on taxation and levies. Speaking to researcher Melanie Nolan on her Coherent podcast, Boston said: Potentially, depending on how you interpret some of these provisions, it would be difficult for the government to justify many of the current taxes that it has, and fees and levies that it imposes. According to the discussion document: Legislation should impose, or authorise the imposition of, a levy to fund an objective or a function only if the amount of the levy is reasonable in relation to the benefits that the class of payers are likely to derive, or the risks attributable to the class, in connection with the objective or function. In other words, businesses cannot be levied for anything unless it is demonstrated that businesses themselves are likely to benefit. This could call into question, for example, the levies currently paid by businesses to the state-owned Accident Compensation Corporation, which provides limited support to people injured in the workplace and elsewhere. Employers could argue that they derive no benefit from assisting people who are unable to work and can no longer be exploited for profit. The RSB will create a streamlined process for corporations to challenge virtually any piece of legislation. A Regulatory Standards Board will assess complaints about existing regulation that is inconsistent with the principles and issue recommendations. If the Board finds that there is inconsistency, the governing Minister must respond to justify deviation from principles. The RSB is part of an intensifying social counter-revolution. In New Zealand, as in the US and throughout the world, the government is tearing up social rights and protections that were won by the working class in struggles during the past century, and placing unprecedented power in the hands of billionaires and their representatives. The corporate media has published only a handful of reports on the RSB and is downplaying its far-reaching implications. By contrast, the media provides non-stop coverage to the ACT Partys Treaty Principles Bill, which is aimed at fuelling racism towards Maori and diverting attention from attacks on the working class. That bill is not likely to become law, since it is opposed by the rest of the government. The opposition Labour Party has criticised the RSB, with MP Duncan Webb calling it a power grab by Seymour. In a December 20 statement Webb said the focus on property rights would limit [the] governments right to make rules in the interests of all New Zealanders and address climate change, safety and inequality. All of this is utterly hypocritical. The wholesale destruction of regulations in favour of the so-called free market began in the 1980s under the then Labour Party government of prime minister David Lange and continued under subsequent National and Labour governments. The dismantling of building regulations led to hundreds of thousands of substandard and leaky buildings and contributed to disasters such as the 2011 CTV building collapse, while laws that allowed mining companies to self-regulate led directly to the 2010 Pike River mine disaster. The 2017-2023 Labour government did not rule in the interests of all New Zealanders. It engineered an historic transfer of wealth to the rich and, after making empty promises to reduce inequality, oversaw an increase in homelessness and child poverty. In 2022 it bowed to big business demands for the removal of all restrictions on the spread of COVID-19, leading to tens of thousands of hospitalisations and more than 4,500 deaths. All of this was enabled by the trade union bureaucracy, which suppressed opposition from workers. The record shows that workers cannot defend their living standards and basic democratic rights by relying on any of the capitalist parties. What is required is the building of a new party, based on socialist and internationalist principles, to lead the struggle to abolish the source of social inequality and imperialist war, which is the capitalist system itself. Inmates waiting to be deployed. The devastating fires in Los Angeles and other areas of California reveal not just the failure of capitalism to address root causes such as climate change, inadequate resources, aging infrastructure and the absence of serious preventive measures, but also the ruthless reality of capitalist exploitation. Nearly a third of the thousands of firefighters battling these blazes, rightfully lauded for their bravery, are inmates from Californias prisons. While it may seem like a story of redemption and reintegration at first glance, their involvement reveals the exploitative and hazardous system that supports this practice. The 13th Amendment abolished slavery and involuntary servitude in the United States, except as a punishment for crime. This loophole created a financial incentive to criminalize individuals and exploit their labor. Today, those enduring inhumane and barbaric prison conditions or facing the threat of further punishment are compelled to work for little to no compensation. A Forbes report indicates that $11 billion in prison labor is used each year, in occupations ranging from producing hand sanitizer and digging mass graves during COVID-19 to cleaning up hazardous waste. Inmates assigned to fight fires receive paltry compensation and empty promises. According to the California Department of Correction and Rehabilitations website, the maximum pay ranges from $5.80 to $10.24 per day, with an extra $1 per hour for emergency responses, up to $26.90 for a 24-hour shift. That reflects a pay increase implemented last year, which approximately doubled these wage ranges. In stark contrast to the salaries of professional firefighters, which can vary from a pittance of $16 an hour to $50 per hour based on rank and experience, the pay for inmates represents the most extreme exploitation. The state and corporations reap significant benefits from this ultra-cheap labor, saving millions of dollars each year while providing little in return to the inmates. Fighting wildfires is a perilous job that requires physical stamina and poses constant risks to life. Inmates are frequently sent into the most hazardous situations, where they clear brush and create firebreaks to halt the spread of flames. However, unlike professional firefighters, they undergo shorter and less thorough training, lack access to essential equipment like breathing apparatuses (SCBAs) in certain high-risk areas, and receive inadequate healthcare if injured. The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) recognizes the dangers but defends the program as voluntary. In truth, the coercive nature of the prison system, coupled with the promise of reduced sentences, minimal pay and potential job opportunities, leaves inmates with little genuine choice. For those who take part, the repercussions of injury or death are severe. Injured inmates encounter significant barriers to obtaining medical care, and their families receive no compensation in the event of a fatalityon top of the families lack of knowledge about when or where the inmates are deployed. The states dependence on inmate labor has enabled politicians across the spectrum to slash vital budgets, leading to disastrous outcomes. The training that inmate firefighters receive is not nearly on par with that of professional firefighters. While they learn basic skills like cutting firebreaks and using certain tools, they do not get comprehensive training to handle complex and extremely dangerous wildfire situations. Their training often spans just a few weeks and emphasizes physical tasks rather than the strategic and safety-focused elements that are crucial in firefighting. It is no coincidence that inmate firefighters have some of the highest injury rates among prison workers. Moreover, they are four times more likely to sustain injuries compared to other firefighters. The dangers are very real: In 2016, 22-year-old Shawna Lynn Jones was killed while fighting a fire to protect a hillside of mansions in the ultra-wealthy resort town of Malibu, California. In 2017, Matthew Beck, a 26-year-old inmate, was killed when a 120-foot tree fell on him during a firefighting operation in Humboldt County. Beck, who was nearing the end of his sentence, had been working long hours in hazardous conditions with limited safety oversight. Similarly, in 2020, 35-year-old Charles Morton, an inmate firefighter, was fatally burned while battling the El Dorado Fire in San Bernardino County. Most notably, in 1990, the entire Perryville inmate crew died in Arizona when the Dude Fire burned over them, killing Sandra Bachman, a guard for the crew from the Arizona State Prison Complex-Perryville and inmate-firefighters James Ellis, Joseph Chacon, Alex Contreras, James Denney and Curtis Springfield. The state maintains that this work helps prisoners acquire valuable skills and contribute to society. However, once released, inmates encounter significant obstacles to finding employment. Despite their experience, most are barred from joining professional firefighting teams due to strict licensing requirements and the stigma attached to a criminal record. While Democrats often position themselves as advocates for criminal justice reform, their actions reveal a willingness to sustain and expand this exploitative system. In California, a state largely governed by Democratic Party elected officials, inmate labor programs have flourished. Days after the fires in Los Angeles erupted, California State Assembly member Isaac Bryan introduced Assembly Bill 247, aimed at raising wages for incarcerated firefighters. The proposed legislation seeks to align their pay with the lowest professional state firefighter wage. This initiative, backed by a few wealthy celebrities like Kim Kardashian, fails to address the coercive labor conditions that strip away freedom and agency. Rather than tackling the root causes of crimesuch as poverty, inequality and lack of access to education and healthcarethe capitalist state resorts to punitive measures that perpetuate incarceration. The prison-industrial complex thrives on this cycle, ensuring a continuous supply of cheap labor while neglecting the needs of incarcerated individuals and their communities. To genuinely tackle the exploitation of inmate labor, workers must confront the entire capitalist system that creates and sustains these conditions. Crime is not an inherent trait of individuals but rather a byproduct and symptom of systemic inequality. The criminalization of poverty and the commodification of labor mean that the most vulnerable members of society carry the heaviest burden. A socialist approach focuses on the needs of the working class, channeling substantial resources into social programs, public services, education, and healthcare to eliminate the conditions that lead to crime. Breaking the cycle of exploitation and criminalization necessitates dismantling the capitalist system and its profit-driven prison-industrial complex, while redirecting resources to essential social programs. The fires in Los Angeles highlight the urgent need for systemic change. The courage and sacrifice of inmate firefighters deserve acknowledgment, but not at the expense of their exploitation. Workers are the only social force capable of building a society that prioritizes human dignity over profit. The struggle extends beyond seeking justice for inmates; it is about fighting for a system where all workers can live free from exploitation and oppression. Israeli soldiers stand near a tank inside southern Gaza Sunday, January 19, 2025. [AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg] On Thursday, January 16, the American Historical Associations (AHA) elected council struck down a resolution that condemned genocide and scholasticide in Gaza, with 11 board members voting to veto the resolution and four supporting it. The veto of the resolution comes after it was approved by AHA members during the associations 138th annual meeting on January 4. During the meeting, a series of debates were held, with five speakers standing in favor of the resolution and five against. The resolution passed by an overwhelming margin, 428 to 88, and by the AHAs rules, would have to go to the elected council who could approve it, veto it, or decline to concurin which case it would be put before the entire membership for a vote. Justifying their veto, the AHAs elected council claimed that, while they deplore the violence and destruction in Gaza, the resolution: lies outside the scope of the Associations mission and purpose, defined in its Constitution as the promotion of historical studies through the encouragement of research, teaching, and publication; the collection and preservation of historical documents and artifacts; the dissemination of historical records and information; the broadening of historical knowledge among the general public; and the pursuit of kindred activities in the interest of history. Those who supported the resolution have denounced the decision by the AHAs elected council. One supporter, Rudi Batzell, professor of history at Lake Forest College, expressed outrage on X: Shame on the AHA leadership for vetoing the scholasticide in Gaza resolution. Members voted overwhelmingly to support, and the resolution was written so narrowly and so carefully to meet exactly this kind of procedural objection. Craven. Another supporter, Assal Rad, wrote on X that the intentional destruction of educationand everything elsein Gaza is relevant to broadening knowledge. Academics will make careers out of writing about past atrocities while ignoring the ones happening in real time. Absolutely shameful. One of those on the council who voted to veto the resolution was Anne Hyde, a history professor at the University of Oklahoma. Hyde explained that the resolution was vetoed to protect the AHAs reputation as an unbiased historical actor. Justifying not allowing the membership as a whole to vote, Hyde claimed that such a ballot would not be representative, adding lamely that people dont agree about this issue. Another opponent of the resolution was AHA executive director Jim Grossman. Grossman has a non-voting position on the council but nevertheless concurred with the veto. During the AHAs annual meeting earlier this month, Grossman denounced the resolution during his report to the meeting, claiming that the AHA is not a political organization. Supporters of the resolution, both before and after the veto, pointed out that the AHA has taken political stands beforenamely, condemning the Bush administrations war in Iraq in 2007, and more recently adopting a resolution in 2022 denouncing the Russian invasion of Ukraine, albeit from the standpoint of glorifying Ukrainian resistance and the Ukrainian government and whitewashing the Kiev regimes embrace of racist and antisemitic forces that trace their origins to Hitlers Ukrainian allies in World War II. Responding to those whove pointed out the organizations past political stances, Grossman, speaking with Inside Higher Ed, claimed that the Ukraine statement was purely historical. It was well within our scope. Grossman neglected to mention, however, that the same statement he refers to ended with: We vigorously support the Ukrainian nation and its people in their resistance to Russian military aggression. Evidently, Grossman and the AHA leadership do not extend the same consideration to the Palestinian people in their resistance to Israeli military aggression. In a similar comment regarding history, Hyde claimed that the war in Gaza is not settled history, so were not clear what happened or who to blame or when it began even, so it isnt something that a professional organization should be commenting on yet. Yet history is a continuous and uninterrupted process in constant motion. Events and changes arise as a historical culmination of changing material conditions and unfold as a result of specific historical circumstances. Only by understanding the underlying history of an event can it be understood. The AHAs veto aims to block such an understanding of the Gaza genocide, which already ranks among the greatest crimes of modern history. It was in fact through an understanding of the historical and political conditions of Palestine that members of the AHA voted 5 to1 in support of a resolution condemning genocide and scholasticide in Gaza. That the AHAs council vetoed the resolution testifies to the complete lack of democracy within the organization when it comes to the vital interests of American imperialismand in this key sense the AHAs veto of the Gaza genocide resolution and its support of the Ukraine resolution are consonant. For over a year, the United States has sent billions of dollars in military equipment to Israel and denounced factual accusations that Israel is committing a genocide. The American ruling class has had to resort to labeling any opposition to the genocide as antisemitic, as well as falsifying or denying the history preceding the current conflict. Meanwhile, for nearly three years Washington has shoveled billions of dollars in military armaments to Ukraine in a war whose aim is the dismemberment of Russia, no matter the cost in Ukrainian lives. A critical propaganda element of the US proxy war is its effort to cover up links between the far-right Ukrainian government and its forebears such as national hero Stepan Bandera, whose fascist movement cooperated with the Nazis and participated in the Holocaust. The AHA leaderships anti-democratic maneuver against its own membership starkly reveals that when the interests of the American ruling class are at stake, its intellectual bodies can be called to heel with remarkable speed. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (Democrat-New York), center, with incoming Democratic senators in his office on Tuesday, November 12, 2024, in Washington. From right to left, Elissa Slotkin (Democrat-Michigan), Lisa Blunt Rochester (Democrat-Delaware), Adam Schiff (Democrat-California), Schumer, Angela Alsobrooks (Democrat-Maryland), Ruben Gallego (Democrat-Arizona) and Andy Kim (Democrat-New Jersey). [AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib] In a bipartisan 61-35 vote Friday, Senate Democrats joined with Republicans to invoke cloture and end debate on the Laken Riley Act. The Senate is scheduled to hold a final vote on the bill Monday, all but ensuring that it will be one of, if not the first bills Donald Trump signs into law after he takes the oath of office that same day. Ten Democrats joined Republicans to vote in favor of the bill, even after Republicans had rejected amendments offered by Democrats, including some that would have shielded immigrants currently facing domestic violence and human trafficking abuse from deportation. The 10 Democrats who voted to overcome the filibuster include Nevada senators Catherine Cortez-Masto and Jacky Rosen; Michigan senators Gary Peters and Elissa Slotkin; New Hampshire senators Maggie Hassan and Jeanne Shaheen; Arizona senators Mark Kelly and Ruben Gallego, as well as Georgias Jon Ossoff and Virginias Mark Warner. One of the few amendments that passed, in a robust 70-25 vote, was one offered by far-right Texas Senator John Cornyn which expands the list of criminal offenses for which immigrants must be detained to include charges of assaulting police. Only 23 Democrats and two independents that caucus with them, Angus King (Maine) and Bernie Sanders (Vermont), voted against it. It is expected that the Senate will vote to approve the amendment, at which point the bill would be sent back to the House for final approval before being sent to Trump for his signature. After Republicans rejected Democratic amendments, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (Democrat-New York) released a statement pledging to still cooperate with their Republican colleagues to carry out Trumps mass deportation operation. We Democrats want to see our broken immigration system fixed, Schumer said on Friday. We worked with Republicans last year on the strongest immigration bill in a decade. While I do not support this particular bill, I stand ready to work with both sides to pass smart, effective, tough and common sense legislation to secure our borders and reform our immigration system. For over a decade Trump has used Hitlerian language to demonize and attack immigrants, blaming them for all of the ills created by modern capitalist society. These attacks are aimed at dividing the working class and deflecting from the fact that it is the financial oligarchy that Trump is a part of, and whose profit interests he represents, which has hoarded all the wealth created by the working class to waste on themselves and on imperialist war. During this most presidential recent campaign, Trump escalated his attacks on immigrants and repeatedly promised that if reelected, he would carry out the largest deportation operation in US history. Throughout the campaign, Trump used the tragic killing of 22-year-old Georgia college student Laken Riley to demonize all immigrants as murderers and rapists. Speaking at a pre-inauguration rally Sunday in Washington D.C., Trumps neo-Nazi senior policy adviser Stephen Miller said that after he is inaugurated Monday, Trump will sign an executive order ending the border invasion, sending the illegals home and taking America back. Hinting at a military incursion into Mexico, Miller said the Trump administration is going to mean the eradication of the criminal cartels and the foreign gangs that are preying on our people. Miller added, And its going to mean justice for every American citizen who has lost a loved one to an illegal alien. Its going to mean justice for Laken Riley. ... Its going to mean justice for every precious soul stolen from us by Joe Bidens open border. With Fridays vote, Democrats have made themselves party to the deportation operation and have ensured that the person they were characterizing as a fascist less than three months ago now has legal authority to begin carrying out his authoritarian campaign pledges. The legislation, as the WSWS noted earlier this month, greatly expands the power of police agencies to detain and deport immigrants, who have merely been accused, not convicted, of petty crimes. It requires federal immigration police to take custody of immigrants simply accused of theft, burglary or shoplifting totaling $100. Current federal law already requires immigration police to detain and/or deport immigrants who have been convicted of serious violent crimes, such as murder and rape, as well as some drug offenses. The new law would require incarceration of a much larger proportion of the roughly 12 million undocumented persons currently in the United States. Democratic staff on the Senate Appropriations Committee, in a memo leaked to Semafor last week, estimated the cost to implement the legislation would be $83 billion over three years. The staff estimated that 118,500 new detention beds would have to be constructed to house incarcerated persons before they are deported. This would also necessitate hiring another 40,000 police and guards and a 25 percent increase in removal flights. Officials with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) estimated that the costs during the first year would be $26 billion. In addition to expanding the scope and scale of the already sprawling US prison-industrial complex which, in 2024, incarcerated over 1.9 million people in more than 6,000 facilities, according to PrisonPolicy.org, the bill would also empower states to challenge federal immigration policy if the state can show that it has suffered more than $100 in financial harm. Under the legislation, states could bring any number of lawsuits challenging the detention and deportation of either individual immigrants, or entire countries, inundating courts with lawsuits in the process. Right-wing state attorneys general could bring lawsuits challenging the visas of every person from a country or region that is targeted by Trump or the Republicans. Far from opposing Trumps attacks on the democratic rights of the working class, Democrats, even before losing the presidential election, were joining in on the attacks. During the presidential campaign, Vice President Kamala Harris promised to continue building the Southern border wall and work with Republicans to pass a new $20 billion border police state bill. Following Trumps November victory, Democrats have completely dropped any reference to Trumps fascistic personality and tendencies and are quickly acquiescing to his program. The Laken Riley Act was co-sponsored in the Senate by Pennsylvania Democrat John Fetterman and Arizonas Ruben Gallego. Fridays vote follows an earlier procedural vote in which 32 Senate Democrats joined with Republicans to initially advance the bill. At the time, Democrats claimed that they would introduce amendments to protect Dreamers (immigrants brought to the US as children) and others in the US currently here through no fault of their own. While no amendments are forthcoming, Politico reported on Sunday, citing anonymous sources familiar with the matter, that Trump is expected to sign executive orders declaring a national emergency at the Southern border and another ordering the start of mass deportations of immigrants in the US illegally. Chicago teachers demonstrating during the 2012 strike Contract negotiations between the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) and Chicago Public Schools (CPS) appear to have stalled recently over the central issue of pay raises. With the corporate and political establishment demanding austerity in the schools, Democrat Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and CPS administrators are working furiously to figure out how to impose a contract on teachers and other educators that is acceptable to big business. Teachers and other school workers, who are determined to fight against years of austerity and lost purchasing power, must reject the illusions peddled by CTU leaders about the supposed transformative contract. The only way to win needed pay raises and defend students and public education from the onslaught of the Trump administration and the banks is to organize independently of the CTU apparatus and build the Chicago Educators Rank-and-File Committee to coordinate and lead the fight and link up with educators in the same struggle across the country. The critical issue in the negotiations is teacher pay. Throughout the negotiations, CPS CEO Pedro Martinez and CPS leadership, backed by the banks and financial circles, have refused to budge on their initial offer of 4 percent in the first year and 4-5 percent for the final three yearswhich they clearly expect to amount to only 16 percent in total. At the same time, CTU leaders have steadily lowered teachers expectations through diminishing counteroffers. CTUs initial proposal of 9 percent raises would have left teachers only treading water since 2019. Since then, CTUs Big Bargaining Team, which includes former union president and pseudo-left leader Jesse Sharkey, has backed down on the unions initial demands and completely capitulated to the ruling classs insistence on austerity. The CTUs last counteroffer includes a paltry 5 percent raise in the first two years and 4-5 percent in the final two years of a four-year contract, depending on the consumer price index. This would amount to a real loss in purchasing power for teachers, who have suffered from a 23 percent cost-of-living increase since their 2019 contract. That five-year deal included total raises of only 16 percent, which were effectively even lower due to lost pay from the sold-out strike and increases in health care costs. While CTU leaders are entirely willing to push through a contract resulting in a loss in real wages for teachers, they have asked for supposed assurances that the contract will not be funded through layoffs or furloughs. This and other toothless proposals will serve as a fig leaf for the abandonment of higher pay. The CPS budget approved in July did not include any funding for the CTU contract and only narrowly closed a $391 million deficit. Like other school districts around the country, CPS has been facing a fiscal cliff due to the expiration of $190 billion in federal pandemic funding, including $1.8 billion for Chicago schools. The district already faces a large structural deficit of just under $700 million for the upcoming fiscal year. Johnson and CTU President Stacy Davis Gates have advocated for the district to take out a short-term loan to fund the contract for the present year, leaving the question of subsequent years for another day. Martinezs refusal to go along with the plan led to him being fired by Johnsons hand-picked board on December 20. However, due to provisions in his contract, he will continue to be CEO for six months from the date he was fired. The banks and their political representatives have come out in force in demanding that teachers and students bear the brunt of the deficit. Ratings agency S&P threatened the district with a credit downgrade, according to the Chicago Tribune, saying neither drawing on its reserves nor taking on new debt to fund the contract is an option. The Chicago Civic Federation, whose board is largely made up of corporate and financial executives, released an analysis of the CPS budget on Monday urging the newly seated Board of Education to right-size the district and claimed the districts finances were so serious that a state financial takeover is not and should not be out of the question. The Civic Federation rails against underutilized buildings, demanding that schools be closed and students packed into buildings like sardines. Indeed, although Martinez has recently disavowed any plans to close schools, in September the CTU revealed that CPS had conducted a space analysis which identified around 70 schools that could be consolidated into another 70 schools, leading to their closure. This could lead to an even larger number of school closures than the historic shutdown of 50 schools in 2013, the year after the CTU sold out the 2012 strike. The Civic Federation also points out that state legislation remains on the books for the activation of a Chicago School Finance Authority, a legacy of the 1979 financial crisis in the district. The School Finance Authority (SFA) could potentially take over much of the districts financial powers and authority, effectively sidelining the mayor and his appointees on the board to carry out a gutting of the schools. The Chicago Tribune editorial board and the financial press have been accusing Johnson and the CTU of engineering a fiscal collapse in order to prompt the state to take over. Civic Federation President Joe Ferguson, a political appointee in both the Richard Daley and Rahm Emanuel administrations, noted, It doesnt need to be a complete takeover. It could be a partial takeover. It could be a check on the operation of the board. But what we do all know is the challenge for 2026 and beyond is way beyond everyones capacity, and we need to start talking in those terms about that challenge. CTU leaders have complained that enough revenue sources have already been found to pay for the contract at least for the present year. Johnson was able to allocate around $300 million from tax increment financing (TIF) districts to CPS for the current year. This would largely have covered the CTU contracts minimum cost of around $125 million and $175 million in pension payments Johnson pushed from the city budget onto CPS, in line with his predecessor, Lori Lightfoot. Johnson has also said many TIF districts will not be renewed, which will free up their tax revenue to go back to the taxing bodies from which they were originally siphoned, including CPS. The union claims that in the past, financial workarounds such as the freeing up of TIF funds would have been enough to land a contract agreement, even without all future funds accounted for. Davis Gates asked in this vein, The TIF was good for Rahm, it was good for Lori, how come it aint good for Brandon? Similarly, CTU Deputy General Counsel Thaddeus Goodchild said recently that it was astounding that Martinezs prerogatives supersede those of the mayor and the members of the Board of Education. The reality is that despite all the pie-in-the-sky claims about the transformative contract that would result from alignment between the union, the mayors office and the CPS board, the present situation is a complete indictment of the CTUs political strategy under the leadership of the pseudo-left Caucus of Rank-and-File Educators (CORE). COREs strategy of working within the Democratic Party, funding candidates and ultimately winning control of the mayors office have entirely exposed the bankruptcy of its reformist perspective. Johnson, who even as a candidate indicated he was best positioned to deliver bad news to teachers during contract negotiations, is poised to do just that, after a year in which he deployed police against peaceful anti-genocide protesters, cleared out homeless encampments and forced immigrants out of city shelters. Far from fighting against the imposition of an austerity contract, the union actually paused the fact-finding process begun in October that would legally lead to a strike and has been pushing furiously for a quick agreement, claiming that the contract is required to erect a force field around schools prior to the Trump administration taking office. Union leaders claim the contract would be able to protect the school curriculum and even immigrant students or their parents who may be targeted by ICE raids, which the Trump administration has made clear would begin in Chicago right after the inauguration. Teachers should be under no illusions that any agreement with CPS will stop attacks by the Trump administration against educators and students, including those who are immigrants. The CORE leadership is concerned above all with maintaining its legal status and, like the rest of the Democratic Party, will stand aside as agents seize parents and even students. The only way to fight back against the attacks on teachers, students and public education in general is through the construction of a mass movement outside of the control of the union leadership and dedicated to ending the rule of the financial oligarchy. Join the Chicago Educators Rank-and-File Committee today! Fill out the form below. A herder signs upon reception of her package delivered by Mukhametbek Mukhamethali in Burqin County, Altay Prefecture, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Jan. 6, 2025. Mukhametbek Mukhamethali is a postal worker in Burqin County of Altay Region, mainly charged with mail delivery in Hemu and Kanas areas. This postal route is notorious for its long distance, lousy road conditions, let alone frequent occurrences of ice and snow blockages during winters. Having served as a postman for 16 years, Mukhamethali has covered about 870,000 kilometers on his postal routes. With the rapid development of tourism and e-commerce, Mukhamethali is now also helping other courier companies with their mails to Hemu, which has resulted in a rapid increase in his workload. While delivering mails, Mukhamethali is also more than happy to help herders on the way. Braving harsh circumstances, he believes in the value of his job. "For the herder folks, I am a bridge and hope," Mukhamethali said, "I cannot let them down." (Xinhua/Aman) An aerial drone photo taken on Jan. 6, 2025 shows Mukhametbek Mukhamethali arriving at Hemu Village in Altay Prefecture, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. Mukhametbek Mukhamethali is a postal worker in Burqin County of Altay Region, mainly charged with mail delivery in Hemu and Kanas areas. This postal route is notorious for its long distance, lousy road conditions, let alone frequent occurrences of ice and snow blockages during winters. (Photo by Jalhen/Xinhua) A herder serves Mukhametbek Mukhamethali milk tea in Burqin County, Altay Prefecture, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Jan. 4, 2025. Mukhametbek Mukhamethali is a postal worker in Burqin County of Altay Region, mainly charged with mail delivery in Hemu and Kanas areas. This postal route is notorious for its long distance, lousy road conditions, let alone frequent occurrences of ice and snow blockages during winters. (Xinhua/Aman) Mukhametbek Mukhamethali unloads packages at Hemu Village, Altay Prefecture, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Jan. 6, 2025. Mukhametbek Mukhamethali is a postal worker in Burqin County of Altay Region, mainly charged with mail delivery in Hemu and Kanas areas. This postal route is notorious for its long distance, lousy road conditions, let alone frequent occurrences of ice and snow blockages during winters. (Xinhua/Aman) An aerial drone photo taken on Jan. 6, 2025 shows the truck Mukhametbek Mukhamethali drives on the way to Hemu Village in Altay Prefecture, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. Mukhametbek Mukhamethali is a postal worker in Burqin County of Altay Region, mainly charged with mail delivery in Hemu and Kanas areas. This postal route is notorious for its long distance, lousy road conditions, let alone frequent occurrences of ice and snow blockages during winters. (Photo by Jalhen/Xinhua) Mukhametbek Mukhamethali (1st L) helps remove snow from the road on his way back in Burqin County in Altay Prefecture, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Jan. 2, 2025. Mukhametbek Mukhamethali is a postal worker in Burqin County of Altay Region, mainly charged with mail delivery in Hemu and Kanas areas. This postal route is notorious for its long distance, lousy road conditions, let alone frequent occurrences of ice and snow blockages during winters. (Xinhua/Zhang Xiaolong) Mukhametbek Mukhamethali leaves for Hemu Village from Burqin County in Altay Prefecture, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Jan. 6, 2025. Mukhametbek Mukhamethali is a postal worker in Burqin County of Altay Region, mainly charged with mail delivery in Hemu and Kanas areas. This postal route is notorious for its long distance, lousy road conditions, let alone frequent occurrences of ice and snow blockages during winters. (Xinhua/Aman) The truck Mukhametbek Mukhamethali drives is pictured on the way to Hemu Village, in Altay Prefecture, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Jan. 6, 2025. Mukhametbek Mukhamethali is a postal worker in Burqin County of Altay Region, mainly charged with mail delivery in Hemu and Kanas areas. This postal route is notorious for its long distance, lousy road conditions, let alone frequent occurrences of ice and snow blockages during winters. (Xinhua/Aman) Mukhametbek Mukhamethali attaches snow chains to the truck's tires before he enters Kanas scenic area of Altay, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Jan. 6, 2025. Mukhametbek Mukhamethali is a postal worker in Burqin County of Altay Region, mainly charged with mail delivery in Hemu and Kanas areas. This postal route is notorious for its long distance, lousy road conditions, let alone frequent occurrences of ice and snow blockages during winters. (Xinhua/Zhang Xiaolong) The truck Mukhametbek Mukhamethali drives is pictured on the way to Hemu Village in Altay Prefecture, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Jan. 2, 2025. Mukhametbek Mukhamethali is a postal worker in Burqin County of Altay Region, mainly charged with mail delivery in Hemu and Kanas areas. This postal route is notorious for its long distance, lousy road conditions, let alone frequent occurrences of ice and snow blockages during winters. (Xinhua/Yin Xingyu) KUALA LUMPUR, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- Malaysia will resume negotiations for the Malaysia-European Union Free Trade Agreement (MEUFTA) to strengthen economic ties with the European Union (EU), the Malaysian Prime Minister's Office said on Monday. The agreement is expected to unlock immense benefits across multiple sectors of Malaysia's economy while strengthening the global supply chain in critical sectors, it said in a statement in conjunction with Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim's working visit to Belgium from Jan. 19-20. "It is poised to bolster exports from sectors such as electrical and electronic products, palm oil and its derivatives, as well as optical and scientific equipment to the EU market, among others," it said. "Furthermore, the MEUFTA will catalyze significant investments from the EU in cutting-edge sectors such as green energy and advanced manufacturing," it added. It added that the government is committed to pursuing a balanced and comprehensive agreement that delivers tangible benefits to all stakeholders, while ensuring a "win-win situation" for both Malaysia and the EU. MOSCOW, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin said Monday that Russia is open to dialogue with the new U.S. administration over the Ukraine crisis. "We are open to dialogue with the new U.S. administration on the conflict in Ukraine," he said, while stressing the importance of eliminating the root causes of the conflict. Asian Shadows has acquired international sales rights to This City Is A Battlefield (Perang Kota) the upcoming neoclassical war drama from Indonesian director Mouly Surya that will serve as the closing night film at the 54th International Film Festival Rotterdam. Set in 1946 Jakarta during Indonesias struggle for independence, the film follows Isa (Chicco Jerikho), a former war hero turned violin teacher who becomes entangled in the resistance movement alongside his wealthy student Hazil (Jerome Kurnia). When Isa is tasked with an underground mission to assassinate a Dutch official, complications arise as Hazil pursues not only the mission but also Isas wife Fatimah (Ariel Tatum), a talented pianist fighting to protect her family. More from Variety Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement An Indonesia, Singapore, Netherlands, France, Norway, Philippines, Cambodia co-production, This City Is a Battlefield is produced by Rama Adi and Fauzan Zidni for Cinesurya, Chand Parwez Servia for Starvision, and Kaninga Pictures from Indonesia; in co- production with Giraffe Pictures from Singapore, Volya Films from The Netherlands, Shasha & Co. Production from France, DUOfilm AS from Norway, Epicmedia from The Philippines, and Kongchak Pictures Ltd. from Cambodia. Executive producers include Willawati, Mona Surya and Rieza Jusuf, while the co-producers are Isabelle Glachant, Anthony Chen, Tan Si En, Denis Vaslin, Fleur Knopperts, Ingrid Lill Hgtun, Marie Fuglestein Lgreid, Linda Bolstad Strnen, Bianca Balbuena, Bradley Liew, Axel Hadiningrat and Loy Te. Periscoop Film has secured theatrical distribution rights for The Netherlands and Benelux territories. The film is Suryas fifth feature and marks her second collaboration with Asian Shadows following Marlina the Murderer in Four Acts, which premiered at Cannes Directors Fortnight in 2017 and won 10 Citra Awards (Indonesian Oscars). Her most recent film was the Netflix action thriller Trigger Warning starring Jessica Alba. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Excited to work again with Asian Shadows. From our close collaboration with them in Marlina the Murderer in Four Acts, Asian Shadows have a first-hand knowledge of my voice and how to extend that voice to be heard beyond, Surya said. We are proud to continue working with Mouly Surya and the Cinesurya team to bring Perang Jota to the attention of international audiences. Once again, we were struck by the strength of Mouly Suryas style and vision in exploring the meaning of identity, the value of freedom and the power of independence, challenging stereotypes of genders and heroes. In times of wars we live in, digging into the past to make sense of the present, Mouly Surya breaks the rules of a cinema genre to reinvent it, so identity and dignity are just shaped by what one stands for and what one fights for. We are delighted to be by her side once again, added Maria A. Ruggieri, head of sales and acquisitions at Asian Shadows. International Film Festival Rotterdam takes place Jan. 30 Feb. 9. Best of Variety Sign up for Variety's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Commonly referred to as the cradle of Western civilization, Greece is rich with archaeological treasures, from the marble columns of the Parthenon to the Oracle of Delphi. Many of these attractions are so popular, though, that the country recently adopted measures to thin out the high-season crowds. But one hidden gem remains largely overlooked by most travelers: the Corinth Canal. A nautical marvel, the four-mile waterway is located about 50 miles west of Athens and slices through the Isthmus of Corinth, a narrow landmass separating the Peloponnese peninsula from the Greek mainland. The canal's construction initially began under Roman Emperor Nero in 67 C.E. but wasn't completed until 1893, after Greece gained independence from the Ottoman Empire. At roughly 40 miles in length and 80 feet wide, it connects the Ionian Sea with the Aegean Sea and is the world's narrowest navigable canal and this ancient wonder is a beauty to behold in person. Jacqueline Deely/Courtesy of Abercrombie & Kent Aerial view of an Abercrombie & Kent expedition boat going through the Corinth Canal. Aerial view of an Abercrombie & Kent expedition boat going through the Corinth Canal. The best way to experience the canal is on a small cruise since most modern boats are too large to thread the passage. Guests on the Abercrombie & Kent Adriatic Voyage, which features ports of call in Croatia, Montenegro, and Greece, can ride aboard the largest ship able to navigate the Corinth Canal. The explorer-class vessel is 59 feet wide, leaving around 11 to 5 feet of breathing room when passing through. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The cool part is that you feel like you can touch the sides, Susan Langley, a maritime archeologist and Abercrombie & Kent lecturer, told Travel + Leisure. The amazing thing is just how narrow the canal is, and that [our ship] is really the capacity of what it can take. All the big ships have to go around it. Jacqueline Deely/Courtesy of Abercrombie & Kent Passengers cheering while going through the Corinth Canal Passengers cheering while going through the Corinth Canal According to Langley, having a way to pass through the Peloponnese peninsula would have been a huge time and expense saver "back in the day when they had to rely on sails or on manpower to actually row a vessel. Today, though, the Corinth Canal primarily serves fishing boats, small merchant vessels, and boutique cruise lines. Abercrombie & Kent, however, makes it a point to turn the transit into a celebratory experience. As the ship passes through the canal, guests line the deck, champagne flutes in hand, and drift by rocky, plant-covered walls that feel close enough to touch. The unique flora and fauna in the passageway are just as fascinating as its history. Visitors have the opportunity to spot a variety of diverse wildlife on the sandstone and limestone cliffs, from scampering foxes to nesting birds to fig trees, caper bushes, and acanthus this iconic plant's jagged leaves can often be found carved atop Greeces ubiquitous Corinthian columns. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement For travelers seeking something off the beaten path, the Corinth Canal passage with Abercrombie & Kent is an unforgettable experience that combines maritime history with jaw-dropping natural beauty best of all, it isn't something most tourists get to see. Read the original article on Travel & Leisure Ivanka Trump is at her father president-elect Donald Trumps side ahead of inauguration tomorrow. Today the Trump family attended a wreath-laying ceremony Sunday afternoon at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington National Cemetery. For the occasion, Ivanka wore a monochromatic ensemble by Oscar de la Renta consisting of a camel coat with 3D floral appliques and a mock turtleneck. She paired both with black leather boots that featured a patent leather cap toe and gloves in burgundy, the breakout color from last fall. More from WWD Ivanka Trump stands in Arlington National Cemetery after a wreath-laying ceremony on January 19, 2025 in Arlington, Virginia. Donald Trump will be sworn in as the 47th president of the United States on January 20 in a rare indoor ceremony. Melania Trump, meanwhile, opted to wear a double-breasted black Dior cape-like coat with black knee-high Christian Louboutin boots. Tiffany, who attended along with Eric and Donald Jr., wore a mod belted gray coat with glittering square-shaped buttons. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The incoming President of the United States, for the second time, wore a dark overcoat, dark suit, white shirt and red striped tie. Likewise, Vice President-elect JD Vance wore a dark overcoat and white shirt with a maroon tie and Usha Vance chose to wear a white double-breasted coat. Ivanka Trump at the wreath-laying ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery on January 19, 2025 in Arlington, Virginia. Trump will be sworn in as the 47th president of the United States on January 20 in a rare indoor ceremony. Together at the 639-acre cemetery they honored those who have lost their lives in service for the United States. The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier serves as a symbolic grave for all war dead whose remains have not been found or identified. It began with one unknown service member from World War I and now has the remains of three unidentified service members. President-Elect Donald Trump and Melania Trump visit Section 60 in Arlington National Cemetery on January 19, 2025 in Arlington, Virginia. Trump will be sworn in as the 47th president of the United States on January 20 in a rare indoor ceremony. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement While the Trumps are settling in once again at Washington, D.C., President Joe Biden and his wife Jill were in Charleston, S.C. to attend a service at the Royal Missionary Baptist Church in North Charleston Sunday and visit the International African American Museum. On Jill Bidens final day as First Lady, she suited up in blue from head-to-toe, wearing a monochromatic ensemble that doubled as a tribute to the democratic party. Melania Trump and Usha Vance attend a wreath-laying ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery. View Gallery Launch Gallery: Ivanka Trump Modeling Through the Years: Runway Moments and More From the Archives [PHOTOS] Best of WWD Sign up for WWD's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. For a lot of people, coffee is a staple in everyday life. As a college student in New York City, I know it is certainly a staple in mine. For this reason, every time I come home to Naples from school, I am immediately on the lookout for new coffee shops. Given my short but fruitful career as a coffee-lover, I have compiled a list of the places around town which ensure that, regardless of where you are in Naples, you too can enjoy a great cup of coffee. Narrative Coffee Roasters The completed interior of the new Narrative Coffee Roasters at Mercato is designed as a comfortable space to enjoy the experience of fresh roasted coffee. With only two locations, both in Naples, Narrative is a truly local spot. The coffee shops owners, Caleb MacPherson and William Diaz-Garcia opened their first brick-and-mortar store in 2020 at Mercato. Their second location on Central Avenue soon followed in 2021 but it closed in late 2024. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Narrative reminds me of many of my favorite coffee shops around my campus in New York City. Both locations are decorated in a minimalist design style with pops of green color from plants hanging from the ceiling and around the shop. There is plenty of inside and outside seating as well as free Wi-Fi, making it a great place to have a cup of coffee while you work. What makes Narrative unique amongst the other coffee shops in Naples is that it sources in-season, meaning that the coffee beans used change seasonally. The coffee shop also makes several of its coffee syrups in house, including Vanilla, Lavender, and seasonal flavors. Pro Tip: I always try to get a seasonal drink when I am visiting for a short period of time. Narrative has had some interesting combinations in the past including an apple-cider chai latte and a horchata latte. Locations: 9106 Strada Place, No. 4105 Naples (Mercato) Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement 1103 Central Ave., Naples Kunjani Craft Coffee & Gallery Kunjani is another locally owned business with a unique mission. This coffee shop and gallery was founded in 2016 by mother-daughter duo Stephanie and Nicola Bunnett. They started Kunjani with the goal of sustainability and fair-trade practices, making Kunjani a place to get a good cup of coffee while donating to a good cause. They source their coffee beans from sustainable import partners, pay them above fair-trade prices, and utilize low carbon roasting technology. Through their nonprofit, Kunjani Project, they also help provide access to clean drinking water in African countries such as Zimbabwe, Zambia, South Africa, and Kenya. In addition to coffee and baked goods, which include a number of gluten free and vegan options, there is also an art gallery in-store. The retail space features art and fair trade, handmade items from places such as Zimbabwe, Zambia, and South Africa. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Pro Tip: If you are not a big fan of coffee, try Kunjanis matcha latte with a little bit of vanilla. It does not disappoint! Location: 780 Seagate Drive, Naples, FL 34103 Bad Ass Coffee of Hawaii Bad Ass Coffee's comfy lounge is near Naples Pier. Bad Ass Coffee on Third Street South has been a Naples staple for years. During season, it is common to see lines stretching out the door of people waiting to grab a drink. While Bad Ass Coffee has franchises across the country, the Naples locations are locally owned and operated. The original Bad Ass Coffee opened in Hawaii during the late 1980s, sharing Hawaiian coffee from Kauai, Oahu, Maui, Molokai, Kona, and Kau. While the franchise has expanded significantly beyond Hawaii, Bad Ass still uses Hawaiian coffee beans and centers Hawaii in its design and mission, including donating to help rebuild West Maui after the 2023 wildfires. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Both the Third Street and Lowdermilk locations have a large amount of seating and WiFi, making them great places to do work or meet a friend for coffee. Locations: 1307 Third St. S., Naples 1400 Gulf Shore Blvd. N., No. 148, Naples (Lowdermilk) Bean to Cup Coffee Lounge A building mural makes an appealing exterior for businesses such as Bean to Cup, which opened six years ago at 3248 Bayshore Drive in the Bayshore Arts District, East Naples. Bean to Cup is a local, women-owned coffee shop in the Bayshore Arts District that has been open since 2019. The pet-friendly coffee shop is known for its support of local artists, community events, and expansive outdoor patio which overlooks the waterfront. Since its establishment, Bean to Cup has been committed to serving fair-trade and organic-locally grown coffee. They offer a variety of hot and iced drinks as well as food options. The large amount of seating, outlets, and free Wi-Fi make it an incredible place to take a large group or work on a laptop. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Pro Tip: If you are with a group or a naturally indecisive person, order the coffee flight, which includes three different specialty drinks. They have a new flight every month. Location: 3248 Bayshore Drive, Naples Bonta Bakery Bonta Bakery's sweet croissants. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Lobster rolls, rooftop dining: 12 restaurants opening in Naples, Bonita in 2025 If you are on Fifth Avenue looking for a quick pick-me-up with zero frills, Bonta Bakery is your spot. The Italian-owned and operated bakery opened in February 2024 and boasts an extensive menu of Italian specialties such as Bambolones, Cornettos and Cannnolis. While many of the coffee shops on this list offer flavors and specialty drinks, Bonta stays true to its Italian roots, offering only espresso-drinks and coffee without syrups or add-ons. For this reason, a latte or cappuccino at Bonta is notably cheaper than other specialty coffee shops in Naples. This makes the bakery a perfect place to enjoy a cappuccino and an Italian pastry after a long day of shopping in downtown Naples. Location: 824 Fifth Ave. S., No. 2, Naples This article originally appeared on Naples Daily News: Best coffee shops in Naples: Here's 5 to try Garrett Peck, founder of Pueblo's PexPeppers, wanted to test how his Pueblo chile hot sauces would fare in the "Hatchland" of New Mexico the result was better than expected. Despite the heated rivalry between Colorado's prized Pueblo peppers and New Mexico's Hatch chiles, PexPeppers won two prizes at the 2025 Scovie Awards in Albuquerque. The annual Scovie Awards are judged by about 90 food professionals who sample international spicy food and barbecue entries. Garrett Peck, owner of Pex Peppers, was awarded two third-place prizes at the 2025 Scovie Awards for his Pueblo Chile Salsa Verde and Pueblo Reserve Roasted Chile Condiment. Pex's Pueblo Reserve Roasted Chile Condiment won 3rd place in the Red Chile Prepared Sauce category. Additionally, the local brand's Pueblo Chile Salsa Verde won 3rd place in the competition's Salsa Verde category. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "It was great," Peck said. "You should see everyone's faces when they try it. They talk a bunch of crap and then they are like 'Oh my goodness, this is so good.'" Peck told the Chieftain his Pueblo Reserve Roasted Chile Condiment is PexPeppers' answer to A.1. steak sauce. It has a tomato flavor, similar to ketchup, but there are no tomatoes in the condiment. The flavor comes from the Pueblo chile. PexPeppers' Pueblo Chile Salsa Verde gets its flavor from a mix of fire-roasted Pueblo chiles, garlic, onions, and tomatillos. With a heat close to 2,000 Scoville units, both of PexPeppers' award-winning sauces are fairly mild compared to the company's other offerings, Peck told the Chieftain. "Some of the other sauces that I have can easily reach a million or two," he said. The Pex Peppers Pueblo Chile Salsa Verde and Pueblo Reserve Roasted Chile Condiment took home third-place prizes at the 2025 Scovie Awards. Some of PexPeppers' spiciest sauces include the Tropical Revenge Reaper Hot Sauce, Red Rage Raspberry & Trinidad Scorpion Hot Sauce and the Atom Splitter Tropical Douglah Hot Sauce. The Atom Splitter also was entered into the Scovie Awards, but did not receive an award in a crowded category of extremely hot sauces. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Peck came to Pueblo in 2016 from Sunbury, Pennsylvania, specifically to work with the Pueblo chile which he said is "unique" and "not grown anywhere else in the world." PexPeppers has a brick-and-mortar store at 2705 Lake Ave., where visitors can buy and sample the vendor's assortment of sauces. PexPeppers' assortment of sauces also can be found on the shelves of local retailers like Aspen Square Wine & Liquor, Barrel Brothers Liquor, Curated Pueblo, DiSanti Farms, Gagliano's Italian Market, Joe Tomato Italian Market and Deli, Loco Liquors, Mauro's Bakery, Milberger Farms, River Trail Liquor, Rocks Liquor, Seabel's Gourmet Shop & Boutique, and Sonora's Meat Market, according to the business website. A complete list of retailers selling PexPeppers sauces both inside and outside of Pueblo County can be found at pexpeppers.com/pages/retail-locations. New commissioners sworn in: 'Today, we move forward': New Pueblo County commissioners and DA assume office Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Pueblo Chieftain reporter James Bartolo can be reached at JBartolo@gannett.com. Support local news, subscribe to the Pueblo Chieftain at subscribe.chieftain.com. This article originally appeared on The Pueblo Chieftain: Pueblo hot sauce maker wins 2025 Scovie Awards in New Mexico Classified as the world's narrowest country due to the way it stretches like a ribbon along the west coast of the South American continent, Chile saw over five million international visitors in 2024. It is a paradise for nature lovers in particular, as Chile is home to everything from the Marble Caves rock cathedrals carved out over centuries by a glacier lake to Patagonia in the south and the Atacama Desert in the north. While located over 3,600 kilometers off of Chile's coast, Easter Island is also famous not just for its thousands of stone statues spread throughout its territory, but also for the unique Polynesian culture that was preserved largely due to the island's remoteness. Don't miss the move: Subscribe to TheStreet's free daily newsletter An unidentified airplane is seen flying above the clouds at sunset.Shutterstock New advisory reminds travelers to use 'increased caution' But as most foreign tourists spend significant time in major cities such as Santiago and Valaparaiso, the U.S. State Department issued a new travel advisory warning visitors of rising "crime and civil unrest." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The official rating has been raised from level one to level two's "exercise increased caution" the second tier on a four-scale system is also shared by countries such as Mexico, France and Germany, while neighboring Argentina is at "exercise normal precautions." Related: I am a travel writer and consider these cities to be most unfairly maligned "Street crime (e.g., muggings, pick-pocketing, theft) is common in Chile," the renewed advisory reads. "Rates of violent crime, such as assaults, homicide, carjackings, and residential break-ins, are increasing. Large-scale demonstrations periodically occur in Santiago and other cities in Chile." The U.S. Embassy in Santiago had sent out a warning about the spike in carjackings in particular earlier this year while the rating was raised after the rate for 2024 was fully calculated. It applies primarily to major cities rather than the remote nature others come to see. More on travel: Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement As is customary for the "exercise increased caution" rating, the government agency recommends steps such as not leaving items in a locked vehicle and avoiding large-scale demonstrations as an observer. Chile is still a wonderful place to visit (here are some basic safety tips) "Keep original [passport and/or visa] documents in a secure location," the safety tips read further. "Follow the instructions of local authorities including movement restrictions and obey all curfews." Other countries for which the State Department has recently either issued advisories or raised the travel rating include Belize, Guatemala and Honduras. While Belize (popular among divers for its expansive barrier reef) is rated as safe despite a spike in gang-related violence, the latter two countries are at level three's "reconsider travel" outside of certain tourist areas. "Some areas of Guatemala have problems with gangs, robbery, carjacking, drug trafficking and violence," the note for the country reads. "Local law enforcement may not always respond well to serious crimes, leading to low arrest and conviction rates." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement At the same time, the Central American nation of El Salvador has been lowered to level two after years under a "reconsider travel" advisory amid intense lobbying from both local and U.S.-based advocacy groups trying to increase tourism to the country. "While crime remains a concern in El Salvador, there has been a significant reduction in gang-related activity and associated crime in the last two years," the updated advisory reads. "This includes drops in violent crimes and murders." Related: Veteran fund manager issues dire S&P 500 warning for 2025 Glendale police said one person is dead and another faces life-threatening injuries following a shooting at a residential neighborhood Saturday evening. Det. Destiny Ebersohl, a department spokesperson, said officers responded to the area of 67th Avenue and Bell Road after receiving reports of a shooting where they found two males with life-threatening wounds. The two were taken to a local hospital where one was declared deceased. The other male is still being treated for injuries. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Ebersohl did not specify whether the two involved were adults or minors and said police are still investigating the shooting and what led up to it. Police do not have any outstanding suspects. This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Glendale police find 1 dead, 1 injured after reports of shooting HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WHNT) A woman has been identified after a fatal wreck on Winchester Road Monday afternoon. The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency (ALEA) said that the victim has been identified as Felicia L. Hereford-Kaigler, 64, of Huntsville. ALEA said that Hereford-Kaigler was fatally injured when the 2001 Honda Civic that she was driving collided head-on with the 2018 Kenworth T680 tractor-trailer on Monday around 1:50 p.m. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Authorities said that she was pronounced dead on the scene. According to HEMSI Spokesperson Don Webster, the call for the wreck came in around 1:55 p.m. Webster said the wreck happened near Winchester Road and Henson Road. Trial set for MAGA Lumberjack indicted on rape charges in Limestone County He said one person was pronounced dead on the scene and another was being evaluated for non-life-threatening injuries. Webster said the injured man was not transported to the hospital after being evaluated on the scene. (Photo: News 19) (Photo: News 19) (Photo: News 19) Webster told News 19 the wreck was between a big truck and a Sedan-like vehicle. The crash remains under investigation by ALEAs Highway Patrol Division. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 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. JERUSALEM, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- An Israeli reservist soldier was killed, and a battalion commander seriously injured when their vehicle struck a roadside bomb in the occupied West Bank, the Israeli military said on Monday. The Israeli troops were patrolling the Palestinian town of Tammun, south of Jenin, when their jeep hit the explosive device around midnight between Sunday and Monday. The reservist, identified as 31-year-old Eviatar Ben Yehuda, was killed in the explosion. The officer seated next to him sustained serious injuries and was evacuated to a hospital for treatment, the military said. The incident occurred amid escalating tensions in the West Bank, as Israel continues daily raids in Palestinian cities and towns, often resulting in Palestinian casualties. It came a day after a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas went into effect, halting more than 15 months of an Israeli onslaught in Gaza. EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) One person was injured in a shooting Sunday night, Jan. 19 in Downtown El Paso, El Paso Police said. Police said the shooting took place at San Antonio and Stanton in Downtown. They sent out an alert to media a little after 7:30 p.m. Sunday but didnt say when the incident happened. 2 taken into custody in Central El Paso shooting They also didnt say what led up to the shooting or how badly hurt the person was. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This is the second shooting in El Paso this weekend. On Friday afternoon, one person was injured in a shooting along Porter Avenue in Central El Paso. Two juveniles were detained in connection to the shooting and were referred to the Juvenile Probation Department. The Police Gang Unit is investigating that incident. This is a developing story and we will update it when we learn more. Copyright 2025 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. BOSTON, Mass. (WWLP) A man from Taunton was sentenced to prison for selling counterfeit pills to an undercover officer and 10,000 pills were found during a search warrant. Injured hawk rescued by Chicopee Police In a news release from the Department of Justice in Boston, 29-year-old Shavon Gurley was identified as a suspect involved in trafficking fentanyl and methamphetamine along with a Brockton-based drug trafficking organization. During the investigation, Gurley sold 6,000 counterfeit Adderall pills containing methamphetamine, weighing over a kilogram, to an undercover officer on Aug. 5, 2024. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Gurley, who was on pretrial release for a domestic violence offense, told the undercover officer that he would also drop the price per pill if they bought 10,000 or 20,000 pills. He talked about his drug operation and how he sold kilograms of fentanyl for $30,000 and higher quality for $50,000. During the transaction, he complimented the undercover officers aura and promised to do business with the officer in the future. Department of Justice During a search warrant conducted at the home and vehicle of Gurleys, detectives seized a loaded firearm, two posters depicting cherubim with captions that read, I Only Fear the Feds, and Rats Dont Make it To Heaven, a bag containing controlled substances believed to be fentanyl, as well as multiple plastic bags containing approximately 10,000 counterfeit Adderall pills believed to contain methamphetamine. Department of Justice in Boston Department of Justice in Boston Department of Justice in Boston Department of Justice in Boston Department of Justice in Boston The Justice Department said that Gurley has a lengthy juvenile record and criminal history that includes a number of prior firearm and violent offenses, including a 2012 conviction for assault and battery by means of a dangerous weapon for attacking a man with a pistol and pointing the firearm at the victims head, for which he served a six to 10-year term in state prison. Gurley pleaded guilty to distribution and possession with intent to distribute 500 grams and more of a mixture and substance containing a detectable amount of methamphetamine. He was sentenced on Jan. 14 to 10 years in prison, to be followed by five years of supervised release. Local News Headlines WWLP-22News, an NBC affiliate, began broadcasting in March 1953 to provide local news, network, syndicated, and local programming to western Massachusetts. Watch the 22News Digital Edition weekdays at 4 p.m. on WWLP.com. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 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 WWLP. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day is coming up on Monday, Jan. 15 which means we are going to hear a lot of people invoking Dr. King who have no business with his name in their mouth. Seriously, no one loves trotting out MLK Jr. quotes to buttress a point more than the people who would have absolutely hated his guts if he were alive today. And while there are a ton of absolutely bonkers takes on a man whoneed we remind people, was a radical civil rights iconhere are the 17 most egregious times his legacy was butchered in recent years. Vivek Ramaswamy Saying Hes Fighting For MLKs Dream Vivek Ramaswamy, chairman and co-founder of Strive Asset Management and 2024 Republican presidential candidate, speaks during a campaign event in Des Moines, Iowa, US, on Wednesday, Jan. 3, 2024. Ramaswamy sits at 5.9% in an average of Iowa polls, more than 10 points behind fellow 2024 Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley, and in fourth place. - Photo: Christian Monterrosa/Bloomberg (Getty Images) Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy who mind you believes white supremacy is fake, believes carrying on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.s mission. Ramaswamy said that he was furthering the civil rights icons legacy by fighting against people who make their race and gender central to their identity and politics a thing the civil rights icon who fought to end the oppression of Black Americans obviously would have hated. Amy Schumer Implying MLK Would Support Bombing Palestinians NEW YORK, NEW YORK - OCTOBER 18: Amy Schumer attends the 2023 Good+Foundation A Very Good+ Night of Comedy Benefit at Carnegie Hall on October 18, 2023 in New York City. - Photo: Jamie McCarthy (Getty Images) Amy Schumer implied that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. would have supported the bombing of Palestinians in Gaza. Dr. Bernice King quickly gathered the comedian reminding her of his ardent support for withdrawing from the Vietnam War. Trump Saying Mark Robinson Was Better Than MLK SELMA, NC - APRIL 09: Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson joins the stage with former U.S. President Donald Trump during a rally at The Farm at 95 on April 9, 2022 in Selma, North Carolina. The rally comes about five weeks before North Carolinas primary elections where Trump has thrown his support behind candidates in some key Republican races. - Photo: Allison Joyce (Getty Images) This one was bizare. During a rally, former President Donald Trump said that North Carolina Lt. Governor Mark Robinson, who called the Civil Rights Movement a communist plot, was better than Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Ron DeSantis Claiming He Would Love Book Bans BETTENDORF, IOWA - DECEMBER 18: Republican presidential candidate Florida Governor Ron DeSantis speaks to guests during the Scott County Fireside Chat at the Tanglewood Hills Pavilion on December 18, 2023 in Bettendorf, Iowa. Iowa Republicans will be the first to select their partys nomination for the 2024 presidential race when they go to caucus on January 15, 2024. - Photo: Scott Olson (Getty Images) Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Florida Governor Ron DeSantis boldly claimed that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. would have endorsed banning books about racism. Because if theres one thing MLK absolutely hated, it was talking about race. Nikki The Civil War Was About Liberty Haley Invokes MLK Nikki Haley, former ambassador to the United Nations and 2024 Republican presidential candidate, during a town hall event at the Saddle Up Saloon in Kingston, New Hampshire, US, on Wednesday, Jan. 3, 2024. Haleys campaign said that she raised $24 million in the final three months of 2023 riding a wave of momentum in her bid for the Republican presidential nomination. - Photo: Sophie Park/Bloomberg (Getty Images) While this wasnt the most egregious example of someone invoking Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on this list in light of her recent comments we have to mention it. Haley has repeatedly said that she was inspired by the civil rights icon who fought for Black liberation. So, its a little bizare that she would simultaneously be such an ardent defender of the South in the civil war aka the side that fought to keep Black people enslaved. Sen. Ted Cruz Used MLK To Slam NAACP WASHINGTON - NOVEMBER 30: Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, speaks during the Senate Judiciary Committee markup hearing on Thursday, November 30, 2023. ( - Photo: Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc (Getty Images) Dr. Bernice King already dragged the Texas Republican Senator for this, but its still worth a revisit. In May, Senator Ted Cruz said that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. would have been ashamed of the NAACP for issuing a travel advisory for Florida. His daughter quickly responded calling his dishonest and saying MLK would have been deeply concerned about discrimination in Florida. Mike Pence Invokes MLK Over Affirmative Action Decision LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - OCTOBER 28: Republican presidential candidate former U.S. Vice President Mike Pence arrives at the Republican Jewish Coalitions Annual Leadership Summit at The Venetian Resort Las Vegas on October 28, 2023 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Pence announced that he was suspending his campaign for president at the event. The summit features the top GOP presidential candidates who will face their first test on the road to the Republican nomination with the Iowa Caucuses on January 15, 2024. - Photo: Ethan Miller (Getty Images) After the Supreme Court gutted affirmative action in higher education, Pence said that this was upholding Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.s vision. He also managed to simultaneously butcher the quote. But that honestly feels like the lesser of the offenses, considering Dr. King ardently supported affirmative action. Mike Pence Invoked MLK Over Border Wall MEET THE PRESS Pictured: Former Vice President Mike Pence appears on Meet the Press in Washington D.C., Sunday Oct. 22, 2023. ( - Photo: William B. Plowman/NBC (Getty Images) Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In 2019, former Vice President Mike Pence quoted Dr.Martin Luther King jr. while defending a border wall between Mexico and the United States. Mike Huckabee Saying MLK Would Hate BLM EW YORK, NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER 17: (EXCLUSIVE COVERAGE) FOX News Contributor Gov. Mike Huckabee visits The Story with Martha MacCallum in the Fox News Channel Studios on September 17, 2019 in New York City. - Photo: Steven Ferdman (Getty Images) This went down in 2015, but its still a head scratcher. Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee boldly stated that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. would have been appalled by the Black Lives Matter movement because theyre talking specifically about Black lives and not All Lives. As we all know, MLK absolutely hated when people brought up the specific injustices facing Black Americans and anyone protesting those injustices. Sarah Huckabee Sanders On MLK And Affirmative Action Sarah Huckabee Sanders, governor of Arkansas, speaks while unveiling the Arkansas LEARNS education bill at the Arkansas State Capitol in Little Rock, Arkansas, US, on Wednesday, Feb. 8, 2023. Sanders said Americans are under attack in a left-wing culture war in the Republican response to the State of the Union on Tuesday, drawing on themes pushed by Donald Trump in his third run for the White House. - Photo: Al Drago/Bloomberg (Getty Images) The apple does not fall far from the tree in this scenario. In a social media post, Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders implied that Dr. Martin Luther King jr. would have celebrated the Supreme Courts decision to gut affirmative action. Again, cant believe we have to say this, but Dr. King pushed for affirmative action policies. Bernice King Called Out Mitch McConnell WASHINGTON, DC - DECEMBER 18: Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (L) (R-KY) walks to the senate chamber inside the U.S. Capitol to deliver remarks on December 18, 2023 in Washington, DC. Bipartisan negotiations to reach an agreement on a new border policy continue. - Photo: Win McNamee (Getty Images) We can always count on Dr. Bernice King to call out people mis-appropriating her fathers legacy. During a victory speech, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said he was inspired by Dr. Martin Luther King jr. Dr. Bernice King quickly clapped back saying that her fathers legacy was about eradicating racism, militarism, and poverty, not denying healthcare to human beings or by separating Brown immigrant children from their parents. Pence Says MLK Wouldnt Want Him To Say Black Lives Matter NASHUA, NEW HAMPSHIRE - OCTOBER 14: Republican presidential candidate former U.S. Vice President Mike Pence speaks during the 2023 First in the Nation Leadership Summit on October 14, 2023 in Nashua, New Hampshire. - Photo: Michael M. Santiago (Getty Images) Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Former Vice President Mike Pence really loves to bring Dr. Martin Luther King jr. into things. During an interview on CBS, Pence said that he wouldnt say Black lives matter because of the example set by MLK who in this universe hated anyone calling out the unique and specific form of oppression impacting Black Americans. MLK also famously hated protests against police brutality, which is why he was beloved by law enforcement. Glenn Beck Used MLK To Defend Paula Deen Racial Slur Glenn Beck, conservative political commentator and radio host, speaks during the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Dallas, Texas, U.S., on Saturday, July 10, 2021. The three-day conference is titled America UnCanceled. - Photo: Dylan Hollingsworth/Bloomberg (Getty Images) This actually happened. In 2013, Glenn Beck defended Paula Deen using the N-word by comparing her to Dr. Martin Luther King jr. Where would the world be if Columbus and Magellan and other world explorers believed conventional wisdom and believed the world was flat Where would we be if Martin Luther King didnt speak and challenge segregation? Where would we be if everyone in the world thought in the box? said Beck, according to the Los Angeles Times. Joe Rogan Insisting MLK Would Not Want Children Learning About Racism JOE ROGAN QUESTIONS EVERYTHING Podcast Pictured: Joe Rogan - Photo: Vivian Zink/Syfy/NBCU Photo Bank (Getty Images) Popular podcaster Joe Rogan went on a rant about schools in California teaching children about racism and anti-racism. Rogan contended that this was against Dr. Martin Luther Kings wishes. Dr. King notably included young children in his protests, and not only called out racism, but insisted that white people had a moral responsability to also call it out. Rep. Steve Scalise Representative Steve Scalise, a Republican from Louisiana, speaks during the Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC) Annual Leadership Meeting in Las Vegas, Nevada, US, on Saturday, Oct. 28, 2023. After lying dormant as an issue for the past couple of elections, the soaring US budget deficit is starting to matter again in Washington with Republicans pointing to post-Covid stimulus and other spending that has pushed the deficit past $2 trillion for the fiscal year ending in September. - Photo: Ronda Churchill/Bloomberg (Getty Images) This is less about butchering Dr. Martin Luther King jr.s legacy and more about trying to fan girl after the fact. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise voted against making Martin Luther King Day a Federal holiday twice, but has since repeatedly invoked him as a national hero. Ken Starr Defends Trump By Invoking MLK WASHINGTON, DC - FEBRUARY 3: Ken Starr, personal lawyer to U.S. President Donald Trump arrives at the U.S. Capitol on February 3, 2020 in Washington, DC. Closing arguments begin Monday after the Senate voted to block witnesses from appearing in the impeachment trial. The final vote is expected on Wednesday. - Photo: Alex Edelman (Getty Images) Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Former President Donald Trumps then-attorney, Ken Starr, had an interesting defense of his boss at the time. Starr said that Trumps impeachment trial violated Dr. Martin Luther King jr.s calls for justice. Kellyanne Conway Says MLK Wouldnt Want Trump Impeached Kellyanne Conway, former senior adviser to former US President Donald Trump, speaks during the Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC) Annual Leadership Meeting in Las Vegas, Nevada, US, on Saturday, Nov. 19, 2022. - Photo: Ronda Churchill/Bloomberg (Getty Images) Once again, conservatives implied that Dr. Martin Luther King jr. would be outraged at the impeachment of Donald Trump a man who said that non-white people were poisoning the blood of America. MLKs son pushed back on the statements. For the latest news, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) 2025 will mark the 30th anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing. We remember and honor those 168 who lost their lives on April 19, 1995, when a bomb went off in front of the Murrah building in downtown Oklahoma City. 168 Days to remember those lost in the OKC bombing: Dr. George Michael Howard DVM. Image courtesy Oklahoma City National Memorial Museum. We want to remember Dr. George Michael Howard DVM, while honoring those who survived and thanking those changed forever. Copyright 2025 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. HARRISBURG, Pa. (WHTM) The 16th Annual Central PA MLK Day of Service is taking place Monday, January 20, at the Marshall Math Science Academy in Harrisburg. MLK365 board members are inviting the public to use the day to help serve the community! The 16th Annual MLK Day of Service will begin with an opening ceremony at 11:00 a.m. in the Marshall Math Science Academy auditorium at 301 Hale Avenue. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Following the opening ceremony, volunteers can help fill care kits for those in need, write letters and make drawings for children in area hospitals, and donate blood to the American Red Cross. Baskets will be put together for domestic violence survivors, along with care kits for the homeless. Leaders also say volunteers will put together healthy snack bags for kids, laundry care kits, and more! With a focus on Championing the Next Generation, leaders said there are many resources available to students and families at the Marshall site. We recognize that people listening or watching this program are on their way to work. So, for those folks lets think about Dr. King, the 39 years he spent on this earth advancing the cause of justice and peace. We encourage them to pause and reflect on his life and his message and think about what we can do to help others not just today, but all year long, said Mike Walsh, Co-Founder and Vice Chair. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 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 ABC27. Two apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints attended President Donald Trumps second inauguration on Monday in Washington, D.C. Elders Gary E. Stevenson and Gerrit W. Gong of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles represented the church at events and meetings surrounding the inaugural ceremonies for Trump and Vice President JD Vance. Being in Washington, D.C., at such a time as this is an honor, Elder Stevenson said in the statement. The enduring principles that have been the foundation of our nation are important guides for our personal lives, families and communities. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The apostles continued a longstanding tradition of church leaders attending the inaugurations of presidents of both major American political parties. Elder Stevenson and Elder Gong attended the Trump inauguration under the direction of the First Presidency, according to a statement. Sister Susan Gong and Elder Gerrit W. Gong, left, join Elder Gary E. Stevenson and Sister Lesa Stevenson inside the U.S. Capitol rotunda, site of the 2025 presidential inauguration. The apostles represented The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at events and meetings in Washington, D.C., surrounding the inauguration of President Donald J. Trump and Vice President JD Vance on Monday, Jan. 20, 2025. | The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints We wish this administration and all those that serve this country in any capacity strength and wisdom for so great a cause, Elder Gong said in a statement. Our best wishes and heaven-sent prayers to all our local, national, and world leaders at this important time. The church said in a news release that the tradition of sending leaders to inaugurations is one of supporting and celebrating freedom, civility and upholding the principles of the Constitution. Latter-day Saint leaders have attended U.S. presidential inaugurations at least 25 times since 1873 1873 Inauguration of President Ulysses S. Grant Elder George Q. Cannon, Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and Utah Territorial delegate. 1877 Inauguration of President Rutherford B. Hayes President George Q. Cannon, assistant counselor in the First Presidency and Utah Territorial delegate. 1905 Inauguration of President Theodore Roosevelt Elder Reed Smoot, Quorum of the Twelve and U.S. Senator from Utah. 1909 Inauguration of President William Howard Taft Elder Reed Smoot, Quorum of the Twelve and U.S. Senator from Utah. 1913 Inauguration of President Woodrow Wilson Elder Reed Smoot, Quorum of the Twelve and U.S. Senator from Utah. 1917 Inauguration of President Woodrow Wilson Elder Reed Smoot, Quorum of the Twelve and U.S. Senator from Utah. 1921 Inauguration of President Warren G. Harding Elder Reed Smoot, Quorum of the Twelve and U.S. Senator from Utah. 1925 Inauguration of President Calvin Coolidge Elder Reed Smoot, Quorum of the Twelve and U.S. Senator from Utah. 1929 Inauguration of President Herbert Hoover Elder Reed Smoot, Quorum of the Twelve and U.S. Senator from Utah. 1953 Inauguration of President Dwight D. Eisenhower Church President David O. McKay and Elder Ezra Taft Benson, Quorum of the Twelve and nominee, Secretary of Agriculture. 1957 Inauguration of President Dwight D. Eisenhower Elder Ezra Taft Benson, Quorum of the Twelve and Secretary of Agriculture. 1961 Inauguration of President John F. Kennedy Elder Ezra Taft Benson, Quorum of the Twelve and Secretary of Agriculture. 1965 Inauguration of President Lyndon B. Johnson President Hugh B. Brown, first counselor in the First Presidency. (Church President David O. McKay was invited but did not attend because his doctors ruled out the trip.) 1969 Inauguration of President Richard Nixon Elders Ezra Taft Benson and Richard L. Evans, Quorum of the Twelve. (Church member J. Willard Marriott, who would represent the church at the 2001 inauguration of President George W. Bush, was the chairman of President Nixons inauguration committee in 1969.) 1973 Inauguration of President Richard Nixon Elder Boyd K. Packer, Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. (Church President Harold B. Lee planned to attend but did not due to illness.) 1977 Inauguration of President Jimmy Carter President N. Eldon Tanner, first counselor in the First Presidency. 1981 Inauguration of President Ronald Reagan Elder Ezra Taft Benson, Quorum of the Twelve, and Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin, First Quorum of the Seventy. 1989 Inauguration of President George H. W. Bush Church President Ezra Taft Benson and President Thomas S. Monson, second counselor in the First Presidency. 1993 Inauguration of President Bill Clinton Elder James E. Faust, Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. 1997 Inauguration of President Bill Clinton Elder Henry B. Eyring, Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. 2001 Inauguration of President George W. Bush Elder J. Willard Marriott, Area Seventy. 2009 Inauguration of President Barack Obama President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, second counselor in the First Presidency, and Elder M. Russell Ballard, Quorum of the Twelve. 2013 Inauguration of President Barack Obama Elders L. Tom Perry and Quentin L. Cook, Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. 2017 Inauguration of President Donald Trump Elders D. Todd Christofferson and Gary E. Stevenson, Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement 2021: Church leaders did not attend the 2021 inauguration of President Joe Biden because participation was limited due to the pandemic. 2025 Inauguration of President Donald Trump Elders Gary E. Stevenson and Gerrit W. Gong, Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. BOARDMAN, Ohio (WKBN) Two men arrested in December on charges of engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity were just indicted by a Mahoning County grand jury. Pedro Montes-Perez and Miguel Angel Gomez were indicted on felony charges of theft from a person in a protected class and engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity. A joint police report from Dec. 11 states the men were arrested after an investigatory traffic stop in the area of Maple and South Avenue in Boardman. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement While police did not elaborate on the investigations background, Montes-Perez was wearing a FedEx shirt at the time of his arrest, according to reports. Both of the suspects iPhones were seized as evidence, police say. The joint indictment for the men states they are accused of defrauding or attempting to defraud people through fraudulent cell phone purchases from Nov. 11, 2024, until about Jan. 7, 2025. It continues to allege they purposely deprived the owner of property or services in the form of money/cell phones. The victim of the fraud was listed as an elderly person, according to the indictment, and the fraud amount is estimated to be worth anywhere from $1,000 to $7,500. First News previously covered an incident in Boardman where a woman reported she was the victim of fraud after a complex iPhone scam involving a man dressed as a FedEx driver. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 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 WKBN.com. Two people from Oregon were arrested for posing as firefighters in the Pacific Palisades area, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. A Los Angeles Police Department unit was patrolling through the evacuation zones on Saturday, when they discovered a fire truck that "did not appear to be legitimate," according to the sheriff's department. They approached the vehicle and questioned the two people inside, Dustin Nehl, 31, and Jennifer Nehl, 44, the sheriff's department said. The two wore fire gear, with Cal Fire shirts underneath, along with helmets and radios, according to the sheriff. When the LAPD unit questioned where the two came from, they said they were with the "Roaring River Fire Department" in Oregon, authorities said in a statement. PHOTO: The LA County Sheriffs Department says its Major Crimes Bureau is investigating another case of people illegally in the evacuation zone impersonating firefighters, Los Angeles, Jan. 19, 2025. (Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department) The deputies conducted research and found that the fire department did not exist, and that the fire truck was bought at an auction, the sheriff's department said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The vehicle was impounded and the suspects were arrested for impersonating firefighters and entering an evacuation zone. MORE: Scam artists may take advantage of the Los Angeles wildfires, officials warn Dustin Nehl has a previous criminal record of criminal mischief and arson, authorities said. The two will be charged on Tuesday, when the case is presented to LA District Attorney Nathan Hochman. Other threats of looting and burglary loom over Los Angeles County, after disastrous fires have devastated communities. With 200,000 people initially under mandatory evacuations, homes were empty, allowing criminals the opportunity to steal valuables. PHOTO: The LA County Sheriffs Department says its Major Crimes Bureau is investigating another case of people illegally in the evacuation zone impersonating firefighters, Los Angeles, Jan. 19, 2025. (Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department) Earlier this month, a man dressed as a firefighter was caught burglarizing a home in Malibu, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Sheriff Robert Luna. The suspect, Ivan Reed, 34, has been charged with impersonating a firefighter, according to the district attorney's office. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Dozens of people have been charged with various crimes pertaining to the LA wildfires, including looting and arson. LA District Attorney Nathan Hochman highlighted individuals last week who were charged with stealing $200,000 worth of property from a home in the Mandeville Canyon area of Los Angeles, while another person allegedly stole an Emmy Award from someone's evacuated home in Altadena. PHOTO: The LA County Sheriffs Department says its Major Crimes Bureau is investigating another case of people illegally in the evacuation zone impersonating firefighters, Los Angeles, Jan. 19, 2025. (LA County Sheriff's Department) The Palisades Fire has destroyed over 6,000 structures and burned more than 23,700 acres. It is at 59% containment. The Eaton Fire, north of Pasadena, also continues to blaze, burning 14,000 acres and damaging or destroying more than 10,000 structures. The Eaton Fire is at 87% containment. ABC News has kicked off "SoCal Strong" (#SoCalStrong), highlighting the impacted communities and offering fundraising opportunities for victims of the fires. The coverage will continue across multiple ABC News programs and platforms. 2 people arrested with fire truck while impersonating firefighters at LA wildfires: Police originally appeared on abcnews.go.com *Attached video: Homicides in Cleveland in recent years (WJW) Two teenage girls from South Carolina have been charged in connection to the murder of a missing 13-year-old girl. According to a Saturday news conference presented by the Columbia Police Department, 13-year-old KaNiyah Baker was found dead by firefighters inside a vacant home that was on fire located at 114 Cardamon Court in Capital Heights. Her body was found around 10:30 p.m. on Jan. 15, police said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Warming centers open across NE Ohio as temps dip Brutal, heinous, vicious, gruesome, monstrous and disturbing, is what Columbia Police Chief Skip Holbrook opened the press conference with on Saturday. According to Holbrook, they were unable to immediately identify the body because there was no identification or evidence found inside the home. After meeting with the county sheriffs office, officers learned that Baker was reported missing on Jan. 12. She was recently put into foster care and had a history of running away, Holbrook said. We worked with the Richland County Sheriffs Department, DNA lab and the corners office to ultimately determine that our victim was their missing juvenile, Holdbrook said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Biden pardons family members in final minutes of presidency Baker is said to have suffered traumatic injuries to her face and body and had been severely burned, Holbrook said. According to Richland County Coroner Naida Rutherford, Bakers cause of death was determined to be blunt force trauma. The manner of death is not an accident and this is not a suicide. This is a horrible homicide, Rutherford said. KaNiyah was bludgeoned, stabbed and burned. According to Holbrook, two suspects ages 15 and 16 have been arrested. Both suspects were known as frequent runaways and were last known to be living in Columbia, South Carolina. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement FOX 8 legend Big Chuck passes away at 90 According to police, the 16-year-old suspect was reported missing by her mom on Jan. 12. She was wanted by the Department of Juvenile Justice for cutting off her ankle monitor and she was last known to be enrolled in high school in January 2024. According to police, the 15-year-old suspect was last enrolled in high school in December 2024. No other details have yet been released. Click here to watch the full press conference. Copyright 2025 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. Two teenage girls have been charged with the "vicious" murder of a missing 13-year-old girl after they allegedly beat, stabbed and burned her to death. KaNiyah Baker was found dead by authorities after a fire at 114 Cardamon Court a vacant residence in Capital Heights, South Carolina at around 10:30 p.m. on Jan. 15, the Columbia Police Department said in a news conference on Saturday, Jan. 18. The fire department arrived to find smoke coming from inside the residence. They made entry and soon located a deceased person on the floor inside, Columbia Police Chief Skip Holbrook said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Baker, 13, who was reported missing at the time, suffered traumatic injuries to her face and body and had been severely burned, he described, adding that her injuries were "heinous." According to police, there was no identification or evidence found inside the home that allowed them to immediately identify the victim. Columbia Police Department Ka'Niyah Baker Ka'Niyah Baker Related: 2 Teens Arrested After Missing 18-Year-Old Is Found Dead in a Burned Car: 'A Tragedy That Should Not Happen' In our meeting with the sheriffs department we learned that they had recently taken up an investigation of a missing juvenile, said Holbrook. We worked with the Richland County Sheriff's Department, DNA lab and the corners office to ultimately determine that our victim was their missing juvenile. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Originally from Sumter, S.C., Baker was reported missing on Jan. 12. She had recently entered foster care in Columbia and had a history of running away," per police. Her cause of death was blunt force trauma, Richland County Coroner Naida Rutherford confirmed at the conference. This is a horrible homicide, she said. KaNiyah was bludgeoned, stabbed and burned. Two female suspects aged 15 and 16 have been arrested in connection with Bakers death, per police. The 16-year-old suspect was reported missing by her mother on Jan. 12. She is wanted by the Department of Juvenile Justice after cutting off her ankle monitor and has a history of disorderly conduct, said Holbrook. She last attended high school in January 2024 and is a frequent runaway. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The 15-year-old suspect was last enrolled in high school in December 2024 and is also a frequent runaway. The last known addresses of both suspects were in Columbia, S.C., according to police. Getty Crime scene tape Crime scene tape Related: Missing La. Teens Body Found Dismembered in River, Man She Met Online Charged with Murder 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. A missing persons flyer sent out for Baker mentions that she was last seen on Jan. 13 on Auburnleaf Drive in Hopkins and that she is believed to be in danger, WBTV reported. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Richland County Sheriffs Department missing persons report stated that Baker ran away from Auburnleaf Drive between midnight at 6:00 p.m. and that she had recently purchased a phone, per the outlet. The Columbia Police Department did not immediately respond when PEOPLE requested an update. Read the original article on People JUBA, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- Business in Juba, the capital of South Sudan, is gradually resuming amid an uneasy calm following last week's riots that left shops vandalized and looted. The violence was triggered by anger over the alledged killing of South Sudanese citizens by the Sudan Armed Forces in Wad Madani city of Al Jazirah State in Sudan on Jan. 11. Although the rioters primarily targeted Sudanese nationals and their businesses, some mobs also attacked stores unrelated to Sudanese ownership. In Juba's Munuki suburb, Muktar Abaker, a Sudanese trader at the Suk-Libya market, was among the few who reopened their shops on Sunday, encouraged by the government's deployment of security forces to safeguard businesses. "I have been open since morning because I have been assured of security, and I am now working. There are no protests, and no one has attacked me," Abaker told Xinhua. "I am telling my Sudanese brothers with shops in Munuki to open their businesses. The police are working, and security is in place." Abaker recounted the tense days following the riots, during which he and many Sudanese nationals stayed indoors or were evacuated to safer areas by security forces. "I stayed at home for the past few days, and when I opened on Sunday, I was afraid," he admitted. "But I reopened the shop because we all need each other." Mursal Sultan, another trader in the area, described the chaos on Thursday night as unexpected and terrifying for his family. "What happened on Thursday evening was sudden and completely unexpected," Sultan said. "But the police and other security forces have provided us with protection. We are now safe with our children, and I have quite a few of them at home." For traders like Morris Elias, chairperson of the chamber of commerce in Gudele One Market, the reopening process has been gradual. He said that while many Sudanese traders resumed business on Saturday, others, particularly those with shops along the main road, remained cautious and sought refuge in safer areas such as Buluk. Meanwhile, Tayeb Abdurrahman Musa, a committee member overseeing Sudanese nationals at the Buluk police headquarters, acknowledged the calming impact of President Salva Kiir's recent appeal for restraint. "We fear returning to our homes, but the president's statement has reassured us," Musa said. "We call for regular visits by security personnel to ensure our safety." Robert Pitia Francis, chairperson of the Central Equatoria State Chamber of Commerce, confirmed that most Sudanese traders have reopened their shops but noted that some are still reluctant due to lingering fears and security concerns. "Many Sudanese traders have reopened, but some are still hesitant. Those seeking refuge at the police headquarters have expressed concerns about security and the loss of all their belongings," Pitia said. To support affected business owners, Pitia revealed ongoing efforts to seek aid and tax relief. "We have asked those who lost their property to wait for support from certain organizations," he said. "We are also in discussions with the Juba City Council to provide one-year tax exemptions for traders whose shops were looted." Despite the challenges, the resumption of business activity and reassurances from both local authorities and the government signal cautious steps toward normalcy in Juba. 37,094 people played the daily Crossword recently. Can you solve it faster than others? 37,094 people played the daily Crossword recently. Can you solve it faster than others? WASHINGTON (DC News Now) D.C. police said they are offering a reward of up to $25,000 for information that leads to an arrest and conviction in connection to a deadly shooting in Congress Heights. According to the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD), just before 9:30 a.m. on Jan. 18, officers were called to the 1300 block of Congress Street for a shooting. There, officers found 21-year-old Raymont Owens, of Southeast, inside an apartment with gunshot wounds. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Man arrested for murder in Montgomery County after 2 found dead in car, hotel parking lot He died at the scene. As of Sunday, MPD said no suspects were in custody. D.C. police urge anyone with information about the case to call 202-727-9099 or text 50411. Calls and texts can remain anonymous. Copyright 2025 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. **Related Video Above: How to report a missing person LONDON (WJW) Three newborn baby siblings were left behind by their parents, all in different years. Now Metropolitan Police in London are asking for the publics help in identifying the man and woman involved, announcing a more than $24,000 reward on the 1-year anniversary of finding the third baby on Jan. 18 last year. TikTok says its in the process of restoring service to US users Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Metropolitan Police said in a press release that the third baby, known as Elsa, was found in East London wrapped in a towel in a shopping bag. Taken to the hospital, she was found to be uninjured and was placed into appropriate care. As police investigated the situation, they found her DNA matched that of two other babies who were discovered in similar circumstances. Bag where Baby Elsa was found. Photo courtesy Metropolitan Police Baby Harry was found in a Newham park in Sept. 2017 and Baby Roman was in a kids play park in January 2019. We have serious concerns for the well-being of the parents, especially the mother, and are continuing to work closely with Newham Council and appeal for the publics help for information, Detective Inspector Jamie Humm of the Metropolitan Polices Child Abuse Investigation Team said in a statement. Following six years of investigation, police said the about $24,000 reward was being offered through the nonprofit Crimestoppers. Police said they believe theyve narrowed down the area the mother to be from to Plaistow or East Ham. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Princess Kate is in remission from cancer, but remains focused on recovery I believe that someone in the area will have been aware of the mothers pregnancies and that within the community there [may] have been concerns for this mothers welfare. I share these concerns with you so if you have any information, no matter how small it may seem, please contact us, the inspector said. All three children are said to be healthy. The investigation is ongoing. Copyright 2025 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. WASHINGTON, D.C. (WAVY) Thousands of National Guard members from across the U.S. were called upon to support the 60th Presidential Inauguration. Guard troops will wear a special patch at Trumps inauguration to make it clear they arent police For the Jan. 20 inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump, the D.C. National Guard will lead support efforts, alongside approximately 8,000 Army and Air National Guard service members from 40 states and territories. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement WAVY confirmed the Virginia National Guard has approximately 250 personnel supporting the inauguration. The Secret Service, U.S. Capitol and Metropolitan Police requested support from National Guard personnel to assist with crowd management, traffic control, emergency response services, communication and other functions. (Army National Guard photo by Ericka Gillespie) Maj. Gen. James W. Ring, the Adjutant General of the Virginia met with Virginia Army National Guard soldiers Sunday. The National Guard involvement in presidential inaugurations began in 1789 when their predecessors escorted George Washington to the first inauguration. Copyright 2025 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. Police in Geneseo are investigating a skimming device on an ATM that may be connected to skimming incidents in Houston and Chicago suburbs. A news release from the Geneseo Police Department said officers responded to a report of a skimming device found on an ATM at Farmers National Bank on Route 6 in Geneseo on Sunday, January 19. Bank staff found the device and called the police. Officers and bank officials began an investigation into the incident that lasted throughout the evening and overnight to find the suspects in the incident. Officers used surveillance footage to obtain photographs of the suspects and their vehicle and the departments FLOCK camera system played a vital role in tracking the vehicles movements. The suspect vehicle was found abandoned in a parking lot on Bester Drive. Video footage from nearby businesses showed images of three people and a second suspect vehicle, which the suspects used to leave the area. Geneseo Deputy Chief of Police says while the crime was dealt with, it still warrants concern. Its so covert, I mean you dont know youre being victimized, said Deputy Chief Gene Karzin. People dont recognize the cameras, theyre very well hidden. Theyre designed to mimic the design of the ATM themself. If you look at an ATM close, you can a lot of times see that its been installed, they kind of stick out a little bit, but its not really readily available to know okay thats whats happening to me. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Officers used all available resources to trace the second vehicle and coordinate with the Missouri Highway Patrol near Fredericktown, Mo. The suspect vehicle was stopped and one adult and two juveniles were taken into custody. They were found to have skimming devices in their possession at the time they were contacted by Missouri State Patrol. Further investigation linked this incident to a similar occurrence in Geneseo in September 2024. More connections have been identified involving incidents in Houston, Tex. and the southern suburbs of Chicago. Officers are actively investigating these links. This case is ongoing and the Federal Bureau of Investigation has been asked to assist, as they have in the previous incident. Preliminary findings suggest the skimming device was installed on the ATM earlier on Sunday, but due to the diligence of Farmers National Bank staff, the suspects do not appear to have obtained any information from the device. Officers are working with other agencies across Illinois and Iowa to locate additional skimming devices. Karzin says the best way to prevent being skimmed is to check youself. Just be aware, you know what your ATM looks like or your gas pump looks like, said Karzin. Wiggle it. Look for, at gas pumps, theres tape on there, if the tape is disturbed, go to another pump. If you have any doubt, go to another pump. Anyone with concerns about any financial, personal or identifying information that has been compromised should contact the Geneseo Police Department, their financial institution or their credit card providers. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 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. President Trump was inaugurated for the second time Monday afternoon, becoming one of just two U.S. presidents to return to the White House after losing reelection four years earlier. The golden age of America begins right now, Trump declared in his inaugural address. We will not allow ourselves to be taken advantage of any longer. Here are three takeaways from Trumps first day back in office. A new Manifest Destiny? Flanked by former President Joe Biden and former Vice President Kamala Harris, his vanquished 2024 election opponents, Trump did not shy away in his speech from criticizing the countrys outgoing leadership or touting his powerful win over them last November a break with inaugural tradition, which typically finds new presidents looking forward rather than backward in their first remarks to the nation. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Yet unlike in 2017, when Trump dwelled at length on the American carnage of rusted-out factories, scattered like tombstones across the landscape, the returning president this time pivoted quickly to what he promised would be a thrilling new era of national success. In doing so, he framed his own historic political comeback as proof that you should never believe something is impossible to do. Over the past eight years I have been tested and challenged more than any other president in our 250-year history, Trump claimed. In America, the impossible is what we do best. To convey a sense of ambition for his second term, Trump repeatedly evoked Manifest Destiny, the 19th-century idea that American settlers would inevitably expand westward across the continent: to plant the Stars and Stripes on the planet Mars; to take back the Panama Canal; to rechristen the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America; to change the name of Alaskas Denali back to Mt. McKinley. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The United States will once again consider itself a growing nation one that increases our wealth, expands our territory, builds our cities, raises our expectations and carries our flag into new and beautiful horizons, Trump said. How much destiny Trump actually manifests in his second term remains to be seen. But as hes done strategically throughout his career, hes already aiming big and talking tough as a way of intimidating adversaries, influencing negotiations and shaping the narrative in the weeks and months ahead. The resistance retreats In 2017, hundreds of thousands of progressives descended on Washington, D.C., to protest Trumps first inauguration the largest single-day public demonstration in American history. It was the start of the so-called resistance. Tech titans were wary of the new president. Even the Republican establishment led by House Speaker Paul Ryan wasnt entirely sold. The mood on Monday couldnt have been more different. Over the last eight years, Trump has remade the GOP in his own MAGA image. Most conservatives who defied him Ryan, Utah Sen. Mitt Romney, Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney are gone. Silicon Valley tycoons such as Metas Mark Zuckerberg flocked to the capital after adjusting their companies policies to align with the new administration. There were progressive protests, to be sure, but they were tiny in comparison to 2017s. Democrats largely accepted Trumps popular-vote victory rather than railing against it. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Focusing all of [our] energy on one man failed to make the difference, Donna Brazile, a former Democratic National Committee chairwoman, acknowledged to the New York Times. Its a bitter pill to swallow, but its not the end. We shall rebuild. The resistance to Trumpism will show up differently during Trump 2.0. For now, at least, its a lot quieter than it was before. A flurry of executive orders Speaking later Monday afternoon to supporters at the Capitol visitors center, Trump revealed that Vance and first lady Melania Trump had convinced him not to mention certain things in his inaugural address chief among them his plan to pardon people convicted of committing crimes during the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the very building in which he stood. But youll be happy, Trump added, because you know its action, not words, that count. And youll see a lot of action. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Soon after, the president appeared center stage at Washington's Capital One Arena and started to sign a series of historic executive orders representing the "complete restoration of America and a revolution of common sense," as he characterized them during his inaugural address. Trump spent much of Mondays big speech ticking through these executive orders one by one another unusual move on a day typically reserved for lofty themes rather than State of the Union-style laundry lists. But Trumps focus on policy underscored how serious he is about making immediate changes this time around. Among the orders Trump signed at Capital One arena: Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Revoking 78 executive actions of the previous administration, including directives to rebuild the federal government's refugee program and gradually end the Justice Departments use of private prisons Issuing "an immediate regulation freeze" and "a temporary hiring freeze" until Republicans have full control of the government Pausing the hiring of "any new IRS agents" Requiring "federal workers to return to the office in person" Signing "a presidential memorandum directing every member of my cabinet to defeat inflation and bring down the cost of everyday life" Withdrawing from the Paris climate treaty Directing the federal government to preserve free speech and avoid political persecutions of prior administrations "Can you imagine Biden doing this?" Trump asked the audience. "I don't think so." Back at the White House, Trump issued pardons for roughly 1,500 of his supporters who were charged in connection with Jan. 6; he also commuted the sentences of 14 members of the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers militia, most of whom were convicted of seditious conspiracy. Among the other executive actions the president planned to sign Monday night, or in the coming days: Declaring a national emergency at Americas southern border and send[ing] troops there to halt all illegal entry and begin the process of returning millions and millions of immigrants who entered the country illegally back to the places from which they came Designating drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations and invoking the Alien Enemies Act of 1978 to eliminate the presence of all foreign gangs and criminal networks Declaring a national energy emergency to vastly expand domestic drilling and undo the Biden Administrations electric vehicle incentives Overhauling Americas trade system in order to tax and tariff foreign countries via an External Revenue Service Reinstating military service members who objected to the COVID [vaccine] mandate with full back pay Ending diversity, equity and inclusion programs inside federal agencies Eliminating various protections for transgender Americans, including the ability to select the gender-neutral "X" as a marker on their passports As of today, it will henceforth be the policy of the United States government that there are only two genders, Trump said in his inaugural address. Male and female. Jan. 20 (UPI) -- The United States is paying tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr's legacy the same day a new president was inaugurated. "Let's use today to remember that even in the midst of Jim Crow, Civil Rights Leaders pushed on!" Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Tex., wrote Monday on social media about the nation's 39th MLK Day. Martin Luther King Jr. Day 2025 takes place on Jan. 20 and is celebrated on the third Monday of January each year to remember King's birthday on Jan. 15. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement However, the federal holiday fell on Donald Trump's second inauguration day in Washington. Two other inaugurations occurred on MLK Day: Bill Clinton in 1997 and Barack Obama in 2013. King, who would be 96 years old, was the driving force behind the U.S. civil rights movement. A view of the Martin Luther King Jr Memorial on Sunday, the day before Martin Luther King Jr and the second inauguration of Donald J. Trump in Washington DC. Photo by Jemal Countess/UPI On Monday, Rev. Al Sharpton held a rally in the nation's capital starting at noon at Washington's Metropolitan AME Church where Frederick Douglass and Rosa Parks are laid to rest. Sharpton, founder and president of the National Action Network, held events in New York City over the week of King's Jan. 15 birthday. Kings nonviolent efforts to achieve social and racial equality came to signify a transformative chapter in American history, culminating in the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. File Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI King's nonviolent efforts to achieve social and racial equality came to signify a transformative chapter in American history, culminating in the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "We have been here before & moved this country forward," Crockett said. "We won't let any temporary setbacks be anything more than temporary." King's influence reached new heights as his peaceful protests exerted pressure on Southern lawmakers to dismantle racist and segregationist practices rooted in the era of Jim Crow, leading to many pivotal moments in the arduous journey toward civil rights, including the Montgomery Bus Boycott in 1956 and the March on Washington in 1963, where King delivered his famous "I Have a Dream" speech. Events around nation A series of MLK Day events and celebrations across the nation Monday honored the late civil rights leader, and a number of businesses and government agencies will be closed. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "I would hope the 4th of July is a time when Americans think about why their nation was founded in the way that it was. I would hope that we would still take time on Martin Luther King Day to think about what we can still do to make that a better nation," Dr. David Throp, an associate professor of history at Virginia Tech, told 59 News in Virginia. This year's MLK Day Beloved Community Commemorative Service will be held at King's historic Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta with 2025's theme "Mission Possible: Protecting Freedom, Justice, and Democracy in the Spirit of Nonviolence365." "As we celebrate Dr. King today," said Ebenezer Baptist co-pastor and Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Georgia. "We must keep in mind his vision of the beloved community in everything we do," he added, "not just today, but every single day." "This year it feels more pertinent than ever," Rep. Summer Lee, D-Penn., said on social media of a need to understand a "full, unsanitized version" of King. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement King, according to Lee, "called out racism, economic exploitation and militarism as the 'three evils of society.'" "I tried to love and serve humanity," the late Dr. King said. A handful of state and local officials attended events in New York and neighboring New Jersey. Gov. Kathy Hochul, the first woman to hold the job in Albany, attended an event at the Convent Avenue Baptist Church in Harlem hosted by the Baptist Ministers Conference of Greater New York and Vicinity. However, New York Mayor Eric Adams, the second Black person elected to the city's top job, opted to attend Trump's inauguration instead at the last-minute as rumors swirl that he's seeking a pardon from Trump. A day of service In 1994, President Clinton signed into legislation making it a National Day of Service on Jan. 20. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The day is "designated as a national day of service to encourage all Americans to volunteer and improve their communities," according to the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. Dr. David Thorp said it's important to know what the holiday means. "I would hope the 4th of July is a time when Americans think about why their nation was founded in the way that it was. I would hope that we would still take time on Martin Luther King Day to think about what we can still do to make that a better nation," Throp, an associate professor of history at Virginia Tech, said. More than 1,000 volunteers at 27 sites in Palm Beach County celebrated King, which marked this year's largest known MLK Day of Service event. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Attendees performed services like packing meals for those less fortunate, visiting senior living facilities to local animal shelters. What's open, closed While the United States Postal Service will not be delivering mail Monday, FedEx will have modified operations. UPS domestic ground, air and international shipping also will be closed but stores will be open. Meanwhile, bank branches like Wells Fargo, Citibank and TD Bank will be closed. But ATMs will operate per usual. And "nonessential" government offices like the DMV will be closed. In addition to other large restaurant chains major U.S. retailers like Costco, Walmart, Kroger, Sam's Club and Target will stay. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement MLK Day is one of seven free entrance days this year for America's national parks History of MLK Day Martin Luther King Jr. Day has come to be recognized in all 50 states and remains the only federal holiday that is also designated as a National Day of Service to encourage volunteerism. The inaugural holiday took place on Jan. 20, 1986, some 18 years after King's death following signing of the King Holiday Bill in November 1983 by President Ronald Reagan. It marked the culmination of a 15-year congressional battle to establish it after Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., had initially proposed MLK Day in a bill four days after King's assassination on April 4, 1968 at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It took Conyers 11 years from his first motion before the bill was brought to a vote in 1979 under the Carter presidency. New Hampshire in 1999 became the last stat to adopt a holiday for King. "May we rise to this moment in history and finish the work [King's] dream demands," Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., posted Monday on X. MARSHALLTOWN, Iowa Four people have been arrested on criminal drug charges following a search warrant that was issued on Friday. On January 17, Marshalltown investigators and the Mid Iowa Drug Task Force served a search warrant at a home on 2nd Street in Marshalltown. The investigation led to the arrest of four suspects who were all jailed on various criminal drug charges. A search of the residence uncovered evidence of drug use and distribution. Approximately 60 grams of suspected methamphetamine, along with marijuana and psilocybin mushrooms were seized by authorities. A firearm and various drug-related paraphernalia was also recovered. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Police arrest two in connection with Walgreens robberies 55-year-old Linda Smith is charged with: Possession of a Schedule II Controlled Substance w/ Intent to Deliver Possession of a Schedule I Controlled Substance, second Offense Possession of a Schedule I Controlled Substance, second Offense Failure to Affix Drug Tax Stamp Prohibited Acts Possession of Drug Paraphernalia 29-year-old Damien Ritter is charged with: Possession of a Schedule II Controlled Substance, third or Subsequent Offense Possession of Drug Paraphernalia Prohibited Acts Ritter and Smith are also arrested on outstanding criminal warrants linked to an October 2024 investigation. 250 grams of methamphetamine, along with marijuana and psilocybin mushrooms were seized by the Mid Iowa Drug Task Force during a search warrant at the same residence. Man dies from gunshot wound, Ames police investigate 33-year-old Bradley Moeller is charged with: Possession of a Schedule II Controlled Substance, second or Subsequent Offense Possession of Drug Paraphernalia 29-year-old Shelby Powell is charged with: Possession of a Schedule II Controlled Substance Possession of Drug Paraphernalia The Mid Iowa Drug Task Force was assisted by the Marshall County Sheriffs Office, Marshalltown Police Department, and the Iowa Division of Narcotics Enforcement. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 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 who13.com. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation says four people were arrested after a fugitive manhunt in northeast Georgia. The GBI said Kaylynn Bohan, of Georgia, and Courtney Cole Scott, Jeffrey Edwards and Katrina Edwards, all of South Carolina, were arrested after law enforcement partners from Myrtle Beach asked for help finding a fugitive. The GBIs Appalachian Regional Drug Enforcement Office said along with the White County Sheriffs Office and police officers from the Helen and Cleveland Police Departments, a manhunt spanning Helen to Cleveland ended in the arrests. [DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] TRENDING STORIES: Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Heres what GBI said each person was arrested for: Courtney Cole Scott, 32, of Myrtle Beach, S.C. arrested on Fugitive Warrants for Possession of a Weapon During a Violent Crime, and Armed Robbery. Kaylynn Bohan, 23, of Cleveland, Ga. was arrested for Hindering the Apprehension of a Criminal, Possession of Cocaine, and Crossing the Guard line with a Controlled Substance . Jeffrey Edwards, 62, of Myrtle Beach, S.C. was charged with Hindering the Apprehension of a Criminal. Katrina Edwards, 51, of Myrtle Beach was charged with Possession of Cocaine and Hindering the Apprehension of a Criminal. All four suspects were booked at the White County Jail, GBI said. [SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter] AMANDA, Ohio (WCMH) A pizzeria that has been serving a central Ohio community for 42 years has closed and is being revamped after being sold to new ownership. Tommy Waynes Pizza at 5805 Chillicothe Lancaster Road in Amanda permanently closed this month after being sold for $400,000, according to real estate agent Megan Bell with Re/Max Apex. The Varney family operated Tommy Waynes for upward of 40 years in the 1,626-square-foot building, which sits on a more than one-acre corner lot. White Castle names first non-family member as president Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Over the years, people have come to Tommy Waynes to celebrate birthdays, experience first dates, celebrate anniversaries, and a few even have gotten married there, Christina Varney, a family member who aided in operating the pizzeria, said on social media. We want to thank you for letting us help you create those special memories and trusting us on game night or those nights you didnt want to cook. Now, the property is home to new owners Scott and Stephanie Garrison, who are launching a new eatery out of the building named Amanda House of Cards that is currently open with temporarily reduced hours, 4 to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday, while changes are made. Dan and Janet Varney, left, with Stephanie and Scott Garrison, right. (Courtesy Photo/Megan Bell with Re/Max Apex). The Varney family operated Tommy Waynes for upward of 40 years. (Courtesy Photo/Megan Bell with Re/Max Apex). The Varney family operated Tommy Waynes for upward of 40 years. (Courtesy Photo/Megan Bell with Re/Max Apex). We are excited about this new adventure and continued integration into our wonderful community, the Garrison family said on social media. As of now, we will continue the current menu but will have some changes, big and small, coming soon. The change in ownership comes after the property was listed for sale for $445,000 last summer. Built in 1977, the building features an oversized parking lot with space for outdoor seating, a drive-through window, indoor seating, two guest bathrooms, a full commercial kitchen and an attic for storage. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Coffee and chocolate shop expanding with Marysville location Tommy Waynes is one of a few central Ohio eateries whose owners are passing their business onto new hands. An Old Bag of Nails pub in Delaware was listed on the market more than a year ago with an asking price of $1.9 million. While Old Bag of Nails is likely to continue renting from whoever purchases the property, the new landlord could decide to fill the space with a different tenant. Rockmill Brewery was also on the market in 2024 for more than $6 million, then for sale in a foreclosure auction. A husband and wife who held their wedding at the brewery cast the winning bid of $2,400,600 to purchase Rockmill. The bid came just above the minimum asking price of $2.4 million, but far from the Fairfield County Common Pleas Courts appraisal of $3.6 million. Copyright 2025 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. Chinese Vice President Han Zheng, as Chinese President Xi Jinping's special representative, meets with U.S. Vice President-elect J.D. Vance in Washington, D.C., the United States, Jan. 19, 2025. (Xinhua/Liu Weibing) WASHINGTON, Jan. 19 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Vice President Han Zheng said on Sunday that China is ready to work with the United States to adhere to the strategic guidance of the head-of-state diplomacy and follow through on the important consensus reached between Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, so as to push for the steady, healthy and sustainable development of bilateral ties. Han made the remarks during a meeting with U.S. Vice President-elect J.D. Vance. Han is in Washington, D.C. to attend the inauguration ceremony of Trump on Monday as Xi's special representative at the invitation of the U.S. side. During his meeting with Vance, Han first conveyed Xi's greetings to Trump and congratulated Vance on his election. He noted that Xi recently had an important phone call with Trump, during which the two leaders have reached many important consensuses on the development of China-U.S. relations in the next stage. Noting that China and the United States are both great countries, and that the Chinese and the Americans are both great people, Han said that the two sides are currently working hard to achieve their respective development goals and dreams. As long as the two sides uphold the principles of mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation, they will contribute to each other's progress, bring benefits to the two countries, and make important contributions to world peace and development, said Han. Economic and trade relations are important issues of common concern to both sides, he noted. Despite differences and frictions between China and the United States, they share huge common interests and space for cooperation, and the two sides can strengthen dialogue and consultation in this regard, Han added. For his part, Vance asked Han to convey Trump's sincere greetings to Xi. Vance said Trump had a phone call with Xi a few days ago, in which they had good communication on important issues regarding bilateral ties. Economic and trade relations, he stressed, are important to both the United States and China. Noting that China is playing an increasingly important role in international affairs, Vance told Han that the United States is willing to develop an enduring and fruitful relationship with China, strengthen dialogue and cooperation with China on international and regional issues, and jointly promote world peace and stability. Chinese VP urges U.S. companies to contribute more to China-U.S. relations President Donald Trump took office Monday as the nations 47th leader, portraying himself and his incoming administration as one that will immediately spring into action to take the country back. With a series of promised executive orders some of which were designed to undo the executive orders of former Presidents Joe Biden and Barack Obama Trump moved from the presidential oath to the first actions of his second term. The golden age of America begins right now, Trump said. From this day forward, our country will flourish and be respected again all over the world. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In a roughly 30-minute address from the U.S. Capitol Rotunda, where the inauguration was moved due to frigid temperatures, he outlined his vision for the country and plans that will shape his presidency and legacy. Here are the biggest takeaways from Trumps inaugural address. Trump pledges to restore trust in government Trump began his speech with an optimistic tone while seeming to acknowledge that many Americans faith in government institutions has waned in recent years. He mentioned the federal response to hurricane victims in North Carolina last fall and the ongoing response to California wildfires as areas he saw trust broken. As we gather today, our government confronts a crisis of trust, Trump said. For many years, a radical establishment has extracted power and wealth from our citizens while the pillars of our society lay completely broken and seemingly in complete disrepair. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This statement appears similar to former President Joe Bidens warning of an oligarchy during last weeks farewell address. Executive orders Trump came out swinging with his promise to crack down on illegal immigration and crime, promising sweeping executive action right away. The list of his priorities included sending military troops to the U.S.-Mexico border to address a surge of migrants, formally designating Mexican cartels supplying illegal drugs as terrorist organizations and invoking the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to eliminate criminal gangs operating in the U.S. Other executive orders Trump announced would declare a national energy emergency, and rename the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America, and Alaskas Denali, the highest mountain peak in North America, to Mount McKinley. Outreach to the Black, Hispanic communities Trump thanked the increasing number of Black and Hispanic voters who carried him to victory, vowing he will not forget their support. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement According to Associated Press exit polls, Trump received support from about 16% of Black voters and 43% of Hispanics both record numbers for Republican candidates in the modern era. He recognized Monday as Martin Luther King Jr. Day and vowed to fight to make his dream a reality, referring to Kings famous I Have a Dream speech in 1963. Going to Mars Trump said he will revitalize the American space program by sending astronauts to Mars. We will pursue our manifest destiny into the stars, launching American astronauts to plant the stars and stripes on the plant Mars. Trump ally Elon Musk could be seen smiling and giving a thumbs-up when Trump declared his intention to go to Mars. Tech and media leaders as VIPs It wasnt just the American people Trump was addressing on Monday. He had some of the most powerful and influential leaders in VIP seats, including tech leaders like Musk and Metas Mark Zuckerberg, as well as Fox News magnate Rupert Murdoch and podcast host Joe Rogan, among others. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Additional supporters sat in the Capitols Emancipation Hall, which was set up as an overflow viewing room, and included artificial intelligence billionaires Sam Altman and Alexandr Wang, YouTube influencers and brothers Logan and Jake Paul, indicted New York Mayor Eric Adams, former NASCAR driver Danica Patrick and more. Wealthy tech leaders, such as Amazon owner Jeff Bezos, getting better seats than Cabinet nominees and elected lawmakers is unusual for inaugurations. However, many top business leaders have a long and deep history of lobbying presidents and members of Congress. _____ KEWAUNEE, Wis. (WFRV) Authorities say a Kewaunee resident is now in jail after being arrested Sunday night for his 5th OWI offense. According to a release from the Wisconsin State Patrol Fond du LAc Post, a trooper stopped a vehicle at 8:01 p.m. near Center and 5th Street for driving to the left of the center line and other moving violations. Fond du Lac Police investigate armed robbery at convenience store Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The trooper had the driver, 57-year-old Corey Kubsch from Kewaunee, perform a number of standardized field sobriety tests and as a result, Kubsch was arrested for operating a motor vehicle while under the influence. Officials say Kubsch was taken to the Kewaunee County Jail and a charge of OWI 5th offense is being referred to the Kewaunee County District Attorneys Office. No other information is available at this time. Copyright 2025 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 WFRV Local 5 - Green Bay, Appleton. FAIRVIEW, W.Va. (WBOY) A structure fire broke out at a garage in Fairview on Monday, which officials say has closed a main road in the area for an extended amount of time. According to the Farmington Volunteer Fire Department, at around 2:50 p.m., a caller reported that their garage on Madison Street had caught fire and was fully involved. When crews arrived on the scene, they found that the building was completely on fire and spewing heavy black smoke. Truck hits WVDOH worker patching pothole in Mason County Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Officials with the Marion County Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management said that Main Street in Fairview is closed between the First Exchange Bank and Madison Street while fight the blaze. The Marion County 911 Media Log states that the Rivesville Volunteer Fire Department, Barrackville Volunteer Fire Department, Baxter Volunteer Fire Department, Fairview Volunteer Fire Department, Farmington Volunteer Fire Department, Grant Town Volunteer Fire Department, the West Virginia Division of Highways, Grant Town EMS and the Marion County Sheriffs Office were all alerted to the call. Copyright 2025 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 WBOY.com. Donald Trump is President. Again! If you skipped his inauguration speech, honestly, good for you. Pool / Getty Images The convicted felon has vowed to immediately enact a number of changes, stating in his speech, "I will sign a series of historic executive orders. With these actions, we will begin the complete restoration of America and the revolution of common sense. Its all about common sense." Many people repeatedly stood and clapped for what Trump was saying. Pool / Getty Images So, here's what Trump promised he would do in his speech: Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement 1.Declare a "national emergency" at the US-Mexico border. This will allow the military and the National Guard to be deployed to the border. Trump also said he'll end "catch and release," which is a practice where illegal immigrants aren't held in detention centers while awaiting hearings in immigration court. He will also attempt to end birthright citizenship. Bloomberg / Bloomberg via Getty Images 2.Invoke the Alien Enemies Act of 1798. Trump claims that he will use this against "foreign gangs and criminal networks" in the US. According to the Brennan Center for Justice, the Act is "a wartime authority that allows the president to detain or deport the natives and citizens of an enemy nation." In short, it could potentially be used to deport legal immigrants based only on their country of citizenship. In reality, the rate of violent, drug, and property crimes is far lower for undocumented immigrants than it is citizens. Bloomberg / Bloomberg via Getty Images Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement 3.End the Green New Deal and revoke the electric vehicle mandate. "We will drill, baby, drill," he said. Bloomberg / Bloomberg via Getty Images 4.End "the government policy of trying to socially engineer race and gender into every aspect of public and private life." Obviously, this isn't an official policy, but could allude to something like bans of the teaching of Critical Race Theory. Simultaneously, he said that he will "stop all government censorship." Brendan Smialowski / AFP via Getty Images 5.Make it US policy that there are only two recognized genders, "male and female." A common anti-trans rallying cry. Pool / Getty Images 6.Change the name of the Gulf of Mexico to "the Gulf of America." Hillary Clinton laughed at this moment. BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI / AFP via Getty Images Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement 7.Take the Panama Canal. Trump also claimed that the canal was a "gift." Panamanian president Jose Raul Mulino has previously said of Trump's claims, "The canal is Panamanian and belongs to Panamanians. Theres no possibility of opening any kind of conversation around this reality, which has cost the country blood, sweat and tears." Pool / Getty Images 8.And, finally, put the American flag on Mars. Trump said that he will "pursue our manifest destiny into the stars." The ideology of manifest destiny has been accused of justifying genocide against Indigenous Americans. Kevin Lamarque / POOL/AFP via Getty Images Big claims from a man who said in the same speech, "My proudest legacy will be that of a peacemaker and unifier." HARLAN COUNTY, Ky. (FOX 56) An investigation is underway in Harlan County after a shooting early Sunday that led to an eight-year-old child shot in Bledsoe. Father, son found dead in Harlan County as result of reported murder-suicide, KSP says Around 1 a.m. on Sunday, Kentucky State Police (KSP) said troopers were called to the accidental shooting that involved an eight-year-old off Highway 221 in the Bledsoe community. The child was flown from Appalachian Regional Health in Harlan to UK Medical Center in Lexington for further treatment, law enforcement said. Andrew Sundberg, 34, was taken to the Harlan County Detention Center on Sunday. (Kentucky State Police ) Read more of the latest Kentucky news Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Troopers said they arrested Andrew Sundberg, 34, of Irvington, Alabama. He was charged with first-degree wanton endangerment and lodged in the Harlan County Detention Center. The investigation remains ongoing. Copyright 2025 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 56 News. WESTON, W.Va. (WBOY) More than 1,000 suspected fentanyl and heroin stamps were seized from a home in Weston last week. Multiple law enforcement agencies executed a search warrant on a home on Woodcrest Road in Weston on Friday, according to a press release from the Lewis County Sheriffs Office. During the search, a significant amount of evidence linked to illegal drug distribution was found, including more than 1,000 suspected heroin and fentanyl stamps and $1,000 in cash, Sheriff Mickey Metz said. The U.S. Department of Justice says many distributors stamp their bags with a brand name or logo during the drug packaging process. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A total of nine suspects were arrested. Cody Keesecker, 40, and Madison Townsend, 27, were arrested and charged with possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance, and seven other people were charged with drug conspiracy, the release said. They are being held in Central Regional Jail. Cody Keesecker Madison Townsend Lewis County Sheriffs Department seeking missing man This incident highlights the ongoing challenges associated with drug distribution and the commitment of law enforcement agencies to address such issues within their communities, Sheriff Metz said in the release. Further investigations will likely continue as authorities work to unravel the extent of the drug operations involved. The Weston Police Department and West Virginia State Police also assisted with the search, the release said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 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 WBOY.com. ROANOKE, Va. (WFXR) Virginia is one of only two states electing a new governor this fall, so the campaign trail is starting to heat up for a race that will garner national attention. I think people are going to be looking to Virginia to see how it is that we campaign, what it is that we are prioritizing, what the message is, said Democratic candidate and former congresswoman Abigail Spanberger. It is currently a two-woman race for the governors mansion in the commonwealth, between Spanberger and Republican Lieutenant Governor Winsome Earle-Sears. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Its at the state level that you can have an impact that is almost immediate on the lives of business owners, on the lives of families, on the lives of kids in schools, on the lives of parents, said Spanberger. Lynchburg City Council elects Larry Taylor as Mayor WFXR reached out to the Earle-Sears campaign to see if she is planning any trips to southwest Virginia, but her team only responded that the Lieutenant Governor will be in session until February 22. Still, Earle-Sears was vocal about her candidacy at Decembers economic summit in Richmond. As your next governor, I will not waver, she said. I will protect the principles that make Virginia exceptional. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement According to a January Emerson College poll, Spanberger held a slight one-point lead over her Republican opponent in what projects to be a very close race, especially after the red wave that swept the nation and the state this past November. Virginia 2025 Poll: Tight race between presumptive gubernatorial candidates That means campaigning will be pivotal, and Spanberger just wrapped up a three-day swing in the southwest corner of the state during which she visited voters in Galax, Blacksburg, Roanoke, and beyond. She came to our part of the state, said Roanoke voter Janet Schell. I think sometimes we get written off and we shouldnt do that because there really are other people like me who are passionate. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Spanberger said that over the past three days in the region, she has heard a lot from residents about education and the cost of living in the area. Meanwhile, Governor Glenn Youngkin has backed his Lieutenant Governor to replace him later this year. Copyright 2025 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 WFXRtv. ABILENE, Texas (KTAB/KRBC) The Abilene ISD School Board has approved the $125,000 purchase of Yondr bags as part of a new phone policy set to take effect in the 2024-2025 school year. Abilene ISD considers cell phone ban or pouch system changes to district policy During a workshop in August 2024, the board discussed options to manage cell phone use, including a potential bell-to-bell phone ban and the introduction of Yondr pouches. These pouches have already been implemented at some Abilene campuses, and after careful consideration, the board decided to move forward with the purchase of the bags. Starting next school year, AISD high school students will be required to place their phones, earbuds, and smartwatches into Yondr pouches before entering campus. The bags will remain locked during the school day and can be unlocked at the end of the day using a designated mechanism placed around the school for students to tap as they exit. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Wylie ISD implements No Cell from Bell to Bell policy: phones prohibited in the classroom. Each student will be provided one Yondr pouch at no cost at the start of the year, but if lost, the replacement cost will be $32. One of the hurdles the district will have to tackle is the availability of tech for those classes where students use their phones. The district is working with Yondr representatives to ensure a smooth transition, including assessing how the technology will impact classrooms where phones are used for educational purposes. A Yondr rep will visit AISD campuses to help determine the best placement for unlocking stations and assist in developing usage policies. Copyright 2025 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. A performer acts onstage during the 2025 Happy Chinese New Year Chinese Opera Gala in Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada, on Jan. 19, 2025. Hosted by the Canada Chinese Opera Arts Center, this annual event was held here on Sunday to celebrate the upcoming Chinese Lunar New Year. (Photo by Zou Zheng/Xinhua) Performers act onstage during the 2025 Happy Chinese New Year Chinese Opera Gala in Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada, on Jan. 19, 2025. Hosted by the Canada Chinese Opera Arts Center, this annual event was held here on Sunday to celebrate the upcoming Chinese Lunar New Year. (Photo by Zou Zheng/Xinhua) Performers act onstage during the 2025 Happy Chinese New Year Chinese Opera Gala in Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada, on Jan. 19, 2025. Hosted by the Canada Chinese Opera Arts Center, this annual event was held here on Sunday to celebrate the upcoming Chinese Lunar New Year. (Photo by Zou Zheng/Xinhua) Performers act onstage during the 2025 Happy Chinese New Year Chinese Opera Gala in Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada, on Jan. 19, 2025. Hosted by the Canada Chinese Opera Arts Center, this annual event was held here on Sunday to celebrate the upcoming Chinese Lunar New Year. (Photo by Zou Zheng/Xinhua) A performer acts onstage during the 2025 Happy Chinese New Year Chinese Opera Gala in Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada, on Jan. 19, 2025. Hosted by the Canada Chinese Opera Arts Center, this annual event was held here on Sunday to celebrate the upcoming Chinese Lunar New Year. (Photo by Zou Zheng/Xinhua) A performer acts onstage during the 2025 Happy Chinese New Year Chinese Opera Gala in Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada, on Jan. 19, 2025. Hosted by the Canada Chinese Opera Arts Center, this annual event was held here on Sunday to celebrate the upcoming Chinese Lunar New Year. (Photo by Zou Zheng/Xinhua) Zachariah Hobbs, an Alaska bartender and father of five, is being remembered by family as exuberant and outgoing and a man who was always happy, days after he was allegedly murdered by a former bar patron he once kicked out for harassing a coworker. Anybody that [knew] Zachariah knows that he was a world inside of a person, his brother Aram Hobbs told local KTUU in Alaska. He always ended every sentence with a chuckle. He was always happy. Hobbs was shot and killed Wednesday, Jan. 15, outside of Midnite Mine, the bar where he worked. He was 43 years old. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Fairbanks Police Department announced the following day that Derrick Dewatne McCormick Jr. had been arrested and charged with his murder. McCormick, who turned 22 on Monday, is being held on a $2 million bond. The Fairbanks Police Department said a female employee at Midnite Mine heard a gunshot outside and found Hobbs lying wounded on the ground and saw someone running away from the scene. Soon after, a man called 911 to report the shooting and provided several pieces of false information including his name, birthdate, phone number from which he was calling, as well as conflicting statements about what he had witnessed of the shooting and his current location. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The 911 dispatcher was suspicious about the caller, according to police, logging his location, which police later used to track down McCormick. The female employee then recognized McCormick as a recent patron whom Hobbs had kicked out for harassing her months earlier. At the time, McCormick had threatened to come back with a firearm, the Fairbanks Police Department said in a statement. He also attempted to sneak back in that same night. The police allege that the female employee later ran into McCormick at another local restaurant where he turned out to be a cook, becoming uncomfortable as he allegedly stared at her, leading her to cancel her order and leave the restaurant. She reported that he followed her into the parking lot to her car and was verbally accosting her, Fairbanks Police said in its statement. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement 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. Security video from the night of the shooting allegedly showed McCormick lingering around the parking lot and repeatedly going near the female employees vehicle before Hobbs and McCormick appear to get into an altercation, leading to Hobbs getting shot, according to Fairbanks police. A GoFundMe set up to provide assistance for Hobbs family had raised more than $29,000 as of Monday. Zachariah Hobbs was murdered while he [was] doing what he did best, selflessly protecting the people he loved, the fundraiser says. Zachariah had an insane work ethic & was investing his time & money getting a snow removal company running in addition to working at the Midnite Mine. This leaves very little financially for his 5 children that no longer have their father. Read the original article on People Young Albanians are being warned in Home Office adverts that they will be used as slaves by organised crime gangs if they enter the UK illegally. Digital adverts to go live over the next month in Albania aim to deter migrants with real life stories of young people who used people smugglers to enter the UK. One, with sombre background music, features the profile of an Albanian who was promised a well-paid job but instead tells the viewers: I was a slave. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The advert ends with the warning: Trying to enter the UK illegally could cost you everything. Albanians are warned about the pitfalls of making an illegal Channel crossing A second features an illegal migrant who says that he owes a lot of money for the journey, but adds: They wont say how long I need to work for or how much I owe. A third tells the viewers: They said my family would be harmed if I didnt follow instructions. Each ends with the Home Office warning: Get the facts on illegal migration. The Government said the adverts were designed to counter the myths and misinformation peddled by criminals to dupe people. A record 12,000 Albanians crossed the Channel in small boats in 2022. But the number has fallen sharply after the UK and Albanian governments agreed a fast-track returns deal to deport illegal migrants from Britain. Gangs use social media Albanian drug gangs have responded to shortages of migrants to work in their UK cannabis farms by openly recruiting farmers on TikTok. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The gang bosses are using social media to advertise for live-in labourers to grow the cannabis crops and are offering special deals where instead of being paid expenses, they will receive up to 30 per cent of the profits from street sales of the drugs. Martin Hewitt, head of the new Border Security Command, said: This campaign helps to break the business model of these criminals and protects people from falling victim to their dangerous lies, securing our borders as part of the Governments Plan for Change. Working closely with international partners like Albania, we are targeting criminal gangs at every step, disrupting their operations across borders, and bringing perpetrators to justice. Communications are a key part of this work, sending a clear message to prospective migrants that these criminals cannot be trusted. Albanian gangs have come to dominate the domestic cannabis market, where plants are grown in houses or vacant industrial premises using hydroponic technology imported from farms in their homeland. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In the past decade, they have usurped the Vietnamese as the main suppliers of cannabis to UK users. Similar adverts have been promoted in Vietnam, which now accounts for more Channel migrants than Albania and is among the top five for crossings. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. Aldi has been defeated by Somerset drinks company Thatchers in a bitter legal battle over a copycat cloudy lemon cider. In a watershed ruling from the Court of Appeal, a panel of three judges found that Aldi had infringed trademark rights by designing an own-brand cider that would remind customers of a rival product from Thatchers. The court said this amounted to unfair competition. It marks the latest twist in the long-running tussle between Aldi and Thatchers, which have been at loggerheads ever since the former launched its Taurus cloudy lemon cider in May 2022. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Thatchers, which rolled out its own version two years earlier, subsequently launched a claim against Aldi on the basis that its drink had been copied in both taste and appearance. The High Court had initially dismissed Thatchers claim last January after deciding there was no likelihood of confusion for consumers. However, in a ruling issued on Monday, the Court of Appeal said it believed Aldi had designed its Taurus cloudy lemon ciders so that they would remind customers of Thatchers drinks. The judgment said: This can only have been in order to convey the message that the Aldi product was like the Thatchers product, only cheaper. To that extent, Aldi intended to take advantage of the reputation of the trademark in order to assist it to sell the Aldi product. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Geoff Steward, an intellectual property lawyer at Addleshaw Goddard, said the decision would be seen as a watershed moment for lookalikes and a significant trademark law development which is long overdue. He added: The scale and proximity of look-alike packaging in the UK is far worse than anywhere else in Europe. Armed with the correct packaging trademark registrations, UK brand owners can now sound the death knell on the practice of supermarket own-brands free-riding on their brand intellectual property. It follows earlier legal battles over trademarks involving Aldi, which has vowed to appeal against the latest decision. In early 2023, the German discounter lost a court row with Marks & Spencer over its copycat gin bottles that featured LED lights. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Aldi and M&S had also previously reached a settlement over the Cuthbert the Caterpillar chocolate sponge roll, which M&S argued was a knock-off of its popular Colin the Caterpillar cake. A spokesman for Aldi said: We are disappointed that the Court of Appeal disagreed with the High Court in this case. We think the Court of Appeals decision is wrong and we intend to appeal. Aldi offers exclusive brands as low-price alternatives to more expensive branded products. The High Court was clear that Aldi customers know what they are buying when they shop with us. We will continue to produce high-quality exclusive brands for our customers at unbeatable prices. Martin Thatcher, Thatchers managing director and great-grandson of the founder, William Thatcher, said: We couldnt be happier with this decision, which vindicates our position that Aldi had taken unfair advantage of the hard work we put in to our cider and brands. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This is a victory not just for our family business, but for all businesses whose innovation is stifled by copycats. Were thrilled the Court of Appeal got to the core of the issue and cleared up any cloudy judgment. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. American podcaster Lex Fridman, who recently interviewed President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, believes the Ukrainian leader showed no desire for peace talks with Russia. Fridman now plans to interview Russian leader Vladimir Putin. Source: Fridman in an interview with historian Jennifer Burns on YouTube Quote: "I gave the President [Zelenskyy ed.] every single chance to signal willingness to negotiate, knowing that both Trump and Putin will listen to this conversation. I dont think he took it. And instead, chose to speak very crude words towards Vladimir Putin. This is fully understandable, but not directly productive to negotiation." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Details: Fridman suggested that achieving peace in this situation requires compromise to prevent further loss of life, and leaders must take each other seriously. "If you think the president of a country [Putin] is completely crazy, it is really hard to come to an agreement with him. You have to look at him as a serious person, who loves his country and loves the people in his country," he said. Quote: "It seems likely that I will interview Vladimir Putin in Russia, in the Kremlin. I understand the risks and I accept them. The risks for me are not important. Im not important. I merely want to do my small part in pushing for peace." Details: Fridman noted that he has faced significant criticism regarding his interview with Zelenskyy but disagrees with it. He insists he was well-prepared for the interview and is not naive about Putin. Quote: "I have read and listened to a lot of material since February 2022. I would spend every day, over eight hours a day, of focused reading and research." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement More details: Fridman advocates for lasting peace, while acknowledging the pain of those who have lost loved ones in the war and who demand justice over peace. The podcaster believes the current moment is a particularly opportune time for peace talks between Ukraine and Russia. Background: Lex Fridman recorded a three-hour interview with Zelenskyy. In the discussion, the Ukrainian president revealed that before the full-scale invasion, he urged the US to impose preventive sanctions on Russia rather than threaten them in case of an attack, which he called "bullshit". Support UP or become our patron! MASSENA, N.Y. (WWTI) The American Red Cross is assisting eight people after a multiple-family fire in St. Lawrence County. Volunteers from the Central and Northern New York Chapter of the American Red Cross provided immediate emergency aid to eight people after a blaze on State Route 56 in Massena. NYSP release name of missing snowmobiler in St. Lawrence County The Red Cross provided financial assistance which can be used for necessities such as shelter, food, and clothing to eight adults in seven households. Volunteers also offered emotional support, comfort kits containing personal care items, and health services. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In the coming days, Red Cross staff and volunteers will remain available to help those affected by the fire as they navigate the road to recovery. One additional client was expected to reach out to the Red Cross. Copyright 2025 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 WWTI - InformNNY.com. It was a chilly night in Berkeley, California this past November when Sarah decided to stop by a buzzy after-party for an AI conference called The Curve. A year and a half ago, the 27-year-old had left her lucrative job as a trader in London to look for work in AI safety, which she considers the most important issue in the world, and she was eager to connect with others who felt the same. She certainly didn't expect to end the evening vilified as a Chinese spy. At the party, the topic du jour was a recent article in The Economist, provocatively titled, "Is Xi Jinping an AI doomer?" Sarah, who was born in China a few hours from Shanghai, discussed the question with various AI researchers and policy analysts. Then one exchange turned sour. "There's been rumors of espionage in Silicon Valley," Sarah recalled one person saying, "Like people preying on young, male, impressionable software engineers." The guy looked at Sarah. Uncomfortable, she excused herself from the conversation. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "I'm a Chinese national, but it's not like I'm a spy," she later recounted to another attendee. Her comment was overheard by Samuel Hammond, an economist at the Foundation for American Innovation and an AI policy advisor for Project 2025. He posted it to X, where it attracted millions of views. I was at an AI thing in SF this weekend when a young woman walked up. The first thing she said, almost verbatim: "I'm a Chinese national but it's not like I'm a spy or anything" *nervous laughter.* I asked her if she thought Xi was an AI doomer and she suddenly excused herself. https://t.co/1mepDH6LRc Samuel Hammond (@hamandcheese) November 26, 2024 "So definitely a spy?" read one reply on X. "She was from Beijing and had a very posh accent," responded Hammond. (Sarah is from an entirely different part of China.) Other partygoers piled onto the speculation. "I'm glad I wasn't the only one who thought that," one said. Another insisted: "I can't dismiss the idea that she was CCP If there's a plausible risk, & there is, she shouldn't be allowed in." Sarah, who asked that I use just her first name, replied on X to clear up the confusion about why she left the conversation it was cold and she had already been asked the same question by other people but by then the exchange had reached escape velocity, spilling out across Silicon Valley. "Everyone knows," she said about the encounter. "I had to stop going to networking events. I just wanted this thing to die down." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement As the race to develop advanced AI systems before China does ramps up, a new Red Scare has taken over the tech world. I spoke with Chinese workers and entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley, many of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity to avoid professional, personal, or legal repercussions, and found that Sarah's experience was far from rare. The same fear of Chinese espionage that forced TikTok to shut down is now pushing out Chinese-born AI professionals at the exact moment that American AI experts report a critical talent shortage in the field. Concerns over Chinese spying have been on the rise since the early 2010s, when the US escalated its efforts to address Chinese cyberattacks. In 2018, the Department of Justice under Donald Trump undertook a controversial "China Initiative," which aimed to prevent industrial espionage in the research community by investigating hundreds of academics suspected of having ties to China. It found only a few cases of actual spying. The plurality of investigations, Bloomberg and MIT Technology Review reported in 2021, involved undisclosed funding and affiliations to Chinese institutions, while "just three claim that secrets were handed over to Chinese agents," Bloomberg wrote. Instead of catching spies, many cases just indicted professors for bureaucratic oversights those found guilty claimed they didn't disclose their funding because they didn't think they had to. The China Initiative's slipshod approach upended many people's lives. Gang Chen, a nanotechnologist, and Anming Hu, a physicist, were both US-based tenured professors who were arrested by the FBI, only for authorities to later realize they had made a mistake. During the yearlong investigations, Chen was barred from his university's campus, and Hu was suspended without pay and his work authorization revoked. (Though both were later reinstated to their positions, Chen said he would no longer take federal research funding). The suicide of the neuroscientist Jane Ying Wu last year came after a China Initiative investigation shut down her lab. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Biden administration escalated Trump's competitive approach toward China. The 2022 CHIPS Act, which aimed to bolster domestic production of semiconductors, the essential hardware powering AI, also restricted US investments, manufacturing, and research collaborations in China. Last April, Biden signed a bipartisan bill ordering the Chinese company ByteDance to sell TikTok on grounds of national security. Whenever you say anything neutral about China, people will think, 'That's pro-China, and this person is bought by the CCP.' Now, the fear of espionage has shifted to Silicon Valley. In June last year, AI researcher Leopold Aschenbrenner said he was fired from OpenAI for sharing concerns about foreign espionage with the OpenAI board. He then published a paper-cum-manifesto titled "Situational Awareness: The Decade Ahead," about the race to AGI, or artificial general intelligence what he calls the "most powerful weapon mankind has ever created," comparable to nuclear weapons. "If we're lucky, we'll be in an all-out race with the CCP; if we're unlucky, an all-out war," he wrote. In a section called "The Free World Must Prevail," Aschenbrenner paints a dystopian scenario where the Chinese Communist Party steals model weights and algorithms and uses them to target "advanced bioweapons" at "anybody but Han Chinese," "individually assess every citizen for dissent," and "enforce the Party's conception of 'truth.'" The paper was widely circulated in Silicon Valley and even shared to X by Ivanka Trump. (OpenAI has said the concerns Aschenbrenner shared with the board were not the reason he was fired.) The venture capitalist Marc Andreessen entertained a similar thought experiment last March. "Let's assume that AI in 2024 is like atomic technology in 1943," he wrote on X. "What we see is the security equivalent of swiss cheese. My own assumption is that all such American AI labs are fully penetrated and that China is getting nightly downloads of all American AI research and code RIGHT NOW." In response to mounting concerns, the Financial Times reported that Google, OpenAI, and several other US tech companies have tightened personnel screening. Some startups are turning to third-party tools like Strider Technologies, which scours public data to investigate individuals' connections to "state-sponsored risk," as Strider's website puts it. If a current or prospective employee is flagged by Strider's AI, FT reported that its "due diligence" process will then investigate their "family or financial links abroad as well as their travel history." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A spokesperson for Google said they hadn't stepped up their screening processes and told me that the company has "strict safeguards" for preventing the theft of trade secrets, "none of which are based on employees' nationality." OpenAI did not respond to multiple requests for comment. Meanwhile, members of the Chinese diaspora in Silicon Valley are feeling the strain and paranoia of geopolitical tensions pressing on their social and professional lives. One 26-year-old woman who works at a San Francisco startup said she was once called a "honeypot" by a dance partner at a local bar. "He told me he worked on a nuclear-related company," she said. "He was like, 'I cannot share anything with you. Are you looking at my phone? You don't seem like a honeypot, but I have to be careful given that you're a Chinese national.'" As a tech worker, she has turned down AI-related job opportunities to avoid scrutiny for herself and her family from both the US and Chinese governments. She also tries to downplay her Chinese accent and cultural identity. "A lot of Chinese nationals don't agree with the Chinese government" on issues like Uyghur repression in Xinjiang, she said. "But in social situations, you have to vocalize it passionately just to lower the guard people have toward you." We work for no government. We just want to build businesses. Sarah affirmed this sentiment. She hoped to contribute to global AI safety work by bridging the information gap between Chinese- and English-language researchers and policymakers, but the hawkish environment has made collaboration difficult. "Whenever you say anything neutral about China, people will think, 'That's pro-China, and this person is bought by the CCP,'" she said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Many Chinese startup founders are also deemphasizing their nationality. One founder of a consumer AI startup told me that an investor asked her to remove the word "China" from a pitch deck and replace it with "Asia." It's a notable shift from the start of the century when top venture-capital firms were eager to invest in Chinese super-apps and open China-based funds. HeyGen, a generative-AI startup founded in Shenzhen, dissolved its Chinese operation to rebrand and relocate to the US in 2023. It asked its Chinese investors to sell their equity, then raised a new Series A round from US- and UK-based funds to more easily purchase semiconductors under the CHIPS Act. One of HeyGen's original Chinese investors told me that it's now common for Chinese founders to turn down Chinese capital to avoid US governmental scrutiny. Similarly, the TechCrunch journalist Rita Liao wrote that a Chinese company refused her coverage because her byline made them look "too Chinese." She said another Chinese founder told her: "We work for no government. We just want to build businesses." Several people I spoke with described their situation as a "double bind." On one hand, they came to the US to pursue opportunities and liberties that Chinese society didn't afford them. But these days, eerily similar state and social sanctions are intruding on their work. In some cases, the tensions are making it difficult for people from China to stay in the US. Ordinarily, foreign workers on visas who temporarily leave the US must get a stamp from a local US consulate before reentering. But more tech workers are being put through extra processing required for people working in sensitive industries before they can reenter the US, resulting in some people getting stranded abroad for months or years. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement On forums for Chinese nationals, anxious students and professionals fret about how to avoid extended processing. "I work as a machine learning engineer in the Bay Area," reads one post from October. "I work on some AI product applications and do no core AI research. I thought that 'sensitive fields' referred to advanced defense research, but now I heard that any STEM field can be subject to checks. I'm feeling panicked." Unlucky visa holders who get flagged have no choice but to appeal for an extended leave of absence from their university or workplace. One AI Ph.D. student wrote in November, "I have now waited for more than 130 days. My school has deferred me for one semester, but I cannot defer it again." As tensions ramp up, many Chinese tech workers are reconsidering whether the American dream is worth the risk. When Microsoft offered its China-based employees a chance to relocate to another country, tensions between the US and China made some reluctant to take the offer, according to reporting by Rest of World. Going viral on X turned out to be a tipping point for Sarah. She returned to China in December. "Initially I was afraid of trouble on the Chinese side, but it turns out that the other side is more problematic," she said about the US. It feels like we have this talent that no one wants. Meanwhile, the US faces a critical talent shortage in AI. A 2021 report by the National Security Commission on AI found that the number of US-born STEM and AI doctorates is not nearly keeping pace with the industry's growth. While 42% of top-tier AI researchers worked in the US in 2022, only 18% of them received their undergraduate degree here, Macro Polo's AI Talent Tracker found. China is currently the largest source of these top-tier researchers and more are choosing to stay in China. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "For the first time in our lifetime, the United States risks losing the competition for talent on the scientific frontiers," the NSCAI report says. "Immigration reform is a national security imperative." Divyansh Kaushik, a tech and national security expert at Beacon Global Strategies, told me that America needs policies that are a "scalpel, not a sledgehammer." He recognizes the risk of espionage, citing China's 2017 National Intelligence Law, which legally obligates all Chinese citizens to "support, assist, and cooperate with state intelligence work." But Kaushik considers blanket bans on foreign nationals just as counterproductive. He instead pointed to policies that restrict students from specific Chinese-military-affiliated universities from obtaining visas. "There will be false positives and false negatives," but the US can mitigate the risk without overreaching, he told me. Other experts believe that nationality-based anti-espionage efforts are more security theater than reality. Yangyang Cheng, a physicist and China researcher at Yale Law School, told me that AI risks "are not exclusive to Chinese firms or unique products of the Chinese authoritarian system." She cited examples of American professors who helped build biometric technologies for ethnic oppression in Xinjiang, arguing that we should be focused on preventing harm wherever it originates. She thinks the TikTok ban makes the same mistakes. "The focus on the Chinese government's subpoena power overlooks the many ways American companies cooperate with the state," she wrote for Wired. It's unclear what stance this Trump administration will take. Some in Silicon Valley are hopeful that the president-elect will expand the visa program for high-skilled immigrants. During a recent intra-Republican fight over H-1B visas, Trump aligned with Elon Musk, telling supporters: "We need smart people coming into our country." But Trump's 2016 term oversaw higher costs, longer wait times, and increased denial rates for H-1B applicants. During a private dinner conversation in 2018 reported by Politico, Trump said, referring to China, "almost every student that comes over to this country is a spy." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Those who are staying in the US, meanwhile, say they feel exhausted. "I've been in the US for almost a decade," a Chinese-born data scientist and UC Berkeley graduate told me. "Many of us left to escape that political environment, and are the most liberal-leaning Chinese you can find. We spend so much time going through the American education and immigration system and now the US says it doesn't welcome us either. It feels like we have this talent that no one wants." Jasmine Sun is a writer covering tech, politics, and culture from San Francisco. She publishes a weekly newsletter on the "anthropology of disruption." Read the original article on Business Insider At 11am on a Wednesday morning in Amsterdams Oudezijds Voorburgwal, the beer is already flowing. The weather in the heart of the citys Red Light District is chilly and overcast, but that hasnt deterred dozens of tourists from taking seats at canal side cafe tables and ordering drinks. The Dutch usually drink their beer in small glasses known as vaasjes but here the British pint is the serving size of choice. A group of young Englishmen seek to cure their hangovers with a round of Amstel, as do a trio of Spaniards and a gaggle of Americans. The air smells strongly of cannabis smoke and just along the canal, a couple of sex workers are setting up shop for the day; pulling back the curtains on their red-lit windows and beginning to pout at the tourists passing by. It is, in many ways, a quintessentially Amsterdam scene. And many Amsterdammers are sick of it. Fifteen years ago, the Dutch capital promoted itself to potential visitors as a place where anything goes. An advert produced by the tourism authority in 2010 showed a young tourist drinking shots, urinating in the street and bribing a policeman and apparently loving every minute of it. Partly as a result of such messaging, the film helped push Amsterdam firmly onto the tourist and stag party circuit. Despite being only a tenth the size of London, Amsterdam now draws over 20 million overnight stays a year. Attractions including the Rijksmuseum and Anne Frank House have become world famous, but millions come mainly for the Red Light District (also known as the Wallen), which is packed with brothels and drug-vending coffee shops. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In the last few years, however, the citys leaders have turned against tourists especially the youthful British kind. Authorities have banned smoking cannabis on the street, banned tour guides in the Wallen and forced the closure of many brothels and coffee shops. Millions of tourists visit Amsterdam each year and descend in droves on the Red Light District - getty Airbnb rentals have been restricted and large cruise ships will be completely forbidden by 2035. Adverts encouraging visitors to go wild have also been replaced with ones telling them not to come. If Brits Google a term like Stag party Amsterdam or Pub crawl Amsterdam they may now see an advert telling them: Stay Away! Last month, residents held a protest on the Leidseplein, at which they carried placards reading: Tourism rules the city and Stop the stroopwafel a reference to the caramel biscuits which visitors devour by the truckload. A city which once welcomed tourists with wide open arms has become unusually hostile towards them. For many residents, its obvious change is needed. Amsterdams historic centre is famously beautiful but has been disfigured by mass tourism. The Warmoesstraat, for instance, is one of the citys oldest streets but if you walk along it today, youll see countless shops selling junk food, drug paraphernalia and sex toys. It is, one local told me, easier to buy a magic mushroom here than a loaf of bread. Amsterdams residents are becoming increasingly hostile towards rowdy tourists - Avalon Serious crime is rare, but some residents despair at the nightly public urination, shouting and fighting. Others are concerned about the drug trade. Im not going out after 6pm theres too much negative energy, not from the prostitutes but from the drug dealers, says Mr Gione, a proud Amsterdammer who lives in the Wallen and prefers to withhold his first name. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He thinks tourists are essential for Amsterdams economy: millions of euros are coming in with every cruise ship. However, he also worries about safety. The problem is some tourists bad behaviour, he says. Its not all, but a few dont have good behaviour, and treat this as a kind of Disneyland where they can do whatever they want. Amsterdams problems are not unique. Barcelona, Venice and other cities have also battled to reclaim their streets from tourists. Whats perhaps different about the Dutch capital, however, is that so many tourists come here with the explicit aim of doing things which are banned at home. As a local politician once brilliantly put it, this is a place where many people go on holiday from their morals. Another problem is with the citys cannabis-vending coffee shops, which are a star attraction for many British visitors. Amsterdams famed coffee shop have long been a draw for British visitors - getty Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Cannabis is not actually legal in Amsterdam. It is, rather, tolerated, with Dutch police choosing not to prosecute minor offences in the same way that others might turn a blind eye to motorists slightly exceeding the speed limit. This means that although coffee shops themselves are tolerated, their supply chains are sometimes of questionable legality, and illegal street dealers remain a problem. Violence sometimes spills over in terrifying fashion. In 2019 a lawyer involved in a drug trial was gunned down in the street, and in 2021 a famous journalist also linked to drug trials was murdered in broad daylight not far from the Rijksmuseum. The risk to tourists is extremely low, but some locals feel tolerance has gone too far. Some efforts at gentrification have been successful. Near the Oude Kerk, several former brothels have been turned into quirky little boutiques after being bought out by the government. More controversial are proposals to move most of Amsterdams famous red windows to a new Erotic Centre outside the centre. Several former brothels near the citys Oude Kerk have been turned into boutiques in recent years - Getty The mayor believes this would make prostitution safer and the city centre nicer. However, others are scathing about what they see as an attempt to cleanse the area of its character. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Nat Portnoy, an activist who offers tourists information on how to safely enjoy the Wallen, says: This is the most precious and oldest part of the city, so obviously developers want to have a piece of it. They want to refresh the district and introduce new businesses which attract quality tourists. But in this whole discourse the council forgot one important thing: to ask sex workers what they want. The debate continues, and the citys future remains uncertain. Despite the anti-tourist campaigns, visitor numbers continue to grow, and the canalside bars are as packed as ever. There were more than 22 million overnight stays in Amsterdam in 2023, and the authorities forecast that number could rise to 26.6 million by 2026. Before then, in June this year, Amsterdam will celebrate its 750th birthday with a huge street party. The authorities expect it to draw quite a crowd. How to do it Easyjet flies from Luton, Manchester and other airports to Amsterdam from around 70 return. Hotel Library Amsterdam (0031202148868; hotellibrary.nl) has doubles from around 100 per night, not including breakfast Ben Coates is the author of The Invention of Amsterdam: A History of Europes Greatest City in Ten Walks, which will be published by Scribe in March Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. Kingsleys view Africas leaders spend time, effort, and resources chasing foreign business investment into their countries, but have not paused to ponder why their efforts have failed to transform the continents economies. Most Africans remain poor, while investors cream profits. Thats because governments on the continent ignore the importance of corporate governance principles of strategy, risk management, transparency, and accountability that most private sector business corporations must play by. Until these standards are deployed to public-sector corporations, ministries, and other entities, most African countries will continue to chase a mirage. Effective governance in the public sector is the first requirement for prosperity-creating market economies. But most African countries view the government solely as a domain for politics, rather than for actual governance. Leaders focus on utilizing the apparatus of government to win elections and keep supporters happy with appointments and funds from inflated and poorly executed contracts what economists call rent-seeking. This culture of politics without governance renders many governments on the continent unable to deliver any real benefits to their citizens beyond a performative democracy of periodic election rituals. There is no social contract. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement While the first casualty is Africas citizens, who remain impoverished by incompetent governance, the other important consequence is, perversely, the absence of enabling environments for business and investment. Thus, African leaders in reality seek investments into poorly governed spaces. In private businesses, driven as they are by profit, there is accountability for non-performance in delivering shareholder value. In Africas governments and public-sector corporations, the notion that citizens are at least stakeholders, if not shareholders, and deserve accountability in the stewardship of public resources or institutions, is an alien one. The upshot of this is that there is no conscious management of risk in African governments and public corporations. State failure, sub-optimal economic management and performance, and state fragility are often the consequences. This further weakens the prospects for inclusive private-sector-led growth. It also creates a vicious cycle. African governments must return to the drawing board. A focus on strengthening governance effectiveness will yield several advantages. First, it will legitimize African governments with their citizens by discharging better the very purpose of government providing security, administering taxes, creating a real social contract, and delivering social services. Second, this approach will strengthen public institutions and reduce corruption by increasing accountability. Third, good corporate governance will improve regulatory frameworks that govern African economies and improve business environments for investment. Without effective regulation, a level playing field will not exist. The right balance between regulation and facilitation of business will attract capital, which naturally seeks out such environments for growth and productivity. African countries must better match their aspirations to specific strategies to achieve goals. External props cannot replace the critical role of effective public sector governance. By Gram Slattery and Luc Cohen WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump faces an arduous task delivering on his Inauguration Day promise of a "Golden Age of America" in the face of a closely split Congress, inevitable lawsuits and recalcitrant world leaders. After taking the oath of office, Trump outlined a series of sweeping executive orders, the first steps in enacting a far-reaching agenda to expand America's territory, curb immigration, boost fossil fuel production and roll back environmental regulations. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trump's allies and advisers have been drafting executive orders and agency regulations for months. They argue privately and publicly they are better prepared to enact their vision than they were during Trump's 2017-2021 term, when Republican infighting and a lack of foresight led to setbacks in the courts and in Congress. Trump will benefit this time from a deeply conservative Supreme Court, which handed him some major legal victories on the campaign trail. A third of its nine members are his appointees. But having already served one term, he will leave office in four years, and many of his proposals are so norm-shattering they are certain to result in extensive litigation that tests the boundaries of constitutional law. Advocacy groups - from the environmental activist group the Sierra Club to the American Civil Liberties Union - are putting together plans to push back. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Representatives for Trump did not respond to a request for comment. IMMIGRATION No policy area will be subject to more aggressive pushback from Democrats and civil rights organizations than immigration. Trump's team confirmed on Monday it plans to try to end birthright citizenship, a long-held constitutional principle that holds the vast majority of people born in the United States are automatically citizens. Individuals denied citizenship benefits will sue, legal experts say, leading to a protracted legal dispute. Most scholars believe birthright citizenship is enshrined in the U.S. Constitution's 14th Amendment, and they say the Constitution gives Congress the power to regulate citizenship. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement No president before Trump has attempted to redefine citizenship rules through executive action. Another element of Trump's promised immigration plan - invoking the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 - would also face legal pushback. The seldom-used act generally allows for the deportation of certain foreigners during times of conflict. It has only been used three times. George Fishman, a former Homeland Security official under Trump, told Reuters last year that the Trump administration would need to prove the immigrants were sent by a foreign government. "I worry a little about overpromising," Fishman said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trump also said in his inaugural address that his administration would deport "millions and millions of criminal aliens" but a deportation effort of that scale could cost tens of billions of dollars and would likely last years. TIKTOK ON THE CLOCK One of Trump's most tenuous promises could be keeping TikTok online in the United States. While Trump did not bring up the social media app during his inaugural address on Monday, he has recently signaled he would keep the app functioning. It was essentially banned starting on Sunday, but apart from a brief interruption for U.S. users, it remained online after Trump said he would try to save it. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement All the same, Trump's long-term options may be limited. Biden could have granted TikTok's owner, Bytedance, an additional 90 days to find a U.S. buyer if certain terms were met, said Colin Costello, an attorney with Freshfields and a former intelligence official. But Biden did not grant that extension and, now that the deadline has expired, the extension option may be off the table. Halting the ban on a longer-term basis, Costello said, could require Trump to direct the Justice Department to "deprioritize" or not enforce the law, probably for a specified period of time. That would result in legal uncertainty, however, that tech companies might not be willing to assume. Trump's legislative options may be limited, too. Some allies in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives have publicly bucked Trump, saying TikTok needs to be sold to a U.S. company or cease operating immediately. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement UKRAINE, PANAMA, MARS Trump pledged frequently during the 2024 election campaign to solve the Ukraine war before even taking office. But he missed that deadline, and his advisers now concede it will take months to reach a peace deal. During his inaugural address, Trump also repeated his aspiration to take back the Panama Canal, though it is the sovereign territory of an ally, and it is unclear how he would do so. The president said he would rename the Gulf of Mexico the "Gulf of America." While he can direct the U.S. Geological Survey to make such a change, it would be unlikely to be recognized internationally. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He also vowed that the United States would send a man to Mars during his term, which will end in January 2029. He has his work cut out for him. The moon, for reference, is about 239,000 miles from Earth while Mars is, on average, about 140 million miles away. The U.S. space agency NASA in December announced new delays in sending U.S. astronauts back to the moon. 'DRILL, BABY, DRILL' Trump said on Monday he would declare a national energy emergency to unleash domestic fossil fuel production. While legal experts say presidents have broad authority to declare national emergencies, Biden has put up some roadblocks to specific measures that Trump may want to take. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement For instance, Biden earlier this month used the Outer Continental Shelf Land Act to ban oil and gas drilling in all federal waters off the East and West coasts, the eastern Gulf of Mexico and portions of the Bering Sea in Alaska. Trump has said he would revoke that ban, but legal experts say it is unclear that presidents have that authority. During Trump's first term, he tried to undo a federal ban on drilling near Alaska via an executive order, but a federal judge determined his order was unlawful. Federal law gives Trump the ability to declare an energy emergency, which may allow him to temporarily suspend emissions rules for power plants and skirt environmental review for energy projects. (Reporting by Gram Slattery in Washington and Luc Cohen in New York; Additional reporting by Jack Queen in New York; Editing by Ross Colvin and Howard Goller) NEW DELHI, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- Authorities in the eastern Indian state of Bihar on Monday have ordered a probe into the death of seven people who had allegedly consumed spurious liquor, officials said. The deaths took place in Lauriya police station area of West Champaran district. The administration came to know about the deaths on Sunday. According to police, all seven persons have been cremated by their families without getting an autopsy of the bodies. Senior police official Ranjan Kumar Singh attributed the deaths to some diseases that these people were suffering from. However, Local media reports quoting villagers blamed the deaths on the consumption of spurious liquor. Experts said the families of the victims were not coming forward to avoid police cases as liquor is banned in Bihar. The deaths have once again highlighted the sale of spurious liquor in an otherwise dry state, where the sale and consumption of liquor are strictly prohibited by law. The sale and consumption of liquor were prohibited in Bihar in 2016. The ban was imposed after women groups campaigned against poor workers squandering their meager earnings on alcohol consumption. Despite the prohibition, deaths from the consumption of illicit liquor in the state were reported often. Angela Rayners department has blocked plans to introduce Englands first seaside tourist tax after councillors failed to consult enough hoteliers on the proposal. A 2.40 per night visitor levy was poised to be introduced in Bournemouth in an effort to draw in 12m over the next five years. However, the project has been scuppered by the Deputy Prime Minister and Housing Secretary following a blunder by the district council in a local referendum. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The decision comes just a week after it was revealed that the Chancellor is mulling a national tourist tax as she scrambles to find ways to plug a spending gap created by the Governments soaring borrowing bill. Hotels in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council were last year asked to vote in a postal ballot to determine whether to introduce a tourist tax. It narrowly passed with 16 voting in favour and 15 against. However, the Lib Dem-run council failed to send ballot papers to all eligible hotels. Outraged hoteliers went on to launch an appeal with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government amid accusations of a flawed voting process. Six months down the line, ministers have sided in favour of the appeal and the visitor levy vote voided due to a material irregularity in the ballot. The Government said businesses that were eligible to vote did not receive ballot papers. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Bournemouths tourist charge was set to be the first introduced at an English seaside town, but the local Accommodation Business Improvement District (Abid) the team behind the proposal is now back to square one. Rosie Radwell, chairman of the Abid, said: We are deeply disappointed by the outcome, as the initiative was developed to address the challenges facing our tourism industry and secure a prosperous future for Bournemouth, Christchurch, and Poole as a leading UK destination. While this is disappointing, we respect the ministrys findings and will work to address the challenges ahead. We will take time to reflect on the next steps. Forty-two hotels were thought to put their signature behind the plan to overturn the tourist tax. They argued the charge would scare away potential visitors, with the extra nightly fees putting a huge negative cloud over the Dorset towns. Josephine Butterworth, who runs hotels at Sandbanks in Poole with her husband John, says the tax wont work as a matter of principle - John Lawrence Josephine Butterworth, who helps run multiple hotels at Sandbanks in Poole, told The Telegraph last summer: Some people might argue, Oh, whats a tenner? on top of a few nights stay. But for a lot of people its actually a matter of principle. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement They can quite simply go down the road to another hotel that doesnt charge a tax. Unlike in Scotland, English councils have no powers to impose tourist taxes. However, a legal workaround allows the levy to be imposed by business improvement districts (Bids). This is the case in Manchester, where a 1.20 per night tax generated 2.8m in its first year. In Wales, guests will pay 1.25 per night on overnight accommodation bills from 2027 under plans drawn up by Labour. Meanwhile, in England, Rachel Reeves is contemplating a country-wide hotel tax paid by both domestic and foreign tourists of 1 per person, per night, which could raise more than 400m a year. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Treasury has not denied reports that officials have already modelled such a levy. The Ministry of Housing was approached for comment. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. A drone attack was reported in Voronezh Oblast near the village of Liski on Monday evening. Source: local Telegram channels; Alexander Gusev, governor of Voronezh Oblast Details: Gusev said that one of the UAVs crashed into the territory of an oil depot and started a fire. The UAVs were allegedly shot down by air defence and electronic warfare systems. Earlier, on the night of 15-16 January, the Liski oil depot was attacked. A state of emergency was declared in the area on 17 January due to the ongoing fire. Background: On the night of 13-14 January, the Ukrainian defence forces carried out a large-scale attack on Russian military facilities at a distance of 200 to 1,100 kilometres inside Russia. Targets in Russias Bryansk, Saratov and Tula oblasts and the Republic of Tatarstan were hit. In particular, the Kombinat Kristal oil storage facility in Engels, Saratov Oblast, was attacked again. A fire that lasted for five days after the previous attack had just been extinguished. Units of the Unmanned Systems Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and Defence Intelligence of Ukraine successfully set the depot on fire again. On the night of 15-16 January, units of the Special Operations Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine successfully attacked the Liski oil depot in Russias Voronezh Oblast. A large-scale fire broke out there. Support UP or become our patron! FILE - Baltimore Orioles right fielder Anthony Santander warms up during a baseball workout a day before the team's wild card playoff game against the Kansas City Royals, Monday, Sept. 30, 2024, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough, File) The Toronto Blue Jays finally landed a high-profile free agent on Monday, agreeing to a $92.5 million, five-year contract with Anthony Santander. The agreement includes an opt out and a 2030 team option with escalators that could increase the value to $110 million over six seasons, according to his agency, the Beverly Hills Sports Council. Toronto made a play for Shohei Ohtani last year and was in the mix for Juan Soto before he joined the New York Mets in December. The Blue Jays also were reportedly one of the finalists for Roki Sasaki before the Japanese pitcher said he intends to sign with the Los Angeles Dodgers. But Toronto managed to put Santander in its lineup alongside Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Bo Bichette and George Springer. The Blue Jays are looking to rebound after finishing last in the AL East with a 74-88 record in 2024. Santander set career highs with 44 homers, 102 RBIs and 91 runs scored in 155 games for Baltimore last year. The outfielder batted .235 with a .506 slugging percentage while making the AL All-Star team for the first time. Santander, who turned 30 in October, was the majors first switch hitter to reach 40 homers since 2006. He became the fourth switch hitter to hit at least 44 homers in a season, joining Mickey Mantle (twice), Lance Berkman and Chipper Jones. The Venezuelan slugger helped Baltimore get into the playoffs for the second straight year, but it was swept by Kansas City in the opening round. Santander received a qualifying offer after the season, so the Orioles will receive a compensatory pick after the first round of this year's amateur draft. The Blue Jays lose their second draft pick and $500,000 in 2026 international signing bonus allocation. Left-hander Brandon Eisert was designated for assignment to make room for Santander on Toronto's 40-man roster. Santander signed with Cleveland as an international free agent in July 2011. He was selected by Baltimore in the Rule 5 draft in December 2016. After being sidelined by right elbow inflammation, he made his major league debut with the Orioles on Aug 18, 2017, but he appeared in only 13 games that first year. Santander had a breakout performance in 2022, batting .240 with 33 homers and 89 RBIs in 152 games. He stamped himself as part of an emerging group of young players as the Orioles went 83-79 after losing 110 games in the previous season. Santander hit .257 with 28 homers, 95 RBIs and a career-high 41 doubles as Baltimore won the 2023 AL East title with a 101-61 record. The Orioles then were swept by the Rangers in their AL Division Series. ___ AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) Just one day before Donald Trumps presidential inauguration, hundreds gathered Sunday at San Franciscos Civic Center for a rally against the incoming commander-in-chief. Many people at the rally said theyre fed up with both the Democratic and Republican parties like Jessica Mataka who says they have failed the U.S. I want to be part of a group thats organizing for everyday peoples rights that cares about people over profits and government that is not ruled by corporate interest, Mataka said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Waymo rear-ended by speeding car in SF, 8 victims in fatal multi-vehicle crash Protestors held up signs about issues like immigration, transgender, and womens rights as well as the wars in Gaza and Ukraine. Theres an importance to emphasize an interconnectedness to all of their causes, said protestor Nancy Akers. Theres not freedom for any of us until there is freedom for all of us. Mataka says shes worried about the corporate greed that comes with todays U.S. politics. Without it, many problems could be solved. Mataka says she was proud to stand with everyone on Sunday. Everyone is coming together because we have a common enemy that is U.S. imperialism, Mataka said. To me, its really amazing to see people recognizing those threats and coming together. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 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. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez did not attend Donald Trumps inauguration as she doesnt celebrate rapists, in reference to the president being found by a judge to have sexually abused writer E. Jean Carroll. The outspoken Democratic congresswoman took to Instagram to quash any speculation that she would be makeing the trip to Washington, DC on Monday to watch Trump being sworn into office for a second time. All these journalists were like, Congresswoman, are you going to the inauguration?, Ocasio-Cortez, 35, said in a video posted to her social media page on Sunday with the caption, guess Im old school that way. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Let me make myself clear: I dont celebrate rapists. So, no. Im not going to the inauguration, she added. Ocasio-Cortez continued her tirade on X, goading conservative account Libs of TikTok that shared the clip and claimed that Trump should pursue legal action over her comments. Oh, are you triggered? Cry more, the congresswoman replied. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez revealed that she will not be attending Donald Trumps inauguraton in Washington, DC, on Monday (Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez/Instagram) Elon Musk, Trumps incoming head of the unofficial Department of Government Efficiency, commented on her post, Unhinged. Her comments appear to concern the swathe of allegations made against Trump between the 1980s to 2013. At least 18 women have accused Trump of varying inappropriate behavior which include allegations of sexual harassment and sexual assault. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trump denies any wrongdoing and has never been criminally convicted of rape. He has, however, been found civilly liable for the sexual abuse and defamation of columnist and author E. Jean Carroll in a New York department store changing room in 1995 or 1996 which resulted in her being awarded $88.3 million in damages. In November, 2019, Carroll filed a lawsuit against Trump, accusing him of defamation by claiming she lied about him allegedly raping her. Carroll filed a second lawsuit against Trump in November 2022 that renewed and expanded her claim under the Adult Survivors Act. Trump speaks during a press conference at Trump Tower on September 6, 2024 after attending a federal appeals court attempting to get a new trial after a jury found he sexually abused and defamed E. Jean Carroll. (Getty Images) By May 2023, a jury of six men and three women found Trump liable for sexually abusing Carroll and defaming her, and thre president-elect ordered to pay $5 million in compensatory and punitive damages. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trump, however, was not found liable for rape but for a lesser degree of sexual abuse. In August 2023, judge Lewis Kaplan denied Trumps counter claim and said Carrolls accusation of rape is substantially true. In a September 2023 summary judgement, Trump was found liable for defaming Carroll and, following a trial held in January 2024, the victim was awarded an additional $83.3 million in damages. Trump made an unsuccessful counterclaim and in December 2024 lost his initial appeal, with the judge dismissing the case. The same month, ABC News agreed to pay $15m Trump to settle a defamation lawsuit after its star anchor, George Stephanopoulos, falsely claimed in March 2024 that the president-elect had been found liable for rape. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, known colloquially as AOC, has revealed she will not attend Donald Trumps inauguration (Getty Images) In a separate Instagram story posted earlier on Sunday, Ocasio-Cortez claimed that TikTok is being used as a propaganda tool for the Trump administration after the Chinese social media company thanked the president-elect for his support after the app went dark for US users on Saturday. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement And for all of those concerns that people were saying that TikTok is going to be used as a propaganda tool by the Chinese, understand theyre using it as a propaganda tool for the right, she said in another video. She later warned her followers that the US was on the eve of an authoritarian administration, adding that this is what 21st century fascism is starting to look like. The Independent has contacted the Trump Transition Team for more information. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) said Sunday in a series of Instagram story posts that TikTok referring to Donald Trump as President Trump while thanking him for helping it restore service in the United States was a choice, considering hes a private citizen and not yet president. On Saturday, TikTok went dark after the Supreme Court upheld the apps ban in the U.S., but it was back Sunday. When users opened it, a notification popped up thanking President Trump for his efforts in restoring TikTok. The social media platform also shared a separate statement on the matter, where it continued to refer to Trump as president of the U.S. even though he doesnt become the head of the country until Monday. In agreement with our service providers, TikTok is in the process of restoring service, the statement said. We thank President Trump for providing the necessary clarity and assurance to our service providers that they will face no penalties providing TikTok to over 170 million Americans and allowing over 7 million small businesses to thrive. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Its a strong stand for the First Amendment and against arbitrary censorship, it added. We will work with President Trump on a long-term solution that keeps TikTok in the United States. TikTok did not immediately respond to a request for comment. On her Instagram story, Ocasio-Cortez claimed that TikTok is signaling that they have agreed to privately collaborate with Donald Trump and the Trump administration by naming him in its notification. And for all of those concerns that people were saying that TikTok is going to be used as a propaganda tool by the Chinese, understand theyre using it as a propaganda tool for the right, she added. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The New York lawmaker spoke further on that point in another post, saying that every mass social media platform in the United States has been taken over by the right wing. Elon Musk, owner of X, formerly called Twitter; Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta; and Shou Zi Chew, the CEO of TikTok, are set to attend Trumps inauguration on Monday. Ocasio-Cortez then ended with a warning to her followers. We are on the eve of an authoritarian administration, she said. This is what 21st century fascism is starting to look like. Related... Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) will absolutely not be attending Donald Trumps second presidential inauguration on Monday, and she has no problem explaining her reasons. All these journalists are like Congresswoman, are you going to the inauguration? Congresswoman, are you going to the inauguration? Are you going to the inauguration? Let me make myself clear: I dont celebrate rapists. Ao no, Im not going to the inauguration room, Ocasio-Cortez said in an Instagram post on Sunday night. Trump has long been the subject of sexual assault allegations, most notably from author E. Jean Carroll. In 2023, the incoming president was found liable for the sexual abuse and defamation against Carroll, who accused him of sexually abusing her in a department store dressing room in the 1990s. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trump was not found liable for rape, although Judge Lewis Kaplan expounded on the issue in a filing responding to a request from Trumps attorney seeking a new trial. The finding that Ms. Carroll failed to prove that she was raped within the meaning of the New York Penal Law does not mean that she failed to prove that Mr. Trump raped her as many people commonly understand the word rape, Kaplan wrote. Trump sued ABC News and anchor George Stephanopoulos in 2024 after the host wrongly said on the air that Trump was found liable for rape and defaming the victim of that rape. In December, ABC agreed to pay $15 million to Trumps presidential library as part of a settlement. The network aslo posted an editors note to its website noting that ABC and Stephanopoulos regret the hosts false statements. The congresswoman spent Inauguration Eve posting several videos criticizing the incoming president ahead of his swearing-in. Ocasio-Cortez also criticized TikTok which was temporarily unavailable in the United States ahead of a ban that went into effect Sunday for publicly thanking Trump as the platforms supposed savior. First of all, Donald Trump is not president right now. He is a private citizen. He does not have access to presidential powers, Ocasio-Cortez said in one post, noting that TikTok is signaling that they have agreed to privately collaborate with Trump and the Trump administration. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement For all of those concerns that people were saying that TikTok is going to be used as a propaganda tool by the Chinese, understand theyre using it as a propaganda tool for the right, she added. On Sunday morning, Trump wrote on Truth Social that immediately upon taking up office he would issue an executive order on Monday to extend the period of time before the laws prohibitions take effect, so that we can make a deal to protect our national security. The order will also confirm that there will be no liability for any company that helped keep TikTok from going dark before my order. I would like the United States to have a 50% ownership position in a joint venture. By doing this, we save TikTok, keep it in good hands and allow it to say up. Without U.S. approval, there is no Tik Tok. With our approval, it is worth hundreds of billions of dollars maybe trillions, he added. Trump has vowed to implement a slew of major policy changes on the first day of his administration including plans to authorize mass deportations and pardon Jan. 6 rioters. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement To Ocasio-Cortez, TikToks ass kissing towards the incoming administration is a sign of a darker dynamic within Trumps government. We are on the eve of an authoritarian administration, she said. This is what 21st century fascism is starting to look like. More from Rolling Stone Best of Rolling Stone Sign up for RollingStone's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said shes skipping President-elect Donald Trumps inauguration because she doesnt celebrate rapists. According to the 14th District representative, journalists have repeatedly asked if shell be attending Trumps swearing in as the nations 47th president Monday afternoon. Let me make myself clear, she said on an Instagram video. I dont celebrate rapists. So no. Related Articles Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In May 1993, a Manhattan jury found Trump liable for sexually abusing author E. Jean Carroll in May. He was accused of assaulting her in a department store dressing room in 1996 and later defaming her. Jurors didnt find Trump responsible for rape, though District Court Judge Lewis Kaplan said that was because New Yorks very narrow definition of rape doesnt apply to the victims claim of being digitally assaulted by Trump. ABC News agreed to make a $15 million charitable contribution to Trumps presidential library in December after the President-elect sued the network because host George Stephanopoulos characterized Trumps assault of Carroll as rape. The President-elect denies any wrongdoing. Hell be sworn into office during a noon ceremony inside the U.S. Capitol. Ocasio-Cortez said in February 2021 that shes a survivor of sexual assault. BANGKOK (AP) It's a big day for LGBTQ+ couples in Thailand. On Thursday, they gained the legal right to register their marriages, making it the first country in Southeast Asia and the third place in Asia to recognize same-sex unions, after Taiwan and Nepal. In central Bangkok, a popular shopping mall held a daylong gala to help accommodate the hundreds of same-sex couples who wanted to register their marriages on the very first day. Thailand has a reputation for acceptance and inclusivity but struggled for decades to pass a marriage equality law. Thai society has broadly conservative values, and members of the LGBTQ+ community say they face discrimination in everyday life, while also saying they've seen great improvement in recent years. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The marriage equality bill was officially written into law on Sept. 24, after it was endorsed by King Maha Vajiralongkorn. The government led by the Pheu Thai party made marriage equality one of its main goals after coming to power in 2023. It had a major presence at the annual Bangkok Pride parade in June, with thousands of people celebrating in one of Bangkoks busiest commercial districts. The Associated Press spoke with seven same-sex couples in the days before the law took effect: Jakrapob Penkair, 57, former Prime Ministers Office minister, and Supraipon Chuaychoo, 44, tourism business owner Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This law doesnt only equate life. It is life! At long last, Thailands society accepts the legality of all marriages in our land, regardless of sexual orientation. With that one sentence, lost or wasted lives have been rescued. Spirits restored. The whole country is better off. Jakrapob Penkair Prorawin Battemdee, 40, public relations officer, and Pitee Chuchomchuen, 39, designer The marriage equality law will bring about a multitude of positive outcomes, especially by providing greater security and legal assurances for our relationships, including better access to health care and other protections. Im truly happy this day has finally become a reality, Prorawin Battemdee Kullayahnut Akkharasretthabudh, 38, real estate owner, and Juthatip Suttiwong, 24, chef Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The enforcement of the marriage equality law is proof that regardless of our gender, we all share the same basic human rights in every aspect under Thai law. It also paves the way for other countries in Asia, highlighting the importance of recognizing each others human values and enabling everyone to live. Kullayahnut Akkharasretthabudh Chantamas Hemapanpairo, 52, business owner, and Sirada Thongchua, 38, teacher This law will grant both of us the right to take care of each other, legally sign consent for the others medical treatment, and provide each other with lifelong security. When one of us dies, the law will ensure that our bond is recognized and protected. Chantamas Hemapanpairo Patherine Khunnares, 37, web designer, and Vivian Chullamon, 36, researcher Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "Were quite fortunate. We have a supportive social circle, friends, and family who accept us for who we are and accept the person we love. Marriage, it seems, isnt everything that fulfills us emotionally. However, ultimately, we believe that as two human beings, we should be granted the same basic legal rights as heterosexual couples. We are a complete family in spirit, but legal recognition would alleviate our future anxieties. In the end, we arent asking for anything special we just want a simple, happy family life. Patherine Khunnares Jutarat Chuenpae, 37, business owner, and Nutanong Sopon, 43, business owner Before the marriage equality bill became law, I personally felt that I could only use the word partner. But from now on, its family. Jutarat Chuenpae Panuwat Srisawat, 35, Hairstylist, and Kritsanai Promsiriruk, 62, actor Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The marriage equality law allows everyones lives to complete each other without any further discrimination. Panuwat Srisawat ___ Follow AP visual journalism: AP Images blog: http://apimagesblog.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/apnews X: http://twitter.com/AP_Images Jan. 20An Albuquerque police officer was taken to a local hospital after trying to avoid being shot at during a traffic stop in Southeast Albuquerque Monday morning. The officer's injuries are non-life-threatening, Albuquerque Police Department spokesperson Gilbert Gallegos said. At 3:54 a.m., officers attempted a traffic stop on a white Acura without a license plate at Tennessee and Trumbull. After the vehicle fled, officers unsuccessfully used StarChase, a GPS tracking device fired onto a moving vehicle, according to police. An officer later said a passenger then fired "several gunshots" at police, he said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement No officers were hit, but an officer suffered a minor laceration when he crashed his vehicle as a result of the shooting, Gallegos said. After the incident, the four suspects continued driving before stopping outside the Wells Fargo at San Mateo and Zuni, where they got out and ran, Gallegos said. APD is looking for the suspects in the area of San Mateo and Zuni, he said. "Residents are urged to stay in their homes and keep their doors locked," Gallegos said. "Drivers are urged to stay (away) from that area." The Azerbaijani Embassy in Greece held a commemorative event dedicated to the anniversary of the January 20 tragedy, Azernews reports, citing the press services of the diplomatic mission. "The Azerbaijani Embassy held a commemorative event dedicated to the 35th anniversary of the January 20 tragedy with the participation of the Azerbaijani community in Greece," the embassy's social media account noted. LHASA, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- Yeshe and his younger brother could sense a wave of relief as they unloaded around three tonnes of cow dung from their truck in quake-hit Lnaze County in southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region. In early January, a 6.8-magnitude earthquake struck Dingri County in the city of Xigaze, claiming 126 lives and leveling thousands of houses. Many surrounding counties, including Lnaze, were also affected. Situated at an altitude of over 4,000 meters above sea level, the quake zone faces its harshest winter conditions. Locals traditionally rely on cow dung and sheep dung as fuel for cooking and heating. To support those in need, Saga County, hometown of Yeshe and his brother that is 200 km away from the epicenter of the quake, organized a donation of supplies to quake-affected areas. The brothers volunteered to join the relief team as transporters. To date, Saga County has donated more than 13,000 bags of fuel supplies weighing 240 tonnes, including cow and sheep dung. When receiving the supplies, Chozin, a villager from Lnaze County, felt grateful. "The country and government have always been helping us. Now we are living in board houses with all the necessary supplies," she said. Xizang will continue to carry out post-disaster relief work, and coordinate temporary and transitional resettlement to ensure a safe and warm winter for quake-affected people, Gama Cedain, acting chairman of the regional government, said on Sunday. As of Jan. 16, the office of the autonomous region's earthquake relief headquarters had installed 9,525 stoves, distributed over 259,700 quilts and blankets, and transported 759 tonnes of fuel. Disaster relief did not come from the government alone. Ordinary people, too, are playing their part in sending warmth to the disaster-hit area. At noon last Tuesday, a supply truck slowly rolled into Qulho Township in Dingri, where villagers rushed to help unload down jackets, shoes and hats. The driver, Liang Xiaomei, serving as a volunteer, owns a supermarket in Kangmar County in Xigaze. She loaded her truck with two tonnes of food and drove overnight for nine hours to reach the disaster zone. "I experienced the 8.0-magnitude Wenchuan earthquake in Sichuan Province in 2008, and many kind people helped us back then," Liang said. "This time, I must do whatever I can to help." As of Jan. 15, donations from all sectors of society had totaled around 1.64 billion yuan (about 228.14 million U.S. dollars), and they will be used for the relocation and resettlement of affected communities and for ensuring the provision of basic living necessities. Jan. 20An unidentified person is in custody while three others remain at large after Albuquerque police officers were shot at during a traffic stop in Southeast Albuquerque Monday morning At 3:54 a.m., officers attempted a traffic stop on a white Acura without a license plate at Tennessee and Trumbull. After the vehicle fled, officers unsuccessfully used StarChase, a GPS tracking device fired onto a moving vehicle, according to police. An officer later said a passenger then fired "several gunshots" at police, Albuquerque Police Department spokesperson Gilbert Gallegos said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement No officers were hit by bullets, Albuquerque Police Department spokesperson Gilbert Gallegos said, but an officer suffered a minor laceration when he crashed his vehicle as a result of the shooting. After the incident, the four suspects continued driving before stopping outside the Wells Fargo at San Mateo and Zuni, where they got out and ran, Gallegos said. Three of the suspects have yet to be found, he said. At 6:30 a.m., Gallegos said people were "urged to stay in their homes and keep their doors locked." About an hour and a half later, he said police "reopened up the perimeter and roads are open to traffic." "However, investigators are still collecting evidence," he said. Over 175 million people across the country are under some form of cold weather alert as the mid-Atlantic and Northeast ready for another round of rain and snow and southern states brace for frigid temperatures and rare snowfall. The cold comes on the tail of another system that brought scattered rain and snow to parts of the East Coast on Saturday. Varying levels of cold weather alerts will be in effect across much of the country over the next couple of days as a bitterly cold Arctic airmass drops temperatures 10 to 40 degrees below average, according to the National Weather Service. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Cold weather alerts stretch from northern-tier states along the Canadian border to the Gulf of Mexico. The most extreme cold will grip the northern Plains and the Rocky Mountains, where wind chill values will dip as low as minus 30 to minus 55 degrees. 'Substantial snowfall' forecast in Houston In Houston, where temperatures were plunging to freezing and below Sunday night, officials were contending with a separate low pressure-driven storm that was expected to produce rain, then freezing rain, then snow Monday into Tuesday, federal forecasters said. Houstons George Bush Intercontinental Airport was scheduled to close at 12 a.m. local time Tuesday, and the Houston Independent School District and other public schools in the region were also closing Tuesday in response to the weather. The National Weather Service said in a forecast discussion Sunday that snow totals would place this as one of the most substantial snowfall events in the history of the Greater Houston Area. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Mayor John Whitmire said city crews were using deicing chemicals on roads, but he urged motorists to stay put during the storm. Ive been convinced that we are about to experience a very serious and dangerous weather episode, he said at a news conference Sunday.The storm was expected to make its way east along the Gulf Coast and southeast United States on Tuesday, the National Weather Service said in a forecast discussion. Rare snow was expected in Mobile, Alabama, and as far east as Pensacola, Florida, the weather service said, with accumulations on the ground and 1 to 4 inches possible starting Tuesday. Mid-Atlantic and Northeast forecast On Sunday afternoon, scattered snow and rain began pushing their way through the Mid-Atlantic and the Northeast. Snowfall totals as of Sunday evening include 12 inches in Grantsville, Maryland, and 5.2 inches in Uniontown, Pennsylvania. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The snow was expected to come to an end late Sunday or early Monday as the system moves to the Northeast, affecting states along the Interstate 95 corridor. Snow totals of 2 to 6 inches are possible. Lingering snow showers will persist in New England early Monday, with most snow ending by sunrise. In Hartford, Connecticut, the weather service reported light snow falling Sunday night, with only trace amounts recorded so far. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul directed state agencies to prepare to respond to the storm, which could bring 4 to 6 inches of snow to New York City, 2 to 3 inches to Long Island and up to 10 inches to the mid-Hudson region. New Yorkers are no stranger to winter weather, but I encourage everyone to make sure you and your family are prepared for the snow and extreme cold, exercise caution if traveling and continue to monitor your local forecast, Hochul said in a statement. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Earlier Sunday night a few inches of snow fell in New York City, with the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn reporting 3 inches. Also in New York, lake effect snow will develop downwind of Lake Ontario and Erie. Totals through Sunday night will range from 2 to 6 inches, with up to 8 inches possible in some areas. Light snow was reported in Buffalo and Albany late Sunday.Philadelphia city officials on Sunday night announced a snow emergency that prohibits parking on major routes and other streets designated for first responder use during the storm, according to a statement. New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy declared a state of emergency, which went into effect Sunday morning. Murphy urged residents to follow safety protocols and stay off the roads, as about 8 to 12 inches of snow was expected in parts of the state. In Boston, around 4 to 8 inches of snow was expected to fall from Sunday afternoon into Monday morning. The week ahead Conditions in areas impacted by the Arctic blast will gradually warm closer to average temperatures by the end of the week, with highs staying 5 to 15 degrees below average in the South into the upcoming weekend. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A few record lows will also be possible during the week, including in Kansas City, Missouri; Baton Rouge, Louisiana; Pensacola, Florida; Detroit; Myrtle Beach, South Carolina; and Savannah, Georgia. This article was originally published on NBCNews.com LAS VEGAS The Arkansas Martin Luther King, Jr Commission has announced that executive director DuShun Scarbrough was honored with the key to the city and named the National MLK Parade Ambassador in Las Vegas this weekend. Scarbrough was recognized for his leadership in advancing unity through his service, equality and vision over Dr. Kings legacy. The mayor of Las Vegas presents the key to the city with respect and gratitude to Mr. DuShun Scarbrough. Thank you for gracing us with your presence, you are always welcome in the great city of Las Vegas. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Where to celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day in central Arkansas As a national ambassador he will now continue to support efforts to sustain Dr. King through this collaboration. To learn more about the Arkansas MLK Commission, visit them online at ArKingDream.org. Copyright 2025 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. The supervisory board of Ukraines Defense Procurement Agency advised the Defense Minister to extend its directors work in a statement posted on Facebook on Jan. 20. The Supervisory Board submitted to Defense Minister Rustem Umerov a recommendation to extend the contract of the current director of the Defense Procurement Agency, Maryna Bezrukova, for one year, the statement read. Separate boards were set up for Ukraines lethal and non-lethal procurement agencies, complying with NATO standards, in the fall of 2024. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Defense Minister Rustem Umerov planned to merge the Defense Procurement Agency (DPA) and the State Logistics Operator (DOT) into one agency but changed his mind after a NATO statement said that the two agencies should be kept separate and two separate supervisory boards should be established. Bezrukova, a former employee of Ukraines energy company Ukrenergo, was appointed to head the DPA. This decision is based on an assessment of her performance and the need to ensure stability and efficiency in procurement management in wartime, the supervisory board statement read. In a separate move, the supervisory board also announced initiating an independent audit by the International Board of Auditors of NATO (IBAN), the results of which will form a center of excellence for Ukraine's military procurement, the statement read. Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. HARLEM, Manhattan (PIX11) A man was arrested in connection to the unprovoked attack of an on-duty MTA worker in Harlem Friday afternoon, the NYPD announced. Paul Hinton, 36, was taken into custody at 11:30 a.m. on Sunday and charged with assault in the second degree. More Local News The incident happened inside the West 148 Street & Lenox Avenue station around 1:15 p.m. Friday. Police say the victim was standing on the platform when Hinton allegedly punched her in the face and fled the station. The victim was taken to a local hospital for treatment. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Submit tips to police by calling Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477), visiting crimestoppers.nypdonline.org, downloading the NYPD Crime Stoppers mobile app, or texting 274637 (CRIMES) then entering TIP577. Spanish-speaking callers are asked to dial 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). Ben Mitchell is a digital content producer from Vermont who has covered both local and international news since 2021. He joined PIX11 in 2024. See more of his work here. Copyright 2025 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. (Bloomberg) -- Asian fossil fuel buyers looking to appease incoming US President Donald Trump have come to the same conclusion: buy more American oil and gas. Most Read from Bloomberg Listen to the Bloomberg Daybreak Europe podcast on Apple, Spotify or anywhere you listen The re-elected populist leader has threatened tariffs against a number of nations that have trade surpluses with the US, prompting policymakers from South Korea, Taiwan, Vietnam and also the European Union to consider procuring more energy from the worlds biggest producer of crude and exporter of liquefied natural gas. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trade partners see buying US LNG as aiding in tariff negotiations with the Trump administration, said Saul Kavonic, an energy analyst at MST Marquee. Theres been a noticeable and rapid shift toward securing US supply since Trumps election win, he added. Such a shift would allow Trump who has promised his voters a hard pivot back to fossil fuels to expand US LNG exports beyond the already planned doubling by 2030, as well as give American project developers an edge over rival exporters. Trump is expected to order changes to encourage domestic oil and gas development immediately after his inauguration on Monday. This could include lifting his predecessor Joe Bidens moratorium on fresh licenses for LNG export projects a policy that slowed new sales agreements from 38 in 2022 to just seven last year, according to data from BloombergNEF. More LNG production from the US is bright news for the utilities industry as it could stabilize prices, said Kazuhiro Ikebe, president of Japanese regional power producer Kyushu Electric Power Co. Buyers have been grappling with volatile gas prices since the war in Ukraine began in 2022. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In countries including Japan and Thailand, buyers have renewed talks with US LNG export projects over the last few months, according to traders participating in the negotiations, who added they are eager to sign deals with the US if the price is right. Roughly half of US LNG exports went to Europe last year, according to ship-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg. And the loss of Russian pipeline gas flows at the start of the year means the continent may also turn to US supply to plug that gap. Trump last month warned the EU that its goods will get hit with US tariffs if its member states dont buy more American oil and gas. The trading unit of DTEK, Ukraines largest private energy firm, said last month it aims to bring a steady supply of US LNG into Ukraine. The current administration supported the supply of gas to Europe, said D.Trading Chief Executive Officer Dmytro Sakharuk. And we believe that during the next administration that will be even more active. The market is unlikely to see any immediate impact. Importers cant easily boost purchases from the US over the next few years, as much of the nations current output is already tied up in long-term contracts. Instead, traders negotiating with US exporters say they are considering locking in supply worth billions, without which proposed US projects - which would take years to build wouldnt go ahead. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Even the long-delayed Alaska LNG project, which has been in the works for more than a decade, could potentially move forward under Trump. The new administration is also expected to use the nations dominance in the LNG sector for gains elsewhere, like in an escalating trade war with rival China. His pick for secretary of state Marco Rubio has said LNG should be used as leverage in talks with China the worlds top importer of the super-chilled fuel. The threats already seem to be working. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen was quick to discuss LNG exports with Trump shortly after his election victory in November, saying American fuel could help replace still strong Russian shipments in Europe. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Other countries are all talking about how they need to reduce the growing trade deficit under the Trump administration, South Koreas Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Ahn Duk-geun said on Thursday. Everyones saying they all want US energy. --With assistance from Heesu Lee, Shoko Oda, Anna Shiryaevskaya and Ruth Liao. Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2025 Bloomberg L.P. Atlanta Police are asking for the publics help locating a senior who wandered away from his home on Sunday. Police say 73-year-old Bill Harper was last seen at his home on 860 Amber Place in northwest Atlanta at approximately 12 p.m. [DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] Harper, who has dementia, has a history of wandering off from his home for a day before returning home or being located by law enforcement. TRENDING STORIES: Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Anyone with information on Harpers whereabouts is asked to contact the Atlanta Police Homicide/Adult Missing Persons Unit at 404-546-4235. [SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter] Chinese Premier Li Qiang, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, presides over a symposium to hear opinions and suggestions from experts, entrepreneurs and representatives of sectors such as education, science, culture, health and sports, on a draft government work report in Beijing, capital of China, Jan. 20, 2025. (Xinhua/Rao Aimin) BEIJING, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Li Qiang on Monday presided over a symposium to hear opinions and suggestions on a draft government work report. Li, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, listened to suggestions from experts, entrepreneurs and representatives of sectors such as education, science, culture, health and sports. China achieved progress in various sectors last year, and those achievements were hard won, according to representatives at the symposium. They offered suggestions on addressing the current challenges in development and ensuring government work in 2025. China still faces many difficulties and challenges in its development, particularly with increasing uncertainty and instability in the external environment, Li said, emphasizing the importance of understanding situations accurately and becoming adept at turning crises into opportunities. Li said that China has comprehensive strengths in such areas as institutions, the market, industry and talent, and that its overall trend of long-term economic improvement remains unchanged and will not change. Efforts should be made to adopt a more proactive fiscal policy and a moderately loose monetary policy, monitor the development of domestic and international situations closely, adjust policy measures in a timely manner, and fine-tune the country's policy toolbox, Li said. He also called for further deepened reform, expanded opening-up, the promotion of a transition from old to new growth drivers through scientific and technological innovation, and intensified efforts to secure and improve people's livelihoods. Li noted his expectation that those in attendance would work hard in their respective fields, actively report on social conditions and public opinion, and devise more policy recommendations. The draft work report has also been distributed to various government departments for suggestions. The mother of U.S. journalist Austin Tice says she has been in contact with incoming Trump administration officials about locating her son, who has been missing in Syria since 2012. I have great hope that the Trump administration will sincerely engage in diligent work to bring Austin home, Debra Tice said during a Monday news conference in Damascus, according to NBC News. His people have already reached out to me. I havent experienced that for the last four years. Biden administration officials late last year said Tice, a freelance journalist who disappeared near Damascus in August 2012, is alive, though officials have not produced any direct evidence to support that claim. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Tices mother also did not produce new evidence regarding her sons location or well being, NBC News noted. Debra Tice had previously told the outlet she had received an intelligence briefing suggesting her son was alive. The FBI has kept a $1 million reward for information related to the safe location, recovery, and return, of the former U.S. Marine who had been reporting on the Syrian civil war when he went missing. During her visit to Syria, which came as President Trump was inaugurated in Washington, Tice met with Ahmed al-Sharaa, the head of the rebel faction that ended the reign of dictator Bashar al-Assad and now the de factor ruler of the country. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement During my time in Damascus, I have been privileged to meet with the new leadership of Syria. It was so wonderful to learn that they are dedicated and determined to bring home my son, she reportedly said. He came here as a journalist to tell the story of the Syrian people to the world, and in the process, fell in love with this beautiful country, she added. Copyright 2025 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 The Hill. By Jana Choukeir DUBAI (Reuters) - The mother of American journalist Austin Tice said on Monday she was hopeful that the new administrations in the U.S. and Syria would help her find her missing son, who was taken captive during a reporting trip near Damascus about 12 years ago. "Today, January 20, President (Donald) Trump will be sworn into office and I have great hope that his administration will work to bring Austin home," Debra Tice told a press conference in Damascus organized by the NGO Hostage Aid Worldwide. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement She also said she was encouraged because officials in the new U.S. government had already reached out to her about her missing son. Tice has criticised outgoing U.S. President Joe Biden's administration, saying they did not negotiate hard enough for her son's release, even in recent months. Tice, who worked as a freelance reporter for the Washington Post and other publications, was one of the first U.S. journalists to make it into Syria after the outbreak of the civil war in 2011. She visited in 2015 to meet Syrian authorities about her son, before they stopped granting her visas. The overthrow of veteran leader Bashar al-Assad in December by Syrian rebels has allowed her to visit again from her home in Texas. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Tice added that on Sunday she met Syria's new leaders, who she said demonstrated a "dedication" to bring her son back. "The new administration knows what we're going through and they're trying to make things right for people like us," she said. However, Tice said that the ousting of Assad on Dec. 8 had complicated the search for her son, as it made it more difficult to know where her son is held and by whom. "It's like we've reached the beginning again," she said. "It was more than 12 years ago that I haven't been able to see him or talk to him but I know he's here. Austin if you can somehow hear this I love you. I know you're not giving up and neither am I," she added. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The U.S. State Department last week said there is no U.S. government organization currently on the ground in Syria to take part in the search for Tice. Tice had been the subject of a large-scale search following the ousting of Assad after 13 years of civil war in December. U.S. officials have expressed concerns that Tice may have been killed in recent Israeli airstrikes or could have suffocated after Assad's forces cut off power to prisons in Damascus before his departure. He was captured in the Damascus suburb of Daraya. Reuters reported earlier that in 2013 Tice, a former Marine, managed to slip out of his cell and was seen moving between houses in the streets of Damascus' upscale Mazzeh neighborhood. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He was recaptured soon after his escape, likely by forces who answered directly to Assad, current and former U.S. officials said. Syrian authorities never confirmed that Tice was in their custody. The New York Times first reported that brief escape and recapture. Tens of thousands of Syrian prisoners walked out of Assad's prisons after his oppressive rule ended. (Reporting by Jana Choukeir; Editing by Michael Georgy, William Maclean) The mother of American journalist Austin Tice said Monday that the incoming Trump administration had offered its support in finding her son, who went missing in Syria in 2012. While Debra Tice did not present any new findings from her first visit to the country in a decade and her first since the regime of Bashar al-Assad was swept from power she said at a news conference in Damascus that she had renewed hope that fresh leadership in America and Syria would bolster the ongoing search efforts for her son. I have great hope that the Trump administration will sincerely engage in diligent work to bring Austin home, Debra Tice said. His people have already reached out to me. I havent experienced that for the last four years. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Tice, now 43, was one of the first American journalists to report on the Syrian civil war that began in 2011 before his disappearance in 2012. The State Department contended he was being held by the Syrian government. Assads former government vehemently denied the accusation. Debra Tice last visited Syria in 2012 and 2015 to meet with the Syrian authorities, who never confirmed if her son was in their custody before they stopped granting her visas. In December, U.S. Special Envoy for Hostage Affairs Roger Carstens traveled to Lebanon to seek more information on Austin Tices whereabouts, according to a U.S. official with direct knowledge who spoke to NBC News. We think we can get him back, but we have no direct evidence of that yet, Biden told reporters. Syria's new leader, Ahmed al-Sharaa, meeting with Debra Tice in Damascus on Sunday. At the time, Tice's mother told NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt that she had received intelligence just before the Assad governments collapse that her son was alive and being well taken care of, adding that it was only a matter of time until the family would be reunited. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement There has been no clarity on Austins whereabouts since then, but the Debra on Monday told reporters that the Trump administration had already reached out to her to help. I look forward to working closely with his new team, including national security adviser Mike Waltz and Special Presidential Envoy Adam Boehler, she said. Tice's media conference came a day after she met with Ahmed al-Sharaa, the head of Syria's new government and the rebel group that toppled the regime of Bashar al-Assad last month. She expressed hope that the new authorities can help uncover more information about Austin's whereabouts. Journalist Austin Tice went missing in Syria in 2012. During my time in Damascus, I have been privileged to meet with the new leadership of Syria. It was so wonderful to learn that they are dedicated and determined to bring home my son, she said on Monday. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He came here as a journalist to tell the story of the Syrian people to the world, and in the process, fell in love with his beautiful country, Tice said, adding, I have fallen in love with this beautiful country. While Tice's visit coincided with the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump, about whom she had warm words, she has expressed contrasting opinions on the outgoing Biden administration in recent months for not negotiating hard enough for her sons release. Tice, who returns to the U.S. on Tuesday, said she would wait and pray and let the dust settle from all these page turns for now. This article was originally published on NBCNews.com By Kirsty Needham SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong met her Indian and Japanese counterparts in Washington and said the invitation for Quad foreign ministers to attend President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration showed an "iron-clad commitment" to close cooperation in the Indo Pacific region. Republican Senator Marco Rubio appears on track for confirmation as Trump's secretary of state on Monday, clearing the way for a meeting of Quad foreign ministers the following day, people familiar with the matter previously said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The grouping of Australia, India, Japan and the U.S. was formed amid shared concerns about China's growing power. "It's a demonstration of the collective commitment of all countries to the Quad, an iron-clad commitment in this time where close cooperation in the Indo-Pacific is so important," Wong said on Sunday of the foreign ministers' invitation to Washington. Wong said she would also meet Rubio and other members of the Trump administration, adding the U.S. alliance was critical to Australia's defence and economic prosperity. Wong is expected to discuss the AUKUS defence technology partnership with the U.S. and Britain, a decades-long plan to sell nuclear-powered submarines to Australia. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement She told reporters in Washington that Australia was "on a pathway of increasing defence expenditure". "Our focus is very much on how do we continue to deliver on AUKUS, because we do believe that capability is so important for deterrence, which is the way in which you can secure peace," she said. Defence Minister Richard Marles said in a radio interview on Monday that AUKUS would see Australia make a significant funding contribution to the American industrial base to speed up U.S. production rates of Virginia class submarines. (Reporting by Kirsty Needham, Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan) Germany aims to enhance resilience to hybrid threats from cyberattacks and disinformation through working with its European Union partners, Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said on Monday. "Hybrid threats work like thousands of individual, barely noticeable pinpricks, which in their totality are a brutal blow against our democracy and infrastructure in Europe," Baerbock said on meeting her Lithuanian counterpart Kestutis Budrys in Berlin. Germany would to this end make proposals within the European Union to make Europe more resilient, she said. The proposals are being seen as directed at threats from Russia and China. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The German aim is for the EU to be able to react rapidly and decisively at any time on the basis of a reliable common situation report, according to Baerbock. Information exchange between member states should be expanded with a systematic alert system and smoother cooperation between the EU and NATO, she said. Companies needed to be included in regular exercises and stress tests to boost EU resilience, she said. Security and defence policy needed to be resistant to hybrid tactics, and these tactics should be countered more effectively with sanctions where those responsible could be identified. Baerbock said that the Baltic Sea region had become a focus of geopolitical tensions, including hybrid threats, which had reached an unprecedented level. "Hybrid sounds harmless, technical somehow," although the dangers were real, she said. German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (R) and Lithuania's Foreign Minister Kestutis Budrys speak during a press conference at the Federal Foreign Office. Kay Nietfeld/dpa Jan. 19Brace yourselves. After a relatively mild start to the weekend, Sunday is scheduled to drop as much as 2 to 4 inches of snow on the Baltimore area right before temperatures plummet into the single digits Monday night. [Get the latest weathercast from FOX45 News ] Snow, sleet and possibly rain are expected before 2 p.m. Sunday, according to the National Weather Service. After 3 p.m., precipitation is predicted to be all snow. Windspeeds throughout the day are forecast to be 6 to 11 mph, increasing to 12 to 17 mph with gusts up to 24 mph. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Temperatures are expected to drop to 18 degrees Sunday night with snow predicted to continue until about 7 p.m. Wind speeds and gusts over 20 mph are projected to last throughout the night. Snow totals are expected to be higher in the northern and western parts of the region, according to NWS. Harford and Howard counties, like Baltimore City and most of Baltimore County, are expected to see between 2 and 4 inches of snow. But Reisterstown in Northwest Baltimore County could see up to 4 to 6 inches of snow, while Carroll and Frederick counties could total 4 to 8 inches. Much of the area will be under Winter Storm Warnings & Winter Weather Advisories on Sunday from 7 AM until 7 PM, continuing into Monday morning for the Alleghenies. For the latest, check out: https://t.co/ZOlvEShgSf #MDwx #DCwx #VAwx #WVwx pic.twitter.com/G0esREWHbw Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement NWS Baltimore-Washington (@NWS_BaltWash) January 18, 2025 The forecast has led to several Sunday cancellations: The Rev. Alvin C. Hathaway Sr.'s lecture on Thurgood Marshall's life scheduled for Sunday at the B&O Museum has been rescheduled to Feb. 16 at 2 p.m. Harford Community College announced that all Sunday classes and events are canceled. All activities involving Howard County Public School System students and staff are canceled due to forecasted inclement weather. All Loyola University Maryland campuses will be closed Sunday. Arctic cold awaits the Ravens in Buffalo as they prepare for AFC divisional round Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Frigid conditions will stick around most of the week. As it happened earlier this month, this latest cold snap comes from a disruption in the polar vortex, the ring of cold air usually trapped around the North Pole. Monday Martin Luther King Jr. Day will be sunny but cold and blustery with a high in the low 20s and an overnight low around 7 degrees. The wind chill could make the nighttime temperatures feel like a frigid 5 below zero. This cold has impacted several high-profile events. Organizers of Monday's Martin Luther King Jr. Day parade announced that the event would be canceled for the second year in a row in advance of snow and bitterly cold temperatures. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott was concerned about this weekend's forecast, with the snow on Sunday and cold temperatures on the way. President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration Monday was also moved indoors because of the anticipated extreme cold. The Monday forecast for Washington says it will be sunny, with a high near 24 and a west wind from 16 to 18 mph and gusts as high as 33 mph. The high on Tuesday in Baltimore will be 20 with a low around 10 degrees in the evening and a 30% chance of yet more snow. Wednesday's forecast calls for sunny skies with a high in the upper teens and a low of just 5 degrees. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Thursday will be a bit warmer with a high in the upper 20s and a low of around 12. That slight warming trend is expected to continue Friday, when high temperatures reach the upper 30s, with lows in the upper teens. The Mayor's Office of Homeless Services has extended the Code Purple winter shelter activation through Thursday at 9 a.m. Residents who are in need of emergency shelter should call the Baltimore City Shelter Hotline at 443-984-9540, which has extended hours of operation during winter shelter activation days. Have a news tip? Contact Mary Carole McCauley at mmccauley@baltsun.com and 410-332-6704. Contact Matt Hubbard at mhubbard@baltsun.com, 443-651-0101 or @mthubb on X. Originally Published:January 19, 2025 at 8:51 AM EST Barack Obama, Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton were not given a warm welcome as they made their way to the presidential inauguration of Donald Trump. As Barack, 63, Bill, 78, and Hillary, 77, entered the U.S. Capitol rotunda in Washington, D.C., on Monday for the 78-year-olds historic swearing-in ceremony, people at the Capitol One Arena could be heard loudly booing. Many prominent political figures were on hand as Trump became the 47th President of the United States. However, one former first lady was noticeably absent from the event. SIGN UP for Parade's Daily newsletter to get the latest pop culture news & celebrity interviews delivered right to your inbox Baracks wife, Michelle Obama, had made it clear prior to the inauguration that she would not attend Trumps ceremony in which he is sworn in. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The former first lady did not explain her decision for missing the inauguration, but several reports suggested it is due to her dislike of the 45th (and now 47th) president. Prior to the inauguration, Michelle missed former President Jimmy Carter's state funeral, where she would apparently have been seated next to Trump. Her advisers said it was due to a scheduling conflict. Related: Why Isn't Michelle Obama at Donald Trump's Inauguration? Although it's tradition for former presidents and their families to gather at the Capitol to watch the incoming commander-in-chief take the oath of office, Michelle is not the first former first lady to miss the event. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Four years ago, the 47th president and his wife, Melania Trump, missed Joe Biden's inauguration after President Trump refused to accept the election results. For her husband's big day, Melania wore a dark navy coat with a matching navy hat with a white stripe, dark navy heels and black gloves. Her hat in particular drew comparisons to the McDonald's character Hamburglar. Related: Must Be the Money! Find Out Nelly's Net Worth in 2025 Celebrities are also on hand to support Trump. Rapper Nelly is set to perform at the Liberty Inaugural Ball, one of three official balls celebrating Trumps return to office. Other inaugural performers include Carrie Underwood and Billy Ray Cyrus. Related: Does Barron Trump Have a Girlfriend? More than two dozen people were injured when a transport vessel collided with a passenger ferry on the Elbe river in the northern German port city of Hamburg, the fire brigade said on Monday. One person sustained life-threatening head injuries, a spokesman said near the scene of the accident. The vessels collided in heavy fog near the Kohlbrand bridge in south-western Hamburg at around 6:43 am (0543 GMT), he said, adding that 25 people were affected by the accident and taken to hospital. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "All the windows are broken, a wave came in. I'm soaking wet and frozen through. I'm very shocked and frozen," said a woman who was on the ferry with her bike to go to work in Hamburg. Around 55 firefighters were deployed to respond to the collision, and could be seen distributing warm blankets to passengers from the ferry who had been soaked in cold water. The exact cause of the accident is currently being investigated, a local police spokesman said. The collision was reportedly severe enough that the ferry, the Ovelgonne, was torn open on one side. "But that's above the waterline. The ferry is safely moored at the dock. It is not in danger of sinking," the fire brigade spokesman told dpa. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In addition, some of the large windows on the Ovelgonne along the side of the ship struck by the barge were shattered and the metal window mounts badly dented. The transport ship, a barge, had come loose, but it was initially unclear why. In Hamburg, several ferries regularly cross the Elbe as part of the local public transport system. The Ovelgonne was operating as part of the ferry line 62. Barges are flat-bottomed boats that have no drive of their own and are used for the transport of goods on canals and rivers. Hamburg is a seaport on the Elbe river some 100 kilometres from its mouth on the North Sea. It's Germany's biggest seaport and one of the busiest in Europe. Barron Trump has returned to the inaugural stage eight years later. The youngest son of President-elect Donald Trump appeared in the United States Capitol rotunda between his paternal grandfather, Viktor Knavs, and his mother, Melania Trump, to watch his father be sworn in as the 47th president of the United States. Related: Melania Trump Shares Where She and Barron Will Live During Donald's Second Term in White House Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Barron has been through this process before though last time his father took the presidential oath of office, he was only 10. Barron was largely shielded from the political spotlight during and after his father's first White House term in contrast to his adult siblings, Ivanka, Don Jr., Eric and Tiffany, who have taken more active roles in supporting Donald's political career. Related: Barron Trump Attends First-Ever Campaign Rally, as Donald Says His Sons Nice, Easy Life Is Changing Daniel Acker/Bloomberg via Getty Barron Trump at father Donald's 2017 inauguration. Barron Trump at father Donald's 2017 inauguration. Barron spent much of his childhood in New York City, growing up and attending exclusive private schools on the Upper West Side. Following Donald's 2017 inauguration, Barron finished the school year in New York, then joined his father at the White House. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement While living in Washington, Barron was enrolled at St. Andrew's Episcopal School in Maryland. He transferred to a private academy in Palm Beach when Donald left office, after the Trump family decided to relocate to Florida full-time. Barron, who turns 19 in March, graduated high school last spring and is now in his first year of college at New York University's Stern School of Business. Related: Barron Trump Is a 'Ladies Man' at New York University, Source Says: 'Even Liberal People Like Him' (Exclusive) Chip Somodevilla/Getty Barron Trump, standing beside his grandfather Viktor Knavs, arrives at the Capitol rotunda for the 2025 inauguration Barron Trump, standing beside his grandfather Viktor Knavs, arrives at the Capitol rotunda for the 2025 inauguration Despite maintaining his class schedule in Manhattan, Barron will have a place to stay at the White House, allowing him to "come and visit" whenever he wants, his mother recently told Fox News' Ainsley Earhardt. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "Whatever he would like to do," Melania said. "I feel as children, we have them till they are 18, 19 years old. We teach them, we guide them, and then we give them the wings to fly." 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. Though he's recently stepped into adulthood, Chelsea Clinton who was also a child when her father, former President Bill Clinton, was sworn into office has advocated for his continued privacy. Just after Barron's 18th birthday, the former first daughter defended him against invasive media attention. "I feel so strongly that if you are a private citizen, you have an unimpeachable right to privacy," she said. Read the original article on People RAFAH, Egypt, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- A long line of trucks, laden with humanitarian aid, snaked their way towards the heavily guarded Rafah crossing on Sunday morning, hours after a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas came into effect. These trucks, carrying food, clothes, medical equipment, tents, mobile toilets, and other relief materials, had been parked in several cities in Egypt's North Sinai Governorate, mainly Arish, Sheikh Zuweid, and Rafah, some of which had been waiting for months to reach Palestinians in need. "I have brought in a lot of aid to the Gaza Strip since the beginning of the war in October 2023, until the entry of aid to the Strip became almost non-existent due to the harsh Israeli policies," said 65-year-old truck driver Ahmed Ibrahim Ahmed. "Today, I feel happy not only because I will be able to bring in this aid to the residents of the Gaza Strip, but also because the people of Gaza will be able to sleep without fear for the first time in more than a year after the ceasefire came into effect this morning," he told Xinhua. Ibrahim said his truck was carrying clothes and blankets, noting that "the residents of the Strip need them greatly due to the bitter winter cold they suffer from while living in tents." The ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, with its first stage spanning 42 days, was reached on Wednesday through the mediation of Egypt, Qatar, and the United States. It began taking effect on Sunday. Based on the ceasefire agreement, about 600 trucks loaded with humanitarian aid, including 50 fuel trucks, would enter Gaza every day to ease the humanitarian crises in the Palestinian enclave. According to data released by the Press Center of Egypt's State Information Service on Sunday, 330 trucks, including 20 carrying diesel and cooking gas, were headed to the Israeli-controlled crossings for inspection before being delivered to the Gaza Strip. The scene at the crossing conveyed a sense of urgency mixed with cautious optimism. Drivers and aid workers, weary from the long wait, prepared their vehicles for the journey ahead, eager to deliver much-needed assistance to a population severely impacted by months of conflict. "Today, I am carrying a shipment of flour for the people of the Gaza Strip, who have been suffering from hunger for many months," said Ahmed al-Sayed, an Egyptian truck driver. "I have been waiting here for about a month to be allowed to deliver my truckload to Gaza." Sayed expressed hope that the ceasefire would hold so that aid would reach the people of the Strip. "This aid that you see in front of you has been waiting for months. The delivery mechanism today is good and fast, as dozens of trucks loaded with aid, fuel, and cooking gas were able to enter the Palestinian side," he told Xinhua. He added that the trucks are first inspected by the Egyptian army, and proceed to the Israeli-controlled crossings for another inspection. "After that, we head to Gaza to unload the trucks on the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing. Things seem smoother today, as various types of aid have entered. I hope that the process of delivering aid to Gaza will become easier and that there will be no limit on the number of trucks per day," he said. The resumption of aid deliveries marks a crucial step in the recovery process for Gaza. However, the long-term challenges facing the enclave remain significant, as much of its infrastructure was devastated during the Israeli attacks, including the need for reconstruction and the restoration of essential services. Delegations from mediators Qatar and the United States, along with representatives from Palestine and Israel, arrived in Cairo on Sunday to monitor the implementation of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire agreement. BARRY COUNTY, Mo. The Barry County sheriff is committed to improving the quality of life for citizens in the community. He says there were more than 11-thousand calls for service in 2024, and he hopes some recent improvements to his office will help tackle any growth in 2025. Were just seeing a big increase in domestic violence for some reason, said Danny Boyd, Barry Co. Sheriff. As Barry County Sheriff Danny Boyd reflects on the numbers from 2024, he cant help but feel prepared to tackle the trends in the new year. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We used to work 5 to 6 deputies short, but we are full staffed now. Have never been that during my whole term as a sheriff. Commissioners have worked really hard with us and allowed me to hire 5 more deputies. So, we have 4 people on per shift, instead of 2, which has really helped on the burnout phase, said Boyd. More deputies translate to quicker response times and allow them to build a rapport with the community. Were actually able to make more traffic stops, which is a big deal for us, because you get a lot of information from traffic stops. Were hitting the back roads more. In this area we have a lot of cattle thefts. So, our guys are hitting the back roads more, talking to the farmers more, which has really helped us, our relationship with the community, as far as farmers, said Boyd. Sheriff Boyd explains having his deputies patrol those roads more often has helped bring property crimes down. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Being out and being seen, your people are out here committing these crimes. If they know, hey, youre out here on the back roads, we dont see as many people traveling the back roads like they used to, said Boyd. FOUR STATES CRIME Theres a lot to cover, 791 square miles, making it the 4th largest in the state of Missouri in terms of road coverage. Boyd says the sheriffs office is currently the highest-paid agency in the county, which helps recruit and retain deputies to meet that need. Additionally, hes grateful for the communitys support for the new 18-million dollar tax-funded building, which recently opened. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement If were full like down there, if we had 60 people, we had people stacked on top of each other. We didnt have any place to put people. So, we had to start shipping them out, which costs money. Here, we dont have to do that. We can house up to 120 here. We should have plenty of room for the inmates that we have, said Boyd. With room to expand on its 25 acres, if needed. My main thing that Im proud of is safety for my people. My correctional officers can actually go in and do their job and know that theyre safe, because they have all the electronics, all the fancy bells and whistles of the doors. They can sit and monitor every person thats in our jail now, and weve never had that before, said Boyd. Copyright 2025 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 KSNF/KODE | FourStatesHomepage.com. As the Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal comes into effect, we speak with Jotam Confino to hear why he thinks the deal is unlikely to hold and why Israelis are angry with Netanyahus government. We also hear from Rosalia Bollen, UNICEF Communications Specialist, who describes the scale of the humanitarian challenge in the Gaza strip where 1. 8 million people are in urgent need of emergency shelter, food and essential household items. Plus: On Donald Trumps first day back in the White House, Brussels correspondent Joe Barnes examines just what he wants from the world, and whether hell get it. Battle Lines, a podcast from The Telegraph, combines on-the-ground reporting with analytical expertise to help the listener to better understand the course of world politics, wars and tensions, as fault lines grind and slip in an increasingly dangerous and confusing multipolar world. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Listen to Battle Lines using the audio player in this article or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or your favourite podcast app. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. BAY COUNTY, Fla. (WMBB) The Bay County Sheriffs Office arrested a local attorney on Sunday. Christopher Butler was arrested on sexual assault charges for victims of 16 or 17 years of age. According to the Florida Bar website, Butler currently works for the Florida Guardian Ad Litem Panama City office. A state agency that represents Floridas abused, neglected, and abandoned children. No bond has been set. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 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 mypanhandle.com. SAN ANGELO, Texas (Concho Valley Homepage) A staple in San Angelos local coffee scene has expanded to the citys downtown area with a second storefront. Heres what to expect from The Bearded Baristas latest location. According to a representative of The Bearded Barista, the coffee business opened its second location on Monday, Jan. 20. The store is located at 12 E. Twohig Ave. The Bearded Barista stated via social media that the new location features comfortable seating, cafe tables, and plenty of places to work, study, relax, meet up, hang out and enjoy a stellar cup of coffee. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The look and feel is different, but the same passion for excellent coffee and food, as well as outstanding customer service, remains the same, The Bearded Barista said. Last Which Wich closes in San Angelo The Bearded Barista, a coffee business in San Angelo, Texas, opened its second location on Twohig Avenue on Jan. 20, 2025. The Bearded Barista, a coffee business in San Angelo, Texas, opened its second location on Twohig Avenue on Jan. 20, 2025. The Bearded Barista, a coffee business in San Angelo, Texas, opened its second location on Twohig Avenue on Jan. 20, 2025. The downtown storefronts menu will differ from its predecessors, however, with the business citing space constraints as the reason behind the alterations. While options such as coffee, espresso, smoothies, baked goods and breakfast sandwiches will still be available, other choices, such as paninis, are unavailable at least for now. We are looking for a viable solution for the near future, but so far, we have decided to limit the menu until we can figure that out, The Bearded Barista said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The opening of the second shop is a far cry from the businesss state in mid-2023 when construction brought on by the then-ongoing College Hills Boulevard street project caused The Bearded Baristas revenue to fall by as much as 50%. Despite the setback, business owners Nathaniel and Kimberly Turney still sought to open a second location in the downtown region. RELATED: Veteran-owned coffee shop struggling from ongoing College Hills construction With two stores now in operation, The Bearded Baristas footprint in San Angelo has grown to include one of the citys most historic regions. The minds behind the business hope that the coffee shops presence will add to the downtown area and the activities within it. All in all, we believe this will be a great addition to an already vibrant downtown scene and we are honored to be a part of what makes San Angelo great! The Bearded Barista said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Opening its first location at 2412 College Hills Blvd. in June 2021, The Bearded Barista offers a variety of foods and drinks, including coffee aged in whiskey barrels. Copyright 2025 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 ConchoValleyHomepage.com. SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) On March 7th 1955, an iconic childrens show hit the airwaves in KELOLAND. That show was Captain 11. Now, KELOLAND is getting ready to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the program that entertained kids for generations. Captain 11 captured the attention of young viewers in KELOLAND for more than 40 years. KELOLANDs Dave Dedrick portrayed Captain 11. Over the years, Captain 11 would invite kids into the studio to celebrate birthdays, win prizes, and more on live TV. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Captain 11 also made appearances outside of the studio, something Devin Duncan remembers well. It was controlled chaos, but lots of fun, Duncan said. Duncan was the director of promotion and marketing at KELO in the late 80s and 90s. I proudly served as Lieutenant 9 1/2. I was stage manager I was props manager. I was toy getter. I was balloon blower. I was everything you can imagine that Captain needed. He really didnt need a lot of help. I was there a lot of times to help the kids, Duncan said. Captain would draw big crowds at his stops across KELOLAND, including the South Dakota State Fair. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It was always hot. It was always dusty, but we always had some of the biggest crowds show up, Duncan said. Didnt matter if it was 100 degrees out. People would be there, KELO Commercial Producer Dirk ODell said. ODell used to operate cameras for Captain 11. He remembers the KELOLAND studio buzzing before showtime. Noisy. One thing about the show is, just before the show, you had all these kids coming in for the Captain 11 show and theyre excited, of course, so naturally theyre kind of screaming and yelling, just normal stuff with little kids, ODell said. But the set would quiet down when the production crew cued the Captain for his half-hour show. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Dave was very good at what he did, always ready for the kids. And it was interesting because you got a whole potpourri of families and kids that would come in and he would just accommodate everybody from every level, and it was just interesting to watch him do his thing, Brown said. Former KELO employee Mike Brown also operated cameras for the Captain. A lot of people were interested in helping with that show. There were other people in the building that would help too, other camera operators and technical people, and they just knew this show was very important, even though some people might say, its a kids show, but to us it was important, and so they put their best effort forward, Brown said. 1996 marked the end of an era in KELOLAND. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Captain 11 broadcast his final show. Generations of the Captains crew members showed up to for the hour-long spectacle. We wanted to send Captain 11 off in the best way, the best way we could. Its hard to end something that has meant so much to so many people and is a legacy, and so we tried our best to live up to that level for the Captain, Duncan said. And while the Captain 11 show ended decades ago, the legacy lives on in KELOLAND today. There is a special Captain 11 page on KELOLAND.com. Once youre there you can watch clips of the Captain 11 show, browse old photos, and more. Copyright 2025 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 KELOLAND.com. Senator Bernie Sanders has gone viral yet again by staying seated amid a standing ovation during President Donald Trumps inaugural speech. The Vermont independent attended Trumps inauguration on Monday afternoon, which took place indoors at the US Capitol on account of freezing temperatures in Washington, D.C. Sanders a progressive lawmaker and opponent of Trumps has caught the attention of social media by remaining unmoved as those around him were up on their feet applauding the new president. The image evokes a similarly iconic meme from former president Joe Bidens 2021 inauguration, during which Sanders was pictured sitting bundled up in mittens and a winter coat on the steps of the U.S. Capitol. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Bernie is at it again, one X user wrote. Inside or outside, same pose, another user quipped, posting the same images side-by-side. Hes such an icon, a different user added. In his inaugural speech, Trump told the nation that God had saved him from the assassination attempt against him so that he might live to "make America great again. He went on to promise a new "Golden Age" for the United States before launching into a slate of policy priorities he plans to carry out in the coming days, largely through executive orders. Trump is expected to sign some 200 executive orders in the coming days, many of which will relate to immigration and the US-Mexico border. Bernie Sanders became a meme for his outfit at Joe Bidens inauguration. (Getty Images) Sanders attended alongside several lawmakers and notable allies of Trump. Guests included a slate of billionaires, such as Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Amazon owner Jeff Bezos, and the worlds richest man, Elon Musk. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Meanwhile, others declined to attend, including fellow progressive lawmaker Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. The lawmaker, who represents the Bronx and Queens, said she would be skipping the event because she doesnt celebrate rapists. Last year, a jury found Trump liable for sexually abusing the writer E. Jean Carroll in 1996. Additionally, at least 18 women have accused Trump of varying inappropriate behavior, including allegations of sexual harassment and sexual assault. At Gov. Andy Beshear's direction, Kentucky has joined a number of other states that will raise flags to full-staff Monday during President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration ceremony. In a brief statement released just before 10:30 a.m., Beshear said flags at state offices in Kentucky would be raised from half-staff at 11:30 a.m. and should remain raised until the conclusion of the inauguration, set to begin at noon. When the event ends, Beshear said flags should immediately be returned to half-staff, where they will remain until sunset on Jan. 28. The governor "encourages individuals, businesses and organizations throughout the commonwealth to join in these tributes," the statement added. Flags at all state office buildings will be raised to full-staff at 11:30 a.m. EST. Once the presidential inauguration ceremony has ended, flags should immediately be returned to half-staff in honor of former President Jimmy Carter. Read more: https://t.co/X1jtDi4ERb pic.twitter.com/vt0fUHnedI Governor Andy Beshear (@GovAndyBeshear) January 20, 2025 Beshear's office had not responded to multiple requests for comment sent last week by the USA TODAY Network on whether he planned to call for flags to be raised to full-staff. The governor had directed them to be kept at half-staff on Dec. 30 to honor former President Jimmy Carter, who died on Dec. 29 at age 100. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Kentucky is not alone. Governors of least 10 other states have issued similar directives, and U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Louisiana, has also suspended the mourning period to allow flags to fly at full-staff Monday in Washington, D.C., during the inauguration. Flags in the nation's capital will again be lowered to half-staff on Tuesday. Trump, who will be sworn in as the nation's 47th president, had complained on social media earlier this month over the prospect that flags would not be raised during his inauguration ceremony. Opinion column from Joe Gerth: Trump disrespectfully defies U.S. Flag Code for his inauguration Reach Lucas Aulbach at laulbach@courier-journal.com. This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Andy Beshear orders Kentucky flags at full-staff in Trump inauguration WASHINGTON, D.C. Beverly Aikins, Vice President-elect JD Vance's mom, has a lot to celebrate this inaugural weekend. Aikins spoke at Ohio's inaugural ball Sunday night. While the crowd waited for Vance to arrive, Aikins said how proud she is of her son, according to Butler County Auditor Nancy Nix, who attended the event. Sunday also marked Aikins' 10-year anniversary of sobriety, and on Monday she celebrates her 64th birthday. During his speech at the Republican National Convention in July, Vance said he hoped he could celebrate his mom's sobriety milestone with her in the White House if he and President-elect Donald Trump won. Vance wrote about growing up in Middletown and his mom's substance use in his memoir, "Hillbilly Elegy." Beverly Aikins, JD Vance's mother, spoke at Ohio's inaugural ball Sunday night in Washington, D.C. Aikins still lives in Middletown. In a Facebook post, she said she traveled to Washington, D.C. on Saturday for the inauguration, despite having surgery just weeks earlier. Advertisement Advertisement "My recovery is slow, but I have an inauguration to attend on January 20," her post read. "Nothing will stop me from being there... My baby is being inaugurated as our next Vice President." Aikins made her debut at the Republican National Convention and also attended Vance's first solo vice presidential rally in Middletown. She was portrayed by Amy Adams in Netflix's adaptation of "Hillbilly Elegy." This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: JD Vance's mom celebrates birthday, sobriety at his inauguration GHENT, WV (WVNS) The West Virginia Parkways Authority warned E-ZPass customers about a text message phone scam. According to a press release from the West Virginia Department of Transportation, the warning about the text message scams was issued to E-ZPass customers due to the scams intending for people to submit information to a fake website. E-Z Pass or not, drivers upset by increased cost to travel West Virginia Turnpike Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The text messages that drivers traveling through toll booths received claimed to be sent by E-ZPass Toll Services. These texts attempt to lure text recipients into entering personal data and financial information into a fake website by stating that there is an unpaid toll bill. The West Virginia Parkways Authority has been made aware of the rise of text messaging scams targeting individuals and we urge anyone who has received this message to delete it, do not click on the link or provide any financial information as this is an attempt to obtain your credit or debit card information. The West Virginia Parkways Authority does not and will not contact customers via text messaging for any reason, please disregard this scam message and contour customer service center should you need assistance on your E-ZPass account. Jeff Miller | Executive Director of the West Virginia Parkways Authority Anyone who clicked the link and filled out the form, is encouraged to contact the Parkways Authority immediately, as well as their bank or credit card company. The press release also stated that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) released an announcement about the text scams at toll booths. Thousands of complaints about the scams were sent to the FBIs Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3). Anyone who receives one of the phone scam texts is advised to file a complaint with the IC3. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 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. Numerous tech billionaires were given premium seating spots at Donald Trumps second inauguration on Monday, including Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg. In many cases, the tech honchos sat in front of Trumps Cabinet nominees and Republican lawmakers, possibly signaling a partnership that could define his second administration. Along with Bezos, Zuckerberg and close Trump ally Elon Musk, Apple CEO Tim Cook, Google CEO Sundar Pichai and OpenAI boss Sam Altman were in attendance. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Their open public support of Trump has differed from his previous administration, when many tech leaders treated him as a pariah, at least in public. However, their donations with the exception of Musk, who spent hundreds of millions to back Trump the second time have maintained a consistent trend of playing both sides ahead of presidential elections. A PAC supported by Meta donated almost equally to Democrats and Republicans in 2016, 2020 and 2024, according to public records cataloged at Open Secrets. Meanwhile, while a Google PAC donated almost $200,000 more to Republicans during the 2016 campaign cycle, that difference dropped to about $33,000 by 2024. The Google PAC also donated significantly less money overall in 2024 than in 2016 or 2020. Cook, who made his donations as an individual, gave small amounts of money to Trump in 2020 and 2024 but larger amounts to Hillary Clinton in 2016 and Joe Biden in 2020. _____ Rose Khwais (L), a freed Palestinian prisoner, reunites with her family after her release from an Israeli prison, in Jerusalem, on Jan. 20, 2025. Israel released 90 Palestinian prisoners from Ofer prison, located west of Ramallah in the West Bank, early on Monday, just hours after three Israeli hostages returned to Israel following their release from Hamas captivity in Gaza. (Photo by Jamal Awad/Xinhua) RAMALLAH, Jan. 19 (Xinhua) -- Israel released 90 Palestinian prisoners from Ofer prison, located west of Ramallah in the West Bank, early on Monday, just hours after three Israeli hostages returned to Israel following their release from Hamas captivity in Gaza. Eyewitnesses and local Palestinian sources said that several buses left Ofer prison at 1:00 a.m. local time (2300 GMT on Sunday) after issues related to verifying the list of names were resolved. The Hamas-affiliated Prisoners' Media Office confirmed that the release process had started after an agreement was reached on the lists. A statement mentioned that buses from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) transported the prisoners, including both men and women, from Ofer prison to Palestinian Authority-controlled areas. Hundreds of Palestinians, including families of the prisoners, gathered near the prison to welcome the released prisoners. The area around the prison witnessed heightened tension after several journalists and Palestinian citizens were assaulted by Israeli forces, who used tear gas to disperse the crowd. Among the 90 released prisoners are women from East Jerusalem and minors under 18. This prisoner release is part of a Gaza ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas that took effect on Sunday. Rose Khwais (L), a freed Palestinian prisoner, is hugged by her father after her release from an Israeli prison, in Jerusalem, on Jan. 20, 2025. Israel released 90 Palestinian prisoners from Ofer prison, located west of Ramallah in the West Bank, early on Monday, just hours after three Israeli hostages returned to Israel following their release from Hamas captivity in Gaza. (Photo by Jamal Awad/Xinhua) Rose Khwais (L), a freed Palestinian prisoner, reunites with her family after her release from an Israeli prison, in Jerusalem, on Jan. 20, 2025. Israel released 90 Palestinian prisoners from Ofer prison, located west of Ramallah in the West Bank, early on Monday, just hours after three Israeli hostages returned to Israel following their release from Hamas captivity in Gaza. (Photo by Jamal Awad/Xinhua) People gather around a bus carrying released Palestinian prisoners in the town of Beitunia near the West Bank city of Ramallah, on Jan. 19, 2025. Israel released 90 Palestinian prisoners from Ofer prison, located west of Ramallah in the West Bank, early on Monday, just hours after three Israeli hostages returned to Israel following their release from Hamas captivity in Gaza. (Photo by Ayman Nobani/Xinhua) People gather around a bus carrying released Palestinian prisoners in the town of Beitunia near the West Bank city of Ramallah, on Jan. 19, 2025. Israel released 90 Palestinian prisoners from Ofer prison, located west of Ramallah in the West Bank, early on Monday, just hours after three Israeli hostages returned to Israel following their release from Hamas captivity in Gaza. (Photo by Ayman Nobani/Xinhua) A man hugs a released Palestinian prisoner in the town of Beitunia near the West Bank city of Ramallah, on Jan. 19, 2025. Israel released 90 Palestinian prisoners from Ofer prison, located west of Ramallah in the West Bank, early on Monday, just hours after three Israeli hostages returned to Israel following their release from Hamas captivity in Gaza. (Photo by Ayman Nobani/Xinhua) A woman hugs a released Palestinian prisoner in the town of Beitunia near the West Bank city of Ramallah, on Jan. 19, 2025. Israel released 90 Palestinian prisoners from Ofer prison, located west of Ramallah in the West Bank, early on Monday, just hours after three Israeli hostages returned to Israel following their release from Hamas captivity in Gaza. (Photo by Ayman Nobani/Xinhua) People gather around a bus carrying released Palestinian prisoners in the town of Beitunia near the West Bank city of Ramallah, on Jan. 19, 2025. Israel released 90 Palestinian prisoners from Ofer prison, located west of Ramallah in the West Bank, early on Monday, just hours after three Israeli hostages returned to Israel following their release from Hamas captivity in Gaza. (Photo by Ayman Nobani/Xinhua) A woman hugs a released Palestinian prisoner in the town of Beitunia near the West Bank city of Ramallah, on Jan. 19, 2025. Israel released 90 Palestinian prisoners from Ofer prison, located west of Ramallah in the West Bank, early on Monday, just hours after three Israeli hostages returned to Israel following their release from Hamas captivity in Gaza. (Photo by Ayman Nobani/Xinhua) A woman hugs a released Palestinian prisoner in the town of Beitunia near the West Bank city of Ramallah, on Jan. 19, 2025. Israel released 90 Palestinian prisoners from Ofer prison, located west of Ramallah in the West Bank, early on Monday, just hours after three Israeli hostages returned to Israel following their release from Hamas captivity in Gaza. (Photo by Ayman Nobani/Xinhua) Talk of AI and AI agents is already in full swing here, but Mihir Shukla, CEO of Automation Anywhere, believes this year the conversation is turning from hype to questions about practical realities. "As CEOs here are chasing AI, they find it cool, but the job is to find value," he told BI in an interview. "I know this is cool, but what can I do with it? I think that conversation happens this year." Can AI do his job yet? Not completely, but he admitted it could do some. A fun example: His company built a boardroom AI agent and trained it on years of the company's financial information and presentations. "It was able to match patterns that the most experienced people couldn't," he said. It was so good, they even gave the AI agent an empty seat at the boardroom table for dramatic effect. Hugh Langley President Joe Biden pardoned several potential targets of the incoming Donald Trump administration mere hours before the transfer of power on Monday. Biden issued pre-emptive pardons for Anthony Fauci, retired Gen. Mark Milley, and members of the House committee that investigated the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitolincluding former Rep. Liz Cheney. The issuance of these pardons should not be mistaken as an acknowledgment that any individual engaged in any wrongdoing, nor should acceptance be misconstrued as an admission of guilt for any offense, Biden said in a statement. Our nation owes these public servants a debt of gratitude for their tireless commitment to our country. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement While presidents typically grant clemency to those convicted of crimes at the end of their terms, Bidens latest use of the powers of his office is exceptional in that hes using it to protect people who havent been investigated or even charged with a crime. These are exceptional circumstances, and I cannot in good conscience do nothing, Biden said. Baseless and politically motivated investigations wreak havoc on the lives, safety and financial security of targeted individuals and their families. Even when individuals have done nothing wrongand in fact have done the right thingand will ultimately be exonerated, the mere fact of being investigated or prosecuted can irreparably damage reputations and finances. Last month, Biden pardoned his son, Hunter Bidendespite previously insisting he wouldnt do soin such a way that spared him not only from potential jail time over his federal gun and tax convictions but also from possible charges relating to any crime he may have committed between 2014 and 2024. The Democrat also commuted the sentences of dozens of death row inmates, a move explicitly intended to frustrate Trumps plans to resume executions. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Its not clear how much Bidens latest pardons will undermine the plans of the incoming Trump administration. As recently as last month, Trump was saying Cheney and other members of the House Jan. 6 committee should go to jail. Fauci, who served as the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, clashed with Trump during the COVID pandemic. He remains a hate figure among MAGA supporters, with the likes of Elon Musk still targeting the medical expert in mocking posts. My pronouns are still prosecute/Fauci Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 12, 2024 It feels good and Im grateful to the president for doing it, Fauci told CNNs Jim Acosta of his pardon, adding that he didnt know it was real until Sunday night. I have done nothing wrong, Fauci said. Certainly nothing criminal. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Milley, who served as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff during Trumps first administration, has been the subject of Trumps wrath for years. In 2023, Trump suggested that Milley deserved to be executed for taking a phone call from China after the Jan. 6 riot in which he reassured Chinese officials that the U.S. wasnt about to attack. Milley told CNN in a statement that he too is deeply grateful for the pardon from Biden. After forty-three years of faithful service in uniform to our nation, protecting and defending the Constitution, I do not wish to spend whatever remaining time the Lord grants me fighting those who unjustly might seek retribution for perceived slights, Milley said. I do not want to put my family, my friends, and those with whom I served through the resulting distraction, expense, and anxiety. SIOUX FALLS SD (KELO) President Joe Biden has commuted Leonard Peltiers life sentence for killing two federal agents on the Pine Ridge Reservation. In his last official day in office, Biden issued an official statement of commutation. This commutation will enable Mr. Peltier to spend his remaining days in home confinement but will not pardon him for his underlying crimes, Biden wrote. Peltier, who is 80 years old, escaped prison once and has served a majority of his life behind bars. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Biden cited many groups calls for Peltiers clemency, including the U.S. attorney that oversaw Peltiers prosecution and appeal and Peltiers ties to the Native American community. As an enrolled member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa in North Dakota, Peltier was active in the American Indian Movement, which began in the 1960s as a local organization in Minneapolis that grappled with issues of police brutality and discrimination against Native Americans. Peltier was denied parole as recently as July and wasnt eligible for parole again until 2026. Copyright 2025 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 KELOLAND.com. Joe Biden, in one of his final acts as president Monday, commuted the life sentence of Native American rights activist Leonard Peltier, who was convicted of killing two FBI agents on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation and of escaping from federal prison. Peltier, who is 80 years old, has been imprisoned for almost five decades. He has been in declining health in recent years from diabetes, hypertension, partial blindness from a stroke and bouts of Covid. In a statement, the White House said the commutation will enable Peltier to spend his remaining days in home confinement, but will not pardon him for his underlying crimes. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Peltier's daughter, Kathy Peltier, said she was in shock after learning what Biden had done after past presidential requests for clemency were unsuccessful. "I'm just thankful that he had the balls and the guts to do it," she said of Biden's decision. The family of one of the two agents fatally shot, Jack Coler, expressed frustration on Monday, arguing that a parole board rejection of supervised release in June was based on a sincere review of the case. "The Coler family is frustrated and very angry after years of fighting to keep Peltier incarcerated," it said. "The board decided against granting Peltier parole. This fact makes President Bidens decision for a last-minute commutation more surprising and extremely disappointing. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In a statement provided by the NDN Collective, an Indigenous-led advocacy organization, Peltier said he was ready to leave prison. "It's finally over I'm going home," Peltier said. "I want to show the world I'm a good person with a good heart." The U.S. Parole Commission in July denied Peltier's latest bid for release, which left his fate in the hands of Biden. Peltier has long maintained his innocence, and his commutation has drawn fierce opposition from members of law enforcement who contend that his two consecutive life sentences are just in the fatal shootings of FBI agents Coler and Ron Williams in 1975 in South Dakota. Christopher Wray, who became FBI director in 2017 before he retired Monday as President Donald Trump took office for his second term, had tried to persuade Biden not to commute Peltier's sentence, arguing in a letter this month that it would be "wholly unjustified and would be an affront to the rule of law." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "Mr. President, I urge you in the strongest terms possible: Do not pardon Leonard Peltier or cut his sentence short," Wray wrote. Biden's commutation announcement came just minutes before Trump's inauguration. Trump did not act on Peltier's clemency request during his first term, and other presidents, Democrats and Republicans alike, also declined to intervene. In a statement, the attorney who advocated for Peltier's parole praised the outgoing president. President Biden took an enormous step toward healing and reconciliation with the Native American people in this country," said the attorney, Kevin Sharp. "It took nearly 50 years to acknowledge the injustice of Leonard Peltiers conviction and continued incarceration, but with the Presidents act of mercy Leonard can finally return to his reservation and live out his remaining days. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Peltier told NBC News in 2022 that he wasn't interested in a presidential pardon because it would be granted for a crime he insists he is innocent of. Instead, he said, he wanted the opportunity to get out of prison and get a new trial. "I would love to go home," Peltier said by phone from the Federal Correctional Complex Coleman in Florida. "My family wants to take care of me. My tribe wants to take care of me." Over the decades, human rights and faith leaders, including Pope Francis and the Dalai Lama, and Nobel Peace Prize recipients such as Nelson Mandela and Bishop Desmond Tutu, have backed Peltiers release. Peltier's story was exposed to MTV viewers in the 1990s in the video for Rage Against the Machine's, "Freedom," a breakout that helped the now-defunct alternative rock band become a voice for progressive causes and marginalized people. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement On Monday, band cofounder Tom Morello rejoiced and rededicated the song to Peltier, saying on X, "Leonard has become a friend over the years and I am so glad at 80 years old and in poor health he will be able to spend his remaining years with family and friends." Nick Tilsen, CEO of the NDN Collective, said Peltier's conviction was emblematic of the struggle between Native Americans and the federal government, particularly on Indigenous lands. "Leonard Peltier's liberation is our liberation we will honor him by bringing him back to his homelands to live out the rest of his days surrounded by loved ones, healing, and reconnecting with his land and culture," Tilsen said in a statement. But law enforcement organizations have accused Peltier's supporters of trying to be misleading about the events that led to his arrest and conviction. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Natalie Bara, the president of the FBI Agents Association, which advocates for active and retired agents, said it is "outraged" by Biden's reprieve for Peltier. "This last-second, disgraceful act by then-President Biden, which does not change Peltier's guilt but does release him from prison, is cowardly and lacks accountability," Bara said in a statement. "It is a cruel betrayal to the families and colleagues of these fallen Agents and is a slap in the face of law enforcement." Leonard Peltier is led across the exercise yard of the Okalla prison in British Columbia to a waiting helicopter. On June 26, 1975, Coler and Williams were on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota to arrest a man on a federal warrant in connection with the theft of cowboy boots, according to the agency's investigative files. While they were there, the agents radioed that they had come under fire in a shootout that lasted 10 minutes, the FBI said. Both men were fatally shot at close range. According to the officials, Peltier a member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians and then an activist with the American Indian Movement, a grassroots Indigenous rights group was identified as the only person on the reservation in possession of the type of weapon that could fire the type of bullet that killed the agents. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But dozens of people had participated in the gunfight; at trial, two co-defendants were acquitted after they claimed self-defense. When Peltier was tried separately in 1977, no witnesses who could identify him as the shooter were presented, and unknown to his defense lawyers at the time, the federal government had withheld a ballistics report indicating the fatal bullets didn't come from his weapon, according to court documents Peltier filed on appeal. The FBI, however, maintained that his conviction was "rightly and fairly obtained" and "has withstood numerous appeals to multiple courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court." Kathy Peltier said she last saw her father in prison before the start of the Covid pandemic. She said the family is now "crying tears of joy" to know that he will be able to return to them and see his dozen great-grandchildren and all the people who supported him for decades. "It's a relief," Kathy Peltier said. "We'll actually be able to hug him, really hug him, and sit around for hours and not have a time limit and talk. There's so much he's missed out on." This article was originally published on NBCNews.com In one of his last acts before leaving office, former President Joe Biden commuted the life sentence of Indigenous activist Leonard Peltier, convicted in the 1975 killings of two FBI agents. Peltier, 80, will serve the remainder of his sentence at home. Its finally over Im going home, Peltier said in a statement shared by NDN Collective, an Indigenous rights group in South Dakota. I want to show the world Im a good person with a good heart. I want to help the people, just like my grandmother taught me. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Peltier was denied parole last year. He has spent almost 50 years more than half of his life in federal prison. A statement from Bidens office noted Peltiers severe health ailments as well as his close ties to and leadership in the Native American community. The commutation does not pardon him for his crimes, his office said. Peltier consistently maintained his innocence in the agents shooting deaths. Jack Coler and Ronald Williams, were killed in a shootout June 26, 1975, while searching for a robbery suspect on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. The agents went to the reservation to serve arrest warrants, the AP reported, and were injured in the shootout and later shot in the head, the FBI has said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In 1977, Peltier was found guilty of first-degree murder and sentenced to two consecutive life terms. I didnt kill those agents, I didnt see who killed those agents, and if I did know, Im not telling. But I dont know. Thats the point, Peltier told former CNN correspondent Mark Potter in 1999. Peltier said he fired shots during the gun battle but I know I didnt hit them. I know I didnt. The FBI Agents Association said in a Monday statement they were outraged by the commutation of Peltiers sentence and described him as a convicted cop killer responsible for the brutal murders of Coler and Williams. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The commutation is a cruel betrayal to the families and colleagues of these fallen Agents and is a slap in the face of law enforcement, the association said. Peltier is currently incarcerated at the United States Penitentiary Coleman I in Sumterville, Florida. Peltiers commutation to home confinement goes into effect on February 18. The Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians has a furnished home waiting for Peltiers arrival, Kevin Sharp, a retired federal judge and attorney who represented Peltier in his bids for clemency, told CNN. Leonard has always wanted to live out the rest of his life at home, at Turtle Mountain, Sharp said. He will now get to do that, spending that time with his kids and grandkids and fellow members of his tribe. He embodies systemic injustices faced by Indigenous people Human and Indigenous rights groups, many of which had supported Peltiers repeated bids for clemency, applauded Bidens actions. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The National Congress of American Indians celebrated the commutation in a statement, saying the case has long symbolized the systemic injustices faced by Indigenous Peoples. Paul OBrien, the executive director of Amnesty International USA, said in a statement Biden was right to commute Peltiers sentence given the serious human rights concerns about the fairness of his trial. Sens. Elizabeth Warren, a Democrat from Massachusetts, and Bernie Sanders, an Independent from Vermont, were among several lawmakers who asked Biden to commute Peltiers sentence in 2023. The United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention had called for his release in 2022. James Reynold, the US attorney whose office prosecuted Peltier, became an advocate for Peltier and called for clemency in a 2021 letter to Biden. He wrote that Peltiers conviction and incarceration were testament to a time and a system of justice that no longer has a place in our society. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advocates have also noted Peltier attended one of the hundreds of US boarding schools funded by the federal government to assimilate Indigenous children into White society in the 19th and 20th centuries. In a first-person account published by Native News Online, Peltier said he was forcibly taken from his grandmother to a North Dakota boarding school when he was 9 years old. He wrote the staff made it clear we were hated at the school. NDN Collective previously described Peltier as Americas longest serving Indigenous political prisoner. How the Pine Ridge shootout unfolded In the 1970s, Peltier was a leader of the American Indian Movement, which took over the village of Wounded Knee on the Pine Ridge reservation, the Associated Press reported. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The takeover led to a 71-day standoff with federal agents and lasting tensions between the movement and the government. During the occupation, a US Marshal was shot, resulting in paralysis, and two Indigenous activists were shot and killed, the AP reported. The FBIs account of the 1975 shootout says that Coler and Williams were at the Pine Ridge reservation searching for Jimmy Eagle, who had an outstanding federal warrant for robbery. The agents radio transmissions indicate they stopped a red and white vehicle and then reported the occupants of the vehicle were preparing to shoot at them. Other agents who arrived to respond also came under gunfire, the FBI said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Coler and Williams bodies showed they were both injured by gunshots Coler in the arm, Williams in the foot before being shot in the head. The agents vehicles contained a total of 125 bullet holes, according to the FBI. Joseph Stuntz, another member of the American Indian Movement, was also killed that day, according to Amnesty International. No one has been arrested or charged in his death. Peltier previously told CNN he was in bed at camp when he heard gunshots. All of a sudden, everybody said, Man, were being attacked. Were being attacked, he told CNN in 1999. So I grabbed an old rifle and started running up to the house. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Peltier said he fired his gun after being fired upon. The FBI has said the agents were shot without provocation. The government built its case on ballistics evidence and witness accounts from people who were on the periphery of the shootout, including Native Americans, but no one actually saw the killings. Supporters of Peltier have said the evidence produced at trial was unreliable, while the FBI has categorically denied it fabricated evidence or coerced witnesses. CNNs Shawn Nottingham and Steve Almasy contributed to this report. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com President Biden on Monday commuted the life sentence of Native American activist Leonard Peltier, who was controversially convicted of murdering two FBI agents, within the final hour of his presidency. The President is commuting the life sentence imposed on Leonard Peltier so that he serves the remainder of his sentence in home confinement. He is now 80 years old, suffers from severe health ailments, and has spent the majority of his life (nearly half a century) in prison, the White House said in a statement. The commutation is distinct from a pardon, and the White Houses statement treats Peltier as guilty of the crimes of which he was convicted. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Peltier, an activist affiliated with the American Indian Movement (AIM), was one of several people involved in a firefight in 1975 that killed FBI agents Ronald Arthur Williams and Jack Ross Coler on South Dakotas Pine Ridge Reservation. Peltier is the only person to be convicted in connection with their deaths. Two of his fellow activists were also charged in the murders but were acquitted on evidence Peltiers defense was not allowed to present. Peltier traveled to the reservation with his fellow activists during a period of tensions between members of the Lakota nation and tribal Chair Richard Wilson, whom critics viewed as a puppet of the U.S. government. It also came shortly after the armed occupation by AIM members of Wounded Knee, the site of an 1890 massacre of Native Americans by the U.S. army. The trial and conviction have long been controversial and criticized as unfair by Peltiers advocates. They have pointed to the admission by a key witness that she lied about both witnessing the murders and her own relationship to Peltier, as well as a juror who was seated despite admitting to prejudice against Native Americans. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Pope Francis, Amnesty International and the late Nelson Mandela are among those who have called for Peltiers release, as has one of the federal prosecutors in his trial. Multiple Democratic lawmakers, led by then-Senate Indian Affairs Committee Chair Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), urged Biden to secure Peltiers release in December. Peltier has been repeatedly denied parole, including last year, which would likely have been his last chance to avoid dying in prison without presidential action. The FBI has continued to vocally advocate against his release or pardon, with FBI Director Christopher Wray calling him a remorseless killer during his most recent parole application. Peltier has maintained his innocence throughout his incarceration, and calls for his release have increased due to his age and numerous health problems, including diabetes, vision loss and multiple bouts with COVID-19. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Its finally over Im going home, Peltier said in a statement through the group NDN Collective. I want to show the world Im a good person with a good heart. I want to help the people, just like my grandmother taught me. President Biden was right to commute the life sentence of Indigenous elder and activist Leonard Peltier given the serious human rights concerns about the fairness of his trial, Paul OBrien, executive director of Amnesty International USA, said in a statement. Amnesty International has advocated for the U.S. government to grant Leonard Peltier clemency for years, following the leadership of Tribal Nations and Indigenous Peoples. The FBI Agents Association blasted the decision in a statement Monday afternoon. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This last-second, disgraceful act by then-President Biden, which does not change Peltiers guilt but does release him from prison, is cowardly and lacks accountability. It is a cruel betrayal to the families and colleagues of these fallen Agents and is a slap in the face of law enforcement, FBIAA President Natalie Bara said in a statement. Updated at 3:16 p.m. EST Copyright 2025 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 The Hill. (The Hill) President Joe Biden on Monday commuted the life sentence of activist Leonard Peltier, who was controversially convicted of murdering two FBI agents, within the final hour of his presidency. The President is commuting the life sentence imposed on Leonard Peltier so that he serves the remainder of his sentence in home confinement. He is now 80 years old, suffers from severe health ailments, and has spent the majority of his life (nearly half a century) in prison, the White House said in a statement. The commutation is distinct from a pardon, and the White Houses statement treats Peltier as guilty of the crimes of which he was convicted. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Biden pardons family members in final minutes of presidency Peltier, an activist affiliated with the American Indian Movement (AIM), was one of several people involved in a firefight in 1975 that killed FBI agents Ronald Arthur Williams and Jack Ross Coler on South Dakotas Pine Ridge Reservation. Peltier is the only person to be convicted in connection with their deaths. Two of his fellow activists were also charged in the murders but were acquitted on evidence Peltiers defense was not allowed to present. The trial and conviction have long been controversial and criticized as unfair by Peltiers advocates. They have pointed to the admission by a key witness that she lied about both witnessing the murders and her relationship to Peltier, as well as a juror who was seated despite admitting to prejudice against Native Americans. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Pope Francis, Amnesty International and the late Nelson Mandela have all called for Peltiers release, as has one of the federal prosecutors in his trial. Peltier has been repeatedly denied parole, including last year, which would likely have been his last chance to avoid dying in prison without presidential action. The FBI has continued to vocally advocate against his release or pardon, with FBI Director Christopher Wray calling him a remorseless killer during his most recent parole application. Copyright 2025 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. A prayer for Leonard Peltier is sung to a drumbeat on June 20, 2024, outside the federal courthouse in Fargo, North Dakota. Demonstrators were calling for the release of Peltier, who was convicted at a trial in Fargo for the deaths of FBI agents in South Dakota in 1975. (Jeff Beach/North Dakota Monitor) President Joe Biden on Monday commuted the sentence of Leonard Peltier, a Native American activist who was serving life in prison after being convicted of killing two FBI agents 50 years ago on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. Peltier, 80, is a citizen of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa in North Dakota. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Bidens order as he leaves office is to take effect Feb. 18. A statement from Biden said Peltier should serve the remainder of his life sentence at home. NDN Collective, an Indigenous rights organization in Rapid City, issued a news release Monday celebrating Peltiers commutation. The release included a quote attributed to Peltier: Its finally over Im going home. I want to show the world Im a good person with a good heart. I want to help the people, just like my grandmother taught me. Peltiers sister, Betty Ann Peltier, welcomed the news. I am going to cook him the biggest meal I can, she said. Fry bread and foods he hasnt eaten for years. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement She said her brother is suffering from the effects of diabetes, has heart trouble and uses a walker. There has been a home waiting for him on the Turtle Mountain Reservation, she said, but she hopes he will stay with her in Fargo, North Dakota. She had yet to communicate with her brother as of Monday morning. According to the FBI, in 1975, agents Ron Williams and Jack Coler were attempting to arrest a robbery suspect on the Pine Ridge Reservation. The agents pursued a vehicle, with Peltier among the people inside. A fatal shootout ensued, with the two agents and Joseph Stuntz, a member of the American Indian Movement, killed. Peltier has maintained that he is innocent. South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley said in a statement his office strongly opposes any change to Peltiers sentence, calling the deaths of the agents cold-blooded murders. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement That conviction has been reviewed and upheld by no fewer than 22 federal judges since then, Jackley said Monday. Tracey Wilkie of Fargo grew up on the Turtle Mountain Reservation and said she was raised hearing the story of Leonard Peltier. She called herself a lifetime supporter and organizer for his freedom. She helped lead a rally for Peltier last year when he was up for parole, which was denied. The rally was on the steps of the federal courthouse in Fargo where Peltier was convicted. So many people have been working behind the scenes, Wilkie said. Its going to give a lot of people hope. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Peltier has been serving two consecutive life terms in prison, most recently in Florida. According to Bidens statement, tribal nations, Nobel Peace laureates, former law enforcement officials including the former U.S. attorney whose office oversaw Peltiers prosecution and appeal and human rights organizations support granting Peltier clemency. They cite Peltiers advanced age, illnesses, his close ties to and leadership in the Native American community, and the substantial length of time he has already spent in prison. A statement from the White House indicates that Bidens action does not pardon Peltier from his crimes, but will allow him to spend his remaining days at home. North Dakota state Rep. Jayme Davis, D-Rolette, a Turtle Mountain citizen, is among Peltiers supporters. She said her father attended school in Belcourt with Peltier. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Its fabulous, Davis said from the North Dakota legislative session in Bismarck after hearing the news. I was in committee when I heard the news and almost screamed out loud. Nick Tilsen, founder and CEO of NDN Collective, credited 50 years of intergenerational resistance, organizing and advocacy for winning the commutation. Leonard Peltiers liberation is our liberation we will honor him by bringing him back to his homelands to live out the rest of his days surrounded by loved ones, healing, and reconnecting with his land and culture, Tilsen said. EDITORS NOTE: This story has been updated with reaction since its original publication. North Dakota Monitor reporter Mary Steurer and South Dakota Searchlight staff contributed to this report. North Dakota Monitor is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. North Dakota Monitor maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Amy Dalrymple for questions: info@northdakotamonitor.com. President Joe Biden addresses attendees at the International African-American Museum on Jan. 19, 2025 in Charleston, South Carolina. One day before the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump, Biden thanked South Carolina for its support during his speech. (Photo by Grant Baldwin/Getty Images) CHARLESTON, S.C. President Joe Biden spent the final day of his tenure in the state that catapulted him into the office: South Carolina. The day before Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Biden spoke at the Royal Missionary Baptist Church in North Charleston, then the International African American Museum in downtown Charleston. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement After he touched down in South Carolina, Biden also talked to reporters about the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas that resulted in the release Sunday of three hostages. Addressing one of South Carolinas largest Black churches, Biden again thanked South Carolina voters for putting him on the path to be the 46th president. I could not be standing here, I would not be standing here and thats not hyperbole, at this pulpit were it not for Jim Clyburn, Biden told the congregation. It was Clyburns endorsement in 2020 that reinvigorated Bidens campaign. After a poor start in his third attempt at the office, a victory in the South Carolina primary culminated in his victory over then-President Donald Trump, Bidens predecessor and successor. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement When he stepped off Air Force One on Sunday, Biden hugged Clyburn, South Carolinas only Democrat and longest-serving congressman, whom Bidens referred to as his best friend. At both the church and the museum, Clyburn commended Biden for his work. I know Joe, we know Joe, but most importantly Joe knows us, Clyburn said at the museum. He has demonstrated in these four years how well he knows the American people. Biden easily won South Carolinas Democratic presidential primary in February, the partys first recognized primary of the campaign, against two extreme long-shot candidates. But it ultimately didnt matter, as he dropped out in July following a disastrous debate performance against Trump. President Joe Biden is welcomed on stage by Congressman James Clyburn at the International African American Museum on Jan. 19, 2025 in Charleston. (Photo by Grant Baldwin/Getty Images) Ceasefire Biden spoke on the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas that went into effect Sunday, declaring the guns in Gaza have gone silent. Biden told reporters that two American hostages will be released as part of the first phase of the deal. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The agreement reached last week ended more than 15 months of warfare between Israel and Hamas. The decades-long conflict was reignited Oct. 7, 2023, after Hamas militants launched a surprise attack on Israel, killing about 1,200 civilians and taking some 250 hostages. Ive worked in foreign policy for decades and this is one of the toughest negotiations Ive been a part of, Biden said. Biden said the second phase of the agreement will include the release of Israeli soldiers and the permanent end to the war without Hamas in power or able to threaten Israel. The first three hostages released from Gaza arrived in Israel on Sunday. Church Theres one word that resonates with Biden when he steps into a Black church, he said Sunday: Hope. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Not a joke, he said to the congregation at Royal Missionary, a church he visited in February of 2020 during his presidential run. Its among several Black churches in South Carolina Bidens spoken at over the years. Following the 2015 Mother Emmanuel massacre of nine people following a Wednesday night prayer service, then-Vice President Biden spoke at the funeral for Rev. Clementa Pinckney, the churchs pastor and state senator. Last month, Biden commuted the sentences of 37 inmates on federal death row. The Mother Emanuel shooter was not one of them. Bidens first campaign stop a year ago was at Mother Emanuel. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In North Charleston on Sunday, Biden quoted scripture and touched on his own personal tragedies as he delivered a message of persistence, community and hope, as well as honored Martin Luther King Jr. Your friends bear witness, they see your pain, they pick you up, they help you get to Sunday, from pain to purpose, said Biden, who added that multiple friends in South Carolina aided him through personal tragedies. Biden called King one of his political heroes Sunday after a service that included a video dedicated to the civil rights activist and preacher. He also called the Black church the spiritual home of the Black experience. Biden said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Thats a truth we honor, he said. State Sen. Deon Tedder, D-Charleston, a member of Royal Missionary, emphasized Bidens importance to the Black community. You will always be known to us as one of Americas most consequential presidents, said Tedder, who won a special election in November 2023 after his predecessor, Marlon Kimpson, joined the Biden administration. At multiple points in his speech, applause erupted through the crowd and a booming thank you was heard at one point. The president said his father called abuse of power the greatest sin. The essence of the Bible, he said, is that all people are created equally and deserve to be treated equally. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We never fully lived up to that commitment, but never fully walked away from it either because of you and your ancestors before us, Biden said. Biden said that we pledge allegiance not just to an idea but to each other. Thats how I viewed my decision to issue more individual pardons than any pardons than any president in American history. To show mercy to those who served a significant amount of time, he said. Biden closed his message by again thanking the people of South Carolina, saying being their president was the greatest honor of my life. And to a resounding applause, the 46th president said, Im not going anywhere. Museum During his speech at the International African American Museum, Biden called slavery Americas original sin. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The museum sits on Gadsdens Wharf, the arrival point for more than 100,000 slaves in the 1700s and 1800s. This museum is so important. It embodies the trauma and the triumph of the African American experience, Biden said, and embodies the truth that Black history is America history. The president also said Martin Luther King had a deep influence on him when he was young. As he spoke to the predominantly Black crowd, Biden said he was honored to serve alongside Barack Obama, the first Black president and Kamala Harris, the first Black vice president. Biden boasted the appointments of Lloyd Austin, the first Black defense secretary, and Ketanji Brown Jackson, the first Black woman to be on the Supreme Court. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Together we kept our commitment to have an administration that looks like America, he said. After the crowd cheered at Brown Jacksons appointment, Biden said shes smarter than them too. The moment drew laughter from the crowd. It was a laugh line borrowed from his own speech a year ago at the state Democratic Partys First-in-the-Nation Celebration fundraising dinner ahead of the primary. Biden closed his speech with a thank you to the nation and a passage from the Bible. I have been young and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, Biden said, quoting a passage from Psalm chapter 37. Moments later, Biden said what could be his final public words as president. May God keep the faith and may God bless his soul this sacred place, said Biden. God Bless America. This story was originally published by SC Daily Gazette, which is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. SC Daily Gazette maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Seanna Adcox for questions: info@scdailygazette.com. President Joe Biden giving a speech at Royal Missionary Baptist Church in North Charleston, South Carolina on Sunday, Jan. 19, 2025. (Screenshot from Royal Missionary Baptist Church livestream) CHARLESTON, S.C. President Joe Biden spent the final day of his tenure in the state that catapulted him into the office: South Carolina. The day before Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Biden delivered a speech at the Royal Missionary Baptist Church in North Charleston. He is set to speak later Sunday at the International African American Museum in downtown Charleston. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He also briefly spoke to reporters about the cease-fire between Israel and Hamas that resulted in the release Sunday of three hostages. Addressing one of South Carolinas largest Black churches, Biden again thanked South Carolina voters for putting him on the path to be the 46th president. I could not be standing here, I would not be standing here and thats not hyperbole, at this pulpit were it not for Jim Clyburn, Biden told the congregation. It was Clyburns endorsement in 2020 that reinvigorated his campaign. After a poor start in his third attempt at the office, a victory in the South Carolina primary culminated in his victory over then-President Donald Trump, Bidens predecessor and successor. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement When he stepped off Air Force One on Sunday, Biden hugged Clyburn, South Carolinas only Democrat in Congress, whom Bidens referred to as his best friend. Biden easily won South Carolinas Democratic presidential primary in February, the partys first recognized primary of the campaign, against two extreme long-shot candidates. But it ultimately didnt matter, as he dropped out in July following a disastrous debate performance against Trump. Cease-fire Biden spoke on the cease-fire agreement between Israel and Hamas that went into effect Sunday, declaring the guns in Gaza have gone silent. Biden told reporters that two American hostages will be released as part of the first phase of the deal. The agreement reached last week ended more than 15 months of warfare between Israel and Hamas. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The decades-long conflict was reignited on Oct. 7, 2023, after Hamas militants launched a surprise attack on Israel, killing about 1,200 civilians and taking some 250 hostages. Ive worked in foreign policy for decades and this is one of the toughest negotiations Ive been a part of, Biden said. Biden said the second phase of the agreement will include the release of Israeli soldiers and the permanent end to the war without Hamas in power or able to threaten Israel. The first three hostages released from Gaza arrived in Israel on Sunday. Church Theres one word that resonates with Biden when he steps into a Black church, he said Sunday: Hope. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Not a joke, he said to the congregation at Royal Missionary, a church he visited in February of 2020 during his presidential run. Its among several Black churches in South Carolina Bidens spoken at over the years. Following the 2015 Mother Emmanuel massacre of nine people following a Wednesday night prayer service, then-Vice President Biden spoke at the funeral for Rev. Clementa Pinckney, the churchs pastor and state senator. Last month, Biden commuted the sentences of 37 inmates on federal death row. The Mother Emanuel shooter was not one of them. Bidens first campaign stop a year ago was at Mother Emanuel. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In North Charleston on Sunday, Biden quoted scripture and touched on his own personal tragedies as he delivered a message of persistence, community and hope, as well as honored Martin Luther King Jr. Your friends bear witness, they see your pain, they pick you up, they help you get to Sunday, from pain to purpose, said Biden, who added that multiple friends in South Carolina aided him through personal tragedies. Biden called King one of his political heroes Sunday after a service that included a video dedicated to the civil rights activist and preacher. He also called the Black church the spiritual home of the Black experience. Biden said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Thats a truth we honor, he said. At multiple points in his speech, applause erupted through the crowd and a booming thank you was heard at one point. The president said his father called abuse of power the greatest sin. The essence of the Bible, he said, is that all people are created equally and deserve to be treated equally. We never fully lived up to that commitment, but never fully walked away from it either because of you and your ancestors before us, Biden said. Biden said that we pledge allegiance not just to an idea but to each other. Thats how I viewed my decision to issue more individual pardons than any pardons than any president in American history. To show mercy to those who served a significant amount of time, he said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Biden closed his message by again thanking the people of South Carolina, saying being their president was the greatest honor of my life. And to a resounding applause, the 46th president said, Im not going anywhere. SC Daily Gazette is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. SC Daily Gazette maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Seanna Adcox for questions: info@scdailygazette.com. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX CAPE TOWN, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- South Africa will champion partnership and progress at the World Economic Forum (WEF), advocating for global cooperation to drive sustainable and inclusive growth, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced Monday. Ramaphosa made these remarks in his weekly newsletter to the nation as he would lead South Africa's delegation to the 55th annual WEF meeting, scheduled for Jan. 20-24 in Davos, Switzerland. "One of the messages we will be taking to Davos is our ongoing commitment to partnerships in pursuit of inclusive growth and sustainable development," he said. "We will present our experiences of cooperation across society in South Africa and encourage greater emphasis on partnerships in international relations. In particular, we will make a call for global companies to partner with governments, entrepreneurs, and stakeholders in emerging markets to pursue sustainable and inclusive growth," he said. The president is set to deliver a special address at the WEF, outlining South Africa's priorities for the G20 presidency from Dec. 1, 2024, to Nov. 30, 2025. "At the center of our G20 agenda is the promotion of cooperation among G20 and other countries on the most pressing issues facing the world," noted Ramaphosa, stressing that this cooperation should not only take place at a government-to-government level, but should involve all social formations. "As in previous G20 presidencies, dialogue with civil society and other non-government institutions will be conducted through various engagement groups. These engagement groups cover sectors such as business, labor, civil society, parliamentary bodies, and the judiciary," Ramaphosa said. "Following the approach of the Brazilian G20 presidency in 2024, we will be convening a G20 Social Forum. This will bring together representatives of engagement groups and other segments of civil society," he added. Under the theme "Solidarity, Equality, and Sustainability," South Africa's G20 presidency aims to promote inclusive dialogue and global cooperation. The country will host the G20 Leaders' Summit later this year in Johannesburg, its largest city and economic hub. With just minutes left as president, Joe Biden on Monday pardoned his entire immediate familyand gave clemency to prominent Native American activist Leonard Peltier. Biden pardoned his younger brother James Biden, his sister-in-law Sarah Biden, his younger sister Valerie Biden Owens, his brother-in-law John Owens, and his younger brother Francis Biden FOR ANY NONVIOLENT OFFENSES against the United States which they may have committed or taken part in during the period from January I, 2014, through the date of this pardon. Biden also commuted the sentence of Peltier. While he did not receive a pardon, he will be serving the rest of his life sentence in home confinement. Peltier is an indigenous activist affiliated with the American Indian Movement, which sought to address police brutality against Native people. He was sentenced in 1975 for the murder of two FBI agents during a shooting on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. Peltier is now 80 years old, in ailing health, and has maintained his innocence throughout his nearly 50 years behind bars. Even one of the former federal prosecutors who put Peltier behind bars, James Reynolds, thinks that hes innocent. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We were not able to prove that Mr. Peltier personally committed any offense on the reservation. As a result to Mr. Peltiers conviction, now arrest, is that he was guilty of a murder simply because he was present on the reservation that day, Reynolds wrote in a letter to Biden. He has served time for more than 46 years on the hands of minimal evidence, a result I strongly doubt would be upheld in any court today. This story has been updated. Jan. 20 (UPI) -- Former President Joe Biden signed a number of pardons and commutations on his way out of the White House as per tradition. On Sunday, it was revealed Biden granted clemency to those he felt "made significant contributions to improving their communities," according to a now-archived statement. "America is a country built on the promise of second chances," the former president wrote, adding he used his constitutional power to "make that promise a reality." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Biden issued a handful of preemptive pardons hours ahead of Trump's swearing-in including Ernest Cromartie and Gerald Lundergan, a Democratic politician via Kentucky. And among the names granted clemency Monday was longtime jailed Native American activist Leonard Peltier, who many say was America's "longest-serving political prisoner" after he was convicted in 1975 of allegedly killing two FBI agents on his property in a trial many viewed as a sham. Biden "was right" to commute the life sentence of the Indigenous elder and activist "given the serious human rights concerns about the fairness of his trial," Paul O'Brien, executive director of Amnesty International USA, said Monday in a statement. On Friday, Biden commuted the sentence of nearly 2,500 people. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Meanwhile, the British-headquarterd Amnesty International had for decades advocated for Peltier's release to the U.S. government, doing so publicly at least twice in the last few months of last year. The Peltier commutation was a long-awaited but surprising announcement after internal pushback by outgoing FBI Director Christopher Wray, who previously appeared to write-off any suggestion that Peltier be set free. Biden has the distinction of having granted more individual pardons and commutations than any other president in U.S. history. Amnesty lead scores of high-ranking lawmakers, activists, ex-FBI agents, celebrities and America's indigenous tribal nations' leadership who all called for the ailing Peltier to be given his freedom. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement On Sunday, the ex-Democratic president granted clemency to five people who largely were convicted of non-violent drug offenses and further commuted sentences of two who Biden felt demonstrated "remorse, rehabilitation, and redemption." A posthumous pardon was granted to Black nationalist Marcus Mosiah Garvey who received a 1927 commutation for mail fraud by then-President Calvin Coolidge. Biden also pardoned the first Black person to serve as speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates convicted in 1994 of a nonviolent drug offense. Don Scott served seven years in prison. "I think there are a lot of people like me who deserve second chances and there are people in power who won't do it, who won't use the power that they have," Scott, who got the call from the White House early Sunday morning, told CBS. In December, Biden made the largest single-day act of clemency in modern American history of around 1,500 civilians and pardoned about 4 others of nonviolent crimes. He also issued a full pardon for his son, Hunter Biden. Outgoing President Joe Biden issued a last-minute set of grants for clemency, which included members of his family, Democratic politicians and Native American activist Leonard Peltier, who was convicted of killing two FBI agents in a 1975 shootout on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota a charge that he has steadfastly denied. Preliminary pardons were given to James B. Biden, the outgoing president's brother; Sara Jones Biden, James' wife; Valerie Biden Owens, the outgoing president's sister; John T. Owens, Valerie's husband; and Francis W. Biden, the outgoing president's brother. None of them have been charged with an offense, but Biden had been concerned that newly sworn-in President Donald Trump and his allies would go after them in a quest for vengeance. I believe in the rule of law, and I am optimistic that the strength of our legal institutions will ultimately prevail over politics, Biden wrote. But baseless and politically motivated investigations wreak havoc on the lives, safety and financial security of targeted individuals and their families. Even when individuals have done nothing wrong and will ultimately be exonerated, the mere fact of being investigated or prosecuted can irreparably damage their reputations and finances. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Due to Biden's commutation of his life sentence, Peltier, the Native American activist, will now be allowed to spend his remaining years in home confinement. While Peltier had admitted to participating in the shootout, he maintains that he did not kill the FBI agents and has released a stream of defiant letters to supporters from jail. Human rights watchdogs and activists, as well as numerous international figures like Nelson Mandela and Mother Theresa, had advocated for clemency since his imprisonment, with many of them alleging that he is being wrongfully held as a political prisoner. In a statement, Biden officials acknowledged the calls for clemency and Peltier's "advanced age, illnesses, his close ties to and leadership in the Native American community and the substantial length of time he has already spent in prison. Two other individuals Gerald G. Lundergan and Ernest William Cromartie were given an even greater prize: full pardons. Lundergan, a businessman and former Democratic state legislator in Kentucky, was convicted in 2019 of making illegal campaign contributions to his daughter's failed 2014 effort to unseat Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. Cromartie, a former Democratic city council member in Columbia, South Carolina, was convicted of tax evasion. A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things. This is TPMs Morning Memo. Sign up for the email version. Not Normal On his final day in office, President Joe Biden granted preemptive pardons to several high-profile political targets of incoming President Donald Trump. Biden pardoned: retired Army General Mark Milley, the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; Dr. Anthony Fauci, the former longtime director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, who led the governments response to the COVID pandemic; the members and staff of the House Jan. 6 committee; the police officers who testified before the Jan. 6 committee. The attempt to protect current and former government officials, including sitting members of Congress, from abusive political retribution and a weaponized Trump II Justice Department was an extraordinary marker of the erosion of the rule of law and democratic norms in the United States. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement [T]hese are exceptional circumstances, and I cannot in good conscience do nothing, Biden said. Bidens pardons were issued just hours before his predecessor was set to be sworn as his successor. Biden had continued to try to observe some of the pomp and circumstance of a presidential transition, keeping traditions like hosting the incoming president at the White House and attending the inauguration, but the pardons and other preemptive efforts to blunt a rogue Trump II administration create a taut public scene on inauguration day. In issuing the pardons, Biden explicitly noted that they should not signify that the recipients engaged in any wrongdoing. It is not clear whether all of this mornings recipients will accept the presidential pardons. LIVE: Trumps Swearing-In Ceremony The ironies today abound: Trump being sworn in on the national holiday that honors Martin Luther King, Jr., and in the Capitol Rotunda that a mob of MAGA followers desecrated on Jan. 6, 2021. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement TPM will be providing live coverage beginning at 11 a.m. ET. Transition Tidbits President Biden spent his last full day in office in South Carolina, which was key to his securing the Democratic nomination in 2020. Speaking at a Black church, Biden urged Americans to keep the faith. Trumps second inaugural address reportedly will be less dark than his notorious 2017 American Carnage shitshow. TPMs Josh Kovensky: MAGA, MAHA, And Lots Of Crypto: Which Trump Inaugural Ball Is Right For You? Day One Of Trump II I want to caution that many of the expected first day acts of President Trump are going to be more symbolic than substantive. The executive orders in particular are probably best viewed as a combination of real executive orders and press releases gussied up as executive orders. Still, performative hatred towards transgendered Americans, people of color, and other vulnerable groups can both be of little legal weight and still carry enormous costs and consequences. Conflicting reports on whether the Trump administration will immediately conduct a large-scale immigration raid in Chicago this week. An anti-trans executive order is reportedly in the works. NYT: Trump Will Strip Protections from Career Civil Servants, Stephen Miller Says WaPo: Elon Musks DOGE to be sued within minutes of Trump inauguration for allegedly failing to comply with a 1972 law governing executive branch advisory committees Early Data Points Forced resignations at State : Scores of senior career diplomats are resigning from the State Department effective at noon on Monday after receiving instructions to do so from President-elect Donald Trumps aides, three U.S. officials familiar with the matter said. Govt scientists hunker down : Agencies and unions have put in place new guardrails designed to limit political interference in government research. Sign of the times: The New York Times contacted more than two dozen of Mr. Trumps most outspoken critics and perceived enemies to ask about their level of concern. Despite having spoken out in the past or having participated in proceedings against him, almost all declined to address their worries publicly, saying speaking out now could make them even more conspicuous targets. How To Pay Attention Democracy advocate Ben Raderstorf offers four criteria for prioritizing where to allocate your limited attention for politics in the Trump II chaos: Is the action tangible, actionable, and detailed? Or intangible, abstract, and vague? Does this thing cause irreparable harm to real people? Does this action target the opposition in a way that may cause anticipatory obedience? Does this entrench the authoritarian faction in power and make it more difficult to dislodge? Corruption Watch WSJ: With a corporate merger review looming, executives of the owner of CBS are reportedly considering settling a bogus Trump lawsuit over a 60 Minutes interview with Kamala Harris. NYT: President-elect Donald J. Trump and his family on Friday started selling a cryptocurrency token featuring an image of Mr. Trump drawn from the July assassination attempt, a potentially lucrative new business that ethics experts assailed as a blatant effort to cash in on the office he is about to occupy again. NYT: An Illustrated Guide to Trumps Conflict of Interest Risks The Perils Of Economic Concentration Aileen Cannons Closing Scene Former TPMer Tierney Sneed: Judge Aileen Cannon suggested Friday she was not inclined to allow the Justice Department to share special counsel Jack Smiths report on the classified documents case with Congress at least for now. Surreal Former TPMer Ryan Reilly recorded an unscripted moment Friday that serves as a fitting end to the Biden presidency: Do you like Morning Memo? Let us know! In one of his last acts as president, Joe Biden has issued preemptive pardons to several people Donald Trump and his allies perceive to be their enemies and have threatened to criminally investigate. The pardons were issued just hours before Biden is set to welcome Trump to the White House for tea prior to the latters presidential inauguration. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the former National Institute of Health director who helped oversee the nations response to the Covid-19 pandemic; retired Gen. Mark Milley, who has criticized Trump and whom Trump has suggested should be executed; and members of the House committee that investigated the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, including former Rep. Liz Cheney, all received pardons from the outgoing president. These are exceptional circumstances, and I cannot in good conscience do nothing, Biden wrote in a statement on Monday. Baseless and politically motivated investigations wreak havoc on the lives, safety and financial security of targeted individuals and their families. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The issuance of these pardons should not be mistaken as an acknowledgment that any individual engaged in any wrongdoing, nor should acceptance be misconstrued as an admission of guilt for any offense, he added. Our nation owes these public servants a debt of gratitude for their tireless commitment to our country. Trump was not happy, according to Kristen Welker of NBC News, who says Trump texted her after the pardons were issued. It is disgraceful, he wrote. Many are guilty of MAJOR CRIMES! DJT. Fauci has long been the center of Covid-19 conspiracy theories, with the right alleging among other things that he is the mastermind behind a nefarious plot to unleash the pandemic on the United States. Countless conservatives, including plenty of conservative lawmakers, have called for him to be investigated or worse. Trump has criticized him, as well. People are tired of Covid. I have the biggest rallies Ive ever had, and we have Covid, Trump told campaign staff in October 2020. People are saying whatever. Just leave us alone. Theyre tired of it. People are tired of hearing Fauci and all these idiots. Gen. Mark Milley, who retired in 2023, has long been feuding with Trump, most notably over Jan. 6. In 2023, Trump bashed Milley on Truth Social as a a Woke train wreck, while raging about a call Milley made to reassure a Chinese general in the wake of the Capitol attack. Milley testified that multiple Trump officials were aware of the calls, but Trump was not happy when the it was reported in Bob Woodwards book Peril. If the Fake News reporting is correct, [Milley] was actually dealing with China to give them a heads up on the thinking of the President of the United States, Trump wrote. This is an act so egregious that, in times gone by, the punishment would have been DEATH! Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Milley was grateful for Bidens pardon on Monday. After forty-three years of faithful service in uniform to our nation, protecting and defending the Constitution, I do not wish to spend whatever remaining time the Lord grants me fighting those who unjustly might seek retribution for perceived slights, Milley said. I do not want to put my family, my friends, and those with whom I served through the resulting distraction, expense, and anxiety. Trump has also long had it out for the lawmakers who investigated the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, and who ultimately voted to refer Trump for criminal charges. He has said explicitly that these lawmakers and former lawmakers should be in jail, and reposted a meme on Truth Social that said Liz Cheney is guilty of treason and suggested she should be subject to a televised military tribunal. Biden notably has not yet issued pardons to former Special Counsel Jack Smith, New York Attorney General Letitia James, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, or anyone else directly involved with the criminal investigations into the incoming president. More from Rolling Stone Best of Rolling Stone Sign up for RollingStone's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. President Joe Biden has adhered to the tradition started by Ronald Reagan and left his successor, Donald Trump, a letter as he hands over power. Biden confirmed that he wrote Trump a letter, but he didnt say what he wrote to the 47th president, choosing to let that remain between the two leaders, according to ABC News. Reagan started the tradition in 1989 when he left a letter for his successor, his own Vice President George H.W. Bush. Since Bush, each handover has been from a member of one party to the other. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Reagan wrote to H.W. Bush, Dont let the turkeys get you down, including a drawing of turkeys climbing on an elephant. Joe Biden left Donald Trump a letter at the White House, cotinuing the tradition with the transfer of power (Getty Images) I treasure the memories we share and I wish you all the very best. Youll be in my prayers. God bless you & Barbara. Ill miss our Thursday lunches, Reagan added, according to ABC News. When it was time for George H.W. Bush to hand over to Bill Clinton following the 1992 election, H.W. Bush wrote, Dont let the critics discourage you or push you off course. You will be our President when you read this note, he added. I wish you well. I wish your family well. Your success now is our countrys success. I am rooting hard for you. Good Luck. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In 2018, Clinton told ABC News: I love that letter. Biden confirmed that he wrote Trump a letter, but he didnt say what he wrote to the 47th president (POOL/AFP via Getty Images) I thought it was vintage George Bush, he added. I thought he meant it, but I also thought he was trying to be a citizen in the highest sense of the word. It was profoundly moving to me personally." When Clinton handed off to H.W. Bushs son, George W. Bush, he wrote, Today you embark on the greatest venture, with the greatest honor, that can come to an American citizen. Like me, you are especially fortunate to lead our country in a time of profound and largely positive change, when old questions, not just about the role of government, but about the very nature of our nation, must be answered anew, Clinton added at the time. You lead a proud, decent, good people. And from this day you are President of all of us. I salute you and wish you success and much happiness. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The burdens you now shoulder are great but often exaggerated. The sheer joy of doing what you believe is right is inexpressible, he continued. My prayers are with you and your family. Godspeed. W. Bush kept the tradition going with a letter to Barack Obama, writing You have just begun a fantastic chapter in your life. Very few have had the honor of knowing the responsibility you now feel. Very few know the excitement of the moment and the challenges you will face, W. Bush told the 44th president. There will be trying moments. The critics will rage. Your friends will disappoint you. But, you will have an Almighty God to comfort you, a family who loves you, and a country that is pulling for you, including me. No matter what comes, you will be inspired by the character and compassion of the people you now lead. God bless you. In Obamas letter to Trump, he congratulated him on a remarkable run. Trump also adhered to the tradition, leaving Biden a letter even after his claims that the 2020 election was stolen (POOL/AFP via Getty Images) Millions have placed their hopes in you, and all of us, regardless of party, should hope for expanded prosperity and security during your tenure, he added. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Weve both been blessed, in different ways, with great good fortune, said Obama, according to CNN. "Not everyone is so lucky. Its up to us to do everything we can (to) build more ladders of success for every child and family thats willing to work hard. We are just temporary occupants of this office, Obama told Trump. That makes us guardians of those democratic institutions and traditions -- like rule of law, separation of powers, equal protection and civil liberties -- that our forebears fought and bled for. Regardless of the push and pull of daily politics, its up to us to leave those instruments of our democracy at least as strong as we found them. He ended his letter with the words, Michelle and I wish you and Melania the very best as you embark on this great adventure, and know that we stand ready to help in any ways which we can. Trump later said Obamas letter was long but also said it was beautiful and so well-written, so thoughtful. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I called him and thanked him for the thought that was put into that letter, Trump told ABC News in 2017. Trump also adhered to the tradition, leaving Biden a letter even after his claims that the 2020 election was stolen and the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot. While the letter hasnt been made public, Biden called the letter very generous, according to Politico. As Joe Bidens presidency comes to a close, MSNBCs Ayman Mohyeldin takes a closer look at how his policies in the Middle East enabled what human rights groups have now deemed a genocide. He was joined by MSNBC Political Analyst and author of Being Jewish After the Destruction of Gaza Peter Beinart to discuss the devastating humanitarian and political impact of Bidens Gaza policy. WASHINGTON President Joe Biden on Sunday posthumously pardoned Black nationalist Marcus Garvey, who influenced Malcolm X and other civil rights leaders and was convicted of mail fraud in the 1920s. Congressional leaders had pushed for Biden to pardon Garvey (1887-1940), with supporters arguing that Garveys conviction was politically motivated and an effort to silence the increasingly popular leader who spoke of racial pride. After Garvey was convicted, he was deported to Jamaica, where he was born. He died in 1940 in England. The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. said of Garvey: He was the first man, on a mass scale and level to give millions of Black people a sense of dignity and destiny. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Britannica says of him: "He argued that Black people would be respected only when they were economically strong, and he preached an independent Black economy within the framework of white capitalism. To forward these ends, he established the Negro Factories Corporation and the Black Star Line (1919), as well as a chain of restaurants and grocery stores, laundries, a hotel, and a printing press. He reached the height of his power in 1920, when he presided at an international convention in Liberty Hall, with delegates present from 25 countries." Speaking to the Royal Missionary Baptist Church in South Carolina, Biden said that when people we love fall and make mistakes, Americans pick them back up. We dont turn on each other. We lean into each other. Thats the sacred covenant of our nation. We pledge an allegiance, not just to an idea, but to each other, Biden said. Biden, who also pardoned four others and commuted two sentences, has set the presidential record for most individual pardons and commutations issued. He announced on Friday that he was commuting the sentences of almost 2,500 people convicted of nonviolent drug offenses. He also gave a broad pardon for his son Hunter, who was prosecuted for gun and tax crimes. More pardons may be on the way. Its not clear whether Biden, who leaves office Monday, will pardon people who have been criticized or threatened by President-elect Donald Trump. President Biden announced pardons for members of his family in the last minutes of his presidency, a development that came as President-elect Trumps inauguration was already underway. The blanket pardons were granted to his brother, James Biden; his sister-in-law, Sara Jones Biden; his sister, Valerie Biden Owens; his brother-in-law, John T. Owens; and his youngest brother, Francis Biden. My family has been subjected to unrelenting attacks and threats, motivated solely by a desire to hurt me the worst kind of partisan politics, Biden said in a statement. Unfortunately, I have no reason to believe these attacks will end. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Biden said the pardons do not acknowledge any wrongdoing, nor should acceptance be viewed as an admission of guilt. They cover any nonviolent offense from Jan. 1, 2014, to Sunday. The pardon for the Biden family members came after a number of them testified before the then-House Oversight and Accountability Committee as it investigated both President Biden and son, Hunter Biden, in a probe of influence peddling. While President Biden pardoned Hunter Biden in December, he had not yet done so for other family members, risking continued congressional oversight. Last week, House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) had called on the incoming attorney general to bring contempt of Congress charges against James Biden, accusing him of lying to the panel during a deposition. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Though President Bidens saccharine (and wholly ironic) rantings of political persecution and weaponized prosecution of Hunter Biden are specious, they are inapplicable to the non-prosecution of his brother, James Biden, who has lied to the United States Congress and has faced no accountability to date, Comer wrote in a letter last week in a letter to Pam Bondi, Trumps pick to lead the Department of Justice. I write to encourage the Department under your leadership to hold James Biden accountable for lying to Congress to protect his brother, the soon-to-be-former President Biden. No one should be above the law, regardless of his last name. The GOP-led probe was broadly an impeachment investigation into President Biden; after a lengthy probe, the committee issued a final report accusing the president of impeachable acts, rolling out the accusation shortly before the Democratic National Convention without ever taking further action. The investigation never uncovered evidence of a key claim that both father and son accepted a bribe and the former FBI informant who made the claim pleaded guilty last year to fabricating the claim. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Nonetheless, Comers recent letter suggests the GOP was not walking away from the investigation or its plans to review various Biden family members. Speaking with The Hill Monday, Comer said the pardon validated the investigation. We finished our investigation, we published a very detailed report, and I think the pardons validate everything in that report, Comer said. Now its Pam Bondis. James Biden was a business partner of Hunter Biden, making him another key figure in the GOP probe. The party also accused the brother of being a backdoor for the president to be able to accept foreign money. However, the funds exchanged between the two brothers reflected a loan; James Biden repaid his brother after two major business deals, one with a U.S. company while the other came shortly after a deal Hunter Biden secured with a Chinese company. Both transactions occurred after President Biden left the vice presidency and before he returned to office. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Jim and Sara Biden did not seek this pardon because they have never committed any crimes, said Paul Fishman, an attorney for James and Sara Biden. But for the reasons the President described, they have accepted it. Emily Brooks contributed. Updated at 3:29 p.m. EST Copyright 2025 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 The Hill. Sri Lankan Prime Minister Harini Amarasuriya experiences sugar painting during the opening ceremony of "Happy Chinese New Year Chinese Culture Festival" in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Jan. 19, 2025. (Xinhua/Wu Yue) COLOMBO, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- Sri Lankan Prime Minister Harini Amarasuriya attended the opening ceremony of "Happy Chinese New Year Chinese Culture Festival" held here on Sunday. In her speech, Amarasuriya said China has been a steadfast partner in Sri Lanka's development journey, supporting Sri Lanka in times of need and standing by the South Asian country in its efforts to achieve economic stability and prosperity. Chinese Ambassador to Sri Lanka Qi Zhenhong said that in recent years, the Chinese Spring Festival has increasingly gone to the world, becoming a window for the world to better understand Chinese culture and customs, and an important way to promote exchanges and mutual learning among different civilizations. He said China and Sri Lanka are good brothers and partners who help each other. China is willing to work with Sri Lanka to implement the important consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries, deepen the strategic cooperative partnership, promote high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, and jointly build a China-Sri Lanka community with a shared future, bringing more benefits to the two countries and their peoples. Approximately 800 guests, including high-level officials of the Sri Lankan government, overseas Chinese, and Chinese enterprise representatives, attended the opening ceremony. Sri Lankan Prime Minister Harini Amarasuriya delivers a speech during the opening ceremony of "Happy Chinese New Year Chinese Culture Festival" in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Jan. 19, 2025. (Xinhua/Wu Yue) Artists perform during the opening ceremony of "Happy Chinese New Year Chinese Culture Festival" in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Jan. 19, 2025. (Xinhua/Wu Yue) Artists perform during the opening ceremony of "Happy Chinese New Year Chinese Culture Festival" in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Jan. 19, 2025. (Xinhua/Wu Yue) In his last official act before leaving the White House, president Joe Biden issued sweeping preemptive pardons to members of his family whove long been the target of attacks from President-elect Donald Trump and his allies and commuted the sentence of a Native American activist who has spent a half-century in prison for the death of an FBI agent. In a statement released as Biden arrived at the US Capitol for the inauguration of his successor, Biden said he was commuting the life sentence of American Indian Movement activist Leonard Peltier and allowing him to live out the remainder of his sentence in home confinement under Department of Justice supervision. Peltier, who has been imprisoned since 1976, was convicted by a federal jury in Fargo, North Dakota for his role in a shootout that claimed the lives of FBI special agents Ronald Williams and Jack Coler. American Indian activist Leonard Peltier speaks during an interview at the US Penitentiary at Leavenworth, Kan, April 29 1999 (AP) The decision to commute Peltiers sentence ends years of calls for his freedom from criminal justice reform advocates whove said he deserved to be freed because of misconduct by the FBI during the prosecution of the case against him. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But Biden also said he was granting unconditional pardons to multiple members of his family, including his brother James Biden and sister-in-law Sara Biden, his brother Frank Biden, his sister Valerie Biden Owens, and her husband John Owens. Indigenous rights activists take part in a rally in support of imprisoned Native American activist Leonard Peltier, at Lafayette Square across from the White House, in Washington, DC, on September 12, 2023 (AFP via Getty) Biden said they, along with the rest of his family, had been subjected to unrelenting attacks and threats, motivated solely by a desire to hurt methe worst kind of partisan politics during his term as president and lamented that he had no reason to believe these attacks will end. I believe in the rule of law, and I am optimistic that the strength of our legal institutions will ultimately prevail over politics. But baseless and politically motivated investigations wreak havoc on the lives, safety, and financial security of targeted individuals and their families. Even when individuals have done nothing wrong and will ultimately be exonerated, the mere fact of being investigated or prosecuted can irreparably damage their reputations and finances, Biden said. Valerie Biden and James Biden arrive to federal court, Monday, June 10 2024, in Wilmington, Delaware (AP) He added that the pardons should not be mistaken as an acknowledgement that they engaged in any wrongdoing, nor should acceptance be misconstrued as an admission of guilt for any offense. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Biden also announced he was pardoning a pair of Democratic politicians whod found themselves in legal trouble in recent years, former Kentucky state legislator Gerald Lundergan and ex-Columbia, South Carolina city councilman Ernest Cromartie. Joe Biden presents Frank Butler with the Presidential Citizens Medal during a ceremony in the East Room of the White House on January 02 2025 in Washington, DC (Getty Images) Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Bidens final pardons came just hours after he also granted pre-emptive pardons to Dr Anthony Fauci, General Mark Milley, and the members of Congress who served on the House committee that investigated the attempted insurrection at the US Capitol on January 6 2021, as well as police officers who testified before the panel and staff members who worked on the committees investigation. KENTUCKY (FOX 56) During President Joe Bidens final moments in office, he issued several pardons just moments before President Donald Trumps inauguration on Monday. Among them was a former Kentucky state representative and Kentucky Democratic Party Chairman. LATEST KENTUCKY NEWS: In July 2020, Gerald Lundergan of Lexington, also known as Jerry, was sentenced to 21 months in prison for his role in orchestrating a multiyear scheme to funnel more than $200,000 in secret, unlawful corporate contributions into a campaign for United States Senate, the Department of Justice (DOJ) said in a press release. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement According to the DOJ, Lundergan used and concealed the funds of a company he owned to pay for his daughters campaign trail. A jury convicted Lundergan of one count of conspiracy, one count of making corporate campaign contributions, four counts of causing the submission of false statements to the FEC, and four counts of causing the falsification of documents with the intent to obstruct and impede a matter within the FECs jurisdiction. Following the conviction, Lundergan appealed the decision, which was ultimately denied, per court records. Two years later, court documents show that Lundergans representation requested compassionate release as he suffered a second stroke and was in declining health. Read more of the latest news in politics Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement During Bidens final moments in the White House, he issued several other pardons, including to family members. Lundergan was granted a full and unconditional pardon, documents show. Copyright 2025 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 56 News. Jerry Lundergan, center, applauds his daughter, Alison Lundergan Grimes, as she speaks at the Graves County Democratic Breakfast, Aug. 2, 2014, in Mayfield. Grimes, then Kentucky's secretary of state, was the Democratic nominee challenging Republican Mitch McConnell for his seat in the U.S. Senate. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images) President Joe Biden has pardoned Lexington businessman and former state Democratic Party chief Jerry Lundergan for his conviction on federal campaign finance charges. The charges stemmed from Lundergans daughters unsuccessful 2014 campaign against Republican Mitch McConnell for U.S. Senate. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In a statement released Monday by his attorney, J. Guthrie True, of Frankfort, Lundergan said, I have taken responsibility for my actions, sought atonement, and am working to make a positive difference in the lives of the most vulnerable, including the homeless, those recovering from addiction, and those re-entering society. I am grateful for the presidents action; it offers healing to my family and confirms that our justice system is grounded in forgiveness. The presidential pardon, one of a record number that Biden issued in his final days in office, ends years of legal wrangling in the Lundergan case and comes after he served a term in federal prison. Lundergan, 77, completed his sentence during the COVID-19 pandemic and after suffering a stroke, the statement said. A presidential pardon restores civil rights, such as the right to vote, hold office and serve on a jury. It also removes legal disabilities, such as restrictions on owning a firearm. True, Lundergans lawyer, called the action a worthy application of the pardon power for a mistake motivated by a fathers love for his daughter. But with or without the pardon, Jerry always works to make the world a better place in which to live. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A Republican Party of Kentucky spokesperson blasted the pardon as Democratic Party cronyism. Nobody should be surprised that Joe Biden doubled down on his legacy of championing corruption by issuing last-minute pardons on his way out the door. After all, he and his family have long benefited from the same Good Old Boys Club that protects Democratic Party insiders from accountability, said Andy Westberry, communications director for the state GOP, adding that Bidens administration has thankfully been relegated to the trash heap of history. Lundergans pardon was one of a number Biden issued in his final minutes in office. The outgoing president issued preemptive pardons for five members of his family, saying he feared the incoming Trump administration would attack them. Biden commuted the life sentence Native American activist Leonard Peltier, convicted of killing two F.B.I. agents in 1975, allowing Peltier, 80, to serve out his term in home confinement. A former city council member from Columbia, South Carolina, Ernest William Cromartie, convicted of tax evasion, also received a Biden pardon. True said Lundergan had applied to Biden for a pardon. Word that it had been granted came down in the last hour of Bidens presidency just before noon Monday. The veteran attorney said it was the first presidential pardon he has received for a client. Jerry was monitoring the situation very closely, True said. True said he talked briefly to Lundergan after the pardon was issued. He was quite emotional. Conviction followed five-week trial Lundergan was sentenced in July 2020 to 21 months in prison followed by two years of supervised release for making illegal contributions to the failed U.S. Senate campaign of his daughter, former Democratic Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes, and for causing the concealment of those contributions from the Federal Election Commission (FEC). Grimes served as secretary of state from 2012 to 2020. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Prosecutors said Lundergan orchestrated a multi-year scheme to funnel more than $200,000 in illegal contributions to Grimes 2014 campaign against McConnell. They alleged he either paid for campaign services directly and didnt seek reimbursement or paid costs through a co-defendant, political consultant Dale Emmons of Richmond. Alison Lundergan Grimes, then Kentuckys secretary of state, speaks at the 2016 Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images) On Sept. 12, 2019, following a five-week trial, a jury convicted Lundergan of one count of conspiracy, one count of making corporate campaign contributions, four counts of causing the submission of false statements to the FEC and four counts of causing the falsification of documents with the intent to obstruct and impede a matter within the FECs jurisdiction. According to the evidence presented at trial, Lundergan used the funds of S.R. Holding Co. Inc., which he owned, to pay for services provided by consultants and vendors to his daughters campaign. Grimes was the Democratic nominee. The evidence established that Lundergan caused the issuance of a number of payments from S.R. Holding for services that included audio-video production, lighting, recorded telephone calls and campaign consulting between July 2013 and December 2015. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The U.S. Department of Justice said the corporate contributions also included monthly payments from S.R. Holding to co-conspirator Emmons and his company during this period. Emmons provided services to the campaign and sought and received compensation from Lundergan and S.R. Holding. Emmons also used the funds of his corporation, Emmons & Co. Inc., to pay other vendors and a campaign worker for services rendered to the campaign. Those services included recorded telephone calls, technological support services and other campaign-related expenses. The evidence established that Lundergan and Emmons concealed these activities from other officials associated with the campaign. Their concealments caused the campaign to unwittingly file false reports with the FEC because the reports failed to disclose the source and amount of the corporate contributions. McConnell won the 2014 race with 56.2% of the vote. Defense argued no criminal intent True, who represented Lundergan at trial, argued consistently that his client had never had any criminal intent in giving money to try to help his daughter. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Emmons was sentenced for his six convictions to three years of probation, nine months of which were served in a halfway house. He was fined $50,000 while Lundergan was fined $150,000. Emmons had no comment when contacted Monday about Lundergans pardon. The men are longtime friends and well-known political figures in Kentucky. Lundergan served in the legislature and was Democratic party chief in 1988 for the late Gov. Wallace Wilkinson. He resigned as party chair after being indicted and later convicted for concealing that his catering company had profited from a no-bid state contract despite a state law barring lawmakers or their businesses from receiving no-bid contracts of more than $25. The conviction was overturned on grounds that the case should have not have been prosecuted as a felony and that time had runout to prosecute a misdemeanor. Lundergan again became chair of the Kentucky Democratic Party in 2005 when then-Attorney General Greg Stumbo, the highest ranking Kentucky Democrat at the time, recommended him for the post. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He also served as the state chair for Hillary Clintons 2008 presidential campaign. Lundergan is close to the Clintons. Former President Bill Clinton wrote a pre-sentencing letter on Lundergans behalf to U.S. District Judge Gregory F. Van Tatenhove, calling Lundergan a good man with a big heart who has made a positive difference in countless lives, including my own. True said he does not know if the Clintons or anyone else recommended that Biden issue Lundergans pardon. Emmons has worked on campaigns for offices from courthouses to Congress. The two men broke important laws that regulate the integrity of our elections, Robert Duncan, U.S. attorney for Kentuckys Eastern District, said at Lundergans conviction. Ethics commission still pursuing case against Grimes Meanwhile, Kentuckys Executive Branch Ethics Commission is seeking to reverse a judges ruling that cleared Grimes of ethics violations charges while she was secretary of state. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The five-member commission made that request to the Kentucky Court of Appeals in June. The appeal questions Franklin Circuit Judge Phillip Shepherds order that cleared her of ethics charges that she improperly ordered the downloading and distribution of voter registration data while she was Kentuckys secretary of state. The commission investigated Grimes for several years. As secretary of state, Grimes was the states chief elections officer. In her position, she had access to data from the state Voter Registration System in the State Board of Elections. Shepherd, in his 33-page order, agreed with Grimes arguments that the commissions charges were barred by the five-year statute of limitations and that the record did not support a finding of any violations of the executive branchs code of ethics. The commission had charged that Grimes violated the ethics code by sharing voter information without requiring an Open Records request or other established process of government. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Grimes submitted that all the voter data at issue was information in the public domain, that she had full legal authority and discretion as secretary of state to access and share such information. She claimed no statute or regulation was violated by the sharing of such public information. Shepherd faulted the Ethics Commission for not conducting an evidentiary hearing in the case to hear testimony from witnesses. Grimes attorney, True, called Shepherds ruling a complete vindication for Grimes. Susan Clary, executive director of the Executive Branch Ethics Commission, has said the panel is appealing Shepherds order because it particularly is concerned about the statute of limitations in its daily work. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement She has said the commission is independent and that Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear had no input on the panels decision to appeal the Grimes case The Beshears and Lundergan have been involved in a decades-long political family rivalry that stems from state legislative races in the 1970s between the governors father, former Gov. Steve Beshear, and Jerry Lundergan. Both Steve and Andy Beshear, however, supported Grimes in her 2014 race against McConnell. Steve Beshear lost to McConnell in 1996. His son has been mentioned as a possible candidate in 2026 for McConnells U.S. Senate seat, but the younger Beshear has said he wants to serve out the remainder of his term as governor, which ends in 2027. McConnell, who will be 84 in 2026, has not yet said whether he will again seek reelection. The Kentucky Lantern reported last August that several political science professors in the state do not think Alison Lundergan Grimes ethics charges would rule out success for her in another political bid. Grimes attended the Democratic National Convention in Chicago last year. Weve seen voters forgive candidates for legal troubles for years. Consider Donald Trump, said Stephen Voss, associate professor of political science at the University of Kentucky. The political scientist said voters tend to ignore the charges against the candidates unless they are personally affected by the charges. How personally relevant to them is the legal problem? he asked. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE (Bloomberg) -- Former President Joe Biden granted blanket pardons to five family members in the last hour of his presidency, the final acts of clemency that also included sweeping pardons for members of Congress who investigated Trumps role in the assault on the Capitol four years ago. Most Read from Bloomberg My family has been subjected to unrelenting attacks and threats, motivated solely by a desire to hurt me the worst kind of partisan politics. Unfortunately, I have no reason to believe these attacks will end, Biden said in a written statement. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The full and unconditional pardons for any nonviolent offenses committed since 2014 were signed on Sunday but not announced until Monday, 21 minutes before ceding power to President Donald Trump. Those pardoned included brothers James Biden and Francis Biden, sister Valerie Biden Owens, and James and Valeries spouses. He previously gave a blanket pardon to his son, Hunter Biden, who was about to be sentenced on gun and tax evasion charges. Biden said the pardons for his family should not be taken as admission or acknowledgment of any crime. Republicans had promised investigations into what they called the Biden crime family, which they said benefited financially from Bidens access to world leaders during his term as vice president. Biden also commuted the sentences of three people, including Native American activist Leonard Peltier, convicted of murdering two FBI agents in 1975. Peltier, who had been sentenced to life in prison, will serve the remainder of his sentence in home confinement. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Also Sunday, Biden granted preemptive pardons to leading government officials that Trump has threatened to punish, fending off potential retribution by his successor against those he has labeled as political enemies. Those pardoned include retired General Mark Milley, infectious diseases expert Anthony Fauci, and members of Congress and staff who served on the select committee which investigated the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol and recommended that Trump be prosecuted for his role in the insurrection. Those on the panel included Liz Cheney, a former Wyoming Republican congresswoman who helped lead the investigation, and now-Senator Adam Schiff, a Democrat from California who also led the prosecution in Trumps first impeachment trial. The chair of the panel was Representative Bennie Thompson, a Mississippi Democrat. Former Representative Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, along with Cheney, were the only Republicans on the committee. The president also pardoned US Capitol and DC Metropolitan police officers who testified before the committee. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The issuance of these pardons should not be mistaken as an acknowledgment that any individual engaged in any wrongdoing, nor should acceptance be misconstrued as an admission of guilt for any offense, Biden said in a separate statement Monday. How US Presidents Wield Their Mighty Power to Pardon: QuickTake Eleventh-hour pardons have become a predictable feature of the modern presidency, with presidents waiting until their final moments in office to grant their most controversial acts of clemency. In his last hours in office during his first administration, Trump pardoned more than 70 people, including Elliott Broidy, a former Republican National Committee finance official, who pleaded guilty to conspiracy to serve as an unregistered agent of a foreign principal; Robert Zangrillo, a Miami investor ensnared in a college admissions bribery scandal, and Albert J. Pirro Jr., the ex-husband of Fox News host Jeanine Pirro. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trumps pardons went to people who had been charged with crimes, if not always convicted and sentenced, while Bidens most recent pardons cover people not known to be under criminal investigation. Such blanket pardons are valid, but rare. President Gerald Ford pardoned his predecessor, Richard Nixon, of all offenses he committed or may have committed or taken part in during his presidency. Bidens pardon of his son, Hunter Biden, also included any offenses he may have committed in the past 11 years. As recently as this month, Biden said he tried to avoid issuing mass pardons by convincing Trump not to retaliate. I tried to make it clear that there was no need, and it was counterintuitive for his interest to go back and try to settle scores, Biden told USA Today. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trump, in a text message to a NBC News reporter, called Bidens pardons disgraceful. Many are guilty of MAJOR CRIMES! the president-elect said. Chip Roy, a congressman from Texas, said he believed Congress should test the bounds of Bidens pardons by bringing in Fauci and others to testify before Congress this year. Come on in and testify. Get under oath, Roy said. Tell us what you did. An NPR review of Trumps public statements last year found more than 100 threats to investigate, prosecute or punish political opponents. Milley had served as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under Trump, but has since called him fascist to the core and the most dangerous person to this country. Trump, in turn, has called Milley a Woke train wreck and grossly incompetent and suggested Milleys efforts to defuse tensions with China after the Jan. 6 attacks were an act so egregious that, in times gone by, the punishment would have been DEATH! Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Fauci led the Covid-19 response during the Trump administration but the president-elect and his allies have turned on him for recommending lockdowns to slow the spread of the virus. My pronouns are still prosecute/Fauci, billionaire Elon Musk wrote on his X platform after the election. Its not clear that those receiving pardons had asked for them or would accept them. Schiff, the California senator, has stopped short of saying he didnt want a pardon but said it would be the wrong precedent. --With assistance from Emily Birnbaum. (Corrects charges against Elliott Broidy in the 13th paragraph.) Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2025 Bloomberg L.P. Before he leaves office for the final time, President Joe Biden plans to pen President-elect Donald Trump a letter, CNN is told. Four years ago, when Trump famously skipped Bidens inauguration after refusing to acknowledge his victory, Biden revealed that Trump had followed one presidential tradition by leaving him a letter on the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office. While its exact contents have never been revealed, Biden later described it as very generous. At the time, a senior Trump aide described the letter to CNN as a personal note that prayed for the success of the country and the new administration to care for the country. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It is a modern tradition for outgoing presidents to write their successors a letter and leave it for them on the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office. It may have been a surprising tradition for Trump to follow given he flouted so many others, but people around Trump in 2021 said it was because he was so fascinated by the letter that former President Barack Obama had left for him when he took office. As CNN previously reported, Trump was so touched by the move that he tried to call Obama immediately after reading it, but the outgoing president was flying to California, and the two never directly connected. Trump and Biden will have several moments together Monday, including a tea and coffee reception with their spouses at the White House. The two will also ride together in the presidential limo to the Capitol for the inauguration. The two men did not ride together four years ago, when Trump famously skipped Bidens swearing-in, but they will return to the same tradition that outgoing Obama afforded to Trump in 2017. The moment could be awkward given Trump spent his rally speech Sunday trashing his predecessors legacy. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Tomorrow at noon, the curtain closes on four long years of American decline, and we begin a brand-new day of American strength and prosperity, dignity and pride, Trump said at the rally in Washington, DC. Were not going to take it anymore. This story has been updated with additional information. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com US President Joe Biden pre-emptively pardoned a number of people seen as political opponents of his successor Donald Trump hours before leaving office on Monday and later pardoned members of his own family. Those pardoned include immunologist Anthony Fauci, General Mark Milley, Trump's former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and all members of Congress who served on the select committee investigating the January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol buildings in Washington. The White House statement did not name members of the committee, who included former representatives Liz Cheney and Adam Schiff. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "Our nation relies on dedicated, selfless public servants every day. They are the lifeblood of our democracy. Yet alarmingly, public servants have been subjected to ongoing threats and intimidation for faithfully discharging their duties," the statement said in reference to threats of criminal prosecution made by Trump and his allies and directed at his perceived opponents. "These public servants have served our nation with honour and distinction and do not deserve to be the targets of unjustified and politically motivated prosecutions," the statement said. It added that the pardons should not be understood as an acknowledgement those concerned had engaged in any wrongdoing. Strong reaction from Trump Trump mocked Cheney and Milley in the wake of Biden's pardons, calling Cheney a disaster and "a crying lunatic." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Regarding the pardon of his former chief of staff Milley, Trump said that he had said "terrible" things and was not deserving of help. Last-minute pardon for family members Biden pardoned several family members on Monday just minutes before his successor's inauguration. He issued pardons to James B Biden, Sara Jones Biden, Valerie Biden Owens, John T Owens and Francis W Biden. "The issuance of these pardons should not be mistaken as an acknowledgment that they engaged in any wrongdoing, nor should acceptance be misconstrued as an admission of guilt for any offence," he wrote. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "My family has been subjected to unrelenting attacks and threats, motivated solely by a desire to hurt me - the worst kind of partisan politics," Biden wrote in a statement. "Unfortunately, I have no reason to believe these attacks will end." Compassionate grounds He also pardoned Gerald G Lundergan and Ernest William Cromartie. He commuted the life sentence imposed on Leonard Peltier so that he serves the remainder of his sentence in home confinement. Lundergan is now 77 years old and suffered a debilitating stroke before serving his sentence, the Biden White House said in a statement. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Since his release from prison, he had demonstrated remorse, raised money for an in-patient treatment facility for people recovering from substance abuse, and helped establish a nonprofit foundation dedicated to help inmates re-enter the workforce, the statement added. Cromartie, according to the statement, "has dedicated his life to public service." "Since his release from prison, he has established a scholarship for underprivileged youth and is active in his church and faith community." Peltier is a Native American activist who is currently serving life in prison for killing two FBI agents on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation and escaping from federal prison. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Biden described Peltier as 80 years old, suffering from severe health ailments, and noted that he had spent the majority of his life - nearly half a century - in prison. Others pardoned on Sunday Biden announced other acts of clemency on Sunday, one day before leaving office. Biden pardoned five individuals, one of them posthumously, a White House statement said. Punishments for two others were commuted, with their sentences now set to expire on February 18. "These clemency recipients have each made significant contributions to improving their communities," the statement said. The well-known black activist Marcus Garvey, who died in 1940, was pardoned posthumously, having spent almost three years in prison for mail fraud before then-president Calvin Coolidge commuted his sentence in 1927. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement US presidents tend to make use of their powers of clemency towards the end of their terms. Biden has issued a large number of pardons and commutations in recent weeks, mostly for non-violent drugs offences. Many of the sentences were passed under legislation that has since been amended. However, the president's decision in early December to pardon his son Hunter provoked serious criticism. Hunter Biden had been found guilty of a firearms offence and of tax evasion. WASHINGTON President Biden Monday pardoned Dr. Anthony Fauci, retired Gen. Mark Milley, ex-Rep. Liz Cheney and members of the Jan. 6 committee in the waning hours of his term to protect them against retribution by incoming President Trump. With Trump taking power at noon, Biden took dramatic action to protect them from Trumps stated goal of exacting revenge against perceived enemies. The sweeping pardons protect some of the most prominent Trump critics in public service and Congress from being investigated or prosecuted for actions the incoming president says were improper or even criminal. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Biden insisted in an early morning statement that the preemptive pardons should not be taken as an acknowledgment of any wrongdoing whatsoever. Our nation owes these public servants a debt of gratitude for their tireless commitment to our country, Biden said in a statement. The pardons, announced with just hours left in Bidens presidency, have been the subject of heated debate for months at the highest levels of the White House. The move comes as Trump has called for revenge against an enemies list filled with those who have crossed him politically or sought to hold him accountable for his own alleged misdeeds during his previous four year term in office. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trump and his MAGA allies despise Fauci for spearheading the public health measures that helped the nation defeat the COVID-19 pandemic, even though the nations most famous infectious disease doctor worked side by side with Trump during his first term. The soon-to-be commander-in-chief accuses Milley of being a warmonger who undermined him during his first four years in the White House. These are exceptional circumstances, and I cannot in good conscience do nothing, Biden said, adding that Even when individuals have done nothing wrong, and in fact have done the right thing the mere fact of being investigated or prosecuted can irreparably damage reputations and finances. Biden has used the presidential pardon power in the broadest and most untested way possible: to pardon those who have not even been investigated yet. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trump, who takes office at noon, has promised to pardon many of those involved in the violent and bloody Jan. 6, 2021, attack, which injured roughly 140 law enforcement officers. He has also vowed to turn the tables on his critics by putting them under the legal microscope. Its unclear whether those pardoned by Biden would need to apply for the clemency or even accept the offer at all. Any acceptance could be seen as a tacit admission of guilt or wrongdoing, validating years of attacks by Trump and his supporters. Milley and Fauci both issued statements thanking Biden for the pardons. Fauci was director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health for nearly 40 years, including during Trumps term in office and later served as Bidens chief medical advisor until his retirement in 2022. He helped coordinate the nations response to the COVID-19 pandemic by Trumps side but fell out of favor with him. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Fauci has become a target of intense hatred from Trumps right-wing allies, who blame him for mask mandates and other policies they believe infringed on their rights, even as hundreds of thousands of people were dying. Mark Milley is the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He later called Trump a fascist and detailed Trumps conduct around the deadly Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection. Biden also extended pardons to members and staff of the Jan. 6 committee that investigated the attack, as well as the U.S. Capitol and D.C. Metropolitan police officers who testified before the committee about their experiences that day, overrun by an angry, violent mob of Trump supporters. The committee spent 18 months investigating Trump and the violent insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021. It was lead by Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Mississippi), and Cheney, a onetime GOP rising star who broke with Trump over the attack. Joe Biden cast his last-minute pardons of family members merely as an effort to shield them from the retribution of Donald Trump. In reality, his brother, serial entrepreneur Jim Biden, had already come under scrutiny from investigators in Bidens own Justice Department. In addition to calls from Republicans in Congress to prosecute him for allegedly lying to congressional impeachment investigators, Jim Bidens activities have been investigated in recent years in two federal criminal probes, as POLITICO previously reported. Jim Biden, 75, has not been accused of criminal wrongdoing in those cases. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Both investigations deal with a now-bankrupt hospital operator, Americore, that Jim Biden worked with in the years between his older brothers vice presidency and presidency. It is not clear where existing DOJ probes might have led before Monday's pardons. Joe Biden's 11th-hour issuance of a blanket pardon protects his brother not only from Trumps revenge, but also from ordinary inquiries into his business activities. In one case, the Justice Department has for years been investigating schemes to defraud Medicare and other government health care programs that occurred in part at an Americore hospital in Pennsylvania. In a recording of a 2023 conversation reviewed by POLITICO, one of Jim Bidens associates, Mississippi health care executive Keaton Langston, said he misled Justice Department investigators when he was questioned about some of Jim Bidens contacts with Americore. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Langston, then facing prosecution, said on the recording that he could have improved his own negotiating position with the government If Id have just told the truth about Jimmy Biden, but did not explain how. Last May, Langston pleaded guilty to his role in a $51 million health care fraud. His sentencing is scheduled for June 26. Paul Fishman, a lawyer for Jim Biden and his wife, Sara Biden, who was also pardoned, said his clients had no criminal liability. "Jim and Sara Biden did not seek this pardon because they have never committed any crimes, said Fishman, a partner at Arnold & Porter. But for the reasons the president described, they have accepted it. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In a federal criminal investigation in South Florida, meanwhile, Justice Department officials have scrutinized an effort, which Jim Biden participated in, to raise investment funds for companies including Americore from sources in the Middle East. Investigators in that case subpoenaed a legal agreement that Jim Biden was party to and sought information about a series of loans to Americore, some of which Jim Biden has said he was paid to arrange. It is not clear whether Jim Bidens activities are a focus of that probe. The criminal investigation in South Florida deals with many of the same transactions that were at issue in a civil case brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission against a business partner of Jim Bidens, fund manager Michael Lewitt. Last year, the SEC banned Lewitt from the securities industry for five years. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement According to a person familiar with the criminal case, who was granted anonymity to discuss a sensitive matter, the investigation remains open. The Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment. While Hunter Biden has garnered more public attention, Republican lawmakers have also set their sights on Jim Biden. Alongside Hunter Biden, with whom he sometimes partnered, Jim Biden was a major focus of House Republicans impeachment inquiry, and testified before it last February. The inquiry stalled, but last June, a trio of House Republicans sent a criminal referral to the Justice Department calling for Jim Biden to be prosecuted for making false statements. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The referral cited Jim Bidens testimony about an alleged May 2017 meeting at a hotel bar in Los Angeles. Two other participants in the alleged meeting, Hunter Biden and Tony Bobulinski a businessman with whom Jim and Hunter Biden were working to land potential deals with a Chinese energy tycoon testified to the impeachment inquiry that they were present with Joe and Jim Biden at the bar. Jim Biden, though, testified that Joe Biden was not present. I could have been there just with Tony Bobulinski. I could have been there with Hunter as well. But my brother was never there, he said. The referral alleges that Jim Biden lied about the meeting to distance Joe Biden from his overseas dealings. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement On Friday, House Oversight Chair James Comer (R-Ky.), released a letter to Pam Bondi, Trumps pick for attorney general, urging her to prosecute Jim Biden for that testimony. In announcing the pardons of his three siblings and their two spouses, Joe Biden said that baseless and politically motivated investigations wreak havoc on the lives, safety, and financial security of targeted individuals and their families. Even when individuals have done nothing wrong and will ultimately be exonerated, the mere fact of being investigated or prosecuted can irreparably damage their reputations and finances. The potential legal jeopardy faced by Mondays other pardon recipients varies. Sara Biden at times participated in her husbands business dealings, and transactions in her name came under scrutiny during Republican-led congressional investigations of the Bidens. Joe Bidens youngest brother, Frank Biden, drew criticism for linking himself to his brother in a 2021 ad for a Florida law firm, but has mostly avoided controversy during his brothers presidential term. Joe Bidens sister, Valerie Biden, and her husband John Owens, also received pardons despite a lack of controversy surrounding their activities. ACCRA, Jan. 19 (Xinhua) -- Seven illegal miners were killed and one seriously injured during a gun battle with the troops in western Ghana, the military said Sunday. The gun battle took place in Obusai, a town in the western African country's Ashanti Region, on Saturday when some 60 illegal miners breached AngloGold Ashanti mine's security fence to enter the Deep Decline care of the mine and opened fire on the military stationed there, the military said in a statement. The illegal miners were wielding locally manufactured rifles, pump-action guns, gas cylinders, knives, heavy-duty industrial bolt cutters, axes and machetes, said the statement. "The troops returned fire in self-defense. The shootout led to the death of seven illegal miners and one seriously injured. The remaining illegal miners bolted," it said. "A soldier who was also hit by pellets from a pump-action gun and got injured has been treated," it added. Ghanaian President John Dramani Mahama has ordered an immediate investigation to determine the circumstances surrounding the clashes and ensure that any individuals found to have acted unlawfully are brought to justice. Over the past few years, the Ghanaian government has ramped up its efforts to tackle illegal mining, not least by dispatching security agencies to protect the mining concessions for their owners. President Joe Biden has sparked outrage after commuting the sentence of Leonard Peltier in a last-minute move before leaving office Monday. Peltier, 80, has spent nearly 50 years in prison after being convicted of the murder of two FBI agents on South Dakota's Pine Ridge Reservation in 1975. He also escaped from federal prison in 1979 while serving his sentence for the two murders and had five years tacked onto his sentence. Peltier, a prominent Native American activist before his arrest, has always proclaimed his innocence in the crime. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement MORE: President Biden pardons family members in final minutes of presidency "This commutation will enable Mr. Peltier to spend his remaining days in home confinement but will not pardon him for his underlying crimes," Biden wrote in a statement announcing the move. The commutation came in the same release, issued while now-President Donald Trump's inauguration ceremony was getting underway at the U.S. Capitol Rotunda, that granted preemptive pardons to five of Biden's family members, including his brother James Biden, a target of congressional Republicans. Peltier suffers from significant health issues, according to the release. PHOTO: Former President Joe Biden gestures while arriving at Joint Base Andrews following inauguration ceremonies in Joint Base Andrews, Md., Jan. 20, 2025. (Samuel Corum/Getty Images) Former FBI Director Christopher Wray recently penned a letter to Biden, warning him against commuting Peltier's sentence. The letter was written on Jan. 10, just days before Wray and Biden left office. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "Mr. President, I urge you in the strongest terms possible: Do not pardon Leonard Peltier or cut his sentence short," Wray wrote. "It would be shattering to the victims' loved ones and undermine the principles of justice and accountability that our government should represent." On June 26, 1975, FBI agents Jack Coler and Ronald Williams were killed by Peltier in a shootout while they were on the Pine Ridge Reservation. "Peliter is a remorseless killer, who brutally murdered two of our ownSpecial Agents Jack Coler and Ronald Williams," Wray wrote. "Granting Peltier any relief from his conviction or sentence is wholly unjustified and would be an affront to the rule of law." MORE: Biden preemptively pardons Anthony Fauci, Mark Milley and Jan. 6 committee members Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Wray said Peliter fled to Canada after he "executed" the two agents "at close range." Peltier was arrested in Alberta in 1976, before standing trial for the murders. "In the aftermath of the murders, Peltier engaged in a violent flight from justice, firing shots at police officers as he eluded arrest and burglarizing a home," Wary wrote. "Following his apprehension months later in Canada, Peltier said that if he had known law enforcement officers were approaching, he would have "blow[n] [them] out of [their] shoes." After his trial and conviction for first-degree murder, Peltier participated in a violent escape from federal prison, during which he and others opened fire on prison employees," Wray wrote. One of the escapees was killed in the shootout. PHOTO: Marchers carry a large painting of jailed American Indian Leonard Peltier during a march on the National Day of Mourning in Plymouth, Mass., Nov. 22, 2001. (Steven Senne/AP, FILE) Wray also wrote a similarly strongly worded letter to the parole board in June 2024, asking that Peltier not be let out. The parole was denied. Then-President Barack Obama denied a clemency request for Peltier in 2017, according to The Associated Press. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "This last-second, disgraceful act by then-President Biden, which does not change Peltier's guilt but does release him from prison, is cowardly and lacks accountability," Natalie Bara, president of The FBI Agents Association, said in a statement. "It is a cruel betrayal to the families and colleagues of these fallen Agents and is a slap in the face of law enforcement." MORE: Flurry of lawsuits target new Department of Government Efficiency as Trump is sworn in Kevin Sharp, Peltier's attorney, told The Associated Press before the parole hearing last year that evidence against Peltier had been falsified. "You've got a conviction that was riddled with misconduct by the prosecutors, the U.S. Attorney's office, by the FBI who investigated this case and, frankly the jury," Sharp told the AP. "If they tried this today, he does not get convicted." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Amnesty International, which has long campaigned for Peltier's release noted that former U.S. Attorney James Reynolds, who prosecuted the case, has said Peltier should be freed as well. The judge who oversaw his 1986 appeal, Gerald Heany, has also called for Peltier's release. Dozens of members of Congress wrote a letter urging for Peltier's release in October 2023, citing what they said were the "prosecutorial misconduct" and "constitutional violations" that took place during Peltier's trial. "President Biden was right to commute the life sentence of Indigenous elder and activist Leonard Peltier given the serious human rights concerns about the fairness of his trial," Amnesty International said in a statement. "Amnesty International has advocated for the U.S. government to grant Leonard Peltier clemency for years, following the leadership of Tribal Nations and Indigenous Peoples." Biden sparks outrage with last-minute commutation of man convicted of killing FBI agents originally appeared on abcnews.go.com The Scoop Outgoing US President Joe Bidens White House homeland security team urged President-elect Donald Trumps team to focus on a number of major threats that include Irans plots against dissidents and current and former US officials, according to details of the private briefing shared with Semafor. Liz Sherwood-Randall, Bidens top homeland security adviser, briefed the incoming Trump team headed by Stephen Miller on seven top priorities. Beyond Iranian lethal plotting against its own domestic dissidents and current and US former officials, the outgoing officials also stressed the need to counter global and domestic terrorism, including racially and ethnically motivated threats; and biological threats like the avian flu outbreak and those arising from coinciding advancements in artificial intelligence and biotechnology. Other threats on the Biden teams list were natural disasters; cyber and physical threats to critical infrastructure; the fentanyl crisis; and the challenge posed by drones. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement US officials have warned about Irans plots to assassinate former Trump officials like ex-national security adviser John Bolton; the US government obtained intelligence last year related to an Iranian plot to assassinate Trump. Outgoing Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in September that the Biden administration was very intensely tracking Iranian threats against a number of senior officials, including both former Trump officials and those serving in the Biden administration. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian recently denied orchestrating a plot to kill Trump during the campaign, dismissing it as another one of those schemes that Israel and other countries are designing to promote Iranophobia. Notable National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan hands a baton to incoming National Security Adviser Mike Waltz during a ceremonial passing of the baton at an event entitled "Passing the Baton: Strategies for Success" at the US Institute of Peace in Washington, on Jan. 14, 2025. Credit - Andrew Caballero-ReynoldsAFP/Getty Images Over the past couple of months, I have met regularly with my successor as National Security Adviser, Mike Waltz. As he said, during this transition, For our adversaries out there that think this is a time of opportunity that they can play one administration off the other, theyre wrong. As an American, I wish the new National Security Council team well and hope they succeed in their mission to protect American interests and foster a world of greater peace and prosperity. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The next administration, like ours, will face a world in transition. The post-Cold War era is over. We are in a contest over the future of economics, technology, and values. That contest has brought change and challenge in the last four years. I am proud of the fact that the United States has grown considerably stronger over that time. We are now better-positioned to prevail in that contest and to shape this new era in ways that advance our interests and reflect our ideals. Americas alliances have never been stronger. NATO is bigger and more unified that ever. When we took office, nine allies spent 2% of their GDP on defense. Now its 23%, and the rest are on track to do so. When we took office, Europe had just signed a significant trade agreement with China. Now Europe is working with us to push back on Chinas aggressive economic policies. In the Indo-Pacific, our bilateral alliances and trilateral cooperation with Japan and Koreaand Japan and the Philippinesare at unprecedented highs. Along with Australia and the U.K., weve created the AUKUS partnership on nuclear-powered, conventionally-armed submarines. Our relationship with India is closer and more dynamic than ever. Weve elevated and institutionalized the Quad with India, Japan, and Australia. This is not just better atmosphericsthe steps weve taken have generated a material increase in our shared capabilities and decisive new advantages in our strategic competition with China. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In the Middle East, our partnerships with Israel, the UAE and Saudi Arabia, among others, are strong and dynamic. We built and acted alongside an unprecedented regional coalition to directly counter Irans attacks on Israel. And we engaged in tireless diplomacy to achieve ceasefires between Israel and Hezbollah and Israel and Hamas, which will bring hostagesincluding Americanshome. Americas competitors and adversaries are under real and growing pressure, even as their greater isolation draws them closer together. Iran is weaker and more exposed than at any time since the Iranian revolution. Its proxies Hezbollah and Hamas have been badly wounded. Its main ally Bashar al-Assad is gone. Our support for Israel was critical in bringing about this remarkable weakening of Irans regional and global position. Russia tried to conquer Kyiv in days and failed. It is bogged down, having incurred more than 600,000 casualties and mortgaged its economic and technological future. Ukraine remains a free and independent nation. It is building leverage for negotiations with Russia. And we didnt have to send Americans to war to make any of this happen. When we took office, Chinas economy was on track to surpass Americas by the end of the decade or shortly thereafter. Serious people predicted China would win the AI race. We flipped that script. We widened our lead. At the same time, we worked with a wide range of countries to shape the rules of the road for safe, trusted AI. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Meanwhile, Americas engine of national power is humming. Our supply chains are more resilient. Our investments in industrial and manufacturing capacity, especially in foundational technologies that are critical to our national security, are positioning us for the challenges ahead. There are many areas where we adopted new policies that are vital not just to prevail in the strategic competition with China, but also to set us up for success in the AI revolution and the energy transition. These areas have garnered significant bipartisan support, and I hope the Trump administration builds on what we started. First, we decided that we would not let China take our most sensitive technologies, especially on advanced semiconductors, and use them against us. We imposed targeted export controls, investment restrictions, and data security rules. We executed that plan in a disciplined and focused way, taking the initiative and then building international coalitions to work alongside us. Second, we invested heavily in the defense industrial base after decades of neglect and complacency. This includes making investments in submarines and ships; enhancing manufacturing capacity for missiles, artillery, and air defense; and taking steps to leverage and unleash the potential of innovative technologies. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Finally, we understood that we have to offer a real alternative to Chinas global investment model if we are to effectively deliver sustained growth and stability in the emerging world. Thats why we launched the Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment (PGI). This mobilizes private investment at scale to build physical, digital, and energy infrastructureand strengthens our supply chains in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. There are serious and ongoing challenges in the world, including in Ukraine, the Middle East, and the Indo-Pacific. Our adversaries are aligning more closely, even if largely out of necessity driven by their shared isolation and weakness. Technology is disrupting the global landscape, and the climate crisis is accelerating. But America has a strong hand to play. Our alliances are stronger than ever. Our competitors and adversaries are weaker than we found them. We are not bogged down in war. Our supply chains are getting more resilient. Our foundational technologies are becoming more secure. Our defense industrial base is being rebuilt. Our capacity to take on the worlds biggest challenges is being renewed. We are advancing the clean-energy transition without massive dislocation to working families. We are making AI work for us rather than against us. As President Biden likes to say, its never a good idea to bet against America. We are up to the task. Contact us at letters@time.com. After nearly 50 years in federal prison, Native American rights activist Leonard Peltier has been released. President Joe Biden, in the final minutes of his presidency, commuted the sentence of Peltier, who was convicted in the killing of two FBI agents in 1975 on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. The release of the 80-year-old Peltier, who will be sent to home confinement, has been a longtime social justice cause, especially among musicians. Kris Kristofferson, Willie Nelson, Jackson Browne, Rage Against the Machine, and Pete Seeger have all performed at or attended benefits calling for Peltiers freedom. The Biden White House issued a statement regarding the commutation of Peltiers sentence, noting that he is now 80 years old, suffers from severe health ailments, and has spent the majority of his life (nearly half a century) in prison. This commutation will enable Mr. Peltier to spend his remaining days in home confinement but will not pardon him for his underlying crimes. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Kevin Sharp, the Nashville attorney who had been lobbying for Peltier, said in a statement that Bidens action was one toward healing and reconciliation with the United States Native American population. It took nearly 50 years to acknowledge the injustice of Leonard Peltiers conviction and continued incarceration, but with the Presidents act of mercy Leonard can finally return to his reservation and live out his remaining days. In 1975, two FBI agents were killed in a shootout on the Pine Ridge reservation when they arrived to serve warrants. Peltier was one of three men arrested for the crime and, in 1977, he was sentenced to life in prison. He had always maintained his innocence: During his trial, no witness identified Peltier as the shooter. More from Rolling Stone Best of Rolling Stone Sign up for RollingStone's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. The Trumps and Bidens greeted each other at the White House on Monday, Jan. 20, ahead of President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration, symbolically reinforcing the peaceful transfer of power in the United States. Trump, 78, will soon be sworn into office as the 47th president of the United States. Before taking the presidential oath of office, however, Trump and incoming first lady Melania Trump, 54, joined outgoing President Joe Biden, 82, and first lady Jill Biden, 73, for a private tea at the White House. JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Jill Biden, Joe Biden, Donald Trump and Melania Trump meet for tea at the White House on Jan. 20, 2025 Jill Biden, Joe Biden, Donald Trump and Melania Trump meet for tea at the White House on Jan. 20, 2025 "Welcome home!" President Biden told his successor upon the Trumps' arrival. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The four will then ride to the U.S. Capitol together for the swearing-in ceremony. Related: Michelle Obama Is 'Not One to Pretend for Protocol's Sake,' Source Says About Her Skipping Trump's Inauguration (Exclusive) JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty The Bidens greet the Trumps at the White House before the 2025 inauguration The Bidens greet the Trumps at the White House before the 2025 inauguration Following tradition, the presidential tea time is how the Obamas welcomed the Trump family to the White House in 2017, when outgoing President Barack Obama and outgoing first lady Michelle Obama waited on the steps outside 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue as Trump and incoming first lady Melania Trump arrived at the White House. Such an exchange did not occur in 2021 which, like now, would have involved the Trump and Biden families, albeit in opposite roles. ROBERTO SCHMIDT/AFP via Getty The Bidens and Trumps stand outside the White House on Jan. 20, 2025 The Bidens and Trumps stand outside the White House on Jan. 20, 2025 Following his loss in the 2020 election, Trump notably did not attend President Biden's inauguration nor welcome him to the White House, instead flying back to his home state of Florida with his family on Inauguration Day. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It has long been tradition that departing U.S. presidents attend the incoming president's inauguration and extend the hospitality of a White House visit. Related: See the Striking and Stirring Photos from President Joseph Biden's Celebratory Inauguration Presidents Biden and Trump began reinforcing the smooth transition between their administrations when met at the White House on Nov. 13, 2024, one week after Trump's victory in the election against former Vice President Kamala Harris. At the time, Melania declined Jill's invitation to join, forcing Jill to send President Trump back with a letter for the incoming first lady instead. Anna Moneymaker/Getty Usha Vance, Doug Emhoff, Kamala Harris and J.D. Vance before the swearing-in ceremony on Jan. 20, 2025 Usha Vance, Doug Emhoff, Kamala Harris and J.D. Vance before the swearing-in ceremony on Jan. 20, 2025 Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Harris also traveled to the White House on Monday, Jan. 20, with second gentleman Doug Emhoff so that they could participate in the transfer of power and meet with Vice President-elect J.D. Vance and soon-to-be second lady Usha Vance. 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. Harris and Emhoff will similarly attend the 2025 inauguration despite their disappointment with the 2024 election results. Read the original article on People Last month, Joe Biden issued a broad pardon for his son Hunter that not only spared him sentencing on gun and tax charges but also barred his prosecution for any federal crimes he might have committed from January 1, 2014, through December 1, 2024. On his way out the door today, Biden granted similarly sweeping pardons to Gen. Mark Milley, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; Anthony Fauci, former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases; and all nine members of the House select committee that investigated the January 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol, plus the committee's staff and Capitol Police officers who testified before it. He also issued preemptive pardons for five of his relatives: three siblings, a brother-in-law, and a sister-in-law. According to Biden, all of these pardons are aimed at preventing President Donald Trump, who took his second oath of office today in the same building that his supporters invaded and vandalized four years ago, from retaliating against his political enemies by launching frivolous criminal investigations. But in seeking to stop Trump from abusing presidential powers, Biden stretched the limits of those powers and set a dangerous precedent that undermines the rule of law and the accountability of federal officials. Under Article II, Section 2 of the Constitution, the president has plenary power to "grant reprieves and pardons for offenses against the United States, except in cases of impeachment." In the 1866 case Ex parte Garland, the Supreme Court held that "the power thus conferred is unlimited, with the exception stated." That power, the Court said, "extends to every offence known to the law" and "may be exercised at any time after its commission, either before legal proceedings are taken or during their pendency or after conviction and judgment." Although pardons typically are granted after convictions, in other words, presidents may issue them in cases where no charges have yet been filed, provided the underlying conduct predates the pardon. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The closest historical precedent for Biden's preemptive acts of clemency is the pardon that President Gerald Ford granted to his predecessor, Richard Nixon, a month after taking office. That pardon applied to "all offenses against the United States" that Nixon "has committed or may have committed or taken part in during the period from January 20, 1969, through August 9, 1974." But there are several notable differences between that act of clemency and the pardons for Milley et al. Nixon resigned to avoid an impeachment that seemed inevitable in the wake of the Watergate scandal. The articles of impeachment that the House Judiciary Committee approved on July 27, 1974, charged Nixon with a litany of offenses, many of which would amount to federal crimes. The first article alleged that Nixon had violated his oath of office and his presidential responsibilities by engaging in "a course of conduct or plan designed to delay, impede, and obstruct the investigation" of the Watergate burglary. It listed nine examples of such conduct, including "false or misleading statements" to investigators, "withholding relevant and material evidence," encouraging witnesses to make false statements, paying witnesses for their silence, leaking confidential information to people who were under investigation, and offering lenient treatment to defendants "in return for their silence or false testimony." The second article of impeachment charged Nixon with abusing his powers in various other ways, such as deploying the IRS, the FBI, the CIA, and the Secret Service against political opponents. Ford's pardon acknowledged that Nixon, "as a result of certain acts or omissions occurring before his resignation," had "become liable to possible indictment and trial for offenses against the United States." Ford worried that "the tranquility to which this nation has been restored by the events of recent weeks could be irreparably lost by the prospects of bringing to trial a former President of the United States." Nixon's prosecution, Ford said, would "cause prolonged and divisive debate over the propriety of exposing to further punishment and degradation a man who has already paid the unprecedented penalty of relinquishing the highest elective office of the United States." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Ford, in other words, conceded that Nixon might be successfully prosecuted for various federal crimes. But because that process would incite bitter discord and disturb the "tranquility" that followed Nixon's resignation, Ford thought, it was best to stop it before it started. In the case of Milley, Fauci, and the January 6 committee members, by contrast, Biden cautioned that "the issuance of these pardons should not be mistaken as an acknowledgment that any individual engaged in any wrongdoing, nor should acceptance be misconstrued as an admission of guilt for any offense." To the contrary, he said, the pardons were necessary because the recipients "have been subjected to ongoing threats and intimidation for faithfully discharging their duties." Milley, Fauci, and the committee members "have served our nation with honor and distinction," Biden declared, "and do not deserve to be the targets of unjustified and politically motivated prosecutions." Biden offered a similar explanation for pardoning his relatives. "My family has been subjected to unrelenting attacks and threats, motivated solely by a desire to hurt me the worst kind of partisan politics," he said. "Unfortunately, I have no reason to believe these attacks will end." Even if such attacks are ultimately unsuccessful, Biden noted, the process itself exacts a price. "I believe in the rule of law, and I am optimistic that the strength of our legal institutions will ultimately prevail over politics," he said. "But these are exceptional circumstances, and I cannot in good conscience do nothing. Baseless and politically motivated investigations wreak havoc on the lives, safety, and financial security of targeted individuals and their families. Even when individuals have done nothing wrongand in fact have done the right thingand will ultimately be exonerated, the mere fact of being investigated or prosecuted can irreparably damage reputations and finances." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Notwithstanding those caveats, Trump and his supporters are bound to portray these pardons as admissions of guilt. And even Americans who are not Trump fans are apt to wonder why someone who had done nothing wrong would accept a presidential pardon. "I am guilty of nothing besides bringing the truth to the American people and, in the process, embarrassing Donald Trump," former Rep. Adam Kinzinger (RIll.), who served on the January 6 committee, said on CNN a couple of weeks ago. But he noted that "as soon as you take a pardon, it looks like you are guilty of something," Sarah Isgur, an attorney who served as a Justice Department spokeswoman during Trump's first term, recognizes that reality. Isgur is one of 60 former executive branch officials who appear on the list of enemies that Kash Patel, Trump's pick to run the FBI, included in his 2023 book Government Gangsters, which alleges a "deep state" conspiracy against Trump that Patel equates with a conspiracy to subvert democracy and the Constitution. Although "I'm on Mr. Patel's list," Isgur wrote in a New York Times essay last month, "I don't want a pardon. I can't speak for anyone else on the list, but I would hope that none of them would want a pardon, either." Isgur explained why: "If we broke the law, we should be charged and convicted. If we didn't break the law, we should be willing to show that we trust the fairness of the justice system that so many of us have defended. And we shouldn't give permission to future presidents to pardon political allies who may commit real crimes on their behalf." Milley, a vocal Trump critic who has described his former boss as "fascist to the core," seems to fall into the category of potential targets who "didn't break the law." Trump has said that Milley deserves to be executed for calling his Chinese counterpart in 2020 and 2021 to assure him that rumors of an impending U.S. attack were baseless. "This is an act so egregious that, in times gone by, the punishment would have been DEATH!" Trump wrote on Truth Social in September 2023. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trump's threats against the members of the January 6 committee likewise seem legally groundless. Trump has argued that former Rep. Liz Cheney (RWyo.) and every other member of the committee are guilty of "treason," which is punishable by death or by a prison sentence of at least five years. A person commits that crime when he "ow[es] allegiance to the United States" and "levies war against them or adheres to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort within the United States or elsewhere." Even less risible charges would seem to be precluded by the Constitution, which says members of Congress "shall not be questioned in any other place" for "any speech or debate in either house." Fauci's case is a closer call. Trump allies such as Elon Musk and Sen. Ted Cruz (RTexas) have argued that Fauci should be prosecuted for lying to Congress about U.S. funding for gain-of-function research on viruses in China. Fauci "flat-out lied to Congress when he said that, no, the federal government had not funded gain-of-function research at the Wuhan Institute for Virology," Cruz said during a December 2022 interview on Fox News. Although the National Institutes of Health later "made clear that was a lie," Cruz complained, Attorney General Merrick Garland "won't prosecute him." In a July 2021 letter to Garland, Sen. Rand Paul (RKy.) suggested that Fauci had violated 18 USC 1001, which applies to someone who makes "any materially false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement or representation" regarding "any matter within the jurisdiction of the executive, legislative, or judicial branch." That is a felony punishable by up to five years in prison. Thanks to Biden's pardon, we will never know if prosecutors could have proven that case beyond a reasonable doubt. Likewise for additional charges that Hunter Biden might have faced in connection with his income taxes or allegations of foreign lobbying. Nor will Trump's vague charges of corruption against "the entire Biden crime family" ever be tested by investigators, prosecutors, judges, or jurors. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement If you are confident that there is nothing to any of these claims, you may think that is just as well. But as Isgur notes, the pardon power that Biden has deployed in an unprecedented way could easily become a shield for a president's political allies, including government officials, who "commit real crimes." That prospect should trouble anyone who worries that Trump or any future president might copy Nixon's example by enlisting his underlings to break the law in service of his policy, political, or personal agenda. "I don't want to see each president hereafter on their way out the door giving a broad category of pardons to members of their administration," Rep. Adam Schiff (DCalif.), a member of the January 6 committee, said on CNN this month. It is not hard to see why: If presidents get in the habit of preemptively pardoning their underlings, impeachment (resulting in removal and possibly also disqualification from future government service) will be the only real remedy for federal officials who commit crimes, and that option is available only when their abuses come to light soon enough to complete that process. Coupled with the Supreme Court's broad understanding of presidential immunity from criminal prosecution for "official acts," this is a recipe for impunity that belies Biden's avowed commitment to the rule of law. The post Biden's Preemptive Pardons Undermine Official Accountability and the Rule of Law appeared first on Reason.com. From tomato soup with grilled cheese for a quick lunch to cream of mushroom for green bean casserole on Thanksgiving, Campbell's soups are ingrained in the lives of many Americans. While Campbell's has many delicious soup flavors, as well as a reputation for producing comforting, dependable products, no brand is immune to mistakes. Like any large food manufacturer, the Campbell Soup Company has faced its fair share of scandals and recalls throughout its over 150-year history. Over the years, Campbell's has navigated a variety of recall situations from contaminations to mislabeling incidents, underprocessing issues, and allergen alerts. These recalls have ranged in scale from small batches to millions of pounds of product. No recall of any size is good for a company's image and finances, but the health of the customer is always the top priority. Such incidents underscore the importance of vigilance in food safety. With that in mind, here are some of the biggest recalls in Campbell's history. Read more: 11 Canned Chili Brands, Ranked Worst To Best Chicken And Vegetable Botulism Contamination (1973) Can of Campbell's Chicken Vegetable coup - Doordash In 1971, the Campbell Soup Company faced a close call with botulism, a sickness from a deadly toxin that can attack the nervous system. A batch of chicken and vegetable soup cans, produced at a manufacturing plant in Paris, Texas, was initially thought to be contaminated with heat-resistant bacteria. However, subsequent tests revealed that some of the cans actually contained something far worse a form of botulin, which causes botulism. Before the toxin was even identified, the company kept quiet about the contamination to avoid bad publicity, but once the botulin was confirmed, the USDA initiated the recall and inspection of 230,000 cans. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The contamination, detected through the company's quality control system, affected cans in one day's worth of production that was distributed to 16 states. Thankfully, there were no reported cases of infection, but the recall came on the heels of another botulism incident the prior month. After eating canned vichyssoise produced by Bon Vivant Inc., a couple contracted botulism; the husband passed away and the wife was temporarily paralyzed. For Campbell's, this was the first botulism-related incident in its at-the-time 102-year history. Tomato Soup Allergy Alert (2002) Campbell's ready to eat tomato soup - JHVEPhoto/Shutterstock In February 2002, Campbell's announced a voluntary recall of 19,792 cases of its 18.7-ounce cans of Ready to Serve Classic Tomato Soup. After receiving two customer complaints, the company launched an investigation and discovered small amounts of milk and soy proteins in cans that were not labeled to indicate such ingredients. While the classic tomato soup shouldn't contain whey protein concentrate (derived from dairy) and soy protein concentrate, its creamy version should. This means that cans labeled as Classic Tomato Soup actually contained Classic Creamy Tomato Soup. The product was distributed to 37 states, and with 12 cans per case the total recall came out to roughly 237,504 cans. Upon further investigation, the company discovered that the labeling discrepancy was caused by a malfunction of the plant's label controls. Milk and soy are two major allergens that must be labeled as required by the FDA, so Campbell took immediate action to recall the mislabeled products, and no illnesses were reported. Underprocessed SpaghettiOs (2010) Hand holding a can of SpaghettiOs with meatballs - Billy F Blume Jr/Shutterstock SpaghettiOs were first released in 1965, and marketed as "The world's first spoonable spaghetti." Over the years, however, the iconic can full of retro charm has undergone a couple of recalls. One notable incident occurred in June 2010, when the Campbell Soup Company had to recall an astonishing 15,000,000 pounds of three varieties of the soup due to potential underprocessing. The affected products included SpaghettiOs with Meatballs, SpaghettiOs A to Z with Meatballs, and SpaghettiOs Fun Shapes with Meatballs (Cars), all produced in a Paris, Texas manufacturing plant. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Processing issues can refer to a variety of things, including defective packaging, physical contamination, or in this case, partially cooked food. The meatballs did not receive the proper amount of heat during the cooking process, a discovery made during a routine product inspection. Fortunately, Campbell's determined that the affected products had not yet reached consumers. The recall, issued through the USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), was a precautionary measure to protect public health in case the product had reached any consumers. SpaghettiOs Recalled Due To A Contaminant (2015) Can of Campbell's SpaghettiOs - Smith Collection/gado/Getty Images Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Another SpaghettiOs recall came on November 12, 2015. Unlike previous recalls involving disease, mislabeling, or underprocessing, this incident was tied to physical contaminants. The Campbell Soup Company recalled 355,000 14.2-ounce cans of Original SpaghettiOs due to pieces of red plastic floating in the soup. The plastic was noticed by customers, roughly 50 of whom filed complaints to the company reporting an unwanted ingredient amongst the circular noodles. After inspection, Campbell confirmed that these pieces of plastic pieces were a part of the can's lining that had peeled off. Even though only a small number of cans were affected, the danger of ingestion and the potential choking hazard constituted a recall nationwide. The company tried to put customers' minds at ease explaining the plastic, if swallowed, was food-grade and not harmful. But food-grade or not, who wants to eat plastics? In cases like these, customers are encouraged to return the product for a full refund. Homestyle Chicken With Pasta Mislabeling Incident (2017) Campbell's Homestyle Chicken With Whole Grain Pasta soup - Walmart One of the most recent Campbell's recalls happened in 2017, when a mislabeling incident caught customers off guard. That April, approximately 300 cases of 18.6-ounce cans of Homestyle Healthy Request Chicken with Whole Grain Pasta were shipped to retail locations in Florida. However, the cans were mislabeled and actually contained Homestyle Healthy Request Italian-Style Wedding Spinach & Meatballs in Chicken Broth. Aside from their lengthy names, these two soups had little in common in terms of ingredients, making the mix-up especially notable. After receiving complaints from confused customers about the mismatch, the company initiated a recall of roughly 4,185 pounds of the product. This recall may have involved fewer products than previous ones, but the labeling error is notable, especially when compared to the classic vs. creamy tomato soup mix-up (at least Campbell's got the tomato soup part right in that case). Even though this mistake may seem minor or even amusing, mislabeling carries serious risks, particularly the potential for undeclared allergens that could lead to sickness or death. Read the original article on Mashed. Bill and Hillary Clinton were less than impressed by Donald Trumps inaugural speech, a fact which they made clear with subtle snark. The address that followed Trumps swearing-in on Monday was tinged with vindication. The new president slammed the previous administration, declared that God saved him from an assassins bullet, and vowed to usher in a new golden age in America. The Clintons have long been outspoken opponents of Trump. / The Washington Post / The Washington Post via Getty Images Asked what his reaction to the speech was, former President Clinton told CNN, I think you can figure it out for yourself. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Meanwhile, his wifethe former first lady, secretary of state, and Democratic nominee for presidentsmiled at the question but said nothing. The Clintons, like all the living presidential couples (excluding Michelle Obama), were in the audience at the Capitol Rotunda when Trump was sworn in. During the speech itself, Hillary Clinton was observed visibly laughing when Trump reiterated his intention to rename the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America with a day-one executive order. Hilary Clinton laughing at Trump changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the 'Gulf of America' is all of us today#Inauguration2025 pic.twitter.com/43Abe0tsOc Caolan Mc Aree (@Caolanmcaree) January 20, 2025 The Democratic power couple have been vocal critics of Trump since his emergence on the political scene. Both of the pair endorsed Trumps rival in the 2024 race, Kamala Harris. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement As the race came to a close, Hillary Clinton told CNN that Trump was unhinged, more unstable than when she lost the presidency to him in 2016. Shortly before Trump won the election, Bill Clinton remarked, I dont know if we can survive or notI think it would be a travesty if he became president again. Unsurprisingly, the Clintons were booed by Trump supporters as they arrived at the Capitol for the ceremony on Monday. After Trump concluded his speech, the couple told CNN that they would not stay for lunch. We have to go, Bill Clinton said. North Dakota Forest Service firefighters Hunter Noor, Jon Cooper and Logan Ripple provide aid in Craig, Colo., July 4, 2018. A bill under consideration by lawmakers would enhance the retirement benefits of state firefighters. (Provided by North Dakota Forest Service) State firefighters may soon be able to retire 10 years earlier as the North Dakota Legislature considers a bill to allow them to participate in the states retirement plan for public safety officials. House Bill 1112, brought by the North Dakota Forest Service, would move state firefighters to the states public safety plan, which already includes local government firefighters and law enforcement. This would allow them the ability to retire at age 55 with three years of service, or when they have a combined age and service of 85. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement State firefighters are currently on the states main retirement plan, which allows employees to retire at age 65, or earlier depending on the length of service. More 2025 legislative session coverage Unlike most state employees, firefighters, law enforcement and other specialized positions all put their own lives at risk while at work to protect the lives and the property of others, State Forester Tom Claeys told lawmakers on the House Government and Veteran Affairs Committee at a Jan. 9 hearing. Compared to the general population, fighters are at significantly higher risk of developing cancer and other illnesses, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Ryan Melin, who leads wildfire response efforts for the State Forest Service, said the bill would help protect firefighters who put their lives on the line for the public. Offering earlier retirement opportunities than we currently have ensures that as a state, we dont place an extraordinary risk on firefighters in their late 50s and 60s, Melin told lawmakers at the hearing. Ryan Melin and Hunter Noor of the North Dakota Forest Service listen to a hearing on a bill to allow state firefighters to be eligible for the North Dakota Public Employee Retirement Systems retirement plan for public safety officers during a House Government and Veteran Affairs meeting on Jan. 9, 2025. (Mary Steurer/North Dakota Monitor) He said as a 44-year-old, his job is more difficult than it was in his 20s and 30s. He also noted firefighters are facing increased intensity and duration of wildfires. In North Dakota, the treachery of the job was highlighted when 190 fires burned more than 126,000 acres in October. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement State firefighters have also been called on to help other states. Hunter Noor of the North Dakota Forest Service, who attended the committee meeting, is helping fight fires in Los Angeles, working as a task force leader for five fire engines from South Dakota. Claeys also said the bill would make the North Dakota Forest Service more attractive to potential hirees. Unfortunately, in the past five years, weve lost over 20 firefighters to other states and federal agencies in western states, he said. So the competition for firefighters is very, very fierce. The change would only affect seven firefighters in the state, PERS Chief Operating and Financial Officer Derrick Hohbein told lawmakers. In neutral testimony on the bill, he said the policy would not have a meaningful financial impact on the state budget. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Last week, the full House of Representatives voted unanimously to forward the bill to the Senate. House Bill 1112 has been received by the Senate, where it will need to be heard by a committee before advancing to the floor for a vote. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) A West Tennessee lawmaker has proposed a bill that would lower the threshold for blood alcohol concentration (BAC) in aggravated vehicular assault and aggravated vehicular homicide cases. Rep. Ron Gant (R-Piperton) has filed HB 190, which would lower the BAC threshold for both vehicular crimes. Current law states a person with a BAC of .20% can be charged for aggravated vehicular assault or aggravated vehicular homicide. Gants bill would lower the BAC limit to .15%. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Read the latest from the TN State Capitol Newsroom State law makes operating a motor vehicle with a BAC of .08% or higher illegal. The limit is .04% for commercial vehicles. If passed, the bill would take effect July 1. Gant is no stranger to proposing laws related to drunken driving offenses. He proposed a bill in 2024 that would prohibit stores from selling refrigerated beer. That bill, titled the Tennessee Prevention of Drunk Driving Act, was ultimately rewritten to instead direct the speakers of both the state House and Senate to establish a task force to review impaired driving and boating in Tennessee. Read todays top stories on wkrn.com Gant was also involved in a deadly drunk driving crash in 2022. According to the Tennessee Highway Patrol, a 42-year-old West Tennessee man was killed when the GMC Yukon he was driving crossed a center line on Highway 18 South in Hardeman County and struck a GMC Sierra Gant was driving. Gant was airlifted to a Memphis hospital and was considered to be in serious but stable condition. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 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. CANBERRA, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Monday announced a 2-billion-Australian-dollar (1.24 billion U.S. dollars) plan to incentivize aluminum smelters to transition to renewable power. The funding will be used for a scheme that will pay aluminum smelters for every ton of the metal produced using renewable electricity over a 10-year period to 2036. He said that investing in the local aluminum industry is a "massive opportunity" to create jobs and set Australia up for the future. "We've got the resources, the workers, and the know-how -- the only thing we don't have is time to waste," Albanese said. "We are building Australia's future, not taking Australia backwards." The new scheme was announced at the smelter of Tomago Aluminium, Australia's largest producer of the metal and the country's largest electricity consumer. According to Tomago, the company accounts for 10 percent of all electricity consumption in New South Wales, Australia's most populous state, and electricity consumption makes up about 40 percent of its costs. Tomago in 2021 announced it was aiming to transition to almost 100 percent renewable energy by 2029, but chief executive Jerome Dozol said last November that the goal was not achievable. Albanese has made renewable energy a key policy point ahead of the 2025 general election, which must be held by May. His Labor Party government has set a goal of 82 percent of Australia's electricity coming from renewable sources by 2030. Proposed legislation aimed at protecting South Dakota farmers from potential "agro-terrorism" activities could have a secondary effect of limiting access to information about the state's largest animal feeding operations. Senate Bill 14 seeks to strengthen a set of existing laws that make it a crime for anyone to steal farm animals, release animals, trespass on farms or interfere with farm operations. As written, the bill also would add criminal penalties for using deception to enter or gain employment at an agricultural operation or to use cameras or other surveillance methods to spy on a farm or agricultural research facility. The bill also would make it a crime to interfere with or destroy crops or structures at farms and agricultural research facilities. Hogs mill about in a pen at a concentrated animal feeding operation in Hand County in 2019. "Essentially, it's a property protection, property rights bill for farmers and ranchers," the bill's lead sponsor, Sen. Casey Crabtree, R-Madison, told News Watch. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The measure, Crabtree said, is similar to laws passed over roughly the past 15 years in Iowa that sought to prevent animal-rights activists or anyone else from entering or recording activities at farms in order to find evidence of possible animal mistreatment or abuse. Dubbed "ag-gag" laws by opponents, the laws were challenged in court on First Amendment grounds. Despite some lower court rulings, the Iowa laws most similar to Crabtree's proposal were upheld as constitutional by a federal appeals court in 2024. Crabtree said he hasn't heard of widespread efforts to infiltrate or interfere with South Dakota farm operations, but a mink farm in Arlington has experienced problems in the past. Operators of that farm did not return a call seeking comment. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The intent of the bill is to stop "bad actors" from using deception or technology to possibly paint an unfair picture of what is happening on South Dakota farms, Crabtree said. "We've got reports back about environmentalist groups that are attacking production facilities, or that they might be using drones and cameras, is really where this comes from," he said. USDA: Pig neglect reported at Sherburne County farm; PETA asks for criminal charges Young turkeys, such at these shown in 2019 at the Oak Lane Colony in Hanson County, are fed in large barns for about six months until they will reach a shipping weight of about 45 to 50 pounds each. Ag groups push for Senate Bill 14 The drafting of SB 14 was aided by a number of farm groups that gathered last summer to identify ways to help agricultural producers in the 2025 legislative session, said Matthew Bogue, public policy director for the South Dakota Farm Bureau Federation. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement South Dakota farmers deserve protection from anyone who may have "intent to cause physical or economic harm" to a farmer or farm operation, he said. State farm groups have heard concerns from producers that people could break into their farms or trespass with ill intent, Bogue said. "Its never a bad time to be proactive," he said. "In our opinion, this modernizes the existing statutes." Bill would limit information on CAFOs But the bill also would add a new section to state law that would make it more difficult for the public, the press and even local governments from obtaining information about the state's largest animal operations. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Concentrated animal feeding operations, or CAFOs, are large livestock operations where several hundred or even tens of thousands of cattle, hogs, chickens and turkeys are fed within a single farm, often in enclosed structures. CAFOs are heavily regulated in South Dakota, and operators must obtain a permit and undergo inspection of their operations and their records to ensure proper waste management and protection of water resources. Section 6 in SB 14 would bar the state Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources which oversees CAFO permitting and inspection from releasing a list of permitted CAFOs and their locations in South Dakota to anyone unless required by federal law. The bill also would provide DANR discretion on whether to release a list of CAFOs to any "South Dakota state agency or local government for information regarding a permitted operation in the jurisdiction of the agency or local government." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Crabtree said an individual or government entity could still obtain a list of CAFOs and their locations by making an in-person request at the offices of DANR in Pierre. The restriction on obtaining information about CAFOs worries Jay Gilbertson, manager of the East Dakota Water Development District, which promotes conservation and management of water resources in eastern South Dakota. The reason CAFOs are permitted in the first place is to maintain oversight of their operations and to allow for the state and others to ensure the large farms are not polluting the land and water, he said. Restricting public access to CAFO permits could make it more likely that large livestock operators would cut corners or avoid expensive waste management or water protection systems without anyone knowing, Gilbertson said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "The permits are pretty explicit and contain all sorts of things thou shall or shant do, which makes it easy to adhere to because the operator knows exactly what is expected," he said. "At the same time, if Im somebody who is concerned about a facility, I can look at the permit requirements and it will tell me, 'This is exactly what is supposed to be going on.' And if it is, fine. But if it isnt, there isnt any debate that theres a problem." CAFOs expanding in South Dakota State officials said CAFOs are generally well operated and follow state laws. But problems do occur and fines have been levied against permit violators. According to prior research by News Watch, permitted CAFOs in South Dakota violated state regulations 217 times from October 2009 to August 2019. The state received, on average, about two complaints about CAFOS from the public each month, and animal wastes from CAFOs leaked into state waterways on nine occasions during that time period, according to state records. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The number of animals raised and fed in CAFOs has increased steadily over the past decade. The state and lawmakers have taken steps in recent years to make it easier for development of CAFOs and harder for residents and local governments to fight them. The state also has offered financial incentives to livestock producers to expedite development of new CAFO operations. Brian Walsh, deputy secretary of DANR, wrote in an email to News Watch that the department already denies release of CAFO information to some who request it. "DANR reviews and considers each individual request for information on Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) as they are submitted. DANR has received requests for an aggregated listing of all CAFOs including specific location information (addresses, geographic coordinate systems locations, or legal locations) with the express purpose of sharing those locations online," Walsh wrote. "DANR has denied such requests in the past due to the issue of biosecurity and agro-terrorism risks. The bill as drafted would not change how DANR currently responds to requests for CAFO records requests." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But Gilbertson said it seems odd that language in the bill could prevent the public or local governments from knowing where CAFOs are located. "The department (DANR) has the tools to allow people to look things up for all the permits they issue," he said. "But when it comes to animal feeding operations, if you really want to know, you have to go to Pierre, and try to get in the DANR building and dig through the paper files? That would just be silly." This story was produced by South Dakota News Watch, an independent, nonprofit organization. Read more stories and donate at sdnewswatch.org and sign up for an email to get stories when they're published. Contact Bart Pfankuch at bart.pfankuch@sdnewswatch.org. This article originally appeared on Watertown Public Opinion: SD Senate Bill 14 aims to protect farmers from agro-terrorism Donald Trump was sworn in as the 47th president of the United States on Monday. Big names in business and tech attended the inauguration and other weekend celebrations. Here are the billionaires and CEOs who attended Trump's inaugural ceremony. Donald Trump was sworn in as president of the United States for the second time on Monday, and key business and tech leaders were there to watch it happen and to try to get in his good graces. It's a shift from recent years when Big Tech leaders and Trump appeared more at odds. Several of them even sat on the inaugural platform, getting better seats than some of Trump's cabinet appointees. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Tesla's Elon Musk, Meta's Mark Zuckerberg, Google's Sundar Pichai, and Amazon's Jeff Bezos were among those seated on the inaugural platform. Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida, in contrast, was reported to have watched from an overflow room. Here are the billionaires and CEOs who attended Trump's inauguration. Elon Musk, Tesla, SpaceX, and X Elon Musk attended the ceremony and spoke onstage during an inauguration event at Capital One Arena. Christopher Furlong/Getty Images Elon Musk, the Tesla and SpaceX CEO who spent hundreds of millions helping to elect Trump, attended the inauguration and spoke at an inaugural rally Monday. Musk has been a frequent visitor to Trump's Florida estate, Mar-a-Lago, since Trump was reelected. Trump tapped Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy to lead a new Department of Government Efficiency, though Ramaswamy confirmed Monday that he was leaving DOGE. Mark Zuckerberg, Meta Mark Zuckerberg, center, Priscilla Chan, left, and Lauren Sanchez, right, were among those seated on the inaugural platform. Saul Loeb-Pool/Getty Images Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, attended the inauguration ceremony and sat on the platform. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Later on Monday, Zuckerberg posted a photo of himself and Chan dressed for an inauguration event with the caption "Optimistic and celebrating" alongside an American-flag emoji. Meta was one of the first major companies to donate $1 million to Trump's inauguration fund and has started 2025 with a slew of changes that appear to be influenced by Trump's politics. Zuckerberg dined with Trump at Mar-a-Lago in November and was "very keen to play an active role" in the president's tech policymaking, Meta's then-global affairs chief, Nick Clegg, said at the time. Trump was a vocal critic of Facebook in his first term and last year threatened to send Zuckerberg to prison if reelected. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement While Zuckerberg didn't endorse a candidate for president in 2024, he said Trump's reaction to being shot at a rally in Pennsylvania in the summer was "badass." Jeff Bezos, Amazon Jeff Bezos and his fiancee, Lauren Sanchez, next to Sundar Pichai. Saul Loeb-Pool/Getty Images Amazon's founder, Jeff Bezos, and his fiancee, Lauren Sanchez, met with Trump at Mar-a-Lago in December. Amazon also donated $1 million to Trump's inaugural fund. Bezos said at The New York Times' DealBook Summit last month that he was " actually very optimistic " about another Trump term and would like to help Trump with "reducing regulation" "What I've seen so far is he is calmer than he was the first time and more settled," Bezos said. "You've probably grown in the last eight years. He has, too." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Bezos didn't always feel this way about Trump. In 2016, he said Trump's threats to lock up Hillary Clinton and refusal to say he'd accept the result of the presidential election that year if he didn't win " erodes our democracy around the edges ." Trump has also criticized Amazon and The Washington Post, which Bezos owns, frequently over the years. In 2024, for the first time in decades, the Post didn't endorse a presidential candidate. Bezos reportedly intervened to block an endorsement of Kamala Harris . Bezos later defended the decision , writing in an op-ed that endorsements "create a perception of bias" and "do nothing to tip the scales of an election." Tim Cook, Apple Tim Cook, the CEO of Apple, was among the tech leaders at Trump's inauguration. SHAWN THEW / POOL / AFP Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Unlike some of his peers, Apple CEO Tim Cook made a $1 million donation to Trump's inaugural fund from his own wallet rather than from his company. Cook has credited the first Trump administration with helping Apple break into the retail market in India. Sam Altman, OpenAI OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, center, with the influencers Jake and Logan Paul before Trump's inauguration ceremony. ALEXANDER DRAGO / POOL / AFP OpenAI CEO Sam Altman also made a personal donation of $1 million to Trump's inaugural fund. Altman has said he agrees with some of Trump's views around bureaucratic blockades. "The thing I really deeply agree with the president on is, it is wild how difficult it has become to build things in the United States," Altman told Bloomberg earlier this month. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He added: "Power plants, data centers, any of that kind of stuff. I understand how bureaucratic cruft builds up, but it's not helpful to the country in general." Shou Zi Chew, TikTok TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew arriving at Trump's inauguration. Shawn THEW / POOL / AFP Shou Zi Chew, TikTok's CEO, was also spotted in the Capitol Rotunda. Last week, the Supreme Court ruled against TikTok on its challenge against a divest-or-ban law. The platform briefly went dark for US users on Saturday night but resumed its services on Sunday after Trump said he'd delay the ban with an executive order. On Friday, Chew thanked Trump "for his commitment to work with us to find a solution that keeps TikTok available in the United States." Sundar Pichai, Google Pichai and Musk during the inauguration. SAUL LOEB / POOL / AFP Google CEO Sundar Pichai was also in attendance Monday. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Google was among the companies that donated $1 million to Trump's inaugural fund. Rupert Murdoch, NewsCorp Rupert Murdoch, the chairman emeritus of Fox News, was at the inauguration, along with members of the newer right-wing media landscape. Melina Mara/The Washington Post via Getty Images Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Rupert Murdoch, the patriarch of the Fox News empire, was also in attendance. Bernard Arnault, LVMH Bernard Arnault, left, attended the inauguration alongside two of his children, not pictured. Pool/Getty Images The French billionaire Bernard Arnault, who's the CEO of the luxury conglomerate LVMH, which includes brands such as Louis Vuitton and Dior, attended the inauguration. He was joined by his daughter, Delphine Arnault, who's CEO of Dior, and his son Alexandre Arnault, who's set to become the deputy CEO of LVMH's wines and spirits division, Moet Hennessy, starting in February. Dana White, UFC Dana White, the UFC president and CEO, pictured here with former president Barack Obama, was recently appointed to the board of Meta. Shawn Thew-Pool/Getty Images Silicon Valley's growing alignment with the cultural MAGA-verse was also on display Monday. In attendance at the inauguration was Dana White, the president and CEO of UFC, who was recently appointed to the board of Meta and is a close Trump ally. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement White and Meta's Zuckerberg, whose hobbies have included MMA fighting, have been spotted together multiple times over the years. The podcaster Theo Von, one of the internet celebrities whom Trump sought to court young male voters, was at the inauguration, too, representing an ascendant realm of right-wing media. Joe Rogan, who interviewed Trump on his podcast in late October, also attended. Miriam Adelson, Las Vegas Sands Miriam Adelson was reported to be cohosting a reception for Trump on Monday night. Saul Loeb-Pool/Getty Images Miriam Adelson, the widow of the casino magnate Sheldon Adelson, was also in attendance. The Associated Press reported that the longtime GOP megadonor was cohosting a reception for Trump on Monday night alongside Zuckerberg; Tilman Fertitta, Trump's pick for US ambassador to Italy; Todd Ricketts, the co-owner of the Chicago Cubs; and Ricketts' wife, Sylvie Legere. Phil Ruffin, Circus Circus Hotel & Casino The Las Vegas billionaire Phil Ruffin attended Trump's inauguration with his wife, Oleksandra Nikolayenko. Chip Somodevilla via Getty Images The Las Vegas casino magnate Phil Ruffin attended the inauguration with his wife, Oleksandra Nikolayenko. Trump had served as Ruffin's best man when he married Nikolayenko in 2008. Mukesh Ambani, Reliance Industries Mukesh Ambani, the chairman of Reliance Industries, left, and his wife, Nita Ambani, right, attended Trump's inauguration. Reliance Industries Mukesh Ambani, the chairman of the Indian conglomerate Reliance Industries, attended Trump's inauguration along with his wife, Nita, a spokesperson for Ambani confirmed to Business Insider. The couple also attended Trump's pre-inauguration reception in Washington on Saturday. At the Private Reception in Washington, Mrs. Nita and Mr. Mukesh Ambani extended their congratulations to President-Elect Mr. Donald Trump ahead of his inauguration. With a shared optimism for deeper India-US relations, they wished him a transformative term of leadership, paving pic.twitter.com/XXm2Sj74vX Reliance Industries Limited (@RIL_Updates) January 19, 2025 Linda McMahon, former CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment Linda McMahon, right, left Trump's inauguration on Monday with former Rep. Lee Zeldin, Kash Patel, and Pete Hegseth. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images Linda McMahon, Trump's nominee for education secretary who's the former CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment, was also present at Trump's inauguration. While not a billionaire in her own right, McMahon gave $15 million to Trump's campaign and is married to Vincent McMahon, the former executive chairman of WWE-owned TKO Group Holdings, who's valued at $3 billion. She led the Small Business Administration from 2017 to 2019, during Trump's first term in office. Scott Bessent, Wall Street veteran Trump's nominee for Treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, attended Trump's inauguration on Monday. Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images Also in attendance was Scott Bessent, Trump's pick for Treasury Secretary. Bessent founded and runs the macro hedge fund Key Square Group and served as Trump's top economic advisor during the campaign. If he gets Senate confirmation, Bessent would be the highest-ranking LGBTQ+ official in American history, the Associated Press reported. Doug Burgum, Arthur Ventures Former Gov. Doug Burgum of North Dakota, center, attended Trump's inauguration on Monday. Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images Former Gov. Doug Burgum of North Dakota was another attendee at Trump's inauguration. Burgum, Trump's pick to lead the Department of Interior and be "energy czar," cofounded Arthur Ventures, a venture-capital firm that invests in early-stage B2B software businesses and manages $1.1 billion. Chris Wright, Liberty Energy Chris Wright, center, flanked by Marco Rubio on the left and Sean Duffy on the right. SAUL LOEB/POOL/AFP via Getty Images Chris Wright, the founder and CEO of Liberty Energy, an oilfield-services firm with a $3.7 billion net value, was also present. Trump has tapped Wright to lead the Department of Energy, but he'll continue in his positions until the Senate confirms him, the company said. Howard Lutnick, Cantor Fitzgerald Howard Lutnick, the chairman and CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald, was among those present at Trump's inauguration. Julia Demaree Nikhinson - Pool/Getty Images Howard Lutnick, the CEO of the Wall Street investment bank Cantor Fitzgerald, was another attendee at Trump's inauguration. Lutnick, who's been put forward as the next commerce secretary, has been the president and CEO of the financial-services firm since 1991. In recent years, the billionaire banker has become a key advisor to Trump as well as a major fundraiser. He is cochair of the Trump transition team. Others congratulated Trump online Responses from the corporate world also poured in online. Pichai, Cook, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg were among those congratulating Trump on X, formerly known as Twitter, on Monday. Correction: January 20, 2025 An earlier version of this story misstated Jeff Bezos' current position at Amazon. He is the founder and executive chairman, not the CEO. Read the original article on Business Insider (Bloomberg) -- A whos who of the worlds wealthiest people surrounded President Donald Trump as he took the oath of office gathering a combined net worth exceeding $1.3 trillion for the occasion. Most Read from Bloomberg Seated prominently behind the Trump family for Mondays swearing-in were the top three individuals on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index: Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg. Also spotted inside the Capitol Rotunda for the inaugural ceremony were LVMH Chief Executive Officer and Frances richest man, Bernard Arnault, Alphabet Inc. co-founder Sergey Brin and Las Vegas Sands Corp. majority owner Miriam Adelson. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In a telling gesture, the tech billionaires were seated in front of Trumps nominated Cabinet. Defense Secretary nominee Pete Hegseth had to crane past Musk and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai to watch the proceedings. Its important to bring some of the brightest minds in the world together, Donald Trump Jr. said when asked after the ceremony about the presence of tech billionaires. The phalanx of deep-pocketed attendees highlighted a surge in support for Trump from Silicon Valley, Wall Street and other industries following his comeback victory in Novembers election. At stake for many of their businesses is the promise of relief from US regulations and the hope of a boost to their corporate bottom lines from Trumps pledge to spur investment. Others are hoping to avoid the worst of the fallout from tariffs that the president has vowed to use as an instrument of economic policy. Embracing Trump marks a turnabout for some business leaders, who had recoiled from him four years ago following the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol by hundreds of his supporters. Yet Trumps pariah status faded as odds increased toward his election on a business-friendly message that included an extension of tax cuts enacted in 2017 during his first term in office. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Out of all those present, Musk has put perhaps the most into Trumps return to the White House. The Tesla Inc. CEO spent more than $200 million of his personal fortune on the presidents campaign, quickly emerging as an influential adviser to Trump and taking a role as head of a government-efficiency initiative. Musk also has a lot at stake with the new administration, with reducing government regulation and boosting access to space contracts key for his businesses. After hearing Trump invoke plans during his inaugural address to send US astronauts to Mars, the SpaceX CEO pumped his fists in the air. Colonizing Mars has been a longtime ambition of Musk. Present in the crowd as well were hedge fund billionaire John Paulson, conservative media mogul Rupert Murdoch and Apple Inc. CEO Tim Cook, who enjoyed a cordial relationship with the president during his first term. On Sunday, during a rally at Capital One Arena on the eve of Trumps swearing-in, Cook received a shout-out from the incoming president, who said Apple had planned an unspecified investment in the US. The billionaires waited in line along with lawmakers and other top officials to head into a celebratory post-inaugural luncheon at the Capitol. At one point, Bezos emerged with his fiancee Lauren Sanchez. Asked for his thoughts on Trumps speech, Bezos responded: Oh, I dont know, Im looking for a restroom. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement At the luncheon, Cook was seen seated next to incoming Attorney General Pam Bondi, while Bezos sat with Republican Senate Majority Leader John Thune. Republican Senator Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia got a photo of herself with Metas Zuckerberg. Since the election, Zuckerberg has openly pivoted the social-media giant to align more closely with Trump and the new Republican majorities in Congress. Hes dropped a third-party fact-checking system in the US, following conservative complaints about censorship, and abandoned many of the companys diversity and inclusion efforts. Another closely watched guest was TikTok CEO Shou Chew, whose companys fate rests in Trumps hands. The president has promised to issue an executive order sparing the app from a ban that was to have taken effect on Sunday over the refusal by its Chinese parent company, ByteDance Ltd, to divest. Trump, who initially sought to ban TikTok in his first term, has since found the social media platform to be an effective conduit to young voters and vowed to find a way to cut a deal that would keep it alive. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement --With assistance from Billy House. (Updates with quote in fourth paragraph) Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2025 Bloomberg L.P. (Bloomberg) -- Instead of waiting to see whether Donald Trump follows through on his endorsement of a national strategic Bitcoin stockpile, states are taking matters into their own hands. Most Read from Bloomberg As local legislative sessions get underway, eight states have already introduced bills proposing crypto reserves. And while the push to ensure that state governments hold Bitcoin in one form or another has generated momentum among long-time crypto advocates, the clamor may not be more than just loud noise. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Blockchain people are way off base here, Randy Erben, an adjunct professor at the University of Texas School of Law, said of the strategic reserve proposal in Texas. Its just not one of the priority issues for leadership on either side of the aisle or for the governor. They may be interested in it, but this is not going to be a must-pass deal with a low bill number. Texas has been working on reserve legislation for the last three years, according to Lee Bratcher, president of the Texas Blockchain Council. Its Strategic Bitcoin Reserve Bill, filed by Representative Giovanni Capriglione in December, would enable the Lone Star State to accept Bitcoin donations from Texans and US-based companies to build its reserve. States like Massachusetts, Wyoming and New Hampshire have recently followed suit. According to one lobbyist, at least 13 states in total are poised to propose similar legislation. We are working to pass our bill before President Trump creates a national Bitcoin reserve, Bratcher said. We want to make sure that the US is the jurisdiction for the next digital revolution, but we want Texas to lead the way. Its a little bit of friendly competition. One of the major hurdles that states like Texas face in passing strategic reserve legislation, Erben said, is that many local governments dont accept Bitcoin as currency. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The state banking department doesnt consider virtual currencies as currency, so it doesnt regulate it as such, Erben said. The only virtual currency that the state considers to be a transmission of money in Texas is a third-party exchange or stablecoin. Nevertheless, crypto-friendly states like Florida have also re-ordered their priorities in the upcoming legislative session to place creating a Bitcoin strategic reserve at the top of the agenda. If Kamala Harris had won, we wouldve been in a defensive posture of making sure crypto isnt driven from the United States, said Samuel Armes, president of the Florida Blockchain Business Association. But now we can be as forward-looking as possible to see how we can get the state government to double down and start investing in these assets. President Trump and Senator Cynthia Lummis first touted the idea of a national strategic Bitcoin stockpile at an industry conference in Nashville in July. The bill from Lummis, a Wyoming Republican, calls for the US to acquire 1 million Bitcoin, while Trumps proposal requires the government to maintain ownership of the roughly 200,000 tokens that the US already possesses following asset seizures. The initiative is part of a slew of promises made by the president-elects campaign to make the US the crypto capital of the planet. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Erben added that state legislatures meet fairly infrequently for a short period of time. Texass meet every two years instead of annually meaning that the legislature already has to wait for a longer amount of time to address issues such as school funding and fixing the electric grid in the upcoming five months. Asking lawmakers to get behind any initiative related to what many still consider a novel technology adds to the uphill battle, according to Erben. Legislators dont like to vote on new things, Erben said. Theyd be happy for the federal government to do whatever theyre going to do with virtual currencies, but lawmakers will want to see it work someplace else before they consider taking it on. Dennis Porter, the Portland, Oregon-based founder of non-profit and Bitcoin advocacy group Satoshi Action Fund, says hes been key driver on much of the effort to introduce strategic Bitcoin reserve legislation in a handful of other states. Founded in 2022, Porter told Bloomberg News that his organization has dramatically expanded the scope of work on states buying Bitcoin since the November election by working with local legislators to introduce strategic reserve bills. But touting legislation isnt the same as passing it, said Dominic Folino, founder of the Pennsylvania Blockchain Association. In November, Pennsylvania Representative Mike Cabell introduced a bill with assistance by the Satoshi Action Fund that would allocate up to 10% of Pennsylvanias Treasury reserves into Bitcoin but only after he lost the election for the next term. Folino said that the presence of outside organizations has hindered the states ability to push for actionable crypto legislation, particularly in a state that has not been historically crypto-friendly. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Its one thing when you have a well thought out strategy from Pennsylvanians on a reserve bill for Pennsylvania, but its another if someone from Oregon comes in and says, Heres a great bill and you should do it, Folino said. Just because someone puts legislation on X, doesnt mean itll pass. Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2025 Bloomberg L.P. Bitter cold weather has arrived in Fort Worth and will continue through the middle of the week, forecasters say. Low temperatures will be in the teens and low 20s with wind chill factors between 3 degrees and 14 degrees, the National Weather Service Fort Worth said. Snow is expected Monday night into Tuesday morning, with the greatest accumulations across the southern counties of Central Texas, according to the NWS. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Little to no accumulation is expected in North Texas and the Dallas-Fort Worth area, which may see some flurries. The southeast counties likely will experience snowfall with totals around 1 to 2 inches, with isolated areas experiencing up to 3 inches. The dangerous cold will continue through Wednesday. Lows in the teens and 20s are expected throughout all of North and Central Texas. During the late night and early morning hours, wind chills are forecast to be between 5 and 15 degrees. As cold weather approaches, the NWS is asking people to check on neighbors and family, bring pets indoors, cover all exposed skin, protect outdoor pipes and let indoor faucets drip to prevent burst pipes. There may be some impact on travel across south Central Texas, the NWS said. "They turned my home into a pile of rubble, full of pain and suffering that will never end even if the war ends," says Abdullah Abdel Aal in Gaza. His anger is aimed both at Israel, which bombed large areas of Gaza to the ground over 15 months of war, as well as Hamas, the Palestinian Islamist group who ruled the territory. Hamas' attacks on southern Israeli communities on October 7, 2023, triggered the Israeli bombardment that devastated the coastal strip. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Aal, 45, lost 40 relatives during the fighting. A 6-week ceasefire that began on Sunday has brought new hope but also much bitterness. He views Hamas' claims of victory over Israel with cynicism: "I am homeless, without a life or a future," the father of six told dpa. Aal is currently living with his family in a tent in a refugee camp in Khan Younis, a city in the south of the territory. Before the war, he worked as a trader. Now he depends on aid deliveries. Many people in the southern Gaza Strip set out to see what was left of their homes as soon as the ceasefire came into effect. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Some brought their belongings with them on donkey carts, which they had taken with them when they fled months ago. Others set off on foot from the camps for internally displaced persons. Most of them found only destruction instead of their homes. Aal, who knows that his house in Rafah was destroyed, has no plans to leave the refugee camp. "Everything is destroyed. The smell of death is everywhere. What would I find there except oppression and pain?" Halima Abu Nasr, on the other hand, is full of impatience and hope. The 50-year-old woman can hardly wait to be back in Beit Hanoun in the north of the Gaza Strip. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement She just wants to be back home, no matter what it looks like. If necessary, she will pitch her tent among the ruins, she says. "Israel wanted to expel us, and Hamas did not protect us," she says. But it is still her home, and despite all the destruction around her, the mother of seven is not considering leaving Gaza. "We don't know what will become of us or whether the [ceasefire] agreement will hold." "I hope that we will achieve lasting and genuine peace," she says. Internally displaced Palestinians inspect their destroyed houses in Rafah, amid a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas. Abed Rahim Khatib/dpa Internally displaced Palestinians inspect their destroyed houses in Rafah, amid a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas. Abed Rahim Khatib/dpa WASHINGTON (DC News Now) Just outside the White House, one historic home sits in Northwest, D.C.- The Blair House. The home is the U.S. presidents guest house. It has played an important role in the 200 years of American political, diplomatic and cultural history. The Blair House was built on Pennsylvania Avenue in 1824. About 13 years later, it became a political center in Washington, D.C., once the Blair family took up the residence. Who is Blair? According to the Blair House Foundation, Francis Preston Blair was a circuit court clerk from Frankfort, Kentucky. While writing editorials for his local newspaper, he attracted President Andrew Jacksons attention, who invited him to write for the Globe. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Where does the vice president live in DC? He, his wife and their three children moved to the nations capital, and several years later, they moved into the former home of Dr. Joseph Lovell, the first surgeon general of the U.S. Army, now known as Blair House. As the editor of the Globe and the Congressional Globe, the first published proceedings of Congress, Blair acquired political power. Many political players began seeking Blairs advice. The national flag of Ireland flies from Blair House, the official government guest house, across the street from the White House in Washington, Thursday, March 17, 2022. Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin learned he had positive for COVID-19 while attending an event Wednesday evening with U.S. leaders, including President Joe Biden and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of Calif., according to a senior administration official. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky) According to the foundation, in 1859, Blair built a home for his daughter Elizabeth and her husband, at 1653 Pennsylvania Avenue. This is next to the Blair House and is now an integral part of the Blair House complex. The home was named Lee House. The History of the Blair House The United States Government purchased the Blair House in 1942 at the urging of President Franklin Roosevelt. This happened when the need for diplomacy quickly grew with the American militarys role in World War II. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Roosevelt approved the purchase, which included the Blair familys furniture, china and silver. Melania Trump hat: What people had to say about Inauguration Day fashion Over the year, several events took place in the house, including a meeting between Blair and Robert E. Lee and a wedding ceremony for General William Tecumseh Sherman. President Harry S. Truman also lived at the Blair House with his family while the White House was under renovation. The home earned the nickname, The Truman White House. On Nov. 1, 1950, a pair of Puerto Rican nationalists tried to assassinate Truman at the Blair House. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement According to the Blair House Foundations website, the men attempted to shoot their way into the house from the front door. Blair House, light colored building second from right, the temporary residence of President Harry S. Truman, is shown Nov. 1, 1950. A gun battle raged in front of Blair House when two Puerto Rican pro-independence activists, Oscar Collazo and Griselio Torresola, attempted to assassinate President Truman as he napped at Blair House. Torresola was killed in the shootout by White House police officer Leslie Coffelt, who was mortally wounded by Torresola and died several hours later. President Truman was unharmed. Collazo was wounded in the battle as were three White House guards. (AP Photo) During the shooting outside the home, White House policemen and Secret Service were involved in a gun battle with the men, resulting in three White House policemen being injured. Private Leslie Coffelt died in the hospital days later. His badge is displayed in his honor at the Blair Houses security office. Copyright 2025 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. SHREVEPORT, La. (KTAL/KMSS) The historic Booker T. Washington High School is celebrating its 75th anniversary and kicking it off in style with a car show. Celebrating Black History Month The upcoming Lions Pride Chrome & Class Car Show, presented by the freshmen class, will occur on Saturday, January 25, 2025, from 12:30 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. at 2104 Milam Street. The family fun community event will have live music, car enthusiasts, local talent, multiple food vendors, games, raffle prizes, and raise funds for community initiatives. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Lions Pride Chrome & Class Car Show will have exciting competitions: perfect paint, trunk wars, and best overall car. $1K surprise for Booker T. Washington cheerleaders Ticket Prices are as follows: Kids 6 & under: FREE Students: $5 Adults: $10 January 23, 1950, was day 1 of The Den. 75 years later, the Lions Den is still going strong and pursuing excellence daily. Booker T. Washington High School Principal Crystal Barnes was named 2024-2025 Principal of the Year in Caddo Parish. Copyright 2025 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 KTALnews.com. [See violent crime statistics in the player above.] AKRON, Ohio (WJW) Akron police officers on Friday arrested a teen accused of robbing a pizza delivery driver, armed with what appeared to be a firearm. Officers responded at about 6:30 p.m. to the 60 block of Brighton Drive, where they met with the 21-year-old Dominos Pizza worker, according to a Monday news release. FOX 8 legend Big Chuck passes away at 90 The man said he was confronted by three males, one of whom appeared to be armed with a handgun. The suspects stole his pizza, key fob and and cash at gunpoint then fled on foot, according to the release. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Officers followed footprints the suspects had left in fresh snow to a home in the 40 block of East Emerling Avenue. They surrounded the home and detained a 14-year-old boy, who matched the description of one of the robbery suspects. Officers obtained a search warrant for the home and found a disassembled Airsoft pistol and pizza boxes inside, according to the release. The boy admitted to taking part in the robbery. He was charged with aggravated robbery and transported to the Summit County juvenile detention facility, according to the release. Akron Public Schools announce closures due to weather Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Investigators are now working to identify at least two other suspects who they believe are also teens. Anyone who can offer information on the investigation is urged to call Akron detectives at 330-375-2490 or 330-375-2TIP (330-375-2847). Anonymous tips can also be provided by: Calling Summit County Crimestoppers at 330-434-COPS (330-434-2677) Texting TIPSCO with your tip to 274637 Downloading the Akron Police Department app and texting Tips411 or visiting the police departments website Copyright 2025 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. PORT LOUIS, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- A nationwide banquet, gathering around 2,000 people, was organized Sunday at the Swami Vivekananda International Convention Center in the suburb of Port Louis, the capital of Mauritius, ushering in a series of events in the island country to celebrate the start of Chinese New Year, also known as the Spring Festival. The Spring Festival will fall on Jan. 29 this year in accordance with the Chinese lunar calendar. This is also the first celebration in Mauritius since the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization officially recognized the Spring Festival, the social practices of the Chinese people in celebrating their traditional new year, as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in December 2024. "The banquet celebrates the unification of the whole Chinese family in the country, composed of different groups and associations at the national level, before they gather in a more intimate setting with their own family members on the eve of the Chinese New Year," said Mario Hung Wai Wing, former president of the Federation of Chinese Societies (FCS) in Mauritius and one of the banquet's organizers. "The banquet is a special occasion where we meet friends and families from across the island. We always look forward to it because everybody is busy with work and family obligations all year long. Once a year, we come together, share news, and enjoy being together," said Dorinne Kim Soo, a Mauritian of Chinese origin and a member of the FCS. The event, co-organized by the Mauritian Ministry of Arts and Culture, the FCS, the United Chinese Association in Mauritius, and the China Cultural Center in Mauritius, also featured traditional Chinese cultural performances, including dragon and lion dances. Mauritius, with its multiethnic society drawn from Indian, African, Chinese and European origins, promotes a rich diversity of cultural activities. Recalling that the Chinese New Year has been a public holiday in Mauritius for decades, Mauritian Minister of Arts and Culture Mahen Gondeea said that "it is important to celebrate the Chinese New Year on a national level, just as we celebrate (Muslim) Eid al-Fitr, (Hindu) Divali, and Christmas." Mario noted that a series of festive celebrations, including a float parade, fairs, exhibitions, traditional cultural performances and Chinese food tastings, will take place in the coming week as the Chinese New Year approaches. Acknowledging that "the national banquet is a way for the Chinese community to share the celebration with Mauritians from other communities," former Mauritian Ambassador to China Paul Chong Leung praised the "universal value" of the Chinese New Year. Roseline, a retired Mauritian of Chinese descent, always chooses to return home to celebrate Chinese New Year with her family, even when traveling abroad. "We have always celebrated Chinese New Year here with family, and we will continue to do so," Roseline said. Two teenagers in Australia have died in a double drowning after one jumped into the water to try and save the other, according to authorities. On Sunday, Jan. 19, the girl and boy, both 17, were "located deceased at a waterfall in Yandina on the Sunshine Coast" following a search and rescue operation, Queensland Police said in a release. Officers initially responded to reports that the teenage girl had "[fallen] off a waterfall at Wappa Falls and failed to resurface" at around 2:30 p.m. local time, police added about the tragic incident in the southeast region of the state. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "An acquaintance of the girl, a 17-year-old boy jumped into the water to assist locating the girl but has also failed to resurface," the statement continued. Authorities said the search and rescue mission started at around 2:50 p.m. local time "utilizing Queensland Fire Department and Police divers," before the missing girl "was located unresponsive and deceased, in the water, by emergency services" 40 minutes later. Related: Olympic Kite Surfer Saves Drowning Woman in Dramatic Video: Watch Douglas Cliff/Getty Wappa Falls on the sunshine coast of Australia Wappa Falls on the sunshine coast of Australia "At about 7:25 p.m. the missing boy was located unresponsive and deceased, in the water," by police divers, the release stated. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "Police will prepare reports for the coroner for both the girl and the boy," the release said, confirming that Wappa Falls remains closed amid the ongoing investigation. The teenagers were identified as Honor Ward and her friend Beau Liddell, per Sky News Australia, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) and 9 News. Beau's father, Adam Liddell, said "the whole family is just a mess" following his son's death, per ABC. "That's the type of person he was," he said of his son trying to save his friend, according to the publication, adding, "He never thought of himself first." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Honor's friend, Phoebe Loynd-Andersson, said "She was just always there for everybody, no matter what she was going through herself," per the outlet. "[She] just wanted to be there for other people and she would encourage people," she added. Related: New York Man Dies on Vacation in Bermuda While Trying to Save a Mother and Son from Drowning: He Died a Hero GoFundMe Bea Liddell Bea Liddell The teenagers were both former students at the Sunshine Beach State High School, ABC reported. The outlet stated at least five people had died at the same swimming spot since 2007. 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. "There could be a lot more done than a couple of little signs that say 'dangerous water,' " Mr. Liddell told the publication, claiming more should be done to prevent further deaths at the waterfall. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement According to Sky News Australia, there had been heavy rainfall in the area on Saturday. A sign at Wappa Falls warned visitors of "heavy currents, deep water and submerged boulders," and said that conditions here are unpredictable, per the outlet. Queensland Police, Sunshine Beach State High School and Sunshine Coast Council didn't immediately respond when contacted by PEOPLE. A GoFundMe set up to help Beau's family with the costs of his funeral has so far gathered around $1,300. Read the original article on People By Ana Mano and Leticia Fucuchima SAO PAULO (Reuters) -The governor of Brazil's largest farm state Mato Grosso said on Monday he would veto a state bill that sought to weaken protections for endangered biomes inside state borders, following broad criticism from climate activists. The law would allow areas currently located in the Amazon biome to be converted into Cerrado areas based on the height of trees. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement That meant that Mato Grosso properties sitting on the Amazon biome, which have to protect 80% of native vegetation as per Brazil's Forestry Code, could have been converted into Cerrado areas, which have to preserve a much lower 35%. In a statement from the Mato Grosso state on Monday evening, Governor Mauro Mendes said he decided to fully veto the bill after hearing a technical opinion and the sectors involved in the matter. Mendes added that a new bill, "consistent with the environmental laws", will be presented in up to 90 days. Suely Araujo, public policy coordinator at the Climate Observatory, called the proposed law unconstitutional in an interview earlier on Monday, arguing it conflicted with federal statutes. She said it could be challenged in the courts. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "The new legislation could cause an increase in deforestation estimated at 5.2 million hectares... an area the size of Costa Rica," IPAM, the Amazon Environmental Research Institute, said in a statement. The measure Mendes said he would veto was approved in the first days of January by lawmakers in Mato Grosso, which produces almost as much soybeans as Argentina and nearly a quarter of Brazilian fresh beef exports. Earlier in the day, the office of governor Mendes said it had proposed something entirely different from the text approved by the state legislature, but declined to comment on a potential veto. Pressure from farm groups to open up more areas for large scale agriculture projects is rising. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement As a response, Mato Grosso recently passed a law removing tax breaks for grain traders enforcing the "soy moratorium," a voluntary agreement whereby exporters ban farmers who cultivated soy in a deforested area after 2008. Next month, the Supreme Court will rule on whether that law is constitutional. (Reporting by Ana Mano and Leticia Fucuchima; Editing by Alistair Bell and Sonali Paul) ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WROC) A Rochester man who became an international fugitive is now in the custody of the Monroe County Sheriffs Office after a multi-year investigation led authorities to Uganda. Authorities said in 2019, David Johnson attempted to kill his wife by lighting her and their Augustine Street home on fire. Sunday, a Monroe County Sheriffs Office Sergeant shared with News 8 what recently led to a break in the case. It had kind of gone cold, Sgt. Trevor Ott admitted. In 2020 we had him, we thought he was in Jamaica and then we just lost all idea of where he was. Sgt. Trevor Ott said he was able to track the suspect to Uganda using social media. Ott spent more than a year attempting to locate Johnson. He said investigators from multiple agencies, including the U.S. Marshals, kept up their due diligence. Then, last year, after interviewing friends, family, and partaking in some social media sleuthing, they got a break in the case. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We ended up getting a name for a gentleman that we believed he could possibly be staying with, and we didnt know where he was at the time we just had the name, Ott said. From there, Ott said he did something actually quite basic. Just a simple Facebook search, just typed in the search bar the name, I look at his pictures, I look at his cover photo and theres three individuals and the third one standing right there. Im like, thats David Johnson, and that was kind of our ah hah! moment, Ott said. Investigators learned Johnson created an entirely new life for himself. He reportedly opened a restaurant, even got re-married there. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Deputy Marshal who was still assigned in this office I think three different sheriffs deputies it was passed on to them and they stuck to it and eventually a warrant was issued for him in Uganda a provisional arrest warrant and the Ugandan law enforcement was able to locate him and take him into custody back in November, said Charles Salina, U.S. Marshal for Western New York. 2 teens seriously hurt after being hit by driver in Batavia As for the victim, who survived, its a step closer to closure after years of waiting. She was relieved. Its a five-year hunt. She was happy I didnt have to keep calling her, bugging her. She It was a good phone call. She was happy. It was actually her birthday I called her on too so, double-good, Ott said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement David Johnson was extradited back to Rochester earlier this month. Hes been charged with attempted murder in the second degree, assault in the first degree, and attempted arson in the third degree. He is currently being held in jail without bail. Copyright 2025 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 RochesterFirst. NewsChannel 5 worked "actively" to try to keep popular meteorologist Bree Smith at the station and renew her contract, station manager Richard Eller said in an email to The Tennessean. Smith's last day was Jan. 10 and neither she nor WTVF let viewers know ahead of time that she was leaving after nine years on air. It wasn't until four days later that Smith, 43, confirmed to The Tennessean and on her Facebook page that she no longer worked at the station. That unleashed thousands of comments from viewers who were upset that Smith was gone and that she didn't get an on-air goodbye or thank you from NewsChannel 5. Former NewsChannel 5 meteorologist Bree Smith in her Hendersonville, Tenn., home July 20, 2021 At the time, Smith declined to talk about negotiations, saying only that her contract had ended. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Over the weekend, the station manager said in an email that executives wanted Smith to stay. "While we cant share specifics out of respect for Brees privacy," Eller wrote, "we can tell you that we were actively working toward an agreement to keep Bree on and we were disappointed that those negotiations were not successful." Eller declined to comment directly on why there was no on-air goodbye for Smith, again citing concern for her privacy, but suggested that a quiet departure was her choice. "Bree has been an important member of our weather team for several years, and we know that means our viewers are also sad to see her go," he wrote. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "We are so fortunate to have a team with a lot of tenure in the newsroom and in the community. Many of us have worked together for a long time. Like any other business, occasionally people decide to leave for a wide variety of reasons. "If someone is making that kind of change, we usually take our cues from them about what kind of recognition they want. Some want a big send off, some prefer to leave quietly and others want to take some time and decide later. We respect people's right to choose what is best for them." Bree Smith at her Hendersonville home in 2021 Smith declined to comment Monday morning on the station's statement. She said last week she plans to stay in Nashville. "I plan on being a mommy and a meteorologist," Smith added, providing no details on what her plans might be. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Since she left the station, Smith remains active on her social media, posting about the weather and providing tips for staying warm in the bitter cold. Reach Brad Schmitt at brad@tennessean.com or at 615-259-8384. This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Bree Smith's TV exit: NewsChannel 5 'actively' tried to keep her BRIDGEPORT, W.Va. (WBOY) The Bridgeport Police Department is asking for the publics help to identify a suspected shoplifter. A Facebook post from the department said that the man is suspected of shoplifting from Target at the Meadowbrook Mall. Photos attached to the post are dated Jan. 5 and located in the electronics department of the store. West Virginia State Police seeking woman missing from Webster County Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The photos show a man wearing a hat, a gold and blue West Virginia hoodie and dark pants holding two items. He is seen walking with another individual whose face has been obscured. Target Shoplifting Suspect Target Shoplifting Suspect Target Shoplifting Suspect Those with information can contact Officer Neal at 304-848-6122 or by emailing ineal@bridgeportwv.gov. Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now WBOY Daily News Copyright 2025 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 WBOY.com. Europe and the UK face a fresh immigration crisis unless $300 billion (244 billion) of frozen Russian assets are seized and handed to Ukraine, the financier Sir Bill Browder has warned. Speaking on the fringes of the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos, Switzerland, Sir Bill said that the funds would allow Ukraine to defend itself for a further three or four years without having to rely on any additional Western military aid. Donald Trump has made ending the war in Ukraine a top priority, but fears are growing of a shabby compromise that would force Ukraine to cede territory and fail to satisfy European security concerns. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The American-born British financier and political activist, who founded the hedge fund Hermitage Capital Management, said Ukrainian capitulation would prompt a mass exodus of refugees and encourage Vladimir Putin into further aggression in the Baltic states and beyond. It would also force European nations into dramatic increases in defence spending at a time of growing pressure on government budgets. He said: The main leverage that Donald Trump has in forcing a settlement on Ukraine is the idea that he can dictate terms by withdrawing US funding for the war. The crux of the matter is that theres no reason why Trump should have all this leverage when theres $300 billion Russian Central Bank reserves sitting in Western central banks, most of which is in the UK and Europe. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement That money should be quickly confiscated and handed to Ukraine, so that its not Donald Trump determining their future. If forced into a total capitulation, we are going to end up in Western Europe, in the UK, with 15-20 million refugees. And were also going to end up in a situation where Putin will then make a move on Estonia. Volodymyr Zelensky is expected to back urgent action to confiscate the reserves - Sergey Dolzhenko/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock G7 nations have already agreed to seize the interest on the $300 billion and apply the funds to Ukrainian aid, but long-standing concerns over the legality of confiscating the principle has so far frustrated attempts to go further. Both the UK and Mr Trumps predecessor, Joe Biden, were broadly onside with these suggestions, but there is general agreement that the seizure cannot be done unilaterally. In addition, a looming election in Germany has proven impossible to secure wider European backing. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Any such seizure would require the support of all 27 EU members, some of which are openly sympathetic to Putin and could veto any deal. There is also concern that Mr Trump too would veto the seizure in view of his long-stated determination to be the political leader who secures a peace settlement. Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraines president, is expected to back urgent action to confiscate the reserves when he addresses Davos participants later this week. Sir Bill added: Trump shouldnt be telling us what to do. We should be grabbing this money. And if Ukraine wants to settle the war, theyre fully within their rights to do so, but on terms that they want to accept. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. LONDON (Reuters) - Britain announced a public inquiry on Monday into the murder of three young girls in a knife attack at a Taylor Swift-themed dance event last year, a crime that ignited days of violent riots. Interior minister Yvette Cooper announced the inquiry after British teenager Axel Rudakubana, 18, pleaded guilty to the murders earlier on Monday, admitting he carried out the killings in the northern English town of Southport. "It is essential that the families and the people of Southport can get answers about how this terrible attack could take place and about why this happened to their children," Cooper said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement British-born Rudakubana was arrested shortly after the attack. Despite the discovery of the al Qaeda manual, police have said the incident was not being treated as terrorism-related, and his motive is unknown. In the wake of the murders, large disturbances broke out in Southport after false reports spread on social media that the suspected killer was a radical Islamist migrant. The unrest then spread across Britain. Public inquiries are investigations that can be set up by British government ministers that have special powers to compel testimony and the release of other forms of evidence. (Reporting by Muvija M; Editing by Andrew MacAskill) Young British Muslims are worried about the influence of Elon Musk amid rising Islamophobia, the outgoing leader of the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) said. Zara Mohammed, the first woman and youngest person to hold the role of secretary general of the MCB, warned of a deeply challenging time for her community. Mr Musk, the billionaire owner of X, Tesla and SpaceX, is a close ally of Donald Trump, who will be inaugurated for his second presidential term on Monday. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Mr Musk is expected to have a key role in the political administration in the US, and has been engaging in controversial commentary online regarding UK politics, including piling pressure on Sir Keir Starmer to order an inquiry into grooming gangs. Before she steps down after her four-year term as MCB leader, Ms Mohammed said the normalisation of figures on the far-Right was concerning. Zara Mohammed says young Muslims are worried about the normalisation of figures on the far-Right - PA Asked how young British Muslims were feeling, she said: I think its a deeply challenging time. Many Muslims in particular are kind of staying away from X and certain social media platforms. Its so hostile. Its so disgusting I would say, the kind of vitriol were seeing. The smearing of, whether its Pakistani communities or Muslim communities, you know. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Using child grooming to, again, politicise and actually make one community look really barbaric. I think were worried about the influence of Musk. Were worried about the kind of normalisation of figures on the far-Right, particularly the Tommy Robinsons and even Nigel Farage, which just always veer away from the illegal, you know, just on the borderline. But Tommys obviously been very vocal about his sentiment and feeling. The anti-immigrant rhetoric, anti-refugee rhetoric, and growing Islamophobia. So I think these are going to be the biggest challenges in 2025 and I think with the Trump election, well wait to see how much more thats emboldened [those on the far-Right]. Tommy Robinson is one figure who in the past has been vocal about immigration and refugees - Paul Grover for The Telegraph Ms Mohammed said that while the conflict in the Middle East had been very polarising, it was the riots last summer after the Southport stabbings which were perhaps the hardest period of her leadership. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Ms Mohammed said the current climate is one in which there is a particular need for meaningful partnerships between the Government and organisations like the MCB. Ties with the organisation were first cut under Labour in 2009, over a reported declaration of support by a then-senior figure in the MCB for Hamas. They were restored the following year after the MCB stated its opposition to violence, but more recently both the Conservative and Labour administrations have refused to engage with the organisation. Ms Mohammed said that while the MCB has had our fair share of history, they do not advocate for any negative views, saying they are democratically run, with elections, a code of conduct, protocols and a lot of scrutiny. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement She added: For me, I think particularly again after the riots, and again after the constant increase in Islamophobia and hate crime, this new Government, I hope, will change its approach. I think its a disservice to future generations. You know, this Government shouldnt let down the future of young British Muslims. A Government spokesman declined to comment on the specific reasons for current non-engagement. They said: All forms of religious and racial hatred have absolutely no place in our society. The Government engages regularly with faith communities to foster strong working relationships and we are exploring a more integrated and cohesive approach to tackling racial and religious hatred, including Islamophobia. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Further details of this work will be set out in due course. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. LONDON (Reuters) - A British teenager will go on trial on Monday, accused of murdering three young girls in a knife attack in the northern English town of Southport last July, a crime that horrified the nation and was followed by days of nationwide rioting. Axel Rudakubana, 18, is charged with killing Bebe King, 6, Elsie Dot Stancombe, 7, and Alice Dasilva Aguiar, 9, who were attending a Taylor Swift-themed dance event for children in the quiet seaside town. Rudakubana is also accused of 10 attempted murders, producing the deadly poison ricin and possession of an al Qaeda training manual. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement His trial, which is due to last between four and six weeks at Liverpool Crown Court, will only hear the prosecution evidence and its witnesses after Rudakubana's lawyer Stan Reiz confirmed no positive case would be advanced on his behalf. British-born Rudakubana, who was 17 at the time of the incident, did not speak when asked how he pleaded at a hearing in December, so not guilty pleas were entered by the judge, Julian Goose, on his behalf. Police have said the incident was not being treated as terrorist-related. Large disturbances had broken out in Southport after false reports spread on social media that the suspected killer was a radical Islamist migrant. Those disturbances spread across Britain with attacks on mosques and hotels housing asylum seekers, with Prime Minister Keir Starmer blaming the riots on "far-right thuggery," leading to more than 1,500 arrests. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Attorney General's office and the local police force have warned the media and the public not to publish or post anything on social media that might prejudice the trial, saying anyone who breached this could face prosecution. (Reporting by Michael Holden; Editing by Bernadette Baum) JAKARTA, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- Indonesia on Monday launched its first international carbon trading platform, inviting foreign investors to participate. Speaking at the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) on Monday, Mahendra Siregar, head of the Financial Services Authority, emphasized his institution's commitment to facilitating the trading of both domestic and international carbon units through the carbon exchange. He noted that international carbon trading is conducted via the Indonesian Carbon Exchange (IDXCarbon), utilizing blockchain technology. The country's domestic carbon trade was launched in September 2023. IDX President Director Iman Rachman said the number of participants in the domestic market had reached 104. Data from IDXCarbon shows that the value of carbon transactions in the domestic market last year totaled 19.72 billion Indonesian rupiahs (around 12 million U.S. dollars). Meanwhile, Forest and Environment Minister Hanif Faisol Nurofiq highlighted that international carbon trading is part of Indonesia's strategy to meet its climate targets as outlined in the Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) document. "The Indonesian government is working to achieve the NDC target, one of which is through the implementation of the carbon economic value mechanism, including carbon trading," he said. Indonesia has pledged to reduce emissions by 31.89 percent through its own efforts and by 43.20 percent with international assistance by 2030, with the ultimate goal of achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2060. Inches of snow blanketed Central Kentucky again Sunday morning. The good news: Its melting quickly on most major roads and highways. The bad news: Officials warned freezing temperatures could potentially bring dangerous conditions. Bitterly cold temperatures move in Sunday night and are expected to last until Wednesday, WKYT meteorologist Chris Bailey told the Herald-Leader. Sunday night will be the coldest weather temperatures, according to the National Weather Service in Louisville. Lows going into Monday will range from minus 5 to 5 degrees with wind chills in the danger category, Bailey said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It will fee like minus 10 degrees to minus 15 by Monday morning. The cold temperatures have the potential to freeze the melted ice and snow. The cold conditions are expected to last until Wednesday. Lexington city officials said crews are continuing to treat roadways in response. View snow clearing schedules for city streets and sidewalks here. In southeastern Kentucky, where snow conditions are expected to be greater, the Laurel County Sheriffs Office reported major roads were wet with some snow slush. Deputies are out to assist motorists that need assistance. Los Angeles police arrested a man Monday on suspicion of arson after a small brush fire broke out in Griffith Park under the observatory. The man was allegedly seen by a witness setting a fire in the area, police sources said. No other details were available. He was at least the ninth person across Southern California taken into custody for allegedly starting small fires in the wake of Eaton and Palisades infernos. The causes of those two fires remain under investigation. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement According to the Los Angeles Fire Department, the fire was reported around 1 p.m. and had burned a quarter acre. Firefighters rushed to the area south of Griffith Observatory as plumes of black smoke could be seen from Hollywood and the surrounding area. Helicopters made water drops and slowed the fire considerably on Monday afternoon after it burned less than an acre. No structures were damaged in the fire. A particularly dangerous situation wind warning is in effect from noon Monday through 10 a.m. Tuesday for swaths of Los Angeles County and most of Ventura County an unprecedented fifth time the National Weather Service has sounded the alarm this season for acute fire conditions. Peak gusts of 50 mph to 70 mph are possible along the coast and valleys, while sustained winds are expected to be 25 mph to 40 mph. Isolated gusts of up to 100 mph are possible in the mountains and foothills, while sustained winds there are expected to be 30 mph to 50 mph, said Rose Schoenfeld, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Oxnard. 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. German politicians from across the political spectrum called on Chancellor Olaf Scholz to give up a block on further assistance to Ukraine on Monday, after the Finance Ministry announced unexpected savings from the 2024 budget. Scholz, leader of the centre-left SPD, declined, however to yield to demands from his coalition partner, the Greens, his former coalition partner, the liberal Free Democrats (FDP), and the centre-right CDU/CSU for some of the 10.2 billion ($10.6 billion) in savings to be used to support Ukraine. Arms supplies to Ukraine to the value of 3 billion are currently the subject of heated debate in Germany and are not yet included in the 2025 budget, with elections looming on February 23. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Scholz has said he will only agree to the sum if parliament suspends the debt brake imposed under the German constitution and has rejected making use of savings from other areas. The Greens, the FDP and the CDU/CSU take the view that the Ukraine assistance can be passed under "extraordinary expenditure" without suspending the debt brake. "Chancellor Scholz and the SPD should end their Ukraine swindle and stop playing with the fears of pensioners and social security recipients," CDU/CSU budgetary chief Christian Haase said. His FDP counterpart, Otto Fricke, said starting the new year with 10.2 billion in savings meant that the added funding for Ukraine could be provided without any extraordinary measures. And Green spokesman Sven-Christian Kindler said providing 3 billion for the Ukraine was now possible without cutting funds for other purposes. BALTIMORE A renewed push to end automatically charging minors as adults for certain crimes in Maryland has reinvigorated a longstanding debate on the practice. On one side are advocates for criminal justice reform, like the Maryland Office of the Public Defender, who say charging youths as adults is a bad practice that increases criminal behavior and reduces public safety. The automatic charging process disproportionately affects Black and Brown children, exposing them to unsafe and traumatic experiences within the justice system, said Robin Salter, the public defenders regional director of youth defense, in a statement ahead of a rally at Lawyers Mall in Annapolis on Thursday. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement To think, she continued, if prison is used as a punishment system for adults, then placing children who are still developing mentally, physically, and emotionally in the adult system is purely torturous. This is a criminal justice and human rights issue. Ending automatic charging of children as adults is the right thing to do in Maryland. On the other side are the states prosecutors. While I understand their call, I cannot support or agree with the idea of automatic charging of all juvenile offenses in juvenile court, Howard County States Attorney Rich Gibson, president of the Maryland States Attorneys Association, said in an interview. That would create a significant public safety risk and is not in the best interest of the community. Maryland law requires anyone 14 or older to be automatically charged as an adult for first-degree murder, first-degree rape and first-degree sex offense. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The list of offenses automatically charged in adult court for minors 16 years or olderincludes second-degree murder and voluntary manslaughter; second-degree rape and second- and third-degree sex offense; abduction and kidnapping; carjacking; attempted and actual robbery with a dangerous weapon; first-degree assault and all firearms offenses. State Sen. Will C. Smith Jr., chair of the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee, said at a press conference of the Legislative Black Caucus he would introduce legislation to reduce the number of offenses that qualify a minor to be charged as an adult, explaining some of the more violent offenses will be left out. We can use this as a building block, said Smith, a Democrat representing Montgomery County. I deeply believe we need to end the practice of auto charging. I believe that fundamentally. If you start out youths in the youth system, youre going to save money, youre going to get better public safety outcomes. Gibson, a Democrat, said prosecutors would not even support limiting the number of crimes that qualify minors to be charged as adults automatically, saying starting all cases in juvenile court would lead to delays of up to 25 days to arrest a minor for even the most serious crime, like murder. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement There already is a process in place to address the concern of the youth who really does belong in the juvenile system, Gibson added. Judges have to consider several factors when deciding whether to transfer the case of a minor charged as an adult to juvenile court: the youths age, their mental and physical condition, their willingness to receive treatment, the nature of the crimes and public safety. A recent appeals court decision put a greater emphasis on the childs amenability to services. Marylands juvenile court system differs from the adult system in several ways. Cases go to trial quicker typically within six months of charging. Guilty findings dont mar a childs record when they become an adult. Sentences focus on rehabilitation rather than punishment, with programs tailored to individual youths. With no set timelines for penalties, the juvenile systems jurisdiction ends when a person turns 21. Gibson cited concerns over the juvenile services agencys ability to handle its current caseload of children. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement DJS would need to be performing at a B+ level, Gibson said. Im not going to put a grade on it, but its not there. Not even close. He added: You cant handle the robbery kid and you want the murder kid? You cant handle the trespassing kid and you want the rape kid? Advocates, however, say the system for charging children as adults is broken. The current law and practice just doesnt work, said Heather Warnken, director of the Center for Criminal Justice Reform at the University of Baltimore School of Law, in an interview. It doesnt work for efficiency. It doesnt work for public safety. It doesnt work for kids. Warnken described the state as a national outlier when it comes to automatically charging children as adults. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Maryland sends more youth to adult court automatically without input from a judge than any other state per capita other than Alabama, she said. According to the Maryland Youth Justice Coalition, more than 80% of minors charged as adults are Black. That organization also found that more than 87% of cases where youths were charged as adults between 2017 and 2019 did not end in adult criminal sentences. In a statement, the youth justice coalition said it was continuing its 12-year quest to end automatic charging of children, describing the organization as encouraged to see strong support from the Legislative Black Caucus and recognition from legislators that keeping children out of the adult criminal legal system is better for both community safety and children who have been charged with an alleged crime. Studies have found that youths convicted as adults reoffend at a much higher rate than those who are tried and adjudicated in juvenile court. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Prosecuting children in adult court is not achieving its goal of reducing recidivism or making Marylanders safer, reads a fact sheet from the public defenders office. In fact, sentencing children in adult court has generally resulted in increased arrest for subsequent crimes, including violent crime, when compared with those children whose cases were handled in the juvenile justice system. The human brain continues to develop into someones 20s, according to researchers. With still-developing prefrontal cortexes, young people take risks and experiment; they struggle to understand the long-term consequences of their actions and make decisions without their futures in mind. When youre 16 years old, you put a gun in somebodys face, carjack them or even worse, shoot them, Im having trouble understanding how you dont understand the consequences of your actions, Baltimore County States Attorney Scott Shellenberger, a Democrat, told The Sun. Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown, a Democrat, does not support abolishing automatic adult charges for all crimes, said his spokesperson, Jennifer Donelan. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Consistent with the position that the Attorney General took in 2023, as well as the recommendation of the Maryland Equitable Justice Collaborative (MEJC), the Attorney General supports the limiting of automatic charges for juveniles as adults in adult criminal court and looks forward to working with the Office of the Public Defender and the Legislative Black Caucus of Maryland in pursuit of that goal, Donelan said. Asked whether Gov. Wes Moore would support legislation to change auto-charging, spokesman Carter Elliott would only say that the Democratic governor generally supports measures that enhance public safety. Public safety has always been Governor Moores top priority and he will continue to work with the dedicated leaders of the General Assembly, local leaders, law enforcement, and community leaders to make Maryland a safer home for everyone, Elliott said. ------- Baltimore Sun reporter Glynis Kazanjian contributed to this article. -------- TORONTO (AP) Top Canadian ministers said Monday that Canada will be ready to retaliate after President Donald Trump said he was thinking of imposing a 25% tariff on Canada and Mexico on Feb. 1. Trump has been threatening to impose sweeping tariffs on Canada, Mexico and other trading partners. Were thinking in terms of 25% on Mexico and Canada, Trump said late Monday night in the Oval Office. I think February 1st. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The timeline of possible tariffs remains in question. Trump signed an executive order requesting a report coordinated by the Secretary of Commerce by April. 1. Trump pledged in his inaugural address that tariffs would be coming and said foreign countries would be paying the trade penalties, even though those taxes are currently paid by domestic importers and often passed along to consumers. Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly said they will continue to work on preventing tariffs but said they are also working on retaliation. Canadian Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc said Trump can be unpredictable. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement None of this should be surprising," he said. Our country is absolutely ready to respond to any one of these scenarios. Canadian leaders earlier expressed relief the tariffs were not imposed on the first day of Trump taking office. Canada is one of the most trade-dependent countries in the world, and 75% of Canadas exports, which include automobiles and parts, go to the U.S. Canada is the top export destination for 36 U.S. states. Nearly $3.6 billion Canadian (US$2.7 billion) worth of goods and services cross the border each day. Despite Trumps claim that the U.S doesnt need Canada, a quarter of the oil America consumes per day is from there. It would be a mistake for the American government to proceed with imposing tariffs, in terms of the cost living in the United States, in terms of jobs in the United States and the security of supply chains, LeBlanc said. Rep. Joe John (Wake Co.) (Photo: NCGA) Democratic State Rep. Joe John of Wake County, who came to the General Assembly later in life after many years as a judge of the state District Court, Superior Court, and Court of Appeals, announced his resignation for the legislature on Sunday. John, 85, has been battling cancer, and he revealed in the announcement that his latest medical diagnosis had forced his hand. This is from the announcement: After a courageous and arduous battle with cancer, I have been informed by my doctors that all treatment options have been exhausted, and I now face a terminal diagnosis. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement John, who served four full terms in the state House and was elected to a fifth last November, has long enjoyed a reputation as a smart, honest, and hard-working progressive who championed the rights and well-being of the underdogs in society and who believed that government could and should make life better for average people. In a 2017 interview with NC Newsline that took place after he was first elected to the legislature, John listed President John F. Kennedy as his political hero: President John Kennedy was the first leader I followed on an ongoing basis and, like most Americans at the time, I was deeply affected by his assassination and the subsequent assassinations of Martin Luther King and President Kennedys brother, Robert. For me, President Kennedy represented optimism and confidence in the future, seeking the best in individuals and for his country, and resolution in the face of crisis. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Though John was widely and understandably viewed as an expert on courts and the law during his time in the legislature, he was a strong and knowledgeable voice on numerous important issues in state government and, as he made clear in a conversation we had in 2023 for the NC Newsline radio show/podcast, News & Views, an unapologetic critic of the tactics the Republican leadership on Jones Street employed in passing important legislation. Johns announcement has spurred several social media posts lauding him as person and a public servant. Former Raleigh News & Observer journalist Jim Jenkins put it this way in a Facebook post: What a grand example of public service you have been, from the bench to the General Assembly. A monumental career, and a monumental human being. Gov. Josh Stein will name Johns replacement from a slate submitted by the Democratic Party. Read Johns full announcement below. CAPITOL HEIGHTS, Md. (DC News Now) Police in Prince Georges County said a man was charged in connection to his girlfriends murder after her remains were found in his home in Capitol Heights. On Jan. 18, the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) contacted the Prince Georges County Police Department (PGPD) to help locate 29-year-old Alexis Schuler of Washington, D.C., who disappeared on Jan. 10. In a post on the X platform, the Metropolitan Police Department put out a critical missing person alert for Schuler. Police said she was last seen that Friday at around 6 p.m. in the 2800 block of Hartford Steet SE. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement For several days, officers searched for Schuler but were unsuccessful. 21-year-old shot, killed in apartment in Congress Heights identified As the investigation developed, PGPD said officers executed a search warrant on Sunday at 30-year-old Devontae Grays home in the 700 block of Larchmont Avenue. While inside his house, detectives discovered Schulers remains. Details about how Schuler was found are limited; however, police noted in the press release Gray had taken extensive efforts to hide the victims [Schulers] body. Police said her autopsy results confirmed that she had been shot. Biden pardons family members in final minutes of presidency Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement According to the police department, Gray confessed to killing Schuler after he was taken into custody. Their preliminary investigation determined that he had allegedly killed her during a dispute. Prince Georges County police charged Gray with first-degree murder and related charges. He is being held in the custody of the Department of Corrections. Anyone with information about this case is encouraged to call PGPDs Homicide Unit at 301-516-2512. Copyright 2025 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. Faith is an integral part of millions of Americans daily lives. One Nation Under God is committed to reflecting Americas voices, values and communities covering stories of faith and religion, from the latest headlines to stories of hope. Subscribe here. (NewsNation) Cardinal Timothy Dolan, archbishop of New York, and evangelical leader Rev. Franklin Graham delivered the invocation at Donald J. Trumps inauguration. Before he began his prayer, Graham addressed the president-elect. Mr. President, the last four years, there were times Im sure you thought it was pretty dark. But look what God has done, he said to applause. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Mel Gibson says hes working on new movie about Jesus Resurrection In his prayer, Cardinal Dolan recalled General George Pattons instructions to his soldiers before the Battle of the Bulge during World War II: Pray. Pray when fighting, pray alone, pray with others, pray by night, pray by day. Trumps inauguration falls on Martin Luther King Day, a federal holiday commemorating the birthday of the civil rights leader. Without God, our efforts turn to ashes, Dolan said, quoting Rev. King. President-elect Donald Trump watches as Rev. Franklin Graham passes during the 60th Presidential Inauguration in the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson, Pool) Rev. Graham credits God for saving Trumps life Rev. Graham credited God for saving the incoming presidents life. Father, when Donald Trumps enemies thought he was down and out, you and you alone saved his life and raised him up with strength and power by your mighty hand, he said. In July, Trump was wounded in the ear in an assassination attempt during a campaign rally in Pennsylvania. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Biden gives Pope Francis highest civilian honor before leaving office According to Religion News Service, President Trump was raised a Presbyterian but now identifies as a nondenominational Protestant. First lady Melania Trump confirmed she is a Roman Catholic after visiting the Vatican in 2017. She is the first Catholic first lady since Jacqueline Kennedy. Vice President JD Vance converted to Catholicism in 2019. In a 2020 essay, he said, I came eventually to believe that the teachings of the Catholic Church were true, but it happened slowly and unevenly. In that same essay, Vance said his wife Usha, who practices Hindu, supported him from the beginning of that process. Copyright 2025 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 NewsNation. French Ambassador to Azerbaijan Anne Bouillon visited the Alley of Martyrs on January 20 - National Day of Mourning. Azernews reports that the diplomat has shared a post on her X social account writing the following: "On this day of mourning, marking the 35th anniversary of the Black January tragedy, we, together with my European colleagues, mourn the victims of the January events of 1990," he noted. A press conference about shoring up efforts concerning agriculture, rural areas and rural people to drive rural revitalization across the board is held by the State Council Information Office in Beijing, capital of China, Jan. 20, 2025. (Xinhua/Pan Xu) BEIJING, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- China made steady improvements in its agriculture and rural economy in 2024, Zhang Xingwang, vice minister of agriculture and rural affairs, told a State Council Information Office press conference on Monday. In 2024, China's grain production reached a new level, farmers' incomes increased steadily, and rural society remained harmonious and stable, providing strong support for the high-quality development of the country's economy and society, Zhang said at the press conference. China's total grain production exceeded 1.4 trillion jin (700 billion tonnes) for the first time last year, an increase of 22.18 billion jin from 2023, he said. The operating revenues of large agricultural product processing enterprises nationwide are expected to have exceeded a total of 18 trillion yuan (2.5 trillion U.S. dollars), according to the vice minister. By the end of 2024, 33.05 million people who have emerged from poverty were in employment, marking the fourth consecutive year that the figure has come in at above 30 million, he said. The per capita disposable income of farmers in counties that have been lifted out of poverty reached 12,384 yuan in the first three quarters of 2024, registering real growth of 6.5 percent compared to the same period the previous year, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). The per capita disposable income of rural residents reached 23,119 yuan, a real increase of 6.3 percent year on year, Zhang said, citing NBS data. Two bull caribou of the Western Arctic Caribou Herd swimming across the Kobuk River during fall 2011 migration in Kobuk Valley National Park. The herd has been in decline since hitting its peak population two decades ago. (Photo by Kyle Joly/National Park Service) The Western Arctic Caribou Herd, once the biggest in Alaska, is faltering, having fallen from a high of 490,000 animals in 2003 to only 152,000 as of 2023. But to the east, the Porcupine Caribou Herd appears to be thriving, with an all-time high of 218,00 animals recorded at the last census. That makes it, rather than the Western Arctic herd, the states largest. Why are the herds following opposite trends? An answer, Alaska scientists say, is found in what is growing on the ground and the way the warming climate has changed those plants. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Woody shrubs and even trees are spreading rapidly over Arctic regions of Northwest Alaska, the area where the Western Arctic herd ranges, said Roman Dial, a professor at Alaska Pacific University. But that plant transformation, which scientists refer to as shrubification, has been much slower on the eastern side of Arctic Alaska, the range for the Porcupine Caribou Herd, he said. For caribou, growth of woody plants like alders and willows means problems. Caribou depend on tundra plants like lichen and mosses; the shrubs and trees taking over the terrain are reducing the availability of that food favored by the animals. Western Arctic Caribou Herd population trends are shown over time. (Graph by Alaska Department of Fish and Game provided by Western Arctic Caribou Herd Working Group) Dial has studied changes in Alaska plant growth for several years and has been traveling in the Brooks Range since he was a teenager in the 1970s. Even though his recent years work in Arctic Alaska has been focused on plants, he said encountering willows and other woody plants covering what used to be open tundra west of the Dalton Highway made him think right away of animals. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A lot of caribou trails were getting overgrown and disappeared, and youd find really old antlers that were in skulls that were kind of buried in the tundra, so caribou hadnt been there for a long time, he said. Right away it was, like: Wow, caribou are changing their routes. And you could see it. The overgrown state of caribou trails that had been etched into tundra terrain over multiple years of migration was instructive, Dial said. When he presented his studies during the December annual meeting of the Western Arctic Caribou Herd Working Group, the advisory panel representing villagers and others dependent on the herd, Dial described what might be a caribous view of the plant takeover, and he used a brief video from the field to illustrate his point. He does not like walking through willows that can be eight feet tall, and I dont think caribou like going through willows either, Dial told the working group. If my antlers were all tender and velvet, I wouldnt want to go through a bunch of tall willows. And also, when you go through willows, theres bears in there. A single caribou stands in 2019 amid cottongrass and other tundra plants near the Hulahula River in the Arctic National WIldlife Refuge. (Photo by Alexis Bonogofsky/U.S. Fish and WIldlife Service) Changes in caribou habitat are linked to reduced Arctic sea ice, which itself is a direct result of accelerated climate warming in the Northern Hemisphere, Dial said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Open water leads to more snowfall, he said, as there is more moisture sent into the atmosphere to fall as precipitation, More snowfall insulates the ground, keeping soil temperatures warmer through the winter, he explained. Warmer soil temperatures encourage plant growth and the spread of woody shrubs and trees. More woody plants on the ground make life harder for caribou, both by displacing their usual tundra food sources and by creating new obstacles to movement. Open water does not affect Alaskas western and eastern Arctic tundra regions equally, and the results are seen on the ground, Dial said. Sea ice retreat usually forms later and melts earlier in the Chukchi Sea, which lies off the northwestern coast, than in the Beaufort Sea, which lies off Alaskas northeastern coast. Utqiagvik the nations northernmost community is the point where the two Arctic seas meet. Relatively warm Pacific Ocean water flows into the Chukchi through the Bering Strait, making ice there more seasonal, meaning it forms and melts earlier each year. In contrast, an ocean circulation system called the Beaufort Gyre sends old multiyear ice from north of Canada into the Beaufort, making the freeze there a little more resilient. While ice retreat has been significant over the past decades in both seas, the characteristics of the Chukchi make it particularly vulnerable, and it has lost both the thickness and extent of ice at a faster rate than almost any marginal sea in the Arctic, according to climate scientists. A caribou is seen on June 12, 2013, in Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve. The park is part of the range of the Western Arctic Caribou Herd. (Photo by Zak Richter/National Park Service) Both the Western Arctic herd range and the Porcupine herd range have become warmer in summer and snowier in winter, according to records kept by the Alaska Center for Climate Assessment and Policy at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. But the summer change has been more intense in the western range, particularly in coastal areas off Nome and Kotzebue, according to the data. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The work by Dial and his colleagues to track the changes involved an old-fashioned method: walking the ground. The idea to do that was inspired by studies of shrub growth that is spreading up to higher elevations around Anchorage and made necessary by the COVID-19 pandemic, which shut down National Science Foundation-funded air travel in 2020, Dial said. Some of the Alaska Pacific University students who were working with him on studying vegetation were enlisted to go north to be part of the Brooks Range expeditions. In 2020 and 2021, they walked hundreds of miles of the terrain, smartphones in hand, looking down and recording changes in the plants growing on either side of the Dalton Highway. It kind of added a new dimension to hiking, he said. A study published in June details the findings from their treks in 2020. A separate but related study, published about a year ago, examined tree rings to show a correlation between growth and proximity to open Arctic water. The study, which Dial did with Patrick Sullivan of the University of Alaska Anchorage and other scientists, focuses on white spruce trees from 19 different sites along the Brooks Range. Those trees were small, ranging from ankle to chest height, indicating that they were recent arrivals, Dial said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The on-the-groundwork by Dial, Sullivan and their colleagues adds to past research that tracked the northward spread of woody plants by more distant methods. A 2018 study by scientists from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, UAF and other organizations, for example, used 50 years worth of aerial photographs to identify shrub and tree expansion into the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in northeastern Alaska, where the Porcupine herd ranges. The study found that shrubs had spread into the refuges tundra regions over the half-century period, but they had done so at a slower pace than in other Arctic Alaska tundra regions. Caribou forage in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in 2019. (Photo by Alexis Bonogofsky/U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service) Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The growth of woody plants in Arctic tundra regions affects more than caribou. In northwestern Alaska, where the growth has been most dramatic, it has attracted a proliferation of beavers, for example. And as beavers colonize the landscape, they are transforming it with thousands of new dams that pool water that, in turn, speed thaw of permafrost and feed into the cycle of shrub expansion. Broader climate change impacts Climate change impacts on the Western Arctic Caribou Herd go beyond the spread of shrubs displacing tundra plants. Warm winter conditions in 2005 produced two days of rain in the herds winter range, creating a thick layer of ice that encased the tundra plants that the animals eat. A large die-off followed, according to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Wildland fires that are becoming more common as conditions warm can also affect caribou by destroying the slow-growing lichen and other tundra plants the animals eat. That has long been known to be an issue for caribou in more southern and boreal regions, such as Interior Alaskas Nelchina herd. Now wildfire has emerged as a threat to the Western Arctic Caribou Herds habitat. The Western Arctic herds declines are part of a circumpolar trend. Many caribou herds have lost population in recent years, as shown in the 2024 Arctic Report Card. (Image provided by the National Oceanic and Atmopsheric Administrations Arctic Report Card) Tundra caribou populations across the Arctic have declined by 65% over the last two to three decades, according to the 2024 Arctic Report Card released in December by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Alaskas Western Arctic Caribou Herd was one of those identified as having the most dramatic declines. Warmer summer and fall temperatures, changes in winter snowfall, and an increasing human footprint collectively stress Arctic caribou, altering their distribution, movements, survival and productivity, the report card said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Porcupine herd, in contrast, was cited in the Arctic Report Card as one of the major herds with a stable or increasing population, thus going against the dominant trend. The 218,000 total last counted was an increase from 197,000 in 2013. Because the last full census of the Porcupine herd was completed several years ago, in 2017, that population is classified as stable rather than increasing. For the Western Arctic herd, changes go beyond its sliding population numbers. The herd has also A key metric measured by federal and state biologists who study the herd is the date when southward-moving caribou cross the Kobuk River, a waterway that flows west from the Brooks Range into Kotzebue Sound. Over the decades, most collared caribou spend summers north of the river and winters south of it, though in five years since 2016, fewer than half of the collared animals went that far south in their fall migration, according to the data. Caribou walk acorss the treeless tundra in Bering Land Bridge National Preserve on Aug. 23, 2006. These animals are in the Western Arctic Caribou Herd. (Photo provided by the National Park Service) At the December meeting of the Western Arctic Caribou Herd, National Park Service biologist Kyle Joly said the average river-crossing date in 2023 was notably late: Nov. 8. It was the latest-ever average time that they crossed. I actually had to extend my graph here because the number didnt fit, Joly told working group members. Caribou that do cross have also shifted the location of where they do so, and where they spend the winter. There has been a notable lack of caribou on the Seward Peninsula in the western part of the traditional range, according to the data from collared animals. None were tracked into Bering Land Bridge National Preserve, Joly said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement On-the-ground observations match the data, he said. Twenty-five years ago, Unalakeet was a great place to see caribou, he said. Residents havent seen caribou there for several years, he said. While the Western Arctic and Porcupine herds are following opposite trends, both face challenges from industrial development or potential development. The biggest development project envisioned for the Western Arctic herds range is the Ambler Access Project, which would construct a road about 200 miles into the Brooks Range foothills to an isolated mining district. The Biden administration rejected a plan for road construction, but the project could be pushed forward by the incoming Trump administration. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE Also in the area is the Red Dog mine, one of the worlds largest zinc producers. The 52-mile road that connects the mine site to the Chukchi Sea port used to ship out processed ore has already been shown to hinder caribou movement for at least part of the herd. The mine operator, Teck Resources Ltd., just won federal approval for exploratory work at what would be an expansion into a different zinc deposit, which would include an extension of the mines road. There is also expanding oil development in the National Petroleum Reserve, on the eastern edge of the Western Arctic herds range, a planned graphite mine north of Nome on the Seward Peninsula and assorted smaller projects that are underway. The encroaching development worries members of the Western Arctic Caribou Herd Working Group. The group has repeatedly expressed official objections to the proposed Ambler road, as well as concerns about the cumulative effects of multiple projects. Those concerns were repeated at the December meeting. It seems like development is taking over. Were living in a different time, said Michael Stickman, a member from Nulato, an Koyukon village on the Yukon River. We dont want to lose our way of life. A single caribou forages in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in 2019. (Photo by Alexis Bonogofsky/U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service) The Porcupine herds territory, in contrast, has been largely protected from development. But there are looming plans that would bring oil drilling rigs to the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, the place where the herd usually masses in summer to give birth to and nurture young calves. Two congressionally mandated lease sales, one in 2021 and one held this month, failed to generate industry interest. Most of the bidding in the first sale, which resulted in no on-the-ground development, was from an Alaska state agency, the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority. This months sale attracted no bids. However, President-elect Donald Trump has touted the refuges potential for producing oil, falsely claiming that it has the potential to hold more oil than Saudi Arabia. More lease sales, with more industry-favorable terms, could be held in future years in the new Trump administration. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WIAT) CBS 42 wants to help you and your family stay healthy. Each week, our resident Dr. Celeste Reese-Willis joins us to talk about a timely health issue. Copyright 2025 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 CBS 42. "Hearst Magazines and Yahoo may earn commission or revenue on some items through these links." Cecile Richards, a prominent feminist activist and a former president of Planned Parenthood, has died at age 67. This morning our beloved Cecile passed away at home, surrounded by her family and her ever-loyal dog, Ollie. Our hearts are broken today but no words can do justice to the joy she brought to our lives, her family wrote in a statement shared this Monday morning. Her cause of death was an aggressive form of brain cancer. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Throughout her adult life, Richards was a fierce advocate for womens rights, including the right to abortion, the right to health care, and other reproductive freedoms which this coming MAGA administration promises to attack. Though she was diagnosed with glioblastoma in 2023, Richards remained active in the causes that mattered to her, and even made an appearance at the Democrat National Convention in August 2024, where she gave a powerful speech highlighting the importance of improving reproductive health care and allowing women to make decisions about their own bodies. When women are free to make their own decisions about their lives and to follow our dreams, we are unstoppable, she said But when Roe v. Wade was overturned, a generation of young people lost that freedom. At the convention, she also helped cast Texas ceremonial votes to nominate Kamala Harris as the Democratic nominee for president. Richards said of getting to vote for a female candidate: I had been waiting for this chance all my life. John Anderson - Getty Images Richards began fighting for human rights and womens freedoms when she was just a teenager. At 16, she worked on a campaign to elect Sarah Weddington, the attorney who stood against Texas abortion ban in Roe v. Wade. In her 20s, she organized campaigns for labor unions and working-class communities, and even helped her mother, Ann Richards, in her successful campaign to become governor of Texas. But it was at Planned Parenthood where Richards did her most passionate and impactful work. As the president of the organization from 2006 to 2018the longest any person has held the positionshe fought fiercely against tightening Republican efforts to ban abortion and cut funding to reproductive health centers. With her push, the organization found a more notable seat in politics, always with the goal of standing behind leaders who would respect reproductive rights. In 2008, Planned Parenthood endorsed Barack Obama for president, and in 2016, it backed Hillary Clinton. John Anderson - Getty Images After her tenure at Planned Parenthood, Richards founded the feminist organization Supermajority, which trains and mobilizes people to advocate for womens equality. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Just before Republicans overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, making abortion a no longer constitutionally protected right in the United States, Richards wrote in an op-ed for The New York Times: If I have one regret from my time leading Planned Parenthood, it is that we believed that providing vital health care, with public opinion on our side, would be enough to overcome the political onslaught. She added that Republicans had chosen to trade the rights of women for political expediency. After the fall of Roe v. Wade, Richards helped launch Abortion in America, a website where people can find information about where and how to terminate their pregnancies, and share stories about their experiences. She was also a co-chair at American Bridge, a liberal research, tracking, and rapid response operation focused on holding Republicans accountable and helping deliver Democratic victories. In November 2024, following Donald Trumps second presidential win, Richards admitted she saw a long road ahead in our fight for womens reproductive rights. In all honesty, I fear it will take us a long time to restore the rights we once had, she told The 19th. For people who face challenges based on race, geography, income, and more, these inequities are deep-seated, intersectional and much more difficult to eradicate. We need to be ready for a multi-year fight. You Might Also Like Cecile Richards, the former president of Planned Parenthood and feminist activist, died Monday of an aggressive brain cancer, her family confirmed in a statement. She was 67. Richards, the daughter of the former Democratic Texas governor, was one of the nations most prominent advocates for abortion rights. This morning our beloved Cecile passed away at home, surrounded by her family and her ever-loyal dog, Ollie. Our hearts are broken today but no words can do justice to the joy she brought to our lives, the family wrote. Even after her 2023 glioblastoma diagnosis, Richards had remained a fixture in Democratic politics. In August, she helped cast Texas ceremonial votes at the Democratic National Convention to nominate Vice President Kamala Harris, and delivered one of the events speeches focused on reproductive rights. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement When women are free to make their own decisions about their lives and to follow our dreams, we are unstoppable, she said in the August 21 speech. But when Roe v. Wade was overturned, a generation of young people lost that freedom. In late October, Richards told The 19th she had voted early in New York City for Harris, adding that she told an election worker she had waited for this chance all my life. It felt so powerful to vote for Kamala and to know that young women and men are getting to cast their first votes ever for Kamala, she said. Richards had most recently worked to help launch Abortion in America, a website devoted to sharing stories of people who had sought the procedure after the fall of Roe v. Wade, as well as a chatbot called Charley, which provided information about where and how people could terminate their pregnancies. She was also a co-chair at American Bridge, a liberal super PAC and opposition research group. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Richards entered politics as a teenager, working when she was 16 years old on a campaign to elect Sarah Weddington, the attorney who argued against Texas abortion ban in Roe v. Wade, to the states legislature. As an undergraduate at Brown University, she joined student activist efforts to push the university to divest its endowment from companies working in apartheid South Africa. In her 20s, she worked in labor organizing, heading campaigns for nursing home employees and garment workers, before moving back to Texas in 1990 to work on her mothers gubernatorial bid. Following her mothers term, Richards eventually moved to Washington, D.C. It was Richards work at Planned Parenthood, which she helmed from 2006 to 2018, the longest time any individual has run the organization, that catapulted her into the national spotlight. Richards tenure came as anti-abortion efforts hit a fever pitch, overlapping with attempts by Republican-led state legislatures to pass laws that could restrict access to abortion and cut funding to reproductive health providers, including in her home state of Texas. Years later, she would describe the period as a turning point in the fight for access to abortion. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In 2013, when Texas lawmakers worked to pass an omnibus bill full of abortion restrictions, Richards joined protesters in the state Capitol building, encouraging abortion rights supporters to yell loudly enough to halt state legislative proceedings. Their efforts worked, albeit temporarily: the noise prevented legislators from passing the bill before their midnight deadline, a moment broadcast on a viral livestream from The Texas Tribune. (The bill was eventually passed in a subsequent legislative session, before being struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2016.) Her support really helped put it all together, Dave Cortez, a member of Occupy Austin, told The Texas Tribune at the time. Under Richards, Planned Parenthood now inextricable from the Democratic Party, which largely supports abortion rights became more politically active. In 2008, it endorsed Barack Obama for president, the second time it had waded into presidential politics. In 2016, it issued its first ever primary endorsement, throwing its support behind Hillary Clinton, a longtime supporter of reproductive rights. Richards argued that the moves were not partisan, but instead about supporting politicians who cared about reproductive rights. Richards stayed involved in progressive politics after leaving Planned Parenthood, co-founding the feminist organization Supermajority in 2019. The organization focuses on training people to advocate for womens equality. Richards left Supermajority at the end of 2020. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement As abortion rights came under fire and especially with the 2022 fall of Roe v. Wade Richards emerged as a vocal supporter of abortion rights. In the months before Roe was overturned, she argued in an op-ed in The New York Times that Republicans had traded the rights of women for political expediency. If I have one regret from my time leading Planned Parenthood, it is that we believed that providing vital health care, with public opinion on our side, would be enough to overcome the political onslaught, she wrote in the 2022 piece. More recently, she told The 19th she believed it would be years before the country might restore abortion rights. In all honesty, I fear it will take us a long time to restore the rights we once had, she said. For people who face challenges based on race, geography, income, and more, these inequities are deep-seated, intersectional and much more difficult to eradicate. We need to be ready for a multi-year fight. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Grace Panetta contributed to this report The post Cecile Richards, former Planned Parenthood president and feminist activist, has died appeared first on The 19th. News that represents you, in your inbox every weekday. Subscribe to our free, daily newsletter. Teresa Kroeger Cecile Richards, former leader of Planned Parenthood and 2015 Glamour Woman of the Year, has died at 67 years old. Richardss family confirmed the news with a statement on January 20, revealing that the feminist activist passed away at home, surrounded by family and her ever-loyal dog, Ollie. Richards had revealed in early 2024 that shed been diagnosed with glioblastoma, an incurable brain cancer. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Our hearts are broken today but no words can do justice to the joy she brought to our lives, her family wrote in a statement. We are grateful to the doctors and health care workers who provided her excellent care and the friends, family, and well-wishers who have been by her side during this challenging time. Planned Parenthoods Cecile Richards: I Will Fight for Womens Rights Every Day Cecile Richards is a Woman of the Year becauseShe is fighting for each and every one of us. I would follow her into a burning building and still not be half as brave as she is. Cecile Richards dedicated her life to fighting for womens rights, advocating for reproductive freedom well past her 12-year tenure as the president of Planned Parenthood, which she ran from 2006 to 2018. Prior to her work with Planned Parenthood, she founded the Texas Freedom Network, a nonprofit social justice organization, in 1995, and continued to mobilize against abortion bans throughout her battle with cancer. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Her familys statement continued, If youd like to celebrate Cecile today, we invite you to put on some New Orleans jazz, gather with friends and family over a good meal, and remember something she said a lot over the last year: Its not hard to imagine future generations one day asking: When there was so much at stake for our country, what did you do? The only acceptable answer is: Everything we could. Abortion After Roe These Abortion Storytellers Wont Be Silenced Women in Louisiana face some of the strictest abortion laws in the country, but they are rising up to tell their storieswith the support of lifelong activist Cecile Richards. Together they believe this work can help restore abortion rights for all. *Glamour* witnessed a grassroots movement in action. Originally Appeared on Glamour Jan. 20 (UPI) -- Women's rights activist and former Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards, 67, died at her home surrounded by family and her dog on Ollie Monday morning, her family announced. "Our hearts are broken today, but no words can do justice to the joy she brought to our lives," her family told NBC News in a statement. "We are grateful to the doctors and health care workers who provided her excellent care and the friends, family and well-wishers who have been by her side during this challenging time." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Richards in 2023 was diagnosed with glioblastoma, which is a type of brain cancer. Her family did not say whether the condition caused her death. Richards is the daughter of former Texas Gov. Ann Richards and was a deputy chief of staff for Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. Cecile Richards, then president of the Planned Parenthood Action Fund, speaks on day two of the Democratic National Convention at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia in July 2016. File Photo by Pat Benic/UPI She also was the president of the pro-abortion Planned Parenthood Action Fund from 2006 to 2018. Planned Parenthood Federal of America Chief Executive Officer Alexis McGill Johnson called Richards an "indomitable force" during her 12 years with the organization. "Cecile brought Planned Parenthood Federation of America to new heights in our health care, education, and advocacy work," Johnson said in an online statement. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "She led us through fights that transformed the reproductive health and rights landscape and made Planned Parenthood Action Fund the advocacy and political force that it remains to this day," Johnson said. "We are heartbroken to lose a giant in the fight for reproductive freedom." Although Richards has died, Johnson said her work on behalf of Planned Parenthood will continue to help the organization's work on behalf of the nation's women. "As we continue to navigate unchartered territory, we will be able to meet the challenges we face in large part because of the movement Cecile built over decades," Johnson added. "I know, without a doubt, that Cecile would tell us the best way to honor her memory is to suit up -preferably in pink - link arms, and fight like hell for Planned Parenthood patients across the country." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Former President Joe Biden on Nov. 20 awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Richards. "With absolute courage, she fearlessly leads us forward to be the America we say we are - a nation of freedom," Biden said in a Facebook post. "Through her work to lift up the dignity of workers, defend and advance women's reproductive rights and equality, and mobilize Americans to exercise their power to vote, she has carved an inspiring legacy," Biden said. Richards and her husband, Kirk Adams, lived in New York City. She is survived by Adams and their three children. Cecile Richards, the organizer and activist who transformed Planned Parenthood into a political powerhouse, died on Monday at age 67. A year ago, Richards announced that she had been diagnosed with glioblastoma, an aggressive and incurable form of brain cancer. Richards passed away at home, surrounded by her family and her ever-loyal dog, Ollie, her husband Kirk, daughters Lily and Hannah, and son Daniel, said in a joint statement. If youd like to celebrate Cecile today, we invite you to put on some New Orleans jazz, gather with friends and family over a good meal, and remember something she said a lot over the last year: Its not hard to imagine future generations one day asking: When there was so much at stake for our country, what did you do? The only acceptable answer is: everything we could. Richards used the line in an editorial she wrote for Rolling Stone on the eve of the election, urging Americans to support Kamala Harris. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Richards was the daughter of Texas Gov. Ann Richards (D). A graduate of Brown University, she worked in labor movement, organizing garment workers in Texas and hotel workers in New Orleans, before moving to Washington D.C., where she served as deputy chief of staff to Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) before departing in 2004 to lead the progressive coalition America Votes. Two years later, she joined Planned Parenthood as president. She led the organization for 12 years, through multiple Republican campaigns seeking to defund the organization, and a controversy stirred by right-wing activists who falsely claimed Planned Parenthood sold fetal tissue for profit. Richards left the organization in 2016, shortly after the election of Donald Trump. Trump would go on to appoint three Supreme Court justices. That newly-conservative majority, of course, went on to strike down Roe v. Wade, eliminating the federal right to abortion. In a moment, years of work Richards spent working to expand abortion access was undone. My feeling is not a personal one: Its much more just horror that this is the state of the United States at this point, Richards said, speaking to Rolling Stone in 2022. Its not only abortion its the thought of the country being ruled by a minority, and moving more into this completely totalitarian regime where it doesnt matter what the majority thinks, whether its on gun reform, the right to make your own decisions about pregnancy, climate. Its just horrifying that we are living in a non-democratic country right now. In recognition of her work with Planned Parenthood, President Joe Biden awarded Richards the Medal of Freedom, Americas highest civilian honor, in November. She is the first person to be honored for their work to advance abortion access. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement On Monday, remembrances of Richards poured in from politicians and activists. Harris called her a fighter and a force to be reckoned with who led with heart, fearlessness, and courage on the frontlines of the fight for womens rights and the dignity of every woman to make decisions about their own body. Kelley Robinson, president of the Human Rights Campaign remembered Richards as a giant in the fight for freedom an unwavering advocate for reproductive, workers and civil rights who never stopped fighting for a stronger, more inclusive country. And Mini Timmaraju, the president of Reproductive Freedom For All, called her a true hero, a fighter for our freedoms, and a dear friend. In her own statement, Alexis McGill Johnson, the current president of Planned Parenthood, called Richards an indomitable force who brought Planned Parenthood Federation of America to new heights. We are heartbroken to lose a giant in the fight for reproductive freedom, McGill Johnson added. As we continue to navigate uncharted territory, we will be able to meet the challenges we face in large part because of the movement Cecile built over decades. I know, without a doubt, that Cecile would tell us the best way to honor her memory is to suit up preferably in pink link arms, and fight like hell for Planned Parenthood patients across the country. More from Rolling Stone Best of Rolling Stone Sign up for RollingStone's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. All products featured on Teen Vogue are independently selected by Teen Vogue editors. However, when you buy something through our retail links, Conde Nast may earn an affiliate commission. Heather Hazzan On Monday, January 20, 2025, Cecile Richards, president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America from 2006 to 2018, passed away from a brain tumor. She was 67 years old. As announced by her family in a statement, she was surrounded by loved ones including her ever-loyal dog Ollie. Richards, the daughter of former Gov. Ann Richards of Texas, was one of the most well-known and outspoken defenders of reproductive rights. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In the 2018 Teen Vogue interview below, Richards spoke to young people candidly about her career journey, activism, and positive disruption. For Cecile Richards, getting in trouble was scary at first. She was was in 7th grade, and she wore a black armband to school to protest the U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War. But after sitting in the principals office at her school, Cecile would learn to get over her fear of being reprimanded because the moment signified something greater. I realized it didnt take that much to get the attention of the principal, Cecile told Teen Vogue at the Teen Vogue Summit on June 2. Wearing a black armband wasnt the scariest thing ever, but the fact that he even noticed and was upset, it sort of made me realize how much power I potentially had. In her new book, Make Trouble: Standing Up, Speaking Out, and Finding the Courage to Lead My Life Story, the former president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America and Planned Parenthood Action Fund talks about, well, making trouble. Cecile, who recently stepped down from her post with PPFA, details the early instances in her life in her book that showed her the potential to make change when you make waves, and much of it started with that armband. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Throughout her career, Cecile took that power she sparked in 7th grade and wielded it to make change. She first worked as an organizer for low wage workers, before moving on to become deputy chief of staff for House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi. In 2006, Cecile became the President of Planned Parenthood. "Ive always had the good fortune of having a job that made somebody mad. I think that if youre not making somebody mad youre not really trying hard enough in terms of really fighting for the things that are important," she said. But Cecile doesnt make trouble just because. "Change is hard, she said. She cited the civil rights movement, noting that the leaders disrupted the status quo to do good. And achieving that, she said, is what pushes her to do more. What keeps me going is the wins. It might have took decades but we finally got birth control for everyone in this country. Maybe it was hard but we finally opened a Charleston, South Carolina, Planned Parenthood that provides transgender care to everyone in the state. That to me, its worth those fights not just to make people mad and make trouble, but to really make a change and make a difference. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Not everyone can make trouble in the way that Cecile does, or even at all. A 2012 report from the Department of Education suggested that young black children, particularly boys, are punished more harshly in public schools, including increased rates of suspension and expulsion compared to their white peers. Excessive punishment in schools can contribute to incarceration rates when young people grow up in whats known as the school to prison pipeline. Beyond that, a Vox analysis of FBI data showed that black people are more likely to be shot by police than white people. Nearly a quarter of transgender people reported experiencing harassment by police in a 2011 national survey. And in February, police started the deportation process after an undocumented man in Washington called law enforcement for help. So, not everyone can stand for a cause, even if its just wearing a black armband. Thats why, Cecile said, those who can participate in activism, must. Being able to make trouble is a real privilege, and there are a lot of people and a lot of young people in this country who dont even make trouble and suffer the consequences, she said. I think the important thing, to me, is those of us who can, we need to be doing even more. Cecile called on people with privilege to stand with Dreamers, the LGBTQ community, and any other marginalized group that needs allies to advance a cause. Its important that the rest of us do a lot more, not in their name but in support of them. That, to me, is what this is all about, she said. I think it is important for people to protect themselves, protect their own safety, but for those who can, they need to do more than theyve ever done before. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement As for Cecile, shes said shes not sure what shell do next, but she said there are no shortage of causes in which she thinks she could help. But beyond what she will do, shes inspired by what young people are already doing and thats part of the reason she stepped down at Planned Parenthood. We are in this moment of total disruption of culture, of our economy, of politics where a whole generation of young people are saying we want to be impactful and we want to be involved. To me, anything I can do to invest in them, lift them up, give them the reigns, is really exciting. And, its part of the reason why I stepped aside at Planned Parenthood," she said. "Weve been investing in young people for the last 12 years, and now its really important that we make space for them to lead. Leading is something Cecile said shes already watching young people do. In a conversation at the Teen Vogue Summit with Deja Foxx, Cecile highlighted how Deja challenged Republican Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake at a town hall meeting in 2017 on the issue of his vote to reallocate Title X family planning funding when she was just 16 years old. Deja is just one example of young people taking the reins, she said. For other young people who want to get involved but arent sure where to start, Cecile advised them to simply just start wherever they see an opportunity. Ive never seen so much organic organizing. Young people getting together and saying I want to do something. Whether its about sexual assault, the dress code in their school, whether its, you name it, she said. There are no rules anymore. Dont wait for someone to ask you to do it. If you see something that is upsetting to you or something that needs doing, youre probably the person to go do it. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement If you still feel unprepared to jump into activism, Cecile advised volunteering on a campaign. Its a place, she said, where youll not only learn most of what you need to know to be an activist, but youll make connections that could prove valuable to your future work. Of course, it can be hard to get the confidence to jump in and make change, especially if it involves making trouble. For that, Cecile advises thinking of the worst possible outcome of what youre trying to do. If its failure, then youve imagined your worst fear, making it easier to face. But if your biggest fear is that youll succeed and take on a huge responsibility, youve got your work cut out for you just like Cecile did more than 12 years ago when she almost didn't show up for her interview at Planned Parenthood because she was worried that she may fail, or that she may succeed. "If we don't try things we don't know that we'll be good at, we'll never know," she said. "Sometimes it will lead you to the thing that is right for you." Related: Thank You Cecile Richards Let us slide into your DMs. Sign up for the Teen Vogue daily email. Get the Teen Vogue Take. Sign up for the Teen Vogue weekly email. Originally Appeared on Teen Vogue CEDAR COUNTY, Mo. A Cedar County Memorial Hospital (CCMH) doctor is suing the hospitals Board of Trustees for libel, claiming the board and other individuals falsely accused him of providing drugs to hospital staff in exchange for sex. Online court records show that Dr. Russell R. Kemm is suing the hospitals Board of Trustees, four individual members of the board and an attorney who had been hired by the board. A separate lawsuit has been filed against that same attorney, Janea Leah Graham, and a man who also allegedly accused Kemm of exchanging drugs for sex and having an affair with his former wife. Both lawsuits claim that Kemm has suffered irreparable personal and economic injury because all of the named defendants published false statements about Kemm and his medical practice. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement According to court documents, Graham advised the Board of Trustees to investigate Kemm after submitting an anonymous letter regarding the drugs-for-sex allegations. The lawsuit claims the letter was actually written by James Delmar Bender, Jr., whose former wife was a registered nurse at CCMH. Bender claimed Kemm gave drugs to his ex-wife, and that the drugs were allegedly provided so she would have sex with Kemm. Northern Arkansas wildlife refuge welcomes 33 big cats from Florida sanctuary The lawsuit says the letter was provided to the Cedar County Commission, the Cedar County Sheriffs Office and the Cedar County Prosecutors Office. The suit also says it is believed that the Missouri Attorney Generals Office was provided with a copy of the salacious letter written by Bender. In the lawsuit that names only Graham and Bender, documents say that Bender contacted police in December 2024. Bender allegedly told a detective with the Nevada Police Department (NPD) that he had been criminally charged by the Cedar County Prosecutor, but the charges werent accurate and the prosecutor had since elevated the charges against him. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement During the conversation, documents say Bender told police about the drugs-for-sex allegations and alleged affair between his ex-wife and Kemm, and claimed that Kemm had paid the prosecutor money to have the criminal charges filed. In each lawsuit, Kemm is seeking damages of $10 million for loss of reputation and character, mental anguish and loss of earnings both past and future. Copyright 2025 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 KOLR - OzarksFirst.com. U.S. President-elect Donald Trump addresses a victory rally held at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C., the United States, Jan. 19, 2025. The inauguration ceremony of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump will be held in Washington, D.C. on Monday. (Xinhua/Li Rui) Xinhua writer Yanan Liu WASHINGTON, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- U.S. law enforcement personnel are on high alert and have closed many roads in Washington, D.C., as the capital city prepares for an inflow of inauguration crowds. Many streets around the Capitol, the White House, Capital One Arena, and areas in between have been sealed off with fences or barricades for a few days or longer. On Sunday afternoon, workers were still erecting fences, especially around Capital One Arena, as the inauguration address, prayers and other speeches were announced to be relocated inside the Capitol Rotunda. The relocation made Capital One Arena an important platform where U.S. President-elect Donald Trump held a rally on Sunday and would meet his supporters shortly after the inauguration ceremony on Monday. The safety perimeter around Capital One Arena was expanded, and additional checkpoints were established to prevent a recurrence of the recent terror attack in New Orleans, according to a local report quoting Matt McCool, the U.S. Secret Service special agent in charge of the Washington field office. Besides police officers, National Guard units were heavily present around Capital One Arena, where approximately 20,000 attendees gathered for a Trump rally. Four subway stations will be fully closed on Monday, and various bridges and ramps from Virginia to Washington, D.C., could also be closed on Inauguration Day. Twenty-five thousand law enforcement personnel are reportedly on duty for public safety during the inauguration process. People waited in line for hours to attend the rally, which stretched over a mile. However, thousands could not enter due to limited capacity, and some chose to leave as rain and snow began falling on the capital in the afternoon. Trump will be sworn in at noon on Monday with the temperature to be around minus five degrees Celsius. Leah Aguanno, a Trump supporter from Westfield, New Jersey, waited hours in line on Sunday, holding a Trump-Vance flag. "Even though the weather is bad, I'm still happy to be here to be part of this. It's a moment in history, and I'm expecting great changes and many orders to be reversed tomorrow after Trump is in office," said Aguanno. Aguanno told Xinhua she hoped that Trump would lift the ban on TikTok and work something out with China regarding the wildly popular social media platform. "I think TikTok has changed a lot of people's lives and gave a lot of people a purpose," said Aguanno. Chazz Hanson, another Trump supporter from Pickens County, Georgia, told Xinhua he got a ticket to Capital One Arena on Monday to watch Trump's inauguration address live. Hanson was optimistic that Trump would make necessary changes, noting that the past three years have been challenging. U.S. President-elect Donald Trump addresses a victory rally held at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C., the United States, Jan. 19, 2025. The inauguration ceremony of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump will be held in Washington, D.C. on Monday. (Xinhua/Li Rui) U.S. President-elect Donald Trump addresses a victory rally held at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C., the United States, Jan. 19, 2025. The inauguration ceremony of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump will be held in Washington, D.C. on Monday. (Xinhua/Li Rui) U.S. President-elect Donald Trump addresses a victory rally held at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C., the United States, Jan. 19, 2025. The inauguration ceremony of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump will be held in Washington, D.C. on Monday. (Xinhua/Li Rui) U.S. President-elect Donald Trump addresses a victory rally held at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C., the United States, Jan. 19, 2025. The inauguration ceremony of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump will be held in Washington, D.C. on Monday. (Xinhua/Li Rui) Supporters of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump attend a victory rally in Washington, D.C., the United States, Jan. 19, 2025. The inauguration ceremony of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump will be held in Washington, D.C. on Monday. (Xinhua/Wu Xiaoling) Pedestrians are seen in Washington, D.C., the United States, Jan. 19, 2025. The inauguration ceremony of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump will be held in Washington, D.C. on Monday. (Xinhua/Wu Xiaoling) This photo taken on Jan. 19, 2025 shows the Washington Monument in Washington, D.C., the United States. The inauguration ceremony of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump will be held in Washington, D.C. on Monday. (Xinhua/Wu Xiaoling) People walk past the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C., the United States, Jan. 19, 2025. The inauguration ceremony of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump will be held in Washington, D.C. on Monday. (Xinhua/Wu Xiaoling) About 4,000 volunteers gathered at the Orange County Convention Center on Martin Luther King Jr. Day to pack meals for those affected by the recent wildfires in California as well as for those in need across Central Florida. Thousands worked across three shifts Monday to pack over a million meals as part of nonprofit U.S. Hungers second annual MLK Day of Service Million Meal Pack. On the other side of the nation, thousands of homes were destroyed by some of the most powerful and deadly wildfires in Californias history two weeks ago, forcing at one point over 200,000 to evacuate. The fires left thousands unhoused and relying on shelters. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Rick Levy, 71, was among the volunteers packing food. Levy, a retired medical device manufacturer, originally is from New Jersey and moved to Central Florida several years ago. He dedicated his retirement to volunteering and works at U.S. Hungers warehouse in Longwood three days a week. On Monday, he brought 11 members of his family to pack red lentil jambalaya. Other than sheltering, whats more important than food? Levy said. A good number of boxes will go out to the west coast and those will help children and families who are really struggling right now. So it just makes you feel good. About 100,000 of those meals Levy and his family helped pack will go to California. The rest will be distributed across Central Florida where roughly one in eight residents, or 531,710 people, are facing hunger, according to data from the Second Harvest Food Bank. U.S. Hunger CEO Rick Whitted said at a press conference on Monday that many who struggle with hunger do not have extraordinary circumstances. He said those who often seek food from distributors like U.S. Hunger have insurance and are employed. Whitted said seven in 10 who sought U.S. Hungers services were employed. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement They come to our program because its discreet and private so its not the commercial of whos hungry. It really is your neighbor, Whitted said. Theyre working hard, theyre trying to survive. The meals will be distributed across the region through Second Harvest Food Bank, Daily Bread Distribution Center in Melbourne, Lock Haven Baptist Church and United Against Poverty. Convoy of Hope will distribute the meals in California, according to U.S. Hunger Chief of Staff Sarah Aranguibel-Davila. Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings said he hopes the event will continue for years on a significant day like MLK Day. Feeding those in need is a priority in this community and this event increases awareness of food insecurity and how we can all take action on a day of service, Demings said at the press conference. Dr. King believed that each of us is responsible for contributing to the greater good and what better way to do that than by packing meals for those in need? Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Levy worked the first shift, arriving at 7:30 a.m. He said he will help clean up after the volunteers finish packing meals at the end of the day. Ill probably put a lidocaine patch on my hip to help ease the pain from standing all day, but its all for a good cause, Levy said. Its a significant day. CHAMPAIGN COUNTY, Ill. (WCIA) Multiple cities and organizations in Champaign County will come together on Sunday to celebrate the life and legacy of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Each year, Champaign, Urbana, Rantoul, Parkland College and the University of Illinois host a countywide celebration. And, during the ceremony, several members of the community will be honored with prestigious awards. Central IL cities to honor Martin Luther King Jr. throughout the weekend Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Three community members will receive awards in recognition for their work to uphold the principles and ideals of Dr. King. Awards: Prestigious Community Service Award: Doris Hoskins Susan Freiburg Humanitarian Award: James R. Burgess, Jr. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Outstanding Achievement Award: Terry Townsend The event begins at 5 p.m. at the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts. For more details on the event on Sunday, click here. And, the celebration continues into Monday morning. A Unity Breakfast will be held at the Vineyard Church of Central Illinois on Jan. 20. Itll start at 8:30 a.m. For more details on the yearly celebration, visit the Martin Luther King, Jr. Countywide Celebration website. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 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. An Illinois man faces charges for starting a fight that led his roommate to shoot him in self-defense, police allege. Blaine Mineman, 34, of Evergreen Park, was charged Jan. 14 with battery resulting in serious bodily injury and strangulation. He is in custody, held on a $3,000 cash surety bond. Gary Police were called at 7 p.m. Jan. 12. The shooting happened on the 2300 block of Jefferson Street, while Mineman, shot in the leg, was three blocks east on the 2300 block of Broadway Avenue. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement When officers went to the Jefferson address, the victim told cops Mineman attacked him first. A Canik 9mm gun was on a nightstand. The man had a swollen jaw and bloodied lips. Doctors later diagnosed him with a concussion and sprained wrist. At the hospital, Mineman told cops in an untaped interview that the roommate was kicking him out for being too messy. The argument turned into a fight in the basement before the other man shot him. Cops didnt see any visible injuries on Mineman. Mineman said they were former co-workers at an Illinois hospital. He moved in around May to have a place to stay and help with bills. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The roommate said Mineman was lazy and disrespectful. He took issue with Mineman smoking inside the basements door when he asked him to do it outside. You have two hobbies, one of which is (complaining), Mineman responded. Mineman charged at him, then pressed his neck into a wall, choked, struck him in the neck, then punched him several times, the roommate said. After he called 911, Mineman pushed him to the ground and repeatedly punched him. Mineman lunged at him when he went for his phone, police wrote. Kill me, the roommate alleged Mineman said at some point. The roommate pulled a gun, then shot him. Mineman ran to a nearby gas station. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The roommate said Mineman was bigger than him and he was scared for his life. He hesitated to get medical care for financial considerations but still did it. Mineman called 911 asking cops for a ride home after he was discharged. Police showed up and arrested him outside the ER. He later told cops he was 15-20 feet away when the roommate mad about scattered empty energy drink cans and where he smoked shot him. mcolias@post-trib.com Charlotte City Council is upgrading a busy and dangerous road. Council unanimously voted to spend more than $5.8 million upgrading Sunset Road from Kiev Drive to Day Lily Lane. LINK: TRAFFIC MAPS The city of Charlotte says the project will improve pedestrian and bicycle connectivity in the area. Plans call for a new sidewalk, wheelchair ramps, curb and gutter, drainage improvements, driveway improvements, and pavement markings. The North Carolina Department of Transportation will contribute $1.87 million to the project. The project is expected to be finished by the end of 2027. VIDEO: 1 killed in northwest Charlotte crash Despite a turbulent few months, Cheryl Hines, the 59-year-old Curb Your Enthusiasm star and wife of Robert F Kennedy Jr, is expected to attend Trumps second inauguration beside her husband and later plans to walk the red carpet for the MAHA Ball on Monday, according to Fox News. After ending his independent presidential campaign in August to endorse GOP candidate Donald Trump, RFK Jr. admitted that the decision left his wife Cheryl Hines feeling very uncomfortable. A month later, her 70-year-old husband was embroiled in an alleged sexting scandal with New York Magazine reporter Olivia Nuzzi. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The 31-year-old journalists disclosure of their so-called personal relationship sparked a raft of salacious stories, leading to her ultimately parting ways with the outlet. RFK Jr has since refused to comment when probed on the allegations. As the president-elects celebrations continued on the weekend around Washington, DC, Hines and RFK Jr were spotted attending the Vice Presidents Dinner at the National Gallery of Art on Saturday evening besides JD and Usha Vance. RFK Jr and wife Cheryl Hines, photographed in Mar-a-Lago in November, attended the Vice Presidents Dinner on Saturday (Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.) When RFK Jr was tapped as Trumps controversial incoming secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services in November, with the president-elect promising that he can go wild on health care, Hines began to embrace her husbands defection to the Republican Party and his Make America Healthy Again agenda. The Emmy Award-nominated actress has since made multiple visits to Trumps Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, with the Kennedy scion. She was seen celebrating alongside the GOP candidate at his election night watch party on November 5 as he defeated Vice President Kamala Harris at the ballot box. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement By Black Friday, Hines posted a cringe-worthy promotional video for her self-care brand Hines + Young of RFK Jr in the shower, and later began hawking candles inscribed with MAHA Make America Healthy Again. When Hines was asked whether she was excited by a move to Washington, DC in December, with her husband vying to be the nations top health official, she told TMZ: One day at a time. RFK Jr and Hines at the then-independent presidential candidates rally on March 26, 2024 in Oakland, California (Getty Images) With Trump set to be sworn into office for a second time on Monday, RFK Jr was left waiting tentatively for his confirmation hearing to be scheduled which is not likely until later this month. As of Friday, the Office of Government Ethics was evaluating RFK Jrs financial disclosures. The process is required for incoming Cabinet officials and Senators traditionally withhold from scheduling confirmation hearings until it is completed. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement RFK Jr who is set to oversee the $2 trillion agency which includes the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has garnered critics from both sides of the political aisle due to his lack of governmental experience and his anti-vaxxer and conspiratorial views. A 53 to 47-seat GOP majority in the upper chamber means that RFK Jr can only lose a few votes to be confirmed. More than 15,000 doctors signed a letter imploring the US Senate to reject Robert F. Kennedy Jr.s confirmation for secretary of health and human services earlier this month. Transition officials plan to fill out RFK Jrs HHS leadership team with longtime GOP allies prior to his confirmation ceremony to compensate for his lack of experience, according to Politico. (NEXSTAR) If you regularly drive in the Chicago area, you know the harsh realities of getting caught in traffic, whether youre on the Kennedy or the Stevenson or any point in between. Its no secret that Chicagos expressways can be anything but express at times but, believe it or not, there are traffic corridors that are even worse in the country. To put Chicagos congestion in perspective, a recent report from the data and analytics firm INRIX found that commuters here lost 102 hours to traffic in 2024. A more than six-hour increase over 2023, thats the equivalent of spending four days on congested roads. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement INRIX also analyzed the busiest traffic corridors in the nation. While a section of roadway in Stamford, Connecticut took the top spot, Chicago had five in the top 25. Only New York City had more at seven. Where are the most congested roadways in Chicago, you may ask? In the exact sections you may expect: one stretch of I-55, another on I-290, and three on I-90. Weve highlighted them on the map below. The worst among them is a roughly six-mile stretch of the Stevenson Expressway between I-90 and Cicero Avenue, especially at 8 a.m., INRIX found. According to the companys analysis, if you drove that section of I-55 southbound every weekday during the morning commute, you lost nearly 80 hours to traffic in 2024. That time loss tied with a four-mile stretch of I-90 between Cicero and w. Fullerton. Drivers elsewhere, surprisingly, have it worse. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We already mentioned that a section of roadway in Stamford, Connecticut, ranked as the busiest in 2024. Morning commuters driving on a roughly 14-mile-long stretch of southbound I-95 lost 151 hours to traffic last year. In nearby Boston, afternoon commuters driving a section of I-93 from Charles River to Pilgrims Highway lost nearly 110 hours to traffic. Those who commuted every weekday evening along an 11-mile stretch of US-80 eastbound in Dallas lost 88 hours to congestion in 2024. That was only slightly more than the 85 hours drivers lost on a roughly 4-mile corridor in Brooklyn yes, you read that correctly, just four miles of roadway slowed down drivers that much. Traffic heads north on the Kennedy Expressway on March 17, 2023. On average, Americans drive 32 miles every day. (Eileen T. Meslar/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images) Close behind were two overlapping eastbound sections of the Kennedy: from Cicero Avenue to Fullerton Avenue and to Ohio Street, also during the morning commute. In all three corridors, INRIX found morning commuters lost more than 75 hours to traffic in 2024. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Rounding out the top 10 busiest corridors in the U.S. were primarily Chicago stretches. Another section of I-90 eastbound, from Cicero to Ohio Street, came in at No. 7. In that 7-mile stretch, everyday commuters traveling during the 8 a.m. hour lost 76 hours. A New York City stretch of the Cross Bronx Expressway ranked as the eighth-busiest. After that, it was the corridor between Wolf Road and Harlem Avenue on I-290 eastbound. Rounding out the list was the section of I-90 westbound between Ontario Street and Irving Park Road. Could congestion pricing help ease Chicago traffic? All three were the worst during the evening commute, INRIX determined. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement While Chicagos congestion has seemingly worsened over the last year, INRIX found that, broadly, the overall growth in traffic has slowed. That may continue, the company suggested, especially in New York City, where congestion pricing has been rolled out. Its too soon to say whether Chicago would do the same but Mayor Brandon Johnson has reportedly considered the idea. Theres real interest and potential for Chicago, I think the key is to keep it bounded so it really is about congestion and not sort of a money grab, you know, for City Hall, Joe Schweiterman, a DePaul University professor and public transportation and urban development expert, previously told WGN. Copyright 2025 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. (Bloomberg) -- China is facing a repeat of the tensions and uncertainty from the first presidency of Donald Trump, only with a weaker economy thats even more reliant on exports than it was during the first trade war with the US. Most Read from Bloomberg Listen to the Bloomberg Daybreak Europe podcast on Apple, Spotify or anywhere you listen Chinas record trade surplus of nearly $1 trillion last year was equivalent to more than 5% of its gross domestic product, the highest level since 2015. The surplus drove almost a third of the expansion last year, the most since 1997, according to data released last week. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement That dependency on overseas markets adds to a multitude of challenges facing President Xi Jinping: persistent deflation, lackluster consumer demand, an extended property slump and a currency under pressure. Bond yields are showing that markets expect the worlds No. 2 economy to weaken further. To counter those forces, Beijing will likely continue to boost government borrowing this year to support an ambitious economic growth target. But rising protectionism in the US and other major trading partners could threaten one of Chinas most reliable growth drivers. Trump and Xi spoke by phone Friday, discussing issues including trade, Taiwan, and TikTok as Trump prepares to return to the White House. The president-elect said the call was very good, but he and his incoming administration have made it clear they plan to keep pushing hard against Beijing on trade, including through the use of tariffs. Separately, state-run Global Times noted that Trump has expressed willingness to visit China early in his second term. The biggest bright spot in the economy last year was exports, said Jacqueline Rong, chief China economist at BNP Paribas SA. That means the biggest problem this year will be US tariffs. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement BNP Paribas base case is that Trump will impose 10% tariffs on Chinese goods, Rong said last week, although its still unclear whether the European Union and emerging markets will follow suit and raise trade barriers targeting China too. After he won election in November, Trump said he would raise tariffs on all US imports from China by 10% on top of levies already in place. At other times, he has floated hitting Chinese goods with even higher tariff rates after he takes office Monday. In response, companies raced to stock up, boosting purchases from China in the final months of last year and potentially pulling forward demand from this year. Chinese firms exported almost $50 billion worth of goods to the US in December, the highest single month total since mid-2022. A lull may come next, with the Lunar New Year holiday falling later this month. Some Trade Diversification Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement US tariffs over the past seven years have already pushed some companies to move their factories out of China or source from elsewhere. American companies now buy less than 15% of Chinas shipments directly, down from 19% at the end of 2017. Despite hopes that some of that manufacturing would move back to the US, most of it went to markets such as Vietnam, which is now taking record shipments of Chinese electronic parts to assemble into products to send to the US and elsewhere. Chinas exports to Vietnam soared to a record last year, as did that nations shipments onto the US. Ranked by bilateral trade balances, Vietnams trade surplus with the US is the now the third-largest, after China and Mexico. And although direct Chinese exports to the US have shrunk a little in importance over the past four years, the worlds largest economy is still the most important source of final demand for China, buying more than half a trillion dollars worth of goods last year, the equivalent of almost 3% of Chinas GDP. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement New research from Bloomberg Economics confirms that while both nations report having diversified their trade from each other, the US continues to be the largest single destination for Chinese manufacturing value-added. Sanctions and Tariffs If the US does impose new levies on China, Beijing can retaliate with its own tariffs, as it did before. The government has also built up new retaliatory tools, as seen in the recent ban on exports to the US of some metals and the sanctioning of more than a dozen US defense firms in the last month. Chinas efforts will become more aggressive on export controls, said Alex Capri, author of Techno-Nationalism: How Its Reshaping Trade, Geopolitics and Society. The solid growth they saw in 2024 despite US export controls might give them confidence to roll out more of their own export controls and constrictions on outbound exports in critical minerals, magnets, batteries and other goods. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Chinas government has been trying to buy fewer commodities from the US and more from Brazil, Russia and other friendlier nations, as part of a years-long effort to diversify its trading relationships, including by signing trade deals with South East Asian nations and creating the worlds biggest tariff-free zone. That has reduced exposure to the US but may also make any retaliation through tariffs on US goods even less effective than last time. Chinese companies may try to redirect more goods to other markets to make up for lost sales in the US, but theres no guarantee other nations wont impose their own tariff barriers if imports suddenly soar. Countries in South America have already placed duties on Chinese steel. North American Tariffs The return of Trump is spurring Mexico to act, with President Claudia Sheinbaum imposing tariffs aimed at reducing reliance on Chinese imports. Shes trying to dissuade Trump from hitting goods from Mexico with a 25% import tax. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Other nations are taking early defensive steps include Canada, which announced new tariffs on Chinese-made electric vehicles and metals in September. The European Union and Turkey have hit Chinese-made EVs with tariffs. In the end, the most effective tool at Beijings disposal may be a long-prescribed structural change: refocusing on the domestic economy and boosting local consumption to replace the demand lost to a new trade war with the US. Fiscal measures, which have remained very conservative thus far, would be the most sensible, especially stimulus payments to households to increase domestic consumption, said Martin Chorzempa, senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington. --With assistance from Fran Wang and Yujing Liu. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement (Updates with details from Trump-Xi call in fifth paragraph) Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2025 Bloomberg L.P. General Secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee Xi Jinping, also Chinese president and chairman of the Central Military Commission, takes part in an annual gathering with non-CPC personages ahead of the Spring Festival at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, Jan. 20, 2025. The event was also attended by Wang Huning, chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, and Cai Qi, director of the General Office of the CPC Central Committee. Both are also members of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee. (Xinhua/Yan Yan) BEIJING, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, on Monday extended festive greetings to people from non-CPC political parties and the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce (ACFIC), personages without party affiliation, and other members of the united front ahead of the Spring Festival. Xi, also Chinese president and chairman of the Central Military Commission, sent the greetings when he took part in an annual gathering with non-CPC personages at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. The Spring Festival, or the Chinese Lunar New Year, falls on Jan. 29 this year. Reviewing the achievements of 2024, Xi said that China had overcome difficulties to forge ahead, accomplishing the year's major objectives and tasks for economic and social development. "We have guided all sectors at all levels to correctly grasp favorable conditions and handle unfavorable factors, maintained strategic resolve, and strengthened our confidence in victory," he said. Xi noted that China had effectively implemented various policies, introduced a package of incremental measures, and steadily promoted high-quality development. The economy has shown signs of recovery, achieving a 5-percent GDP growth, he added. A series of new breakthroughs have been made at the forefront of science and technology, significantly driving the development of new quality productive forces, Xi observed. He highlighted efforts in further comprehensively deepening reform, maintaining world peace and stability, promoting human development and progress, and improving Party and government conduct. Xi also emphasized the robust development of the cause of multiparty cooperation. Xi said China will implement more proactive and impactful macro policies, focus on high-quality development and promote greater self-reliance and strength in science and technology to maintain sound momentum for social and economic development in 2025. Xi called on non-CPC political parties, the ACFIC, and personages without party affiliation to focus on the central tasks, serve the overall interests of the country, and leverage their respective strengths to more broadly rally support, build consensus, and pool wisdom and strength. He stressed that efforts should be made in 2025 to successfully accomplish the targets set in the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025) and lay a solid foundation for the next five years. Xi expressed the expectation that non-CPC personages will pool all positive elements to advance development, and actively contribute to further deepening reform comprehensively, promoting high-quality development and formulating the proposal on the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-2030). He also emphasized focusing on critical and difficult problems when engaging in the supervision of the protection of the Yangtze River ecosystem. The ACFIC should guide the private sector to maintain their enthusiasm for entrepreneurship, bolster confidence in development, and establish and improve the modern corporate system with distinctive Chinese features, Xi said. The event was also attended by Wang Huning, chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, and Cai Qi, director of the General Office of the CPC Central Committee. Both are also members of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee. BANGKOK (AP) Myanmars military government and a major ethnic rebel group in the countrys northeast have signed a formal ceasefire agreement, mediator China said Monday. The ceasefire between the military and the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA), which seized large tracts of territory along the border with China, is the second such pact in little over a year and came into effect on Saturday. A previous pact in January last year was not honored by either side. The new ceasefire was brokered by China in mid-January, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said at a daily briefing in Beijing. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement China is the most important foreign ally of Myanmars military rulers, who took power after ousting the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in February 2021. The takeover led to nationwide peaceful protests that escalated into civil war. Beijing has major geopolitical and economic interests in Myanmar and is deeply concerned about instability along their border. We hope that all parties will maintain the momentum of ceasefire and peace talks, earnestly implement existing common understandings, take the initiative in deescalating the situation on the ground, and further negotiate and settle relevant issues through dialogue, Mao Ning said. She added that China stands ready to actively promote talks and provide support for the peace process in northern Myanmar. She did not disclose details and Myanmars military government did not immediately comment on the ceasefire. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The MNDAA, which is made up of the ethnic Chinese Kokang minority, last year announced a unilateral ceasefire in its conflict with the military and called for a dialogue under Chinese auspices. The group is a member of the Three Brotherhood Alliance that launched a surprise offensive along the border with China in October 2023. China originally appeared to give tacit support to the offensive when it seemed to aid its goal of eradicating illegal gambling and internet scam operations organized by ethnic Chinese gangsters in northeastern Myanmar. But the offensive also weakened the Myanmar armys grip in other parts of the country. The ethnic rebels have been fighting for decades for greater autonomy from Myanmars central government and are loosely allied with the Peoples Defense Force, the pro-democracy armed resistance formed after the armys 2021 takeover. In January last year, Beijing used its close ties with both the military and the Three Brotherhood groups to negotiate a ceasefire in northern Shan state, which lasted for five months until the ethnic alliance went back on the offensive in June, accusing the military of violating the ceasefire. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement China showed its displeasure with the new rebel attacks by shutting down border crossings, cutting electricity to Myanmar towns and taking other measures to end the fighting. China has reopened its border gates linking with the areas controlled by the MNDAA and the United Wa State Army, another powerful rebel group in eastern Shan state, according to local media. China has emerged as Russia's largest supplier of goods, but Chinese imports have failed to fully replace Western equipment and raw materials lost due to sanctions, The Moscow Times reported on Jan. 20, citing data from the Gaidar Institute. The trade between the two countries is hindered by payment difficulties as the West intensifies sanctions against Russia in response to its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Chinese imports have partially compensated for Russian losses in key sectors. Medical and optical equipment imports rose by $1.3 billion annually compared to 2021, covering only 60% of pre-sanction European shipments. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Plastics and polymers imports increased by $1.6 billion, replacing just 40% of EU supply. In mechanical equipment, Chinese imports covered 60% of losses, while electrical equipment saw less than 25% replacement. Chinese exports fell short in several categories. Aircraft shipments from Europe dropped by $3.1 billion annually, while Chinese exports amounted to only $201 million, just 7% of the shortfall. For pharmaceutical production, China supplied $108 million annually, far below the EU's pre-war level of $9.3 billion. Despite an initial surge in trade, growth has stagnated. After increasing by 30% in 2022 and 26% in 2023, mutual trade turnover grew by just 1.9% in 2024, reaching $244.8 billion. Chinese exports to Russia in yuan grew by only 5%, compared to 53% the previous year, while imports from Russia rose by 1%. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Russian crude oil exports to China hit a record high in 2024, growing by 1% compared to 2023, according to Reuters. Broader trade figures highlight the limitations of Russia's pivot to China in offsetting the impact of Western sanctions. Read also: China imports record amount of Russian crude oil in 2024, Reuters reports Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. Donald Trumps second inauguration on Monday is already bucking the trend with several heads of state, like Argentinian president Javier Milei and Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni expected to be in attendance. Asia hasnt been left out. Trump extended an invitation to Chinese president Xi Jinping to attend the inaguration. Xi is instead sending Vice President Han Zheng to the celebrations in Washington D.C. Indias foreign minister S. Jaishankar will also be at the inauguration. Chinas Han is already in the U.S., and has been busy meeting business leaders ahead of the inauguration. According to Chinese state news agency Xinhua, Han met representatives from the U.S.-China Business Council, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and billionaire Tesla CEO Elon Musk. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Han urged U.S. companies, including Tesla, to seize the opportunity, share the fruits of Chinas development, and make new and greater contributions to promoting China-U.S. economic relations. Tesla has a large footprint in China, as one of the top sellers of EVs in the worlds largest car market. It also operates a Gigafactory in Shanghai, the first car plant in China to be wholly-foreign owned. On Sunday, Chinas vice president also met JD Vance, the U.S. vice president-elect. The two discussed fentanyl and trade issues, according to CBS News, citing Trump transition officials. Hans role as vice president is largely ceremonial, as he does not have a seat on the Politburo, Chinas equivalent to a presidential cabinet. Still, hes the most senior Chinese official to attend a U.S. inauguration. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement On the campaign trail, Trump threatened to impose steep tariffs, as high as 60%, on China. After winning the election last November, he pledged to impose an additional 10% tariff on Chinese goods. Yet economists now think that Trumps tariffs may not be quite as bad as feared; earlier this year, Goldman Sachs chief economist Jan Hatzius predicted that Trump might impose an average of tariff of 20%. Trump and Xi spoke on Friday, according to posts on Trumps Truth Social account. The two talked about trade, fentanyl, and TikTok. The call was a very good one for both China and the U.S.A., Trump wrote. TikTok restored its services in the U.S. after briefly going offline on Sunday, after Trump promised to pass an executive order to delay the enforcement of the divest-or-ban law. Trump also said he would seek a joint venture that puts 50% of TikTok in U.S. hands. The ByteDance-owned social media platform publicly thanked Trump in a statement on Monday. And Trump might be making an early trip to Beijing. The Wall Street Journal, citing people familiar with discussions, reported that Trump wants to visit China within his first 100 days. Trump last visited China in 2017, about a year into his first term as president. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trump is also considering a trip to India as well, reports the Wall Street Journal. The U.S. president-elect last visited the South Asian country in 2020. This story was originally featured on Fortune.com By Joe Cash, Josh Arslan, Casey Hall and Liz Lee BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese officials and ordinary people are hopeful but on edge as Donald Trump returns to the White House, eager to avoid a repeat of the bruising trade war that drove a wedge between the economic superpowers during his first term. Chinese Vice President Han Zheng, in meetings with Tesla CEO Elon Musk and other members of the U.S. business community in Washington ahead of Trump's inauguration, said he hoped U.S. companies would "take root" in China and help to stabilise bilateral relations, the official Xinhua news agency reported. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement When Trump was last president, he heaped tariffs on more than $300 billion of Chinese imports. In recent months, he has said he would add tariffs of at least 10% on top of what is already imposed on Chinese goods, a move that would hurt China at a time when its economy is struggling to find a firm footing. At the same time, the U.S. president-elect made the seemingly conciliatory move of inviting Chinese President Xi Jinping to attend his inauguration on Monday. Xi sent Han in his place, a gesture of goodwill given that China was only represented by its ambassador at the previous two U.S. presidential inaugurations. At their meeting on Sunday, Han told Musk, appointed by Trump to lead a department aimed at creating a more efficient U.S. government, that he "welcomed Tesla and other U.S. companies" to share in the benefits of China's development and contribute to China-U.S. relations. The vice president's meeting with U.S. businesses was chaired by FedEx CEO Rajesh Subramaniam on the U.S. side, and included the heads of eight U.S. firms from a range of industries including technology, banking and logistics, according to an American executive in the room, who added that the meeting over-ran its allotted time and was very cordial. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "(Han Zheng) is seen as someone, because of his time in Shanghai, who understands the concerns of the foreign business community, he understands the economy," Michael Hart, president of the American Chamber of Commerce in China, told Reuters in Beijing. "It's a nice fig leaf, or whatever you want to call it, so that's positive." Xi and Trump were upbeat after speaking by phone on Friday, with Trump calling it "a very good one" and Xi saying he and Trump both hoped for a positive start to U.S.-China relations. Mao Ning, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson, referred to "a new starting point" in China-U.S. ties at a regular news conference on Monday. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Shares in mainland China and Hong Kong rose on Monday. DEJA VU But for all the bonhomie between the two superpowers, a sense of deja vu lingers among those who remember how quickly ties deteriorated during Trump's first term. "From now on, until the situation becomes a little bit clearer, all our U.S. clients have to pay in advance," said Dominic Desmarais, chief solutions officer at Lira Solutions, a Suzhou-based firm that connects Chinese manufacturers with overseas buyers of everything from toys to furniture and titanium products. "If Donald Trump actually imposes 40%, or whatever, duties on Chinese products coming into the United States, I don't want to be stuck with custom-made goods for specific clients that just disappear," he added. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "That happened a lot, seven, eight years ago, when Donald Trump put 25% duties on 85% of the commodities coming out of China." Another trade war would find China much more vulnerable than when Trump first raised tariffs in 2018, as it grapples with a deep property crisis, huge local government debt and 16% youth unemployment, among other challenges. The precariousness of China's situation is not lost on the streets of its capital. "What I can see is that China's economy is not very good at the moment, due to the impact of the pandemic, and (the fact that) Trump himself is a crazy, wild person (doesn't help matters on our side)," said a Beijing resident surnamed Wang, 36. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "The pressure still remains quite big (for us)." The effects of the last trade war continue to be felt in the world's second-largest economy, where foreign firms are holding off on investing and diversifying their supply chains by putting more money into alternative nearby markets, such as Vietnam. Christopher Yeo, a finance director at a Singapore-owned digital infrastructure company in Beijing, said he expects Trump's tariff threats to continue to pinch on cross-border investment and financing from the U.S. and other West-aligned nations. His firm's current source of funding is from non-U.S. shareholders, and, therefore, he said he does not expect Trump's return to the White House to impact on his life in China. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "But I would imagine U.S. institutional investors would continue cutting back on their Chinese exposure," he said. "There used to be a few U.S. firms invested in Chinese infrastructure as well - that is non-existent now." (This story has been refiled to correct the spelling of 'Christopher' in Paragraph 21) (Reporting by Joe Cash, Josh Arslan, Casey Hall and Liz Lee; Editing by Christian Schmollinger, Stephen Coates and Raju Gopalakrishnan) By Farah Master, David Kirton and Kevin Yao DUAN, China (Reuters) - David Wei had to carry his nephew on his back for 3 km (1.9 miles) after the younger man suffered a heart attack, staggering down a road being repaired in rural China, while an ambulance took 90 minutes to drive out from the city and save him. By the time the nephew had his second cardiac arrest last year, at age 53, that section of the road to his village had been fixed, but a delay in calling the ambulance meant it could not arrive in time. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "If we'd lived in the city he might have had a chance," said 60-year-old Wei, sitting by a charcoal-burning brazier in his two-storey home in the mountains of Duan Yao county, in China's southern region of Guangxi. His experience shows how challenging it can be to get medical care in some rural areas, a task that will only get more critical in coming years for ageing rural communities, where about 120 million people are already 60 or older. China's development model is at a crossroads, say health and population experts, with a choice between much higher spending on pensions and healthcare or industrial upgrades and urbanisation, which Beijing sees as key to bolstering growth. At a twice-a-decade meeting of the ruling Communist Party last year, Beijing promised to pursue both. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement However, spending vast resources on rural healthcare was "not a good move" right now, a government adviser told Reuters. "High-quality doctors are unwilling to live in rural areas and low-quality ones cannot provide good services. This is a structural problem," added the adviser, speaking on condition of anonymity, as the topic is a sensitive one. "The key is building townships, which is lagging behind." China's National Health Commission, and the State Council Information Office, which handles media queries for the government, did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Critics say that for China to choose urban and industrial investment over welfare programmes for its low-income rural population would present it with long-term growth risks greater than the short-term gains. It could exacerbate overcapacity in factories, weaken consumption, and worsen the demographic crisis by pushing people into cities, where they take on busy jobs and live in small, costly apartments, so they tend to have fewer children. "When the prospect of economic development is in doubt, the Chinese government ... has consistently prioritised investment and growth over social spending and welfare," said Jundai Liu, an expert on rural China at the University of Michigan. "The irony is that such policy priorities are a major contributor to China's population decline - what the government perceives to be the obstacle to economic development," said Liu, who predicts an accelerated "hollowing out" of rural China. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But moving to the city is hardly an option for ageing farmers like Wei, who says, "We don't have land there. We would need money for food." Not to tackle villagers' healthcare needs raises poverty and life expectancy risks in their communities, said Sasha Han, an assistant professor at the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences. "Rural residents who aren't able to relocate may experience feelings of being left behind and increasingly marginalised," Han said. RURAL DOCTORS FLEE To be sure, during its four decades of breakneck growth, China has made dramatic progress in rural healthcare. In the era of Mao Zedong, most villagers could rely only on so-called "barefoot doctors", or farmers with minimal medical training. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement One assistant physician in Yongchuan, a rural district of the sprawling southwestern city of Chongqing, says his hospital has extensive speciality departments and sophisticated equipment, including its own laboratory. But the medical staff, numbering 120 to 130, can barely cope with the needs of the 60,000 people they serve. "Sometimes I don't even have time to drink water," said the doctor, who sought anonymity to speak about the issues. China's biggest healthcare challenge is attracting qualified medical staff to rural areas, said Shenglan Tang, a global health professor at Duke-Kunshan University. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Doctors and medical students cite low pay and heavy workloads. A lack of good schools and other facilities deters young health workers from moving families to the countryside, Tang said. Over the past decade, the number of urban doctors almost doubled to 4.1 million, while the figure for rural doctors dropped 42% to 622,000, more than twice the rate at which the rural population shrank, National Health Commission data show. Large cities like Chengdu, the capital of the western province of Sichuan, "extract the good doctors from the small cities. And the hospitals in the small cities extract the good doctors from rural areas," a Chengdu doctor said. Shirley Yang, 24, a postgraduate medical student and resident physician in Zhuhai, a city in the southern province of Guangdong, said monthly incomes in the provincial capital of Guangzhou exceed 20,000 yuan ($2,750), or 10 times those of rural hospitals. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "We wouldn't consider rural hospitals," said Yang, referring to medical students. "The salary gap is significant." Communities such as Wei's, which are further away from cities, are especially underserved, with the nearest clinic 10 km (6 miles) away, though Wei said villagers only sought treatment in the city. When Reuters visited, a sign on the door showed the clinic was closed for three hours. An off-duty nurse said the staff there could only treat colds and fevers. Xiang, a 43-year-old village doctor in Hunan province, who declined to provide her last name, said she was given only a stethoscope and thermometer, and could only treat colds. She used her own funds to buy a blood sugar measuring device. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement She walks door-to-door to monitor hypertension and diabetes, but villagers often turn her away because, she said, "They think the services are not professional enough." Although she estimates more than half of those registered in the village now work in cities, she still has a gruelling job. "I provide medical care, grow vegetables to sell, and have a side job to support my family," said Xiang, whose salary as a doctor is 1,000 yuan a month. LURING STUDENTS China spent 7.2% of its economic output on healthcare in 2023, the National Health Commission says. That compares with expenditure of 11.5% and 9.7% of GDP in heavily-industrialised and ageing Japan and South Korea respectively, OECD data shows. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement High local government debt will make it difficult for China to boost investment in healthcare. But one strategy by which authorities plan to "markedly narrow" the rural-urban healthcare gap by 2035, laid out in an official policy document from September, is by scrapping tuition fees for some medical students. In return, the fledgling doctors will pledge to work in rural clinics in pre-graduation placements or after graduating. A student assigned to a village in central China said she had signed a temporary contract with a clinic there, letting her continue studying for her physician's diploma and possibly join a post-graduate programme. Once her contract ends, she added, "If the employment environment is still not good, I will just give up and work in other industries." ($1=7.33 yuan) (Reporting by David Kirton in Duan; Farah Master in Hong Kong; Kevin Yao in Beijing; Additional reporting by Beijing newsroom; Graphics by Kripa Jayaram and Sumanta Sen; Editing by Marius Zaharia and Clarence Fernandez) TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) China's vice president held meetings with the U.S. vice president-elect and U.S. business leaders, including Elon Musk, in Washington on the eve of Donald Trumps inauguration, as the two major powers tackle ongoing tensions over trade and technology. Han Zheng, who serves as an envoy for Chinese President Xi Jinping at the inauguration, discussed a range of topics including fentanyl, balancing trade and regional stability with J.D. Vance, according to the Trump transition team. Han stressed the extensive common interests and enormous space of cooperation the United States and China share in economic and trade relations despite some disagreements and frictions, according to a readout of his meeting with Vance issued by the Chinese Foreign Ministry on Monday. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trump has threatened to impose tariffs and other measures against China in his second term, while also hinting at ways in which the two rival powers could cooperate on issues such as regional conflicts and curbing the export of substances used in the production of fentanyl. In an unorthodox move, Trump last month invited Xi to his inauguration. No head of state has previously made an official visit to the U.S. for the inauguration, according to State Department historical records. While Xi will not personally attend the event, he and Trump held a phone call on Friday during which they discussed trade, fentanyl and TikTok. The Chinese social media app restored service to users in the U.S. on Sunday, just hours after it went dark in response to a federal ban, which Trump said he would pause by executive order on Monday. The Chinese Foreign Ministry on Monday praised TikTok's role in promoting employment in the U.S. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We hope the U.S. will listen to rational voices and provide an open, fair, just, and non-discriminatory business environment for market entities from all countries operating in the U.S., said ministry spokesperson Mao Ning. Han also met with Musk and other top U.S. business executives, including representatives of the U.S.-China Business Council and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in Washington, D.C., according to the Chinese Foreign Ministry. The Chinese vice president reiterated promises for an improved business environment for foreign firms in China and expressed hopes that U.S. companies will continue expanding investment in the country. Musk, whose company Tesla operates a factory in Shanghai, posted on his platform X after the meeting that he has long opposed the TikTok ban because it goes against freedom of speech. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement That said, the current situation where TikTok is allowed to operate in America, but X is not allowed to operate in China is unbalanced, he wrote. Something needs to change. X is banned in China alongside other major U.S. social media and news apps and websites, including YouTube, Google, Facebook and many major U.S. media. ___ Associated Press video producer Liu Zheng in Beijing contributed to this report. (Bloomberg) -- Chinese Vice President Han Zheng met billionaire Elon Musk and other US business figures, underscoring Beijings efforts to set a positive tone in ties with the US before President-elect Donald Trump returns to office. Most Read from Bloomberg Han said US firms were welcome in China during the sitdown in Washington on Sunday with Musk, who is Teslas CEO and a member of the incoming administration. Han urged American companies including Tesla to seize the opportunity, share the fruits of Chinas development, and make new and greater contributions to promoting China-US economic and trade relations, according to the official Xinhua News Agency. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Han also met people from the US-China Business Council, the US Chamber of Commerce and other business circles in Washington, Xinhua reported on Monday. Han, whose position in the Chinese government is ceremonial and doesnt have a seat on the ruling Communist Partys 24-member Politburo, is in the city for Trumps inauguration. China is warily eying the return of Trump, whose first term in office was distinguished by a trade war that upset relations between the worlds two largest economies. The fear is those tensions may be repeated given Trump has threatened to slap tariffs on shipments from the Asian country due to its trade practices and other issues. China had a record trade surplus of nearly $1 trillion last year. Han also met Vice President-elect JD Vance on Sunday to discuss fentanyl and trade. In that sitdown, Han said that although the two sides have their differences, they have large space in which they can cooperate and should strengthen dialog, Chinas Foreign Ministry said in a statement. On Friday, Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping used a phone call to discuss trade, TikTok and fentanyl. Trump wrote in a post to his Truth Social platform that the call was a very good one for both China and the U.S.A. The state-run China Central Television said that while Xi believed differences with the US were inevitable, the two countries could work as partners and friends. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Hans meeting with the two business groups included senior executives from US firms including FedEx Corp., Broadcom Corp., Las Vegas Sands Corp. and Visa Inc., according to a person who attended the event. The roughly 90-minute gathering was very good but no substantive agreements were reached, added the person, who asked not to be identified discussing the private information. The meeting was also a way for Han to get to know American businesses and understand their concerns, said the person who attended it. Neither the US-China Business Council nor the US chamber immediately responded to emails seeking comment. Representatives for the four companies didnt immediately answer requests for comment sent during Asia business hours. Highlighting Chinas push for its interactions with the Trump administration to start on the right foot, in recent days Chinese state media has published articles expressing optimism. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Xi-Trump call injected confidence in promoting a smooth transition and a good start in China-US relations, the Peoples Daily, the ruling partys mouthpiece, said in a column on Sunday. At a time when China and the US are pursuing their own dreams and are committed to a better life for their people, we need both sides to work together to promote a stable, healthy and sustainable bilateral relationship, said the newspaper. The column was attributed to the pseudonym Zhong Sheng, which is often used to set out Beijings foreign policy views. On Monday, the nationalistic Global Times newspaper said in an editorial that the world is anticipating a good start to relations between the two big economic powers. Now, before the new term of the US president, there has already been a round of positive exchanges between China and the US, it said. We look forward to greater progress at this new starting point in the relationship. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement --With assistance from Lucille Liu. (Updates with details of Hans meeting with US business figures.) Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2025 Bloomberg L.P. CHRISTIAN COUNTY, Ill. (WCIA) The Christian County Health Department is warning residents and businesses of a scam attempt that happened recently in the community. The health department said that a person tried to impersonate a health inspector in Christian County. The individual is not affiliated with the health department, and tried to conduct an inspection at a local business. Pritzker launches behavioral health resource for IL families Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Christian County Health Department assured residents that inspectors will always bring official identification. They also said that if you do not recognize the inspector, or they do not have the proper credentials, there are a couple of things you should do. Ask for identification: Inspectors should have a badge and government-issued ID. If they can not provide this, do not allow them to continue the inspection. Call the health department: If you doubt the legitimacy of the inspector, call the Christian County Health Department to confirm the persons employment status. Call local authorities: If you suspect the individual is impersonating a health inspector, contact your local police department immediately. For more information, you can reach the Christian County Health Department at 217-824-4113. Theyre open 8 a.m. to noon and 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. from Monday through Friday. Copyright 2025 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. A hiker who fell while climbing Guye Peak on Snoqualmie Pass had to be rescued by helicopter. On Sunday, crews from Eastside Fire & Rescue working with King County Sheriffs Office Air Support, Snoqualmie Pass Fire & Rescue and the Seattle Mountain Rescue team worked together to help an injured hiker off Guye Peak. Eastside Fire & Rescue had to request an airlift because of the location of the fall. Guardian 2, from the King County Sheriffs Office Air Support team, flew to the scene to help get the hiker out. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement During the rescue, crews said the hiker was conscious and was actively communicating with teams. KCSO said the Seattle Mountain Rescue team was able to reach the hiker quickly and ready the patient to be airlifted. The hiker was safely lifted to safety and taken to the hospital. No information was available on the condition of the hiker. This photo taken on Jan. 19, 2025 shows the Iconic Tower decorated in a festive LED illumination ahead of the Chinese Lunar New Year at the Central Business District (CBD) in the new administrative capital of Egypt. (Xinhua/Sui Xiankai) This photo taken on Jan. 19, 2025 shows the Iconic Tower decorated in a festive LED illumination ahead of the Chinese Lunar New Year at the Central Business District (CBD) in the new administrative capital of Egypt. (Xinhua/Sui Xiankai) This photo taken on Jan. 19, 2025 shows the Iconic Tower decorated in a festive LED illumination ahead of the Chinese Lunar New Year at the Central Business District (CBD) in the new administrative capital of Egypt. (Xinhua/Yao Bing) Indianapolis' extreme cold snap began overnight on Sunday, prompting the National Weather Service to issue a cold weather advisory lasting from about Monday morning through 10 a.m. Wednesday. Monday's high temperature is projected to hit about 13 degrees. Wind gusts of up to 18 mph could bring the wind chill value all the way down to -13 degrees today. Wind chills as low as -20 were observed in central Indiana early Monday morning, said meteorologist Randy Bowers with NWS. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement There might be some scattered flurries overnight, but snow isn't expected to accumulate. Tuesday will be even colder, with a high of 8 degrees and a wind chill value of -11 during the day. The cold weather advisory will end on Wednesday, which is projected to see a high of about 22 degrees. The NWS warns that people should take caution going outside, covering any exposed skin and wearing a hat and gloves. Pets should be kept indoors as much as possible, too. People should keep extra layers of clothing in their cars in case they get stranded and have to walk for help, Bowers added. Schools were closed Monday in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day, but cancellations and delays for Tuesday's extreme cold remain a possibility. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement More: What temperature does it need to be before Indianapolis schools cancel school for the day? Indianapolis weather radar Good morning! Frigid arctic air has arrived overnight and wind chills as low as -20 have been observed. Bitterly cold temperatures and wind chills between -10 and -20 are expected to continue through the morning. Not much improvement is expected until Wednesday. Stay warm! #INwx pic.twitter.com/pcK3pjuYm3 NWS Indianapolis (@NWSIndianapolis) January 20, 2025 The next five days' weather forecasts Monday, Jan. 20: Some clouds with a high of about 13 degrees. Winds between 9 to 11 mph with gusts as high as 18 mph will bring wind chill value as low as -13. Scattered flurries are possible overnight with a low around 1 and a wind chill value of about -9. Tuesday, Jan. 21: Sunny but extremely cold, with a high of about 8. Wind chill value will be as low as -11. Tuesday night's ambient temperature will be as low as -2, and wind chill will remain around -11. Wednesday, Jan. 22: Partly sunny and about 22 degrees. Wind could gust as high as 24 mph. Overnight, skies will turn mostly cloudy with a low of about 16 degree. Thursday, Jan. 23: There's a slight chance of flurries after 1 p.m. Otherwise, it'll be sunny with a high near 31. Overnight, snow is possible before 1 a.m., turning to flurries after 1 a.m. Friday, Jan. 24: Partly sunny with a high of about 29 degrees. Friday night will fall to about 21 degrees. Where should I go if I need shelter? Indianapolis will be dangerously cold without adequate protection from the elements during the coming cold snap. People can find information about warming shelters via the city's winter contingency plan or by calling 211. Emergency warming shelters will be available during harsh weather conditions through March 31. Indy Parks Family Shelters will be open to all during normal business hours, which can be found at this link. More: Freezing cold is here. Where to stay warm and find overnight shelter in Indianapolis. Hypothermia Freezing temperatures carry the risk of cold-related injuries like frostbite and hypothermia, and it's important to recognize the early warning signs of both conditions. Both can be prevented by bundling up and limiting time outdoors, and medical attention should be sought immediately if you suspect either condition. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Frostbite is a skin injury caused by prolonged exposure to freezing temperatures, and it's most common in parts of the body that are exposed, like hands, ears and noses. Damage caused by severe frostbite can be permanent. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, early warning signs include: Redness and pain in skin Numbness Firm, waxy skin White or gray-yellow skin Learn more: How cold is too cold? Here's what makes the bitter cold so dangerous People may not know they're experiencing frostbite because affected areas become numb. Hypothermia is when the body's core temperature drops below 95 degrees. Advanced hypothermia is a serious, life-threatening condition that requires immediate medical attention. It's prevented by staying in a warm environment and dressing appropriately for the cold. Per the National Weather Service, early warning signs of hypothermia include: Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Confusion Difficulty speaking Shivering Sleepiness Stiff muscles Call an ambulance as soon as possible if you suspect frostbite or hypothermia. While waiting for medics, go indoors immediately, remove any wet clothing and bundle up in dry blankets. Areas with frostbite can be immersed in warm but not hot water. Drinking warm liquids can also be helpful, so long as they don't contain alcohol or caffeine. The National Weather Service warns that some groups, including infants, the elderly, outdoor workers, people with chronic illness and unhoused people are at increased risk for cold-related injuries. Weather info you need Indiana Weather Alerts: Warnings, Watches and Advisories. Indiana power outage map: How to check your status. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Internet outages: How to track them. What you should and shouldn't do when the power is out. Your neighbor left their pet outside. Who you should call. Ryan Murphy is the communities reporter for IndyStar. She can be reached at rhmurphy@gannett.com or (317) 800-2956. This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indianapolis' extreme cold snap begins Monday morning TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) Cold air is moving into the southeast this morning. Temperatures will only slowly warm into the mid-50s this afternoon. There will be some sunshine and passing clouds. Winds will be breezy and it will stay dry today. Temperatures stay cold all week. Along with the cold temperatures, rain chances will increase on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. No snow is forecast for our area, but North Florida will likely see a mix of snow and freezing rain Tuesday night and Wednesday morning. Temperatures will not get cold enough in Tampa for any winter weather. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Although not cold enough for snow, the low temperatures will be in the 40s each day through Saturday morning. The weekend looks much nicer with cold temperatures still in the forecast Saturday but a warming trend will be underway. Sunday will feel quite mild with high temps back in the low to mid-70s. Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now Daily Weather Forecast Copyright 2025 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. More than 220 million people across the United States are facing dangerous cold that will also open the door for a potentially historic and crippling winter storm that could deliver snow as far south as Florida and the Gulf of Mexico. The storm, in combination with frigid air, will bring snowfall, freezing rain, icy roads and other major travel disruptions from late Monday into Wednesday morning in Southern cities from Texas to South Carolina where harsh winter weather is rare. The governors of Louisiana, Georgia, Alabama, Florida and Mississippi have declared states of emergency, while Texas authorities have directed state agencies to mobilize resources due to the threat of snow. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Arkansas has sent the state of Louisiana 12 dump trucks with snowplows, Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry said Monday during a news conference about storm preparations. This is the time when you can cook you a big pot of gumbo, Landry said. Officials in affected states urged people to stay off the roads, keep a trickle of water running through faucets to keep pipes from freezing, check the batteries in smoke and carbon monoxide detectors and refrain from using cooking stoves to heat homes. The precautions are more familiar to people living in northern climates but rare in the South. Most of us havent experienced this combination of bitter cold and significant snow ever in our lifetime, Louisiana climatologist Jay Grymes said Monday. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A National Weather Service forecast warned, this should be considered a generational winter storm event and its impacts should be taken seriously. Travel could be snarled for days The forecast has already prompted more than 1,700 flight cancellations Tuesday, with a majority of the flights coming from Texas and Louisiana, according to the tracking website FlightAware. Houstons major airports, George Bush Intercontinental Airport and Hobby Airport will be closed Tuesday. Ive been convinced that we are about to experience a very serious and dangerous weather episode, John Whitmire, the mayor of Houston, said at a Sunday news conference. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, the worlds busiest airport, is pretreating roadways and airfield surfaces in preparation for the winter weather, according to spokesperson Andrew Gobeil. The Emergency Operations Center will activate at 6 a.m. Tuesday morning and will remain operational throughout the event, Gobeil said Monday. Passengers are urged to arrive in the airport at least two and a half hours prior to domestic departure times unless otherwise directed by their airlines. The snow is expected to fall along the Interstate 10 and Interstate 20 corridors, prompting highway officials to warn motorists of the possibility of road closures in the next few days, in areas where many drivers are not used to driving on snow. NASAs Johnson Space Center in Houston said it will be closed Tuesday and Wednesday due to the extreme weather. Port Houston said its facilities will be closed on Tuesday as well. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Schools are closed in several states including Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas. The Houston Independent School District, which is the largest in the state and the eighth largest in the country, will also be closed until Wednesday, Whitmire said. Atlanta Public Schools, which serves about 50,000 students, said its schools and district offices will be closed Tuesday. A man clears a walkway outside a Denver home on Monday amid temperatures in the single digits. - David Zalubowski/AP Much of the US plunged into cold air A brutally cold blast of Siberian air has caused temperatures to plummet 20 to 30 degrees below normal from the Canadian border to the Mexican border and beyond, during whats already the coldest time of the year. The already serious cold is made more dangerous by gusty winds, which are bringing dangerous wind chills to millions. The wind chill hit 57 degrees below zero in Rolla, North Dakota, Monday morning. Wind chills this low can cause frostbite on exposed skin in less than 5 minutes. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement An 80-year-old man died in Milwaukee following a fall outdoors early Sunday morning in whats being investigated as a probable hypothermia death, according to the Milwaukee County Medical Examiners Office. Milwaukees low temperature Sunday morning reached zero with wind chills in the teens below zero. Across the northern US, multiple cities, including Chicago, Minneapolis, Detroit, New York City, Washington, DC, Boston and Philadelphia could go days without seeing a high temperature climb above freezing. Southern cities like Houston, Atlanta, Jackson, Mississippi, and Memphis, Tennessee, could also see highs below freezing Monday or Tuesday. This prolonged period of cold temperatures could cause pipes to burst. Low temperatures could fall to record levels last set in the 1930s by Wednesday morning in Houston, Austin and San Antonio, Texas, and Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Cold weather alerts span much of the US Monday afternoon. - CNN Weather Historic snow on the way for the South In addition to the extreme cold, large sections of the Interstate 10 and Interstate 20 corridors stretching from central Texas through northern Florida could record accumulating snow rarely seen in the region. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Messy wintry weather will begin Monday evening in Central Texas and pick up in both intensity and expanse overnight. Snow, sleet and freezing rain will stretch from coastal Texas to Louisiana and Mississippi by sunrise Tuesday. This hazardous mix will expand east into the rest of the Southeast Tuesday and reach parts of the Carolinas Tuesday night. Widespread snow totals of 1 to 3 inches will accumulate from southeast Texas including Houston through southern Louisiana and into parts of southern Georgia and coastal South Carolina from Monday night into Wednesday morning. Totals greater than 3 inches are possible, mainly in far southeast Texas and in parts of southern Louisiana including Baton Rouge and New Orleans. New Orleans hasnt recorded measurable snow meaning at least 0.1 inch since 2009, and has never recorded more than 3 inches of snow. The citys all-time snowiest day on record dates to 1963, when 2.7 inches fell. Gusty winds could combine with heavy snow at times Tuesday and potentially create whiteout conditions in southern Louisiana. If these whiteout conditions last long enough, it could prompt the regions first blizzard warning on record. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement (Its) something I never thought Id have to say in this part of the world, but blizzard conditions are certainly within reach for some areas, said Donald Jones, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Lake Charles, Louisiana. Measurable snow has only happened a dozen times at Houstons Hobby Airport since 1932, most recently in February 2021. The most snow to fall in a single day at the site is 4.4 inches set in February 1960. Pensacola, Florida, could record its first measurable snow since 2014 with a mix of snow, sleet and freezing rain on the way. If measurable snow coats the ground anywhere in Florida, as its forecast to do, itll be the first winter since 2010 that all 50 states have had measurable snow. Freezing rain will increase travel danger. Its possible over much of northern Florida and parts of southern Georgia and South Carolina. Any amount of ice is dangerous, especially for a region so unaccustomed to it. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Moderate-to-major impacts are likely along the Gulf Coast as a result of this storm, according to NOAAs Winter Storm Severity Index. Travel conditions will be hazardous for many in the area and could be dangerous or even impossible in some areas especially southeastern Texas and southern Louisiana. Consider delaying all travel, the National Weather Service in New Orleans urged Monday. Use extreme caution if travel is absolutely necessary. The Electric Reliability Council of Texas, an independent organization operating the Texas power grid, issued a weather watch because the forecast weather in the state is expected to bring higher electrical demand, and the potential for lower reserves. South braces for rare winter blast Across the South, authorities warned of the possibilities of dangerous travel, power outages, downed trees, and frozen pipes due to the rare winter weather. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Houston branch of the weather service warned that freezing rain and ice could make driving treacherous until midday Wednesday, but that below-freezing overnight temperatures will remain in place until Friday. A dusting of snow covers the National Mall in the evening before the 2025 Presidential Inauguration, which will take place indoors due to inclement weather. - Jasper Colt/USA TODAY Sports/Reuters Houstons mayor urged residents to protect their water pipes before the frigid temperatures hit, noting that the citys water system is already fragile with more than 1,000 active water leaks in Houston. Let me emphasize the preparation of your pipes, Whitmire said Sunday. Wrap your pipes if all possible. He urged residents to stay inside, to check on vulnerable neighbors and family members, and to utilize one of the citys 24-hour warming centers. Officials are doing everything we can to encourage homeless people to seek refuge in warming centers, he added. New Orleans officials also implored residents to be ready for the extreme cold and incoming winter weather. Be ready to stay in for three days, Colin Arnold, director of the citys Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness services, said Monday. The citys public schools will be closed Tuesday and all city transit service will be suspended at 11 p.m. CST Monday. We are going to be a bit more proactive about closing the streets before people get out there and are on a skating rink, New Orleans Police Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick said Monday. In Minnesota, where wind chills were as low as 50 below zero Monday morning, Kristi Rollwagen, Director of Homeland Security and Emergency Management at the Minnesota Department of Public Safety, urged residents to wear appropriate clothing and carry an emergency survival kit during the unusually cold weather, The Associated Press reported. The dangerous cold, multiple snowstorms and Californias devastating wildfires have caused an emergency shortage of platelets and some blood types at the American Red Cross. The hazardous weather canceled blood drives and prevented donors from getting to centers, amounting to more than 10,000 missed donations in the first two weeks of January. CNN meteorologist Allison Chinchar and CNNs Joe Sutton and Eric Zerkel contributed to this report. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com BOGOTA (Reuters) - The National Liberation Army (ELN) guerrillas are targeting community leaders and former members of a separate rebel group in the northeastern Catatumbo region, Defense Minister Ivan Velasquez said on Sunday, as local authorities said the violence has killed 80 people. The violence - the bloodiest in recent years - last week led President Gustavo Petro to accuse the ELN of committing a war crime and suspend peace talks with the group. The ELN has launched an offensive against former members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) rebels who demobilized under a 2016 peace deal, their families and some community leaders, Velasquez said from the eastern city of Cucuta. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Colombian rebel groups have historically fought the government, right-wing paramilitary organizations and each other for control of territory and illegal income sources like drug trafficking. Armed groups also often target civilians who oppose their activities. Velasquez said 8,000 people had been displaced by fighting. Though he gave a death toll of 60, the governor's office in Norte de Santander province and the human rights ombudsman said the toll was 80. The ELN said in a Sunday statement the demobilized FARC rebels had returned to arms and that victims were not civilians. (Reporting by Luis Jaime Acosta; Writing by Julia Symmes Cobb; Editing by Michael Perry) BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) Colombian President Gustavo Petro said Monday that he will declare a state of emergency over the guerrilla attacks in the northeast that have killed dozens of people and forced thousands to flee their homes. In a message on X, Petro said that he will declare a state of internal commotion," a measure that enables the executive branch to pass certain kinds of legislation without congressional approval for three months. The measure will go into effect after a decree is signed by the president and his Cabinet, but it can also be invalidated by Colombia's constitutional court. Internal commotion decrees were used in the early 2000s by the administration of then-President Alvaro Uribe to increase financing for the military through a special war tax. According to Colombia's constitution, this emergency measure cannot be used to suspend congress or eliminate civil rights. I hope the judicial system supports us, Petro wrote on X. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Earlier on Monday Petro had warned that his nations military will take offensive actions against the National Liberation Army after the rebels, known as the ELN, unleashed a wave of attacks in Colombia's Catatumbo region, in which at least 80 people have been killed. The ELN has chosen the path of war, and thats what they will get, Petro wrote in a message on X, in which he accused the rebels of turning into a drug trafficking group and compared their methods to those of Pablo Escobar, the infamous cartel leader who bombed government buildings and murdered his enemies by hiring hundreds of hitmen. Petro, who was a member of a guerrilla group during his youth, initiated peace talks with the ELN in 2022, after promising in his presidential campaign that he could get the rebels to demobilize within three months of taking office. But talks have stalled over multiple disagreements about how the rebels would disarm and the kinds of economic reforms that the government would implement in exchange for their disarmament. The ELN has also criticized the government for staging separate negotiations with a breakout group in the country's southwest and angered officials by continuing to kidnap civilians and extort businesses. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement On Friday Petro suspended negotiations with the rebels after violence escalated in Catatumbo, a mountainous region that produces around 15% of Colombia's coca crop and is located along the border with Venezuela. The ELN, which has an estimated 6,000 fighters, reportedly attacked civilians it accused of being collaborators of a rival group, the FARC-EMC, taking people from their homes and shooting them in the streets, while in rural areas firefights broke out between members of both groups. In a statement issued on Monday, ELN leader Antonio Garcia said that his organization does not intend to target civilians, but has been going after former rebel fighters who are now collaborating with the FARC-EMC. Over the weekend, however, thousands of people fled towns in the Catatumbo region, fearing for their lives, including community leaders who had been threatened by the ELN. Among those fleeing were former members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, who demobilized in a 2016 peace deal with the government, and have now been targeted by the ELN. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Colombia said Monday that the new wave of violence in Catatumbo has displaced 18,300 people, who are staying in shelters and hotels in the cities of Tibu, Ocana and Cucuta, where officials have warned of a looming humanitarian crisis. Sandra Tijaro, a farmer in northeastern Colombia, said in an interview she fled her village on Friday after armed men showed up and told everyone to evacuate. She is now staying with her children at a shelter in Tibu. We want the armed groups to think about the welfare of rural folks, she said. We are hard-working people who end up carrying the burden of this conflict. The 2016 peace deal between the Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia led to the demobilization of 11,000 fighters. However it left a power vacuum in some rural areas that smaller rebel groups have tried to fill, with the government struggling to reduce violence against civilians. ____ Follow APs coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america The emotions surrounding Colorados ongoing wolf reintroduction hit new highs last week as state officials worked to bring another 15 wolves from British Columbia to the Western Slope. Colorado Parks and Wildlife announced Saturday that the operation was successful, capping off a nine-day period that was cloaked in secrecy and punctuated by rumors and threats. State officials say the tight-lipped nature of the operation was necessary because of the threats theyd received from members of the public. At the same time, some of the rumors and threats that took root during the operation resulted from the lack of information being provided to the general public by state officials. CPW has a responsibility to balance the safety of staff and the animals with the level and timing of information provided during this complex wildlife operation, CPW explained in a press release Saturday. Unfortunately, staff safety was threatened as CPW offices were watched and threatening social media posts and phone calls were received. In that same press release, officials said the 15 wolves released as phase two of the states ongoing wolf reintroduction were released in batches of five on Jan. 12, 14, and 16. (The Jan. 12 date coincided with the 30th anniversary of wolves being reintroduced to Yellowstone National Park, CPW points out.) All 15 of the wolves were released in Eagle and Pitkin Counties, with the exception of one wolf that reportedly died during the capture operation. State officials also re-released five members of the Copper Creek Pack (a breeding female and four pups), which had been relocated from Grand County after repeated depredations on livestock there. Colorado relocated 14 more wolves from British Columbia to the Western Slope last week. Officials say one of the wolves died during the operation. Photo courtesy CPW The re-release of the Copper Creek wolves in particular highlights the anxieties being felt over gray wolves, and the erosion of trust between the public (particularly the ranching community) and the state officials tasked with implementing the controversial reintroduction program. State officials said during the lead-up to the most recent release that livestock depredations should be less of a concern with this next batch of wolves, which came from an area in BC without any livestock present. But if last week serves as any indication, the temperature around wolf releases is still extremely high on Colorados Western Slope. Heavily Threatened In a Joint Senate and House Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee on Jan. 15, CPW deputy director told legislators that CPW staff members had received threats related to the ongoing wolf reintroduction, according to Steamboat Radio. Dewalt said a number of those threats had come from a certain social media group, but he did not share specifics, according to the Rocky Mountain Voice. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We have been pretty heavily threatened during this operation, which is sad to say, Dewalt said. Weve been followed during the operation. We have people staking out our offices. There have been threats of violence on social media and through phone calls. Were taking this very seriously. And its just unfortunate that that is occurring out there. I dont think any CPW staff member should be threatened with violence because theyre doing their job. Read Next: As Wolf Management Debate Reaches a Fever Pitch, the Interior Department Hires a National Mediator Later in that meeting, DeWalt told Sen. Marc Catlin that the latest batch of wolves had already arrived in Colorado, saying Yes, wolves have arrived in Colorado and could be in your neighborhood soon. CPW says the translocated wolves received a high level of veterinary care during the operation. Photo courtesy CPW This subtle announcement was a big deal according to Sen. Catlin, as well as for the other Coloradans whove complained about the lack of transparency from CPW around the latest phase of wolf reintroduction. By the time it was made, however, many residents of Western Colorado already knew (or, at least, were willing to bet) that the wolves from B.C. were already on the landscape. In the absence of official updates, those residents were seeking updates wherever they could find them. Many were tracking planes they believed were carrying wolves and spying on CPW staff, while some claimed to know exactly where the wolves were dropped. This led to several unverified rumors and at least one rancher getting caught in the middle. Filling the Information Vacuum On Jan. 14, that rancher, who lives in Pitkin County, confronted a group of alleged wolf poachers that drove up to their residence, according to the Aspen Times. The group reportedly arrived at the property after a false news report that the ranch owners had allowed Colorado Parks and Wildlife to release wolves there. (Protocol surrounding the voter-mandated wolf reintroduction require CPW to release wolves on either state-owned ground or on private property where landowners have given explicit permission.) Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The false news report that led the group to Lost Marbles Ranch was published the morning of Jan. 14 in Colorado Politics and then retracted Thursday. The reporter admitted the error after being contacted by the ranch owner, according to a social media post shared earlier that week. But by that point, it was too late. The group arrived on the Pitkin County ranch Tuesday afternoon wearing camouflage and carrying guns, the Times reports. The main source of this information was social media. Members of one Facebook group, Colorado Wolf Tracker, many of whom are ranchers or sympathetic to ranchers, have said theyve had no choice but to share info due to the lack of updates being provided by CPW. By Jan. 12, just two days after CPW started its operation in Canada, there were already rumors swirling both in the local news and on the Colorado Wolf Tracker page that a plane carrying wolves from B.C. had landed at the Eagle County airport, and that those wolves would soon be unloaded somewhere in Garfield, Eagle, or Pitkin County (the same counties mentioned in CPWs Jan. 10 announcement). One of the 15 wolves captured in BC prepares to explore its new habitat in Colorado. Photo courtesy CPW Those rumors were well-founded, at least in hindsight. And although they had little effect on the outcome of the operation, they ultimately raised the emotional stakes around wolves in Colorado. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It takes one to light a wildfire, the ranch owner, who asked to remain anonymous, told the Times of the misinformation that led to Tuesdays incident. Eroded Trust CPWs initial announcement that the relocation operation was underway followed a critical Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission meeting that was held two days earlier, when commissioners denied a citizen petition to delay wolf reintroduction. The petition was rooted in legitimate concerns held by the ranchers in Western Colorado who voted against wolf reintroduction but have nevertheless had to pay the price of living with wolves. Their concerns have only intensified during the first year of wolf reintroduction as wolf depredation claims on livestock became a costly reality. Read Next: Colorados Wolf Reintroduction Has Cost Taxpayers Double What They Expected When They Voted to Approve it The way CPW handled some of those depredating wolves only led to more complaints from ranchers, and it sowed further distrust between the livestock community and the state agency that has been tasked with the controversial reintroduction program. Agency officials recognized this and have said they plan to be more transparent during this phase of reintroduction than they were during the first phase, which took place in Summit and Grand Counties last winter. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But as last weeks operation was conducted, CPW provided no public updates on the ongoing wolf release to ranchers, reporters, or the public at large. In an emailed response to a set of questions that Outdoor Life sent CPW Friday, a spokesperson gave the same answers that other media outlets received. Due to the complexity of the operation, and to ensure the safety of our staff and the animals, CPW will not be sharing wolf release details while the operation is underway, the spokesperson explained in the emailed statement. We will issue a press release once the operation is complete. A relocated gray wolf stands outside of its crate for a brief moment at an undisclosed release site on Jan. 14, 2025. (Courtesy of CPW) Colorado wildlife officials announced Sunday that they had released a total of 20 gray wolves into the wild over the past eight days, marking the second year of operations for the states voter-mandated reintroduction program. The released wolves included 15 animals captured and relocated from the Canadian province of British Columbia, along with five members of the Copper Creek Pack, which had been held in captivity for months following a series of livestock killings that characterized the programs turbulent first year. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This binational effort was conducted by a professional team of experts from two jurisdictions, Colorado Parks and Wildlife Director Jeff Davis said in a statement. From the veterinarians and biologists to the helicopter pilots and wildlife officers, this team worked together to ensure a safe and successful outcome for this years capture and release efforts that also prioritized the health and safety of staff and animals. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX The wolves were released in Pitkin and Eagle counties over the course of several days between Jan. 12 and 18. Details of the operations were kept under wraps, the agency said, because of the security needs of our staff and the animals. Unfortunately, staff safety was threatened as CPW offices were watched and threatening social media posts and phone calls were received, said the agencys press release, which also noted that two of the 10 wolves released in the programs first year of operations have been illegally shot. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is investigating the illegal killing of one wolf, an adult male known as 2309-OR, which belonged to the Copper Creek Pack. A second reintroduced wolf, known as 2307-OR, died in Grand County as a result of a fight with another wolf, but a USFWS necropsy also found the animal had an old, healed gunshot wound to its rear leg. The Copper Creek Pack, consisting of the states first mating pair of reintroduced wolves, was rounded up by wildlife agents beginning in August, following the loss of at least 17 cattle and nine sheep in and around Grand County. Several days after its capture, 2309-OR died from what USFWS agents later identified as complications from a gunshot wound. Colorado voters narrowly approved a ballot measure in 2020 mandating the reintroduction of gray wolves in the name of restoring ecological balance, along with measures to compensate ranchers for animals lost to wolf predation. But the controversy over the Copper Creek Pack fueled longstanding concerns from livestock producers about the losses theyll incur as a result of the restoration. A formal petition to pause the program, filed by coalition of 26 livestock associations and other agricultural interest groups last year, was rejected by the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission earlier this month. CPW staff prepares to move a recently captured gray wolf from a helicopter during capture operations in British Columbia in this undated photo from January 2025. (Courtesy of CPW) The packs adult female and four pups have been held in a secure location since September, and their release alongside the 15 wolves sourced from Canada gives them the best chance for survival, CPW officials said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement All the imported wolves were given veterinary care and vaccinations during relocation operations, and come from a large, established British Columbian wolf population estimated at between 5,300 to 11,600 animals. CPW officials said that the relocated wolves come from a region that doesnt overlap with areas where livestock are present, which should help minimize the chance of chronic livestock predation in Colorado. The states formal reintroduction plan, approved in 2023, calls for winter releases of 10 to 15 wolves annually in the programs first three to five years, with an initial target of a stable population of at least 50 animals within the state. As restoration efforts continue, CPW is committed to working with livestock owners, communities, state agencies and all partners to reduce the likelihood of wolf-livestock conflict, said Davis. Our goal is to keep ranchers ranching, while at the same time restoring a healthy, sustainable population of gray wolves to Colorado as mandated. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE The commander of a scandal-hit Ukrainian brigade has been detained, accused of failing to report violations in his unit, the State Bureau of Investigation said on Jan. 20. The 155th "Anne of Kyiv" Brigade was intended to be a flagship project for Ukrainian brigades trained and armed with the assistance of foreign partners. French President Emmanuel Macron announced in June that France would provide training and military supplies as part of this initiative. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Despite Paris fulfilling its commitments for training and arms provision, an investigation led by Yurii Butusov, editor-in-chief of Ukrainian media outlet Censor.net, claimed soldiers of the unit, currently deployed near Pokrovsk, have suffered losses and gone AWOL (absent without leave) in large numbers due to poor command and organization within Ukraines military leadership. The State Bureau of Investigation launched an investigation into the unit on Jan. 3. In a statement on Jan 20, the bureau said the commander "did not respond to violations in his unit, including the unauthorized abandonment of the military unit by his fighters." "The commander also deliberately failed to perform other actions assigned to him by his official duties. In particular, during 2024, he did not send a single report to pre-trial investigation bodies regarding subordinate servicemen who committed criminal offenses," it added. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement If found guilty, the commander faces up to 10 years in prison. Read also: Putin is destroying Russia by not making a deal to end war, Trump says The 155th Brigade has about 5,800 troops, fewer than 2,000 of whom have undergone training in France. It is armed with French AMX10 armored vehicles, Caesar howitzers, and German Leopard 2A4 tanks, among other weapons. According to Butusov's investigation, the unit's founding was "organizational chaos" from the very beginning. Even before the training in France began, 2,500 service members were reportedly sent to other units, thus removing many of the most qualified personnel from the brigade. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Of the 1,924 soldiers eventually sent to France, only 51 had more than a year of military service, while 1,414 had served for less than two months, Butusov wrote. The unit was also plagued by large numbers of soldiers going AWOL about 50 deserted in France, in addition to hundreds who left their posts even before the unit was deployed at the front, according to the journalist. Between March and November, over 1,700 soldiers had gone AWOL, Butusov reported. Though the unit was replenished with new recruits, these often did not undergo a "proper selection process," the journalist added. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Read also: I didnt know who Id be fighting North Korean soldier captured by Ukraine speaks in new footage Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. Chinese Vice President Han Zheng, as Chinese President Xi Jinping's special representative, meets with representatives of the U.S. business community in Washington, D.C., the United States, Jan. 19, 2025. (Xinhua/Yin Bogu) WASHINGTON, Jan. 19 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Vice President Han Zheng said Sunday that it is hoped that U.S. companies will continue to invest and take root in China, play an active role as a bridge, and make greater contribution to the steady, sound and sustainable development of China-U.S. relations. Han made the remarks while meeting with representatives of the U.S. business community, including those from the U.S.-China Business Council and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Han is in Washington, D.C. to attend the inauguration ceremony of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on Monday as Chinese President Xi Jinping's special representative at the invitation of the U.S. side. Han said that President Xi and President-elect Trump had an important phone call just recently, and they reached an important consensus on the development of China-U.S. relations. China and the United States share extensive common interests and vast space for cooperation, said Han, adding that a good start and stable development of China-U.S. relations align with the common well-being of both peoples and meet the shared expectation of the international community. As an enduring backbone supporting China-U.S. relations, the U.S. business community has been a participant, witness, contributor and beneficiary of China-U.S. economic and trade cooperation as well as China's reform and opening-up, Han said. China will unswervingly advance reform and opening-up, and continue to improve and optimize the business environment, he added. Representatives of the U.S. business community said that the recent phone conversation between President-elect Trump and President Xi sent a positive and encouraging message. As the world's two largest economies that are most dynamic and technologically advanced, the United States and China should engage in mutually beneficial cooperation and find a constructive and steady way to get along with each other. The U.S. business community is optimistic about the prospect of the Chinese economy and the opportunities to grow in China, and supports the two sides in strengthening dialogue and communication to move forward their bilateral relations as well as economic and trade cooperation. On the same day, Han met with Chief Executive Officer of Tesla, Elon Musk, and welcomed U.S. companies including Tesla to seize opportunities and share the fruits of China's development, and make new and greater contributions to closer economic and trade ties between China and the United States. Musk said that Tesla is ready to deepen investment in and cooperation with China, and play a positive role in promoting U.S.-China economic and trade interactions. Chinese Vice President Han Zheng, as Chinese President Xi Jinping's special representative, meets with Chief Executive Officer of Tesla, Elon Musk, in Washington, D.C., the United States, Jan. 19, 2025. (Xinhua/Yin Bogu) Just before Christmas, a family arrived at the airport exhausted from a multiday trip from Pakistan to Cincinnati, Ohio. They faced hundreds of unknowns and as many fears. What would they find in this new country? Would their children be safe? Would they be alone? Their fears were eased as they were greeted with a decorated Welcome sign bearing their names. The American couple holding it showed them a message translated into Dari and helped them through baggage claim and to a nearby hotel for the night. At least one question was answered. They wouldnt be alone here. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Many are worried about a rise in American isolationism, division and anti-immigrant sentiment. We heard about community division over newcomers and a conflation and villainization of various immigrant populations on the campaign trail last fall. However, as someone who works in the refugee resettlement sector, I see Americans coming together every day to welcome newcomers. Refugees are people who are forced to flee their homes and are unable to return because of war and persecution. There are currently more than 43.7 million refugees worldwide. According to the United Nations Refugee Agency, these individuals spend an average of 17 years waiting for resettlement. Fewer than 1% of refugees have the chance to resettle annually. In January 2023, the U.S. government launched the Welcome Corps program, allowing everyday Americans to sponsor refugees for the first time in more than 40 years. In just 18 months, more than 100,000 Americans stepped up to sponsor individuals fleeing war and persecution. Together, sponsors from all 50 states have committed to supporting the legal resettlement of thousands of refugee newcomers. The couple welcoming the Pakistani family are from a small church near Cincinnati. The church leans politically conservative. But when they learned about the opportunity to welcome individuals fleeing violence and persecution, their Christian values led them to respond. After submitting an application, they were matched with the young Afghan couple and their two little girls who fled Afghanistan after the Taliban destroyed their home. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The church members spent hours thoughtfully preparing a new home for the family pulling up old flooring and constructing new cabinets, painting the girls bedroom pink, and hosting a pantry party to fill their house with halal groceries and culturally familiar foods. These hours of labor were spent for newcomers whom church members didnt yet know. They only knew they deserved the opportunity to rebuild their lives safely, simply because they are human. Another man fled his home in Eritrea when his life was in danger, leaving his wife and child behind. He was resettled to the U.S. alone two years ago. He saw his daughter take her first steps over WhatsApp video and longs for the day they will be reunited as a family. When he learned about the Welcome Corps, friends and strangers from the Chicago suburbs rallied to apply on his familys behalf. For the first time in years, he has real hope of holding his daughter again. Thousands of individuals from every demographic are stepping up to welcome newcomers they dont yet know and reunite families who were separated by violence. These sponsors understand that this act of welcome can change the lives of refugees and their own. I have the privilege of working with sponsors from every demographic. Some are veterans of the Army wanting to give back to people like those they worked alongside on tours. Many are second- or third-generation immigrants paying forward the welcome their parents received. Others are young professionals, retired teachers, Republicans and Democrats, and religious and nonreligious people who are experienced in cross-cultural communication and jumping in for the first time. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement No matter where sponsors come from, they all have the same hope to help someone in need of welcome and belonging. This is a core American value that lives on strongly in our nation. And its a value that welcoming newcomers only strengthens. We are a nation that takes in the vulnerable and gives hope for a new future. Our local communities and economies benefit, diversify and grow when we welcome refugees. In the new presidential administration, the Welcome Corps program and refugee resettlement will be called into question. This poses a threat to thousands of refugees who will remain in vulnerable positions waiting for resettlement overseas. Additionally, thousands of Americans might be deprived of the right to welcome newcomers to their communities if the Welcome Corps program is discontinued. As a nation, we must understand who refugees are and recommit to giving sanctuary to those fleeing persecution. Together, we can remain a nation that extends welcome and belonging in our communities, giving hope to the vulnerable around the world. ____ Carissa Zaffiro works at a Chicagoland nonprofit where she mobilizes the Christian community to welcome and befriend refugees. ___ (Getty Images) Mental health and substance use disorder continue to be common contributing factors in the death of pregnant and postpartum women in Nevada, concludes a new report released by the states maternal mortality review committee. There were 181 pregnancy-associated deaths in Nevada from 2018 to 2023, according to the MMRC. Pregnancy-associated deaths are defined as death by any cause while pregnant or within one year of the end of a pregnancy. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In 2022 and 2023, 55 pregnancy-associated deaths occurred in Nevada. When broken down by causes of death: 13 were considered non-transport accidents, a classification that can include drug overdoses, and 12 were caused by a pregnancy complication or a chain of events initiated by pregnancy. Other causes of death included heart disease (6 deaths), transport accidents (5), homicide (5), and suicide (4). Mirroring national trends, non-Hispanic Black Nevadans had the highest pregnancy-associated death ratio over the 2-year periodapproximately 3.7 times higher than the next highest group (non-Hispanic white). The top causes of pregnancy-associated deaths varied by race and ethnicity. For non-Hispanic white Nevadans, non-transport accidents were the leading cause. For non-Hispanic Black Nevadans, heart disease was. For Hispanic Nevadans, pregnancy was. In addition to compiling data on the broad category of pregnancy-associated death, the committee has done a deep dive into 39 pregnancy-associated deaths since it was established in 2020. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In 24 of those cases the cause of death was classified as not pregnancy-related, and an additional four cases could not be conclusively deemed pregnancy-related or not. Eleven were considered pregnancy-related. Reviewers determined that substance use disorder contributed to 15 of the deaths and probably contributed to three others. In 12 cases, there was a history of substance use treatment. Other social or emotional stressors were also identified by reviewers. In 21 of the cases, child protective services was involved. In 17 cases, there was a history of domestic violence. In 10 cases, there was history of prior suicide attempts. Report recommendations The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention believes that 80% of pregnancy-related deaths are preventable. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Nevada MMRC report praised legislation passed by state lawmakers in 2023 expanding postpartum Medicaid coverage to 365 days after delivery. Reviewers believe that extended postpartum coverage might have been life-changing for at least one patient whose death was reviewed by the committee. The new MMRC report lists dozens of recommendations, some which could be implemented by medical practitioners and others that would likely require state action to implement. Many of the recommendations listed were suggested by the committee in its prior report two years ago, including the need for the state to prioritize access to mental health and medication-assisted substance use treatment for pregnant and postpartum women. Medicaid covers more than half of all births in Nevada, and data compiled by the MMRC showed the majority of pregnancy-associated deaths in 2022 and 2023 were associated with a Medicaid-covered birth. The MMRC recommends Medicaid provide acceptable and timely transportation for health care needs and contract with rehabilitation facilities to ensure every community across the state has a facility that accepts Medicaid. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The MMRC also recommends the formal regulation of naturopaths and holistic physicians to ensure they offer evidence-based treatments in addition to alternatives. The evidence supports a dramatically increased mortality rate for those that chose to not treat with evidence-based methods and rely on holistic/natural ones solely, it reads. Other recommendations: Make the overdose reversal medication naloxoneoften known by the brand name Narcanwidely available. Formalize through legislation the regulation of kratom, which the Nevada Board of Pharmacy approved as a controlled substance. Implement more programs for free medication-assisted substance use treatment in order to reduce the use of kratom for self-treatment of opioid use disorder. Directing high-risk patients to providers through direct warm hand-offs rather than simply providing a handout with contact information. Addressing mental health care provider shortage. Investing in low-income housing. The report notes Nevada is one of two states without a perinatal quality collaborative (PQC), which typically complements the work of maternal mortality review committees and focuses on the implementation of policies that address identified issues. The MMRC report strongly supports the creation of a PQC in Nevada to help implement these recommendations. (FOX40.COM) Ministers and Community United Inc. is hosting a two-day celebration honoring Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on Jan. 19 and 20. According to a press release by Ministers and Community United Inc., the event commemorates Dr. Kings impact on civil rights and social justice. The event will start at 5 p.m. on Sunday with an award ceremony at Progressive Community Church featuring a keynote address by Bishop Macklin that will focus on Dr. Kings vision for equality and justice. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement On Monday, the festivities continue at 10 a.m. with a unity march in remembrance of Dr. King at Stockton Memorial Civic Auditorium to honor his legacy and advocate for the things he championed. Modesto community rallies to help Southern California wildfire victims At the event, there will be engaging speakers reflecting on Dr. Kings messages, a youth program that is focused on empowering the next generation, and local vendors that will be showcasing their offerings. Ministers and Community United Inc. said in a press release that this event is an opportunity for the community to reflect on the progress that is made and reaffirm their commitment to the principles of justice and equality that Dr. King stood for. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 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 News. The News Donald Trump reentered the White House on Monday with a flurry of executive orders. Congress is going to move a lot more slowly on his priorities. The Senate is expected to confirm Marco Rubio as secretary of state within hours of Trumps swearing-in, but the rest of the presidents Cabinet is going to be a grind. Trumps legislative agenda is also off to a slow start, although Congress will send him an immigration crackdown to sign, possibly by weeks end. Republicans are already feeling major urgency to do more. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement What I worry about is an attack on the country. I worry that the agenda the president outlined in his inaugural speech can only be done fully with help from Congress, said Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C. Trump spent little time dwelling on the intricacies of lawmaking in his inaugural addresses, which included scripted remarks in the Capitol Rotunda followed by a more free-wheeling speech in the sprawling Emancipation Hall. But he still clearly hinted at what hell need from Capitol Hill: money for border security and immigration restrictions, a Department of Homeland Security chief and a national security team in office. Much like his predecessor Joe Biden, Trump will likely have to wait to get his top advisers on the job. Senators are discussing when to confirm John Ratcliffe, a former congressman and member of Trumps first administration, as CIA director; Republicans had hoped to do it Monday but it may slip til later in the week. Then the Senate will likely turn to confirming Kristi Noem to helm Homeland Security and Pete Hegseth to lead the Pentagon, according to people familiar with the plan. Even so, it can take several days to confirm Cabinet-level nominees without agreement among all 100 senators, and Democrats are not expected to yield ground on Hegseth. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Well cut through it. Well just have to. Well lock up the floor, well be here a lot of late nights and weekends, said Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D. Were just getting started. Other nominations, like Scott Bessents atop the Treasury Department, are likely to wait until after the first crop of more national security-focused picks. For most nominees it will take time rather than procedural muscle to win confirmations; Republicans need 50 votes and have a 53-seat majority. Cooperation from Democrats would help things go more quickly. Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., talked to more than a half-dozen prospective members of Trumps Cabinet at a Capitol luncheon celebrating Trumps inauguration. Afterward, he said that Democrats are prepared to put up more of a fight on some Trump nominees than others: Some folks will be contentious and difficult and may or may not be confirmed. And theres a reasonable number that will move pretty quickly. Its unclear to me how this timing and process are going to work, Coons added. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Some nominations, like Robert F. Kennedy Jr.s Health and Human Services bid and Tulsi Gabbards to be director of national intelligence, havent even had a committee hearing yet. Republican leaders will meet with Trump at the White House on Tuesday to begin sorting through the lengthy to-do list. Know More Much of Trumps legislative agenda can also become law with a simple majority vote, thanks to the filibuster protections of the so-called budget reconciliation process. At the moment, though, Republicans plan to use that tool is not fully formed; in addition, there are early landmines for Trump to avoid while plotting it out. At this time four years ago, Biden had already proposed a party-line pandemic aid bill that ultimately passed in March of 2021. Four years before that, during Trumps first term, budget resolutions setting up Obamacare repeal had already passed Congress by the time he got sworn in. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement While Trump has big plans to cut taxes, fund stricter immigration policies and increase energy production, the details are causing notable tactical disagreement between the House and the Senate. The House, and Trump, would prefer one big party-line bill rolling all their priorities together. For now, the Senate is letting the House do its own thing, but standing by in case that falls apart and quicker action is needed. We are still operating on a two-track plan, meaning the House is attempting to cobble together a grand coalition to pass the one big beautiful bill, Sen. Todd Young, R-Ind., told Semafor. The Senate is operating on that track and also a contingency approach. Young said he had no strong preference between the two, deeming the two-track approach logical. But Grahams still pushing to do a border and national security bill now, then handle taxes later. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Weve got to figure out sooner or later how were going to move forward, Graham said. Theres far more to juggle in the near term. A government funding deadline awaits on March 14, and the debt ceiling needs to be raised later in the spring or summer. Both of those bills will require Democratic support to pass. Still, the Senate is going to pass new detention restrictions for undocumented immigrants on Monday evening, with the House likely to send it to Trumps desk shortly. Notable (FOX40.COM) Rep. Josh Harder introduced the Modernizing Wildfire Safety and Prevention Act, a bipartisan legislation package that promises better grant programs for various projects including workforce development, retaining expert wildland firefighters with increased benefits and better working conditions, hiring more staff, updating technology, and establishing a nationwide air quality monitoring system. The most important thing that we could be doing is not fighting these fires once theyre out of control but try to do basic forest management to ensure that they dont get out of control in the first place, Harder said. Harder explained that the Los Angeles fires have shown lawmakers who represent districts that arent prone to wildfires how serious an issue this is for everyone. He added that, unlike the current status quo in D.C., the fires are bridging the gap during an otherwise polarized time. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Congressman believes crews would have been far more prepared to fight the Los Angeles flames if this legislation had already passed. Northern California firefighter hospitalized fighting Palisades Fire First of all, wed have more firefighters who were working and deployed earlier, Harder said. Wed have better technology, drones, and satellites to help identify exactly where the fires are and where theyre going but most importantly, we would have spent the last year focusing on wildfire management to prevent the fuels from creating this fire. While the Disaster Management Cost Modernization Act passed the House and was placed on the Senate legislative calendar, Harder said its now being considered under the Wildfire Safety and Prevention Act. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This legislation is something that both the Sacramento Metro Fire and South San Joaquin Fire departments have been following closely and vehemently hope passes. Im very supportive of the legislation, Randall Bradley, Fire Chief of the South San Joaquin Fire Authority explained. I think that we definitely need more federal firefighters and local firefighters who support fires on federal lands. You know, more grants and other training opportunities that we can have access to, which will help with our overall support of federal fire programs and just wildland fires in general. It really just improves the overall response that we can provide to our community, Parker Wilbourn, spokesperson for Sacramento Metro Fire added. California homeowners have also faced serious issues with fire insurance, and Harder believes this legislation can also help fix that. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Modesto community rallies to help Southern California wildfire victims It was affordable to have fire insurance in California 20 or 30 years ago and it isnt because the insurance companies were less greedy, its because the fires werent as bad, Harder said. So, lets actually address that problem first to make sure that we ensure that those insurance companies can provide service across our state. The House also passed Harders Fire Department Repayment Act a month back. Due to the shortage of wildland firefighters, local fire departments are frequently asked to respond to fires on federal lands which can be costly. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It can take the federal government weeks, months, even years, to actually reimburse our local fire departments for that labor, Harder continued. That act ensures local fire departments are fairly and quickly compensated for fighting fires on federal lands, establishes standard operating procedures, and ensures costs align. South San Joaquin Fire and Sacramento Metro Fire said the legislation would be a big win. Rep. Harder hopes to get the Wildfire Safety and Prevention Act to the presidents desk as soon as possible. Copyright 2025 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 News. Today, we inaugurate a new President. While the vast majority in Connecticut wanted a different direction, this is the path our nation chose. Many tell me they have never been more worried for the future of our country. I have never been more resolute and determined to fight for it. Today and every day, I draw strength and purpose from my immigrant parents and families like ours who know only one direction forward. Nancy and Ady Tong did not have the luxury of being afraid, of worrying for the future, doubting the choices they made, or making a retreat. My parents had nothing when they came here and nothing about their future was given or guaranteed. They had to fight for it. It wasnt pretty, sometimes it was messy, but my parents were strong and fearless, and they had a clear vision that if they worked as hard as they possibly could, their children would prosper. In other words, they are Americans. I do not have to imagine or wonder what it must have been like for my immigrant parents, because I worked side-by-side with them in our Chinese restaurant. I saw both of them work themselves sick; my Dad had a heart attack as a young man, and my mother carried the five of us to term, on her feet every day in the restaurant until each of us came into the world. And when we were born, each of us was born an American citizen, by right of our birth on American soil and the plain text of the Fourteenth Amendment. So many Connecticut and American families share our story. This is the enduring beauty of our country and the core of the American Dream. And it is possible only here, where in just one generation one can go from a hot Chinese restaurant kitchen to be the Attorney General of one of the original thirteen. Many in Connecticut have asked where we go from here. How will we respond to the risks and threats against Connecticut and Connecticut families? We will do what we always do we will look out for each other. We will not turn our backs on our family, friends and neighbors. We will fight anger and division because we know it does not feed our families, educate our children, power our economy, or make us whole. As Attorney General of the sovereign state of Connecticut, I will enforce our law and implement our policy. It is the policy of the state of Connecticut to respect, honor and protect immigrants and immigrant families. It is the policy of the state of Connecticut to respect, honor and protect women, patients, doctors, and nurses, and the reproductive rights of all people. It is the policy of the state of Connecticut to respect, honor and protect working people the and the right to organize and form a union. It is the policy of the state of Connecticut to respect, honor and protect all Connecticut families, including LGBTQ+ families. It is the policy and the law of the state of Connecticut to take care of each other. If the President and the federal government violate Connecticuts sovereignty, laws and policy, Connecticut will stand its ground and fight back. Connecticut led the way at the founding of our nation. We have a special responsibility to lead again. Our response today must be more than opposition and defense. We must go on offense. When this President and this Congress fail to deliver on their most basic promises and obligations, Connecticut will lead. We will continue to be confident, affirmative and strong in the fight against gun violence, the opioid epidemic, the public health and civic crises of social media addiction, and the fight to protect our climate. We are prepared for the fight ahead because we have been on these front lines before. When Trump 1.0 tried to dismantle the Affordable Care Act, we stopped him. When Trump 1.0 tried to defund Connecticut police, we blocked him. When Trump 1.0 tried to dismantle the U.S. Postal Service to for political gain, we sued and we stopped him. When Trump 1.0 tried to roll back federal climate and clean air regulations, we sued and we won. That firewall never came down. I do not know how these fights will go, and I cannot promise we will win every battle. But I know this when my parents fell and failed they barely took a breath before they were on their feet again. Attorneys general across the country are on our feet today, and we have never been more coordinated, determined and ready for this fight. I spend my days in every corner of Connecticut, listening to our neighbors, helping them whenever I can, and when I am lucky, sharing a bite to eat. I know our people and my relationship with Connecticut families grows deeper every day. I know that Connecticut families are confident, affirmative and strong. We are unbowed and we will not be intimidated, no matter what they throw at us. And like the people of our state, I will never quit, I will never surrender, and I will never, ever back down. NEW HAVEN, Conn. (WTNH) On a frigid holiday Monday in Washington, D.C., Donald Trump took the oath of office for a second time to become the 47th president of the United States. Elected officials in Connecticut released statements ahead of his inauguration ceremony. Gov. Ned Lamont attends Donald Trumps inauguration U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), who attended the inauguration in D.C., said, The peaceful transition of power is foundational to our democracy. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This bedrock principle has guided our country through more than two centuries of both conflict and progress, upheaval and growth, Blumenthal said. I am more committed than ever to our core Constitutional values and to fighting for a world that lives up to them for all Americans. Ill work with the new Administration whenever and wherever we have common ground and I believe we must work hard to bring our country together but if a fight for vital values is necessary, I wont back down. Following Trumps speech during the ceremony, Blumenthal said he was hoping for a unifying message a speech seeking to bring us together and heal our differences. Instead, it was replete with grievance and grandiosity playing to cultural and political divisions. I was struck by the panorama of Big Tech billionaires on a platform raised above Supreme Court Justices, placed ahead of Cabinet members. Governors were relegated to a separate room, including Republican Governors. It was a picture of a government for sale. As always, I wish the President well because his success will be Americas success and Ill work with him whenever and wherever possible. But Im determined to fight if necessary to protect Connecticut and our country. The second half of President Trumps inauguration speech delivered moments later downstairs previewed his plan to pardon the January 6th rioters who stormed the Capitol and assaulted police officers. Pardoning these cop killers would be sickening. Retribution against investigators of the insurrectionists would be equally repugnant. Rep. John B. Larson (CT-01) said, As the duly elected member of the House of Representatives for Connecticuts First Congressional District, it is both a matter of respect and institutional formality to be present at President-elect Trumps inauguration, and I have been to everyone since I was elected to the House. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Congress is a co-equal branch of government, and it is incumbent to hear the President-elects inaugural address and witness the peaceful transition of government under our Constitution, Larson said. In a democracy, the peaceful transfer of power is a tradition that should be upheld and underscored by your presence. It is my sincere hope that we will be able to work with President-elect Trump to get things done for the American people. We are, however, a system of checks and balances, and if the Trump agenda moves to cut Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, or SNAP benefits, I, and our entire delegation, stand ready to push back and fight for the people of our state and the United States of America. Connecticut attorney general vows to fight for immigrant families, reproductive rights during Donald Trumps 2nd term Rep. Jim Himes (CT-04) released the following statement regarding Trumps second inauguration. There is no moment more fundamental to a successful democracy than the peaceful transfer of power, Himes said. Its not the outcome I voted for, but Donald Trump won the votes of 77 million Americans and it is our responsibility as representatives to carry out the peoples will. To that end, I will attend todays inauguration ceremony. But do not conflate respect for our institution with acquiescence to the dangerous, extreme and, often, illogical whims of the President-elect. I have grave misgivings about his ability to lead with the respect and integrity that we should demand from our Commander in Chief, and I am committed to fighting back against his attempts to further radicalize and divide this country. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Congressman Joe Courtney (CT-02) congratulated Trump and Vice President JD Vance, saying, After 248 years of our democracy, we are once again reminded that the peaceful transfer of power and the inauguration of a new president is at the core of our nations identity. I look forward to working with the new administration whenever and wherever possible to lower the cost of living and expand opportunity for the people of eastern Connecticut. I am determined to ensure that the new administration supports my work in Congress to continue the recent multi-year investments in education and job training that is critical to expanding shipbuilding and our nations defense industrial base. Today is also a moment to reflect on the decades of service former President Biden dedicated to our country. Over the last four years, his administration enacted the largest expansion of veterans health care, significantly lowered the cost of prescription drugs for seniors, and created more good-paying jobs than any other president in one term. I look forward to protecting and building on this momentum during the 119th Congress. This is a developing story. Check back for updates. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 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 WTNH.com. By Jayla Whitfield-Anderson and Anna Tong WASHINGTON (Reuters) - TikTok earmuffs and MAGA hats adorned partygoers at Sunday's inauguration celebration for the incoming President Donald Trump and the video-sharing platform he once tried to ban. Called the Power 30 Awards, the party occurred hours after TikTok began restoring services, and honored social media influencers who had helped most with Trump's re-election. At the party, TikTok influencers recorded moments on small cameras and mingled over an open bar at Sax Restaurant and Lounge in downtown Washington. Free swag flowed: TikTok beanies, shot glasses and Trump merchandise. The party was hosted by Raquel Debono, known for organizing "Make America Hot Again" conservative dating events, and CJ Pearson, co-chair of the Republican National Committee Youth Advisory Council. "2024 was the first influencer election," Pearson told Reuters at the party. "When we look at the mandate that President Trump was given, it was because of young voters, and young voters were reached uniquely because of TikTok." Trump won only 43% of voters age 18 to 29 in the 2024 general election, but that was 7 points more than in 2020. Partygoers also praised Trump for his role in turning TikTok back on. "Shout out to Donald Trump," TikTok content creator Bryce Hall, whose posts revolving around "making fun of stupid things" have netted him over 23 million followers, told Reuters. "Now he understand the power of Gen Z." TikTok began restoring its services earlier on Sunday after President-elect Donald Trump said he would revive the app's access in the U.S. when he returns to power on Monday. Trump said Sunday that U.S. will seek a joint venture to restore the short-video sharing app used by 170 million Americans. In a message to users hours before the rally, TikTok said: "As a result of president Trump's efforts, TikTok is back in the U.S." As of Sunday evening, the app remained unavailable for download on U.S. app stores, but the TikTok app and website were back online. TikTok stopped working for U.S. users late on Saturday before a law shutting it down on national security grounds took effect on Sunday. U.S. officials had warned that under Chinese parent company ByteDance, there was a risk of Americans' data being misused. TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew plans to attend the U.S. presidential inauguration and attend a rally with Trump on Sunday, a source told Reuters. (Reporting in Washington by Jayla Whitfield-Anderson; editing by Gerry Doyle) LAS VEGAS (KLAS) Those who have traveled on the Maryland Parkway recently have seen the influx of construction indicating the ever-changing face of Las Vegas. Residents and businesses in the area say its a good sign. Some of the most iconic parts of the city and the most historic parts are all centered around this thoroughfare, Mallory Gott, co-owner and general manager of Winnie & Ethels Downtown Diner, said. Maryland Parkway extends from the South Strip Transit Terminal in the south to the Las Vegas Medical District in the north. Upgrades are underway for the historic portion of the parkway near Charleston Boulevard. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Ive been here for about 20 years in Las Vegas, Nathan Sigal, a homeowner in the area, said. Ive lived all over town, and its just been really fulfilling and beautiful to see how this downtown community especially has evolved. Winnie & Ethels Downtown Diner and Yukon Pizza are just two of the businesses that say the major construction projects are indicative of growth and change in the area. Its really cool to see whats going on and the idea that the city is investing in infrastructure to give people a chance to go from end to end, whether theyre on a bike, whether theyre in their car, whether theyre in transit, Gott said. Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada (RTC) data indicates that Maryland Parkway is one of the most utilized routes in their network, surpassing The Strip in terms of passengers per mile and boardings per hour. The Maryland Parkway Bus Rapid Transit Project is the latest construction project aimed at improving mobility for everyone along this corridor. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The proximity. Its right in the heart of everything, Sigal said. You have this very mid-century modern feel, and I feel like theres a disproportionate amount of young, funky, somewhat affluent groups of people moving here, so its bringing a lot of change. The historic Huntridge Theatre is also expected to be revamped in the near future, preserving a piece of history while welcoming a new chapter. You may have known us 20 years ago, but look at us now. Were different. Weve got something new to offer, Gott said. Were a place thats worth visiting just like any other neighborhood or any other area of the city that people have come to love. The Maryland Parkway Bus Rapid Transit Project is expected to be completed in 2026. Residents and business owners say construction is a small price for a greater return in the long run as more people visit and experience this side of Las Vegas. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 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. Donald Trump has reiterated ambitions to take back the Panama Canal, which was built by the US and returned to Panama decades ago. Speaking at his inauguration, the president complained that American ships were being severely overcharged and not treated fairly by the Panama Canal Authority. Mr Trump also told the audience in the Capitols rotunda, which included Chinas vice-president Han Zheng, that China is operating the Panama Canal and we didnt give it to China, we gave it to Panama and were taking it back. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The president has deemed the shipping artery as critical to securing the flow of US trade, reducing exorbitant shipping fees and countering perceived Chinese influence in the area. Yet the image in 2018 of a worker chiselling the Trump name off a tower in Panama City may also hold a more personal explanation for renewed interest in the waterway. Who controls the Panama Canal? The canal, which was built in Central America by the US more than a century ago, connects the Atlantic and Pacific oceans and is regarded as one of the worlds most important routes for maritime trade. It allows around 14,000 ships a year to cut out the 7,000 nautical mile trip around Cape Horn in South America. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The US operated the 51-mile waterway through Panama until, in the wake of anti-American riots, Jimmy Carter, then-president, signed a 1977 treaty to relinquish control of the canal by the end of the century. Panama took full control of the canal in 1999, which it operates through the Panama Canal Authority (PCA). Why does Trump want the Panama Canal? In December, Mr Trump threatened to seize control of the canal, declaring the waterway as vital to Americas security and economic interests but it was being run in a very unfair and injudicious way. He doubled down on those threats earlier this month, saying that he could not assure the world that he would not use military or economic force to acquire the canal. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The comments sparked uproar in Panama, with Javier Martinez-Acha, the countrys foreign minister, responding: The sovereignty of our canal is not negotiable and is part of our history of struggle. Panamas President Jose Raul Mulino, in response to Mr Trumps inauguration speech, said on X that the Panama Canal is and will continue to be Panamanian. The US is the Panama Canals biggest customer, responsible for around three-quarters of the traffic who move through the passage each year. Mr Trump has voiced his disdain over what he called rip off transit fees US ships are charged for using the passage. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Our navy and commerce have been treated in a very unfair and injudicious way, Mr Trump vented in December. The fees being charged by Panama are ridiculous, especially knowing the extraordinary generosity that has been bestowed to Panama by the US. Fees to use the Panama Canal have escalated in recent years - The Image Bank RF/Danny Lehman This complete rip-off of our country will immediately stop. Variable rates set by the PCA have soared in recent years amid prolonged droughts brought on by El Nino and climate change, forcing authorities to reduce the capacity to conserve water. The number of ships crossing the canal each day fell from 36 to 22 in 2023, creating a backlog of ships queuing for weeks and driving up the prices through increasing competition. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Dr Christopher Sabatini, senior fellow for Latin America at Chatham House, said shipping fees were likely at the forefront of Mr Trumps mind. In his soul, he is a person who battles for improving the USs competitiveness overseas, he told The Telegraph, adding: He is hoping to put the other side on the backfoot and extract concessions in the US interest. What is the Chinese threat? Mr Trump has also claimed that the canal could fall into the wrong hands and last month falsely accused Panama of allowing Chinese soldiers to operate the shipping route. Look, the Panama Canal is vital to our country. Its being operated by China. China! And we gave the Panama Canal to Panama, we didnt give it to China, he said. Theyve abused that gift. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Panama has repeatedly denied Mr Trumps allegations that China has been given a role in running the canal or is given preferential rates to use it. There are no Chinese soldiers in the canal, for the love of God, Jose Raul Mulino, Panamas president, said on Thursday. The world is free to visit the canal. A Hong Kong-based firm, CK Hutchison Holdings, does manage two ports at the canals entrances, which some analysts have suggested raises competitive and security concerns for the US. Ryan C Berg, director of the Americas programme at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, suggested this set up could be used by China to gather intelligence on maritime operations. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement China exercises, or could exercise, a certain element of control even absent some military conflagration, Mr. Berg told the New York Times. I think there is reason to be worried. Mao Ning, a spokeswoman for the Chinese foreign ministry, said in December that China will as always respect Panamas sovereignty over the Panama Canal. Panama cut diplomatic ties with Taiwan in 2017, becoming one of the first nations to recognise the island as part of China. Is Trump evoking a patriotic response? The president has also sought to harness sentiment over the lost territory to further stoke patriotism, taking an apparent leaf out of Ronald Reagans playbook. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The former president, who originally popularised Mr Trumps guiding slogan Make America Great Again in 1980, previously stated that the American people were the canals rightful owners because we bought it; we paid for it; we built it. Jimmy Carter and Omar Torrijos at the signing of the Panama Canal Treaty which has been in Donald Trumps cross hairs - HUM Images Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Mr Trump criticised the recently deceased Jimmy Carter earlier this month for handing over control of the canal when he was president, calling it a disgrace. Jimmy Carter gave it to them for $1 and they were supposed to treat us well. I thought it was a terrible thing to do, Trump said on Tuesday at a news conference at Mar-a-Lago, in Florida. Mr Trump went on to call the US border with Canada an artificially drawn line, promised to rename the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America and reiterated interest in buying Greenland. He likes to think of himself as a dealmaker, someone who is expanding the security perimeter of the US. He wants to play the role of a disruptor, breaking the norms and reasserting greatness, Dr Sabatini said. What is Trumps personal history with Panama? In 2011, Mr Trump opened up the Trump Ocean Club International Hotel and Tower, a 70-story, sail-shaped skyscraper that loomed over Panama City. It was the Republicans first international hotel venture and was one of the tallest buildings in South America yet it soon would become a nightmare. The former Trump Tower Skyscraper in Panama City - diego_cervo/iStockphoto In 2015, Trumps management team was accused of taking excessive bonuses and mismanagement. In 2017, a Reuters investigation alleged that the skyscraper had been exploited by organized crime groups for money laundering. The same year, businessman Orestes Fintiklis purchased hundreds of units inside the building, becoming controlling owner and putting in motion the severing of Trumps name from the tower. The Trump Organisation contested the acquisition, but a Panamanian court ruled in Mr Fintikliss favour. As with all things Trump, it is personal. There is latent resentment toward Panama for siding with the owners over this dispute, Dr Sabatini said. The picture of them prying his name off the hotel has to sting for Trump. The lines between foreign policy, business and ego are very porous. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. BEIJING, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- China's health authority said on Monday that it had made it a priority to ensure that by 2025, all counties with permanent residents of over 100,000 could provide hemodialysis services. Jiao Yahui, an official from the National Health Commission (NHC), said at a press conference that after recent years of efforts, over 90 percent of county-level hospitals could provide hemodialysis services as of the end of 2024, marking an increase of more than 20 percentage points over the past decade. However, some counties still lack the necessary equipment and facilities, while others have outdated facilities, said Jiao. To address this, Jiao said the NHC will adopt an approach of "one county, one policy" based on preliminary assessment. It will address the needs of different counties by tailored measures, including training personnel to provide hemodialysis services, filling equipment shortages, and upgrading outdated facilities, she said. To mark the death of former president Jimmy Carter, President Joe Biden declared flags be displayed at half-staff for 30 days to mourn him as an expression of public sorrow. That 30-day period covers president-elect Donald Trump's inauguration today, but the flags will be raised in Washington, D.C., defying tradition. Trump had initially complained about the visuals of the flags flying at half-staff. They think its so great, and are so happy about it because, in actuality, they dont love our Country, they only think about themselves he wrote on a post on Truth Social earlier this month. Look at what theyve done to our once GREAT America over the past four years - Its a total mess! In any event, because of the death of President Jimmy Carter, the Flag may, for the first time ever during an Inauguration of a future President, be at half mast. Nobody wants to see this, and no American can be happy about it. Lets see how it plays out. Last week, he got his way: Speaker Mike Johnson declared the flags will be raised for the inauguration. On January 20th, the flags at the Capitol will fly at full-staff to celebrate our country coming together behind the inauguration of our 47th President, Donald Trump, Johnson announced. He added: The flags will be lowered back to half-staff the following day to continue honoring President Jimmy Carter. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Governors around the country have followed suit, including in Texas, Florida, Alabama, California, and more. While we honor the service of a former president, we must also celebrate the service of an incoming president, Governor Greg Abbott of Texas said in a statement. Governor Ron DeSantis, too, wrote, In light of the importance of this day, and on this patriotic occasion, I hereby order all flags to be raised to full staff at the Florida Capitol and across all state buildings, installations and grounds for the inauguration of the 47th president of the United States, Donald J. Trump. Democratic governor Gavin Newsom, too, declared flags raised in California for the inauguration. Even if Johnson hadn't intervened, it wouldn't have been the first time flags were flown at half-staff during a presidential inauguration. In 1973, flags were at half-staff during Richard Nixon's inauguration because of the death of former president Harry Truman, who passed away 25 days earlier. You Might Also Like Richard Arlin Walker Special to ICT Its Monday, Jan. 13, and only the presence of movers would tell you that Roger Nyhuss tenure as U.S. ambassador to Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean ends Jan. 20 with the change in presidential administrations. After this interview hell finish writing his departure cable, essentially a final report on issues the next ambassador should be aware of, then talk on CBC Barbados about his year of strengthening ties and fostering collaboration between the U.S. and Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement On Wednesday, Jan. 15, he planned to visit Antigua and Barbuda to sign a clear skies agreement, which will ease flight restrictions and allow more affordable and accessible air travel between that nation and the U.S., in turn promoting tourism and economic growth. He planned to return to Barbados on Thursday, Jan. 16., to host Prime Minister Mia Mottley and her family for dinner. Then, the next two days he planned to make a final visit to St. Kitts and Nevis, two more of the seven nations in his portfolio. Its a typical whirlwind week for him. Nyhuss ambassadorship has been like this since he arrived Jan. 19, 2024. Since then, he introduced a U.S. partnership to improve court system efficiency in Barbados; accompanied U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers in an air search for drug traffickers; promoted U.S. business investment in the region; and brought U.S. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland to Antigua for a gathering of island nations to discuss investments in climate change adaptation and sustainable development. He secured $1 billion in Export-Import Bank financing for cybersecurity and renewable energy; delivered $2 million in U.S. assistance to Grenada and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines to help communities affected by Hurricane Beryl; hosted a U.S.-Eastern Caribbean workshop on security initiatives in the region; and delivered U.S. investments in military and law enforcement training and boats. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Serving as ambassador was meaningful to him in a deeply personal way: He is a citizen of the Chinook Nation, one of about five Native Americans whove served as a U.S. ambassador, according to the U.S. State Department. He forged a personal relationship with the president of Dominica, who is an Indigenous Dominican (Kalinago), and spent time with the chief of the Kalinago people. Nyhus a 56-year-old Washingtonian spoke to ICT on Jan. 13 and talked about the importance of U.S.-Eastern Caribbean relations, the growing presence of China in the region, and why he considers Barbados to be his second home. ICT: In an earlier interview with us, you talked about how your Native heritage influences the importance you place on relationship-building. Nyhus: Probably one of the smartest things I did in my tenure is, before I got here, I knew that I would have to give a gift to each of the prime ministers seven of them. And so I commissioned glass eagle feathers from a Lummi artist, Dan Friday. I gave him the color palette from the Caribbean flags and he created a custom feather for each country, with that countrys colors and they were beautiful. I had some extras made in case. U.S. Ambassador to Barbados and Eastern Caribbean Roger Nyhus (left) presents a glass feather to Rihanna, Barbadian singer-businesswoman-philanthropist-diplomat, during a visit in the Barbados capital of Bridgetown. The feather was made by Lummi Nation artist Dan Friday. (Photo courtesy of U.S. Embassy, Barbados) Before I had a chance to give one to any prime minister, I had a meeting with Rihanna. She's so incredibly impressive and we had this wonderful conversation. She's been deemed by the government of Barbados as a National Treasure and I gave her one of the feathers. I wrapped it in this special box and I put the artists bio in the box and, unbeknownst to me, within the next two months she reached out to Dan directly and said, I love your work. The next time I'm in Seattle, I want to come visit your studio. Isnt that amazing? Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I had seen Dans work and admired it for years, and when I got the job, I was like, I'm going to do something really remarkable that honors my Native heritage and I went to Stonington Gallery in downtown Seattle and I said, Would you be willing to partner with me on this idea? And they did. And it was such a huge hit. ICT: Building official relationships is an important part of being an ambassador. What personal relationships did you establish during your tenure that you expect will continue post-ambassadorship? Nyhus: Relationships are everything. I think of a very recent trip to Dominica, which is the homeland of the Kalinago Tribe. I met and spent time with the chief and a bunch of school kids as well as the president of Dominica. She is Kalinago as well. And there was a kinship even though we're from worlds apart just understanding what the Kalinago people are going through and how it relates to my own tribe, the Chinook people. It really impressed on me the importance of not just showing up, but engaging and maintaining those relationships, which I very much plan to do after I'm done with my current post. I think of the relationships in Barbados. Barbados is my second home; I've never lived in a foreign country before. This is the first time I've lived outside of Washington state, with the exception of a brief time in Alaska. The president of Barbados, Dame Sandra Mason, literally took me under her wing. I had her and her family to dinner this last week, and this coming week, on Thursday, I'm having dinner with the Prime Minister's family. The Prime Minister's mother calls me her son. Coming here as a single person who knew absolutely no one in the country and to be welcomed so warmly and it's not just because I'm the U.S. ambassador is just incredible. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement ICT: You are the second Chinook Nation citizen to serve as a U.S. ambassador; the first was the late Christopher Stevens, who was killed in Libya in 2012. Talk about the significance of that and what you hope it tells people about the Chinook Nation. Nyhus: One of my cousins did the family tree for me and said, You know, you and Chris are fourth cousins. I knew we would be related somewhere, because it's a small tribe, but I didn't know we were that close. His death really transformed how the State Department views security of ambassadors. I spoke with his sister before I came here and she said, Don't forget Chris. And I did not forget Chris. I kept his ambassadorial photo on my desk. I brought him with me on this journey. Amelia Aubichon Petit (18301924), Chinook ancestor of U.S. ambassadors J. Christopher Stevens and Roger Nyhus. Stevens and Nyhus are fourth cousins and, according to the U.S. State Department, are two of five Native Americans to serve as U.S. ambassadors. (Photo courtesy of Roger Nyhus) This has been an incredible experience. It was only a year, but you know, one of the greatest compliments I've received came from local people who said, You've done more in a year than other ambassadors did in many years, and I think there's some truth to that. And so I feel like I'm leaving this having accomplished more than I could have hoped. And I hope that translates into positive momentum for the Chinook Nation as we seek re-recognition by the federal government. ICT: What happens now? Do you file some kind of a final report or something that says, These are some things you might want to keep on your radar? I know China has been strengthening its presence in the Caribbean, and the incoming administration is particularly concerned about that. How do you close this out? Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Nyhus: Today, I have been writing what we call a departure cable, which is essentially my unvarnished recommendations to the State Department writ large. It's my take so, you know, people can take it or leave it, but it's my opportunity to kind of hopefully help the next administration because we want the U.S. to be successful here, because if we're not successful, others like China will fill the void. The cable is designed to be a bit of a red flag, to say, Hey, you should pay attention to these issues. ICT: What are some of the things that you are most pleased with that you were able to accomplish in your tenure? And as you prepare to leave, what are some concerns you have about the region? Nyhus: I think that the biggest accomplishment by far was the signing of nearly $1 billion in EX-IM Bank financing for the region. Up to $500 million was for Barbados and up to $300 million was for St. Kitts and Nevis. That money is focused on energy transition, climate resilience, boats and planes that are used for search and rescue. That's huge. That is probably the biggest influx there of potential U.S. dollars in decades, so I am absolutely most proud about that. I am concerned about how aggressive China is pushing in this region. We see it every day and I don't think there's enough attention paid to that by the U.S. government at this point. The largest building in the entire country of Antigua and Barbuda is the Chinese Embassy. Think about that just the optics alone. They're sending a message that they're here and they're doing whatever they're doing. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This region is on the front lines of climate change. We saw it with Hurricane Beryl that hit the region this summer. It was the largest, most powerful storm in recorded history in this region and it luckily missed the major populated areas but it caused significant damage. I think that's another big concern. I think because these countries are small, they don't have a lot of resources to go around. So often, security and military are kind of short changed and you end up with big gaps in the region which create opportunities for traffickers of drugs, guns, people. That is a major concern. Illegal fishing is another major concern. The fishing industry here is all mom-and-pop operations. So, if you have a factory trawler out there scooping up all the fish, that impacts real people in these countries. I'm concerned about that. I'm also concerned that these countries are very dependent on tourism. I think having more diversified industries would be really beneficial and I think the U.S. private sector could play a role there, but there are so few American companies here. You see American companies in the travel and tourism sector, you see it in fast food, but you just don't see a lot of other U.S. companies. I think that's an opportunity, but it's also a concern that if we don't get more engaged, the countries there will continue to be at the mercy of the weather. And when there's a weather event, their entire economy shuts down. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement ICT: You're a 56-year-old soon-to-be former U.S. ambassador. You've built your own communications company. You've served as communications director for a Seattle mayor and a governor of Washington. What is next for you? Nyhus: I would say stay tuned, because I am focused on finishing strong here and I haven't begun to consider my next steps. Serving as an ambassador was an amazing, incredible opportunity, but it's not something that I sought out. I was offered the opportunity by President Biden, and while I wouldn't seek another ambassadorship, if I were invited, I would absolutely serve. I think there's some type of public service in my future, but it's too soon to tell what that would be. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement ICT: How do citizens of the Eastern Caribbean nations view the U.S. and Americans? Nyhus: I think there is a great affinity to the United States. I think every person that I have met here has family living in the U.S. and has visited. I think there's a misconception that everyone here wants to live in the U.S. I don't think that's true. I think that they want to be able to visit family and shop here, and I think that the perception of the United States is very strong, but I do think it's not as strong as it used to be. I think thats because we haven't been consistent in our attention and care for this region and others are filling the void, and that is predominantly China. So, part of my message to the future ambassador is, we need to do more to raise the visibility of this region in Washington, D.C., because it's a very important region and it gets overlooked at times. ICT: So readers understand what's at stake, can you explain why we should be concerned about an increased presence by China in the Caribbean? Nyhus: China is not a democratic country and does not share our values. And I think we see what happens when China is left unchecked. There's no question that China uses its influence to pressure these countries into voting for it in international forums like the United Nations and these countries tend to vote more with China than they do the United States already. And that's because of financial pressure. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement You know the Belt and Road Initiative; that's China's big economic influence package. They do it all over the world. What they do is they're like, We'll build housing for you, which the countries want. But then they bring only Chinese workers. They don't hire local people. And so there's very little economic benefit locally. And then the quality of the construction is not good. They don't have worker safety rules. There's lots of issues like that. ICT: According to a source, its widely assumed by security observers that the Chinese Embassy in Antigua is being used for intelligence gathering. Nyhus: I can't speak to that. But Antigua and Barbuda is a tiny country [an area of 170 square miles with a population of 100,000]. Why does China need that big of a building for an embassy there? They say it's for location, so people, Chinese people, can go there if there's a natural disaster. That doesn't make any sense. Our stories are worth telling. Our stories are worth sharing. Our stories are worth your support. Contribute today to help ICT carry out its critical mission. Sign up for ICTs free newsletter. In 2017, Oregonian Dustin Nehl was sentenced to five years in prison for what authorities in the city of Woodburn called a five-year arson spree that targeted a multitude of locations in that community. On Sunday, the ex-con and his wife, 44-year-old Jennifer Nehl who was with him were arrested on suspicion of impersonating firefighters and unauthorized entry of an evacuation zone after they drove a fake fire truck through a Palisades fire checkpoint, Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department officials said Sunday. Two Individuals from Oregon Arrested for Impersonating Firefighters within Palisades Fire On Saturday, January 18, 2025, Los Angeles County Sheriffs Major Crimes Bureau investigators were contacted regarding an arrest of two suspects for impersonation of firefighters. An LAPD pic.twitter.com/K9jGcfVW4Q LA County Sheriffs (@LASDHQ) January 19, 2025 The couple was spotted Saturday by an LAPD patrol unit, which contacted the LASD that they had observed a fire truck that did not appear to be legitimate."Deputies tracked the truck down on Sunday as they "attempted to enter an evacuation zone." Both were wearing turnout gear and told authorities that they were volunteer firefighters for a nonexistent department: Roaring River Fire Department in Oregon, which was written across the front of a decommissioned firetruck once owned by the state of California. In addition, the Nehls were wearing CAL-Fire t-shirts under the turnout gear, helmets, and carrying radios tuned into official channels. Nehl's five-year prison sentence was followed by 3 years post-prison supervision. It is unclear if he remains on probation in Oregon. In November, Jennifer gave birth to a baby they named Makenna, a complicated birth that led a friend of the couple to set up a GoFundMe page to raise money for the couple's travel to a Portland NICU unit. The baby later died, according to Dustin Nehl's YouTube channel. Related: OPINION | The Erosion of Empathy: How Fake News and Conspiracies Divide Us The Nehls, who a fire official confirmed acquired a free hotel room with their ruse, are not the first people to be arrested for impersonating firefighters. At a press briefing last week, Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell said officers apprehended a looter in Malibu dressed as a firefighter. Ivan Cedric Reed, 34, was wearing a yellow firefighters uniform and carrying a radio when police found him on Clifftop Way in Malibu on Tuesday evening. Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman said Reed was charged with receiving stolen property, impersonating a firefighter, unlawful use of a badge and unauthorized entry of a closed disaster area. "Reed is accused of wearing a yellow firefighter jacket and having a first responders radio in a mandatory evacuation area," Hochman said this week. "The defendant allegedly told deputies he was a firefighter." Outgoing President Joe Biden greeted incoming President Donald Trump at the north portico of the White House on Monday with an enthusiastic Welcome home! The first families enjoyed tea together, and a few hours later Trump, a convicted felon who attempted to overturn the results of a free and fair election four years ago, was sworn in as the 47th president inside the Capitol his supporters violently attacked in an effort to keep him in power. The 45th and now 47th president of the United States swore the oath of office on a Bible held by Chief Justice John Roberts. The golden age of America begins now, Trump said after he took the oath of office. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trumps inaugural address was essentially a slightly cleaner version of his campaign stump speech. My recent election is a mandate to completely and totally reverse a horrible betrayal and all of these many betrayals that have taken place and to give the people back their faith, their wealth, their democracy and, indeed, their freedom. From this moment on, Americas decline is over, Trump said, as Biden and now-former Vice President Kamala Harris sat beside him. For American citizens, Jan. 20, 2025, is liberation day, he added. The president highlighted several of his more notorious campaign promises that he plans to fulfill through executive order, including a vow to deploy military personnel to the southern border, deport millions of undocumented immigrants, to drill, baby, drill to increase oil production, to tariff and tax foreign countries to enrich our citizens, and make it the official policy of the United States government that there are only two genders, male and female. Trump said he wants to restore common sense to the United States, before vowing to send astronauts to Mars. The president noted that his inauguration took place on Martin Luther King day, and promised to strive together to make his dream a reality. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The ceremony at the Capitol rotunda was relatively subdued, after outdoor festivities were moved indoors because of the frigid conditions currently battering Washington, D.C. The president, who has been described as an aspiring tyrant by scores of his former staffers and has expressed a desire to act as a dictator for the first day of presidency, was welcomed back into office surrounded not by the people, but by celebrities, corporate executives, and the politicians and Supreme Court justices who will help him remake America in the image of right-wing extremism. Despite the stomach-churning normalcy of the proceedings, signs of the anxieties surrounding Trumps return to power were evident. On Monday morning, Biden issued a series of preemptive pardons intended to protect public figures Trump has openly marked for political retribution. These include former National Institute of Health Director Dr. Anthony Fauci, retired Gen. Mark Milley, and former Rep. Liz Cheney. Michael Fanone, a retired D.C. police officer who was assaulted by pro-Trump rioters on Jan. 6, told The New York Times that its insane that we live in a country where the president of the United States feels the need to offer a preemptive pardon to American citizens who testified in an investigation regarding an insurrection which was incited by the incoming president because hes promised to enact, or exact, vengeance on those participants and the body that investigated them. Protests peppered the nations capital, but were nearly invisible to the wider national audience given the stringent security perimeters established around the National Mall and the Capitol. On Saturday, thousands of protesters gathered for The Peoples March, formerly The Womens March, at the Lincoln Memorial, braving freezing winds and freezing temperature to voice their opposition to the incoming administration. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trump notably refused to attend Bidens ceremonies in 2020 after falsely claiming that reelection had been fraudulently stolen from him, and helping foment an attempt by his most ardent supporters to usurp the election on Jan. 6 of 2021. Trump has teased that he will pardon the MAGA rioters who attacked the Capitol four years ago. More from Rolling Stone Best of Rolling Stone Sign up for RollingStone's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. A Cook County sheriffs deputy was fatally shot in Turks and Caicos Saturday while celebrating her sisters 40th birthday at a popular restaurant, according to island authorities. Shamone A. Duncan, 50, was sitting on the rooftop of Aziza Restaurant & Lounge in Grace Bay around 10 p.m. when a stray bullet hit her, family said. She was one of two people killed in the shooting on Providenciales, the main island in the Turks and Caicos archipelago in the West Indies. I was just telling everyone how this was my best birthday ever, said Duncans sister Sharaye Baugh. We were literally taking pictures for 10 to 15 minutes on the rooftop. It was just an amazing time. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Shortly after taking photos, the group heard what they initially thought were fireworks, Baugh said. As soon as they realized the sound was gunfire, people began to take cover. Duncan stood up and was hit, her sister said. Officers and medical personnel were immediately deployed to the scene, according to the Royal Turks and Caicos Island Police Force. Duncans family members, however, said it took paramedics 30 to 40 minutes to arrive at the restaurant. Relatives also said officials waited more than hour after the shooting to speak with them. Service was unacceptable, said Eshawn Spencer, Duncans sister, who she said she believes her sister could have been saved if things were handled differently. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Island police did not respond to specific questions about the shooting from the Tribune on Sunday. Instead, authorities provided a statement from acting police Commissioner Rodney Adams, who appealed for any witness accounts, video recordings or other information connected to the incident. We condemn this violence and will remain resolute in our pursuit of the person(s) responsible for this despicable act, Adams said in the statement. Duncans sisters described the deputy as a mama bear who always stepped in to handle problems, plan events and care for others. She was the in-charge sister, the one who told everyone what time to get the airport and what restaurants to go to, among other advice. The Chicago native also was a passionate Bears fan and was known for going to games dressed from head to toe jerseys, socks, hats and even shoes in team regalia. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Shamone loved, and she was loved, Spencer said. Insurance executive Dario Stubbs, who lived on the island, was also killed in the shooting, according to the royal police force. A 29-year-old male was injured in the shooting, as well, and was undergoing medical treatment. None of the victims appear to be the intended target, authorities said. Duncan joined the Cook County sheriffs office about 20 years ago and was most recently assigned to Cermak Health Services, according to a statement released by Sheriff Tom Darts office. The statement said the department was heartbroken for Duncans family. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We are in contact with her family to provide any support they need during this difficult time and are supporting her colleagues as they process this terrible news, the department said in a statement. Duncan joined the sheriffs office on a whim after college, when she walked by a table advertising the sheriffs office and signed up, her family said. She loved the job, Spencer said. She loved trying to help individuals who have made some bad decisions in life and put them on the right path. Her sense of service did not end with the Cook County sheriffs office. Duncan was also an active member of her local Order of the Eastern Star chapter for nearly 10 years. She particularly enjoyed the groups annual back-to-school charity event, her sister said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement She was a planner, so if she was preparing for an event, she started two months in advance, Spencer said. For the back-to-school event, that planning translated into making sure all the kids got the supplies they need. Just to see the kids come out and see the smiles on their faces she enjoyed that, Spencer said. In addition to her sisters, Duncan is survived by her son, Shamon Payton, and a granddaughter, Ava Payton. A Cook County Sheriffs Deputy was shot and killed in Turks and Caicos Saturday night. According to a statement from the Cook County Sheriffs Office, Shamone A. Duncan was on vacation in Turks and Caicos when she was shot and killed. She was a 20-year veteran of the Cook County Department of Corrections and assigned to Cermak Health Services at the time of her death. Our hearts are broken for the family of Deputy Shamone Duncan who was killed on Jan. 18 while on vacation. She was a 20-year veteran of the Cook County Department of Corrections and was currently assigned to Cermak Health Services. We are in contact with her family to provide any support they need during this difficult time and are supporting her colleagues as they process this terrible news. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We refer any questions regarding the investigation into Deputy Duncans death to the Royal Turks and Caicos Islands Police Force. A family spokesperson told WGN News preliminary details from the shooting remain under investigation, but Duncan was not the intended target. The spokesperson said the trip to Turks and Caicos was meant to celebrate Duncans sisters birthday, and shared the following statement on behalf of the Duncan family: It is with unimaginable sorrow that we, the family of Sheriff Shamone A. Duncan, announce her tragic passing on January 18th, 2025. While on the rooftop of Aziza Restaurant & Lounge in Turks and Caicos, celebrating her sisters birthday, Shamone was tragically struck by a stray bullet during a senseless act of gun violence. She was only 50 years old. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Shamone was a proud native of Chicago, born and raised in the city she loved and served tirelessly. A shining example of excellence, she was a proud Eastern Star, exemplifying her deep commitment to faith, service, and community. Her 21 years of service as Cook County Sheriff were a testament to her unwavering dedication to justice and her passion for protecting others. She was a beacon of strength, compassion, and leadership, touching countless lives in her community and beyond. Above all, Shamone was a devoted mother, grandmother, sister, and friend. She is survived by her loving son and her cherished granddaughter, who were the lights of her life. Her family was her greatest joy, and her presence will be deeply missed by all who knew and loved her. As we grapple with this devastating loss, we ask for privacy and prayers during this challenging time. We hope that Shamones legacy of service, strength, and love will continue to inspire others to work for a better, safer world. Details of her memorial service will be shared in the coming days. We thank everyone for their outpouring of support and condolences as we mourn the loss of an extraordinary woman, mother, and leader. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement May Sheriff Shamone A. Duncans memory live on in our hearts forever. With gratitude, The Family of Shamone A. Duncan Copyright 2025 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. Denmark-headquartered Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP), through its Energy Transition Fund (CI ETF I), and Friesen Elektra Green Energy AG have initiated project Anker, a green hydrogen production facility in Sande, Germany. The project is scheduled to have an electrolysis capacity of 400 MW with plans to expand capacity to 800 MW at a later stage. Project Anker is located near Wilhelmshaven, an important energy and industrial hub, and near the future German hydrogen core network. CIP on Jan. 15 said the project is expected to produce 80,000 tons of green hydrogen annually that will benefit key German industries, including steel and chemicals, as well as the transport sector. The project will bolster the regional economy in Lower Saxony by creating new jobs, growth and fostering active community engagement. Project Anker will be powered by renewable energy from the grid, supported by offshore and onshore wind, as well as solar energy. By substituting fossil fuels with green hydrogen, the project can reduce CO emissions by up to 2.4 million tons annually, equivalent to the emissions of approximately 340,000 households. Project Anker has the potential to make an important contribution to Germanys journey towards a carbon-neutral future. At CIP, we continue to see a large potential in green hydrogen despite slower than expected market development and we remain committed to investments in large-scale renewable infrastructure solutions to decarbonize energy-intensive industries. We look very much forward to bring the project to realization together with our new partners at Friesen Elektra and to a constructive collaboration with the German authorities. said Felix Pahl, partner at CIP. We are delighted to welcome CIP and its highly skilled, experienced team as a strategic investor and development partner in our Hydrogen Park Friesland. This collaboration is a major step towards creating one of Germanys premier hydrogen production sites. Together, we aim to accelerate the energy transition and advance decarbonization by leveraging our combined strengths and expertise, said Christian Gatje, CFO of Friesen Elektra. CIPs Energy Transition Fund I (CI ETF I) is the largest dedicated greenfield green hydrogen fund worldwide. CI ETF I has built a market leading portfolio of Power-to-X projects, with about 6.5 GW of electrolyser capacity in its development portfolio globally. POWER edited this content, which was contributed by Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners. (WJET/WFXP) Corry City Police are warning residents of another phone scam in the area where scammers are pretending to be from government services. Corry police said unknown people have been calling residents in the area claiming to be from the Social Security Office or from their department and demanding payment via gift cards. Erie organizations awarded $4.2 million in grants supporting youth programs Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The scammers have also reportedly been using technology to appear the call is coming from either office and that calls from Corry police are about verifying Social Security information. Police are reminding residents these organizations will not call you and ask for payments over the phone and that they dont call to verify anything regarding Social Security. Anyone who believes they may have been scammed or have any questions can call Corry police at 814-664-2222. Copyright 2025 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 WJET/WFXP/YourErie.com. JERUSALEM, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- Israel's military chief Herzi Halevi on Monday instructed the army to prepare plans for renewed attacks in Gaza and Lebanon, a day after the fragile Gaza ceasefire came into effect. In a situational assessment meeting, Halevi "instructed the preparation of plans for continued combat operations -- both in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon," according to a statement from the military. While offensive operations have ceased, there were "intensified preparations for defense in the Gaza Strip," he said. The military "must be prepared for significant operations in the West Bank in the coming days to preempt and apprehend terrorists before they reach our civilians," he added. Halevi did not elaborate on the reasons for preparing the attack plans. On Jan. 15, Israel and Hamas reached a ceasefire-for-hostage release deal following intensive mediation efforts by Qatar, Egypt and the United States. The agreement includes an initial 42-day phase, during which more than 15 months of fighting in Gaza will halt, and 33 hostages held in Gaza will be released in exchange for the release of several hundred Palestinian prisoners. Far-right Israeli ministers have opposed the ceasefire agreement that took effect on Sunday. Israeli far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has demanded "guarantees" that Israel would renew its assault on Gaza after the first phase of the deal is implemented. Israel's National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and his party have submitted their resignation to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition government on Sunday, citing opposition to the Gaza ceasefire deal. This has put Netanyahu in the danger of losing his majority and potentially triggering new elections. In Lebanon, a ceasefire brokered by the United States and France went into effect on Nov. 27, 2024, aiming to halt nearly 14 months of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah. (Reuters) - Teamsters said on Sunday its members at U.S. retailer Costco Wholesale voted in favor of a nationwide strike, as they entered a final round of talks to reach a new contract ahead of a Jan. 31 deadline. The union, which represents more than 18,000 workers at Costco, said 85% of its members voted to authorize a strike. "The vote is a direct result of the companys continued failure to bargain constructively," the union said in a post on X, adding that the master agreement between the two parties expires on Jan. 31. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Costco did not immediately respond to a Reuters' request for comment outside regular business hours. The final week of negotiations begins on Jan. 20, the union said in another X post. (Reporting by Gnaneshwar Rajan in Bengaluru; Editing by Sonali Paul) Donald Trumps second-term will begin today, kicking off four years which are likely to push the US-UK special relationship to its limits. Much has been made of the tension between Sir Keir Starmer and the incoming US president in the build up to the day, with the pair seeming to disagree on a number of fronts. How the prime minister will navigate this challenge will now be a key question for the rest of this government one its likely he and his ministers never wanted to find out the answer to. But you meet the world as it is not you would like it to be, as foreign secretary David Lammy said when pressed on his view of Trumps second term. Alongside other ministers, he has changed his tone on the new US president from years past, instead taking a diplomatic approach with clear hopes to get off on the right foot. Incoming US president Donald Trump has spoken of his intention to introduce trade tariffs (Matt Rourke/AP) (AP) The new US president, meanwhile, remains characteristically unapologetic. He has pledged to bring in 200 executive orders on day one of his presidency alone, with implications that will sweep beyond the US and across the globe. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Here are some of the key issues that may soon arise between the UK and the US: Preparing for tariffs The most beautiful word in the dictionary according to Trump, is tariff. The incoming president has said he plans to put a 10 to 25 per cent tax on imports from countries which have been ripping [the US] off for years. This is all but confirmed for China, Mexico and Canda, but for others it remains less clear. Whitehall officials will be hoping the new US president wont seek to impose a blanket border tax that includes UK exporters. The measure would be disruptive to many of the countrys businesses, at time when the economy is already struggling to see any real growth. Ministers will likely now need to play a diplomatic balancing act, waiting to see what Trumps approach to the UK is and preparing for all scenarios. Given Labours manifesto pledge to reset the countrys relationship with the EU, its thought that the prime minister could look to offset any US tariffs by seeking out stronger trade ties with countries across the channel. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and Foreign Secretary David Lammy at the White House in September 2024 following talks with Joe Biden (Stefan Rousseau/PA) (PA Wire) The Liberal Democrats have called for the government to go further and form a new customs union with the EU to pre-empt any negative effects from Mr Trumps presidency. However, ministers recent statements indicate that the government is not looking not to make any moves that could be seen as antagonistic to the Trump administration, instead trying to salvage a good working relationship. The war of words continues But its no secret that Keir Starmer and Donald Trump are not the most politically, or personally, aligned. Whilst on the campaign trail, the incoming presidents team accused the far-left Labour party of acting unlawfully by sending volunteers to assist with opponent Kamala Harris presidential bid and the war of words hasnt stopped there. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Many of them have been said, or typed, by Trump ally Elon Musk. The worlds richest man began making appearances at the incoming presidents campaign events towards the end of the trail, but did enough to earn himself a place at the Mr Trumps side as a head of his new government efficiency unit. Not long after securing his new job, the tech billionaire began taking aim at Sir Keir and his government, often to an extreme degree. Taking to Twitter / X, the platform he owns, at the start of the year, Mr Musk accused home office minister Jess Phillips of being a rape genocide apologist who deserves to be in prison. He also wrote that the prime minister was complicit in the worst mass crime in the history of Britain. Nigel Farage and Party Treasurer Nick Candy with Elon Musk (Stuart Mitchell/Reform UK/PA) (Stuart Mitchell/Reform UK) Paired with his outspoken support of Reform UK (although not always of its leader, Nigel Farage) Sir Keir has not found a natural ally in Elon Musk. Mr Trump has likewise expressed support for the UKs relatively new right-wing party, calling Mr Farage a friend at one of his 2024 rallies. The new president may even go so far as to block Labours pick Peter Mandelson for the UK ambassador to the US, The Independent recently reported. This extremely rare step would undoubtedly be a disappointing act of hostility for UK ministers. Nato and Ukraine Another area where the incoming Trump administration and Labour are likely to clash is on defence spending. The incoming president has said he feels the US spends more on defence than most Nato countries, calling for a new target of fie per cent GDP. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This is up considerably from the current two per cent target. The UK currently pledges 2.3 per cent, with intentions ro raise it to 2.5 per cent by this year. Given the tight economic contraints outlined by the Treasury, its unlikely calls to increase this futher would be welcomed by UK officials. The incoming president has also said he would like to bring the war in Ukraine to a speedy end and will now be able to use the USs massive expenditure on Zelenskys forces as a bargaining chip in discussions. Prime minister Sir Keir Starmer meets with Ukraines President Zelensky, January 16, 2024 (AFP via Getty Images) Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But some of his comments have prompted concern that Mr Trump may cede key Russian demands as part of a deal. This could include granting Vladimir Putins regime large regions of the country, or deferring Ukraines Nato membership bid. The incoming president has previously said that he understands [Russias] feelings about having somebody right on their doorstep. If the war in Ukraine does move from military support to a possible peacekeeping operation, the prime minister has said that the UK will play full part in the plans. Chagos deal Another point of contention in the build up to Trumps second term has been the UKs ongoing discussions over the fate of the Chagos Islands. Its thought that Labour officials were hoping to get a deal over the line with Mauritius before the incoming presidents inauguration, but has now been put on hold. Although the plan had already been greenlit by the Biden administration, the prime ministers spokesperson has said Trump will now be given the opportunity to consider the deal before it goes ahead. The deal was expected to be signed by 22 January, a Mauritian source said, but overnight the British position changed. It was recently revealed that cross-Atlantic discussions between right-wing Tory and Reform politicians and Donald Trumps team took place to ensure the deal was put on hold. The UK deal would see the sovereignty of the islands given back to Mauritius, but allow a key US-UK military base to be leased back. ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. A St. Louis County Circuit Court judge issued a criminal summons for a southern Illinois man who carried out the high-dollar theft of a Ritz-Carlton hotel guest last summer. According to the Clayton Police Departments probable cause statement, the theft took place on Aug. 11, 2024, in the Carondelet Plaza. Police said the victim reported his hotel room had been ransacked and that $315,000 in cash had been stolen from his suitcase. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The victim told investigators a woman met him for dinner at the hotel before accompanying him to a casino. The victim gave this woman a key to his hotel room. During dinner, the woman complained of being sick multiple times and left the table. She eventually returned and they went to the casino. Once at the casino, the victim said the woman left for the evening. Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now Daily News After the victim and woman left for the casino, police said Kristian J. Sanders (age not provided) entered the Ritz-Carlton and made his way to the victims room. Sanders used the key given to the woman to access the victims room. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Police reviewed hotel surveillance video and other information and determined Sanders concealed the stolen cash in a red backpack with white stars on it. Sometime after the theft, the woman involved had purchased a 2022 Chevrolet Trailblazer and used $13,000 in cash for the down payment, police said. Investigators also discovered that Sanders bought a Dodge Charger for $24,000 and paid in cash. Police learned Sanders and the woman were in a relationship and shared a residence. Law enforcement went to the residence and located more than $95,000 in cash, along with receipts for clothing, electronics, jewelry, and other items. These purchases were all made after the theft. According to police, the woman involved admitted giving the hotel room key to Sanders. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorneys Office charged Sanders with stealing $25,000 or more. Sanders has been ordered to appear in court on Feb. 25. We could not find charges against the woman in online court records. Copyright 2025 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 2. A Coweta County fire battalion chief died on Sunday after an Alabama man shot him while he was trying to help a driver who hit a deer. James Bartholomew Cauthen, 54, served as a Battalion Fire Chief with Coweta County Fire Rescue. The Chambers County Sheriffs Office in Alabama will charge William Randall Franklin with murder in Cauthens death. Tonight, Coweta Fire Rescue is devastated to hear of the loss of Battalion Chief Bart Cauthen. We lost one of our brothers, leaders, mentor, and family to a senseless tragedy. Our hearts and prayers go out to the Cauthen family as they go through this difficult time. We asked that you keep this family in your hearts and prayers, the Coweta County fire department said. [DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] The Chambers County Sheriffs Office said the shooting happened Sunday night on County Road 267 near U.S. 431. Deputies responded initially to a call about a driver hitting a deer. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement They found three people shot: Cauthen, Franklin and the driver. This was an exceptional call that nobody could have been prepared for. Our first deputy on the scene thought he was pulling up on a simple deer wreck. Instead, he found 3 individuals with gunshot wounds. Nothing couldve prepared him for that, Chambers County Sheriffs Office commented on their Facebook page. The sheriffs office said they determined that Cauthen and the driver didnt have any cell service and were walking toward Franklins driveway to try to call for help. That is when deputies say Franklin started shooting. At some point, Franklin was also shot, but its unclear who shot him. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Deputies declared Cauthen dead at the scene. Paramedics took the driver to a nearby hospital. They also took Franklin to Piedmont Medical Center in Columbus. Once he is released from the hospital, Franklin will be charged with murder. TRENDING STORIES: The Coweta County Fire Department said Cauthen had been with the department for over 24 years. He was an amazing, hard-working man with a gentle soul, the department said. Just like many of you, we have many questions as we navigate through this horrible tragedy. No funeral arrangements have been made. Anyone with information about the case is urged to contact the sheriffs office Criminal Investigations Division at (334) 864-4333. [SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter] DENVER (KDVR) Colorado Parks and Wildlife announced Sunday that it successfully captured 15 gray wolves from the central interior of British Columbia and released them into Colorado, in addition to the five members of the Copper Creek pack previously captured in Colorado. The releases were done separately, the agency said in a press release Sunday, and all wolves were released into Eagle and Pitkin counties. This is the second of between three to five wolf release seasons. CPW starts wolf capture operations in Canada ahead of Colorado reintroduction Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement CPW has a responsibility to balance the safety of staff and the animals with the level and timing of information provided during this complex wildlife operation, the agency said in its Sunday release. Unfortunately, staff safety was threatened as CPW offices were watched and threatening social media posts and phone calls were received. CPW went on to note that two of the 10 wolves introduced in December 2023 have been illegally shot, and that gray wolves are protected under the federal Endangered Species Act and state law. Wolf runs across a snow-covered field in British Columbia as a helicopter flies overhead during capture operations in January 2025. (Courtesy Colorado Parks and Wildlife) CPW staff stands over crate completing paper after releasing five gray wolves in Colorado on Jan. 16, 2025. (Courtesy Colorado Parks and Wildlife) CPW staff prepares to move a recently captured gray wolf from a helicopter during capture operations in British Columbia in January 2025. (Courtesy Colorado Parks and Wildlife) Gray Wolf stands outside of its crate for a brief moment at the release site on Jan. 14, 2025. (Courtesy Colorado Parks and Wildlife) Gray Wolf travels into the distance at the release site on Jan. 14, 2025. (Colorado Parks and Wildlife) Gray wolf sits in a temporary pen awaiting transport to Colorado during capture operations in British Columbia in January 2025. (Courtesy Colorado Parks and Wildlife) Helicopter on the ground after capturing a gray wolf during capture operations in British Columbia in January 2025. (Courtesy Colorado Parks and Wildlife) A gray wolf is carried from the helicopter to the site where it will be checked by CPW staff in January 2025. (Colorado Parks and Wildlife) Because of the safety risk and security needs of our staff and the animals, CPW did not share wolf release details while the operation was underway, the agency said. The agency also did not share release details in real-time during the 2023 wolf release. What wolves were captured and how CPW said it took biologists six days to capture the 15 wolves in British Columbia, Canada. The agency said it captured seven males and eight females. The area where the wolves were captured is part of a predator reduction area to help the caribou population recovery. CPW will pay for all costs incurred in the capture and release. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Animal welfare and safety was prioritized throughout all stages of the project and followed an approved Animal Care Plan, CPW said. The wolves that were transported received vaccines and a GPS collar. The agency said one wolf passed away after it was captured. An examination was conducted by onsite veterinary staff and noted that the animals age and underlying condition may have contributed to the death, the agency said. Wolf killed in Grand County was shot; Federal officials seeking information The new wolves were reintroduced in waves of five on three dates five each on Jan. 12, 14 and 16 in Eagle and Pitkin counties. The agency said it worked expeditiously as possible post-capture in BC to release the animals in Colorado. Due to the travel times and border inspections, all three releases occurred in the evening. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This binational effort was conducted by a professional team of experts from two jurisdictions, said CPW Director Jeff Davis in the agencys Sunday release. From the veterinarians and biologists to the helicopter pilots and wildlife officers, this team worked together to ensure a safe and successful outcome for this years capture and release efforts that also prioritized the health and safety of staff and animals. CPW noted that BC has an abundant gray wolf population, estimated to be in the range of 5,300 and 11,600 animals. Copper Creek pack members re-released on Saturday The Copper Creek female and four pups were successfully re-released into the Colorado wilderness on Jan. 18, CPW reported Sunday. The department said its wildlife veterinarians had evaluated the pups and female wolfs health since they had been captured in late August and determined they were all in good condition. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The pups were released with the female to ensure that they learn to hunt, CPW said in its release. This gives the animals the best chance at survival, furthering the goal of successfully restoring wolves in Colorado. CPW denies petition to delay wolf reintroduction; reflects on conflict management Each wolf was fitted with a GPS collar to track the animals after release. All five will be closely monitored, the agency said, noting the significant concerns livestock producers have with those wolves release. The pack is implicated in several livestock deaths and repeated attacks that damaged Colorado ranchers crops, resulting in their capture in August and September. The adult male wolf of the pack was also found to have been shot prior to capture, leading to the wolfs poor condition at capture and later death. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement As I said at the time, options in the case of the Copper Creek Pack were very limited, and this action is by no means a precedent for how CPW will resolve wolf-livestock conflict moving forward. The male adult wolf was involved in multiple depredations. Removing the male at that time, while he was the sole source of food and the female was denning, would likely have been fatal to the pups and counter to the restoration mandate, said Davis in CPWs announcement. The agency said the capture of the pack was a management action to change the behavior of the animals to reduce the killing of livestock and could further impact the adult females behavior moving forward. The agency didnt expound on that topic in its release. FOX31 Newsletters: Sign up to get breaking news sent to your inbox As restoration efforts continue, CPW is committed to working with livestock owners, communities, state agencies and all partners to reduce the likelihood of wolf-livestock conflict. Our goal is to keep ranchers ranching, while at the same time restoring a healthy, sustainable population of gray wolves to Colorado as mandated, said Davis in Sundays release. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Livestock and agricultural groups had petitioned the state to delay any new wolf reintroductions in 2025, asking the state agency to meet seven benchmarks before proceeding with adding more of the animals to the states landscape. Conversely, pro-wolf reintroduction groups asked the commission to continue with reintroduction efforts. The CPW Commission voted 10-1 to deny the petition, green-lighting the wolf reintroductions. Commission members were told by experts that delaying the reintroduction would have prevented mating in 2025 and would not have bolstered population numbers for wolves in Colorado. Groups applaud release of more gray wolves into Colorado Groups that have been vocal about their stances on gray wolves in the state released statements about the new wolves in Colorados landscape. Courtney Vail, Rocky Mountain Wolf Project board chair, celebrated the achievement and shared a written statement. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Colorados arms are open to these pioneering and resilient wolves. We are beside them, rooting for their success and wellbeing, Vail wrote. Likewise, we are ever thankful for the professionals in charge of their stewardship. While others, in decades past, paved the way with successful wolf reintroductions in surrounding states, Colorados endeavor is historic because it is state-led and reflects the will of our citizens. Vail is also a member of CPWs ad hoc working group. She said via email that she has emphasized the importance of collaboration between ranchers, CPW personnel and wolf advocates, to minimize conflicts between livestock production and wolves. Copyright 2025 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. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) said Monday that he expects to see TikTok sold under President-elect Trump, as the incoming president has vowed to protect the app. Well, the statute allowed for a 90-day delay to facilitate a sale. What I hope and expect is that we see that sale, he said. The purpose of the law was not to ban TikTok. The purpose of the law was to end the Chinese Communist government ownership and control, he said. And thats what I hope and expect will happen. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The law, passed by wide bipartisan majorities in Congress, required TikToks China-based parent company ByteDance to divest from the app by Sunday or face a ban. The measure came in the face of increasing concern about the apps ties to China, including the possibility the Chinese government could access American user data. The Supreme Court upheld the law Friday, finding it did not violate the First Amendment and teeing up a ban. The Biden administration said it would leave enforcement to the incoming Trump administration. However, TikTok said it would go dark ahead of the ban, arguing the White House had not provided the necessary assurances to service providers that they would not face penalties for keeping the app available. TikTok shut down access for American users late Saturday night. Just over 12 hours later, the app was back up and running. The platform thanked Trump, who on Sunday said he planned to sign an executive order giving the app an extension. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Its a strong stand for the First Amendment and against arbitrary censorship, TikTok said in a post on X. We will work with President Trump on a long-term solution that keeps TikTok in the United States. Copyright 2025 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 The Hill. If cryptocurrency is the future of finance, miners who depend on dirty fuels could ultimately pay more than others. However, proponents of implementing a crypto tax believe it could prevent the dire consequences of inaction. What's happening? As Forbes detailed, widely adopting cryptocurrency for financial transactions could cause environmental ruin, given that crypto mining requires massive amounts of energy and water. What's more, crypto operations can generate enough noise to be a public health menace, leading to a lawsuit against a facility in Texas. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement While different types of crypto exist, Bitcoin is one of the most recognizable names. However, validating just one Bitcoin transaction a process that involves solving complex mathematical puzzles can gobble up as much power as a person in Germany does over three months, Forbes reported. Because of this energy drain, many countries are proposing taxes on cryptocurrency mining, and some governments are already restricting operations. Why would cryptocurrency taxes be helpful? Fortunately, clean energy solutions like solar and wind are making headway, but the world is still heavily reliant on fuels like gas, oil, and coal, which release toxic fumes associated with millions of annual premature deaths when burned. In fact, dirty energy consumption reached record highs in 2023, according to the Energy Institute. Ultimately, policymakers argue that taxing cryptocurrency mining could significantly reduce long-term harm by incentivizing miners to adopt renewable, non-polluting power or otherwise improve their operations' energy efficiency. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement For instance, a task force at the 2024 United Nations Climate Change Conference proposed a $0.045 per kilowatt-hour climate tax for miners, a levy that would bring in as much as $5.2 billion every year, per Forbes. The Biden administration also suggested a 30% tax on electricity consumed by crypto miners. However, the report speculates it is unlikely the incoming administration will be on board. Speaking at a Bitcoin conference in July, President-elect Donald Trump called for the United States to become the "crypto capital of the planet," per the Associated Press. What else is being done to limit harm from cryptocurrency operations? A number of companies are actively working to reduce or offset pollution from crypto operations, including Alephium, whose "proof-of-less-work" blockchain is more energy efficient. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Meanwhile, cryptocurrency network Ethereum's shift to a "proof-of-stake system" resulted in an incredibly promising decrease in energy consumption more than 99.9%. You can contribute to a cleaner future by educating yourself about greenwashing and leveraging that knowledge to invest in and support companies committed to sustainable actions and future growth. Join our free newsletter for good news and useful tips, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet. Follow todays inauguration live blog In August, Barack and Michelle Obama appeared together on stage at the Democratic National Convention, launching their biggest intervention against Donald Trump during the presidential race. The couple lapped up applause from delegates as they doled out personal attacks on the Republican nominee, who Mrs Obama accused of ugly, misogynistic, racist lies. Five months and one election loss later, the speech also marks the last time Mr and Mrs Obama have made a public appearance together. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement After skipping a state funeral for Jimmy Carter in Washington, Mrs Obama has confirmed that she will not attend Trumps presidential inauguration, leaving her husband to face the fanfare alone again. Hillary Clinton and Laura Bush will both joined their husbands on Monday. A spokesman gave no reason for her absence, after explaining that she was unable to appear for Carters funeral because of a scheduling conflict. It has since emerged that Mrs Obama was on holiday in Hawaii without her husband. Her withdrawal from political life has been interpreted by some as an attempt to avoid coming face-to-face with Mr Trump, who was pictured laughing and joking with her husband at Carters funeral. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Some Democrats criticised Mr Obama for speaking so openly to Mr Trump after his election win noting that Kamala Harris ignored her political rival completely. The seating plan at the funeral, which was attended by every other former first lady, would likely have sat Mrs Obama next to Mr Trump putting her in an awkward position after her words on the campaign trail. Although that posed no issue for Mr Obama, who is well-used to engaging with political rivals in a social setting. Mrs Obama has previously complained about the requirements placed on her by her husbands political career. In Mr Obamas 2020 book, A Promised Land, he wrote that his wife had told him she was frustrated about his long hours as a Illinois senator, telling him: This isnt what I signed up for, Barack. I feel like Im doing it all by myself. Rediscovering their love He said the demands of eight years in the White House had placed a strain on their marriage, but that they had spent time rediscovering their love and replenishing their friendship after he stood down. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement She has not appeared in public with Mr Obama since the August speech, nor posted about politics on her social media accounts. In October, she posted on Instagram about the couples 32nd anniversary, thanking him for always having my back, being by my side, and finding ways to make me smile. Mrs Obamas convention speech, which saw her abandon the Obama mantra when they go low, we go high, was interpreted as a major victory for Ms Harriss presidential campaign. In the room, the reception from the crowd was even greater than for her husband. But she has firmly rejected calls from Democrats to run for president herself in 2028, despite polling that shows she would be the most popular primary contender on the ticket. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A statement from the couple on the day after Mr Trumps election victory said the result was obviously not the outcome we had hoped for, given our profound disagreements with the Republican ticket on a whole host of issues. It did not name Mr Trump specifically. Michelle doesnt do anything because its protocol Mrs Obama has since released a book, Overcoming, which she describes as a workbook designed to help you get through the challenging periods life throws our way. Her absence from the inauguration comes after both Mr Trump and his wife, Melania, declined to attend Joe Bidens swearing-in ceremony in 2021, while denying the result of the election. A source close to Mrs Obama told People magazine that she had decided to skip the ceremony to avoid paying homage to Mr Trumps win. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Shes not one to plaster on a pleasant face and pretend for protocols sake, the source said. Michelle doesnt do anything because its expected or its protocol or its tradition. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. BELGRADE, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- Eight people lost their lives in a devastating fire early Monday morning at a nursing home in Belgrade's suburb settlement of Barajevo, with police suspecting the tragedy was caused by criminal activity. "Emergency services reacted quickly and efficiently, but the fire had already spread extensively. Unfortunately, eight lives were lost," Nemanja Starovic, minister for Labor, Employment, Veterans, and Social Affairs, told Serbia's Tanjug News Agency. Rescuers safely evacuated 13 people from the burning building, while seven sustained injuries and received medical care. Starovic stated that initial findings point to the possibility of a criminal act. "The investigation is ongoing, and I expect the prosecution to provide official information later today," he added. The fire erupted at approximately 3:30 a.m. (0230 GMT), with media outlets reporting that around 30 residents were in the building at the time. Firefighters extinguished the blaze after deploying many personnel and vehicles, while emergency medical teams provided on-site assistance. GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) Monday on the Daily 8, were looking at the latest on the Arctic blast moving through West Michigan, Detroits tie to MLKs I Have a Dream speech, the inauguration of President Donald Trump and more. You can watch the full Daily 8 for Jan. 20, 2025, in the video player above or check out any of the stories mentioned below: Each weekday, the Daily 8 brings you the top eight stories we are keeping an eye on in and around West Michigan. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Join us again on Tuesday for the Daily 8. Copyright 2025 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. Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen predicted a "new reality" for Europe following the inauguration of Donald Trump as US president. "Independently of what he may say in his inaugural address, I expect that we as Europeans will have to orient ourselves to a new reality," Frederiksen posted on Facebook. The lengthy post responded to Trump's controversial plans for taking control of Greenland, a Danish autonomous territory, for strategic reasons. Greenland's leaders have rejected the plans. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Social Democrat prime minister said she did not doubt that Europe had to become stronger economically, militarily and technologically by all available means. "We are a small country, but we are part of a strong continent," she said, noting that Europe had experienced difficult times before. Frederiksen devoted much of the post to how her government would deal with the discussion over Greenland, defending her government against opposition claims that she had not stood up effectively for Denmark, Greenland and the Faroe Islands, another Danish autonomous territory. A version of this article originally appeared in Quartzs Need to Know: Davos newsletter. To get updates on the World Economic Forum delivered straight to your inbox all week, sign up here. The global elite are dusting off their snow boots for the World Economic Forums (WEF) annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland (this Monday through Friday), where Collaboration for the Intelligent Age isnt just a fancy theme its a loaded proposition for what might be one of the most consequential gatherings in years. This year, however, the Swiss mountains are competing with another summit altogether: Donald Trumps inauguration in Washington. The elephant in the (virtual) room: Just days after his inauguration on Monday, Trump on Thursday will address Davos via a video link in what WEF President and CEO Borge Brende says will be a very special moment. But the real story might be who wont be in Davos. Tech leaders including Mark Zuckerberg, Sam Altman, and Dara Khosrowshahi are choosing the D.C. swamp over the Alps. Meanwhile, Wall Street remains committed to Davos, with JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon and other banking executives rumored to be sticking to their usual Swiss schedules. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement While some tech leaders are heading to Washington, Davos isnt exactly hurting for attendees. The Swiss gathering will host 60 heads of state and government, including European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Chinas Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang. For the second year in a row, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will make a special address about the Russian invasion of his country. On the business side, more than 900 CEOs will be navigating the Congress Centres corridors, including what WEF said will include a notable contingent of unicorn founders and tech pioneers. Theyll be tackling an agenda heavy on frontier technologies and quantum computing even if some of Silicon Valleys biggest names will be missing. The Forum is also pushing its Global Collaboration Village, an extended reality platform that feels either perfectly timed for an era of virtual diplomacy or like a solution in search of a problem (well be watching to see which). The full program can be found here, with many of the sessions being streamed live. Here are some of the topics that will take center stage. Agentic AI is having its moment Forget last years theoretical AI discussions. OpenAIs Sam Altman says 2025 is when AI agents will actually join the workforce, and the company is launching its Operator product this month. The talent crisis is getting real Japan just hit a sobering milestone with 30% of its population now elderly. Several Davos sessions focus on talent scarcity and reinventing retirement signals that demographic shifts are no longer a future problem. Could AI agents help? You better believe theyll be pitched. A $30 trillion reality check Thats the investment needed to get hard-to-abate sectors (think shipping, aviation, and steel) to net-zero emissions. These industries represent 40% of global emissions, and while everyone will talk about the opportunity, the funding gap remains stark. In this instance, the chance AI could be helpful actually has some decent evidence. The big, perennial question Can a gathering thats often criticized as an elite talking shop actually make progress on what WEFs founder and executive chairman Klaus Schwab calls a societal revolution? With converging technologies reshaping the very fabric of our world (his words, not ours), this years Alpine gathering might matter more than the skeptics think. For the latest news, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. By Max Schwarz and Yves Herman DAVOS, Switzerland (Reuters) - Climate activists sprayed green paint over Amazon's base in Davos on Monday and disrupted helicopter landings at the start of the World Economic Forum's annual meeting. Swiss police swarmed to close down both protests as global business and political leaders descended on the mountain resort on the opening day of the meeting, where demonstrations over fossil fuels and climate change have become a regular feature. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Demonstrators protesting over fossil fuel subsidies daubed orange symbols on the shop front where Amazon has set up a temporary base on the main street in Davos, as well as splattering green paint over the plate-glass windows. Greenpeace, which briefly blocked the heliport in Davos, said in a statement that it had taken the action to call for "a fair tax on the richest people, to fund environmental protection and invest in a fair and sustainable future for humanity". Police moved in to remove around 10 protesters who were blocking two vehicles at the heliport entrance with bright yellow banners saying "TaxTheSuperRich". "So far we have blocked 10-20 helicopters in one and a half hours. Over the course of the day we are expecting around a hundred helicopters arriving here," Greenpeace activist Clara Thompson told Reuters. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement High-profile politicians and business leaders often use the helicopter pad to land in the Swiss Alpine resort. Security is tight for the WEF meeting, where one of the main themes for discussion this week is "safeguarding the planet". The WEF said on its 2025 programme that it is "crucial for businesses, governments, and civil society to work together to find common solutions and take decisive action". (This story has been corrected to fix the spelling of Thompson in paragraph 6) (Reporting by the Reuters Team in Davos; Editing by Alexander Smith) Analysis: During his first term as president, Trump was actively hostile to China, blamed it for the coronavirus pandemic, and wanted to ban TikTok. But this time around there has been a complete reversal. Trump, his DOGE lieutenant Elon Musk, and Chinese premier Xi Jinping are all singing from the same hymn sheet. Its Day One of the new Trump Administration. As the new president took the oath of office in the Capitol rotunda shortly after midday, one person will likely be pleased with how things are going so far: Xi Jinping, president of China. Thats for three reasons: 1. Trump proposed a deal that would rescue TikTok from being banned in the U.S. and the app is now back online for Americans. TikTok, of course, is owned by Chinese company ByteDance. All large Chinese companies are in some way controlled or monitored by the Chinese Communist Party and the Biden-era law banning the app was intended to prevent China from using TikTok to collect vast amounts of data on American citizens and, perhaps, to use its algorithm to push political narratives that favor China. The U.S. Department of Defense labeled it a security risk, and it was largely banned for military personnel. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement 2. Xi had an important phone call with President-elect Trump a few days ago and reached an important consensus on the development of China-US relations, according to a statement from the Chinese government. The statement is extremely bullish on U.S.-China relations under Trump: American business people said that the recent phone call between President-elect Trump and President Xi Jinping sent a positive signal to the outside world and was exciting. As the world's two most dynamic and technologically advanced economies, the United States and China should carry out mutually beneficial cooperation and find a constructive and stable way to get along. 3. On January 19, Trump surrogate Elon Musk met with Chinas Vice President Han Zheng, and the pair agreed that it would be good to deepen Teslas ties to China. On the same day, Han Zheng met with Tesla CEO Musk and expressed his welcome for American companies, including Tesla, to seize the opportunity, share the fruits of China's development, and make new and greater contributions to promoting China-US economic and trade relations, the statement said. Musk said that Tesla is willing to deepen investment and cooperation in China and play an active role in promoting U.S.-China economic and trade exchanges. Conspicuous by its absence is any sign of Musk criticizing China. The Tesla/X/SpaceX chief has been vocal about alleged censorship and wrongdoing in democracies such as Brazil, Germany, and Britain. But he never-to-rarely talks about China, which is a dictatorship that routinely censors people and imposes mass imprisonment of the Uyghurs, Muslim Chinese who live in the Northeast of the country. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We dont know why Musk is so shy about China but it is well-known that Teslas largest production facility is in Shanghai, China, and he needs the governments approval to keep it open. All of this is a complete reversal of Trumps historic dislike of TikTok and China. In 2020, Trump (in his first term in the White House) regarded TikTok as a national security threat and signed an executive order banning the app by forcing the sale of its U.S. business. The reversal is also surprising because of what we are not seeing: During the coronavirus pandemic, Trump repeatedly blamed China for the outbreak and often said the name of the country with a derisory tone. In his inauguration speech, he again singled out Chinese influence over the Panama Canal as a reason for the U.S. to perhaps intervene with force over the shipping route: "were taking it back," he said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But aside from that, Trump appears to be happy to now be doing business with China. This is what he posted on Truth Social three days ago: I just spoke to Chairman Xi Jinping of China. The call was a very good one for both China and the U.S.A. It is my expectation that we will solve many problems together, and starting immediately. We discussed balancing Trade, Fentanyl, TikTok, and many other subjects. President Xi and I will do everything possible to make the World more peaceful and safe! Both Musk and Trumps transition and inauguration committees were sent multiple messages requesting comment. This story was originally featured on Fortune.com DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN) Dayton Public Schools will be conducting remote learning for students on Tuesday and Wednesday. Citing extremely cold temperatures, DPS will have remote learning for all students on Jan. 21 and 22. Since the district was aware of the potential temporary switch, students were sent with work last Thursday, Jan. 16 for Tuesday. Families are asked to look out for information coming from the district regarding assignments for Wednesday. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Please look out for further instructions from your principal or teacher about what work your child should be completing from home, said DPS. This work will not require a device or an internet connection. Students who need food are able to travel to their school for lunch between 11 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. on both days. Families needing to contact the main offices at the buildings will be able to do so. All employees should report at their normal time. Copyright 2025 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 WDTN.com. WASHINGTON (DC News Now) Police in D.C. are looking for a group of suspects allegedly involved in a robbery. The Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) said that officers responded to the 700 block of Second St. NE for a robbery around 1:45 p.m. on Saturday. Man arrested for murder in Montgomery County after 2 found dead in car, hotel parking lot The victim told officers that a group assaulted him and stole his jacket before leaving in two stolen cars a white Hyundai Elantra with Virginia tags UCZ6524 and a black Hyundai Elantra with North Carolina tags KCZ7931. (Image courtesy of the Metropolitan Police Department) (Image courtesy of the Metropolitan Police Department) Police asked that anyone with any information call 202-727-9099 or text 50411. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 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. SYDNEY, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- An infant has died and five other people have been injured in a house fire in the Australian state of Tasmania. Emergency services were called to an address in Rokeby, in the eastern suburbs of the state capital of Hobart, shortly after 9 a.m. local time on Sunday where they found the house fully ablaze. An infant girl was found deceased inside the residence. Another child and an adult were pulled from the home and taken to hospital with serious injuries. Three other children were taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. Speaking at a press conference, Tasmania Police Inspector Darren Latham said the house was completely destroyed and that the child who sustained serious injuries was in a critical condition in hospital while the woman, who received a laceration to her arm, was stable. Latham said police believe that about eight people, mostly relatives, were inside the house at the time of the fire. Fire investigators from the Tasmania Fire Service have commenced an investigation into the cause of the fire. Latham said that there was no evidence to suggest anything suspicious but that police were not ruling anything out. WASHINGTON (DC News Now) People were dealing with another round of heavy, yet brief, snowfall Sunday. Being from the south, dont really get a lot of that down there, said Hunter Caballero, as he headed out to do some shopping. The snow came as no surprise to those in Logan Circle. Thankfully, I didnt have to drive, said Kevin Oshinskie, who rode Metrorail from his home in Navy Yard. If I had to drive, it might be different, but for now, its nice. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement WATCH: Snow falls in DC, Maryland, Virginia While the snowfall did not last long, the next round of winter weather is expected to bring brutally cold wind chill temperatures that could make it feel like its in the single digits. Im taking the day off tomorrow [Monday], so thankfully I dont have to go anywhere yet, Oshinskie said. However, those braving the elements dont seem too worried about what comes next from Old Man Winter. Weve got stuff to do, Caballero said. I cant stop working because its cold. The brutal wind chills are expected to last for most of the week. Copyright 2025 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. ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) The death toll from a gasoline tanker explosion in north-central Nigeria has risen to 98, the countrys emergency response agency said Monday. The blast happened in the early hours of Saturday near the Suleja area of Niger state after individuals attempted to transfer gasoline from a crashed oil tanker into another truck using a generator. The fuel transfer sparked the explosion, resulting in the deaths of those transferring the gasoline and bystanders. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Hussaini Isah, the National Emergency Management Agency's head of operation for Niger State, told the Associated Press on Monday that there is a possibility that the death toll could still rise. The death toll keeps changing, he said. On Sunday, Isah said the blast claimed many victims because a crowd had gathered at the scene, including people taking pictures, bystanders and others attempting to scoop gasoline. Gasoline prices in Africas most populous country have soared after the administration of President Bola Tinubu removed subsidies on the product more than a year ago in an attempt to channel the resources to more developmental purposes. However, the policy has caused untoward hardship. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Scooping gasoline from a fallen tanker is common in Nigeria as some people see it as an opportunity to get free product that they could either use or resell for a profit. ____ Follow APs Africa coverage at: https://apnews.com/hub/africa The co-chairman of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), Tino Chrupalla, said his trip to Washington for Donald Trump's inauguration is an opportunity to establish political and economic contacts with the new US leadership. Paying respect to Trump, who will be sworn in as president at noon (1700 GMT) in Washington, is the right thing to do, Chrupalla told public broadcaster ZDF. He said he'll hold talks with a number of US Republican politicians as well as German business representatives in Washington. Chrupalla left open whether a meeting with Trump would take place. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trump's election in 2016 and his comeback in 2024 have both been seen by European far-right political groups as an important boost. But the AfD nonetheless holds opposing positions to Trump and his advisors on key issues of US policy. For example, the party is in favour of repairing and commissioning the Nord Stream gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea and resuming gas supplies from Russia, and rejects the stationing of US missiles in Germany. Trump loudly opposed the Nord Stream pipeline projects during his first term in office, from 2017 to 2021, and has demanded greater German contributions to NATO defence. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "Of course, we also have to make the differences clear as equals and clearly define our interests and German interests," said Chrupalla. A secure energy supply with cheap Russian gas is in Germany's interests, he added. "We don't want to be dictated to by foreign countries as to which partner we want to obtain energy from," he said. According to Chrupalla, he was invited to Washington by Republican leaders. Several other senior AfD politicians joined him on the trip, including Beatrix von Storch and Petr Bystron. But the AfD's top candidate for the upcoming German elections, Alice Weidel, skipped the invitation, citing the tight schedule on the campaign. The AfD's deputy parliamentary group leader Beatrix von Storch, who claims she has good connections in the Trump camp, is also attending the inauguration. The co-chairman of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), Tino Chrupalla, said his trip to Washington for Donald Trump's inauguration is an opportunity to establish political and economic contacts with the new US leadership. Paying respect to Trump, who will be sworn in as president at noon (1700 GMT) in Washington, is the right thing to do, Chrupalla told public broadcaster ZDF. He said he'll hold talks with a number of US Republican politicians as well as German business representatives in Washington. Chrupalla left open whether a meeting with Trump would take place. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trump's election in 2016 and his comeback in 2024 have both been seen by European far-right political groups as an important boost. But the AfD nonetheless holds opposing positions to Trump and his advisors on key issues of US policy. For example, the party is in favour of repairing and commissioning the Nord Stream gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea and resuming gas supplies from Russia, and rejects the stationing of US missiles in Germany. Trump loudly opposed the Nord Stream pipeline projects during his first term in office, from 2017 to 2021, and has demanded greater German contributions to NATO defence. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "Of course, we also have to make the differences clear as equals and clearly define our interests and German interests," said Chrupalla. A secure energy supply with cheap Russian gas is in Germany's interests, he added. "We don't want to be dictated to by foreign countries as to which partner we want to obtain energy from," he said. Democratic National Convention Chair Jaime Harrison speaks outside the Statehouse during the annual King Day at the Dome on Monday, Jan. 20, 2025. (Skylar Laird/SC Daily Gazette) COLUMBIA Nearly 60 years after Martin Luther King Jr.s death, Democratic leaders called on Black South Carolinians to take up his fight for civil rights once again. Speaking while President Donald Trump was sworn into office for a second term, Democratic National Committee Chair Jaime Harrison called on the several hundred attendees of the NAACPs annual King Day at the Dome event to keep fighting for their freedoms, just as King did. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This is the civil rights movement of our time, said Harrison, the events keynote speaker, who took the stage around noon. What was once Dr. Kings fight has now become our fight, our cause, our mission. Trumps inauguration drove home Mondays theme, There Is No Winning In Giving Up, Harrison said. The speech comes as he ends his national role. The Columbia Democrat has said hes not seeking a second term leading the Democratic National Committee. A new chair will be elected Feb. 1. After Trumps defeat of Vice President Kamala Harris in November, the future for Democrats is uncertain, Harrison said from the same spot on the Statehouse steps where Harris spoke a year ago. People march down Main Street toward the Statehouse for the annual NAACP King Day at the Dome rally on Monday, Jan. 20, 2025. (Skylar Laird/SC Daily Gazette) Unlike in previous years, such as the 2020 event when Democratic presidential hopefuls walked together down Main Street to the Statehouse grounds, Harrison said he woke up concerned about the future of our democracy and the security of our fundamental freedoms. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement What might happen with Trump in office is uncertain, Harrison said. But people should continue to stand up for the issues they care about, including access to abortion and improvements in public education, he said. That mentality of refusing to give up in the face of struggle is a familiar one to Black people who come from a history of slavery and oppression and had to fight for equal rights, said Derrick Johnson, president and CEO of the national NAACP. For those of us of African descent, weve seen this before and we have defeated the evil that came upon us, Johnson said. Meanwhile, in Washington, a Black pastor from Detroit wrapped up Trumps inauguration with a stirring prayer of hope for the coming administration that invoked both the Declaration of Independence and Martin Luther King Jr.s 1963 I Have a Dream speech. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We pray that we would fulfill the true meaning of our creed, that we hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal, Lorenzo Sewell, senior pastor at the nondenominational 180 Church, said in his three-minute benediction. We pray that You use our president, that we will live in a nation where we will not be judged by the color of our skin but by the content of our character. In his speech, Trump also recognized that the ceremony fell on Martin Luther King Day. It was the third time since the creation of the federal holiday that its coincided with a presidential inauguration. (The Jan. 20 date was set by the 20th amendment to the Constitution.) In his honor, we will strive together to make his dream a reality, Trump said, referring to King. We will make his dream come true. The 2000 compromise In Columbia, Harrison pointed to the removal of the Confederate flag from the Statehouse dome 25 years ago as an example of what can happen when people work together. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement During the first King Day at the Dome, the NAACP called for the flag to be taken down. Six months later, it did. The law that took the flag off the dome also made Martin Luther King Jr. Day a mandatory state holiday. At the same time, it restored the permanent status of Confederate Memorial Day. Prior to 2000, state employees could pick between MLK Day (the third Monday in January), Robert E. Lees birthday (Jan. 19), Jefferson Davis birthday (June 3) or Confederate Memorial Day (May 10). The legislative compromise also put a smaller, square version of the battle flag in a more visible spot on the Statehouses front lawn, beside a monument. It would be another 15 years before legislators removed the flag completely, following the massacre of nine parishioners at Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement That was progress, however slow, Harrison said. Every year we can point to another step forward in our movement, Harrison said. When you look at the big picture, you can see that even when we are down, we are never out. Having hope While Harrison repeated a message of having hope during difficult times, he added that people need to take action. The best thing they can do is help register more Black voters and get people to the polls for every election, Harrison said. That includes in municipal and county elections this year, as well as in the governors race next year, he added. Getting involved in local issues is just as important as national issues, if not more so, said Barbara Johnson-Williams, first vice president of the states NAACP conference. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We must not come together just this one day a year, but we must continue the work that needs to be done here, Johnson-Williams said. Under Joe Bidens presidency, the country took major steps forward, Harrison said. He noted Biden appointed a historic number of Black females to the bench. Judges from South Carolina include Michelle Childs, confirmed in 2022 on the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia; Judge Jacquelyn Austin who took Childs seat for the District of South Carolina; and DeAndrea Benjamin, wife of former Columbia Mayor Steve Benjamin, who was confirmed in 2023 to a seat on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Harrison also thanked Biden for forgiving billions of dollars in student loan debt and credited him with expanding broadband and creating rules to remove lead from pipes. Each one of these accomplishments give me hope, my friends, that when we have the right leadership in America, they can do right by our community, Harrison said. Harrison spent the day with Biden in Charleston on Sunday, as Biden spoke at a historically Black church and the International African American Museum during his final day in office. Bidens exit from office was emotional on a personal level, as Harrison reflected on his journey from growing up in poor Orangeburg to a teenage mom, to leading the Democratic Party nationwide and shaking hands with the president, he said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement That only happens in this country, and thats the greatness of this country, and thats why we have to fight so damn hard to make sure that the windows of opportunity are open to all, Harrison told reporters. A woman shades her eyes with a program during the NAACPs annual King Day at the Dome rally on Monday, Jan. 20, 2025. (Skylar Laird/SC Daily Gazette) Watching speeches about fighting for unity and equality while Trump was sworn into office felt like a prank, said Earl Porterfield, who works in economic development in Columbia. He had hoped for Harris to win so she could fight for a higher federal minimum wage and more affordable health care, he said. But he wanted his daughters, who are 11 and 13, to see what the event was like and learn more about the issues facing them, he said. It just felt like the right thing to do, Porterfield said. DENVER (KDVR) Light snow is expected to return to the Denver weather forecast overnight Sunday with light accumulations expected. Amounts will generally be between 1 to 2 inches, with perhaps isolated pockets of 3 inches in the foothills. Pinpoint Weather is also tracking the end of this cold wave. FOX31 Weather: View the latest Denver forecasts, maps and radar Weather tonight: Light snow Light snow returns to the region overnight as well as another cold front. About 1 to 2 inches of accumulation is expected for most areas. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Lows will again fall below zero with wind chills as low as minus 20 degrees. Weather tomorrow: Final frigid day Snow should end during the morning rush on Monday. Temperatures will bottom out in the afternoon when highs only reach the single digits in most areas with a very cold wind chill. The skies will gradually clear in the afternoon. Looking ahead: Finally warming above freezing After Monday, there will be one more frigid night. Temperatures will be as low as minus 10 degrees in the plains and near metro Denver, but should actually start to rise after midnight. The high country can expect even colder temperatures. However, Tuesday afternoon will provide Denver with a break, finally breaking freezing after days under 32 degrees. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement FOX31 Newsletters: Sign up for weather alerts from the Pinpoint Weather team Temperatures remain unseasonably cold, however, with only Friday seeing a return to seasonal temperatures in the middle 40s. Next weekend sees temperatures drop again with another chance for snow. Copyright 2025 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. UNION COUNTY, S.C. (WSPA) Deputies are continuing to search on Monday for a runaway teenager who they say stole and later wrecked a car. According to Anderson County Sheriffs Office, deputies have been searching for Tyre Tucker, 17, since Sunday. The sheriffs office said Tucker stole a brown Nissan SUV and was thought to be headed toward Union County. On Monday, the sheriffs office said it was notified Tucker had been involved in a car chase with Union County law enforcement and wrecked the stolen car. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Tucker reportedly abandoned the stolen car and continued to run away on foot. The search for Tucker is still ongoing. Anyone who has seen him or may have information about his whereabouts is asked to call 864-260-4400 and reference case 2025-00737. Tips can also be submitted anonymously by clicking here. Copyright 2025 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 WSPA 7NEWS. A look back at local, national and world events through Deseret News archives. On Jan. 20, 1981, Iran released 52 Americans it had held hostage for 444 days, minutes after the presidency had passed from Jimmy Carter to Ronald Reagan. Here are the Deseret News headlines on the day the hostages found they would be released, and the next day as they arrived home: Hostages await flight to freedom; Agreement signed, release awaits transfer of money Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Hostages face decompression test 52 heroes weary but ecstatic on first day free The history The 53 diplomats and citizens were taken hostage in Iran on Nov. 4, 1979, then released on Jan. 20, 1981. Per historical accounts, they were taken as hostages by a group of armed Iranian college students who supported the Iranian Revolution. The hostages were formally released the day after the signing of the Algiers Accords, moments after President Ronald Reagan was sworn into office. In Iran, the crisis strengthened the prestige of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini and the political power of those who opposed any normalization of relations with the West. But it also led to American economic sanctions against Iran, which further weakened ties between the two countries. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Here is a quote from hostage Kathryn Koob, as quoted in the Deseret News: You can never imagine how much the letters and prayers and support meant to me ... and only the Lord knows how much it helped. Thank you form the bottom of my heart. Here are some stories from Deseret News archives reflecting on that time, including words from former hostages: Life goes on for ex-hostages Guest opinion: 40 years after the Iran hostage crisis, enduring bonds of friendship remain Sense of being a child of God still enriches life of ex-hostage Carter defends his handling of Iran hostage crisis Documents: Margaret Thatcher appealed to Iran over U.S. hostages Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Perspective: Will Trump get credit for the hostage release like Reagan did? The front page of the Deseret News on Jan. 21, 1981, as the American hostages returned home from Iran. Of note Jan. 20 is a big day in the U.S., as many presidents are inaugurated on that day. In 1937, President Franklin D. Roosevelt was sworn in for his second term as president, becoming the first chief executive to be inaugurated on Jan. 20; prior to the adoption of the 20th Amendment in 1933, presidential terms began on March 4. On this day in 1961, in his inaugural address, President John F. Kennedy urged Americans, ask not what your country can do for you ask what you can do for your country. On this day in 2009, Barack Obama was sworn in as the nations first Black president. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement And on this day in 2017, Donald Trump was sworn in as the 45th president of the United States. Also, on Jan. 20, 1986, the United States observed the first federal holiday in honor of killed civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. CHAMBERS COUNTY, Ala. (WRBL) We are learning new information about the tragic shooting of Coweta County Fire Chief James Bartholomew Cauthen, 54, who was killed Sunday while helping a stranded couple after they hit a deer in rural Alabama. Investigators tell WRBL the suspect, William Randall Franklin, 33, allegedly opened fire on Cauthen and the driver without warning as they approached Franklins home to seek help. The deadly shooting occurred shortly before 5 p.m. on County Road 267 in Chambers County. Chambers County Chief Deputy Mike Parrish called the incident one of the most heartbreaking and bizarre cases in his more than 30 years of service. Parrish explained the 54-year-old fire chief had been on nearby property he owned or maintained, spreading hay for cattle. Investigators believe as Chief Cauthen was leaving the property, he noticed a vehicle had struck a deer. He stopped to help the driver and the drivers wife. Parrish said the fire chief and the driver, unable to call for help due to poor cell phone service in the remote area, decided to walk to the nearby home to ask for assistance. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement When Cauthen and the driver approached the driveway, investigators allege 33-year-old William Randall Franklin walked outside his home and began shooting at the men without warning. Both men were struck. The driver, who was armed, returned fire, wounding Franklin. Chief Cauthen attempted to cross the street but collapsed in a ditch and succumbed to his injuries before deputies arrived. The driver, despite being injured, is expected to recover. The drivers wife never left the car and was uninjured during the shootout. Franklin is expected to survive and will face a murder charge upon his release from Piedmont Medical Center. Cauthen Deputies have not yet determined what prompted Franklin to allegedly open fire. However, investigators are looking into Franklins background for further insight. Meanwhile, Coweta County Fire Rescue is mourning the loss of Cauthen, who was described as a beloved leader and mentor. We lost one of our brothers, leaders, mentor, and family to a senseless tragedy, the department shared on Facebook. Our hearts and prayers go out to the Cauthen family as they navigate this difficult time. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The community is being asked to keep Cauthens family in their thoughts and prayers as they cope with this devastating loss. The shooting remains under investigation. Copyright 2025 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 WRBL. BOGOTA, Jan. 19 (Xinhua) -- At least 80 people were killed and 20 others injured over the weekend in attacks by guerrilla groups in Colombia, said local authorities on Sunday. According to local media, the victims were killed in attacks by the National Liberation Army (ELN) guerrillas and clashes with dissidents of the disbanded Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) in the Catatumbo region. Among the victims are seven signatories of peace agreements nearly 10 years ago and community leader Carmelo Guerrero, said the Ombudsman's Office. Thousands were forced to flee and families were confined to their homes, it added. "Many people, including peace signatories, social leaders and their families, and even children, face a special risk of being kidnapped or killed ... many of them have yet to be rescued and are fleeing, seeking refuge in the mountains," the agency said. The clashes have led to the suspension of classes and disruption of daily activities, with food shortages being reported. The Ombudsman's Office urged the ELN and other armed groups fighting in the area to open humanitarian corridors to allow aid to reach the civilian population in the conflict zone. President Volodymyr Zelensky released on Jan. 20 new footage of the interrogation of a North Korean soldier captured by the Ukrainian military. Ukrainian forces captured two North Korean soldiers in Russia's Kursk Oblast earlier in January. They are currently in the custody of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) in Kyiv. Both were wounded and are reportedly receiving medical attention. The prisoner of war (POW) in the newly released footage said he arrived in Russia on a cargo ferry with over 100 soldiers. He was not trained with Russian military equipment but claimed that several other North Korean soldiers were taught to do so. Communication between captured North Korean soldiers and SSU investigators continues. Intelligence data on the movement of such troops to Russian territory, their training and complete information isolation have been confirmed by the prisoners. All the facts about North pic.twitter.com/E2wiFlPBiw Volodymyr Zelenskyy / (@ZelenskyyUa) January 20, 2025 He joined the army at the age of 17 and served on conscript duty in a reconnaissance battalion, and said his mother does not know where he is now. He also said he did not know he was going to war, or know who he would be fighting against. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The full conversation conducted via a translator is as follows: Interrogator: Did you and other North Korean servicemen undergo training on the use of Russian weapons and military equipment? If so, where and when? POW/Translator: There were a few soldiers from North Korea who were trained to use heavy Russian equipment, but I personally did not undergo such training. Interrogator: Where did you serve? In which unit? POW: (I work) in a reconnaissance battalion. Interrogator: Does your mother know where you are? POW: No she doesn't. Interrogator: How many people were on the ship that transported you from North Korea to Russia? Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement POW: Approximately over one hundred. Interrogator: What kind of ship was it? POW: I believe it was a Russian ferry, but not a military vessel just one for transporting cargo. Interrogator: Were only people on board or was there cargo as well? POW: It was only us. Interrogator: How many seats were in the train car you traveled in? POW: The same people who were on the ferry were also on the train there were no others, it was the same group. Interrogator: Were there beds in the carriage, how many? POW: There were six tables and beds. In total there were about 100 people. Interrogator: Tell us about the beginning of your service in the ranks of the North Korean armed forces. Specifically, when did you begin your military service? How did it happen and so on? Where did you serve? Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement POW: Typically, after finishing school all men join the military. I also joined the army after finishing school and joined the reconnaissance division and stayed there for my entire service. Interrogator: How old were you when you started your service? POW: I was 17 years old. Interrogator: Are you serving under contract or conscription? POW: Not under contract, conscription. Read also: He wanted to live How Ukraine captured a North Korean POW, told by the soldiers who took part Interrogator: Do you voluntarily wish to give truthful testimony about the circumstances of your participation in hostilities against Ukraine? Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement POW: First of all, as I've already said, I didn't know before coming to Russia that I would be fighting here, in Russia and I didn't even know who we were fighting against. Interrogator: What do you know about the losses suffered by North Korean units during combat operations against the Armed Forces of Ukraine? In which battles, from what types of weapons, and how many casualties both wounded and irrecoverable? POW: There were a lot of casualties when I was there alone, starting from the battle on Jan. 3. Overall, it's hard to answer about such large-scale numbers. Interrogator: What did you know about the world outside of North Korea? Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement POW: Not much. Interrogator: Did you know anything about South Korea? What did you know? POW: I only know that South Korea has fewer mountains than North Korea. North Korean troops were deployed to Kursk Oblast last fall to support Russian forces against a Ukrainian incursion launched on Aug. 6. Ukrainian troops continue to operate in the region, leveraging their position for potential future negotiations. South Korea's National Intelligence Service (NIS) estimates that North Korean casualties have reached 300 killed and 2,700 wounded, attributing the losses to inadequate training and ineffective counter-drone tactics. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The NIS also reported that some North Korean soldiers have been forced to commit suicide to avoid capture by Ukrainian forces. White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby echoed these claims on Dec. 27, adding that captured North Korean troops fear severe retaliation against their families if they surrender. Neither Russia nor North Korea have officially acknowledged the deployment, which is the latest move in Moscow's ever-increasing and humiliating reliance on Pyongyang to bolster its military, following long-running shipments of artillery shells and ballistic missiles. Read also: Theyve overcome the shock North Korean soldiers adapting to war in Russias Kursk Oblast Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. Disability advocates rally outside the State House in November, protesting new rules Developmental Disability Administration rules they said will create hurdles for those who self-direct disability services. (Photo by Danielle J. Brown/Maryland Matters) Advocates are reeling at recent proposals to cut $200 million from a state agency that administers resources for people with developmental disabilities cuts that advocates call inhumane and harmful for the people who need those services. We are deeply distressed by the nature of a number of these proposals, said Laura Howell, CEO of the Maryland Association of Community Services, who said the plans are absolutely going to hurt people. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The fiscal 2026 budget unveiled last week by Gov. Wes Moore (D) calls for a $200 million cut from the Developmental Disabilities Administration, one of the tough choices Moore said state officials and lawmakers face as they grapple with a $3 billion budget shortfall. We will be advocating strenuously in the General Assembly to try to find a way to reverse some of this, if not all of it, Howell said. I think its going to be a really tall order, given the size of the cut. Its not entirely clear how the cost reductions will officially come down on the DDA, but there are some cuts outlined in the budget bill. One of the larger proposed cuts would eliminate the geographical differential rates, which pay more to service providers in Montgomery, Prince Georges, Charles, Calvert and Frederick counties. Cutting it would save $55 million, according the budget bill. Another proposal would eliminate the Low Intensity Support Services Program, a $5.5 million savings by cutting the program that allots up to $2,000 for certain disability-related expenses for people who do not qualify for other state supports. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement While DDA cuts could affect the community as a whole, parents and advocates of the self directed service model feel particularly at risk. About 20,500 Marylanders with developmental disabilities got state support last year to help their families afford services, usually through a Medicaid waiver that also brings in federal dollars. The majority of those families, 16,827, opt for traditional services, meaning they join an existing program that provides day care, transportation and other services for people with disabilities. But 3,632 families choose self-direction, which lets them determine how to best support their disabled relative without the guidance of a program, so long as they use those funds on accepted services such as hiring support staff to help with the disabled family members day-to-day activities. The person receiving those supports, or a designated representative, takes on the responsibility of organizing those services. Alicia Wopat, president of the Self-Directed Advocacy Network of Maryland, worries how the proposed cuts will impact her son, a 30-year-old with autism who has relied on self-directed services for years. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This particular program has resulted in a much calmer, happier, less frustrated person self-direction has been a total game-changer for my son but also for our whole family, to be with somebody who is smiling and is joyful, Wopat said. It is devastating for me as an advocate to see whats happening now, choices and decisions being made without regard for people. The budget bill outlines a $14.5 million reduction to self-directed services that is contingent upon the enactment of legislation that modifies the provisions of the Self Directed Services Program. Members of SDAN suspect some cuts will come from eliminating rate increases for people who work in self-direction, considering previous conversations theyve had with state health officials on that front. Currently, providers and staff who work with self-directed individuals can get a higher rate for their services compared to those who work in the traditional models in a community-centered facility, as people who use self-directed care will often require more intense care. SDAN members believe that the rate increases will be cut to bring self directed and traditional provider wages closer to parity. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE Liz LaFrance, a support broker who manages the services for several clients with disabilities and is also a member of SDAN, believes there are big cuts coming to wages which she fears will drive away staff and workers. People will leave for better wages and some benefits, LaFrance said. This is not the time to be doing this to people, and we as a group could help solve this in a way that doesnt hurt people if only we could be heard, respected and treated with fairness. Its just very disheartening, Wopat added. And especially in this current climate with the governors tagline about leaving no one behind. I think many of us feel that, with these current things, were being left in the dust. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Members of SDAN have already felt sidelined by the Department of Health and the DDA. In November, the developmental disabilities community rallied in Annapolis to protest new documentation requirements that they believe were created without community input, among other concerns. Officials at the Maryland Department of Health, which oversees the DDA, say that the current self-direction program has had unsustainable growth in recent years. At a recent hearing before the Senate Finance Committee, officials said self-direction program enrollment has increased over 30% both 2024 and in 2023. Chase Cook, communications director for the health department, noted in a statement Thursday that the governors budget still includes $1.3 billion for the DDA in 2026. As program expenses continue to rise, the budget includes various proposals to manage DDA expense growth, particularly by better leveraging federal funding and aligning Marylands program more closely with federal guidance and national best practices, Cook said in the statement. As part of that effort, we continue to remain engaged with all DDA stakeholders, including those who receive and provide self-directed services, to ensure a more inclusive and community-first approach. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Patti Saylor, a nurse who works with those with disabilities and whose son had Down syndrome, understands the states tough financial situation, but feels it is unfair to balance the budget on the DDA and the people who use its services and programs. It is apparent that they are in a financial crisis and we need to take a look at that, Saylor said. But coming after things without including people, or without any obvious regard for how this will impact a human life, it is inhumane. While Saylor worries about her clients in self-directed services, she recognizes that the proposed cuts would impact a majority of the larger developmental disability community. Were going to pay for disabled people wherever they are we have to stop this conversation about its better here or better there, its more expensive here or more expensive there, she said. They cost money, and we commit to them. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Of course, we have to be fiscally minded, but it cannot be wrapped around the value of this human being or this division of community providers or self-direction. It doesnt matter, Saylor said. Howell, with the Maryland Association of Community Services, agreed. People are deeply distressed. They are scared, Howell said. Whether its a community provider, whos worried how theyre going to continue to support some of the people they support, or people who self-direct or families who are very scared about these changes. There is a tremendous amount of distress and fear about what this will mean if the legislature cant turn around these cuts. Pope Francis on Sunday spoke out against President-elect Donald Trumps plan to launch a massive migrant deportation program on his first day in office. If it is true, it will be a disgrace, because it makes the poor wretches who have nothing pay the bill for the imbalance, the pontiff said on Italian televisions Che Tempo Che Fa, according to a CNN translation. It wont do. This is not the way to solve things. Trump has repeatedly vowed to launch a sweeping deportation program immediately after taking office on Monday. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement On day one, I will launch the largest deportation program in American history to get the criminals out, he said in October. He repeated that promise at a pre-inauguration rally on Sunday. By the time the sun sets tomorrow, the invasion of our country will have come to a halt, he said in Washington. Politico said Trump is set to sign an executive order declaring a crisis at the southern border on Monday, while The Wall Street Journal reported on plans for raids and deportations in Chicago on Tuesday. Cardinal Blase Cupich, archbishop of Chicago, also spoke out against the reported details of Trumps plan. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement While we wish the new administration success in promoting the common good, the reports being circulated of planned mass deportations targeting the Chicago area are not only profoundly disturbing but also wound us deeply, he said in a statement posted online, adding that indiscriminate mass deportation ... would be an affront to the dignity of all people and communities, and deny the legacy of what it means to be an American. Trump took a similar hard line on immigration during his previous term in office and the pope was critical then as well. When asked about Trumps promise to build a border wall in 2016, the pope said: A person who only thinks about building walls, wherever they may be, and not building bridges, is not Christian. In 2018, he called the Trump administrations family separation policy for undocumented migrants contrary to our Catholic values and immoral. And when asked in 2019 about Trumps threat to close the border with Mexico, Francis replied: Builders of walls, be they made of razor wire or bricks, will end up becoming prisoners of the walls they build. He did allow that immigration is a difficult issue, but said it should be solved humanely, not with razor wire. Donald Trump will become the 47th president of the United States at 10 a.m. Arizona time on Monday. The Constitution specifies the exact time the president-elect takes the oath of office and officially becomes the president. In addition to the transfer of power, there will be a slate of traditional ceremonies, including Trump's inaugural address, signing ceremony, congressional luncheon, review of military troops, several balls and much more. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement For those interested in watching the ceremonies, here's the full schedule of events for Inauguration Day 2025 and where to watch it on television or via livestream. Inauguration Day schedule Here's the schedule of events for Inauguration Day in Arizona time: 3 a.m.: Security screening opens at the National Mall. Before the day's ceremonies, an open, non-partisan service will be held at the St. Johns Episcopal Church in downtown D.C. After that, Donald and Melania Trump are set to head to the White House for tea with President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden. Traditionally, the sitting president then escorts the incoming president to the Capitol. Around 7:30 a.m. : Live music, including Carrie Underwood's performance of "America the Beautiful," and opening remarks will begin on the West Lawn of the Capitol building. Those with tickets should arrive by 9:30 a.m. 10 a.m.: In line with the Constitution's assertion that the transfer of power happens at exactly noon Eastern time on Jan. 20, Trump will take the presidential oath during the swearing-in ceremony. The swearing-in ceremony is traditionally when the new president also delivers their inaugural address. A little after 10 a.m.: The official farewell and ceremonial departure of the former president and vice president. Typically, they leave in a helicopter. Then comes the presidents signing room ceremony, during which the president, accompanied by aides and members of Congress, heads to the presidents room off of the Senate chamber and signs nominations, memorandums, proclamations, or executive orders. Next is the JCCIC congressional luncheon at the Capitol's Statuary Hall, which is attended by the president and vice president and their guests, Senate leaders and members of JCCIC. After lunch, the new president and vice president head to the east front steps of the Capitol for the president's review of the military troops. 1 p.m.: The presidential parade will kick off on Pennsylvania Avenue and proceed to the White House. The procession includes ceremonial military regiments, citizens groups, marching bands and floats. After this, Trump returns to to the White House for the Oval Office signing ceremony, where he performs an inaugural singing. Finally, Trump will attend and deliver remarks at three separate balls: the Commander in Chief Ball, the Liberty Inaugural Ball and the Starlight Ball. How to watch the inauguration in Arizona All major news networks will air the inauguration day, including ABC, CBS, CNN, NBC, CSPAN and Fox News. You can also watch the day's events on azcentral.com. This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Inauguration Day 2025 schedule: How to watch in Arizona Donald Trump will implement his sweeping anti-immigration agenda with an executive order to declare a national emergency over the U.S.-Mexico border, among 10 immigration-related actions he intends to take moments after he takes office. In his inaugural address, the president declared that all illegal entry will immediately be halted and we will begin the process or returning millions and millions of criminal aliens back to the place from which they came. American troops will repel the disastrous invasion of our country, he said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The last four years have created an unconscionable risk to public safety, public health and the national security of the United States due to the Biden administration border policies, an incoming White House official told reporters Monday. The emergency declaration will erect physical barriers to support U.S.-Mexico border wall construction and deploy military assets under the command of the Secretary of Defense, according to the official. It is unclear how many troops will be assigned to the southern border. Customs and Border Enforcement Agents arrive at the U.S.-Mexico border on January 20 (REUTERS) The official, speaking anonymously to preview the actions, said it will be up to the Pentagon to determine which personnel will be deployed. They did not share a copy or language in the actual text. While there will be U.S. military service members stationed on the southern border, there will also be other elements of the United States government working throughout the country, the official said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It is unclear what emergency the new administration is responding to. Monthly border crossings plummeted in 2024, compared to the record highs in 2023. Roughly 46,000 people crossed the border illegally in November, the lowest number during the Biden administration. Average daily crossings in December were expected to be the lowest since 2020, according to federal authorities. The Trump official characterized the border as overrun with terrorists, drug cartels, and military-age males from foreign adversaries, as part of an invasion that has caused widespread chaos and suffering. Following his 2016 campaign promise to construct a giant wall spanning the nearly 2,000 miles between the United States and Mexico, the president faced a series of legal challenges and funding battles to divert hundreds of millions of dollars for the effort. Trumps pledge to veto any government spending bill that did not appropriate billions of dollars for border construction forced a shutdown from December 22, 2018, into January 25, 2019. A series of federal court battles blocked Trump from redirecting funds towards his wall project under a national emergency declaration, and by the end of his first term in office, roughly 450 miles of wall had been constructed most of which was replacing existing barriers. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trump allies Steve Bannon and Brian Kolfage helped raise more than $20 million for their We Build the Wall scheme, which similarly faced court orders to shut down construction. Bannon, also has pleaded not guilty to money laundering, conspiracy and fraud charges in New York, where he is accused of enriching himself and others with money raised for the project. Biden issued a pause on border wall construction on his first day in office on January 20, 2021 but later pushed for 20 miles of fencing while waiving more than two dozen laws to to allow for its construction, including suspension of the Clean Air Act, Safe Drinking Water Act and Endangered Species Act. When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Credit: Illustration by Julia Wytrazek / Getty Images For years conservationists hailed Nepal as a success after it tripled its wild tiger population in a decade. Last year, the prime minister of the South Asian nation called tiger conservation "the pride of Nepal". But with fatal attacks on the rise, K.P. Sharma Oli has had a change of heart on the endangered animals: he says there are too many. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "In such a small country, we have more than 350 tigers," Oli said last month at an event reviewing Nepal's Cop29 achievements. "We can't have so many tigers and let them eat up humans." The success A century ago, about 100,000 wild tigers roamed Asia. But thanks to rampant deforestation, poaching and trophy hunting their numbers plummeted. There are now only about 5,600 wild tigers left in 13 countries. In 2010, those 13 nations met for a tiger summit in St Petersburg and committed to doubling their numbers by 2022: the Chinese year of the tiger. Nepal was the first to achieve that target, and to surpass it. Numbers rose from 121 in 2010 to 355 in 2022, thanks to a "strong government buy-in" for tiger conservation, expanded and heavily protected national parks, and strict anti-poaching laws, said National Geographic. This "incredible feat" was "celebrated worldwide", said Al Jazeera, but the "roaring success" was accompanied by an "uncomfortable element in the room" the "unfair, uncompensated burden" on local communities. The cost Fatal encounters are on the rise. Tigers killed nearly 40 people and injured 15 between 2019 and 2023, according to government data cited by the BBC, but locals say the true figure is "much higher". Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Most attacks are happening in the "buffer zones" between national parks and human settlements. Locals often use them for cattle grazing or collecting firewood but wildlife like tigers roam there, too. Forest corridors connecting different parks, allowing wildlife to pass between them freely, have become "yet another flashpoint". Locals who use them for foraging are "vulnerable". Besides human fatalities, there are other costs, said Al Jazeera "livestock losses, livelihood disruptions and plain fear". Nepal's policy with tigers that attack humans was to put them in zoos but each tiger costs about $50,000 per year to care for, plus $100,000 for the cage alone. The poor nation has stopped capturing "problematic tigers" because it "simply doesn't have the money". The solutions "For us, 150 tigers are enough," Oli said in December. "The tiger population should be proportionate to our forest area. Why not gift the extra tigers to other countries as economic diplomacy?" Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement And the prime minister isn't alone. In 2023, the then minister for forests and environment suggested auctioning tigers to trophy hunters. Birendra Mahato claimed Nepal could earn $25 million selling hunting licences. That "created widespread outrage as well as mockery from conservationists and environmentalists", said the Nepali Times, just as Oli's statement did last month. Tigers are in fact "a major source of revenue": wildlife tourism and tiger safaris are a "big source of income" for communities near the national parks. An average of 3,000 people in Nepal are killed every year by venomous snakes, but "tiger kills get far more media attention". Concern over the number of tigers is "misplaced", said tiger biologist Ullas Karanth. The issue is the number of prey animals: each tiger should be near about 500, he told the BBC. But humans are increasingly encroaching into tigers' habitats to cultivate the land, and reducing prey numbers, he said. Nepal should focus on "expanding protected areas" that have enough prey for the tigers. For now, said the BBC, "the situation is at an impasse". It's unclear whether Oli's "tiger diplomacy" will gain traction, or who is to blame for the increased attacks man or beast. But what is clear is that "humans and tigers are struggling to achieve peaceful coexistence". Today is Inauguration Day. At noon today, Monday, Jan. 20, (which is also MLK Day) Donald Trump will become the 47th President of the United States. But when will he move back into the White House? Will he live there at all? Heres a short list of presidents who lived elsewhere during their time in office, when the president can move into the White House and what to know about the inauguration. Does the president have to live in the White House? There is no law or rule that requires the president of the United States to live in the White House. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The first president, George Washington, didnt even live there. While President George Washington selected the site and approved the design, he never actually lived in the White House, the White House Historical Associations website says. He ended his service as chief executive in 1797 and died in 1799, one year before the seat of the federal government moved from Philadelphia to the city named in his honor. Washington lived in executive residences in New York and Philadelphia. Heres a look at other presidents who lived elsewhere during their administrations, from the White House Historical Association: President Adams: While the White House was nearing completion, President Adams temporarily lived at Tunnicliff's City Hotel near the U.S. Capitol. He later moved into the Executive Mansion on November 1, 1800. President Madison: After the burning of the White House on August 24, 1814, President James Madison lived at nearby Octagon House for about six months before moving to a private home within the Seven Buildings, another residence not far from the White House. President Monroe: President James Monroe occupied the Timothy Caldwell House during his tenure as Madisons secretary of state and then for a short time as president. President Monroe embarked on a grand tour of northern states in June 1817 and then returned to Washington that September. There was a public ceremony to welcome him, and it continued until he arrived at the White House. About a month later, he and his family moved into the White House in October. President Roosevelt: In 1902, Theodore Roosevelt used 736 Jackson Place as a temporary Executive Mansion while the White House was under renovationhe and his family also spent some of this time away from Washington at Sagamore Hill, his home in New York. Many renovations or refurbishing projects are purposely planned during the summer months when presidents and their families are away from the White House. President Coolidge: In 1927, President Calvin Coolidge moved to the Patterson Mansion in Dupont Circle while the roof and upper floors of the White House underwent major repairs and renovation. President Truman: During the major 1948 renovation of the White House, President Harry S. Truman resided across Pennsylvania Avenue at Blair House, where he lived for about three-and-a-half years. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Inauguration inside: Trump's inaugural ceremony moved indoors due to forecast of intense cold When does the president move into the White House? President-elect Donald Trump can move into the White House as early as today, Inauguration Day. Whether or not he spends as much time there as he does at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach is completely up to him. After Joe Biden was elected in 2020, his staffers started moving into the White House on the day of his inauguration. President Joe Bidens team has started moving into the White House, PBS reported around 3:30 p.m. on Bidens 2021 Inauguration Day. The building began humming again with activity a few hours after Bidens inauguration Wednesday as staff for the new president started moving into their offices, unpacking belongings and getting the badges that grant them easy access to the property. Inauguration events are planned by the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies (JCIC) and include the swearing-in, inaugural address and pass in review. Other events surrounding the inauguration include an Inaugural Parade and Inaugural Balls. What are the official inaugural balls? Every four years, to celebrate the new president, there are a variety of galas, balls and parties that follow the inaugural ceremonies that occur during and around Inauguration Day. The number of official balls varies from president to president, and unofficial inaugural balls are held by companies and state societies. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Official presidential balls, planned and sanctioned by the Presidential Inaugural Committee (PIC), are private events that are closed to the public. You cant request a ticket to an official inaugural ball like you can with other Inauguration Day events and there likely wont be a livestream of the official balls. There are three official inaugural balls listed for President-elect Trump on the PIC website. What time Will Donald Trump be sworn in? How to livestream the inauguration Major networks like ABC, CBS, CNN, PBS, NBC, MSNBC, CSPAN and Fox News will all be airing the inauguration live on Inauguration Day, Monday, Jan. 20. The official time of Trumps swearing in is set for noon EST. The White House will also be livestreaming the ceremony. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Contributing: Victoria E. Freile, USA TODAY Network This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Trump will call the White House 'home' again. Here's when he can move in Inauguration Day is here, as President-elect Donald Trump gets ready for his second term in office. So when will Trump and soon-to-be Vice President J.D. Vance be sworn into office? And can you watch it on television? Let's take a look. When is Inauguration Day? The inauguration ceremony takes place Monday, Jan. 20. Where is the inauguration? Inauguration Day events are at the United States Capitol Rotunda, as the ceremony was moved inside due to the cold. What time is the inauguration? The 60th presidential inauguration kicks off with the Swearing-In Ceremony, which takes place at noon ET. Inauguration Day 2025 schedule While JCCIC has yet to release a timetable or the names of specific speakers, musical artists or other guests, they have laid out the major beats of the day. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Swearing-In Ceremony. Presidents Room Signing Ceremony. Inaugural Luncheon. Review of the Troops. Presidential Parade and Reception. Inaugural Balls. As per past inaugurations, the day usually begins with a procession to the capitol in which the outgoing president typically accompanies the president-elect, according to JCCIC. After this, the vice president is sworn in, followed by the president. After this is the inaugural address at which the newly elected speaks to the country for the first time. Then, the former president and first lady make their honorary departure, which has been done by helicopter (weather permitting) since Gerald Fords departure in 1977. The new president then heads to the Presidents Room off of the Senate Chamber in the U.S. Capitol to take their first official actions. Accompanied by aides and members of Congress, they take this time to sign nominations, memorandums, proclamations or executive orders. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Then, the new president, vice president and guests sit down for the traditional Inaugural Luncheon at Statuary Hall in the U.S. Capitol. The luncheon program includes "speeches, gift presentations from the JCCIC, and toasts to the new administration." After all this is finished, the new president and vice president head to the East Front steps of the Capitol where they review military troops before leading a parade down Pennsylvania Avenue to the White House, which includes a procession of ceremonial military regiments, citizens groups, marching bands and floats. Inaugural Balls are held later to further the celebrations. How to watch the inauguration ceremonies Inauguration Day ceremonies air on major news networks, including ABC, CBS, CNN, NBC, CSPAN and Fox News. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement You can also watch the day's events via USA TODAY's YouTube livestream here. What is the presidential oath of office? During Inauguration Day, the vice-president-elect is sworn in first and repeats the same oath of office recited by senators, representatives and other federal employees. The following oath has been in use since 1884: "I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter: So help me God." Then the president-elect recites another oath around noon that is in line with Article II, Section I of the U.S. Constitution. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States." USA TODAY contributed to this report. (This story was updated to add more current information.) This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Inauguration time, channel for Donald Trump's swearing-in EAST VILLAGE, Manhattan (PIX11) A dog found alone in a park in Manhattan is looking to reunite with its owner. The dog was found in Tompkins Square Park on Jan. 13, according to Petco Love Lost, a database for missing pets. More Local News The person who found the dog says she was left in the dog run, bleeding slightly from one paw, and that the pads of her paws were also raw. She added that the dog did not have a leash, collar, or ID tags, but had a harness from Lucy & Co. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It is believed the dog had been left there for several hours. The dog was taken to the veterinarian to see if she was microchipped but was not. Anyone with information can create an account on Petco Love Lost and contact the pet finder directly. Ben Mitchell is a digital content producer from Vermont who has covered both local and international news since 2021. He joined PIX11 in 2024. See more of his work here. Copyright 2025 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. Former presidential candidate and biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy is reportedly expected to leave his post at the Department of Government Efficiency. President-elect Donald Trump appointed Ramaswamy to co-lead the agency which will operate outside of government alongside the worlds richest man, Elon Musk. Trump and the co-chairs have promised to slash the federal budget, primarily through drastic cuts to agencies and mass firings. Now Ramaswamy is expected to soon step down from the position, CBS News reports, citing sources familiar with the agencys internal dynamics. Ramaswamy is also planning to run for Ohio governor to replace Mike DeWine, the current term-limited Republican state leader, according to an earlier report from The Washington Post. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The entrepreneurs expected resignation is a result of friction between him and incoming agency staff, according to CBS News. Those close to Musk have also undercut Ramaswamy in recent weeks, CBS News reports, and are frustrated with his lack of participation in the heavy lifting. Ramaswamy is expected to enter the Ohio gubernatorial race (REUTERS) The Independent has contacted Trumps transition team for comment. This isnt the only roadblock the agency is facing. Musk admitted last week that his promised target of cutting $2 trillion from the federal budget isnt feasible after all. I think well try for $2 trillion. I think thats the best-case outcome, Musk said. But I do think that you kind of have to have some overage. I think if we try for $2 trillion, weve got a good shot at getting $1 [million]. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Economists warned that cutting nearly one-third of the nations federal budget is implausible ever since Musk first pitched the idea in October at a Trump rally. If Ramaswamy launches a gubernatorial campaign and wins, it will be his first time holding public office. The entrepreneur and Cincinnati-native previously ran a Republican presidential campaign in an effort to rival Trump before dropping out in January 2024. In the primaries, Ramaswamy would likely have to face off against Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost, who has made headlines for fighting to defend the states six-week anti-abortion law. Meanwhile, former Ohio Department of Health Director Amy Acton previously announced her campaign to run as the Democratic nominee. By Qabil Ashirov Articles marking the 35th anniversary of the 20 January tragedy have been published on the website of Jordan's "Petra" State Information Agency, the country's most widely read daily newspapers "Al-Dustour" and "Al-Rai," as well as on popular news portals "Ammon News," "Saraya News," "Jordanzad," and "Nayrouz." According to Azernews, an article titled "Azerbaijan Commemorates the 35th Anniversary of the 20 January 1990 Tragedy" details the historical crime committed by the military forces of the former Soviet empire in Azerbaijan during the night of January 19-20, 1990. The article emphasizes that this tragedy was a crime against human values, resulting in the killing of innocent people. It highlights the severe moral and material damage inflicted on Azerbaijan during the 20 January events, as well as the violation of all the rights of the Azerbaijani people. The article also notes that the 20 January tragedy is etched in the memory of the Azerbaijani people as a page of sorrow and grief, yet also of pride and heroism. It is highlighted that every year, on the anniversary of the 20 January tragedy, the people of Azerbaijan pay deep respect to the memory of their martyrs. They visit the Martyrs' Alley, lay flowers on the graves of the heroic sons of the Motherland, and remember their role in the struggle for freedom with gratitude. Additionally, the article reflects the recent significant development of Azerbaijan-Jordan relations. BEIJING, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, on Monday extended festive greetings to people from non-CPC political parties and the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce, personages without party affiliation, and other members of the united front ahead of the Spring Festival, or the Chinese Lunar New Year. Xi, also Chinese president and chairman of the Central Military Commission, sent the greetings when he took part in an annual gathering with non-CPC members at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. From the Wanderland on The Dispatch The first thing to know about the Department of Government Efficiency is that it doesnt exist. DOGE is just a dumb reverse-engineered acronym (a reference joke for the crypto-bros) for the vanity-hobby project that will be overseen by Elon Musk until he gets bored by it. Creating an actual government department takes an act of Congress, which has not happened and almost certainly will not, because the incoming administration and its friends want to use DOGE and other informal arrangements to evade laws and regulations pertaining to official federal acts or to a federal advisory committeeyou know, little things like conflict-of-interest rules, transparency, recordkeeping, etc. (For more on the legal aspect, listen to Advisory Opinions on the subject.) Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement DOGEs lack of legal status may help it to elude oversight, at least for a while, but it also means that DOGE has no real power. Musk may think that his currently cozy relationship with Donald Trump gives him some clout, but many other men of his sort have suffered from that delusion before him, and they all found out the hard way that there is no point in trying to be the best friend of a man who has no friends at all. Ask Steve Bannon about that. Beyond the legal problemand the political problem, which well get to soon enoughDOGE has a math problem. Musk says he wants to cut $2 trillion from the federal budget. Of course, hes already backpedaling away from thathes doing the Trumpy thing of insisting that his unrealistic, ignorant bullst is part of a negotiating strategyand now says that his $2 trillion target is really a way to get to $1 trillion in cuts. So, lets take that as the $1 trillion challenge. Donald Trump has said, many times, that cuts to entitlements are off the table. He has, at times, talked about cutting defense spending, and Musk et al. are very interested in the Department of Defenses sloppy audits (oh, but heres cable-news clown Pete Hegseth to sort out the financials!), but history and political reality suggest that defense cuts are not going to be forthcoming, either. For one thing, Trump doesnt like doing hard or unpopular things; recall that he is the guy who wanted to put his own name on those COVID-relief checks. For another thing, congressional Republicans do not want to cut the defense budgetin the main, they want to increase it. And for a third thing, there is the matter of his own track record: Trump talked about defense cuts the last time around, too, and then signed the biggest defense budget in American history and, of course, boasted about it. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Some context: That biggest-ever defense budget was indeed the biggest ever in nominal-dollar terms, but in GDP termsthe more relevant measureit was a relatively small budget by historical standards. In 2021, the United States spent about 3.4 percent of GDP on defense, half of what it spent in 1982. If you believe that we are, indeed, in a new cold war, one in which the Peoples so-called Republic of China plays the role of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, then you probably should be thinking about how it is we are going to prevail in that conflict with relatively low spending to counter an enemy that is, unlike the USSR was, a major player in the world economy. In both nominal-dollar and GDP terms, defense spending went up a bit the last time Trump was in office, from 3.3 percent of GDP in 2017 to 3.4 percent of GDP in 2021 (it was 3.7 percent of GDP in 2020). I wouldnt bet big on big defense cutsor on meaningful defense cuts at all. If entitlements and defense are quarantined, then that leaves our old friend, non-defense discretionary spending (NDD). Elon Musk is a pretty smart guy by most accounts, but hes going to have a hard time getting $1 trillion in savings out of NDD, much less $2 trillion, becausesee if you can follow the math hereNDD already is less than $1 trillion. NDD came in at just more than $917 billion in 2023. You could cut every nickel of itall of the money the federal government spends on education, scientific research, highways, national parks, law enforcement, non-entitlement welfare programs, and basic operations such as running the courts and collecting the taxes and keeping the lights on in federal offices, and a million other thingswithout eliminating $1 trillion. Theres no clever way around it: You cannot cut $1 trillionmuch less $2 trillionwithout putting either defense or entitlements (or both) on the chopping block. Another way of saying this is that the budget balancers, be they at DOGE or in Congressyou know, the branch of government that actually has responsibility for taxing and spending and power over bothdo not have a fiscal problem first and foremost: They have a political problem. Even if we forget about actually balancing the budget and embrace the more modest measure of successful fiscal reformi.e., reducing the size of the annual deficit as a share of GDP consistently until GDP is growing faster than the national debt isit is not going to happen until somebody shows the moral leadership and political skill to convince the American electorate that meaningful fiscal reform is going to entail real cuts in popular programs and, almost certainlyRepublicans will want to cover their delicate little ears here and avert their eyeshigher taxes, particularly on the middle class, whose members currently pay approximately squat in federal income tax. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Our progressive friends do go on and on about the supposedly hyper-capitalist character of the United States and the scrooginess of its government spending compared to more enlightened countries. But that isnt really true, as you can see for yourself in the IMF data. Switzerland runs a perfectly pleasant modern European welfare state with government spending that is significantly lower as a share of GDP than in the United States (31.5 percent for the Swiss vs. 36.3 percent for the United States). In fact, all-in government spending in these United States (federal, state, and local) is within spitting distance of the figure in Norway (38.5 percent), Australia (38 percent), or Canada (41 percent), and more than China (33.4 percent) or Russia (3 percent). The next time one of your progressive friends points to the high statutory tax rates of the Eisenhower era as a sign of a golden age, tell them to take a gander at all-in government spending in, say, 1957, when it was just over 16 percent of GDP, less than half of what it is today. (Taxes as a share of GDP were lower in the Eisenhower years than they have been recently, toothose high statutory rates applied only very narrowly.) This isnt Singapore, where government spends only about a dime of every dollar of GDPand, by the way, is life in Singapore really so bad in purely material terms? Of course, we have to make allowances for cultural realities: Singapore is full of Singaporeans, Switzerland is full of Swiss people, Norway is full of Norwegians, and the United States of America is full of people who will later today inaugurate a corrupt, makeup-laminated game-show host as their president. And it isnt just a culture of egalitarian solidarity that has the Swedes, for example, relatively satisfied with their high-tax, high-spending governmentLars the Swede really does get more for his 11 Swedish krona than Joe American gets for his notionally equivalent $1. We have a supposed Department of Government Efficiency that is going to be looking for spending cuts everywhere but where the money is. But there are other kinds of efficiencies, too: For example, the federal government fails to collect nearly $700 billion in taxes owed each yearseven-tenths of that $1 trillion targetbut Republicans would rather ritually disembowel themselves than lift a pinky to address that. In fact, they cut another $20 billion out of the Internal Revenue Services budget in that end-of-year package cobbled together by House Speaker Mike Johnson. The IRS has its troubles, to be sure, about which I have written a great dealbut if we are going to have taxes, then we are going to have a tax-collecting agency. If Republicans wanted to replace the IRS with something more effectiveor replace the income tax with a less destructive tax regimethat would be great, and Id welcome the reform. But simply hobbling the tax agency we have isnt going to make it any more honest or effectiveif anything, it is likely to have the opposite effect. I can hear you now: But isnt it worth looking for some savings somewhere? Of course it is. How many blue-ribbon panels have we had on that over the years? And what do we have a Congress for, exactly? And Furthermore Human kind cannot bear very much reality, T. S. Eliot wrote. He was talking about bigger things than the federal budget and more important things than who is elected president of the U.S. government. (Eliot, a son of St. Louis, did his very best to forget that he ever had been an American. One sympathizes. Living in the United States in our time is a little like being a crazy person with unwanted voices in his head, and I always find it a relief to be in a place where the language on the street is not English. Eliot ended up speaking an English that was more British than John Gielguds, and it was almost as good as a foreign language.) But wewe Americans I meancannot bear very much reality in the little things, either. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Sometimes, my very sweet-tempered 2-year-old son will ask for something we dont have, such as an orange. And it goes like this: May I have orange, please? Im sorry, we dont have any oranges right now. Ill get some next time we go to the store. But I will have orange ANYWAY! I do love that my son apparently believes that I am omnipotent, at least when it comes to snacks, but with great power comes great responsibility. (Incidentally: Yes, he does say may I and please and thank you, though he does not yet have a handle on a, an, and the articles at large. He is polite when he is thinking about it, walks departing guests to the door and that sort of thing, but he will sometimes cry volcanically when denied something he wants or when something is taken away, and he will theatrically stamp his feet in frustrationwhich is something I had thought children did only in cartoons.) I dont want him to figure out how little power I actually havenot yet, anyway, and not out of vanity, but because I want his world to feel like a safer place for as long as possible. He sleeps with a stuffed rabbit and recently said that his career goal is to grow up to be Santa Claus because Santa gives people presents and there is nothing so good as that, and Im going to miss all that when its gone. I dont want to go off on a whole parenting tangent here, but I dont think little boys actually need toughening up the way we sometimes talk about itthe world already is sufficiently cruel, and I think that fathers who are mean with their sons for supposedly didactic reasons usually end up making weaker men rather than stronger ones. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Related to that, I detect some critical absences at work in our politics. Men who never got what they needed to get from their fathers dont stop needing it or looking for it, but they go looking elsewhere, naturally in the wrong places and often in destructiveespecially self-destructiveplaces. Men who never got from God what they needed dont stop looking for it, either, and that, too, leads to destruction in many cases. Church, family, communitymen never stop needing things and never stop looking. We are hunters and gatherers, and not only of wooly mammoths and berries. One need not reduce Christianity or any other religion to a mere psychological mechanism to appreciate that there are good reasons the world has only a few archetypes of the Almighty: father, mother. Mother is the name for God in the lips and hearts of little children, as William Makepeace Thackeray tells us. (And what a lovely Puritan name Makepeace is.) But what kind of a god? Sometimesonce or twice in a weekthat lady visited the upper regions in which the child lived. She came like a vivified figure out of the Magasin des Modesblandly smiling in the most beautiful new clothes and little gloves and boots. Wonderful scarfs, laces, and jewels glittered about her. She had always a new bonnet on, and flowers bloomed perpetually in it, or else magnificent curling ostrich feathers, soft and snowy as camellias. She nodded twice or thrice patronizingly to the little boy, who looked up from his dinner or from the pictures of soldiers he was painting. When she left the room, an odour of rose, or some other magical fragrance, lingered about the nursery. She was an unearthly being in his eyes, superior to his fatherto all the world: to be worshipped and admired at a distance. To drive with that lady in the carriage was an awful rite: he sat up in the back seat and did not dare to speak: he gazed with all his eyes at the beautifully dressed Princess opposite to him. Gentlemen on splendid prancing horses came up and smiled and talked with her. How her eyes beamed upon all of them! Her hand used to quiver and wave gracefully as they passed. When he went out with her he had his new red dress on. His old brown holland was good enough when he stayed at home. Sometimes, when she was away, and Dolly his maid was making his bed, he came into his mothers room. It was as the abode of a fairy to hima mystic chamber of splendour and delights. There in the wardrobe hung those wonderful robespink and blue and many-tinted. There was the jewel-case, silver-clasped, and the wondrous bronze hand on the dressing-table, glistening all over with a hundred rings. There was the cheval-glass, that miracle of art, in which he could just see his own wondering head and the reflection of Dolly (queerly distorted, and as if up in the ceiling), plumping and patting the pillows of the bed. Oh, thou poor lonely little benighted boy! Mother is the name for God in the lips and hearts of little children; and here was one who was worshipping a stone! Now Rawdon Crawley, rascal as the Colonel was, had certain manly tendencies of affection in his heart and could love a child and a woman still. For Rawdon minor he had a great secret tenderness then, which did not escape Rebecca, though she did not talk about it to her husband. It did not annoy her: she was too good-natured. It only increased her scorn for him. He felt somehow ashamed of this paternal softness and hid it from his wifeonly indulging in it when alone with the boy. As a portrait of an unhappy marriageor several of themVanity Fair offers all the darkness of three or four Thomas Hardy novels with half the effort and (at least) twice the humor. A line from the novel was repeated as a theme for the (very good) 2018 television adaptation: Everybody is striving for what is not worth the having! I wonder what, if anything, those words would mean to such a man as J.D. Vance, who today will put his signature in blood on the contract outlining the terms of the sale of his soulfor cheap, too. What a mess of pottage he has got himself into. One might feel pity or contempt for a sycophant such as Sean Hannity or such a creature as Steve Bannon, but one cannot exactly be disappointed by them in the way one is disappointed by a man who has the capacity to want something finer and higher. You dont blame a chimpanzee for being a chimpanzee, but you do blame a man for being one. Strange as it is, there are those among us who aspire to chimpdom, for whom chimpdom is a creed and a philosophy of a sort. Im not in the self-help business, but heres a little free advice: Try being human. It is a lot more work than accepting chimpdom, which comes naturally, but it will be worth it. Or so I hear. Words About Words Time for another round of That Stat Doesnt Say What You Seem to Think It Does. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement From a press release: Did you know one in five people without a college degree out-earn the median college graduate? A new report from two national nonprofits, American Student Assistance (ASA) and Burning Glass Institute (BGI), reveals how certain non-degree jobs are significantly better for launching a young person into a higher earning job with more long-term potential than others. These guys have their hearts in the right place, I suppose, and I am all for encouraging people who are not interested in a university education or college-level professional training to develop the skills and relationships that will lead them to satisfying and well-paid work. But what that number actually says is this: 80 percent of those without a college degreea large majorityearn less than the median college graduate. On its face, thats a pretty good argument for going to college, no? There are all sorts of arrows-of-causality-in-this-vector issues going unaddressed there (the sort of people who finish college degrees are also the sort of people who are likely to be relatively active and conscientious when it comes to job-hunting, etc.) (wrote the non-graduate) but, if thats the stat youre hanging your hat on, this isnt the press release you write. Economics for English Majors If youre not already econned-out, heres an interesting bit from the deVere Group: Rachel Reeves Budget last October has unleashed an unprecedented response, with 42% of those with financial assets in or ties to the UK actively now seeking to transfer their wealth and assets out of Britain and into more tax-friendly jurisdictions, according to a new survey. This comprehensive survey by independent financial advisory and fintech deVere Group, conducted the week before Christmas among 600 individuals worldwide, underscores the widespread concern over the sweeping fiscal measures announced in Labours first Budget. The surveys findings reveal a seismic shift in attitudes toward the UKs financial environment. Families, business owners, and investors with UK financial connections are exploring options to mitigate the impact of the new tax landscape, which includes higher capital gains and inheritance tax changes on pensions, the abolition of non-domiciled tax status, and increases in National Insurance Contributions (NIC). These measures, designed to address fiscal challenges, are perceived as a direct threat to wealth preservation and financial planning. The policies outlined in the Budget are a game-changer for anyone with financial ties to the UK, said Nigel Green, CEO of deVere Group. The poll shows a remarkable increase in the number of individuals seeking to reposition their wealth abroad. This is not a knee-jerk reaction its a strategic response to an environment that has become increasingly hostile to wealth and investment. It is possible these findings are overstated. It also is possible that people respond to incentives and that rich people have more ability to respond quickly and decisively. Which Reminds Me I filled in for Jamie Weinstein on The Dispatch Podcast today and had a very fun chat with Grover Norquist. Grover is someone I have a lot of disagreements with (I think we should focus on spending rather than taxes and have long been convinced that self-financing tax cuts are a delusion in most circumstances) but always enjoy talking to. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Grover Norquist is, in some ways, the model political activist: He has one issue, really, and hell work with anybodyRepublicans, Democrats, libertarians, vegans, emu ranchers, yoga enthusiasts, the devil himself, even Republicanswho is willing to move his goals forward a few yards. And he is willing to tell his friends and allies in the Trump administration things they need to hear, i.e., that tariffs are taxes on American consumers and businesses. Another way of saying that is that Norquist does what the National Rifle Association used to do: Focus on one important thing and keep hammering on it. And thats a good way to go about doing iteven when hes wrong. MAGAbytes Do read this: Very interesting discussion between Ross Douthat of the New York Times and venture-capital poobah/guy who kinda may as well have invented the web Marc Andreessen. And Furtherermore Theres a line missing from the bio of one of our new contributors: Geoff Henley is, among his other sins, my old college-newspaper boss. Elsewhere You can buy my most recent book, Big White Ghetto, here. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement You can buy my other books here. You can see my New York Post columns here. Please subscribe to The Dispatch if you havent. You can check out How the World Works, a series of interviews on work Im doing for the Competitive Enterprise Institute, here. I think youll particularly enjoy my recent conversation with Magatte Wade, Senegalese entrepreneur and one of the worlds leading African prosperity activists. In Conclusion Guys, I said a cold day in hell. Cold day in Washington is pretty close, to be sure, but youre going to have to do better. No sale. 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. For nearly 40 years, the Chernobyl exclusion zone (CEZ) has been a laboratory for scientists to study the long-term effects of radiation exposure. One of the ongoing subjects in this unintentional laboratory is the group of stray dogs that mysteriously exhibit genetic differences from populations located. A new study determines that radiation-induced mutation is not the cause, and that the true reason could be related to intense selective pressures or other toxins released in to the environment during decades of cleanup and remediation. On April 26, 1986, the worst nuclear disaster since World War II decimated Chernobyl in the Soviet Union. Nearly 40 years later, a lot has changed. Chernobyl, for one, is now within the borders of Ukraine, and the destroyed reactor is now capped by a massive dome, known as New Safe Confinement. Oh, and the dogs are different, too. Although Chernobyl was an unprecedented moment in history that caused terrible suffering to both humans and the local environment, the Chernobyl exclusion zone (CEZ) provides an equally unprecedented opportunity to study the long-term effects of radiation exposure, including the effects on stray dogs that stayed behind when the CEZ was initially evacuated. Previous studies of these dogs, which compared their genes to similar populations in nearby Chernobyl City and elsewhere in eastern Europe, have found distinct genetic differences between the groups. But scientists couldnt be sure exactly what was causing this genetic variation. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Some experts theorized that this could be radiation-induced mutations at work, but others disagreed, saying how isolating the cause other selective pressures or inbreeding can be difficult. [These studies] are so hard theres lots of other stuff going in the natural environment, one scientist told Science News back in 2023. Now, a new study published nearly two years later confidently asserts that we can at least cross radiation off the list. Published in the journal PLOS One by scientists from North Carolina State University and Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health in New York, this new genetic analysis looked at the chromosomal level, the genome level, and even the nucleotides of the Chernobyl dogs, and found no abnormalities indicative of radiation-induced mutation. We have been working with two dog populations that, while separated by just 16 kilometers, or about 10 miles, are genetically distinct, Matthew Breen, senior author of the study from North Carolina State University, said in a press statement. We are trying to determine if low-level exposure over many years to environmental toxins such as radiation, lead, etcetera, could explain some of those differences. To establish a baseline for comparison, the team compared the genome of Chernobyl City dogs located 10 miles from the CEZ to dogs found in regions of Russia, Poland, and other nearby countries. Once they determined that the populations were genetically similar, they then used the Chernobyl City dogs as a representative control for their study. Of course, the task wasnt simple, as more than a couple dozen dog generations have past since the original pups that witnessed to the Chernobyl meltdown in 1986. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We know that, for example, exposure to high doses of radiation can introduce instability from the chromosomal level on down, Breen said in a press statement. While this dog population is 30 or more generations removed from the one present during the 1986 disaster, mutations would likely still be detectable if they conferred a survival advantage to those original dogs. But we didn't find any such evidence in these dogs. However, the mystery is far from solved. While radiation may not be the direct cause of the genetic mutations, many other toxinsincluding heavy metals, lead powder, pesticides, and asbestoshave entered the environment due to cleanup and remediation efforts over the decades. The authors also theorize that its possible the original surviving dogs already possessed genetic traits that increased the likelihood of their survival. So perhaps there was extreme selective pressure at the start, and then the dogs at the power plant just remained separate from the city population, Megan DilIon, lead author of the study and NC State postdoctoral student, said in a press statement. Investigating that question is an important next step that we are now working on. You Might Also Like Donald Trump is once again President and his second administration promises to be more Trumpian than ever. Sworn in just after noon both the inauguration ceremony and his stick-swinging inauguration speech shielded from the cold inside the Capitol Building he is essentially picking up where he left off. This time, however, Trump & co have far more experience of how to navigate Washingtons corridors of power. Theyre already showing it. The past few weeks have seen Trumps transition team prove its deftness in everything from foreign policy that Gaza ceasefire to a domestic agenda rife with executive orders promising to dismantle the vast DEI and identity politics network that former president Joe Biden and the Democrats had assembled with such alacrity. And as Trumps second inauguration speech made clear, he is only just getting started. Eight years ago, Trump raised eyebrows and ire with his now infamous inauguration warning about the American carnage he believed had overtaken the nation. It stops right here, right now, he said, from this day forward, a new vision will govern our land. From this day forward, its going to be only America first. America first. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Todays speech was filled with a similar sense of intent, only wrapped in a more sanguine bow. The golden age of America begins right now, Trump said. From this day forward, our country will flourish. So what does it mean for America to flourish during Trump 2.0? As he detailed on the campaign trail, immigration will be Trumps most immediate priority, necessitating a series of rapid-response executive orders and potential troop deployments along the US-Mexico border to deport criminal aliens and halt the emergency at our Southern border. He framed his migrant policy as one of common sense, which drove the crowd wild as he went on to exclaim all illegal entry will immediately be halted, while Mexican drug cartels will soon be considered foreign terrorists. But his plans for immigration were just the beginning. At times, Trumps address read like a laundry-list of the policy promises he has provocatively touted since his November election victory. There was the Panama Canal, which Trump said the US is taking back both, it seems, from the Panamanian government as well as their alleged patrons in Beijing. DEI is also on Trumps radar, most notably gender ideology. As of today there are only two genders, he declared under the Capitols rotunda. Trump also attacked the state of Americas public health system as one that does not deliver, and the nations education system as teaching children to hate their country. Under Biden, America has given unlimited funding to the defence of foreign borders but refuses to defend American borders, Trump added. This will now change, ending Americas decline and ushering in a new golden age that he believes began the moment he took the oath of office. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The speech was classic Trump, strident and aggressive macho and worthy of a fact-check or three. But mostly the President delivered exactly what his supporters wanted (and expected) to hear even the minority voters who turned out in record numbers on election day and for whom inauguration day holds extra importance arriving, as it has, on the Martin Luther King, Jr holiday. Invoking the language of King himself and his quest for African-American equality Trump branded today liberation day and committed to making Dr Kings dreams come true. Some might think it a curious commitment considering that Trump is immediately intending to slash so many of the programmes intended to protect minority rights. But his supporters would argue that going to war on critical race theory and the diversity industry is consistent with his support for a colour-blind society. With Joe Biden now on a helicopter and headed for a long-overdue retirement, America is a nation fundamentally and forever changed. The progressive agenda launched by President Obama and most fully-realised under Biden has been proven both ineffective and unpopular. America wants a return to the basics lower costs, safer streets, conventional cultural norms, and a semblance of racial harmony. Trump believes he can deliver it. Many Americans appear to agree. David Christopher Kaufman is a columnist for the New York Post Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. When President-elect Donald Trump takes office at the stroke of noon on January 20, the government will not collapse outright. Congress will continue to pass laws, and the Supreme Court will continue to decide cases. The Constitution will not disappear immediately. All of the various agencies and machineries of state will continue to function. In another sense, however, Trumps second inauguration will mark a break in the political traditions that date back to the nations founding. Americans have elected, by majority vote and electoral vote alike, a president who does not even pretend to believe in the American tradition of civic republicanism, who is openly contemptuous of ethical and legal constraints on his power, and who is more than willing to use public office for private gain. Trump will be the first president in American history who is effectively above the law. The Supreme Courts fateful immunity ruling last summer allows presidents to sell pardons for cash, to exchange ambassadorships for personal favors, to take bribes and kickbacks for a variety of things so long as it can be tied to an official act. Congress could theoretically impeach Trump for any of this, but the experience of his first term suggests that it wont. His subordinates are demanding loyalty to the president as a guiding principle for the executive branch for the next four years; Republican lawmakers are eagerly pledging their fealty to him. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In exchange for their crucial support in last years presidential election, the president-elect has also given his blessing to a small coterie of right-wing Silicon Valley oligarchs who bankrolled his reelection as they seek to purge and reshape both the federal government and American democracy in their shared image. He is also giving them de facto control over policy decisions that could help enrich them even further. This government will be for billionaires, of billionaires, and by billionaires. Americans chose the first Trump administration almost by accident in 2016; they chose it willfully in 2024. It is easy to be cynical about the Constitution and the Framers and their relevance to contemporary American life. This will truly be the golden age of America, Trump told his supporters in his victory speech in November. What it will likely be instead is a second gilded age, and the country may be unrecognizable by the time it ends. First, its worth noting that the Constitution itself is an anti-corruption document. At the great convention in Philadelphia, the Framers feared that the United States would someday follow the path of classical and medieval European republics. Some of them, like Greek city-states and ancient Rome, abandoned their republican virtue in favor of oligarchy and dictatorship. Others, like the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, fell under the sway of foreign powers who were able to bribe and ply them into betraying their own country. The aim of every political constitution is, or ought to be, first to obtain for rulers men who possess most wisdom to discern, and most virtue to pursue, the common good of the society, James Madison explained in Federalist 57, and in the next place, to take the most effectual precautions for keeping them virtuous whilst they continue to hold their public trust. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement To that end, much of the Constitutions framework revolves around reducing the risk of corruption. The separation of powers into three coequal branches makes it harder for one person or group of people to gain total control. Public offices are not hereditary; they are either held by elected officials or staffed by their chosen appointees. Various clauses, now seen as archaic relics, forbid state and federal officials from granting titles of nobility to Americans or receiving payments, honors, or titles from foreign rulers. Presidents are barred from salary increases while in office; they cannot lawfully take any other payment from the federal government or the states. They can neither weaken his fortitude by operating on his necessities, nor corrupt his integrity by appealing to his avarice, Alexander Hamilton explained in Federalist 73, referring to Congress. Nor can lawmakers increase their own salaries or take new offices that they voted to create; nor can Congress reduce the salaries of federal judges or kick them out of office, except through impeachment. These concerns were articulated against factions. A common modern assumption is that the Framers used this term to describe what we now call political parties, but that is not quite accurate. By a faction, Madison wrote, I understand a number of citizens, whether amounting to a majority or a minority of the whole, who are united and actuated by some common impulse of passion, or of interest, adversed to the rights of other citizens, or to the permanent and aggregate interests of the community. Corruption, the Framers understood, was the enemy of republican self-government because it prioritized private interest over the public good. An educated, informed citizenry was best poised to ensure that government officials maintained their civic virtue through regular elections and other tools. Describing these principles feels like a return to grade school; these are supposed to be the values that every American learns from the moment they can understand them. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Those cultural and political norms have faded, especially in recent years. One can see their disappearance in the Supreme Courts ruling in Trump v. United States last summer. It is hardly novel to point out that Trump does not care about these norms. Far more alarming is the high courts disinterest in them. The courts conservative majority, who often claim to be seeking the Framers original meaning, concluded that the president can commit crimes while carrying out his core constitutional duties without fear of arrest, indictment, or prosecution. The hesitation to execute the duties of his office fearlessly and fairly that might result when a president is making decisions under a pall of potential prosecution raises unique risks to the effective functioning of government, Chief Justice John Roberts wrote for the court. This is, of course, nonsense. The republic endured for nearly 250 years with presidents knowing that they could be prosecuted if they abused their office or acted corruptly. I am not sure if the chief justice even believes in corruption on a conceptual level. By this I do not mean to say that Roberts himself is personally corruptto the contrary, he appears to have been a Boy Scout for the last 20 years. What I mean is that Roberts appears to take the opposite view of the Framers: that corruption is an inevitable feature of the elected branches, the First Amendment requires it to flourish, and the greater evil is acting too strongly to stop it. To that end, he and his fellow conservatives have spent the last two decades gutting campaign-finance laws, rejecting the premise that Congress can regulate independent expenditures and other vehicles for influence to reduce the appearance or reality of corruption. They have also embarked on an audacious effort to curb prosecutions of public officials for corruption, overturning guilty verdicts in cases involving honest-services fraud in New York and gratuities in Illinois in recent years. The justices set themselves to this task shortly before Trump emerged on the scene; the resulting erosion of standards perhaps made the rise of an ethically unmoored president inevitable. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Robertss use of the phrase a pall of potential prosecution in the immunity ruling, for example, is a quotation of his decision in McDonnell v. United States in 2016. He led a unanimous court to hold that federal prosecutors could not use the federal bribery statute against a former Virginia governor who took Rolexes and luxury clothes from a businessman in exchange for setting up meetings and wielding his official influence on his benefactors behalf. The chief justice saw no difference between tens of thousands of dollars of gifts in McDonnells case and normal interactions between constituents and elected officials in hypothetical scenarios he raised, like a union official who worried about plant closures or homeowners who wanted disaster assistance. The governments position could cast a pall of potential prosecution over these relationships if the union had given a campaign contribution in the past or the homeowners invited the official to join them on their annual outing to the ballgame, Roberts wrote. Officials might wonder whether they could respond to even the most commonplace requests for assistance, and citizens with legitimate concerns might shrink from participating in democratic discourse. What does it say about democratic discourse that a few Rolexes or fur coats can now help you bend a governors ear? That question is even more urgent as Trumps second term takes shape. Conflicts of interest will abound. At least 13 billionaires are planned to join his Cabinet so far. Elon Musk, who has been tasked by Trump to run a Department of Government Efficiency, is the worlds wealthiest person and the frequent recipient of government contracts. Musk hopes to cut or eliminate an unspecified number of federal agencies and slash regulatory efforts in the ones that survive. This purported cost-cutting effort may ultimately be a boon for his many companies and the regulations they must abide by. Musk is merely the tip of the spear for Silicon Valleys newly congealed tech oligarchy. It goes without saying that wealthy Americans have long played an outsize role in shaping public policy, either through campaign contributions or personal connections. Even by those standards what the tech billionaires have planned is superlative. Musk, for example, will be getting coveted space in the West Wing for his ambitions. Silicon Valley investor David Sacks, a longtime Musk associate, will be the Trump administrations AI and crypto czar, with a mandate to help it flourish with as few regulations as possible. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Sacks, Musk, and other right-wing Silicon Valley figures poured millions into Trumps reelection campaign, helping it stay afloat while Democrats raised record hauls. That they funded Trump in expectation of personal benefit is no secret or mystery. If anything, they are more than happy to admit it. In an interview with New York Times opinion columnist Ross Douthat last week, top Silicon Valley venture capitalist Marc Andreessen explained that his support of Trump came, at least in part, because he thought a Harris administration would not benefit the companies in which he and his firm had invested. They just ran this incredible terror campaign to try to kill crypto, he told Douthat, referring to Biden-era regulatory efforts. Then they were ramping up a similar campaign to try to kill A.I. Thats really when we knew that we had to really get involved in politics. The crypto attack was so weird that we didnt know what to make of it. We were just hoping it would pass, which it didnt. But it was when they threatened to do the same thing to A.I. that we realized we had to get involved in politics. Then we were up against what looked like the absolutely terrifying prospect of a second term. Though Andreessen made ample references to other, broader public interests in the interview, his direct financial stake in the matter still stands out. In some ways, Trumps plans for his second term are more ambitious than his first. He hopes to wield the Justice Department and the FBI against his political foes, staffing them with loyalists and his personal attorneys. How far this will go is far from clear: Trump made similar threats last term that ultimately went nowhere, but that was before his stated plans to end the Justice Departments independence bore fruit. Trumps untrammeled power is already having chilling effects in the news media. The owners of multiple major newspapers, including the Los Angeles Times and The Washington Post, blocked their staffs from endorsing Kamala Harris because of potential blowback from Trump. Mark Zuckerberg, the mercurial owner of Facebook and Meta, has reinvented himself in recent weeks by jettisoning diversity initiatives and disinformation detectors, claiming that companies need more masculine energy while appearing on Joe Rogans podcast, and reportedly blaming past policy differences on Sheryl Sandberg, who resigned from the company two years ago. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Those who challenged Trump in the past may have good reason to worry. The president seems more than interested in using public power for private revenge. In recent years, he threatened to use the Federal Communications Commission to strip major news networks of their licenses to use public airwaves over broadcasts that he disagreed with. The Wall Street Journal reported last week that Paramount executives are considering settling a weak lawsuit filed by Trump last year in hopes of pleasing him ahead of a planned merger review. Corruption also encourages corruption. New York City Mayor Eric Adams journeyed to Mar-a-Lago last week to discuss New Yorkers priorities with the president-elect. Federal prosecutors indicted Adams on corruption charges in September, and the beleaguered mayor soon began to inch toward Trump for political support. Trump suggested last month that he would look at a pardon for Adams, while also alluding to Adamss potential help in identifying and deporting undocumented immigrants in New York City. He would not be the first public official with a corruption case who sought Trumps help. Former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich, who was infamously caught on tape trying to sell Barack Obamas Senate seat after his election as president in 2008, launched an unsubtle campaign to elicit a pardon from Trump as a rebuke to federal prosecutors during the Russia investigation. It succeeded when Trump commuted Blagojevichs prison sentence in 2020. Trumps willingness to liberally pardon his allies, particularly those who attacked the Capitol on January 6, will likely define the early days and weeks of his presidency. There are smaller indignities toward the public good as well. Trump pardoned Charles Kushner, his eldest daughters father-in-law, toward the end of his first term. The president announced last month that he now plans to nominate him to be the nations ambassador to France. Kimberley Guilfoyle, the ex-girlfriend of Don Jr., is slated to be the next ambassador to Greece. None of Trumps children are slated to take official roles in the upcoming administration, marking at least one improvement from his first term. But it is only a single drop in an ocean of nepotism. Against that tide, the only comfort is history. Trump may be an extraordinary figure in American history, but this is also not the first time that the nations political system has been undermined by widespread corruption and relentless, virtueless self-dealing. Americas first gilded age in the late nineteenth century saw the rise of graft-filled urban machines and the political muscle-flexing of industrial trusts. Just as that era gave way to the progressive reforms of the early twentieth century, so too may these years eventually lead to a renewal of the reformer spiritand a recommitment to basic republican ideals. The TikTok ban in the United States of America didn't last long, as the social media platform revealed that it was in the process of restoring its services in the country. TikTok's statement came soon after President-elect Donald Trump asked companies not to let the app stay dark. Trump also expressed plans to save TikTok and "keep it in good hands" through a joint venture with the app's "current owners and/or new owners." TikTok Restoring Services In The United States Of America STATEMENT FROM TIKTOK: In agreement with our service providers, TikTok is in the process of restoring service. We thank President Trump for providing the necessary clarity and assurance to our service providers that they will face no penalties providing TikTok to over 170 TikTok Policy (@TikTokPolicy) January 19, 2025 On Sunday, TikTok shared a statement on X via its TikTok Policy page, revealing that it was restoring services in the United States after a recent ban. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The statement began, "In agreement with our service providers, TikTok is in the process of restoring service." The social media platform also thanked President-elect Donald Trump for his role in making service restoration possible. The statement continued, "We thank President Trump for providing the necessary clarity and assurance to our service providers that they will face no penalties providing TikTok to over 170 million Americans and allowing over 7 million small businesses to thrive." TikTok also expressed its desire to work with Trump on a sustainable solution that will allow it to remain in the US. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The statement concluded, "It's a strong stand for the First Amendment and against arbitrary censorship. We will work with President Trump on a long-term solution that keeps TikTok in the United States." Donald Trump's Statement About TikTok MEGA TikTok's statement came over two hours after Donald Trump shared his plans to extend the time before the ban on the app takes effect. The incoming president wrote via the Truth Social app, "I'm asking companies not to let TikTok stay dark! I will issue an executive order on Monday to extend the period of time before the law's prohibitions take effect, so that we can make a deal to protect our national security." Trump added, "The order will also confirm that there will be no liability for any company that helped TikTok from going dark before my order." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The 78-year-old also expressed his desire for Americans to watch his presidential inauguration on Monday. He said, "Americans deserve to see our exciting inauguration on Monday, as well as other events and conversations." Donald Trump's Plans For TikTok Matt Bishop/imageSPACE / MEGA Trump also shared his plans for TikTok in his post, revealing that he wanted a joint venture between the US government and the social media app. He wrote, "I would like the United States to have a 50% ownership position in a joint venture. By doing this, we save TikTok, keep it in good hands and allow it to say up." Trump added, "Without U.S. approval, there is no TikTok. With our approval, it is worth hundreds of billions of dollars - maybe trillions." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The soon-to-be-inaugurated President also explained what his proposed structure for TikTok will be. He wrote, "Therefore, my initial thought is a joint venture between the current owners and/or new owners whereby the U.S. gets a 50% ownership in a joint venture set up between the U.S. and whichever purchase we so choose." Reactions To TikTok's Service Restoration The TikTok ban be like : pic.twitter.com/Ox3TMw8q0K Crazy Vibes (@CrazyVibes_1) January 19, 2025 Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Several X users reacted to TikTok's statement about restoring its services in the United States after a short-lived ban. One person shared a hilarious meme from the cartoon, "Sponge Bob Square Pants," referencing how short the ban was. The post's caption read, "The TikTok ban be like." Another X user thanked Trump for his leadership, which led to TikTok's service restoration. They wrote, "Great to see TikTok back online thanks to President Trump's leadership. This is a big win for free speech and a major blow to Big Tech censorship. Thanks to Trump for standing up to the elites and giving Americans their voices back." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement However, some people felt that the quick restoration of TikTok's services after its ban was a ploy to make Trump look good. One such person wrote, "It's been less than 24 hours and you're already coming back? Y'all have no shame. All of this has just been a wasted attempt to try to make Trump look better." Supreme Court Upholds TikTok Ban TikTok On Friday, TikTok's future in the US looked bleak after the Supreme Court upheld the federal law that effectively banned the app. The ban took effect on Sunday, with the app's users in the US not able to access it. After the Supreme Court's decision, Trump, who previously asked them to delay the law's implementation, vowed to "save" TikTok. With the app now being restored, the incoming president seems to have come good on his promise. President Donald Trump held a victory rally before his presidential inauguration at the Capital One Arena in Washington on Saturday. The event, titled the Make America Great Again Victory Rally, featured performances from Kid Rock and The Village People. THE TONE WAS SET BY FRANKLIN GRAHAMS INVOCATION. Preachers are a fixture at presidential inaugurations, but until now theyve confined their words to asking the Almighty to bless the new president and his family and to guide the nation to goodness and mercy. The prophets were popular choices. Not this time. Graham used the opportunity not to praise God but to worship Donald Trump. Regarding the inauguration, Graham exulted Look what the Lord has done! It was a theme the most glassy-eyed Trump acolytes have sounded since the Pennsylvania assassination attemptthat God turned Trumps head a fraction of an inch at just the right moment to spare him for a great purpose. (God neglected, according to this interpretation, to turn the head of Corey Comperatore.) Trump himself echoed this theme in his speech, calling his return to the presidency the journey to reclaim our republic. Those who wish to stop our cause have tried to take my freedom, and indeed, to take my life. Just a few months ago, in that beautiful Pennsylvania field, an assassins bullet ripped through my ear. But I felt then, and believe even more so now, that my life was saved for a reason. I was saved by God to make America great again. The Catholic priest who delivered closing remarks elevated the re-elected president to even greater heights, seeming to sanctify his dead parents and thanking God for having created them so that they could bless the world with Donald. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement No one covers Trump and Trumpism as well as The Bulwark. To get full access to members-only newsletters, podcasts, and live events, become a Bulwark+ memberand now get two months free with an annual subscription! Trump has never been a religious man, as he has acknowledged many times. He worships himself so devoutly that there was never much room for God. But it does seem possible that after Pennsylvania, and after November 5, and after the whole corporate world has come crawling, and after Big Tech has truckled, and after news organizations have surrendered, that Trump has come around to the idea that God worships Trump, too. Accordingly, the familiar Trump strut has now taken on a religious/nationalist cast. Invoking manifest destiny, he says the United States will once again consider itself a growing nation, one that increases our wealth, expands our territoryand as for the Panama Canal, were taking it back. Hes going to rename the Gulf of Mexico, renew our cities, and send American astronauts to plant the Stars and Stripes on the planet Mars. Karl Marx said that history repeats itself, the first time as tragedy, the second time as farce. Trumps second victory partakes of both tragedy and farce. As in the past, Trump imagines that he commands magic wandsthat by declaring cartels to be terrorist organizations and resorting to the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, he can eliminate the presence of all foreign gang criminal networks in American cities, or that by imposing tariffs he can enrich our citizens, or (as he promised on the campaign trail but noticeably didnt mention in his inaugural address) that he can end the Ukraine war in one day. But, unlike in the first term, this time around a cowed leadership class in Americanot just in his own partyis conspiring to affirm that the naked emperor is beautifully clothed. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A would-be autocrat is welcomed into office not just without skepticism but with religious zeal and nationalist truculence. After Trumps address promising the dawn of a new golden agethe four greatest years in American historythe very first act of the new era was to be Carrie Underwoods rendition of America the Beautiful. They handed her the mic, but the music failed to cue up. After everyone looked uncomfortable for a couple of minutes, Underwood sang it a cappella. She improvised in the face of a screw-up. Perhaps it was the first peek into our futurereality will assert itself into the fantasy world Trump aims to create. Share Inauguration Day is here. Although President-elect Donald Trump is beginning his second term in office, there are still some historic firsts the Trump administration brings to the White House. Here's a look. Donald Trump ties the record for the oldest person sworn into office Former President Joe Biden, who turned 82 in November, became the oldest person ever sworn into office at age 78 in 2021. However, President-elect Donald Trump ties that record Monday, when he swears in at age 78. Who is the oldest living president? Biden is the oldest serving U.S. president. Before his inauguration, Trump is the oldest living former president but that title will soon be claimed by Biden, who is four years older. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trump is only 22 days older than Bush and 66 days older than Clinton. How many former U.S. presidents are still alive? Only four former presidents are alive: Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Donald Trump and Barack Obama. However, Clinton, 78, is the only former commander-in-chief who was in office during the 20th century. Who is the youngest living former president? The youngest living former president is Barack Obama who is 63 years old. Barack Obama is youngest living former president at 63 years old. Who is the youngest person to become vice president? John C. Breckinridge holds the record for the nations youngest vice president, according to The New York Times. He was 36 when he took office in 1857 as James Buchanans vice president. However, JD Vance will be the third youngest person to become vice president at 40 years old, per U.S. News & World Report. Richard Nixon was the second youngest person to become vice president in 1953. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Vance, who was born in 1984, will also be the first millennial vice president. First VP with facial hair in nearly 100 years Vance will also be the first VP to have facial hair in nearly 100 years, as Charles Curtis last sported it when he was in office from 1929-1933, according to Scripps News. JD Vance will be the third youngest person to become vice president at 40 years old. Trump will be the first president to serve two non-consecutive terms in over 100 years Trump will the second president in U.S. history to serve two non-consecutive terms, NPR reports. Grover Cleveland was the first, serving two terms in the White House from 1885-1889 and 1893-1897. He was first elected president in 1884 but was defeated by Republican Benjamin Harrison in 1888. He then defeated Harrison in the presidential election of 1892. Trump will be the first president with a felony conviction Trump is the first convicted felon to win a U.S. presidential election. He was found guilty by a jury in New York City on 34 counts of falsifying business records after high-profile witnesses alleged Trump falsified records to conceal unlawfully interfering in the 2016 presidential election through the $130,000 hush money payment made to an adult film star. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement On Jan. 10, Trump received an "unconditional discharge," the first-ever criminal sentence for a former or incoming U.S. president. This criminal sentence carries no prison time or probation. This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Who is the oldest president to be sworn in? Trump's historic feats Donald Trump addressed the American people on Monday, Jan. 20, after being sworn into office for a second term as president of the United States. From this moment on, America's decline is over," Trump, 78, declared in the U.S. Capitol rotunda early in his inaugural speech, shifting away from the civil tone that he and President Joe Biden managed to strike throughout the morning. "Over the past eight years, I have been tested and challenged more than any president in our 250-year history," he said before referencing his assassination attempts. "My life was saved for a reason. I was saved by God to Make America Great Again." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Related: Trump Inauguration Live Updates: Donald Trump Says America Will Be 'Envy of Every Nation' During Address Kenny Holston-Pool/Getty President Donald Trump celebrates after he is sworn in as the 47th U.S. president President Donald Trump celebrates after he is sworn in as the 47th U.S. president In a speech lasting more than 30 minutes, the newly inaugurated 47th president discussed a range of topics, previewing his day one goals and wading into some of the culture wars that propelled him to the White House once again. The remarks which teetered between a campaign rally speech and a partisan State of the Union-like address focused less on a unification message and more on rebuking Biden's administration while his predecessor sat feet away. Trump said that under his leadership, he would end what he views as censorship on free speech; direct the government to only recognize two genders; make it so that school kids don't "feel ashamed" by their curriculum; and "drill, baby drill." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He also reiterated his goal to rename the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America and added that he would change the name of Mount Denali in Alaska back to its former nickname, Mount McKinley. Eliciting a thumbs up from SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, Trump also announced his intent to "plant the stars and stripes on the planet Mars." He concluded his speech with the idea that a new era is coming, saying, "Our golden age has just begun." Related: Joe and Jill Biden Depart the U.S. Capitol as a Former First Couple Andrew Harnik/Getty The inaugural stage in the Capitol rotunda on Jan. 20, 2025 The inaugural stage in the Capitol rotunda on Jan. 20, 2025 Among the notable figures in attendance at the U.S. Capitol were now-former President Biden, former Vice President Kamala Harris who lost to Trump in the 2024 election and their spouses, former first lady Jill Biden and former second gentleman Doug Emhoff. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Other prominent guests included former Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush, alongside the latter's wife, Laura Bush. Additionally, several of Trumps well-known colleagues were present, including tech moguls Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg and Jeff Bezos. Notably absent from the event were former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and former first lady Michelle Obama. "There's no overstating her feelings about [Trump]. She's not one to plaster on a pleasant face and pretend for protocol's sake," a source previously told PEOPLE, explaining why Obama chose not to attend the inauguration. Related: Michelle Obama Is 'Not One to Pretend for Protocol's Sake,' Source Says About Her Skipping Trump's Inauguration (Exclusive) Kevin Lamarque - Pool/Getty Elon Musk, seated beside several other tech CEOs, attends Donald Trump's inauguration on Jan. 20, 2025 Elon Musk, seated beside several other tech CEOs, attends Donald Trump's inauguration on Jan. 20, 2025 Trumps 2017 inaugural speech was highly contested, with many comparing one line to a quote from a Batman supervillain. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Today, we are not merely transferring power from one administration to another or from one party to another, but we are transferring power from Washington, D.C. and giving it back to you, the people, Trump said in his first inauguration address, eight years ago. Related: Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg Among Several Tech CEOs Filling VIP Seats at Trump's Inauguration The line was likened to a famous moment in The Dark Knight Rises, when the villain Bane declares to Gotham City: We take Gotham from the corrupt! The rich! The oppressors of generations who have kept you down with myths of opportunity, and we give it back to you, the people. Leaving office in 2021 amid a global pandemic and political unrest, Trump became the first elected president in 150 years not to stand behind his successor, Biden, during his inauguration and was absent from the ceremonies. 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. Now reentering office, Trump has a higher popularity rating than his historically low one in 2017, according to a CNN poll. There is a close split between favorable (46%) and unfavorable (48%) opinions of Trump, personally. Read the original article on People BEIJING, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- As Washington undergoes a transition of power, the world is watching closely, with numerous eyes fixated on the future trajectory of China-U.S. relations. Amid growing global challenges, the two major countries should work toward a positive beginning in the new U.S. presidential term and strive to advance their relations from a new starting point. The importance of the relationship between the world's top two economies cannot be overstated. From trade to global security and climate change, how they interact has a direct impact far beyond their borders. With extensive common interests and broad cooperation potential, the two countries can become partners and friends, contribute to each other's success, and advance shared prosperity for mutual and global good. For China and the United States, two big countries with different national conditions, it is just natural to have some differences. What matters most is to manage their disagreements properly, not to allow them to dictate the course of the relationship. From the outset of their engagement, the two countries have recognized the profound differences in their political systems and development stages. Nonetheless, they have over the past decades established diplomatic ties, strengthened cooperation based on mutual interests, and enhanced friendly exchanges between their peoples. Moving forward, the two sides should respect each other's core interests and major concerns, while seeking constructive solutions to existing challenges. The Taiwan question concerns China's national sovereignty and territorial integrity. Therefore, the new U.S. administration must approach it with prudence and refrain from actions that could undermine mutual trust or destabilize the broader bilateral relationship. The China-U.S. relationship, though marked by cooperation, competition and, at times, tension, has increasingly been characterized by interdependence. Economic and trade cooperation has become the cornerstone of bilateral ties, with trade having shot up more than 200-fold. Two-way investments have topped 260 billion U.S. dollars, with over 70,000 U.S. companies operating in China and generating annual profits of 50 billion dollars. On top of these, exports to China support 930,000 jobs in the United States. Admittedly, the China-U.S. relationship has in recent years encountered significant challenges, largely due to Washington's distorted perception of China and deep-rooted strategic anxieties about its hegemony. This misjudgment has misled the United States to a confrontational approach to China that contrasts with China's consistent pursuit of peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation with the United States. Yet as history has shown, dialogue and cooperation is the only viable choice for the two countries. With the global landscape witnessing profound shifts, including technological advancements and geopolitical changes, the need for China-U.S. cooperation is greater than ever. Decoupling and camp confrontation would only harm them both and the world at large. Despite recent years of tension, China's goal of a stable, sound and sustainable relationship with the United States remains unchanged. At this new starting point, it is time for the United States to reject zero-sum thinking and work in good faith with China to keep their relationship sailing toward greater progress along the route of steady, sound and sustainable development. Donald Trump was elected to his second term as president on Wednesday, Nov. 6, marking a rare moment for the United States. In winning the 2024 election and defeating Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris, Trump ensured his return to the White House four years after Joe Biden denied him a second consecutive term, making him both the 45th and 47th U.S. president. At 78, Trump has also made history as the oldest president ever elected. And, because he was found guilty of all 34 felony counts of falsifying business records after leaving the Oval Office, he is also now the first convicted felon to become president. Trumps milestone reelection makes him one of just two presidents in the history of the U.S. who have been elected to two non-consecutive terms. The first was Grover Cleveland. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Like Trump, there was a one-term gap between Clevelands presidencies, which lasted from 1885 to 1889 and 1893 to 1897. Clevelands first term also followed a tumultuous presidential campaign that, similar to Trumps, was marked by allegations of sexual assault. Library of Congress/Corbis/VCG via Getty Images President Grover Cleveland President Grover Cleveland During Clevelands first bid for the presidency, it was unearthed that a decade prior, a woman named Maria Halpin had given birth to a son with the last name Cleveland, who was later adopted by another family, according to Smithsonian Magazine. Halpin, meanwhile, was admitted to a mental asylum. In 1884, Halpin told the Chicago Tribune that the circumstances under which my ruin was accomplished are too revolting on the part of Grover Cleveland to be made public, per the Smithsonian. According to the Tribune, Halpin had also strongly implied that her relations with Cleveland were not consensual and marked by violence. Cleveland later admitted on the campaign trail that he had an affair with Halpin and agreed to provide financial support to her, according to Encyclopedia Britannica. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Given the political indiscretions and untrustworthy reputation of his then-opponent James G. Blaine, Cleveland was still successfully elected to the White House, becoming the 22nd president and the first Democrat elected after the Civil War. 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. Midway through his first term, Cleveland called on Congress to reduce high protective tariffs, a move that gave Republican opponents an effective issue for their presidential bid, according to the White House Historical Association (WHHA). His response, at the time: What is the use of being elected or re-elected unless you stand for something? Clevelands bid for reelection was ultimately squandered by Republican candidate Benjamin Harrison in 1888 despite winning a larger popular majority. However, he didnt give up his dream of returning to the White House. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement After spending the four years of Harrisons presidency in New York City working for a prominent law firm, Cleveland who had previously served as the mayor of Buffalo and governor of New York reprised his political career. Cleveland ran for reelection with a new running mate and, thanks to some big government spending from Harrison and his administration the treasury surplus was essentially depleted the path to the former presidents victory became quite clear, according to Encyclopedia Britannica. In 1892, he was elected once again, becoming the 24th president of the U.S. and the only former president to be restored to the office until Trumps victory in the 2024 election. Read the original article on People The News Donald Trump was sworn in for a second term as US president on Monday in Washington, DC. The golden age of America begins right now, Trump said after being sworn in as the 47th president during a ceremony inside the Capitol Rotunda. JD Vance was also sworn in as vice president. In his inaugural speech, Trump decried the American decline wrought by his predecessors adminsitration, and reiterated his plans to overhaul the US trade relationships, lower energy prices, ramp up fossil fuel production, and declare a national emergency on the southern border. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trump also said he will sign policies to end government diversity, equity and inclusion programs. As of today, it will henceforth be the official policy of the United States government that there are only two genders, male and female, he said. The president said he would take steps towards Mars exploration, a longtime ambition of his close ally Elon Musk. We will pursue our manifest destiny into the stars, launching American astronauts to plant the Stars and Stripes on the planet Mars. Trump is also preparing to unleash a torrent of executive orders later in the day on issues ranging from immigration to trade to federal government management. The announcements are part of efforts to undo the legacy of outgoing President Joe Biden and show immediate progress on policy areas that were key to Trump returning to the White House. Know More Trump is expected to ultimately sign more than 200 executive actions in his early days in office, with a handful getting early priority. Among those are the formation of the cost-cutting Department of Government Efficiency (Doge), an end to government diversity initiatives, and an official recognition of two genders thats designed to end government activity on behalf of transgender people. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trumps team separately rolled out 10 immigration orders hes preparing to sign Monday, including the declaration of a national emergency at the border, a designation of drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations, strict limits to asylum claims and a suspension of refugee resettlement for at least four months. He is also expected to pardon many of the rioters who stormed the US Capitol building on Jan. 6, 2021, after Trump contested the previous years election results. In a rally held on Sunday Trump promised to end what he called four long years of American decline and begin a brand new day of American strength and prosperity, dignity and pride. Donald Trump took the oath of office on Monday afternoon in Washington, D.C., promising to protect the United States as he stepped back into the presidency from inside the Capitol Rotunda, then gave two speeches that outlined the campaign promises he will keep while harshly condemning the Biden administration and its policies. The golden age of America begins right now. From this day forward, our country will flourish and be respected again all over the world, Trump said as he began his inaugural address, later adding, My recent election is a mandate to completely and totally reverse a horrible betrayal and all these many betrayals that have taken place and give people back their faith, their wealth, their democracy and indeed their freedom. From this moment on, Americas decline is over. More from The Hollywood Reporter Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement On Monday, among the traditional inauguration attendees the president-elect and vice president-elects families, former presidents and first ladies, dignitaries, cabinet members and nominees, the Joint Chiefs of Staff and others were familiar faces from the world of Big Tech. Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who cozied up to Trump during his campaign and landed a cabinet position, was at the Rotunda. Others out of the Valley included Metas Mark Zuckerberg, Amazons Jeff Bezos, Googles Sundar Pichai and OpenAIs Sam Altman. Notably, the tech crowd was seated together in the second row, just behind Trumps family and in front of Trumps cabinet members, state governors and public servants; before the event was moved inside, the group of CEOs was to be seated at the inaugural platform. Many of the invited CEOs had donated $1 million to Trumps inauguration fund. Also attending the event but seated away from the gaggle of tech billionaires was TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew, who had previously thanked Trump for pledging to stand behind the popular social media platform and said he was confident he would resolve the uncertain future of his company after a law was upheld by the Supreme Court last week that makes video-sharing app illegal in the U.S. During his address, Trump brought up the ongoing state of emergency in Los Angeles and promised to create change to prevent and combat such emergencies like the ongoing wildfires from taking place. He had previously said that he would probably visit L.A. soon to survey the damage caused by the massive fires over the past two weeks. Our country can no longer deliver basic services in times of emergency recently [in] Los Angeles, where we are watching fires still tragically burning from weeks ago without even a token of defense, raging through the houses and communities, even affecting some of the wealthiest and most powerful individuals in our country, some of whom are sitting here right now, Trump said. They dont have a home any longer. Thats interesting. We cant let this happen. Everyone is unable to do anything about it. Thats going to change. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Mention was made of several of his campaign promises during his address, including the immediate implementation of a hardline immigration policy, halting efforts to socially engineer race and gender into every aspect of public and private life in favor of a colorblind and merit-based United States, and changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico to Gulf of America (Hillary Clinton was seen laughing out loud from the audience at this moment). Trump also promised to sign an executive order to immediately stop all government censorship and bring back free speech to America. Throughout his first presidency and the four years between terms, Trump has consistently griped about social media particularly after being banned from both Facebook and Twitter in the wake of the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol by his supporters. He also has a long, combative history with the media that escalated over the past four years as he has continuously falsely claimed that the 2020 election was rigged. Speculation has been high around how the Fourth Estate will handle Trumps second term, particularly after the chilling effect that came after ABC News settled a defamation lawsuit he filed against the network. Outside the Rotunda, a looser and more verbose President Trump then spoke to the gathered crowd that included members of Congress who didnt make it inside for the ceremony. Trump, in his second speech of the day, bristled about pardons that Biden issued on his way out of office and then briefly discussed the pardoning of Jan 6. rioters, saying, Its action, not words, that count. He also boosted House Speaker Mike Johnson, as the congressman leads the GOP with the slightest Congressional majority in over 100 years; Trump just made that margin thinner when he tapped New York GOP Rep. Elise Stefanik as his pick for U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. We gave him a majority of almost nothing, and then to make it tougher on him, I said, let me take two or three of your people, Trump said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The inauguration came on a frigid day in Washington, D.C., with a high of 24 degrees and wind gusts of 31 miles per hour, according to the National Weather Service. Ronald Reagans second inauguration in 1985 was the only previous swearing-in to be moved from the West Front of the Rotunda, a fact noted by Trump in his Friday announcement about the move. The move of the event inside the Capitol has significantly cut down the number of inauguration attendees by more than half, according to NPR, which reports that the 1600-capacity West Front platform has now been reduced to the roughly 750-capacity Rotunda. Around 250,000 people who ticketed for the outdoor inauguration were not able to witness Trumps second swearing. Trump was sworn in by sworn in by Chief Justice John Roberts. Vice President-elect J.D. Vance was sworn in before Trump by Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh to do the honors; incidentally, Vances wife, Usha Vance, clerked for Kavanaugh at the U.S. Court of Appeals D.C. Circuit. On Monday morning, New York Mayor Eric Adams received a last-minute invitation to the inauguration and his office said he plans to attend. Adams, who in September pleaded not guilty after he was indicted on bribery and campaign finance-related charges, lunched with Trump on Friday. The Trump team also announced that Han Zheng, the vice president of China, would attend. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Here is how to watch the inauguration, coverage of which began 8:30 a.m. PT/11:30 a.m. ET. Jan. 20, 10:30 a.m. This story was updated at the conclusion of Trumps official address. 12 p.m. Updated to include Trumps second speech Best of The Hollywood Reporter Sign up for THR's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Donald Trump told a pre-inaugural, MAGA-heavy rally that TikTok is back, as he has pledged to sign an executive order that will give the social media platform more time amid a new U.S. law requiring a divestiture from its Chinese parent ByteDance. Trump said that he wants the United States to have a 50% ownership of the platform in a joint venture, but it is unclear exactly what that would entail and whether ByteDance, TikToks parent company, would agree to such conditions. More from Deadline Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Were not putting up any money, Trump said. All were doing is given them the approval without which they dont have anything. It sounds like that works, what do you think, good? TikTok went offline starting late Saturday as a new law took effect that restricted app stores in the U.S. from downloading the popular platform. But TikTok went back up this afternoon, as the company credited Trump for giving assurances that, once in office, he would not move to sanction service providers for carrying the app. The rally at the Capitol One Arena largely played like his many campaign events, as Trump vowed the largest mass deportation in history, referred to illegal immigrant criminals as animals, and played a video mash up of news reports of crimes committed by undocumented individuals. He railed against the Joe Biden and his administration, again called out David Muir over the way he moderated the ABC News debate, and continued to insist that the 2020 election was rigged. But Trump also gave some indication of what will unfold in his initial week after he returns to office. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement On Friday, he plans to visit Los Angeles to tour the wildfire devastation that has destroyed Pacific Palisades and Altadena. He indicated that he met recently with Los Angeles Olympics organizers, including Casey Wasserman, and that because of the wildfires, theyre going to do a special, special job. He also vowed to rebuild Los Angeles better, more beautiful than ever before. Trump said that he also would be releasing the remaining records of the assassinations of John F. Kennedy, Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr., something that Robert Kennedy Jr., his choice to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, has called for. Trump told the crowd that he will sign an executive order on Monday so the invasion of our borders will have come to a halt, and all the illegal border trespassers will in some form or another, be on their way back home. But he also plans to sign dozens of other executive orders in the coming days, including ones aimed at the federal workforce and Bidens climate policies. Among the speakers at the rally were Jon Voight and Dana White, while Kid Rock was among the performers. Trumps sons, Don Jr. and Eric, also spoke, as did his adviser Stephen Miller. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement During his one-hour speech, Trump called up Elon Musk, joined by his toddler son X, the only one of the president-elects allies to share the stage with him. Musk, who reportedly spent $250 million to help Trump get elected, is leading an effort dubbed the Department of Government Efficiency. Musk told the crowd that what matters going forward is to actually make significant changesand set the foundation for America to be strong for a century. Trump has indicated that when he gives his inaugural address on Monday, he will deliver a message of unity. But the rally leaned much more heavily into campaign attacks on the left and so-called woke culture, with Trump and other speakers decrying the transgender rights movement, DEI and critical race theory. One speaker, Megyn Kelly, attacked Hollywood celebrities who get up there and try to tell us how to vote, even though Trump himself drew on figures like Voight and others in his campaign. Among those also at the rally were Sylvester Stallone, who, along with Voight and Mel Gibson, have been chosen to be Trumps ambassadors to Hollywood. Trump also went after he sees as military weakness, with a video that contrasted soldiers in combat with a military message promoting a Pride celebration. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement That said, Trumps rally ended with the current incarnation of the Village People, singing the gay anthem YMCA, which also became a signature MAGA campaign song. On stage, Trump shuffled his hands and arms and danced away. Best of Deadline Sign up for Deadline's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. When Donald Trump is sworn in as the 47th president of the United States on Monday, a new chapter of geopolitical uncertainty will be written, potentially ushering in an intensified rivalry between the US and China under his "America First" policy. Trump will be the second American president in history to serve non-consecutive terms, and the first convicted of felony, after a jury in a New York state found him guilty of 34 charges, in a case related to payments to an adult film actress during the 2016 presidential election. 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. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement His inauguration ceremony will be distinctive in several other ways. For the first time in 40 years, it will be held indoors due to severe weather, foreign leaders will take part and security measures for the swearing-in are some of the most stringent Washington has ever witnessed, with 30 miles (48km) of fencing encircling federal buildings in downtown Washington. More than 25,000 police officers and military personnel will be deployed, according to law enforcement officials, who said they expected in excess of 200,000 visitors and thousands of protesters in the lead-up to the event. The swearing-in ceremony for Trump and vice president-elect J.D. Vance will start at noon inside the US Capitol. Trump will take an oath and deliver an inaugural address before signing nominations for his cabinet. A farewell will also be given to President Joe Biden and Vice-President Kamala Harris, who lost the 2024 election to Trump in November. A worker puts up security fencing near the White House ahead of Trump's inauguration. Photo: Reuters alt=A worker puts up security fencing near the White House ahead of Trump's inauguration. Photo: Reuters> Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trump's original plan to review military troops from the Capitol along Pennsylvania Avenue to the White House is cancelled. Instead, a parade will be held inside Capital One Arena after the swearing-in ceremony, which is open to the public for viewing on Monday. The incoming US leader is expected to sign many of the 100 executive orders he said he would be preparing to roll out from day one. The orders will likely include a mass deportation plan and travel bans, pardons for those convicted of crimes in the 2021 Capitol riot, a reversal of Biden's clean-energy policy, a halt on a law banning TikTok and tariffs against major trade partners including China, Mexico and Canada. Trump said he would impose 10 per cent tariffs on all Chinese imports on his first day in office, threatening during his presidential campaign that the tax could go up to 60 per cent or more on specific products like electric vehicles. Trump has long believed tariffs can help boost American manufacturing and reduce the national trade deficit with China. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "We're going to ... bring thousands of factories back to the USA, right where they belong, and that will be done through tariffs and smart policy ," Trump told a rally in Washington on Sunday. Amid a growing China-US rivalry, Trump surprised many by inviting Chinese President Xi Jinping to the inauguration. And while Xi has been described by Trump in the past as a "brilliant man" with whom he "got along well", China's top leader will not attend the inauguration. Chinese Vice-President Han Zheng will attend on Xi's behalf. Han and Vance met in Washington on Sunday, Trump's transition team announced ahead of the rally. On Friday, Xi and Trump spoke by phone, marking their first call since 2020. They discussed contentious issues like trade, technology and Taiwan, with both indicating a willingness to address strains in bilateral ties. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement While many observers predict that Trump will be tough on China on trade, the incoming president's penchant for deal-making could see him revive trade negotiations with the world's second-largest economy. Trump's pick to lead the Treasury, Scott Bessent, suggested in his confirmation hearing last week using tariffs as a negotiation tactic with Beijing. Josh Lipsky of the Atlantic Council, a Washington-based think tank, said Trump's tariff policy needed to be carefully parsed between "going big and being perceived as going big". "The tariffs that are announced next week might only be a means to bring China back to the negotiating table, not necessarily intended to be implemented as an asset," Lipsky told a panel at the United States Institute of Peace last week. It remains to be seen how Trump will implement his other China policies, such as those relating to technology and Taiwan, which must be "handled with caution", Xi is said to have told Trump on their recent call. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The US and China have been locked in a fierce stand-off over tech supremacy, with policymakers in both countries convinced that an edge on this front is key to building up their militaries and prevailing in a long-term competition that will be determined by AI and quantum computing capabilities. Trump in his first administration started curbing China's access to some semiconductor chips. Biden then doubled down with more export controls on advanced technologies and aligned strategies with partners to cut down Chinese dominance in critical minerals. Adam Tong of the Center for a New American Security, a Washington-based think tank, said he expected Trump to keep in place many tech restrictions against China that Biden implemented. Tong said the president-elect might even came up with new measures, such as forging critical-minerals agreements with countries like Indonesia, a leading critical-minerals supplier for China. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "It is, however, hard to erode China's dominance in midstream processing of these materials," Tong said, adding that other countries' stance towards the US-China competition would be a "big unknown". "The threat perception regarding China varies, so the more [controls] proposed, the harder it is to get other parties on board, and the question of tariffs on both China and US allies will further complicate this." Many analysts regard Beijing as more prepared now to respond to renewed trade and tech wars with Washington in Trump's second term, stocking more in its toolbox such as activating export controls on critical minerals, leveraging its bond portfolio with the US or tightening regulations against American companies operating in China. Last week, Mike Waltz, Trump's pick for national security adviser, offered the clearest signals yet that many US policies on the Indo-Pacific region and Taiwan under Biden would continue, including arms sales to the self-governed island and curbing mainland influence in global tech supply chains with regional partners. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Beijing sees Taiwan as part of China to be reunited by force if necessary. Most countries, including the US, do not recognise Taiwan as an independent state, but Washington is opposed to any attempt to take the self-governed island by force and is committed to supplying it with weapons. Pete Hegseth, a fierce China critic, is Trump's nominee to lead the Pentagon. Photo: Getty Images via Agence France-Presse alt=Pete Hegseth, a fierce China critic, is Trump's nominee to lead the Pentagon. Photo: Getty Images via Agence France-Presse> Other than Waltz, Trump's second cabinet is filled with China hawks like secretary of state and defence secretary nominees Marco Rubio and Pete Hegseth, who in each of their confirmation hearings last week called China America's biggest threat. But Trump is also known to be unpredictable, making it an open question how much sway his new cabinet could have over him. His threats to impose 10 per cent universal tariffs on all countries and frequent attacks on security partners over their share of defence spending have unnerved many across Europe and Asia. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement On the presidential campaign trail, he dodged questions on whether the US would defend Taiwan in a contingency and demanded it pay Washington for its defence. Eric Gomez of the Cato Institute, a Washington-based think tank, reckoned Trump would make Taiwan foot its defence bill. He also foresaw multilateral institutions that the US is part of weakening under Trump. Yet he cautioned against inferring Asia would be abandoned. The president-elect "is going to want to still play China competitively, but from what we saw in the first term ... he is not going to be as ... deferential to allied interests", said Gomez. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trump's inauguration guest list could offer a glimpse into his foreign policy priorities and how personal relations could in turn sway his policymaking. Aside from Xi, the foreign leaders who scored invitations include a number of right-wing populists of whom he is expressed fondness: Argentine President Javier Milei, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, and former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro. Trump reached out directly to some leaders via email, according to CNN. Of these, Milei and Meloni will attend. Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya, and Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong, also confirmed they would attend on behalf of their countries. Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos, who has strained relations with Beijing over their territorial disputes in the South China Sea, has reportedly not been invited. Those not invited included EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who have clashed with Trump. It is unclear whether the leaders of France and Germany were invited. Neither Russian President Vladimir Putin nor Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is expected to attend. Trump said he would meet Putin soon after his inauguration as all eyes look at how the US leader might try to end the nearly three-year Ukraine war. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is also not expected to attend, fresh from a ceasefire deal last week with Hamas, a breakthrough for which Trump took credit. Tech giants coming to the inauguration include Tesla CEO Elon Musk, whom Trump named to co-lead a new federal department of government efficiency, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. TikTok CEO Chew Shou Zi is reportedly attending, having spent months trying to forge a bond with Trump to avoid the Chinese-owned social media platform being banned in the US. On Friday, the US Supreme Court upheld a law requiring TikTok's parent company, ByteDance, to sell the video-sharing app to a non-Chinese buyer. All other living former US presidents including Barack Obama, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton and their partners will attend, except for Michelle Obama, who was notably absent earlier this month from former president Jimmy Carter's funeral. 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 2025 South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved. Copyright (c) 2025. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved. Opinion.In the United States, only two individuals are honored with federal holidays named after them: Christopher Columbus and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. While Columbus Day remains controversial, particularly among Native Americans, Dr. Kings legacy is widely embraced across Indian Country. For Native Americans, the celebration of Christopher Columbus as a national figure is profoundly troubling. Columbus, a sailor who landed in the Americas by mistake, symbolizes the beginning of centuries of oppression, colonization, and the near erasure of Indigenous cultures. In response, Native communities have worked tirelessly over recent decades to replace Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples Day, a celebration of resilience and the rich histories of Native peoples. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., however, holds a different place in Native hearts. His dedication to justice and equality resonated deeply within Indian Country, where the fight for sovereignty, water rights, and the preservation of Native cultures continues. Dr. Kings unwavering call for equality for all Americansregardless of racespoke to the shared struggles of African Americans and Native Americans alike. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Growing up, Dr. King was a personal hero to me. I recall vividly drawing his portrait in chalk during my freshman year of high school art classa small act that reflected my admiration for him. Over the years, Ive returned to his writings often. As a Potawatomi, I find his words inspire hope for marginalized communities, including Native Americans, who have faced systemic inequities throughout American history. His commitment to achieving justice through nonviolence has always resonated with me, aligning with the values I strive to uphold. In his 1963 book, Why We Cant Wait, he referenced the origins of racism in the United States when he called the Indigenous people of this land the original American. Dr. King writes: "Our nation was born in genocide when it embraced the doctrine that the original American, the Indian, was an inferior race. Even before there were large numbers of Negroes on our shores, the scar of racial hatred had already disfigured colonial society. From the sixteenth century forward, blood flowed in battles of racial supremacy. We are perhaps the only nation which tried as a matter of national policy to wipe out its indigenous population. Moreover, we elevated that tragic experience into a noble crusade. Indeed, even today we have not permitted ourselves to reject or to feel remorse for this shameful episode. Our literature, our films, our drama, our folklore all exalt it." Dr. Kings acknowledgment of the atrocities committed against Indigenous peoples was rare among non-Native leaders of his time. He openly recognized the shameful chapters of American history that sought to annihilate Native populations. Few others dared to confront these truths as he did, especially in an era when many glorified the actions of their ancestors while ignoring the suffering of ours. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Though Dr. King was assassinated more than 50 years ago, his message remains deeply relevant today. At a time when democracy feels increasingly fragile, his words continue to serve as a guiding light. In his iconic I Have a Dream speech, often considered one of the greatest political addresses of the 20th century, he declared, Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. These words still resonate, reminding us of the urgent need to confront inequality and injustice. Throughout that speech, Dr. King spoke of Americas founding documentsthe Constitution and the Declaration of Independenceas a promissory note guaranteeing equality and justice for all. He described the persistent inequalities faced by African Americans as a bad check returned for insufficient funds. These same inequalities extend to Native communities, where disparities in healthcare, housing, economic opportunities, and voting rights remain glaring. Today, as we celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King Day, it is important to not only reflect on his achievements but also to recognize how far we still have to go. His vision of equality is a reminder that we cannot merely look to the past; we must also commit to building a future that upholds the principles of justice for all Americans. Dr. Kings dream is as vital now as it was during his lifetime. It is a call to action for all of usto make real the promises of democracy and to ensure that future generations inherit a more just and equitable society. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Thayek gde nwendemen - We are all related. About the Author: "Levi \"Calm Before the Storm\" Rickert (Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation) is the founder, publisher and editor of Native News Online. Rickert was awarded Best Column 2021 Native Media Award for the print\/online category by the Native American Journalists Association. He serves on the advisory board of the Multicultural Media Correspondents Association. He can be reached at levi@nativenewsonline.net." Contact: levi@nativenewsonline.net SAN ANGELO, Texas (Concho Valley Homepage) St. Paul Baptist Church youth directors Nita Q Odoms and Stephanie Tatum Odoms were invited to New Jerusalem Church of God in Christ to celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.s impact on the Civil Rights Movement with an MLK Youth Night over the weekend. Several youth members took to the podium on Saturday, Jan. 18, to present prominent historical figures pivotal to the advancement of African Americans in the United States. The event closed with a song synonymous with the Civil Rights Movement, Aint Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me Round. Jailah Jackson was the mistress of the ceremony and said events like these are vital to the community and the youth. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The reason for importance in talking about Martin Luther King is so that we can know our heritage, the story of how we were down, and we rose up, and it helps us learn more about where we all started and came up back then, she said. Everyone kid should know their heritage and the history of where they came from and their background. The youth also performed an MLK musical at St. Paul Baptist Church on Sunday, Jan. 19. What will be closed on Martin Luther King Jr. Day (and Inauguration Day) 2025? A celebration of Dr. King that will highlight women of the movement will be held at the Sacred Heart Catholic Church located at 20 E. Beauregard Ave. in San Angelo at noon on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A march commemorating Dr. Kings iconic August 1963 I Have a Dream speech at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom will be held at St. Paul Baptist Church on Sunday, Jan. 26, at 11 a.m. St. Paul Baptist Church, New Jerusalem Church of God in Christ, New Birth Church, Galilee Church and Jireh Church work together throughout the year and have fundraising events used toward scholarships for San Angelo high school seniors planning on furthering their education. Anyone interested in helping the future of the local youth can reach out to Nita Q Odoms at St. Paul Baptist Church or call her at (325) 315-5423. Any amount will help buy books and school supplies and help pay for tuition. Copyright 2025 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 ConchoValleyHomepage.com. LAS VEGAS (KLAS) A man may have suffered a medical episode before crashing into a metal pole and gate in the west Las Vegas valley, resulting in his death, according to police. On Sunday at noon, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department responded to the crash on Vegas Drive near south Jones Boulevard and west Washington Avenue. LVMPD said witness statements and evidence at the scene indicated that a 2024 Volkswagen Jetta was driving east through a parking lot when the driver suddenly accelerated toward the apartment complex entrance. The car hit a metal pole and crashed into the front gate, police said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The unidentified 26-year-old driver may have experienced a medical emergency, causing him to lose control of the vehicle, LVMPD said. He was taken to a nearby hospital but was later pronounced dead, police said. This crash currently remains under investigation. Copyright 2025 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. MOSCOW, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin said Monday his country is open to dialogue with the new U.S. administration over the Ukraine crisis. "The most important thing is to eliminate the root causes of the crisis," Putin said during a meeting with members of the country's Security Council, according to a statement from the Kremlin. He reiterated that a potential resolution of the Ukraine crisis should not involve a temporary truce to regroup forces for further conflict but "long-term peace" based on respect for the legitimate interests of all countries in the region. "The assumption is that dialogue will be built based on equality and mutual respect, considering the important role that our countries play concerning the key issues, including strategic stability and security," Putin said. The Russian leader stressed that Moscow has never rejected dialogue and has always been open to cooperation with any U.S. administration. Meanwhile, Putin congratulated Trump on his inauguration. During the meeting, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov confirmed that Moscow is prepared for contact with the new U.S. administration and other Western leaders. Also, on Monday, the Russian foreign ministry said that Moscow would be ready to resume dialogue with Japan if Tokyo took concrete steps to abandon its unfriendly policies. "Russia is ready to consider Japan's initiatives to resume dialogue, given that they are backed by practical steps from Tokyo that demonstrate a rejection of unfriendly policies," the ministry said in a statement issued in light of the 100th anniversary of diplomatic ties between Russia and Japan. Russia believes there are sensible politicians and public figures in Japan who recognize the harmful impact on the Japanese people of the anti-Russian discourse of official authorities, it added. Russia and Ukraine exchanged large drone attacks on Sunday night into Monday, with UAVs forcing flight restrictions at three Russian airports and prompting reports of an attack on a major military aviation hub. Russia's Defense Ministry claimed to have shot down 30 Ukrainian drones overnight over western Russian regions -- 14 over Bryansk region, six over Kaluga region, three over Belgorod region, three over Kursk region, two over Ryazan region, and two over Oryol region. Another drone was shot down over the Republic of Tatarstan, the ministry statement said. The capital of Tatarstan, Kazan, is more than 600 miles from the closest Ukrainian-controlled territory. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Russia's Rosaviatsia federal air transport agency announced temporary restrictions on flights at the Kazan International Airport and Begishevo Airport -- both in the Tatarstan region. PHOTO: Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is pictured at a presentation of Ukrainian military drones in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Jan. 16, 2025. (Tetiana Dzhafarova/AFP via Getty Images) The restrictions were lifted around four hours later. Kazan International Airport said on Telegram the stoppages were intended "to ensure the safety of civil aircraft flights." Three planes were diverted away from Kazan while the restrictions were in place, the airport said. Flights were also restricted at the Izhevsk Airport in the neighboring Udmurt Republic, Rosaviatsia said. Authorities in Tatarstan said drones targeted industrial facilities in the region, Russia's RBC news outlet reported. Officials said all drones were neutralized with no casualties or damage reported, though added that emergency responders were working at the scene, RBC said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Photos and videos posted to social media by residents indicated an attack in the vicinity Kazan. ABC News was unable to immediately verify the footage. MORE: After charm offensive, Ukraine braces for Trump's return Andriy Kovalenko, the head of Ukraine's Center for Countering Disinformation -- which operates as part of the country's Security and Defense Council -- reported "explosions in Kazan," claiming that "military facilities were attacked by unknown drones." Kovalenko noted that the city "is home to several important aviation enterprises that play a key role in the Russian military-industrial complex," among them the aviation plant and a helicopter plant. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Kazan also operates an explosives factory manufacturing aerial munitions including Kalibr and Iskander missiles, Kovalenko said. "Not the first attacks, but it is becoming increasingly difficult to cover the skies of Russia," Kovalenko wrote on Telegram. The Kazan Aviation Plant -- a major aviation industrial site -- was among the sensitive sites noted by Kovalenko. The plant was put under European Union sanctions after Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine, with the bloc noting the site "manufactures and repairs the Tu-160 strategic missile carriers and the TU-22M3M/TU-22M3 long-range bombers." The facility also "produces parts used in the construction of Il-76 strategic airlifters," the EU said. MORE: How the CIA and Ukrainian intelligence secretly forged a deep partnership Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Elsewhere, Kaluga governor Vladislav Shapsha said on Telegram that drone debris fell on an industrial site in the region causing a fire, though "preliminary data" indicated "no casualties or damage to infrastructure." Bryansk governor Alexander Bogomaz said on Telegram that air defenses shot down four U.S.-made HIMARS missiles and 14 drones over the region on Sunday night, reporting no casualties or damage. Ukraine, meanwhile, said Russia launched 141 drones and one ballistic missile into the country on Sunday night. Ukraine's air force said it downed 93 attack UAVs, with another 47 lost in flight. Two of the drones flew back into Russia airspace, the air force said in a statement posted to Telegram. ABC News' Tanya Stukalova contributed to this report. Drones attack Russian military industrial hub 600 miles from Ukraine originally appeared on abcnews.go.com Judge Jerry Blackwell urged congregants not to give up hope amid Americas time of anxiety and fear, and instead shine their lights to overcome it. (Photo: screengrab from service livestream.) Judge Jerry Blackwell, a Minnesota district court judge who helped prosecute Derek Chauvin for the 2020 murder of George Floyd, urged attendees of Sundays Martin Luther King Jr. service at Duke University to retake your place in the march toward the American ideal and overcome the fear and despair of the times. The service held at Duke University Chapel each year honors the life of King and centers on the themes of hope and justice. Speakers included Duke University President Vincent Price and Durham Mayor Leonardo Williams among other student and faculty voices. The United in Praise Gospel Choir performed Lift Every Voice and Sing and the service concluded with congregants joining together to sing the civil rights anthem, We Shall Overcome. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Looming over the event was President-elect Donald Trumps return to office Monday, a transition that multiple speakers alluded to without identifying directly. Williams, a Democrat, observed the country was entering a different time, politically. Blackwells speech centered on maintaining hope and resolve amid anxiety and fear about today and a sense of foreboding about tomorrow a feeling of darkness throughout the country that he compared to the damp air enveloping the campus amid Sundays intermittent rain showers. Mayor Leonardo Williams was one of several speakers to allude to the presidential transition taking place Monday. (Photo: Brandon Kingdollar) Though he stressed he was not talking politics at all, Blackwell took aim at those who condemn the values of diversity and inclusion in the U.S. as weaknesses, noting that the founding ideal of America is exemplified in the nations Latin motto, e pluribus unum out of many, one. Strength in unity, strength in inclusion, strength in the mutual validation of one another now ladies and gentlemen, I am telling you, that if you think that is wokeness and wrong historically, then the very idea of America e pluribus unum is wrong historically, Blackwell said. If that ideal represents disunity, then how can there be any concept of unity? He urged those listening to do their part to solve the problem of disunity, telling them that the success of the American experiment depends on the nations people coming together to solve their common problems. Quoting former Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, he emphasized that the Constitution foresees their participation and without it, the system of government and democracy itself will not work. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Whatever your political stripe, whatever your orientation, we rise or fall together as will all of the buttons on one common shirt, Blackwell said, alluding to Kings concept of a single garment of destiny. As much as some people today might wish that some state or another in America might just break off and just float away problem solved nobodys going anywhere. Blackwell invoked Martin Luther King Jr.s dream of an America that fully realizes its promise of unity. (Photo: Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images) Urging hope through despair, Blackwell invoked an original parable he called Three Angels in One Cave. In it, three angels who had never known darkness were sent to a cave to learn how to confront and overcome it with only a bag containing two sticks. The first proposes crying and praying for relief as a show of faith, while the second suggests confronting the darkness with violence to show fearlessness, but both strategies fail. In physically fighting the darkness, they harm only themselves, he says. Only when they make use of the sticks a match and candle to create light is the darkness successfully repelled. Martin Luther King tells us that darkness can never drive out darkness, only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that, Blackwell said. Shine the light of truth shine your light in great ways, small ways and it reveals, ultimately, the dishonesty, the disunity, of falsehood. Blackwell noted that King laid down his life for the ideal of unity in America, the dream of a country embodying that ideal of e pluribus unum in which people of all races, of all nationalities, and all creeds can live together as brothers. He urged those gathered in the chapel to consider how they might carry that dream forward. Sit at the table of public life and mutual welfare. Sip a cup of participation. America needs you, he said. The rent you pay for the short-term lease that we call life on this planet is to do something that makes it a better place for somebody other than just you. TUESDAY UPDATE (KSNW) Police departments have canceled the Emergency Accident Reporting Plan in Wichita, Bel Aire and Derby. DERBY, Kan. (KSNW) The Emergency Accident Reporting Plan is now in effect for Wichita, Bel Aire, and Derby. Light snow has been following over south-central Kansas, accumulating on roadways. Several non-injury accidents have been reported across the Wichita area. Several accidents have happened along eastbound Kellogg between the Central Business District and Hillside. Law enforcement asked drivers to avoid EB Kellogg at the Central Business District, an area prone to crashes during weather events. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Homeless Outreach Team encourage Wichitas homeless to seek shelter amid deadly cold The snow is expected to taper off, but frigid temperatures will remain overnight into the morning. For the latest on weather conditions, wherever you are, download the Storm Track 3 Weather app, available on all Apple or Android devices Copyright 2025 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. A day after being sworn in as West Virginia's 37th governor, Gov. Patrick Morrisey signed 10 executive orders, including one to allow religious exemptions for vaccinations. (West Virginia Office of the Gov. Patrick Morrisey | Courtesy photo) At his first press conference as governor last week, Patrick Morrisey promised that under his watch state government will be more efficient and effective than ever before. He indeed has a powerful opportunity to increase government efficiency through comprehensive and thoughtful agency reviews, but he may find that process will take him on a different path than he envisioned. To most of us, an efficient and effective government means that our state agencies and public services function well, enabling us the freedom and opportunity to live our lives without having to think too much about them. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement An efficient and effective government means school buses arrive on time daily to take children to school. Highly qualified educators and support staff are in their classrooms when students arrive. Firefighters and first responders arrive swiftly in an emergency. A real person answers the phone quickly when you call the DMV or Medicaid agency with a question. Former Gov. Jim Justice notoriously stayed out of the details of most policy decisions at agencies. Legislative committees learned in recent months that agencies real funding requests were suppressed by Justices administration and critical programs like PEIA received budget allocations that fell short of their operating costs. One commentator referred to Justices budget cuts via an across-the-board flat budget as a hatchet rather than a scalpel, ignoring agencies specific needs. Morrisey has an opportunity to honor his promise to make government work well by listening to the public servants within the agencies themselves who, because of their interactions with West Virginians every day, have true insight into the needs of our states people. In some cases, that will mean allocating more resources so that programs can efficiently serve West Virginia families and small businesses after years of neglect and austerity. West Virginia school bus drivers earn far less ($30,580 on average) than their peers in any neighboring state; for example, they make 35% less than their counterparts in Virginia ($46,800). For parents scrambling to get their kids to school amid canceled bus routes due to workforce shortages, the answer is clear: better pay to recruit bus drivers who safely transport our children. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Average teacher pay in West Virginia ranks 51st among all states and D.C. Morrisey has already rightly called for increased pay for public school teachers, as the same salary disparities exist where they can cross the border into a neighboring state and greatly increase their economic well-being. Again, the answer is simple for parents and people who care about the next generations workforce: better pay. Similar examples exist across government programs and agencies. A recent funding request from the Department of Human Services revealed that due to staffing vacancies and a budget gap, Medicaid and SNAP case workers are carrying caseloads of over 900 clients when the manageable standard is 500. This impacts the timeliness and accuracy of responses, which can put federal funds at risk and negatively impact clients who rely on their services. Division of Forestry officials noted in another budget request they are operating with significantly fewer staff than they did a decade ago amid rising fire threats, challenging their ability to adequately manage fire season emergencies and putting them at risk of losing federal matching funds. Recent reporting has highlighted funding shortages for fire departments and Emergency Medical Services (EMS), as well as offices that oversee abuse and safety investigations for vulnerable West Virginians. These budget-driven inefficiencies dont exist in a vacuum. Spending a bit more now generates considerable savings in the long run and better serves our people. Having more fire response staff in the Division of Forestry and in local fire departments will mean safer communities, less costly damage to clean up after fire emergencies, and more affordable homeowners insurance. Timely responses from caseworkers to approve SNAP for a family in need can prevent a child from being placed in state custody because their parents could not afford enough food. Paying state workers a more competitive wage can grow our labor supply and economy. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In contrast, starving public services in the name of rightsizing does not save money in the long-term or make our state a more appealing place for families and businesses. Morriseys team has a fresh opportunity to work closely with the civil servants who serve our states people every day rather than taking a hatchet to programs like the previous administration did. After years of flat budgets, agencies have already reduced costs in ways that make life less efficient for West Virginians each day. The governors team should go into this process with an open mind about what they might find will make government services work better for our states people. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX EFFINGHAM COUNTY, Ga. (WSAV) The Effingham County School District (ECSD) is closely monitoring the changing weather conditions. A full update regarding school for Tuesday, January 21, 2025, will be provided by 6:00 p,m. today, January 19, 2025. Daily updates will begin Monday, January 20, 2025, at 3:00 p.m. Updates will be shared through School Messenger, Facebook, and the ECSD website. WSAV will provide further updates here. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 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 WSAV-TV. (NewsNation) The Department of Government Efficiency, co-chaired by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, has been sued minutes after President Donald Trump took office, per the Washington Post. The lawsuit, filed by National Security Counselors, claims DOGE is violating a 1972 law. The report said the law requires advisory committees to the executive branch to follow certain rules on disclosure, hiring and other practices. Will Melania and Barron Trump live at the White House? Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement DOGE is not exempted from FACAs requirements, the lawsuit said, via the Post. All meetings of DOGE, including those conducted through an electronic medium, must be open to the public. The suit reportedly alleges DOGE qualifies as a federal advisory committee, meaning certain levels of balance and transparency are required. Not a single member of DOGE is a federal employee or represents the perspective of federal employees, the lawsuit reads. While Trump tapped Musk and Ramaswamy to lead DOGE, the latter is likely to run for governor of Ohio. According to NewsNations partner, The Hill, Ramaswamy desires to get accomplishments at DOGE before announcing his bid. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Were not trying to say DOGE cant exist. Advisory committees like DOGE have been around for decades. Were just saying that DOGE cant exist without following the law, Kelly McClanahan, executive director of National Security Counselors, told the Post. If DOGE turns around and complies with FACA (Federal Advisory Committee Act), the case is over, she added. Copyright 2025 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 NewsNation. Elon Musk made a surprise appearance, accompanied by his son, in the middle of President-elect Donald Trumps victory rally as rumors swirl of an already-fractured relationship with his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) counterpart, Vivek Ramaswamy. Trump invited the billionaire Tesla and SpaceX owner onstage at his pre-inauguration rally at Capitol One Arena in Washington, D.C., where, with a smile and a giggle, he promised a roaring crowd of fans the incoming administration would make significant changes designed to make America strong forever. Musk made brief remarks about his future work as the head of the Department of Government Efficiency alongside X AE A-XII, one of his 12 children. Little X just followed me on the stage here, Musk said, as his 4-year-old son jumped and waved his arms to a cheering crowd. Hes a very enthusiastic supporter, as you can see. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Were looking forward to making a lot of changes, Musk said. This victory is the start, really. What matters going forward is to actually make significant changes, cement those changes, and set the foundation for America to be strong for a century. For centuries. Forever, Musk stammered, while the crowd cheered and his son began jumping up and down just off camera. And make America great again! he added after a brief pause. The rally saw performances by Trump-loving musicians including Kid Rock and the Village People, and speeches by family members and supportersbut notably none of his nominees for Cabinet positions or Vice President-elect J.D. Vance. Little X joins his father Elon Musk onstage at the Trump victory rally. / Tasos Katopodis / Getty Images So anyway, were going to do great things here. Thank you, Musk said before Trump returned to the podium. The president-elect then spent the next few minutes gassing up his wealthiest supporter, who has become a fixture at Mar-a-Lago since the election in November, labeling him a genius and praising his campaign efforts in Pennsylvania. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement You know, I always say we have to be protective of our geniuses, because we dont have too many, Trump said. We have him and Vivek, Trump said, referencing Ramaswamy and DOGE, and some great people working on a thing called costs. And hes got the credibility to do it too. Elon Musk makes a speech during President-elect Donald Trump's pre-inauguration rally, alongside his son. / JIM WATSON / AFP via Getty Images Trump made no mention of the apparent rumors at DOGE, including a report from CBS which claims Ramaswamy will quit to focus on his ambitions to become governor of Ohio. Vivek has worn out his welcome, a Trumpworld source said, according to the report. Trump also thanked Musk for his campaign efforts in Pennsylvania, the crucial swing state Trump won by about 120,000 votes , edging out his Democratic rival Vice President Kamala Harris. Musks October sweep through the Keystone State included a controversial pledge to hand out $1 million checks to registered voters. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He spent like a month and a half campaigning for me in Pennsylvania, Trump said at the rally on Sunday. Hes a popular guy, and he was very effective. And he knows those computers better than anybody. All those computers, those vote-counting computers, and we ended up winning Pennsylvania, like in a landslide, so it was pretty good. Trump also repeatedly praised the SpaceX CEO for the companys recent success capturing booster rockets. In October, SpaceX made history by successfully capturing a booster rocket with giant metal arms the company calls chopsticks. SpaceX successfully caught another booster rocket at its recent test flight last Thursdayalthough the Starship it launched fell apart midair . But Trump was still fixated on the booster catch. All of a sudden, those two big arms came and hugged it like you would hug your little baby, he said at the rally Sunday. And that sucker landed, and nobodys been able to do that but him. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He also heaped praise on little X, who he called both cute as a button and a great guy. His sons name is X, Trump told the crowd of supporters. Hes the only guy who could get away with the name X. But his son is a great guy. One thing we knowhis son is smart. If you believe in the racehorse theory, hes got a nice smart son. Its not the first time Trump has brought up the racehorse theory, which connects genes and parentage to intelligence or other characteristics. Students perform Beijing Opera during a Chinese New Year gala at the United Nations headquarters in New York, on Jan. 17, 2025. The recent Spring Festival celebration held at the United Nations headquarters is both entertaining and thought-provoking with highlights such as a captivating performance of Beijing Opera in showcasing cultural exchange. (Xinhua/Shi Chun) by Xinhua writers Yang Shilong, Shi Chun UNITED NATIONS, Jan. 19 (Xinhua) -- The recent Spring Festival celebration held at the United Nations headquarters is both entertaining and thought-provoking with highlights such as a captivating performance of Beijing Opera in showcasing cultural exchange. The performance of excerpts from two masterpieces of Beijing Opera by a duo of juvenile students of the famous Chinese traditional performing art, featuring intricate costumes, graceful movements and expressive storytelling, won resounding applause at the gala hosted by the UN Chinese Book Club on Friday night. Zhang Jingwen, 10, and Wei Jiahe, 9, had traveled all the way from Beijing to give the performance, as part of a showcase of Chinese cultural heritage as well as cultural exchange, by bringing a vivid slice of China's rich artistic tradition to the international stage. Their performance added a vibrant touch to an evening replete with reflections on global unity and renewal represented by the spirit of the upcoming Lunar Year of the Snake, as shown in addresses made by Fu Cong, China's permanent representative to the UN and some of the senior UN officials on the occasion. Speaking to an audience of over 500 gathering for the celebration gala, Fu extended heartfelt New Year greetings and expressed gratitude to all those who have supported the UN's mission and China's ongoing collaboration with the global body. "Spring Festival is not only China's most important traditional holiday but also a bridge that connects Chinese culture with the world," Fu said while noting the festival's December inclusion by UNESCO onto its Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. "From becoming a UN holiday to being inscribed on UNESCO's heritage list, the Spring Festival showcases its timeless cultural brilliance while building new bridges for intercultural understanding." On the connotation of the Year of the Snake, Fu drew parallels between the snake's ability to shed its skin and humanity's resilience in times of crisis. "In nature, the snake symbolizes the wisdom and strength to renew itself amid adversity. This is precisely the quality we need as we face today's challenges," he said. Fu emphasized China's commitment to multilateralism in addressing global issues. "Over the past year, in the face of complex international dynamics, China has steadfastly practiced true multilateralism, defended the authority of the United Nations, and advanced initiatives that reflect the wisdom and solutions of China." Looking ahead to the UN's 80th anniversary this year, Fu called for collective courage and innovation. "At this critical juncture, the world expects the UN to lead humanity toward a future that is more equal, secure, prosperous, and sustainable. We must embrace the spirit of the snake, shedding old challenges to emerge stronger and more united." In his address, UN Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs Li Junhua stressed the importance of unity as the global body's 80th anniversary is approaching. "All member states must work together to make 2025 a year not of division but of unity," said Li, echoing Secretary-General Antonio Guterres' call in his New Year's message to "make 2025 a new beginning: not as a divided world, but as united nations." "Today's gathering involves the warmth of your UN family, a chance to celebrate traditions and connections that transcend borders," said Melissa Fleming, UN under-secretary-general for global communications. She said that the snake, as related to the Year of the Snake, represents "wisdom, intelligence and resilience," qualities which she said the troubled world could use in the coming year. Fleming emphasized the UN's vision of a better tomorrow, where "everyone can live in peace, in dignity and in equality on a healthy planet." Cherith Norman Chalet, assistant secretary-general for General Assembly and conference management, echoed these sentiments. "Chinese New Year is a time for family reunions, reflection and renewal. It also reminds us of the values of peace, harmony and prosperity." Chalet highlighted the valuable contributions of the UN's talented Chinese colleagues, whose "perspectives, language skills, traditions enable us to connect more deeply with each other and with the communities around the world." Friday's gala to celebrate the Spring Festival, also known as the Lunar New Year or the Chinese New Year in many areas around the world, also featured engaging interactive activities such as "Welcoming Spring with the Character 'Fu' (Good Fortune)," "New Year Photo Frame Check-in," and "Red Packet Rubbing," allowing participants to fully immerse themselves in the festive atmosphere while exploring the rich traditions and innovative celebrations of Chinese New Year. Among the standout moments of the evening were Yin Renkai's heartfelt performance of the song of "My Chinese Heart" in Chinese, English and Spanish, and the new Chinese-style stage performance of "Jingshan Tea Ceremony: A Global Tea Banquet," presented by the Yuhang Cultural Tourism Group of Hangzhou, which seamlessly blended the Chan tea culture of Jingshan Temple from China's ancient Tang and Song dynasties with contemporary theatrical dance. Artists perform during a Chinese New Year gala at the United Nations headquarters in New York, on Jan. 17, 2025. The recent Spring Festival celebration held at the United Nations headquarters is both entertaining and thought-provoking with highlights such as a captivating performance of Beijing Opera in showcasing cultural exchange. (Xinhua/Shi Chun) Students perform Beijing Opera during a Chinese New Year gala at the United Nations headquarters in New York, on Jan. 17, 2025. The recent Spring Festival celebration held at the United Nations headquarters is both entertaining and thought-provoking with highlights such as a captivating performance of Beijing Opera in showcasing cultural exchange. (Photo by Winston Zhou/Xinhua) Artists perform during a Chinese New Year gala at the United Nations headquarters in New York, on Jan. 17, 2025. The recent Spring Festival celebration held at the United Nations headquarters is both entertaining and thought-provoking with highlights such as a captivating performance of Beijing Opera in showcasing cultural exchange. (Photo by Winston Zhou/Xinhua) The inauguration of President Donald Trump had a billionaires row in attendance. Among the tech CEOs in attendance at the ceremony inside the Capitol Rotunda on Monday, Jan. 20 were Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg and Jeff Bezos. The VIPs, seated side-by-side on the dais, were among those who have made significant contributions to the Trump-J.D. Vance inaugural fund. Bezos was accompanied onstage by fiancee Lauren Sanchez, who broke with event dress protocol by wearing a low-cut white suit that showed her bra, while Zuckerberg's wife, Priscilla Chan, was by his side. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Related: Barron Trump, Who Was 10 When His Father Donald Became President, Returns to Inaugural Stage at 18 Alphabet and Google CEO Sundar Pichai was also onstage in the rotunda, as was Apple's Tim Cook. Google and Cook, personally, each donated $1 million to the inauguration fund for Trump. Musk, meanwhile, who donated nearly $300 million to Trump's reelection effort, became a central part of Trumps 2024 campaign and presidential transition, and will assume the reins of the proposed Department of Government Efficiency in the new administration. Related: The Most Striking Photos of Donald Trumps Inauguration Chip Somodevilla/Getty Zuckerberg recently rolled back fact-checking on Meta platforms and made controversial changes to the companys hateful conduct policy after meeting with Trump at Mar-a-Lago. 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. Other tech-world dignitaries in attendance included TikTok chief executive Shou Zi Chou, Sam Altman of OpenAI and Dara Khosrowshahi of Uber. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Delphine Arnault, CEO of Christian Dior, and Miriam Adelson, the widow of Sheldon Adelson, the former CEO and chairman of casino company Las Vegas Sands, were also seated on the stage. Related: Trump Inauguration Live Updates: Donald Trump Says America Will Be 'Envy of Every Nation' During Address On Sunday, TikTok restored service after less than 24 hours after a blackout. "We thank President Trump for providing the necessary clarity and assurance to our service providers that they will face no penalties providing TikTok to over 170 million Americans and allowing over 7 million small businesses to thrive," the statement said, referring to Trump's recent comments about not letting "TikTok stay dark." Read the original article on People Elon Musk was among the many Donald Trump supporters and appointees present in Washington D.C. for Mondays inauguration ceremony, and he even gave a speech during the rally event later that afternoon. His address quickly went viral online primarily because he appeared to give a Nazi salute while thanking the crowd for their support. The moment came just before 3 p.m. ET. Some elections are important, some are not. But this one, this one really mattered and I just want to say thank you for making it happen, he said. After doing so, Musk placed the hand of his right arm to his chest, and forcefully thrust it out, fingers together and palm down, closely resembling the salute used at Nazi rallies to show support to Adolf Hitler. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement My heart goes out to you, he said, after doing the salute a second time. It is thanks to you that the future of civilization is assured. Thanks to you. Watch the moment via PBS below. Billionaire Elon Musk gave what appeared to be a fascist salute Monday while making a speech at the post-inauguration celebration for President Donald Trump at the Capital One Arena. Some elections are important, some are not. But this one, this one really mattered and I just pic.twitter.com/K8Fo0sdozL PBS News (@NewsHour) January 20, 2025 Many were in disbelief at the brazenness of the act, with one person writing, That moment will live in infamy. One social media user even created a side-by-side of Musk and Hitler doing the gesture, writing, This is absolutely incredible. That thumb and hand are perfectly rigid and his arm is at the exact same angle. You all know what he just did. Dont try to hide from it, another wrote. Our unelected co-president just celebrated his theft of our government with a Nazi salute. This is what weve been warning you about for 10 years. Well, its here. That is 1000% a Nazi salute being given behind the presidential podium on Inauguration Day (also MLK day) by the richest person on the planet. That moment will live in infamy. pic.twitter.com/dkfVMC5Fpk Kahlief "Positivity Peddler Adams (@KahliefAdams) January 20, 2025 You all know what he just did. Don't try to hide from it. Our unelected co-president just celebrated his theft of our government with a Nazi salute. This is what we've been warning you about for ten years. Well, it's here. https://t.co/hR0v3dSncA Patrick S. Tomlinson ConFusionMI (@stealthygeek) January 20, 2025 Is it good when the richest man in America who has an office in the White House is doing Nazi salutes on Day 1? pic.twitter.com/vGggHyx1CM B.W. Carlin (@BaileyCarlin) January 20, 2025 Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Musk has a history of making Nazi jokes on social media, and back in September, the X CEO promoted former Fox News host Tucker Carlsons widely condemned interview with a Nazi apologist (but he later deleted the post, in a rare move for the billionaire). He also drew criticism earlier this month, when he held a live event on X with a leader of the German anti-immigrant, far-right political party Alternative for Germany (AfD). You can see more reactions to Musks move below. Elon Musk just sieg heiled on stage. What the actual fuck? pic.twitter.com/j5C5XgBEuA Right Wing Cope (@RightWingCope) January 20, 2025 Remember when Democrats called MAGA rallies "Nazi rallies?" President un-elect Elon Musk just did the Nazi Sieg Heil salute. We were right. Absolutely vile.pic.twitter.com/lg5xl2QpMM Art Candee (@ArtCandee) January 20, 2025 Our new co-president Elon Musk gives a Nazi salute on day one of Trump presidency. pic.twitter.com/sJJUyJavDO Sawyer Hackett (@SawyerHackett) January 20, 2025 Elon Musk goes masks off and does a Nazi salute. pic.twitter.com/GqAtDyWYLg Anonymous (@YourAnonCentral) January 20, 2025 Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Within hours of Donald Trump taking the oath of office, billionaire Elon Musk gave the Nazi salute during his speech at an inauguration rally. It was not an accident or a mistake, he did it twice. Way to go America pic.twitter.com/5NjaU5xF1w Gabe Sanchez (@iamgabesanchez) January 20, 2025 The post Elon Musks Salute to Trump Crowd Condemned as Nazi Signal: What the Actual Fk? | Video appeared first on TheWrap. AUSTIN (KXAN) As Central Texas prepares for severe winter weather on Monday, Travis County and Williamson County said they will open their emergency operation centers in an effort to combat the cold. Travis County response The Austin-Travis County Emergency Operations Center will start operations at 7 a.m. on Monday, according to a press release. The city of Austin said with its facilities closed for Martin Luther King Jr. Day and temperatures not expected to climb above 40 degrees, the city will shift to 24-hour operation of its cold weather shelters on Monday. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Individuals who stay in a shelter on Sunday night will be allowed to stay all day Monday and check out on Tuesday, according to the city. In an effort to help Austinites stay warm during the day, the city has opened three Austin Public Library branches from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Those branches include: Terrazas Branch 1105 East Cesar Chavez Street Ruiz Branch 1600 Grove Boulevard Little Walnut Branch 835 W. Rundberg Lane The city said on Tuesday and Wednesday, Central Library, located at 710 West Cesar Chavez Street will open an hour early at 8 a.m. Other Austin Public Library branches will open at regular business hours and will also serve as warming centers. A map of available warming centers can be found on the city of Austins website. Williamson County response Williamson County will open the countys emergency operations center on Monday evening. The center will be staffed with essential personnel such as emergency management, Williamson Countys Sheriffs Office and more. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Williamson Countys Road and Bridge Division will be checking pavement temperatures for possible icing throughout Monday night, according to the press release. Crews on-call will work to treat county roads and bridges with sand and de-icing material. The county said EMS will be fully staffed and have an additional truck in the northern part of the county Monday night to assist as needed. Williamson County Sheriffs Office deputies will be monitoring conditions and roadways Monday evening through Tuesday, when precipitation chances are the highest, according to the county. Williamson County residents can look for more information from the county by visiting its website for updates. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 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. AUSTIN (KXAN) In preparation for the winter storm blowing through Central Texas Monday night, city and county leaders activated the Austin-Travis County Emergency Operations Center Monday morning. Austin Mayor Kirk Watson and Travis County Judge Andy Brown held a press conference Monday morning to brief the community on what is being done ahead of the winter precipitation. We, as a City, are prepared for winter weather by making sure our utilities are ready for severe weather, providing warming centers and shelter for those who need it, [and] delivering vital information to community members as quickly and as broadly as possible to help Austinites stay safe and informed, Watson said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We are also working to keep roads as safe as possible and continuing to deliver the critical city services our community depends on, despite challenges the weather may bring, Watson continued. Cold Weather Shelters have been open to folks in need of a warm place to stay since Saturday. Watson added that they will continue 24-hour operations through Wednesday morning. The city said there were nearly 400 guests who stayed in the shelters from Sunday night to Monday morning. Additionally, the Austin Public Library has opened three branches from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. to serve as warming centers while the weather remains cold. Those branches are: Terrazas Branch 1105 E. Cesar Chavez St. Ruiz Branch 1600 Grove Blvd. Little Walnut Branch 835 W. Rundberg Ln. We want everyone to be prepared to safely keep [houses] warm, travel cautiously, and prepare for time outside in the cold. Its best to stay indoors, but if you have to be outside, dress in warm layers and wear hats, scarves, and gloves, Judge Brown said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Please remember to also check on seniors, those with medical needs and neighbors, he continued. Watson also reassured the public that despite ERCOT issuing a weather watch alert, there is no expectation currently of an energy emergency. I know [the question] top of mind for everyone when we have weather like this is: Will my power stay on?' Watson said. The good news, however, is that grid conditions are expected to be normal during this winter weather event, he said. Still, Watson urged the public to be prepared in case conditions worsen. Folks can access ReadyCentralTexas.org as a resource to get information on preparing for, withstanding, and recovering from a variety of emergencies. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 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. As two buses carrying Palestinian prisoners freed from an Israeli jail pulled up in the occupied West Bank town of Beitunia early on Monday, they were met with cheers, chants and honking horns. The buses held some of the 90 prisoners released as part of the Gaza ceasefire deal that began Sunday and saw three Israeli hostages freed by Hamas. According to journalists at the scene, members of the crowd climbed atop the lead bus and unfurled a Hamas flag. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement They were joined by others waving the flags of Fatah, Islamic Jihad and several other Palestinian factions, as well as the Palestinian national flag. Hundreds gathered to greet the prisoners, who stepped off the buses to fireworks and whistles, and shouts of God is great. A freed Palestinian prisoner is greeted after being released from an Israeli jail - Reuters The prisoners disembarked from buses in the West Bank city of Beitunia - AP Reunions were emotional, with family and friends waiting for hours outside before greeting their loved ones, some being hoisted onto shoulders or embraced. One of the prisoners released, Shatha Jarabaa, 24, described the prison conditions as horrible, with many others claiming they were tortured throughout their detainment. Ms Jarabaa was arrested over a social media post which criticised the brutality of Israels war in Gaza. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Im very happy! Thank God Im outside. They treated me very bad in prison. It was horrible, she told the Guardian. Her father, Nawaf Jarabaa, 63, said his daughter had been arrested simply for expressing her ideas, as the pair reunited. Inside the bus, a handful of freed female prisoners could be seen smiling and flashing V-signs while a Red Cross staff member watched on. Earlier, the Israel Prison Service confirmed in a statement that it had completed the first release of prisoners as part of the Gaza ceasefire deal. The uncle of 17-year-old Palestinian prisoner Qassem Jaafra kisses his forehead upon his arrival home in the Silwan neighbourhood in east Jerusalem following his release - AFP Mothers imprisoned were reunited with their children - Reuters Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement They had been detained for what Israel called offences related to its security, from throwing stones to more serious accusations such as attempted murder. Their release came seven hours after hostages Emily Damari, 28, Romi Gonen, 24, and Doron Steinbrecher, 31, were freed in a tense handover to the Red Cross. All the terrorists were released from Ofer prison and the Jerusalem detention centre, the service said, referring to the Palestinian prisoners, in a statement issued just before 1.30am local time on Monday (11.30pm GMT). The most prominent detainee freed was Khalida Jarrar, 62, a member of a secular leftist faction that was involved in attacks against Israel in the 1970s but later scaled back militant activities. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Since her arrest in late 2023, she was held under indefinitely renewable administrative detention orders that were criticised by human rights groups. The city rejoiced as prisoners were greeted with cheers and chants - AP Israel is expected to release 737 prisoners over the first phase of the deal, in exchange for 33 Israeli hostages. More than 230 of them are expected to be exiled immediately upon their release. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. ENFIELD, Conn. (WTNH) Enfield Police are reminding residents to clear their cars of snow. An overnight snowfall on Sunday coated the state between one to over 8 inches of snow. Connecticut snow totals: Heres how much fell near you A law in Connecticut requires any accumulated ice or snow to be removed from a car, including the hood and trunk, before driving on the street or highway, police said. Anyone who fails to clean off their car could get a $120 infraction, police said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 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 WTNH.com. NEW YORK Mayor Eric Adams left New York City in the middle of the night to head to the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump, who has the power to pardon the indicted Democrat. Adams, whose team repeatedly said he was unlikely to attend the ceremony of the controversial Republican, drove to Washington, D.C. around 3 a.m. Monday, according to Deputy Mayor for Communications Fabien Levy. Levy said Adams received an invitation from someone on Trumps team between midnight and 1 a.m. an unusually late hour for a dignitary to be invited to a presidential inauguration, particularly since Trump and Adams dined together in Florida days earlier. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In the early hours of Monday morning, the Trump administration reached out inviting Mayor Adams to attend the inauguration at the incoming administrations request. Mayor Adams accepted on behalf of New York City. As the mayor has repeatedly said, America has chosen a new national leader and we must work together to build a safer, stronger, and more affordable in New York City, Levy said in a statement. So sure Adams staff was that he would remain in icy, snowy New York on Monday, his press office issued a public schedule at 12:07 a.m. with several Martin Luther King Jr. Day events listed. Adams who did not show up to a church event in Brooklyn Sunday night was to attend two MLK events in Brooklyn and Harlem before speaking about the inauguration at 2 p.m. on CBS News. Attending the Trump inauguration is an unconventional and politically risky move for the citys leading Democrat. Trump, who made gains in New York last year, lost the city to Kamala Harris 70-30. Hed expressed an interest in going in a recent TV interview. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Last week, Adams flew to Florida to dine with Trump near the president-elects Mar-a-Lago home and transition headquarters. The burgeoning relationship with the controversial Trump carries the possibility of legal reprieve but serious political risk for a mayor preparing to run in a crowded Democratic primary field in June. The mayor who is closer to many New York Republicans than members of his own party has said his alliance with Trump is in the best interests of New York City. What he leaves unsaid is that Trump has indicated an openness to pardoning him in his federal corruption case, for which he heads to trial in April. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Adams was coy about whether he would attend Trumps swearing in for weeks, even implausibly insisting his schedulers would make the politically consequential decision. Adams D.C. pilgrimage will undoubtedly incite further outrage from the field of candidates running against him in the Democratic primary, and could further alienate the mayors base of Black voters. If I was between a rock and a hard place and the only one that could deliver me is Donald Trump I would be preparing for my bye-bye, Al Sharpton recently told POLITICO. A nationwide surge in pertussis has reached Erie County, which reported 23 cases of the vaccine-preventable disease in 2024. It is the county's highest annual number of cases since 34 were reported in 2007, according to the Erie County Department of Health. Only four cases of the disease commonly known as whooping cough were reported from 2020 to 2023. "It's a big jump. It's pretty concerning," said Dr. Nadia Asif, a Saint Vincent Hospital pediatrician. "Not as many people are getting vaccinated, and this makes it risky for young children who aren't old enough to get fully vaccinated." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Pertussis is a contagious respiratory disease that can cause serious health complications in young children and the elderly. About one-third of infants with pertussis require hospitalization, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. None of Erie County's cases required a hospital stay, county health officials said. About two thirds of them were reported in September and nearly all of those were connected, county health officials said. Pertussis' initial symptoms are similar to those of a cold: runny nose, fever and a cough. After a week or two, some children develop the signature "whoop" sound as they inhale after a coughing spell. "Pertussis is most dangerous for infants who don't receive their first vaccine until they are six to eight weeks old," said Erin Mrenak, county Health Department director. "They just don't have the immunity to fight it." Pertussis, also known as whooping cough, is making a resurgence in the United States. Common life-threatening complications of pertussis in infants are apnea (pauses in breathing) and pneumonia. Less common complications include convulsions, brain damage and death. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Pertussis cases declined nationwide during the COVID-19 pandemic as people wore face masks and avoided large gatherings. But numbers spiked from 7,063 cases in 2023 to 35,435 in 2024 (through Dec. 28), the CDC reported. Pennsylvania reported 2,889 cases in 2024 (through Dec. 28), the most of any state. Possible reasons for the surge include: A return to pre-pandemic behavior; Increased and better-developed testing for the disease; Mutations to the bacterium that causes pertussis; Pertussis' traditional cyclical pattern; A decrease in pertussis vaccinations. How many doses of pertussis vaccine does a child need? Vaccination is the most proven way to reduce the risk of pertussis, Asif said. It it given as part of the DTaP (diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis) vaccine to children at two, four, six and 15-18 months of age, followed by another dose at 5 years and a Tdap (Tetanus-Diphtheria-Pertussis) booster around 11 years of age. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It is recommended that adults get a Tdap booster every 10 years, as the vaccine is about 94% effective but loses 1%-2% of its effectiveness each year. "It is especially important for pregnant women to get the Tdap booster and all adults who plan to be around newborns," Asif said. Pertussis vaccination rates have declined in Erie County The problem is that fewer children are getting vaccinated against pertussis. The percentage of Erie County children who received the DTaP vaccine and Tdap booster has declined over the past five years, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Health. 2018-19 school year (DTaP main series) 96.9% of kindergarteners, 98.9% of seventh-graders, 98.6% of 12th-graders. (Tdap booster) 97.7% of seventh-graders, 98.3% of 12th-graders. 2023-24 school year (DTaP main series) 94.5% of kindergarteners, 96.4% of seventh-graders, 96.3% of 12th-graders. (Tdap booster) 92.5% of seventh-graders, 96.3% of 12th-graders. The rates are dropping closer to the minimum 92%-94% needed for herd immunity from pertussis, so that children not immunized are protected. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "We are working with our public health program coordinator to increase vaccine education in the county," Mrenak said. "We also are getting more information to the county's health-care providers." Contact David Bruce at dbruce@timesnews.com. Follow him on X @ETNBruce. This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Erie County sees highest pertussis case count since 2007 Martin Luther King Junior Day is Monday and the Erie community is preparing to honor the civil rights leader. Despite the cold weather, Eries MLK Day March will proceed, starting at 11 a.m. in Perry Square. Erie organizations awarded $4.2 million in grants supporting youth programs One local bishop said the holiday should be a day of solidarity to remember Kings legacy of fighting for civil rights, but he also said Monday is a day to denounce generational violence and raise awareness about the history of the civil rights movement. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We have to let our young people know the whites and the blacks and the young and the old who suffered and died so that we may have rights and freedoms today, said Bishop Dwane Brock of Victory Christian Center. Heavy snowfall creates perfect conditions for local snowmobile riders Bishop Brock also said its important to recognize the influence African Americans have had on the welfare of the country. Copyright 2025 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 WJET/WFXP/YourErie.com. By Lili Bayer BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union is considering a step-by-step suspension of multiple economic sanctions targeting Syria as it seeks to support the countrys transition, while retaining some leverage, according to two internal documents seen by Reuters. EU foreign ministers are expected to discuss suspending some Syrian sanctions during a meeting in Brussels on Jan. 27. European capitals began reassessing their Syria policies after the ousting of president Bashar al-Assad by insurgent forces led by the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) that the United Nations designates a terrorist group. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The documents, produced by the blocs foreign policy arm ahead of the ministers meeting, outline options for supporting Syrias transition and a roadmap for easing sanctions. Broad consensus has emerged among EU member states on the need to ease the EUs sanctions framework in order to send a positive signal of support to the transition and new authorities, according to the proposed roadmap. At the same time, several EU MS (member states) have urged for prudence and maintaining some leverage vis-a-vis the new authorities, in case things do not evolve as hoped, it said, adding that a staged approach should be employed. A political agreement could be announced at the Jan. 27 meeting. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement EU sanctions include bans on oil imports from Syria, as well as a ban on investment in the Syrian oil industry and a freeze on any Syrian central bank assets in the EU. The proposed roadmap indicates some existing sanctions, including those related to arms and entities linked to the Assad regime, would not be suspended. Options for supporting Syria mentioned in the paper on EU efforts include boosting humanitarian aid, gradually supporting reconstruction and considering allowing Syrian refugees residing in Europe to travel back and forth during a transition period. Six EU member states - Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Spain and the Netherlands called earlier this month for the bloc to temporarily suspend sanctions on Syria in areas including transport, energy and banking. (Reporting by Lili Bayer; editing by Barbara Lewis) MANILA, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- Two people were killed and eight others injured early on Monday after a van collided with a motorcycle in Laguna province, south of Manila, police said. The accident happened in Alaminos town after the van sped past another vehicle at a blind curve and collided head-on with the motorcycle. Police said the van hit the concrete roadside barriers after the crash, killing its driver and injuring eight passengers onboard. The motorcycle driver, who was wearing a helmet, was also killed, police added. The European Commission is developing a strategy to eliminate Russian fossil fuels from the European Union's energy market. However, gas deliveries from Russia to Europe persist despite the EU's efforts, and Brussels is determined to halt this, Anna-Kaisa Itkonen, the EUs spokesperson for energy and housing, said. Speaking at a press briefing in Brussels on Jan. 20, Itkonen noted that work on a comprehensive roadmap to fully phase out Russian fossil fuels is ongoing. "It is something that was announced as something that the Energy Commission would present in the first 100 days [of its mandate], so we still have a couple of sleeps left before that deadline," she said, according to Interfax news agency. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Itkonen highlighted that the EU has already made substantial progress in reducing its dependence on Russian energy. "We cut all Russian coal imports, most Russian oil imports, and over two thirds of Russian gas," she added. Despite these achievements, Russian gas continues to be present on the EU market, which remains a concern. Itkonen confirmed that this issue will be addressed in the upcoming roadmap set to be presented in the coming weeks. Read also: Russia discusses buying gas for Transnistria in Europe, media reports Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. (Bloomberg) -- The European Union needs to accelerate its efforts to boost its competitiveness and implement some of the recommendations made by former European Central Bank president Mario Draghi, a senior euro-area official said. Most Read from Bloomberg I believe we should look to the future with confidence, but with no complacency, Paschal Donohoe, who heads the Eurogroup, said in an interview in Brussels hours before Donald Trump was to be sworn in as president. We have to heighten our level of urgency regarding steps that we can take that will deepen the foundations of the euro in particular. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Donohoe said the bloc needs to demonstrate progress on projects such as the capital markets union, where were going to have to show a far higher level of ambition in 2025. The EU is bracing for the risk of fresh trade tensions with the US just as its lagging behind American and Chinese firms in sectors including green technology, digital and automotive. Draghi last year outlined some ideas of how to lower barriers in the internal market but warned of an investment gap of at least 800 billion ($834 billion). Donohoe, who is also Irelands minister for public expenditure, said the EU can still become a very good ally for boosting growth with the incoming Trump administration and highlighted the very good engagement that the government in Dublin had with the first Trump administration. But the strong US-Irish relationship, particularly when it comes to the tech industry, is set to face a difficult period as tensions have worsened between billionaire Trump adviser Elon Musk and European regulators. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Donohoe expressed his support for the European Commissions investigation of whether Musks X social media platform is complying with the blocs content rules when it comes to politics and other areas. We need to guard democracies against the interventions of extreme power, Donohoe said. Free speech and a vigorous debate is a very precious necessary quality of the health of democracies, but equally we need to ensure that we can protect those qualities from very high levels of power and wealth --With assistance from Jennifer Duggan. (Corrects Draghis job status in first paragraph) Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement 2025 Bloomberg L.P. The European Commission has been developing a plan to completely phase out Russian fossil fuels from the EU market. However, despite all efforts, Russian gas supplies to Europe persist and Brussels is determined to put an end to them. Source: European Commission Spokesperson Anna-Kaisa Itkonen, as reported by enkorr, a Ukrainian energy news outlet, with reference to Interfax Details: "Regarding the plan or roadmap for the European Union's complete abandonment of Russian fossil fuels, its underway. It was announced as something the Energy Commission would present within the first 100 days of its mandate, so we still have a few days before that deadline," Itkonen said at a press briefing in Brussels on 20 January. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The EU has taken significant steps "to eliminate any Russian fossil fuels" and "overall, we have significantly reduced imports of Russian gas," she added. "We have cut all Russian coal imports, most Russian oil imports and more than two-thirds of Russian gas," Itkonen noted. "Russian gas is still present in the EU market despite these significant achievements. We would prefer this not to be the case, and it is, of course, one of the issues that will be addressed in the roadmap, which will be presented in the coming weeks," she added. Background: Since the beginning of 2025, Europe has been purchasing Russian gas in unprecedented volumes, spending billions of dollars that the Kremlin uses to fund its war in Ukraine, just weeks after the end of a major transit agreement that had raised hopes that the EU could end its dependency on Moscow. Support UP or become our patron! DENVER (KDVR) President-elect Donald Trump held a Victory Rally on Sunday in Washington, D.C., where he touched on topics that included TikTok, who should be able to serve in the military and immigration impacts on U.S. crime. In his speech, the president-elect told his supporters they would see executive orders Monday that are going to make you extremely happy. Trump has promised hundreds of executive orders within hours of his inauguration, including promises to roll back executive actions taken by outgoing President Joe Biden. Gov. Polis to attend President-elect Trumps inauguration Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trump has also promised many immigration reforms and changes to the U.S. southern border with Mexico, with few details on what he intends, how he plans to enact his changes, and while sharing unfounded claims. One of those unfounded claims is that foreign governments have emptied prisons into the U.S. You look at Venezuela, theyve emptied their prisons into our country, many other places the same I would have done the same if I headed up any of countries, I know most of those guys, theyre smart, Trump said Sunday. As soon as I heard they were going to have open borders I said if you do that every prison all over the world is going to be emptied out into our country. Trump promised justice for Americans impacted by immigrant violence, naming several well-known cases that involved immigrants, including Laken Riley. And every other precious American soul that we have lost to these animals, Trump said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trump called for setting the country on the proper course, and said by sunset on Monday, the invasion of our borders will have come to a halt. Trump also said that the crimes attributed to Venezuelan migrants are worse than American criminals. FOX31 Newsletters: Sign up to get breaking news sent to your inbox Remember I used to say These people are rough, and they would say No no these are illegal immigrants, theyre very safe, I said Theyre not safe,' Trump said Sunday. Look at whats happened with Venezuela, where theyre sending these gangs in and theyre taking over apartment complexes in Colorado and then cutting off the fingers of a man who had the nerve and desire to call the police. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Denver police reported in October 2024 that two men were arrested for holding a roommate hostage and amputating one of his fingers. A widely circulated social media post suggested the suspects might be members of Tren de Aragua, the Venezuelan gang. Police told FOX31 in October that officers are still investigating whether the incident was gang-related activity. Copyright 2025 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. This is part of Hello, Trumpworld, Slates reluctant guide to the people who will be calling the shots nowat least for as long as they last in Washington. The again in Robert F. Kennedy Jr.s rallying cry is what makes it so sickening. Make America Healthy Again? Like when we had more measles and malnutrition and cervical cancer? Obviously, MAHA is a suck-up to Trump and the white-nationalist again in MAGA. Its also an appeal to the powerful force of nostalgia. It echoes the wellness-grifter ethos: vague, aspirational, anything-natural-is-good nonsense sold with a slick catchphrase. Kennedy is worse than that, though: Hes a dangerous, dishonest conspiracy theorist who will, if hes confirmed as secretary of Health and Human Services, cause unnecessary suffering and death. The nostalgia starts with his name and his frequent references to his uncle (President JFK) and father (presidential candidate RFK), even though other members of Juniors family hate him and are horrified by how hes used the family legacy to push disinformation. He nostalgically claims that in the good old days, there was no such thing as autism or ADHD or other developmental differences. Neurodivergent people have always existed, but they were often marginalized, institutionalized, or, like his Aunt Rosemary, lobotomized. Autism diagnoses are upthanks to better awareness and broader diagnostic criteria. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Instead of accepting the fact that society and science have progressed, RFK Jr. will have you know that hes smarter than everyone else. He is the only person brave enough to reveal that neurologists, epidemiologists, data analysts, pediatricians (those devils), the media, medical philanthropies, pharmaceutical companies, and publishers of scientific journals have conspired to hide the truth that vaccines are causing a holocaust. Instead of accepting that the world has become more inclusive, RFK Jr. clings to a fraudulent 1998 paper claiming that vaccines are responsible for a rise in autism. The link has been debunked and disproven by studies around the world using decades of data and including hundreds of thousands of children. The original study has been retracted. Every relevant scientific and medical institution has affirmed that vaccines are some of the most lifesaving and health-improving interventions in history. RFK Jr.s view of reality is warped, and hes belligerently wrong about plenty of things. He actively fears modernity. He has questioned whether AIDS is really the result of a virus, despite the fact that HIV-suppressing drugs have saved millions of lives and prevented millions of infections. Hes in favor of jailing people with addiction. He claims Wi-Fi causes cancer. He promotes drinking raw milk, at a time when the H5N1 bird flu virus is circulating in dairy cows and is concentrated in milk before its pasteurized. Its natural, so it must be good. Even though the most natural thing in history is to die of infectious disease. Kennedys bad judgment and poor character are not limited to his plans to take a wrecking ball to public health, and they predate the brain worm that he disclosed in divorce proceedings in an attempt to minimize estimates of his earning potential. Hes a creepy womanizer. Hes been accused of sexual assault. He deposited a bear cub carcass in Central Park, like some spoiled showoff pulling stupid stunts to pledge the worlds most grotesque fraternity. But the COVID pandemic brought out the worst in him. He published a book accusing poor Tony Fauci of intentionally killing people. He called lifesaving COVID vaccines poison. He claimed the coronavirus was engineered to spare Chinese and Jewish people. He said that unvaccinated people have less freedom than Anne Frank. Senators: Is this the guy you want to have leading Americas federal health agencies during a crisis? Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Leadership matters for public health. Ronald Reagan ignored the AIDS epidemic when public awareness could have saved lives. Donald Trump politicized COVID to the point that Republicans are more likely than Democrats to go unvaccinated and die. Kennedy has already shown what hes capable of: He met with anti-vaxxers in Samoa and amplified misinformation ahead of a measles outbreak that has killed 83 people and that he characterized as mild. What can we expect from RFKJ in the Trump administration? Their relationship is new and transactional, so hes unlikely to be a loyalist. (Kennedy reached out to the Harris campaign to discuss an endorsement-for-appointment deal before turning to Trump.) Before he went full MAGA, Kennedy said some accurate things about Trump, including that he pursued pollution-based prosperity. (Kennedy now blames the media for brainwashing him.) Kennedy started his career as an environmental lawyer, and he is not (yet) a climate denier. In a best-case scenario, Kennedy will be stymied or distracted from all things to do with drugs and infectious diseases, and push HHS to help protect people from air pollution and climate change. We can dream. How well will he play with his fellow appointees? Kennedy has criticized the Ozempic family of diabetes and obesity medications, which could set up a fun conflict with Martin Makary, Trumps pick to head the Food and Drug Administration, who is the chief medical officer for a company that sells relatively inexpensive compounded versions of the weight loss drugs. But Kennedy will probably work well with nominated National Institutes of Health director Jay Bhattacharya, who puts his version of individual liberty above science and public health. And Mehmet Oz, poised to lead the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid, often has a Kennedyesque disregard for pesky factsthough Oz has said positive things about weight-loss drugs, so whether their versions of the world will clash or not, well see. Trump and Kennedy are a lot alike, too: messianic, grandiose, verbose, narcissistic. But the most important thing to know about both of them is that you cant believe what they say. They lie. They reject clearly established facts. They make up stories to make themselves look like heroes. Lets hope Kennedys presidential-ish name and arrogance threaten Trumps need for superiority, and they have a spectacular falling-out that distracts them both from causing more damage. Fortunately, the institutions of public health are not just these guys at the top, and resistance is not futile. Federal health employees, state and local public health officials, health care providers, scientific experts, and all of us can affirm reality and share trustworthy information about health and science, even if were out-shouted by some of the worst people in the world. In July, the anti-whaling activist Captain Paul Watson was arrested and jailed in Nuuk, Greenland and faced extradition to Japan. He was detained by Interpol on a red notice issued by the Japanese government dealing with an allegation of trespass dating to 2010. However, just before Christmas, Denmarks Minister of Justice announced that Watson would not be extradited and was free to leave. It was the latest, and longest, brush with the law that Watson had in his 50 years of ocean activism. He was an early member of Greenpeace, before founding Sea Shepherd in 1977. In 2012, he became only the second person, after Jacques Cousteau, to be awarded the Jules Verne Award, dedicated to environmentalists and adventurers. In 2022, he left Sea Shepherd and started the Captain Paul Watson Foundation. In early January 2025, SURFER caught up with Paul at his home in Paris to discuss the jail stretch, his half-century of activism, and what surfers can do to help save our oceans. Below are snippets from our discussion with the influential ocean activist: Watson, on May 25, 2011 in La Ciotat, France. (PGERARD JULIEN/AFP via Getty Images On Five Months In A Greenland Jail "This was a maximum security prison, but it was more like a hotel. I had my own cell with a refrigerator and television, but most importantly, I had this beautiful view from my cell window of the fjord and the mountains, and I could see whales out there. I missed my family, but the situation provided an incredible opportunity to continue to expose illegal Japanese whaling internationally with the added benefit of exposing and focusing on the killing of pilot whales and dolphins in the Danish Faroe Islands. So we got an incredible amount of publicity during the time I was there." On Interpol and The Red Notice "The Interpol Red Notice was designed for war criminals, serial killers and major drug traffickers. However, it has been weaponized by many countries to be used to go after activists, dissidents and whistleblowers. I'm the first person in history to be put on there for conspiracy to trespass. The maximum penalty in Denmark for the so-called crime that I was alleged to have committed was a $600 fine. Japan was caught talking about giving me 15 years in prison for that. Now the Danish government were hostile from the beginning and wanted to extradite me. However, they weren't prepared for the protests, not only from hundreds of thousands of people who signed petitions but also from people like Jane Goodall, Richard Branson, President Macron of France and members of the Australian parliament. In the end, the Danish Attorney General didnt have much choice. He had a 65-page document that was mainly based on politics but didn't make any sense legally. His arm was also twisted by international public opinion. I would say though that the Interpol red notice is still active and hasnt gone away." Related: Anti-Whaling Activist Paul Watson Released From Greenland Jail On The Japanese Government "Their actions are revenge for my "Whale Wars" television show. That severely humiliated and embarrassed the whaling industry and the Japanese government. So really what this is all about is a politically motivated false accusation on a very minor charge from 2010. Now in 2017, the European Commission on Human Rights did an inquiry on the abuse of Interpol for political purposes, and my name was cited as an example of that abuse. Japan and Denmark did me quite the favor by having me arrested in Greenland. That created this incredible opportunity to focus attention. So when I was forced off my ship in Greenland, the John Paul De Jore, I just simply renamed the prison, The Good Ship Nuuk, and carried on using the prison as a vessel to raise awareness." On 50 years of activism "I've never been angry at anything in my life, really. It's just not an emotion I utilize. Persecution for being an activist is just part of the job. I mean, you have to expect that you're not going to make change without taking risks and without making sacrifices. You need to turn that into a story to dramatize the issue and get people's attention. I've been arrested and put in jail many, many times, but I've never been convicted of a crime. I've also never injured a single person in my entire career over the last 50 years. In 1977, I developed a strategy that I call aggressive nonviolence. We would aggressively intervene, but we aren't going to hurt anybody and we have to operate within the boundaries of both the law and practicality. " Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement You have to expect that you're not going to make change without taking risks and without making sacrifices. You need to turn that into a story to dramatize the issue and get people's attention. Paul Watson On The Law "The law is a funny thing because there are international, national, state and local laws. We tend to intervene using international law as a basis for doing so. And so everything that we oppose is a criminal activity. Japan's whaling in the Southern Ocean in a whale sanctuary is a violation of the International Whaling Commission's global moratorium that was upheld by the International Court of Justice in The Hague in 2014. No Japanese whaling ship can come into an Australian port because they're considered to be in contempt of the Australian court. But one of the classic strategies of governments today is to turn anybody who opposes them into eco-terrorists. But I don't know of a single act of eco-terrorism where someone has killed or injured anybody. When people ask me, Are you an ecoterrorist? I just say, No, I've never worked for Monsanto or Union Carbine any of the real eco-terrorists operating in plain sight.'" In part 2 of our conversation, Paul talks through surfers' role in activism, his split and beef with Sea Shepherd, on playing the long game and what we can do to help. Hours after convicted arsonist Dustin Nehl, 31, and his wife Jenni Nehl, 44 a trained National Weather Service Skywarn Weather Spotter specially trained in windstorms were arrested Sunday by Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department authorities in the Palisades Fire evacuation site, allegedly wearing bunker gear and driving a decommissioned firetruck they said was part of a nonexistent company in Oregon, the FBI reignited the manhunt for a fugitive domestic eco-terrorist from the same area, Los Angeles has learned. That fugitive, Josephine Sunshine Overaker, who the FBI says once worked as a wildfire firefighter, was a leader in a group the FBI calls "the most prolific domestic terrorism cell of the time," known as "The Family." Federal prosecutors have charged Overaker, and 10 of her co-conspirators, with a plethora of arsons, including a devastating fire that leveled a Vail, Colorado ski resort in 1998. The indictment came after the FBI began a clandestine investigation known as Operation Backfire using agents from Joint Terrorism Task Force to infiltrate the group in Oregon, Washington, Arizona, Virginia and New York, which led to the 2006 indictment. "The Familys 1998 arson attack on a ski resort in Vail, Colorado which caused estimated damages of $26 million was its most notorious act," the FBI says. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The FBI blames Overaker for attacks in Oregon, Washington, California, Colorado and Wyoming that the Bureau says: "put first responders lives in danger." But the avowed vegan with the distinctive dark green bird tattoo across her shoulder blades remains at large and could be seeking work as "a firefighter, sheep herder or masseuse," the FBI says. She has been on the run for nearly two decades. The FBI reignited its hunt for her in hours after the Nehls were arrested Saturday, a day after the LAPD spotted them in the Palisades Fire Area in a decommissioned California firetruck purchased at an auction emblazoned with the words Rolling River Fire, a department the LASD determined does not exist. The #FBI offers a reward of up to $50,000 for info leading to the arrest of Josephine Sunshine Overaker. On Jan 19, 2006, a federal grand jury in Eugene, Oregon, indicted her on multiple charges related to her alleged role in a domestic terrorism cell: https://t.co/vZd5AYBbHF pic.twitter.com/3AOb42kbx6 FBI Most Wanted (@FBIMostWanted) January 19, 2025 There is no evidence the Nehls are connected to "The Family" at this time, but the couple has ties to climate activism. Jenni Nehl, according to a Facebook post, trains incarcerated teens on how to be "weather ready nation ambassadors" under her maiden name Hastings at a juvenile detention education center in Oregon. With Hastings, the teens made raps called "Weather Slaps" that tackle windstorms, weather safety, climate change and how environmental disaster impacts poor communities more ardently than wealthy ones. Her husband Dustin Nehl was sentenced to five years in a Oregon prison in 2017 for setting fire to a country club and other locations in his native Woodburn. Convicted arsonist Dustin Nehl, 31, and his wife Jennifer Nehl, 44, bought this truck at an auction and drove it into the evacuation zone while impersonating firefighters, Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department officials said. Courtesy of Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department The couple gave birth to a daughter, Makenna, last November but the baby suffered complications and died weeks later, according to Dustin Nehl's YouTube page. Two Individuals from Oregon Arrested for Impersonating Firefighters within Palisades Fire On Saturday, January 18, 2025, Los Angeles County Sheriffs Major Crimes Bureau investigators were contacted regarding an arrest of two suspects for impersonation of firefighters. An LAPD pic.twitter.com/K9jGcfVW4Q LA County Sheriffs (@LASDHQ) January 19, 2025 A cause for the deadly and destructive wildfires has not yet been determined, according to CalFire. More than a dozen members of the ATF's National Response Team is on the ground on the Westside investigating how the Palisades Fire began. "The NRT brings a wealth of experience and expertise to these types of investigations, said Brice McCracken, ATF's special agent in charge of the National Center for Explosives Training and Research, in a press release this week. The NRT is committed to working closely with our partners to determine the origin and cause of the Pacific Palisades Fire. WASHINGTON (AP) Donald Trump returned to the White House ready to immediately overhaul the government using the fastest tool he has the executive order. He's looked on his first day to increase domestic energy production and stop diversity, equity and inclusion programs within the federal government, among other actions. An incoming president signing a flurry of executive orders is standard practice. Executive orders allow a president to wield power without action from Congress. But there are also limits to what orders can achieve. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A primer on how the presidential power works and its often fleeting impact: What are executive orders? Basically, they are signed statements about how the president wants the federal government to be managed. They can be instructions to federal agencies or requests for reports. Many orders can be unobjectionable, such as giving federal employees the day after Christmas off. They can also lay out major policies. For example, President Joe Biden signed an order to create a structure for establishing regulations on artificial intelligence. But executive orders and their policy sausage-making siblings, the proclamation and political memorandum also are used by presidents to pursue agendas they cant get through Congress. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement New presidents can and often do issue orders to cancel the orders of their predecessors. On his first day, Trump rescinded 78 orders and actions signed by Biden. Among Trump's rescissions was a Biden order that canceled some of the orders signed by Trump during his first term. As the American Bar Association notes, the orders do not require congressional approval and can't be directly overturned by lawmakers. Still, Congress could block an order from being fulfilled by removing funding or creating other hurdles. How common are executive orders? Throughout U.S. history, there have been several thousand executive orders, according to data collected by the American Presidency Project at the University of California, Santa Barbara. George Washington signed eight executive orders, while Franklin Delano Roosevelt did 3,721. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement During his first term, Trump, a Republican, signed 220. Biden, a Democrat, signed 160 as of Dec. 20. Executive orders are often about political messaging Trump signed numerous executive orders tied to his campaign promises. These included a temporary hiring freeze for federal agencies, a mandate that federal employees return to their offices for work and a review of federal investigations that Trump suggested had targeted his supporters. He's also promised an executive order to give more time for the sale of TikTok. Trump had asked Rep. Jeff Van Drew, R-N.J., to write an order stopping the development of offshore windmills for generating electricity. But it's entirely possible that Trump could also roll out many planned executive orders over time. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Many of Trump's measures are likely to draw Democratic opposition. And in several major cases, the orders will largely be statements of intent based off campaign promises made by Trump. There are limits to the power of executive orders Both Congress and the courts can potentially block executive orders. For example, Congress in 1992 revoked an executive order by then-President George H.W. Bush that would establish a human fetal tissue bank for scientific research by passing a measure that the order shall not have any legal effect. Congress can also deny funding to agencies and hamstring the enforcement of an order. There are also legal challenges based on the argument that a president exceeded his legal authorities. When President Harry Truman tried to seize steel mills during the Korean War, the U.S. Supreme Court said he lacked the authority to take private property without authorization from Congress. The World Economic Forum (WEF) Annual Meeting 2025 kicks off on Monday in Davos, Switzerland, under the theme "Collaboration for the Intelligent Age." Gathering nearly 3,000 leaders from around the world, the meeting is expected to address pressing challenges and explore opportunities. #GLOBALink This story is developing. Refresh for updates. (NewsNation) President Donald Trump will put pen to paper Monday, signing a slew of executive orders relating to ending diversity, equity and inclusion programs within the federal government, strictly defining two genders and enforcing heightened border security, among many others. The president is expected to make good on several campaign promises on his first day in office. Still, many of his executive orders will likely come up against legal opposition in the coming days. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement An executive order is a signed statement about how the president wants the federal government managed. They can come as instructions to federal agencies or requests for reports. Trump vows to release JFK, RFK, MLK assassination records Today I will sign a series of executive orders. With these actions, we will begin the complete restoration of America and the revolution of common sense, Trump said during his inauguration speech Monday. Trump is expected to sign these executive orders Monday afternoon: Border-related executive orders Trump declares a national emergency at the southern border This order would help the secretary of defense quickly and seamlessly deploy members of armed forces to the border and free up more federal resources. Trump will end catch and release of migrants Trump said he would be ending the federal catch and release program, which allows immigrants who entered the country illegally to remain in the country as long as they are in the process for asylum. Trump will reinstate the Remain in Mexico policy Trump will reinstate the Remain in Mexico policy, which requires asylum-seekers to stay in Mexico until their claims are processed. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Will Melania and Barron Trump live at the White House? Trump will resume border wall construction Trump began construction of the southern border wall during his first administration in an effort to prevent illegal crossings. Under the order, work would resume. President Trump says as one of his first actions in office he will declare a national emergency at the southern border, begin deportations and reinstate "Remain in Mexico." More: https://t.co/B9fBW4ll56 #Inauguration pic.twitter.com/jFSwQmkacI NewsNation (@NewsNation) January 20, 2025 Trump designated cartels as global terrorists Trump designated Mexicos drug cartels as global terrorists. Trump plans to rename Gulf of Mexico, Mount Denali but can he? Trump will suspend refugee resettlement for 4 months Trump vowed to suspend refugee resettlement for four months as part of a broader effort to immediately end the migrant invasion of America. Trump changes definition of birthright citizenship The president ended birthright citizenship, the right of children born in the U.S. to parents who lack legal status to claim citizenship. The 14th Amendment guarantees American citizenship to anyone born in the U.S. Trump will direct the military to prioritize borders White House officials said this order would clarify the militarys role in protecting the territorial integrity of the United States by sending military personnel to the border, pushing the Department of Defense to erect barriers and green-lighting the use of drones and other surveillance measures. Trump will order enhanced border vetting and screening Under this order, the president is expected to tighten up the vetting and screening of migrants entering the country. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trump plans to rename Gulf of Mexico, Mount Denali but can he? Federal reform Government censorship The president signed an order to immediately stop all government censorship and bring back free speech to America. Federal government regulation and hiring freeze Trump implemented a regulation freeze and a hiring freeze for the federal government by executive order. Most of those bureaucrats are getting fired, theyre gone, Trump said. He said the temporary hiring freeze will be to ensure the federal government is only hiring competent people who are faithful to the American public. He added there will be a hiring freeze for IRS workers, specifically, and he issued an order to ensure federal workers are returning to their offices. End the weaponization of federal government Trump signed an executive order directing federal agencies to maintain all records concerning what he has branded as political persecutions to expose instances of abuse of power. He said he would move forward with these probes even though former President Biden issued pardons for many of these people. Revoke 78 of Bidens executive orders Trump rescinded 78 executive orders and presidential memorandums signed by Biden. Economy Cabinet order to reduce cost-of-living crisis Trump signed a directive to every department and every agency to address the cost-of-living crisis that has affected Americans so dearly. Energy Trump declares national energy emergency Trump declared an energy emergency, ending leasing to wind farms, among other measures. The order will eliminate what he calls President Joe Bidens electric vehicle mandate. He said he will make America a manufacturing nation once again by easing regulatory burdens on oil and natural gas production, which he said will be exported all over the world. Withdraw from the Paris climate agreement Trump has signed an order to withdraw a second time from the Paris climate agreement. The multi-year process, when complete, will make the U.S. one of only a handful of countries that are not party to the agreement, along with Iran, Libya and Yemen. The nonbinding agreement includes a commitment among members to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the primary cause of climate change, to avert warming beyond 1.5 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial average. Armed Forces Trump to sign order reinstating expelled service members Trump said he would sign an order reinstating service members who were unjustly expelled from our military for objecting to the COVID vaccine mandate with full back pay. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He also said he would sign an order to stop our warriors from being subjected to radical political theories and social experiments while on duty. It is unclear what Trump is specifically referring to. Renaming the Gulf of Mexico, Mount Denali Order will rename the Gulf of Mexico Trump will issue an order to change the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America. Trump: A short time from now, we are going to be changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America. More: https://t.co/cW9woOU1LX pic.twitter.com/mXcjGbnzfp NewsNation (@NewsNation) January 20, 2025 Trump to rename Mount Denali Trump said he is reinstating the name Mt. McKinley to an Alaskan peak during his inauguration speech. In 2015, the Department of the Interior changed the name of the mountain to Denali from Mt. McKinley. That was the name traditionally used by the Koyukon people and is based on the Koyukan word for tall. Department of Government Efficiency Trump established DOGE Trump signed an executive order establishing the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which he says will eliminate government overspending. The new agency will be co-led by tech billionaire Elon Musk and former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy. TikTok Ban Trump delayed the ban on TikTok Trump has signed an executive order to keep TikTok operating for 90 days, a relief to the social media platforms users even as national security questions persist. Flying the US flag at full-staff on inauguration day Trump signed an executive order directing that flags be flown at full-mast for this Inauguration Day and all future ones. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The issue came up in the aftermath of the death of former President Jimmy Carter, who died on Dec. 29. Biden ordered flags to be flown at half-mast for 30 days, in accordance with custom to honor former presidents after their passing. But multiple states ordered flags to be flown at full mast Monday in honor of Inauguration Day. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., also ordered flags at the Capitol to be flown at full mast, to be returned to half-mast for the rest of the 30 days to honor Carter. Trump concluded the signing ceremony by handing pens out to Vance and the congressional leaders. Appoints officials in signing ceremony Trump formally nominated and appointed a wide variety of officials for his administration in a signing ceremony. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The orders are for 22 Cabinet and non-Cabinet-level appointments, 47 sub-Cabinet-level appointments and 31 acting designations and appointments and 15 appointments of chairmen and acting chairmen. They officially allow Trump to take charge of the government. Pardoning Jan. 6 rioters Trump signed a full pardon for 1500 Jan. 6 rioters. During a speech, he said he wanted the January 6th hostages out. He said he is also commuting the sentences of six people who he said well take a look at. He said these individuals may eventually be pardoned or their sentences might just be commuted. Diversity and inclusion Trump to limit definitions of gender identity Trump officials said the order will direct federal agencies to use sex, not gender, in federal policies and documents. The order will also limit the choice of gender identification to sexes assigned at birth. Trump will end federal DEI programs This order will end funding for DEI funding in the government and will direct the Office of Management and Budget and the Office of Personnel Management to end illegal mandates, preferences. Trump signs orders on merit Trump signed an order in the Oval Office to make sure merit is the lone star of hiring in the federal government. Our country is going to be based on merit again, he said. Withdraw from World Health Organization Trump signed an order withdrawing the U.S. from the World Health Organization. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement NewsNation partner The Hill contributed to this report. Copyright 2025 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 NewsNation. (NewsNation) President Donald Trump is putting pen to paper Monday, signing an estimated 200 executive orders relating to ending diversity, equity and inclusion programs within the federal government, strictly defining two sexes and enforcing heightened border security. Trump signed a few nominations and executive orders from Capitol Hill following his inauguration and then more in front of a crowd of his supporters at Capital One Arena. The first order he signed at the arena revoked 78 executive orders signed by former President Joe Biden. An executive order is a signed statement about how the president wants the federal government to be managed. They can come in the form of instructions to federal agencies or requests for reports. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The president was expected to make good on several campaign promises on his first day in office, but many of his executive orders will likely come up against legal opposition in the coming days. Trump is expected to sign these executive orders on his first day in office. Border-related executive orders Declare a national emergency at the southern border Trump signed an order Monday night that declares a national emergency over immigration, aiming to help the secretary of defense quickly and seamlessly deploy members of armed forces to the border and free up more federal resources. End catch and release of migrants Border czar Tim Homan said the Trump administration would be ending the federal catch and release program, which allows immigrants who entered the country illegally to remain in the country as long as they are in the process for asylum. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Stay in your homeland, Homan told NewsNation last month. Be safe. Crossing into this country illegally is very dangerous. Reinstate the Remain in Mexico policy During his first term, Trump implemented the Remain in Mexico policy, also called Migration Protection Protocols, which required asylum-seekers to stay in Mexico until their claims were processed. Democratic President Joe Bidens administration ended the policy in 2022. Under the order, this policy will be reinstated. Will Melania and Barron Trump live at the White House? Resume border wall construction Trump began construction of the southern border wall during his first administration in an effort to prevent illegal crossings. Under the order, work would resume. Designate cartels as global terrorists After being elected, Trump revived a campaign vow to designate Mexicos drug cartels as terrorist groups. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I will immediately designate the cartels as foreign terrorist organizations, Trump said. Trump plans to rename Gulf of Mexico, Mount Denali but can he? While in office in 2019, Trump dropped the plan at the request of Mexicos then-President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who said he wanted U.S. cooperation in fighting drug gangs. Suspend refugee resettlement for 4 months Trump, who put tight limits on refugees in his first term, has vowed to suspend refugee resettlement for four months as part of a broader effort to immediately end the migrant invasion of America. Attempt to end birthright citizenship The president signed an executive order Monday relating to the definition of birthright citizenship. The 14th Amendment guarantees American citizenship to anyone born in the U.S. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement President Trump acknowledged during the signing that the courts may make an effort to strike this order down. Direct the military to prioritize borders White House officials said the order would clarify the militarys role in protecting the territorial integrity of the United States by sending military personnel to the border, pushing the Department of Defense to erect barriers and green-lighting the use of drones and other surveillance measures. Order enhanced border vetting and screening Under this order, the president is expected to tighten up the vetting and screening of migrants entering the country. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trump plans to rename Gulf of Mexico, Mount Denali but can he? Diversity and inclusion Define gender as two sexes Trump officials said the order will direct federal agencies to enforce laws in order to protect men and women as distinct sexes and use sex, not gender, in federal policies and documents. The Trump administration will maintain there are two sexes, male and female, and that they are grounded in incontrovertible reality, one official said. The official added the federal government will use the sex of a person at birth to determine how they are classified. Under the order, government-issued identity documents, including passports and visas, will reflect a holders sex. The order is expected to state that the federal government will no longer promote gender ideology, according to officials. End federal DEI programs A Trump official said an executive order will end radical wasteful DEI programs and preferences in the federal government in order to create equal treatment. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement DEI refers to diversity, equity and inclusion programs. This order ends funding for DEI funding in the government and will direct the Office of Management and Budget and the Office of Personnel Management to end illegal mandates, preferences. Trump signs orders on merit Trump signed an order in the Oval Office to make sure merit is the lone star of hiring in the federal government. Our country is going to be based on merit again, he said. Economy and environment Energy emergency Trump signed an order Monday declaring a national energy emergency to allow for more drilling and energy production. The order ends leasing to wind farms among other measures. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He said he will make America a manufacturing nation once again by ordering mass oil drilling, which he plans to export all over the world. Withdrawing from Paris climate treaty Another executive order signed by Trump immediately withdraws the U.S. from the Paris agreement, an international treaty on climate change. The pact is aimed at limiting long-term global warming to 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit (1.5 degrees Celsius) above pre-industrial levels or, failing that, keeping temperatures at least well below 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit (2 degrees Celsius) above pre-industrial levels. The 2015 treaty is voluntary and allows nations to provide targets to cut their own emissions of greenhouse gases from the burning of coal, oil and natural gas. Electric vehicles The president said he would end the electric vehicle mandate, a phrase he uses to refer to a rule by the Environmental Protection Agency, USA Today reports. The rule required auto manufacturers to cut vehicle emissions by 2027. Inflation and trade Trump signed a memorandum directing every department and agency to address the cost of living crisis. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But he appears to be holding off at the moment on his threat to issue tariffs on China, Mexico, Canada and other countries. He also appears to be holding off on higher taxes on imports, with an incoming official pointing reporters to a Wall Street Journal story saying he will only sign a memorandum telling federal agencies to study trade issues. Renaming the Gulf of Mexico, Denali Trump will issue orders to change the names of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America and Denali to Mount McKinley. In 2015, the Department of the Interior changed the name of the Alaskan peak to Denali from Mt. McKinley. That was the name traditionally used by the Koyukon people and is based on the Koyukan word for tall. Armed Forces Reinstating expelled service members Trump said he would sign an order reinstating service members who were unjustly expelled from our military for objecting to the COVID vaccine mandate with full back pay. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He also said he would sign an order to stop our warriors from being subjected to radical political theories and social experiments while on duty. It is unclear what Trump is specifically referring to. Government operations Department of Government Efficiency Trump signed an executive order Monday establishing the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which he says will eliminate government overspending. The new agency was going to be co-led by tech billionaire Elon Musk and former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, but Ramaswamy said Monday he would no longer take part. The Associated Press reports Ramaswamy has instead signaled he plans to run for governor of Ohio. The department was hit with three lawsuits just moments after Trump was sworn in as president. Hiring and remote work Trump signed several executive orders Monday evening related to federal and government workers. Two orders halted government regulations and hiring until the Trump administration takes full control of the government. The military and other categories would be excluded from the hiring freeze, the order said, but details were not immediately given to the public. A third order requires federal workers to return to full-time in-office work. Weaponization of government Another order signed Monday ends the weaponization of the federal government by one administration against a prior administration. Flags on Inauguration Day One of Trumps first acts as president was signing an executive order directing U.S. flags to fly at full staff on every future Inauguration Day. Flags were supposed to be at half-staff on Monday to honor the death of former President Jimmy Carter. Flags typically remain at half-staff for 30 days following a presidents death, but Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) ordered an exception for Trumps inauguration. Flags were set to return to half-staff on Tuesday. TikTok ban delay Trump signed an executive order Monday to delay the ban on TikTok that went into effect one day before his inauguration. He said he would extend the period of time before the laws prohibitions take effect so that we can make a deal to protect our national security. The ban will be delayed 75 days. Jan. 6 pardons Trump signed an executive order Monday evening pardoning roughly 1,500 individuals convicted in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. The order also commuted the sentences of 14 individuals sentenced in the attack. he pardons fulfill Trumps promise to release supporters who tried to help him overturn his election defeat four years ago. These are the hostages, he said while signing the paperwork in the Oval Office. Free speech The president said he would sign an order to immediately stop all government censorship and bring back free speech to America. He repeated the promise in front of supporters at the Capital One Arena, but didnt offer specific details on the plan. World Health Organization Trump signed an order Monday evening in the Oval Office withdrawing the United States from the World Health Organization. It was the second time in less than five years that hes ordered the country to withdraw from the organization, despite it being a move many scientists fear could roll back decades-long gains made in fighting infectious diseases like AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Copyright 2025 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. Welcome back to our annual Need to Know: Davos newsletter! The global elite are dusting off their snow boots for the World Economic Forums (WEF) annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland (this Monday through Friday), where Collaboration for the Intelligent Age isnt just a fancy theme its a loaded proposition for what might be one of the most consequential gatherings in years. This year, however, the Swiss mountains are competing with another summit altogether: Donald Trumps inauguration in Washington. The elephant in the (virtual) room: Just days after his inauguration on Monday, Trump on Thursday will address Davos via a video link in what WEF President and CEO Borge Brende says will be a very special moment. But the real story might be who wont be in Davos. Tech leaders including Mark Zuckerberg, Sam Altman, and Dara Khosrowshahi are choosing the D.C. swamp over the Alps. Meanwhile, Wall Street remains committed to Davos, with JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon and other banking executives rumored to be sticking to their usual Swiss schedules. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement While some tech leaders are heading to Washington, Davos isnt exactly hurting for attendees. The Swiss gathering will host 60 heads of state and government, including European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Chinas Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang. For the second year in a row, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will make a special address about the Russian invasion of his country. On the business side, more than 900 CEOs will be navigating the Congress Centres corridors, including what WEF said will include a notable contingent of unicorn founders and tech pioneers. Theyll be tackling an agenda heavy on frontier technologies and quantum computing even if some of Silicon Valleys biggest names will be missing. The Forum is also pushing its Global Collaboration Village, an extended reality platform that feels either perfectly timed for an era of virtual diplomacy or like a solution in search of a problem (well be watching to see which). Some of the topics that will take center stage: Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Agentic AI is having its moment: Forget last years theoretical AI discussions. OpenAIs Sam Altman says 2025 is when AI agents will actually join the workforce, and the company is launching its Operator product this month. The talent crisis is getting real: Japan just hit a sobering milestone with 30% of its population now elderly. Several Davos sessions focus on talent scarcity and reinventing retirement signals that demographic shifts are no longer a future problem. Could AI agents help? You better believe theyll be pitched. A $30 trillion reality check: Thats the investment needed to get hard-to-abate sectors (think shipping, aviation, and steel) to net-zero emissions. These industries represent 40% of global emissions, and while everyone will talk about the opportunity, the funding gap remains stark. In this instance, the chance AI could be helpful actually has some decent evidence. The big, perennial question: Can a gathering thats often criticized as an elite talking shop actually make progress on what WEFs founder and executive chairman Klaus Schwab calls a societal revolution? With converging technologies reshaping the very fabric of our world (his words, not ours), this years Alpine gathering might matter more than the skeptics think. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The full program can be found here, with many of the sessions being streamed live. Well be watching closely and bringing you the most important developments. Stay tuned. P.S. At least one person is trying to have it all: Argentinas President Javier Milei plans to attend both Trumps inauguration and Davos. Now thats what we call global collaboration. Jackie Snow For the latest news, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. LANSING, Mich. (WLNS) An arctic airmass is moving into the nation to start the week, plunging millions of people from Michigan to the Gulf of Mexico into below-freezing temperatures. Here in Mid-Michigan, the National Weather Service has placed all of our area under and Extreme Cold Advisory through noon on Wednesday due to the potential for wind chills to drop to -20 or colder. Many other counties in our area are under Winter Weather Advisories through Tuesday evening due to lake effect snow showers that could bring in several inches of snow. Some spots in Mid-Michigan could see totals near 3-6, especially when you get closer to Lake Michigan. Wind chills will be even colder Wednesday morning, potentially dropping to -20 to -30 across the region. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 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 WLNS 6 News. Under current law, a landlord does not need to provide a reason to refuse to continue renting to a tenant, but years of efforts to pass a "good cause" eviction law have failed so far. (Photo by Getty Images) Right now in Maryland, a landlord can evict a tenant who wants to continue to live in an apartment without cause or reason. With just 60 days notice at the end of a lease term, the landlord does this by simply choosing not to renew the lease. If a tenant stays one day longer, the landlord can file to evict the tenant for Tenant Holding Over (THO). Because the landlord is not required to provide any reason for the THO eviction, burden of defense rests entirely on the tenant. Without smoking gun evidence of landlord malfeasance, discrimination or retaliation such as documents or witness testimony it is nearly impossible for tenants to defend themselves, even when there are clear signs of illegal landlord practices. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The ability of landlords to, in effect, evict anyone at any time without justification has an enormous chilling effect on whole communities of renters who live in fear of arbitrary eviction. It gives irresponsible and abusive landlords and property managers power to abuse and silence tenants who press for services and maintenance, file complaints, form tenants associations or otherwise protest misconduct. To correct this injustice, the House last year passed Good-Cause enabling legislation in a historic 96-37 vote. Good-cause, or just-cause, eviction protections require a landlord to give a reasonable justification for not renewing a lease. Your opinion matters Maryland Matters welcomes guest commentary submissions at editor@marylandmatters.org. We suggest a 750-word limit and reserve the right to edit or reject submissions. We do not accept columns that are endorsements of candidates, and no longer accept submissions from elected officials or political candidates. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Opinion pieces must be signed by at least one individual using their real name. We do not accept columns signed by an organization. Commentary writers must include a short bio and a photo for their bylines. Views of writers are their own. The Renters Alliance has pursued good-cause protection for more than 15 years. The effort has steadily gained support from legal, labor, ethnic, political and religious organizations, the Maryland Association of Counties and leading elected officials. Gov. Wes Moore has said just-cause protections are important, and his Housing Secretary Jake Day promised full backing to get the bill passed. Despite that support, the bill did not get a vote last year in the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee. Chair Will Smith (D-Montgomery) has said he supports the bill, but told a group of desperate renters that he did not have the votes to guarantee committee passage something many bill watchers disagreed with. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Maryland leads the nation in eviction filings, according to Princeton Universitys Eviction Lab. And THO eviction filings are dramatically rising. Marylands Legal Aid Bureau said the more than 5,000 THO filings in 2023 represented more than a doubling of such filings since 2019. This represents a growing eviction strategy to circumvent due process with a streamlined court process that targets our most vulnerable residents, especially low-income, working families and seniors on fixed incomes. THO threats intimidate renters from exercising their rights to stable, quality homes and to being treated with dignity and respect. What the data does not show is how many renters face THO eviction and leave prior to a court hearing they believe they cannot win. In the past year, the Renters Alliance has dealt directly with scores of tenants threatened with THO eviction. Most are seniors who have become active in their communities. Soon after a senior renter and his wife complained repeatedly about garbage not being collected, they were told their lease would not be renewed, after 15 years. A senior and a veteran, concerned about deteriorating building conditions and rude, abusive treatment by property staff, worked with us to form a tenants association. He got a notice to vacate and must soon leave his home. Another tenant leader received a notice to vacate or face a 30% rent increase. He was forced to move. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Renters Alliance managed to save one senior couple when the new property manager admitted that she issued an eviction notice because the owners did not want to pay to exterminate bedbugs plaguing the building easier to get rid of the tenants than the bugs. We have fought many similar cases. In some, weve been able to stop or delay eviction, or reach a financial settlement. For others, we sought government enforcement. But in too many instances, authorities throw up their hands because the law allows a landlord to reclaim possession of a rental home without having to provide any justification. As Maryland, and the nation, come to terms with the relationship of stable homes to community health, welfare and prosperity, enacting legal protections for renters is becoming a clear public policy priority. The time has come to let local governments enact good-cause eviction protection and eliminate unjust housing instability. Our communities are demanding it, and all eyes are now on the Maryland Senate to make it happen. At the dawn of a new Trump era, the same old Trump lies. The day before his second inauguration, President-elect Donald Trump held a campaign-style rally at an arena in Washington, where he repeated some of the most frequent false claims from the campaign trail while also sprinkling in some new falsehoods. Here is a fact check of some of his claims. Trumps victory in Florida: Trump correctly said he won Florida by 13 percentage points in the 2024 election. But then he added, Nobodys done that ever. Thats false; Republican presidential candidates Richard Nixon (1972), Ronald Reagan (1980 and 1984) and George H.W. Bush (1988), in addition to various Republican and Democratic candidates in prior decades, won Florida by more than 13 percentage points. Nixon, for example, won it by 44 percentage points. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The 2020 election: Trump lamented what could have happened if only the 2020 election werent rigged, then added, But it was. And he said later in the speech that they rigged the election. This is his usual lie; Trump legitimately lost a free and fair election to Joe Biden. The youth vote: Trump falsely claimed that we won the youth vote by 36 points in the 2024 election. He didnt say how he was defining the youth vote CNN has asked his transition team to clarify but theres no basis for his claim by any reasonable definition. While young voters, particularly young men, did shift toward Trump compared with the 2020 election, exit poll data published by CNN found that Vice President Kamala Harris beat Trump 54% to 43% among voters ages 18-24, 53% to 45% among voters ages 25-29, and 51% to 45% among voters ages 30-39. Even if Harris actual margins were smaller exit poll data is often flawed there is simply no sign that Trump dominated Harris with young voters. Pennsylvania in 2024: After crediting billionaire supporter Elon Musk for his campaign efforts in Pennsylvania, Trump claimed, We ended up winning Pennsylvania like in a landslide. The phrase like in a landslide is too vague for us to offer a definitive fact check verdict, but its worth noting Trump beat Harris in Pennsylvania by under 2 percentage points. Small-business optimism: Trump claimed that since the 2024 election, small-business optimism has soared a record 41 points to a 39-year high. Its true that small-business optimism has jumped since Trumps victory, but the 39-year high part of the claim is not true if Trump was referring to the commonly cited NFIB Small Business Optimism Index. (CNN has asked his transition team to clarify.) That index has jumped to its highest level since October 2018, less than seven years ago. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trumps claim about a 41-point increase appears to be a reference to one component of the optimism index the percentage of small-business owners expecting the economy to improve. That measure did soar a net 41 percentage points from pre-election October to post-election November. Trumps favorite immigration chart: Trump displayed a long-debunked chart about migration numbers at the US southern border, calling attention to a red arrow at the bottom which the chart claims is pointed at a historically low level of illegal immigration at the time Trump left office in 2021. But the arrow doesnt actually point to the time Trump left office. In reality, it points to April 2020, when Trump still had more than eight months left in his first term and when global migration had slowed to a trickle because of the Covid-19 pandemic. After hitting a roughly three-year low (not an all-time low) in April 2020, migration numbers at the southern border increased each month through the end of Trumps term. The Congo and migration: Trump repeated his unsubstantiated claim that foreign countries have deliberately emptied their prisons to somehow have criminals enter the US as migrants, and he added, The Congos big on emptying their prisons. Experts on both the Democratic Republic of Congo and the neighboring Republic of Congo have told CNN there is no evidence for these claims, which Trumps own presidential campaign was unable to corroborate, and each countrys government has told CNN the claims are baseless. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Venezuela, prisons and migration: Trump repeated his claim that Venezuela emptied their prisons into our country. Trump has never corroborated the claim, and experts have told CNN, PolitiFact and FactCheck.org that they are aware of no evidence for it. We have no evidence that the Venezuelan government is emptying its prisons or mental health institutions to send them outside the country, in other words, to the U.S. or any other country, Roberto Briceno-Leon, founder and director of the Venezuelan Observatory of Violence, an independent organization that tracks violence in the country, said in an email to CNN in June, after Trump made similar claims. Trump and the military: Trump, talking about military equipment, repeated his false claim that we rebuilt our entire military during his first term. This claim is not even close to being true. The military has tens of thousands of pieces of equipment, and the vast majority of it predates the Trump administration, Todd Harrison, an expert on the defense budget and a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank, told CNN in November 2023, after Trump made a version of the claim. Iran and terror groups: Trump repeated his false claim that during his first term, Iran had no money for Hezbollah, they had no money for Hamas. Irans funding for these groups did decline in the second half of his presidency, in large part because his sanctions on Iran had a major negative impact on its economy, but the funding never stopped entirely, as four experts told CNN in 2024. In fact, Trumps own administration said in 2020 that Iran was continuing to fund terror groups including Hezbollah. You can read a longer fact check here. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Harrison said in an email at the time: Moreover, the process of acquiring new equipment for the military is slow and takes many years. Its not remotely possible to replace even half of the militarys inventory of equipment in one presidential term. This story has been updated with additional information. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea's impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol has spent his first night incarcerated as a pre-trial inmate at the Seoul Detention Centre after a court issued a formal detention warrant on Sunday to hold him for up to 20 days. He became the first incumbent president to be arrested in South Korea last week and was detained for an initial 48 hours of questioning, over a probe into whether he committed insurrection with his bid to declare martial law on Dec. 3. The following are some facts about the facility and what is expected to unfold for the former prosecutor-turned-president. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement MUGSHOT, KHAKI SUIT After becoming a pre-trial inmate, he had photographs taken for identification and underwent a "thorough physical inspection", a corrections service official said. "It doesn't matter if you're the president, everyone gets a photograph taken 100 percent of the time when you're entering the facility," said the official, who declined to be identified because he was not authorised to speak to the media. The physical inspection is not only to check on health, but also on "whether you're hiding something," said the official. Korea Correctional Service chief Shin Yong-hae told a parliament judiciary committee on Monday that Yoon had "cooperated" and the process went without any incident. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Inmates held in detention before trial such as Yoon are given a two-piece khaki-coloured uniform, while convicted inmates wear blue-grey uniforms. Yoon "spent the night well," Shin said. SOLITARY JAIL CELL After he was processed, Yoon was moved to the general detention section where he was allocated a solitary cell measuring about 12 square metres (129 square feet), Shin said. That is larger than the usual 3.4 square metre single cell. The Seoul Detention Centre, despite its name, is in the city of Uiwang, 22 km (14 miles) south of Seoul, and previously held high-profile figures including former President Park Geun-hye and Samsung Electronics Chairman Jay Y. Lee. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement As a pre-trial detainee, Yoon will rise with other inmates at 6:30 a.m. and lights out will be at 9 p.m. 2,500 CALORIES The Korea Correctional Service, which operates the country's prisons and detention centres, says in its regulations and menu section that it provides inmates with 2,500 calories of food per day at a cost of about 1,600 won ($1.09) per meal. Food is normally traditional Korean fare. Dinner on Wednesday when Yoon spent the first night there under arrest was bean sprout soup, barbecued beef and kimchi, according to information provided by the centre. Breakfast details for Monday were not immediately available. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement TWENTY DAYS, SIX MONTHS Yoon was arrested last week under a warrant that allowed authorities to hold him for up to 48 hours, issued by a court when the suspect in a criminal case refuses to answer summons or cooperate. Under South Korean law, detention is a separate process where investigators can hold a suspect for up to 20 days, for further questioning if deciding there are grounds to believe a suspect may try to tamper with evidence or witnesses or is a flight risk. If an indictment is brought, the detention can last for another six months. The criminal investigation against Yoon is led by the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) launched in 2021 to investigate high-ranking officials including the president and their family members. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But it does not have the authority to prosecute the president and must refer any case to the prosecutors' office for further action. Yoon has up to now refused to answer questions from the CIO and his lawyers have argued the arrest is illegal because the warrant was issued in the wrong jurisdiction and the investigating team had no mandate for their probe. Insurrection, the crime that Yoon may be charged with, is one of the few that a South Korean president does not have immunity from and is technically punishable by death. South Korea, however, has not executed anyone in nearly 30 years. (Reporting by Jack Kim, Joyce Lee, Ju-min Park; Editing by Ed Davies and Saad Sayeed) By Stephanie Kelly (Reuters) - Tech billionaires, foreign diplomats and CEOs shadowed U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday, with several attending St. John's Church in Washington and seated prominently on the dais in the U.S. Capitol ahead of his speech. The church service, typically a little-noticed part of Inauguration Day, quickly became a "who's who" parade of some of the United States' - and the world's - wealthiest individuals, as attendees entered the downtown church near the White House. Tech executives' embrace of Trump, including billionaires such as Elon Musk in Trump's inner circle, has become a major theme of Trump's transition into power, and sparked warnings from former President Joe Biden. Below is a non-exhaustive list of some Inauguration Day attendees. TESLA CEO ELON MUSK Musk, the world's richest man and head of Tesla, SpaceX and X, spent more than a quarter of a billion dollars to help elect Trump in November, and Trump has tapped Musk to lead a department aimed at creating a more efficient U.S. government. He arrived at the church service alone. TIKTOK CEO SHOU ZI CHEW One day before Trump's inauguration, TikTok thanked him for what they said was his role in restoring service of the app to American users. As TikTok faced a Sunday ban in the U.S., Trump said he would revive the app's access in the U.S. when he returned to power on Monday, adding that the U.S. will seek a joint venture to restore the short-video sharing app used by 170 million Americans. META CEO MARK ZUCKERBERG Since Trump was elected in November, Zuckerberg announced that his social-media company Meta Platforms scrapped its U.S. fact-checking program and reduced curbs on discussions around contentious topics such as immigration and gender identity, bowing to criticism from Trump's conservative supporters. Zuckerberg has tried to mend fences with the new administration, while Trump in the past pledged to imprison the CEO. Zuckerberg arrived at the church with his wife, Priscilla Chan, a pediatrician. MIRIAM ADELSON Casino billionaire and Republican mega-donor Adelson led the Preserve America super PAC, which boosted Trump. Born in Israel, Adelson and her husband Sheldon were crucial backers in Trump's first presidential win. INDIAN BILLIONAIRE MUKESH AMBANI Ambani, the richest man in India, heads Reliance Industries, India's most valuable company involved in businesses including energy and retail. Ambani also attended Trump's pre-inauguration ceremony. THE ARNAULT FAMILY PHNOM PENH, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia's trade with the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) member countries reached 34.52 billion U.S. dollars in 2024, up 17.7 percent from 29.32 billion dollars in the year before, said an official report on Monday. The kingdom's export to fellow RCEP member countries was valued at 9.06 billion dollars last year, up nearly 13 percent from 8.04 billion dollars a year earlier, said the General Department of Customs and Excise's report. Meanwhile, the country's imports from the RCEP member countries totaled 25.46 billion dollars, up 19.6 percent from 21.28 billion dollars, the report added. Cambodia's top five trading partners under the RCEP are China, Vietnam, Thailand, Japan, and Singapore. Entered into force in 2022, the RCEP comprises 15 Asia-Pacific countries including 10 ASEAN member states-Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam-and their five trading partners, namely China, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand. Cambodian Ministry of Commerce's Secretary of State and Spokesperson Penn Sovicheat said the RCEP is a catalyst for long-term export growth and a magnet to attract more foreign direct investment to the kingdom. "With preferential tariffs provided under the RCEP agreement, Cambodia's exports to other RCEP members will continue to rise this year and beyond, undoubtedly," he told Xinhua. Sovicheat said the RCEP, together with other bilateral free trade agreements and the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), will help Cambodia achieve its ambitious goals of becoming an upper-middle income country by 2030 and a high-income nation by 2050. Thong Mengdavid, a lecturer at the Institute for International Studies and Public Policy of the Royal University of Phnom Penh, said RCEP, the world's largest free trade agreement, is a model for multilateralism and free trade. "In an era marked by rising protectionism and geopolitical uncertainties, the RCEP has emerged as a beacon of multilateral cooperation," he told Xinhua. "It has demonstrated its transformative potential in bolstering regional economic growth, enhancing trade liberalization, and fostering deeper integration among its members," Mengdavid added. The Danish Defense Ministry on Jan. 19 denied Russian claims of the death of a Danish F-16 instructor in a missile strike on Kryvyi Rih, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, on Jan. 17. "This is a false story being spread by the Russian media probably with the aim of discrediting Denmark," Danish Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen said. The Russian strike killed four people and injured 14 others, with damage reported to high-rise buildings, houses, vehicles, and an educational institution. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Russian state news agency TASS alleged on Jan. 18 that a Danish F-16 instructor was killed during the attack, citing unnamed sources in Russia's security services. Denmark's Defense Ministry dismissed the report as false, emphasizing that no Danish military personnel have died in Ukraine. Poulsen condemned the disinformation, citing it as part of broader influence campaigns amid a serious security situation. Denmark, along with the Netherlands, has provided Ukraine with U.S.-made F-16 fighter jets, which have been used in air defense operations to counter Russian missile strikes on cities and infrastructure. Read also: Lithuania sends drones, thermal imagers, loaders in new Ukraine aid package, Defense Ministry says Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. ST. LOUIS The family of a St. Louis man who went missing two months ago is asking for the publics help to find their loved one. Family members last saw David M. Jones, 42, on Nov. 14, 2024. A passerby reportedly spotted Jones on Dec. 15, 2024. Nobody has heard from Jones since then. Senate Bill makes another attempt to raise age of marriage in Missouri According to the family, Jones has health concerns and is without his medications. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Jones stands 61 tall and weighs approximately 250 pounds. He has brown eyes and black hair. Anyone with information on Jones whereabouts is asked to contact the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department at 314-231-1212 or the Missouri State Highway Patrol at 573-526-6178. Copyright 2025 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 2. MOBILE COUNTY, Ala. (WKRG) A truck accident took the life of a husband and father from Eight Mile. 35-year-old Robert Walters was killed in a workplace accident at the start of the year. Late at night on January 2nd, Robert Walters was working on a job at a Southern Intermodal Xpress truck yard on Bay Bridge Road in Prichard. His death certificate said he died after the truck he was working on accidentally ran over him. Life is short and that we cant make people idols in our life. We know that one day they will be gone, and God loans them to us. So, we need to steward those relationships while we have them and share the gospel with those people, the victims wife Samantha Walters, said. She said her husband was a good mechanic, a good husband, and most of all, a good dad to their five children. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I love that. He was so sweet, and he was so good with the kids. And I love how much he loved me. He was very loving and protective, Samantha Walters said. Despite this unexpected loss, Samantha Walters says her faith is helping her through this very difficult time. Seek God, I mean, thats the only thing to do. Seek community with Christians and a church and read the Bible. I mean, thats one thing I can do. Thats the only thing that matters. The only thing I have left. Through Jesuss love, knowing that he came as the Godman, died on the cross, knowing that thats how I find it, knowing that someone loves me that much, to die for my sins when I didnt deserve it, Samantha Walters said. The family has set up a fundraising page, click here for more information. Its not clear how the accident happened. WKRG reached out to Prichard Police. A spokesman referred WKRG to the Mobile County Sheriffs Office. WKRG contacted MCSO last week but havent received a response yet. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A spokesman for OSHA said they just started their investigation when we reached out to them Friday. WKRG also contacted Southern Intermodal Xpress. A person at the office said theyd pass our number to their attorney Friday morning, but WKRG hasnt received a call back. Copyright 2025 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. Florida Atlantic University has named three finalists in its long-delayed search for a new leader. The Boca Raton university on Sunday night announced its presidential search committee had selected two veteran university administrators and a former state legislator for further interviews and campus visits. The finalists are: Michael Hartline, dean of Florida State Universitys College of Business. Adam Hasner, former Republican majority leader in the Florida House of Representatives and now an executive vice president for The Geo Group, a private prison company. John Volin, provost and executive vice president for academic affairs at the University of Maine. All three candidates are expected to conduct public forums on campus early next month and interview with the universitys board of trustees. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Its the second time that the university has produced a list of finalists for the job. The first slate was announced in July 2023, but shortly afterwards the search was halted by state university officials, setting off more than a year of political rancor, debates about government-transparency laws and accusations of meddling by state university officials. It's the second time finalists have been named in FAU's search The 2023 search process was upended last year by the emergence of state Rep. Randy Fine, a conservative firebrand from Brevard County, as a potential candidate for the job. Fine received vocal support from Gov. Ron DeSantis, leading to speculation that DeSantis might push to place Fine in the role as part of his effort to put more Republican officials in university leadership posts. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But when FAU's search committee released its list of finalists in July, Fine was not among them. Florida Atlantic University directional signage on the FAU campus in Boca Raton, Tuesday, August 11, 2020. [JOSEPH FORZANO/palmbeachpost.com] Two days later, the chancellor of the state university system halted the search process, raising concerns about whether the search committee had adhered to government-transparency rules. Those concerns led to an investigation by the university system's inspector general, who concluded in December 2023 that the committee's decision to use an anonymous ballot to informally rank candidates violated state open-government rules. Florida's Board of Governors decided the search needed to be redone. The search remained paused for several more months as the university system updated its rules and procedures for presidential searches. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement None of the three finalists from the 2023 search were among the list of finalists announced Sunday. Florida Atlantic University Football Head Coach Tom Herman talks to the team after a game at FAU Stadium in April 2024. In a statement, FAU Boart of Trustees Chairman Piero Bussani thanked the search committee members and said the university would soon announce a schedule for the finalists appearances on campus. Each of the finalists will conduct public forums on campus before interviewing with the Board of Trustees, he said. We are working toward scheduling those public forums for the first week of February and will update the Presidential Search website with the details as soon as possible. Read more about each candidate here. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Andrew Marra is a reporter at The Palm Beach Post. Reach him at amarra@pbpost.com This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: FAU names 2 academics and former legislator as finalists for president The Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) has renewed its efforts to find a suspect who was indicted in 2006 by a federal grand jury in Oregon for charges related to her alleged role in a domestic eco-terrorism cell. On Jan 19, 2006, Josephine Sunshine Overtaker, was indicted for conspiracy to commit arson of United States government property and of property used in interstate commerce, conspiracy to commit arson and destruction of an energy facility, attempted arson of a building, arson of a vehicle, arson of a building and destruction of an energy facility. According to the FBI, Overtaker, who is an American citizen, could be using an alias and has previously used the following names: Lisa Rachelle Quintana, Lisa R. Quintana, Maria Rachelle Quintana, Maria Quintana, Osha, Jo, China, Josie and Mo. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Overtaker was born in Canada, has brown hair and brown eyes, is 5-foot-3, 130 pounds and has a large tattoo of a bird stretching from her right upper arm across her upper back. She has scars on her left ankle, right ankle, right calf, and right thigh. The FBI said Overtaker is fluent in Spanish, is known to use illegal narcotics, may have a light mustache and was or may still be a vegan. Tattoo of bird on back Photograph Age Progressed to 41 Years Old Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement According to the FBI: On January 19, 2006, a federal grand jury in Eugene, Oregon, indicted Josephine Sunshine Overaker on multiple charges related to her alleged role in a domestic terrorism cell. Overaker was charged with two conspiracy violations related to seventeen incidents, five counts of arson, one count of attempted arson, and one count of destruction of an energy facility. These crimes occurred in Oregon, Washington, California, Colorado, and Wyoming, and date back to 1996. Many of the crimes she is accused of participating in were claimed to be committed by the Earth Liberation Front (ELF) or the Animal Liberation Front (ALF). She is considered an escape risk. If you have any information about this person, you are asked to call the nearest FBI office, American embassy or consulate. Anonymous tips can be sent here. Advertisement Advertisement The back of House Speaker Dan Hawkins' head can be spotted on Jan. 13, 2025 from the perspective that journalists now have in his chamber. (Grace Hills/Kansas Reflector) Kansas House Speaker Dan Hawkins has repeatedly lied about the news media. So it shouldnt come as a surprise that after he barred reporters from their traditional spot in the House, he and assorted allies spent most of last week obfuscating their actions. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I use the word lie for a reason here. It means to mislead with deceptive intent. GOP leaders have spread pernicious prevarications against those who seek to inform the public. It makes their protestations last week fall as flat as a pancake dropped by the Ad Astra statue atop the Statehouse dome. That is, very flat indeed. Let me explain what happened and then break down some of the responses that Kansas Reflector reporting received. Journalists reporting from the Kansas House traditionally used a space in the chamber for their work. The press box had been there for decades, and reporters could use it to observe the legislative process and write their stories. This excerpt from House rules sent out for the 2024 session gives the lay of the land: During session, on the House floor, members of the media should remain in the press box, in the southwest corner of the chamber, and should refrain from roaming around the chamber for an excessive period of time. Specifically, members of the media with video cameras and those wishing to record session proceedings are to remain along the eastern wall of the House chamber for recording purposes. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This text was radically revised for 2025. That section of text now reads as follows: During session, members of the media should remain in the East Gallery for reporting, to take pictures, and video, unless stationed along the North, East, and/or South walls of the Chamber to take photographs only. No media is allowed on the West side of the Chambers while the House is in session, which includes the Staff Desk area. TV and regular cameras can be stationed along the back (East) wall or in the East Gallery only. The following changes have been made. There is no more press box. It has instead been renamed the Staff Desk, and reporters are prohibited from using it. Journalists must now work from the East Gallery, which is actually a balcony above the House floor. Reporters can come onto the floor, but to take photographs only, and only along back and sides of the chamber. Theyre not allowed to actually face representatives. These are profound alterations. Hawkins and his staff knew it, too, as the guidance included this sentence from his staff: review this document carefully as there have been significant changes made compared to past sessions rules. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We reported all of this on the Monday of the new session, sparking coverage across Kansas and the nation. This apparently surprised Republicans, who then hurriedly tried to explain that what they had done was not actually what they did. Unfortunately for Hawkins and his allies, its tough to deny that rules you promulgated somehow dont exist. The main objections to the reporting and my subsequent column seemed to boil down to the following. Hawkins didnt ban reporters from writing about the House or being able to watch proceedings! No one ever said that he did. Reporters can still come on the floor! See, heres a picture of one right here! Yes, indeed. Journalists can still visit the chambers back and side aisles to take photos. Thats not the same as being on the floor to report. You lousy media people think youre better than everyone else! This couldnt be further from the truth. But it also misunderstands journalism: Reporters do their job for everyone else. Thats the point. And thats why we need access. Republican leaders, including Hawkins, tried these excuses throughout the week. It might have been better for them to say nothing, because the responses have nothing to do with what actually happened or why it mattered. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I should note here that Kansas Reflector editor Sherman Smith gave Hawkins and his staff opportunity to respond before writing the story. They chose not to do so. Hawkins and his staff had ample opportunity last week to revise or clarify the rules. They chose not to do so. Now, lets turn to the record that Smith compiled of what Hawkins has said about the news media and reporters. Im quoting his work verbatim because it makes the point more eloquently than a summary. Last year, Hawkins blocked a bipartisan resolution that would have declared support for the freedom of the press in light of the unconstitutional police raid on the Marion County Record. In a public appearance on May 21, 2024, in Salina, Hawkins falsely claimed that the press will print anything Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly wants while refusing to give him a voice. So the governor can go out and say whatever she wants, Hawkins said. We can rebut it, but that doesnt mean theyre going to print it, and they dont. They dont print it. So we have to do it by getting it out on Facebook, getting it out through newsletters. During an April 4, 2024, debate over tax policy, Hawkins complained that the press always use the most salacious headline that they can get. In a June 3, 2023, appearance in Olathe, Hawkins lied about the press not once writing about a veto by the governor, even though every news outlet that covers state government, including Kansas Reflector, had written multiple stories about the veto. House Speaker Dan Hawkins chats with attendees of a town hall meeting April 11, 2024, in Plainville. Hawkins outlined his opposition to Medicaid expansion during the gathering organized by Rooks County Republicans. (Dale Hogg for Kansas Reflector) His claims could be and were easily disproved. But Hawkins made them anyway, and he continued to make them. Whats more, he then refused to defend the First Amendment against an egregious attack by Marion law enforcement officials. Animus against news outlets and journalists shines through his comments, plain as day. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It also shines through in his office decisions. Hawkins new chief of staff, Carrie Rahfaldt, popped up in an a Wichita Eagle piece that should raise alarms among those dedicated to a free press. Reporter Chance Swaim looked into a viral video circulating of House candidate (and now Rep.) Kyler Sweely. His storys closing section recounts former communications director Rahfaldts attempts to quash the story. Swaim writes that after an interview with Sweely, Rahfaldt demanded that the entire joint interview be on background reporter speak for quotes that can be used without naming the sources of information and off the record meaning the quotes cannot be used. The reporter did not agree to those terms. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He continues: During that interview, she told the reporter to kill the story and said if her statements were used, Were going to have some problems. If you use my statement without my permission, were going to have some major problems. Rahfaldt later told the reporter she wasnt acting on behalf of Hawkins or being paid for her assistance. The entire exchange makes one wonder. What kind of politician employs a staffer who threatens a journalist with major problems? Would she have made different choices in retrospect? In her new role with Hawkins, did Rahfaldt pursue these rule changes to make Kansas journalists pay for reporting about a candidate? Or does this all happen to be one giant coincidence? Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I reached out to Rahfaldt via email Friday afternoon and asked her about Swaims story and the new restrictions. Perhaps unsurprisingly, she didnt respond. Hawkins and those around him may believe they can mislead the public about journalists with impunity. They may believe that Republican lawmakers power allows them to push around whoever they like, however they like. Statehouse reporters including those from Kansas Reflector will jump through whatever arbitrary hoops leadership erects. Truth has a stubborn way of persisting. Clay Wirestone is Kansas Reflector opinion editor. Through its opinion section, Kansas Reflector works to amplify the voices of people who are affected by public policies or excluded from public debate. Find information, including how to submit your own commentary, here. HONOLULU (KHON2) Today, Jan. 20, is the United States Presidential Inauguration. Set months after the election, it originally was meant to give states and Congress enough time to count votes and for the president elect to travel to Washington D.C. to take the helm of the federal government. But what is a republic, the entity for which soldiers pledge their lives and our state governments continue to adhere to? And what does it mean to Hawaii? Get Hawaiis latest morning news delivered to your inbox, sign up for News 2 You Before we move into what a republic is, lets explore three terms that have very particular definitions but that are used interchangeably with the risk of blurring the lines. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A state is a region with its own government, laws and control over its territory. For example, Hawaii is a state within the United States, with its own local laws and officials. The United States is also considered a state because it is a political entity with its own government, laws, and control over its territory. Just like Hawaii is a state within the U.S., the U.S. itself is a sovereign state made up of 50 states. It has its own national government, which creates laws, manages national defense, and handles foreign relations. The difference is that while states like Hawaii have power over local matters, the national government of the U.S. handles broader issues affecting all the states, like national defense and international policies. So, the U.S. is a country-state. A nation is a group of people who share a common culture, language, history and identity. Nations can be spread across many states, or one nation can form a state. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A country is a recognized political entity with borders and a government. A country is often made up of several states or regions. For example, the United States is a country made up of 50 states. So, while Hawaii is a state, it is not a country. And while Native Hawaiians are a nation, they are neither a state nor a country. The Kingdom of Hawaii, before it was illegally overthrown by U.S. industrialists, was a state, a country and a nation. What is a federal republic? A federal republic is a type of government where the country is divided into regions or states that share power with a central national government. In this system, the people elect leaders to represent them both at the national level and at the regional or state level. In the United States, the 50 states along with our give territories (Puerto Rico, Guam, U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa and Washington D.C.) come together to form a federal republic. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In a federal republic, power is divided between the national government and the individual states. While the central government handles issues that affect the entire country, each state has its own government that manages local matters. The leaders at both levels are elected by the people to serve their needs and protect their rights. The United States of America is a federal republic; and the people in each state, including Hawaii, have the right to vote for their leaders and influence decisions made at both the state and national levels. Hawaii is a special place in the U.S. because it is an island state in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. But like every other state, Hawaii is part of the United States through a process where independent states come together to form a union called the United States of America. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Each of the 50 states and five territories, including Hawaii, has its own government with its own constitution and laws. While Hawaii follows the laws set by the national government in Washington, D.C., it also has its own local state and county governments. These governments make rules and policies that are separate from the federal government, which allows Hawaii to manage its own affairs and meet the needs of its residents. The history of Hawaii becoming a state Hawaii became the 50th state in the United States on Aug. 21, 1959. Before that, Hawaii was an independent kingdom. Then, in 1893, U.S. industrialists illegally overthrew the Kingdom; and Hawaii became a U.S. territory. It wasnt until 1959 that the people of Hawaii voted to become a state. Once Hawaii joined the United States, it became a full member of the union, just like the other 49 states. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement However, even after becoming a state, Hawaii still keeps some of its independence through its state constitution and laws. What is a State Constitution? Each state in the United States, including Hawaii, has its own constitution. A state constitution is like a rulebook for how the state will be governed. It sets up the state government and describes the rights of the people who live there. For example, Hawaiis state constitution lays out how the state will have a governor, a state legislature and a state court system, just like the national government has a president, Congress and the Supreme Court. However, Hawaiis constitution is different from the U.S. Constitution. The U.S. Constitution sets the rules for the national government, while Hawaiis constitution is about the states government and local laws. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Just like every other state, Hawaii can make laws that work best for its people; but it must also follow the rules set by the U.S. Constitution since the state signed on to become a part of the republic. Can the President, Congress or the Supreme Court change Hawaiis constitution? Even though Hawaii is part of the United States, the national government does not have the power to change Hawaiis constitution or take over its government. Heres a look at what each part of the national government can and cannot do: Can the President change Hawaiis constitution? No, the President of the United States cannot change Hawaiis constitution. The Presidents job is to lead the country, but the President does not have the power to control the laws or government of any individual state. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Each state, including Hawaii, has the right to govern itself and make its own laws. The President can only make decisions that affect the entire country, such as handling national defense, managing foreign relations and making sure federal laws are followed. But if a states laws break the rules set by the U.S. Constitution, the Supreme Court may step in. Can Congress change Hawaiis constitution? No, Congress, which is the national lawmaking body, also cannot change Hawaiis constitution. Congress makes laws for the entire country, but it does not have the power to change or control the constitutions of individual states like Hawaii. However, Congress can pass laws that apply to all the states, such as laws about civil rights or education. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement States must follow these national laws, but they can still keep their own constitutions and local laws as long as they dont violate the U.S. Constitution. Can the U.S. Supreme Court change Hawaiis constitution? The U.S. Supreme Court cannot directly change Hawaiis constitution either. The role of the Supreme Court is to make decisions about whether laws and actions follow the U.S. Constitution. If a law in Hawaii goes against the U.S. Constitution or violates the rights of the people, the Supreme Court can rule that the law is unconstitutional. This means that the law cannot be enforced, but the Supreme Court doesnt have the power to change Hawaiis constitution. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Instead, the Court just ensures that laws across the country, including in Hawaii, follow the rules set by the U.S. Constitution. Can the National Government breach Hawaiis borders or take control? Hawaii is a state with its own borders, and the national government cannot simply take control of those borders. Hawaii has the right to govern itself; and the national government cannot change that unless something serious happens, like a federal emergency or conflict. However, the U.S. government can make certain rules that affect Hawaii, such as national security measures or federal laws that apply to all states. But these rules do not change Hawaiis right to control its own government. The importance of state rights The idea that each state, like Hawaii, has its own rights is part of whats called federalism. Federalism is the system where power is shared between the national government and the state governments. While the national government handles things like national defense, trade between countries and making laws that protect citizens, states like Hawaii can make their own decisions on many important issues like education, health care and local laws. This system of federalism is important because it allows states to keep their unique cultures, economies and needs while still being part of a larger country. In Hawaii, this means the state can protect its traditions and ways of life while also being connected to the rest of the United States. Hawaii, like the other 49 states, is part of a republic called the United States of America. While Hawaii joined the union in 1959, it still keeps its own government and constitution. The national government, including the President, Congress and the U.S. Supreme Court, cannot change or control Hawaiis constitution or state borders. The power of the national government is balanced by the rights of individual states like Hawaii, which are protected by the U.S. Constitution. This system allows each state to govern itself while still being part of the larger country. Get news on the go with KHON 2GO, KHONs morning podcast, every morning at 8 Hawaiis state constitution ensures that the people of Hawaii have control over their local government, and it is an important part of what makes Hawaii unique within the United States. Copyright 2025 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 KHON2. Jacksonville residents can get access to food from different mobile food pantries soon. >>> STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE <<< Feeding Northeast Florida is hosting some this week. On Tuesday, the nonprofit will be at JAXPAL on Monument Road. [DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks] The location for Wednesdays mobile food pantry hasnt been announced yet. The location will be updated here. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Both events start at 10 a.m. [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. Corpse President is leaving office today but he spent a chunk of Friday trying to get the Equal Rights Amendment enshrined in law before he goes. For what reason and with what legal authority, you ask? Aren't men and women mighty equal under the law in the year of our Lord 2025? Today I'm affirming what I have long believed and what three-fourths of the states have ratified: The 28th Amendment is the law of the land, guaranteeing all Americans equal rights and protections under the law regardless of their sex. pic.twitter.com/oZtS6Q89zG President Biden (@POTUS) January 17, 2025 It's fitting that Joe Biden goes out in this hubristic manner, because it's exactly how he's behaved for the duration of his single term. Note his phrasing"I'm affirming what I have long believed"as if the beliefs of the executive alone are enough to simply bring an entirely new constitutional amendment about! As I wrote back in December, "The ERA is a zombie that won't die." It was first introduced a century ago, but it picked up steam in the 1970s. Congress passed a 1982 ratification deadline that the amendment fell short of, and several states subsequently withdrew their approval (while a few other states ratified during Donald Trump's first term). Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This is textbook Biden: Pick a fairly marginal issue, then make a sweeping declaration contra the facts and the law (which can be so inconvenient sometimes!), and attempt to simply shove the issue through via a potent mix of progressive heart-flutteries and executive power. Somehow, half the country believes him to be a real democracy respecter; I'm not sure I'll ever get it. Speaking of "Our nation relies on dedicated, selfless public servants every day," said Biden, referring to none other than Anthony Fauci, who oversaw the nation's disastrous COVID response, including the waves of lockdowns that shuttered businesses and forced children to stay at home. Public servants like Fauci (who worsened countless lives while lying to the public) "are the lifeblood of our democracy," said Biden, issuing a preemptive pardon out of fear that Fauci will be targeted by the incoming administration. Don't let the door hit you on the way out! What fresh hell awaits us on this Inauguration Day? Possibly a flurry of executive orders, including one to crack down on immigration, if incoming President Donald Trump gets his way. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "Trump's swearing-in ceremony will begin shortly before noon Eastern time in the Capitol Rotunda," reports The New York Times. "He is scheduled to ride to the building after meeting with Mr. Biden at the White House in the morning, a traditional nicety that Mr. Trump did not extend to Mr. Biden four years ago. After the swearing-in ceremony is complete and Mr. Trump has delivered his Inaugural Address, he will be ushered into the President's Room, which lies off the Senate chamber in the Capitol. There, he will complete a tradition of signing nominations that began in 1981. He could also begin to introduce major policy announcements." Rumors have already circulated about Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents getting in position to start cracking down on illegal immigrants in Chicago on Tuesday; it's possible new executive actions pertaining to border policy will also be announced today. It's also possible that a new round of pardons will be announced for January 6 rioters. Some 1,600 people were prosecuted for their roles that day, with 240 still serving time, so a mass pardon could certainly be on Trump's mind. And Emily Yoffe writes at The Free Press that Trump is expected to sign an executive order titled "Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government." The order "ends the practice of housing men in women's prisons and taxpayer funded 'transition' for male prisoners" and "ends the forced recitation of 'preferred pronouns'" in workplaces and schools that receive federal funding. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trump has also made noises about how he wants to start imposing tariffs on goods imported from Canada and Mexico, like, yesterday; he says he'll call the agency that handles this the External Revenue Service. It's unclear whether that is a Day One issue or something to start later. The man better have a good time-management system in place because he has lofty ambitions. Ceasefire update: "We don't know whether to prepare for a funeral or a festival," one relative of a soon-to-be-released hostage told the BBC. Israel and Hamas have agreed to a ceasefire, now in phase one. This morning, in accordance with the agreement, Israel released 90 Palestinian prisoners and Hamas released 3 Israeli hostages. In a few days, four more hostages taken on October 7 will be returned to Israel. In total, 33 of the remaining 100 hostages will be returned to their homes in Israel, and upwards of 1,000 Palestinian prisoners will be released, all over the course of six weeks. "Israel has said the first stage of the deal is 'temporary' although they want all three stages to come into force, and it reserves the right to resume the war if it was to break down," adds the BBC. We'll see how this goes. Stay tuned. Scenes from New York: Everything old is new again, NYC edition. On NYC disorder in the 1990s pic.twitter.com/NOSBODe8gH Santi Ruiz (@rSanti97) January 7, 2025 QUICK HITS TikTok was offline, banned in the U.S., for all of 14 hours last night. Basically, the company that owns the social media app (ByteDance) has been forced by the U.S. government either to sell the app to an American company or to cease operating in the country. Donald Trump, who has flip-flopped on this issue, apparently intervened; since he takes office this morning, TikTok appears to be simply be risking possible consequences by choosing to go ahead and operate in this interim period. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Laken Riley Act, named after a 22-year-old nursing student killed by an illegal immigrant, looks set to pass the Senate (having already passed the House) and be signed into law today. ("If a law is named after a person, it's probably bad," writes Billy Binion at Reason.) Yes: I think a big part of it is that Democrats had internalized this idea that they're the more popular party and institutional bias is why they lose power (the Senate structure, electoral college, SCOTUS, etc.). Them being the less popular party is a shock to them. pic.twitter.com/LXSYxtwRLX Zaid Jilani (@ZaidJilani) January 19, 2025 This is the app many former TikTokers have been flocking to. Beware: Every day I see something I am convinced I hallucinated. Today, this was that. pic.twitter.com/hTFxoxaUlk Marc Andreessen ???????? (@pmarca) January 19, 2025 Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "'Today, an oligarchy is taking shape in America of extreme wealth, power and influence that literally threatens our entire democracy, our basic rights and freedoms and a fair shot for everyone to get ahead,' said Biden," writes Robby Soave in The New York Post. "The president did not name names, but it isn't difficult to surmise that he was referring to Tesla and X CEO Elon Musk, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, and Amazon executive chairman and Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos, among others. Each of these tech billionaires has subtlyor in Musk's case, not at all subtlybroken with the Democratic Party and progressive governance. Bezos declined to let his newspaper endorse Kamala Harris for president; Zuckerberg recently fired the fact-checkers who had served as de facto enforcers of liberal groupthink on Facebook and Instagram; and Musk is a full-throated backer and key adviser for President-elect Donald Trump. And that is what has earned these figures spots on Biden's enemies list." This is the way: Digital hygiene. Cognitive security. Practice thinking. Retain your dopamine, keep ur critical thinking skills. Understand the cutting edge of propaganda. Retain the ability to deep read and deep learn. The only thing that cannot be seized is your mind ???????????????????????? (@Grimezsz) January 19, 2025 The post Do You Feel Equal Yet? appeared first on Reason.com. Baer's Pochards, which are critically-endangered diving ducks, are pictured in Hengshui Lake national nature reserve in north China's Hebei Province, Jan. 16, 2025. (Photo by Wang Tieliang/Xinhua) SHIJIAZHUANG, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- Nearly 120 Baer's Pochards, which are critically-endangered diving ducks, have been observed wintering in Hengshui Lake national nature reserve in north China's Hebei Province. Images of the wintering ducks were captured by a shutterbug who later provided the footage to staff members of the wetland ecological monitoring division, under the resource protection bureau of Hengshui's Lakeside New Area. The Baer's Pochard is classified as critically endangered on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species. The photographer, Zhang Xuefeng, recalled discovering several Baer's Pochards resting on the water surface. He then observed the scene through his camera lens and saw a vast flock of the ducks in the distance. "Spotting such a large flock with my camera was incredibly thrilling. Being able to document this precious moment through photographs and bear witness to the beauty and wonder of Hengshui Lake makes me feel immensely proud," said Zhang Xuefeng. The Baer's Pochard population at Hengshui Lake was first discovered by research teams back in 2000, while the flock sighted recently by Zhang Xuefeng is the largest recorded at this lake since 2018. "The sighting underscores the health of Hengshui Lake's ecosystem, as Baer's Pochards are extremely sensitive to the environment," said Zhang Yuguang, head of the wetland ecological monitoring division. Hengshui Lake, located in the city of Hengshui in Hebei, is a national nature reserve that maintains an intact wetland ecosystem encompassing swamps, water bodies, tidal flats, meadows and forests. It serves as an important stopover for migratory birds along the East Asian-Australasian Flyway -- with 336 bird species recorded at this location to date. Baer's Pochards, which are critically-endangered diving ducks, are pictured in Hengshui Lake national nature reserve in north China's Hebei Province, Jan. 15, 2025. (Photo by Zhang Xuefeng/Xinhua) Baer's Pochards, which are critically-endangered diving ducks, are pictured in Hengshui Lake national nature reserve in north China's Hebei Province, Jan. 15, 2025. (Photo by Zhang Xuefeng/Xinhua) NORTH CAROLINA (QUEEN CITY NEWS) FEMA officials have extended its Transitional Sheltering Assistance program for an additional two months, through May 26, 2025, for over 2,700 families impacted by Hurricane Helene, according to a statement released on Sunday. The program was previously set to expire for eligible families at the end of March. PREVIOUS | FEMA extends current hotel vouchers for Helene victims through Jan. 25 On Thursday, Governor Stein urged FEMA Administrator Criswell to extend the eligibility period for an additional six months, through September. In a letter from FEMA to Governor Stein, officials approved an additional 60 days rather than the 180 days previously requested. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement On Sunday, Governor Stein released a statement regarding that decision, that reads: Todays decision will help eligible disaster survivors stay safe and sheltered as we continue the hard work of rebuilding in western North Carolina. FEMAs decision to extend the Transitional Sheltering Assistance Program for two months is a positive step forward and frees eligible disaster survivors from worrying about being kicked out of the program in March. I pledge to work with the new administration to find solutions and resources that will best serve disaster survivors in North Carolina. My team and I continue to pursue solutions to cut red tape and get people into housing faster, including our temporary travel trailer program. I will continue to work with local, state, and federal partners to do right by our neighbors in western North Carolina and keep working until every survivor has returned home. The program is scheduled to end was a last night of stay on March 26 and hotel check-out on March 27. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Transitional Sheltering Assistance continues for disaster survivors unless they are no longer eligible after an eligibility review for the following reasons: An inspection indicated that their home is now habitable and safe. The disaster survivor declined a FEMA inspection. FEMA has been unable to contact the survivor to update their housing needs, despite multiple attempts. FEMA must give a 21-day advanced notice for those being asked to leave their hotel provided by TSA. Disaster survivors are encouraged to remain in touch with FEMA throughout this process by visiting a Disaster Recovery Center in their community, visiting disasterassistance.gov, or by calling 1-800-621-3362. Copyright 2025 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. A Washington State University (WSU) student was arrested early Monday morning following a stabbing incident at Orton Hall on the Pullman campus, according to a WSU Police Department news release. The incident happened at approximately 1:18 a.m. at the residence hall at 1475 Southeast Olympia Ave. When officers arrived, WSU police discovered a 20-year-old male with a knife wound to his left arm. The investigation revealed that the victim had been allegedly stabbed by Tatiana Martinez, a 20-year-old female WSU student and resident of Orton Hall. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Martinez was located inside the dorm, arrested, and booked into Whitman County Jail on charges of Assault 2nd Degree. Police also recovered the suspected weapon at the scene. Pullman Police officers assisted WSU Police during the incident. The victim, also 20 years old and a resident of Shoreline, was transported to Pullman Regional Hospital. He refused treatment and was subsequently released. One person died after car crashed into a Kroger grocery store early Sunday, Jan. 19 in Euless, police said. Around 2:20 a.m., Euless police responded to the Kroger located in the 1000 block of N. Main Street on reports that a vehicle had struck a building and caught fire. The Euless Fire Department responded to the scene and extinguished the fire. Officers discovered that one person in the vehicle was dead, police said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The investigators determined the vehicle was eastbound on E. Harwood Road at a high rate of speed, struck a curb, left the roadway, and crashed into the side of a building before catching fire. Police said this is an ongoing investigation. The Tarrant County Medical Examiners Office will release the name of the deceased after the next of kin is notified. "Hearst Magazines and Yahoo may earn commission or revenue on some items through these links." In his final act as president, President Joe Biden pardoned members of his family: his brothers, James and Francis Biden, his sister, Valerie Biden, and their spouses. My family has been subjected to unrelenting attacks and threats, motivated solely by a desire to hurt methe worst kind of partisan politics, he wrote in a statement shared by the White House. Unfortunately, I have no reason to believe these attacks will end. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Biden continued, I believe in the rule of law, and I am optimistic that the strength of our legal institutions will ultimately prevail over politics. But baseless and politically motivated investigations wreak havoc on the lives, safety, and financial security of targeted individuals and their families. Even when individuals have done nothing wrong and will ultimately be exonerated, the mere fact of being investigated or prosecuted can irreparably damage their reputations and finances. He pardoned his siblings and siblings-in-law: James B. Biden, Sara Jones Biden, Valerie Biden Owens, John T. Owens, and Francis W. Biden. The issuance of these pardons should not be mistaken as an acknowledgment that they engaged in any wrongdoing, nor should acceptance be misconstrued as an admission of guilt for any offense, he wrote. The pardon is one of many issued by Biden in his final time in office, including one of his son, Hunter Biden; Gen. Mark A. Milley, the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; Dr. Anthony S. Fauci; and the members of the bipartisan House committee that investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. As the New York Times noted, In issuing the pre-emptive pardons, Mr. Biden effectively turned the presidents constitutional power of forgiveness into a protective shield against what he maintains would be politically motivated vengeance. No other president has employed executive clemency in such a broad and overt way to thwart a successor he believes would abuse his power. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement However, Biden is not the first sitting president to pardon a family member; Clinton and Trump both did. Per the New York Times, President Bill Clinton pardoned his half brother Roger Clinton for old cocaine charges. A month before leaving office, Mr. Trump pardoned his son-in-law Jared Kushners father, Charles Kushner. You Might Also Like The Los Angeles Fire Department said Monday afternoon that firefighters successfully extinguished a fire in Griffith Park. The LAFD said the brush fire was reported at 1:02 p.m. and involved light grass burning into medium brush on slope. More from The Hollywood Reporter Firefighters were on the scene working to quickly control the fire, which was south of Griffith Observatory. According to the Los Angeles Times, smoke from the fire could be seen from nearby in Hollywood. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A subsequent update from the LAFD said the fire was fully extinguished in 31 minutes and impacted a quarter of an acre. All threatened structures were successfully defended and undamaged, according to the LAFD. An arson suspect has been taken into custody. No evacuations were ordered. Griffith Park is home to such L.A. landmarks as Griffith Observatory, the Greek Theatre, the Los Angeles Zoo and the Hollywood Sign. It also contains the Travel Town Museum as well as a merry-go-round. According to the National Weather Service, Southern California is at extremely critical risk of fire weather through Tuesday. Expected are wind gusts of 50-70 miles per hour along the coasts and in the valleys, and 60-100 miles per hour in the foothills and the mountains. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement More than 250,000 customers may lose power in a public safety shutoff, according to local reports. More than 5,800 customers had already had their power shut off around 1 p.m. Monday. News of the Griffith Fire comes as firefighters continue to battle the Palisades Fire, which is at 59 percent containment, and the Eaton Fire, which is 87 percent contained. The Palisades Fire has burned through 23,713 acres, destroying or damaging nearly 6,000 structures, while the Eaton Fire has burned 14,021 acres, destroying or damaging more than 10,000 structures. Those were just two fires that broke out nearly two weeks ago. A total of 27 people have died as a result of the wildfires that have blazed across the city. Others included the Hurst, Kenneth and Hollywood fires. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Mandy Moore, Anna Faris, Paris Hilton, Bozoma Saint John, Jeff Bridges, Joshua Jackson, Billy Crystal, Spencer Pratt and Heidi Montag, Cary Elwes, Diane Warren, Cameron Mathison, Ricki Lake, Jhene Aiko, Milo Ventimiglia and record producer Lou Adler are among the luminaries who have confirmed that they have lost their homes in the fires. 2:48 p.m. Jan. 20: Updated with news that the fire had been extinguished. Best of The Hollywood Reporter Sign up for THR's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. CHAMBERS COUNTY, Ala. (WRBL) A Coweta County battalion fire chief was killed Sunday while stopping to help a stranded driver in on County Road 267 in Chambers County. Alabama, according to the Chambers County Sheriffs Office. The incident occurred shortly before 5 p.m. Deputies say 54-year-old James Bartholomew Cauthen stopped to assist a driver whose vehicle had struck a deer. While helping at the scene, another man, identified as William Randall Franklin, allegedly began shooting at Cauthen and the driver. Investigators have not yet explained what sparked the violence. The situation escalated into a shootout. Cauthen died before deputies arrived. Franklin and the other driver were also injured and airlifted to trauma centers in LaGrange and Columbus. Authorities have charged Franklin, 33, with murder. A warrant has been issued, and he will be taken into custody after his release from Piedmont Medical Center. Cauthen Meanwhile Coweta County Fire Rescue in Newnan, Georgie is mourning the loss of Cauthen, describing him as a beloved leader and mentor. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Coweta Fire Rescue is devastated to hear of the loss of Battalion Chief Bart Cauthen. We lost one of our brothers, leaders, mentor, and family to a senseless tragedy. Our hearts and prayers go out to the Cauthen family as they go through this difficult time. We asked that you keep this family in your hearts and prayers the department wrote on Facebook. The community is being asked to keep Cauthens family in their thoughts and prayers as they cope with this devastating loss. Copyright 2025 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 WRBL. Editor's note: This is a developing story and is being updated. A fire erupted in the city of Kazan in Russia's Tatarstan republic overnight on Jan. 20 amid a Ukrainian drone attack on the city, Russian Telegram channels reported. Videos posted to social media appear to show a large fire ablaze following a drone attack. Multiple explosions were reported in the city around 5:30 a.m. local time. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Reports indicate that the explosions and fire originated in the Aviastroitelny district of the city, reportedly targeting the Kazan Aviation Plant. The plant, which was sanctioned by the European Union in 2023, is known for manufacturing Tu-160 strategic and Tu-22 long-ranger bomber aircraft, among other civilian aircraft. Russian Telegram media channels also reported that drones appear to have been targeting nearby Borisoglebskoye airfield which houses several fuel storage tanks. Tatarstan's press service claimed that no damage had been caused as a result of the attack, adding that all the drones had been successfully downed. The Kyiv Independent cannot immediately verify the reporting nor verify the claims made by Russian officials. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Rosaviatsiya, the country's Federal Air Transport Agency, said that Kazan International Airport has suspended flights amid the attack. Begishevo airport, located east of the city in nearby Nizhnekamsk, as well as Izhevsk's airport northeast of Kazan also had its flights suspended. Kazan lying over 900 kilometers (560 miles) east of the Ukrainian border is located in the Russian republic of Tatarstan, which has previously been the target of Ukrainian drone strikes. Ukraine has regularly attempted to disrupt Russia's military supply-chain through the use of drone attack. The country's forces regularly target oil refineries that contribute to Russia's war effort. Overnight on Jan. 18, Ukrainian forces attacked oil depots in Russia's Tula and Kaluga oblasts, according to the General Staff and the Kyiv Independent's source in Ukraine's military intelligence (HUR). Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Read also: Ukraine war latest: Ukraine hits 2 oil depots in Russia overnight; Zelensky sanctions top pro-Russian politicians Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. A Massachusetts man and his dog are safe after being rescued from an icy lake on Sunday. Ed Berger and his two dogs were walking near Lake Waban in Wellesley, Mass., on Jan. 12 when Tommy, one of the dogs, spotted birds off in the distance. In a matter of moments, Tommy was submerged in the freezing water. Before long, Berger asked someone nearby to call 911 as he approached the 8-year-old Cocker Spaniel. Theres nothing more horrific than not being able to get to your dog, Berger tells NBC 10 Boston. You love them as if they were family. But on his way to save his canine friend, Berger fell in, too. Related: Fire Chief Uses Milk and a 'Couple Beers' He Found in a Refrigerator While Saving Homes from L.A. Fires Wellesley Police & Fire Man rescues dog who fell through ice Man rescues dog who fell through ice According to a video released by Wellesley Police, when authorities arrived at the scene, Both human and dog were well offshore and unable to make it back. So, local firefighters sprung into action. The drone footage shows rescue crews pulling Berger out of the water and returning him to shore in a matter of minutes. The crew then returned to the dangerously cold water to rescue Berger's dog. Luckily, they were able to rescue the pup successfully. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Following the rescue, Berger was transported by ambulance to a nearby hospital; meanwhile, Tommy was taken by police cruiser to a clinic and treated for hypothermia. According to police, Both human and dog are okay after being evaluated at the hospital and a vet clinic. Berger later estimated to NBC 10 Boston that he had been in the lake for 10 to 15 minutes, while Tommy waited 25 to 30 minutes before rescue. Related: Hikers Rescued After Falling from Icy Mountain Trail: 'First Victim Slid into the Second, Causing Both to Slide' As a trained EMT, Berger is thankful to the crews that saved him and his dogs life. The Fire Departments Deputy Chief Michael Gigante told NBC 10 that, in this case, it was much harder to rescue the dog. You can see from the video that theyre just absolutely so well trained, Berger said. It was just like two guys I was hanging out with. I mean, they executed flawlessly. Denis Tangney Jr/Getty Lake Hibiscus in Boston's Jamaica Plain neighborhood Lake Hibiscus in Boston's Jamaica Plain neighborhood 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 state of Massachusetts says it is impossible to tell when ice is safe. "Always consider ice to be potentially dangerous. You can't judge ice conditions by appearance or thickness alone; many other factors like water depth, size of waterbody, water chemistry, currents, snow cover, age of ice, and local weather conditions impact ice strength," according to Mass.gov. The state also recommended that residents not try to save pets who fall into the ice: "Do not attempt to rescue the pet; go find help. Well-meaning pet owners can easily become victims themselves when trying to assist their pets. Remember to always keep pets leashed while walking on or near ice," Mass.gov added. "The big message in this case is if your dog goes in the water, call 911 and wait for help to come," Gigante says. Read the original article on People MORGAN COUNTY, Ill. (WCIA) Multiple crews responded to a home on fire in Alexander on Saturday night. The Franklin Fire Protection District said they when they arrived, they found a fully engulfed residence. Firefighters with the Alexander Fire Protection District were cooling off two nearby homes, so Franklin and New Berlin-Island Grove firefighters set out to extinguish the house on fire. Urbana police search for suspect after 20-year-old woman killed in crash Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Ashland Fire, Echo Ambulance Service, Morgan County Sheriffs Department and Ameren Electric and Gas assisted the crews. Franklin Fire Protection District said that crews were covered in ice because of the cold temperatures. They also ask drivers to be careful as they travel through the area because of the slick roads. Copyright 2025 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. BEIJING, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- China welcomes and congratulates Nigeria on joining BRICS as a partner country, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said on Monday. Mao made the remarks at a daily press briefing after Nigeria joined BRICS as the bloc's ninth partner country. Nigeria is a major developing country and a significant country of the Global South, noted Mao, while adding that the country's participation in BRICS cooperation will not only serve Nigeria's development, but also the common interests of the bloc's members and partners and those of the Global South, which will make contributions to the development of the BRICS mechanism. The inclusion of a new partner country in the BRICS family marks an expansion of the representativeness of BRICS -- widening its appeal and influence, Mao added. Based on the spirit of openness, inclusiveness and win-win cooperation, China is willing to work with other BRICS members and partner countries to promote pragmatic cooperation in various fields, improve high-quality development of greater BRICS cooperation, and make increased contributions to building a community with a shared future for mankind, said Mao. MAKAKILO, Hawaii (KHON2) A Honolulu Fire Department Fire Investigator has been requested for an early morning vehicle fire in Makakilo. Get Hawaiis latest morning news delivered to your inbox, sign up for News 2 You The 911 call came in on Sunday, Jan. 19 shortly before 4 a.m. when Honolulu Police Department requested HFD to assist with a vehicle fire on Palailai Street in Makakilo. HFD, ATF: Young Street fire ruled accidental, originated from kitchen Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement HFD sent one unit to the scene just a few minutes later to find the car had already been extinguished. Officials said firefighters used a thermal imaging camera to find the vehicles smoldering hot spots. They then cooled the interior of the car down with water. Police then requested the presence of an HFD Fire Investigator to further determine the origin and cause and provide damage estimates. HFD said an investigation is ongoing and a final report will be released once completed. Copyright 2025 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 KHON2. TROTWOOD, Ohio (WDTN) Fire crews have been sent to a home in Trotwood. Montgomery County Regional Dispatch confirmed to 2 NEWS that dispatchers received a call at 12:46 p.m. to respond to the 100 block of Grand Avenue. Firefighters were sent in reference to a report of smoke. This story is developing. Copyright 2025 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 WDTN.com. UPDATE: The Winter Storm Warning expanded for all of Duval/metro Jacksonville. Accumulating ice looks to be the largest concern at this point. A First Alert Weather Day has been declared for Tuesday and into Wednesday morning as a rare Winter Storm Warning has been issued beginning Tuesday afternoon across much of our area. Accumulating snow and ice are likely across Southeast Georgia and much of inland Northeast Florida into Wednesday morning. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement READ: Winter Storm Warning: County-By-County Impacts Winter Storm Warning: Ice Impacts First Alert Weather: Snow and Ice Forecast Winter Storm Warning: Precipitation Type Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A rare Winter Storm Warning has been issued beginning Tuesday afternoon across much of our area. Accumulating snow and ice are likely across southeast GA and much of inland NE FL into Wednesday morning. @ActionNewsJax #firstalertwx #flwx #gawx pic.twitter.com/Y5Hr2T1nkP Trevor Gibbs (@TrevorsWeather) January 20, 2025 WATCH THE FORECAST | DOWNLOAD THE APPS A mix of snow, sleet, and freezing rain is likely across our viewing area Tuesday night into Wednesday. Generally, inland Southeast Georgia will receive more snow, with greater ice accumulations possible near the Florida/Georgia border region, transitioning to a cold rain southeast of Jacksonville. READ: School closures ahead of NE Florida, SE Georgia winter storm A mix of snow, sleet, and freezing rain are likely across our viewing area Tuesday night into Wednesday. Generally inland SE GA will receive more snow, with greater ice accumulations possible near the FL/GA border region, transitioning to a cold rain SE of Jax. @ActionNewsJax pic.twitter.com/PtBzlmd61k Trevor Gibbs (@TrevorsWeather) January 20, 2025 Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement LISTEN: Mike Buresh All the Weather, All the Time Podcast There are increasing chances for frozen precipitation across western Duval County early Wednesday morning after a period of very cold rain Tuesday night. The First Alert Weather Team is continuing to monitor this very closely. Increasing chances for frozen precipitation across western Duval county early Wednesday morning after a period of very cold rain Tuesday night. Continuing to monitor very closely. @ActionNewsJax #firstalertwx #flwx #gawx pic.twitter.com/BKuCnTBUY5 Trevor Gibbs (@TrevorsWeather) January 20, 2025 Follow Action News Jax Meteorologists on Twitter for updates: Mike Buresh | Garrett Bedenbaugh | Corey Simma | Trevor Gibbs INTERACTIVE RADAR: Keep track of the rain as it moves through your neighborhood SHARE WITH US: Send us photos of the weather youre seeing in your area For the first time in 471 days, Palestinian medics in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip didn't report a single death from Israeli military action on Monday, as a tense ceasefire between Hamas and Israel settled into place. CBS News teams in Israel, Gaza and in the occupied West Bank saw more joy or at least relief than had been painted on the faces of residents for 15 months. The ceasefire came into effect Sunday after an initial three-hour delay, during which almost 20 more Palestinians were killed, according to medics in the decimated Palestinian territory. Under the terms of the deal, which the U.S. helped broker along with Qatar and Egypt, three Israeli hostages were released by Hamas on Sunday after the fighting stopped. Just after midnight local time, 90 Palestinian prisoners were freed from an Israeli prison in the occupied West Bank. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement After more than a year of devastating war sparked by Hamas' brutal Oct. 7, 2023 terror attack, which saw militants kill some 1,200 people and kidnap 251 others, the people of Gaza heard the sound of children playing Monday instead of the thunder of fighter jets and airstrikes, observed Philippe Lazzarini, the head of the United Nations' agency for Palestinians, UNRWA, in a statement posted on social media. "Our teams reported a good first day of the ceasefire," he said, adding that aid and some commercial supplies had started flowing smoothly into Gaza on Sunday. Along with the reciprocal release of hostages and prisoners, that is the other major component of the ceasefire deal. At least 600 aid trucks per day are supposed to enter Gaza, carrying everything from desperately needed food and medicine to fuel for generators. "The ceasefire must continue to hold and all elements of the agreement must be implemented," said Lazzarini. "It is a step in the right direction towards long-lasting peace and stability for all." Palestinians eager to return to obliterated homes in Gaza Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Reconstructing Gaza will be an incredibly long and costly process, and it is only provisioned to begin in earnest during the third and final phase of the three-phase ceasefire agreement, which, assuming the deal remains in-tact, could be several months away. Still, the Hamas-run Gaza City Municipality said in a statement Monday that it started to at least clear the main roads, which had been closed during the war. That will help as tens of thousands of displaced civilians plod back toward their towns and villages across the enclave, to assess the damage caused to their homes, and attempt to make use of whatever they can salvage from the ruins. Palestinians walk past the rubble of buildings destroyed during the war, following a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, Jan. 20, 2025. / Credit: Hatem Khaled/REUTERS Thousands of families have started walking or dragging carts from displacement camps in Gaza City toward the razed towns and cities of Jabalia, Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoun in the northern Gaza Strip. They have also been returning to the southern city of Rafah, where CBS News' team spoke with one girl wearing a dress in the pattern of the Palestinian flag. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "This is the moment that all of Gaza's citizens were waiting for," she said. "Thank God the war has ended It is time to celebrate after enduring the pain. It is time to reconstruct after all of the destruction. Gaza's children are drawing a new future." Civil Defense rescue teams have continued recovering the decomposing bodies of dozens of people killed during the war, both from underneath the rubble of destroyed buildings and from the streets. The Civil Defense has estimated that some 10,000 bodies could still be buried under the rubble of demolished homes in Gaza. The Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry said Monday that hospitals across the enclave had received the bodies of 122 people recovered since the ceasefire took effect alone, including 62 pulled from rubble, raising the total number of fatalities in Gaza since the war began to 47,035. The ministry does not distinguish between combatant and civilian casualties, but says the vast majority of those killed have been civilians, including tens of thousands of women and children. Joyous reunions for 3 Israeli families, hope for dozens more Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A Red Cross convoy driving into Gaza City on Sunday was the first sign that Hamas was keeping its end of the bargain. But the hostage handover was chaotic; heavily armed Hamas fighters surrounded and climbed over the vehicles a clear display of force and resilience after more than a year of war against Israel's vastly superior military. But soon the world and the desperate families back home got a first glimpse of the three women being released as they bolted between cars, and to freedom. One of the Israeli hostages being released by Hamas is seen exiting a vehicle to be handed over to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), in Saraya Square in western Gaza City, Jan. 19, 2025. / Credit: AFP/Getty Held hostage in fear for 15 months by Hamas, 24-year-old Romi Gonen, 31-year-old Doron Steinbrecher and 28-year-old Emily Damari were finally on their way to being back in the eager arms of their loved ones. The three women including Damari, an Israeli-British national who lost two fingers during the Oct. 7 attack when she was abducted were all reunited with their mothers as soon as they reached Israel. "Yesterday, I was finally able to give Emily the hug that I have been dreaming of," Damari's mother Mandy said in a statement released Monday. "I am relieved to report that after her release, Emily is doing much better than any of us could ever have anticipated In Emily's own words, she is the happiest girl in the world; she has her life back." Released British-Israeli hostage Emily Damari embraces her mother, Mandy, after being held in Gaza since the Oct. 7, 2023 attack by Hamas, in a handout image supplied by the Israel Defense Forces, Jan. 19, 2025. / Credit: ISRAEL DEFENSE FORCES/Handout Even in her moment of intense joy, Mandy Damari stressed that other families were still waiting to share in the elation. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "We must also remember that 94 other hostages still remain," she said. "The ceasefire must continue and every last hostage must be returned to their families." Hundreds of Israelis watching from Hostage Square in Tel Aviv also shared in the joy Sunday night including some whose own loved ones didn't make it out of Hamas captivity or haven't yet. Gil Dickmann's cousin Carmel Gat was among those kidnapped. Her body was recovered during an Israeli military operation at the beginning of September. Still, Dickmann has regularly attended the demonstrations in Hostage Square calling for the return of the dozens of others. He told CBS News that when he saw the women emerge from the vehicles on Sunday, he struggled to even believe it. "My God, it's them," he said he'd told himself. "All the people around the world should have this joy - of people coming back home alive. It is still the happiest thing that you can ever, ever live through." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Celebrations in the West Bank as Palestinian prisoners released There was elation and celebrations in the Israeli occupied West Bank late on Sunday night, too, as 90 Palestinian detainees, mostly women, were released in exchange for the freed hostages. "They were treating us like animals," said 18-year-old Rose Quis. "I left hell, and now I'm in heaven," said Abdelaziz Atawneh as he emerged from Israel's Ofer prison, just outside the West Bank city of Ramallah. The freed detainees were greeted by fireworks, whistling and shouts of "God is great," and many were hoisted onto the shoulders of the massive crowds that had gathered outside the prison many of them waiting all day for the release. A freed Palestinian prisoner is greeted after her release from an Israeli jail, as part of a hostages-prisoners swap and a ceasefire deal in Gaza between Hamas and Israel, in Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, early on Jan. 20, 2025. / Credit: MUSSA ISSA QAWASMA/REUTERS Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement According to a list provided by the Palestinian Authority, which administers the West Bank, all of those released in the very early hours of Monday were women or teenagers, the youngest just 15. They were jailed by Israel, many of them without formal charges, for alleged offenses ranging from throwing stones to attempted murder. The next swap of hostages for prisoners is scheduled to take place on Saturday under the ceasefire deal, with four hostages to be released in exchange for about 120 Palestinian prisoners. In total, 33 Israeli hostages are to be released during the first six-week phase of the agreement. A guide to a better credit score in 2025 Here's who is competing for Oscar gold after nominees announced for the 97th Academy Awards Norah O'Donnell signs off from CBS Evening News anchor desk American flags will fly at full height at the United States Capitol and across Texas in recognition of President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration. Last week, U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson ordered that flags at the U.S. Capitol be raised to full height on Inauguration Day, lifting a 30-day flag-lowering order that had been in place following the death of former President Jimmy Carter on Dec. 29 at the age of 100. Johnson's directive came just days after a similar order from Gov. Greg Abbott, mandating that both U.S. and Texas flags be flown at full height as Trump takes the oath of office again. The governor's office explained last Monday that the decision is in accordance with a federal statute that calls for the U.S. flag to be displayed at full height "especially on... Inauguration Day, January 20." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The federal statute also specifies that flags should be flown at full height on federal holidays, including Inauguration Day, which also coincides with another federal holiday, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, this year. Will flags be lowered to half-staff after Inauguration Day? The governor did not clarify in the release whether the mourning period would be extended by an additional day to compensate for the daylong pause in half-staff observance on Inauguration Day or whether flags would even be lowered again after the event. When are flags flown at half-staff? There are specific holidays and events for which flags are flown at half-staff in the United States, according to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs website. They include: Memorial Day, when the flag should be displayed at half-staff until noon only and then raised to the top of the staff. Peace Officers Memorial Day, unless that day is also Armed Forces Day. Patriot Day. National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day. National Firefighters Memorial Day. President Dwight Eisenhower also issued a proclamation on the proper times for flying the flag at half-staff when government officials die: Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Thirty days for all federal buildings, grounds and naval vessels throughout the United States and its territories and possessions after the death of the president or a former president. Ten days at half-staff after the death of the vice president, the chief justice or a retired chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, or the speaker of the House of Representatives. From the date of death until interment for an associate justice of the Supreme Court, a member of the Cabinet, a former vice president, the president pro tempore of the Senate, the majority leader of the Senate, the minority leader of the Senate, the majority leader of the House of Representatives or the minority leader of the House of Representatives. The date of death and the next day for a U.S. senator, a representative, a territorial delegate or the resident commissioner from the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. It should also be flown at half-staff at all federal facilities in the state, congressional district, territory or commonwealth of these officials. From the date of death until interment for the governor of a state, territory or possession. The president may also order that the flag be flown at half-staff to commemorate the death of other officials, former officials or foreign dignitaries, in addition to tragic events. For instance, on Oct. 7, Abbott declared Monday a statewide Day of Observance for Israel in Texas and asked residents to hold a moment of silence for the people of Israel and the seven Americans who remain hostages. This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas governor orders flags at full staff for Trump inauguration Video above: Carrie Underwood sings a cappella during President Donald Trumps inauguration after apparent technical issue. (NEXSTAR) Flags across the U.S. are meant to be at half-staff for another eight days, but they were at full staff in Washington, D.C. on Monday. Why was the nations capital in defiance of a presidential order issued out of respect for a former president who died? In honor of the incoming president, it turns out. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Flags nationwide have been flying at half-staff since December 29, 2024, when President Jimmy Carter died peacefully in his Georgia home. In accordance with federal law, then-President Joe Biden issued a proclamation that ordered flags to fly at half-staff for 30 days. How long will flags fly at half-staff for Jimmy Carter? As outlined in a 1954 proclamation from President Dwight D. Eisenhower, flags are to be flown at half-staff for the entire 30 days after a president current or former dies. Its the longest period possible for lowered flag flying. To honor Carter, flags are scheduled not to return to full staff until January 28. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement President Donald Trump quickly expressed frustration with the order, which meant flags would fly at half-staff during his inauguration. The Democrats are all giddy about our magnificent American Flag potentially being at half mast during my Inauguration, Trump wrote on Truth Social on Jan. 3. They think its so great, and are so happy about it because, in actuality, they dont love our Country, they only think about themselves. Nobody wants to see this, and no American can be happy about it. Lets see how it plays out, Trump said, referring to the flags being lowered during his inauguration. WATCH: Carrie Underwood sings America the Beautiful a cappella after apparent tech issue at inauguration Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Last Monday, flags at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida had returned to full staff. A day later, Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said flags would fly at full-staff at the Capitol for Trumps inauguration to celebrate our country coming together behind the 47th president. In the following days, governors in multiple states including California, Florida, Idaho, Iowa, Nebraska, New York, North Dakota, and Texas also ordered flags to fly at full-staff for the Monday inauguration of President Donald Trump. Johnson, as well as many of those governors, have said flags will return to half-staff on Tuesday and remain there through the remainder of the 30-day period. Those proclamations wont be needed again: among the first documents Trump signed on Monday was a proclamation that orders U.S. flags to fly at full mast on every inauguration day moving forward. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 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. TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) Donald Trump was sworn in as the 47th President of the United States on Monday. Heres what officials from Trumps home state have to say: Florida Democrats The Florida Democratic Party issued the following statement on the presidential inauguration and Martin Luther King, Jr. Day: Today is not the day we hoped for, said FDP Chair Nikki Fried. Its not a day where we can celebrate the strength of our democracy or the victory of Dr. Kings dream instead, its a day where we have to worry about what life will be for the next four years. No matter what Democrats are feeling today, Donald Trump cant be allowed to break our spirits. Because in the words of Dr. King, we must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope. This morning, I am reminded that the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice and that it doesnt bend on its own. While we prepare to defend ourselves from the extremism of the Trump Administration and their Project 2025 agenda, let us remember our responsibility to fight for a better tomorrow. Together, we can continue the fight for an equal and more affordable America, a strong representative democracy, and a truly more perfect union. Florida Democratic Party Chair Nikki Fried Speaking to WFLA, Fried stressed unity between Democrats and their political rivals. If there are policies that come out that are in the best interest of this nation, I am going to employ that Democrats across this nation dont just attack to attack. Lets make sure we are bringing unity when theres an ability to do so and hold them accountable when they fail the American people, Fried said. U.S. Sen. Rick Scott Scott posted a video to X congratulating Trump on his inauguration and vowing to uphold his administrations agenda in the Senate. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement As your United States Senator, I will fight each and every day and help confirm his cabinet nominees and ensure Congress is ready to deliver on his promises, Scott said. Together, we will secure our border, restore our economy, bring transparency to our federal government and so much more. Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody In a post on X, Moody said, Today, our nation enters a bold new era of leadership under President @realDonaldTrump. Excited to get to work reversing four years of unlawful and reckless policies that made Americans less safe and READY to help President Trump put #AmericaFirst. Appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis, Moody will become Floridas United States Senator after Sen. Marco Rubio resigns his position. Rubio is expected to be confirmed as Trumps nominee for Secretary of State. Rep. Anna Paulina Luna In a post on X, Luna, who represents part of Pinellas County, said, The American people have spoken resoundingly to send President Trump back to the White House. Today, we celebrate the peaceful transfer of power and the beginning of a new chapter for our country and the world. We are ready to work and Make America Great Again! Rep. Laurel Lee In a post on X, Lee, who represents parts of Hillsborough, Pasco and Polk Counties, said, Today, we celebrate the inauguration of Donald J. Trump as the 47th President of the United States! I am ready to work alongside President Trump and my colleagues in the Senate to restore our economy, bring back law and order, and deliver solutions for the American people. This list will be updated as more Florida officials release statements on Trumps inauguration. Copyright 2025 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. Floridas GOP leadership will roll deep in Washington D.C. on Monday. State lawmakers will be participating in President-elect Donald Trumps inauguration events just days before convening in Tallahassee for a special session, planned to support Trumps immigration policies he aims to enact on day one. On social media, Sen. Randy Fine, R-Melbourne Beach, and Sen. Joe Gruters, R-Sarasota, took a selfie in the plane on the way to Washington D.C., and wrote: Its an early morning but we are ready to Make America Great Again! Fine and Gruters were two of the Fearless 14, a term coined by Fine, to describe the 14 Florida legislators who backed Trump over Gov. Ron DeSantis for the Republican nominee for president. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Its no coincidence the two had more to celebrate this week than just the inauguration. Fine went up early for a fundraising event for his campaign for Congress, which was hosted by U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson on Wednesday. And on Friday, Gruters, called the OG Trump supporter in Florida, was elected as the treasurer of the Republican National Committee. In a post on X, Evan Power, chairman of the Florida GOP, called Gruters Floridas own. "I appreciate the confidence President @realDonaldTrump ,@ChairmanWhatley and all my colleagues have placed in me to serve as Treasurer of the Republican National Committee," Gruters posted on X. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Other Florida senators expected to attend the inauguration are Sen. Jay Collins, R-Tampa; Sen. Ileana Garcia, R-Miami; Sen. Blaise Ingoglia, R-Spring Hill; Sen. Jonathan Martin, R-Fort Myers; and Sen. Ana Maria Rodriguez, R-Doral, according to information obtained by USA TODAY Network-Florida. Florida's members of Congress headed to Trump inauguration On Saturday, speakers at the Republican Party of Florida Inaugural Event include Power and Florida leaders Sen. Marco Rubio, Rep. Byron Donalds, Rep. Kat Cammack and Rep. Cory Mills. Also speaking is the Governor-elect of Puerto Rico Jennifer Gonzalez-Colon; Florida is home to the largest Puerto Rican community outside of the island. Approximately 1.2 million Puerto Ricans live primarily in Central Florida. Floridas other senator, Rick Scott, is expected to speak at RPOFs gala on Saturday evening. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Rubio, who once was at odds with Trump while the two were campaigning for the presidential nomination in 2016, is expected to be confirmed as Secretary of State. He reportedly has broad support, even among Democrats. Ashley Moody, Floridas attorney general, was selected by DeSantis this week to replace Rubio as Florida's second U.S. senator. And Rubio isnt the only Florida political leader who is heading to a Cabinet position. Pam Bondi, the former attorney general of Florida and Trump loyalist, is his pick to become the next U.S. attorney general. Florida readies for special session after Trump's inauguration While Senate President Ben Albritton, R-Wauchula, will not attend the inauguration, Florida House Speaker Daniel Perez is also expected to attend. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But hell have to quickly head back to Florida to start preparing for special session, which is expected to begin Jan. 27. DeSantis called upon the Legislature to convene a special session to pass legislation and earmark funding to support Trumps sweeping immigration reform he plans to start on day one of his presidency. DeSantis said he had been meeting with Trumps transition team and had recently spoken with the president-elect at Mar-a-Lago, his Palm Beach home. Americans have given President Trump a mandate to secure the southern border and end the illegal immigration crisis. Florida must step up to help carry out this mission. Here are some of the proposals I am calling on the Legislature to pass in the upcoming Special Session: pic.twitter.com/6EgPEqVzON Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) January 15, 2025 President Trump has a mandate, and the state of Florida is going to be there every step of the way, the governor said. Florida is expected to be one of the first states to follow through on Trumps immigration plans. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Although Trump has not announced his list of priorities, DeSantis has, and Floridas special session could be a hint of whats to come for the rest of the country. Make Illegal Immigration Illegal Again https://t.co/wHjkcvn7tR Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) January 16, 2025 Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement DeSantis released a list of session proposals that includes mandated participation in the 287(g) program, which allows U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to partner with local law enforcement to remove incarcerated noncitizens from the country. Another proposal would be to pass legislation to create a rebuttal presumption that illegal aliens are flight risks and deny bail. Make Illegal Immigration Illegal Again, DeSantis posted on X on Thursday. Ana Goni-Lessan, state watchdog reporter for the USA TODAY Network Florida, can be reached at agonilessan@gannett.com. This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Trump inauguration: Who from Florida GOP is attending in DC? Weve gotten even colder, as promised, Sunday as frigid air continues to pour into the state. Your weather timeline takes you into a very cold Tuesday: Another night, another cold weather advisory, as wind chills will again bottom out near -15 to -20 in parts of Iowa. Lows will mainly be in the single digits below zero. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Tuesday morning looks to be the coldest of this streak, with wind chills below -30 possible in northern Iowa. Bundle up as you head out the next couple days. A warm front pushes into Iowa Wednesday, and may bring light snow along with it late in the day. As of Sunday, amounts look to stay below an inch. We may also see a few flurries across Iowa on Thursday. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Temperatures improve after a very cold start to the week, back to highs closer to average for this time of year Wednesday through Sunday, as shown in the following gallery: Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement As for snow, long-range computer models continue to show chances between the 30th of January and the 2nd of February. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The extended outlook below hints that we may see milder temperatures extend beyond the weekend. Your WHO 13 7-day forecasts. Bundle up! Copyright 2025 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 who13.com. BEIRUT, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- Newly-elected Lebanese President Joseph Aoun on Monday urged the swift formation of a government capable of meeting the aspirations of the Lebanese people, according to a statement from the Lebanese Presidency. "We must send positive signals to the international community by forming a government that aligns with the hopes of the Lebanese people and enables the country's economic recovery," Aoun said in a meeting with religious leaders. "Lebanon must be placed back on the right path." "We have a choice -- either to seize these opportunities and rebuild the nation with unity and clear intentions or to risk further decline. The international community has extended positive gestures and invitations, and we must reciprocate," he said. Aoun stressed that rebuilding Lebanon requires collective efforts from all political factions, civil society, and religious leaders. He also urged an end to blame-shifting, emphasizing that responsibility for Lebanon's revival lies within the country. "When we form a government and start working in the public interest, many nations will be willing to support us," he added. On Jan. 9, Aoun was elected the new president of Lebanon, ending a two-year presidential vacuum that had paralyzed the country's political system. He then named Nawaf Salam, president of the International Court of Justice in The Hague, as the new prime minister. Another Santa Ana wind storm is expected to impact Southern California and pose a new, dangerous risk as the L.A. fires continue to burn. Some portions of Southern California are under an extremely critical risk of fire weather beginning Monday, Jan. 20, according to the National Weather Services Weather Prediction Center. Forecasters say mild temperatures, low humidity and the return of very strong winds to these areas will lead to dangerous fire weather conditions into Tuesday, Jan. 21. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Related: TV Producer Teams Up with Neighbors to Use Garden Hoses to Save 7 Homes from Deadly Eaton Fire The National Weather Service in Los Angeles has warned of a "Particularly Dangerous Situation" from 12 p.m. local time on Monday through 10 a.m. on Tuesday for many of the areas that have been impacted by wildfires for the last two weeks. The warning area stretches from Big Pines and communities north of Pomona to Ventura and Oxnard, including areas impacted by both the Palisades and Eaton fires as well as Malibu, Santa Clarita, Palmdale, Thousand Oaks, Simi Valley and Burbank. POWERFUL & DAMAGING SANTA ANA WINDSTORM INCOMING!! Take action now to prepare your home and loved ones for another round of EXTREME WIND and FIRE WEATHER, staring tomorrow afternoon! Worst winds Mon afternoon - Tue morning. #CAwx #SantaAnaWinds pic.twitter.com/CuhRHgOTjF NWS Los Angeles (@NWSLosAngeles) January 19, 2025 About 12.8 million people in Southern California are under red flag warnings, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Peak wind gusts across the coastline and valleys may reach up to 70 mph, while those in the mountains and foothills could see gusts up to 100 mph, according to the National Weather Service. 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. Ariel Cohen, a meteorologist with the NWS office in Oxnard, said this will be a powerful damaging wind event and warned those in the path of danger to be prepared for what he described as an extreme episode of fire weather. This is not the time to be taking this weather lightly at all, Cohen told the Chronicle. Were on the cusp of another extreme event. Hans Gutknecht/MediaNews Group/ Los Angeles Daily News via Getty The Palisades fire burns near homes in Pacific Palisades on Tuesday, January 7, 2024. The Palisades fire burns near homes in Pacific Palisades on Tuesday, January 7, 2024. Related: Fire Chief Uses Milk and a 'Couple Beers' He Found in a Refrigerator While Saving Homes from L.A. Fires Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Eaton and Palisades Fires, which sparked during the last major wind event earlier this month, are still burning. The Palisades Fire has burned 23,713 acres of land and is currently 59% contained, according to data from Cal Fire. The Eaton Fire has burned 14,021 acres of land and is currently 87% contained. The death toll from the L.A. fires is at least 27, according to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner's Office. Read the original article on People Cruise lines are increasingly sailing out of Texas' only cruise port, the Port of Galveston. Galveston saw a record 384 cruises and 1.7 million guests in 2024 half a million more than in 2023. The port is located near Royal Caribbean's next two private resorts in Mexico. Texas known for chili, cowboys, and increasingly, cruises. America's cruising culture is irrevocably intertwined with Florida. No other state has seven cruise ports, including the three busiest in the world, and an established grip on the nearby leviathan Caribbean cruise market. What the Sunshine State doesn't have, however, is Galveston. The historic and unassuming Texas island is home to the state's only cruise port. Yet, it's quickly become a crucial battleground as vacation-at-sea companies compete for travelers' hearts and wallets. The Galveston boom Carnival has been sailing out of Galveston for about 25 years. Its Carnival Jubilee was designed for the Texas market. Photo courtesy the Galveston Wharves In 2022, Royal Caribbean opened a $125 million cruise terminal in the Galveston. A year later, the port invested $53 million in expanding Carnival's terminal, which now serves as the homeport for Carnival Jubilee, one of the cruise line's largest ships built specifically for the Texas market. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In 2024, the port saw a record 384 cruises and 1.7 million guests half a million more travelers than the year prior. Not much compared to the world's busiest Port of Miami, which saw 8.23 million passengers in 2024. However, while Florida's ports are near max capacity, Galveston's market is still quickly growing. The Texas port plans to open a fourth $156 million terminal in November, which MSC and Norwegian will share. The launch would also mark the start of MSC's Galveston itineraries. MSC Seascape, shown in a rendering, would sail out of Galveston when its terminal opens in November. Photo courtesy the Galveston Wharves "Florida doesn't have many more terminals," Rodger Rees, the port's director and CEO, told Business Insider. "The market has been somewhat saturated." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Galveston does, however, have more space to expand and with it, aspirations to someday surpass Florida's Port of Everglades as America's third most popular cruise port. "These ships are going out of here full every Saturday and Sunday," Rees said a significant accomplishment, given that Carnival, Royal Caribbean, Norwegian, Princess, and MSC would all have some of their largest or newest ships sailing out of the Lone Star State this year. For the port of Galveston, the local cruise boom has meant survival. The company almost declared bankruptcy 15 years ago, unable to generate profit from its aging cargo infrastructure, Rees said. Now, the future is bright in 2025, it expects to rake in $84 million, a 6.4% growth from the year prior, thanks to the growing vacation-at-sea business. Bigger, better, and more convenient in Texas Royal Caribbean's more than 161,330-square-foot Galveston cruise terminal can accommodate its largest ships. Royal Caribbean International Travelers in cities like Dallas, San Antonio, and Oklahoma City are a day's drive from Galveston. Houston and its two airports are only about an hour away strategic, given that it's a shorter flight there than to Miami from metropolitans like Las Vegas, Chicago, and Phoenix. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Compared to Florida, "Texas is a similar-sized market that has half the penetration with a very similar propensity to cruise," Jason Liberty, president and CEO of Royal Caribbean Group, told analysts in late October 2024. As important, Galveston is also close to popular ports of call in east Mexico, eastern Caribbean, and Central America, including Norwegian's private island in Belize. The location is similarly crucial for Royal Caribbean, which has two private resorts Perfect Day Mexico and Royal Beach Club Cozumel scheduled to open in Mexico in 2026 and 2027. Royal Caribbean's Royal Beach Club Cozumel, shown in a rendering, is scheduled to open in 2026. Royal Caribbean International Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "Having assets like the Royal Beach Club will allow us to drive more of the Gulf Coast markets that can have an easier fly-cruise experience and lower cost," Liberty added. Royal Caribbean's resorts in conjunction with its Symphony of the Seas, one of the world's largest cruise ships, sailing out of Galveston in 2026 could continue to catapult its popularity. "We're getting bigger and nicer ships here," the port's CEO said. "Why go all the way to Florida?" Read the original article on Business Insider A Goodwill employee is attempting to track down whoever left an urn filled with ashes at one of the charitys Georgia stores. Our motto in the military has always been this, No soldier left behind, Andre Bess, who served in the US Army for 21 years, told Fox News. The part-time employee in Peachtree Corners, about 22 miles outside of Atlanta, said a customer approached him in December 2023 and asked if something was supposed to be inside the urn in question. He responded: No. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He immediately told his superiors about the urn and said they were shocked but unsure of what to do. Some of his coworkers were allegedly willing to dispose of the ashes, he claimed. But, Bess told them he couldnt do that. I told them I cant do that because I have to find out who this belonged to, he said. I have a lot of soldiers that I worked with that died. Regardless of the flesh not being there, its still a human being, or it could be a pet. A Goodwill employee is trying to reunite an urn that was left at a store in December 2023 (Fox 5) Since then, hes been trying to reunite them with their owner in case theyd been left on accident. A Goodwill spokesperson told the outlet it did not have a record of someone inquiring about the urn. On rare occasions, it does receive donations that include human remains. The company does not track donations from donors but does have a policy of working with crematoriums to dispose of remains. MOBILE, Ala. (WKRG) Kent Davis is now a retired Navy admiral. But back in 1985, he was a soon-to-be graduating college senior looking for a job and it wasnt going well. And one day I saw a poster in the career office for a Navy recruiter, Davis said. And I said, What the heck, Ill talk to him. And this guy turned out to be the coolest guy in the world. He was a Navy pilot Top Gun was about to come out and I ended up talking to him and before the end of the interview I thought, This makes a lot of sense.' General Janet Cobb set to retire as Battleship Park Executive Director Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Davis went on to serve an eight year stint on active duty with assignments on the Battleship USS Missouri, the aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln and other jobs. I got off active duty and stayed in the Navy Reserve joined a unit in Atlanta, Georgia, went to law school in Atlanta and got my law degree on the GI Bill, he said. As he finished law school, the military came calling again, looking for recruits for the Judge Advocate Generals Corps offering positions for military lawyers. And frankly, the Army made the best deal to me, Davis said. Letters from WWII offer answers for a Mobile family Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement So Davis went from the Navy Reserve to the Army Reserve, serving as a military lawyer for a few years. But just as he was joining a civilian law firm in Atlanta and deciding to leave the military entirely Then something strange happened, Bill, he said. I joined the civilian law firm and 9/11 happened. So I thought, Gosh Im out of the fight theres more I can do. So I rejoined the Navy Reserve. That would lead to deployments in the Middle East including Afghanistan for nine months. Just as he was getting ready to leave the military again, Davis found out he was being promoted to Admiral. His military career would span 30 years in two branches and led to him being considered as Commissioner of the Alabama Department of Veterans Affairs. And during his five years in that post, accomplished a lot including reducing the backlog of veterans on a waiting list for long-term care at the states veterans homes at that time, the longest waiting list in the country. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Vets Recover organization offers a lifeline to addicted veterans That was just unacceptable, so we embarked on about a five year process to build a new state veterans home, Davis said. That was opened in September of 2024 in Enterprise. The department also managed to reopen 12 of 17 veterans services offices that had been shut down around the state over the previous decade. And that left whole swaths of the state without those services for veterans, free of charge, that assist veterans with everything veteran-related, he said. Davis also secured a federal grant to help expand the Alabama State Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Spanish Fort. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Serving Those Who Serve: Lou Lartigue, South Alabama Veterans Council With that track record, why he was fired as Commissioner of Veterans Affairs is known only to Gov. Kay Ivey. But Davis said he intends to get to the bottom of the controversy in court. I obviously disagree with the Governors actions, he said. I think over five years wed accomplished a lot and frankly a lot of that has been stymied by the Governors actions, so everybody has a right to avail themselves of the judicial process, so Im going to do that. Were proud to recognize retired Admiral Kent Davis for Serving Those Who Serve. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 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. By Sachin Ravikumar LONDON (Reuters) -An Australian journalist, who was once jailed for 400 days in Egypt, said he is staging a hunger strike in London to press the British government to help secure the release of jailed Egyptian-British dissident Alaa Abd el-Fattah. Abd el-Fattah, a software developer and blogger who rose to prominence as an activist in the 2011 Arab Spring, was jailed for five years in Egypt over a social media post, a sentence that followed several previous spells in prison, including before and after the uprising. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Peter Greste on Monday joined Abd el-Fattah's mother, who has been on a hunger strike ever since Egyptian authorities failed to free her son on a scheduled release date of Sept. 29 last year. The duo demonstrated with placards and pictures of Abd el-Fattah just outside the entrance to Downing Street as they sought a meeting with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer. Both Starmer and British Foreign Secretary David Lammy have raised Abd el-Fattah's case with their Egyptian counterparts a number of times, with Lammy doing so most recently on Thursday, Britain's Foreign Office said. "We continue to press on his case at the highest levels of the Egyptian government," a spokesperson said. "Officials from the Foreign Office continue to call for consular access to Mr El-Fattah and for his release." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Greste, who plans to stage a 21-day hunger strike, was in a neighbouring prison cell to Abd el-Fattah in 2013. Greste had been accused of helping a terrorist group while on assignment for broadcaster Al Jazeera, charges he said were bogus and politically motivated. "He saved my life. He was an inspiration to me. I want to now repay what he gave me," Greste told Reuters at the demonstration, crediting Abd el-Fattah with guiding him through a "really dark" period in prison. Egypt's interior ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Laila Soueif, Abd el-Fattah's mother, who says she has lost nearly 25 kilograms (55 pounds) in the hunger strike in which she only consumes water and hydration salts, said she had met British officials including National Security Adviser Jonathan Powell to press her son's case. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "I've now become completely fed up," said Soueif, 68, a mathematics professor. "I almost wish I would collapse and this thing would get resolved one way or another." (Reporting by Sachin Ravikumar in London; Additional reporting by Mohamed Ezz in Cairo; Editing by Sharon Singleton and Christina Fincher) New charges have reportedly been brought against a Colorado funeral director who was accused of storing a body in a hearse for over a year. Miles Harford, the former owner of Apollo Funeral and Cremation Services in the Denver suburb of Littleton, was initially arrested in February 2024 on abuse of corpse and theft charges, according to The Denver Gazette. He was later released on bond, per the outlet. Now, Harford is facing two additional felony charges for allegedly hacking into a former employers business account in order to pay a Verizon bill, according to the outlet, which noted the incidents allegedly occurred between July 6 and July 9, 2024. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement While past charges were delivered in Denver, the Arapahoe County Sheriffs Office confirmed to PEOPLE that new charges are out of Littleton. PEOPLE reached out to the Littleton Police Department for comment but did not receive an immediate response on Sunday, Jan. 19. David Zalubowski/AP Former residence of Miles Harford, where authorities found human remains Former residence of Miles Harford, where authorities found human remains Related: Model Whose Body Parts Were Found in Refrigerator Had Financial Dispute with Ex-Husband Before Death In a past press conference, Denver Police Commander Matt Clark revealed that authorities had found the remains of a 63-year-old woman as well as the cremated remains of several others after Harford was evicted from a home he was renting in southwest Denver. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Clark said the woman in the hearse had died in August 2022. Through the investigation, detectives have determined the womans remains have likely been stored and concealed in the hearse since shortly after her passing, Clark said. The family previously received remains from the funeral home that they believed were their loved one. 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. Clark said the additional remains which were stored in black plastic bags in the homes crawlspace likely belonged to people who died between the years 2012 and 2021 and that investigators were working to positively identify them all. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement As you can imagine these are extremely difficult conversations to have and the information comes as a shock to many of the families, several of whom believed they had the entire remains of their loved one, he said. Related: Colorado Funeral Home Director Pleads Guilty to Illegally Selling Hundreds of Body Parts Clark further explained that it appeared as though Harford experienced financial trouble in his business. At times he was not able to complete cremations to provide remains to families for services, he continued. Unbeknownst to families who sought services from Apollo Funeral Services, Mr. Harford may have occasionally provided family members with another persons cremated remains in lieu of their family member's remains so services could be held. The business had been closed since September 2022, according to NBC. Read the original article on People Adam Iza, the 24-year-old founder of the Zort crypto trading platform, and former Los Angeles County Sheriffs Deputy Eric Chase Saavedra, 41, pleaded guilty to multiple federal charges on Jan. 17, 2025. They admitted to conspiracy, wire fraud, civil rights violations, and tax evasion. Iza, who operated the Zort platform, and Saavedra were accused of using their positions for personal gain in a series of criminal activities. Iza ran a fraudulent scheme, exploiting law enforcement connections and engaging in extortion, wire fraud, and theft. Saavedra, a former deputy sheriff, helped Iza by accessing police databases and using his authority to assist in criminal acts. Saavedra, who also ran a private security business, facilitated these actions by providing protection and helping Iza obtain sensitive information. In one instance, Saavedra secured a fake search warrant to locate a victim, which led to an attempt to enter the individuals home forcefully. The victim fired a warning shot to prevent the break-in. Prosecutors also outlined Izas fraudulent activities, including defrauding Meta Platforms Inc. of over $37 million between 2020 and 2022. Iza evaded $6.7 million in taxes, and Saavedra failed to report $373,146 in income. Both men face significant prison sentences for their crimes. Iza could face up to 35 years in prison, while Saavedra is looking at a maximum of 13 years. Both are set to appear in federal court in Los Angeles soon. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Saavedras actions led to his resignation from the Sheriffs Department, and several other deputies were relieved of their duties due to their involvement in the case. The Sheriffs Department condemned Saavedras conduct, emphasizing that law enforcement officers must not use their power for personal gain. They expressed commitment to removing corrupt officers and restoring public trust in the department. The case was investigated by the IRS Criminal Investigation Los Angeles Field Office, and Tyler Hatcher, a special agent from the office, called the partnership between Iza and Saavedra a thuggish partnership that undermined public trust. Both mens actions, particularly Saavedras abuse of his position as a law enforcement officer, have raised serious concerns about corruption within police departments. In addition to their criminal activities, Iza and Saavedras involvement in illegal transactions and scams has drawn attention to the vulnerability of both private individuals and organizations to fraud. Their actions have led to a broader conversation about the role of law enforcement officers in perpetuating crime and the measures needed to combat such misconduct. Just ten days ago, at Jimmy Carter's state funeral at Washington National Cathedral today, all five living U.S. presidents attended: Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama, Donald Trump, and Joe Biden. Today, all five men were once again in the same place, as Clinton, Bush, Obama, and Biden attended Trump's inauguration. Chip Somodevilla - Getty Images KENNY HOLSTON - Getty Images Anna Moneymaker - Getty Images It marks a second rare reunion for the presidents, who before this month, had last been in the same place for the state funeral of George H.W. Bush in December 2018. Trump skipped Biden's inauguration in January 2021. He was just the fourth outgoing president in history to skip his successors' inaugurations. (The other three, per CNN: John Adams in 1801, John Quincy Adams in 1829 and Andrew Johnson in 1869.) In attendance at the inauguration today were also former first ladies Hillary Clinton, Laura Bush, and Jill Biden. Michelle Obama was not in attendance, after also missing Carter's state funeral. Chip Somodevilla - Getty Images Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Following Carter's funeral, during which images and videos of Trump and Obama chatting went viral, Trump said, I didn't realize how friendly it looked. He added, I said, 'Boy, they look like two people that like each other.' And we probably do. We have a little different philosophies, right? But we probably do. I don't know. We just got along. But I got along with just about everybody. ROBERTO SCHMIDT - Getty Images Bush, despite being the only other living Republican president, declined to endorse Trump during the 2024 election. President Bush retired from presidential politics years ago, his office said in September. His former vice president, Dick Cheney, endorsed Kamala Harris. In our nations 248-year history, there has never been an individual who is a greater threat to our republic than Donald Trump, Cheney said. He tried to steal the last election using lies and violence to keep himself in power after the voters had rejected him. He can never be trusted with power again. You Might Also Like A former police officer is under investigation by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation after being accused of rape. [DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] On Tuesday, the City of Elberton Police Department asked the GBI to investigate a former officer, Edar Carreon, 30, of Elberton. This is after the victim filed a report with the Elbert County Sheriffs Office. According to the GBI, Carreon went to the victims home on Dec. 17, 2024, regarding a report connected to the victims daughter. The GBI said the 30-year-old former officer went back to the victims home later the same day, and thats when the incident occurred. TRENDING STORIES: Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Officials said Carreon did not have a relationship with the victim. Carreon was arrested and charged with one count of rape and one count of violation of oath of office. Carreon was booked into the Elbert County Jail. The investigation is active and ongoing. Anyone with information can call the GBI regional investigative office in Athens at 706-552-2309. Anonymous tips can also be submitted by calling 1-800-597-TIPS (8477), online at https://gbi.georgia.gov/submit-tips-online, or by downloading the See Something, Send Something mobile app [SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter] Former Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards, daughter of late Texas Gov. Ann Richards, is dead at 67. News of the human rights activists death was shared by Richards family on her Instagram page Monday morning. This morning our beloved Cecile passed away at home, surrounded by her family and her ever-loyal dog, Ollie, that notice said. Our hearts are broken today but no words can do justice to the joy she brought to our lives. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Richards, who lived in New York, began battling brain cancer in 2023. Her family thanked the physicians who aided Richards since that diagnosis. They also posted a quote attributed to the womens health care champion: Its not hard to imagine future generations one day asking: When there was so much at stake for our country, what did you do? The only acceptable answer is: Everything we could. Richards wrote in January 2024 that she was feeling well after several treatments and vacations. In that online post, she said having cancer hasnt filled her with profound insights on life, but it reminded her theres nothing more important than continuing womens rights to reproductive health care. Richards served as the Planned Parenthood Federation of Americas president from 2006 to 2018. She was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom last November. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Shes survived by her husband, Kirk Adams, and their three children. The Texas native wrote about women in leadership in a 2018 article for The Progressive: My mother, Ann Richards, grew up in a time when most women didnt have many options; you could be a teacher, a secretary, a domestic worker, or a nurse, and that was pretty much it, she said. My kids, though, grew up seeing women in charge. Our life was such a matriarchy that when my son, Daniel, was three he said, When I grow up, I want to be a woman.' Once a Girl Scout herself, Richards recalled forming the Future Women Presidents club with her daughter Hannah because she felt activities like selling cookies were trivial compared with some of the skills highlighted in groups for boys. Richards also recalled taking her children to womens basketball games at the University of Texas when they were young. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement She told Texas-based news outlet The 19th that she felt powerful voting for Kamala Harris and was excited that many young voters would cast their first ballot in a presidential election for a woman. Richards spoke in support of Harris at last Augusts Democratic National Convention in Chicago, where she said shed recently become a grandmother and criticized the 2022 reversal of the Roe v Wade ruling that made abortion legal in 1973. Politics should never stand in the way of anyones health care, she said. Harris lost the presidential race to Republican Donald Trump, who was sworn into office hours after Richards died. He boasted about helping overturn Roe v. Wade during his first term in office, but claims to oppose a national abortion ban. By Nazrin Abdul The British Ambassador to Azerbaijan, Fergus Auld, visited the Alley of Martyrs to honor the 35th anniversary of the January 20 tragedy. Azernews reports the ambassador shared his thoughts on his "X" account, expressing deep sorrow for the lives lost during the tragic events. "I deeply mourn the heroes who died for freedom and the independence of Azerbaijan during the bloody January 20 events," the ambassador stated. January 20, 1990, marks a pivotal moment in Azerbaijans struggle for freedom and territorial integrity. On that day, Soviet combat units were deployed against peaceful protesters in Baku, who were outraged by Armenia's territorial claims against Azerbaijan and the Soviet Union's support for them. This led to an unprecedented tragedy in which many brave Azerbaijanis, prioritizing their country's freedom and dignity, sacrificed their lives for the nation's cause. This tragic day remains a solemn reminder of the courage and determination of those who gave their lives for Azerbaijans independence. PANAMA CITY, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino on Monday rejected the position of U.S. President Donald Trump demanding the return of the Panama Canal. The Panamanian president stressed that the Republic of Panama and its people reject "comprehensively the words outlined by President Donald Trump related to Panama and its Canal, in his inaugural speech." The canal "is and will continue to be Panama's and its administration will continue to be under Panamanian control with respect to its permanent neutrality," Mulino said on social media platform X. He specified there is no presence of any nation in the world that interferes with the administration of Panama. For 25 years, "uninterruptedly, we have managed and expanded it responsibly to serve the world and its commerce, including the United States," the president said. Mulino said Panama will exercise "the law that protects us, the legal basis of the Treaty (Torrijos-Carter), the dignity that distinguishes us and the strength that international law gives us as the ideal way to manage relations between countries and, above all, between allied and friendly countries, as demonstrated by history and our actions with respect to the United States." Dialogue is always the way to clarify the points mentioned without undermining "our right, total sovereignty and ownership of our channel," he added. SIOUX CITY, Iowa (KCAU) A former paramedic with the Sioux City Fire Rescue is accused of allegedly giving a patient the wrong medication that led to the patients death. Deanna LaMere, 46, is charged with involuntary manslaughter, an aggravated misdemeanor. She was arrested on a warrant on Friday. According to court documents filed Thursday, officers with the Sioux City Police Department were called on Aug. 18, 2023, to a residence in the 2700 block of 3rd Street for a man freaking out and laying in the street rolling around. An officer was able to identify the man as James Foster Jr., 26, and determined he wanted medical assistance even though he was not making any sense. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Sioux City Fire and Rescue paramedics arrived shortly after and could not get him to calm down. A cot was brought so Foster could be transported in an ambulance but officials could not get him on it. LaMere was the paramedic in charge and the only person qualified to administer any medication, the documents state. She was also the person to make the decision on whether to administer medication. Suspect in Bloomfield homicide case requests that jury trial be moved LaMere allegedly chose to give Foster Ketamine to try to calm him down. After going to the ambulance, she came back with a syringe and gave Foster a shot in the arm. She went back to the ambulance to get a second dose, but realized she gave Roster the wrong medication. Instead of the intended Ketamine, she had allegedly given him Rocuronium. Documents state that Rocuronium is only used in extreme cases. If the drug is administered by IC, a patient has to intubated withing 30 to 60 seconds, but since Foster was given the drug by injections, the drug would take longer to take affect. As Foster was getting loaded into the ambulance, he allegedly said he couldnt breathe. He went limp and unconscious shortly after that. Officials gave Foster CPR on the trip to the hospital, and once they got to a hospitals ER, LaMere told medical staff of the medication error. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Foster died two days later on Aug. 20, 2023. The Iowa State Medical Examiners Office, determined that Foster died due to global hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy and cardiac arrest due to administration of Rocuronium. The court documents state that LaMere knew what Rocuronium would do and how to treat after an injection but she did not take the appropriate actions. As a paramedic, the defendant is required to verify the medication before drawing it up and administering it. The defendant admitted she failed to do this, documents state. After the defendant realized she had administered the wrong medication, she did not take the appropriate steps to notify anyone or treat the patient any different. If convicted, LaMere could face up to two years in prison and a fine of $8,540. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 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 SiouxlandProud | Sioux City, IA | News, Weather, and Sports. The first three Israeli hostages released as part of a new ceasefire agreement in the Gaza war are in "stable condition," the hospital where they were brought told the Times of Israel on Monday. Emily Damari, Romi Gonen and Doron Steinbrecher were freed on Sunday after spending more than 15 months in captivity in the Gaza Strip. "It will take a few more days to complete all the needed examinations," said Sefi Mendelovich, deputy director general of health at Sheba Medical Center near Tel Aviv. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The three women were abducted to Gaza during the Hamas-led October 7 attacks on Israel. After being handed over to the International Red Cross, they were brought to the hospital to reunite with their families. Some 90 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails have been freed in exchange for the women's release. Damari, who holds both Israeli and British citizenship, took to Instagram to express her feelings following her release after 471 days in captivity. "I have returned to my beloved life," the 28-year-old was quoted as writing by the Times of Israel. "I'm the happiest in the world now just to be." Elon Musk and rival tech bro Jeff Bezos continued to try and patch things up Sunday night over a candlelight dinner alongside a gaggle of Trump loyalists ahead of the MAGA chiefs inauguration. A slew of Trump allies attended the plush event at the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C., and a group of his most powerful friends were spotted chatting amicably before taking their seats. Fresh from trading compliments and Stepbrothers memes on X after the latter finally launched a rocket into space, Musk and Bezos shook hands and tried to put hostilities behind them. Bezos also has a history of fights with the Trumps, of course, but the billionaire is now desperately trying to ingratiate himself with the incoming administration. In the midst of the high-powered gaggle, the Amazon founders wife, Lauren Sanchez, stooped in to hug Ivanka Trump more than once, presumably admiring her custom Oscar de la Renta dress. Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk and Jared Kushner at Trump Inauguration Candlelight Dinner at National Building Museum pic.twitter.com/CROusR8QPV Howard Mortman (@HowardMortman) January 20, 2025 Her husband, businessman Jared Kushner, saw all of the backslapping and ran over to get involved, as Neuralink director Shivon Zilis got considerable airtime with a beaming Bezos, too. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement JD Vance was there also, of course, with his wife Usha. Although, they were conspicuously absent from this particular billionaire love in. Also at the bash were Donald Trump Jr. and girlfriend Bettina Anderson, despite reports that his father is not sold on the former party girl. Its been a very big day and tomorrows going to be an even bigger day, the President-elect said on stage, addressing the crowd on the eve of what he called one of the most important days in the history of our country. He tried to rouse the crowd by rolling out his slogan make America great again, before promising to sign around 100 executive orders on his first day as president. He also said he intends to tap into the liquid gold beneath our feet, promising to drill baby drill. The gaggle of Trump loyalists enjoy the party atmosphere. / Anna Moneymaker / Getty Images We will not waste a single moment in delivering on our promises to the people, he added. The Daily Mail reported that Trump also slammed the the Biden administration for characterizing his first term in office as a failure, awkward considering the two men will reportedly share a limo to the Capitol for Trumps swearing in. Trumps team also joked about a White House EVICTION NOTE for Biden on X. Earlier Sunday at his Make America Great Again Victory Rally, he spoke about the executive orders, immigration, TikTok, the Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal as well as the Los Angeles wildfires. Musk also awkwardly spoke on stage at the campaign-style rally in front of an estimated 20,000 people, while the Village People performed the adopted Trump hit Y.M.C.A. Jan. 19A resident of To'hajiilee, Michelle "Paulene" Abeyta recently hauled 50 gallons of drinking water from Albuquerque to her home in the Navajo community about 30 miles west of the city, which has endured lingering water issues over the years. She has running water, she said, but the quality is not consistently good. Elected in November to represent a New Mexico House district with a large Native American population, Abeyta who is Navajo and a Democrat will take her oath Tuesday as one of the state's new lawmakers. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement She noted newspaper photographs of orange- and rust-colored water and the struggles of those in her House District 69, which includes multiple Navajo Nation chapters, Laguna and Acoma pueblos and a portion of Isleta Pueblo. "I understand that struggle," she said. At least 28 new lawmakers will be walking the halls of the Roundhouse on Tuesday, when the New Mexico Legislature convenes for its 60-day 2025 session. Indeed, about a quarter of the members will be new to their seats, although that is a somewhat deceptive figure because some are transitioning from the House to the Senate. Abeyta is one of 60 women elected Nov. 5 to seats in the now female-majority Legislature of 112 members. House Speaker Javier Martinez, D-Albuquerque, noted the loss of institutional knowledge with the high volume of newcomers. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "On the flip side, the opportunity is that you are getting new energy; you're getting fresh ideas; you're getting new blood, and I also believe that that's a tremendous, tremendous asset," he said. "Even though these folks coming in are ... 'new,' if you look at their life history, if you look at their professional experience, if you look at their personal experience my goodness ... we've got an incredible, incredible group of legislators coming in, and I'm excited to work with them," Martinez added. 'Part of that momentum' Feeling a sense of beckoning excitement, Abeyta will be joined Tuesday by members of her community during an inauguration that will make her the first Native woman to represent District 69, she said. She sees the need for resources for families, noting she has four children two of her own and two she is raising through kinship care. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "So many families have been plagued with drug abuse, substance abuse," Abeyta said. "And when that happens, relatives are tasked with stepping up to care for the children. In my role as legislator, I hope to get more services for substance abuse, behavioral health." Abeyta defeated former Rep. Harry Garcia in a June Democratic primary last year despite raising $65,000 to Garcia's $177,000; she earned about 57% of the vote. She hit the pavement of her rural district hard, she said, covering close to 5,000 miles of territory in 90 days of campaigning ahead of the primary. "I'm homegrown here, and I think it's important to have representation from someone in Santa Fe who knows the everyday struggle," she said. As someone with deep ties to San Miguel County, Anita Gonzales, another newcomer, hails from the Lopez family of Villanueva, and the Gallegos and Gonzales families of Las Vegas, N.M., her campaign website states. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "I'm very proud to be what I would call pure San Miguel County," said Gonzales, a Democrat who will begin to represent House District 70 on Tuesday. Gonzales also prevailed in the June primary against a more conservative male incumbent who had a campaign fundraising advantage: She edged out former Rep. Ambrose Castellano, who raised $219,000 to her $100,000. She campaigned on her connection to the Las Vegas area and her legislative priorities. Gonzales and Abeyta are among those who helped propel women to the majority in the Legislature for the first time in the state's history; though, women are still in the minority in the Senate. "I'm extremely proud to be a part of that momentum swing. I believe I'm the first female representative for my district, and that's huge, a different look for my community," Gonzales said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement 'New season of innovation' Incoming Rep. Elaine Sena Cortez, R-Hobbs, was preparing Friday to pack up and head to Santa Fe. She said the foundation of her political work is "God, family and New Mexicans," as well as fighting for the conservative values of Lea County. Sena Cortez expressed excitement about all the new faces this year. "So there is going to be a learning curve. It's going to be a big incoming freshman class, the biggest they've had in a while," she said, adding she recently spent some time in the capital city for orientation. "It feels like it is going to be a new season of innovation, and a new perspective, and you have all of these people who are looking at things through different lenses." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement For Sena Cortez, that's exactly what the state needs. The Republican from Eastern New Mexico has already gained some attention by saying she plans to introduce a bill that would attempt to eliminate the income tax in New Mexico, noting a handful of states like Texas and Alaska don't tax individual income. Cindy Nava, 37, a Bernalillo Democrat elected to represent District 9 in the state Senate, formerly served as the senior policy adviser to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. As someone who grew up as an undocumented resident but is now a citizen, she said her election to the seat offers a new brand of representation. "I'm legitimately the daughter of a construction worker and of a woman who cleans houses for a living. I was not meant to be in the place that I am in now. But I will tell you what I told them when I went to the White House representation matters," Nava said. Some new lawmakers have had specific experiences in their districts that inform their policy priorities. Joseph Hernandez, a Farmington Democrat who has seen the impacts of the oil industry firsthand while growing up in the Shiprock area, said one of his priorities is clean energy initiatives. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "We have a lot of abandoned oil fields in my backyard, and that's why I'm so passionate about renewable energy and why we need to diversify our economy," said Hernandez, who is from the Navajo community of To'koi. Anthony "Ant" Thornton, a Sandia Park Republican who will represent state Senate District 19, is a retired Sandia National Laboratories aerospace engineer who also worked at Lockheed Martin. Once a Democrat, he has worked in recent years to strengthen the Republican Party of Bernalillo County's strategic planning as the GOP seeks to gain ground in New Mexico. "I'm coming at this from a totally different perspective than, say, a traditional litigator, politician, lawyer-type person," said Thornton, who was the Republican nominee for lieutenant governor in 2022. "I come with a technical background." Thornton said he has been to Texas border communities like Del Rio and Eagle Pass and is concerned about crime and human trafficking. He wants to work on legislation that would create a "border czar" office, similar to Texas. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "Texas has their own state border czar and we should have a state border czar to help coordinate [with the federal government]," he said. Staff writer Daniel J. Chacon contributed to this report. Staff writer Daniel J. Chacon contributed to this report. DURHAM, N.C. (WNCN) The story of a local Holocaust survivor lives on, five years after his death. A friend of Abe Piasek will share his powerful message in Durham next week on International Holocaust Remembrance Day. Holocaust survivor, Abe Piasek, who was born in Poland and eventually moved to Raleigh, spent decades sharing his story of survival, teaching younger generations about the horrors of the Holocaust, the danger of hatred, and the power of kindness. In 2019 he shared with CBS 17 his experience enduring five years in Nazi labor and death camps. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement As we were marching people were falling down, and if the guards saw you they shot you, he recalled. PREVIOUS: Triangle teacher carries on Holocaust survivors legacy by continuing to tell his story Steve Goldberg was working as a history teacher when he first heard Piasek speak. Abes story is unforgettable, he said. There was much more to his story than he was able to share with us in 45 minutes. Realizing Piaseks message must be preserved, Goldberg asked if he could record some conversations. Through their meetings, the two developed a friendship. Piasek even visited the Holocaust museum with Goldbergs class. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement PREVIOUS: After 40 years of silence, Raleigh Holocaust survivors story now inspires others Then in early 2020, Piasek had a bad fall and his health began failing. I went to his bedside and he was very weak, Goldberg recounted. He said to me, Keep telling my story.' Piasek died a few days later but Goldberg has spent the past five years making sure his friends legacy lives on. With the support of Piaseks family, Goldberg visits schools and community groups, sharing Piaseks story, much of it through video in Piaseks own words. Its an incredible honor, Goldberg explained. People say that they feel like they got to know Abe. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He hopes theyll take his friends messages to heart. I think the more people hear Abes story, the better the world is, Goldberg said. Goldberg will share My Friend Abe a Holocaust survivors story on Monday, January 27 from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. in the Main Auditorium of Durhams Main Library at 300 N. Roxboro St. The event is free, but people are asked to register in advance. You can do so here: https://durhamcountylibrary.libcal.com/event/12772897 Copyright 2025 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. Forty years ago today, temperatures in Chicago dipped to an all-time low of minus 27 degrees. The cold stretched to D.C., where it forced Ronald Reagans presidential inauguration ceremony indoors. As a blast of Arctic air hits most of the country, Donald Trump will also be sworn in as president inside the Capitol on Monday because of the frigid conditions. Chicago wont be spared this time either, with temperatures plunging below freezing from Sunday night to Tuesday morning. Though the cold wont be record-shattering in the area, subzero windchills will reach a dangerous minus 20 to minus 25 degrees. As little as 30 minutes could cause frostbite on exposed skin. It will be the coldest air this winter, for sure, said Gino Izzi, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service office in Chicago. It really is just a buckling of the jet stream thats allowing some cold air from Canada and actually, even from north of Canada in the Arctic to spread southward across much of the country, including all the way down to the Gulf Coast. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In Chicago, temperatures are typically around 31 degrees this time of year. After a December of slightly above-average temperatures, in which warm weather outweighed cold stretches, Izzi said, the cold has been winning out so far in January. The National Weather Service issued two cold weather advisories for the city and other parts of Illinois from 6 p.m. Sunday to noon Monday, and later from 9 p.m. Monday to noon Tuesday. The coldest part of the stretch will be felt Monday night into Tuesday, particularly for areas near and north of I-80, where wind chills will range from minus 20 to minus 29. This weather also prompted the postponement of a protest planned for Inauguration Day in Chicago a rebrand of the Womens March as the Peoples March for Justice organized by a coalition of 60 national and local organizations to Saturday. The groups cited concern for attendees health and an effort to enable more people to attend, according to an email. Temperatures have dipped to minus 16 degrees or below on only three days over the last 25 years: Jan. 6, 2014, and Jan. 30-31, 2019. Many of the citys lowest recorded temperatures came from arctic snaps in 1872 and 1899. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Its hard to say how many cold stretches Chicago experiences on average each winter, Izzi said. Every winter is different. If you think back to last winter, it was incredibly mild all through December, and it was still mild at the beginning of January. Then, we had two and a half weeks of brutal winter weather. And then it was mild again, he said. And actually, February was the warmest February on record. But then, if you think back to the infamous polar vortex winter (2013-14), it was just cold blast after cold blast after cold blast. So it varies from winter to winter. And during a winter of abnormally high temperatures, any drops into the 20s feel like a cold snap even though thats kind of a normal winter. If every day is in the 20s, dropping into the teens is not that big of a deal, Izzi said. So its all relative. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Chicago weather: A look back at our coldest recorded temperatures The cold will persist through Wednesday morning. Monday afternoon and evening might see intermittent flurries, followed by a chance of accumulating snow on Wednesday and Thursday. After the cold snap, temperatures will be closer to late-January normals through the weekend. The weather service warned temperatures could lead to possible ice jams and localized flooding that is, rapid ice buildup on rivers and streams may cause a rapid rise in water levels with little to no notice. Residents should limit their time outside and dress warmly, making sure to cover their head, face and mouth with a knit hat or scarf, protect their hands with mittens or gloves, wear several layers of loose-fitting clothes and put on water-resistant shoes or boots. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The city of Chicagos Office of Emergency Management and Communications urges locals to check on family, neighbors and friends and keep their pets indoors. More than 200 warming centers and public facilities will be open citywide through Friday, including community service centers, senior centers, some Chicago Public Library branches, Chicago Park District field houses and Chicago Police Department districts during business or designated hours. Library branches will be closed on Monday for Martin Luther King Jr. Day. To find the closest available warming center and hours, residents can contact 311 via phone or online at 311.chicago.gov. Five overnight shelters for youth and adults will be operating through Wednesday morning for those needing emergency assistance. Two daytime drop-in centers will provide extended hours to homeless people: Lincoln Park Community Services at 1521 N. Sedgwick St. from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday and Tuesday, as well as the Broadway Youth Center at 1023 W. Irving Park Road from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday. Chicago Tribunes Rebecca Johnson and Kori Rumore Finley contributed. adperez@chicagotribune.com A pregnant woman accused of killing her one-year-old son in Georgia was captured and taken into custody in upstate New York. Gloria Wright, 23, was arrested in Rochester with the assistance of the U.S. Marshals on Saturday, Jan. 18. Wright was wanted for first-degree murder and first-degree cruelty to children after her one-year-old son was discovered not breathing at a Georgia home on Jan. 8. The boy later died at a hospital, according to the Rockdale County Sheriffs Office. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Wright was interviewed by police after her child's discovery, but had not been seen since. Authorities were offering a $5,000 reward for information on Wright's whereabouts. 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 child died from blunt force trauma to the head, per WSB-TV. A telephone call with the medical examiner who assisted in the autopsy did conclude that the acute skull fractures were not the result of an accidental fall or drop, according to a warrant, WSB-TV reported. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Wright is also currently pregnant with another child, the Rockdale County Sheriff's office told WSB-TV prior to her arrest. We have a small child that has lost its life in the hands of its mother and we would like to get this mother in custody because she is currently carrying another child right now, so we would like to get her in custody for her safety and for the safety of that child, Rockdale County Sheriffs investigator Grote Levett told WSB-TV. The sheriff's office said it would provide an update when further details become available. If you suspect child abuse, call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child or 1-800-422-4453, or go to www.childhelp.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages. Read the original article on People Support for victims and survivors of domestic violence is available 24/7: 1-800-897-LINK (5465). If you or someone else is in immediate danger, or in an emergency, please call 911 immediately. TAYLORSVILLE, Utah (ABC4) Hundreds of community members gathered to raise money for the family of a woman who was murdered in an alleged domestic violence incident earlier this month. Just over two weeks ago, Talia Benward, 31, was found dead in a remote part of Tooele County after she was last seen on Jan. 1. Benwards boyfriend and suspected killer, Nestor Oved Rocha-Aguayo, 24, was arrested just a day later as he attempted to flee the country. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement DETAILS: 2 arrested for murder after 17-year-old girl chased down, killed in Cedar City More than 20 local vendors came together on Sunday, Jan. 19, to raise funds for the Benward family. Each vendor will be donating either part or all of their proceeds to the family. Furthermore, hundreds of community members came to share their own experiences dealing with domestic violence in hopes to raise awareness. Yosanellen Lopez-Carrasco, a local business owner and organizer of Sundays fundraiser, says Benward was a big part of her business Luxury Flowers. Since we always help our small business community come together when [theres] a tragedy like this, we started a fundraiser, Lopez-Carrasco said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Sundays fundraiser also raised funds for domestic violence resources and awareness through raffles and donation jars. According to organizers, the turnout was unexpected. Vendor raises money for domestic violence victims family Vendor raises money for domestic violence victims family Community members show out to support domestic violence victim Its a great turnout! We were not expecting that many people come, Lopez-Carrasco said, adding that she hopes the event will help raise awareness for how prevalent domestic violence has become. Family of Utah student who died hiking in Hawaii over winter break speaks out According to the Utah Department of Health & Human Services, one in four adult homicides is related to domestic violence. Organizers like Lopez-Carrasco urged potential victims of domestic violence to not be afraid to reach out for help. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Just speak up for yourself. Do a report. Do what you can, Lopez-Carrasco said. Those interested in helping the Benward family can find more information here. Charges are allegations only. All arrested persons are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Copyright 2025 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. This screen image captured at Beijing Aerospace Control Center on Jan. 20, 2025 shows Shenzhou-19 astronaut Song Lingdong performing extravehicular activities outside China's orbiting space station. (Xinhua/Liu Fang) BEIJING, Jan. 21 (Xinhua) -- Members of the Shenzhou-19 crew aboard China's orbiting space station completed their mission's second series of extravehicular activities (EVAs) at 1:12 a.m. (Beijing Time) on Tuesday, according to the China Manned Space Agency. Astronauts Cai Xuzhe, Song Lingdong and Wang Haoze worked for 8.5 hours to complete multiple tasks, including the installation of space debris protection devices and an extravehicular inspection. They were assisted by the space station's robotic arm and a team on Earth. Cai and Song, the two crew members assigned to undertake spacewalk duties, have since returned to the Wentian lab module safely. Since completing their first spacewalk on Dec. 17, 2024, the crew members have undertaken a series of tasks, including the inspection and maintenance of the space station's equipment, system-wide pressure emergency drills, and preparations for the second series of EVAs. They have completed nearly half of their space journey and are scheduled to carry out a significant number of in-orbit scientific experiments and technological tests, the agency said. Amid their busy schedule, they will also welcome the upcoming Spring Festival, also known as the Chinese Lunar New Year. This screen image captured at Beijing Aerospace Control Center on Jan. 20, 2025 shows Shenzhou-19 astronaut Cai Xuzhe working inside the airlock cabin of China's orbiting space station. (Xinhua/Liu Fang) This screen image captured at Beijing Aerospace Control Center on Jan. 20, 2025 shows Shenzhou-19 astronaut Wang Haoze working inside China's orbiting space station. (Xinhua/Liu Fang) This screen image captured at Beijing Aerospace Control Center on Jan. 20, 2025 shows Shenzhou-19 astronaut Song Lingdong leaving China's orbiting space station for extravehicular activities. (Xinhua/Liu Fang) This screen image captured at Beijing Aerospace Control Center on Jan. 20, 2025 shows Shenzhou-19 astronaut Song Lingdong performing extravehicular activities outside China's orbiting space station. (Xinhua/Liu Fang) This screen image captured at Beijing Aerospace Control Center on Jan. 20, 2025 shows Shenzhou-19 astronauts Cai Xuzhe (R) and Song Lingdong (L) performing extravehicular activities outside China's orbiting space station. (Xinhua/Liu Fang) HONOLULU (KHON2) A Honolulu firefighter who tragically lost his life in the line of duty will be laid to rest. Get Hawaiis latest morning news delivered to your inbox, sign up for News 2 You Twenty-five-year-old Jeff Fiala was killed while fighting an apartment fire on Young Street in the McCully area on Jan. 6. Five other firefighters and one occupant were hospitalized. The incident was later classified as accidental due to unattended cooking, according to reports from HFD and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tabacco, Firearms and Explosives National Response Team. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Honoring a hero: Honolulu mourns fallen firefighter Jeffrey Fiala A private funeral will be held on Saturday, Jan. 25 at HFD Headquarters. Community members who wish to pay their respects can observe the procession along the route or through the Olelo Community Media livestream. HFD said they will release the procession details at a later time. The community is welcome to drop off flowers and lei at HFD Headquarters on Friday, Jan. 24 between 7 a.m. and 4 p.m. Fiala was a 2017 graduate of Radford High School and attended the University of Hawaii at Manoa to earn his Bachelor of Arts degree in 2021. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He later decided to join the Honolulu Fire Department in 2022 where he was accepted into HFDs 115th Recruit Class in July 2023. Fiala was stationed in Waiau and ended the remainder of his service in Kakaako. Loved ones said he was known for his enthusiasm, positive attitude, sense of humor, his love for the ocean and adventure and his devotion to his family and friends. Check out more news from around Hawaii He is survived by his wife, parents, two brothers and two cats. Copyright 2025 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 KHON2. Gal Gadot, Gwyneth Paltrow, Mayim Bialik and Michael Rapaport were among the celebrities who shared news and offered reactions to the release of three hostages held in Gaza by Hamas on Sunday. Paltrow shared a post each in honor of the hostages in her Instagram Stories and captioned the third photo, Let the healing begin. Romi Doron and Emily reunited with their mothers after 471 days in Hamas captivity, Bialik wrote in her own Instagram Stories, they are finally home and safe again . Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Bialik reshared a post from Israeli author Hen Mazzig that featured photos of Gonen, Damari and Steinbrecher reuniting with their mothers. Gelman shared video of Gonen dancing and captioned it, We got her back!!! alongside six hearts, as well as articles about the return of the three hostages in his Instagram Stories. He also linked to a post that shared a statement from Mandy Damari, Emilys mother. After 471 days Emily is finally home, Mandy wrote. I want to thank everyone who never stopped fighting for Emily throughout this horrendous ordeal, and who never stopped saying her name. In Israel, Britain, the United States and around the world. Thank you for bringing Emily home. While Emilys nightmare in Gaza is over, for too many other families the impossible wait continues. Every last hostage must be released, and humanitarian aid must be provided to the hostages who are still waiting to come home, she added. We ask that the media please respect Emilys and our familys privacy during this time. Israeli actress Gadot also celebrated the release in her Instagram Stories. Gadot shared a collage featuring photos of the girls with their mothers and wrote, Doron, Romi and Emily are finally home. Three families reunited. Still holding onto hope for the 94 hostages who remain. #BringThemHome. Sharon Osbourne posted a video on her Instagram feed about the release of the hostages. The video was shared by several accounts on Instagram and Osbourne offered no further comment. Prepare to cry. Romi Gonen, Emily Damari, and Doron Steinbrecher are reunited with their families in hospital. pic.twitter.com/TWMCje0xCT Aviva Klompas (@AvivaKlompas) January 19, 2025 Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Actor and podcaster Rapaport shared several posts on X about the release of Gonen, Damari and Steinbrecher. One post was a reshare of a video that showed the moment the girls met their families in the hospital. The first stage of the deal was expected to bring freedom to 33 hostages over six weeks. That list includes two of the American citizens presumed to still be alive. President Joe Biden said four more Israeli women were expected to be released within a week, with another two weeks before the start of the second phase. The cease-fire is the product of months of talks between Egypt, Qatar and the United States. The conflict in the Middle East began Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas terrorists invaded Israel, killing 1,195 people and taking 251 captives; Israel launched its bombing and infantry campaign into Gaza three weeks later. The post Gal Gadot, Gwyneth Paltrow and More Celebrities React to Israeli Hostage Release: Let the Healing Begin appeared first on TheWrap. As the Gaza ceasefire takes hold, aid workers caution that the toughest challenges are yet to come, describing the truce as only the first step on a long road to recovery. For humanitarian workers and aid agencies, the road is expected to be long and arduous with challenges including areas in the north of Gaza that remain hard to reach and criminal gangs that loot United Nations convoys carrying precious food, to a looming Israeli ban on the main UN agency responsible for distributing aid in Gaza. At least 630 aid trucks entered Gaza on Sunday, with at least 300 of them headed to the north, according to a senior UN official. The UN, which said it has 4,000 trucks ready to enter Gaza, says the availability of food is not the problem, but that the delivery mechanism is wrought with obstacles. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The issue is not to get the goods in, Palestine Country Director for the UN World Food Programme (WFP) Antoine Renard told CNN from Gaza last week. He added that there are currently goods on standby at the Egyptian border with Gaza, and that the aid is gradually making its way from Ashdod in Israel, where it arrives for redistribution. Enough food aid is waiting at Gazas borders to feed 1 million people for three months, WFP has said. It also has supplies such as food parcels, wheat flour, commodities for hot meals, and nutrition supplements. But some areas in Gaza remain totally cut off from aid. People check the rubble of buildings hit in Israeli strikes the previous night in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip, on January 16. - Omar Al-Qattaa/AFP/Getty Images Barely any food has gone into besieged North Gaza for more than two months. Winter cold and rain are further reducing peoples ability to survive, WFP warned. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Israel launched a military offensive in northern Gaza in October for the third time since the war began, leading to a full closure to aid for the first 15 days of that month, Renard said. Israel had said it was battling resurging Hamas fighters. Some Gaza governorates began slowly opening up after last October, including in Gaza City, Renard said, but parts of the north remained choked ahead of the ceasefire, which came into effect Sunday. The northern governorates of Jabalya, Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoun remain severely restricted. We had to cut everything (there after the Israeli military operation), he said. WFP said that in the north, West Erez (Zikim) crossing is operational, but is only supplying aid to Gaza City. Access to North Gaza governorate has been consistently denied, it said. Israeli ban on UN agency Apart from cutting off parts of the north, an Israeli ban against WFPs aid partner, UNRWA, is set to come into effect in two weeks. WFP and UNRWA each support 1.1 million people in Gaza, making UNRWAs role crucial for aid distribution. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The ban came after Israel accused some UNRWA employees of participating in the attack that left 1,200 people in Israel dead. A UN investigation found that nine employees from UNWRA may have been involved in the October 7 attack and no longer work at the agency. UNRWA has, however, long been a target of Israeli criticism. Israel has accused the UN agency of anti-Israel incitement, which UNRWA denies. In 2017, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sought to dismantle the UN body. Last year, Israels parliament, the Knesset, passed two bills; one barring UNRWA from activity within Israel, and another banning Israeli authorities from any contact with UNRWA revoking the 1967 treaty that allows the agency to provide services to Palestinian refugees in areas under Israels control. The move is expected to severely restrict UNRWA from operating in territories Israel occupies, including Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We do not know how Israel is going to implement the Knesset bills, Renard said, adding that the UN agency will nonetheless remain operational. It is unclear if the UN has a contingency plan for when the ban comes into effect. Our plan is to stay and deliver until we cannot, UNRWA Communications Director Juliette Touma, told CNN Friday, adding that UNRWA can only hand over operations to a Palestinian institution, which can only happen through a diplomatic solution that will also address the plight of Palestine refugees. Flour is distributed in Khan Yunis by the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, or UNRWA, in Khan Younis, Gaza on December 24. - Abed Rahim Khatib/Anadolu/Getty Images The UNRWA official added that the agency has not received any communications from the government of Israel on how they plan to implement those bills. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In response, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said that there are a lot of other agencies that can help with humanitarian aid into Gaza. We have states that want to help to achieve that goal. So UNRWA is not an objective. UNRWA is also not the solution, Saar told reporters Sunday, adding that the UN is in a position to help assure that the objective of the humanitarian aid to Gaza residents wont be hurt. Criminal gangs in Gaza Another challenge faced by aid groups is looting of relief supplies by criminal gangs operating in Gaza. One of the ways aid trucks try to mitigate that risk is to use protected roads that aim to circumvent looting areas. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Israel has repeatedly accused the UN of allowing aid thats been delivered into Gaza to pile up at the enclaves borders without being distributed. But Renard said that convoys are often looted as soon as they enter Gaza. Distributors are too afraid of losing the cargo, he said. Palestinian NGOs inside Gaza have previously accused Israeli forces of targeting civil police and other aid safeguarding bodies to incite chaos and lawlessness. CNN has reached out to the IDF about their stance regarding Gazan civil police. The law and order remain a sticky point, but with the ceasefire coming in, would the blue police be able to operate? Renard questioned, referring to Gazan civil police. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The war in Gaza has killed more than 46,900 people during the 15 months it has dragged on, according to the health ministry there, as well as decimating large swathes of the territory and displacing nearly the entire population. The number of people killed is believed to be significantly higher than the figure reported by authorities in the enclave, according to findings announced by the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) and published in The Lancet journal, which found that the ministry has underreported the death toll due to violence by approximately 41%. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com German budget airline Eurowings will begin operating Boeing jets in 2027, with the Lufthansa subsidiary announcing on Monday that it would receive a total of 40 737-8 MAX aircraft from the US manufacturer. The deal is the largest fleet modernization in the German budget airline's history, with the aircraft set to be delivered from 2027. The airline currently operates a fleet of aircraft exclusively from European aerospace giant Airbus, the key global rival of Boeing. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The new Boeing jets are to gradually replace older Airbus A319 and A320 jets by 2032. The parent company, German aviation conglomerate Lufthansa, had announced the purchase of the small Boeings with a list price of around $5 billion in December 2023. But Lufthansa at the time left open which of its subsidiary airlines would actually use the jets. The Boeing aircraft is also flown by Eurowings' competitors Ryanair and Tuifly. The 737-8 Max model got off to a difficult start with two serious accidents in 2018 and 2019 in which 346 people lost their lives. The safety deficiencies were only rectified after production was halted. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement According to Eurowings, the new aircraft have a greater range and more seats than the jets they are replacing, and reportedly consume up to 30% less fuel. The Lufthansa Group last put a Boeing 737 aircraft into service in 1995. PEORIA, Ill. (WMBD) It was all good stories, good food and good beer at the annual Winterfest at the Lindenhof in Peoria on Sunday. Harmonie Concordia and The German American Central Society hosted its annual Winterfest to celebrate the transition from winter to spring. Guests enjoyed authentic German food like pork loin, spaetzle and German spicy meatballs. They also got to enjoy some live accordion music, German beer and hot spiced wine. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Winterfest pays homage to early German feasts, where warriors would share stories with the community over food and drink. Harmonie Concordias president said it all about celebrating the German with the community. I think its community as much as anything. People enjoy celebrating the culture, and the good food, but we call it in German, its called gemutlichkeit and thats having a good time enjoying each others company. And thats a big aspect of the social element of our organization, said Daniel Fuertges. The German American Central Society holds monthly events at the Lindenhof restaurant located at 7601 N Harker Dr. that celebrate German culture. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 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 CIProud.com. German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has warned Chancellor Olaf Scholz against using the issue of funding aid for Ukraine in the election campaign. Source: German television news channel n-tv citing Baerbock, as reported by European Pravda Details: Baerbock, during a meeting with her Lithuanian counterpart Kestutis Budrys in Berlin, emphasised that "the times are too difficult and Germany has too much responsibility to be caught up in election rhetoric over the next few weeks". Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Quote from Baerbock: "This is a crucial issue for trust in Europe, whether we are able to act in the interests of the security of all of us, our European security." Details: Baerbock noted that all German officials had promised neighbouring European countries that they would support Ukraine as long as it needs support from Germany and that the country would support its Eastern European partners. "It is important that we continue to do this, especially in difficult times," Baerbock pointed out. Background: Earlier, German newspaper Spiegel had unofficially learned that there was a dispute within the German government over an additional arms package for Ukraine worth about 3 billion. Later, German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius refuted claims that German Chancellor Olaf Scholz had been blocking the additional package for Ukraine. Meanwhile, Scholz himself stated that he opposed increasing the planned military assistance to Ukraine if it required cuts to other budget items. He also noted that there had been no parliamentary majority to suspend Germanys strict debt limit, known as the "debt brake", to fund aid to Ukraine or other policies. German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock had previously criticised the government for its indecision regarding aid for Ukraine, emphasising that "Germany as a whole isnt currently seen as a driving force for peace policy in Europe". Support UP or become our patron! The German parliament is to debate an application for a ban on the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) in plenary session for the first time next week, its proposers said in Berlin on Monday. "With its constantly increasing radicalism, the AfD is expressing historically revisionist positions with increasing blatancy," one of the initiators, Marco Wanderwitz of the centre -right CDU, said. He cited a recent statement from AfD co-head Alice Weidel, in which she termed Adolf Hitler a communist. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Carmen Wegge of the centre-left SPD called on the Bundestag to open the way for the Constitutional Court to take up the issue of an AfD ban. The initiators are a cross-party group and include a Green party member, a member of The Left and the sole member of the SSW Danish-speaking minority group, along with members of the conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and the social democrats (SPD). Under the German constitution, either house of parliament or the government can apply to the top court for a ban on a party. Thus far 124 of 733 members of the Bundestag have backed the application, with the outcome of the debate not clear. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement For a ban, Article 21 of the constitution requires that it be shown that the party concerned is aggressively opposed to the constitution. Senior CDU member of the Bundestag Thorsten Frei (CDU) has come out against a ban, saying it would allow the AfD to represent itself as martyrs. The AfD is currently polling in second place on around 20% ahead of parliamentary elections on February 23. By Thomas Escritt BERLIN (Reuters) - Germans who get their news through TikTok are less likely to see China as a dictatorship, be less critical of Russia's invasion of Ukraine and be more sceptical about climate change and the utility of vaccines than consumers of other media. The findings, in a poll by Allensbach for a foundation linked to Germany's liberal, pro-business Free Democrats, showed that only users of Elon Musk's platform X came close to the same propensity for believing in conspiracy theories as TikTok users. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Coming as debates rage in the U.S. over whether a law shutting the Chinese-owned app down on national security grounds should be enforced or not, the poll provides ammunition to those who say the platform spreads misinformation that risks undermining pluralistic democracies. Recent regional and European Parliament elections have shown that young people, the heaviest users of the video-sharing platform, are particularly likely to back the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, now second in polls ahead of Germany's Feb. 23 election. The poll of some 2,000 people conducted at the end of 2024 found consumers of traditional media were far more likely to view Russia's invasion of Ukraine as illegal and believe Germany should support Kyiv - something the AfD opposes. TikTok, whose parent company is China's ByteDance, did not immediately respond to a request to comment on the survey. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Researchers have warned that foreign actors, especially Russia, are actively seeding popular social media platforms with disinformation designed to advance their agenda - a phenomenon most recently seen in Romania where a social media campaign helped a pro-Russian outsider storm to a shock victory in a presidential election that was later annulled. While 57% of German newspaper readers and 56.5% of public TV viewers fully agreed that China was a dictatorship, only 28.1% of those who got news from TikTok did so. Those who got their news from X, YouTube and podcasts fell in between. Where 40.2% of national newspaper readers fully agreed it was important the West backed Ukraine against Russia's invasion, only 13.6% of TikTok users and 29.8% of X users did so.The survey did not address whether the sharply differing views were the result of the information offered on the platforms themselves or because their users already held different opinions on public affairs. But the under-29s, the heaviest users of TikTok, were more likely to bear the marks of its information environment: only 71% of the under 29s believed vaccines had saved millions of lives, falling to 69% of TikTok users. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement TikTok users were also less likely than consumers of traditional media to believe China and Russia spread false information and more likely to believe the German government did so. "Young people are far more vulnerable to information and TikTok plays a decisive role," said Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger, deputy chair of the foundation that commissioned the survey. "We mustn't allow Chinese and Russian misinformation to spread in our midst." (Reporting by Thomas Escritt; Editing by Ros Russell) Students pose for a photo with bicycles donated under an international bicycle project initiated by the China Foundation for Rural Development in collaboration with Hello Inc. in Birgunj, Madhesh Province, Nepal, Jan. 20, 2025. (Nepal Office of the China Foundation for Rural Development/Handout via Xinhua) KATHMANDU, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- The first batch of 1,000 bicycles from China was donated to Nepal on Monday, benefiting students from nine community schools in two districts of Madhesh Province. Initially covered under the project are 504 students from five schools in Bara district and 496 students from four schools in Parsa district. Nepal becomes the third country after Cambodia and Laos to receive the bikes provided by bike-sharing service provider Hello Inc., with the China Foundation for Rural Development bearing the transport costs, according to Zou Zhiqiang, director of the foundation's Nepal Office. "We hope that this donation becomes the first step in helping solve the problem of going to school for children living in remote areas of Nepal," Zou said at the inauguration ceremony held at a school in the city of Birgunj in southern Nepal. "I'm looking forward to the expansion of the support in the future," said Imtiaz Alam, deputy mayor of Birgunj. Since the international bicycle project was initiated in 2021 by the foundation in collaboration with Hello Inc., 6,024 bikes had been donated to Cambodia and Laos by the end of 2024. The Chinese side has launched a series of poverty-reduction demonstration projects in Nepal, including "Vibrant Village," "Happy Community," "Safe Drinking Water" and "Lighting the Future," noted Wang Xin, a counselor at the Chinese Embassy in Nepal. The Chinese embassy will continue to promote projects in Nepal and bring more benefits to the Nepali people, Wang said at the inauguration ceremony. This photo taken on Jan. 20, 2025 shows bicycles donated under an international bicycle project initiated by the China Foundation for Rural Development in collaboration with Hello Inc. in Birgunj, Madhesh Province, Nepal. (Nepal Office of the China Foundation for Rural Development/Handout via Xinhua) German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock on Sunday called for the approval of 3 billion ($3.1 billion) in arms deliveries to Ukraine before Germany's February 23 election. Baerbock expressed hope that the Budget Committee could finalize the approval in the coming week, she told public broadcaster ARD. "We are experiencing that the Russian president shows no regard for the fact that we are currently in an election campaign and facing a snap election," Baerbock said, referring to Vladimir Putin's ongoing war in Ukraine. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The arms delivery proposal has sparked a dispute between Baerbock, of the Green Party, and Chancellor Olaf Scholz of the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD). Scholz has said he would only approve the arms deliveries if the so-called debt brake, which sets strict government borrowing limits, is suspended to accommodate the funding. Baerbock and her Green Party colleagues, along with the pro-business Free Democrats (FDP) and the conservative CDU/CSU bloc, argue that financing the aid for Ukraine through "extraordinary expenditure" is a feasible option. Ukraine has been defending itself against a Russian full-scale invasion since February 2022. ACCRA, Ghana (AP) Soldiers killed at least seven people at a gold mine in southern Ghana, the West African country's military said. Ghanas armed forces said Sunday in a statement on X that around 60 illegal miners carrying locally manufactured rifles and other weapons breached the security fences of the Obuasi gold mining site in the Ashanti region on Saturday night. The intruders fired at a military patrol deployed there, which returned fire, killing seven of the illegal miners and wounding one, the military said. In a statement, President John Dramani Mahama called for an investigation to determine the circumstances surrounding the shootout. The statement also said that Ghana's government wishes to express deep regret" over the tragic loss of life. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Mahama asked AngloGold Ashanti, the company that owns the mine, to cover the medical expenses for the wounded and burial costs. AngloGold Ashanti is headquartered in the United States but has secondary listings in Ghana and South Africa. In Ghana, alongside the Obuasi mine, it also owns the Iduapriem mine southwest of the country. The company confirmed that a shootout took place at the Obuasi mine and that seven illegal miners were killed. A large group of armed, illegal miners attempted to forcibly gain unauthorized access to mine infrastructure. Authorities mobilized to defend against this attack and to ensure the safety and security of employees and those in the immediate surrounds," the company said in a statement released Sunday. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The chronic challenge of illegal gold mining known locally as galamsey was a major issue during Ghana's presidential election campaign last month and a source of concern for voters, triggering protests and criticism against the outgoing government. Ghana is Africas top gold producer and the worlds sixth largest, but the commodity has been increasingly mined illegally as people become more desperate to find jobs in a crumbling economy. The mining has polluted rivers and other parts of the environment, despite government actions to clamp down on the practice. An overnight fire burned a massive yacht at a Miami International Airport area strip club a 95-foot vessel that was reportedly rented by hip-hop luminary Metro Boomin. Miami-Dade Fire Rescue said when firefighters got to the boat tire around 4:05 a.m. in the 3600 block of Northwest South River Driver, firefighters found a yacht fully engulfed in flames. Fire crews immediately conducted a fire attack from both land and water. The firefight was made difficult due to the vessels size and fuel load. The blazes cause is under investigation. There were no injuries. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement According to WPLG-Channel 10, Metro Boomin had rented the yacht and Booby Trap on The River staff said Metro Boomin was among the approximately 15 guests and boat staff evacuated from the boat. After the fire was extinguished, MDFR said, firefighters tried to limit the fuel runoff with specialized oil spill response equipment that entails an oil-absorbent boom. This strong mesh-like sleeve encases a highly absorbent material that soaks up oil and surface sheen. They came, they saw, they watched another person conquer. Several foreign heads of state and government, from Ecuador to Italy, were among the guests at President Donald Trumps inauguration Monday an unprecedented sight at such an event, according to historians and State Department records. The foreigners presence at a ceremony honoring the new U.S. leader underscored how much Trump has dashed American norms both domestically and globally. It suggested that many foreign leaders see a useful strategy in showing personal deference to Trump to stay in the good graces of the worlds most powerful country. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Also telling was who got prime seats: Argentinas Javier Milei and Italys Giorgia Meloni, who both hail from far-right and libertarian traditions, sat in the special group behind Trump during the ceremony. Foreign leaders listened as Trump used his inauguration speech to promise many goals from imposing major tariffs to retaking the Panama Canal that could directly affect their countries and their populations. America will reclaim its rightful place as the greatest, most powerful, most respected nation on earth, inspiring the awe and admiration of the entire world, Trump pledged. At least one other foreign leader made it inside the crowded Capitol rotunda where Trump took his oath of office: Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa, whose country badly wants a free trade agreement with the United States. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Chinas Xi Jinping declined Trumps invitation, but he sent an envoy, Vice President Han Zheng, whose role is largely ceremonial. Han was in the rotunda, but wasnt seen speaking to many people. No such official attended Bidens inauguration on behalf of Beijing. Other foreign leaders also were in Washington, some at Trumps invitation, but others possibly of their own volition. While they may not have gotten close to the once and once-again president, they made their presence felt in other ways. They showed up at an array of inauguration-related events, walked through the cold and crowded streets, and, of course, posted online. They included Paraguay President Santiago Pena, whose country has heavily courted U.S. investment in recent years. Pena was officially invited but was unable to enter the rotunda, according to an official statement from his government. Paraguay blamed the omission on the lack of an explicit procedure communicated to heads of state when the ceremony moved indoors. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Noboa of Ecuador, who is facing a tough reelection battle but has wanted to court more U.S. investment, was at one point spotted at a prayer service at St. Johns Episcopal Church across the street from the White House. Trump was in attendance. Georgias Salome Zourabichvili, whose status as president is currently a matter of dispute in her country, was also in Washington. As the inauguration ceremony was underway, she posted on social media about Americas many friends in the Georgian population. I am grateful for the great opportunity to represent Georgia and its courageous people at the inauguration of President Trump, she wrote. Some former heads of government or state were in town, too, including Polish ex-Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki and former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Its possible more leaders would have shown up had they not had excuses to be elsewhere. The World Economic Forum is underway in Davos, Switzerland, offering one rival venue for foreign officials. That didnt stop those not in Washington from issuing immediate congratulations and some not-so-subtle appeals to the Republican who beat historical odds to return to the White House. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, whose nations fate could be in Trumps hands as it battles an invading Russia, praised Trump as decisive. We must all act together to make it a great and successful century for democracies, not for those who wish us all failure, Zelenskyy wrote on social media. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, the leader of a military alliance Trump has repeatedly trashed, posted that With President Trump back in office we will turbo-charge defence spending & production. In his speech, Trump cast himself as the man who will save the U.S. from a decline while also sticking to an America First vision that many other countries worry will cost them. We will be the envy of every nation, and we will not allow ourselves to be taken advantage of any longer, Trump said. Its common for countries to send delegations to U.S. presidential inaugurations, often headed by their ambassadors. While a lack of records makes comparisons hard, it appeared an unusual number had also sent their foreign ministers this year. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar was seated toward the front of the audience in the rotunda. Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya and Australias Foreign Minister Penny Wong also were present. The three countries diplomats are scheduled to meet with Trump administration officials this week as part of the Quad alliance. Other prominent political figures from abroad also showed up. Many of them, such as British Brexit champion Nigel Farage, hailed from populist and conservative parties. Over the weekend, Farage posted a photo from what appeared to be a Trump rally. We are so back, Farage wrote. Veronika Melkozerova and Robbie Gramer contributed to this report. Elder Gary E. Stevenson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was scheduled to deliver a BYU devotional last September. Instead, his quorum colleague Elder Patrick Kearon pinch hit for him because of an illness. Now, following a year in which he ministered in four European countries, three African nations and the Philippines, Elder Stevenson is again scheduled to deliver a BYU devotional on Tuesday at 11:05 a.m. MST at the Marriott Center in Provo, Utah. He will speak at BYU one day after representing the church with Elder Gerrit W. Gong at the inauguration ceremonies for President Donald Trump in Washington, D.C. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Heres a brief look at Elder Stevensons 2024 apostolic ministry for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints: Visiting Mars Hill, site of the Apostle Pauls Sermon of an Unknown God In October, Elder Stevenson visited Athens, Greece. He made a video on Mars Hill, site of the ancient Apostle Pauls famous sermon to the Greeks about an altar in their capital inscribed with the words To An Unknown God. Elder Stevenson saluted wonderful, young Latter-day Saints who are choosing to serve full-time missions in an age when many young people are leaving organized religion. I give my commendations to these young missionaries and the 72,000 missionaries around the world who are serving to invite people to receive the gospel of Jesus Christ, he said. For this, we are deeply grateful. International ministries During that European trip, Elder Stevenson ministered to Latter-day Saints in the Netherlands, Bulgaria, Greece and Italy, offering counsel and instruction. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He also encouraged them to find courage and joy in sharing the gospel, even when faced with challenges. You can have the confidence of the Lord and feel joy, even though the circumstances might be difficult, he said. He had done the same in Africa in February, when he visited the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tanzania and Kenya. In Kenya, he held a news conference that was broadcast live on national television and explained his role as an apostle by mentioning Biblical apostles. We too are called to go into the nations of the world and bear witness of the divine Sonship of Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God, he said. In May, he went to the Philippines to lead a countrywide devotional and cultural celebration for teens and young adults from the Philippines Missionary Training Center. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He invited youth to develop three traits of discipleship: Pray over and over, read the scriptures time after time, and obey the commandments again and again. International messages Elder Stevenson spoke to the entire 17.2-million-member church twice, in general conference addresses in April and October, and to all of the churchs youth in an international broadcast in January. In April, he made a metaphor of Californias Golden Gate Bridge, noting that it is supported by bookend towers that function together in complete harmony. Following Jesus Christ similarly depends on living the first and second commandments with balance and equal devotion, he said. There is an important interdependency between loving the Lord and loving one another, he said. Our ability to follow Jesus Christ depends upon our strength and power to live the first and second commandments with balance and equal devotion to both. In October general conference, he encouraged church members to look forward with confidence and expectation to the next decade, which he said would become days never to be forgotten in church history, citing several examples. Among them are: Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement An unprecedented number of expected temple open houses and dedications. Imagine tens of millions of you and your friends walking through a house of the Lord, he said. The bicentennial of the churchs organization in 2030. The 2034 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, where he said the eyes of the world will be on the church and its members who volunteer and serve. In the January broadcast to youth, Elder Stevenson invited them to repeat often the 2024 theme for youth I am a disciple of Jesus Christ. He also shared four guiding principles for their lives: Stand in holy places. Stand with holy people. Testify of holy truths. Listen to the Holy Spirit. Other highlights In July, Elder Stevenson presented 12 U.S. governors with individual family pedigree charts during the National Governors Association conference in Salt Lake City. In August, he threw out the ceremonial first pitch at a Los Angeles Dodgers game. In November, he accompanied church President Russell M. Nelson as the president and prophet dedicated the churchs 200th temple, the Deseret Peak Utah Temple in Tooele, Utah. President Russell M. Nelson of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints pose prior to dedicating the Church's 200th temple, the Deseret Peak Utah Temple in Tooele on Sunday, Nov. 10, 2024. | Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement How to watch or listen to the devotional Elder Stevenson cofounded the exercise equipment manufacturing company, ICON Health & Fitness, Inc., where he served as president and chief operating officer until 2008, when he was called into church service as a General Authority Seventy. He served as the Presiding Bishop of the church from April 2012 to his calling as apostle in October 2015. Elder Stevensons talk will be broadcast live on BYUtv, BYUtv.org where it will archived for on-demand streaming) KBYU-TV 11, Classical 89 FM, BYUradio 107.9 FM and SiriusXM 143. Video, text and audio of BYU devotionals are archived on speeches.byu.edu. MEMPHIS, Tenn. A man accused of stealing a gun from a customer at a Hickory Hill gas station over the weekend is now wanted by the Memphis Police Department. On Saturday, officers say they were called to an aggravated assault at Citgo gas station on 5935 Knight Arnold Road around 5:35 p.m. A male suspect walked up behind a victim who was waiting in line to check out and snatched his handgun from inside his pocket, police say. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Police search for carjacking suspects in Midtown The suspect allegedly pointed the handgun at the victim and said, Got ya before leaving the store. Officers say the suspect got away in a silver Pontiac G6 with black wheels. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement There have been no arrests made in the case, but this is still an ongoing investigation. If you have any information that could help police, call CrimeStoppers at 901-528-CASH. Copyright 2025 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. HENDERSON, Ky. (WEHT) Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear has directed flags at all state office buildings to be raised to full staff at 10:30 a.m. eastern time on Monday for the inauguration of President Elect Donald Trump. Flags were ordered to half-staff earlier this month in honor of former President Jimmy Carter, who passed away at the end of December. Following the presidential inauguration ceremony, Beshear says flags should immediately be returned to half-staff, where they will remain until sunset on January 28. The governor also encourages individuals, businesses and organizations to join in these tributes. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 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 Eyewitness News (WEHT/WTVW). Shes buying a stairway to budgetary hell. Gov. Kathy Hochuls administration quietly doubled the price tag to renovate the crumbling grand staircase to the state Capitol building jacking it up to a whopping $80 million, The Post has learned. The price tag of the repairs has skyrocketed from $17 million in 2014 to $41 million in 2022 to upwards of $80 million last fall, amounting to more than quadruple of the projects cost as questions swirl over its opening date, documents show. The eastern approach steps to the state capitol have been blocked off by fencing and no trespassing signs for the last decade. Getty Images for UltraViolet, Women's March, Girls for Gender Equity Its unclear where the additional funding will come or if its included within Hochuls Albany upcoming budget plan. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Governor Hochul is committed to investing in the City of Albany and making our States Capitol a place all New Yorkers are proud of, a spokesperson for Hochul told The Post in a statement. The Office of General Services has initiated a competitive procurement process to responsibly identify a contractor to make much-needed renovations to the Eastern Approach of the Capitol, the spokesperson sadded. By law, we cannot comment further while the procurement process is ongoing. The 77 steps and promenade adjoining the grand Romanesque entrance known as the Capitols eastern approach have been closed since 2015. Poor drainage and significant structural issues have left the stairs sliding downhill towards the Hudson almost as long as theyve been in existence. A 2014 study quietly commissioned by Gov. Andrew Cuomos administration led to emergency repairs after finding bulging walls and loose bricks in the structure that could be removed by hand. That study estimated the repair costs at $17 million. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In Hochuls first budget after taking over as governor, she and the legislature set aside $41 million to fix the approach, but in typical Albany fashion, the project has still lagged behind. The state capitol steps have played host to many historical greats, including John F. Kennedy, who used them as a stage for an address as part of his presidential campaign in 1960. Bettmann Archive Hochuls administration is now estimating the price tag to repair the steps to be $80 million, almost double what it had appropriated towards the project in 2022. Albany Times Union via Getty Ima The governors administration floated a spring 2028 opening to the Times last year, but the bidding documents estimates the repairs to take four years, throwing that timeline into question. Though bidding closed on the massive $80 million contract in October, only two firms submitted bids Louis C. Allegrone, Inc. and Consigli Construction. Consigli Construction led major repairs to the state Capitols roof and an addition of a skylight that was finished in 2012. The firm has also been contracted to work on a $19 million project making improvements to the Egg performing arts center on the Empire State Plaza. A rendering of the eastern approach structure from the 2014 report shows the complications involved with the massive project. OGS Project S6574 Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A spokesperson for the Office of General Services, which is managing the project, said the contract has yet to be awarded. Governor Hochul is committed to opening the Eastern Approach to the public. We will make an announcement on the status of the project soon, OGS spokesperson Joe Brill told The Post. According to project documents obtained by The Post, the project would create a corridor under the stairs so that Hochul and other top officials like Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie can continue using a restricted VIP portico entrance during construction. The price tag of the repairs skyrocketed to upwards of $80 million last fall. Tina MacIntyre-Yee/Rochester Democrat and Chronicle via Imagn Content Services, LLC The spokespeople declined to elaborate on why keeping the entrance open is a priority. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Last week as part of her State of the State address, Hochul announced a proposal to shovel a massive $400 million into many deteriorating state buildings and institutions in the deteriorating capital city. The Capitol stairs were completed in 1897 as one of the many add-ons to the building, which first opened 18 years earlier. Many politicians have used the perch as a stage over the years, including then-Massachusetts Sen. John F. Kennedy said on the steps as he campaigned for the White House in September 1960. I stand where three distinguished Governors of the State of have stood, Theodore Roosevelt, Al Smith, and Franklin Roosevelt, as candidates for the office of the Presidency, Kennedy said. Teddy Roosevelt is told to have ran up the stairs as part of his morning exercise routine when he called Albany home. Then New York governor, Smith accepted the Democratic nomination for president on the approach nearly 32 years before Kennedy gave his speech. BATON ROUGE, La. (Louisiana First) Gov. Jeff Landry and state leaders urged people to prepare for severe winter weather bringing snow to Louisiana in a Monday afternoon news conference. Leaders from the Governors Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness, Louisiana State Police, Louisiana National Guard and the Department of Transportation and Development talked about preparedness. A state of emergency was issued for Louisiana ahead of the winter storm. Landry said the storm presents a very dangerous situation for people, pipes, pets and plants. He directs people to visit virtual.la.gov and download the Get A Game Plan app for information about resources. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We want all of our citizens to make sure that their heating systems are working properly and that theyre properly ventilated. If youre using a fireplace or a chimney, make sure that it is working properly. Do not use gas or electric stoves or ovens to heat your homes, Landry said. He said people should check on smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors now. State leaders are asking people to stay off the roads during the winter weather event. Arkansas is aiding Louisiana by sending machinery like salt brine tankers, snow plows, mechanic trucks, and support vehicles and personnel. DOTD has 10 million pounds of salt, 125,000 gallons of brine and 200 tons of sand. Crews have been pretreating roads across Louisiana before the winter storm. Information about road closures can be found on 511la.org. The governor said the I-10 and I-12 corridor will be impacted and closures can be expected on Mississippi River Bridges. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement As conditions begin to worsen, we are going to focus our efforts on the US routes as the governor mentioned, and the interstate highways. Theres going to be a point when conditions have worsened to a point where it is not safe to travel along portions, particularly of I-10 and we will begin closing those portions, DOTD Secretary Joe Donahue. Landry urges residents to stay off the roads and listen to state and local officials. Let me emphasize this, the state has been working for over eight days to do everything in its power to prepare for this winter storm and I urge you to heed what we are saying and what youre local officials are saying as well, Landry said. Louisiana state offices closed on Tuesday due to winter weather Inches of snowfall expected in south Louisiana State Climatologist Jay Grymes said 4 inches or more of snow can be expected in south Louisiana. He said the state could shut down for a day or two once snow totals reach over 4 inches. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Weve had big snow storms in south Louisiana over the last 10 to 15 years but they have been localized. This time were talking about 4 inches of snow or more essentially from the Sabine all the way over to the Pearl. We havent seen a storm like that in south Louisiana since the 60s, Grymes said. He said he wouldnt be surprised to get reports of snowfall totals nearing the double digits. Freezing temperatures will be a statewide problem. Grymes reminds residents to wrap their pipes and drip faucets. Preparations should be finished by Monday evening and people should be ready to stay home Tuesday, Wednesday and possibly Thursday, according to Grymes. Latest News Copyright 2025 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 Louisiana First News. TEHRAN, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- Iran's Foreign Ministry Spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei on Monday stressed that the country will never negotiate with any party on its defense capabilities. He made the remarks at a weekly press conference in the capital Tehran while responding to a question whether Iran had been told during talks with three European powers -- France, Britain, and Germany -- in Geneva last week that its ballistic missile capabilities should be part of any potential future negotiations with the administration of incoming U.S. President Donald Trump. Baghaei stressed, "Iran has never and in no way negotiated with any party on its defense and military capabilities and will not do so in the future. Basically, I do not think Iranian people would let any individual or group acquiesce to such a transaction. Our position is quite clear on this issue." In response to Europe's threats of activating the snap back mechanism, a clause in a 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers allowing the latter to re-impose all international sanctions should the former fail to comply with the agreement, he said Iran had already made it clear that it would take proportionate countermeasures in case the other sides use the mechanism as a lever to pressure Tehran and extract concessions. Baghaei said, "If the other parties misuse the mechanism, Iran will no longer consider it reasonable and justifiable to remain committed to certain relevant agreements." Senior diplomats from Iran, the three European states and the European Union met in Geneva on Jan. 13 and 14 on a range of issues, including Tehran's nuclear program. Commenting on the talks with the three European states in a post on X, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Legal and International Affairs Kazem Gharibabadi said the involved parties had agreed to restart discussions on lifting sanctions against Iran and addressing Tehran's nuclear program. Iran signed the nuclear agreement, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, with world powers in July 2015, agreeing to limit its nuclear work in return for easing sanctions. The United States left the deal in May 2018 and put sanctions back in place, causing Tehran to reduce its own commitments. Talks to bring the 2015 deal back to life began in Vienna in April 2021 but have made little progress despite many rounds of discussions. DENVER (KDVR) Colorado Governor Jared Polis will attend President-elect Donald Trumps inauguration on Monday. The governor, a Democrat, is representing the National Governors Association as chair of the organization and said in an emailed statement he will work to make the voice of states and governors heard in Washington. Gov. Polis welcomes federal agents help deporting undocumented criminals Polis has recently made several moves and statements about the incoming Trump presidency, including welcoming federal agents to deport undocumented criminals and ordering flags to be raised to full staff for the inauguration before lowering them again to continue the 30 days of mourning for President Jimmy Carters death. In his 2025 State of the State address, he also criticized Trumps proposed tariffs, saying they would raise the cost of groceries, housing and energy. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement As Chair of the National Governors Association, Im leading a national bipartisan group of Americas governors to attend the Presidential inauguration, Polis said in a weekend release. The relationship between states and the federal government is critical to getting things done and delivering for Americans, and I look forward to making sure that the voice of the Governors and the states is heard in Washington D.C. Gov. Jared Polis excited by RFK Jr.s Trump Cabinet nod for U.S. health, human services Gov. Jared Polis took to social platform X in November to express his excitement that President-elect Donald Trump had tapped Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as his choice for Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services. The governors statements were met with backlash from other Democratic party members, who noted his previous posts that seemed to disagree with the previous presidential candidates stances, including his opinions on vaccines, among their many criticisms of RFK Jr. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Polis office, in a statement about his inauguration attendance, said he remains focused on delivering for Coloradans on the issues they care about most, including saving people money, housing, healthcare, public safety, education, and protecting our air and land for future generations. Copyright 2025 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. HARRISBURG, Pa. (WHTM) In honor of a Pennsylvania State Representative who passed away over the weekend, Governor Josh Shapiro has ordered flags at Commonwealth facilities, public buildings, and grounds to be lowered to half-staff. On Sunday, Pennsylvania House Democrats announced the loss of Rep. Matt Gergely (D-Allegheny), who experienced a medical event last month over the holidays. The Pennsylvania House Democratic Caucus previously released the following statement: Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Our hearts are broken as we mourn the untimely loss of our friend and colleague. Matt Gergely devoted his life to fighting for children and working families of Allegheny County especially his beloved hometown of McKeesport. Matt will be desperately missed in Harrisburg and we know his passing is a tremendous loss to his communities in Western Pennsylvania. Please join us in keeping his wife and his family in your thoughts and prayers during this tragic time. Pennsylvania House Democratic Caucus Earlier this morning on Monday, January 20, Governor Josh Shapiro announced that he has ordered flags at Commonwealth facilities, public buildings, and grounds to be lowered to half-staff in honor of Rep. Gergley. Lori and I are heartbroken for Rep. Matt Gergleys wife Holly, their two young sons, his colleagues on both sides of the aisle and the community he loved and proudly served in his hometown of McKeesport. Matts was a life cut way too short. Now, in this moment of mourning, let us come together to honor his legacy, carry on the work that mattered most to him, and look out for his family, Gov. Shapiro said on social media. In honor of his legacy of service, Ive ordered flags on Commonwealth facilities, public buildings, and grounds to be lowered to half-staff. May the memory of Matt Gergley forever be a blessing. abc27 news will keep you updated as more information becomes available. Copyright 2025 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 ABC27. LANSING, Mich. (WLNS) Governor Gretchen Whitmer has ordered U.S. and Michigan flags throughout the state to be raised immediately for the remainder of Inauguration Day following a presidential proclamation issued by President Trump. Trump participates in military honors ceremony after inauguration Gov. Whitmer said in a news release sent to 6 News that flags will return to half-staff through Monday, January 27, 2025, to resume the 30-day period of flag honor the passing of former President Jimmy Carter. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement To lower flags to half-staff, flags should be hoisted first to the peak for an instant and then lowered to the half-staff position. The process is reversed before the flag is lowered for the day. Copyright 2025 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 WLNS 6 News. A Ryanair flight descending into Vilnius airport on Thursday was diverted to Warsaw due to GPS interference, Lithuanias air navigation authority has reported. The Boeing 737 Max 8-200 departed London Luton on Thursday and was on approach to the runway at Vilnius airport in Lithuania, lowering to an altitude of 850 feet (259 meters), when it lifted off again. The flight then headed to Warsaw, around 249 miles away, reports say. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A spokesperson of Lithuanias air navigation authority said on Friday that the plane experienced GPS signal interference, adding that the pilot took the decision to divert the flight. "All other planes were landing at the airport as usual," the spokesperson said. The countrys defence minister said that it is investigating the incident. Pilots landing at Vilnius airport have reported over 800 instances of GPS interference over the last three months of last year. In the same period in 2023, there were only 124 reports, Lithuanian air navigation said, Reuters reported. In April 2024, Finnair said it would be cancelling all its flights to Tartu airport in Estonia until June due to GPS interference in the area. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The approach methods currently used at Tartu Airport are based on a GPS signal and GPS interference in the area affects the usability of this method, the Finnish airline said last year. Finnair says GPS interference has increased significantly since 2022, with the airlines pilots reporting interference near Kaliningrad, a Russian exclave between Lithuania and Poland. Russia has been suspected of jamming or spoofing GPS signals close to its borders, but the country has denied interfering with communication and satellite networks. An RAF aircraft carrying former UK defence secretary Grant Shapps in March 2024 had its GPS signal jammed for around half an hour. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The GPS signal of the plane was said to have been interfered with for half an hour while it passed the Russian territory of Kaliningrad. The attack did not threaten the safety of the aircraft but left phones unable to connect to the planes wifi. The plane was forced to use other navigation systems available to the pilots. It was reported last year that thousands of flights to and from UK airports had been targeted by Russian jamming systems. Flights affected in the eight months to the end of March 2024 included 2,309 Ryanair, 1,368 Wizz Air, 82 British Airways and four easyJet, based on analysis of flight logs with GPSJAM.org. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) said last year that GPS jamming does not directly affect the navigation of an aircraft and while it is a known issue, this does not mean an aircraft has been jammed deliberately. The CAA added that GPS forms only part of an aircrafts navigation system, saying that jamming and spoofing near conflict zones is often a by-product of military activity rather than deliberate actions. The Independent has contacted Ryanair for comment. For more travel news and advice, listen to Simon Calders podcast Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) on Sunday called for the decimation of the Iranian nuclear program in the wake of a new ceasefire in Gaza. The next topic I will be engaging in with President Trump, is to take this moment in time to decimate the Iran nuclear program, Graham told CBS Newss Margaret Brennan on Face the Nation. Brennan then pressured Graham on the meaning of his statement, to which he responded that he is gonna urge the decimation of the Iranian nuclear program. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I dont think diplomacy works. [President Bidens Mideast negotiator Brett McGurk] will tell you what they have done to Hezbollah and Hamas has been amazing. The proxies [are] incredibly weakened. Israel can go anywhere they wanna go. This is a religious Nazi regime, he added. They want to destroy the Jewish state, the South Carolina Republican continued. They wanna purify Islam and drive us out of the Mideast. Itd be like negotiating with Hitler. I am hoping there will be an effort by Israel to decimate the Iran nuclear program supported by the United States, and if we dont do that, itll be a historical mistake. On Sunday, fighting in Gaza came to a stop as the new ceasefire deal went into effect. The halting of the fighting in the territory is the first phase in the truce, which was announced last Wednesday. Biden hailed the deal on Wednesday, saying getting to it has not been easy. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Ive worked on foreign policy for decades, the president added. This was one of the toughest negotiations Ive ever experienced. We reached this point because to the pressure Israel built on Hamas, backed by the United States. Copyright 2025 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 The Hill. FLATIRON, Manhattan (PIX11) Lots of New York City residents were hoping for the heaviest snowfall in three years particularly because the snowfall was predicted for a Sunday going into a Monday holiday where most were out of the office and school. But sadly, for some, the snowfall just wasnt that significant. More Local News Nick Nieves, an East Village resident, had been hoping for lots of snow. I love it. It wouldve been nice for Christmas, Nieves said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It seems like all of New York City has been waiting for a significant snowfall. With 2 to 4 inches predicted, there was a big run on these huge bags of ice melt, snowblowers, and shovels at the Home Depot store in Flatiron. A lot of people coming in homeowners coming in for the salt, working with the snow, Raul Garcia, an employee of Home Depot, told PIX11 News. At the city sanitation department salt shed on Spring Street, some of DSNYs 700 salt spreaders were being loaded up. The city has more than 20 million pounds of salt to be spread across all five boroughs as city plows waited for the 2-inch snowfall mark to start clearing the streets. Its amazing. Ive been waiting for a good snowfall for a couple of years, Daniel Solinski told PIX11 News. Its great, magical, he added. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement You could be fined for not shoveling your sidewalk during NYC snow And since the snow was falling on a Sunday night going into the Monday holiday honoring Martin Luther King Jr., many New Yorkers saw this as the perfect opportunity to just enjoy a beautiful snowfall across the city. Its coming down really heavy right now, David Rondeau, a snow lover, told PIX11 News. I hope they clear the streets cause if I fall, I will sue, he said with a laugh. NYC Sanitation officials say the city reached a plowable snow depth of two inches or more and that all streets have been salted. Copyright 2025 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. GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) Frigid temperatures and wintry weather moving into West Michigan will make things harder on firefighting crews in the coming days as they work to get property-saving water onto fires before it freezes. It just creates more concern for driving around trucks full of water, Grand Rapids Fire Department Battalion Chief Ed Braman told News 8. If nothing else, we have to make sure it doesnt freeze inside our machines. Frigid temps, heavy lake-effect as Arctic blast arrives Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement While waiting for a call, that means emptying the trucks if they are going to sit outside, or bringing everything indoors. Braman told News 8 crews also try to avoid washing their trucks if they know extreme cold is on the way to prevent doors and valves freezing up. Once they arrive at a fire scene, that water has to flow. Freezing lines for us at a fire (is a concern), Braman said. It creates another problem because we try to keep the lines flowing so they dont freeze, but that creates ice concerns. It just complicates things all the way around. There are also personnel concerns. We take other precautions on fires or extended duration events like extractions. We try to cycle our crews out faster to keep them out of the cold, Braman added. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Residents try to prevent frozen pipes in icy temperatures Hydrants are a point of concern as well. A small drip or cap leak from a hydrant in cold weather can quickly turn it unusable. Every once in a while, we find a frozen hydrant so we have to go even farther, Braman said. That makes the odd-even parking restrictions really important as well, so we dont have to move around to find an open hydrant as much. He asked that if you see a hydrant that is leaking or appears covered in ice, call the water department at 311 so they can fix it up. Copyright 2025 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. Activists protest outside of the Detroit Police Union Building in Detroit on Jan. 18, 2025 | Jackson Coleman A group of about a dozen people rallied on Saturday against the Detroit Police Department (DPD) budget and called to invest in permanent non-punitive resources and social programs for Detroiters. The effort led by Coalition for Police Transparency and Accountability (CPTA), the Detroit Residents Advancing Oversight (DRACO), Black Lives Matter Detroit, and the Michigan Coalition for Human Rights was held at the Detroit Police Union Building. Im here participating in this protest and advancing civilian oversight, said Scott Boman, who attended the rally. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) On the eve of Donald Trumps return to the White House as President of the United States, a number of groups coalesced for a rally, then a march from Revolution Hall in Portland Sunday afternoon. The rally, dubbed We Fight Back, began at 2 p.m. at the site of many earlier anti-Trump protests. Organizers said the focus of the rally is for workers rights, for the future of our planet. TikTok says its restoring service to US users based on Trumps promised executive order Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Around 3 p.m. the attendees, many of whom had flags and signs, marched for about 3 miles in the streets and on the sidewalk, at times stopping traffic as they crossed streets. Some of the signs were about defending immigrants from mass deportations while others urged a free Palestine. Chris Boone, an organizer with About Face, told KOIN 6 News they decided to endorse and support in the interest of, sort of spreading left unity, and participating in a movement that really has working class interests at heart. About Faces stated mission on their Instagram page is Mobilizing post-9/11 veterans against US wars, militarism + imperialismat home & abroad. Boone said they hoped to communicate to other veterans, to other people in the community that youre not alone, that there are people who care about you and your interests. And if youre interested in getting organized, were interested in organizing with you. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A flyer posted online to promote the rally listed initial endorsers as Party for Socialism and Liberation, Communist Party USA, About Face, Democratic Socialists of America, Freedom Road, Freedom Road Socialist Organization, WSUV Students for Palestine and the ANSWER Coalition. Its always great to see a bunch of people show up for working class interests, Boone said. Attendees at a "We Fight Back" rally march down Southeast Hawthorne in Portland one day before the inauguration of Donald Trump, January 19, 2025 (KOIN) Attendees at a "We Fight Back" rally march down Southeast Hawthorne in Portland one day before the inauguration of Donald Trump, January 19, 2025 (KOIN) A variety of groups coalesced for a rally at Revolution Hall called "We Fight Back" on the eve of Donald Trump's inauguration, January 19, 2025 (KOIN) A variety of groups coalesced for a rally at Revolution Hall called "We Fight Back" on the eve of Donald Trump's inauguration, January 19, 2025 (KOIN) A variety of groups coalesced for a rally at Revolution Hall called "We Fight Back" on the eve of Donald Trump's inauguration, January 19, 2025 (KOIN) Some businesses downtown, with previous political protests in mind, boarded up their storefront in case of any possible violence in the next few days. One of those spots was the Portland Art Museums Center for and Untold Tomorrow (PAM Cut) on Southwest Salmon. Workers board up windows at PAM CUT (Portland Art Museum Center for an Untold Tomorrows), 934 SW Salmon, a day before the inauguration of Donald Trump, January 19, 2025 (KOIN) There was also a heavy police presence at the Sunday rally. But both Portland and state police kept their distance as the march and rally went on. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This is the latest in a series of known protests in the days leading up to Trumps inauguration. Hundreds of people also gathered at Terry Schrunk Plaza in downtown Portland early Saturday afternoon in a rally against Trumps stated policies like immigration, healthcare and reproductive rights. Sundays rally is one of five protest events Portland police said they will monitor closely. Authorities said there is increased staffing ready to respond to any disruptions. Unity, Boone said, is what were after. Copyright 2025 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. WASHINGTON, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump, who took the oath of office Monday, did not directly mention the conflict in Ukraine during his inauguration speech, which was delivered on the same day Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed his country's willingness to engage with the new U.S. administration over the conflict. "We have a government that has given unlimited funding to the defense of foreign borders but refuses to defend American voters, or, more importantly, its own people," Trump said in what was seemingly a veiled reference to the preceding Joe Biden administration's policy of supporting Ukraine militarily "as long as it takes" for Kiev to emerge victorious in the Ukraine-Russia conflict. "We will measure our success not only by the battles we win, but also by the wars we end and most importantly, the wars we never get into," said Trump, who used to repeatedly claim that the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, which broke out in February 2022, would never have happened in the first place if he were the U.S. president then. In the wake of Trump's speech, analyses emerged in U.S. media pondering why Trump appeared to deliberately refrain from mentioning Ukraine by name, given that he boasted before that he would quickly bring an end to the conflict after taking office. Trump recently said a meeting between him and Putin was being arranged. According to a statement from the Kremlin, Putin said during a meeting Monday with members of Russia's Security Council that Moscow has never rejected dialogue and has always been open to cooperation with any U.S. administration. The Russian leader also used the occasion to congratulate Trump on taking office. "Hearst Magazines and Yahoo may earn commission or revenue on some items through these links." As Donald Trump takes the oath of office to begin his second term as president, the Trump family will once again be back in the spotlight. Scandals are generally par for the course in powerful dynasties and while the president is the most famousor infamousmember of his family, the Trumps are a large and diverse clan. Some love the spotlight, others keep a low profile. Here is a primer on Donald Trump's family tree: his parents, four siblings, five children, and the nieces, nephews, daughters-in-law, sons-in-law, and grandchildren in between. Design by Michael Stillwell Design by Michael Stillwell Below, meet all the members of Donald Trump's family. Trump's father: Fred Trump Jeffrey Asher - Getty Images Fred Trump (b. 1905, d. 1999) was born in the Bronx to German immigrant parents. He worked in construction before amassing his fortune in real estate (it was his multimillion-dollar loan that helped his most famous son, Donald, expand that empire in Manhattan). He started his company in Queens with his mother Elizabeth in 1927 (his father Frederick died in the 1918 influenza pandemic), first calling it E. Trump & Son before later renaming it the Fred Trump Organization. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Trump family's penchant for scandalsand governmental investigationsseems to have originated with its patriarch. In 1927, Fred was arrested for participating in a Ku Klux Klan march in Queens. He was also investigated twice for profiteering, first by the Senate in 1954 and then by the State of New York in 1966. And not long after Donald joined the business in 1971, the two were sued by the Justice Department for violating the Fair Housing Act. There were several instances of tax fraud as well. Fred's authoritarian parenting style is no secret, and despite his $300 million net worth, he was famously frugal and opposed to ostentatious displays of wealtha quality Donald has not inherited. Fred passed away in 1999 at age 93, from pneumonia. He had also battled Alzheimer's for six years. Trump's mother: Mary Trump David Allen - Getty Images Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trump's mother is Scottish immigrant Mary MacLeod (b. 1912, d. 2000). Mary was born on the Isle of Lewis, the largest island of the Western Isles in Scotland. The youngest of ten children, she she was raised in a Gaelic-speaking household. In 1930, the day after her 18th birthday, she left Glasgow, Scotland for the United States. As Scottish paper The National notes, Mary was a poor immigrant who arrived in New York with just $50 in her purse and worked as a domestic servant in the city for at least four years While living in Queens with her sister, she met Fred Trump, and they married in 1936. The Trumps had five children: Maryanne, Fred Jr., Elizabeth, Donald, and Robert. (See below.) Mary died in 2000 at age 88. Trump's oldest sister: Maryanne Trump Barry Sonia Moskowitz - Getty Images First-born Maryanne Trump Barry (b. 1937, d. 2023), who is nine years older than Donald, was a retired U.S. federal judge. She began her career in 1974 as an Assistant U.S. Attorney and one of only two women at the United States Attorney's Office for the District of New Jersey. In 1983, she was nominated by President Reagan to the United States District Court of the District of New Jersey, and then in 1993, President Bill Clinton nominated her to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, where she served until her retirement in 2019. Her only son, David William Desmond (b. 1960), from her first marriage, is a psychologist in New York. She was widowed in 2000 when her second husband, lawyer John Joseph Barry, died. In 2017, her niece Mary L. Trump (see below)the author of the explosive tell-all bout the Trump familyreleased hours of secretly recorded conversations with her aunt in which the latter can be heard criticizing President Trump. His goddamned tweet and the lying, oh, my God, Barry says in one recording. He has no principles. None. None, she says in another. She also seemed to validate the claim Mary had made in her book that the president cheated on his SATs. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Maryanne died in 2023 at age 86. Trump's oldest brother: Fred Trump Jr. New York Post Archives - Getty Images Fred Trump Jr. (b. 1938, d. 1981), the eldest Trump son had been Fred Sr.'s first choice to take over the family business, but ultimately proved a poor fit for that dream. He instead became a pilot, a career choice that resulted in ridicule from Fred Sr. and Donald. Eventually, Fred's worsening alcoholism forced him to quit flying, move back in with his parents, and get a job doing maintenance work for his father's company. He had two children, Fred Trump III (b. 1962) and Mary Trump (b. 1965, with his ex-wife Linda Clapp. Fred Jr. died in 1981, at age 42, of a heart attack brought on by his alcoholism. Mary, Fred Jr.'s daughter, a clinical psychologist, published Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World's Most Dangerous Man, a book revealing several highly unflattering details about the Trump clan and all its dysfunction Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World's Most Dangerous Man $12.99 at amazon.com Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This wasn't her first clash with her family. In 1999, Mary and her brother Fred III filed a lawsuit after their grandfather Fred Sr.'s death, when they discovered they had been cut out of his will. They alleged Donald took advantage of his father's Alzheimer's to convince him to change the document. In return, Donald and his siblings Maryanne and Robert dropped their niece and nephew from the family health insurance plan. The matter was settled confidentially. Mary shares a daughter with her ex-wife; Fred III is a director at commercial real estate firm Cushman & Wakefield and has three children with his wife Lisa. Trump's older sister: Elizabeth Trump Grau Davidoff Studios Photography - Getty Images Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement President Trump's other older sister, Elizabeth Trump Grau (b. 1942), used to work at J.P. Morgan. She is married to documentary producer James Grau and the two live in Palm Beach. They have no children together. She is the only currently living sibling of Donald Trump. Trump's younger brother: Robert Trump Ron Galella - Getty Images Robert Trump (b. 1948, d. 2020), the youngest of Donald's siblings, had a close relationship with Donald. He was not just my brother, he was my best friend, said the president, who after his brother's passing in 2020, arranged for the funeral to be held at the White House. At the beginning of his career, Robert joined the family business and rose up the ranks to become a top executive at the Trump Organization before retiring in Millbrook, New York. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He was married to society figure Blaine Beard (b. 1948) for 25 years and adopted her son Christopher Hollister Retchin from a previous marriage. They separated in 2006, and settled privately in 2010 after a lengthy divorce battle. In 2020, shortly before he passed away, he married his longtime secretary-turned-girlfriend Ann Marie Pallan. Robert died in 2020 at age 71. Trump's wife: Melania Trump Leon Neal - Getty Images Melania Knauss (b. 1970), Trump's third and current wife, was born Melanija in Novo Mesto, Yugoslavia (now part of Slovenia). She's the daughter of Amjalija Ulcnik (b. 1945, d. 2024) and Viktor Knvas (b. 1944) (more about Melania's parents, here), and has one sister, Ines Knauss (b. 1969). At age 16, she started working as a fashion model, and in 1996, she immigrated to the United States. Two years later, she met Trump, who was going through his second divorce from Marla Maples, and they started dating soon after. In 2005, they married in a lavish wedding. The reception took place at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach and was attended by a long list of celebrities, including Hillary and Bill Clinton. A year later, she gave birth to their son, Barron (see below for more on Barron). Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement After her husband moved into the White House in 2017, Melania and Barron chose to stay in their Trump Tower penthouse on Fifth Avenue. While the official reason for mother and son's delayed move to D.C. was so Barron could finish the school year at NYC's Columbia Grammar & Preparatory School, a book on the First LadyThe Art of Her Deal by Washington Post reporter Mary Jordanalleges it was so Melania could renegotiate her prenup. Melania $28.00 at amazon.com In 2024, she released a memoir, simply titled Melania, and there's currently a documentary in the works about her. Trump's youngest son: Barron Trump Chip Somodevilla - Getty Images Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Barron Trump (b. 2006) the only son of Donald and Melania, keeps the lowest profile of all of Donald's children. In 2024, he graduated from Oxbridge Academy near West Palm Beach, Florida, and is now a freshman at New York University. He's doing great. He loves his classes and his professors, Melania said of her son. Hes doing well. Hes thriving and hes enjoying to be in New York City again. Trump's first wife: Ivana Trump Joe McNally - Getty Images Ivana Marie Zelnickova (b. 1949, d. 2022), better known as Ivana Trump, was born in Gottwaldov, Czechoslovakia (now the Zlin, Czech Republic). In 1971, she married her friend Alfred Winklmayr, an Austrian ski instructor, so she could leave Czechoslovakia without defecting. A year later, she moved to Los Angeles, where she received an absentee divorce from Alfred. In 1976, she met Donald Trump, and they married a year later at Marble Collegiate Church. They had three children: Donald Jr., Eric, and Ivanka (see below). Ivana and Donald divorced in 1990, after Ivana encountered Donald's mistress Marla Maples (see below) in Aspen. During a deposition related to their divorce, Ivana accused Donald of rape, though later she walked back the claim. The terms of their divorce had her sign a non-disclosure agreement. She remarried twice: to Riccardo Mazzucchelli in 1995 (they divorced in 1997) and to Italian actor and model Rossano Rubicondi in 2008 they divorced less than a year later, but dated on-again, off-again until 2019. She also dated Count Roffredo Gaetani Lovatelli from 1997 until 2005. In 2017, she released an autobiography, Raising Trump. Raising Trump: Family Values from America's First Mother $18.62 at amazon.com Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Ivana died in 2022 at age 73, having suffered blunt impact injuries after falling down the stairs at her Upper East Side home. "I am very saddened to inform all of those that loved her, of which there are many, that Ivana Trump has passed away at her home in New York City," then-former president Trump wrote on social media at the time. "She was a wonderful, beautiful, and amazing woman, who led a great and inspirational life. Her pride and joy were her three children, Donald Jr., Ivanka, and Eric. She was so proud of them, as we were all so proud of her. Rest In Peace, Ivana!" Trump's oldest son: Donald Trump, Jr. David Dee Delgado - Getty Images Donald John Trump Jr. (b. 1977) is the eldest child of Donald and Ivana. During his father's first presidency, he managed Trump Organization assets with his brother Eric during their father's presidency. He is officially the company's executive vice president. He was married to model Vanessa Haydon (b. 1977) from 2005 to 2018, and they have five children: Kai Trump (b. 2007), Donald John Trump III (b. 2009), Tristan Trump (b. 2011), Spencer Trump (2012), and Chloe Trump (b. 2014). He was engaged to former Fox News host Kimberly Guilfoyle (b. 1969), though they split sometime in 2024, and then Trump nominated her as ambassador to Greece. Don Jr. has recently been linked to Bettina Anderson. Trump's oldest daughter: Ivanka Trump JIM WATSON - Getty Images Donald and Ivana's only daughter, Ivanka Trump (b. 1981), took on an active role in the White House during her father's first term, serving as a Senior Adviser to the President. In the second term, she will not work in his administration. I love policy and impact. I hate politics. And unfortunately, the two are not separable, she said recently. She's married to fellow real estate scion Jared Kushner (b. 1981), the son of Seryl Stadtmauer and Charles Kushner. They have three children: Arabella Kushner (b. 2011), Joseph (b. 2013), and Theodore (b. 2016). Trump's son: Eric Trump Joe Raedle - Getty Images Donald and Ivana's youngest child, Eric Trump (b. 1984), is the executive vice president at the Trump Organization and the president of Trump Winery in Charlottesville, Virginia. In 2014, he married television producer Lara Lea Yunaksa (b. 1982), now known as Lara Trump, and they have two children, Eric "Luke" Trump (b. 2017) and Carolina Trump (b. 2019). Trump's second wife: Marla Maples Davidoff Studios Photography - Getty Images Marla Maples (b. 1963), grew up in Georgia. She met Donald in 1984, and they married in 1993, shortly after welcoming their only child, Tiffany (see below). Marla and Donald split in 1997 and officially divorced in 1999. She's bound by a confidentially agreement on their marriage. As herself, she's appeared in The Nanny, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, and Designing Women. She's also appeared in The Righteous Gemstones and various other television shows and films. She posts on Instagram at @itsmarlamaples. Trump's youngest daughter: Tiffany Trump Andrew Harnik - Getty Images Tiffany Trump (b. 1993), is Trump's only child from his second marriage to actress Marla Maples. She graduated from Georgetown Law School in 2020. In 2022, she married Michael Boulos (b. 1997) at Mar-a-Lago, and in 2024, the revealed they were expecting their first child, due in 2025. You Might Also Like MOBILE, Ala. (WKRG) Gulf Coast residents without a home or heat can find shelter from winter weather at the following locations. Editors Note: This is just a partial list. News 5 will update this article as more information becomes available. Email newsrelease@wkrg.com to share listings. UPDATE (2:05 p.m. Baldwin County Daphne: St. Pauls Episcopal Church, 28788 N. Main St., Daphne Fairhope: Fairhope United Methodist Church, 155 S. Section St., Fairhope: Open through Thursday at 7 p.m. in the Life Center Foley: St. Pauls Episcopal Church, 506 N. Pine St., Foley: Open through Thursday at 7 p.m. Robertsdale: Warming Station at First Baptist Church, 18200 Alabama 104: Opens at 5 p.m., through Wednesday at 8 a.m. If you are homeless or need a hot meal and cold weather supplies, call 251-332-3442. Baldwin County VOAD (Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster) plans to open more shelters, according to a news release from Prodisee Pantry. The Sea Glass Initiative is coordinating shelters. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Food is being provided by Prodisee Pantry, The Table and others in the community, the release said. Blankets, cots, toiletries and other supplies are being collected from local churches and civic organizations. Escambia County, Florida Waterfront Rescue Mission : 348 W. Herman Ave., Pensacola for men and women; open 24 hours, at no charge, during cold-weather events REAP Max-Well Respite Center : 2200 N. Palafox St., Pensacola for women with children; open daily; intake is from 4-6 p.m. (after 6 p.m. if accompanied by law enforcement) My Fathers Vineyard: 7895 Pensacola Blvd., Pensacola for men and women (no children); intake is from 4:30-6:30 p.m. (must leave by 7 a.m., with ECAT providing free transportation to Waterfront starting at 7 a.m.); open through Wednesday night (Jan. 22), with operations continuing if temperatures continue to be 32 degrees or below Escambia County Area Transit will provide free transportation between My Fathers Vineyard and Waterfront Rescue Mission, which allows those seeking shelter to easily travel between the overnight shelter at the church and the designated warming center at Waterfront Rescue, an Escambia County news release said. Through the countys cold weather sheltering plan, Waterfront Rescue Mission is the central receiving point for anyone in need of emergency shelter when the temperature drops to 40 degrees or less. Waterfront then coordinates with other partner agencies to ensure anyone needing cold weather shelter can be accommodated. Mobile-Area Cold Weather Shelters Waterfront Rescue Mission : open for men only, 279 N. Washington Ave., Mobile Central Presbyterian Church : Open for families with children to their capacity (no single men or women), 1260 Dauphin St., Mobile. Coordinating with Waterfront Rescue Mission and Housing First. McKemie Place: Open for women only; call 251-287-2225 for instructions Salvation Army : Open for men only, 1009 Dauphin St., Mobile. 251-438-1625 Dauphin Way United Methodist Church : Open for families with children, 1009 Dauphin St. Mobile Ryans Refuge: Open for people with pets (men & women), 554 S. Craft Highway, Mobile, 251-228-8454 Okaloosa County Cold Weather Shelters This South County shelter is open through Saturday night, Jan. 25: Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement One Hopeful Place https://www.facebook.com/OHPFWB 850-586-7879 1564 Percy L. Coleman Rd, Fort Walton Beach. Pickup location is located at 205 Shell Ave., starting shuttle service at 3:15 p.m. One trip will be made. Returning transportation available the following morning at 8 a.m. Backpacks are allowed, but no wagons, bikes or suitcases permitted on the bus. This North County shelter is open through Saturday night: Crestview Area Shelter for the Homeless. https://www.facebook.com/sleepinabed 850-398-5670 120 Duggan Ave, Crestview. Santa Rosa County The cold weather shelter at Ferris Hill Baptist Church, 6848 Chaffin St. in Milton, will be open 24 hours until 10 a.m., Friday, Jan. 24. Those who would like to stay at the shelter Thursday and/or Friday nights must arrive between 6:30 and 8:30 p.m., a Santa Rosa County news release said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement No one will be admitted after 8:30 p.m. each night unless brought in by law enforcement. Only service animals (with verification of rabies vaccination) may stay with guests. Copyright 2025 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. POLK COUNTY, Fla. (WFLA) A suspect known as a habitual traffic offender by the Florida Highway Patrol was arrested over the weekend for leading troopers on a 100 mph chase on Interstate 4. Just after midnight on Saturday, a trooper attempted to pull over the driver of a Toyota Corolla on eastbound I-4 for a license plate obstruction. When the trooper ran the drivers plate, he noted the vehicle belonged to a man with several felony warrants for his arrest. Bradenton man kills pedestrian while speeding, runs away: police Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement After the trooper pulled over the driver, Renardo Leon Holmes, and got out of his vehicle, Holmes fled. A pursuit began, with several troopers following the Toyota. FHP said Holmes reached speeds of more than 100 mph, driving recklessly and weaving in and out of traffic. The driver would also act as if he was exiting the interstate, in an attempt to throw off law enforcement, before getting back on I-4. At mile marker 72, Holmes slowed down and began driving the wrong way, heading east in the westbound lanes of the SR-528 exit ramp. FHP said he almost collided head-on with one of their troopers. A trooper was eventually able to ram his vehicle into the back of Holmes, bringing the car to a stop. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Clearwater businessman found liable for $120 million in damages at special needs trust company Holmes then got out of the car and tried to run into a nearby woodline, but was tased and brought down by one of the troopers. Florida Highway Patrol Florida Highway Patrol Florida Highway Patrol The suspect was arrested for fleeing to elude without regard to persons or property, driving as a habitual traffic offender, and resisting arrest without violence. He was also issued several traffic citations for the pursuit and taken to the Polk County Jail. Holmes has a lengthy history of evading law enforcement, with his most recent being in December 2024 for fleeing the scene of a domestic incident, along with fleeing Lakeland police in August 2024. In October 2024, he was deemed a habitual traffic offender. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Officials said at the time of his arrest, he had five active felony warrants in Polk County, one in Hillsborough County, and 12 active suspensions against his Florida driving privilege, dating back to August 2022. Copyright 2025 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. SPRINGFIELD, Ohio As President Donald Trump took the stage for his inaugural address on Monday, some Springfield residents at the center of the debate over immigration watched from inside a local Haitian restaurant. Haitians in Springfield have long been preparing for this day. They've been the focus of a national spotlight since September when Vice President JD Vance posted claims without evidence about Haitian immigrants eating dogs and cats. Trump repeated the claims during the presidential debate with Vice President Kamala Harris. Right after Trump's comments, the central Ohio city of 60,000 was plagued by bomb threats and poor school attendance as the situation gained national media attention. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In September, Trump promised "large deportations" from Springfield if elected. "I can say this, we will do large deportations from Springfield, Ohio large deportations. We're going to get these people out," he said. Watching the inauguration felt weird, Springfield resident Dina Paul said, though she felt supported by the community after his comments. More: Ohio's JD Vance sworn in as vice president of the United States Springfield resident Dina Paul moves into the city during the tax season to help the residents. She lives in Florida during other times of the year. "Most of the local residents knew what was up and stood up for us," she said. Paul lives in Springfield during the tax season and also helps Haitian residents with job applications. She said the Haitian residents are most worried about their temporary protected status, a federal designation for immigrants from countries with dangerous conditions, such as a natural disaster or armed conflict. In June, Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas extended the status for Haiti to February 2026. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Paul said she continues to feel support from the Springfield community and their appreciation of Haitian culture, like when people frequent the Rose Goute Creole restaurant for Haitian food. Viles Dorsainvil, the executive director of Haitian Support Center, said the center has hosted trainings preparing Haitian residents for encounters with ICE officers. Trainings for encounters with ICE Viles Dorsainvil, executive director of the Haitian Community Help and Support Center, said he's spoken to friends nervous about the inauguration and the return of Trump to power. "I think there is a kind of paradigm shift from the way the comments used to be to the way they are right now," Dorsainvil said. "Before it was more calling people names, all type of names. Now it's changing to like 'You guys have to start packing up because Trump is coming.'" Dorsainvil said he's spoken to Haitian residents who've been shouted at and told to "pack their bags" while walking down the street. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Haitian Support Center has hosted trainings so that residents know their rights and what to do if they encounter U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. Dorsainvil said the training prepares people to ask to speak to a lawyer or to ask to see a warrant if an agent comes to their house. A small group of protestors from the Revcom Corps show support for Haitian immigrants in Springfield on President Donald Trump's inauguration day. The trainings also focus on the right to remain silent and how residents can designate a guardian for their children in the event they are detained. "We started way before today," Dorsainvil said on Monday. He said he feels supported by Springfield's city leaders and the Springfield Neighbors United group. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "There are so many events that have been happening just to show some kind of solidarity. Those actions kind of lower the tension a little bit and give the immigrants that sense of hope," he said. Springfield resident Clara Copeland protests in favor of Haitian immigrants in Springfield on President Donald Trump's inauguration day. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A protest in support of immigrants A few protestors came from Cleveland on Monday to hold signs in support of the Haitian immigrants in the freezing weather at a busy intersection in Springfield. One driver shouted "Suck it up, snowflakes" out his window as he drove by. Springfield resident Clara Copeland stopped by to see the protest. Copeland said she doesn't feel tension in the city but did notice the withdrawal of Haitian residents after the viral posts in September. "The thing that hurt through all that - I live on the south side and walking around you could see children out playing. After (the national attention), the Haitian people just went inside," she said. Erin Glynn is a reporter for the USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau, which serves the Columbus Dispatch, Cincinnati Enquirer, Akron Beacon Journal and 18 other affiliated news organizations across Ohio. This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Springfield Haitians react to Donald Trump taking office When Hamas military wing, the Qassam Brigades, released its propaganda video of three Israeli hostages being released Sunday night, there was a striking detail. As Romi Gonen, Doron Steinbrecher, and Emily Damari got into a Red Cross SUV in Gaza City, a Hamas militant handed each of them a paper bag with the Qassam Brigades logo on it a gift bag, of sorts. The masked militant then held up a certificate that, in Hebrew and Arabic, read release decision. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Each of the three women was carrying the bag in footage released later Sunday by the Israel Defense Forces albeit this time with the Qassam Brigades logo blurred. The three women formerly held hostage by Hamas are transferred from the Red Cross to the Israeli military in Gaza on January 19. This image was blurred at source. - Israel Defense Forces A representative of Gonens family told CNN on Monday that the bag she received held the certificate, a necklace and photos and said that Israels Internal Security Agency (the Shin Bet) had confiscated the materials. They would not go into detail about the photo, but Israeli media reports that the photos depicted the womens time in captivity. During the handover, a Red Cross representative was asked to sign an Arabic-language document. Acknowledgment of Receipt of Israeli Prisoners, the document read. I, the representative of the International Red Cross, acknowledge that I have received from the Izz Eddin al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Islamic Resistance Movement Hamas, a total of three prisoners, who are and then the names of the hostages. A militant presents a "handover certificate" to the Red Cross, as seen in a Hamas video. - Hamas The Red Cross staff member signs a Hamas document as they take custody of three Israeli women formerly held hostage. - Hamas After 471 days in forced captivity, the idea that a hostage would receive a gift bag is undoubtedly bizarre. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement At its core is an attempt by Hamas to present itself as an undefeated, serious governing body. Fifteen months after staging its audacious, devastating attack on Israel in October 2023, Hamas knew this would be a big moment for the militant group. The message was clear, to Israelis, to Gazans, and to those watching around the world: We are a legitimate governing body, still in charge, who have serious and legal protocols even if they pertain to Israeli civilians taken by force from their homes. It was on display, too, in Gaza Citys Al Saraya Junction. A row of Qassam militants lined the street a message to the Israeli public, whose government has pledged to destroy the group. The gathering of a few dozen militants in Gaza City is hardly proof of a serious military threat. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But the images will fuel both the extremist right-wing in Israel, who believe the ceasefire is a capitulation, and those who favor dialogue, who will argue that if 15 months of unrelenting war failed to dislodge Hamas, further bloodshed is folly. Militants from Hamas' military wing, the Qassam Brigades, escort a Red Cross vehicle to collect Israeli hostages in Gaza City on Sunday. - Abed Hajjar/AP Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Israels foreign minister, Gideon Saar, admitted on Sunday that Israel hadnt met the objective of dismantling Hamas military and government. We had an advancement, he said. The Israeli military and the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, which represents the families, declined to comment on the video. Meanwhile, the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, warned that Israel was far from meeting its goal. We assess that Hamas has recruited almost as many new militants as it has lost. That is a recipe for an enduring insurgency and perpetual war, Blinken said recently. Abeer Salman and Mostafa Salem contributed to this report. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com The three Israeli hostages freed by Hamas appeared to receive gift bags containing mementoes from their time in captivity, following their release on Sunday. Hamas released a video showing hostages Emily Damari, 28, Romi Gonen, 24, and Doron Steinbrecher, 31, being handed paper bags bearing the logo of the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, Hamass armed wing, through the window of a vehicle. The hostages were filmed smiling as they held up the bags, which reportedly contained gifts and souvenirs of them in captivity, including certificates. Hamas operatives presented each hostage with a bag - AFP Israeli media reported that each certificate was signed and inscribed with a release decision. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement According to Israeli outlet Ynet, the bags also consisted of photos of the hostages while they were in captivity and a map of the Gaza Strip. The hostages then proceeded to get on a small white minibus with the bags and were driven to Al-Saraya Square in Gaza City, a meeting point where they were handed over to the Red Cross. After giving the hostages bags, Hamas displayed documentation - Reuters They told the Jerusalem Post the bags were a cynical game, suggesting they may have been a propaganda tactic by Hamas. However, the purpose of the bags was not immediately clear. The Telegraph has contacted the Red Cross for comment. Ms Damari, Ms Gonen and Ms Steinbrecher were the first hostages released as a result of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire on Sunday. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Under the deal, 33 Israeli hostages are meant to be released in the coming six weeks in return for the release of nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. Chinese Vice-President Han Zheng has held talks with the US vice-president-elect J.D. Vance and tech billionaire Elon Musk at separate meetings in Washington ahead of Donald Trump's inauguration, with both sides reaffirming their commitment to a "long and fruitful" relationship. The meetings came two days after Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping's phone conversation on Friday, when they "discussed balancing trade, fentanyl, TikTok, and many other subjects", the incoming US president said on his social media account. According to the Chinese readout of the call, Xi said that he and Trump "attach great importance to mutual interactions" and "hope for a good start of the China-US relationship" during Trump's second term. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement 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. Trump will be officially sworn in as the next occupant of the White House on Monday and has told advisers that he wants to travel to China in his first 100 days in office, according to a Wall Street Journal report on Saturday. During the Friday phone call with his future Chinese counterpart, the next US president said that he "looks forward to meeting Xi at an early date", according to the readout released by Beijing. During the first three months of his previous presidency in 2017, Trump also spoke to Xi via phone within weeks of taking office and hosted the Chinese leader at Mar-a-Lago in April that year. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement However, the following year - just months after Trump's own visit to China in November 2017 - his administration started a trade war that has continued and is widely expected to intensify over the next four years. In his meeting with Vance, Han said that Beijing is ready to work with Washington to "implement the important consensus reached between President Xi Jinping and president-elect Trump", said China's official news agency Xinhua. Tesla CEO Elon Musk (left) meets Vice-President Han Zheng, who is in Washington to attend Donald Trump's presidential inauguration as Chinese President Xi Jinping's special representative. Photo: Xinhua alt=Tesla CEO Elon Musk (left) meets Vice-President Han Zheng, who is in Washington to attend Donald Trump's presidential inauguration as Chinese President Xi Jinping's special representative. Photo: Xinhua> According to the statement, Han said this would include "promoting the stable, healthy and sustainable development of China-US relations". Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement As well as Tesla CEO Musk - who was picked by Trump to co-lead a government efficiency drive - Han met other representatives of the American business community, Xinhua said. In his meeting with Musk, Han said that China "welcomes US companies, including Tesla, to seize the opportunity to share the fruits of China's development and make new and greater contributions to the promotion of China-US economic and trade relations". Musk told Han that Tesla was willing "to deepen its investment and cooperation with China and play an active role in promoting US-China economic and trade exchanges", Xinhua said. During his phone call with Trump on Friday, Xi reiterated that China and the US could be "good friends and partners". Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "As two big countries with different national conditions, it is inevitable that there will be some differences between China and the US, and the key is to respect each other's core interests and major concerns, and to find a proper solution to the problem." After the conversation, Trump echoed the talks on social media, saying "it is my expectation that we will solve many problems together, and starting immediately ... President Xi and I will do everything possible to make the World more peaceful and safe". Han's meetings with Vance and Musk came on the same day as the popular Chinese-owned app TikTok started restoring its services in the US after Trump said he would revive access to the platform when he returns to the Oval Office on Monday. Hours before the Chinese readout, the Trump-Vance transition team released a statement that said the incoming vice-president had "welcomed" Han, who is in the US to attend the inauguration as Xi's special representative. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It will mark the first time that Beijing has ever sent a senior Chinese leader to witness the swearing-in of a US president in Washington. According to the transition team's statement, Vance and Han discussed a range of topics, including fentanyl, balancing trade, and regional stability. Han maintained the conciliatory tone on the bilateral relationship struck by Xi two days ago, noting that as "two great countries" China and the US "are striving to achieve our respective development goals and dreams". He added that the two nations "will achieve mutual success" and "make significant contributions to global peace and development", according to the statement. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Han put bilateral trade relations at the top of his agenda, characterising the issue as "a common concern" for both sides. "Despite differences and frictions between China and the United States, the two countries have huge common interests and room for cooperation, and the two sides can strengthen dialogue and consultation on this," he said. Trump said on the campaign trail that he would impose tariff increases of 60 per cent or more on goods imported from China. After his decisive win in the US presidential election in November, Trump said that one of his first executive orders will be to impose an extra 10 per cent tariff on goods from China and a 25 per cent tax on all products entering the country from Canada and Mexico. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement According to the Chinese readout of the meeting with Han, Vance said that economic ties are "important" to both Washington and Beijing and the US "is willing to develop a long and fruitful relationship with China". Vance added that the second Trump administration is ready to "strengthen dialogue and cooperation between the two sides on international and regional issues, and work together to promote world peace and stability," Xinhua said. More to follow ... 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 2025 South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved. Copyright (c) 2025. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved. Chinese leader Xi Jinping may not have personally accepted US President-elect Donald Trumps invitation to his inauguration, but Beijing has taken the rare step of dispatching a top official to join the swearing-in ceremony in Washington. Chinese Vice President Han Zheng is expected to attend Mondays inauguration after meeting incoming US Vice President JD Vance Sunday, in a trip observers say is a significant but potentially risky goodwill gesture as Beijing looks to avert major friction with Trump and his incoming cabinet of China hawks. While Han is the most senior Chinese official to attend a US inauguration, his position of vice president is largely symbolic within Chinas political system. True authority lies with the ruling Communist Partys powerful Politburo Standing Committee, from which Han retired in 2022. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But sending a high-profile official and one who has previously represented Xi at international events including the coronation of Britains King Charles III signals Beijings interest in a reset of fraught relations between the US and China, observers say. Han has used the visit to meet with members of the American business community, including Tesla CEO and close Trump associate Elon Musk, according to Chinese state agency Xinhua. Musk is widely thought to be seen by Beijing as more sympathetic to its interests than others in Trumps orbit. In his meeting with Musk, Han called on American companies, including Tesla, to promote US-China trade relations, Xinhua reported. Tesla operates its largest manufacturing plant outside the United States in Shanghai. Musk had yet to confirm the meeting at the time of the Chinese report. Hans arrival in the US follows a phone call between Xi and Trump Friday, where the Chinese leader congratulated Trump on his reelection and called for a new start in relations. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We both attach great importance to our interactions, both hope for a good start of the China-US relationship during the new US presidency, and are willing to secure greater progress in China-US relations from a new starting point, Xi told Trump in the call, according to a readout from the Chinese Foreign Ministry. Trump confirmed on his social media platform Truth Social that he held a very good phone call with Xi, and that they discussed subjects including trade, fentanyl and Chinese-owned social media app TikTok. The incoming US president on Sunday also pledged to delay enforcement of a controversial law, upheld by the Supreme Court last week, that would see the app banned in the US if its China-based parent company Bytedance does not divest it. The app whose fate is closely tied to tech and national security frictions between the US and China went dark for roughly 12 hours over the weekend before restoring service following Trumps statement. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew is expected to be seated prominently at the incoming presidents inauguration Monday. Ahead of his swearing-in, Trump privately told his advisers he wants to visit China after taking office, three sources familiar with the talks told CNN, in another potential sign the incoming US leader hopes to keep the door open to negotiation with the rival country even as hes signaled a hardline stance on economic competition with China. Han in Washington Chinas Han and Vance discussed a range of topics including fentanyl, balancing trade, and regional stability in their meeting, the Trump-Vance transition team said in a statement on Sunday. In its readout of the meeting, Chinese state media outlet Xinhua said Han stressed that China is willing to work with the United States to promote the stable, healthy and sustainable development of China-US relations. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Han also acknowledged differences and frictions over economics and trade, but pointed to the common interests and space for cooperation between the two countries and called for them strengthen dialogue and consultation, Xinhua reported. Hans attendance at the Trump inauguration comes as Trump has broken with precedent set by recent administrations to invite foreign leaders, including Italys right-wing leader Giorgia Meloni and Argentinas Javier Milei. The incoming presidents invitation last month to Xi the authoritarian leader of Americas main geopolitical rival was an exceptionally rare gesture, particularly as the incoming president campaigned on ratcheting up economic competition with China and placing hefty tariffs on Chinese goods. Xi would have been highly unlikely to attend Mondays exercise in the democratic transfer of American power, given both the geopolitical context and the lengthy and detailed preparations that typically precede any travel by the Chinese leader. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Chinese ambassadors to the US have attended recent inaugurations, as is standard for many countries, though Chinas Foreign Ministry did not confirm that then-Ambassador Cui Tiankai attended President Joe Bidens. US-China relations have frayed in recent years, over myriad issues. Those issues include Beijings mounting aggression in the South China Sea and toward the self-ruling democracy of Taiwan, as well as US efforts to limit Chinas access to American high tech stressors unlikely to change any time soon, regardless of who is in the White House. But pushing for less fractious relations is in Beijings interests, observers say, as it seeks to stabilize its ailing economy and avoid deepening a damaging tech and trade war with its top single-country trade partner. In a meeting with representatives of the US-China Business Council, the US Chamber of Commerce and other business people on Sunday, Han called the American business community the backbone of US-China relations, according to Xinhua. Han said he hoped that American businesses would continue to invest in China and play an active bridging role between the two sides, Xinhua reported. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement His comments follow what has been a period of trepidation for the American business community about doing business in China, given tensions between the two countries and Beijings tightened regulatory scrutiny over foreign access to sensitive information. Chance for a reset? Dispatching Han for the inauguration sends a message that China takes (Trumps) invitation seriously and is willing to take the risk, said Yun Sun, director of the China Program at the Stimson Center think tank in Washington. That risk, Yun said, is that Trump slaps tariffs on China just days after entering the White House a move that Beijing would see as making it look foolish. On the campaign trail, Trump threatened levying tariffs of upwards of 60% on Chinese imports to the US. In November, he said that China will face higher tariffs on its goods by 10% above any existing tariffs citing the role played by Chinese suppliers in Americas drug crisis. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Beijing is not alone in facing such economic threats. A procession of world leaders and their representatives have jostled for meetings in recent months to start building a rapport with Trump, who is known to link foreign policy with personal chemistry. But even as Beijing faces looming economic frictions and suspicions about its ambitions from within the incoming administration, its still likely to see opportunity within Trumps presidency, observers say. During the Biden administration, Beijing baulked at US efforts to deepen security coordination with American allies in Asia, as well as the presidents stated support for the US defense of Taiwan, the self-ruling island that Beijing claims. Now, it sees an opportunity as the incoming Trump administration will come in with its own, distinct priorities for its China policy, according to Suisheng Zhao, director of the Center for China-US Cooperation at the University of Denver. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trump is expected to focus on economic competition with China rather than on the threat of Beijing to an American-led liberal world order, as the Biden White House did. The incoming president has also in the past expressed an affinity with Xi, calling the Communist Party leader tough and smart. Trump likes Xi Jinping, he likes strongmen, strong leaders, Zhao said. Xi Jinping senses these opportunities, and he is equally eager to reset and to test the water at this time. CNNs Nectar Gan and Samantha Waldenberg contributed to this report. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com ST. LOUIS It was another Sunday morning of sometimes heated but always civil political debate on Hancock and Kelley for Sunday, Jan. 19, 2025. Republican consultant John Hancock and Democratic consultant Michael Kelley discussed the following topics: New Missouri Governor Mike Kehoe is sworn in and takes swift action to make his first day in office one to remember. St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones re-election campaign could be on thin ice due to the citys response to the icy streets. Confirmation hearings begin for President-elect Donald Trumps cabinet nominees. Pete Hegseth finds out theres no ducking Illinois Senator Tammie Duckworth. In our Quote of the Week, Republicans in Indiana look to extend their border into Illinois as far west as the Mississippi River. Copyright 2025 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 2. This is part of Hello, Trumpworld, Slates reluctant guide to the people who will be calling the shots nowat least for as long as they last in Washington. If you thought Trump 1.0 FCC Chair Ajit Pai was badand he certainly wasTrump 2.0 FCC Chair Brendan Carr will be worse. Much, much worse. Carr has the experience and knows the Federal Communications Commission quite well. Hes worked at the agency for more than a decade now: first as legal adviser to Commissioner Pai during the Obama administration, and then as commissioner under the Trump and Biden administrations. Most Americans cant name many regulators, much less FCC members. But they might just know Carr as the most theatrical Trump bureaucrat this side of Pais oversize Reeses mug. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement During his first years as commissioner, Carr didnt just toe the conservative line for gutting net neutrality, abetting huge telecoms mergers, and allowing prison-phone companies to overcharge their clients. He became a full-on media hatchet man for Trump, making appearances on Fox News, Newsmax, and CNBC to attack the libs and earn Trumps approval. On social media, Carr was never afraid to take on those the president deemed to be his enemies; the commissioner accused Politico of spreading Communist propaganda and claimed that Twitter executives and Facebooks Oversight Board were running electoral interference for Democrats in 2020. He also proposed steep changes to Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, the bedrock internet regulation that rules out certain legal liabilities for platform operators over what their users may say. (Section 230 has famously come under bipartisan fire in recent years thanks to mistaken assumptions about its terms, but without the law, the state of free speech online would actually be much worseeven, and especially, for conservatives.) During the Biden years, Carr was even more belligerent and pointed in his public rhetoric, despite, or perhaps because of, his perch with the FCC. He tried to demand that Apple and Google unilaterally remove TikTok from their app stores and (successfully, it seems) advocated for its wholesale ban. He absurdly accused his own agency of engaging in regulatory harassment of Elon Musk because it directed broadband subsidies toward public-expansion programs instead of just showering money on Starlink. He also contributed a whole Project 2025 chapter about what Trump should do with the FCC, in potential violation of Hatch Act policies forbidding federal employees from using their positions as partisan soapboxes. Carrs counter was that he wrote the ideological chapter in his capacity as a citizenbut that didnt stop him from explicitly boosting Trumps campaign late in the 2024 election cycle, by inaccurately decrying Kamala Harris Saturday Night Live appearance as a breach of election regulations, thus intimidating NBC into offering free airtime to Trump that would have otherwise cost his campaign $1 million. After Trumps victory, Carr immediately urged his FCC colleagues to stop work on any controversial matter and dispatched a letter to Big Techs giants accusing them of operating a censorship cartel that employed so-called fact-checking organizations to suppress conservative viewpoints. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Its perhaps not a coincidence that many of the content-moderation overhauls that Mark Zuckerberg recently announced at Meta happen to align with Carrs preferred solutions. And therein lies the real reason to worry about how he will head the FCC: as a willing intimidator of American private enterprise on behalf of Donald Trump and his friends, including Elon Musk. Carr has already stated that his FCC may factor Trumps nonsensical lawsuit against CBS, over 60 Minutes edits to its Kamala Harris interview, into the agencys review of Paramounts long-hobbled merger with Skydance Media. Hes written a letter to Disney warning that its subsidiary ABC News will be on close watch following its recent $15 million settlement with Trump. Hes called out nonpartisan fact-checking websites like NewsGuardwhich debunked Trumps racist lies about Haitian immigrants eating pets in Ohioas being Orwellian. Hes threatened to revoke broadcasters public licenses over their Trump coverage, even though many of their agreements wont be up for renewal until 2028. Hes promised that the FCC will end its promotion of DEI under his reign. And, much like he did under his mentor Ajit Pai, he will continue to gut consumer protections against the predatory practices of big telecommunications firms while rolling back general oversight of the industry. Carr was an eager poster and troll for years. But now, hell actually have some power. And theres no reason to believe he wont use it to further his most radical goals. BEIJING, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- China's Ministry of Commerce on Monday expressed regret over a complaint that the European Union (EU) lodged at the World Trade Organization (WTO) against China's judicial ruling on standard essential patent disputes. China received a consultation request from the EU on Jan. 20, the ministry said in an online statement responding to media inquiry on the issue. China has adhered strictly to WTO rules and its accession commitments, and continually improved legislation and law enforcement related to the protection of intellectual property rights, and its achievements have been widely recognized, the ministry said. It said that the communication channels between China and the EU have always remained open for intellectual property issues, and stressed that the country will address subsequent matters in accordance with WTO rules and firmly safeguard its legitimate rights and interests. Detectives in Seminole County are investigating a disturbing act of vandalism in Oviedo. Deputies were called to what had been the Saint James AME Church near James Drive on Saturday. The location was converted to a museum a few years ago. Read: Biden pardons Fauci and Milley in an effort to guard against potential revenge by Trump Residents said they recently discovered hateful graffiti on the side of the building. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Local historian Judith Smith spoke out about the incident saying, Our moral compass has declined. If you do not have a moral compass, youre going to have all kinds of behavior like this. Read: Vigil held after 6-year-old killed by suspected drunk driver in Orange County Deputies have since painted over the graffiti at the church. Anyone with information about the vandalism is asked to call the Seminole County Sheriffs Office. Read: Space Perspectives financial turbulence: Airport authority files eviction case Click here to download our free news, weather and smart TV apps. And click here to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live. NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) The Gulf Coast region is bracing for a rare winter storm that will bring heavy snow, dangerous cold, and hazardous travel conditions starting early Tuesday. Snowfall is expected to begin in the early morning hours Tuesday and continue through the day, with widespread totals of 4 to 6 inches along and near the Interstate 10 corridor. Some areas could see 5 to 7 inches, with isolated amounts of 8 to 10 inches possible. Snowfall rates of 1 inch per hour, combined with wind gusts up to 35 mph, could create whiteout conditions at times. Travel will be nearly impossible Tuesday, especially on elevated roadways and bridges, where snow and ice are expected to accumulate quickly. Temperatures will stay below freezing for much of the day Wednesday, meaning that snow and ice will melt slowly and refreeze overnight, extending hazardous conditions into Thursday morning. The storm is expected to move out of the region late Tuesday night, but extreme cold will linger through midweek, with some areas seeing wind chills as low as 5 degrees Tuesday night into Wednesday morning. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement For those venturing outdoors, prolonged exposure to the cold could lead to hypothermia or frostbite. Dress in warm layers and limit time outside if possible. Officials are urging residents to prepare now. Bring pets inside, protect exposed pipes to prevent freezing, and check on elderly neighbors or anyone who may not have adequate heating. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Conditions are expected to gradually improve by Thursday, with daytime highs reaching the mid to upper 40s. However, officials warn that shaded areas and eastbound lanes of interstates may remain icy even after temperatures warm. Residents should monitor local updates and avoid unnecessary travel. Stay safe, stay warm, and prepare to stay home Tuesday and Wednesday. 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 2025 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. TOPEKA (KSNT) A local business owner has donated their one thousand dollar prize to the Helping Hands Humane Society. Brian Dultmeier, owner of Roofs by Brian Dultmeier, presented the check Sunday morning. His five-year-old pure lab, Langlie, entered the nation wide Tri-Built Top Dog Calendar contest against 1400 other dogs. She won a spot for the month of September and won a grand prize package for this achievement, including one-thousand dollars. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Instead of keeping the money, her family decided to donate the winnings back to Helping Hands. Where has the mail been since the historic winter storm? Heres what we know On behalf of our family, and Roofs by Brian, wed like to present this check to help them with the animals, the food, the people that have to help, Dultmeier said. Helping Hands Humane Society says that this donation along with every donation they received is a huge help to provide medical needs and day-to-day cost of care. 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. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 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. HENDERSON, Ky. (WEHT) Kentucky lawmakers have returned to Frankfort for the legislative session, but it can be a tough process keeping up with the bills and new laws. Luckily, the Henderson Chamber of Commerce is available to help. The chamber is hosting a breakfast next week to help learn about the big issues this session. Jada Hamby and Clay Gillham with the chamber were on Eyewitness News Daybreak for more details about the event. You can view the full interview in the video player above. The Chamber Legislative Preview Breakfast will be held at the Henderson County Public Library on January 27 at 7:30 a.m.. The Chamber will also be hosting Farmers Sound Off on January 30 at 7:30 a.m. at Henderson County Extension Expo Center. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 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 Eyewitness News (WEHT/WTVW). Declaring a national emergency and deploying armed military personnel to the southern border. Planning mass deportations. Ending birthright citizenship. Reinstating "Remain in Mexico." Designating cartels as foreign terrorist organizations. Instituting travel and asylum bans. Donald Trump plans to take sweeping actions on the border and immigration as the 47th president of the United States. Trump on Monday signed 10 executive actions related to border security and immigration enforcement. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Together, the executive actions on his first day in office were intended to return America to common-sense immigration policy and restore American sovereignty, said an incoming White House official, who stated over the past four years under the Biden administration the U.S. has been invaded by "cartels, criminal gangs, known terrorists, human traffickers, smugglers, unvetted military-age males from foreign adversaries and illicit narcotics that harm Americans, especially our youth." Here are the 10 executive actions on border security and immigration policy signed by Trump: 1. Declare a national emergency to increase military presence at the border. Trump declared a national emergency at the southern border and directed the Department of Defense to increase the U.S. militarys involvement there, including deploying more troops. Trump view: "With these actions, we will begin the complete restoration of America and the revolution of common sense. First, I will declare a national emergency at our southern border. All illegal entry will immediately be halted and we will begin the process of returning millions and millions of criminal aliens back to the places from which they came." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Opponent view: Rep. Jared Huffman, D-Calif., posted on BlueSky: Migrant crossings plummeted this past year, but Trump is declaring a crisis at the border to weaponize the military against legal immigrants and even US citizens. Instilling fear with fake emergencies to give yourself supreme power is right out of the Reichstag playbook. 2. Clarify the military's role in protecting U.S. territorial integrity. The Trump administration directed the armed forces to prioritize the Southwestern border in its strategic planning. Trump wants the military to play a more prominent role in securing the border to (repel) forms of invasion, including unlawful mass migration, narcotics trafficking, human smuggling and trafficking and other criminal activities. Trump view: "I will send troops to the Southern border to repel the disastrous invasion of our country." 3. End 'Catch and release,' reinstate 'Remain in Mexico,' and build the wall The Trump administration plans to resume constructing the U.S.-Mexico border wall, reviving a multibillion-dollar project halted by President Biden. During Trumps first term, 450 miles of barriers were built, mostly replacing existing fencing. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trump will reinstate the Remain in Mexico program, which requires asylum-seekers to wait in Mexico for U.S. court hearings. In June 2022, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Biden administration to suspend the program. Reinstating the program also would require the Mexican government's approval. Additionally, Trump plans to invoke executive authority to restrict asylum and expedite deportations at the southern border, officials said. Changes in border policy under the Biden administration, combined with Mexicos migration efforts, already have contributed to a four-year low in illegal crossings. Supporter view: Rep. Brandon Gill, R-Texas, a first-term lawmaker who is part of a group of House members seeking to codify the Remain in Mexico policy, told Fox News Digital earlier this month: "The American people gave President Trump and Republicans a mandate to secure the border, and Congress must pass the Remain In Mexico Act as a first step to secure our border and fix the problems Democrats created in our country. Opponent view: Laura St. John, the legal director at the Florence Immigrant & Refugee Rights Project, said in a written statement last week: Remain in Mexico was a catastrophic policy from both a humanitarian and a due process perspective. This policy exposed vulnerable, displaced migrants to kidnappings, enforced disappearances, assaults, sexual violence, and homelessness. 4. Designate cartels as Foreign Terrorist Organizations and global terrorists Trump labeled cartels and global gangs as foreign terrorist organizations. This executive action places a target on groups that oversee much of the illicit migrant and drug flow across the southern border. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Incoming White House officials named the Tren de Aragua gang, a group from Venezuela, as well as the MS-13 gang, an American gang that spread to Central American countries like El Salvador. The administration intends to invoke the 1798 Alien and Sedition Acts to remove Tren de Aragua members, calling them an armed force of the Venezuelan government conducting a predatory incursion and invasion. Trump view: "By invoking the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, I will direct our government to use the full and immense power of federal and state law enforcement to eliminate the presence of all foreign gangs and criminal networks, bringing devastating crime to U.S. soil, including our cities and inner cities. As commander in chief, I have no higher responsibility than to defend our country from threats and invasions. And that is exactly what I am going to do." Supporter view: "To secure our borders, protect our communities, and defend our sovereignty, we must confront the cartels with the full force of the law, said Chad Wolf, a former acting Homeland Security Secretary during the first Trump administration and now executive director of the America First Policy Institute. "The FTO designation sends a clear message that their extortion, trafficking and violence will not be tolerated, and we will act decisively to dismantle their networks and restore safety and justice to our borders." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Opponent view: Katherine Yon Ebright, a counsel in the Brennan Centers Liberty and National Security Program, posted a thread about the use of the 1798 Alien and Sedition Acts on X: I have no problem with a president deporting someone who's been convicted for transnational criminal activity. The problem with the Alien Enemies Act is that it bypasses due process and targets people based on their birth heritage, not their actual conduct." National politics: Pete Hegseth nomination advances in Senate despite Sen. Mark Kelly's objections 5. Suspend refugee resettlement for 'at least four months' The Trump administration will suspend the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program for at least four months, according to an incoming White House official. The president decides yearly admissions after consulting with Congress, with no fixed floor or cap. The program allows refugees fleeing persecution or war to enter the U.S. legally after interviews, security checks and medical screenings. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A similar action was taken in January 2017 during the first Trump administration, when the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program was suspended for 120 days. The administration admitted fewer and fewer refugees through the first four years Trump was in office, setting a record low cap of 15,000 during his last year in office. By comparison, the Biden administration set a target goal of 125,000 refugee admissions for the 2025 fiscal year, the same as the three previous fiscal years. Arizona received 9,018 refugees in fiscal year 2024, according to the Arizona Refugee Resettlement Program. The highest number came from Cuba, 4,220. Opponent view: Connie Phillips, president and CEO of Lutheran Social Services of the Southwest, which has helped resettle more than 100 refugees so far this year, told The Arizona Republic: "All of the research about refugee resettlement is that it is an economic asset for us and a lifesaving response. There is not a downside for the refugee resettlement program for the United States, and we are very disappointed that we will have to suspend operations of this for a period of time and just hope we can get back on track." 6. End asylum at the border This executive order calls for the immediate removal of migrants who enter illegally and makes those who do ineligible to apply for asylum. This is a continuation of a policy put in place by the Biden administration in June that has already led to a sharp decrease in Border Patrol encounters. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Opponent view: Rep. Jason Crow, D-Colo., posted on X: "Our immigration system needs reform. But targeting refugees, asylum seekers fleeing violence, and ending birthright citizenship is cruel & wrong. Every American family came here at one point in search of a better life. Surely we can fix our broken system while living up to our ideals as a nation of immigrants." 7. End birthright citizenship for children of undocumented immigrants This is one of the biggest border announcements. For more than 100 years, nearly everyone born in the U.S. has received citizenship automatically. Birthright citizenship is rooted in the 14th Amendment, which was ratified after the Civil War and granted citizenship to everyone born in the U.S., including Black people. The amendment was later interpreted to apply to everyone born in the U.S., including the children of undocumented immigrants. Trump's executive action, however, states that a phrase in the 14th Amendment, "and subject to the jurisdiction thereof," should be reinterpreted to "clarify" that the federal government does not recognize automatic birthright citizenship for the U.S.-born children of undocumented immigrants. Opponent view: U.S. Sen. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz. posted on X: "Ending birthright citizenship is anti-American and unconstitutional. Plain and simple. We need to address our broken immigration system and secure the border. But executive actions like this run contrary to the ideals of what makes our country great, and I will do all I can to fight this anti-American executive order." Supporter view: Heritage Foundation quote posted on X: "The current prevailing interpretation of the 14th Amendment regarding birthright citizenship is wrong. It was never meant to reward illegal aliens for breaking American law. No child born to foreign citizens should be considered a citizen of the U.S." 8. Travel bans Trump signed an executive action that enhances vetting and screening of undocumented immigrants. The executive order also calls for the possible relaunch of travel bans that would suspend entry of certain nationals from countries deemed of particular concern. The first Trump administration implemented similar travel bans through an executive action. Those travel bans, deemed discriminatory, were rescinded by the Biden administration. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Supporter view: Victor Davis Hanson, senior fellow at the Hoover Institute, said Jan. 10 on The Daily Signal: "I think it's very important that we start looking at the countries that are the source of illegal immigration in terms of security: a Sudan, a Syria, countries that support terrorism, like Venezuela, the Middle East, especially Iran, Russia as well. Why would we let them send people here that we have no background checks, have not adjudicated their status? So we should have a travel ban, an immediate deportation and immediate consequences for the mother country that knowingly sends these people." Trump: What Arizona's congressional delegation had to say about his inauguration 9. 'Protect American people against invasion' This executive order "rescinds open border policies" of the Biden administration, and calls for creating federal homeland security task forces to cooperate with state and local law enforcement to assist in the removal of gangs, criminals and undocumented immigrants from the U.S. 10. Death penalty This executive order calls for the reinstatement of the death penalty for undocumented immigrants who commit capital offenses, including those convicted of killing law enforcement officers or American citizens. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement (This story has been updated with new information.) This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Here's what to know about Trump's border emergency and other actions This article will be updated. Students throughout the region were scheduled for a three-day weekend in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Monday, and time at home could continue into Tuesday as central Indiana undergoes an extreme cold snap. Conditions will be treacherous for children heading to school on foot, and buses may have trouble navigating hardened ice on Indianapolis' unplowed residential roads. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The National Weather Service predicts a high temperature of 7 degrees and with wind chill values dipping as low as -11 degrees. On Friday, leadership from at least three area school districts notified parents that students should take home school-provided devices for the weekend in case classes move to an E-Learning day Tuesday. There isn't a specific temperature threshold that schools use to close during extreme cold, but guidelines issued by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration give district administrators a point of reference. If air temperatures are -10 degrees or colder at 6 a.m., schools may consider delaying their start time by two hours, according to the NOAA guidelines. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A two-hour delay would also be considered if wind chill brings temperatures below -19 degrees at 6 a.m. If wind chill remains at -19 degrees or cooler by 9 a.m., schools may close. Schools also look at road conditions and risks to students' health. The Indianapolis Public School's general weather guidelines note that school will be delayed or canceled if conditions could lead to frostbite in 10 minutes or less. That's not predicted to be the case Tuesday, though it will still be extremely cold, and experts recommend that all exposed skin is covered before heading outdoors. More: What temperature does it need to be before Indianapolis schools cancel school for the day? Here is a list of what Central Indiana schools have announced as of Monday afternoon. Avon Community School Corp. No announcement. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Website: Avon Community School Corp. Beech Grove City Schools No announcement. Website: Beech Grove City Schools Bishop Chatard High School No announcement. Website: Bishop Chatard High School Brebeuf Jesuit Preparatory School To allow everyone time to get to school safely, Brebeuf Jesuit will operate on a 9:30 a.m. Delayed Opening schedule Jan. 21 and Jan. 22. Website: Brebeuf Jesuit Preparatory School Brownsburg Community School Corp. No announcement. Website: Brownsburg Community School Corp. Cardinal Ritter High School No announcement. Website: Cardinal Ritter High School Carmel Clay Schools Carmel Clay Schools will have a two-hour delay on Tuesday. Website: Carmel Clay Schools Cathedral High School No announcement. Website: Cathedral High School Center Grove Community School Corp. Center Grove Community School Corporation will open with a two-hour delay on Tuesday. There will be no morning preschool. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Website: Center Grove Community School Corp. MSD Decatur Township Schools No announcement. Website: MSD Decatur Township Schools Franklin Community Schools Franklin Community Schools will operate with a two-hour delay on Tuesday. Website: Franklin Community Schools Franklin Township Community Schools No announcement. Website: Franklin Township Community Schools Greenwood Community Schools Greenwood Community Schools will open with a two-hour delay on Tuesday. Website: Greenwood Community Schools Guerin Catholic High School Guerin Catholic High School will operate with a two-hour delay on Tuesday. Zero period is canceled. Mass will be offered at 9:45 a.m., and first period will begin at 10:30 a.m. Math League is moved to Thursday at 7:45 a.m. Website: Guerin Catholic High School Hamilton Southeastern Schools Hamilton Southeastern will have a two-hour delay on Tuesday. HSE Preschool and Academy morning classes are canceled. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Website: Hamilton Southeastern Schools Heritage Christian School No announcement. Website: Heritage Christian School Indianapolis Public Schools No announcement. Website: Indianapolis Public Schools MSD Lawrence Township Schools No announcement. Website: MSD Lawrence Township Schools Noblesville Schools Noblesville Schools will open with a two-hour delay Tuesday. Website: Noblesville Schools Orchard School No announcement. Website: Orchard School Park Tudor No announcement. Website: Park Tudor Perry Township Schools No announcement. Website: Perry Township Schools MSD Pike Township The MSD of Pike Township will utilize remote learning today due to a high number of drivers out ill and extremely cold temperatures. Loving Care sites will be closed. Website: MSD Pike Township Plainfield Community School Corp. No announcement. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Website: Plainfield Community School Corp. Roncalli High School No announcement. Website: Roncalli High School Scecina Memorial High School No announcement. Website: Scecina Memorial High School Speedway Schools No announcement. Website: Speedway Schools St. Louis de Montfort Catholic School No announcement. Website: St. Louis de Montfort Catholic School University High School No announcement. Website: University High School MSD Washington Township Schools No announcement. Website: MSD Washington Township Schools MSD Warren Township Schools Warren Township is expected to operate on a two-hour delay on Tuesday, according to a message posted to the district's X account. Website: MSD Warren Township Schools MSD Wayne Township Schools No announcement. Website: MSD Wayne Township Schools Westfield Washington Schools Westfield Washington Schools will be on a two-hour delay Tuesday. TOTS, All Aboard and BAC will all open at 7:15 a.m., and Morning Developmental Preschool is canceled. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Website: Westfield Washington Schools Zionsville Community Schools Zionsville Community Schools will open with a two-hour delay on Tuesday. Website: Zionsville Community Schools This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Extreme cold: Check school cancellations, delays for Tuesday, Jan. 21. U.S. Vice President-elect former Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) and U.S. President-elect Donald Trump arrive to inauguration ceremonies in the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 20, 2025 in Washington, DC. Credit - Chip SomodevillaGetty Images One by one, they had all trickled into the walnut-paneled Mansfield Room. Donald Trump had just made another improbable return: his first visit to the U.S. Capitol since a mob of his supporters stormed the building on Jan. 6, 2021. Now, just days away from reclaiming power, the President-elect was there to meet with the 52 Republican Senators of the 119th Congress about advancing his legislative agenda: a massive border security package, extending his 2017 tax cuts, and dispensing with the debt ceiling. After more than an hour of wrangling over strategy, Senator Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia, tried to wrap things up, according to one of the GOP senators present. Sir, she told Trump, I want to respect your time and get you out of here so you can move on to your other commitments. Trump raised his eyebrows and interjected. I have no other commitments, he said. This is my legacy. The Jan. 8 meeting lasted nearly another hour. President-elect Donald Trump speaks to the press following a meeting with Senate Republicans at the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 8, 2025. Valerie PleschBloomberg/Getty Images Despite Trumps visions of enhanced executive authority, it was a recognition that his success will rest on the cooperationor capitulationof others. Even before his inauguration, he has been racking up wins. When Israel and Hamas announced a ceasefire after 15 months of war, Israeli officials credited Trumps demand that the terror group release the hostages or else all hell will break loose. As President Biden warned in his farewell address of an ultra-wealthy oligarchy taking shape, the corporate titans he was referencing were cozying up to Trump in unsubtle displays of anticipatory obedience. Congressional Republicans similarly continue to bend to his willwhether its the few House members who threatened to derail Mike Johnsons reelection for Speaker of the House, or the key Senator who expressed doubts about former Fox News host Pete Hegseth as Defense Secretary. Ultimately, they all backed down. The way he went to bat for Mike Johnson and cracked down on dissenters sent a message to me and a lot of others to back off, says a Republican Senator close to Trump. Dont ruin this. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Even with all that political capital, Trump still faces limits to his power. Republican legislators balked at his request to use recess appointments to install his more controversial Cabinet picks. When it became clear there were enough holdouts to tank his choice of Matt Gaetz for Attorney General, Trump told the former Florida congressman to step aside. Today, hes navigating the competing demands of Republicans in purple and ruby red districts as they try to carve out a legislative framework for his signature domestic priorities. And despite Trumps GOP having full control of Washington, the threat of internecine divisions derailing his plans looms large. When you have majorities in each chamber, a Trump advisor says, the worry is that it would become a circular firing squad. That remains a possibility. For Trump, who won on a promise to reshape government, the greatest obstacle may be just how far his own party is willing to let him go. In private meetings, sources close to Trump say the President keeps expressing a desire to move fast, fully aware that the window for maximal disruption wont stay open for long. Your biggest opportunities for change are in the first couple of years, and even more so in the first 18 months, because that's ahead of elections, says a senior Trump official. He's at the apex of power now. Every month that goes by, he has a little bit less. Photograph by Saul LoebPool/AP Click here to order your copy of this issue If you want to know how a candidate will govern, the clues are often in how they campaigned. Trumps 2016 bid was marked by chaos, leaking, and vicious infighting. He trudged through three separate campaign managers. His 2024 campaign was far more disciplined; there was hardly any turnover and they succeeded in ways few saw coming: broadening the tent while pleasing his base, winning the popular vote, and clinching a decisive Electoral College victory. Much of that credit goes to Susie Wiles, his de facto underboss who will serve as White House Chief of Staff. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement So there was little surprise when Trump asked Wiles to take on the vital role. Inside the West Wing, she will be tasked with maintaining order and cohesion among the executive branch and Trumps far-flung coalition. One of Trumps deputy chiefs of staff, James Blair, will be a liaison to Congress. Another longtime advisor, Stephen Miller, will have broad discretion to shape executive policy, while Dan Scavino will manage Trumps social media and be a constant presence by his side. Taylor Budowich, a seasoned MAGA stalwart, will oversee hiring in the executive branch and media strategy. All of them worked on the last campaign and will try to translate an operation that worked for them on the trail into a model for unconventional governance. Susie Wiles, Donald Trump's top campaign adviser who will serve as White House Chief of Staff, at a rally in Wildwood, N.J., on May 11, 2024. Doug MillsThe New York Times/Redux As Trumps Cabinet picks were sending shockwaves through Washington late last month, Wiles laid out a theory of her boss's unorthodox appointments in a call with senior transition staff: RFK is going to be a disruptor, Elon Musk is going to be a disruptor. Kash Patel is going to be a disruptor. One of Trumps biggest regrets of his first term, he told TIME in April, was the people he hired who tried to block his most norm-shattering, and in some cases dangerous, ideas. But now hes been elected on an unambiguous promise to wage war on the institutions of government and deliver sweeping transformations. His Cabinet nominees, Wiles told her underlings, according to two sources familiar with the call, were chosen to deliver on that promise. He wants people that can disrupt alongside him. Read More: Donald Trumps Disruption Is Back To critics, Trumps nominations reflect another impulse: to install obedient, often inexperienced, acolytes who will acquiesce to his demands to turn the government into an instrument for his own self-interest. In some instances, Trumps antagonists see an explicit quid pro quo. In exchange for Kennedy endorsing Trump last summer, says Lisa Gilbert, co-president of the progressive government watchdog Public Citizen, Trump picked the vaccine critic to lead the Department of Health and Human Services. In exchange for Musk donating $250 million to his campaign, she alleges, Trump rewarded the billionaire whose businesses hold various U.S. government contracts with his own commission tasked with shrinking the size of government. There is no clearer instance of a direct tit-for-tat interaction, says Gilbert. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Beyond Trumps Cabinet and inner circle, the administration expects to harness an array of outside groups, social media influencers, and right-wing media personalities to shape narratives and apply pressure on Republicans who might obstruct the Trump agenda. They were already deployed in full force to squash any GOP squeamishness on Hegseth, who Trump wants to lead the Pentagon despite questions about his experience, his views, and accusations leveled against him of alcohol abuse and sexual assault that hes denied. When Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst, a veteran up for re-election in two years, expressed reservation about Hegseth, who has said women should not serve in combat, she drew an onslaught of social media harassment, revved up by the likes of Steve Bannon and Gaetz, now an anchor for the pro-Trump One America News Network. How do I make it stop? Ernst asked one of her fellow Republican senators, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations. She toe-dipped in her opposition, the GOP senator tells TIME, and felt the immediate backlash. Another source familiar with the matter tells TIME that a Trump ally informed Ernst that the President would support a primary challenge against her in Iowawhere Trump won the caucuses last year by roughly 30 pointsif she blocked Hegseth. At the same time, Musk quietly back-channeled a message to Senators, according to two sources familiar with the matter: anyone who votes against Trumps Cabinet secretaries will face a multi-million dollar Musk-funded Super PAC to oust them from office in their next primary. Ernst ultimately signaled she would back Hegseth. That's the reality that all these members live in the next couple years here, says a source close to Trump. They all get in line at the end of the day. Theres still always the potential for trouble in a MAGA paradise. There are competing factions within Trumps orbit with their own agendas. Some of that has already spilled into public view, such as Bannons tussle with Musk over H1B visas, through which U.S. companies, including Musks, import skilled workers from other countries. To Trump, the argument is part of the funand his decision-making process. He doesnt mind the squabble, says a Trump aide. He likes to see the conversation hash out and see where the conversation online lives and where the base is on things. Elon Musk with President-elect Donald Trump at SpaceX Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas, on Nov. 19, 2024. Brandon BellPool/AP Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In the end, Trump sided with the SpaceX founder over whether the H-1B program was worth continuing. Trump, after all, uses them at his clubs and hotels. Plus Musk has more than $300 billion. Bannon does not. But over the coming years, such quarrels may serve as a barometer for which voices in his ear will have the most influence, and the extent to which Trump remains sensitive to public pushback. Trump aides say he is more intent than he was in his first term on remaking the federal bureaucracy, and less concerned with appeasing those who might stand in his way. His risk tolerance is higher, says a senior Trump official. For everything Trump may be able to accomplish without the help of the legislature, every President aims to sign major, far-reaching pieces of legislation. Trumps checklist in Congress will be passing a border security bill and making his tax cuts permanent. Theres also the debt ceiling, which Congress must agree to either raise or eliminate entirely. In public and in private, Trump says he would prefer to pass his border security measures and raise the debt ceiling in one package, whereas some leading members of Congress insist on doing them separately. On some level, its a simple process argument, but its also a test of how Trump will handle resistance from his own party after becoming accustomed to their subservience over the course of his march to power. Perhaps most of all, it may reveal whether Trump, ten years into his life as a politician, has learned that most Washington of lessons: sometimes you need to lose a few fights to win a bigger one. Toward the end of his Jan. 8 meeting with the Republican Senators, he pushed hard for one bill but, by the end, eventually relented that he could accept either method. All that really matters, he said, was that it gets done. Ill sign one bill, Ill sign two bills. Ill sign 10 bills, he said. Whatever it takes. Contact us at letters@time.com. The Lebanese pro-Iranian Shiite movement Hezbollah on Monday described the ceasefire in the Gaza war as an Israeli defeat. In a first statement after the ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist organization Hamas came into effect, the organization spoke of a blessed victory for the Palestinian people and their resistance. "The agreement to a ceasefire under the conditions of the resistance, without compromising Palestinian rights, marks a political victory alongside the military achievement," the statement said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It added that Israel has failed "to achieve any of its objectives through force or to break the will and steadfastness of the Palestinian people." In the course of the Gaza war, Hezbollah, which is supported by Iran, was considerably weakened militarily after repeatedly launching rocket attacks on Israel and becoming the target of Israeli counter-attacks. In September, Israel launched a wide-scale attack on Lebanon, destroying most of southern and eastern Lebanon as well as Beirut's southern suburbs, which are all hotbeds of the movement. The war has also resulted in the assassination of most of Hezbollah's leaders, including their Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah. The movement was further weakened following the change of power in Syria, which was an important supply route for Hezbollah. Israel and Hezbollah also agreed on a ceasefire at the end of November. A man checks a burned car after a raid by Israeli settlers in the West Bank city of Qalqilya, Jan. 21, 2025. Dozens of Israeli settlers raided Palestinian villages in the occupied West Bank Monday night, attacking residents, torching property, and sparking clashes with local Palestinians, according to Israeli sources. (Photo by Nidal Eshtayeh/Xinhua) JERUSALEM, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- Dozens of Israeli settlers raided Palestinian villages in the occupied West Bank Monday night, attacking residents, torching property, and sparking clashes with local Palestinians, according to Israeli sources. According to Israeli sources, the settlers, numbering around 50, set fire to buildings and vehicles in the villages of Al Funduq and Jinsafut, east of the West Bank city of Qalqilya, while also hurling stones at Palestinians. Video footage shared on social media showed several fires burning in a village and the sound of gunfire in the background. Israel's Magen David Adom rescue service reported that two Israelis were injured by gunshot, with one of them being in a critical condition. It was not immediately clear what caused the gunfire, but Israel's state-owned Kan TV reported that the two settlers were apparently shot by an Israeli police officer in error during the chaos. The incident was still under investigation. It was not immediately known if there were casualties among Palestinians. The Israeli military released a statement saying that military and Border Police forces were dispatched to the area after receiving reports of riots. The official Palestinian news agency WAFA reported that homes, vehicles, and shops had been set ablaze, saying that the settlers raided the area under the protection of Israeli forces, targeting buildings along the Qalqilya-Nablus main road. The violence came a day after settlers raided several Palestinian villages in the West Bank, according to Israeli and Palestinian sources. In Singil and Turmus Ayya, settlers set fire to homes and vehicles. In Funduq, settlers blocked Palestinian movement and the entrance to the village, where arson was also reported. The incident occurred amid escalating tensions in the West Bank, as Israel continues daily raids in Palestinian cities and towns, often resulting in Palestinian casualties. It came a day after a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas went into effect, halting more than 15 months of an Israeli onslaught in Gaza. A man checks a burned place after a raid by Israeli settlers in the West Bank city of Qalqilya, Jan. 21, 2025. Dozens of Israeli settlers raided Palestinian villages in the occupied West Bank Monday night, attacking residents, torching property, and sparking clashes with local Palestinians, according to Israeli sources. (Photo by Nidal Eshtayeh/Xinhua) People check a damaged car after a raid by Israeli settlers in the West Bank city of Qalqilya, Jan. 21, 2025. Dozens of Israeli settlers raided Palestinian villages in the occupied West Bank Monday night, attacking residents, torching property, and sparking clashes with local Palestinians, according to Israeli sources. (Photo by Nidal Eshtayeh/Xinhua) A man checks a burned vehicle after a raid by Israeli settlers in the West Bank city of Qalqilya, Jan. 21, 2025. Dozens of Israeli settlers raided Palestinian villages in the occupied West Bank Monday night, attacking residents, torching property, and sparking clashes with local Palestinians, according to Israeli sources. (Photo by Nidal Eshtayeh/Xinhua) Hillary Clinton couldnt contain her laughter during President Donald Trumps 2025 inauguration speech. The former secretary of state, 77, was caught stifling a laugh when Trump, 78, declared moments taking the oath on Jan. 20 that as president, he will prioritize changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the "Gulf of America." "America will reclaim its rightful place as the greatest, most powerful, most respected nation on earth, inspiring the awe, admiration of the entire world," Trump said in his address. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He added, leading to Clinton's amusement: "A short time from now, we will be changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America and we will be restoring the name of a great president, William McKinley, to Mount McKinley, where it should be and where it belongs." Related: Donald Trump Sworn In as the 47th U.S. President SAUL LOEB/POOL/AFP via Getty This is not the first time Trump has mentioned his plans to rename the Gulf of Mexico. At a Mar-a-Lago press conference earlier this month, the now-president shared his stance, saying, "We're going to be changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America, which has a beautiful ring. That covers a lot of territory, the Gulf of America. What a beautiful name. And it's appropriate. It's appropriate. And Mexico has to stop allowing millions of people to pour into our country. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Related: Donald Trump Says Canada Should Be '51st State' as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau Resigns Last week, Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a fierce ally of Trumps, said she would prepare legislation to change the name. "The American people are footing the bill to protect and secure the maritime waterways for commerce to be conducted. Our U.S. armed forces protect the area from any military threats from foreign countries," she said in a statement. "It's our gulf. The rightful name is the Gulf of America and it's what the entire world should refer to it as." Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images Democratic presidential nominee former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (R) and Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump speak during the town hall debate at Washington University on October 9, 2016 in St Louis, Missouri. Democratic presidential nominee former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (R) and Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump speak during the town hall debate at Washington University on October 9, 2016 in St Louis, Missouri. While Clinton laughed at Trumps comment, she held back blatant signs of animosity during the inauguration despite her long-standing rift with the president. The two went head-to-head during the 2016 presidential election, where Clinton won the popular vote but Trump claimed the Electoral College victory. 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. Since then, Clinton has remained vocal in her opposition to Trump. She has been a strong supporter of former President Joe Biden, who awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom earlier this month, and she supported Vice President Kamala Harris' bid for the presidency in 2024. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Related: Hillary Clinton Defends Joe Biden After Controversy About How He Interacts with Women and Girls: 'Get Over It' In a 2019 interview with PEOPLE, Clinton described Trump as a reckless, corrupt human tornado who cares only about himself. She added, The president of the United States is betraying our country on a daily basis. This man who is in the Oval Office right now is a clear and present danger to the future of the United States. Read the original article on People By Panu Wongcha-um and Juarawee Kittisilpa BANGKOK (Reuters) - American businessman Jacob Holder met his Thai husband Surapong Koonpaew in 2021, got married in the United States two years later and then returned to Thailand, where they live and work. This week, their union will be recognised under Thai law, after the country's marriage equality bill passed by parliament last year comes into force on Jan. 22, capping decades of efforts by activists. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Thailand will become the first country in Southeast Asia and third place in Asia to recognise marriages of same-sex couples. But for couples like Holder and Surapong the new law, although historic and progressive, still leaves them with hurdles to building a legally recognised family. Soon after their wedding, the couple had a son, Elijah Bprin Holder Koonpaew, born through legal surrogacy in Colombia since that option is not available to same-sex couples in Thailand. Elijah Bprin has the names of both of his parents on a U.S. birth certificate, Jacob said, but the 18-month-old must live in Thailand on a tourist visa. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Elijah has no legal relationship with Surapong in Thailand due to the absence of a same-sex couple surrogacy law and the strict definition of a parent. Thailand's traditional definition of a family - a father being a man and a mother a woman - remains in Thai legal codes, in spite of the passage of the marriage equality law. "Legally, they have no connection," Jacob said of his son and his husband Surapong, a civil servant who also goes by the nickname Keng. "If tomorrow, God forbid, something did happen to me, we have real concerns (about) what then happens between Keng and our son under the eyes of the Thai law." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Thai health ministry is working on a draft bill to allow same-sex couple surrogacy, but it is unclear how long the process will take and whether it would be successful. Thailand's new marriage equality bill will now allow same-sex couples to adopt a child. But due to the legal definition of a parent, same-sex couple "qualification" as adoptive parents would, in practice, depend on official consideration, which experts say could lead to discrimination. 'WE HAVE COME FAR' While some lawmakers tried to change the definition of a parent to a more gender neutral term when they were debating the marriage equality bill last year, their efforts were voted down by a majority of lawmakers. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "This is the mindset that's very much imbued in the eyes of the lawmakers (and) within the text of the law itself as well," said Mookdapa Yangyuenpradorn, a specialist at human rights group Fortify Rights. "That poses as really a hindrance in us trying to push for including a gender-inclusive term like parents into the law." The new same-sex marriage law will create more momentum for greater inclusion of LGBTQ people in Thailand, which already has a reputation for its tolerance towards the community, according to analysts. "We have come far in changing the law and there is some way to go for more inclusion," said Nada Chaiyajit, lecturer at Mae Fah Luang University's law school. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "We also still have to fight for social acceptance and that requires more than just changes to the law." Jacob and Surapong are planning on having another child soon and hope that Thailand will be a good place to raise a family. "We want these people (lawmakers) to see that we can have a normal functioning family, just like everybody else," said Surapong. (Additional reporting by Thomas Suen; Editing by Devjyot Ghoshal and Michael Perry) New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) has ordered all flags in New York state to be risen from half-staff to full staff on Monday for President Donald Trumps inauguration. Flags across the country are currently raised to half-staff to honor the late President Jimmy Carter, who passed away in his Plains, Georgia home at the age of 100 on Dec. 29. Under federal flag code, when a former president dies all flags should be flown at half-staff for 30 days out of the respect for the deceased. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Former President Biden issued a proclamation ordering U.S. flags to be displayed at half-staff as an expression of public sorrow at the White House, public buildings, military posts, naval stations and vessels in throughout the country and its territories for 30 days. Tomorrow, we are all Americans as we observe the centuries-old traditions of Inauguration Day, Hochul told the New York Post, which first reported the news Sunday. Regardless of your political views, the American tradition of the peaceful transition of power is something to celebrate, she added. Hochuls office has yet to respond to a request for comment from The Hill. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Flags in New York state will return to half-staff on Tuesday, Jan. 21, according to the statement. Hochul is not the only governor choosing to ignore Bidens order on Inauguration Day. Governors in Texas, Florida, Tennessee, Iowa, Nebraska, Idaho, Alabama, North Dakota, California, Colorado and Kentucky are also temporarily raising flags to full staff in honor of Inauguration Day. Last week, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) ordered flags in the U.S. Capitol to be raised to full staff for the inauguration and then lowered the following day. The flags at the Capitol will fly at full staff to celebrate our country coming together behind the inauguration of our 47th President, Donald Trump., Johnson said in a statement released Jan. 14. The flags will be lowered back to half-staff the following day to continue honoring President Jimmy Carter. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Earlier this month, Trump accused Democratic lawmakers of being giddy at the idea of flags being at half mast during his inauguration. They think its so great, and are so happy about it because, in actuality, they dont love our Country, they only think about themselves, he wrote in a post on the social media platform Truth Social. Copyright 2025 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 The Hill. Refresh for updates Hollywood and the Beltway weighed in right and left on todays inauguration of Donald Trump as the 47th president of the United States. Some joked, others were very, very serious. As of 12:02 EST, the Daily Show tweeted, we officially declare an end to Dry January. More from Deadline Congratulations to Republicans wokeness is dead and the democrat brand is in ashes, wrote Meghan McCain. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement See those and other posts below. Deadline will update as additional reactions come in. Patriotic suggestion: before we head for Mars, lets get the music to work. Harry Shearer (@theharryshearer) January 20, 2025 "I'm also going to go after Van Halen and claim a writing credit and royalties on Panama." Donald Trump J-L Cauvin (@JLCauvin) January 20, 2025 LET'S DO IT AGAIN, DON! Trump Sworn In as 47th President of the United States [WATCH]https://t.co/iYWQTBw0V3 Sean Hannity (@seanhannity) January 20, 2025 Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement No one out-pizzas the Hut pic.twitter.com/S5YyIpkYH7 The Daily Show (@TheDailyShow) January 20, 2025 no hand on the bible. perfect. https://t.co/svuRxDBQVj Tim Miller (@Timodc) January 20, 2025 I have high hopes for this new Trump era and I wish the entire administration the best of luck. I truly hope Trump accomplishes everything he says he will. Congratulations to Republicans wokeness is dead and the democrat brand is in ashes. Let's try not to screw it up. Meghan McCain (@MeghanMcCain) January 20, 2025 As of 12:02 EST, we officially declare an end to Dry January The Daily Show (@TheDailyShow) January 20, 2025 Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Whats everyone up to? Michelle O and I are watching Wicked at mine. Randy Rainbow (@RandyRainbow) January 20, 2025 Here is hoping for a re-set that makes the American people the priority and the goal of Congress focusing on us not each other. Amen. What can this administration DO for the majority of Americans? We will see Christopher C. Cuomo (@ChrisCuomo) January 20, 2025 Best of Deadline Sign up for Deadline's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. President-elect Trumps incoming border czar, Tom Homan, said Sunday that enforcement officials are reconsidering some of the details of the Chicago immigration operation after specifics were leaked to the press. In an interview on Fox Newss Americas Newsroom, Homan made clear that the operation would not be aborted altogether but that officials would revisit some of the specifics to ensure officers safety. Were not reconsidering any operation. There was a leak in Chicago. So were looking at that leak and find out, how does it affect officer safety concerns? Homan said, when asked about reporting that officials were reconsidering whether to proceed with the operation this week. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Chicagos not off the table, but were reconsidering when and how we do it because there was a leak, Homan continued. Homan, former acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), said he is happy to talk publicly about his overall objectives to secure the border and heighten enforcement of the countrys immigration laws, but he said discussing specific plans can raise concerns for officers safety. What was leaked in Chicago was more specific, what was happening, and that raises officer safety concern, Homan said. They already have a dangerous job. Like I said, theyre going to arrest public safety threats and national security threats, dangerous. But when those bad guys has a heads-up that were hitting you at this time this day, it raises officer safety concerns, specific operational plans. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement So were looking at it, what was leaked, whats actually in there and how is it going to affect us moving forward, he added. The Wall Street Journal reported Friday night that the incoming Trump administration was planning an immigration raid in Chicago, citing four sources familiar with the planning. According to the Journal, between 100 and 200 officers would be there to carry out the operation, which was expected to begin Tuesday morning and last all week. Following that reporting, Homan told The Washington Post on Saturday that the new administration hasnt made a decision yet about the raid. Were looking at this leak and will make a decision based on this leak, Homan said to the Post. Its unfortunate because anyone leaking law enforcement operations puts officers at greater risk. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He also said he didnt know why Chicago became a focus of attention and that enforcement efforts would extend throughout the country, telling the Post, Well be arresting people across the country, uninhibited by any prior administration guidelines. Why Chicago was mentioned specifically, I dont know. This is nationwide thing, Homan said. Were not sweeping neighborhoods. We have a targeted enforcement plan. Copyright 2025 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 The Hill. Colorado is the latest state embroiled by an insurance crisis that is impacting homeowners from the West Coast to the East Coast and a growing number of Americans in between with extreme weather events becoming more frequent and severe. What's happening? As detailed by Colorado Public Radio, homeowners in the state are paying $818 more per year for insurance than they did in 2020, per analysis by the National Bureau of Economic Research. In some places, such as Phillips County, prices rose by more than 50%. Meanwhile, the U.S. Senate Committee on the Budget found that nonrenewal notices in areas such as Grand County skyrocketed by approximately 77% from 2018 to 2023. All in all, the Centennial State has the fourth-highest insurance premiums in the United States. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement For Trevor Donahue and Trish Krajniak, buying their mountain dream home turned into a nightmare after Allstate agreed to insure them and then backed out after they closed. The company gave them a 60-day deadline to mitigate for wildfires and hail, and Donahue told CPR News that "none of it was outlandishly unreasonable." However, snow and ice made the deadline difficult to meet, and Allstate refused to make any exceptions. "We have a gun held to our head right now," Krajniak said. "I have no guarantee if we complete all of these steps, and spend the several thousand dollars, that [Allstate] will actually continue to insure us." After the couple filed a complaint with Colorado's Department of Regulatory Agencies, Allstate offered them an extension, but that provided little relief. "There's massive relief that we don't have this looming deadline. But I am very concerned if Allstate decides to drop us in the future, we're in the same place. It's scary," Krajniak added. Why is this important? Like other areas of the country, Colorado is feeling the effects of the planet warming at an "unprecedented rate," per NASA. As temperatures have risen, so too has the frequency of extreme weather such as wildfires, droughts, and severe storms. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Last year, the U.S. recorded its second-highest number of billion-dollar disasters just one year after it set an unenviable record for such events with 28, per Environment America. Do you think America is in a housing crisis? Definitely Not sure No way Only in some cities Click your choice to see results and speak your mind. CPR News reported that insurers are hesitant to provide coverage primarily because of hail damage, though wildfires are also a factor. "Hail is by far the biggest driver of losses in most years for the homeowners insurance market," explained Michael Conway, the state's insurance commissioner. "In 2023, [hail reports] went up dramatically over the previous highest yearboth in the overarching number of events, but also in the severity of those events, too." What's being done about the insurance crisis? In 2025, Colorado plans to introduce a state-run plan for homeowners struggling to find private coverage, according to CPR News. While the state approved the FAIR Plan in 2023, coverage is limited. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Meanwhile, two pieces of legislation aim to address rising insurance costs. The first bill would encourage insurers to better account for mitigation efforts and allow homeowners to appeal wildfire risk scores, while the second would support the installation of hail-resistant roofs. However, while investing in climate-resilient structures is a short-term solution, addressing the root cause of the uptick in extreme weather will bring down costs in the long run. With dirty fuels primarily responsible for the planet's overheating, reducing pollution from them is crucial. Upgrading to energy-efficient appliances, unplugging unused devices, and signing up for community solar are among the wallet-friendly actions that will contribute to a cooler future. Join our free newsletter for good news and useful tips, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet. DES MOINES, Iowa On this weeks episode of Homewi$e Amanda Krenz and mortgage expert Tyler Osby discuss a big change that will affect millions of peoples credit reports and what the change means for the future. Past Episodes: Copyright 2025 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 who13.com. (Bloomberg) -- Hong Kongs top judge said geopolitical tensions are hampering the courts ability to hire overseas judges, whose presence is a selling point for foreign companies in the Asian finance hub. Most Read from Bloomberg It is true that, given the current geopolitical headwinds, recruiting overseas judges with the right stature and experience may be less straightforward than it once was, Andrew Cheung, chief justice of the Court of Final Appeal, said Monday at the ceremonial opening of the legal year. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Cheungs rare admission of hiring difficulty came after a spate of foreign judges departed Hong Kongs top court, which was established in 1997 when the former British colony returned to Chinese rule, with some resigning due to political reasons. About half of the courts 15 overseas justices have stepped down from a 2019 peak, with eight either resigning or choosing not to renew their terms after Beijing imposed a national security law on the city in 2020. Prior to this, there had been no early resignations. The exits add to worries among foreign companies over the future of Hong Kongs rule of law, which is foundational to citys status as a global financial hub. Years of strict Covid rules and a crackdown on dissent have rocked the citys international reputation in recent years, leading to an exodus of talent. It is unfortunate that a few of these judges have felt unable to continue their service, Cheung said in his speech. However, their premature departures do not mean a weakening of the quality or independence of the judiciary. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement While Hong Kongs ranking in the World Justice Projects Rule of Law index slipped for three consecutive years since 2020, it remained relatively high at 23 last year three notches above the US. Mainland China, by comparison, comes in at 95. Six overseas judges remain on the top court, with 82-year-old William Gummows contract set to expire this year. His age wont necessarily be a barrier: nonagenarian Leonard Hoffmann earlier this month signed up for another three-year term. Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2025 Bloomberg L.P. A statute of Martin Luther King Jr. seen in Montgomery on June 14, 2024. The slain civil rights leader would have been 96 on Jan. 15. (Ralph Chapoco/Alabama Reflector) The nation is sick. Trouble is in the land; confusion all around. I hear something similar to this all the time these days. Whether its a new wave of climate disasters, increasing fascism, or the overall feeling of economic stagnation, people in America are restless. We feel like were watching the end of days from screens in the palms of our hands. But that quote continues: But I know, somehow, that only when it is dark enough can you see the stars. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This of course comes from Martin Luther Kings final speech, delivered to supporters of the Memphis sanitation workers strike the night before he was assassinated. Like many of us today, he found himself confronted with both racial injustice and economic violence. And he understood that the foundation of civil rights could not ignore the plight of the working class. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Despite our politicians saying that they celebrate the memory of King, when Alabamas Legislature meets in a few weeks, it is likely that lawmakers will continue to ignore the needs of working people. Last year, the Legislature passed SB 231 to crack down on our freedom to organize a union, the CHOOSE Act which will take at least $100 million from our public schools, and SB 129 which censors what is taught at Alabama public colleges. We are watching in real time as elected officials roll back Dr. Kings dream of a more fair and just nation. But there is still time for members of the state legislature to change course and truly honor his legacy. Literally up until his last day, King was supporting striking workers who were fighting for basic workplace safety. He saw economic and racial justice as inextricably linked, not two siloed issues, and fought vocally for labor protections. If lawmakers really want to pay homage to the memory of MLK Jr., they should consider passing legislation like SB 22, which aims to hold accountable companies that exploit child labor to line their pockets. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Additionally, it is critical that Alabama workers remember that King understood unions as a powerful tool to help working people secure the rights and wages they are owed. As he also said in his final speech, When the slaves get together, thats the beginning of getting out of slavery. Now let us maintain unity. We have the power to demand the dignity we deserve as workers when we stand together. I hope this MLK Jr. Day can offer us allwhether were a sitting state representative or a working person who wants a stronger voice on the joba moment to ask ourselves how we are going to fight to build Dr. Kings vision for a better world. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE President Donald Trump was sworn in on Monday as the 47th president of the United States with representatives from Indiana watching both inside the rotunda of the U.S. Capitol and at watch parties around Washington, D.C. The Monday ceremonies were held inside for the first time in 40 years due to intense cold temperatures in Washington, D.C., and around the country. It meant only members of Congress and special guests could attend the official inauguration events inside the U.S. Capitol. Despite the weather and last-minute event changes, Hoosiers were there, including members of Indianas congressional delegation, Gov. Mike Braun and former Hoosier Vice Presidents Mike Pence and Dan Quayle. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement For Trumps loyal supporters from Indiana, Mondays inauguration marked a historic day. It capped off a political comeback for Trump after he lost the 2020 presidential election to now-former President Joe Biden. In the last four years, Trump faced impeachment, numerous legal cases and two assassination attempts prior to winning the 2024 presidential election. It was really one of the greatest days in American history and the biggest political comeback we've ever seen since our countrys beginning, Indiana U.S. Sen. Jim Banks, who ran for senate in 2024 with Trumps endorsement, told IndyStar Monday afternoon. President Trump delivered a great speech reasserting Americas strengths and our role in the world. Its great to have a president again who actually believes that America is the greatest country in the history of the world and were going to be even greater. Inside the Capitol Some members of Indianas congressional delegation posted photos and videos to social media to share what the ceremonies looked like inside the U.S. Capitol. U.S. Rep. Rudy Yakym, who represents the 2nd Congressional District in northern Indiana, shared messages in videos on his X account, including after Trumps inaugural address in which Trump slammed policies of the outgoing Biden administration, outlined his initial executive orders and called his inauguration a new Golden Age for America. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He has laid out a clear vision for this country to make America great again, a positive vision, forward looking, Yakym said in a video posted to X. Now the time has come to get to work to deliver on the promises that we all made to the American people. Great ceremony, now its go time! pic.twitter.com/noTz6MO1iB Congressman Rudy Yakym (@RepRudyYakym) January 20, 2025 Mondays inauguration was not the first for Indiana U.S. Sen. Todd Young, who has represented Indiana in both the House and the Senate. Trumps decisive victory in the 2024 election and winning rare non-consecutive terms, were also part of what made the inauguration a historic day, Young said. Young was among Republicans who at times were critical of Trumps 2024 campaign, but told IndyStar it was important to be at the inauguration because Trump is our president. Every single American should pray that he succeeds in restoring security and prosperity to the American people, Young said Monday afternoon. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Indianas senior senator, who is respected by many Republicans and Democrats alike, emphasized it's time for Republicans to get to work and said he believes he is positioned to help Trump succeed by building bridges across the political aisle. We campaign in flourishes, but we have to govern around certain specific policies, and those policies to have any enduring value need to be developed in a bipartisan way, Young said. That's how I can be helpful. Inside the Capitol pic.twitter.com/nsjS3zGSM3 Senator Todd Young (@SenToddYoung) January 20, 2025 Indiana state Treasurer Daniel Elliott had planned to see Trumps inauguration in person with his wife and son, but the last-minute move to hold the ceremonies inside the capitol changed those plans. Elliott and his family still traveled to Washington, D.C., but instead bounced back and forth between watch parties held by the Indiana Republican Party and Hoosier members of Congress to view the inauguration. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It was not in person, but Elliott said there was excitement and energy among Republicans to see Trump take the oath of office again. It's been a momentous experience, even if I didn't get to be right where I thought I was going to be, Elliott said. I wouldn't have chose anywhere else to be, and to be able to be with my family and be able to show my son that, look we are part of the greatest country ever, and someday it's going to be his turn to be one of those people who helps lead our country. Protests in Indianapolis Back in Indianapolis, a small group of protestors bundled up to attend an anti-Trump rally at Monument Circle in Indianapolis on Monday afternoon, despite the bitter cold. Protestors attend a rally in protest of Donald Trump's inauguration on Jan. 20, 2025 at Monument Circle in Indianapolis. "There are to be some dark days ahead. So does that mean that we hide out in our homes, blanket over our heads, waiting for the next four years to pass?" asked Medley Byers, co-chair of the Central Indiana Democratic Socialists of America. Byers was one of a handful of speakers from left-leaning political organizations including IDOC Watch and the Indy Liberation Center. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "No," the crowd shouted back. Members held up signs addressing issues ranging from income inequality to war in the middle east. "Of course not," Byers said. "We can't afford to do that, and the people we care about can't afford for us to do that." Contact IndyStar state government and politics reporter Brittany Carloni at brittany.carloni@indystar.com or 317-779-4468. Follow her on Twitter/X@CarloniBrittany. This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: What Indiana leaders in Washington, D.C. saw in Trump's inauguration Chinese Vice President Han Zheng, as Chinese President Xi Jinping's special representative, meets with U.S. Vice President-elect J.D. Vance in Washington, D.C., the United States, Jan. 19, 2025. Upon invitation, Han attended the inauguration ceremony of U.S. President Donald Trump on Jan. 20 in Washington, D.C. (Xinhua/Liu Weibing) WASHINGTON, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- Upon invitation, Chinese Vice President Han Zheng attended the inauguration ceremony of U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday in Washington, D.C. During his stay in the United States, Han, a special representative of Chinese President Xi Jinping, met with then U.S. Vice President-elect J.D. Vance, representatives of the U.S. business community, Chief Executive Officer of Tesla Elon Musk, Chair Emeritus of the U.S. Brookings Institution John Thornton and others. During his meeting with Vance on Sunday, Han first conveyed Xi's greetings to Trump and congratulated Vance on his election. He noted that Xi recently had an important phone call with Trump, during which the two leaders have reached many important consensuses on the development of China-U.S. relations in the next stage. China is ready to work with the United States to adhere to the strategic guidance of the head-of-state diplomacy and follow through on the important consensus reached between Xi and Trump, so as to push for the steady, healthy and sustainable development of bilateral ties, Han said. Han said that the two sides are currently working hard to achieve their respective development goals and dreams. As long as the two sides uphold the principles of mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation, they will contribute to each other's progress, bring benefits to the two countries, and make important contributions to world peace and development, said Han. Economic and trade relations are important issues of common concern to both sides, he noted. Despite differences and frictions between China and the United States, they share huge common interests and space for cooperation, and the two sides can strengthen dialogue and consultation in this regard, Han added. For his part, Vance asked Han to convey Trump's sincere greetings to Xi. Vance said Trump had a phone call with Xi a few days ago, in which they had good communication on important issues regarding bilateral ties. Economic and trade relations, he stressed, are important to both the United States and China. Noting that China is playing an increasingly important role in international affairs, Vance told Han that the United States is willing to develop an enduring and fruitful relationship with China, strengthen dialogue and cooperation with China on international and regional issues, and jointly promote world peace and stability. While meeting with representatives of the U.S. business community, Han said a good start and stable development of China-U.S. relations align with the common well-being of both peoples and meet the shared expectation of the international community. As an enduring backbone supporting China-U.S. relations, the U.S. business community has been a participant, witness, contributor and beneficiary of China-U.S. economic and trade cooperation as well as China's reform and opening-up, Han said. China will unswervingly advance reform and opening-up, and continue to improve and optimize the business environment, he added. Han said it is hoped that U.S. companies will continue to invest and take root in China, play an active role as a bridge, and make greater contribution to the development of China-U.S. relations. Representatives of the U.S. business community said that as the world's two largest economies that are most dynamic and technologically advanced, the United States and China should engage in mutually beneficial cooperation and find a constructive and steady way to get along with each other. The U.S. business community is optimistic about the prospect of the Chinese economy and the opportunities to grow in China, and supports the two sides in strengthening dialogue and communication to move forward their bilateral relations as well as economic and trade cooperation. During his meetings with Musk and Thornton, Han welcomed U.S. companies and various sectors to seize opportunities, take active steps and share the fruits of China's development. He called for promoting bilateral exchanges and cooperation in a wide range of areas including economy, trade and culture, and enhancing mutual understanding and friendship between the two peoples, so as to continuously improve and consolidate the public foundation of China-U.S. relations. Musk and Thornton highlighted the importance of economic, trade, and cultural exchanges between the United States and China, and expressed their willingness to continue to play a positive role in promoting the interactions and cooperation. Chinese Vice President Han Zheng, as Chinese President Xi Jinping's special representative, meets with representatives of the U.S. business community in Washington, D.C., the United States, Jan. 19, 2025. (Xinhua/Yin Bogu) Chinese Vice President Han Zheng, as Chinese President Xi Jinping's special representative, meets with Chief Executive Officer of Tesla, Elon Musk, in Washington, D.C., the United States, Jan. 19, 2025. (Xinhua/Yin Bogu) Chinese Vice President Han Zheng, as Chinese President Xi Jinping's special representative, meets with Chair Emeritus of the U.S. Brookings Institution John Thornton, in Washington, D.C., the United States, Jan. 20, 2025. (Xinhua/Liu Weibing) Donald Trump is now the 47th President of the United States. Per his own words and policies, he will rule as a dictator on day one. Trumps presidency will be a form of autocracy and personalist rule as shown by his Cabinet selections and the policies he and his allies have already outlined and are rapidly putting in place. The Democrats do not appear to be able to act as an effective opposition or resistance party. Moreover, to this point, Democrats have prematurely surrendered by announcing they will work with Trump and the MAGA Republicans on areas of common concern that ostensibly will help the American people, specifically the working class. The so-called Resistance that mobilized to confront Trump during his first presidency is, to this point, also silent. Both the Democrats and the resistance are still shellshocked and cowed by Trumps easy victory in the election. Far from having overwhelming positive support, Donald Trumps return to power is a function and result of an American democracy and society that is in deep crisis. Public opinion and other research show that the American people are generally unhappy, worried about the countrys future and overall direction and have low trust in government. In total, the 2024 election was a referendum on the system. The Democrats, as the incumbent party, were punished by a majority of American voters and the larger public who chose not to participate, even as they were told that the election was a referendum on democracy and Trump (and more importantly Trumpism) and supposedly an existential threat to the country. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In the end, Donald Trump and his MAGA movement were viewed as change destructive change and shaking things up. Trumps campaign and its allies were also smarter, bolder and more innovative than President Bidens and then Harris. In total, Trump and his campaign were, in many ways, a default option, a national protest vote and an authoritarian populist rejection of the status quo. Donald Trump won the same number of votes as he did in 2020. Kamala Harris and the Democrats experienced, by some estimates, more than a 10 million drop-off in the number of votes as compared to 2020. The Democratic Party was both defeated at the polls by Donald Trump and his MAGA movement and a victim of its own collapse. This rage at the elites is global and not isolated to the United States. Trumps victory and now second presidency has caused great emotional pain and collective grieving and mourning for those Americans who voted against and generally oppose him and the authoritarian populism of the MAGA movement. This pain and mourning and grieving are also intensely personal and immediate for those groups of Americans who will be targeted by the Trump administration and its enforcers as the enemy within and as the poison in the blood of the country to be purged. That Trump is being inaugurated on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.s Remembrance Day adds another level of pain and dismay. Dr. King was martyred for leading a movement to force America to become a multiracial democracy and a more humane and equal society. Trump is an enemy of that project and will reverse the won-in-blood gains of the long Black Freedom Struggle and civil rights movement. Trumps victory is a source of other forms of mourning. For those many (white) Americans who truly believed in American exceptionalism and that the American people were better than this so would never return someone like Trump, a proven aspiring dictator who has no respect for the Constitution and democracy, to the White House, this is all a great narcissistic injury. Today should be the death of those naive beliefs and fictions. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Healthy healing and mourning allow a person to move forward in their life and to reconcile and learn from their loss in a productive and perhaps even cathartic way as they try to make themselves whole again. Unhealthy mourning and grieving are potentially destructive, whereby a person is not able to reconcile their loss and find proper meaning from it and engages in unhealthy coping behavior. They can be stuck in loss and pain and in the worst instances direct that rage and anger outward to cause other people to have similar experiences. These dynamics are true of groups, societies and individuals. In an attempt to make better sense of the emotional dimension of Trumps return to power and the collective feelings of mourning, grief, fear and overall distress that many tens of millions of Americans are likely experiencing, I recently spoke to Dr. Gail Christopher, an award-winning social change agent and author with expertise in the social determinants of health and well-being and related public policies. A prolific writer and presenter, Dr. Christopher has contributed to 14 books, hundreds of articles, presentations, publications and more. She retired from her role as Senior Advisor and Vice President at the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, where she was the driving force behind the America Healing initiative and the Truth, Racial Healing and Transformation effort. In 2019, Dr. Christopher became a Senior Scholar with George Mason Universitys Center for the Advancement of Well-Being and became the Executive Director of the National Collaborative for Health Equity. This is the first of a two-part conversation. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Given the dire state of American democracy with Trumps return to the White House, how are you feeling? What does it mean to be healthy in such a moment of extreme distress, anxiety and fear? Thank you for beginning with that question. Feeling and emotion are central to this challenge and era. Western conventional medicine did not understand, explore, or honor the power of feelings psychologically and biologically, until the 1990s. How we feel actually greatly determines how well we heal and ultimately how well we are. I think it is critically important to learn to manage our emotions and feelings even during the most challenging times. I am feeling hopeful. I believe that hope can be viewed as a synonym for democracy. Democracy is about the hope that people can live their lives with freedom and to pursue happiness. Democracy is always forming; it is never complete. I often recommend the book, The Slaves Cause: A History of Abolition by Manisha Sinha, because it documents the 100-year struggle to abolish slavery, but it does so in a nuanced yet comprehensive way, which helps us to understand the long view of forming a more perfect democracy in the United States. The aspirational ideas expressed by the Founders where just that ideas. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The context in which they were introduced was a total contradiction to those ideas to the inalienable right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, but that contradictory context was shaped by the belief system and mindset of the White male property owners of those times. They genuinely believed in a false hierarchy of human value that relegated people of color and women to have the least value in society. They lived with those contradictions for two and a half centuries. It is important to note that the 100-year movement to end slavery was a broad-based multiracial, multi-religious, multi-ethnic and gender-diverse coalition, but at its heart were the efforts of those most directly harmed. Enslaved and free Africans led the abolition movement. So, I am reminded that the journey for justice is a long and hard-fought one, but I believe that victory will be ours. How are you processing these events in different ways and finding a balance if at all? I am spending quality time with my family and experiencing the absolute joy that comes from welcoming a new grandchild into the world. I have the benefit of a totally contrasting emotional experience to the negativity and uncertainty of this moment, but I also feel that it is my responsibility to share the insights that I have gleaned over the many, many decades. The recent birth of my grandchild has reminded me of the nature of life itself. It is always forming and becoming. This is why I think our system of government a constitutionally based democracy, aligns with the natural forces of life. Just as the human being emerges from the fertilized ovum, the creation of the possible is a natural gift and phenomenon we have been given as human beings. There are certain principles that must be understood. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Biological life like a democratic form of government is based on complexity, redundancy, modularity, robustness, resilience, communitarianism and agency. Unlike authoritarian systems, our democracy is grounded in these natural principles, and again, it is always a work in progress. I highly recommend the recent book, How Life Works: A Users Guide to the New Biology by Philip Ball. As I read it, I kept thinking about our political and social struggles for justice. This political season, the presidential campaign and election results offer lessons about the power of what I call the three Ms in American society and those are Money, Media and Mindset. If Trump as president demonstrates one power, it is the power of the mindset. One of the most generous and kind leaders I met in the 1980s was a union leader in Chicago, and he would always say, You really cant beat a made-up mind. Trump embodies this: he inherited an understanding of the power of mental focus and having grown up with financial wealth that insulated him from the consequences of the vicissitudes of life. Trump learned to apply his mental power as a means of achieving his desired ends. With enough money and enough media access to amplify his intentions, he successfully bamboozled enough voters to win. There are many aspects of work and change required now. Campaign finance reform and media regulation are critical areas for intervention. Donald Trump will be inaugurated on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.s Remembrance Day. This is an abomination and a cruel coincidence of dates. The two mens lives and missions are juxtaposed to one another. How are you reconciling these contradictions and the overlap of these days? One of my favorite quotes of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that. This cruel coincidence gives us another focus. We should celebrate the legacy of Dr. King in our homes, with our families and with our communities, churches, schools and organizations. The King holiday should be our reason for getting up that morning. We might even avoid all media that distracts us from the power of Dr. Kings lifes work and legacy. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This will be the ninth year of the annual National Day of Racial Healing. We deliberately set that for the day after the King holiday so that we can be reminded of the work that is required to overcome this nations legacy belief in a false hierarchy of human value. For the last nine years, tens of thousands of communities and groups have commemorated the National Day of Racial Healing and they will do so again on Tuesday, January 21, 2025. Many Americans are in a state of mourning because of Trumps victory in the election and now his presidency and what it will mean for the future of American democracy. What exactly is being mourned? I think it is important here to recognize that this nation has elected 47 presidents and only a small portion of them have stood for justice and fairness and yet our system of governance has enabled continued progress. I cant say what Trumps victory will mean. I can imagine based on the tone of the campaign, the people that have been selected to lead federal agencies in the new administration, as well as the policy priorities that have been expressed that there will be efforts to shut the borders, deport undocumented immigrants, and reverse efforts for equity throughout the government agencies. These efforts or executive orders will be challenged through our legal system and met with state and local push-back. I think it is very important to remain hopeful and to be as organized as we possibly can to meet the challenges ahead. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement What is healthy mourning for an individual? For a collective and/or society? What is unhealthy mourning and grieving? Whenever we experience loss, either real or perceived, it can trigger negative emotions of fear and/or helplessness. There is considerable research that documents the harmful health effects of negative emotions. Chronic states of anxiety and stress are associated with many of the debilitating chronic diseases that disproportionately affect communities of color. Hypertension, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, neurodegenerative conditions and inflammatory conditions are all associated with high-stress levels. An emerging and well-researched body of literature focuses on the health benefits of positive emotions. Healthy mourning includes a balance of positive thoughts to trigger positive emotions despite the temporary experience of loss. This requires meditation. Music can be helpful, and most importantly, positive social engagement with family or friends. In this moment of political loss, self-care in the ways I described above must be augmented with actual engagement in concrete activities that are working toward a better future. Community organizing, legal defense funds, voter registration, and activism of many types will help create a more positive mental and emotional state. These circle experiences may help to ease the sense of loss and replace it with hope and deeper more meaningful human connections. Del. Alex Askew, D-Virginia Beach, presents his House Bill 1699 to the House Finance Committee on Jan. 20, 2025. (Photo by Markus Schmidt/Virginia Mercury) The House of Delegates Finance Committee on Monday by a 12-10 party-line vote advanced legislation that would strip the Virginia Division of the United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC) and similar organizations of their tax-exempt status in Virginia. A similar measure passed both chambers of the legislature last year but was ultimately vetoed by Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin, who argued it was unnecessary and divisive. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Sponsored by Del. Alex Askew, D-Virginia Beach, House Bill 1699 would remove state recordation tax exemptions and revoke the tax-exempt status of real and personal property owned by a range of Confederate-linked groups. The panel passed the legislation without discussion Monday, and no representative of the UDC or related group addressed the committee. Askew said in a brief interview after the vote that it is time for Virginias tax code to reflect the states current values. Last year, we saw a few people come and speak for members on behalf of the UDC, but to me, its a good policy, Askew said. Its not that were looking to take away anybodys right to exist at all, but I think our code should match our values in Virginia. Besides the UDC, the legislation targets groups like the Confederate Memorial Literary Society, the Stonewall Jackson Memorial, Incorporated, the Virginia Division of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, and the J.E.B. Stuart Birthplace Preservation Trust, Inc. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Currently, these organizations benefit from exemptions that allow them to avoid paying certain state and local taxes on property and financial transactions. If the legislation is enacted, these groups would be required to pay taxes like other non-charitable entities. The UDC reported $10.4 million in net assets and an annual income of $157,988 in its 2022 tax filings, while the Virginia branch alone held $2.1 million in assets and generated $147,897 in income. The UDC, which labels itself a historical and educational group, has long been criticized for its role in erecting Confederate monuments across the South and promoting a revisionist view of the Civil War. Askew expressed hope that this years effort will yield a different outcome than last year. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Im hopeful that the governor will sign it, he said.I think its an opportunity for him to really show what he believes the future of the commonwealth should be, where we currently are, or what our future looks like. Askew added that if the bill reaches Youngkins desk again, it will give him a chance to demonstrate his stance on organizations like the UDC. If and when it ultimately passes, which I feel like it will, itll be up to him to put his veto pen where his beliefs are, he said. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE Do you scream for ice cream and know lots about it? Were not just talking vanilla, chocolate and strawberry flavors, though thats not a bad thing. As temperatures dip into single digits all over Michigan, a search is on for an ultimate fan of the cold, creamy and sweet treat. And so, if you know and love ice cream, Michigans Hudsonville Ice Cream wants to know. Hudsonville Ice Cream kicks off 2025 in seach nationwide for the Ultimate Ice Cream Fan. The Holland Michigan-based ice cream maker is in search of the ultimate ice cream fan, or cone-noisseur as Hudsonville puts it. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement From its entries, the ice cream maker will choose and crown one lucky ice cream fan as the Ultimate Ice Cream Fan. With the crowning comes an especially important job: eating Hudsonville Ice Cream. And its not just once or twice. Its a year-long gig that also involves cash and other prizes. The named ice cream fan wins the opportunity and access to the latest Hudsonville ice cream flavors and varieties plus others exclusive treats and a whopping $2,025 prize. Expect to try new Hudsonville ice cream flavors and improvements on classic flavors on a monthly basis for a year. One winner receives a year supply of free ice cream, set as two 48-ounce cartons per month. Hudsonville Ice Cream kicks off 2025 in seach nationwide for the Ultimate Ice Cream Fan. Hudsonville is known for its classic ice cream varieties like Traverse City Cherry Fudge, Brownie Batter Cookie Dough and Deer Traxx. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement There are no shortcuts and no compromises when it comes to flavors that are truly worth it, and ice cream lovers know the difference. Were searching for the Ultimate Ice Cream Fan to share their creativity and passion for what makes real ice cream so irresistible, said Joel Ancrile, brand lead at Hudsonville Ice Cream in a news release. We look forward to finding the Ultimate Ice Cream Fan, who will share their flavor findings with our team of experts as we continue to create the flavors meant to delight ice cream lovers everywhere. If you think you have goods and deserve the Ultimate Ice Cream Fan, task, youll need to submit a 30-second video explaining your ice cream expertise and why you know ice cream better than anyone. Video entries are due by Jan. 30 and the contest is open nationwide. Visit hudsonvilleicecream.com/ultimate-fan-25 to submit a video and for official rules. Since 1926, the family-owned and operated Hudsonville says its been churning out ice cream flavors made with milk and cream from local farms. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Contact Detroit Free Press food and restaurant writer Susan Selasky and send food and restaurant news and tips to: sselasky@freepress.com. Follow @SusanMariecooks on Twitter. Subscribe to the Free Press. This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Hudsonville launches contest for ice cream taste tester Hundreds of people gathered at the Islamic Society of Milwaukee Community Center on Sunday evening to celebrate the beginning of a cease-fire agreement between Israel and Hamas, and to mourn the 15 months that came before it. They hugged one another and shared snacks, while children passed out candy and waved Palestinian flags. They also noted screens in the room scrolling through names of Palestinian children killed in the war. Janan Najeeb, chair of Wisconsin Coalition of Justice in Palestine, speaks at the Islamic Society of Milwaukee Community Center in celebration of the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. "This cannot ever continue to happen. The fact that this list goes on and on and on, and some people still don't understand why we are coming together, is truly heartbreaking, but it will not stop the work from continuing," said Angela Lang, executive director at Black Leaders Organizing Communities, referring to the coalition of 87 organizations that held Sunday's event. "Let this be a motivator to make sure their lives were not lost in vain and that their lives and memories continue to be honored." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement About a dozen speakers took to the stage, including a Jewish anti-Zionist organizer, a Christian pastor, a University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee student, Islamic faith leaders, and Palestinians. One speaker was 7-year-old Safa Sarsour. These kids are just like us. They go to school, play with their friends and have big dreams, Sarsour said. They have lived in fear every day, but even though their days are hard, these children are strong and resilient. They have taught me the true meaning of being Palestinian and they deserve peace just like we do. Only the first phase of the cease-fire has been negotiated, but it was enough to set off celebrations among supporters on both sides in the Middle East and in communities like Milwaukee, where immigrants and relatives have been hanging on any bit of information for months. Social media and news reports Sunday were filled with images of the first three Israeli hostages and first 90 Palestinian prisoners being released. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Although it's almost hard to imagine a Middle East without tension, the war in Gaza began on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas invaded southern Israeli communities, killing more than 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostage. Israel retalied with a full-scale assault into Gaza. The war has left more than 47,000 dead, about 98% of them Palestinians. Speakers in Milwaukee said that more work needs to be done to make sure Palestinians are no longer under Israeli occupation now that the immediate threat of warfare has stopped. "For the past 15 months, we have been organizing and marching and writing to officials and voting and uninstructed voting all to bring about this ceasefire so I want to congratulate everyone who has been part of this after 15 months of genocide by Israel," said Janan Najeeb, chair of Wisconsin Coalition of Justice in Palestine, the host. "We recognize this is just a first step. One thing must be really clear. We cannot go back to what October 6 looked like for the people of Gaza." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It's worth noting that support for the sustained attacks into Gaza were based on the same principle, but in reverse that Israel could not go back to what life had been like, with Hamas at its doorstep. People at the Islamic Society of Milwaukee sing the Palestinian national anthem while holding lit candles as a symbol of hope. Maey Koran attended the event and said gathering with the community meant a lot. "It's finally some joy and relief and happiness," she said. Over the last year-and-a-half, Koran had been protesting, calling elected officials and praying for the war to end. "Palestinians are still under oppression and we're still not free, but this is one step forward to a free Palestine," she said.People in the room joined in singing the Palestinian national anthem and listened to readings from the Quran. At the end of the event, the room lights dimmed and attendees lit candles as a symbol of hope. "This is what solidarity looks like," Lang said. This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Milwaukee's Palestinian community celebrates after Gaza ceasefire Hundreds of people gathered in Ocoee for the citys 17th Annual Dr. Martin Luther King Junior Unity Parade and Celebration. Families, elected officials, and community groups all attended the celebration, including Orange County Sheriff John Mina, State Attorney Monique Worrell, and Ocoees first Black City Council member George Oliver III. The parade brought together different generations for conversations on the importance of Dr. Kings civil rights contributions. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Read: Martin Luther King Jr. Day: What is open, closed Longtime Ocoee resident Carmen Isom told Channel 9 the parade carries extra importance in the city since just 40 years before Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. marched for civil rights, dozens of black people were killed in the Ocoee Massacre, one of the largest incidents of voting day violence in the U.S. We remember back in Ocoee how things used to be. Segregation all that. Now its not that way. And its because of him that started this, said Isom. Read: The long struggle to establish Martin Luther King Jr. Day Click here to download our free news, weather and smart TV apps. And click here to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live. Originally appeared on E! Online The White House staff wastes no time. The Jan. 20 Presidential Inauguration ushers in an organized chaos like no otherwhen the residence staff of the White House must move Joe Biden out and Donald Trump in within a matter of hours. And the perfectly planned transition will happen behind closed doors while Trump is sworn into presidency alongside his vice president J.D. Vance at the United States Capitol Rotunda, where former president Ronald Reagan held his 1985 inauguration due to inclement weather. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "We have approximately five, five-and-a-half hours from the time they leave the North Portico until after the parade," former White House chief usher Gary Walters told ABC News. It's somewhere in the vicinity of 110 people and they all have very specific jobs. We also not only have the House, we have the West Wing and, specifically, the president's Oval Office that gets transformed. The transition has been meticulously planned to go without a hitch. This is intended so that the 47th president and first lady Melania Trump can get right to work. And while the First Lady will be living in the White House, Melania shared that she also has plans to make trips back to NYC to be with their son Barron Trump as he continues his studies at New York Universitys Stern School of Business. "When I need to be in New York, I will be in New York," she explained. "When I need to be in Palm Beach, I will be in Palm Beach." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement After all, Melania made it clear that her "first priority is to be a mom, to be a First Lady, to be a wife," but "once you're in on January 20, you serve the country." To see more of Donald Trump and J.D. Vances 2025 Inauguration in photos, keep reading More from E! Online "The aim of the residence staff is to have the president and the first lady move into their home when they come in from the Pennsylvania Avenue reviewing stand that their snacks are in the kitchen," Walters continued. "Their favorite items are where they expect them to be. There are no boxes unopened. They're all open. It's all set up beforehand. And when they walk in, they don't see any unpacked boxes or extra storage items sitting around." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement After all, the Trumps are no strangers to life in the White House, having lived there during his first term from 2017 to 2021. Even Melania predicted a smooth transition into 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. this time around. "The first time was challenging," the 54-year-old told Fox & Friends in a recent interview. "But this time, I have everything. I have the plans. I could move in. I already packed." (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images) And while the First Lady will be living in the White House, Melania shared that she also has plans to make trips back to NYC to be with their son Barron Trump as he continues his studies at New York Universitys Stern School of Business. "When I need to be in New York, I will be in New York," she explained. "When I need to be in Palm Beach, I will be in Palm Beach." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement After all, Melania made it clear that her "first priority is to be a mom, to be a First Lady, to be a wife," but "once you're in on January 20, you serve the country." To see more of Donald Trump and J.D. Vances 2025 Inauguration in photos, keep reading Barron Trump, Melania Trump & Donald Trump Take them to church: Barron Trump joined mom Melania Trump (in a coat by American designer Adam Lippes) and his father, president Donald Trump for services at Washington, D.C.'s St. John's Church as part of the 2025 Inauguration Day festivities Jan. 20. Ivanka Trump Incoming first daughter Ivanka Trump also put on her Monday best for the church services. Jill Biden, Joe Biden, Donald Trump & Melania Trump "Welcome home," President Joe Biden said as he and First Lady Jill Biden greeted the Trumps at the White House. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Usha Vance, Doug Emhoff, Kamala Harris & JD Vance Vice President Kamala Harris and Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff were also on hand to welcome VP JD Vance and his wife Usha Vance at the White House. Michael Boulous & Tiffany Trump Pregnant Tiffany Trump and her husband Michael Boulos joined her father at the St. John's Church services. Ivanka Trump & Jared Kushner Former advisor Ivanka was joined at the services by husband Jared Kushner and their kids Arabella, Joseph and Theodore. Elon Musk Trump pal Elon Musk took in the view as he arrived inside the Capitol Rotunda. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Joe Biden, Amy Klobuchar & Donald Trump Before delivering her speech, Minnesota senator Amy Klobuchar led Biden and Trump out of the White House. "While we have major differences of opinions on policy and the like," she said of chairing the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies, "I want to make sure this works, Klobuchar said of the ceremony." Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, George W. Bush & Laura Bush George W. Bush, Laura Bush & Barack Obama With wife Michelle Obama not attending, former president Barack Obama hung with the Bushes. Mike Pence Trump's former vice president Mike Pence turned up solo for the ceremony. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Eric Adams New York City mayor Eric Adams worked the room at the Capitol. Janet Jones & Wayne Gretzky Canadian hockey legend Wayne Gretzky and his wife Janet Jones were among those who decided to take a shot at watching the inauguration. Rupert Murdoch & Elena Zhukova Former Fox Corporation chairman Rupert Murdoch (joined by wife Elena Zhukova) was among the billionaire businesspeople in attendance. Sundar Pichai & Elon Musk Tech talk: Tesla CEO Musk socialized with Google CEO Sundar Pichai. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Robert F. Kennedy Trump's pick for secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy came to watch him get sworn in. Mitch McConnell & Elaine Chao Kentucky senator Mitch McConnell held tight to wife Elaine Chao. Jake Paul & Logan Paul Influencer turned boxer Jake Paul was on hand with his brother, wrestler Logan Paul. Mark Zuckerberg, Lauren Sanchez, Jeff Bezos, Sundar Pichai & Elon Musk Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg joined Amazon exec Jeff Bezos, his fiancee Lauren Sanchez, Pichai and Musk on the dias at the Capitol. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Eric Trump, Jared Kushner, Ivanka Trump, Donald Trump Jr. Barron Trump Trump's youngest childNew York University student Barrontraveled to Washington, D.C. to watch him take the oath of office for the second time. Christopher Macchio Opera tenor Christopher Macchio was tapped to sing the National Anthem. "I was looking forward to seeing 100,000 people spread across the National Mall," he acknowledged to the Associated Press ahead of the events. "Unfortunately I wont be getting that visual while I perform, but its still going to be such a tremendous honor." Shou Zi Chew Hours after TikTok went dark (and then restored service) in the United States, CEO Shou Zi Chew turned up at the inauguration. Tim Cook, Vivek Ramaswamy & Kristi Noem Apple CEO Tim Cook posed alongside onetime presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy and South Dakota governor Kristi Noem. On Monday, Donald Trump took the oath of office to be the 47th president of the United States. Four years to the day since Trump concluded his first term, Trump will retake power as the leader of the free world. He is scheduled to take the oath of office during a ceremony at the U.S. Capitol at noon ET, 10 a.m. MT. Trumps first term ended in chaos, with a riot at the Capitol and a denial of the 2020 election results. This time, Trump returns to Washington after a decisive electoral victory and widespread support from his party. His approval rating sits as high as it did in early 2020, the highest mark of Trumps presidency. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement For the first time since 1985, a presidential inauguration ceremony will take place indoors, due to a cold front blowing across the eastern United States. The high for Mondays forecast in Washington is 26 degrees, making it the coldest expected inauguration day in four decades. Trump announced Friday his swearing-in ceremony would be conducted inside the Rotunda at the U.S. Capitol because of the very cold weather. There is an Arctic blast sweeping the Country, Trump wrote on social media. I dont want to see people hurt, or injured, in any way. The tens of thousands of people who expected to attend the outdoor ceremony on the National Mall are instead encouraged to watch a livestream at Capitol One Arena in downtown Washington, a 22,000-seat facility. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The last-minute logistical change means that many dignitaries, including some members of Congress, may not be able to attend Trumps oath of office ceremony in person. For months, Trump has promised a series of executive actions on his first day in office, including efforts to crack down on immigration and to implement changes to domestic energy production. Top Trump adviser Stephen Miller predicted there would be over 100 executive actions in Trumps opening days in office, according to an interview he gave on Fox News last week. Trumps Day 1 orders are expected to include cutting restrictions on domestic oil drilling; walking back the Biden administrations electric vehicle mandate; adjusting immigration policy at the U.S.-Mexico border; initiating a mass deportation operation; and pardoning those charged for their role in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, among other actions. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He will also sign an executive order on sex and gender that defines male and female, ends the housing of transgender inmates in federal womens prisons, and directs government agencies to put an individuals biological sex on government personnel records or U.S. passports, according to reporting from The Free Press. Schedule of events Trump held a series of celebratory events over the weekend, including a rally with his supporters on Sunday at Capitol One Arena with surprise guests The Village People. President Trumps Celebratory Victory Rally https://t.co/MCKNpDh8kG Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 19, 2025 As is customary for incoming presidents, Trump is expected to attend a morning worship service at St. Johns Episcopal Church, directly across from the White House. Afterward, he and his wife, Melania Trump, will join President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden for tea at the White House. The swearing-in ceremony will begin around 11:30 a.m. ET, with music and invocations from several faith leaders. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh will administer the oath of office to Vice President-elect JD Vance. Afterward, country music star Carrie Underwood will sing America the Beautiful. The U.S. Naval Academy Glee Club will also perform. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement At noon ET, Trump will take the oath of office, administered by Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts. He will then deliver his inaugural address, followed by a benediction. The farewell to Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris will follow. The new president will then be joined by members of Congress for the Signing Room Ceremony, where he traditionally signs nominations and executive orders. The presidential parade is expected to begin at 3 p.m. ET, when the new president and his procession will travel from the Capitol to the White House. There, Trump will participate in the Oval Office Signing Ceremony. At some point, Trump is expected to appear at Capitol One Arena to greet his supporters there. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trump is scheduled to deliver remarks at three inaugural balls on Monday evening: the Commander in Chief Ball; the Liberty Inaugural Ball; and the Starlight Ball. How to watch WASHINGTON (AP) Donald Trump, who overcame impeachments, criminal indictments and a pair of assassination attempts to win another term in the White House, was sworn in Monday as the 47th U.S. president, taking charge as Republicans claim unified control of Washington and set out to reshape the countrys institutions. Trumps swearing-in ceremony moved indoors due to intense cold. After being inaugurated, he attended a parade in his honor at Capital One Arena and signed a number of executive orders and pardons for his supporters who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Here's the latest: Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trump and Musks budding partnership was evident at inaugural events The blossoming relationship between Trump and Elon Musk was on full display throughout Mondays inauguration ceremonies. Musk sat near Trump during the ceremony in the Capitol Rotunda, and he pumped his fists when the president promoted the goal of putting American astronauts on Mars. The moment sharply illustrated the unusual partnership the billionaire tech titan, who has lucrative contracts with the federal government, has established with the incoming president. Read more about Trump and Musks partnership South Korea's acting leader hopes for improved bilateral ties Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement South Koreas acting leader, Choi Sang-mok, has expressed hopes that the Trump administrations inauguration would serve as a chance for bilateral ties to develop reciprocally. Choi ordered officials on Tuesday to pursue boosted high-level communications with the new U.S. government and strive to improve bilateral relations based on the decades-long military alliance between the two countries. In a separate meeting, Choi cited worries that trade policies by the Trump government could cause considerable effects on South Koreas export-driven economy. He said the government will mobilize all available resources to respond to changes in the trade environment and improve the local economy. In a message posted on the social platform X, Choi congratulated Trump, saying that The Republic of Korea looks forward to Making the Alliance Great Again in the 47th presidency, as we have during the 45th. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Terrorism designation on Cuba is an act of arrogance, Cuban president says Cuban president says Trumps decision to redesignate Cuba as a state sponsor of terrorism is an act of arrogance and contempt for the truth. It is not surprising. His goal is to continue strengthening the cruel economic war against Cuba for the purpose of domination, Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel said on the social platform X. Diaz-Canel said that being on the list, along with the U.S. embargo, is one of the reasons behind the shortages on the island that are driving people to immigrate to the U.S. territory. Trump on Monday reversed an executive order issued by Biden that had lifted the designation. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The worlds richest men had reserved seats at the inauguration Some of the most exclusive seats at Trumps inauguration were reserved for powerful tech CEOs who also happen to be among the worlds richest men. Thats a shift from tradition, especially for a president who has characterized himself as a champion of the working class. Seats so close to the president are usually reserved for the presidents family, past presidents and other honored guests. Read more about the lineup of techs wealthiest leaders at the inauguration Attorney for former Proud Boys chairman says his client's pardon is a turning point Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Nayib Hassan, an attorney for former Proud Boys national chairman Enrique Tarrio, said in a statement that his clients pardon symbolizes a turning point for our nation. Throughout this journey, we have steadfastly maintained that the charges and the subsequent prosecution were politically motivated, and today, with President Trumps act of clemency, that long-fought battle concludes, Hassan said. Thanks America, DC officer says Metropolitan police officer Daniel Hodges, who was nearly crushed in a doorway while defending the Capitol during the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection, posted a message on social media that he learned about Trumps mass pardons of rioters after working all day to ensure that Mondays inauguration was secure and peaceful. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Thanks America, he wrote. Trump signs memorandum allowing security clearances for some aides Trump signed an memorandum allowing his White House counsel to grant interim six-month security clearances including access to the highest levels of government information to some aides whose federal background checks are pending. Trump delayed in signing an agreement with the outgoing Biden administration last year that would have enabled the FBI to begin processing those clearances faster. Trumps memo directs that they be granted access to federal property, technology and information immediately. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trump raises possibility of invoking wartime power act to deport gang members Trump is raising the possibility of invoking a wartime power act for the first time since World War II to deport gang members who are deemed members of a foreign terrorist organization. He is directing the Homeland Security and Justice departments to prepare for him to use the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, which allows the president to detain or deport any noncitizen from a country considered an enemy of the U.S. The law has been invoked only three times: during the War of 1812, World War I and World War II. It was last was used to detain Japanese citizens following the bombing of Pearl Harbor, according to the Brennan Center for Justice. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trumps executive order paves the way for criminal organizations such as Tren de Aragua or MS-13 to be named foreign terrorist organizations. The Cartels functionally control, through a campaign of assassination, terror, rape, and brute force nearly all illegal traffic across the southern border of the United States, the order reads. Trump signs order halting offshore wind expansion Trump signed an executive order halting offshore wind lease sales and pausing the issuance of approvals, permits and loans for onshore and offshore wind projects. Trumps order says the interior secretary will review federal wind leasing and permitting practices. The assessment will consider the environmental impact of onshore and offshore wind projects, the economic costs associated with the intermittent generation of electricity and the effect of subsidies on the viability of the wind industry, the order states. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trump wants to increase drilling for oil and gas and has been hostile to renewable energy, particularly offshore wind. Taiwanese president congratulates Trump and Vance Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te congratulated Trump and Vance on their inauguration in a message on the social platform X. Taiwan looks forward to working with your administration to promote enduring freedom, peace & prosperity around the world, the statement read. We wish you great success in the years ahead. The U.S. is Taiwans largest unofficial backer and arms provider. The government in Taipei hopes the Trump administration will continue to offer its support in the face of annexation threats from China, which considers the self-ruled island its own territory and threatens to take it over, by force if necessary. Trump directs attorney general to help states get lethal injection drugs Trump has signed a sweeping execution order on the death penalty, directing the attorney general to take all necessary and lawful action to ensure that states have enough lethal injection drugs to carry out executions. Trump wrote that politicians and judges who oppose capital punishment have defied and subverted the laws of our country. A moratorium on federal executions had been in place since 2021, and only three defendants remain on federal death row after Biden converted 37 of their sentences to life in prison. Read more about Trumps death penalty order Trump is not confident ceasefire in Gaza will hold Trump said Hamas is weakened, but hes hardly certain that the temporary truce between Israel and Hamas will hold. Im not confident, Trump told reporters. Thats not our war. Its their war. He said his administration might help rebuild Gaza, which he compared to a massive demolition site. Some beautiful things could be done with it, said Trump, the real estate developer turned commander in chief, noting the territorys coastline and phenomenal weather and location. Some fantastic things could be done with Gaza. Some beautiful things could be done with Gaza. Trump suspends US foreign assistance for 90 days pending reviews Trump has signed an executive order temporarily suspending all U.S. foreign assistance programs for 90 days pending reviews to determine whether they are aligned with his policy goals. It was not immediately clear how much assistance would be initially affected by the order. Funding for many programs has already been appropriated by Congress and obligated to be spent, if not already spent. Republicans want local police to cooperate with immigration authorities The majority of U.S. adults think local police in their community should cooperate with federal immigration authorities to deport people who are in the country illegally at least some of the time, according to a January AP-NORC poll. Americans are more likely to say cooperation should happen in some cases but not others than they are to support cooperation across the board. About 4 in 10 Americans say local police should always cooperate, and about half say they should cooperate in some cases. Only about 1 in 10 say the local police in their community should never cooperate in these circumstances. Republicans are especially likely to want cooperation all of the time. About two-thirds of Republicans say local police should always cooperate. Only about one-third of independents and one-quarter of Democrats agree. Trump immigration order restores 2017 deportation criteria One of Trumps more impactful orders on immigration simply restores what was in place when he took office in 2017. Trump wants to end federal grants to sanctuary jurisdictions, or state and local governments that limit cooperation with immigration authorities. The White House maintains that sanctuaries are breaking a law that forbids interfering with federal law enforcement officers. He also wants negotiations with state and local governments to deputize local police to enforce immigration laws, known as 287(g) agreements after a section of a 1996 immigration law. The order restores deportation criteria to pursue everyone in the country illegally, not just those with serious criminal records, those deemed national security or public safety threats, and those who recently crossed the border. Congressional Republican leaders are heading to the White House House Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune are tentatively heading to the White House on Tuesday to meet with Trump. Thats according to a person familiar with the plans who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss them. The plans were first reported by Axios. Its not clear if other Republican leaders are joining for what is expected to be an afternoon meeting. No legitimate rationale to cut federal workforce, union head says The president of a government employees labor union says theres no legitimate rationale to cut the size of the federal workforce. Everett Kelley spoke out Monday in response to Trumps executive order freezing government hiring. Make no mistake this action is not about making the federal government run more efficiently but rather is about sowing chaos and targeting a group of patriotic Americans that President Trump openly calls crooked and dishonest, said Kelley, president of the American Federation of Government Employees labor union. AFGE is the largest federal workers union, representing 800,000 federal and D.C. government workers. Pelosi calls pardons for Jan. 6 defendants shameful House Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi said Trumps actions to pardon and commute sentences of those convicted in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capito; attack are shameful. The Presidents actions are an outrageous insult to our justice system and the heroes who suffered physical scars and emotional trauma as they protected the Capitol, the Congress and the Constitution, Pelosi said in a statement. It is shameful that the President has decided to make one of his top priorities the abandonment and betrayal of police officers who put their lives on the line to stop an attempt to subvert the peaceful transfer of power. She said that despite Trumps decision, the country must remember the extraordinary courage and valor of the law enforcement heroes who stood in the breach and ensured that democracy survived on that dark day. Trump praises Bill Clintons great political sense As he sat down to sign executive orders, Trump was asked which former president he would call for advice. He responded that Bill Clinton was a very interesting politician and said he had a great political sense. Trump said Clinton was disrespected and not used properly. Trump was also asked about his friendly chat with former President Barack Obama during former President Jimmy Carters state funeral. We were having some crazy conversations, he said. Trump moves to withdraw the US from the World Health Organization again Trump has signed an executive order beginning the process of withdrawing the U.S. from the World Health Organization. It was the second time in less than five years that hes ordered the country to withdraw from the organization, despite it being a move many scientists fear could roll back decadeslong gains made in fighting infectious diseases like AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis. Experts also warn it could weaken the worlds defenses against dangerous new outbreaks capable of triggering pandemics. Trump vs. Biden The contrast couldnt be more dramatic. Trump is continuing to riff and answer questions from reporters in the Oval Office as he signs another round of executive action. Hes been joking and opining on everything from foreign policy to drones to the way hes redecorated the ornate room and seems at ease and supremely confident. Biden was known to rarely engage with reporters at length. Trump says hell talk to Russian President Vladimir Putin soon Most people thought that war would have been over in one week, Trump said of Russias nearly three-year war on Ukraine. He added, I think hed be very well off to end that war. Trump said that he thinks Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wants to make a deal to end a conflict. Trump says the US should broker a deal to own half of TikTok Trump says the United States as a country should broker a deal to own half of TikTok, which he estimated could be worth $1 trillion. I think the US should be entitled to get half of TikTok and, congratulations, TikTok has a good partner and that would be worth, you know, could be $500 billion, Trump said, adding that rich people have called him about the deal. The president was speaking about the social media platform with a China-based owner as he was signing an order to keep TikTok open so that it can find a potential buyer and avoid being shut down on national security grounds. Trump calls birthright citizenship ridiculous as he tries to end it Trump says he favors legal immigration as he signed orders declaring a national emergency on the U.S. border with Mexico, suspending refugee resettlement and ending automatic citizenship for anyone born in the United States. Trump acknowledged an imminent legal challenge to overturning birthright citizenship, which has been enshrined in the U.S. Constitution since 1868. He said automatic citizenship was just ridiculous and that he believes he was on good (legal) ground to change it. Thats a big one, he bantered with reporters while signing an order declaring the border emergency. Trump said immigrant labor was needed for investment that he anticipates will accompany higher tariffs. Im fine with legal immigration. I like it, we need people, he said. Trump executive order keeps TikTok online for now President Donald Trump signed an executive order Monday to keep TikTok operating for 75 days, a relief to the social media platforms users even as national security questions persist. TikToks China-based parent was supposed to find a U.S. buyer or be banned on the previous Sunday. Trumps order would give them more time to find a buyer. I guess I have a warm spot for TikTok, Trump says. Former President Joe Biden declined to enforce the bipartisan measure that he signed into law, while Trump has pledged to keep TikTok open after crediting it for helping his 2024 election victory. Trumps legal authority to preserve TikTok is unclear under the terms of the law recently upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court. Lawyer calls commutation for Proud Boys client wonderful Norm Pattis, an attorney for former Proud Boys organizer Joseph Biggs, said it was wonderful to learn that Trump commuted his clients 17-year prison sentence for seditious conspiracy. It gets him out of prison, Pattis told The Associated Press. He had 13, 14 more years to go, and theres no place like home. Trump says tariffs on US neighbors could come next month Trump says he could place 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico starting on Feb. 1. He declined to give a date on China tariffs. Trump has talked extensively about his tariff plans and his affection for the levies on imported goods during multiple public remarks Monday. No West Wing office for Musk Trump says Elon Musk wont get a desk in the West Wing. The president made the comment while signing executive orders in the Oval Office. Trump has named Musk, the Tesla CEO and X owner, as head of the Department of Government Efficiency. Trump finds letter from Biden while signing executive orders Trump found a letter from Biden in the Oval Offices Resolute desk, but only after a journalist reminded him to look for it. While signing a series of executive orders, a journalist asked Trump if hed received a letter. Trump said he didnt know and checked the desk drawers, holding up the letter for the cameras. Maybe we should all read it together, Trump said before setting it aside. He said hell read it himself before sharing it publicly. The letters envelope has 47 handwritten in what looks like pencil and underlined. A new round of executive actions Trump is using the first appearance of his second term in the Oval Office to sign another series of executive actions. Here are some of the key things hes signed: -- pardons and commutations that Trump said would cover about 1,500 people criminally charged in the attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 -- overhauling the refugee admission program to better align with American principles and interests -- declaring a national emergency at the U.S.-Mexico border -- designating drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations Trump issues sweeping pardon for Jan. 6 rioters Trump issued pardons for participants in the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, one of his first acts after being sworn in as the countrys 47th president on Monday. The pardons fulfill Trumps promise to release supporters who tried to help him overturn his election defeat four years ago. These are the hostages, he said while signing the paperwork in the Oval Office. Trump said he was pardoning about 1,500 defendants and issuing six commutations. Trump makes his Oval Office debut After hours spent celebrating his new administration, Trump is making his first Oval Office appearance. Trump has pledged to sign a series of executive actions from behind the oval-shaped rooms famous Resolute Desk. Those come after he signed an initial flurry at Capital One Arena in downtown Washington, where thousands of his supporters gathered to celebrate an inaugural parade that was moved indoors due to the cold. Trump rescinds 2021 Title IX order Trump rescinded a 2021 order signaling the Education Department would use Title IX to protect against discrimination based on gender identity or sexual orientation. The Biden administration later went further to cement that interpretation into federal regulation, but it was overturned after Republican-led states challenged the rule in federal court. Rescinding the 2021 order wont have much effect on schools and colleges, but it clears the slate for other action by the Trump administration. Trump also rescinded a COVID-19-era executive order directing federal officials to give schools guidance on reopening during the pandemic. That order, issued on Bidens second day in office, also required the Education Department to explore the pandemics disparate impacts on students of color and students with disabilities. Before order, Florida governor starts calling it Gulf of America Trump has not signed an executive order to change the name of the Gulf of Mexico to Gulf of America but Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has begun calling it just that. He declared a state of emergency due to winter weather expected along the Gulf Coast. A closer look at Trumps executive action freezing Bidens action on Cuba Trump has reversed an executive order issued by Biden that moved to lift the U.S. designation of Cuba as a state sponsor of terrorism. Biden formally notified Congress just last week of his decision to lift the designation as part of a deal facilitated by the Catholic Church to free political prisoners on the island. The day after the announcement, Cuba began releasing people who were convicted of various crimes, including some who were arrested after taking part in the historic 2021 protests, according to Cuban civil groups following the cases of detainees on the island. A closer look at Trumps executive action freezing many new orders by Biden Trump has issued an order freezing many new or pending federal regulations, effectively blocking last-minute protections issued by the Biden administration. Such an order is fairly common when a new administration takes over, but it could be the first in a series of moves designed to tamp down what the new president and other top Republicans have consistently decried as federal overreach. The move recalled the first day of Trumps first administration in 2017. Then, he froze all pending federal regulations, effectively suspending Obama-era actions that were new or closer to implementation. That immediate regulatory freeze did not apply to some regulations being implemented for emergency situations relating to health, safety, financial or national security. Implementation of the new administrations order is likely to include similar language allowing for key exceptions Trump returns to the White House Trump has officially returned to the White House as president once again. He walked through the doors shortly after 7 p.m., joined by his wife, his son Barron and his father-in-law. A closer look at Trum ps executive action ordering federal employees back to work 5 days a week Among the executive orders Trump signed with a flourish in front of a cheering crowd was one mandating that federal workers return to their offices five days a week. The move followed the new presidents pledge to end the work-from-home culture that became common during the COVID-19 pandemic. Last month, at a news conference at his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida, Trump said he planned to dismiss federal employees who dont return to the office to comply with the order. A closer look at Trumps executive order on the federal hiring freeze Trump has ordered a federal hiring freeze on his first day back in office, mirroring an action he took at the start of his first term to try to reduce the size of government. The order suspends hiring for new positions and many open ones. It includes exceptions for posts related to national security and public safety, as well as the military. During his campaign, Trump pledged to dismantle a federal bureaucracy that he derided as the deep state. The order eight years ago was intended as a temporary, 90-day measure until federal budget officials, as well as those in charge of the governments personnel office, could devise a longer-term strategy for reducing the size of the federal government and it was effectively lifted that April. How long the latest freeze may last is less clear. It is a drastic step away from the Biden administration, which took steps to increase the federal workforce and give pay raises to many in its ranks. What Trump has signed on in his first round of executive orders 1. Halting 78 Biden-era executive actions 2. A regulatory freeze preventing bureaucrats from issuing regulations until the Trump administration has full control of the government 3. A freeze on all federal hiring except for military and a few other essential areas 4. A requirement that federal workers return to full-time in-person work 5. A directive to every department and agency to address the cost of living crisis 6. Withdrawal from the Paris climate treaty 7. A government order restoring freedom of speech and preventing censorship of free speech 8. Ending weaponization of government" Young people from China and Algeria create New Year paintings at Algiers 2 University in Algeria, Jan. 20, 2025. The Algiers 2 University celebrated the Chinese New Year on Monday with a vibrant event, featuring a range of cultural displays on campus that showcased Chinese traditional paintings, calligraphy, paper cutting, and clothing. (Xinhua) ALGIERS, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- The Algiers 2 University celebrated the Chinese New Year on Monday with a vibrant event, featuring a range of cultural displays on campus that showcased Chinese traditional paintings, calligraphy, paper cutting, and clothing. While addressing the event, Chinese Ambassador to Algeria Dong Guangli said that as one of the most important traditional festivals, the Chinese New Year "embodies values of family, renewal, and prosperity." He further emphasized that the event was not just a celebration, but also "an opportunity to enhance the closeness between the Chinese and Algerian peoples, strengthening the bonds of brotherhood and friendship between our two countries." "Hosting this event reflects our commitment to expanding international cultural exchanges," said rector of the university Said Boumaiza, who also attended the celebration. "With the opening of the Chinese language department, we aim to give students more opportunities to connect with China academically and professionally." In September 2024, Algiers 2 University launched a Chinese language department within its Faculty of Languages, in collaboration with Northwest Normal University in China. On Dec. 4, UNESCO inscribed the Spring Festival -- social practices of the Chinese people celebrating the traditional new year -- on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. The decision recognizes the festival's rich array of rituals and cultural elements that engage all levels of Chinese society. Chinese Ambassador to Algeria Dong Guangli (2nd L) shows a Spring Festival couplet at Algiers 2 University in Algeria, Jan. 20, 2025. The Algiers 2 University celebrated the Chinese New Year on Monday with a vibrant event, featuring a range of cultural displays on campus that showcased Chinese traditional paintings, calligraphy, paper cutting, and clothing. (Xinhua) Sitting in his Atlanta home office with his wife and fellow civil rights activist Arndrea Waters King, Martin Luther King III cant help but reflect on a deep irony: Martin Luther King Jr. Day coincides with the second presidential inauguration of Donald Trump on Jan. 20. He worries about the fact that his fathers only grandchild, 16-year-old Yolanda Renee King, lives in a country where her rights might not be secure. The 14th and 15 amendments guarantees of civil rights to Black Americans could be diluted, depending on how the U.S. Supreme Court, with a 6-3 conservative majority that includes three Trump appointees, decides an important racial gerrymandering case this year. And depending on where they live, women today no longer enjoy the right to choose whether to give birth because the high court in 2022 overturned the constitutional right to abortion. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We, as a society, have so many issues to navigate, King told Capital B in the lead-up to Inauguration Day, as he talked about the significance of pursuing social and economic equality. Theres a pathway that includes everyone and doesnt exclude anyone. And we have to continue to find a way to expand, not retract. Thats what my father and mother were about expanding. The couple will spend Jan. 20 in separate locations: Martin Luther King III and his daughter will be in Memphis, Tennessee, for events, and Arndrea Waters King will be in San Antonio for the citys MLK March the largest march of its kind in the country. Martin Luther King Jr. and his wife, Coretta Scott King, had four children. Their oldest, Yolanda King, died in 2007 at the age of 51. Martin Luther King III is the older of two sons; the younger son, Dexter King, died in 2024 at 62. Bernice King, the youngest child, is the CEO of the Atlanta-based nonprofit The King Center, founded in 1968 by her mother. Martin Luther King III, who was 10 when his father was gunned down in Memphis, and Arndrea Waters King see Jan. 20 as an opportunity. Americans have a chance, they say, not only to revisit the slain reverends principles particularly his emphasis on nonviolence and his commitment to economic justice but also to determine what kind of country we want to be. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This juxtaposition offers all of us a glaring contrast. What path do we, as a nation, choose to take? You couldnt have a more obvious example of the extremities, said Arndrea Waters King, the president of the Drum Major Institute, a New York City-based nonprofit, asking whether were going to go down a path of division or peace. Martin Luther King III and the Rev. Al Sharpton lead marchers during the 60th anniversary of the March on Washington, on Aug. 26, 2023, on the National Mall in Washington. (Tom Brenner for The Washington Post via Getty Images) She also noted that this month marks four years since Trump supporters laid siege to the U.S. Capitol, describing the Jan. 6 riot incited by Trumps baseless claims that heavily Black cities such as Atlanta, Detroit, and Philadelphia were plagued by voter fraud as a physical attack on our democracy. Had Trump lost the 2024 presidential election, the U.S. Department of Justice wouldve had the evidence necessary to convict him for his attempt to block the 2020 results that culminated in the Jan. 6 assault, former special counsel Jack Smith said in his final public report, published on Jan. 14. (Sitting presidents are largely shielded from prosecution while in office.) Like her brother and sister-in-law, Bernice King believes that theres a silver lining to the fact that the King holiday overlaps with Trumps second inauguration. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Im just glad it happened that way, that its not a day that he can be the star, which he loves to be, she told the Associated Press earlier this month. He has to contend with that legacy on that day, regardless of how he manages it and handles it in his presentation. Capital B reached out to Bernice King but hadnt heard back by the time of publication. Why do nonviolence and economic justice still matter? As the Kings and other activists see it, the country ought to use the irony of the holiday this year to rededicate itself to understanding the assassinated civil rights leaders principles. For instance, no matter how often their opponents directed violence at them, Martin Luther King Jr. and his lieutenants never resorted to it themselves. Instead, they embraced a philosophy of nonviolent resistance, which is the only morally and practically sound method open to oppressed people in their struggle for freedom, King argued. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This approach was apparent during the 1965 Selma to Montgomery march in Alabama. Led by John Lewis and Hosea Williams, hundreds of peaceful protesters set out to push for Black voting rights. But as they crossed the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, state troopers attacked them, even fracturing Lewis skull. The tragedy became known as Bloody Sunday. Marchers, led by John Lewis and Hosea Williams, call for Black voting rights in Selma, Alabama, on March 7, 1965. They were soon attacked by state troopers. (Getty Images) Its Kings devotion to nonviolence that Montgomery native Evan Milligan is thinking about most in our current political climate, given how significantly violent rhetoric marked Trumps White House bid. Last November, Trump called former Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming a war hawk, and he imagined nine barrels shooting at her. Earlier that year, in March, he warned that it would be a bloodbath for the country if I dont get elected. Im wrestling with and I think that a lot of the country is wrestling with these two extremes in our political culture, Milligan, who was the named plaintiff in the high courts key voting rights case in 2023, told Capital B. Weve had this long trajectory of American idealism that appeals to pacifism and civil disobedience and nonviolent direct action. But then weve also had suppression and violence, including Jan. 6. Over the next few years, I think that these two different behaviors and the cultures that support them will be on full display. Milligan, the co-director of the Common Good Program at the Portland-based nonprofit Western States Center, added that hes concerned about the impact this moment could have on his kids and their peers, as they see Trump avoid punishment for his behavior. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Young people are in school just trying to figure out whats right and whats wrong, whats ethical and whats not, he said, his his son and daughter horsing around in the background. Yet there was much more to Kings worldview than just his commitment to nonviolence, according to his older son. Martin Luther King III insists that it would be unwise to ignore his fathers economic message. He maintained that poverty was one of the three primary evils of U.S. society, and that economic justice access to a decent job with decent pay, health care, and a good home must be a central plank of any true liberation movement. (The two other evils were racism and war or militarism). My father wasnt killed [just] because he was talking about riding at the front of the bus and being able to sit down at a restaurant. One of the major reasons he was killed was because he was talking about a radical redistribution of wealth, King explained. His last campaign was the Poor Peoples Campaign. He didnt live to see it come to fruition, but he was talking about bringing together poor Americans from all walks of life to demand equal opportunity. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement King recalled an adage: Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. This sentiment feels especially powerful today, he said, in light of the ongoing effort to ban books covering Black history from public schools and scale back diversity, equity, and inclusion programs. But he suggested that its precisely because of the censoriousness of our present-day political environment that we must elevate the entirety of his fathers beliefs including his economic philosophy rather than the whitewashed version of those beliefs that some conservative politicians seem to favor. Its important to understand Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King in their totality, he said. Because the economic message is very strong. We must work together to create the America that America ought to be for all of its citizens. What does it mean to be on the front lines today? Arndrea Waters King regularly tells the parable of the little girl who one day went to her grandmother with a dilemma. She told her grandmother that a battle was raging within her, a battle between two wolves a wolf of love and peace, and a wolf of anger and hatred. She asked which one would win. Her grandmother pulled her close, and said: the one you feed. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The U.S. faces a similar conflict now, according to King: Will we feed the wolf of love and peace, as her in-laws did, or will we feed the wolf of anger and hatred? She wants us to choose the former. And to that end, she said that shell continue to push for legislation that lifts marginalized communities bills such as the Freedom to Vote Act and the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act. They would strengthen federal protections at the ballot box after the Supreme Court in 2013 defanged the Voting Rights Act of 1965, signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson just a few months after the brutality of Bloody Sunday shocked the country. President Lyndon B Johnson hands a pen to Martin Luther King Jr. during the signing of the Voting Rights Act on Aug. 6, 1965, in Washington, D.C. (Washington Bureau/Getty Images) Well always be on the front lines, standing for justice and equality, and standing against the triple evils of racism, poverty, and violence, King said. We understand that you cant legislate a mans heart, but at the same time, we have to find a way to come together and do something to be a part of the dream and build the collective consciousness of the beloved community. She and her husband helped to launch Realize the Dream, an initiative created to inspire a coalition of young people across the country to jointly perform 100 million hours of community service by the late reverends 100th birthday on Jan. 15, 2029, and be active in the world that theyll one day inherit. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Bernice King also is encouraging everyone to honor her father with their actions not just with their words and to make sure that those actions are in line with the murdered leaders teachings. Im calling us to do more than quote King, which we love to do, she said earlier this month, as she launched a series of events ahead of the Jan. 20 holiday. I always ask people: Are you doing it in the spirit of Dr. King? Are you doing it from a compassionate place, from a love-centered place? Are you doing it in a way that respects the dignity and worth of all individuals? Its a formidable legacy to grapple with, said Martin Luther King III. His father, he explained, challenged people to operate at a higher level, to be the best possible versions of themselves. He appealed to our better angels, wanting Americans to move the country forward, not backward, and to do so in a way that was constructive rather than destructive. Its OK for us to disagree at times, Martin Luther King III said, but we shouldnt be at such loggerheads that we can no longer communicate or recognize the rights and dignity of our fellow Americans. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Thats just not good. Thats not right. Thats not what my father and mother represented, he said, adding that one way to honor his father is by practicing what he preached. Dad would say that we must learn nonviolence or we may face nonexistence. The post With Inauguration Day on MLK Day, Kings Family Reflect on His Legacy appeared first on Capital B News. Monday, Jan. 20, offers a choice. On the one hand, it's the federal holiday to celebrate the life of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. On the other hand, it's the day the nation inaugurates its 47th president, Donald John Trump. Usually, I'm all in on the transfer-of-power thing. Not this time. On Inauguration Day, I'll choose to commemorate King. It's an easy decision, for me. Martin Luther King Jr. Day honors service, not self-gratification. For those who may simply see the day as government-granted time off for a long weekend, the idea to honor King with a national holiday began four days after the Baptist minister and noted civil rights leader was assassinated as he stood on the balcony of a Memphis hotel in 1968. Fifteen years later, the bill establishing the King holiday was signed into law by President Ronald Reagan, and the first official observance took place three years later, in 1986. Douglas C. Lyons For those who may have forgotten, or are maybe too young to know, King was an authentic American hero, a champion of freedom who gave his life for an American ideal and the truth that all men are created equal. That truth certainly wasn't universally acknowledged when King helped lead the Montgomery bus boycott in 1955 as a young minister, or when he gave his "I Have a Dream" speech at the 1963 March on Washington, or when in 1968 he supported a strike by sanitation workers to spur society to address poverty, poor working conditions and other economic ills. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Much has been made about that one line in King's dream speech, almost to the point of diminishing his stature and making him almost one-dimensional: "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. King had a lot more to say about equality, racism and America that for too many may be lost to history. Take these words from his 1967 "Beyond Vietnam" speech at the Riverside Church in New York City, in which he pushed back on criticism he received from venturing away from civil rights to condemning America's role in the Vietnam War. "Perhaps the more tragic recognition of reality took place when it became clear to me that the war was doing far more than devastating the hopes of the poor at home," King said. "It was sending their sons and their brothers and their husbands to fight and to die in extraordinarily high proportions relative to the rest of the population. We were taking the Black young men who had been crippled by our society and sending them 8,000 miles away to guarantee liberties in Southeast Asia which they had not found in Southwest Georgia and East Harlem." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement There's King's 1967 "Three Evils of Society" speech, where he bluntly describes the harm racism can cause. "Racism can well be that corrosive evil that will bring down the curtain on western civilization," he said. "Arnold Toynbee has said that some 26 civilizations have risen upon the face of the Earth, almost all of them have descended into the junk heap of destruction." King's 1957 "Give us the Ballot" address resonates today because he eerily called for new leadership in one particular group. "It is unfortunate that at this time the leadership of the white South stems from the close-minded reactionaries," King said. "These persons gain prominence and power by the dissemination of false ideas and by deliberately appealing to the deepest hate responses within the human mind. It is my firm belief that this close-minded, reactionary, recalcitrant group constitutes a numerical minority. There are in the white South, more open-minded moderates, than appears on the surface. These persons are silent today because of fear of social, political and economic reprisals." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Today, roughly 1,002 miles away from where I sit, Washington, D.C. and the nation will undergo a transition of power. In a weird sense of circumstance and convergence, the federal holiday remembering an iconic leader falls on the same day as the swearing in of a new president. My choice is to honor a King. Douglas C. Lyons is a longtime editorial writer who has the privilege of writing opinions for two of the three daily newspapers in South Florida. His column first appeared in the Palm Peach Post, a sister publication of The Tennessean in the USA TODAY Network. This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Celebrate MLK Day instead of Trumps inauguration. I will. | Opinion NEW DELHI (AP) An Indian court on Monday sentenced a police volunteer to life in prison after finding him guilty in the rape and killing of a trainee doctor last year, a crime that sparked nationwide protests over inadequate safety for women and led to a speedy trial in the countrys slow-moving justice system. Sanjay Roy, 33, who has consistently maintained his innocence, can appeal the judgment in a higher court. The killing of the 31-year-old physician while she was on duty at a hospital in the eastern city of Kolkata highlighted the chronic issue of violence against women in the country. Police discovered the woman's bloodied body at the R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospitals seminar hall last Aug. 9. An autopsy found she had been strangled and sexually assaulted. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Federal police, who investigated the case, said the crime deserved the death penalty. Parents of the victim had also sought the death penalty for Roy and said they suspected more people were involved in the crime. The case was initially investigated by Kolkata police but later the court handed over the probe to federal investigators after state government officers were accused of mishandling the investigation. After the assault, doctors and medical students across India held protests and rallies demanding better security. Thousands of women also protested in the streets demanding swift justice for the victim. Roy was arrested a day after the crime, and arguments in the case began in November. The assault prompted Indias Supreme Court to set up a national task force to suggest ways to enhance safety in government hospitals. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Many crimes against women go unreported in India due to the stigma surrounding sexual violence, as well as a lack of faith in the police. Womens rights activists say the problem is particularly acute in rural areas, where communities sometimes shame victims of sexual assault and families worry about their social standing. In 2012, the gang rape and killing of a 23-year-old student on a New Delhi bus galvanized massive protests across India. It inspired lawmakers to order harsher penalties for such crimes, as well as the creation of fast-track courts dedicated to rape cases. The government also introduced the death penalty for repeat offenders. Four men sentenced to death for the 2012 crime were hanged in 2020. The rape law amended in 2013 also criminalized stalking and voyeurism and lowered the age at which a person can be tried as an adult from 18 to 16. Activists say new sentencing requirements havent deterred rapes and the number of recorded rape cases has increased. In 2022, police recorded 31,516 reports of rape a 20% jump from 2021, according to the National Crime Records Bureau. By Subrata Nag Choudhary KOLKATA (Reuters) -An Indian court handed down a life sentence on Monday to a police volunteer convicted of the rape and murder of a junior doctor at a hospital in the eastern city of Kolkata, rejecting demands for the death penalty saying it was not a rare crime. The woman's body was found in a classroom at the state-run R G Kar Medical College and Hospital, where she worked, on Aug. 9. Other doctors stayed off work for weeks to demand justice for her and better security at public hospitals, as the crime sparked national outrage over a lack of safety for women. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Sanjay Roy, the police volunteer, was convicted on Saturday by judge Anirban Das, who said circumstantial evidence had proved the charges against Roy. On Monday, Roy, who denied the charges, said he had been framed and sought clemency. The federal police, who investigated the case, said the crime belonged to the "rarest-of-rare" category and Roy, therefore, deserved the death penalty. But the judge disagreed, saying that he had come to the conclusion after considering all the evidence and the circumstances linked to it. "I do not consider it as a 'rarest-of-rare' crime," Judge Das said as he sentenced Roy to life in jail on both the counts of rape and murder. "Life imprisonment, meaning imprisonment until death." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Senjuti Chakrabarty, a lawyer for Roy, said the defence would appeal to a higher court and seek Roy's acquittal. The sentence was announced in a packed courtroom as the judge allowed the public to witness proceedings. The speedy trial in the court had not been open to the public. The parents of the junior doctor were among those in court. Security was stepped up with dozens of police personnel deployed at the court complex. JUNIOR DOCTORS PROTEST The parents had earlier said that they were not satisfied with the probe and suspected more people were involved in the crime. Their lawyer, Amartya Dey, told Reuters that they had sought the death penalty for Roy and also demanded that those involved in what they called the "larger conspiracy" be brought to book. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "The appeal court is open for us ... let us get a copy of the judgment, we can then discuss it further," Rajdeep Haldar, another lawyer for the parents, said. A group of junior doctors and others demonstrated outside the court, demanding a harsher sentence for Roy. "We want justice. We want to know the other conspirators," they said. Mamata Banerjee, chief minister of West Bengal of which Kolkata is the capital, said the state government run by the regional Trinamool Congress party was "not happy" with the sentence as it had demanded the death penalty. "Life imprisonment ... is a travesty of justice," said Amit Malviya, a senior member of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party that rules at the federal level. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "The verdict must be appealed. Justice must not only be done but must also be seen to be done," he posted on X. India's federal police cited 128 witnesses in its investigation, of whom 51 were examined during the fast-tracked trial that began in November. Police had also charged the officer heading the local police station and the head of the college at the time of the crime with destruction of the crime scene and tampering with evidence. The police officer is out on bail while the former head of the hospital remains in detention in connection with separate allegations of financial irregularities at the hospital. (Reporting by Subrata Nag Choudhary in Kolkata; Additional reporting by Sakshi Dayal and Sudipto Ganguly; Writing by YP Rajesh; Editing by Alex Richardson) Fresh off his inauguration as governor of Indiana last week, Gov. Mike Braun was at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Monday for President Donald Trump's inauguration. "Maureen and I are at the Capitol for the inauguration of my friend and our 47th president, Donald Trump," Braun wrote in a post on X. "Excited to work alongside him to help Hoosiers!" Braun was previously one of Indiana's two Republican senators before he ran for governor in 2024. Trump endorsed Braun in last year's Indiana governor's race. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But Braun did not watch the inauguration from the U.S. Capitol rotunda. He joined other governors in overflow viewing space at the capitol, including Republican Govs. Ron DeSantis of Florida and Brian Kemp of Georgia. Maureen and I are at the Capitol for the inauguration of my friend and our 47th president, Donald Trump. Excited to work alongside him to help Hoosiers! pic.twitter.com/cZMJMeplEs Governor Mike Braun (@GovBraun) January 20, 2025 Other Hoosiers spotted in the Capitol After the inauguration was moved indoors on Friday, only members of Congress and special guests were allowed to attend the ceremonies in the U.S. Capitol. Former Vice President and Indiana Gov. Mike Pence walked into the rotunda with another former Hoosier vice president, Dan Quayle, who served under President George H.W. Bush. Members of Indiana's Congressional delegation, including U.S. Sen. Todd Young and U.S. Rep. Rudy Yakym posted photos on X from their seats in the capitol. Great to be with my fellow Hoosier @RepHouchin in the Rotunda! pic.twitter.com/kLJ6kdTtRb Congressman Rudy Yakym (@RepRudyYakym) January 20, 2025 Contact IndyStar state government and politics reporter Brittany Carloni at brittany.carloni@indystar.com or 317-779-4468. Follow her on Twitter/X@CarloniBrittany. This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indiana Gov. Mike Braun was at U.S. Capitol for Trump's inauguration SPRING HILL, Tenn. (WKRN) Authorities arrested an Indiana man on multiple murder charges Monday after officers conducted a welfare check on a Spring Hill home. Lieutenant Michael Foster with the Spring Hill Police Department (SHPD) said at about 6 a.m., the Robertson County Sheriffs Office (RCSO) asked the SHPD to conduct a welfare check because of a phone call received by their dispatch. CRIME TRACKER | Read the latest crime-related reports from across Middle Tennessee Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement SHPD officers conducted the check at a house in the 2000 block of Gale Lane in Spring Hill and found a 30-year-old woman had sustained fatal wounds. An arrest report later identified the victim as 30-year-old Ariel Nevills. Authorities with the RCSO arrested the person who placed the phone call 29-year-old Vidol Wegner of Indiana on two counts of first-degree murder and one count of felony murder. Foster added Wegner was in a relationship with Nevills, who was seven months pregnant at the time of her death. Read todays top stories on wkrn.com According to court records, Wegner admitted to strangling Nevills two different ways to kill her and their unborn child. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement SHPD authorities went to Robertson County and transported Wegner to the Maury County Jail. Copyright 2025 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. JAKARTA (Reuters) -Indonesia is looking into ways to repatriate an al Qaeda-linked Guantanamo Bay detainee accused of involvement in some of the country's deadliest attacks, including the 2002 bombings on the resort island of Bali, a senior minister told Reuters on Monday. Described by former President George W. Bush as "one of the world's most lethal terrorists", Riduan Isamuddin, better known as Hambali, is accused of helping to plan the Bali nightclub attack that killed more than 200 people, mostly foreigners, and of financing the Jakarta Marriott Hotel bombing in 2003. The former leader of the Southeast Asian militant network Jemaah Islamiyah was arrested in 2003 in a U.S.-led operation in Thailand before being transferred to Guantanamo Bay in 2006. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Senior minister for law and human rights Yusril Ihza Mahendra said the statute of limitations on Indonesia's cases against Hambali had expired. "No matter what, Hambali is an Indonesian citizen. No matter how wrong he is... we must care for him," Yusril said. "Indonesian government is aware about the sensitivity of this matter and will act carefully," he added. Hambali was also suspected by Washington of involvement in plotting the Sept. 11 attacks in the United States. Indonesia had previously sought access to question Hambali but was denied contact with him. It has not been formally disclosed whether Hambali has admitted to or denied involvement in the Sept. 11, Bali and Jakarta attacks. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement At its peak, JI was one of Asia's most feared extremist networks, with cells in Malaysia, Singapore and the Philippines, but its influence and support waned after a sustained crackdown by authorities and de-radicalisation programmes. Senior JI members said in June the network was being disbanded and Indonesia is considering parole for two of its former leaders and amnesty for its jailed members. Indonesia would discuss the plan to repatriate Hambali with the U.S. government, Yusril said. The U.S. embassy in Jakarta did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Washington last year repatriated two Malaysian detainees from Guantanamo Bay who had pleaded guilty to offences that included murder in violation of laws on war. (Reporting by Ananda Teresia; Editing by Martin Petty and Ed Osmond) In his seminal 1950 paper, Computing Machinery and Intelligence, English computer scientist Alan Turing asked, Can machines think? This groundbreaking work introduced the Turing Test, a method for assessing machine intelligence. Turings visionary ideas laid the foundation for artificial intelligence, shaping a field that European innovators like London-based DeepMind have since brought to life. Yet today, the very region that once spearheaded AI innovation faces mounting obstacles threatening to sideline its role in the global AI race. In 2025, as transformative AI tools revolutionize industries, the EU and U.K. are increasingly constrained by their own regulatory frameworks. The latest casualty is OpenAIs text-to-video tool, Sora, which debuted globally late last year but remains unavailable in the EU and U.K. Sora joins a growing list of delayed AI launches, including Googles Gemini, Metas AI assistant, Microsofts Copilot, and Apples AI-powered featuresall hindered by Europes stringent legal landscape. These delays signal a troubling trend: a region once at the forefront of technological innovation now grapples with an innovation gap that could have far-reaching consequences. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Can machines think? Alan Turing in 1950 Consequences of the Innovation Gap Rich Pleeth, CEO and co-founder of Fin Sustainable Logistics, underscores the stakes: The growing innovation gap in AI is a massive concern. While the U.S. and other parts of the world forge ahead with cutting-edge AI development, Europes stricter regulations create an uneven playing field. Its like being in school and only being allowed to observe the science experiments while others get to participate. ...a region once at the forefront of technological innovation now grapples with an innovation gap that could have far-reaching consequences. The long-term risks are profound. As Europe lags in AI adoption, its companies risk falling behind competitors in the U.S. and Asia. This innovation gap could stifle economic growth, discourage investment, and lead to a brain drain as AI talent migrates to more permissive environments. At this rate, Pleeth warns, the U.K. will become a spectator in the AI future. Policy and market tensions Europes leadership in consumer protection is undeniableGDPR set a global benchmark for data privacy. What may be well-intentioned regulations, though, are coming at a cost. An inordinate amount of uncertainty is why companies are delaying AI product launches in Europeespecially around penalties and fines, explains Bill Echikson, a senior fellow at the Digital Innovation Initiative. Its also possible theyre making a political point about overregulation. This uncertainty creates a vicious cycle: as companies hesitate to introduce new innovations, regulators respond cautiously, leaving European consumers and businesses at a disadvantage. Navigating the regulatory maze The EUs single market is too significant, and the promise of AI too enormous, for companies to ignore, says Anu Jain, CEO of the AI data firm Nexus Cognitive, which helps companies navigate these challenges: AI in 2025 represents an even more transformative inflection point than the late '90s when the internet revolutionized communication and commerce. We are on the verge of AI reshaping every aspect of human life, empowering us to tackle challenges once thought insurmountable. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement However, Jain warns that Europes regulatory hurdles begin long before AI systems are even developed or implemented. Preparing data for AI is now the top priority for companies striving to remain competitive, he says. But Europes stringent data citizenship requirements add major challenges. Organizations must invest in robust data preparation to meet compliance standards before they can effectively harness AI. This added complexity risks stifling innovation and delaying market entry, creating the very real danger that our European partners could be pigeonholed into second-rate platformsa risk we work vigorously to avoid. This sentiment is echoed by European consumers who increasingly turn to VPNs to access blocked AI tools. Guides specifically for Europeans on bypassing restrictions for applications like Sora have proliferated online, highlighting the demand for these technologies despite regulatory barriers. A path forward So, whats the solution? Most experts agree that clarity and collaboration are key. Regulators must provide clearer guidelines to reduce legal uncertainty, while companies must engage proactively to shape policies that balance innovation with protection. The EU AI Act, if implemented wisely, could set a global standard for responsible AI. But if it becomes overly restrictive, it risks deepening Europes technological lag. Regulators must provide clearer guidelines to reduce legal uncertainty, while companies must engage proactively to shape policies that balance innovation with protection. Prime Minister Kier Starmer, facing mourning economic pressures, recently announced plans to adopt 50 recommendations from venture capitalist Matt Clifford as part of a broader strategy to position the UK as an AI maker rather than an AI taker." While the AI industry welcomed the emphasis on developing supercomputers and sovereign AI computing facilities, many experts remain concerned that the plan does little to address the pressing need for clear and comprehensive AI regulationa gap that continues to hinder innovation and market confidence. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Pleeth offers a piercing reflection: if Alan Turing were alive today, the iconic Englishman might find himself innovating on the other side of the pond. Turing would find the UK's risk-averse approach frustrating, limiting his ability to make bold leaps forward in AI research and development. This is sadly in stark contrast to the U.S., where a more permissive approach encourages rapid experimentation and deployment of AI technologies. ...if Alan Turing were alive today, the iconic Englishman might find himself innovating on the other side of the pond. Rich Pleeth, CEO and co-founder of Fin Sustainable Logistics Without swift action, Europe could find itself on the sidelines of the AI revolution, watching from afar as the rest of the world forges ahead. For Europe to remain competitive, it must swiftly strike a delicate balanceone that protects its values without sacrificing its future. This story was originally featured on Fortune.com The Scoop The key Washington lobbying group for news organizations and publishers is gearing up for legal action against a major artificial intelligence company that it believes has been egregiously copying publisher content to power its large language model. The News Media Alliance, whose members include newspaper publisher Gannett, magazine publisher Conde Nast, Atlantic Media, Hearst, Vox Media, and others, has been putting together what its members see as a strong case of copyright infringement and violation of intellectual property laws by a notable AI player. According to four people who participated in a strategy call around the announcement on Wednesday, the complaint will likely be filed in the coming weeks and will show large amounts of text that, the publishers claim, an AI model has essentially copied and pasted without attribution or license. Publishing executives declined to say which AI company would be the focus on the complaint. Reached for comment, the NMA did not confirm or clarify to Semafor who the litigation is being brought against. But many members of the NMA have ongoing licensing deals with OpenAI that make it difficult to bring any direct legal action against the company over how it uses their content. Not all members of the NMA have agreed to participate in the forthcoming lawsuit. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Proponents of the move who spoke with Semafor on the condition of anonymity said that the current ambiguity of laws around copyright infringement by AI necessitates legal action by news publishers who feel that many LLMs have been trained on their work without any (or adequate) compensation. The complaint coincides with other ongoing litigation against AI companies by news organizations, most notably The New York Times ongoing copyright infringement lawsuit against OpenAI, which has been seen as a potentially precedent-setting case. Know More The forthcoming legal complaint will be one of the biggest moves made by publishers against AI companies, some of whom have successfully convinced news media companies not to sue by offering lucrative deals to license content to train their models. Just in the last year, OpenAI has inked licensing deals with the Financial Times, Conde Nast, Dotdash Meredith, News Corp, The Atlantic, Vox Media, and Hearst, while Perplexity and Meta have each agreed to deals with a small number of news publishers. Broader concerns around AI and content use have also reinvigorated the News Media Alliance, the renamed Newspaper Association of America, which hasnt always been known as a particularly aggressive or public advocate for the members it represents. Over the last several years, the association has grown increasingly visible, as it has become one of the primary means for media organizations to push back against tech companies whose AI products siphon traffic, attention, and potentially ad dollars away from publishers. Still, while uncertainty around AI has renewed NMAs purpose and brought many publishers together, it has also exposed some uncomfortable tensions between them. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement During Wednesdays call, Mike Reed, the CEO and chairman of newspaper publisher Gannett, sharply criticized Axios for its partnership with OpenAI in local markets. Members of the NMA were discussing how the organization would announce the forthcoming complaint, suggesting that the exclusive be given to The New York Times, to The Wall Street Journal if the Times turned the exclusive down, and then to Axios, if both papers passed on the story. According to three participants on the call, Reed protested giving the scoop to Axios, pointing to its recent partnership with OpenAI and accusing them of stealing content in local markets. In an email to Semafor, Gannett spokesperson Lark-Marie Anton said that Reeds comments had been taken out of context. My recollection is that Mike Reed referenced Axios in the context of a story that is being pitched, Anton said. Your source is giving you misinformation and it is irresponsible, quite frankly. NMA President Danielle Coffey told Semafor in an email that she did not recall this part of the conversation as Semafor described it. Axios did not respond to a request for comment. Notable LA PAZ, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- A passenger vehicle plunged off a highway and into a 150-meter-deep ravine in western Bolivia, leaving three people dead and three others injured, the local Fire Department reported Monday. According to the chief of the Fire Department in La Paz department, Pavel Tovar, the car was traveling from the town of Caranavi to the city of La Paz when the accident occurred. Rescuers from the fire and police departments arrived at the scene to aid the injured, who were rushed to the Arco Iris Hospital in La Paz, where they are receiving specialized care due to the severity of their injuries. The national director of the Fire Department, Gonzalo Velasco, said authorities were investigating the crash and recommended drivers in the area exercise extreme caution due to adverse weather conditions such as fog and heavy rain. "The vehicle involved plunged into the abyss and the driver is one of the injured," he said. (Reuters) -The following is reaction from global leaders to Donald Trump being sworn in as U.S. president on Monday. VOLODYMYR ZELENSKIY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT "President Trump is always decisive, and the peace through strength policy he announced provides an opportunity to strengthen American leadership and achieve a long-term and just peace, which is the top priority." BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "I believe that working together again we will raise the U.S.-Israel alliance to even greater heights." "On behalf of the people of Israel, I also want to thank you for your efforts in helping free Israeli hostages. "I look forward to working with you to return the remaining hostages, to destroy Hamas military capabilities and end its political rule in Gaza, and to ensure that Gaza never again poses a threat to Israel." TAYYIP ERDOGAN, PRESIDENT OF TURKEY "Since Mr. Trump repeatedly said he would end the Russia-Ukraine war, we as Turkey will do whatever necessary in this regard. We need to resolve this issue as soon as possible. This issue will be on our agenda with our talks with Mr. Trump, and we would take our steps accordingly. I wish Mr. Trump's second term would bring good for all humanity." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement OLAF SCHOLZ, GERMAN CHANCELLOR "Today President Donald Trump takes office. Congratulations! The U.S. is our closest ally and the aim of our policy is always a good transatlantic relationship. The EU, with 27 members and more than 400 million people, is a strong union." JUSTIN TRUDEAU, CANADIAN PRIME MINISTER "Congratulations, President Trump. Canada and the U.S. have the worlds most successful economic partnership. We have the chance to work together again to create more jobs and prosperity for both our nations." KEIR STARMER, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER "For centuries, the relationship between our two nations has been one of collaboration, cooperation and enduring partnership ... Together, we have defended the world from tyranny and worked towards our mutual security and prosperity." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "With President Trump's longstanding affection and historical ties to the United Kingdom, I know that depth of friendship will continue." GIORGIA MELONI, PRIME MINISTER OF ITALY "I am certain that the friendship between our nations and the values that unite us will continue to strengthen the cooperation between Italy and the USA ... Italy will always be committed to consolidating the dialogue between the United States and Europe, as an essential pillar for the stability and growth of our communities." URSULA VON DER LEYEN, EUROPEAN COMMISSION PRESIDENT "Best wishes President @realDonaldTrump, for your tenure as 47th President of the United States. The EU looks forward to working closely with you to tackle global challenges. Together, our societies can achieve greater prosperity and strengthen their common security. This is the enduring strength of the transatlantic partnership." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement MARK RUTTE, NATO SECRETARY GENERAL "With President Trump back in office we will turbo-charge defence spending & production. My warm congratulations to @realDonaldTrump on his inauguration as 47th President of the USA, and to @JDVance as Vice President. Together we can achieve peace through strength - through @NATO." LUIZ INACIO LULA DA SILVA, PRESIDENT OF BRAZIL "On behalf of the Brazilian government, I congratulate President Donald Trump on his inauguration. Relations between Brazil and the USA are marked by a history of cooperation, based on mutual respect and a historic friendship. Our countries have strong ties in various areas, such as trade, science, education and culture. I am sure that we can continue to make progress in these and other partnerships." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement CHARLES, BRITAINS KING: The king has sent a personal message of congratulations to President Trump on his inauguration, reflecting on the enduring special relationship between the UK and U.S., according to Buckingham Palace. ULF KRISTERSSON, PRIME MINISTER OF SWEDEN "Warm congratulations @realDonaldTrump on being sworn in as the 47th President of the United States. Sweden looks forward to continued close cooperation with the U.S." ALEXANDER STUBB, PRESIDENT OF FINLAND "I would like to extend my heartfelt congratulations to you @realDonaldTrump as you assume office as the President of the United States. The U.S. is our key strategic partner and ally. I look forward to close cooperation during your term." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement JONAS GAHR STOERE, PRIME MINISTER OF NORWAY "I congratulate President Donald Trump. The United States is Norway's most important ally, and there are strong ties between our two nations. I look forward to a good working relationship with President Trump and his new administration," Stoere said in a statement." HAMAS OFFICIAL SAMI ABU ZUHRI: "We are happy with the departure of Biden, who has the blood of Palestinians on his hand. We hope for the end of this dark era that harmed the U.S. before anyone and that Trump can build his policies on balanced foundations that can cut the road against Netanyahu's evils that want to drown the region and the world." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement SYRIA'S DE FACTO LEADER AHMED AHMED AL-SHARAA "The past decade has brought immense suffering to Syria, with the conflict devastating our nation and destabilizing the region. We are confident that he is the leader to bring peace to the Middle East and restore stability to the region". TAIWAN PRESIDENT LAI CHING-TE "The United States is an important security, economic, and trade partner of Taiwan, and a strong ally that shares the values of democracy and freedom. On behalf of the people of Taiwan, I would like to extend my sincere congratulations to the new President Donald J. Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement CUBAN PRESIDENT MIQUEL DIAZ-CANEL U.S. President Donald Trump's action of putting the Caribbean nation back on the U.S.' state sponsors of terrorism list was "an act of arrogance and disregard for the truth." JAPANESE PRIME MINISTER SHIGERU ISHIBA "I listened to President Trump's inaugural speech, and I felt that it was 'Make America Great Again' itself. Traditionally, inaugural speech by presidents have been more about setting a tone...I felt very much that it sounded like a continuation of what Mr Trump had been saying throughout his campaign. President Trump prioritises bilateral negoatiations over multilateral frameworks, so we will focus on how to leverage the national interests of both countries to contribute to world peace and the global economy. We aim to establish a trusting relationship through substantial discussions." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement AUSTRALIA PRIME MINISTER ANTHONY ALBANESE "I congratulate President Trump on his inauguration, it is a significant achievement to be elected President of the United States of America, not once but twice now, and I look forward to having a constructive engagement with him." SOUTH KOREA'S ACTING PRESIDENT CHOI SANG-MOK "The government will strive to further strengthen policy cooperation with the United States and promote mutual interests based on the shared value of the Korea-U.S. alliance," Choi said, citing the alliance's slogan of "We Go Together". HONG KONG LEADER JOHN LEE Hopes for full efforts with U.S. President Donald Trump to promote positive relations between Washington and the Chinese-ruled city, although "we will always be prepared for the worst". (Editing by Ros Russell, Christina Fincher, Nick Zieminski and Michael Perry) SUMPTER, Wis. (WFRV) A 39-year-old Iowa woman died Sunday afternoon, and a juvenile passenger was hospitalized following a high-speed crash on U.S. Highway 12. Shortly before 4:00 p.m., the Sauk County Sheriffs Office responded to a single-vehicle crash near U.S. Highway 12 and Groth Road in the town of Sumpter. Suspect arrested after shooting and killing young man in Town of Geneva Upon arrival, deputies found the vehicle off the roadway in a wooded area. The driver, a 39-year-old woman from Dubuque, Iowa, was pronounced dead at the scene. A juvenile passenger was trapped inside the vehicle with serious injuries. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Emergency responders freed the passenger, who was then airlifted to a nearby hospital for treatment. Driver killed after being ejected from their vehicle during a crash in Marinette County Based on roadway evidence and witness statements, authorities believe excessive speed contributed to the crash. No additional details were provided. Copyright 2025 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 WFRV Local 5 - Green Bay, Appleton. Israel's far-right finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, has spoken out in favour of Israeli occupation of the entire Gaza Strip, in remarks to Israeli military radio. Smotrich, the leader of the Religious Zionist Party, is one of the critics within the government of the ceasefire agreement with Hamas. "We have to occupy the entire strip and establish military rule there," he said. There is no "third force" that could ensure security there, Smotrich argued. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In the same interview the minister said Israel's army chief of staff, Herzi Halevi was not the right person to lead the military. What is needed is someone who understands that occupying the entire Gaza Strip is his mission, "who stands behind it and is ready to enforce it," Smotrich said. The first three Israeli hostages released as part of a ceasefire agreement in the Gaza war are reportedly in "stable condition," according to the hospital where they are being examined. Emily Damari, Romi Gonen and Doron Steinbrecher were freed on Sunday after spending more than 15 months in captivity in the Gaza Strip. "It will take a few more days to complete all the needed examinations," said Sefi Mendelovich, deputy director general of health at Sheba Medical Center near Tel Aviv, according to the Times of Israel on Monday. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The three women were abducted to Gaza during the Hamas-led October 7 attacks on Israel. Some 90 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails were freed in exchange for the women's release. Damari, who holds both Israeli and British citizenship, took to Instagram to express her feelings following her release after 471 days in captivity. "I have returned to my beloved life," the 28-year-old was quoted as writing by the Times of Israel. "I'm the happiest in the world now just to be." Smooth first prisoner-hostage exchange The first exchange of prisoners under the ceasefire deal went off smoothly on Sunday. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Palestinian militant organization Hamas released the first three Israeli hostages, while the first group of 90 Palestinian prisoners were also freed hours after the agreement took effect. A Hamas spokesman confirmed that four more Israeli hostages would be released next Saturday, as part of the deal to exchange 33 hostages for 1,904 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails over the course of six weeks. A three-stage ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas was brokered on Wednesday, capping months-long efforts by the United States, Egypt and Qatar to mediate between the warring parties. The first stage of the ceasefire agreement also foresees the Israeli military withdrawing from densely populated areas of the Gaza Strip. Increased patrols in West Bank Dozens of the former Palestinian inmates arrived in Bitunya west of Ramallah overnight, but most of those released were initially barred from returning to their hometowns as Israeli checkpoints around several Palestinian cities were closed, forcing them to stay in hotels. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement People poured into the streets during the night to welcome the returnees arriving in buses in the West Bank. The Israeli military had warned Palestinians living in villages near Israeli settlements against celebrating the release of the prisoners. Israeli settlers reportedly attacked Palestinian villages with Molotov cocktails and stones and put cars own fire. No one was injured, according to initial reports. Long-term future of Gaza still in balance Israel's far-right finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, has spoken out in favour of Israeli occupation of the entire Gaza Strip, in remarks to Israeli military radio. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Smotrich, the leader of the Religious Zionist Party, is one of the critics within the government of the ceasefire agreement with Hamas. "We have to occupy the entire strip and establish military rule there," he said. There is no "third force" that could ensure security there, Smotrich argued. The first three Israeli hostages released as part of a ceasefire agreement in the Gaza war are reportedly in "stable condition," according to the hospital where they are being examined. Emily Damari, Romi Gonen and Doron Steinbrecher were freed on Sunday after spending more than 15 months in captivity in the Gaza Strip. "It will take a few more days to complete all the needed examinations," said Sefi Mendelovich, deputy director general of health at Sheba Medical Centre near Tel Aviv, the Times of Israel reported on Monday. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The three women were abducted to Gaza during the Hamas-led October 7 attacks on Israel. Some 90 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails were freed in exchange for the women's release. Damari, who holds both Israeli and British citizenship, took to Instagram to express her feelings following her release after 471 days in captivity. "I have returned to my beloved life," the 28-year-old was quoted as writing by the Times of Israel. "I'm the happiest in the world now just to be." Smooth first prisoner-hostage exchange The first exchange of prisoners under the ceasefire deal went off smoothly on Sunday. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Palestinian militant organization Hamas released the first three Israeli hostages, while the first group of 90 Palestinian prisoners were also freed hours after the agreement took effect. A Hamas spokesman confirmed that four more Israeli hostages would be released next Saturday, as part of the deal to exchange 33 hostages for 1,904 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails over the course of six weeks. A three-stage ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas was brokered on Wednesday, capping months-long efforts by the United States, Egypt and Qatar to mediate between the warring parties. The first stage of the ceasefire agreement also foresees the Israeli military withdrawing from densely populated areas of the Gaza Strip. Hezbollah calls ceasefire 'a defeat for Israel' The Lebanese pro-Iranian Shiite movement Hezbollah on Monday described the ceasefire in the Gaza war as an Israeli defeat. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In a first statement after the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas came into effect, the organization spoke of a blessed victory for the Palestinian people and their resistance. "The agreement to a ceasefire under the conditions of the resistance, without compromising Palestinian rights, marks a political victory alongside the military achievement," the statement said. It added that Israel has failed "to achieve any of its objectives through force or to break the will and steadfastness of the Palestinian people." Increased patrols in West Bank Dozens of the former Palestinian inmates arrived in Bitunya west of Ramallah overnight, but most of those released were initially barred from returning to their home towns as Israeli checkpoints around several Palestinian cities were closed, forcing them to stay in hotels. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement People poured onto the streets during the night to welcome the returnees arriving in buses in the West Bank. The Israeli military had warned Palestinians living in villages near Israeli settlements not to celebrate the release of the prisoners. Israeli settlers reportedly attacked Palestinian villages with Molotov cocktails and stones and put cars on fire. No one was injured, according to initial reports. West Bank roadside bomb kills Israeli soldier An Israeli soldier died and an officer was seriously injured overnight when their jeep detonated a bomb planted at the roadside in the town of Tamun in the north of the West Bank, the Israeli military reported on Monday. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement No one has yet claimed responsibility for the attack. Israeli Chief of the General Staff Herzi Halevi announced a major military operation in the area the next day. "Apart from intensive preparations for defence in the Gaza Strip, we have to be prepared for large-scale operations in Judea and Samaria to forestall the terrorists and to capture them before they reach our civilian population," Halevi said, using Israeli terms for the West Bank. Tensions have risen in the occupied West Bank since the October 7, 2023, attacks mounted by the Palestinian militant organization Hamas from the Gaza Strip. Egypt sends more aid to the Gaza Strip Around 220 aid trucks were sent from Egypt towards the Gaza Strip on Monday, the second day of the ceasefire. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement An Egyptian Red Crescent official in North Sinai said the trucks include 10 carrying fuel. They will enter Gaza through the Kerem Shalom border crossing in the south. He added that there are 3,000 trucks carrying humanitarian aid ready to be sent to the besieged Palestinian territory. According to United Nations chief of humanitarian affairs, Tom Fletcher, more than 630 trucks with humanitarian aid entered Gaza on Sunday, with at least 300 of them going to the northern part of the enclave. Qatar to provide Gaza with fuel Qatar says it will provide Gaza with 1.25 million litres of fuel daily over the first 10 days of ceasefire. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement On Monday, 25 trucks carrying fuel arrived in Gaza through Kerem Shalom. Fuel will be used to power hospitals and displaced person shelters and basic services, the Foreign Ministry said. Long-term future of Gaza still in balance Israel's far-right finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, has spoken out in favour of Israeli occupation of the entire Gaza Strip, in remarks to Israeli military radio. Smotrich, the leader of the Religious Zionist Party, is one of the critics within the government of the ceasefire agreement with Hamas. "We have to occupy the entire strip and establish military rule there," he said. There is no "third force" that could ensure security there, Smotrich argued. Freed Israeli hostage Emily Damari (C) celebrates with her family at Sheba Medical Center, after her release from Hamas captivity in the Gaza Strip. The first three hostages released by Hamas under the terms of the Gaza ceasefire deal have reached Israeli territory, the Israeli military said on Sunday, hours after the agreement took effect. Ma'ayan Toaf/GPO/dpa An Israeli soldier died and an officer was seriously injured overnight when their jeep detonated a bomb planted at the roadside in the town of Tamun in the north of the West Bank, the Israeli military reported on Monday. No one has yet claimed responsibility for the attack. Israeli Chief of the General Staff Herzi Halevi announced a major military operation in the area the next day. "Apart from intensive preparations for defence in the Gaza Strip, we have to be prepared for large-scale operations in Judea and Samaria to forestall the terrorists and to capture them before they reach our civilian population," Halevi said, using Israeli terms for the West Bank. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Tensions have risen in the occupied West Bank since the October 7, 2023, attacks mounted by the Palestinian militant organization Hamas from the Gaza Strip. According to the Palestinian Health Ministry, more than 800 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli military operations and in attacks by Jewish settlers. By Alvise Armellini ROME (Reuters) -Dozens of sex abuse cases committed by members of the clergy over six decades emerged on Monday from an independent report into a northern Italian diocese that dug deeper into the past than others produced by the Italian Catholic Church. While Italian bishops have been criticised for issuing reports on abuse limited to the 2020-2022 period, the diocese of Bolzano-Brixen investigated cases from 1964, the year in which it was established, through 2023. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Bolzano-Brixen belongs to the German-speaking province of South Tyrol, on the Austrian border, and has been more active on the issue than other Italian dioceses. In 2010, it was the first to open an office to handle reports of clerical sex abuse. It commissioned Monday's report from a German law firm, which produced a 631-page document based on church archives and interviews that found 67 possible abuse situations, including 53 backed by firm or plausible evidence. It linked the cases to 41 priests, equal to 4.1% of the clergy operating in the diocese over the period. One, suspected of preying on pre-teen girls from the 1960s onwards, remained unpunished until 2010, when he was forced into retirement by the local bishop. He did not face Italian criminal proceedings because of the statute of limitations, and the almost 50 years of impunity he enjoyed "reveal, in the opinion of the authors, all facets of the general systemic failure of the Church", the report said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "(We need) to take the victims seriously, to take the pain seriously, to take this terrible wound within our church and society seriously," the bishop of Bolzano-Brixen, Ivo Muser, told reporters. There were 75 alleged victims, including 51 females, 18 males and 6 whose gender remained unknown. Nearly all were minors, with 51% of females aged 8-14 when first abused, while half the males were just under the age of 18, the report said. Three male victims committed suicide "decades after the (alleged) abuses", it noted, adding that one victim had his funeral officiated by his presumed abuser, causing outrage among the faithful. The authors, pointing out that victims often wait for decades before speaking out, said their findings had probably only uncovered the tip of an iceberg, with "a high number of hidden cases", they said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The global Catholic Church has been shaken for decades by scandals involving paedophile priests and the covering up of their crimes, damaging its credibility and costing it hundreds of millions of dollars in settlements. Pope Francis has made addressing abuse by clergy a priority of his 12-year papacy, with mixed results so far. (Reporting by Alvise Armellini, editing by Gavin Jones, Jan Harvey and Bernadette Baum) By Akbar Novruz An event was held at the Consulate General of the Republic of Azerbaijan in Tabriz to commemorate the 35th anniversary of the January 20 tragedy, also known as the National Day of Mourning. The event featured the screening of a documentary film dedicated to the tragic events, a photo exhibition, and a charity dinner. The gathering was attended by Murtaza Mahammadzadeh, Deputy Governor of East Azerbaijan of Iran for Political Affairs, Turkish Consul General in Tabriz Cetin Taner, Azerbaijani citizens residing in Tabriz, their families, and Azerbaijani students from Azad Islamic University. At the beginning of the event, participants honored the memory of the martyrs of January 20 with a minute of silence. In his speech, Consul General Aliyannaghi Huseynov stated, "As National Leader Heydar Aliyev once characterized, January 20 is both a tragic, sad, and heroic, brave page in the history of the Azerbaijani people. The Great Leader said with great foresight that the further we move away from those days, the more deeply we will understand what an important place those days occupied in the history of the Azerbaijani people. However, one thing is true, the tragedy of January 20, 1990 was a turning point in the life of the Azerbaijani people." Huseynov described how, on January 20, 1990, the Azerbaijani people faced a difficult test, when Soviet military forces were deployed against unarmed protesters who had risen in opposition to the USSR leadership's biased, pro-Armenian policies. He emphasized the tragedys devastating toll, with 147 people killed, 744 injured, and 841 illegally arrested. "During those difficult days, the military opened fire on those who accidentally went out into the streets, residential buildings, ambulances, and buses, killed the wounded, and abused the corpses. As a result of military aggression, hundreds of houses and dozens of ambulances were destroyed, and a large amount of state and private property was plundered. However, they could not break the will of the Azerbaijani people with their bloody actions. Bloody January led to the further rise of the national liberation movement and, as a result, Azerbaijan regained its independence," Huseynov stated. The Consul General also noted the pivotal role of National Leader Heydar Aliyev in addressing the tragedy. "Immediately after the tragedy - on January 21, 1990, the National Leader Heydar Aliyev, together with his family members, came to the permanent representation of Azerbaijan in Moscow and shared the grief of our people, condemned the bloody crime committed by the Soviet leadership in Baku. As a result of the statement of our Great Leader regarding the January 20 events, the world learned about this terrible, particularly ruthless state terror committed by the USSR leadership against the Azerbaijani people," Huseynov said. He further recalled the political and legal assessment of the tragedy, which was made possible by Heydar Aliyevs efforts. "On the initiative of Heydar Aliyev, who returned to his homeland from Moscow in July 1990, on November 21 of that year, the Supreme Assembly of the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic adopted a document that gave the first political and legal assessment of the January 20 tragedy. This decision, which embodied the general opinion of the Azerbaijani people, went down in history as a manifestation of the determination of the Great Leader." Huseynov also reflected on the significance of the Alley of Martyrs, where the heroes of January 20 are buried. He praised it as a sacred place of oath for the Azerbaijani people, symbolizing their struggle for freedom and sovereignty. "The difficult, difficult, but honorable path that began in 1990 reached its most important peak in September 2020 with the leadership of the Victorious Supreme Commander-in-Chief Ilham Aliyev and the 44-day Victory Chronicle of our brave Army. The young people who once came to the Alley of Martyrs and visited the martyrs wrote a heroic epic themselves, ensuring the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, our independence and sovereign rights," he added. Huseynov concluded by saying, "The full restoration of the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Azerbaijan is also proof that the blood of the martyrs of January 20, and in general, of all our martyrs who sacrificed their lives for the liberation of our lands from occupation, has not been left on the ground. Therefore, our people celebrate the 35th anniversary of the January 20 tragedy with a special sense of pride. Their memory will always live in our hearts!" WASHINGTON, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump said Monday at his inauguration ceremony that he will, for the second time, pull the United States out of the Paris climate accord. ROME (AP) An Italian journalist detained in Iran whose fate became intertwined with that of an Iranian engineer wanted by the United States said she assumed she would have been held much longer, and said her boyfriend's contact with Elon Musk might have been fundamental to her release. In her first televised interview since her Jan. 8 release, Cecilia Sala referred to the three-nation negotiation that resulted in her freedom after 21 days in detention. Sala, 29, was arrested in Tehran just days after Italy detained an Iranian national, Mohammad Abedini, on a U.S. warrant and their fates became intertwined. After three weeks of negotiations that Premier Giorgia Meloni called diplomatic triangulation, Sala went home and Abedini returned to Iran. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Sala, a journalist with the Chora Media podcast platform and Il Foglio daily, said her boyfriend Daniele Ranieri had contacted Musks Italy representative, Andrea Stroppa, after noting a report that Musk had met with Irans U.N. ambassador, suggesting he had contacts with Tehran. The United States and Iran dont have diplomatic relations. You understand that its a case that concerns Iran, Italy, and the United States, so Elon Musk becomes a fundamental person, Sala said on the Sunday talk show Che Tempo Che Fa (What the Weather's Like"). The only response Daniele got from Andrea Stroppa was he is informed." After Sala was released, Musk tweeted that he played a small role in her liberation. But referring to a New York Times story about his role, Musk said he did not have any interaction with Iran. Just recommended support from the US side. While the negotiations were underway, Meloni flew to Mar-a-Lago and met with Trump. Stroppa has since tweeted a photoshopped image of Musk eating a plate of pasta, a reference to a reported promise by Sala's mother to cook Musk his favorite pasta the next time he is in Italy, to thank him for his intervention. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Sala, deprived of news from the outside world, assumed she would have been held for much longer, given other Western prisoners have been held for over a year or more. She said she also feared Trumps arrival in the White House could have meant a much longer detention, because of regional tensions between Israel and Iran. If Donald Trump had come out in the press saying publicly that he wanted particular retaliation against some Iranians, my situation could have been very complicated, she said. I was sure that I would be inside a lot more, because everybody else has been inside a lot more. Kept in solitary confinement without her glasses or contact lenses that she needs to see, Sala said she was interrogated while hooded, for up to 10 hours a day, by someone speaking perfect English and who knew a lot about Italy. She was denied an English-language Quran that she requested and said she felt reality slipping away. There were these neon lights on for 24 hours a day. You lose faith in your head when you dont talk for days. You dont trust your memory and even responding to your interrogators becomes a pretty heavy psychological game, she said. Now free, she said she has moments of euphoria tinged with bouts of anxiety that Ill learn how to manage. In an interview with theGrio, award-winning writer and author Jacqueline Woodson opens up about how artists and creators should show up today and any day after. Today is both the day set aside to honor Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.s legacy and the second presidential inauguration of Donald Trump. You can cut the tension with a knife. Theres so much going on right now, from the inauguration to Nelly performing at the inauguration to the slashing of DEI at major corporations to Big Tech cozying up to Washington to the TikTok ban to the LA wildfires to the price of eggs the list could go on. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement However, as many agonize about the uncertain future or even how to begin to approach todays dichotomy, writer, and MacArthur Genius Jacqueline Woodson is looking to the past. Nothing were living in is new, said the 61-year-old celebrated author who has been chronicling the stories of our elders alongside nine other writers through The Baldwin-Emerson Elders Project. Speaking to theGrio days before the inauguration, Woodson said, Its important to keep history in my back pocket so that I know about survival. This is a time where we have to think deep about means of survival, she continued. Whether its emotional, mental survival, or physical survival, or economic survival, artistic survival. All the ways that we have to engage in the tools that we already have. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Through The Elders Project, Woodson has documented nearly 300 different personal histories from people of color throughout the country and also nearly 300 different examples of survival. NEW YORK, NY NOVEMBER 19: Jacqueline Woodson attends 2014 National Book Awards on November 19, 2014 in New York City. (Photo by Robin Marchant/Getty Images) You have this idea that your elders are going to always be here, Woodson, who lost her mother before she had a chance to get her history, noted. Like, theres some part of your brain thats like, You know what? Ill talk to you tomorrow. Ill ask you about that tomorrow. To prevent losing any more crucial tales from generations who have lived through moments in history like The Great Migration, Woodson launched The Elders Project and has been gathering oral histories. One of Woodsons lasting takeaways from her work has been how None of [the days current events are] new. Like many people, Woodson has seen parallels between the late Octavia Butlers writings and current events, particularly that of the Los Angeles wildfires at the beginning of 2025, which similarly occurs in her famous novel Parable of the Sower. While Woodson attributes some of this forecasting to Butler potentially being a seer, she said, I also know that she had a sense of history that she was pulling from. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement According to Woodson, the past can be both instructive and comforting. For one, the writer said the past is full of hope. I think one thing that happens when you write and when you read is the fact that because youre reading it, someone has lived to tell the story, she noted. And that, in and of itself, is hopeful to me. The past isnt just full of terrifying patterns; it is also full of ways individuals or whole communities have found ways to survive and bring about progress. We just need someone to record it. Thats where Woodson says the present-day creator comes in. Whether you are a writer, journalist, visual artist, poet, thespian, musician, cook, or beyond, Woodson said, We need them all. We need their creative work, she continued. We need the person who sings well, the person who farms, the person who sews, the person who knows how to read maps. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement She added, I think our role is to step up in doing what we [do]. Woodson encourages people to look to their network for the people they already know who may have a specific skill set and come together to document and engage with the current times. We have such a rich tapestry of folks in both our inner circles and our world, the author reminded. As TikTok and social media face continued uncertainty, Woodson noted one more lesson from the past that may help us navigate the future: meeting up face-to-face. Sadly, you know, I have to say, we have to remember that social media is not going to be the answer for us, she said despite noting younger generations do seem to have a way of negotiating social media better than others. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement She added, I do think its so important that we gather [in real life], and have conversations in real life. She implored people to remember that this is how weve done it for a reason. More must-reads: Usha Chilukuri Vance, the wife of Middletown native and Vice President JD Vance, made history Monday. With her husband serving alongside President Donald Trump, Usha Vance became the first Indian American second lady in the White House. She is also the first Hindu second lady. JD Vance thanked "my beautiful wife for making it possible to do this" on social media after multiple news organizations projected that Trump had won the presidential election over Vice President Kamala Harris. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Here's what we know about JD Vance's wife. Where is Usha Vance from? The daughter of Indian immigrants, Usha Vance was born and raised in San Diego, California. Her parents moved to the United States in the late 1970s and teach engineering and molecular biology, according to Reuters. Her family, which is Hindu, is also deeply religious. In a June interview with Fox News, the vice president said his wife had helped him "re-engage" with his Christian faith. Usha Vance, wife of Vice President JD Vance, is set to become the first Indian American second lady in the White House. She worked as a litigator The 39-year-old had worked as a litigator for Munger, Tolles and Olson LLP, a national firm based in San Francisco. She chose to leave her job in the wake of her husband's vice-presidential nomination, according to a statement from the firm. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "Usha has been an excellent lawyer and colleague, and we thank her for her years of work and wish her the best in her future career," the statement said. Usha Vance and JD Vance met at law school The pair met when they were both students at Yale Law School. According to The New York Times, Usha Vance played a "quiet but significant" role in her husband's rise, helping him organize his ideas about the social decline in rural white America, which influenced the basis of his memoir, "Hillbilly Elegy." She earned degrees from both Yale and Cambridge. They got married in 2014 and share three children The couple wed in Kentucky in 2014, one year after they graduated, and were blessed by a Hindu pundit in a separate ceremony, per The New York Times. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Usha and JD Vance share three children: a 7-year-old son, Ewan, a 4-year-old son, Vivek, and a 2-year-old daughter, Mirabel. This story was updated to add a video. This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Who is JD Vance's wife? Facts about Usha Vance House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) said President-elect Trump is expected to find a way for TikToks sale to a U.S. owner. Jeffries noted in an interview on CNNs Anderson Cooper 360 Sunday that the bipartisan legislation Congress passed last year was aimed at forcing the sale of TikTok from its China-based parent company due to national security concerns. What it required was divestiture and American ownership, Jeffries said. Its my expectation that the new administration will find a way to achieve that, because, as I understand it, were in the America first era. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Cooper cut in, noting recent discussion of joint ownership. President-elect Trump said Sunday he would like the U.S. to have a 50 percent ownership position in order for the platform to remain available to American users. Well, well see what ideas actually get presented. It would have to be accomplished through legislation, Jeffries said. Ahead of Sundays deadline for the app to divest from Chinese parent company ByteDance or be banned, TikTok cut off U.S. access to the platform. A law banning TikTok has been enacted in the U.S. Unfortunately, that means you cant use TikTok for now, a message read when American users opened the app. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement However, on Sunday, TikTok said it was in the process of having U.S. service returned, only around 12 hours after it cut off access to American users. In agreement with our service providers, TikTok is in the process of restoring service, TikTok said on the social platform X. The company credited the incoming Trump administration, which is pushing for the platform to stay on app stores in the U.S. We thank President Trump for providing the necessary clarity and assurance to our service providers that they will face no penalties providing TikTok to over 170 million Americans and allowing over 7 million small businesses to thrive, TikTok said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Hill has reached out to TikTok for comment. Copyright 2025 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 The Hill. WASHINGTON With literally minutes left in his presidency, Joe Biden on Monday granted clemency to Leonard Peltier, the ailing Native American rights activist whom the U.S. government put in prison nearly 50 years ago after a trial riddled with misconduct and lies. In a statement as President-elect Donald Trumps inauguration was underway, Biden announced he is commuting the life sentence imposed on Leonard Peltier so that he serves the remainder of his sentence in home confinement. Shortly afterward, Peltier said hes ready to get back to his family. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Its finally over Im going home. he said in a statement. I want to show the world Im a good person with a good heart. I want to help the people, just like my grandmother taught me. Peltier has been in prison ever since the federal government accused him of murdering two FBI agents in a 1975 shoot-out on Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. There was never evidence that Peltier committed a crime, and the U.S. government never did figure out who shot those agents. But federal officials needed someone to take the fall. The FBI had just lost two agents, and Peltiers co-defendants were all acquitted based on self-defense. So, Peltier became their guy. His trial was rife with misconduct. The FBI threatened and coerced witnesses into lying. Federal prosecutors hid evidence that exonerated Peltier. A juror acknowledged on the second day of the trial that she had prejudice against Indians, but she was kept on anyway. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The governments case fell apart after these revelations, so it simply revised its charges against Peltier to aiding and abetting whoever did kill the agents based entirely on the fact that he was one of dozens of people present when the shoot-out took place. Peltier was convicted and sentenced to two consecutive life terms. Peltier, now 80, has maintained his innocence the entire time hes been in prison, which has almost certainly led to him being denied parole. Hes mostly blind and uses a walker to get around. Due to frequent lockdowns at his maximum security prison in Florida, hes spent most of his later years confined to inches of space in a cell. His serious health problems include diabetes, which sent him to the hospital in July with open wounds and tissue death on his toes and feet, per the Lakota Times. He was hospitalized again in October. Kevin Sharp, who served as Peltiers attorney for five years and who filed Peltiers original clemency petition in 2019 and again in 2021, hailed Bidens final act. President Biden took an enormous step toward healing and reconciliation with the Native American people in this country, Sharp said in a statement. It took nearly 50 years to acknowledge the injustice of Leonard Peltiers conviction and continued incarceration, but with the Presidents act of mercy Leonard can finally return to his reservation and live out his remaining days. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Biden had been under increasing pressure from tribal leaders, U.S. senators, members of Congress and others within his own party to release Peltier. The power to exercise mercy in this case lies solely within your discretion, and we urge you to grant Mr. Peltier clemency, allowing him to return home and live out his remaining days among his own people, dozens of Democratic lawmakers wrote to the presidentin December. Dozens of Democratic lawmakers have implored President Joe Biden to grant clemency to Native American rights activist Leonard Peltier, who has been in prison for nearly 50 years. Associated Press photos Virtually every international human rights leader in modern history, including Pope Francis and Nelson Mandela, has called for Peltiers release over the years as have some of the same people who put Peltier in prison in the first place. Former U.S. Attorney James Reynolds, who prosecuted Peltier decades ago, has since said it was a mistake, that there was never evidence to convict Peltier and has been personally urging Biden to grant him clemency. I write today from a position rare for a former prosecutor: to beseech you to commute the sentence of a man who I helped put behind bars, Reynolds wrote to Biden in 2021. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement With time, and the benefit of hindsight, I have realized that the prosecution and continued incarceration of Mr. Peltier was and is unjust, he said. We were not able to prove that Mr. Peltier personally committed any offense on the Pine Ridge Reservation. The million-dollar question has always been: Why is Peltier still in prison? The answer is because of unwavering resistance from the FBI, which decided decades ago that it would oppose Peltier ever being released. As Sharp put it in 2021, it boils down to politics. In order to get clemency, you have to get the FBI on board. They have an inherent conflict. You have to get the U.S. Attorneys Office on board. They lied to get him in prison. They have an inherent conflict, Sharp told HuffPost at the time. Theyre not going to say, Oops, sorry. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Its this holdover with the FBI, he added. Look no further than the bureaus arguments against Peltiers release, which are outdated, full of holes and remarkably easy to disprove. The FBI still hasnt publicly addressed the wider context of that 1975 shoot-out, either. The bureau itself was intentionally fueling tensions on that reservation as part of a covert campaign to suppress the activities of the American Indian Movement, a grassroots movement for Indigenous rights. Peltier was an active AIM member and an FBI target. The FBI did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Biden granting clemency to Peltier. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In its Monday statement, the White House gave several reasons why Biden decided to grant clemency to Peltier. Notably, it specifies the president did not pardon Peltier, which suggests forgiveness for a crime, but instead commuted his sentence, which carries no forgiveness. It also references Peltiers underlying crimes, which were never proven. This can certainly be read as the White House throwing a bone to the FBI. He is now 80 years old, suffers from severe health ailments, and has spent the majority of his life (nearly half a century) in prison, reads the statement. This commutation will enable Mr. Peltier to spend his remaining days in home confinement but will not pardon him for his underlying crimes. Biden has taken significant actions to strengthen Native American communities and tribes during his presidency. His decision to release Peltier which prominent Indigenous rights groups and people, including Bidens own interior secretary, Deb Haaland, have strongly advocated for caps off a legacy hes quite proud of related to righting past wrongs against Native Americans. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, a longtime supporter of clemency for Peltier, said she is beyond words at the news of Peltier finally going home. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement His release from prison signifies a measure of justice that has long evaded so many Native Americans for so many decades, Haaland said in a statement. I am grateful that Leonard can now go home to his family. I applaud President Biden for this action and understanding what this means to Indian Country. In a rare interview with HuffPost in 2022, Peltier said he knew what he would say to Biden if he had a few minutes alone with him. Im not guilty of this shooting. Im not guilty, Peltier said hed tell the president. I would like to go home to spend what years I have left with my great-grandkids and my people. The Native American elder is likely to return home to the Turtle Mountain Reservation in North Dakota, where Peltier is an enrolled citizen and where his supporters have purchased and prepared a house for him to move into. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Leonard Peltiers liberation is our liberation, said Nick Tilsen, founder and CEO of NDN Collective, an Indigenous rights group. We will honor him by bringing him back to his homelands to live out the rest of his days surrounded by loved ones, healing, and reconnecting with his land and culture. Related... President Joe Biden has issued preemptive pardons to Dr. Anthony Fauci, retired Gen. Mark Milley and members of the Jan. 6 House committee just hours before Donald Trumps inauguration. Biden made the move to guard against possible revenge from Trumps administration, according to the Associated Press. The issuance of these pardons should not be mistaken as an acknowledgment that any individual engaged in any wrongdoing, nor should acceptance be misconstrued as an admission of guilt for any offense, Biden said in a statement. Our nation owes these public servants a debt of gratitude for their tireless commitment to our country. More from Variety Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Its a bold eleventh-hour action from Biden, as clemency is typically offered to those who have already been convicted of crimes. Fauci, Milley and members of the House committee to investigate the events of Jan. 6 which includes Liz Cheney have not been formally investigated yet, but Trump has threatened to prosecute those who have not supported him once he takes office. These are exceptional circumstances, and I cannot in good conscience do nothing, Biden continued. Even when individuals have done nothing wrong and in fact have done the right thing and will ultimately be exonerated, the mere fact of being investigated or prosecuted can irreparably damage reputations and finances. Fauci, the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases who led the nations COVID-19 response, frequently butted heads with Trump during the pandemic when he refused to back his claims. Milley, the former chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, condemned the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol and has previously called Trump a fascist to the core. Cheney, though a Republican, has also been a vocal opposer of Trump, supporting his impeachment following Jan. 6 and endorsing Kamala Harris for president. Other members of the Jan. 6 committee who have been preemptively pardoned include Bennie Thompson, Zoe Lofgren, Adam Schiff, Pete Aguilar, Stephanie Murphy, Jamie Raskin, Elaine Luria, Adam Kinzinger and the U.S. Capitol and D.C. police officers who testified as witnesses. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Just minutes before Trumps inauguration began, Biden also preemptively pardoned members of his family, including his brother James Biden and his wife Sara Jones Biden, sister Valerie Biden Owens and her husband John Owens and brother Francis Biden. His son, Hunter Biden who was set to be sentenced on federal felony gun and tax convictions was pardoned in December. My family has been subjected to unrelenting attacks and threats, motivated solely by a desire to hurt me the worst kind of partisan politics. Unfortunately, I have no reason to believe these attacks will end, Biden said in a statement, adding: The issuance of these pardons should not be mistaken as an acknowledgment that they engaged in any wrongdoing, nor should acceptance be misconstrued as an admission of guilt for any offense. Best of Variety Sign up for Variety's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Joe Biden pre-emptively pardoned members of his family and a swathe of Donald Trump critics in an effort to guard against potential revenge minutes before the new presidents inauguration. In his final act in office, Mr Biden granted clemency to his brother James Biden, his sister-in-law Sara Jones Biden, his younger sister Valerie Biden Owens, her husband John T Owens, and his brother Francis W Biden. He has also pardoned Dr Anthony Fauci, Americas Covid chief, Liz Cheney, retired General Mark Milley and members of the House committee that investigated the Jan 6 attack on the Capitol. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It is customary for a president to grant clemency at the end of his term, but those acts of mercy are usually offered to everyday Americans who have been convicted of crimes. Yet, in these cases, Mr Biden used the power in the broadest and most untested way possible: to pardon those who have not even been formally accused of any crimes. The pardon issued to members of Mr Bidens family My family has been subjected to unrelenting attacks and threats, motivated solely by a desire to hurt me the worst kind of partisan politics, Mr Biden wrote, adding: Unfortunately, I have no reason to believe these attacks will end. I believe in the rule of law, and I am optimistic that the strength of our legal institutions will ultimately prevail over politics. But baseless and politically motivated investigations wreak havoc on the lives, safety, and financial security of targeted individuals and their families. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Even when individuals have done nothing wrong and will ultimately be exonerated, the mere fact of being investigated or prosecuted can irreparably damage their reputations and finances. The decision by Mr Biden comes after Mr Trump warned of an enemies list filled with those who have crossed him politically or sought to hold him accountable for his attempt to overturn his 2020 election loss and his role in the storming of the US Capitol on Jan 6 2021. Mr Trump has selected cabinet nominees who have pledged to punish those involved in efforts to investigate him. Mr Biden and Liz Cheney, who has also been pardoned over her involvement and criticism of the Capitol riots - Will Oliver/EPA The issuance of these pardons should not be mistaken as an acknowledgement that any individual engaged in any wrongdoing, nor should acceptance be misconstrued as an admission of guilt for any offence, Mr Biden said in a statement. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In December last year, Mr Biden angered Democrats and Republicans by pardoning his son. Hunter Biden, 54, was convicted in June on federal gun possession charges and was due to be sentenced on Dec 12. He was also set to be sentenced for federal tax evasion charges, for which he has pleaded guilty. But on Dec 2, the White House announced he would receive a full presidential pardon for any crimes committed over the last 10 years. The president said his son had been selectively unfairly prosecuted for political reasons. In trying to break Hunter, theyve tried to break me and theres no reason to believe it will stop here. Enough is enough. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Mr Trump has called the pre-emptive pardoning disgraceful, telling NBC News that many are guilty of major crimes. Dr Fauci said: Let me be perfectly clear: I have committed no crime - J. Scott Applewhite/AP Dr Fauci was director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health for nearly 40 years and helped co-ordinate the nations response to the Covid pandemic. But he has become a target of intense criticism from people who blame him for mask mandates and other policies they believe infringed on their rights. Responding to the pardon, Mr Fauci said: Let me be perfectly clear: I have committed no crime and there are no possible grounds for any allegation or threat of criminal investigation or prosecution of me. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement However, he added that the baseless threats he faced create immeasurable and intolerable distress for me and my family. Mr Milley is the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff who called Mr Trump a fascist and detailed Mr Trumps conduct around the Jan 6 insurrection to the investigating committee. Mr Milley called Mr Trump a fascist - Susan Walsh/AP Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Mr Biden is also extending pardons to members and staff of that Jan 6 committee, including Ms Cheney and Adam Kinzinger, both Republicans, as well as the US Capitol and DC Metropolitan police officers who testified before the committee. Mr Kinzinger, who served on the Jan 6 committee, earlier this month said he did not want a pardon as it looks like you are guilty of something. I am guilty of nothing besides bringing the truth to the American people and, in the process, embarrassing Donald Trump. This is not the first time a president has issued a pre-emptive pardon. Gerald Ford issued Richard Nixon a full and unconditional pardon in 1974, despite the former president having not yet been charged with any crimes. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The pardon covered Mr Nixons actions during the Watergate scandal. The presidential pardon provides immunity for federal crimes but does not cover state laws. The pardon is traditionally understood to extend to criminal offences, not civil lawsuits, meaning that the Trump administration could still target his foes with non-criminal investigations such as IRS income tax audits. Mr Biden has promised a smooth transition to the next administration, inviting Mr Trump to the White House and saying that the nation would be OK, even as he warned during his farewell address of a growing oligarchy. He has spent years warning that Mr Trumps ascension to the presidency again would be a threat to democracy. His decision to break with political norms with the pre-emptive pardons was apparently brought on by those concerns. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Mr Biden has set the presidential record for the most individual pardons and commutations issued. He announced only last week that he would be commuting the sentences of almost 2,500 people convicted of non-violent drug offences. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. Joyce Piven, the co-founder of a highly influential acting studio in Evanston and the mother of well-known actors Jeremy and Shira Piven, died Sunday at the age of 94. Her death was announced on social media Sunday by Jeremy Piven, a familiar TV star from his years on the HBO series Entourage. Joyce Piven had been in declining health for some months; Jeremy said his mother had been graceful until her last breath. Along with her late husband, Byrne Piven, Joyce founded the Piven Theatre Workshop, a studio that trained the likes of John and Joan Cusack, Aidan Quinn, Lili Taylor and the Piven children. She also was an early member of the Playwrights Theatre Club, which started in Chicago in 1953 after being founded by David Shepherd, Paul Sills and Eugene Troobnick. That company, which also counted Mike Nichols and Elaine May among its members, became the Compass Players, which in turn led to Second City, SCTV and NBCs Saturday Night Live. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But along with her successful children, most of Pivens influence came from the young people who attended her North Shore acting school, as well as the adult productions it produced across multiple decades at the humble Noyes Cultural Arts Center in Evanston. The company was an early backer of the plays of Sarah Ruhl and was also influential in the career of such Chicago theater talents as Jessica Thebus, Joanne Underwood, Bernard Beck, Etel Billig, Cheryl Graeff, Jeff Still and Polly Noonan, among many others. Piven was strong-willed and intimidating, but also a disarmingly charming figure, in the style of a classic throwback to New Yorks Uta Hagen or Cheryl Crawford, and an old-school thespian who often felt that Evanston had not afforded her company the respect it deserved. In 2013, she was stung when some Evanstonians spoke out against Pivens desire to expand its footprint at the Noyes Center. But she persisted over the years, directing, among many other memorable productions, Anton Chekhovs Three Sisters in bracing fashion in 2001, clearly connecting the piece to her own fascination with American realism. The following year, Joyce Piven directed David Mamets Speed-the-Plow despite the death from lung cancer of Byrne Piven, her husband and her creative partner, and the star of Pivens King Lear. Joyce Piven was born Joyce Goldstein in February 1930. She met her husband at Playwrights. I was a young actress playing a very old woman in the play Woyzeck, she told the Tribune in 2002, and Byrne started to help me put on my makeup. Well, that was it. He was so intense, so passionate. We fell in love. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement After marrying in 1954, the Pivens left Chicago in 1955 for New York, but they returned to the city in 1967 to work for what was then known as the Second City Repertory company at the Harper Theater in Hyde Park. They started their own enterprise in the Evanston Art Center in 1971 but soon moved their acting shop to the Noyes Center. In 1996, the Pivens were jointly named the Tribunes Chicagoans of the Year in the theater; the late critic Richard Christiansen described their school and company as wedding the old tradition of improvisational theater with the Pivens unique mom-and-pop tradition of dedicated teaching. Byrne and I always lived so completely in the theater world, Joyce Piven told the Tribune in the spring of 2002, explaining that it was common for the couple to use their own living room furniture in their shows. Byrnes there in the theater, she said of her rehearsals. Its really been a beautiful experience. Chris Jones is a Tribune critic. cjones5@chicagotribune.com TRIPOLI, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- Stephanie Koury, UN deputy special representative for Libya, on Monday met with Speaker of the Eastern-based House of Representatives Aguila Saleh, where they emphasized the importance of a comprehensive process leading to holding elections in the country. "We emphasized the importance of a comprehensive process paving the way to national elections and establishing unified, strong, and legitimate institutions, including one government able to govern across the country and serve all Libyans," Koury posted on social media platform X. The two officials also reviewed the human rights situation, highlighting the critical need for the rule of law and accountability. Koury expressed appreciation to Speaker Saleh for his commitment to collaborating with the United Nations Support Mission in Libya on a "consensual, rights-based, and victim-centered national reconciliation law." Libya failed to hold general elections in December 2021 as previously scheduled, due to disagreements among the Libyan parties over election laws. The North African nation is politically divided currently between Eastern and Western governments. Ever since the fall of late leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, Libya has been struggling to make a democratic transition amid escalating violence and unrest. PORTSMOUTH, Va. (WAVY) On Jan. 16, the Justice Department filed a nationwide lawsuit accusing Walgreens of knowingly and unlawfully filling prescriptions that didnt follow protocol. The complaint alleges that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Walgreen Co. and various subsidiaries filled millions of prescriptions that were in violation of the Controlled Substances Act. The company then had various health care programs reimburse them in violation the False Claims Act. Walgreens has more than 8,000 pharmacies across the country. The Justice Department has prioritized both combating the opioid crisis and upholding corporate accountability, and the action we are announcing today affirms our resolve, said First Assistant U.S. Attorney Maya D. Song for the Eastern District of Virginia. My office is pleased to partner with our colleagues from across the nation to confront these issues and deter pharmacies and pharmacists from failing to honor their obligation to ensure that these dangerous drugs are only provided to those with a true medical need. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The complaint further alleges that Walgreens pressured its pharmacists to fill prescriptions without confirming whether or not they were valid. Walgreens also allegedly deprived its pharmacists of crucial information, including by preventing pharmacists from warning one another about certain prescribers, a release states. Walgreenss actions allegedly helped to fuel the prescription opioid crisis and that some patients died after overdosing on opioids shortly after filling unlawful prescriptions at Walgreens. If Walgreens is found liable, it could face civil penalties of up to $80,850 for each unlawful prescription filled in violation of the CSA and treble damages and applicable penalties for each prescription paid by federal programs in violation of the FCA. The court also may award injunctive relief to prevent Walgreens from committing further CSA violations. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Four different whistleblowers who previously worked for Walgreens in various parts of the country reported the incidents to the FCA. Copyright 2025 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. Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) reaffirmed his pressure on President-elect Trumps Department of Defense nominee Pete Hegseth and said he asked tough questions last week because his Republican colleagues needed to hear the answers. Kaine joined CBSs Face the Nation on Sunday, where he was asked about his repeated questioning of Hegseths sexual encounter with a woman, infidelity and reports of public drunkenness. I believe he would be a very dangerous secretary of Defense, and so my observation of my Republican colleagues is the only reason they ever vote no on a nominee is either a belief of gross incompetence in terms of qualifications or serious character deficit, Kaine said, pointing to former Rep. Matt Gaetzs (R-Fla.) withdrawing from consideration for the position of attorney general. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Kaine pressed Hegseth hard in the hearing, asking if he had taken an oath in marriage to remain faithful, just as he would take an oath to uphold the Constitution if confirmed to the position. The senator asked Hegseth if he had ever committed an act of violence against a spouse. Hegseth said absolutely not. On Sunday, Kaine acknowledged Democrats minority in the senate and how Trumps nominees dont need their votes. Instead, his sharp line of questioning was intended to shape and change the minds of Republicans. I believe my questions about Pete Hegseth, about his serial infidelity, about the allegation of sexual assault that he refused to disclose to President-elect Trump and the transition team, and his own mothers allegation that hes a serial abuser of women, I think those are the kinds of things that might affect how Republicans view this, if not in the committee, possibly on the floor, Kaine said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Kaine said it was so unusual that Hegseth refused to meet with any Democratic senators ahead of his hearing. He noted that other Trump nominees, like Robert F. Kennedy Jr., have been in various meetings to show Democrats more of who they are and why they are qualified for the job. When he refused to meet with us and you only have seven minutes, we divided up topics, Kaine said. I asked him about what I consider to be glaring faults of character. I think overall, in the hearing, we put a lot of material on the table for folks to consider, he said. Copyright 2025 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 The Hill. Beryl New, a Kansas State Board of Education member and a Kansas African American Affairs commissioner, sings the Black national anthem "Lift Every Voice and Sing," at a Martin Luther King, Jr. Day celebration on Jan. 16, 2025, at the Kansas Statehouse in Topeka. (Anna Kaminski/Kansas Reflector) TOPEKA Celebration of Martin Luther King Jr. Day came early in Kansas, beginning on his birthday with a march, a formal proclamation and words honoring the beloved civil rights figure. The Jan. 16 event, put on annually by the Kansas African American Affairs Commission, was an occasion to highlight Kings accomplishments as a young man and his vision for economic justice. A wintery march around the Statehouse was followed by song, prayer and speeches in Kings honor. The events keynote speaker, Donna Rae Pearson, finished her remarks with a challenge to carry on Kings legacy not just as a memory but as a living mission to boldly move forward from commemoration to action, knowing that Dr. Kings dream will continue to guide and inspire us. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Gov. Laura Kelly, in her speech, drew a connection between Pearsons words and her own the night before at the State of the State address. That we have to think about the future. That we have to think about those who come after us, and we have to fight for them now, she said Friday. King was 26 years old when he was recruited to lead the Montgomery bus boycott in 1955. He was 39 years old when he was assassinated in 1968. In a podcast interview with Kansas Reflector, Mark McCormick, an author and journalist who has written columns for Kansas Reflector, pointed to concentrated wealth, class inequality and dispassion as real challenges facing American society. Were in the middle of a crisis of empathy, McCormick said. We just dont have empathy for other people. In fact, what we like to do is we like to blame people for the position that theyre in, while at the same time ignoring the systems that organize our society, and this was a society organized by race and privilege. KANSAS CITY, Mo. A Kansas City man who once faced murder charges in connection to an August 2020 drug deal gone bad, was sentenced to five years of probation last Thursday after pleading guilty to a drug charge in 2022. Woman charged with murder in connection to suspected drunk driving crash According to Jackson County court records, Aaron Michael Hays pleaded guilty to one count of Delivery of a Controlled Substance Except for 35 Grams or Less of Marijuana or Synthetic Cannabinoid after he was involved in a drug deal that ended with 19-year-old Lucas Jester being shot and killed. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Originally, Hays was facing second-degree murder charges for Jesters death, but the charge was dismissed in 2022. Initial reports of the incident said that on Aug. 10, 2020, officers with the Raytown Police Department were called to the area of Lane Avenue and Lane Drive on reports of a shooting. Upon arrival, police found Jester suffering from a gunshot wound. Raytown police said a witness had admitted to being with Jester when he was shot and killed and called the shooting a drug deal gone bad, court documents reported. Kansas City police share more details in crash outside of Arrowhead on Saturday Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Court records also said that video surveillance footage allegedly showed Hays in the passenger seat of Jesters car that evening. The case was prosecuted by Jackson County Prosecuting Attorney Hallie Schuman and defended by Defense Attorney David Bell. Copyright 2025 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 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV | News, Weather, Sports. KANSAS CITY, Mo. Police have released more information regarding the crash outside of Arrowhead Stadium Saturday night after the Chiefs vs Texans game. According to KCPD, at about 7 p.m., a man driving an SUV was leaving his parking space, when he had a medical emergency causing him to lose consciousness. Police told FOX4 that the man had a heart attack. When he lost consciousness, he crashed into two unoccupied pickup trucks. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Four bystanders suffered minor to moderate injuries and refused medical treatment at the scene. The passenger of the SUV was able to shut down the vehicle. The driver was taken to a hospital where he remains critical but stable. This is an ongoing story, FOX4 will provide updates as theyre made available. Copyright 2025 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 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV | News, Weather, Sports. WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) Kansas lawmakers congratulated President Trump following his inauguration. I congratulate President Trump on his inauguration and hope for a smooth transition today, says Governor Laura Kelly in a news release from her office. I look forward to working with his administration and making sure the voices of Kansans are heard in Washington, D.C. Congressman Tracy Mann posted to Facebook, Congratulations President Donald J. Trump on your swearing in as the 47th President of the United States. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Representative Sharice Davids issued a statement following the inauguration: Kansans know I will work with anyone when its good for our state, and that includes the newly inaugurated President Trump. While Ive often disagreed with him, weve found common ground when it benefits local communities, and Im confident that will continue. At the same time, I wont hesitate to stand up to extreme policies that harm hard-working families, from attacks on reproductive rights to threats to Social Security and affordable health care. My focus is on uniting across party lines and making lives better for Kansas families by driving down costs and creating good-paying jobs. Senator Roger Marshall took to X, formerly Twitter, to issue his statement: Congratulations to Donald J. Trump on being sworn in today as the 47th President of the United States. It is a new day in America filled with hope and patriotism! Together we are going to get this country back on track again, we will secure our border, support our farmers, bring back peace through strength, bolster our economy, restore law and order, and much much more. Lets make America great again, Mr. President. Welcome back! Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Senator Jerry Moran posted a photo to X as President Trump took the oath of office with the caption, The 47th President of the United States! He later posted: Every four years, we as Americans have the privilege of witnessing the inauguration of the President of the United States a symbol of our democracy. Today, I attended President Donald Trumps inauguration as the 47th President of the United States of America. President Trump stated his mission of bringing peace and stability to the United States by securing our southern border, restoring law and order in our cities and deterring threats from abroad. I applaud President Trumps commitment to protecting our nation and governing with common sense. I look forward to working with President Trump and my colleagues in the Senate to work to improve the lives of Kansans and Americans and help our country flourish. Representative Ron Estes posted: Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Today marks a new day in America. Im eager to get to work with newly inaugurated President Trump to grow our economy and reduce inflation, secure the border and make America respected again, restore our energy dominance, rein in spending, and support farmers and ranchers. Newly-elected Congressman Derek Schmidt gave his congratulations: I felt genuine relief to witness this moment at noon today. We made it. God bless America! Copyright 2025 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. The Kate Middleton effect could soon take on an even more official feel. The effect has seen brands associated with Kate as far back as 2010 experience a massive uptick in sales. The phenomenon first began when the blue Issa wrap dress Kate wore to announce her engagement to Prince William on Nov. 16, 2010 sold out, and has continued to the present day. Now, The Times recently reported, the Princess of Wales, 43, could put her power behind royal warrants, the official seal of approval given by senior members of the royal family to British brands they support. Chris Jackson/Getty Catherine, Princess of Wales during a visit to The Royal Marsden Hospital on Jan. 14, 2025 in London, England Catherine, Princess of Wales during a visit to The Royal Marsden Hospital on Jan. 14, 2025 in London, England The Times reported that no Princess of Wales has given a royal warrant since 1910, including Kate herself, who was given the title in September 2022 after the death of Queen Elizabeth. The last Princess of Wales to issue a royal warrant was the future Queen Mary, who issued them before her husband, George V, took the throne in 1910 115 years ago. Though King Charles issued warrants as Prince of Wales in 1980, after he married the next year, his wife Princess Diana who became Princess of Wales upon her marriage never issued a royal warrant of her own. Tim Rooke/REX/Shutterstock Princess Diana visiting Chicago in June 1996 Though there is no set timeline for when both the Prince and Princess of Wales will grant royal warrants, The Times reported that sources close to Kate said it was her hope that it would happen soon: Shes keen to recognize British skills and industry, according to the outlet. Jordan Peck/Getty Prince George of Wales, Princess Catherine, Princess of Wales and Princess Charlotte of Wales attend the 2024 Christmas Morning Service at St Mary Magdalene Church on Dec. 25, 2024 in Sandringham, Norfolk Prince George of Wales, Princess Catherine, Princess of Wales and Princess Charlotte of Wales attend the 2024 Christmas Morning Service at St Mary Magdalene Church on Dec. 25, 2024 in Sandringham, Norfolk Related: Queen Camilla Grants Bee Venom Facialist, Wedding Dress Designer and Hairdresser of 30 Years Prestigious Royal Warrants Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Royal warrants are issued for up to five years and are given to companies whose goods are sold to the royal household. These companies become members of the Royal Warrant Holders Association and are thereby able to use the royal arms in connection with their work. Last month, Queen Camilla granted her facialist, wedding dress designer and hairdresser of 30 years royal warrants, for example. Weve seen the Princess of Wales have a huge impact on brands, often referred to as the Kate effect, Nicola Pink, founder of the public relations and marketing firm We Are Pink, told The Times. What makes it so powerful is that it has always felt genuine she chooses brands she truly likes or wants to support. Shi Tang/Getty Catherine, Princess of Wales waves to fans during day fourteen of The Championships Wimbledon 2024 at All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club on July 14, 2024 in London, England Catherine, Princess of Wales waves to fans during day fourteen of The Championships Wimbledon 2024 at All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club on July 14, 2024 in London, England Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Case in point? Catherine Zoraida, a British jewelry designer whose earrings have been worn by Princess Kate on numerous occasions. She told The Times Kates effect on her brand had been crazy, adding that Its something like a 500% lift in sales whenever she is seen in a pair of earrings. The decision, ultimately, will be up to King Charles, as the reigning monarch decides who from the royal family can grant warrants. An official royal seal of approval would only serve to further enhance sales for any British company formally associated with the future Queen, The Times reported. Chris Jackson/Getty Catherine, Princess of Wales during a visit to The Royal Marsden Hospital on Jan. 14, 2025 in London, England Catherine, Princess of Wales during a visit to The Royal Marsden Hospital on Jan. 14, 2025 in London, England Related: Kate Middleton Reveals She Is in 'Remission' from Cancer: 'It Is a Relief' Can't get enough of PEOPLE's Royals coverage? Sign up for our free Royals newsletter to get the latest updates on Kate Middleton, Meghan Markle and more! As Kate continues her gradual return to work following a tumultuous 2024, news from 2025 is already off to a good start after a surprise visit to The Royal Marsden Hospital, where Kate herself received cancer treatment last year, on Jan. 14 the Princess of Wales announced her cancer was in remission and that it was a relief: I am, however, looking forward to a fulfilling year ahead, Kate wrote. There is much to look forward to. Read the original article on People Kate Middleton made a discreet but chic nod to Princess Diana on her first solo engagement of the year. While visiting the Royal Marsden Hospital in London on Jan. 14, Kate wore her go-to color of the moment, an all-burgundy outfit, to chat with cancer patients and meet some of the staff at the hospital where she herself received treatment last year for cancer. Wearing a burgundy tartan coat from Blaze Milano over a burgundy skirt by Edeline Lee and a matching turtleneck cashmere sweater by Kiltane, the look was accessorized with a burgundy top handle bag by Asprey. The Princess of Wales' new earrings almost went unnoticed underneath her signature long hair and it seems they are a sartorial nod to her late mother-in-law. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement After taking a closer look, it would seem that Kate, 43, was wearing a new pair of hoop earrings that not only complimented the understated luxury look but were also a nod to the late Princess Diana. The chic earrings are part of Cartiers iconic Trinity range, of which Diana was also a fan. Related: Why Kate Middleton Didn't Wear a Signature Accessory at Her Royal Marsden Hospital Visit Tim Graham Photo Library via Getty Princess Diana wearing the Cartier Trinity ring at her home in Kensington Palace Princess Diana wearing the Cartier Trinity ring at her home in Kensington Palace Its not the first time Kate has worn pieces from the much-loved range, which features intertwined bands in 18-karat white, yellow and rose gold. In March 2017 Kate, who was then Duchess of Cambridge, wore an understated necklace from the Trinity collection on a royal engagement in Paris. Five years prior, she wore a more lavish necklace set with diamonds and featuring a long gold chain to visit an Olympics exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery in 2012. Kate wore the matching earrings in 2014 to attend a banquet at Kensington Palace to mark SportsAids 40th anniversary. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Diana was also a huge fan of Cartier, in particular the brands watches, but the former Princess of Wales also wore the Trinity ring (much like Grace Kelly did) on her little finger and sales rocketed after she started to wear it regularly. Thought to symbolize love, fidelity and friendship, the collection celebrated its 100th anniversary last year with a star-studded campaign. Chris Jackson/Getty Catherine, Princess of Wales during a visit to The Royal Marsden Hospital on Jan. 14, 2025 in London, England Catherine, Princess of Wales during a visit to The Royal Marsden Hospital on Jan. 14, 2025 in London, England On Jan. 14, Kate made an emotional visit to the Royal Marsden Hospital, where she had received treatment privately last year for an undisclosed form of cancer. During the visit, the comparisons to Princess Diana werent only style-related. I watched her talking to other patients, and shes amazing, patient Angela Terry, 71, told PEOPLE after she chatted with the royal. She has this gentle eye contact as she talks," Terry added. "She reaches out and maybe touches their shoulder or holds their hand, and her smile is always there. The level of connection she makes with each and every person she meets is phenomenal. Can't get enough of PEOPLE's Royals coverage? Sign up for our free Royals newsletter to get the latest updates on Kate Middleton, Meghan Markle and more! Related: Why a Cancer Patient Who Met Kate Middleton Says, 'We Don't Need to Know What Cancer She Had' (Exclusive) Terry Fincher/Princess Diana Archive/Getty Images Diana, Princess of Wales lays a ceremonial foundation stone at the Royal Marsden Hospital in London on June 6, 1990, wearing a suit by Paul Costelloe and a hard hat Diana, famous for her empathetic bedside manner, was also a former president of the Royal Marsden, and during her time as a member of the royal family she became known for her empathy and care to those who were sick or vulnerable. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement After Kate announced her cancer diagnosis in March of last year, she later said in September that The last nine months have been incredibly tough for us as a family. Life as you know it can change in an instant, and we have to find a way to navigate the stormy waters and road unknown. After the royal took time to speak to so many patients last week, Terry said she was so impressed by Kate's poise and elegance and her ability to engage with and support others: She was so open," Terry said. "She had this Were in this together approach, so I think people felt they were able to say all sorts of things, it was really heart-warming to watch. Read the original article on People KETTERING, Ohio (WDTN) The Kettering Police Department has identified an unknown individual. KPD was asking the public for assistance in naming the person reportedly wanted by the department. That person was reportedly identified, according to the department. Authorities thank the public for its assistance. Copyright 2025 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 WDTN.com. President-elect Donald Trump took a victory lap on Sunday night, telling his supporters at a campaign-style rally that his first day in office will come with a flurry of executive actions to fulfill his 2024 campaign promises. Trump also vowed quick action to restore TikTok and to release long-classified files on high-profile assassinations in the 1960s. And he implied he would pardon supporters who rioted at the US Capitol four years ago as he tried to overturn the results of the 2020 election. The president-elects comments came at the Capital One Arena in Washington, where supporters and incoming administration officials gathered for a final celebration of his win over Vice President Kamala Harris before Trump is sworn in at noon Monday. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Here are the key lines from Trumps speech: Its all going to be released Trump pledged to release all the classified records connected to the assassinations of former President John F. Kennedy, his brother Robert F. Kennedy and the civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., as well as other topics of great public interest. Its all going to be released, he told supporters. Despite previous pledges from presidents, including Trump, to release those records, the CIA, Pentagon and State Department all still have documents theyve refused to release. The justification for those documents remaining classified largely stems from efforts to protect the identities of confidential sources who are still alive, or might be alive, and protecting methods. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement When Trump was president, he agreed at the time not to release the full tranche of records related to Kennedys assassination at the request of national security agencies. But Trump on the campaign trail said he would release the remaining documents. Robert F. Kennedys son Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is Trumps pick to run the US Department of Health and Human Services. TikTok is back Trump took credit for TikTok coming back online hours after the app shut itself down in response to a new law banning it in the US. As of today, TikTok is back, Trump said, as he bragged about how many of his young supporters used the app owned by a Chinese company. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Hours after Trump said Sunday he would issue an executive order following his inauguration to delay enforcement of the divest-or-ban law, TikToks app and webpage began to return for US users. TikTok credited Trump for its return. We won on TikTok, and Republicans have never won the young vote, the youth vote, Trump said, adding, So I like TikTok. (Harris won 18-29-year-old voters last year 54% to 34%, according to CNN exit polls.) Fun watching television tomorrow Trump previewed an aggressive push to implement executive actions on his first day in office, telling the crowd hed rebuffed advisers who urged him to space out signing them over a period of weeks, rather than immediately after his inauguration. Somebody said yesterday, Sir, dont sign so many (executive actions) in one day; lets do it over a period of weeks. I said, Like hell were going to do it over weeks, were going to sign them at the beginning, Trump said. Well have plenty to sign in the future, dont worry about it. Its not going to stop. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trump is planning to issue dozens of executive actions more than 100 just on Day 1, at least in his own telling in his first week in office, sources familiar with his plans told CNN, including those aimed at ramping up US energy production, tightening border security, reeling in regulations and other top policy priorities. Every radical and foolish executive order of the Biden administration will be repealed within hours of when I take the oath of office, Trump told the crowd at Capital One Arena. Youre going to have a lot of fun watching television tomorrow. We achieved an epic ceasefire agreement Though President Joe Biden is still in office, Trump claimed credit for a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas to free Israeli hostages, claiming that this agreement could only have happened as a result of our historic victory in November. Three freed Israeli hostages, the first of 33 to be released by Hamas and its allies over the next six weeks, have already been released. In exchange, 90 Palestinian prisoners and detainees were released, according to the Israel Prison Service. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Our incoming administration has achieved all of this in the Middle East in less than three months. Without being president, weve achieved more than theyve achieved in four years with being president, Trump said. Trump credited his incoming Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff. The cooperation between Trump and Bidens teams in negotiating the deal was almost unprecedented, a senior Biden administration official said after the deal was clinched, made possible by a rare intersection of interests between bitter rivals who both saw an opening following Trumps victory. We will rebuild Los Angeles Trump said he will visit California on Friday to survey the damage caused by devastating wildfires that have killed at least 27 people. He also said the city will be rebuilt ahead of the 2028 Olympics, which are set to take place there. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Together we will rebuild Los Angeles better, more beautiful than ever before. Were going to get it going, Trump said. We have the best builders in the world. Its the only people that could do it. Nobody else knows what the hell theyre doing. And in 2028, the Los Angeles Olympics will be one of the great sporting events and patriotic celebrations in history. Trump has frequently criticized Californias Democratic officials, including Gov. Gavin Newsom, and previously said he has not spoken to the governor since the outbreak of the fires. But on Sunday, he sent he wanted to send our love to everyone affected by the terrible wildfires raging in California. Were praying for you all. We love you all. Were going to be there very soon, he said. Im going to go out there on Friday to see it and to get it moving back. Very happy with my decision on Capitol rioters Trump did not explicitly say what he will do with his supporters who were convicted for their role in the January 6, 2021, attack at the US Capitol. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But he implied as he did many times on the campaign trail that he will pardon many or most of those rioters. And, as he has in the past, Trump referred to them as hostages. Tomorrow everybody in this very large arena will be very happy with my decision on the J6 hostages, Trump said. The president-elect and his team have drafted a slate of pardons for people convicted to be issued on Day 1, shortly after Trump is sworn in as president, two sources familiar with the plans told CNN earlier Sunday. The extent of the initial pardons is still unclear; however, one of the sources described them as enough to be seen as delivering on his long-held promise. One of the big questions has been whether hed issue pardons for some of the roughly 174 defendants charged with using a deadly or dangerous weapon against police officers. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Over the last four years, nearly 1,600 Capitol rioters have been charged and about 1,270 convicted with some being sentenced as recently as last week. Prosecutors and judges, though, have anticipated the pardons Trump has repeatedly previewed. Judge Tanya Chutkan, who presided over the president-elects now-dismissed criminal case stemming from his role in January 6, told a defendant who pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge on Friday: Im fully aware you may never serve a sentence in this case. We have to be protective of our geniuses Trumps coziness with tech businesses, and particularly billionaire Elon Musk, was on display Sunday when he invited Musk and his son onstage to speak. Musk who has spent much of the post-election period with Trump at Mar-a-Lago is set to lead a new Department of Government Efficiency, which will recommend ways to cut government spending. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trump praised Musks work with Tesla and SpaceX. I always say we have to be protective of our geniuses because we dont have too many. But that one is a good one, he said. Trump also said hed spoken to Apple CEO Tim Cook, and that the iPhone manufacturer would be making a large investment in the United States. CNN has reached out to Apple. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com DOHA, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- Qatar initiated a land bridge to supply the Gaza Strip with 12.5 million liters of fuel during the first 10 days of the ceasefire agreement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement Monday. A total of 25 trucks carrying Qatar-funded fuel, meant to provide electricity for hospitals, displacement shelters, and other essential services, entered the Gaza Strip through the border crossing of Kerem Shalom in southern Gaza, the ministry said, adding 1.25 million liters of fuel will be delivered daily to the enclave during the period. Speaking to the Qatar News Agency, Minister of State for International Cooperation Maryam bint Ali bin Nasser Al Misnad said the move reflects Qatar's steadfast commitment to alleviating the suffering of Palestinians. Al Misnad stressed the need for intensified regional and international collaboration to deliver humanitarian aid to civilians in Gaza, reiterating Qatar's readiness to work with global partners to ensure the consistent flow of aid into the Strip. On Sunday, Qatari Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani met here with a delegation from Palestinian factions to discuss the latest developments in the Gaza ceasefire agreement, which was reached Wednesday through the mediation of Egypt, Qatar, and the United States, and took effect on Sunday. Rapper Kid Rock who performed at Donald Trumps celebratory Make America Great Again Victory Rally on Sunday ahead of his inauguration on Monday has revealed details of a surprise phone call he had with the president-elect on Friday. Trump will become the first president since Grover Cleveland to enter the White House for a non-consecutive second term, with the ceremony driven indoors for the first time since Ronald Reagans second inauguration in 1985 by the punishing sub-zero temperatures currently blasting Washington DC. The incoming 47th president warmed up for the swearing-in with a rally-style gathering at DCs Capital One Arena, at which Rock, Billy Ray Cyrus and The Village People were among the musical guests. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trailing his appearance beforehand on Fox Newss Fox and Friends Weekend on Sunday, Rock (real name Robert Ritchie) revealed he had a surprising call with the president-elect late last week. Friday morning I got a call from the president and Melania [Trump] and it was kind of mind-blowing, Ive tried to leave him alone, hes got a lot on his plate, I would think, right now, he told the morning shows hosts Steve Doocy, Brian Kilmeade, Ainsley Earhardt and Lawrence Jones. He called and he goes, Did the Secret Service really tell you that you cant use strippers? Rock said, alluding to a comment he had made earlier in the week about his upcoming performance. No, sir, I was just joking around, he recalled answering Trump. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Ah, thats funny, the new commander-in-chief replied, according to the rapper. Kid Rock also claimed Trump had consulted him on whether or not to move Mondays ceremony indoors in light of the extreme weather hitting DC. Let me ask you a question, he said Trump had said to him. Kid Rock is interviewed on Fox and Friends Weekend on January 19 2025 (Fox News/X) People could really have a bad experience, maybe some people could get hurt, our first responders what do you think about me moving the inauguration indoors? Im like uhhhhh, Rock said, pointing at himself and recalling his reaction of confusion and panic as the hosts laughed. The decision to shift the ceremony into the Capitol rotunda prompted a hectic last minute rejigging of security arrangements, making it all the more surprising, if true, that the president-elect would take soundings from Rock, a performer known for such tracks as American Bad Ass, You Never Met A Motherf***er Quite Like Me and Redneck Paradise but hardly qualified to advise on the subject. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Rock was last on Fox late last week to mock former first lady Michelle Obama for snubbing Trumps ceremony, telling host Jesse Watters: She seems a little angry. He added: I would kindly remind her that years back when [Barack] Obama was first elected, I did not vote for him. But they asked me to play the inauguration. And I played it and I went. I had a good time. I went out of respect for the president so I would kindly remind Michelle about that. "Hearst Magazines and Yahoo may earn commission or revenue on some items through these links." During his lifetime, King Charles has met nine U.S. presidents, and now, a second president will take office during his reign. King Charles sent Donald Trump a personal message ahead of his inauguration earlier today,T&C understands. The message reflected on the enduring relationship between the United Kingdom and the United States. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The two men have met before; during President Trump's State Visit to the UK in 2019, then-Prince Charles hosted the Trumps for tea at Clarence House and joined them on numerous events. In her memoirMelania, Melania Trump revealed that they are pen pals with King Charles. Our friendship with the Royal Family continues, and we exchange letters with King Charles to this day, she wrote. Recently, Prince William met with Trump in Paris, following the reopening of the Notre Dame Cathedral. I had a great talk with the Prince, Trump said after their 40-minute meeting I asked him about his wife and he said shes doing well. And I asked him about his father and his father is fighting very hard, and he loves his father and he loves his wife, so it was sad. At the state funeral of former president Jimmy Carter, Prince Edward attended on behalf of King Charles. Though Trump also attended the funeral, the two men did not appear to interact. You Might Also Like Do you know Martin Luther King Jr.s legacy in Charlotte? CHARLOTTE (QUEEN CITY NEWS) Monday is a federal holiday in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The American minister and civil rights leader passed away in 1968, but his life and legacy still live on. While his work made waves globally, his work here in the Queen City is lesser known but not to be overlooked. Lets start from the beginning. There is no clear record of when King may have first set foot in Charlotte. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement However, images on record do reveal that King was seen at Douglas Municipal Airport in 1954. Heres where you can celebrate MLK Day across the Charlotte-area In that image, King was seen meeting with the president of the North Carolina National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, Kelly Alexander Senior. Alexander was then a prominent figure in Charlotte. His father owned and operated the only black funeral home in the city. Lets jump ahead to 1960. It was on September 25th of that year when King delivered a speech to nearly 2,700 people at Charlotte Park Center. That park was renamed in 1987 to what is now known as the Grady Cole Center on the campus of Central Piedmont Community College in Charlotte. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The speech King gave there was an early iteration of the famous I Have a Dream speech. Two years later, in 1962, there would be another Charlotte connection for Doctor Kingalthough it wouldnt happen in the Queen City. As rumor has it, thats when Charlotte preacher Billy Graham, a friend of King, discreetly bailed him out of jail in Albany, Georgia. King got out of jail in Albany only to find himself back in jail in Birminghamwhere his famed letter from a Birmingham jail was written. FILE The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., right, accompanied by Rev. Ralph D. Abernathy, center, is booked by city police Lt. D.H. Lackey in Montgomery, Ala., on Feb. 23, 1956. The quest by a civil rights pioneer to have her arrest record wiped clean after nearly 70 years after she protested racial segregation has raised the possibility of similar bids to clear the names of Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King Jr., whose convictions remain on the books in Alabamas capital. (AP Photo/Gene Herrick, File) The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., center, appears at noon recess on the first day of trials in the Montgomery, Ala. racial bus boycott, March 19, 1956. (AP Photo/Gene Herrick) FILE _The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. is welcomed with a kiss by his wife Coretta Scott King after leaving court in Montgomery, Ala., in a file photo from March 22, 1956. The two were married at a now-vacant house near Marion, Ala., three years earlier. (AP Photo/Gene Herrick, File) This is how the morning newspapers in London headlined the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, April 5, 1968. (AP Photo) Then a month later, hed be back in the Queen City to speak at a convocation for Charlottes black high schools. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Not too long after that, hed give a speech in Rocky Mount, North Carolinain November of 1962. If it sounds familiar, it should. The very next year, Doctor King would give his famous I Have a Dream speech in Washington, DC, in 1963. Roughly three years later, hed be back in Charlotte. Thats when hed speak at Johnson C. Smith University. He addressed nearly 5,000 people on September 21stamidst questions about the effectiveness of nonviolence in the civil rights movement. That would end up being his final visit to Charlotte. But his story and connection to the Queen City dont end there. The day he was assassinated, he was supposed to be in Charlotte. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Friend keeps NC Holocaust survivors legacy alive; will share story at Durham Library next week King was scheduled to tour the Queen City in April 1968, but the visit was postponed due to escalating tensions in Memphis, Tennessee. A telegram from Dorothy Cotton informed Charlotte organizers of the cancellation just days before Kings assassination on April 4, 1968. This telegram is a significant artifact of Charlottes connection to King, preserved in UNC Charlottes archives. Doctor Kings multiple visits and connections to Charlotte highlight the citys importance in the civil rights movement and solidify its place in Kings legacy, from early civil rights activism to his postponed final visit. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 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. On a call with reporters on Inauguration Day morning, incoming White House officials previewed a series of executive orders and other actions they said the incoming Trump administration plans to take to address immigration and U.S. border issues. "We will protect the American people against invasion," one of the incoming officials said during the call. "This is about national security. This is about public safety. And this is about the victims of some of the most violent, abusive criminals we've seen enter our country in our lifetime. And it ends today." Many of the proposed executive orders revealed on Monday's call require help from international partners like Mexico and would almost certainly spark legal battles. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Although one of the incoming officials said that the call would "preview a series of actions to be taken today," it was not clear from the call, during which officials took very few questions from reporters, that everything about which they spoke would actually happen Monday. Here's a look at some of the promised executive actions: Declaring a national emergency at the southern border The incoming administration will be declaring a national emergency at the southern border. This will allow DoD to deploy armed forces to the region and free up resources to build a wall and other barriers there, as he promised to do during his first administration. "What this action does is it deploys armed forces, erects physical barriers by directing DOD and DHS secretaries to finish the wall along the border, and allows for counter-UAS capabilities near the southern border in addition," an incoming White House official said. PHOTO: President Donald Trump shows a photo of the US/Mexico border wall as he speaks during a roundtable briefing on border security at the United States Border Patrol Yuma Station in Yuma, Arizona, June 23, 2020. (Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images) It's not totally clear what the official meant by "counter-UAS capabilities," but it is important to note that since at least the Obama administration, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has used drones and other UAS (unmanned aircraft systems) to help conduct surveillance of the southwest border. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The secretary of defense will be directed to deploy armed troops as well as the National Guard to the border, according to the call. In response to a follow-up question, an incoming White House official was unable to say how many troops will be deployed, responding that the decision "is going to be up to the secretary of defense." MORE: Trump inauguration live updates: Trump enters Capitol Rotunda ahead of taking oath Clarifying the military's role in 'protecting the territorial integrity of the United States' This executive order aims to allow the military to "prioritize our borders and territorial integrity," an incoming White House official said during the call. The official further said that the order will direct the military to plan operations to maintain territorial integrity by "repelling forms of invasion including unlawful mass migration, narcotics trafficking, human smuggling and trafficking, and other criminal activities." Reinstating 'remain in Mexico,' ending 'catch and release,' and building the wall In addition to creating federal and state partnerships to help enforce immigration policies and deportation priorities, this executive order would also aim to end the practice of "catch and release," and mandates building a wall along the southern U.S. border. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Though often used pejoratively, "catch and release" describes the practice of releasing undocumented immigrants after they've been processed at the U.S. border and while they await immigration hearings in court. The term originated during the George W. Bush administration and describes a practice that has been implemented during every administration since, including Donald Trump's first administration. Because it's logistically impossible to safely detain migrants indefinitely, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and other authorities release some migrants into the community to wait out their legal proceedings. Remain in Mexico is a policy implemented during the first Trump administration that required some asylum seekers to wait in Mexico, rather than in the U.S., as their petitions were processed in U.S. courts. This action would require Mexico's cooperation, which incoming White House officials did not address during Monday's call. PHOTO: Immigrants seeking asylum in the United States walk along the border fence as the sun rises on their way to be processed by U.S. Border Patrol agents after crossing into Arizona from Mexico on May 11, 2023 in Yuma, Arizona. (Mario Tama/Getty Images) Trump also promised during his first presidential campaign to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, and signed an executive order to that end days after assuming office. Few new sections of barrier along the border were erected during his administration, though many sections of damaged or outdated barriers were repaired or replaced. Designating cartels as foreign terrorist organizations The incoming administration will sign an executive order to designate drug cartels and other criminal organizations, including the U.S.-El Salvadoran-based MS-13 and Venezuela's Tren de Aragua, as foreign terrorist organizations or specifically designated global terrorists (SDGT). Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement An incoming White House official said Monday that the order will direct authorities to specifically remove members of Tren de Agua from the United States. And, citing the Alien Enemies Act enacted more than two centuries ago, the official said Tren de Agua has become an "irregular armed force of Venezuela's government conducting a predatory incursion and invasion into the United States." MORE: Trump administration to start deportation plan on Tuesday: Sources 'End[ing] asylum to illegals' The incoming White House official said the Trump administration is going to "end asylum and close the border to illegals via proclamation." Essentially, this means undocumented migrants caught between ports of entry will not be able to claim asylum, which in turn will "create an immediate removal process without possibility of asylum," the incoming official said. Like other executive orders announced Monday, this one would possibly face legal hurdles for several reasons. Current laws allow asylum seekers the ability to attempt to request asylum or protection once they enter the country, regardless of if they crossed between ports of entry. This has been the basis for several legal battles against some of the more recent asylum restrictions that the Biden administration implemented in June 2024. Suspending refugee resettlement The incoming official said during Monday's call that the incoming Trump administration also plans to suspend refugee resettlements for at least four months. Ending birthright citizenship An incoming officials on Monday's call said "We are then going to end birthright citizenship. This action gives effect to the phrase 'and subject to the jurisdiction thereof' in the 14th Amendment to clarify that the federal government will not recognize automatic birthright citizenship for children of illegal aliens born in the United States." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It was unclear from Monday's call whether ending birthright citizenship will be part of the day's announcements or will come later. Trump made the same promise during his first term in office. PHOTO: Customs and Border Patrol agents load migrants into a vehicle after groups of migrants walked into the US from Mexico at Jacumba Hot Springs, California, on June 5, 2024. (Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images) Enhanced vetting The incoming official said Monday that the new administration is also going to "enhance vetting and screening of illegal aliens" and direct agencies to provide recommendations to the president for suspending entry for migrants from "countries of particular concern." Creating 'homeland security task forces' To help target gang members, criminals and other undocumented migrants, the new administration is planning to establish "federal homeland security task forces" so federal, state and local law enforcement can cooperate further in removing them. Restoring the death penalty when a law enforcement officer is murdered According to the incoming official, the new administration plans to "restore the death penalty in public safety" by directing the attorney general to seek capital punishment when an undocumented immigrant murders a law enforcement officer or commits other capital crimes. The new administration will also encourage state attorneys general and district attorneys to also pursue the death penalty in such cases, according to the incoming official. What to know about Trump's immigration and border executive actions originally appeared on abcnews.go.com (KTLA) Los Angeles County officials urged the public on Monday to prepare as dangerous Santa Ana winds returned to Southern California, raising the risk of more explosive wildfires. The National Weather Service is forecasting another Particularly Dangerous Situation red flag warning and extreme fire weather between noon Monday and 2 p.m. Tuesday. Peak wind speeds could reach 50 to 70 mph along the coasts and valleys, with some mountain and foothill gusts topping between 60 and 100 mph. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement See the latest severe weather advisories (National Weather Service) The red flag warning was expected to remain in place until at least Thursday, according to the Weather Service. The Los Angeles County Fire Department has ordered additional staffing and predeployment of ground and aerial resources throughout the county, officials stated. Residents were urged to sign up for emergency alerts and have an evacuation plan. Residents living in wildfire-prone areas were asked to do the following: Sign up for emergency alerts: alert.lacounty.gov Report any sign of smoke or fire immediately by calling 9-1-1. Check your evacuation zone status and make a plan to evacuate if ordered: protect.genasys.com Pack essentials in a go bag, including medications and vital documents: ready.lacounty.gov/disaster-supply-kits/ Prepare for possible Public Safety Power Shutoffs: ready.lacounty.gov/power-outage/ More preparedness tips have been provided at ready.lacounty.gov. Copyright 2025 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. As L.A. prepares to honor Dr. King's legacy, many services across the city will pause for the federal holiday on January 20, 2025. In Washington D.C. that same day, Donald Trump's inauguration ceremony moves indoors due to forecasted freezing weather, with live coverage starting at 9 a.m. CT and the swearing-in scheduled for noon ET. The D.C. celebrations begin January 19 with a Victory Rally and Arlington National Cemetery tribute, featuring performances by Carrie Underwood and the Village People. Related: Los Angeles is Burning: Latest Updates on the Fires in Pacific Palisades, Altadena and More Here's what stays open in L.A.: Metro buses and subway services (regular schedule) Metrolink trains (regular schedule) L.A. Sanitation trash pickup (regular schedule) 24-hour customer care for wildfire-affected areas: 800-773-2489 These places will close: All government offices (L.A. city, county, state, and federal) Superior courts Banks New York Stock Exchange U.S. Post Offices (no mail delivery) Los Angeles Public Library locations Los Angeles County Library branches Public schools For residents affected by recent wildfires, L.A. Sanitation and Environment maintains its 24-hour customer service line throughout the holiday. Public transportation keeps rolling, with Metro and Metrolink sticking to their standard schedules. Libraries across both city and county systems will lock their doors, joining government offices in observing the holiday. Financial activities pause completely, with banks and stock markets taking the day off. If you need to handle any essential business at these locations, plan ahead and take care of it before the holiday closure. It wasnt long after wildfires erupted across Southern California that donations began pouring into a small office near Dodger Stadium. Leonardo DiCaprio wanted to give. So did the Dodgers, the Lakers, Netflix and a Las Vegas casino. The object of their largesse was an obscure nonprofit called the Los Angeles Fire Department Foundation which, for the better part of two decades, had quietly helped firefighters by raising funds for equipment often things as nominal as gloves and flashlights not covered in the city budget. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement After years of averaging less than $3 million a year in donations, the group received about $20 million in a matter of days. Read more: Lessons from the burn zone: Why some homes survived the L.A. wildfires Money came so fast, in such large chunks, that foundation President Liz Lin could not be sure of the exact total during a recent interview. Absolutely overwhelming, she said. Now she and her staff are working the phones, looking for a supplier who can fill rush orders for hand tools, hydration packs and fire shelters silvery blankets that protect firefighters overrun by flames. They have received a request for hundreds of headlamps. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement There are just so many things they help with, Delia Ibarra, former president of the civilian Los Angeles Fire Commission, said of the foundation. To me, they are gold. The fire departments need for such generosity has become a subject of debate, pitting Mayor Karen Bass against billionaire Elon Musk, drawing the fire chief and other civic leaders into the fray. As flames scorched thousands of acres in Pacific Palisades, Altadena, Hollywood and the San Fernando Valley, there were reports that Bass had cut the fire departments budget by 2.7% for 2024-25. In fact, when ongoing negotiations with the firefighters union concluded several months after that budget went into effect, an additional $53 million in salary raises and $58 million for new firetrucks were approved, increasing the operating budget by more than 7% compared with the prior fiscal year, according to city financial analysts. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, right, and Los Angeles Fire Chief Kristin Crowley, left, address the media at a news conference on Jan. 11. (Allen J. Schaben/Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times) Regardless, Fire Chief Kristin Crowley complained about not having enough money. Musk and Times owner Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong criticized city officials on social media. Lin and her foundation have tried to distance themselves from the controversy. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We dont want to get into the political nuances, she said. We just ask [the firefighters], What do you need? Give me a cost. Her foundation dates back to 2010, when local business owners visited a station house that did not have a washing machine capable of cleaning the toxins from heavy turnout coats. They discovered the vast majority of the departments budget goes to salaries, leaving a relatively minuscule amount for equipment and specialized training. Individual stations were holding pancake breakfasts to raise money. Establishing itself as a 501(c)(3) organization, the new group signed an agreement with the city to become a recognized fundraiser and developed a process by which department leadership and stations could apply for help. Donations totaled about $500,000 annually at first, enough to pay for computer equipment, some of those special washing machines and several thousand flashlights. If a stations refrigerator broke down and the budget had no money for a new one, the foundation stepped in. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Read more: The Self-Realization Fellowship Lake Shrine was surrounded by flames. Then a family came to its rescue Firemen often have to do repairs at the stations themselves, Ibarra said. Sometimes they are fixing stuff out of their own pocket because its easier than putting in a request [to the city]. By 2017, the foundation was attracting more than $1 million annually, a figure that would continue to grow. Lin took over from the previous president the following year, just before the Woolsey fire burned nearly 100,000 acres in L.A. and Ventura counties. Woolsey was my training camp, she said. I had to understand the mechanics, the processes, what happens. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement When a 2020 explosion injured 11 firefighters, the department requested a $277,000 Thermite RS3 robot that could remotely explore engulfed buildings. Two years later, it needed to replace an aging helicopter. The foundation, which raised almost $6 million that year, spent about half that amount for a new Bell 505. Other gifts have included specialized training courses, mental health services and veterinary care for search-and-rescue dogs. Its a process we never had before, LAFD spokesperson Margaret Stewart, a 19-year veteran, said. Those were needs that were not met. In the world of charities, where local organizations such as the J. Paul Getty Trust and the California Endowment have assets in the billions, the foundation remains comparatively modest. Its paid staff of five works from a rent-free office at the departments Frank Hotchkin Memorial Training Center beside Chavez Ravine. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Charity Navigator, a watchdog organization, gives the group a four-star rating and reports that 93 cents of each $1 contribution goes to firefighters. This matters because a similar L.A. nonprofit devoted to county firefighters recently disbanded after facing allegations it had misused funds. Ibarra said of the city foundation: If you give money to them, firefighters are going to get that money. Read more: L.A. fire officials could have put engines in the Palisades before the fire broke out. They didn't Some quick thinking has now greatly expanded the pot. Soon after the Palisades fire broke out, Lin told her staff: Lets get something out on social media. The money came rolling in. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In coming weeks, as the wildfires subside, she will meet with department leaders to discuss future purchases that might better prepare firefighters for the next emergency. Lin said: When I walked down the hall this morning, leaving the operations center, I had four people stop me and say, Hey, what do you think of this? What do you think of that? With a department so large, serving a city so vast, the wish list seems never-ending. Those heavy-duty washing machines, the ones that started all of this? The foundation has patiently bought a few at a time in between more-pressing needs working down the list of 106 stations. Fifteen years later, Lin says, there are 10 more to go. 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. (WJET/WFXP) Pennsylvania State Police have issued an arrest warrant for a Lake City man accused of burglarizing a storage facility in Fairview Township. According to PSP Girard, troopers were called to Bolt Storage in the 7800 block of West Ridge Road back on Nov. 5 after a masked person tampered with surveillance equipment and allegedly broke into two units, cutting their locks. Our Neighbors Place ready to help anyone in need ahead of cold snap Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement During their investigation, police allegedly found several cameras pointed straight down while another was damaged later identifying the suspect as 46-year-old Richard Yeaney of Lake City. Yeaney was allegedly seen driving up to the facility in a 1965 Ford Mustang prior to breaking into the facility. Corry police warning of Social Security, impersonation phone scam An arrest warrant has been issued for Yeaney whos being charged with burglary, possession of instruments of a crime, tampering with evidence, criminal mischief and vehicle lighting. Anyone with information on his whereabouts is asked to call PSP Girard at 814-774-9611. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 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 WJET/WFXP/YourErie.com. Lake and Porter counties have released their 2024 statistics, with Gary leading Lake County and Portage leading Porter County. Porter County had eight homicides in 2024, with three in Valparaiso and four in Portage, Coroner Cyndi Dykes said in an email. The eighth occurred in Lake County in 2010, but the victim died from the injury at a Porter County long-term nursing facility. In 2023, the county only had two homicides, and Dykes said Porter County has averaged between two and four each year since she became coroner in 2019. The homicides rarely occur outside of Valparaiso and Portage, she said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The majority of homicides are from gunshot wounds, and no specific trends have been noted with the homicides through the years. Four homicide victims were in their 20s, with one woman and three men. Dykes did not share the ages and genders of the other victims. Lake County saw 65 deaths in 2024, with 24 victims dying in Gary, according to Chief Deputy Coroner Yvette Manfredy. Ten victims died at Methodist Northlake Hospital, and one at the Boys and Girls Clubs in Gary. In a Jan. 10 news release, the Gary Police Department said the city saw 40 homicides in 2024, which is a 23% decline from 52 in 2023. The news release said 2024 had the lowest number recorded since 2018. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The police departments homicide closure rate was 74%, surpassing the national average of nearly 58%. Gary Police Chief Derrick Cannon told the Post-Tribune that hes proud of the employees and city at large for helping decrease the homicide rate. I believe its a move in a positive direction, Cannon said. The citizens make sure that when we receive information, were being held accountable and making sure that we do something about it. I think this was a record year for the police department in a few categories, and Im hoping to maintain that momentum going forward in 2025. Hammond had 10 homicides in 2024, according to Cpt. Steve Kellogg, but Lake County coroner statistics said 13 homicides occurred in the city. Nine victims died in Hammond, according to the coroner. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In 2023, Hammond had six homicides, Kellogg said. The fluctuation in homicide rates can be attributed to a wide range of causes which can make it difficult to pinpoint any one reason for the slight rise or fall of rates from year to year, Kellogg said in an email. The HPD remains committed to reducing homicide rates and enhancing public safety. East Chicago has seen a 69% homicide decrease in a four-year span, according to a news release from the departments Chief Jose Rivera. Coroner statistics and Rivera said the city had four homicides in 2024. Four victims died in East Chicago, and four victims died at the citys Saint Catherines Hospital, according to coroner statistics. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement East Chicago had five homicides in 2023, 11 in 2022, and 13 in both 2020 and 2021, according to Riveras release. The police department also had a 100% homicide clearance rate last year. It was because of our partnership, our use of technology and the hard work of all the men and women of the East Chicago Police Department that we were able to accomplish this, Rivera said. This type of hard work by all my officers is worthy of recognition Also in Lake County, two homicides occurred in Crown Point, two in Lake Station and one each in Hobart and Whiting. Two victims from Ford Heights, Illinois, one victim from Lansing, Illinois, and one victim from Chicago Heights, Illinois, died in Lake County. mwilkins@chicagotribune.com akukulka@post-trib.com DAMASCUS, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- Syrian authorities have issued public tenders to import oil and its derivatives, aiming to improve the efficiency of imports and foster a competitive environment in the country, according to a report by the state-run SANA news agency on Monday. "We seek to make the oil sector in Syria highly transparent and gain people's trust," the report quoted Ghaiath Diab, oil and mineral resources minister in the Syrian interim government, as saying. Previously, Diab said that Syria's largest oil refinery, the Baniyas Refinery, was undergoing equipment maintenance and would restart production to help meet the nation's fuel needs after the arrival of crude oil shipments. The oil sector in Syria suffers from several difficulties and challenges, including sanctions imposed on the country, which have hindered securing oil derivatives. Diab has called for lifting the sanctions to restore the pace of economic life, according to local media reports. Coffee shop squatters beware: the unhappy boss of your local cafe is about to make their feelings plain. If big American conglomerate Starbucks is now cracking down on stingy laptop users (buy something or leave, it told customers last week), then that family-run cafe on the cusp of closing this year is definitely going to put its foot down. The hospitality industry is angry about a spike in hiring costs post-Budget and as pressures rise, tolerance for entitled customers will lower. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The working-from-home crowd especially are about to feel the brunt. If youre not buying anything, stop hogging the table and spoiling the ambience with those dull corporate video calls. Frustration about home workers spending all day in cafes was starting to simmer even before the Budget really got small businesses riled up. The owners of Fringe and Ginge in Canterbury, Kent, last year banned laptops, after getting fed up with some people buying one coffee all day and then asking staff to be quiet or turn the music off during their lengthy Zoom calls. In Berkshire, the Milk and Bean cafe in Newbury and The Collective in Caversham followed suit some months later, both introducing a laptop ban during certain hours. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement As well as costing money, table hoggers hunched over laptops bring the vibe of the place down, Milk and Beans boss, Chris Chaplin, explained at the time. Many will be fed up with serving a room full of people staring at screens, having once had dreams of opening a convivial neighbourhood cafe. Theres nothing like a 25bn tax raid to sharpen the mind. Businesses wondering how they will survive this year will be far less patient with customers who they believe are taking advantage over the coming months. High-earning home workers treating the cafe as their personal office just because they bought one 3 pain au chocolat four hours earlier will be shown the door. The majority of people would understand owners reasoning. When a visitor to Paris last year posted an angry rant on X about a cafe banning laptops, asking why its fair when its perfectly fine to read a book for eight hours drinking just an espresso, people leapt to the cafes defence. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It doesnt take a genius to know the answer, came one of the many responses. Just pay for a damn office space if earning a salary, argued another. Others pointed out that readers dont speak at high volume to their book and are highly unlikely to sit there for eight hours, while laptops use up power and wifi. Stop whinging was the gist of it. Its in everyones interest that these places dont go bust. First, there is the community impact going to read a book in a neighbourhood cafe can be the highlight of someones day, but table-hogging home workers ruin the atmosphere and risk putting the cafe out of business. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Second, there is a wider economic burden. Last week, we learnt that the meagre growth that was eked out in November, when GDP edged up 0.1pc, was driven by hospitality. Food and beverage services made up of pubs, bars, cafes and restaurants grew by 1.6pc. Yet this industry is set to be the most hammered by the National Insurance increases from the Budget, as well as a rise in the minimum wage and an expansion of workers rights. Central London restaurants and cafes have already warned that the rise of home working has forced them to effectively run as three-day operations. But this money is not being redirected to suburban cafes and restaurants if home workers are just setting up camp without buying anything. Facing squeezed margins, job cuts and hiring freezes, the hospitality industry is also realising that it has to crack down on rude behaviour to the staff who are left. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Please dont be mean to our baristas, Cheshire coffee shop Elephant Collective wrote on social media last week, after letting customers know why it was having to increase prices. When we crunched 2025s numbers, it really didnt look good. Its not just cafes that are laying some ground rules. Hugh Corcoran, the chef behind new restaurant, The Yellow Bittern, in Londons Kings Cross, wrote on social media just days after opening that restaurants are not public benches, you are there to spend some money, adding that in the case that a plate of radishes is enough for you and your three friends for lunch, then perhaps an allotment would be a better investment than a table at a restaurant. I went to this 18-seat British-Irish bistro a few days after he made those controversial comments, and it was still jam-packed with joyful customers enjoying lengthy lunches. Nobody was staring at their phones. Diners will always be drawn to places with good food, service and atmosphere. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Businesses are not about to turn on their own customers and nor will they want to alienate home workers there is a balance to be struck here. But the cost pressure that companies are under this year means that there is about to be a big shift in attitude. Its time for hospitality to push back. This is now a laptop-free zone. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) The Las Cruces Police Department (LCPD) will host an interactive town-hall meeting this week on public safety issues. The town-hall meeting will begin at 6 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 23 at Council Chambers at Las Cruces City Hall, 700 N. Main St. The meeting is anticipated to last about two hours. The legislative session is about to start, and there is hope that meaningful change can happen with our communitys help, LCPD Chief Jeremy Story said. Waiting wont work. Its time to address crime, untreated mental illness and addiction. Story will begin the meeting by briefly presenting crime statistics from 2024. Information will also be presented on how competency, pre-trial detention and a lack of accountability have created a perfect storm in Las Cruces, the Police Department said in a news release. The meeting will serve as an opportunity for residents to connect with LCPD officials, gain insight on the topics, ask questions and contribute to the ongoing efforts to help promote a safer community, police said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Las Cruces police encourage residents and business owners to attend and provide their feedback. For those who cannot make it in-person, the meeting will be televised live on CLCTV, Comcast Cable channel 20-SD and 928-HD. The meeting will also be livestreamed on the Citys YouTube channel and on the Las Cruces Police Departments Facebook page. Copyright 2025 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. This is part of Hello, Trumpworld, Slates reluctant guide to the people who will be calling the shots nowat least for as long as they last in Washington. Richard Grenell is one of the more obscure members of Donald Trumps inner circle, but among those who know him, he ranks among its most toxic loyalist brawlersa high (or low) bar to clear. Trump has named Grenell envoy for special missions, a newly created position that will work in some of the hottest spots around the world, including Venezuela and North Korea, according to a statement by the president-elect. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Grenell came to Trumps attention the way many of his appointees haveby trolling liberals on the internet and Fox News. He was the head of a PR firm, with little public experience other than a few years as a snarky press spokesman for the U.N. mission under President George W. Bush. Reporters and diplomats disliked him, but few on the right defended him, perhaps because he was openly gay. But Trump liked his attitude, and, in 2018, nominated him to be ambassador to Germanywhere he instantly alienated political leaders, and even allies in neighboring countries, in ways that endeared him all the more to Trump. Within hours of presenting his credentials in Berlin, Grenell publicly lambasted the German government for not spending more on defense, pressured German companies to stop doing business with Iran (though Germany was still complying with the nuclear deal, in which the West lifted sanctions against Iran and Tehran dismantled its nuclear program). He told a reporter for Breitbart News, I absolutely want to empower other conservatives throughout Europe, other leadersa remark that Germanys chancellor at the time, Angela Merkel, and her coalition partners took as a call for regime change in Berlin and as support for more right-wing parties. According to several accounts of his two years in Berlin, Grenell never sought close contact with Germanys political or social leaders. He also paid little attention to the reports by his own experienced staff in the U.S. Embassy, saying, We can get that information off the internet. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Stefan Liebich, former foreign-policy spokesman for the socialist-left party in Germanys Parliament, recalled in an email that Grenell invited him for a friendly one-on-one meetingsomething no previous U.S. ambassador had ever doneand that he then did the same with a leader in the countrys far-right party. He considered us to be antiestablishment parties, said Liebich (whodisclosurehappens to be the husband of Slates editor in chief). Grenell stopped meeting with the leaders thoughand even started an internet feud with Liebichwhen he realized they wouldnt help him stir commotion. He was opinionated and loud; he interfered in German and European politics in a way that went far beyond the norm, Liebich said, reciting the views of dozens who dealt with him. A former diplomat told the Atlantic at the time, He is playing to an audience of one. Trump is what counts. No one else. When Grenell left, all of Berlin heaved a sigh of relief. Trump called him a superstar and made him envoy to peace talks between Kosovo and Serbia. Kosovo was the U.S. ally in that fight, but Grenell demanded concessions to Serbia, helped destabilize Kosovos democratic government, and in the end failed to make peace anyway. In 2020, Trump fired his national intelligence director, mainly for not disputing reports that Russia tried to influence that years election, and made Grenell acting director. He lasted just three months on the job, but during that time, fired many professional analysts and brought on Kash Patel to help him fire more. (Patel is now Trumps nominee to be FBI director.) After Trump left office, Grenell joined with the ex-presidents son-in-law, Jared Kushner, to push development of a luxury hotel complex in Belgrade, Serbia. He also did business deals with Turkey, in some cases urging Trumpwho stayed in touch, once calling Grenell my envoy in dealings with foreign leadersto join him on trips. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Grenell ranks among Trumps most extreme, and thoroughly opportunistic, loyalists. During Trumps attempts to challenge the 2020 election, Grenell ran an operation in Arizona to prove the vote was stolenthough some of his aides later told the New York Times he admitted that there was no evidence to the charge, that their job was just to throw spaghetti at the wall. During the run-up to the 2024 election, Grenell made it clear he wanted to be secretary of state, but Trump picked Marco Rubio. Grenell would have faced harsh questions in the Senate confirmation process hearing for, among other things, not registering as a foreign agent while doing PR work for several foreign countries. The job he is about to take does not require Senate confirmation. The position is also so loosely defined that Trump can use him in whatever way he pleases. One of his special missions may be to shore up internal support for Trumps policy preferences if some Cabinet secretary calls them into question. Grenells very presence in the room will send a message to the other advisers that he might replace them if they dont support the president more fervently. Time magazines new inauguration-issue cover features Donald Trump briskly clearing President Bidens belongings from the desk in the Oval Office with his arm, sending Bidens signature aviator sunglasses flying. The illustrated cover is the fourth for the magazine by artist Tim OBrien, who has previously depicted Trump either seated at or floating above the famous resolute desk in a sequential series using ever-rising water levels as a metaphor for chaos or tumult in his first presidential term. The initial cover in the series was published in February 2017, a month after Trumps first inauguration, accompanied by the text, Nothing to See Here. The latest cover of Time Magazine depicts President-elect Trump sweeping President Bidens belongings off the desk in the Oval Office. TIME It shows Trump seated, his fingers steepled, as a rain storm rolls in causing his tie and flaxen locks to wave forcibly in the wind. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The second cover was published in April 2018 with the one-word caption Stormy and was released amid news of his alleged consensual 2006 affair with adult film actress Stephanie Clifford, a k a Stormy Daniels, and her subsequent payoff by former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen. The image is virtually identical to the first cover except it shows the water level has crept above the top of the resolute desk. Less than six months later, in September 2018, the third in the series depicted Trump floating out of frame as the Oval Office is shown completely filled with water. The words In Deep accompanied the image. The magazine previewed the new cover in a post on X on Sunday, touting its cover story entitled Donald Trumps Disruption is back. Time named Trump the 2024 Person of the Year. TIME / TIME Person of the Year/AFP via Getty Images The article calls the incoming 47th commander-in-chief an unpredictable force for change and concedes, Whatever one thinks of him, he has altered America in ways unimaginable a decade ago. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The cover art itself is something of a Rorschach test. Those who view Trump favorably have seemed to interpret the cover as a declaration of out with the old, in with the new as the Oval Office changes hands. The adults are in charge now, a Trump supporter wrote in response to Times post. Trump and Vice President-elect JD Vance participating in a wreath-laying ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery on Jan. 19, 2025. Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images Another peron said, Now then, lets get down to business. Theres a huge mess to clean up. But Trump haters interpreted the image as depicting him as an agent of chaos, haphazardly doing away with the status quo and norms of previous administrations. Here comes the chaos, wrote one anxious X user. Another person seethed, One day these TIME covers will be looked at how Soviet propaganda is looked at today, absolutely despicable! In December, the magazine named Trump its annual Person of the Year drawing swift condemnation from readers who supported Vice President Kamala Harris in the election a few weeks earlier. Illinois man faces 10 years as accomplice in Hammond double slaying An Illinois man faces 10 years after he signed a plea deal filed Monday as an accomplice in a double slaying near a Hammond bar. Gerardo Gudino, 30, of Sauk Village, Ill., admitted to two counts of assisting a criminal. A judge would have to review and accept the plea. His sentencing is April 30. Hammond Police were called at 3:35 a.m. Oct. 7, 2021 to the 700 block of Locust Street where a man shot in the head was slumped over in the passenger seat in a tan Honda Civic. The car had been hit by bullets multiple times. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A second man was dead in the front yard after he was shot multiple times in the chest and stomach, according to the affidavit. Witnesses said they heard 20-30 shots. The man in the car was identified as Deandre Easter, 27, of Calumet City, Illinois, while the man in the yard was Danniel Gamez, 26, of East Chicago. Gamez had cash in his right hand. Police believed co-defendant Jorge Garza thought Gamez was an easy mark to rob for a gun, charges state. Both intended to rob each other, according to the affidavit. Garza got 24 years in January 2023. Co-defendant Javiar Galvans sentencing is in February. Judge denies bid for home detention in 1984 Hobart home invasion, rape Judge Natalie Bokota denied a bid to switch the rest of a mans 6-year prison term to home detention for a 1984 Hobart home invasion and rape. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Joel Williams, 58, pleaded guilty on June 15, 2023 to Felony B rape. A DNA hit linked him in 2019. After prison, he will also serve four years probation. He wrote he showed continual progress for re-entry. In response, Deputy Prosecutor Infinity Westberg wrote Williams was legally considered a violent criminal and only served a small portion of his sentence. He was already rejected to go directly into the Lake County Community Corrections program, she added. On March 20, 1984, three men, including Williams, forced their way into a home in the 2000 block of East 39th Avenue at gunpoint and raped and forced the victims inside to perform sexual acts, a probable cause affidavit states. The men ransacked the house and stole items, including a white 1975 Plymouth Roadrunner, according to the affidavit. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Of the three men in the case, one is now dead and another was never identified. Illinois man faces up to 9 years in Munster gas station shooting An Illinois man faces up to nine years in a Munster gas station shooting. Marque Jackson, 48, of Tinley Park, Ill., pleaded guilty Friday to aggravated battery. A judge would have to review and accept the plea deal. His sentencing is March 20. Munster Police responded at 4 a.m. Sept. 2 to the Speedway gas station at 444 Ridge Road for a reported shooting. The victim told police he went to the gas station to confront Jackson, a man he didnt know, after he saw him on video chat spending a lot of time with his girlfriend at a bar across the street. Lake Station man faces up to 30 years in drug-related killing A Lake Station man faces up to 30 years in a drug-related killing. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Michael Randall, 47, signed a plea deal filed Tuesday for voluntary manslaughter. He would also be on probation for the rest of his life. A judge would have to review and accept the plea. His sentencing is April 1. Lake Station Police were called at 6:30 p.m. Feb. 22 to the 2300 block of Warren Street where they saw Kyle W. Cornelius, 36, shot 11 times, lying face down and shot inside a house. Ill be over to see you when I get home this evening, Randall wrote in a text, including a picture of a man holding a large amount of cash. Ill be home after 2 today. I just want my money, Cornelius responded. Randall told investigators he parked at the Lake Station civic center on Feb. 21, then walked to Cornelius house to repay $2,200. Cornelius gave him weed to sell while Randall was injured and off work, charges allege. More than 80 people were killed in the countrys northeast over the weekend following the governments failed attempts to hold peace talks with the National Liberation Army, a Colombian official said. Twenty others were injured in the violence that has forced thousands to flee as Colombias army scrambled to evacuate people on Sunday, according to William Villamizar, governor of North Santander, where many of the killings took place. Among the victims are community leader Carmelo Guerrero and seven people who sought to sign a peace deal, according to a report that a government ombudsman agency released late Saturday. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Officials said the attacks happened in several towns located in the Catatumbo region near the border with Venezuela, with at least three people who were part of the peace talks being kidnapped. Thousands of people are fleeing the area, with some hiding in the nearby lush mountains or seeking help at government shelters. Displaced people from recent clashes between armed groups arrive in the municipality of Tibu, Norte de Santander Department, Colombia, on Saturday. - Schneyder Mendoza/AFP/Getty Images We were caught in the crossfire, said Juan Gutierrez, who fled with his family to a temporary shelter in Tibu after they were forced to leave behind their animals and belongings. We had no time to grab our things. I hope the government remembers us. We are helpless here. Colombias army rescued dozens of people on Sunday, including a family and their pet dog, whose owner held a pack of cold water against the animals chest to keep it cool as they evacuated by helicopter. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Defense Minister Ivan Velasquez traveled to the northeast town of Cucuta on Sunday where he held several security meetings and urged armed groups to demobilize. The priority is to save lives and guarantee the security of communities, he said. We have deployed our troops throughout the entire region. Officials also prepared to send 10 tons of food and hygiene kits for approximately 5,000 people in the communities of Ocana and Tibu, the majority of them having fled the violence. An aerial view of the Tarra River, which divides Colombia and Venezuela, as seen from Tibu, Norte de Santader Deparment, Colombia, on Sunday. - Schneyder Mendoza/AFP/Getty Images Catatumbo needs help, Villamizar said in a public address on Saturday. Boys, girls, young people, teenagers, entire families are showing up with nothing, riding trucks, dump trucks, motorcycles, whatever they can, on foot, to avoid being victims of this confrontation. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The attack comes after Colombia suspended peace talks with the National Liberation Army, or ELN, on Friday, the second time it has done so in less than a year. Colombias government has demanded that the ELN cease all attacks and allow authorities to enter the region and provide humanitarian aid. Displacement is killing us here in the region, said Jose Trinidad, a municipal official for the town of Convencion, located in the North Santander region. Were afraid the crisis will worsen. Trinidad called on insurgent groups to sit down and hammer out a new agreement so us civilians dont have to suffer the consequences that were suffering right now. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The ELN has been clashing in Catatumbo with former members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, a guerrilla group that disbanded after signing a peace deal in 2016 with Colombias government. The two are fighting over control of a strategic border region that has coca leaf plantations. A soldier stands guard as people unload humanitarian aid for displaced people from recent clashes between armed groups in Tibu, Norte de Santader Deparment, Colombia, on Sunday. - Schneyder Mendoza/AFP/Getty Images In a statement Saturday, the ELN said it had warned former FARC members that if they continued attacking the population there was no other way out than armed confrontation. The ELN has accused ex-FARC rebels of several killings in the area, including the Jan. 15 slaying of a couple and their 9-month-old baby. Army commander Gen. Luis Emilio Cardozo Santamaria said Saturday that authorities were reinforcing a humanitarian corridor between Tibu and Cucuta for the safe passage of those forced to flee their homes. He said special urban troops also were deployed to municipal capitals where there are risks and a lot of fear. The ELN has tried to negotiate a peace deal with the administration of President Gustavo Petro five times, with talks failing after bouts of violence. ELN demands include that it be recognized as a political rebel organization, which critics have said is risky. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com Lebanon elected General Joseph Aoun as president earlier this month, ending a two-year presidential vacuum. Just days later, Nawaf Salam was named as the country's prime minister. Business Insider has taken a look at what the moves mean for Hezbollah. Lebanon elected General Joseph Aoun, the head of the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF), as president earlier this month, ending a more than two-year presidential vacuum. Just days later, Nawaf Salam, who had been serving as the president of the International Court of Justice, was named as prime minister, replacing the Hezbollah-backed caretaker prime minister Najib Mikati. The moves marked a dramatic shift in Lebanon's power balance and highlighted the weakened state of Hezbollah, one of the country's most powerful political players. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Here's what we know about Lebanon's shifting political landscape and what it means for Hezbollah. The aftermath of an Israeli airstrike on Beirut. Houssam Shbaro/Anadolu via Getty Images The political shake-up in Lebanon which operates a sectarian power-sharing system comes in the wake of Hezbollah's costly conflict with Israel. The group had been exchanging strikes with Israeli forces since October 2023, in the wake of Hamas' October 7 attacks. But it was thrown into disarray after Israel killed its longtime leader, Hassan Nasrallah, and wounded thousands of its fighters with exploding pagers and walkie-talkies. A cease-fire deal between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah took effect in November. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement However, the group was dealt another major blow by the fall of Bashar Assad's regime in Syria the following month. Syria had offered Iran an important pipeline through which it could transfer weapons and supplies to Hezbollah, but the fall of Assad effectively cut this route off. These events have come as heavy blows to Hezbollah, depleting its resources and diminishing its ability to project its influence into Lebanese politics. The appointments of Aoun and Salam may further compound Hezbollah's position. Aoun was seen as the favored candidate of both the US and Saudi Arabia, which had spent years trying to end Lebanon's political stalemate. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A rival candidate preferred by Hezbollah had withdrawn prior to the vote, paving the way for Aoun's election. While Aoun could help secure the withdrawal of Israeli troops from southern Lebanon, his forces may present a new obstacle for Hezbollah. "If the Lebanese army expands its presence into areas formerly controlled by Hezbollah, it will be more challenging for the group to rebuild its capabilities," said Will Todman, the deputy director and senior fellow in the Middle East Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). "And if President Aoun alone is credited with securing international funding for reconstruction, it could further the sense that Hezbollah abandoned its constituents during and after the conflict with Israel," Todman added. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement However, Aoun may be reluctant to provoke Hezbollah as he seeks to stabilize a country that has been mired in economic crisis and devastated by Israeli strikes. "Hezbollah, no doubt, will be sharply watching the new president's moves in the coming months," wrote Nicholas Blanford, a nonresident senior fellow with the Atlantic Council's Middle East Programs. "Aoun is a pragmatist and is unlikely to provoke a confrontation with Hezbollah that, despite receiving a battering in the recent war, remains domestically powerful and potentially dangerous if it feels threatened." While Hezbollah did not oppose Aoun's nomination, Salam's appointment as prime minister is said to have angered the group which had sought to get Mikati reappointed. Mohammed Raad, a Hezbollah lawmaker, reportedly said the group had taken "a positive step" by helping elect Aoun as president and was "hoping to find that hand extended, only to find it was cut off." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Salam has committed to implementing a UN Security Council resolution related to the Israeli conflict with Hezbollah that, in part, says Hezbollah should not have an armed presence near the border with Israel. However, analysts say Salam is unlikely to risk provoking the group too much while he tends to more pressing needs. "Salam is highly unlikely to juggle his uphill battle to extract Lebanon from near-total collapse while clashing politically or otherwise with one of the country's most socially and politically powerful factions," David Daoud, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies think tank, said. For his part, Salam has said that the formation of a new government would not be delayed, that his hands were "extended to everyone," and that he was committed to starting "a new chapter" in Lebanon "rooted in justice, security, progress, and opportunities," per Reuters. People in Lebanon celebrating Aoun's election. Houssam Shbaro/Anadolu via Getty Images Aoun and Salam Aoun joined the LAF in 1983, during the Lebanese Civil War, and he became its commander in 2017. His forces have an important role in maintaining the cease-fire agreement between Israel and Hezbollah. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Aoun is regarded as a "no-nonsense," nonpartisan figure who tends to avoid political discussions, the Associated Press reported. Bilal Saab, a former Pentagon official who met Aoun on multiple occasions, told the outlet that the president was a "very sweet man, very compassionate, very warm." "He really was viciously nonpartisan, did not have any interest in even delivering speeches or doing media," Saab said. "He wanted to take care of business, and his only order of business was commanding the Lebanese army." Salam became Lebanon's ambassador to the United Nations in New York in 2007. He held the position for 10 years. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In 2018, he was elected a judge on the ICJ, and he became its president in 2024. Salam presided over ICJ hearings stemming from South Africa's allegations that Israel was committing genocide in Gaza. Nawaf Salam. ANWAR AMRO/AFP via Getty Images World leaders and officials from around the world have welcomed the appointments of Aoun and Salam. President Joe Biden said in a statement that he "strongly" believed Aoun was "the right leader for this time." "President Aoun will provide critical leadership as Lebanon and Israel fully implement that cessation of hostilities and as hundreds of thousands of people return to their homes and Lebanon recovers and rebuilds," he said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Iranian embassy in Lebanon also welcomed the news, saying it looked forward to working with Aoun to strengthen relations between the two nations. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres took to X to congratulate Salam on being named prime minister. "The road ahead for Lebanon is filled with promise but also great tests," he wrote. In Israel, the news gave rise to mixed reactions. Israel's minister of foreign affairs, Gideon Sa'ar, congratulated Lebanon on the appointment of Aoun, but he criticized Salam's nomination. "The President of the ICJ, just appointed Prime Minister of Lebanon, has called Israel an enemy," he wrote. "How can such a person be expected to judge Israel fairly? President Salam's decisions regarding Israel must be disqualified immediately. Otherwise they might as well take the 'J' out of the ICJ." Read the original article on Business Insider The U.S. and Florida flags fly at half staff outside the Florida Capitol on Jan. 15, 2025, to honor President Jimmy Carter. Gov. Ron DeSantis later ordered them raised to celebrate Donald Trump. (Photo by Jay Waagmeester/Florida Phoenix) Ron DeSantis never passes up the chance to be spiteful, petty, and craven. Hes ordered the flags, which should still be flying at half-staff to honor President Jimmy Carter, be raised to full-staff, celebrating the inauguration of a felon and adjudicated rapist, the second most powerful person in the world. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement After President Musk, of course. But thats Florida government for you: If theres a total jerk move to be made, they will make it. Gov. Ron DeSantis calls for a late-January special legislative session from the Florida Capitol on Jan. 13, 2025. (Photo by Jay Waagmeester/Florida Phoenix) DeSantis has demanded lawmakers come to Tallahassee next week for a special session to administer another dose of poison to the American ideals of liberty, generosity, and justice. When Donald Trump gears up his mass deportation operation, DeSantis wants Florida to be ready to round up anybody who looks like an illegal. And since hes forcing the Legislature to convene, why not pretend to do something about the annoying way citizens put constitutional amendment proposals on the ballot, do something about hurricane relief, and look at whats referred to as the condominium crisis. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Lawmakers will not, you notice, address Floridas astronomical insurance rates, climate change, polluted water, unaffordable housing, or any of the other urgent problems bedeviling us. Problem is, the president of the Senate and the speaker of the House dont really feel like coming to Tallahassee in January. In a Jan. 13 letter to DeSantis, Speaker Daniel Perez and President Ben Albritton basically said, OK, well show up, but we dont have to do anything you say: The Legislature, not the Governor, will decide when and what legislation we consider. Theyre not happy with DeSantis high-handedness and habit of blaming them for among other things laws increasing condo owners maintenance and repair fees, passed after 98 people died in the 2021 Seaside collapse. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Laws he signed. Moment of Civics: Just because the Legislature has passed a bill doesnt mean the governor is forced to sign it. Completely irresponsible Perez and Albritton criticized DeSantis for not waiting for the regular session in March and not providing bill language, calling it completely irresponsible to get out in front of Donald Trumps promised mass deportations when uninformed or ill-timed state action could potentially impair or impede the success of his determination to make this country white again. Two days later, a petulant DeSantis put out a list of priorities such as tightening voter registration requirements and criminal penalties for any undocumented person trying to crash our elections. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Not that undocumented people are the ones doing that: Most voter fraud in Florida is committed by Republicans. But why let the truth get in the way of xenophobia? He also wants to appoint a Florida immigration czar to coordinate with Trumps send-em-all-back goon squads. Moment of Nostalgia: Remember when DeSantis hated that the federal government was constitutionally in charge of immigration instead of the state and resisted any attempts by the feds to do their job? I guess hes changed his mind. There might be a Capitol food fight: Lawmakers may want to show the governor theyre no longer his vassals. Hell soon be unemployed and they have their own political futures to consider. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But make no mistake: This spat between DeSantis and the formerly supine Republican Legislature doesnt mean they arent equally determined to rid Florida of what they see as the wrong people. You know, the ones cleaning the hotel rooms, cutting the grass, picking the tomatoes, putting up drywall, and performing all those other minimum wage jobs real Americans are strangely reluctant to do. Youd think they would notice such a move is likely to wreck the states agricultural and construction industries. Still, pleasing their angry white base and prostrating themselves before their angry orange overlord matters more than fripperies such as the economy. (But wont the Trump tariffs lower egg prices and make us all rich?) Nastiness for nastiness sake Which brings us, as stupid and cruel proposals often do, to Sen. Randy Fine. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In 2014, Republicans in the Legislature acknowledged that undocumented people worked hard, paid taxes, and built productive lives in Florida, and passed a measure allowing DACA kids to pay in-state tuition at public universities. Randy Fine, pictured while still serving in the Florida House, in an official photo. Randy Fine has filed a bill to repeal that law, attempting to deny affordable college to undocumented young people. Instead of around $6,000 a year, theyd have to pay $30,000. Fine not only hates Dreamers, he hates higher education. Hes happy in this instance to push DeSantis agenda, although they arent exactly pals. A couple of years ago, Fine thought DeSantis would make him president of Florida Atlantic University. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It didnt happen. A spitting-mad Fine withdrew his support for DeSantis in the 2024 primaries and jumped to the Trump camp. Nonetheless, theyre brothers in arms when it comes to nastiness for nastiness sake. The combustible Fine will back DeSantis agenda, even as hes resigning from the Senate on March 31. Fines a shoo-in to take the seat of U.S. Rep. Mike Waltz, whos joining the Trump administration. The special election is fittingly on April Fools Day. We can all look forward to Fine in Washington trying to out-do South Carolina Rep. Nancy Mace in performative hatred on the House floor. Chile! The bathroom-obsessed representative from South Carolina recently blew up like a cheap cherry bomb when Rep. Jasmine Crockett of Texas proposed reinstating the subcommittee on civil rights. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Mace ranted about trans women threatening her and, as Crockett tried to answer, deploying the grand old Southernism chile, Mace hollered, I am no child! Do not call me a child! Then she suggested to Crockett they to take it outside. Randy will need to up his game to compete with that level of epically juvenile brattiness. Meanwhile back in Tallahassee, Big Ag, Big Building, and Big Tourism worry: When all those without the right papers are back in Venezuela or El Salvador or Honduras, whos going to do the work? An Israeli Defense Force team assisted with search and rescue at the site of the Surfside condo collapse, via IDF Condos are sinking: The porous limestone on which most sit gets waterlogged from sea level rise. But instead of the state addressing the climate upheaval that is the root cause of condo disintegration, theyll shield the builders from real penalties and see that the owners have to pay more, even as their homes cannot be hardened against geological and hydrological realities. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Worst of all, DeSantis and legislative Republicans mean to destroy citizens last way to force an unresponsive government to listen. In 2024, well over half of Florida voters said they wanted legal recreational marijuana and reproductive rights. In most states, that would be a win. But neither measure reached Floridas required 60%. Now the governor is trying to make it nearly impossible for ordinary people to mount a petition drive and get an initiative on the ballot. He calls it closing loopholes. Others of us call it killing a democratic process. This is the country were now living in: dictatorial, unrepresentative, and deeply unkind. What will be left of Florida in four years? What will be left of America? LONDON, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- A British teenager on Monday admitted to murdering three young girls in a knife attack at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in Southport last July. Axel Rudakubana, 18, from Lancashire, appeared at Liverpool Crown Court on what was scheduled to be the first day of his trial. He pleaded guilty to the murders of Alice da Silva Aguiar, 9, Bebe King, 6, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, 7. Rudakubana also admitted to 10 counts of attempted murder and possession of a kitchen knife used in the July 29 attack, Sky News reported. In addition, he pleaded guilty to producing ricin and possessing an al-Qaeda training manual, which were reportedly discovered during a subsequent search of his home in Banks, Lancashire. Police have stated that the attack is not being treated as terror-related. The judge, Justice Goose, indicated that Rudakubana would receive a life sentence. Sentencing is scheduled for Thursday. The Southport attack triggered a wave of riots across Britain after online posts falsely claimed the suspect was an asylum seeker who had arrived in the country by boat. Among the flurry of last-minute pardons issued by Joe Biden in the final moments of his presidency Monday, a group of names was conspicuously absent: prosecutors and judges who have sought to apply the law to Donald Trump. Trump has frequently mused about seeking revenge on prosecutors like special counsel Jack Smith, who led the two federal criminal cases against Trump, and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who brought the New York hush money case that ended in Trumps conviction. Trump has amplified calls for Smith to be thrown in prison and even said he should be thrown out of the country. Trump has similarly said there is a case to be made that Bragg should be prosecuted. Neither was named by Biden on Monday as the recipient of a pardon, even as the outgoing president moved to protect other prominent officials who have sparked Trumps ire. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Also left empty-handed were the judges who oversaw Trumps numerous criminal and civil proceedings. Trump has railed against many of those judges and suggested they should be punished. For instance, he has derided Justice Juan Merchan, the New York trial judge who presided over the hush money case, as corrupt. And Trump has said Justice Arthur Engoron, another New York state judge who imposed a half-billion dollar judgment on Trump for civil business fraud, should be arrested. None of them had said publicly that they wanted a pardon, and its not clear any of them would have accepted one. But some top Democrats, like Rep. Jim Clyburn of South Carolina, had endorsed the notion of preemptively pardoning prosecutors, particularly Smith. One reason Biden and his legal advisers may have eschewed pardons for prosecutors and judges is that they may have concluded that pardon protection was unnecessary in light of long-standing immunity principles for certain officials in the judicial system. The Supreme Court has held that prosecutors and judges have broad immunity for anything they do in their official capacities. Still, the absence of prosecutors and judges on Bidens list of pardons was notable because he did issue a slew of preemptive pardons to other public officials on whom Trump has vowed to seek revenge, including former public health official Anthony Fauci and former Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley, as well as the members and staff of the House special committee that investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Biden also issued pardons to officers from Washingtons Metropolitan Police Department and the U.S. Capitol Police who testified before the committee. And he granted sweeping pardons to five members of his own family for any nonviolent crimes they may have committed over the past decade. The Legacy Foundation and the city of Gary recently announced an award of $85,000 to the Gary Food Collective Co-op, a community-driven initiative led by Family Life Community Center. A release said its designed to address food insecurity, foster economic growth, and empower Gary residents. Funding will be used to expand its food Co-op program across Gary by equipping individuals with the skills needed to successfully launch and sustain their own food co-ops, while providing residents with access to fresh, healthy, and affordable food. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Support for this project is provided by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation Fund at Legacy Foundation and funding from the city of Garys American Rescue Plan Act grant. Access to healthy, affordable food for our residents is a fundamental quality of life issue, said Mayor Eddie Melton This program shows we can collaboratively address food insecurity while also providing education and entrepreneurship opportunities that benefit our community. Research shows that food co-ops not only provide access to healthy foods but create local jobs and foster economic resilience. The Food Collective Co-op program will continue addressing the critical issue of food insecurity across Gary while promoting economic development and community empowerment by training individuals to own their own co-ops. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I am excited to see the growth of the Gary Food Collective Co-op and the positive impact it will continue having on the city, said Legacy Foundation President and CEO, Kelly Anoe. In the last three months, Family Life Community Center, at 565 Massachusetts St., has helped feed about 8,000 people. The co-op is primarily sourced by the Food Bank of Northwest Indiana, but through a new partnership, the co-op now receives items from local Meijer and Target locations. Receiving these grants is a monumental step forward for the Gary Food Collective, explained LaJuan Clemons, founder of the Family Life Community Center. This funding allows us to expand our co-op program, making fresh, nutritious food more accessible while fostering workforce development and community empowerment. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Inspired by the legacy of Gary native Jacob Reddix and the Consumer Cooperative Trading Company, she said the organizations want to create a modern network of co-ops that reflect the same spirit of resilience and innovation. This is about more than just food; its about building a sustainable, self-reliant community that thrives together, she said. To learn more about the Gary Food Collective Co-op program and Family Life Community Center contact Lajuan Clemons at 219-240-6557 or laJuan@garyfoodcollective.net. Jourdan Bennett-Begaye ICT WASHINGTON In one of his final acts while in office, outgoing President Joe Biden commuted the life sentence for activist Leonard Peltier, who has already served 49 years in prison in the shooting deaths of two federal agents during a standoff at Pine Ridge in 1975. Peltier, who has suffered ongoing health problems, will be allowed to live out his life at home, according to a statement issued by the White House. The President is commuting the life sentence imposed on Leonard Peltier so that he serves the remainder of his sentence in home confinement, according to the White House statement. He is now 80 years old, suffers from severe health ailments, and has spent the majority of his life (nearly half a century) in prison. "The White House news release disappeared, and the link responded with a 404 error, after President Donald J. Trump was sworn into office Monday. Its finally over Im going home, Peltier is quoted as saying in an NDN Collective news release. I want to show the world Im a good person with a good heart. I want to help the people, just like my grandmother taught me. (Screenshot of the link to the White House press release at 12:05 p.m. Eastern Time, ICT) NDN Collectives founder and chief executive officer Nick Tilsen, who has fought for Peltiers clemency, is looking forward to Peltier going home, though he said officials have indicated Peltier may not be released for several weeks. Leonard Peltiers freedom ... is the result of 50 years of intergenerational resistance, organizing, and advocacy, Tilsen said in a statement. Leonard Peltiers liberation is our liberation we will honor him by bringing him back to his homelands to live out the rest of his days surrounded by loved ones, healing, and reconnecting with his land and culture. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Tilsen has called Peltier the longest living Indigenous political prisoner in the history of the United States. Related: Tears of joy: Indian Country reacts to Leonard Peltier clemency U.S. Democratic Sen. Brian Schatz from Hawaii, who has pushed for compassionate release for Peltier, praised the decision. If there were ever a case that merited compassionate release, Leonard Peltiers was it, said Schatz, who serves as vice chair of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, in a statement. President Biden did the right thing by showing this aging man in poor health mercy and allowing him to return home to spend whatever days he has remaining with his loved ones, Schatz said. I thank President Biden and the countless advocates whove worked tirelessly over the years to secure Peltiers release. Schatz made a four-minute plea on the Senate floor on Dec. 4 asking Biden to grant clemency to Peltier. The process that led to his conviction had major issues and inaccuracies from the start, he said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The release of Peltier, Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians, has drawn support from a number of human rights organizations and activists, including Amnesty International USA, Pope Francis, the Dalai Lama and others. Others, however, have questioned his role in the violence committed by the American Indian Movement during the Wounded Knee era in the 1970s, which included the deaths of the two Federal Bureau of Investigation agents. The Assembly of First Nations recently rescinded its 40-year support of Peltier because of his alleged role in the murder of Anna Mae Pictou Aquash, Mikmaq. Peltier has maintained he had no involvement in her death. Peltier was not convicted of murder in the deaths of the FBI agents Jack Coler and Ronald Williams. He was convicted of aiding and abetting the murder of federal officers, plus received a seven-year sentence for an escape attempt. Schatz has said Peltiers constitutional rights were violated during the trial. Related: Leonard Peltier's 46 years in prison: What else do you want? Until Bidens last-minute action, Peltier had repeatedly been denied parole, pardon, clemency, and compassionate release. Im still hoping its real, said Jean Roach, who as a 14 year old was a witness to the 1975 shootout in Oglala on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. Fifty years is a long time to wait. Roach, Miniconjou Lakota, is co-director of the International Leonard Peltier Defense Committee that has coordinated the campaign to win Peltiers release. Roach said her mother, Evelyn Hand Boy, was a good friend of Peltiers and that Peltier had been asked to come to Oglala to protect members of the American Indian Movement who were taking a stand against supporters of Oglala Lakota Chairman Dick Wilson. The AIM people were scared, said Roach. (Peltier) saved our lives. Roach, who said she hoped to see Peltier soon on his home reservation in North Dakota, said the long campaign to free him was difficult. The FBI threw everything at us, she said. They painted a picture that was no negative that the public began to believe it. Former Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, Laguna Pueblo, applauded Biden. I am beyond words about the commutation of Leonard Peltier. His release from prison signifies a measure of justice that has long evaded so many Native Americans for so many decades, she wrote on social media. I am grateful that Leonard can now go home to his family. I applaud President Biden for this action and understanding what this means to Indian Country. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Native people across the country celebrated Peltiers clemency and those who fought for it over the years. We applaud President Biden and this Administration for its bravery and righteousness in extending clemency to Mr. Peltier in the sunset of his life, said United South and Eastern Tribes, Inc. President Kirk Francis in a statement. While nothing can truly set right the violation of his rights and decades of wrongful captivity, this action of compassion brings some healing and justice to Mr. Peltier and his family, as well as this painful chapter in the history of Tribal Nation-United States relations. Attorney Kevin Sharp of Nashville, who filed Peltiers first bid for clemency in 2019 and again in 2021, likewise praised the Biden decision. President Biden took an enormous step toward healing and reconciliation with the Native American people in this country, Sharp said in a statement. It took nearly 50 years to acknowledge the injustice of Leonard Peltiers conviction and continued incarceration, but with the Presidents act of mercy Leonard can finally return to his reservation and live out his remaining days. Sharp, a former federal judge in the Middle District of Tennessee, represented Peltier for five years until NDN Collective took over the effort. Stay updated at ictnews.org for more developments. ICTs Stewart Huntington contributed to this report. Our stories are worth telling. Our stories are worth sharing. Our stories are worth your support. Contribute $5 or $10 today to help ICT carry out its critical mission. Sign up for ICTs free newsletter. Flock Safety cameras capture license plates. (Photo courtesy of Flock Safety) The General Assembly is gearing up to rein in on the growing use of automated license plate readers (ALPRs) by law enforcement, a move prompted by the Virginia Crime Commission, which voted Friday to pursue new regulations. ALPRs cameras that capture a vehicles license plate along with its location, date and time have exploded in popularity nationwide, used by everyone from businesses to homeowner associations to law enforcement agencies. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement And while law enforcement agencies are using them in Virginia, use is yet to be state-regulated. A proposal from House Majority Leader Charniele Herring, D-Alexandria, would restrict police use of ALPRs to specific investigations, such as missing person cases, outstanding warrants, human trafficking or stolen vehicles or plates. Law enforcement would also need a permit from the Department of Transportation to install cameras on state roads. Herrings bill also seeks to increase transparency, requiring data collection on whether police stops or detentions stemmed from ALPR alerts. Other states regulate how long police can retain ALPR data, with time frames ranging from three minutes in New Hampshire to five years in Alabama. Virginia lawmakers may consider similar restrictions as they debate the issue. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A presentation last November highlighted both benefits and concerns tied to law enforcements use of the technology. Crime Commission Deputy Director Colin Drabert emphasized that ALPR technology doesnt directly identify individuals, although law enforcement agencies can share data with other public and private entities that use ALPR. Drabert said that police must access separate databases to determine who owns a vehicle that was flagged by the technology. He noted that ALPR systems alert law enforcement to vehicles on a hot list, including stolen vehicles or license plates, vehicles linked to criminal activity, or those connected to missing persons. However, with ALPR use largely unregulated nationwide, concerns have grown over privacy violations and the potential for misuse. During Fridays commission meeting, legal experts called for safeguards as lawmakers prepare to regulate the technology. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Ruby Cherian, an attorney with the Legal Aid Justice Center, warned that ALPR use might increase unjustified law enforcement contact with individuals. She urged legislators to ensure that contracts between law enforcement agencies and ALPR companies are subject to public scrutiny under the Freedom of Information Act. Concerns were also raised about how the use of ALPR might clash with the Fourth Amendment, which protects against unreasonable searches or seizures. As these devices proliferate even more, the saturation of ALPR in communities may become so great that it could trigger Fourth amendment protections, said Chris Kaiser, policy director at the American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia. While some supported regulating ALPR use, others defended ALPR use. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Dana Schrad, director of the Virginia Association of Police Chiefs, defended the technology as an invaluable tool that provides critical information to law enforcement and that her organization would like to see amendments on the bill. As it works its way through committees, Herring added that is where further debate and amendments can occur. Schrad also noted that some departments in Virginia have used ALPR for years without widespread reports of misuse. House Speaker Don Scott, D-Portsmouth, pushed back on that assertion. Thats prior to the proliferation of these things, he said. Theyre more widespread. The problem may have not been noticed then because they were in less use SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE Welcome to the second Donald Trump era in Washington, although in practice, the first never really ended. A majority of Republicans in the House Representatives voted to overturn the 2020 election results. Much of the party referred to him as President Trump, even after he left D.C. Now back as president, Trump delivered a dark and heavily partisan inaugural address Monday. He used it to rehash plenty of his old scores, from arguing that he had been politically persecuted to promising that the violent and unfair weaponization of the Justice Department and our government will end. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trump also used his opening remarks to tout the litany of various executive orders (EOs) that he plans to sign as president. Unsurprisingly, many of the EOs focus heavily on immigration, such as listing drug cartels as a terrorist organization, declaring a national emergency to surge troops at the U.S.-Mexico border and supposedly ending birthright citizenship under the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. Trump announced a whole host of planned policies in his first speech as the 47th president of the United States. (POOL/AFP via Getty Images) Other EOs focus on rolling back protections for LGBTQ+ people, with an expected series of anti-trans orders. Trump announced in his speech that the policy of the United States to recognize two sexes, male and female and that sexes that are not changeable, and they are grounded in fundamental and incontrovertible reality. He also bragged about executive orders that will allow for oil drilling in regions such as Alaska, declaring drill baby, drill. As president, Trump has plenty of authority to enact his policies however, there are still some limits on the extent of what can be changed by executive order. Here are some areas where he might have trouble. Immigration The American public has largely moved to support more restrictive immigration policies since Trump took office in 2017. The Senate is slated to pass the Laken Riley Act, which would allow for immigration authorities to detain migrants arrested for theft, even if they are not convicted, after a number of Democrats joined Republicans to pass the legislation. The president will also be able to reinstate the Remain in Mexico policy from his previous administration, which forces migrants to stay in Mexico as their immigration cases are pending. Migrants turn themselves in to U.S. Customs and Border Patrol officers after crossing over a section of border wall into the U.S. on January 05, 2025 in Ruby, Arizona (Getty Images) But this is where he faces difficulties. For one, while Trump wants to beef up spending at the U.S.-Mexico border, he will need to get money from Congress to do so. Republicans have only 218 seats in the House and a 53-seat majority in the Senate, meaning they have to deal with tight margins and get every Republican on board. The resignation of Michael Waltz from Congress to become his National Security Adviser, as well as Rep. Elise Stefanik to be U.S. ambassador to the United Nations gives Speaker Mike Johnson little latitude. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trump pledged to completely shut down the border, resembling a pledge that former president Joe Biden made during the bipartisan border negotiations early last year. But Republicans largely rebuffed that bill because it would only come if crossings reached 5,000 a day. Birthright citizenship One of the most controversial of Trumps planned executive orders is his declaration to end birthright citizenship for the children of undocumented immigrants. Automatic citizenship for Americans born in the United States was adopted after the civil war, a hard fought-for right following previous laws that said anyone descended from enslaved people could not become citizens. Birthright citizenship has become a cornerstone of American identity, one of the few countries in the world to offer it and one of the only paths forward for many immigrants to ensure a better life for their children. Almost certainly, civil rights groups will take this up with the courts as unconstitutional, since birthright citizenship is written into the 14th Amendment. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Even if the Supreme Court says this passes muster, it will inevitably be tied up in the legal system for longer than Trump wants. Taxes Trump faces a huge deadline at the end of the year as most of the tax cuts under the law that he signed in 2017 will expire. Republicans largely rebuffed a tax deal that included business investments and a new child tax credit last year because they hoped that Trump would come back and let them have a better negotiating deal. Since presidents share power with Congress when it comes to imposing tariffs, it will form a large part of Trumps proposed economic agenda. Donald Trump is sworn in as the 47th president of the United States by Chief Justice John Roberts as Melania Trump holds the Bible in the US Capitol Rotunda (AFP via Getty Images) This part is largely beyond Trumps control because it mostly requires that every Republican get on board in order to pass a bill via budget reconciliation, which allows for the majority to sidestep a filibuster as long as the legislation is germane to the federal budget. On top of that, Trump talked about an external revenue service to collect his proposed tariffs, which would require an act of Congress. Its also not clear if tariffs would be able to make up for lost revenue from taxation. Drilling The president spoke about the need to increase energy production, although the words he used We will drill, baby, drill were a little more direct. As was the case in 2017, he will remove the United States from the Paris Climate Agreement, which will allow it to conduct more fossil fuel extraction. This 2019 aerial photo provided by ConocoPhillips shows an exploratory drilling camp at the proposed site of the Willow oil project on Alaska's North Slope. (ConocoPhillips) Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The president has also hinted at rolling back an auto emissions regulation put in place by the Biden administration. He also planned on issuing a national energy emergency to authorize drilling in Alaska. The 2017 tax bill that he signed authorized drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and he would likely amp up drilling in the area, which has long been supported by Alaska Republicans. But Trump would also face some major difficulties in increasing energy production. For one, the Biden administration ramped up oil production in the first part of his administration largely due to anxieties about oil prices. Now because of the war in Ukraine, oil production is at an all-time high. Second, before he left office, Biden put in place a ban on offshore drilling for 625 million acres of the Atlantic Ocean. Furthermore, this ban might be harder to lift without an act of Congress and many Republicans from coastal areas in Florida and South Carolina might object to having land near their area up for offshore drilling. Renaming maps Trump mentioned in his address that he wants to rename the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America, seemingly in large part because of the gas and drilling options available there. Or as Trump said earlier this month: Because we do most of the work there, and its ours. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This, again, would require an act of Congress. One of Trumps biggest supporters, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, has legislation that could pass the House of Representatives but would likely not pass through the Senate. Even if it did pass and become law, there would be nothing to ensure that other countries had to ever use the name (remember freedom fries?). Panama Canal Trump has also been discussing retaking the Panama Canal, the famed shipping canal that allows trade between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. After controlling the canal for decades, the U.S. handed over full control to the Panamanian government in 1999. Tourists watch a cargo ship transit through the famed Panama Canal in Panama City last year. (AFP via Getty Images) This policy would not only require money to come from Congress but also require a negotiated agreement with Panama. Or at worst, the use of military force to seize it for the United States. Not long after Trumps address, Panamas President Jose Raul Mulino roundly rejected Trumps call to seize the canal. DOGEs power As for the proposed Department of Government Efficency, aka DOGE, which is supposedly spearheaded by Tesla CEO Elon Musk, there is evidence it might be in for a bumpy road. For one, it has already been sued four times. Second, the department does not have a clear mandate and is essentially an advisory committee rather than one with any authority. Third, presidential hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy was also supposed to be part of it, but announce on inauguration day that instead he was running for governor of Ohio. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement And even putting all this aside, DOGE does not write the budget; the Appropriations Committees of the House and Senate do and it could easily reject the recommendations of DOGE. Even with the roadblocks, Trump has more wind at his back this time than during his first administration in part because fewer Republicans like to cross him, and many agree with his extreme ideologies. Democrats, still reeling after being battered badly during the 2024 election, might be inclined to go along with at least some of his policies. But that doesnt mean itll all be smooth sailing. JACKSON, Miss. (WJTV) Due to an arctic blast, warming shelters have opened in Mississippi to help those in need. Alcorn County Alcorn County Warming Shelter 7 County Road 604, Corinth, MS (Open until the temperatures are above freezing) Adams County Adams County Safe Room Warming Shelter 323 Liberty Rd, Natchez, MS 39120 (Open) Clay County Northside Christian Church Fellowship Hall 114 Cottrell St., West Point (Open Monday and Tuesday 6 p.m. to 6 a.m.) Copiah County Copiah County Safe Room 1060 Epps Lane, Hazlehurst, MS (Open January 20, at 5:00 p.m.) Desoto County Southaven Community Safe Room Warming Shelter 7312 Hwy 51 N Southaven, MS (Open) George County Agricola Warming Shelter 3161 Cooks Corner Rd. (Opens Sunday, January 19, 2025, at 4 p.m.). If you plan to come to the shelter, bring your own bedding (sleeping bags, cot, blankets), food, medication, etc. Grenada County Grenada City Auditorium 17 Main Street North, Grenada, MS (Opens Sunday, January 19, 2025 at 3 p.m.) Hancock County The Emergency Operations Center Building 18333 Highway 603 Kiln (opens 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 a.m., January 19, 2025, through January 22, 2025). If someone needs a ride to the shelter, contact Hancock County Central Dispatch at 228-255-9191 for assistance. Harrison County DIberville Kenny Fournier Multipurpose Center 10395 Automall Parkway, DIberville (Opens Sunday, January 19, 2025 at 4:30 p.m.) Gulfport Salvation Army Center of Hope 2019 22nd Street, Gulfport (opens Sunday, January 19, 2025 at 6 p.m.) Transportation assistance is available. Call Coast Transit Authority at (228)-896-8080 or check their website for route information. Hinds County Shower Power Warming Shelter Champion Gym at 1355 Hattiesburg Street, Jackson, MS Issaquena County Multipurpose Building 132 Court Street, Mayersville, MS Jackson County Truly Grace- Warming Shelter for the Homeless 8735 Hwy 613, Moss Point, MS (Open Monday 12 p.m. to Wednesday at 12 p.m.) Jasper County Jasper County Community Center 124 Edmund King Rd. Bay Springs, MS 39422 (Opens Sunday, January 19 and will be open 24 hours) Jones County Salvation Army 129 N 13th Ave, Laurel, MS (Open as long as temperatures are below 32 degrees) Christ Church 107 W. 13th Street, Laurel, MS (Open Sunday at 6:00 p.m. Thursday at 11:00 a.m.) Jones County Safe Room 1425 Ellisville Blvd, Laurel, MS (Open) Lauderdale County 2900 St. Paul Dr. Meridian, MS. (Hours will be from 5 p.m. until 8 a.m.) Lee County Salvation Army 527 Carnation Street, Tupelo, MS (Opens Sunday and provides 24-hour warming sheltering until the freezing temps leave the area) Lincoln County Brookhaven Building 1154 Beltline DR. Brookhaven, MS 39601 (Opens Monday, January 20, 2025, at 4:00 pm) Lowndes County Genesis Church 1820 23rd Street North, Columbus, MS (Open) Lauderdale County 2900 St. Paul Dr. Meridian, MS (Hours will be from 5 p.m. until 8 a.m.) Montgomery County The Community House 113 Sterling Ave, Winona, MS (Opens 2:00 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 19, 2025 Thursday, Jan. 23, 2025) Oktibbeha County Peters Rock Family Worship Center 223 Martin Luther King Dr, Starkville (Open Monday, January 20 Wednesday, January 22 from 8:00 p.m. 8:00 a.m. daily) Pearl River County Picayune Safe Room Warming Shelter 501 Laurel St, Picayune, MS 39466 Carriere Safe Room Warming Shelter 7407 Highway 11, Carriere, MS 39426 Poplarville Safe Room Warming Shelter 124 Rodeo St, Poplarville, MS 39470 Prentiss County VFW 100 W Loveless Road, Booneville, MS (Open from 8:00 4:00) Stone County Farris ONeal Senior Center 1240 Magnolia Ave South, Wiggins, MS (Open 5:00 p.m. January 20, through January 23, at 7:00 a.m.) Yazoo County 347 North Mound Street, Yazoo City (Anyone needing a ride can call 662-746-1131 or 662-746-0014. Open Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday from 5 p.m. to 9 a.m.) Wayne County Courtroom at Wayne County Sheriffs Department 613 Court Street (open January 19 January 23) Wilkinson County Centreville Civic Center 147 W Main St, Centreville, MS 39631 Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Click here to keep up with the Storm Team 12 forecast. Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now Daily Weather Forecast Copyright 2025 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 WJTV. AUSTIN (KXAN) County offices, as well as some service providers, are announcing closures and changes to their schedules on Monday and Tuesday due to wintry weather. The First Warning Weather team said a winter storm on Monday night into early Tuesday morning is expected to bring a rare snow and wintry mix to Central Texas. A Cold Weather Advisory is in effect from now until noon Wednesday due to dangerous temperatures and wind chills. FORECAST: Winter storm brings light snow showers tonight Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Below is a running list of these closures and service disruptions. Stick with KXAN for more updates. Austin Regional Clinic Austin Regional Clinic will provide telemedicine visits only on Tuesday. ARC said it plans to open all clinic doors for regular hours Wednesday. The clinic said patients will be notified and rescheduled for telemedicine or in-clinic appointments, and updates will be posted on www.AustinRegionalClinic.com. CapMetro services CapMetro said its services on Monday will end by 9 p.m. Customers are urged to complete their last trips before then. CapMetro said it will resume limited operations starting at 10 a.m. Tuesday, and the first trips are expected to begin closer to 11 a.m. The transit authority did confirm Pickup services wouldnt operate in Lago Vista Tuesday due to deteriorating road conditions and the Manor zone isnt running Tuesday due to Capital Area Rural Transportation System closures. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement CapMetros Night Owl service, UT Shuttles and Flyer Express services will be suspended until Tuesday. CapMetro Rail and Rail Connector Routes 465 and 466 will not operate on Tuesday. CapMetros bike-share service will end Monday by 10 p.m. and resume Tuesday at 10 a.m. The agency encouraged riders to sign up for CapMetro Alerts to get updates. CapMetro also said its prepared to shift its resources to provide emergency transportation for the community, and its already providing transportation to cold-weather shelters. Anyone who cant pay the fare and needs to get to a cold-weather shelter will still be given a ride, according to the agency. Cedar Park The City of Cedar Park announced due to inclement weather trash and recycling collection will not occur on Tuesday, and will be on a one-day delay. City offices will also be closed all day Tuesday. Fayette County offices closed Tuesday The Fayette County Office of Emergency Management said county offices will close Tuesday. They will decide whether to close on Wednesday or not on Tuesday. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Fayette County Sheriffs Office said it will remain open 24/7 for the needs of the county. Georgetown The City of Georgetown announced on socials, many city facilities will be closed Tuesday due to the chance of wintry precipitation. Georgetown city parks, recreational facilities, and the municipal court will be closed on Tuesday. The Williamson County offices, Georgetown ISD campuses, and Southwestern University will also be closed all day Tuesday. H-E-B H-E-B announced some stores will have altered schedules because of the weather. Here are the details for stores in the KXAN viewing area. The Fredericksburg, Kyle, Lockhart, Luling and all San Marcos stores will close at 8 p.m. on Monday and open at 10 a.m. on Tuesday. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Wimberley location will close at 7 p.m. on Monday and open at 10 a.m. on Tuesday. All other Central Texas area stores will close regular hours on Monday and open at 10 a.m. on Tuesday. Central Market stores will close at 10 p.m. on Monday and open at 10 a.m. on Tuesday. Integral Care clinics closed Tuesday Integral Care said clinics, administrative offices and other non-essential programs will close Tuesday due to wintry weather. Psychiatric Emergency Services, other crisis services and residential services are continuing normal operations. If someone needs urgent help, call (512) 472-4357. Meals on Wheels Central Texas Meals on Wheels Central Texas said it will close and there will be an interruption of meal deliveries on Tuesday. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement For the safety of our staff and volunteers, these closures mean the interruption of home-delivered meals, kitchen operations, and the closure of Congregate Lunch Centers, according to a release from the organization. Round Rock The City of Round Rock said in an X post that all city offices will be closed and trash will be delayed due to inclement weather. Travis County non-essential offices Travis County said Judge Andy Brown announced that the countys non-essential offices, services and facilities will be closed on Tuesday. Essential emergency personnel will still report for duty. The Travis County Commissioners Court voting session set for Tuesday at 9 a.m. is also canceled. Travis County Emergency Services Department The Travis County Emergency Services Department Administrative and Fire Prevention Offices will be closed on Tuesday, Jan. 21 due to inclement weather. Fire stations will be staffed and ready to respond when needed. University of Texas at Austin Office of Emergency Management The office said it will close on Tuesday due to the weather. West Lake The West Lake Hills Police Administrative Offices will be closed on Tuesday, Jan. 20 due to anticipated snow and icy conditions. Williamson County offices closed Tuesday County offices will close on Tuesday. Residents are urged to stay home and off the roads unless necessary. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Williamson County reminded residents to prepare for freezing temperatures and to register for local emergency alerts online. A list of warming centers is on the Texas Division of Emergency Management website. Copyright 2025 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. Ukraine received a new military aid package from Lithuania, including domestically-produced drones, thermal imagers, and five-ton telescopic loaders, the Defense Ministry announced on Jan. 20. "Keeping Ukraine safe means taking care of our security. We have as much time as Ukraine has," Lithuanian Defense Minister Dovile Sakaliene said. The country has also removed bureaucratic barriers to expedite the delivery of support to Ukraine. Vilnius has committed to prioritizing air defense systems, ammunition, drones, and anti-drone weapons in its 2025 aid packages, along with funding Ukraine's defense industry to boost local production. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Kyiv plans to spend a record $35 billion on arms production in 2025, of which $17 billion will be financed by the Ukrainian government, Defense Minister Rustem Umerov said on Jan. 13. Lithuania has been a steadfast ally of Ukraine, pledging 0.25% of its GDP annually in military assistance. By October 2024, Vilnius had provided 840 million ($860 million) in aid, making it one of the top donors relative to GDP, according to the Kiel Institute for the World Economy. Read also: Russias primitive glide bombs are still outmatching Ukraines air defenses, killing more civilians Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. CAIRO, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi and Austrian interim chancellor Alexander Schallenberg discussed in phone talks on Monday the regional developments, the Egyptian presidency said in a statement. Sisi highlighted Egypt's endeavors to ensure the implementation of the Gaza ceasefire-for-hostage release deal and adequate delivery of humanitarian aid to the people of the Strip. He also stressed the indispensability of initiating reconstruction efforts in Gaza to make it habitable. Schallenberg commended Egypt's efforts over the past months to mediate the conflict and prevent further bloodshed. He affirmed his country's appreciation for Egypt's vital role in securing the ceasefire. During their talks, Sisi reiterated Egypt's commitment to preserving Syria's unity, territorial integrity, and the security of its people. The two leaders also emphasized the importance of maintaining the ceasefire and supporting Lebanon's state institutions. TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) President-elect Donald Trump held a rally at Capital One Arena in Washington on Sunday, just one day before taking office. The events kicked-off Saturday in Washington, D.C. The rally featured guest appearances by musical artists such as the Village People, Kid Rock, and Billy Ray Cyrus. Tech billionaire Elon Music was also in attendance. On Monday, Trump will head to the White House where he will be sworn in as the 47th president. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 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. Welcome to our live blog, where the USA TODAY Network Florida will be covering the Florida connections during President Trump's inauguration in Washington, D.C. From notable figures to celebratory moments to the controversial policies of Day One, we'll spotlight the Floridians and the impact to the Sunshine State on this historic day. Check back here throughout the day as we follow the pageantry and policy, share key insights and trace the Florida footprint in the nation's capital. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Other coverage: Presidential inauguration fact check: Analyzing claims from and about Trump Florida officials begin arriving at Capitol 10:35 a.m. Former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi and U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio are exiting a bus at the Capitol. Bondi has been nominated to serve as Trump's attorney general, stepping in after U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz stepped aside once his confirmation appeared uncertain. Rubio has been nominated to serve as Trump's secretary of state. As a soon-to-be member of the U.S. Senate, Rubio's confirmation is expected to be smooth. Debbie Wasserman Schulz, D-Fla., and other members of Congress also are filing into the Capitol Rotunda. U.S. Rep. Lois Frankel, a West Palm Beach Democrat, walked in behind U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn, the South Carolina Democrat whose support was key for Joe Biden in 2020. Frankel and other Democrats will be in the minority in the U.S. House as Donald Trump begins his second term as president. Another member of Palm Beach County's congressional delegation, Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, made her way into the Rotunda. Cherfilus-McCormick, a Democrat whose district covers parts of Palm Beach and Broward counties, is battling an ethics complaint and a Florida lawsuit regarding COVID her home health care business received. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement More: Florida files COVID-19 related suit after accidentally overpaying company $5 million Puerto Rico governor getting selfie with DeSantis 10:28 a.m. Puerto Rico Gov. Jenniffer Gonzalez posted a selfie on X with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and his wife, Casey, from the U.S. Capitol rotunda. That's where Trump will soon be sworn back into office. Gonzalez served in Congress as a non-voting member with DeSantis when he was a member of the House. At the Capitol, alongside my good friend, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who was my colleague in Congress, and First Lady Casey DeSantis, ready for the inauguration of Donald Trump as President of the United States, she wrote. En el Capitolio, junto a mi buen amigo, el gobernador de Florida, Ron DeSantis, quien fue mi colega en el Congreso, y la primera dama, Casey DeSantis, listos para la juramentacion de Donald Trump como presidente de los Estados Unidos. El presidente ha dado prioridad a la pic.twitter.com/0fvqgADPW2 Jenniffer Gonzalez (@Jenniffer) January 20, 2025 Trulieve's Kim Rivers in DC for inauguration 10:21 a.m. Kim Rivers, CEO of the Florida-based Trulieve medical marijuana powerhouse, is in D.C. for the inauguration. She posted on X from Sunday nights candlelight dinner at the National Building Museum. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Night 2 at the Candlelight Dinner - beautiful venue with @realDonaldTrump giving remarks on the eve of inauguration, she said. Trump was in favor of last years Amendment 3 ballot initiative in Florida, which would have legalized adult-use recreational pot. It fell short, getting 56% support from statewide voters, 4 percentage points shy of the required 60% to amend the state constitution. And Trulieve chipped in most of the more than $150 million received by Smart & Safe Florida, the group running that pro-legalization campaign, to promote the proposed amendment. Night 2 at the Candlelight Dinner - beautiful venue with @realDonaldTrump giving remarks on the eve of inauguration. pic.twitter.com/s4i1N4lYRj Kim Rivers (@rivers_kim) January 20, 2025 Trump family starts arriving at US Capitol 9:54 a.m. Some members of Trump's family, including his daughters and sons and their spouses, have begun to arrive at the U.S. Capitol, where Trump is to be sworn in at noon. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Four years and two weeks ago, angry Trump supporters stormed the Capitol and forced then-Vice President Mike Pence and members of Congress into hiding. Many of the rioters were convicted of various crimes in the months after the January 6 riot. Trump is poised to pardon those rioters once becomes president again. The four paused to have their pictures taken before the Bidens escorted the Trumps into the White House. The last Waltz: Florida congressman expected to resign today 9:42 a.m. U.S. Rep. Mike Waltz is expected to resign today to take his post as national security adviser to President-elect Donald Trump. The resignation leaves Republicans with a 218-215 advantage over Republicans in the U.S. House. Waltz, 50, has served in Congress since 2019. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Gov. Ron DeSantis has already called a special election to replace Waltz. The primary is Jan. 28 and the general election is April 1. State Sen. Randy Fine, R-Melbourne Beach, has been endorsed by Trump for the seat even though he doesnt live in the district. DeSantis in DC, talking Carson Beck, weather 9:37 a.m. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is in Washington, posting on X a photo of him and Republican Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp. He took a friendly dig at Kemp over now-former University of Georgia quarterback Carson Kemp transferring to the University of Miami. Talking about Carson Beck heading to the U next season (and the snowstorm heading to North Florida and South Georgia this week) with @GovKemp before 47s inauguration he posted Monday morning. Talking about Carson Beck heading to the U next season (and the snowstorm heading to North Florida and South Georgia this week) with @GovKemp before 47s inauguration pic.twitter.com/Z7wvUIq1nX Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) January 20, 2025 Coffee and tea with the Bidens and Trumps 9:26 a.m. Outgoing President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala and their spouses have met at the White House in anticipation of hosting President-elect Donald Trump and Melania Trump for coffee and tea. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trump did not observe that tradition when he lost to Biden in 2020, but Biden, a long-serving member of the U.S. Senate before being elected president and an astute observer of Washington tradition, is attempting to restore all notions of a smooth transition of power in the United States. Trump, Vance go to church with Florida's Marco Rubio 9:20 a.m. President-elect Donald Trump and Vice-President-elect J.D. Vance attended St. John's Episcopal Church in Lafayette Square near the White House Monday morning with only hours to go before they are sworn in. Many incoming presidents going back to Franklin Delano Roosevelt have attended a brief service at St. John's before their inauguration. And St. John's is connected to Trump for another reason: It was the church where he had a photo op awkwardly holding a Bible in 2020 during protests in the aftermath of the murder of George Floyd. Trump and Vance attended the service with their family members and other incoming administration officials, including Marco Rubio, the U.S. senator from Florida who is expected to be confirmed today as the next secretary of state. Trump family members in attendance included his wife, Melania Trump, daughter Ivanka Trump, son-in-law Jared Kushner and sons Barron and Eric Trump. New day, old way? Florida presages Trump administration To get a taste of today, here's the introduction to Florida Capital Bureau reporter John Kennedy's recent preview story of the incoming administration: Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement With more than a dozen Floridians already named to the Cabinet and other posts in President-elect Donald Trumps administration, the states influence may become even more apparent in policies fast-emerging from the White House. The states war on woke parallels Trump's pending assault on diversity, equity and inclusion programs in the federal workplace, for example. Planned Day One attacks on immigration and energy policy also are large-scale versions of what Florida has experienced under Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis. The polarizing, hard-right policies planted in Florida over the six years of DeSantis' leadership may foreshadow much of what the federal government launches once Trump takes the presidential oath Monday. For the rest, read it here. This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Trump inauguration live updates: Florida highlights in Washington, DC Armed Second Amendment supporters Markus Khan (center) and Daniel Jenkins (right) outside the Virginia state Capitol on Lobby Day, Jan. 20, 2025. (Photo by Markus Schmidt/Virginia Mercury) Lobby Day at Virginias state Capitol, traditionally a significant gathering for Second Amendment supporters, drew a much smaller crowd on Monday than in past years. The annual event, organized by gun rights groups like the Virginia Citizens Defense League (VCDL), saw notably fewer attendees compared to its high-water mark in 2020. That year, more than 22,000 gun rights advocates, many openly carrying firearms, descended on Richmond to protest gun control measures proposed by a newly Democratic-controlled legislature. On Monday, however, the turnout paled in comparison, with less than 100 demonstrators braving frigid temperatures. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Some in the crowd attributed the sparse attendance to the cold weather and a competing event: many advocates traveled to Washington, D.C., to attend President Donald Trumps inauguration. I was planning to go D.C. today, but when they moved the inauguration inside, I decided to come here instead and show my support, said Chesterfield County resident Markus Khan. VCDL Treasurer Patricia Webb addressed the diminished crowd, urging supporters to remain active in defending their rights. I want to hear the excuses of all the people that didnt show up today because there is no excuse for not defending the future of our country and leaving a legacy for our kids, our grandkids, and our great grandkids, Webb said. Its important to stay engaged in the process. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The lower attendance also reflects a shift in the political landscape since four years ago, when Virginias gun rights movement mobilized heavily in response to proposed legislation expanding background checks and limiting firearm purchases. Despite setbacks in the legislature, Webb emphasized the need for vigilance. Its not just about showing up once, its about being consistent, she said, encouraging gun rights advocates to continue pressuring lawmakers. Attendees at the Lobby Day rally at the Virginia state Capitol in Richmond show their support for Second Amendment rights on Jan. 20, 2025. (Photo by Markus Schmidt/Virginia Mercury) Brandon Mooney, a gun rights activist who traveled from Idaho to attend, commended those who braved the cold to rally at the state Capitol but urged the crowd to push for broader engagement. I want to applaud every single person here that actually took the time to come out and fight for your rights, Mooney said. This is something thats monumental to actually get ahead. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Mooney expressed concern over growing apathy within the gun rights movement, particularly among those who feel complacent after recent political victories. Theres a lot of people out there that just dont care. Theyre like, well, we got Youngkin in, so were good. We got Trump now. No, were done with that, he said. Recalling the massive turnout at the 2020 Lobby Day, Mooney urged supporters to recapture that energy. Who was here for 2020? I loved the energy back then, it was absolutely awesome. We need to get involved and stop the apathy, he said, challenging locals to step up. If I can make it out from North Idaho, then theres no excuse why you guys cant have more people here. Khan, the Second Amendment activist from Chesterfield County, lamented how the increasingly partisan political climate has stifled compromise on Second Amendment legislation. We used to have more bipartisanship on the issue, Khan said. At least we could get a tie vote with someone from the other side coming in. We just havent seen that anymore. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Khan acknowledged the deep divisions between Republicans and Democrats. I understand where thats coming from. Theres a reason for that division, for that partisanship, he said. Tensions are really high. We have polarizing figures leaving, polarizing figures coming in. And Im not sure if thats gonna change any time soon. Virginia Democrats have once again introduced a wave of gun control measures this year, reflecting their continued push for stricter firearm regulations in the wake of ongoing gun violence. With both chambers of the legislature under Democratic control, these proposals, which include measures like limits on high-capacity magazines and the prohibition of assault weapons, are expected to pass with relative ease. However, the fate of these bills appears bleak once they reach the desk of Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin unless Democrats muster up enough votes to override a veto. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Mike Fox, the Virginia chapter leader of Moms Demand Action, nonprofit group pushing for public safety measures that can protect people from gun violence, framed Lobby Day as evidence of the ongoing battle over gun policy in the state. He emphasized that gun safety is not only sound policy but also resonates with voters. We have proved in Virginia that gun safety is both good policy and good politics, Fox said. Reflecting on the groups efforts during the 2023 election cycle, he highlighted their success in flipping the House of Delegates and maintaining a gun sense majority in the Senate. We demonstrated a message to our lawmakers that if they dont put our safety first, we will replace them with lawmakers who will, Fox said. But on Monday, VCDL President Philip Van Cleave called out what he described as glaring contradictions in some of the gun control measures introduced by Democrats this year. He argued that the proposals are not only impractical but seem designed to discourage lawful gun ownership and carrying. Philip Van Cleave, president of the Virginia Citizens Defense League, at the Lobby Day rally at the state Capitol in Richmond, Jan. 20, 2025 (Photo by Markus Schmidt/Virginia Mercury) One bill says that if you dont have a permit, your gun in the car has to be visible at all times, whether youre in the car or out of the car, Van Cleave explained. The gun has to be visible. See, you have to leave it on the seat or on the dashboard, sort of attracting criminals, I suppose. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He contrasted this with another proposed law that penalizes visible firearms in parked cars. The other bill says if you leave a handgun thats visible, the police can tow your car and write you a ticket for $500, Van Cleave said. So youre pulling up to a rest stop thinking, Oh, I have to leave my gun in plain view. Then you go into the restroom, a state trooper passes by, sees your gun, tows your car, and writes you a ticket. If you dont put your gun in plain view, then youre in violation of the first law. Van Cleave described the proposals as emblematic of what he sees as the insanity of gun control and accused lawmakers of creating arbitrary rules that place lawful gun owners in impossible situations. Its all meant to discourage us from carrying, he said. The two measures Van Cleave referenced were introduced by separate lawmakers, a common occurrence in legislative sessions. In such cases, conflicting or overlapping bills are often amended during committee discussions or floor debates to address inconsistencies and avoid unintended consequences. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Del. Eric Zehr, R-Campbell, who was first elected to the legislature in 2023, echoed Van Cleaves remarks. This is my second year in Richmond and I am still trying to wrap my mind around the thought process that goes on here that says that guns somehow hurt people, Zehr said. Zehr emphasized the lifesaving role of firearms and invoked the wisdom of the nations founders in framing the Second Amendment. We know that guns save lives. Our founding fathers knew also that guns save lives, he said, adding that the Second Amendment serves as a critical safeguard against the abuse of power. Henrico County resident Daniel Jenkins, standing just outside the state Capitol grounds where firearms are prohibited, expressed his frustration with the entrenched partisanship in American politics. Jenkins, who was armed, said he is tired of the constant political gridlock that stalls meaningful progress on issues like gun rights. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I would actually like to see some progress, Jenkins said. I hate the fact that were such a partisan country that we get to the point where you have one side to control this, and one controls the other side. We never gain or lose anything. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE ROANOKE, Va. (WFXR) A lot of gray area remains regarding what will happen next in the TikTok saga in the coming days and weeks. One thing that is already clear is that the U.S. Supreme Courts decision to uphold the ban on the app based on the nationality of its ownership is unprecedented for the social media sector in the United States. For this particular circumstance, it is a watershed moment because it is presumably going to be the end of a major platform in the United States, said Dr. Cacey Myers, director of graduate studies for the Virginia Tech communications department. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement TikToks parent company, ByteDance, was given until January 19 to sell the app to a United States-based group. While President Joe Biden and President-Elect Donald Trump have expressed a desire to extend the runway for a sale, ByteDances position seems firm on the matter. If theyre not selling it, what happens is the app supporters like Apple and these other platforms that support apps cant support it because theyll be fined, said Myers. So what happens is TikTok degrades in quality over time, if it remains. The key point is whether it remains because Myers feels like there is still a chance the app could be shut down completely. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Either way, the apps roughly 170 million U.S. users are going to need somewhere to go. Its going to displace users elsewhere, probably to one of the Meta platforms, if youre looking at parity between what is TikTok and where are those people going to go, said Myers. Theyre probably going to go to Instagram because those are the most similar. That migration could create trouble for creators, some of which have quit their jobs to make their livelihoods through TikTok. I feel for the folks who rely on this as their sole income, said Lynchburg creator Chad Evans. I feel for those folks and Im sure theyve been panicking. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The 53-year-old creator has amassed over 1.4 million followers on the app over the course of nearly four years. His top video has been viewed more than 27 million times and he routinely receives more than five million views on his short dance videos. He said that he would be fine financially if the app goes away, but also said that despite his years of dedication to the app and content creation, he is unlikely to transition his following to another platform. Do I have other plans? he reflected. Ill do some Instagram but if [TikTok] goes away permanently, Ill be resorting my extra time to doing something else. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Even for those who do migrate to other apps, there is a fear that it will be difficult to drive the same engagement that was possible on TikTok. Part of the engagement level of TikTok is their algorithm, said Myers. Their algorithm has been said to be very persuasive to people and engages with them. As a result, Myers said he would not be shocked if other apps, like Instagram or the emerging Red Note, try to replicate the algorithm to drive engagement on their own platforms. Something else to consider is that non-creators who just watch videos on TikTok without monetizing through creation will also be looking for a new content marketplace. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement As those users transition to alternative apps, its reasonable to assume higher engagement will follow. With so much uncertainty about what is to come, most creators are trying to stay level-headed and positive to see what ultimately happens. Well reconvene in 90 days and lets hope that by then theres a steady path forward, said Evans. Copyright 2025 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 WFXRtv. YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (WKBN) Full Spectrum Community Outreach is getting ready to open its food pantry next month. The food pantry will officially open from 2 to 4 p.m. on Feb. 16. Following its opening, itll be available the third Sunday of every month. Full Spectrum partnered with Second Harvest Food Bank of the Mahoning Valley to make it all happen. Client Care Coordinator Jodi DAndrew says Full Spectrum wanted to give back to the community. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement When you depend on organizations to help you and theyre there, that makes it and thats what we want to do here at Full Spectrum want to do. We want to give back to the community, we want to help the people that are starving and need things, DAndrea said. The pantry is located at Full Spectrums building on West Earle Avenue. Copyright 2025 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 WKBN.com. A local police department will assist with the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump. [DOWNLOAD: Free WHIO-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] The Dayton Police Department sent dozens of officers to Washington, D.C. to assist with security, according to a post by the department on social media. TRENDING STORIES: Those officers will join law enforcement agencies from across the country to assist with security measures during the swearing-in ceremony of Donald Trump as the 47th President of the United States. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Dayton police also sent officers to Trumps inauguration in 2017. [SIGN UP: WHIO-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter] BAY COUNTY, Fla. (WMBB) Officials in multiple counties in the Panhandle have announced school closures due to impacts from Winter Storm Enzo. News 13 will continue to update this page as school closures are announced. Bay County: Due to the historic snowfall across Bay County and continued hazardous road conditions, Bay District Schools will remain closed on Thursday, January 23, 2025. Calhoun County: After collaborating with local officials regarding road conditions, the Calhoun County School District decision has been made to close schools again on Friday, January 24 due to the continued threat of icy road conditions. School will resume on Monday, January 27. Franklin County: Superintendent Steve Lanier announced due to expected low temperatures and wind chill Franklin County School District will remain closed on Thursday, January 23. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Franklin County School District office will also be closed and all after-school activities will be canceled. Franklin County Schools will reopen on Friday, January 24th. FSU Panama City Florida State University Panama City and The Collegiate School will cancel classes and suspend normal business operations for Thursday, January 23 due to icy conditions. This includes the Early Childhood Autism clinic. The campus will resume normal business operations at 7 a.m. Friday, January 24. University officials said they will continue to closely monitor weather developments. Gulf Coast State College: All College campuses will be closed beginning at 12:00 pm CST on Tuesday, January 21, 2025 (no college classes are scheduled for Tuesday), and remain closed on Thursday, January 23. There will be no College services or activities at any of our campuses (Panama City, North Bay Campus, Gulf/Franklin Campus, and Tyndall Education Center). Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement GCSC will reopen all campuses on Friday, January 24, 2025, at 7 a.m. including the Early Childhood Autism Clinic. Gulf County: Due to a significant rupture to a main water line, both Wewahitchka schools will be closed on Friday. Port St. Joe schools will be open Friday and buses will run their regular routes. Holmes County: Holmes District Schools will remain closed on Friday. Additionally, all after-school activities including basketball games scheduled are also canceled. Officials said they are concerned about black ice on the roadways and taking precautionary steps. Ponce de Leon, Bethlehem, and Poplar Springs will announce plans for Saturdays Homecoming activities later Thursday. Jackson County: After consulting with Jackson County Emergency Management, and with the forecasted lows dipping into the teens overnight and concerns about black ice on the roadways, The Jackson County School District is taking the precautionary step of closing schools for Friday, January 24. Classes will resume on Monday. The Board Meeting has been rescheduled to Tuesday, January 28 at 4 p.m. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Chipola College will remain closed for all operations on Thursday, January 23 due to expected road conditions from winter weather. All classes, activities, and events, both on campus and online are also canceled. The college plans to reopen and resume normal hours on Friday, January 24. Liberty County: Due to the possibility of hazardous road conditions associated with the possibility of snow/ice school will remain closed on Thursday, January 23. All extra-curricular games and events will also be canceled. Liberty County Superintendent Kyle Peddie said this decision is being made with careful consideration after consulting with Liberty County Emergency Management, Florida Weather Service, and our Panhandle Superintendents. Peddie added he will once again evaluate Fridays scheduling. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement All schools were already scheduled to be off on Monday for Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Walton County: Walton School District has decided to close all campuses and offices on both Thursday, January 23 and Friday, January 24 due to the aftereffects of the winter storm. This closure will extend to SPICE programs and all extracurricular activities. School officials anticipate reopening on Monday, January 27, 2025. Washington County: After consulting with local officials, Washington County School District has decided to keep schools closed through Friday, January 24 due to ongoing hazardous road conditions. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 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 mypanhandle.com. In the 57 years since the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr Scholarship Fund began offering college-bound New London County students a financial boost, recipients have gone on to illustrious careers in the medical, educational and legal fields. A scholarship winner begins her healing career Lillian James, a 27-year-old doctor now in her first year of residency at Connecticut Childrens Hospital in Hartford, was aware, as were most of her peers, of the scholarship fund through conversations with teachers and the annual middle school trips to the groups award dinners. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement James, a New London High graduate and 2014 scholarship winner, still recalls the phone call 10 years ago verifying her award. I was ecstatic, and I cried; it meant a lot to me, especially since it was quite a process to get to that point, James said during a phone interview this month from New Britain where she resides. Just applying for the scholarship, which gave her $20,000 each year of her four-year college journey at the University of Connecticut, was challenging. There was the application, the written essay and an in-person interview with a whole group of people a somewhat intimidating affair for a high school junior not particularly adept at talking herself up. James essay focused on the work ethic of her family and how her parents instilled a never-give-up attitude in her and her brother. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I was born with a partial hearing loss that, at first, I could compensate for, James said. Then, after a concussion in second grade, I needed the hearing aids Ive worn ever since. That hearing loss led her, after graduating with a medical degree from Quinnipiac University, to pursue a residency in pediatrics. She credits the scholarship with providing an indispensable stream of funding at a crucial time. I knew I was going to need as many scholarships as I could get to prevent from going into debt right away, especially since I knew medical school would put me in debt, James said. It was consistent money I knew I could count on every year. It made all the difference. Being named a scholarship winner also provided a non-monetary boost. As a winner, James was expected to stand up in front of a crowd of hundreds and formally accept the award. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement That meant a speech, so we practiced and learned how to speak to a crowd, James said. That really expanded my confidence. The fund was created in 1968, the same year its namesake, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., was assassinated. The fund's board of trustees has bestowed more than 150 scholarships with award amounts having grown from $100 to $25,000. Past winners include actor and writer McKinley Winston; epidemiologist Sharon Dunning; criminal defense lawyer Phylicia Powers; and vascular surgeon Brittny Williams Howell. A state educator of the year teaches King For Kiana Foster-Mauro, the Robert E. Fitch High School graduate who went on to be named the state's 2024 Teacher of the Year, being a 2015 scholarship winner paid dividends beyond the monetary prize. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It offered the chance to network with other winners in the community who were equally as passionate and who went on to become doctors and engineers and successful in other fields, said the Groton resident, a fourth-grade teacher at New Londons Nathan Hale Arts Magnet School. Foster-Mauro, 26, her scholarship essay, a response and reflection of Kings Letter from a Birmingham Jail piece allowed her to take a deeper dive into the authors message of hope. She said her students enter into her class with a basic knowledge of who King was. Most of them can recite his I Have a Dream speech, so I work to bring them information on workers rights and desegregation, along with how the movement was a group effort, she said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Foster-Mauro was recently selected for the International Literacy Association's 2025 30 Under 30 list, which recognizes young leaders from around the world who are transforming literacy education and advocating for equitable learning opportunities. Foster-Mauro said the $20,000 scholarship, along with others, helped her graduate debt-free from the University of Connecticut with a degree in elementary education with a masters degree in curriculum and instruction. Those scholarships gave me the freedom to make unimpeded choices on what I wanted to study, she said. From airshow spectator to aerospace engineer Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trae Jennette, a 2010 scholarship winner who went on to become an aerospace engineer working for The Aerospace Corporation in Los Angeles, said he recalls the day his career path came into focus. I was in sixth or seventh grade and one of my friends had an extra seat for a Rhode Island air show, the Groton Science and Technology Magnet High School of Southeastern Connecticut graduate said. It was very cool and exciting F-18s did a flyover and an aircraft broke the sound barrier and I was all about it from then. Jennette, 31, works as technical adviser and project leader for the federally funded research and development center which advises the U.S. Air Force and Space Force. That work entails determining the effectiveness of various military mission scenarios. He said the King scholarship, along with others he qualified for, enabled him to graduate from Worcester Polytechnic Institute, and later the Georgia Institute of Technology, without being saddled with student loan debt. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A lot of graduates pile on debt and then have to make choices on what they want to do based on that debt, he said. Because of the scholarships, I had the privilege, the luxury, of being in a position to do what excited me.'' Jennette, like his fellow winners, recalled attending scholarship dinners as a teen. He moved to Los Angles in 2020 and was later nominated by the National Society of Black Engineers as one of Forbes 30 Under 30 candidates. j.penney@theday.com By Amanda Ferguson BELFAST (Reuters) - The British government on Monday rejected an attempt to trigger the "Stormont Brake", angering Northern Ireland unionists who sought to use the post-Brexit emergency mechanism to stop the application of a piece of EU law in the British-run region. All unionist lawmakers in the Belfast regional assembly, each of whom is committed to keeping the province in the United Kingdom, asked to trigger the mechanism for the first time last month for EU rules on the packaging and labelling of chemicals. Northern Ireland remained in the EU single market for goods when the rest of the UK left the European Union. The aim was to keep open the politically sensitive border with EU-member Ireland, but this required specific arrangements to limit frictions in the province's trade with Britain across the Irish Sea. Under the February 2023 Windsor Framework, London must judge if an amendment to EU law would significantly impact everyday life in Northern Ireland if enough local lawmakers ask it to do so under the "Stormont Brake". Britain's minister for the region Hilary Benn said unionist arguments that the changes, such as differing font sizes and spacing, amounted to a "significant divergence" with the rest of the United Kingdom did not meet the threshold for action. He said London would conduct a public consultation on whether it should apply a consistent chemical labelling regime across the UK and that this was a "direct result" of the scrutiny from Northern Irish politicians. Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) leader Gavin Robinson said the decision was a "grave mistake" and that London needed to start standing up for Northern Ireland "rather than surrendering to EU diktats". The smaller and more hardline Traditional Unionist Voice (TUV) party urged the DUP to again quit the devolved government in protest, as the region's largest pro-British party did from 2022 to 2024 over the post-Brexit trade rules. "Can the DUP continue in the Executive now that the Stormont Brake has been shown to be useless? To carry on propping up unabated EU colonial rule should not be an option for any unionist," TUV leader Jim Allister said in a statement. A cross-party committee in the Northern Irish assembly that scrutinises relevant EU legislation was unable to reach a view last month on whether the rules would have a significant impact on everyday life. (Reproting by Amanda Ferguson, additional reporting by Padraic Halpin and Conor Humphries in Dublin; Editing by Kevin Liffey and Alex Richardson) Actors perform dragon dance during a Chinese New Year gala held in Nairobi, Kenya, Jan. 19, 2025. (Xinhua/Han Xu) NAIROBI, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- Shielding himself from the sweltering heat that enveloped the Kenyan capital of Nairobi on Sunday, Benjamin Buyeshe savored the aroma of fresh dumplings at an ongoing Chinese New Year gala at a vast courtyard of the upmarket Two Rivers Mall, located on the northern suburbs of Nairobi. A Kungfu enthusiast since 2018, Buyeshe has attended several Chinese New Year celebrations, drawn by their electrifying musical performances, dances, and displays of traditional attire and cuisine. "Attending this event to celebrate and honor the Chinese New Year is uplifting to me as a Kenyan and as someone keen to learn more about Chinese culture," he said. Buyeshe was among hundreds of local visitors who thronged the Nairobi Chinese New Year gala organized by Chinese companies in Kenya. Senior government officials, diplomats, business executives, scholars and others enjoyed Chinese folk and lion dances, Shaolin monk Kungfu performances and culinary delights. When students from local universities jumped to the stage and performed a dragon dance, Buyeshe could not resist the urge to sway with the synchronized drum beats. The 27-year-old Nairobi resident said he looked forward to participating in other events related to the Chinese Spring Festival. By opening its door to the public, this year's Chinese New Year Gala further promotes friendly ties between the Kenyan and Chinese people, Buyeshe said. Despite the hot weather, Kenyans from all walks of life joined Chinese citizens to attend the day-long celebration, keen to watch live performances and sample delicacies from the Asian country. Seated in the front row and holding his toddler, Geoffrey Kengele, a Nairobi-based medic, was thrilled to see a group of local university students performing a folk dance. Kengele said his wife nudged him to attend the gala for its cross-cultural interactions and the opportunity to build business and personal relationships. "My wife studied architecture in China. She encouraged me to come and experience Chinese culture. Our relationship with China is developing, and it is wise for us to engage in healthy interactions," Kengele said. The 2025 Chinese New Year marks the beginning of the Year of the Snake. The snake is the sixth animal in the 12-year cycle of the Chinese zodiac and represents wisdom, intuition and strategic growth. Ummi Bashir, principal Secretary of the State Department for Culture, the Arts and Heritage, underscored the significance of the Chinese New Year, noting that it brings a renewed sense of hope, prosperity and unity. In addition, Bashir said the auspicious occasion is a reminder of the huge milestones Sino-Kenyan cultural cooperation has achieved thanks to shared values and mutual respect. "Kenya and China will contribute to advancing the Global Civilization Initiative, which promotes respect for diversity of civilizations, common values of humanity, the importance of inheritance and innovation of civilizations, as well as robust international people-to-people exchanges and cooperation," said Bashir. James Mworia, chief executive officer of Centum Investment company, said the Chinese New Year gala epitomizes the vitality of Sino-Kenya economic and cultural ties. Joseph Onyango, a 27-year-old delivery man, attended the Chinese New Year celebration for the first time together with his friend. "I will also participate in next year's Chinese New Year celebration," Onyango said. "I am eager to learn more about Chinese culture, food and music." An artist interacts with a child during a dough figurine performance at a Chinese New Year gala held in Nairobi, Kenya, Jan. 19, 2025. (Xinhua/Li Yahui) Ummi Bashir, principal Secretary of the State Department for Culture, the Arts and Heritage, attends an awakening ceremony, hoping to bring a dragon to life, at a Chinese New Year gala held in Nairobi, Kenya, Jan. 19, 2025. (Xinhua/Li Yahui) Actors dance during a Chinese New Year gala held in Nairobi, Kenya, Jan. 19, 2025. (Xinhua/Han Xu) Acrobats perform diabolo stunt at a Chinese New Year gala held in Nairobi, Kenya, Jan. 19, 2025. (Xinhua/Li Yahui) This photo taken on Jan. 19, 2025 shows a view during a Chinese New Year gala held in Nairobi, Kenya. (Xinhua/Han Xu) People experience rubbing culture at a Chinese New Year gala held in Nairobi, Kenya, Jan. 19, 2025. (Xinhua/Li Yahui) This photo taken on Jan. 19, 2025 shows a view during a Chinese New Year gala held in Nairobi, Kenya. (Xinhua/Han Xu) Actors perform lion dance at a Chinese New Year gala held in Nairobi, Kenya, Jan. 19, 2025. (Xinhua/Li Yahui) Kungfu performers from Shaolin Temple perform Qigong at a Chinese New Year gala held in Nairobi, Kenya, Jan. 19, 2025. (Xinhua/Li Yahui) By Ali Sawafta RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) - The longest-serving Palestinian inmate in Israeli jail, revered by militants as the "dean" of their prisoners, is among more than 200 Palestinians set to be deported under the Gaza ceasefire and hostages-for-prisoners swap. Nael Barghouti, 67, has spent 44 years incarcerated by Israel, more than any other Palestinian. Jailed in 1978 for killing an Israeli bus driver, he was freed in 2011 in a previous swap but re-arrested three years later and held ever since. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Israel has said that Palestinians who have been convicted of killing Israelis must be permanently deported if they are freed under the Gaza ceasefire agreement, and will not be allowed to return to homes in the occupied West Bank. Barghouti is one of 217 prisoners on a list from the Israeli justice ministry, cited by the Palestinian prisoners' association, of those to be sent abroad. His wife Eman Nafe, herself a former prisoner who spent 10 years in Israeli jail accused of plotting a suicide attack, said she thought he might reject release if it meant being sent abroad: "I am sure he will refuse this," she told Reuters. There are 10,400 Palestinians in Israeli prisons, not including detainees arrested in Gaza during the last 15 months of war, according to the Palestinian Commission of Detainees Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoners' Society. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Under ceasefire agreement, Hamas is due to release 33 hostages in the first six-week phase of the truce, including women, children, men over 50 and ill and wounded captives. In return, Israel will release 1,167 people detained in Gaza during the war and 737 other prisoners from the West Bank, Jerusalem or Gaza. The first three Israeli hostages were freed on Sunday in return for 90 Palestinian detainees, though none of the most sensitive Palestinian prisoners were in that initial group. Barghouti, who shares a common Palestinian surname with jailed political leader Marwan Barghouti, a distant relative, will learn that much has changed during his years in prison, his wife said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He will find "that his only brother has also died, that his brother's son was martyred, many houses have been destroyed, and many members of the family are detained," she said. (Writing by Tom Perry; Editing by Peter Graff) LONGMEADOW, Mass. (WWLP) The Longmeadow Police Department arrested three individuals on Saturday night following a search and seizure of illicit drugs and a hoax incendiary device. Longmeadow police said that at around 6:30 p.m. on Saturday, Longmeadow officers were joined by Massachusetts State Police officers and members of the Drug Enforcement Agency at a home located at 87 South Avenue to search for alleged drug activity. While investigating, officers learned that the occupants of the home possessed a homemade bomb. Springfield fire dept. responds to multiple car accidents Sunday morning Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Longmeadow Police Department activated the Massachusetts State Police Special Tactical Operations and EOD Teams upon entry for safety measures due to the nature of the search. Officers removed three occupants from the home while searching, and an item that looked like a bomb was found. It was eventually deemed to be a hoax. Longmeadow police said that officers also found evidence of illegal drug use and possession during the search, and all three occupants were arrested. Michael Mercadante, 40, of Longmeadow is charged with: Possession of an Incendiary Device (hoax) Threat to Commit Crime; Murder Possess to Distribute Drug; Class A Possess to Distribute Drug; Class B Jaime Ross Mitchell White, 33, of Greenfield is charged with: Possess to Distribute Drug; Class A Possess to Distribute Drug; Class B Bobbie Ann Hurley, 42, of Granby is charged with: Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Possess to Distribute Drug; Class A Possess to Distribute Drug; Class B Warrant Local News Headlines WWLP-22News, an NBC affiliate, began broadcasting in March 1953 to provide local news, network, syndicated, and local programming to western Massachusetts. Watch the 22News Digital Edition weekdays at 4 p.m. on WWLP.com. Copyright 2025 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 WWLP. WASHINGTON (AP) President Donald Trump's inaugural benediction on the federal holiday that celebrates Martin Luther King Jr. included an homage to the civil rights leader's legacy. The prayer by a Michigan pastor heavily cited King's seminal I Have a Dream speech alongside the Declaration of Independence, patriotic songs and gospel hymns. In his spirited roughly three-minute invocation on Monday, Rev. Lorenzo Sewell thanked God for the incoming Trump administration and prayed that America would begin to dream again. The comments were at times a near complete rendition of Kings 1963 address. He asked God to let freedom ring nationwide and ensure that Americans are free at last. Free at last. Thank God Almighty, we are free at last. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Sewell was a mainstay of Trump's 2024 presidential campaign. He hosted Trump at his church in June, spoke at the Republican National Convention in July, and attended numerous campaign roundtables of faith leaders and pro-Trump conservative Christian rallies. Sewell said during a Sunday night inaugural gala that Trump had personally asked him to pray during the inauguration. Heavenly father, we are so grateful that you gave our 45th and now our 47th president a millimeter miracle, Sewell said Monday, referencing the July attempt on Trumps life. Here is more about Sewell and the reaction to his benediction: Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Who is Lorenzo Sewell? Sewell, 43, has been the pastor at the non-denominational 180 Church on the west side of Detroit for seven years, and has said he came to Christianity in 1999 after a spiritual revelation from God. Sewell adheres to a charismatic, conservative Christian doctrine and does not shy away from politics in his ministry. The gospel message is a political message. The Bible is a political book, from Genesis to Revelations. We see that the Bible is a political book, Sewell told Fox News in January. It is impossible to be politically neutral." At the Black Conservative Federations Legacy of Freedom Ball on Sunday night, Sewell invoked Bible verses and gospel hymns as he prayed for Trump's protection. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Would you put angels around him, angels that excel in strength, warring angels and ministering angels and flames of fire. And we decree and declare tonight that no weapon formed against him shall prosper, Sewell said. Shortly after delivering his energetic benediction, Sewell posted on social media that he had launched a cryptocurrency and he encouraged followers to buy it to support his charitable activities. Other major rightwing figures, including Trump, have recently launched cryptocurrencies. Trump references King during his second inauguration Monday's ceremony was the third time a presidential inauguration has coincided with Martin Luther King Day in the nearly 40 years since its enactment as a federal holiday. Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama were also inaugurated for their second terms on the holiday. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trump referenced King in his remarks. "To the Black and Hispanic communities, I want to thank you for the tremendous outpouring of love and trust that you have shown me with your vote. We set records and I will not forget it. Ive heard your voices in the campaign, and I look forward to working with you in the years to come," Trump said. "Today is Martin Luther King Day, and his honor this will be a great honor but in his honor, we will strive together to make his dream a reality. We will make his dream come true," Trump declared. He said he intends to end the government policy of trying to socially engineer race and gender into every aspect of public and private life and promised to forge a society that is colorblind and merit based. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Civil rights leaders, Black faith leaders react to Trump's return King's family observed the holiday with a day of service and prayer, but references to the new administration were evident throughout. During proceedings at the King Center in Atlanta, Rev. William Barber III rejected the idea that Trump has the right to carry out the most sweeping parts of his agenda. You never win a mandate to violate justice. You never win a mandate to hurt people with your power, Barber said. We come today to remember Dr. King but more so to commit ourselves to the spirit, he continued, praying that every day weve got life in our bodies, to tell America who she is supposed to be. Civil rights leaders, including Kings family, said before the inauguration that they were unsettled by the juxtaposition of Trumps return to the White House and the King holiday. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But many, including Kings youngest daughter Dr. Bernice King, urged those who want to carry out Kings vision to watch the inaugural address. Major civil rights organizations have adopted a wait-and-see approach to Trumps second term, even as many privately prepared for him to roll back diversity, equity and inclusion policies, social programs and civil rights laws. "For some, todays inauguration represents the best of time: Make America great again. And for others, it highlights the worst of times: Set America back again. For some, todays King holiday represents a day to champion freedom, justice and democracy. For others, its a day to decry DEI, disavow a legacy of peace, love and justice and distort the meaning of Kings words," she said. "But regardless of how this day shows up for you, we must remember the mission and be in pursuit of it," King continued. The holiday proceedings took place in Ebenezer Baptist Church, where the late King once presided. The senior of that church was not present for the sermons and day of service. Rev. Raphael Warnock, who also serves as a senator for Georgia in Congress, was in Washington observing the inaugural proceedings. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Warnock said in a video posted on social media that Trumps inauguration ironically coincided with the King holiday and that while his name was invoked throughout the ceremony, the agenda did not sound like Dr. King. Reaction to Sewell's benediction Sewell's prayer received widespread praise from GOP lawmakers, conservative activists and the president's rank-and-file supporters online and in the Capitol One Arena where a rally for the president took place concurrently with events at the U.S. Capitol. But some Black faith leaders and civil rights figures expressed unease at Sewell's prayer and Trump's references to King. Dont let them hijack what Dr. King was about, said the Rev. Al Sharpton. Dr. King was a fighter. Dr. King used economic leverage. Dr. King was a man who stood up for economic justice," Sharpton argued. And you cant celebrate Dr. King without celebrating what he stood for. Southern California is still reeling after experiencing one of the most devastating natural disasters in its history. The Palisades and Eaton Fires, among others, ravaged Los Angeles County communities and forced thousands to evacuate leaving many without homes and buildings in ruin. The devastation has prompted many members of the community to get involved and give back. Gialina Morten, a local resident who volunteered at one of the evacuation shelters, opened up about her experience assisting those displaced by the disaster, providing a unique glimpse into the human impact of wildfires as well as the community's response. Morten described the early days of the fires as harrowing. "The first night was really scary," she said, adding that she lived just outside the evacuation zones. "It's jarring, because it feels like COVID, but it's even more cognitive dissonance, because everyone else in the world is [still] living their lives and we're here hunkered down." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Located just 10 minutes from an evacuation center, Morten initially decided to volunteer to combat her restlessness, given the hazardous air quality, while also being able to make an impact. She signed up on the Red Cross' volunteer page, showed up the next day, and they let her volunteer. While she didn't know what to expect, Morten said her tasks at the shelter were straightforward yet impactful, ranging from distributing food and water to helping organize supplies. "It was just as you'd imagine, with cots all over the gymnasium," she said. "People were disoriented, grappling with the reality of losing their homes, and unsure of their next steps." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Something that stuck with Morten was how many elderly evacuees there were, especially those who lost their homes that were either owned outright or rent-controlled. Some were non-English speakers, which added another layer of hardship for those victims. "My heart broke for them. Dealing with insurance companies in these circumstances requires so much finesse," Morten said, highlighting how natural disasters can further leave vulnerable populations at a disadvantage. She also noted the visible involvement of the Red Cross Youth Corps. "They're wonderful," she said. "It's cool to see young people making such an impact." For Morten, the work at the shelter was fulfilling, but it also underscored a greater need for better infrastructure to address disasters. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement She mentioned how difficult it was initially to figure out how to get involved while also emphasizing there's an absence of a clear pipeline for untrained volunteers to step up during disasters. "I wanted to do more," she said. "I'm healthy enough to be as close to the fires as I can get without the proper training." Morten's experience also serves as a reminder of the compounding challenges caused by our changing climate. Both the Palisades and Eaton Fires were fueled by a combination of dry conditions prompted by L.A.'s driest winter since the 1960s and Santa Ana wind events, leaving residents wondering how Southern California will adapt to increasingly frequent and severe wildfires. While weather events have always existed, the changing climate has made many of them more powerful and dangerous to our communities, in large part because even slightly hotter temperatures can mean more water evaporates. That makes the ground drier and sometimes can lead to bigger rain storms such as the atmospheric rivers California has seen with increasing "frequency and ferocity" in recent years. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "I imagine this [was] the perfect storm to force the city to invest in the proper infrastructure," she said. "[Climate change] is a countrywide problem that we don't take [enough] preventative measures for." Morten said she hopes city governments, or even organizations like Red Cross and FEMA, can develop a streamlined process for volunteers to do more. "I'm feeling pretty numb and like the only thing I can do is pass out water," she said. "I think a lot of people are feeling how I'm feeling, which is really restless and wanting to do something." Join our free newsletter for good news and useful tips, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet. Crews continued making progress battling the deadly infernos burning in Los Angeles County during a brief reprieve from dangerous fire weather over the weekend, but Southern California now is bracing for another round of fire-fueling Santa Ana winds. Particularly Dangerous Situation red flag warnings are in effect from noon Monday to 10 a.m. PT Tuesday for much of the foothills and mountainous areas of Los Angeles and Ventura counties, including Malibu, meaning prevailing conditions including low humidity and strong winds will increase the risk of fire, the National Weather Service warned. Along with the extremely dry fuels, this will create a high risk for critical fire weather conditions and rapid fire spread with any new fires, the Weather Service said Sunday. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Gov. Gavin Newsom announced the mobilization of more than 130 fire engines, water tenders, and aircraft to Southern California, a release from his office said Sunday. Making matters worse, nearly all of Southern California is in severe drought and no rain is in the forecast for this week. The red flag warnings cover most of Los Angeles and Ventura counties, according to the weather service, and come as questions are raised about the local response to the disaster, and whether the Los Angeles Fire Department was properly prepared. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass faces fierce criticism for the timing of an overseas trip and budget cuts made months ago affecting the fire department. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement While the winds expected late Monday into Tuesday are lower than previous recent wind events, the likely 25 to 40 mph winds could include gusts of up to 100 mph in the mountains and foothills and 50 to 70 mph in the valleys and on the coast. The Palisades Fire, which has burned 23,713 acres, was 56% contained, and the Eaton Fire was 81% contained at 14,021 acres, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said Sunday. At least 27 people have died and thousands of homes have been destroyed in the wildfires, according to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner and fire officials. Approximately 41,000 people remained under an evacuation order or warning in Los Angeles County on Saturday, the sheriffs department said. Several areas previously under evacuation orders reopened to residents, but many others are still waiting to be allowed to return to their homes to survey damage, retrieve necessities, figure out what their insured losses are and assess what can be salvaged of their remaining property. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Evacuation orders were lifted in portions of hard-hit Altadena, according to a Sunday release from the Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department. But many residents will have to wait at least another week before its safe to return, LA County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone said Thursday. Theres this extreme level of frustration, University of California, Merced professor and wildfire researcher Crystal Kolden said. But that frustration it is really a function of trying to keep them safe. The Federal Emergency Management Agency has already provided more than $32 million to wildfire survivors, spokesperson Michael Hart said Sunday. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Pasadena will implement red flag parking restrictions beginning Monday, the city said in a release Sunday. The parking restrictions will allow for improved fire department access and resident evacuation, on the narrow and/or winding roads within Pasadenas urban-wildland interface areas, the city said. We dont want to scare people, we just want them prepared, Lisa Derderian, public information officer for the city, told CNN Sunday. Meanwhile, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health issued a windblown dust and ash advisory due to the strong winds and the particles left behind by the fires. Fire chief warned leaders of weakness in the citys ability to fight wildfires Los Angeles Fire Department Chief Kristin Crowley warned the citys board of fire commissioners two years ago the lack of a regularly staffed wildland hand crew could be problematic if not addressed. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Without this resource methodically creating and supporting fire line on a wildland fire, weakness in the line can mean the difference in containment or out of control spread, Crowley wrote in a January 5, 2023, memo first reported by The Washington Post. Cal Fire Capt. Jeff Crile, engineer Michael Gonzales and Firefighter Trent Houser help Darryl and Christine Montes look through the debris of their home for anything of value in Pasadena on Thursday. - Hans Gutknecht/MediaNews Group/Los Angeles Daily News/Getty Images Los Angeles only has a volunteer, part-time, mostly teenage hand crew, according to the Post, who use axes, shovels and chain saws to stop wildfires spreading. As flames advanced on homes in the Pacific Palisades last week, there was no professional Los Angeles Fire Department unit ready to take on the initial attack, the newspaper reported. Crews from Los Angeles County and the state of California were the first to reach the Palisades Fire that erupted January 7. CNN has reached out to the Los Angeles Fire Department for comment on the memo. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Mayor quadrupled the allocation for wildland hand crews fully resourcing our LAFD has always been a priority for the Administration, and with climate change getting worse every year were accelerating these efforts to protect Angelenos, Zach Seidl, a spokesperson for the mayors office, said in a statement to CNN on Saturday. A CNN analysis of the most recent data from the 10 largest US cities and other comparable departments shows the LAFD is less staffed than almost any other major city. CNNs Robert Shackelford, Sarah Dewberry and Angela Fritz contributed to this report. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com Another round of fire-fueling Santa Ana winds is lashing Southern California after a brief weekend reprieve helped crews make more progress battling the deadly infernos in Los Angeles County. Everyone needs to be on high alert, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said Monday. Los Angeles and partner firefighters are pre-deployed, and we ask Angelenos to be prepared in case they need to evacuate. Particularly dangerous situation red flag warnings are in effect from noon Monday to 10 a.m. PT Tuesday for much of the foothills and mountainous areas of Los Angeles and Ventura counties, including Malibu, meaning prevailing conditions including low humidity and strong winds will increase the risk of fire, the National Weather Service warned. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Storm Prediction Center declared an extremely critical fire zone, its highest alert level, for the San Gabriel Mountains northeast of Los Angeles and surrounding areas, including the Malibu coast. Wind gusts of 45 to 65 mph were blowing across parts of the western San Gabriel Mountains and the Santa Susana Mountains by mid-morning Monday. Gusts of 30 to 50 mph were ongoing in parts of the Santa Monica Mountains. Some of the highest peaks of the San Gabriel and Santa Susana mountains have recorded isolated stronger gusts past 75 mph. Winds in the mountains and nearby foothills increased Monday afternoon and will likely max out in strength early in the evening. Bouts of gusty winds will reach valley and coastal areas during this time. Conditions are expected to persist through Thursday due to sustained offshore winds and exceptionally low humidity levels, with many areas likely experiencing humidity between 2% and 5% from Tuesday through Thursday, the agency said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Gov. Gavin Newsom announced the mobilization of more than 130 fire engines, water tenders, and aircraft to Southern California, a release from his office said Sunday. The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection has surged and positioned over 790 firefighting personnel who are ready to respond above and beyond its usual staffing levels, the release said. Making matters worse, nearly all of Southern California is in severe drought, although officials at the National Weather Service said there are chances of rain Saturday. The red-flag warnings cover most of Los Angeles and Ventura counties, according to the weather service, and come as questions are raised about the local response to the disaster, and whether the Los Angeles Fire Department was properly prepared. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Mayor Bass faces fierce criticism for the timing of an overseas trip and budget cuts made months ago affecting the fire department. At least 27 people have died and thousands of homes have been destroyed in the wildfires, according to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner and fire officials. Some 41,000 people remained under an evacuation order or warning in Los Angeles County on Saturday, the sheriffs department said. Burned homes are seen on January 19 in Altadena, California. - Mario Tama/Getty Images This is the third particularly dangerous red-flag warning that has been issued this month, which Eaton Fire incident meteorologist James White said is unprecedented for the area. The other two warnings were on January 7, which is the event that started the fire, and January 13, which wasnt as bad as it could have been, White said. This event today is going to fall between those two, White said Monday. Its not going to be as long or as severe as January 7, but there are strong indications that it will be stronger and more widespread than what happened on January 13. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Gusts up to 100 mph are possible in the highest mountain peaks, with gusts of 50 to 70 mph possible in valley and coastal locations, the NWS warned. Strong winds will ease slightly overnight but remain hazardous until the particularly dangerous situation red-flag warning expires Tuesday morning. Firefighting teams have pre-deployed in anticipation of the high winds and greater fire risk. The Los Angeles Fire Department has deployed all available resources and strategically positioned fire patrols and fire engines in the high risk areas across the city of Los Angeles we are also strategically managing our emergency operations to ensure a rapid response to all new fires, Chief Kristin Crowley said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Regional and state firefighting partners have also pre-positioned fire engines and aircraft across Southern California, according to Crowley. The region faces an elevated risk of wildfires due to a troubling lack of rainfall: It has seen little precipitation since spring, leaving grasses and brush dry and highly flammable. This extended drought, exacerbated by Santa Ana winds, has rendered the landscape increasingly vulnerable. Current data from the US Drought Monitor indicates that 90% of Los Angeles County is now classified as being in severe drought a stark increase from less than a month ago when there were no severe drought conditions. Wildfire containment progress The Palisades Fire, which has burned 23,713 acres, was 61% contained, and the Eaton Fire was 87% contained at 14,021 acres as of Monday morning, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Were pretty confident that its going to remain in its footprint, and thats mainly due to all the hard work that our firefighters have been doing, Dennis Burns, a fire behavior analyst for the California Incident Management Team, said Monday. But Burns warned firefighting aircraft may not be able to be used during the strong winds. Once those winds get up beyond 30 to 40, miles an hour, that very much limits what the aircraft can do, he said. Several areas previously under evacuation orders reopened to residents, but many others are still waiting to be allowed to return to their homes to survey damage, retrieve necessities, figure out what their insured losses are and assess what can be salvaged of their remaining property. A wlidfire briefly broke out near the famed Griffith Observatory on Monday, but firefighters quickly put it out, with no damage to nearby structures. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement unknown content item - All mandatory evacuation orders have been lifted, except in the fire burned areas, where a curfew remains in effect from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m., Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell said Monday. In Altadena, one of the communities hit hardest by the Eaton Fire, a majority of residents were now able to go back to their homes as of Monday with proper identification, the Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department said in an alert. Officials advised caution as theres toxic debris in these area. Former Vice President Kamala Harris visited a food distribution site and a fire station in Altadena Monday. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Harris, whose home is in Los Angeles, said the federal assistance granted by the Biden administration will help Los Angeles rebuild after this tragedy. It was really important to us before we went home, and we are some of the lucky ones. Our home is still standing, Harris said. We wanted to come out, and particularly to this extraordinary community, and just let people know that we see them and that they are cared for. The Federal Emergency Management Agency has already provided more than $32 million to wildfire survivors, spokesperson Michael Hart said. Pasadena will implement red-flag parking restrictions beginning Monday, the city said in a release. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The parking restrictions will allow for improved fire department access and resident evacuation, on the narrow and/or winding roads within Pasadenas urban-wildland interface areas, the city said. As a last resort, electric utility SoCal Edison is considering public safety power cuts to nearly 250,000 customers. In that scenario, the utility would temporarily shut off power to specific areas in high-risk fire areas during dangerous weather conditions to prevent electrical equipment becoming a source of ignition. As of Monday morning, SoCal Edison said, 10,261 customers were without power, but only 5,877 of SoCal Edisons 5 million customers were impacted by public safety power shut-offs. But the utility said it was considering outages that would affect an additional 247,024 customers, the majority of those being in Riverside, Los Angeles, San Bernardino and Ventura counties. Fire chief warned leaders of weakness in the citys ability to fight wildfires Los Angeles fire Chief Crowley warned the citys board of fire commissioners two years ago the lack of a regularly staffed wildland hand crew could be problematic if not addressed. Without this resource methodically creating and supporting fire line on a wildland fire, weakness in the line can mean the difference in containment or out of control spread, Crowley wrote in a January 5, 2023, memo first reported by The Washington Post. Cal Fire Capt. Jeff Crile, engineer Michael Gonzales and Firefighter Trent Houser help Darryl and Christine Montes look through the debris of their home for anything of value in Pasadena on Thursday. - Hans Gutknecht/MediaNews Group/Los Angeles Daily News/Getty Images Los Angeles only has a volunteer, part-time and mostly teenage hand crew, who use axes, shovels and chain saws to stop wildfires spreading, according to the Post. As flames advanced on homes in the Pacific Palisades, there was no professional Los Angeles Fire Department unit ready to take on the initial attack, the newspaper reported. Crews from Los Angeles County and the state were the first to reach the Palisades Fire that erupted January 7. CNN has reached out to the Los Angeles Fire Department for comment on the memo. The Mayor quadrupled the allocation for wildland hand crews fully resourcing our LAFD has always been a priority for the Administration, and with climate change getting worse every year were accelerating these efforts to protect Angelenos, Zach Seidl, a spokesperson for the mayors office, said in a statement to CNN on Saturday. The LAFD is less staffed than almost any other major city, a CNN analysis of the most recent data from the 10 largest US cities and other comparable departments shows. Celebrities come together for fire relief The FireAid benefit concert, set up to raise funds for rebuilding wildfire-devastated communities and support fire prevention efforts in Southern California, will be shown at select AMC Theatres, AMC has announced. The performances will take place on January 30 at two venues, the Kia Forum and the new Intuit Dome, both located in the Los Angeles-area city of Inglewood, and viewers around the world will be able to watch, stream and make contributions on several platforms including Apple Music, Apple TV, Max, KTLA+, Netflix/Tudum, Paramount+, Prime Video and others. The concert, which will also be broadcast on 860 iHeartRadio radio stations, is set to include native Angelenos Billie Eilish, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Gracie Abrams, along with a host of other stars. CNNs Taylor Romine, Robert Shackelford, Sarah Dewberry, Angela Fritz, Alli Rosenbloom and Hanna Park contributed to this report. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com This map from the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management shows where President Bidens executive orders restrict new offshore oil and gas drilling in federal waters. (Bureau of Ocean Energy Management. The ban on new offshore oil and gas drilling that President Joe Biden put in place on his way out of office doesnt apply to federal waters off the Louisiana coast, but state Attorney General Liz Murrill is challenging the action she calls blatantly illegal. Through executive orders on Jan. 6, Biden extended a prohibition for new wells on 625 acres of ocean bottom, stretching over the Atlantic and Pacific coasts, the eastern Gulf of Mexico and Alaskas northern Bering Sea. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement His action built upon a ban incoming President Donald Trump put in place off the coasts of Florida, Georgia and South Carolina five years ago. Murrill filed a lawsuit Friday with the U.S. District Court for Western District of Louisiana in Lake Charles. It seeks to block Bidens ban from taking effect immediately through an injunction while she seeks to have it permanently discarded in federal court. Attorneys general from Alabama, Alaska, Georgia and Mississippi have joined as plaintiffs so far. Two weeks before Inauguration Day, Biden purported to ban virtually all oil and gas leasing along the Lower 48 States coastline and a significant portion along Alaskas coastline, Murril said in a statement. The ban is blatantly illegal! If upheld, it would dramatically harm our economy and livelihood. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement When issuing his orders, Biden cited the powers provided to the president under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act. Murrill disputes that in her lawsuit, arguing only Congress has the authority to regulate property through offshore energy leasing and isnt allowed to transfer that power to another branch of government without specific guidance. Lawmakers did not give Biden the sweeping authority that no other President has claimed to have, the attorney generals office said in a statement. In addition to Biden, defendants in Murrills lawsuit include outgoing Interior Secretary Deb Haaland and the leadership of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Questions remain over the ability of Trump to reverse Bidens orders after he takes office Monday. It would likely fall to Congress to override the ban. Energy industry analysts have said Bidens ban is not likely to have an immediate impact on offshore oil and gas exploration, which accounts for 15% of U.S. fossil fuel production. Exploration in the western and central Gulf of Mexico, which includes waters off the Louisiana, Texas, Mississippi and Alabama coasts, isnt affected under Bidens orders. Like the SC Daily Gazette, Louisiana Illuminator is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Louisiana Illuminator maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Greg LaRose for questions: info@lailluminator.com. NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) On Monday, Jan. 20, Louisiana is remembering 31-year-old Edward Pettifer, a victim of the Jan. 1 attack on Bourbon Street. Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry declared a period of mourning ordering that all flags over state buildings be flown at half-staff. Louisiana Remembers Matthew Tenedorio Pettifer, from London, England, worked as a director at an executive search firm and had relations to the royal family. Eduard Pettifer In a Sunday news conference, Landry reported that Pettifers family described him as a wonderful son, brother, grandson, nephew and friend. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Louisiana State Superintendent Cade Brumley also asked school systems to consider a moment of silence at 9 a.m. during the period of mourning. Louisiana Remembers Terrence Kennedy The New Orleans Police Department and the Archdiocese of New Orleans will ring the bells of St. Louis Cathedral every day through Jan. 23, between 12:30 p.m. and 1 p.m. to honor and remember the lives lost and those affected by the terror attack. 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 2025 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. LOWELLVILLE, Ohio (WKBN) Lowellville police are asking residents to stay off of Washington Street due to weather conditions. Crews are currently working on treating the road, but police say it is unsafe to drive on until further notice. First News will update this story when the road is clear to drive on again. Copyright 2025 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 WKBN.com. CANBERRA, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- Scientists have called for acoustic technology to track white sharks off the coast of South Australia (SA) to prevent attacks on humans. Four people have died in shark attacks at South Australian beaches since May 2023, including 28-year-old surfer Lance Appleby who was killed by a suspected great white shark earlier this month. The spate of attacks has prompted scientists to advocate for deploying acoustic technology at popular beaches across the SA coast to monitor tagged white sharks. Over 200 white sharks have already been tagged in waters off the SA coast as part of a monitoring program for the diving industry. The tags emit a unique sound pulse that is detected by underwater receivers, which in turn transmit the location data via satellite. A small number of receivers have already been deployed along the coastline of Adelaide, SA's capital, for research purposes but shark expert Charlie Huveneers from Flinders University said that they could be used more widely to reduce the risk of shark attacks. He said the real-time receivers could be used to notify the public and authorities when a shark is nearby. "This information can be used by the public to be better informed about the risk of shark bites and to leave the water when a potentially dangerous shark is nearby," he told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). Russ Bradford from national science agency the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) said the east coast state of New South Wales (NSW) has spent approximately 20 million Australian dollars (12.4 million U.S. dollars) over the last 10 years tagging sharks and installing acoustic receivers. He told the ABC that a similar program in SA could be useful to alert water users to the presence of a shark. According to the NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development, the state's shark tagging program is estimated to be the largest in the world. In 2023, the 37 acoustic receivers along the NSW coast recorded 62,835 shark detections, 34,929 of which were great white sharks. A spokesperson for the state government of SA told the ABC that expanding SA's acoustic receiver program for the purpose of reducing the risk of shark bites would be inefficient and impractical due to the length of the state's coastline. Several months after more than 110 Texas OB-GYNs said the state's abortion ban must change, Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick on Sunday said the law should be amended to protect doctors and pregnant patients at risk of death. "I do think that we need to clarify any language so that doctors are not in fear of being penalized if they think the life of the mother is at risk," Patrick said on WFAA's "Inside Texas Politics" after he was asked whether he expected "any significant abortion legislation, either to clarify current statute or to strengthen it." Patrick, who runs the Senate and has established significant influence over what bills are passed, is the first major Republican official in Texas to say he supports clarifying the state's near-total abortion ban this legislative session. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Soon after Patrick's remarks, two senior Republican lawmakers in the House and the Senate confirmed that some within the Legislature have already begun brainstorming on a potential tweak to the ban. State Sen. Bryan Hughes, R-Mineola, who penned one of the state's two recent abortion bans, confirmed to the American-Statesman on Monday that he agreed with Patrick and said "we've been working on language." Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick presides over the Senate at the Capitol on the first day of the 89th Legislative Session Tuesday January 14, 2025. Seven-term Republican state Rep. Jeff Leach, of Plano, also indicated there is support in the House for such a change. "The Lt. Gov is (100%) right about this," Leach wrote in a post on X quoting a Texas Tribune story about Patrick's remarks. "Plans and work are already underway to try to get it done this #txlege session." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Texas currently prohibits abortion except when a pregnant person risks death without one, with no exceptions for rape, incest or fatal fetal anomalies. For several years, OB-GYNs and patient advocates have said the ban's life-of-the-mother exception is too vague and too narrow to allow doctors to take preventive action before a patient reaches the point of no return. They have also argued that the threat of severe penalties for physicians up to 99 years in prison, fines of at least $100,000 and loss of medical license further increases doctors hesitancy to act, increasing the risk that a patient would not be cared for. The letter signed by 111 OB-GYNs in November reiterated this case and also said the deaths of two Texas women who were denied abortion care during miscarriages Josseli Barnaca and Nevaeh Crain were evidence that "the law does not allow Texas women to get the lifesaving care they need." Anti-abortion advocates have pushed back, with several groups saying news articles misrepresenting the law, not the law itself, led to the women's deaths. Hughes on Nov. 8 published an op-ed to this effect in the Houston Chronicle, saying state abortion laws have "a clear exception for medical emergencies." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He added, however, that "more needs to be done to make sure that doctors and the hospitals know the law: When a mothers life or major bodily function are in jeopardy, doctors are not only allowed to act, but they are legally required to act." Patrick, in the interview on Sunday, also said he does not support legislation that would punish women who obtain abortions for themselves. Texas' abortion ban currently exempts the pregnant person from punishment. "Those were a few people somewheres that said that (we should punish women) and they don't speak for Republicans, they don't speak for Americans," Patrick said. "You're not gonna punish women. That's ridiculous. Ridiculous." It's not yet clear how likely it is that any legislation clarifying the abortion ban would be to pass, or even be heard in committee, this session. Patrick's detailed legislative priorities did not mention the procedure. This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick says Texas should amend abortion ban This interview is divided into four parts. Part one is above. Parts two through four are in the text below. LAS VEGAS (KLAS) Crime across the Las Vegas valley continues to decline, Las Vegas Metro police Sheriff Kevin McMahill said in an exclusive interview about the department and safety in the community. Records updated as of Jan. 12 showed that violent crime in Metros jurisdiction decreased by 30% year over year. The only category to increase from January 2024 was larceny and theft. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement How do you measure success? 8 News Now Investigator David Charns asked McMahill. In my business, probably the No. 1 thing we look at is crime reduction, and how well were doing against crime, McMahill said. We had another widely successful year against crime down 20% in murders again we ended up with 107 homicides last year. Thats the lowest number in a very long time. Kevin McMahill, Clark County Sheriff and head of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, speaks during a news conference about security for NFLs Super Bowl 58 football game, in Las Vegas, Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon) Voters elected McMahill the head of Southern Nevadas largest police jurisdiction in the June 2022 primary. He received more than 50% of the vote. He took office in January 2023 and oversees the police department, which serves the city of Las Vegas and all of unincorporated Clark County. Another area thats really important to me is when I look at the health and welfare of my people, McMahill said, touting the departments new wellness center that opened last November. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Wellness Bureau offers specialized treatment, group therapy sessions even meditation rooms for LVMPD employees and their families. DUI law reform More people died from car crashes in Clark County in 2024 than in 2023, according to the latest statistics from the Office of Traffic Safety. One of the victims was LVMPD Officer Colton Pulsipher who a wrong-way driver killed near the Valley of Fire. The most egregious thing to me by far is theres no accountability when we catch them, McMahill said. We have people five, six, seven, eight, nine DUIs. I dont know how many times we can expect to arrest somebody for them to go to court and for nothing to happen to them and then expect them to change their behavior. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement McMahill said more needs to be done to combat both drunk driving and impaired driving with the legalization of recreational marijuana in Nevada. In Nevada, a persons first two DUIs are considered misdemeanors. A third DUI conviction within seven years becomes a felony. A DUI after, if a person is convicted of three DUIs within seven years, is a felony. Until we change the way we hold people accountable in the court systems, were never going to change the behavior of drivers, McMahill said. Its just not going to happen. A consequence looks like what? Charns asked. I dont think a day or two in jail is going to do anything to change behavior, McMahill said. If in the world that we live in, if we acknowledge that alcohol is an addiction like so many other drugs that we already recognize as it is, then I really think we should be focusing on some intensive supervision, primarily early on. If you see somebody that gets one or two DUIs, theyve got an alcohol problem, period. LVMPD Officer Colton Pulsipher and his family pose for a family photo. (Behind the Blue) During his State of the State address, Republican Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo, who was sheriff before McMahill, proposed changes to criminal law, including DUIs, but he did not provide specifics. McMahill suggested a three-strikes-and-you-are-out policy. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement There needs to be a real consequence, McMahill said. Which is what? Charns asked. I would say at least a year in prison at that point a minimum of a year in prison before you even begin to think about getting to a place where we are going to help you. Traffic reform To combat the rise in deaths on Clark County roads, McMahill is proposing changing state law to allow for speed and red-light cameras. I knew it wasnt good for me as a politician wanting to get re-elected, but I took it on because Im tired of people dying on our roadways, he said. McMahill slammed court policies of dropping fines and citations down to parking tickets, hoping the technology could better inform the community about traffic incidents. FILE Speed cameras are aimed at U.S. Route 127, in New Miami, Ohio. Under federal guidance issued in 2022, states can tap billions of federal highway dollars for roadway safety programs such as automated traffic enforcement. (AP Photo/Al Behrman, File) We have such an open roadway concept here in Las Vegas weve got to change driving behavior and try to change how people think about it, he said. The sheriff hoped cameras could help people think about their driving ahead of making a poor decision. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement McMahill said he was hopeful lawmakers would change the law this legislative session to allow cameras at major intersections where his department has identified speeding and red-light-running issues. Current law does not allow police to use cameras to combat crime in the way speed cameras or red-light cameras operate. I dont want to turn Las Vegas into a red-light camera at every intersection or a speed camera at every location, adding he hoped to install them at high-crash locations. Jan. 1 car bombing On Jan. 1, Matthew Livelsberger, 37, exploded a homemade car bomb outside the Trump International Hotel, killing himself. The Green Beret shot himself in the head just before fireworks and other explosive material detonated in the back of the Tesla Cybertruck parked at the front entrance of the hotel. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In a manifesto investigators discovered on his phone, Livelsberger listed variance of grievances, including political and social issues, such as criticisms of the current administration. The most important thing when an event does happen is to go back in and figure out, Was there anywhere in that process where you could have intervened? Livelsberger likely suffered from PTSD and officials said they were aware of potential family issues or personal grievances that might have been contributing factors, officials said in the days after the blast. McMahill hoped the incident sparked further discussion about mental health and recognizing people who could pose a threat. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Because just one individual that would have made a call, one individual that had seen the behaviors, we might have been able to stop what it is that he found himself doing on that fateful morning, McMahill said. On Jan. 1, Matthew Livelsberger, 37, exploded a homemade car bomb at the Trump International Hotel, killing himself. (LVMPD) Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The sheriff said there were ongoing conversations about security on and near the Las Vegas Strip, adding that Metro meets regularly with companies and their security directors. Weve been having them for a number of years, McMahill said. Theres this intersection between hospitality and security thats always been a tenuous relationship at best. November police shooting On Nov. 12, LVMPD Officer Alexander Bookman shot and killed 43-year-old Brandon Durham after Durham called 911 to report the home invasion. Durham told a dispatcher that he was inside his home with his 15-year-old daughter and said he was locking himself in the bathroom. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Police suspect Alejandra Boudreaux, 31, broke into the home after Durham had police remove her from the property the night before. Fourteen seconds after breaking down Durhams front door, Bookman shot and killed Durham as he and Boudreaux struggled over a knife, video indicated. When you were briefed on that and you saw that video, what was your takeaway? Charns asked McMahill. My takeaway was thats not the call that you want to get when you are the head of the law enforcement agency where that happened, the sheriff said. I knew that we were going to have some challenges in this particular case. Ive watched that video literally dozens of times, I still cant tell who was actually holding that knife when the officer confronted the two individuals. Bookman spoke with both Boudreaux and Durham during the call for service on Nov. 10 the night before the home invasion and shooting, the 8 News Now Investigators reported. Boudreaux later left the property and took a rideshare to the airport. Alejandra Boudreaux, 31, of Seattle, Washington, faces charge following the events of Nov. 12, inside 43-year-old Brandon Durhams home. (LVMPD/KLAS) Did it matter that that same officer had interacted with those people and had been there the day before? Charns asked. I was surprised by that, certainly when you are at a call the day before, you would expect that the officer recognizes them. Ive responded on thousands of calls in my career, when you get a 911 call, more often than not the 911 call doesnt have all the adequate information that you need. Metro leadership placed Bookman on paid administration leave pending an outcome of their internal investigation. Durhams family has called for Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson to charge Bookman. While I understand everybody wants answers right now, the other part of that is the process is in place for a reason and youll get your answers, but were going to do it by the book. McMahill highlighted Metros policy of releasing details of a use-of-force incident often with body-camera video within 72 hours. The policy followed U.S. Department of Justice investigation in 2014. I knew that when we were going to release it that it was going to cause an outcry in the community, McMahill said. Im not going to hide because the video doesnt look good. Im not going to hide because it doesnt shine us in the greatest light. Ive committed to being transparent about this stuff and were going to do it. Im not going to shy away from those problems because Ive got 6,200 people in this organization and we make mistakes, but we also try to learn from those mistakes. Boudreauxs criminal case was paused as of January as she undergoes a competency evaluation. She faces charges of home invasion with a deadly weapon, assault with a deadly weapon constituting domestic violence, child abuse and arson. Is our community getting safer? I think the numbers tell you that, McMahill said. As much as what the numbers say, it has to be the perception of how people feel, and I think weve got a long way to go on that. Then-Undersheriff Kevin McMahill speaks during a press conference on Wednesday, Sept. 6, 2017, in Las Vegas. AP Photo/John Locher) Metro implores a motto If you see something, say something. Emergencies can be reported by calling 911. Non-emergencies that do not require an immediate response can be reported through 311. Police reports can be filed at a local area command or by calling 702-828-3111 for help. While eluding to a possible re-election bid during the conversation, McMahill said it was too early to decide if he would seek re-election in 2026. Copyright 2025 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. UPDATE (Jan. 21, 8:37 a.m. ET): Vivek Ramaswamy confirmed his departure from the so-called Department of Government Efficiency on Monday. Im confident that Elon & team will succeed in streamlining government, he wrote on X. During his presidential inaugural address, Donald Trump announced that hes determined to restore competence and effectiveness to our federal government, and to that end, the Republican said he will establish the brand-new Department of Government Efficiency. The news wasnt exactly surprising, though it was not expected to be part of the new presidents inaugural address. Trump first outlined the basic idea for the advisory panel in September, and the week after Election Day 2024, he announced that the so-called DOGE endeavor would be led by GOP megadonor Elon Musk and failed White House hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement At least, that was the original plan. As NBC News reported, one of the co-chairs of the department has apparently decided to move on before the panel was even formally created. Vivek Ramaswamy will launch a campaign for governor in Ohio early next week and is parting ways with President-elect Donald Trumps incoming Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, two sources familiar with his plans told NBC News. Hes leaving DOGE. Hes going to announce early next week for governor, one of the networks sources said. It became increasingly clear over the last week that pursuing the governors race and running DOGE was not compatible. Hes leaving on good terms with Trump, Elon and the team. Weve seen plenty of officials in the Republican presidents orbit head for the exit after brief tenures. Anthony Scaramucci, for example, famously exited the White House after 11 days. Matt Gaetzs tenure as Trumps choice for attorney general collapsed after eight days. Chad Chronister only lasted three days as Trumps choice to lead the Drug Enforcement Administration. But Ramaswamy broke new ground, exiting the made-up department before Trump could even sign the paperwork to forge its existence. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Nevertheless, his looming exit leaves the DOGE endeavor solely in the hands of Musk, whose advisory panel will reportedly soon have its own office at the White House complex, not far from the West Wing. The initiative, however, continues to face real challenges. For one thing, Musk has no background in auditing, the federal budget, or the appropriations process. For another, this department will have no statutory power: If DOGE comes up with ideas for cuts, the panel might write sternly worded memos filled with suggestions, but thats about it. Making matters considerably worse, the Republican megadonor overseeing the gambit has already admitted that it wont be able to meet Trumps goals. But just as notably, the so-called department is facing multiple new lawsuits that allege the DOGE endeavor is failing to comply with disclosure and hiring laws that apply to all advisory panels. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The new White House hasnt yet commented on the litigation. Watch this space. This article was originally published on MSNBC.com Ordinarily, presidents have to wait until theyre in the Oval Office before they start breaking campaign promises. Donald Trump, however, got the ball rolling before Inauguration Day. As a candidate, for example, the Republican promised to lower grocery prices. As a president-elect, he said that itd be very hard to lower grocery prices and that hes no longer sure whether hell be able to achieve the goal. As a candidate, Trump also said Elon Musk would uncover ways to cut at least $2 trillion from the federal budget. As a president-elect, he saw his GOP megadonor tell the public that the $2 trillion figure was more of a best-case outcome than a realistic goal, adding that there might still be a good shot at achieving half of the incoming presidents goal. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Perhaps most important of all was Trumps election season declaration that if voters backed him, hed successfully broker an end to Russias war in Ukraine. This would happen, the Republican boasted, during his transition period and within 24 hours. He even repeated the vow during his presidential debate with Vice President Kamala Harris, assuring Americans that I will get it settled before I even become president. As NBC News reported, Trump failed. On the campaign trail, Donald Trump vowed to quickly end the war in Ukraine. Hed do it in 24 hours after taking the oath, he said, or even before his inauguration. But as he prepares to return to the White House, its clear that promise will go unfulfilled. Nearly three years after Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, theres no end in sight to the war, Europes worst since World War II. The New York Times published a related analysis, noting that Trump not only has failed to keep his promise; he has also made no known serious effort to resolve the war since his election in November. In other words, the president-elect didnt even try to keep his promise. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Whats more, its important to appreciate the fact that this wasnt just some random line that Trump blurted out once or twice by accident. On the contrary, a tally published by NOTUS found that Trump, ahead of Election Day, told voters 33 times that hed end the devastating conflict within one day, routinely adding that this would happen before his second term began. A Reuters report recently added that the president-elects team now concedes that the Ukraine war will take months or even longer to resolve, a sharp reality check on his biggest foreign policy promise. Unfortunately for the Republican, he has a long record of falling for short of his promises. As the aforementioned Times analysis noted, Trump did not ... fully build his much-heralded border wall, much less force Mexico to pay for it. He did not wipe out the federal budget deficit or shrink the national trade deficit. He did not forge a permanent peace between Israel and the Palestinians, which he said would be not as difficult as people have thought over the years. He did not repeal and replace Obamacare. He did not boost economic growth to 4, 5 and even 6 percent. Evidently, as Trumps campaign season rhetoric crashes into reality, Americans can expect more of the same in his second term. This article was originally published on MSNBC.com Its easy to forget just how awful Donald Trumps first presidential transition process was, but it was a cringeworthy fiasco. In the runup to Inauguration Day 2017, the Republican turned his attention away from governing and instead held a series of self-indulgent campaign-style rallies congratulating himself for having won. Around the same time, Trump had to write a check for $25 million to help settle fraud lawsuits stemming from his Trump University scam. Whats more, polls showed his support slipping after Election Day a political dynamic with no modern precedent as he launched feuds with, among others, the U.S. intelligence community, China, Saturday Night Live, Angela Merkel, John Lewis, John Kasich, Meryl Streep, and the cast of Hamilton. Perhaps most importantly, as Trump was sworn into office, he and his team were forced to ask dozens of Obama administration appointees to remain in their positions not because the incoming Republican operation approved of the Democratic officials work, but because Trump and his aides werent yet prepared to maintain continuity in government. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Foreign Policy magazine published a striking report that noted Trumps disorganized transition left career government officials stunned and disheartened. The report added, Instead of hitting the ground running, the Trump team emerged from the election ill-prepared for the daunting task of assembling a new administration and has yet to fill an array of crucial top jobs overseeing the countrys national security and diplomacy, fueling uncertainty across the federal government. Foreign Policy quoted one career government official saying, Ive never seen anything like this. On the legal front, this was the same presidential transition process in which federal law enforcement opened an investigation into Team Trumps Russia scandal. Trumps 2016 inaugural committee would also later face a criminal investigation. Four years later, Trump was, of course, responsible for the worst presidential transition process in American history by a wide margin as the defeated Republican tried to overturn the election results, summoned his followers to the nations capital, fueled them with lies, and sat back and watched as many of his acolytes attacked his own countrys seat of government. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trump refused to show up for his successors swearing in, which had to be held under the watch of thousands of National Guard troops, fearing Trumps followers might commit additional acts of violence. But as Trumps third presidential transition process comes to an end, its worth appreciating the fact that the Republican has managed to fail for a third time. As Rachel summarized on the show last week: Given how disastrously Trump performed during the last transition, you may have assumed this one would be better. But it looks like its going to be close. ... What they are saying and what they are doing thus far is utterly shambolic and none of us should be afraid to say so. Honestly, where does one even start? The Matt Gaetz fiasco? The Chad Chronister debacle? The fact that Trump found it necessary to demote his own White House counsel because the president-elect and his team failed to do their homework? This was a transition period in which Trump became a convicted felon. And sued a prominent American newspaper for publishing a poll he didnt like. And asked congressional Republicans to follow his lead on a spending bill, only to see them ignore him. And launched ridiculous branded merchandise. And hired ex-cons for his administration. And chose cartoonishly unqualified people for his cabinet. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Did I mention the international incidents? Because Trump started a few of those, too. A recent Semafor report summarized, Donald Trumps second transition was supposed to be different than the first, designed to be orderly by advisers who have more eager congressional Republican allies this time around. Yet the consistent chaos and confusion that defined Trumps first administration are already descending on Washington. To the extent that the Republican likes breaking new ground, I suppose hes to be congratulated for doing something unprecedented: No ones ever flunked three presidential transition tests before. This article was originally published on MSNBC.com The New York Times Maggie Haberman pointed out what she believes is a somewhat overlooked aspect to what will be the role of anti-immigration hard-liner Stephen Miller in Donald Trumps second administration. Miller, the architect of Trumps first-term anti-immigration policies, will serve as the White House deputy chief of staff for policy when Trump returns to office on Monday, Haberman noted to CNNs Kaitlan Collins. But the longtime Trump aide will also serve as homeland security adviser, Haberman said. He will reportedly seek to influence policy on immigration alongside Trumps new border czar Tom Homan, she added. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It remains to be seen if Trump will keep all his campaign promises (such as building detention camps to hold undocumented immigrants ahead of deportation), acknowledged the journalist, who is also a political analyst for CNN and has covered Trump for years. Were going to see what this looks like, she said. But I expect that Stephen Miller is going to continue with what he was doing in the first term and, in many cases, was stopped by the agencies that oversee immigration. Trump will reportedly sign more than 200 executive actions on his first day back in the Oval Office. Some, per reports, will be aimed at shutting down the U.S.-Mexico border and curbing immigration. Related... HARLAN COUNTY, Ky. (FOX 56) State police in Harlan County say a man was charged with arson in the Cranks community and was allegedly arrested after trying to start a different fire in the early hours of Sunday morning. The Kentucky State Police Department posted on Facebook that around 3 a.m. Sunday, troopers with Post 10 were contacted by the Sunshine Fire Department about three structure fires in Cranks. 8-year-old flown to Lexington hospital, Alabama man charged after alleged accidental shooting in Harlan County Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement State police said Gordon Fultz, 24, was identified as a suspect in connection with the fires and was seen on Garrett Hollow Road, allegedly trying to start another fire. According to authorities, Fultz was eventually found unconscious in the driver seat of his green Ford F-150, parked on KY 3001. Law enforcement said when troopers had put Fultz into a KSP vehicle, he allegedly kicked the windows and used the rear radar antenna to shatter the rear window. Gordon Fultz, 24, was lodged in the Harlan County Detention Center on Sunday. (Harlan County Detention Center) LATEST KENTUCKY NEWS: Fultz was charged with: Third-degree arson Third-degree assault of a police officer First-degree criminal mischief First-degree fleeing and evading police Resisting arrest Driving on a DUI suspended license Failure to produce an insurance card Reckless driving Fultz was lodged in the Harlan County Detention Center. Copyright 2025 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 56 News. A 23-year-old man is facing charges after allegedly trying to kidnap two students at two different Ohio schools on Friday. [DOWNLOAD: Free WHIO-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] Deivis Edain Tomas-Marcario has been charged with several charges, including attempting kidnapping, illegal possession of a deadly weapon near a school, and burglary, according to our news partners at WCPO. His defense team entered a not-guilty plea on his behalf on Saturday. TRENDING STORIES: Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement According to court records obtained by WCPO, Tomas-Marcario entered Deer Park High School in Cincinnati on Friday and tried to kidnap a 14-year-old boy. After that, he went to Amity Elementary, another school in the district, and attempted to kidnap an 8-year-old girl. A district spokesperson told WCPO that when the man entered the high school, it was learned he was not on the contract list. The school then called the childs parent who said while she knew the man, the kids were not to go with him. School administrators at the high school then alerted those at Amity Elementary since the teen had a sibling at the school. Tomas-Marcario showed up at the elementary and was approached by the school security officer and administrative assistant. The schools security officer then contacted police, who found out that Tomas-Marcario was intoxicated at the time, WCPO reported. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A loaded gun and open alcohol containers were found in Tomas-Marcarios vehicle. WCPO reported that the gun had been reported stolen. The two children involved in this case are the children of Tomas-Marcarios baby mama, but are not his children, according to his defense attorney. Court documents state he was trying to keep the children from their mother in order to get in touch with her, but his attorney said he was only trying to give the kids a set of car keys to return to their mother. Tomas-Marcarios bond has been set at $423,000. [SIGN UP: WHIO-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter] SEOUL, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol will attend the constitutional court hearing of his impeachment trial, scheduled for Tuesday, multiple media outlets said Monday citing Yoon's defense counsel. Yun Gap-geun, one of Yoon's lawyers, was quoted as saying that the president will appear in the court on Jan. 21. The court was set to hold the third hearing of Yoon's impeachment trial on Tuesday following the first and second hearings on Jan. 14 and 16. The next hearings will be held on Thursday this month and on 4, 6, 11 and 13 of February. A warrant to extend the detention of the arrested Yoon for up to 20 days was granted by a Seoul court early Sunday. Yoon appeared in the warrant hearing on Saturday to explain the legitimacy of his martial law declaration and restore his reputation. The impeachment motion against Yoon was passed in the National Assembly on Dec. 14, 2024, and was delivered to the constitutional court to deliberate it for up to 180 days, during which Yoon's presidential power is suspended. Yoon, who was named by investigative agencies as a suspected ringleader on an insurrection charge, declared martial law on the night of Dec. 3, 2024, but it was revoked by the National Assembly hours later. ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WROC) A man was arrested late Saturday afternoon after attempting to sexually assault and rob an undergraduate student at the University of Rochester, according to a message sent to students. The man was able to enter Genesee Hall, a first-year dormitory, by catching a door as it closed, according to investigators. He had no affiliation with the university and was swiftly arrested and removed from campus, officials stated. The safety and security of our campus community is paramount. While incidents like this are uncommon on our campus, we all must be vigilant in taking precautions to prevent criminal activity. This includes not letting any unknown person into a secured campus building, and after opening a door to enter a building, ensuring that it closes behind you, the university announced. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement UR student advocates: 4 expelled amid wanted posters investigation The university emphasized that there was no active threat to the community. As the investigation continues, students who know anything about what happened that may help investigators are asked to call the Department of Public Safety at 585-275-3333. Copyright 2025 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 RochesterFirst. SEYMOUR, Conn. (WTNH) Seymour police say a man has been charged with murder in connection to a fatal stabbing on Sunday. Christopher Eugene Stanley, Jr., 33, of Mount Vernon, New York was charged with murder and first-degree assault. Runaway dog halts train service in Seymour Police said the charges stem from about 11:42 p.m. on Jan. 19, when police were dispatched to a home on Ajellos Farm Road for report of two stab victims. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Upon arrival, police said several witnesses identified the suspect and Stanley was quickly detained. Rhahzhem Turner, 46, of Port Chester, New York was transported to a hospital, where he later succumbed to his injuries. A second victim was treated at a hospital for non-life threatening injuries, according to police. Lack of heat prompts early dismissal at Chatfield-LoPresti School in Seymour He is being held on a $1.5 million bond and is scheduled to appear in court on Jan. 21. The case is still an open investigation, police said. Anyone with relevant information is encouraged to contact the Seymour Police Department Detective Bureau at 203-881-7638. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 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 WTNH.com. A 19-year-old man who allegedly set a fire at a strip mall that houses the office of Rep. Glenn Grothman (R-Wis.) in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, was motivated by recent talks of a federal ban on TikTok, authorities said Sunday. Fond du Lac police chief Aaron Goldstein expressed relief that the office was empty at the time of the fire and noted that no injuries have been reported. Acts of violence, in any form are not tolerated, and we remain committed to protecting the safety and well-being of our community, Goldstein said in a statement. I am thankful for the swift response of our Officers in helping knock down the fire and also locating the suspect of this arson. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In a press release shared on social media, the Fond du Lac Police Department said officers arrived at the scene shortly after 1 a.m. and initially used fire extinguishers to contain the blaze while waiting for firefighters to reach the location and put it out. Officers said they found a male resident near the building who admitted to starting the fire in response to recent talks of a TikTok ban. Police added that a charge of arson has been referred to the Fond du Lac County District Attorneys Office. Grothman thanked the firefighters for their swift response. Nobody was hurt in the fire and the damage has been contained, Grothman wrote on X, formerly Twitter. Nobody was hurt in the fire and the damage has been contained. Thank you to the FDL firefighters and police officers for your swift response. https://t.co/SsIXChMSK6 Rep. Glenn Grothman (@RepGrothman) January 19, 2025 Grothman was among the Republicans who voted in favor of the legislation requiring TikTok to divest its Chinese ownership or face the prospect of being removed from app stores in the U.S. starting Sunday, CBS News reported. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement After the U.S. Supreme Court voted to uphold the law, following a challenge by TikTok, the app went dark for several hours beginning late Saturday. TikTok restored service to U.S. users on Sunday after President-elect Donald Trump said he would sign an executive order, extending the timeline for the company to find a U.S. buyer. I would like the United States to have a 50% ownership position in a joint venture, he wrote on Truth Social. By doing this, we save TikTok, keep it in good hands and allow it to [stay] up. Related... LANSING, Mich. (WLNS) A 29-year-old man from Grand Blanc was critically injured in a car crash Sunday morning. The Livingston County Sheriffs Office reports that deputies were dispatched to a single-vehicle crash at approximately 6:57 a.m. on Argentine Rd. and Bergin Rd. in Oceola Township. Preliminary investigation indicates that a 2007 Chevrolet Silverado was traveling south on Argentine Rd. when the 29-year-old driver lost control of the car. The car went off the road and crashed into a tree, causing it to overturn. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The driver was trapped inside the vehicle. Fire and EMS rescued him, and he was transported to the University of Michigan Hospital in Ann Arbor by Survival Flight in critical condition. Deputies report that speed appears to be a factor in the crash. The driver was wearing his seatbelt. The road remained closed for three hours during the initial investigation and cleanup. The crash is being investigated by the Traffic Safety Bureau of the Livingston County Sheriffs Office. Copyright 2025 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 WLNS 6 News. ANTIOCH, Tenn. (WKRN) A man has died after he was shot during an apparent targeted shooting in the parking lot of an Antioch shopping center, according to officials. The Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) said the shooting was reported just before 1 a.m. Monday in the 800 block of Hamilton Crossings outside of Sky Bar Lounge. CRIME TRACKER | Read the latest crime-related reports from across Middle Tennessee Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Authorities said 29-year-old Larry Jones was leaving the bar with a friend when he was approached from behind and shot by a male suspect. The suspect reportedly ran to a nearby vehicle after the shooting and fled the scene. According to the MNPD, Jones was taken to TriStar Century Farms ER in a private vehicle, where he died. Read todays top stories on wkrn.com Anyone with information about the deadly shooting is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 615-742-7463. Callers can remain anonymous and qualify for a cash reward of up to $5,000. No additional information was immediately released as the investigation continues. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement 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 2025 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. The Washington State Patrol is asking the community to keep an eye out for a 68-year-old man who has dementia and doesnt have his medications with him. His name is Kenneth McIntosh and he was last seen in Gig Harbor on the morning of Jan. 19. WSP says he was wearing a red and black flannel with sweatpants and was driving a silver 2004 Chevy Avalanche with the Washington license plate C53645R. McIntosh has gray hair and blue eyes and is about 510. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement WSP says without his medication, McIntosh might not be able to get home without help. If you see him, call 911 right away. Silver Alert - McIntosh - Gig Harbor, WA pic.twitter.com/p0gQqnVCFT WSP Missing Person Alerts (@WSPMissingPers1) January 20, 2025 COLEMAN, Texas (KTAB/KRBC) A devastating house fire in Coleman prompted a swift response from fire responders, who assisted a man and his dog while working to prevent the flames from spreading to nearby structures. ColemanToday was on the scene of a house fire on San Saba Street and shared details with KTAB/KRBC. According to Coleman Fire Chief Jimmy Watson, firefighters were dispatched to the 500 block of San Saba Street at 8:24 p.m. on January 19. As soon as our team at the station recognized the severity of the situation, they quickly mobilized. I left my house near the airport, and you could already see the fire. Marty Baker [Chief of Police] and Jeff were around the corner when they heard someone shout that a house was on fire. They promptly came over to help the occupant, who was in the back building and assisted him and his dog to safety. Fortunately, nobody else was in the building at the time, Watson told ColemanToday. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Courtesy of ColemanToday.com When crews arrived, the house was fully engulfed in flames, with the roof collapsing. Due to the extent of the fire, the structure was deemed a total loss. Firefighters focused their efforts on protecting nearby buildings to prevent the flames from spreading further. That was all we could do at that point, Watson said. The Coleman Fire Department will remain on-site overnight to ensure the fire is fully extinguished. Watson noted that residents might see significant steam conversion, which could be mistaken for heavy smoke. The cause of the fire is still under investigation. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 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. SEOUL, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's acting president on Monday ordered the guard of key government agencies after violence erupted early Sunday inside and outside a Seoul court that granted a warrant to extend the detention of President Yoon Suk-yeol. Minister of Economy and Finance Choi Sang-mok, who became an acting president following the impeachment of both Yoon and the prime minister, said at a safety check meeting that he expresses deep regret over illegal violence at the Seoul Western District Court. Choi stressed that all arguments should be made democratically in accordance with the constitution and laws under any circumstances, noting that if people assert themselves through illegal violence, conflicts and confrontation will intensify in the society. Choi, who doubles as deputy prime minister for economic affairs, instructed the police and other relevant agencies to control rallies, keep order and closely guard major state institutions to prevent the recurrence of illegal violence. The violence broke out after the Seoul court issued the warrant early Sunday to detain the arrested Yoon for up to 20 days over his martial law imposition. Some of enraged supporters for Yoon stormed the court building by climbing over wall and breaking windows, TV footage showed. The rioters vandalized facilities inside the court, threw trash and other objects, and attacked police officers. The impeachment motion against Yoon was passed in the National Assembly on Dec. 14 last year and was delivered to the constitutional court to deliberate it for up to 180 days, during which Yoon's presidential power is suspended. Yoon, who was named by investigative agencies as a suspected ringleader on insurrection charge, declared a martial law on the night of Dec. 3. It was revoked by the National Assembly hours later. SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) Springfield Police are investigating a shooting that took place Sunday afternoon. Crash on sounthbound side of I-91 in Springfield Springfield Police Spokesperson Ryan Walsh said that officers were sent to the 100 block of Cambridge Street for a ShotSpotter activation around 3:30 p.m. When officers arrived, they found a man with gunshot wounds. MAP: Cambridge Street The man is expected to recover however, he was arrested as well as another person on firearms charges. The Springfield Police Departments Detective Bureau is investigating the shooting. Local News Headlines WWLP-22News, an NBC affiliate, began broadcasting in March 1953 to provide local news, network, syndicated, and local programming to western Massachusetts. Watch the 22News Digital Edition weekdays at 4 p.m. on WWLP.com. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 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 WWLP. CRANKS, Ky. (WATE) A man is facing several charges including third-degree arson after three structure fires in Harlan County, a Kentucky State Police spokesperson said. Around 3:00 a.m. on Sunday, the Sunshine Fire Department contacted the Kentucky State Police about three structure fires in the Cranks community in Harlan County. The suspect was identified as 24-year-old Gordon Fultz, according to KSP Public Affairs Officer Shane Jacobs. Accidental shooting of 8-year-old in Harlan County under investigation Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement While en route, Trooper Meadows received information that Fultz was on Garrett Hollow Road attempting to ignite another fire, Jacobs said. Trooper Meadows located the vehicle and observed Fultz inside an abandoned trailer trying to start a fire. Fultz fled away in his truck before troopers could confront him. Jacobs reported that his vehicle was eventually located and Fultz was found unconscious in the drivers seat. After being placed in the troopers vehicle, Fultz then allegedly started kicking the windows, shattering one. Father and son dead after domestic dispute in Harlan County Fultz is facing the following charges: Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Fleeing and evading police (first-degree) Resisting arrest Criminal mischief (first-degree) Arson (third-degree) Assault (third-degree police officer) Driving on a DUI suspended license Failure to produce insurance card Reckless driving Copyright 2025 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 WATE 6 On Your Side. YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (WKBN) A Mahoning County grand jury handed down an indictment against Anthony Lombardo on child sex abuse material charges. Lombardo is facing three fourth-degree felony charges of pandering sexually-oriented matter involving a minor or impaired person and one fifth-degree felony of illegal use of minor or impaired person in nudity-oriented material or performance. The indictment accused Lombardo of soliciting, receiving, purchasing or possessing material that shows a minor engaging in sexual activity on April 16, 2024. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The indictment lists Lombardos current address as Correctional Reception Center, and jail records show the alleged crimes happened while he was on parole. Court records reflect he was previously convicted of misdemeanor theft in May. Lombardo is set to appear in court on these charges on Wednesday. Copyright 2025 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 WKBN.com. A man was fatally shot by a Fort Lauderdale officer on Sunday afternoon, according to police. The shooting occurred just after 3 p.m. at a Chevron gas station located at 3100 Davie Blvd., police say. Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue transported the man to Broward Health Medical Center, where he died. Police havent released the mans identity as of Sunday evening. Before the shooting, officers tried to pull over the man on the 100 block of Southwest 27th Avenue, just over a mile away from the gas station. The vehicle, according to police, didnt stop until entering the Chevron. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Then, police say, the man exited his vehicle with what appeared to be a firearm and an officer shot him. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement will be investigating the shooting. The involved officer, according to police, will be placed on administrative leave with pay. This report will be updated as more information becomes available **Related Video Above: OSHP traffic stats from 2024 BERLIN TOWNSHIP, Ohio (WJW) An investigation is underway after a man crashed his car and was killed in Erie County Sunday afternoon, the Ohio State Highway Patrol said. Emergency responders were called to the area of Bellamy Road in Berlin Township just after 2 p.m. for reports of a single vehicle crash. Charge filed against driver in crash that killed Medina man Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Upon arrival, troopers learned the 27-year-old man was driving his Toyota Camry southbound when he veered left off of the road into a ditch and overturned. The Erie County Coroners Office assisted at the scene and OSHP said the man was identified as Ryan Tinkham of Wakeman. Tinkham was reportedly not wearing his seat belt at the time of the crash. It was not clear what led to the incident. Copyright 2025 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. Austin Muhs, an astrologer and project manager living in Santa Monia, California, is always ready to help an animal in need. Before moving to California, he lived in Texas, where he learned about animal rescue and put his teachings to the test by assisting numerous animals as a civilian volunteer during Hurricane Harvey. This passion for protecting pets and wildlife grew into the 999 Rescue Team, an animal rescue group made up of hundreds of rescue teams across the country dedicated to helping animals caught in natural disasters. But Muhs' devotion to helping animals doesn't stop at large-scale rescue operations; the emergency rescue specialist also makes time to help individual struggling critters. On Nextdoor, a social network for neighborhoods, Muhs is one of the go-to guys his Santa Monica community recommends when a user needs animal rescue assistance. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "When a post appears on Nextdoor asking for guidance to help care for injured birds, or how to protect vulnerable creatures like motherless possums and squirrels, neighbors often post a simple solution: Contact Austin," a Nextdoor spokesperson shared about Muhs' local celebrity status. Related: Man Drives Up Burning Mountain to Rescue Stranded Woman and Her 4 Dogs from Palisades Fire: 'Just Doing the Right Thing' It's common for Muhs to receive several calls or inquiries daily, especially about birds needing help, and he does his best to respond to them all. "There will just be people who need this or that animal rescued; maybe an injured bird or an abandoned baby squirrel so I will show up and help," Muhs says about how Nextdoor helps him with animal rescue. "I guess I just became well known for being 'Johnny on the spot' in these moments, if you will. People would call, and I would come within an hour in most instances." Courtesy Jenny Earhart A view of the Palisades Fire from a 999 Rescue Team animal rescuer A view of the Palisades Fire from a 999 Rescue Team animal rescuer When the Palisades Fire started on Jan. 7, Muhs didn't wait to be asked for help; he posted a message on Nextdoor, letting his neighbors know he was ready to help with animal rescue and evacuations in any way he could. With the assistance of the 999 Rescue Team's "amazing helpers and volunteers," Muhs started responding to requests from overwhelmed animal owners, especially people worried about their horses. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "The first call I got was for a horse in the Palisades, so I kind of went into disaster prep mode and started looking for teams to trailer the horse out. Then I called my friend Jessica, who has hookups in the Palisades, just in case we needed to make a call to get past a roadblock. Thankfully, there was no roadblock, and we were just able to get in and be of assistance," Muhs tells PEOPLE about his first rescue in response to ongoing wildfires in Los Angeles County. Courtesy Jenny Earhart Horses saved from the L.A. wildfires Horses saved from the L.A. wildfires Since the first successful horse rescue on Jan. 7, Muhs and his team of rescuers have helped save a growing number of animals from the fires. Related: News Team Saves 3 Dogs from Burning L.A. Home. They're 'the Best Humanity Has to Offer,' Says Owner "It's not just me by any stretch of the imagination; it's the amazing team I run for the 999 Rescue Team group. I had over 25 haulers (with trucks and trailers), probably another 20-30 volunteers, and 3 key admins who helped me with this fire," Muhs says, adding that together, the group has saved about "100 horses, one pig, 20 sheep, and a bunch of dog and cats" so far. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The number of people helping Muhs has also grown. Muhs created sign-up sheets for volunteer and donation opportunities for those inexperienced in animal rescue work and posted them on Nextdoor for community members "eager to help but unsure of how to contribute." Courtesy Brady Heisler Livestock rescued from the L.A. wildfires Livestock rescued from the L.A. wildfires He hopes his actions and the courageous efforts of the rescuers he works with inspire others to support their community. 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. "Try to be a leader in your community. I was just a punk 20-something when I started doing all of this," Muhs says, adding, "Don't wait for someone to tell you what to do. Do what you can to form your own local teams and organizations." Click here to learn more about how to help the victims of the L.A. fires. Read the original article on People DENVER (KDVR) Weld County officials are searching for a man they say parachuted off a TV tower outside Frederick on Wednesday. The man jumped off the TV tower, and when he pulled his parachute, he lost his camera, according to a Weld County Sheriffs Office Facebook post. FOX31 Newsletters: Sign up to get breaking news sent to your inbox In case you didnt know, jumping from a TV tower is not only incredibly dangerous, but it is trespassing, the sheriffs office stated. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Anyone with information can call the Weld County Sheriffs Office at 970-350-9600, the tip line at 970-304-6464 or email to Crimetips@weld.gov. Copyright 2025 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. Seattle police detectives are investigating after a 21-year-old man was shot in the shoulder. It happened in the SODO district early Sunday morning, just before 3:00 a.m. Officers say a large fight broke out after a nightclub let out near Occidental Avenue South. Over 40 rounds were fired. The man was transported to Harborview Medical Center in serious condition. No arrests have been made at this time. If anyone has any information that may help with the investigation, please call 911 or the Violent Crimes Tip Line at (206) 233-5000. You can remain anonymous. By Nazrin Abdul UN Resident Coordinator in Azerbaijan, Vladanka Andreyeva, visited the Alley of Martyrs to honor the 35th anniversary of the January 20 tragedy. She shared her tribute on her official "X" account. "Today marks the 35th anniversary of the tragic events in Baku on January 20, 1990. We stand with the people and government of Azerbaijan to commemorate those who lost their lives in the struggle for independence," the post read. It should be noted that January 20, 1990, marks a pivotal moment in Azerbaijans struggle for freedom and territorial integrity. On that day, Soviet combat units were deployed against peaceful protesters in Baku, who were outraged by Armenia's territorial claims against Azerbaijan and the Soviet Union's support for them. KUALA LUMPUR, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- Malaysia's exports rose 5.7 percent year on year to 1.51 trillion ringgit (340 billion U.S. dollars) in 2024, official data showed Monday. The Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry (MITI) said in a statement that export expansion in 2024 was driven by strong performances in both manufactured and agricultural products. The growth was led by increased shipments of electrical and electronics (E&E) products, machinery, equipment and parts, processed food as well as optical and scientific equipment, which had recorded the highest value ever. Palm oil and palm oil-based agriculture products, manufactures of metal and rubber products also contributed to the expansion. Additionally, exports of E&E products, along with machinery, equipment and parts, posted increases of more than 10 billion ringgit, respectively. Overall, Malaysia's total trade increased by 9.2 percent year on year to 2.88 trillion ringgit in 2024, while imports for the year also rose 13.2 percent to 1.37 trillion ringgit. In December, Malaysia's total trade grew by 14.6 percent year on year to 257.86 billion ringgit. Its exports posted a robust expansion of 16.9 percent to 138.52 billion ringgit, while imports rose by 11.9 percent to 119.34 billion ringgit. As for the year of 2025, the Malaysian government foresees trade expanding by 4 percent in 2025, with exports and imports growing by 3.9 percent and 4.1 percent, respectively, while gross domestic product is projected to expand between 4.5 percent to 5.5 percent. (1 ringgit equals 0.22 U.S. dollars) WASHINGTON (DC News Now) D.C police are investigating after a man was shot in Southeast on Sunday night. The Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) told DC News Now that at around 5:15 p.m., officers responded to the 3300 block of 10th Place SE for a shooting. Trump pledges a series of Day 1 executive actions to end four long years of American decline There, they found a man who had been shot. Medics took him to the hospital for treatment. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Later, investigators determined that the shooting took place in the 3500 block of Wheeler Road. The investigation is ongoing. Copyright 2025 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. WASHINGTON (DC News Now) Responders took a man to the hospital after he was shot in Southeast D.C. on Sunday night, according to police. The Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) told DC News Now that at around 7:40 p.m., officers responded to the 1000 block of 12th St. SE for a shooting. This is where the Hopkins Apartments are located. Man shot in Southeast DC, police investigating Once on scene, officers found a man suffering from a gunshot wound. Medics took him to the hospital for treatment. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement As of Sunday night, there is no word on his condition. The investigation is ongoing. Copyright 2025 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. When most Republican senators voted to acquit Donald Trump over his role in inciting the storming of the U.S. Capitol January 6, 2021, a common message was that the federal government should nevertheless focus on prosecuting those who had participated in the riot. But as Trump looks poised to pardon a large number of January 6 convicts and defendants, most of those same Republican senators are greeting those impending pardons with a shrug. The January 6 attack on the Capitol was horrific and appalling, Sen. John Cornyn of Texas said in 2021. Those who planned and participated in the violence that day should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. When asked last week in the Capitol if there are any categories of January 6 convicts who should not be pardoned, Cornyn told The Dispatch: You know, thats nothing that the Senates going to have anything to do with. Thats strictly up to the president. In 2021, Sen. Steve Daines of Montana said: Going forward, the focus must be to arrest and prosecute the domestic terrorists who broke into our Capitol, attacked law enforcement officers, sought to cause harm, and tried to disrupt the peaceful transfer of power. They should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. But last week, Daines told The Dispatch: I support what President Trump is going to do. I know he will very thoughtfully go through everyone who was imprisoned, and I trust his judgment. I think he will do exactly the right thing. Asked if those who committed violence should not be pardoned, he said: Look, I trust President Trumps judgment on this. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement And Sen. Kevin Cramer of North Dakota said just after the Capitol riot: If I was in charge of security at the U.S. Capitol and some guy came in busting through the window, I would have put a bullet in his head and thrown him back out the window the other way to show the next person what would happen. Cramer told The Dispatch in the Capitol last week: I think with regard to anybody that was violent, youve got to take a person by person and case-by-case approach to it. Not all violence is the same. GOP senators arent the only ones singing a different tune on the January 6 rioters. Trump himself said on January 7, 2021: The demonstrators who infiltrated the Capitol have defiled the seat of American democracy. To those who engaged in the acts of violence and destruction, you do not represent our country. And to those who broke the law, you will pay. But on the campaign trail last year, he repeatedly pledged to issue pardonsand often played a song by the J6 Prison Choir composed of 20 inmates who had been charged over the Capitol riot. The precise scope of Trumps January 6 pardons remains unknown at the moment. Im going to do [pardons] case-by-case, and if they were non-violent, I think theyve been greatly punished. And the answer is I will be doing that, yeah, Im going to look if theres some that really were out of control, Trump told Time magazine after the election. And on January 11, Vice President-elect J.D. Vance said on Fox News Sunday: If you committed violence on that day, obviously you shouldnt be pardoned. And theres a little bit of a gray area there. Comments from Trump and Vance have led many to believe that out of the nearly 1,600 people charged in connection with January 6, somewhere between 900 and 1,000 who faced only misdemeanor charges such as trespassing will be swiftly pardoned by Trump. I expect a lot of free people walking shortly after Trumps inauguration, said Matthew Braynard of Look Ahead America, an organization advocating for pardons for January 6 convicts and defendants. I expect about a thousand folks that were not even charged with violence, they will be pardoned almost immediately, based on what the administration said. Others may be reviewed more on a case by case basis. Braynard said he couldnt comment on whether hes gotten any reassurances from the Trump team, but he eventually expects a fairly comprehensive result. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement What remains unknown is how many of the convicts and defendants charged with more serious crimes will be pardoned. A Washington Post analysis from December separated those people into three categories: Thirteen people charged with seditious conspiracy for orchestrating the attack, at least 379 people charged with assaulting police or members of the media, and at least 287 people charged with less violent or nonviolent felonies. Most of them have been charged with federal rioting, but many also have faced property destruction, theft, obstruction or firearms counts. If comments by Vance and Trump about violence are to be taken even slightly seriously, that would mean at the very least that a January 6 convict such as Peter Francis Stager, who was caught on tape beating a police officer with a flagpole on the Capitol steps, would not be pardoned. That entire building is filled with treasonous traitors. Death is the only remedy for whats in that building, Stager said on videotape before the riot. Every single one of those Capitol law enforcement officers, death is the remedy, that is the only remedy they get. Stager pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 52 months in prison; he was released early in October. Asked about what his group wanted to be done with January 6 convicts charged with shoving or beating police officers, Braynard said: You should look at what someone is typically charged with a case like that Im confident that these guys were over-sentenced. According to a Washington Post analysis, the average sentence for someone convicted of assaulting police on Jan. 6 has been about four years below national averages for that crime. Scores of police officers were injured as they fought to keep rioters out of the Capitol building, with much of the fighting caught on videotape. Officer Brian Sicknick died of a stroke after the riot: The medical examiner ruled that Sicknick died of natural causes, but also said that all that transpired played a role in his condition. Four police officers who defended the Capitol later committed suicide. If President-Elect Trump overturns the convictions of individuals who were convicted by judges and juries or admitted guilt for crimes on January 6, he would undermine the U.S. judiciary and criminal justice system and send a message to Americans that attacking U.S. democratic institutions is appropriate and justifiable, the Society for the Rule of Law, an organization of lawyers and judges who previously served in Republican administrations, said in a statement in December. Even if President-Elect Trump pardons some people, he should absolutely not pardon or commute the sentences of any of the more than 500 individuals who have been charged with assaulting or interfering with law enforcement officials. This would be a grave insult to our law enforcement personnel. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The pledge not to pardon those who had committed violence still leaves plenty of that gray area that Vance talked about. For example, Michael Bradley swung a baton at police officers and was sentenced to 60 months, but video at his trial couldnt conclusively prove whether he made contact, a Wall Street Journal editorial reported. And there are those who received the stiffest sentences for orchestrating the attack, such as Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio, who was sentenced to 22 years in prison for seditious conspiracy and other charges. Tarrio was not physically present at the Capitol during the riot, but claimed credit for it: Make no mistake . . . we did this, he wrote on social media. Asked if he expected Tarrio to be pardoned, Braynard replied: I dont know. Well begin to find out just how sweeping the January 6 pardons are sometime after noon today, when the man most responsible of all for the events that transpired on January 6, 2021 is sworn in for a second term as president. 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. Editor's note: Here are the sixth through eighth grade winners of the 42nd annual Martin Luther King Jr. essay contest sponsored by the Milwaukee Teachers Education Association and the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. In their essays, students were asked to consider this quote from King: What are you doing for others? Grade 6 Have you considered struggles of families torn apart by war? First place: Renad Kabashi, Golda Meir School. Teacher: James McHale. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Youve likely heard about the wars in Gaza and Ukraine, but have you heard about the silent war in Sudan? For over two years, millions of people have been trapped in a devastating conflict there. As Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. once said, Lifes most persistent and urgent question is: What are you doing for others? This question forces us to reflect: How are we helping those in need, especially when the world seems silent in the face of suffering and trauma, as we see in Sudan? Renad Kabashi Have you ever considered the struggles of families torn apart by war, and wondered how you could help them? I come from a community deeply affected by this ongoing conflict. My family is from Sudan, and my siblings and I are the first generation born in America. Because of this, we rarely get to see our relatives. Sudan is enduring a catastrophic war that has killed over 150,000 people. This war has brought profound sadness and despair to my family, as our immediate relatives are suffering and dying. My family and I are doing what we can to help offering emotional and financial support, and finding ways to assist not only our relatives, but also others affected by the violence. This tragedy has brought the Sudanese American community of Wisconsin closer than ever, highlighting our resilience and unity in the face of hardship. More: Martin Luther King essay contest winners grades 1-5. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement More: Martin Luther King Jr. essay contest winners: high school. Did you know that 8.6 million people in Sudan have been forced to leave their homes? That 25 million people have no access to medical care, and 18 million are facing severe hunger? My peoplemy aunts, uncles, grandmother, cousins, and friendsare living through these dire conditions. They dont feel safe, have no access to food or medical supplies, and are being displaced from their homes. One story that has deeply affected my family is about my cousin Elham. Named after my grandmother, Elham passed away at just three weeks old due to lack of medical care. Her loss left a deep wound in our hearts and inspired me to write a poem that I recited at the fundraising event hosted by the Sudanese American Community of Wisconsin.: In Sudans night, so dark, so cold, Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Children cry as their hearts grow old. My cousin Elham, so small, so sweet, At just three weeks, her life was complete. The pain of loss, the lack of care, left my family in deep despair. But through the tears, we chose to stay, to help each other in every way. We gave our love, we gave our heart, to help them cope, to help restart. together, strong, we rise and stand, helping each other, hand in hand. Beneath the shadow of this tragedy shines an opportunity for resilience- a strength, which my people and I will never back down from. Its time for us to take a stand. So, I ask you again: What will you do to make a difference? Will you stand by, or will you step forward to help, to care, and to heal those who are in need? As Dr. King said, Lifes most persistent and urgent question is: What are you doing for others? Each of us has the power to make an impact. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement At school, home, and in my community, I work to answer Dr. Kings question by supporting Sudan through fundraising and offering emotional support to my relatives and friends. Each of us has the power to make a differenceone small act of kindness at a time. A simple piece of yarn holds the promise of endless possibilities Second place: Ruth Omoruyi, Eastbrook Academy. Teacher: Aruna Halala-Vishudh. Do you know that a simple piece of yarn holds the promise of endless possibilities? Where am I going with this? Lets take this yarn, crochet it into loops and weave a tapestry which will answer Dr. Kings question, What are YOU doing for others? Ruth Omoruyi The first loop in our tapestry belongs to people who have been second guessed and marginalized for centuries: the women of our world! Why is it still acceptable for some people to believe that men deserve more power than women? That attitude must change now! Together, lets ensure that women have equal seats at tables of power and create their positions of leadership. This year, citizens united to change the narrative and elect the first female President in our nations history. Although that did not happen, I call on everyone to continue to push forward and help women shatter the glass ceiling! Lets advocate for equal pay for equal work. Lets educate children who will grow into adults, who celebrate the power of women! Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The second loop in our tapestry belongs to immigrants. The same open door that brought immigrants to our country long ago, must be open to all immigrants looking for a better life! Im an immigrant and people helped my family settle in Milwaukee. Milwaukees Voces de La Frontera is helping immigrants fight for their right to be treated like human beings. My school welcomes students who are refugees. We dont say, Youre not welcome here! Instead, we help them find homes where they are loved. This is how we must LIVE what it means to do for each other! The third loop is my response to Dr. King. One day, I will be a Pediatric Surgeon. Like all first responders, scientists, and doctors, I will dedicate my life to healing everyone in need. If I can help change childrens lives so that they do not carry the burden of illness, I am answering Dr. Kings call to help others. Now, lets return to this simple piece of yarn. We are this yarn. As we knit our single strand of yarn into loops, lets ask ourselves, How will we work to connect our loops of advocacy to our neighbors loops of challenging the status quo, to our fellow citizens loops of welcoming everyone? Working together, lets create a unified and unbreakable tapestry that says, Look at what WE are doing for others! Choose nonviolence: I think love is so much better than hate Third place: Celeste Ziegler, Fernwood Montessori. Teacher: Kimberly Milligan. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement When I was 4 years old, I was an easy target for bullies, and I was vulnerable and sensitive. I have been through trauma and my peers know it. At four years old I was caring for others, like my brother at the time who was two years old. I had to help care for my father as well children should not be caring for their parents, and at the time my dad was struggling. As I got older my life changed, and I learned that toddlers should NOT be caring for anyone but themselves. Celeste Ziegler What am I doing for others? Celeste is her name and she was always someone who was kind to others. One day she was caring for her brother at the age four and her baby brother who was two. Her family is the kind of family that uses violence to fix their problems. NO, her little head said, and there Celeste stood in the doorway watching her parents hurting each other mentally and physically. She stood there screaming and crying, begging for her dad to stop. But he didnt, he really had to push her mom down the stairs and hurt her. Checking on her mom, while her dad is crying and her brother is crying. She was crying. The real Celeste in me was crying her heart out hoping someday things would be better. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Time goes on and I go to a different place somewhere I Don't recognize. A week goes by and I cry all my tears out that I could by Friday. Time and more time goes by and I learn that my household wasnt the best for me. Learning in school what I do for others matters. It means trust, friendship, and love. After years of learning and studying, Celeste learned something, love is so much more powerful than hate. We need more of it in this world. I made wonderful friends and what I put into the world affects others too. I love what I do for others, knowing sometimes my friends aren't treated right. Standing up for my friends shows that I care a lot and that I want to help build our surroundings for everyone to enjoy in peace instead of hate and sorrow against everyone. I relate to Dr. Kings Nonviolent Philosophy-Chooses Love Instead of Hate, I think love is so much better than hate. Grades 7-8 Standing up against injustice isn't always about dramatic gestures First place: Yasmeen Zeriouh, eighth grade, Salam School. Teacher: Farina Jethu. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. once asked, Lifes most persistent and urgent question is, what are you doing for others? This question reminds me that standing up for others and fighting for justice is something that everyone can do. Everyone has seen injustice and all they need is a tiny push to motivate them to stand up against it. Yasmeen Zeriouh Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Dr. King advocated for anyone and everyone facing injustice. Dr. King was a wise and respected leader. Martin Luther King Jr. was recognized as one of the first advocates for environmental justice as he paved the way for modern environmental advocacy. When I think about what Im doing for others, I recognize that standing up against injustice isn't always about big, dramatic gestures. Sometimes, it's about the smaller, everyday actions that demonstrate care and understanding for those who are struggling. In my community, I see injustice in many forms, from people being judged by the way they look or what they believe, to younger kids being teased or left out because of their differences. Dr. King believed in equality for all people. As a Muslim girl growing up in a diverse world, I also believe that no one should ever be mistreated because of their background, religion, or appearance. In my school, where many of us come from different cultures and backgrounds, I try my best to live by the values of justice, peace, and respect that I learn from both my faith and Dr. Kings teachings. What are you doing for others? One way I stood up against injustice in my community was when I helped address food insecurity during Ramadan. I noticed that families in my community were facing food shortages during Ramadan. While many of us were blessed with enough to eat, others were struggling. Through the Sunbeam project, I helped raise awareness and encouraged donations. By getting more people involved, we were able to provide meals to those who needed them, ensuring they werent left out during this important time. Dr. King believed that real change starts with each of us doing our part. Whether its standing up for kindness, volunteering, or simply being there for others; I believe that our actions matter. I may not be able to change the world overnight, but I know that if everyone does something for others, we can make the world a better place. Looking ahead, I know that theres still much work to be done. But by continually asking myself, What am I doing for others? and striving to live with a spirit of service and compassion, I am contributing to the change Dr. King dreamed of. Even small acts can have a significant and positive impact Second place: Jasimah Kobir Ahmad, eighth grade, Salam School. Teacher: Farina Jethu. It couldve been me. I saw a girl on the streets begging in the shivering cold. When I walked past her, she gave me a look that filled me with downheartedness. This girl didnt have parents, food, or even shelter. I realized how fortunate I was to have a wonderful life with my loving parents and delicious food. I turned back and gave her all the money I had on me. Her face lit up, and it made me feel a sense of joy. This incident inspired me to set a goal, which was to help people in need both now and in the future. Jasimah Kobir Ahmad Dr. Martin Luther King stated, Lifes most persistent and urgent question is, What are you doing for others? This quote highlights the moral responsibility we have to support those in need. I can contribute by donating to charities or volunteering at shelters. Additionally, social media has come a long way and it can support this cause in various ways, such as sharing a post or raising awareness on this cause. Even small acts can have a significant and positive impact. Everyone knows that there is always someone out there in need, but they choose not to do anything about it. Nobody puts any effort into this cause because they think its not their problem. What they dont comprehend is they could very well be in that situation and they would want someone to support them. You never know what someone is going through until you're in their shoes. This saying helps me understand how people in need must feel. Whenever I see someone begging on the streets day or night, I always try to help them out in any way possible. Dr. Martin Luther King aimed to campaign against the injustices that contribute to poverty or homelessness. He is a role model of how we should be helping those in need. In conclusion, helping others is significant, and everyone can make a difference in their own way. Helping those in need doesnt require a lot of effort. There are numerous different things we could do to help, like volunteering, donating, or spreading awareness. Even small actions can lead to beneficial changes in the community. By following Dr. Martin Luther King's message, we can work together and strive to create a more caring environment. Together, we can accomplish my goal, and hopefully everyone's goal of helping people in need today and in the future. It is our responsibility to care about people around globe Third place: Maha Awawda, eighth grade, Salam School. Teacher: Farina Jethu. Life's most persistent and urgent question is, what are you doing for others? I believe everyone should have a purpose in this world. I truly believe Allah (SWT) gave us so many blessings to share with others. For the past few years, I have thought about my home country Palestine, and all the families losing their lives. I think it's important to always donate and keep them in our prayers. I'm the oldest child in my family. One important quality of being the oldest is to be a leader for my siblings and do what I can for my parents when they need me. In this essay, I will describe how I help others by donating to Gaza, always keeping them in my Dua, and being a leader at home. Maha Awawda I think as Muslims, it is our responsibility to help and care about other people around the globe. For example, as we know Gaza is suffering, and the least we can do as one Ummah is make Dua and donate if we can. One of the ways I show support is by giving to charity organizations in Gaza and donating supplies when they are needed. I always make an effort to find different charities online to donate to like launchgood.com, which offers different kinds of important charities. I show my parents and encourage my friends to do the same. Being a strong community and helping others will make a difference. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said, The time is always right to do right. As a Muslim, I believe we should always strive to do the honorable thing for the Ummah. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said, Great leaders make their vision infectious. This means great leaders' point of view matters. Being a leader at home comes with hardship and responsibility. As an older sibling, I need to influence my younger siblings to do the proper thing. I always try to prioritize my brother by helping him learn a new skill. For example, this past summer I taught my brother how to ride a bike. I also help my mom with my two younger siblings. I think it's important for me to be there for my siblings with anything I've experienced or sometimes just to spend time with them. In conclusion, my contribution to helping others is also something I will always continue to do. I truly love doing things for others, whether it's for others, such as the people in Gaza, other charities, or my own family. It's always important to prioritize what truly is important to us. I hope I can make a difference with these small efforts to contribute to the bigger purpose in life. Essay contest theme inspired by King sermon in 1957 What are you doing for others? In several of his writings and speeches, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. called that lifes most persistent and urgent question. It is the theme for the 42nd annual Martin Luther King Jr. essay contest. The annual writing contest is sponsored by the Milwaukee Teachers Education Association and the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. The Milwaukee Public Library has been a partner from the beginning. The quote comes from a 1957 sermon King delivered at the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, titled Conquering Self-Centeredness. In it, King says, An individual has not begun to live until he can rise above the narrow horizons of his particular individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity. The contest was started in 1981 by Milwaukee educators and community members who wanted to promote K-12 students learning about Kings legacy while developing their writing skills and sharing their own stories. Every year on the third Monday in January, student contest winners are honored at an MLK Day celebration at the Marcus Performing Arts Center. The free event will be held at 4 p.m. today. This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: MLK contest student essays have ideas on we can help others | Opinion SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) Its Martin Luther King Jr. Day, and several communities will be hosting events honoring his life and legacy. Whats open and closed on Martin Luther King Jr. Day? This is the only federal holiday designated as a national day of service to encourage all Americans to volunteer to improve their communities. The federal holiday honoring the civil rights leader was established in 1983 and was first observed nationwide in 1986. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Doctor King is a notable figure of the Civil Rights movement and he played a pivotal role in the changing tide of civil rights in the United States and is widely known for his I Have a Dream speech where he called for better race relations in Washington, D.C. King also led several marches and events advocating for the civil and economic rights of African-Americans. Events honoring Martin Luther King Jr. Springfield The City of Springfield will hold its annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Flag Raising on Monday. The celebration will take place at noon inside of Springfield City Hall. Officer installations for the 2025 Greater Springfield NAAPC will also be recognized at the event. The flag raising is free and open to the public. Mayor Sarno states, Mayoral Aide Shenell Ford and I are looking forward to joining with Representative Bud Williams, Springfield NAACP President Bishop Talbert Swan, Police Superintendent Akers, City Councilor Lavar Click Bruce, and other officials and religious leaders as our community celebrates Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day with our annual celebration and flag raising ceremony. It is important that Dr. Kings legacy lives on. Special thanks to my Mayoral Aide Shenell Ford for her efforts in helping to coordinate this annual event here at City Hall. Governor Maura Healey is expected to be in Springfield on Monday to celebrate MLK Day. She will be attending the 2025 Martin Luther King Jr. Day Collaborative Community Event. This event is happening right after the flag raising at city hall, across the street at the MassMutual Center on Monday. This years theme is Pursue Justice. Persist in Peace. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement At 2:00 p.m., The City of Springfield states that nearly 1,000 youth and supporting adult participants will manifest the theme through inspiring spoken word, dance, and music presentations featuring MLK Charter School of Excellence, Martin Luther King Jr. Family Services Youth & Clemente Program, Community Music School of Springfields Sonido Musica, String City, African Drumming, Springfield CommUnity Chorale, and Springfield Public Schools students. Amherst Canned and non-perishable foods are in need at the Amherst Survival Center Pantry. A food drive is being held on Monday, inspired by the message of Dr. King. The Amherst Survival Center provides free groceries to individuals in need every month. Donations can be brought to the center located at 138 Sunderland Road on Monday. They will be open from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Local News Headlines WWLP-22News, an NBC affiliate, began broadcasting in March 1953 to provide local news, network, syndicated, and local programming to western Massachusetts. Watch the 22News Digital Edition weekdays at 4 p.m. on WWLP.com. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 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 WWLP. Before you settle into your federally mandated day of action (or day of chillin, if thats your groove), allow me to bestow upon you an inconvenient truth: The Martin Luther King Jr. national holiday is one of the worst things that happened to the mans legacy. Lets be clear: King was a radical. Go to a MLK celebration these days and you will hear Black politicians using this holiday as a platform to run for office. Most white pastors use the day as a time to get in a pulpit and talk to their mostly white congregations about Kings dream about racial harmony, ignoring all the other things he wrote and said about his disappointment with how white people embodied Christianity. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Or worse yet, they will ask a Black minister to do it, and a Black minister will tap dance for the white listeners, allowing them to leave the white church, drive home to their white communities and feel like they are a friend to Black people. But it needs to be said again: King was a radical. About how America treats the poor, the man said, there must be a better distribution of wealth and maybe America must move toward a Democratic Socialism. He also asked, What good is having the right to sit at a lunch counter if you cant afford to buy a hamburger? And he said, Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in health care is the most shocking and inhumane. None of that will be said at your local MLK celebration. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Toward the end of his life, when thinking about what he accomplished and seeing how white America was treating Black people, King said, Ive come to believe we are integrating into a burning house, making it plain that he was not as optimistic about race relations in May 1967 as he was when he gave his I have a dream speech in August 1963. Given the radicality of his thought, I wonder if King would recognize the man America valorizes on January 20. To understand why King is portrayed as a gentle dreamer instead of an angry prophet, we have to understand what concession were made to get the King hoiliday in the first place. The first time a bill to have a King holiday was proposed in Congress, it was introduced by Representative John Conyers, a Democrat from Michigan, and Senator Edward Brooke, a Republican from Massachusetts in 1979. That bill failed by five votes. A bill was finally passed in 1983, but not before Republicans opposed the bill, openly asking whether King was important enough to receive such an honor. To get enough votes from the Republican controlled Senate and a signature from President Ronald Regan, advocates for the King National holiday were forced to highlight his unifying rhetoric to the detriment of his actual thoughts on things like universal healthcare and economic justice. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We dont honor the real Martin Luther King, Jr. anymore. We honor the King that does not offend white people. That is why this holiday is one of the worst things to happen to his legacy. There is a danger in reducing any persons life and work to a sound bite or any single speech or essay. To fully appreciate a thinker as complex as King, we must consider the totality of his work. Not just something he said one day in August. For the latest news, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. [Source] A Pew Research Center study in 2023 revealed a startling statistic: 25% of Asian Americans know either not much or nothing at all about Martin Luther King Jr.s famous I Have a Dream speech. This lack of familiarity stands in sharp contrast to Kings profound impact on Asian Americans, from catalyzing civil rights legislation that reshaped immigration to inspiring cross-racial solidarity. Today on Martin Luther King Jr. Day we remember his contributions to our community. Pushing for progress Kings leadership in the civil rights movement influenced pivotal changes in the countrys laws, such as the following: Trending on NextShark: Asian American children more likely to develop allergies, study finds Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 : This act dismantled the racially biased quota system, paving the way for increased Asian immigration to the U.S. Voting Rights Act of 1965: While the original act broadly prohibited racial discrimination in voting, later amendments, particularly in 1975, specifically addressed language-based voting assistance, enabling Asian Americans to vote in their native languages. End of interracial marriage bans: Struck down by the 1967 Loving v. Virginia decision, this ruling enabled interracial relationships and families to thrive. Learning from the Black radical tradition Kings broader vision of justice transcended racial boundaries, resonating deeply with Asian American activists. In his 1967 Beyond Vietnam speech criticizing the Vietnam War, King described the U.S. government as the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today. His denunciation of militarism and racism encouraged communities of color to examine the intersections of imperialism and oppression. For Asian Americans, this critique hit close to home, as American foreign policies devastated their ancestral homelands. Trending on NextShark: Sen. Dave Min condemns calls for conditional California wildfire aid in 1st floor speech Mark Tseng-Putterman, a historian of Asian American community politics, contextualizes this solidarity in a 2017 Medium article, noting how Black internationalists like Angela Davis and Muhammad Ali linked struggles against militarism abroad to systemic racism at home. This intersectional lens inspired Asian Americans to forge connections between their migration histories and U.S. imperialism. Spiritual and philosophical resonance Hak Joon Lee, a Korean American theologian, regards King as a God-sent teacher who helped him navigate his racialized identity. In a 2019 op-ed for Inheritance magazine, Lee notes that Kings approach mirrors jazz a collective, improvisational art form that celebrates individuality while fostering collaboration. Trending on NextShark: How Martin Luther King Jr. inspired Asian Americans This perspective extends to activism. Lee emphasizes that Asian Americans still face the huge task of exploring Asian American identity in its complexity and plurality, of exploring conversation with rich Asiatic religious cultural traditions, and of measuring and arranging our relationships with other racial groups. Kings model, he notes, offers a third way between divisive identity politics and post-racial idealism. The Beloved Community Kings vision of the Beloved Community a society grounded in justice, inclusivity and love is an inspiration to Asian American activists. The concept has encouraged the creation of multicultural coalitions aimed at dismantling systemic racism. As a philosophy, it highlights the interconnectedness of all struggles, emphasizing that unity and collaboration are essential for meaningful change. Trending on NextShark: Why do Greenlanders look Asian? Beyond this, Kings principles significantly influenced the formation of Asian American identity during the civil rights era. His dedication to dignity and nonviolence provided a template for Asian Americans to assert their rights in a nation that often marginalized them. This influence is evident in the establishment of Asian American advocacy organizations that paralleled the Black civil rights movement. International solidarity Trending on NextShark: NextShark takes equity stake in Son Fish Sauce to drive Vietnamese legacy and sustainable food innovation Kings anti-imperialist stance also resonated deeply with Asian American communities, particularly those affected by U.S. military actions abroad. His opposition to the Vietnam War and critique of American foreign policy galvanized Asian Americans to connect their own migration histories with the broader struggles against imperialism. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This solidarity extended to support for global decolonization movements, with Kings speeches inspiring Asian Americans to engage in activism that addressed both domestic and international issues. By linking the impacts of militarism abroad to systemic racism at home, Kings legacy offers a powerful reminder of the global stakes in the fight for justice. Upholding his vision To honor Kings legacy, Asian Americans must confront uncomfortable truths within their communities. Tseng-Putterman highlights the need to reject the white conservative appropriation of Kings words and to challenge intra-community complicity in systemic racism, such as opposition to affirmative action or police accountability. As late author and scholar Gary Okihiro poignantly reminded us: Asians, it must be remembered, did not come to America; Americans went to Asia. Asians, it must be remembered, did not come to take the wealth of America; Americans went to take the wealth of Asia. Asians, it must be remembered, did not come to conquer and colonize America; Americans went to conquer and colonize Asia. And the matter of the when and where of Asian American history is located therein. The future lies in building coalitions rooted in shared struggles. A time comes when silence is betrayal, King declared in his 1967 speech. For Asian Americans, breaking that silence means standing in solidarity with marginalized communities, dismantling systemic inequalities and embracing the beloved community as a guiding principle. This story is part of The Rebel Yellow Newsletter a bold weekly newsletter from the creators of NextShark, reclaiming our stories and celebrating Asian American voices. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Subscribe free to join the movement. If you love what were building, consider becoming a paid member your support helps us grow our team, investigate impactful stories, and uplift our community. Subscribe here now! Download the NextShark App: Want to keep up to date on Asian American News? Download the NextShark App today! KUALA LUMPUR, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- Analysts are turning cautious about Malaysia's data center development as the U.S. Artificial Intelligence Diffusion (USAID) rules present a structural risk to the multi-year growth story. RHB Investment Bank said in a note on Monday that experts from the research house expect the policy overhang to cloud the prospects of the data center market in the near to midterm, potentially stifling investments. It opined that the proposals may have wider implications across the entire technology value chain. According to the research house, there are concerns about co-location providers, whose growth may be impeded in the medium to longer term. It noted that the new rules favor the U.S.-based hyperscalers, with AI computational capacity controlled via trusted allies (Tier-1 countries). The policy response will likely crimp the exports of graphics processing units (GPU) to Tier-2 markets, with non-verified end user (VEU) entities likely to be the worst hit via capacity caps and conditional quotas, it said. It is noted that the USAID policy tightens export controls implemented in 2022 and 2023. Under the interim final rule announced on Jan. 13, global licenses will be required to import the U.S. AI chips with countries divided into three groups. Close allies and partners (Tier-1) are exempted from regulatory controls on AI exports, as they carry a low risk of theft and diversion. Countries of concern (Tier-3) -- those where the United States has an arms embargo -- will see a blanket ban enforced. Most countries, including Malaysia, are classified as Tier-2, where significant AI investments are being made by the United States and non-U.S.-based hyperscalers and co-location providers. The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. heading towards Jackson, Mississippi on the March Against Fear, 9th June 1966. The marchers set out after the original, solo marcher, James Meredith was shot and wounded by a white gunman. Photo by Archive Photos/Getty Images. Your Majesty, Your Royal Highness, Mr. President, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen: I accept the Nobel Prize for Peace at a moment when 22 million Negroes of the United States of America are engaged in a creative battle to end the long night of racial injustice. I accept this award on behalf of a Civil Rights Movement which is moving with determination and a majestic scorn for risk and danger to establish a reign of freedom and a rule of justice. I am mindful that only yesterday in Birmingham, Alabama, our children, crying out for brotherhood, were answered with fire hoses, snarling dogs and even death. I am mindful that only yesterday in Philadelphia, Mississippi, young people seeking to secure the right to vote were brutalized and murdered. And only yesterday more than 40 houses of worship in the state of Mississippi alone were bombed or burned because they offered a sanctuary to those who would not accept segregation. I am mindful that debilitating and grinding poverty afflicts my people and chains them to the lowest rung of the economic ladder. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Therefore, I must ask why this prize is awarded to a movement which is beleaguered and committed to unrelenting struggle; to a movement which has not won the very peace and brotherhood which is the essence of the Nobel Prize. After contemplation, I conclude that this award which I receive on behalf of that movement is a profound recognition that nonviolence is the answer to the crucial political and moral question of our time the need for man to overcome oppression and violence without resorting to violence and oppression. Civilization and violence are antithetical concepts. Negroes of the United States, following the people of India, have demonstrated that nonviolence is not sterile passivity, but a powerful moral force which makes for social transformation. Sooner or later all the people of the world will have to discover a way to live together in peace, and thereby transform this pending cosmic elegy into a creative psalm of brotherhood. If this is to be achieved, man must evolve for all human conflict a method which rejects revenge, aggression and retaliation. The foundation of such a method is love. The tortuous road which has led from Montgomery, Alabama to Oslo bears witness to this truth. This is a road over which millions of Negroes are travelling to find a new sense of dignity. This same road has opened for all Americans a new era of progress and hope. It has led to a new Civil Rights Bill, and it will, I am convinced, be widened and lengthened into a super highway of justice as Negro and white men in increasing numbers create alliances to overcome their common problems. I accept this award today with an abiding faith in America and an audacious faith in the future of mankind. I refuse to accept despair as the final response to the ambiguities of history. I refuse to accept the idea that the isness of mans present nature makes him morally incapable of reaching up for the eternal oughtness that forever confronts him. I refuse to accept the idea that man is mere flotsam and jetsam in the river of life, unable to influence the unfolding events which surround him. I refuse to accept the view that mankind is so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood can never become a reality. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I refuse to accept the cynical notion that nation after nation must spiral down a militaristic stairway into the hell of thermonuclear destruction. I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality. This is why right temporarily defeated is stronger than evil triumphant. I believe that even amid todays mortar bursts and whining bullets, there is still hope for a brighter tomorrow. I believe that wounded justice, lying prostrate on the blood-flowing streets of our nations, can be lifted from this dust of shame to reign supreme among the children of men. I have the audacity to believe that peoples everywhere can have three meals a day for their bodies, education and culture for their minds, and dignity, equality and freedom for their spirits. I believe that what self-centered men have torn down men other-centered can build up. I still believe that one day mankind will bow before the altars of God and be crowned triumphant over war and bloodshed, and nonviolent redemptive good will proclaim the rule of the land. And the lion and the lamb shall lie down together and every man shall sit under his own vine and fig tree and none shall be afraid. I still believe that we shall overcome! This faith can give us courage to face the uncertainties of the future. It will give our tired feet new strength as we continue our forward stride toward the city of freedom. When our days become dreary with low-hovering clouds and our nights become darker than a thousand midnights, we will know that we are living in the creative turmoil of a genuine civilization struggling to be born. Today I come to Oslo as a trustee, inspired and with renewed dedication to humanity. I accept this prize on behalf of all men who love peace and brotherhood. I say I come as a trustee, for in the depths of my heart I am aware that this prize is much more than an honor to me personally. Every time I take a flight, I am always mindful of the many people who make a successful journey possible the known pilots and the unknown ground crew. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement So you honor the dedicated pilots of our struggle who have sat at the controls as the freedom movement soared into orbit. You honor, once again, Chief Lutuli of South Africa, whose struggles with and for his people, are still met with the most brutal expression of mans inhumanity to man. You honor the ground crew without whose labor and sacrifices the jet flights to freedom could never have left the earth. Most of these people will never make the headline and their names will not appear in Whos Who. Yet when years have rolled past and when the blazing light of truth is focused on this marvellous age in which we live men and women will know and children will be taught that we have a finer land, a better people, a more noble civilization because these humble children of God were willing to suffer for righteousness sake. I think Alfred Nobel would know what I mean when I say that I accept this award in the spirit of a curator of some precious heirloom which he holds in trust for its true owners all those to whom beauty is truth and truth beauty and in whose eyes the beauty of genuine brotherhood and peace is more precious than diamonds or silver or gold. The statue of civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. at his memorial site on the edge of the Tidal Basin, which was dedicated in 2011 in Washington, D.C. (Samuel Corum/Getty Images). Today is a day of reckoning. Today, resurgent white supremacy takes the oath of office on a day meant to commemorate a Black man who, 61 years before, stood at the other end of the National Mall and dreamt of Black liberation. The stark contrast of today forcefully reminds us that Martin Luther King Jr. Day should not be a celebration of an idealized dream. Instead, it should be reckoning with the truth of the cold reality of the world. It is a call to confront the past with unflinching honesty, grapple with its wounds, and demand a radically different future. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In the less publicized first half of his I Have a Dream speech, Dr. King outlined the unrelenting urgency of his appeal: The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges. Kings dream was not an empty promise or shallow vision of racial reconciliation. His dream was a demandfor justice and the dismantling of systems built on violence and exploitation. Kings rhetoric was not that of a meek man, trying to please the oppressor, but the language of a prophet who knew that love, in its truest sense, is not soft. It burns. It demands nothing less than the complete and utter reorganization of society. Kings legacy is not a relic to be confined in monuments or sanitized for comfort. It is a challenge a fierce, unrelenting call to action for all of us who share Kings righteous rage and who continue to experience oppression under the systems he fought to dismantle. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement One of the greatest displays of a system of racial injustice is the criminal legal system which cages nearly two million people in prisons across this country. Black people make up 13% of the population, but we account for over 40% of those incarcerated. This is a national disgrace by design. Policing, incarceration and the judicial system they do not protect. They destroy. They tear through families and communities like storms that refuse to end. When we speak of reform, we are merely bandaging a wound that demands surgery. The system does not healit dismembers. It rots the very core of what it means to be human. Dr. Kings dream was a guide to continue dismantling the criminal legal system by centering shalom, forgiveness and transformative justice in the struggle for Black liberation. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Shalom the peace we so urgently need is not merely the absence of conflict, but the presence of justice, wholeness and healing. Shalom cannot coexist with violence masquerading as law, where people are crushed under the weight of injustice. To imagine shalom is to dare to believe in a world built on justice and restoration. We are often told forgiveness alone is the answer. That somehow, forgiveness will fix what is broken. We are told to forgive the centuries of violence, endless humiliation and repeated betrayals without acknowledgment or courage for confrontation. Forgiveness is presented as a convenient lie a tool of the oppressor. At its most dangerous, forgiveness demands the forgetfulness of the oppressed. Forgiveness tells us we must let the systems of oppression go on as they always have, unchallenged and unexamined. This is not forgivenessit is submission. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Real forgiveness is never passive. It is a radical act of truth-telling, confrontation, naming what has been done to us and our ancestors, and demanding repair. True forgiveness cannot exist without justice. This is where transformative justice enters the picture. Transformative justice is neither a cure-all nor an easy path. It is rooted in the belief that people are capable of change. It is a vision that holds everyone accountable to one another. Transformative justice understands harm must be reckoned with and healing must be collective. Imagine a world where justice moves as water does, flowing toward the most broken, washing them clean. Imagine a world where harm is brought into the open, where those who cause harm are given the opportunity for accountability, and where reparations are a necessity. Transformative justice and Black liberation are not abstract ideals. Every day, people practice building a world where shalom justice, peace and healing can thrive in community. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement When I think of Black liberation, I think of Keisha, a Black woman walking her own neighborhood in Carondelet until a bullet shattered her peace. Random, they called it. As though randomness could dull the pain or lessen the scar. Doctors, cold and distant, told her they are not in the business of removing bullets. The police left her with no answers, no justice, no support. Why did this happen? Keisha asked herself the next day, walking and weeping, searching for meaning in the violence. The answers werent waiting in an institution, a report, or a sterile room. The answers came from her people. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Her community Freedom Community Center, The Bullet Related Injury Clinic and neighbors who saw her humanity gathered around her. They treated her wounds, secured her safety and gave her a sense of belonging. At Freedom Community Center, we refuse to let harm define us. We work for something deeper than justice by the states measure. We build safety, belonging, and accountability outside the walls of a system that ignores us. We center survivors like Keisha, whose courage reminds us of what is possible when we care for one another. I just hope to be part of the community, Keisha said, to love on some people that probably look like this personso it wont happen again. The truth this world doesnt want to face: the only way forward is together. Community is not just where we heal; its how we transform. Keishas survival is not the end of the story. Its the beginning of something extraordinary. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Through this work, we are building a movement. We are breaking the states chokehold on our lives and building systems of community safety. Dr. Kings work is not done. It was a blueprint. A battle cry. We are the ones who must take up his work now. We are the ones who must fight for shalom. At the start of December, Ukrainians suddenly found themselves unable to sell cars, file legal claims, or register marriages through the state's recently digitized government registries. Cybersecurity specialist and frequent coordinator of Ukrainian hackers, Karla Wagner, noticed when she went to register an NGO through Ukraine's Justice Ministry. I was getting inconsistent results from the Justice Ministry website; I was able to submit the document, but I was not able to digitally sign it. And at first, I was annoyed because I'm thinking, yeah, this is a crappy system, says Wagner. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I was getting different results every time, from timeouts to errors to something didn't seem to work right, please try again later. The Justice Ministry on Dec. 19 formally announced that a Russian hack had taken a laundry list of critical government databases that had been put under the Justice Ministry offline. The databases contain sensitive information from property ownership to biometric data to tax records. Relevant Ukrainian offices quickly called it an act of war from Russia. The information space is one of the key directions of the enemys attacks, wrote the State Communications Service, the national cybersecurity agency, in a statement provided to the Kyiv Independent. Read also: New military app is set to revolutionize how Ukraine runs its army Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Russian hackers, who have become full-fledged participants in this war, are constantly getting better, improving their toolkits, tactics and strategy of operations. The statement contained no information on the technical details as to how the systems were compromised. XakNet, a hacking group previously tied to Russian intelligence, took credit for the attack, posting on Telegram data they claim to have hacked from the Ukrainian civil registry. The hackers claimed to have deleted at least some of the registry data. The Justice Ministry has since announced that all its state registries were ready to operate but that access to some registers was still limited, as their data still needs to be updated. Access to government services through the Diia app would be available in the near future, the ministry said on Jan. 20. The hack posed a major informational threat, highlighting how vulnerable government and Ukrainians personal data is to cyber attacks. In pushing to digitize its services quickly, the government also may have taken shortcuts that opened the door to digital onslaughts. Attacks of these kinds also erode public trust in the government, experts say. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The core problem, as Wagner diagnoses, was the pace at which Ukraine rewired systems ranging from passports to tax payments into a single digital portal, all under the auspices of the Justice Ministry, in order to show positive results to foreign observers. It was very, very, very, very, very fast progress, says Wagner. And any IT project that has the heat on to make fast progress will cut corners where needed and save resources where needed with the best of intentions, which is meeting the deadlines and satisfying the requirements. (That) created not only a long string of vulnerabilities but also over-centralization in tech admin infrastructure. A woman uses her laptop as she takes shelter in a metro station during an air strike alarm in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Nov. 20, 2024, amid the Russian invasion. (Roman Pilipey/AFP via Getty Images) Mykyta Knysh, who formerly worked in cybersecurity for Ukraines security services, the SBU, and currently runs the hacking collective HackYourMama, says the agencies involved should have known better. I understand that the Justice Ministry doesnt necessarily have to have this kind of expertise, but the State Office of Security and Communications, the Digital Transformation Ministry, the SBU they should have that expertise, says Knysh. What was hacked and what the hackers could do next Hardly the most eye-catching of Russias military operations against Ukraine since the full-scale invasion, the attack nonetheless presents a serious threat to Ukraines security. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement If the Russians occupy more territory they can use that information, maybe to threaten or blackmail or defraud people who fall under them, says Knysh. Knysh hails from Kupiansk, a town in eastern Kharkiv Oblast that currently lies within five miles of Russian positions. The registries attacked included information like individuals addresses and assets, as well as familial relationships. It is not yet known whether the hackers involved have actually re-written the information for certain civilians. Knysh fears the hackers may have forged digital identities to grant Russian agents access to the front. Read also: Ukraine launches online marriages to unite couples separated by war Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The hack provides opportunities for Russian intelligence to obtain additional information about Ukrainian military and civilian government employees, and identify vulnerable or otherwise suitable people in Ukraine who can be recruited or coerced into conducting espionage activities and sabotage, analysts at cybersecurity firm Flashpoint wrote in a comments to the Kyiv Independent. The hack "provides opportunities for Russian intelligence to obtain additional information about Ukrainian military and civilian government employees, and identify vulnerable or otherwise suitable people in Ukraine who can be recruited or coerced into conducting espionage activities and sabotage. However, more likely uses of such information include conducting future cyberattacks on other organizations in Ukraine using the information from public registries for reconnaissance, identity theft, social engineering, doxxing, harassment, and crafting convincing phishing emails, Flashpoint wrote. A Ukrainian soldier works with a computer next to a shelter in his fighting position in the direction of Bakhmut, Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine, Nov. 18, 2023. (Diego Herrera Carcedo/Anadolu via Getty Images) Oleh Burba, who works as a component leader for EU4DigitalUA and coordinates registry integration says that while anything is theoretically possible if Russians have the access, there is currently no confirmed information they have changed anything in the registries. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Though any such impacts have yet to materialize, the attack has already proved a major inconvenience to civil society, which Wagner sees as the biggest issue. You attack the Justice Ministry and the day-to-day business of government cannot go on, says Wagner. Okay, nobody's going to die if I can't register my NGO. But it erodes confidence in the Ukrainian government. "You attack the Justice Ministry and the day-to-day business of government cannot go on." For Russia, Wagner considers it an extension of a propaganda war, similar to bombardments of Ukrainian national monuments. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement You don't need to hit strategic targets in a country. All you have to do is make it appear to be ungovernable. XakNet hackers also claimed to have destroyed backup data in servers in Poland. In its message the hacker group mocks Ukraines government, saying: Its very telling to store government data on foreign storage thats what independence Ukrainian-style looks like, apparently. Single point of failure The systems affected were under the umbrella of massive digitalization of government services that has taken place under the administration of President Volodymyr Zelensky, particularly his Digital Transformation Minister Mikhailo Fedorov. This digitalization has been enormously popular, largely seen as reducing opportunities for low-level corruption among a patchwork of regional agencies ruled by unscrupulous bureaucrats. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But cybersecurity experts question the wisdom of the technical centralization of these systems within one office, with Knysh jokingly dubbing Fedorovs agency the Digital Degradation Ministry. At the beginning of the full-scale invasion we realized that Ukraine's digital infrastructure was overly centralized, according to the old Soviet model, says Wagner. Centralization and single points of failure are a well-known anti-pattern. And it's highly vulnerable. Centralization and single points of failure are a well-known anti-pattern. And it's highly vulnerable. My personal opinion was that (the hack) was through this system, Trembita, says Knysh. Trembita is a core data management system that provides the backend for government systems, specifically Diia, an app that has digitized government services like passports and tax paying. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Knysh helped organize a hack on Russias government services portal last year that among other impacts, immobilized digital voting. Independent hackers have been warning government agencies about the centralization of everyones information under Diia since 2021. Trembita manages the digital communication between different registries. Trembita is a trip by rail, wrote Burba in an op-ed for Economic Pravda defending the system in May, describing the registries as cities, their digital links as railroads, and individual identifying codes as tickets. A mobile phone displays an error message for a marriage online on the 'Diia' mobile app in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Sept. 10, 2024. (Viktor Fridshon / Global Images Ukraine / Getty Images) Trembita specifically in this situation was not damaged or broken, it functioned just as it should have functioned and protected the information exchange between these registries, Burba told the Kyiv Independent. Knysh is especially concerned that authorities provided no details on the hack, citing a whole monopoly on what they are saying. Given that hackers re-use hacking techniques, he was concerned for other nations. Its not a problem limited to the Zelensky cyber team and Digital Transformation Ministry. Having worked for the Ukrainian SBU under former president Petro Poroshenko's administration, Knysh says Poroshenko was almost just the same, and acknowledged the need for a stronger digitized and federalized system of managing data. Before Trembita, there was total chaos, says Knysh. But then they said you will have a government of smartphones and now we have a government of smartphones open to the SBU and HUR, he continued, referencing Ukrainian intelligence agencies. Hackers can find backdoors left open to governments, as for example a series of legal battles to compel Apple to extract data for U.S. intelligence agencies laid out. Officials are touting an overhaul, with Justice Minister Olha Stefanishyna dubbing a pending rebuild into a Pentagon of registries. What exactly a Pentagon of registries means is unclear. For Wagner, its fairly simple: Nothing. Its not an emotionally mature approach, says Wagner, miming beating her chest. I heard this (Pentagon of Registries) and I thought, Go out and say honestly, we dont know how to make a safe system. Read also: Zelensky slaps sanctions on Ukraines top pro-Russian politicians Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. NEW YORK CITY (PIX11) Mayor Eric Adams will attend President-elect Donald Trumps inauguration on Monday in Washington, D.C. Adams added the inauguration to his schedule Monday morning. He canceled existing appearances in New York City, including two celebrations of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Live Updates: Trumps inauguration In December, Trump said he would consider pardoning Adams, who was indicted on federal charges including bribery. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I think that he was treated pretty unfairly, Trump said at a press conference in Florida. I would certainly look at it. Trumps swearing-in ceremony is expected to begin at 12 p.m., after which he is expected to sign at least 100 executive orders. Trump is expected to describe many of his initial executive orders during his address Monday. Trump has already arrived at St. Johns Episcopal Church, where he is set to attend a service before his inauguration. This story comprises reporting from Nexstar Media Wire. Emily Rahhal is a digital reporter who has covered New York City since 2023 after reporting in Los Angeles for years. She joined PIX11 in 2024. See more of her work here and follow her on Twitter here. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 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. By Andrew Mills and Ahmed Mohamed Hassan DOHA/CAIRO (Reuters) - Sunday's delayed start to the Gaza ceasefire and incidents on Monday in which Israeli troops shot at Palestinians approaching them underline some of the hiccups likely to face a deal that will play out in the shadow of mutual mistrust and bitterness. Qatar and Egypt, which brokered the deal alongside the U.S., have set up a communications hub to tackle any problems, where officials who worked on the deal for months hope to head off new clashes between foes locked in a years-long cycle of Gaza wars. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "These kinds of deals are never easy to maintain," said Majed Al-Ansari, spokesperson for Qatar's foreign ministry. Particularly in a war zone the situation can shift very quickly, either by accident or through political posturing on one side or another, he said. "Any party could consider a threat a reason to violate the parameters of the agreement, and therefore we would end up with having to go in and to find a way to resume the ceasefire." With just over an hour to go before the ceasefire was due to take effect on Sunday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that Israel would not observe the halt to fighting until Hamas handed over the names of the three hostages to be released later in the day. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Fighting continued almost three hours past the deadline, while a Hamas official in the coordination room set up in Cairo discussed the delay, which Hamas put down to unspecified "technical issues" with officials. The issue was eventually dealt with and the three hostages were released on schedule in the afternoon in exchange for 90 Palestinian prisoners freed from Israeli jails late that night, setting off emotional scenes as they returned to their families. "We don't expect things to go according to plan," said one official briefed on the negotiations, adding that issues of this kind were not expected to derail a process that diplomats and officials have been working on for months. "It's hard to believe that after all the work the mediators have put in and the assurances they received, both from the U.S. and the mediators, that this deal would derail on day one," the official said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The multi-phase deal will see an initial six-week ceasefire, during which 33 hostages will be gradually exchanged for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, people displaced from northern Gaza will be allowed to return to their homes and Israeli troops will pull back from some positions. During the first phase, negotiations will begin for the release of the remaining 64 hostages, consisting of men of military age and for the full withdrawal of Israeli troops. But few expect the process to go without problems. OBSTACLES AHEAD With an extremely low level of trust between both sides who have fought each other for generations, potential pitfalls run from accidental or deliberate confrontations during the period of withdrawal to disputes over the identity and state of hostages to be released or returned. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement So far, Hamas has not said how many of the hostages are still alive. A list of the remaining 30 hostages due for release in the first phase and whether they are alive or dead is expected to be handed over on Saturday. The Israeli military says it is seeking to avoid situations in which Gaza residents come too close to Israeli troops that are pulling back. Already on Monday, troops fired on at least eight Palestinians who approached them, medics in Gaza said. To prevent this, it will publish maps and guidelines as the agreement progresses, making clear which areas should not be approached as the withdrawal proceeds, an Israeli military official said. "The areas will change as the troops gradually withdraw from the Gaza Strip," the military official said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In Israel, the deal is viewed with deep suspicion by some, who say it leaves Hamas in control of Gaza and others who worry that it effectively abandons the hostages not included in the first phase. Already, hardliner Itamar Ben-Gvir resigned as National security Minister on the morning of the ceasefire and pulled his party from Netanyahu's coalition and others may follow. Israeli public radio reported that Israeli officials were shocked to see the three hostages released in the centre of Gaza on Sunday getting out of a car in the middle of a large crowd of people held back by Hamas fighters in uniform, and will inform the mediators that they regard such scenes as unacceptable. But mediators are counting on positive momentum as the release of hostages and prisoners continues over the coming weeks to ease opposition. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "The pictures we have seen yesterday of the three Israeli hostages meeting with their families, embraced by their families. These are the pictures that would change public opinion in Israeli politics," Ansari said. "The same goes also for the Palestinian populace, when they see 90 of their women and children coming back to their families." "These are the kind of pictures that change public opinion. They apply real pressure on the leadership to maintain the deal." (Additional reporting by Nidal al-Mughrabi, Mayaan Lubell, Emily Rose, James Mackenzie, Editing by William Maclean) A Madeira tailor has been tasked with making suits for Vice President-Elect JD Vance to wear to his inauguration, according to our news partner WCPO. [DOWNLOAD: Free WHIO-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] Romualdo Pelle, a 90-year-old Italian immigrant, knows his way around a good suit. TRENDING STORIES: My godfather, I was eight and a half, he said Romualdo! I want to teach you what I do. I am a tailor and youve got good hands!, Pelle said to WCPO. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Pelle grew up in Italy and joined the Italian army in the 1950s. In the 60s, he made the difficult decision to move to Cincinnati and teach himself English. One guy from Italy, he sent me a book to translate English to Italian, Pelle said to WCPO. Ive still got the book. Pelle opened his tailor shop, called Romualdo, in 1968. Pelle shares his story with anyone who asks. Hes a character, said Tim Brock, the co-owner of Romualdo, to WCPO. I started working with Romauldo when I was 19-years-old and hes pretty much like an adopted grandparent for me. Its been a wild ride Pelle met Vance three years ago, and Pelle says he has genuine character. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Very nice person to talk to, he understands, Pelle said to WCPO. Very smart, I think. Very smart. Monday, Vance will be sworn in as the Vice President of the United States, all while wearing one of Pelles suits. Thats pretty cool, Pelle said to WCPO. I think its pretty cool. Pelle says Vance ordered four suits for the week of the inauguration. Vance even wrote a note to Pelle, reading: For Romualdo - with admiration for your hard work and dedication. I will proudly wear your suit at the inauguration. Pelle is grateful for his job, and its one he loves doing. Its an honor for me, really, at my age that I can still serve people, Pelle said to WCPO. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He says hell continue doing it until he cant anymore. I want to die over here, to tell you the truth, Pelle said to WCPO. [SIGN UP: WHIO-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter] Katie Hall, a trailblazing congresswoman from Gary, played a pivotal role in the fight to establish Martin Luther King Jr. Day as a federal holiday. As the first Black woman to represent Indiana in Congress, Hall authored and sponsored the legislation honoring Kings legacy, ensuring his dream of justice and equality would be celebrated nationwide. Her leadership not only secured this historic recognition but also cemented her place as a key figure in civil rights history. Capital B Gary spoke with her daughter, Junifer Hall, for more insight into her journey and legacy. This conversation has been edited for length and clarity. Capital B Gary: What are your earliest memories of your mothers efforts to establish Martin Luther King Jr.s birthday as a federal holiday? Junifer Hall: My earliest memory of my mother working with the federal legislation to establish a national holiday for Dr. King was when she was a state senator in Indiana. This idea had come across her mind to author and sponsor legislation for the Dr. King holiday, but this would be for the state only. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement When she ran and was elected to the United States Congress, this idea came to the forefront of her mind to do something to memorialize the birthday, life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. for his great contributions, not only to our nation but to the world. So, in 1983, this idea really came more pervasive to her. U.S. Rep. Katie Hall of Indiana with an unidentified constituent outside the U.S. Capitol in Washington in 1983. (Courtesy of Junifer Hall) What challenges did your mother face in advocating for this holiday? Very great question. The challenges were not only in Washington or on a national level, but here in the state of Indiana. In her district, which was the 1st Congressional District, there was a lot of opposition, mainly from her constituency, those who lived in rural areas, and those challenges were based on race. Most African Americans were just overjoyed with the possibility that for the first time in this nations history, there would or could possibly be a national holiday in honor of Dr. King, [but] some of her Caucasian constituents threatened her life. They told her they did not send her to Washington to try to get legislation for Martin Luther King. On a national level, there was strong opposition in both the House of Representatives as well as the United States Senate, because some people view Dr. King as a communist. What do you believe was the most important aspect of your mothers legacy, both as a trailblazer in Congress and as a champion for civil rights? I think her legacy is quite expansive, not only with the national holiday for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., but as a state representative and Indiana state senator. She fought hard for education issues in the Indiana General Assembly. She worked on behalf of cities and towns, and a lot of people dont know but right here in the city of Gary. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement One of her major pieces of legislation in the Indiana Senate was the Gary Genesis [Convention] Center, Gary airport, Gary Deputy Mayors law that said that in case the mayor at that time, who was Mayor [Richard] Hatcher, was unable to serve, there would be a vice president, so to speak, in the form of a deputy mayor. So her bills for education, she fought hard for the Gary schools as a member of the Indiana General Assembly, and for all other pieces of legislation that focused on equality justice, rape victims compensation, crime victims compensation. And as the U.S. representative, not only did she work for the King national holiday, but she fought for steel-working people unions. So the Paul Douglas environmental center out in Miller, she did work on that, and she worked hard for the transportation center after the death of U.S. Rep. Adam Benjamin Jr. Katie Hall sits beside Rosa Parks during Parks visit to Van Buren Missionary Baptist Church in Gary in February 1989. (Courtesy of Junifer Hall) What do you think your mother would say about the state of civil rights today? She would challenge the lack of African American-owned businesses right now. Theres no national brand on the market that is sold nationwide, no national hotel chain, no national manufacturer of cars or computers, and no national soft drink brand. These are the things Im sure that she would challenge and ask why, after 400 years of African Americans presence in this country, these things are lacking severely. She would be proud of Ketanji Brown Jackson, the first African American female on the U.S. Supreme Court, and, of course, of our vice president, Ms. [Kamala] Harris, and others who have broken through. But on the economic level, Im sure she would have a lot of questions. And even with the national holiday itself, we dont have a national product we can purchase to celebrate the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. national holiday. When we celebrate Valentines Day, we buy all of this delicious chocolate candy. For Easter, we get our Easter bunnies. For Halloween, we get our little pumpkin. And for Christmas, we put up our Christmas trees. But right now, no person is marketing a product in honor of the Dr. King national holiday, and that saddens me. What message would you like for people to take away about your mothers contributions as we celebrate MLK Day this year? My mother was the first person in her family to ever attend college. So, in the spirit of the honorable Katie Hall, I would like to encourage our young generation to stay the course, no matter how difficult it may be. My mother had no idea, as a young cotton picker and cotton farmer during the 1950s, that she would ever go to the United States Congress, let alone author and sponsor a bill that would affect the lives of millions on the third Monday every January. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The public can donate to the Katie Hall Educational Foundation at P.O. Box 1305, Gary, IN, 46407. The post Meet the Woman from Gary Who Secured MLK Day as a Federal Holiday appeared first on Capital B Gary. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have reportedly found the brutal Vanity Fair takedown of them distressing. Harry and Meghan, who still use the titles the Duke and Duchess of Sussex despite having left the working royal family five years ago and denounced the institution for treating them poorly, were also accused of being bullying bosses in the VF cover story, headlined American Hustle and published Friday. The couple were accused of intimidating employees, and Harry was painted as naive and socially isolated. VF also reported that Meghans team had shopped a book about her possible divorce from Harry. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Anonymous neighbors in their town of Montecito, California, criticized the duke and duchess as entitled and said they had drawn unwelcome attention to the area. The couple have not issued a formal response, however, The Times of London reported Monday that sources close to the couple have described the coverage as distressing, and added that friends of the Sussexes point to recent comments made by another neighbor, the actress Sharon Stone, who said that Meghan and Harry waved to people in the street. Stone told Access Hollywood in 2020: Theyre a part of our community, theyve become a giving, caring, participating part of our community. Theyre not here to be like Would you like to kiss my butt? The Times cited sources close to the Sussexes as directing them to comments made by previous employees who had gone on record in the past to say they were good bosses. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This appears to be a reference to a fawning and much-mocked story in Us Weekly in which serving staff members, including Meghans head of PR, said the couple gave their staff freshly cut flowers and free-range eggs, and made them feel like plants being watered. Former employees of Meghansthe so-called Sussex Survivors Club who disputed this characterization of her management style, told The Daily Beast in September that Meghan was a boss who had psycho moments and could be a demon. Over the weekend, one of those employees told The Royalist newsletter that they feel vindicated by the astonishing claims in Vanity Fair, which reported that several people described taking extended breaks from work to escape scrutiny, exiting their job, or undergoing long-term therapy after working with Meghan. The Daily Beasts source said: I feel desperately sorry for the people affected, because I have been there, but I also feel vindicated. All those people saying she is the worlds greatest boss should be ashamed of themselves. Its obviously very tempting to work for her when you are being wooed and love-bombed, but people should be in no doubt; she is a nightmare. I would think the atmosphere will be particularly hellish now everything is going to s--t. She doesnt do disappointment well. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Vanity Fair piece made the astonishing allegation that a rumor has circulated in the book world that Meghans team had a conversation with a publishing house to gauge interest in a book about a post-Harry divorce. The writer says it was clear that the idea was not for a general book on life after marital dissolution, and that the unidentified person allegedly acting for Meghan made it clear that the couple were not getting divorced, but was seeking to know, if such a divorce did happen, would this publisher theoretically be interested in a book that took place in its aftermath? Harry and Meghan did not comment to Vanity Fair and have not responded to requests for comment from The Daily Beast. An old friend of Harrys who still lives in the U.K. told The Royalist, noting that Meghans new cooking show has been ridiculed and postponed, and that Harry has a grueling court case coming up: Things arent easy for them right now. Vanity Fair have succeeded in making a bad time worse. Meghan Markle and Prince Harry sources have dismissed Vanity Fair's profile on the royal couple, noting that the report has been "distressing" for them. The Duchess of Sussex, in particular, was accused of being a demanding boss. Former staff described working with her as challenging, with some allegedly needing therapy. The shocking new expose comes months after loyal employees praised Prince Harry and Meghan Markle as great bosses in response to a similarly scathing expose in The Hollywood Reporter. Meghan Markle And Prince Harry Respond To Allegations Made In New Expose MEGA A source close to the Sussexes revealed to The Times that the couple found allegations made against them in Vanity Fair's February cover story "distressing." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Close associates of the couple also told The Daily Beast that Harry and Meghan are disheartened by the accusations, particularly given their current challenging situation: Harry is embroiled in a complex legal case in the U.K., while Meghan's highly anticipated Netflix project has been delayed. The Sussexes allegedly feel the bombshell cover story "has succeeded in making a bad time worse." The U.S. publication's profile on the couple, titled "American Hustle," claimed that Meghan could be "really, really awful" when situations did not unfold as expected. According to several individuals who have worked with the couple since they departed from the U.K. five years ago, Meghan was described as initially "warm and effusive" but allegedly became "cold and withholding toward the person she perceived to be responsible" for setbacks. Meghan Markle Accused Of Bullying And Power Games By Former Staff MEGA In the article, some of the couple's alleged former staff characterized Meghan as a demanding and challenging boss. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement One former employee claimed that while they initially doubted the allegations of bullying, their experience working with the duchess eventually changed their perspective. Some staff compared Meghan's behavior to that of a character from "Mean Girls," describing her as a "teenager" playing High School-style power games. Working on Meghan's Archetypes podcast was also described by others as "really, really awful" and "very painful." According to one insider, "Because she's constantly playing checkers, I'm not even going to say chess, she's just very aware of where everybody is on her board. And when you are not in, you are to be thrown to the wolves at any given moment." A Source Claims The Duchess Is 'Reparenting' Her Husband, Prince Harry MEGA While Meghan seemed to receive the brunt of the criticism, Vanity Fair also painted a less-than-flattering picture of Prince Harry, describing him as well-intentioned but prone to proposing "crazy" ideas. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement One such concept reportedly included a "sociopath podcast" where he would interview controversial figures like Russian President Vladimir Putin. The magazine also quoted Harry reflecting on his personal struggles, stating, "I have very bad childhood trauma. Obviously. My mother was essentially murdered. What is it about me that didn't make me one of the bad guys?" A source also described Meghan as a nurturing figure who makes Harry's life "so easy" while he plays the role of "facilitator" to support her desires. "I can picture him meeting Meghan and being just a deep breath of, like, 'I've been so exhausted, and you make everything so easy,'" a source said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "I don't want to be like, oh, it's an Oedipus thing or whatever, but it kind of feels like she's reparenting him in a way," they added. The Couple Were Called 'Local Villains' By Montecito Residents MEGA Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The explosive article reveals a growing disdain for Harry and Meghan in the U.S., as ex-colleagues and neighbors openly voice their frustrations. Wealthy residents of Montecito, where the couple lives in a $29 million mansion, have expressed their displeasure over the disruption of their once-tranquil neighborhood, which has transformed into a noisy hub for tourists and fast cars. After purchasing their luxury home from an oligarch, the couple has become known as "local villains" in this upscale California enclave. One frustrated neighbor remarked, "They moved away from England to get away from the scrutiny of the press and all they do is try and get in the press in the United States." Former Staff Praise Meghan Markle And Prince Harry As Thoughtful And Caring Amid Allegations MEGA Despite the explosive claims made in the profile, some staff who have worked closely with Meghan and Harry have previously spoken out in their defense. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Employees described the couple as "caring" bosses, sharing stories with US Weekly about their thoughtful gestures, such as gifting employees their children's outgrown baby clothes, fresh flowers, and personalized care packages. While reflecting on her time with the couple, Mandana Dayani, a former president of Archewell, told the news outlet about the Sussexes' generous and supportive nature. She emphasized that Meghan and Harry's acts of "kindness, mentorship, and support" usually happen "quietly behind closed doors." Harry's former chief of staff, Josh Kettler, who left after only three months in August last year, also shared a similar sentiment. He said he was "warmly welcomed" by the couple and praised their dedication and hard work. More recently, Jane Marie, a producer who collaborated with the Sussexes on Archewell audio projects, told Vanity Fair that Meghan is "just a lovely, genuine person." ISLAMABAD, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- In an event hall of a local hotel here, children's voices filled the air with warmth as they sang traditional Chinese and Pakistani songs to celebrate the forthcoming Chinese New Year. The event, dedicated to providing free education and shelter to underprivileged children, became a symbol of unity and cultural celebration as over 300 Pakistanis and Chinese came together to share the joys of the festival. The celebration began with a charming performance by students, swayed to the beats of Chinese and Pakistani folk songs in their vibrant red qipaos and traditional Pakistani attires. Nine-year-old Maryam Murtaza, a student at Hayat Progressive School, a school funded by Chinese volunteers, said that they practiced for weeks to get the performance right. "I learned a lot about Chinese traditions, and I also taught my Chinese friends a Pakistani song. We wanted to show everyone that we can celebrate together!" she added. The event drew a significant crowd of both Chinese and Pakistani attendees, all of whom shared heartfelt smiles and warm greetings. Chinese organizations take remarkable care of Pakistani students, and ensure the children receive free education, proper nutrition, and all the essentials they need to thrive, said Nusrat Imran, a teacher at the school. "Chinese festivals hold a special place in the hearts of these children because they feel a genuine sense of belonging and appreciation. The children look forward to these celebrations and participate wholeheartedly," Imran told Xinhua. Twelve-year-old Sana, a Pakistani student, expressed her enthusiasm, saying, "I love celebrating Chinese New Year because it feels like we are all one big family. We learn so much about each other's cultures, and it's so much fun to dance and sing together." Talking to Xinhua, Ma Bin, one of the organizers of the event said that they organize cultural and artistic festivals in Pakistan to help children know more about Chinese culture. "Our mission goes beyond education. We want to nurture understanding and friendship between our nations, starting with these young hearts. Today's celebration is proof that our efforts are bearing fruit," he added. The event concluded with a joint performance of Pakistani and Chinese students on a Pakistani song, serving as a moving reminder of the bond forged through shared dreams and mutual respect. (NewsNation) First lady Melania Trump wore a navy and ivory ensemble by American designer Adam Lippes with a widebrim hat during her husband Donald Trumps inauguration ceremony. Melanias outfit The look included a tailored navy silk wool coat, a navy silk wool pencil skirt and an ivory silk crepe blouse, all designed by Lippes and handsewn in New York City. The tradition of the presidential inauguration embodies the beauty of American democracy, and today we had the honor to dress our first lady, Mrs. Melania Trump, Adam Lippes said in a statement to NewsNation. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Will Melania and Barron Trump live at the White House? Mrs. Trumps outfit was created by some of Americas finest craftsmen, and I take great pride in showing such work to the world. President Donald Trump and his wife Melania arrive for church service at St. Johns Episcopal Church across from the White House in Washington (AP Photo/Matt Rourke). The missed kiss As President Donald Trump arrived inside the Capitol Rotunda, he greeted the first lady but could not plant a kiss on her cheek, ostensibly owing to the wide brim of her hat. It caused laughter on NewsNations broadcast of the inauguration and on social media. CUOMO host Chris Cuomo joked, That couldve gone better. The Hill Sunday host Chris Stirewalt noted, The hat brim is hard. The hat, again, figures prominently thats a long overhang. President-elect Donald Trump gets close to kissing Melania Trump before the 60th presidential inauguration in the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Jan. 20. (Saul Loeb/Pool photo via AP) Fashion houses warming to Melania Melania was publicly rejected by fashion designers during her husbands first inauguration, but this time around, fashion houses are eager to dress and impress. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Inaugural fashion has played an important role in cultural and political history. Despite the backlash surrounding her husbands politics, Melanias style made headlines during Trumps first term. At the 2017 inauguration, she wore a custom, blue cashmere dress by Ralph Lauren in a tribute to Jackie Kennedy. Copyright 2025 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 NewsNation. President Donald Trump's return to office could be inaugurating a new landscape in cryptocurrency. Just two days after launching the new $TRUMP cryptocurrency meme coin, there's now an offering in the name of incoming first lady Melania Trump, too. The Melania Trump meme coin, a type of cryptocurrency, hit the market Sunday night about 6 p.m. on the eve of Trump's inauguration. The returning first lady announced the offering's arrival in a post on X, the social media network formerly known as Twitter, saying You can buy $MELANIA now. After initially launching at about $7, the $MELANIA coin was valued at about $9 on Monday morning with a market cap of $1.65 billion, according to CoinMarketCap tracking site. That's not quite as successful of a launch as the $TRUMP coin, which has risen to about $50 and has a market cap of about $10 billion. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Some likely got a windfall when they got in early on $TRUMP coin at 18 cents. But investors should be wary of the volatility of cryptocurrencies. "As has been the case with other startup crypto currencies, one might anticipate there to be some considerable risk," David Reibstein, professor of marketing at The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, told USA TODAY, speaking about the launch of the $TRUMP coin. "That is not to say there could easily be an upside," Reibstein said. "Note the volatility of Trump Media which quickly rose to close to $100 and then shortly thereafter fell to under $13 and now is back up to near $40. It is an investment for the brave." How much is the new Melania Trump meme coin? The Official Melania Meme is live! You can buy $MELANIA now. https://t.co/8FXvlMBhVf FUAfBo2jgks6gB4Z4LfZkqSZgzNucisEHqnNebaRxM1P pic.twitter.com/t2vYiahRn6 MELANIA TRUMP (@MELANIATRUMP) January 19, 2025 As of 8 a.m. Monday, the Melania coin was trading at about $9, according to CoinMarketCap. When trading started Sunday night, the coin's value was $7.41, the site said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Melania meme coin, like the Trump coin, is issued on the Solana blockchain platform. About 450,000 buyers currently hold the Melania coin, according to the SolScan tracker, which tracks the Solana-related crypto tokens. The debut of the Melania coin on Sunday led to a "sharp dip in the price of" the Trump coin "prompting concerns from crypto industry executives who worry that meme coins could harm the market," reported Forbes' Siladitya Ray. The Trump launches are now clearly a blight that we will have to work to put behind us as builders, Rob Hadick, a general partner at crypto-focused venture-capital company Dragonfly Capital told Bloomberg. Donald Trump's new $TRUMP cryptocurrency meme coin Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Just days before his second inauguration, President-elect Donald Trump issued a cryptocurrency meme coin memorializing his response to the July 2024 assassination attempt. The new $TRUMP meme coin a type of cryptocurrency launched Friday night with posts on Trump's Truth Social social media platform and on X, the social network previously known as Twitter. According to the coin's website, gettrumpmemes.com, there are 200 million $TRUMP coins available now, with plans to have 1 billion over the next three years. The site deems Trump as "the crypto president," and the coin portrays the President-elect with "his fist in the air and the iconic battle cry FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT," Trump called out after the July 13, 2024 assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania. What is a meme coin? Meme coins are a type of cryptocurrency usually inspired by internet memes, often a pop culture image or trend. A well-known meme starred the Japanese dog Kabosu that became a popular meme online in the early 2010s. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Then in 2013, Kabosu became the face of Dogecoin, which became one of the most popular "meme stocks" during the COVID-19 pandemic retail trading boom. Elon Musk famously changed the logo of Twitter to the Dogecoin logo in April 2023, CNBC previously reported. Trump has named Musk and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy to co-lead the new Department of Government Efficiency (D.O.G.E.). How much is the new Trump meme coin? On Saturday at 1 p.m. ET, the Trump coin was trading at about $31, according to crypto exchange GeckoTerminal. When trading started, the coin's value was 18 cents, the site said. Trump coin had a fully diluted valuation of about $31.37 billion and a market cap of more than $6.27 billion, as of noon Saturday. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "'Trump Coin' has taken the cryptocurrency world by storm, potentially positioning itself to challenge Dogecoin's supremacy in the meme coin ecosystem," wrote London-based fintech analyst Boaz Sobrado on Forbes.com. "The stunning launch of $TRUMP caught the entire industry off-guard, and speaks to both (Trump's) personal influence and the ascendancy of cryptocurrency in his administration," wrote Axios' reporters Ben Berkowitz and Brady Dale. Trump's cryptocurrency move, they said, swiftly appeared to make more than $25 billion on paper for himself and his companies." According to the coin's website, CIC Digital LLC, which is an affiliate of The Trump Organization, and Fight Fight Fight LLC, which is co-owned by CIC Digital, collectively own 80% of the coins. The coins are subject to a 3-year unlocking schedule, which means those holdings cannot be dumped all at once, Axios reported. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement When the Trump coin announcement hit social media, there were "serious questions about the legitimacy" of the cryptocurrency, reported the Crypto Briefing news site. But the new project is likely the work of those who helped on Trump's "America First Collection" of digital trading cards, the site reported. Investors should remember that cryptocurrencies can be volatile. Those who buy the new coin must agree to terms and conditions including agreeing not to bring future class action lawsuits, a move to help reduce the financial risk of the company and issuers, Newsweek reported. This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Melania Trump coin: Melania and Donald offer cryptocurrency meme coins Melania Trump has been studying foreign affairs while preparing intensively for her White House return, according to a report. In a significant departure from her first stint in the White House, the incoming first lady has been brushing up on her studies, sources told CNN. She has acknowledged privately that the job was a whirlwind of responsibilities that she was largely unaware of the first time around, the network reports. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The inaugural festivities are underway in Washington, D.C., as her husband Donald Trump prepares to be sworn in as the 47th President of the United States. Arriving at St. Johns Episcopal Church Monday morning, Melania was dressed in a tailored navy blue coat paired with black leather gloves and a wide-brimmed hat. Melania was dressed in a tailored navy blue coat and a wide-brimmed hat (REUTERS) It was a sharp departure from her look at Trump 2017s inauguration, where Melania wore a baby-blue Ralph Lauren jacket with a matching cashmere dress. Melania has spoken about how this time she has everything she needs to prepare for a second term in the White House and it has been a very different transition [the] second time around. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Last week, she took a swipe at the Obamas over what she claims was a challenging transition in 2017, a dig that came after Michelle Obama decided to skip out on President-elect Donald Trumps second inauguration. Melania and Trump arriving at St. Johns Episcopal Church this morning (REUTERS) Fox & Friends host Ainsley Earhardt sat down with Melania and asked her what the difference was between preparing to move into the White House previously, compared to now. The difference is I know where I will be going, I know the rooms where we will be living. I know the process, Melania said. The first time was challenging, we didnt have much of the information. The information was upheld [sic] for us from [the] previous administration. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The 54-year-old also said that she will split her time between D.C., New York, and Palm Beach. The Bidens invited the Trumps to join them for a pre-inauguration tea (Getty Images) She added that her priority is being a mom, a first lady and a wife. I will be in the White House, she told Fox & Friends. And, you know, when I need to be in New York, I will be in New York. When I need to be in Palm Beach, I will be in Palm Beach. But my first priority is, you know, to be a mom, to be a first lady, to be a wife. And once we are in on Jan. 20, you serve the country. Melania has raised eyebrows by launching a cryptocurrency a day after Trump released his own $TRUMP meme coin. Positioning himself as the first ever pro-crypto US president, Trump has pledged to usher in a number of policies that could continue to benefit the market, prompting bitcoin to reach a new all-time-high just hours before his inauguration. Italy will work to strengthen dialogue between the European Union and the United States, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said on congratulating President Donald Trump on his return to the White House. "Italy will always work to strengthen the dialogue between the US and Europe, which is a major pillar for the stability and growth of our communities," Meloni, who was present at the inauguration, posted on X. She expressed confidence that the friendship between Italy and the US would strengthen their strategic partnership. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Meloni said she wished to "tackle the global challenges and build a future in prosperity and security" for their nations jointly with Trump. The Italian prime minister is seen as the EU leader with the closest contact to Trump's Republicans. MEMPHIS, Tenn. Memphis has become the mecca for honoring Dr. Martin Luther King Day with several events taking place. Dr. Stacy Spencer, Chief Apostolic Officer of New Direction Christian Church, bared the freezing temperatures to send a message on Monday morning. Dr. King was going to do a poor people march, where he was going to make sure America made good on its promissory note that black folks would have economic equality and access to wealth and so thats why we are here this morning to make sure we pick up that baton, Dr. Spencer said. Dr. King wanted us to activate that dream and it was more than just a dream. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement According to Dr. Spencer, it was the foundation and he doesnt stand on it alone more than a dozen other black men joined him at Beale Street Landing at Tom Lee Park to march with him. Some Martin Luther King Day events to move indoors in the cold Theres a disconnect in our community right now with communicating. When we communicate we find we have more ideas that are aligned, said Will Richardson, Oganizanier. Shelby County Commissioner Charlie Caswell says he created the summit, Men of Impact, to bring everyone together regardless of their political views to develop policies for change. As a policymaker myself, it is good to have these men tell us what it is that they want to see and us help make that happen, Caswell said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Caswell says more than 28 percent of men of color voted for President Donald Trump but with crime, poverty, and criminal justice reform being such a major issue among the black community they are not waiting to see if the President will help. MLK Day brings volunteers to Civil Rights Museum Help is not going to come from the outside. Its going to come from the inside, out. So, the sooner we can come together as men in Memphis and put together our economic plan. We can see the viability and change the narrative from a city of poverty to a city of prosperity, Dr. Spencer said. If you would like to join the conversation the next event for Men of Impact is February 12. SAVE THE DATES: February 12 Honor 7 Living Legends. Nominations submitted by February 1st. April 5 Black Mens Summit and Policy Agenda May 4th-10 Mental Health Week 2025 (dedication to Black Children Mental Health Day) May 5 Countywide Pizza Parties for Schools June 7 Gun Violence Awareness Week (orange shirts on Beale Street) July 18 National Black Men Mental Health Day (200m call with black mental health professionals) July 19 Black Men Mental Wellness Day at the Renasant Convention Center September 26 Trip to Washington DC to present our agenda to the Black Congressional Caucus October Domestic Violence Awareness Month Wear purple ribbons all month October 18 Sneaker Ball and Mens Fashion Show to raise funds for domestic abuse victims and shelters November Partner with Feed the Needy to donate 900 family baskets for Thanksgiving December Collaborate to host a toy drive and giveaway in all 9 police stations. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 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. DENVER (KDVR) A Clifton resident is behind bars after he allegedly attacked someone at a trailer park with a hammer on Friday. Mesa County Sheriffs Office deputies were called to the Candlewood Trailer Park on the evening of Jan. 17 for a report of an assault, the agency reported in an arrest report. On scene, they found the victim had fled to a neighbors home for help after being brutally attacked with a hammer. Man parachutes off TV tower in Weld County Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The victim was urgently transported to a hospital for treatment of serious injuries, the agency said. Deputies then tried to contact the suspect, who was identified as 24-year-old Drake Roberts, but received no response. The law enforcement officers reported seeing movement and hearing what appeared to be the suspect barricading himself inside. SWAT was called after the suspect refused to leave the residence. The barricade situation lasted several hours, according to the Mesa County Sheriffs Office. Roberts was taken into custody at about 9:18 p.m. on Jan. 17 after police introduced gas into the residence. The agency said the suspect remained combative and uncooperative with law enforcement after he was taken into custody. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement As of Sunday, the Mesa County Sheriffs Office was reporting Roberts was being held at the Mesa County Detention Facility on charges of: Second-degree assault with a deadly weapon Menacing with a real/simulated weapon False imprisonment First-degree kidnapping Sexual assault penetration with a deadly weapon Third-degree assault Violation of a protection order Domestic violence The Mesa County Sheriffs Office also said Roberts was arrested on a warrant for fugitive of justice out of Montrose County. Roberts is scheduled to appear in court on Jan. 24 for a status conference. According to court records, Roberts received a deferred sentence in a third-degree assault case where he pleaded guilty under a plea agreement. The deferred sentence of two years was handed down on Aug. 28, 2023, according to Colorado court records. Copyright 2025 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. Migrant shelters in Tijuana - located across the border from San Diego, California - are bracing for a possible surge in the influx of migrants should US President Donald Trump carry out his mass deportation plan. More than 30 shelters operate in the Mexican border city located in the northwestern state of Baja California, according to local authorities. Humanitarian workers CNN spoke to said a lack of space, resources, and overall uncertainty are among the issues facing the shelters. The director of Jardin de las Mariposas shelter, C Jamie Marin, told CNN there is concern that Trumps potential mass deportations could trigger a humanitarian crisis related to services for both migrants going to the United States and those who have been deported. There is collective nervousness about the decisions made by President Trumps administration, Marin said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The biggest challenge (for shelters) is not knowing what is going to happen, I am mentally preparing myself, Pat Murphy, who runs the Casa del Migrante shelter, told CNN last week, prior to Trumps inauguration. Their worries stem from Trumps promise to carry out mass deportations once in office. During his inaugural speech on Monday, Trump reiterated his pledge. We will begin the process of returning millions and millions of criminal aliens back to the places from which they came, he said from the US Capitol. Bracing for the potential surge of migrants entering the city, authorities in Tijuana declared a state of emergency last week. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The state of emergency is an administrative move that allows the city to access funds to rent spaces, and pay for legal services, personnel, equipment, and supplies, according to a statement from the city shared with CNN. However, the citys Mayor Ismael Burgueno Ruiz said last week that Tijuana isnt alarmed and calls the measure preventive in case Trump really does what he says hes going to do. Burgueno says the city has prepared spaces should there be a surge of deportees. Its not just about providing a bed Yet Murphy, who has been the director of Casa del Migrante since 2013, says space is not the only issue. You have to care for them, who is going to organize programs and training for migrants, Murphy said, adding that he believes local authorities should work closer with the shelters to mitigate any potential crisis. Other humanitarian workers agree. Its not just about providing a bed and some food, we have to create a space to help people psychologically and spiritually, Albertina Pauletti from the Madre Assunta shelter told CNN. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Marin said shelters need more economic resources for food, comprehensive medical services to help with voluntary return programs to places of origin, more programs where integration and dignity are promoted through employment, more specific attention for people of sexual diversity, [and] more mental health services. It is unclear how many migrants are currently in Tijuana. Government data shows that from January to August 2024 more than 30,000 migrants were in the city at some point. CNN has reached out to Mexican authorities for comment. The Mexican federal government is also preparing for the potential influx of migrants by announcing the creation of new shelters in border towns and attending caravans. Mexicos President Claudia Sheinbaum said on January 3 that many migrants decided to return to their country of origin as they are walking, CNN previously reported. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In the face of mounting uncertainty, shelters remain committed to their mission. With the possible mass deportations, we are working on projects to help these people psychologically and spiritually and for those who want to be a part of the Tijuana community, those who dont want to return to their place of origin, said Pauletti. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com The Seal of the State of New Mexico inside the Roundhouse on Jan. 10, 2024. (Photo by Anna Padilla for Source NM) New Mexico lawmakers will convene at noon on Tuesday, Jan. 21 with a hefty 60-day agenda and a healthy budget to help fund existing and new initiatives across a spectrum of programs. Democratic leaders over the last few weeks expressed optimism that their agendas dovetail with Gov. Michelle Lujan Grishams. Here are a few of the top areas to watch. Public safety Following a failed and contentious special session on public safety last summer, the governor embarked on a statewide tour of town halls, gathering public support for her agenda. I embarked on these specific public safety town halls because I am struggling to get policymakers to help us enact new laws that we believe would make us all safer in our communities and create real accountability, by a number of populations, that I dont think have been accountable since 2016 or before, Lujan Grisham said at a recent town hall in Raton. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Specifically, the governor will push for updated treatment requirements for competency cases, pretrial detention and stricter penalties for violent offenses, among other bills. House leaders recently unveiled their own agenda, prioritizing public safety alongside improvements to the states behavioral health care system. Expect to see public safety and behavioral health take center stage during the first 30 days of the session. I think the two parts of this overall package that well do in the first 30 days are something certainly that the governor wants: It fits into her agenda, Senate Majority Leader Peter Wirth (D-Santa Fe) told Source (look for the complete interview tomorrow). Obviously, there will be discussions about what is in the public safety agenda package her priorities and our priorities but Im feeling more optimistic about a process thats good to get us where we need to go. Housing Lawmakers touted the 2024 session as historic to address the states housing crisis, calling it the biggest one-time investment in housing in the Legislatures history. That meant nearly $200 million awarded for housing and homelessness initiatives, including $125 million in revolving loans to spur affordable housing infrastructure, $50 million for down payment assistance and other subsidies, $20 million to help unhoused people and several million more for a new Office of Housing in the governors office. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Some of that money has been spent, but the state still lacks thousands of housing units and is experiencing a sharp increase in people living on the streets. This year, several bills have already been filed or announced seeking to address the many challenges for New Mexicans seeking shelter. One from Sen. Harold Pope (D-Albuquerque) would ban private equity from buying single family homes in New Mexico. Another from Sen. Linda Lopez, also an Albuquerque Democrat, would allow local communities to cap rent increases. A third from Rep. Kathleen Cates (D-Rio Rancho) would require landlords to calculate prospective tenants rent-to-income ratios only after subsidies like child support or Section 8 are accounted for. Cates told Source New Mexico last Friday that she expects a big increase of housing policy bills this session over previous years. She is introducing at least two more housing bills this year, including one that she hopes will make it easier for homebuyers to get federally backed mortgages at condominium complexes and another to subsidize homebuying for medical professionals. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement She said shes joining a group of about 15 lawmakers who are mulling housing bills. That number was two or three in previous legislative sessions, she said. Ive never seen that many people, she said of her peers increased interest in housing policy. And were all carrying more than one. So youre gonna see a lot of housing bills. But its an open question whether lawmakers will consider spending as much this year on housing as they did last year, Cates said. She suspects the biggest funding asks will be for two other pressing concerns: behavioral health and water. Gov. Michelle Lujan Grishams executive budget also proposes $50 million for a housing downpayment assistance program, $50 million for homelessness programs and initiatives and $2 million for statewide housing initiatives. Environment and Health Lawmakers announced several climate priorities just before the opening of the 2025 legislative session, including efforts to beef up up climate and public health tracking; limit oil and gas drilling around schools, parks and daycare centers; and increase funding for water initiatives. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Senate President Pro Tem Mimi Stewart (D-Albuquerque) will carry forward three bills this session. The Clear Horizons Act, which will codify Gov. Michelle Lujan Grishams 2019 executive order to reduce 2005 level emissions by at least 45% by 2030. The bill would set the goals of reducing emissions by 50% by 2040 and 100% by 2050, and charge the Environmental Improvement Board with inventorying progress towards the goals. Stewart called the act bold action, and said working to meet the states investments in reducing emissions can strengthen the economy. My top environmental priority is reducing the emissions that are polluting our air and threatening our New Mexican way of life while creating new opportunities for communities statewide to thrive in a resilient and sustainable future, Stewart said in a statement to Source. New Mexicans are experiencing the impacts of ignoring the climate crisis right now, from wildfire to drought. Additionally, Stewart is asking for a $340 million Community Benefit Fund, which if passed, would provide funding to projects that reduce emissions and assist communities. A second $10 million Innovation in Government Fund would provide money for state agencies to support efforts to reduce emissions. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Santa Fe-based think tank Think New Mexico has focused its efforts on tackling New Mexicos health care worker shortage. A range of proposed policies from the organization include reform of New Mexicos medical malpractice laws; boosting support for education programs; joining other states health worker compacts; and a $2 billion dollar fund to pay for the reforms. Education Public education accounts for a hefty amount of both proposed budgets. Specifically, K-12 would see an approximate 6% budget increase to $4.69 billion while higher education is looking at $1.4 billion this legislative session, as recommended by both the governors office and the Legislative Finance Committee. The Legislature has allocated increasingly large amounts of funds to public education programs targeted at reading and writing, math, absenteeism and graduation rates, the LFC budget report notes, but student outcomes remain low. The report states that lawmakers will need to evaluate the effectiveness of the programs before making more long term investments. Lawmakers plan to introduce several bills this session to increase funding for STEM education, teacher salaries and Career Technical Education. Other bills will propose changes to the capital outlay match local school districts and the Public Education Department spend on construction projects, as well as suggest an interstate teacher mobility compact. Rep. Debra Sarinana (D-Albuquerque) prefiled a bill proposing New Mexico join an interstate teacher mobility compact which would make it easier for teachers crossing state lines to earn licensure. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Sen. Bill Soules (D-Las Cruces), who chairs the Legislative Education Study Interim Committee, said he will be sponsoring a bill providing more funding to math education throughout the state. He said the bill will also address improvements to how the subject is taught. Our scores from Martinez-Yazzie and that whole lawsuit indicate that our reading and writing are very poor. Weve done a lot on improving the reading and writing side of it but not the math, Soules said. Government While 60 days gives lawmakers time to wrangle over policy, passing a budget remains a key aspect of any session. Both the governor and the Legislative Finance Committees budgets propose close to $11 billion in spending, and appear to have more similarities than differences heading into the session. While lawmakers settle in, good-government group Common Cause will advocate during the session for an Independent Salary Commission via state constitutional amendment. The ultimate goal? Paying legislators for their work. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Allowing legislators to receive a salary would empower more New Mexicans to run for the legislature and serve the communities they love, Mason Graham, Common Cause policy director said in a statement. These pivotal seats shouldnt be limited by the need to support a family, hold a full time job or financial freedom. Source NM unveils 2025 session tracker Even before the opening gavel of the 2025 legislative session, lawmakers have introduced more than 200 pieces of legislation. That includes 125 bills from the House and 77 from the Senate. Hundreds more are expected throughout the 60-day legislative session, each of which has the potential to significantly impact the lives of New Mexicans or at least give them another license plate option for their Harleys. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement So Source New Mexico is re-upping its bill tracker from last years 30-day session. We hope youll use it to identify bills important to you and keep tabs on whether they live or die over the next two months. See all the bills introduced so far at the bottom of the page. You can search by sponsor and bill title or just scroll through a list of whats on the agenda so far. Please let us know if theres some information you need thats hard to find on the New Mexico Legislatures website, or what we can do to make this tool more useful to you. Well keep updating it and adding more information as the session progresses. Email info@sourcenm.com with questions and suggestions. Patrick Lohmann SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX OTAY MESA, Calif. It was a quiet morning as border agents patrolled the primary and secondary fences that divide San Diego and Tijuana as the nation awaited newly sworn-in President Donald Trump to sign a series of immigration-related executive orders. In his first speech as president, Trump said he "will declare a national emergency at our southern border. All illegal entry will immediately be halted, and we will begin the process of returning millions and millions of criminal aliens back to the places from which they came." Trump vowed to reinstate Remain in Mexico, a policy from his first administration requiring anyone seeking to enter the United States through Mexico to remain in that country. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He also promised to "send troops to the southern border to repel the disastrous invasion of our country." With agents still awaiting new guidance, it was not immediately clear how exactly the executive orders will affect operations on the ground. But ahead of Trump's inauguration, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum and members of her Cabinet expressed their disagreement with his plan to revive the Remain in Mexico policy and the "unilateral deportations" of Mexican nationals living in the U.S. "If they reinstate it, this is something we dont agree with. We have a different focus. We want to adjust it," Juan Ramon de la Fuente, Mexico's secretary for external relations, said in a news conference Monday morning. But ultimately, "the desire is to keep the same policies as now," he added. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement De la Fuente described the "Remain in Mexico" policy as an "unilateral" one, meaning that it "does not require the assistance of other countries" to put it in place. While the policy does not obligate Mexico to process U.S. asylum requests, de la Fuente said, "we can come to some agreements and find a way to operate." Sheinbaum said she and her administration "insist that there is a possibility to get asylum, not only from the border in person, but from a distance in the southern part of the country or in other countries." "Thats what were working on," she added. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Sheinbaum also insisted that the CBP One app, which allowed migrants seeking asylum to be prescreened before reaching the U.S., should be kept. According to her, "this will help alleviate the tension in the northern border of Mexico and the southern border of the U.S." However, the website for the CBP One app stated Monday afternoon that it "is no longer available, and existing appointments have been cancelled." With Trump vowing to begin enacting the largest mass deportation operation in U.S. history, Mexican Interior Secretary Rosa Icela Rodriguez Velazquez said that while the Mexican government does not agree with such actions, "we will receive them and give them access to Mexico's welfare programs." These would include access to health services for them and their families, transport to their home countries and access to telephone communications, according to Rodriguez Velazquez, as well as any other services offered by Mexico's Social Security Institute. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trump, again, reiterated his intention to sign an executive order to rename the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America during his inaugural speech. While it's not clear if a U.S. president has the authority to rename international waters, Sheinbaum had previously clapped back at Trump by suggesting that the U.S. should be renamed "America Mexicana." Nicole Acevedo reported from New York and Jacob Soboroff from Otay Mesa. This article was originally published on NBCNews.com Michelle Obama is celebrating Martin Luther King Jr.s legacy on a day with dual significance. The former first lady who previously announced she would not attend Donald Trump's second inauguration on Monday, Jan. 20 posted a tribute for MLK Day while her husband, Barack Obama, and other former first couples piled into the U.S. Capitol for Trump's swearing-in. Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.s legacy of service always inspires me, Obama, 61, wrote in an Instagram post on Monday morning. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement She continued, This #MLKDay, I hope youll join me and @WhenWeAllVote in honoring Dr. Kings life and legacy by getting involved in your community. Whether youre mentoring students at your local school or volunteering for a cause that matters to you, it all helps make a difference. Obama also asked her followers to share in the comments about how they were giving back. Related: Michelle Obama Is 'Not One to Pretend for Protocol's Sake,' Source Says About Her Skipping Trump's Inauguration (Exclusive) Demetrius Freeman/The Washington Post via Getty Barack and Michelle Obama's White House portraits are unveiled on Sept. 7, 2022 Barack and Michelle Obama's White House portraits are unveiled on Sept. 7, 2022 A source previously told PEOPLE that the former first lady is not one to pretend for protocols sake, regarding her decision not to attend the inauguration. The Obamas previously attended Trumps 2017 inauguration, as they handed over the keys to the White House after eight years. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "There's no overstating her feelings about [Trump], the source told PEOPLE. She's not one to plaster on a pleasant face and pretend for protocol's sake." "Michelle doesn't do anything because it's expected or it's protocol or it's tradition," the source continued. 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. Mrs. Obama did not attend former President Jimmy Carters funeral, either, where she would have been seated beside President-elect Trump. At the time, her advisers attributed her unexpected absence to a scheduling conflict, stating that she was in Hawaii on an extended vacation. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Obama devoted the 2024 campaign cycle to expressing her concerns about Trump's vision for America. Related: Longtime House Speaker Nancy Pelosi Joins Michelle Obama in Saying She Will Not Attend Trump's Inauguration The source added that Trump's history of attacking the Obama family and making disparaging comments about people of color have also contributed to Michelle's opinion of him. "She served in the public eye and did all the public good that she could for eight years as first lady," the source says of her fulfilling her official responsibilities in 2017. "You'll see her when she has a project or cause to promote but she doesn't feel the need to be a public figure anymore." Read the original article on People NEW DELHI, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- Two Naxals were killed and a paramilitary trooper wounded on Monday in a fierce gunfight in central Indian state of Chhattisgarh, police said. The gunfight between Naxals and the joint contingents of police and paramilitary forces broke out in the forest area of Manipur of Gariaband district, about 174 km southeast of Raipur, the capital city of Chhattisgarh. Police said the gunfight broke out after the joint contingents cordoned off the area on specific intelligence information suggesting the presence of Naxals. Michelle Obama shared a poignant message during the build-up to President Donald Trumps inauguration as the former first lady decided to stay away from the festivities. Obama, whose husband Barack Obama was in attendance, chose to share a quote from Martin Luther King Jr. on Instagram just a couple of hours before Trump was sworn in as the 47th president of the United States. The occasion coincides with the public holiday honoring the American civil rights leader. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The 61-year-old posted the quote: The time is always right to do what is right. The message was also in support of the non-profit group When We All Vote. Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.s legacy of service always inspires me, Obama wrote. This #MLKDay, I hope youll join me and @WhenWeAllVote in honoring Dr. Kings life and legacy by getting involved in your community. Michelle Obama decided to skip Trumps inauguration, pictured here at his first in 2017 (Getty Images) Whether youre mentoring students at your local school or volunteering for a cause that matters to you, it all helps make a difference. Tell me how youre giving back today in the comments, she added. Some of Obamas Instagram followers shared messages of support for her decision to miss the inauguration. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We are celebrating him [King Jr] today and not this nonsense in the capital, one person commented. The only person were acknowledging today, another wrote. Thank you for NOT attending any of the orange festivities, someone else said, with an emoji of a clown face. We understand your absence, another supporter told Obama. The hypocrisy that it is okay to not accept the results of an election and treat you and your family with so much vitriol. Trump was abhorrent to you, he was abhorrent to Biden. Gets old trying to be the bigger person when youre up against a man-child. We support you. Obama joined fellow former president Bill Clinton at Trumps inauguration (Getty) We love you even more for the decision you made on MLK day, another added. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Comments on Obamas post were largely supportive but a handful said it was disgraceful that she was not in attendance today. Disgraceful that you are not attending the inauguration. This is supposed to be a peaceful transition from one party to another, one person said. Obama is reported to have skipped Trumps inauguration because she doesnt want to plaster on a smile for someone she fundamentally believes is a threat to American democracy, according to a report last week. It was confirmed by her office that she would not be attending Trumps swearing-in but they did not give any further explanation in the brief statement. Representatives for Obama did not respond when previously contacted for comment by The Independent. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Speculation about her absence from Trumps inauguration has been rife since her announcement but a source close to Obama offered insight into the decision, according to People. Trump is sworn in as 47th President of the United States (2025 Getty Images) Theres no overstating her feelings about [Trump]. Shes not one to plaster on a pleasant face and pretend for protocols sake, the source told the outlet. Michelle doesnt do anything because its expected or its protocol or its tradition. She would be expected to swallow her feelings in the spotlight if she attended his second inauguration. Despite a great deal of pressure on her to run for the presidency on the Democratic ticket in future, Obama has largely shunned politics since leaving Washington and doesnt feel the need to be a public figure anymore, according to Peoples source. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Both Donald and Melania Trump refused to attend Joe Bidens swearing-in in January 2021, making them the first American leaders not to attend the succession since 1869. Obama, who served as first lady from 2009 to 2017, did attend Trumps first inauguration in January 2017 and later revealed her discomfort at being expected to sit in the audience and watch him be sworn in as commander-in-chief. To sit on that stage and watch the opposite of what we represented on display, there was no diversity, there was no color on that stage, she said on her show The Light Podcast in 2023. Michelle Obama is celebrating the work of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Moments before Donald Trump took the oath of office Monday, the former First Lady shared a tribute to the civil rights activist on his national holiday. Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.s legacy of service always inspires me, Obama wrote on Instagram. This #MLKDay, I hope youll join me and @WhenWeAllVote in honoring Dr. Kings life and legacy by getting involved in your community. Whether youre mentoring students at your local school or volunteering for a cause that matters to you, it all helps make a difference, she added in the caption, which accompanied an image of King, alongside the MLK quote, The time is always right to do what is right. Last week, the Office of Barack and Michelle Obama confirmed that the former President would attend the ceremony, while Michelle would not attend the upcoming inauguration. The Obamas attended Trumps 2017 inauguration after his 2016 election. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Sources told People there was no overstating Michelle Obamas feelings about the new president. Michelle doesnt do anything because its expected or its protocol or its tradition, the source told the outlet. The Obamas attended Trumps 2017 inauguration as Barack Obama left office. Trump made a brief reference to MLK during his speech. To the Black and Hispanic communities, I want to thank you for the tremendous outpouring of love and trust that you have shown me with your vote. We set records and I will not forget it, he said, before adding, Today is Martin Luther King Day and [in] his honor, this will be a great honor, but in his honor, we will strive together to make his dream a reality. We will make his dream come true. On Saturday, MLKs daughter Bernice King spoke to MSNBCs The Weekend about the coincidence of MLK Day and the Inauguration, saying it points us back to King. Its wonderful that this occurs on the King holiday, the inauguration because it reminds us of King, she said. It points us back to King. It says, When we move forward, weve got to do it in the spirit of King. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We have to strategize. Weve been missing the strategy. Weve been missing the spirit of Dr. King, she added. The spirit of Dr. King is nonviolence. And nonviolence is not just a posture, its a mindset. For us, we define it as a love-centered way of thinking, speaking, acting and engaging that leads to personal, cultural and societal transformation. More from Rolling Stone Best of Rolling Stone Sign up for RollingStone's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. It had been nearly 30 years since Brian Ignatowski, a 42-year-old small businessman from Pinckney, visited the nation's capital but he made a special effort for President Donald Trump's second inauguration. He wasn't disappointed. Attending a watch party at a Washington, D.C. restaurant arranged by Scott Greenlee, a Lansing-based political consultant who is running for state Republican Party chairman, Ignatowski said watching the inauguration he felt his patriotic fervor swell as Trump took the oath of office and described his vision for the nation and got a little choked up as a Detroit pastor, the Rev. Lorenzo Sewell, delivered a rousing benediction. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "It was moving. I'm really praying for unity and healing, that's the biggest thing to me," said Ignatowski, who last visited D.C. as a 13-year-old. "We want people to succeed in leadership. When Trump succeeds, we all succeed." As Trump, who also served as president from 2017-21, was sworn in at the U.S. Capitol shortly after noon by Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, he carried the hopes and well-wishes of his Michigan supporters, from Sewell, who spoke of a "miracle" that saved Trump last summer from a would-be assassin's bullet, to others who helped Trump win the state over Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris on Nov. 5 en route to being reelected, this time as the nation's 47th chief executive. In the Capitol Rotunda where the ceremony was moved from the West Front due to below-freezing temperatures Trump delivered a half-hour speech on his vision for the nation, promising to secure the Southern border, issue a series of orders to lower consumer prices and increase energy production, deport undocumented immigrants and restore respect for the U.S. around the globe. He also described an agenda that would reduce regulatory burdens, forge "a society that is color-blind and merit-based" and instruct his administration to only recognize two genders, "male and female" moving forward. He also spoke directly to Michiganders and the state's preeminence in the domestic auto industry, saying he would get rid of rules he has maintained amount to a virtual mandate that automakers make and consumers buy electric vehicles and noting the support he had from autoworkers in the election. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "We will revoke the electric vehicle mandate, saving our auto industry and keeping my sacred pledge to our great American autoworkers," Trump said to a standing ovation in the room. "In other words, youll be able to buy the car of your choice. We will build automobiles in America again at a rate that nobody could have dreamt possible just a few years ago. And thank you to the autoworkers of our nation for your inspiring vote of confidence. We did tremendously with their vote." During the speech, Trump criticized what he described as the failings of President Joe Biden's administration and made some bold, even controversial statements, including saying, in reference to the Panama Canal, that the U.S. is "taking it back." But he also voiced a note of optimism going forward. "The golden age of America begins right now," he said. "From this day forward our country will flourish. ... During every day of the Trump administration I will quite simply put America first." Aaron Kall, the director of debate at the University of Michigan, considered the tone of the speech a modest improvement over Trump's 2017 address, which seemed more dire and spoke of "American carnage." "He actually had a lot of meat and substance to talk about," Kall said. And while much of the middle of the speech seemed to Kall to be consistent with Trump's campaign speeches, he noted the optimistic tone early on and then as it concluded, when the president spoke of standing "on the verge of the four greatest years in American history." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "The beginning and end I thought were solid," he said. It was a message that resonated with Michiganders who, because of the weather, didn't get to watch him take the oath of office in person from the Capitol grounds but were moved nonetheless. "It was great," said Greenlee. "Everybody's ready to return to the policies of President Trump. We had a more peaceful world ... and the economy was better. ... We need a safe and secure country." "President Trump is optimistic, like many of us are," he continued. Greenlee also said that unlike 2017, when Trump entered office without any experience in national politics, he understands it well now. "This time whats great is he knows it. He lived it for four years and he studied it the last four years. He's ready to roll." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Democrats criticized the incoming president and the ceremony. Alex Floyd, rapid response director for the Democratic National Committee, released a statement saying Trump's supporters were left "literally out in the cold" while wealthy individuals Meta's Mark Zuckerberg and Amazon's Jeff Bezos among them got seats in the Rotunda. Michigan Democratic Party Chairwoman Lavora Barnes said Trump "doesnt care about lowering costs or making life better for Michiganders, hes just looking to enrich himself and his billionaire friends." But those voices were somewhat muted on a day when Trump's comeback was made complete. Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, for one, congratulated the president, saying she looks forward "to getting to work on the priorities we share." Together, with Republicans and Democrats in Lansing and the new administration in D.C., I know we can lower costs, bring more manufacturing back to Michigan, boost research and innovation, and cut red tape," she said. "In 2025, lets collaborate to solve problems and keep getting things done for the people of Michigan. Meanwhile, Republicans saw it as a new beginning, with Trump having won the popular vote as well as the Electoral College, winning in the decisive swing states, including Michigan. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Today is a historic day for our nation, and it was an honor to attend the inauguration of President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance," said U.S. Rep. Lisa McClain, R-Bruce Township, the fourth highest-ranking member of the House GOP. "Their swearing-in marks a new day for America as we get our country back on track." Newly elected state House Speaker Matt Hall, R-Richland Township, called Monday "a monumental day in American history and the beginning of a much stronger and successful time for our nation." "The American people have spoken, asking for real change, and now President Trump is taking bold, decisive action to immediately deliver on his promises to secure our borders, assert American energy dominance, and bolster Michigans auto industry. This is how we make America great again," Hall said, referring to Trump's promised orders, expected to be signed later in the day. State Rep. Bryan Posthumus, R-Rockford, watched the inauguration and the speech from his sister's home in Washington D.C. before flying back to Michigan. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "Trump said it best when he said America does the impossible," he said. "I'm looking forward to seeing the impossible accomplished." Posthumus, like others, said they are looking to Trump to follow through on promises to secure the nation's borders, reduce crime and lower costs. "This is a comeback story," he continued. "This country is going to be turned around in the next four years." Jon Smith, a 46-year-old former Republican district chair in Hillsdale County and a Trump supporter, missed the speech while picking up tickets for one of the inauguration balls in Washington on Monday night but said everyone he talked to about it believed it was excellent. He also sees Trump heading back into office as "a little bit of vindication" for the former and current president and his supporters. "I don't think you're going to see we're all divided by Donald Trump," said Smith, who was also showing his 11-year-old daughter London around Washington on Monday. He said he believes Trump can and will unify the country. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Not everyone, of course, made it to Washington but there was no dearth of support from those back in Michigan either. For instance, Kimberly Estree, a 50-year-old logistics manager in Kalamazoo who voted for Trump, couldn't watch because she had to work on Monday. But she was counting on the president to reduce government spending and cut taxes on working people like her. "Our taxes are ridiculous for the middle class," she said. "Were paying for everything but were not getting any breaks." As for Trump's famously combative style, she said it doesn't bother her a bit. "I like that he upsets everyone. I like the truth," she said. Meanwhile, Trump voter Jason Waisanen, 40, of Flint Township, watched the inauguration from Michigan and thought Trump struck some unifying themes as he re-upped many of his campaign talking points. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He stayed with those promises that he mentioned in his campaign speeches and I hope, for me, that he delivers on them, Waisanen said. He said the thermostat in his home as he watched the speech was set to a "brisk" 64 degrees on a frigid Michigan day: an attempt to curb his home costs as grocery and gas prices have risen. Looking past inauguration, hes hoping to see the cost of living go down under a Trump presidency. Thats what people in Michigan, thats what the middle class are trying to tell the president, that its about the economy. Lower these prices, he said. Contact Todd Spangler: tspangler@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter@tsspangler. Politics Editor Emily Lawler contributed to this story. This story has been updated with new information. This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Donald Trump inauguration: Michigan Republicans look to renewed future One of the Israeli hostages freed on the first day of the Gaza ceasefire said Monday in her first comments since being released that she has returned to life. Emily Damari, 28, was one of three hostages freed Sunday after spending 471 days in captivity. Officials at a hospital that received them said their condition was stable. In an Instagram story, which was shared by Israeli media, Damari thanked her family and the large protest movement that coalesced to advocate for the release of the hostages. Thank you thank you thank you Im the happiest in the world, she said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Damari, a dual Israeli-British citizen, returned from captivity with a bandage on one hand and authorities said she had lost two fingers during Hamas attack on Oct. 7, 2023. As she arrived to a hospital on Sunday she waved at a crowd that had gathered and footage later showed her joyfully reuniting with her family. Her mother, Mandy Damari, said in a statement later Monday that Damari was doing much better than any of us could ever have anticipated. The three Israeli hostages left Hamas captivity on Sunday and returned to Israel, and dozens of Palestinian prisoners walked free from Israeli jail, leaving both Israelis and Palestinians torn between celebration and trepidation as the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas took hold. ___ Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Here's the latest: Trump rescinds sanctions on far-right Israeli settlers WASHINGTON Among other Biden-era executive orders that President Trump rescinded Monday is one that authorizes sanctions on people who undermine peace in the occupied West Bank. The Biden administration used the executive order to impose a handful of sanctions on extremist settlers accused of using violence against Palestinians who live in the West Bank after violence erupted after Hamas Oct. 7, 2023 attacks on Israel. Settlers in the territory have celebrated the incoming Trump administration, believing it will take a more favorable approach to illegal settlements. During his first term, Trump took unprecedented steps to support Israels territorial claims, including recognizing Jerusalem as its capital and moving the U.S. Embassy there, and recognizing Israels annexation of the Golan Heights. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trump not confident ceasefire in Gaza will hold WASHINGTON Trump said Hamas is weakened, but hes hardly certain that the temporary truce between Israel and Hamas will hold. Im not confident, Trump told reporters. Thats not our war. Its their war. He said that his administration might help rebuild Gaza, which he compared to a massive demolition site. Some beautiful things could be done with it, said Trump, the real estate developer turned commander in chief, noting the territorys coastline and phenomenal weather and location. Some fantastic things could be done with Gaza. Some beautiful things could be done with Gaza. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Major influx of aid into Gaza on second day of ceasefire, UN says UNITED NATIONS Gaza has received a major influx of aid and goods, with 915 trucks crossing into the territory on the second day of the ceasefire, the United Nations said. U.N. deputy spokesman Farhan Haq said colleagues in Gaza informed the U.N. that 915 trucks significantly higher than the 600 trucks called for in the ceasefire entered Gaza on Monday, based on information from Israeli authorities and the guarantors of the ceasefire agreement. U.N. humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher said Sunday the needs in Gaza are staggering and his office said Monday that aid workers are ramping up the delivery of food, clean water, shelter materials and other essential supplies. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reports that the more than 2 million people in Gaza, about half of them children, depend on this aid, Haq said. The World Health Organization, meanwhile, has a 60-day plan to increase beds and deploy overseas health workers to Gaza hospitals, but some 30,000 Palestinians have life-changing injuries and need specialized care, Haq said. Palestinian government says it's ready to run the Gaza Strip and the West Bank UNITED NATIONS The Palestinian government says it is ready to take responsibility for running the Gaza Strip and the West Bank and is committed to managing crossing points in collaboration with the European Union and Egypt. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Palestinian minister of state for foreign affairs, Varsen Aghabekian, told a ministerial meeting of the U.N. Security Council on Monday on Gaza that the government welcomes any assistance to train and equip the Palestinian police and security forces. She also called for urgent humanitarian aid. She expressed hope that the six-week ceasefire will lead to a final ceasefire and lay the foundations for a political track to end Israels occupation within a year as called for by the International Court of Justice, the U.N.s highest tribunal. Israels political coordinator, Reut Shapir Ben Naftaly, told the council This war will not end until every hostage is returned and Hamas ability to terrorize is dismantled. She said the Middle East stands at a turning point where Irans proxies Hamas and Hezbollah in Lebanon have suffered devastating losses and its network of terror including the Houthis in Yemen have faced significant setbacks. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Ben Naftaly said Israel has no interest in a conflict with Syria but we will not tolerate a situation that endangers our civilians, allows Iran to re-establish itself in the region, and transfer weapons to Hezbollah. West Bank residents say Israeli settlers rampaged through two communities JERUSALEM Residents of Palestinian villages in the occupied West Bank say Israeli settlers have rampaged through their communities and set a large fire. Officials in Jinsafut and Al-Funduq, two villages roughly 31 miles (50 kilometers) north of Jerusalem, said that dozens of settlers had attacked homes and local businesses. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Jalal Bashir, the head of Jinsafuts village council said that settlers had burned three houses, a nursery and a carpentry shop located on the villages main road. Northward in Al-Funduq, Louay Tayem, head of the local council, said dozens of Israeli settlers had fired shots, thrown stones at homes and burned cars, homes and shops. The Palestinian Red Crescent said it treated 12 people who were beaten by settlers. It gave no details on their conditions. Israels military said it dispersed the settlers and launched an investigation. The West Bank has seen a surge in settler rioting and violence since Oct. 7, 2023. Rights groups say that arrests for settler violence are rare, and prosecutions even rarer. The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported 1,432 Israeli settler attacks against Palestinians that resulted in casualties or property damage in 2024 and additional attacks in and near Nablus last week. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Relatives of 3 released Israeli hostages make first public comments TEL AVIV In their first public comments since reuniting with their loved ones, relatives of the three Israeli women freed from captivity in Gaza thanked those who made their release possible. They also pleaded to the Israeli government to carry out the phased ceasefire deal that led to their loved ones release, and warned their road to recovery could be long. Doron asked me to convey this message, said Yamit Ashkenazi, sister of released hostage Doron Steinbrecher, in a statement to the press at the hospital where the women are still undergoing medical evaluations. Go out into the streets. We must carry out all the steps of the deal. Just as I was able to return to my family, everyone should return. The families all expressed gratitude to the Israeli soldiers who fought in Gaza, including those who died. They also thanked those who pushed for the release of the hostages, including international mediators and U.S. Presidents Joe Biden and Donald Trump, who took office on Monday in Washington. Many Palestinians hesitant to leave shelters to return to wrecked homes RAFAH, Gaza Strip Many Palestinians on Monday said they felt hesitant about leaving the shelters they fled to after being displaced by war and returning to the wreckage of their former homes in Rafah, the southernmost city in Gaza. We wanted to come back to put up a tent during the ceasefire. As you can see it has become a ghost town. There is no water. There is nothing. There is even no leveled ground you can stay on, said Hussein Barakat. Footage shot by The Associated Press showed displaced residents digging through rubble with bare hands. Youssef al-Sharqawi sifted through the ruins of his destroyed home to try and retrieve clothes for his five children, including his infant son who has struggled to tolerate the winters cold at night. Mohammed al-Ballas, another displaced Rafah homeowner, said without basic necessities -- including water and electricity -- it would be difficult to return home in Rafah for good. Pointing at collapsed buildings, piles of rubble, and destroyed roads, he said he would remain in his shelter for now because there wasnt even space to erect a tent in the ruins of his former neighborhood. Even if you tried to tie up an animal here, it will not live, he said. Mourners attend funeral of Israeli soldier whose body was recovered in the Gaza Strip PORIA ILLIT, Israel Hundreds of mourners attended the funeral Monday of Israeli soldier Oron Shaul, whose body was recovered in the Gaza Strip a day earlier by the army. Shaul was killed on July 20, 2014, during fighting between Israel and Hamas. His remains, and those of another soldier, Hadar Goldin, had been held by militants for more than a decade, despite a public campaign to return them by their families. His remains were recovered hours before the start of the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. The Hostages Families Forum, which represents relatives of the captives, called the Shaul family an inseparable part of the group. Militants still hold the remains of Goldin. Two Israeli civilians who crossed into Gaza in 2014 and 2015 on their own are also in captivity, in addition to some 90 others taken hostage in Hamas Oct. 7, 2023, attack took hold. Israel's Smotrich threatens to topple government if Netanyahu doesn't resume war after 1st phase of ceasefire JERUSALEM Israels far-right finance minister has threatened to topple Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus coalition if he doesn't resume the war in Gaza after the first phase of the ceasefire agreement expires in six weeks. Bezalel Smotrich made the threat Monday, a day after the ceasefire went into effect. If, God forbid, the war is not resumed, I will bring the government down, Smotrich told reporters. Smotrich, who leads an ultranationalist religious party, voted against the deal but has remained in the governing coalition for the time being. His departure would rob Netanyahu of his parliamentary majority, setting the stage for the governments collapse and early elections. Smotrich said he has received assurances that Israel will resume the war after the first phase, during which 33 hostages held in Gaza are to return home and hundreds of Palestinian prisoners are to be freed. The second phase, which must still be negotiated, is to work out an end to the war and return of all remaining hostages. I insisted, demanded, and received an unequivocal commitment from the prime minister, the minister of defense and the the rest of my Cabinet colleagues we will not stop this war a moment before realizing its full goals, Smotrich said. Israels National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has already resigned over the ceasefire agreement. Netanyahu, hoping to stabilize his fragile coalition, has so far offered the public no guarantees that Israel will proceed to Phase 2 of the agreement. Some residents returning to Bint Jbeil in southern Lebanon BINT JBEIL, Lebanon Residents trickled back to the southern Lebanese town of Bint Jbeil on Monday as the Israeli army withdrew and Lebanese forces, alongside U.N. peacekeepers, moved in to secure the area. This marks another town from which Israeli troops have withdrawn following the U.S.- and French-brokered ceasefire that ended the 14-month conflict between Hezbollah and Israel on Nov. 27. Inside the town, a mosques dome lay in ruins, surrounded by collapsed buildings, charred cars and streets strewn with twisted metal and broken glass. Despite the lack of power some residents returned to check on their homes. Few stayed. Ahmad Saad, a member of the Bint Jbeil Municipality, said only about 10% of the towns residents have returned. Essentials of life are still lacking theres no electricity, water, theres nothing, he said. First Israeli hostages released reunite with their mothers in Israel TEL AVIV The first three Israeli hostages released as part of a ceasefire deal with Hamas cried tears of elation and disbelief in the moments of their initial reunion with their mothers on Israeli soil. Stepping into a specially prepared reception area in a military base near the Gaza border, Romi Gonen, 24, Emily Damari, 28, and Doron Steinbrecher, 31, each embraced their mother for the first time after more than 15 months. My love, youre with me. Im protecting you. Im here, Simona Steinbrecher, Dorons mother, told her daughter upon greeting her, according to footage released by the Israeli army on Monday. The women each were accompanied by smiling female soldiers. At one point after falling into her mothers arms, Gonen calls her father and, fighting through tears, says Dad! I came back alive! Later, aboard the helicopter that whisked them to the hospital, Damari held up a whiteboard with the words The nightmare is over, while the women wore noise-cancelling headphones. The Middle East must emerge from turbulence with peace and a horizon of hope, UN chief says UNITED NATIONS The United Nations chief says the Middle East is undergoing a profound transformation and has urged all countries to ensure the region emerges from the turbulence with peace and a horizon of hope grounded in action. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told a ministerial meeting of the U.N. Security Council Monday that a new dawn is rising in Lebanon, which he just visited. He said it was vital that Israeli troops withdraw from southern Lebanon and the Lebanese army deploy there as required in the ceasefire agreement. In Gaza, he urged Israel and Hamas to ensure that their newly agreed deal leads to a permanent ceasefire and the release of all hostages taken by Hamas and other militants during the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks in southern Israel. The ceasefire must also lead to four simultaneous actions on the ground, Guterres said. Unhindered U.N. access including by the U.N. agency supporting Palestinian refugees known as UNRWA which Israel is seeking to ban is essential, he said, as well as scaled-up aid deliveries, Palestinians access to aid, and protection of civilians. Guterres expressed deep concern about an existential threat to the integrity and contiguity of Gaza and the West Bank key pieces of a future Palestinian state from Israeli actions and unabated illegal settlement expansion. Senior Israeli officials openly speak of formally annexing all or part of the West Bank in the coming months, he said. Any such annexation would constitute a most serious violation of international law. The secretary-general said Syria stands at a crossroads of history and told the council, We cannot let the flame of hope turn into an inferno of chaos. He stressed the need for a Syrian-led political transition, and much more significant work in addressing sanctions and designations especially in light of the countrys urgent economic needs. Qatar pledges aid for Gaza as more trucks cross into the territory Qatar on Monday announced plans to supply post-ceasefire Gaza with resources via a land bridge at Kerem Shalom, on the border between Egypt, Israel and the coastal Palestinian enclave. After sending 25 fuel trucks to Gaza on Monday, Qatar plans to supply Gaza with 3.3 million gallons (12.5 million liters) of fuel over the next 10 days, its Foreign Ministry said. The fuel is intended to provide basic services and power hospitals and shelters. Over the course of the 16-month war, the majority of aid has crossed into Gaza via the Kerem Shalom crossing, although it has intermittently closed amid disagreements over what kind of aid can be allowed into the strip. Israel previously restricted entry of some equipment, arguing it could be used for military purposes by Hamas. Allowing more aid into Gaza is a central tenet of the ceasefire deals first phase and will be key to later reconstruction efforts. The deal allows for hundreds of trucks more than Israel has previously allowed to deliver aid to Gaza. Egypts state-run press center said Monday that at least 300 aid trucks entered Kerem Shalom and and the Nitzana crossing to the south since the ceasefire took effect, as well as 12 diesel trucks and four gas trucks. However, some of those trucks have carried food aid labeled for UNRWA, the UN agency that Israel has vowed to ban from operating even as it remains the primary distributor of aid in Gaza. Truck drivers told The Associated Press that throughout the war, vehicles have been turned back for minor bureaucratic infractions or not having aid properly packaged or wrapped. If items are approved, we unload them and head back to Egypt Some trucks have to drive all the way back with packages they left with that contain expired food aid or that the drivers or truck information is not listed correctly, driver Hamdy Emad said. EU announces aid for Syria and countries hosting Syrian refugees ISTANBUL A top European Union official announced an aid package of 235 million euros ($244 million) for humanitarian needs within Syria and for countries in the region hosting displaced Syrians, especially Turkey. Speaking alongside Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan on Monday during a visit to Ankara after her trip to Syria, Hadja Lahbib, European Commissioner for Preparedness, Crisis Management and Equality, said that the situation in Syria was dire, The needs are dramatically immense. The humanitarian crisis is affecting millions of Syrians, and the EU will continue to work and to alleviate the suffering in response to the basic needs of the people," Lahbib said. Turkey hosts the worlds largest number of refugees, including up to 3 million Syrians. Turkeys hospitality for the Syrian refugees has been crucial over the years, Lahbib said. Turkeys role is crucial in providing humanitarian corridors for the EU to deliver emergency assistance to Syria. The region is in geopolitical turmoil, and it would be important for the European Union to work together with Turkey and provide the adequate response by the international community." Hezbollah says Israel did not achieve any of its objectives in Gaza BEIRUT The militant Hezbollah movement has praised the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip as a victory for the Palestinian people, saying Israel did not achieve any of its objectives. Hezbollah blasted the United States, saying that through its support to Israel, Washington is a full partner in the crimes and genocide that the enemy committed against the Palestinian people. Hezbollah said in a statement Monday that it was a partner in the Palestinian victory, adding that the Lebanese group opened a front with Israel in which it paid a high price on top of losing its top commanders, including leader Hassan Nasrallah, and thousands of supporters. Hezbollah said that resistance is the only way to deter Israel that was not able to achieve any of its goals by force or break the will or steadfastness of the Palestinian people. It said the killings of thousands of people, including women and children, would be a mark of disgrace for the international community that remained silent. Mother of freed Israeli hostage vows to continue her campaign TEL AVIV The mother of one of the Israeli hostages freed after 471 days of captivity in Gaza vowed Monday to keep fighting for the return of all the others. Merav Leshem Gonens daughter, Romi, 24, was kidnapped from the Nova music festival in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. Since then, Leshem Gonen has emerged as one of the loudest voices advocating for the return of the hostages, appearing nearly daily on Israeli news programs and traveling abroad. We are in an alternate reality in these hours, shutting out the outside world, a time in which there is nothing but family, she posted on Facebook on Monday, after reuniting with her daughter Sunday evening near the Gaza border. All three women released Sunday are expected to stay hospitalized for several days. Officials at the hospital where they were received said their condition was stable. It will take me, us, a moment to breathe her in, and to believe this reality that we have brought about together, Leshem Gonen wrote, adding, I promise Ill be back. Palestinians returning to Rafah find their homes destroyed RAFAH, Gaza Strip Palestinians returning to their homes in Gazas southernmost city of Rafah after the ceasefire found homes and neighborhoods flattened after eight months of Israels military offensive. We found destruction, destruction, said Mohamed Abu al-Kheir, a Palestinian man who shelters in a tent in the city of Khan Younis. There is nothing to live in. There is no furniture or anything. Associated Press footage showed large swaths of Rafah turned into rubble. People were seen searching the remains of their homes. Others searched two military vehicles that Israeli forces left behind when they withdrew from the area. Who wants to live in such destruction? No one will come to live here, said Mahmoud Khamis, another Rafah resident whose house was destroyed. Lebanese man confesses to passing information to Israel BEIRUT Judicial and security officials in Beirut say a Lebanese man has confessed on giving information to Israel about the Hezbollah group in return for money and has been referred to the countrys prosecutors. The three judicial and three security officials said Monday that the man, who is from the border village of Beit Lif, crossed into Israel recently where he gave information about Hezbollah posts and some members in the area before returning to Lebanon. He entered and left Israel with the help of an Israeli drone that led him into the way from where he crossed the border. The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak about security matters to the media, said the man received $2,500 as well as a laptop and a cellphone to communicate with them. The officials said that Lebanese military intelligence agents had been monitoring his moves before detaining and questioning him, when he confessed. The officials said prosecutors will question him further and will decide on whether to file charges against him or not. Israel and Hezbollah fought a 14-month war until a U.S.-brokered 60-day ceasefire went into effect on Nov. 27. Israeli soldier killed in the West Bank JERUSALEM The Israeli military says a soldier was killed and another was seriously wounded in the West Bank. The military declined to provide further details. Israeli media reported Monday that the soldiers vehicle was hit by a roadside bomb in the northern West Bank overnight. Israel has been battling Palestinian militants in the northern part of the occupied West Bank for years. The violence escalated after Hamas Oct. 7, 2023 attack out of the Gaza Strip ignited the war there. The deadly blast came hours after a long-awaited ceasefire took hold in Gaza. Israel captured Gaza, the West Bank and east Jerusalem in the 1967 Mideast war. The Palestinians want an independent state encompassing all three territories. Turkey reopens consulate in Aleppo ANKARA, Turkey Turkey reopened its consulate in Syrias largest city, Aleppo, raising its flag at the building for the first time in 12 years, Turkeys state-run Anadolu Agency reported. The opening on Monday comes weeks after the Turkish Embassy resumed its operations in the Syrian capital, Damascus, on Dec. 14. Turkey had closed down its diplomatic missions in Syria in 2012 due to security concerns amid the civil war, during which Turkey supported forces opposed to the government of former President Bashar Assad. Prior to the Syria conflict, Aleppo, located some 50 kilometers (31 miles) from the Turkish border, was an important center for trade between Turkey and Syria. Yemens Houthis say theyll limit their attacks in the Red Sea corridor DUBAI, United Arab Emirates Yemens Houthi rebels have signaled they will limit their attacks in the Red Sea corridor to only Israeli-affiliated ships as a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip took hold. The Houthis made the announcement in an email sent to shippers and others on Sunday. The Houthis separately planned a military statement on Monday, likely about the decision. The Houthis, through their Humanitarian Operations Coordination Center, made the announcement by saying it was stopping sanctions on the other vessels it has previously targeted since it started attacks in November 2023. The Houthis have targeted about 100 merchant vessels with missiles and drones since the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip started in October 2023, after Hamas surprise attack on Israel that killed 1,200 people and saw 250 others taken hostage. Freed Palestinian medical student says her joy is limited BEITUNIA, West Bank Baraa Al-Fuqha, 22, hugged her family as she stepped off the white Red Cross bus and into the sea of cheering Palestinians welcoming the 90 Palestinians freed by Israel early Monday. A medical student at Al-Quds University in East Jerusalem before her arrest, she had spent around six months in Damon Prison. She said she was held under administrative detention a policy of indefinite imprisonment without formal charge or trial that Israel almost exclusively uses against Palestinians. Israel says that the cases of Palestinians released as part of the exchange with Hamas for Israeli hostages all relate to state security charges. Al-Fuqha said her conditions in Israeli prison were terrible, her access to food and water limited. It was like, when we tried to hold our heads high, the guards would do their best to hold us down, she said. But now, reunited with her family, al-Fuqha displayed a sense of relief and defiance. Thank God, I am here with my family, Im satisfied, she said. But my joy is limited, because so many among us Palestinians are being tortured and abused. Our people in Gaza are suffering. God willing, we will work to free them, too. That reflected a wider feeling in the crowd, with many saying this release offered a small, if fleeting, moment of joy, tempered by the 15 months of death and destruction in Gaza. UN says more than 630 trucks with humanitarian aid have entered the Gaza Strip JERUSALEM United Nations humanitarian officials say that more than 630 trucks of humanitarian aid have entered the besieged Gaza Strip, in implementation of the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas. In a post on social media platform X, Tom Fletcher, the United Nations under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs said that over 630 trucks entered Gaza on Sunday, with at least 300 of them bringing humanitarian assistance into the north. There is no time to lose, Fletcher wrote. After 15 months of relentless war, the humanitarian needs are staggering. The Gaza ceasefire deal, which began Sunday with an initial phase lasting six weeks, calls for the entry into Gaza of 600 trucks carrying humanitarian relief daily. Over the course of the deals first stage, 33 Israeli hostages in Hamas captivity in Gaza will also be released in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners. Aid workers have been scrambling to address Gazas dire humanitarian needs after 15 months of devastating war and tough Israeli restrictions on aid deliveries and the movement of convoys within Gaza. Lawlessness and looting by armed gangs has also been a major obstacle to aid distribution. Before this latest Israel-Hamas war began, Gaza was under a crippling Israeli-Egyptian blockade that allowed the entry of some 500 trucks a day carrying commercial supplies and humanitarian aid. Hamas says delay in release of Palestinian prisoners the result of a conflict over list of names JERUSALEM Hamas office of prisoner affairs has issued a statement saying the delay in Israels release of Palestinian prisoners was the result of a last-minute conflict over the names on the list. Seven hours after three Israeli hostages were released from Hamas captivity in Gaza on Sunday, Palestinian crowds gathered outside Israels Ofer prison near the West Bank city of Ramallah were still waiting for the release of 90 Palestinians. The Hamas statement said: During the process of checking the names of the prisoners being released from Ofer prison, there was found to be one female prisoner missing. Hamas said that its officials were in communication with mediators and the Red Cross in hopes of pressuring Israel to adhere to the agreed-upon list of prisoners. It said that the issue was being resolved and it expected the buses of the released prisoners to soon depart. The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the delay. Israeli military fires projectiles and moves journalists awaiting release of Palestinian prisoners The Israeli military has been firing projectiles and moving journalists waiting to cover the release of Palestinian prisoners as part of the ceasefire that began Sunday. Thats according to AP video, which showed smoke trailing from objects landing nearby. The release of the 90 prisoners will take place in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Nearly seven hours have passed since the first three hostages were released from Gaza shortly after the ceasefire began. It is now approaching 1 a.m. local time. Israels military has warned Palestinians against public celebration. A ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza went into effect on Sunday morning. Hostages held in the strip and Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails will be freed in the first phase of the deal. Meanwhile, the November ceasefire in Lebanon is holding despite ongoing Israeli airstrikes on Hezbollah targets, which Israeli officials say are responses to ceasefire violations by the Iranian-backed militant group. Israeli forces also remain active inside the Syrian border region as victorious rebels there build a transitional government. Tensions remain high between Israel and Iran after tit-for-tat long-range strikes in recent months and threats of further military action from both sides. The IDF and the Yemeni Houthis also continue to exchange attacks. Latest Developments Jan 21, 1:22 PM At least 21 Palestinians injured in West Bank settler violence At least 21 Palestinians were injured, 11 severely, after dozens of Israeli civilians, some of whom were masked, arrived at the area of Al Funduq, in the West Bank, and "instigated riots, set property on fire and caused damage," according to the Israel Defense Forces. Three homes were burned down and five cars were torched as well, the IDF said. PHOTO: A Palestinian man checks the site of an attack by Israeli settlers in the Palestinian village of Jinsafut in the north of the occupied West Bank, on Jan. 21, 2025. (Jaafar Ashtiyeh/AFP via Getty Images) The civilians hurled rocks and attacked the security forces dispatched to the scene, according to the IDF. Israeli Minister of Defense Israel Katz, despite freeing settlers who committed the same types of crimes, said he condemns the violence. Jan 21, 4:23 AM Over 1,500 aid trucks entered Gaza on day 1 and 2 of ceasefire, UN says More than 1,500 trucks with humanitarian aid have entered the Gaza Strip in the first two days of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). That includes more than 630 trucks on Sunday and 915 trucks on Monday, according to OCHA. Of the ones that crossed into Gaza on Sunday, OCHA said at least 300 trucks went to the north, which the U.N. has warned is facing imminent famine. OCHA cited information received through engagement with Israeli authorities and the guarantors for the ceasefire agreement. There is no time to lose, the U.N.s aid chief, Tom Fletcher, said in a statement Monday. After 15 months of relentless war, the humanitarian needs are staggering. -ABC News' Morgan Winsor Jan 20, 5:49 PM IDF says riots in the West Bank have dispersed Israel Defense Forces and Israel Border Police Forces were dispatched to Al Funduq in the West Bank after reports of rioting in the area, the IDF said on Monday. The alleged incident occurred shortly after Israel's defense minister released all settlers being detained under administrative detention orders, though it cannot be certain that any of those settlers were involved in the reported riots. ABC News was able to confirm that fires had ignited in that location. Shortly thereafter, the IDF confirmed that it had successfully dispersed rioters. There have been no confirmed reports as to the extent of the damage or any injuries. Israeli officials are expected to conduct a formal inquiry in the area tonight. -ABC News' William Gretsky Jan 20, 5:49 PM Israeli forces recover body of fallen soldier in Gaza Israeli forces recovered the body of Oron Shaul, an Israel Defense Forces soldier who was killed in 2014, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the IDF announced Monday. Shaul was killed during a battle in Gaza on July 30, 2014, and his body had been held by Hamas for the past 10 years, the IDF said. "The recovery of Staff Sergeant, Oron Shauls body, was made possible due to a decade-long ongoing intelligence effort, which intensified during the war," the IDF wrote in a statement about the operation on Monday. Netanyahu spoke with Oron Shaul's mother, Zehava Shaul, after the operation was successfully completed, a statement from his office said. -ABC News' Ellie Kaufman and Jordan Miller Jan 20, 3:37 PM Next hostage exchange expected to take place Saturday Both Israel and Hamas have confirmed the next hostage release will take place on Saturday. A senior Israeli official confirmed the deal must take place on Jan. 25, as outlined in the ceasefire agreement. Hamas confirmed the date, saying "the second batch of prisoner exchange will take place on the scheduled date." Three hostages, all Israeli women, were released on Sunday, while 90 Palestinian prisoners were released from Israel in exchange. Jan 20, 6:52 AM Houthis say attacks on Israeli shipping will continue Yemen's Houthi rebels announced that they will limit their attacks in the Red Sea to only Israel-affiliated ships, signaling a temporary easing of their broader assault on commercial vessels. PHOTO: Protesters, predominantly Houthi supporters, demonstrate in solidarity with the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, in Sanaa, Yemen,, on Jan. 17, 2025. (Khaled Abdullah/Reuters) The decision coincided with the ceasefire and hostage-release deal agreed between Israel and Hamas that went into effect on Sunday. The announcement was made via an email sent to shipping companies by the Houthi Humanitarian Operations Coordination Center, the Associated Press reported. Attacks on Israeli-linked vessels will end "upon the full implementation of all phases" of the ceasefire, the Houthis said, adding that attacks on U.S.- or U.K.-linked shipping may resume if the two nations continue airstrikes in Yemen. The Houthis have targeted over 100 merchant vessels with missiles and drones since the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip started in October 2023, significantly affecting global shipping, particularly through Egypt's Suez Canal. The Houthis have also attacked American and allied military shipping in the region, plus launched drone and ballistic missile strikes into Israel. -ABC News' Somayeh Malekian Jan 20, 5:36 AM 10,000 bodies may be under Gaza rubble, Civil Defense says The Palestinian Civil Defense in Gaza said there could be as many as 10,000 bodies buried under rubble all across the strip, as many displaced Gazans try to return to their homes under a nascent ceasefire agreement. The Civil Defense said in a post to Telegram that 10,000 missing people are believed to be "under the rubble of destroyed homes, buildings and facilities." They are not counted in the 38,300 fatalities listed by the Civil Defense since Oct. 7, 2023. PHOTO: People walk past the rubble of collapsed buildings along Saftawi Street in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip on Jan. 20, 2025. (Omar Al-qattaa/AFP via Getty Images) The Gaza Ministry of Health -- which has separately tracked deaths during the conflict -- said on Sunday that 46,913 people had been killed in the Hamas-run territory during the war with Israel. The Civil Defense said Israeli forces prevented its crews from accessing large areas of the strip during the fighting, "where there are hundreds of bodies" that have not yet been recovered. The Civil Defense called for the entry of foreign rescue workers "to support us in carrying out our duty to deal with the catastrophic reality left behind by the war, which exceeds the capacity of the civil defense apparatus in the Gaza Strip." The organization called on Gazans to assist rescuers "with all necessary capabilities, including rescue, firefighting, and ambulance vehicles and equipment, as well as heavy machinery and equipment that will help us retrieve the bodies of martyrs from under the rubble of thousands of destroyed buildings and homes." Jan 20, 4:47 AM Red Cross details 'complex' hostage release operation The International Committee of the Red Cross said in a statement that Sunday's operation to collect three freed Israeli hostages from Gaza "was complex, requiring rigorous security measures to minimize the risks to those involved." PHOTO: Released hostages Doron Steinbrecher and Emily Tehila Damari are escorted by IDF soldiers after arriving back in Israel, Jan. 19, 2025. (IDF) Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "Navigating large crowds and heightened emotions posed challenges during the transfers and in Gaza, ICRC teams had to manage the dangers posed by unexploded ordnances and destroyed infrastructure," the ICRC said in a Monday statement. "More families are waiting anxiously for their loved ones to come home," ICRC President Mirjana Spoljaric said. "We call on all parties to continue to adhere to their commitments to ensure the next operations can take place safely." The ICRC also stressed that "urgently needed humanitarian assistance must enter Gaza, where civilians have struggled for months to access food, drinkable water and shelter." Jan 20, 5:09 AM Freed hostage is 'happiest girl in the world,' mother says Mandy Damari, the mother of Emily Damari -- who was among the three Israeli captives freed from Gaza on Sunday -- released a statement thanking all those involved in her daughter's release "from the bottom of my heart." PHOTO: Released British-Israeli hostage Emily Damari hugs her mother Amanda at an undisclosed location in Israel, Jan. 19, 2025. (Israeli Army/AFP via Getty Image) "Yesterday, I was finally able to give Emily the hug that I have been dreaming of," Mandy said in a statement shared by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum Headquarters. "I am relieved to report that after her release, Emily is doing much better than any of us could ever have anticipated," she added. "In Emily's own words, she is the happiest girl in the world; she has her life back," Mandy said. "In this incredibly happy moment for our family, we must also remember that 94 other hostages still remain," she added. "The ceasefire must continue and every last hostage must be returned to their families." -ABC News' Anna Burd Jan 20, 4:47 AM Released Palestinian prisoners arrive in the West Bank amid high tensions Tensions were high as people waited in Beitunia, in the West Bank, for the arrival of the 90 Palestinian prisoners who were released from Israeli custody just after 1 a.m. local time. Israeli forces used cars and tear gas to attempt to clear the roads, ABC News reporters on the scene said. ABC News' team saw flash bangs where people were gathered waiting for the prisoners release. Israeli Police did not immediately respond to ABC News request for comment on the matter. PHOTO: Freed Palestinian prisoners ride in a bus after their release from an Israeli jail as part of a hostages-prisoners swap between Hamas and Israel, outside the Israeli military prison, Ofer, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Jan. 20, 2025. (Ammar Awad/Reuters) The prisoners were released from Ofer Prison in Ramallah, West Bank, as a part of the hostage exchange and ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas. People were seen on top of the buses waving flags and chanting as the prisoners arrived in Beitunia at approximately 1:42 a.m. -ABC News' Ellie Kaufman, as well as Tom Soufi Burridge and Hugo Leenhardt in the West Bank Click here to read the rest of the blog. WASHINGTON, D.C. Thousands of Donald Trump's supporters stood in line for hours Sunday hoping to see the president-elect. One family that braved cold temperatures and rowdy crowds traveled from Middletown, Ohio, Vice President-elect JD Vance's hometown. "Middletown gets a bad rap, so it's something to finally turn it around," said Kelley Carter, who traveled to D.C. with her husband and 9-year-old son. "We have Olympians, we have now a VP. I just think it's awesome." Kelley and Corey Carter hope seeing Vance become vice president will inspire their son, Miles. Middletown, Ohio, residents Kelley and Corey Carter wait in line with their 9-year-old son, Miles, in hopes of being admitted into the Make America Great Again Victory Rally at Capital One Arena in Washington D.C., on Sunday, Jan. 19, 2025. "As a mom, what better message can I tell him? It's my job to look at him and say, 'You can be anything you want to be,'" Kelley said. "So now I can bring him here and say, 'You could even be vice president, because look, a guy from your city ended up being that.' So dream big, kid!" Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Carters lined up outside the Capitol One Arena at 8 a.m. on Sunday hoping to get into Trump's victory rally. Tens of thousands of people lined up with them, but the arena only seats 20,000 people. "God wanted me to be here," said Trump supporter Stella Lowmann, who drove nearly 30 hours to Washington, D.C. The rally began around 3 p.m. and featured several of Trump's usual celebrity fans like Kid Rock, Billy Ray Cyrus, Dana White and Elon Musk. Vance did not appear at the event. Most people, after waiting in line for hours, were turned away. Kelley Carter said they chose to get out of line after a fight broke out and people started shoving to get to the front. Trump's supporters were back in line outside the arena before 6 a.m. Monday, this time hoping to see the inauguration. The swearing-in ceremony was moved inside to the Capitol Rotunda due to extreme cold, and supporters will be able to see the ceremony live-streamed in the arena. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But again, with even colder temperatures expected Monday, most people standing in line won't make it inside. Kelley Carter said her family will try again to get into the arena. She said the trip has been worth it even if they aren't able to get into an event. Miles said he was also excited to go to the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum and see a 7-Eleven convenience store. This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Family from JD Vance's Ohio hometown waits in cold, rowdy D.C. lines A TikTok algorithm is a curious thing. Mine thinks I want to watch a man disembowel a lithium battery, then place it inside a raw chicken breast and jump back as it spontaneously combusts like a kind of atomic chicken Kiev. Two million people have liked that video. Its not unusual. TikTok feeds are a manic roll call of content with very little purpose other than to steal the users attention until you realise youve gone into a kind of trance scrolling through dozens of disparate clips. This is the world 170 million Americans were briefly excluded from over the weekend. A federal law banning the Chinese app came into effect late on Saturday night, following concerns China could use TikTok to access the data of millions of users; a US ban was upheld by the Supreme Court on Friday. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Hours later, on the eve of his inauguration, Donald Trump gave the company a stay of execution. He pledged to issue an executive order to save TikTok, keep it in good hands and allow it to stay up. TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew thanks Donald Trump in TikTok post Heres why the new president was spending his hours before re-entering the White House dealing with the fate of a social media app. Its where electoral votes are being courted If youre interested in bringing young voters on board, TikTok is exactly where you should invest your time and campaign coffers. Nigel Farage has utilised it better than most politicians, says Chris Hopkins, the political research director at market research consultancy Savanta. Hes the best political communicator in the country, irrespective of whether you agree with what he says or not. He has a personality, he adds. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement And hes courting young men. Reform was quick to engage with TikTok in the lead-up to the general election. Post-election analysis showed the party was the third most popular choice among 18- to 24-year-old men; among 16- to 17-year-old men voters of the future a poll revealed Reform was as popular as Labour. Farages success doesnt mean well see the major parties following suit though, says Hopkins. It works for him because he doesnt have to be careful about how he comes across. In fact, his whole brand is bare-faced and unfiltered which works on TikTok, where real is prized over polished whether youre a politician or an influencer. If Labour were to do it, would Angela Rayner be the best person for it? muses Hopkins. Probably. But does that risk undermining Keir Starmer? Yes, potentially. It can turn anyone into an overnight success TikTok is a place where anyone can become famous. Anything from a fantasy novel or a clip on how to arrange your sock drawer could go viral. In the publishing world, BookTok has turbocharged the careers of a number of authors. Waterstones now has a BookTok recommended table, meanwhile Publishers Association research in 2022 found almost 59 per cent of younger readers said BookTok helped them discover a passion for reading. Similarly, while musicians have been discovered on the internet since the days of Myspace (Arctic Monkeys got their first break on the now defunct platform), the way a song can take off on Tiktok is a different beast. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Tiktok can make you really big, says Patrick Clifton, a music and tech strategy consultant. It is credited with launching careers of now established artists such as Lil Nas X and Olivia Rodrigo. And without TikTok, Charli XCXs album, Brat, may not have been the runaway hit of summer 2024 the app was packed with clips of people learning the dance routine to her song Apple. Tiktok is more powerful as a promotional tool than the Levis ad, than radio, than anything weve ever seen in recent cultural history, says Clifton. It is challenging the power of Instagram There is nothing new about the idea of a viral moment, but on TikTok, Joe Bloggs is as likely to go viral as a Kardashian. More likely, in fact. TikTok users want to see real people going about their real lives rather than heavily edited social media campaigns. In food, home cooks share easy, accessible recipes, gaining them millions of followers (and often a cookbook deal to boot). Meanwhile, a viral recipe is more likely to be a spicy pickle wrapped in a dried-fruit wrap than a beautifully crafted piece of culinary genius. If you make good content and good food, you can blow up, one TikTok chef told The New York Times. It could be damaging to young people ByteDance, the Chinese tech giant which owns TikTok, has been under scrutiny for allowing children under 13, who are officially banned on the platform, to use the app. In 2023, it was fined 12.7 million by the Information Commissioners Office (ICO) for allegedly failing to stop 1.4 million underage children in Britain from using TikTok between 2018 and 2020. The company disputed the calculations and appealed the fine, saying it makes extensive efforts to remove accounts of under-13s. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In November, research commissioned by Ofcom found 58 per cent of children on TikTok had a birth date on their profile which would make them seem older. TikTok said it had removed more than 20 million accounts in the three months to July 2024 for being underage. Once children are on the site, they are spending a lot of time there, sucked in by the addictive algorithm. Andy Burrows, of the online safety advocacy group the Molly Rose Foundation, told The Telegraph last year TikTok had probably the most impressive algorithm [of] any of the tech platforms. But with this the risks are equally higher. Chinese spies may be using TikTok data In America, officials have long sounded the alarm about the risks TikToks ties to China could pose. The 2017 Chinese National Intelligence Law dictates any organisation or citizen shall support, assist and cooperate with the state intelligence work in accordance with the law. Peter Warren, chairman of the Cyber Security Research Institute, told The Telegraph in 2023 that if TikTok is required by the Chinese government to turn over data, it will turn it over. TikTok said this never happens and, despite having a Chinese parent, it is a global company. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In Britain, Canada, the US, Australia and New Zealand, government officials are barred from using TikTok over security fears. There are currently no plans for a total TikTok ban in the UK, government minister Darren Jones told the BBC on Saturday. We wont be following the same path as the Americans unless or until... there is a threat that we are concerned about in the British interest, he stated. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. Former Vice President Mike Pence attended the second presidential inauguration of Donald Trump, according to a post the former vice president made on X Monday morning. "This is a day when every American does well to celebrate our democracy and the peaceful transfer of power under the Constitution of the United States," Pence wrote. Trump's and Pence's relationship imploded in the aftermath of Jan. 6, 2021 after Pence refused Trump's commands to block the certification of President Joe Biden's 2020 election win. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement After rioters had breached the Capitol building during the vote count, Trump posted a tweet stating that "Mike Pence didn't have the courage to do what should have been done to protect our Country [sic] and our Constitution." This post "immediately precipitated further violence at the Capitol," according to the final report of the select committee investigating the attack. Rioters erected makeshift gallows and called for Pence's execution as the then-vice president took refuge deep within the Capitol building. President-elect Trump has vowed to pardon most Jan. 6 rioters as one of his first acts in office. Pence and Trump weren't seen together in public until earlier this month, when the pair shook hands at Jimmy Carter's funeral. Former second lady Karen Pence did not greet the Trumps, IndyStar previously reported. The former vice president entered the Capitol rotunda Monday morning without his wife. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In March of last year, Pence told Fox News that he wouldn't support Trump in the 2024 presidential election. He also declined to endorse Joe Biden. Former Ohio senator J.D. Vance will serve as Trump's vice president during his second term. Today, I will attend the Inauguration of President Donald Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance at the U. S. Capitol. This is a day when every American does well to celebrate our democracy and the peaceful transfer of power under the Constitution of the United States. We encourage Mike Pence (@Mike_Pence) January 20, 2025 Ryan Murphy is the communities reporter for IndyStar. She can be reached at rhmurphy@gannett.com or (317) 800-2956. This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Mike Pence attends Trump's second presidential inauguration Mike Pence watched his replacement, J.D. Vance, take the oath of office at the U.S. Capitol on Monday, Jan. 20, eight years after standing in the same position. Pence, who served as the vice president during Donald Trump's first term, attended the swearing-in ceremony without his wife, former second lady Karen Pence, watching a new right-hand man assume his former office. Related: Trump Inauguration Live Updates: Donald Trump Says America Will Be 'Envy of Every Nation' During Address SAUL LOEB/POOL/AFP via Getty Mike Pence at the inauguration ceremony for Donald Trump and J.D. Vance on Jan. 20, 2025 Mike Pence at the inauguration ceremony for Donald Trump and J.D. Vance on Jan. 20, 2025 Pence fell from Trump's good graces near the end of his first term in office. Following his loss in the 2020 election to former President Joe Biden, Trump did not concede and denied the election results which, as vice president and the president of the Senate, was Pence's duty to certify. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Against Trump's wishes, Pence refused to overturn the results on Jan. 6, 2021, stating that he didn't have the authority to so. Following a rally in Washington, D.C. that day which included chants of "hang Mike Pence" the deadly Capitol riot commenced in an attempt to forcibly stop the certification of the election. Kevin Lamarque - Pool/Getty Vice President J.D. Vance takes the oath of office on Jan. 20, 2025 Vice President J.D. Vance takes the oath of office on Jan. 20, 2025 There remains no evidence that the 2020 election was fraudulent or "stolen." Pence later attended Biden's inauguration which is customary for outgoing and former presidents and vice presidents while Trump skipped the event. Already alienated from his former ally, Pence announced his campaign for president in 2023. He challenged Trump for the Republican nomination but was unsuccessful. Related: Donald Trump Sworn In as the 47th U.S. President Chip Somodevilla/Getty Mike Pence and Donald Trump shake hands at Jimmy Carter's funeral on Jan. 9, 2025 Mike Pence and Donald Trump shake hands at Jimmy Carter's funeral on Jan. 9, 2025 Trump and Pence had their first interaction in four years at former President Jimmy Carter's funeral on Jan. 9, which was uneventful and polite, Pence shared. 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. Vance was named Trump's running mate on July 15, 2024, during the Republican National Convention. Before seeking the role of vice president, Vance was a senator from Ohio in his first term. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Prior to becoming Trump's running mate, Vance made strong comments against Trump calling the president "America's Hitler" and an "idiot," and calling himself a "never-Trump guy." Read the original article on People Frigid temperatures engulfed the South on Monday ahead of a winter storm that's expected to spread heavy snow and disruptive ice around a region from Texas to north Florida that rarely sees such weather, sending residents rushing to insulate pipes, check heating systems and stock up on emergency supplies. In Texas, both Houston airports announced flight operations would be suspended starting Tuesday in expectation of hazardous conditions from an unusual blast of severe winter weather taking aim at a huge swath of the South including much of the northern Gulf Coast. Elsewhere, the East Coast contended with a thick blanket of snow while people from the Northern Plains to the tip of Maine shivered in bitterly cold temperatures from an Arctic air mass that sent temperatures plunging well below normal Monday with dangerously cold wind chills. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Around 40 million people, primarily across the southern U.S., were under some type of weather hazard, including more than 21 million under a winter storm warning, said Marc Chenard, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in College Park, Maryland. He added about 170 million people from the Rockies to points eastward were under either an extreme warning or a cold weather advisory. Lakesha Reed, manager of Beaucoup Eats catering in New Orleans, had plans to leave Tuesday to cook for a Mardi Gras-style event in the nation's capital, but flights were canceled amid extreme cold. The 47-year-old New Orleans native said it was in the 30s early Monday afternoon in her port city, where near-freezing temperatures are rare. We can barely drive in the rain, she said. Last year, we wore shorts for Mardi Gras. The online tracker FlightAware reported more than 570 flight cancelations by Monday afternoon within the U.S. or entering or leaving the country, along with more than 5,800 delays. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Winter storm warnings extended from Texas to Florida on Monday, with heavy snow, sleet and freezing rain expected around the region into Wednesday. Meanwhile, a state of emergency was declared Monday night across at least a dozen counties in New York as heavy lake-effect snow was expected around Lake Ontario and Lake Erie through Wednesday, along with extreme cold temperatures. Snow on the Gulf Coast Anticipating the storm, governors in Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, declared states of emergency and many school systems canceled classes Tuesday. Winter storm warnings were in effect in Texas, Mississippi, Alabama and the Florida panhandle. The storm was expected to impact Texas starting Monday evening, spread eastward through Wednesday morning with heavy snow expected along and to the north of the Interstate 10 corridor with sleet and freezing rain in south Texas and southeast Georgia and northern Florida. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Forecasters warned the sub-freezing morning lows could threaten sensitive vegetation and exposed plumbing in areas unaccustomed to bitter cold. Across Louisiana, officials urged residents to stay home" and not "go sightseeing once the storm hits, warning any road ice could make travel dangerous. Warming centers were being readied as towns worked to get homeless people off the streets. The weather service warned power outages were possible in areas of significant snow and ice accumulation. Meanwhile, shoppers packed supermarkets, stocking up. Things were really nuts with everyone shopping and trying to get supplies in the past couple days, and most people were looking for the same stuff because they want to make something that will warm your blood, maybe a gumbo, William Jordan said Monday. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Return of the Arctic blast Much of the Eastern Seaboard is enduring some of the coldest temperatures this winter. The intense cold temperatures prompted Donald Trump to take the oath as president Monday from inside the Capitol Rotunda, upending months of meticulous planning for a massive outdoor event with crowds sprawling down the National Mall. The last time an inaugural ceremony was held indoors was Ronald Reagan's in 1985. Elsewhere, an area from the Rockies into the Northern Plains will see colder than normal weather over several days, with temperatures forecast to drop to between minus 30 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 34 degrees Celsius) to minus 55 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 48 degrees Celsius) on Monday. Sub-zero wind chills are expected as far south as Oklahoma and the Tennessee Valley. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The weather service issued cold weather advisories across the Great Lakes region as high temperatures in many places were expected only to rise into the single digits or teens Monday and Tuesday. Night-time wind chills could drop temperatures to minus 20 F (minus 29 C) or lower. Chicagos high Monday only was expected to hit 10 F (minus 12 C), while Monday nights low was targeted at minus 5 degrees F. Like earlier this month, this latest cold snap comes from a disruption in the polar vortex, the ring of cold air usually trapped about the North Pole. In Texas, Jonathan LeBron, 39, plumbing manager at Nicks Plumbing & Air Conditioning in the Houston area, said the company started getting homeowner calls Monday about worries of frozen pipes. There is a little bit of panic, LeBron said. I think theyre pretty aware of whats going on. The last freeze was three or four years ago. They want us to go out there and make sure things are insulated accordingly. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Houstons low temperature on Tuesday will be about 18 F (minus 8 C), according to the National Weather Service, or low enough for water to freeze in pipes, expand and then cause the pipes to burst. Santa Ana winds expected to return to Southern California In Southern California, where blazes have killed at least 27 people and burned thousands of homes, strong Santa Ana winds were expected to return Monday with gusts between 70 and 90 mph (about 113 to 145 kph), according to Andrew Rorke, senior forecaster with the weather service in Oxnard, California. But he said a small amount of rain in the weekend forecast was a hopeful sign. ___ Julie Walker contributed to this report from New York. She can be reached at https://x.com/jwalkreporter. Dave Collins contributed from Hartford, Connecticut. Bruce Shipkowski contributed from Toms River, New Jersey. Corey Williams contributed from Detroit. by Burak Akinci ANKARA, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- Turkiye's foreign policy in 2025 will prioritize issues related to its geographical proximity, especially concerning Syria and Gaza, experts have said. "Among the region's key players, Ankara holds the most robust communication channels and a history of collaboration with the group now governing Damascus," Oytun Orhan, senior researcher at Ankara's Center for Middle Eastern Studies, told Xinhua. He said that 2025 will be "a crucial year for Turkiye's diplomatic efforts in contributing to Syria's stability and reconstruction." Following the fall of the former Syrian government in December of last year, Ankara said it would continue military activity in northern Syria until Kurdish fighters fully "disarm." On Jan. 10, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said the "end is near" for the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and its affiliates in Syria, highlighting clearing the Syrian territory from terrorism as one of Turkiye's foreign policy priorities for 2025. "Turkiye has both capacity and determination to eliminate all threats at their source," he added, mainly referring to the PKK group, which it recognizes as a terrorist organization, and its Syrian branch, the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG). Since 2016, Turkish forces have carried out several cross-border operations in northern Syria in order to create a YPG-free zone along its border. "While Turkiye supports the group that currently leads Syria, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), it has long seen Syria's Kurdish forces in the north as an existentialist threat," Orhan noted. However, Orhan argued that Ankara is not seeking any adventures in Syria despite those threats. "After over a decade of hosting millions of Syrian refugees and carrying out military operations that have cost hundreds of millions of dollars, Ankara seeks a Syria capable of thriving economically and socially," Orhan added. On Jan. 15, Syria's interim Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shibani met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Fidan on his first official visit to Turkiye. According to Turkiye's Communications Directorate, Erdogan said that "Turkiye will support meeting the urgent needs of the brotherly Syrian people and the efforts to rebuild the country," emphasizing the importance of lifting international sanctions on Syria. Another foreign policy priority for Turkiye this year will be the Gaza conflict, which has caused Turkish-Israeli relations to gradually deteriorate since Oct. 7, 2023. Batu Coskun, a non-resident fellow at the United Arab Emirates-based TRENDS Research & Advisory, told Xinhua that Turkiye, which has been very vocal in criticizing Israeli military operations in Gaza, is quite interested in contributing to rebuilding the coastal enclave following the recently-reached ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas. However, "Turkiye's current position is limited. Turkiye does not exercise the same level of influence in the Gaza conflict" as it does in Syria, due to its deteriorated relations with Israel, said Coskun. "Turkiye's future role in Gaza would likely be contingent on establishing a relationship with Israel, because Israel will continue to filter and control the Gaza Strip; this is unlikely to change," he said, adding that the Gaza conflict is likely to have aftershocks despite the ceasefire deal. Ankara may be inclined to engage in a potential detente with Israel under the auspices of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, so as to participate in humanitarian and reconstruction operations in Gaza, Coskun predicted. "Both Israel and Turkiye are key U.S. allies. I believe that Trump will strongly push for a rapprochement between these two governments," he said. Family members are reacting to new details about the disappearance of an Alabama man more than a month ago. Ronald Leslie Dumas Jr., 37, last spoke with a family member around 10 p.m. local time on Sunday, Dec. 15, according to the Huntsville Police Department. In a new statement, shared on Thursday, Jan. 16, police said security camera footage from the night of Dumas disappearance showed the man entered a liquor store on University Drive with two women just before 10:30 p.m. local time. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Dumas was later seen leaving the store with the same two women, and did not seem to be under any distress at the time, authorities added. Related: Dominos Delivery Man Reported Missing in Minnesota After Pizzas Werent Delivered, Police Say The vehicle, described by police as a black 2021 Hyundai Palisade with Alabama license plate 47AUW1E, was found around 6:30 a.m. local time abandoned on the inside shoulder of Interstate 40. Shakeria Samples, the mother of Dumas son, believes something is wrong, according to CBS affiliate WHNT-TV. The traveling to Tennessee without notifying any family or friends, the abandoning of the vehicle on the side of the road, those things are just extremely abnormal, she told the station. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Samples added, Hes not going to abandon his kids. Hes got three kids they love and adore him, he wouldnt walk away from them. Related: Missing Girl, 17, Who Reportedly Left Home After Family Dispute Believed to Be Found Dead in Nevada Desert Dumas was listed as a missing adult on the Alabama Law Enforcement Agencys Missing Persons List on Monday, Dec. 23, police said. Cell phone data showed Dumas phone was heading south from Memphis, Tennessee on Dec. 21, authorities added. 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. Dumas car has been searched multiple times, but police said none of the evidence found there indicates that Dumas was forcibly removed from the vehicle. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Police said in their statement that there is no reason or evidence to suggest that Dumas is in danger or has been abducted at this time." Related: Police Searching for Missing Sisters Who Vanished After Night Walk Near River 3 Days Ago Samples insisted this is not a mental health break, and encouraged those with information about Dumas disappearance to come forward. Were just looking for answers, Samples said. If you know anything that can assist authorities or the family with locating Ronny, we just want the truth. Nearly $9,000 has been raised through a GoFundMe campaign to help the family hire a private investigator. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Ronnie went above and beyond for his family and friends. Its our responsibility to return the favor, Samples wrote in the online fundraiser's description. Related: 2 Oregon Men Die in Forest After Going Missing While Looking for Sasquatch: Police Siniard Law, which is representing Dumas family, announced on Wednesday, Jan. 15, that the reward for information about Dumas disappearance had doubled to $10,000. Someone knows something, the law firm stated on Facebook. Its time to come forward. Anyone with information about Dumas whereabouts is asked to contact Investigator Stephen Gibbs at 256-427-5448. Anonymous tips can also be submitted by calling 256-532-7463, and information can be submitted to Huntsville Area Crimestoppers at 53-CRIME. Read the original article on People LAS VEGAS (KLAS) It will be several weeks until authorities can recover the pilot from a plane crash in rural Nevada they said had no chance of survival, according to the Nye County Sheriffs Office. Michael Martins missing plane was discovered near Mount Jefferson on Saturday, roughly four hours away from the Las Vegas Strip, Scott Lewis, Nye Countys director of emergency management, said. The mountain is roughly 50 miles from Tonopah. Martin vanished after departing the North Las Vegas airport. Rescue crews have searched for him and the aircraft since Jan. 5. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Nye County posted on its Facebook page on Tuesday saying: Based on photos of the crashed plane, there would be no chance of survival, Nye County stated. As of today, we have exhausted all possibilities of reaching the crash site at this time to complete a recovery. Additionally, they added that It might take several weeks before they have access to the necessary resources to get to the plane crash area to confirm whether Martin is in or near the plane. Anyone with information is urged to contact the Nye County Sheriffs Office at 775-751-7000. Copyright 2025 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. OXFORD, Miss. (WJTV) A Mississippi mother and son were convicted of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering. Zipora Hudson and Montreal Hudson, both of Olive Branch, were convicted following a federal jury trial that concluded on January 15. Deandre Jones, of Olive Branch, previously pled guilty in the case. The Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) was a COVID-19 pandemic relief program administered by the Small Business Administration (SBA) to provide funding for small businesses affected by the economic downturn associated with the Coronavirus pandemic. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Drugs, guns and gators seized at Mississippi mans home According to court documents, Zipora Hudson, Montreal Hudson, and Deandre Jones utilized Zippy Bee, LLC tax preparation business in Charleston, Mississippi, to create and file hundreds of PPP loan applications on behalf of borrowers that were not eligible to receive the loans. Prosecutors said they created fraudulent Schedule C tax documents to claim gross income amounts that far exceeded the real income for a particular business or claimed gross income amounts for businesses that never existed. The documents were created in order to receive PPP loans in amounts ranging from $19,000 to $20,833 per loan. According to prosecutors, the defendants required the borrowers to pay them a kickback out of the proceeds of each loan. The defendants used the illegally obtained money to purchase luxury vehicles and real estate, among other things. Sentencing for Zipora Hudson and Montreal Hudson is set for April 24, 2025. They both face a maximum penalty of 30 years for the wire fraud conspiracy and 20 years for the money laundering conspiracy. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now Daily News Copyright 2025 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 WJTV. The statue of civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. at his memorial site on Martin Luther King Jr. Day on January 17, 2022 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Samuel Corum/Getty Images) By Jason Oliver Evans, University of Virginia Since 1983, when President Ronald Reagan signed Martin Luther King Jr. Day into law, many Americans have observed the federal holiday to commemorate the life and legacy of the civil rights leader, Baptist minister and theologian. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement MLK Day volunteers typically perform community service that continues Kings fight to end racial discrimination and economic injustice to build the beloved community, as he often said. King does not fully explain the phrases meaning in his published writings, speeches and sermons. Scholars Rufus Burrow Jr. and Lewis V. Baldwin, however, argue that the beloved community is Kings principal ethical goal, guiding the struggle against what he called the three evils of American society: racism, economic exploitation and militarism. As a Baptist minister and theologian myself, I believe it is important to understand the origins of the concept of the beloved community, how King understood it and how he worked to make it a reality. Older origins Although King popularized the beloved community, the phrase has roots in the thought of 19th-century American religious philosopher Josiah Royce. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In 1913, toward the end of his long career, Royce published The Problem of Christianity. The book compiles lectures on the Christian religion, including the idea of the church and its mission, and coined the term beloved community. Based on his readings of the biblical gospels, as well as the writings of the apostle Paul, Royce argued that the beloved community was one where individuals are transformed by Gods love. In turn, members express that love as loyalty toward each other for example, the devoted love a member of the church would have toward the church as a whole. While Royce often identified the beloved community with the church, he extends the concept beyond the walls of Christianity. In any type of community, Royce argued, from clans to nations, there are individuals who express love and devotion not only to their own community, but who foster a sense of the community that includes all humankind. According to Royce, the ideal or beloved community is a universal community one to which all human beings belong or will eventually belong at the end of time. Beloved diversity Twentieth-century pastor, philosopher, mystic, theologian and civil rights leader Howard Thurman retrieved Royces idea of the beloved community and applied it to his life and work, most notably in his 1971 book The Search for Common Ground. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Thurman first used the term in an unpublished and undated article: Desegregation, Integration, and the Beloved Community. Here, he argued that the beloved community cannot be achieved by sheer will or commanded by force. Rather, it begins with transformation in each persons human spirit. The seeds of the beloved community extend outward into society as each person assumes the responsibility of bringing it to pass. Thurman envisioned the beloved community as one that exemplifies harmony harmony enriched by members diversity. It is a community wherein people from all racial, national, religious and ethnic backgrounds are respected, and where their human dignity is affirmed. Thurman was convinced that beloved community was achievable because of the dedication he saw from activists during the struggle for racial integration. During his lifetime, Thurman sought to build this beloved community through his activism for racial justice. For example, he co-founded the Church for the Fellowship of All Peoples, an interracial and interfaith community in San Francisco, which he co-pastored from 1943 to 1953. Thurmans writings and activism deeply influenced King. Burrow argued that it is not entirely clear when and where King first learned the concept of beloved community. Yet King emphasized its importance in much of his writing and political action. Love and action In simplest terms, King defined the beloved community as a community transformed by love. Like Royce, he drew his understanding of love from the Bibles New Testament. In the original Greek, the Gospels use the word agape, which suggests Gods self-giving, unconditional love for humanity and, by extension, human beings self-giving, unconditional love for each other. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement According to Baldwin, however, Kings understanding of the beloved community is better understood against the backdrop of the Black church tradition. Raised in the Ebenezer Baptist Church of Atlanta, King learned lessons on the meaning of love from his parents, Rev. Martin Luther King Sr. Ebenezers pastor, who was also a leader in the local chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and Alberta Christine Williams King. One of the distinctions in Kings thought is that he believed the beloved community could be achieved through nonviolent direct action, such as sit-ins, marches and boycotts. In part, he was inspired by Thurman, who had embraced the nonviolence at the heart of Mahatma Gandhis resistance against the British in India. For King, nonviolence was the only viable means for achieving the United States of Americas redemption from the sin of racial segregation and white supremacy. For King, therefore, the beloved community was not merely a utopian vision of the future. He envisioned it as an obtainable ethical goal that all human beings must work collectively toward achieving. Only a refusal to hate or kill can put an end to the chain of violence in the world and lead us toward a community where men can live together without fear, King wrote in 1966. Our goal is to create a beloved community and this will require a qualitative change in our souls as well as a quantitative change in our lives. American civil rights campaigner Martin Luther King and his wife Coretta Scott King lead a black voting rights march from Selma, Alabama, to the state capital in Montgomery. (William Lovelace/Express/Getty Images) Searching for the beloved community today Kings idea of the beloved community has not only influenced people affiliated with the Christian tradition but also people from other faiths and none. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement For instance, scholars Elizabeth A. Johnson, bell hooks and Joy James have reflected upon the meaning of the beloved community amid ongoing challenges such as global climate change, sexism, racism and other forms of structural violence. People around the world continue to draw insight and inspiration from Kings thought, especially from his insistence that love is the most durable power to change the world for the better. Questions remain about whether his beloved community can be realized, or how. But I believe it is important to understand Kings ethical concept and its continuing influence on movements that seek an end to injustice. Jason Oliver Evans is a research associate and lecturer at the University of Virginia. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. MEMPHIS, Tenn. Dozens of volunteers answered the call to serve Monday on a very cold Martin Luther King Jr. Day. The National Civil Rights Museum opened its doors, free of charge, as they have done year after year as part of a daylong celebration. There is no better way to start the day than by giving back and paying homage to one who gave it all for us to be here, for peace and freedom, said volunteer Latonya Parham. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Its here where Dr. King lost his life in 1968, shot to death while standing on this balcony at the Lorraine Motel. More than half a century later, and many including volunteers say they are taking a stand. Nothing was going to stop me, said Parham, who was determined to uphold Dr. Kings dream. People still want to serve. Nothing will overshadow the dream-keeper, so regardless if its inauguration day or any other day. Womans wheelchair stolen from home, taking her freedom Jasmaine Dean believes this day, this moment, is needed now more than ever. I have been volunteering here at the National Civil Rights Museum since I have been in high school, she said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In fact, written across her shirt are words from Dr. Kings final book before his assassination that was titled Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community? For the Germantown High grad, the answer is simple. This is truly one of the days that brings us together to show the bright side of Memphis and everything Memphis has to offer as a city, she said. Copyright 2025 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. DES MOINES, Iowa Martin Luther King Jr. Day will be celebrated across the country on Monday and here in the metro, there are a variety of opportunities for people to get involved. DMPS Superintendent Dr. Ian Roberts The Des Moines Public Schools is holding their annual MLK Day celebration Monday with superintendent Dr. Ian Roberts giving the keynote speech. Activities such art projects, discussions, and a Q&A will be available for kids starting at 3:30 p.m. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement When: 4 to 5 p.m. Where: Forest Avenue Library King Elementary Service Projects The Community Youth Concepts and Stowe Heights MLK Day are hosting portable workshops and student-led service projects for all ages. When: 1 to 3 p.m. Where: King Elementary School Registration: MLK Day of Service: The Time is Always Right to Do What is Right Meals from the Heartland Day of Service Meals from the Heartland is hosting meal packaging at both of their locations. Groups are able to sign up for times throughout the day to package meals for those in need. When: 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Where: West Des Moines Packaging Center and Polk County River Place Registration: Meals from the Heartland Brenton Park Donate and Skate Those who donate at the Brenton Skating Plaza on Monday will receive free admission and skate rental. Food items and warm adult and child size clothes are acceptable donations items. When: 12 to 9 p.m. Where: Brenton Skating Plaza Admission: Donation Hope + Elim Church Celebration The church will host a speicial Stand Up MLK Day celebration with performaced by Bridges 2 Harmony choir and hear from special guest Brittany K. Barnett, author and attorney, during the event. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement When: 1 to 2:30 p.m. Where: Hope + Elm Church Drake University Knapp Center Chamique Holdsclaw, gold medalist and hall of famer, will speak about the barriers to mental health equality at the Knapp Center on Monday morning. When: 7:30 a.m. Where: Knapp Center Admission: $50 Iowa State Workspace The Workspace is hosting arts and crafts projects including yarn work and MLK themed coloring pages. The event is free and participants are able to pick a MLK Day button. When: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Where: The Workspace, Iowa State Memorial Union Jack Trice Stadium As part of their MLK Day celebrations Ames will host a program honoring the legacy of Jack Trice. The Founder of the Trice Legacy Foundation, George, W Trice, will give the keynote presentation. People are able to attend in-person or virtually through Facebook or YouTube live. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement When: 6:30 p.m. Where: Ames City Auditorium or Virtually West Des Moines MLK Day Celebrations MidAmerican Energy is hosting an afternoon of discussion, exhibits, and community award presentation to honor Martin Luther King Juniors legacy and life of service. This years keynote speaker is Al Womble, the Political Director for the Iowa Federation of Labor AFL-CIO. When: 5 7 p.m. Where: MidAmerican Energy RecPlex Central College Service Projects Central College faculty and students will observe the day through service projects and a day of alternative learning. The day will begin with a plenary and end with a panel discussion, through the day service projects around Pella and academic sessions will be held. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement When: 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Where: Central College Campus, Pella Copyright 2025 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 who13.com. NICOSIA, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- The leaders of ethnically divided Cyprus held a much-anticipated UN-brokered meeting on Monday, focusing on easing movement across the ceasefire line but stopped short of announcing an immediate agreement on opening new crossing points, the UN mission said in a statement. However, the leaders reaffirmed their commitment to the goal and agreed to collaborate with the United Nations toward achieving it. Another meeting is planned for the coming days, the statement added. Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides presented an eight-point proposal package during his meeting with Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar at the residence of Colin Stewart, the UN Secretary-General's Special Representative in Cyprus. "The leaders both believe that the opening of new crossing points is critical to promote people-to-people contacts, strengthen economic ties, and build trust," the UN statement noted. Currently, there are nine crossing points along the 185-km-long ceasefire line, which has separated the island's Greek and Turkish Cypriot communities since the Turkish military operation against Cyprus in 1974. These check points facilitate approximately eight million crossings each year. Ahead of the meeting, Greek and Turkish Cypriot political parties and activists urged bother leaders to open more crossing points. They highlighted how these crossings contribute to reviving and strengthening bonds between the two communities. The European Commission welcomed the meeting, with a spokesman in Brussels noting that opening additional crossing points in Cyprus fosters building trust. He affirmed the EU's readiness to support all stages of the process through funding and other means. ATLANTA (AP) A massive 70-member choir belted out Hallelujah at a Martin Luther King Jr. Day service Monday at his former congregation in Atlanta, followed by a stern message from his youngest daughter warning against anti-woke rhetoric. The service at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta was among the most prominent commemorations of King that played out across the country Monday. At the front of the church's stage, seven people held large signs proclaiming JUSTICE, FREEDOM and DEMOCRACY. We are living in a time when anti-woke rhetoric has become a weapon to divide us and distract us from the real issues of injustice," Kings daughter, the Rev. Bernice King, said. To be woke is to be aware of oppression and commitment to justice. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The MLK holiday was half of the nations double-duty Monday: the inauguration of Donald Trump, who heads back to the White House, created mixed feelings on Kings day for civil rights leaders who have opposed Trumps rhetoric and stances on race and civil rights. The keynote speaker at Ebenezer then made a reference to Trump, saying he had heard that somebody had won a mandate. I dont care who you are, if you win 60% of the vote, you never win a mandate to violate justice, said Bishop William Barber II, co-chair of the Poor Peoples Campaign. You never win a mandate to hurt people. But in Washington, in a speech after taking the oath of office, Trump noted the significance of the King holiday. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In his honor, we will strive together to make his dream a reality, Trump said. Ebenezer is where King was baptized as a child and ordained at 19 years old. He became the congregations co-pastor in 1960 alongside his father, Rev. Martin Luther King Sr. He remained in that role until his death, and his funeral was held at the church. The church is now part of the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historical Park & Preservation District. Monday marks the third time in the nearly 40 years since the federal King holiday became law that it coincides with a presidential inauguration. Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama also were sworn in for their second terms on the holiday. MLK Day lands on the third Monday of January close to Kings Jan. 15 birthday. King himself worried the legal protections he dedicated his life to realizing would not be followed by greater anti-discrimination efforts or social programs. The celebrated Black civil rights leader proposed it would take white Americans embracing a deeper kinship with Black Americans and engaging in economic and social solidarity to see change. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement There was a heavy security presence outside the Atlanta church, where more than two dozen police officers from across metro Atlanta stood guard with all-terrain vehicles, police motorcycles and suburban utility vehicles. Streets in the immediate vicinity of the historic church were blocked to vehicle traffic. Lonnie J. Edwards of Stone Mountain, Georgia, has been attending the annual service for 15 to 20 years. He always finds it refreshing that the movement King led is still alive, and he said he enjoys sharing the kind of philosophy and the image that Dr. King had not just for Atlanta but for America. Liccy Arias, 21, a recent Geogia State Univeristy alumnus, was among a large group of Georgia State students and faculty members at the Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change. Her visit was part of the day of service the Atlanta-based school has on the holiday. Helping out makes my heart very, very full, she said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In frigid Columbia, South Carolina, an MLK Day rally at the Statehouse entered its 25th year, featuring a smaller crowd, and some trepidation mixed in about the change of power occurring in Washington. The South Carolina event started in 2000 when tens of thousands poured in to demand the Confederate flag be taken down from the Capitol dome. In 2013, the rally paused so thousands on hand could watch Obama, the nations first Black president, take the oath of office for a second time on big screens. On Monday, there was no mention of the 2025 inauguration. College student Michael Parker thought about how King endured through all kinds of racism and hate, confident he would make the world a better place. That was the attitude he was taking Monday. Theres still work to be done," Parker said. "Progress hasnt gone steady through the generations. We need to keep working on Dr. Kings dream." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement King was shot in Memphis, Tennessee, while standing on the balcony of the old Lorraine Motel on April 4, 1968. The civil rights leader had been in the city to support a sanitation workers strike. The motel has been turned into the National Civil Rights Museum, which was providing free admission and offering extended hours to visitors Monday. The museum also scheduled musical performances, food and blood donation drives, and a livestreamed presentation that will explore Kings leadership and his relevance to present day social justice movements. ___ Collins reported from Columbia, South Carolina. Adrian Sainz contributed from Memphis, Tennessee; Jonathan Mattise, from Nashville, Tennessee; and Bruce Shipkowski, from Toms River, New Jersey. (NewsNation) The inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump on Monday coincides with Martin Luther King Jr. Day for just the second time, but the occasion is one of reflection rather than concern for Kings family. Bernice King, daughter of the late civil rights leader, told MSBC that Trumps inauguration falling on the same day as the national holiday that honors her father draws attention to the legacy of service that King left behind. It points us back to King, Bernice King said in the interview. It says, When we move forward, weve got to do in the spirit of King. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trump expected to sign record number of executive orders on Monday Martin Luther King Jr. Day was established by President Ronald Reagan in 1983 and was first observed in 1986. Since then, only the inauguration of former President Bill Clinton in 1997 coincided with the federal holiday. In 2013, former President Barack Obama was sworn in during a private ceremony on Jan. 20, which fell on a Sunday. However, a public ceremony was held the following day, which fell on the federal holiday. Obamas inauguration ceremony included a Bible that belonged to King. The next time the federal holiday falls on Jan. 20 will come in 2053 for the swearing-in of the winner of the 2052 presidential election. While the inauguration is always scheduled for Jan. 20, MLK Day falls on the third Monday of January each year. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Bernice King, who was 5 years old when her father was assassinated in 1968, has been critical of Trump in the past. However, she told MSNBC that she wanted those who felt defeated by Trumps victory in the 2024 election to stay focused on the message of nonviolence preached by her father. We have to strategize. Weve been missing the strategy. Weve been missing the spirit of Dr. King, she said in the televised interview. The spirit of Dr. King is nonviolence. And nonviolence is not just a posture, its a mindset. For us, we define it as a love-centered way of thinking, speaking, acting and engaging that leads to personal, cultural and societal transformation. Trumps son, Martin Luther King III, told NBC News on Sunday that it is important for Trump to work to unify the country rather than to tear it apart. If you said you wanted to be a uniter, then those who didnt support you, you need to reach out to them or allow them to reach out to you, Kings son said in an interview with Meet The Press. Were not reflective of the United States of America right this moment, in my judgment. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Civil rights activists also stressed the importance of recognizing the timing of Trumps inauguration and the holiday remembering King. Like Kings family, the Rev. Al Sharpton told USA Today the convergence of the two events serves as a reminder of Kings message that the work never stops. However, Sharpton said that to remain silent on Trumps past rhetoric would be a disservice to Kings legacy. Everything that Dr. King stood for, Donald Trump has stated clearly he wants to dislodge, Sharpton said, according to the report. Bernice King and other faith leaders will participate in a program at the King Center in Atlanta on Monday. She said it is important for people to listen to Trumps speech as he is sworn in for a second time. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Regardless of what people feel or think about President-elect Trump, at this point hes going to be the president of the United States, she said, according to USA Today. We need to hear what he says. It does not need to be ignored, because you cannot create an effective strategy making assumptions. Copyright 2025 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 NewsNation. Bernice King, the daughter of late civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., says the simultaneous occurrence of MLK Day and Inauguration Day this year is an opportunity to reflect on her fathers legacy. Its wonderful that this occurs on the King holiday, the inauguration, because it reminds us of King, King, the youngest of Martin Luther Kings four children, said on MSNBCs The Weekend on Saturday. King was just 5 years old when her father was assassinated on April 4, 1968. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Despite President-elect Trumps history of racially-charged remarks, King said the fact that his inauguration coincides with her fathers holiday points us back to King. It says, When we move forward, weve got to do it in the spirit of King,' she said. King and her brother, Martin Luther King III, have been outspoken critics of Trump since his first presidential bid. Trump recently supported North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, who was running for governor and allegedly spoke ill of Martin Luther King Jr. Trump compared Robinson to King, saying the gubernatorial candidate was King on steroids. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trump compared himself to the civil rights icon as well. Trump also falsely claimed his Jan. 6, 2021 Stop the Steal rally had more attendees than the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, where King delivered his famous I Have a Dream speech. For those who feel defeated by the election outcome, Bernice King said Americans must stay stay focused on the goal of nonviolence. We have to strategize. Weve been missing the strategy. Weve been missing the spirit of Dr. King, King said. The spirit of Dr. King is nonviolence. And nonviolence is not just a posture, its a mindset. For us, we define it as a love-centered way of thinking, speaking, acting and engaging that leads to personal, cultural and societal transformation. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 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 The Hill. A Baltimore museum was sponsoring a "Dare to Dream Day," San Francisco was having a march and parade, and Houston was holding a job fair as big cities, small towns, states and institutions across America observed Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Monday. MLK Jr. Day is a federal holiday, so most government offices across the nation were closed and the Postal Service would not deliver mail. But plenty of activities will honor King, who gained global fame for his nonviolent approach to civil rights and social justice. In Atlanta, the King Center has been sponsoring two weeks of events with the theme "Mission Possible: Protecting Freedom, Justice, and Democracy in the Spirit of Nonviolence365." Events Monday included an empowerment fair for literacy, health and career development and a commemorative service at Ebenezer Baptist Church, a church founded by King's grandfather and later led by King's father. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement San Francisco and many other communities were holding commemorative parades and marches to honor the iconic marches from Selma, Alabama, to Montgomery, Alabama, in 1965 that helped lead to the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Selma itself was hosting a Stop the Violence Rally and March. Houston was among cities holding job fairs, promising an event "packed with resources and opportunities for those seeking new employment." Inauguration updates: Latest news on Donald Trump's swearing-in Developments: New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said King "showed us the power of courage, compassion and fighting for whats right. ... We must continue fighting to ensure that one day his dream for humanity will come true." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Texas Gov. Greg Abbott lauded King's "life and legacy" and said the "beacon of hope he inspired in our nation will burn bright for generations to come." Museums pay homage to King In Washington, D.C., the National Museum of African American History and Culture was marking King's birthday with a service project to make literacy packets for pre-readers. King emphasized the power of reading and education, and project participants will "learn about the power of the thank you note and be encouraged to write one with a fountain pen," the museum said in a statement. The statement added that "literacy is not just practical but also poetical. Using the prose of Dr. King and others, people can create a poetry collage." In Baltimore, the American Visionary Art Museum was sponsoring an open microphone for people to talk about what King means to them, plus art creation, music, dance and other events, said Valerie Williams, the museum's director of development. National Day of Racial Healing Tuesday, the day after MLK Day, has been designated a National Day of Racial Healing. In Jackson, Mississippi, admission is free at the Two Mississippi Museums, which include the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum and the Museum of Mississippi History. Director Michael Morris said the weekend's events and free admission will celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "The Mississippi Civil Rights Museum has exhibits related to that powerful historical moment," Morris said. Mary Boyte, Mississippi Clarion Ledger This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: MLK Jr. Day: See marches, job fairs marking observances today SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) Each year, on the third Monday in January, Americans recognize Martin Luther King Jr. Day. During the time he was the leading figure against discrimination and segregation in the south, King made a stop in South Dakota. It was 1961 when King made his first trip to the state. Part of the visit included an interview at the KELOLAND studios. You can watch the full interview in the player above. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Doug Hill asked the civil rights leader several questions. The 12-minute long interview focused on how the pursuit of non-violence would be the driving force behind the civil rights movement. Julian Beaudion, Sioux Falls community leader and director of the South Dakota African American History Museum, told KELOLAND News in 2022 Dr. Kings brief visit to Sioux Falls left him feeling unwelcome in the community Beaudion highlighted how King couldnt stay at any hotels as well because of segregation at the time and how he had to use a back entrance instead of the same entrance as white citizens who came to hear him speak. A sculpture stands at Van Eps Park in Sioux Falls, near to where Dr. King visited over 60 years ago. Porter Williams of Sioux Falls is the artist behind the sculpture and several of the busts featured in the African American History Museum. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 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 KELOLAND.com. CHICAGO It was a bitterly cold start to the day Monday as the seasons first official sub-zero low temperature of the season was recorded at OHare airport, -2 degrees. Many suburban locations were even colder with the mercury bottoming out as low as -8 degrees far west of the city. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Daytime highs barely made it into double digits, which qualified as the coldest day so far this winter despite the predominantly sunny skies. The cold wasnt isolated to the Chicago area, much of the lower 48 is firmly locked into the deep freeze with high temperatures as much as 35-degrees below normal. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Monday was also the 40th anniversary of the coldest temperatures ever observed in Chicago, with records dating back to 1871. WGN Weather Center Maps & Interactive Radar Extended 7-Day Forecast Copyright 2025 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. Urinating is a contagious behaviour among chimpanzees, a study has found. Individual chimps that see another chimp urinating will respond by also emptying their bladder, especially if the first to go ranks higher in the social order. Scientists at Kyoto University studied 20 chimps at a Japanese sanctuary and analysed their toileting habits 1,328 times on more than 600 hours of video. We found that chimpanzees, our closest relatives, tend to urinate in response to the urination of nearby individuals, said Ena Onishi, the studys co-author. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Data show that the likelihood of urination increased the closer chimps got to one another rather than if it was just a random encounter. The study also says that chimps at the bottom of the social pyramid were more likely to urinate when someone else above them in the pecking order did. We were surprised to discover that the contagion pattern was influenced by social rank, Ms Onishi said. The scientists first began studying the unusual behaviour after noticing many of the apes went to the bathroom at the same time as one another. Social closeness had little to do with when chimps went to the bathroom - iStockphoto However, contagious urinating has never been seen before, so the only parallel the researchers compared it to was the phenomenon that yawning is contagious. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We initially expected that any social influences might resemble those seen in yawning such as stronger contagion between socially close pairs, Ms Onishi said. However, our results showed no evidence of effects related to social closeness. Instead, we observed a clear influence of social rank, with lower-ranking individuals being more likely to follow the urination of others. Dr Shinya Yamamoto, also of Kyoto University, called this an unexpected and fascinating result. He added: It could reflect hidden leadership in synchronizing group activities, the reinforcement of social bonds, or attention bias among lower-ranking individuals. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement These findings raise intriguing questions about the social functions of this behaviour. The study is published in the journal Current Biology. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Md. (DC News Now) Officials in Montgomery County announced that some county services and activities have been altered on Sunday due to the anticipated snowfall. According to a release from the Montgomery County Department of Transportation (MCDOT), a Winter Storm Warning for 4 to 6 inches is in effect until 7 p.m. for the northern part of the county. In the southern part of the county, 2 to 4 inches are expected. As a result, officials postponed the Martin Luther King Jr. Birthday Celebration, which was scheduled for Sunday at the Music Center at Strathmore, until Monday at 4 p.m. Aside from the performance, the Strathmore campus will be closed on Monday, according to the events website. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Montgomery County Public Schools has also canceled all Sunday school-sponsored activities and the community use of buildings due to the winter weather. Regarding county recreation centers, all scheduled programs, classes and activities have also been canceled, with recreation, senior and aquatic centers open for drop-in activities only. Salting the smart way: How to use winter salt in the DMV Officials said that crews are monitoring roadway conditions as cold temperatures, which are expected to continue throughout the week, will cause any snow to freeze overnight. Due to the icy conditions, MCDOT said travelers using the Ride On bus service should expect delays and detours and that the Flash Route will utilize the 40-foot buses for service instead of the Flash-branded buses. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Roads, especially bridges and overpasses, will likely become slick and hazardous. MCDOT urges residents to stay off roadways once snowfall begins. Those who must travel should reduce speed, carry a flashlight, food and water in their vehicle, and dress warmly in case of an emergency, MCDOT noted. MCDOT also emphasized that residents may see snowplows driving through their neighborhoods with plows raised due to snowpack caused by frigid temperatures. The plows, which cannot remove solid ice when temperatures are at their lowest, will be able to clear the snow efficiently once it accumulates to about 3 to 4 inches. By law, residents must clear sidewalks along their properties within 24 hours of the end of a snowstorm. Residents can click here for snow-related updates, including plow progress. Residents can also click here to sign up for alerts from the countys emergency alert system. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 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. TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) Battleground Florida Moderator Ty Russell offers more context involving the decision to appoint Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody to the United States Senate. Democrats also express their concern with Moody heading to Capitol Hill and her replacement as Floridas top cop. Rep. Greg Steube, out of Sarasota, has been pushing to ban trans student athletes from teams with women and girls and competing against them. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Activist Callen Jones, with Trans Network, offers numbers and questions why the overall objective to lawmakers passing this bill. Gov. Ron DeSantis discusses his plan to combat illegal immigration. However, Political Expert Tara Newsom said there is more to this call for a special session, after a publicly known rocky relationship between Trump and DeSantis. A state democratic lawmaker responds by saying the special session is not needed, especially since regular session is weeks away. Battleground Florida airs Sunday mornings at 9:30 on News Channel 8. Copyright 2025 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. (WJET/WFXP) January weather will be out in full force in the coming days for the area with lake effect snow warnings, winter and cold weather advisories being issued for several NWPA counties along with Chautauqua, NY and Ashtabula, OH. The lake effect snow warning for Chautauqua County will remain in effect from 7 p.m. Sunday until 10 a.m. Wednesday with projected snow accumulations ranging from 10-20 inches in the northern part of the county and winds strong enough to cause drifting snow. The snow band will remain close to the lakeshore but mainly affecting New York state. Snow showers and flurries can effect mainly Erie and Chautauqua Counties but NWPA is not expecting significant accumulations. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Cold weather advisories have also been issued for the entire region from Ashtabula to Chautauqua and everywhere in between with wind chills as low as 15-25 below zero. The cold temperatures also increase the risk of frozen pipes, dead car batteries, and carbon monoxide poisoning from improper use of heat sources inside. As the colder temperatures drop, residents are asked to prepare by: Have a plan in case of power outages including extra blankets, food and a battery-powered device Weatherstripping or caulking your home to keep the cold air out. Also, you can use tape, plastic wrap and towels to seal your windows and doors Dressing in layers (hat, face masks, gloves). Preventing your pipes from freezing by wrapping heat tape or allowing water to drip from the faucet. Not using grills or generators indoors or inside a garage. And for your furry friends, making sure to keep them indoors as much as possible. Stay with Your Weather Authority on the latest updates. Copyright 2025 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 WJET/WFXP/YourErie.com. Malta Tourism Authority Chief Executive Officer Carlo Micallef speaks during an interview with Xinhua in Kalkara, Malta, on Jan. 7, 2025. China's visa-free policy offers the rest of the world a good chance for "much better understanding of the real China," Carlo Micallef, chief executive officer of the Malta Tourism Authority (MTA), said in a recent interview with Xinhua. (Photo by Jonathan Borg/Xinhua) VALLETTA, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- China's visa-free policy offers the rest of the world a good chance for "much better understanding of the real China," Carlo Micallef, chief executive officer of the Malta Tourism Authority (MTA), said in a recent interview with Xinhua. Micallef lauded the policy as a testament to China's commitment to opening up further to the world and welcoming global tourists. Announced on Nov. 22 last year, the policy allows ordinary passport holders from nine more countries, including Malta, to enter China visa-free for up to 30 days. The one-year trial, starting Nov. 30, covers visitors for purposes such as business, tourism, family visits, exchanges and transit. "It is a welcome development for the Maltese to visit China, both on holiday and for business," because it makes the planning of a trip become "much easier and more attractive," he said. He emphasized that the initiative enables visitors to see China's beauty and advancements firsthand, fostering deeper understanding and connections. According to Micallef, such firsthand experiences help counter potential misunderstandings influenced by Western media. "When you see it with your own eyes, you get the real China, not as something which is adapted for foreign countries," Micallef said, expecting the policy to lead to more cultural and economic exchanges. Describing tourism as the best way for people to connect, Micallef said, "When people come together, a lot of barriers, misunderstandings or misconceptions are thrown away. That is the beauty of travel." Reflecting on Malta-China relations, Micallef shared his father's visit to China in the 1970s as one of the first Maltese politicians to travel there. He also recounted his own visits to an array of Chinese cities such as Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, and Hong Kong, beginning in 2006, during which he witnessed China's remarkable social and economic transformation. "I am confident that more Maltese will travel to China, and we will welcome more Chinese tourists to Malta," Micallef said, attributing this optimism to the strong friendship between the two nations and the new visa-free policy. Hailing the policy as a "very positive development" for bilateral relations, Micallef expects it to enhance cooperation between the two nations in sectors of tourism, culture, business and people-to-people exchanges. The initiative, he believes, will strengthen ties between the two nations and open new opportunities for mutual exploration and understanding. Malta Tourism Authority Chief Executive Officer Carlo Micallef speaks during an interview with Xinhua in Kalkara, Malta, on Jan. 7, 2025. China's visa-free policy offers the rest of the world a good chance for "much better understanding of the real China," Carlo Micallef, chief executive officer of the Malta Tourism Authority (MTA), said in a recent interview with Xinhua. (Photo by Jonathan Borg/Xinhua) DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) The mother of American journalist Austin Tice said Monday that the Trump administration had offered support to help find her son, who disappeared in Syria in 2012. Debra Tice made the remarks at a news conference in Damascus on her first visit to the country since insurgents toppled President Bashar Assad last month. She did not present any new findings in the ongoing search. Austin Tice has not been heard from other than a video released weeks after his disappearance that showed him blindfolded and held by armed men. Tens of thousands are believed to have gone missing in Syria since 2011, when countrywide protests against Assad spiraled into a devastating civil war. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Then-President Joe Biden said in December that he believes Washington can bring Tice back, while admitting that we have no direct evidence of his well-being. I have great hope that the Trump administration will sincerely engage in diligent work to bring Austin home," Debra Tice said. His people have already reached out to me. I havent experienced that for the last four years. Syria's former government had publicly denied that it was holding him, but Tice hopes she will find him with the help of the new leadership. In December, she said the family had information from an unidentified source that her son was alive and well. She said Monday she still believes he is alive and in good health. Austin, if you can somehow hear this, I love you. I know youre not giving up, and neither am I, she said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Tice said she had a productive meeting with Ahmad al-Sharaa, the leader of Syrias new administration, who she said was dedicated and determined to bring back Austin and the others missing in the country. She also visited two military intelligence prisons in Syria, known for their mass incarceration and systematic use of torture, which she described as an unbelievably, horrible nightmare. Tice, who is from Houston, has had his work published by The Washington Post, McClatchy newspapers and other outlets. ___ Chehayeb reported from Beirut. STAMFORD, Conn. (WTNH) A Stamford man turned himself in Monday after striking a man with his motorcycle, causing serious injuries, police said. Kevin Calle, 28, was charged with assault in the second degree and reckless operation. Man charged in fatal Seymour stabbing According to police, at around 7:41 p.m. on Oct. 30, 2024, Calle was driving a 2023 Kawasaki motorcycle west on Tresser Boulevard when he struck a pedestrian at the intersection and was knocked off the bike. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The pedestrian, a 24-year-old New York man, was walking south when he was struck and vaulted, police said. Both Calle and the victim were taken to the hospital for injuries. The victim suffered very serious and possible life-altering injuries, police said. Calle also suffered serious injuries, police said. Calle was released after posting a $50,000 bond. He is scheduled to appear in court on Feb. 3. Copyright 2025 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 WTNH.com. (NewsNation) Within the next day, President Joe Bidens belongings will leave the White House as the Trumps settle in again. President-elect Donald Trump will be inaugurated for his second presidential term on Monday, and former White House usher Chris Emery has a look behind the scenes at the mass bedlam behind a White House flip. Emery told NewsNation the process of moving presidents in and out of the White House is almost like Cirque du Soleil, with all 97 staff members working together. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement What happens on Inauguration Day? A schedule of key events Some people are bringing clothes in. Some are bringing furnishings. You got electricians doing wiring. You get engineers putting up things. Everybodys working together, Emery said. Its incoming first ladies who plan for the move and it doesnt always go as planned, Emery said. I can recall President Clinton coming directly to me, saying, wheres his tux? He had an inaugural to go to, and so theres a mad search throughout the house trying to find what happened, Emery recalled. His tux was finally found in a third floor closet, like a half an hour before he was ready to go. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The first family knows what to expect this time around, but Emery said it will still be a heavy lift before their homecoming is complete. 5 takeaways from Trumps inauguration eve rally How to watch Inauguration Day on NewsNation You can watch the full Inauguration Day proceedings on NewsNation on TV, online at NewsNationNow.com or on the NewsNation apps for your television or phone. Not sure how to watch NewsNation? Find your channel here. NewsNation is also available to stream on YouTubeTV, Hulu, FuboTV, Vidgo, Sling and DirecTV Stream. You can also download the NewsNation app by clicking here or going directly to your phones app store. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 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 NewsNation. MEMPHIS, Tenn. A man was arrested this weekend after Memphis Police say he broke into his mothers home and poured a relatives ashes in the toilet. On Saturday, officers responded to a residence in the 5200 block of Shelborne where a female victim reported that her son Adell Totten had allegedly broken a window and entered her home. Adell Totten. (SCSO) The victim claimed Totten then took down the indoor security cameras and allegedly took the cremated ashes of a deceased relative and put them in the toilet. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Officers who responded found Totten on the scene and arrested him. He was found to have taken a $10 cap from the apartment as well. Family seeks help after teen hasnt returned home in nearly a week The victim said Totten does not live at the residence. Adell Totten has been charged with aggravated burglary and abuse of a corpse. His bond information is unknown at this time. Copyright 2025 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. GREENSBORO, N.C. (WGHP) FOX8 honors Kelly Grant-Lankford of Guilford Elementary School. Congrats, Mrs. Grant-Lankford! If you know of an educator who is worthy of this nomination please fill out the nomination form here. Educator of the Week is sponsored by the North Carolina Education Lottery. Copyright 2025 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 FOX8 WGHP. NOTE: This story has been made available for free, for all readers. Please consider supporting local journalism through the purchase of a digital subscription. Considering the possibility of frozen precipitation across the Gulf Coast, Mississippi Coast school districts and institutions of higher learning are considering alterations of their schedules. Here is a list of local districts and schools and their announced plans, which will continue to be updated as cancellations roll in: Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Bay St. Louis-Waveland School District: Closed Tuesday, Jan. 21, and Wednesday, Jan. 22. Biloxi Public School District: Closed Tuesday, Jan. 21, and Wednesday, Jan. 22. Coast Episcopal School: Closed Tuesday, Jan. 21, and Wednesday, Jan. 22. George County School District: Closed Tuesday, Jan. 21, and Wednesday, Jan. 22. Grace Baptist Academy: Closed Tuesday, Jan. 21, and Wednesday, Jan. 22. Gulfport School District: Closed Tuesday, Jan. 21, and Wednesday, Jan. 22. Hancock County School District: Closed Tuesday, Jan. 21, and Wednesday, Jan. 22. Harrison County School District: Closed Tuesday, Jan. 21, and Wednesday, Jan. 22. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Holy Trinity Catholic School: Closed Tuesday, Jan. 21, and Wednesday, Jan. 22. Jackson County School District: Closed Tuesday, Jan. 21, and Wednesday, Jan. 22. Long Beach School District: Closed Tuesday, Jan. 21, and Wednesday, Jan. 22. Moss Point School District: Closed Tuesday, Jan. 21, and Wednesday, Jan. 22. Nativity BVM School: Closed Tuesday, Jan. 21, and Wednesday, Jan. 22. Ocean Springs School District: Closed Tuesday, Jan. 21, and Wednesday, Jan. 22. Our Lady Academy: Closed Tuesday, Jan. 21, and Wednesday, Jan. 22. Our Lady of Fatima Catholic: Closed Tuesday, Jan. 21, and Wednesday, Jan. 22. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Pascagoula-Gautier School District: Closed Tuesday, Jan. 21, and Wednesday, Jan. 22. Pass Christian School District: Closed Tuesday, Jan. 21, and Wednesday, Jan. 22. Pearl River County School District: Closed Tuesday, Jan. 21, and Wednesday, Jan. 22. Picayune School District: Closed Tuesday, Jan. 21, and Wednesday, Jan. 22. Poplarville School District: Closed Tuesday, Jan. 21, and Wednesday, Jan. 22. Resurrection Catholic: Closed Tuesday, Jan. 21, and Wednesday, Jan. 22. Sacred Heart Catholic: Closed Tuesday, Jan. 21, and Wednesday, Jan. 22. St. Alphonsus Catholic School: Closed Tuesday, Jan. 21, and Wednesday, Jan. 22. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement St. James Catholic: Closed Tuesday, Jan. 21, and Wednesday, Jan. 22. St. Patrick Catholic High School: Closed Tuesday, Jan. 21, and Wednesday, Jan. 22. St. Vincent de Paul Catholic: Closed Tuesday, Jan. 21, and Wednesday, Jan. 22. Saint Stanislaus High School: Closed Tuesday, Jan. 21, and Wednesday, Jan. 22. Stone County School District: Closed Tuesday, Jan. 21, and Wednesday, Jan. 22. Higher education Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College: All locations closed Tuesday, Jan. 21 and Wednesday, Jan. 22. Classes those days will be held online. All campus facilities are closed except for the cafeteria and residence halls on the Perkinston Campus. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement University of Southern Mississippi: Classes canceled Tuesday, Jan. 21 and Wednesday, Jan. 22. William Carey University: Biloxi, Hattiesburg and Baton Rouge campuses closed, with all classes moved online Tuesday, Jan. 21. and Wednesday, Jan. 22. Diehard Maga supporter Marjorie Taylor Greene admitted she cut the line at Donald Trumps inauguration because she believed seating arrangements should have been based on who supported the president most. The Georgia congresswoman claimed that Democratic lawmakers did not belong at Mondays ceremony, especially those who previously voted to impeach Trump. "As I looked along the entire line of Republicans and Democrats lined up, and they were lining us up by seniority, she recalled, speaking to right-wing TV channel Real Americas Voice. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "I looked at that, and I said, this is ridiculous We need to be lining up by who supports President Trump the most. And I said, thats me." Marjorie Taylor Greene admitted she skipped the line at Donald Trumps inauguration because she thought priority should be given to those who supported him the most (POOL/AFP via Getty Images) "And I went to the front of the line, and [Ohio Democrat] Marcy Kaptur happened to be standing there. And I told her, I said, look, you voted to impeach President Trump, so Im going in front of you." Greene went on to say she was sick of Democrats, adding: Every single one of those Democrats, they did not belong in that inauguration. They voted to impeach President Trump. They wanted to lock him up for the rest of his life. They wanted to destroy his family. Going into the Capitol Rotunda for the inauguration ceremonies, they tried lining members up by seniority. Democrats who voted to IMPEACH President Trump should not get front row seats. I decided to line up by who supports President Trump the most. pic.twitter.com/fvsdT32yAu Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (@RepMTG) January 20, 2025 "I was like, I dont care about your seniority, Im taking it away, and Im going to the front of the line. And thats what I did." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trumps inauguration was moved inside at the last minute after frigid temperatures were forecast in Washington DC. Whereas previously there were seats reserved for all congressional members, space inside the Rotunda in the Capitol was limited. Plus-ones for representatives were reportedly also not permitted. Eyebrows were raised about the priority seating given to high-profile tech moguls including Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, and Jeff Bezos (all pictured) However, eyebrows were also raised at the priority seating given to the number of high-profile tech moguls, including Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, and Elon Musk, who all attended the event. Political figures including cabinet members, governors, and long-serving public servants were positioned in rows behind the tech executives, with only the Trump and Vance families seated ahead of them. Jan. 19Outgoing U.S. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland never thought working in her grandfather's field helping to irrigate the land and pluck worms off ears of corn would inform a career in public service. She discovered it did. "Everything that we experience through our lives, it plays a role in who we become. ... I feel very strongly that I stand on the shoulders of my ancestors," Haaland said in an interview on one of her last days in the Cabinet position. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Marked by a focus on the Interior Department's work in Indigenous communities and a search for balance between conservation and extraction on public lands, her tenure comes to a close as President Joe Biden's term ends at noon Monday. Rumors have swirled she plans to run for governor of New Mexico in 2026. A member of Laguna Pueblo, Haaland, 64, who previously served in Congress, said she was "honored" to be the first Native American selected for a president's Cabinet service lauded by fellow New Mexico Democrats. "As our first Native American Interior Secretary, Secretary Haaland served with honor and distinction and made New Mexico proud," Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said in a statement. "At a time when our national politics are so often contentious, she sought conciliation and cooperation." "Secretary Haaland's work will be felt for generations, and I'm proud to call her a friend and welcome her back home to New Mexico," U.S. Rep. Melanie Stansbury added. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement President Donald Trump's administration is likely to bring a shakeup at the Interior Department. His pick for the department's top office, former North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, appeared before U.S. senators in a confirmation hearing Thursday, framing Trump's vision for "energy dominance" as "the foundation of American prosperity." Haaland admitted there's always "a possibility" her work will be undone under her predecessor, but she said she's hopeful much of it will remain intact. She pointed to a recently completed, 10-year Native language preservation plan and billions in already-disbursed dollars for landscape restoration and tribal infrastructure. "There is so much that can never be undone," Haaland said. 'Telling America's story' Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The secretary of the interior is the chief steward of public lands and waterways in the United States. The department known even in its official histories as "the department of everything else" also oversees the bureaus of Indian Affairs and Indian Education, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Park Service, among other agencies. "Any job that involves responsibilities that range from elementary school students and health care to bison is a pretty big job," U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich said Thursday during Burgum's confirmation hearing. As the first Native American to hold the department's top office, Haaland brought a unique perspective, calling her Indigenous identity "the lens" through which she views the world and her work. "I am a Pueblo woman. That's my identity. That follows me and is with me wherever I go," she said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In her farewell address in Washington on Wednesday, Haaland said she tasked her staff with "telling America's story, both the joyful and the painful chapters." The Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative was a big part of that work. Through the initiative, which began in 2021, the department unpacked much of the troubled legacy of federal boarding schools for Native American children and addressed their intergenerational impact on Indigenous communities. The effort resulted in the 12-stop "Road to Healing" tour which included a stop at Isleta Pueblo in October 2023 to hear individual accounts of boarding schools, as well as an oral history project and the release of two extensive reports detailing the often-abusive conditions at the schools. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Consistent with the initiative's recommendations, Biden issued a formal apology in October 2024 at the Gila River Indian Community in Arizona for the "sin on our soul" of the boarding schools. He also established Carlisle Federal Indian Boarding School National Monument on the site of a former school in Carlisle, Pa., once a flagship institution in the assimilationist system. U.S. Rep. Teresa Leger Fernandez praised Haaland, whom she called "a sister in service," for her work on the boarding school initiative. "If a voice like hers had not made it to Congress and then to the Cabinet, I don't think we would be having the intensity of the national and state dialogue about this crisis and intergenerational trauma," Leger Fernandez said in a statement. "When she told her agency, 'We must get this done,' it got done." A Washington Post investigation published in December 2024 documented more than 3,000 student deaths of Native American children at boarding schools between 1828 and 1970 three times the number in the Interior Department's final report. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But Haaland said the investigation brought welcome additional information. "We want people to pick up the mantle and move forward, now that we have been able to shine a light on this horrific era of our country's history. ... We're positive that more will be uncovered as time goes on," she said in the interview last week. Work from the Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative will become part of the Library of Congress' collection and form the basis of exhibitions at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History, the Interior Department announced in December. "I'm really very proud of the work that my staff did. It was a labor of love," Haaland said. "Oftentimes, they worked through their own trauma to write these two reports and, you know, come up with the recommendations that we gave." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Haaland said her administration also made strides in addressing the nationwide crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous people by helping to implement the Not Invisible Act of 2019, legislation she led as a congresswoman. The Interior Department established a commission to recommend best practices for state, federal and tribal law enforcement to provide resources to survivors and their families and to combat homicides, disappearances and trafficking among Native people. Now, Haaland said, "We know more. We have more information. ... We've moved forward on that issue as well." U.S. Sen. Ben Ray Lujan, a member of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs and a former colleague of Haaland in the U.S. House of Representatives, said the Interior Department made "historic progress" to "rebuild trust with Native communities" under Haaland's leadership. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "I was proud to work with her on a number of priorities that we shared in Congress: protecting sacred sites, addressing violence against Native peoples, and securing funding for Tribal water rights settlements," Lujan said in a statement. "With Secretary Haaland's voice at the table, New Mexico had a strong and effective voice in this administration," he added. Extraction and conservation It's not a talking point she uses often, Haaland said, but her tenure has brought more oil production on public land than at any other time in history. "We've been able to protect our public lands while also ensuring that Americans have energy," she said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement She thought often about striking the right balance between approving energy production on public lands and conserving those singular spaces, particularly as her department withdrew certain public lands from future mineral leasing. "Some places are just too special to drill or to mine or ... to abuse," Haaland said. Some of those places are in New Mexico. Haaland barred new fossil fuel leasing and mining in a 10-mile zone around Chaco Culture National Historical Park in June 2023. She followed up in September 2023 with a 50-year mining ban on 4,200 acres of federal land in Sandoval County and the temporary withdrawal of a 165,000-acre portion of the upper Pecos watershed from further mining development in late 2024. "Because she has walked, hiked, and traveled through our beautiful lands, mountains, trails, and small villages, she understood at a cellular and spiritual level the importance of environmental stewardship and she took that to the Department of Interior," Leger Fernandez said of Haaland's work. Haaland's administration also saw the flow of billions of dollars in federal infrastructure funding, with a particular eye toward what she called the "clean energy transition." That included a $229 million investment to construct the Eastern New Mexico Rural Water System, a 130-mile pipeline to deliver water from Ute Reservoir to 70,000 residents, and $60 million to improve water conservation and efficiency in the Lower Rio Grande Basin between Elephant Butte and El Paso. In what's likely one of her final consequential acts as interior secretary, Haaland on Thursday announced a $5.5 million award to plug 10 orphaned wells on state and privately owned land. "We have worked incredibly hard to move that funding out the door. ... There's no way that they can move any of those things backward," Haaland said. In her farewell address, she recalled a visit to Chaco Culture National Historical Park, where she learned Pueblo Bonito, the site's largest great house, was built between A.D. 850 and 1150 with an estimated 100 million pounds of stone. That knowledge, she said, made her picture hundreds of Pueblo people gathering stones, making mud mortar and hauling water. "I thought about the weight of their legacy a weight that, while heavy, has motivated me to lead this department which just a few generations ago tried to erase Indigenous peoples and our ways of life," Haaland recalled. She continued, "No one at any one point in time has accomplished anything alone not in 1150 A.D. when the odds my ancestors faced were significant, not four years ago when the challenges our communities grappled with were immense but changeable." REEVES COUNTY, Texas (KMID/KPEJ)- A multi-car pileup crash in Reeves County left one man dead during a sandstorm. Also: High wind driving dangers: Multi-vehicle pileup reported near Pecos According to the Texas Department of Public Safety crash report, around 1:00 p.m., Friday, January 17 on US 285, near mile marker 364 a multi-car crash occurred due to low visibility during a sandstorm. Credit: Reeves County Sheriffs Office Reports showed that a Toyota Tundra was driving southbound when it struck the back of a semi-truck with a trailer. According to officials, this caused the multi-car pileup, and the driver, who was later identified as 41-year-old Greg Edward Sanchez of Monahans, was found dead at the scene. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This crash remains under investigation and no further information is available at this time. Copyright 2025 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 Yourbasin. ZAGREB, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)'s recent inscription of the Chinese Spring Festival on its Intangible Cultural Heritage list is a testament to the global influence of Chinese culture, a Chinese expert in Croatia has said recently. "It acknowledges not only China's cultural roots but also a celebration that connects the world," Branko Balon, president of the Croatian-Chinese Friendship Society for Cultural, Scientific and Economic Cooperation, told Xinhua in an interview. He noted that about one-fifth of the global population celebrates the Spring Festival, and nearly 20 countries have designated it as a public holiday. On Dec. 4, UNESCO inscribed the Spring Festival -- social practices of the Chinese people celebrating the traditional new year -- on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. The decision recognizes the festival's rich array of rituals and cultural elements that engage all levels of Chinese society. China now has 44 intangible cultural heritage elements recognized by UNESCO, "the highest number of any country," Balon said. In Croatia, the Spring Festival has become increasingly popular. Members of the Croatian-Chinese Friendship Society celebrate the festival annually with Chinese friends and the local Chinese community. Balon recalled the largest celebration in 2018, when 500 people gathered in Zagreb to welcome the Year of the Dog. "We are privileged to experience the spirit of the Spring Festival with our Chinese friends," Balon said. "It offers us an opportunity to learn about their traditions and culture, and it acts as a bridge between our two countries." Balon said he eagerly anticipates his upcoming trip to China later this month to experience the Spring Festival firsthand, which falls on Jan. 29. "I've visited China four times, but I've never been there during the Spring Festival. This year, I'll finally have the chance," he said. Adding to his excitement is China's recent announcement of a visa-free policy for Croatia and several other countries. "Thanks to this policy, many people from Croatia have already visited China, and I'm looking forward to joining them," Balon added. NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) Five people were displaced after a multi-unit structure fire in Norfolk Sunday afternoon. Norfolk Fire-Rescue responded to the 100 block of West Seaview Avenue around 1:50 p.m. in reference to a house fire. Upon arrival, crews found a multi-unit structure with smoke showing. Crews made an interior attack and extinguished a fire located in a utility room. The fire was marked under control around 2:15 p.m. Courtesy: Norfolk Fire-Rescue There were no injuries reported, but three of the units were affected. Red Cross is assisting the displaced residents. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The fire was determined to be accidental due to bad wiring in a utility room. Continue to check WAVY.com for updates. Copyright 2025 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. RICHMOND, Va. (WAVY) After President Joe Biden granted clemency to the Waverly Two, Governor Glenn Youngkin and Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares issued statements criticizing his decision. On Sunday, the NAACP Virginia State Conference commended Biden for commuting the sentences of Ferrone Claiborne and Terrence Jerome Richardson. Virginia NAACP President Rev. Cozy Bailey released the following statement: Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The clemency decision is a vital step toward correcting a grave injustice. The Waverly Two are not just a statistic; they are individuals whose lives were shattered by a flawed legal system. We commend President Biden for taking this courageous step, but we must also condemn Governor Youngkin and Attorney General Jason Miyares for their politicization of this matter. Instead of focusing on justice and truth, they have chosen to manipulate facts for their political agenda. The NAACP said the action brings a measure of justice to those who have suffered for far too long. Jarrett Adams, Richardsons attorney, also made the following statement directly to WAVY 10 in response to Miyares and Youngkin: Governor Youngkin and Jason Miyares are unfortunately using the daughter of Officer Gibson as a political pawn to shield the public from the fact that there is zero evidence of guilt, and they are using the commonwealths resources and energy to obstruct justice by maintaining a bogus guilty plea, instead of finding out the truth of what really happened to Officer Gibson. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 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. When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Credit: NASA, ESA, Benjamin F. Williams (UWashington), Zhuo Chen (UWashington), L. Clifton Johnson (Northwestern); Image Processing: Joseph DePasquale (STScI) In its 34 years orbiting the Earth, NASAs mighty Hubble Space Telescope has discovered trillions of galaxies within the universe. One, however, stands stars and nebulae above the rest. The magnificent Andromeda galaxy (Messier 31), stands out as the most important nearby stellar island to our Milky Way, and can be seen with the naked eye on a clear autumn night as a faint cigar-shaped object roughly the apparent angular diameter of our Moon according to NASA. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The telescope's namesake, American astronomer Edwin Hubble (1889 - 1953), first discovered that this spiral nebula existed miles outside of our own Milky Way galaxy 2.5 million light years to be precise. A light year is the distance light travels in one Earth year. One light-year is about 6 trillion miles, or 9 trillion kilometers. This is the largest photomosaic ever assembled from Hubble Space Telescope observations. It is a panoramic view of the neighboring Andromeda galaxy, located 2.5 million light-years away. It took over 10 years to make this vast and colorful portrait of the galaxy, requiring over 600 Hubble overlapping snapshots that were challenging to stitch together. The galaxy is so close to us, that in angular size it is six times the apparent diameter of the full Moon, and can be seen with the unaided eye. For Hubbles pinpoint view, thats a lot of celestial real estate to cover. This stunning, colorful mosaic captures the glow of 200 million stars. Thats still a fraction of Andromedas population. And the stars are spread across about 2.5 billion pixels. The detailed look at the resolved stars will help astronomers piece together the galaxys past history that includes mergers with smaller satellite galaxies | Credit: NASA, ESA, Benjamin F. Williams (UWashington), Zhuo Chen (UWashington), L. Clifton Johnson (Northwestern); Image Processing: Joseph DePasquale (STScI) Prior to Hubbles realization (the man not the telescope), astronomers had thought that the Milky Way had encompassed the entire universe. Overnight, Hubbles discovery turned cosmology upside down by unveiling an indefinitely grander universe, says NASA. Over the period of time since Andromeda's discovery, the Hubble Space Telescope has accomplished the most comprehensive survey of this incredible empire of stars, creating the largest photomosaic ever assembled from the telescope. It took ten years, 1,000 Hubble orbits, and required over 600 Hubble overlapping snapshots made up of at least 2.5 billion pixels. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement With Hubble we can get into enormous detail about whats happening on a holistic scale across the entire disk of the galaxy. You cant do that with any other large galaxy, said principal investigator Ben Williams of the University of Washington. "Without Andromeda as a proxy for spiral galaxies in the universe at large, astronomers would know much less about the structure and evolution of our own Milky Way. Thats because we are embedded inside the Milky Way. This is like trying to understand the layout of New York City by standing in the middle of Central Park," said NASA. Hubbles sharp imaging capabilities can resolve more than 200 million stars in the Andromeda galaxy, detecting only stars brighter than our Sun. They look like grains of sand across the beach. But thats just the tip of the iceberg. Andromedas total population is estimated to be 1 trillion stars, with many less massive stars falling below Hubbles sensitivity limit. Photographing Andromeda was a herculean task according to NASA, because the galaxy is a much bigger target on the sky than the galaxies Hubble routinely observes, which are often billions of light-years away. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Calling Andromeda a train wreck, Daniel Weisz at the University of California, Berkely, says Andromedas a train wreck. It looks like it has been through some kind of event that caused it to form a lot of stars and then just shut down. This detailed look at the resolved stars will help us to piece together the galaxys past merger and interaction history, added Williams. NASA said: Hubbles new findings will support future observations by NASAs James Webb Space Telescope and the upcoming Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope. Essentially a wide-angle version of Hubble (with the same sized mirror), Roman will capture the equivalent of at least 100 high-resolution Hubble images in a single exposure. These observations will complement and extend Hubbles huge dataset. Why not take a look at our guides to the best telescopes for astrophotography, the best cameras for astrophotography, and the best lenses for astrophotography. NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) Members of multiple law enforcement agencies worked together to track down two girls missing from East Tennessee who were found in Middle Tennessee. According to court documents, the girls were found Sunday at the Nashville residence of 21-year-old Isaac Schellsmidt, who was arrested and charged with felony kidnapping. The Hamilton County Sheriffs Office reported the minors ages 12 and 13 went missing from a home in the Soddy Daisy area on Sunday, Jan. 19. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Wanted man runs out of Mt. Juliet store with $500+ worth of stolen items while police waiting outside Isaac Schellsmidt (Courtesy: Metro Nashville Police Department) Over the course of the investigation, authorities said they discovered the girls had been in communication with a man from Nashville via social media, adding that it appeared as though the girls left the residence early Sunday morning and met the suspect nearby. According to court documents, Schellsmidt drove the minors to his residence in Nashville, where he reportedly had sex with the 13-year-old child. Once the Hamilton County detectives identified the man and learned the potential whereabouts of the minors, the sheriffs office asked for help from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) and the Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD). Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement CRIME TRACKER | Read the latest crime-related reports from across Middle Tennessee According to officials, MNPD officers went to the location and found the girls, who were unharmed but accompanied by two men. The minors were taken in by law enforcement before being released to their parents. In an interview, Schellsmidt reportedly told police he was aware the girls were minors when he picked them up in Hamilton County, and that he was aware the parents were searching for them while they were confined in his residence. Shelbyville authorities arrest man accused of traveling to engage in sexual activities with 10-year-old Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Schellsmidt is detained in Metro jail and charged with the following: Kidnapping, especially aggravated, victim under 13- Felony Statutory rape Felony Solicitation of a minor, statutory rape- Misdemeanor Contributing to the delinquency of a minor- Misdemeanor Contributing to the delinquency of a minor- Misdemeanor His bond is set at $75,000. Copyright 2025 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. Some people in need ask for helping hands, but a 10-year-old girl in Hilliard is getting an arm, instead. >>> STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE <<< [DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks] Faith Kight, whose family says was born with a rare condition called ABS (amniotic band syndrome), has lived all of her life without a left hand. The most she had, her mother says, was a prosthetic arm through the time she was five years old. But Faith says she had to move her right arm to get it to work, causing rashes and other pain. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We fought for a year trying to get insurance to help pay for a new arm, to do our own crowdfunding, our own GoFundMe, said Faiths mother, Tammy Holoka, but we were only able to get so far with our own. A few weeks ago, Faiths family met the family of a 9-year-old girl in Utah, Remi, who has since raised more than $51,000 to raise enough money for her new prosthetic arm. After hearing Faiths story, Remis family decided to give them a hand in getting an arm for free. There are no words to express being able to get Faith this arm, said Tammy. The arm Faith will soon receive, through the help of Remis family, is called a HeroArm. Unlike her previous prosthetic, it will be custom-fit to Faiths arm without a rig attaching it to the other half of her body. Its made by a company called Open Bionics, which says the HeroArm can cost as much as $30,000 without insurance. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement How do you feel about getting your arm? Tammy asked her daughter. I feel excited, Faith said with a laugh, I want to see Remi in person and say, thank you, and hug her. Remis family, on their GoFundMe page, says theyve also raised enough money to fund a HeroArm for an 8-year-old boy in New York, named Taj. Faiths family says theyre hoping to eventually meet Remis family, as well as Taj, to say thank you. Faith is expecting to get her HeroArm sometime next month. [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. A prayer for Leonard Peltier is sung to a drumbeat on June 20, 2024, outside the federal courthouse in Fargo, North Dakota. Demonstrators were calling for the release of Peltier, who was convicted at a trial in Fargo in the deaths of FBI agents in South Dakota in 1975. (Jeff Beach/North Dakota Monitor) President Joe Biden on Monday commuted the sentence of Leonard Peltier, a Native American activist convicted of killing two FBI agents nearly 50 years ago in South Dakota. Peltier, 80, is a citizen of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa in North Dakota. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Bidens order as he leaves office is to take effect Feb. 18. A statement from Biden said Peltier should serve the remainder of his life sentence at home. NDN Collective, an Indigenous rights organization in Rapid City, South Dakota, issued a news release Monday celebrating Peltiers commutation. The release included a quote attributed to Peltier: Its finally over Im going home. I want to show the world Im a good person with a good heart. I want to help the people, just like my grandmother taught me. Peltiers sister, Betty Ann Peltier, welcomed the news. I am going to cook him the biggest meal I can, she said. Fry bread and foods he hasnt eaten for years. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement She said her brother is suffering from the effects of diabetes, has heart trouble and uses a walker. She said there has been a home waiting for him on the Turtle Mountain Reservation but that she hopes he will stay with her in Fargo. She had yet to communicate with her brother as of Monday morning. According to the FBI, in 1975, agents Ron Williams and Jack Coler were attempting to arrest a robbery suspect on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. The agents pursued a vehicle, with Peltier among the people inside. A fatal shootout ensued, with the two agents and Joseph Stuntz, a member of the American Indian Movement, killed. Peltier has maintained that he is innocent. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley said in a statement his office strongly opposes any change to Peltiers sentence, calling the deaths of the agents cold-blooded murders. That conviction has been reviewed and upheld by no fewer than 22 federal judges since then, Jackley said Monday. Tracey Wilkie of Fargo grew up on the Turtle Mountain Reservation and said she was raised hearing the story of Leonard Peltier. She called herself a lifetime supporter and organizer for his freedom. She helped lead a rally for Peltier last year when he was up for parole, which was denied. The rally was on the steps of the federal courthouse in Fargo where Peltier was convicted. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement So many people have been working behind the scenes, Wilkie said. Its going to give a lot of people hope. Peltier has been serving two consecutive life terms in prison, most recently in Florida. According to Bidens statement, tribal Nations, Nobel Peace laureates, former law enforcement officials including the former U.S. Attorney whose office oversaw Peltiers prosecution and appeal and human rights organizations support granting Peltier clemency. They cite Peltiers advanced age, illnesses, his close ties to and leadership in the Native American community, and the substantial length of time he has already spent in prison. A statement from the White House indicates that Bidens action does not pardon Peltier from his crimes, but will allow him to spend his remaining days at home. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement State Rep. Jayme Davis, D-Rolette, a Turtle Mountain citizen, is among Peltiers supporters. She said her father attended school in Belcourt with Peltier. Its fabulous, Davis said from the North Dakota legislative session in Bismarck after hearing the news. I was in committee when I heard the news and almost screamed out loud. Nick Tilsen, founder and CEO of NDN Collective, credited 50 years of intergenerational resistance, organizing and advocacy for winning the commutation. Leonard Peltiers liberation is our liberation we will honor him by bringing him back to his homelands to live out the rest of his days surrounded by loved ones, healing, and reconnecting with his land and culture, Tilsen said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This story has been updated with reaction. North Dakota Monitor reporter Mary Steurer and South Dakota Searchlight staff contributed to this report. commutation-warrant-1-19-jan-2025 A prayer for Leonard Peltier is sung to a drumbeat on June 20, 2024, outside the federal courthouse in Fargo, North Dakota. Demonstrators were calling for the release of Peltier, who was convicted at a trial in Fargo in the deaths of FBI agents in South Dakota in 1975. (Jeff Beach/North Dakota Monitor) President Joe Biden on Monday commuted the sentence of Leonard Peltier, a Native American activist convicted of killing two FBI agents nearly 50 years ago in South Dakota. Bidens order as he leaves office is to take effect Feb. 18. A statement from Biden said Peltier, 80, should serve the remainder of his life sentence at home. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement According to the FBI, in 1975, agents Ron Williams and Jack Coler were attempting to arrest a robbery suspect on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. The agents pursued a vehicle, with Peltier among the people inside. A fatal shootout ensued, with the two agents and Joseph Stuntz, a member of the American Indian Movement, killed. Peltier, a citizen of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa that is based in North Dakota, was convicted at a trial in Fargo. He has been serving two consecutive life terms in prison. Peltier was denied parole last year. At the time, it was reported that he was in poor health. According to Bidens statement, tribal Nations, Nobel Peace laureates, former law enforcement officials including the former U.S. Attorney whose office oversaw Peltiers prosecution and appeal and human rights organizations support granting Peltier clemency. They cite Peltiers advanced age, illnesses, his close ties to and leadership in the Native American community, and the substantial length of time he has already spent in prison. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement NDN Collective, an Indigenous rights organization in Rapid City, issued a news release Monday celebrating Peltiers commutation. The release included a quote attributed to Peltier: Its finally over Im going home. I want to show the world Im a good person with a good heart. I want to help the people, just like my grandmother taught me. Nick Tilsen, founder and CEO of NDN Collective, credited 50 years of intergenerational resistance, organizing and advocacy for winning the commutation. Leonard Peltiers liberation is our liberation we will honor him by bringing him back to his homelands to live out the rest of his days surrounded by loved ones, healing, and reconnecting with his land and culture, Tilsen said. South Dakota Searchlight staff contributed to this report. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement commutation-warrant-1-19-jan-2025 North Dakota Monitor is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. North Dakota Monitor maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Amy Dalrymple for questions: info@northdakotamonitor.com. A prayer for Leonard Peltier is sung to a drumbeat on June 20, 2024, outside the federal courthouse in Fargo, North Dakota. Demonstrators were calling for the release of Peltier, who was convicted at a trial in Fargo in the deaths of FBI agents in South Dakota in 1975. (Jeff Beach/North Dakota Monitor) President Joe Biden on Monday commuted the sentence of Leonard Peltier, a Native American activist convicted of killing two FBI agents nearly 50 years ago in South Dakota. Peltier, 80, is a citizen of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa in North Dakota. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Bidens order as he leaves office is to take effect Feb. 18. A statement from Biden said Peltier should serve the remainder of his life sentence at home. NDN Collective, an Indigenous rights organization in Rapid City, South Dakota, issued a news release Monday celebrating Peltiers commutation. The release included a quote attributed to Peltier: Its finally over Im going home. I want to show the world Im a good person with a good heart. I want to help the people, just like my grandmother taught me. Peltiers sister, Betty Ann Peltier, welcomed the news. I am going to cook him the biggest meal I can, she said. Fry bread and foods he hasnt eaten for years. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement She said her brother is suffering from the effects of diabetes, has heart trouble and uses a walker. She said there has been a home waiting for him on the Turtle Mountain Reservation but that she hopes he will stay with her in Fargo. She had yet to communicate with her brother as of Monday morning. According to the FBI, in 1975, agents Ron Williams and Jack Coler were attempting to arrest a robbery suspect on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. The agents pursued a vehicle, with Peltier among the people inside. A fatal shootout ensued, with the two agents and Joseph Stuntz, a member of the American Indian Movement, killed. Peltier has maintained that he is innocent. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley said in a statement his office strongly opposes any change to Peltiers sentence, calling the deaths of the agents cold-blooded murders. That conviction has been reviewed and upheld by no fewer than 22 federal judges since then, Jackley said Monday. Tracey Wilkie of Fargo grew up on the Turtle Mountain Reservation and said she was raised hearing the story of Leonard Peltier. She called herself a lifetime supporter and organizer for his freedom. She helped lead a rally for Peltier last year when he was up for parole, which was denied. The rally was on the steps of the federal courthouse in Fargo where Peltier was convicted. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement So many people have been working behind the scenes, Wilkie said. Its going to give a lot of people hope. Peltier has been serving two consecutive life terms in prison, most recently in Florida. According to Bidens statement, tribal Nations, Nobel Peace laureates, former law enforcement officials including the former U.S. Attorney whose office oversaw Peltiers prosecution and appeal and human rights organizations support granting Peltier clemency. They cite Peltiers advanced age, illnesses, his close ties to and leadership in the Native American community, and the substantial length of time he has already spent in prison. A statement from the White House indicates that Bidens action does not pardon Peltier from his crimes, but will allow him to spend his remaining days at home. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement State Rep. Jayme Davis, D-Rolette, a Turtle Mountain citizen, is among Peltiers supporters. She said her father attended school in Belcourt with Peltier. Its fabulous, Davis said from the North Dakota legislative session in Bismarck after hearing the news. I was in committee when I heard the news and almost screamed out loud. Nick Tilsen, founder and CEO of NDN Collective, credited 50 years of intergenerational resistance, organizing and advocacy for winning the commutation. Leonard Peltiers liberation is our liberation we will honor him by bringing him back to his homelands to live out the rest of his days surrounded by loved ones, healing, and reconnecting with his land and culture, Tilsen said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This story has been updated with reaction. North Dakota Monitor reporter Mary Steurer and South Dakota Searchlight staff contributed to this report. commutation-warrant-1-19-jan-2025 North Dakota Monitor is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. North Dakota Monitor maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Amy Dalrymple for questions: info@northdakotamonitor.com. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte expects the return of Donald Trump as US president will "turbo-charge" the Western alliance. "With President Trump back in office we will turbo-charge defence spending and production," Rutte posted on X. Rutte expressed "warm congratulations" to Trump on his inauguration as 47th US president and to JD Vance as vice president. "Together we can achieve peace through strength - through NATO," Rutte concluded. Trump has called for NATO member states to devote 5% of their gross domestic product (GDP) to defence, up from the 2% NATO target. The new target would mean a doubling or more for most members. As wildfires swept through neighborhoods on the outskirts of Los Angeles in January 2025, stories about residents there helping their neighbors and total strangers began trickling out on social media. Accounts of Hollywood stars clearing streets for emergency vehicles to get through and raising money for fire victims were widely circulated. But there were many other examples of less-famous people helping older neighbors to safety, and even showing up with trailers to evacuate horses. Businesses, including fitness centers, opened their facilities so evacuees could shower or charge their phones. Organizations that routinely work with homeless populations quickly mobilized their members to help ensure people living on the streets and in camps could get to secure, safe locations away from the fires and hazardous air quality. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Disasters, by definition, overwhelm local resources, making civilian responders like these essential. Sixty years of research at the University of Delawares Disaster Research Center and by others examining the social aspects of disaster has repeatedly shown effective disaster management requires mobilizing community resources far beyond official channels. Often the response happens through local groups that form in response to a clear need in the community and with shared skills and interests. And this is exactly what we are witnessing in Los Angeles. Civilians helping often number in the thousands The number of those who step up to help during disasters varies by event, but it can be tremendous. Following the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, over 6,800 volunteers worked with the Red Cross on the response. That same year, volunteers responding to the Kobe earthquake in Japan logged more than 1 million person-days of activity, a measure of the number of people times the hours they contributed. People use garden hoses to try to prevent homes from catching fire in Altadena, Calif., on Jan. 8, 2025. Neighbors rushed to help neighbors as the wind blew burning embers into neighborhoods. Mario Tama/Getty Images In an in-depth study of the Sept. 11, 2001, World Trade Center attacks, we interviewed local residents who used their retired fireboat to pump water for the firefighters at ground zero. Operators of tug, ferry and tour boats in and around New York City immediately responded to quickly evacuate 500,000 people in the area from danger. In fact, the majority of the boats involved belonged to private companies. Other volunteers queued evacuees and organized supplies and rides to get people home. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Over 900 people, most acting in unofficial capacities, were awarded medals or ribbons for their efforts in just the marine response after the World Trade Center attack. A survey of residents after the 1985 Mexico City earthquake found that nearly 10% of local residents volunteered in the first three weeks of the response. Following the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, in California, a survey of residents in Santa Cruz and San Francisco counties found that two-thirds of the public were involved in response activities. Local businesses are often quick to help in disasters. Greg Dulan, center, who runs a soul food restaurant and food truck, hands out hot meals to wildfire evacuees at a church in Pasadena, Calif., on Jan. 15, 2025. Jason Armond/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images However, much of the work local residents contribute during and after disasters goes unaccounted for in official reports. There is no mechanism to quantify the full extent to which a neighbor or a complete stranger helps someone flee from peril. Yet when people are trapped and minutes count, research shows it is family, friends and neighbors who are already on the scene and are most likely to save lives. Its often everyday citizens who also take on immediate tasks such as debris removal. Providing a phone, a car, a place to do laundry, or a little bit of elbow grease can fill a gap and let firefighters and other formal responders focus on critical operations. Getting the right help to where its needed Every study of a large-scale disaster conducted by the Disaster Research Center has revealed some level of emergent, informal helping behavior. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The lack of public understanding about the large number of local residents already involved, often including disaster victims themselves, can lead to an influx of outsiders eager to help. Their arrival can actually pose challenges for the disaster response. When too many people show up, or when people try to operate outside their areas of expertise, they can put themselves and others at further risk. Communities often need supplies, but unsolicited goods of the wrong kind or at the wrong time can create more problems than they solve. Local groups such as the Pasadena Community Job Center organize volunteers to send them where help is requested. This group is removing debris from streets in Pasadena, Calif., in the wake of the Eaton Fire on Jan. 14, 2025. Zoe Meyers/AFP via Getty Images So, what can you do to best support these local efforts? Making a financial contribution to a trusted disaster response or local organization can go a long way to providing the support communities actually need. Organizations such as the American Red Cross or Feeding America, or local community-based groups that routinely work in the area, are often best suited to help where its needed the most. Skilled help will be needed for the long term Also, remember that disasters dont end when the emergency is over. Survivors of the Los Angeles-area fires face years of confusing and frustrating recovery tasks ahead. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Offering help after the immediate threat has passed particularly skilled help, such as experience in construction or expertise in managing insurance and FEMA paperwork is just as important. For example, after fires in 1970 destroyed hundreds of homes in the San Diego area, local architects, engineers and contractors donated their time and skills to help people rebuild. Their work was coordinated by a local architect and member of the Chamber of Commerce to ensure projects were assigned to reputable volunteers. As we recognize the important ways that neighbors and strangers helped those around them, the broader community can support wildfire victims by responding to offering the right help as recovery needs emerge. Just about every skill that is useful in calm times will be needed in these difficult months and years ahead. Tricia Wachtendorf receives funding from the National Science Foundation and Arnold Ventures Foundation. James Kendra receives funding from the National Science Foundation and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. LOS ANGELES (KTLA) Gov. Gavin Newsoms office responded to President Donald Trumps claims that California was without a token of defense as firefighters continue to contain the deadly wildfires that broke out in Los Angeles County earlier this month. Our country can no longer deliver basic services in times of emergency, as recently shown by the wonderful people of North Carolina been treated so badly and other states who are still suffering from a hurricane that took place many months ago, or more recently, Los Angeles, where we are watching fires still tragically burned from weeks ago without even a token of defense, Trump said during his second inaugural address. Newsoms press office addressed the claim on X, posting four photos of firefighters fighting the blaze from the ground and air. "Without a token of defense" pic.twitter.com/N3Wb44MOXd Governor Newsom Press Office (@GovPressOffice) January 20, 2025 Trump, who has criticized Newsoms handling of the wildfires, is slated to visit Los Angeles during his first week in office. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Im going to go out there on Friday to see it and to get it moving back, Trump said at a rally ahead of Mondays inauguration. Were going to get some of the best builders in the world. Well get it moving back. In a statement, Newsom said he was glad Trump had accepted his invitation to see the devastation first-hand and help the impacted residents. The Palisades and Eaton wildfires have killed 27 people and damaged over 17,000 structures. As of Monday morning, the Palisades Fire is 59% contained, and the Eaton Fire is 87% contained, according to Cal Fire. Copyright 2025 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. NEW MEXICO (KRQE) In the ongoing battle between landowners and the state of New Mexico over stream access, the federal court has made its decision three years after a supreme court ruling made all waterways accessible in the state. A group of landowners challenged the Supreme Court ruling, which says the public has a right to access waterways, even on private lands. However, the federal court dismissed the lawsuit, ruling in favor of the state. In June 2024, five New Mexico property owners claimed that their rights were being violated and filed a federal lawsuit against the Attorney General, members of the State Game Commission, and the Department of Game and Fish. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement They argued that allowing public access to waterways prevents them from keeping trespassers out of ones that run through their privately owned land. Story continues below All were asking for is a court order that prohibits these entities from stopping our clients from enforcing their traditional rights to exclude that they always had, said Christopher Kieser of Pacific Legal Foundation in June 2024. The San Miguel County and Rio Arriba County landowners challenged the 2022 Supreme Court ruling that said all of the states waterways, even those running through privately owned properties, are within the publics right to walk and wade through. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Just because you are privileged enough to be able to own property along the river doesnt mean you own the river. That is a public resource and a natural resource, said Raul Torrez, Attorney General of New Mexico, in August 2024. The federal ruling said, Even if the court were to grant this relief against state officials and the officials were to cease its enforcement, the public would still have a right to access privately owned stream beds. And thats based on New Mexico law. It goes on to explain that landowners would still not get the compensation they want or have the legal grounds to restrict the publics access. Attorney General Raul Torrez responded to the ruling in a statement, saying, I am proud to announce a decisive victory in federal court, affirming the publics constitutional right to access and enjoy our states public waters. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Going on to say, in part, This outcome underscores the strength of our states constitution and the fundamental rights it guarantees to every New Mexican. The landowners attorney, Christopher Keiser, said in his own statement, Were disappointed in the outcome, and were going to consider our next steps with the clients in the coming days. Copyright 2025 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. NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) Following more than 35 years of service, the USS Philippine Sea (CG 58) has left Naval Station Norfolk for the ships final scheduled deployment. The Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser left Monday and will operate in the U.S. Southern Command Area of Responsibility. The Navy said the Philippine Sea will support multinational maritime operations, improve and enhance interoperability with partners in the region, conduct Theater Security Cooperation (TSC) port visits, and support the Joint Interagency Task Force South (JIATF-South) in countering illicit-drug trafficking. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 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. NORTH SHORE, Hawaii (KHON2) Its been a tragic few months on Oahus North Shore with multiple fatalities since late September. Get Hawaiis latest morning news delivered to your inbox, sign up for News 2 You In the last four months, there have been eight deaths within a two mile radius of Sharks Cove. Two teens missing in North Shore waters, search paused until morning In September, a woman was fatally struck while walking along Kamehameha Highway near the Sunset Beach fire station. In October, two visitors drowned after being swept in at Ke Iki Beach and a motorcyclist died after trying to overtake a turning vehicle. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In November, a soldier drowned at Three Tables on Veterans Day. Two more visitors drowned at Sharks Cove in December, and a 19-year-old fell off a cliff on New Years Day. For years there have been plans to develop the parcel of land directly across from Sharks Cove into a 34,000 square foot shopping center. The area currently has food trucks and a few shops. However, community members said they would like to see a first responder hub there instead, which could benefit the community. Ten deaths from the fire station to Rocky Point, in four months, there has never been this many deaths in a short amount of time, said North Shore community organizer Rex Dubiel Shanahan. The closest ambulance is in Kahuku or Waialua and if theyre on calls at Castle or Queens West, we wont have an ambulance in our neighborhood, Shanahan continued. We have firemen who are incredible and lifeguards that are world class, but we dont have an ambulance, and an ambulance is a mini hospital. Maybe some of these deaths could have been prevented if we had an ambulance in our neighborhood. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement During an informational meeting months ago regarding the hub, residents said ambulance response times took as long as 45 minutes if the ambulance was on a call away from North Shore. Had the ambulance been right here at Sharks Cove, maybe, just maybe it would have been beneficial to those people who were pulled out and taken to the hospital who passed away there, maybe if an ambulance had been on site, we dont know for sure, but maybe they could have been said, Shanahan said. Over 8,700 residents have signed the petition supporting a first responder station over the mall. The community also supports a lifeguard tower between Three Tables and Ke Iki Beach, where five drownings have occurred this winter and all are non-guarded, but popular beaches. I think at the moment, public safety has really risen to the top and to the forefront of folks minds, and it makes sense, because we want to ensure that every area of our island, every community, has quick access to emergency services, said Honolulu City Councilmember Matt Weyer, who represents North Shore. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement On Sunday, despite the caution tape being posted, many people went swimming at Sharks Cove during a high surf advisory. Since the drowning that occurred there in December, Honolulu Ocean Safety has put a mobile truck there to warn people of the dangers. The lifeguard quickly went on a megaphone and told people to get out of the water for their own safety. Weyer said there has been discussions about increasing towers on North Shore and across the island, and hopes to see a new tower in the upcoming budget. And if not, I hope to work with my council colleagues to ensure that it gets added, he said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement As for the first responder hub, he said the mayors team has reached out to the landowner to see if hes willing to discuss selling the property. Im hopeful for that because I think it could be a great legacy spot project that brings great value to the community and in terms of just increasing safety and ensuring that North Shore has access to those first responder services, which benefits all of the island, Weyer said. Because the more presence we have, the less we see folks being pulled from other districts or other areas to respond to emergencies. Copyright 2025 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 KHON2. (FOX40.COM) Northern Californias fire personnel are returning home after more than a week of working on the frontlines of the destructive Los Angeles wildfires. In the days following Gov. Newsoms State of Emergency Declaration, hundreds of firefighters from across the Sacramento region made the several hundred-mile journey south. Northern California firefighter hospitalized fighting Palisades Fire Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement On Friday, the Linda Fire Department in Yuba County shared that their crew aboard Engine 262 returned home safely after working with Strike Team XYU-3300C. They made a significant impact containing fire spread, preventing new starts, and protecting structures. Were grateful for their commitment to keeping our communities safe, the Linda Fire Department wrote. Tuolumne County Fire Department Lincoln Fire Department South Placer Fire District Lindas OES engine part of Task Force 3800 remains working on the Eaton Fire. On Saturday, the South Placer Fire District shared that Brush 16 and its crew were released from Palisades Fire and returned that same day at noon. Vacant ranch house near Florin catches fire again Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement With more wind forecasted in Southern California, South Placer Fire said they will remain prepared in the event they are called for assistance again. On Sunday, the Tuolumne County Fire Department and the Lincoln Fire Department announced that their respective fire personnel returned home from Southern California. With the announcement of their crews returns, Tuolumne County Fire also shared a message of caution as more wind is forecasted to sweep across California on Monday and Tuesday. Whether its welding in grassy areas or burning vegetative debris around your home, the prolonged dry conditions have allowed some fires to spread unexpectedly, the fire department wrote. With breezy conditions expected over the next few days, ensure that your outdoor activities dont have unintended consequences. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement As of Monday, the Palisades Fire has burned 23,713 acres with 59% containment, the Eaton Fire has burned 14,021 acres with 87% containment. Copyright 2025 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 News. The U.S. Navys use of expendable Nulka decoys in combat has highlighted the need to expand the ability of its ships to launch off-board decoying electronic attacks, including ones lasting tens of minutes or more. Expanded electronic warfare capabilities and capacity could be particularly valuable for helping defend against high-volume attacks, such as barrages of anti-ship cruise missiles or certain kinds of drones. This notably follows the services announcement last year that one of its top priorities if it had more funding would be accelerating work on a new longer-endurance ship-launched flying decoy drone. Navy Rear Adm. William Daly, head of the Navys surface warfare division, talked about combat experience with Nulka and the desire for more off-board electronic attack capabilities during a talk at the Surface Navy Associations main annual symposium last week. A Nulka seen during testing of the MK 53 Decoy Launching System aboard the amphibious assault ship USS America. USN We need more off-board electronic EA [electronic attack]. Nulka has demonstrated great performance in combat, Daly said. However, we need longer legs for saturation, to counter saturation rates, and tens of minutes or longer for off-board EA. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In U.S. military parlance, electronic attacks involve use of electromagnetic energy to degrade or deny an enemys use of the spectrum, according to a primer from the Congressional Research Service. Nulka decoys are designed to hover in the air for a period of time after launch, but how long exactly they can stay aloft is unclear. The result of a cooperative effort between the United States and Australia, Nulka carries an electronic warfare system that actively produces a signature that mimics that of a large warship to help lure away incoming radar-guided anti-ship cruise missiles. Arleigh Burke class destroyers, Ticonderoga class cruisers, Nimitz class aircraft carriers, America class amphibious assault ships, San Antonio class amphibious warfare ships, and both subclasses of Littoral Combat Ships (LCS) are among the Navy vessels equipped with Nulka. The U.S. Coast Guards Legend class National Security Cutters and various foreign naval vessels can employ the decoys, as well. In his remarks last week, Daly did not elaborate on the combat use of Nulka to date or where those employments had occurred. Navy warships capable of employing the decoys have been actively engaged in defending against Houthi missile, drone, and other attacks in and around the Red Sea since October 2023. The Arleigh Burke class destroyer USS Mason is also known to have launched Nulkas as part of the response to an earlier cruise missile attack by the Iranian-backed Yemeni militants in 2016. The US Navys Arleigh Burke class destroyer USS Carney fires an SM-2 missile at a Houthi threat in October 2023. USN The US Navys Arleigh Burke class destroyer USS Carney fires an SM-2 missile at Houthi aerial threats on October 19, 2023. USN Regardless, Dalys comments at the Surface Navy Association symposium show that the service has seen enough of what Nulka can do in real combat contexts to highlight the need for more electronic attack capability and capacity. The services top surface warfare officer also acknowledged work is already underway on systems that could help meet those demands, though he did not provide further details. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement As already noted, the Navy already has one very relevant program ongoing now, called the Long Endurance Electronic Decoy (LEED). The Long Endurance Electronic Decoy (LEED) program will deliver an expendable long endurance autonomous off-board decoy Countermeasure system, comprised of a flight vehicle and Radio Frequency (RF) payload with modular capability allowing for rapid modification of the Electronic Warfare (EW) payload, according to the services 2025 Fiscal Year budget request. LEED leverages work dating back to at least 2019 on an earlier effort called the Long Endurance Airborne Platform (LEAP). The latter project is known to have demonstrated a relevant capability using a tube-launched small, low-cost, tube-launched rotary wing drone called the Netted Offboard Miniature Active Decoy (NOMAD). Pictures showing past testing of the Netted Offboard Miniature Active Decoy (NOMAD). USN A trio of pictures showing testing of NOMAD. USN Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement As TWZ has previously written about LEED: By all indications, LEED will not only have a longer endurance than Nulka, giving it more time on station and allowing it to operate further away from the ships it is shielding, but it will also have significantly greater autonomous and networked capabilities. If these decoys can operate together in highly autonomous swarms and readily exchange information with other electronic warfare nodes like SEWIP [Surface Electronic Warfare Improvement Program] systems onboard ships, it will allow them to present much more complex targeting challenges for an opponent and the seekers on their munitions. This could also help expand the total area of coverage offered by these decoys and enable them to rapidly shift focus if new, higher-priority threats appear. Increased endurance and maneuverability will open up the ability for LEEDs to move like the ships that launch them while giving off similar signatures. This, in turn, will allow them to mimic individual vessels or, when working in groups, ghost fleets and do so at extended distances if required. In addition to presenting false targets for incoming missiles, this could confuse and draw away enemy forces who will have to devote extra resources to figuring out where the real threats lie. A 2017 Navy briefing slide discussing NOMAD. USN USN It is important to stress the valuable additional persistence and flexibility that a drone-like system like LEED would offer, as well as its potential ability to push those capabilities not just off-board but out to longer distances from the ship. TWZ highlighted these and other benefits in a previous feature laying out a detailed case for equipping Navy warships with swarms of drones capably performing a variety of missions. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement As Daly noted last week, a capability like LEED, especially if the decoys can operate in networked swarms, could also help provide greater overall saturation in the face of high-volume attacks, including complex ones involving more than one category of threat (e.g. missiles and kamikaze drones together). Houthi attacks on ships in and around the Red Sea have provided clear examples of the additional challenges defenders face when dealing with incoming ballistic and cruise missiles, as well as drones, simultaneously. If LEED functions, in general terms, akin to Nulka, then its capabilities would at least include the same kind of decoying and spoofing. LEED, which is described as having a modular payload, or other future off-board ship defense systems might incorporate additional electronic warfare capabilities like active jamming. Infrared decoy payloads may also be possible. Infrared sensors are also immune to radio-frequency electronic warfare, in general. LEED is just one known element of a broader Navy push to develop and field an advanced, multi-faceted, cooporative and distributed electronic warfare ecosystem. This larger effort was once referred to as Netted Emulation of Multi-Element Signature against Integrated Sensors, or NEMSIS, which TWZ was the first to report on. Additional known efforts today include other off-board electronic warfare systems like the podded AN/ALQ-248 Advanced Off-Board Electronic Warfare (AOEW) system, which MH-60R/S Seahawk helicopters will carry and that you can read more about here. An MH-60R with an AN/ALQ-248 Advanced Off-Board Electronic Warfare system pod loaded onto its right forward stub wing suspended in the anechoic test chamber at Naval Air Station Patuxent River. USN via Lockheed Martin Navy budget documents had also made clear that LEED, at least, will be directly integrated with electronic warfare suites on the ships that launch them, including variants of the increasingly more capable Surface Electronic Warfare Improvement Program (SEWIP) family. The latest SEWIP Block III system includes its own new and extremely capable electronic attack capability, along with other features TWZ has explored in detail in the past. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Navy ships equipped with AN/SPY-1 radars have some additional onboard ability to execute electronic attacks. Certain versions of the AN/SPY-6 radar, which are set to be increasingly common across the services fleets, will have greater capability in this regard. Various Navy ships have gotten more ad-hoc additional electronic warfare capability in response to specific regional threats in recent years, as well. Other kinds of physical anti-missile decoys, including flares and chaff, are also in Navy service across its fleets. Artwork depicting the SEWIP Block III in action, with an inset image showing part of one of these systems ashore during development. Northrop Grumman It is also worth noting here that the Navy is looking at adding high-power microwave (HPM) directed energy weapons to its fleets as another closer-in layer of defense against large cruise missile and drone barrages. The additional layer of point defense that HPMs offer, by extension, is seen as a way to help ships keep higher-end surface-to-air missiles available for use against threats that require their high performance. Of course, there is risk in not killing any threat as far out as possible, but the Navy is already choosing to use its deck guns against less threatening drones. The Navy has also been investing heavily in various tiers of laser directed energy weapons in the past few years for many of the same reasons, but there has been significant criticism about the progress, or lack thereof, on actually fielding those systems. More advanced and longer-endurance expendable decoys could be a boon in this regard, as well. U.S. military operations against the Houthis in and around the Red Sea, as well as in the defense of Israel, in the past year or so, have already highlighted worrisome trends in munitions expenditures and the pipelines for restocking those arsenals, as well as limitations imposed by a lack of at-sea rearming capability. At the SNA symposium last week, Navy Vice Adm. Brendan McLane, head of Naval Surface Forces, disclosed that his services warships had fired 120 SM-2 missiles, 80 SM-6 missiles, and a combined total of 20 Evolved Sea Sparrow Missiles (ESSM) and SM-3 missiles, as well as 160 five-inch shells, in the course of these operations around the Middle East. Lessons learned from the recent Red Sea fight have already led to more than one crash Navy program to expand the ability of its ships, as well as aircraft, to better engage aerial threats. Combat experience with Nulka is now also providing new impetus for increasing off-board electronic attack capabilities available to Navy ships. Contact the author: joe@twz.com This photo taken in Arlington, Virginia, the United States on Jan. 19, 2025 shows a TikTok mobile app interface with the message "Welcome back." TikTok resumed its service in the United States on Sunday, hours after it was suspended. (Xinhua/Li Rui) LOS ANGELES, Jan. 19 (Xinhua) -- TikTok resumed its service in the United States on Sunday, hours after it was suspended. TikTok said it would work with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, who will assume the presidency on Monday, for a long-term solution that would keep TikTok in the United States. The resume came just one day after U.S. users were met with a message stating "A law banning TikTok has been enacted in the U.S. Unfortunately, that means you can't use TikTok for now." The app also disappeared from Apple's App Store and Google Play app store on Saturday night. TikTok, headquartered in Los Angeles, warned Friday that it would be forced to shut down its services for the 170 million users in the United States on Sunday unless U.S. President Joe Biden provides a "definitive" assurance. Earlier on Friday, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a law forcing TikTok's Chinese owner, ByteDance, to sell the app to an American company or face a nationwide ban starting on Sunday, just one day before Trump's inauguration. The ban could have impacted U.S. small businesses substantially. According to TikTok, over 7 million U.S. accounts used TikTok for business purposes as of November 2024. The company also warned that U.S. small businesses and content creators would lose 1.3 billion U.S. dollars in revenue and earnings within the first month of shutdown, with nearly 2 million creators potentially losing 300 million U.S. dollars in income. In the aftermath of the shutdown, many TikTok users turned to other social media platforms to express their sadness, frustration, and anger toward the government. Emily Senn, who had amassed 340,000 TikTok followers, shared a tearful farewell video discussing the platform's impact on her life and finances. "And to the U.S. government, I'm never forgiving you for this," she said. Another TikTok user, Alejandro Flores-Munoz, owns a catering business in Denver, Colorado. He told the Associated Press that TikTok helped him reach customers without spending money on marketing. "It's very disheartening, specifically because I truly did rely on the app for my business and my growth," he said. On Sunday, Trump announced on Truth Social that he will issue an executive order on Monday that will allow TikTok to continue operating, which, according to his interview with NBC on Saturday, will "most likely" be a 90-day reprieve from a potential ban. "The order will also confirm that there will be no liability for any company that helped keep TikTok from going dark before my order," he continued. The incoming president also said that he would like the United States to have a 50-percent ownership position in a joint venture. "My initial thought is a joint venture between the current owners and/or new owners whereby the U.S. gets a 50 percent ownership in a joint venture set up between the U.S. and whichever purchase we so choose," Trump said. A New York driver who says hes fed up with E-ZPass tolls has launched an online petition to change the system, including congestion pricing and has already garnered thousands of backers. Some of the people who signed the petition, which has amassed more than 7,000 signatures since last week, claim theyve fallen into debt over such things as E-ZPasss late fees racking up more than $100,000 in penalties alone from the e-tolling system. Its a legal extortion the absurd amount of tolls, of violations, of fees that E-ZPass charges, petition starter and longtime Bronx resident Joel Becerra told The Post. A New York driver fed up with E-ZPass tolls including congestion pricing has started a popular petition to try to tackle them. Michael Nagle Im all for the transportation system, Im all for having everybody using the subway, Becerra said, But a lot of people arent for it because its not as safe at all right now. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Becerra told The Post that his petition has resulted in hundreds of people reaching out to him with the same issue of late-fee debt and also to gripe over what he and other critics call the MTAs latest money-grab: the congestion toll to enter Midtown Manhattan. Pause and Reevaluate Congestion Pricing: Conduct an independent study on the real impact of this toll. Ensure the plan doesnt punish the people who can least afford it, the petition reads. The petition also seeks greater oversight and accountability on where the money raised by tolls goes. In addition, it calls for Transparent and Fair Pricing: Stop the surprise fees and excessive penalties from EZPass. Simplify the system so everyone knows what theyre paying. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It makes you feel hopeless, Becerra said of the late fees. The MTA did not return a Post request for comment, and the New York State Thruway Authority declined to comment on the record. It makes you feel hopeless, driver Joel Becerra said of the fees. Christopher Sadowski A perennially introduced state bill dubbed the Toll Payer Protection Act has sought to dramatically cap the systems late fees but has been struck down by both former Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Gov. Kathy Hochul despite overwhelming support in the legislature. The measure would threaten the financial stability of the states transportation infrastructure and would protect toll scofflaws rather than responsible toll payers and the roads and bridges New Yorkers rely on, Hochul said in 2022. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But several New Yorkers told The Post they are struggling with E-ZPass late fees that start at $50 after 30 days and only astronomically balloon from there. I get the bills, over $300 something a month, said Freddy Cordova, 46, who works in New Jersey, of E-ZPass fees. Valentina Jaramillo/NY Post Bills can accrue without you actually noticing, and then you have kind of have this backlog of payments that just show up at your door, said motorist Nico Dancona. Once my E-ZPass ran out, I wasnt thinking about it, because you just had it in your dashboard sitting there and then suddenly now you have $600 that you have to pay. One time I had $1,200 worth of bills just because I had been coming back and forth all the time and I wasnt checking my mail, he added. I get the bills, over 300-something a month, said Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Freddy Cordova, 46, who works in New Jersey, said, I get the bills over $300 something a month. Driver Steve McCormick, 58, told The Post that the tolls are too much. And then you got people with a one-person income, and they just make it [by] every week where they gotta make the extra money to take care of the rest? Its just not right. A congestion-pricing toll device monitors drivers on Second Avenue in Manhattan. Christopher Sadowski Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Becerra who drives for about an hour to see his girlfriend in Queens said the subway ride would take him triple the time. The Bronx resident said every time he misses a toll payment, it can be about a month before he is notified meaning he can incur penalites before he even knows it. A $100 fee turned into more than a thousand dollars because of ballooning late charges, he said. One of the things they do is they wait, he said of transit officials. And the [license-plate] readers, sometimes they have mistakes. They dont [always] read it correctly. As for the MTAs tolls, Youre going to spend at least $400 to $1,000 per month if youre commuting regularly to Queens and back from The Bronx, he said. I cant even imagine what it would be like going to Manhattan [with congestion pricing]. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Increased costs in transportation be it on the subway, ferry, Citi Bike or driving are making residents like Becerra reconsider living in the Big Apple altogether, he said. Were planning for our future now, the Bronx native told The Post, but New York isnt even in the picture as much because of all the fees and pricing. I love New York: I want to be part of the city, but you do what you got to do to make sure that the living [situation] is right for your family and for yourself, the petition organizer lamented. Becerra said he hasnt received a response from the mayors office or governors office regarding his petition but is planning to get lawyers and advocacy groups involved in the coming weeks. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This is one of the best cities in the world, and it shouldnt be like this, Becerra said. There are better and more ethical ways to live in New York, to have cleaner transportation systems, to feel like this is a great city to live in but its becoming more difficult every day. New York is keeping secret its plan for new taxes and fees to fund $33 billion for the flailing Metropolitan Transportation Authority even as Gov. Kathy Hochul is set to propose her budget this week. Hochul continues to refuse to publicly outline ideas to fill the massive hole in the MTAs $68 billion five-year capital plan as sources said shes highly unlikely to include a proposal in her executive budget proposal set to be released Tuesday. Gov. Kathy Hochul is not expected to release a proposal to cover a $33 billion hole in the MTAs capital plan as part of her executive budget to be released Tuesday. Matthew McDermott Instead, the governor is continuing to point the figer at state legislative leaders who refused to sign onto the massively underfunded plan. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Thats their prerogative, Hochul told CBS News Marcia Kramer Sunday morning. And now theyll go back and put together the plan that they want me to look at. Obviously, we need to get something done, the governor added. The leaders Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie (D-Bronx) and Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins (D-Westchester) have refused to fire back at Hochul, as top Democrats have been more keen to negotiating out of eyes of taxpayers. Its a budget. Well figure it out, Heastie told reporters last week when asked if he thinks the ball is in their court to propose a plan. Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie and state Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart Cousins say they expect tax or fee increases will be on the table as part of talks over how to fill a revenue hole in the MTAs capital plan budget. Hans Pennink Heastie and Stewart-Cousins have admitted taxes and fees are going to be part of the discussion to fill the revenue hole, something Hochuls budget director said as early as November. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I assume raising revenue will absolutely be on the table, Heastie told Spectrum News last week. With all sides refusing to blink publicly to float a proposal to raise revenue, those negotiations are almost certain to be worked out behind closed doors and outside the regular budget process. Its cynical and its kind of a projection of fearfulness rather than strength, said John Kaehny, executive director of good government group Reinvent Albany. Its just dumb cynical gamesmanship I think ultimately will bite the governor since the public just doesnt like that, Kaehny continued. The uncertainty comes as Hochul touts a slew proposals including many meant to address New Yorks lack of affordability and address violence in the subways. Hochul is floating billions of dollars of new spending that likely to jack up the overall cost of the state budget. Paul Martinka One of those proposals includes sending out $3 billion worth of checks to low and middle income New Yorkers on top of income tax cuts, increased benefits for families with young kids and grants to prop up childcare centers. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Another proposal would spend $77 million to pad overtime to put 300 NYPD cops on subway trains overnight and another 750 on platforms. On top of that, state spending on school aid and Medicaid is expected to balloon between $1 billion and $2 billion. MTA Chairman Janno Lieber arrives for a press conference on Jan. 10. Stephen Yang Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Citizen Budget Commissions Patrick Orecki estimates such proposals could ramp up spending by another $5-$6 billion without cuts elsewhere. On one hand Hochul wants to be the owner of the subway that floods them with police and spends billions of dollars in police overtime, but on the other she doesnt want to be the governor that has to find new revenue for the capital plan, Kaehny said. I mean its just massively inconsistent and irritating and alienate public supporters of the MTA and transit. Individual legislators have been more apt to call for the governor to be more forthcoming. Ideally, Deputy Senate Majority Leader Michael Gianaris (D-Queens) said when asked if the governor should roll out a proposal publicly. But the more important thing is that we get it done, Gianaris added. NEW YORK (PIX11) In 2020, Nicole Tay and Paige Miranda started planning their wedding to celebrate their love and growth, aptly set for their 11th anniversary in October 2025. But on Election Day, things got political. The promise of a second term for President-elect Donald Trump loomed large over Tay and Mirandas wedding plans. More Local News I love our relationship because its so much about us and the growth that weve been able to cultivate in ourselves and in each other, Tay said. Oftentimes even I can forget how political our existence is. Nicole Tay and Paige Miranda at their ceremony in Jersey City. (Elizabeth Spear idleprojects.com) Tay and Miranda decided to get the legal part of their marriage done before Tumps inauguration on Monday. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trump has erase[d] protections for LGBTQ people, since 2017 and only promised to go further, according to the ACLU. Recent decisions by the Supreme Court, like the overturning of Roe v. Wade, have raised alarm bells about the safety of some long-held federally protected rights. For Tay and Miranda, the verdict on whether marriage equality will face a direct challenge remains unclear, but the uncertainty is enough reason to take action. How Trump wants to manipulate his authority and the courts and Congress to his will is very outside of my control, Tay said. The institutions of marriage, say what you will about it, it is one of the very few levers that we can pull in terms of our own civil liberties that we know offers us some degree of security. In November, New York City recorded a 29% increase in marriage license appointments compared to 2023. There was a 23% jump in December compared to last year, according to data from the City Clerk. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement For her part, wedding planner Emily Monus said about three of her eight LGBTQ+ clients opted to move up their wedding timelines. Monus officiated Tay and Mirandas wedding in Jersey City. The uncertainty of a second Trump presidency just really weighs heavily on our community, Monus said. It just [is] the best way to get any peace of mind. For Tay and Miranda, who live in New York City, it was a huge relief to secure the legal protections afforded a married couple. And getting married was a way to take back power in a fraught political world that can leave people feeling helpless, they said. To be able to take power and take control for yourself is such a rarity in this world, Miranda said. When youre given that opportunity, you take it. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Despite some of the anxieties wrapped up in a rushed timeline, Monus said the new political aspect has added meaning and joy to her clients weddings a sign of the communitys resilience. Tay and Mirandas families were able to make it to their small ceremony at Van Vorst Park on Jan. 3. Now their marriage certificate sits on their refrigerator, which offers some relief for their upcoming wedding ceremony in October, which can now strictly be a celebration of queer joy and queer love, they said. Were throwing this party where we get to all be here in our most authentic forms, Tay said. That is sort of our contribution to this slightly larger political movement, and Id never thought about it that way before. I really thought about it as a very expensive big party. For Alessandro Spreafico, an ordained wedding officiant from Italy, sharing that joy publicly is crucial. In December, he created a Google Form to help LGBTQ+ couples book his services quickly and at a discount, and a handful took advantage of his help. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement They should go out there and show how much they love each other, and everyone should see that, said Spraefico, who lives in Brooklyn. In a city office, sometimes its just a number Go out there and pick a place where everyone can see you. Spreafico has married many same-sex couples coming from Italy to find a more welcoming environment. After Trumps election, he noticed many New York City couples worrying about getting their marriages done in time. Trump inauguration protests underscore how the resistance has changed People are worried, Spreafico said. I came to New York because of this image of freedom For me, even just offering this was my way to do my civic duty and [use] my rights to build something different. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Having a 3-year-old daughter underscores the importance of building a better world. My job is to make sure that the society where we live is a good fit for my daughter, Spreafico said. I want her to grow up [with] no fear being with whoever she wants, love anyone she wants. We want her to understand that she needs to be free and proud to be whoever. Emily Rahhal is a digital reporter who has covered New York City since 2023 after reporting in Los Angeles for years. She joined PIX11 in 2024. See more of her work here and follow her on Twitter here. Copyright 2025 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 sunlight-deprived Upper West Side stretch remains covered in endless scaffolding despite a city crackdown as new sheds pop up almost as quickly as old ones are dismantled. West End Avenue has dropped 19 scaffolding sheds since The Post exposed it nine months ago as the citys worst area for the unsightly structures across but in that time five more have spring up in a bizarre game of whack-a-mole that has left only four unobstructed blocks in a nearly 40-block stretch. Its like having a bridge on your teeth. You dont want it there, but you get used to it, said 54-year-old Carmen Anderson, an Upper West Sider who says shes gone scaffolding-blind over her many years in the neighborhood. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I did notice over the past year or so that they took down a few scaffolds on West End Avenue, because all of a sudden I was getting sun on certain blocks where I hadnt in a long time, Anderson said. But when I go for my daily walk, the overall effect is the same. Theyre ubiquitous, and have been for years. West End Ave. on the Upper West Side is one of the worst stretches in the entire city for scaffolding sheds. Robert Miller When The Post visited West End Avenue in April, there were 57 sheds covering the sidewalks between 107th and 72nd streets, and just one block without scaffolding on either side of the street for a jog of just under 2 miles. During a recent visit, The Post counted 43 sheds now standing between what has gone up and come down and that in nine months just three more blocks had been freed from scaffolding altogether. Its a constant game of whack-a-mole, local resident Mike McDermott said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Politicians sometimes get involved, the news gets involved, and youll see some scaffolds come down the ones that really didnt need to be there but its always a temporary fix because new ones come up. Theres no stopping it, the 70-year-old said. West End residents can walk long stretches of their sidewalks without seeing the sky overhead thanks to scaffolding Robert Miller West Ends not-so-speedy recovery comes more than a year after Mayor Eric Adams proclaimed the scaffolding problem a priority for his administration, launching his Get Sheds Down plan and proposing legislation that cut scaffolding permit lifespans from 12 months to 90 days with violation fines up to $10,000. That legislation needs to pass the city council before it comes into law. Adams initiative does appear to have made a small dent across the city. In April, city records showed 9,068 active shed permits across the five boroughs, but as of January that number had been reduced to 8,843. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Still those sheds cover more than 390 cumulative miles a distance that is longer in sum than what city records indicated nine months ago. Scaffolding laws first arrived in the city in the 1980s after a Barnard College student in Upper Manhattan was killed by a piece of debris falling from a building. Since then, Local Law 11 has mandated exterior inspections for all buildings six-stories or taller and required protective sheds to go up whenever repairs are deemed necessary, regardless of their scope or risk. Since April, West End Ave. has dropped 19 scaffolding sheds, but had five more go back up Robert Miller Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Those requirements have resulted in scaffolding coming down and going straight back up, with some buildings covered for years at a time. The cost of repairs is often expensive a factor complicated when co-ops are involved and residents foot the bill. That has led some landlords to opt to keep paying for permits and the scaffolding rather than the work that would take it down. West End Avenue does not have the highest number of scaffolding across its length Broadway, Park Avenue and Fifth Avenue each have more, but theyre also at least three times longer than West Ends 2-mile length. The density is so great along the otherwise leafy stretch that New Yorkers can walk its sidewalks nearly top to bottom without seeing the sun. Its just something we live with, McDermott said. Scaffolds are just part of the scenery here. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Department of Buildings told The Post 7,289 sheds have been removed since Get Sheds Down was rolled out in July 2023, and brought over 100 properties to court to compel them remove scaffolding. We continue to look forward to the City Councils enactment of a legislative package of new enforcement tools that will help us to get even more sheds down faster, a DOB spokesperson said. No matter what the city says, West End residents arent convinced theyll be seeing the sun anytime soon. Id prefer to see them come down, because the buildings are old and very beautiful and its a shame no one gets to admire them, McDermott added. Jan. 19OGDENSBURG Breeze Airways has a 97% flight completion rate so far, Ogdensburg Airport Manager Charlie Garrelts reported to the Ogdensburg Bridge and Port Authority board at its January monthly meeting. He said in December, there were 30 flights with one canceled because of inclement weather, which Breeze made up the next day. That's one of two so far that's been canceled because of conditions that reduced visibility to less than a mile. "They couldn't come down with less than a mile visibility, as required by FAA," he said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement When that happens, the pilots fly in a holding pattern and wait for proper visibility distance. When fuel gets too low, they have to divert to either Burlington, Vt. or Providence, R.I. "They've been using Prov a lot because that's actually their crew base," Garrelts said. He explained that the advantage of landing there is that if the flight crew members have been working their maximum allowable hours, they switch them out and get back in the air. He said they can then take a second shot at landing in Ogdensburg instead of stranding the passengers in Washington, D.C. So far, Breeze flights have been at a 19% load factor, Garrelts said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "For 137 seats, that's encouraging," he said, adding that their target load factor is 21% daily. At that rate, they'll log 10,000 annual enplanements, which triggers a $1 million grant for the airport from the Federal Aviation Administration. "Load factor gives a different perspective from different aircraft," Garrelts added. Last year, Contour was averaging 441 per month. They need to average 844 per month for only the Dulles route to hit that 10,000. "The number of deplaned passengers is increasing every month, too. Not a small amount. That's encouraging," OBPA board member Megan Whitton said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement OBPA Executive Director Steven J. Lawrence said he's hoping Breeze's Orlando flights will draw more Canadian passengers, which in turn would boost Ogdensburg-Prescott International Bridge traffic. "With Breeze starting the flights to Orlando, I think we'll see bridge traffic. I hope we do. We'll see how that affects that," Lawrence said. Hopefully with Breeze flights from Florida, the expectation is maybe we'll see better numbers with that." Yemens Houthi rebels said they will cease attacks on Israel and on merchant shipping in the Red Sea as a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas took effect Sunday. If Israel stops the aggression in Gaza, and if the U.S., UK and Israel stop the aggression against Yemen, the Houthis will stop their operations, including attacks against navies and commercial ships, Houthi spokesperson Mohammed al-Bukhaiti told Arab news service Al Jazeera on Saturday. The ceasefire began over the weekend with an exchange of Israeli hostages from Gaza and Palestinian prisoners held in Israel. Later phases will include the withdrawal of Israel from Gaza. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Ocean lines have said they are watching developments in the Red Sea but have offered no timeline to resume regular schedules there. Among major lines, only CMA CGM has maintained a schedule on the Suez Canal route. The situation in the Suez Canal remains fluid and the security situation is unclear, said MSC, in an email to FreightWaves. In order to guarantee the safety of our seafarers and to ensure consistency and predictability of service for our customers, MSC will continue to transit via the Cape of Good Hope [around Africa] until further notice The diversions away from the Red Sea absorbed capacity and pushed up rates to cover higher operating expenses for voyages as much as two weeks longer than normal. Thats been a boon for carriers who saw profits swell by billions of dollars in late 2024. But a confluence of factors could moderate prices with negotiations on 2025 ocean rates well underway: a return to less costly sailings on the Suez route; a slack shipping season ahead of Lunar New Year; and the deployment of new ships expected to begin in February, when reorganized carrier alliances and vessel-sharing agreements go into effect. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Iran-backed Houthis, a rebel militia that controls about 40% of Yemen, began attacking merchant ships they claim were linked to Israel and Israel-supporting countries in the Red Sea-Suez Canal route shortly after the terrorist attacks by Hamas on Israel on Oct. 6, 2023. The attacks have reshaped the global supply chain as major container and crude oil tanker lines connecting Asia, Europe, the Mediterranean and United States have diverted away from the region and on longer voyages around the Horn of Africa. A multinational force of American and European Union navies has taken up patrols of the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, escorting vessels and turning back Houthi strikes. Two merchant seamen have been killed in the Houthi attacks, and two vessels and their crew remain captive, in Yemen and Iran. At the same time, U.S. and U.K. forces have continued to carry out strikes on Houthi targets inside Yemen. Attacks against shipping have declined in recent months as the Houthis shifted to more direct attacks on Israel. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This article was updated Jan. 21 to add comment from MSC. Find more articles by Stuart Chirls here. Related coverage: ILA to review tentative longshore contract; union ratification vote next Cosco says blacklisting wont affect US services at all Analysis: When will ocean carriers return to the Red Sea? The post Ocean rates could fall as Houthis say they will end Red Sea attacks appeared first on FreightWaves. The off-duty police officer stabbed by a suspect in a road rage incident on Saturday has been released from the hospital, the Atlanta Police Department tells Channel 2 Action News. The Rockdale County Sheriffs Office says at approximately 6 p.m. on Saturday, a Dodge Charger hit a Chevy Silverado on Interstate 20 Eastbound near Panola Road in DeKalb County, then left the scene. Deputies say an off-duty police officer followed the Charger into Rockdale County near Salem Road to get the license plate information. [DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] It was then when the driver, identified as Justin Perry Hurst, pulled into a parking lot, along with the APD officer where they argued. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The argument escalated into Hurst stabbing the officer multiple times in the road rage incident. The officer was taken to Grady Memorial Hospital where he was alert, conscious and breathing. APD released the following statement on Sunday: While the Rockdale County Sheriffs Office is the lead in this investigation, the Atlanta Police Department stands in solidarity with them to ensure that the suspect is apprehended. We are asking anyone with information regarding the suspects whereabouts to please contact CrimeStoppers or the Rockdale County Sheriffs Office. TRENDING STORIES: APD also said they are happy to announce that the off-duty officer was released from Grady Memorial Hospital. We are wishing him a speedy and full recovery. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Anyone with information on this case can submit a tip anonymously to the Crime Stoppers Atlanta tip line at 404-577-TIPS (8477), online at here, or by texting CSGA and the tip to CRIMES. (738477). Persons do not have to give their name or any identifying information to be eligible for a reward of up to $2,000. [SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter] GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. (KREX) The 21st Judicial District Critical Incident Response Team (CIRT) is investigating an officer-involved shooting over the weekend. Around 7:11 p.m., Sunday, the Grand Junction Police Department learned of an assault that occurred earlier that day after the injured party was transported to the emergency room. Hospital staff allegedly told law enforcement this individual sustained life-threatening injuries. GJPD then responded to the 400 block of 28 Road to investigate the assault. After attempting to make contact, the suspect allegedly refused to leave the home and fired a weapon multiple times at officers. A GJPD officer returned fire, according to the press release. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement SWAT operators with the GJPD and the Mesa County Sheriffs Office responded to the scene. After several hours and attempts made, authorities did not get a response from the suspect. SWAT operators entered the residence and found the suspect deceased. This incident remains under investigation by the CIRT as they continue to conduct interviews of witnesses and process evidence over the next several days. Additional details will be released as appropriate, with sensitivity to the ongoing investigation, the press release said. The GJPD officer is on paid administrative leave as this is standard protocol with any officer-involved shooting. The police department is responsible for releasing the names of the officers involved. The Mesa County Coroners Office will release the suspects identity and cause and manner of death. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement All officer-involved shootings in Mesa County are investigated by the 21st Judicial District Critical Incident Response Team, which is comprised of representatives of the Grand Junction Police Department, Mesa County Sheriffs Office, Fruita Police Department, Palisade Police Department, Colorado State Patrol, Colorado Department of Corrections, 21st Judicial District Attorneys Office and Colorado Bureau of Investigation, the release said. Because Grand Junction Police Department personnel were involved in this incident, the Mesa County Sheriffs Office is leading this investigation on behalf of CIRT. Copyright 2025 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. The Crookston officer who fatally shot 44-year-old Christopher Junkin at a homeless shelter last year wont face charges. The Crow Wing County Attorneys Office recently announced its findings that officer Nick Fladland was justified in the June 30 shooting. The office, which handled the case on the request of Polk County, cited an investigation by the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension in its announcement. Junkin was fatally shot by Fladland as law enforcement responded to reports of men fighting at the Care and Share homeless shelter in Crookston. GoFundMe According to the BCA, Junkin was actively breaking items inside the shelter, including furniture, when police arrived. He reportedly ignored commands to stop and put his hands behind his back. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Fladland, Crookston officer Corey Rich and Polk County deputy April Hansen each deployed their Tasers during the incident, with Hansen additionally deploying a chemical irritant. Officers and deputies then backed down a hallway as Junkin followed them. "At one point, Fladland fired his handgun, striking Junkin, the BCA stated. Officers rendered aid, but Junkin died at the scene. While Junkin was not in possession of a weapon, officers were justified in thinking they were at risk of "great bodily harm," the attorneys office findings state. The office cites Junkins stature and aggression. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement An autopsy found that Junkin had traces of LSD and amphetamine in his blood at the time of the incident. About six weeks before Junkin's killing, Fladland fatally shot another man 35-year-old Andrew S. Dale, of Crookston who was in possession of a hatchet. That shooting was also ruled as justified. Every time a new president enters office, theyre celebrated with an array of galas and balls after the Inauguration Day ceremonies. Inauguration Day is today, meaning Donald Trump will officially become the 47th President of the United States this afternoon. And while some inaugural events are open to the public, others arent. Anyone could have requested a ticket to watch the traditional swearing-in, but other events like inaugural luncheons and balls are invite-only. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Heres what inaugural balls are, who plans inaugural events and how to watch Donald Trumps swearing-in ceremony live today. When is Inauguration Day? Inauguration Day, when Donald Trump and Vice President-elect JD Vance will be sworn into office, is today, Monday, Jan. 20. Inauguration inside: Trump's inaugural ceremony moved indoors due to forecast of intense cold Inauguration events are planned by the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies (JCIC) and include the swearing-in, inaugural address and pass in review. Other events surrounding the inauguration include an Inaugural Parade and Inaugural Balls. What are the official inaugural balls? Every four years, to celebrate the new president, there are a variety of galas, balls and parties that follow the inaugural ceremonies that occur during and around Inauguration Day. The number of official balls varies from president to president, and unofficial inaugural balls are held by companies and state societies. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Official presidential balls, planned and sanctioned by the Presidential Inaugural Committee (PIC), are private events that are closed to the public. You cant request a ticket to an official inaugural ball like you can with other Inauguration Day events and there likely wont be a livestream of the official balls. Updates on Donald Trump's inaugural balls and other inaugural events will be posted on the PIC website. What time is the new president sworn in? How to livestream Donald Trump's inauguration Major networks like ABC, CBS, CNN, PBS, NBC, MSNBC, CSPAN and Fox News will all be airing the inauguration live on Inauguration Day, Monday, Jan. 20. The official time of Trumps swearing in is set for noon EST. The White House will also be livestreaming the ceremony. How much are inauguration tickets in 2025? Tickets to inaugurations are free, not for sale. But according to USA.gov, tickets for today's inauguration were limited and only available upon request in the weeks leading up to inauguration events. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Tickets are free and allow you to watch in person on the grounds of the U.S. Capitol as the president and vice president are sworn in on Jan. 20, 2025, USA.gov says. Tickets will be available from your members of Congress in the weeks leading up to the inauguration. Some members may begin accepting requests for tickets before then." You can find and contact your senators and your member of the House of Representatives using USA.govs search tool. Contributing: Victoria E. Freile, USA TODAY Network This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Inauguration Day is here: Watch, stream Donald Trump's swearing-in Anna Mkrtchyan, a member of the Armenian National Assembly from Serzh Sargsyan's "I Have the Honor" faction, staged a provocative act during todays parliamentary session. Mkrtchyan referred to the map of Armenia with internationally recognized borders, which was displayed above the speakers rostrum, as scrap metal and tore it down. She then replaced it with a "map" of Armenia that depicted Azerbaijani territories as part of Armenia. Following this act, security personnel from the Armenian Parliament removed the piece of paper that Mkrtchyan had affixed to the rostrum. This raises the question: Will Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan continue to insist that Armenia has no territorial claims against Azerbaijan and that there will be no changes to the countrys constitution? Are people like Mkrtchyan, who engage in such actions, truly representative of Armenias interests? Are they not acting on behalf of revanchist elements within the country? Pashinyan has repeatedly stated that Armenia is committed to peace and has no intention of seeking revenge. Yet, actions like those of Mkrtchyan suggest otherwise. If Armenia genuinely wants peace, it has an opportunity to demonstrate this commitment in practice: by holding individuals like Mkrtchyan accountable for inciting tension and undermining diplomatic efforts. As long as figures like Mkrtchyan face little to no repercussions for such provocations, it will be difficult to achieve a lasting peace agreement between Azerbaijan and Armenia. Without accountability for those who promote revanchism, there can be no real progress toward peace and stability in the region. WASHINGTON, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- The White House said Monday that Donald Trump, who was inaugurated as the 47th U.S. president, will pull the United States out of the Paris climate accord. "President Trump will withdraw from the Paris Climate Accord," the White House said in a statement. The move, expected in an executive order Trump will sign later in the day, is part of the president's effort to "MAKE AMERICA AFFORDABLE AND ENERGY DOMINANT AGAIN," read the statement. Long considering clean energy expensive and wasteful, Trump during his inauguration speech vowed to redouble the effort to extract and utilize fossil fuels. "I will also declare a national energy emergency. We will drill, baby, drill," he said. "We have something that no other manufacturing nation will ever have -- the largest amount of oil and gas of any country on Earth," Trump claimed. "And we are going to use it." An international endeavor to tackle human-caused global warming and related crisis, the Paris Agreement was adopted in December 2015, and the United States led by then President Barack Obama formally entered the Paris Agreement in September 2016. The first Trump administration officially let the United States, one of the world's top emitters of green house gases, exit the Paris climate accord in November 2020, dealing a major blow to international efforts combating the climate crisis. The upcoming executive order by Trump will mark another round of back-and-forth move regarding U.S. commitment to dealing with climate change on the global stage. Joe Biden, who succeeded Trump to become the 46th U.S. president in 2021, signed an executive order on Jan. 20, 2021 -- his first day in office -- to bring the United States back into the Paris climate accord. Dozens of organizations have been awarded more than $12 million in grants for projects that aim to lift up communities, reduce pollution, and improve water quality in Long Island Sound. The grants were announced by federal and state environmental agencies and officials from New England and New York, including the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation. As per the NFWF, there were 31 grants, totaling more than $12 million, awarded to organizations and local governments to improve the health of the area. According to the NFWF, the grants were matched by the grantees themselves, resulting in more than $25 million in total conservation impact for projects in the bordering states of Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and New York. The grants are aimed to help improve the area by reducing pollution entering the sound, cleaning up marine debris, and restoring 280 acres of coastal habitat. The Long Island Sound is an ecological and culturally important area. The sound is biologically diverse, supporting a range of wildlife and providing habitat for fish nurseries. As a result, the area is also important for providing a livelihood to fishermen and oyster farmers and is enjoyed by families and outdoor enthusiasts who love to splash in the water and participate in various water sports. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Like many of our natural areas, the sound is at risk from pollution, habitat loss, and over-fishing. The waterways around the island are prone to poor water quality and dead zones that can be harmful to people and wildlife populations. The grants have been awarded to groups hoping to tackle these issues and protect the sound for people to enjoy for generations to come. Other similar projects have been announced globally as the world increasingly recognizes the need to protect natural areas to support communities. For example, in Brighton and Hove in the U.K., officials announced they would invest around $2.3 million in a wetland project that aimed to reduce pollution in the city's water supply. In Ecuador, several organizations are working together to restore important mangrove habitats in coastal communities. "By funding these local projects, we're not only improving water quality and coastal habitats but also supporting communities in building resiliency against climate change and ensuring equitable access to the Sound for generations to come." said Lisa F. Garcia, EPA Region 2 Administrator, in a press release by the NFWF. Join our free newsletter for good news and useful tips, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet. Salty ocean water has been creeping up the Delaware River, a drinking water source for Philadelphia. The contamination has been exacerbated by rising sea levels and has prompted officials to tap the reservoir to push the salty water out. What's happening? "There are alternative sources, but we don't want to be trucking in bottled water for people," Amy Shallcross, the water resource operations manager at the Delaware River Basin Commission told the Guardian. "We get nervous when it starts to get up near Philadelphia. It's only 18 miles right now from the drinking water intakes. And sometimes it can shoot upstream really quickly." Many reservoirs are also facing the same concerns as sea levels and dredged riverbeds are rising. Drought conditions also induce the conditions without rain to move the river line back to its normal location, the salty water remains a threat. How often do you worry about the quality of your drinking water? Never Sometimes Often Always Click your choice to see results and speak your mind. Why is the salt line important? Saltwater cannot be consumed by humans. If salt infiltrates the drinking water of millions of citizens, a new drinking water source will be needed. At a time when water is becoming a precious resource, bound to the whims of environmental changes, this is not an easy task. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Water managers are considering even more serious conservation measures: "I would say the east is not water-rich, we're water adequate, and we need to recognize that," Shallcross told the Guardian. According to the BBC, almost a third of the world experienced extreme drought for three months or longer in 2023. This has massively grown from the 5% of drought conditions in the 1980s. In addition to this, the sea level reached its highest ever measured in 2022 growing at an average rate of 1.77 millimeters per year. What's being done about the drinking water source? Officials control the salt line by releasing water from two reservoirs, which pushes the front downriver. This is likely to happen as the salty water moves closer to Philadelphia. The commission monitors the flow at Trenton, New Jersey, which is the furthest upstream point affected by the tide. The flow officials' target is roughly equivalent to the amount of water "in two Olympic-sized swimming pools flowing by per minute. If the rate dips below that, then more water is released," according to the Guardian. While the drinking water was not imminently at risk as of November, officials were closely monitoring the effects of the drought on the river and studying options if the issue persists. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Join our free newsletter for good news and useful tips, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet. MOSS LANDING, Calif. (KRON) One of the worlds biggest battery plants is located in a tiny harbor town perched halfway between Santa Cruz and Monterey. A fire ignited January 16 inside the Moss Landing Power Plant where thousands of lithium batteries store power from renewable energy. Emergency officials in Moss Landing said they are still waiting for the battery fire to burn itself out. Within the past few days, flareups from Vistra Energys plant sent plumes of black smoke billowing into the sky. North Monterey County and Watsonville residents wondered if they were breathing toxic fumes. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Moss Landing is an environmentally sensitive area thats home to sea otters and harbor seals swimming through the areas unique sloughs. The harbor town is beloved by surfers, kayakers, fishermen, marine wildlife photographers, and ocean researchers. A sea otter rests on a beach in Moss Landing, Calif. (Photo by Dan Sedenquist / DFS Photography) Alarmed local residents and wildlife enthusiasts wondered why the fire burned for days without firefighters attempting to put it out. Monterey County Supervisor Glenn Church said, After thorough discussions with our local fire officials, it is clear that there is no proven way to put out one of these fires once it has reached this magnitude. Attempts to put out battery fires at other sites have only worsened the situation. Water is used initially only when the batteries start to heat, not when flames have emerged. I find the lack of a proven system to extinguish the fires highly alarming. The Moss Landing Power Plant is seen on Jan. 17, 2022. (Photographer: David Paul Morris /Bloomberg via Getty Images) North Monterey County Fire Protection District Fire Chief Joel Mendoza said flareups caused high-intensity fires. This is normal for lithium-ion battery fires. We knew it was going to happen. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Mendoza said 80 percent of batteries stored in the burned building were destroyed by fire. We thought the entire building was going to burn. Now we have that one section that hasnt burned, Mendoza explained. Mendoza said fire investigators cant approach the building until Vistra Energy engineers assess the site and determine if it is safe to enter. Firefighters are most concerned about the 20 percent of batteries that did not catch fire. A fire erupted at Moss Landing Power Plant on January 16, 2025. (Photo by Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu via Getty Images) For decades, Moss Landings horizon has been dominated by two towering smoke stacks rising above the power plant. Pacific Gas & Electric built the plant in 1950 and sold it in 2006. The plant underwent major changes in 2020 when Vistra Energy opened a large-scale battery project. At the time, the changes were approved by local officials without controversy. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Church wrote, Both battery storage facilities initially passed the county permit process, including public hearings, with little to no opposition. Vistra got its first permit in 2020. It was approved by the Planning Commission and never appealed to the Board of Supervisors. It was that uncontroversial at the time. That would not be the case now. A project manager looks over the battery array at the Moss Landing Power Plant on January 13, 2021. . (Photo By Carlos Avila Gonzalez/The San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images) Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Experts say lithium batteries are a safe technology essential for lowering carbon emissions and making grids more reliable. Batteries soak up excess wind and solar energy for later use. Cheaper lithium has made utility-scale batteries more cost-competitive than some natural gas alternatives. Batteries can also be switched on and discharge power in a matter of seconds. Since the fire erupted five days ago, North Monterey County residents began organizing campaigns calling for independent environmental testing. Birds flock along the shoreline of Moss Landing, Calif. (Photo by Dan Sedenquist / DFS Photography) Church cautioned that more fires could ignite at the plant this week. I am hopeful the fire will not erupt again, but that is always possible. There remain heat pockets in the Vistra building where the fire originated. There are still unburned batteries in the building and it is possible for another battery to overheat into a thermal runaway. It will take days for things to cool down to a safe level. Monterey Bay Area Air Resource District officials are currently monitoring for smoke pollutants, while federal Environmental Protection Agency officials are on-site monitoring for hazardous chemicals. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A Vistra spokesperson told KRON4 last week that the fire burned its 300-MW Phase I energy storage facility. Our top priority is the safety of the community and our personnel, and Vistra deeply appreciates the continued assistance of our local emergency responders, the spokesperson wrote. Flames erupt at the Moss Landing Power Plant Thursday Jan. 16, 2025 in Moss Landing, Calif. (Shmuel Thaler /The Santa Cruz Sentinel via AP) Monterey County Department of Emergency Management officials most recent update on the incident states, Emergency personnel at the Moss Landing Vistra fire continue to monitor and evaluate the fire. It remains unknown how long the fire will last as first responders continue to evaluate the impacted building as the fire continue to burn itself out. After igniting, lithium-ion batteries can emit toxic hydrogen fluoride gases, the New York Times reported. Some locals officials are demanding that the plant halt operations until fire investigators can determine what caused the accidental inferno and stronger safety protocols are put in place. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Church said, There are powerful interests of many types far beyond Monterey County that see accidents of this nature acceptable. I will also pursue every means possible to keep the operations at Moss Landing from going back online. The industry needs to better understand its technology before putting communities in harms way. A different battery facility in Moss Landing also had a fire in 2022. Assemblymember Dawn Addis (D-Morro Bay) said the new fire has stirred up serious questions about safety. Addis said, I will be looking for transparency and accountability for why this happened again at Moss Landing. I am exploring all options for preventing future battery energy storage fires from ever occurring again on the Central Coast. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 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. Ohio K-12 students in public and charter schools can soon take up to three excused absences to observe religious holidays each academic year and provide accommodations to make up missed work, tests or quizzes due to a new state law. Parents getting their child an excused absence for a religious expression day must inform their schools principal in writing at least 14 days after the school year begins. If a student begins at a new school in the middle of the year, parents must submit their request 14 days after their childs first day. Apr 10, 2024; Columbus, United States; Three sisters pray at the end of Ramadan Eid Prayer held Wednesday morning at the Greater Columbus Convention Center. They are (from left) Sidra, 10, Sujud, 6, and Sadan Adams, 8. Their mother, Zahra Adams, said she made the girls' outfits. They live in Plain City and attend the Noor Islamic Cultural Center. Ohio K-12 students will now be allowed up to three days off of school to observe religious holy days including Eid al-Fatr. Doral Chenoweth/Columbus Dispatch House Bill 214 was signed by Gov. Mike DeWine on July 24 and required school districts, charter schools and STEM schools to change their policy by Jan. 22. The bill states that the new policy must "reasonably accommodate sincerely held religious beliefs and practices of students." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The new law requires schools to allow students to participate in extracurricular activities if they miss class for a religious expression day. The state provided schools a non-exhaustive list of days students can take off including the Hindu holiday Diwali, Passover, Good Friday and Eid al-Fitr which marks the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Bishun Panday, president of Bharatiya Hindu Temple in Powell and professor of mathematics at Ohio State University, said when Diwali or other Hindu holidays fall on a weekday it has been hard to get everyone together to celebrate. He said allowing students those extra three days off gives Hindus and Hindu temples in Ohio a great opportunity. More education bills: Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine signs House Bill 8, dubbed 'Parents' Bill of Rights' by supporters "I think they always have that concern that, 'Hey I have to go to work, I have to go to class, or I have to go to university,'" he said. "It's not off for me today even though the local temples and the community, they emphasize that, no, today we need to celebrate Diwali." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The law requires schools to post and communicate their policy to each family and student along with drafting and posting their own non-exhaustive lists. Doug Shoemaker, director of employee engagement, partnerships, and legal services at Whitehall City School near Columbus, said the important part for districts to consider is what to include on the list. He said you don't want to exclude too much and not be inclusive of people's faiths, but you also don't want to include so much that it will be hard to understand. Shoemaker said it is helpful that different school districts have to make their own because they each have different holidays. Bharatiya Hindu Temple in Powell. For example, Whitehall has many Ethiopian families that might celebrate their new year which is in September and Hispanic families that might celebrate All-Saints Day, which is celebrated on Nov. 1 each year. He also said the process of getting the days off makes it hard to take advantage of. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "There's a process there that really has to happen at the start of the school year, and the family needs to give the school notice," Shoemaker said. So, it's definitely not just make something up when you didn't want to go to the algebra test." A similar bill was introduced and passed by the state Senate in 2023 with support from Muslim, Jewish and Christian organizations but did not get passed before the end of the legislative session. HB 214 also mandated that districts create policies against promoting political beliefs in the classroom or requiring that teachers and students to ascribe to a political ideology. The bills backers said this would encourage academic freedom. In submitted testimony, HB 214s sponsor Rep. Adam Holmes, R-Nashport, said school staff, teachers and students "face negative consequences for expressing certain political perspectives or failing to conform to specific ideological viewpoints." Opponents claimed it would promote censorship and cause a chilling effect on what teachers can and cannot teach in the classroom. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement More K-12 education: Westerville City Schools planning new permanent levy in May after November ballot failure The Ohio Education Association submitted testimony against the bill. It said there were already statewide policies in place that addressed professional conduct and requiring districts and charter schools to make their own policy will cause unneeded confusion. The bill received no votes from Democrats in the House and Senate. OEA opposes HB 214 as it contains politicized censorship policies that would create schoolenvironments based on intimidation, fear, harassment, and anxiety for educators and students, Former OEA Secretary-Treasurer Mark Hill said in written testimony. Donovan Hunt is a fellow in the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism's Statehouse News Bureau. This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: New law allows up to 3 days off school for religious holidays WASHINGTON JD Vance was sworn in Monday as the 50th vice president of the United States, the culmination of a rapid political rise that propelled him from modest Ohio roots to a heartbeat away from the presidency. Vance, who lives in Cincinnati and grew up in Middletown, took the oath of office alongside President Donald Trump at the U.S. Capitol, surrounded by his wife, children and mother. Administering the oath was Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who counted second lady Usha Vance among his employees when he served on the U.S. Court of Appeals. Vance placed his hand on a Bible that belonged to his great-grandmother, which he got from his Mamaw when he left home for the Marines in 2003. He donned a navy blue Italian suit custom made for inauguration by his longtime tailor in suburban Cincinnati. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Thank you, thank you, thank you for making this possible, Vance said during brief remarks at the Capitol after the swearing-in. We love you. We wouldn't be here without you, and we're going to make America great again together for the next four years. After the inauguration, Trump credited Vance for being upwardly mobile and said the only person smarter than him is his wife, Usha. He took on some pretty mean people, and he handled it well, Trump said. Vances inauguration came just two years after he assumed the role of U.S. senator for Ohio. A once fierce Trump critic, the Hillbilly Elegy author walked back his past comments and made himself a key part of the president's inner circle. As vice president, Vance is expected to champion Trumps agenda and serve as an attack dog when needed. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Monday's swearing-in was more intimate than originally planned. Trump moved inauguration festivities inside because of extreme cold in the weather forecast, which left thousands of people unable to watch the ceremony in person. Still, supporters flocked to the nation's capital, hoping for a chance to see Trump and Vance. Kelley and Corey Carter drove eight hours from Vance's hometown of Middletown with their 9-year-old son. "Middletown gets a bad rap, so it's something to finally turn it around," Kelley said of Vance. "We have Olympians, we have now a vice president I just think it's awesome." U.S. Vice President-elect JD Vance takes the oath of office. After the swearing-in ceremony Monday, Vance and Trump supporters gathered at Capital One Arena to watch the inaugural parade and catch a glimpse of the new president and vice president. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Vance watched the parade with his wife and their children, one of whom held a teddy bear as the performances went on. The vice president and second lady could be seen at times trying to keep their three young children calm and seated in one place. The Middletown High School marching band and cheerleaders were among the performers who paraded around the arena floor. Vance graduated from the school in 2003 and invited the band to inauguration. Vance and the second lady had a packed weekend schedule ahead of Monday's inauguration. Vance hosted a black tie dinner Saturday with many of Trump's cabinet appointees and joined Trump the following day to lay wreaths at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Vance also met with China's vice president, Han Zheng, to discuss fentanyl, trade and "regional stability," according to the transition team. Han attended inauguration in place of Chinese President Xi Jinping as Trump pledged to restore access to TikTok and find a U.S. buyer for the app, owned by China-based ByteDance. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement During Ohios inaugural ball Sunday night, Vance attributed his success to the Buckeye State and touted a personalized Ohio State jersey gifted to him by Sen. Bernie Moreno. I would not be where I am without the incredible generosity and the incredible spirit of the people of the state of Ohio, Vance said. I am so honored to be an Ohioan. (This story was updated with new information.) This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: JD Vance sworn in as vice president OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR)As firefighters in Los Angeles continue to battle the flames from devastating wildfires, thousands are lining up for food, clothing, and toy giveaways. Here in Oklahoma, several businesses are helping out by hosting a fundraiser to help those displaced in California. You hear the word unimaginable tragedy thrown around a lot. I dont think I fully understood what that meant until this, said Austin Green, an L.A. resident. LAs Olympic venues were spared by wildfires, but the citys rebuild could impact the Games runup Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Austin Green is from Altadena and said they anticipated the strong winds hitting southern California but never imagined the canyon by his childhood home would catch fire. We knew that there was a big windstorm coming out and it would be kind of the worst we had seen in about 15 years, said Green. He also couldnt imagine his neighborhood being impacted. We woke up the next morning and we turned on the news and the fire was going down one of the cross streets right by our house, said Green. Green said seeing the destruction was shocking. Its the coffee shop you were at just a month ago. Its your friends house. Its the person you went to high school with, said Green. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Shohei Ohtani is donating $500,000 to help firefighters and others affected by the LA wildfires Theres still a lot of work to be done with containment and cleanup, but Green said the community has stepped up. Donation centers across the city are packed with items for displaced families. Theres a Google doc with GoFundMes just from the Eaton fire, and every day I look, theres about a hundred more GoFundMes, said Green. Here in Oklahoma, a group of former Angelenos are also stepping up to help. It moved us to do something more than just, you know, sending a little message of support, said Silvana Walters, the owner of Sedalias. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Sedalias, Palo Santo, Bar Arbolada, and Later Bye are the primary hosts. The event will be held at Palo Santo from 4 to 8 p.m. on January 20. Silvana Walters said all proceeds from the night and any donations from the silent auction will go straight to L.A. Tennis player Taylor Fritz is donating Australian Open prize money to LA wildfire relief funds On the menu for the night are some familiar favorites with nods to the city of angels. The apple pan burger, the In-N-Out burger, the Tommys burger, said Walters. Walters hopes the fundraiser is a night to celebrate L.A. and support the community from a thousand miles away. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement There is a community of Angelenos here, more so than I think a lot of people would assume or expect. So were very, very grateful to be able to have the time and borrow Palo Santo for that one night, said Walters. All proceeds from the night and the silent auction are going to the World Central Kitchen, the Los Angeles Fire Department Foundation, and the U.S. Humane Society. OKC for LA will be held from 4 to 8 p.m. on January 20 at Palo Santo, 1203 SW Second Street in Oklahoma City. Copyright 2025 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. KANSAS CITY, Mo. One person is dead after a fire at a duplex in Olathe Monday morning, according to the citys fire department. The Olathe Fire Department posted on X that crews responded to a fire at a home near South Kenwood Street and East Cedar Street around 7:35 a.m. Monday. End Zone Extra: Get the top Chiefs news and insider features all season long It was reported that one person was killed in the fire; however, the department has not released any information about the victim. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement OFD said the duplex suffered significant damage, which is shown in a video attached to the post on X. Investigators are looking into the cause of the fire and will release information when it is available. This is a developing story; FOX4 will update this story as details become available. Copyright 2025 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 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV | News, Weather, Sports. Donald Trumps second term is starting off with an unusual legal phenomenon pending in the classified documents case. Technically, the Justice Department is still attempting to reinstate the charges that U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon dismissed last year. At least, its trying to reinstate them against Trumps former co-defendants Walt Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira, after the DOJ withdrew the bid as to Trump in light of DOJ policy against prosecuting sitting presidents. That is, the federal government has been pursuing an appeal that, if successful, could lead to a trial during Trumps presidency that would center on his alleged criminality surrounding national defense information and obstructing justice. (Trump pleaded not guilty in all four of his criminal cases, with the only one of them that went to trial, in New York state court, resulting in a conviction.) Of course, I dont think anyone expects the government to seriously pursue the matter for much longer. The question appears to be not if, but when and how the matter is buried. Will Trump pardon his former co-defendants? Will the DOJ withdraw the appeal after new leadership gets up and running? These are among the many legal questions prompted by the 2024 election outcome. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Plus, however the documents case is likely quashed raises questions for another aspect of the case that also implicates the new DOJ leadership: special counsel Jack Smiths report. Now-former Attorney General Merrick Garland publicly released the volume on the federal election interference case, but he agreed to keep the documents volume shelved so long as the prospect of a trial against Nauta and De Oliveira remained. So in the likely event that that prospect is eliminated whether by pardons or DOJ withdrawing the appeal then the reason for keeping the documents report volume secret would be eliminated, too. Of course, that doesnt mean that Trumps new attorney general would permit its public release, but it raises another question for how new DOJ personnel will handle the subject. Separately from the governments (technically still) pending appeal in the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, theres also the (technically still) pending litigation in front of Judge Cannon, over whether the DOJ can confidentially share the documents volume with certain members of Congress. Cannon held a hearing about it on Friday and said she didnt see the urgency in permitting members of Congress to see the volume (something the DOJ argued wasnt any of Cannons business but rather a matter between the executive and legislative branches). Now, its an open question of who, if anyone else, will see the remaining Smith volume and when. Subscribe to the Deadline: Legal Newsletter for expert analysis on the top legal stories of the week, including updates from the Supreme Court and developments in Donald Trumps legal cases. This article was originally published on MSNBC.com SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) A lithium ion battery sparked a fire at an Old Town apartment complex early Monday morning, injuring one person. The incident was reported around 4 a.m. in the 2200 block of Moore Street. According to San Diego Fire-Rescue, fire crews and a HAZMAT team responded in minutes, quickly knocking down the flames and containing the fire to the unit where it originated. One person inside the unit was injured in the fire and was transported to a nearby hospital for treatment. Their current condition is unknown. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Pickup truck crashes into El Cajon home, collapses garage As crews responded to the fire, residents who live in the complex were temporarily evacuated. It wasnt a big fire, but its big enough for the fire department to get out, Martin Theroux, the property manager for the complex, told FOX 5/KUSI. All have returned to their homes aside from the three adults who lived in the impacted unit. The three residents have been displaced and are being aided by Red Cross. An investigation into the incident is still underway, but San Diego Fire-Rescue crews said it was believed to have been caused by a lithium ion battery housed in the residence. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 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. Sign up for Trumps Return, a newsletter featuring coverage of the second Trump presidency. The mood of a Donald Trump rally typically follows a downhill trajectory, beginning with hot pretzels and Andrew Lloyd Webber and concluding with grievances aired and retribution promised. But last night at Capital One Arena, the mood was jubilant all the way through. This was Trumps final rally before his triumphant return to the White House, and like high schoolers facing the promise of a lightly supervised all-night lock-in, attendees were giddy with anticipation. Fans dressed in Uncle Sam hats and scarlet peacoats crammed into the arena, which was lit up in shades of red and royal blue. Each rally-goer I spoke with was looking forward to something different from the next Trump presidency. Theyre doing a nice big raid up in Chicago, and Im excited about that, Will Matthews, from Williamsport, Pennsylvania, told me, referring to yet-unconfirmed rumors about where Trumps promised mass deportations will begin. Jenny Heinl, who wore a PROUD J6ER sweatshirt, told me that she was eager to hear about the pardons. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The message across MAGA world was clear: The next four years are going to be big. Everyone in our country will prosper; every family will thrive, Trump promised last night. Speaking before him, Stephen Miller, the incoming deputy chief of staff for policy, predicted that America is now at the dawn of our greatest victory. Earlier in the day, Steve Bannon, the former White House chief strategist and the host of the War Room podcast, had hosted a brunch on Capitol Hill. Hed dubbed the event The Beginning of History, and, for better or worse, it was. Throughout yesterdays rain and snow in Washington, D.C., Trumps supporters held tight to their joy. I cant believe were in! I heard a woman shout to a friend as they dashed through the arena doors. The preceding few days had been bewildering. Citing the low temperatures, the Trump transition team announced on Friday that the inauguration would be moved indoors, to the Capitol Rotunda. A mad scramble ensued for the very limited supply of new tickets. In the end, a few fans will still get to watch in person. Most of them, though, will be right back at Capital One for an inauguration watch party. One group of Trump fans had carpooled together from Canada to attend the inauguration, and wore matching red sweatshirts reading MAPLE SYRUP MAGA. They were disappointed about the venue change14 degrees is not cold, the Canadians insistedbut they were still happy theyd made the trip. If Trump hadnt been elected, Mary, who had come from St. Catharines, Ontario, and asked to use only her first name, told me, there would be more and more woke bullshit. For Mary and her friends, Trumps reelection means that there will instead be an end to the fentanyl crisis, tighter border security, and a stronger example for other Western countries. Sharon Stevenson, from Cartersville, Georgia, had joined a caravan of dozens of Georgians traveling to the rally, and had waited in line for more than seven hours to get inside the arena. The effort, she assured me, was 100 percent worth it. Stevenson and her friends were eager to lay out their expectations for Trump. The biggest thing for me is to investigate all the fraud, she said. The stolen election, the January 6 massacreits going to come out under this administration. Her friend, Anita Stewart from Suwanee, Georgia, told me that her priority was health, and that she was particularly excited about the prospect of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as head of the Department of Health and Human Services. Im looking forward to hopefully no more commercials for drugs! Plus affordable groceries, she saidand cheap gas. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement With a wish list so long and expectations so immense, one wonders how Trumps supporters will respond if the about-to-be president doesnt meet them all. When I asked Stevenson that question, she smiled and shook her head. Promises made, promises kept, she said. If theres one person who keeps their word, its Donald Trump. [Read: What Trump did to law enforcement] During the roughly three hours before the headliner took the stage, his supporters ate chicken fingers and posed for the Jumbotron camera as it swung around the arena. They bowed their heads when the hosts of the MAGA favorite Girls Gone Bible podcast asked God to bless Trump, and sang along as the musician Kid Rock performed a mini concert, including his 2022 single We the People, featuring a brand-new lyric in honor of the inauguration: Straighten up, sucker, cause Daddys home. The political pronouncements really got going at about 4 p.m., starting with Miller, who received a heros welcome from the crowd and said that Trumps win represented the triumph of the everyday citizen over a corrupt system. (As he spoke, the incoming first lady, Melania Trump, was on X announcing the launch of a meme coin to match her husbands new one, a development that turned the family into crypto-billionaires over the weekend.) Later, Megyn Kelly, the former Fox host turned MAGA podcaster, hailed the goodness that is about to rain down under Trumps leadership. And Donald Trump Jr., fresh from his recent mission to Greenland, affirmed that the next four years will be his fathers piece de resistance. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement When at last Trump arrived onstage, he was greeted ecstatically as the embodiment of his allies declarations and his followers dreams. He teased his plans to sign nearly 100 executive orders today, including what he has described as a joint venture with the parent company of TikTok and a ban on transgender people serving openly in the military. Youre gonna have a lot of fun watching television, he predicted. Before welcoming the Village People to join him onstage for an exuberant rendition of YMCA, Trump ran through a list of additional priorities to come: the largest deportation operation in American history, lower taxes, higher wages, and an end to overseas wars. The American people have given us their trust, Trump declared, and in return were going to give them the best first day, the biggest first week, and the most extraordinary first 100 days of any presidency in American history. That history begins at noon. Article originally published at The Atlantic At the heart of the Egyptian astrological tradition were 12 distinct zodiac signs, each associated with a specific Egyptian deity and imbued with its own unique set of characteristics and influences. Unlike the Western zodiac, which is based on the 12 constellations of the ecliptic, the Egyptian system drew upon the 36 decans that rose consecutively over the course of the year. Each of these 12 Egyptian zodiac signs was represented by a powerful god or goddess, from the life-giving Nile to the warlike Sekhmet. By understanding the nature and attributes of these deities, the Egyptians believed they could gain profound insights into the personalities, strengths, and challenges of those born under their influence. Advertisement The Nile (Hapi) Dates: January 1-7, June 12-18, September 1-7, and November 18-26 Represented by the god Hapi, the Nile sign is the only one in the Egyptian zodiac not associated with a specific deity. Instead, this sign is linked to the very source of life in ancient Egypt - the mighty Nile River. Those born under the Nile sign are believed to possess a deep connection to the natural world, with a practical, logical, and peaceful nature. They are excellent observers and analysts, always seeking to understand the world around them and make wise decisions. Amun-Ra Dates: January 8-12 and February 1-11 The second sign of the Egyptian zodiac is Amun-Ra, named after the powerful creator deity who was the king of the gods. Individuals born under this sign are known for their confidence, politeness, and optimism. They make excellent leaders, possessing the intelligence and resolve to make smart decisions and keep everything under control. Mut Dates: January 2231 and September 822 Representing the maternal goddess Mut, this sign is associated with sensitivity, affection, and loyalty. Those born under Mut are often described as generous, focused, and protective, with a deep desire to nurture and care for others. They may be shy at first, but once they open up, they are known for their wisdom and devotion. Geb Dates: February 1229 and August 2031 The earth god Geb lends his name to this sign, which is linked to emotional, intuitive, and spiritual individuals. Geb-born people are often highly sensitive and empathetic, with a strong connection to the natural world. While they may struggle with self-control at times, they are renowned for their reliability and loyalty as friends. Osiris Dates: March 110 and November 27December 18 Representing the god of the underworld and rebirth, the Osiris sign is associated with intelligence, independence, and a strong sense of self. Those born under this sign are often driven and persistent, willing to overcome any obstacle to achieve their goals. However, they may also struggle with selfishness and a tendency to put their own needs first. Isis Dates: March 1131, October 1829, and December 1931 As the goddess of nature, magic, and motherhood, Isis lends her name to this sign, which is linked to honesty, humor, and a genuine love of life. Isis-born individuals are often sociable and outgoing, with a knack for seeing the best in others. They may, however, struggle with a sense of obligation and a tendency to "play the martyr." Thoth Dates: April 119 and November 817 The god of wisdom and learning, Thoth, is the patron of this sign, which is associated with intelligence, diplomacy, and a relentless drive for self-improvement. Those born under Thoth are often quick learners and adaptable, but they can also be highly opinionated and struggle to listen to new ideas that challenge their existing beliefs. Horus Dates: April 20 May 7 and August 1219 As the god of the sky, Horus lends his name to this sign, which is linked to bravery, optimism, and a strong work ethic. Horus-born individuals are often ambitious and action-oriented, tackling challenges head-on with a belief in their own abilities. However, they can also be stubborn and may have difficulty accepting help or alternative perspectives. Anubis Dates: May 827 and June 29 July 13 The jackal-headed god of the underworld, Anubis, is the patron of this sign, which is associated with confidence, introversion, and a fascination with the darker aspects of life. Anubis-born people are often comfortable with the macabre and may gravitate towards fields like psychology or medicine, where they can put their keen insights to use. Set Dates: May 28June 18 and September 28October 2 Representing the god of chaos and violence, Set lends his name to this sign, which is linked to perfectionism, ambition, and a love of change. Set-born individuals are often highly driven and hardworking, with a strong desire to be the best. However, they may also struggle with a tendency towards selfishness and a resistance to compromise. Bastet Dates: July 1428, September 2327, and October 317 The goddess of cats, fertility, and pleasure, Bastet, is the patron of this sign, which is associated with balance, charm, and a natural aversion to conflict. Bastet-born individuals are often skilled at maintaining harmony in their lives and relationships, and they may have a fascination with the occult or metaphysical realms. Sekhmet Dates: July 29August 11 and October 30November 7 As the goddess of war and healing, Sekhmet lends her name to this sign, which is linked to a dual nature of discipline and adventure. Sekhmet-born individuals are often fierce and determined, with a strong moral compass and a tendency to command respect. However, they may also struggle with impatience and a desire for perfection that can be difficult for others to understand. One pint could put motorists over the drink-driving limit if the Government heeds police chiefs calls for laws to be changed. The National Police Chiefs Council, the British Medical Association (BMA) and the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners want to cut current alcohol limits for motorists. The current limit of 80mg per 100ml of blood was set in 1967 and is roughly equivalent to two pints of lager. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Campaigners calling for the limit to be increased say figures show that the number of drink-driving deaths have climbed to 18 per cent of all road fatalities highs not seen since 1987. In 2022, the latest year for which figures are available, 300 people were killed in drink-driving related road accidents the highest number since 2009. Campaigners want to reduce the alcohol limit to 50mg per 100ml, around a single pints worth of alcohol depending on the strength of the beer. Jo Shiner, the chief constable of Sussex Police says Driving under the influence of drink or drugs will not be tolerated - Gareth Fuller/PA Jo Shiner, the chief constable of Sussex Police who is also The National Police Chiefs Councils roads policing lead, said: In policing we see the damaging impact of drink and drug driving all too often, and every fatality or serious injury which happens as a consequence of this is completely avoidable. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Driving under the influence of drink or drugs will not be tolerated, and we support the BMAs call for lowering the legal blood alcohol limit. In addition to our current powers, we will also continue to make the case for more effective legislation which enables faster interim disqualifications for those who fail roadside tests, she told the Daily Mail. Impaired judgement Joy Allen and David Sidwick, the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners addictions and substance misuse leads, said: Too many families have been devastated by the consequences of drink-driving, with around 300 people dying each year in collisions where a driver is over the limit. Even minimal alcohol consumption can significantly impair a drivers judgement and their ability to react quickly. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement If we are to save lives and make our roads safer for everyone, we must get across the message that any amount of alcohol before driving is dangerous. Police and crime commissioners are elected by the public and oversee police forces by holding them to account. Even harsher limits for new drivers Lobbyists from anti-alcohol pressure groups and the BMA, the doctors trade union, have joined the calls to lower drink-driving limits to the equivalent of one pint. A statement issued by the BMA not only called for limits to be reduced to 50mg per 100ml but also for harsher limits on new drivers defined as those who are within two years of passing their test. They would be subject to a 20mg/100ml limit, effectively preventing them from drinking at all before driving. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Senior police managers also want the law changed so traffic cops can instantly ban suspected drink-drivers at the roadside instead of waiting for a criminal trial, the Daily Mail reports. Calls to crack down on drink-driving comes in the wake of fresh figures showing that other intoxicating substances are having a negative impact on motorists. Between 2022 and 2023 drivers killed under the influence of drugs increased from 96 to 144 the highest for five years. Edmund King, the director of the AA Trust, described the increase as worrying and called for an increase in drug-driving awareness in a similar way to anti-drink-driving messaging. Traditionally our safety message to drivers has always been: if you are going to drive, dont drink and if you are going to drink, dont drive, he said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But now it is essential to update that messaging to include drugs. A startling 50 per cent increase in drivers killed under the influence of drugs is extremely worrying. We dont want drivers to be in any doubt drink, drugs and driving do not mix. The Government has been contacted for comment. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. Among President Donald Trumps first priorities after assuming the White House is ordering all American flags be flown at full mast on inauguration day, regardless of any mourning periods. Hours after being sworn into office, Trump signed five executive orders the first four being a series of appointments within his administration. But executive order No. 5, the first non-appointment related order, declares the flags be flown at full mast for the remainder of Monday and any future inauguration days. Trump ordered this after complaining flags would only be flown at half-staff during his inaugural celebrations because they coincidentally coincided with the 30-day mourning period honoring former president Jimmy Carter. President Donald Trump signed five executive orders shortly after taking office on Monday - including one that made flags fly at full mast on a presidents inauguration (POOL/AFP via Getty Images) ...because of the death of President Jimmy Carter, the Flag may, for the first time ever during an Inauguration of a future President, be at half mast. Nobody wants to see this, and no American can be happy about it, Trump wrote on Truth Social at the beginning of the month. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Per tradition, flags are flown at half-staff for 30 days following the death of a president. Carter died on December 29 at the age of 100. Though the flags were meant to be flown at half-staff, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, a Trump ally, ordered the flags around the Capitol to be raised to celebrate Trumps inauguration. Dozens of governors followed suit, ordering their state capitals to raise the flag for inauguration day. That included California Governor Gavin Newsom, New York Governor Kathy Hochul, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and Texas Governor Greg Abbott. Flags outside of the U.S. Capitol were flown at half-staff on Sunday in honor of the late former president Jimmy Carter (Getty Images) Trump is expected to sign at least 100 executive orders during his first week in office many having to do with reshaping the executive branch, cracking down on immigration, rolling back energy regulations and slashing LGBT+ rights. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement During his inaugural speech, the president previewed some of the executive orders such as getting rid of birthright citizenship an attempt to revoke the right of children born in the U.S. to immigrant parents to live in the U.S. He also said he would try to rename the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America. But at the top of the list was ensuring any remaining American flags being flown at half-staff are be risen to full mast. The media is filled with stories blaring details of political scandal, the immorality of politicians and seditious behavior of candidates running for president. Vicious allegations of corruption and misbehavior are standard fare as politicians are relentlessly attacked in the media. Campaign 2024? No, this was America in the early 1800s, the era characterized by what is now known as the partisan press. At the turn of the century, what are now considered the august founders of the United States were subject to abusive attacks on their character and roles as public servants and candidates for the presidency. Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton and John Quincy Adams were portrayed as dangers to democracy. The media consisted of newspapers and pamphlets that were mouthpieces, for all intents and purposes, owned and operated, by the political parties and powerful interests behind candidates running and serving in office. This was a propaganda attack machine designed to discredit political opponents as seditious, corrupt and immoral threats to the young republic. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In 2025 we have a contemporary partisan press on steroids. Despite a precipitous drop in the audience for network broadcast news and cable news, this media exacerbates the role of partisanship in the presentation of the news. Journalists appear regularly as analysts on broadcast and cable channels reviving the ethos of the era of the partisan press by pronouncing their opinions and version of the facts of a story. Cable news has evolved into cable talk, dominated by panels of experts pontificating about the perils of the political opposition. 24/7 news is 24/7 partisan attacks. The pundit corps is dominated by former political, government and military officials with an axe to grind and a platform to relentlessly chop away at their perceived enemies. The effect of partisanship is a massive increase in the number of Americans who cannot depend on the media to provide reporting they can trust. Gallup reports 69 percent of U.S. adults have little or no trust in the media. A great deal or quite a lot of confidence in television news is 14 percent and 18 percent for newspapers. Surveys by the American Press Institute and The Associated Press-NORC Center show 44 percent believe information in the press is one-sided. Four in ten people believe the press is harming democracy. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In its attempt to avoid the oft mentioned impending existential crisis for democracy, the media is contributing to the distress of the average American. If democracy dies in darkness, the media is bringing midnight to America, the exact opposite of the Ronald Reagan television commercial from 1984. Perhaps there is light at the end of the tunnel and there is a possible end to current era of the partisan press. In 1833 Benjamin Day introduced The New York Sun, bringing the penny press and a new epoch to communications. This was a mass audience of urban working-class citizens who would buy their own newspaper rather than the more communal readership during the colonial era. To appeal to the broader audience, the Sun was more non-partisan and carried news of the day that leaned toward stories that were sensational. The era of the first partisan press was over. Shortly after the rise of the penny press, newspapers evolved on the foundations of modern American journalism, based on an internal industry philosophy of objectivity and fairness. Editorials presented the opinions of the publishers, but a less overtly partisan approach was central to the rise of newspapers exemplified by The New York Tribune and New York Times. Like nature, the marketplace abhors a vacuum. This might generate the opportunity today for non-partisan content to attract a viable audience. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Is it 1833 yet? Time for a major evolutionary change in the media? Probably not. The failure of the mainstream media to rise to the occasion and report the start of the second Trump administration in a manner that is perceived as trustworthy might be the straw that breaks the camels back. News coverage has been dominated with an obsession on Elon Musk, condemnation of many nominees for government positions and mockery of a variety of typical Donald Trump pronouncements such as the purchase of Greenland. Yes, all are worthy of coverage, but the lack of positive stories reinforces public attitudes regarding a partisan press. With trust currently close to rock bottom with no impact on how the media performs, it looks like America might have to wait for 2033 for a systemic change in journalism. Tobe Berkovitz, Ph.D., is an associate professor of advertising emeritus at Boston University. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 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 The Hill. On the day Congress certified Donald Trumps 2024 election as president, Pope Francis named Cardinal Robert W. McElroy to become the new archbishop of Washington, D.C. It was a historic and well-timed appointment. During the Biden years, there was an unusual closeness between the president and the Pope. In one of his final acts, Joe Biden bestowed on Pope Francis the Presidential Medal of Freedom calling him the Peoples Pope. In his citation, Biden lauded the pontiff for being a loving pastor whose mission of serving the poor has never ceased. But the fraternal relations between Washington and the Vatican are about to undergo a difficult test. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Donald Trump has nominated Brian Burch, an outspoken critic of Pope Francis, as the new U.S. ambassador to the Vatican. Burch, a Catholic activist, has criticized the Popes treatment of his critics and mocked his progressive Catholic cheerleading. The selection of Robert W. McElroy to become the new archbishop of Washington, D.C., highlights Pope Franciss call that All are invited. Everyone inside. For Cardinal McElroy everyone means the radical inclusion of gay and divorced and remarried Catholics in the life of the Catholic Church, as well as support for including women in the diaconate. Cardinal McElroys emphasis on these issues sets him apart from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and their call for abortion to be the preeminent priority of Catholic leaders. McElroy has questioned why greater prominence is not given to other issues such as racism, poverty, immigration and climate change. Emphasizing that Catholics should never be afraid to speak the truth, Cardinal McElroy summarized his approach to these and other issues as see, judge, act. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But McElroys appointment goes far beyond Pope Franciss aim of realigning the U.S. Catholic Church more closely with the goals of his papacy. With Donald Trump once again assuming power, McElroy and Trump are on a collision course when it comes to immigration, the environment and foreign policy. Massimo Faggioli, a Catholic theologian at Villanova University, says the McElroy appointment represents a high-profile response to the [current] political situation in America. At a press conference announcing his appointment, McElroy called plans for a wider, indiscriminate, massive deportation of undocumented immigrants incompatible with Catholic doctrine. This is not a new position for McElroy, whose San Diego diocese shares a border with Mexico. In a 2016 speech, McElroy decried Donald Trumps deportation plans aimed at undocumented immigrants as an act of injustice which would stain our national honor in the same manner as the progressive dispossessions of the Native American people of the United States and the internment of the Japanese. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement His criticisms of Trump became even more virulent after that. In 2017, McElroy delivered a fiery speech calling upon community organizers to disrupt those who would seek to send troops into our streets to deport the undocumented, to disrupt those who train us to see Muslim men and women and children as sources of fear rather than as children of God, to disrupt those who seek to rob our medical care, and to disrupt those who would take even food stamps and nutrition assistance from the mouths of children. McElroys outspokenness has prompted criticism among some. Springfield, Illinois Bishop Thomas Paprocki, a conservative both politically and theologically, has criticized McElroys approach to gay and divorced and remarried Catholics, suggesting his views border on heresy. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Luigi Cassalini of the Messa in Latino (Latin Mass) wrote that the selection of McElroy was a terrible appointment and feels like a childish revenge for Trumps naming of Brian Burch as U.S. ambassador to the Vatican. But Cardinal McElroy is uniquely qualified to lead the Washington, D.C., archdiocese. He holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from Stanford University. And as a political scientist and Catholic leader, McElroy has spoken out on what he calls the profound sickness in the soul of American political life, stating, Our political society has been poisoned by a tribalism that is sapping our energy as a people and endangering our democracy. According to McElroy when partisanship ceases to be a political category and becomes a form of personal identity, it has searing negative impacts within families, friendships, and civic life, as citizens increasingly confine themselves within partisan media and culture silos and are encouraged in their anger against those who disagree. This is a radical rethinking of the role of political parties in American society. When he assumes the leadership of the Washington, D.C. archdiocese on March 11, 2025, McElroy will not only be a powerful voice for justice but a leader in upending how Catholics should rethink their relationships with one another and the responsibilities enjoined upon them by the duties of citizenship. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement One place to start is with the Catholic members of Congress. A recent Pew study found that there are 150 Catholic members of the 119th Congress 83 Democrats and 67 Republicans. In his 1989 book, The Search for an American Public Theology, McElroy wrote that the political institutions of American life were increasingly alienated from their spiritual roots. He is now in a unique position to restore that connection with his new congressional constituents. The appointment of Cardinal McElroy makes one thing clear: The voice of the Vatican is going to be heard loud and clear in Washington. Trump would be wise to listen. John Kenneth White is a professor emeritus at the Catholic University of America. His latest book is titled Grand Old Unraveling: The Republican Party, Donald Trump, and the Rise of Authoritarianism. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 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 The Hill. There will be at least two sets of clergy praying on this Inauguration Day for Donald Trump. One will be praying for Trump and his administration, and the other will be praying that the plans he has promised to carry out as president dont cause people or our country irreparable harm. To put it another way, on Inauguration Day, therell be one group of clergy standing beside an incoming president promising to roll back the gains of the Civil Rights Movement, and another group of clergy celebrating with sincerity and a real appreciation for his lifes work the birthday of the great civil rights leader and orator Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. What these two groups are praying for will be vastly different, and moreover, are likely to further open rifts not just politically, but religiously and socially, as well. Among the issues likely to push them farther apart is immigration. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The inauguration is expected to include an invocation by Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the archbishop of New York, and a prayer by the evangelical Rev. Franklin Graham, the son of evangelist Billy Graham and the head of Samaritans Purse. Events before the inauguration were scheduled to include other conservative clergy and religious figures such as Tony Perkins, head of the Family Research Council, and David Barton, the Christian nationalist historian whose teachings House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., has said have had a profound influence on me, and my work, and my life and everything I do. Follow MSNBCs live blog for the latest updates and expert analysis on Donald Trumps inauguration. For MAGA clergy and religious figures standing with Trump, his inauguration will be the culmination of their earnest prayers, rallies and political participation after their appeals to Christian nationalism, faith and fear. But they may get more than they bargained for. After the congratulations and backslapping will come the reality of what Trump has promised to do as president. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement While I am sure they believe his policies wont hurt them any, perhaps they should think again. Trump, who has promised to begin mass deportations immediately, has also vowed to rescind the sensitive locations memo that generally keeps Immigration and Customs Enforcement from going into places like churches, schools, hospitals and even funerals to complete an enforcement action. What happens when ICE invades churches and schools? How will religious leaders who support Trump rationalize that? Will they side with the administration, or will they heed the admonitions of their faith that prompt them to care for those less fortunate? How will Dolan react if ICE comes into a parish or Catholic school in New York? Does he think he can lead an invocation for Trump without being seen as endorsing the mayhem Trump has promised to unleash? As I wrote this month, Cardinal Robert McElroy, the incoming archbishop of Washington, has said the Catholic Church wont stand idly by while more than 10% of our flock is ripped from our midst and deported, and its no coincidence that Pope Francis is sending him to Washington as Trump is starting a second term. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement For clergy who embrace Kings message and politics, Monday will be a day of remembrance and preparation. Since 2007, the New Sanctuary movement has come together to demand faith-based immigrant justice in the wake of harsh immigration bills being passed. In an opinion piece for Sojourners magazine headlined We wont be intimidated, Michael Woolf, the pastor of a church in the New Sanctuary movement, says congregations must prepare now by building consensus about precisely what level of risk they are willing to take in the middle of mass deportations. King similarly asked the people who wanted to join in civil rights protests how much they were willing to risk. Trumps vow of mass deportation will confront clergy and others in ways they may not imagine. Just this month, Border Patrol agents arrested 78 undocumented immigrants in Californias Fresno and Kern counties. These arrests, happening right before Trumps inauguration, have created fear and distrust, and this will certainly escalate when arrests intensify. Some leaders, including the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, have already issued guidelines for immigration reform that recognize the right of the government to protect the border while asking that enforcement consider families, community ties, and religious liberty interests. In a 2024 survey by Lifeway, 50% of evangelicals said recent immigrants are a drain on economic resources. More than a third described recent immigrants as a threat to the safety of citizens (37%) and a threat to law and order (37%), while 28% described them as a threat to traditional American customs and culture. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Some evangelical leaders, including the National Association of Evangelicals, have asked Trump to set a refugee admissions ceiling of at least 50,000 people, as he did in the first year of his first term. This proposed ceiling, set out in a statement titled A Christian Statement on Refugee Settlement, asks that refugees be regarded differently from migrants because refugees are screened overseas before legally arriving in the United States. Other clergy make no distinctions between the two groups. People in both groups are desperate for the promise of safety and security America can offer. Dolan and Graham and other clergy standing with Trump shouldnt complain if their names are attached to the horrors of mass deportation. They made the decision to participate in his inauguration. Why shouldnt they be linked to the things to come? CLARIFICATION (Jan. 22, 2025, 5:48 E.T.): A previous version of this article mischaracterized a request that the National Association of Evangelicals made to President Donald Trump regarding refugee admissions. The NAE has asked for a ceiling of at least 50,000, not 50,000. This article was originally published on MSNBC.com Today, on the day of President-elect Trumps second inauguration, his proposed Day One actions are beginning to take shape. Axios reports Trump is now weighing immediate tariffs on Canada and Mexico under the guise of a national economic emergency. With Canada ramping up its plans for retaliatory tariffs to slam America dollar for dollar, cooler heads in the new Trump administration must prevail if Americans are going to be spared the blow to their household budgets. Trump understands the practical politics of having leverage over both allies and opponents, but he risks losing all of it in a North American trade war. Trump ran in 2024 on his plan to saddle Canada and Mexico with a 25 percent tariff as leverage to get their help on his immigration agenda, but the fact remains that Trumps voters will be the ones feeling the direct impact. Day 1 tariffs would make Februarys Super Bowl the most expensive for consumers in recent history. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trump ally and fellow TV star Kevin OLeary of the hit show Shark Tank has been making the rounds on air, telling Trump to be hardcore with tariffs on China. He even suggested China could see riots in the streets if Trump targeted Chinas consumer exports, which explains the massive influx of Chinese goods into the U.S. in December. North America as a trading block is uniquely positioned to thrive during the Trump administration, but instead of promoting growth and lower costs for Americans, framing a destructive trade war is all thats being discussed. The sophisticated supply chain integration between the U.S. and Canada has resulted in lower prices for consumers, especially when it comes to automobiles. In 2022, Canada exported $12.9 billion in motor vehicle parts and accessories, with $11.4 billion of that flowing directly to the U.S. In Michigan, 13 percent of the states gross state product is reliant on Canadian automotive trade. Whats the point of expanding U.S. oil production and lowering the price of gas at the pump if cars and auto parts are just going to get more expensive nationwide? Considering that $132 billion in oil and petroleum flows from Canada into the U.S. every year, its highly unlikely the Trump administration could replace that oil with American product fast enough to avoid sticker shock at gas stations. Trump and his Canadian bargaining partners dont seem very committed to rolling back the painfully high costs of living that marked the Biden years; instead, theyre shifting the costs to new sectors. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Everyday Canadians would face significant hardships from a 25 percent tariff on exports to the U.S. Even without the almost certain costs of retaliation, bread in Canada could climb from $3.50 to $5.00 per loaf. Spread across the grocery sector, it amounts to thousands lost annually to price hikes. Atop inflated prices, job losses due to corporate cost-saving measures could spell catastrophe for Canada. Trumps hardball mindset is that this is Canadas problem and that it can be solved simply by submission to his demands, but its more likely that the U.S. will then be thrown into a shallow recession before hes even finished decorating the West Wing. As OLeary warned about potential unrest in China, unhappy Americans dissolve any leverage Trump and Republicans in Congress may have in this trade standoff. To get a better look at the potential repercussions, we can look at the effects of the 1930 Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act, which imposed tariffs on tens of thousands of imported goods in an attempt to protect American farmers and industry during the Great Depression. The result was an international trade war that caused global trade to fall by 66 percent and U.S. exports and imports by about two-thirds, effectively worsening and prolonging the Great Depression in the U.S. Of course, Canada responded to Smoot-Hawley in the same way Ottawa is planning right now, sparking their own economic depression north of the border. Its the epitome of the phrase cutting off your nose to spite your face. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement At the very least, President Trump should not pursue rash day-one tariffs after his inauguration is over. The market shock will be severe. At best, trade negotiations should proceed with caution and tariffs should be recognized as the tax on consumers that history has shown them to be. Reality must be our guide if North America is going to rebound and unlock its economic potential in the years to come. Canada and the U.S. can both thrive, and that means we must come together. Elizabeth Hicks is U.S. affairs analyst at the Consumer Choice Center, where Sabine El-Chidiac is Canadian policy associate. Copyright 2025 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 The Hill. When George Washington was inaugurated as the nations first president, the ceremony broke with a line of precedent dating back thousands of years. Before his inaugural address, he took a simple oath to defend the Constitution that had been ratified the prior year. The former general did not ascribe his new role to his military might or the providence of a higher power. There was no crown laid upon his head, no anointing his brow with holy oils within the Senate chamber; it was a secular affair that celebrated the ability of mortals to decide their own future. While no scepter or orb was placed in his hands, President Donald Trumps inauguration was more of a coronation than this country has seen in its history. He is returning to the White House as many elites scramble to show their support. They shower him with praise and tribute in hopes of avoiding the retribution he has promised for the enemies who dare oppose him. On one level, its easy to see why so many have been so quick to placate Trumps ego. After his failed scheme to retain power upon losing the 2020 election, there was a rush to disavow him or at least hold him at arms length. In her ruling on his attempt to avoid consequences for his plotting, U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan wrote in 2023 that Trumps four-year service as commander in chief did not bestow on him the divine right of kings to evade the criminal accountability that governs his fellow citizens. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But the Supreme Court overruled Chutkans decision last year, with the conservative supermajority instead finding an absolute criminal immunity for many of his actions as president where none previously existed. In every use of official power, Justice Sonia Sotomayor warned in her dissent, the President is now a king above the law. That ruling was just one sign that the end of monarchical divine right may have been prematurely announced. Checks that would normally be in place to safeguard against a rogue president have been abandoned. Congress, meant to be a co-equal to the executive, has seen impeachment twice fail to end his presidency and prevent him from running again. The Supreme Court allowed his placement on the ballot, in opposition to the words of the 14th Amendment that should have barred him from holding office. Now, Trump stands ready to gather even more authority unto himself, siphoning it with little outcry from the lawmakers who the founders assumed would act to jealously guard their privileges. He has shown his willingness to rob the power of the purse from the House and place it under his thumb. The Senate has (so far) refused to allow Trump to simply name his Cabinet via recess appointment but stands poised to confirm even his least qualified nominees. Though congressional Republicans have hardly been consistently united, their squabbles over strategy are only a potential delay, not a rejection of Trumps centrality to their partys present identity. It is not ideology, but their loyalty to one man and fear of his reprisals that they rally around. Key external forces that could sway a president have also opted to follow the prevailing winds and plant themselves by his side. Many of the richest and most influential people on the planet have shown themselves as particularly eager to show their fealty. The Silicon Valley overlords who have gathered in Washington to fete him are galling in their collective spinelessness. It is as though the earls and barons of England, whose lands were the economic engine of the kingdom, had promised King John their undying devotion rather than forcing him to sign Magna Carta to rein in his excesses. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It is incumbent, then, that any American with the capacity to challenge Trump does so rather than acquiesce to his march to tyranny. Elected Democrats must embrace their position as opposition party and fight him without fear of calling down his wrath. Media figures who promise to speak truth to power must do so without worry about how those truths will be received. Unfortunately, in both camps, there is already a trend toward yielding to him as a force of nature rather than treating him as the flawed and faltering figure he truly is. It is only in the act of placing Trump in a unique category, beyond the laws of politics and society, that reality seemingly bends around him. With so many of the powerful few choosing to follow the tide as his gravitational pull brings them closer into his orbit, it falls on the assembled strength of the masses to stand in opposition. Far from the sweeping mandate that he has claimed, Trump remains unpopular with half of the country as millions continue to reject his policies. With a Republican trifecta firmly in charge in Washington, the nations problems are now their problems. And an impatient, narrowly divided public has shown itself to be fickle, more than willing to discard the status quo figure in favor of whichever candidate promises change. Perhaps the country will weather the storm of another four years with Trump at the helm. To do so, though, will require holding firm against the idea that he is invincible and unstoppable. There is nothing inevitable about Trump succeeding in his attempt at kingship. He is a corrupt and corrupting force whose wild flailing should not be mistaken as strategy. There are no supernatural forces backing him, no divine retribution he can call down or everlasting curse he can lay on your family. He is a man both powerful and foolish two traits that combine to make him dangerous but a man all the same. This article was originally published on MSNBC.com It is either tragically funny or devastatingly sad that while a genetic counselor explained the random lunacy of my sons deadly disease to me all I could think of was how our current situation bears an uncanny resemblance to the plot of Rumpelstiltskin. I made the mistake of telling our genetic counselor as much. Sorry, are you saying you sold your sons soul to a troll? I mean, maybe? That almost makes more sense to me than genetic mutations. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In this scenario, whos the troll? She got me there. I could spend ages trying to pinpoint a culprit. Ever since my sons diagnosis with the brutal disease adrenoleukodystrophy (ALD) four months ago, Ive found myself jolted awake at 2 a.m. every day, as if by some internal command to investigate our current woes. The investigation involves staring at the ceiling and scouring the cluttered compartments of my mind in search of a spontaneous revelation regarding exactly when, and exactly why, doom entered our lives. Maybe I shouldnt have dismissed that Roma woman who put a curse on me 15 years ago in a Moscow underpass when I had no money to give her sick baby. Maybe her confusing hand gestures really did guarantee great suffering for my future bloodline. Maybe that goth girl at the mall who waved around a kitchen knife and promised big problems to a teenage me was legit and her Hot Topic attire was all part of an elaborate head fake. Come to think of it, perhaps that unhinged squeegee man I so quickly shooed away with threats of pepper spray had hidden supernatural talents. Ditto for the literal trolls who used to email me regularly over my journalistic work to make bitterly jubilant proclamations like I hope you get raped or I hope your kids get cancer. But no, the genetic counselor assures me we are not dealing with a curse. Though the reality is equally disconcerting: Apparently you can go almost an entire lifetime thinking youre relatively normal, just like other human beings, and then bam, you learn youre a mutant. Not even a cool kind of mutant a la the X-Men, but a stupid one with an invisible mutation that serves no purpose except to kill little boys. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Where did the genetic mutation come from? When did it enter my life? I ask the geneticist, conscious of the fact that many families dealing with ALD have watched it ravage entire generations as the genetic mutation is inherited again and again. In my case, I have no one to blame, because it started with me. My mutationthe mutation that might kill my childis de novo, the first of its kind. The variant has never before been reported, and my son and I now namelessly occupy our own row in a national database of ALD mutations. (We are not special; there are thousands.) Its most likely been there since you were a very young age, the geneticist says. Was it inherited? Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We dont think so. So from when I was a child? Most likely from when you were still a baby. What caused it? Are there certain factors that cause it? Nope. Think of it as a typo. When your cells were replicating, this particular gene got a T instead of a G. And thats it? 39 years later it rears its ugly head to potentially claim the life of my firstborn child? Unfortunately, yes. See? A bloodthirsty troll really does make more sense. Or at least as much sense as nature randomly trying to snuff out my bloodline. But I am told not to take it too personally. Every single person brings new genetic mutations to their generationdozens of them, according to current estimates. Were all mutants. Its just that the mutations are usually harmless. And theyre always pointless, even the deadly ones. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Strangely, my 8-year-old son has yet to ask why he was born with this lethal spelling error. He seems oddly used to the reality of what he calls cancer kids and very nonchalantly puts himself in the same category, even though his disease is a different kind of monster. I have to get a bone marrow transplant, he tells his gaming friends, as if bored by his new status in life. He doesnt want to be a downer, so he doesnt tell them that the transplant is the only way to slow or stop the progression of cerebral ALD; once it begins, it mercilessly devours the brain, squeezing the life out bit by bit. I have exactly seven days left with my son before he checks into a hospital room that he may never walk out of again. And I wish his fate were in the hands of an evil troll rather than probability and chance. Id have more luck with a Rumpelstiltskin; I could find some kind of sense even in a dark psyche. Not so with nature and genetics. With probably and maybe and we wont know until we know. The doctors tell me the scariest complications of a bone marrow transplant are rare for a boy like my son who is healthy apart from his genetic disease. Veno-occlusive disease and kidney injury and failure to engraft and endless horrors and breakdowns of the human body. Both slow and fast, all painful. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Theres always about a 10 percent chance of death during transplant, one doctor tells me. Its not a comforting statistic for the mother of a child with an incredibly rare condition. The chance of him developing the disease to begin with was 0.0048 percent. And yet here we are. The odds are not on our side and neither is nature. Weve spent weeks packing bags and making plans for my sons post-transplant recovery, but the realist in me knows damn well its all just an exercise. That there might not be an after. Theres a chance hell be okay, a success story, a smiling third grader met with cheers as he returns to school a year from now. And theres a chance hell never know normal again. That these next seven days will be the last time he gets to jump in his bed and leap wildly from his dresser in pursuit of adrenaline and stars. That all things will end suddenly after one final burst of beeping from the machines and one last drip of morphine to quiet the dread. And if that happens, we will not defy the odds but abolish them. There will be no explanation and no making sense and scientists will have no time to come up with percentages and probabilities because the Earth will split wide open and swallow me whole and I will let it. I am a civil rights baby, born into agitating when my mother sat down at a whites-only lunch counter in Huntsville, Alabama, in 1962, with me, her four-month-old infant in her lap and following her arrest, both of us were promptly taken to jail. For me, the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday is sacred; a time for reading Dr. Kings words and reflecting on how we, the people, can continue the work of making liberty and justice for all a reality. Today, I am forced to reckon with an irony: This year, the federal holiday celebrating Dr. King falls on Inauguration Day, our quadrennial national ritual of swearing in presidents, in this case Donald John Trump. What would MLK think of this incongruity? I look to his words for answers. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Dr. King was a serious man with a serious message. Though I never met him, my parents knew him personally and always referred to him as Martin. He spoke truth at all costs, grounded in biblical scripture and especially condemned oppression of the poor. Often King paraphrased verse 5:24 from the Book of Amos, warning that Black Americans would not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream. In his famous I Have a Dream speech, King invoked these words to urge civil rights soldiers of all races to continue their creative nonviolent protest, until the Negro had full citizenship and was no longer subjected to the unspeakable horrors of police brutality. As a minister, King would have been very familiar with the full context of Amos call for justice. In Chapter 5, the prophet excoriates wealthy sinners that live lavish lives and perform rituals of religiosity yet turn justice into bitterness, detest the one who tells the truth and overtax and trample the poor. In earlier chapters, he castigates the slave trade and violent conquest for territorial expansion by nations. Amos, speaking for God, was righteous and angry; he unleashed disgust against the evil he witnessed. Dr. King was righteously angry too, but always constructive in pursuing his vision for an America remade by equality and friendship among former enemies. MLK articulated this dream with President Abraham Lincolns memorial as his backdrop. On Jan. 20, 2017, as he stood on the other end of the National Mall, President Trump was the polar opposite of King, when he delivered a dark inaugural address, vowing to stop American carnage. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Was King hopelessly naive in espousing a Beloved Community, in which poverty, hunger, homelessness, racism or militarism would not be tolerated because of new standards of human decency? Trumps success with nasty methods and language in 2024 certainly tested my faith in Kings radical idea. Candidate Trump relentlessly attacked enemies from within, naming journalists, the deep state and generally anyone that opposed him as people who were bad for America and targets for his revenge. I hope this is just bluster, as some of Trumps supporters claim. But the evidence suggests otherwise. King and my parents lived the creed of nonviolent resistance and an intentional cross-racial coalition in the cause of justice. In contrast, Trump consolidated power by dividing people, threatening violence, stoking fear and sometimes building a MAGA community through outright cruelty. It worked. Trump maintained his overwhelmingly white base, doubled his support with young Black men and expanded his share of Latino votes. This outcome is sobering, but Kings life and words give me solace. Men like Trump were not new to King. He was familiar with bullies and was determined rather than traumatized in their presence. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement George Wallace won his first Alabama gubernatorial election on segregation forever politics, then toss[ed] the gauntlet in his 1963 inaugural speech against those who would enforce school integration. King opined in his Dream speech that the Alabama governors lips were dripping with the words of interposition and nullification. My guess is he would say something similar about Trump. In the face of Wallace, and Alabamas vicious racists, King urged movement people not to wallow in the valley of despair but to continue their marvelous new militancy with disciplined nonviolence and willingness to lock arms with others. They should go back to Alabama and other citadels of segregation to change it, he exhorted. That is what my multi-degreed parents did, though two Fisk University classmates had entreated them to move to California to bypass Jim Crow. My father, a two-time valedictorian and Meharry-trained dentist, convinced his Jersey City bride to move to his home state of Alabama to take up this justice work. After helping to desegregate public accommodations in Huntsville, they moved to integrating schools and politics. Agitation to uplift others, especially dirt-poor Black sharecroppers who had been excluded from democracy in the state, became our family business. (In 1970, my father even challenged Wallace in the Alabama gubernatorial election; he lost, but scores of down-ballot Black candidates he championed won.) I had hoped that by now, robust multiracial democracy and the equality it demands would be accepted rather than suppressed, gerrymandered and denigrated as woke or fraudulent. To gain insight into what Dr. King might say today to the 80 percent of Black voters who supported Kamala Harris, and those that did not vote at all, I read a 1960 speech he gave to a North Carolina statewide conference of local NAACP chapters. As a child, I was dragged to many a meeting of Black organizing folk, so it was easy for me to picture his audience, wearing their Sunday church clothes to listen to the King. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He started his lecture with a preview of themes he would strike three years later in the Dream speech, then turned to enumerating what the Negro should do to realize her deferred dreams. We must make full and constructive use of the freedom we already possess, he said, and tap the inner determination that history tells us can often break through the outer shackles of circumstance. More pointedly, he told his audience to take that short walk to the voting booth and organize themselves by the hundreds and thousands to register and vote. Demanding the franchise and exercising it was the only way to win this struggle. Fighting for any kind of freedom demands expansion of democracy. There was no other answer. So it was then. So it is now. King decried the [a]pathy among Negroes who had the power to vote and did not exercise it. Trump won but did not exceed 50 percent of the popular vote and the margins for control of the House and Senate were close. My guess is that MLK would advise Democrats to try reaching the roughly 90 million people who did not vote with more creative organizing and fielding electrifying candidates that speak plainly to ordinary Americans needs. King concluded that Black Americans must proceed with the highest level of dignity and not drink the poisonous wine of hate because this was the only way to reestablish the broken community. While this is the hardest work of the New Testament theology of Jesus Christ to which King adhered, it seems right. Trump will not be president forever. But the teachings of Christ and all world religions about universal humanity are eternal. And so, on this MLK Day, I hope all Americans will pause to consider Dr. Kings truths. And act on them. Elon Musk arguably played a bigger role in electing Donald Trump president than anyone other than Trump himself. The tech titan spent more than a quarter billion dollars on the election effort. He bought Twitter, making it hospitable to conservative ideas and reinstated Trumps account after it had been banned following the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riot. He made it more socially safe for business leaders to publicly back the former president. He used his platform and influence to unabashedly criticize wokeism. But while Musk was one of the best things to happen to the Trump campaign, he could end up being one of the worst things to happen to the incoming Trump administration. Placing too much trust in Musk could lead to a repeat of a key mistake of Trumps first term in office. In 2016, Trump erred in handing significant influence to advisors who lacked zeal for MAGA aspirations. This included his daughter Ivanka and his son-in-law Jared Kushner, who brought with them liberal New York politics and a strong desire to remain popular in their elite personal circle. They sidelined disciplined MAGA proponents in the White House, undermined the administrations resolve on immigration, and pushed Trump to pass the First Step Act, which freed 30,000 convicted criminals from prison. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trump runs a similar risk with Musk, who has done his best to be Trumps shadow since Nov. 5. Trumps handing leadership of the Department of Government Efficiency to Musk isnt a superficial token of appreciation for Musks support. Hes not sending Musk to be the ambassador of some remote island. Instead, the Tesla founder is going to have office space in the White House complex. He will be able to combine his immediate access to the president and the executive branch with his own personal influence over politicians throughout the country. Why could Musk be a bad bet? The answer is simple: Musk is not a MAGA Republican. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Musk described himself as a liberal as late as 2022. He turned his back on Trump once in 2017; he agreed to join an advisory council for the presidents first tenure in the White House, then left after the president pulled the country out of the Paris Climate Accords. He cozied up with Barack Obama when it served his interests and strongly supported Obama for president. Rehauling the nations immigration system which includes securing the border and implementing mass deportations was the most significant mandate given to Trump in November. Voters concerned that mass migration drives down wages and takes jobs from American workers flocked to the polls to vote for Trump. Musks recent comments suggest he may not be fully on board with Trumps immigration agenda. Musk and DOGE co-leader Vivek Ramaswamy have prompted fury among the MAGA base for their support for H-1B visas. The traditional justification for this program is that it allows companies to bring skilled immigrants to the U.S. to work. Critics of the program, including odd bedfellows Steve Bannon and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), oppose the H-1B program on the basis that it displaces skilled American workers from the job market, disincentives domestic workers from seeking higher skills, and harms wages by facilitating the engagement of less expensive workers from other countries. They point to a statistic that 76 percent of engineers in Silicon Valley are not Americans. A full 60 percent of voters agree with Bannon and Sanders. Whats more, the H-1B program has enriched tech oligarchs at the expense of the American worker. Musk is foremost among the beneficiaries. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trump attempted to restrict H-1B visas during his first term. But now he is siding with Musk on the issue, insisting that he fully backs the H-1B program, putting himself at odds with many voters who rallied to him and put their trust in him in 2016 and again in 2024. Musk shows signs that he intends to use his platform in the Trump orbit to extend his own power around the globe, as if a co-president and more than the co-head of DOGE. On X Musk fired a steady stream of shots at the British government regarding crimes committed by immigrants, even running a poll earlier this month asking X users if the United States should liberate Britain. Musk sparked fresh controversy over the issue days before the inauguration, drawing negative reactions from the British government. Does Trump need the richest man in the world, sitting down the hall from the Oval Office, threatening to meddle in the politics of Americas closest ally? Its one thing to do this when youre just the richest man and without an office in the White House. And what if Musk involves himself in national and international economic policy? What will happen when Musks agenda for electric cars and climate policy conflicts with the MAGA agenda for reviving the production and export of American oil and gas and revising the global framework for addressing climate issues? Republican members of Congress clearly recognize the power that Musk now holds. Many members meet with the billionaire regularly and heap praise him publicly one even called him our prime minister on national television. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement None of this is to say that Musk cant have a positive influence on a second Trump administration. He has some definitive plans through DOGE to cut government spending an urgent priority of the MAGA platform. Plus, X will serve as a valuable microphone for the new president and his supporters. Americans want action this time around, and in many ways the expectations of Trump are far higher now than they were in 2017. To be sure, Musk isnt the only potential risk in Trumps new term. However, he is a symbol of one of his worst mistakes the first Trump administration: By trusting former liberals to help craft and implement policy, Trump ceded political capital. He now runs the same risk of Musk pushing policy toward the left or starting controversies that divide or distract Republicans. Kristin Tate is a political writer based in Boston and the author of three books, the most recent of which is titled The Liberal Invasion of Red State America. She is an on-air contributor for Sky News and a columnist for The Boston Herald. Copyright 2025 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 The Hill. Burma Burma, a Burmese restaurant chain in India, has raised Rs254.6m ($2.94m) in equity funding to expand its presence nationwide. The investment round was led by Negen Capital, with contributions from NV Alpha Fund Management and several high-net-worth individuals (HNIs), as reported by YourStory. This financial boost aims to support the brand's expansion strategy, targeting a total of 24 outlets by the financial year 2026. Burma Burma currently operates 12 outlets across major Indian cities. In December 2024, the company reported revenues of Rs105m ($1.21m). The companys outlet-level operating profit margin stood at more than 28%, alongside an EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation) margin of 19%. Burma Burma co-founder Chirag Chhajer said: "The focus is to take the company to Rs3bn in revenue within two financial years while achieving an 18% + EBITDA margin. This funding will be a catalyst in bringing our vision to life as we aim to be IPO [initial public offering]-ready by 2027." For the financial year 2024, Burma Burma posted revenues of Rs740m and anticipates a significant growth rate of 50% for the following year. The latest funding round was facilitated by investment bankers Sarthak Ahuja and Aditi Randev from Niamh Ventures, along with Negen Wealths BV Raman. Burma Burma co-founder Ankit Gupta stated: "We are building a brand that will lead the way for novel cuisine concepts in India and beyond. While Burmese cuisine remains our core offering, we are thrilled to be working on new projects that will expand our culinary portfolio. In September 2024, Hunger Pangs, the parent company of Burma Burma, had secured $2m in equity and was on the lookout for an additional $3m. "Burma Burma secures funding for expansion plans " was originally created and published by Verdict Food Service, a GlobalData owned brand. With half a million copies sold by the end of the American Revolution, "Common Sense" remains one of the best-selling works of all time relative to the U.S. population. (Bettmann Archive) The 2024 presidential election painted a dismal picture a country split red and blue, a near-even divide, reminding us how fractured weve become. Despite this polarization, nearly three-quarters of Americans agree on one thing: Our democracy is under threat. In these respects, today's America resembles the America of 1776, when divisions threatened the future of the democratic experiment. As patriots readied for battle and loyalists clung to the British crown, Thomas Paine published Common Sense , a fiercely persuasive pamphlet that united Colonists to fight against monarchy in the name of self-rule. "It is not in numbers, but in unity, that our great strength lies," Paine argued. To that end, he turned democratic ideals into a shared purpose. America, bound to the will of its people, challenged a world bound to the will of kings. And with Common Sense, Paine joined Americans together in the bold belief that "we have it in our power to begin the world over again." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Soon, Paine's pamphlet was everywhere whispered by soldiers in Valley Forge tents, shouted in Philadelphia taverns, quoted in sermons. With half a million copies sold by the end of the American Revolution, Common Sense remains one of the best-selling works of all time relative to the U.S. population (2.5 million in 1776, not counting slaves and Native Americans). If not for Common Sense, the United States might not exist as we know it. Now, nearly 250 years later, Paine's pamphlet stands not just as a relic of history but as a blueprint for preserving democracy. From challenging authoritarian rule to limiting the sway of the wealthy to upholding the will of the majority, Paine's words are more relevant now than ever. And his message was clear: We must unite to confront the forces that threaten the republic starting with the threat of absolute power. Paines critique of unchecked authority was central to his argument for a government of, by and for the people. He saw King George IIIs rule as the epitome of tyranny, and warned that a thirst for absolute power is the natural disease of monarchy. That warning resonates as Donald Trump returns to office with a well-documented record of testing and stretching the limits of power. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In July, as Trumps efforts led the Supreme Court to expand presidential immunity, Justice Sonia Sotomayors dissent echoed Paine's concerns. She wrote, "In every use of official power, the President is now a king above the law a deep departure from the assertion in Common Sense that in America, the law is king and there ought to be no other. But Paines concerns extended beyond authoritarian leaders. Common Sense also decried the outsized influence of the wealthy. With frequent condemnations of "aristocratical tyranny," Paine scrutinized the rich as "slaves to fear" and alleged that "their minds are early poisoned by importance. Paine believed American democracy could not survive if power was bought and sold by the wealthy elite. And, again, his warnings apply today. Supreme Court rulings such as Citizens United , the decision that unleashed unlimited election spending by corporations and individuals, have turned Paines fears into our reality. The 2024 elections saw a staggering $16 billion in campaign expenditures with money coming from small donors but also super PACs and at least 150 billionaire families. With Republicans and Democrats capitalizing on almost unchecked spending, both parties are complicit in a system in which influence can be bought by the highest bidder. Paines rebuke of kings and aristocrats was grounded in a democratic bulwark: fair representation. Amid Colonial protests against unjust taxes, the cry no taxation without representation lit a rebellious spark. Then Common Sense set it ablaze, insisting that there is no political matter which more deserves our attention than large and equal representation" a demand unmet by America's rulers across the sea. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Centuries later, as policies drift farther from majority views, Americans are confronting a new ocean. Not one measured in miles but in understanding, and just as vast. The fall of Roe vs. Wade disregarded the will of 63% of Americans who support access to abortion in all or most cases, according to the Pew Research Center . Pew reckons that 61% of Americans think its too easy to own a gun in this country, and 63% want to abolish the electoral college. But public will remains overshadowed by political tradition. This gap between political realities and majority beliefs is fueled by tribalism and the pursuit of power, with party loyalty outpacing the needs and desires of constituents. As historian Craig Nelson told me, Paine would be befuddled by todays red-versus-blue divide. For Paine, unity was not just an ideal but a survival strategy. Our modern polarization represents a surrender to the very forces Paine warned against. To prevent American democracy from failing, we must learn from its beginning. And learning from Common Sense means upholding principles the Colonists died for: leaders accountable to the people, influence that cannot be bought and laws that reflect the will of the majority. Common Sense was more than a rallying cry; it was Paines effort to forge an American identity rooted in a commitment to self-governance and trust in the power of the many not the few. Paine's greatest lesson is that our strength lies in our collective resolve to unite, just as democracy requires. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A democracy's salvation lies within itself. To save the American experiment, we must remember how its potential first brought us together. Overcoming the darkness of our divides won't be easy. But as Common Sense tells us, "The sun never shined on a cause of greater worth." A.T. McWilliams is a poet and writer based in Brooklyn. If its in the news right now, the L.A. Times Opinion section covers it. Sign up for our weekly opinion newsletter. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. Donald Trumps first inaugural address is often referred to by political commentators as the American Carnage speech. Instead of presenting an optimistic vision of what he wanted to do as president, Trump used dark (and at time misleading) rhetoric that would set the tone for his first term. That was years before he encouraged his supporters to violently march on the Capitol, the building where he will deliver his address today. Follow MSNBCs live blog for the latest updates and expert analysis on Donald Trumps inauguration. And even in the days leading up to the inauguration, the Trump team has previewed its priorities for the first couple of days of his term, promising mass deportation raids in major cities, the pardoning of insurrectionists and an executive order allowing career public servants to be fired. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement So the bar for his speech is already embarrassingly low. But as Trump prepares to deliver his second inaugural address Monday, we cant allow his past to lower our own bars of what we should expect from an incoming president. And more importantly, one moderately controlled speech doesnt mean he is actually planning to put his political grievances aside and govern for all people. After all, this is a direct quote from that same American carnage address in 2017: The oath of office I take today is an oath of allegiance to all Americans. To all Americans, in every city near and far, small and large, from mountain to mountain, and from ocean to ocean, hear these words. You will never be ignored again. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We know thats not exactly how it worked out. During the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, as thousands upon thousands died, Trump repeatedly questioned sending aid to blue states and referred to a Covid relief bill submitted by House Democrats as a big bailout for badly run Democratic cities and states. He dismissed the deaths of Americans who died in states that didnt vote his way. Trump was similarly dismissive after a series of devastating hurricanes hit Puerto Rico in late 2017. The president reportedly told his staff he didnt want a single dollar going to Puerto Rico. Instead, he wanted more of the money to go to Texas and Florida. The Washington Post reports he even signed an order directing the Federal Emergency Management Agency to pay almost all disaster costs in Florida, a very red state, after having threatened to veto a similar proposal for Puerto Rico. Trump also reportedly withheld wildfire assistance for Washington in 2020 after he feuded with the states Democratic governor, reports Politico, and initially refused to provide disaster aid for 2018 wildfires in California. A glimpse into the future if we elect @realDonaldTrump Trump was willing to hold back aid after devastating wildfires in California until he saw proof that people liked him. He doesnt care about America. He only cares about himself. https://t.co/Sec9XuhjZr pic.twitter.com/NRC5sNMzXl Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) October 3, 2024 And those are just some of many examples. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Its very possible Trump will stand in the middle of the Capitol rotunda Monday and repeat his commitment to represent all Americans, especially those who feel left behind by the government. He will, of course, be delivering that speech in front of some of the worlds elites, including the tech oligarchy posse of Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk. The tens of thousands of Trump fans originally expected to watch from the Mall will literally be locked out. Maybe Trump wont talk about his plans for immigration raids in major cities like Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles, Philadelphia and Washington. Maybe he wont celebrate the heroism of the Jan. 6 insurrectionists. And thats a good thing. But that doesnt mean immigration raids arent imminent. Or that violent rioters wont soon be rewarded with presidential pardons. Its the job of political pundits to watch and analyze, to listen closely to the words of the president and try to predict their true meaning. But Trump isnt like other presidents. And so we must resist the urge to grade on a curve. And remember that what he does is infinitely more important than anything he says. This article was originally published on MSNBC.com It is a cruel irony that the nation will commemorate the memory of Martin Luther King Jr. on the day a man is sworn in as president who swears he'll roll back diversity efforts. That Donald Trump is also promising to dispense even more tax breaks to the wealthiest, has appointed the least diverse and most questionably qualified slate of Cabinet officials in recent memory and has unapologetically accepted the embrace of white nationalists who proclaim him as a hero makes the day feel like a surreal collision on the calendar. The fact that Kings commemoration and Trumps inauguration coincide feels both off brand and on point in a country where the trains of progress and backlash have always moved on parallel tracks. But in this case, the backlash feels like it has the momentum of a bullet train. On the other hand, the effort to help marginalized or underrepresented people gain ground seems like it is struggling not to roll backward down a steep and craggy hill. Follow MSNBCs live blog for the latest updates and expert analysis on Donald Trumps inauguration. Dr. King talked passionately about these parallel tracks in his lifetime, so we shouldnt be surprised to find ourselves confronted with the same challenges in ours. In Kings era, church bombings, televised beatings and the notorious murders of civil rights workers and innocents like Emmett Till stirred a nations conscience around racial reconciliation. In ours, Covid disparities, family separations at the border and video of police violence against Black victims stoked an earnest conversation about equality in America. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Corporations suddenly committed to social justice issues pledged billions of dollars to help. But only a small fraction of the money pledged appears to have been spent, and many of those same businesses are now downsizing or devastating their diversity, equity and inclusion efforts because the incoming administration has essentially declared that DEI is DOA. Overwhelmingly America is still struggling with irresolution and contradictions, King wrote in his 1967 book Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community? It has been sincere, and even ardent in welcoming some change, he wrote. But too quickly apathy and disinterest rise to the surface when the next logical steps are to be taken, laws are passed in a crisis mode after a Birmingham or a Selma, but no substantial fervor survives the formal signing of legislation. The recording of the law in itself is treated as the reality of the reform. I pick up my dog-eared, marked-up copy of Where Do We Go From Here?, Kings final book, every year around this time, and it always offers fresh lessons. This is the book in which King allowed himself to be angry on the page. The book in which lamented that integration alone wasnt the end goal if white America treated Black Americans and other people of color with decency instead of true opportunity. In which King focused not just on racial reconciliation but on a broader human rights agenda that included fighting for the poor and for just wages for working-class Americans whose white modern-day counterparts overwhelmingly voted for Trump. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This book presents a Dr. King who was beginning to feel like America was turning a deaf ear to his pleas. He had won the Nobel Peace Prize but had begun to lose support and respect from younger and more radical Black leaders. And some white politicians whod been allies (people such as President Lyndon B. Johnson) were beginning to disdain his opposition to Americas involvement in the Vietnam War. Because this was the King who was pointing out that the stark equation of racial disparity seen in unemployment, infant mortality and income opportunities pursues Negroes, even into war, noting the disproportionately high casualty rate for Black soldiers in Vietnam. The King the reader encounters in the books 200 pages is quite different from the man who has been portrayed since a federal holiday was established in his name. The holiday is now about as old as King was when he was assassinated on a balcony in Memphis. Two years before he was assassinated, a Gallup Poll found that 63% of Americans had negative views of King and an FBI memo declared that he was the most dangerous Negro of the future in this nation because of his influence over great masses of negroes. The widespread acceptance of King as a certified American hero has come with a softening of his image after he was caricatured as a dreamer instead of a doer and a soaring orator instead of a strategic and persistent agitator. He has been increasingly portrayed as someone who tried to appeal to the conscience of white Americans instead of someone who was increasingly pointing out white Americas hypocrisies and inconsistencies of effort. As he wrote, White America was ready to demand that the Negro should be spared the lash or brutality and coarse degradation, but it had never been truly committed to helping him out of poverty, exploitation, or all forms of discrimination. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He wrote that Negroes hold only one key to the double lock of peaceful change. The other is in the hands of the white community. He was a complex and evolving man who saw Americas limitations as well as its possibilities and often despaired that the chasm was so wide. And yet, his holiday is the day we get lectures about the content of our character from people who dont fully support the ideas and policies of the man they selectively quote. In the four decades our nation has been celebrating the King holiday, it feels that we have focused only on slim aspects of a much broader legacy. The shades have been drawn over windows in his life that could serve as a lighthouse in this moment of tumult and uncertainty. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement And because we need that lighthouse right now, it might be useful to focus on his evolution toward dispelling hard truths despite the blowback. It might be smart to look back on the ways he tried to encourage people inside and outside the movement who felt like America would never live up to her promise and reminded people that a final victory wouldnt come without constant setbacks. With a dynamic will, we must transform our minus into a plus, and move on aggressively through the storms of injustice, and the jostling winds of daily handicaps, toward the beginning lights of fulfillment. Our dilemma is serious and our handicaps are real. But equally real is the power of a creative will, and its ability to give us the courage to go on. This may provide neither balm nor inspiration for those who are dispirited by the direction of the country and the bizarre coincidence of the King holidays falling on the day a man who wants to be treated like a king is inaugurated. I grew up surrounded by wise elders who chafed under the strictures of a racially unjust world that King gave his life trying to change. They figured out how to flourish despite the unrelenting headwinds of racial codes and outright discrimination, and their wisdom is ringing in my ears right now. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement How many times did I hear some version of There are no accidents, only lessons to be learned? In that sense todays collision on the calendar feels like a call to action. A message wrapped up in a metaphor. A reminder that the federal commemoration of Dr. Kings life isnt merely a day off from work, school or toil but a day to press onward to the most important tasks before us. That vision you have of a positive future? Speak of it. Write about it. Share your ideas about it. Run toward it. Walk in the power of your imagination. Walk in the power of vision. Walk in the strength of your persistence and resilience. Practice and prioritize self-care. Rest if you must, and dont apologize for temporarily tapping out. Its not just OK. Its necessary. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Let Dr. Kings encouragement for the people of past movements move us to acknowledge even the little victories on the way toward larger goals. Do what you can to make America kind again and know that, as King told us decades ago, chaos and community are on the menu. Choose community. This article was originally published on MSNBC.com Inauguration Day has arrived, and what was once nearly unimaginable is now our reality Donald Trump is returning to the Oval Office. For both supporters and detractors of Trump, one question looms over the nation today: Whats next? Trumps first term offers some clues, and I witnessed it up close as a national security adviser to Vice President Mike Pence. However, much has changed since then. Follow MSNBCs live blog for the latest updates and expert analysis on Donald Trumps inauguration. Trump begins his second term as a convicted felon, but for all intents and purposes, hes free from legal entanglements over his role in trying to overturn the 2020 election and his hoarding of top-secret national security documents. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Hes emboldened not only by escaping any real legal accountability, but also by the 2024 Supreme Court ruling granting the president near-total immunity. Furthermore, Trump views his narrow victory in November as a public mandate, a sanctioning of his MAGA agenda that many in his first administration resisted. And naturally, Trump is predictably unpredictable. In short, this will be a very different administration from the one I served in. Working in Trumps White House, I learned quickly to take him at his word. He isnt as enigmatic as he is made out to be and typically says exactly what he plans to do. I fully anticipate that Trump will hit the ground running on three priorities: retribution, immigration reform and deconstructing the federal bureaucracy. These are the promises he campaigned on and is most motivated to pursue. And he will, aggressively. Trump being Trump, political warfare will take precedence and will be easiest to initiate from the executive branch. Trumps enemies list would make Richard Nixon blush, as it includes current and former elected officials (yes, even presidents), military and intelligence officers, prosecutors, judges, journalists, political operatives, corporate entities and others. Anyone who has publicly criticized, challenged, scrutinized, blown the whistle on or brought suit against Trump is a potential target. His weaponized Justice Department will be busy from the jump, with high-profile investigations launched immediately. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Policy is more complicated, and immigration policy especially so. Consider that Trumps first term saw a sharp rise in border encounters, despite harsh policies that were poorly planned but devastatingly effective in sowing fear and pain. His executive orders tore migrant families apart with no plan to reunite them and inflicted unspeakable trauma on children, with many still separated today. The intent was clear: dehumanize immigrants and create a chilling effect to deter others from seeking refuge in the United States. Punitive policies like these will make a swift comeback, with fewer voices willing to push back against the machinery of cruelty. Alongside the cruelty was the chaos. I was at the epicenter of it, working firsthand on the travel ban in the harrowing early days of Trumps first term. Policies were rolled out with little notice, zero coordination and no regard for their human toll, never mind the impact on our international relations. This unrelenting chaos wasnt a bug of the administration but a feature a deliberate strategy to sow division, test the limits of power and dismantle norms in the name of political theater. As Trump takes office in a new era of unrestrained leadership, the cruelty and chaos will evolve into a more calculated agenda. Having nixed the bipartisan border bill last year to make mass deportations the crown jewel of his campaign, Trump will lean hard on Kristi Noem, Tom Homan and Stephen Miller to make a show of it. Count on institutionalized brutality and the deportation of naturalized or even native-born citizens. We can probably expect to see an uptick in vigilantism and hate crimes. These will abate only if Trumps supporters perceive that the human and financial costs outweigh any benefits. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Then theres the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, helmed by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy. With DOGE, Trump will be more effective at breaking the system than in his first term. Expect a federal hiring freeze to be at the top of the executive orders Trump issues right out of the gate. My greatest fear is the risk of foreign-driven terrorist attacks as cuts to our intelligence and national security weaken defenses and allies grow hesitant to share critical intelligence. In the aftermath of such an attack, Trump would be likely to follow his familiar pattern: spreading misinformation, making premature accusations and politicizing tragedy for his own agenda. Even more alarming is the potential for him to militarize law enforcement, pushing the United States toward a police state. Under the guise of security, this could lead to excessive force and the suppression of civil liberties, threatening the very freedoms he claims to protect. The crippling of federal law enforcement will also fuel the ongoing rise in domestic terrorist threats. Trumps choice for FBI director, Kash Patel, has openly vowed to gut the FBI, focused on downsizing the workforce and flirted with the idea of closing the agencys headquarters and turning it into a museum the very agency tasked with identifying and defeating domestic terrorists. Trump, as president, often ignored or downplayed these threats, though he at times he openly expressed fondness for far-right extremists like the ones who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6. But a second Trump administration is likely to be more focused on personal grievance investigations rather than legitimate domestic threats. Trump voters who hoped dismantling the federal government would translate into draining the swamp will be sorely disappointed. Instead, midlevel bureaucrats will lose jobs, and government functions will be disrupted or outright eliminated while Trumps billionaire tech allies funnel public dollars into private pursuits. Some things never change. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This isnt just another inauguration. Its the start of a darker chapter in U.S. history that many Americans wont fully grasp until its well underway. Trumps unpredictability, penchant for exploiting divisions and relentless pursuit of power remain, but his second term promises to be far more extreme and devoid of accountability. The American people must brace themselves for whats to come. This article was originally published on MSNBC.com HOLTON (KSNT) Stormont Vail Health is partnering with a local community hospital to launch a new endocrinology clinic. Taylor Bugg with Stormont Vail Health announced in a press release on Monday, Jan. 20 that a new endocrinology outreach clinic will be opening in Holton on Jan. 25. This is through a partnership between Stormont Vail Health and the Holton Community Hospital. Bailey Cole, an advanced practice registered nurse, will lead the clinic and provide specialized care to local patients with endocrine disorders. She is looking forward to treating conditions like diabetes, thyroid disorders and more. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement My biggest goal is to support the patient while guiding them to a healthier and more comfortable life, Cole said. I want a collaborative approach to improve your life by meeting your endocrinology needs. Cole earned a doctoral degree from Washburn University in 2020 and has previously served as an emergency room nurse. She began her career as a nurse practitioner, spending time helping people with diabetes manage their blood sugars while at the hospital. Topeka dentist, Vietnam veteran passes away after life of service Bugg said Coles extensive knowledge in endocrinology and passion for providing great care to her patients will be a boost to the Holton community. The new clinic will focus on personalized patient care and offer comprehensive assessments and tailored treatment plans. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The clinic will be inside the Holton Community Hospital located at 1110 Columbine Drive. You can learn more about the hospital by clicking here or by calling 785-354-9591. For more local news, click here. Keep up with the latest breaking news in northeast Kansas by downloading our mobile app and by signing up for our news email alerts. Sign up for our Storm Track Weather app by clicking here. Follow Matthew Self on X (Twitter): https://twitter.com/MatthewLeoSelf Copyright 2025 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. Jan. 19WILKES-BARRE Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED) Secretary Rick Siger this week announced the approval of $34.3 million through the Neighborhood Assistance Program (NAP) to help low-income individuals and improve distressed areas in Pennsylvania communities. The NAP, which provides tax credits to businesses that contribute to nonprofit organizations' efforts to revitalize communities, will support 218 projects across the Commonwealth. Gov. Josh Shapiro's bipartisan 2024-25 budget doubled the funding for the NAP from $36 million to $72 million, allowing for two rounds of awards. The first round was announced by Secretary Siger in September 2024. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "Doubling the Neighborhood Assistance Program will have a positive impact on individuals and neighborhoods all across our Commonwealth," Secretary Siger said. The new funding approvals will support a variety of important community projects across Pennsylvania, including: 33 community investments in the northeast region. The Greater Wyoming Valley YMCA in Luzerne County will rehabilitate a vacant building in downtown Hazleton and offer affordable early childhood education, as well as before and after school childcare for at-risk and vulnerable children and their low-income families in a severely under-served community. State highlights importance of safely storing firearms to keep families, communities safe Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency (PCCD), Department of Health (DOH), and State Police this week joined together to raise awareness of the importance of safely storing firearms to reduce the risk of firearm injuries. "Storing firearms safely within the home can make a huge difference in saving lives and preventing injuries, as nearly a third of all youth firearm deaths are due to the unintentional discharge of a weapon and suicide," said Health Secretary Dr. Debra Bogen. "We are taking measures, such as providing free gun-locks to Pennsylvania families, to help prevent tragic and avoidable injuries and deaths from unsecured firearms." Firearm-related injuries and fatalities are a public health crisis. On average, about 1,600 Pennsylvanians die from gunshot wounds each year, with 3,000 more injured. Research shows that safer gun ownership practices, like safer firearm storage, can significantly reduce firearm injuries and fatalities associated with suicide and unintentional shootings, especially among youth. "Gun violence is not just a public safety crisis, it is a public health emergency affecting kids, families, and entire communities," PCCD Executive Director Mike Pennington stated. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Pennsylvania has made significant strides in addressing gun violence as a public safety and public health issue in recent years through historic investments in community violence intervention and firearm safety programs and has seen reductions in homicides and firearm-related injuries in many communities. However, rates of firearm suicide have increased, representing 55% of gun deaths in 2022. Safer firearm storage practices can reduce the likelihood of injury and self-harm, especially among children and youth, but research suggests that many gun owners may not use these practices consistently. L&I: More than $8.9M to PA workers; over $3.6M in fines levied against employers who broke the law Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry (L&I) this week announced more than $8.94 million in unpaid wages was returned over the last two years to workers across the Commonwealth through the enforcement of state labor laws. While this commitment ensured that 6,445 workers were paid wages they earned, it also safeguarded the rights of over 6.2 million working Pennsylvanians. Additionally, since January 2023, L&I collected over $3.6 million in fines from employers who violated the Child Labor Act and the Construction Workplace Misclassification Act. These funds were returned to Pennsylvania's General Fund and the Unemployment Compensation Trust Fund. "Pennsylvania's workers deserve to be paid what they are owed and to know that their rights are protected," said L&I Secretary Nancy A. Walker. "Under Gov. Josh Shapiro's leadership, our Bureau of Labor Law Compliance has held employers accountable, protected workers, and supported businesses that play by the rules. These results demonstrate the Administration's unwavering commitment to fairness and economic justice." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement How to submit a complaint L&I's Bureau of Labor Law Compliance responds to complaints filed by members of the public who suspect violations of the Construction Workplace Misclassification Act, Child Labor Act, and other Pennsylvania labor laws. Anyone can file a complaint on L&I's website using an online submission form. State unveils process to ensure consistent coverage of Rx drugs, protecting Pennsylvanians from excessive costs The Pennsylvania Insurance Department (PID) this week announced another step toward fully implementing the Commonwealth's new Pharmacy Benefit Manager (PBM) reform law. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement PID established a new process for pharmacies to challenge a health benefit plan's designation of a specialty drug, which is a critical protection provided by Act 77 of 2024. Specialty drugs are high-cost medications used to treat complex, chronic or rare conditions that require special handling, administration and monitoring. This referral process allows PID to ensure that PBMs and health insurers only label medications as specialty drugs when appropriate. This process will promote consistent coverage decisions on specialty drugs and protect Pennsylvanians from excessive costs and delays in receiving critical treatments. "Pennsylvanians deserve affordable access to medications, and independent pharmacies must have a fair playing field on which to compete," said Pennsylvania Insurance Commissioner Michael Humphreys. "PID is doing everything we can to put processes in place that will enable us to enforce and implement every piece of this legislation as it becomes effective. This new oversight brings needed transparency and fairness to our healthcare system for all Pennsylvanians." PBMs are the hidden "middlemen" of the pharmaceutical supply chain. They negotiate the price of prescription drugs between health insurance companies and drug manufacturers, set compensation formulas for pharmacy payments, and determine patient co-payments. Despite their influence and outsized role in our healthcare system, many Pennsylvanians are unaware of the existence of PBMs. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Last July, Gov. Josh Shapiro signed into law Act 77 of 2024 the Pharmacy Benefit Reform Act. Commercially insured Pennsylvanians will start seeing the protections of Act 77 for their health insurance policies as they are issued beginning in 2026, with certain group policies potentially incorporating protections in 2025. In the last six months, PID has started registering Pharmacy Services Administration Organizations (PSAOs) that often contract with pharmacies for support services, and recently established a process for a pharmacy to refer to the Department for review of a specialty drug designation made by a health plan, health insurer, or PBM on behalf of a health plan. Reach Bill O'Boyle at 570-991-6118 or on Twitter @TLBillOBoyle. HARRISBURG, Pa. (WHTM) A Pennsylvania state representative passed away recently, his colleagues announced Sunday. Pennsylvania House Democrats announced the loss of Rep. Matt Gergely (D-Allegheny), who experienced a medical event last month over the holidays. The McKeesport native was elected to the state house in 2023 and re-elected in November. The Pennsylvania House Democratic Caucus released the following statement: Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Our hearts are broken as we mourn the untimely loss of our friend and colleague. Matt Gergely devoted his life to fighting for children and working families of Allegheny County especially his beloved hometown of McKeesport. Matt will be desperately missed in Harrisburg and we know his passing is a tremendous loss to his communities in Western Pennsylvania. Please join us in keeping his wife and his family in your thoughts and prayers during this tragic time. Pennsylvania House Democratic Caucus His offices will remain open and fully staffed. A special election will be held at a later date to fill his seat. House Republicans said in a statement, Matt left behind a young family and we send them our condolences, as well as thoughts and prayers. Prior to his election to the state house, he worked in the McKeesport area for 20 years, including as city administrator and business manager for the McKeesport Area School District. Gergley won a special election in 2023 to fill the seat of Lt. Governor Austin Davis following his election victory alongside Governor Josh Shapiro. Representative Gergely dedicated his entire life to public service, said Lt. Governor Davis. I witnessed his service first hand as McKeesport School Official, City Administrator, and finally as a State Representative. He was a tireless champion for working families in the Mon Valley. My heart goes out to his wife, Holly, his family, friends, and community. The Second Lady and I are keeping them in our thoughts and prayers during this difficult time. Get the latest Pennsylvania politics and election news with abc27 newsletters! He sponsored bills to protect plasma donated in Pennsylvania and to help liquor-licensed establishments address staffing needs, both of which were passed into law. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement With a vacancy in the State House, Republicans and Democrats are evenly split at 101 to 101 with Democrat Joanna McClinton presiding as House Speaker. This is a developing story. Stay with abc27 News as more information becomes available Copyright 2025 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 ABC27. By Clara Denina and Pratima Desai LONDON (Reuters) - Miner and commodity trader Glencore said it is open to M&A transactions that create value for its shareholders, leveraging its position as a top three global copper producer. "As we have always said, M&A is something we are good at and we are always open to do transactions that are value-accretive for the company," a Glencore spokesperson said. Potential M&A deals were the chief preoccupation for investors in the sector in 2024, but BHP's $49 billion failed bid for Anglo American in May showed the difficulty of combining diversified producers. Glencore made an approach to Rio Tinto late last year with a proposition to merge the two mining companies but talks did not progress, according to two sources close to the matter. Neither company has commented on any talks. The spokesperson would not comment on the reports. Rio Tinto would benefit from more copper production through a deal with Glencore, but the world's second-largest miner had questions around how much it would have to spend and its culture compatibility with the Swiss company, a third source with direct knowledge of the matter said. "Glencore is a trader... and their operating assets are nothing but a captive source of material for them to trade against. The culture clash would be quite something... but any deal can be done at the right price," said Abel Martins Alexandre, previously a Rio Tinto treasurer and a former managing director at Lloyds Bank. For example, Martins Alexandre said if Glencore had Rio Tinto's portfolio they may believe they could make more money out of trading the materials that Rio Tinto produces than Rio Tinto does alone, as this is not a trading entity. Mining companies are racing to expand copper output, with demand poised to jump from use for energy transition applications such as solar panels, electric cars and data centres for artificial intelligence. At the same time, major producers are wary of paying hefty premiums that could put pressure on their balance sheets and irritate shareholders. Glencore produces more than one million metric tons of copper a year, outpacing Rio's output by up to 40%. Glencore's valuation is cheap compared with peers, analysts say, and its share price lost 25% of its value in 2024. Diversified miners BHP and Rio Tinto's London shares lost 21% and 19% respectively, while Anglo's shares rose 20%. Glencore's coal operations will be perceived as a "poison pill" for other companies' shareholders, said Martins Alexandre. PARACHINAR, Pakistan (AP) Pakistani security forces launched an operation targeting militants in a restive northwestern district bordering Afghanistan, officials said on Monday, following a surge in attacks and sectarian strife. It is the first large-scale operation in the area in recent years. The latest attack in Kurram, in the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, was on Friday when unidentified gunmen ambushed and burned aid trucks, killing two security personnel and at least five drivers. The district has been cut off from the rest of the country since November after authorities blocked roads following clashes between heavily armed Shiite and Sunni tribes. At the time, gunmen ambushed a convoy of vehicles carrying passengers, killing 52 people, mostly Shiites. Retaliatory attacks left over 70 others dead. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Hundreds of thousands of residents have since faced a shortage of food and medicine with aid organizations unable to enter the area. Barrister Saif Ali, a spokesman for the provincial government, said the operation became inevitable following the surge in violence. He also said authorities are moving some residents to temporary governmental shelter camps while the operation is ongoing in several areas, including the city of Bagan from where most of the violence has been reported. Motasim Billah, a government administrator, said the goal of the operation is to fully restore peace and ensure the writ of the government. Shiite Muslims dominate parts of Kurram, although they are a minority in the rest of Pakistan, which is majority Sunni. The area has a history of sectarian conflict, with militant Sunni groups previously targeting minority Shiites. ___ Associated Press writer Riaz Khan in Peshawar, Pakistan contributed to this report. QUETTA, Pakistan (AP) Pakistans largest airport, funded and built in the country's restive southwest by Beijin g, has become operational, officials said Monday. Gwadar airport is in the province of Balochistan, which has for decades been the scene of an insurgency by separatists demanding autonomy or outright independence. Pakistani Defense Minister, Khawaja Mohammad Asif, and Chinese officials were among those attending a ceremony at Gwadar airport and watched the arrival of the Pakistan International Airlines inaugural flight from the southern city of Karachi. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The ceremony came months after Chinese Premier Li Qiang and his Pakistani counterpart Shehbaz Sharif virtually inaugurated the airport, which has a capacity of handling 400,000 travelers annually. Beijing has invested heavily in the coastal city of Gwadar. Besides the airport, which has an estimated cost of $230 million, China has also constructed a deep seaport as part of Chinese President Xi Jinping's Belt and Road Initiative to increase trade by building infrastructure around the world. This aims to also give Beijing direct access to the shipping lanes of the Arabian Sea through Pakistan via the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor. Work started on Gwadar airport in 2019. It was supposed to be operational last year but was delayed after a surge in attacks by militants and separatists on Chinese nationals working on projects in the province. In televised remarks, Asif thanked China for building the airport and said the airport would play a key role in improving the country's economy, attracting international investment and bringing prosperity to Balochistan. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Ethnic Baloch, who accuse the Chinese and others of economic exploitation, oppose the project and other Chinese initiatives in the province. The Ministry of Planning and Development stated that the airport can handle a combination of ATR 72, Airbus, (A-300), Boeing (B-737), and Boeing (B-747) for domestic and international routes. Gwadar airport is the countrys largest in terms of area, spread over 4,300 acres of land, according to Pakistans civil aviation. Dinosaur fossils discovered by paleontologists working with the University of Wisconsin-Madison have been determined to be the oldest-known fossils, presenting evidence that the species was in existence millions of years before previously thought. Dave Lovelace, a research scientist at the University of Wisconsin Geology Museum, co-led the expedition with Aaron Kufner, a graduate student at the university. Lovelace and Kufner discovered the fossils in 2013 nestled within the Popo Agie rock formation, located near a crater in an area previously known as Laurasia, now present-day Wyoming After more than a decade of painstaking analysis to confirm the fossils age and that they were actually a new species, the researchers determined that the reptile, dubbed Ahvaytum bahndooiveche, is the oldest-known Laurasian dinosaur. They estimate that the fossils are "around 230 million years old." The findings were published Jan. 8 in the Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. We have, with these fossils, the oldest equatorial dinosaur in the worldits also North Americas oldest dinosaur, Lovelace told Ancient Origins. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Lovelace believes the dinosaur to be an early relative to sauropods, herbivorous dinos known as titanosaurs for their towering size. Ahvaytum bahndooiveche was hardly as large as its future family members, though, having lived millions of years before they fully evolved. "Ahvaytum was about the size of a big chicken, with a long tail," Lovelace told Men's Journal. "It would have stood a little over a foot high at the hips and about 3 feet long." The paleontologists used radioisotopic dating on the rocks encasing the fossil to determine the lizards presence 230 million years ago. In the process, they discovered "dinosaur-like" footprints in even older rocks, indicating that other dinosaur species existed a few million years before. Lovelace explained to Men's Journal this track "was made by an animal whose hindfoot had three toes touching the ground (tridactyl) and its middle toe was longer than the other two, which is seen in dinosaurs and their closest relatives. The tracks are most likely made by a silesaur or dino-like critter," he continued. "What's significant is that [the Atreipus-Grallator] track comes from rock that is at least 234 million years old, so four or more million years older than Ahvaytum. This suggests early dinosaur-like critters (in other words, dinosaurs' most recent ancestors) were in the Northern Hemisphere even earlier! This is also in line with evidence from the Southern Hemisphere," Lovelace said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Lovelace explained that he and his crew, bolstered by the Atreipus-Grallator find, "will continue to look for new fossils (both bone and tracks) and build the story of the environment, climate, and ecology. Everything we've found is new," he added, "and helps expand our understanding of the dawn of dinosaurs and the early evolution of the modern fauna we know today." BEITUNIA, West Bank Tears, cheers and celebrations greeted 90 Palestinian women and children released as part of a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas just after midnight on Monday. Families and onlookers waited for hours in the cold to greet their loved before white buses transported them out of Ofer Prison, an Israeli facility in the occupied West Bank. A celebratory mood coursed through the crowd, with some families sharing food and cotton candy being sold on the street. Children carrying balloons lit up with fairy lights ran around, while men sang around a blazing fire. Some people carried flags in support of the Hamas militant group before the prisoners, including a teenager and a political activist, were freed. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Three Israeli women Doron Steinbrecher, 31, Emily Damari, 28, and Romi Gonen, 24 were released Sunday, the first of the hostages held by Hamas to be freed as part of an agreement that ends the fighting in Gaza after almost 15 months of war. Heres what we know about the freed Palestinians. Shortly after her sister Jeneen Amro was released, Boshara Amro, 21, said in a voice note that her feelings were indescribable. Shes my big sister, Amro, 21, said. Shes like a mother to me, in her kindness and in everything she does. During that time, she said, she had no contact with Jeneen, 23, and was unable to visit her in prison. Her freedom brings feelings of joy, happiness and pleasure, Amro said. But she added that her family was appalled by her sister's very bad mental state, especially the mental and physical stress she was subjected to. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Her sister, she said, was in a state of shock from her time in detention. Before her sister was released, Amro said, her family had not been told why Jeneen was detained in the Hebron governate in the West Bank. The Israeli military and the country's prison's service did not immediately respond to questions about why she was arrested. Palestinian prisoners wave from a Red Cross bus as they are driven out of Israel's Ofer prison in the occupied West Bank. Mahmoud Aliowat, 15, was the youngest detainee to be released, according to a list Hamas provided to The Associated Press. It is unclear where he was detained and for how long. Also on the list was Khalida Jarrar, 62, a leading member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, which the U.S. deemed a terror organization in 1997 and 2001. The Treasury Department also accused it of participating in the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks on Israel. Khalida Jarrar after her release. As Jarrar was led through a cheering crowd, several people helped her walk and many on social media commented that her once dark hair had grayed during her time in custody. Others suggested the former lawmaker looked exhausted. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Rights groups like Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have suggested that Jarrar, an outspoken critic of the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories, has been targeted by Israeli authorities for her political activities. Since her arrest at her home in the West Bank city of Ramallah in late 2023, Jarrar has been held under indefinitely renewable administrative detention, the widely criticized practice under which Israel holds detainees indefinitely without trial or other legal proceedings based on evidence that is not shared with either the detainee or their families. A Palestinian woman embraces her son in the occupied West Bank town of Beitunia. Dalal Khaseeb, 53, was also on the list provided to the AP, which reported she is the sister of Saleh Arouri, the former commander of Hamas military wing in the West Bank and deputy chairman of the groups political bureau. He was killed in January with six other members of the organization after his home in a suburb in southern Beirut was targeted by a drone strike. Her son Muhammad Khaseeb, from Ramallah, told the Middle East Eye website that she was detained a year ago. What next? First announced on Wednesday, the 42-day first phase of the three-part ceasefire deal will see at least 33 hostages released from Gaza in the coming six weeks in exchange for a pause in fighting, the release of nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners, and increased fuel and aid deliveries into the enclave. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Among the Palestinians set for release are 1,167 people who were detained in Gaza during the war, but did not participate in the Oct. 7 attacks. The Israel Prison Service described all of the 90 freed Monday as terrorists, but a spokesperson for the service did not immediately respond to NBC News when asked to clarify what they had been charged with and sentenced for. Some Palestinians waved Hamas flags ahead of the release. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement What happens after the deals first phase is uncertain. The agreements subsequent stages call for the release of more hostages and prisoners and a permanent end to the war, which began with Hamas' deadly Oct. 7 attack on Israel, in which 1,200 were killed and around 250 taken hostage, according to Israeli tallies. Since then, more than 46,800 people have been killed in Gaza during the 15-month offensive launched by Israel after the attacks, according to Gaza health officials. The Israeli military said Sunday that it would be ramping up operations in the West Bank in advance of the release of prisoners and detainees, with troops expected to be stationed on key routes where additional checkpoints will be established. It said that was part of an effort to thwart terrorist activity and violent riots. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Some Palestinians have expressed concern about the military activity in the area, which comes at a time of heightened violence by Israeli settlers in the West Bank since the war in Gaza began. This article was originally published on NBCNews.com HARRISBURG, Pa. (WHTM) PennDOT has lifted the majority of restrictions, but the speed limit remains reduced to 45mph. Tier 1 restrictions have been lifted on I-81 from Maryland to the Interstate 78 split, the entire length of I-83, and the entire length of I-283. Those restrictions prohibit motorcycles, RVs, trailers towed by passenger cars, unloaded trailers, and tractors without trailers. Tier 3 restrictions, which ban all commercial vehicles without chains or approved traction devices, were lifted for I-81 from the I-78 split into Schuylkill County and on I-78 around 11 p.m. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Speed limits remain reduced to 45mph on Interstate 81, Interstate 78, Interstate 83, Interstate 283, Route 15 from Maryland to Route 581, Route 22/322 from Interstate 81 to the Perry/Juniata line, Route 30 from Route 15 to Route 23, and Route 222 in Lancaster County. Get traffic alerts from the abc27 mobile app for the latest local delays and road closures On roads with speeds reduced, commercial vehicles must stay in the right lane. Copyright 2025 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 ABC27. ALLENTOWN, Pa. (WHTM) An Allentown man is facing assault and false imprisonment charges after police say he stabbed a woman and wouldnt let her leave for three days after. Frederick Edwards, 58, of Allentown, was arrested Sunday on felony aggravated assault, misdemeanor false imprisonment and simple assault charges. According to Allentown Police, officers were called to the Sterling Hotel on West Hamilton Street around 10:30 a.m. for a reported stabbing. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement There, a 59-year-old woman had a stab wound to the abdomen. She told first responders that she had been stabbed three days before by her boyfriend, identified as Edwards, when she tried to leave her apartment. Get daily news, weather, breaking news and alerts straight to your inbox! Sign up for the abc27 newsletters here Edwards allegedly blocked the door, stopping her from leaving to seek medical attention for the next three days. Copyright 2025 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 ABC27. (This story will continually update as changes are announced.) As the odds increase of significant snow fall and temperatures that could dip into the teens early next week, Escambia and Santa Rosa County offices and organizations have begun to cancel regular office hours and events. The National Weather Service has issued a Winter Storm Watch for the Pensacola area and said there's a 50% chance the region will see snow amounts of 1 to 3 inches on Tuesday. If there's no snow, there will be freezing rain and ice accumulation. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Winter Storm Watch is in effect from 6 a.m. Tuesday through 6 a.m. Wednesday for Escambia and Santa Rosa counties. Pensacola The list of Pensacola offices closed on Tuesday includes: City of Pensacola administrative offices, including departments and divisions not located at City Hall City Hall City of Pensacola community resource centers Pensacola State College Pensacola State College has closed all offices and cancelled all on-campus classes and activities on Tuesday and Wednesday. Online classes and synchronous online classes will not be cancelled, and will continue as usual. Essential personnel contacted by their supervisor should report as directed. University of West Florida University of West Florida has closed all locations on Tuesday to include all classes, events, campus activities and online courses. University officials will monitor the weather and update the community regarding Wednesday's forecast. Community Health Northwest Florida Due to the severe winter weather forecast for the region, all Community Health Northwest Florida (CHNWF) locations will be closed on Tuesday. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement CEO Chandra Smiley said the closures were to ensure the safety of patients, providers, and staff. CHNWF leadership will evaluate conditions on the ground Tuesday afternoon to determine which, if any, clinic locations could open on Wednesday. This is a major storm system being forecast for our area, and the last thing we want is to put our patients or staff at risk in dangerous weather conditions. On Tuesday afternoon, we will evaluate the conditions of the roads and projected weather forecasts to determine whether we can open any of our clinics on Wednesday, said Smiley. Patients with appointments for Tuesday will be rescheduled for the soonest available spot. NAS Pensacola, Corry Station Naval Air Station Pensacola and Corry Station will close at 11 a.m. Tuesday and reopen at 10 a.m. Wednesday, base officials announced Monday afternoon. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This closure includes the installations areas of public interest the National Naval Aviation Museum(NNAM) and the Pensacola Lighthouse and Maritime Museum. Escambia County The list of Escambia County Offices closed on Tuesday and Wednesday includes: Escambia County Board of County Commissioners: all departments West Florida Public Libraries: all locations Escambia County Tax Collector: all offices Escambia County Supervisor of Elections Escambia County Property Appraiser's Office Waste Services Administration and the Perdido Landfill Escambia County Extension Services Escambia County Clerk of the Court and Comptroller: all offices ECAT buses ECAT buses and the UWF trolleys will not run on Tuesday and Wednesday. Normal bus service is expected to resume Thursday. Gulf Island National Seashore Gulf Islands National Seashore will close the following public facilities in Florida beginning Tuesday to include the Park Headquarters, Fort Pickens campground office, park store in Fort Pickens, Okaloosa and Opal Beach Area restrooms, and all entrance stations (Fort Pickens, Opal Beach, and Perdido Key Areas). Escambia County Public Schools Escambia County Public Schools has closed all schools and district offices on Tuesday and Wednesday. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Escambia County Public School's monthly school board meeting has been canceled for Tuesday and will be rescheduled at a later date. Escambia County Early Voting All Escambia County Early Voting locations will be closed on Tuesday. Hours were extended on Sunday and Monday, however, to 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Town of Century All Town of Century offices will be closed on Tuesday, and possibly Wednesday, due to the storm. The regular town council meeting will be moved to Thursday. Santa Rosa County Offices The Board of County Commissioner meeting and special presentation scheduled for Tuesday has been canceled. The Regular Commission meeting on Thursday is scheduled to begin at 9:30 a.m. County offices and facilities, including Jay Transfer Station, will be closed on Tuesday and Wednesday. The Central Landfill will close at 10 a.m. on Tuesday to residents but will stay open until noon for commercial haulers. It will be closed on Wednesday. Santa Rosa County Clerk of Courts is closed Tuesday and Wednesday. Santa Rosa County Property Appraiser is closed Tuesday and Wednesday. Santa Rosa County Supervisor of Elections is closed Tuesday and Wednesday. Santa Rosa County Tax Collector is closed Tuesday and Wednesday. Santa Rosa County Schools Santa Rosa County Schools will be closed on Tuesday and Wednesday. Santa Rosa County Early Voting Santa Rosa Supervisor of Elections has canceled Early Voting hours completely on Tuesday and Wednesday. Hours are extended on Monday to 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. City of Gulf Breeze All city of Gulf Breeze offices will be closed on Tuesday and Wednesday City of Milton City Closures and Event Cancellations All City Offices: Closed Tuesday, including City Hall, the Parks & Recreation Department and all Community Center activities. Police Chief Candidate Review: Originally scheduled for Tuesday at 9:30 a.m. cancelled (to be rescheduled). Planning Board Meeting: Originally scheduled for Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. cancelled. City Council Shade Meeting: Originally scheduled for Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. cancelled (to be rescheduled). MLK Day Parade & Celebration Hosted by the Fellowship of Churches, the parade and celebration set for Monday are cancelled. Sanitation Services Adjustments Tuesday, January 21, 2025: Sanitation services will be rescheduled for Wednesday, January 22, 2025. Florida Department of Health All Florida Department of Health in Escambia County (DOH-Escambia) offices will be closed on Tueday in response to severe weather impacts. Offices will remain closed until further notice. Emerald Coast Utilities Authority ECUA offices will be closed on Tuesday. Additionally, the Citizens' Advisory Committee (CAC) meeting scheduled for that day has been cancelled. The next CAC meeting will take place on Feb. 18. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement ECUA Sanitation collections will be delayed by one day. Tuesday's collections will occur on Wednesday, with all subsequent collections running one day later throughout the week. Friday's collections will be completed on Saturday. This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Pensacola weather: Schools, Escambia Santa Rosa County offices closed Hundreds gathered in Albuquerque's Civic Plaza on Jan. 19 for The Peoples March, in conjunction with similar protests in Washington D.C. and around the country. (Photo by Patrick Lohmann / Source NM) On the eve of President-elect Donald Trumps second inauguration, speakers at a rally in New Mexicos largest city called for a new social movement to defy Trump and confront fascism. Hosted by the New Mexico Womens March, The Peoples March was timed in conjunction with similar protests in Washington D.C. and around the country. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement New Mexico Womens March Chair Samia Assed told the hundreds gathered at Albuquerques Civic Plaza the political moment demands practicing democracy and protecting the right to protest. A big responsibility lies on our shoulders, and we have to be up for it, Assed said. Come Tuesday, President Trump will have his 100 executive orders ready for us. Project 2025 will unfold. Are we going to fight back? Assed introduced outgoing U.S. Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland, the events keynote speaker. Haaland noted the record 60 women headed to the state Legislature this week and said theres much more to do to support parents and working people. Haaland said Trump is surrounding himself with super-rich people who look down on us and our communities. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Our fight is not over. We will need to do the hard work of getting important things done and pushing back against an administration who couldnt care less about regular people, about people like us, Haaland said. We will need to unapologetically stand up to make change to ensure that your voices are heard. We need more people with real lived experiences elected to office and serving our communities as doctors, scientists, CEOs, so that solutions reflect who we are. Other speakers at the rally included state Sens. Antoinette Sedillo Lopez and Harold Pope, Rep. Eleanor Chavez, Pueblo Action Alliance Executive Director Julia Bernal, Faith Roots Reproductive Action Development Director Karinna Solares and El Centro de Igualdad y Derechos Community Organizer Fabiola Landeros. Were going to fight to remind people in power that they answer to us, Haaland said. This is part of Hello, Trumpworld, Slates reluctant guide to the people who will be calling the shots nowat least for as long as they last in Washington. In an incoming administration full of dangerously unqualified and sometimes dangerously deranged acolytes whose primary qualification seems to be ceaseless loyalty to Donald Trump, Secretary of Defense nominee Pete Hegseth still stands out: Not only is he dangerously unqualified and ceaselessly loyal to Trump, but hes also an unrepentant sexist, an apologist for accused war criminals, a defender of torture, an alcoholic whose unhinged behavior has gotten him into a lot of trouble, an inept manager, and a walking metaphor for rape culture in the armed forces. Just the kind of guy we want running our military. Hegseth seems to have come onto Trumps radar not via accolades or reputation but from his tenure as a pro-Trump Fox News talking head. He and Trump are similar in several key ways, among them their desire to see violence rained down on American citizens they dislike. Hegseth has often taken a darkly divisive view of the American people, suggesting that the military should be called in to deal with riots in U.S. cities, tarring those who disagree with him politically as enemies who need to be dealt with accordingly, and suggesting that civil war may be the only way forward in a divided United States. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Its these views, plus surely Hegseths on-air championing of Trump, that seem to have endeared him to the incoming president. But lets consider his credentials and his off-duty behavior anyway. He was a part-time member of the Army National Guard who deployed to Iraq, and his service is worthy of respect and gratitude. But serving as an officer does not qualify one to run the entirety of the U.S. military, a financially and geopolitically complex organization. (The Pentagon alone has a nearly $1 trillion budget.) When Hegseth has been in charge of far smaller organizationsconservative vanity-project nonprofitshes lost the jobs, thanks to financial mismanagement and accusations of inappropriate (including sexually inappropriate) behavior, much of it alcohol-fueled, and of allowing a culture of sexual harassment to fester. If confirmed, he promises, hell stop drinking, and several Republican senators have suggested they believe himbut he also denies he has a drinking problem. In fact, during his confirmation hearing last week, he was combative and evasive in answering the many questions posed to him about his past behaviors, but GOP senators seem ready to confirm him anyway. We absolutely cannot have a secretary of defense that gets drunk on a regular basis, Republican Sen. Kevin Cramer, of North Dakota, said last month. But as long as Hegseth claims hes fine, Cramer seems fine with it: I got to know that hes got that problem licked, he continued. And if he reassures me thats the case, then Im satisfied with it. As everyone knows, people who deny the heavy use of substances are notoriously reliable judges of whether their problems, which they deny even exist, are really licked. In a non-work-related realm, Hegseth also paid off a woman who accused him of rape. (He says the sex was consensual, though it happened while his wife was back home; he went on to cheat on his second wife with a Fox News producer, with whom he had a child.) He has said he opposes allowing women in combat, while defending the acts of accused male war criminals. This also does not make him so different from the president-elect, who has faced dozens of sexual assault and harassment accusations, was found civilly liable for sexual abuse in New York, and similarly champions former soldiers accused of grotesque crimes. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement There are 223,000 women currently serving in the military. As Sen. Tammy Duckworth, a veteran who lost both of her legs while serving in Iraq, put it, If we were to pull all those women out and say You cant go into combat, we would face a severe personnel crisis in the military. How are the nearly quarter-million military women supposed to feel about an accused sexual assailant not just leading them but telling them theyre unfit to serve in combat roles solely because of their sex? It surely does not help that the military has a long-standing sexual-assault problem, and a long-standing problem with the men in charge looking the other way, covering it up, or even engaging in sexual abuse themselves. Hegseths views and actions, as well as the accusations he faces, send a clear message to military women and men alike: Men can do what they please, and women, who are second-class citizens and second-class soldiers, will bear the consequences. CEO candidate departures at BlackRock and JPMorgan Chase show that finding an exceptional replacement is tough, and keeping good candidates committed is a challenge in itself. The departure announcements of possible CEO successors at both BlackRock and JPMorgan Chase are the latest reminders that CEO transitions are anything but simple, experts say, especially when it comes to the worlds top finance jobs. Mark Wiedman, BlackRocks top client-facing executive and a possible successor to CEO Larry Fink, said Wednesday he would voluntarily step away from his role in the spring after a 20-year stint at the firm. On the same day, two JPMorgan executives apparently took their names out of the running to replace the longest serving CEO of a major bank, Jamie Dimon (One is retiring and the other reportedly has no interest in the role.) Both examples prove the difficulty of replacing a longtime leader, and in finance, the transition process is particularly difficult, said Chris Stanley, Moodys senior director and its banking industry practice lead. A potential CEO candidate needs to have a good grasp of the complexities of the business in any industry. But in finance they also need to be familiar with the increasing regulations imposed on the industry over the last 30 years, said Stanley. And in modern finance, so much specialization is required in operations, finance, sales, and risk, that its hard to find a candidate with a strong understanding of each area. As the bank gets larger, the kind of specialization, or the expertise that's required in those four broad areas, but then individually, in each of the business units of the bank just becomes a really hard thing to to contain in one person, Stanley told Fortune. On top of the hard skills required for the job, he added that big bank and finance CEOs need to have the charisma to sell a shared vision of the firms direction to employees, shareholders, and the board. In a commodity business like banking, where the margins are so thin, it's a pretty compelling story you have to tell to say, We're going to change what we're doing. We're going to invest over here. This is where we see opportunity, he said. To add yet another complicating factor to the mix, top executives are likely on someones radar elsewhere. When an employee is identified as a candidate for the CEO job, whether by their company or the media, they may reconsider when other opportunities come knocking, said Larry Hartmann, CEO of global talent advisory firm ZRG Partners. This is especially true if the candidate isnt confident that theyll beat out the other contenders. MANILA (Reuters) - Philippine law enforcers have arrested a Chinese national on suspicion of espionage, recovering in his possession equipment authorities believe could be used for spying on military facilities. The suspect, identified as Deng Yuanqing, was presented to media on Monday, along with two other alleged Filipino cohorts. Investigators said Deng is affiliated with the Army Engineering University of PLA (People's Liberation Army) based in the city of Nanjing in China's eastern Jiangsu province. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Philippine National Bureau of Investigation Director Jaime Santiago said Deng was part of a group that authorities had been tracking, based on intelligence indicating they arrived in the country to conduct surveillance on critical infrastructure, including military installations. Some locations visited by the group included sites where U.S. forces have been granted access under a military agreement, Philippine armed forces chief Romeo Brawner said. "We are just looking into the overall espionage effort of China," Brawner told the same press conference. China's embassy in Manila did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The arrest comes amid growing suspicion in the Philippines over China's activities, including the conduct of its coast guard and fishing militia in Manila's exclusive economic zone. The two countries have overlapping claims to several disputed features and have engaged in heated standoffs at sea, accusing each other of trespassing. "We seized his vehicle, and mounted on it was an espionage equipment," Santiago told a press conference, referring to Deng "It is possible that some of the collected information has already been transmitted to China," he added. NBI Cybercrime chief Jeremy Lotoc said Deng has been in the Philippines for at least five years based on a copy of his passport. "We have dubbed him as a sleeper (agent)," he said. (Reporting by Karen Lema; Editing by Martin Petty) (Bloomberg) -- Philippine authorities arrested a Chinese national and two Filipino cohorts for alleged espionage, officials said on Monday, in a case that comes amid the nations lingering geopolitical tensions. Most Read from Bloomberg Manilas National Bureau of Investigation on Jan. 17 apprehended a Chinese software engineer, Director Jaime Santiago said in a briefing. The case involved intelligence surveillance and operations perpetrated by a group of Chinese nationals [and] local cohorts, Jeremy Lotoc, head of NBIs cybercrime division, said in the same briefing. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Spying equipment, including one that can create 3D images of target infrastructure and navigational satellite system, were mounted on a vehicle used by the suspects, officials said. They frequent critical infrastructure specifically military camps, local government offices, power plants, police camps, stations even shopping malls, Lotoc said. The Chinese embassy in Manila did not respond to a request for comment. The Philippine armed forces in December also apprehended another Chinese individual, military chief General Romeo Brawner Jr, said in the same briefing. A suspected spying equipment and photos of army and police camps were recovered in a vehicle used by the suspect, he said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Philippines and China are locked in a long-standing maritime dispute in parts of the South China Sea. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has pushed backed against Chinas expansive claims over the waterway, angering Beijing. Early this month, Bloomberg News reported that Chinese-state sponsored hackers penetrated the executive branch of the Philippines government and stole sensitive data as part of a yearslong campaign. A spokesperson for Chinas foreign ministry said Beijing has consistently opposed all forms of hacking and cyberattacks. --With assistance from Cliff Venzon. Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement 2025 Bloomberg L.P. MANILA (Reuters) - Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr on Monday accused his predecessor Rodrigo Duterte of peddling lies after the former leader said this year's national budget was invalid, in the latest feud between the former allies ahead of upcoming midterm elections. The alliance between the influential Marcos and Duterte families collapsed last year over policy differences and a war of words that included Vice President Sara Duterte, the former president's daughter, saying she hired an assassin to kill Marcos, his wife, and cousin in the event that she herself were killed. She has not disclosed a specific threat to her life. The elder Duterte said in a Youtube episode that aired on Saturday the national budget was invalid, alleging some items were left unfunded to give Marcos wide discretion to allocate funds. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Marcos, in response, said passing a budget with blank items was not allowed. "Hes lying because he knows perfectly well that doesn't ever happen," Marcos told reporters. His executive secretary Lucas Bersamin said "misinformed and malicious sources" were spreading falsehoods. "The peddling of such fake news is outrightly malicious and should be condemned as criminal," he said in a statement. Representatives of Rodrigo Duterte did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Marcos signed the 6.33 trillion Philippine pesos($108.17 billion) budget into law last month, 10% higher than the previous year's spending plan. Its approval was delayed by more than a week after budget advocates complained of reductions in the area of education and removal of state subsidies for health programmes. ($1 = 58.5170 Philippine pesos) (Reporting by Mikhail Flores; Editing by Martin Petty) The Phoenix Zoo is inviting guests to participate in its weeklong book drive honoring the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. In recognition of the 30th anniversary of MLK Day the only federal holiday designated as a National Day of Service the zoo is encouraging visitors to donate a new or gently used book, preferably at the pre-K level. Those looking to contribute to the zoos MLK Day Book Drive, which runs Monday, Jan. 20, through Sunday, Jan. 26, can place a book in one of the drop-off bins near the turnstiles. Phoenix Zoo's book drive honors MLK Day of Service Admission to the zoo is not required to participate. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Donated books will be gifted to kids receiving educational support from Valleywise Healths Family Resource Centers and the Arizona Department of Education's migrant Headstart program. We appreciate your generosity and look forward to a successful book drive benefiting the children in our community, the Phoenix Zoo said in a press release. This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Phoenix Zoo collecting children's books for MLK Day all week Hugs, smiles and tears were aplenty Saturday morning as Roland R. Wright Air Base as 5o soldiers from the Utah Army National Guards 204th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade were reunited with their families and loved ones Saturday after returning from a deployment to Africa. In a statement released last week, Col. Woodrow Miner said I am proud to have served alongside the soldiers of the 204th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade who continued the Utah National Guards legacy of outstanding military service during our deployment in Djibouti as the CJTF-HOA staff. According to the same press release, The soldiers of the 204th MEB have completed a successful nine-month deployment to Djibouti and East Africa as the staff of the Combined Joint Task Force Horn of Africa where they supported the U.S. and allied forces and Department of State Embassies. Deseret News photojournalist Isaac Hale captured the joy of Saturdays event. Virginia Hoffman, right, of Salt Lake City, holds a sign for her son, Cpt. Henry Palma, as shes joined by other family members during the return of the Utah Army National Guards 204th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade from Africa to the Roland R. Wright Air National Guard Base in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Jan. 18, 2025. | Isaac Hale, Deseret News Soldiers exit the plane during the return of the Utah Army National Guards 204th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade from Africa to the Roland R. Wright Air National Guard Base in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Jan. 18, 2025. | Isaac Hale, Deseret News Clark Tischner, of Logan, holds an American flag before the return of the Utah Army National Guards 204th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade from Africa to the Roland R. Wright Air National Guard Base in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Jan. 18, 2025. | Isaac Hale, Deseret News Virginia Hoffman, of Salt Lake City, holds a sign for her son, Cpt. Henry Palma, during the return of the Utah Army National Guards 204th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade from Africa to the Roland R. Wright Air National Guard Base in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Jan. 18, 2025. | Isaac Hale, Deseret News Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Branson Massey, 10, of Vernal, makes a sign for his father before the return of the Utah Army National Guards 204th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade from Africa to the Roland R. Wright Air National Guard Base in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Jan. 18, 2025. | Isaac Hale, Deseret News Cpt. Henry Palma, of Riverton, hugs his son, Lucca Palma, 5, as he holds a sign beside his sister, Eva Palma, 2, during the return of the Utah Army National Guards 204th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade from Africa to the Roland R. Wright Air National Guard Base in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Jan. 18, 2025. | Isaac Hale, Deseret News First sergeant Justin Brice greets his son, Enzio Brice, 10, and wife, Stephanie Brice, all of Herriman, during the return of the Utah Army National Guards 204th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade from Africa to the Roland R. Wright Air National Guard Base in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Jan. 18, 2025. | Isaac Hale, Deseret News Lee Nitchman hugs his daughter, Anna Nitchman, 17, during the return of the Utah Army National Guards 204th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade from Africa to the Roland R. Wright Air National Guard Base in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Jan. 18, 2025. | Isaac Hale, Deseret News Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Cpt. Henry Palma, of Riverton, hugs his wife, Hannah Palma, while he holds his daughter, Eva Palma, 2, during the return of the Utah Army National Guards 204th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade from Africa to the Roland R. Wright Air National Guard Base in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Jan. 18, 2025. | Isaac Hale, Deseret News Katie Thomas, 6, and her brother, James Thomas, 4, run to greet their uncle, John Thomas, all of Genola, during the return of the Utah Army National Guards 204th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade from Africa to the Roland R. Wright Air National Guard Base in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Jan. 18, 2025. | Isaac Hale, Deseret News Laurynn Kondik hugs her boyfriend, Jacob Sorenson, both of South Jordan, during the return of the Utah Army National Guards 204th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade from Africa to the Roland R. Wright Air National Guard Base in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Jan. 18, 2025. | Isaac Hale, Deseret News Lee Nitchman kisses his wife, Lisa Nitchman, both of Highland, during the return of the Utah Army National Guards 204th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade from Africa to the Roland R. Wright Air National Guard Base in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Jan. 18, 2025. | Isaac Hale, Deseret News Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Sophie, the Duchess of Edinburgh is starring in a new portrait for her 60th birthday, and the photographer behind the camera is sharing an unseen snap from the photo session. The Duchess of Edinburgh recently posed for photos released to ring in her 60th birthday on Jan. 20, and photographer Christina Ebenezer posted an unseen shot of Sophie to Instagram on the Duchess' special day. The sunny snap showed Sophie striking a pose with eye contact to the camera and a hand over her mouth, as if stifling a laugh or pondering a thought, while leaning in a doorway. The royal wore a burgundy sweater and brown patterned trousers with gold statement earrings revealing a third outfit from the photo session! Ebenezer took Sophie's picture at Bagshot Park, where she lives with her husband Prince Edward, in January, and reflected on what it meant to receive the royal commission. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Quoting a Bible verse about gifts, Ebenezer wrote that "Gods favor on my life has been nothing short of a testimony" and recapped how the photo shoot with Sophie came about. Christina Ebenezer/Buckingham Palace via Getty A portrait of Sophie, the Duchess of Edinburgh, by Christina Ebenezer. A portrait of Sophie, the Duchess of Edinburgh, by Christina Ebenezer. Related: Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh Turns 60 See the Stunning Portrait: 'She's a Trailblazer' "These portraits were taken to mark The Duchess Of Edinburghs 60th birthday celebration today. After admiring two portraits I photographed of Letitia Wright & Michaela Coel at the National Portrait Gallery, The Duchess wanted to collaborate and be captured in a different light for this new chapter of life," the portrait, fashion and commercial photographer wrote on social media. "We had a very relaxed day taking these at her home her and the team created a very welcoming atmosphere. My favorite part was definitely working together on outfit choices," she said, adding a twinkling star emoji and thanking her inner circle. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It's understood that Sophie was interested in Ebenezer's style of photography and wanted to support a rising female photographer, and did just that with her new birthday pictures. Ebenezer was born in Nigeria and is based in London, and has been professionally celebrated as a British Fashion Council New Wave Creative and a Forbes 30 Under 30 Arts & Culture Leader. Her portraits of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever stars Wright and Coel were unveiled at the National Portrait Gallery in partnership with Chanel in January 2024. Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Related: Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh's Style at the Milestone Age of 60 Is 'Effortless and Elegant Always' (Exclusive) While King Charles and Queen Camilla's office officially unveiled Sophie's birthday pictures by Ebenezer to social media on Jan. 18, that Instagram carousel didn't include the snap of the Duchess holding back a laugh. That montage began with a glam shot of Sophie wearing a black top with white pleated skirt in a light-filled window seat, and rolled to show her standing before a beige backdrop beneath a green tree. Those two shots showed Sophie wearing a white coat over a brown turtleneck and green pants meaning that there were multiple outfit changes! Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "As The Duchess looks ahead to turning 60, Her Royal Highness has a renewed sense of excitement and commitment to her work around gender equality and looks forward to further embracing and championing this issue in the years to come," the King and Queen's team wrote below the Instagram carousel. Sophie and Prince Edward, 60, don't maintain a joint profile on social media like Prince William and Kate Middleton do, and the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh's royal work is instead shared across the same accounts that King Charles and Queen Camilla use. Chris Jackson/Getty Prince Edward and Sophie, the Duchess of Edinburgh at the Community Sport and Recreation Awards on International Women's Day at Headingley Stadium on March 8, 2024 in Leeds, England. Prince Edward and Sophie, the Duchess of Edinburgh at the Community Sport and Recreation Awards on International Women's Day at Headingley Stadium on March 8, 2024 in Leeds, England. The Duchess is celebrating her banner birthday privately at home with Prince Edward, while their children are away at school! The couple share daughter Lady Louise Windsor, 21, and son James, Earl of Wessex, 17, who are away at the University of St. Andrews and boarding school, respectively. The family most recently stepped out together for Christmas at Sandringham with the rest of the British royals, and a close friend calls her a "trailblazer" in the family for the causes she takes on. Aaron Chown/PA Images via Getty Sophie, the Duchess of Edinburgh (center) with family on Christmas at Sandringham, Dec. 25, 2024. Sophie, the Duchess of Edinburgh (center) with family on Christmas at Sandringham, Dec. 25, 2024. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Can't get enough of PEOPLE's Royals coverage? Sign up for our free Royals newsletter to get the latest updates on Kate Middleton, Meghan Markle and more! In April 2024, the Duchess of Edinburgh became the first British royal to visit Ukraine since the Russian invasion began in 2022, and spoken publicly about the once-taboo topic of menopause. "She is almost a trailblazer in the royal family," a royal insider says. The Duchess of Edinburgh is the first member of the royal family "that I can remember who has talked about the menopause. Areas which have previously been no-go she has embraced and championed," the source adds. "It is hugely appreciated by the voices who might not otherwise be heard or listened to." Sophie serves as patron of over 70 charities and organizations, focusing much of her public work on gender equality, advocating around the disproportionate impact of conflict on women and girls, eliminating avoidable blindness and supporting people with disabilities. Read the original article on People WASHINGTON (DC News Now) Law enforcement officers from across the country were in the District on Monday, Jan. 20, to provide security and support as Donald Trump and JD Vance were sworn into office. Due to frigid temperatures, the swearing-in ceremony took place inside the Capitol Rotunda. Following the ceremony and inaugural address, there is a luncheon, parade and three inaugural balls, according to a report from the Associated Press. As a result of the festivities, the United States Marshals Service deputized nearly 4,000 officers from various law enforcement agencies to aid security efforts. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement On Monday, police officers and first responders from D.C., Maryland and Virginia took to social media to share photos of their experience. DC Officers from MPD and outside law enforcement agencies are deployed along the route to the Capitol Rotunda, in which the 60th Presidential Inauguration swearing is taking place, wrote the Metropolitan Police Department, in a post on X. D.C. Police Chief Pamela Smith is pictured with officers from MPD and other agencies that were deployed along the Capitol Rotunda ahead of Trumps inauguration. (Courtesy: The Metropolitan Police Department) Officers from MPD and other agencies were deployed along the Capitol Rotunda ahead of Trumps inauguration. (Courtesy: The Metropolitan Police Department) Officers from MPD and other agencies were deployed along the Capitol Rotunda ahead of Trumps inauguration. (Courtesy: The Metropolitan Police Department) Melania Trump hat: What people had to say about Inauguration Day fashion Virginia Officers from the Fairfax County Police Department gathered for a photo Monday morning before heading into the nations capital to provide support for the inaugural events. Heading into the nations capital this morning to assist with the safety and security of the 60th US Presidential Inauguration, the Fairfax County Police Department wrote in a post on X on Monday, Jan. 20. (Courtesy: The Fairfax County Police Department) Arlington We are honored to be on hand and wish everyone a safe day, the Prince William County Police Department expressed in an X post, as officers geared up to help. Officers from the Prince William County Police Department pose for a group photo ahead of Trumps inauguration. (Courtesy: The Prince William County Police Department) However, officers were not the only ones seen lending a hand. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Firefighters from the Arlington County Fire Department posed for a selfie Monday morning and encouraged everyone attending the inaugural events to stay safe and warm. Firefighters from Arlington County pose for a selfie Monday morning ahead of the inauguration. (Courtesy: The Arlington County Fire Department). Fire trucks were also pictured lining up to deploy. (Courtesy: The Arlington County Fire Department). Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Maryland Officers from Montgomery County were also suited up Monday morning, ready to tackle the busy day. (Courtesy: Rockville City Police Department via X/@RockvilleCityPD) Meanwhile, officers from the Montgomery and Prince Georges County Park Police were spotted on horseback, posing for a picture in front of the Washington Monument. (Courtesy: Maryland-National Capital Park Police via X/@ParkPolice) Copyright 2025 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. SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) A loud boom resonated through an El Cajon neighborhood Sunday afternoon when a pickup truck slammed into the garage of a home, causing it to collapse onto the roof of the vehicle and trapping the driver inside. The collision happened at 1:17 p.m. Sunday when a Ford F-150 reportedly lost control and drove into the garage of a home in the 1000 block of Prescott Avenue in El Cajon, authorities report. Drone collides with Torrey Pines paraglider, forcing emergency landing Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement First responders had to free the driver from the pickup truck after the garage collapsed onto the roof of the vehicle. The driver was taken to the hospital; it is unclear the extent of his injuries at this time. No one in the home was injured, however the Red Cross was called in to assist the residents as they cannot stay in the home at this time. City of San Diego announces traffic safety fixes to seven problem areas A HAZMAT team was called to the scene to clean pool chemicals that spilled during the collision. Pickup truck crashes into El Cajon home, collapses garage (FOX 5/KUSI) Pickup truck crashes into El Cajon home, collapses garage (FOX 5/KUSI) Pickup truck crashes into El Cajon home, collapses garage (FOX 5/KUSI) El Cajon Police and Heartland Fire responded to the collision. The cause remains under investigation at this time. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 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. POLOWCE, Poland (AP) Poland's six-month presidency of the European Union is firmly focused on security. As Europes biggest land war in decades rages, fewer places highlight the challenges and contradictions of defending the bloc and its values more starkly than the border with Belarus. Some 13,000 border guards and soldiers protect around 400 kilometers (250 miles) of border. Its become a buffer zone since Belarus ally, Russia, invaded neighboring Ukraine three years ago. Similar fortifications farther north line Poland's frontier with the Russian region of Kaliningrad. Poland is Ukraines top logistical backer. Most of the Western-supplied arms, ammunition and equipment helping to keep Ukraines armed forces afloat transit through. Russia, meanwhile, uses Belarus as a staging ground for its invasion. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement At the border near the town of Poowce, a 5.5-meter (18-foot) steel barrier strung with razor wire and topped by security cameras separates once-friendly communities that war has turned into wary rivals. Drones, helicopters and armored vehicles keep watch. The border crossing is closed. Around 40 border guards and troops could be seen on Jan. 16, when the Polish EU presidency invited 60 reporters from international media to witness the security effort. The road was strewn with layers of concrete obstacles and concertina wire likely to dissuade an advancing army. Border guards peered into Belarus. Its needed, the government in Warsaw says, because Russia and Belarus are waging a particular kind of hybrid warfare: helping groups of migrants mostly from Africa or the Middle East to break through the border to provoke and destabilize Poland and the rest of Europe. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We have tightened our visa policy, and above all we have decided to suspend the right to asylum wherever we are dealing with mass border crossings organized by Belarus and Russia, Prime Minister Donald Tusk told reporters on Friday. When migrants are equated with danger Almost 30,000 attempted border crossings were spotted last year. Most are young men, often from Ethiopia, Eritrea and Somalia. Polish authorities say they arrive in Belarus on tourist or student visas and are helped across for a fee ranging from $8,000 to $12,000. Poland says theyre assisted by the Belarus security services and other organizers. They're mostly Ukrainians, perhaps fallen on hard times since fleeing the war. They can earn $500 for each person they help, border officials say. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Border guards claim to be routinely attacked. One guard was killed last year and several injured. They say that migrants shoot slingshots, throw small explosives or rocks, or use pepper spray on guards. More than 400 incidents were recorded last year in this section of the border, with 307 people hospitalized. The deputy commander of the Podlaski border guard division, Col. Andrzej Stasiulewicz, said the migrants are hard to discourage. Warning shots dont work, so force is needed, he said. Reporters were shown video and photos purported to show migrants assailing the border. Stasiulewicz said their actions are very unpredictable, and very precise and coordinated. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Medical aid group Doctors Without Borders paints a different picture. The charity says it's treated more than 400 people since November 2022, many of them stranded for weeks in uninhabitable forests and exposed to violent practices at the border. People suffered from exhaustion, hypothermia, dehydration and mental health issues. Last year, it noted a sharp increase in people carrying the scars of physical assaults, including bruises and dog bites. Its almost impossible to independently verify such reports. The area is off limits. NGOs and media must apply for a permit to enter. EU and international agencies that work with migrants are not invited either, although migrants are provided with their contact details should they want to complain. Turnbacks not pushbacks, Poland insists Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Stasiulewicz said those who force their way in are sent back to Belarus, which is in line with our legal framework. The Norwegian Refugee Council, a migrant aid charity, has another take. It said that nearly 9,000 violent pushbacks have been reported by NGOs in what it describes as Europes death zone since 2021. Pushbacks depriving someone who may be in fear for their safety of their right to apply for asylum are illegal under international law. Polish Undersecretary of State Maciej Duszczyk rejects the pushback allegations. He prefers "turnbacks. The rationale is that migrants are obliged to apply for asylum in good faith at open border points, not force their way in. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The nearest place they can do that is in Terespol, about 100 kilometers (60 miles) south of Poowce. Halting asylum in the name of security As far as the Polish authorities are concerned, their methods are working. The number of people arriving in Poowce has dropped significantly. Around 670 people applied for asylum there last year, and none to mid-January. The Office for Foreigners was empty when reporters visited. To keep numbers down, the government intends to suspend asylum applications in times of crisis. A draft law winding its way through parliament would see the border shut for 60 days if Warsaw suspects that migrants are being weaponized should they approach the border in large groups, try to intimidate Polish officers or damage border infrastructure. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement If anyone uses violence against the border guards, we close the border, Duszczyk said. Doctors Without Borders says this could have dramatic consequences. Its urged Poland to drastically change course of action" and do all it can to protect migrants and refugees. But EU leaders signed off on Polands actions at a summit last month. Countries on Europes eastern flank received a greenlight to suspend the right to protection when they believe that Belarus and Russia are weaponizing migrants. When security and migration get political Ultimately, security and migration policies are highly politicized. Tusk has been in power for more than a year but his partys candidate in a presidential election in May faces a strong challenge from a nationalist opponent. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The EU shifted further right in June after elections to the European Parliament, with nationalists and populists shaking Europes foundations, particularly in major powers France and Germany. Tusk believes that tough migration policy can win back voters. If we do not want to hand over these matters to radicals, extremists, populists, we must find the right answers so that no one in the world doubts that democratic states are able to effectively defend themselves against illegal migration, he said on Friday. He described the tough protection" of borders as a "sacred duty. Polands borders also make up the 27-nation EUs external frontier. For Tusk, his countrys security is Europes security. It's a similar argument made by Hungary's staunchly nationalist prime minister, Viktor Orban. ___ Associated Press writers Monika Scislowska and Vanessa Gera in Warsaw contributed to this report. ___ Follow APs coverage of migration issues at https://apnews.com/hub/migration The News KKR is investing in one of the regions biggest data center firms, the latest deal demonstrating the Gulfs draw as a global digital infrastructure hub. Financial details werent disclosed: The US asset manager and its partner Gulf Data Hub said they were committed to investing more than $5 billion to expand data center capacity. GDH operates seven facilities in the UAE and Saudi Arabia, and plans to expand to Bahrain, Oman, Kuwait, and Qatar. With ample energy, capital, and land, the Gulf is becoming a hub in the race to develop the worlds most advanced AI models. In April, Microsoft made a $1.5 billion investment in Abu Dhabis G42, seeing the company as a conduit to expand its Azure data center business. Google Cloud and Saudis Public Investment Fund agreed in October to develop an AI hub in Dammam. Investments are also flowing abroad: DAMAC plans to invest $20 billion in US data centers, while G42 has built up four times the computing capacity in the US compared to at home in the UAE. EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) El Paso Police are asking for the publics help to learn more about a shooting that took the life of an 19-year-old man over the weekend. Police said the victim was taken to a local hospital early Sunday morning, Jan. 19 and died from his injuries. Police have determined that the shooting took place at about 1:25 a.m. Sunday in the area of Pershing and Gateway South in Central El Paso. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Police said their Crimes Against Persons Unit is investigating and treating this as a possible murder. Anyone with any information is asked to call the police non-emergency line at (915) 832-4400 or to remain anonymous, you can call Crime Stoppers of El Paso at (915) 566-8477. Copyright 2025 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. WASHINGTON (DC News Now) D.C. police said officers arrested someone for stabbing and killing an 83-year-old woman in Northwest on Friday. The Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) said in a news release that officers responded to the 1300 block of Missouri Ave. just before noon for a welfare check. When they arrived, MPD officers found 83-year-old Sandra Mundle, who had been stabbed. DC Fire and EMS responded, but she died there. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement DC police: Robbery suspects stole coat, escaped in stolen cars Officers then arrested 31-year-old Christopher Holness and charged him with second-degree murder while armed. MPD said that the murder was domestic. Copyright 2025 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. East Chicago Police said a Saturday shooting ruled as a homicide by the Lake County Coroners Office was likely the result of self-defense, as a son shot his father to protect his mother during a physical and verbal altercation. The Lake County Coroners Office has identified the victim as Daniel Negrete, 45, of East Chicago; the cause of death is pending an autopsy. East Chicago Police said in a post on Facebook that around 7 p.m. on Jan. 18, officers were dispatched to the 1800 block of East 140th Street for shots fired inside the second-floor rear apartment. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Officers found a man lying on his back in a pool of blood on the living room floor. The man was unresponsive and appeared to have suffered from several gunshot wounds to the chest, police said. Officers performed CPR until medics arrived. Medics and East Chicago Fire Department personnel transported the victim to St. Catherine Hospital, where he was pronounced deceased. The Lake County Prosecutors Homicide Task Force was called out to investigate the homicide. Preliminary investigation indicates that the homicide may have been self-defense based on witness statements. Witnesses stated that the victim was involved in a verbal and physical altercation with his wife when he reached for a weapon. At that time, witnesses said that the son shot his father to protect his mother. Police said the investigation is ongoing. Assisting agencies also include the Lake County Sheriffs Department CSI and Lake County Prosecutors Homicide Task Force. A 19-year-old man has been accused of setting a fire at a building that includes Wisconsin Rep. Glenn Grothman's office because of the short-lived TikTok ban. The Fond du Lac Police Department said the incident happened around 1 a.m. on Sunday at a strip mall at 525 N. Peters Ave. that is home to the Republican 6th District congressman's office. The fire started outside the building and eventually burned the building's outside siding and an air conditioning unit. The building was unoccupied at the time and no injuries were reported, according to police chief Aaron Goldstein. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Authorities found the suspect, of Menasha, Wisconsin, near the strip mall. He admitted to officers he set the fire "in response to the recent talks of a TikTok ban." The man is being held at the Fond du Lac County Jail for probable cause arson. Grothman was among a bipartisan majority of 360 Wisconsin House members who voted in favor last year of a bill that would force TikTok's Chinese parent company to sell the app or face a ban in the U.S. TikTok voluntarily implemented the ban over the weekend, with users unable to gain access starting on Saturday after the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the law on Friday. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement However, a message from the app on Sunday stated the ban has been lifted, adding "as a result of President Trump's efforts, TikTok is back," even though Trump isn't sworn into the Oval Office until Monday afternoon, after outgoing President Joe Biden said he would leave it to the incoming Trump Administration to enforce the ban. Trump has intimated he could delay the enforcement of the law by 90 days upon taking office, even though he was among the bipartisan cadre of politicians who in recent years have called for the app currently owned by China-based ByteDance to be banned in the U.S. until it's sold to a non-Chinese entity. TikTok users in the US are now seeing this message, in which the social media platform gives the man who started the effort to ban the app in the first place credit for 'saving it' pic.twitter.com/96KK3waBGc philip lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) January 19, 2025 There have long been concerns over TikTok, with national security experts stating it could be used by the Chinese government to influence U.S. public opinion by pushing certain content contrary to national interests, and also be used as a way of spying on American social media users, and potentially compromise their devices. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) said on NBC's "Meet the Press" he believes President-elect Trump "will enforce the law," ensuring that the app is completely sold or it will be banned. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Its not the platform that members of Congress are concerned about. It's the Chinese Communist Party and their manipulation of the algorithms. They have been flooding the minds of American children with terrible messages, glorifying violence and antisemitism and even suicide and eating disorders," Johnson claims. "I mean, crazy kind of stuff. And they're mining the data of American citizens. It's a very dangerous thing. The Chinese Communist Party is not our friend. And we have to make sure this changes hands. I'm really heartened to see that Google and Apple and Microsoft have taken the steps to comply with the law. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) says Congress will enforce the law ensuring that TikTok is completely sold or it will be banned. He says there must be a full divestiture from the Chinese Communist Party, not just a 50% sale. He adds: Its not the platform that members of pic.twitter.com/TRnWS3vWtT Ryan Saavedra (@RealSaavedra) January 19, 2025 Police said a 19-year-old admitted to starting a fire at the weekend over the TikTok ban. The fire took place at an office used by Wisconsin Rep. Glenn Grothman. The man was arrested nearby. President-elect Donald Trump said he will issue an executive order delaying the ban. A 19-year-old cited the TikTok ban as motivation for setting fire to a member of Congress's office over the weekend, police said. The fire took place on Sunday at a strip mall in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, which included a district office used by Rep. Glenn Grothman, according to a statement from the local police. Grothman, a Republican, was among the 352 members of Congress who voted in favor of the bill requiring ByteDance, TikTok's parent company, to divest from TikTok in the US or face it being banned there. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The local fire department said there was "moderate damage" to the outside of the office, but no injuries were reported. It said the blaze appeared "suspicious" in nature and that it would be investigated. Police said in a statement that the 19-year-old suspect, who is from the Wisconsin city of Menasha, was arrested near the building. The man, who was not named, "admitted to starting the fire in response to recent talks of a TikTok ban," it said. Fire damage and exposed insulation at the side of an office used by Rep. Glenn Grothman. Fond du Lac Fire Rescue Speaking to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Grothman said he didn't know yet what had happened "other than somebody tried to set a fire over TikTok." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Grothman has previously co-sponsored a bill banning TikTok from US government devices, and has referred to the app as a "growing national security threat." Grothman's office did not respond to a request for comment from Business Insider made outside working hours. On Friday, the Supreme Court upheld the ban on TikTok. The platform was down for US users for 12 hours starting late Saturday night. As of Sunday, however, the app was accessible again, and President-elect Donald Trump, who is due to take office on Monday, said that he will issue an executive order delaying the ban. "Thanks for your patience and support," read a message to TikTok's US users. "As a result of President Trump's efforts, TikTok is back in the US!" Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The threat of losing access to TikTok has dismayed many of its approximately 170 million users in the US, including the armies of creators and influencer marketers who make a living on the platform. Read the original article on Business Insider Apple Valley police still are looking for a pizza delivery driver whose absence has family members worried. Shue Xiong, 42, failed to make four pizza deliveries Tuesday night after leaving the Dominos on 141st Street off Pilot Knob Road around 6 p.m. In an update Monday, police said a witness reported seeing Xiong sitting in his red Toyota Camry in Superior, Wisconsin, around 4 p.m. Saturday; police found the car unoccupied. Later, around 8 p.m. Saturday, Xiong spoke with an acquaintance in Roseville. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We are unsure how Mr. Xiong traveled or if he has obtained another vehicle, police said. Investigators now believe that Mr. Xiong might be experiencing a mental health crisis. Xiong is known to carry a firearm and has a permit to carry, according to police. An investigation into his phone location, bank records and social media accounts have not provided any new information, police said Friday in an update. Xiongs family said in a statement Monday they remain deeply concerned for (his) safety and well-being. Given the cold temperatures and his uncharacteristic behavior, it is critical that he is located as soon as possible and provided the care he needs. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement His family urged anyone who sees Xiong to call 911 or Apple Valley police at 952-953-2700. Xiong is an Asian man who is 5 feet 8 inches tall and 215 pounds. He is bald, with a dark mustache and beard, and brown eyes. Related Articles LA CROSSE, Wis. (WFRV) Police say one man is dead and a suspect is in custody following an early Sunday morning shooting in Wisconsin. According to a release from the La Crosse Police Department, officers responded around 2:30 a.m. to the 1800 block of George Street for reports of shots being fired. Adult entertainment club in Wisconsin catches fire, deputies investigating Upon arrival, police found one man outside who appeared to have been shot. Life-saving measures were immediately performed and the victim, 42-year-old Justin J. Betz, was taken to the hospital where he was later pronounced dead. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Officials say 28-year-old Cody R. Alland was identified as the person responsible for the shooting. He was found sometime Sunday evening near a home on the north side of La Crosse. Justin Betz. Courtesy of the La Crosse Police Department Cody Alland. Courtesy of the La Crosse Police Department Alland allegedly tried to flee in a vehicle but was taken into custody a short distance away during a traffic stop. Police report that Alland is currently being held at the La Crosse County Jail and faces a pending charge of 1st Degree Intentional Homicide. No other information is available at this time. Copyright 2025 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 WFRV Local 5 - Green Bay, Appleton. Police in England last week seized a Cybertruck as they are not legal to drive on UK roads. The Tesla vehicle is not on sale in Europe, and attempts to import it are not going well. The Cybertruck's weight and sharp edges mean it is unlikely to win European approval anytime soon. The Cybertruck is now regularly seen on US roads but attempts to import it across the Atlantic are not going well. A modified version of Tesla's electric pickup was seized in the UK on Thursday, with police warning that it's not legal to drive there and could pose a danger to pedestrians and other road users. The Cybertruck, which appears to have been fitted with a light bar and a custom "Cyberbeast" wrap, was stopped in the town of Whitefield, near Manchester in northwest England. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Authorities confiscated the vehicle after finding that the Cybertruck was registered and insured abroad, which is illegal in the UK. In a post on X, Greater Manchester Police warned that the EV did not have a "certificate of conformity," making it illegal to drive on public roads in the UK. "Whilst this may seem trivial to some, legitimate concerns exist around the safety of other road users or pedestrians if they were involved in a collision with a Cybertruck," police said. The Cybertruck has become a common sight on US roads since it launched in 2023 but despite arriving in Mexico and Canada last year, it remains unavailable in Europe, one of Tesla's biggest markets. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The truck's sharp edges, which have seen some owners report injuries in the US, likely breach rules in the European Union and UK that prevent vehicles with "sharp external projections" being sold. The weight of the Cybertruck also poses a barrier for any European Tesla fans looking to ship one across the Atlantic. The vehicle weighs 8,830 to 9,170 pounds, or between 4.4 and 4.5 tons when factoring in passengers and cargo. That means it's probably too heavy to be driven in Europe with a standard driver's license, experts previously told BI. Most drivers in the UK and EU need a different license for vehicles over 7,700 pounds. A few modified Cybertrucks have been imported into Europe. Campaign groups have called for the truck to be banned completely after a truck with rubber-padded edges was registered in the Czech Republic last year. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Tesla has not made any announcement about a potential UK or EU launch and there's doubt about potential demand in Europe. Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment from BI. Do you own a Cybertruck outside the US? Get in touch with this reporter at tcarter@businessinsider.com Read the original article on Business Insider This is The Takeaway from today's Morning Brief, which you can sign up to receive in your inbox every morning along with: The chart of the day What we're watching What we're reading Economic data releases and earnings Coverage of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, each year is something I view as a competitive sport. I actually start training for the intense week over the summer, as my few close friends know (and yes, they all make fun of me). The number of workouts every week in the lead-up rises incrementally so I can easily sprint up and down the two-mile promenade with a backpack to stuff in as many meetings as humanly possible (yes, I do this). My one cheat meal a week gets replaced by green drinks and extra doses of vitamins to ensure I don't get sick. I meditate twice a day and carefully pick out clothes I know will help me execute at the highest level. Look good, feel good, good things happen. To me, this one event is the closest I will get to being like Michael Jordan in the playoffs and I am very lucky to be in attendance. And this year, the gathering of the elites flying in on private jets to wax poetic on the world's biggest problems will be extra nutty. Read more: Here are the biggest global risks for 2025 The conference unofficially kicks off on Trump's Inauguration Day. Some CEOs I know who normally would be at Davos all week are dropping in mid-week after working the inauguration party rounds. By Tuesday, the newly minted president may have uncorked a host of executive orders that could impact the businesses of the top CEOs on the ground. And, of course, impact the global markets. This is why this year's WEF will be more important than the norm for you, the average investor. The headlines will be coming in hot and heavy as CEOs look to challenge Trump or get on his good side. They will also look to talk up their businesses ahead of the start of earnings season, and with markets getting a little rockier of late. Here's what yours truly and our very own Jennifer Schonberger will be watching while bundled up in five layers all week. Be sure to bookmark the "streaming now" section on Yahoo Finance to catch all our market-moving interviews in real time. Or tune in where you normally catch us, whether that's on Samsung TV or our nifty app. Unlike our previous trips to Davos over the past decade, I will be taping several special episodes of the Opening Bid podcast on the ground. I could tell you who those guests will be, but where is the fun in that? Best to be surprised! SNYDER, Texas (KTAB/KRBC) Last week, Snyder ISD canceled classes on Thursday following a threat emailed to school board members. Now, police have revealed more details about the nature of the incident. ALL CLEAR: Snyder ISD reopens following threat investigation, increased security in place The email was sent around 11:00 p.m. on Wednesday, January 15. Due to the late timing, authorities could not gather enough information or issue an all clear before school began, leading to the precautionary cancellation of classes on Thursday, January 16, 2025. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Following a thorough investigation, law enforcement gave the all clear on Thursday night, allowing schools to resume normal operations. While specific details were initially withheld, an increased law enforcement presence was maintained across all campuses as a precaution. On Saturday, January 18, the Snyder Police Department released new findings. The email included a name believed to be fake and an address located in Dallas. Information was obtained that the address in Dallas, TX, is linked to a group involved in swatting incidents across the United States, Snyder PD stated in a press release. Snyder ISD threat prompts youth center to close doors Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Swatting involves deceiving emergency services into dispatching a police or emergency response team to an unsuspecting persons address. Investigators believe the email was an attempt to prompt such a response to the Dallas address, which is allegedly connected to swatting activity nationwide. At this time, we do not believe there is, or ever was, a threat to Snyder ISD. This investigation is ongoing, and no further information will be released at this time, Snyder PD shared. The Snyder Police Department is working with Dallas PD, Texas DPS, the FBI, and Homeland Security Investigations throughout the investigation. Copyright 2025 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. A Chicago woman is in custody after police said she crashed into the weigh station on Interstate 94 east of Chesterton on Saturday, causing thousands of dollars in damages. The woman, 28, is being held in Porter County Jail on a charge of operating while intoxicated refusal, according to a release from the Indiana State Police, Lowell Post. The Post-Tribune is not naming her because she has not been formally charged. An ISP trooper responded on Jan. 18 to a report of a single-vehicle crash at the eastbound scale house on I-94, east of the Chesterton exit, police said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A black, 2022 Chevrolet Tahoe had driven through the entrance to the scale house at a high rate of speed, police said. The Chevrolet struck the metal entrance gate, continued through the scale lanes and collided with several street signs and light poles. The vehicle came to a rest on the bypass lane of the scale house against the metal guard rail. Debris from the crash shattered the windows of the scale house. During the crash investigation, police determined that the driver of the Chevrolet had consumed alcoholic beverages and conducted an operating while intoxicated investigation. Police also learned that the driver was attempting to drive home, however, she was headed eastbound on I-94 rather than westbound toward Illinois, police said. The driver was offered the opportunity to take a certified chemical test, but the drivers interactions resulted in her being charged with OWI refusal and police transported her to the jail. Damage to the light poles, signs and scale house is estimated at several thousand dollars, police said. Today marks one of the greatest days in American history. Thanks to President Trump, we have an incredible opportunity to achieve extraordinary things for our country. There is no time to waste. The Senate must do its part and act with urgency to confirm President Trumps cabinet and advance his America First agenda through Congress. By signing more than 200 day one executive orders, President Trump is fulfilling his promises to secure the border, initiate mass deportations, and unleash American energy. His decisive actions to remove critical race theory and radical transgender ideology from our schools and military are vital steps toward restoring common sense nationwide. I will always stand with President Trump in the Senate and look forward to fighting alongside him to restore American greatness. With President Trump leading the way, Americas best days are yet to come! Pope Francis has criticized US President-elect Donald Trumps plan to deport immigrants as a disgrace. The pontiff, speaking during an Italian television interview, was asked about the incoming Trump administrations plans to expel undocumented immigrants through an aggressive slate of immigration executive orders by the incoming president, who will be inaugurated Monday. If it is true, it will be a disgrace, because it makes the poor wretches who have nothing to pay the unpaid bill. It wont do. This is not the way to solve things, Francis said during the Sunday interview. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Pope has made advocacy for migrants a key part of his papacy, insisting they should be welcomed and integrated into societies. Its also a topic which resonates personally with Francis. In his new autobiography, the Pope recalled how his paternal grandparents and father had planned to sail in 1927 on the Principessa Mafalda from Italy to Argentina, which sank with the loss of many lives, but ended up making a later crossing. Francis has signaled that he is ready to take a critical approach to the new Trump administration with his appointment of Cardinal Robert McElroy as the next Archbishop of Washington, DC. McElroy has described mass deportations of immigrants as incompatible with Catholic doctrine. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement On Sunday, Cardinal Blase Cupich of Chicago, also criticized the deportation plans. In 2016, Francis suggested then-presidential candidate Trump was not Christian for his anti-immigration views. Francis made his latest remarks in an interview with the talk show Che Tempo Che Fa broadcast on Nove, which is owned by CNNs parent company Warner Bros. Discovery. During the interview, the Pope also said he was appointing a nun, Sister Raffaella Petrini, as president of the commission which governs the Vatican City State. Petrini will take over from a cardinal in her new role and is expected to take up her position in March. He appointment follows the Popes decision earlier this month to appoint the first female leader of a Vatican department. The Pope also said that his arm, which had been in a sling after he injured it in a fall, is now moving better. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com One day before the inauguration of Donald Trump as US president, Pope Francis criticized his plans for an immigration crackdown when he returns to the White House on Monday. In an interview with Italian programme Che Tempo Che Fa on Nove aired on Sunday, the pope was asked about Trump's mass deportations plans once he returns to office. The pope said he had not spoken to Trump since his first term in office, but if it is true that he wants to expel undocumented migrants "it will be a disgrace, because it makes poor unfortunates pay the price of societal imbalance." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "This won't do," the 88-year-old head of the Catholic Church told Italian presenter Fabio Fazio, "This is not how you solve things." The relationship between Pope Francis and Trump is considered tense. Before the presidential election in November, the pope said of Trump and his Democratic opponent Kamala Harris: "They are both against life, both the one who gets rid of migrants and the one who kills babies," referring to Harris's support for a woman's right to choose an abortion. On Monday, Trump will be sworn in as the 47th president of the United States in Washington. According to US reports, he was set to sign a range of executive orders from day one, with a special focus on anti-migration measures. Pope Francis had quite a busy weekend. In a rare TV interview, he slammed President-elect Donald Trumps call for the mass deportation of immigrants in the U.S. as a disgrace. He also made his first appearance on TikTok, which was briefly banned in the States on Sunday, to promote his new autobiography Hope. The 88-year-old pontiff was asked about the incoming Trump administrations plans to deport undocumented immigrants in a 40-minute conversation with talk show host Fabio Fazio on Che Tempo Che Fa, aired by the Warner Bros. Discovery-owned Italian channel Nove. More from Variety Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement If it is true, it will be a disgrace, because it makes the poor wretches who have nothing pay the unpaid bill. It wont do. This is not the way to solve things, Francis said during the interview to promote Hope, which is being released in over 80 countries. Che Tempo Che Fa, which is Italys most popular talk show, is produced by Banijay Italia label LOfficina. Francis also took to TikTok for the first time to tout Hope which is the first memoir by a sitting pope in a clip released Sunday by Italian publisher Mondadori. In the video, the Pope thanked journalist Carlo Musso, who wrote the book with him, for his patience in listening to his memories. The Catholic Churchs leader, who has made calls for migrants to be welcomed and integrated into societies a key plank of his papacy, underlines in the memoir how the topic resonates with him personally. In Hope, he recounts how his paternal grandparents and father intended to sail from Italy to Argentina in 1927 on a ship called the Principessa Mafalda, which sank off the coast of Brazil and cost 300 lives. They ended up reaching Argentina on a subsequent voyage. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement As Trump moves back into the White House, Francis also appears to be ready to take a critical approach to the new administration with the appointment of Cardinal Robert McElroy as the next Archbishop of Washington, D.C. McElroy has described the mass deportation of immigrants as incompatible with Catholic doctrine, according to CNN. Best of Variety Sign up for Variety's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Editors Note: As of 9 p.m. on January 19, 2025, the bomb was diffused. No additional details have been released at this time. The Wichita County Sheriffs Office is working with the ATF and FBI to determine if components of the pipe bomb will lead them to a suspect. WICHITA FALLS (KFDX/KJTL) The Wichita County Sheriffs Office is asking residents to stay away from the Wichita River bridge on FM 369 after finding a possible bomb. According to Sheriff Duke, deputies responded to a call around 2:15 p.m. on Sunday, January 19, and found what appeared to be a pipe bomb near the Wichita River Bridge. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Fort Sill in Oklahoma is sending their bomb technicians after receiving drone pictures from WCSO. The area is closed off at this time. This is a developing story. Stick with Texomas Homepage for updates as more information becomes available. All individuals charged with a crime are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now Daily News Copyright 2025 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 Texomashomepage.com. In his last day as president, Joe Biden pardoned five members of his extended family, including his two brothers, James Biden and Francis Biden, and his sister Valerie Biden Owens. He also issued pardons to former White House medical adviser Anthony Fauci, who helped coordinate the nations response to the COVID-19 pandemic. James Bidens wife Sarah Jones and and Valerie Biden Owens husband John Owens were also pardoned. The pardons were preemptive, none of them have been charged with any crimes. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The proclamation says Bidens five family members are granted a full and unconditional pardon for any nonviolent offenses against the United States which they may have committed or taken part in during the period from January 1, 2014, through the date of this pardon. The pardon was signed on Sunday but was announced Monday as Biden sat in the Capitol Rotunda for President Donald Trumps inauguration. Biden earlier pardoned his son Hunter Biden for any actions during the same 10-year time period. James Biden had partnered with Hunter Biden on several foreign business deals. House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer wrote a letter to Trumps attorney general nominee, Pam Bondi, saying while Hunter Biden was pardoned, his main accomplice in his influence peddling schemes (aside from Joe Biden himself), was James Biden, the Presidents younger brother. Comer earlier sent the Department of Justice criminal referrals for Hunter and James Biden, alleging they made false statements to Congress. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In a statement released with the pardons, President Biden said, I believe in the rule of law, and I am optimistic that the strength of our legal institutions will ultimately prevail over politics. But baseless and politically motivated investigations wreak havoc on the lives, safety, and financial security of targeted individuals and their families. Even when individuals have done nothing wrong and will ultimately be exonerated, the mere fact of being investigated or prosecuted can irreparably damage their reputations and finance, Biden said. The issuance of these pardons should not be mistaken as an acknowledgment that they engaged in any wrongdoing, nor should acceptance be misconstrued as an admission of guilt for any offense, Biden said, according to ABC News. NBC News Kristen Welker said in an X post Trump sent her a text about the pardons saying, It is disgraceful. Many are guilty of MAJOR CRIMES! DJT In 2023, Trump said if he was reelected he would appoint a real special prosecutor to go after the most corrupt president in the history of the United States of America, Joe Biden, and the entire Biden crime family. Biden preemptively pardons Fauci, Cheney, Milley and members of Jan. 6 committee Biden also issued preemptive pardons to several of Trumps foes, including Fauci, who oversaw the nations response to the COVID-19 crisis and was accused by Sen. Rand Paul of lying to Congress and covering up who was responsible for the pandemic. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Fauci, who was director of the National Institutes of Health, released a statement according to The Associated Press saying, Despite the accomplishments that my colleagues and I achieved over my long career of public service, I have been the subject of politically-motivated threats of investigation and prosecution. There is absolutely no basis for these threats. Let me be perfectly clear: I have committed no crime. Gen. Mark Milley, a former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was also pardoned. Milley, who has been critical of Trump, released a statement according to The New York Times that said, After forty-three years of faithful service in uniform to our Nation, protecting and defending the Constitution, I do not wish to spend whatever remaining time the Lord grants me fighting those who unjustly might seek retribution for perceived slights. I do not want to put my family, my friends, and those with whom I served through the resulting distraction, expense, and anxiety. Biden said he also preemptively pardoned, Members of Congress and staff who served on the Select Committee, and the U.S. Capitol and D.C. Metropolitan police officers who testified before the Select Committee, according to Roll Call. At this point, there are few details about the pardon. President Joe Biden issued pardons to several close family members Monday in the final minutes of his presidency. "My family has been subjected to unrelenting attacks and threats, motivated solely by a desire to hurt me -- the worst kind of partisan politics," Biden wrote in a statement. "Unfortunately, I have no reason to believe these attacks will end." "That is why I am exercising my power under the Constitution to pardon James B. Biden, Sara Jones Biden, Valerie Biden Owens, John T. Owens, and Francis W. Biden," he continued. "The issuance of these pardons should not be mistaken as an acknowledgment that they engaged in any wrongdoing, nor should acceptance be misconstrued as an admission of guilt for any offense." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement MORE: Biden preemptively pardons Anthony Fauci, Mark Milley and Jan. 6 committee members The five preemptive pardons were issued to James Biden, Joe's younger brother; Sara Jones Biden, James' wife; Valerie Biden Owens, Joe's younger sister; John T. Owens', Valerie's husband; and Francis W. Biden, Joe's younger brother. While he was sitting in the Capitol Rotunda attending the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump, Biden announced the preemptive pardons for his siblings and in-laws. "I believe in the rule of law, and I am optimistic that the strength of our legal institutions will ultimately prevail over politics. But baseless and politically motivated investigations wreak havoc on the lives, safety, and financial security of targeted individuals and their families. Even when individuals have done nothing wrong and will ultimately be exonerated, the mere fact of being investigated or prosecuted can irreparably damage their reputations and finance," Biden said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "The issuance of these pardons should not be mistaken as an acknowledgment that they engaged in any wrongdoing, nor should acceptance be misconstrued as an admission of guilt for any offense," Biden said. PHOTO: First lady Jill Biden, President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and second gentleman Doug Emhoff stand together at the White House ahead of the inauguration of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump Jan. 20, 2025 in Washington. (Win Mcnamee/Getty Images) This comes after Biden issued a controversial pardon for his son, Hunter Biden, in early December over tax evasion and federal gun charges. Biden had repeatedly said he did not plan to pardon Hunter. James Biden, 75, has especially come under fire from Republicans. Congressional Republicans have pressed the incoming Justice Department to bring charges against James Biden for allegedly lying to Congress as part of its impeachment inquiry into the outgoing president and his family. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Paul Fishman, an attorney who represents James and Sara Biden, said in a statement to ABC News, "Jim and Sara Biden did not seek this pardon because they have never committed any crimes. But for the reasons the President described, they have accepted it." James Comer, the chair of the House Oversight Committee, wrote to incoming Attorney General Pam Bondi on Friday seeking to hold James Biden accountable for "having misled Congress regarding Joe Biden's participation in his family's influence peddling and deserving of prosecution under federal law." MORE: As Trump returns to office, what he's promised to do on Day 1 Comer and his Republican colleagues had already issued a criminal referral for James Biden to the Justice Department. Comer reacted to the preemptive pardons of Biden's family, saying they serve as "a confession of their corruption." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The pardon warrant, signed Jan. 19, excuses James Biden and the other family members of "ANY NONVIOLENT OFFENSES against the United States which they may have committed or taken part in during the period from January 1, 2014, through the date of this pardon." These were the second preemptive pardons issued by the outgoing president on Monday, not an unusual act for departing leaders. He also issued pardons to potential targets of the incoming Trump administration, including Dr. Anthony Fauci, retired Gen. Mark Milley and lawmakers who served on the House Jan. 6 committee. "Our nation relies on dedicated, selfless public servants every day. They are the lifeblood of our democracy," Biden said in a statement. "Yet alarmingly, public servants have been subjected to ongoing threats and intimidation for faithfully discharging their duties." ABC News' Alexandra Hutzler contributed to this report. President Biden pardons family members in final minutes of presidency originally appeared on abcnews.go.com President Joe Biden on Monday, in his final act in office, pardoned his family members, due to unrelenting attacks from incoming President Donald Trump and allies, along with Dr. Anthony Fauci, retired Gen. Mark Milley and members of the House committee that investigated the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, in an extraordinary use of the powers of the presidency in his final hours to guard against potential revenge by the incoming Trump administration. Biden pardoned his siblings and their spouses, saying his family had been subjected to unrelenting attacks and threats, motivated solely by a desire to hurt me the worst kind of partisan politics. More from The Hollywood Reporter Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Unfortunately, I have no reason to believe these attacks will end, he said. He issued a slew of pardons and commutations in the moments before leaving office, including for aides and allies that have been targeted by Trump. None have been charged with any crimes. Last month, pardoned his son Hunter for tax and gun crimes. Biden issued blanket pardons for his brother James and his wife, Sara, his sister Valerie and her husband, John Owens, and his brother Francis. The issuance of these pardons should not be mistaken as an acknowledgment that they engaged in any wrongdoing, nor should acceptance be misconstrued as an admission of guilt for any offense, he said in a statement. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The pardons came as Biden and others stood at the U.S. Capitol to see Trump inaugurated. The decision by Biden comes after Donald Trump warned of an enemies list filled with those who have crossed him politically or sought to hold him accountable for his attempt to overturn his 2020 election loss and his role in the storming of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Trump has selected Cabinet nominees who backed his election lies and who have pledged to punish those involved in efforts to investigate him. Biden added in his statement. Our nation owes these public servants a debt of gratitude for their tireless commitment to our country. The pardons, announced with just hours left in Bidens presidency, have been the subject of heated debate for months at the highest levels of the White House. Its customary for a president to grant clemency at the end of his term, but those acts of mercy are usually offered to Americans who have been convicted of crimes. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Biden, a Democrat, has used the power in the broadest and most untested way possible: to pardon those who have not even been investigated. His decision lays the groundwork for an even more expansive use of pardons by Trump, a Republican, and future presidents. While the Supreme Court last year ruled that presidents enjoy broad immunity from prosecution for what could be considered official acts, the presidents aides and allies enjoy no such shield. There is concern that future presidents could use the promise of a blanket pardon to encourage allies to take actions they might otherwise resist for fear of running afoul of the law. Its unclear whether those pardoned by Biden would need to apply for the clemency or accept the presidents offer. Acceptance could be seen as a tacit admission of guilt or wrongdoing, validating years of attacks by Trump and his supporters, even though those who have been pardoned have not been formally accused of any crimes. These are exceptional circumstances, and I cannot in good conscience do nothing, Biden said, adding that Even when individuals have done nothing wrong and in fact have done the right thing and will ultimately be exonerated, the mere fact of being investigated or prosecuted can irreparably damage reputations and finances. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Fauci was director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health for nearly 40 years, including during Trumps term in office, and later served as Bidens chief medical adviser until his retirement in 2022. He helped coordinate the nations response to the COVID-19 pandemic and raised Trumps ire when he resisted Trumps untested public health notions. Fauci has since become a target of intense hatred and vitriol from people on the right, who blame him for mask mandates and other policies they believe infringed on their rights, even as hundreds of thousands of people were dying. Despite the accomplishments that my colleagues and I achieved over my long career of public service, I have been the subject of politically motivated threats of investigation and prosecution, Fauci said in a statement. There is absolutely no basis for these threats. Let me be perfectly clear: I have committed no crime. Milley, a former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has called Trump a fascist and has detailed Trumps conduct around the deadly Jan. 6 insurrection. He said he was grateful to Biden for a pardon. I do not wish to spend whatever remaining time the Lord grants me fighting those who unjustly might seek retribution for perceived slights, he said in a statement. I do not want to put my family, my friends, and those with whom I served through the resulting distraction, expense and anxiety. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Biden also extended pardons to members and staff of the Jan. 6 committee that investigated the attack, as well as the U.S. Capitol and D.C. Metropolitan police officers who testified before the House committee about their experiences that day, overrun by an angry, violent mob of Trump supporters. The committee spent 18 months investigating Trump and the insurrection. It was led by Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., and Rep. Liz Cheney, a Wyoming Republican who later pledged to vote for Democrat Kamala Harris and campaigned with her against Trump. The committees final report found that Trump criminally engaged in a multi-part conspiracy to overturn the lawful results of the 2020 presidential election and failed to act to stop his supporters from attacking the Capitol. Rather than accept accountability, Biden said, those who perpetrated the January 6th attack have taken every opportunity to undermine and intimidate those who participated in the Select Committee in an attempt to rewrite history, erase the stain of January 6th for partisan gain and seek revenge, including by threatening criminal prosecutions. Bidens statement did not list the dozens of members and staff by name. Some did not know they were to receive pardons until it happened, according to a person familiar with the matter who spoke to the Associated Press on the condition of anonymity. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Biden, an institutionalist, has promised a smooth transition to the next administration, inviting Trump to the White House and saying that the nation will be OK, even as he warned during his farewell address of a growing oligarchy. He has spent years warning that Trumps ascension to the presidency again would be a threat to democracy. His decision to break with political norms was brought on by those concerns. Biden has set the presidential record for most individual pardons and commutations issued. He is not the first to consider such preemptive pardons. Trump aides considered them for Trump and his supporters involved in his failed efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election that culminated in the violent riot at the Capitol. But Trumps pardons never materialized before he left office four years ago. President Gerald Ford granted a full, free, and absolute pardon in 1974 to his predecessor, Richard Nixon, over the Watergate scandal. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trump, who takes office at noon, has promised to grant swift clemency to many of those involved in the violent and bloody Jan. 6, 2021, attack, which injured roughly 140 law enforcement officers. Everybody in this very large arena will be very happy with my decision, he said at a Sunday rally. Jan. 20, 8:50 a.m. Updated to include Biden issuing pardons to his family members. Best of The Hollywood Reporter Sign up for THR's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. This operational setup brings significant improvements over the traditional hub and spoke system utilized by many national carriers, said Geoff Muessig, Pitt Ohios chief marketing officer, in a news release. (Photo: Jim Allen/FreightWaves) Regional less-than-truckload carrier Pitt Ohio announced Monday a new express lane to six border-crossing points in Texas. The Pittsburgh-based company said it will consolidate freight at a terminal in Cincinnati and work with Cookeville, Tennessee-based regional carrier Averitt Express for final-mile delivery to the Texas border cities of Laredo, El Paso, McAllen, Brownsville, Eagle Pass and Del Rio. This operational setup brings significant improvements over the traditional hub and spoke system utilized by many national carriers, said Geoff Muessig, Pitt Ohios chief marketing officer, in a news release. By consolidating freight at a single terminal and dispatching directly to the destination cities, we reduce handling, thereby minimizing the risk of damages, shortages, or lost freight. He said the service will provide faster transit times than those offered by national carriers. Pitt Ohio primarily serves the Mid-Atlantic, Midwest and Northeast through its legacy operations and carrier partners. It closed on the acquisition of Midwest carrier Sutton Transport earlier this month. Pitt Ohio has more than 3,400 employees and generated over $900 million in revenue last year. In addition to LTL, it offers a suite of supply chain, warehousing and logistics services as well as ground and truckload transportation. More FreightWaves articles by Todd Maiden: The post Pitt Ohio adds express lane to Mexico border appeared first on FreightWaves. During his inuagural address, President Donald Trump vowed to change the name of Denali in Alaska back to Mount McKinley. "A short time from now, we are going to be changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America," Trump said, "and we will restore the name of a great president, William McKinley, to Mount McKinley, where it should be and where it belongs." The mountain range unofficially was named after McKinley in 1896, and officially by the federal government in 1917. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It was named after President William McKinley, the Ohio-born 25th president of the United States. He served from 1897 until he was assassinated in 1901. Denali, also called Mount McKinley, as seen from the Ruth Glacier. Denali in south-central Alaska is the tallest mountain in North America. Its peak reaches 20,310 feet above sea level. Denali means "the tall one" and is both the third most prominent and third most isolated peak in the world. In his speech, Trump said McKinley, "made our country very rich through tariffs and our talents." In the years that followed, controversy arose regarding changing the name of the mountain to Denali, which aligned with Alaskan culture. The name was officially changed during President Barack Obama's term to Denali in 2015. The name change was one of several pledges Trump made on Monday as he declared "a golden age of America begins right now." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The William McKinley Presidential Library & Museum is in Canton. CONTRIBUTING: Janson McNair, Canton Repository This article originally appeared on The Repository: Donald Trump vows to bring back Mount McKinley name Incoming President Donald Trump will rewrite the way the federal government handles sex and gender, and toss out federal diversity, equity, and inclusion programs when he takes office on Monday. Trump will sign a pair of executive orders on gender and diversity programs after he takes the oath of office. The new orders are part of a larger plan to remake government policy on issues such as the economy and immigration with the presidents pen. Trump railed against woke ideology on the campaign trail and often promised to direct the government to recognize the two sexes as male and female. As his term begins, Trump is poised to follow through on that promise. Federal government to recognize two sexes Trump plans to sign an executive order directing the federal government to recognize only two sexes, male and female, and treat them as biologically distinct and unchangeable from birth. The order would stop federal employees from using the term gender. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trump, however, used the term during his inaugural address on Monday afternoon. As of today, it will henceforth be the official policy of the United States government that there are only two genders, male and female, Trump said. Official government documents including passports and visas would be directed to reflect sex accurately, according to an incoming White House official. Right now, the options for gender markers on passports are male, female or X to signify another gender. Government forms will not have long drop-down menus and only show male and female options, the incoming official said. The federal government will also stop promoting holidays like International Transgender Day of Visibility, the incoming official said. The U.S. Attorney General will also provide guidance on applying Title 7 to the issue of preferred pronouns, saying that it has conflicted with freedom of speech. Right now, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission says that intentionally and repeatedly using the wrong name and pronouns to refer to a transgender employee could contribute to an unlawful hostile work environment. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Plus, the federal government will direct that access to spaces like womens prisons, migrant shelters and rape shelters should be limited to biological females, and ask the Bureau of Prison Management to ensure federal funds are not being used for transition surgeries. The new executive order could reshape the way the federal government handles gender issues. It is limited to the federal government, however, and does not apply directly to private entities like businesses. These actions and words are a direct assault on LGBTQ+ Americans, said Jeremy Comeau, the president of the National Federation of Stonewall Democrats. Leadership should unite us, not erase us. We deserve better. Trumps declaration is not just rhetoric; it is a rallying cry for policies that will harm millions of Americans. Trump aims to eliminate federal DEI programs The new president will do away with diversity, equity and inclusion programs in the federal government when he takes office. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Conservatives have targeted the programs for years, saying that the programs give an unfair advantage to minority groups. Proponents of DEI say the programs promote diversity and correct for past discrimination. The order asks two White House offices, the Office of Management and Budget and Office of Performance and Personnel Management, to work with federal agencies to terminate all DEI programs, according to an incoming White House official. We will forge a society that is color-blind and merit-based, Trump said. Trump also aims to end environmental justice programs with the order, according to the incoming official. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The president-elects new DEI order will change the governments stance on DEI programs and, if successful, redirect taxpayer funds from the programs. An administration official acknowledged that the order does not apply to private businesses, but said that companies should keep an eye out for future DEI executive orders from Trump. Karrin Taylor Robson, an Arizona Republican who Trump has encouraged to run for governor in 2026, praised the executive order in a statement to The Arizona Republic. "I have been fighting DEI policies since the radical left has introduced them," Robson said. "I am thrilled President Trump is already keeping his campaign promises and stepping up to clean out the federal government of harmful DEI policies and return America to a merit-based society." This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Trump aims to squash gender identity, DEI with executive orders LOS ANGELES (KTLA) President Donald Trumps first week in office will include a visit to wildfire-ravaged Los Angeles. Im going to go out there on Friday to see it and to get it moving back, Trump said at a rally ahead of Mondays inauguration. Were going to get some of the best builders in the world. Well get it moving back. The presidents visit comes as the battle against the Palisades and Eaton wildfires, which destroyed more than 17,000 structures, gives way to the largest recovery and rebuilding effort in California history. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement AccuWeather estimates more than $250 billion in damages and economic loss. President Donald Trump, center, holds the hand of his wife Melania Trump, right, as their son Barron Trump, center, and Vice President JD Vance, look on after taking the oath of office during the 60th Presidential Inauguration in the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Morry Gash, Pool) At least 27 people died in the fires, which erupted on Jan. 7 when hurricane-strength Santa Ana winds swept across Southern California, which hasnt seen significant rain in nearly a year. Questions remain about not only the causes of both fires but also the early response of local fire crews and whether budget cuts to the Los Angeles Fire Department had an impact. We are glad to see President-elect Trump accept the Governors invitation to come to Los Angeles, California Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a statement on Sunday. The Governor hopes the President-elect meets directly with the Americans affected by these firestorms, sees the devastation firsthand, and joins the Governor and others in thanking the heroic firefighters and first responders who are putting their lives on the line. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trump, who frequently spars with Newsom, has blamed him for the fires, claiming, among other things, that his water policies have allowed Southern Californias fire hydrants to run dry. An aerial view of utility trucks parked near homes destroyed in the Palisades Fire as wildfires cause damage and loss through the LA region on January 13, 2025, in Pacific Palisades, California. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images) Now the ultimate price is being paid, Trump said. I will demand that this incompetent governor allow beautiful, clean fresh water to FLOW INTO CALIFORNIA. He is to blame for this. Newsoms office calls the assertion pure fiction. Trump and other conservatives have also repeated the decades-old allegation that poor forest management driven by environmentalists has led to larger, more destructive wildfires. Copyright 2025 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. Axel Rudakubanas decision to plead guilty to his evil crimes saved him questioning from the prosecution, but it will not stop the questions hanging over the Prime Ministers handling of this tragedy. The horrendous murders of Alice da Silva Aguiar, Bebe King and Elsie Dot Stancombe rocked the nation. The little girls had their lives stolen from them in the most unimaginably cruel way. At moments of national crisis like this, the Prime Ministers judgment is tested. In the aftermath, Merseyside Police released a statement saying they did not believe the incident to be terror-related. Days later, on the 1st August, the Prime Minister gave a press conference at the time to reassure the nation. For months, no updates followed from him. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Today, the truth has finally emerged. Rudakubana pleaded guilty to two terror-related offences: possession of Military Studies in the Jihad Against Tyrants: The Al-Qaeda Training Manual and the biological toxin, ricin, which was found during a search of Axels home back in early August. It also emerged that Rudakubana was referred to the Prevent programme multiple times: in 2019 when his teachers became concerned with his obsession with school massacres; and in 2021 when staff were concerned about his interests in the terror attacks in London in 2017. This dataset would have given the Prime Minister an answer in minutes. I find it highly unlikely that the Prime Minister and Home Secretary would not have been informed immediately of these developments. As the two individuals responsible for keeping the public safe and leading the response to the ensuing disorder they will have been amongst the first to know. In my experience of working within Government, the civil service are very good at keeping ministers informed during national security incidents. So it is completely understandable that there is a widespread perception that crucial information was withheld from the public. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The only way we will find out the truth is if the Prime Minister is transparent. After the sentencing on Thursday there is no impediment on him being open about what he knew and when. If there is nothing to hide, then a simple account would end the speculation immediately. But let us assume they were made aware of this information, as in previous incidents of national importance, and they chose to withhold it. There will be some that argue in favour of doing so for two reasons: to prevent further disorder, or to prevent a forthcoming trial from being jeopardised. That reasoning would place Starmer and the authorities at odds with the independent reviewer of terrorism laws, Jonathan Hall KC, who said at the time that if there is information you can give, put it in the public domain, and be really careful you dont fall into the trap of saying we can only say zilch because there are criminal proceedings. He added Quite often, theres a fair amount of information that can be put into the public domain. If this was indeed Starmers strategy, it failed badly because the public could tell they were not being told the whole truth, and that contributed to the anger which spilled into riots. In the social media age, sunlight really is the best disinfectant. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Left unanswered, the sense of a cover-up will permanently damage trust in the criminal justice system. As Kemi Badenoch has said, after Thursdays sentencing we need a complete account of who in Government knew what and when. The public need to know that the people in the centre of Government acted honestly and transparently. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. Prince Harry will not travel to London for the first day of his trial against Rupert Murdochs tabloid The Sun while also dismissing claims that he turned down an offer to stay at Buckingham Palace. PEOPLE has learned that Prince Harry will not attend the first day of the NGN trial but is scheduled to testify in court in February, debunking false reports about supposed security offers. His trial against News Group Newspapers (NGN), the publisher of The Sun, over allegations of unlawful information gathering by journalists and private investigators. Harry is set to give evidence later in the trial, which is taking place alongside former Labour Member of Parliament Tom Watson. Harry accused NGN of phone hacking and other privacy violations between 1996 and 2011, a period during which The Sun and the now-defunct News of the World allegedly targeted him. NGN had denied any wrongdoing. Getty Images Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex arrives at the Royal Courts of Justice on March 30, 2023 in London, England Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex arrives at the Royal Courts of Justice on March 30, 2023 in London, England Just last month, Harry pledged to press on with his lawsuit, motivated in part by his belief that the actions of a few journalists were eroding public trust in the media as a whole. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement During his appearance at The New York Timess DealBook Summit in December, the Duke of Sussex said: "I am the last person that can actually achieve [accountability]. I will be damned if those journalists are going to ruin journalism for everyone, because we depend on it, he added. Once one of about 40 plaintiffs suing Murdochs publications, Harry stands as one of only two still fighting, with dozens of others settling their claims. Prominent people and celebrities, including actors Hugh Grant and Sienna Miller, were involved in the suit, but they have largely settled their part of the case. Grant explained in April 2024 that he felt he had no choice as he might be hit with bills running into more than $10 million, even if he was successful. Related: Hugh Grant Explains Why He Is Taking 'Enormous Sum of Money' to Settle Privacy Lawsuit in U.K. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In a lengthy thread on X, formerly known as Twitter, Grant wrote, "News Group are claiming they are entirely innocent of the things I had accused The Sun of doing phone hacking, unlawful information gathering, landline tapping, the burglary of my flat and office, the bugging of my car, the illegal blagging of medical records, lies, perjury and the destruction of evidence." "As is common with entirely innocent people, they are offering me an enormous sum of money to keep this matter out of court," he continued on the social media platform. Michael M. Santiago/Getty NYT Columnist Andrew Ross Sorkin and Prince Harry, The Duke of Sussex, speak during the New York Times annual DealBook summit at Jazz at Lincoln Center on Dec. 4, 2024 in New York City NYT Columnist Andrew Ross Sorkin and Prince Harry, The Duke of Sussex, speak during the New York Times annual DealBook summit at Jazz at Lincoln Center on Dec. 4, 2024 in New York City "I dont want to accept this money or settle. I would love to see all the allegations that they deny tested in court," he added. "But the rules around civil litigation mean that if I proceed to trial and the court awards me damages that are even a penny less than the settlement offer, I would have to pay the legal costs of both sides." Related: Meghan Markle Wins Privacy Case Against U.K. Tabloid: 'We All Deserve Justice and Truth' Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A spokesperson for NGN told PEOPLE in a statement at the time that it admitted no liability in the settlement and said that settling the case was "in both parties' financial interests not to progress to a costly trial." Michael M. Santiago/Getty Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex arrive at the United Nations Headquarters on July 18, 2022 in New York City Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex arrive at the United Nations Headquarters on July 18, 2022 in New York City Can't get enough of PEOPLE's Royals coverage? Sign up for our free Royals newsletter to get the latest updates on Kate Middleton, Meghan Markle and more! In December, during a chat with The New York Times columnist and Dealbook founder Andrew Ross Sorkin, Prince Harry said Grant felt they had to settle. He added he had other motivations: One of the main reasons for seeing this through is accountability, because Im the last person that can actually achieve that, The Observer newspaper reported on Jan. 19. Read the original article on People An armed California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation officer stands guard at San Quentin Rehabilitation Center, formerly San Quentin State Prison. California is among the states with an independent oversight office that monitors state correctional facilities. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images) Rampant sexual abuse by guards at womens prisons in California. An inmate suicide that went unnoticed for 18 hours in Washington state. Multiple jail breaks in Pennsylvania. Prisons and jails across the United States are overcrowded and understaffed, jeopardizing the safety of incarcerated people, correctional officers and surrounding communities. As state legislatures convene in the coming weeks, many lawmakers are focusing on a key criminal justice issue for prisons and jails: more oversight. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Accountability for the nations correctional facilities is decentralized and inconsistent. While some states, counties and municipalities have independent oversight bodies, many rely on internal mechanisms or lack formal systems altogether, according to Michele Deitch, director of the Prison and Jail Innovation Lab at the University of Texas at Austin, which runs the National Resource Center for Correctional Oversight. Policy experts predict that correctional oversight will take center stage in this years legislative sessions, driven by mounting scrutiny of worsening prison and jail conditions and the growing adoption of independent oversight bodies across the country. Adding to the momentum, President Joe Biden last year signed a law creating an independent ombudsman to investigate complaints from the Federal Bureau of Prisons 122 facilities. The law also mandates inspections of all federal facilities. Legislators have become much more aware of what they dont know and how much of a closed system this is, Deitch said in an interview. Theyre totally reliant on the corrections officials to tell them whats going on inside the facilities, and thats not the best way for legislators to exercise oversight. But some correctional officials argue that adding another layer of oversight wont solve their fundamental problem. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We know the root causes of our current conditions: We have too many inmates and too few correctional officers, Michael Resnick, the prisons commissioner for Philadelphia, said in October when he testified before the City Council against a measure that would create a new oversight board and office for the correctional facilities in that city. Resnick could not be reached for comment for this story. The measure passed, but establishing the new board and office requires voter approval, which could be decided through a ballot question in May. At least 16 states both red and blue considered 31 correctional oversight bills during last years legislative sessions, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. However, only Maryland and Virginia approved legislation to create ombudsman offices to monitor their state prisons. Not all of the bills that were considered would have established independent oversight bodies; some focused on internal changes or specific accountability measures within existing structures. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In addition, advocacy groups and legislators in New Jersey, South Dakota and Wisconsin called for greater independent oversight in response to growing concerns about staff shortages, violence and deteriorating conditions in prisons. At least 20 states and Washington, D.C., now have independent prison oversight bodies, according to Deitch. Elsewhere, state prisons rely on other forms of accountability. Legislators have become much more aware of what they dont know. Theyre totally reliant on the corrections officials to tell them whats going on inside the facilities. Michele Deitch, director of the Prison and Jail Innovation Lab Some state, county and city officials also want to beef up oversight of jails, which are usually operated by local law enforcement agencies or state departments of correction and hold people who are awaiting trial or sentencing, or who are serving shorter sentences. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In Washington state, for example, where an independent oversight office already monitors state prisons, a lawmaker has prefiled a bill that would establish an independent board to oversee the states 59 local jails. Last year, a similar bill stalled in the Senate. The measure would create a seven-member board made up of corrections officials, an attorney, health care professionals and formerly incarcerated people that would establish standards for housing and health care in jails, investigate conditions and report their findings to the state. If the bill is signed into law, Washington would join 28 other states with similar entities, Deitch said. Oversight in Philadelphia For years, Philadelphias jails have grappled with severe staffing shortages, an increasing number of deaths and multiple jail escapes, among other challenges. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement As of June 2024, nearly 900 correctional officer positions remained unfilled, representing a 45% vacancy rate, according to the latest federal court monitors report, which was released last September under a class-action settlement addressing conditions of the citys facilities. Late last month, the Philadelphia City Council approved a resolution authorizing a ballot measure, to be presented to voters in May, asking whether the city should set up a nine-person jail oversight board and office. Efforts to establish an independent oversight system date back at least two years. An earlier panel was criticized for its lack of transparency and effectiveness and was not fully independent from the citys prisons department, according to Sara Jacobson, who served on the board for six years before resigning in 2022. Jacobson, who is now the executive director of the Public Defender Association of Pennsylvania, told Stateline that during her time as a member she did not receive any documentation outlining the boards duties. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement One of the reasons I left was that it appeared to me that it existed simply to say that it existed. The agenda appeared to be set by and run by the prison administration. There was almost no access for the public, Jacobson said in an interview. Philadelphia Councilmember Isaiah Thomas, who sponsored the ballot measure legislation, is part of a working group that is focused on determining the boards potential budget and defining its investigative powers, and that includes Democratic Mayor Cherelle Parker. Thomas told Stateline that safety for inmates, staff and visitors is a key concern. Under the proposed measure, at least one board member must have previously been incarcerated. People who have worked for the citys prisons department, Sheriffs Office or police department would be ineligible. The nine members would be appointed by the City Council, the mayor and the city controller. Funding for the oversight office would come from the prisons departments budget, with a minimum of 0.0045% of spending allocated to the office. That amount would be less than $14,000 in the current fiscal year. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Resnick, the prisons commissioner, said last fall that his department doesnt need the extra eyes. There are already several layers of oversight for the [agency], and it will not be helpful to add another and potentially create conflict and confusion, Resnick told city councilmembers during the committee hearing. Legislative proposal in Wisconsin In response to criticism over prison conditions in Wisconsin including deaths, violence, prolonged lockdowns and criminal charges against a former prison warden and staff legislators and advocates in that state also have called for the creation of an independent ombudsman to investigate concerns. State Rep. Ryan Clancy, a Democrat, criticized the Wisconsin Department of Corrections complaint system, describing it as ineffective for addressing systemic issues. Currently, complaints are first reviewed by staff at the prison where they originate. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We really need a system there that allows folks to communicate with a third party who is not tied directly to the management of that prison, Clancy, a corrections committee member, said. It doesnt make sense to stigmatize the people that are blowing the whistle, and that are just looking out for both their own needs and the needs of other people that theyre incarcerated with, Clancy 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. Some 300 people including two millionaires protested in Davos Sunday ahead of next week's gathering of the global elite at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in the Swiss Alps. Demonstrators carried placards with slogans such as "Tax the rich", "Shut up! Pay taxes" and "Smash colonial capitalism", blocking the road to the glitzy mountain resort. Police moved in after the demonstrators ignored two calls for them to leave, a spokeswoman for the Graubunden cantonal police told the Keystone-ATS news agency. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement With the blockade causing a major traffic jam, the authorities deployed a specialised vehicle to clear the highway ahead of the WEF's Monday start. Among those attending the protest was Austrian-German heiress Marlene Engelhorn, who gave away the bulk of her multi-million-euro inheritance to dozens of organisations working on social issues. "The WEF symbolises how much power wealthy people like me hold," she told AFPTV. "Because just because we are born millionaires, or because we got lucky once -- and call that self-made -- we now get to influence politicians worldwide with our political preferences," she added. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "It's a huge lobbyism effort. It's a huge lack of transparency that we witness here, no accountability... I just think we need accountability, we need transparency, we need democracy to be in place here." Engelhorn also denounced the pollution being caused by private jets flying in for the summit. Also at Sunday's protest was Britain's Phil White, part of a group called Patriotic Millionaires. Many observers have expressed concern about the so-called "broligarchy" surrounding US President-elect Donald Trump, which includes billionaire Elon Musk. Founded in 1971, the WEF offers a yearly opportunity for hundreds of business executives, politicians and other leading figures to mingle in the ski resort-turned-conference centre over the course of a week. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement More than 60 heads of state and government will be among those attending this year, according to the WEF. Top of their minds will be Trump's imminent return to the White House. Trump is due to address the forum by videolink on January 23, according to the organisers, just three days after his inauguration Monday for a second term in office. This story was originally featured on Fortune.com Virjilio Burciaga came all the way from California to celebrate Donald Trumps inauguration in front of the Capitol the first time the 48-year-old electrician had returned to the house of American democracy since he protested with a mob that stormed the building on January 6, 2021. At one point they were seeing us as insurrectionists, he told The Independent, now its changed to were all going to get pardoned, you know, that label has been lifted. Virjilio Burciaga with his wife Clara (Richard Hall / The Independent) And hours later, the newly reinstated President Trump did just that, promising that he would take action for the people he dubs the J6 hostages, meaning those currently accused or detained for offenses during the Capitol riot. Trump has promised to issue sweeping pardons for many of the 1,500 protesters jailed for the attack. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement That is welcome news for Virjilio and his wife, Clara, who were both in attendance that day. Im like, when are they gonna known down my door and take me out of my house right and throw me in jail, Clara says, with the Capitol building behind her. The couple believe there should be a distinction made between violent protesters and those who trespassed in the Capitol (although Virjilio insists he didnt enter the building). The violent attack on the Capitol in protest of the results of the 2020 election. (Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.) These guys are political prisoners, she continues. All these real criminals are being pardoned by this [Biden] administration and what happened to our J6ers? The Californian couple also believe that those who faced charges should receive compensation. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I dont believe in lawsuits, but they need to get reimbursed for their time, Virjilio says. President Trumps unlikely political comeback has brought with it a reimagining of the attack on the Capitol starting with a weak condemnation of the violence on the day, and then later referred to it as a day of love. A member of the Proud Boys walks in DC to celebrate Trumps inauguration (Getty Images) After being criticised by most in his own party for his role in directing the riot, which was aimed at stopping certification of Joe Bidens victory in the 2020 presidential election election, most Republicans have now joined Trump in playing down its significance. And it was clear that this years inauguration day was a celebration for Jan 6 rioters thrilled about Trumps return, a case of history being written by the winner. The Proud Boys assemble to march the cold streets of D.C. to celebrate Trumps inauguration (Getty Images) Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Across town, near to the Capitol One Arena, a group of Proud Boys the group most responsible for the January 6 insurrection gathered in much diminished numbers to their last Capitol appearance. The groups leader, Henry Enrique Tarrio, 39, of Miami, Florida, received one of the harshest sentences of everyone invoked in the attack, sentenced to 22 years in prison and 36 months of supervised release. No organization put more boots on the ground at the Capitol on January 6, 2021 than the Proud Boys, and they were at the forefront of every major breach of the Capitols defenses, leading the on-the-ground efforts to storm the seat of government, said U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves for the District of Columbia, in September 2023, when Tarrio was sentenced. Several members refused to be interviewed Monday by The Independent, but one masked member who identified himself as Harry Fox, says the Proud Boys did nothing wrong. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Fox says the attack on the Capitol was the driving force behind him joining the group, and that the attack was sparked by police attacking protesters. How much is a crowd supposed to put up with when youve stolen an election, youve ripped our constitution up for a year and then you steal an election and people show up, then you shoot into a crowd? he asks. Members of the far-right group Proud Boys make 'OK' hand gestures indicating "white power" on Jan. 6, 2021 ((Reuters)) At what point are people supposed to just keep taking it when you see Grandma getting hit in the head with a baton, when you see people praying, being sprayed in the face with mace, or when you see people standing there exercising their First Amendment right to assemble? The Independent, which was present at the January 6 riot, previously reported that the Proud Boys led an attack on police in an attempt to gain access to the Capitol and stop the certification of Bidens win. SouthGobi Resources Ltd. (TSX-V:SGQ)(HK:1878) ("SouthGobi" or the "Company") This announcement is made by SouthGobi Resources Ltd. (the "Company" and together with its subsidiaries, the "Group") pursuant to Rule 13.09(2)(a) of the Rules Governing the Listing of Securities on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and the Inside Information Provisions under Part XIVA of the Securities and Futures Ordinance (Chapter 571 of the Laws of Hong Kong). Reference is made to the announcements of the Company dated July 31, 2023, August 18, 2023, February 26, 2024, May 22, 2024 and June 12, 2024 (the "Announcements") in relation to the Mongolia tax audit. Unless otherwise specified, capitalised terms used herein shall have the same meanings as those defined in the Announcements. On January 10, 2025, the Company's wholly owned subsidiary in Mongolia, Southgobi Sands LLC ("SGS"), received a resolution ("Resolution") from the Tax Dispute Resolution Council ("TDRC"), in response to the Appeal Letter sent by SGS to the TDRC on June 12, 2024, relating to the re-assessment result of the periodic tax audit as disclosed in the Announcements (the "Tax Audit"). As set forth in the Resolution, the TDRC has determined to reduce the re-assessed amount of tax penalty against SGS from approximately US$80.0 million to US$26.5 million (the "Revised Re-assessment Result"). In accordance with the applicable Mongolian laws, SGS is entitled to file an appeal to the Administrative Court regarding the Revised Re-assessment Result within a 30-day period from the date of receiving the Resolution (the "Appeal Period"). The Company's management is currently reviewing the Resolution with its independent tax consultant in Mongolia to assess whether further action should be taken. The Company wishes to inform its shareholders and potential investors that the above Revised Re-assessment Result does not impact the Group's financial statements unless and until the appeal result is final and conclusive. The Company will make further announcement(s) to keep its shareholders and potential investors informed of any progress as and when appropriate. Shareholders and potential investors of the Company are advised to exercise caution when dealing in the shares of the Company. About SouthGobi SouthGobi, listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and the TSX Venture Exchange, owns and operates its flagship Ovoot Tolgoi coal mine in Mongolia. It also holds the mining licences of its other metallurgical and thermal coal deposits in South Gobi region of Mongolia. SouthGobi produces and sells coal to customers in China. SANTA FE, N.M. (KRQE) The Roundhouse will be packed with lawmakers starting this week, as debates kick off about what new laws the state should adopt. Public safety and firearm laws are expected to be a top priority for discussion this session, with dozens of bills already filed aimed at addressing some key issues. One bill expected to go before the legislature, sponsored by Senator Craig Brandt, would make it a felony to make a shooting threat; its a bill hes tried to get through the legislature in the past. It seems like a very common-sense thing. We have a felony if you call in a bomb threat a shooting threat is pretty much the same alignment, Sen. Brandt said. House Representative Joy Garratt is also looking to push a similar bill through the House. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Another bill that is getting a second chance would make it legal to carry a firearm, open or concealed, without a permit. Co-sponsor of the bill, Rep. Stefani Lord, says 29 states already have made permitless carry legal. She added that those states have not seen an increase in crime rates. Story continues below What were trying to do with this bill is codify the right of law-abiding citizens to carry a handgun and ensure equity for all of our New Mexico citizens, no matter what your income, age, or physical ability, so you can lawfully exercise your right to bear arms if you so desire, Rep. Lord explained. When it comes to vehicle thefts, one lawmaker, Rep. Cynthia Borrego, would like to see penalties increased. If passed, penalties for receiving, embezzling, or stealing a vehicle would increase for each additional offense and could be stacked together, so committing one of those other offenses along with stealing a car could make your sentence harsher. Currently, those crimes are less harsh standing alone. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Lastly, HB107 would also increase penalties for people who traffic drugs resulting in someones death. Copyright 2025 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. Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on his upcoming inauguration and expressed readiness for dialogue during a Russian Security Council meeting on Jan. 20. Putin emphasized his openness to engaging with the incoming Trump administration, including discussions related to Russia's war war against Ukraine. "We are open to dialogue with the new U.S. administration on the Ukrainian conflict (Russia's war against Ukraine). The most important thing here is to eliminate the root causes of the crisis," Putin said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This comes as reported peace proposals, including freezing the front lines, have been publicly rejected by Russia. Putin previously stated that his country would begin peace negotiations if Kyiv agreed to withdraw from the four Ukrainian regions Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson that it partly controls. Trump has signaled his intent to meet Putin "very quickly" after taking office, according to CNN. While the Kremlin welcomed the remarks, it noted that no preparations for the meeting are currently underway. Trump's team is reportedly working on arranging a call with Putin shortly after the inauguration, with the goal of initiating a settlement plan for the war in Ukraine within the first months of his presidency. During his campaign, Trump pledged to end the war in Ukraine within 24 hours, though his choice for Ukraine peace envoy, Keith Kellogg, has since adjusted this timeline to 100 days. Read also: What are Trumps options on Russias war against Ukraine? Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. Russian President Vladimir Putin has congratulated Donald Trump on his imminent inauguration as US President. He had heard Trump's demands to restore direct contacts between Moscow and Washington and to do everything to prevent a third world war, Putin told Russian news agencies at a meeting of the National Security Council on Monday. "We certainly welcome this approach and congratulate the president-elect of the United States on taking office," Putin said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He said he is also prepared to resume dialogue with the new US administration on the conflict in Ukraine. Russia, he said, is interested in a long-term peace, not in a ceasefire to regroup and later resume hostilities. Russia has been waging a brutal war against Ukraine for almost three years. It has repeatedly accused the leadership in Kiev of oppressing the Russian-speaking population in the country. In addition, Moscow sees its own security threatened by Kiev's efforts to join NATO. The Kremlin is therefore demanding not only the ceding of territory from its neighbour, but also a renunciation of a powerful army and its accession to NATO and other permanent military alliances with the West. Moscow is also claiming the role of protecting the Russian-speaking population and thus a say in Ukrainian domestic politics in the future. (Bloomberg) -- President Vladimir Putin said Russias ready for talks with the US on the war in Ukraine as he offered congratulations to Donald Trump on his inauguration as president. Most Read from Bloomberg We congratulate the US president-elect on taking office, Putin said Monday at a televised meeting of his security council ahead of the inauguration in Washington. Russia welcomed Trumps desire to restore direct contacts and his statements on the need to prevent a third world war, he said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We are open to dialogue with the new US administration on the Ukrainian conflict, Putin said. Its goal should not be a short truce, not some kind of respite for regrouping forces and rearmament with the aim of subsequently continuing the conflict, but a long-term peace based on respect for the legitimate interests of all people, all nations that live in this region. Trump said earlier this month that a meeting with Putin is being set up, raising the prospect that he could push to start negotiations to make good on his pledge to bring a swift end to the war in Ukraine. The two leaders havent yet spoken directly since Trump won election as president in November. Putin usually holds televised meetings of his security council on Friday. The decision to broadcast Putins remarks on Monday, hours before Trump took office, underlined the Kremlins eagerness to establish relations with the new president and to try to gain advantage in any negotiations. The moment was chosen to allow the Kremlin to reinforce the message that its pragmatic and friendly for Trump, according to Tatiana Stanovaya, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center. Its important that the president talked about peace and not a ceasefire, she said by phone. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Putin thinks that a window of opportunity is opening and he wants to use it 150%, Stanovaya said. Open to talks Putin has said repeatedly that hes open to talks about a settlement to Russias nearly three-year-long war, even as he also insists he wont give up territories that his army seized in the east and south of Ukraine since he ordered the full-scale invasion. With Russian forces advancing steadily on the battlefield, the Kremlins likely to take a hard line in any talks. Russia will demand that Ukraine abandon its ambition to join the NATO alliance and become a neutral state with a limited army in any talks with Trump, according to people familiar with the matter. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trump so far hasnt outlined publicly how he intends to bring Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to the negotiating table. Zelenskiy signaled in an interview with Polish media last week that the war, which started in February 2022, is more likely to end this year because of Trumps sway over Russia. Trump really wants to end the war, he said. Hes able to put the pressure, influence Russia. Advisers to Trump are crafting a wide-ranging sanctions strategy to facilitate a Russia-Ukraine diplomatic accord in the coming months, people familiar with the matter said last week. One set of policy recommendations if the Trump administration believes a resolution to the war is in sight involves some good-faith measures to benefit sanctioned Russian oil producers that could help seal a peace deal, the people said. A second option would build on the sanctions, ramping up pressure even further to increase leverage. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement (Updates with analyst comment sixth and seventh paragraphs.) Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2025 Bloomberg L.P. Four years ago today, Joe Biden took the oath of office and made a series of promises: I will defend the Constitution. I will defend our democracy. I will defend America. Those words came just weeks after the January 6 riot at the Capitol, but the idea that Biden, the Washington mainstay, would restore the norms so often flouted by his predecessor was arguably the very reason American voters elected him in the first place. As hes scrambled to try and salvage his legacy in recent weeks, Biden has returned to those themes. In the past four years, our democracy has held strong, he said in his farewell address last week. And every day, Ive kept my commitment to be president for all Americans. No. His aww shucks, doddering nature is effective, but Joe Bidens legacy is not the Restorer of Norms. He is leaving office quietly having caused more damage to the rule of law than arguably any single one of his predecessors. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But what about Andrew Jackson? Following the Worcester v. Georgia decision that acknowledged Native American tribes as distinct political entities, Jacksonresponsible for the Trail of Tearspurportedly said, John Marshall has made his decision; now let him enforce it. Well, after the Supreme Court struck down Bidens student loan forgiveness plan as unconstitutional in Biden v. Nebraska, the president tried again. Early in my term, I announced a major plan to provide millions of working families with debt relief for their college student debt, he bragged. The Supreme Court blocked it. But that didnt stop me. But what about Abraham Lincoln? Abraham Lincoln was one of the greatest presidents in American historyif not the greatestbut he did occasionally overreach as the Civil War raged, suspending the writ of habeas corpus multiple times, ignoring a ruling from Chief Justice Roger Taney about the decision, and ordering the arrest of opponents in Congress and in the media. But then again, President Biden encouraged his Department of Justice to prosecute his political opponents, declaring from the steps of Marine One that he hoped the January 6 committee goes after [Trump administration officials defying subpoenas] and holds them accountable criminally and that his own DOJ would bring charges against them. In April 2022, the New York Times reported that Biden had grown frustrated with Attorney General Merrick Garlands deliberative approach and that he had confided to his inner circle that he believed former President Donald J. Trump was a threat to democracy and should be prosecuted. Once Trump was eventually indicted, Biden taunted his opponent about his limited ability to campaign against him: I hear youre free on Wednesdays. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But what about Woodrow Wilson? After all, President Wilson infamously resegregated the federal government and enforced the Sedition Act of 1918 to jail thousands of his critics. Hard to beat that one. But Biden did try his best to silence his criticsor at least erase their criticismsby unleashing his staff to threaten and bully social media companies in an effort to prevent Americans from straying from his political orthodoxy. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg told Joe Rogan last week that these people from the Biden administration would call up our team and, like, scream at them and curse to take things down that were, in fact, true. As Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito recounted in Murthy v. Biden: For months in 2021 and 2022, a coterie of officials at the highest levels of the Federal Government continuously harried and implicitly threatened Facebook with potentially crippling consequences if it did not crack down on what the officials saw as unhelpful social media posts, including not only posts that they thought were false or misleading but also stories that they did not claim to be literally false but nevertheless wanted obscured. But what about Franklin Roosevelt? After the Supreme Court struck down several of his New Deal initiatives, a frustrated FDR threatened to add justices to the court with the Judicial Procedures Reform Bill of 1937. Feeling pressured by far-left critics of the court, Biden created a Presidential Commission on the Supreme Court of the United States after he agreed that the court was getting out of whack. The Commissions report studied Democratic legislation to pack the court and strip it of jurisdiction to hear cases that could undermine his administrations priorities. Threatening to destroy the political independence of the Supreme Court unless its justices rule the right way didnt work for FDR, and it didnt work for Biden either. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But what about Barack Obama? Despite his constitutional duty to take care that the laws be faithfully executed, President Obama put out memos announcing his decisions not to enforce laws he disagreed withlike marijuana and immigration enforcement. So did Biden, making clear last week his administration would not enforce the TikTok ban that he himself signed into law just months earliernot because he disagreed with it, but because he didnt want to be on the hook politically for shutting down the app that is so popular with young people. But what about George W. Bush? Bush famously signed the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act into law while publicly stating the legislation presented serious constitutional concerns. But Biden repeatedly told the American people that he did not have the power as president to issue an eviction moratorium, disburse blanket forgiveness of student loan debt, or tackle climate changeonly to forge ahead with all three and criticize the Supreme Court in the most strident and partisan terms when justices struck them all down. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement And of course, but what about Donald Trump? There is no minimizing how Trump handled his 2020 election lossattempting to undermine and overturn the results to stay in power. Biden, to his credit, has done nothing of the sort this time around, inviting Trump to the White House and emphasizing the importance of a peaceful transfer of power. But that all played out against the backdrop of Biden trying to rig an election in his own way, hiding his deteriorating mental acuity from the American peopleand even leaders of his own partyin an effort to secure reelection based on a facade. In a recent interview with USA Today, Biden conceded that he [didnt] know if he had the vigor to serve another four years. He did this by hiding his condition and blackballing anyone who questioned his competency. Trump infamously attacked special counsel Robert Mueller throughout the course of the Russia investigation. And after special counsel Robert Hur released his report declining to charge Biden for the mishandling of classified documentsin large part because Hur did not believe a jury would convict a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memoryBiden accused Hur of callously asking him when his son died. How in the hell dare he raise that? the president bellowed, allowing his staff and block Hur from various employment opportunities. But in actuality, it was Biden who brought up Beaunot Hur. More to the point, the transcript also showed Biden asking his attorney in 2009, am I still vice president? Trump has also been undermining the rule of law for years, repeatedly and emphatically deriding the justice system as rigged. And yet, how else can we describe Bidens handling of his sons criminal prosecution this past year? He pointed to Hunters indictment as proof that Americans should trust our legal system, even saying after his sons convictionrelated to a firearm restriction Biden supportsthat he would abide by the jury decision and not pardon him. Yet weeks after the election, the pardon came nonethelessnot because he was a devoted father but because hed watched [his] son being selectively, and unfairly, prosecuted. He claimed no reasonable person could conclude this wasnt a politically motivated casedespite the fact that Hunter was prosecuted by Bidens own Justice Department. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It was all a lie. As the judge overseeing the tax case pointed out, The Constitution provides the President with broad authority to grant reprieves and pardons for offenses against the United States but nowhere does the Constitution give the President the authority to rewrite history. Bidens attempt to rewrite history with respect to the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) last week is a fitting capstone on his lawless presidency. Congress first sent the ERA to the states for ratification in 1972 with a seven-year deadline, but it didnt receive the requisite support until January 2020decades beyond the congressionally mandated deadline and after several original states had voted to de-ratify the amendment. The archivist of the United States didnt accept the belated ratification as a legitimate development, and neither has any federal court that has considered the question. The late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg (one of the earliest and strongest proponents of the ERA) didnt accept it, and neither did Joe Biden for the first 1,457 days of his presidency until it became a question of his legacy. Then, he decided he could simply affirm what [he] believe[s] and announce that the Constitution had been amended, concerns about precedent be damned. As we enter a second Trump administration, there is plenty of concern about the institutional havoc the president-elect could wreak. Might he try to run for an unconstitutional third term? Ignore the Supreme Court if it declares his immigration enforcement actions to be unlawful? Threaten TV networks with onerous regulations and investigations if they air or refuse to censor criticisms of his administration? Refuse to enforce a law passed by Congress that criminalizes fraudulent memecoins or appropriates money for military equipment to Ukraine? Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But while these folks were worried about what violations Trump might commit, Biden was actually committing them. He may have been less upfront about his lawlessness than his predecessor, but he did significant damage to our constitutional order and the rule of law in the name of appeasing political supporters and attacking political opponents. Thats Bidens legacya quiet lawlessness that should live in infamy. 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. The Department of Government Efficiency's first order of business was itself: It's now down to one leader. Vivek Ramaswamy is no longer part of the commission that President Donald Trump championed, officials confirmed hours after the Republican took office Monday, and that leaves billionaire Elon Musk to run the cost-cutting operation alone. Ramaswamy, a biotech entrepreneur who sought the GOP nomination for president in 2024, has signaled plans to run for governor of Ohio next year. A native of Cincinnati, Ramaswamy, 39, had shown interest in Vice President JD Vance's recently vacated Senate seat before Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine chose Lt. Gov. Jon Husted as Vance's successor. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Vivek Ramaswamy played a critical role in helping us create DOGE," Anna Kelly, a spokesperson for the commission, said in a statement. "He intends to run for elected office soon, which requires him to remain outside of DOGE, based on the structure that we announced today. We thank him immensely for his contributions over the last 2 months and expect him to play a vital role in making America great again. Trump picked Musk and Ramaswamy to lead DOGE, a nongovernmental task force that Trump has assigned to find ways to fire federal workers, cut programs and slash federal regulations all part of what the new president calls his Save America agenda for his second term. Musk's involvement in particular has raised ethics concerns because SpaceX, the company he founded and led, has massive defense contracts and competes for business from NASA. His Tesla electric-car company and other business interests could also benefit from Trump decisions in office. Ambitious efforts to reduce the size and scope of the federal government historically have run into resistance when the public is confronted with cuts to trusted programs that millions of Americans depend on for jobs, health care, military security and everyday needs. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement One of the worlds wealthiest millennials, Ramaswamy made a fortune in biotech before turning his attention to politics. He rose to prominence on the right as a fierce critic of identity politics and programs that advance diversity, equity and inclusion. He has positioned himself as a thought leader of Trump's populist Make America Great Again movement. He endorsed Trump in the GOP primary after finishing fourth in Iowa's leadoff caucuses. ___ Beaumont reported from Des Moines, Iowa, and Cooper from Phoenix. Rami Malek has shared a shocking account of allegedly being racially profiled by police due to his appearance. The Egyptian-American actor, whose parents immigrated to the United States from Cairo before his birth, revealed in a recent interview that he was once mistaken for a suspect in an alleged crime. This isnt the first time Rami Malek has opened up about challenges tied to his heritage. Rami Malek Opens Up About Reportedly Being Racially Profiled By Police Fred Duval/MEGA The Oscar-winning actor recounted a harrowing experience with the Los Angeles Police Department. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I got thrown on the bonnet of an [Los Angeles Police Department] cop car because someone had robbed a liquor store and stolen a womans bag, Malek alleged in the interview with The Guardian. They said the [thief] was of Latin descent and, You fit the description. Malek described the physical discomfort of the encounter, recalling, I remember how hot that engine was; they must have been racing over there, and it was almost burning my hands. The actor added that his Caucasian friend stepped in to clarify his background, telling the officers, Actually, sir, hes Egyptian. Not Latin. Rami Malek Says Police Racially Profiled Him MEGA Despite the serious nature of the situation, Malek noted that he found himself laughing nervously while pinned to the car. I remember laughing on the cop car, thinking, OK, this is a very precarious situation. I may well be going to jail for something Ive not done. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Malek did not provide additional details about when the incident occurred or elaborate further in the interview. The Los Angeles Police Department has not issued a statement addressing Maleks allegations. Navigating Identity And Heritage Lumeimages / MEGA Malek, who won an Academy Award for his portrayal of Queen frontman Freddie Mercury in "Bohemian Rhapsody," grew up in Los Angeles with his parents and twin brother, Sami. As children of Egyptian immigrants, their Middle Eastern heritage was a defining part of their identity. Its difficult enough traveling. Dont make it harder, Malek shared in his interview with The Guardian, reflecting on the challenges hes faced while navigating his identity. I started to think, What is happening? every time I tried to enter a country. These days, there might be a moment. Then theyll go, Nah, thats the guy from 'Bohemian Rhapsody.' Let him through. Growing Up In A Multicultural Home Mirrorpix / MEGA Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Maleks sharp instincts were shaped by his upbringing in Sherman Oaks, Los Angeles, where he lived with his parents, Said and Nelly, and his siblings. His parents, who were Coptic Orthodox, immigrated to the U.S. in 1978 from Egypt. His older sister, Yasmine, is now an A&E doctor, while his twin brother, Sami, shared in the familys early experiences as first-generation immigrants. At home, the family spoke Arabic, and Malek didnt learn English until he was about five or six years old. I didnt speak English until I was five or six, Malek told The Guardian. He humorously recalled Sami returning from a visit to an aunt in Detroit with just two English words: yes and no. I was infuriated that he was touting this ability to be bilingual, Malek joked. The Malek household was lively and culturally rich. They lived in a modest two-bedroom apartment filled with banter, or nakkit in Arabic, and the tantalizing aromas of Egyptian cuisine. Maleks father, a butcher, taught the children how to properly prepare meat. Very young, we were wielding knives, to the point where that happened he said, showing a scar between his thumb and forefinger. Rami Malek Opens Up About His Background And How It Has Shaped Him Jen Lowery/MEGA Despite his global fame, Malek noted that the experiences of otherness linger. I dont know how you ever get over that, he admitted. Im whats called white-passing, but I have very distinctive features, and we definitely didnt fit in. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Malek explained how his background shaped his perspective and intuition. We just had an uncanny way of sensing people. I dont know if its a blessing or a curse. Sometimes I find it detrimental. You cant help it, he said. For Malek, his heritage remains both a challenge and a source of pride, influencing his life experiences and shaping his journey in Hollywood and beyond. RANKIN COUNTY, Miss. (WJTV) Rankin County deputies arrested a woman after a standoff near Florence on Sunday, January 19. Investigator Tyler Burnell, with the Rankin County Sheriffs Office, said deputies responded to a home in the Plantation Shores neighborhood off of Highway 49 near Florence just after 1:45 p.m. in reference to a domestic disturbance. When deputies arrived, Burnell said they discovered that Shelia Finnegan, 63, had attacked her ex-boyfriend with a knife and then barricaded herself inside the home. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Pedestrian injured during hit-and-run in Jackson The Rankin County Sheriffs Office Special Response Team (SRT) was notified in addition to the Crisis Negotiations Team. Burnell said investigators and negotiators discovered that there had been multiple prior incidents at the home. They said Finnegan had been using narcotics prior to the assault. The male victim was transported to the University of Mississippi Medical Center (UMMC) in Jackson. Hes in stable condition. Shelia Finnegan (Courtesy: Rankin Co. Sheriffs Office) Deputies with the SRT deployed an energetic entry in order to breach the barricaded home. Just before 4:00 p.m., deputies located and arrested Finnegan for aggravated domestic violence. Burnell said she was assessed by medical personnel and refused treatment. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Finnegan was transported to the Rankin County Detention Center. She will have to appear in Rankin County Court, at which time her bond will be set. Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now Daily News Copyright 2025 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 WJTV. When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. The bronze helmet is a rare well-preserved example of the Corinthian style of helmet worn by many Greek hoplite warriors. | Credit: Apollo Art Auctions A rare "Corinthian" helmet from ancient Greece will go up for auction in London later this month. Such helmets were iconic of the ancient Greek style of infantry fighting and have become emblems of the ancient world. The Apollo Art Auctions company, which is auctioning the item , said the helmet is made from bronze and dates to between 500 and 450 B.C. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Helmets that cover most of the face like this, with only a gap for the eyes and mouth, are called Corinthian helmets, after the ancient Greek city-state of Corinth. The city was famous for both its culture and its warfare, but there is no clear evidence that this style was developed in Corinth. In fact, University of Cambridge archaeologist Anthony Snodgrass , in " Arms and Armor of the Greeks " (Johns Hopkins University Press, 1998) wrote that such helmets were used by warriors from many other ancient Greek city-states, including Sparta. The object is "a rare and exceptionally well-preserved bronze Greek helmet, possibly linked to a Spartan warrior, offering a glimpse into the artistry and craftsmanship of ancient Greece," Ivan Bonchev, director of Apollo Art Auctions, told Live Science in an email. Related: 2,500-year-old Illyrian helmet found in burial mound likely caused 'awe in the enemy' Well-preserved Corinthian helmets are rare, but remnants of them have been found at many archaeological sites. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This one is expected to sell for between $72,000 and $108,000; it is being auctioned on behalf of a private collector, and the Art Loss Register has confirmed it is not stolen or missing, according to a statement on the auction site. Image 1 of 2 Angled photo of greek helmet. This type of helmet was iconic of the ancient Greek infantry fighting style of hoplite warfare. Image 2 of 2 Side profile of greek helmet (right) The auctioneers say the helmet is dated to between 500 B.C. and 450 B.C. and may have been worn by a Spartan warrior. Ancient icon Corinthian helmets had a long history in Greek warfare. In " Early Greek Armour And Weapons " (Edinburgh University Press, 1964) Snodgrass wrote that helmets of this style started to be used during the seventh century B.C., and that they were continuously developed in Greece until at least the fourth century B.C. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Many were decorated with crests made from horse hair, and some were inscribed or painted with geometric symbols. Greek art shows warriors wearing Corinthian helmets tilted back on the tops of their heads between battles, and the ancient Greek goddess Athena, the patron goddess of Athens, was commonly portrayed this way, even though Corinth and Athens were enemies during the Peloponnesian War between 431 and 404 B.C. This Greek vase painting from the sixth century B.C. depicts the legendary hero Achilles wearing a Corinthian-style helmet on top of his head during a board game against the hero Ajax. | Credit: Exekias, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Helmets in war Some later versions of Corinthian helmets had holes for the ears on each side, so that warriors wearing them could hear better. The helmet being sold in London this month has no such ear holes, but it has the distinctive eyeholes, noseguard and gap for the mouth of the Corinthian helmet. RELATED STORIES 2,300-year-old Celtic helmet discovered in Poland Famous Sutton Hoo helmet may be clue that early Anglo-Saxons fought as mercenaries for Byzantine Empire, study suggests 2,700-year-old shields and helmet from ancient kingdom unearthed at castle in Turkey Experts suggest Corinthian helmets limited the wearer's peripheral vision, but that limitation may not have mattered in ancient Greek hoplite warfare , where warriors stood close together in a "phalanx" or block, with their shields and spears facing forward. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement According to the Greek historian Piriklis Deligiannis , the Romans, for example, would have been familiar with Corinthian helmets from their contacts with Greek colonies in the south of the Italian Peninsula (which they called " Magna Graecia ," meaning "Greater Greece" in Latin.) Fed-up pub owners will this week gather on the House of Commons terrace overlooking the River Thames to grill MPs. Fuelled by soft drinks, cups of tea and their own rising rage, they will interrogate politicians about a tax raid that has infuriated the sector and the Governments landmark workers rights bill, which is making things worse. We will be putting our message across, says Philip Thorley, who operates 18 pubs across Kent and will be attending the meeting organised by lobby group UKHospitality. Our business has been going for 50 years and we intend for it to be going for another 50, but it would appear [that the Government] have no care whatsoever for hospitality or retail or anyone that employs young people. The publican, whose family business Thorley Taverns has around 400 staff, says tax rises mean his staff costs will go up by 400,000 a year. To make matters worse, the Employment Rights Bill will add heaps of red tape that he fears will make hiring a nightmare. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement First-day employment rights will just mean were hiring less people, he says. What incentive is there to hire more people and young people? As an employer, I appreciate that whenever I interview someone theyre [also] interviewing me. Then in the first few weeks we decide if we like them and if they like the job. Its one-sided now. It is a sentiment shared by business leaders across the country and those running companies of all sizes. Lord Wolfson, the chief executive of FTSE 100 retail giant Next, last week expressed concerns about plans to ban exploitative zero hour contracts. We offer staff extra hours in the run-up to Christmas. If the legislation is going to mean that those hours have to be contractually binding forever then we just wont be able to do it at all, it would be impossible, he told the BBC. Surprise scope of changes Business owners knew that an employee rights shake-up was coming under Labour, but the scope of the changes were still a surprise. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The workers rights revolution spearheaded by Angela Rayner includes a greater entitlement to flexible work, a crackdown on zero-hour contracts, broader eligibility for sick pay and extra union powers. While businesses back some of the changes, there is widespread fear of accidentally running afoul of many of the rules. For example, companies face thousands of pounds in penalties if they fail to tell staff in writing that they have a right to join a union. A proposal aimed at protecting workers from being harassed by third parties, such as clients or customers, while at work has also led to fears that pub landlords could be sued if someone takes offence to overheard conversations among customers. We are very good at controlling our customers but I cant control what they say, says Brian Whiting, the chief executive of WH Pubs. The biggest worry is that an extra 9m staff will have the right to take companies to court for grievances such as unfair dismissal under the new regime. Currently, people must be employed for at least two years before they qualify for this power. Rupert Soames, the head of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), last week argued that the new legislation would create an adventure playground for employment rights lawyers. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement James Davies, a lawyer at Lewis Silkin, expects a spike in work advising on the changes, followed by a potential rise in unfair dismissal claims when the rights kick in next year. One of the major issues in the UK for employers is not the actual employee rights but the cost and time incurred on defending claims, he says. One person who has been closely involved in Whitehall talks says: Businesses are angry because they dont want to get sued and theyre mystified the Government seems blase about employment consequences it comes across as incompetent. Economic impact The enormous cost of the Budget to businesses has given greater urgency to efforts to soften the Employment Rights Bill. The Governments own estimates suggest that the employment rights changes could cost companies as much as 5bn a year, on top of the 25bn in extra employer National Insurance contribution from April. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The debate around the nature of the Employment Rights Bill has changed because of the context of the Budget, says Kate Nicholls, the UKHospitality chief executive. Although the biggest changes are subject to consultation areas such as day-one workers rights are likely to only really kick in after a new statutory probation period of around nine months, for example bosses are already thinking twice about who and how many they hire in anticipation of the new rules. The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) has warned that two-thirds of its members are planning to cut back on hiring because of the looming red tape. We are more cautious, says Annabel Lui, the co-founder of baker Cutter & Squidge. We will be interviewing more people for each position. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Despite outcry from businesses, the Government has so far been determined not to soften its proposals. Darren Jones, chief secretary to the Treasury, last week insisted that there would be no rethink on the workers rights overhaul. Sir Keir Starmer also doubled down on the controversial plans during Prime Minsters Questions, stressing their importance. However, the impact of these changes on the economy may force a rethink. Sir Keir and Rachel Reeves are under immense pressure to prove they can deliver economic growth after rising borrowing costs and weak recent GDP put the Chancellor at risk of breaching her fiscal rules. I think the Government always makes employment policy based on what the labour market looks like in any given week, so if it continues as it is itll get watered down, says the person involved in Whitehall talks. Wish list of changes Changes businesses would like to see include ditching proposals to give employees the right to statutory sick pay from the first day of absence amid concerns that it could incentivise absenteeism. Bosses also want the requirement to offer guaranteed hours to staff to be softened in order to protect seasonal working. Darren Jones, chief secretary to the Treasury, insists that there will be no rethink on the workers rights overhaul - Chris J. Ratcliffe/Reuters Another item on the wish list is a ban on claims for unfair dismissal during probationary periods, instead of vague promises from ministers that it will be slightly easier to get rid of staff during this time. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement They risk creating a very complex set of rules which will result in litigation for probationary period dismissals, said Davies, of Lewis Silkin. In my view it is better just to say no unfair dismissal right during the probationary period. Employment bodies are making the case that greater compromise will help improve ailing business confidence, yet those who have been in talks with ministers say they are wary of making changes for fear of the image of a u-turn. The Employment Rights Bill is currently undergoing scrutiny in Parliament before being passed into law later this year. While businesses are pressing for changes, unions are urging Labour to stand firm. Paul Nowak, the head of the Trades Union Congress (TUC), said the Government should stick to its guns and not bow to business leaders. The Government will have to show that it has heard the evidence provided to the consultation and the evidence given to the business select committees inquiry into the new legislation. Matthew Percival, of the CBI, believes a landing zone is possible if ministers focus on changes to the bill that will make it more targeted and that can ease implementation. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Government was contacted for comment. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. The US Justice Department has initiated litigation against Walgreens Boots Alliance, one of the nation's leading pharmacy chains, for allegedly dispensing controlled substances without legitimate medical justification. The suit, lodged in the US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois on 16 January 2025, implicates Walgreens and its subsidiaries in a decade-long pattern of Controlled Substances Act (CSA) violations and subsequent False Claims Act infringements through seeking unwarranted reimbursements from federal health care programmes. The government's legal action contends that from August 2012 onwards Walgreens wilfully processed millions of prescriptions that were either medically unnecessary, invalid or not issued within the bounds of standard professional practice. The complaint states that among these prescriptions were those for opioids in dangerous volumes, premature refills of such medications and combinations known as the "trinity" a potent mix involving an opioid, a benzodiazepine and a muscle relaxant which is known for high abuse potential. The complaint further accuses Walgreens pharmacists of dispensing medications despite glaring "red flags" suggestive of illegitimacy. It is alleged that Walgreens turned a blind eye to compelling evidence from its own pharmacists and internal data pointing to the dispensation of unlawful prescriptions. The complaint describes how Walgreens purportedly exerted undue pressure on pharmacists to expedite prescription fulfilment at the expense of due diligence required to verify each prescription's legality. It is also alleged that Walgreens withheld critical information from pharmacists, including restricting communication about dubious prescribers. Walgreens is accused of breaching by deliberately processing these illegitimate prescriptions. US principal deputy assistant attorney general Brian Boynton stated: This lawsuit seeks to hold Walgreens accountable for the many years that it failed to meet its obligations when dispensing dangerous opioids and other drugs. Our complaint alleges that Walgreens pharmacists filled millions of controlled substance prescriptions with clear red flags that indicated the prescriptions were highly likely to be unlawful, and that Walgreens systematically pressured its pharmacists to fill prescriptions, including controlled substance prescriptions, without taking the time needed to confirm their validity. These practices allowed millions of opioid pills and other controlled substances to flow illegally out of Walgreens stores. "Hearst Magazines and Yahoo may earn commission or revenue on some items through these links." Among the guests at Donald Trump's second inauguration in Washington, D.C. today were three billionaire tech CEOs: Amazon's Jeff Bezos, Tesla's Elon Musk, and Meta's Mark Zuckerberg. They were also joined by Google CEO Sundar Pichai and Apple CEO Tim Cook. NBC News first reported their expected attendance last week, saying they will have a prominent spot at the ceremony, seated together on the platform with other notable guests, including Trumps Cabinet nominees and elected officials. With Trump's inauguration moving inside due to freezing temperatures, the trio were seated inside the Rotunda with the Cabinet appointees. Musk posted on X that he was honored by the seating arrangement. Anna Moneymaker - Getty Images Pool - Getty Images As New York Times's DealBook newsletter noted last week, The presence of Musk isnt a surprise, given the Tesla chiefs significant support of and huge influence over Trump. But the other tech moguls have only more recently been seen as supporters of the administration. (Indeed, Bezos frequently sparred with Trump during his first presidential term.) They added, Its the latest effort by Bezos and Zuckerberg to burnish their Trump credentials. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Bezos's Amazon Prime Video recently paid $40 million to license a Melania Trump documentary, and Amazon contributed $1 million to Trumps inaugural fund. After Trump's victory in the 2024 election, Bezos posted on X, Big congratulations to our 45th and now 47th President on an extraordinary political comeback and decisive victory. No nation has bigger opportunities. Wishing [Donald Trump] all success in leading and uniting the America we all love. Zuckerberg is co-hosting an inaugural ball reception this evening with major Republican Party donors including Miriam Adelson, Todd Ricketts, and Tilman Fertitta. As Puck's Tara Palmeri reported, Its always been a bit demeaning for those who were on the wrong side of a messy primary. With enough alcohol and promises of financial support, some grudges can be settled. Business leaders of the opposite party also find their way to reconciling with the new administration, with only lightly bruised egos. But the wrath of Trump, and fear of retribution, have made these familiar rituals even more obsequious than I could ever have imagined. KENNY HOLSTON/THE NEW YORK TIMES - Getty Images Musk, meanwhile, has been the longest supporter of Trump, donating a quarter-billion dollars to help elect him, and has been a constant presence by Trump's side following the election. Musk is co-leading the new organization Department of Governmental Efficiency. All of this, it appears, is to get in the good graces of the new president. Trump really is flattered by attention from big company CEOs, Adam Kovacevich, founder of the tech policy coalition Chamber of Progress, told the Seattle Times. What you see right now is each company trying to build a CEO-level direct line of contact to Trump. You Might Also Like BOGOTA (Reuters) -At least 20 Colombian fighters from rival rebel factions were killed in weekend clashes over control of a strategic jungle area for drug trafficking, military sources and the human rights ombudsman office reported on Monday. The clashes pitted opposing factions from what was once the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) against one another in the country's southeastern Guaviare jungle. The violence follows an offensive launched by another rebel group, the National Liberation Army (ELN), in northeastern Catatumbo region that left at least 80 people dead and 11,000 displaced. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In a social-media post, President Gustavo Petro declared a state of "internal unrest and economic emergency" in the Catatumbo area and accused the warring factions of having "lost their heads." "A high number of people have been reported dead and injured," the ombudsman's office wrote on social media, referring to the weekend's clashes. The army and local authorities reported at least 20 dead rebels in the latest jungle violence. The rival FARC factions include one that is engaging in peace talks with Petro's administration, and another that has vowed to fight on after the government suspended a bilateral ceasefire. The two factions split last April due to internal differences. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Armed conflict in Colombia has lasted more than six decades and is funded mainly by drug trafficking and illegal mining. It has left over 450,000 dead and millions displaced. (Reporting by Luis Jaime Acosta; Editing by Alistair Bell and Rod Nickel) SAVANNAH, Ga. (WSAV) If youre looking for an opportunity to give back, a blood drive is set for Monday, Jan. 27, in Savannah. From 1 to 6 p.m., the American Red Cross of Southeast Georgia will be taking blood donations at the Grand Lake Club Ballroom (815 Southbridge Blvd.). Visit here to schedule an appointment. Copyright 2025 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 WSAV-TV. Rachel Reeves is set to back a third runway at Heathrow as Labour steps up efforts to boost economic growth. The Chancellor is preparing a sweeping endorsement of airport expansion as the government seeks to bolster its pro-growth credentials in the face of a stalling economy. In addition to providing support for the troubled effort to build a third runway at Heathrow, the government is understood to be poised to approve a second runway at Gatwick and greenlight an application for a near doubling of capacity at Luton. Bloomberg reported that the Chancellor may announce some or all of the decisions in a speech on growth later this month. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The proposals are part of a wider push to stimulate the economy. Ms Reeves said last week that the Government must go further, faster in driving economic growth. The Chancellor and Jonathan Reynolds, the Business and Trade Secretary, will this week meet top financiers and business leaders in Davos for the World Economic Forum annual gathering as the government seeks to encourage more investment into Britain. Scheduled meetings include Jamie Dimon, chief executives of JP Morgan, Jo Taylor, president of the Ontario Teachers Pension Plan, and David Solomon, chief executive of Goldman Sachs. The Chancellor said on Monday night: Business leaders and investors need to know that the UK is where their businesses will flourish, so Im meeting them face to face in Davos to make our case. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I will not rest until the UK economy is growing and this government is delivering on its Plan for Change, so we can put more money in peoples pockets. The time to invest in Britain is now. Plans to back the wholesale expansion of airports across the Southeast are being drawn up after international markets railed against the Governments economic agenda and 40bn of tax hikes. The Office for Budget Responsibility has warned measures announced in last Octobers Budget will stifle long-term growth. While backing airport expansion may strengthen the Governments claim to be making economic growth its number one priority, the policy risks provoking a clash with climate campaigners and many of its own party. Objections from ministers including Energy Secretary and former party leader Ed Miliband are likely, while London Mayor Sadiq Khan has also opposed an additional Heathrow runway. A spokesman said the Government does not comment on speculation, while adding: We are determined to get our economy moving and secure the long-term future of the UKs aviation sector. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement All expansion proposals must demonstrate they contribute to economic growth, while remaining in line with existing environmental obligations. Heathrow does not currently have any plans for a third runway lodged with officials. Boss Thomas Woldbye said in November that he was not prepared to revive decades-old plans for a third runway unless Labour was fully committed to the project. Mr Woldbye said that while the airport was happy to play the role of tactical executors of an expansion plan, transportation strategy is a government issue. He insisted that he needed to know this year whether the Prime Minister was prepared to put his weight behind the plan. A spokesman for Heathrow said expansion would unlock capacity to deliver further economic benefits on top of a 200bn annual contribution to trade. The airport declined to comment on what it called unconfirmed reports of the Governments intentions. Heathrow revealed last week that it expects passenger numbers to grow at the slowest pace for 15 years in 2025, excluding the pandemic, as its existing runways hit maximum capacity. The total number of aircraft arrivals and departures rose to 474,000 last year, meaning the hub is now operating at 99pc of its 480,000 flight cap, imposed by the Government in 2001. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A ruling on Gatwicks bid to open an emergency landing strip for scheduled departures is expected by Feb. 27 and was already widely expected to be approved given planning regulations that favour steps to maximise the use of existing infrastructure assets. The 2.2bn plan would double passenger numbers at the worlds busiest single runway airport to 80m a year, create 14,000 jobs and boost the economy by an estimated 1bn. Labour has already twice delayed a ruling on Lutons bid to lift capacity from 18m travellers a year to 32m, with the decision now expected on April 3. However, it backed a near 40pc increase at London City in August in one of its first major infrastructure decisions after taking power. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. Rachel Reevess new Office for Value for Money risks wasting taxpayer funds, MPs have said. The body, a key part of the Chancellors plans to restore public finances, has been criticised as an understaffed, poorly defined organisation with unclear aims and targets. A report by the Treasury select committee warned that a lack of resources, a very short lifespan and a large risk of duplication makes it difficult to see how it will have a meaningful impact on driving efficiencies in departments. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The committees chairman, Dame Meg Hillier, a Labour MP, said: Our committee has concluded the Office for Value for Money is an understaffed, poorly defined organisation which has been set up with a vague remit and no clear plan to measure its effectiveness. All of which leads me to feel this initiative may be something of a red herring. The office was announced by the Treasury after civil servants were instructed by Ms Reeves to carry out an audit of the public finances under the previous Tory government. The Chancellor then claimed this had identified a 22bn black hole left by the Tories. The Office for Value for Money was launched to ensure that the new Labour Government places value for money at the heart of its spending decisions. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement However, MPs on the committee highlighted that David Goldstone, a Whitehall veteran who will chair the office, is only contracted for a year. The unit had just 12 full-time employees in December. Mr Goldstones appointment has been shrouded in controversy after it emerged that he would be paid 950 a day to find ways to cut public spending. This equates to an annual salary of 50,000 for working one day a week well above the wage a typical British worker gets for a full-time work week of five days of 37,430. The MPs questioned the purpose of the Treasury unit, given that there are at least seven other examples of organisations, teams and processes across Whitehall to ensure value for money. This underscored the clear risk of unnecessary duplication, they said. David Goldstone will be paid 950 a day to find ways to cut public spending - Gov.UK Dame Meg said: The Treasury needs to share far more information about what this small team will actually achieve for the taxpayer which cannot be done elsewhere. It must also be transparent about how it will operate and how it will assess its effectiveness. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The committee criticised a lack of information on what the Office for Value for Money would focus on, how it would scrutinise spending plans and who evaluates its effectiveness. The MPs also urged the Government to publish estimates for how much it would spend on the unit and what share would go to external consultants. Mr Goldstone has previously overseen several big projects with significant overspends such as the scandal-riddled high-speed rail project, HS2 where he was brought in to clean up problems left by others and the Olympics, which cost three times more than expected. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. A total of 25 hostages held by Hamas in Gaza have been released alive as part of a long-awaited ceasefire deal with Israel, which began on 19 January 2025. The bodies of another eight hostages have also been handed over by Hamas under the deal, which has seen around 1,900 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails freed in exchange. Five living Thai nationals have also been released outside the framework. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement On 22 February, Eliya Cohen, Omer Shem Tov and Omer Wenkert were released in Nuseirat, central Gaza, while Avera Mengistu and Tal Shoham were freed in Rafah, southern Gaza. The sixth and final hostage Hisham al-Sayed was handed over to the Red Cross in a private exchange in Gaza City. The final exchange of the ceasefire deal's six-week-long first phase took place on 26 February, when the bodies of four Israeli hostages were returned. Negotiations on the second phase are yet to begin. Last updated on 27 February 2025 Hostages released during 2025 ceasefire deal Eliya Cohen, 27, and his girlfriend Ziv Abud fled the attack on the Supernova music festival on 7 October 2023 and hid in a bomb shelter with relatives and friends. However, Hamas gunmen found the shelter and opened fire. Eliya was discovered and driven away, but Ziv escaped. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Omer Shem Tov, 22, initially made a getaway from the festival in his car but was captured when he tried to rescue his friends, Maya and Itai Regev. All three were taken captive - the Regev siblings were released during a week-long ceasefire in November 2023. His mother said he was kept alone in an underground tunnel for the vast majority of his time in captivity. Tal Shoham, 40, was taken from Kibbutz Be'eri. His wife, Adi, their two young children, and his mother-in-law, Dr Shosham Haran, were also captured but released in November 2023. Dr Haran's husband, Avshalom, was killed during the 7 October attack. Omer Wenkert, 23, sent a message to his family to say he was going to a safe shelter after the Supernova music festival was attacked, but he then lost contact with them. His family said they saw Hamas video footage of Omer, including a photo of him handcuffed and wearing only underwear. In an Instagram post published following his release, Omer said the first thing he had told his mother upon their reunification was: "I defeated captivity." Hisham al-Sayed, 37,is a Bedouin Arab Israeli who had been held by Hamas since he entered Gaza on his own in 2015. Hamas said he and Avera Mengistu were soldiers, but Israeli documents seen by Human Rights Watch show that both were civilians exempted from military service. Hisham's family said he was diagnosed with schizophrenia and entered Gaza while in mental distress. Following his release, Hisham's father said Hamas had "played politics on the back of a mentally ill man". Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Avera Mengistu, 39 an Ethiopian-Israeli, was seized by Hamas after entering Gaza on his own in 2014. In January Hamas released a short undated video clip of a man who mumbled in Hebrew: "I am the captive Avera Mengistu. For how much longer will I remain in captivity with my friends." After he was released, his family said he had endured 10 years of "unimaginable suffering". Yair Horn, 46, an Israeli-Argentine dual citizen and construction worker, was in Nir Oz at the time of the attack. He has been released but his brother, Eitan, 38, who works in education and was taken at the same time as Yair, remains in Gaza. Alexander (Sasha) Troufanov, 29, was taken hostage with his mother Lena, his partner Sapir Cohen, and his grandmother, Irina Tati. All were abducted from Kibbutz Nir Oz as they spent the Sabbath together. Irina, Sapir and Lena were released in November 2023. Alexander was freed on 15 February. Sagui Dekel-Chen, 36, an American-Israeli citizen, has been missing since Hamas's attack on Nir Oz. Since his abduction, his wife Avital has given birth to their third child, a girl named Shahar. Sagui was released on 15 February. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Ohad Ben Ami, 55, was kidnapped from Kibbutz Be'eri with his wife, Raz. She was later released by Hamas. Ohad freed on 8 February. Eli Sharabi, 52, was taken from Be'eri with his brother, Yossi, since confirmed dead. Eli's wife and two daughters were murdered in the attack. Ofir Engel, the boyfriend of Yossi's daughter, Yuval, was also taken, but released on 29 November. Eli was released by Hamas on 8 February. Eli Sharabi was freed on Saturday 8 February [Reuters] Or Levy, 34, fled the festival with his wife Eynav, and phoned his mother to say they were hiding in a bomb shelter. Israeli forces later told the family that Eynav's body had been found in the shelter and that Or had been kidnapped. Or was freed from Gaza on 8 February. Ofer Kalderon, 54, was taken by Hamas from Nir Oz, along with his two children, Erez and Sahar. Two other family members - 80-year-old Carmela Dan and her granddaughter, Noya, 12 - were killed in the attack. In November 2023, Erez and Sahar were released. Ofer was released on 1 February as part of the ceasefire agreement. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Yarden Bibas, 34, was abducted from Nir Oz along with his wife, Shiri, and their two young children, Ariel and Kfir, who were killed in captivity. Yarden was released on 1 February, while the bodies of Shiri, Ariel and Kfir were handed over by Hamas on 20 February. Keith Siegel, 65, and his wife Adrienne - often known as Aviva - Siegel, were taken from their home in Kfar Aza. Adrienne was released in November 2023. Keith was freed on 1 February. Agam Berger, 20, is a soldier who was kidnapped from the Nahal Oz military base. She was seen being taken away in videos released by Hamas and was released on 30 January. Arbel Yehud, 29, was abducted from Nir Oz along with her partner, 27-year-old Ariel Cunio and his brother, David. She was freed on 30 January, but Ariel and David remain in captivity. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Gadi Moses, 80, was also abducted from Nir Oz, where he worked as an agricultural expert. His partner, Efrat Katz, was killed in the attack. He appeared in a Hamas propaganda video in December 2023, and was also released on 30 January. The five Thai nationals released by Hamas on 30 January were Watchara Sriaoun, Bannawat Seathao, Sathian Suwannakham, Pongsak Thaenna and Surasak Lamnao. They were farm labourers who had all been working in southern Israel when they were kidnapped during the 7 October attack. Naama Levy, 20, was filmed being bundled into a jeep, her hands tied behind her back. The footage was released by Hamas and circulated widely on social media. According to her mother, the teenager had just begun her military service. Naama was freed on 25 January. Daniela Gilboa, 20, was a soldier based at Kibbutz Nahal Oz. In July 2024 a Hamas hostage video was published, in which she appealed to the Israeli government to bring her and the other hostages home. Daniela was released on 25 January. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Karina Ariev, a 20-year-old soldier, was serving at the Nahal Oz army base when she was kidnapped. Her sister Alexandra told the BBC she heard shooting as Karina called her during the attack, and later saw a video showing Karina being taken away in a vehicle. She returned to Israel on 25 January. Liri Albag, 19, had just started military training as an Army lookout at the Nahal Oz base when Hamas attacked. Her family say that she has managed to pass messages back to them through released hostages. Liri was also released on 25 January. Emily Damari, 28, who holds dual British-Israeli nationality, was taken hostage from Kibbutz Kfar Aza. She was one of the three Israeli women who became the first of the 33 hostages due to be released by Hamas under the ceasefire deal that took effect on 19 January 2025. Doron Steinbrecher, 31, a Romanian-Israeli veterinary nurse, was in her apartment in Kibbutz Kfar Aza when Hamas attacked. At 10:30 on 7 October, she sent a voice message to friends: "They've arrived, they have me." Doron was also freed on the first day of the new ceasefire. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The third woman to be released was Romi Gonen, 24, who was ambushed as she tried to escape from the Supernova festival. Clockwise from top left: Karina Ariev, Naama Levy, Daniella Gilboa and Liri Albag [Reuters] Bodies of hostages released in 2025: On 26 February 2025, Hamas handed over the bodies of four male Israeli hostages, in the final exchange scheduled during the six-week-long first phase of the ceasefire deal. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu alleged that three of the men - Ohad Yahalomi, 50, Tsachi Idan, 50, and Itzik Elgarat, 69 - "were murdered while held hostage in Gaza". The fourth, Shlomo Mansour, 86, was "murdered in the 7 October 2023 massacre and his body had been held in the Gaza Strip", he said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The previous week, Hamas handed over the bodies Shiri Bibas, 32, and her two young sons, Ariel and Kfir Bibas, as well as Oded Lifschitz, an 84-year-old veteran peace activist. Kfir, aged nine months, from Kibbutz Nir Oz, was the youngest of the hostages snatched on 7 October 2023. His brother, Ariel, was just four. In November 2023, Hamas said an Israeli air strike in Gaza had killed Shiri and her sons. However, after their bodies handed over, the Israeli military's spokesman said post-mortem exams and intelligence showed the boys had been murdered by their captors "with their bare hands". The Israeli prime minister said later that Shiri was also murdered. Oded Lifshitz was dragged by gunmen from his home in Kibbutz Nir Oz on 7 October 2023 and taken to Gaza alive. The Israeli prime minister's office said he was "murdered in captivity" by Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Hostages rescued in 2024 On 27 August 2024, the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) rescued Kaid Farhan Elkadi, 52, a father of 11 and grandfather of one, in a "complex operation in the southern Gaza Strip". Mr Elkadi is from a Bedouin village in the Negev desert and had been working as a security guard at Kibbutz Magen when he was abducted. The IDF rescued Noa Argamani, 26, Almog Meir Jan, 22, Andrei Kozlov, 27, and Shlomi Ziv, 41, in a daylight raid in central Gaza on 8 June 2024. The IDF said they were freed during a "high-risk, complex mission" from two separate buildings in the Nuseirat area. It happened as scores of Palestinians were killed by Israeli attacks in the same area. Fernando Marman, 60, and Louis Har, 70, were rescued during fighting in the city of Rafa, in southern Gaza, on 12 February. Hostages freed in November 2023 Eighty-one Israeli hostages were released during a temporary truce in the last week of November 2023. Amit Soussana, a 40-year-old lawyer who had been abducted from Kfar Aza. After her release she told the New York Times that she had been sexually assaulted by a guard during her captivity. Mia Schem, 21, who holds dual French-Israeli nationality. She appeared in the first hostage video released by Hamas saying that she had been abducted from the Supernova festival. Aisha Zyadna, 16, and her brother Bilal, 18, were released, but their brother Hamza, and their father, Youssef, were killed in captivity. Aisha and Bilal Zyadna were among about 240 people taken hostage by Hamas gunmen in the 7 October attack [Zyadna family] Nili Margalit, 41, a nurse, who had been kidnapped from her home in Kibbutz Nir Oz. Shani Goren, 29, who had been taken from Nir Oz and later seen by family members in a video posted by Hamas. The granddaughter of Uruguayan nationals, she was granted citizenship following her abduction. Ilana Gritzewsky 30, had been taken hostage from Nir Oz along with her partner, Matan Zanguaker, who remains a hostage. Ilana Gritzewsky and Matan Zanguaker were captured near the Gaza border [Family handout] Raya Rotem, 54, was released on 29 November 2023, a few days after her daughter Hila Rotem Shoshani, 13. They had been kidnapped from Kibbutz Be'eri. Itay Regev, 18, and his sister, Maya Regev, 21, who had been taken from the Supernova music festival. Amit Shani, 16, the only member of his family taken when Hamas gunmen broke into safe room at his home in Kibbutz Be'eri. Also taken from Be'eri was Ofir Engel, 18, an Israeli-Dutch national, who was visiting his girlfriend, Yuval, when Hamas arrived. He was abducted along with Yuval's father, Yossi Sharabi, who was later killed in captivity by an Israeli airstrike. Yossi's brother, Eli Sharabi, was released by Hamas on 8 February 2025 after 15 months in captivity. Gali Tarshansky, 13, had also been kidnapped from Be'eri. Her brother, Lior, was killed in the attack. Yarden Roman-Gat, a 36-year-old German-Israeli citizen, who was abducted from Be'eri. Her husband Alon, and three-year-old Gefen managed to escape. Raz Ben Ami, 57, had been captured at Kibbutz Be'eri along with her husband Ohad, who remains a captive. Moran Stella Yanai, 40, was released on the same day in November 2023. In an interview with the BBC in April 2024, she described how she had coped with her 54-day ordeal. Liat Atzili, 49, a dual US-Israeli citizen was also released. Mia Leimberg, 17, her mother Gabriela, 59, and Mia's aunt Clara Marman, 63 were all released after being kidnapped from Nir Yitzhak. Sapir Cohen, 29, had been kidnapped along with her partner, Sasha Troufanov (who remains a hostage), and his mother and grandmother, Lena Troufanov, 50, and Irena Tati, 73. Both older women held dual Russian-Israeli nationality, and Hamas said their release was a "tribute" to Russian President Vladimir Putin - who refused to condemn the group following the 7 October attacks - and not part of the deal with Israel. Hamas also released another Russian-Israeli on the same grounds. Roni Krivoi, 25, was working as a sound engineer at the Supernova music festival when he was kidnapped. Sharon Aloni Cunio, 34, and her three-year-old twin daughters Ema and Yuly, were released, but David Cunio, Sharon's husband and father of the two girls, remains in Gaza. The four were kidnapped from Nir Oz along with Sharon's sister, Daniele Aloni, and her six-year-old daughter Emilia. Both were also released. Or Yaakov, 16, and his younger brother Yagil, who turned 13 during captivity, were freed, but their father, Yair Yaakov, was killed in the attack. Yair's partner Meirav Tal, 53, was also released. Rimon Buchshtav Kirsht, 36, was taken hostage along with her husband Yagev. She was freed, but he died while being held hostage in Gaza. Rimon Buchshtab Kirsht was freed on 28 November [Family handout] Siblings Sahar Kalderon, 16, and Erez, 12, were released after being taken by Hamas from Nir Oz. Karina Engel-Bart, 52, and her two daughters Mika Engel, 18, and Yuval Engel, 11, were released. Eitan Yahalomi, 12, was freed but his father, Ohad, who was shot and injured as he tried to defend their family home in Nir Oz, is believed to be a hostage. More on Israel-Gaza war Emily Hand, 9, was released after being held in Gaza without any of her family. The Irish-Israeli girl, who went missing from Be'eri, turned nine while she was a hostage. Doron Katz Asher, 34, and her two daughters Raz, four, and Aviv, two, were released after being taken captive near the Gaza border. Yoni Asher embraces his wife Doron and their daughter Raz, four, and Aviv, two, after their release [Israel Defense Forces] Hagar Brodutch, 40, was released along with her children Oria, 4, Yuval, 8, and Offri,10. All four had been abducted from their home at Kibbutz Kfar Aza. Hagar Brodutch (centre) and her children Yuval, Offri and Oria, were reunited after their ordeal with her husband Avihai [Reuters] Also released with the Brodutch family was four-year-old Israeli-American Avigail Idan, whose parents had been attacked and killed. Avigail Idan turned four while she was a hostage [Family Handout] Ohad Munder-Zichri, 9, his mother, Keren Munder, 54, and his grandmother Ruthi Munder, 78, were kidnapped from Nir Oz. Ohad's ninth birthday took place while he was in Gaza. Another family member, Avraham Munder, was killed in captivity. Ruthi Munder was released on 24 November [Israel Defense Forces] Noam Or, 17, and his sister Alma, 13, were released on 25 November. Their brother, Liam Or, 18, was released a few days later. They had been taken from their home in Be'eri. The body of Yonat, the children's mother, was identified among the 120 people killed at the kibbutz. In May 2024 Be'eri announced that the children's father, Dror - who was initially thought to be a hostage - had also been killed in the attack. Sisters Dafna, 15, and Ela Elyakim, 8, were released after being taken from their home in Nir Oz. They were part of a family group whose capture was livestreamed by the attackers. Chen Almog-Goldstein, 48, and her children Tal, 8, Gal, 11, and Agam, 17, were released. Chen's husband, Nadav, and their 20-year-old daughter, Yam, were killed during Hamas's attack on Kibbutz Kfar Aza. Tamar Metzger, 78, was freed but her husband Yoram was killed in Gaza. His body was later recovered by Israeli troops and brought home. Ditza Heiman, 84, had been abducted from the safe room of her house in Nir Oz. A former social worker, she was one of the Kibbutz's founding members. Her late husband, Zvi Shdaimah had come to the UK on the Kindertransport, the organised rescue of children from Nazi-controlled Europe. Ditza Heiman is one of of Kibbutz Nir Oz's founders [Family handout] Ofelia Adit Roitman, 77, is a former head teacher who had been taken from Kibbutz Nir Oz by Hamas. Ada Sagi, who turned 75 while in captivity, had been abducted from her home in Kibbutz Nir Oz. Noralin "Nataly" Babadila - or Noralin Agojo in some reports - is 60, and had been visiting Kibbutz Nirim to celebrate the community's 70th anniversary when she was kidnapped by Hamas. Her partner, Gideon, was murdered that day. Hanna Katzir, 77, had abducted from Nir Oz, along with her son, Elad Katzir, 47. Elad's body was recovered by Israeli forces in Khan Younis in April 2024. Channah Peri, 79, was taken hostage along with her son Nadav Popplewell, 51. Nadav's body was recovered by Israeli forces from an underground tunnel in the Khan Younis area in August 2024. Dr Shoshan Haran, 67, had been kidnapped from her home in Kibbutz Be'eri. She was released along with her daughter Adi Shoham, 38, and Adi's children, Nave, eight, and Yahel, three. Dr Haran's husband, Avshalom - an economist and dual German-Israeli citizen - was killed in the Hamas attack, while Adi's husband, Tal Shoham, 38, remains in captivity. Also released were Sharon Avigdori, 52, a drama therapist, and her daughter Noam, 12, who are relatives of Dr Haran and were kidnapped from Be'eri at the same time. Yafa Adar, 85, had been kidnapped from Nir Oz. Her grandson Tamir, 38, was killed while defending the kibbutz as part of its emergency squad. Shiri Weiss, 53 and her daughter Noga, 18, had been taken from Be'eri. Shiri is an accountant for the kibbutz's agricultural association. Her husband (and Noga's father), Ilan, was killed during the attack. Adrienne Aviva Seigel, 62, had been taken from her home in Kfar Aza along with her 64-year-old husband Keith, who is still among the hostages. Margalit Mozes, 78, had been abducted from her home in Kibbutz Nir Oz. Margalit Mozes was released on 24 November [Israel Defense Forces] Adina Moshe, 72, had been kidnapped from Nir Oz. Her husband Said Moshe was killed in the attack. After her release, Elma Avraham, 84, was airlifted to Soroka hospital in Beersheba in a serious condition. She had lived at Kibbutz Nahal Oz for nearly 50 years before she was kidnapped, a spokesman for the community said. What we know about Israel-Hamas hostage deal Hostages previously freed [Reuters] Prior to the deal struck between Israel and Hamas, four hostages were released, and another was rescued by Israeli forces: Foreign nationals Twenty foreign workers were released during the temporary truce of November 2023. Nineteen of these were from Thailand. Boonthom Pankhong, 39, and his girlfriend, Natthawaree Mulakan, were released by Hamas on 24 November. Boonthom's sister Urai Chantachart told BBC Thai that the family was "overjoyed" at the news. It was initially feared Wichai Kalapat was among the Thai nationals killed in the Hamas raid until his girlfriend received word that he was being held hostage in Gaza. She told the BBC she was "so happy" because she did not think he would be among those who were released. Seven other hostages were also released on the same day. Their names are Uthai Thunsri, Buddee Saengboon, Bancha Kongmanee, Withoon Phumee, Mongkhol Phajuabboon, Santi Boonphrom, and Uthai Sangnuan. Natthaphon Onkaew, Khomkrit Chombua were among the four Thai nationals released on 25 November, according to the country's prime minister, Srettha Thavisin. Anucha Angkaew was also freed. His wife, Wanida Maarsa, told BBC Thai that her husband, who had been working on an avocado farm for almost two years, was one of those taken captive by Hamas militants. The fourth person released was Manee Jirachat, who travelled to Israel for work four years ago. He was seized by Hamas along with five other workers who had taken cover together, according to a Thai TV interview with his father, who had spoken to survivors. It was announced on 26 November that Wichian Temthong, Surin Kesungnoen and Phonsawan Pinakalo had been freed. Two more Thai hostages were released on Tuesday 28 November - O-wat Suriyasri and Pattanayuth Tonsokri - and four were released the next day. Their names are Piboon Rattanil, Kong Saelao, Jakrapan Sikena and Chalermchai Sangkaew. Gelienor "Jimmy" Leano Pacheco, 33, from the Philippines, was also released as part of the same deal. The father of three had been working in Israel as a caregiver to 80-year-old Amita Ben Zvi, who was killed in the attack on Nir Oz. By Doyinsola Oladipo NEW YORK (Reuters) - On Saturday night, for the first time in five years, millions of American TikTok users who logged on for a late-night scroll were met with an unwelcome notice that their beloved app had been banned and shut down. Their exile lasted less than 24 hours, ending when the Chinese-owned company restored service on Sunday after President-elect Donald Trump, who returns to power on Monday, said he would revive U.S. access. But the TikTok masses had already started contemplating life without the app that has captivated nearly half of all Americans. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement As users returned, some cringed at sappy goodbyes posted before the shutdown or thanked Trump on social media site X, while others wondered whether the TikTok world would ever be the same again. "We're back but at what cost?" one user mused on the platform. Trump's action to save TikTok, owned by ByteDance, represents a reversal from his first term in office. In 2020, he aimed to ban the short-video app over concerns the company could share Americans' personal info with the Chinese government. More recently, Trump has said he has "a warm spot in my heart for TikTok," crediting the app with helping him win over young voters in the 2024 election. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement TikTok stopped working for U.S. users late on Saturday before a law shutting it down on national security grounds took effect on Sunday. Trump said he would "extend the period of time before the law's prohibitions take effect, so that we can make a deal to protect our national security." "I would like the United States to have a 50% ownership position in a joint venture," he wrote on his Truth Social platform. DON'T GO CHANGING Though relieved, some users wonder if such a change to the company's ownership structure would ultimately alter the TikTok experience. "I think back to when Elon bought Twitter and how dramatically it shifted overall sentiment and how people interacted on the app. So that gives me a lot of concern," said Kelly Sites, 38, referring to billionaire Elon Musk's purchase of the social media site now known as X. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "I don't want the magic of the algorithm to change," said Sites, a part-time content creator based in Kansas City, Kansas. The algorithms TikTok relies on for its operations are deemed core to the overall operations of ByteDance, which would make a sale of the app with algorithms highly unlikely, Reuters reported in April. While questions linger about the future of TikTok, some users - particularly those who earn a living from it - lament their trust in the government will never be the same. "I think that this is a very sad time in history," said Richard "Chuck" Fasulo, 37, a mechanic and auto-influencer from Duchess County, New York. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Fasulo told Reuters that the app helped him dig his way out of debt, more than double his income and take his family on vacation for the first time last summer. Confronting the specter of losing the business opportunities that the app provided him was not a pleasant experience. "I think that myself, like many others, have gained a lot of disdain for the U.S. government," said Fasulo, who has about 400,000 followers. For others, however, relief is the important thing, no matter its source. "I would choose a political stunt over losing TikTok forever," Charlotte Warren, 31, a dating and relationships content creator based in Austin, Texas, told Reuters. Without TikTok, she said she could lose up to $60,000 in annual income, over 200,000 followers and was unsure if she would continue posting content to other platforms. "I just wanted my app back." (Reporting by Doyinsola Oladipo in New York; Editing by Nia Williams) [Source] President Joe Biden posthumously awarded Mitsuye Endo the Presidential Citizens Medal on Jan. 2 a long-overdue recognition of a quiet hero whose name should echo in American history. Endos courage in challenging the U.S. government during World War II not only secured the release of thousands of Japanese Americans, it also reaffirmed the principle that justice must prevail, even in the darkest times. A loyal citizen betrayed Endo was, by all measures, the ideal American. Born in Sacramento, California, in 1920 to Japanese immigrant parents, she graduated from Sacramento High School, attended secretarial school and worked as a clerk for the California Department of Employment. She was Christian, spoke only English and had a brother serving in the Army. But when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor in 1941, none of that mattered. Trending on NextShark: Remembering Mitsuye Endos sacrifice to end Japanese American incarceration After President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, over 120,000 Japanese Americans were forcibly removed from their homes and sent to incarceration camps. Endo and her family were among them, enduring harsh conditions in camps like Tule Lake, California, and Topaz, Utah. Her loyalty to the U.S. was unquestionable, but that loyalty was betrayed by a nation gripped by fear and racism. An unlikely fighter for justice Amid this injustice, Endos resolve never wavered. Fired from her state job alongside hundreds of other Japanese American employees, she became part of a legal battle supported by the Japanese American Citizens League (JACL). Atty. James Purcell, who represented Endo, initially sought to challenge these wrongful terminations but soon realized a larger fight loomed: the legality of Japanese American incarceration itself. Trending on NextShark: Asian American children more likely to develop allergies, study finds Purcell needed a plaintiff whose loyalty to the U.S. would be unimpeachable. Endos impeccable background made her the perfect choice. At first hesitant, Endo ultimately agreed, saying years later, They said its for the good of everybody, and so I said, Well if thats it, Ill go ahead and do it. The case that changed history Endos legal journey began in 1942 with a habeas corpus petition challenging her imprisonment. For two years, she remained confined in the camps, even declining the governments offer of early release to ensure her case could continue. Her decision demonstrated extraordinary selflessness; she stayed behind bars so others might one day walk free. Trending on NextShark: Sen. Dave Min condemns calls for conditional California wildfire aid in 1st floor speech On Dec. 18, 1944, the Supreme Court unanimously ruled in Ex Parte Endo that the government could not detain loyal citizens without cause. This landmark decision effectively ended the mass incarceration of Japanese Americans. However, the ruling stopped short of declaring the incarceration itself unconstitutional, leaving other injustices, like Fred Korematsus conviction, unresolved for decades. A quiet legacy After her release in 1945, Endo moved to Chicago, where she worked for the Mayors Committee on Race Relations. She married, raised three children and lived a quiet life, rarely speaking of her role in history. Even her own children did not learn about her pivotal lawsuit until adulthood. Unlike figures such as Korematsu, who gained renewed attention in the 1980s, Endo remained largely out of the public eye. Trending on NextShark: How Martin Luther King Jr. inspired Asian Americans Yet her contributions were no less monumental. As U.S. Rep. Doris Matsui (D-Calif.) remarked, Mitsuyes story should be told and retold... Its a story of strength and resilience. Its a story of justice and principle. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Presidential Citizens Medal acknowledges individuals who have performed exemplary deeds for their country. For Endo, this honor comes at a particularly meaningful time just weeks after the 80th anniversary of her Supreme Court victory. As it was with JACLs urging that Endo brought forth her case, we have long advocated for Presidential recognition of Endo for her actions, including passing a national council resolution in 2014, JACL said in a statement. We thank President Biden for acknowledging and recognizing such a monumental case and the woman behind it all. Trending on NextShark: Why do Greenlanders look Asian? This story is part of The Rebel Yellow Newsletter a bold weekly newsletter from the creators of NextShark, reclaiming our stories and celebrating Asian American voices. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Subscribe free to join the movement. If you love what were building, consider becoming a paid member your support helps us grow our team, investigate impactful stories, and uplift our community. Subscribe here now! Download the NextShark App: Want to keep up to date on Asian American News? Download the NextShark App today! Jan. 20STERLING State Rep. Brad Fritts, R-Dixon, will host an I-PASS and ICASH event from 2 to 6 p.m. Feb. 4. at the Sterling Public Library, 102 W. Third St., Sterling. "I invite all local residents to come out for this convenient joint I-PASS and ICASH event," Fritts said. "This will allow constituents to receive assistance with two services at once, saving them time and money." Representatives from I-PASS will assist constituents with switching out their old transponders for the new I-PASS tollway sticker. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Representatives from the Illinois Treasurer's Office will be available to assist residents with claiming any unclaimed property they may have. ICASH is Illinois' missing money program. Last year, ICASH processed 331,032 claims that helped Illinois State Treasurer Michael Frerich's office return $260.6 million in cash and $38 million in securities to residents statewide. The average claim amount was $902. Illinois holds more than $5 billion in unclaimed property, including forgotten bank accounts, unpaid life insurance benefits, unused rebate cards and the contents of safe deposit boxes. Frerichs restructured the process to add electronic claims, streamline processes that previously delayed small-dollar claims and use technology enabling payments without the need to file a claim. The Enhanced Money Match program allows Frerichs' office to automatically return money to residents without them needing to file a claim. Last fall, the program returned nearly $13.2 million to 140,000 people, with the majority of those payments averaging between $50-$100 a check. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "Putting money back in people's pockets helps families and our state's economy. This money belongs with its rightful owners," Frerichs said. "We have made it easier to file a claim in many cases and streamlined the system with the help of state lawmakers." ICASH helped pay about 60,000 claims each year when Frerichs took office in 2015. Since then, he has helped the program grow to pay more than 300,000 claims each year, returning over $2.2 billion to state residents. The State Treasurer's Office recommends residents check for unclaimed property at least twice a year by visiting icash.illinoistreasurer.gov. The office must legally return unclaimed property to its owner regardless of how long it takes. Last year, a Spanish-language website was also added, es.icash.illinoistreasurer.gov. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Visitors to the ICASH website can use the Friends and Family "share" feature to provide an email address for any friends or relatives' names they come across on the site. Frerichs' office will email them about the missing money, including the name of the person who referred them so that they can begin the process of reclaiming their money. For information about Fritts, visit RepFritts.com. The situation surrounding Armenia's "accession to the EU" and the strategic cooperation agreement signed with the United States has revealed, perhaps, their deepest fear: The fear of being left without gas. For the first time in many years, Armenian media and broadcasts have begun to openly discuss this almost daily. Previously, they spoke about the abstract "reaction of Moscow," without going into details about what it might entail. Now, the situation has shifted. Armenians are actively, and with a note of panic in their voices, discussing the recent incident in Abkhazia, where local separatists attempted to show defiance by blocking the export of tangerines and cutting off funding. "Moscow taught them a lesson for showing off!" Armenian experts and journalists have remarked. Well, after that, it's only a matter of time: the same scenario could easily be applied to Armenia. And then their almost primal fear of losing gas reaches its peak. Sanctions, export cuts, deportations of Armenians from Russiathese topics are avoided. But gas? That is the issue. Why? Because they understand that Russia will definitely cut off the gas. And when Russia puts Armenia in such a position, Yerevan will have no choice but to seek gas elsewhere. But Iran cant help. The country faces sanctions, crumbling infrastructure, and other challenges. That leaves only Azerbaijan and Georgia, who could provide some emergency supplies. However, is there anyone in Armenia who will point out: "But wait, Georgia is 80% dependent on Azerbaijani gas"? Exactly. Thats why nothing scares Armenians more right now than the prospect of being left without Russian gas. BALTIMORE Congressman Kweisi Mfume was feeding hungry Baltimoreans at Our Daily Bread Employment Center as President Donald Trumps second inauguration ceremony began Monday morning. What I do, I do out of my heart, out of my memory, and out of my respect for the work of Dr. [Martin Luther] King [Jr.], Mfume, a Democrat who represents Baltimore in the U.S. House of Representatives, told The Baltimore Sun. Trump was sworn-in on Martin Luther King Jr. Day the first time a president was publicly inaugurated on the federal holiday since President Bill Clinton in 1997. President Barack Obama had a public inauguration ceremony on the holiday on Jan. 21, 2013, but was privately sworn in on Sunday, Jan. 20. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In his inaugural address, Trump, a Republican, said he would strive to make [Kings] dream a reality. Mfume holds Martin Luther King Jr. Day dear for many reasons. He and a coalition of civil rights leaders, including the Rev. Jesse Jackson Jr. and celebrities like Diana Ross, went to the steps of the U.S. Capitol every Jan. 15 for years to advocate for the country to recognize Kings birthday as a national holiday not because people needed another day off, but because people, really, in this country needed to always be reminded of what came before them, he said. Its the story that has to be told, said Mfume. President Ronald Reagan signed the law declaring Martin Luther King Jr. Day a holiday in 1983. Mfume said it took an additional 17 years for the holiday to be recognized as a national day of service. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Mfume said that the juxtaposition of Trumps inauguration and Kings holiday coinciding was striking. Dr. King believed in equity and inclusion. He believed in diversity, he believed in giving people the opportunity to succeed, and he believed in people, Mfume said. What were seeing now with the inauguration of Mr. Trump, again, is a president who, up to this point, has gone out of his way to eliminate and disparage diversity and inclusion and, to some extent, opportunity. During his inaugural address, Trump made clear he was taking steps via executive order to end diversity and inclusion programs. Trump said it will be U.S. policy that there are only two genders: male and female. His first wave of executive orders Monday rolls back protections for transgender people and eliminates DEI programs that he said socially engineer race and gender into every aspect of public and private life. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We will forge a society that is colorblind and merit-based, Trump said. Mfume said he wishes Trump well and doesnt want to prejudge the new administration, but he will work to make sure diversity is protected. I am going to continue to fight back and to make the argument that we just cant do away with diversity in this country nor should we also make it harder for people to succeed, and, please, at some point, get rid of this notion of reverse discrimination, because I dont know how that can happen, he said. Quite frankly, I just know that if everybody is treated equally if we are all one nation, under God and indivisible with liberty and justice for all, then I would like in my lifetime to see liberty and justice for all. And so much of that is on the line right now as we go forward. As the snow flurried intermittently in downtown Baltimore, Mfume scooped piles of green peas onto yellow plates that he handed assembly-line style to former Maryland Gov. Martin OMalley, who plopped a heap of hot mashed potatoes next to them. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Coming up! the congressman would yell every few minutes. Mfume had handed out meals to 231 people by 11:45 a.m. and Our Daily Bread was only his first stop of the day. In the afternoon, the congressman was headed to the Maryland Center for Veterans Education and Training for another round of volunteer work. When he finished his volunteer shift at Our Daily Bread, Mfume walked around the room, talking to people eating their meals, sharing fist bumps and posing for pictures. He said he wanted to set an example for the young people he served. I just want them to know this is what youre supposed to do. Youre supposed to, whenever possible, find a way to give back to people, Mfume said. And me serving for a couple of hours is a small task compared to the sacrifice that so many people made. Dr. King was arrested 29 times for what he believed in. So Im here, and Im happy to be here. _____ Whether it's wildfires in Southern California or tsunamis in Peru, homes and lives around the world are being threatened by natural disasters seemingly every week. With these risks and their associated costs skyrocketing, the home insurance industry is struggling with how to proceed. What's happening? A recent review from the Insurance Council of Australia addresses the weather-related issues in the industry, Insurance Business reported. The Extreme Weather and Disaster Response Planning Guide highlights the industry's "significant gaps" in disaster response, with some insurers unprepared to address the large-scale damages and claims that follow a natural disaster. The report follows catastrophic flooding in Australia in 2022, which resulted in payouts of over 6 billion Australian dollars (almost $4 billion U.S. dollars). Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement One of its key recommendations was to introduce a "baseline category" for weather-related disasters in order to "align industry practices." This means defining what constitutes a weather-related disaster including incorporating climate data into actuarial modeling and improving communication with customers in the event of a disaster. Why does the insurance industry need to change? While home insurance providers have historically structured their coverage to handle predictable issues, such as regular wear-and-tear and infrequent accidents, the number of weather-related claims has risen so dramatically in the last several years that the industry is feeling the pressure to adapt. Human-caused emissions have created an atmospheric greenhouse effect, which in turn has amplified the severity and frequency of weather events, from prolonged droughts to more severe hurricanes. Unless those emissions are drastically reduced in the coming years, the threats to homeowners will only continue, making home insurance financially infeasible in many cases. But leaving homeowners without an option is far from ideal. For providers looking to adapt, groups like the ICA are urging companies to restructure their coverage to incorporate climate risk. What should homeowners expect? The ICA's report doesn't impose a one-size-fits-all approach; instead, it encourages continuous improvement and iteration as new data is received. This isn't a comprehensive solution, the ICA clarified, but Insurance Business did label it a "practical starting point" for the industry. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Many homeowners in the U.S. have been forced to turn to state-backed "plans of last resort," though these as their name suggests are already reaching a breaking point for capacity. Others have opted for nonadmitted providers, which many experts warn are much riskier due to their lack of regulation. And where insurance is falling short, communities are looking for ways to protect and support one another, from building buffer zones and break walls to investing in community solar to keep the power on during disasters. Join our free newsletter for good news and useful tips, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet. The first 90 Palestinian prisoners to be released by Israel under the terms of the Gaza ceasefire deal were freed hours after an agreement took effect on Sunday to halt the fighting that has devastated the coastal territory, local media cited Israeli authorities as confirming. Local media outlets, including the Times of Israel, cited the prison authority as confirming the release, saying that most of the freed prisoners were women and minors. The majority of the detainees come from the West Bank, while others were from East Jerusalem, according to the reports. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Palestinian media showed footage and pictures of what they said were released prisoners arriving in Ramallah. On Sunday, the Palestinian militant organization Hamas released the first three Israeli hostages as part of the ceasefire agreement. The three women - named by the Israeli military as Romi Gonen, Emily Damari and Doron Steinbrecher - were transferred by the Palestinian militant group Hamas to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) on Sunday afternoon. They were then transferred to Israeli forces and transported to a hospital in Tel Aviv, where they were greeted by family. A Hamas spokesman confirmed that four more Israeli hostages would be released next Saturday, as part of the deal to exchange 33 hostages for 1,904 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails over the course of six weeks. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Following months of stalemate in the 15-month Gaza war, a three-stage ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas was brokered on Wednesday, capping months-long efforts by the United States, Egypt and Qatar to mediate between the warring parties. The first stage of the ceasefire agreement also foresees the Israeli military withdrawing from densely populated areas of the Gaza Strip. President Donald Trump speaks at the 47th March For Life rally on the National Mall, January 24, 2019 in Washington, DC. The Right to Life Campaign held its annual March For Life rally and march to the U.S. Supreme Court protesting the high court's 1973 Roe V. Wade decision making abortion legal. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images) In the days following President-elect Donald Trumps win last November, a national abortion-assistance hotline was being inundated with calls. They were confused about whether abortion was even still legal in the country, because they have heard the rhetoric around Trumps position on abortion, said Brittany Fonteno, the president and CEO of the National Abortion Federation. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The association of abortion providers runs what Fonteno says is the largest financial assistance program for people seeking abortions and is among the many groups preparing for another potentially destabilizing shift in U.S. reproductive health policy after Trump takes office Monday. The Republican who appointed, in his first term, three U.S. Supreme Court justices who helped overturn Roe v. Wade in 2022, has said he will leave abortion policy to the states. But the reality is the Trump administration will likely have to take some federal action on abortion, including on several pending federal lawsuits that have major implications for access to abortion drugs and emergency health care. Many activists that spent the last year trying to fight off a subsequent Trump term are now focused on how to maintain and expand access to abortion and birth control but also maternal and prenatal care. All has been affected in states with abortion bans, but activists fear people in states with liberal abortion policies could soon be impacted. Everything has changed, Fonteno told States Newsroom. We are heading into absolutely the most hostile landscape for abortion access in 50 years in this country, without the legal protection of Roe and with the most hostile administration to abortion access. Maintaining access abortion and miscarriage drugs As legal confusion over abortion persists across the country, the Abortion Defense Network is going into its third year providing free legal advice to abortion providers. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Right now, we are readying ourselves for whatever may come and getting ready to respond to any changes and understand those changes so that we can best serve our clients, said Cassie Ehrenberg, senior counsel for pro bono initiatives for the Lawyering Project, which manages the intake calls and operations of the network. Ehrenberg would not specify how many clients the network serves, but said they field a lot of provider questions about medical licensing and what different state laws allow. She said that November 2024 saw more than three times as many inquiries to the hotline as the year before. Many of the ongoing federal abortion fights involve two medications approved in 2000 by the Food and Drug Administration for first-trimester abortions but also used for miscarriage management and other health conditions: mifepristone and misoprostol. These drugs and their loosened restrictions under the Biden administration have made it possible for more people, including those living in states with abortion bans, to terminate pregnancies. They accounted for an estimated 63% of all abortions in 2023, according to the Guttmacher Institute, up from 53% in 2020. However, states such as Texas and Louisiana have begun cracking down on the mailing of these drugs and restricting their use even for non-abortion purposes. And many anti-abortion activists are lobbying the new Trump administration to ban telehealth abortions and reinstate other old FDA restrictions, or to enforce the 1800s-era Comstock Act to ban the mailing of abortion drugs and information. During his campaign, Trump said he would not order the U.S. Justice Department to enforce Comstock. But after the election, he gave TIME Magazine conflicting statements about whether his administration would try to restrict access to medication abortion, saying both that he was open to the FDA reversing the approval of abortion pills and committed to maintaining access to abortion drugs. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Fonteno said the National Abortion Federation has prepared for different contingency plans, including giving clinics guidelines to administer medication abortions without mifepristone, were the drug to become unavailable. Helping patients finance abortions with dwindling resources As the director of case management at Tampa Bay Abortion Fund in Florida, Bree Wallace said a big part of what her organization does is not just help people pay for abortions they cant afford, but also teach them how to fly. Many of the people who call in, Wallace said, are really young or poor or on the verge of being unhoused and have never been on a plane before. Its a lot of having to explain, like, heres how you get to the airport and get your boarding pass; this is how you get off and get a ride share; this is how you check into a hotel, Wallace told States Newsroom. Its definitely really scary for them, and were not next to them to really help, so were just kind of helping through the phone. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In addition to the logistical and informational support, these patients depend on the money to be able to take a short-notice plane ride or to pay for lodging or child care or the abortion itself. Most abortion are not covered under public insurance in about half the country. Like many independent abortion funds across the country, Tampa Bay Abortion Fund is struggling to meet the rising patient need as ballooning abortion and travel costs outpace donations to these independent funds. Wallace told States Newsroom that the average pledge for appointment costs per caller grew from $340 to $430 between 2023 and 2024. The increase in patient need is partly because many abortion clinics have had to increase their prices to stay open but also because national organizations like Planned Parenthood and NAF cut their patient funding last summer. NAF reduced its patient grants from 50% of the cost of care to 30%, which abortion funds leaders told States Newsroom has put major strains on their budgets. Wallace said that Tampa Bay Abortion Fund assisted nearly 2,000 people in 2024 and spent nearly $700,000. But the situation has also shifted in Florida, which had been a major abortion access point for the Southeast until last May, when the state began enforcing a 6-week abortion ban, a law that was ultimately not overturned by a much anticipated citizen-led ballot initiative that narrowly missed the 60% required approval. As of Dec. 31, more than 60,000 abortions happened in Florida in 2024, according to the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration, down from around 84,000 in 2023. Floridas law limits abortion before many people even know they are pregnant. Wallace said the fund is now serving fewer out-of-state patients but receives many calls from Floridians who are around five weeks pregnant and racing against the clock to come up with $500. She said the fund also helps people travel outside of Florida. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Less than three weeks into 2025, Wallace said things are incredibly busy at the fund. I think Ive talked to over 70 people in the past three days, she said, noting that her organization is working hard to raise more money. No matter whos president, I think abortion funds and organizations are going to help people get abortions as long as they possibly can. Some states with liberal abortion policies, like California and Illinois, have started allocating funding to some abortion funds. But Chicago Abortion Fund executive director Megan Jeyifo said that even with $1 million annually from the city along with county and state funding for wraparound services like transportation, lodging, child care, and meal stipends, shes constantly worried about her organizations budget. Illinois has become a major access point serving people from the Midwest and South, where abortion has been largely restricted or banned. Jeyifo said CAF supported around 15,000 people last year, compared to around 800 in 2019, many of them coming from Indiana and Missouri, but also from nearly all 50 states. In response to greater patient need, Jeyifo said new clinics have opened in the state and many have increased capacity. She said CAFs helpline budget for appointment costs rose by more than 93% in November 2024 compared to the previous year. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement For five years we funded every single person that reached out to us, Jeyifo told States Newsroom. And we just cant guarantee that anymore because of the constraints on our budget. Fonteno said NAFs decision to cut patient grants last year was necessary to keep pace with their growing need more than 100,000 patients last year, many of whom had to travel out of state despite having the largest budget in the programs history. She said NAF has the same $55 million budget for this year, which will allow them to bump up some of the funding they cut and restore what Fonteno calls the exception budget, which before last summer would help fund later abortions (which can cost as much as $10,000) as well as help patients weather extreme circumstances like intimate partner violence. We anticipate that the need for practical and financial support for abortion care is only going to increase with this incoming administration, with the potential for additional threats to abortion access, Fonteno said. So were going to be really doubling down on our patient support. Advocates on edge over Trumps deportation pledge While playing coy about his abortion policy intentions, Trump has been firm on immigration, pledging to deport millions of undocumented immigrants, which has put reproductive health and justice advocates on edge. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Were seeing that, for immigrants specifically, the [abortion] bans have created impossible situations, said Lupe M. Rodriguez, executive director of the advocacy group National Latina Institute for Reproductive Justice. She said undocumented immigrants are scared of traveling even within border states like Texas, noting there are internal immigration checkpoints. She said those who live in areas without affordable reproductive health clinics may not be able to access prenatal, contraceptive or wellness care. But even for people without immigration status concerns, Rodriguez said the Latinx community is disproportionately impacted by abortion bans. In addition to policy advocacy, Rodriguez said her organization is focused on informing people how and where to access abortion and reproductive health services. Fonteno said NAFs member clinics have been advised not to ask questions about a persons immigration status when it comes to providing funding. Pushing for broader reproductive justice On Saturday, two days ahead of Trumps second presidential inauguration, thousands of progressive advocates will march in Washington, D.C., at an event organized by the Womens March, now called the Peoples March to signify a more inclusive and expansive civil rights movement focused on democracy, immigration and climate issues in addition to gender and reproductive justice. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Juxtaposing Trumps Make America Great Again message, the marchs theme is We Are Not Going Backwards, or as is relayed in a promotional video, Erew ton gniog sdrawkcab. Womens March managing director Tamika Middleton said about 40,000 people RSVPd to rally and march from Franklin Park to the Lincoln Memorial. The event will also include informational sessions on bodily autonomy and reproductive justice, the principle that people have the right to control their reproductive health care, including the ability to birth and parent safely. Regina Davis Moss, a reproductive justice advocate and public health expert, told States Newsroom that the legal abortion framework enshrined in Roe v. Wade, which marks its 52nd anniversary on Jan. 22, was not enough to guarantee abortion access especially for people of color and those living in poverty. But more crucially, Roe did not address high poverty and infant and maternal mortality rates among Black women, which Moss said her group, In Our Own Voice: National Black Womens Reproductive Justice Agenda, is focused on. This week, Moss said she met in Las Vegas with some of the original founders of the reproductive justice movement, looking for insight on how to move forward with Trump and the Republican majority in Congress that could limit reproductive health access further and fail to address the impacts of state abortion bans. This is a time that we can really spend on education, Moss said.Im more than certain that were going to see the unintended impact of some of these [abortion bans] in real time. We are going to continue to see people having to be brought to the brink of death before hospitals will intervene, and more and more health care providers leaving rural areas. And so hopefully that helps people understand, on both sides of the aisle, why its important. Republican governors were relegated to watching President Donald Trumps inauguration from an overflow room Monday, while a clique of increasingly MAGA-friendly tech billionaires were granted coveted seats at the Capitol Rotunda ceremony. According to a White House pool report, Republican Governors Mike Braun of Indiana, Ron DeSantis of Florida, Brian Kemp of Georgia, Tate Reeves of Mississippi, and Glenn Youngkin of Virginia were among those who had to watch Trumps swearing on a large screen in the U.S. Capitols Emancipation Hall. Utah Gov. Spencer Cox posted photos of himself from the viewing room alongside DeSantis, Kemp, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee, and Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders. Good morning from Emancipation Hall in the US Capitol where Martha Hughes Cannon is faithfully watching over the inauguration ceremony. pic.twitter.com/ovLRhxUSzx Spencer Cox (@SpencerJCox) January 20, 2025 Meanwhile, inside the Capitol Rotunda, watching Trump and Vice President JD Vance take their oaths of office, was a lineup of Silicon Valley all-stars who have variously cozied up to the new administration since Novembers election. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Alphabet and Google CEO Sundar Pichai, Amazon executive chairman Jeff Bezos, Apple CEO Tim Cook and Tesla CEO Elon Musk each scored a seat. Meta, Amazon, and Google all donated $1 million to Trumps inaugural committee, while Cook donated the same amount out of pocket. Musk has poured over $275 million of his own astronomical fortune into getting Trump elected and been tasked with leading a government commission on federal spending. Unlike Musk, his tech compadres did not offer financial or political support prior to Election Day but, since the president won a second term, each made a pilgrimage to his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida in an effort to woo Americas new leader. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Of note, Zuckerberg elevated several Republican operators to key positions at Meta and tapped one of Trumps best friends, UFC CEO Dana White, to join the companys board. He also announced the axing of fact checking programs in the U.S. on Metas social media platforms, widely seen as a MAGA-friendly gesture and burgeoning risk of exacerbating the spread of disinformation. Dozens of empty seats in Emancipation Hall, the inauguration overflow room at the Capitol pic.twitter.com/BroxQWWVRw Arthur Delaney (@ArthurDelaneyHP) January 20, 2025 The tech CEOs were granted a spot at the historic event over a group of the most prominent Republican elected officials in America after Trumps inauguration was moved inside the U.S. Capitol due to inclement weather. The fact that they were prioritized echoes concerns made by former President Joe Biden last week, who warned that too much political power was concentrating around a small, super-wealthy group at the expense of Americans. An oligarchy is taking shape in America of extreme wealth, power and influence that really threatens our entire democracy, our basic rights and freedom, he said. The U.S. Air Force can thank the natural world for its new extreme weather defenses at a base in Florida. Rutgers University designed a "self-healing" reef built from concrete modules and living oysters. The structures have been installed in St. Andrew Bay next to Tyndall Air Force Base. The idea is for the "Reefense" modules to protect the base and its inhabitants from flooding and tidal surges amid hurricane conditions. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Eventually, the structure will make up a 160-foot-wide reef featuring 800 interconnected concrete cubes, according to the university. In addition to helping reduce the potential for property damage and increase human safety during coastal flooding, the modules will provide a habitat for oysters, which form natural seawalls in shallow water when they attach to one another. "We wanted to develop an ecologically functional, engineered structure providing the strength and longevity of hard structures while facilitating the benefits provided by organisms colonizing the modules," said David Bushek, director of the Rutgers Haskin Shellfish Research Laboratory. "In doing so, we have made a lot of discoveries and advances in science and technology in the past few years. We've pushed the needle a lot," Bushek added. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In Florida, protection against natural disasters is becoming increasingly important. Back-to-back hurricanes, Helene and Milton, led to plenty of destruction in the state in 2024. Tyndall has also experienced significant weather-related damage. According to Rutgers, the Category 5 Hurricane Michael in October 2018 ripped through the base's hangars, damaged fighter jets, and left much of the site in ruins. Do you think America does a good job of protecting its natural beauty? Definitely Only in some areas No way I'm not sure Click your choice to see results and speak your mind. "This experiment will document the Reefense modules' ability to help protect and enhance the bay shoreline and make it more robust and resilient," Bushek added. While flood defenses are key, so is reducing the production of planet-warming pollution that makes extreme weather events such as hurricanes stronger and longer lasting. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The U.S. Air Force is taking steps to reduce its polluting impact. For example, it is testing the capabilities of all-electric aircraft. It is also set to utilize clean, renewable geothermal energy at a base in Texas. Join our free newsletter for good news and useful tips, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet. A recent study found that traffic noise can block the benefits of listening to the sounds of nature. According to Technology Networks, a University of the West of England study "found that manmade sounds such as those emitted from vehicle traffic can mask the positive impact of the sounds of nature on people's stress and anxiety." What's happening? Researchers had 68 student volunteers listen to audio recordings: one of nature in West Sussex, another with traffic noise from vehicles going 20 miles per hour, and another with cars going 40 miles per hour. The study assessed the volunteers' moods and anxiety levels before and after listening to the recordings using "self-reported scales." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The participants who listened to sounds of nature reported reduced stress and anxiety levels and improved mood after stress. However, these benefits were limited for the other participants who listened to nature with traffic noise. The highest level of stress reported was with the sounds of 40-mile-per-hour traffic. UWE Bristol Conservation Science senior lecturer Dr. Paul Lintott said, "Our study provides valuable insights into how natural and anthropogenic soundscapes affect anxiety and stress in urban areas. It highlights a critical aspect of urban living that is often overlooked the need for access to natural sounds amidst the constant noise of city life." Why is noise pollution concerning? According to Technology Networks, research already indicates that the sounds of nature "can lower blood pressure, heart, and respiratory rates" and "self-reported stress and anxiety." On the other hand, artificial sounds like traffic have been shown to adversely affect human well-being. Noise pollution can be particularly debilitating for children. A report by the BBC and the UNEP highlighted a 1975 study showing that students going to school near a subway station in New York City on the noisy side of the building were three to four months behind on their reading levels than their classmates on the quieter side. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Other studies have found more severe health consequences to noise pollution. A research team from Philadelphia, Germany, Switzerland, and Denmark found that transportation noise increases the risk of heart failure, stroke, and heart attack by 3.2% for every 10 decibels. What's being done about noise pollution? Dr. Lintott noted, "The study demonstrates that reducing speed limits in residential areas could be a simple yet effective measure to enhance the quality of life for urban residents." Do you worry about air pollution in your town? All the time Often Only sometimes Never Click your choice to see results and speak your mind. While he may argue for slower speed limits, Paris has made its city more walkable. Between 2001 and 2018, driving decreased by 60%. An added benefit to this move was that car crashes decreased by 30%. Additionally, between 2004 and 2018, the polluting gases that warm the planet decreased by 25%, another benefit of walkable cities. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement If you want to reap the benefits of a walkable city, you can use your voice to speak to your representatives and others to help enact policies similar to those of Paris. Join our free newsletter for good news and useful tips, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet. WASHINGTON (DC News Now) To keep civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.s dream alive, Reverend Al Sharpton will host a rally and march in Washington, D.C. on Jan. 20. This comes after Sharpton, the founder and president of the National Action Network (NAN), held a series of events in New York City during the week of Kings birthday, Jan. 15, to honor his life and legacy. The NAN is a civil rights organization with chapters throughout the United States. Sharpton founded the organization in 1991 to promote a modern civil rights agenda that includes the fight for one standard of justice, decency and equal opportunities for all people regardless of race, religion, nationality or gender. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Civil rights leaders, King family mark MLK Day as a special call to action as Trump takes office On Monday, Jan. 15, Sharpton hosted the annual MLK Day Legislative Breakfast at the Mayflower Hotel in D.C. The breakfast brought together elected officials, civil rights leaders and other key national stakeholders to reflect on Dr. Kings legacy. During the breakfast, leaders discussed strategies to combat the ongoing attacks on diversity, equity and inclusion and voting rights. Sharpton also held a forum in Harlem, NY, on Jan. 18 to dive into strategies to safeguard civil rights protections heading into the second Trump administration. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Martin Luther King Jr. March prompts road closures in Leesburg The series of events will conclude in the nations capital, on MLK Day, where Sharpton will hold a march and rally. Starting at 10 a.m., leaders will gather at McPherson Square before marching to the historic Metropolitan AME Church, where Frederick Douglass and Rosa Parks were laid to rest. According to the NANs website, the rally will start at noon at the Metropolitan AME Church. The rally and march come on the same day Donald Trump will be sworn into office as the 47th President of the United States. Copyright 2025 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. The Reverend Don Cupitt, who has died aged 90, taught theology at Cambridge for more than 30 years and was Britains most radical theologian. Between 1971 and his death he wrote more than 50 books and contributed to a great number of symposiums, while in 1984 he presented a widely acclaimed television series, The Sea of Faith, a landmark in religious broadcasting. The title was taken from Matthew Arnolds poem Dover Beach and its lines The Sea of Faith/ Was once, too, at the full.../ But now I only hear/ Its melancholy, long, withdrawing roar. Although Cupitt was a devout man and remained a priest of the Church of England, he moved from a position of firm, though by no means uncritical, orthodoxy to one of what he called Christian atheism. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement During the 1980s he came to the conclusion that the word God had no objective reality and was best regarded as a necessary myth. In his book After God: The Future of Religion (1997) he foresaw the end of all traditional religion, with imagination substituted for faith, and religion regarded as a kind of experimental art form. Even by the standards of the late 20th century this was unusual thinking by a professional theologian and Cupitt believed that he had taken Western philosophical theology to the very limits of its integrity. Some of his colleagues thought he had gone well beyond these limits and should have resigned from the priesthood, but Cupitt would not accept this. Cupitt was a brilliant communicator, as his large television audiences testified He declared that his purpose was essentially religious, for he aimed to rescue Jesus from dogmatic captivity and God from metaphysical captivity, both of which had been imposed by the church. In The New Christian Ethics (1988), he wrote: We can today be Christians only at the price of saying that there wasnt any Christianity to speak of before the later 18th century. This dogmatic, provocative assertion was a typical example of his style. He was a brilliant communicator, as his large television audiences testified, and he combined intellectual gifts with moral passion in a manner that compelled attention. His appearance, too, suggested an unusual combination of strength and sensitivity a long face, huge ears, a vertical cleft on his forehead and a wry smile radiating from his lips. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Cupitt pulled no punches when discussing the Church. In Taking Leave of God (1980) he accused it of exercising psychological terrorism, and went on to describe the monastic ideal as a hospice for those who are terminally sick of life and a standing denial of the Christian Gospel. An evening meeting during the General Synod of 1984, designed to enable its members to discuss The Sea of Faith with Cupitt, was cancelled at the request of higher authority and in 1993 a young priest who declared himself to be a follower of Cupitt was dismissed from his clergy teaching post in Chichester diocese. The Sea of Faith: the BBC invested in Cupitt making a television series (a book followed) surveying the main world religions, the title taken from the line in Matthew Arnolds poem Dover Beach Academics tended to treat him less seriously, regarding him as no more than an eccentric who had strayed into their field. His books, which achieved regular sales of 5-6,000 copies many more than most volumes of serious theology were more polemical tracts than measured works of scholarship and it was not unknown for him to misrepresent his opponents positions. He was in fact conducting a crusade and seeking to win converts to his point of view because he believed that the future of Christianity depended on the recovery of vital and dynamic elements which had been lost under the debris of dogma. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Cupitt was therefore accorded little academic recognition. Bristol University awarded him an honorary DLitt in 1985, but Cambridge was unwilling for him to rise above the rank of lecturer. Those who appreciated him most were disaffected Christian intellectuals, among them the novelist and philosopher Iris Murdoch, who found a great deal of traditional Christianity incredible yet recognised in Jesus valid religious insights. Whatever the final verdict on his answers, many theologians recognised that Cupitt was asking the right questions about the credibility of Christianity in the modern world, and it is not impossible that he may one day be regarded as a major figure in 20th-century religious thought. Don Cupitt was born on May 22 1934. He went from Charterhouse to Trinity Hall, Cambridge, and, having taken a second in natural sciences, switched to theology, in which he secured a first. By now he was destined for Holy Orders and trained at Westcott House, Cambridge. In Taking Leave of God he accused the Church of exercising psychological terrorism Temperamentally he was very religious, though he never believed in miracles, answers to prayer or the supernatural. Three years as a curate in Salford (1959-62) showed him how far removed the traditional presentations of the Christian faith were from the lives of people living in the back streets of an industrial city. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Yet at this time he shared the belief of Bishop John Robinson and other 1960s theologians that the generally accepted tenets of Christianity were capable of re-interpretation. In 1962 Cupitt returned to Cambridge as vice-principal of Westcott House and three years later became a Fellow of Emmanuel College, serving as Dean of the College from 1966 to 1991 and as a lecturer in the university Divinity School until 1996. He then resigned because he did not believe his colleagues were treating him with sufficient seriousness. He was none the less a popular member of the college and revered by his students; they found themselves in the company of a revolutionary thinker who was also a sensitive pastor and a radical churchman who insisted on the importance of the traditional worship offered in the chapel. His first book, Christ and the Hiddenness of God (1971), was well-received and caused no raised eyebrows, but The Crisis of Moral Authority (1971) registered objections to the doctrine of original sin and the idea of atonement. The Leap of Reason (1976), which was one of his best books, argued powerfully for the reality of God, but pleaded for the separation of religious experience from dogma. Influenced by Jacques Derrida and other French deconstructionists, by The Long-Legged Fly in 1987 Cupitt had moved far into the realm of non-realistic theology Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Worlds of Science and Religion (1976) drew from the overlapping worlds of philosophy, psychology, science and religion, and signalled what was to become its authors future great interest. A documentary, Who Was Jesus?, broadcast in 1977, revealed Cupitt to be a television natural and encouraged the BBC to invest a great deal of money later in The Sea of Faith (1984), a critical survey of all the main world religions. By this time Cupitt was coming under the influence of Jacques Derrida and other French deconstructionist philosophers, and The Long-Legged Fly (1987) indicated just how far he had moved into the realm of non-realistic theology. His books, which continued to appear at more or less yearly intervals, provided up-to-date accounts of his own religious pilgrimage, and the pace of movement was so swift that his critics found it almost impossible to pin him down. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A summing-up of his personal faith was provided in After All: Religion Without Alienation (1994): We should live as the Sun does. The process by which it lives and the process by which it dies are one and the same. It hasnt a care. It simply expends itself gloriously, and in so doing gives life to us all. His last book, Ethics in the Last Days of Humanity, was published in 2016. In 1963 Don Cupitt married Susan Day, with whom he had two daughters and a son. The Rev Don Cupitt, born May 22 1934, died January 18 2025 Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. A Black pastor from Detroit on Tuesday delivered a rousing benediction near the conclusion of President Donald Trump's inauguration ceremony in Washington, invoking the words of Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech and saying America "is called upon to be a great nation." Members of the audience in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda nodded their heads as the Rev. Lorenzo Sewell of the 180 Church in Detroit spoke and broke out in applause as he concluded his remarks. Trump, standing close by, hugged Sewell as he left the podium. In his benediction, Sewell spoke of a "millimeter miracle," referring to a would-be assassin's bullet that grazed Trump's ear at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania last summer and prayed to God, "We are grateful you are the one who has called him for such a time as this, that America would begin to dream again." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement More: Donald Trump will sign EV order Monday, hold off on tariffs "We pray that you use our president that we will live in a nation where we'll not be judged by the color or our skin but by the content of our character," boomed Sewell, invoking the words from King's speech at the Lincoln Memorial in 1963. "We are grateful today that you would use our 47th president so we would sing with new meaning, 'our country 'tis of thee.' " The inauguration took place on MLK Day in the nation's capital. The inclusion of Sewell was confirmed by Trump's transition team last week and the pastor has been linked with the president for some months, having hosted a roundtable in Detroit for Trump last June and speaking at the Republican National Convention last summer in Milwaukee. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Two other religious leaders, Rabbi Dr. Ari Berman, the president of Yeshiva University in New York, and the Rev. Father Frank Mann, of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn, also delivered benedictions at the inauguration. However, Imam Husham Al-Husainy, who heads the Karbalaa Islamic Education Center in Dearborn, did not take part as originally expected, though it was not immediately known why. Contact Todd Spangler: tspangler@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter@tsspangler. This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Rev. Lorenzo Sewell of Detroit delivers prayer at Trump inauguration When a CNN broadcast characterised navy veteran Zachary Young as a black market profiteer, one of its own editors determined the story had as many holes as Swiss cheese. Another described it as 80 per cent emotion, 20 per cent obscured fact, while a veteran national security correspondent said it might not be fair at all. The CNN journalists never believed their damning verdicts on the piece would ever see the light of day. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But for eight days in a drab Florida courtroom, lawyers acting for Mr Young spent hours dissecting these internal messages, which laid bare the tensions at the network. As editors privately complained about the messy and mediocre reporting while trying to avoid upsetting their talent, correspondents vowed to nail Mr Young and mocked his punchable face. The CNN report in question explored Mr Youngs role evacuating civilians from Afghanistan during the US withdrawal of 2021. On Friday, a jury decided that CNN was liable for defaming the 49-year-old, who claimed it had destroyed his reputation and business by portraying him as someone who exploited desperate Afghans. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It has now agreed a multi-million-dollar settlement with the navy veteran, although the precise figure has not been disclosed. Despite issuing an on-air apology for using the term black market in its reporting, it has stood by the story for years. Kyle Roche, acting for Mr Young, lamented in his opening argument that CNN had cynically decided to destroy his clients reputation for the sake of driving up its ratings. Claiming it had fallen away from the ideals of respected newscasters like Walter Cronkite, he told the jury that they had an opportunity in this trial to move the needle back towards sanity in the media. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The jurors, who took a matter of hours to find CNN liable, seemed to be listening attentively. Mr Young, a former CIA operative, used his network of intelligence contacts to evacuate civilians from Afghanistan before the Taliban takeover, charging corporate sponsors such as Bloomberg or Audible tens of thousands of dollars to do so. Alexander Marquardt, the CNN correspondent behind the controversial story, showed viewers a LinkedIn message from Mr Young saying it would cost $75,000 to evacuate a vehicle full of people from Kabul to Pakistan. Host Jake Tapper introduced the piece by saying that desperate Afghans were trying to flee face a black market full of promises, demand of exorbitant fees, and no guarantee of safety or success. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement When the segment turned its focus on Mr Young, it displayed his name and photo next to a caption saying that evacuees were having to navigate a black market. Messages produced in court by the plaintiffs lawyers showed the level of disquiet within CNN about the story. Chief among the critics was Thomas Lumley, the broadcasters senior national security editor who spent hours on Tuesday being grilled in the witness box. In emails and on CNNs internal messaging service, he repeatedly complained about how the report failed to answer a fundamental question about whether Afghans who handed over money were able to flee the country. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The story is full of holes like Swiss cheese, he said at one point. In court he admitted that he had been frustrated with the reporting, which he variously described in private messages as infernal, pretty flawed and a mess. The evening after the story aired he said referring to a follow-up digital article that he just wanted to publish something to defuse some drama and that we should have carried on and reported it out more. Emails show that he sought advice from Nicole Gaouette, a seasoned national security correspondent, who raised concerns that evacuating people in the wake of the US withdrawal would be a costly business as Mr Young had maintained. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The inference running through Alexs story that these people are just bilking desperate Afghans for their money might not be fair at all, she noted. In the story Zachary Young comes across as being a [bit] brutal, but he could just be stating facts: this is what it costs. Interrogated in court by Mr Youngs lawyers, Mr Lumley said his work was on the article rather than the TV package, and that his objections were to the pieces storytelling rather than its fairness and accuracy. Megan Trimble, an evening editor, agreed in another message that the piece was messy with some very sweeping claims up top without the details [to] clearly show whats going on. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The story is 80 per cent emotion, 20 per cent obscured fact lol, she added. She was not the only CNN figure who apparently found the situation funny. Mr Lumley mentioned the mediocre story to Joe Ruiz, another CNN editor, who responded: HAHA. Devin Freedman, acting for Mr Young, was less enthused on his clients behalf. CNNs malicious journalism just destroyed a mans life and Mr Ruiz thinks its funny, doesnt he? he said. Other internal communications show correspondents and producers ridiculing Mr Young as they worked on the story, which was broadcast in Nov 2021. We gonna nail this Zachary Young mf---er, Mr Marquardt sent to a colleague days before the package was broadcast. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement One producer wrote that Mr Young had a punchable face, later telling the court that this was probably a result of the navy veterans smirk and sunglasses. The jury, in Panama City, Florida, decided on Friday that CNN was liable for defaming Mr Young and awarded him $5 million. The broadcaster subsequently reached a settlement with the 49-year-old for an undisclosed sum, avoiding a second phase of the trial that would have seen it ordered to pay punitive damages. We remain proud of our journalists and are 100 per cent committed to strong, fearless and fair-minded reporting at CNN, though we will of course take what useful lessons we can from this case, CNN said in a statement. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It comes just weeks after ABC News agreed to pay $15 million to Donald Trump, the president-elect, after falsely claiming that he had been found liable for rape in a civil trial. In 2023, Fox News agreed to pay $787.5 million to Dominion Voting Systems over conspiracy theories it spread about the companys ballot machines in the wake of the 2020 presidential election. The settlement is still the largest settlement in a libel case in US history. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. Donald Trump is will call for a revolution of common sense as he delivers his second inaugural address, striking a more optimistic tone than his remarks made in 2017. While elected presidents typically relay a message of hope after taking the 35-word oath of office, on January 20, 2017, the incoming commander-in-chief propelled the phrase American carnage into political lexicon. As Trump prepares to be sworn into office for a second time around noon on Monday this year inside the Capitol Rotunda due to plummeting temperatures he is expected to paint a far less dystopian portrait of American life. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I return to the presidency confident and optimistic that we are at the start of a thrilling new era of national success. A tide of change is sweeping the country, Trump is expected to say, according to excerpts of his prepared speech shared with the Wall Street Journal. My message to Americans today is that it is time for us to once again act with courage, vigor and the vitality of historys greatest civilization. The Journal also reported that Trump will call for a revolution of common sense. Trump, pictured speaking at a MAGA victory rally at Capital One Arena in Washington on Janaury 19, will strike a more cheerful tone in his innagraul address than in 2017 (AFP via Getty Images) The leaked remarks come weeks after the soon-to-be 47th president promised that he would not repeat the same abrasive rhetoric and, instead, peddle a message of unity to launch his second four-year term. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Were going to have a message, he told NBC on December 8. It will make you happy: unity. Its going to be a message of unity. And no American carnage? Meet the Press moderator Kristen Welker probed. No American carnage, no, Trump responded. The phrase became shorthand for Trumps 16-minute long speech in 2017 which described the US as a festering, crime-rampant wasteland, of which his reign was the antidote. Politicians prospered but the jobs left, and the factories closed. The establishment protected itself, but not the citizens of our country, Trump told the nation eight years ago. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Their victories have not been your victories; their triumphs have not been your triumphs; and while they celebrated in our nations capital, there was little to celebrate for struggling families all across our land. ... The forgotten men and women of our country will be forgotten no longer. Donald Trump raises his fist after his inauguration on the West Front of the U.S. Capitol on January 20, 2017 in Washington, DC. (Getty Images) Elsewhere in the speech, he added: Mothers and children trapped in poverty in our inner cities; rusted-out factories scattered like tombstones across the landscape of our nation; an education system, flush with cash, but which leaves our young and beautiful students deprived of knowledge; and the crime and gangs and drugs that have stolen too many lives and robbed our country of so much unrealized potential. This American carnage stops right here and stops right now. Surrounded by political heavyweights, former President George W. Bush is believed to have summarized Trumps remarks as some weird s**t, three sources near the Republican told New York magazine at the time. Trump on stage with the Village People at Capital One Arena in Washington, DC, on Janaury 19 (EPA) In his first rally-style speech after wining the 2024 election, in Phoenix, Arizona, on December 22, Trump announced he would lead a common sense revolution that's coming soon to America... to a theater near you. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement On the eve of his inauguration at the Capital One Arena in downtown Washington, Trump told supporters that four long years of American decline were about to grind to a halt as he returned to the White House a day later. I will act with historic speed and strength and fix every single crisis facing our country, he added. On day one, the president-elect said he has plans to enact a record 200-plus executive orders, covering everything from border security and energy, but will be forced to do so with only a quarter of the staff he needs. The Independent has learned that only 1,000 people have been hired to fill a fraction of the 4,000 important presidentially appointed roles atop the federal bureaucracy, many of which can be put in place without the need of Senate confirmation. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Thats roughly 300 fewer than the number of appointees hired during Trumps chaotic 2016-2017 transition effort. Trump vowed to repeal incumbent President Joe Bidens executive plans within hours of taking office. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has called the Food and Drug Administration a "corrupt system" that is waging "war on public health." He has pledged to eliminate "entire departments" at the agency charged with ensuring the safety of the foods Americans eat and the medicines we take, warning the more than 18,000 people who work there to "pack your bags." President-elect Donald Trump has nominated Kennedy to lead the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. If he is confirmed by the Senate, Kennedy will have the opportunity to "go wild" on health, foods and medicines, as Trump put it during the campaign. Read more: Why RFK Jr. nomination sets off alarms among many public health specialists Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Remaking the FDA may not be as straightforward or as desirable as it seems from the outside, says Dr. Robert Califf. He's in a position to know: his second stint as the agency's commissioner comes to an end Monday. Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Robert Califf testifies during a Senate hearing on Capitol Hill. (Jose Luis Magana / Associated Press) Califf's career has spanned academia, large health systems, the biotech industry, Silicon Valley and the highest echelons of the federal government. His colleagues at the FDA "work just as hard and are at least as smart" as people he's worked with anywhere else, he said. Public criticism comes with the territory, but things look different when you're on the inside trying to ensure access to infant formula, make tobacco products less addictive and help consumers understand what's in their groceries. Califf spoke to a group of reporters last week on his last day in the FDA's White Oak campus in Silver Spring, Md. Here's his advice to those who will take over public health roles in the incoming Trump administration. His comments have been edited for length and clarity. What do you wish people understood about your job? This is a job that has a lot of bosses and a lot of constraints. When youre in the commissioner's office at FDA, you report to the executive branch. But Congress also thinks its your boss. Its not unheard of for FDA to want to do something and get a message from an important appropriator that, If you do this, were going to cut your budget somewhere else. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Its really interesting to me that people think the FDA can just declare this and that. It usually cant. It usually has to go through a systematic approach. The minute you step beyond the legal boundaries of what the rule book says, youre going to end up in court. That will get reined in fairly quickly. Read more: The FDA knew long ago that red dye No. 3 causes cancer. Why did it take so long to ban it? How do you expect the new administration to change the FDA? I have no idea. Right now we have rhetoric, and the rhetoric is contradictory. We just have to wait and see. Some of the people who have been nominated to positions have been very critical, implying that there are nefarious motives of people working in public health agencies. It feels a lot different when you have to make the decision and be accountable for it as opposed to criticizing the decision. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I have a copy of [President Theodore] Roosevelts Man in the Arena speech above my desk at home to remind myself every day that you get all this criticism from people who are not actually doing the work. Its better to be in the arena trying to do the best that you can do. Kennedy says he wants to get rid of certain departments within FDA. Are there areas youre most worried about? Im worried about every part of the FDA. I don't think youll find people at FDA doing work that no one cares about. If you look at the food side of the FDA and the inspectorate, its massively underfunded. If you cut that especially if youre also saying we need to radically change the food system that would be a problem. Read more: How the FDA allows companies to add secret ingredients to our food Kennedy wants to see big changes in the food and health industries. Is that realistic? Slogans are easy, and they sound really tough, but its a little different when you get into the to-and-fro. The lobbies that have very much created this food system are powerful. Maybe they can be overcome. Theres a possibility that things could be done for public health that couldnt be done before. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The other part of this is if you really want to change the food system, youd better have a 10- or 20-year plan. If you pronounced today, No ultra-processed foods in SNAP or other federally assisted programs, the farming industry would crash. Im not saying thats a reason to keep it the way it is. What I am saying is youd better have a very carefully thought-out plan which sustains the economy, not just a bunch of slogans. Trump said he would investigate claims about vaccines and autism. How should the FDA respond? Anyone that investigates this will find that the risks and benefits are already delineated. There are dozens of studies that show no relationship between vaccination and autism. It wouldnt be where I would spend my time, but if he wanted to do it, I think hell find that things are already well-documented. That doesnt mean that post-market surveillance couldnt be better. Its not a great way to have things that every time a question needs to be answered for public health, you need to get permission from every state and territory. But I dont think people are going to find any surprises. Its all out there. For there to be any kind of conspiracy, it would take a whole lot of people outside of government deciding to work together. Ive lived in America my whole life. It's hard to get anybody to work together on things. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Read more: RFK Jr. wants federal health data for his claims that vaccines are unsafe, Trump transition co-chair says You've called misinformation a leading cause of death. Is it getting better or worse? Were losing the battle on misinformation. Im not talking specifically about FDA. Im talking about all of us. To me its very clear that a lot of people died who would not have died had they just gotten a free COVID vaccine, and had they not been misled or been made to feel doubtful by people peddling incorrect information. Often people who are experts in one area have opinions about another area, then when someone disagrees they call it misinformation. Its a lot easier to put out a slogan or to make something up than it is to worry about whether you've got it right and take the time and effort to go to sources and get the right information. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Were losing the battle right now because of this intersection of social media and cultural changes that have happened. It threatens a lot of the basis for public health. Weve got to create networks of people who are dedicated to the truth. What advice do you have for the new health leadership? Change doesnt come so easily in government. If we move at least five people, it has to get a congressional review. This makes it really hard. When possible, use evidence for decision-making. Ive heard a lot of tweets and short social media things saying, We're going to do this, were going to do that. Lets see the evidence about what an effective treatment is, and then if its good, go with it. Those are my two main pieces of advice. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. FRANCONIA, N.H. (WPRI) Two hikers were rescued on Saturday from the Greenleaf Trail in Franconia, New Hampshire. One of the hikers is from Cranston, while the other is from Naugatuck, Connecticut. The pair had originally planned to hike the popular Franconia Ridge trail. New Hampshires Fish and Game Department (NHF&G) said the two men started their trek at 7 a.m. but deviated from the trail. The pair later called for help as they believed they were hypothermic, and the weather conditions made it hard for them to see. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement SEE ALSO: Dog pulled from icy waters on Christmas reunites with rescuers Conservation officers were able to find the two hikers, warm them up and guide them back. The group made it back to the trails parking lot at 5:10 p.m. The hikers declined further medical treatment. NHF&G said the men were not adequately prepared for the forecasted conditions of rain, sleet and snow. The agency advised all hikers to be prepared for any kind of weather and to wear proper footwear. Neither of the men had a New Hampshire Hike Safe cards, which would cover the cost of their rescue. You can learn more about Hike Safe cards here. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now Daily Roundup Copyright 2025 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 WPRI.com. The Virginia state Capitol in Richmond on Jan. 20, 2025. (Photo by Markus Schmidt/Virginia Mercury) A House Education subcommittee on Monday advanced a bill requiring public colleges and universities in Virginia to report the number of beneficiaries eligible for the states tuition program for military spouses and dependents. The legislation, now headed to the House Appropriations Committee, stems from a recent review of the Virginia Military Survivors & Dependents Education Program (VMSDEP) by the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission (JLARC). Among JLARCs key recommendations were increased reporting requirements ensuring sufficient general funds to cover 100% of institutions forgone revenue. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The move comes as lawmakers grapple with rising program costs, debates over eligibility, and calls for additional funding issues that have been under discussion since the last legislative session. VMSDEP, which provides college tuition waivers for spouses or children of permanently disabled military veterans or those killed in action, has seen its cost skyrocket from $19 million annually in 2019 to over $65 million in 2023, according to the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV). VMSDEP and the issues surrounding it have been at the top of mind for many of us coming out of last session and this year, said Del. Alex Askew, D-Virginia Beach, during Mondays House Educations subcommittee meeting. After seeing the JLARC report, they added more than a few recommendations for this program. Askews House Bill 1694 aims to address some of the programs rising costs by clarifying eligibility criteria across the commonwealth. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The measure would also require the Virginia Department of Veterans Services and the State Council of Higher Education in Virginia (SCHEV) to provide lawmakers with detailed data on VMSDEP. This includes the number of eligible survivors and dependents who qualify for tuition and mandatory fee waivers at public colleges and universities but have not yet enrolled. The legislation further mandates the two agencies to provide the best available estimate of how many qualified beneficiaries are currently enrolled at each public higher education institution as of Nov. 1 during the fall semester. This bill represents a step in the right direction toward a timely and accurate accounting of the VMSDEP program, wrote Kayla Owen, co-founder of Friends of VMSDEP, on social media. We hope this is one of many steps taken toward ensuring an accurate and auditable accounting system for the program. According to the Virginia Department of Planning and Budget, the bill is not expected to have a fiscal impact on state agencies. However, Veterans Services and SCHEV may experience a minor and absorbable administrative burden. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The legislation advanced without comment from committee members or the public. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WROC) Buying a house can seem intimidating amid fluctuations in the market, and the overall process may appear complex to know where to start. Two members of the Nathan Wenzel Team at Howard Hanna Realty stopped by the News 8 at Sunrise studio to share news of their upcoming class trying to take the pressure out of home buying know-how. Nate Wenzel and Hannah Mazzaferro will host a free How to Buy a House class on January 25 at 10 am at Neutral Ground Coffeehouse in Pittsford. The How to Buy a House curriculum comes from a nationally certified program geared towards first-time homebuyers. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Wenzel says his team decided to offer the class in Rochester so more people can be aware of their options. We want to try to make it really fun. Obviously, its supposed to be a fun processpurchasing a home. We really want to make sure were giving as much information out there as possible to the community, he explains to News 8s Mikhaela Singleton. There is obviously a lot going on right now. Theres been a lot of activity in the marketplace. [Were] just trying to help our buyers navigate that. There will also be a lender, Mike Monile of Fairway Mortgage, at the class to talk the attendees through New Yorks first-time home buyer incentives. The State of New York Mortgage Agency (SONYMA) offers low-interest loans, grants, and expense assistance that can often go overlooked if buyers arent aware. Mazzaferro says she expects the class to be a useful tool for many after their first class in November revealed just how many people feel they could use a helping hand navigating all things real estate. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Theres a huge demand for this type of education because they dont teach you how to buy a house in school, so the realtors need to do it, she says. Click here for more information and sign up for the free How to Buy a House class! Copyright 2025 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 RochesterFirst. ROCKFORD, Ill (WTVO) A Rockford warming center has decided to open its doors earlier than expected due to the below freezing temperatures across the Stateline. Second First Church normally allows residents to enter its warming center for overnight at 7:00 p.m., but Sundays temperatures led the staff to open at 6 p.m. instead. It will allow people to stay there until 8 a.m. Monday morning. The churchs Overnight Cafe, a program directed to those in need of shelter in the winter, offers Rockford residents a safe place to stay as well as a pillow and blanket. Volunteer Coordinator Karen Hill said the church was expecting an overflow of people in need Sunday night. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Well do our best to meet the needs of those who come to our door tonight, Hill said. Hopefully we have enough mats. Each guest gets a mat to lay on the floor and a blanket to cover up with. We will pull from our inventory as needed. The Cafe opened on January 3rd this year and have been helping about 40 men each night since. It partners with Emmanuel Episcopal, which is across the street, to assist women in need. While the center is preparing for the influx, those with the church said they are always looking for volunteers to help people check in as well as donations. We could use some little tubes of toothpaste because I think we got a supply of toothbrushes, but were not finding a whole lot on the toothpaste side, Hill said. Things like cans of coffee or oatmeal packets or hot chocolate packets would also be welcome, if you are wanting to donate to help out the cause. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement There are many other warming centers in Winnebago County. Times may vary due to the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday Monday, January 20th. Copyright 2025 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 MyStateline | WTVO News, Weather and Sports. (Bloomberg) -- Canada would emerge from a trade war with much deeper scars than the US should it retaliate against President Donald Trumps potential tariffs, economist David Rosenberg said. Most Read from Bloomberg The founder of Toronto-based Rosenberg Research & Associates Inc. said the Canadian governments plan for tit-for-tat counter-tariffs would backfire. Canada exports more than 20% of its gross domestic product to the US, while the US sends only 1.2% of GDP to its northern neighbor, he said in a Monday morning note to clients. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement There are times when it pays to just take the lumps and move on Im not sure getting into a full-blown trade war, no matter who started it, will make Canadians better off in the end, Rosenberg wrote. Officials told Bloomberg News last week the Canadian government plans to retaliate with tariffs only if the US administration moves first. Trump will not unveil tariffs immediately, but will instead call for federal agencies to study tariff policies and the USs trade relationship with China, Canada and Mexico, officials close to Trump told Bloomberg News, confirming an earlier report in the Wall Street Journal. The Canadian dollar was up about 1% to C$1.4333 per US dollar as of 12:45 p.m. New York time, on pace for its biggest gain versus the greenback since 2023. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In his inauguration speech, Trump said he plans to levy tariffs against foreign goods but did not go into specifics. We are strongest when we work together, and I look forward to working with President Trump, his administration, members of the United States Congress, and officials at the state and local levels to deliver prosperity for our peoples while protecting and defending the interests of Canadians, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in a statement congratulating Trump. --With assistance from Laura Dhillon Kane. (Updates currency move, details from Trump speech, Trudeau statement, beginning in sixth paragraph.) Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2025 Bloomberg L.P. Another Texas import that expanded to the Pikes Peak region in recent years is growing again. Russian forces launched around 550 attack drones, nearly 60 missiles of various types, and more than 660 aerial bombs against Ukraine during the past week, President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his evening address on Jan. 20. Russia launched a mass aerial attack against Ukraine on Jan. 15, targeting Lviv, Kharkiv, Ivano-Frankivsk, and Khmelnytskyi oblasts. On Jan. 18, Russia attacked Kyiv with missiles, killing three people, and injuring three others. Over the week, the Ukrainian military shot down 33 missiles, including ballistic missiles, and 311 attack drones, according to Zelensky. Another 136 drones used in daily attacks on infrastructure "did not reach their targets," the president added. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "I am very grateful to all our soldiers, military aviation, anti-aircraft gunners, electronic warfare units, and mobile fire groups. But the task remains unchanged continue strengthening our skies' protection," Zelensky said. "More Patriot (air defenses) for Ukraine means more protection of life. More long-range capability for Ukraine means more guarantees that the Russian war will be stopped," he added. Ukraine has lobbied international partners for more air defense capabilities in the wake of intensifying Russian strikes targeting civilian and energy infrastructure. Ukraine is also reportedly working on developing its own air defense systems, Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said in an interview with the Ukrainian news outlet TSN on Jan. 19. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Read also: Ukraine war latest: Ukraine hits 2 oil depots in Russia overnight; Zelensky sanctions top pro-Russian politicians Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. Russia is rearming faster than first thought for a potential attack on Nato, Germanys military pointman on Ukraine has warned. On the eve of Donald Trumps inauguration as US president, Maj Gen Christian Freuding said that Russia had already replaced missiles and tanks lost in its invasion of Ukraine. The Russian armed forces are not just able to compensate for their enormous personnel and material losses they are successfully rearming, he told Die Welt newspaper. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Vladimir Putin has reorientated the Russian economy to feed his war machine and has also bought extra supplies from Iran and North Korea which Maj Gen Freuding, who is head of the German militarys task force, said was helping Russia replenish its tanks, missiles and drones. Maj Gen Christian Freuding said Russian military production is growing - Sean Gallup/Getty Images He warned that although it was not clear that Putin had plans to attack Nato, he was clearly creating the conditions for it. Production is growing, the supplies in the depots are growing, he said. Germany is locked in a debate ahead of a national election next month on whether to back a 2.5 billion aid package for Ukraine. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Olaf Scholz, the chancellor, has said that he will only back the aid package for Ukraine if tight national borrowing rules are relaxed. Russian soldiers prepare to shoot Ukrainian drones on an undisclosed location in Ukraine - Russian Defense Ministry Press Service/AP In Ukraine, Russian forces have surrounded the fortress town of Pokrovsk and are on the brink of capturing one of the last Ukraine-held villages in south Donetsk. Russian military bloggers celebrated the military advances and said they were shaping the international agenda. Ukraine has stopped coal mining at the Pokrovsk mine due to the approach of Russian forces, said the Two Majors Telegram blog. Pokrovsk is surrounded from the flanks. Firemen walk around the site of a Russian missile strike in Pokrovsk, Ukraine - Wolfgang Schwan/Anadolu/Getty Images Pokrovsk in the central section of the front line has been a target for Russian forces for several weeks. Reports now say that invading forces are shelling the town. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Analysts have said that the town, which had a pre-war population of 60,000 people, is of major strategic importance because it acts as a supply hub for the Ukrainian military and as a railway and road network centre. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The coking coal mine outside Pokrovsk is also vital for Ukraines steel industry, the second-largest export industry, as it is one of the largest in Europe and the only one operating in the country. Reuters quoted unnamed Ukrainian sources confirming that Ukraine had closed the mine down and evacuated workers earlier this week as Russian forces moved forward. They have all stopped working now, one source said. Theres no production there, theyre only working on the surface, another source said. The capture of Velyka Novosilka in south Donetsk region is of more symbolic importance than strategic but it does underscore how far Russian forces have advanced since mid-2024. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Mr Trump wants to impose a peace deal to end the war in Ukraine. Analysts have said that Vladimir Putin wants Russian forces to capture as much land as possible before talks and has told his generals to throw soldiers at Ukrainian positions in an extension of his swarm infantry tactics. But advisers to Volodymyr Zelensky have said that it would be a catastrophic mistake for Mr Trump to open talks with Putin even though Ukrainians are exhausted by the war and polls show increased support for a negotiated peace deal. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. Russian strikes against Ukraine killed two civilians and injured five over the past day, regional authorities reported on Jan. 20. Russian forces launched 141 drones at Ukraine overnight from the Russian cities of Bryansk, Kursk, Orel, Millerovo, and Primosk-Akhtarsk, according to Ukraine's Air Force. Russia also struck Sumy Oblast with an Iskander-M ballistic missile from Kursk Oblast. Ukrainian anti-aircraft missile units, electronic warfare units, mobile firing groups, and aviation shot down 93 drones in Kyiv, Khmelnytskyi, Kherson, Vinnytsia, Chernihiv, Sumy, Kharkiv, Poltava, Dnipropetrovsk, Cherkasy, Kirovohrad, Donetsk, and Mykolaiv oblasts. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Forty-seven drones were lost allegedly due to electronic warfare countermeasures. In Kherson Oblast, Russia targeted 32 settlements, including the regional center of Kherson, over the past day. As a result of the attacks, one person was killed, and two others were injured, Governor Oleksandr Prokudin reported. In Donetsk Oblast, one person was killed, and another one was injured in the town of Pokrovsk, while one person was also injured in the village of Mykolaivka due to Russian strikes, Governor Vadym Filashkin said. In Kharkiv Oblast, a 14-year-old girl was hospitalized due to injuries after a glide bomb attack against the village of Zolochiv, Governor Oleh Syniehubov said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement As a result of a series of strikes with aerial bombs, over 20 houses, outbuildings, and two cars were damaged. Read also: Ukraine war latest: Ukraine hits 2 oil depots in Russia overnight; Zelensky sanctions top pro-Russian politicians Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. A giant billboard for a war film and mock tank models stationed at the entrance leave no doubt about the mission of Russia's largest film studio, Mosfilm, in these troubled times. Moscow's "dream factory" has long been associated with the iconic emblem of the worker and collective farmer, often used as a tool in the ideological confrontation with the West. Mosfilm boss Karen Shakhnazarov celebrated more than just the 100th anniversary of the state-owned company in 2024. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement During a recent meeting with President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin, the filmmaker boasted that Mosfilm is actively supporting Russia's "military special operation," as the conflict is officially known. The film studio has handed over to the armed forces dozens of tanks and other combat equipment "that we had stored in the military technical base," said Shakhnazarov. He is a loyal supporter of Putin's invasion of Ukraine, which began nearly three years ago, and is working on a feature film about the conflict. "We are proud of Mosfilm," Putin replied. For decades, the film studio has specialized in war films to commemorate the Soviet Union's victory in World War II. Censorship and repression also shape filmmaking The Mosfilm boss has compared the 34-hectare site near the centre of Moscow with Hollywood studios like Warner or Universal. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But it is evident that the state-owned company cannot operate freely in the face of increasingly repressive laws and a rigid cultural policy. Mosfilm also has a long history of censorship and state-commissioned productions. During the brutal reign of Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin, many in the film industry, including Mosfilm workers, were targeted in his notorious purges. In the 1930s, Mosfilm chief Boris Babizki lamented that "the studio doesn't have the right to make even one independent decision on a reasonably important issue." For his criticism, he was first dismissed from his position, and then, like many others during that era, he was executed on charges of alleged counter-revolutionary activities. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement And Sergei Eisenstein, one cinema's pioneers, is believed to have suffered a heart attack under the immense political pressure of Stalin's regime while serving as artistic director at Mosfilm. Russian media outlets highlighted this tragic aspect of his life during the studio's anniversary year. He gained international acclaim as a leading figure of the avant-garde with his film "Battleship Potemkin" in 1925. Many award-winning films In a film museum on the studio grounds, visitors can delve into the lengthy history that produced world renowned filmmakers such as Andrei Tarkovsky ("Solaris") and Andrei Konchalovsky ("Uncle Vanya") alongside many award-winning films. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Often, these films shaped the image abroad of life in the former Soviet Union. In East Germany, more than 2 million people saw the film "The Cranes Are Flying" (1957) by Mikhail Kalatozov, which won the Palme d'Or at Cannes. The film tells the story of a couple before and after the German invasion of the Soviet Union. The studio covers an entire district, with large outdoor backdrops modelled on the former tsarist metropolis of St Petersburg, and huge pavilions with sets, sound studios, props, costume depots and a film museum. TV series, musicals, music clips and advertising films are also produced here. Visitors are manifold and tickets for tours sell out fast. A great era of dreams and disappointments "Mosfilm is a Russian national treasure," said the Association of Filmmakers on its 100th anniversary. "Hundreds of kilometres of film reels contain the dreams and disappointments of a great era, the achievements of the people and human destinies." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The company has produced more than 2,000 films. Three of them have been awarded an Oscar in the US. The film "Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears" by Vladimir Menshov, which won the Oscar for best foreign film in 1981, is still a cult work today and is considered the epitome of Soviet nostalgia. "War and Peace" by Sergei Bondarchuk won the award in 1969, and "Burnt by the Sun" by Nikita Mikhalkov won in 1995. Periods of liberalization There were relatively short periods of free artistic expression within the rigid film industry in the Soviet Union. There was a period of experimentation in the early days, when the conglomerate emerged from individual studios and, in addition to Soyuzfilm, repeatedly changed its name. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "In the 1920s, Soviet cinema was the most interesting on the planet. The whole world watched with delight as films were shot in Moscow, Leningrad and Kiev... It was amazing, romantic," wrote cinema expert Sergei Lavrantiev in his book about Mosfilm directors. After Stalin's death, there was a political thaw for cinema, as for other areas of art. But it was above all in the 1980s, under the Kremlin leader Mikhail Gorbachev and his policy of glasnost, or openness, that the world of cinema also experienced a revolution not least allowing for the emergence of sex scenes in films. But when the Soviet Union collapsed, former Mosfilm boss Vladimir Dostal told US journalists that the days of lies were over. "We have finally begun to deal with the negative side of our history... Before, in our films we said: prostitution doesn't exist, drug addiction doesn't exist." Moscow had preferred to see these as solely problems in the United States. The Kremlin's line These days, Mosfilm produces about 120 projects annually. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement According to the Kremlin-critical newspaper Novaya Gazeta, published abroad, much of the studio's propaganda work now relies on Kremlin-linked funding and institutions. Mosfilm has long ceased to be the "dream factory" it once was. At the meeting with Putin, Mosfilm boss Shakhnazarov made it clear where he sees his role: in the patriotic education of the Russian population. The studio is now profitable, pays taxes to the state and also donates to the war effort, he said. And he wants to fulfil one of Putin's wishes: to show the old Soviet films in schools again, to shape the world view of generations to come. A display in the studio's museum honors the iconic Soviet comedy "Operation Y and Shurik's Other Adventures," featuring the legendary comedian and internationally renowned clown Yuri Nikulin. Ulf Mauder/dpa When a glide bomb exploded at an industrial facility in Zaporizhzhia on Jan. 8, the 13 dead, and 122 injured marked the highest number of civilian casualties in a Russian attack on Ukraine in almost two years. Despite being one of the most primitive and numerous weapons in the Russian Air Force's arsenal, Ukraine's sophisticated, Western-supplied air defense systems are still ill-equipped to deal with the threat they pose. Compounding the problem, Russia continues to modify and adapt its glide bombs, increasing their range and destructive power, meaning more and more Ukrainian towns and cities are coming under threat. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "Aerial glide bombs have become one of the greatest threats to civilians in cities along the frontline," Danielle Bell, head of the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine (HRMMU), said in a statement on Jan. 9. "They are also one of the main reasons why the number of killed and injured in 2024 increased by 30 per cent compared with 2023." According to HRMMU figures, Russian glide bombs killed 360 Ukrainian civilians in 2024, and injured 1,861, a threefold increase in fatalities, and a sixfold increase in injuries compared to 2023. What is a glide bomb? A glide bomb is a standard air-dropped bomb modified with wings and often a satellite navigation system, so they can be launched from a distance rather than directly over a target. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Their origins date back as far as World War II, and have been used in conflicts since including Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan. Russian glide bombs are often Soviet-era FAB weapons upgraded with a Unified Gliding and Correction Module (UMPK), which allows it to glide to its target, but Moscow is also developing newer, dedicated versions. The Russian Su-34 bomber aircraft and FAB-500 bombs equipped with high-precision guidance on March 18, 2024. (Russian Defense Ministry / Handout / Anadolu via Getty Images) Russian forces employ various sizes of glide bombs weighing 250, 500, and 1,000 kilograms (kg). The most powerful in Russia's arsenal is the FAB-3000, a 3,000-kilogram high-explosive bomb, which the Russian Defense Ministry claimed in March had gone into mass production. In July, it released footage of what it said was a FAB-3000 being dropped on Ukrainian territory for the first time, saying it has a combat power that "cannot be ignored." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Crucially, converting an unguided "dumb bomb" into a glide bomb is cheap. Each conversion costs around $20,000, far less than cruise and ballistic missiles that cost millions of dollars to produce. Russian forces began using glide bombs against Ukraine in early 2023 to compensate for the lack of precision-guided munitions, dropping hundreds a week, according to figures from Kyiv. A woman visits the site of a Russian aerial bombing in the Shevchenkivskyi district of Kharkiv, Ukraine, on May 5, 2024. The Russian army carried out three airstrikes on the district with UMPB D-30 glide bombs. (Ivan Samoilov / Gwara Media / Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images) Glide bombs are most effective against static targets, including bridges, command posts, bunkers, and weapons depots, and Russia has used them to great effect on the front lines as they advance slowly in eastern Ukraine. "Despite many problems and shortfalls, the Russian Aerospace Forces (VKS) is learning, and adapting its tactics in a constantly changing combat environment," Federico Borsari, a fellow at the Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA), told the Kyiv Independent. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But Moscow has also used them to devastating effect against Ukrainian population centers, with Sumy, Kharkiv, and Zaporizhzhia oblasts particularly hard hit. And on Jan. 11, border settlements in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast were hit for the first time, with more and more coming under threat as the front line moves west. Read also: I didnt know who Id be fighting North Korean soldier captured by Ukraine speaks in new footage Why are glide bombs so dangerous? Glide bombs are highly-destructive, and incredibly difficult to shoot down. "Glide bombs, unlike missiles, do not have a propulsion system, so they don't generate much heat and are therefore largely immune to interception by infrared homing missiles, like the AIM-9 Sidewinder, or the FIM-92 Stinger," Jacob Parakilas, research leader in RAND Europe's Defence, Security and Justice Research Group, told the Kyiv Independent. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "Glide bombs [...] are largely immune to interception by infrared homing missiles." Parakilas said anti-aircraft guns like the German-made Gepard are more effective at shooting down glide bombs, but their short range makes them ineffective at policing the hundreds of miles of front line in Ukraine. "The limited range of those systems means that they would have to be right on top of the target, and able to identify and open fire on it in a very short time window which is difficult even if sufficient numbers of those systems were available," he said. The range of the weapons also allows the Russian fighter jets that launch them to stay out of range of Ukraine's advanced air defense systems such as the U.S.-supplied Patriot. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Ukraine did have a string of successes early last year, downing several Russian military planes of the types used to launch glide bombs. But positioning air defense assets so close to the front lines is risky, and after Russian forces allegedly managed to destroy two Patriot launchers in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine appears to have abandoned the tactic. "Russia can exploit gaps in Ukraine's air defense, which is stretched thin and needs to cover a very large territory," Borsari said. How are Russian glide bombs evolving? Russia is constantly upgrading UMPK kits to increase the range and accuracy of its glide bombs. When interviewed by the Kyiv Independent in May of last year, experts said the range of glide bombs being used by Russia was "generally considered not to exceed 50-60 kilometers." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But in the months since, a number of modifications mean newer models can now fly up to 90 kilometers, placing many more Ukrainian civilians within their deadly reach. Emergency services fight a fire following a Russian UMPB D-30 guided air bombs airstrike near Kharkiv, Ukraine, on May 14, 2024. (Vlada Liberova / Libkos / Getty Images) A fragment of a UMPB D-30 glide bomb lies at the site of a Russian airstrike on a multi-story residential building in Kharkiv, Ukraine, on May 14, 2024. (Yevhen Titov / Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images) Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Borsari said that particular attention should be paid to the relatively new and more advanced UMPB-D-30SN system which, in addition to wings and a guidance system, also has a small jet-propulsion engine which extends the glide bomb's range. Then there are the improvements to the electronic systems. Russian forces have been improving the navigation systems that guide the UMPK via satellite, allowing it to be more accurate. They are also often equipped with Kometa antennas which stabilize satellite communications signals, and are particularly resistant to electronic warfare countermeasures. How can Ukraine defeat the glide bomb threat? In lieu of an effective means of targeting glide bombs in flight, experts say Ukraine's best options are to target both the planes that drop them, as well as the production and storage facilities they pass through before they're used. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "Ukraine's allies should prioritize speeding up the pipeline for delivering, supporting, and providing training for the crews of F-16s, which can target and push back the Russian jets dropping glide bombs," Parakilas said. The first General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcons received by Ukraine fly on the Day of Ukrainian Air Force in an unspecified location, Ukraine, on Aug. 4, 2024. (Vitalii Nosach / Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images) "Adding other air defense fighters as France has promised to do with the Mirage 2000 and Sweden has considered with the Gripen would also help, although every new type of aircraft added increases the complexity of Ukraine's supporting infrastructure and supply chain," he added. Ukraine's long-running, long-range drone strike campaign has reportedly had successes targeting sites where Russia stores FAB bombs, most recently in a series of strikes last week. But their continued and widespread use suggests Ukraine can't currently destroy them at a rate quicker than Russia can produce them. "In the long-term, another possibility is the use of directed-energy weapons, such as lasers, which are being developed and tested in various countries as a cost-effective countermeasure to aerial threats," Mattias Eken, a defense and security expert at RAND Europe, told the Kyiv Independent. However, the widespread deployment of such weapons is far off, and in the meantime, more and more Ukrainian towns and cities are likely to come within range of Russia's ever-evolving glide bombs. Read also: Absurd phenomenon The manpower issue threatening to weaken Ukraines Air Force Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. Despondent American TikTokers searching high and low for a fix after the beloved social app went dark are having a tough time getting around the ban. Users on Sunday were just beginning to realize that the Chinese-owned app remains dark even when using a VPN. Virtual private networks can trick websites and apps into thinking a user is in a different country. VPN software is commonly used in countries where an oppressive government restricts access to social media like Iran, China or Russia. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But TikTok ensured its shutdown could not be so easily evaded. Whoever said a vpn would work after the tiktok ban, youre goin straight to hell, one frustrated user wrote. Another added: went through the process of setting up a vpn to access tiktok and it still dont work. TikTok went dark Saturday night for 170 million American users. REUTERS TikTok chose to shut down at midnight Sunday, rather than sell its US business and comply with the mandate of a law passed by Congress in April. Anyone trying to access the app is not confronted with a message saying its working with President-elect Trump to find a solution. Trump, who takes office Monday, floated a pause in the ban until he could negotiate a 50% US takeover of ownership of the app. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Members of Congress who backed the ban said TikTok cant return to the US until its no longer in Chinese hands. TikToks US shutdown seemingly prohibits any accounts created in the United States, even if users turn on a VPN. The Post also confirmed that trying to access the site with a VPN from inside the US doesnt work even without an account. After the app went dark early Saturday for 170 million Americans, agitated app users vented their frustrations on X and Instagram with many searching for quick fixes or hacks to bypass the federal law that banned the app after it failed to find a new owner that isnt Chinese. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement PSA: VPNs dont work if your TikTok account was created in the USA. You have to make a whole new account in another country, one person wrote on X. A VPN did not work during TikToks ban, according to users. DenPhoto stock.adobe.com Just put on a VPN for Canada and TikTok still didnt work, another crushed TikTok user wrote on X. There appears to be some workarounds. Some users claimed that using a VPN on a computer allowed access to the app but only if the account was created outside the US. TikToks total shutdown is similar to its tactic in the Chinese enclave of Hong Kong. It announced it was pulling out in the wake of draconian national security laws there in an attempt to assuage concerns about Chinese government control. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement TikTok was already banned in mainland China Chinese citizens instead use Douyin, a TikTok app with Chinese characteristics. Simple VPNs also cannot penetrate the apps ban there. Both apps are owned by Beijing-based ByteDance. The apps shutdown was widely anticipated after the Supreme Court on Friday unanimously upheld Congresss law that required the platforms Chinese-owned parent company to divest its stake in the company by Jan. 19 or face a national ban. Milwaukee will kick off this week with the most extreme cold of the winter so far. During the coldest periods, wind chill is forecast to range between -15 and -30 degrees. That's well beyond the threshold for developing frostbite and other adverse health symptoms from cold-weather exposure. Here's how to stay safe if you're outside in Milwaukee in the next few days. More: Brace yourself for Milwaukee temperatures dipping below zero for stretch of next week Will it be safe to go outside in Milwaukee this week? People should avoid being outside for extended periods of time, particularly when the weather is coldest from Sunday night into Monday morning and Monday night into Tuesday morning, said J.J. Wood, meteorologist for the Milwaukee/Sullivan National Weather Service. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Frostbite can develop within 15 minutes when wind chills approach -25 degrees, according to NWS. But even in temperatures between 13 and 31 degrees, the American Red Cross recommends taking indoor breaks every half hour, and in wind chills below 13 degrees, staying indoors to minimize frostbite risk. If you must be outside, Wood recommended covering up and layering as much as possible. "Anything that you can do to cover that exposed skin is great, especially your face, hands and feet. Those extremities tend to get frostbite easily," Wood said. After a relatively mild and windy day, arctic air will begin to arrive tonight with bitterly cold wind chills for Sunday through at least Tuesday. The wind chills will range from 15 below to 30 below zero. Cold weather headlines will likely be needed. #swiwx pic.twitter.com/VhDExuZ9yP NWS Milwaukee (@NWSMilwaukee) January 17, 2025 What are frostbite symptoms? According to the Mayo Clinic, symptoms of frostbite include: Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Pain Numbness Tingling Cold, hard, waxy-looking skin Clumsiness due to joint stiffness Blistering after rewarming Patches of red, white, blue, gray, purple or brown skin, though changes in skin color may be harder to see on brown or Black skin What to do if you develop frostbite You should seek emergency medical care if you're experiencing intense shivering and pain even after rewarming, slurred speech, drowsiness and trouble walking, according to the Mayo Clinic. While you wait for medical care, you can take the following steps: Get out of the cold and remove wet clothing. Wrap up in a warm blanket until help arrives Protect the injured area from further damage Don't walk on frostbitten feet or toes if possible Take a pain reliever if needed Drink a warm, nonalcoholic beverage if possible Warming shelters in Milwaukee You can find a list of free, overnight warming shelters in Milwaukee here. Wisconsin weather radar More: How do Wisconsin meteorologists calculate wind chill, and what does it mean? This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Is it safe to go outside in Milwaukee in sub-zero temperatures? GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) The Grand Rapids Fire Department is warning the public to stay warm safely as below-zero temperatures settle in across West Michigan. Alternative or rarely-used heating sources are a common cause of house and building fires during cold weather. Frigid temps, heavy lake-effect as Arctic blast arrives If you havent used the fireplace in a long time or had your chimney inspected, I would avoid using that, Grand Rapids Fire Department Battalion Chief Ed Braman told News 8. We run into chimney fires and that can extend into the building. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Fuel-burning heaters are also a tempting thing to bring indoors. Beyond the risk of the flame catching fabrics and furniture on fire, anything burning indoors without proper ventilation can present a hard-to-detect safety issue. How to prevent and treat carbon monoxide poisoning Anything that burns creates carbon monoxide, which you cant see, smell or hear, Braman added. That creates a problem for anybody. Without the proper detectors you wont even know its there. Electric heaters also pose their own safety concerns. They can heat flammable materials left too close to the heat source on fire and run the risk of overloading your electrical system. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement If its tripping a breaker or something in your house, dont just ignore it, Braman emphasized. Its doing that for a reason. Energy saving tips ahead of Arctic blast Chief Braman also encouraged the community to check on each other, particularly if you have elderly neighbors. Below-zero temperatures act quickly on the human body. If someone slips and falls while they are shoveling and stays out there, they can face dangerous circumstances in a matter of minutes. Copyright 2025 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. LITTLE ROCK, Ark. 57 years ago an American activist who put his life on the line to bring equality and justice to all during the Civil Rights movement died, but those who honor the reformation Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. created continue to remember his name. At Saint Mark Baptist Church, theres an annual celebration in tribute to all hes done, and its all organized by pastor Phillip L. Pointer Sr. Were excited to host it again and its such a major part of our year to remember the life and the legacy of reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Pointer said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Where to celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day in central Arkansas From musical selections by a choir, to special words by people like Dr. Jermall Wright remembering Dr. Kings purpose. His words remind us that our fight for civil rights is not just about laws and policy, but about the dignity and humanity of every person Wright said. The service commemorates all the years of advocacy, Dr. King put in, teaching nonviolent ways to bring freedom to all who wanted more than a life of division. His message is that America owes all of its citizens the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness and its that legacy that we honor Pointer said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Arkansas Martin Luther King, Jr. Commission executive director honored with key to the city of Las Vegas Little Rock is one of many places to see the impact of Dr. Kings work, and to Mayor Frank Scott Jr., the best is yet to come. Theres always more room for improvement and more ways to go but when you have events like this, and you know that you can truly bring people together thats what its all about Scott said. Copyright 2025 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. Sam Altman has shut down online "hype" after rumors the company had achieved AGI behind closed doors went viral on X. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is trying to calm the online hype surrounding his company. On Monday, the tech boss took to X to quell viral rumors that the company had achieved artificial general intelligence (AGI). "Twitter hype is out of control again," he wrote in the post. "We are not gonna deploy AGI next month, nor have we built it." Altman said the company had some "cool stuff" coming up but warned fans to cut their expectations by "100x." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Rumors that the company had achieved AGI, defined as a type of AI capable of understanding, learning, and performing any intellectual task that a human can do, have been gaining traction after some AI fans interpreted recent teasers posted by OpenAI employees as a sign the company has reached the much-hyped milestone. OpenAI staffers, including Altman, have been trying to promote a series of new AI reasoning models. The AI company announced a slew of updates about the models last month, including that it was testing its next-gen model, o3. In a post to his blog this month, Altman said he was confident the company knew "how to build AGI as we have traditionally understood it." He predicted 2025 may be the year we see the first AI agents join the workforce and said it was possible the world could see "superintelligence in a few thousand days." Rumors the company had already made the breakthrough behind closed doors were fueled by a post published last week by an AI writer who goes by the name Gwern Branwen. He claimed that OpenAI was on the edge of a breakthrough with its new reasoning models as they could produce data needed to train more advanced models. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "If youre wondering why OAers are suddenly weirdly, almost euphorically, optimistic on Twitter, watching the improvement from the original 4o model to o3 (and wherever it is now!) may be why. Its like watching the AlphaGo Elo curves: it just keeps going up and up and up" he wrote in the post. Branwen theorized the company may have "broken out and have finally crossed the last threshold of criticality, from merely cutting-edge Al work, which everyone else will replicate in a few years, to takeoff cracked intelligence to the point of being recursively self-improving and where o4 or o5 will be able to automate AI R&D and finish off the rest." Other OpenAI staffers have also tried to step in and calm the hype. On Friday, Noam Brown, a top OpenAI researcher, wrote on X: "Lots of vague AI hype on social media these days. There are good reasons to be optimistic about further progress, but plenty of unsolved research problems remain." Brown said he believed OpenAI's o1 "represents a new scaling paradigm," but the company was still early in scaling along that dimension and had not yet achieved superintelligence. Scaling limit The comments also appear to respond to reports that major AI labs, including OpenAI, have hit a wall in their efforts to improve current LLMs. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A debate over whether AI gains have hit the scaling limit has taken hold in Silicon Valley over recent months as reports emerged that some companies were having issues building new advanced models. Some researchers have said they are trying to incorporate new kinds of improvements, such as building reasoning capabilities into AI models, to improve the models. Representatives for OpenAI did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fortune. This story was originally featured on Fortune.com Four Colorado Springs firefighters sustained minor injuries early Sunday as they battled a two-alarm blaze that left four people displaced, fire officials said. At about 2:20 a.m. Sunday, crews were dispatched to a structure fire in the 1200 block of Tonka Avenue in the citys west end. While en route to the scene, engine crew members reportedly could see a glow from a fire in the distance. As crews arrived at the scene, they saw flames coming from all the windows of the home, according to a social media post from CSFD. As they searched the interior of the home, one firefighter fell through a split-level staircase. The injured firefighter was evacuated and treated at the scene. Below-freezing temperatures, exacerbated by winds, caused some of the firefighting equipment to freeze, and three additional firefighters sustained minor injuries from falling or slipping on ice, but CSFD crews managed to knock down the bulk of the fire by 3 a.m., officials said. Two adults, a child and an infant were displaced by the blaze. A dog was unaccounted for as of Sunday morning. Featured Local Savings No other injuries were reported, and the cause of the fire is under investigation. ARUSHA, Tanzania (AP) Tanzanias president said Monday that one sample from a remote part of northern Tanzania tested positive for Marburg disease, a highly infectious virus which can be fatal in up to 88% of cases without treatment. President Samia Suluhu Hassan spoke in Dodoma, the capital, alongside World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. WHO was the first to report on Jan. 14 a suspected outbreak of Marburg that had killed eight people in Tanzanias Kagera region. Tanzanian health officials disputed the report hours later, saying tests on samples had returned negative results. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Hassan said Monday that further tests had confirmed a case of Marburg. Twenty-five other samples were negative, she said. Like Ebola, the Marburg virus originates in fruit bats and spreads between people through close contact with the bodily fluids of infected individuals or with surfaces, such as contaminated bedsheets. Symptoms include fever, muscle pains, diarrhea, vomiting and in some cases death from extreme blood loss. There is no authorized vaccine or treatment for Marburg. This is the second outbreak of Marburg in Kagera since 2023. It comes exactly a month after Rwanda, which shares with a border with Kagera, declared its own outbreak of the disease was over. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Rwandan officials reported a total of 15 deaths and 66 cases in the outbreak first declared on Sept. 27, with the majority of those affected health care workers who handled the first patients. ___ This story has been corrected to show that Tanzanias president spoke in Dodoma, not Dar es Salaam. As residents impacted by the Eaton and Palisades Fires were slowly returning to their homes or where their homes used to be another dangerous Santa Ana wind event is forecast to begin Monday that is expected to bring isolated gusts as high as 100 mph. Firefighters have continued to benefit from a break in the weather, thanks to low clouds and good humidity levels. Containment of the Palisades Fire has grown to 52% while containment of the Eaton Fire has grown to 81%. But the National Weather Service warned that this weeks expected winds mean that conditions are favorable for extreme fire behavior and rapid fire growth, which would threaten life and property. More from Deadline Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A familiar Red Flag Warning was issued for Los Angeles County from 8 a.m. Monday morning through 2 p.m. Tuesday. Per the NWS, A Red Flag Warning means that critical fire weather conditions are either occurring now, or will shortly. Use extreme caution with anything that can spark a wildfire. Residents near wildland interfaces should be prepared to evacuate if a wildfire breaks out. Forecasters took the rare step of issuing a particularly dangerous situation warning, an extreme designation beyond a Red Flag Warning, for a large portion of Los Angeles and Ventura counties Sunday afternoon due to damaging Santa Ana winds and very low humidity. That region is outlined in purple below and skirts along the edges of both existing fires. California Governor Gavin Newsom last week sought to put the designation into star relief last week, noting that such warnings had been issued four times in the past three months. The first preceded the Mountain Fire in Ventura in which 243 structures were destroyed. The second preceded the Franklin Fire in Malibu in December where 20 structures destroyed. The third preceded the Palisades and Eaton Fires which have destroyed close to 15,000 homes and counting. The fourth was the second round of winds last week that fanned those fires. The particularly dangerous situation warning is in effect from noon Monday until 10 a.m. Tuesday for the Santa Clarita Valley, San Fernando Valley including Calabasas and Agoura Hills, Malibu coast, western Santa Monica Mountains recreation area, the Interstate 5 corridor, San Gabriel Valley and north of the 210 Freeway including Altadena and Glendora. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Heres a portion of the NWS Forecast Discussion: NE winds will start in the mtns a few hours before dawn. During the morning hours after sunrise the winds will accelerate and move out of the mtns into the vlys and then the coast. Gusts will start increase and will reach warning levels during the day. Max gusts across the csts/vlys will be between 55 and 65 mph and the mtns will see frequent 60 to 70 mph gusts with local ridgetop winds reaching 70 to 90 mph. These winds will be oriented in the typical NE Santa Ana direction. This direction will bring the greatest mtn wave potential to the San Fernando and Santa Clarita Vlys. The winds will peak Monday evening and overnight and will extend into Tuesday morning before the upper support wanes and the sfc grads begin to relax. PREDICTED WINDSPEEDS FOR MONDAY EVENING: Forecasters say Isolated gusts of 80 to 100 mph are expected in most wind-prone mountain locations, such as the San Gabriel, western Santa Monica and Santa Susana Mountains. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement And that wont be the end of it. Per the NWS: Gusty offshore winds and widespread very low humidities will continue later Tuesday night through Thursday in much of these same areas. The strongest winds during this period are expected Wednesday night into Thursday morning with gusts in the 40 to 55 mph range. Minimum humidities are forecast to be in the 3 to 13 percent range overall, with very poor overnight recoveries. Due to the potential for continued red flag fire conditions, a Fire Weather Watch is also in effect for most of these areas from late Tuesday evening through Thursday evening. Officials are urging residents to review their evacuation plans and make sure emergency kits are stocked with needed items should they have to evacuate. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The city of Los Angeles declared that red-flag parking restrictions would go into effect at 8 a.m. Monday and remain in effect until further notice. Ironically, the latest National Weather Service forecast also posits a 60 to 70 percent chance of rain next weekend with about 40 percent of the ensembles showing rainfall accumulations over half and inch for most of the coast and valleys. That could present yet another challenge to recovery efforts as well as potentially create mudslides in the recent burn scars and, as Los Angeles Public Works Department chief Mark Pestrella warned earlier this week, potentially toxic flows. Both areas suffered watershed damage burned to such a significance that we expect massive debris-laden flows when it rains, he cautioned. In an event that we have major rain, we do expect that all of the street areas and all of the communities will be impacted by debris flows that could be hazardous to human health. In order to address this, we are developing plans to capture and hold this debris back as much as we can during a rain event. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Pestrella said his department was assessing impact to the flood control system in both the Palisades and Altadena areas. He reported his department is already deploying labor forces into the area in order to ensure that the flood control system is ready as well as our street system is ready as much as possible for that rain event. City News Service contributed to this report. Best of Deadline Sign up for Deadline's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. The News As Donald Trump returns to the White House, Saudi Arabia is aiming to redefine its ties to the US and position itself as a rising Middle Power. The kingdoms crown prince enjoys close relations to Trump, and his economic diversification plan presents opportunities for US companies, AGBI reported. Sovereign wealth fund investments into America may also feature, but Saudi has relatively less fire power compared to its Gulf peers as its Public Investment Fund prioritizes domestic development. In geopolitics, the highest-profile potential achievement for Trump would be Saudi-Israel normalization, a considerable challenge that may become feasible if the ceasefire in Gaza turns into a durable peace process. Sign up for the Slatest to get the most insightful analysis, criticism, and advice out there, delivered to your inbox daily. The second inauguration of Donald Trump looked almost nothing like the first. For one thing, there was no deliberation over crowd size. Chilly temperatures drove the event into the Capitol rotunda (which was also where the Jan. 6 Capitol riot and insurrection attempt took place); some 1,300 seats were crammed into the iconic room. This time, the space was absent armed men in face paint and horns. Gone, too, were the C-list celebs of 2017s inaugural affair. Insteadbeyond the usual suspects of past presidents, Supreme Court justices, and family membersit was jam-packed with a coterie of the richest men in the country. Elon Musk, standing behind Usha Vance and next to Sundar Pinchai of Google and Donald Trump Jr. Kenny Holston/Pool/Getty Images Stage right, just behind Trumps immediate family, were none other than Apple CEO Tim Cook, Alphabet CEO Sundar Pinchai, Tesla CEO Elon Musk, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, and Amazon former CEO Jeff Bezos (and his fiancee Lauren Sanchez), all making small talk, and grinning ear to ear.* The NBC cameras panned to billionaires row to show Jared Kushner chatting with Bezos and Pinchai, with Zuckerberg looking on longingly, as though hoping to be tapped into the conversation himself. Across the aisle, but still on the stage, were Bernard Arnault, CEO of the French luxury conglomerate LVMH, and his son Alexandre. Arnault is worth around $200 billion. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It was startlingly prominent placement for the centibillionaire class, which eight years ago, prior to Trumps tax cuts, was not anywhere near as rich. Those big tech CEOs were once seen as some of Trumps biggest antagonists, throughout his relatively outsider 2016 campaign and subsequent first term. But Musk, Pinchai, Cook, Zuckerberg, and Bezos each ponied up $1 million for the Trump inauguration, either personally or via their Big Tech firms, and were rewarded with those extremely prime seats. That they were the only nonfamily attendees who could literally whisper in President Donald Trump or Vice President J.D. Vances ears from the stage is a fact dripping with symbolism. When Trump walked down the aisle, he gave a head nod to Bezos. The image could not have been sharper: The very richest people in the worldin fact, the very richest men in the history of humanityare welcome in Trumpworld. Trump, in all his populist bombast, has long made it clear that he would be taking care of his own in his second term as president, and vice versa: The billionaire class, once uneasy with the president, has now embraced him fully. Joe Biden, meanwhile, was keeping busy taking care of his own as well. In his final moment as president, he signed preemptive pardons for his family members to protect them from Trumps persecution, and then continued his confusing orientation toward the president, gleefully shaking hands and at one point even giving him a standing ovation for the Israeli hostage and ceasefire deal. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But if Trumps second inauguration looked vastly different than the scene eight years ago, it sounded extremely familiar. The dark tone of his 2017 inaugural address, with its famous reference to American carnage, was reprised in his 2025 speech, which for some reason had been hyped in the run-up to todays event as unifying. It was not. While the seating chart made it clear that the cartoonishly rich get pride of place in Trumps America, his speech made it just as clear that few others are. Jeff Bezos, with Lauren Sanchez. Ricky Carioti/Pool/AFP via Getty Images Rattling off a list of executive orders, many of which were just reinstating policies from his first term, Trump cataloged the forthcoming effort to engage in large-scale deportations, to escalate confrontation with Mexico, and more. He pledged to repeal environmental standards and mandates; he pledged to drill, baby, drill; he went into great detail about his plan to take back the Panama Canal; and he did his new favorite bit about renaming the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Much of this was met with standing ovations, from the billionaire boys club, and from congressional and senate Republicans. In the front row, Democratic Sen. Cory Booker helped the 91-year-old Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley get to his feet to do so. Bernie Sanders, sitting two seats away, remained seated with his arms crossed, the same iconic pose, sans mittens, from Bidens inauguration four years ago. The golden age of America begins right now, Trump proclaimed. For his billionaire backers, it has already begun. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz does not believe that incoming US President Donald Trump will cancel all aid to Ukraine after taking office but added that it would be good to see what the situation will be like in the long term. Source: Scholz at an event organised by the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, as reported to European Pravda Details: Scholz stressed that he does not expect an immediate cessation of US aid to Ukraine after Trump's inauguration. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Quote: "I do not expect an immediate collapse in US support for Ukraine in the near future," he said, adding that it remains to be seen what the situation will be "in the long term". The German chancellor explained that his assessment is linked to Trump's intention to reach an understanding and resolution of the conflict in the near future and discuss it with Vladimir Putin. He warned, however, that such a solution to the war should not be implemented "over the heads of Ukrainians and Europe". Background: During his election campaign, Donald Trump promised to end the war in Ukraine before his inauguration. He also promised to end the war within 24 hours of taking office. Recently, Trump's team acknowledged that this task is much more difficult and could take months to complete. At his pre-inauguration rally in Washington, Trump once again promised to end the war in Ukraine and prevent World War III. Support UP or become our patron! German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Monday that Europe should take a confident stance toward incoming US president Donald Trump, and remain clear in defending the sovereignty of borders. "I would also advise everyone to always keep a straight back," Scholz said, using an expression that means to show confidence and strength. His remarks at a political candidate forum organized by the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper in Frankfurt come just hours before Trump is due to take the oath of office. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Scholz said that this was why he had also publicly stated that borders "universally" should not be touched in direct response to Trump's demands that the US lay claim to Greenland, the Panama canal and Canada. "I believe this is something that will remain with us in the near future, that we are clear on the issue," Scholz said. No quick 'slump' in Ukraine aid The chancellor also reiterated at the forum that he does not expect "an immediate slump" in US aid for Ukraine, which has been battling against the ongoing Russian invasion. The US is by far the largest supplier of military aid to Ukraine. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "We will see what it will be like in the long term," Scholz added, however. Trump has expressed scepticism in the past about US aid for Ukraine, and also vowed to end the war there quickly after taking office. There have been concerns that he would slash aid. Scholz said he has no problem with not being invited by Trump to attend the swearing-in ceremony in Washington, and that Germany's ambassador to the US, Andreas Michaelis, will represent the country at the event. "It's quite normal for the ambassadors to represent the countries there. That will be the case for the vast majority of them," said Scholz. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The fact that Trump invited a few particular leaders, such as Italian far-right Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Argentinian libertarian President Javier Milei, is also "OK," Scholz said. Scholz did not wish to comment on the fact that Michaelis had issued an exceptionally clear warning of massive negative changes to US policy under Trump in a letter to the German government, which was classified as confidential but was obtained by dpa. Scholz pointed out that this was an "internal report." Scholz stresses transatlantic ties In remarks published earlier on Monday by the Rheinische Post newspaper, Scholz stressed the importance of close political co-operation and strong alliances with the United States. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "Transatlantic relations are of the utmost importance for Germany and for Europe," he said, adding that the US played a significant role in the development of democracy in West Germany. "And NATO is the guarantor of our security," Scholz added. "That is why we need stable relations with the US." But as Trump prepares to be sworn in on Monday, Scholz also stressed Europe's ability to act independently. "As the European Union, we can also build on our own strength," he said. "As a community of more than 400 million Europeans, we have economic weight." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The chancellor said he had two phone conversations with Trump, describing them as "very friendly and good talks." He added that their advisors had met several times, ensuring that Germany is not starting from scratch with the incoming US administration. Scholz reaffirmed that the US remains Germany's closest ally. In view of the participation of European right-wing populists at Trump's inauguration ceremony, Scholz called for challenging populists with confidence and a clear stance. "We must confront the dividers," he said. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has reiterated the importance of close political co-operation and strong alliances with the United States ahead of Donald Trump's upcoming second term as US president. In remarks published by the Rheinische Post newspaper on Monday, Scholz said that transatlantic relations remain essential for both Germany and Europe. "Transatlantic relations are of the utmost importance for Germany and for Europe," he said, adding that the US played a significant role in the development of democracy in West Germany. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "And NATO is the guarantor of our security," Scholz added. "That is why we need stable relations with the US." As Trump prepares to be sworn in on Monday, Scholz also stressed Europe's ability to act independently. "As the European Union, we can also build on our own strength," he said. "As a community of more than 400 million Europeans, we have economic weight." Scholz emphasized that Europeans uphold internationally agreed-upon rules, one of which is that "borders must not be moved by force." In light of recent statements from Trump, who had voiced territorial claims over Greenland, Canada and the Panama Canal, Scholz made it clear that this principle applies universally. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The chancellor said he had two phone conversations with Trump, describing them as "very friendly and good talks." He added that their advisors had met several times, ensuring that Germany is not starting from scratch with the incoming administration. Scholz reaffirmed that the US remains Germany's closest ally. In view of the participation of European right-wing populists at Trump's inauguration ceremony, Scholz called for challenging populists with confidence and a clear stance. "We must confront the dividers," he said. Pastor Luis Vizcarrondo of Cleveland and a Venezuelan immigrant who identified herself only as Rosa at a gathering of hundreds of faith leaders and immigration advocates in Columbus. (Photo by Marty Schladen, Ohio Capital Journal.) Donald Trump will be sworn into a second term today, and hes expected to come out swinging, issuing executive orders and taking other action to deliver on his promise to deport masses of immigrants. As he does, people who work with those communities are doing what they can to get ready. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I think the administration is going to do a lot at the beginning, Jennie Murray, president and CEO of the National Immigration Forum, said last week. Theyre going to make a splash. But what kind of a splash is not widely known. Theres wide agreement that violent criminals who arent citizens should be shown the door. But thats been happening through the last nine administrations, Murray said. When it comes to people here under Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, those with temporary protected status, as well as refugees and asylum seekers, opinions are much more divided. A poll conducted in December for the National Immigration Forum and the Bulfinch Group found that 73% believe immigrants fleeing persecution should be protected and families should be kept intact. Just 34% of respondents said deportation efforts should target all undocumented immigrants. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The new administration is going to act on what they believe is an overwhelming mandate we dont think its an overwhelming mandate its much more moderate and nuanced, Murray said. To exchange ideas about how to cope with the fast-approaching, unknown future, hundreds of faith leaders and immigrant advocates gathered in a Columbus church on Saturday. Amid canvas tote bags and cardboard bowls of Chipotle, they sat through a full day of sessions on topics such as how to care for your immigrant neighbors, the shameful rhetoric targeting Haitian migrants in Springfield, and why followers of Jesus should care about immigrants. Pastor Luis Vizcarrondo, whose church is in Cleveland, tried to put his audience in the shoes of the millions who are now worried that they might face deportation after risking everything to come to the United States. Imagine waking up every day and thinking this is the day your life unravels; the day that you or a member of your family could be deported, he said. How would that uncertainty affect you? It takes a deep toll on your body. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Vizcarrondo identified a member of his church only as Rosa. He translated for her as she detailed a harrowing six-month, seven-country journey to the states from Venezuela, where chaos and oppression have pushed the poverty rate to 91% and fed the highest crime rate in the world. It was either (risk everything coming to the states) or die in my country, Rosa said. I decided to leave it to the will of God. Amanda Epting of Sanctuary Columbus said many immigrants suffer severe trauma on the way here, only to face more stress as they try to navigate job searches, school for their children, health care and the immigration system in a foreign land where they usually dont speak the language. She said those trying to help immigrants need to be aware of those invisible scars. Rev. Dr. Gabriel Salguero is an Orlando pastor who is also president of National Latino Evangelical Coalition, which has hundreds of member churches across the United States. He said many in those communities are apprehensive as the new administration approaches, and he and his colleagues are trying to help. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement There is a level of anxiety around the unknown, around mass deportations, Salguero said. Theres a lot of rhetoric, but not a lot of clarity of how exactly these mass deportations are going to be implemented. This has sent a chill up the spine of the Latino church, which works with large numbers of immigrants. Were concerned that our mission will be impeded. He said hes been trying to educate people about their rights and telling them not to panic. Salguero added that church members who are citizens are rallying around their undocumented counterparts. Our communities are very close-knit, both citizens and undocumented immigrants, Salguero said. Were just trying to follow the mandate of Jesus, to love our neighbors as we love ourselves. Matthew H. Bevere advocates for immigrants on behalf of the National Association of Evangelicals. He gives advice on how to effectively lobby Congress on their behalf, takes groups to the southern border so they can see for themselves, and he and others in his organization speak at churches and other groups. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Bevere encouraged the audience to have civil conversations with people who probably dont agree with them about immigration. He advised people to start with the things on which they do agree. But the conversation should have a purpose beyond that, he said. We cant be neutral because neutrality always favors the oppressors over the oppressed, he said. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX As Britain is gripped by a prisons crisis, The Telegraph is publishing dispatches from an inmate at a Category B jail the second highest level of security to discover what life is really like inside. Recently, the Independent Monitoring Board (IMB) found the jail to be chronically overcrowded and understaffed, with self-harm and drug use rife. The inmate, a British professional and entrepreneur on the outside, is on remand awaiting trial charged with non-violent crimes, which he denies. To protect his identity, he is not named. Other names and nicknames have also been changed. Defending yourself once you have been imprisoned is, if not impossible, certainly an uphill task. When I was imprisoned for the first time, on remand, I had not appreciated just how many defendants are held in custody pending trial. Moving in slow motion, the justice system sets trial dates many months in advance in my case, almost a year so you are likely to be here for a while even if, as I have always done, you protest your innocence. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It is often the case that defendants choose to go guilty, sometimes at a late stage, simply because they realise that they have, in effect, completed their sentence before they even got to trial. Although the rule is, understandably, that the later you plead guilty, the less your sentence is reduced, in theory a crime punishable by a two-year sentence would earn a third reduction of eight months for a guilty plea. So, if you serve eight months on remand before a trial date, you have already served your time inside. This is because, provided you are not a serious violent offender, the second half of a sentence (actually, more than half now, since the prisons are over brimming) is usually served on licence. Commonly, you have to observe residential conditions and wear an electronic tag for all or part of this period, but at least youre out. Only if you breach any of the conditions of your licence (which convicts often do) will you come back in on recall to serve the whole sentence behind bars. But legal guiltiness is an odd animal. As we have all learned from the Horizon scandal, sub postmasters who opted to plead guilty did so in order to avoid a prison sentence, not because they were guilty. Its the same scenario with thousands of remand prisoners every year. And remand prisoners often realise, once inside, that they are rowing against a powerful current if they mean to prove their innocence. To begin with, almost all prisoners lose their income when imprisoned. Unless you have cash in the bank, or a wealthy and generous friend or family member, you are therefore cast upon the legal aid system. Prisoners often go guilty because of the lengthy delays to trials in the legal system - OlFedv/iStockphoto I ran my own company, and being imprisoned led directly to its liquidation. I was told that the legal bill for my defence would be at least 25,000, and I was acutely aware that I already had debts on the outside, including a hefty mortgage. So I had to find a free solicitor. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The national Prison newspapers, Inside Times and Converse (geddit?), are full of ads for legal aid solicitors. But in fairness to such organisations, the money they receive from the government is not remotely sufficient to ensure that high calibre legal brains are set to work tirelessly on your behalf. My suspicion is that some firms are excellent at getting paid while being ruthlessly aware of the minimum service they need to deliver in exchange for your non-remunerative custom as an inmate. They will interview you once or twice, ascertain the grounds for your defence if you mean to offer one, and send the paperwork to the courts. You will usually get a consultation with a barrister, but there is no guarantee that you will get either the same barrister on the day, or that the same solicitor is handling your admin throughout: in fact, most of the admin is likely to be done by paralegals. All prisoners have a phone in their cell and we fill in a special form to add the numbers of legal firms and individual solicitors to our permitted call list, which can take a couple of weeks. From my cell, over three months, I attempted to telephone my legal aid solicitor on 27 separate dates, often several times a day, always leaving a message. In all that time, I succeeded in getting through precisely once. I will never forget having to wait, without explanation, for four hours in the video link holding cell without seeing my solicitor at all. I did eventually succeed in getting one video link appointment with my legal team, but even this was cut short after 45 minutes when the prison closed the video link suites. My barristers last words were, We need another meeting. We never had one. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Once you have a lawyer, the next thing you need for your defence is evidence. The huge difficulty in our digital age is that it can be almost impossible, once in prison, to gather it. Written evidence for your defence documents, text messages, voicemails and videos are permanently out of reach. On remand, you usually have no access to the internet: no phones, no laptops (not even to type correspondence or arguments). The police almost invariably seize your phone, using it to try and find incriminating data or content. The problem is that your phone is equally likely to provide information which could serve your defence. I have failed to secure any access to digital sources while in prison, and have been told by many more experienced defendants, even by my own solicitor, not to bother trying. Frustratingly, after months of being inside, I found it hard to enlist the help of friends to access my online life simply because I had forgotten some of my own passwords anyway previously in daily use. Not allowed back into my own house; not allowed, apparently, to send a friend on my behalf, I could not even access diaries and notebooks which could help me. So you are more than likely to go to trial without all the evidence you need and without a barrister you know or who has any great familiarity with your case. In that a legal aid barrister may earn an appearance fee of as little as 150 per day for the brief, who can blame them? Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Next week: The Secret Prisoner finally heads to court Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. Rowland Gibson Hazard delivers a speech in 1896 at the ceremony to mark the laying of the cornerstone for the Rhode Island State House. The secretary of state and staff were the first to occupy offices in the building December 1900. Hazard was a member of the executive committee that built the State House. (Rhode Island State Archives) The search is on for Rhode Islands next historian laureate. Secretary of State Gregg Amore has launched an open call for applications through Feb. 21. Patrick Conley, the first and only person to fill this voluntary role, will not be seeking reappointment after his term expires on Feb. 1, Amores office announced. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Conley, 87, of Bristol, was first appointed by then-Secretary of State Ralph Mollis in 2012 when a state law established the position. Conley was officially reappointed in 2020 by then-Secretary Nellie Gorbea. State law specifies that the historian laureate serves a five-year term. Donna Faiza, an office manager and paralegal for Conley, confirmed that he was stepping down when his term ends. She said a news release with a statement from Conley would be issued on Monday. State law is fairly broad in outlining the duties and qualifications of the historian laureate, who receives no compensation and has no official status. The duties include delivering historical lectures about pertinent aspects of Rhode Island history at state ceremonies and observances and providing historical information or advice when requested by the governor, speaker of the House of Representative, Senate president, chief justice of the Supreme Court, or the secretary of state. Other duties include reading and editing state-sponsored historical publications for accuracy and other ways of sharing information about state history and heritage upon request. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Applicants should have earned recognition and distinction as the author of books or essays on Rhode Island history, taught and lectured about state history to the general public or served in a leadership capacity to make possible any commemorative public observances related to the state history. Conley, who holds a Master of Arts and Ph.D. from the University of Notre Dame and law degree from Suffolk University Law School, has published numerous books about Rhode Island, including The Rhode Island Constitution: A Reference Guide with Justice Robert G. Flanders in 2007. He served as chairman of the Rhode Island Bicentennial Commission and chairman and founder of the Providence Heritage Commission among other activities. In 1977, he founded the Rhode Island Heritage Commission. Conley is also past president of the Rhode Island Heritage Hall of Fame, which garnered headlines in 2023 when its board voted to include former National Security Advisor and Middletown native Michael Flynn in its 2024 class. Conley defended the boards decision after several board members resigned in protest. The board ultimately decided to defer Flynns induction. I cant speak to what specifically previous Secretaries have called upon the Historian Laureate to perform, but Sec. Amore is of course very focused on civic engagement and education, and he plans to select someone who can best support those initiatives, said Amore spokeswoman Faith Chybowski in an email. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement To be considered, interested applicants must submit a letter and CV or resume, up to three letters of recommendation and a written essay via email to secretaryamore@sos.ri.gov by 4:30 p.m. on Feb. 21. The essay must not exceed two single-spaced pages and respond to the following prompt: In addition to the qualifications and duties outlined in law, the Department of State seeks to appoint an Historian Laureate with a strong commitment to using Rhode Islands history to promote civil civic engagement. As a former history and government teacher, Secretary Amore is committed to highlighting Rhode Islands diverse history and amplifying the civic education function of the RI Department of State. Sec. Amore continues his efforts to establishing a modern, state of the art, permanent home for the State Archives with the construction of an Archives and History Center. Both the State Archives and the State Library host programming including lectures, panels, and exhibits that are focused on civic engagement. Finally, he built out a Civic Education and Engagement Division, which coordinates his high school classroom visits; established the Rhode Island Civic Leadership Program and the Civic Leadership Summit; honors educators with the Civic Education Teacher of the Year Award; and enables experiential learning opportunities for students and the public through mock elections, State House tours, and field trips. If appointed as Historian Laureate, how would you plan to highlight Rhode Islands history and amplify civic education? The full list of qualifications and duties of the historian laureate and application requirements can be found online at sos.ri.gov/historian. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX GREELEY The nations largest meat packing processor, JBS USA Food Co., which is one of Colorados best-known employers, has agreed to pay $4 million to assist individuals and communities affected by unlawful child labor practices nationwide. The U.S. Department of Labor announced the agreement to address child labor violations by JBS through a release on Jan. 13. Headquartered in Greeley, JBS employs 65,000 team members at various facilities in the United States and Puerto Rico, according to the companys website. The U.S. Department of Labor stated in its release that (u)nder this agreement, JBS USA Food Co. has adopted creative and forward-thinking compliance measures to combat illegal child labor. Wage and Hour Administrator Jessica Looman added that JBS has taken responsibility for children performing dangerous work at its facilities by proposing concrete and enforceable solutions to address those issues, setting the standard as a market leader in preventing illegal youth employment. The agreement follows a 2022 investigation by the DOL that found JBS third-party contractor Packer Sanitation Services Inc. had illegally employed 102 children, ages 13-17 years. HR Drive, a Human Resources digital publication that provides news and analysis for human resource executives, reported that more than half of those children were found working in JBS plants in Greeley; Grand Island, Neb.; and Worthington, Minn. The report noted that the minors worked in hazardous occupations, including cleaning meat processing equipment like back saws, brisket saws and head splitters during overnight shifts at JBS company facilities. As of Friday afternoon, multiple requests for comment from JBS officials were unreturned. Details of the agreement highlight that the $4 million funded by JBS will help combat illegal child labor practices and support victims of child labor throughout the U.S. with JBS prioritizing its efforts in the above-mentioned communities and in Guntersville, Ala. and Ottumwa, Iowa. Featured Local Savings The agreement also calls on JBS to do the following: Host or sponsor a symposium focused on preventing illegal child labor for industry leaders, nonprofits and other interested parties committed to combating unlawful child labor. Hire a child labor compliance specialist to review policies, develop training materials and conduct unannounced audits. Maintain a toll-free ethics hotline for the anonymous reporting of compliance concerns. Incorporate a zero-tolerance policy in any contract agreements with third-party sanitation firms or poultry catching service providers. Notify the department when contracts have been terminated because of child labor violations. Conduct community outreach to educate communities about the prohibitions on child labor at meat packing establishments. Create targeted advertising campaigns to raise awareness about unlawful child labor in Alabama, Colorado, Iowa, Minnesota and Nebraska. Require nationwide training on prevention of illegal child labor to all third-party sanitation employers at JBS facilities and all JBS employees at meat packing establishments. Host companies like JBS have enormous leverage to help prevent child labor in their supply chains and even more broadly in the industry, said Solicitor of Labor Seema Nanda. With this agreement, JBS USA Food Co. is taking significant steps to ensure children are not put in harms way at its facilities or by its contractors. JBS USA is a is a wholly owned subsidiary of JBS SA in Brazil, the worlds largest processor of fresh beef and pork, with more than $50 billion in annual sales. Three weeks after being shot at a Target store in downtown Los Angeles, a security guard is still in the intensive care unit fighting for his life, his fiancee says. Just before 9 p.m. on Dec. 30, the security guard, only identified as Will, was trying to stop a shoplifting suspect at the Target store located in the FigAt7th shopping center when he and another guard were struck by gunfire, according to the Los Angeles Police Department. Will was rushed to the hospital in critical condition while the other guard was hospitalized in fair condition. A mall spokesperson later confirmed to KTLA that the incident involved guards from Target and not FigAt7th or Brookfield employees. L.A. police and fire personnel on the scene of a double shooting on Dec. 30, 2024. (KNN) L.A. police and fire personnel on the scene of a double shooting on Dec. 30, 2024. (KNN) L.A. police and fire personnel on the scene of a double shooting on Dec. 30, 2024. (KNN) Now, nearly a month after the tragic incident, he remains in critical condition after the violent attack that occurred the night before New Years Eve, his fiancee Lauren told KTLA. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Described as a dedicated security guard, adoring girl dad and talented musician who brings light into every room he walks into, Will was shot multiple times, including through his femoral artery, Lauren said. She credits his survival to the swift actions of first responders and heroic medical efforts. Man critically wounded in shooting near Anaheim Cemetery After arriving at the hospital without a pulse and enduring multiple cardiac arrests during surgery, Will remains hospitalized, intubated and sedated, she stated. His journey to recovery is expected to be long, arduous and financially challenging. Three weeks after being shot at a Target store in downtown Los Angeles, a security guard is still in the intensive care unit fighting for his life, his fiancee says. (Lauren Pinney) A GoFundMe campaign has been set up to help the family alleviate the costs that come with recovering from the shooting, including medical bills, rehabilitation and temporary housing for his family who relocated from Las Vegas to provide support. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A link to donate can be found here. Early-morning pursuit reportedly connected to dispensary burglary appears to end in 2 separate crashes Police arrested a suspect later identified as 25-year-old Jabril Andrew Metoyer after an hourslong standoff the day after the shooting. Metoyer has since been charged with three counts of attempted murder, four counts of robbery and one count of attempted robbery, the L.A. County District Attorneys Office announced on Jan. 3. If convicted as charged, he faces life in state prison. Copyright 2025 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. MEMPHIS, Tenn. Sen. Marsha Blackburn may run for Tennessee governor in 2026, according to a local Republican official and several media sources. Blackburn, who was just re-elected to her Senate seat in November, posted on social media Monday that she was sitting down to join newly sworn-in President Donald Trump for lunch at the Capitol shortly after his inauguration. Terry Roland, a former Shelby County commissioner and Republican delegate, said in an interview Monday with WREG that Blackburn plans on making a run for governor of Tennessee. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Roland, who said he has supported Blackburn since she was elected to the Tennessee House, said he just found out the night before about her gubernatorial plans. Local Trump delegate describes Republican National Convention security We fought and got rid of that state income when they were trying to get a state income tax. Thats what catapulted her to run for Congress and then, now U.S. Senator, so I think she checks off all the blocks, Roland said Monday. I think shed make a wonderful governor and I look forward to working with her on it. Roland said an announcement by Blackburn is planned soon. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A Republican Senator confirmed to The Hill last week that Blackburn is eyeing the position, calling it Tennessees worst kept secret. WREG has reached out to Blackburns office for comment. Current Tennessee Governor Bill Lee is term limited and cannot run again. Copyright 2025 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. [Source] In his first floor speech as a member of Congress, Representative Dave Min (D, CA-47) strongly criticized proposals to attach political conditions to federal disaster aid for Southern California, calling the move un-American, despicable and pathetic. His remarks on Thursday come as a debate intensifies over Republican-led efforts to impose stipulations on relief funding following the devastating wildfires that have ravaged the region. About the aid: A day after the wildfires began, President Joe Biden approved a major disaster declaration for Southern California on Jan. 8, unlocking various forms of federal assistance. This aid encompasses programs designed to support individuals, businesses and local governments in their recovery efforts. It includes grants for temporary housing, home repairs and replacement of essential household items. It also covers unemployment assistance for those who lost jobs due to the fires, crisis counseling, legal aid and assistance with medical, dental and funeral expenses. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement What GOP lawmakers propose: With Donald Trump poised to control Los Angeles wildfire aid after he is sworn in as the 47th U.S. president today, concerns have mounted over how future disaster relief will be handled under his administration. House Republicans, led by Speaker Mike Johnson (R, LA-4) and Senator John Barrasso (R, WY), have been pushing to tie conditions, including forest management reforms and linking disaster aid to an increase in the federal debt ceiling. Republicans argue that Californias forest management practices have contributed to the severity of the wildfires, making reforms a necessary requirement for receiving aid. Some lawmakers also see disaster relief as a bargaining chip in negotiations over raising the federal borrowing limit. Trending on NextShark: Asian American children more likely to develop allergies, study finds Consequences for future aid efforts: Min, who represents Orange County, urged his colleagues to consider the precedent such action would set for future disaster relief efforts. What is being proposed right now, in tying conditions to aid, is un-American. It is despicable. Its pathetic, Min stated. We have never done this before. And I urge my Republican colleagues to think about the precedent they will be setting if they set political conditions on this aid. Because the next time a disaster strikes, it could be your district. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Min underscored the urgency of providing immediate relief to those affected by the wildfires, describing the destruction as a biblical-level disaster. He pointed out that communities across the country, regardless of political affiliation, have historically come together in times of crisis, including after hurricanes, tornadoes and other natural disasters. Other Dems push back: Democratic lawmakers and California officials have opposed the proposal, arguing that disaster relief should remain apolitical and focused solely on aiding victims in need. Senator Alex Padilla (D, CA) condemned the idea, stating, Mother Nature does not distinguish between red states and blue states. And neither should our disaster response efforts or our recovery efforts. Trending on NextShark: Sen. Dave Min condemns calls for conditional California wildfire aid in 1st floor speech Representative Salud Carbajal (D, CA-24) echoed this sentiment, criticizing the effort to hold hostage aid for struggling families. What makes these families different from families we have helped after hurricanes, tornadoes, or floods in other states? To suggest that we should hold hostage the aid we give American families families who have lost everything is wrong and un-American, he said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The broader Implications: While conditions are common in certain federal aid programs such as student financial assistance disaster relief has traditionally been treated differently, with an emphasis on rapid response and recovery. People are struggling, Min implored during his speech. Thousands of firefighters are exhausted. We need your help. This story is part of The Rebel Yellow Newsletter a bold weekly newsletter from the creators of NextShark, reclaiming our stories and celebrating Asian American voices. Trending on NextShark: How Martin Luther King Jr. inspired Asian Americans Subscribe free to join the movement. If you love what were building, consider becoming a paid member your support helps us grow our team, investigate impactful stories, and uplift our community. Subscribe here now! Trending on NextShark: Why do Greenlanders look Asian? Download the NextShark App: Want to keep up to date on Asian American News? Download the NextShark App today! WASHINGTON (AP) The Senate quickly confirmed Marco Rubio as secretary of state Monday, voting unanimously to give President Donald Trump the first member of his new Cabinet on Inauguration Day. Rubio, the Republican senator from Florida, is among the least controversial of Trumps nominees and vote was decisive, 99-0. Another pick, John Ratcliffe for CIA director, is also expected to have a swift vote, as soon as Tuesday. Action on others, including former combat veteran and Fox News host Pete Hegseth for defense secretary, is possible later in the week. Marco Rubio is a very intelligent man with a remarkable understanding of American foreign policy, Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa, the senior-most Republican, said as the chamber opened. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Its often tradition for the Senate to convene immediately after the ceremonial pomp of the inauguration to begin putting the new presidents team in place, particularly the national security officials. During Trumps first term, the Senate swiftly confirmed his defense and homeland security secretaries on day one, and President Joe Bidens choice for director of national intelligence was confirmed on his own Inauguration Day. With Trumps return to the White House, and his Republican Party controlling majorities in Congress, his outsider Cabinet choices are more clearly falling into place, despite initial skepticism and opposition from both sides of the aisle. Rubio, who was surrounded by colleagues in the Senate chamber, said afterward he feels good, but theres a lot of work ahead. Its an important job in an important time, and Im honored by it, Rubio said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Senate Majority Leader John Thune moved quickly Monday, announcing he expected voting to begin imminently on Trumps nominees. Democrats have calculated it's better for them to be seen as more willing to work with Trump, rather than simply mounting a blockade to his nominees. They're holding their opposition for some of his other picks who have less support, including Tulsi Gabbard for director of national intelligence and vaccine skeptic Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for health secretary. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said his party will neither rubber-stamp nominees we feel are grossly unqualified, nor oppose nominees that deserve serious consideration. Rubio, he said, is an example of "a qualified nominee we think should be confirmed quickly." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Senate committees have been holding lengthy confirmation hearings on more than a dozen of the Cabinet nominees, with more to come this week. And several panels are expected to meet late Monday to begin voting to advance the nominees to the full Senate for confirmation. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee unanimously advanced Rubio's nomination late Monday. The Senate Armed Services Committee and Senate Intelligence Committee, respectively, voted to move the nominations of Hegseth and Ratcliffe. And the Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee advanced nominees Kristi Noem as homeland security secretary and Russell Vought as director of the Office of Management and Budget, but with opposition. Rubio, a well-liked senator and former Trump rival during the 2016 presidential race, has drawn closer to the president in recent years. He appeared last week to answer questions before the Foreign Relations Committee, where he has spent more than a decade as a member. As secretary of state, Rubio would be the nations top diplomat, and the first Latino to hold the position. Born in Miami to Cuban immigrants, he has long been involved in foreign affairs, particularly in South America, and has emerged as a hawk on Chinas rise. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement During his confirmation hearing last week, Rubio warned of the consequences of Americas unbalanced relationship with China. While he echoes Trumps anti-globalist rhetoric, Rubio is also seen as an internationalist who understands the power of U.S. involvement on the global stage. Rubio cultivated bipartisan support from across the aisle, both Republicans and Democrats. He takes over for outgoing Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who has said he hopes the Trump administration continues Biden's policies in the Middle East to end the war in Gaza and to help Ukraine counter Russian nomination. The Senate is split 53-47, but the resignation of Vice President JD Vance and, soon, Rubio drops the GOP majority further until their successors arrive. Republicans need almost all every party member in line to overcome Democratic opposition to nominees. Objection from any one senator, as is expected with Hegseth and several other choices, would force the Senate into procedural steps that would drag voting later into the week. ___ Associated Press writers Farnoush Amiri and Mary Clare Jalonick contributed to this report. Many career diplomats at the State Department will resign at noon Monday after being asked to leave by the incoming Trump administration, The Washington Post reports. President-elect Donald Trumps aides have told a number of veterans of the U.S. Foreign Service, including those working as undersecretaries and in other high-level positions, that they will no longer be needed from the moment of his inauguration. That list includes John Bass, the State Departments acting undersecretary for political affairs. Asking top officials to leave is standard in the changing of the guard, although some presidents will keep longtime diplomats in their posts until they are replaced with other appointees. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Fox News notes that Trump plans to choose 20 or so senior bureau officials to take over the duties of the departing diplomats, some of whom worked in such posts during his first term in the White House. An American flag is held in the snow outside the Capitol Building on Sunday in Washington. Kevin Dietsch via Getty Images A Trump transition spokesperson defended the move in a statement to the Post, saying the incoming president had a lot of failures to fix and that requires a committed team focused on the same goals. It is entirely appropriate for the transition to seek officials who share President Trumps vision for putting our nation and Americas working men and women first, a spokesperson told the paper. Trump also plans to suspend the security clearances for 51 intelligence officials who said damaging news stories about President Joe Bidens son, Hunter Biden, were linked to a Russian influence campaign in 2020. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The plans are part of a broad blitz of more than 200 executive actions Trump is reportedly planning to take during his first days in office. Those plans will quickly seek to shift the fabric of the federal government in his image, including dramatic shifts in border and environmental policy. Related... A member of the Capitol Police uses tear gas on rioters at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. A group supporting law enforcement officers who defended the building has published ads ahead of Monday's inauguration urging members of Congress to oppose presidential pardons of the Capitol rioters. (Photo by Alex Kent/for Tennessee Lookout) For Aquilino Gonell the inauguration Monday of Donald Trump to a second term as U.S. president will carry bitter ironies. Before and after winning the election in November, Trump said he would pardon those convicted in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol by a mob that sought to overturn his 2020 reelection loss. Aquilino Gonell, a former U.S. Capitol Police sergeant who was injured defending the Capitol during the attack on Jan. 6, 2021. (Photo courtesy of Courage for America) Gonell was a sergeant with the U.S. Capitol Police, one of hundreds of police officers on the scene who sought to protect the building, members of Congress and their staffs during the attack that delayed the vote by hours to certify Joe Bidens election as president. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I was assaulted multiple times, Gonell told the Wisconsin Examiner in an interview. Not because we instigated anything, but because I was defending my colleagues and myself and the Capitol, along with the elected officials some of whom, he added, were trying to set aside the result of the 2020 election that Trump lost. Both my hands were bleeding on that day, and my left shoulder required surgery, Gonell recalled. He and his fellow police in the building were the targets of violence by the Trump-supporting rioters. These are the same people that claim that they support the police, that they respect the rule of law, that they believe in law and order, Gonell said. And with their actions, they showed otherwise. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Last week, the Courage for America campaign took out newspaper ads urging members of Congress to publicly oppose the pardons. Courage for America formed in the aftermath of the Jan. 6 riot to spotlight the violence and call attention to members of Congress who they believe have papered over the violence with misinformation and propaganda. The group describes its mission as opposing an extreme MAGA agenda that puts money and power over the rights and freedoms of the American people. In Wisconsin the group published ads in Wisconsin Rapids and Stevens Point newspapers, both in the district of U.S. Rep. Derrick Van Orden, a Republican and Trump supporter. We must call January 6th what it was, a domestic terrorist attack of the highest level, said Courage for Americas spokesperson, Danny Turkel. Americans must unite and remind our elected officials that violent criminals who assaulted the United States Capitol and threatened our democracy pose major public safety risks to our communities. Every member of Congress, including MAGA Republicans, have a duty to loudly and publicly oppose the pardoning of the January 6th rioters. This ad was published Thursday in newspapers in Wisconsin Rapids and Stevens Point, urging U.S. Rep. Derrick Van Orden to oppose the pardon of people charged or convicted in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. (Courtesy of Courage for America) The full-page ad tells readers to Exercise Caution and warns of violent criminals who may soon be present in your community. It urges people to call Van Orden and demand he oppose the pardoning of any January 6th insurrectionists. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Van Orden was first elected to Wisconsins 3rd Congressional District in 2022 and was reelected this fall. On Jan. 6, 2021, however, he was at the Capitol, taking part in the rally that preceded the attack. Gonell spoke to the Wisconsin Examiner in conjunction with the newspaper ad. He reserves his most pointed criticism for members of Congress who were in the building on the day of the riot and who, he says, feared for their lives at the time but have since downplayed or ignored the violence that took place. People who organized and orchestrated the attack, and the people who we protected, they tend to tell others and the public that it was not as severe, as grave, as we say, Gonell said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement On Jan. 6, however, the only reason why they made it out was because we saved their asses and yet, they have contorted themselves to tell the public and tell themselves that it was peaceful. He scoffed at Trumps description of the riot as a day full of love. If that was a day full of love, they almost loved me to death, Gonell said sardonically. A native of the Dominican Republic, Gonell said he came to the U.S. legally and enlisted in the military, fighting in Iraq during the Gulf War then pursuing a law enforcement career with the Capitol police, where he served for 17 years. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Because of his injuries, he received a medical pension. The benefit is less than his income before he was hurt, but is enough for me to be able to sustain myself and pay my bills, he said. Legislation was enacted in 2022 to expand benefits for public safety officers or their survivors after suicide or disability as a result of post-traumatic stress disorder, but Gonell said law enforcement personnel involved in defending the Capitol on Jan. 6 have yet to receive any assistance from the program. He believes his outspokenness about his experience cost him the support of department brass. Hes written a book, American Shield, and has a website that tells his story. Gonell testified before the Congressional committee that investigated the Capitol attack. He believes that the stories he and others in law enforcement who defended the Capitol have told failed to resonate with the voting public because many more officers who were also injured or traumatized that day havent come forward. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement They saw how the few of us who spoke out were being treated and they probably said to themselves, Why should I put myself out there? Look how they treat you, he said. The U.S. Supreme Court ruling this past summer that presidents have immunity for acts committed in their official capacity a decision that delayed the federal felony case against Trump on charges of election interference in 2020 is a betrayal, Gonell said. Because of that decision, this person is about to return to power. He expects that Trump will go through with pardoning at least some of the Jan. 6 convicts. Reports that members of Congress have invited Jan. 6 riot participants as inauguration guests infuriate him. They are returning these people to the crime scene, Gonell said. Hes already heard about comments by the president-elect that the rioters deserve an apology. But he will never apologize to the officers who were defending the Capitol, Gonell said. This report has been updated to correct the spelling of Aquilino Gonells last name. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Rev. Al Sharpton on Monday announced a boycott of companies eliminating diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs, saying the effort will be in the spirit of the late civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. Speaking from the Metropolitan AME Church, Sharpton said his organization, the National Action Network, is calling upon all Americans, regardless of their race or gender, to boycott companies that will no longer support DEI. Why do we have DEI? We have DEI because you denied us diversity, you denied us equity, you denied us inclusion. DEI was a remedy to the racial institutionalized bigotry practice in academia and in these corporations. Now, if you want to put us back in the back of the bus, we gonna do the Dr. King-Rosa Parks on you, Sharpton said as those gathered cheered. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement You must have forgot who we are, Sharpton added. We are the ones that you took everything and we still here. According to Sharpton, a council will engage in a 90-day study of what companies have given up on DEI and what their margins of profit are. After that, two companies will specifically be targeted in the boycott. Meanwhile, Sharpton added, hell be supporting companies that have doubled down on DEI, like Costco. Sharptons announcement was part of a larger ceremony at the church honoring the slain civil rights leader on the same day President Trump was sworn into office. The church where abolitionist Frederick Douglasss funeral was held and Rosa Parkss casket was brought was packed with supporters. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trump intends to end DEI practices in the federal government through an executive order on his first day office, incoming White House officials said. The order will ask the Office of Management and Budget and the Office of Personnel Management to coordinate with agencies to terminate what it deems as all discriminatory programs in the agencies, those officials said. Sharpton in his remarks also painted a stark difference between those gathered at the church and those gathered to support Trump on Monday. We want people to see the tale of two cities in one district, said Sharpton. On this side of town, Martin Luther King Jr. gave his life to open up America for everybody: Blacks, whites, gays, straights, it didnt matter. We are with Dr. King. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But Trump, Sharpton said, was on the side of violence. He pointed to Trumps promise to pardon Jan. 6, 2021 insurrectionists. How are you Mr. Trump, on Martin Luther King Day, going to pardon folks that beat up police officers? How are you Mr. Trump on a federal holiday of a prince of peace and nonviolence going to excuse those that caused the death of a Capitol police officer in the nations capital? Monday was only the third time in history that Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Inauguration Day collided. In 1997, former President Clinton took the oath for the second time on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, and in 2013 former President Obama did the same. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But with Trumps history of racially charged comments, the Kings say this years MLK Day feels different. As we observe the inauguration, the hope is that the climate can be created so that the President will do things that bring us closer together, Martin Luther King III told The Switch Up podcast. He obviously does not have a history of doing that, and that kind of leadership is needed now more than ever because of the tremendous division in our nation if we continue to go down the road of division, hostility and what appears to be hatred, that is not sustainable. Copyright 2025 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 The Hill. This is part of Hello, Trumpworld, Slates reluctant guide to the people who will be calling the shots nowat least for as long as they last in Washington. When Donald Trump first got to Washington in 2017, New York Rep. Elise Stefanik was commencing her second lap in Congress as a tough-talkin Republican moderate. That year she openly criticized Trump for withdrawing the United States from the Paris climate accords and reproached him for the Muslim travel ban. But Stefanik is a quick studyshe went to Harvard, after all, and was elected vice president of the schools Institute of Politics as a sophomoreand she learned fast how well it pays to go back on ones prior anti-Trump convictions. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Soon she was voting to object to certify the 2020 election results in Pennsylvania and signing on to an amicus brief begging the Supreme Court to overturn the result. Now the self-described ultra-MAGA legislator has earned a spot in Trumps Cabinet, as ambassador to the United Nations. She burnished her diplomatic resume by crusading against American colleges last year and dragging elite university presidents into congressional hearings over antisemitism on campus. Or was it plagiarism? Lets not get hung up on detailsStefanik sure didnt and, in fact, plagiarized her own colleague in an official letter alleging antisemitism at these institutions. What mattered was the outcome, that liberal-looking heads would roll, and Stefanik got to claim responsibility for toppling the president of the university that gave her all those credentials (and the president of Penn too). Not bad for someone who in 2021 sponsored a bill that the Anti-Defamation League condemned for invoking an antisemitic trope. Its that amount of ambition that got her all the way to fourth-ranking House Republican before she even turned 40. Stefanik is cast in the Nikki Haley role for Trump 2.0a relatively quiet Cabinet positionbut the international order is in a much more tenuous spot now than it was under even Trump 1.0, when Stefanik thought to criticize her predecessors contribution to ducking the Paris climate accords. She seems to have picked up both the pro-Israel position and the anti-anti-climate-change posture, and thats probably the full extent of Trumps vision for the role. She will no doubt be looking for other agreements to bail on, but she has her work cut out for her, with Haley having already pulled out of the prime pacts, including the Paris Agreement, the Iran nuclear deal, and the U.N. Human Rights Council. Still, Stefanik is enterprising and will definitely be looking for opportunities to seek the limelight. Maybe, like Haley, she sees this as a stepping stone to a presidential run. The community is mourning the loss of a Fisher College student killed in a weekend crash as Boston Police continue to seek the vehicle and driver involved in the incident. Taylor Wilkinson died and a second woman was injured in a hit-and-run crash in Roxbury on Saturday night while out with her sister, according to a GoFundMe page set up following her death. Her family and friends vowed to find the driver responsible for hitting Wilkinson and then leaving the scene. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Our hearts are shattered, but in the face of this devastating loss, we are determined to honor Taylors memory and fight for justice, the post reads. The person responsible for this tragic acta driver who fled the scene without regard for the life they endedmust be held accountable. News of Wilkinsons death has stunned the community, Fisher College President Steve Rich said in a statement to the school community. It is with profound sadness that I share the heartbreaking news of the passing of Taylor Wilkinson, one of our cherished students, Rich said. 20-year-old killed following a hit-and-run crash in Roxbury, police searching for vehicle Taylors life was tragically cut short on Saturday, January 18, following an accident. This is an unimaginable loss, and our hearts go out to her family, friends, and all who had the privilege of knowing and loving her, Rich said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Around 8:30 p.m. Saturday, Boston Police responded to 1829 Washington St. in Roxbury for a report of a pedestrian struck by a motor vehicle. When officers arrived, they found two victims, Wilkinson, 20, with life-threatening injuries and a 23-year-old woman with minor injuries. Both women were taken by ambulance to a local hospital, where Wilkinson was later pronounced dead. Police described the vehicle as a 20212023, dark-colored Mercedes SUV. The vehicle has damage to its front end and front light and is missing its right-side mirror. The GoFundMe post described Wilkinson as a promising young woman who was a force of nature. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Taylor was more than a daughter, a sister, and a friendshe was a force of nature. She lit up every room she entered with her infectious laughter and boundless energy, the GoFundMe page said. Whether she was singing her heart out at karaoke or dancing like no one was watching, Taylors joy was contagious. A cheerleader for fun and for life itself, she lifted everyone around her with her love and unwavering positivity, the post said. Wilkinson graduated from the BPS-Edward M. Kennedy Academy for Health Careers in June 2023, and she joined the Fisher College community in the fall of the same year, Rich said. She was pursuing a bachelors degree in management with a concentration in fashion merchandising, the college president said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement She was a bright and valued presence in our college. Her absence will be especially felt by her twin sister, Rich said. We recognize that this news may bring profound sadness to our community, Rich said, encouraging the community to reach out to the colleges Counseling Center and Health Services department for support. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In the days ahead, we will work closely with Taylors family to find meaningful ways to honor her memory. We will share further details as plans are finalized, Rich said. For now, let us come together as a community to offer solace to those who are grieving and to reflect on the values of kindness, compassion, and unity that Taylor embodied, the college president said. Please hold Taylor, her family, and her loved ones in your thoughts during this time of profound loss. 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 Wanted Pikes Peak Area Crime Stoppers is asking for the publics help finding the following people for whom felony arrest warrants have been issued. Savannah Nicole Barnett age 21, 5 feet, 3 inches tall, 108 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes. She is sought on suspicion of sexual exploitation of a child and contributing to delinquency of a minor 2. Isaiah Bruce Lorenzo Colbert age 18, 5 feet, 7 inches tall, 120 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes, sought on suspicion of attempted murder 1, murder 1-extreme indifference, reckless endangerment, aggravated robbery, felony menacing, assault 2-strangulation, assault 3, assault 1, harassment, possession of drug paraphernalia, protection order violation, possession of large capacity magazine, possession of weapon by previous offender, repeat juvenile offender and possession of controlled substance with intent to sell. Corey Joseph Connery age 33, 6 feet, 1 inch tall, 175 pounds, with blond hair and blue eyes, sought on suspicion of extortion-unlawful act, theft, assault 2-strangulation, possession of controlled substance, careless drive, driving under restraint and no insurance. Chad Shane Lapniewski age 53, 6 feet, 1 inch tall, 205 pounds, with gray hair and hazel eyes, sought on suspicion of assault 2-strangulation and harassment. Chrystal Jo Masterson age 35, 5 feet tall, 135 pounds, with brown hair and hazel eyes. She is sought on suspicion of assault 2-strangulation, assault 3 and harassment. Joan Josue Paez-Mendez age 29, 5 feet, 11 inches tall, 175 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes, sought on suspicion of robbery and theft. Featured Local Savings Luis Daniel Perez age 39, 5 feet, 7 inches tall, 220 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes, sought on suspicion of murder 1 and owning and operating chop shop. Dayvonna Jozette Oliver Reid age 28, 5 feet, 4 inches tall, 183 pounds, with brown hair and black eyes. She is sought on suspicion of assault 1-causing serious body injury with deadly weapon, weapon used in violent crime and violent crime causing death/serious body injury. Remain anonymous If you have information about these fugitives or a serious crime, call Crime Stoppers at 719-634-7867. You will never be asked for your name or identification and you could earn a reward of as much as $1,000 for information given to Crime Stoppers. A list of featured fugitives wanted in the Pikes Peak region is on the Crime Stoppers website: crimestop.net. The people with the following Crime Stoppers numbers need to call 719-444-7866: 249-H49566, 277-M26524, 277-M26602, 277-M26839, 277-M27411, 277-C25795, 277-M27621, 277-M26830. WESTOVER, Ala. (WIAT) Dangerously cold weather is coming to Alabama in the following days, with some counties forecasted with a wind chill as low as zero degrees. When temperatures drop as low as they will this week, it can be dangerous to be outside, according to the Shelby County Emergency Management Agency. The Supervisor of the Agency says the best way to stay safe is to stay inside, but if you have to get outside, layering up is crucial. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The more you can cover exposed skin the better, saidn Shelby County Emergency Management supervisor Micheal Asdel. Asdel says his concern this week is making sure everyone stays warm and healthy. Pipes, pets and people is what we like to say. Make sure you are bringing your pets inside, make sure you are letting that water drip and covering up your outside coverings, Asdel added. The wind chill is expected to drop temperatures into the single digits across central Alabama, which the Westover Fire Department says can lead to frostbite. Doctors from UAB say frostbite can usually be spotted by red or waxy skin. Lt. Patrick Bennett of the Westover Fire Department says that, when warming up, its best to do it slowly. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Its generally not going to be a call 911 situation. Normally you can do whats called passive rewarming. Covering it, warming it. You do not want to do active rewarming when you are out in the cold, putting hot water on it, things like that, Bennett explained. The Shelby County EMA is urging people to stay off the roads and indoors over the next few days. If you dont have to go anywhere, dont go anywhere, said Asdel. Stay with CBS 42 throughout the week as well continue to follow this cold and bring you the latest from experts on air and online. Copyright 2025 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 CBS 42. JACKSON, Miss. (WJTV) Several locations are providing a place for those in need of warmth and shelter as another round of winter weather approaches Mississippi. Gateway Rescue Mission opened its doors at noon on Sunday, January 19. The shelter will remain operational 24/7 during the extremely cold weather. MDOT crews will treat roadways for winter weather Robert Lott, the shelter manager, said theyre accepting donations from the community. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Well be operational until the end of the cold weather where we have having a day time for him to come here during the day. Stay warm, and then well have them coming in at night to stay at night. Blankets, jackets, socks or any type of warm clothing that will be good, so that we can give them to the transit in the program, he said. Other locations providing similar services include Champion Gym and the Stewpot Opportunity Center. Click here to keep up with the Storm Team 12 forecast. Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now Daily Weather Forecast Copyright 2025 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 WJTV. Among all the images of people cozying up to President Donald Trump at todays inauguration, one in particular will be worth remembering over the next four years. During the ceremony in the Capitol Rotunda, you could see some of the most powerful men on the planet positioned immediately behind members of the Trump family on the dais. Theres Tiffany, theres Eric, there are Ivanka and Don Jr., and then, smiling and clapping right alongside the family, there are the tech titans: Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, Sundar Pichai, Elon Musk, and Tim Cook. In visual proximity, theyre as close to honorary Trumps as anyone could be. The power that each of these men represents may be rivaled by only the presidency itself. Zuckerberg is the CEO of Meta; Bezos founded Amazon and Blue Origin and owns The Washington Post; Pichai runs Google; Musk heads Tesla and SpaceX and owns X; Cook is Apples CEO. TikToks CEO, Shou Zi Chew, was also in attendance in a back row, and OpenAIs CEO, Sam Altman, was reportedly seated in the overflow crowd in Emancipation Hall. These business leaders directly control the tools that billions of people around the world use to communicate, to receive information, to be entertained, to navigate and understand the world. Even an incomplete list of products overseen by these people is striking: Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Threads, X, Gmail, Google Search, Google Docs, Android, iPhones, iPads, Macs, iMessage, Starlink, ChatGPT, TikTokthe worlds foremost technology platforms, in line behind Donald Trump. Its not unusual for business leaders to rub shoulders with presidents and other elected officials. But this was something else: Inauguration seats closest to an incoming president tend to be reserved for a presidents family and figures in politics, and the tech executives on Trumps dais have been hard at work ingratiating themselves into his universe. In the lead-up to todays events, they have demonstrated a remarkable spinelessness. Most attempted to curry the incoming presidents favor by giving million-dollar donations to his inaugural fundin effect, kissing the ring. They gave relatively little, if at all, to Joe Bidens fund; some run companies that had previously declared they would reassess their political donations following the January 6 insurrectiona stance that clearly did not stick. The events of that day have been memory-holed. Now Zuckerberg and Musk have reoriented their products in direct service of the MAGA movement, disposing of content-moderation policies and proclaiming a supposed commitment to free speech that serves the loudest and most odious users. TikTok exalted Trump yesterday when it brought its service back online following a brief shutdown: As a result of President Trumps efforts, TikTok is back in the U.S.! the app wrote in a pop-up sent to users. Less than five years ago, Trump had issued an executive order that would have effectively banned the app, calling it a threat to national security. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Regardless of past policies and stated principles, it seems that, as always, business is business. Each tech leader on Trumps dais has a clear financial interest in courting the president. Meta, Google, and Apple all face antitrust suits; TikTok could still be shut down in the United States; and OpenAI, like other generative-AI firms, is doing whatever it can to avoid growth-limiting regulation. Musks companies have been under numerous recent investigations or reviews by federal regulators. Plus, he will need the support of the government to plant the Stars and Stripes on the planet Mars, as Trump put it in his speech today. The tech industry has officially placed itself in the palm of Trumps hand. What will happen the next time the FBI wants to get into a Facebook account or an encrypted iPhonewhen the definition of a political threat has changed based on the presidents whims? What will happen if Google Search delivers search results that are at odds with Trumps agenda? What cannot be forgotten is that these menwho for years have behaved as if they answer to no oneappear to stand for little more than the accrual of wealth and power, regardless of what it means for the people who use their products. Today, they bent the knee. Article originally published at The Atlantic SIOUX CITY, Iowa (KCAU) A Sioux City man has been federally sentenced after authorities found more than a pound of meth and a firearm during a traffic stop. According to a release from the Department of Justice, Bob Schonrock, 54, has been sentenced to 16 years in prison after pleading guilty to one count of possession of a firearm by a felon and drug user and one count of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine. Former Sioux City paramedic charged with involuntary manslaughter Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement According to the release, Sioux City police observed drugs in the passenger seat of Schonrocks vehicle during a November 2023 traffic stop. This led to a search where officials found a scale that had residue from meth inside the vehicle. They also located a handgun and a container that had an estimated 10.74 grams of meth inside. The investigation eventually saw officials searching a garage Schonrock would use. Inside the garage, a bag that contained 483 grams, just over a pound, of meth was found. Schonrock was on supervised release when he was arrested for these crimes. Schonrock was sentenced to 180 months in prison, followed by an additional 12 months totaling 16 years. He will also have to serve a five-year term of supervised release after his prison term. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 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 SiouxlandProud | Sioux City, IA | News, Weather, and Sports. Victoria Mykhailenko has a shy smile. The young Ukrainian girl says she enjoys attending fourth grade in the south-western German town of Oestrich-Winkel, where she has found many friends. "But I miss my two brothers and my sister," she adds. Victoria is one of six foster children that Ukrainian couple Maryna Kardascheva and Serhii Kardaschev brought with them to Germany following Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Victoria hasn't seen her siblings in Ukraine since the Kardaschevs set off for Germany in the summer of that year. "We thought we would be in Germany for a maximum of six months," says Kardascheva, 50. But the family's home is located in Russian-occupied territory in south-eastern Ukraine, meaning there's no point in thinking of a return at the moment, her husband, 54, explains. On their 48-hour car journey from the Mariupol area to Germany, Maryna, Serhii and their six foster kids passed bombed villages, 27 Russian checkpoints and blown-up bridges, all while trying to dodge the mines. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The war in Ukraine, started by Russia on February 24, 2022, has since raged for nearly three years, and Russian forces continue to persistently advance in eastern Ukraine. The impending inauguration of Donald Trump as US president has stoked fears that Western aid for Ukraine could be put in jeopardy, leaving little hope for Ukrainians exiles like the Kardaschev family. "I haven't seen my mother in Ukraine for three years," Serhii says. But returning to their homeland is out of the question for the couple, to keep their foster children, aged between 7 and 14, safe. "I just sit here and wait," Serhii says, and his wife adds: "I have no control over the future." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The couple say they are grateful for all the support received in Germany. Some 100,000 refugees have travelled from Ukraine to the south-western German state of Hesse, where the family is now based, since the war began, according to the state interior ministry. Germany as a whole has taken in over 1 million Ukrainian war refugees, who unlike refugees from other countries, don't have to apply for asylum to remain in the country and are allowed to work. Many of the Ukrainians in Hesse have long left emergency accommodation and moved into permanent flats. Only some 400 refugees from Ukraine are currently housed in the state's reception centres, according to the ministry for integration. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement According to state interior minister Roman Poseck, authorities have sent 104 aid convoys worth 12.1 million ($12.5 million) to the war-torn country, including food, camp beds, fire engines and medical supplies. The state is also home to a new NATO command tasked with coordinating weapons deliveries for Ukraine. For Ukrainian children, access to the local education system is key, with some 30,000 boys and girls having been integrated into local schools since the beginning of the war, according to the state education ministry. "Most of them were forced to flee and had to abruptly interrupt their schooling," the ministry says. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "They had to learn German as a new language in relatively little time in intensive courses and classes." Serhii Kardaschev says he's glad that his foster kids are able to attend school in Germany. Meanwhile, his trust in politics has waned over the past years. "Many politicians have promised that things will be better in Ukraine," including the country's president, Volodymyr Zelensky, but those promises have not been fulfilled, he says. Lena Ruppert, a Ukrainian woman based in the picturesque German town of Eltville, just a couple of train stops away from the Karadschev family, knows many Ukrainians who have found a new home here following the start of the Russian invasion, including an elderly couple "who haven't seen their five-year-old great-grandson in Ukraine for more than three years." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "They only know their new great-granddaughter from photos," she adds. Two of the couple's sons and two grandchildren are fighting against Russia, she says. "The elderly couple checks their status every day, to see if they have been online. Then they know they are still alive." Ukrainian couple Maryna Kardascheva and Serhii Kardaschev are sitting on a sofa in the living room with their six foster children. The family fled their country following Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022. Boris Roessler/dpa Six different brands of eggs have been recalled in Canada due to the possibility of salmonella contamination. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) recalled Golden Valley, Compliments, Foremost, IGA, No Name, and Western Family eggs on Saturday (January 18). The recall applies to different packages and sizes of eggs. Only specific lot numbers of the eggs have been affected. A list of lot numbers is available on the CFIA website. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The agency warned that people should not consume, serve, use, sell, or distribute recalled products. Recalled eggs that are part of the lots that are potentially contaminated with salmonella should either be thrown away or returned to the store where they were purchased. Food contaminated with Salmonella may not look or smell spoiled but can still make you sick, the CFIA website reads. Salmonella is a type of bacteria thats found in the intestines of animals and humans and can cause food poisoning. The highest-risk foods tend to be animal products, such as raw meat, unpasteurized milk, undercooked poultry, and eggs, but salmonella can also contaminate fruit and vegetables through fertilizer used on crops. The six affected brands are Golden Valley, Compliments, Foremost, IGA, No Name, and Western Family eggs (Getty Images) According to the Mayo Clinic, symptoms of salmonella include diarrhea, stomach cramps, fever, vomiting, nausea, chills, headache, and bloody stool. Most people recover from the illness on their own within a few days, but they are encouraged to see a doctor if it lasts more than a few days, becomes associated with a high fever, or the person begins to show signs of dehydration. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In the U.S. last month, the Food and Drug Administration upgraded the alert level of Costcos egg recall over fears of salmonella. The FDA revealed in December 2024 that the recall was Class I, meaning this is a situation in which there is a reasonable probability that the use of or exposure to a violative product will cause serious adverse health consequences or death. This is the most serious risk level that an FDA recall can be, with the classification change coming one month after 10,800 retail units of organic eggs were recalled from Costcos across the southern United States. The 24-count cartons with the Kirkland Signature branding were recalled by Handsome Brook Farms in New York because they had the potential to be contaminated with Salmonella. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The cartons included in Handsome Brook Farmss recall were sold at 25 Costco stores located in Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee beginning on November 22, 2024. Units with Julian code 327 and a use by date of January 5, 2025, are included under the recall. The FDA said in the press statement that the recall was launched after officials at Handsome Brook determined that eggs not meant for delivery to markets had accidentally been packaged and distributed to retailers. No known illnesses have been connected to the affected products. Similar to the current recall in Canada, consumers who are in possession of one of the affected cartons should return the eggs to their local Costco store to receive a full refund, or dispose of the eggs. SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) The Springfield Fire Department worked to put out a fire on Woodmont Street Monday morning. Multi-vehicle crash slowed down morning commute on I-91 in Springfield Springfield Fire Department Springfield Fire Captain Drew Piemonte told 22News that crews were called to a house fire on 130 Woodmont Street. MAP: Woodmont Street Six people have been left without a home and are being assisted by the American Red Cross. No injuries were reported. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It was determined by the Springfield Arson and Bomb Squad that the fire started in the first floor kitchen, but the source of ignition is being investigated. Local News Headlines WWLP-22News, an NBC affiliate, began broadcasting in March 1953 to provide local news, network, syndicated, and local programming to western Massachusetts. Watch the 22News Digital Edition weekdays at 4 p.m. on WWLP.com. Copyright 2025 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 WWLP. President Trump was sworn into office for a second time on Monday before an audience in the Capitol that included his predecessor, former President Biden, as well as former Presidents Obama, Clinton and George W. Bush and multiple current and former officials and lawmakers. However, a few notable figures decided to skip Trumps inauguration. Heres a list of those prominent figures: Former first lady Michelle Obama The Obama family said in a recent statement that while former President Obama would attend the inauguration, the former first lady would not. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Former President Barack Obama is confirmed to attend the 60th Inaugural Ceremonies. Former First Lady Michelle Obama will not attend the upcoming inauguration, the Office of Barack and Michelle Obama said. The former first lady has a history of harsh criticism toward Trump. For years, Donald Trump did everything in his power to try to make people fear us. See, his limited, narrow view of the world made him feel threatened by the existence of two hardworking, highly educated, successful people who happen to be Black, she said at the Democratic National Convention last year. Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) Like Michelle Obama, Pelosi has also criticized Trump. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Pelosi, who attended Trumps first inauguration, has said that she will never forgive him for trying to overturn the 2020 election results. A spokesperson for the former Speaker recently confirmed to The Hill that she would not attend Trumps second inauguration. The spokesperson did not provide details on her absence. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) The New York Democrat said in a Sunday TikTok post that she was skipping Trumps second inauguration. All these journalists are like, Congresswoman, are you going to the inauguration? Congresswoman, are you going to the inauguration? Are you going to the inauguration? Ocasio-Cortez said in her TikTok video. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Let me make myself clear, she added. I dont celebrate rapists. So no, Im not going to the inauguration tomorrow. A jury in 2023 found Trump liable for sexually abusing writer E. Jean Carroll in the mid-1990s and later defaming her by denying her claims. The jury, however, found Trump did not commit rape. Former second lady Karen Pence The former second lady was also not at Trumps inauguration ceremony on Monday. The wife of former Vice President Mike Pence did attend former President Carters funeral service earlier this month but did not interact with Trump and first lady Melania Trump. The former vice president previously noted his wifes refusal to acknowledge Trump at the service. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Youd have to ask my wife about her posture, but weve been married 44 years, and she loves her husband, and her husband respects her deeply, the former vice president told Christianity Today. Mike Pence had to evacuate to a secure location on Jan. 6, 2021, when a mob of pro-Trump backers stormed the Capitol as he was presiding over the joint session to certify President Bidens victory in the 2020 election. The former vice president, whose relationship with Trump has soured, ran in the 2024 GOP presidential primary before ending his bid in late October 2023. The Hill has reached out to an advocacy group for Mike Pence for comment on Karen Pences absence. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 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 The Hill. (Bloomberg) -- Slovakias prime minister raised the possibility of a future outside the European Union and NATO as he said rapidly evolving global developments risk consigning both institutions to the history books. Most Read from Bloomberg While Robert Ficos comments fell well short of a call to exit the eastern European nations key alliances, the premier whose relations with Western allies have become increasingly contentious broached a topic that many Slovaks consider to be taboo. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Fico responded to remarks by a senior official in his party, Deputy Speaker Tibor Gaspar, who told a broadcaster that shifts within the EU and NATO since Slovakia joined meant that the country could in the future consider leaving, an option he said was an extreme solution. The prime minister said he absolutely agreed with Gaspar on the evolving situation as a member state. He made a comparison to the Warsaw Pact, noting that the Soviet-dominated military alliance dissolved within a year. It is true that the EU and NATO are our vital space, but no one will prevent us from warning Slovakia about various risks, Fico said in a statement posted to Facebook. The Slovak leader returned to power in 2023 vowing to strengthen the countrys relationships with all global powers, including Russia, while reaffirming the countrys membership in the 27-member bloc and the US-aligned military alliance. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But in recent weeks, following his December meeting in Moscow with Russian President Vladimir Putin and an escalating dispute with Ukraine over gas deliveries, his government has ramped up rhetoric critical of Kyiv and EU and NATO allies. The prospect of leaving the EU was promptly rejected by a broad swathe of Slovakias political establishment, including President Peter Pellegrini, a Fico ally, opposition leaders and regional governors including one who is a member of Ficos Smer party. Economic Risks As a member of the euro area and the EUs visa-free travel zone, Slovakias integration has deepened since it joined the EU and NATO in 2004. Accession to both was a policy aim since the country gained independence with the dissolution of Czechoslovakia in 1993. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement As the stakes have been raised, the group representing Slovakias automotive industry spoke out this month, saying that Ficos efforts to steer the country closer to Russia and away from the transatlantic partnership jeopardized the countrys economic future. The premiers rhetoric has triggered widening public protests demanding Slovakias pro-EU alignment remain in place. Ficos party has seen its popularity wane, with several surveys showing Smer trailing the pro-EU faction, Progressive Slovakia. On Sunday, a group of 250 psychologists and psychiatrists signed an open letter to Fico, warning that his increasingly authoritarian style and misrepresentations are polarizing the public. They attributed an increased aggressiveness to the aftermath of last Mays assassination attempt, in which a gunmen shot the premier, leaving him in intensive care for weeks. We hope in your ability for self-reflection and the possibility of correcting your political behavior, read the letter, including considering stepping away from high-level politics Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In response, Fico accused the experts of political bias and asserted that the statement attempted to stoke a Slovak Maidan, a reference to the 2014 pro-European protests and Kyiv that culminated in the ouster of then-Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, who fled to Russia. Slovakias opposition parties have moved to call a vote of no confidence in parliament in Bratislava on Tuesday. Despite divisions with Ficos coalition and a slim majority in the chamber, the premier is expected to survive the vote. Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2025 Bloomberg L.P. (Bloomberg) -- Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico discussed the potential for securing Russian gas through Turkey with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who pledged Ankaras help in finding a solution with Moscow. Most Read from Bloomberg The Slovak leader is seeking an alternative to Russian gas flows via Ukraine that were halted in the beginning of the year. Slovakias state gas utility, Slovensky Plynarensky Priemysel AS, is one of the few remaining entities in Central Europe with a long-term contract with Russias Gazprom PJSC. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Turkey expressed the willingness to negotiate with Slovakia and Russia to find a solution. Lets take a step, Erdogan said during a joint press conference in Ankara on Monday, adding that the Turkish foreign minister would reach out to Russias, while he would speak with President Vladimir Putin. Lets reach a conclusion on Slovakias natural gas needs. Fico believes that an alternative solution could be found to bring Russian gas to Slovakia via the TurkStream pipeline, on to Bulgaria, Romania and Hungary. He didnt provide details on the potential solution or gas volumes. Russian partners need to get involved and confirm if they are prepared to increase the volume of this gas to reach Slovak territory, Fico said during the press conference. The Slovak economy minister will travel to Turkey to discuss the matter further next week, Fico added. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2025 Bloomberg L.P. SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) This is it, the core of the cold is here. Temperatures today will remain below zero for many. Throw in the wind and wind chills will be in the minus teens, minus 20s, and minus 30s throughout the day. Limit your time outdoors if you can. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Temperatures will slowly warm for tomorrow with highs returning above zero. Morning wind chills will continue to be in the minus teens, minus 20s, and minus 30s. More seasonal air will return by midweek. Thats also when well have stronger wind. Wind gusts of 35 to over 40 mph will be likely in western South Dakota. At the same time, light snow will return to the Black Hills and plains of western South Dakota. Some of the light snow will move into eastern KELOLAND later in the week, but moisture will remain limited. The seven-day forecast shows the above average temperatures returning later this week. Looking beyond the 7-day forecast, temperatures will continue to swing back and forth, but Im not seeing any cold outbreaks like what were currently going through. Copyright 2025 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 KELOLAND.com. AUSTIN (KXAN) Ahead of the winter weather blowing through Central Texas this week, small business owners can check BeforeDuringAfter to ensure they are prepared. The site is designed to be an emergency information hub linking small businesses to information from government agencies and news sites for urgent disaster updates. Everything is based on either your local city or your local county, which then allows you to sign up for alerts that are most relevant to whats going on in your area, said Justen Noakes, the organizations executive director. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Right now were focused on the state of Texas, and so all 254 counties, in all cities can access it, Noakes said. The organization launched in June 2024, so Noakes said the upcoming weather is the first opportunity business owners can utilize the service. This is our first opportunity to cut our teeth and use the application, he said. But the planning tools that are included in the application are tried and tested. The platform was created through a public-private partnership with Texas Mutual Insurance Company, TEXSAR, the Texas State University Institute for Government Innovation, OneStar Foundation, and the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, with additional support from Wells Fargo. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement According to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, 40% of small businesses that close in the wake of a disaster never reopen, and an additional 29% go out of business within two years of a disaster. Information is key to being successful during an incident, Noakes said. If you have a plan, and you can build a plan, thats great. Copyright 2025 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. This is part of Hello, Trumpworld, Slates reluctant guide to the people who will be calling the shots nowat least for as long as they last in Washington. Donald Trumps first election heralded a huge transformation in the public understanding of religion in America: White evangelicals had overwhelmingly and enthusiastically come out to support a philandering, vulgar, biblically illiterate billionaire tycoon. But it took some time for the public to come to understand the power shift that was underway within American evangelical Christianity. In his first administration, Trump didnt just reward evangelicals; he specifically elevated a fringe group of religious leaders with nontraditional beliefs and ambitions to take over and transform American society. These leaders, who staffed Trumps Evangelical Executive Advisory Board in his 2016 campaign and would continue to serve as advisers during his administration, were largely part of a movement of independent prophets and apostles with Pentecostal-like theology and stridently conservative politics. Old-school evangelical power brokers and traditional spokespeople for conservative Christian interestssuch as the leadership of the Southern Baptist Conventionfound themselves scrambling to hold on to political relevance while this new group of leaders waltzed into the halls of power. They got there by heralding Trump as a prophesied hero and proclaiming his enemies to be demonically possessed. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement There are several reasons Trump cozied up with this particular group of MAGA Christian nationalists. Their unwavering loyalty and commitment to praising him as Gods chosen candidate probably helped, as did their televangelist showmanship. But a lot of his personal favor had to do with Paula White, his personal spiritual adviser and a member of the cohort. According to White, Trump called her up two decades ago when he saw her on television, preaching the prosperity gospel. Trump thought she had the it factor. Years later, she would tell Trump that God approved of his plans to run for president; years after that, she would deliver the invocation at his inauguration. White is not the most inflammatory evangelist out there, and, possibly because she operates in a multicultural milieu, she was fairly quiet during the Biden years. (During the 2020 campaign, however, she talked of Trumps demonic enemies, maintained that Christians would have to stand accountable before God and answer if they didnt vote for Trump, and called on angelic reinforcement from Africa and South America to help Trump win.) But we can expect her return to prominence during the second Trump administration: At a faith summit she organized in October, Trump said that he would reestablish the faith office she helped him create in his first term, again under her leadership. With that access, she and likeminded Christian leaders will tell Trump that if he wants evangelicals to be happy, he should support Israel uncritically, roll back LGBTQ+ rights, ban abortion nationwide, elevate religious rights, investigate their claims of Christian persecution, and maybe even establish a Christian visibility day. The question, then, will be how far Trump will go to reward them for their loyalty. CHICOPEE, Mass. (WWLP) Crews were called to Fruit Fair Supermarket in Chicopee for a fire on Sunday night. The Chicopee Fire Department said they were called at around 6:50 p.m. to 398 Front Street for the fire. Upon arrival, heavy smoke and a small fire were found in the building and were put out quickly. Preventing frozen pipes as frigid temperatures on the way No injuries were reported and the cause is being investigated. Local News Headlines WWLP-22News, an NBC affiliate, began broadcasting in March 1953 to provide local news, network, syndicated, and local programming to western Massachusetts. Watch the 22News Digital Edition weekdays at 4 p.m. on WWLP.com. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 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 WWLP. Jan. 19Recent reports from the organization performing third party oversight of Anchorage's winter emergency shelters shines a light on several ongoing challenges, including not enough food or transportation, and problems with laundry and bedbugs at one site, among other issues. Many of the problems described in the reports are not new to the city's emergency homeless shelters and have been commonly reported by homeless clients and service providers over the last few years. The reports offer a window into the conditions for homeless shelter clients and the many challenges faced by operators. The city contracted with the local organization Restorative Reentry Services, or RRS, to work with the city's contracted service providers at the four winter shelter locations to audit their contract compliance and help to ensure better quality of care for clients. The organization's CEO, Cathleen McLaughlin, produces a weekly report on the shelters to the mayor's office and the Anchorage Assembly. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Since mid-December, homeless clients have reported to RRS that they aren't receiving enough food, though the city has a $1.7 million contract with a business to deliver three square meals a day to the about 530 people staying in city shelters. That amounts to about $14.57 per person, per day. [Data shows homelessness rising dramatically in Alaska, but the numbers also tell a complicated story] In her latest report, which covers Dec. 30 through Jan. 5, McLaughlin wrote that food requirements weren't being followed for portion sizes, the daily caloric baseline and quality. "Clients are hungry and asking for seconds every day," McLaughlin wrote about the Alex Hotel in Spenard, where about 230 people shelter nightly, two to a room. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Anchorage Health Department worked with the contractor, ESS Support Services Worldwide to address the issues, and the consistency of meals has improved, a spokeswoman for the Health Department said. A director with the company said its food production line prepares and packages about 1,600 meals a day for the shelters, and that everything is weighed and portioned to the guidelines. "We don't want to be under-serving anybody," the director, Terry McIntosh, said. While city contract requirements for food follow federal meal standards, it's not enough food for most adults, said Alexis Johnson, director of strategy for local nonprofit Henning, Inc. The organization is running three non-congregate shelter locations and a warming area under contracts with the city. "Food, year over year, continues to be a problem," said Johnson, who was the homeless coordinator under the previous mayor and who oversaw city shelters during the last few winter seasons. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "It's the same USDA guidelines for like, kids and adults. It's just this very small portion," she said. At most shelter sites, there aren't a lot of options nearby for clients to buy their own food. It's even more difficult for people with mobility challenges, the RRS reports say. At the city's 200-bed congregate shelter site on E. 56th Avenue, RRS found that operator Catholic Social Services hasn't been complying with all its contractual obligations, particularly around problems with laundry. The facility doesn't have on-site machines, so sends out clients' belongings to a local laundry. Shelter clients say their things often go missing or are returned dirty, wet, or to the wrong person, the reports say. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Health Department on Friday said the city is working closely with CSS to fix laundry issues and any others that are identified. The city requires each shelter operator to give out bus passes each day to any client who needs one providing critical transportation access to medical appointments, jobs and the like. Those passes have been in short supply at the 56th Avenue shelter, RRS found. The shelter runs out each day, and shelter clients who have jobs sometimes are left without transportation and can't get to work, McLaughlin said in the report. Catholic Social Services is experienced in working with the homeless, running longtime low-barrier shelter Brother Francis in downtown and several other programs. In 2022, the nonprofit opened Complex Care, a facility that shelters homeless residents with high medical needs. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The nonprofit did not respond to a request for comment on Friday. The organization took over operations of the shelter from Henning in October. A few weeks later, McLaughlin reported that bed bugs and lice were widespread at the facility. Combating bed bugs is often a perennial challenge for low-barrier homeless shelters, which see daily client turnover. The organization has since obtained heat treatment tents to help curb the problem, McLaughlin said in recent reports. It also has an on-site medic and weekly visits from an Anchorage Neighborhood Health clinician to provide medical care. Some clients expressed concerns about safety, stealing among shelter clients, and disparate disciplinary actions by staff. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "They said that for various behaviors and infractions, they are required to have a 'time out' outside that can last from minutes to hours and that the 'punishment' is different depending on which staff is issuing the consequence and how close that staff is to a particular client," the report said. Similar issues with discipline and stealing have been reported by clients in city shelters run by various operators since the days of the former Sullivan Arena mass shelter. Farina Brown, the mayor's special assistant in homelessness and health, told Assembly members during a meeting earlier this week that theft deters clients from leaving shelters to go to other resources, and the city is working on ways to bring more outside services directly to shelters, she said. "While our congregate and non-congregate (shelters) are absolutely safe places for people to go, you still have individuals that steal. You still have a concern for your belongings," Brown said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The city's shelters have been full nightly, as have privately-run shelters. Recently, the city opened an additional overnight warming area for up to 60 people on nights colder than 20 degrees at Henning House on Fourth Avenue near downtown. Due to recent "unpredictable and unusual weather," the city will keep it open continuously, Brown said. When over half a million people gathered for the Womens March on Washington on January 21, 2017, the day after the first inauguration of President Donald Trump, it was considered to be the largest single-day protest in United States history. This year, the organizers of the Peoples March, some of whom planned the Womens March eight years ago, werent expecting to break records. But, they say, they see the value of bringing people together in a large demonstration. The protest, two days before Trumps second inauguration, brought crowds to Washington and to local events around the country to have their voices heard on issues including democracy, immigration, gender justice and LGBTQ+ issues. News outlets estimated attendance in the thousands, less than the 50,000 organizers had anticipated. Many of the women who showed up eight years ago angry about Trumps election, his sexist insults leveraged against the first woman to win a major partys presidential nomination, the accusations of sexual misconduct against him didnt return to Washington this year. Theyre still angry, just not all showing it with marches on the National Mall. This is not 2017. What this election told us is that people knew exactly what they were voting for when they voted for Donald Trump, Jara Butler, the chief impact officer at Supermajority, a group that organizes young women who dont vote in every election around progressive issues, told The 19th. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Simple outrage about Trump holding the presidency was never enough to sustain practical, meaningful change, she said. Black women turned out to vote against him in 2017 and then showed up for the march. Im speaking as a Black woman, but we said this in 2017 when they did the Womens March. We were like, Hey, were here to support you, but we did our job. Now, Butler said, shes thinking a lot about a sign that went viral from the 2017 Womens March that mentioned the need to talk to the 53 percent of White women who voted for Trump. Im constantly saying, Im not going to justify my humanity to you anymore. Yall are going to have to argue with yourselves. She said shes been counseling her team that they need to lead not from the front, but from the side. I said to our staff that were no longer going to talk. We are going to practice active listening and stop telling people what they need and instead ask them what they need. Young Black women in particular, she said, are absolutely disillusioned and frustrated and thats a challenge because we dont want to lose them. Butler said that she thinks the future of progressivism and the Democratic Party is going to come from state-level politicians who are making bold moves in their own home communities, not through national-level activist action. There is now a whole new class of down-ballot progressive leaders in state and local government whose runs were inspired by Trumps election in 2016. The same thing seems to be happening again. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Run for Something, an organization that recruits and supports young progressives to run for public office, has seen over 13,000 people sign up on their site since Election Day 2024, more than signed up in all of 2017, the year the organization was founded. Sara Hadad, Run for Somethings chief strategy officer, told The 19th that of those 13,000, 30 percent are LGBTQ+, 51 percent are women and 72 percent are under 40 all higher rates than in previous election cycles. Most are interested in running for local office, saying they see those as the first line of defense against federal actions regarding abortion, immigration policy, and education policy. The thing that was missing in 2017 that people are now beginning to understand is that its all local, Butler said. Organizers of this years Peoples March said changing the name from the Womens March signaled an interest in big-tent coalition building. For the groups behind the march, including SisterSong, Harriets Wildest Dreams and the National Organization for Women (NOW), the headline-grabbing demonstration is just one of several approaches to resistance, all of which are essential to a sustainable movement, they argue. Theres power in the community collective so we dont want to eliminate that, said Christian Nunes, the president of NOW. We have to give people something to come together for and feel that collective people power so that they can feel encouraged to continue this long fight that were going to have. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Monica Simpson, executive director of SisterSong, a national reproductive justice group focused on women of color, said Black women are exhausted by the reality that their commitment to pushing for progress on social issues is often met with a resounding rejection from the American electorate. Some are stepping back to prioritize rest and healing during the new Trump administration. Demonstrators are seen near the Washington monument during the Peoples March on January 18, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (Natascha Tahabsem/Cover Images/AP) I do think that that impacts the way that people want to show up in their resistance. I think that has shifted people from wanting to necessarily be in the streets, and these streets are getting worse every single day, at every turn, Simpson said. With Donald Trumps return to office, [conservatives] are so emboldened. We all remember January 6, and so folks are really asking themselves whether they want to put themselves in that level of harms way. But even with the election frustrations, Black women and other people of color continue to lead efforts to serve communities that may be disproportionately affected by the Trump administrations policy agenda. Michigan state Sen. Mallory McMorrow, a Democrat, said that when people ask her if they should be concerned about a lack of groundswell of public action, she reminds them that Trumps first election inspired a record number of women to run for office and win in 2018, including her. The impact of that endures. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Were not marching, were legislating, she said. McMorrow attended the satellite Womens March in Detroit in 2017. I had never really protested before and I was very nervous. I didnt know what to expect, she said. She was worried about arrests and pepper spray, but instead found multiple generations of women linking arms and singing. She exchanged numbers with many women she met that day, then started hosting postcard-writing parties at her house. Soon enough, someone suggested that she run for office. This year, McMorrow plans to spend inauguration day in her district, participating in a day of service being organized by local high schools in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement McMorrow said the most important thing Democrats can do right now is legislate. Theyre going to be a lot of things over the next four years that are designed to make us respond and fall into a trap where they can accuse us of being angry feminist harpies or whatever it is that they want to make us out to be and I think the strongest thing we can do is say, No, thats not us, she said. The important thing is to show all voters that we are normal, caring, hard-working people and let the other side make themselves into a caricature. Many women are still being activated by Trumps second election today the way McMorrow was in 2016. Jennifer Schwert of Marietta, Georgia, didnt protest during his first administration. But on election night 2024, once it was clear that Trump had won, Schwert began to cry. Dont worry, Mommy. Things on TV arent real, Schwert recalls her 2-year-old daughter whom she had let stay up late, hoping to be able to show her the election of the first woman president telling her. Nothing on TV is real so dont cry. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Schwert was trying to get pregnant again and had already experienced multiple miscarriages. As she made sense of Trumps victory, her immediate concern was for her own health and safety: What would happen to her if she experienced another miscarriage and was unable to receive the medical care she needed because of Georgias abortion restrictions? There was also the potential, under the new Trump administration, of more barriers to care. Initially, she felt numb and helpless. But by the end of the week, she felt she needed to do something. She started a new Facebook group, Not Going Quietly Women Metro Atlanta, hoping to create a space for women to come together and figure out how to make an impact on the local level. Twenty women of varying races and ethnicities showed up to an early in-person meeting. One was trying to get other women to join her at a board of education meeting. Another had ideas of how to work with a local reproductive rights group. Others were discussing how to best support family members and loved ones who might be impacted by the promised immigration raids planned for post-inauguration. The groups members now close to 200 want to maximize impact in their own backyard. They have a series of in-person meetings planned for the first 100 days of the Trump administration and are assembling a directory of members, their policy interests and what skills they can lend to organizing efforts. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Its a need that Butler said she also sees right now. We need to get back to community. I think people are hungry for that, Butler said. We cant just walk away. Government is about us. Democracy is not a spectator sport. The post Smaller marches, more listening and legislating: Womens opposition as Trump is inaugurated appeared first on The 19th. News that represents you, in your inbox every weekday. Subscribe to our free, daily newsletter. Austinites prepared Monday for expected icy conditions Tuesday with temperatures predicted to drop to frigid levels. Travis, Williamson, Hays and Bastrop counties, along with much of the area east of the Interstate 35 corridor, will be under a winter storm warning through 6 p.m. Tuesday, while western Hill Country counties are under a winter storm advisory through that time, according to the National Weather Service. Meteorologists expect less than 1 inch of snow accumulation throughout much of the region Tuesday morning, though some areas east of Austin could see up to 2 inches. Areas south of Austin could have up to one-tenth of an inch of ice accumulation. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In preparation for the freezing rain, all Central Texas school districts including the Austin district and the University of Texas, Austin Community College and Texas State University announced they would be closed Tuesday. Huston-Tillotson University moved classes online. Jason Rodriguez tries to keep warm as he waits for the bus Monday on 11th Street. A winter storm warning has been issued for Central Texas. Theres a good chance of snow when people wake up Tuesday morning, and ice is likely, said Eric Platt, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in New Braunfels. Be prepared for there to be slippery or slick road conditions, Platt said. If it warms up enough during the day Tuesday, its possible for some of that accumulated snow and ice to melt, but snow or ice that sticks around Tuesday will refreeze Wednesday night, when temperatures are expected to plunge into the 20s or teens, Platt said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Some of those outlying areas will probably get down to around 17 degrees, Platt said. To prepare for the precipitation, the Texas Department of Transportation treated roads in advance, according to the office. People who need a warm place Tuesday can visit the central branch of the Austin Public Library, 710 W. Cesar Chavez St., starting at 8 a.m. Other library branches will open on a normal schedule. Austinites ready for the cold On the quiet Martin Luther King Jr. holiday Monday, Austinites braced against the cold. On Riverside Drive, Sylvester Anselmo loaded groceries into his car. He wasnt very concerned about the cold temperatures since theyre supposed to last only a couple of days not like the week of subfreezing weather in 2021, when millions of Texans lost power for days. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Its not going to be that bad, Anselmo said. He was a little worried about the precipitation since he works overnight as a custodian and has to drive from Cedar Creek to Lakeway, he said. Outside of his home in the Travis Heights neighborhood, Gail Armstrong prepared for the cold by replacing the propane in the trailer in front of his house. He is using the heat from the trailer to keep his water heater warm in the subfreezing temperatures. He was thankful Monday hadnt brought precipitation on a morning that was cold enough to freeze his birdbath. He's worried about Tuesdays forecast. Steam from a vent passes in front of the Capitol as rain falls Jan. 9. Conditions are expected to be worse Tuesday with snow arriving late Monday. People dont know diddly about driving on snow and ice, Armstrong said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Armstrong was also loading his truck with diapers for his and wife Ellen Johnsons weekly volunteer shift at the Bread for All food pantry. I dont expect a big crowd, Armstrong said. Its cold. Travis County offices to close Tuesday; city to continue essential services All Travis County offices and "certain services and facilities that are non-essential" will be closed Tuesday, Travis County Judge Andy Brown said Monday morning. Essential employees will continue working. If you are one of the thousands of individuals employed by the county, Brown recommended reaching out to a direct supervisor for more specific details. The city of Austin will continue essential services, according to a post on X from Mayor Kirk Watson, but is recommending most employees work from home Tuesday. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Capital Metro services are expected to be affected Tuesday, according to the transit agency. Updates will be posted on the Capital Metro website. This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Freezing temperatures, ice expected to hit Austin, Central Texas Millions across the Gulf Coast states will continue to be adversely affected by a rare winter storm moving along the northern Gulf of Mexico. The storm has spread dangerous snow and ice along 1,000 miles of Interstate 10 from central Texas to northern Florida and will go on to the coastal areas of Georgia and the Carolinas, AccuWeather meteorologists warn. The storm threatens to shut down travel for days and cut power for an extended period in part of the region. An unprecedented blizzard warning was issued from the upper Texas coast to part of the Louisiana coast for a time on Tuesday. Blizzard conditions occur when the visibility is one-quarter of a mile or less in snow or blowing snow with winds of 35 mph or greater for at least three consecutive hours. The storm has shut down roads and airports along the Gulf coast, including in the Houston and New Orleans areas. For parts of the western and northern Gulf coast, this could end up being the biggest snow and ice storm in more than 100 years and possibly one that many people may remember for decades. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The storm has ended over Texas as of the midday hours on Tuesday with less than an inch of snow and sleet in Austin and San Antonio. However, up to 4 inches of snow fell around the Houston area with greater amounts toward the Golden Triangle to the northeast of the city. Cities along I-10 from Louisiana to the Florida Panhandle resembled the northern Plains amidst a windswept snowstorm, rather than the typical conditions the upper Gulf coast is known for. Snowfall will continue to ramp up along a portion of the I-95 corridor from Georgia to the Carolinas through Tuesday night. The major southern United States cities of Austin and Houston, Texas; New Orleans, Lake Charles and Baton Rouge, Louisiana; Biloxi, Mississippi; Mobile, Alabama; and Pensacola, Florida, were already blasted by the rare winter storm. Next in the winter storm's aim were Savannah and Macon, Georgia; Charleston and Myrtle Beach, South Carolina; and Wilmington to Raleigh, North Carolina. Portions of the Jacksonville, Florida, area can expect a significant amount of ice. Dry, Arctic air pushing well to the south is forcing the storm and its wintry precipitation to hug the Gulf Coast of the U.S., which rarely experiences even flurries, let alone several inches of snow like the storm is set on delivering. "This will be a rare and especially dangerous winter storm right along the upper Gulf Coast that will result in major and lengthy disruptions to travel," AccuWeather Chief Meteorologist Jonathan Porter said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The last time New Orleans experienced more than a few snowflakes was 15 years ago in December 2009. Since 1948, enough snow to measure has only fallen eight times. This could be the biggest storm in a lifetime for the New Orleans area, as well as much of southern Louisiana and the central Gulf coast. The all-time single storm snowfall for New Orleans is 8.2 inches from Feb. 14-15, 1895. This radar image was captured at 2 p.m. CST on Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025. Snow is blue, rain is green and purple is ice. (AccuWeather) The last time there was enough snow to measure in Jacksonville, Florida, was during the Christmas week storm of 1989. Nearly 2 inches of snow fell during the event. Snow in Houston is uncommon but not nearly as rare as that of New Orleans and Jacksonville. Houston's last snowfall was in February 2021, during the mega freeze that brought up to half a foot of snow from parts of Texas to portions of northern and central Louisiana and Mississippi. The biggest snowstorm on record in the now-I-10 corridor was the blockbuster storm more than 100 years ago, from Feb. 14-15, 1895, which dumped a whopping 6-20 inches of snow along the Texas and Louisiana coasts. That storm dumped 19 inches of snow on Houston. A swath of 1-6 inches of snow with locally higher amounts will extend from just inland of the upper Texas coast to the Carolina coast. An AccuWeather Local StormMax of 14 inches is most likely near and just north of Interstate 10. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "Travel will be dangerous or impossible for hours to days after the storm along vast stretches of the I-10 corridor," AccuWeather Meteorologist Brandon Buckingham said. "It's not too often a storm with snow passes Atlanta by to the south, but that is how this southern U.S. storm is shaping up," AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Bob Larson said. With this storm setup, heavy snow will tend to hug the Gulf and southern East coasts. Still, it could deliver spotty snow showers and slippery travel as far north as parts of the Jackson, Mississippi, Birmingham, Alabama, Atlanta, and Charlotte metro areas. In part of north-central Florida, just enough cold air may sneak in to cause rain to change to snow or rain to begin to freeze on elevated and exposed surfaces, especially from Tuesday night to Wednesday morning. A significant ice storm is possible near and west of Jacksonville and in part of southern Georgia, as well as in part of South Texas from Corpus Christi to Victoria and Laredo. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The key will be whether the precipitation is mostly sleet or snow rather than freezing rain. Sleet and, to some extent, snow will fall off trees and power lines, while freezing rain and wet snow can weigh trees down to the point of destruction, taking power lines with them. The southern U.S. is ill-equipped to handle such winter storms. Many highways, in addition to I-10, could be shut down for an extended period. Officials in part of the I-10 corridor were urging motorists to stay off the roads. Snow and ice can stay on the ground for days during subfreezing temperatures, or where daytime temperatures rise above freezing but drop below 32 degrees at night, new patches of ice may develop. Schools could be closed for days, and some businesses could take a while to reopen. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Bitterly cold conditions in the wake of the storm can bring a rare concern to people in the Southern states-- the risk of frostbite and hypothermia to those not properly dressed or without heat. "The electrical grid in the central and eastern U.S. may be stressed as hundreds of millions reach to turn up the heat," Porter said. The frigid conditions can cause great hardship for households and businesses where the power is out for extended periods. Porter added, "The subfreezing air may cause pipes in unheated areas to burst and cause tremendous water damage." The track of the storm will spare the I-20 and I-40 corridors from snow and ice, but cities from Dallas to Shreveport, Louisiana, and Memphis, Tennessee, will be deep in the Arctic air with the same risks of bursting pipes. "People, especially in the southern U.S., directly affected by this winter storm will be dealing with lots of disruptions to everyday life," Porter said. Want next-level safety, ad-free? Unlock advanced, hyperlocal severe weather alerts when you subscribe to Premium+ on the AccuWeather app. AccuWeather Alerts are prompted by our expert meteorologists who monitor and analyze dangerous weather risks 24/7 to keep you and your family safer. A Colorado State Patrol trooper was involved in a crash on Colorado Springs' east side Sunday evening, according to a news release from the department. At 4:48 p.m., a state patrol vehicle was involved in a crash with a Toyota Prius at the intersection of Highway 24 at Marksheffel Road, forcing part of the highway to close. According to the department, the patrol vehicle was transporting a party in custody who had been arrested on a warrant from a previous traffic stop. Officials said the trooper was transported to a hospital "as a precautionary" and the party in custody was transported in an ambulance with non-life-threatening injuries. The Prius had one occupant, the driver, who refused to be transported to a hospital, according to the state patrol. Westbound Highway 24 is closed at Newt Drive, while eastbound remains open. Officials said the crash remains an active investigation and all possible causes are under investigation. The Colorado Springs Police Department's major crash team is investigating the crash, according to the state patrol. When Innocent James completed his chores after school, he would light a kerosene lamp and lay down to read his books. There was no electricity in James part of Arusha, a region in northern Tanzania, and so his family was forced to burn expensive oil for him to learn after dark. Today, James is 33, and many parents in rural Tanzania where all year round the sun sets at around 7pm must still choose between saving money and allowing their children to read at night. But now, James company, Soma Bags, is providing a solution: backpacks equipped with solar panels that charge a reading light. What started as a small-scale project with some discarded cement bags, a sewing machine, and a solar panel, has become a business attracting charities and fashion brands from around the world. Last year, Soma Bags (Reading Bags in Swahili) sold 36,000 solar backpacks to people across Africa, providing an invaluable energy source for when the sun goes down. Affordable light for rural households James was brought up by his mother and grandmother, both schoolteachers, to love reading. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement At university in Mwanza, James was shocked at the number of schoolchildren he noticed on the street skipping class to ask for money, largely to spend in local video game cafes. He wanted to help them find the taste for learning that he remembered from his childhood. I was frustrated, James said, I could see that the problem was much, much bigger than I thought. Before his last semester, James dropped out of university and used the last of his tuition money to buy a mobile library cart. He began visiting schools, attracting hundreds of children to his reading clubs. Innocent James started making solar backpacks when he realized that children in his reading clubs could not read after dark. - UNDP Tanzania/KumiMedia But for all his hard work, there was a problem: children would borrow books from him and then return them unread. James soon realized that while they were eager to read, they could not afford to do so. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Fewer than half of households in mainland Tanzania are connected to electricity. This falls to just over a third in rural areas. Consequently, many families rely on kerosene lamps to provide light after dark. These lamps produce dim light and are expensive to fill. They also pollute the air and carry the risk of burns. Parents often opt to send their children to bed, James explained, rather than allowing them to use the lamp to read. James solution flexible solar panels sewn onto the outside of bags to power a reading light was inspired by a university professor who carried around a solar charger for his phone, sewn into a fabric pouch. It gave me the confidence that what I want is going to work, said James. He started in 2016 by handmaking 80 backpacks per month, sewing on a solar panel sourced from China that charged during the childrens walk to and from school. By the time they returned home, they would have enough power for a reading light. A fully charged bag can power a light for six to eight hours, meaning that one day of bright weather can allow for multiple nights of reading, even if cloudy weather arrives. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement James says the solar backpacks are more affordable than using an oil lamp. A solar bag costs between 12,000 and 22,500 Tanzanian shillings (approximately $4-8), with the reading light included the same price as 12-22.5 days of using a kerosene lamp, according to an average cost estimated in a survey of Soma Bags customers. Building the business Sold mainly from his growing franchise of mobile library carts, the bags became popular, and James increased production. He founded Soma Bags in 2019 and oversaw the construction of his own factory in the village of Bulale, in the Mwanza region, in 2020. The company now employs 65 staff. Made from repurposed cement bags found on the streets of Mwanza, where James lives, the backpack material is durable, lightweight, zero waste, and comes at no cost. The backpacks look good, too in the middle of the bags, the white silhouette of a giraffe appears within bright yellow or green stripes. Its innovative, said Joseph Manirakiza, of the UN Development Programme (UNDP), which has supported Soma Bags since 2023. I never thought someone would think of turning waste cement bags into something useful. Soma Bags manufactures its products in a purpose-built factory in the village of Bulale, in the Mwanza region. - UNDP Tanzania/KumiMedia James customers are, in the main, families and schools in rural Tanzania people and institutions with whom he is familiar from his library cart days. But the company is expanding; over 200 charities have bought bags from James to distribute amongst children in need, and Soma Bags is becoming increasingly popular in urban areas. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement While inside Somas smaller backpacks are battery-powered reading lights, its bigger bags now have in-built charging systems with a greater capacity, enabling them to power other electronic devices, like phone chargers. The company has also branched out into travel, sports, and cosmetic bags that arent solar-powered. James has sold backpacks to charities in Nigeria, Rwanda, Madagascar, and the Democratic Republic of Congo, and to fashion brands in Poland, Germany, the Netherlands and Kenya. A growing industry Around 600 million Africans do not have access to electricity. Companies that produce solar-powered lamps are abundant on the continent, and the UNs Solar Light Distribution Programme is part of a global effort to light up rural areas with affordable and sustainable energy. The hybrid social enterprise Smart Girls Uganda has produced and distributed over 12,000 of its own solar bags to children in Africa. It is important for multiple companies to produce solar-powered bags across the continent, said its CEO, Jamila Mayanja. Its more than just lighting; its about giving them control over their education, their future, and ultimately helping to break the cycle of poverty in their communities. After dark, children can continue to read using clean solar energy, rather than expensive and polluting kerosene lamps. - UNDP Tanzania/KumiMedia Soma Bags has been recognized by numerous awards and institutions, including the UNDP and the British government. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement There is a crop of young people [in Tanzania] who are coming up, and they have realized that they have to take the future into their own hands, said Manirakiza. Innocent represents a group of young people using their talent to do something meaningful. As his company continues to expand, James is becoming increasingly busy, but he still finds time to run reading groups for children from his mobile cart twice a week. Now, kids arrive for his readings with his bags on their backs. Sometimes I see a kid with the bag, and Im like, wow, said James, smiling, I cant really believe it. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com Officers in South Boston arrested and charged a man with firearm and drug charges after conducting a search warrant. Tyrone Turner, 40, of Dorchester was arrested as a part of an ongoing drug investigation. On Saturday, January 18, around 11:15 AM, officers were performing a search warrant in the area of 70 Bowdoin Street, where they recovered 15 plastic bags of cocaine, drug paraphernalia, a scale, and drug packaging materials. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Officers also recovered a .22 long rife, 22 rounds of ammo, a lower receiver to a Glock handgun, and $272. Turner was placed under arrest and charged with: Unlawful Possession of a Firearm Unlawful Possession of Ammunition Possession with Intent to Distribute Class B Turner is expected to be arraigned in Dorchester District Court. Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW More than 30 million people across the South are under winter weather advisories as they brace for Winter Storm Enzo to bring a mix of snow, ice and freezing rain to states and cities that rarely have to deal with these dangerous weather conditions. You can get the full forecast here, but heres a look at how some areas are preparing for the worst. Texas Widespread snow totals of 1-5 inches are forecast for southeastern Texas with locally higher totals of up to 8 inches possible. Weather.com meteorologist Caitlin Kaiser notes, "Houston, a city that doesn't often get snow, could see 3-5 inches." And it's not just snow that could be a problem, Kaiser says that the region's highs will only reach the 30s, with lows in the 20s, ad the wind and it will feel like its in the teens. Schools across the Houston metro area and southeast Texas will be closed on Tuesday and Wednesday including the state's largest school district, the Houston Independent School District which has about 189,000 students. The Katy School District also canceled classes on Tuesday and Wednesday. Harris County announced that all county buildings will be closed Tuesday and Wednesday due to the winter storm. Houston has opened at least 10 warming centers and crews were out Sunday and Monday treating roads with brine and salt. There were hundreds of flight cancellations and delays Sunday and Monday at both George Bush Intercontinental Airport and Hobby airports. Both airports planned to suspend all operations by midnight Monday. Jim Szczesniak, the director of Houston Airports told the Weather Channels Jim Cantore that even after the worst of the weather is gone on Tuesday, the airports could stay closed through Wednesday if runways and road conditions across Houston are still hazardous. LOUISIANA Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry declared a State of Emergency Monday ahead of the storms arrival in his state. New Orleans canceled Mondays parade and march to celebrate Martin Luther King Day. Southern Louisiana is expected to take the brunt of the highest snow totals with a swath of 3-5 inches expected with up to 8 inches possible for areas closer to the Gulf Coast," meteorologist Kaiser says. "The region will see high temperatures in the 30s with New Orleans looking at temps nearly 30 degrees below average for this time of year. Wind chills will be dangerously cold, making it feel like the teens." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Rodney Mallet, the communications director for Louisiana's Department of Transportation Development told The Weather Channel that crews started treating interstate bridges and overpasses on Sunday. Mallet also said the department is prepared to shut down long bridges that could freeze first, like the Atchafalaya Basin Bridge, those parallel bridges stretch 18 miles over water. New Orleans public schools and offices will be closed Tuesday. Schools across Lafayette Parish will be closed both Tuesday and Wednesday, that parish also declared a state of emergency ahead of the storm. FLORIDA Weather.com meteorologist Kaiser says that parts of the western Panhandle could see 3-5 inches of snow. She adds that further east, the precipitation will mostly turn into freezing rain. This could result in a large swath of ice that will pose problems for power lines and travel - including around Tallahassee and Jacksonville. Highs will be in the 40s but drop into the 20s at night with wind chills falling into the teens." Those anticipated cold temperatures and conditions led at least two counties, Santa Rosa and Escambia to cancel classes Tuesday. The Santa Rosa school district has called off classes both Tuesday and Wednesday. GEORGIA Georgia Governor Brian Kemp declared a statewide State of Emergency on Monday afternoon, it will run through Tuesday, January 28. In a press release Gov. Kemp said, Before the full force of the incoming winter weather arrives, many Georgians are already experiencing dangerously low temperatures ahead of expected freezing precipitation on Tuesday. As we continue to coordinate with state and local officials throughout the state, I urge everyone to make their own preparations to ensure they and their families can remain safe over the coming days, especially if road conditions prevent travel." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Meriwether County school system also announced that all schools would switch to remote learning on Tuesday. MORE ON WEATHER.COM - Dangerously Cold Arctic Air Settles In Across Much Of The Nation - Winter Storm Blasts New York With Snow, Bitter Cold Up Next - Before You Take A Taste, Is It Safe To Eat Snow? CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCBD) Donald Trump was sworn in as the 47th president of the United States on Monday, drawing mixed reactions from South Carolina leaders. Heres what theyre saying: Governor Henry McMaster (R) President Trumps inauguration is a powerful reminder that Americas best days are ahead of us. We stand ready to work alongside President Trump to make America stronger, safer, and more prosperous than ever before. Lets get to work! Attorney General Alan Wilson (R) Congratulations, Mr. President, on your inauguration as Americas 47th President! I look forward to working with you to make America great again! @realDonaldTrump Senator Tim Scott (R) Today, I join millions of Americans and friends around the world in celebration of President Trumps inauguration! Under his second term, Americans will have renewed pride in our nation and have high enthusiasm for lower taxes, safer communities, and greater opportunity. I look forward to working alongside the President over the next four years to help him deliver these wins for the American people. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Congratulations, Mr. President! Lets get to work and once again make America the shining city on the hill! Senator Lindsey Graham (R) President Trumps inaugural speech was a strong, bullish challenge for America to aggressively confront and solve our problems, and passionately pursue a new golden age for our country. As President Trump said, the impossible is what we do best. Im excited. Lets get to work. Well done, Mr. President. U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace (R), who represents South Carolinas 1st Congressional District President Donald J. Trump is once again the President of the United States. A new era of hope and faith begins! U.S. Rep. Joe Wilson (R), who represents South Carolinas 2nd Congressional District As someone who attended many inauguration addresses, there is no doubt in my mind that that was the best inauguration speech I have ever seen an American President deliver in history. It is a new morning in America. Trump will fix it! U.S. Rep. Ralph Norman (R), who represents South Carolinas 5th Congressional District I am standing by and standing ready to work with the Trump administration to deliver a strong, conservative agenda for the American people so we can get this country back on track. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement That includes saving us from the fiscal cliff we currently stand at, securing our borders, and bringing independence to the U.S. once again!! Its a new age of: PROMISES MADE PROMISES KEPT!! U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn (D), who represents South Carolinas 6th Congressional District Today, Donald Trump will be inaugurated the 47th President of the United States. It also happens to be Martin Luther King Jr. Day. As I attend the inaugural ceremonies today, Ill be reminded of the speech King delivered from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial 61 years ago, where he urged his listeners not to wallow in the valley of despair. We will continue our struggle, and we must continue our fight. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Editors Note: This page may be updated as additional reaction comes in. Copyright 2025 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 WCBD News 2. By Hyunsu Yim and Jack Kim SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea's impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol refused to be questioned by investigators on Monday under a probe into whether he committed insurrection, as dozens of his supporters faced being charged over a violent rampage on a court building. Authorities said security was being beefed up at the Seoul Detention Centre where Yoon is being held as a pre-trial inmate and at the Constitutional Court which is holding an impeachment trial to decide whether to permanently remove him from office. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Yoon planned to attend future impeachment trial hearings, including one on Tuesday, one of his lawyers, Yoon Kab-keun said. Yoon became the first incumbent South Korean president to be arrested last week over his short-lived declaration of martial law on Dec. 3. Investigators on Monday visited the detention centre to bring him in for questioning "with force", but ceased such an attempt at around 9 p.m. after Yoon repeatedly refused to comply with the probe, the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) said in a statement. The CIO, which is leading the criminal probe, said it would take legal steps including enforcing the summons again. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement On Sunday, Yoon was formally processed for detention, including having his mugshot taken, after a court approved a warrant, citing concern the suspect could destroy evidence. Following the post-midnight ruling, angry Yoon supporters stormed the Seoul Western District Court building early on Sunday, destroying property and clashing with police who were at times overpowered by a mob wielding broken barricades to attack them. Out of 90 people who were detained after the clashes, police plan to keep 66 in custody on charges of trespass, obstruction of official duty and assaulting police officers, Yonhap News Agency reported. Other offenders were still being identified and police would also take legal action against them, acting Justice Minister Kim Seok-woo told a parliament judiciary committee. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Acting President Choi Sang-mok expressed deep regret over the "illegal violence" at the court building and also urged police to enforce the law strictly to prevent a repeat of what happened on Sunday. The unrest comes amid South Korea's worst political crisis in decades, which has rattled Asia's fourth-biggest economy. South Korea's central bank on Monday downgraded its economic growth projection for 2025 to between 1.6% and 1.7%, down from the 1.9% it forecast in November, citing political uncertainty. LIVESTREAMED INTRUSION Hundreds of protesters, some blasting fire extinguishers at lines of police, broke through a cordon to enter the court building soon after the 3 a.m. ruling on Sunday to approve the detention of Yoon. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Some of them were seen in video footage roaming halls where the offices of judges were located calling out the name of the judge who approved the warrant. At least one judge's chamber was broken into by force, Chun Dae-yup, the head of the National Court Administration, said. Several of those involved livestreamed the intrusion on YouTube, with footage showing protesters trashing the court and chanting Yoon's name. Some streamers were caught by police during their broadcasts. Yoon's refusal to appear for questioning on Monday at the CIO comes after he has repeatedly refused to cooperate with the investigation. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement His lawyers have argued that his arrest on Wednesday and the warrant issued for his detention were illegal because they were backed by a court that was in the wrong jurisdiction and the CIO itself had no legal authority to conduct the probe. Insurrection, the crime that Yoon may be charged with, is one of the few that a South Korean president does not have immunity from and is technically punishable by death. South Korea, however, has not executed anyone in nearly 30 years. Yoon said through his lawyers that he found Sunday's rampage at the court "shocking and unfortunate", calling on people to express their opinions peacefully.In the statement, Yoon also said he understood many were feeling "rage and unfairness", asking police to take a tolerant position. (Reporting by Hyunsu Yim, Jack Kim and Jihoon Lee; Additional reporting by Hyunjoo Jin; Editing by Ed Davies, Saad Sayeed and Alex Richardson) South Mississippi is bracing for the first significant snowfall since 1996, Harrison County Emergency Management director Matt Stratton said during a meeting Sunday afternoon to prepare for the deep freeze expected to grip the Coast tonight and bring snow by Tuesday. Cold-weather shelters are opening along the Coast, counties and states are preparing to treat bridges Monday, ahead of potential snow followed by freezing rain Tuesday and Tuesday night. Forecasters are advising residents to stay home during the worst of the weather. South Mississippi has seen modest snowfalls since 1996, Stratton said, but snowfall of 2 to 4 inches, its been quite some time since weve had that and definitely dont want to underestimate this event. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Many nonessential government offices will be closed Tuesday, following Monday closings for the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. holiday. Gov. Tate Reeves has declared a state of emergency that runs from today through Wednesday. Sunday afternoon, schools began to announce closures for Tuesday and possibly Wednesday, with government offices already closed Monday in celebration of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. In addition to snow, freezing rain and wind chill temperatures as low as 10 degrees are in the forecast for this week. A graphic overview from the National Weather Service of what to expect next week in south Mississippi, southeast Louisiana. Snow, freezing rain in forecast The National Weather Service has issued a winter storm warning in effect from late Monday night through Tuesday evening for South Mississippi and portions of southeast Louisiana. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The NWS says 3 to 6 inches of snow could accumulate along and north of the Interstate 10 and I-12 corridor, 1 to 3 inches possible to the south. A low chance of light ice accumulations is also possible in the same areas, the NWS says. Snow is most likely from around noon to midnight Tuesday, although Stratton said the snowfall could begin Tuesday morning on the Coast. The NWS expects snow mixed with freezing rain Tuesday evening. Cold weather advisories are in effect, with lows expected in the 20s Sunday and Monday night, with a low of 20 degrees forecast for Tuesday night in Biloxi. Wind chills will make the air seem even colder. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Hancock County Emergency Management Director Brian Hooty Adam advised residents to stay home and drive only in emergencies if Tuesdays forecast holds for snow and ice. If were getting the snow were expected to get, stay off the roads, he said. Dont drive unless its an absolute emergency. I dont think anybodys seen this much snow in this area. I dont remember that much snow in my lifetime. The highest snowfall on record for the Gulfport area was 7 inches on Dec. 31, 1963, according to the NWS. PASADENA, Calif. (KTLA) As firefighters brace for yet another round of strong Santa Ana winds over the next several days, prompting high wind warnings, dozens of residents and businesses owners impacted by the Eaton Fire attended a community meeting in Pasadena. As of the latest update from fire officials, the more than 14,000-acre firestorm that swept through the San Gabriel Mountains, destroying much of Altadena, is 81% contained. Nearly 10,000 structures were destroyed and at least 17 people were killed, though that number is expected to rise. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The National Weather Service has issued another Red Flag Warning from 10 a.m. Monday to 10 p.m. Tuesday for much of inland Southern California, including parts of Ventura, Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties. The warning comes because of projected high winds across the region combined with dry humidity the same recipe that contributed to the rapid spread of the Palisades and Eaton fires. (National Weather Service) This is basically one tick below the Jan. 7 event, and it just depends on where the low pressure and high-pressure systems that cause these kind of wind events line up as to the areas that are going to see the largest impact, Dennis Burns, a fire behavior analyst, said at Sundays meeting. Suspects allegedly posing as firefighters in Palisades had fake fire engine Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement According to the weather service, winds gusts between 50-70 miles per hour are forecast for the coasts and valleys, with gusts as high as 60-100 miles per hour in the mountains and foothills. As residents and first responders prepare for this next Santa Ana event, L.A. County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone shared some perspective on Eaton Fire at Sundays meeting. As I talk to the commanders and firefighters that were in this area, this was the worst fire incident that theyve ever experienced, he said. Im grateful we didnt lose more people, but 17 is too much. Many of those in attendance, like San Gabriel Unified schoolteacher Karen Dekker, lost their homes to the Eaton Fire. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Its hard, Dekker told KTLAs Carlos Saucedo. Its hard to lose your home, your place that is safe and grounding. An Altadena resident for more than 30 years, her house on Homewood Drive was reduced to rubble. Like many others, though, she plans to rebuild. Im definitely rebuilding and everyone I talk to on my street and others I know who lost their homes, theyre all rebuilding, Dekker said. To support her efforts, several of her colleagues at SGUSD have organized a GoFundMe to help Dekker and her family recover from the tragedy. In the meantime, the L.A. County Sheriffs Department has released repopulation and safety guidelines for those forced to evacuate as a result of the Eaton Fire. More information can be found by following this link. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement More information on how to prepare for wildfires can be found here. Copyright 2025 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 20-year-old man is behind bars after reportedly using social media apps to target victims he later held at gunpoint and robbed, authorities in Riverside County announced this month. In a news release, authorities said deputies with the Riverside County Sheriffs Department responded to reports of an armed robbery in the 1200 block of Mount Shasta Street in Perris on Jan. 12 at around 5 p.m. The suspect, later identified as 20-year-old Moreno Valley resident Adrian Henning, fled the scene before deputies arrived, with the victim telling investigators that theyd agreed to meet up on a popular social media sales app. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement When Henning and the victim agreed to meet to exchange the property, Henning took the property without paying and brandished a firearm, the release detailed. Adrian Henning, 20, a resident of Moreno Valley. (RCSD) During their investigation into the incident, detectives learned that the 20-year-old reportedly used the same tactics during another robbery earlier the same day in the unincorporated area of Mead Valley. Suspects allegedly posing as firefighters in Palisades had fake fire engine When the victim and Henning met, Henning attempted to take the victims property by force and fled the area, authorities said. RCSDs Special Enforcement Team assumed the investigation and were able to locate the 20-year-old in Moreno Valley where he was taken into custody and booked into the Cois Byrd Detention Center for robbery, assault with a firearm, assault with a semi-automatic firearm and committing a felony while on bail. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The investigation into Henning remains ongoing and anyone with information is asked to contact RCSD Deputy McMorris at 951-776-1099 or RCSDs Perris Station at 951-210-1000. Copyright 2025 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. Moments after being sworn in Monday, President Donald Trump said he would declare an emergency at the southern border, the start of what he promised to be a crack down on the illegal immigration a crisis that has spilled over into Denver and America's other interior cities. The cartels will be regarded as terrorist organizations, he added during his inauguration speech. Trump also vowed to stop all illegal crossings. And we will begin the process of (sending) criminal aliens back to the places where (they came from), Trump said. He intends to sign a flurry of executive orders that would, among other things, put back in place his Remain in Mexico policy from his first presidency, he said. Adopted in 2019, the program sent back some 70,000 non-Mexican asylum seekers across the border, where they would wait for their immigration court appointments. Then-President Joe Biden immediately suspended the program. I will end the practice of catch and release, Trump said, adding he would be deploying troops to the southern border to "repel the disastrous invasion of our country. Under the orders I'll signed today, we will also be designating the cartels as foreign terrorist organizations, he said, adding that, under the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, he will crack down on foreign criminal gangs. The latter of which, he said, has devastated American cities. Trump raised the issue of illegal immigration and criminal organizations on the campaign trail after the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, of TdA, took control of multiple apartment complexes in Aurora. In an Aurora campaign stop in October, Trump vowed to conduct a mass deportation campaign beginning in Colorados third-largest city. The Denver metro area has been in the throes of a crisis that began two years ago, when about 90 immigrants mostly from South and Central America were dropped off downtown and left to wander in the cold. Since then, nearly 43,000 immigrants, many of whom crossed the border illegally, have arrived in Denver. Early in the crisis, Denver officials decided to assume the responsibility to respond to the influx. To date, those costs have commutatively reached more than $80 million. While Denver has received state and federal reimbursements, the majority of those costs have been borne by Denver taxpayers. Plane, train and bus tickets purchased by the city for immigrants suggest about half have stayed in the Denver metro region. That translates to roughly 21,500 people, or a city about the size of Golden. TdA, a transnational gang, sought to entrench its tentacles in metro Denver. Federal authorities have said gang members wanted to make Denver their headquarters. Featured Local Savings The gang has a diverse criminal portfolio that includes drug and human trafficking particularly immigrant women and girls kidnapping, extortion and money laundering. Aurora police recently arrested several gang members they believe were involved in the kidnapping and torture of a Venezuelan couple on the property. To help combat the problem, city officials who initially denied that TdA had taken over three apartment complexes and terrorized residents have adopted a strategy of boarding up properties under the gangs control. David Pyrooz, a sociology professor at the University of Colorado at Boulder and gang expert, has called the citys strategy very rare. In August, city officials shut down up Aspen Grove a 99-unit apartment complex owned by CBZ Management citing a litany of health and safety violations that included rodent infestations, sewage backups and trash pileups. Emails obtained by The Denver Gazette, however, revealed officials with CBZ Management believed its closure was necessary to thwart the Venezuelan gang. Its closure left about 300 residents homeless. Aurora City Councilwoman Danielle Jurinsky has said she believes closing Aspen Grove only pushed gang members to another property plagued with health and safety issues. The city shut them down and pushed them further into other properties, Jurinsky, chair of Auroras public safety committee, has said. Earlier this month, an Aurora judge approved the citys request for an emergency order to shut down The Edge of Lowry, a second troubled complex associated with CBZ Management. In an affidavit for the court request, Aurora Police Chief Todd Chamberlain said the unmitigated violence at The Edge had reached a breaking point. Without intervention, I believe the criminal behavior will flourish, making living conditions untenable for any law-abiding residents in this neighborhood, Chamberlain said in court documents. Housing advocates and residents have blamed the rapidly deteriorating conditions at the properties on out-of-state slumlord. Aurora officials have said The Edges closure would likely be finalized by mid-February. Built in the 1970s, the Edge at Lowry has 74 units. CBZ Management owns 11 properties in Colorado, including the three troubled apartment complexes in Aurora. TAIPEI (Reuters) -A 6.4 magnitude earthquake struck a mountainous, rural area of Taiwan's south on Tuesday near the city of Chiayi, the island's weather administration said, with reports of minor damage. Chipmaker TSMC said it had evacuated staff at its factories in central and southern Taiwan, and they were all safe. The quake shook buildings in the capital, Taipei. The quake had a depth of 9.4 km (6 miles) with its epicentre in Dapu township in Chiayi county, and hit shortly after midnight, the weather administration said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The fire department said a handful of people were trapped in damaged buildings in the city of Tainan, and some had already been rescued. The Chiayi fire department also said there were no reports of major casualties so far in the city, while an official in Dapu, who gave his family name as Chi, told Reuters power cuts were reported in some villages and some buildings were damaged. The Dapu fire department told Reuters there were no "obvious signs of disaster". The science park in Tainan, home to major factories including of TSMC, said buildings were evacuated. Taiwan lies near the junction of two tectonic plates and is prone to earthquakes. In 1906, the Meishan earthquake near Chiayi killed more than 1,200 people. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Taiwan's last major earthquake was in April, a 7.2 magnitude temblor that hit the east coast county of Hualien, killing 13 people. More than 100 people were killed in a quake in southern Taiwan in 2016 and a 7.3 magnitude quake killed more than 2,000 people in 1999. (Reporting by Ben Blanchard, Yimou Lee and Wen-Yee Lee. Editing by Christina Fincher, Mark Potter and Barbara Lewis) Axel Rudakubana admitted to killing three girls at a dance class in Southport on the first day of his trial. The 18-year-old was to stand trial at Liverpool Crown Court on Monday, charged with 16 offences, including three counts of murder and 10 counts of attempted murder. Dramatically changing his plea at the last moment, the teenager admitted to all the charges. He pleaded guilty to the murders of Bebe King, six, Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, and Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine. He also admitted to possessing terrorist material and producing the toxin ricin. On Thursday, Rudakubana was sentenced to life with a minimum of 52 years for carrying out the horrific attack which was described as a pre-meditated attempt to commit indiscriminate mass murder. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The judge also apologised to the families of the victims who, because of Rudakubanas surprise guilty plea, were not in court to see his admission. Heres everything we know about the devastating Southport attack of July 2024. What did Axel Rudakubana do? On the morning of 29 July 2024, then 17-year-old Axel Rudakubana travelled from his home village of Banks in Lancashire via taxi. He was then seen calmly exiting the vehicle and entering the dance studio on Hart Street. In just minutes, witnesses would describe seeing young girls being carried out of the building covered in blood with stab wounds to their backs, while their screaming parents rushed to find them. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertised for children aged between years 2 and 6 at primary school, the summer event quickly turned to a scene from a horror movie, with an enormous emergency incident declared. Bebe and Elsie both died at the scene. Alice died in hospital the day after the incident. From left to right: Bebe King, Elsie Dot Stancombe and Alice da Silva Aguiar were murdered by Axel Rudakubana (Merseyside Police/PA) Ten others were injured, including eight children, yoga teacher Leanne Lucas and businessman John Hayes, who both had heroically attempted to prevent the attack. He has now pleaded guilty to all charges of murder and attempted murder, as well as terror-related offences. He was found to have a PDF file titled Military Studies in the Jihad Against the Tyrants: The Al-Qaeda Training Manual and charged with possessing information likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism. What happened after the attack? Shortly after the murders, violent riots broke out across the country. These were fuelled by far-right misinformation online which claimed that Rudakubana whose identity was not yet public was a Muslim and asylum seeker. Much of the violence was targeted towards Muslim and migrant communities. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Over the course of six days, the rioting became the largest incident of social unrest in the UK since the 2011 riots. Attempting to tackle the violence, around 130 police officers were injured. By September, 1,280 arrests had been made, with 800 charged. Axel Rudakubana covered his face as he appeared in the dock at Liverpool Crown Court (Elizabeth Cook/PA) In the months since his crime and the subsequent riots, Rudakubana had remained consistently silent in the dock, with prosecutors and investigators compiling CCTV and witness statements to establish the case against him. In a previous appearance, the court heard that Rudakubana had been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, and had refused to engage with a psychiatrist at a police station. In the period leading up to the attack, he had also been unwilling to communicate with his family and had not been leaving the house. Rudakubanas not-guilty pleas were entered on his behalf in December 2024, as he chose not to speak. But as each charge was read to him on 20 January this year, the teenager quietly said guilty to each count. Public inquiry The home secretary announced on Monday that there will be a public inquiry into how Rudakubana came to be so dangerous and why Prevent failed to identify the terrible risk he posed to others. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Yvette Cooper confirmed the 18-year-old had contact with a range of different state agencies throughout his teenage years before carrying out his meticulously planned rampage. Ms Cooper said in a statement: He was referred three times to the Prevent programme between December 2019 and April 2021 aged 13 and 14. He also had contact with the police, the courts, the Youth Justice system, social services and mental health services. Yet between them, those agencies failed to identify the terrible risk and danger to others that he posed. Announcing the public inquiry, the Home Secretary continued: Although, in line with CPS advice to preserve the integrity of the prosecution, we were constrained in what we were able to say at the time, the Home Office commissioned an urgent Prevent Learning Review during the summer into the three referrals that took place and why they were closed. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We will publish further details this week, alongside new reforms to the Prevent programme. But we also need more independent answers on both Prevent and all the other agencies that came into contact with this extremely violent teenager as well as answers on how he came to be so dangerous, including through a public inquiry that can get to the truth about what happened and what needs to change. Jan. 20 (UPI) -- SpaceX for the third time on Monday scrubbed plans to launch 27 more Starlink internet satellites into low-Earth orbit from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California with an earlier one postponed because of a Delta jet flying nearby. No reason was given for the latest delay. The private company is now targeting a Falcon 9 launch from Space Launch Complex 4 East at 7:24 a.m. PST Tuesday with a window until 9:55 a.m. There also is a launch opportunity Wednesday. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The liftoff was scheduled between 7:13 a.m. and 11:13 a.m. Monday. You can watch a live webcast of this mission about five minutes before liftoff on the company's website. The Falcon 9 first-stage booster will launch for a 10th time. About eight minutes after liftoff, the booster is scheduled to land on the SpaceX droneship Of Course I Still Love You. On Sunday morning, SpaceX scrubbed the launch of its Falcon 9 rocket with just 11 seconds to go after a Delta Air Lines plane reportedly flew into an area of restricted airspace close to the launch site. During the broadcast, a voice from the control room could be heard rapidly saying: "Hold, hold, hold!" Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A short time later, the same voice explained: "Held for a possible aircraft in the airspace." The launch also was scrubbed Saturday for unknown reasons. SpaceX also is planning a launch of a Falcon 9 rocket with Starlink satellites Tuesday morning from pad 39A at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. It will become the eighth orbital launch this year from KSC and Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, also in Florida. SPARTANBURG, S.C. Hundreds of people gathered at the Spartanburg Memorial Auditorium to celebrate the life and legacy of civil rights trailblazer Martin Luther King Jr. We come together to celebrate our annual Dr. Martin Luther King JR celebration. This is our 38th annual celebration, said Mitch Kennedy, the Deputy City Manager of Spartanburg. It was one event tied to the City of Spartanburgs Unity Week Celebration. On Sunday, community members were awarded for their service. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The event also featured a conversation with civil rights activist Ruby Bridges, the first black student to attend an all-white elementary school in Louisiana in 1960 at just six years old. I heard Ruby Bridges was going to be speaking and I was excited to come and see and hear what she had to say because I heard her and my grandfather are the same age. So, I wanted to see her experiences versus my grandfathers experiences, Spartanburg resident, Kierrah McEntyre said. City leaders said the lessons learned from both Dr. King and Bridges lives still hold true today. Seeing people of all walks of life come together today this time in our country and understanding the importance of this, Kennedy added. Not everyone is going to walk out of here with the same mind set, but if someone takes one aspect of what they heard here today to inspire them, to be different and to be better as a person, then we won. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement On Monday, United Way of Piedmont is holding an MLK Day of Service. Copyright 2025 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 WSPA 7NEWS. Does shopping around for energy suppliers actually save consumers money? Taking a look at the research and why experts said the process needs to be less confusing. SPRINGFIELD, Mo. As the nation remembers the work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the cold morning did not stop members of the Springfield community from gathering for a memorial march. Hundreds of people from all walks of life gathered to remember and celebrate the work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and his legacy. Given the world where we see such division and unfortunately, a lot of hate, its the constant reminder that we should be always striving toward that, said Kyler Sherman-Wilkins, Vice President of the Springfield NAACP chapter. That that place full of love and free of hate. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The decades-long tradition starts with the march across the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Bridge and ends at the Gillioz Theater for a presentation reflecting on the past and future. Weve come so far as a community, as a people toward living toward that, that, that promise and that dream that MLK so famously had, Sherman-Wilkins said. But were not there yet, and I think its just a way of honoring what weve done but also lay out the road map to where we need to go from here. One Drury student from Texas marching today says this was her first march for MLK Day. I dont have to do it alone. And like I have other people I know already here, said Kathy Franklin. So Im like, just really excited and really happy and like, really looking forward to the march. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Sherman Wilkins says MLK Day is more than just a national holiday and the march is a tradition the NAACP plans to continue for years to come. Copyright 2025 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 KOLR - OzarksFirst.com. Jan. 19MASSENA The St. Lawrence County Chamber of Commerce has plans for an active year in Massena. "The St. Lawrence County Chamber of Commerce is making plans for an exciting year in Massena in 2025 as we pursue staffing and a new office, hosting of events, collaboration with local organizations, community promotion, tourism development and attraction, and support of its businesses," Executive Director Benjamin R. Dixon said. The Massena, Canton and Ogdensburg chambers had merged with the St. Lawrence County Chamber of Commerce in 2023, and Laura Pearson began working in Massena on Mondays and Tuesdays and attending meetings of the Massena Rotary Club in 2024 while splitting her time with the Ogdensburg Chamber office. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "The past year was one of tremendous evolution for the chamber as we developed a new staff, grew our board of directors, delved into new tourism initiatives, and established new membership benefits," Dixon said. "We also effected the four-party legal business merger of the Massena and St. Lawrence County (with Ogdensburg and Canton) chambers, a process that has required patient and deliberate effort to implement logistically. We continue to seek the financial capacity to achieve our vision and goals of an Integrated chamber of commerce." Reflecting back on 2004, he said Massena was well-represented in the chamber's nationwide and Canadian marketing efforts. "Recreational assets were featured in heavily trafficked digital platforms such as Discover Upstate NY, Thousand Islands Regional Tourism, and the Hearst Times Union. We helped the town secure $10,000 in ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) Tourism Promotion funds. We posted frequently on our Visit STLC: Massena NY Facebook page with nearly 5,000 followers, and our Massena-specific web page at www.visitstlc.com/massena-new-york/ receives excellent traffic," Dixon said. In addition, he said, "We amplified digital marketing of the Fall Fest Pumpkinpalooza to thousands." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement On the business side, he said they hosted Business After Hours events, spotlighted several businesses on Facebook, and recently hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony at North Country Liquor & Wine, formerly Romeo's Liquor store. "Curran Renewable Energy was our Local Producer of the Year," Dixon said. Now, it's time to look forward to 2025. "We have far loftier goals for 2025, as we work to achieve the financial capacity for a new office and permanent staff in Massena," he said. He said they're looking to "drive engagement with businesses and organizations and connect them to development opportunities pertinent to their needs, promote them through digital and other marketing channels, and build awareness and utilization of the robust benefits of chamber membership." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "We look forward to hosting Business After Hours, including May 27 at the Gristmill Brewery, our annual tourism dinner at the River Course at Louisville Landing on June 12, more ribbon-cuttings, and community-wide festivals to feature businesses and organizations holding thematically connected events and offerings and a Shop Local in Massena campaign," Dixon said. He said they also want to advance tourism promotion of Massena and surrounding communities by collaborating with municipalities, promotion partners and local attractions, "and, in keeping with our vision of an integrated chamber of commerce, connect our work in business development, workforce development, advocacy and tourism to our members, the businesses, and the communities we serve." "In pursuit of these goals, the 16 Church St. property has been put up for sale on the Multiple Listing Service. The large building exceeds our needs for an office and visitor center and can be put to a higher use by a different entity, becoming an active property for the community and contributing to the local economy," Dixon said. He said the sale of the building, along with financial support from the town of Massena, membership dues and sponsorships, "will hopefully provide the catalytic revenue for us to hire a permanent Massena community coordinator and staff a new office." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He said the Massena presence is necessary to carry out their plans for 2025. "The chamber holds a dedicated checking account solely for the revenues and expenses specific to our Massena operations, and the sale revenues of the Church Street property will be deposited into that account," he said. Dixon said they're anticipate an exciting 2025. "As we turn the corner from a year of evolution in 2024, the St. Lawrence County Chamber of Commerce casts its vision forward with enthusiasm to a year of beneficial impact and exciting activity in the Greater Massena community. We look forward to increasing collaboration and engagement with the businesses, organizations, and residents of the community and welcome your feedback and support as we work together to do great things in 2025," he said. When the U.S. Department of Justice took a hard look in 2015 at the municipal fines and fees issued by Ferguson, Mo., officials uncovered some difficult truths. Nearly a fourth of the city budget rested on fining individuals, many of them local residents and the vast majority of them Black. Ferguson, a high-poverty community, issued some 90,000 summonses and citations in a single year. The citys population at the time was 21,000 people. As the St. Paul City Council prepares to vote on amending the city charter to allow for non-criminal fines and administrative citations, Ferguson looms large as a negative precedent for some critics worried that future penalties will come down hardest on those with the least ability to pay. Theyre eager to see guardrails preventing cash-strapped city departments from balancing their books through fines over mundane concerns like tall weeds and chipped paint. What is going to happen to poor folks and BIPOC folks if they get caught up in one of these fines? said Caty Royce, a co-director of the Frogtown Neighborhood Association, addressing the city council last Wednesday. If were going to pass this and it sounds like a lot of folks are in support of it it has to have a tool, whether its a fund thats put together that (supports) folks that cannot afford this, or some safety measures. There are equity issues. Amendment looks likely to be approved Years in the making and supported by all seven council members, the proposed charter amendment looks likely to be approved by the city council on Wednesday, but that may not be the final word. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Peter Butler, a former council candidate and frequent critic of City Hall, said he and likeminded peers plan to collect 2,000 voter signatures with the intent of freezing the charter amendment and forcing it onto the public ballot next November. Hell have 60 days from the time of the council vote to get his signatures in. Youre overselling this idea of civil penalties, Butler told the council Wednesday. The idea that these civil penalties are going to inspire changes in behavior, I dont think thats going to happen. Council Member Anika Bowie said her childhood home had been temporarily boarded by the city in her youth for falling below code. With those memories in mind, she had listened to all sides of the debate and reached out to the nonprofit Fines and Fees Justice Center, which is based in New York City, to consider a process that treats people with dignity, justice and protection. Rather than vote against a charter amendment, she said she planned to propose a resolution to support an advisory group a community equity body to review how citations are structured, and to use the citys new Reparations Commission to incorporate fines and fees into a historical analysis of city practices with negative racial impacts, dubbed a harm report. She also proposes a fund ensuring that fines and fees cant be used as a city revenue generator and are instead collected to help everyday residents comply with city standards. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Administrative fines have unintended consequences, acknowledged Bowie, noting community leaders in the wards she represents Frogtown and Summit-University are opposed to them. Those unintended consequences are real. Its been well studied. Weve seen them across the country. As someone raised in Rondo, I have seen the devastation when someone didnt have the means to meet our citys codes. Worker, renter groups urge approval In all, 24 of the 25 largest cities in Minnesota including Minneapolis, Woodbury and Brooklyn Center allow their city councils to impose non-criminal fines on those who violate city ordinances. St. Paul does not, though that will change if the charter is amended and the council is granted the power to begin altering individual ordinances to add administrative penalties. During a public hearing before the city council last week, a long line of city residents and representatives of worker and renter advocacy groups took the microphone to encourage the seven council members to do just that. Administrative citations have won the support of ISAIAH, the St. Paul Regional Labor Federation, SEIU Healthcare Minnesota & Iowa, Sustain St. Paul and Unidos St. Paul, all of whom urged the council members on Wednesday to vote for the charter change. Private contractors working on our streets just block them off, set up obstructions, and the city has very little power to stop them, said Rick Varco, a political director with SEIU Healthcare and chair of the St. Paul Charter Commission. Its a real problem. This is a real solution. In fact, its the solution most cities have. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Testifiers also shared stories of menacing or absentee landlords who failed to maintain properties, and self-serving employers who ignored city regulations around paid sick leave. Several speakers recounted how out-of-state property owners take advantage of them and their friends or family. The likelihood of hiring an attorney to take on a sizable corporation over a few hundred dollars in pay or services seemed unrealistic. Tonette Clardy, a small business owner who is active in the faith-based organization ISAIAH, told the city council that she and her neighbors have long expressed frustration about a vacant property in the area recently condemned. Currently, there are too many examples where the city of St. Paul is left with two options, Clardy said. Its either inaction, or charging someone with a (criminal) misdemeanor. These are too extreme to address the situation in my neighborhood. I dont want the owner to be jailed, but I do want him to be held accountable. I also dont want the violators of laws, especially those of color, to be on a path toward over-penalization or criminalization. Still, some neighborhood advocates remain skeptical that granting the council citation power will work out as planned. Jens Werner, executive director of the Summit-University Planning Council, said the citys Department of Safety and Inspections and its complaint-based summary abatement orders already penalize homeowners in the lower-income Rondo area more so than in neighboring Cathedral Hill, which is wealthier. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Patricia Hartmann, an attorney and former council candidate, predicted critics will collect enough voter signatures to take the charter amendment to the November ballot. Youre just going to add a big burden to the people of this city to pay for a whole lot more city jobs, to try to duplicate a court system that has really good rules of evidence and doesnt allow hearsay, Hartmann said. Just get yourself a good lawyer. This should be done by a popular vote. Council members are on board To amend the charter, the seven-member council must be unanimous. All of the council members last Wednesday spoke in favor of an amendment, noting each ordinance change creating administrative penalties would have to go through its own individual hearing process. City Council President Mitra Jalali said the intent was to go after the worst actors and some of the biggest, most faceless, out-of-state corporate landlords and employers who will not even show face to a public hearing. This is about the big guys. This is about making them pay. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Jalali said civil penalties would go through an ability to pay review ensuring institutions pay larger fines than everyday residents and the fines were proportionate to the actor. What we heard today is just so many examples of why residents in our city especially and disproportionately lower-income, working class people of color need the city on their side to defend their paycheck, to defend their home, to make sure the habitability and safety of their residents are taken care of, she added. And with that, we need to make an equity plan for implementation. Related Articles ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (WFLA) A man was arrested on Saturday after he was accused of depositing checks he had stolen from the U.S. mail on multiple occasions. According to an affidavit, Jahi Sherriff Williams, 27, deposited a fraudulent check into a Suncoast credit union account from an ATM. The incident took place on Nov. 7, 2023. The affidavit said that Jahi stole the check from the U.S. mail and altered it to be payable to Jakill Powell for $8,500. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement On July 7, 2024, Williams was accused of stealing a check from the U.S. mail stream and depositing it into a TD bank account from an ATM. According to police, the check was altered to be made payable for $4,350 to Bashayla Williams. Florida man arrested after hitting pedestrian with E-Bike, fleeing the scene: affidavit On August 10, Williams again deposited a fraudulent check into a TD bank account from an ATM, according to an affidavit. This time the check was altered to the amount of $4,000 and made payable to Lamont Bellamny. After an investigation, the St. Pete Police Department arrested Williams and charged him with uttering forged bills, checks, drafts, or notes. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 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. Michigan's top prosecutor secured a deal to clean up dangerous chemicals at several former metal finishing sites in Grand Rapids, protecting residents from health risks while holding companies responsible for past pollution, MLive reported. What happened? Attorney General Dana Nessel settled a 2022 lawsuit requiring Keeler Brass entities to investigate and remove hazardous substances at four locations where their operations left behind toxic compounds. "Michigan residents deserve to be safe from environmental contamination in their communities," Nessel said in a statement. Do you worry about air pollution in your town? All the time Often Only sometimes Never Click your choice to see results and speak your mind. The settlement mandates cleanup of chemicals such as trichloroethylene and PFAS ("forever chemicals"), which can seep into buildings through vapor intrusion and contaminate drinking water. These substances persist in both the environment and human bodies, causing serious health problems. Why is industrial pollution concerning? When manufacturing sites close without proper environmental remediation, they leave behind toxic legacies that put nearby communities at risk. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Volatile organic compounds can release dangerous vapors into buildings, while per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances travel through groundwater and resist breaking down naturally. Left unchecked, this contamination threatens public health through exposure to carcinogenic substances. The pollution can also harm local waterways, including the creek near one former Keeler Brass location. What's being done about industrial contamination? The settlement provides a path forward by requiring Keeler Brass entities to take responsibility for investigating pollution levels at all four sites, install vapor intrusion controls to protect building occupants, clean up any contamination that exceeds state safety standards, and pay for Michigan's past and future oversight costs. Scientists from the state Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy will supervise the investigation and remediation work. Director Phil Roos said these efforts will help safeguard residents from exposure to dangerous industrial chemicals. The legally binding agreement demonstrates that state regulators can hold companies accountable while giving communities peace of mind about the cleanup of contaminated properties. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Join our free newsletter for good news and useful tips, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet. JAMM AQUINO / JAQUINO @STARADVERTISER.COM Honolulus Pu ukamali i Cemeteryseen Thursdayis one of eight acquired by the state in the recent decade that has fallen victim to neglect and lack of grounds care. JAMM AQUINO / JAQUINO @STARADVERTISER.COM Honolulus Pu ukamali i Cemeteryseen Thursdayis one of eight acquired by the state in the recent decade that has fallen victim to neglect and lack of grounds care. Several often-neglected Hawaii government ceme teries adopted from private operators could be in store for better care. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A state agency is proposing to create and fund a cemetery management office to regularly maintain eight cemeteries on three islands that dont receive routine groundskeeping service. The state Department of Accounting and General Serv ices is asking state lawmakers to appropriate almost $2.3 million over the next two fiscal years to run its proposed new office. DAGS Director Keith Regan told a pair of legislative committees earlier this month that the proposal is among agency priorities this year and is needed to respect roughly 6, 000 burials and living descendants who visit many of those graves. Currently, the way that this is being handled is, when we have time, well get out there and do it, Regan told members of the Senate Committee on Government Operations and the Senate Ways and Means Committee. And so oftentimes it gets neglected. We dont have staff to be able to send out to properly maintain (the cemeteries ). Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Regan also told the committees that there has been vandalism at some of the sites and that more resources to maintain the cemeteries will help stop desecration. Don 't miss out on what 's happening ! Stay in touch with breaking news, as it happens, conveniently in your email inbox. It 's FREE ! Email 28141 Sign Up By clicking to sign up, you agree to Star-Advertiser 's and Google 's and. This form is protected by reCAPTCHA. When vandals toppled headstones about five years ago at Waianae Japanese Cemetery, one of the eight cemeteries overseen by DAGS, it was community members who responded with weed whackers, chain saws, rakes and trash cans to clean up the property. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement People also had been living among kiawe trees in the cemetery at the time and using the propertys water supply to shower. Lena Suzuki, whose husbands grandparents and great-grandparents are buried at the cemetery off Waianae Valley Road, organized the cleanup and said at the time that volunteers filled six trucks and a large trailer with mattresses, trash and debris that had littered the area. Chiemi Kochi, who has lived next to Pu ukamali i Cemetery in Alewa Heights for roughly 60 years, said Friday that groundskeeping has gotten better in the past two or three years. Still, the grass at times can still rise up to around a thigh-high level before being cut down by DAGS workers. Kochi, who also recalled the use of prison labor to maintain the cemetery in years past, said more routine maintenance would be good. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement On Friday a DAGS crew of two had just finished mowing the 3-acre cemetery, where the water system is broken and vegetation has disturbed some grave sites. DAGS handles many functions of state government, including grounds maintenance for 115 sites including the state Capitol, public office buildings, libraries and civic centers. But there are no specific resources or funding to support care for previously private cemeteries currently owned by the state, according to the agency. Under state law the state comptroller, who heads DAGS, is responsible for the operation, maintenance, improvement, redevelopment, and disposal of state-owned cemeteries ; for the determination of ownership of plots therein ; and for the proper maintenance of records pertaining to the cemeteries, including cemetery plot plans, and records of plot ownership, interments, and disinterments. The DAGS director also is empowered to arrange for nonprofits to manage state-owned cemeteries. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Much of the history surrounding why the state acquired some of the eight cemeteries from prior private operators is not known to current DAGS leadership. According to one DAGS document, Makiki Cemetery at the corner of Pensacola Street and Wilder Avenue was probably Honolulus first government cemetery, part of which was used by Oahu Prison. An initial executive order in 1933, when Hawaii was a U.S. territory, put the cemetery under the control and management of the Superintendent of Public Works. The document also said that Pu ukamali i Cemetery, which dates back to at least 1901 and previously was known as Kalaepohaku Cemetery, was put under the jurisdiction of the territorial Public Works Department in 1931. Burials at Pu ukamali i date back at least to the early 1900s and have continued over decades since then, with some of the more recent burials done for people who died in 2014 and 2015. There is also a small monument memorializing four sons of Hawaii who served in the U.S. Army infantry during World War I and died without their final resting places being known. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The other cemeteries under DAGS care on Oahu are Aiea Cemetery adjacent to Aloha Stadium, Puea Cemetery near Bishop Museum, and Waianae Cemetery, which is not far from Waianae Japanese Cemetery. Two of the cemeteries are on other islands : Hanapepe Cemetery on Kauai and Kalaoa Cemetery on Hawaii island. In recent years there also have been efforts, including bills that failed at the Legislature, to have the state take ownership of the run-down Sunset Memorial Park in Pearl City after the owner of the property died. UPDATE, 1/20/25: Kristopher Harrison told News 10 via text that he has been disqualified from the race. The Feb. 5 election for State Senate District 23 will now be contested between two candidates, Brach Myers and Jesse Regan, both Republicans. ORIGINAL STORY: LAFAYETTE, La. (KLFY) Kristopher Harrison, a candidate for State Senate District 23, appeared at the Lafayette Parish Courthouse after being accused of not filing his taxes in 2019 and 2022. Taylor Fontenot, a petitioner, filed the complaint on Thursday. This comes after Harrison placed his name on the ballot for State Senate District 23 on Jan. 9. Harrison said the court order came as a surprise. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We didnt get much time to prepare at all, but when you do the right thing and you know the truth of the situation, you dont need much time, all you have to do is just tell the truth, Harrison said. Fontenot and Harrison stood before Judge Royale Colbert, where Fontenot claimed Harrison did not file or certify tax documents with the Louisiana Department of Revenue. Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now KLFY Daily Digest Harrison claims he filed taxes in 2022, but did not have to file in 2019 with the state of Louisiana due to his living in Texas that year. I filed federal taxes in 2019, but I didnt file Louisiana state income taxes in 2019 because at the time I was a bill analyst for the Senate Research Center in Austin Texas, Harrison said. Texas doesnt have State Income Tax, and the revenue, the money that was earned in Texas wasnt subjected to the Louisiana Income Tax. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A decision on Harrisons possible disqualification has not yet been made. Harrison says he will remain calm and will await whichever ruling Colbert makes. Hopefully well let justice reign, let justice do its course, and its part of the process and you know, whenever youre committed to doing the right thing, youre committed to telling the truth, nothing surprises you, so everybodys just trying to do the best they can, and were going to let the process handle itself, said Harrison. Latest news Copyright 2025 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 KLFY.com. Idaho Department of Health and Welfare Director Alex Adams joins state officials and business leaders to announce the Idaho State Park Foster Family Passport at Lucky Peak State Park, as foster parents and families stand behind him. (Kyle Pfannenstiel/Idaho Capital Sun) Without any debate in opposition, the Idaho Senate voted Monday to confirm Alex Adams appointment as the director of the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare. Gov. Brad Little announced the appointment of Adams as director of the Department of Health and Welfare on May 7, and Adams has been working in that capacity since last summer. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX But the appointment is subject to confirmation by the Idaho Senate. Prior to his appointment leading the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare, Adams served as Littles budget chief. Adams also previously served as executive director of the Idaho Board of Pharmacy, and as interim director of the Idaho Charter School Commission. Sen. Scott Grow, R-Eagle, spoke in favor of Adams nomination on the Senate floor Monday. Grow said Adams brings a mix of industry experience and financial acumen to the directors office. For example, Grow said Adams experience as a budget director for Little will help him oversee the Idaho Department of Health and Welfares approximately $5 billion budget, which is the largest in the state. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He has significant experience certainly understands the numbers and the finances and is already doing an outstanding job getting on top of the Department of Health and Welfare, Grow said Monday. After Grow s remarks, the Idaho Senate voted unanimously by voice vote to confirm Adams. Adams succeeds previous Idaho Department of Health and Welfare Director Dave Jeppesen, who retired in December 2023. Between Jeppesen and Adams, Idaho Department of Insurance Director Dean Cameron had served as interim director of the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE FAIRMONT, W.Va. (WBOY) With fresh snow on the ground and incoming below zero temperatures this week, 12 News spoke with the administrator of Marion County Health Department, David Whittaker, on what you need to know to stay safe in these extreme temperatures. Some tips include making sure you are prepared with water, non-perishable food, and that you have all your medications, and in addition to your own preparations, Whittaker said to check on your neighbor and keep an eye on your community. Officials urge people to be safe with space heaters in the winter Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement If you must go outside, you want to limit your time in the elements, cover your face, your extremities, your toes, your fingers, your mouth, those areas are susceptible and are quicker to receive frostbite, Whittaker said. So if you have shoveling or have projects, you know, do it intermittently, go in, come inside and warm up and go back out. Whittaker said the danger is not just the cold but the windchill as well. Another tip Whittaker mention was to make sure that when you come inside to warm up, to do so slowly, through room temperature and blankets, not using extremes like hot water. Copyright 2025 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 WBOY.com. Steve Bannon told ABC News that Trump "broke" the tech giants who've embraced him. "He broke them, and they surrendered," the ex-Trump White House aide said on Sunday. Bannon has expressed skepticism toward Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Ex-Trump White House chief strategist Steve Bannon said Sunday during an ABC News interview that the attendance of high-profile tech moguls at Donald Trump's inauguration on Monday signals their "official surrender" to the president-elect. Bannon, while speaking with journalist Jonathan Karl on "This Week," said he wasn't surprised by the expected appearances of Tesla CEO Elon Musk, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg at Trump's inaugural. "As soon as Zuckerberg said, 'I've been invited. I'm going,' the floodgates opened up, and they were all there knocking, trying to be supplicants," Bannon told Karl. "I think most people in our movement look at this as President Trump broke the oligarchs; he broke them, and they surrendered." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Bannon then pointed to President Joe Biden's farewell speech last week, when the departing president warned that "an oligarchy is taking shape in America," expressing his view that extreme wealth and influence threatened the nation. "When Biden talks about that they only became oligarchs when they flipped on him when they surrendered, and they're going to come to Trump's thing," Bannon said. The former Trump aide then compared the attendance of the tech titans to Japan officially surrendering on the USS Missouri in September 1945, an event which marked the end of World War II. "He's like Gen. Douglas MacArthur," Bannon said of the president-elect. "That is an official surrender, and I think it's powerful." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Bezos and Zuckerberg are set to be guests at Trump's inauguration, and Musk a political ally of Trump who has become a fixture of the president-elect's political orbit will also be in attendance. Amazon and Meta each donated $1 million to Trump's inaugural fund. Other companies have also donated money as many business leaders seek to establish or strengthen ties with Trump ahead of his second term. Bannon, during the ABC interview, however expressed skepticism of their recent warmness toward Trump. "Zuckerberg's, you know, road to Damascus came a little late. It was after the Fifth of November," Bannon told Karl. "It's very, you know, now wants to be a bro. That doesn't hack it with me." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "That guy will flip on President Trump, and he'll flip on us in a second when it's convenient for him," he added. Earlier in January, Bannon called Musk a "truly evil guy" after the tech mogul stood behind his support of H-1B visas. Many conservatives have argued against the visas, insistent that the skilled-worker program is detrimental to American workers. "I will have Elon Musk run out of here by Inauguration Day," Bannon said at the time. Business Insider reached out to Amazon and Meta for comment. Read the original article on Business Insider (FOX40.COM) Stockton Police are investigating a fatal shooting that occurred in Stockton on Sunday night. Authorities said that a 20-year-old male victim arrived in the 8000 block of Lorraine Avenue with a gunshot wound. Man transported after stabbing in North Highlands He was transported to a local hospital and died from his injuries. At this time, officials said that the location of the shooting is unknown and there is no suspect description. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement As of 10 p.m., Stockton PD is investigating to find out more information. Copyright 2025 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 News. Last week, we asked for more nominations for Student of the Week, and you answered the call. This week, our Student of the Week poll nominees are from two schools participating for the first time. Read what the people who nominated these high school students say about them below, and then vote in our poll to determine who should take the title of Wisconsin Student of the Week. Don't see anyone from your high school here? Keep reading to learn how you can nominate a student from your school for our weekly poll. Nyla Deans, grade 11, Nicolet Union High School Nyla Deans "Nyla courageously experiments with new techniques and structures to stretch her capabilities as a writer. She is a dynamic collaborator who energizes our classroom discussions in AP Language with her insights. Nyla is a true leader!" Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement -Katherine Reed, administrative assistant, Nicolet Union High School Kevin Fields, grade 10, Carmen Middle / High School of Science and Technology Kevin Fields "This student has proactively applied to several pre-college programs independently. He has taken appropriate measures to secure his success by seeking recommendations from teachers and collaborating with his career coordinator to refine his resume, in addition to boasting a 4.0 GPA." -Dejah Russell-Banister, career readiness coordinator, Carmen Middle / High School of Science and Technology: Northwest Campus Vote in this week's Student of the Week poll Our poll runs this week from Monday, Jan. 20, until noon Thursday, Jan. 23. We will announce the winner online Jan. 24 at jsonline.com, postcrescent.com and greenbaypressgazette.com, and in our newspapers on Sunday, Jan. 26. Happy voting! Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Do you work with youth and know someone who should be Student of the Week? Reach out to Debi Young, statewide education editor, at debi.young@jrn.com to get a link to the nomination form. Rebecca Loroff is a K-12 education reporter for the USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin. She welcomes story tips and feedback. Contact her at rloroff@gannett.com. This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Vote in our 15th Wisconsin Student of the Week poll NEW HARTFORD, NY (WUTR/WFXV/WPNY) An accident on Commercial Drive in New Hartford on Sunday has sent two people to the hospital. New Hartford Police were called to the Sumo Japanese Steakhouse on Commercial Drive at approximately 4:24 pm on Sunday, January 19. Upon their arrival, officers were met with both vehicles in the roadway of Commercial Drive with heavy front-end damage. Police say both vehicles also had their airbags deployed. Further investigation found that the driver of the first car driven by 57-year-old Theresa Bolos of New Hartford was attempting to make a left turn out of the parking lot and go eastbound onto Commercial Drive. As Bolos was attempting to turn left, it came into contact with another vehicle driven by 60-year-old Philip Baratta of Remsen. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Both Bolos and Baratta were taken to the Wynn Hospital in Utica via ambulance. The area of the accident was shut down for a time to accommodate Mercy Flight. It was reopened after it was determined that the injured did not need the helicopter. At the completion of the investigation, Bolos was ticketed for failure to yield the right of way. The condition of both drivers as well as the extent of their injuries is unknown at this time. Copyright 2025 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 WUTR/WFXV - CNYhomepage.com. China unveils blueprint for building strong education system by 2035 Xinhua) 08:04, January 20, 2025 BEIJING, Jan. 19 (Xinhua) -- China on Sunday unveiled a new educational blueprint, vowing to build a strong education system by 2035 to support its modernization drive and national rejuvenation. The 2024-2035 master plan on building China into a leading country in education was jointly issued by the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and the State Council. The strong education system of socialism with Chinese characteristics will feature powerful ideological and political leadership, talent competitiveness, scientific and technological underpinning, livelihood security, social synergy, and international influence, according to the document. Building a leading country in education has been an aspiration of the Chinese nation since the advent of modern times. In 2022, the CPC set the goal to be achieved by 2035. (Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Zhong Wenxing) By Nazrin Abdul Negotiations with the opposing parties regarding our ships held in Eritrea are ongoing. Azernews reports that this was stated by Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov in his statement to journalists today while visiting the Alley of Martyrs in connection with the January 20 tragedy. The Minister noted that negotiations with Eritrea are continuing through the embassies of Ankara and Moscow, as well as the New York representative office. "As soon as the first information regarding the Azerbaijani ships held hostage in Eritrea was received, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs took action. Azerbaijan does not have a diplomatic representation in Eritrea. However, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is working with relevant agencies in a coordinated manner. Negotiations with the opposing parties are ongoing. Positive dynamics have been observed in the negotiations in recent weeks," the Minister said. It should be noted that on November 7, 2024, Caspian Marine Services B.V. The ships CMS Pahlevan, CMS Yigid and CMS-3, sailing under the state flag of the Republic of Azerbaijan and operated by the branch of the company in the Republic of Azerbaijan, made a forced entry into the territorial waters of the State of Eritrea as a result of worsening weather conditions during their visit to Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, from the direction of the Suez Canal. Although prior contact was made with the port authorities of the State of Eritrea during the passage, since it was not possible to provide information, after entering the 12-mile territorial waters of the state, the relevant authority of the State of Eritrea emphasized that the entry was unauthorized and detained the said ships. Eighteen of the crew members of the ships are citizens of the Republic of Azerbaijan. A man surfing in frigid waters off the south coast of Long Island on Sunday was pulled from the water by a passerby but later pronounced dead at a local hospital, authorities said. Jack Shapiro, 54, was found unresponsive in the waters off Gilgo Beach by a good Samaritan around 2:15 p.m., News 12 Long Island reported. The helpful bystander brought Shapiro, a Holbrook resident, back to shore and alerted authorities, according to Newsday. Shapiro was taken to Good Samaritan University Hospital in West Islip, but he was pronounced dead at the facility. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Shapiros cause of death has not been determined, and Suffolk County police will investigate the case. He was surfing in chilly conditions on Sunday, as surface temperatures on Long Island hovered around the mid-30s all afternoon. By Monday morning, the National Weather Service had issued a small craft advisory for all waters immediately surrounding Long Island. Across the country, including in the New York area, temperatures plummeted below freezing on Monday. Parts of Long Island saw multiple inches of snow. Gilgo Beach is also famously where the bodies of multiple women were found starting in the 1990s until 2011, having apparently been dumped there by a serial killer. In July 2023, Massapequa Park resident Rex Heuermann was charged with several of the murders. Heuermann remains behind bars ahead of trial. [See violent crime statistics in the player above.] BEDFORD HEIGHTS, Ohio (WJW) A driver who fled a traffic stop on foot aimed a firearm at a police officer during the pursuit, according to the police chief. Bedford Heights Police Chief Michael Marotta told FOX 8 News that a police officer at about 1 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 17, stopped the suspects vehicle near the Rockside Park Towers apartment building by Perkins Road. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement 2 teen girls arrested in connection to missing girl found bludgeoned, stabbed and burned The suspect got out and ran, then drew a gun and pointed it at the officer. That officer ordered the suspect to drop the weapon, then fired on the suspect. Neither the suspect nor the officer were shot. The suspect allegedly threw the gun into a vehicle through a window that had been shot out and ran into the apartments. The officer took cover and called for backup, Marotta said. Surveillance video from the apartment building showed where the suspect was hiding. Officers secured the building and ultimately arrested the suspect without incident, the chief said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Several water main breaks in NE Ohio The suspects name has not been released. Charges are pending, Marotta said. The officer who fired on the suspect was placed on administrative leave over the weekend, while the shooting was being investigated, the chief said. He has since been cleared to return to work. Copyright 2025 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. TOWN OF GENEVA, Wis. (WFRV) A man is in custody after a fatal shooting in the Town of Geneva. According to a Facebook post from the Town of Geneva Police Department, officers were called to W3895 Lincoln Ave just before 2:30 a.m. on Monday for a report that a young man had been shot. Police: One dead following shooting in Wisconsin, suspct arrested The post says that after life-saving measures were tried at the scene, the man was taken to a local hospital where he later died from his injuries. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Police report that 52-year-old Steven Merkel Jr. from Lake Geneva was arrested for the shooting and is facing charges of first-degree reckless homicide. No further information has been provided as this investigation is ongoing. Copyright 2025 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 WFRV Local 5 - Green Bay, Appleton. Update: The Clark County coroners office identified the victim as Selene Perez, 24. Her cause of death was listed as a gunshot wound to the head with the manner being homicide. LAS VEGAS (KLAS) The suspect of a shooting who fled from police before crashing his vehicle was found with a dead body in the front seat, police said. Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department (LVMPD) detectives were investigating a homicide near the intersection of Pecos Road and East Charleston Boulevard in east Las Vegas on Sunday morning. LVMPD officials said dispatchers received a 911 call at approximately 8:15 a.m. from someone saying they had received a call from a friend. The friend had told the 911 caller that he had just shot his girlfriend near Bonanza and Sandhill. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The caller provided dispatchers with a description of the vehicle and the location where the vehicle could be found. When officers arrived, they found the vehicle and attempted a traffic stop. At that point, police said the vehicle fled before colliding with another vehicle at the intersection of Pecos Road and East Charleston Boulevard. Law enforcement officials said they took the suspect, identified only as Julio Machado Vasquez, 24, into custody. While apprehending Vasquez, officers found a woman dead in the front seat of the vehicle with a gunshot wound. Police took Vasquez to a local hospital for treatment for his injuries sustained in the crash. Police booked him in absentia to the Clark County Detention Center where he faces charges of open murder with a deadly weapon and driver disobeying a peace officer resulting in death or bodily harm. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He was held without bail. His next court appearance was scheduled for Jan. 20. Investigators ask anyone with information on the shooting to contact the LVMPD Homicide Section at 702-828-3521 or via email at homicide@lvmpd.com. Additionally, those wishing to remain anonymous can contact Crime Stoppers at 702-385-5555 or via the organizations website. Copyright 2025 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. Disclaimer: All persons are innocent until proven guilty SHREVEPORT, La. (KTAL/KMSS) The Shreveport Police Department says a man is wanted in connection with multiple shootings in Shreveport. According to SPD, on Sunday, January 19, at approximately 9:20 p.m., officers were dispatched to a residence in the 5800 block of 2nd Street in response to a shooting. Police say officers discovered a 59-year-old male victim bleeding heavily from a gunshot wound to the head and neck area. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Police say the victim informed detectives that he was home alone when he heard a knock at his door. Upon opening it, he observed a subject known to him as Cartez Claville. After allowing Claville to enter, the victim turned his back, at which point Claville allegedly shot him once in the neck before fleeing the residence on foot. The victim has stabilized and is expected to make a full recovery. MORE LOCAL NEWS Detectives identified the suspect as 39-year-old Cartilieus Claville , who is also known as Cartez Claville. Police say Claville is also wanted for multiple including: Attempted Second-Degree Murder: An arrest warrant was issued on January 10, 2025, for a shooting that occurred on January 7, 2025, at the Economy Inn, located at 5101 Monkhouse Drive in Shreveport. Attempted Armed Robbery: Claville is a suspect in an attempted armed robbery in Arlington, Texas, on January 10, 2025. During that incident, shots were exchanged with law enforcement officers before Claville evaded capture. SPD says a second arrest warrant for Attempted Second-Degree Murder has now been issued for the January 19 shooting. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Police say that Claville is considered to be armed and dangerous and anyone with information on his location is asked to contact law enforcement. Do not attempt to approach or apprehend him. Shreveport Police Department: (318) 673-7300 Caddo Crime Stoppers: (318) 673-7373 Copyright 2025 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 KTALnews.com. STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Swedish prosecutors have requested the detention of a Swedish man on suspicion of war and terrorism crimes over the killing of a Jordanian air force pilot in Syria a decade ago, they said on Monday. The man, named in Swedish court documents as Osama Krayem, has previously been convicted for involvement in attacks in Paris in 2015 and in Brussels in 2016. The Islamic State militant group, which once imposed a reign of terror over millions of people in Syria and Iraq, captured Jordanian pilot Mouath al-Kasaesbeh in December 2014 and later published a video of him being burned alive in a cage. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "The man now requested for detention is suspected of having executed the pilot, together with other perpetrators belonging to IS," the Swedish Prosecution Authority said in a statement. The prosecutors said Krayem, 32, alongside others, forced the pilot into the cage. The killing of the pilot violates the laws of war, and the killing and video constitute terrorist activities, they said. No individuals have so far stood trial for the killing of the Jordanian pilot, the prosecutors said. Krayem's Swedish lawyer did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Sweden will request that Krayem, who is currently held in France, be transferred to Sweden in the case of a trial in the Nordic country, the prosecutors said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Islamic State controlled swathes of Iraq and Syria between 2014 and 2017, and was defeated in its last bastions in Syria in 2019. Under Swedish legislation, courts can try people for crimes against international law committed abroad. (Reporting by Anna Ringstrom, editing by Terje Solsvik and Bernadette Baum) President-elect Trump on Monday becomes only the third president to take the oath of office on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. The collision of the two events has set members of the civil rights community on edge, in part because of Trumps history of inflammatory comments. On this episode of The Switch Up, Martin Luther King III the late civil rights leaders son and his wife Arndrea Waters King share how theyre keeping the legacy of Kings dream alive. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Rev. Al Sharpton also announces a peaceful boycott in Washington in the fashion of MLK Jr. Listen above. The Switch Up podcast series hosted by The Hills Cheyanne M. Daniels explores the intersection of race and politics through intimate conversations with leading scholars, advocates and legislators from communities of color. Follow The Switch Up on Spotify. Copyright 2025 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 The Hill. CAIRO (Reuters) - Syria's de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa congratulated U.S. President Donald Trump on his inauguration in a statement on Monday, saying he is looking forward to improving relations between the two countries. "We are confident that he is the leader to bring peace to the Middle East and restore stability to the region," he said. The U.S., Britain, the European Union and others imposed tough sanctions on Syria after a crackdown by ousted President Bashar al-Assad on pro-democracy protests in 2011 that spiralled into civil war. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In early January, Washington issued a sanctions exemption for transactions with governing institutions in Syria for six months in an effort to ease the flow of humanitarian assistance. Syria welcomed the move, but has urged a complete lifting of sanctions to support its recovery. (Reporting by Menna Alaa El Din and Jaidaa Taha; Editing by Nia Williams and Deepa Babington) Today Trumpworld descends on Washington, Donald moves back into the White House (Melania will be there too, at least sometimes), and the carnival of sycophants, neglected Trump children, and tech bros (first-timers!) will start to get comfortable. Once the indoor inaugural proceedings are complete, the real chaos will begin: Donald Trump is expected to drop a round of executive orders on his first day in the job. Its a stark reminder of one of the most pervasive aspects of a Trump presidency: the unrelenting pace, the swirl of constant drama, the pull of attention this particular president demands. During Trump 1.0, this specific attention black hole was referred to, sometimes derisively, as palace intrigue. The first chaotic administration was full of it: Who was warring with whom, bending Trumps ear, or allying with former enemies was often the stuff of outrageous, breathless news cyclesbut it doubled as the actual tea leaves that determined policy. For example, whichever Stephen was in charge (Bannon or Miller) at any given moment determined if our immigration policy would be merely offensive in rhetoric or actually devastating in action. This time will be no different. Well, it will be a little differentit seems as if many more people are willing to align themselves with Trump 2.0. Everyone wants part of the action, which means Donald Trump will have more pawns to play with, more intra-MAGA wars to preside over, and plenty to post about. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement To brace for what is coming, we at Slate dove headfirst into the new Trump World Order, to present you with the starting lineup. These are the people weve identified as the most important players in Trumpworldfor the time being. Weve categorized them in a few waysthere are the returning alums, the fresh blood and the converts, as well as the family members, Trumps fellow Floridians, and of course, his friends from the Fox News extended universe. Weve taken a close look at what brought them into the fold, and what might get them kicked out. Welcome to the next four yearsor at least the next few months. Badge illustrations by Natalie Matthews-Ramo The biggest punch line of the first Trump administration is back with surprising swagger. Will the ever-shafted first daughter finally make her mark? The tallest mystery in America. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This Trump in-law is more than a substitute for Ivanka. Shes the familys political future. Maybe shes finally figured out how to make this whole presidency thing work for her. Wow, thats a lot of corruption and crime! The vice president already seems to be on the outside looking in. The second lady has one job in this administration. Dont underestimate the superpower of Trumps ice maiden. Welcome to a power struggle for the ages. He nearly managed to get himself kicked out of MAGA world already. What could go wrong? He seems absurd. He seems like a has-been. But he cant be dismissed. He was horrifying in Trumps first term. Hes somehow gotten worse. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Will Clarence Thomas stay on the bench long enough to keep his wife relevant? The woman Kremlin TV calls its girlfriend now has a terrifying amount of power. Hes nostalgic for the good old days of public healthwhen more people died. Americas TV doctor just got a big promotion. Even in a sea of unqualified and disturbing nominees, this guy stands out. How long can Trumps secretary of state last in this place? Not this guy again. Meet the nations top conspiracist immigration cop. Trumps education secretary may soon hate the place she finds herself in. The incoming FBI director has an enemies list. Hell soon have the resources to act on it. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement She crusaded against colleges. Now shes graduated to the U.N. The new FCC boss has big plansand even bigger grudges. Trumps newest and richest allies have a radical vision. Its already reshaping the country. A small cadre of evangelical leaders is close to Trump. Only one is his guiding light. Trump fundamentally misunderstands Putin, Xi, and other tyrants. They know it all too well. He finally has the America he wanted. Theres no telling what he does with it. KABUL (Reuters) - The Taliban's acting deputy foreign minister called on his senior leadership to open schools for Afghan girls, among the strongest public rebukes of a policy that has contributed to the international isolation of its rulers. Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanekzai, who previously led a team of negotiators at the Taliban's political office in Doha before U.S. forces withdrew from Afghanistan in 2021, said in a speech at the weekend that restrictions on girls and women's education was not in line with Islamic Sharia law. "We request the leaders of the Islamic Emirate to open the doors of education," he said, according to local broadcaster Tolo, referring to the Taliban's name for its administration. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "In the time of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him), the doors of knowledge were open to both men and women," he said. "Today, out of a population of forty million, we are committing injustice against twenty million people," he added, referring to the female population of Afghanistan. The comments were among the strongest public criticism in recent years by a Taliban official of the school closures, which Taliban sources and diplomats have previously told Reuters were put in place by the supreme spiritual leader Haibatullah Akhundzada despite some internal disagreement. The Taliban have said they respect women's rights in accordance with their interpretation of Islamic law and Afghan culture. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement They made a sharp u-turn on promises to open high schools for girls in 2022, and have since said they were working on a plan for the schools to re-open but have not given any timeline. They closed universities to female students at the end of 2022. The policies have been widely criticised internationally, including by Islamic scholars, and Western diplomats have said any path towards formal recognition of the Taliban is blocked until there is a change on their policies towards women. A Taliban administration spokesman in the southern city of Kandahar where Haibatullah is based did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Stanekzai's remarks. (Reporting by Kabul newsroom; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan) (Bloomberg) -- Tanzanias ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi party named President Samia Suluhu Hassan as its candidate for elections that are expected to extend its grip on power in the gas-rich East African nation. Most Read from Bloomberg Hassan was President John Magufulis deputy and succeeded him after his death in office four years ago. She becomes the first woman to be nominated for the post by the party thats ruled Tanzania since independence in 1961. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Under the east African nations constitution, Hassan is eligible to serve one final five-year term. During her time in office, the moderate Muslim from the semi-autonomous Zanzibar archipelago was praised for reversing some of Magufulis autocratic policies, including lifting a ban on political rallies and on some newspapers. However, critics accuse her of rowing back on promised reforms and cracking down on political dissent in the run-up to the elections expected in October. Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2025 Bloomberg L.P. Taylor Swifts ordeal with a creepy stalker has inspired a New York state bill that would track mentally ill defendants in low-level cases and help them get treatment in hopes that theyll be less likely to be busted again. The proposal backed by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and sponsored in Albany by two Manhattan Democrats aims to close a loophole that each year sends hundreds of misdemeanor offenders to fend for themselves when their cases are tossed after they are found unfit for trial. As of now, such people who are accused of crimes like third-degree assault, aggravated harassment and trespassing automatically get their cases thrown out, and are released from the psychiatric hospitals they were held in within three days. David Crowe, Taylor Swifts alleged stalker, was arrested for serial lurking outside the mega stars NYC pad but his case was thrown out in February 2024 after he was found unfit for trial. Steven Hirsch The new bill would assign case workers with the states Office of Mental Health Services to help get those defendants treatment after their release including by regularly visiting them at home or in their community and would require the hospital that releases them to make referrals for them. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The so-called SUPPORT Act aims to reduce recidivism, or the likelihood the person will be charged with another crime, and lower the risk of them being victimized by a crime themselves, the DAs office said. Defying logic, our laws dictate that hundreds of people who are found unfit to stand trial by mental health professionals have their cases dismissed and are sent back to our communities without the necessary tools to access potentially life-saving treatment, Bragg, a Democrat, said in a statement. The bill was inspired in part by the Swift stalkers case, the DAs office confirmed. Getty Images for TAS Rights Management The new bill would ensure these individuals are able to access robust services and are supported throughout, giving them a much better chance at lasting stability and decreasing the likelihood that they reoffend, the DA added. The legislation comes months after Braggs office charged David Crowe, a 33-year-old Seattle law student, with serial lurking outside of Swifts Manhattan apartment. Crowe was released by a judge in January 2024 only to be found rummaging through a dumpster near her home an hour later. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The misdemeanor case was then dismissed the next month after Crowe was found mentally unfit to stand trial. But unusually, instead of Crowe getting released from custody, he was turned over to an Upstate New York hospital for further treatment due to the realization that he would likely have turned back up outside of the superstars home without additional intervention. DA Alvin Bragg says the bill is aimed to help people struggling with mental health to receive continuing care after they are released when found unfit for trial. Steven Hirsch Crowes case highlighted that there could be another path for defendants who are set to be released but still need help, according to a spokesperson in the DAs office. In 2024, the misdemeanor cases for 224 defendants who were found unfit were dismissed, and in 2023 274 of such cases were tossed out, the DAs office said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Requests for so-called 730 exams court-ordered evaluations of whether a defendant is fit for trial are on the rise as well, the office said. As of June 2024, these exam requests were up 16.5% from the prior year, Braggs office said. It was not immediately known if Crowe was still receiving treatment at the hospital. The state Office of Mental Health declined to comment, citing patient confidentiality, and the Department of Correction said Crowe hasnt been in its custody since he was released to the hospital in February 2024. Crowes lawyer at the time, Katherine Bajuk with the New York City Defender Services, said her office no longer represents Crowe and that she wouldnt be able to share confidential information about his medical care. But Bajuk said the NYCDS supports the new bill. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It was not immediately clear if Crowe had a new lawyer. The bill only applies to accused offenders in misdemeanor cases because defendants in felony cases who are found unfit for trial are forced to stay in psychiatric facilities unless or until a doctor finds them to be fit again, under state law. The bills backers in Albany are Sen. Brad Hoylman-Sigal, who reps much of Manhattans west side, and Assemblyman Tony Simone, who reps Chelsea, Hells Kitchen and part of the Lincoln Center area. Both are Democrats. There are simply too many individuals struggling with mental illness languishing on the streets and in the subways of New York City, Hoylman-Sigal said in a statement. If we are to seriously address this issue, we must focus on getting those with severe mental illnesses the help they need. Donald Trump capped his reality TV-style pre-Inauguration Day celebrations with a less-than-gracious message for outgoing President Joe Biden. EVICTION NOTE, his transition team wrote on the social media platform X. At 1200 p.m. ET, White House Senior Living will cease to exist and its resident will be transferred to a Delaware facility on a permanent basis. The president-elect had first shared a version the 30-second video more than a year ago on his social media platform Truth Social. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement At White House Senior Living, our residents feel right at home. Our vibrant facility offers delightful activities and outings, round-the-clock professional care, and exquisite house-made meals, it says over video of Biden shuffling on the beach, putting on his jacket with first lady Jill Bidens help, and eating pizza with the troops. EVICTION NOTICE: At 12:00 p.m. ET, White House Senior Living will cease to exist and its resident will be transferred to a Delaware facility on a permanent basis. pic.twitter.com/9EG9mvVsHB Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) January 20, 2025 It then cuts to a video of Biden, 82, saying he eats lots of Italian food. And ice cream, Jill Biden interjects. Chocolate-chip ice cream, he agrees. On Friday, the New York Times reported that six key members of Bidens inner circleincluding Jill Biden and son Hunterhad noticed signs of his aging but worked to manage perceptions he had declined. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement They were convinced he could beat Trump, until a disastrous debate in late June forced the president to finally exit the race at the eleventh hour. Many Democrats were shocked by Joe Biden's lackluster debate performance in June. / Justin Sullivan/Getty Images Even now, Bidenwho held fewer news conferences and one-on-one interviews than any president since at least Ronald Reaganthinks he could have prevailed where his vice president, Kamala Harris, failed. Asked if he could have won, he told USA Today earlier this month, Its presumptuous to say that, but I think yes. Other Democratic lawmakersincluding then-Majority Leader Chuck Schumerhad worried for months before the debate that Trump was so successful in making Bidens age and vitality the central election narrative that the president didnt stand a chance of being re-elected. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Its a narrative that Trumpwho will overtake Biden to become the oldest man ever sworn in as presidentis apparently sticking with even months after beating Harris. White House Senior Living. Where residents feel like presidents, the video concludes. Kevin Abourezk and Stewart Huntington ICT From Pine Ridge, South Dakota, to the U.S. penitentiary in central Florida, those who fought for decades for the release of Turtle Mountain Chippewa activist Leonard Peltier celebrated former President Joe Bidens decision Monday to grant him clemency. Tears of joy. Tears of joy, said Ivis Long Visitor, a 70-year-old Oglala Lakota man who was at the scene of the June 26, 1975, shootout between members of the American Indian Movement and two FBI agents. Im so happy. I never really thought theyd let him out. Roslyn Jumping Bull (Photo courtesy of Yvonne Long Visitor, Jumping Bull's daughter) Long Visitors grandparents, Harry and Cecelia Jumping Bull, owned the land where the shootout occurred, and Long Visitor lived there with his family. He and his family were forced to escape the federal cordon around the scene that day, and he has advocated for Peltiers release ever since. He said his mother, Roslyn Jumping Bull, was among Peltiers staunchest defenders until her death in 2015. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Its been a long road for that man, he said, fighting back tears. The grandmas are happy up there in the spirit world. They really were for Leonard all their lives. In nearby Pine Ridge, shouts and tears of joy began erupting spontaneously in homes and public spaces as news spread through the community via the moccasin telegraph, said Tiny Decory, an Oglala Lakota citizen and director of a youth suicide prevention program. Celebrations are starting. They already are, she said. She expressed gratitude to Biden, saying, A lot of people wont remember what Biden did. Theyre going to remember he pardoned Leonard Peltier. Decory said Peltier, 80, has defied the odds, managing to continue his fight for freedom for nearly 50 years despite seeing eight presidents leave office without pardoning him or commuting his sentence. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Look at the resilience he had, she said. He would not let them take his spirit. We can learn from that. Outside the Florida prison where Peltier has lived since 2014, members of the Native nonprofit organization, NDN Collective, gathered with Peltiers lawyers and others. All of your fighting for him mattered, and he loves you all, said Nick Tilsen, founder and chief executive officer of NDN Collective. Its a good day for Indigenous people and human rights defenders everywhere. He called Peltiers day of clemency a day of victory. Its a day of liberation for our people because of everything we have fought for, Tilsen said. Peltiers daughter, Kathy Peltier, shared a short video statement on Facebook confirming the news of her fathers release. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Just thought Id go on here and express all my gratitude to everybody who has been working on this case, she said. I dont know what to tell you guys all still but thank you for your support and now well see Leonard Peltier as a free man. So I just wanted to confirm all that because some of you are questioning it and Ive been, I saw the news and Ive been called upon it. So, I just encourage everyone to give him more support because hell need it even more so. Alright, thank you all, love you all. Mark Trahant, former editor of ICT who has covered Peltiers story since the 1980s, said other presidential administrations debated releasing Peltier but ultimately chose not to do so. With Peltiers health in decline, Trahant who has called for Peltiers release expressed support for the decision. I think the time is right, he said. No other president I guess had the guts to do it. But he acknowledged those who have attempted to implicate Peltier in the December 1975 murder of Mikmaq activist Annie Mae Aquash. Two former AIM members, Arlo Looking Cloud and John Graham, were indicted and convicted of murdering Aquash. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trahant said, despite researching an alleged link between Aquashs murder and Peltier, he has never been able to find evidence that Peltier was involved in her murder. He said Peltiers imprisonment has long been considered politically motivated and reinforced by federal authorities angry over the death of FBI agents, Jack Coler and Ronald Williams. As a result, he said, Peltiers release likely will be seen as an act of justice by many in the global community. At the same time, advocates of prison reform also have called on Peltiers release considering his unusually long prison sentence for aiding and abetting, and his failing health. Theres a real problem with the whole federal prison structure, Trahant said. You see prisoners in walkers and it just makes no sense. Related: 'It's time' for Leonard Peltier's release Denise Pictou-Maloney, slain activist Annie Mae Aquashs daughter, expressed disappointment in Peltiers release. Pictou-Maloney was featured in the recently released four-part HULU documentary Vow of Silence: The Assassination of Annie Mae, which examined Aquashs murder and AIMs involvement. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement My mother was murdered for daring to speak up against corruption and abuse that ran rampant within the American Indian Movement, Pictou-Maloney said on Facebook. Her tenacity and commitment to Justice and the cause for our nations was unwavering and it cost her her life. Some in the missing and murdered Indigenous women movement also have alleged Peltier was complicit, if not partially responsible, for Aquashs murder. In the last 48 hours I have been called hater, angry, bitter, negative and colonized by a few because I dared to continue sharing the ugly truth of the complicity of members of AIM including Leonard Peltier who held their tongues and or lied and conspired to hide the truth, Pictou-Maloney said. Because someone dies the facts and the truth do not change. People are in pain, they are hurt to discover such betrayal and brutality about individuals within AIM they heralded as hero's for so long. On Monday, former North Dakota state legislator Ruth Anna Buffalo, who has visited Peltier and long advocated for his release, also expressed gratitude for those who fought for his release. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Im just super thankful, she said. Thankful for everyone who worked for his release. There are people (who worked for his release) who have died before they could see this day. Buffalo, a citizen of the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nation, said she hoped to see Peltier when he returned home to North Dakota but only when that was appropriate. I want to make sure his friends and family see him first," she said. Related: Leonard Peltier granted clemency as President Biden leaves office Kevin Sharp, the former chief judge of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee, handled the legal effort to free Peltier before the NDN Collective took up the effort. Sharp filed two petitions for clemency for Peltier one during the first Trump administration and one under Biden. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He said he greeted the commutation news with a mixture of excitement and relief. Relief because finally, finally a modicum of justice was being served and relief because I was getting a little nervous that maybe this wasnt going to happen, he said. Sharp said he learned about the case from Connie Nelson, Willie Nelsons ex-wife, who gave him the case files. As a former federal judge and someone who understood the rules of evidence, I could understand how this happened, he said. But over the next five years I learned the why. It led me down the path to understanding the unequal treatment Native Americans have experienced under the law. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Sharp said Bidens move to free Peltier went beyond just one persons case. The prosecution, conviction and incarceration of Peltier was a symbol of all the injustices that have been visited on Native Americans at the hands of the United States, he said. Our stories are worth telling. Our stories are worth sharing. Our stories are worth your support. Contribute $5 or $10 today to help ICT carry out its critical mission. Sign up for ICTs free newsletter. By Lizbeth Diaz, Laura Gottesdiener and Alexandra Ulmer TIJUANA, Mexico (Reuters) - Nidia Montenegro fled violence and poverty at home in Venezuela, survived a kidnapping as she traveled north into Mexico, and made it to the border city of Tijuana on Sunday for a U.S. asylum appointment that would finally reunite her with her son living in New York. That appointment is now canceled. As President Donald Trump declared a national emergency at the southern border, migrants waiting in Mexico nervously checked the U.S. government app known as CBP One, by which many have been able to schedule appointments to claim asylum. As they refreshed the app, an alert came through: "Existing appointments scheduled through CBP One are no longer valid. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Shock swept through the shelter in Tijuana, just yards from the border. "I can't believe it," said Montenegro, 52, tears running down her cheek. "No, God, no." U.S. border authorities confirmed they had shut down the app and canceled existing appointments. Montenegro is among thousands of migrants who had their hopes of legally reaching the U.S. dashed suddenly in the days and weeks before their appointments. Around her, other migrants cried as they repeatedly tried to load the app, despair rising. Some received emails cancelling their appointments, others got the alert, and some just couldn't open the app at all. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The move represents one of the earliest changes brought by the Trump administration as the president vowed in his inaugural address to send troops to the U.S.-Mexico border, ramp up deportations, and designate criminal cartels as foreign terrorist organizations. Reuters has followed Montenegro's journey for two months, from the excitement as she secured an appointment for Wednesday, Jan 22 - just two days after Trump took office - to the disappointment as it was erased. Elsewhere along the border there were similar scenes. In Ciudad Juarez, across from El Paso, Texas, several migrants with CBP One appointments scheduled for later on Monday received notice they had been canceled. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Its over, they eliminated it, said Margelis Tinoco, from Colombia, who traveled with her husband and son. They blocked it," she told her thirteen-year-old son. "Theres nothing we can do. In Piedras Negras, opposite Texas' Eagle Pass, migrants with appointments were being turned away. They clutched backpacks and blankets as they rested against a wall, trying to figure out what to do next. Some sent tearful voice messages to family back home. For Montenegro, it's a crushing turnaround. She arrived in Tijuana on Sunday full of optimism and excited to join her 24-year-old son in New York who she last saw over a year ago. "Today my life starts again," she told Reuters then, full of smiles. Last year she was kidnapped along with two nephews and dozens of others, including children, on the day she arrived in southern Mexico from Guatemala. Two days later, the group managed to escape but she has carried the trauma of the incident since. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Now she does not know what to do, stranded in a foreign city thousands of miles from home and almost within touching distance of the country where she had hoped to make a new life. Still in shock, she can't let go of the hope she has been carrying ever since her appointment was confirmed. Even as she hears of others who are being turned away from the border, she insists: "I will go to my appointment." (This story has been refiled to fix the name of the town to Piedras Negras, not Piedras Negro, in the signoff) (Reporting by Lizbeth Diaz in Tijuana, Laura Gottesdiener in Ciudad Juarez, and Alexandra Ulmer in Piedras Negras, writing by Stephen Eisenhammer; Editing by Alistair Bell) Four days before Donald Trump's second presidential inauguration, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman shared on X a threatening letter he had received from Sens. Elizabeth Warren (DMass.) and Michael Bennett (DCol.). In the letter, the senators expressed dismay that the tech entrepreneur had donated $1 million to Trump's inaugural fund. "We are concerned that your company and other Big Tech donors are using your massive contributions to the inaugural fund to cozy up to the incoming Trump administration in an effort to avoid scrutiny, limit regulation, and buy favor," they wrote. "These donations raise questions about corruption and the influence of corporate money on the Trump administration, and Congress and the public demand answers." In response, Altman noted that the donation was actually a personal contribution, not one made by his company. He also could not resist pointing out the hypocrisy. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "Funny, they never sent me one of these [letters] for contributing to democrats" he wrote. Altman may very well be correct about that, although supporting the Democratic Partyfinancially, rhetorically, or otherwisehas given tech leaders very little actual protection from Democratic lawmakers. Just ask Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, who were repeatedly dragged before Congress and accused of conspiring to overturn democracy, abuse children, and commit other sins. By criticizing Trump's views on immigration and otherwise touting liberal causes, Zuckerberg may have thought he had successfully ingratiated himself with the Biden administration; yet in July 2021, President Joe Biden accused Facebook of "killing people" because Zuckerberg had not unilaterally put the government in charge of content moderation. And that, in a nutshell, is why so many of the wealthiest and most influential innovators in the tech sector are abandoning the Democratic Party en masse. Some, such as venture capitalist Mark Andreessen, Tesla CEO Elon Musk, and PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel, have been full MAGA for a while; others, such as Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, are now officially seeking political neutrality while dipping their toes in rightist waters. But there's one thing they all have in common: a dawning realization that the political project of the progressive wing of the Democratic Party is to bring technological innovation to a grinding halt. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Yes, many Republicanstoo manyhave also railed against tech in recent years, betraying their previous support for free market principles in order to exact revenge on social media platforms that limited conservative speech. But the plain truth is that the GOP's desire to break up large, profitable, and successful tech companies is largely about score-settling: Political figures such as Trump and Sen. Ted Cruz (RTex.) were against Big Tech because Big Tech was against them. This does not make the Republican attacks on tech defensible. Indeed, they directed their fire in the wrong direction, as the main reason that social media deplatformed conservative speech was federal pressure. But the progressive war on Big Tech is very different. Warren, Sen. Bernie Sanders (IVt.), and their allies are not narrowly anti-tech because tech is mean to them. Their ideologies are opposed to the kind of economic power that accrues to successful technological ventures. Moreover, social media companies have learned that no amount of capitulation to government dictates will ever be enough for the FBI, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention. There will always be another hit piece in a mainstream media outlet about the failures of Facebook, X, Snapchat, Google, TikTok, or someone else to counter foreign disinformation, right-wing propaganda, hate speech, etc. There will always be another congressional inquiry and a proposal to remove Section 230, the liability shield for internet companies. There will always be the threat of antitrust legislation aimed at the sheer bigness of these companies, even though polls consistently show the American public broadly like and appreciate the services the tech companies render. For the past several years, Democrats have attracted some conservative support for their anti-tech agenda; the populist faction of Trump's Republican Party has noisily embraced antitrust and the elimination of Section 230. But Trump no longer seems particularly committed to their agenda: He has empowered Musk, is working with TikTok to thwart Biden's bipartisan ban on the platform, and has even made peace with Zuckerberg. Musk, Bezos, Zuckerberg, and TikTok CEO Show Zi Chew are all attending Trump's inauguration. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The end result may well be a GOP that is more comfortable with tech markets. That would be good for economic growth and unfettered innovation. Perhaps libertarians should send a cheeky thank-you letter to Elizabeth Warren. The post The Tech Bros Love Trump Because the Democrats Pushed Them Away appeared first on Reason.com. The leaders of the nations biggest technology companies including Facebooks Mark Zuckerberg, Amazons Jeff Bezos, Apples Tim Cook, and Teslas Elon Musk got top billing at Donald Trumps presidential inauguration on Monday. The tech CEOs, who donated millions of dollars to Trumps inaugural committee, were seated on the inaugural platform in the U.S. Capitol rotunda in front of the vast majority of Trumps expected Cabinet officials, giving them a prime view of the ceremony. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Lauren Sanchez, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and Google CEO Sundar Pichai attend the inauguration of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda on Jan. 20 in Washington, D.C. Pool via Getty Images Moreover, the tech CEOs were joined by their spouses an accommodation not provided to most members of Congress due to space constraints in the circular Rotunda following Trumps decision to move the inauguration inside of the Captiol building as a result of the cold weather in Washington. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement All you need to know. The billionaires are in charge. Not you, Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) wrote in a post online. The clear power play was visible for all to see, added Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.). Sometimes rich people have undue influence in our government, but usually its not on such garish display. Meanwhile, the nations governors who attended the inauguration were not present in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda at all. They were instead relegated to an overflow room with other dignitaries in the visitors center located in the basement of the Capitol complex. Those governors included Trump supporters like Floridas Ron DeSantis, Georgias Brian Kemp, and Virginias Glenn Youngkin. Corporate Americas warming to Trump, the many billionaires in his Cabinet, and the tech industrys closeness to the new president have all generated alarm about unprecedented conflicts of interest in his administration. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I want to warn the country of some things that give me great concern: the dangerous concentration of power in the hands of a very few ultra-wealthy group of people and the dangerous consequences if their abuse is left unchecked, outgoing President Joe Biden warned in his farewell address to the nation last week. Today, an oligarchy is taking shape in America that literally threatens our democracy, our basic rights, our freedoms, Biden added. Sign up for Trumps Return, a newsletter featuring coverage of the second Trump presidency. On the day of Donald Trumps 2017 inauguration, a group of his top billionaire donors, including the casino magnate Miriam Adelson and the future Republican National Committee finance chair Todd Ricketts, hosted a small private party, away from the publicly advertised inaugural balls. It was the sort of event that carried no interest at the time for the Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. He greeted Trumps first presidency by publicly identifying his wifes parents and his own ancestors with the immigrants targeted by Trumps early executive orders. These issues are personal for me, Zuckerberg wrote in a public letter of concern a week after Trump took office. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But this month, as the same donors made plans for Trumps second inauguration, Zuckerberg successfully maneuvered to become a co-host of their black-tie event, scheduled for tonight. The party quickly became one of the most sought-after gatherings of the weekend, overwhelming organizers with RSVPs from people who had not received invitations. Even more striking: Zuckerberg sat in front of Trumps incoming Cabinet in the Capitol Rotunda at his inaugurationat the personal invitation of Trump himself, according to two people briefed on the plans who, like some other sources interviewed for this story, requested anonymity to describe private conversations. (A spokesperson for Meta declined to comment.) [Charlie Warzel: Were all trying to find the guy who did this] Zuckerberg was not alone. Trumps inauguration events featured a Silicon Valley smorgasbord, with leaders from Apple, Google, and TikTok in attendance, as well as Amazons Jeff Bezos and Teslas Elon Musk. Several of the tech moguls also joined a small prayer service this morning at St. Johns Episcopal Church. Later, they blended in with the Trump clan directly behind the incoming president as he officially assumed power just after noon, like honorary family members. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The scene announced a remarkable new dynamic in Washington: Far more so than in his first term, the ultra-wealthyand tech billionaires in particularare embracing Trump. And the new president is happy to entertain their courtship, setting up the possibility that Trumps second turn in the White House could be shaped by person-to-person transactions with business and tech executivesa new kind of American oligarchy. Eight years ago, Trump landed in Washington in a fit of defiance, denouncing in his inaugural address the American carnage wrought by a small group in our nations capital. Four years later, he left as an outcast, judged responsible for the U.S. Capitol riot and a haphazard attempt to undo the constitutional order. He returns this week with a clean sweep of swing states and the national popular vote, the loyal support of Republicans in Congress, and the financial backing of corporate donors who are expected to help the inaugural committee raise twice what it did in 2017. Organizers of the Womens March, which stomped on Trumps 2017 inauguration by sending hundreds of thousands of protesters to the streets, settled for a series of unremarkable Saturday gatherings. The Democratic opposition, which treated Trumps first term as an existential threat, now lacks an evident strategy or leader. Like nearly every entity that has tried and failed to bend Trump to its willhis party, his former rivals, his partners in Congress, and his former aides among themthe tech elites largely seem to have decided that theyre better off seeking Trumps favor. [Read: If theres one person who keeps their word, its Donald Trump] Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Just months ago, Trump released a coffee-table photo book that included a pointed rant about Zuckerbergs $420 million donation in 2020 to fund local election offices during the coronavirus pandemic, an undertaking that Trump called a true PLOT AGAINST THE PRESIDENT. We are watching him closely, Trump wrote of Zuckerberg, and if he does anything illegal this time he will spend the rest of his life in prison. But since Trumps victory, Zuckerberg has worked to get himself in the new presidents good graces. The Meta CEO traveled to Mar-a-Lago; added a Trump pal to his corporate board; extolled the importance of masculine energy on Joe Rogans podcast; abandoned the Meta fact-checking program, which MAGA world had viewed as biased; and personally worked with Trump to try to resolve a 2021 civil lawsuit over Facebooks decision to ban him from the platform, a case that legal experts once considered frivolous. Bezos, meanwhile, worried aloud in 2016 that Trumps behavior erodes our democracy around the edges and spent his first term taking fire from the president for the aggressive reporting of The Washington Post, the newspaper that Bezos owns (and where, until recently, we both were reporters). Now Amazon, like Meta, has given $1 million to the 2025 inaugural committee, and the company recently announced it would release a documentary about, and produced by, the first lady, Melania Trump. Even Musk, who spent more than $250 million last year to elect Trump and now is one of his top advisers, called for the aging Trump to sail into the sunset as recently as 2022. In the first term, everybody was fighting me, Trump marveled at a mid-December news conference. In this term, everybody wants to be my friend. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The sheer quantity of money flowing to, and surrounding, Trump has increased. In his first term, he assembled the wealthiest Cabinet in history; this time, his would-be Cabinet includes more than a dozen billionaires. Sixteen of his appointees come not just from the top one percent, but from the top one-ten-thousandth percent, according to the Public Citizen, a nonprofit consumer-advocacy organization. Democrats, too, have long kept their wealthiest donors close, inviting them in on policy discussions and providing special access, but never before have the nations wealthiest played such a central role in the formation of a new administration. As recently as last week, before the inauguration proceedings were moved indoors because of cold weather, a donor adviser got a last-minute offer of $500,000 for four tickets, according to the person who fielded the call and had to gently decline the request. Trumps 2017 committee raised $107 million, more than twice the 2013 record set by Barack Obama, and spent $104 million. So far this year, the 2025 inaugural committee is expected to raise at least $225 million and spend less than $75 million on the inaugural festivities, according to a person familiar with the plans. At least some of the unspent tens of millions could go to Trumps presidential library, several people involved with fundraising told us. Trumps first inauguration had all the markings of a hastily arranged bachelor party put on someone elses credit card. Trumps company and the 2017 inaugural committee ultimately paid $750,000 to the District of Columbia to settle claims of illegal payments, including allegations of inflated charges to a Washington hotel then owned by Trump. (Neither entity admitted wrongdoing.) This time, the inauguration organizers have been more disciplined, and donors have been eager to reward Trumps victory. People were prepared, so when he did win, Trump was looking for checks, a person involved in all of the Trump campaigns and both inaugural events told us. Once Elon got in there, that was kind of the holy water that allowed all the other tech guys to follow. They all followed each other like cattle. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement What wealthy donors could get in return for their support of Trump remains an open question. Zuckerbergs, Bezoss, and Musks federal business interests include rocket-ship and cloud-computing contracts, a federal investigation of Teslas auto-driving technology, a pending Federal Trade Commission lawsuit against Meta, and a separate antitrust case against Amazon. Just last week, the Securities and Exchange Commission sued Musk for allegedly failing to disclose his early stake in Twitter, the social-media giant he later took over and renamed X. (A lawyer for Musk has said he did nothing wrong.) When Trump promised in his inaugural address to plant the Stars and Stripes on the planet Mars, the cameras panned to Musk, whose SpaceX is racing Bezoss Blue Origin; Musk raised both thumbs and mouthed Yeah! as he broke into an ebullient grin. [Read: Hes no Elon Musk] Existing federal ethics rules were not designed to address the possibility of the worlds wealthiest people padding the pockets of the first family through television rights or legal settlements. The Trump familys recently announced cryptocurrency, $TRUMP, creates yet another way for the wealthy to invest directly in an asset to benefit the commander in chief. There is no enforcement mechanism against the president under these laws, Trevor Potter, a former general counsel for the late Arizona Senator John McCains campaign, told us. Even as Silicon Valley elites try to ingratiate themselves with the incoming president, some of Trumps populist supporters are murmuring that the emerging tech oligarchy is diluting the purity of the MAGA base. Steve Bannon, a former adviser to Trump who has clashed in recent weeks with Musk over immigration policy, has fashioned himself as the field general for a fight against the tech bros and their outsize influence on a president eager to cut deals. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Hes got them on display as I kicked their ass. Im stunned that these nerds dont get anything to be up there, Bannon told us last week, referring to the tech leaders appearing in prime camera position at Trumps inauguration. Its like walking into Teddy Roosevelts lodge and seeing the mounted heads of all the big game he shot. For now, the ragtag populist figures like Bannon who defined Trumps early years in politics are still celebrating. Roger Stone, the convicted and subsequently pardoned Trump kibitzer, attended inauguration events in his anachronistic morning suitwith plans for evening white tie. The British MP Nigel Farage hosted a party Friday at the Hay-Adams hotel, while former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson managed to get a ticket for the U.S. Capitol Rotunda. On Thursday, Bannon threw his own party, titled Novus Ordo Seclorum, or A New Order of the Ages, at Butterworths club on Capitol Hill. Drinks included, perhaps predictably, the Covfefe Martini (vodka, Fernet, espresso) and the Im-Peach This (gin, peach, Cocci Americano). Bannon arrived fashionably late and was followed from the moment he ducked through the door by a mob of iPhone documenters, and even a man with a flashbulb. He received an impromptu line of frenzied well-wishers that one British journalist quipped was as if for the Queen. [Read: The MAGA honeymoon is over] Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement As seared foie gras and freshly shucked oysters moved through the room, Bannon urged his supporters to set new lows tonight, reminding them that once Trump took the oath of office on Monday, then the real fun happens. You have two to three days to get sober, he exhorted. Go for it! The tech barons also fanned out through the city in celebration. The next night, across town, Bezos and his fiancee, Lauren Sanchez, dined at Georgetowns new hot spot, Osteria Mozza, sitting at a window table with leaders of the Post. On Saturday, Palantir and the PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel hosted a party at his Woodley Park mansion; a bow-tied and mop-topped Zuckerberg arrived before the sun had fully set. And yesterday, Trump called Musk up onstage during his pre-inauguration rally inside the Capital One ArenaCmere, Elon! he growledbriefly ceding the spotlight to the Tesla executive and his young son X. During the 2024 election, many liberals and some conservatives feared that Trumps second term would usher in a new kind of American autocracy, a la Hungary. But on its first day, at least, Trumps new administration seems, more than anything else, oligarchalalbeit one where the transactions mainly flow one way, at least so far. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Theyre lining up to obey in advance. because they think theyre buying themselves peace of mind, Ruth Ben-Ghiat, an expert on authoritarianism who has been critical of Trump, told us. But, added Ben-Ghiat, who noted the overlap between autocracy and oligarchy: They can give that million and everything can be finebut the minute they displease Trump, he could come after them. Article originally published at The Atlantic A British teen pleaded guilty Monday (Jan. 20) to murdering three girls and attempting to kill 10 other people in what a prosecutor said was a meticulously planned stabbing rampage at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in England last summer. Axel Rudakubana, 18, entered the surprise plea as jury selection had been expected to begin at the start of his trial in Liverpool Crown Court. More from Billboard Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The July 29 stabbings sent shock waves across the U.K. and led to a week of widespread rioting across parts of England and Northern Ireland after the suspect was falsely identified as an asylum-seeker who had recently arrived in Britain by boat. He was born in Wales. The attack occurred on the first day of summer vacation when the little girls at the Hart Space, a sanctuary hidden behind a row of houses, were in a class to learn yoga and dance to the songs of Taylor Swift. What was supposed to be a day of joy turned to terror and heartbreak when Rudakubana, armed with a knife, intruded and began stabbing the girls and their teacher in the seaside town of Southport in northwest England. This was an unspeakable attack one which left an enduring mark on our community and the nation for its savagery and senselessness, Deputy Chief Crown Prosecutor Ursula Doyle said. A day which should have been one of carefree innocence; of children enjoying a dance workshop and making friendship bracelets, became a scene of the darkest horror as Axel Rudakubana carried out his meticulously planned rampage. Prosecutors havent said what they believe led Rudakubana who was days shy of his 18th birthday to commit the atrocities, but Doyle said that it was clear he had a a sickening and sustained interest in death and violence. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Rudakubana had consistently refused to speak in court and did so once again when asked to identify himself at the start of the proceedings. But he broke his silence when he was read the 16-count indictment and asked to enter a plea, replying guilty to each charge. He pleaded guilty to three counts of murder, 10 counts of attempted murder and additional charges related to possessing the poison ricin and for having an al-Qaida manual. Rudakubana faces life imprisonment when sentenced Thursday, Justice Julian Goose said. Defense lawyer Stanley Reiz said that he would present information to the judge about Rudakubanas mental health that may be relevant to his sentence. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The surviving victims and family members of those killed were absent in court, because they had expected to arrive Tuesday for opening statements. Goose asked the prosecutor to apologize on his behalf that they werent present to hear Rudakubana plead guilty. He pleaded guilty to murdering Alice Da Silva Aguiar, 9, Elsie Dot Stancombe, 7, and Bebe King, 6. Eight other girls, ranging in age from 7 to 13, were wounded, along with instructor Leanne Lucas and John Hayes, who worked in a business next door and intervened. Fifteen other girls, as young as 5, were at the class but uninjured. Under a court order, none of the surviving girls can be named. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Hayes, who was stabbed and seriously wounded, said he still had flashbacks to the attack and was hugely upset at the time that I wasnt able to do more. But I did what I could in the circumstances, he told Sky News. Im grateful to be here, and by all accounts Ill make a full recovery, at least physically. Im going to be OK and others wont be, and thats really where I I think the focus of attention should be. Police said the stabbings werent classified as acts of terrorism because the motive wasnt known. Several months after his arrest at the scene of the crime, Rudakubana was charged with additional counts for production of a biological toxin, ricin and possession of information likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing to commit an act of terrorism for having the manual in a document on his computer. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Police said they found the evidence during a search of his familys home in a neighboring village. The day after the killings and shortly after a peaceful vigil for the victims a violent group attacked a mosque near the crime scene and pelted police officers with bricks and bottles and set fire to police vehicles. Rioting then spread to dozens of other towns over the next week when groups made up mostly of men mobilized by far-right activists on social media clashed with police during violent protests and attacked hotels housing migrants. More than 1,200 people were arrested for the disorder and hundreds have been jailed for up to nine years in prison. Best of Billboard Sign up for Billboard's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WATE) Politicians and government departments throughout Tennessee have been posting messages and quotes for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day on Monday. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was a civil rights icon who fought against racism and segregation. He is famous for promoting non-violent protests. Here are some posts by Tennessee officials celebrating him: Martin Luther King Week kicks off 43nd annual celebration in Knoxville Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Today, we honor the life & legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, who championed human dignity & equality for all people. His courage changed the course of our nation, & and we thank God for his work toward a more perfect Union. Governor Bill Lee On this Martin Luther King Jr. Day, I am grateful for the example Dr. King set as an activist. He showed courage, resilience and faith in the face of adversity and united people with different agendas and backgrounds to fight for a common goal. Knoxville Mayor Indya Kincannon Meanwhile, Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs posted a video saying, Today we honor the legacy of a man whose vision of fairness and justice continues to influence all of us. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jrs message of compassion, unity and determination remind us that everyone plays a role in creating a brighter future. As we remember Dr. King, lets also remember to treat one another with respect and kindness. Together, well pass on his impact and his legacy to the next generation. Trump plans barrage of Day 1 executive actions on border, energy, federal workforce Various organizations posted as well. For instance, the Knoxville County Schools posted, Lets honor Dr. Kings legacy of service, justice, and equality by engaging in community service or reflecting on ways to make an impact in our schools and communities. Copyright 2025 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 WATE 6 On Your Side. Published just ahead of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, a study found Texas has the most racial progress among U.S. states. A WalletHub analysis published Tuesday examined various factors related to racial integration in each state, as well as how this compares over time. In September 2023, Pew Research Center found that 44% of Americans feel at least somewhat pessimistic about the country's potential for racial equality. In contrast, only 28% felt somewhat or very optimistic. Indeed, economic data such as median yearly income and the unemployment rate reveal concerning gaps between Black people and white people. With this in mind, it is also crucial to acknowledge the progress that's been made since the Civil Rights Movement in several capacities. WalletHub collected states' data on 22 indicators of equality and measured racial gaps in the workplace, schools and voting booths. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The personal finance site created two data sets: one for current racial integration and another for racial progress over time. "Its encouraging to look at the data and see that some states have made significant strides toward racial equality over the past few decades," WalletHub analyst Chip Lupo says. "Plus, several of the states that have made the most racial progress overall have improved so much that they are now among the top 10 most integrated states. This change demonstrates that state-level policies and residents attitudes regarding equality have grown considerably better." How does the Lone Star State fare among the other states in racial integration? And how far has it come in terms of racial progress? The data may surprise you. MLK Day 2025 in Austin, Central Texas: Marches, food drives and celebrations Texas ranks No. 5 in racial integration Source: WalletHub Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Texas ranked fifth overall for racial progress among U.S. states and the District of Columbia. In the four main categories, it landed within the top 10 in employment and wealth, education and health: Employment and wealth: 9 Education: 7 Social and civic engagement: 13 Health: 10 Overall score (out of 100): 70.40 LIST: Top 10 US states for racial integration The following states joined Texas in WalletHub's top rankings for current racial integration: New Mexico (overall score of 76.22) Hawaii (75.79) Arizona (72.82) Kentucky (70.75) Texas (70.40) Alaska (70.34) Delaware (70.32) Washington (70.07) Maryland (69.53) Georgia (68.98) LIST: Bottom 10 US states for racial integration The District of Columbia (Washington, D.C.) reported the least racial integration in the U.S. The nation's capital ranked the lowest in employment and wealth, as well as education, and the second-lowest in health. It's listed as No. 40 in social and civic engagement. Here are the others that scored poorly: Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement District of Columbia (28.97) Wisconsin (33.79) Iowa (48.46) Minnesota (51.37) Montana (52.27) Michigan (52.46) Illinois (52.77) Nebraska (53.50) North Dakota (53.66) Ohio (54.12) Texas ranks No. 1 in racial progress Source: WalletHub While it scored high in racial integration, Texas took the title of the U.S. state that's made the most racial progress over time. The Lone Star State ranked among the top five in the health and education categories and among the top 10 in social and civic engagement: Employment and wealth: 13 Education: 4 Social and civic engagement: 8 Health: 3 Overall score (out of 100): 64.87 WalletHub largely attributes Texas' ranking to its commitment to closing the racial gap in health outcomes. "The state has reduced the gap in health insurance coverage by 12.4 percentage points since 1995, the most of any state," WalletHub says. "In addition, Texas has done the most to decrease the share of Black residents suffering from poor health and diabetes. Its made the second-most progress when it comes to obesity, too." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The analysis also notes changes to Texas' business sector: "For example, between 2002 and 2021, the gap in business ownership between white and Black residents decreased by 6.4 percentage points, the sixth-largest decrease in the nation. The disparity in the share of business executives who are white vs. Black also decreased by close to 8 percentage points, the seventh-largest decrease." Finally, the Lone Star State ranks fourth for its racial progress in the parole system which ties to the criminal justice system that has historically discriminated against Black people. LIST: Top 10 US states for racial progress Texas (64.87) Wyoming (64.32) Mississippi (63.89) Georgia (63.89) New Jersey (61.65) New Mexico (60.30) Maryland (59.58) Connecticut (59.47) Florida (59.04) Idaho (58.42) LIST: Bottom 10 US states for racial progress Vermont (33.49) Iowa (35.35) District of Columbia (39.04) Wisconsin (39.25) Nebraska (39.84) Ohio (39.93) South Dakota (42.47) West Virginia (42.99) Maine (44.02) Indiana (44.17) This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas claims most racial progress among US states. See full analysis Fort Worth might soon become the states next city to have more than 1 million people. Fort Worth had nearly 990,000 residents as of January 2024, according to recent estimates from the Texas Demographic Center just barely surpassing Austin to become the states fourth-largest city. Fort Worth has grown faster than any other major Texas city since 2020 as the city added tens of thousands of jobs. The citys relatively low home prices and rents; laidback Western vibe; cultural offerings like the citys museum district; and proximity to the Dallas Cowboys and Texas Rangers make it an attractive destination for newcomers and contributed to its growth, observers said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Fort Worth is on a roll, said Cullum Clark, director of the George W. Bush Institutes Economic Growth Initiative at Southern Methodist University. When you visit, it's pretty clear that it's a place that is booming, where people are very excited about the direction of things. With growth comes challenges. Fort Worths housing is more affordable than in many other large cities. But that affordability has waned amid the citys population boom. Its now more expensive to rent in the North Texas city than in Austin, which has historically not been the case. Fort Worth added nearly 71,000 residents from 2020 to 2024, both growing at a faster pace and adding more residents than any other major Texas city. In second place was San Antonio, which grew by more than 62,000 residents in that period. Houston remains the states largest city with more than 2.3 million. Its population barely budged. Dallas also barely added new residents in that 2020-24 period. El Paso shrank by more than 6,000 residents. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Austin grew in recent years but not as quickly as Fort Worth. Amid the capital citys pandemic-era run-up in housing costs and layoffs in the tech sector, Travis County saw more residents move out last year than in. It's more difficult to move around there (in Austin), it's more expensive to do things, it's more expensive to buy housing there, said Lloyd Potter, the state demographer. You don't see costs being quite as prohibitive (in Fort Worth) as what we're seeing in Austin. The Austin region is growing at a quicker clip than the Dallas-Fort Worth region, Potter noted. International migration to Travis County fueled population growth there in recent years, Potter said. Suburban cities like Georgetown, Leander and Round Rock as well as smaller towns like Liberty Hill have also added tens of thousands of residents since 2020, data from the center show. The Dallas-Fort Worth region added more total residents than the Austin region between 2020 and 2024, the demographic centers data show a staggering 546,000 residents. The greater Houston region came in second, growing by about 392,000 people in that same period. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Strong job growth in the region undergirds Fort Worths population boom, experts said. The Fort Worth-Arlington region has added more than 95,000 jobs in the last three years, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Fort Worth has long been an aerospace and defense hub home to American Airlines; Lockheed Martin Aeronautics, which manufactures the F-35 fighter jet; and Bell Textron, a builder of military and commercial helicopters. Last month, Bell announced a $632 million plant to build parts for the companys new assault helicopter, slated to add more than 500 jobs. Its also home to the eye care company Alcon Laboratories and BNSF Railway, one of the nations largest freight rail operators. Trade, transportation and utilities saw the strongest job growth over the last year in the Fort Worth-Arlington region, according to recent figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The region also saw gains in jobs in construction; education and health services; and leisure and hospitality. What it shows is that you can experience enormous growth when you become one of the best places in America to operate some of these older industries, Clark said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Fort Worth boosters hope a higher education boom will help supply educated workers to attract future employers. Texas Christian University, the citys preeminent higher education institution, and Texas A&M University are each expanding there. And the University of Texas at Arlington is building a new branch in West Fort Worth. I am very bullish on our higher education institutions and the growth that they are going to bring to Fort Worth, said Robert Allen, who heads the Fort Worth Economic Development Partnership. That's huge because that continues to turn out talent and make sure that talent pipeline is robust, which is obviously a key critical component to continue that growth. Like nearly every other major city, Fort Worths housing affordability has slipped amid its boom. But it remains more affordable than many of the countrys largest cities. Asking rents are 30% higher than before the COVID-19 pandemic, Zillow data show. Among the states largest cities, Fort Worth had the highest rents toward the end of last year surpassing even Austin, where rents have fallen for 19 straight months amid a massive apartment building boom. The Fort Worth area, meanwhile, has permitted roughly the same number of housing units as it did before the pandemic. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Buying a home in Fort Worth is also more expensive than it used to be. The typical sales price of a home sat at $340,000 last November, about 48% higher than in the same month in 2019. Its cheaper to purchase a home in San Antonio or El Paso than in Fort Worth, though not as expensive as in Dallas or Austin where the typical home now goes for more than half a million dollars. Homes are cheaper in Fort Worth than in many neighboring suburbs. Fort Worth is a dramatically more affordable place to live, Clark said. The Texas Tribune is a nonpartisan, nonprofit media organization that informs and engages with Texans about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues. This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Fort Worth growing faster than Austin. Here's how it happened SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (AP) Just days before ending his 24-year tenure as president and CEO of Direct Relief, Thomas Tighe was still so energized talking about delivering free medications to people who couldn't afford them that he seemed to forget he was standing inside an enormous cold room, set to a crisp 39 degrees Fahrenheit (4 degrees Celsius). Tighe, 64, leaned over boxes of Granix, a $1,500-per-dose cancer-related medication on its way to clinics in Central America and Africa. Each container had an advanced sensor to track its location, measure light exposure and monitor temperature. Medications and therapies are increasingly sophisticated, he said. If we dont address that gap, then the only people who will benefit from advances in medical science will be people who can pay for it. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Direct Relief's mission is to expand healthcare access. Founded in 1948, the group supplies free medical resources across the U.S. and globally. Tighe helped transform its operations, embracing technology and courting corporate partners, guided by the idea that a nonprofit health venture could and should run as efficiently as a commercial one. Today, Direct Relief runs out of a 155,000-square-foot headquarters reminiscent of an Amazon warehouse. It is the 5th largest charity in the United States, and distributed $1.6 billion in medicine and supplies last year. Tighe spoke to The Associated Press in December about Direct Reliefs growth and responding to crises like Ukraine and climate change. His answers have been edited for length and clarity. Q: You were a lawyer and a Senate staffer, a Peace Corps volunteer and later one of its chief staff members. How did you find yourself at Direct Relief? Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A: In the Peace Corps, I got a sense of the absence of opportunity that exists in life. You see personally how many great people, just by virtue of where they were born and their circumstances, that dictates the course of their life. Directionally, the opportunity at Direct Relief was familiar to the Peace Corps, because heres an organization with a strong history started in a different era. So how do you retain the purpose, the spirit, the sense of service? But the risk is always looking backwards. Its not 1948 and new opportunities exist, new tools exist. Q: It was 2000, when much of the technology we rely on today was in its nascency. Yet you embraced innovation early on, why? A: Were trying to make a charitable site as efficient as if it were a commercial site. If you look in our distribution center, you cant tell that this is all done free of charge, and that is by design. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The idea was to bring the best that were learning in the commercial sector to bear in something that is philanthropy. We were not necessarily the first, but a relatively early adopter for nonprofits using many of the techniques and systems that are common in the business setting. Q: Corporate partnerships and philanthropy seem to have played a big role in Direct Relief's success. A: Theres no way forward without the involvement of the talent and the resources in the private sector. The one dimensional thing that corporations are bad and nonprofits are good I never accepted that premise. Why not invite everyone? Its their world too. When the 2004 Asian tsunami happened, Google had a link to help the victims and Direct Relief was one of the groups that showed up. We received more support from people in one day than we had in 20 years. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It was a big eye opener. We saw the opportunity to not make everything about obtaining money, but encourage the contribution of services. FedEx has been the instrument through which weve been able to do much of the distribution. SAP provided their enterprise system. Extending those services to us is far more valuable than if they just gave us a cash equivalent. Q: Direct Relief donates medicines and supplies, but now it also funds rooftop solar and backup battery systems for health clinics. What led you there? A: Were trying to make sure theres a resilient power source for the most vulnerable people. In Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria, unless power was restored, health services were not going to be restored. It was an easy call to recognize the unanimity among its health professionals that we had to get power restored. When we thought back, versions of that always had happened. Healthcare is highly dependent on power, with electronic medical records, the diagnostic tools, cold-storage medications. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We were trying not to do it because we thought, Were not a power provider. But its integral to health services. And like anything, if you say Someone needs to fix that enough times and no one does, you think, I guess its us. Lets lean into it. Q: You just got back from Ukraine, your last trip as CEO. A: Ive been to Ukraine a dozen times. Direct Relief has been able to provide a lot of support to backstop the medical supply as well as fund some of the activities there. Theres no quit in the Ukrainian people. To see these people really embodying courage to defend themselves, their families, their homeland, its moving. Its also heartbreaking because of the number of young men in particular, and just people who have been victimized by the bombing. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I was there in part to just tell them that they still have Direct Relief support. People continue to contribute for Ukraine. I think its probably been over $100 million in cash since the war began nearly three years ago. The contribution of products in the corporate sectors is about $1.5 billion. Its by far the largest thing Direct Relief has done in its history. Q: In your 24 years here, what are you most proud of? A: Its been rewarding to be part of the evolution of the organization. To see a relatively small group of people tackle tough issues and do it as well as more prominent groups or bigger places, all from a warehouse in Goleta. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Almost everyone I encounter in this job in 24 years is trying to do something positive, with great motivation. So its hard to be cynical about the future prospects of the world when literally almost everyone I meet is like, How can I help? What can we do? Im concerned about this. My personal experience here has been about positive things and generosity, empathy, desire to help. So its a weirdly positive view of our species. Associated Press coverage of philanthropy and nonprofits receives support through the APs collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content. For all of APs philanthropy coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/philanthropy. An illustration showing the New Madrid Seismic Zone. The red portion indicates the highest probability of devastating earthquakes. (Arkansas Geologic Survey) Former Mississippi County Office of Emergency Management director David Lendennie was in his bathroom early on the morning of Aug. 22, 2008, when the ground shook beneath his Blytheville home. A 3.7-magnitude earthquake had rumbled along the southern end of the New Madrid Seismic Zone. Pictures rattled on walls, older concrete and brick foundations cracked, and startled residents were shaken up. There were no injuries. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Lendennie, who passed away in 2021, would tell of his predicament when discussing that quake to prove a point. You never know when an earthquake can strike on the most volatile and dangerous fault system in the country. Being prepared for catastrophe is essential, he said. Its easy to get complacent, safety officials say, because earthquakes cannot be predicted; there are no warnings like when inclement weather approaches. On average, the New Madrid Seismic Zone records 10 times more earthquakes in a year than tornadoes, for example. Arkansas experiences 30 to 40 tornadoes on average annually compared to the New Madrid zones average of 250 to 300 quakes, many of those in northeast Arkansas. Only a handful of quakes large enough to be felt have occurred over the past decade in Arkansas. That, officials add, helps build the general complacency. Still, the U.S. Geological Society predicts that theres a 25% to 40% chance of a 6.0-magnitude earthquake along the seismic zone within the next 50 years. Theyve been using that percentage for the past 20 years, but Arkansas stage geologist Scott Ausbrooks said the society has not increased the potential due to the passage of time yet since the first prediction. Arkansas State Geologist Scott Ausbrooks (Courtesy photo) Its not if, but when, Ausbrooks said of the possibility of a large temblor in the area. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The New Madrid Seismic Zone extends from Marked Tree, Arkansas, north through the Missouri Bootheel. One fault shoots across Missouri and into northwest Tennessee and another runs north toward southern Indiana. Most of the earthquakes rumbling along the fault system range between 1.0 and 2.0 in magnitude and go unfelt. But on occasion, a larger earthquake will occur, briefly reminding people of the danger of the area. A 6.0-magnitude quake would cause quite a bit of damage, said Hilda Booth, the earthquake program manager for the Arkansas Department of Public Safetys Division of Emergency Management. Cell phone towers would come down, she said. Roads could be destroyed. Older buildings could collapse. Electricity would be knocked out. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The states emergency department constantly puts out messages about earthquake safety. Homeowners are advised to strap down their hot water heaters and to ensure heavy furnishings like book cases are secured and wont topple during earthquakes. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Iben Brownings prediction Occasionally, quake scares do arise. In the fall of 1990, New Mexico climatologist Iben Browning predicted a major earthquake near New Madrid, Missouri, would devastate the area in the first week of December. Browning had correctly predicted the September 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake that disrupted the World Series in San Francisco and killed 63 people, 42 of them in the collapse of a double-deck freeway. Browning consequently gained national media attention; so his prediction for a large New Madrid quake gained some credibility. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Schools closed that December. As people flocked to WalMart to buy batteries, generators, water and other emergency supplies, media outlets flocked to New Madrid to wait for the shaking. But the earth remained still and thoughts of the earthquake potential subsided. Every so often, well get an earthquake [in the seismic zone], and people will get excited again, said Lacey Kanipe, the public information officer for the states department of safety. Once they realize that we can have earthquakes here, peoples interest increases and they want to get involved, she said. On Dec. 10, 2024, seven earthquakes were recorded in southeast Missouri within a 9-hour period. One measured 3.0 in magnitude and was felt in Missouri, Tennessee and Arkansas. New Madrid quake history The seismic zone is best known for three major earthquakes that blasted the region during the winter of 1811 and 1812. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The first quake struck in the early hours of Dec. 16, 1811, along the Cottonwood Grove Fault in northeast Arkansas. Because there were no recording devices to measure earthquake intensity then and there was only a sparse rural population that experienced the violent shaking, geologists arent sure how intense the quake was. Scientists estimate it ranged around 7.7 in magnitude and was followed by three aftershocks measuring around 6.0 in magnitude or greater. A woodcut illustration of the New Madrid earthquake of 1811. (Public domain image) A second quake happened on Jan. 23, 1812, near New Madrid and was estimated to range between 6.8 and 7.8 in magnitude. It was followed by a third major earthquake on Feb. 7, 1812, east of Reelfoot Lake, Tennessee, and measured between 7.5 and 7.8 in magnitude. Witnesses at the time reported seeing waves in the soil as the earth moved. Because of the delta alluvial soil here, earthquake energy is more apt to travel much farther, Ausbrooks said, than those in the rocky California area. The 1811-1821 quakes were also so intense they created a phenomenon known as liquefaction, or the compressing of underground soil so strongly that they shoot out as geysers of sand and liquid. Liquefaction is still evident today. A flight over farmland in Crittenden and Mississippi counties will reveal large blotches of sand amid the darker, more fertile soils. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Archeologists have found evidence of liquefaction from earlier eras, indicating that major quakes rattled the area in the distant past. The science that causes quakes on the New Madrid Seismic Zone is relatively unknown when compared to those along the western coast of the United States. There on the western edge of the continent, tectonic plates shift and create friction and stress thats released suddenly on fault systems like the famed San Andreas. The New Madrid faults are hidden under thick layers of river sediment and are considered midcontinent rifts. Tremors are caused more by plates compressing together and lifting together. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Scientists have proposed the quakes on the New Madrid are the results pressure from the eastern and western halves of the continent pushing together. The Great Quakes exhibit inside the New Madrid Historical Museum in New Madrid, Missouri. (Screenshot from museum website) People need to be ready The New Madrid Historical Museum, located on New Madrids Main Street, is one of a few spots that serve as a constant reminder of the potential for more quakes. A section of the museum is dedicated to the large 1811-1812 quakes and includes tips on surviving earthquakes. The museum sees about 5,000 visitors a year, and 80% come to see the earthquake display, said director Jeff Grunwald. We have a Civil War exhibit from an 1862 battle here, and we have a lot of Mississippian-era pottery, Grunwald said. But the driving force for coming here is the earthquakes. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Grunwald has felt several earthquakes since moving to southeastern Missouri 12 years ago from Memphis. We may feel one every month or two, he said. A lot of times, it sounds like thunderclaps and the house shakes. There is awareness for earthquake potential with people here, he said. It is continually looked at. We do have a lot of reminders. Booth and other state emergency officials travel to Arkansas schools to educate youngsters about disaster preparedness. February is considered Earthquake Safety Month. Booth will post tips on social media, encouraging residents to develop emergency kits, secure heavy furniture and hot water heaters and other ideas. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We want to keep the awareness in the limelight, she said. Officials are also constantly assessing area buildings to determine if they can withstand the earths shaking and be used as emergency shelters. They will also inspect highways, interstates and access roads for use for rescue vehicles. People need to be ready, Ausbrooks said. This area doesnt look like what youd expect earthquake country to look like. You dont have the mountains like in California or the valleys in Utah. Its all under the Delta soil here. Earthquakes can happen anywhere, he said. We dont know where faults are until they are active. Theres no warning. They just happen. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE Martin Luther King Jr. and his wife Coretta Scott King work in his office in Atlanta in July 1962. (TPLP/Archive Photos via Getty Images) OMAHA Three Omaha-area residents have been recognized for representing the diverse and inclusive vision of civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Sgt. Harvey Burtley of Douglas County Corrections. (Courtesy of Douglas County) Each year, Douglas County and the City of Omaha honor two public employees and a community member who emulate Dr. Kings ideals of inclusion and equality. A committee of county and city representatives review nominations and this year selected: Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Sgt. Harvey Burtley, who has served the Douglas County Department of Corrections for three decades. A retired staff sergeant with 23 years in the U.S. Army, Burtley is known for playing a key role in the Honor Guard and supporting work fundraisers for colleagues facing hardships. His nominator said Burtley is guided by his philosophy, Every day is a blessing, and inspires others to be positive. Capt. Sheena Glover of the Omaha Fire Department. (Courtesy of Douglas County) Capt. Sheena Glover of the Omaha Fire Department has more than 24 years of experience in emergency services and, according to the city, is currently the only Black woman in the department and the fourth in its history. She exemplifies Kings teachings through her advocacy for equality and inspiring leadership, said her nominator. Tia Manning, who manages the Freedom from Violence project project at the Womens Fund of Omaha, is the community MLK award-winner. Mannings mission is to ensure all individuals feel supported, seen and empowered to rebuild their lives, her nominator said. The mental health therapist and community advocate champions survivor-centered care and systematic change as she addresses domestic violence and sexual assault. Tia Manning of the Womens Fund of Omaha. (Courtesy of Douglas County) The trio was recognized at the Aspire to Inspire celebration Friday, which also featured performances honoring the King holiday and a talk from Wayne Brown, CEO of the Urban League of Nebraska. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement On Monday (Jan. 20) at 5:30 pm., the City of Omahas Human Rights and Relations Department will host a Living the Dream high school talent competition at the Holland Performing Arts Center. The annual event features social justice-themed music, dance and spoken word entries. The event is free and open to the public SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX The Ohio Statehouse in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo by Graham Stokes for Ohio Capital Journal. Republish photo only with original story.) Ohio Lt. Gov. Jon Husted, who was formerly the frontrunner to become governor in 2026, is heading to the U.S. Senate. Heres who is throwing their hat in the race to become the future leader of the Buckeye State. Attorney General Dave Yost, who has basically all but formally announced his run for governor, congratulated the LG on his appointment to the Senate. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Congratulations to Senator @JonHusted! Yost posted on X, formerly known as Twitter. I wish him every success in his service to our nation. This was likely well-received news for his campaign, as at this point Husted was one of the biggest obstacles. Over the past few months, weve seen a groundswell of support for Attorney General Yosts candidacy for governor, Yosts campaign spokesperson Amy Natoce said. Hes devoted his career in public service to improving the lives of Ohio families and protecting their interests. He will formally announce his bid for governor in late February and looks forward to sharing his vision for Ohios future. Yost is also a longtime politician, starting behind the scenes and then working as Delaware County auditor and then prosecutor. Before becoming AG, he was the state auditor. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In a new post, Yost reshared his campaign video standing in front of the governors office at the Statehouse. But a new development came Friday afternoon. Ohio Treasurer Robert Sprague, who was one of the top contenders for the Senate seat, has just filed paperwork to show his intent to run for governor. Ohio is built for more. Its time to let hardworking Ohioans keep what they earn, end government waste, and create real opportunity through good jobs. Ill keep fighting to reform a broken system, protect our freedoms, and make Ohio the Midwests economic powerhouse, Sprague wrote on X. The people of this state deserve bold, proven leadership, and I look forward to sharing my vision for Ohio in the weeks ahead. Sprague has been working in politics for years. He previously was a member of the state House, representing parts of Northwest Ohio. Prior to that, he served as the Findlay auditor and treasurer. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Its been nearly 20 years since Ohio could count on two conservative Republicans in the Senate, Sprague wrote on X. Congrats @JonHusted for your appointment we know youll do us proud. Enrepreuener and chair of the U.S. Department of Government Efficiency Vivek Ramaswamy has shown interest in running for governor, as well. He has not filed any forms, as of yet. We spoke to Ramaswamy right before his appointment to Trumps administration was announced. He dodged attempts to nail down whether he wanted to run for governor. He brought up his background as an entrepreneur who started a pharmaceutical company and investment firm. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I want to reflect on the biggest and best possible way that we can use that skill set as an outsider to hopefully transform this country, he said. I obviously care immensely about the state. The future of Ohio is important to me as well. Former Director of the Ohio Department of Health Amy Acton has thrown her name into the pool to be the Democratic nominee. Im running for Governor because Ive spent my life helping peoplenot playing politics. Ohio deserves leaders who listen, solve problems, and put people first, Acton wrote on X. Here are the others who have a designation of treasurer form indicating they want to run for governor: Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Former Republican Congressman Jim Renacci Republican Jeremiah Workman, former running mate of Joe Blystone Republican Mary Taylor, former LG of Ohio Democrat Ed FitzGerald, former Cuyahoga County executive Heather Hill, a Republican Marshall James Usher, an independent Raymond Howard Metzger, a Republican This article was originally published on News5Cleveland.com and is published in the Ohio Capital Journal under a content-sharing agreement. Unlike other OCJ articles, it is not available for free republication by other news outlets as it is owned by WEWS in Cleveland. Follow WEWS statehouse reporter Morgan Trau on X and Facebook. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE TikTok is available again to users after being shut down for around 12 hours Saturday night into Sunday. Even though the app is back online, people still cannot download it in the Apple or Google app stores. After spearheading the process to ban TikTok in 2020, President-Elect Donald Trump now says he plans to sign an executive order Monday, on his first day in office. He said at a rally Sunday the app helped him win the election. [DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] As of today, TikTok is back, so you know I did a little TikTok thing, Trump said. We have a guy, TikTok Jack. He is a young kid, like 21 years old, and we hired this guy, and I went on TikTok. Can you believe what I will do to win an election? And we went on TikTok. And Republicans have never won the young vote, the youth vote. They win a lot of votes, but they never won the youth vote. We won the youth vote by 36 points. So, I like TikTok. I like it. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The order will give the app a 90-day extension to continue to exist while the Chinese-owned company finds a buyer which is a requirement of the law. It is an option President Biden had but said he was going to leave for Trump. In April of 2024, bipartisan lawmakers passed a bill after concerns the app creates a security risk for Chinese influence on United States users. On Friday, the Supreme Court upheld the law. Atlanta based influencer, Melissa Tovar has over 300,000 followers on TikTok. She said the back and forth has been overwhelming. She said she is hopeful the app will not go away permanently, but she is still making back up plans. TRENDING STORIES: Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Weve all understood that this job is temporary, just like any job that somebody has, you know, you can get let go or laid off, Tovar said. Luckily, we do have kind of something to bounce back from. If we happen to not be able to work for 3, 4, 5, 6 months, we can direct all our energy towards Instagram, YouTube, Snapchat. Mental Health workers say the success of TikTok is based on its algorithm. Tik Tok leaned in to targeting dopamine and targeting the brain responds and reward centers, said Andrea Brock, a Licensed Clinical Social Worker at Thriveworks based out of Dallas, Georgia. She said if TikTok goes away again, people can suffer mentally, even physically. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement If your body is feeing agitated, if youre feeling irritated by everybody or everything around you, theres a good chance that there is some portion of addiction that is affecting you, Brock said. She said people need to make sure they are exercising, going outside, and getting sunlight, connecting to family, and doing things they enjoy. Giving yourself time to settle into a new normal, to identify and create new habits, its an opportunity, Brock said. TikTok has around 170 million users in the country and around 170,000 active users in Georgia. [SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter] By David Shepardson and Katie Paul WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Monday seeking to delay by 75 days the enforcement of a ban of popular short-video app TikTok that was slated to be shuttered on Jan. 19. While signing the order, Trump suggested the United States government should be a half owner of TikTok's U.S. business in return for keeping the app alive and warned that he could impose tariffs on China if Beijing failed to approve a U.S. deal with TikTok. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The executive order capped 48 hours of legal maneuvering and political intrigue that left millions of U.S. TikTokkers struggling for answers about the fate of their app. The drama began Saturday when the short video app used by 170 million Americans was taken offline for users shortly before a law that said it must be sold by its Chinese owner ByteDance on national security grounds, or be banned, took effect on Sunday. The next day Trump said he had plans to "Save TikTok". Within hours, the company began restoring its service in the U.S., thanking the soon-to-be-inaugurated President for providing assurances to TikTok and its business partners that they would not face hefty fines to keep the app running. The app and website were operational on Monday, but TikTok is still not available for download in the Apple and Google app stores. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trump's order, signed hours after he was inaugurated on Monday, mirrors his earlier promises and directs the attorney general to not enforce the law to give his team time "to determine the appropriate course of action with respect to TikTok." But the legality of Trump's executive order is unclear. The law requiring the divestiture was passed by big majorities in Congress, signed by President Joe Biden, and upheld by a unanimous Supreme Court. The law also does not grant Trump authority to extend the deadline unless ByteDance has "binding agreements" to sell TikTok and it is unclear any agreements exist. ByteDance did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Tuesday. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Representative Frank Pallone said Trump's order is "circumventing national security legislation passed by an overwhelming bipartisan majority in Congress." TENSE RELATIONS WITH CHINA The debate over TikTok comes at a tense moment in U.S.-China relations. Trump has said he intends to place tariffs on China but has also indicated he hopes to have more direct contact with China's leader. While signing the executive order Monday evening, Trump said that he could see the U.S. government taking a 50% stake in TikTok and as part of that stake, the U.S. could police the site. Trump added that if a deal isn't approved by China, "there's no value. So if we create that value, why aren't we entitled to like half?" He said the company could be worth hundreds of billions of dollars. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The U.S. has never banned a major social media platform. The law passed last year gives the Trump administration sweeping authority to ban or seek the sale of other Chinese-owned apps. Trump saving TikTok represents a reversal in stance from his first term in office. In 2020, he unsuccessfully sought to ban the app -- as well as Tencent's WeChat -- over concerns the company was sharing Americans' personal information with the Chinese government. More recently, Trump has said he has "a warm spot in my heart for TikTok," crediting the app with helping him win over young voters in the 2024 presidential election. Later in 2020, Trump blessed a deal for a new ownership structure with Walmart and Oracle agreeing to take ownership stakes in the new company. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trump said the agreement would include the companies paying for a $5 billion U.S. education fund as part of the deal. The deal ultimately fell apart. It would be unprecedented for the U.S. government to demand an equity stake in a major company in exchange for approving its continued use. Trump's comments also did not address whether ByteDance or other Chinese entities would be allowed to hold a stake in TikTok or if the deal would address U.S. national security concerns about U.S. user data. The order directs the Justice Department to issue letters to companies like Apple, Alphabet's Google and Oracle that supply services to TikTok "stating that there has been no violation of the statute and that there is no liability for any conduct that occurred during the above-specified period." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It is still unclear if Trump's order will be enough to convince Alphabet's Google and Apple to restore the app to stores in the United States. That announcement came as China indicated for the first time it would be open to a transaction keeping TikTok operating in the U.S. When asked about the app's restoration and Trump's desire for a deal, China's foreign ministry told a regular news briefing on Monday that it believed companies should "decide independently" about their operations and deals. It repeated the same comment on Tuesday when asked about Trump's executive order. (Reporting by Kenneth Li and Katie Paul in New York, David Shepardson in Washington additional reporting by Nandita Bose and Jeff Mason in Washington, Eduardo Baptista in Beijing; Writing by Chris Sanders; Editing by Shri Navaratnam and Stephen Coates) As he promised Sunday, President Donald Trump on Monday signed an executive action that delays enforcement of the TikTok ban for 75 days. The action directs the US Justice Department not to enforce the Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, which passed with broad bipartisan support in Congress and was signed in April by former President Joe Biden. The law required that starting January 19, TikTok be banned in the United States unless it sells to a buyer from America or one of its allies. The law gives the president broad discretion on how to enforce the ban. Trumps promise in a Truth Social post that he would sign an executive action Monday so that the law will not be enforced including for ban violations that took place before he became president was sufficient enough for TikTok, which shut itself down for about 14 hours Saturday night into Sunday, to go back online Sunday afternoon. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The unfortunate timing of section 2(a) of the Act one day before I took office as the 47th President of the United States interferes with my ability to assess the national security and foreign policy implications of the Acts prohibitions before they take effect, Trumps executive action said. This timing also interferes with my ability to negotiate a resolution to avoid an abrupt shutdown of the TikTok platform while addressing national security concerns. The action says the 75 day delay will help the Trump administration attempt to determine the appropriate course forward in an orderly way that protects national security while avoiding an abrupt shutdown of a communications platform used by millions of Americans. Trump told reporters Monday that he changed his mind on TikTok because he got to use it. And remember, TikTok is largely about kids, young kids, Trump said in the Oval Office when asked what changed his mind. If China is going to get information about young kids out of it, to be honest, I think we have bigger problems than that. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He also told reporters the action that he signed on TikTok gave him the right to either sell it or close it. I have the right to either sell it or close it, and well make that determination, Trump added. But TikToks ultimate fate in America remains in doubt. Its unclear that TikToks China-based owner, ByteDance, would want to sell to a buyer, even if it were a deal brokered by Trump. TikTok is back for now TikTok restored access for American users midday on Sunday, crediting Trump for bringing the app back. I will issue an executive order on Monday to extend the period of time before the laws prohibitions take effect, so that we can make a deal to protect our national security, Trump said in a Truth Social post Sunday. He added that he would not hold TikToks technology partners including Apple, Google and cloud computing company Oracle liable for continuing to make the app available until he signed the order. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It was that reassurance that he wouldnt fine its tech partners, TikTok said, that allowed it to bring back US users access. We thank President Trump for providing the necessary clarity and assurance to our service providers that they will face no penalties providing TikTok, TikTok said in a statement Sunday. We will work with President Trump on a long-term solution that keeps TikTok in the United States. The apps return was welcomed by many of its 170 million American users. I was fully crying myself to sleep last night because it was just so sad and I felt like Id lost a whole community and a job, influencer Shay Sullivan, who has 1.1 million followers on TikTok, told CNN on Sunday. Now, Im just overjoyed. Im having the best day it was definitely a roller coaster. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Still, bringing the app back for good may not be straightforward. Ultimately, the law, which passed with bipartisan support and was signed by outgoing President Joe Biden last April, requires TikTok parent company ByteDance to sell the app to a buyer from the United States or one of its allies because of concerns that the app could pose a national security risk. And so far, ByteDance has, at least publicly, resisted the idea of a sale. Trump on Sunday and again on Monday suggested that an American buyer should purchase half of the company and run it as a 50-50 joint venture with its current owners. But its unclear if that solution would satisfy those in Congress who passed the law, including members of Trumps own party concerned about foreign control of a popular platform. Putting the pressure on Trump TikTok didnt necessarily have to shut itself down. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The law requires only that TikToks technology partners including Oracle, which hosts TikToks content in the United States, and Apple and Google, which host the app on their app stores stop supporting the app or face fines of up to $5,000 per person who has access to the platform starting Sunday. The Biden administration suggested last week that it would leave it up to Trump to implement and enforce the law once he took office. Despite that assurance, a person close to TikTok said multiple critical service partners indicated to TikTok that they were concerned that the ban might be enforced starting Sunday so the company decided to go dark. The shutdown appeared aimed at ratcheting up pressure on Trump to act quickly; restoring access to the app could serve as a kind of immediate political victory for the incoming president with Americas youth, although it was Trump who first tried to ban the app during his previous term. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement TikTok appealed to Trump in its pop-up message on the app starting late Saturday night notifying users that the app was unavailable in the United States. We are fortunate that President Trump has indicated that he will work with us on a solution to reinstate TikTok once he takes office, the company posted in its pop-up message. Please stay tuned! The TikTok app went offline for US users for about 14 hours starting Saturday night. - Emmalee Reed/CNN TikTok CEO Shou Chew who was seated prominently at the inauguration Monday also lauded Trump in a video Friday, saying, we are grateful and pleased to have the support of a president who truly understands our platform, one who has used TikTok to express his own thoughts and perspectives, connecting with the world and generating more than 60 billion views of his content in the process. And TikTok thanked Trump when it restored the app, telling users, As a result of President Trumps efforts, TikTok is back in the U.S.! Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trump has suggested that he believes TikTok played a role in his election victory by bringing in young voters. However, after the app was restored, many users expressed frustration at being part of what some called political theatre that appeared to be clearly aimed at boosting Trumps image, although he was the first to try to ban TikTok during his previous administration. Some users questioned whether TikTok shut itself down not to protect its technology partners but so that Trump would look like the apps savior, as it seeks to secure its future in the United States. Did we just get a 16-hour pop up ad for Donald Trump? one user asked in a post. Another user said in a video: Why is everyone thanking Trump for wanting to save TikTok when he was the one that put it on the map to be banned in the first place? A 75-day extension Trump told NBC News on Saturday he would most likely delay the ban on TikTok for 90 days shortly after he takes office on Monday, before confirming that plan in his Truth Social post Sunday. Its not clear why the executive action delayed enforcement for just 75 days. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement With the executive action, Trump said he aimed to give TikTok parent company ByteDance more time to find a suitable buyer. Still, even that effort could face legal challenges or pushback from Congress. The law gives the president the option to extend the ban deadline only if a deal to sell the platform is in process, and so far, ByteDance has publicly rejected the possibility of a sale. Both ByteDance and Chinese officials have also indicated they would be unwilling to sell TikToks US assets with its popular algorithm, the apps secret sauce that makes it so valuable. Spinning off an American-only version of TikTok could also mean the rest of the world has to download a new app to access US users content. Several prominent Republican lawmakers have indicated they will resist an extension of the law. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Now that the law has taken effect, theres no legal basis for any kind of extension of its effective date, Senators Tom Cotton of Arkansas and Pete Ricketts of Nebraska said in a joint statement. For TikTok to come back online in the future, ByteDance must agree to a sale that satisfies the laws qualified-divestiture requirements by severing all ties between TikTok and Communist China. Only then will Americans be protected from the grave threat posed to their privacy and security by a communist-controlled TikTok. Cotton also said Sunday that any company that hosts, distributes, services or other facilitates was still taking a chance in helping restore TikTok ahead of Trumps planned executive order. He said they could face hundreds of billions of dollars of ruinous liability under the law, not just from DOJ, but also under securities law, shareholder lawsuits, and state AGs. But ByteDance may now reconsider its stance on a sale, having had to shut down the platform, albeit only briefly. At least two potential buyers a group led by billionaire Frank McCourt and Shark Tanks Kevin OLeary, as well as AI search engine PerplexityAI have submitted formal bids for the app, and others have reportedly shown interest in TikTok. McCourts buyer group has said it would buy TikToks US assets without the algorithm and rebuild the app, but tech giants like Meta and YouTube have for years worked to replicate TikToks popular algorithm without quite succeeding. OLeary told CNN he met with Trump at Mar-a-Lago earlier this month to discuss the outlook for the app. And McCourt told CNN that ByteDances bankers have acknowledged receipt of the groups bid, expected to be valued around $20 billion. Bloomberg and the Wall Street Journal also reported last week that China is weighing a sale to Elon Musk. Musk may have the resources to buy the app, and hes a major Trump supporter and about to take a quasi-role in his government. But its unclear that he would want to, and he has not publicly commented on the reports. TikTok called the reports pure fiction. If ByteDance chooses to engage, Trump could perhaps argue that significant progress has been made on a deal and he has met the legal threshold needed to pause the ban. But until a sale ultimately goes through, TikToks future will remain very much in doubt. CNNs Samantha Waldenberg contributed to this report. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com Curious about the TikTok unban and how it was restored so quickly? After facing a sudden ban in the United States, TikTok resumed its services within a few hours. It was due to direct intervention by Donald Trump. This sparked widespread questions, including, is TikTok back for good? Heres what happened and how the situation unfolded. TikTok restores service after 14 hours of ban On January 18, 2025, TikTok halted operations in the United States. However, TikTok restored its services the following day. The platform announced this development via X (formerly Twitter), stating, In agreement with our service providers, TikTok is in the process of restoring service. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Donald Trump played a pivotal role in the TikTok unban. He posted on Truth Social, explaining his decision to provide TikTok with additional time to comply with federal requirements. He wrote, I will issue an executive order on Monday to extend the period of time before the laws prohibitions take effect, so that we can make a deal to protect our national security. Trump added that he wants the United States to have a 50% ownership position in a joint venture. This will ensure TikToks operation under secure terms. Furthermore, Trump asserted that he wants his inauguration to be telecasted on the application. In its statement, TikTok also expressed its gratitude toward Trump stating that they will work with President Trump on a long-term solution that keeps TikTok in the United States. TikToks ban stemmed from a law that was passed by the Biden administration. According to this law, the app would pose a threat to national security, as lawmakers believed that China could misuse the app to collect data. The law further stated that TikTok would be allowed to operate only if its ownership is transferred from its Chinese parent company, ByteDance to a US owner. (via NBC) Originally reported by Ishita Verma on ComingSoon.net. The post TikTok Is Back in the US After Donald Trumps Intervention appeared first on Mandatory. TikToks decision to shut the app down for barely 12 hours only to restore access to the China-owned app on Sunday after President-elect Donald Trump chimed in appeared to be a PR stunt meant to stoke a public outcry, policy experts told The Post. TikToks early shutdown either came down to corporate incompetence or a deliberate PR stunt to encourage a manufactured sense of panic, said Joel Thayer, a DC-based tech lawyer and president of the Digital Progress Institute. Given its waffling, Im assuming its the latter. The popular video-sharing app pulled the plug for all US users late Saturday night but began restoring service Sunday afternoon after Trump vowed to save TikTok through an executive order Monday that would delay enforcement of the divestiture law requiring parent company ByteDance to sell its stake. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The company thanked Trump for providing the necessary clarity and assurance to our service providers that they will face no penalties. However, the Biden administration had already said it would not enforce the law, and Trump previously signaled ahead of the shutdown that he was against the ban and would most likely issue the executive order. TikTok came back online Sunday after a 12-hour shutdown. Christopher Sadowski The companys leadership has acted as an unsympathetic and disingenuous broker in its dealings with Congress and the public over the last several years, Thayer said. The truth is that, even before Congress enacted the law, the US has told TikTok how to fix its blatant national security concerns for over 5 years and the company did nothing, he added. Now, after it attempted to bring bogus First Amendment claims to delay the laws enforcement and on the eve of its ban, it wants a pity party. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Under the divestiture law, app store operators like Google and Apple face penalties of $5,000 per user if they allow new downloads of the Bytedance-owned app after the Jan. 19 deadline. Service providers like Oracle and Akamai also faced lesser liability for supporting the apps operation. As written, the law did not require TikTok to go dark for people who had already downloaded it on their phones, or nor did it ban Americans from accessing the app. A TikTok representative declined further comment and pointed to the companys earlier statement. President-elect Trump has vowed to save TikTok. Getty Images Searches for TikTok yielded no results in Googles Play Store and Apples App store as of 2:45 pm ET a sign that the US tech giants still werent willing to risk massive penalties outlined in the law, even after Trumps statement. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Google declined comment on the situation. A message in Apples App Store said the company was obligated to follow the laws in the jurisdictions where it operates. Oracle and Akamai representatives did not immediately respond to requests for comment. This may be a game for TikTok, but it isnt a game for Apple and Google, said Michael Sobolik, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute and author of Countering Chinas Great Game. They need to comply with the law, regardless of TikToks shenanigans. The law that Congress passed and the Supreme Court upheld requires Apple and Google to remove TikTok from their app stores if it is still owned and controlled by a foreign adversary today which it is, Sobolik added. TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew is set to attend Trumps inauguration. Getty Images Trump said he would like the United States to have a 50% ownership position in a joint venture. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement By doing this, we save TikTok, keep it in good hands and allow it to say up [sic], Trump said. Without US approval, there is no TikTok. TikTok said it would work with President Trump on a long-term solution that keeps TikTok in the United States. Despite Trumps assurances, Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), who previously warned that the liabilities could amount to $850 billion, told service providers to think twice about ignoring the law. Any company that hosts, distributes, services, or otherwise facilitates communist-controlled TikTok could face hundreds of billions of dollars of ruinous liability under the law, not just from DOJ, but also under securities law, shareholder lawsuits, and state AGs, Cotton wrote on X. Think about it. TikTok still wasnt available in app stores as of Sunday afternoon. Getty Images Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Cotton and fellow Republican Sen. Pete Ricketts had earlier said there was no legal basis for any kind of extension of its effective date. For TikTok to come back online in the future, ByteDance must agree to a sale that satisfies the laws qualified-divestiture requirements by severing all ties between TikTok and Communist China, the senators said. House Speaker Mike Johnson, a close Trump ally, also threw cold water on the notion that TikTok could come back without adhering to the laws requirement that its parent company ByteDance divest. I think we will enforce the law, Johnson told NBC News. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Biden White House had previously referred to TikToks threat to go dark as a stunt. It is a stunt, and we see no reason for TikTok or other companies to take actions in the next few days before the Trump Administration takes office on Monday, outgoing White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said earlier this week. TikTok said its service providers had received necessary assurances from Trump. REUTERS Congress passed the divestiture law with overwhelming bipartisan support due to concerns that TikTok essentially functioned as a spyware and propaganda tool for the Chinese Communist Party facilitating everything from mass data collection on Americans to subtle manipulation of public opinion through its algorithm. TikTok has denied wrongdoing. The company repeatedly said it would not sell, even as the deadline approached. Chinese government officials vowed to block any forced sale. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The company unsuccessfully argued that the divestiture law violated the First Amendment. The Supreme Courts nine justices unanimously ruled against TikTok and ByteDance. Unless and until TikTok is no longer controlled by Beijing, the national security threat that motivated the divestiture law hasnt been addressed, said Evan Swarztrauber, a senior fellow at the Foundation for American Innovation. As The Post reported, some so-called TikTok refugees flocked to China-owned alternative RedNote ahead of the ban even as experts warned that it carried even greater security risks. TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew is set to attend Trumps inauguration on Monday. (Bloomberg) -- TikTok Chief Executive Officer Shou Chew attended President Donald Trumps inaugural events in Washington, appearing at a church service before the swearing-in ceremony as his popular video-sharing app faces the threat of a nationwide ban. Most Read from Bloomberg Trump has said that he hopes to preserve TikTok, which was the subject of a national security law signed by President Joe Biden last April because of concerns raised by Chinese ownership. Hes promised to sign an executive order granting the app more time to find a new owner, which was a requirement under the law. Its still unclear whether Trump has the legal power to grant an extension, but he recently praised the app for helping him reach young voters during the election. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trump proposed on Truth Social over the weekend that the US and TikToks parent, ByteDance Ltd., form a joint venture to keep the app operating. I would like the United States to have a 50% ownership position in a joint venture, he wrote. By doing this, we save TikTok, keep it in good hands and allow it to say up. Chews appearance at the inauguration ceremony is a sign that TikTok and its Chinese parent company still see a chance for the app to get a reprieve from the ban. Both companies and content creators who use the app for their livelihoods sued the US government over the law, and brought their arguments before the Supreme Court in early January, though the justices ultimately upheld the law. Under the US law, passed last year with bipartisan support, ByteDance had until Jan. 19, the day before the inauguration, to arrange a sale of its US TikTok business or face a ban. ByteDance has said it doesnt intend to sell the app. TikToks US business is valued at an estimated $40 billion to $50 billion. Chews relationship with Trump could be key to the apps survival. After TikTok temporarily went dark in the US over the weekend, the app returned on Sunday following Trumps pledge that he would not enforce the law. The law forbids tech giants like Apple Inc., Alphabet Inc.s Google and Oracle Corp. from carrying TikTok in their respective app stores or providing the app with necessary cloud and infrastructure support. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Thanks for your patience and support, TikTok wrote to users in an in-app notification on Sunday. As a result of President Trumps efforts, TikTok is back in the U.S.! Chew, who also visited Trump as his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida in December, was not the only significant tech executive at the Washington events. Elon Musk, the worlds richest man and a close Trump adviser, was also in attendance, as was Meta Platforms Inc. CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Amazon.com Inc. co-founder Jeff Bezos as well as Sundar Pichai, Alphabets CEO. Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2025 Bloomberg L.P. Jan. 19While many were relieved to see TikTok back after its brief disappearance Saturday night, its long-term future remains uncertain. The app had gone dark following a federal law mandating its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, to sell or shut down the platform by Sunday, Jan. 20, citing national security concerns. Hours later, President-elect Donald Trump announced plans to delay the ban by 90 days, allowing the app to restore service temporarily. The uncertainty has left influencers to what their next steps might be. Among those are several New Mexican content creators. The Journal talked to some of them before the weekend's events. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Jaeden Gomez Born and raised in Albuquerque and graduating from Volcano Vista High School in 2018, TikTok creator Jaeden Gomez made waves when she created a dance in 2022 to Lizzo's song "About Damn Time." The dance gained more than 1 million likes and millions of views, leading to Gomez working directly with Lizzo. Since the video, Gomez moved to Los Angeles and has worked with artists like Camila Cabello, danced at hip-hop festival Camp Flog Gnaw and been on "The Late Late Show With James Corden." "I was getting jobs to create dance promos on TikTok, so that was essentially my job," Gomez said. "It created a lot of job opportunities for me, and it would create a lot of great introductions with other independent artists trying to get their music out." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Gomez said the app changed her life in ways she could have never expected. "It's weird to think the app could be gone considering it's such a huge part of my life," she said. "If I didn't download TikTok, I honestly wouldn't be here today. I literally thought I would never move out of New Mexico. Without TikTok, a lot of these artists wouldn't know who I am." Gomez said the biggest loss she will face if TikTok is permanently banned is the accessibility to a community and opportunities. "TikTok wasn't necessarily the one paying my bills but it did for a lot of my mutuals, but I think (the ban) will open some opportunities in some places while at the same time taking away a majority of what was there," she said. "TikTok feels like a full community, and it sucks because everybody is so close and a lot of people are so real on there." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Though Gomez isn't sure if the app will be gone after President-elect Trump's delay of the ban, she's preparing for a few different scenarios just to be sure. "I'm on the fence because obviously we've been told this so many times but with how the world is going this year, I honestly can see it happening," she said. "I'm hoping it doesn't happen, though." On the chance the app does get banned, Gomez is hoping to transition over to YouTube and Instagram Reels. She also is considering pursing a career in cosmetology, a career she was originally planning on before her success on TikTok. "I'm on YouTube and Instagram, and I am getting into acting, so I want to do more of that this year and pursue that," she said. "I'm not going to stick to one thing, I'm going to try to do everything at once because that's what I always do." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Gomez hopes if TikTok does disappear, her success shows other New Mexicans that any dream is achievable. "Don't be scared to pursue your dreams because the only one holding you back is you," she said. "You never know what opportunities might pop out and come to you because they're meant for you." Mario Sena and Aldin Hamdy Content creation duo Mario Sena and Aldin Hamdy are the minds behind comedy TikTok account get.the.stick a page with 120,000 followers that focuses on satirical skits based on Albuquerque residents. Throughout the years, the account has amassed over 4 million likes, and was at the center of attention in 2024 when the pair said they sued the state after being charged with impersonating a New Mexico State Police officer, claiming the charge violated First Amendment rights. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The pair do not believe TikTok will be banned after the 90-day extension, but are preparing to transition to other forms of content just in case. "We're still waiting," Sena said. "It's not over until the fat lady sings, right. I don't see it as a definitive until it's actually gone from app stores and no one is logging in anymore, but we're going to start doing more long form content." The pair do receive funds from TikTok, but said it is not substantial enough for them to be concerned. "We don't get paid a lot on TikTok," Sena said. "It's not extremely lucrative or consistent thing, and we didn't get into it for the money. We're grateful we don't have a mortgage or anything on TikTok, but it's sad for those people who are feeding their families with TikTok income." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Sierra Montoya Albuquerque TikTok creator Sierra Montoya focuses mainly on comedy videos. While she's also dabbled in beauty and dance content, she says her primary goal on TikTok is "to try to make people laugh." "This is my platform with my largest amount of followings for sure, and the only platform that I've gotten paid from," Montoya said. Her page boasts 212,500 followers. During TikTok's peak in 2020, Montoya said she earned roughly $2,000 monthly through the platform. However, the introduction of changes requiring videos to be over a minute long for monetization led her to pull back slightly. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "Now, it's more of a passive kind of income type thing," she said. "It's probably a third of my earnings." If TikTok is banned in the future, Montoya plans to focus more on Instagram Reels and building her YouTube platform. However, she acknowledges the challenge of rebuilding her audience, especially after losing an Instagram account in 2020. "My TikTok following compared to my Instagram following is not even comparable," Montoya said. "I have like 2,500 followers on Instagram and over 200K on TikTok, so it's going to be hard to work back up, for sure." Montoya believes TikTok's community is one-of-a-kind and can't be re-created on another platform. "I can't even talk to some of my friends without referencing some type of TikTok or sound," she said. "It's going to be hard to see us come together in a community on a new app." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Jasmine Kingery Jasmine Kingery, a creator with 22,500 followers, started posting food content on TikTok during the COVID-19 pandemic to help highlight local businesses. Growing up in Taos, a small town with limited food options, she found bigger cities like Albuquerque overwhelming when deciding where to eat. "I've always been a foodie, and during COVID-19, I started sharing videos of places I enjoyed because I trusted honest experiences," Kingery said. "It really resonated and helped during a very crazy time." While she posts on multiple platforms, TikTok remains her favorite because of its unique algorithm. "It shows users what they actually want to see, unlike platforms like Meta that make it extremely hard for creators to get their posts seen without paying for ads or boosting their content," she said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Thanks to TikTok, Kingery has partnered with organizations like Visit Las Cruces, and her videos have helped promote local restaurants and even her own photography business. "TikTok has been huge for me," she said. "I've been able to direct people to my business and showcase so many local places that wouldn't have that reach otherwise." With TikTok's long term future still being uncertain, Kingery is already planning her next steps. She's focusing on YouTube and Instagram and launching a podcast with her sisters called "The Sister Shed" "We're going to talk about social media, local businesses and even try viral food trends," she said. But she admits there's something special about TikTok that's hard to replicate. "TikTok's community is so genuine and authentic," Kingery said. "It's going to be hard to find that somewhere else." For her, TikTok has been a window into lives and experiences that she wouldn't have otherwise encountered. "I've discovered amazing art, cultures, and creativity on TikTok," she said. "It's been a front-row seat to a world I didn't know existed." Kingery is also worried about what a ban would mean for creators like her. "Years of hard work, creativity, and meaningful connections could just disappear," she said. "TikTok has been a lifeline for so many creators and small businesses, and taking it away feels like erasing a part of history." Abby Jimenez said she and her family felt whiplashed on Sunday morning, when the video-centric TikTok social network was restored to service in the United States after being shuttered late Saturday. Jimenez, the local author of bestselling romances and a hardcore user of social networks, harnesses the likes of Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to announce book readings and so on. But TikTok is special to the west metro resident. Her novels are rarely mentioned on this network. Instead, its where she nurtures a reader community focused largely on hijinks in her household often including Stuntman Mike and her three other dogs, along with her daughter Maya, who plays 15 musical instruments and delights in sparring with mom. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Plus, she said, its super easy to create clever videos. TikTok is where I go to have a good time, said Jimenez. So, when China-based TikTok owner ByteDance announced Saturday that it was going dark in this country, she said at the time, Im devastated. I feel violated. ByteDances move was a preemptive one because the U.S. government was about to block TikTok on security concerns that the company is too cozy with the Chinas Communist government. ByteDance then resuscitated TikTok in this country when incoming President Trump announced he planned to sign an executive order giving the social network 90 days of breathing room to find U.S. ownership of some kind. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Im back on the app, I love the app, Jimenez said. I went down with that ship right until they shut it off and I was back on immediately when it came back. Arik Hanson understands TikToks appeal, even though he doesnt use it much himself. The Twin Cities-based social media consultant says Internet users are drawn to TikTok like they are to certain popular podcasts and Substack blogs. I think for most people, its maybe not an addiction, but a love for TikTok that they dont have for other platforms. I dont know what it is, exactly. It feels like a community. Josh Liljenquist agrees. The TikTok creator has built a St. Paul-centric home on the social network with a simple schtick: He walks into a restaurant, buys large quantities of a popular entree, and gives it all away to homeless people at telltale locations such as the Dorothy Day Center. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In the process, hes built two communities. There are the 8.4 million followers who watch his every move. And theres the increasingly close-knit network of IRL (in real life) folks such as restaurateurs and unhoused people who have in many cases become his friends. Thats why Liljenquist last week was sweating the fact that TikTok might go away. I spent a lot of time building a community just for it to be taken away overnight. It just sucks, the Chaska resident said at the time. But he was breathing easier on Sunday. The TikTok outage hadnt affected filming that happens pretty much daily. And he was figuring out that he could keep his channel going on other networks, if necessary. Its not, at its core, a money-burning enterprise, since restaurants usually give him their food for free. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But money he gets from the TikTok Creators Fund comes in handy for buying the homeless tents, blankets, pillows and propane-tank refills. Thats the community part of TikTok that Liljenquist and other users keep talking about. Related Articles TikTok came back on Sunday after briefly going dark. Users and the company commended President-elect Donald Trump across social media. While TikTok closed its doors to US-based users last night, the platform was back up Sunday, prompting fans to rejoice. TIKTOK IS BACK HELL YEAH, said @auguststurniolo on X. And with Donald Trumps inauguration tomorrow, others across the app are giving credit to the president-elect. Great news, Mr. President! A joint venture with a 50% US stake is a smart move to get millions of people excited worldwide. Thank you for your vision, Cristian Bancilla, said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trump said Sunday on Truth Social that he was working to reinstate the app. He promised to issue an executive order tomorrow, his first day in office, to confirm the extension of the timeline to find new ownership. Additionally, the order will eliminate any liability of service providers offering TikTok to its customers. Trump is seeking a joint venture, where the United States has a 50% ownership position in the platform. TikTok confirmed its restoration and thanked Trump. Its a strong stand for the First Amendment and against arbitrary censorship, the platform said. Before TikTok announced its return, Elon Musk said on his rival platform X that he had been against the ban because it goes against free speech. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement That said, the current situation where TikTok is allowed to operate in America, but is not allowed to operate in China is unbalanced, the putative "First Buddy" to Trump and co-head of the Department of Government Efficiency added. Something needs to change. In the interest of national security, President Joe Biden signed the TikTok ban in 2024, requiring parent company ByteDance to sell the app or face a U.S. ban. It also allows the government to regulate the American use of social media, resulting in other Chinese apps getting blocked too. Saturday night Apple banned 11 applications for US-based consumers from ByteDance, TikToks parent company and its subsidiaries. The platforms have been taken off of the App Store, (and have yet to be restored) users that already had the apps downloaded couldnt have full access to the platforms. This story was originally featured on Fortune.com TikTok began working again in the U.S. on Sunday following a short blackout, as incoming President Donald Trump promised more time for the popular Chinese-owned social media app to find a buyer. In agreement with our service providers, TikTok is in the process of restoring service, TikTok said in a post Sunday afternoon on X. We thank President Trump for providing the necessary clarity and assurance to our service providers that they will face no penalties providing TikTok to over 170 million Americans and allowing over 7 million small businesses to thrive. Its a strong stand for the First Amendment and against arbitrary censorship. We will work with President Trump on a long-term solution that keeps TikTok in the United States. The app went dark late Saturday before a federal law to ban it took effect Sunday. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Earlier on Sunday, Trump, who takes office Monday, had urged internet companies who provide access to TikTok to bring it back online. Im asking companies not to let TikTok stay dark! Trump said on his social media site Truth Social. I will issue an executive order on Monday to extend the period of time before the laws prohibitions take effect, so that we can make a deal to protect our national security. The order will also confirm that there will be no liability for any company that helped keep TikTok from going dark before my order. I would like the United States to have a 50% ownership position in a joint venture, Trump added. By doing this, we save TikTok, keep it in good hands and allow it to say up. Without U.S. approval, there is no Tik Tok. With our approval, it is worth hundreds of billions of dollars - maybe trillions. President Joe Biden signed a bipartisan bill in April requiring TikToks Chinese parent ByteDance to either sell the app to a U.S. buyer or face a ban. ByteDance said it would not sell the video sharing platform. The Supreme Court upheld the law in a unanimous ruling Friday. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Biden administration had signaled that it would not begin enforcement of the law Sunday before Trump takes office Monday. Trump told NBC News on Saturday that he would most likely give TikTok a 90-day reprieve n to find a U.S. buyer. I think that would be, certainly, an option that we look at, Trump said The 90-day extension is something that will be most likely done, because its appropriate. You know, its appropriate. We have to look at it carefully. Its a very big situation. Lawmakers have raised national security concerns over TikToks ties to China, arguing that the app could be pressured to share user data with the Chinese government, and that it could be influenced to show certain types of content to U.S.-based users. TikTok, which counts more than 170 million U.S.-based monthly users, filed a lawsuit arguing that the bill the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act violated its First Amendment rights. However, the law was upheld by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in December, which argued that the Chinese-owned app is a potential threat to national security. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Supreme Court agreed to hear arguments from TikTok and ByteDance earlier this month, but did not overturn the ruling ahead of the Sunday deadline. Britney Nguyen contributed to this article. For the latest news, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. TikTok became unavailable for users in the U.S. on Saturday, before a ban on the popular social media platform officially went into effect. TikTok greeted users opening the app Saturday night with the message, Sorry, TikTok isnt available right now. A law banning TikTok has been enacted in the U.S., the message continued. Unfortunately, that means you cant use TikTok for now. We are fortunate that President Trump has indicated that he will work with us on a solution to reinstate TikTok once he takes office. Please stay tuned! Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A spokesperson for President-elect Donald Trumps transition team did not immediately respond to a request for comment Saturday night about the apps notification praising the president-elect specifically. The message then prompted users to close the app or learn more. On the website landing page, the message had an additional line informing users that they could still log in to download their data. The app also appeared to have been removed from Apples and Googles app stores in the U.S., making it unavailable to download. TikTok has 170 million U.S. users. The notice TikTok users are getting when they try to use the app on Saturday, Jan. 18, 2025. Other apps owned by TikToks Chinese parent company ByteDance, including CapCut, Lemon8 and Gauth, displayed similar messages and also became unavailable to many U.S. users Saturday evening. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Apple said on its website early Sunday that TikTok and ByteDance apps were no longer available in the U.S. Apple is obligated to follow the laws in the jurisdictions where it operates, it said. Pursuant to the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, apps developed by ByteDance Ltd. and its subsidiaries including TikTok, CapCut, Lemon8, and others will no longer be available for download or updates on the App Store for users in the United States starting January 19, 2025. TikToks shutdown follows several days of uncertainty leading up to Sunday, when the apps U.S. ban went go into effect. In April, President Joe Biden signed a law mandating that ByteDance sell TikTok to a non-Chinese owner, or else it would be banned. The Supreme Court upheld the law on Friday, paving the way for the app to shut down in the United States. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But the Biden administration released a statement Friday indicating that it would leave the laws enforcement up to the Trump administration. The law has become deeply unpopular with users and many Americans, and many TikTok users began fleeing to Chinese social media apps in protest. The Biden administrations comments that it would not enforce the ban on Sunday created uncertainty about whether the app would remain online for Americans. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have decried TikTok as a threat to national security because it is owned by a Chinese company. TikTok critics argued that the Chinese government could use the app to access Americans data or influence the type of content Americans watched. But the company has pushed back on lawmakers concerns, instead painting the looming ban as a free speech and censorship issue. TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew has said that the app is safe and secure. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The apps future is far from certain. Earlier on Saturday, Trump told NBC News Kristen Welker that he would most likely grant a 90-day extension beyond the Sunday deadline for ByteDance to sell the app and avoid a permanent ban. The 90-day extension is something that will be most likely done, because its appropriate, Trump said. Trump has flip-flopped on TikTok. In 2020 he said he wanted to ban the app. Years later, Trump reversed his position before making his own TikTok account during the 2024 presidential campaign. In one video, Trump said he would save TikTok. In a video message posted on TikTok Friday, Chew thanked Trump, saying the incoming president strongly supported TikTok. Chew cited Trumps popularity on the app, where he is the most followed American politician, with over 14 million followers. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Some TikTok users moved to rival social media platforms to commiserate over the apps shutdown. The popular Liza Minnelli Outlives X account weighed in, alerting followers that the actor had outlived the app, forcing many people to find new ways to waste time. One user compared TikTok to the Detroit Lions because they were both eliminated by Washington. Members of Trumps administration remain divided over the app, with some, like incoming Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr, advocating against Chinese influence over the app, while others, like unofficial government spending overseer Elon Musk, are pushing for TikTok to remain available on the basis of free speech. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement On Friday, Trump posted on Truth Social: The Supreme Court decision was expected, and everyone must respect it. My decision on TikTok will be made in the not-too-distant future, but I must have time to review the situation. Stay tuned! Trump could maintain Bidens decision not to enforce the law, but its unclear how long that would hold. Users on TikTok were mourning the apps potential downfall in the days leading up to its shutdown, with many top creators making compilations of their most viral moments or asking their followers to follow them on other platforms. Many TikTok users have flooded a Chinese app called RedNote in protest of the government, but it poses an even greater security threat than TikTok, according to experts who spoke with NBC News. This story originally appeared on NBCNews.com. This article was originally published on TODAY.com TikTok resumes operations in the U.S. after President-elect Trump promises a 90-day extension to the divest-or-sell law, marking a significant shift in the platform's fortunes and potentially impacting U.S.-China relations. TikTok is back up and running in the U.S. after President-elect Donald Trump promised to issue an executive order on Monday. The app briefly went dark for around 170 million U.S. users over the weekend before Trump confirmed he would sign an executive order allowing a 90-day extension to the divest-or-sell law. It's a win for TikTok, which had previously been petitioning the Supreme Court to overturn the law. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Dan Ives, managing director at Wedbush Securities, said the social media platform has gone from having its "back against the wall to a massive position of strength" over the weekend. In a Sunday note, Ives said the ban "backfired in dramatic fashion" when Trump threw his weight behind the platform and showed he was "heavily against the ban." The app is once again available for U.S. users who have it installed, however, major app stores still arent offering it for downloads or updates. TikTok has publicly thanked Trump for the extension, calling it a "strong stand for the First Amendment and against arbitrary censorship" and said it plans to work with the President-elect to find a "long-term solution that keeps TikTok in the United States." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew is also expected to attend Trump's inauguration on Monday alongside fellow tech titans Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, and Jeff Bezos. TikTok a 'chip on the poker table' between the U.S. and Beijing A decision on TikTok could have an impact on the broader relations between China and the incoming Trump administration. Ives called the platform a "chip on the poker table" in much larger negotiations around tariffs set to happen over the coming months between DC and Beijing. Trump has said he plans to impose harsher tariffs on Chinese goods, proposing a 60% tariff on imports from the country during his 2024 campaign. TikTok disappearing from the U.S. market could have a ripple impact in Beijing, starting the tariff negotiations on the wrong foot, Ives said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The video-sharing platform will still need to find a buyer or partner in the U.S. and several billionaires, including DOGE co-chair Musk and former CEO of McCourt Global Frank McCourt, have already been linked to the deal. (TikTok has previously called the reports that Beijing is considering selling to Musk "pure fiction.) Trump has been arguing in favor of a joint venture with 50% U.S. ownership of TikTok. Martin SFP Bryant, co-founder of tech consultancy Big Revolution, told Fortune that while the platform was stronger after proving it had Trump's support, his proposed solution "appears to be some kind of partial state-ownership which would be very difficult to carry out, particularly in a way that complies with the TikTok ban law as it stands." Ives said he was expecting a slew of TikTok's bids to be submitted in the coming weeks, with ByteDance still considering the possibility that Musk could buy the platform's U.S. operations. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He also name-checked Oracle as potentially playing a key role in any deal, citing the company's prior partnership with the platform. However, whether ByteDance will want to give up ownership of TikTok US, even when backed into such a tight corner, remains to be seen, Bryan said. He said the platform "appears to want to keep pushing for some sort of (currently illegal) option where it retains its current ownership stake." This story was originally featured on Fortune.com Photo by Jacek Boczarski/Anadolu via Getty Images On Friday, January 17, the Supreme Court of the United States unanimously upheld a federal law that will ban TikTok unless its Chinese parent company, ByteDance Ltd., initiates a sale by Sunday, January 19. Last night, January 18, TikTok went dark in response, with users unable to see content and major app stores removing the platform for download. TikTok has since restored service in the United States, however, seemingly in response to claims from President-elect Donald J. Trump that he will pause the ban by executive order on his first day in office, The Associated Press reports. On Truth Social this morning, Trump wrote, I will issue an executive order on Monday to extend the period of time before the laws prohibitions take effect, so that we can make a deal to protect our national security. The order will also confirm that there will be no liability for any company that helped keep TikTok from going dark before my order. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The president-elect continued, I would like the United States to have a 50% ownership position in a joint venture. By doing this, we save TikTok, keep it in good hands and allow it to say up. Without U.S. approval, there is no Tik Tok. Therefore, my initial thought is a joint venture between the current owners and/or new owners whereby the U.S. gets a 50% ownership in a joint venture set up between the U.S. and whichever purchase we so choose. It is unclear if Trump is proposing TikTok could become a government-run app or a platform he personally co-owns. The federal law authorized the sitting president to grant a 90-day extension only if theres significant progress in a sale to a non-Chinese-owned company, but ByteDance has repeatedly said it would not sell despite investors making offers. While the company that runs TikTok in the United States stated that the steps Trump outlined Sunday provided the necessary clarity and assurance to our service providers that they will face no penalties, TikTok remained unavailable for download in Apple and Googles app stores. The Supreme Court unanimously approved the law this past Friday, ruling that TikToks alleged risk to national security outweighed concerns for First Amendment rights, despite opposition from party leaders who feared alienating 170 million American users. President Joe Biden signed the legislation into law after it overwhelmingly passed Congress, but said he would not enforce it on Sunday. During his first presidency, Trump threatened to ban TikTok several times, going so far as to use an executive order to attempt to do so. In response, TikTok sued the U.S. government in August 2020. Shortly after assuming presidency, in June 2021, Biden signed an executive order revoking Trumps ban on TikTok, and instead ordered the Secretary of Commerce to investigate if the app posed a threat to U.S. national security. In 2022, reports revealed that ByteDance employees in China could access private U.S. user data. Afterward, TikTok announced that all U.S. user traffic would be routed to Oracle Cloud, the American tech companys servers, instead. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In April 2024, Biden signed a bipartisan TikTok bill, giving ByteDance six months to sell its controlling stake in the app or be banned in the U.S. A few weeks later, TikTok filed a new lawsuit to block that law, calling it an extraordinary intrusion on free speech rights. The court ultimately countered, in its unsigned opinion, Congress has determined that divestiture is necessary to address its well-supported national security concerns regarding TikToks data collection practices and relationship with a foreign adversary. Musics TikTokalypse On January 19, the United States will ban TikTok. What happens to music? Originally Appeared on Pitchfork TikTok said Sunday that it would be restoring service to U.S. users after blocking it the evening before. In a statement, TikTok said its services were coming back online after President-elect Donald Trump provided assurances necessary to the companys service providers. Just hours before the move from TikTok, Trump posted to Truth Social calling for the app to remain available. Trump indicated in his post that he wanted it to be available in order to broadcast his inauguration Monday. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I will issue an executive order on Monday to extend the period of time before the laws prohibitions take effect, so that we can make a deal to protect our national security. The order will also confirm that there will be no liability for any company that helped keep TikTok from going dark before my order, Trump wrote. Follow along for live updates from NBC News. The law banning TikTok, which was scheduled to go into effect Sunday, allows the president to grant a 90-day extension before the ban is enforced, provided certain criteria are met. Under a law that President Joe Biden signed in April, TikTok would be banned unless its Chinese owner, ByteDance, sold the company to a non-Chinese buyer. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Prior to the bans implementation, both Biden and the incoming Trump administration appeared to reverse their earlier positions on TikTok. During his campaign, Trump, who had advocated for a ban during his first term as president, came out in support of TikTok, saying hed save the app. After the Supreme Court greenlit the law on Friday, the Biden administration issued a statement saying it would not enforce the ban, leaving that responsibility to Trump. But TikTok said those assurances were not enough to prevent the app from going dark, and on Saturday evening, the app was removed from app stores and service for American users was suspended. This story originally appeared on NBCNews.com. This article was originally published on TODAY.com BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) The man arrested for the 2011 hit-and-run crash that killed a Kern High School District police chief faced a judge Friday. Now, more than a decade later, the family of Steve Alvidrez can begin to heal. It was just before midnight on June 17, 2011, when a car smashed into the Harley that 52-year-old Steve Alvidrez and the love of his life were riding. Alvidrez was killed on Highway 99 south of Delano. His wife, Ramona, suffered major injuries. The driver sped off. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Now, more than a decade later, authorities say theyve cracked the high-profile cold case after 37-year-old David Lilly was arrested Wednesday at Los Angeles International Airport. Justice delayed is not justice denied, said Kern County Deputy District Attorney Gina Pearl. RELATED: Suspect arrested in death of former KHSD police chief Steve Alvidrez Lily faced a judge Friday, and the son of Alvidrez faced the man authorities say killed his dad. Im happy he can no longer hurt anyone else in the community, said Steve Alvidrez, Alvidrez son. His time is coming. So, he has to answer for that. So, for me, Im very happy hes behind bars. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The California Highway Patrol says Lilly was brought back to the U.S. from Mexico where he was living near Puerto Vallarta, but the DAs Office hasnt said how Lilly was tracked down. I cant answer that, Im sorry, said Pearl. The DAs Office also hasnt said who arrested him. I cant comment on that. Im sorry, Pearl added. And the DAs office did not comment on any other aspect of the investigation. I cant answer additional questions, said Pearl. The prosecution said theyre seeking the maximum penalty: life in prison. Heavy KCSO presence at Pioneer Cottages in East Bakersfield Investigators say Lilly had two prior DUIs before the crash that killed Alvidrez. Lilly was not charged for more than a year. When charges came down the line, Lilly disappeared. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We live with it every day, we think about our father, husband every single day of our life, said Steve, Alvidrez son. So, its a very surreal thing for us and its an everyday thing for us, but we know that were trying to make our dad proud and be strong, and were thankful this day is finally coming. Lilly is charged with second degree murder and vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated. Hes set to be in court Feb. 13 and was denied bail. In the meantime, Steve, named after his dad, is just happy to follow in his fathers heroic steps protecting and serving others. My dads shoes are really big, said Steve Alvidrez. I could not be as amazing as he is, but I can only aspire to be half as amazing as he is. So, hes my hero and Im definitely proud to be his son. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 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 KGET 17 News. After winning the 2024 presidential election against Kamala Harris, President-elect Donald Trump will soon enter into his second term in the country's highest office. When will Trump be inaugurated as the 47th President of the United States, and what is on the schedule of events? Here's what we know. What is Inauguration Day? Inauguration Day occurs every four years after the U.S. presidential election when the president-elect and vice president-elect are sworn into office. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The vice president-elect is sworn in first and repeats the same oath of office, which has been in use since 1884, as senators, representatives, and other federal employees. The oath is as follows: "I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter: So help me God." When is Donald Trump's Inauguration Day? See time, schedule of events for 2025 ceremony Inauguration Day is Monday, Jan. 20, 2025. The swearing-in ceremony will begin at 11 a.m. CT, according to the National Park Service. The Trump Vance Inaugural Committee, National Park Service, Washington D.C. tourism department and the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies have laid out a general schedule of the weekend, though not every event has a specific start time or location. All times provided are in ET. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement 5 a.m.: Security screening opens at the National Mall Before the day's ceremonies, an open, non-partisan service will be held at the St. Johns Episcopal Church in downtown D.C. After that, Donald and Melania Trump are set to head to the White House for tea with President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden . Traditionally, the sitting president then escorts the incoming president to the Capitol. Around 9:30 a.m. : Live music, including Carrie Underwood's performance of "America the Beautiful," and opening remarkswill begin on the West Lawn of the Capitol building. Those with tickets should arrive by 11:30 a.m. 12 p.m.: In line with the Constitution's assertion that the transfer of power happens at exactly noon on Jan. 20, Trump will take the presidential oath during the swearing-in ceremony. The swearing-in ceremony is traditionally when the new president also delivers their inaugural address. A little after 12 p.m.: The official farewell and ceremonial departure of the former president and vice president. Typically, they leave in a helicopter. Then comes the presidents signing room ceremony , during which the president, accompanied by aides and members of Congress, heads to the presidents room off of the Senate chamber and signs nominations, memorandums, proclamations, or executive orders. Next is the JCCIC congressional luncheon at the Capitol's Statuary Hall, which is attended by the president and vice president and their guests, Senate leaders and members of JCCIC. After lunch, the new president and vice president head to the east front steps of the Capitol for the president's review of the military troops. 3 p.m.: The presidential parade will kick off on Pennsylvania Avenue and proceed to the White House. The procession includes ceremonial military regiments, citizens groups, marching bands and floats. After this, Trump returns to to the White House for the Oval Office signing ceremony where performs an inaugural singing. Finally, Trump will attend and deliver remarks at three separate balls: the Commander in Chief Ball, the Liberty Inaugural Ball and the Starlight Ball. The National Prayer Service at Washington National Cathedral will be held at 10 a.m. the following day (Tuesday, Jan. 21). Where is the presidential inauguration held? The inauguration will take place on the U.S. Capitol's West Front in Washington, D.C. Did Trump attend Biden's inauguration? No, Trump did not attend Biden's inauguration in 2021. According to the White House Historical Association, only four other presidents have been absent for their successors' inaugurations: John Adams, John Quincy Adams, Martin Van Buren and Andrew Johnson. Trump was the first to do so in over 150 years. When is MLK Day 2025? Is Inauguration Day a federal holiday? In 2025, Inauguration Day falls on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Inauguration Day is typically a federal holiday only for federal employees in Washington, D.C., and certain federal offices. However, many Americans will have the day off this year because Martin Luther King Jr. Day is a federal holiday. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Is Inauguration Day a federal holiday? Why the US has the day off Facial expressions and hand gestures reflect the tone as the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s speaks to the audience at Monmouth College in West Long Branch, N.J., on October 6, 1966. This story was updated to add a video. This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Inauguration Day 2025 schedule: When will Trump become president? Donald Trump will be sworn in as the 47th president on Jan 20 in the US Capitol in Washington DC. In an unforeseen turn of events, the inauguration ceremony has been moved indoors due to extreme temperatures in Washington DC. The Republican leader returns for a non-consecutive second term after defeating Kamala Harris in Novembers election. Follow todays inauguration live blog What is the inauguration day schedule? Oaths of office: 12pm The inauguration day will begin at about 12pm local time (5pm UK time), when vice president-elect JD Vance will take the oath of office, followed by Mr Trump. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The president-elect is now expected to be sworn in inside the US Capitol Rotunda. After he is sworn in, Mr Trump will issue his inaugural address to set forth his goals for the next four years. Joe Biden and his wife, Jill, the outgoing president and first lady, will leave the Capitol in an honorary departure. Mr Trump will then head to the presidents room off of the Senate Chamber of the Capitol building. He will take his first official actions of his term, which may include signing nominations, memorandums, proclamations or executive orders. Inaugural procession: 3pm From around 3pm local time (8pm UK time), Mr Trump will lead the inaugural procession. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The parade will be held in Washingtons Capital One Arena, where Mr Trump will join supporters after the swearing in. As the new commander-in-chief, he will inspect his troops for the first time in a military parade called the pass in review. Military regiments, marching bands, and parade floats will be present. The celebrations will continue later in the day with inaugural balls held across Washington DC. How can I watch live in the UK? Viewers in the UK can watch the inauguration via The Telegraphs livestream which will appear at the top of our live blog. Live coverage can also be viewed on Sky and BBC broadcast news channels. Additionally, the ceremony will be available to stream online via CNN, MSNBC, ABC, CBS News, and Fox News, or via the White Houses livestream. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. It's Inauguration Day and President-elect Donald Trump will shortly take the oath of office and become the 47th president of the United States. The frigid temperatures in Washington, D.C., forced a change in venue for the 2025 inauguration. Instead of an outdoor ceremony that usually brings in thousands of attendees from across the country to witness the next president take the oath of office and hear them address the nation, it will now be held in the United States Capitol Rotunda. But don't worry, you can still watch it online and keep up with everything happening through out the day. When does Trump take office 2025? Trump will take the oath of office for his second, and final, term as president on Monday, Jan. 20, 2025, in Washington, D.C. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The 20th Amendment to the U.S. The Constitution sets the date for Inauguration Day. Each elected president begins their term at noon on Jan. 20, the year after an election. If Jan. 20 falls on a Sunday though, it will be the next day. What time is Trump sworn in? The swearing-in ceremony is at noon EST. Stream Trump's presidential inauguration 2025 on YouTube You can watch it live via USA TODAY's YouTube below. Where can I watch President Donald Trump's inauguration on TV? The swearing-in ceremony takes place at 12 p.m. ET at the West Front of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., according to the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies. But even with the noon schedule, major media outlets will start coverage early Monday morning. Here's some of the schedules: Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement CNN: The news outlet's schedule of coverage hasn't been released yet, but it does have general inauguration coverage scheduled from 12 a.m. ET Monday until 4 a.m. ET Tuesday. NBC, MSNBC: Inauguration Day starts with a special edition of the "Today" show, live from Washington, D.C. at 7 a.m. ET. Then, Lester Holt and Savannah Guthrie are scheduled to anchor live coverage beginning at 10 a.m. ET. On MSNBC, Rachel Maddow will anchor live coverage of the inauguration starting at 10 a.m. ET, and will be joined by pundits including Joy Reid, Chris Hayes and Jen Psaki. The news network will have coverage starting at 5 a.m. ET and through out the day. ABC: The coverage for the day starts at 7 a.m. ET with a special edition of Good Morning America" David Muir will take over coverage starting at 9 a.m. ET. The special will include Trumps visit to Capitol Hill, the swearing-in ceremony and inaugural address, the signing ceremony in the Oval Office, and the inauguration parade, per ABC. Fox News: Will start off with their early morning show "Fox & Friends First," at 4 a.m. ET and will have coverage continuing for the morning until 11:30 a.m. ET with the "Inauguration of Donald Trump," until 5 p.m. ET. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement CBS: No schedule of coverage has been released yet. What is the schedule for Inauguration Day? The Trump Vance Inaugural Committee, National Park Service, Washington D.C. tourism department, Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies and Reuters have laid out a general schedule of the day, not every event has a specific start time or location. All times provided are in Eastern Time. 5 a.m.: Security screening opens at the Capitol. 8 a.m.: An open, non-partisan service at the St. Johns Episcopal Church in downtown Washington, D.C. Donald and Melania Trump will head to the White House for tea with President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden. Traditionally, the sitting president then escorts the incoming president to the Capitol. Around 9:30 a.m. : Live music and opening remarks begin. Carrie Underwoods performance of America the Beautiful will occur before Trumps swearing-in. Around 10 a.m.: Official guests begin arriving. 11:30 a.m.: Those with tickets should arrive by this time 12 p.m.: In line with the Constitutions assertion that the transfer of power happens at exactly noon on Jan. 20, Trump will take the presidential oath during the swearing-in ceremony. The swearing-in ceremony is traditionally when the new president delivers their inaugural address. A little after 12 p.m.: The official farewell and ceremonial departure of the former president and vice president. Typically, they leave in a helicopter. Then comes the presidents signing room ceremony, during which the president, accompanied by aides and members of Congress, heads to the presidents room off of the Senate chamber and signs nominations, memorandums, proclamations, or executive orders. Next is the JCCIC congressional luncheon at the Capitols Statuary Hall, which is attended by the president and vice president and their guests, Senate leaders and members of JCCIC. After lunch, the new president and vice president head to the east front steps of the Capitol for the presidents review of the military troops. 3 p.m.: The presidential parade kicks off. Previously scheduled to take place on Pennsylvania Avenue and proceed to the White House, the procession was moved inside the Capital One Arena due to cold weather. The parade includes ceremonial military regiments, citizens groups, marching bands and floats. After this, Trump returns to the White House for the Oval Office signing ceremony to perform an inaugural signing. Finally, Trump will attend and deliver remarks at three separate balls: the Commander in Chief Ball, the Liberty Inaugural Ball and the Starlight Ball. Can Trump run for president again after this term? No. How presidential terms work might be a bit confusing, but essentially, the Constitution only allows a person to hold the highest office in the United States twice (and it does not have to be consecutive) and the terms can not run indefinitely. The 22nd Amendment states: Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice, and no person who has held the office of President, or acted as President, for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected President shall be elected to the office of the President more than once." The U.S. hasn't always had them, but presidential term limits are not something new either. They have been around for more than 70 years. Mary Walrath-Holdridge contributed to this report. This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: What time is Trump's inauguration? Where and how to watch, livestream Jan. 19A resident of To'hajiilee, Michelle "Paulene" Abeyta recently hauled 50 gallons of drinking water from Albuquerque to her home in the Navajo community, about 30 miles west of the city, that has endured lingering water issues over the years. She has running water, she said, but the quality is not consistently good. Elected in November to represent a New Mexico House district with a large Native American population, Abeyta who is Navajo and a Democrat will take her oath Tuesday as one of the state's new lawmakers. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement She noted newspaper photographs of orange- and rust-colored water and the struggles of those in her House District 69, which includes multiple Navajo Nation chapters, Laguna and Acoma pueblos and a portion of Isleta Pueblo. "I understand that struggle," she said. At least 28 new lawmakers will be walking the halls of the Roundhouse on Tuesday, when the New Mexico Legislature convenes for its 60-day 2025 session. Indeed, about a quarter of the members will be new to their seats, although that is a somewhat deceptive figure because some are transitioning from the House to the Senate. Abeyta is one of 60 women elected Nov. 5 to seats in the now female-majority Legislature of 112 members. House Speaker Javier Martinez, D-Albuquerque, noted the loss of institutional knowledge with the high volume of newcomers. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "On the flip side, the opportunity is that you are getting new energy, you're getting fresh ideas, you're getting new blood, and I also believe that that's a tremendous, tremendous asset," he said. "Even though these folks coming in are ... 'new,' if you look at their life history, if you look at their professional experience, if you look at their personal experience my goodness ... we've got an incredible, incredible group of legislators coming in, and I'm excited to work with them," Martinez added. 'Part of that momentum' Feeling a sense of beckoning excitement, Abeyta will be joined Tuesday by members of her community during an inauguration that will make her the first Native woman to represent District 69, she said. She sees the need for resources for families, noting she has four children two of her own and two she is raising through kinship care. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "So many families have been plagued with drug abuse, substance abuse," Abeyta said. "And when that happens, relatives are tasked with stepping up to care for the children. In my role as legislator, I hope to get more services for substance abuse, behavioral health." Abeyta defeated former Rep. Harry Garcia in a June Democratic primary last year despite raising $65,000 to Garcia's $177,000; she earned about 57% of the vote. She hit the pavement of her rural district hard, she said, covering close to 5,000 miles of territory in 90 days of campaigning ahead of the primary. "I'm homegrown here, and I think it's important to have representation from someone in Santa Fe who knows the everyday struggle," she said. As someone with deep ties to San Miguel County, Anita Gonzales, another newcomer, hails from the Lopez family of Villanueva, and the Gallegos and Gonzales families of Las Vegas, N.M., her campaign website states. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "I'm very proud to be what I would call pure San Miguel County," said Gonzales, a Democrat who will begin to represent House District 70 on Tuesday. Gonzales also prevailed in the June primary against a more conservative male incumbent who had a campaign fundraising advantage: She edged out former Rep. Ambrose Castellano, who raised $219,000 to her $100,000. She campaigned on her connection to the Las Vegas area and her legislative priorities. Gonzales and Abeyta are among those who helped propel women to the majority in the Legislature for the first time in the state's history; though, women are still in the minority in the Senate. "I'm extremely proud to be a part of that momentum swing. I believe I'm the first female representative for my district, and that's huge, a different look for my community," Gonzales said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement 'New season of innovation' Incoming Rep. Elaine Sena Cortez, R-Hobbs, was preparing Friday to pack up and head to Santa Fe. She said the foundation of her political work is "God, family and New Mexicans," as well as fighting for the conservative values of Lea County. Sena Cortez expressed excitement about all the new faces this year. "So there is going to be a learning curve. It's going to be a big incoming freshman class, the biggest they've had in a while," she said, adding she recently spent some time in the capital city for orientation. "It feels like it is going to be a new season of innovation, and a new perspective, and you have all of these people who are looking at things through different lenses." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement For Sena Cortez, that's exactly what the state needs. The Republican from Eastern New Mexico has already gained some attention by saying she plans to introduce a bill that would attempt to eliminate the income tax in New Mexico, noting a handful of states like Texas and Alaska don't tax individual income. Cindy Nava, 37, a Bernalillo Democrat elected to represent District 9 in the state Senate, formerly served as the senior policy adviser to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. As someone who grew up as an undocumented resident but is now a citizen, she said her election to the seat offers a new brand of representation. "I'm legitimately the daughter of a construction worker and of a woman who cleans houses for a living. I was not meant to be in the place that I am in now. But I will tell you what I told them when I went to the White House representation matters," Nava said. Some new lawmakers have had specific experiences in their districts that inform their policy priorities. Joseph Hernandez, a Farmington Democrat who has seen the impacts of the oil industry firsthand while growing up in the Shiprock area, said one of his priorities is clean energy initiatives. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "We have a lot of abandoned oil fields in my backyard, and that's why I'm so passionate about renewable energy and why we need to diversify our economy," said Hernandez, who is from the Navajo community of To'koi. Anthony "Ant" Thornton, a Sandia Park Republican who will represent state Senate District 19, is a retired Sandia National Laboratories aerospace engineer who also worked at Lockheed Martin. Once a Democrat, he has worked in recent years to strengthen the Republican Party of Bernalillo County's strategic planning as the GOP seeks to gain ground in New Mexico. "I'm coming at this from a totally different perspective than, say, a traditional litigator, politician, lawyer-type person," said Thornton, who was the Republican nominee for lieutenant governor in 2022. "I come with a technical background." Thornton said he has been to Texas border communities like Del Rio and Eagle Pass and is concerned about crime and human trafficking. He wants to work on legislation that would create a "border czar" office, similar to Texas. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "Texas has their own state border czar and we should have a state border czar to help coordinate [with the federal government]," he said. Staff writer Daniel J. Chacon contributed to this report. James Rose was still livestreaming to her TikTok followers on Saturday night when the app suddenly shut down ahead of schedule. "It kind of felt like I was a violin player on the deck of the Titanic," the 29-year-old actress and TikTok creator, who uses she/they pronouns, tells The Independent. "A lot of us were on live, because we were like: 'we're going down with this ship'." Some users had donned ostentatious mourning garb to attend TikTok's "funeral." Others were still frantically downloading their favourite videos, or their own data. One prominent influencer posted a teary farewell message, saying: "I feel like Im going through heartbreak...I cried myself to sleep last night." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Then, at 10:38pm Eastern Time on Saturday night more than an hour before the US law banning TikTok actually came into force Rose's live stream cut out. In its place was a pop-up citing the new law and expressing hope that Donald Trump would find a solution. For Rose and many other TikTok creators, it was an emotional gut punch, wiping out years of work finding a voice, cultivating an audience, and learning how to monetize it. Now, confusingly, TikTok is back at least for the time being. After Trump promised to grant the app's Chinese owners more time to find a U.S. buyer, TikTok said on Sunday morning that it had been given the "necessary clarity" to begin restoring service to its 170m U.S. users. But with the app's fate now resting on the caprice of a famously mercurial president who may not even have the legal authority to save it creators fear that there is still an axe hanging over their heads. Any company that hosts, distributes, services, or otherwise facilitates communist-controlled TikTok could face hundreds of billions of dollars of ruinous liability under the law, not just from DOJ, but also under securities law, shareholder lawsuits, and state AGs. Think about https://t.co/XamZ1qAk2K Tom Cotton (@SenTomCotton) January 19, 2025 "Okay, we're still here. But for how long?" says Joel Bervell, a 29-year-old recently graduated medical doctor in Portland, Oregon, who uses TikTok to debunk medical myths and educate users about racial disparities in healthcare. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "At any point, the Trump administration can take away what they seem to have given in their good graces, and I worry that they're going to use it as bargaining chip for whatever thing he wants it to do." I completely owe my success today to TikTok "Sorry, TikTok isn't available right now," read the pop-up shown to users on Saturday night. "A law banning TikTok has been enacted in the U.S. Unfortunately, that means you can't use TikTok for now. "We are fortunate that President Trump has indicated that he will work with us on a solution to reinstate TikTok once he takes office. Please stay tuned!" Shari Dyonne, a 26-year-old full-time lifestyle influencer in Atlanta, Georgia had been expecting the message. But seeing it actually happen was something else. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "It almost took all the air out of me for a second," she tells The Independent. "Looking at my account that I've been building for two and a half years now, and seeing that I can't access it and I can't connect with my audience I don't even think I can put words to it." Sincerely Awa, a 27-year-old TikTok creator and activist based in Brooklyn, New York, was working at a wedding on Saturday night when she saw the pop-up during a break. Shed expected the company to make some deal behind the scenes to satisfy U.S. politicians, and hadnt believed the ban would actually happen. I was in disbelief, she says. According to research commissioned by TikTok, an estimated 39 per cent of American small businesses consider the app "critical" to their livelihoods. As well as advertising and shopping, the app generates income for online influencers through brand endorsements and the Creator Rewards Program, which directly shares ad revenue with some video makers. "I completely owe my success today to TikTok," says Dyonne. "it's kind of everything to me." Full-time infleuncer Shari Dyonne, 26, says she completely owes her success to TikTok. (Shari Dyonne via Kensington Grey) Both Rose and Dyonne say they would survive a TikTok ban. Rose makes most of their money from acting and writing, whereas Dyonne has diversified her social media presence enough to make it a disruption but not a disaster. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But that is not the case for everyone. "I have a lot of creative friends who do it full time, where TikTok is literally 100 per cent of their income," says Bervell, who relied on the app to help pay for his student loans, textbooks, and living expenses while studying for his medical degree. Maybe Burke, a 32-year-old gender inclusion consultant in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, says she doesnt make much money from TikTok directly. But nearly all of her clients in the past year have come from people who saw her videos there, and in the short term shes worried shed lose a lot of business. I've gotten clients through LinkedIn and Instagram as well... but nothing grows like Tik Tok grows, she says. You can grow crazy numbers from one video doing well. TikTok is the stock market; Instagram is like a high-yield savings account. Indeed, Rose argues that TikTok's unusual structure and its powerful algorithm made it uniquely friendly to people from marginalized backgrounds to break out and go viral even without spending years building up a following. Joel Bervell, a 29-year-old medical doctor in Portland, Oregon, uses TikTok to debunk medical myths, but is sceptical about the apps future. (Joel Bervell via Kensington Grey) Rival apps such as Instagram build your news feed around who you choose to follow, meaning that fame tends to build gradually upon fame. TikTok, by contrast, does not require you to follow anyone, instead relying on a famously unpredictable algorithm that can pluck any video from obscurity and shove it in front of millions of people. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "So many of us have the opportunities, the resources, the income streams, the platforms that we do because of folks that decided to support us on this app, and because of how unique that algorithm was," says Rose. "People saying 'oh, you just need to diversify' fundamentally misunderstand why TikTok was uniquely valuable." From Chinese propaganda to pro-Trump? In a post from his own social network Truth Social on Sunday morning, Donald Trump vowed to issue an executive order granting the app a temporary reprieve as soon as he takes office on Monday. "Im asking companies not to let TikTok stay dark!" he said, promising "no liability" for TikTok's service providers and advocating for the U.S. government itself to take a 50 per cent stake in the app. Within hours, TikTok was accessible in the US once again. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It's not clear how Trump can legally spare the app, except by simply refusing to enforce a law that was passed by both houses of Congress and approved by the Supreme Court. Republicans in Congress pushed back against his statement, saying he had "no legal basis" to offer TikTok an extension. My statement with @SenatorRicketts on TikTok being removed from app stores. pic.twitter.com/RwLcKBOxBw Tom Cotton (@SenTomCotton) January 19, 2025 Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Nevertheless, TikTok has taken to praising Trump in its public statements in an apparent effort to butter him up. Its CEO Shou Chew was even invited to Trump's inauguration, suggesting there is desire on both sides to figure out a deal. The chaotic situation gives creators little certainty that TikTok will stay open, or at least stay the same. "No, of course I don't feel confident in that," says Rose. "I feel like it will bend and sway to the whims of people's political agendas and it will continue to be used as a pawn to enact political warfare against the working class." Indeed, Dyonne and Bervell worry that TikTok might change its algorithms or moderation rules to appease Donald Trump, similar to the transformation of X (formerly Twitter) under Elon Musk or the recent conservative-friendly reforms at Facebook and Instagram. That could tilt the social media ecosystem even further towards the political right. A recent study by the Pew Research Center found that TikTok was the only big online platform where more news influencers identify as left-leaning than conservative. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "You could argue that my platform, which talks about healthcare and how it affects people of colour, is 'DEI'," says Bervell. "So if the Trump administration starts telling social media to restrict those conversations, what does that mean for someone like myself? "Is TikTok now going to be putting out a view of the administration that isn't totally accurate, or that is propaganda? Will this become an arm of the government that is now used to get specific ideas across? "No one knows the answer, but those are all fears that creators I've talked to are feeling." James Rose, 29, was livestreaming their farewell to the app when it suddenly went dark on Saturday night. (James Rose) Similarly, Burke says shes scared that a Trump-friendly TikTok will censor LGBT+ voices more than before, after years of being one of the better platforms for queer creators to voice their beliefs. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I believe that its going to turn into very conservative, very right-wing type of messages, and its going to be very controlled and censored, says Awa. Its about to get really weird and crazy on the app. That would be ironic, given that one major rationale for the TikTok ban was the fear that it could be used as a covert channel of Chinese propaganda. But perhaps no more ironic than Trump presenting himself as the saviour of TikTok when he was the one who kickstarted U.S. attempts to ban it in 2020. Both Dyonne and Rose expressed frustration at the U.S. political establishment for pushing this ban, saying it grates that a Congress unwilling to stop school shootings or codify a national right to abortion can nevertheless ban a popular social media app with bipartisan support. Yet while Rose doesn't think Trump will get much credit from young Americans for swooping in to save the app, others arent so sure. "I one thousand per cent think it's going to play that way," says Dyonne. "Even if he does save the app, my support would not go to him. [But] my fear is that people will immediately start flocking to him... forgetting who he is and what he's done because they're so happy about this app." Burke agrees: I do think its going to work on people. Its theatrics, its political theatre, and I think what we learned in this last election is that more and more people are buying tickets for the show. Falling birth rates have put major global economies on the path toward "population collapse," according to a report from McKinsey Global Institute. By 2100, some counties could see their populations tumble 20%-50%. Forget fiscal deficits. Much of the world is facing a "youth deficit" as people have fewer children, setting up top economies for massive population declines, according to a study from the McKinsey Global Institute that was published on Wednesday. Countries need a fertility rate of about 2.1 kids per family to maintain a stable population. But two-thirds of the world's population already lives in countries where fertility is below this so-called replacement rate. "Falling fertility rates are propelling major economies toward population collapse in this century," McKinsey predicted. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Some of those economies are on track to see 20%-50% population declines by 2100, requiring big changes to societies and governments operate. But if the demographic trends continue, younger people will endure slower economic growth while supporting bigger cohorts of retirees, eroding the historic flows of generational wealth, the study warned. "The current calculus of economies cannot support existing income and retirement normssomething must give," it said. To be sure, some countries are in worse shape than others. China's population is projected to crash 55% by the turn of the next century. Italy's will sink 41%, and Brazil's will drop 23%. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But helped by immigration, the U.S. should see an increase of 23%. Still, even the U.S. must grapple with the growing costs of Social Security and Medicare. The primary driver isn't longer lifespans, McKinsey said. Instead, it mostly a "youth deficit," meaning fewer young people. To illustrate the growing burden on younger people, the study noted that the world's support ratio was 9.4 in 1997, or more than nine working-age people supporting one older person. The ratio is down to 6.5 today, and will drop to just 3.9 by 2050. "Absent changes, increasing numbers of seniors will cause government deficits and debts to continue rising," the study said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Not only will that challenge a country's debt sustainability and social contract, it could throw off the global geopolitical balance and even efforts to fight climate change. McKinsey said its research has found that sustained economic growth is necessary to pay for the net-zero transition. To avoid seeing per-capita GDP growth slow, countries must boost fertility, labor intensity, and productivity, the study said. But that will be challenging as there are no clear instances of a country successfully increasing its birth rate, while productivity has slumped around the world (though the U.S. has seen a recent uptick). Either way, it will take time to reverse the demographic trends, so governments and economies must start adapting to them now, according to McKinsey. For example, businesses will have to adapt to seeing older people comprising bigger shares of their workforce and customers. The use of artificial intelligence can also help improve labor productivity. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Despite the immense challenges ahead, McKinsey sounded optimistic about the future. "Humanity has demonstrated incredible resourcefulness throughout its history, and no doubt will find opportunities to thrive amid the challenges that a worldwide change in demographics poses," it said. The population warning comes as countries struggle to encourage more people to have kids, while the likes of Elon Musk and others in the tech sector have warned on shrinking populations. In 2021, Musk called population collapse potentially the greatest risk to civilizations future. And in 2023, he urged people in Italy and other developed countries to have more kids. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement And while stumping for Donald Trump on the 2024 campaign trail, he said people should have more kids without stressing too much over the costs associated with rearing children. I think people worry too much about having kids, and its sometimes difficult to make ends meet and whatnot, Musk said at a rally in Harrisburg, Pa., in October. But honestly, theres really no time like the present. Just have kids. You wont be sorry. Itll work out. This story was originally featured on Fortune.com German Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck, the top Green Party candidate for Germany's upcoming election, warned on Monday that US democracy is in danger under new US president Donald Trump. If "political interests" are added to current developments "and the wealth of billionaires is combined with political interests and the ownership of infrastructure, then there is a wealth of power and a strength of power that can lead a democracy to its limits," said Habeck, speaking just hours before Trump was due to take the oath of office in Washington. Habeck said he sincerely hoped that this would not happen, but that people in Europe must take steps to insulate themselves from similar forces. "Europe must become stronger and more determined, that is the message of today," Habeck said. In a humble and nuanced address, President Trump pledged to reunite the United States and bring peace to the world. He also promised to smash his opponents and retake the Panama Canal. Politics: its all about trade-offs. Inaugurations are usually held outdoors and are boring; this broke tradition on both counts. Staged in the Capitol Rotunda beneath the beady eye of George Washington, it was a gathering of DC elites and tech giants on one side of the room and people who believe those folks are bloodthirsty lizards on the other. The designated survivor, sitting in the basement of the White House, was probably Hulk Hogan. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In marched the ex-presidents: president Clinton and her husband Bill; the Bushes; Obama alone; Joe Biden accompanied by his nurse, a Canadian lady called Kamala, or so he believes. The Supreme Court justices wore their barber gowns. Melania Trump came dressed to kill in a forties film noir, and Don Jnr looked annoyed that JD Vance had worn not only the same tie and suit but the same almost-beard thats fashionable among lazy white men. JDs mum, I read in the Cincinnati Inquirer, is celebrating not only her sons swearing-in but her 64th birthday and the tenth anniversary of going sober. Thats my kind of woman. The announcers begged them to sit; they moved as fast, as best as Botox will allow. Squeaky Senator Amy Klobuchar gave an introduction dogs barked, sirens went off that essentially begged Trump not to declare himself a dictator. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Billy Grahams son endorsed him on behalf of God, which undid all Amys good work, and he was sworn-in on the ancient Bible that did nothing to save Abraham Lincoln. The Armed Forces Chorus sang Battle Hymn of the Republic; this monarchist shed a tear. That war set brother against brother and took nearly a million lives. It was Americas lowest point and yet, in its decision to end slavery, one of its highest. Trump smiled graciously. Trumps speech was not only entertaining but the perfect distillation of American conservative ideals - Kenny Holston/The New York Times via AP Well, that moment of national reconciliation lasted about three minutes, before the new boss took to the podium and declared war on the corrupt establishment. Among his plans were militarising the border, ending the green new deal, renaming the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America and restoring the name of Mount McKinley, which is currently called Denali, in Alaska. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Watch out Irish Sea and Snowdonia. If Reform wins a majority, youll be next. The speech was not only entertaining but the perfect distillation of American conservative ideals. The story of pioneers crossing deserts and scaling mountains. The appeal to farmers and soldiers, ie the common man. And a nod to the colour-blind dream of Martin Luther King. My life was saved for a reason, Trump said of the assassination attempt in Pennsylvania, I was saved by God to make America great again. Finally, he expressed a belief in manifest destiny which will someday extend to planting a flag on Mars causing Elon to clap happily. That election was money well spent. I know that as an Englishman Im supposed to express distaste at this stuff so much better to have an archbishop crown a king, and then resign later over an abuse scandal but it all felt like a fun party to which I wasnt invited. From this side of the Atlantic, we can hear the sound of YMCA and Tiffany Trump popping champagne while were stuck indoors with Keir and Rachel, playing a tedious game of bridge. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The golden age of America begins right now! Trump declared. Now, wouldnt it be nice to hear someone say that about the UK for once? Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. Banff National Park in Canada is making headlines after residents voted against keeping the annual pedestrian zone along Banff Avenue. According to CBC Calgary News, the few blocks along Banff Avenue became a pedestrian zone during the pandemic in 2020. By shutting down the road to vehicles, the area transformed into a community space filled with bike racks, flower plants, and outdoor restaurant seating. After the pandemic, the road closure became an annual event, solely serving pedestrians between the May and Thanksgiving long weekends, the national park's busy season. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "Those in favor of the pedestrian zone say it benefits tourism and business," said a reporter from CBC News. However, for locals, the road closure was a divisive topic. Some felt the road closure caused vehicle congestion along the surrounding streets. CBC News' video detailing the vote went viral on TikTok, gaining over 47,000 views and sparking a discussion in the comments section. Many users expressed their support of the pedestrian road, underscoring their disappointment at the decision. "I live in Banff. The number of times I've almost been struck by cars in the summer is unbelievable," wrote one resident. "Opening the pedestrian zone to more tourist drivers who don't know how to drive is honestly dangerous." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "The problem is vehicle congestion so the solution is to cater to MORE vehicles?" commented another baffled TikToker. Unfortunately, in car-centric areas, decisions like this are not uncommon. When cities favor car-centric infrastructure and rules, it encourages residents to drive their car instead of using alternative forms of transportation. Do you think America does a good job of protecting its natural beauty? Definitely Only in some areas No way I'm not sure Click your choice to see results and speak your mind. Walkable cities are not just beneficial for the environment. They also have economic and health benefits for residents. With safer and more frequent pedestrian zones, residents are more likely to walk or bike to their destination rather than drive. Walkable cities also create community gathering points that motivate residents and tourists to wander in and out of local restaurants and shops. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement TikTokers continued to discuss the ramifications of the decision to shut down the pedestrian zone. "If the biggest reason for this is the amount of traffic, they just made the problem worse," wrote one user. Join our free newsletter for good news and useful tips, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet. From historically Black sororities to reproductive justice advocates, Black women across the country showed up in record numbers to vote for Vice President Kamala Harris in November, and many made plans to show up again today in Washington, D.C., or gather around their televisions at home or party with friends to celebrate her victory on Inauguration Day. Since President Donald Trump won the election, thousands of Black womens plans have been undone. As soon as we got home and we turned on the TV, we saw where it was going. It was really, really sad because we really thought that this was going to be so historic for her to win and be the first woman president, plus a soror at that, said Lavosha Payne-Prescott, an Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. (AKA) member who booked two hotel rooms in Washington prior to the election to ensure if her soror won the presidential race, she would be there to witness history. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Some 92 percent of Black women voted for Harris, according to Washington Post exit polls. The 19ths reporting fellows spoke with three of them who had planned to attend Inauguration Day events until the election results confirmed Trump as the president. Here are their plans now: The American people continuously disempowering themselves On election night, MyKayle Pugh watched the results with her father at home. Although she knew it was going to be a close race, around 10:30 p.m., anxiety began to take hold of her. Harris had fallen behind, and there was little hope that she would catch up, even as ballots continued to be counted. MyKayle Pugh (Courtesy of MyKayle Pugh) She saw a look of impassivity on her fathers face and decided to go to sleep, praying the results would flip in Harris favor once morning arrived. However, the following day, she learned that Trump, boasting 312 votes from the Electoral College and significant gains from critical swing states, would begin his second presidency on January 20. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In the weeks before Election Day, Pugh talked to Harris and Trump supporters at the Harris rally in Savannah, Georgia, and learned that they were willing to do whatever it took to ensure what they believed was the safety of the country a second Trump presidency, she said. After conversations with friends and her father about safety, it quickly dawned on Pugh that she needed a plan to survive the upcoming presidency. She went to the gun range for the first time with her father, applied for a concealed carry license and took self-defense classes. When Trump won the presidential election in 2016, Pugh was 16 and began to grapple with the state of America. In her hometown of Richmond Hill, a conservative area near Savannah, she dealt with classmates who rallied around Trumps win. Eight years later, Pughs younger sister, who is turning 16 this year, faces many of the same challenges. The moment that brought me to tears was knowing that I finally had a chance to do something, and I did, but in the end, my little sibling is still going through what I had to go through at her age, she said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement After the election, her feelings about politics remain complicated. While she would have loved to see a Black woman take office on Inauguration Day, she thinks the will of the American people sealed the fate of the next four years. That the inauguration falls on Martin Luther King Jr. Day further illustrates the countrys reluctance to change for the better, Pugh said. The American people, in terms of politics, dont have the vocabulary for what it is that theyre experiencing, she said. That comes from an unwillingness to research, to learn more, to be equipped to put language to what theyre experiencing. I think this election is just a result of the American people continuously disempowering themselves. With the wildfires in Los Angeles, unusually snowy weather in the South and ongoing conflict in Gaza, Pugh said she finds it difficult to think about whether shell watch Mondays inauguration. Im doing whatever I can for me and my people Originally optimistic about the outcome of the election, Jamila Bell invited a few friends over on Election Night. As soon as she turned on her TV and saw that Harris was losing, the realization spoiled the mood. Jamila Bell (Courtesy of Jamila Bell) Like Harris, Bell is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., the first Divine Nine sorority dedicated to the advancement of Black women. Once Harris announced her plans to run for president, her sorors and members of other Black Greek Letter organizations rallied in support they informed, mobilized and ensured their community members understood the importance of voting in the months leading up to the election. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Bell made plans with another AKA member who lived in D.C., and looked forward to celebrating the inauguration of the first Black female president. Now that Trump has won, Bell has decided not to watch the inauguration. Im just trying to be as neutral as possible, she said. Im not trying to have these angry reactions because I cant change whats going to happen. I want to stay aware of whats going on and the policies that hes trying to implement just to make sure I can do my due diligence. Im doing whatever I can for me and my people. Once the election results were finalized, Bell said that she and her loved ones felt exhausted. After putting in so much effort to mobilize their community, dealing with COVID over the past five years and seeing the destruction in Gaza and Israel, Bell felt that a lot of people were sad and didnt know what to do next. The coinciding of Trumps inauguration and MLK Day reflects that the country has strayed away from the vision Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. dreamed for America, Bell said, but she believes things can change, so long as people go back to their roots and create tools that support their community. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We still have that potential, she said, [but] are we going to use it? For members of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. like Payne-Prescott, making it to Washington, for Inauguration Day was crucial. She booked rooms at two separate hotels to be on the safe side. On Election Day, Payne-Prescott found that she was unable to tune into the results as she volunteered at the polls. It was a sad state of affairs that day, she said. My husband and I worked the polls and we were there all day so we werent watching the news. We were there from 5:30 a.m. to 9 oclock at night. Traveling from New Jersey, Payne-Prescott had booked a train ticket to the nations capitol in anticipation of a historic Inauguration Day. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The significance of the day itself being the day we honor and celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., with Dr. King being an Alpha Phi Alpha man and then the inauguration of soror and Vice President Kamala Harris. The first fraternity and first sorority. Wow, what a moment it would have been, she said. In the wake of the presidential election results, Payne-Prescott canceled all travel and lodging arrangements. She was going to help carry the torch with us Four years ago on Inauguration Day, Regina Davis Moss turned the volume up in her home, car and office playing the song, A Brand New Day from the Broadway musical The Wiz in celebration of President Joe Bidens victory and the historic moment of the first Black and Southeast Asian woman vice president, Harris. This year, Davis Moss is planning a quieter day. Regina David Moss (Courtesy of Regina Moss) As the president and CEO of In Our Own Voice: National Black Womens Reproductive Justice Agenda, a partnership of Black women-led reproductive justice organizations focused on policy change located in Washington, D.C., Davis Moss will be in the city but not at the United States Capitol. She has made plans to dine at a restaurant and share thoughts about whats next for Black women and the reproductive justice agenda. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I think this inauguration is going to look different in a lot of ways. I dont suspect youll see the same turnout, in terms of Black women at the celebration, or women in general, Davis Moss said. My job is focused on lifting up the voices of Black women and making sure that were in spaces that ensure our lives are safe and centered. Before Election Day, Davis Moss planned to attend the inauguration to support and celebrate Harris alongside thousands of other Black women. Songs like JOY (Unspeakable) by Voices of Fire and Pharrell Williams come to mind when I envision what an Inauguration Day with Harris would have looked like. She was going to help carry the torch with us and help get us there, Davis Moss said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement As a fellow alumna of Howard University, a historically Black university in Washington, D.C., daughter of California and a Black woman, Davis Moss said she resonates with the experiences of Harris and knows how often people underestimate Black womens ability to do the job. We had believed that things were going to get better and we were going to be able to create and build better futures with her as president, not just for our kids and our families, but for everyone, she said. Despite all the attacks on our lives and our fundamental freedoms stripped what she represented to me was hope. The post Travel canceled, TVs unplugged: How these Black women are facing Inauguration Day appeared first on The 19th. News that represents you, in your inbox every weekday. Subscribe to our free, daily newsletter. GREENSBORO, N.C. (WGHP) In December 2024, we discussed the Northwest Guilford High School bands preparations for their upcoming performance in the New Years Day parade in Vatican City. Now, the new year has come and the students have returned home with plenty of wonderful memories and life lessons that cannot be found in a textbook. Find out Whats Right With Our Schools! FOX8s Cindy Farmer spoke with the bands director Brian McMath to speak about a great example of Whats Right With Our Schools. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 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 FOX8 WGHP. ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (WFLA) A man was injured on Sunday after his truck overturned, according to Florida Highway Patrol. A 41-year-old Pinellas Park man was traveling in the outer lane of I-275 south of 38th Avenue North when he lost control of the vehicle. Credit: Florida Highway Patrol FHP said this was attributed to wet road conditions. The truck then rotated across all lanes until striking the guardrail and overturning. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The driver of the truck sustained minor injuries due to the crash and was taken to a nearby hospital for treatment, according to FHP. Copyright 2025 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. MAHOMET, Ill. (WCIA) People in Mahomet wont be getting a proposed truck stop that wouldve pumped tax revenue into the community. The application to build a Travel America has been withdrawn And building one will no longer be considered by the village board. PREVIOUSLY: Travel Center of America truck stop is a split decision in Mahomet Some residents said the biggest concern is pollution. But not just air also noise pollution and run off from the station moving into the nearby neighborhood. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Being in the trucking industry for almost 28 years. It was something that concerned me right away because Ive been around trucks, Mahomet resident Brent Fountain said. Hes lived in Mahomet for 23 years. He and his wife have a house in the Meadow Lake neighborhood next to where a Travel America was proposed to be built. People against the project like Fountain didnt like the environmental changes this could bring. I knew from experience that some of those negatives that we were going to deal with were emissions, noise, light pollution, environmental impacts amongst among many other things, Fountain said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement However, some people in the community had a different perspective. Think itll add to the community, Mahomet resident Sherry Hodges said in an interview with WCIA in November. Its being placed in a position on the east side of the community thats growing anyway. I think well see a lot of income from it, and I think its a good growth factor. Fountain said the community will be missing out on revenue the travel center would have brought. Urbana police search for suspect after 20-year-old woman killed in crash I think the biggest proponent for the truck stop was the tax incentive and the money that it would bring into town. And but the negative impact far outweighed that, Fountain said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He said over 1,000 people signed a petition agreeing with him. Now the application for the truck stop has been taken back so for now the project is dead. What Mahomet stands for, what Mahomet really wants to be is a growing community and a community that cares for its residents and the right kind of growth, Fountain said. Fountain said hes been talking with some Village Board members and is excited for different projects that could be coming. He said a hotel is an example of growth he could get behind. Copyright 2025 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. A group of organizations immediately sued the Trump administration as the president was inaugurated on Monday, arguing that its new Department of Government Efficiency violates federal transparency law. DOGE is headed by Donald Trump allies Elon Musk, the richest man in the world, and Vivek Ramaswamy, the conservative entrepreneur. Its stated aim is to help Trump enact massive cuts to government spending and make the federal bureaucracy more efficient. Despite its name, DOGE is not a real government department and isnt subject to the same oversight and accountability as normal federal agencies. The lawsuit alleges DOGE runs afoul of the Federal Advisory Committee Act, a law passed in 1972 to ensure that the advice given by advisory bodies is ideologically balanced and transparent to the public. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Trump administration did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday. The lawsuit was filed by the American Federation of Government Employees, a union representing federal workers, and the watchdog groups Public Citizen and the State Democracy Defenders Fund. DOGEs members do not have a fair balance of viewpoints, meetings are held in secret and without public notice, and records and work product are not available to the public, the groups said in a joint statement Monday. They pointed out that Musks role running DOGE creates a slew of conflicts of interest. His aerospace company SpaceX has received billions of dollars in federal contracts, and theres concern Musk will recommend policies that benefit him financially at the expense of taxpayers or other firms. Elon Musk's role atop the "Department of Government Efficiency" has led to concerns he would recommend policies that benefit him and his companies financially. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images/Bloomberg via Getty Images Musk, who poured more than $250 million of his fortune into helping elect Trump, could also recommend cuts at the federal agencies that regulate his businesses. SpaceX is already pursuing a lawsuit aimed at gutting the National Labor Relations Board, the federal agency whose prosecutor accused the company of illegally firing workers who had criticized Musk. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It isnt clear whether Ramaswamy will stick around to co-chair DOGE alongside Musk. Politico reported Monday that he was leaving DOGE to prepare to run for governor of Ohio. Robert Weissman, co-president of Public Citizen, said in a statement that DOGEs advice appears tilted toward the biased and extremist views of the libertarian billionaire class. The work of DOGE is a particular concern for unions like the AFGE, which represents 750,000 workers across federal agencies. The Trump administration says it wants to freeze government hiring, cut agency funding and make it easier to fire federal employees. Everett Kelley, AFGEs president, said in a statement that the union wont stand by as a secretive group of ultra-wealthy individuals tries to deregulate themselves. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This fight is about fairness, accountability, and the integrity of our government, Kelley said. Are you a federal employee with something to share? You can email our reporter here, or contact him over Signal at davejamieson.99. President Donald Trumps hours-old administration has already been sued at least four times over the Department of Government Efficiency. DOGE, which was announced by Trump soon after he won office, is designed to slash federal spending through budget cuts and firings. Elon Musk is set to lead DOGE after the White House announced Vivek Ramaswamy will be departing his role as co-chair. The lawsuits were filed against the new administration on Monday as Trump was sworn in for his second term in the White House. Three of the lawsuits argue DOGE is not a government department, but rather an advisory committee. As a result, the lawsuits argue, the Trump administration has violated a federal transparency law called the Federal Advisory Committee Act. Elon Musk pictured at Donald Trumps inauguration on Monday. Musk, Vivek Ramaswamy and the Department of Government Efficiency have been sued for violating a federal transparency law (KENNY HOLSTON/The New York Times) FACA requires federal advisory committees to follow certain hiring and disclosure rules while being objective and accessible to the public, according to the General Services Administration. The law also requires these committees to allow the public to attend their meetings while keeping regular minutes. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The lawsuits argue DOGE has not met these requirements. DOGE is not exempted from FACAs requirements, according to one of the lawsuits filed by the public interest law firm National Security Counselors. All meetings of DOGE, including those conducted through an electronic medium, must be open to the public. However, Trump is expected to sign an executive order that will establish DOGE as operating within the US government, Semafor reported, despite Trumps initial statement that it would be an advisory board operating outside of government. Musk is set to lead the department, promising large budget cuts and mass firings of federal employees (POOL/AFP via Getty Images) Should Trump sign the order, it would be among the 200 executive orders he is expected to issue within his first day of office. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Its unclear what exactly will happen to these lawsuits if the order is signed. However, Kel McClanahan, an attorney with the National Security Counselors who authored the firms lawsuit, said Trump would have to turn DOGE members into full government employees to make a difference in the filing. That would open them up to a ton of rules theyre not going to want to abide by, McClanahan said. Donald Trump is expected to swiftly execute many of his top policy priorities within his first day of office through executive orders (AFP via Getty Images) The National Security Counselorss lawsuit also claims DOGE has already hired at least 17 employees, including several technology executives, former Trump staffers and personal associates of both Musk and Ramaswamy. Not a single member of DOGE is a federal employee or represents the perspective of federal employees, despite the evidence that DOGE intends to provide recommendations regarding federal employment practices and ways to reduce the size of the federal workforce, the lawsuit reads. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Another one of the lawsuits filed by the organizations Public Citizen, State Democracy Defenders Fund and the American Federation of Government Employees makes a similar argument. DOGEs members do not have a fair balance of viewpoints, meetings are held in secret and without public notice, and records and work product are not available to the public, their lawsuit reads. The third lawsuit, filed by Democracy Forward, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington and several associations representing government employees, also argues DOGE must comply with federal checks. DOGE is operating unchecked, without authorization or funding from Congress and is led by unelected billionaires who are not representative of ordinary Americans, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington said in a statement. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The fourth lawsuit, which is from the Center for Biological Diversity, has also taken aim at the Trump administration over DOGE. However, the organization has not sued over alleged FACA violations. Instead, the organization wants to obtain public records showing how people claiming to represent...DOGE have interacted with the White House since the presidential transition began in November. The Independent has contacted the Trump administration for comment. It took less than 10 minutes into his new administration for President Donald Trump to get slapped with a lawsuit. A trio of organizations nonprofit watchdog Public Citizen, the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), and the left-wing nonprofit State Democracy Defenders Fund on Monday sued Trump and his administration over plans to launch the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, under the leadership of billionaire Elon Musk. In November, Trump said he would establish DOGE Musks brainchild as a non-government body that will make recommendations for cutting federal spending. Its expected to work with the Office of Management and Budget, which was also named as a defendant in the lawsuit filed Monday in federal court in the District of Columbia. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement My administration will establish the brand new Department of Government Efficiency, Trump said Monday. However, DOGE has been in the works and hiring since November. The lawsuit accuses Trump of allowing DOGE to operate outside of legal guidelines established by the Federal Advisory Committee Act, which requires public involvement in advisory committees. The plaintiffs say DOGE has been operating like an advisory committee without abiding by the laws transparency requirements. Read more: Trump promises a golden age of America as he takes office. Heres what to expect from his term Musk aims to try to reach an ambitious goal of cutting $2 trillion in federal spending. Although other members of DOGE arent as well-known, venture capitalist Marc Andreessen has said he will take an unpaid role helping the group. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Cuts are expected to be targeted at remote work for federal employees, funding for non-government organizations, regulations DOGE deems burdensome, and federal agencies like the Department of Education. AFGE will not stand idly by as a secretive group of ultra-wealthy individuals with major conflicts of interest attempt to deregulate themselves and give their own companies sweetheart government contracts while firing civil servants and dismantling the institutions designed to serve the American people, AFGE National President Everett Kelley, who represents 800,000 workers, said in a statement. Leading DOGE will give Musk a supervisory role over the agencies regulating his companies. The Securities and Exchange Commission last week sued Musk over his 2022 acquisition of Twitter, now X, and has a probe into his Neuralink startup, as well as Tesla (TSLA). Collectively, those companies, along with SpaceX, are the subject of at least 20 recent investigations or reviews. Tesla and SpaceX have collectively received more than $15 billion in government contracts and frequently come into conflict with regulators. For the latest news, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Donald Trump will use his inaugural address to call for a revolution of common sense when he is sworn into office on Monday. The president-elect is set to say, according to an excerpt of his speech seen by The Wall Street Journal: I return to the presidency confident and optimistic that we are at the start of a thrilling new era of national success. A tide of change is sweeping the country. He will continue: My message to Americans today is that it is time for us to once again act with courage, vigour and the vitality of historys greatest civilisation. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The soon-to-be presidents comments appear to strike a more optimistic tone than his 2017 inaugural address when he lamented American carnage. The address comes as Mr Trump vowed at a victory rally in Washington DC on Sunday to repeal swathes of Biden-era legislation and implement a slew of executive orders on his first day in office. The soon-to-be 47th US president said that he would roll back every radical, foolish executive order of the Biden administration on day one, with CNN reporting the move will involve at least a dozen actions overturning Mr Bidens strategy on the countrys southern border with Mexico. Mr Trump is also likely to target Biden-era energy legislation to limit arctic drilling and provide tax incentives for electric vehicles, as well as the previous administrations federal government diversity and inclusion policies. The speech will be an attempt to bring the country together after one of the most divisive elections in recent memory. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Unlike his first speech as president in 2017, when he described scenes of American carnage, Mondays will strike an optimistic note in which he will herald a thrilling new era of national success, in a more self-assured address that carries the weight of a former president returning to power. It is the first hint of how Mr Trump will try to redefine his image over the next four years. He has told allies he wants to go down in history as one of Americas great presidents and believes projecting a message of national unity is one way to achieve that. After his first election win, we saw an angry and triumphant Mr Trump, who pledged to wage war on his enemies and the Washington establishment. His plans this time are much the same but the tone of his speech will be quite different. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. US President Donald Trump said in his inaugural speech on Monday, 20 January, that he was saved by God during an assassination attempt in the summer of 2024. Source: European Pravda Details: In his inaugural speech, Trump mentioned an assassination attempt on him during a campaign event in Butler Township, Pennsylvania, in July 2024, when a bullet grazed his ear. "But I felt then and believe even more so now that my life was saved for a reason. I was saved by God to make America great again," he added. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Background: The assassination attempt on Trump raised concerns in the US about a possible surge in violence and led to investigations into the security services that provided protection for the politician. During the assassination attempt on Trump during a campaign rally, a bullet grazed his ear, killing one person in the stands behind Trump and injuring two others. The attacker, 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, was killed on the spot by Secret Service agents. Donald Trump took an oath and became the 47th president of the United States. Support UP or become our patron! In the White House the walls dont have ears. They have voices. Wander through its corridors, as Donald Trump will soon do, and you might hear the presidential portraits in the walls providing their successors with advice, the sage counsel of the experienced the wisdom of the ages, shaped by triumph and tragedy in times of joy and despair. Heres what Mr. Trump may hear: "I think the American people expect more from us than cries of indignation and attack. The times are too grave, the challenge too urgent, and the stakes too high to permit the customary passions of political debate. We are not here to curse the darkness, but to light the candle that can guide us through that darkness to a safe and sane future." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement These remarks were made by Senator John F. Kennedy as he accepted the 1960 Democratic presidential nomination. His may have been a time of partisan conflict, but it is tame in comparison with ours; his rival in that falls election was Richard Nixon, with whom he had reasonably friendly relations. James Causey: Trump presidency is prompting people to take up this hobby Mr. Trumps view is more like that nostrum of the British statesman Lord Palmerston, who said that his country had no allies, only interests. A master of cries of indignation and attack, Mr. Trump now has won his great goal of a second term and cant run again. In an ordinary political figure, that would mean forgetting the indignation and muting the anger. The 35th presidents advice to the 47th might be persuasive. "I have noticed that nothing I never said ever did me any harm." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This is classic advice from Calvin Coolidge, who, unlike the new president, was abstemious with words. His taciturn aspect was ridiculed for decades. Today its regarded as wisdom. "The peoples interests does not permit faithful party work to be always rewarded by appointment to office." This remark, delivered in an 1885 written message to the National Civil Service Reform League, is from Grover Cleveland, until Mr. Trumps election the only person to win non-consecutive terms in the White House. It came at a time when the Democrats had not held the presidency for 24 years and when pressure was building to replace what current conservatives would describe as the deep state. The new president eventually filled the executive branch with Democrats but he made, as biographer Henry F. Graff pointed out, fewer changes in personnel than Republican predecessors and nearly doubled the number of federal employees protected from partisan dismissal. This advice might temper the ardor of Mr. Trump amid legal questions about his desire to replace bureaucrats with MAGA loyalistsand the determination of Vivek Ramaswamy and Elon Musk to cut the federal workforce substantially. Honesty is the best policy: George Washington "I hold the maxim no less applicable to public than to private affairs, that honesty is the best policy." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement These remarks are from George Washingtons Farewell Address to the People of the United States and are as valuable today, when Mr. Trump is about to become president, as they were in 1796, when John Adams was about to become president. Mr. Trump made 30,573 false or misleading statements in his first term, according to The Washington Posts Fact Checker team. "There is no grievance that is a fit object of redress by mob law." Abraham Lincolns 1838 speech to the Young Mens Lyceum of Springfield, Ill., might guide Mr. Trump as he contemplates pardoning the convicted rioters from the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol. Letters: Billions in fishy Social Security payouts show why we need DOGE to stop fraud Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "I was born for the storm, and a calm does not suit me." This is the self-evaluation of Andrew Jackson, whose portrait Mr. Trump hung in the Oval Office during his first term and whose historical shine has worn off with increased attention to his slaveholding and his ferocious combat with Native Americans. Mr. Trump, too, was born for the storm, but hell be older than Joe Biden is now when his second term ends. Might a bit of calm suit an 82-year-old who would enter retirement with the comforting knowledge that he was the principal figure of his time for as long as Franklin Delano Roosevelt was? Or might he instead agree with Ulysses Grant, who believed that In every battle there comes a time when both sides consider themselves beaten, then he who continues the attack wins? No man is above the law or below it: Theodore Roosevelt "No man is above the law and no man is below it; nor do we ask any man's permission when we require him to obey it." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This remark from Theodore Roosevelt in his 1903 State of the Union Address might be sobering to Mr. Trump. With a Supreme Court ruling providing the president with immunity, he might consider the TR notion irrelevant today. Mr. Trump might also hear Theodore Roosevelt say, If you could kick the person in the pants responsible for most of your trouble, you wouldn't sit for a month. "Let us never forget that government is ourselves and not an alien power over us." This admonition came from Franklin Delano Roosevelt in a 1938 address in Marietta, Ohio. The 32nd president chose the dedication to the Memorial to the Start Westward of the Nation commemoration and the 150th anniversary of the establishment of the Northwest Territory to address skepticism about the growth of government under his New Deal. Letters: No wonder Trump loves the poorly educated. Few know truth of American conquests. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Letters: It's easier to call someone 'uninformed' than to listen to their opposing view Using the experience of the Ohio pioneers as an object lesson, FDR offered a lesson for his time: Under such conditions there was so much to get done which men could not get done alone, that the frontiersmen naturally reached out to government as their greatest single instrument of cooperative self-help with the aid of which they could get things done, he said. To them the use of government was but another form of the cooperation of good neighbors. These remarks might prompt the new president to remember that the head of the government he so reviles is Mr. Trump himself. Postscript: The portraits of Bill Clinton and George W. Bush were moved during Mr. Trumps first administration to the Old Family Dining room, rarely used by the Trumps. It was an effort to assure that they were out of the vision of Mr. Trumps regular patterns. Joe Biden restored them. We can only wonder what these portraits might whisper to the new occupant of the White House. He might hear Mr. Clinton say, If you live long enough, you'll make mistakes. But if you learn from them, you'll be a better person. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement David M. Shribman is the former executive editor of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Email dshribman@post-gazette.com. Twitter: @ShribmanPG This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: JFK, Coolidge, Roosevelt have wise words for inauguration | Opinion Advisers to Donald Trump have discussed having the incoming president sign an executive order to save TikTok shortly after hes sworn in Monday in the Capitol Rotunda in the presence of the video app's chief executive as well as lawmakers who backed legislation to ban the app as a national security threat. The plans around Trumps inauguration ceremony continued to change through the day Sunday, according to two people familiar with the discussions. Having Trump sign such a measure in such a manner would only ratchet up tensions with key GOP lawmakers who pushed through the bill that led to a brief shutdown of the social media app over the weekend. The expected presence of TikTok CEO Shou Chew at the inaugural ceremony is already causing heartburn with some Republicans, and taking action to delay any consequences for the company in front of lawmakers could deepen their indigestion. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Signing executive orders is not a typical part of the inauguration ceremony; typically new presidents do so later in the day, after arriving at the White House. TikToks Beijing-based parent company ByteDance has already had 270 days to divest and so far has refused, Speaker Mike Johnson noted on NBCs Meet the Press Sunday. "We don't have any confidence in ByteDance, he said. The law is very precise, and the only way to extend that is if there is an actual deal in the works. Johnson did note Trump allies Kevin OLeary and Elon Musk have separately discussed possible takeovers, which the speaker appeared open to. However, that would likely require the approval of the Chinese government. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Johnson, Senate Intelligence Chair Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) and other key Republicans reiterated Sunday that they view TikTok as a tool of the Chinese Communist Party that could be used to spy on American citizens, including children. Their warnings came shortly after Trump vowed in a post to save TikTok from the law forcing the sale of the app. The Supreme Court upheld the law in a ruling last Friday. Newly inaugurated President Donald Trump did not follow through on his promise to levy new tariffs on day one. The Commander in Chief, who was sworn in on Monday, issued a number executive orders related to immigration, the economy and energy within hours of taking office, but he declined to pull the trigger on any new duties on foreign-made goodsa central tenet of his campaign. More from Sourcing Journal Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trump instead issued a memo to federal agencies instructing them to assess Americas trade relationships with China, Mexico and Canada, including compliance with the China Phase One trade deal brokered during his first term, along with the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA). Senior advisors to the president confirmed this plan to the Wall Street Journal, telling the outlet that Trump plans to direct federal agencies to develop strategies to alleviate trade deficits with other nations and address trade and currency policies that he deems unfair. The source told the outlet that Trump is seeking to advance his trade agenda in a measured way. However, by Monday evening, the president was ringing the tariff bell once again. In an exchange with reporters from the Oval Office, Trump reiterated his intentions to impose new duties. Were thinking in terms of 25 percent on Mexico and Canada, because theyre allowing vast numbers of people into the U.S., he said. I think well do it February 1. During his inaugural address to a crowd of government leaders and supporters gathered inside the Capitol building, Trump highlighted the deepening of a trade philosophy defined by protectionism. From this moment on, Americas decline is over, he said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trump promised that he would immediately begin the overhaul of our trade system to protect American workers and families. Instead of taxing our citizens to enrich other countries, we will tariff and tax foreign countries to enrich our citizens, he added, claiming that his administration plans to establish an External Revenue Service to collect tariffs and duties. It will be massive amounts of money pouring into our treasury coming from foreign sources, he said. Throughout his campaign, Trump touted a trade agenda characterized by sweeping duties that would impact virtually every U.S. trade partner. He floated a 10 percent to 20 percent universal baseline tariff, and repeatedly threatened to up tariffs on China-made goods to 60 percent to 100 percent. Following the election, Trump began taking swipes at the countrys North American neighbors, Mexico and Canada, threatening each with new 25-percent tariffs as recourse for issues with mass migration and drug smuggling. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The president also revived a recent argument that the U.S. should retake control of the Panama Canal, which he said was foolishly given to the country of Panama in 1999. In his inaugural address, Trump claimed that American ships are being severely overcharged for passage through the canal, including U.S. Navy vessels. In December, Panamas government announced a new fee and duty structure that will raise prices on Canal reservations. We have been treated very badly from this foolish gift that should have never been made and Panamas promise to us has been broken. The purpose of our deal and the spirit of our treaty has been totally violated, he said. Trump also raised concerns about Chinas operations in the Canalthe only mention of the country throughout the entirety of the speech. But Trumps ire for China and a rapidly growing roster of U.S. adversaries was apparent throughout the address. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement From this day forward, our country will flourish and be respected again all over the world, he said. We will be the envy of every nation, and we will not allow ourselves to be taken advantage of any longer. This article was updated to reflect President Trumps Monday evening comments from the Oval Office. By Timothy Gardner, Valerie Volcovici and Jarrett Renshaw WASHINGTON (Reuters) -President Donald Trump on Monday laid out a sweeping plan to maximize oil and gas production, including by declaring a national energy emergency to speed permitting, rolling back environmental protections, and withdrawing the U.S. from an international pact to fight climate change. The moves signal a dramatic U-turn in Washingtons energy policy after former President Joe Biden sought for four years to encourage a transition away from fossil fuels in the world's largest economy. But it remains to be seen if Trump's measures will have any impact on U.S. production, already at record levels as drillers chase high prices in the wake of sanctions on Russia after its 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "America will be a manufacturing nation once again, and we have something that no other manufacturing nation will ever have: the largest amount of oil and gas of any country on Earth," Trump said during his inauguration speech. "And we are going to use it." Trump later signed executive orders declaring a national energy emergency and withdrawing the United States from the 2015 Paris climate deal, the international pact to fight global warming. He also signed orders aimed at promoting oil and gas development in Alaska, reversing Biden's efforts to protect Arctic lands and U.S. coastal waters from drilling, revoking Biden's target for EV adoption, suspending offshore wind lease sales, and lifting a freeze on LNG export permitting. Trump said he expects the orders to help reduce consumer energy prices and improve U.S. national security, by expanding domestic supplies and also bolstering allies. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "We will bring prices down, fill our strategic reserves up again right to the top, and export American energy all over the world," he said. Environmental groups have said they intend to challenge the executive orders in court. The Biden administration had seen electric vehicle and wind energy technologies as crucial to efforts to decarbonize the transportation and power sectors, which together make up around half of U.S. carbon dioxide emissions. Biden's administration sought to encourage electric vehicle use by offering a consumer subsidy for new EV purchases, and by imposing tougher tailpipe emissions standards on automakers. It also sought to encourage clean energy technologies like wind and solar through tax credits that have drawn billions of dollars in new manufacturing and project investments. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Democratic National Committee called Trump's day one agenda a "disaster for working families". "Killing manufacturing jobs and giving a free pass to polluters that make people sick is hardly putting America first,'" said Alex Floyd, DNC spokesperson. POWER INDUSTRY OVERHAUL Trump had said repeatedly during his campaign he intends to declare a national energy emergency, arguing the U.S. should produce more fossil fuels and also ramp up power generation to meet rising demand. U.S. data center power use, a major driver of growing electricity demand, could nearly triple in the next three years, and consume as much as 12% of the country's power to fuel artificial intelligence and other technologies, according to the Department of Energy. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trump's declaration seeks to ease environmental restrictions on power plants to meet that demand, speed up construction of new plants, and ease permitting for transmission and pipeline projects. "It allows you to do whatever youve got to do to get ahead of that problem," Trump told reporters while signing the order. "And we do have that kind of an emergency." Sam Sankar, senior vice president for programs at Earthjustice, a non-profit group which is gearing up to fight Trump policies in the courts, said the declaration of an energy emergency in a non-war period is rare and untested, creating a potential legal vulnerability. The first Trump administration had considered using emergency powers under the Federal Power Act to attempt to carry out a pledge to rescue the declining coal industry, but never followed through. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trump's promise to refill strategic reserves, meanwhile, has the potential to lift oil prices by boosting demand for U.S. crude oil. After the invasion of Ukraine, Biden had sold more than 180 million barrels of crude oil from the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve, a record amount. The sales helped keep gasoline prices in check, but sank the reserve - designed to buffer the United States from a potential supply shock - to the lowest level in 40 years. (Reporting by Andrea Shalal, David Lawder, Jarrett Renshaw, Timothy Gardner, Valerie Volcovici and Dan Burns; Editing by Daniel Wallis, Heather Timmons, Paul Simao, Deepa Babington, Diane Craft, Shri Navaratnam and Michael Perry) Donald Trump claimed divine intervention made a gunman miss by inches from shooting him in the headso that he could in turn save America and deliver its manifest destiny. I was saved by God to make America great again, he said in his first speech as president. After being sworn in as the 47th president of the United States, Trump said he survived a would-be assassins bullet because he was destined to return to the White House. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The speech was the second inaugural address by the presidentwhose first, about American carnage was indelibly described as some weird s--- by former president George W. Bush. Trump said he had been tested like no other president before winning Novembers election. The journey to retake our republic has not been an easy one. Those who wish to stop our cause have tried to take my freedom and indeed, to take my life just a few months ago, in a beautiful Pennsylvania field, an assassins bullet ripped through my ear, but I felt then and believe, even more so now that my life was saved for a reason, he insisted. Trump unveiled a MAGA shopping list of culture wars after initially being applauded by both sides. / Fabrizio Bensch / REUTERS Now Trump says his presidency heralds a new golden age for America. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The vicious, violent unfair weaponization of our government will end, he told the 600 VIP guests at his inauguration inside the Rotunda on Capitol Hill. From this moment on, Americas decline is over, he continued. We will be the envy of every nation and will not allow ourselves to be taken advantage of any longer. As we gather today, our government confronts a crisis of trust, he said. For many years, a radical and corrupt establishment has extracted power and wealth from our citizens, while the pillars of our society lay broken and seemingly in complete disrepair. He complained about the response of the Biden administration to the Hurricane in North Carolina in September 2024 and the recent fires in California. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He said his election victory was a mandate to reverse this horrible betrayal. We now have a government that cannot manage even a simple crisis at home, while at the same time stumbling into a continuing catalog of catastrophic events abroad, he continued. It fails to protect our magnificent law-abiding American citizens, but provides sanctuary and protection for dangerous criminals. All of this will change starting today and it will change very quickly, he added. Joe Biden and Kamala Harris showed little emotion during the speech. Bill and Hillary Clinton whispered and laughed with each other when Trump mentioned he planned to change the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trump said his new term meant that the decline is over. Trump said he will spearhead a revolution of common sense. He said his administration would only recognize two genders and would declare a national emergency at the southern border. My message to Americans today is that it is time for us to once again act with courage, vigor, and the vitality of historys greatest civilization, he said. He claimed he will give people back their faith, their wealth, their democracy. Many people thought it was impossible for me to stage such a historic political comeback, but as you see today, here I am, the people have spoken, that something is impossible to do, he said, concluding his 30-minute speech. From New York to Los Angeles, from Philadelphia to Phoenix, from Chicago to Miami, from Houston to right here in Washington, D.C., our country was forged and built by the generation of patriots that gave everything they had for our rights and our freedom. After all we have been through together, we stand on the verge of the four greatest years in American history. Editors note: This story is available as a result of a content partnership between WFTV and the Orlando Business Journal. President-elect Donald Trump has promised to start enacting mass deportations on his first day in office, a feat that will require significant resources and participation by local law enforcement agencies. Here in Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis has enthusiastically supported Trumps deportation ambitions and called for a special legislation session to combat illegal immigration. The governor also threatened suspension to local officials who refuse to follow through with new immigration policies. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Read: SeaWorlds Seven Seas Food Festival to feature 200 internationally inspired dishes Despite the enthusiasm from the governor and many supporters of the president-elect who will be sworn in Jan. 20 there is concern in parts of the Central Florida business community about how deportations would affect the states labor market. 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. President Trump did not place his hand on the Bible as he took the oath of office during his inauguration on Monday. While First lady Melania Trump stood next to him holding two Bibles one given to Mr. Trump by his mother when he was a child, and the Lincoln Bible, which was used at Abraham Lincoln's 1861 inauguration images show Mr. Trump did not put his hand on them as he was sworn in by Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts. His right hand was raised while his left arm hung down at his side. Donald Trump is sworn in as the 47th president of the United States by Chief Justice John Roberts as Melania Trump holds the Bible during the 60th Presidential Inauguration in the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025. / Credit: MORRY GASH/AFP via Getty Images It's not a legal requirement for the president to place a hand on the Bible while taking the oath of office. Article VI of the U.S. Constitution states that "all executive and judicial Officers, both of the United States and of the several States, shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution; but no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Mr. Trump did reference God during his first remarks as the 47th president. "I was saved by God to make America great again," he said, referencing the assassination attempt on his life. Vice President JD Vance placed his hand on a Bible when he took the oath of office on Monday. He used a family Bible that belonged to his maternal great-grandmother, according to Trump's inaugural committee. Vance was sworn in by Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh. His wife, second lady Usha Vance, held the Bible as Vance took his oath of office. At his first inauguration in 2017, Mr. Trump did place his hand on the two Bibles - the family Bible and the Lincoln Bible - when he took the oath of office. Mr. Trump received the family Bible in 1955 to to mark his Sunday Church Primary School graduation at First Presbyterian Church, in Jamaica, New York, according to Trump's inaugural committee. President Donald Trump takes the oath of office as first lady Melania Trump, looks on during the 58th presidential inauguration in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Friday, Jan. 20, 2017. / Credit: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images It was not immediately clear why Mr. Trump made his oath of office on Monday without his hand on the Bible. The president notably also has his own "God Bless the USA" Bibles sold for $59.99 each Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Sen. Deb Fischer speaks at Trump inauguration First ladies Jill Biden and Melania Trump leave White House together before inauguration First hostages released after Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal | Special Report Follow todays inauguration live blog Donald Trump vowed to send American troops to the Mexican border to repel the disastrous invasion of migrants as he began signing more than 100 sweeping executive orders. The US president said he would use his first day in office to sign a series of historic executive orders, which he claimed would begin the complete restoration of and the revolution of common sense. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Mr Trump, 78, was expected to sign a raft of orders from the US Capitol, where his swearing-in ceremony took place, followed by more at the White House and at his inaugural rally in the Capital One Arena. Executive orders allow presidents to enact some policies without the consent of Congress and can take effect immediately, although many are expected to be challenged in court. Shortly after Mr Trump was sworn in, the White House website landing page showed a picture of the US president pointing into the distance accompanied by the text America is back. Listed among the first priorities were his plans to make the country safe again by securing the border, make the country energy dominant again, rooting out bureaucracy and reinstating American values. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Other policy areas Mr Trump will target include his planned tariffs on imports and Joe Bidens TikTok ban. Members of Mr Trumps team have been working on the orders for months, and plan to use them to signal an abrupt change in direction from the Biden administration. Key executive orders signed to date: Declare a national emergency on the border Mr Trump intends to sign at least 10 executive orders focused on border security and immigration, an issue he used to prop up much of his 2024 campaign. I will declare a national emergency at our southern border, Mr Trump said during his 29-minute address. Such a move will unlock funding and resources from the Pentagon. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement National emergency orders have previously been used to speed up the federal governments response to the 9/11 attacks, the Covid-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine. The president has said he will use the US military to enforce immigration removals, and can circumvent Congress by designating the issue an emergency. Migrants cross the Rio Grande attempting to reach the US border to seek humanitarian asylum in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico - David Peinado/Anadolu via Getty Images End Bidens border policies Mr Trump has said he will end Mr Bidens catch-and-release policies, reinstate his remain in Mexico order, build the wall and end asylum for those who cross into the country illegally. The White House said he would also crack down on criminal sanctuaries and enhance the vetting of immigrants. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement President Trumps deportation operation will address the record border crossings of criminal aliens under the prior administration, it said. Mr Trump on Monday shut down Mr Bidens border app called CBP One which allowed nearly one million people to legally enter the US with eligibility to work. In border cities migrants saw their appointments cancelled just after Mr Trump took office. Around 280,000 people had been logging into the app daily to secure an appointment as of Jan 7. In Matamoros, Mexico, a group of migrants from the central Mexican state of Zacatecas arrived at a legal border crossing at midday but were turned back by border authorities who said all appointments were now void. Members of the Texas Army National Guard monitor migrants along the US-Mexico border in Juarez - David Peinado/Bloomberg Remain in Mexico forced non-Mexican asylum seekers to wait in Mexico for the outcome of the US cases. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Mr Biden ended the programme in 2021, saying migrants were stuck waiting in squalid conditions. The White House said the president would also begin the process of designating cartels, including the dangerous Tren de Aragua, [a Venezuelan gang] as foreign terrorist organisations and use the Alien Enemies Act to remove them. End birthright citizenship Mr Trump will also seek to end so-called birthright citizenship for US-born children whose parents lack legal status, a move some legal scholars have said would be unconstitutional. he is expected to issue an executive order to end birthright citizenship for the children of illegal migrants. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The 14th Amendment states every child born within the jurisdiction of the United States is a US citizen, regardless of their parents immigration or citizenship status. DEI initiatives dismantled The Republican leader vowed to sign an executive order aimed at ending Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives in the federal government. The White House said Mr Trump will freeze bureaucrat hiring except in essential areas to end the onslaught of useless and overpaid DEI activists buried into the federal workforce. The order will instruct the Office of Management and Budget and the Office of Personnel Management to end all discriminatory diversity practices, according to Axios. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It will also outline monthly meetings between the assistant to the president for domestic policy and deputy secretaries and determine ways to end DEI initiatives. Alluding to this in his inauguration speech, Mr Trump said he would end the government policy of trying to socially engineer race and gender into every aspect of public and private life, adding: We will forge a society that is colour blind and merit based. Gender Mr Trump will also sign an executive order declaring the federal government will only recognise two sexes. As of today, it will henceforth be the official policy of the United States government that there are only two genders: male and female, he told the audience at the Capitol rotunda. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The order will instruct the secretaries of state and homeland security to ensure official government documents like passports and visas only reflect two sexes: male and female. In 2022, the Biden administration allowed citizens to select X a gender-neutral marker on their passport. The President will establish male and female as biological reality and protect women from radical gender ideology, the White House said. Death penalty for police murderers Mr Trump will also attempt to restore the death penalty for any illegal immigrants who murder police officers or maim and murder Americans. During his election campaign Mr Trump called for a mandatory death sentence for anyone who murdered a police officer in the wake of the killing of NYPD detective Jonathan Diller. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It is an issue he has supported since at least 2015, when he vowed to sign an executive order giving anybody killing a police officer the death penalty. Energy policy During his speech, Mr Trump also declared a national energy emergency, telling the crowd: The inflation crisis was caused by massive overspending and escalating energy prices, and that is why today, I will also declare a national energy emergency, we will drill baby, drill. The White House said Mr Trump would unleash American energy by ending Bidens policies of climate extremism, streamlining permitting, and reviewing for rescission all regulations that impose undue burdens on energy production and use, including mining and processing of non-fuel minerals. Such moves are intended to create conditions that facilitate investment, that facilitate job creation, that facilitate the production of Americas natural resources, and the result will be lower prices for the American people, an incoming White House energy adviser told Axios. Mr Trump will also end leasing to wind farms which officials said degrade our natural landscapes and fail to serve American energy consumers. The US president will also controversially withdraw from the Paris Climate Accord. Drill baby, drill Mr Trump will reverse some Biden-era restrictions on fossil fuel extraction, in his quest to drill baby, drill from day one of his second administration. When Mr Biden took office in 2021, he vowed to wean the US off fossil fuels, but US oil and gas production hit record levels under his watch as drillers chased high prices in the wake of sanctions on Russia after its 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Mr Trump said the US would fill our strategic reserves up again, right to the top and export energy all over the world. After the invasion of Ukraine, Mr Biden sold more than 180 million barrels of crude oil from the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR), a record amount. The sales helped keep gasoline prices in check, but sank the SPR to the lowest level in 40 years. The orders could include the reversal of some protections for areas of northern Alaska that were designated by Mr Biden. Alaska has been a contentious area of the country when it comes to energy and the environment, with Republicans having long seen opportunities for oil and gas production there while Democrats have sought to preserve pristine land. One Trump official said the administration would take decisive action to unleash Alaskas natural resource potential, citing an abundance of resources such as oil and gas, seafood, timber and critical minerals. Mr Trump also pledged to increase fracking, and to scale back policies to encourage green energy production. EV mandate Mr Trump is also expected to issue an executive order to end what he refers to as the electric vehicle mandate. Last year Mr Biden implemented emission regulations which included a target for 56 per cent of all new US vehicles sold to be electric by 2032. Electric vehicles made up less than eight per cent of all new car sales in 2023 and the policy was widely criticised in states such as Michigan which rely on the auto industry. TikTok Mr Trump will pause the ban on TikTok in the US for 90 days in a major win for the Chinese-owned social media app. The incoming president has said he hoped the platform could be brought under partial US ownership to address concerns about foreign interference. The ban briefly came into effect over the weekend, but was later reversed on the expectation that Mr Trump would act as soon as he took office. Tariffs The first tariffs of the new Trump administration are expected to be launched in an executive order, and could include levies of 25 per cent on imports from Canada and Mexico. Mr Trump has pledged to impose blanket tariffs on foreign goods, including a rate of 100 per cent on imports from China, and between ten and 20 per cent on every other country. He has demanded that both Mexico and Canada take more action on illegal migration and drug-trafficking on Americas southern and northern border in exchange for tariff relief. Renaming the Gulf of Mexico Mr Trump said he would order the renaming of the Gulf of Mexico and Alaskas Mount Denali to honour US history. The Gulf of Mexico will become the Gulf of America and Mount Denali will return to being called Mount McKinley after former president William McKinley. The executive order will reverse former president Barack Obamas decision to change the name of North Americas tallest peak to Mount Denali in 2015. Describing McKinley as a natural businessman, Mr Trump said the former Republican president made our country very rich through tariffs and through talent. It will be easier for Mr Trump to rename Mount Denali than the Gulf of Mexico. Mr Trumps move would not be a unilateral decision, and other countries dont have to go along. The International Hydrographic Organisation of which both the US and Mexico are members works to ensure all the worlds seas, oceans and navigable waters are surveyed and charted uniformly, and also names some of them. There are instances where countries refer to the same body of water or landmark by different names in their own documentation. End working from home for civil servants Mr Trump also indicated he will end remote working for federal employees, an issue he spoke about consistently on the campaign trail. The president will also return federal workers to work, as only six per cent of employees currently work in person, the White House said. If people dont come back into the office, theyre going to be dismissed, Mr Trump said last month. Elon Musk, who will lead the Department of Government Efficiency, previously said ordering federal staff back into the office would result in a wave of voluntary terminations that we welcome. The White House added that Mr Trump would end the unconstitutional censorship by the federal government. No longer will government employees pick and require the erasure of entirely true speech. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. Washington is set to roll out the red carpet for President-elect Trump. In 2017, Trump felt like an outsider setting up shop in the nations capital. The upset winner of the presidential election that year failed to win the popular vote, and faced hostility from the media and business and political classes. This years festivities, after Trump won the popular vote in an election where he often felt like the favorite, feels more like a triumphant return for Trump and his allies, especially as forces from the media and U.S. business look to start fresh with the incoming administration. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In 2016, when we won, there was immediate questioning of the legitimacy of the win. There was immediate resistance among the media, even some in our own party. This time there was a welcoming. People are falling all over themselves to give him donations to his inaugural, said Sean Spicer, who served as Trumps first White House press secretary. Numerous galas are planned to mark the impending start of Trumps second term. Trump himself will speak at a victory rally on Sunday at Capital One Arena in downtown D.C. Mondays inauguration ceremonies were moved indoors because of forecasts for bitter cold, but thousands of supporters are expected to flock to Washington. A slew of companies have donated millions to Trumps inaugural fund for a seat at the table with the incoming administration, and billionaires Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg, who battled with Trump during his first term, will be seated on stage at the inauguration. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The fierce Democratic resistance in 2017 has given way to some lawmakers proclaiming they will work with Trump where they can. I think the first day its going to be fascinating what the tone and tenor is, Spicer added. He really has much more a swagger and a confidence that I dont think necessarily existed in 2016. In 2017, dozens of Democrats boycotted Trumps inauguration. Companies largely avoided contributing to his inaugural fund, and the inauguration itself had lower attendance than previous proceedings, irking Trump. This time around, hes getting a much warmer reception, even as figures such as former first lady Michelle Obama and former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) plan to skip Mondays ceremonies. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Numerous major companies have given at least $1 million to Trumps inaugural fund, including Google, Boeing, Microsoft, Amazon and Ford Motor Company. Several CEOs have traveled to Mar-a-Lago to meet with Trump, eager to get on his good side and get a foothold in the incoming administration. A slew of Big Tech corporate leaders will be given prime seats for Trumps swearing-in, including Zuckerberg, Bezos and the CEOs of Google, TikTok and Apple. Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla and a top Trump ally, will also be in attendance. Zuckerberg is co-hosting a reception for donors Monday night in Washington. The first-ever Crypto Ball will take place Friday, a nod to the Trump administrations expected embrace of the cryptocurrency industry. And high-profile musicians will perform at Trumps inaugural events, including Carrie Underwood, Rascal Flatts and the Village People. On Sunday, a victory rally was held at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C., featuring high-profile speakers and musical performances from Kid Rock and Billy Ray Cyrus. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Democratic leaders have also signaled a greater acceptance of Trump, starting with the host city for his inauguration. D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser met with Trump in late December to discuss their shared priorities for the Presidents second term. Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) met with Trump at Mar-a-Lago and has expressed a willingness to meet with controversial nominees for Trumps Cabinet and to support the incoming administrations agenda if it benefits Pennsylvania. In a symbolic image of Trumps growing acceptance in parts of Washington, the president-elect had an extended friendly conversation with former President Obama during a state funeral for the late President Carter. The two men could be seen conversing, with Obama laughing. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I think when you look at establishment D.C., they recognize what a disaster Joe Biden was, so theyre wailing to roll out the red carpet for Trump, said one Republican strategist with ties to Trumps orbit. The strategist suggested that Trumps immediate lame-duck status, having already served one term, may also make some of his critics more inclined to accept him this time around. Because he cant seek a second term, theyre not going to throw out a ton of road blocks, the strategist said. Mondays inauguration may not look exactly how Trump envisioned, particularly as someone who fixates on crowd sizes and infamously fumed over images of the National Mall during his first inauguration. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The swearing-in will take place inside the Capitol Rotunda, marking the first indoor inauguration since former President Reagans in 1985. While elected officials and dignitaries cram into the Capitol, supporters will be able to view the event from Capital One Arena. Trump will head to the arena Monday afternoon for an altered, indoor version of the traditional presidential parade. Everyone will be safe, everyone will be happy, and we will, together, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN! Trump posted Friday on Truth Social. Copyright 2025 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 The Hill. President-elect Trump is set to rename the Gulf of Mexico and Mount Denali as part of a surge of Day 1 executive orders, his incoming press secretary shared on the social platform X. Karoline Leavitt, a spokesperson for the Trump-Vance transition team, shared a New York Post report on Trumps plans to rename the major body of water as the Gulf of America, as well as revert the Alaskan mountains name to Mount McKinley. Trump earlier this month floated changing the name of the gulf during a press conference that also explored possible expansion of U.S. control into Greenland, the Panama Canal and Canada. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Were going to be changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America, Trump told reporters. What a beautiful name. And its appropriate. Its appropriate. And Mexico has to stop allowing millions of people to pour into our country. As for Mount Denali, former President Obama changed the label of the nations highest peak to reflect the name that nearby Native Americans have long used. But the move faced opposition from Ohio lawmakers as they pushed to preserve the nod to former President McKinley, the 25th president and a Buckeye State native. Trump last month reportedly promised that hed revert the name. They took his name off Mount McKinley, right? Thats what they do to people. Now, he was a great president, very good president. At a minimum, he was a very good businessman. He was a businessman, then a governor, very successful businessman, Trump said at a Turning Point USA event in December, as reported by Alaska Public Media. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum pushed back when Trump initially raised the gulf issue, noting the body of water has been internationally recognized as the Gulf of Mexico, and adding that North America was historically marked on maps as Mexican America. I mean obviously Gulf of Mexico, the name is recognized by the United Nations, an organism of the United Nations. But next, why dont we call it Mexican America? It sounds nice, doesnt it? Sheinbaum said, waving to a historical map projected on a screen. Copyright 2025 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 The Hill. Before his inauguration, Donald Trump promised to issue a total of 100 or so executive orders once he regained the presidency. These orders reset government policy on everything from immigration enforcement to diversity initiatives to environmental regulation. They also aim to undo much of Joe Bidens presidential legacy. Trump is not the first U.S. president to issue an executive order, and he certainly wont be the last. My own research shows executive orders have been a mainstay in American politics with limitations. What is an executive order? Though the Constitution plainly articulates familiar presidential tools like vetoes and appointments, the real executive power comes from reading between the lines. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Presidents have long interpreted the Constitutions Article 2 clauses like the executive power shall be vested in a President and he shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed to give them total authority to enforce the law through the executive branch, by any means necessary. One leading way they do that is through executive orders, which are presidential written directives to agencies on how to implement the law. The courts view them as legally valid unless they violate the Constitution or existing statutes. Executive orders, like other unilateral actions, allow presidents to make policy outside of the regular lawmaking process. This leaves Congress, notoriously polarized and gridlocked, to respond. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Thus, executive orders are unilateral actions that give presidents several advantages, allowing them to move first and act alone in policymaking. How have they historically been used? Every U.S. president has issued executive orders since they were first systematically cataloged in 1905. In March of 2016, then-presidential candidate Donald Trump criticized President Obamas use of executive orders. Executive orders sort of came about more recently. Nobody ever heard of an executive order. Then all of a sudden Obama because he couldnt get anybody to agree with him he starts signing them like theyre butter, Trump said. So I want to do away with executive orders for the most part. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Little in this statement is true. Obama signed fewer orders than his predecessors averaging 35 per year. Trump issued an average of 55 per year. Against conventional wisdom, presidents have relied less on executive orders over time. Indeed, modern presidents used drastically fewer orders per year an average of 59 than their pre-World War II counterparts, who averaged 314. Executive orders have been used for everything from routine federal workplace policies like ethics pledges to the controversial 2017 travel ban restricting entry into the United States. They have been used to manage public lands, the economy, the civil service and federal contractors, and to respond to various crises such as the Iran hostage situation and the COVID-19 pandemic. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Presidents often use them to advance their biggest agenda items, by creating task forces or policy initiatives and directing rulemaking, the process for formally translating laws into codified policy. Limitations in their use Why dont presidents always issue executive orders, a seemingly powerful policy device? Because they come with serious constraints. First, executive orders may not be as unilateral as they seem. Drafting an order involves a time-consuming bargaining process with various agencies negotiating its content. Second, if they are issued without proper legal authority, executive orders can be overturned by the courts although that happens infrequently. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trumps 2017 travel ban faced several legal challenges before it was written in a way to satisfy the court. Many of his initial orders, on the other hand, didnt face legal scrutiny because they simply requested agencies to work within their existing authority to change important policies like health care and immigration. Congress is another barrier, as they give presidents the legal authority to make policy in a certain area. By withholding that authority, Congress can deter presidents from issuing executive orders on certain issues. If the president issues the order anyway, the courts can overturn it. Legislators can also punish presidents for issuing executive orders they do not like by sabotaging their legislative agendas and nominees or defunding their programs. Even a polarized Congress can find ways to sanction a president for an executive order they dont like. For example, a committee can hold an oversight hearing or launch an investigation both of which can decrease a presidents public approval rating. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Congresses of today are equipped to impose these constraints and they do so more often on ideologically opposed administrations. This is why scholars find modern presidents issue fewer executive orders under divided government, contrary to popular media narratives that present executive orders as a presidents way of circumventing Congress. Finally, executive orders are not the last word in policy. They can be easily revoked. New presidents often reverse previous orders, particularly those of political opponents. Biden, for instance, quickly revoked Trumps directives that excluded undocumented immigrants from the U.S. Census. All recent presidents have issued revocations, especially in their first year. They face barriers in doing so, however, including public opinion, Congress and legal limitations. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Regardless, executive orders are not as durable as laws or regulations. Constraints on Trump Some of Trumps executive orders, particularly those focused on the economy, will require legislation since Congress holds the purse strings. Though Trump inherits a Republican House and Senate, their majorities are marginal, and moderate party dissenters may frustrate his agenda. Even so, he will undoubtedly use all available legal authority to unilaterally transform his goals into government policy. But then again, these directives may be undone by the courts or by the next president with the stroke of a pen. This is an updated version of a story originally published on January 26, 2021. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit, independent news organization bringing you facts and trustworthy analysis to help you make sense of our complex world. It was written by: Sharece Thrower, Vanderbilt University Read more: Sharece Thrower does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment. (NewsNation) President-elect Donald Trump fulfilled the crackdowns hes long promised on securing the U.S. border by signing multiple executive orders around immigration on his first day in office. Trump ran a campaign largely focused on immigration and the southern border, saying he would order the largest mass deportation in American history of people who crossed illegally. The border security measures I will outline in my inaugural address tomorrow will be the most aggressive, sweeping effort to restore our borders the world has ever seen, Trump told attendees of a private dinner Sunday. Trump declares national emergency at southern border Trump on Monday evening signed a proclamation declaring a national emergency at the southern border of the United States, a move that will mobilize additional resources to the region. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The declaration will allow the Trump administration to deploy Pentagon forces and resources to help complete the construction of the border wall. An incoming White House official told reporters they could not specify how many troops might be sent to the border and that it would be up to the Defense Department. Will Melania and Barron Trump live at the White House? Trump reinstates Remain in Mexico Another one of the orders Trump signed Monday night included a broad array of actions intended to crack down on the flow of migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border, including by reinstating the Remain in Mexico policy. Remain in Mexico, formally known as the Migrant Protection Protocols, requires individuals to await asylum proceedings in Mexico, regardless of their country of origin. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The order includes calls for the construction of a physical barrier along the southern border, as well as the deployment of sufficient personnel along the southern border of the United States to ensure complete operational control. Trump end catch-and-release program Border czar Tim Homan said the Trump administration will be ending the federal catch-and-release program, which allows immigrants who entered the country illegally to remain in the country as long as they are in the process for asylum. Stay in your homeland, Homan told NewsNation last month. Be safe. Crossing into this country illegally is very dangerous. Trump resumes construction on southern border wall Trump began construction of the southern border wall during his first administration in an effort to prevent illegal crossings. Under the order, work would resume. A boy walks near where a border wall separating the U.S. from Mexico reaches the Pacific Ocean on Nov. 26, 2024, in Tijuana, Mexico. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull) Trump designates cartels as global terrorists After being elected, Trump revived a campaign vow to designate Mexicos drug cartels as terrorist groups. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I will immediately designate the cartels as foreign terrorist organizations, Trump said. While in office in 2019, Trump dropped the plan at the request of Mexicos then-President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who said he wanted U.S. cooperation on fighting drug gangs. Trump suspends refugee resettlement Trump signed an order titled, Realigning the United States refugee admission program to better align with American principles and American interests, which effectively pauses refugee admissions for a minimum of three months. Trump, who put tight limits on refugees in his first term, vowed to suspend refugee resettlement for four months as part of a broader effort to immediately end the migrant invasion of America. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The U.S. Refugee Admissions Program has brought in more than 3 million people since it was created by Congress in 1980 for refugees fearing persecution because of their race, religion, nationality, membership in a social group or political opinion. Trump vows to release JFK, RFK, MLK assassination records Trump ends birthright citizenship Trump said he would end birthright citizenship for children born to undocumented people living in the U.S. a provision that runs afoul of a constitutional guarantee. The 14th Amendment guarantees American citizenship to anyone born in the U.S. Only constitutional amendments, not executive orders or legislation, can change the Constitution. Trump said he intends to issue an executive order to end the practice, though executive orders cannot overturn constitutional amendments. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Over 30 other nations have unrestricted birthright citizenship rules like the U.S. Trump to direct military to prioritize borders Another order also seeks to lay the groundwork for greater military presence at the border, writing that it is essential that the Armed Forces staunchly continue to participate in the defense of our territorial integrity and sovereignty. Trump to enhance vetting, screening Trump signed an order that called for increased vetting and screening of migrants entering the United States, citing national security concerns. To protect Americans, the United States must be vigilant during the visa-issuance process to ensure that those aliens approved for admission into the United States do not intend to harm Americans or our national interests, the order states. An order deeming migration an invasion This order includes several provisions targeting those in the country unlawfully. The order also seeks to boost detention capacity in the U.S. to house migrants something that comes as Trump has argued migrants should not be released into the country while awaiting determinations on their immigration status. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement NewsNation partner The Hill contributed to this report. Copyright 2025 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 NewsNation. Chris Wright, President-elect Donald Trumps nominee to be secretary of energy, testifies during a Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington last Wednesday. Vivek Ramaswamys time as the potential co-chair of the not-yet-real Department of Government Efficiency appears to be coming to an end. The biotech executive has reportedly been clashing with the rank and file of the cost-cutting department, CBS reported Sunday, just hours before Donald Trumps inauguration. Reporter Jennifer Jacobs noted that Ramswamy is being encouraged to exit the agency. Vivek has worn out his welcome, one person close to Trump told CBS. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement People around the other co-chair of the department, worlds-richest-man and major Trump donor Elon Musk, have expressed frustration with Ramaswamys lack of involvement in the massive undertaking. Despite the fact that both appointees spent considerable time at Trumps Mar-a-Lago resort during the transition, the pair have reportedly not worked together for a while. Ramaswamy had no comment for the network. Last week, Trump personally implored Ramaswamy to consider taking Ohios Senate seat, recently vacated by Vice President-elect JD Vance, if it was offered to him by Governor Mike DeWine. Ramaswamy had publicly backed out of the race to replace Vance in November after Trump announced him as a potential DOGE co-chair. Ramaswamy seemingly changed his mind over the last week, however, meeting with DeWine to discuss the appointment. But Ramaswamy didnt get the jobinstead, the gig went to Ohio Lieutenant Governor Jon Husted. Moments before DeWines announcement, an anonymous source close to Ramaswamy told Reuters that the biotech executive is planning to launch a run to replace a term-limited DeWine as Ohios governor in 2026, a move that would further solidify his exit out of Trumps inner circle. Ramaswamy is expected to formally announce the bid by the end of the month, according to Fox News. Still, Ramaswamy isnt totally on the outs. The multimillionaire was spotted Monday morning arriving at the Capitol ahead of Trumps inauguration. After declaring earlier this month that the Gulf of America had a beautiful ring to it, newly installed President Donald Trump is expected to sign an executive order renaming the Gulf of Mexico in one of his first moves as he retakes the White House. The purely performative act is red meat for Trumps fan base, who believe the 47th presidents America First platform is the right way forward for the United States. Were going to be changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America, which has a beautiful ring. That covers a lot of territory, the Gulf of America, Trump said at a January 7 press conference. "What a beautiful name. And its appropriate. Its appropriate. And Mexico has to stop allowing millions of people to pour into our country. US President Joe Biden and President-elect Donald Trump arrive for the inauguration ceremony (POOL/AFP via Getty Images) Trumps incoming press secretary also confirmed on X, formerly Twitter, that he will sign an executive order reverting Mount Denali to its previous name, Mt. McKinley, which President Barack Obama changed in 2015 at the behest of Alaskan officials. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat from New York, has dubbed the Gulf of America idea crazy. The worlds ninth-largest body of water has been called the Gulf of Mexico since 1607. However, as Prof. Jon Taylor of UT-San Antonio told Houston Public Media , Trump "could actually direct federal agencies to use the name Gulf of America. Trump acolyte Marjorie Taylor Greene, the Republican congresswoman from Georgia, has pledged to introduce a bill renaming the Gulf, claiming, Its our gulf. The rightful name is the Gulf of America and its what the entire world should refer to it as." If Trump does manage to change the Gulf of Mexicos name to the Gulf of America, other nations would not be obligated to do the same. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum suggested renaming the US in response to Trumps plan (AFP via Getty Images) More broadly, the International Hydrographic Organization oversees the charting of the worlds seas, oceans and navigable waters, setting standards in order to promote uniformity in nautical charts and documents, according to Roll Call . Both the U.S. and Mexico are members of the IHO. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In response to Trumps purported plan, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum suggested retooling her countrys maps to rebrand the U.S. as America Mexicana. In 2012, Rep. Steve Holland, a Mississippi Democrat, introduced a satirical bill to rename the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America in response to Republican attacks on immigration. Trumps notion is little more than a distraction, to House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Democrat of New York. I think that weve got to focus on the issues that matter to the American people: housing costs are too high, grocery costs are too high, insurance costs are too high, he said. Utility costs are too high and child care costs are too high. We have to build an affordable economy for hard-working American taxpayers. (NEXSTAR) President Donald Trump, when taking his most recent oath of office, did not appear to place his left hand on either of the Bibles brought to the swearing-in ceremony in the Capitol Rotunda on Monday. The placement of Trumps left hand, however, has no bearing on the legitimacy of his first day back at the job. Donald Trump takes office for his second term as the 47th President of the United States. (Morry Gash Pool/Getty Images) The U.S. Constitution does not stipulate that a president-to-be place his or her hand on a Bible when taking the Oath, because each president who recites this oath or affirmation is bound by the words themselves, per Article VI. The same article also says that no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Article II, meanwhile, merely states that the chief executive of the United States must recite the oath before being able to take office. (Interestingly, there is also no stipulation that the oath of office end with so help me God, though it has become customary.) WATCH: Carrie Underwood sings America the Beautiful a cappella after apparent tech issue at inauguration Throughout history, there have also been several presidents who were not sworn in using a Bible. Among them, John Quincy Adams brought a volume of U.S. laws, and Theodore Roosevelt didnt swear on a Bible when he was hastily sworn into office after William McKinleys death. During Lyndon B. Johnsons inauguration on Air Force One only hours after John F. Kennedys assassination he placed his hand on a Catholic missal (a book containing text used for religious services) belonging to the former president. Calvin Coolidge, in his 1929 autobiography, also claims he didnt use his family Bible when he was sworn in at his familys Vermont home in the wake of Warren G. Hardings death. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Bible which had belonged to my mother lay on the table at my hand. It was not officially used, as it is not the practice in Vermont or Massachusetts to use a Bible in connection with the administration of an oath, he wrote. Like Coolidge, Trump did indeed have two Bibles nearby when taking his most recent oath of office one given to him by his great-grandmother, and another used by President Abraham Lincoln at his 1861 inauguration which his wife Melania held up nearby. It is unclear whether he intended to place his hand on those Bibles, or if he intentionally refrained from doing so. In any case, most modern presidents Biden, Obama, and even Trump during his first oath have indeed placed their hand upon the Bible, despite there being no requirement to do so. Copyright 2025 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. WASHINGTON President Donald Trump will declare a national emergency, send troops to the southern border, deport undocumented immigrants en masse and reinstate a policy requiring asylum seekers to wait their cases in Mexico and Gov. Greg Abbott will be a key partner, he said during his inauguration on Monday. "He was a very popular governor and now he's an unbeatable governor because of [his] border policies," Trump said of Abbott in remarks with his supporters after his formal inauguration speech. Abbott was among the crowd of supporters and Trump spent several minutes speaking directly to him during his remarks, recommitting to building a border wall. "Now that you have a new president, that wall will go up so fast." [Border security, birthright citizenship, asylum: How Trumps moves could overhaul immigration] Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Texas contains more of the southern border than any other state, stretching over 1,200 miles from the Gulf of Mexico to El Paso. Abbott has already made efforts to militarize the border under Operation Lone Star, deploying the National Guard to South Texas and spending billions to initiate a state-constructed border wall. It's unclear the scale of Trump's plans for sending the military to the border, but he said during his formal speech that "we will do it at a level that nobody's ever seen before." Trump praised Abbott as a "leader of the pack" on border security. He recounted partnering with the governor during his first presidency to build physical barriers on the southern border and invited the governor to continue partnering to build more. "You didn't do that for politics. You did because you wanted to do the right thing. But I'll tell you, it sure as hell worked for politics too," Trump said. Trump at one point joked that "there have been moments where I wasn't so happy with" Abbott, without elaborating. Trump is a close ally of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and criticized Abbott in 2023 for not defending Paxton more fervently (Trump also gave Paxton a brief shoutout as "a great attorney general"). But the tone of his remarks were overwhelmingly positive toward the governor, whom he called "a great man, a great leader." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Abbott also wrote to Trump after his swearing in, asking to partner on curbing illegal border crossings. "For too long, Texas has fought to secure the border in the face of federal obstruction," Abbott wrote. "I look forward to ending this crisis with your help." The White House said in a statement that "The Armed Forces, including the National Guard, will engage in border security, which is national security, and will be deployed to the border to assist existing law enforcement personnel." The National Guard has been deployed on the border before, but the use of active duty military to enforce immigration policy could run afoul with a law that generally bars the military from civilian law enforcement, said U.S. Rep. Veronica Escobar, D-El Paso. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "Much of what Trump is seeking to do, especially if he plans on violating U.S. law would make us less safe as a nation," Escobar, who previously served on the House Armed Services Committee, said in a text message. Trump had promised to hit the ground running on day one issuing executive orders on policies directly impacting Texas, including to harden the border, end diversity and inclusion programs, loosen energy production restrictions and deport millions of undocumented immigrants. The logistics of his proposals are not yet clear but a mass deportation would require extensive resources that Congress would have to grant. Over 1.6 million undocumented immigrants live in Texas alone. His team also previewed moves to end birthright citizenship for children of foreigners born in the United States. That move in particular is almost certain to face legal challenges. The Fourteenth Amendment guarantees everyone born on U.S. territory to be citizens. "With these actions we will begin the complete restoration of America and the revolution of common sense," Trump said during his formal speech shortly after being sworn in. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trump was sworn in around 11 a.m. Central time, officially starting his second presidential term. He made his remarks from inside the Capitol Rotunda, where he railed against the previous administration as neglecting its responsibility on the border, public health and education. "The golden age of America begins right now," Trump said. "My recent election is a mandate to completely and totally reverse a horrible betrayal. And all of these many betrayals that have taken place and to give people back their faith, their wealth and indeed their freedom. From this moment on, Americas decline is over." During his speech, Trump also thanked Black and Hispanic voters for "the tremendous outpouring of love and trust that you have shown me with your vote." Trump won a larger share of Black and Hispanic voters last year relative to in 2020, though a majority of both groups voted for Vice President Kamala Harris. Trump's inroads with Hispanic voters were particularly apparent in South Texas, where several counties that had been Democratic strongholds for generations voted for Trump. "In places like South Texas, Hispanic Americans played a pivotal role in their victory because we believe in the promise of the American Dream. Our community understands the value of hard work, family, and opportunity," U.S. Rep. Monica De La Cruz, a McAllen Republican who was one of the first Hispanic Republicans elected from South Texas and a Trump ally, said in a statement. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trump afterward joined a group of his supporters in another part of the Capitol complex to give more impromptu remarks, where he heralded Abbott and his border policies. Trump initially didn't realize Abbott was in the room but became effusive as soon as he spotted the governor. "Wow, look at you! You mean we couldn't get you up in the front row?" Trump said to Abbott, who grinned and gave him a thumbs up. Trump proceeded to direct his remarks to Abbott for several minutes. Trump is bringing a handful of Texans into his Cabinet to execute his agenda. Trump tapped former Texas state Rep. Scott Turner to lead the Department of Housing and Urban Development, former Gov. Rick Perry policy director Brooke Rollins to lead the Agriculture Department and former U.S. Rep. John Ratcliffe of Heath to lead the CIA. Trump named Tulsi Gabbard, a former Democratic congresswoman from Hawaii who has recently moved to Texas, as his pick for Director of National Intelligence and Houston billionaire Tilman Fertitta to be ambassador to Italy. Several other Texans were circulated as potential administration picks. Trump said last May that Paxton would be great as U.S. attorney general. Paxton was one of Trump's most fervent backers during his first term, filing a lawsuit to challenge the results of the 2020 presidential election that Trump lost. U.S. Rep. Wesley Hunt of Houston was interviewed early in the transition as a potential contender for Defense Secretary. Former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi got tapped for the attorney general post, and Fox News host Pete Hegseth became Trumps pick to lead the Pentagon. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Texans are among the less controversial picks for his administration, meaning they are likely to be confirmed by the Senate swiftly. None of them have faced the personal criticisms of other Trump picks, though Rollins nomination hearing is not slated to take place until later this week. Ratcliffe and Turner both went before Senate committees last week in largely cordial hearings. On Nov. 5, Texans voted resoundingly for a new direction for our country, delivering a decisive victory to President-elect Donald Trump and helping to secure Republican majorities in both chambers of Congress. Given this mandate, it is imperative the Senate swiftly confirm the team the president-elect has selected to implement his agenda, Sen. John Cornyn wrote in an op-ed in The Dallas Morning News. Im thrilled to see that three outstanding Texans have made the list thus far. The Trump White House will also be looking to Texas for some of its staffing. Paige Willey, communications director for Paxton, will join the White House as deputy assistant for economic policy and Ryan Baasch, associate deputy attorney general, will be a special assistant for economic policy, according to Bloomberg. Aaron Reitz, chief of staff to Sen. Ted Cruz and former Texas deputy attorney general for legal strategy, was also named head of the Justice Department's Office of Legal Policy. Perhaps the most famous Texan in Trumps orbit is a recent transplant to the state: Elon Musk. The tech mogul who bankrolled much of Trumps election efforts will head the newly minted Department of Government Efficiency, which is essentially an unofficial advisory role. The entity has never existed before. Musk has become a close confidant of the president, influencing his fiscal and social policy priorities. Musk was seated close to Trump on the Inauguration stage. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Hundreds of Texans traveled to Washington for the Inauguration and accompanying celebrations. Several thousand attended a black tie Texas-themed gala hosted by the Texas State Society on Sunday night. Numerous members of Congress, Cruz, Cornyn, Abbott, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and Texas Railroad Commissioner Jim Wright were in Washington. Trump also vowed to pardon hundreds of participants of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. Over 60 Texans were charged for their role in the attack. Trump has washed his hands of responsibility for the riot and said he was looking to make major pardons of his supporters who were involved. "I was going to talk about the J6 hostages, but you'll be happy because you know it's action not words that count," Trump said Monday. "And you're going to see a lot of action on the J6 hostages." NEW YORK (AP) President Donald Trumps second inaugural address sounded a lot like his first, with a sweeping indictment of the country he inherits and grand promises to fix its problems. Eight years ago, Trump described American carnage and promised to end it immediately. On Monday, he declared that the countrys decline will end immediately, ushering in the golden age of America. Trump added a long list of policies that sounded more at home in a State of the Union speech than an Inauguration Day address. But the broad themes were fundamentally Trumpian, setting himself up as a national savior. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Breaking tradition, the Republican president delivered his remarks from inside the Capitol Rotunda due to the bitter cold outside. He spoke to several hundred elected officials and pro-Trump VIPs, tech titan Elon Musk among them. Here are some takeaways from the speech: A promise of an American golden age From the start, Trumps speech tracked his campaign rally approach: big promises of national success due to his leadership, with plenty of sweeping indictments of the status quo. The golden age of America begins right now, Trump said after ticking through the requisite nods to former presidents and other dignitaries. He added several more promises: The start of a thrilling new era. A nation greater, stronger and far more exceptional than ever before. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Our sovereignty will be reclaimed. Our safety will be restored. The scales of justice will be rebalanced, he continued. Our top priority will be to create a nation that is proud, prosperous and free. The underlying presumption, of course, is that Trump is inheriting what he called throughout the 2024 campaign a failed nation. He vowed to send troops to the U.S.-Mexico border, boost domestic oil production and impose tariffs to enrich our citizens. Trump calls America's past leadership corrupt Trump described Americas leadership over the last four years as incompetent and corrupt, echoing some of the darker rhetoric he used daily on the campaign trail. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He did not mention his predecessor, former President Joe Biden, or any other Democrats by name. But there was no question about whom he was talking. We now have a government that cannot manage even a simple crisis at home, while at the same time stumbling into a continuing catalog of catastrophic events abroad, Trump charged. He said the current government protects dangerous immigrants instead of law-abiding citizens, protects foreign borders at the expense of American borders and can no longer deliver basic services in times of emergency. All of this will change starting today, and it will change very quickly, he said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement As of Monday, Republicans control all three branches of the federal government. A perceived triumph over dark forces Even before Trump began to speak, a religious and political ally, the Rev. Franklin Graham, touched on one of the new presidents most common themes how hes been persecuted by unnamed evil forces. Graham talked of Trumps enemies and the darkness of the last four years for Trump personally. When Trump spoke, he tied attempts to prosecute him for trying to overturn his election loss to Biden into his allegations of weaponization of the Justice Department, referencing the federal and state indictments against him. Trump then linked those cases to the attempt to assassinate him in Butler, Pennsylvania, last July. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The journey to reclaim our republic has not been an easy one, that I can tell you. Those who wish to stop our cause have tried to take my freedom and, indeed, to take my life, Trump said. The shooter was an apparently disturbed local 20-year-old man who had no documented ties to the Biden administration, the federal government or any other opponents Trump has criticized. Trump then used striking language to explain how he survived. I was saved by God to make America great again, Trump said to applause. Lying about wildfires Trumps lament about the state of the nation included disbelief that the fires around Los Angeles were still burning without a token defense. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Thats false. Firefighters have been battling the blazes since they erupted and have made significant progress. The Eaton fire is 87% contained, and the Palisades fire 59% contained, according to CalFire. A peacemaker and a conqueror Trump has vowed to stop foreign wars and celebrated his role in helping implement a ceasefire in Gaza. A peacemaker and a unifier, thats what I want to be, Trump said. Moments later he was vowing to regain the Panama Canal from Panama. Were taking it back! Trump declared, having previously declined to rule out using military force. He pledged to pursue policy that expands our territory and to put U.S. astronauts on Mars a promise undoubtedly popular with Musk, a major Trump supporter who has long pursued the same goal. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement That cuts to the heart of one of the many contradictions in Trumps movement. The new president revels in a confrontational, macho approach that revved up his support among young men. His political career has been built on seeking conflict and tearing down rivals. Yet Trump has also positioned himself as someone wholl end conflicts and usher in peace. A lineup of tech titans The audience in the Capitol Rotunda included some of the nations most powerful tech titans, who have moved to embrace Trump since his victory. Alongside Musk were Google CEO Sundar Pichai and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. Facebook owner Mark Zuckerberg and Apple CEO Tim Cook were also in the audience. Musk, tapped along with fellow entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy to head the Department of Government Efficiency, had prime seating behind Trump's children and in front of many of his Cabinet nominees. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement While the business leaders were allowed to bring their spouses, members of Congress were not. Thousands of his supporters watched a broadcast of the swearing-in at Capitol One Arena instead. A range of reactions behind Trump The Rotunda crowd was heavily tilted in Trumps favor, most of those in attendance clapping and even roaring during his speech. But one prominent seating section former presidents, first ladies and vice presidents was largely muted. After Trump repeated his vow to take over the Panama Canal, complete with the false claim that China runs the intercontinental channel, Biden and former Vice President Kamala Harris, among others, sat stone-faced, as did former President Bill Clinton. Hillary Clinton, the former secretary of state who lost to Trump in 2016, turned to her left, saying something in former President George W. Bushs direction. Bush, who was famously reported to have joked that Trump's first inaugural address was weird, was smirking. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Less than two weeks ago, Trump was largely ignored at former President Jimmy Carters funeral. Trump chatted with former President Barack Obama, but the rest of the former presidents and their wives bypassed him without a greeting. A different scene indoors Inaugural speeches are traditionally delivered on the National Mall in front of tens of thousands of cheering supporters, many of them average voters from across America, who traveled great distance to witness history in person. Not this one. Trump delivered his speech in front of a crowd estimated at only around 600 in the Capitol Rotunda, which was limited to members of Congress, Cabinet nominees, Trump's family, business leaders and political VIPs. Its noteworthy that four years ago, violent Trump loyalists stormed the Capitol Rotunda as members of Congress and Vice President Mike Pence feared for their lives. Pence attended Monday, though his wife, former second lady Karen Pence, did not. Speaking to supporters after seeing off Biden outside the Capitol, Trump said he was glad they had moved the ceremony indoors. We were freezing, he told them. You would have been very unhappy. The second second inaugural The speech had controversial moments, but Trump said afterward that it could have been much more so. Trump headed from the rotunda to the Capitol Visitor Center to thank supporters who had watched his address on screens. Then he gave a speech that was longer than the inaugural and much more freewheeling. The new president said he had wanted to talk about supporting the people arrested for storming the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. He did not go there, he said, only because first lady Melania Trump and Vice President JD Vance talked him out of the idea. They said, Please, sir, its such a beautiful, unifying speech. Please, sir, dont say these things, Trump said. I decided Im not going to make this speech complicated. Im going to make it beautiful. Im going to make it a unifying speech. Still, Trump made clear that he is going to help supporters arrested for storming the Capitol hostages, he called them and said that his actions would speak louder than any words. More than 1,230 people have been charged with federal crimes in the riot, ranging from misdemeanor offenses like trespassing to felonies like assaulting police officers and seditious conspiracy. Trump also criticized Bidens decision to pardon his family members and members of the Jan. 6 congressional committee. He called out Republican members of that committee former Reps. Liz Cheney of Wyoming and Adam Kinzinger of Illinois by name. ___ Riccardi reported from Denver and Barrow from Atlanta. President Donald Trump offered a scathing rebuke of his predecessor's term while laying out the immediate actions he plans to take on the first day of his second term in office, saying in his inauguration remarks, "America's decline is over." Trump whiplashed between painting a dire picture of the country under the Biden administration while proclaiming himself as a "peacemaker and unifier" and that the "Golden Age" of the country is beginning. He also referenced his personal legal battles and historic political comeback to the White House during his nearly 30-minute remarks after taking the oath of office in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Here are some key takeaways from his first remarks as the 47th president of the United States. MORE: Trump inauguration live updates Reversing 'a horrible betrayal' Trump immediately took aim at Joe Biden's leadership, as the now-former president sat in the rotunda, though he didn't mention his predecessor by name. Trump in particular focused on immigration and recent natural disasters, including the hurricane in North Carolina and wildfires in Los Angeles. "My recent election is a mandate to completely and totally reverse a horrible betrayal, and all of these many betrayals that have taken place, and to give the people back their faith, their wealth, their democracy and indeed, their freedom," Trump said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Like he did on the 2024 campaign trail, Trump painted a dark picture of the current state of the U.S. "From this moment on, America's decline is over," he said. "Our liberties and our nation's glorious destiny will no longer be denied, and we will immediately restore the integrity, competency, and loyalty of America's government." PHOTO: Former President Joe Biden and former Vice President Kamala Harris listen to President Donald Trump deliver his inaugural address after being sworn in as the 47th president of the United States inside the Rotunda of the Capitol in Washington. (Shawn Thew/POOL/AFP via Getty Images) Immediate executive orders Trump laid out some of the executive actions he plans to take on Day 1, including declaring a national emergency at the southern border and a national energy emergency to "drill, baby, drill." He said he would send troops to the U.S.-Mexico border to "repel the disastrous invasion of our country," reinstate his "Remain in Mexico" policy and end the practice of "catch and release," among other actions. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "With these actions, we will begin the complete restoration of America and the revolution of common sense," he said. "It's all about common sense." Attack on DEI policies Trump said he plans to dismantle diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives within the federal government and "end the government policy of trying to socially engineer race and gender into every aspect of public and private life." "We will forge a society that is colorblind and merit-based," he said. Trump further waded into the culture wars and said that, as of Monday, the official policy of the United States government will be that there are only two genders, male and female. Legacy as peacemaker and unifier The inauguration came a day after the ceasefire and hostage deal went into effect between Israel and Hamas, for which Trump has sought to take credit. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "My proudest legacy will be that of a peacemaker and unifier," he said, noting that "one day before I assumed office, the hostages in the Middle East are coming back home to their families." He said he wants to measure success by the wars the U.S. ends and "perhaps most importantly, the wars we never get into." Donald Trump is sworn in as the 47th president of the United States by Chief Justice John Roberts as Melania Trump holds the Bible during the 60th Presidential Inauguration in the Rotunda of the Capitol, Jan. 20, 2025.Trump Inauguration (Morry Gash/Pool/AP) Expansionist vision Trump continued to lay out his expansionist vision for the U.S., including a plan to gain control of the Panama Canal. "American ships are being severely overcharged and not treated fairly in any way, shape or form, and that includes the United States Navy," he said. "Above all, China is operating the Panama Canal. And we didn't give it to China. We gave it to Panama. And we're taking it back." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He also reiterated his plan to rename the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America. Personal battles Trump, who has been convicted by a jury of his peers and was indicted four times after his first term, referred to his legal troubles during his speech. "Never again will the immense power of the state be weaponized to persecute political opponents -- something I know something about," said Trump, continuing to contend that he was politically prosecuted. "We will not allow that to happen. It will not happen again. Under my leadership, we will restore fair, equal and impartial justice under the constitutional rule of law." MORE: Trump plans executive actions on economy, immigration, eliminating federal DEI Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The two cases against him were dropped after he won reelection, with prosecutors citing longstanding Justice Department policy that a sitting president cannot be charged with a crime. He also referred to the assassination attempt against him in Pennsylvania last year. "Those who wish to stop our cause have tried to take my freedom and indeed, to take my life. Just a few months ago in a beautiful Pennsylvania field, an assassin's bullet ripped through my ear, but I felt then, and believe even more so now that my life was saved for a reason. I was saved by God to Make America Great Again." Touts comeback Trump celebrated his historic comeback throughout his speech. He is only the second president in U.S. history, after Grover Cleveland in 1892, to win election to a non-consecutive second term, and is the first convicted felon to take the office. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "Many people thought it was impossible for me to stage such a historic political comeback. But as you see today, here I am, the American people have spoken," Trump said. ABC News' Alexandra Hutzler contributed to this report. Trump inaugural address: Scathing rebuke of Biden's 'horrible betrayal' and vision for 'Golden Age' originally appeared on abcnews.go.com On Monday, Jan. 20, Donald Trump became the 47th president of the United States, taking the oath of office at his second inauguration and vowing that a "golden age" for the country begins now. Former President Joe Biden and former first lady Jill Biden sat to the left of Trump when he delivered a speech in the Capitol Rotunda after he was sworn in. The transition of power, with one president handing over the reins of power to the next president, is a long-cherished American political custom. But four years ago, Trump chose not to attend Biden's inauguration on Jan. 20, 2021. He was just the sixth American president not to attend the swearing-in ceremony for his predecessor. President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump arrive at Palm Beach International Airport in West Palm Beach, Florida, on January 20, 2021. The couple left the White House on Inauguration Day 2021 (when President Joe Biden was sworn in) and returned to Mar-a-Lago, Trump's private club. Did Donald Trump attend Joe Biden's inauguration? No, before Biden was officially sworn in, Trump instead boarded Marine One, the presidential helicopter, flew to Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, boarded Air Force One, the presidential airplane, and headed back to Palm Beach County with Melania and his family. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement When landing at Palm Beach International Airport, Trump made no comments as he stepped onto the tarmac. It was the 34th and final time he would do so as commander-in-chief during his first term. More: Trump departs PBIA for Washington DC and this weekend's inauguration ceremonies President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump leave Palm Beach International Airport in West Palm Beach, Florida on January 20, 2021. GREG LOVETT/PALM BEACH POST More: Melania Trump coin: Melania and Donald both offer cryptocurrency meme coins More: Melania Trump sports dark, modest outfit for inauguration ceremony Air Force One sits on the tarmac after delivering President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump to the Palm Beach International Airport in West Palm Beach, Florida on January 20, 2021. More: Who is Usha Vance? Meet the second lady of the US And because his social media platform Truth Social had not been created at the time, and he was banned from social media platforms, including what was then Twitter (now X), he lacked his Internet bullhorn to opine on the swearing-in of Biden and his inaugural speech. What did Trump say as he left Washington in 2021? A truck displaying digital images of Donald Trump passes by people who gathered near Dreher Park in West Palm Beach to say farewell to the 45th President of the United States when he takes his last motorcade ride from Palm Beach International Airport to Mar-a-Lago, January 20, 2021. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trump delivered a live farewell address of sorts from Joint Base Andrews before leaving Washington for Palm Beach. He thanked his staff and supporters in the 10-minute talk that extolled what he said were successes by what he conceded was "not a regular" presidency. "You are amazing people. This is a great, great country," he said to chants of "USA" and "Thank you, Trump." He added: "It is my greatest honor and privilege to have been your president." Trump also suggested that his time in the public life is not over. "I will always fight for you. I will be watching. I will be listening," he said. "So, just a goodbye, we love you. We will be back in some form." Trump listed his administration's achievements Trump also listed what he said were his administration's achievements including a military build-up, the creation of Space Force, a major tax cut, and nominations of three U.S. Supreme Court justices and hundreds of federal judges. He bemoaned the economic collapse caused by a business shutdown to stop the spread of the coronavirus as well the "people who have suffered" from the virus. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He said the development of a vaccine was a "medical miracle." He said he hoped his successor would keep America "prosperous and safe." The nation just crossed the 400,000 mark in coronavirus deaths the prior day. President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump arrive at Palm Beach International Airport in West Palm Beach, Florida, on January 20, 2021. The couple left the White House on Inauguration Day 2021 (when President Joe Biden was sworn in) and returned to Mar-a-Lago, Trump's private club. Trump said he and his staff "worked hard" for the American people "We've left it all, as the athletes say, we've left it all on the field," he said. "We don't have to come and say, we'll never say in a month when we're sitting in Florida. We're not going to be looking at each other and say, 'You know if we only worked a little bit harder.' You can't work harder." The speech marked the first time Americans saw the departing president speak live since the Jan. 6 rally that ultimately led to a riot at the U.S. Capitol. The 45th President of the United States, Donald Trump, passes over I-95 on Southern Blvd. during his last motorcade ride from Palm Beach International Airport to Mar-a-Lago, January 20, 2021. What did Melania Trump say on Jan. 20, 2021? Outgoing first lady Melania Trump also spoke briefly to say that "being your first lady was my greatest honor." Trump family members present included Donald Trump Jr., Ivanka Trump and Tiffany Trump. Daughter-in-law Lara Trump, who is married to son Eric, and Trump Jr.'s girlfriend, Kim Guilfoyle, were also in attendance. Supporters lined the streets as Trump returned to Mar-a-Lago As they usually did when Trump made the short ride from Palm Beach International Airport to his Mar-a-Lago home, hundreds of fans lined Southern Boulevard on Jan. 20, 2021 to cheer as Trump's motorcade traveled for his 34th and final time during that presidential term. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Many of those along the boulevard were in a festive mood, some dancing to the blaring music and others, like 20-year-old Garrett Graham, just happy to be part of such a historical event. "I'm just here to show my support for the president and welcome him home," Graham said. President Donald Trump boards Marine One as he and first lady Melania Trump depart the White House on Jan. 20, 2021, in Washington, D.C., ahead of Joe Biden's inauguration as the 46th U.S. president later in the day. (Eric Thayer/Getty Images/TNS) Graham, from West Virginia, said he arrived in Florida for the first time on Sunday just for the chance to catch a glimpse of Trump. Graham said he had attended 10 Trump rallies since September, including events in Ohio, California, Washington, D.C., and Pennsylvania. He said he hoped to work with Trump on a potential 2024 campaign, which Graham predicted will focus on weeding out all of the "establishment Republicans." There were flashes of tension and anger among the crowd Some supporters eagerly vented their frustration, wearing shirts and waving flags emblazoned with profanities directed at Biden and Democrats. Others sought out, or engaged in, heated confrontations. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Shortly after the crowd began building up around 9:30 a.m. one Trump supporter verbally berated media from South Florida news organizations, spewing conspiracy theories and false information as cameras rolled. Others began hurling epithets and insults at media from across the United States and as far away as Japan and Sweden who were there to cover the final moments of the Trump presidency. Tiffany Trump with her boyfriend, Michael Boulos, top, and Eric Trump and his wife Lara Trump and Donald Trump Jr., and his girlfriend Kimberly Guilfoyle, bottom right, arrive at Palm Beach International Airport aboard Air Force One in West Palm Beach, Florida on January 20, 2021. GREG LOVETT/PALM BEACH POST Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Also present were members of the far-right, militant Proud Boys, some wearing T-shirts with vulgar wording. A small gathering of Biden supporters held signs not far from the Trump supporters, but they were upstaged when Trump supporter and political operative Roger Stone who in December received a pardon from Trump sauntered by on his way to get a pizza. Trump supporters who agreed to answer media questions replied with contempt, decrying what they said was a lack of coverage of Hunter Biden's laptop, a "stolen" election and an endless string of conspiracy theories. Self-described Republican gets threatened by Trump supporters Conservative political consultant and lobbyist Roger Stone shakes hands with a Trump supporter in a pickup truck parked in the Capri Bakery and Restaurant on Southern Boulevard after President Trump took his last motorcade ride of his first presidency from Palm Beach International Airport to Mar-a-Lago, January 20, 2021. Just after Trump drove by and gave a double thumbs-up to the crowd through his rolled-up window, an altercation broke out between Trump supporters and a self-described Republican who said he did not support the false claim that the election was stolen. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The man was immediately chased down and encircled by Trump supporters screaming profanities at him and warning him to leave. A nearby Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office deputy did not intervene, telling a Palm Beach Post reporter that the sheriff's office does not get involved unless there is "physical violence." Nick Riccio, who said he was looking forward to a second Trump term, lamented that Wednesday's rally brought a mixture of joy and sorrow. Ex-president Donald Trump's motorcade heads to Mar-a-Lago down Southern Boulevard in West Palm Beach shortly before President Joe Biden was sworn in Wednesday, January 20, 2021. "I'm happy because I fell in love with him and his family the last four years," Riccio said. "I'm happy what he did for us, but I'm sad he did not expose all the corruption." Riccio said he was deeply upset with the media for not investigating Hunter Biden's laptop and the stolen election. This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Four years ago, Trump skipped Biden's inauguration, went to Mar-a-Lago Not counting the effects of COVID-19, the biggest jump in year-over-year Palm Beach County hotel taxes over the past 15 years happened the same year that Donald Trump rode down a golden escalator to announce his run for the White House. Professor Peter Ricci, a professor and director of the Department of MarketingHospitality Management at Florida Atlantic University, says its no coincidence. Hes not the only one calling the influence of having a president officially residing in this area the Trump Bump. Ricci and others are expecting 2025 is going to be a banner year. You cannot deny the local impacts of Trump winning the presidential election, Ricci said. It means media, journalists, official visits to Mar-a-Lago, the security, pilots flying in, the RNC (Republican National Committee) moving their offices here. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It's not been technically proved that every time a national news segment shows a report from Palm Beach against a backdrop of palm trees gently swaying in the sunshine that a hotel room gets filled. But local tourism officials believe that the inauguration is going to continue a surge in guest room occupancy. If history repeats itself, President Trump will frequently come to The Palm Beaches during his presidency, Milton Segarra, president and CEO of the destination marketing organization, Discover The Palm Beaches, wrote in an emailed statement. That was about 30 visits during his previous administration. President Donald Trump arrives in West Palm Beach aboard Air Force One in November 2019. Every time he returns to Mar-a-Lago, live broadcasts from reporters showcase our sunny skies, tropical palm trees and stunning city waterfronts, providing invaluable exposure for our destination and possibly enticing more visitors, Segarra said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It has certainly coincided with more money stuffed into county coffers. County figures show that from fiscal year 2014 to FY 2015, hotel tax collection jumped by a whopping 27%. Things plummeted during the COVID-19 days, before a vaccine became widely available. But that $33.4 million ($44.5 million in 2025 dollars) collected in hotel taxes in 2014 has essentially doubled in 10 years: $86.7 million was collected in FY 2024, according to county records. The Palm Beach County Tourist Development Council is about to commission a study on the exact value of having a sitting president with his primary residence in a county, said Emanuel Perry, executive director of the council. The results could spur investment in the area, Perry said. "Because we want to know ... what would the impact be of a current president, if they were to live in our county or a neighboring county, what would that impact look like?" Perry said. "From security all the way to restaurants, hotels, the media aspect." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement FAUs Ricci has been monitoring tourism in the three South Florida counties and sees county tourism got a bump even in August, which has traditionally been a slow month for visitors. Usually Palm Beach County's hotel rooms were 60% occupied, that's 3.4 percentage points up from the same time in 2023. In September, they were nearly 58% occupied, up more than 6 percentage points from the same month last year. In October, Palm Beach County hotels were 65% occupied at nearly the same occupancy level as Broward and Miami-Dade counties even though the most northern county of the tri-county area did not benefit from the effect of megastar Taylor Swift's October concert. The average daily rate that a Palm Beach County hotel room commanded in November $240 was the highest among the three counties and October's average daily room rate was just about $7 less than Miami-Dade's and it's likely that happened without any Swifties clamoring for a place to lay their heads, Ricci's figures show. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Ricci thinks it can all be attributed to the 45th and soon-to-be 47th president. Kelly Smallridge, president and CEO of the Business Development Board of Palm Beach County, credits Trump's presence with providing her organization all the marketing and advertising needed to keep Palm Beach County at the forefront of peoples minds. It started going gangbusters since about 2017, she said, noting his administrations decision to stop allowing businesses to deduct state and local taxes paid from their federal taxes. That prompted a wave of businesses coming here to flee high-tax states, Smallridge said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement And now were seeing another wave, she said. Whats different this time is that more multi-billion dollar business people are making the Mar-a-Lago pilgrimage to talk about taking roles or championing policy priorities during the next administration, she said. We are thrilled that they are coming here, because every business relocation in our county starts with a visit, Smallridge said. And so for us, we are getting more exposure than we could ever afford to pay for through any type of lavish marketing or advertising campaign. The limelight is already having a spillover effect, she said. We're looking at all of the activity taking place right now We already know that they (business people) are frequenting our high-end restaurants. They are staying in our local hotels, Smallridge said. They're shopping in our area. So there's that added economic boon. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement FAU's Ricci is going to be watching to see whether indicators show the area is becoming a victim of its own success. "As a person in hospitality, what I'm going to be cautious about in the next year is the negatives on traffic, congestion or airfare prices," he said. "We need to be ready to combat it in a positive way so this remains the place to visit." Anne Geggis is the insurance reporter at The Palm Beach Post, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach her at ageggis@gannett.com.Help support our journalism. Subscribe today This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Trump inauguration expected to provide Palm Beach a tourism boost As inauguration day dawned under a cloudy sky in Palm Beach on Monday, all was quiet at President-elect Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago Club. Trump left home on Saturday afternoon for pre-inauguration activities that included events that night and a rally on Sunday. He will take the oath of office today and return to the White House as the nations 47th president. The weather forecast for extreme cold weather means the swearing-in ceremony will take place inside the U.S. Capitol Rotunda instead of outside on the Capitol's West Front. Trump will be the first president sworn in inside the Capitol since President Ronald Reagan's second inauguration in 1985. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The flag at Mar-a-Lago was at full staff, as was expected following an order for Gov. Ron DeSantis that flags, which had been at half staff for President Jimmy Carter, must return to full staff for Trump's inauguration. Inauguration live updates: Donald and Melania Trump to meet with Joe and Jill Biden Live updates: Florida moments from the Trump inauguration in Washington, DC Inauguration: WATCH LIVE as President-elect Donald Trump is sworn in In a Jan. 14 memo, DeSantis said, "In light of the importance of this day, and on this patriotic occasion, I hereby order all flags to be raised to full-staff at the Florida Capitol and across all state buildings, installations, and grounds for the inauguration of the 47th President of the United States, Donald J. Trump." The United States flag at Mar-a-Lago flies at full staff as Donald Trump is in Washington, DC preparing to be sworn in as the 47th President of the United States January 20, 2025. Flags will return to half staff Tuesday, DeSantis said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Meanwhile, there were signs of security around the club but the heavy police presence that exists when Trump is there was gone. Also, traffic flowed along South Ocean Boulevard, which is normally closed in the vicinity of Mar-a-Lago when Trump is in town. The road reopened to the public Saturday night after he left town. However, the club is set to get busier by midmorning as it will host an inauguration watch party for members. According to an invitation to the event provided to the Daily News, the event is from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. today, with a dress code of jacket and tie. Club members may invite up to four guests. The cost starts at $188 per person for members, and prices start at $228 per person for guests, according to the invitation. This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Flag at Mar-a-Lago is at full staff following Gov. DeSantis order Three Republican members of Colorado's congressional delegation are calling on Gov. Jared Polis to match his rhetoric with actions when it comes to state cooperation with federal immigration authorities. Several people with Florida connections attended President-elect Donald Trump's swearing-in ceremony at the Capitol Rotunda on Monday. Former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi and U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, both Republicans, exit a bus together in front of the Capitol. Bondi has been nominated to serve as Trump's attorney general, stepping in after U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz, stepped aside once his confirmation appeared uncertain. Rubio has been nominated to serve as Trump's secretary of state. Democrats Debbie Wasserman Schulz, D-Weston, and U.S. Rep. Lois Frankel, D-West Palm Beach, walked into the Capitol Rotunda behind U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn, the South Carolina Democrat whose support was key for Joe Biden in 2020. Frankel and other Democrats will be in the minority in the U.S. House as Trump begins his second term as president. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Another member of Palm Beach County's congressional delegation, Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, also attended the ceremony into the Capitol Rotunda. Chefilus-McCormick, a Democrat whose district covers parts of Palm Beach and Broward counties, is battling an ethics complaint and a Florida lawsuit regarding COVID her home healthcare business received. Inauguration live updates: Donald and Melania Trump to meet with Joe and Jill Biden Live updates: Florida moments from the Trump inauguration in Washington, DC Inauguration: WATCH LIVE as President-elect Donald Trump is sworn in This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Trump inauguration: Floridians who attended the swearing-in ceremony Donald Trump took to the rally-like atmosphere of Capital One Arena to sign a series of executive orders, including one that withdraws from the Paris Climate Accords and others that freeze much of non-military federal hiring and new regulations. Trump also signed an order rescinding 78 of Joe Bidens executive actions, although the specific details have not yet been released. More from Deadline The Paris Climate Accords were a signature achievement of Barack Obamas presidency. Trump withdrew from the pact in 2017, leading to the resignation of Disney CEO Bob Iger and other business executives from a White House advisory committee. When he took office, Biden returned to the agreement, a global effort to address climate change. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trump also promised to sign pardons for those who were prosecuted and convicted for their role in the riot on the Capitol on January 6, 2021. The president indicated that he would take action on the pardons this evening. The rally in the arena replaced a planned inaugural parade, canceled because of the cold wave that has hit D.C., with temperatures in the teens. Marching bands played indoors, but the event also included a speech from Steve Witkoff, Trumps Middle East envoy, and a tribute to family members of hostages who have been held by Hamas. Trump himself talked not just about undoing Bidens legacy, but went into some longtime grievances and moments of the presidential campaign, including the debates. He also went on a long tirade about windmills and the fake news. On NBC News, senior White House correspondent Kelly ODonnell noted the unusual scene. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement These supporters, even on their luckiest day, would unlikely get to witness the signing of these sorts of orders, she said to Lester Holt. Weve been privileged to do it, covering the White House. That small table is the signing table that came from the White House with the seal, so this is taking his supporters right into the sort of execution of the office in a way we have not seen before. Trump signed each executive order after staff secretary Will Scharf announced what they were. After going through a stack of orders, Trump then started tossing his signing pens into the crowd. Then the Trump anthem YMCA was piped in to the arena. During the rally, the Senate confirmed Trumps first cabinet nominee: Marco Rubio as secretary of state. He was confirmed in a 99-0 vote. Trump To Sign Executive Orders, 2:47 p.m. PT: President Donald Trump has arrived at Capital One Arena, for a rally that is taking place instead of the traditional inaugural parade, canceled due to the cold weather. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trump took his seat next to Vice President JD Vance on a makeshift reviewing stand, as one built in front of the White House is empty in the winter chill. Trump is poised to sign executive orders at the event, as a desk has been set up on stage. Unlike most executive orders, signed in the Oval Office or at a small White House ceremony, the signing will take place in the packed arena, which seats about 20,000. Elon Musk Offers MAGA Rally Nazi-Like Salute, CNN Calls It Odd Looking, 12:25 p.m. PT: Elon Musk offered Donald Trump supporters what looked a lot like a Nazi salute today on live TV to cheers from the MAGA crowd. As social media exploded with condemnation of what some were calling a Sieg Heil, with some others applauding the worlds richest mans gesture, there was also some speculation that Musks movement was more like that of an Imperial Roman general in the Gladiator mode. In point of fact, Musk turned around and gave the salute a second time almost immediately afterwards to supporters seated behind him at DCs Capital One Arena. Elon Musk at the Capital One Arena. Getty Images This is what victory feels like, Musk told the indoor arena Trump rally in DC moments before banging on his heart and offering a stiff outstretched arm from the podium with the presidential seal on it. This was no ordinary victory, this was a fork in the road of human civilization. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This one really matters, thank you, Musk then said of last years election, before making the salute, Nazi, Roman or otherwise. The Space X and Tesla owner then when on about exploration to Mars. In very odd and circumspect language, CNNs Erin Burnett first called Musks action an odd looking salute. Her on-screen companion added, its not something you see at an American political rally. Newsweek Opinion Editor Batya Ungar-Sargon had another take. This is a man with Aspergers exuberantly throwing his heart to the crowd, the journalist said, calling Musk a friend to the Jews. Musk himself reposted his speech to the Trump parade, which was moved indoors this weekend due to extreme cold in Washington DC Monday, online soon after he left the stage. The clip from Fox cut away to the audience from the first time gave the salute, but still showed him giving to the people behind him. The future is so exciting!! https://t.co/TjuDeRNaul Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 20, 2025 Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A major financial and digital backer of Trumps third successful run for the White House, unofficial First Buddy Musk has also been a big supporter of far-right causes and parties around the global of late. Among others, the South African-born X owner has put a lot of time and spotlight on Germanys poll surging AfD, who also regularly incorporate such salutes into their rallies and gatherings. Newly sworn in 47th POTUS Trump is expected to speak himself at the Capitol One Arena soon. Joe Biden Tells Supporters Weve Got A Lot More To Do After Rival Takes Office Again; Trump To Pardon Nonviolent Jan. 6 Participants 11:09 am PT: Were leaving office, were not leaving the fight, Joe Biden told supporters Monday as the now former president prepared to leave Washington DC after one-term and the return of Donald Trump. As Biden spoke, the anticipated news broke that Trump plans to pardon nonviolent convicted participants in the January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol. The past and current president also will be commuting the sentences of defendants more violently involved in the MAGA insurrection. No surprise, only Biden friendly MSNBC covered the words of the once most powerful person in the world from Joint Base Andrews. CNN, Fox and the BBC stayed with Trumps rambling remarks to supporters from Emancipation Hall a speech that the now 47th POTUS implied was the inaugural address he really wanted to give. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In it, Trump said that he was able to talk about an issue cut from the earlier speech: January 6th and the following investigations and prosecutions. He again insisted the 2020 election was rigged and railed against Bidens pardons today,mocking Adam Kinzinger and Liz Cheney for crying. Trump called the January 6th Committee the unselect committee of political thugs. He also referred to those who stormed the Capitol on January 6th as hostages, signaling action later today. Youll be happy because, you know, its action not words that count, Trump said, signalling his own pardon plans. After Bidens words, CNN and Fox did cut to a split screen of the ex-president and former First Lady Dr. Jill Biden walking to their plane for their planned vacation trip to California. Every day, Im deeply moved by all we all did for this country, added Biden from a podium with no seal on it. I really mean it. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The point I want to make today is and I made clear in my farewell address, as we all do have more, to a lot more to do, the 46th POTUS said as members of his cabinet and staff looked on in the chilly hanger. We heard the inaugural address today, Biden exclaimed of Trumps speech that spent a lot of time attacking and promising to overturn large parts of Bidens time in office. We got a lot more to do. You I know many have experienced the ups and down, but we have to stay with it. Having issued last-minute pardons, clemencies and sentencing commutes to the likes of Liz Cheney, members of his own family, now California Senator Adam Schiff, Leonard Peltier and more, Biden is going to the Golden State for around a week. Now former Vice President Kamala Harris and her husband Doug Emhoff are also going out to their native California, where many expect the 2024 Democratic candidate for president to be considering a 2026 run for governor. After Trumps remarks, Cheney posted on X that they were a reminder that neither lies nor the liar who tells them get better with age. The Select Committee evidence is available on multiple websites and, as a criminal defendant, Donald Trump has had access to all the transcripts for years. Remember Trumps character: He sat in his dining room watching on television as his supporters attacked our Capitol and brutally assaulted law enforcement. For hours, he refused to instruct the mob to leave. The truth will never change. President Donald Trump speaks during inauguration ceremonies in the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol on January 20, 2025 in Washington, DC. Donald Trump Offers Second Inaugural Address Filled With Talk Of American Greatness And Grievance, 9:54 am PT: Donald Trumps 30-minute inaugural address combined the typical, soaring rhetoric of a new president with some of his grievance from the campaign trail. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Declaring the start of a golden age of America, Trump declared that Americas decline is over. He also framed his next presidency as divinely inspired, talking of assassination attempt on his life. My life was saved for a reason, Trump said. I was saved by God to make America great again. But his speech also had elements of his campaign rallies, as he leaned heavily into divisive cultural issues, including the transgender movement, while casting himself as wronged over the past four years. He multiple times accused the Biden administration of leading a weaponization of government. My recent election is a mandate to completely and totally reverse a horrible betrayal, and all of these many betrayals that have taken place and to give the people back their faith, their wealth, their democracy and indeed, their freedom, Trump said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The 47th president also outlined a series of executive orders he planned to sign later today, including declaring a national emergency at the U.S. southern border, with plans to send U.S. troops there. He also said that he planned to reverse Bidens electrical vehicle mandate. Trump also said that he would sign an executive order renaming the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America, bolstering his vision of an America First agenda, while reverting Alaskas Mount Denali to the name Mount McKinley. The latter had symbolism, Trump said, as President William McKinley embraced tariffs. Trump has vowed to impose across the board tariffs, insisting that they will collect revenue for the country that can replace taxation. But economists warn that excessive tariffs will lead to higher prices, as companies will pass on the higher costs of imports to consumers. Trump said that he was creating an External Revenue Service to collect the tariffs, which he also referred to as a tax on other countries. RELATED: Trump Celebrity Supporters: Celebrities In Favor Of The 47th President The speech lacked gestures to the previous administration, as past presidents have done, and instead characterized the country as one in decline. Unemployment remains low and inflation has dropped below 3%, but Biden struggled to convince Americans that the turbulent times of the post-Covid era were over. Speaking in a monotone voice, Trump declared that in his next term, his proudest legacy will be as a peacemaker and unifier, but he also vowed to take back the Panama Canal. Trump said that it would be the official policy of the United States government that there are only two genders, male and female. During the campaign, Trumps campaign blanketed swing state markets with ads attacking Kamala Harris on transgender rights. Trump also vowed that he would bring back free speech to America. In his first term and since then, though, Trump has called for TV networks to lose their FCC licenses for broadcasting content he doesnt like. RELATED: Hollywood & The Beltway React To Trump Inauguration Donald Trump Sworn In As 47th President Of The United States, 9:02 a.m. PT: Donald Trump was sworn in shortly after noon as the 47th president of the United States. Trump shook hands with members of his family shortly after Chief Justice John Roberts administered the oath. JD Vance was sworn in as vice president just moments earlier, with Justice Brett Kavanaugh administering the oath. Spotted in the background of the tight space in the Capitol Rotunda: Elon Musk, as well as Robert Kennedy Jr., Trumps nominee to lead the Department of Health and Human Services. His swearing in was followed by a soaring rendition of Battle Hymn of the Republic. #BREAKING: Donald Trump is sworn in as the 47th President of the United States. pic.twitter.com/VywxkH9E4D CSPAN (@cspan) January 20, 2025 Biden Issues Final Pardons: With just minutes left in his presidency, Joe Biden issued a final batch of pardons: Members of his family. His pardons were yet another signal of his fear that allies will be targeted by incoming President Donald Trump. Those pardoned include brother James Biden and wife Sara Jones Biden, sister Valerie Biden Owens and her husband John T. Owens, and brother Francis Biden. My family has been subjected to unrelenting attacks and threats, motivated solely by a desire to hurt methe worst kind of partisan politics. Unfortunately, I have no reason to believe these attacks will end, Biden said in a statement. He added, Even when individuals have done nothing wrong and will ultimately be exonerated, the mere fact of being investigated or prosecuted can irreparably damage their reputations and finances. Biden also pardoned Gerald G. Lundergan and Ernest William Cromartie, and he commuted the life sentence of Leonard Peltier so he can serve the remainder of a life sentence in home confinement. Peltier, a Native American activist, is serving a life sentence for killing two FBI agents on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation and then escaping from federal prison. The announcements were made just about the same time as Biden entered the Rotunda to witness the swearing in of Trump. Donald Trump Arrives In Rotunda , 8:46 a.m. PT: Donald Trump has arrived in the Capitol Rotunda to be sworn in as the 47th president of the United States. He was cheered loudly as he entered the Rotunda. Hes due to take the oath around noon ET/9 a.m. PT, following prayers and musical interludes, as well as Carrie Underwood singing America the Beautiful. A number of lawmakers attending are wearing blue suits and red ties, mimicking Trumps look. Trumps tie today, though, is more of a purple-ish red. A Telling Tale Of Two Americas, 8:16 a.m. PT: A study in contrasts in coverage of the inauguration. On Fox News, host Harris Faulkner spoke of Trump supporters filling the streets of D.C. in celebration. The anchor may be playing to the news channels core audience. As Joe Biden and Donald Trump traveled by motorcade to the Capitol, cameras showed very few people along the sidewalks, on a chilly and icy D.C. morning. Military and law enforcement personnel far outnumbered citizens. On MSNBC, Joy Reid focused on the absence of Karen Pence, even though her husband, former Vice President Mike Pence, is attending. Karen Pence, if you are watching at home, God bless you, Reid said. Karen Pence has made clear she has no time for her husbands former boss after the January 6 MAGA mob threatened to hang the then VP. Also absent: Former First Lady Michelle Obama. Another no show was former Vice President Dick Cheney, who endorsed Kamala Harris in the 2024 election. Trump has called for his daughter, Liz Cheney, to be jailed for her role on the January 6th Committee. Tech CEOs Get Choice Spots In Capitol Rotunda, 7:52 a.m. PT: Mark Zuckerberg and Jeff Bezos are among the tech industry titans who were spotted at the Capitol for the swearing in ceremony. They, along with other tech CEOs, are expected to get the choicest of seating: In the Rotunda, where space is extremely limited and largely set aside for members of Congress. Spotted there were Elon Musk, Apple CEO Tim Cook and Alphabets Sundar Pichai, along with Rupert Murdoch and Joe Rogan. Other guests are being seated in Emancipation Hall, part of the White House Visitor Center, where they will watch the ceremony on large screens. Also spotted at the Capitol: TikTok CEO Shou Chew, as Trump has said he will sign an executive order to try to delay congressional legislation to ban it. This is about mutually beneficial as it gets, CNNs Dana Bash said of the presence of the CEOs and their placement on a makeshift stage, in some cases in front of members of Trumps cabinet. Among those spotted in Emancipation Hall: Sam Altman, Logan and Jake Paul, Conor McGregor, Theo Von and Danica Patrick. There are roughly 1,800 seats in Emancipation Hall, where many of the Trump guests will watch as hes sworn in inside the Rotunda before coming here to make remarks. pic.twitter.com/17KdqWt04k Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) January 20, 2025 Rupert Murdoch just arrived in the Capitol rotunda for Trumps swearing-in. pic.twitter.com/VMUmHgNw3t Mychael Schnell (@mychaelschnell) January 20, 2025 Joe Biden And Donald Trump Depart White House For Swearing In Ceremony, 7:40 a.m. PT: President Joe Biden departed the White House with Donald Trump on their way to the Capitol for the swearing in ceremony. Biden told reporters that he left a letter for the incoming president, but declined to say what the contents were. Thats between Trump and me. The ride down Pennsylvania Avenue, often with bitter rivals, is yet another longtime tradition of the transfer of power, one that didnt happen four years ago as Trump declined to participate. The Bidens posted one last selfie before their farewell. One more selfie for the road. We love you, America. pic.twitter.com/71k46uGADV President Biden (@POTUS46Archive) January 20, 2025 First Lady Jill Biden and Melania Trump also traveled together, as did Vice President Kamala Harris and JD Vance. The Bidens Greet The Trumps At White House, 7:22 a.m. PT: President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden greeted Donald Trump and Melania Trump at the White House for a morning tea, continuing a symbolic gesture in the transfer of power. The two couples stood briefly for a photo, with a chilly wind blowing on the north end of the White House. Biden and Trump will soon travel to the Capitol for the swearing in ceremony. Welcome home, Biden said to Trump after he got out of his black SUV, per a pool report. Earlier, reporters asked Biden what his message was for the day. Joy, Biden said. The tradition is one that Trump denied Biden four years ago, following the January 6th attack on the Capitol. Trump still insists, falsely, that the 2020 election was stolen from him. Earlier, Vice President Kamala Harris and Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff welcomed JD Vance and Usha Vance. First lady Jill Biden and U.S. President Joe Biden welcome President-elect Donald Trump and Melania Trump to the White House ahead of inauguration ceremonies. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images) Donald Trump Attends St. Johns Church Services, 6:08 a.m. PT: President-elect Donald Trump and Melania Trump kicked off Inauguration Day with a longtime tradition: Attending services at St. Johns Episcopal Church across Lafayette Square. Trump was joined by Vice President-elect JD Vance and his wife Usha, and among those attending were the leaders of the tech giants: Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Meta; Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, and fiance Lauren Sanchez; Apple CEO Tim Cook; Xs owner Elon Musk; and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai. Also present: Rupert Murdoch, TikTok CEO Shou Chew; UFCs Dana White, podcast host Joe Rogan, and Boris Johnson, the former British prime minister, per a pool report. The temperature in Washington this morning is 24 degrees, with the windchill even lower and a light snow on the ground, a reason why Trump decided to move the swearing in ceremony indoors. That set off a scramble for seats, as the Capitol Rotunda, where the ceremony will take place, only holds about a thousand people. Donald Trump arrives at St. Johns Church along with Melania Trump. Mark Zuckerberg is in the background. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images) St. Johns, known as the church of presidents, holds significance from the first Trump term. Its where Trump held up a Bible after walking with members of his administration from the White House. It was amid 2020 protests and riots following the death of George Floyd, and moments earlier, authorities from Park Police had cleared the area of demonstrators. The service lasted for about 25 minutes and finished with a rendition of America the Beautiful. Earlier, the Trump team released some excerpts of what he would say in his inaugural address to The Wall Street Journal. Trump plans to proclaim a new era of national success and call for a revolution of common sense. Meta and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Google Sundar Pichai, CEO of Apple Tim Cook, Founder of Amazon and Blue Origin Jeff Bezos attend services as part of Inauguration ceremonies at St. Johns Church. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images) My message to Americans today is that it is time for us to once again act with courage, vigor and the vitality of historys greatest civilization, Trump will say, per the Journal. The president is expected to sign dozens of executive orders today more than 200, per Fox News, including those dealing with the border and immigration, the federal workforce and oil drilling. One executive order will lift an electric vehicle mandate, one of the signature efforts of the Biden administration to address climate change. Best of Deadline Sign up for Deadline's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. President-elect Donald Trump and Vice-President-elect JD Vance attended St. John's Episcopal Church in Lafayette Square near the White House on Monday morning with only hours to go before they are sworn in. Many incoming presidents going back to Franklin Delano Roosevelt have attended a brief service at St. John's before their inauguration. St. John's is connected to Trump for another reason: it was the church where he had a photo op awkwardly holding a Bible upside-down in 2020 during protests in the aftermath of the murder of George Floyd. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Inauguration live updates: Donald and Melania Trump to meet with Joe and Jill Biden Live updates: Florida moments from the Trump inauguration in Washington, DC Inauguration: WATCH LIVE as President-elect Donald Trump is sworn in Trump and Vance attended the service with their family members and other incoming administration officials, including Marco Rubio, the U.S. senator from Florida who is expected to be confirmed today as the next secretary of state. Trump family members in attendance included his wife, Melania Trump, daughter Ivanka Trump, son-in-law Jared Kushner and sons Barron and Eric Trump. This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Trump inauguration: Trump, JD Vance attend church at St. John's Donald Trump was sworn into office on Monday for a second term in the White House, and international figures across the globe are sharing their reactions to the 47th president's inauguration. Here's what world leaders are saying: Russian President Vladimir Putin Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated Trump on his return to office, specifically his "desire to restore direct contacts with Russia, which were interrupted through no fault of our own by the outgoing administration." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "We also hear his statements about the need to do everything to prevent a third World War," Putin said during a meeting with members of the Russian Security Council. "Of course, we welcome this attitude and congratulate the U.S. president-elect on taking office." Inside the frantic White House switch on Inauguration Day In his first on-camera statement following Trump's inauguration, Putin indicated that he sees a second Trump presidency as an opportunity for a new era in U.S.-Russian relations. The Russian leader said he recognized the "desire" of team Trump "to restore direct contacts with Russia," saying he blamed the rupture of U.S.-Russian relations on the Biden administration. Putin did not mention his decision to launch a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which disrupted relations between Washington and Moscow. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Putin also spoke of the challenges Trump had faced in the weeks running up to the November election campaign, including the assassination attempts, and said Trump had "showed courage to win in a convincing manner." Pope Francis Pope Francis sent a message to Trump wishing him "wisdom, strength and protection." "Inspired by your nation's ideals of being a land of opportunity and welcome for all, it is my hope that under your leadership the American people will prosper and always strive to build a more just society, where there is no room for hatred, discrimination or exclusion," the pope said. He also encouraged Trump to be a promoter of peace, as "our human family faces numerous challenges, not to mention the scourge of war." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "I invoke upon you, your family, and the beloved American people an abundance of divine blessings," the pope said. Trump's inauguration to be most frigid since 1985, with coldest air in 2 years moving into Northeast Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau Canada's outgoing prime minister, Justin Trudeau, shared his congratulations to Trump. "Congratulations, President Trump. Canada and the U.S. have the world's most successful economic partnership. We have the chance to work together again to create more jobs and prosperity for both our nations," he wrote on X. Congratulations, President Trump. Canada and the U.S. have the world's most successful economic partnership. We have the chance to work together again to create more jobs and prosperity for both our nations. Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) January 20, 2025 U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer Keir Starmer, the prime minister of the United Kingdom, also gave his regards to Trump. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "The special relationship between the U.K. and the U.S. will continue to flourish for years to come," Starmer said in a video posted on X. "With President Trump's long-standing affection and historical ties to the United Kingdom, I know that depth of friendship will continue." On behalf of the United Kingdom, I send my warmest congratulations to President @realDonaldTrump on his inauguration as the forty-seventh President of the United States. The special relationship between the UK and the US will continue to flourish for years to come. pic.twitter.com/WwD39axdOS Keir Starmer (@Keir_Starmer) January 20, 2025 Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wished success to Trump and said he looks forward to "active and mutually beneficial cooperation" between the two countries. "Today is a day of change and also a day of hope for the resolution of many problems, including global challenges," he wrote on X. "We are stronger together, and we can provide greater security, stability, and economic growth to the world and our two nations." I congratulate President Trump and the American people on the inauguration of the 47th President of the United States. Today is a day of change and also a day of hope for the resolution of many problems, including global challenges. President Trump is always decisive, and the Volodymyr Zelenskyy / (@ZelenskyyUa) January 20, 2025 Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi Narendra Modi, the prime minister of India, called Trump his "dear friend" while congratulating him on his inauguration. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "I look forward to working closely together once again, to benefit both our countries, and to shape a better future for the world," Modi wrote on X. "Best wishes for a successful term ahead!" Congratulations my dear friend President @realDonaldTrump on your historic inauguration as the 47th President of the United States! I look forward to working closely together once again, to benefit both our countries, and to shape a better future for the world. Best wishes for a Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) January 20, 2025 Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, said the EU "looks forward to working closely" with Trump. "Together, our societies can achieve greater prosperity and strengthen their common security," she wrote on X. "This is the enduring strength of the transatlantic partnership." Best wishes President @realDonaldTrump for your tenure as 47th President of the United States. The EU looks forward to working closely with you to tackle global challenges. Together, our societies can achieve greater prosperity and strengthen their common security. This is Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) January 20, 2025 King Charles III Buckingham Palace confirmed to ABC News that King Charles III sent a personal message of congratulations to Trump on his inauguration, reflecting on the enduring special relationship between the U.K. and the U.S. NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said Trump's incoming term will "turbo-charge [defense] spending and production." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "Together we can achieve peace through strength," he wrote on X. With President Trump back in office we will turbo-charge defence spending & production My warm congratulations to @realDonaldTrump on his inauguration as 47th President of the USA, and to @JDVance as Vice President Together we can achieve peace through strength - through @NATO! Mark Rutte (@SecGenNATO) January 20, 2025 Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Benjamin Netanyahu, prime minister of Israel, praised Trump's work in his previous term and said he believes working together again "will raise the U.S.-Israel alliance to even greater heights." "On behalf of the people of Israel, I also want to thank you for your efforts in helping free Israeli hostages," he said in a video posted on X. "I look forward to working with you to return the remaining hostages, to destroy Hamas' military capabilities and end its political rule in Gaza." Congratulations President Trump! Sara and I send our warmest wishes to you, Melania and the American people on your second inauguration as President of the United States. @realDonaldTrump pic.twitter.com/AMlTQFRMMP Benjamin Netanyahu - (@netanyahu) January 20, 2025 German Chancellor Olaf Scholz Olaf Scholz, the chancellor of Germany, congratulated Trump and emphasized the close relationship between the two countries. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "The U.S. is our closest ally and the aim of our policy is always a good transatlantic relationship," he wrote on X. "The EU, with 27 members and more than 400 million people, is a strong union." Today President Donald Trump takes office. Congratulations! The US is our closest ally and the aim of our policy is always a good transatlantic relationship. The EU, with 27 members and more than 400 million people, is a strong union. #EUUS Bundeskanzler Olaf Scholz (@Bundeskanzler) January 20, 2025 Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stre Jonas Gahr Stre sent a message of congratulations to President Trump and Vice President JD Vance, saying he looks forward "to continuing to strengthen NOR-US relations, based on the solid foundation established with the first Trump-adm." Congratulations @realdonaldtrump and @jdvance on your inauguration. I look forward to continuing to strengthen NOR-US relations, based on the solid foundation established with the first Trump-adm. Jonas Gahr Stre (@jonasgahrstore) January 20, 2025 Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson Ulf Kristersson, the prime minister of Sweden, shared on X his congratulations to Trump and said he "looks forward to continued close cooperation with the U.S." Warm congratulations @realDonaldTrump on being sworn in as the 47th President of the United States. Sweden looks forward to continued close cooperation with the US. SwedishPM (@SwedishPM) January 20, 2025 Finnish President Alexander Stubb Alexander Stubb, president of Finland, sent "heartfelt congratulations" to Trump on his return to the White House. "The U.S. is our key strategic partner and ally," Stubb wrote on X. "I look forward to close cooperation during your term." I would like to extend my heartfelt congratulations to you @realDonaldTrump as you assume office as the President of the United States. The US is our key strategic partner and Ally. I look forward to close cooperation during your term. pic.twitter.com/vBr4cOlryX Alexander Stubb (@alexstubb) January 20, 2025 ABC News' Tom Soufi Burridge contributed to this report. Trump inauguration: Netanyahu, Putin and others from international community react originally appeared on abcnews.go.com Several major tech moguls were given priority seats at President Trumps second inauguration on Monday, including X owner Elon Musk, Metas Mark Zuckerberg, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew. These high-profile executives made the cut for the limited seating inside the Capitol Rotunda, which has a capacity of roughly 600, while several of Trumps Cabinet appointees and other prominent politicians, including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, were relegated to watch the ceremony from an overflow room. The image of these tech CEOs seated behind Trump at his inauguration seemed to illustrate a notable shift that has been taking shape in the relationship between the president and Silicon Valley. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Heres what to know about them. Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, executive at X Elon Musk at the 60th presidential inauguration in the rotunda of the U.S. Capitol. (Kevin Lamarque/AP) Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, purchased Twitter, now X, one of the biggest social media platforms in the U.S., in 2022. The relationship between Trump and Musk has changed significantly over the last few years. In 2016, Musk described Trump to CNBC as not the right guy to be president. But he donated more than $200 million to pro-Trump super PACs throughout the 2024 election and even interviewed Trump on X. Musk was at Mar-a-Lago with Trump on election night and was later announced to join Vivek Ramaswamy to lead the newly created Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE. Since then, several outlets, including the New York Times, have reported that Musk has joined almost every meeting and many meals Trump has had since becoming elected even including the Trump familys Thanksgiving dinner. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg at the 60th presidential Inauguration. (Chip Somodevilla/AP) Zuckerberg has made headlines for the last few weeks for several major decisions hes made for Meta, the company he founded in 2004. First, he announced Meta would be ending its partnerships with independent fact-checkers because he claimed the groups were too politically biased. Then, he revealed a plan to kill the companys diversity initiatives, in line with Trumps plans to sign an order ending diversity, equity and inclusion programs. And he assembled a new leadership team with advisers like Joel Kaplan, who has ties to the Republican Party. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Zuckerbergs recent actions seem to mark a significant shift in Metas relationship with Trump. After the Capitol attack on Jan. 6, 2021, Meta suspended all of Trumps accounts on its platforms. But following the assassination attempt against Trump in July 2024, Zuckerberg seemed to try to reset the public perception of their relationship by calling Trump a badass. Although Zuckerberg did not publicly endorse Trump at the time, Meta donated $1 million to his inaugural fund. Zuckerberg will be co-hosting a black-tie reception tonight, alongside Houston Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta, former Republican National Committee finance chair Todd Ricketts and Republican mega-donor Miriam Adelson. Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon and owner of the Washington Post Jeff Bezos at the 60th presidential inauguration. (Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP) Bezos, who has owned the Washington Post since 2013, made headlines during the 2024 election when he announced that the Post would not endorse any presidential candidate for the first time in 36 years. Like Meta, Amazon contributed $1 million to Trumps inaugural fund and also announced that it would play live footage of the inauguration ceremony on Amazon Prime Video. Bezos and Trump had a contentious relationship during his first term in the White House. Trump slammed the Posts headlines and repeatedly criticized Amazon, accusing the company of not paying taxes properly. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Bezos seemed to change his perception of Trump in late 2024, telling the New York Times DealBook Summit on Dec. 4 that he was actually very optimistic about Trumps second presidential term. Shou Zi Chew, CEO of TikTok TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew at the 60th presidential inauguration. (Kevin Lamarque/AP) Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement TikTok has dominated headlines recently, after a law, passed by Congress and signed by now-former President Biden in April 2024, required the popular app to be sold by its Chinese parent company or be banned in the U.S. Trump initially proposed banning TikTok back in 2020 if it wasnt sold to an American company. However, while running for reelection in 2024, he launched his own TikTok account and told followers that he would SAVE TIK TOK IN AMERICA if he won the election. Trump appears to have intervened to stop the ban, which was supposed to take effect on Jan. 19, one day before his inauguration. Read more from Yahoo News: TikTok was officially banned Sunday morning, but did Trump save it? Here's where things stand. Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google Google CEO Sundar Pichai speaks with Elon Musk at the 60th presidential inauguration. (Ricky Carioti/AP) Pichai was seated with Musk, Zuckerberg and Bezos on the inaugural platform during the ceremony. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In 2018, under questioning by Congress, Pichai insisted that the fact that Trumps photo was a top result when Google users searched the word idiot was not a result of intentional bias. But Trump accused the search engine of intentionally rigging search results against him, a complaint he has continued to make as recently as October 2024. Tim Cook, CEO of Apple Apple CEO Tim Cook at the 60th presidential inauguration. (Kevin Lamarque/AP) While Apple has not made any donations to Trump, Cook personally donated $1 million to Trumps inaugural committee. Cook was one of the first CEOs who publicly congratulated Trump after he won the election and visited Trump at Mar-a-Lago in December. U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has tasked his aides with organizing a call with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the days after he is sworn in, CNN reported on Jan. 19, citing undisclosed sources. Trump has previously said he wants to meet with Putin "very quickly" after his inauguration. The Kremlin welcomed Trump's comments, but added no preparations were currently underway for the meeting. According to CNN, Trump is willing to discuss a face-to-face meeting with Putin by phone in the coming months to try to end the war in Ukraine. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trump's national security team began preparing a phone call with Putin several weeks ago, but it is unclear whether a date has been finalized, CNN added. During the election campaign, Trump promised to end the war in Ukraine in 24 hours, though his choice for special Ukraine peace envoy, Keith Kellogg, has since revised this to 100 days. The Trump team hopes to quickly begin work on a settlement plan that could be implemented within the first few months of his presidency. A meeting with Putin is part of the plan, according to CNN. Trump "sees things differently," which could mean that negotiations with Putin will differ from the approach taken by the Joe Biden administration, the media outlet reported, citing a person familiar with the matter. At the same time, Trump has not spoken to Putin in almost three years. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trump has often voiced sympathies for the Russian leader while criticizing the level of support the outgoing Biden administration gave to Kyiv. This prompted concerns that the new U.S. leadership might cut a deal unfavorable to Ukraine. Kellogg said the president-elect's aim is not to "give something to Putin or the Russians" but to "save Ukraine and save their sovereignty." Trump said that specific peace proposals are still being worked out. A pitch leaked from his team freezing the front lines, postponing Ukraine's NATO accession by 20 years, and deploying European peacekeepers on the ground has already been rejected by Russia. Read also: As Trump about to take office, Ukraine awaits Americas next moves Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. President-elect Trump is set to sign off on 10 executive orders Monday, moving swiftly to crack down on immigration and drug cartels during his first day in office with a blitzkrieg of immigration actions. An incoming White House official previewed the actions during a 15-minute call with reporters ahead of Trumps inauguration proceedings. Among the actions Trump is set to take are declaring a national emergency at the southern border to mobilize the military and fast-track construction of his border wall ending birthright citizenship, pausing refugee resettlement programs and designating drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Some of the actions stretch the bounds of executive authority and are sure to be immediately challenged by immigration and civil rights groups. Officials on the call cast Trumps as a sweeping victory that created a mandate to carry out the promises he made on the campaign trail that includes his pledge to secure the southern border and carry out the largest deportation of migrant criminals in history. Trump won the Electoral College by 86 votes, though his popular vote win was relatively slim; he won 49.9 percent of the vote, defeating Vice President Harris by more than 2 million votes. The official said one coming order would clarify the militarys role in protecting the territorial integrity of the United States sending personnel to the border, pushing the Department of Defense to erect barriers, and to also greenlight the use of drones and other surveillance measures. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement During the call, officials said they plan to end asylum a right guaranteed under both U.S. and international law that allows those fleeing persecution to seek safety. Many migrants who cross the border are initially allowed into the country to seek the status, driving GOP claims the program is being abused. Trump officials also said they would pause the refugee program a similar status for those unable to remain in the country for at least four months. The official also said Trump would reinstitute remain in Mexico a program that forces migrants to await the verdict of their asylum case on the other side of the border regardless of their country of origin. Its unclear why Trump would reignite the program if he otherwise plans to end asylum. Krish OMara Vignarajah, president of Global Refuge, which helps resettle migrants, called the stream of coming orders the blunt force of a sledgehammer. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The policy implications are not abstract by any means. Persecuted people who have patiently waited for their chance at protection are poised to languish in legal limbo. Family reunifications are likely to be delayed for the foreseeable future, if not derailed entirely. Employers will lose access to a key talent pool they desperately need amid nationwide labor shortages, she said in a statement. And communities that have come to rely on newcomers for revitalizing their economies and tax bases face impactful economic loss. Trump also plans to sign an order ending birthright citizenship, a move that would directly contradict the Constitution, which guarantees citizenship for all born within the U.S. Incoming administration officials seemed to acknowledge underlying issues with such a move, saying they would do so on a prospective basis. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement On a prospective basis, the federal government will not recognize automatic birthright citizenship for children of illegal aliens born in the United States, the official said. The administration did not preview any specific travel bans but said it would direct agencies to make recommendations on specific nationalities whose entries should be suspended. Officials also said they would begin to seek the death penalty in some cases involving migrants. This action in particular, directs the Attorney General to seek capital punishment for the murder of law enforcement officers and capital crimes committed by illegal aliens, they said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Incoming White House officials said they will reinstate remain in Mexico, a program known officially as the Migrant Protection Protocols during the first Trump administration, under which about 70,000 third-country asylum-seekers were forced to wait out their U.S. immigration case in Mexican border cities between 2019 and 2020. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said Monday she would not accept the return of the program and announced a new strategy to welcome back deported Mexican nationals. Speaking at Sheinbaums daily press conference, Interior Minister Rosa Icela Rodriguez said the Mexican government has been working on the new strategy since Trump announced mass deportation plans. Of course we dont agree, but in case it is done we will receive them with access to the Mexican governments welfare programs, access to health services for them and their families, transportation to their places of origin, access to telephone communications, and we will keep generating living conditions and creating a favorable environment to cater to their needs amid the repatriation of Mexicans, Rodriguez said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trumps Day 1 orders will also advance the process of declaring certain cartels as foreign terrorist organizations (FTOs) or specifically designated global terrorists, potentially supercharging the law enforcement tools available against them under their current Transnational Criminal Organization designations. The official said Trump would do so under the authority of the Alien Enemies Act, which allows for the detention or swift deportation of citizens of designated countries based only on their nationality. Its the authority that was used for Japanese internment. Incoming officials specifically mentioned Tren de Aragua and MS-13, gangs that mostly operate in South and Central America, as targets for these new designations. An official said the designations would allow the Trump administration to treat the gangs as irregular military forces conducting a frontier incursion and invasion into the United States. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Though the gangs mentioned on the call are Venezuelan and Salvadoran, the America First Policy Institute, a Trump-friendly advocacy group led by former Homeland Security Acting Secretary Chad Wolf, issued a statement Monday calling for FTO designations specifically for Mexican cartels. The America First release did not name specific cartels, though it did accuse the Mexican government of tolerating and even promoting organized crime. Updated at 4:47 p.m. EST Copyright 2025 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 The Hill. President-elect Trump is set to sign off on 10 executive orders Monday, moving swiftly to crack down on immigration and drug cartels during his first day in office with a blitzkrieg of immigration actions. An incoming White House official previewed the actions during a 15-minute call with reporters ahead of Trumps inauguration proceedings. Among the actions Trump is set to take are declaring a national emergency at the southern border to mobilize the military and fast-track construction of his border wall ending birthright citizenship, pausing refugee resettlement programs and designating drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Some of the actions stretch the bounds of executive authority and are sure to be immediately challenged by immigration and civil rights groups. Officials on the call cast Trumps as a sweeping victory that created a mandate to carry out the promises he made on the campaign trail that includes his pledge to secure the southern border and carry out the largest deportation of migrant criminals in history. Trump won the Electoral College by 86 votes, though his popular vote win was relatively slim; he won 49.9 percent of the vote, defeating Vice President Harris by more than 2 million votes. The official said one coming order would clarify the militarys role in protecting the territorial integrity of the United States sending personnel to the border, pushing the Department of Defense to erect barriers, and to also greenlight the use of drones and other surveillance measures. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement During the call, officials said they plan to end asylum a right guaranteed under both U.S. and international law that allows those fleeing persecution to seek safety. Many migrants who cross the border are initially allowed into the country to seek the status, driving GOP claims the program is being abused. Trump officials also said they would pause the refugee program a similar status for those unable to remain in the country for at least four months. The official also said Trump would reinstitute remain in Mexico a program that forces migrants to await the verdict of their asylum case on the other side of the border regardless of their country of origin. Its unclear why Trump would reignite the program if he otherwise plans to end asylum. Krish OMara Vignarajah, president of Global Refuge, which helps resettle migrants, called the stream of coming orders the blunt force of a sledgehammer. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The policy implications are not abstract by any means. Persecuted people who have patiently waited for their chance at protection are poised to languish in legal limbo. Family reunifications are likely to be delayed for the foreseeable future, if not derailed entirely. Employers will lose access to a key talent pool they desperately need amid nationwide labor shortages, she said in a statement. And communities that have come to rely on newcomers for revitalizing their economies and tax bases face impactful economic loss. Trump also plans to sign an order ending birthright citizenship, a move that would directly contradict the Constitution, which guarantees citizenship for all born within the U.S. Incoming administration officials seemed to acknowledge underlying issues with such a move, saying they would do so on a prospective basis. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement On a prospective basis, the federal government will not recognize automatic birthright citizenship for children of illegal aliens born in the United States, the official said. The administration did not preview any specific travel bans but said it would direct agencies to make recommendations on specific nationalities whose entries should be suspended. Officials also said they would begin to seek the death penalty in some cases involving migrants. This action in particular, directs the Attorney General to seek capital punishment for the murder of law enforcement officers and capital crimes committed by illegal aliens, they said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Incoming White House officials said they will reinstate remain in Mexico, a program known officially as the Migrant Protection Protocols during the first Trump administration, under which about 70,000 third-country asylum-seekers were forced to wait out their U.S. immigration case in Mexican border cities between 2019 and 2020. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said Monday she would not accept the return of the program and announced a new strategy to welcome back deported Mexican nationals. Speaking at Sheinbaums daily press conference, Interior Minister Rosa Icela Rodriguez said the Mexican government has been working on the new strategy since Trump announced mass deportation plans. Of course we dont agree, but in case it is done we will receive them with access to the Mexican governments welfare programs, access to health services for them and their families, transportation to their places of origin, access to telephone communications, and we will keep generating living conditions and creating a favorable environment to cater to their needs amid the repatriation of Mexicans, Rodriguez said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trumps Day 1 orders will also advance the process of declaring certain cartels as foreign terrorist organizations (FTOs) or specifically designated global terrorists, potentially supercharging the law enforcement tools available against them under their current Transnational Criminal Organization designations. The official said Trump would do so under the authority of the Alien Enemies Act, which allows for the detention or swift deportation of citizens of designated countries based only on their nationality. Its the authority that was used for Japanese internment. Incoming officials specifically mentioned Tren de Aragua and MS-13, gangs that mostly operate in South and Central America, as targets for these new designations. An official said the designations would allow the Trump administration to treat the gangs as irregular military forces conducting a frontier incursion and invasion into the United States. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Though the gangs mentioned on the call are Venezuelan and Salvadoran, the America First Policy Institute, a Trump-friendly advocacy group led by former Homeland Security Acting Secretary Chad Wolf, issued a statement Monday calling for FTO designations specifically for Mexican cartels. The America First release did not name specific cartels, though it did accuse the Mexican government of tolerating and even promoting organized crime. Updated at 4:47 p.m. EST Copyright 2025 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. By Alimat Aliyeva Chinese Vice President Han Zheng held a meeting with American entrepreneur Elon Musk in Washington, Azernews reports. During the meeting, Han Zheng emphasized that Beijing welcomes American companies, including Tesla, to take advantage of the opportunities presented by Chinas continued economic development. Musk responded by stating that Tesla is eager to deepen its investments and cooperation in China, expressing the companys intention to "play an active role in promoting economic and trade exchanges between the United States and China." This marks another step in the deepening ties between Tesla and the Chinese market, which has become increasingly important for the company's global strategy, especially in terms of manufacturing and sales. Its important to note that Han Zheng's visit to the United States was part of a broader diplomatic mission, which included attending the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump. This high-profile meeting underscores the growing significance of U.S.-China economic relations and the role of influential entrepreneurs like Musk in shaping future collaborations between the two nations. Musks remarks also align with the broader trend of American tech giants expanding their presence in China despite the geopolitical tensions between the two countries. Companies like Tesla, Apple, and others are leveraging the vast Chinese market, while navigating the challenges posed by trade disputes and regulatory hurdles. With Teslas Gigafactory in Shanghai already a key part of its global production network, the companys continued engagement in China could play a critical role in its growth, especially as the electric vehicle (EV) market in China becomes even more competitive. This meeting also serves as a reminder of how economic diplomacy often intertwines with business interests, and how major corporations are becoming more directly involved in shaping the future of international relations. As China and the U.S. continue to negotiate complex trade and technology issues, figures like Musk may increasingly serve as intermediaries in these high-stakes discussions. Republican U.S. Rep. Jeff Crank is eagerly anticipating the start of Donald Trump's second presidency and what could be a flood of executive orders meant to begin immediately implementing the GOP agenda, the first-term Colorado Springs lawmaker said less than a week before the former president's inauguration on Jan. 20. What Trump's executive orders on immigration seek to do End birthright citizenship for future children born to mothers who are in the United States unlawfully or temporarily unless the childs father is here legally and permanently Direct federal agencies to identify countries that do not provide sufficient information on their nationals and to bar those nationals from entry to the U.S. Send the military to the border by declaring a national emergency Halt all refugee admissions into the United States until policy aligns with U.S. interests Designate cartels and migrant gangs MS-13 and Tren de Aragua as foreign terrorist organizations Restrict federal funds from sanctuary cities and potentially take legal action against them Require immigrants unlawfully in the United States to register and be fingerprinted End the CBP One program and the parole program for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans Deny public benefits to unauthorized immigrants Reinstate the Remain in Mexico policy President Donald Trump issued a series of executive orders related to immigration on his first day in office, including declaring a national emergency at the border. He made the actions official during a signing at the Oval Office on Monday. The executive orders follow Trumps promises on the campaign trail to issue mass deportations immediately after taking office. Illegal entry will immediately be halted, and we will begin the process of returning millions and millions of criminal aliens back to the places from which they came, Trump said during his inaugural address. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Changes to the immigration system have already begun. CBP One, a government app used by migrants to submit their information and schedule appointments at southwest border ports of entry, is no longer available for that purpose, according to a statement posted on the Customs and Border Protection website. Existing appointments scheduled through the app have been canceled, the statement added. App users began receiving pop-up notifications saying CBP One appointments are no longer valid in different languages on Monday. Hours later, President Trump signed an executive order to end the program. Immigration advocacy groups took legal action against the move to end CBP One, filing a motion for an emergency status conference in D.C. District Court. Whether or not Trump enacts additional border policies, the termination of the CBP One appointment process means there is now no way for anyone to seek asylum at the border, even for families, said Lee Gelernt, the lawyer representing the ACLU in the case. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Those canceled appointments likely number in the thousands. Over 936,000 people scheduled appointments through the app in the two years since the agency began using it for that purpose. In December alone, CBP processed approximately 44,000 asylum seekers who submitted their information through the app. CBP Ones functions were expanded under the Biden administration to facilitate asylum appointments for migrants, amid growing numbers of people trying to cross the southern border. Additionally, Trump suspended a web site used by migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela with sponsors in the U.S. to apply to be paroled into the country for two years. That program brought more than 800,000 migrants from those countries to the United States over the past two years. The state of emergency declared by Trump allows the Defense Department to deploy the military and the National Guard to the border. White House officials declined to elaborate on how many troops would be sent. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The executive action said the troops would help support Department of Homeland Security personnel with logistics, including securing detention space and transporting migrants. The language was in keeping with the Constitution, which prohibits the military from enforcing domestic law inside the U.S. by arresting immigrants. Trump also signed an executive order to instruct government agencies not to recognize children born in the United States as U.S. citizens if their mother was unlawfully present in the United States and the father was not a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident at the time of birth. The order effectively seeks to end birthright citizenship, a right enshrined in the Constitution that gives children born in the U.S. citizenship regardless of their parents immigration status. The order also says the federal government should not recognize children as U.S. citizens if they were born to mothers who had lawful but temporary status in the United States and the father was not a U.S. citizen or a lawful permanent resident at the time of birth. The order states that children born to lawful permanent residents, known as green card holders, are entitled to citizenship. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Birthright citizenship has been understood to be required under the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which states: All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States. In the executive order on birthright citizenship, the Trump administration asserted that the Constitution had been misinterpreted by an 1857 Supreme Court decision. The order is likely to be subject to legal challenges that will assert the Trump administration needs to change the U.S. Constitution by passing an amendment through two-thirds vote from Congress, an extremely high bar. Democrats and some legal groups have vowed to challenge in court any Trump attempt to do away with birthright citizenship. Ending birthright citizenship is anti-America and unconstitutional, Sen. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., wrote on X, vowing to fight this un-American executive order. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Another executive order paved the way for Trump to boost deportations, his signature campaign promise on immigration. It instructs federal agencies to identify countries that do not provide sufficient information about their citizens for the United States to be able to vet and screen them. Nationals from those countries would then be suspended from entering the United States. The order, which goes further than the travel ban in Trumps first term that barred entry from 13 specific countries, instructs the federal government to identify how many citizens from those countries entered the United States since Biden took office. That order also leaves the door open for the Trump administration to deport migrants who exercise free speech that is critical of the United States. It directs federal agencies to ensure immigrants already in the United States do not bear hostile attitudes toward its citizens, culture, government, institutions or founding principles. An executive order directs the Department of Homeland Security to establish a registry for undocumented immigrants and require them to be fingerprinted. It also targets so-called sanctuary cities that refuse to cooperate with the ICE by restricting federal funds and potentially taking legal action against them. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A separate order aims to end the practice referred to as catch and release by "removing promptly all aliens who enter or remain in violation of Federal law," according to language from the executive order. Trump vowed in his first term to end the practice, but migrants were still released after crossing the border because Immigration and Customs Enforcement still lacked adequate detention space. The Trump administration is also reinstating the Remain in Mexico policy, which allowed Trump in his first term to keep migrants of all nationalities from crossing into the United States from Mexico until they had an appointment for asylum. The Foreign Minister of Mexico said the Trump administration made the decision without an agreement with Mexico. Ahead of Trumps inauguration, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum and members of her Cabinet expressed their disagreement with his plan to revive the policy and the unilateral decision to push migrants attempting to cross into the United States back into northern Mexico. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This is a unilateral decision that they have taken. If they can do it, they are in their right. We do not necessarily share in this fact. We do not share it, said Mexican Foreign Minister Juan Ramon de la Fuente. An executive order also instructed the federal government to continue building the border wall. Another order indefinitely suspended refugee resettlement in the United States until the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program realigns with the interest of the United States. The administration is also targeting drug cartels and what it called migrant gangs, referring specifically to MS-13 and Tren de Aragua. Under the orders I signed today, we will also be designating the cartels as foreign terrorist organizations, Trump said during his inaugural address. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The designation would make it illegal for anyone to provide aid or collaborate with the groups and allow the federal government to prosecute people supporting the cartels in any way on charges of providing material support to terrorists. It would also allow the administration to put known members on the terrorist watchlist so that they could be arrested, stopped from flying into the U.S., or stopped from crossing the U.S. border simply for being part of the group. I will direct our government to use the full and immense power of federal and state law enforcement to eliminate the presence of all foreign gangs and criminal and criminal networks bringing devastating crime to U.S. soil, including our cities and inner cities, Trump said. Another executive order directed the Department of Defense to develop a plan to seal the borders and maintain the sovereignty, territorial integrity and security of the United States by repelling forms of invasion including unlawful mass migration, narcotics trafficking, human smuggling and trafficking, and other criminal activities within 10 days of the signing. This article was originally published on NBCNews.com President-elect Trump intends to issue executive orders on his first day in office that will recognize only two sexes, male and female, and aim to end diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) practices in the federal government, according to incoming White House officials. The order aims to direct agencies to enforce laws to protect men and women as biologically distinct sexes, according to the officials, and not enforce laws as if sex includes gender identity. It will also direct the secretaries of State and Homeland Security to ensure official government documents such as passports and visas reflect male and female. It will also prevent agencies from promoting the concept of gender transition, and agencies will only list male or female when asking about sex. The order also intends to stop federal funds from promoting gender identity. The Trump administration also intends to recognize that women are identified as having the reproductive cell, as opposed to identifying women through a chromosome. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Live updates: Trump returns to White House Additionally, the order will aim to protect privacy in intimate spaces, especially womens prisons, migrant shelters and rape shelters, and it will make sure taxpayer funds are not being used for transition services in prisons. The order will direct the attorney general to ask agencies to ensure workers in the federal government are provided Title 7, which is part of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that prohibits employment discrimination based on race, sex and other areas. Another order expected to be signed Monday will focus on DEI initiatives, aiming to end those programs on the federal government level. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The order will ask the Office of Management and Budget and the Office of Personnel Management to coordinate with agencies to terminate what it deems as all discriminatory programs in the agencies, according to the incoming White House officials. The order will also direct the assistant to the president for domestic policy to have monthly meetings with deputy secretaries to assess DEI programs and figure out ways to end them. The incoming officials indicated private businesses should wait and see about the programs, because more actions on DEI are coming very soon. Copyright 2025 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 The Hill. There is no higher premium in Donald Trumps second administration than loyalty. The president-elect is reportedly planning to make good on his promise to save some of his most ferocious supporters, with a slew of pardons on the immediate horizon for some January 6 offenders. Speaking at an inauguration eve rally in Washington, Trump claimed that the forthcoming pardons would make his supporters very happy, once again referring to the convicteeswho tore through the U.S. Capitol complex in a deadly riot, halting Congresss certification of votes in delirious support of his failed presidential bidas hostages. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement And tomorrow, everybody in this very large arena will be very happy with my decision on the J-6 hostages, Trump told the crowd Sunday. Very happy. I think you will be very, very happy. Trump: Tomorrow, everybody in this very large arena will be very happy with my decision on the J6 hostages. Very happy. I think you will be very, very happy. pic.twitter.com/e2GR8IhEZM Acyn (@Acyn) January 19, 2025 CNN reported that sources familiar with Trumps plants have claimed that a flurry of pardons are expected as part of a mountain of executive orders that Trump will sign on his first day back in office. The extent of the pardons is unclear, though Trumps nonviolent supporters would be an easy target for the executive decision. Whats less obvious is what Trump will do for some 174 January 6 defendants who were charged with using a deadly or dangerous weapon against Capitol police. Approximately 1,270 January 6 defendants have been convicted in the years since they stormed the Capitol, though only a couple hundred are actually serving prison time for their involvement. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement If Trump does decide to legally forgive those members of his base, hed be at odds with Vice President-elect JD Vance, who told Fox News last week that Trumps more violent supporters didnt deserve pardons. I think its very simple, look if you protested peacefully on January 6, and you had Merrick Garlands Department of Justice treat you like a gang member, you should be pardoned, Vance told host Shannon Bream. If you committed violence on that day, obviously you shouldnt be pardoned. And theres a little bit of a gray area there. In Trumps 2024 Person of the Year interview with Time, the incoming president reissued his intentions to focus on his suffering supporters: Ill be looking at J6 early on, Trump told the magazine. Maybe the first nine minutes. WASHINGTON Donald Trump made twofold history Monday, becoming the first to take the oath of office despite having tried to end American democracy, as well as becoming the first presidential convicted felon. Administering the oath was Chief Justice John Roberts, whose Supreme Court conservative majority paved the way for Trumps return by sidetracking a criminal prosecution based on his Jan. 6, 2021, attempt to remain in power. The ceremony took place in the rotunda of the U.S. Capitol, where four years and two weeks earlier, a mob of Trumps supporters inflamed by his lies that the 2020 election had been stolen from him rampaged through the building, searching for and threatening to murder Trumps own vice president at the time, Mike Pence, for refusing his demand to award him a second term. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In his 30-minute inaugural speech, Trump wasted little time in lashing out at the criminal prosecutions that flowed from his actions that day. The vicious, violent and unfair weaponization of the department and our government will end, he said just 90 seconds in. Never again will the immense power of the state be weaponized to persecute political opponents, something I know something about, he said 15 minutes later. The speech, which aides had billed as optimistic, sounded much like one of his campaign rally speeches as he accused the outgoing government of incompetence in basic functions and painted immigrants as dangerous criminals. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A radical and corrupt establishment has extracted power and wealth from our citizens, while the pillars of our society lay broken and seemingly in complete disrepair, Trump said. We now have a government that cannot manage even a simple crisis at home, while at the same time stumbling into a continuing catalog of catastrophic events abroad. It fails to protect our magnificent law-abiding American citizens, but provide[s] sanctuary and protection for dangerous criminals, many from prisons and mental institutions that have illegally entered our country from all over the world. Trump also hammered on the culture war themes that drove his base, promising to eliminate diversity programs and declaring that, in the United States, there would only be two genders, male and female. While vowing to end wars and avoid getting involved in any, he also suggested forcibly taking back the Panama Canal Zone, which was returned to Panama decades ago, while falsely claiming that the country was cheating the United States. China is operating the Panama County, and we didnt give it to China. We gave it to Panama, and were taking it back, he said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trump also hinted at a return to an expansionist policy that the nation has not pursued in more than a century. The United States will once again consider itself a growing nation, one that increases our wealth, expands our territory, builds our cities, raises our expectations and carries our flag to new and beautiful horizons, and we will pursue our manifest destiny into the stars, launching American astronauts to plant the stars and stripes on the planet Mars, he said. Trumps return to the White House completes a remarkable comeback. Had he been convicted on the federal charges for his Jan. 6 actions which authoritarian experts say meet the definition of a self-coup Trump could have received decades in federal prison. Instead, he is again commander in chief of the United States armed forces and putative leader of the free world. Had Roberts and the five other Republican-appointed justices not agreed to take Trumps appeal in February 2024, Trump could well have been on trial for his actions leading up to and on that days violent attack on the U.S. Capitol amid the Republican presidential primary. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The high court then took four more months to issue a ruling that effectively gave Trump and all presidents immunity from criminal prosecution for all actions they take in office if they can argue that they were part of official duties. The ruling made trial on the four felony counts of fraud and conspiracy impossible before the November election. After Trump narrowly won, special counsel Jack Smith dismissed the charges along with unrelated charges in South Florida based on Trumps refusal to turn over secret documents he took to his country club there. Smith cited long-standing Department of Justice policy not to prosecute a sitting president. The courts immunity ruling also helped Trump avoid any consequence following his 34 felony convictions in a New York City court last May for falsifying business records. Trump faced up to four years in prison from that jury verdict and had potentially exacerbated his situation by repeatedly flouting the trial judges rulings, leading to contempt of court citations. But his lawyers pointed to the Supreme Court decision and said that immunity applied in the New York case as well, essentially arguing that Trumps 2017 payments to his lawyer to reimburse him for a $130,000 payment to a porn star ahead of the 2016 election were official acts of the presidency because they took place while he was in office. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The trial court judge, Juan Merchan, ultimately found that argument specious but said that because Trump had been elected to the presidency again in November, he was not permitted by the Constitution to sentence him to anything. Trump is only the second president in U.S. history to have won two nonconsecutive terms. The first was Grover Cleveland, who won the elections in 1884 and 1892. Cleveland, however, did not try to overturn democracy after losing to Benjamin Harrison in 1888. Nor was he a convicted criminal. Related... Donald Trump made a peculiar comment about Pennsylvania voting computers during an ode to Elon Musk at his pre-inauguration rally. During a loved-up nod to his first buddy before 20,000 fans at Sundays rally, Trump was taking swipes at Russia and China, and talking about the tech mogul getting a rocket into space. Trump on Elon Musk: "He knows those computers better than anybody. All those computers. Those vote-counting computers. And we ended up winning Pennsylvania like in a landslide." pic.twitter.com/MJdfUVhFsT Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) January 19, 2025 Trump then detoured into Musks influence on the 2024 presidential election. He journeyed to Pennsylvania, where he spent a month and a half campaigning for me in Pennsylvania, and hes a popular guy. He was very effective, Trump said. And he knows those computers better than anybody. All those computers. Those vote-counting computers. And we ended up winning Pennsylvania like in a landslide. So it was pretty good, pretty good. So thank you to Elon. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Its not totally clear what Trump was talking about, especially as Pennsylvania says it doesnt use one type of voting machine. As of June 2020, according to its official website, all 67 of the commonwealths counties had voting systems that produce voter-verifiable paper records and meet 21st-century standards of security, auditability, and accessibility. However, during the 2024 election campaign, the software in one county suffered a high-profile malfunction. The issue in Cambria County in early November prevented voters from scanning their ballots. They were later manually counted by the Board of Elections. In the end, Trump won the state with 50.4 percent of the votes. On X, some users were convinced that Trumps comments were evidence of foul play. This sounds like an affirmation that Elon stole the election for Trump, one wrote. Is he insinuating that they cheated? a second person asked. Trump confesses to cheating by letting Musk rig the voting machines. But thats OK. Right? another person said. Trumps team did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Chicago, as a sanctuary city, has long been a welcoming place for immigrants. And Chicago Public Schools has made this message a core part of its mission. President-elect Donald Trumps promise for the largest deportation operation in United States history has sent a ripple of worry across communities. It has the potential to disrupt daily routines like going to school or work. Some undocumented parents and children worry raids or targeted arrests by federal immigration agents might target schools. They worry one member of a family might get picked up by ICE while commuting. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement On Trump inauguration day, migrant students in shadow of deportation Protections in place Ahead of Trumps inauguration Monday, CPS has acknowledged that many of its parents and students are facing this fear. The district has stressed that it already has protections in place, which was reaffirmed in a resolution by the school board last year. Our goal is to ensure that all CPS schools remain safe, inclusive, and welcoming educational environments that embrace and celebrate everyone in our diverse school communities, the district wrote in an email to parents Friday. The Chicago Teachers Union has hosted sanctuary trainings for its members and has several protective measures in its proposals for a new teachers contract that would protect undocumented students. CPS is working to provide guidance to teachers, too. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trumps promises are uncharted territory, and district officials said they are preparing by telling people what to do if they are confronted by a police officer or an immigration agent. Can ICE agents enter schools? All students, regardless of immigration status, are entitled to a public education. CPS does not ask for immigration status or coordinate with ICE agents. Under federal policy, ICE is prohibited from carrying out enforcement actions at schools (known as sensitive locations). The school boards November 2024 resolution also prohibited schools from assisting ICE in immigration enforcement. Therefore, ICE agents are not allowed into Chicago Public Schools unless they have a criminal warrant. Schools are designated protected areas, according to ICEs website. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement When determining if a location is a protected area, (the Department of Homeland Security) considers the activities that take place there, the importance of those activities and the impact an enforcement action would have on peoples willingness to be in the protected area and receive or engage in the essential services or activities that occur there, the website states. CPS CEO Pedro Martinez said the district has three dedicated lawyers to review any order someone may bring to a school. Were being very clear about our protocol, he said. Preparing for any and all situations Still, the district is preparing for any and all situations that may affect its student body. It is leveraging every resource it can and working with the city of Chicago and the Police Department. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement CPS recently launched a section on its website with an overview of immigration rights as they apply to schools and a list of local trainings and legal resources. District leaders plan to update it frequently, and to continue to communicate directly with school leaders, staff members and parents to ensure they know how to respond to any federal policy changes. In the meantime, CPS is encouraging families to have emergency contact information on hand and is working to make sure families have contingency plans for guardianship in the case that a students parents are arrested, deported or detained. The district is not considering remote learning options because no student should stay at home, Martinez said. Its goal is to create an environment where students feel safe and focused on their learning. CPS schools have mental health resources available for students who may be concerned or anxious. There are school counselors and behavioral health teams at every school, district officials said. Resources The Illinois Coalition of Immigrant and Refugee Rights has created a list of dozens of local nonprofit agencies providing free or low-cost assistance with immigration matters. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement CPS will schedule continuous and weekly trainings and workshops, which will be updated on its website. For example, there is a weekly training on Tuesdays at 9:30 a.m. hosted by Enlace Chicago through the CPS Network 7 Pilsen/Little Village Parent University at 2001 S. Throop St. For more information and registration, please contact 773-379-5669. These sessions will be in Spanish. CPS has also created resources for students from mixed-status families and for undocumented students who are completing federal and state financial aid applications for college. (NewsNation) President Donald Trumps newly created cryptocurrency token has soared to more than $10 billion in market value on his second Inauguration Day. Trump announced the new $TRUMP meme coin Friday, writing on Truth Social: Its time to celebrate everything we stand for: WINNING! Join my very special Trump Community. Will Melania and Barron Trump live at the White House? On Sunday, Melania Trump launched her own meme coin, $MELANIA, writing on X: The Official Melania Meme is live! You can buy $MELANIA now. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Heres what to know about the bizarre world of meme coins and the ethical concerns around the presidents involvement: What is a meme coin? Meme coins are cryptocurrencies inspired by internet trends or jokes. They have no intrinsic value. Theyre worth what someone else is willing to pay. In some cases, that can be a lot. Dogecoin, the first meme coin, was meant as satire to mock Bitcoin, but its viral popularity has led to real gains for many. DOGE has a current market cap of roughly $55 billion. Unlike stocks, which represent an ownership share in a company, meme coins value are based on hype, making them notoriously volatile and risky to invest in. Are the Trump meme coins worth anything? The Trump meme coins started selling for less than $10 each before surging above $70 on Sunday. By Monday morning, the price was below $50. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Melania coin was trading for around on $8 Monday morning, down from $13 on Sunday evening. Where is Michelle Obama? Those price swings underscore the volatility that makes meme coins so risky for buyers. A community note was later added to Melanias announcement on X, reading: Buying this token is incredibly risky and will likely result in the loss of funds. On the meme coins official websites, potential buyers are warned that Trump and Melanias crypto coins are digital collectibles intended to function as an expression of support for and engagement with the values embodied by the symbol $TRUMP and the symbol MELANIA. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The disclaimers go on to say the tokens are not intended to be, or to be the subject of, an investment opportunity, investment contract, or security of any type. Instead, Trumps meme coin website encourages buyers to, Celebrate our win and have fun! Why did Trump launch a meme coin? Trump is expected to be the most pro-crypto president in history, and his foray into the space suggests as much. The project is also likely to enrich him personally, raising ethics issues. The tokens released by Donald and Melania Trump appear to symbolize support for the digital currency sector. However, the introduction of these coins during the presidential inauguration raises concerns about potential conflicts of interest, Grzegorz Drozdz, market analyst at Conotoxia, told CNBC. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Justin DAnethan, an independent crypto analyst based in Hong Kong, told Reuters: While its tempting to dismiss this as just another Trump spectacle, the launch of the official Trump token opens up a Pandoras box of ethical and regulatory questions. The Trump meme coin was organized by CIC Digital, an affiliate of the Trump Organization. CIC Digital and another company collectively own 80% of the Trump meme coins and will receive trading revenue derived from trading activities, according to the official website. The coins website said 200 million Trump meme coins are currently available, with plans to issue 1 billion over the next three years. Felix Salmon, chief financial correspondent at Axios, put it like this: Trump has just delivered a masterclass in the ability of a president to turn power into wealth. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 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 NewsNation. If you were surprised at the tone and substance of Donald Trumps second inaugural address, you have not been paying attention to the last decade or so. For him, norms exist to shatter. If his predecessors did it one way, hed do it another. For instance, most new presidents begin by putting the partisan struggle of the past election behind them. We are all Republicans; we serve all Federalists, Thomas Jefferson said a few months after the vicious election of 1800. We observe today not a victory of party, but a celebration of freedom, John F. Kennedy said in 1961. In 1989, George Bush literally held his hand out to the Democratic speaker of the House in his appeal for bipartisanship. For Trump, the speech was a chance to bask in his victory he exulted in his increased strength in swing states and among Black and Hispanic voters and to denounce the outgoing Biden administration and broader political system in scabrous terms. A radical and corrupt establishment has extracted power and wealth from our citizens, he said. It fails to protect our magnificent law-abiding American citizens, but provides sanctuary and protection for dangerous criminals. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Most new presidents defer specific proposals for another time in favor of sweeping rhetoric about the glories of the past. Trump put his more poetic rhetoric at the end of his address, while setting down a series of actions designed to thrill his most ardent fans: troops to the southern border; a wholesale reversal of climate policy (We will drill, baby, drill); an advance in the culture wars (As of today, it will henceforth be the official policy of the United States government that there are only two genders, male and female. Most new presidents offer grace notes to the wider world. In his 1949 inaugural address, President Harry Truman offered a promise of significant material aid to a war-ravaged international community. Trump offered a return to the idea of Manifest destiny from the 19th century, vowed to rename the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America and at least rhetorically semi-declared war with Panama over the Panama Canal. He did not speak of territorial ambition on Greenland and Canada, but did look forward to the day when American astronauts plant the flag on Mars, a dream consistent with his wealthiest backer, Elon Musk, who had a place of honor at the ceremony. Most new presidents want their inaugural speech to act as a form of national unity, free from the partisan and ideological battles to come. Trump used his speech as a mere overture to the news of the day: a raft of executive orders putting substantive decisions behind the words of his speech. It is more evidence that Trump is determined to turn the vision he and his most zealous supporters share into policy. And he may be more successful this time around. In one notable line, Trump showed a bit of humility amid his typical bombast. Over the past eight years I have been tested and challenged more than any president in our 250-year history, he said. And I have learned a lot along the way. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Hes probably right. Trump is not the same person entering the Oval Office as he was before. Hes far more knowledgeable about power and how to wield it. Eight years ago, in his American carnage inaugural the one George W. Bush described as some weird shit Trump offered similar sweeping declarations of change, but words that seemed disconnected from reality. The institutional loyalties of many Republican senators and officials more or less ensured that there were clear limits to Trumps ambitions. Now, with a Republican Party totally in his grip, with the mix of suasion and threats all but erasing any possibility of resistance from within, his words have weight far heavier than they did in 2017. Indeed, his entire inaugural address might be summed up in a single sentence: You know what I said all through this last decade or so? I meant it. Donald Trump is backing off his threat to levy tariffs on key trading partners in his first day in office, White House officials confirmed Monday. Speaking on a call with reporters, the officials, granted anonymity as part of the ground rules for participating, outlined broad plans for executive actions on a range of policies. But when asked directly about plans for new tariffs or other trade actions, an official said only, I'll have to refer you here to The Wall Street Journal, who had the exclusive on trade policy. That story, published Monday, said Trump plans to issue a broad memorandum that tasks federal agencies to investigate and address trade deficits and unfair trade and currency practices by other countries. Trump is expected to single out China as well as Canada and Mexico for evaluation but the memo will not impose either a universal baseline tariff or tariffs on select trading partners as many countries feared. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement That contradicts Trumps promise in November to impose 25 percent tariffs on Mexico and Canada on his first day in office in an effort to crack down on illegal migration and the flow of fentanyl into the United States. No specifics in speech: Trump also made no mention of that promise in remarks during his inaugural address, but he did reiterate his broad approach to trade and said he will "immediately begin the overhaul of our trade system to protect American workers and our families." Trump also again pledged to create the External Revenue Service to collect tariff revenue, which he suggested could replace taxes on Americans. "Instead of taxing our citizens to enrich other countries we will tariff and tax foreign countries to enrich our citizens," Trump said. "For this purpose we are establishing the External Revenue Service to collect all tariffs, duties and revenues, it will be massive amounts of money pouring into our Treasury, coming from foreign sources." Tariffs (which are paid by importers) are currently collected by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection under the Department of Homeland Security. The president has not clarified whether his new system would absorb those responsibilities. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The lack of Day One action is likely to irk backers of the hawkish tariff agenda Trump outlined on the campaign trail, which also included imposing 10 to 20 percent tariffs on all imports, tariffs of 60 percent or higher on Chinese imports and replacing the income tax with tariffs. Reminder: As everyone is aware, thousands of people are pouring through Mexico and Canada, bringing Crime and Drugs at levels never seen before, Trump wrote on Truth Social shortly after his presidential victory in November On January 20th, as one of my many first Executive Orders, I will sign all necessary documents to charge Mexico and Canada a 25% Tariff on ALL products coming into the United States, and its ridiculous Open Borders. Snow blankets Colorado Springs as an arctic blast sweeps through much of the U.S. and the Pikes Peak region, Saturday, Jan. 18, 2025. Temperature highs are predicted to be in the teens this weekend, with subzero lows of -3 degrees on Saturday and -4 degrees on Sunday. Monday will bring single-digit highs, with temperatures potentially dropping to -10 degrees. (Parker Seibold, The Gazette) Follow todays inauguration live blog Donald Trump is set to be inaugurated as president and make his anticipated return to the White House today after persuasively defeating Kamala Harris in the presidential election. Here is what to expect from the day. When is Trumps inauguration? Donald Trump will be sworn in today January 20 2025, at about midday, after vice-president JD Vance takes the oath of office. Where will he be sworn in? At the US Capitol building in Washington DC which is about 1.2 miles from the White House. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The swearing-in ceremony is usually held outside in the Capitol grounds, however due to cold weather, a decision has been made to move the ceremony indoors. The inaugural parade will be held in Washingtons Capital One Arena. All other events will remain the same, including the Victory Rally at Capital One Arena on Sunday at 3pm and all three inaugural balls. What happens on inauguration day? Every four years, thousands of people fill up the National Mall in Washington DC to watch the elected president and vice-president be sworn into office. The indoor ceremony will get under way at midday ET, after which point the transfer of power from the old administration to the new one will be complete. Mr Trumps family during a reception at Trump National Golf Club on Sunday - JIM WATSON The oath of office repeated by the vice-president dates back to 1884 and involves swearing to defend the Constitution of the United States and to faithfully discharge their duties as president. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The president is normally sworn in by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, with John Roberts expected to administer the oath for a fifth time on Jan 20. After being sworn in, the president will issue their inaugural address in which they set forth their goals for the nation. This is followed at 3pm by a military parade called the pass in review, when the new commander-in-chief inspects their troops for the first time. Supporters line up outside Capital One Arena ahead of Mr Trumps rally on Sunday - Daniel Cole During the parade, the president and vice-president lead a procession of regiments, marching bands and floats down Pennsylvania Avenue from the Capitol to the White House. The traditional parade, which is watched by millions of Americans, dates back to the first inauguration, when local militias joined George Washingtons procession as he made his way from Mount Vernon, Virginia, to New York City to be sworn into office in 1789. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This year, the parade has been moved indoors as temperatures in Washington DC are forecast to reach a decade low. Owing to a calendar quirk, the 2025 inauguration also falls on the same day as Martin Luther King Jr Day. It is just the second time that the state holiday honouring the civil rights leader has fallen on the same day as the inauguration. How many people will attend the inauguration? Turnout proved to be a bone of contention last time Mr Trump won the presidency. Aides claimed at the time that he had drawn the largest audience ever despite aerial photographs appearing to show significantly fewer numbers lining the national mall than had turned out for Barack Obamas inauguration in 2009. Mr Trump caused controversy in 2017 when he suggested his crowd, left, was the biggest ever, despite picture comparisons suggesting the one for Barack Obama, right, was far bigger - Reuters Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The tens of thousands of people who were expected to turn out for the event on the Capitol mall will no longer be able to do so as the event has been moved indoors. The president-elect instead confirmed that the Capital One Arena will be opened for live viewing of the event. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. By Humeyra Pamuk WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump's transition team asked more than a dozen senior career diplomats to step down from their roles, two U.S. officials familiar with the matter said, as the newly inaugurated president moves quickly to shape his foreign policy and the diplomatic corps. Among those expected to step aside as Trump was inaugurated on Monday were the agency's No. 3 official John Bass, who was acting undersecretary for political affairs overseeing policy from Asia to Europe and the Middle East, sources said. His planned departure was first reported by the Washington Post. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement One of the sources said all undersecretary and assistant secretary level officials - effectively the entire two layers of officials under the secretary of state - were asked to step down. Reuters reported last week that the team overseeing the State Department's transition to the new administration asked three other senior career diplomats who oversee the department's workforce and internal coordination to resign from their posts. Trump has pledged to "clean out the deep state" by firing bureaucrats he deems disloyal. The staff changes appear to be in line with a broader effort to seize greater control of the federal government than any modern president. Neither the State Department nor the Trump transition team responded to a request for comment. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The White House issued a statement shortly after Trump's inauguration on Monday listing the new president's first priorities, among them improved accountability for government bureaucrats. "On the Presidents direction, the State Department will have an America-First foreign policy," the White House said. Trump is likely to adopt a more muscular foreign policy and has vowed to bring peace between Ukraine and Russia, and give more support to Israel. He has also pushed for unorthodox policies such as trying to make Greenland part of the United States and pressing NATO allies for higher defense spending. A diplomatic workforce that dutifully implements rather than pushes back will be key to achieving his goals, experts say. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Marco Rubio, Trump's pick for secretary of state, during his confirmation hearing last week said the State Department was "marginalized" and that the agency's staff should have a bigger role in setting and implementing foreign policy. The officials leaving their roles remain as State Department officials but their future is uncertain. They have the option to retire, but if they wish to stay in the foreign service they would need to find new jobs within the department and be reassigned. That will be up to the new leadership. CAREER OFFICIALS While political appointees typically submit their resignations when a new president takes office, most career foreign service officers continue from one administration to the next, even as the incoming president has the right to install new officials to those positions. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Many of the diplomats who were asked to step down have worked in both Democratic and Republican administrations throughout the years. "Closely monitoring reports that senior diplomats were asked to step down from leadership roles in advance of the inauguration," Senator Jeanne Shaheen, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said in a Jan. 19 X post. "These non-partisan public servants have decades of experience serving under Republicans & Democrats & are key to US national security," she added. To have personnel aligned with Trump's agenda, the transition team was installing scores of "senior bureau officials" to lead the department's key bureaus, a development first reported by Fox News and confirmed to Reuters. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The transition team has also asked Lisa Kenna, who served as executive secretariat under Mike Pompeo, Trump's second secretary of state during his first term, to take over Bass' duties and fill the role of undersecretary for political affairs, one of the sources said. She also served throughout Biden's tenure, first as the U.S. ambassador to Peru and most recently as the principal deputy assistant secretary for the Bureau of Intelligence and Research at the State Department. Tim Lenderking, Special Envoy for Yemen, was set to take over the Near East Affairs bureau and serve as the Department's interim top official for the Middle East, one of the sources said. Trump is expected to nominate Joel Rayburn, who had served at the State Department and the National Security Council during his first administration, as the assistant secretary for Near East affairs, a second source said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Among those who are leaving were Geoffrey Pyatt, assistant secretary for the Department's Energy and Natural Resources Bureau, whose diplomatic career spans over more than three decades. During the first Trump administration, he was Washington's ambassador to Greece. Daniel Kritenbrink, assistant secretary for East Asian and Pacific affairs and effectively the department's top Asia diplomat, was also stepping down and retiring at the end of the month. (Reporting by Humeyra Pamuk; Additional reporting by Simon Lewis and Jonathan Landay; Editing by Don Durfee, Alistair Bell and Nia Williams) US government officials are to receive a private briefing on a breakthrough in artificial intelligence (AI) super agents as Silicon Valley executives flock to Washington to attend Donald Trumps inauguration. Sam Altman, the boss of OpenAI, is preparing to give a behind-closed-doors briefing to US officials next week where the company will discuss the latest developments in its technology. Advances reportedly include its work on chatbots capable of PhD-level thinking. Technology companies have been developing AI agents that can take on tasks typically undertaken by human workers, doing them by controlling parts of a users computer or phone to manage a diary or respond to routine emails. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Rachel Reeves, the Chancellor, is said to be using an AI tool developed by OpenAI to help her respond to some emails. These bots are growing increasingly sophisticated, with expectations that AI chatbots will soon be able to perform tasks such as building a working app from scratch or engaging in long-term planning. This emerging form of AI could begin to do complex work normally taken on by a human, such as computer programming. Developers and supporters of the technology say it will improve productivity and free up workers to focus on other tasks. However, the rapid advances threaten to upend millions of jobs. Mira Murati, the former OpenAI technology chief, said last year that she expected many creative jobs that maybe shouldnt have been there in the first place to go away. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement AI companies are ultimately striving to develop superintelligence or artificial general intelligence (AGI) that far surpasses the capabilities of the human brain. Axios reported that Mr Altman would meet officials in the US capital on Jan 30 to discuss its progress. However, the OpenAI founder sought to downplay the significance of its upcoming announcements. Mr Altman said: We are not going to deploy AGI next month, nor have we built it. We have some very cool stuff for you but [please] chill and cut your expectations 100x. In a blog post, OpenAI, which has received billions of pounds in funding from Microsoft, said the meeting would be to preview the state of AI advancement and how it can drive economic growth with politicians. It said the technology represented an unmissable opportunity to catalyse a reindustrialisation of the US in a race against China. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Some AI experts have warned that the development of an AI superintelligence could pose an existential threat to humanity if it cannot be controlled or is exploited by a hostile power. Earlier this month, Mr Altman said: We are now confident we know how to build AGI as we have traditionally understood it. We believe that, in 2025, we may see the first AI agents join the workforce and materially change the output of companies. Technology executives have claimed that near-term advances in AI capabilities could lead to a shake-up of the workforce. Marc Benioff, the chief executive of Salesforce, said the company had seen incredible productivity gains because of the agents that work side-by-side with our engineers. Mark Zuckerberg, the chief executive of Meta, said Facebook would soon have an AI that can effectively be a sort of mid-level engineer. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Technology executives from Facebook, Uber and TikTok will descend on Washington for Mr Trumps inauguration ceremony on Monday. Mr Altman is expected to attend, with reports he will make a $1m (810,000) personal donation to Mr Trumps fund. Last week, Democratic senators sent a letter to Mr Altman claiming the Silicon Valley entrepreneur was attempting to cosy up to the incoming Trump administration in an effort to avoid scrutiny. Mr Altman said in a post on X: Funny, they never sent me one of these for contributing to the Democrats. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. President Donald Trump is once again withdrawing the United States from the Paris climate accords, pulling the nation whose factories, cars and power plants contributed the most cumulative planet-heating pollution to the atmosphere out of the first global pact to slash carbon emissions enough to prevent the worlds average temperature from reaching dangerous new heights. Trump said Monday he plans to halt implementation of the federal governments efforts to meet its target to slash Americas greenhouse gas emissions by up to 66% below 2005 levels over the next 10 years. The move, which came via an executive order kickstarting the withdrawal process, followed the approach he took in 2017. Were going to save over $1 trillion, Trump said to the announcer at the Capitol One Arena in Washington, D.C., as he signed the order from behind a desk, shaking his head to show his disapproval of what the emcee called the Paris climate treaty. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The withdrawal, initially announced in an email from the White House laying out Trumps policy priorities, will put the U.S. in league with Iran, Libya and Yemen as the only United Nations-recognized countries outside the global pact. The next steps include formally announcing the U.S. withdrawal to the U.N. Once that step is taken, the process will go much faster than the last time the U.S. quit the Paris Agreement under Trumps direction. Under the U.N. rules at the time, the U.S. withdrawal took three years to take effect, allowing former President Joe Biden to swiftly reinstate American participation in the accords. This time, however, the U.S. could completely quit the Paris Agreement in just one year. It is deeply regrettable that the United States has signaled its intention to withdraw from the Paris Agreement once more. In doing so, the United States will join a tiny club of countries outside of the global consensus, said Kaveh Guilanpour, the vice president of international strategies at the Washington, D.C.-based climate group C2ES. There is no sugar-coating this it will be harmful to global efforts to combat climate change, and so ultimately, also harmful to the future prosperity and security of U.S. citizens. President Donald Trump is once again withdrawing the United States from the Paris climate accords. KEVIN LAMARQUE/POOL/AFP via Getty Images Since the early 1990s, the parties to the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change have gathered annually to discuss ways to coordinate a global effort on cutting the emissions from fossil fuels and agriculture that accumulate in the atmosphere and prevent the suns heat from radiating back into space. It wasnt until 2015 that China and the U.S. signed on to a global pact explicitly designed to cut emissions. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The deal brokered in Paris when France hosted the roving annual conference typically held in November was hailed as a triumph of international negotiations between the worlds two biggest economies, and a turning point in a new era of rapidly worsening weather extremes. Yet agreeing to cut emissions proved harder than actually scaling back the pollution. For nearly a decade, the rich countries who bear the most collective responsibility for changes to the atmosphere refused to fork over the billions of dollars pledged to help poorer nations develop new, cleaner energy sources to lift themselves out of poverty and build infrastructure to adapt to the rising seas and more violent storms already occurring. Since joining the Paris Agreement, China, the worlds current largest annual emitter of carbon, has undertaken the biggest and fastest build-out of renewable energy plants, nuclear reactors and electric vehicle infrastructure of any major economy. Chinese-made batteries, electric cars and solar panels are now exported so cheaply that the Biden administration and regulators in the European Union slapped trade restrictions on Chinese imports in an attempt to preserve domestic companies. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Former President Joe Bidens landmark climate-infrastructure laws spurred dozens of new battery factories in the U.S. and invested billions into manufacturing solar panels and producing metals like lithium at home. But red tape and permitting issues stymied construction of the charging networks needed to make electric vehicles a viable option in a continent-sized nation with limited transportation alternatives to driving. Trump has vowed to undo the Biden administrations policies to support electric vehicles, and pledged to bar construction of any new wind turbines during his new term. America will be a manufacturing nation once again and we have something no other manufacturing nation will ever have: the largest amount of oil and gas of any country on Earth and we are going to use it, Trump said in his speech immediately following his swearing-in Monday. We will bring prices down, fill our strategic reserves up again right to the top, and export American energy all over the world. We will be a rich nation again, and it is that liquid gold under our feet that will help to do it. The U.S. built just two new nuclear reactors from scratch in the last few decades at the so-called Plant Vogtle in Georgia. Pallava Bagla via Getty Images Chris Wright, Trumps nominee to lead the Department of Energy, has promised to continue the build-out of renewables, especially solar energy, and has put a particular focus on nuclear power, which is set for a comeback thanks to billions of dollars of federal support the Biden administration directed to new reactor developers. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement At the last two U.N. climate summits, the Biden administration led pledges to build more nuclear reactors around the world in an effort to sell more American technology to newcomer countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America that want to start using atomic energy. The new Trump administration is likely to continue that push. When Trump last yanked the U.S. out of the Paris accords, critics warned that the move ceded climate leadership to Beijing as China continued ramping up its production and exports of green technologies. But in an opinion piece in Foreign Policy earlier this month, two experts from the Breakthrough Institute, a California-based climate think tank that does research that supports using more nuclear power and mining the energy-transition metals over which China holds a near monopoly, urged poor countries to quit the Paris Agreement. They described the agreement as overly focused on abstractions instead of practical concerns such as building the infrastructure needed to survive a hotter world. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Rich countries have been unable to devise let alone finance a clean development path for the developing world. Trump pulling out of the Paris Agreement will only be the final nail in the coffin of a failed process, Vijaya Ramachandran and Ted Nordhaus wrote. While Western donors fret over whether investing in roads is green, China has been more than willing to help poor countries build urgently needed infrastructure as have India, Brazil, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey, they added. It is up to poor countries to seize the moment and return to their own priorities with investments in energy, agriculture, infrastructure, and jobs. Related... (Bloomberg) -- President Donald Trump signed sweeping new executive actions designed to crack down on illegal border crossings and target undocumented migrants already in the US. Most Read from Bloomberg Trump declared a national emergency at the border, directed the Pentagon to deploy additional individuals to the border, and sought to end catch and release, the policy by which migrants are released while awaiting a hearing on their asylum status. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The president signed a proclamation to end the asylum process, which officials say would allow the immediate removal of those in the country already awaiting a court hearing. The administration will look to reinstate the Remain in Mexico policy that requires those seeking asylum to stay in Mexico before their immigration court date, direct federal agencies to resume construction of the border wall, and declare gangs and cartels involved in human smuggling as terrorist organizations. Trump, responding to a question, said the order could result in US military operations in Mexico. Trump also said he would order immigration raids across US cities in coming days, but did not want to to reveal details before they were launched. The new president is also seeking to end automatic birthright citizenship for children of people not in the country legally, and suspend refugee admissions for the next six months. And hes expected to offer new authorities to Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection officers to carry out deportations. In total, the 10 border-related executive orders represent a dramatic change to immigration policy and will usher in new limits to both legal and illegal immigration. The presidents plans were described by an incoming Trump Administration official who briefed on the condition of anonymity. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement What Are Executive Orders? Why Is Trump Using Them?: QuickTake Court Challenges As of Monday, US Customs and Border Protection has discontinued the CBP One apps functionality that previously allowed migrants to provide advance information and book appointments at eight ports of entry along the southern border. All scheduled appointments have also been canceled, the agency said in a statement on its website. The app had offered 1,450 daily appointments for asylum seekers trying to gain entry. Trumps efforts are likely to face immediate court challenges, and actual implementation could prove difficult. Thats particularly true of his efforts to end birthright citizenship and an outright ban of the asylum system. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But the incoming administration is hopeful that the sheer scope of the efforts will deter illegal migration. And Trump on Monday said he believed his birthright order was on good grounds. Its ridiculous. Were the only country in the world that does this with birthright, Trump said. The actions are also intended to free up additional government resources and capabilities to focus on the border. Trump also declared an emergency during his first term and ordered billions of dollars previously allocated to the Department of Defense be redirected to fund border wall construction, after lawmakers repeatedly blocked efforts to secure funding through traditional legislative means. That order was rescinded by Joe Biden just after he took over the presidency in 2021. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Incoming Trump administration officials have not detailed what the national emergency declaration this time will entail, but said he is planning to deploy both active duty and National Guard troops to the southwest border and will order completion of his long-promised border wall. Trump also moved to designate the gangs MS-13 and Tren de Aragua as terrorist organizations, as well as Mexican cartels responsible for smuggling drugs across the border. Mexican cartels generate billions of dollars annually, dominating drug trafficking into the U.S. and engaging in human smuggling. The designation could impose tougher financial penalties and legal consequences in the U.S. However, it might jeopardize relations with Mexico, a critical trading partner, which are already tense after Trump threatened to raise tariffs. Several international drug trafficking organizations and gangs, including MS-13, have previously been declared Transnational Criminal Organizations and sanctioned by the Department of Treasury. One of the most high-profile cartel leaders, Ismael Zambada Garcia, known as El Mayo who co-led the Sinaloa Cartel in Mexico, is in custody in the US. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Birthright Citizenship Trumps birthright citizen order challenges a long-held interpretation of the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution adopted in 1868 after the Civil War to clarify the status of formerly enslaved people which is read as giving citizenship to any child born on US soil. That interpretation has been challenged before and in an 1898 decision, the Supreme Court found that an individual born to Chinese immigrants who had permanent residence in the US could not be denied citizenship. Critics of birthright citizenship argue it should not apply to the children of illegal immigrants or to so-called birth tourism, in which people travel to the US toward the end of their pregnancy to ensure their child is born a US citizen. During the campaign, Trump said he would direct federal agencies to require that at least one parent be a US citizen or lawful permanent resident for their children to automatically become US citizens, and ensure the children of parents in the country illegally would not be issued passports, Social Security numbers, or be eligible for certain taxpayer-funded benefits. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Refugee Suspension The six-month suspension of refugee resettlement furthers Trumps effort during his first administration when he cut the cap for those fleeing persecution to the US from 110,000 to 15,000, the lowest refugee admission ceiling in US history. That move was highly criticized by migration advocates. In the last fiscal year, the US resettled over 100,000 refugees, the largest annual number in three decades, the Biden announcement reported. Most of the refugees came from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Afghanistan, Venezuela, Syria and Ukraine, likely due to ongoing conflicts and humanitarian crises in these regions, according to data collected by the Refugee Processing Center. --With assistance from Maria Paula Mijares Torres, Stephanie Lai and Ellen M. Gilmer. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement (Updates with Trump signing actions) Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2025 Bloomberg L.P. Editors Note: This story has been updated to correctly identify Denali. (NEXSTAR) President Donald Trump is set to hit the ground running as he takes office for the second time on Monday. In addition to declaring a national energy emergency and issuing executive orders regarding the U.S.-Mexico border, Trump appears set to enact another change he has teased: renaming the Gulf of Mexico. Earlier this month, Trump told reporters he wants it to be known as the Gulf of America, calling it a beautiful name and appropriate. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It quickly drew pushback from Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo, who suggested North America be labeled as America Mexicana or Mexican America. That didnt stop Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) from quickly introducing a bill to rename the gulf. House Republican: Gulf of Mexico name less important than Trumps actions Ahead of Trumps inauguration Monday, his incoming press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, shared on X that Trump will rename not only the Gulf of Mexico but Denali as part of his initial executive orders. The post included a link to the New York Post, which reports it has learned that Trump will call for the Gulf of Mexico to become the Gulf of America. Denali will return to Mount McKinley President Barack Obama changed the name of the continents highest mountain in 2015. FILE A tour bus kicks up dust during a sunny day at Denali National Park in Alaska as Denali appears in the background on Thursday, Aug. 8, 2013. Road access in the popular national park in Interior Alaska is being restricted due to a long-running landslide issue that has been exacerbated by climate change, the park announced Tuesday, Aug. 24, 2021. (AP Photo/Manuel Valdes, File) Citing a preview of the executive orders, the Post reports the move is to honor American greatness and would require the secretary of the interior to change the names. In federal communications and official maps, the locations would be referred to as the Gulf of America and Mount McKinley. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Mount McKinley was named for Republican president William McKinley, who was assassinated in 1901. Trump had previously expressed admiration for McKinley, calling him a very successful businessman and a very good president during a December 2024 rally. Will Melania Trump and Barron live at the White House? Following Obamas renaming of the mountain in 2015 a move done to recognize the sacred status of Denali to generations of Alaska Natives Trump criticized the decision. He then vowed to change it back to McKinley during his first term in office. Members of Congress representing Alaska long resisted Denali becoming McKinley again. Does Trump have the power to rename both sites, though? Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement While he could take the same path Obama did to rename Denali after McKinley technically, his Secretary of the Interior, Sally Jewell, used her authority to rename the mountain its unclear exactly if thats what Trumps executive order calls for. Because Denali is within the U.S. boundaries, it could be a relatively simple process. Renaming the Gulf of Mexico could be more complicated. 378913 01: Pennzenergy Company Oil Exploration Drilling Rig In The Gulf Of Mexico During Sunset. (Photo By Getty Images) It would not be a unilateral decision and other countries would not have to refer to it the same way. The International Hydrographic Organization of which both the United States and Mexico are members works to ensure all the worlds seas, oceans, and navigable waters are surveyed and charted uniformly, and also names some of them. There are instances where countries refer to the same body of water or landmark by different names in their own documentation. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trump to issue 10 executive orders cracking down on border John Nyberg, the director of the International Hydrographic Organization, told The New York Times that there is no formal international agreement or protocol in place for naming maritime areas. The U.S. Board on Geographic Names, the nations geographic naming authority, explains that name changes for natural features are considered only for a compelling reason. Generally, the most important policy regarding names is local use and acceptance, it explains. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Copyright 2025 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. TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) Karoline Leavitt announced one of the day-one executive actions President-elect Donald Trump will take is renaming the Gulf of Mexico to Gulf of America, NBC announced. Karoline Leavitt, the incoming press secretary for Donald Trump confirmed with NBC News on Monday that he will also rename Denali in Alaska to Mount McKinley, its former name. WATCH LIVE: Trump to be sworn in as 47th president Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement According to NBC News, it is uncertain if Trump has the authority to rename the Gulf of Mexico due to it being in international waters. Denali was renamed from Mount Mckinley during former President Barack Obamas term in 2015. Copyright 2025 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. Editors Note: This story has been updated to correctly identify Denali. (NEXSTAR) President Donald Trump is set to hit the ground running as he takes office for the second time on Monday. In addition to declaring a national energy emergency and issuing executive orders regarding the U.S.-Mexico border, Trump appears set to enact another change he has teased: renaming the Gulf of Mexico. Earlier this month, Trump told reporters he wants it to be known as the Gulf of America, calling it a beautiful name and appropriate. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It quickly drew pushback from Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo, who suggested North America be labeled as America Mexicana or Mexican America. That didnt stop Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) from quickly introducing a bill to rename the gulf. House Republican: Gulf of Mexico name less important than Trumps actions Ahead of Trumps inauguration Monday, his incoming press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, shared on X that Trump will rename not only the Gulf of Mexico but Denali as part of his initial executive orders. The post included a link to the New York Post, which reports it has learned that Trump will call for the Gulf of Mexico to become the Gulf of America. Denali will return to Mount McKinley President Barack Obama changed the name of the continents highest mountain in 2015. FILE A tour bus kicks up dust during a sunny day at Denali National Park in Alaska as Denali appears in the background on Thursday, Aug. 8, 2013. Road access in the popular national park in Interior Alaska is being restricted due to a long-running landslide issue that has been exacerbated by climate change, the park announced Tuesday, Aug. 24, 2021. (AP Photo/Manuel Valdes, File) Citing a preview of the executive orders, the Post reports the move is to honor American greatness and would require the secretary of the interior to change the names. In federal communications and official maps, the locations would be referred to as the Gulf of America and Mount McKinley. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Mount McKinley was named for Republican president William McKinley, who was assassinated in 1901. Trump had previously expressed admiration for McKinley, calling him a very successful businessman and a very good president during a December 2024 rally. Will Melania Trump and Barron live at the White House? Following Obamas renaming of the mountain in 2015 a move done to recognize the sacred status of Denali to generations of Alaska Natives Trump criticized the decision. He then vowed to change it back to McKinley during his first term in office. Members of Congress representing Alaska long resisted Denali becoming McKinley again. Does Trump have the power to rename both sites, though? Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement While he could take the same path Obama did to rename Denali after McKinley technically, his Secretary of the Interior, Sally Jewell, used her authority to rename the mountain its unclear exactly if thats what Trumps executive order calls for. Because Denali is within the U.S. boundaries, it could be a relatively simple process. Renaming the Gulf of Mexico could be more complicated. 378913 01: Pennzenergy Company Oil Exploration Drilling Rig In The Gulf Of Mexico During Sunset. (Photo By Getty Images) It would not be a unilateral decision and other countries would not have to refer to it the same way. The International Hydrographic Organization of which both the United States and Mexico are members works to ensure all the worlds seas, oceans, and navigable waters are surveyed and charted uniformly, and also names some of them. There are instances where countries refer to the same body of water or landmark by different names in their own documentation. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trump to issue 10 executive orders cracking down on border John Nyberg, the director of the International Hydrographic Organization, told The New York Times that there is no formal international agreement or protocol in place for naming maritime areas. The U.S. Board on Geographic Names, the nations geographic naming authority, explains that name changes for natural features are considered only for a compelling reason. Generally, the most important policy regarding names is local use and acceptance, it explains. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Copyright 2025 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. President-elect Donald Trump has said he intends to start his second term with a flurry of executive orders and actions. Trump will be sworn into office at noon today in Washington, D.C., in a ceremony that was moved inside due to the threat of freezing temperatures. Inauguration live updates: Donald Trump to take oath of office, return for second term "There will be over 100 executive actions commands to the bureaucracies to change their ways," Stephen Miller, Trump's incoming deputy chief of staff for policy, told Fox News. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement On Sunday, Jan. 19, Trump said he'll issue an issue an executive order to delay the ban on TikTok. What's the difference between an executive order and executive action? Trump to issue executive order to delay TikTok ban On Sunday, Trump said he plans to issue an executive order hours after being sworn in as America's 47th presidents to temporarily stop the ban on the video app TikTok. The app went dark about 10:30 p.m., Saturday Jan. 18, 90 minutes before the shutdown deadline. TikTok users in the U.S. received a pop-up saying: "Sorry, TikTok isn't available right now." The popular app has over 170 million monthly users in the U.S. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In a post on Truth Social Sunday, Trump said he would issue an executive order to "extend the period of time before the laws prohibitions take effect, so that we can make a deal to protect our national security." TikTok restored service shortly after. "Its a strong stand for the First Amendment and against arbitrary censorship," the company wrote in a statement. "We will work with President Trump on a long-term solution that keeps TikTok in the United States. What is an executive order? "A presidential executive order is a directive issued to federal agencies, department heads, or other federal employees by the president of the United States under his statutory or constitutional powers," thoughtco.com explained. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Basically, they're signed statements by a president saying how he or she wants the federal government to be managed. Executive orders are published in the Federal Register and are legally binding. "In many ways, presidential executive orders are similar to written orders, or instructions issued by the president of a corporation to its department heads or directors," according to thoughtco.com. Trump plans 100 immediate executive actions. Here's what could be coming. They're sometimes used by presidents to push through agendas they can't get through Congress, according to The Associated Press. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement They give presidents the power to create unilateral directives. See list of all executive orders by president in Federal Register Can executive orders be overturned? Yes. Executive orders can be overturned if a court rules they're unconstitutional. They also can be modified by another president or nullified by legislation. A president also can amend or retract his or her own executive order. How many executive orders did President Biden issue? According to the Federal Register, Biden signed 160 executive orders between 2021 and 2025. How many executive orders did President Trump issue during his first term? During his first term as the 45th president, Trump issued 220 executive orders. between 2017 and 2021. Compare that to executive orders issued by recent presidents: Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Biden: 160 Trump: 220 Obama: 277 George W. Bush: 291 William Clinton: 364 George H.W. Bush: 166 Ronald Reagan: 381 Jimmy Carter: 320 What is an executive action? Executive actions and executive orders are not the same. Executive actions are not published in the Federal Register and arent subject to legal review. "Executive actions take a variety of forms and it is impossible to see how the president could fulfill his constitutional obligation to take care that the laws are faithfully executed without them," according to The Government Affairs Institute. "A good way to think of executive actions is a wish list of policies the president would like to see enacted," according to thoughtco. What time is the presidential inauguration today? Vice President-elect JD Vance will be sworn in first, followed by Trump at noon. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The ceremonies were moved to inside the U.S. Capitol building after the forecast for freezing temperatures. Inauguration 2025: What time does Donald Trump's inauguration start? See event schedule How to stream the inauguration USA TODAY will be streaming the event live. Click here to watch. Major broadcast networks, including ABC, CBS, CNN, CSPAN, Fox News, MSNBC, NBC and PBS, will air the inauguration live. You can also stream the inauguration live on the White House's live stream and the NewsNation app, as well as through streaming services that offer broadcast networks such as Hulu, YouTube TV, and Sling TV. This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Executive order or executive action? What they are Donald Trumps indoor inauguration has reportedly turned into a real shitshow. Not every lawmaker planning to attend Trumps swearing-in may be able to squeeze into the Capitol Rotunda, four lawmakers and aides told Politico Sunday. While the invite to move inside was originally extended to those on the presidential platform and members of Congress, its looking like the guest list may continue to shrink. Simply put, theres not enough room, one senior Republican aide told Politico. Its a shitshow. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The last-minute scramble to adjust plans for the weather has sparked confusion among lawmakers about whether they would be able to attend with their spouses, or if their guests would be moved to other locations throughout the building. Major donors, some of whom gave millions of dollars to Trumps inauguration fund, are also reportedly scrambling to secure a spot. CNNs Kaitlan Collins reported Monday that there were roughly 1,800 seats in Emancipation Hall, where Trump is scheduled to make remarks after being sworn-in in an entirely different room. Reasonably speaking, the Rotunda is about 7,200 square feet, which could fit roughly 1,000 people if they were sitting church-style, without accounting for a stage or other spacial concerns. Photos of Ronald Reagans indoor ceremony in 1985 showed that everyone was standing, while pictures of preparations for Mondays ceremony show rows of folding chairs. Meanwhile, NewsNation reported that the room could fit 2,000 people max, and a Trump spokesperson denied a rumor that only 99 people would be admitted. So, one can imagine it would be somewhere in the middle. But just hours before the ceremony, it was still anyones guess. Lightening the load, dozens of Democrats have already said they will not be attending, including former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Michelle Obama, and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who said simply, I dont celebrate rapists. Last week, the president-elect announced that his inauguration would be moved indoors due to severely low temperatures in Washington, leaving some of his supporters who had traveled hundreds of miles to see him sworn in feeling left out in the cold. Amid a seemingly endless barrage of Day One pledges, Donald Trump is reportedly planning to suspend security clearances for more than 50 officials for lying about the Hunter Biden laptop controversy. Citing a senior official with knowledge of the president-elects plans for Monday, Fox News reports clearances will be repealed for intelligence officers, branded Spies Who Lie by the New York Post , who penned a letter describing reports about the device as bearing the classic earmarks of a Russian disinformation campaign in the months leading up to the 2020 presidential election. While a federal investigation eventually confirmed the laptop had indeed belonged to the outgoing presidents son, several of the officials who made the claims said they stood by the letter and its broader concerns about Russian interference in U.S. democratic processes. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The device and its alleged contents later formed a focal point for long-running congressional attempts by the GOP to bring impeachment proceedings against Joe Biden , claiming Hunter Bidens emails painted a picture of a concerted corruption scheme by the Biden family to sell access to the Democratic president. To date, no investigations have uncovered any evidence of graft or wrongdoing on part of the outgoing president himself. Earlier in December, Biden issued a pardon for his son, stating the charges in his cases came about only after several of my political opponents in Congress instigated them to attack me and oppose my election. WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) President-elect Donald Trump will officially be sworn into office Monday. Trumps inauguration will take place inside the U.S. Capitol because of cold temperatures in D.C. The cold has moved the inauguration inside, but it has not stopped Trump supporters from showing out. Thousands attended a victory rally Sunday night where the incoming president laid out some of his plans. In an hour-long speech at Capital One Arena, President-elect Donald Trump pledged to quickly implement his agenda and undo President Bidens. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Every radical and foolish executive order of the Biden administration will be repealed within hours of when I take the oath of office, said Trump. President-elect Trump said his top priorities include sealing the southern border and deporting illegal immigrants. By the time the sun sets tomorrow evening, the invasion of our borders will have come to a halt, said Trump. Hes also touting the return of TikTok after the video sharing app briefly went offline in the U.S. He said hell issue an executive order Monday to delay the ban on the Chinese-owned app. I said Ill approve but let the United States of America own 50% of TikTok, said Trump. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The rally comes as the U.S. Capitol rotunda prepares for an indoor inauguration for the first time in 40 years. President-elect Trump will attend a church service Monday morning. He will have tea at the White House with President Biden before being sworn in at the Capitol. After that, he heads to Capital One Arena for a parade. Copyright 2025 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. Donald Trump signed a slew of executive orders after taking the oath as president Monday, looking to quickly implement his agenda, including declaring a national emergency on the U.S.-Mexico border, ordering construction on his border wall to resume and terminating diversity programs in federal agencies. After a celebratory rally in downtown Washington, Trump signed a number of orders relating to immigration at the White House, including a directive to end birthright citizenship. Birthright citizenship has been understood to be required under the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which states: All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Democrats and some legal groups have vowed to challenge in court any attempt by Trump to do away with birthright citizenship. "With these actions, we will begin the complete restoration of America and the revolution of common sense. Its all about common sense," Trump said in his inaugural address. He also followed through with a promise to sign an order granting the Chinese-owned social media platform TikTok more time to sell to a U.S.-based company. The first order Trump signed before a crowd at the Capital One Arena revoked about 80 executive actions former President Joe Biden signed. He also signed a freeze on new regulations, as well as a hiring freeze on federal workers. And Trump also withdrew again from the Paris climate treaty. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement When he was done, he threw some of the pens hed used into the crowd. The orders are part of a broad plan thats expected to include more than 50 items in total as he seeks a quick start to his second stint in the White House. Immigration overhaul Trump's other executive orders on immigration restore his "Remain in Mexico" policy from his first administration for those seeking to enter the United States through Mexico, while another designated cartels and migrant gangs, specifically MS-13 and Tren de Aragua, as foreign terrorist organizations. Mexico's Foreign Affairs Ministry told NBC News that Trump was making the move on his "Remain in Mexico" policy unilaterally, without the country's agreement, which could be a hurdle for implementation. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Asked if the gang terrorism designation meant that U.S. special forces could be sent into Mexico, Trump told reporters in the Oval Office, "Stranger things have happened." Trump's declaration of a national emergency at the border would allow the Defense Department to deploy the military and the National Guard to the border. Asked what the rules of engagement would be for the military deployed to the border, Trump transition officials said that would be up to the Defense Department. We have to set our country on the proper course, Trump said of his immigration plans Sunday at a rally for supporters. By the time the sun sets tomorrow evening, the invasion of our borders will have come to a halt, and all the illegal border trespassers will, in some form or another, be on their way back home. Reversing diversity initiatives Not all of the executive orders are about border and immigration policy. Others targeted diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives within the federal government. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "We will forge a society that is colorblind and merit-based," Trump said in his inaugural address. Another order says the policy of the United States is to recognize two sexes male and female including on all government documents, such as passports and visas. In 2022, the Biden administration allowed U.S. citizens to be able to select the gender-neutral X as a marker on their passport books. The order will also prevent taxpayer funds from being used for gender-transition health care. Reforms and cuts for government workers As had been expected, Trump signed an order officially creating the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which will have a mission of cutting government spending. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In November, Trump announced DOGE would be co-led by billionaire Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy. But sources familiar with his thinking told NBC News on Monday that Ramaswamy would not be involved so he can focus on running for governor of Ohio. That order was immediately challenged in a trio of lawsuits alleging that the unofficial government department evades transparency rules and other laws. On Trump's agenda, as well, was an order reimplementing "Schedule F," an executive order that strips job protections from nonpolitical career officials in policy roles throughout the federal bureaucracy. The move makes it significantly easier for a president to fire them. The order could affect potentially thousands of workers. Another order requires more federal workers to return to work in person. Extra energy Trump also signed executive orders designed to spur American energy production, which is already at a record level. One order will declare a "national energy emergency" to reduce bureaucracy and allow more drilling, while another will allow more energy production in Alaska. Name changes He was also signing another order changing the name of Alaska's Denali, the tallest mountain in North America, back to Mount McKinley. President Barack Obama renamed the mountain in 2015 at the request of Native Alaskan tribes and politicians, sparking anger in President William McKinley's home state, Ohio. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Another order would change the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America, although it's not clear whether a U.S. president has the authority to rename an area that is considered international waters. Securing and revoking security clearances Citing a "backlog" in the "processing of security clearances of individuals hired to work in the Executive Office of the President," Trump signed an order allowing the White House counsel's office to produce a list of staffers who will immediately get top secret security clearances, instead of going through the normal security clearance process. He also signed an order revoking security clearances of former intelligence officials who signed a letter warning that the Hunter Biden laptop story during the 2020 election has all the classic earmarks of a Russian information operation, as well as the clearance for his former national security adviser, John Bolton. Bolton was singled out for his book about working for Trump. The order said the book which was highly critical of Trump "was rife with sensitive information drawn from his time in government." Record number of orders The scope and number of orders Trump signed far exceeded what he did on his first day in office in 2017, when he signed one executive order that targeted the Affordable Care Act. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It also goes beyond the number Biden signed on his first day in office. Biden signed nine executive orders on topics from ethics commitments for executive branch personnel to combating discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation, and he also signed orders reversing Trump directives on immigration and deregulation. Biden also signed off on seven other executive actions that day in 2021, including directives aimed at halting funding of Trumps border wall and reversing his decision to pull the United States out of the international Paris climate agreement. On Monday, Trump signed an order reversing Biden's reversal of the climate agreement, as well as his orders on gender identity discrimination and ethics commitments. He initiated the process to withdraw from the World Health Organization, which he did during his last administration before Biden reversed the move and before Trump reversed Biden once more. He also reversed some of Biden's final executive orders, including the former president's order removing Cuba's designation as a state sponsor of terrorism. In a phone interview with NBC News Meet the Press moderator Kristen Welker on Saturday, Trump said he planned to sign a large number of executive actions on his first day. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We have a record-setting number of documents that Ill be signing right after this [inauguration] speech, he said. This article was originally published on NBCNews.com "Hearst Magazines and Yahoo may earn commission or revenue on some items through these links." Donald Trump will move into the White House this January 20 to begin his second term as president, having won both the Electoral College and the popular vote over Kamala Harris. With all eyes on Washington, D.C., for his swearing-in, Democrats fear the rise of an era of mass deportations, a new American oligarchy, and attacks on everything from education to womens and queer rightsall ushered in by a convicted felon who has been found liable for sexual abuse. Ahead of Inauguration Day, Harpers Bazaar spoke with a group of the countrys leading female DemocratsGovernor Gretchen Whitmer, Representative Ilhan Omar, Representative Jasmine Crockett, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, Representative Cassandra Levesque, and former Representative Beth Fukumototo ask, simply, what comes next? Drew Angerer The feelings leading up to Inauguration Day When I saw that the American people chose an old white man with 34 felony counts over a qualified Black woman who has served as California Attorney General, U.S. senator, and vice president, I felt sadness for our country, Texas Rep. Jasmine Crockett tells Bazaar. A passionate defender of reproductive justice, trans rights, and criminal justice reform, among many other things, the congresswoman is not reluctant to admit how concerned she is for 2025s America. Kamala Harris has a beautiful family and a long career ahead of hershell be fine. Its the American people who are about to feel the consequences of this decision, and I think well be feeling it for a long, long time, she says. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trump has promised that on his first day in office, he will not only kick off major deportations of undocumented immigrants, but also end birthright citizenship and, in his words, terminate every open-borders policy of the Biden administration. He will also pardon his supporters who trampled their way into the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, causing the death of five people, in an effort to overturn the election Trump lost to Joe Biden. Trump has also claimed he will end the war between Russia and Ukraine. (He has not been shy about his admiration for dictator Vladimir Putin, and has vocally opposed to sending aid to Ukraine.) Jemal Countess - Getty Images If youre looking for me to sugarcoat the reality were facing, I cant do that, Crockett says. Donald Trump, his far-right friends at the Heritage Foundation, and his oligarch buddies have openly admitted they plan on implementing Project 2025 policieslike banning abortion nationwide and gutting our public education systemstarting on day one of his second term. Beth Fukumoto, who served in the Hawaii House of Representatives from 2013 to 2018 and was the youngest person to serve as the House Minority Leader, left the Republican Party to become a Democrat once Trump got elected in 2016, after years of growing discomfort with the partys direction. Her reaction to his second win: I was devastated. For years, I tried to advocate for a more inclusive and diverse Republican party. I was the youngest woman and only Republican woman of color to lead a party in a U.S. legislature, at the time, which made me a unique voice for change. But after Trumps election, I was told very clearly by my party that I would be silenced for if I continued to criticize the president. At that point, it became clear that all the effort my allies and I put in to change the party failed, she tells Bazaar. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trump didnt create the racism or sexism we see in todays partyhe brought them to the forefront and gave them an outlet. And its only gotten worse since I left, she adds. The party I once supporteda party of fiscal responsibility and individual libertyhas been redefined by fear, exclusion, and authoritarian tendencies. KENA BETANCUR - Getty Images New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand says she shares that feeling of hopelessness and disappointment that so many are experiencing at the start of another MAGA presidency. But she insists that rather than freeze with rage and disbelief, those with any morals left need to step up and organize and unite to help protect our most basic rights, which our opponents are constantly trying to erode and will continue to do over the next four years. Rep. Ilhan Omar, of Minnesota, joins the rest of the women in her deep disappointment over Harriss loss. This wasnt just about losing an electionit was about seeing so many Americans choose a vision of our country that doesnt align with our values of inclusion and justice, she says, pointing to Trumps grim vision for America. ZACH GIBSON - Getty Images Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement People are exhausted, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan notes. They want leaders to work on their problems and get things done. Where we agree, I am going to try to make progress. Where we diverge, I am going to stand up for Michigan, as I always have. I took office in the middle of the first Trump presidency, so Ive been through this before. JEFF KOWALSKY - Getty Images Glimmers of hope The Democrat leaders Bazaar spoke to all agreed on one thing: There are still plenty of Americans, in and out of politics, who are still prepared to work hard on the part of progressive causes. Ive learned throughout my life that setbacks are not permanent unless we allow them to be, Omar says. Its important to remember that we have many progressive voices who have been re-elected to Congress who are not afraid to push back on the hateful policies that Trump and his allies will be driving through in the next few years. Omar has been working in government for nine years now. She is the first Somali-American Muslim woman in the nation to hold a state legislative office, andalong with Representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, and Ayanna Pressley of Massachusettsa member of what has become known as The Squad, the group of four congresswomen who are some of Trumps strongest critics. Shes an advocate for safeguarding the environment, protecting immigrants, fostering education, and creating an inclusive foreign policy that centers on human rights. If anyones justified in worrying about what the next four years may bring, its herand yet, she sees reason for optimism. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Omar points out that many of the Dems in leadership positions, herself included, have worked through a Trump administration before, and will use what we learned the first time around to stand for our Democratic and progressive values. For her, that means fighting on multiple fronts. Well continue to show up for the working class and ensure our government holds the needs of everyday people above the interests of the wealthy and powerful, stand against attacks on our immigrant communities, and continue to fight for the environmental safeguards we need to build a more sustainable future. Alex Wong - Getty Images Gillibrand says she is feeling particularly hopeful at this moment because as one of his final acts as president, Biden declared that the Equal Rights Amendment is finally a valid part of the Constitution. She says that while she anticipate[s] that this new administration will present us with challenges in court, Bidens move is nonetheless a big win for the millions of women living in states with restrictions on their reproductive freedoms who can now file lawsuits to overturn these unconstitutional laws that discriminate against people based on their sex. Finding the will to press on Bad things happen, and some people cannot advocate for themselves, so being their voice and sharing their stories and perspectives is what makes me push on, says Rep. Cassandra Levesque of New Hampshire. There is a reason why we have public committee meetings and speeches on the House floor. We may bring a new perspective that may change the way someone votes, which is why we should keep advocating and fighting. People are counting on us. We may not win, but we certainly cannot give up. Omar agrees, saying that when she sees mothers struggling with childcare costs, LGBTQ+ youth facing discrimination, or students drowning in student debt, Im reminded that giving up is not an option. She says that the key to getting things done is simply to get things done: You get what you organize for. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The attacks on our rights are an attempt to deny people their humanity. Real change has never been handed to us, it comes from strategic organizing at the grassroots level, Omar continues. We can create lasting change when we refuse to back down and show up consistently. Chip Somodevilla - Getty Images Crockett is preparing for the worst, but says there is one silver lining for liberals in all this: House Democrats picked up one more seat in 2024 than they had in the 118th Congress, leaving House Republicans with an even smaller margin to govern than they had before. Republican Congress members know that their majority is hanging by a threadso if your readers want to make a real difference, they need to find out who their members of Congress are and save their office number in their contacts, she tells Bazaar. Stay engaged on upcoming legislation, let your member know how youd like them to vote, and watch their votes on Congress.gov. Be polite but persistent. Remember, your Representatives work for younot Trump, and definitely not Elon Musk. Find your members of Congress here. Where the fight goes now As we face the return of Donald Trump and his extremist agenda, our mission is more critical than ever. As a coalition, we must ensure a unified front against what will be an agenda fueled by fear and hatred, Omar says. Over the next four years, our focus will be to show the American people that there is a better way forward. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The issues on her agenda: fight for a higher minimum wage, expand the Child Tax Credit, make healthcare universalso no family is forced to choose between medicine and rentand push for a fair tax code where billionaires and corporations finally pay their fair share. Whitmer says that on an immediate, local scale, her focus remains on lowering costs, fixing the roads people drive on, and increasing access to a good-paying job, because these are things we can all get behindregardless of political party. But on a larger scale, she adds, Michiganders expect me to keep fighting for and protecting womens rights, LGBTQ rights, and so much more. As a mom of two adult daughters, one of whom identifies as a gay woman, I must stand up for their fundamental rights. Tom Williams - Getty Images Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Fukumoto notes that this election result should serve as a reminder that progress isnt guaranteed. If we want our vision for the future to succeed, we have to connect with people in ways that show them how our solutions will directly improve their lives. In the next four years, we need to do more than just resist harmful policieswe need to articulate and advocate for a compelling, hopeful vision of the future. Trump will provide endless opportunities for outrage, and while we must push back, we also need to focus our energy on presenting alternatives, she says. Jemal Countess - Getty Images During Harris campaign run, Fukumoto worked with United to Preserve, a program that took scholars to swing communities to discuss the importance of preserving our democratic institutions. Ive been reflecting on Martin Luther King Jr.s words: The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice, says Fukumoto, noting the irony that Trumps second term starts on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, when we celebrate a leader who stood for equality and advocated for peace. Change doesnt happen overnight, and progress requires perseverance. We just have to keep pushing forward. If history has taught us anything, its that apathy is the surest way to lose our democracy. You Might Also Like (The Hill) President-elect Donald Trump is set to promise a new era of national success in his inaugural address, according to The Wall Street Journal. I return to the presidency confident and optimistic that we are at the start of a thrilling new era of national success. A tide of change is sweeping the country, a part of the inaugural address, which the Journal first obtained, reads. My message to Americans today is that it is time for us to once again act with courage, vigor and the vitality of historys greatest civilization, the speech continues. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The former presidents inauguration ceremony on Monday is set to take place inside the Capitol Rotunda instead of the West Front of the Capitol due to cold weather. Trumps return to the presidency comes after an intense 2024 election cycle that featured one of the major candidates dropping out and assassination attempts against the president-elect. He enters the office amid a period of heated political rhetoric on both sides of the aisle. In President Joe Bidens inaugural address four years ago, he pushed for unity, saying that Americans can see each other not as adversaries but as neighbors. We can treat each other with dignity and respect. We can join forces, stop the shouting, and lower the temperature. For without unity, there is no peace, only bitterness and fury, he added. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The expected attendees for Mondays swearing-in ceremony include Biden, former President Bill Clinton, former President George W. Bush and former President Barack Obama. Other expected guests include tech moguls such as Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg. Copyright 2025 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. Just minutes after returning to office Monday, President Donald Trump vowed to reinstate more than 8,000 troops dismissed from military service for refusing to take the COVID-19 vaccine, promising them back pay that could cost the federal government hundreds of millions of dollars. The promise, which Trump said will happen sometime this week, came amid a host of military policy priorities for the new administration outlined in Trumps inauguration speech. He also pledged to rebuild the military and avoid unnecessary wars during his term in office. I will reinstate any service members who were unjustly expelled from our military for objecting to the COVID vaccine mandate with full back pay, Trump said, drawing applause from a crowd of supporters crowded into the U.S. Capitol for ceremonies. And I will sign an order to stop our warriors from being subjected to radical political theories and social experiments while on duty. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trumps statement follows similar comments by his defense secretary pick, former Fox News host Pete Hegseth, during a Senate hearing last week. Hegseth promises to reinstate, repay troops who refused COVID vaccine Hegseth stated that tens of thousands of service members were kicked out because of an experimental vaccine and promised that those individuals would be apologized to and brought back into the military. Defense Department leaders mandated the COVID-19 vaccine for all troops from August 2021 to January 2023, with limited exceptions for medical issues or religious objections. About 8,000 troops were forced out of the service for refusing the order. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement That number represents less than half of 1% of the total military end strength. But in the years since the mandate was lifted, conservative lawmakers have accused Defense Department officials of severely impacting force readiness with the dismissals, and called for those individuals to be allowed to return to the ranks. Pentagon leaders have said the dismissals did not hurt readiness or morale. But they did implement procedures allowing those individuals to reapply for military service after the vaccine mandate was lifted. Only a few dozen pursued the program, according to Defense Department statistics. Military members are required to receive more than a dozen vaccines as part of their normal onboarding process, but the COVID-19 vaccine became controversial because of the rapid nature of its development at the end of Trumps first term in office. Globally, more than 7 million people have died from complications related to the virus, according to the World Health Organization. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trump in his speech also promised to again build the strongest military the world has ever seen and said that he hopes his legacy in office will be that of a peacemaker and unifier. New White House officials did not immediately say when the executive order regarding military COVID vaccines might be signed. Trump had planned several others for Monday, including ones dealing with immigration. Jan. 19 (UPI) -- President-elect Donald Trump told a crowd of supporters in Washington, D.C., Sunday afternoon that "four long years of American decline" will end," and that nation will "begin a brand new day of American strength and prosperity and pride." Trump, speaking at a rally on the eve of his inauguration, said that he would sign a flurry of measures, including repealing President Joe Biden's executive orders "within hours," beginning a long-promised mass deportation effort, banning transgender athletes from competing in male sports, bolstering investment in military spending and touring the areas devastated by wildfires in California, all within his first week in office. During a wide-ranging and often acerbic address at the Capital One Arena, Trump said he will end Diversity, Equity and Inclusion programs "all across the government" and said the country will return to "the merit system." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He said he will launch a "mass deportation" effort that was a centerpiece of his campaign. It seeks to expel what Trump has repeatedly called "dangerous criminals." President-elect Donald Trump thanks members of the musical group The Village People after their performance a rally ahead of the 60th Presidential Inauguration at Capital One Arena, in Washington, D.C., on Sunday. Photo by Leigh Vogel/UPI "We will not be invaded. We will not be occupied, we will not be overrun," Trump said of his plans for the deportation plan, which he said will begin Monday "at noon." The incoming president claimed that more than half of the people who have crossed the U.S. border illegally have killed at least one person, but offered no proof to back up that statement. He instead rode a wave of enthusiasm from the cheering crowd assembled at the rally, many wearing "Make America Great Again" hats and holding red and white signs emblazoned with "47." Elon Musk joins President-elect Donald Trump on stage at a rally ahead of the 60th Presidential Inauguration at Capital One Arena, in Washington, D.C., on Sunday. Photo by Leigh Vogel/UPI U.S. Homeland Security officials have said most migrants crossing the border are families trying to escape poverty, and illegal crossings have dropped to the lowest level in years, a non-partisan analysis of federal data shows. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trump also promised to make public documents associated with the assassinations of John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., reversing what he called the over-classification of government documents President-elect Donald Trump speaks at a rally ahead of the 60th Presidential Inauguration at Capital One Arena, in Washington, D.C., on Sunday. Photo by Leigh Vogel/UPI Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "It's all going to be released," Trump declared. He also said he will direct the U.S. military to continue work on an iron dome missile defense system, and change the philosophy of the personnel admitted into the U.S. armed forces. President-elect Donald Trump arrives at a rally ahead of the 60th Presidential Inauguration at Capital One Arena, in Washington, DC, on Sunday. Photo by Leigh Vogel/UPI "We will get wokeness the hell out of our military effective immediately and make it like it used to be," Trump told the crowd. The incoming president also called onto the stage SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who was accompanied by his son. Musk jumped and waved his arms as he had done at a previous rally and his son waved to the crowd. "Looking forward to making a lot of changes," Musk said. "This victory is the start, really." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Musk and former GOP presidential hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy have been appointed by Trump to lead the new Department of Government Efficiency. They have said they will cut $2 trillion from the U.S. budget in the first year of the Trump administration, a figure economists have said is next to impossible without cutting deeply into essential government services. "We have to be protective of our geniuses," Trump said of Musk as the tech executive walked off the stage with his son trailing behind him. The incoming president also said he will move to implement a 90-day reprieve on a ban on the popular social media app TikTok. Citing security concerns over the app's ownership by the Chinese company ByteDance, Trump was critical of the platform during his first presidency and called it dangerous and threatening, but became more supportive of the app during his campaign for the White House this time around, crediting it with helping him with winning the 2024. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The company, whose app went dark late Saturday night, posted a poignant message on its homepage suggesting that "President Trump" would restore it once he took office. The app, with more than 170 million users in the United States, crackled back to life Sunday morning after Trump said people deserve to see the inauguration. During the Sunday rally speech, Trump also took credit for the cease-fire between Israel and Hamas, a deal for which Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Trump's transition team and the Biden administration team deserve equal credit. Trump added that if he had been president, the latest skirmish in the centuries-long battle between Israel and Hamas would have "never happened." Dangerously cold winter weather has forced officials to move Monday's inauguration event indoors. The swearing-in will be in the Capitol Rotunda with only about 600 people. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "We will open Capital One Arena on Monday for LIVE viewing of this Historic event, and to host the Presidential Parade," Trump said. "I will join the crowd at Capital One, after my Swearing In." Organizers said 200,000 people have tickets, but only 20,000 will fit in the arena. They have said people will be able to catch a glimpse of Trump's motorcade as it travels along Pennsylvania Ave. en route to the event, but as of Sunday night additional plans for the event remained in flux. In his inauguration address on Monday afternoon, President Donald Trump said his "proudest legacy" would be "that of a peacemaker." Moments later, Trump threatened to seize a portion of the sovereign territory of another countryspecifically, the Panama Canal, a crucial link for global trade. It's a useful reminder of what America will be getting for the next four years: a president who holds a chaotic mix of often contradictory ideas, and one who sees everything as being up for negotiation. Do you want a president who will keep America out of pointless foreign conflicts? Trump promises to be that guy. Do you want a president who projects American power around the world and demands fealty from the leaders of lesser nations? He can be that guy too. Just don't try to reconcile the two visions. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In his role as a peacemaker, Trump said the military's success should be measured "not only by the battles we win, butperhaps most importantly, the wars we never get into." That skepticism of America's ability to impose its will at the point of the 101st Airborne Division has been a vital part of Trump's political career, which began with his (welcome and necessary) bashing of Bush-era Republicans who led the country into the disastrous wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. And then, moments later, Trump was asserting America's right to take whatever it wants, even if other countries might disagree: "We gave it to Panama, and we're taking it back," Trump said, referring to the canal. Indeed, the United States did give the canal to Panama. In 1977, President Jimmy Carter signed a treaty with Panamanian Chief of Government Omar Torrijos that relinquished American control over the Panama Canal Zone, which included not just the canal itself but a five-mile swath of land on either side of the channel. That territory had been granted to the United States by another treaty between the two countries in 1903. Trump has complained about that 1977 deal for years, but the most recent motivation has to do with a third country: China. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "China is operating the Panama Canal, and we didn't give it to China," he said in the inauguration address. As The Wall Street Journal explains, that claim is rooted in the build-up of "Chinese infrastructure" in and around the canal. A Hong Kong-based company runs ports at either end of the canal, and China has subsidized the building of a new cruise ship terminal, a new bridge, and other projects in and around the canal in recent years. Still, as the Journal notes, both Panamanian and American officials say those projects aren't a security concern and don't violate the canal's neutrality. Most importantly, Panama President Jose Raul Mulino says he's not interested in making a deal. "The canal is and will continue to be Panamanian," he said last month. Mulino spoke in stronger terms on Monday, saying in a statement that he "must fully reject" Trump's statements in the inaugural address. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "Dialogue remains the ideal approach to address these issues without compromising our rights, full sovereignty, or ownership of our Canal," Mulino added. Trump is right that the U.S. is stronger when it isn't going abroad in search of monsters to destroy. But he's wrong to be threatening an ally and preparing to tear up a treaty over a nonexistent threat. The post Trump Promises To Be a 'Peacemaker,' Threatens Panama appeared first on Reason.com. Donald Trump will rename the Gulf of Mexico and Mount Denali by executive order in one of his first acts as president. The news broke shortly before he was sworn in Monday morning, and Trump confirmed it during his inaugural address. The order will rename the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America, and Mount Denali to Mount McKinley, which was the official name recognized by the federal government from 1917 until 2015. Trump first announced his plans to rename the gulf nearly two weeks ago in a rambling press conference, saying, Were gonna be changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America. What a beautiful name. And its appropriate. Mexico has to stop allowing millions of people to pour into our country. They can stop them. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Not long after that declaration, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum held a news conference of her own where she asked, Why dont we call it Mexican America? It sounds pretty, no? Denali is the tallest mountain in North America, and gained its name from the Koyukon Athabaskans, the original inhabitants of Alaska. A gold prospector gave it the name McKinley in 1896 as a show of support for William McKinley, who was running for president at the time, and the federal government made the name official in 1917. In 1975, the state of Alaska sought to have the name changed, only to be blocked by Ohio politicians supporting their native son McKinley. In 2015, President Obama officially renamed the mountain to what Alaska natives had called it for centuries. Last month, though, Trump told supporters in a speech in Arizona that he would bring back the name of Mount McKinley because I think he deserves it. Trump could also be making the move because he wants to stick it to Obama, or because he admires McKinleys imperialism. In any case, changing both names will be costly to U.S. taxpayers, and serve no strategic purpose whatsoever. Its the first of likely many more pointless moves in the new Trump administration. President Donald Trump is rolling back efficiency standards on new appliances and cars as part of forthcoming executive actions the new administration said will empower consumer choice in vehicles, showerheads, toilets, washing machines, lightbulbs and dishwashers. The White House announced the move in a document Monday listing Trumps top priorities upon his return to office. The executive orders expected in the coming hours or days are likely to direct the agency chiefs awaiting Senate confirmation to begin new rulemaking processes to reverse Biden-era regulations. During the closing days of Trumps last term, his administration finalized rules relaxing efficiency standards on showers, laundry machines and toilets that he complained used insufficient volumes of water. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Biden administration swiftly reversed the rules and looked to undo a special carveout Trump made in 2020 in response to a petition from the libertarian Competitive Enterprise Institute giving appliances that complete a full cycle in an hour or less a special status with less-stringent rules. Republican attorneys general sued to block the Biden administration from revoking Trumps appliance rules, and a federal court sent the issue back to the Department of Energy in 2022. Days after the November election, the Energy Department finalized its proposal to cement Bidens rescinding of the Trump-era carveout. Donald Trump took office for his second term as the president of the United States on Monday, Jan. 20, 2025. Pool via Getty Images While Trumps focus on appliances has long been described as a personal pet peeve, efficiency advocates pointed to positive reviews of new showers and dishwashers. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Any good showerhead is likely to be an upgrade over the one you inherited when you moved into your place, especially if its more than a decade old, the product-review site Wirecutter wrote in December. Earlier this month, Consumer Reports testing found models that use even less water than what the law allows while still providing a powerful shower that leaves you feeling recharged. Most dishwashers with five-star cleaning ratings on the Consumer Reports website meet the stronger standards the Biden administration finalized last April, according to an analysis by the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy. In another write paper, ACEEE found that new federal standards finalized last January to make stoves more efficient would primarily impact electric stoves, leaving 97% of gas models on the market untouched. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Republicans routinely railed against higher gas costs, then redirected rage at the Biden administrations decision to release fuel from the Strategy Petroleum Reserve to bring down the price at the pump. But the American Petroleum Institute, the main oil and gas lobby in the U.S., made reversing fuel-milage rules to make automobiles more efficient a top priority ahead of Trumps inauguration. Doing so will likely require a formal rulemaking process at the Environmental Protection Agency, set to be led by Trumps nominee, former Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-N.Y.). But advocates expect Trump to issue executive orders this week setting the stage for slashing energy efficiency standards on new appliances. Test after test has found that efficient new dishwashers, washing machines, and showerheads perform far better than old models, said Andrew deLaski, executive director of ACEEEs Appliance Standards Awareness Project, so any effort to undo standards for these products would not help families and would only raise their total costs. Related... Part of Donald Trumps long list of day one executive orders is a pair of controversial name changes. Trump is set to rename the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America and revert Alaskas Mt. Denali back to its previous name of Mount McKinley, the New York Post reported. A preview of the orders said the immediate change is to honor American greatness. Trump, 78, is expected to sign off on nearly 200 executive actions by the end of his first day in office. It is the latest proof he plans to flex his power immediately in his second term after he won the popular vote and swept all seven swing states. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The renaming of the gulf was first rolled out by Trump on Jan. 7 in a rambling press conference where he also remarked that Mexico is controlled by drug cartels. The natural feature, which makes up the coastline in Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and western Florida, has been called the Gulf of Mexico since the 16th century. Trumps renaming effortand his digs at the U.S. southern neighbordrew the ire of Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum, who countered that North of America should be renamed America Mexicana, or Mexican America. Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum shows a 1661 world map showing the Americas and the Gulf of Mexico in response to Donald Trumps comments about renaming the body of water. / Presidencia de Mexico / via REUTERS Why dont we call it Mexican America? Sheinbaum said at a news conference of her own. It sounds pretty, no? The renaming of Denali, meanwhile, is a rollback on a Barack Obama effort from 2015 that was intended to honor the native Koyukon people. Prior to that, the mountainthe highest-peaked on the continent at 20,310 feet above sea levelwas named after the 25th U.S. president, William McKinley. It is Obamas executive action to rename Denali that sets a precedent for Trumps pair of name changes. Experts have reminded, however, that other countries may not opt to recognize the name change for an international body of water. It is probably safe to assume Mexico is among those that will not. Its not just a cruel irony that, as many have observed, Martin Luther King Jr. would have opposed Donald Trump and likely been out protesting somewhere today had he been alive. Thats obvious. The cruelty of the joke that Trump swore the oath of office on MLK Day runs much deeper than that, because each man is the epitome of our two American traditions that have been in conflict since the 1860s and will probably be furiously at war in new and worrisome ways, maybe even approaching some kind of Armageddon, over these next four years. The traditions date to the period right after the Civil War. It has been referred to, notably by the great historian Eric Foner, as Americas Second Founding, when the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments finally established the American ideal of equality of law for allcompleting, in other words, the revolution that the Founders left unfinished. This has been the standard interpretation of the importance of that era. But as we know all too well these days, there are no longer any standard interpretationsa phrase that makes any right-winger reach for his revolver, to invoke another famous right-wing complaint about mainstream small-r republican values. Down South, that never was the interpretation of the Second Founding. In the South, it meant destruction and occupation and, most of all, the transfer of political power from the wealthy class that had held it for 200-plus years to people who had been their property. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement That was the Southern interpretation of what we call Reconstruction. And so the South countered with its own narrative, Redemption: the return of white supremacy and the re-subjugation of the Negro, enforced through newly written state constitutions and through the violence carried out by groups like the Ku Klux Klan. Weve been locked in the battle between Reconstruction and Redemption ever since. No single American has embodied the Reconstruction narrative more fully than King, who, a century after those amendments, finally and courageously brought the country face to face with the ways in which even those bold amendments remained unfulfilled, thus helping to bring about full legal equalityand paying with his life for doing so. And surely no one has represented the Redemption side of the argument more than Trump. To say that is not to attempt to associate him with cross-burnings. But Trump represents, and pledged in his inaugural address to enforce, the American tradition that is handed down to us from the Redemption movement. Trump on Monday said some nice things about unity. He expressed gratitude to African Americans and Latinos for their support at the polls and vowed he would remember: To the Black and Hispanic communities, I want to thank you for the tremendous outpouring of love and trust that you have shown me with your vote. That was actually kind of a gracious sentence (except that of course he had to fart on it in the next sentence by boasting that we set records, which is questionable). If he governs like that, even 20 percent of the time, maybe things wont be as relentlessly bleak as we fear. But come on. Hes spent the last two years telling us what he really thinks and will do. And there was plenty of that in the speech as well. Well learn soon exactly what it means that hell declare a national emergency at the border and that hell send troops there to repel the disastrous invasion of our country. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Thats the first enemy of the modern-day Redemptionist: the other. The second is those who challenge traditional social and sexual mores. And so he promised to end the government policy of trying to socially engineer race and gender into every aspect of public and private life and promised, to a sustained standing ovation, that it will henceforth be the official policy of the United States government that there are only two genders, male and female. The Redemptionists third target deals in symbols, and the eradication of those that suggest national weakness, irresolution, dissipation of the national fiber. So, sure enough, the Gulf of Mexico is to become the Gulf of America, and the Panama Canal will be reseized. And of course the awesome Alaskan mountain whose Native American name, Denali (the great one), was bestowed by those pre-DEI meddlers in the 1970s, will once again take its rightful name after William McKinley, a president who had no connection to Alaska. (The name Mount McKinley was first used in an 1897 news article by a gold prospector who was an admirer of the new president. It took McKinleys assassination for the idea to take root.) The weak but blamable other, the challenger of sexual mores, those who have stripped the nation of its symbolic honor: These are always the Redemptionists targets. None of this is to say that we dont have problems at the border (we obviously do) or that the forces pushing for social change cant sometimes get out ahead of their skis (they can). These are the debates liberals and conservatives have in a democratic society. But Trump doesnt want to debate any of this. He wants to impose his version of it. And he just might. After all, he has some big guns on his side. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement FirstGod. I was wondering if hed invoke the (first, dramatic) assassination attempt. And he did it in exactly the fashion one expectedto play on the religious emotions of his admirers and position himself as chosen: But I felt then and believe even more so now, that my life was saved for a reason. I was saved by God to make America great again. But second, and perhaps more importantly, he now seems to own the billionaires who control the countrysand some of the worldsmost important media platforms. Even the TikTok guy was there. If God deserts him, these men will always have his back. And thats whats new here. The reactionary movements that have peppered and darkened this countrys historysegregationists, Joe McCarthy, others of that ilkhave usually been opposed by establishment forces. Sometimes that opposition was slow to find its voice, but it never outright supported the Redemptionist strain. Today, Trump has the establishments backing. As they went through the motions of tradition and decorum on Inauguration Day, we saw their smile. Well see their scowl soon enough. This post originally appeared in the Business Insider Today newsletter. You can sign up for Business Insider's daily newsletter here. Welcome back, and happy MLK day! I'm in Davos, Switzerland this week for the World Economic Forum. My schedule is full of meetings, so you'll be in the very capable hands of my UK colleague Hallam Bullock for the rest of the week. You can't get rid of me that easy, though. Look out for daily dispatches from me in the newsletter on the latest at Davos. And if you're in town, drop me a line . In today's big story, all eyes are on Washington and the incoming administration . Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But first, we can't keep swiping. If this was forwarded to you, sign up here. The big story Here comes Trump (again) President-elect Donald Trump, seen here in 2020, has promised to rollout a series of executive orders once he returns to the Oval Office. Erin Schaff-Pool/Getty Images Same face. Same place. Different case. Donald Trump returns to the White House today, but his arrival looks and feels a lot different than his first stop there in 2017. No longer a political outsider, Trump has firm control of the Republican party and a slew of high-profile executives backing him this time around. Business Insider's John L. Dorman and Brent D. Griffiths broke down all the ways 2025 Trump is a lot different from 2017 Trump . One of the most obvious differences is the support he's gotten from a number of business leaders, particularly in the tech industry. A laundry list of CEOs and companies made $1 million donations to Trump's campaign . And many will be at the inauguration, delaying their trips to the annual gathering of the world's elite at Davos . Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement One major tech leader expected to attend Trump's inauguration is TikTok CEO Shou Chew. TikTok restored its services in the US on Sunday following 12 hours of downtime, after Trump said he plans to issue an executive order on Monday to delay the ban. The president-elect once sought to ban TikTok in the US. But over the past year, he has embraced the app. On the political side of things, Trump also has the benefit of his party controlling Congress. The GOP's advantage in the House isn't big (219-215), but the president-elect has a much better grasp of Washington's inner-workings than last time around. So what can we expect from Trump early on? With no chance of another reelection although, never say never Trump will need to act fast to execute his agenda. Brent and John also have some analysis on all the changes he could look to make immediately after his inauguration . Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He joked with Fox News host Sean Hannity last year that he'll only be a dictator "on day 1" as he looks to get his immigration and energy policies in place. Another area Trump will likely look to move quickly on is tariffs , writes BI's Ayelet Sheffey. The president-elect's trade policies were a key piece of his campaign and a point he stressed following his victory. Meanwhile, how people find out about any of these plans or the Trump administration's day-to-day dealings remains to be seen. During his first term, the "Trump bump" saw media outlets enjoying a rise in traffic from their coverage. However, this time around, more Americans are tuning out of the mainstream media , writes BI's Lucia Moses. News brief Top headlines Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It's Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Financial markets are closed. All national parks have free admission. Court hearing for 9/11 defendants in Guantanamo Bay. Mark Zuckerberg cohosts reception in honor of Trump's inauguration. The Insider Today team: Dan DeFrancesco, deputy editor and anchor, in New York. Grace Lett, editor, in Chicago. Ella Hopkins, associate editor, in London. Hallam Bullock, senior editor, in London. Amanda Yen, associate editor, in New York. Elizabeth Casolo, fellow, in Chicago. Read the original article on Business Insider Sign up for Trumps Return, a newsletter featuring coverage of the second Trump presidency. Four years ago, scores of police officers were attacked only yards away from where Donald Trump will swear to defend the Constitution and faithfully execute the duties of his office. The scene, in the words of one officer, was a non-stop barrage with weapons and things being thrown, and pepper spray, and you name it You could hear them yelling. You could hear them, screams and moans, and everything else. One officer later said that he was certain he would die the moment he entered the crowd: You know, youre getting pushed, kicked, you know, people are throwing metal bats at you and all that stuff. I was like, yeah, this is fucking it. All of this happened because Trump, according to Special Counsel Jack Smiths report, could not accept his loss in the 2020 election, and so he tried on January 6, 2021, to direct an angry mob to the United States Capitol to obstruct the congressional certification of the presidential election and then leverage rioters violence to further delay it. The crowd that attacked the Capitol, Smith wrote, was filled with Mr. Trumps supporters, as made clear by their Trump shirts, signs, and flags, and they violently attacked the law enforcement officers attempting to secure the building. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The ensuing riot was one of the worst days for law enforcement since 9/11. More than 140 officers were injured on January 6, but we know only the names of some of the most famous victims of the mob, such as Officers Michael Fanone, Aquilino Gonell, Harry Dunn, and others who have testified to Congress or given interviews. Their injuries were severe. Fanone was beaten to the point of a concussion and a heart attack; Gonell was attacked by more than 40 rioters and assaulted with his own riot shield. He has since undergone multiple surgeries and suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder. In his campaign for reelection, the man who conjured this violence against his own governmentand then stood by as police from multiple jurisdictions were attackedportrayed himself as the guardian of law and order. (One of the themes of the 2024 GOP convention was Make America Safe Again.) This strategy worked: Trump yet again nabbed the endorsement of the National Fraternal Order of Police. The FOP vice president, Joe Gamaldi, said in November that police see Trumps victory as a mandate from voters who are tired of all the chaos and disorder were seeing in our streets. We are tired of the defund the police talk, and basically were just tired of the crap. [Read: Trumps empty promise of law and order] The new presidents supporters may be tired of what they mistakenly believe is a rise in crime in the streets, but theyve memory-holed Trumps willingness to throw a swarm of raging insurrectionists against the same police forces that will be protecting him at todays inauguration. Nothing, however, should be allowed to erase the truth that the party of law and order is now led by not only a convicted felon, but one who callously looked on as outnumbered police officers did battle for hours to protect the lives of the members of the United States Congress. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I understand the anger that some police officers feel when the public assumes that theyre all corrupt bullies, potential killers no better than the men involved in the ghastly 2020 murder of George Floyd. My father and brother were both police officers (Dad in the 1950s, and my brother from the 1960s to the 1980s). Our next-door neighbor when I was a boy was a police officer, and I grew up among cops in my small New England city. Most of them became law and order Republican voters when Richard Nixon was able to turn riotsincluding the mess at the 1968 Democratic National Conventioninto a campaign issue. Trump has done the same through his three presidential campaigns, depicting America as a lawless hellhole. At least Nixon, however, had the advantage of pointing to the other party, and to his political opponents, as the source of danger to Americans and their armed protectors. Trump has managed to erase from millions of minds the fact that the people who attacked the police on January 6 were his own supporters, acting on what they believed were his wishes. I would like to see January 6 burned into the American mind as firmly as 9/11, the conservative writer George Will said in 2021, because it was that scale of a shock to the system. But like so many of Trumps outrages and scandals, the attack on the Capitol has faded into the noise of the 2024 campaign. Trump today will likely thunder on about the return of law and order and swear to make Americas streets safer, but American voters, no matter their party, should remember what actually happened to dozens of police officers because of Trumps own actions. Police officers at the Capitol were being attacked with an assortment of weaponsbear spray, flagpoles, even their own equipment. (My helmet came down and felt like someone was on top of me and I couldnt see anything, the Capitol Police officer Winston Pingeon told ABC News in an October 2024 interview. And I remember just thinking, I have to protect my gun, because they stole my baton.) During all of this, Trump, as usual, was tweeting: I am asking for everyone at the U.S. Capitol to remain peaceful. No violence! Remember, WE are the Party of Law & Order-respect the Law and our great men and women in Blue. Thank you! Meanwhile, the mob pressed on. One officer recounted that rioters dragged him into the crowd, where they beat and tased him while yelling things such as I got one! and Kill him with his gun! Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement [Tom Nichols: Trumps dangerous January 6pardon promise] Trump now refers to many of the rioters who have been convicted and jailed as hostages. He has promised to pardon some of them upon taking office. Most likely, Ill do it very quickly, he said on Meet the Press last month, adding that those people have suffered long and hard. And there may be some exceptions to it. I have to look. But, you know, if somebody was radical, crazy. The once and future president seems to have a forgiving definition of radical. On the campaign trail, he lauded a choir formed by some of the jailed insurrectionists. He even lent them his voice; their song, Justice for All, includes Trump reciting the Pledge of Allegiance, and Trump regularly played it at his rallies. Our people love those people, Trump said last May. Four of this J6 Prison Choir were charged with assaulting a law-enforcement officer. One rioter, Julian Khater, had already pleaded guilty to assaulting multiple officers before the song was recorded. He was sentenced to almost six years in prison. Another choir member, Shane Jenkins, was also sentenced to six years in prison after being convicted of seven felonies and two misdemeanors, including throwing makeshift weapons at the police. I have murder in my heart and head, he wrote to an associate in the weeks after the riot, according to the Justice Department. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trump has described January 6 as a day of love. The police who were there know better. Many of them live with physical and psychological scars. Four of them committed suicide within a year. Tell me again how you support the police and law and order when all these things are happening? Gonell asked last spring. Safely back in the White House, Trump will never have to answer that question. But every time he and other elected Republicans claim to be the party of law and order, Americans should remember the day that the 47th president was willing to sacrifice the men and women of the thin blue line on the altar of his own ambitions. Article originally published at The Atlantic Donald Trump used his inauguration speech to whine about tech billionaires homes being burnt down. During his address Monday, Trump whined about the federal governments response to natural disasters. Our country can no longer deliver basic services in times of emergency, he groused. Trump cited people in North Carolina still struggling from the aftermath of Hurricane Helene. In Los Angeles, we are watching fires still tragically burn from weeks ago without even a token of defense, Trump said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Theyre raging through the houses and communities, even affecting some of the wealthiest and most powerful individuals in our country. Some of whom are sitting here right now, Trump said, smiling slightly at the reminder of his Silicon Valley invites, Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, and Sundar Pichai. They dont have a home any longer, Trump mused. Thats interesting. In fact, not a single one of these men appear to have lost their home in the Los Angeles wildfires. Crucially, these arent the kinds of guys who can lose a lot by losing just one residence: each one owns an extensive property portfolio worth hundreds of million dollars. Bezoss is worth $500 million, and Zuckerbergs is $200 million. Meanwhile, Musk owns several properties, though his primary home is a $50,000 tiny home in Texas, near SpaceXs headquarters. So maybe the president could save his tears for the people who have lost their actual homes. Rather than actually acknowledging the devastating and widespread impacts of natural disasters, Trumps comment merely suggests his special affinity for tech billionaires. After all, its Trump and his fellow Republicans who are ensuring those affected by the wildfires stay struggling by insisting that no disaster aid will be provided to California until the state agrees to reinstall Trump-era policies. When Donald Trump took to the dais to proclaim the beginning of his second term on Monday, there were traces of the man we witnessed take power in 2017. He promised war on the corrupt Washington elite that has left America broken. He warned of an invasion of illegal migrants bringing crime to the countrys cities. He pledged that problems left by the Biden administration would be annihilated. But Mr Trumps address on Monday was not the stump speech of the presidential candidate we have come to know so well. It was a speech of deliverance, by a man declaring himself Americas saviour. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement For American citizens, January 20, 2025, is liberation day, he told the audience of assembled guests, describing last years election as the most consequential in the history of the nation. Taking his messianic rhetoric to a higher level than ever before, the president retold the story of the attempt on his life in July as a tale of biblical magnitude. An assassins bullet ripped through my ear, he intoned. But I felt then, and believe even more so now, that my life was saved for a reason. I was saved by God to make America great again. In his 30-minute address, Mr Trump set out an idyllic vision of a country without war, disease or discrimination and with a manned expedition to Mars in its new golden age. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Sunlight is pouring over the entire world, he said. Mr Trump promised war on the corrupt Washington elite - CHIP SOMODEVILLA/AFP via Getty Images But despite the warm tone of his rhetoric, there were also hints of the battles to come. His call for national unity did not extend to the Democrats in the room, who sat silently, aghast. His two opponents in last years presidential race, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, were stony-faced as he trashed their record in office and accused them of trying to socially engineer race and gender into every aspect of public and private life. For Mr Biden, who always believed he could beat Mr Trump for a second time, it was a humiliation. He applauded just once during the speech, when his old enemy mentioned the release of Hamas hostages, and spent much of it looking at the ground. Mr Biden spent much of the duration of the new presidents address looking at the ground - Shawn Thew/EPA/Bloomberg Mr Trumps second inauguration speech was a sign he has come a long way since he first coveted the presidency. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It was bigger, stronger and more optimistic than his address in 2017 and felt as if it had been written for the history books. There is no re-election campaign for Mr Trump to fight, but he now has four years to shape how he will be remembered. My proudest legacy will be that of a peacemaker and unifier, he said. Thats what I want to be. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. President-elect Donald Trump said on Sunday that he will visit southern California on Friday to see the area ravaged by historic wildfires, in what will likely mark his first trip upon returning to the White House. Im going to go out there on Friday to see it and to get it moving back, Trump said. Were going to get some of the best builders in the world. Well get it moving back. Trumps comments came ahead of Mondays inauguration during his Washington rally at Capital One arena less than 24 hours before hell be sworn in as president. California's Democratic governor, Gavin Newsom who has been criticized by Republicans and Trump for his response to the wildfires invited him to visit the state last week, urging him not to politicize the disaster. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The devastating wildfires have been burning through the Los Angeles region since Jan. 7, forcing tens of thousands to evacuate and killing at least 27 people. Tensions have been high between the incoming president and blue-state governor, with Trump saying in an interview on Saturday that hes yet to speak to Newsom about the fires. And Newsom, for his part, has been working to combat misinformation on social media about the wildfires and the state's response, amplified by Trump, Elon Musk and other adversaries. WASHINGTON (AP) President Donald Trump signed an executive order Monday directing the United States to again withdraw from the landmark Paris climate agreement, dealing a blow to worldwide efforts to combat global warming and once again distancing the U.S. from its closest allies. Trump's action, hours after he was sworn in to a second term, echoed his directive in 2017, when he announced that the U.S. would abandon the global Paris accord. The pact is aimed at limiting long-term global warming to 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit (1.5 degrees Celsius) above pre-industrial levels or, failing that, keeping temperatures at least well below 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit (2 degrees Celsius) above pre-industrial levels. Trump also signed a letter to the United Nations indicating his intention to withdraw from the 2015 agreement, which allows nations to provide targets to cut their own emissions of greenhouse gases from the burning of coal, oil and natural gas. Those targets are supposed to become more stringent over time, with countries facing a February 2025 deadline for new individual plans. The outgoing Biden administration last month offered a plan to cut U.S. greenhouse gas emissions by more than 60% by 2035. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trump's order says the Paris accord is among a number of international agreements that don't reflect U.S. values and steer American taxpayer dollars to countries that do not require, or merit, financial assistance in the interests of the American people." Instead of joining a global agreement, the United States successful track record of advancing both economic and environmental objectives should be a model for other countries,'' Trump said. Laurence Tubiana, CEO of the European Climate Foundation and a key architect of the Paris accord, called the planned U.S. withdrawal unfortunate but said action to slow climate change is stronger than any single countrys politics and policies." The global context for Trump's action is very different to 2017,'' Tubiana said Monday, adding that there is unstoppable economic momentum behind the global transition, which the U.S has gained from and led but now risks forfeiting." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The International Energy Agency expects the global market for key clean energy technologies to triple to more than $2 trillion by 2035, she said. The impacts of the climate crisis are also worsening. The terrible wildfires in Los Angeles are the latest reminder that Americans, like everyone else, are affected by worsening climate change, Tubiana said. Gina McCarthy, who served as White House climate adviser under President Joe Biden, a Democrat, said that if Trump, a Republican, truly wants America to lead the global economy, become energy independent and create good-paying American jobs," then he must stay focused on growing our clean energy industry. Clean technologies are driving down energy costs for people all across our country." The world is now long-term 2.3 degrees Fahrenheit (1.3 degrees Celsius) above mid-1800s temperatures. Most but not all climate monitoring agencies said global temperatures last year passed the warming mark of 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit, and all said it was the warmest year on record. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The withdrawal process from the Paris accord takes one year. Trumps previous withdrawal took effect the day after the 2020 presidential election, which he lost to Biden. While the first Trump-led withdrawal from the landmark U.N. agreement adopted by 196 nations shocked and angered nations across the globe, not a single country followed the U.S. out the door, said Alden Meyer, a longtime climate negotiations analyst with the European think tank E3G. Instead, other nations renewed their commitment to slowing climate change, along with investors, businesses, governors, mayors and others in the U.S., Meyer and other experts said. Still, they lamented the loss of U.S. leadership in global efforts to slow climate change, even as the world is on track to set yet another record hot year and has been lurching from drought to hurricane to flood to wildfire. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Clearly America is not going to play the commanding role in helping solve the climate crisis, the greatest dilemma humans have ever encountered, said climate activist and writer Bill McKibben. For the next few years the best we can hope is that Washington wont manage to wreck the efforts of others. About half of Americans somewhat or strongly oppose U.S. action to withdraw from the climate accord, and even Republicans arent overwhelmingly in favor, according according to a poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. Only about 2 in 10 U.S. adults somewhat or strongly in favor of withdrawing from the Paris agreement, while about one-quarter are neutral. Much of the opposition to U.S. withdrawal comes from Democrats, but Republicans display some ambivalence as well. Slightly less than half of Republicans are in favor of withdrawing from the climate accord, while about 2 in 10 are opposed. China several years ago passed the United States as the world's largest annual carbon dioxide emitting nation. The U.S. the second biggest annual carbon polluting country put 4.9 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide in the air in 2023, down 11% from a decade earlier, according to the scientists who track emissions for the Global Carbon Project. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But carbon dioxide lasts in the atmosphere for centuries, so the United States has put more of the heat-trapping gas that is now in the air than any other nation. The U.S. is responsible for nearly 22% of the carbon dioxide put in the atmosphere since 1950, according to Global Carbon Project. While global efforts to fight climate change continued during Trump's first term, many experts worry that a second Trump term will be more damaging, with the United States withdrawing even further from climate efforts in a way that could cripple future presidents efforts. With Trump, who has dismissed climate change, in charge of the worlds leading economy, those experts fear other countries, especially China, could use it as an excuse to ease off their own efforts to curb carbon emissions. Simon Stiell, the U.N. climate change executive secretary, held out hope that the U.S. would continue to embrace the global clean energy boom. Ignoring it only sends all that vast wealth to competitor economies, while climate disasters like droughts, wildfires and superstorms keep getting worse," Stiell said. The door remains open to the Paris Agreement, and we welcome constructive engagement from any and all countries. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement ___ Associated Press writer Linley Sanders contributed to this report. ___ The Associated Press climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. The AP is solely responsible for all content. Find the APs standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org. On the eve of his swearing-in ceremony, US President-elect Donald Trump told supporters that he would implement anti-immigration measures from day one of his second term in office. "By the time the sun sets tomorrow evening, the invasion of our borders will have come to a halt and all the illegal border trespassers will, in some form or another, be on their way back home," the Republican said at a rally in Washington. As during his election campaign, Trump used broad generalizations and portrayed undocumented migrants living in the US as criminals. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement While there has been a rise in crime in some areas of the US, experts attribute this to complex socio-political causes. There is no evidence of a migrants-driven crime wave, nor of migrants committing crimes at higher rates than US nationals. One of Trump's key election promises was to carry out mass deportations. To implement this plan, Trump has nominated several right-wing hardliners to join his government. According to US media, the first raids are set to begin shortly after his swearing-in on Monday. These are initially planned in Chicago and may also extend to other cities. The action is scheduled to last for a week. By Gram Slattery WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President-elect Donald Trump said on Sunday he would release classified documents in the coming days related to the assassinations of U.S. President John F. Kennedy, Senator Robert Kennedy and civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. Trump, who returns to the White House on Monday, promised on the campaign trail to release classified intelligence and law enforcement files on the 1963 assassination of JFK, as America's 35th president is widely known. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He had made a similar promise during his 2017 to 2021 term, and he did in fact release some documents related to JFK's 1963 slaying. But he ultimately bowed to pressure from the Central Intelligence Agency and Federal Bureau of Investigation, and kept a significant chunk of documents under wraps, citing national security concerns. "In the coming days, we are going to make public remaining records related to the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, his brother Robert Kennedy, as well as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and other topics of great public interest," Trump said at a rally in downtown Washington, the day before he takes office for a second, non-consecutive term. Trump did not specify which documents would be released, and he did not promise a blanket declassification. King and Robert Kennedy were both assassinated in 1968. The JFK assassination, in particular, is a source of enduring fascination in the United States. The murder has been attributed to a sole gunman, Lee Harvey Oswald, and the Justice Department and other federal government bodies have reaffirmed that conclusion in the intervening decades. But polls show many Americans believe his death was a result of a wider conspiracy. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trump's health and human services secretary-designate, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the son of Robert Kennedy and nephew of JFK, has said he believes the CIA was involved in his uncle's death, an allegation the agency has described as baseless. Kennedy Jr. has also said he believes his father was killed by multiple gunmen, an assertion that contradicts official accounts. (Reporting by Gram Slattery, editing by Ross Colvin and Howard Goller) Among the first actions President Donald Trump said he will take is signing an executive order to rename the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America. The announcement follows through on a promise Trump made from his estate in Palm Beach County earlier in January. The new 47th president of the United States also said he wanted to make another name change: changing the name of Alaska's Mount Denali to Mount McKinley. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Here's what to know. Trump directs US maps to change name from Gulf of Mexico to Gulf of America Trump to rename Gulf of Mexico, Mount Denali as part of day one executive orders https://t.co/aEmW1rGmyw Karoline Leavitt (@karolineleavitt) January 20, 2025 Trump said during his inauguration address, minutes after being sworn in, he would sign an executive order to rename the Gulf of Mexico to Gulf of America. The executive order would direct the secretary of the interior to change the name to "Gulf of America for use on official maps and throughout the federal government. The announcement about the name change also was announced by incoming Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt on X, formerly known as Twitter, Monday morning. Why does Trump want to rename the Gulf of Mexico? Trump said Jan. 7 at his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida he wanted to make the name change because of a trade imbalance with Mexico, illegal immigration into the U.S. at the southern border and concerns about drugs coming into the United States. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "We're going to be changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America, which has a beautiful ring that covers a lot of territory, the Gulf of America. "What a beautiful name. And it's appropriate. It's appropriate," Trump said. Trump announces Mount Denali to be changed to Mount McKinley The Alaskan government had long recognized the mountain as Mount Denali, the name used by Alaska Natives, and President Barack Obama renamed it at the federal level in 2015. Trump's action will revert to the pre-Obama name. Where is the Gulf of Mexico? The Gulf is Mexico is located in the southeastern United States. It's bordered by the United States to the north, six Mexican states to the west and Cuba to the southeast. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service it measures approximately 994 miles from east to west and 559 miles from north to south. States surrounding the gulf include: Florida Alabama Mississippi Louisiana Texas More than half of Florida's coast borders the Gulf of Mexico. Can Trump change the name of the Gulf of Mexico to Gulf of America? Landmarks have been renamed before. In 2015, former President Barack Obama approved the Department of the Interior's order to rename Mount McKinley in Alaska to Denali, a local Athabascan name for the mountain that President McKinley never visited. Trump said during in inauguration address he would return the name back to Mount McKinley. While he might be able to change the name for all U.S. references, it would remain to be seen if Trump can get any other countries to go along with it. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trump isn't the first person to suggest changing the name. In 2012, former U.S. Rep. D. Stephen Holland of Mississippi proposed a bill to change the name of the Gulf of Mexico to "Gulf of America." But he meant it as a joke, to mock his Republican colleagues he said seemed to want to push anything or anyone Mexican out of the state. Contributors: Erin Mansfield, USA Today; C.A. Bridges, USA Today Network, Florida This article originally appeared on Naples Daily News: Gulf of America name change for Gulf of Mexico coming from Trump Among the first actions President Donald Trump said he will take is signing an executive order to rename the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America. The announcement follows through on a promise Trump made from his estate in Palm Beach County earlier in January. The new 47th president of the United States also said he wanted to make another name change: changing the name of Alaska's Mount Denali to Mount McKinley. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement More: Melania Trump sports dark, modest outfit for inauguration ceremony More: Melania Trump coin: Melania and Donald both offer cryptocurrency meme coins Here's what to know. Trump directs US maps to change name from Gulf of Mexico to Gulf of America Trump to rename Gulf of Mexico, Mount Denali as part of day one executive orders https://t.co/aEmW1rGmyw Karoline Leavitt (@karolineleavitt) January 20, 2025 Trump said during his inauguration address, minutes after being sworn in, he would sign an executive order to rename the Gulf of Mexico to Gulf of America. The executive order would direct the secretary of the interior to change the name to "Gulf of America for use on official maps and throughout the federal government. The announcement about the name change also was announced by incoming Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt on X, formerly known as Twitter, Monday morning. Why does Trump want to rename the Gulf of Mexico? Trump said Jan. 7 at his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida he wanted to make the name change because of a trade imbalance with Mexico, illegal immigration into the U.S. at the southern border and concerns about drugs coming into the United States. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "We're going to be changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America, which has a beautiful ring that covers a lot of territory, the Gulf of America. "What a beautiful name. And it's appropriate. It's appropriate," Trump said. Trump announces Mount Denali to be changed to Mount McKinley The Alaskan government had long recognized the mountain as Mount Denali, the name used by Alaska Natives, and President Barack Obama renamed it at the federal level in 2015. Trump's action will revert to the pre-Obama name. Where is the Gulf of Mexico? The Gulf is Mexico is located in the southeastern United States. It's bordered by the United States to the north, six Mexican states to the west and Cuba to the southeast. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service it measures approximately 994 miles from east to west and 559 miles from north to south. States surrounding the gulf include: Florida Alabama Mississippi Louisiana Texas More than half of Florida's coast borders the Gulf of Mexico. Can Trump change the name of the Gulf of Mexico to Gulf of America? Landmarks have been renamed before. In 2015, former President Barack Obama approved the Department of the Interior's order to rename Mount McKinley in Alaska to Denali, a local Athabascan name for the mountain that President McKinley never visited. Trump said during in inauguration address he would return the name back to Mount McKinley. While he might be able to change the name for all U.S. references, it would remain to be seen if Trump can get any other countries to go along with it. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trump isn't the first person to suggest changing the name. In 2012, former U.S. Rep. D. Stephen Holland of Mississippi proposed a bill to change the name of the Gulf of Mexico to "Gulf of America." But he meant it as a joke, to mock his Republican colleagues he said seemed to want to push anything or anyone Mexican out of the state. Contributors: Erin Mansfield, USA Today; C.A. Bridges, USA Today Network, Florida This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Gulf of America name change for Gulf of Mexico coming from Trump A U.S. law that would force the Chinese parent company of social media giant TikTok to either sell the service or face a U.S. ban is constitutional, a panel of federal appeals judges ruled Friday. In this 2020 photo illustration, the TikTok app is displayed on an Apple iPhone.Photo Illustration by Drew Angerer/Getty Images. WASHINGTON President-elect Donald Trump said Sunday he will sign an executive order as soon as he takes office that would delay a law that banned the popular social media app TikTok unless its parent company sells it. Im asking companies not to let TikTok stay dark! Trump said on his TruthSocial account. I will issue an executive order on Monday to extend the period of time before the laws prohibitions take effect, so that we can make a deal to protect our national security. The order will also confirm that there will be no liability for any company that helped keep TikTok from going dark before my order. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday had left the law in place, and on Saturday night, TikTok went dark for U.S. users. The Associated Press reported that Google and Apple removed the app from their digital stores to comply with the law. But by midday Sunday, TikTok was again functioning. Trump said in his post he wants to explore how to keep TikTok viable in the United States. I would like the United States to have a 50% ownership position in a joint venture. By doing this, we save TikTok, keep it in good hands and allow it to stay up. Without U.S. approval, there is no TikTok. With our approval, it is worth hundreds of billions of dollars maybe trillions, he wrote. Therefore, my initial thought is a joint venture between the current owners and/or new owners whereby the U.S. gets a 50% ownership in a joint venture set up between the U.S. and whichever purchase we so choose. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The bipartisan law enacted last year required ByteDance, TikToks parent company, to sell the platform by Sunday or face exclusion from U.S.-based app stores. TikTok fought the law all the way to the Supreme Court, arguing First Amendment rights, but did not prevail. There is no doubt that, for more than 170 million Americans, TikTok offers a distinctive and expansive outlet for expression, means of engagement, and source of community, the court wrote in its ruling. But Congress has determined that divestiture is necessary to address its well-supported national security concerns regarding TikToks data collection practices and relationship with a foreign adversary. For the foregoing reasons, we conclude that the challenged provisions do not violate petitioners First Amendment rights. Action left to Trump The 27-page court ruling created a bit of a dilemma for Trump, who now supports TikTok staying on Americans cell phones despite wanting to ban it during his first administration. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trump wrote Friday in a post on his social media site, Truth Social, that he would address the issue once he takes office. I just spoke to Chairman Xi Jinping of China. The call was a very good one for both China and the U.S.A, Trump wrote. It is my expectation that we will solve many problems together, and starting immediately. We discussed balancing Trade, Fentanyl, TikTok, and many other subjects. President Xi and I will do everything possible to make the World more peaceful and safe! Trump issued an executive order in 2020 to ban the video platform unless it broke from ByteDance, but reversed his position last year. Trumps attorney general nominee, Pam Bondi, cited pending litigation and declined to directly answer a question about whether she would direct the Justice Department to enforce the TikTok ban during her confirmation hearing Wednesday. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew is expected to attend Trumps inauguration Monday, according to a source familiar with the planning. Chew will not be the only tech executive sitting nearby as Trump takes the oath of office. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, who also owns The Washington Post, are expected to be in attendance. Both donated $1 million to Trumps inaugural. Chew posted a video on social media Friday after the Supreme Court ruling was released thanking Trump for his commitment to work with us to find a solution that keeps TikTok available in the United States. This is a strong stand for the First Amendment and against arbitrary censorship, he said. As weve said, TikTok is a place where people can create communities, discover new interests and express themselves, including over 7 million American businesses. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The director of national intelligence released a report in February 2024 stating that TikTok accounts run by a (Peoples Republic of China) propaganda arm reportedly targeted candidates from both political parties during the U.S. midterm election cycle in 2022. Bipartisan backing for law The law requiring TikToks parent company to sell the app or lose access to the American social media market received bipartisan support in the House last year, following a 352-65 vote in March. The measure cleared Congress as part of a larger supplemental package a month later. President Joe Biden signed it into law. However, he said he will not enforce it, leaving the incoming Trump administration to decide what to do. President Bidens position on TikTok has been clear for months, including since Congress sent a bill in overwhelming, bipartisan fashion to the Presidents desk: TikTok should remain available to Americans, but simply under American ownership or other ownership that addresses the national security concerns identified by Congress in developing this law, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre wrote in a statement. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Given the sheer fact of timing, this Administration recognizes that actions to implement the law simply must fall to the next Administration, which takes office on Monday. Congress and the Biden administration pointed to warnings from national security officials about ByteDances ties to Chinas government as the top reason to force its parent company to sell the app. TikTok maintains that it is majority owned by global investors, including the Susquehanna International Group and Blackrock, though roughly 20% remains in the hands of its Chinese founders. Democratic senators made an eleventh-hour pitch on Wednesday to extend ByteDances deadline to divest from TikTok, but Republicans blocked the effort. Florida may soon border the "Gulf of America." One of President Donald Trump's first executive orders will be to rename the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America, the president said at his inauguration on Monday. "America will reclaim its rightful place as the greatest, most powerful, most respected nation on earth, inspiring the awe and admiration of the entire world," Trump said. "A short time from now, we are going to be changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement At a news conference at Mar-a-lago in January, when Trump first announced the name change, he called the move "appropriate." "We're going to change (it), because we do most of the work there, and it's ours," he said then. One of the reasons for the change, Trump said, is because of illegal immigration at the Mexican border and concerns about drugs coming into the United States. Florida is one of the five states that border the Gulf. The others are Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. Names of geographical features have been changed before It's unclear if any such name change would stick, but landmarks have been renamed before. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In 2015, former President Barack Obama approved the Department of the Interior's order to rename Mount McKinley in Alaska to Denali, a local Athabascan name for the mountain that President McKinley never visited. Trump also mentioned in his inaugural address that he would change the name back to Mount McKinley to honor the former president. "President McKinley made our country very rich through tariffs and through talent. He was a natural businessman," Trump said. While he might be able to change the name for all U.S. references, it would remain to be seen if he could get any other countries to go along with it. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trump is expected to sign a series of executive orders that would, among other things, overhaul the federal government's immigration policies. Those orders include ending birthright citizenship and sending national guard members to the border. (This story was updated to add new information.) This story contains previously published material. Ana Goni-Lessan, state watchdog reporter for the USA TODAY Network Florida, can be reached at agonilessan@gannett.com. This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Trump to sign order to rename Gulf of Mexico to Gulf of America (NewsNation) Not one to shy away from the spotlight, President Donald Trump is set to sign a slew of executive orders in front of a live audience at Capital One Arena on Monday. Trump said he plans to sign nearly 100 executive orders on his first day. Some of that will happen at a desk set up onstage in Capital One Arena, NewsNations Libbey Dean reported. The president will also sign executive orders back at the White House inside the Oval Office on Monday evening. A desk has been set up on stage in Capital One Arena. The desk will be used for Trump to sign Executive Orders this afternoon Im told. pic.twitter.com/OSdQaX04Og Libbey Dean (@LibbeyDean_) January 20, 2025 The executive orders are expected to include temporarily suspending the ban on TikTok, measures to toughen border security and an end to so-called DEI mandates in the federal government. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement On immigration specifically, Trump is expected to declare an emergency at the southern border and reinstate his Remain in Mexico policy, among other actions. Live updates Here are all executive orders Trump is expected to sign on Day 1 The border security measures I will outline in my inaugural address tomorrow will be the most aggressive, sweeping effort to restore our borders the world has ever seen, Trump told attendees of a private dinner on Sunday. Thousands have packed into Capital One Arena to celebrate Trumps inauguration. Hes set to arrive after his swearing-in ceremony, which was moved inside the U.S. Capitol Rotunda due to cold weather in Washington, D.C. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Our top priority will be to create a nation that is proud, prosperous and free, Trump said during his swearing-in ceremony Monday. Copyright 2025 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 NewsNation. President Donald Trump on Monday signed executive orders proclaiming that the U.S. government will recognize only two sexes, male and female, and ending "radical and wasteful" diversity, equity and inclusion programs inside federal agencies. In a phone call Monday morning before Trumps swearing-in, senior White House officials detailed both orders, grouping them under the Trump administrations wider restoring sanity agenda. The gender order states that it will "defend womens rights and protect freedom of conscience by using clear and accurate language and policies that recognize women are biologically female, and men are biologically male." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It requires that the federal government use the term sex instead of gender, and directs the State Department and the Department of Homeland Security to require that government-issued identification documents, including passports, visas, and Global Entry cards, accurately reflect the holders sex." "Across the country, ideologues who deny the biological reality of sex have increasingly used legal and other socially coercive means to permit men to self-identify as women and gain access to intimate single-sex spaces and activities designed for women, from womens domestic abuse shelters to womens workplace showers. This is wrong," the order reads. "Efforts to eradicate the biological reality of sex fundamentally attack women by depriving them of their dignity, safety, and well-being." "The erasure of sex in language and policy has a corrosive impact not just on women but on the validity of the entire American system," it continues. "Basing Federal policy on truth is critical to scientific inquiry, public safety, morale, and trust in government itself." In 2022, the Biden administration allowed U.S. citizens to be able to select the gender-neutral "X" as a marker on their passports. On Tuesday, a page on the State Department website that had previously included instructions on updating passport gender markers was no longer accessible, instead redirecting to a general U.S. passports page. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The gender order also prevents taxpayer funds from being used for gender-transition health care and mandates privacy in intimate spaces to ensure that single-sex spaces, such as prisons and rape shelters, are designated by sex and not gender identity. Lastly, it directs federal agencies to rescind all guidance documents inconsistent with the gender order, including those titled: "White House Toolkit on Transgender Equality," "Supporting Transgender Youth in School" and "Confronting Anti-LGBTQI+ Harassment in Schools: A Resource for Students and Families." Follow live politics coverage Trump campaigned on rolling back protections for transgender and nonbinary people and emphasized the issue in television advertisements, including a commercial that aired frequently in key swing states such as Pennsylvania, where Trump defeated former Vice President Kamala Harris. "Kamala is for they/them. President Trump is for you," the most notable ad said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The second order will end what it describes as the federal government's "discriminatory" DEI policies, positions and offices within 60 days, singling out environmental justice programs and equity-related grants. The new administration will hold monthly meetings with the deputy secretaries of key agencies to "hear reports on the prevalence and the economic and social costs of DEI," the order states. In a phone call before the DEI order was signed, a senior White House official said it was very fitting that it was to be signed on Martin Luther King Jr. Day because the "order is meant to return to the promise and the hope, captured by civil rights champions, that one day all Americans can be treated on the basis of their character, not by the color of their skin. In recent years, Trump and conservatives have assailed DEI initiatives across American society, characterizing them as discriminatory. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trump referred to the orders in his inaugural address Monday, saying in part that his administration would resist what he described as efforts to "socially engineer race and gender into every aspect of public and private life." He added that his administration would "forge a society that is colorblind and merit-based." The proponents of DEI in American society have argued that such initiatives are essential to make companies, schools, government agencies and other institutions more racially and socially inclusive. In the weeks leading up to Trumps return to power, major corporations, such as Meta, McDonalds and Walmart, have announced they are ending some or all of their diversity practices. Jin Hee Lee, director of strategic initiatives for the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, said there are questions about exactly which DEI programs will be ended. She said the group is ready to take any action to prevent discrimination, including challenging the order in court. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Lee said a push to prohibit anything dealing with efforts to address inequality would be a real setback in terms of racial justice advancement. She added that any incoming president can set the policies for the federal administration but that it would be disconcerting if it becomes permissible for employers or the government to discriminate on the basis of race or sex. LGBTQ legal advocates react Jennifer C. Pizer, the chief legal officer at Lambda Legal, a civil rights organization that litigates on behalf of LGBTQ Americans, said she expects her organization and others to sue the administration over the executive actions. "The president can't, with a wave of a pen, change the reality of who people are and the fact that we as a community of people exist," Pizer said. "We have equal protection rights, just like anybody else does." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Another lawyer and legal expert in the LGBTQ community said that even though Trump's executive order on gender identity will surely be challenged in court, the administration can implement the order and, in some cases, make immediate changes. The expert, who asked not to be named to speak candidly about the executive order, noted that prisons, migrant shelters and rape shelters could immediately begin moving transgender people into spaces that align with their birth sexes as opposed to their gender identities. That means, for example, trans women serving time in womens prisons could in short order be moved to male prisons. The lawyer also said transgender Americans especially those who have X as their gender marker on federal documents like passports should exercise caution when they leave the country, as they could have challenges re-entering the United States and could even be held in detention by border agents. If a Customs and Border agent can't enter a person's X gender marker into the system to allow the person back into the United States, that could mean the person would remain in Customs and Border Protection custody "until they can work with the Department of State to get an alternate ID issued," the lawyer said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Still, some changes such as the way agencies handle health care for transgender Americans or the way the Department of Housing and Urban Development protects trans tenants from being evicted by landlords could take longer to implement because agencies will have to go through a process that takes months or even years to change the rules governing them. In some cases, the legal expert said, itll take time for the agencies to issue Notices of Proposed Rulemaking, go through the comments, which is part of what theyre legally obligated to do, and respond to any deficiencies, and then publish a final rule. Once the anticipated legal challenges order are filed, courts could block implementation of the order by issuing injunctions. But judges could also decide to allow the order to be implemented as challenges work their way through the courts, including to the Supreme Court, which could side with the Trump administration. This article was originally published on NBCNews.com Donald Trump will sign more than 200 executive actions on his first day in office, according to a report by Fox News Digital, later backed up by ABC News. This record-setting first wave of policy priorities will focus on border security, energy, reducing the cost of living for American families, ending DEI programs across the federal government, and more, the network reports. According to a senior administration official, Trump is set to sign multiple omnibus executive orders, each containing dozens of major executive actions. President-elect Donald Trump at a rally in Washington, D.C. the day before his inauguration (AP) The president is issuing a historic series of executive orders and actions that will fundamentally reform the American government, including the complete and total restoration of American sovereignty, the official told Fox News Digital. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Some will reportedly be signed at the Capitol after Trump takes the oath of office, others will be dealt with during the inaugural parade at the Capitol One Arena, and then more later at the White House. The networks White House correspondent Jacqui Heinrich tweeted the following list of what the orders will do: Close the border to all illegal aliens via proclamation and declare a national emergency at the border Direct designations of cartels as foreign terrorist organizations Re-institute Remain in Mexico, end Catch and Release, and direct the military to construct a new phase of the border wall Fully unleash Alaskan energy, terminate Biden policies that have constrained US supply Return federal workers to in-person work Strengthen control over senior government officials and implement a new merit-based hiring review Suspend security clearances for the 51 national security officials who lied about Hunter Bidens laptop ahead of the 2020 presidential election End all DEI programs across the federal government Establish a new Department of Government Efficiency hiring freeze Declare a national energy emergency and pause all offshore wind leases Withdraw from the Paris Climate Accord Direct all agencies and departments to remove all federal actions that increase costs for families and consumers ABC News reports that other orders will designate cartels as foreign terrorist organizations, repeal rules on electric vehicles, and offset limits for offshore drilling on federal land. During Sundays victory rally at the Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C., the president-elect teased some of his plans largely campaign promises made over the course of 2024 and revealed that his staff tried to talk him out of signing so many executive orders on his first day in office and instead suggested spreading them out. Like hell we are, Trump says he responded. President-elect Donald Trump reportedly will sign upward of 200 executive actions when he enters the White House on Monday, moving quickly to shape the federal government to his will and erase the presence of the Biden administration. Fox News and The Washington Post both reported Sunday that Trumps slate of orders will touch on many of his broad campaign promises, including vast changes to border policy and a declaration calling migrant crossings a crisis. The Trump administration will move to rescind many of President Joe Bidens environmental policies in Alaska and fully unleash the states energy reserves. And he will once again remove the U.S. from the Paris climate agreement and end clean energy efforts such as offshore wind leases and electric vehicle programs. The president is issuing a historic series of executive orders and actions that will fundamentally reform the American government, including the complete and total restoration of American sovereignty, an incoming senior administration official told Fox News. The official described them as omnibus executive orders that will each include dozens of executive actions. US President-elect Donald Trump reacts Sunday during a MAGA victory rally at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C. Photo by JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images Trump confirmed his day one plans at a victory rally in Washington on Sunday night, the eve of his inauguration, hinting as well that he plans to take action to grant broad clemency to those charged in the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the Capitol. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Other actions will institute a hiring freeze as part of the new Department of Government Efficiency, Fox added. The American people have given us their trust, and in return, were going to give them the best first day, the biggest first week, and the most extraordinary first 100 days of any presidency in American history, he declared. Executive orders can be a powerful tool for an incoming president to revamp the role of the White House from a previous administration, but the power is not infinite. Democrats and civil rights groups likely will file legal challenges in opposition, a tactic that saw some of Trumps far-reaching executive orders like the first iteration of his travel ban targeting people from several Muslim-majority nations overturned during his first administration. Still, Trump and his allies saw his upcoming flurry of executive action as an effort to take America back. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Lawmakers are expected to see a list of the upcoming orders before Trump officially takes office Monday, the Post reports. Related... (Bloomberg) -- President-elect Donald Trump intends to sign an executive order that recognizes two sexes male and female and one ending diversity, equity and inclusion efforts in the federal government taking action on two cultural issues that galvanized his base. Most Read from Bloomberg The orders were detailed by an incoming White House official on a call Monday ahead of Trumps swearing-in ceremony. The president-elect has vowed to take action on a slew of orders on the first day of his second term. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement While the exact scope of the orders is still unclear, they are likely to invite legal challenges. The gender order was cast by the official as intended to protect women from gender ideology. The effort defines two sexes and would require agencies to give force to the definitions and terms in the order when applying statutes and regulations. Trump campaigned on rolling back transgender protections, including in womens sports. His campaign highlighted the issue in particular, spending millions on anti-trans campaign ads and at rallies, where Trump regularly claimed transgender athletes had an unfair advantage over their competitors. The order seeks to mandate that agencies will use the term sex not gender and would have the secretaries of State, Homeland Security and other agencies ensure that official documents, including passports and visas, reflect sex accurately, according to the incoming official. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It would also seek to ensure that Americans rights to free speech and religious freedom are being protected, according to the official, and that taxpayer funds are not being used for transition healthcare. The order would also protect spaces for women in facilities, including in prisons and rape shelters. The attorney general would also provide explicit guidance on the order, the official added. The second order would end DEI initiatives in the federal government, targeting diversity practices that have drawn the ire of conservatives, who have cast the measures as discriminatory against White Americans. The backlash to those programs has seen a number of prominent companies halt or scale back their DEI efforts in recent months. Conservative activists have challenged corporate diversity efforts aimed at boosting underrepresented groups, following the US Supreme Courts ban on affirmative action in college admissions in 2023. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Additional actions on DEI are forthcoming, according to the official. (Updates to add details on likely challenges in third paragraph and additional details in paragraphs 8-11) Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2025 Bloomberg L.P. President Donald Trump began his term by taking a series of sweeping immigration executive actions Monday that included declaring a national emergency at the US southern border, immediately ending use of a border app called CBP One that had allowed migrants to legally enter the United States, and kicking off the process to end birthright citizenship, which is expected to tee up a legal fight. Trump also made a striking personnel move, as senior leadership at the Justice Departments agency overseeing the nations immigration courts were removed from service on Monday, according to a source familiar. The Executive Office for Immigration Review oversees the US immigration court system, where immigration judges decide if immigrants can remain in the US or be deported. The removals, which targeted career public servants who together have served in the agency for several years, raised questions about whether they were permitted under rules dictated by the Office of Personnel Management. And they illustrated the Trump administrations push to install officials who are aligned with his policy vision. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Those removed Monday are Sheila McNulty, who was serving as chief immigration judge; Mary Cheng, who occupied the EOIR directorship in an acting capacity; Jill Anderson, general counsel at EOIR; and Lauren Alder Reid, acting assistant director at the Office of Administration in EOIR. Combined, they served in the agency for several years. The executive actions are the culmination of multiple campaign pledges and the resurfacing of policy ideas that didnt come to fruition during Trumps first term. Trump aides have signaled that they will be followed within days by a series of immigration enforcement sweeps targeting criminals, though they havent ruled out that others could be apprehended, too. The shutdown of CBP One on Monday closed a key pathway for people looking to come into the US. Homeland Security Department officials have cited the app as helping drive down migrant crossings by providing an orderly way to apply to the United States. With that now gone, and asylum restrictions in place, the border is effectively shut down to asylum seekers an extraordinary move. More than 936,500 people have successfully used the app to schedule appointments to present at ports of entry since January 2023, according to US Customs and Border Protection. Existing appointments have been canceled, the agency said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trump signed an action declaring a national emergency at the US southern border and said in his inaugural address that all illegal entry will immediately be halted. That declaration triggers the deployment of additional Pentagon resources and armed forces to finish the border wall, among other efforts. It is focused only on southern border security. We will have the military at the southern border, but there are other elements of the United States government that will be working throughout the country, an incoming White House official said. Trump also designated cartels as foreign terrorist organizations. This initiative is a process that will lead to the designation of the cartels like Tren de Aragua and MS 13 as FTOs and or specifically designated global terrorist, an incoming White House official said, adding that the move will direct removal of the gang members and, under the Alien Enemies Act, find them as irregular armed force of Venezuelas government conducting a predatory incursion and invasion into the United States. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trump also kicked off the process to reinstate his signature border policy known as Remain in Mexico, requiring migrants to stay in Mexico while they go through their immigration proceedings in the United States. The policy requires Mexicos buy-in. Mondays other executive actions included: Ending birthright citizenship, an issue that would need to be addressed via constitutional amendment or via the courts. The action is focused on the phrase and subject to the jurisdiction thereof in the 14th amendment to clarify that on a prospective basis, the federal government will not recognize automatic birthright citizenship for children of illegal aliens born in the United States. Suspending refugee resettlement for at least four months. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Directing the attorney general to seek capital punishment for the murder of law enforcement officers and capital crimes committed by undocumented immigrants. Trumps executive actions on immigration were written carefully and deliberately to try withstanding expected legal challenges, according to a source familiar with the planning. Its a lesson learned from Trumps first term, when multiple immigration executive orders, some of which were hastily written, were challenged in court. Trumps allies argue those legal fights hamstrung Trumps immigration agenda. As Trumps team crafted a slate of immigration executive orders, they tried to account for that. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Theyre ready this time, the source said. Immigration groups have been privately weighing how theyll approach lawsuits under the Trump administration, keenly aware that this Trump administration is more prepared and avoiding knee-jerk reactions. A coalition of civil rights and immigration rights group quickly sued the Trump administration on Monday over his executive order seeking to end birthright citizenship. The lawsuit tees up what is expected to be a lengthy and unprecedented legal fight over the issue, with the groups attorneys arguing that the action violates both federal law and the US Constitution. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trump is inheriting a relatively quiet border. While the Biden administration grappled with record crossings over recent years, migrant crossings along the US-Mexico border plummeted in the wake of executive action by President Joe Biden last summer cracking down on asylum. In December, the last full month of the Biden administration, US Border Patrol recorded 47,300 migrant encounters, according to US Customs and Border Protection. In December 2020, the last full month of Trumps first term, illegal crossings hovered around 71,000. But the shutdown of the CBP One app could prompt a rise in illegal border crossings, Homeland Security officials caution. Migrants along the US southern border who learned that their appointments had been canceled may now choose to cross anyway. They have nothing to go back to. My bet is a good chunk of them are going to try to cross, one Homeland Security official said. This story has been updated with additional developments. CNNs Devan Cole contributed to this report. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com His presidency was just an hour old when Donald Trump excoriated Joe Biden for pardoning GOP officials who investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riotsand promised retribution, in the form of salvation. I was going to talk about the J6 hostages, but youll be happy because, you know, its action, not words that count, and youre going to see a lot of action on the J6 hostages, Trump said during a rambling post-inaugural speech that showed his lingering resentment over the 2020 election results. I was going to talk about the things that Joe did today with the pardons of people that were very, very guilty of very bad crimes, like the unselect committee of political folks, he added, referring to the bipartisan Jan. 6 panel. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Bidens pardons also applied to former Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Mark Milley, who famously called Trump a total fascist. Why are we doing this? Why are we trying to help a guy like Milley? Trump said Monday at the Capitol. But Liz Cheneys pardon seemed even more infuriating to the new president, who is returning to the White House after a four-year hiatus following his 2020 loss to Biden. Why are we helping Liz Cheney? he asked. I mean, Liz Cheney is a disaster. Shes a crying lunatic and crying, crying. And he called Jan. 6 member Adam Kinzinger, the former GOP congressman who joined Cheney in taking on their own partys president, a super crime. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Shortly before his peaceful transfer of power to Trump, Biden said, These public servants have served our nation with honor and distinction and do not deserve to be the targets of unjustified and politically motivated prosecutions. But Republicans say the pardons signal an admission of guilt and that the investigation was corrupt. Proves they know shes guilty, Sen. Jim Banks (R-IN) told the Daily Beast, referring to Cheney, who was among a rash of officials who received a pardon from Biden on his way out of office Monday morning. The preemptive pardons look to shield Trumps foes from potential future prosecution, and cant be undone by the new administration. But Trump allies have repeatedly taken aim at the investigation led by Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS) and Cheney. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Joe Bidens last-minute pardons of the January 6th sham committee members will forever seal the negative legacy of the Biden administration which will be will be one of corruption, pay to play schemes, and the overall total sellout of our American principles, Rep. Ralph Norman (R-SC) told the Daily Beast. Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-GA), who led the GOP counter-probe into the Jan. 6 committee, called the Monday morning pardons a direct result of our investigation. And Rep. Eli Crane (R-AZ) agreed, drawing attention to what he called the unlawful, deceitful and corrupt behavior by those pardoned. Soon after Biden issued the pardons, Trump texted NBCs Kristen Welker: It is disgraceful. Many are guilty of MAJOR CRIMES! DJT. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The committee members shot back at Republicans accusations, claiming theyve faced harassment, lies and threats of criminal violence in addition to threats of imprisonment for simply for doing our jobs. We have been pardoned today not for breaking the law but for upholding it, they said in a joint statement, arguing the pardons were necessary to provide protection against false prosecution for their work exposing what they termed a months-long criminal effort to override the will of the voters. In addition to pardoning Milley and members and staff of the Jan. 6 select committee, Biden also issued pardons for Dr. Anthony Fauci, who led the nations response on the COVID-19 pandemic. WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. President Donald Trump took his oath of office on Monday with his right hand raised, but without placing his left hand on the two Bibles that his wife Melania held as she stood by his side. The apparent oversight has no practical impact, academics say, but it roused curiosity online. Despite the inauguration pomp and a bracing speech, the top thing Americans searched for on Google in relation to Trump on Monday afternoon was about him not placing his hand on the Bible, which contains the holy scriptures of Christians and Jews. What an incoming president swears on, whether it is a Bible, a historical document or nothing at all, is not relevant to them assuming power, said Jeremi Suri, a University of Texas, Austin history professor and presidential scholar. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Theres nothing in the Constitution that says the president has to connect this to God in any way, he said. The oath is to the Constitution." "I dont think it has any bearing on him taking the oath." He added that the Constitution allows an incoming president to either swear or attest. The U.S.' founding fathers left it open to someone who is an atheist," Suri said. Trump's spokespeople did not respond to a request for comment. Article Two of the U.S. Constitution says an incoming president "shall take the following Oath or Affirmation:- I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States." Trump had chosen the Bible the 16th President Abraham Lincoln was sworn in on and one given to Trump by his mother, his transition team said. (Reporting by Heather Timmons; Editing by Rod Nickel) Donald Trump was sworn in as the 47th president of the United States in a ceremony held in the United States Capitol on Jan. 20. "Golden age of America begins right now," Trump said. Vice President J.D. Vance took the oath of office alongside the president. J.D. Vance is sworn in as U.S. Vice President as his wife Usha Vance looks on during the presidential inauguration of Donald Trump at the Rotunda of the US Capitol in Washington, on Jan. 20, 2025. Trump takes office for his second non-consecutive term as the 47th president of the United States. (Kevin Lamarque / POOL / AFP) (Photo by KEVIN LAMARQUE/POOL/AFP via Getty Images) Trump assumes office as the war in Ukraine enters its third year. While Trump initially vowed to end the war within 24 hours, his team later revised the timeline to 100 days, citing the intricate challenges of resolving the conflict. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement During his inauguration speech, Trump said the U.S. is willing to spend "in the defense of foreign borders but refuses to defend American borders." He also said he will enact a state of emergency at the U.S. southern border. Trump will use the "Alien and Enemies Act of 1798" to crack down on illegal immigrants. Donald Trump pledged to reassert U.S. control over the Panama Canal, accusing Panama of mismanaging the critical trade route and declaring, "Were taking it back." Earlier in his address, Trump presented himself as a "peacemaker," emphasizing his vision for a presidency focused on avoiding conflict. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "We will measure our success not only by the battles we win but also by the wars we end and most importantly, the wars we never get into. My proudest legacy will be that of a peacemaker and unifier," he said. Reviving a popular campaign slogan, Trump also energized his audience with the promise to "drill, baby, drill." "I will also declare a national energy emergency," Trump said. He declared that America would once again become a manufacturing powerhouse, boasting the world's largest oil and gas reserves. Trump vowed to harness these resources, saying, "And we are going to use it. Let me use it." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He also promised to lower energy prices, replenish the countrys strategic reserves, and export American energy globally. "We will be a rich nation again, and it is that liquid gold under our feet that will help to do it with my actions," Trump said. The statement comes amid reports that Trump's advisers are developing a sanctions strategy focused on Russias oil industry as part of efforts to resolve the Russia-Ukraine war, Bloomberg reported on Jan. 16. President Volodymyr Zelensky congratulated Donald Trump on his return to the presidency. He highlighted his resolve and reaffirmed that Trumps "peace through strength" policy offers an opportunity to secure just peace. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "This century is being shaped right now, and we must all work together to ensure that it is a great and successful century for democracies, not those who want us to fail," Zelensky posted on X. Ukraine remains cautious about the incoming administration, as Trump's past remarks on NATO and his perceived sympathies toward Russian President Vladimir Putin raise concerns about potential compromises unfavorable to Kyiv. During his first meeting with Zelensky in December, Trump acknowledged Ukraine's desire for a ceasefire but avoided discussing specifics. Trump has pledged to meet with Putin "very quickly" and has tasked his aides with organizing a call. According to CNN, discussions for a face-to-face meeting are ongoing. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Read also: What are Trumps options on Russias war against Ukraine? Since his election victory on Nov. 5, Trump and his administration have sent mixed signals about their approach to peace. Trump's national security picks illustrate a range of perspectives on Russia's war against Ukraine. Tulsi Gabbard, nominated for director of national intelligence, has opposed U.S. support for Ukraine and faced criticism for echoing Russian narratives. Michael Waltz, the likely national security advisor, and Marco Rubio, the secretary of state nominee, are considered hawkish on Russia. Defense Secretary nominee Peter Hegseth, an isolationist, walked back earlier calls to scale back U.S. involvement in NATO during confirmation hearings, emphasizing the alliance's importance. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Special envoy nominee for Ukraine and Russia Keith Kellogg has co-authored a draft peace plan involving a frozen front line, a delay in Ukraine's NATO membership, and European peacekeepers in Ukraine. The audience looks on as Donald Trump is sworn in as the 47th US President in the US Capitol Rotunda in Washington, DC, on January 20, 2025. (Saul Loeb/POOL/AFP via Getty Images) The plan also reportedly proposes continued U.S. military aid and security guarantees for Kyiv, though it partially lifts sanctions on Russia. Kellogg insists the proposals aim to "save Ukraine and their sovereignty," not to appease Russia. Moscow has dismissed Trump's signals as "unformed" and reiterated demands for Ukraine's territorial concessions and NATO exclusion. Putin has expressed willingness for dialogue, though he maintains his insistence on Russia's terms, including complete control of four Ukrainian regions. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trump has urged European leaders to take a more active role in deterring Russian aggression, including deploying peacekeepers and pressuring China to influence Russia through trade measures. Officials close to Trump maintain that U.S. military aid to Ukraine will persist, focusing on empowering Kyiv to negotiate from a position of strength. Read also: Trump sees peace in Ukraine as a deal but refuses to play his winning hand Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. PARIS (Reuters) - French President Emmanuel Macron warned on Monday that the billions of euros of taxpayer money spent on Europe's military budgets should not be used to buy only American weapons, pushing for more investment in home-grown defence industries. Speaking minutes before the inauguration of U.S. President Donald Trump, who has complained that Europeans do not pay enough for their defence, Macron said the continent should spend more. But he added, in a New Year address to military top brass: "We can't raise debt together, spend more for our defence to subsidise the industry, wealth and jobs of other continents. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "When we say 'let's spend more for our armies', in many countries it means, way too often, 'buy more American materiel'." France, which has a large defence industry, has often complained when other European Union members have opted to buy U.S. weapons when French or European alternatives exist. Germany's decision in 2022 to launch the "European Sky Shield" air-defence system with U.S. and Israeli hardware, ignoring a Franco-Italian alternative, particularly angered Macron. Such concerns have long been dismissed as self-serving by countries that have relied on the U.S. security umbrella since at least World War Two. But Trump's more aggressive stance has made EU members more receptive. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Macron said Europeans should also simplify the European defence industry. Europe has 47 different industrial platforms for its naval industry while the U.S. has only six, he said. He called for more joint European weapons development, even without French companies in the lead, adding: "We won't always be the European champions. But at least we'll be sure the European champions have a global reach." Macron said France now had "Europe's most efficient army" and met NATO's military budget target of 2% of GDP, but could not rest on its laurels at a time when the U.S. might withdraw troops from Europe. And he suggested that 2% might not be enough "when the world is going off track". Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Macron also said Russia would pose a security challenge for Europe and the wider world for a long time, even if there was an end to the war in Ukraine, which Trump promised to end within 24 hours of becoming president. "Let's not fool ourselves, this conflict will not be resolved tomorrow. Or the day after tomorrow," he said, adding that peace in Europe required Europeans to be at the negotiating table. (Reporting by Michel Rose; Editing by Kevin Liffey) As Donald Trump once again takes office as U.S. president, whether local law enforcement agencies cooperate with federal immigration authorities will become a crucial flashpoint in his planned mass deportation effort. Local police and sheriff's departments may lend support to, or hinder, the efforts of federal agencies such as U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in a variety of ways. That could range from supporting deportation raids to declining to inform ICE about noncitizens in their jails. And in a purple state like Wisconsin, the approach to undocumented immigrants is likely to vary county to county. The Trump administration could incentivize agencies to participate or threaten those who don't. But many proposed actions are likely to face legal challenges from immigrant advocates. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Among the uncertainty, the constitutional law is clear, said Kevin Johnson, professor of law at the University of California, Davis. "The federal government can't commandeer state and local governments to do much of anything," Johnson said. The debate is already heating up. The Beloit Police Department said in a statement in early January that it would not enter into contracts with ICE, and it would not conduct immigration-related investigations, as it did not align with its community policing philosophy. The department said it would cooperate with ICE only if the person is suspected of terrorism, gang activity or arrested for violent felonies. Those are also the circumstances under which the Milwaukee Police Department and Milwaukee County Sheriff's Office cooperates with ICE. U.S. Rep. Bryan Steil, a Republican from Janesville, reacted to Beloit Police Department's statement on X, saying, "This is unacceptable. Keeping Wisconsin families safe has to be the priority. Ensuring US law is upheld should be no question." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Here are answers to four key questions on local law enforcement and deportations. More: Is Milwaukee a sanctuary city? Not quite, but it's one of Wisconsin's closest examples More: Mass deportation, ending DACA: How would Trump's policies affect Wisconsin immigrants? Migrants and asylum seekers are guided into vans to be transported for processing by U.S. Border Patrol agents in Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument along the U.S.-Mexico border in Arizona on Dec. 4, 2023. Could local law enforcement officers carry out immigration raids? Trump's "border czar," Tom Homan, has said he would try to use contractors to do some logistics and operations work. And Stephen Miller, the incoming deputy chief of staff for policy and Homeland Security adviser, has said he would try to deputize the National Guard to arrest immigrants by invoking the Insurrection Act. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Generally, local law enforcement agencies interact with federal immigration authorities in jails and prisons, when undocumented people are arrested for cases unrelated to their immigration status. Agents with ICE and U.S. Customs and Border Patrol handle deportation raids and detentions. Immigration enforcement is under the purview of the federal government. The American Civil Liberties Union of Wisconsin has decried what it calls the "jail to deportation pipeline." About 70% of ICE arrests in the interior of the U.S. have been handoffs from another agency such as a local or state jail or federal prison, according to the Immigrant Legal Resource Center. "It's much easier for (ICE), logistically and resource wise, to pick someone up from a jail, as opposed to having to put in weeks of planning, and monitoring someone's work and life patterns ... and then trying to go out and find someone," said Kathleen Bush-Joseph, a lawyer and policy analyst with the Migration Policy Institute. More: ICE detention center not planned for Milwaukee, contrary to some Common Council members' statements Do local agencies have to follow what the federal government says? In short, no. State and local agencies can generally cooperate with the Trump administration on immigration as much or as little as they want, Johnson said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The collaboration comes with a number of pros and cons. Since county sheriffs are elected, they may find it politically beneficial to be seen as cracking down on crime and illegal immigration. And they may hope closer connections to the federal government would help them get grants or other benefits in the future. But a number of agencies choose not to work closely with ICE because they view it as harmful to their own policing efforts, Johnson said. If immigrants are afraid that speaking to the police will lead to deportation, crimes go unreported, witnesses are unwilling to cooperate and people could flee traffic stops, he said. The Trump administration may threaten to pull federal funds to cities who refuse to cooperate. Trump tried to defund so-called sanctuary cities during his first term, but that was struck down in court. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Other actions could be harder to challenge, Johnson said, like revoking access to key federal databases. Executive orders from Trump, or even legislation from the Republican-controlled Congress, could be avenues for consequences for jurisdictions who don't participate, Bush-Joseph said. More: Think H-1B visas are just a Silicon Valley issue? Hundreds of Wisconsin firms use them. Will the Wisconsin National Guard be used to support deportations? National Guard troops are generally under the control of state governors. When Gov. Tony Evers took office in 2019, he issued an executive order to withdraw Wisconsin National Guard soldiers and airmen from the southern border who were deployed by former Gov. Scott Walker. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement National Guard troops have been used at the border in support capacities in previous administrations. But Miller has indicated troops from Republican states could be deputized to carry out deportation arrests beyond the border. Whether that will be legally possible remains to be seen. Homan in December said sworn immigration officers would be the ones making arrests. The military and contractors would handle other tasks, like transportation and administration, he said, as the government seeks to expand its reach and capacity to deport. Evers has said he doesn't expect to be put in a position to decide whether to prevent the Wisconsin National Guard from assisting with deportations, but said: "We're not going to organize that. I guarantee you." "The idea of deporting folks that are keeping our economy one of the best in the country is irrational. Trying to move them all over the country is irrational. So, we'll do whatever we can do avoid that," Evers said. What is a 287(g) contract, and which Wisconsin counties have them with ICE? Seven Wisconsin sheriff's offices have contracts with ICE through the 287(g) program. They all deal with collaborating with the agency when immigrant inmates are in county jails. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Six counties' sheriff's offices Brown, Fond du Lac, Manitowoc, Marquette, Sheboygan and Waushara operate under the Warrant Service Officer model. That means officers can issue immigration arrest warrants to people in their jails that ICE identifies, and hold them in custody for two days past their release date to give ICE time to pick them up. They do not interview inmates about their immigration status. One sheriff's office, Waukesha County, operates under the broader Jail Enforcement model, which allows officers to interview people in custody about their immigration status and check their IDs against federal databases, then issue immigration arrest warrants. Sophie Carson is a general assignment reporter who reports on religion and faith, immigrants and refugees and more. Contact her at scarson@gannett.com or 920-323-5758. This story was updated to add a video. This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: What to know about local law enforcement collaboration with ICE agents (Bloomberg) -- Donald Trumps tariff threats stand to hurt American economic interests because they would disturb automotive supply chains where the US is strong and drive up consumer prices, said the head of General Motors Co.s Canadian unit. Most Read from Bloomberg It is a disruption that is in no ones interest, especially in the US, GM Canada President Kristian Aquilina said in an interview. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trump has threatened 25% tariffs on goods from Canada and Mexico, in addition to other trade measures. A report in the Wall Street Journal on Monday said the incoming president will stop short of imposing tariffs on his first day in office. Instead, the new administration will direct federal agencies to evaluate US trade relationships with China, Canada and Mexico, the Journal reported. Canadian officials have said theyre waiting for Trumps decision on tariffs, but they will retaliate if necessary with counter-tariffs against US products. If those are applied to cars and trucks, it would make US-manufactured vehicles less attractive to buy. That would be a blow to Canadian consumers, who are significant buyers of US-made cars and trucks. About 50% of the vehicles sold in Canada by value in 2023 were imported from the US, according to calculations by the Trillium Network for Advanced Manufacturing, a research group based in the province of Ontario. The US is also the dominant outside supplier of parts, providing about 65% of Canadas auto-part imports, Trillium said. Mexico has a 14% share. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Overall, Canada had about a C$40 billion ($27.7 billion) trade deficit on motor vehicles and parts in 2023, according to data from Statistics Canada. Its the largest single category of Canadian imports from the US. North American auto supply chains may have to change depending on how far Trump goes with tariffs, Aquilina said. We are going to size that up, whether its January 21 or later, and work out the best response, and what adjustments we need to make in our business, said the executive, adding that too many unknowns remain for now. Detroit-based General Motors makes a limited number of vehicle models in Canada. Its two Ontario assembly plants build Chevrolet Silverado pickup trucks and electric vans for commercial use. Another GM plant in the province manufactures engines and transmissions for US factories that make full-size trucks and the Chevrolet Corvette. Tariffs, if there are no exemptions, will simply end up increasing the cost of vehicles and components traded back and forth among countries, Aquilina said. Its an industry thats been built over a long period of time to assume natural flow of goods. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Tariffs might also put additional pressure on the Canadian dollar, making it even more expensive to import US parts to build vehicles in Canada, he said. The loonie slumped about 4.5% between US election day and Jan. 17. That currency weakness is already being felt in the sector, the GM executive added. The cost of those vehicles for us to purchase, and then sell to our dealers and customers, is getting higher. Thats not the only headwind for sales. Canadian governments are phasing out or pausing incentives on electric vehicles, despite a federal policy mandating that by 2035, all new light-duty vehicles sold should be zero-emission. An interim target of 20% has been set for next year. For GM, Canada is the companys third-largest market, representing 294,000 vehicles sold last year, about 14% of which were electric. The company has about 8,000 employees in Canada. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Aquilina said Canada should back off the 20% target for 2026 because its unrealistic, and price reductions to stimulate electric-vehicle purchases arent sustainable. Were hurting ourselves, and making us weaker in response. GMs adjusted profit margin was 6.3% in the 12-month period ended Sept. 30, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2025 Bloomberg L.P. President Donald Trump issued a sweeping series of pardons for defendants charged in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, commuting the sentences of 14 individuals and offering a a full, complete and unconditional pardon to all other individuals convicted of offenses related to events that occurred at or near the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021." "So, this is January 6th. These are the hostages, approximately 1,500 for a pardon," Trump said while holding the black folder containing the order. The 14 individuals that Trump identified that he was commuting sentences for are those convicted or otherwise charged with engaging in the separate seditious conspiracies mounted by leaders of the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers to thwart the lawful transfer of power on Jan. 6, 2021. They were among the more grave and high profile charges brought in connection with January 6. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement MORE: Trump inauguration live updates Former Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio, who was sentenced to 22 years in prison after his conviction of seditious conspiracy, was being processed for release from his cell in Louisiana following Trumps executive action, his lawyer told ABC News Monday evening. PHOTO: President Donald Trump signs an executive order for pardons on January 6 offenders in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, Jan. 20, 2025. (Jim Watson/POOL/AFP via Getty Images) Tarrio was notably sentenced to the longest term of imprisonment among all of the nearly 1,600 individuals charged in connection with the attack. Outside the Central Detention Facility in Washington, crowds of supporters of those inside sang the national anthem with rioters over the phone. One person could be heard saying, "Thank you, President Trump! We're getting out tonight." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who was among the lawmakers who were rushed from the House and Senate chambers and offices after rioters breached the Capitol, called Trump's order "shameful." "The President's actions are an outrageous insult to our justice system and the heroes who suffered physical scars and emotional trauma as they protected the Capitol, the Congress and the Constitution," Pelosi said. Craig Sicknick, whose brother Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick died the day after being attacked by rioters, told ABC News' Rachel Scott that Trump's pardons were a "betrayal of decency." "The man doesn't understand pain or suffering of others. He can't comprehend anyone else's feelings," Sicknick said. "We now have no rule of law." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Brian Sicknick suffered two strokes after the riot. A D.C. medical examiner said he died of natural causes, but "all that transpired on that day played a role in his condition." Trump was expected to further direct the incoming attorney general to move to dismiss all pending indictments against Jan. 6 defendants who have not yet had their cases fully adjudicated, which would shutter roughly 470 ongoing cases, according to recently released numbers by the District of Columbia U.S. Attorney's Office. Current and former DOJ officials have expressed alarm over the potential that Trump would hand down pardons -- or otherwise free -- violent offenders, citing the potential risk they could seek to target the prosecutors who oversaw their cases, the judges who sentenced them to periods of incarceration, or witnesses who may have testified against them. Trump teased the pardons earlier Monday at Capital One Arena, where he spoke to supporters after taking the oath of office at the Capitol. PHOTO: Pro-Trump protesters, including Proud Boys leader Joe Biggs, (plaid shirt at bottom center of frame,) gather in front of the U.S. Capitol Building on January 6, 2021 in Washington, DC. (Jon Cherry/Getty Images) A violent mob of pro-Trump protesters stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, fighting with officers, breaking into offices and destroying property. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement After the attack on the U.S. Capitol by rioters seeking to overturn the 2020 election, more than 1,580 people were charged criminally in federal court, according to the Department of Justice. More than 1,000 have pleaded guilty. Trump's team had drafted a list of potential pardons for Jan. 6 defendants to issue on Day 1, sources familiar with the matter told ABC News on Sunday. Of the nearly 1,600 individuals who have faced charges associated with the Capitol attack, according to figures released by the U.S. Attorney's Office, 608 individuals faced charges for assaulting, resisting or interfering with law enforcement trying to protect the complex that day, the office said. Approximately 140 law enforcement officers were injured during the riot, the DOJ has said. PHOTO: Trump supporters clash with police and security forces as people try to storm the US Capitol on January 6, 2021 in Washington, DC. (Brent Stirton/Getty Images) MORE: Biden preemptively pardons Anthony Fauci, Mark Milley and Jan. 6 committee members Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The U.S. Attorney's Office said it was evaluating whether to bring charges in roughly 200 cases that were referred to them by the FBI, about 60 of which involve potential felony charges involving allegations of assault or impeding law enforcement. Trump said last March that he was "inclined to pardon many" of the rioters. At least 221 individuals were found guilty at contested trials in U.S. District Court, the DOJ said. Another 40 individuals were convicted following an agreed-upon set of facts presented to and accepted by the Court. Outgoing President Joe Biden on Monday issued preemptive pardons to potential targets of the incoming Trump administration, including lawmakers who served on the House Jan. 6 Committee. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trump, in his 2024 campaign, repeatedly vowed "retribution" on his political enemies, specifically singling out lawmakers like Liz Cheney, who investigated the attack on the Capitol. Trump said Cheney and other committee members should be put in jail. ABC News' Lalee Ibssa, Michelle Stoddart and Meredith Deliso contributed to this report. Trump issues sweeping pardons and commutations for Jan. 6 rioters originally appeared on abcnews.go.com Incoming President Donald Trump will end birthright citizenship for children of undocumented immigrants who entered the country without legal permission on his first day in office, his incoming officials said. It is one of 10 executive orders that Trump will sign on Monday as part of his anti-immigration agenda. Trump has long pledged to end birthright citizenship, which means anyone born in the U.S. including the children of undocumented immigrants, tourists, and students in the country on short-term visas is automatically a citizen. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It has been in place for over a century. On a prospective basis, the federal government will not recognize automatic birthright citizenship for children of illegal aliens born in the United States, an incoming White House official told reporters on Monday. Immigrant communities and campaigners have been bracing for the crackdown. The 14th Amendment to the Constitution, which was ratified in 1868, guarantees birthright citizenship. Trump will reportedly roll out 200 executive orders, including 10 about the border, on his first day in office (Getty Images) All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside, it states. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trump did not mention ending birthright citizenship explicitly during his inaugural speech at the Capitols Rotunda on Monday, but immigration was a dominant theme. He said that he would be signing a series of historic executive orders on his first day in office and of those, immigration was at the top of his list. First, I will declare a national emergency at our southern border, Trump said at Mondays ceremony. All illegal entry will immediately be halted and we will begin the process of returning millions and millions of criminal aliens back to the places from which they came. Both legal and political leaders have previously poured cold water on Trumps pledge, with former Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan saying: You cannot end birthright citizenship with an executive order. Trump did not mention ending birthright citizenship explicitly during his inaugural speech (via REUTERS) The 14th Amendment is pretty clear, and that would involve a very, very lengthy constitutional process, he added. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Changing the Constitution requires support by a two-thirds majority in both chambers of Congress. The Supreme Court has affirmed that the language covers effectively any person born within the country, but right-wing legal groups and Trump allies have pushed for the nations highest court to narrowly define the amendment to end birthright citizenship altogether. Even conservative 5th Circuit Court of Appeals Judge James Ho, who was appointed by Trump, has said that to be subject to the jurisdiction of the U.S. is simply to be subject to the authority of the U.S. government. The phrase thus covers the vast majority of persons within our borders who are required to obey U.S. laws, he wrote. And obedience, of course, does not turn on immigration status, national allegiance, or past compliance. All must obey. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trump also intends to suspend refugee resettlement for four months. For decades the program has allowed hundreds of thousands of people from around the world fleeing war and persecution to come to the U.S. He is expected to sign more than 200 executive actions on his first day in office, according to reports. President Trump signed an executive order declaring a national emergency at the southern border. The president also signed an executive order attempting to end birthright citizenship. Economists and researchers said Trump's deportation plans could have negative economic impacts. President Donald Trump upon arriving at the White House on Monday signed executive orders declaring a national emergency at the US-Mexico border and designating cartel organizations as "foreign terrorist organizations," ramping up his focus on immigration in his second term. "I will send troops to the southern border to repel the disastrous invasion of our country," he said during his inaugural speech earlier in the day at the Capitol. Later, at the White House, Trump signed an order instructing the Secretary of Defense to send him a plan within 10 days to task US Northern Command with securing the border. Trump's advisors have said they were not concerned about laws limiting US troops' involvement in domestic law enforcement. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "As Commander in Chief, I have no higher responsibility than to defend our country from threats and invasions and that is exactly what I am going to do," he continued. "We will do it at a level nobody has ever seen before. Trump also signed an executive order attempting to end birthright citizenship, a highly controversial move but one championed by many conservatives. Legal scholars have been clear that no president can unilaterally overrule the Constitution, meaning historic legal fights are almost guaranteed to follow. The president also said he'd reinstate his Remain in Mexico policy and "end the practice of catch and release." The Remain in Mexico policy which was launched in 2019 during Trump's first term mandates that migrants seeking asylum to remain in Mexico pending their immigration court date in the US. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Throughout his campaign, Trump argued that deportations could benefit the US economy. He has said that removing large numbers of people in the country illegally could open job opportunities for US-born workers and legal immigrants and could bring housing prices down. Business Insider has spoken to over a dozen immigration researchers and policy analysts across the political spectrum. While some conservative-leaning researchers said reducing the number of people coming into the US and living in the country illegally, along with large-scale mass deportations, is necessary to protect American safety and could have long-term economic benefits, left- and center-leaning researchers said there may be economic shocks. The US had an estimated 11.7 million immigrants living in the US illegally as of July 2023, per the most recent numbers from the Center for Migration Studies. As many as 8.3 million people in this demographic work, per CMS estimates. Mass deportations could have significant economic consequences, some researchers told BI. The American Immigration Council estimated that a "one-time mass deportation operation" would directly cost the federal government $315 billion, accounting for detainments, arrests, legal processing, and removals. Trump's promises for large-scale deportations In interviews and speeches, Trump has stressed his belief that the US has had no choice but to carry out large-scale deportations. He also confirmed plans to use the military for deportation efforts in November, along with using a 1798 law allowing for the deportation of suspected gang and cartel members. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Before Inauguration Day, Trump's border czar, Tom Homan, told ABC News that the administration was reviewing plans for immigration raids in Chicago. Trump has threatened to crack down on illegal immigration in communities in Colorado and Ohio, whose high concentrations of immigrants have drawn national attention. When asked about potential raids, Trump told reporters he did not want to discuss the specific timing of such operations. Homan previously stressed that deportations would not involve sweeps of immigrant-heavy neighborhoods and would instead target immigrants with criminal records. In private meetings, Homan told Republican lawmakers to tone down expectations for initial deportations due to limited resources. Homan told CNN he would need at least 100,000 beds to carry out detainment plans. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement CNN also reported that Homan and lawmakers discussed a plan to target the 1.4 million people with final immigration orders of removal as part of a tiered approach to deportation. Concerns have risen about ICE's lack of space for a heightened number of detainees, as well as various legal challenges to its plans for deportations. Other plans include working with local and state law enforcement agencies and reassigning law enforcement officials to ICE officers, The New York Times reported. The Trump team may also expand expedited removal, the process of removing noncitizens without a hearing and drafting limitations on birthright citizenship, such as ceasing to issue passports to children born in the US to immigrant parents who live in the US illegally. Trump named Stephen Miller, the chief architect of Trump's first-term travel ban, as Homeland Security advisor and White House deputy chief of staff. The border has calmed down recently. US Border Patrol calculated 47,330 migrant encounters along the southwest border in December, among the lowest since mid-2020 and an over 80% reduction since December 2023. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement During Trump's first term in office, the US deported about 1.5 million people. Between January 2021 and August 2024, when Biden held office, more than 1.4 million deportations were carried out. Mass deportations could hurt American jobs One of Trump's arguments about immigrants is that they steal jobs from native-born workers. Recent research shows that US-born employment increases with immigration, and deportations hurt native job numbers. "US-born workers do not simply take all the jobs left behind by immigrants after they are deported," Chloe East, a fellow at the Brookings Institution who studies immigration policy, told BI. "This is because these jobs are lower-paid, more dangerous, and otherwise less desirable than the jobs more often taken by US-born workers." The US has already seen examples of this in its recent history. Around 400,000 people were deported between 2008 and 2014 through a program called Secure Communities. Research published in October showed industries experienced heightened worker shortages as a result. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This also included the construction workforce, which employs among the highest numbers of workers living in the US illegally. "The labor market is already tense and tight, and construction is one of those industries that doesn't have enough workers," Jennie Murray, president and CEO of the immigrant advocacy nonprofit group National Immigration Forum, told BI. She added that deportations could worsen housing shortages in the US. Consumers may feel the effects of deportations at the grocery store, as a reduced agricultural workforce could mean less locally sourced food and higher prices. A Center for American Progress analysis from 2021 found that nearly 300,000 workers living in the US illegally were in agriculture and farming around 13% of the 2.3 million workers in the agriculture sector that year. The broader economy could be impacted Immigrants living in the US illegally also contribute significantly to taxes and government programs. In 2022, they paid $96.7 billion in federal, state, and local taxes, per the most recent data from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. They paid $25.7 billion in Social Security taxes and $6.4 billion in Medicare taxes while being ineligible to receive benefits from those social insurance programs. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement However, Republicans have argued that welfare programs and taxpayer-subsidized health insurance for immigrants have cost US residents billions, potentially partly offsetting these gains. Some think tanks said the broader economy could suffer if millions of people are deported. The Peterson Institute for International Economics wrote in September that if 1.3 million people are deported, GDP could fall 1.2% below baseline by 2028. Read the original article on Business Insider Taking office for the second time, President Donald Trump described his view of how to bring about a safer and richer nation and vowed to forcefully enforce a conservative view on gender and race where public policies will not consider racial disparities and will not acknowledge transgender or nonbinary individuals. Trump delivered the address inside the Capitol Rotunda, where the ceremony was moved to due to bitterly cold temperatures in Washington. Trumps 28-minute address, much longer than his 2017 speech, detailed an expansive agenda and immediate executive orders that he says will bring the nation to its Golden Age. Trump made clear that he believes he has a strong mandate from American voters and God: I was saved by God to make America great again, Trump said, referencing the July assassination attempt against him. Trump laid out his second-term plans in great detail, leading with his anti-immigration agenda and quickly launching into a broadside against diversity, equity and inclusion efforts in public and private life. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This week, I will also end the government policy of trying to socially engineer race and gender into every aspect of public and private life. We will forge a society that is colorblind and merit-based, Trump said. As of today, it will henceforth be the official policy of the United States government that there are only two genders, male and female. Trump narrowly won the popular vote, unlike in his 2016 victory, when he won just the Electoral College. The executive orders he outlined in his inaugural address align with what he promised during his campaign, one based on anti-immigrant and anti-trans rhetoric. The nations 47th president launched his second term much like he did his first with a speech anchored in a dark view of the country. The pillars of our society lay broken and seemingly in complete disrepair, Trump said. The incoming president criticized the departing administration without mentioning ex-President Joe Biden by name, saying that the nations government cant manage a simple crisis, and pointed to the floods in North Carolina and fires in Southern California. My recent election is a mandate to completely and totally reverse a horrible betrayal and all of these many betrayals that have taken place and to give the people back their faith, their wealth, their democracy and indeed, their freedom, Trumps said. From this moment on, Americas decline is over. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement For many years, a radical and corrupt establishment has extracted power and wealth from our citizens while the pillars of our society lay broken and seemingly in complete disrepair, Trump said. We now have a government that cannot manage even a simple crisis at home while at the same time stumbling into a continuing catalog of catastrophic events abroad. Amid Mondays ceremonies, the Trump administration is planning to trigger a slew of executive orders that will quickly reshape the nation. Trump outlined that agenda on Monday, including several orders on immigration, racial equity, transgender rights, energy production and federal regulations and staffing. Early in his speech, Trump reiterated his scorn for the U.S. justice system, which he has decried as broken and corrupt after he faced several investigations and legal cases. In one case, the president was convicted of 34 felonies related to an effort to hide from voters hush-money payments made to Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election. The convictions made Trump the first president with a felony conviction. The scales of justice will be rebalanced. The vicious, violent and unfair weaponization of the Justice Department and our government will end, Trump said. Guests and supporters are seen in an overflow room as they watch Donald Trump being sworn in during his Inauguration ceremony at the Capitol on January 20, 2025 in Washington, D.C. (Greg Nash-Pool/Getty Images) Trump thanked the Black and Hispanic communities for their support of his 2024 campaign and acknowledged his inauguration date falling on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. In his honor, we will strive together to make his dream a reality. We will make his dream come true, he said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement John Roberts, the chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, administered the oath of office to Trump, and Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh administered the oath to Vice President JD Vance, flanked by his young children. While Trump and other prominent figures gathered inside the Capitol Rotunda, Trump supporters gathered at the Capital One Arena blocks away in a less formal gathering. In the arena, attendees could be heard cheering for the 47th president and loudly booing figures including former Vice President Mike Pence and former President Barack Obama. Attendees in the Rotunda included former presidents and first ladies, members of Trumps family, Cabinet nominees and several tech and business executives, including Jeff Bezos, founder and executive chairman of Amazon; Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and SpaceX and the owner of X; Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg; and Google CEO Sundar Pichai. Other members of Congress, governors and political leaders watched the ceremony from an overflow room. Vice President Kamala Harris, who lost her presidential bid to Trump and would have become the nations first woman president, looked on, as did Hillary Clinton, the former first lady who lost to Trump in 2016. Notably, former First Lady Michelle Obama and former Second Lady Karen Pence were absent from Mondays ceremonies. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trump previewed key themes of his inaugural address in a rally held Sunday at Capitol One Arena in Washington. Tomorrow at noon, the curtain closes on four long years of American decline, and we begin a brand new day of American strength and prosperity, dignity, and pride, Trump said. Once and for all were going to end the reign of a failed and corrupt political establishment in Washington, a failed administration, he said Sunday. Earlier speakers at the inauguration ceremony spoke about the strength of democracy and the peaceful transfer of power the usual fodder of inauguration ceremonies that have historically tended to be focused on unity and nonpartisanship. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Our great American experiment, grounded in the rule of law, has endured. So as we inaugurate a new president, let us remember that the power of those in this room comes from the people, said Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar, chair of the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies. Our democracy promised the American people the power to change, to chart their own destiny, said Republican Sen. Deb Fischer of Nebraska. Thats the beauty. That is the importance of democracy. It allows endurance, the permanence of a nation. Trump took the oath of office inside the building that his supporters ransacked and rioted four years ago to block Congress from affirming Trumps defeat to Biden. Trump spent the subsequent years sowing distrust in the nations election system, and mounting what at times looked like an unlikely third bid for the Republican nomination to the presidency. Trump himself acknowledged the dramatic turn of events that led him to the White House a second time. Many people thought it was impossible for me to stage such a historic political combat. I stand before you now as proof that you should never believe that something is impossible to do in America, Trump said during his inaugural address. The impossible is what we do best. The post Trumps view of a Golden Age is one full of restrictions appeared first on The 19th. News that represents you, in your inbox every weekday. Subscribe to our free, daily newsletter. WASHINGTON Donald Trump spent part of his last full day as president-elect visiting the graves of three U.S. soldiers killed in the chaotic pullout from Afghanistan, a tragedy that he has long blamed on the Biden administration. Touring Section 60 at Arlington National Cemetery in the Virginia suburbs Sunday, Trump stopped at the three grave sites and spoke to relatives of the fallen service members. All three died during an attack as they worked to evacuate people from Kabul on Aug. 26, 2021. They were Darin T. Hoover and Nicole L. Gee of the Marine Corps and Ryan C. Knauss of the Army. Trump, who will be sworn in for a second term at noon Monday, has sharply criticized Biden for his handling of the Afghanistan withdrawal. He has described it as a humiliation and the most embarrassing day in the history of our country. The choice to visit those particular grave sites reflects the relationships he has built with some of those families since the Kabul attack, including during the campaign, and may suggest he wants to keep the Biden-era Afghanistan withdrawal in focus. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement After Trump won in November, NBC News reported that his transition team was compiling a list of senior current and former military officers who were involved in the pullout and studying whether they could be court-martialed. Biden has stood by his decision to end the 20-year war in Afghanistan. A report by his National Security Council in 2023 blamed the first Trump administration for creating conditions that severely constrained Bidens options. The report mentioned that Trump had reached a deal with the Taliban in which the United States agreed to withdraw all its forces from Afghanistan by the spring of 2021, when Trump was gone and Biden was in power. Trump traveled to the cemetery in a cold rain and began the visit by laying a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Wearing a dark overcoat and gloves in the chill, he stood solemnly after he laid the wreath and saluted. Vice President-elect JD Vance and two people who had lost family members in combat stood alongside Trump and also laid wreaths. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Watching from a distance were Trumps wife, Melania, and four of his children: Don Jr., Eric, Ivanka and Tiffany. Various Trump Cabinet picks also attended, including Pete Hegseth, his pick for secretary of defense; Marco Rubio, the secretary of state-designate; and Tulsi Gabbard, Trump's choice for director of national intelligence. Trumps last visit to the cemetery resulted in a confrontation with a worker on the grounds. He took part in a wreath-laying ceremony on Aug. 26 marking the third anniversary of the Kabul attack, which killed 13 U.S. service members. He then went to Section 60, where some service members killed in Iraq and Afghanistan are buried. Donald Trump with Bill Barnett, who's grandson Staff Sgt Darin Taylor Hoover died in Abbey Gate Bombing, during a wreath laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery on Aug. 26, 2024 in Virginia. NPR reported that a cemetery worker tried to stop two members of Trumps entourage from recording at the site, resulting in an altercation. Trumps campaign said he had been invited to the cemetery by Gold Star families of soldiers who had died in the attack and had been permitted to bring a photographer. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Army said in a subsequent statement that an aide to Trump abruptly pushed aside a cemetery employee who had tried to enforce restrictions on taking photos and defended the unnamed employees actions. This article was originally published on NBCNews.com President-elect Donald Trump vowed to sign a sweeping slate of executive orders in the first hours of his presidency Monday, including ones aimed at closing access to the southern border and delaying a ban on TikTok. By the time the sun sets tomorrow evening, the invasion of our borders will have come to a halt, Trump said at a victory rally Sunday at Capital One Arena in downtown Washington, D.C., on the eve of his second inauguration. The American people have given us their trust, and in return, were going to give them the best first day, the biggest first week, and the most extraordinary first 100 days of any presidency in American history, Trump said, teasing the massive number of executive actions expected Monday. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The president-elect is expected to sign an order that clears the way for TikTok to operate in the U.S. despite a law that went into effect over the weekend barring the Chinese-owned social media app from being used in the States unless its owners divest. Trump suggested the app could exist here long term as long as the U.S. government assumes a major financial stake alongside an American company. Ill approve, but let the United States of America own 50% of TikTok, Trump said. Im approving on behalf of the United States, and theyll have a lot of bidders, and the United States will do what we call ... [a] joint venture, and theres no risk. Were not putting up any money. All were doing is giving them the approval without which they dont have anything. By the time the sun sets tomorrow evening, the invasion of our borders will have come to a halt, President-elect Donald Trump said Sunday. Bloomberg via Getty Images After going dark Saturday night, TikToks parent company, ByteDance, restored access to the app Sunday based on assurances from Trump that he would not seek to enforce the law banning it in the U.S. Trump is planning, per Fox News, more than 200 executive actions his first day back in the Oval Office, including declaring a national emergency at the southern border; dismantling diversity, equity and inclusion programs; rolling back electric-vehicle mandates; and easing limits on offshore drilling. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Every radical and foolish executive order of the Biden administration will be reversed within hours of when I take the oath, Trump said. Youre gonna have a lot of fun watching television. Trump gave an uncharacteristically short speech of about an hour at the arena as a winter storm bore down outside. The treacherous single-digit weather in the region prompted the president-elect to move his inauguration ceremony indoors, from the National Mall to the U.S. Capitol rotunda. Preceding Trump onstage Sunday were his two eldest sons, Don Jr. and Eric; daughter-in-law and former Republican National Committee co-chair Lara Trump; senior adviser Stephen Miller; political commentator Megyn Kelly; and Ultimate Fighting Championship CEO Dana White. Accountability is coming. Justice is coming. The whole federal bureaucracy is about to learn that they dont work for themselves. They work for you. They work for President Trump, and they work for the American people, Miller said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Thousands of people were lined up in the freezing cold and snow to hear from Trump in Washington. It was a strange sight for the deep-blue District: Red MAGA hats were everywhere flooding local bars and restaurants as U.S. National Guard troops and police officers stood on high alert in the streets. It was also Trumps first rally back in Washington since the infamous post-2020 election Stop the Steal rally that sparked the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol. Its beautiful like Christmas, one Trump supporter, waiting in line to get inside, remarked of the large snowflakes falling. Igor Bobic contributed reporting. Trump wants to carry out another manifest destiny but this time on Mars.. We will pursue our manifest destiny into the stars, launching American astronauts to plant the stars and stripes on the planet Mars, the newly inaugurated president said on Monday to the audience gathered in the Capitol Rotunda, who reacted to his comments with a standing ovation. Ambition is the lifeblood of a great nation. And right now our nation is more ambitious than any other. Theres no nation like our nation. Manifest destiny was the violent, presumptuous 19th century idea that white American settlers had some religious obligation to seize Native land in the West, to convert Native Americans to Christianity, and to exploit the regions ample resources. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trumps Mars pledge elicited a huge grin and enthusiastic double thumbs up from billionaire and top Mars colonization enthusiast Elon Musk, who has been pushing his Mars colony agenda for nearly a decade via his SpaceX company. Donald Trump has promised to make things real interesting, real fast for Americas hordes of conspiracy theoristsnot to mention Hollywood screenwriters and the creators of lucrative true-crime podcasts. In the coming days, we are going to make public remaining records related to the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, his brother Robert Kennedy, as well as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and other topics of great public interest, the incoming president said at a rally in downtown Washington on Sunday, Reuters reported. The move would fulfill a campaign promise to release classified intelligence and law enforcement files on President Kennedys 1963 assassination. The Gallup polling company found in 2023 that more than half of Americans doubted the Justice Departments official finding that gunman Lee Harvey Oswald had acted alone. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Those include Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Trumps nominee to head the federal Department of Health and Human Services, who believes his uncle was killed in a plot involving the CIA. He also thinks his father, assassinated in 1968 by a Palestinian-Jordanian man named Sirhan Sirhan over his support for Israel, was in fact killed by multiple gunmen. The CIA has described those claims as baseless, according to Reuters. During his first term in office, Trump made similar promises to release the investigation reports into those high-profile assassinations. He released some documents related to President Kennedys death, but for national security reasons he was ultimately convinced by the CIA and FBI to keep most of the documents classified. This time around, though, Trump has vowed to be less deferential to both agencies. Already his team has been working to surround the president with MAGA loyalists, even for nonpolitical positions related to national security. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Not only would declassifying the documents appease Kennedy Jr.; regardless of what they reveal, their contents would be bound to dominate news headlines and social media chatter. Which could leave Trump escaping scrutiny as he rakes in the crypto money from his new meme coinnot to mention all his other potential conflicts of interest in his second White House term. President-elect Trump on Sunday vowed to release records related to former President John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr.s assassinations in the coming days. As a first step toward restoring transparency and accountability to government, we will also reverse the overclassification of government documents, and in the coming days, we are going to make public remaining records relating to the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, his brother Robert Kennedy, as well as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr and other topics of great public interest, Trump said during a rally at Washington D.C.s Capital One Arena in a clip highlighted by Mediaite. Robert F. Kennedys son, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., backed Trumps 2024 bid for the presidency, and has been picked by Trump as his nominee to lead the Department of Health and Human Services. In a 2023 interview, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. backed a conspiracy theory about the CIA being involved in his uncles killing. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement There is overwhelming evidence that the CIA was involved in his murder, Kennedy told radio host John Catsimatidis. I think its beyond a reasonable doubt at this point. The CIA has consistently denied allegations of its involvement in former President Kennedys death, which occurred in Dallas in 1963. Also during his Sunday rally, Trump promised a surge of executive action on his first day back in the Oval Office, vowing that his supporters will have a lot of fun amid the barrage. Every radical and foolish executive order of the Biden administration will be repealed within hours of when I take the oath of office, Trump said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Oh, youre going to have a lot of fun watching television tomorrow, he added. Somebody said yesterday, Sir, dont sign so many in one day. Lets do it over a period of weeks. I said, Like hell were going to do it over weeks. Were going to sign them at the beginning. Copyright 2025 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 The Hill. The president-elect falsely claimed a 2023 Supreme Court ruling on affirmative action was a sweeping rejection of diversity, equity and inclusion that goes beyond college admissions. President-elect Donald Trump announced that when he takes office, he intends to declassify FBI records related to the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., one day before the federal holiday observing the civil rights icon. Trump will also officially be sworn in on Monday as the 47th president of the United States. While delivering a more than hour-long speech at a pre-inauguration victory rally in Washington, D.C. on Sunday, Trump told his thousands of supporters that he intends to release decades-old classified documents that detail the federal governments investigation of Kings 1968 murder. He said he would do the same for the assassinations of former President John F. Kennedy and his brother Robert F. Kennedy, a former U.S. attorney general and senator. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Were going to make public remaining records relating to the assassinations of President John F Kennedy, his brother, Robert Kennedy, as well as Dr Martin Luther King, Jr and other topics for great public interest, said Trump. Its all going to be released on consent. Throughout the 2024 presidential election cycle, Trump promised to declassify the JFK secret files as he did during his first term in office, but his White House later delayed it, citing concerns about national security. A portion of those files reportedly contained FBI analysis that harshly portrayed Dr. King in a negative light. However, the file on King that Trump mentioned on Sunday is separate from the analysis found in the JFK assassination file. Many documents detailing the FBIs investigations of the assassinations of King and the Kennedys remain classified until 2027. Given the FBIs corrupt and illegal surveillance of King and others during the 1960s Civil Rights Movement, there has been speculation over the years that the agency was somehow involved in his assassination. There is no evidence to suggest that was the case, according to a task force that investigated the FBIs harassment of King formed by the U.S. Department of Justice in 1975. During his Sunday rally, Trump also railed against DEI, declaring, Were going to stop the destructive and divisive diversity equity and inclusion mandates all across the government and private sector. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Seemingly pointing to the Supreme Courts 2023 ruling that overturned affirmative action based on college admissions, the incoming president added, The Supreme Court ruled that the United States is allowed to go by the merit system, which is what made us great in the first place. Though Trump appeared to suggest the affirmative action ruling applied to the private sector, such as business, the ruling was only made on race-based college admissions. Demonstrators protest outside of the Supreme Court in Washington last June after the Supreme Court struck down affirmative action in college admissions, saying race cannot be a factor. (Photo: Jose Luis Magana/AP) While certain DEI policies in the private sector have been challenged in court, no ruling has mandated a merit system beyond education. Youre focusing on character, competence and qualifications and all hiring decisions now youre allowed to go by competence and ability and genius, Trump continued. You dont have to hire somebody to send up one of his rocket ships that doesnt know anything about whats happening. Trump and other Republicans have repeatedly taken aim at DEI over the past few years, suggesting that elected and government jobs and other professions held by Black and brown people are a result of meeting racial quotas and not qualifications a tactic that critics have said is racist and promotes the idea of white exceptionalism. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement As Democratic strategist Joel Payne told theGrio, They dont think that the best and the brightest include Black people. Trumps inauguration ironically falls on the federal holiday that honors Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. His son, Martin Luther King III, told theGrio that despite Trumps policy positions being in complete contrast to his fathers vision for America, its important for Black and brown communities to keep public pressure on elected officials and the Supreme Court. We have to find a way to move the ball forward when there is a group of people who are consistently trying to move the ball backward, he said. My dad and his team and our ancestors who came before us, they somehow were able to make a way out of no way, King continued. Dads vision was about freedom and justice and equality for all humankind. We know that can be done, but you have to always work on it. More must-reads: Donald Trump has pledged to release top secret files on some of the most notorious political assassinations in American history as soon as he takes office. The president-elect, who will become the first US president since Grover Cleveland to return to the White House for a non-consecutive second term when he is inaugurated at the Capitol rotunda on Monday, made the promise to his supporters at a Make America Great Again Victory Rally at Washington DCs Capital One Arena on Sunday. In the coming days, we are going to make public remaining records related to the assassinations of President John F Kennedy, his brother Robert F Kennedy, as well as Dr Martin Luther King Jr and other topics of great public interest, Trump told the crowd in his final speech before becoming Americas 47th commander-in-chief, repeating a vow he made on the campaign trail last year. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement During his first year in the Oval Office, Trump also released a batch of documents related to JFKs slaying in Dallas, Texas, on November 22 1963. But he ultimately bowed to pressure from the CIA and FBI not to go further, keeping a significant portion of the documents concerned under wraps, citing national security fears as the basis for his decision. On Sunday Trump did not specify what files he intends to release this time around or go so far as to promise a blanket declassification. The murders of some of the most consequential public figures of the 20th century in the 1960s have long attracted intense fascination and conspiracy theories, with JFKs assassination in particular a fixation for many inclined to suspect that gunman Lee Harvey Oswald did not act alone. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trump himself has spread unfounded claims related to the killing of the 35th president, shot dead by snipers bullets as his motorcade passed through the southern citys Dealey Plaza, suggesting without evidence as he sought the Republican presidential nomination in 2016 that Raphael Cruz, the father of his then-rival, Texas Senator Ted Cruz, had been involved in the alleged plot to assassinate Kennedy. Donald Trump addresses his supporters at the Make America Great Again Victory Rally at Washington DCs Capital One Arena on January 19 2025 (AP) The documents released by Trump in October 2017 offered details on the way intelligence services operated at the time and included CIA cables and memos discussing visits by Oswald to the Soviet and Cuban embassies during a trip to Mexico City just weeks before he opened fire from the upper floors of the Texas School Book Depository. At this point, only a few thousand of the millions of governmental records related to the first Kennedy assassination have yet to be published and those who have studied the records released thus far say that even if the remaining files are declassified, the public should not anticipate earth-shattering revelations. Anybody waiting for a smoking gun thats going to turn this case upside down will be sorely disappointed, said Gerald Posner, author of Case Closed, in November. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Posners book concludes that Oswald was solely responsible after all, just as the Warren Commission originally concluded. He estimates that there are still about 3,000 to 4,000 documents in the collection that have not yet been fully released. There are about 500 documents that have been completely withheld, according to Posner, and those include Oswalds tax returns, as well as those of Jack Ruby, the nightclub owner who in turn killed Oswald. John F Kennedy pictured moments before he was assassinated by a snipers bullets in Dallas, Texas, on November 22 1963 (Dallas Morning News/Public Domain) Those files, the US National Archives says on its website, were not subject to the 2017 disclosure requirement. Of those documents, some are still completely redacted while others just have small redactions, like someones Social Security number. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The files on the 1968 killing of the dead mans brother and possible successor Robert F Kennedy will be of particular interest to the latters son, Robert F Kennedy Jr, Trumps nominee to be Americas next secretary of health and human services. RFK Jr is no stranger to feverish speculation himself and has met with the man convicted of his fathers shooting, Sirhan Sirhan, in prison in the past in pursuit of the truth about that murder, saying that he believes multiple gunmen were really responsible. Donald Trump, the 47th President of the United States, pledged to build a strong US military and counter wars around the world in his inaugural address on Monday, 20 January. Source: European Pravda Details: In his speech, Trump promised to create "the strongest military the world has ever seen". Quote: "We will measure our success not only by the battles we win, but also by the wars that we end, and, perhaps most importantly, the wars we never get into." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Details: The US president stated his aspiration to be "a peacemaker and a unifier", adding that under his presidency, the United States will reclaim "its rightful place as the greatest, most powerful, most respected nation on earth, inspiring the awe and admiration of the entire world". Regarding foreign policy, Trump vowed to regain control of the Panama Canal, which he claims is being "operated by China" and to rename the Gulf of Mexico as the "Gulf of America". Notably, Trump made no mention of his intentions to seize Greenland, transform Canada into "the 51st American state". Nor did he talk about Ukraine or Russias full-scale invasion. In his inaugural address, Trump also proclaimed the beginning of the "golden age of America". Background: Donald Trump has become the second US president in history to serve two non-consecutive terms. By the end of his second term, he will be 82 years old, making him the oldest president in US history. It was previously reported that on his first day back in office, Trump plans to sign several executive orders, including reinstating the federal death penalty and mandating that official documents require citizens to indicate their gender as assigned at birth. Support UP or become our patron! (NewsNation) President Donald Trump vowed to send American astronauts to the planet Mars during his inaugural address Monday. We will pursue our manifest destiny into the stars, launching American astronauts to plant the Stars and Stripes on the planet Mars, Trump declared. Trump, Melania launch meme coins: What are they? Tech billionaire Elon Musk, who has long advocated for colonizing Mars, gave an enthusiastic two thumbs up in the audience. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trump added: Right now our nation is more ambitious than any other, theres no nation like our nation. Why does Trump want to reach Mars? Trump sees Mars as the next frontier of American exploration and achievement echoing a sentiment from the space race in the 1960s. The president said the push to Mars would carry the U.S. flag into new and beautiful horizons. The United States will once again consider itself a growing nation, one that increases our wealth and expands our territory, he said. Trump has long been interested in U.S. space policy, creating the Space Force during his first term. He also initiated NASAs return to the moon. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Musks influence could also be driving Trumps interest in the Red Planet. Here are all executive orders Trump is expected to sign on Day 1 Can humans get to Mars? No human has ever set foot on Martian soil, though robotic rovers have been exploring the planet for over 25 years. One of the main challenges is that Mars is far away, about 140 million miles from Earth on average. Rather than a three-day lunar trip, astronauts bound for Mars would be leaving our planet for roughly three years, according to NASA. Put another way: Astronauts traveling to Mars will return home with more than a billion miles on their vehicles odometer more than a thousand times the distance Artemis I traveled. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Theres also food, water and oxygen to be considered. Temperatures on Mars can range from minus-284 degrees Fahrenheit to 86 degrees Fahrenheit, and the atmosphere is 96% carbon dioxide, per NASA. Read more NewsNation space coverage here Despite those hurdles, NASA is working on technology that could send astronauts to Mars as early as the 2030s. Some think sending crew-capable spacecraft to Mars could happen even sooner, potentially before Trump leaves office in Jan. 2029. We have no doubt that Starships will be standing on Mars by 2029 if the government doesnt get in [Elon Musks] way, Greg Autry, former White House liaison to NASA under Trump and Brett Mecum, who serves on the Arizona Space Commission, wrote in a recent op-ed for The Hill. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trump preached boldness and optimism during his inauguration speech Monday. If we work together there is nothing we cannot do and no dream we cannot achieve, he said. Copyright 2025 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 NewsNation. By Valerie Volcovici and Jarrett Renshaw WASHINGTON (Reuters) -President Donald Trump once again withdrew the United States from the Paris climate deal on Monday, removing the world's biggest historic emitter from global efforts to fight climate change for the second time in a decade. The move places the United States alongside Iran, Libya and Yemen as the only countries in the world outside the 2015 pact, in which governments agreed to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels to avoid the worst impacts of climate change. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It reflects Trump's skepticism about global warming, which he has called a hoax, and fits in with his broader agenda to unfetter U.S. oil and gas drillers from regulation so they can maximize output. Trump signed the executive order withdrawing from the pact in front of supporters gathered at the Capital One Arena in Washington. "I'm immediately withdrawing from the unfair, one-sided Paris climate accord rip-off," he said before signing the order. "The United States will not sabotage our own industries while China pollutes with impunity," Trump said. China said it is concerned about the announcement, citing climate change as a common challenge faced by all humankind. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "No country can stand aloof from it, nor can any country do it alone," Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said at a regular news briefing on Tuesday. Guo said that China has been consistent in addressing climate change, and will actively respond to the challenges and jointly promote global green and low-carbon transformation. The European Union's climate policy chief Wopke Hoekstra described Trump's decision as an unfortunate development. Despite the withdrawal, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is confident that U.S. cities, states and businesses "will continue to demonstrate vision and leadership by working for the low-carbon, resilient economic growth that will create quality jobs," said associate U.N. spokesperson Florencia Soto Nino, in a written statement. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "It is crucial that the United States remains a leader on environmental issues," she said. "The collective efforts under the Paris Agreement have made a difference but we need to go much further and faster together." The United States has to formally notify U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres of its withdrawal, which - under the terms of the deal - will take effect one year later. The United States is already the worlds top producer of oil and natural gas thanks to a years-long drilling boom in Texas, New Mexico and elsewhere, fueled by fracking technology and strong global prices since Russias invasion of Ukraine. SECOND U.S. WITHDRAWAL Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trump also withdrew the U.S. from the Paris deal during his first term in office, though the process took years and was immediately reversed by the Biden presidency in 2021. The withdrawal this time around is likely to take less time as little as a year - because Trump will not be bound by the deals initial three-year commitment. This time could also be more damaging to global climate efforts, said Paul Watkinson, a former climate negotiator and senior policy advisor for France. The U.S. is currently the world's second-biggest greenhouse gas emitter behind China and its departure undermines global ambition to slash those emissions. "It will be harder this time because we are in the thick of implementation, up against real choices," Watkinson said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The world is now on pace for global warming of more than 3 C by the end of the century, according to a recent United Nations report, a level scientists warn would trigger cascading impacts such as sea level rise, heat waves, and devastating storms. Nations have already been struggling to make steep cuts to emissions required to lower the projected temperature increase, as wars, political tensions and tight government budgets push climate change down the list of priorities. Trumps approach cuts a stark contrast to that of former President Joe Biden, who wanted the United States to lead global climate efforts and sought to encourage a transition away from oil and gas using subsidies and regulations. Trump has said he intends to unwind those subsidies and regulations to shore up the nations budget and grow the economy, but has said he can do that while ensuring clean air and water in the United States. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Li Shuo, an expert in climate diplomacy at the Asia Society Policy Institute, said the U.S. withdrawal risks undermining the United States' ability to compete with China in clean energy markets such as solar power and electric vehicles. "China stands to win, and the U.S. risks lagging further behind," he said. (Reporting by Valerie Volcovici, Jarrett Renshaw and Jasper Ward; Additional reporting by Eduardo Baptista and Lewis Jackson in Beijing; Additional writing by Liz Lee; Editing by Caitlin Webber, Nia Williams, Rod Nickel, Michael Perry and Catherine Evans) President Donald Trump will withdraw the United States from the Paris Climate Agreement for the second time, delivering a blow to the effort to keep global temperatures from rising to dangerous levels. The president announced plans to exit the nearly 200-nation pact on Monday in a White House press release outlining a forthcoming executive order. The process will take a full year from the date the Trump administration formally notifies the United Nations climate body. While the U.S. can still participate in annual climate negotiations, it will do so with less influence than before. The move will take the worlds largest economy and the biggest historical contributor to climate change out of the global pact that aims to mitigate rising temperatures and the problems they are causing around the world, including more devastating hurricanes, wildfires and other disasters and displacement of people from the hardest-hit areas. The U.S. withdrawal further imperils nations already slim hopes of preventing 1.5 degrees Celsius of warming since the Industrial Revolution began. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Analyses have shown the Paris agreement sharply reduced projected levels of warming. Its backers contend those forecasts prove the deals goal-setting and peer pressure yields a positive effect, even if nations consistently fall short of their own targets. The planned U.S. withdrawal raises questions about how to maintain international climate progress during Trumps second term. Trump has vowed to repeal much of the climate spending and environmental actions taken by former President Joe Biden with an eye toward meeting the Paris agreement goals. Trying to meet those goals will be an even more daunting task with Trump aiming to turbocharge fossil fuels, the primary driver of climate change. By Elizabeth Howcroft and Susan Heavey PARIS/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump's launch of a crypto token shortly before his inauguration on Monday creates new conflict-of-interest concerns, ethics experts and industry insiders said. Trump has pledged to hand management of his assets to his children, but the crypto asset is raising particular concerns due to its ability to quickly attract billions of speculative dollars with little transparency. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The companies behind the "meme coins" $TRUMP and $MELANIA, for first lady Melania Trump, said they are not investments or securities but are an "expression of support." The tokens follow Trump-branded non-fungible tokens, sneakers and a Bible, among other items he has launched. Ethics advisors and industry experts say this investment is different because his administration will regulate an industry in which he has a stake through the new token, and one where any value is arguably tied to his presidency. The companies behind the Trump token, CIC Digital LLC, an affiliate of the Trump Organization, and Fight Fight Fight LLC, co-owned by CIC Digital, collectively own 80% of the tokens, meaning that Trump-linked businesses could have gained $8 billion worth of crypto over the weekend. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Danielle Brian, head of the watchdog group Project On Government Oversight, said Trump's moves into crypto are concerning given the industry's loose oversight. Besides being "a blatant financial conflict of interest on behalf of the president ... it is deepening his engagement in a world that raises real national security concerns," she said. Trump's office did not respond to a request for comment. Prominent crypto investor Nic Carter said on social media the creation of personal meme coins "opens the door to secretive foreign buyers trying to curry influence with our leaders." Some Democratic U.S. lawmakers echoed the national security concerns and conflict-of-interest worries. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "Anyone globally, even individuals who have been sanctioned by the U.S. or banned from our capital markets, can now trade and profit off of $TRUMP through various unregulated platforms," U.S. House Financial Services Committee top Democrat Maxine Waters wrote. Meme coins typically refer to small, extremely volatile, cryptocurrencies, often named after online jokes or trends. While supporters hope the tokens will rise as the memes go viral, most have little value. Both the Trump tokens websites avoid using the word cryptocurrency referring instead to fungible crypto assets and marketing them as memes. University of Sussex finance professor Carol Alexander said the Trump and Melania tokens were functioning more like fan tokens that took off in 2021 and would likely become a barometer for support of the couple. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Crypto markets were buoyant on Monday, with bitcoin hitting an all-time high as investors anticipated Trump's crypto-friendly policies. Some said Trump's coin was a game-changer. "The fact that a president is doing this brings some sort of legitimacy to the space, and I think just means that the industry is moving ahead in a way it hasnt for the last 10 years," said Paul Howard, senior director at crypto market-maker Wincent. (Reporting by Elizabeth Howcroft in Paris and Susan Heavey in Washington; Additional reporting by Elisa Martinuzzi and Michelle Conlin; Editing by Tommy Reggiori Wilkes, Megan Davies and Rod Nickel) BUDAPEST (Reuters) -Donald Trump's presidency in the United States will trigger a new right-wing surge in Europe, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on Monday, launching what he called an offensive to "occupy" Brussels. The nationalist premier, a long-time Trump supporter, envisages a "golden era" for relations between the U.S. and EU member state Hungary under Trump's presidency, despite a warning from Hungary's central bank that the incoming president's proposed tariffs on the EU will hurt Hungary's economy. "Only a few hours and even the sun will shine differently in Brussels. A new president in the U.S., a large faction of Patriots in Brussels, great enthusiasm," Orban said before Trump's inauguration later on Monday, which he will not attend. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "So the great attack can start. Hereby I launch the second phase of the offensive that aims to occupy Brussels," Orban told a conference, upping his anti-Brussels rhetoric. Orban's Fidesz party and other right-wing parties founded the Patriots party group in the European Parliament last year. The group, led by France's National Rally, has become the third largest in the parliament with 86 members. New tariffs that Trump has pledged to impose on European Union imports would hit Hungary's economic growth and boost inflation as the country is heavily reliant on its car industry, the National Bank of Hungary said in December. Orban, who has criticised EU sanctions against Russia and kept close relations with Moscow since the start of the war in Ukraine, said the EU was in a crisis because it could not ensure the prosperity of its citizens, could not stop illegal migration and could not ensure its security. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "We in Hungary are the opposition to the system in Brussels. ... Brussels is occupied by a left-liberal oligarchy," Orban said. "At the European election we came close to a real chance of a new right-wing majority that can replace the Brussels elite." (Reporting by Krisztina Than and Anita Komuves; Editing by Ros Russell) Turkey aims to maintain the good relationship it enjoyed with the United States during Donald Trump's first presidency into the second, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told an Ankara press conference on Monday. Erdogan said he hoped his "friendship" with Trump would continue, speaking alongside Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico shortly before Trump's inauguration. The Turkish president also offered his support in finding a peaceful solution to the war in Ukraine. Turkey, a NATO member, maintains relations with both Russia and Ukraine and has acted as a go-between in the past. Photo by Getty Images. A federal grand jury has indicted Charles E. Jones, 69, of Akron and Michael Dowling, 60, of Massillon, on one count each of participating in a racketeering (RICO) conspiracy. According to the Southern District of Ohio, the two are accused of using bribery, money laundering and obstruction to increase the companys stock price and enrich themselves. From 2015 until 2020, when he was fired, Jones worked as a senior executive within the company, including president and CEO. During that time, authorities say Jones earned around $65 million, with about $60 million coming from performance-based compensation connected partly to FirstEnergy stock prices. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Dowling worked as senior vice president, and his compensation was also tied, in part, to the companys stock prices. Both were indicted last year on state charges. The federal indictment alleges that Jones and Dowling allegedly acted in support of the RICO conspiracy, including schemes to bribe former Ohio House Representative Larry Householder and former PUCO Chairman Samuel Randazzo. Specifically, for a three-year period that ended in 2020, authorities say that FirstEnergy paid nearly $60 million to an organization called Generation Now, a social welfare organization that former Ohio House Rep. Larry Householder controlled. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The bribe money helped Householder gain the position of Speaker of the House and pass and uphold House Bill 6, a billion-dollar nuclear plant bailout to benefit FirstEnergy, authorities said. Householder would later be sent to prison for his role in the bribery scheme. The indictment also accuses Jones and Dowling of pushing for FirstEnergy-approved appointments to the state public utilities board, one of which included Randazzo as PUCO chairman. Randazzo was the PUCO chairman from April 2019 until November 2020, when he resigned. He allegedly received more than $4.3 million from an energy company and its affiliates to provide favorable actions for the company through PUCO proceedings, according to the Department of Justice. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Randazzo was eventually indicted on dozens of charges, pleaded not guilty and later died from suicide. In September 2024, The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ordered FirstEnergy to pay a $100 million civil penalty for misleading investors about its role in the scandal. The month prior, FirstEnergy paid $20 million to avoid criminal charges as part of a deal with state prosecutors. Jones and Dowling are each facing up to 20 years in prison. This article was originally published on News5Cleveland.com and is published in the Ohio Capital Journal under a content-sharing agreement. Unlike other OCJ articles, it is not available for free republication by other news outlets as it is owned by WEWS in Cleveland. Follow WEWS statehouse reporter Morgan Trau on X and Facebook. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE GREENVILLE, S.C. (WSPA) Two people were injured after a shooting in Greenville, according to the Greenville County Sheriffs Office. Deputies said that multiple calls came in about a shooting at Webster Road at 10 PM January 18. Upon arrival, officers located two individuals suffering from gunshot wounds. The individuals were transported to the hospital, and their condition remains unknown at this time. The sheriffs office stated that this is still an ongoing investigation. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 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 WSPA 7NEWS. President Donald Trump plans to pardon people convicted for participation in the January 6 Capitol riot, which may include two of its organizers: Stewart Rhodes, the founder of the Oath Keepers, and Enrique Tarrio, the former leader of the Proud Boys, ABC News reported Monday. Rhodes and Tarrio were both convicted for seditious conspiracy, a Civil-War era charge, and were sentenced to 18 years and 22 years in prison, respectively. Tarrios sentence was the longest of any January 6 defendant. Federal prosecutors previously described Tarrio as the driving force behind the masses of self-described Western chauvinist Proud Boys who arrived in Washington on January 6. Several of his organizations leaders were the first to enter the U.S. Capitol. Earlier this month, Tarrio requested a pardon from prison via his lawyer. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In addition to pardoning those who have already been convicted, the Justice Department is also expected to dismiss cases that have not yet gone to trial, a Trump transition official told CNN. This sets a disturbing precedent that the president could potentially push to dismiss any charges placed against his supporterseven the most dangerous. Tyra Banks has broken her silence about the devastating loss of her home in the recent Los Angeles wildfires, sharing the heartbreaking moment she learned her house had been destroyed. In an emotional interview on the Australian morning show Sunrise on Monday, Tyra Banks described the shock and disbelief she felt upon receiving the life-altering news. Tyra Banks Opens Up About Her Home Being Lost in LA Fires ZUMAPRESS.com / MEGA The former Americas Next Top Model host revealed that she and her partner, Louis Belanger-Martin, lost their Los Angeles home to the fires, explaining why she had been reluctant to discuss the tragedy publicly. I just didnt want to pull a lot of attention to me, the 51-year-old said. I feel like theres a lot of people that need that attention. But I cant sit here and not tell the truth. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Banks went on to recount the moment she learned of the destruction. We were at a friends house here, and we were celebrating and having fun, she recalled. I kept checking my phone, not for my house, but for friends and family, making sure they were evacuating and everything. And then I asked my partner, I was like, Im seeing something here, what do you think? and he [nodded]. Despite the devastating news, Banks chose to remain composed. I pulled it together and just didnt say anything to my friends and just stayed in the moment, she shared. And then we went home, and we cried, and we had our moment. Tyra Banks Shares Emotional Journey After LA Fires Destroy Her Home The Emmy-winning TV personality clarified that she, Belanger-Martin, and her 8-year-old son, York, primarily divide their time between homes in New York and Australia, where many of their cherished keepsakes are stored. A lot of those memento-mementos are here and in New York, so I didnt lose that, thank goodness, she assured viewers. However, Banks acknowledged, There were some mementos that we lost. Its tough. Following the interview, Banks addressed her followers on Instagram, posting a video captioned, I feel weird," and opening up about how life has been and what the future holds. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "My head's been down, I haven't really been out there, except on a Victoria's Secret runway recently," Banks said in her video. "But I've just been in ice cream world. I've just been focused, just been tongue out, [...] strategizing, working hard, not sleeping, and to be here in Australia and to be able to talk about my dream on 'Sunrise' today with Matt and Nat, or with Kylie and Jackie O today on the radio [...] that felt nice." Tyra Banks Receives Support From Fans MEGA Fans flooded the comments section to share their support for the actress, with one of her followers writing, "Just like a butterfly, sometimes you have to 'disappear' for a second to evolve. Sending so many smizes your way!" "I love you beyond words," another said. "I feel weird too and a little lost, but God's will I shall prevail," a third expressed. Other Celebrities Who Have Lost Their Homes In The LA Fires C Flanigan/imageSPACE / MEGA Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Banks joins a growing list of celebrities whose homes have been reduced to ash in the wildfires, including Candy Spelling, Anna Faris, Cameron Mathison, Diane Warren, and Paris Hilton. Others, like Kid Cudi, Mario Lopez, and Bebe Rexha, have shared their evacuation experiences as the fires spread rapidly. Tragically, at least 27 people have lost their lives as multiple wildfires, fueled by severe drought and strong winds, continue to ravage the Los Angeles area. The L.A. Fires Have Left Behind Immense Damage ZUMAPRESS.com / MEGA Firefighters have been battling blazes across 45 square miles of densely populated Los Angeles County. At the height of the crisis, over 200,000 residents were under mandatory evacuation orders. While many of these orders have been lifted thanks to increased containment, the two largest firesthe Palisades Fire in Pacific Palisades and the Eaton Fire near Pasadenaremain active. The Palisades Fire, which began on January 7, has destroyed or damaged over 6,000 structures, covering more than 23,700 acres with 59% containment as of now. The Eaton Fire, also ignited on January 7, has burned over 14,000 acres, destroying or damaging more than 10,000 structures. It is currently at 87% containment. CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (WCIA) TikTok has restored service to users around the country following a temporary shutdown. The voluntary halt lasted less than a day, but has some confused on what comes next. I was like, Oh well, I guess its gone now, University of Illinois sophomore Catie Schultz said. PREVIOUSLY: As TikTok is up for ban, another app is emerging On Saturday, people around the country opened their phones to an update that TikTok was no longer available. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement My girlfriend was using [TikTok] and so it went away and surprised her, University of Illinois senior Jonny Johnson said. Tiktok app owner ByteDance shut down the app in the U.S. hours before a Sunday deadline. This came after the Supreme Court upheld a law that said the app would be banned if not sold by Jan. 19. But for now, its back. TikTok said it is reinstating access after President-elect Donald Trump vowed to try and pause the ban on his first day in office. The app released a statement thanking Trump for his commitment to keeping the platform. We thank President Trump for providing the necessary clarity and assurance to our service providers that they will face no penalties providing TikTok to over 170 million Americans and allowing over 7 million small businesses to thrive, TikTok said in a statement. Its a strong stand for the First Amendment and against arbitrary censorship. We will work with President Trump on a long-term solution that keeps TikTok in the United States. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement ACLU asks U of I to reverse punitive minefield of student protest policies The temporary ban made some creators stop and think about how theyd continue their content off the app. I definitely make the majority of my income on TikTok and so I think the biggest thing is just learning how to switch from creating ads that are short-form, video-based into photo-based and using Instagram as my main platform, University of Illinois student Sammy K said. Sammy K has almost half a million followers on the app. She said TikTok has given her the chance to make a tangible impact in central Illinois and beyond. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This app has done so much good for us and created such a community and fostered all of these wonderful conversations, she said. U of I professors have noticed its impacts too. TikTok has been an incredibly growing platform ever since it started out late 2019, Steve Raquel, clinical assistant professor of business administration, said. Even though the social media app is up and running again, he said the shutdown was a good lesson of showing that anything can be temporary. TikTok is the latest fad, I guess, and it may be here for a long time, but that doesnt mean everyone should go 100% into it, Raquel said. There should be a lot of different ways that you connect with consumers. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The courts decision said the divest-or-ban law doesnt violate the free speech rights of TikTok or the 17 million users in the U.S. Trumps national security adviser said the team has spoken to Chinas president and that they agreed to work on this together. Copyright 2025 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. An American tourist and 21-year law enforcement officer from the Chicago area celebrating her sisters birthday in the Turks and Caicos Islands was killed late Saturday along with a local resident when unnamed assailants opened fire on a popular restaurant and nightclub in Providenciales. Shamone A. Duncan, 50, was on the rooftop of Aziza Restaurant & Lounge in Grace Bay, when the shooting happened around 10 p.m, her family said in a statement shared with the Miami Herald. The restaurant is located not far from the Grace Bay Suites where she and her fellow travelers were staying. The trip intended to celebrate Duncans sisters birthday has left the family in mourning, the statement said. At the time of her death, Duncan was with the Cook County Sheriff Office, where she had served 21 years. Shamone A. Duncan, a 21-year law enforcement officer from the Chicago area, was killed in the Turks and Caicos Islands Sunday while celebrating her sisters birthday. Duncan was a devoted mother, grandmother as well as a member of the Eastern Star fraternal order. Her tragic death has left both her family and community in deep mourning, her family added. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Also killed in the incident was Dario Stubbs, 30, a local insurance agent. Neither he nor Duncan are thought to have been the intended targets. Wilkie Arthur, the chief editor of Eagle Legal News Network in the Turks and Caicos, said he visited the crime scene Saturday after the shooting, and again on Sunday. A police source told him that the shooter appeared to have been across the street, and Aziza also may not have been the intended target. A person who was shot in the leg during the incident was at a neighboring nightclub when the shots were fired. The unidentified person worked as a bartender. They still do not have a motive, Arthur said, adding that police have video footage and they should release it in order for the crime to be quickly solved. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Arthur said he was also told that Stubbs was caught in the crossfire. He had arrived with his child to pick up his wife, who is an employee at the restaurant, when he was struck. So both his wife and child saw him get shot from what I understand, Arthur said. A spokesperson for the Royal Turks and Caicos Islands Police Force did not respond to the Heralds request for comment including confirmation of the identity of the victims and details about the shooting. A statement issued by police late Saturday simply said its crime unit was investigating a suspected double homicide and wounding in Providenciales. But local media, including the TCI Sun and the Eagle Legal News Network in the Turks and Caicos Islands, soon identified the victims. Arthur, the Eagles editor, also had video of the bloodstained concrete where the shooting occurred. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement After publication of the article, the Royal Turks and Caicos Islands Police Force issued an update confirming the victims identities, saying it occurred near a popular restaurant on Grace Bay Road. Acting Commissioner Rodney Adams said after arriving at the scene, officers discovered three individuals injured during the shooting, one of whom succumbed to injuries at the scene while the other at the hospital. A third victim, who has been identified as a 29-year-old male, is undergoing medical treatment. There is no evidence to suggest that Ms Duncan, Mr. Stubbs or the wounded victim were the targets of this incident, Adams noted in a statement. We condemn this violence and will remain resolute in our pursuit of the person(s) responsible for this despicable act. Wave of gun-violence in island chain Located about 600 miles south of Miami, the Turks and Caicos is a British overseas territory. While a popular tourist destination, it also has been grappling with a string of homicides that led to it ending 2024 with 48 murders among its estimated 49,000 population. Local authorities have blamed the homicides on arms and gun trafficking violence, fueled by gang turf wars, taking place among the local population. In 2023, the island-chain logged 23 homicides, a reduction from the previous year when another American tourist, Ken Carter, was killed. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Carter died in 2022 along with two others when the vehicle he was traveling in was ambushed by armed gunmen in the Longbay area of Providenciales. An NAACP leader from Arlington, Virginia, Carter was returning from an excursion at the beach when he was killed. The two others who died during the incident were local residents. The archipelago again made headlines last year, when five Americans, including an Orlando woman, were detained after ammunition was recovered from their luggage on their way back to the United States. The tourist became caught up in the islands tough new anti-gun law, which included a mandatory prison sentence for anyone found with ammunition and firearms. The infractions carried a mandatory 12-year-prison sentence and a fine. All of the Americans were eventually allowed to return to the U.S. after pleading guilty, paying a fine and having their sentences suspended. ABILENE, Texas (KTAB/KRBC) Tim Smith, an Abilene entrepreneur and real estate developer, has faced controversy over digital advertising signs downtown, particularly after installing a third screen in North Downtown. His efforts to promote local businesses met resistance from city officials and stakeholders, raising concerns about transparency and fairness. At the same time, Smith has voiced frustration over homelessness in the area, stressing the need for a coordinated approach to address its impact on businesses and public safety. City of Abilene seeks to renovate convention center to compete with booming downtown hotel Several years ago, Smith obtained permits for two of the three digital screens in South Downtown Abilene. One is located at a wedding venue that also serves as an Airbnb, while the other stands in front of the former location of the Sockdolager Brewing Company. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He purchased a third screen to install on the side of Bernards Refinishing in North Downtown Abilene, across from the Doubletree parking lot. Thats when the trouble began. A fellow downtown stakeholders son went to code compliance and showed them a code they didnt even know they had that stated there can be no off-premise advertising in Central Business zoning, Smith recalled. I wanted the ordinance to be adjusted and changed. That didnt happen. Instead, I got that one screen kicked out of downtown Abilene. We fought hard to save it: Abilenes Arrow Ford sign removed after standing for 45 years Smith said he realized he wouldnt be able to keep the North Downtown sign after attending a stakeholder meeting he hadnt been invited to. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Thats when I knew, yeah, theres no way Im going to be able to keep that sign in North downtown Abilene. Many of the people in that room are my direct competitors with one business or another, but Im a stakeholder in downtown Abilene, so I should have at least been invited to that meeting, Smith explained. During the December 19, 2024, city council meeting, Smiths item was removed from the agenda. He called for greater transparency among council members, describing the situation as being influenced by some ugly downtown politics. Nobody should have to kiss the ring The private sector needs a seat at the table, but it hasnt been given. It was a slap in the face to say you cant promote anyones business on the side of the building. And then, lo and behold, Doubletree puts up the same digital ad screen directly across the entrance of their building to promote the bar and a restaurant that essentially is owned by the City of Abilene. I have an issue with that, Smith told the council. I could care less if they promote it. I support the hotel. But I also stand in the corner of small business. And oftentimes, cities are graded on the vibrancy of their downtown. Our small businesses that we operate should be a part of that and not a second-class citizen. He emphasized that the sign in North Downtown was not causing any harm and that his only intent was to promote upcoming Paramount shows and feature a video clip of a juicy steak from the Beehive. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Very few people are going to look at that elephant in the room. When certain groups or people start pulling strings behind the curtain, I have an issue, especially when it deals with small business, local advertising, certain groups and people need to stay in their lane. Let small businesses do what it does, and we should have every right to cross-promote our local small businesses, Smith explained. I was doing it because Im an advocate for progress downtown and want to support our local businesses It turned into an ugly thing, and my sign was literally kicked out of North downtown Abilene. Paramount Abilene hosted the most touring actings & had the most donors in 2024 In January 2025, the city council approved an amendment to establish development standards for a Type Three off-site advertising sign. Tim Littlejohn, Director of Planning & Development, reported that staff had met with downtown business owners to present the amendment proposal. While south-side business owners were generally in favor of it, two-thirds of north-side business owners opposed the proposal. As a result, the ordinance accommodates businesses in South Downtown, leaving the North Downtown area excluded. I thanked the council for approving that change, but I emailed them afterward, and I said, Hey, I would like for you to proactively make this ordinance consistent now because now, I can legally do it in South downtown Abilene like Ive been doing for years, but you still cant have off-premise advertising in North downtown, so our city local government is still regulating content, Smith said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Cypress Street to begin improvement project mid-April, complete by December 2025 Moving forward, Smith hopes to see more transparency and consistency within the city government. I love our council. I think they do a great job. I dont blame people. Its the circumstances and the situation that I want to change. I want things to be consistent. I want any disagreement or disapproval of certain things to be done in the open forum, not behind the scenes, not pulling strings, and not using connections to prevent things, especially when it has to do with small business advertising. This should not have been a big issue, Smith explained. When asked if he believes theres an uphill battle with all of this, Smith responded, I dont. Now that the ordinance has been changed, I think it proves my point. I mean, what is the reason that its not allowed in North Downtown Abilene, but it is in South Downtown Abilene? And that reason is dirty politics. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Is it easy being homeless in Abilene? In early January, Smith made a Facebook post regarding three TVs stolen from Peacock Patio, stating, Sorry, but something has to be done about the homeless problem. Its getting bad folks! He added that action is needed to address issues within those experiencing homelessness, something he has witnessed firsthand on numerous occasions. Its offensive when somebody comes onto your property and then does that to a small business owner whos trying to make a living. These people who are homeless tend to do that often, and they arrested this man yesterday, I believe His rap sheet is a mile long of similar instances, Smith shared. Pam and I, my wife, lived in the soda district, and wed walk under the bridge of North and South first and frequent downtown all the time. There were instances where we were threatened just for walking by, and I mean, cussed out and encountered aggressive people. I can tell you other stories of other people who have had similar situations, business owners finding feces on their front steps, all kinds of things. Smith says one of the challenges in addressing these concerns is simply bringing them up in conversation, as doing so often leads to being demonized by the public. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement First comment on my post was, how do you know he was homeless? Well, I did happen to know that he was homeless, but then I have to defend my comment. Im being judged for saying that hes homeless, Smith explained. City of Abilene clears out city-owned property used as homeless camp near MLK bridge Smith shared that he supports local nonprofits and ministries that assist those experiencing homelessness. However, he expressed concern about the resources being spread across town. I would like to see a campus where all our homeless ministries are in one location. They can continue to do their individual assistance for this group of people that they help administer to, individually or collectively, but it needs to be on one campus, in a location with the least negative impact on our community, Smith explained. You have organizations all over, and Ill just bring up one: Salvation Army. You cant tell me theres not a direct correlation with the demise of what Ill call the friendly mile as a result of the Salvation Army being there for years and years and years, Ive seen it. Ive watched it. I owned a building on Butternut. I sold it because I was like, Yeah, this isnt good. Needles every day in the back alley. The homeless population stays where theyre going to get their resources. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement More homelessness in Abilene? Advocates say no & explain why you may see more in public Walkability and a vibrant downtown atmosphere are goals shared by business owners, city officials, and community members. However, Smith explains that these goals cant be achieved if people feel unsafe or threatened. Ive seen instances where theyll walk up to someones window or heard stories where theyll walk up to a lady knocking on their car door. They scare people. Homeless people tend to be desperate people. Thus the crime, thats the theft, thus you know, and there are all sorts of issues with that, mental illness, drug use. But the bottom line is that homelessness causes desperation, and desperation causes them to wreak havoc on the community around them, Smith stated. I feel like the solution is one area where everybodys working together on a campus that has the least negative impact for the entire community. Right now, we have pockets that are very negatively affected, not just downtown. Go over to the creek on South 7th and North and South 1st because of some of the ministries that are located right there; thats the problem. Copyright 2025 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. (Bloomberg) -- Keir Starmers government is preparing to approve controversial expansions to three London airports as part of a push to spur growth thats become more urgent this month after international markets cast doubt on the credibility of the UKs economic plans. Most Read from Bloomberg Ministers are set to publicly signal support for a long-sought third runway at Heathrow, sign off on plans to bring the second strip at Gatwick into full-time use, and allow an increase in the capacity at Luton Airport, according to people familiar with the matter, who asked for anonymity discussing plans that havent been finalized. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We are determined to get our economy moving and secure the long-term future of the UKs aviation sector, the government said in a statement. All expansion proposals must demonstrate they contribute to economic growth while staying in line with environmental obligations. The aviation proposals are part of a wider push within government to advance long-delayed planning decisions and infrastructure projects in a bid to stimulate growth. Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves is considering announcing some or all of the decisions in a speech about growth due to take place later this month, the people said. That speech has yet to be finalized and is still subject to change. With the UK economy flat-lining, the chancellor said last week that the government needs to go further, faster in driving economic growth, which Starmer has described as his governments core mission. Ministers are relying on loosening red tape, fast-tracking planning decisions and ramping up housebuilding to achieve that aim, and Reeves is set to deliver a speech on growth before the end of the month. Other projects poised to be signed off after being delayed are the Lower Thames Crossing, a road tunnel beneath Londons Thames River, and a Universal Studios theme park north of the capital, the people said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Reeves intends the growth speech to define her economic plans for the year and is set to warn that the fiscal situation is still difficult but shes pulling every lever possible to spur growth. The intervention will follow a period of market turmoil in the first half of January that saw the pound tank and borrowing costs soar, casting doubt on the Labour governments economic plans by eroding away the narrow headroom she enjoyed at the time of the budget in October against her self-imposed fiscal rules. Any announcements come, nevertheless, with political risk, because airport expansion decisions divide the Labour party and were delayed under the previous Conservative government amid controversy over the environmental impact and noise objections. Starmers administration is hoping to mitigate the political backlash by arguing that the environmental impact will be minimized by the so-called Sustainable Aviation Fuel mandate that enters into force this year, decarbonizing aviation fuel, the people said. Proponents of the plan said the pursuit of growth had to be put above climate and noise objections by ministers including Energy Secretary Ed Miliband and backbenchers representing constituencies in and around the three airports. If the government ultimately made decisions against expanding airports, it would be hard to show that was consistent with its growth mission, one official said. The expansion of Heathrow in particular has long been touted as a potential source of growth. When former Prime Minister Theresa May gave the green light for a third runway at Europes busiest airport in late 2016, her government estimated the project would benefit the British economy to the tune of 61 billion ($75 billion) over 14 years, creating as many as 77,000 jobs. The plan then became snarled up in delays linked to legal cases brought by environmental campaigners and London Mayor Sadiq Khan. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement While there is no outstanding application for a so-called development consent order for the runway at Heathrow, the people suggested Reeves would look favorably on one if it were to be made. Heathrow has divided politicians for two decades, and Starmer himself voted against the proposed third runway in 2018 when Reeves supported it. Several prominent Labour politicians, including Miliband and Khan, have strongly opposed the plan. I have nothing against expanding airport capacity, Reeves said in June. I want Heathrow to be that European hub for travel. A decision on Luton airport expansion is due by April 3. The plan involves using the existing runway to handle more flights, expanding the existing terminal and building a new one, and is projected to create 12,000 jobs, contributing an estimated 1.8 billion per year to the local economy, according to Buckinghamshire council. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Gatwick says its expansion would create 14,000 new jobs and inject 1 billion into the regions economy every year. Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander must make a decision on its proposal by Feb. 27. If approved, the 2.2 billion privately financed plan would be one of the largest capital investment projects in the region in decades, Gatwick says on its website. It would help the airport meet future passenger demand by serving around 75 million passengers a year by the late 2030s. --With assistance from Siddharth Philip. Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2025 Bloomberg L.P. Highly-trained Air Force specialists are protected from being transferred to front-line infantry units, Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said on Jan. 19. Reports last week indicated that since 2024, thousands of Air Force soldiers have been transferred to the Ground Forces. Videos filmed by Air Force specialists themselves then surfaced, claiming their transfer to front-line units was "a real challenge" that could "destroy the very foundation of our aviation." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces on Jan. 14 said the transfer of some personnel is "a necessary step" to strengthen defense by reinforcing combat brigades with soldiers from other branches of the Armed Forces. But it stressed that Syrskyi prohibited the transfer of high-tech specialists and those trained abroad on foreign models of weapons and equipment. "I have an order prohibiting the transfer of highly qualified personnel who have undergone training and specialize in aircraft maintenance," Syrskyi reiterated in an interview with journalist Andriy Tsaplienko. "Clearly, these are specialists on whom money has been spent, who have gained experience, and who are practically irreplaceable," he added. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But in a separate interview with Ukrainian news outlet TSN on Jan. 19, Syrskyi acknowledged that current mobilization efforts are not sufficient on their own to meet the needs of the Armed Forces. Fighting has intensified in eastern Ukraine as Ukraine and Russia try to gain the upper hand in potential upcoming peace negotiations as U.S. President-elect Donald Trump is set to be inaugurated on Jan. 20. "We have needs at the front. We must increase the number of personnel in our mechanized brigades, " unfortunately, mobilization does not cover demand from the front line, Syrskyi said. Read also: Ukraine denies transferring Air Force personnel to infantry amid troop shortages Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. The Ukrainian government is ramping up efforts to encourage war refugees in Germany to return home. As part of these efforts, so-called "unity hubs" will be set up in Berlin and eventually in other locations to assist Ukrainian refugees with job placement, housing and educational opportunities. "A significant number of Ukrainians are seriously considering coming back home," Oleksiy Chernyshov, the Ukrainian deputy prime minister, told dpa. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Chernyshov, who was in Berlin last week preparing for the opening of the centres, heads the Ukrainian Ministry of National Unity, which was set up in December specifically to support returning Ukrainians. Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, over 1.1 million Ukrainians have fled to Germany, more than to any other country. Only 32 million people now live in areas controlled by the Ukrainian government, down from 52 million at the time of independence following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, according to government figures. The government in Kiev estimates that between 20 and 25 million Ukrainians now live abroad. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Chernyshov said that in light of the population decline, workers are urgently needed in Ukraine, particularly in the arms industry, energy sector and reconstruction. "Those are critical enterprises or critical industries for us," the minister said, adding that returnees would be exempt from military service if they worked in these sectors. However, those Ukrainians who choose to stay in Germany will also be supported, for example when looking for a job or seeking professional qualifications. "They should not be a burden on the neck of the government," the minister said. Ukraine received a new military aid package from Lithuania at the end of last week. Source: Lithuanian Defence Ministry press service, as reported by European Pravda Details: The package includes Lithuanian-made drones, thermal imaging devices and five-tonne telescopic loaders for the Ukrainian forces. "We cannot slow down our support for Ukraine, because ensuring Ukraine's security means taking care of our own security," said Dovile Sakaliene, Lithuania's Minister of National Defence. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement She added that bureaucratic obstacles have been removed, allowing aid to reach Ukraine even faster. Telescopic loaders Photo: Lithuanian Ministry of Defence This year, Lithuania plans to focus its support on air defence, ammunition, drones, counter-drone systems and financing Ukrainian-made weaponry to strengthen Ukraine's defence industry. Background: At the end of 2024, every single member of Lithuania's newly-formed Cabinet of Ministers visited Kyiv. In late November, Lithuania delivered its latest batch of military aid to Ukraine, including generators, spare parts for M113 armoured personnel carriers, weapons and ammunition. Support UP or become our patron! Key developments on Jan. 20: Commander of scandal-hit Ukrainian brigade detained, accused of failing to report desertions Ammunition used by Russians halved following Ukrainian strikes, Syrskyi says Ukraine Air Force specialists safe from transfer to infantry but mobilization issues remain, Syrskyi says 'I didn't know who I'd be fighting' North Korean soldier captured by Ukraine speaks in new footage 150,000 Russian soldiers killed fighting Ukraine in 2024, Syrskyi says Putin congratulates Trump amid inauguration, signals readiness for talks Russia's ammunition use has been cut nearly in half amid the long-term impacts of Ukrainian strikes on Russian military targets, Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said in an interview with the Ukrainian news outlet TSN on Jan. 19. Ukraine has intensified strikes deep into Russian territory in an attempt to weaken Russia's ability to wage war in its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "For several months now, the artillery ammunition expenditure rates in the Russian army have practically halved. If previously the figure reached up to 40,000 rounds per day, it is now significantly lower," Syrskyi said when asked what the impact of Ukrainian strikes has been on Russia's military supply-chain. Ukrainian strikes on Russian territory target "industrial enterprises that produce ammunition, missile parts, or dual-use products are targeted for destruction," Syrskyi said, adding that oil refineries serve as regularly military targets. Ukraine has regularly targeted Russian ammunition depots in an attempt to stall Russia's operations on the front line. Despite being regularly outgunned by Russian forces since the start of the full-scale war, Ukraine has managed to progress in arms production, with the country producing about 33-34% of its annual weapons needs up from less than 10% before the full-scale invasion, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Jan. 15. Europe and the U.S. supply more than 60% of Ukraines weaponry, with each accounting for about 30%. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Earlier in his interview, Syrskyi said that Ukraine is working on developing its own air defense systems, including ones that can repel the the Oreshnik missile. "This encourages us to create our own air defense system, which would be not just an air defense system, but also an anti-missile system," Syrskyi said. "The work is underway, it is being actively pursued in this direction. I hope that we will soon get the desired result for us," he added. Ukraine aims to spend a record $35 billion on weapons production in 2025, according to Defense Minister Rustem Umerov. The Ukrainian government intends to provide $17 billion, while the rest may be financed by allies. Read also: Putin is destroying Russia by not making a deal to end war, Trump says Commander of scandal-hit Ukrainian brigade detained, accused of failing to report desertions The commander of a scandal-hit Ukrainian brigade has been detained, accused of failing to report violations in his unit, the State Bureau of Investigation said on Jan. 20. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The 155th "Anne of Kyiv" Brigade was intended to be a flagship project for Ukrainian brigades trained and armed with the assistance of foreign partners. French President Emmanuel Macron announced in June that France would provide training and military supplies as part of this initiative. Despite Paris fulfilling its commitments for training and arms provision, an investigation led by Yurii Butusov, editor-in-chief of Ukrainian media outlet Censor.net, claimed soldiers of the unit, currently deployed near Pokrovsk, have suffered losses and gone AWOL (absent without leave) in large numbers due to poor command and organization within Ukraines military leadership. The State Bureau of Investigation launched an investigation into the unit on Jan. 3. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In a statement on Jan 20, the bureau said the commander "did not respond to violations in his unit, including the unauthorized abandonment of the military unit by his fighters." "The commander also deliberately failed to perform other actions assigned to him by his official duties. In particular, during 2024, he did not send a single report to pre-trial investigation bodies regarding subordinate servicemen who committed criminal offenses," it added. If found guilty, the commander faces up to 10 years in prison. Read also: Russias primitive glide bombs are still outmatching Ukraines air defenses, killing more civilians Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The 155th Brigade has about 5,800 troops, fewer than 2,000 of whom have undergone training in France. It is armed with French AMX10 armored vehicles, Caesar howitzers, and German Leopard 2A4 tanks, among other weapons. According to Butusov's investigation, the unit's founding was "organizational chaos" from the very beginning. Even before the training in France began, 2,500 service members were reportedly sent to other units, thus removing many of the most qualified personnel from the brigade. Of the 1,924 soldiers eventually sent to France, only 51 had more than a year of military service, while 1,414 had served for less than two months, Butusov wrote. The unit was also plagued by large numbers of soldiers going AWOL about 50 deserted in France, in addition to hundreds who left their posts even before the unit was deployed at the front, according to the journalist. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Between March and November, over 1,700 soldiers had gone AWOL, Butusov reported. Though the unit was replenished with new recruits, these often did not undergo a "proper selection process," the journalist added. Read also: Lithuania sends drones, thermal imagers, loaders in new Ukraine aid package, Defense Ministry says Ukraine Air Force specialists safe from transfer to infantry but mobilization issues remain, Syrskyi says Highly-trained Air Force specialists are protected from being transferred to front-line infantry units, Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said on Jan. 19. Reports last week indicated that since 2024, thousands of Air Force soldiers have been transferred to the Ground Forces. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Videos filmed by Air Force specialists themselves then surfaced, claiming their transfer to front-line units was "a real challenge" that could "destroy the very foundation of our aviation." The General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces on Jan. 14 said the transfer of some personnel is "a necessary step" to strengthen defense by reinforcing combat brigades with soldiers from other branches of the Armed Forces. But it stressed that Syrskyi prohibited the transfer of high-tech specialists and those trained abroad on foreign models of weapons and equipment. "I have an order prohibiting the transfer of highly qualified personnel who have undergone training and specialize in aircraft maintenance," Syrskyi reiterated in an interview with journalist Andriy Tsaplienko. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "Clearly, these are specialists on whom money has been spent, who have gained experience, and who are practically irreplaceable," he added. But in a separate interview with Ukrainian news outlet TSN on Jan. 19, Syrskyi acknowledged that current mobilization efforts are not sufficient on their own to meet the needs of the Armed Forces. Fighting has intensified in eastern Ukraine as Kyiv and Moscow try to gain an upper hand in potential upcoming peace negotiations following the inauguration of Donald Trump on Jan. 20. "We have needs at the front. We must increase the number of personnel in our mechanized brigades, " unfortunately, mobilization does not cover demand from the front line, Syrskyi said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Read also: Ukraine denies transferring Air Force personnel to infantry amid troop shortages 'I didn't know who I'd be fighting' North Korean soldier captured by Ukraine speaks in new footage President Volodymyr Zelensky released on Jan. 20 new footage of the interrogation of a North Korean soldier captured by the Ukrainian military. Ukrainian forces captured two North Korean soldiers in Russia's Kursk Oblast earlier in January. They are currently in the custody of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) in Kyiv. Both were wounded and are reportedly receiving medical attention. The prisoner of war (POW) in the newly released footage said he arrived in Russia on a cargo ferry with over 100 soldiers. He was not trained with Russian military equipment but claimed that several other North Korean soldiers were taught to do so. Communication between captured North Korean soldiers and SSU investigators continues. Intelligence data on the movement of such troops to Russian territory, their training and complete information isolation have been confirmed by the prisoners. All the facts about North pic.twitter.com/E2wiFlPBiw Volodymyr Zelenskyy / (@ZelenskyyUa) January 20, 2025 North Korean troops were deployed to Kursk Oblast last fall to support Russian forces against a Ukrainian incursion launched on Aug. 6. Ukrainian troops continue to operate in the region, leveraging their position for potential future negotiations. South Korea's National Intelligence Service (NIS) estimates that North Korean casualties have reached 300 killed and 2,700 wounded, attributing the losses to inadequate training and ineffective counter-drone tactics. The NIS also reported that some North Korean soldiers have been forced to commit suicide to avoid capture by Ukrainian forces. White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby echoed these claims on Dec. 27, adding that captured North Korean troops fear severe retaliation against their families if they surrender. Neither Russia nor North Korea have officially acknowledged the deployment, which is the latest move in Moscow's ever-increasing and humiliating reliance on Pyongyang to bolster its military, following long-running shipments of artillery shells and ballistic missiles. Read also: I didnt know who Id be fighting North Korean soldier captured by Ukraine speaks in new footage 150,000 Russian soldiers killed fighting Ukraine in 2024, Syrskyi says Russian forces suffered their heaviest losses last year since the start of the full-scale war, with total military losses reaching 434,000 soldiers, including approximately 150,000 killed in combat during 2024, Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said in a Jan. 19 interview with the Ukrainian news outlet TSN. "In this year of fighting, (Russian President Vladimir Putin) lost more than in the previous two years of the war (combined)," Syrskyi said. As of Jan. 19, Russia has lost a total of 818,740 troops since the full-scale invasion began, Ukraine's General Staff reported. The estimate, which is broadly in-line with estimates made by Western intelligence agencies, likely includes those killed, captured, wounded, and missing. Russia has gained ground in eastern Ukraine and Kursk Oblast over the past year but at the cost of heavy casualties. Russian losses reached record highs in November and December, with a daily high of 2,030 troops lost in November, marking the highest daily loss since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022. Moscow does not disclose its casualty figures, though a Defense Ministry official recently let slip that the department received 48,000 requests to identify missing soldiers. According to a joint investigation by BBC Russia and Mediazona, journalists have identified the names of 88,726 Russian soldiers who died during the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. According to the outlets' conclusions for the year, 2024 will likely mark the "war's deadliest year," with a current count of over 20,000 confirmed deaths over the past 12 months although final conclusions cannot yet be made as data on casualties continues to emerge. In December, President Volodymyr Zelensky revealed in a rare statement that Ukraine had lost 43,000 soldiers on the battlefield since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion. When asked during the wide-ranging interview about the Ukrainian losses, Syrskyi broadly replied that there were "many times" less Ukrainian losses than those sustained by the Russians. At the current rate of Russian military casualties, Russian losses are expected to surpass 1 million troops within six months. Read also: Russia launched nearly 550 drones, 60 missiles, over 660 aerial bombs against Ukraine in a week, Zelensky says Putin congratulates Trump amid inauguration, signals readiness for talks Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on his upcoming inauguration and expressed readiness for dialogue during a Russian Security Council meeting on Jan. 20. Putin emphasized his openness to engaging with the incoming Trump administration, including discussions related to Russia's war war against Ukraine. "We are open to dialogue with the new U.S. administration on the Ukrainian conflict (Russia's war against Ukraine). The most important thing here is to eliminate the root causes of the crisis," Putin said. This comes as reported peace proposals, including freezing the front lines, have been publicly rejected by Russia. Putin previously stated that his country would begin peace negotiations if Kyiv agreed to withdraw from the four Ukrainian regions Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson that it partly controls. Trump has signaled his intent to meet Putin "very quickly" after taking office, according to CNN. While the Kremlin welcomed the remarks, it noted that no preparations for the meeting are currently underway. Trump's team is reportedly working on arranging a call with Putin shortly after the inauguration, with the goal of initiating a settlement plan for the war in Ukraine within the first months of his presidency. During his campaign, Trump pledged to end the war in Ukraine within 24 hours, though his choice for Ukraine peace envoy, Keith Kellogg, has since adjusted this timeline to 100 days. Read also: What are Trumps options on Russias war against Ukraine? Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. LONDON (Reuters) -Britain's foreign secretary David Lammy said it was right that the new U.S. administration has the chance to review a deal with Mauritius over the future of a U.S.-British military base in the Indian Ocean. "It's right and proper that the new administration is able to consider it," Lammy told BBC Radio on Monday. Under the deal Britain, which has controlled the region since 1814, would cede sovereignty of the Chagos Islands - a former colony that became independent in 1968 and the last British overseas territory in Africa - to Mauritius. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It would also retain control under a 99-year lease of the military base on Diego Garcia, something that outgoing U.S. President Joe Biden had said would secure its effective operation into the next century. But Marco Rubio, Trump's pick as secretary of state, has said the deal poses a threat to U.S. security by ceding the archipelago - with its base used by U.S. long-range bombers and warships - to a country allied with China. (Reporting by Sarah Young, writing by Sam Tabahriti; Editing by Kate Holton) The issue The rapid advancement and proliferation of artificial intelligence has fueled a US government push to assert more control over the global export of the advanced semiconductors that power the technology. The outgoing Biden administration unveiled a new framework this month to limit AI chip exports to dozens of countries, with the overarching goal of preventing nations like Russia and China from gaining access to them. The bonds Proposed AI export controls have created dueling alliances across party lines. In one corner are national security hawks who argue that the limits, while they pose a potential threat to the industry, are necessary to prevent US technology from falling into the hands of geopolitical rivals. National security is a concern for all of us, Illinois Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, the top Democrat on the House select committee on China, told Semafor. He added that the Chinese Communist Party, for instance, is extremely interested in gaining access to the highest-end GPUs or AI chips in order to further their military modernization as well as their surveillance state and persecution of the Uyghurs and other minorities. And we need to act accordingly. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Krishnamoorthi penned a letter with his Republican counterpart on the committee, Chairman John Moolenaar, encouraging the Commerce Department to follow through with the AI framework before it was released. The two are also cosponsoring legislation that would empower Commerce to use export controls on emerging technology sought by US adversaries. Washington cannot allow Beijing to dominate artificial intelligence, agreed Michael Sobolik, a senior fellow at the conservative Hudson Institute. America must ensure we are sharing our technology only with trusted allies and partners. Industry may not like it, but we cant allow the CCP to smuggle or steal this critical technology. But opponents of strict controls can count their own bipartisan alliance in Sens. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Maria Cantwell, D-Wash. The two top leaders of the Senate Commerce Committee recently warned the Biden team against what they termed draconian restrictions, arguing that the US would undermine its own interests and cede ground to China with new rules. Industry powerhouses like Nvidia took a similar tack. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The new Biden rules would only weaken Americas global competitiveness, undermining the innovation that has kept the US ahead, the companys vice president of external affairs wrote. Step Back Geoffrey Gertz, a senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security, said that the new AI framework which is subject to review by Congress would not have immediate implications but could affect US companies over the medium and long term, including by potentially putting them at a competitive disadvantage to Chinese firms. Its too early to say whether the incoming Trump administration will maintain the rules, adjust them, or do away with them. Trumps circle boasts plenty of China hawks and protectionists, which suggests that the incoming president might be likely to keep some version of the framework in place, though its unclear what kind of influence tech billionaire Elon Musk will have over the conversation. My initial instinct is that its unlikely the Trump team will fully repeal this or walk away from it, Gertz said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Krishnamoorthi said he hopes the incoming Trump administration will work with Congress to enact bipartisan legislation so that were not bouncing back and forth from one executive order in one administration to another in another administration. The View From Europe The new curbs prompted outcry in some European capitals, because the framework does not impose restrictions on roughly two dozen close US allies (like France, Germany, and Japan) but does place limits on others, like NATO members Poland and Estonia. W.T.F., one European official texted. Notable By coincidence, today is both the date of Donald Trumps second presidential inauguration and Martin Luther King Jr Day, a federal holiday commemorating the life and work of the great civil rights leader. If King had not been assassinated in 1968 and had lived to the present, it seems likely that at the age of 96 he would be a partisan Democrat, like most black American leaders of older generations. But whatever King himself might have thought of Donald Trump and todays Republicans, America has moved sharply toward Kings vision of a society in which racial differences have faded. In the last few national elections, the only groups that have increased their votes for Democrats have been whites, college graduates, and the wealthy, while Republicans have gained more votes from the working class of all races. As racial polarisation declines, fissures within each group have become more important. One political divide involves class, for which education is a useful proxy. While Democrats won a majority of black and Hispanic non-college graduates in 2024, more non-college black and Hispanic voters supported Trump than black and Hispanic college graduates. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement College-educated white women voted for Harris by 58-41, while white women without college educations favoured Trump by 63-35. Religious affiliation is also more influential in many cases than racial identity. Among Hispanics, Protestants voted for Trump by 64-36, while Hispanic Catholics favoured Harris by 55-43. The gender gap transcends the racial divide in todays American politics, too. While 62 per cent of Hispanics favoured Harris, an NBC News exit poll showed that Trump won 54 per cent of Hispanic men but only 39 per cent of Latino women. Black men were three times as likely as black women to vote Republican, by a margin of 21 to 7 per cent. The weakening of old partisan loyalties should not surprise us. Partisan alignments in American politics can last for four or five decades. But new issues arise and party loyalties weaken as memories fade and older generations pass from the scene. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement From the 1930s until the 1970s, American politics was shaped by memories of the Great Depression, with Democrats enjoying the support of working-class voters grateful for President Franklin D Roosevelts New Deal reforms and Republicans associated with the anti-New Deal business elite. But the sexual revolution and the civil rights revolution generated a new pattern of politics and a new set of partisan divides over abortion, gay rights, and affirmative action for racial minorities. By the 1970s, ritual appeals by Democrats to the memory of the New Deal and the defence of Social Security and the minimum wage were ceasing to work. Republicans like Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan began to win over growing numbers of working-class white voters repelled by more recent progressive Democratic positions on racial preferences, censorship, and other cultural issues. Meanwhile, for younger Democrats, the New Deal was ancient history. Many were drawn to politics by battles over desegregation, feminism, and environmentalism, along with opposition to the Vietnam-era draft. Thus began a half century of culture war politics on the Right and identity politics on the Left that replaced the labour vs business politics of the New Deal era. Today, both the culture war politics of the Right and the identity politics of the Left have lost much of their power, particularly among younger voters. While abortion remains controversial, younger generations of Republican conservatives are less religious than their elders and tend to accept gay rights and gay marriage, just like Trump himself. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement On the Left, identity politics has failed to provide Democrats with the permanent electoral majority which they hoped would emerge as a result of the growing non-white share of the population. Desperation can be sensed behind the way Joe Biden and his administration doubled down on crude race and gender gestures. During the 2020 presidential race, Biden patronised a black interviewer, Charlamagne Tha God: Well, I tell you what, if you have a problem figuring out whether youre for me or Trump, then you aint black. Biden later admitted that he shouldnt have been so cavalier. In 2020, Biden selected the mediocre Kamala Harris as his running mate, in part because she was half-black, half-Asian, and female. Thanks to her demographic traits, there was never really a chance that a more electable candidate, particularly one who was white or male, would be chosen by the Democratic Party as its presidential nominee in 2024 after Biden abandoned his campaign for re-election. For his part, former president Barack Obama played the gender card, suggesting that black men were misogynists if they did not support Harris: Part of it makes me think that, well, you just arent feeling the idea of having a woman as president, and youre coming up with other alternatives and other reasons for that. But in the 2020s, playing the race or gender card no longer works for Democrats. The insistence by Democrats and the Democratic-aligned legacy media that Trumps opposition to illegal immigration was motivated by bigotry toward Hispanics has not stopped dramatic shifts by Hispanic voters in much of the country away from the Democrats. And Bidens description of Trumps MAGA movement as semi-fascist and Democratic claims that Trump would abolish American democracy and create a white nationalist dictatorship failed to staunch the smaller trickle of black voters away from the Democrats to the Republicans. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The very success of the civil rights revolution has made the post-1960s division of politics between supporters and opponents of racial integration anachronistic. The decline of racial polarisation allows parties to define themselves on the basis of issues unrelated to race. And that is something to celebrate on Martin Luther King Jr. Day in 2025. Michael Lind is a contributor to Tablet, a fellow at New America, and the author of Hell to Pay: How the Suppression of Wages is Destroying America Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. WHEELING, W.Va. (WBOY) United States Attorney for the Northern District of West Virginia William Ihlenfeld has announced he is stepping down from his position, effective Monday at 11:59 a.m.the minute before President Donald Trump was sworn into office for the second time. In a statement from the United States Department of Justice, Ihlenfeld described his time serving as a United States Attorney as an honor and a privilege. Im deeply saddened to leave, but as I walk out the door today, I do so with tremendous pride because of all this team has accomplished over the past four years, Ihlenfeld said. Drug overdoses have decreased, national security has increased, child predators have been locked up, and white-collar criminals have been held to account. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement 9 people arrested after drug bust in Lewis County Ihlenfeld previously served as U.S. Attorney from August 2010 until December 2016, later returning to the position in October 2021 after former President Joe Biden took office. During his most recent term, he focused largely on the investigation and prosecution of drug trafficking, domestic violence, and white-collar crimes, with a special emphasis on healthcare fraud and COVID fraud, in addition to serving as chairperson of the executive boards of the Appalachia High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) and the Washington/Baltimore HIDTA. This office is small but mighty, always punching above its weight class, and regularly bringing cases of national and international significance, Ihlenfeld continued. We can all take comfort in knowing that this cadre of federal prosecutors will continue to keep West Virginia safe no matter who becomes the next U.S. Attorney. You can learn more about U.S. Attorneys here. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 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 WBOY.com. "The anniversary of the bloody massacre committed against the civilian population by the former USSR on the night of January 19-20, 35 years ago, to suppress the national liberation movement of the Azerbaijani people, is celebrated every year in our country as January 20 - the Day of National Mourning. On January 20 - the Day of National Mourning, which is a day of deep sorrow and at the same time great pride in our modern history, we commemorate with deep gratitude all our Martyrs who sacrificed their lives for the independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity of our country." Azernews reports that this was noted in the Statement issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) on the occasion of January 20 - the National Day of Mourning. It was noted that in the 1980s of the last century when so-called provocations such as the "Sumgayit events" were prepared and committed to justify the continuation of Armenia's groundless territorial claims against Azerbaijan, as well as the mass deportation of Azerbaijanis from their historical homelands in the territories of present-day Armenia, the discriminatory policy of the former Soviet authorities against our country and people led to the rise of the national liberation movement of the Azerbaijani people. In order to suppress the people's movement fighting for the independence and territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, on the night of January 19-20, 1990, units of the Soviet army, special forces, as well as a contingent of internal troops committed a brutal massacre against the civilian population in Baku, Sumgayit, Lankaran and Neftchala. As a result of the January 20 military aggression, which was committed against innocent people, including children, women, and the elderly, in violation of all international law norms, and was one of the most serious crimes against humanity of the last century, 150 civilians were killed, 744 were seriously injured, and 4 people went missing. Despite the complexity of the period and the measures taken by the former Soviet authorities to prevent the spread of the truth of January 20, the fact that the brutal massacre committed was brought to the attention of the international community immediately, the day after the tragedy, is connected with the name of the National Leader Heydar Aliyev. After the restoration of our independence and the return of the National Leader to power in our country, a number of crimes committed against our people, including the January 20 tragedy, were given a political and legal assessment, and in this regard, in March 1994, the Milli Majlis adopted a decision On the tragic events committed in Baku on January 20, 1990. Despite the fact that the January 20 tragedy was planned and carried out to crush the national resistance of the Azerbaijani people, this bloody massacre, in addition to being a turning point in the history of our people's independence, solidarity, and national liberation movement, marked the beginning of the inevitable collapse of the USSR, which had been tried to be delayed for a long time. The unity and will of our people, emerging from the most difficult days and the most complex trials of history, formed the basis for the brilliant victory of the Glorious Azerbaijan Army led by the Victorious Supreme Commander-in-Chief in the 44-day Patriotic War, which resulted in ensuring our territorial integrity, as well as the end of the occupation and conflict with the anti-terrorist operations that led to the full restoration of our sovereignty on September 19-20, 2023. On the 35th anniversary of the January 20 tragedy, which left a deep mark on our history of independence, we proudly commemorate our Martyrs who gave their lives for our state and territorial integrity, and we wish good health to our citizens who lost their health on this path! Long live Azerbaijan! , the Statement emphasized. This article was originally published in Chalkbeat. Editors note: This story, and a draft report linked to in the story, include references to racist, Islamophobic language and bigoted views that are violent in nature. Newark Public Schools leaders failed to quickly and consistently respond to racist and bigoted incidents against Black students and teachers at a city school designed to embrace world cultures, according to a draft of a scathing report that district officials have sought to keep private. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A copy of the 39-page draft, obtained by Chalkbeat Newark, details harrowing examples of how Black students and teachers at the Newark School of Global Studies were subjected to acts of anti-Blackness and anti-Black racism. The review also highlighted how the schools response failed to address the problems, and in some cases, magnified racial issues. The May 2023 draft of the report written by the consulting firm Creed Strategies is the publics first look into the firms review of the cultural, racial, and religious dynamics at Global Studies that pushed some Black students to transfer and teachers to resign. The draft obtained by Chalkbeat is not the latest version of the report. But the district has fought to keep all versions of the report private, nearly two years after Newark school board leaders commissioned it. Attorneys for the district have argued in court filings that the report is a predecisional draft document and therefore exempt from the states public records law. If portions of the report were disclosed, it would have a chilling effect on the districts ongoing efforts to improve dialogue and sensitivity practices at Global Studies and other schools, according to a court record outlining the districts opposition to the Newark Teachers Union lawsuit seeking the release of the report. In 2023, the Newark Teachers Union filed two lawsuits against the district over the release of the report, but the union agreed to settle the lawsuits last fall without its release. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The draft report paints a picture of a campus where Black students and teachers reported being called racial slurs by Latino students, the N-word was commonly used among non-Black students, and where complaints by Black students were often dismissed or minimized by administrators and non-Black staff. A male student was repeatedly called an anti-gay slur in class while a teacher was present, and other students made threats to take off and stomp on the hijabs of Black and Arab Muslim female teachers, according to the review. Read takeaways from the draft report here. Many of the allegations in the draft report have been brought up in public, substantiated in Chalkbeat interviews, and are mentioned in lawsuits against the district. The issues also caught the attention of Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, who hosted a town hall to discuss unity among Black and brown communities months after students spoke publicly about their experiences. Former Global Studies teachers filed a lawsuit against the district alleging that school and district leaders created a hostile work environment where they experienced racial discrimination and retaliation, according to the lawsuit filed in Essex County Superior Court last spring. The lawsuit is ongoing. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The former teachers also filed claims with the U.S. Department of Educations Office for Civil Rights. The department opened an investigation into the claim on Dec. 21, 2023, and it is ongoing. Paul Brubaker, the districts communications director, did not respond to Chalkbeats request to provide a copy of the full Global Studies report. Instead, in an emailed response, he reiterated the districts stance that the report is privileged and confidential. Brubaker said the school board reserves the right to take any and all appropriate action to prevent or redress injury to itself, district staff, school or students. Brubaker did not respond to questions about the districts efforts to fix the problems at the high school, how it changed its policies to address racial problems, and the professional support it has provided teachers with since the incidents at the school surfaced. Superintendent Roger Leon promised to fix the problems Staff, parents, and students were interviewed by Creed Strategies six-member review team about their experiences at the high school and were anonymously quoted throughout the draft report. The research team was made up of professors and education experts with experience in school leadership and representative of the demographics at Global Studies. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In interviews with Creed researchers, Black students described a sense of betrayal when their peers and adults used racial slurs, according to the draft report. Most Black students felt stunned, at a loss for words, or angry when the incidents occurred, the report read. When asked by researchers about the reported incidents, some of the staff responded defensively, while others said they did not know about the issues until students spoke publicly in 2022, the review found. Teachers reported that the lack of transparency about the issues at Global Studies limited their ability to understand what was happening and eroded morale, the report read. Other staff said the aftermath of the issues becoming public caused some upheaval at Global Studies with very few attributing the chaos to the racist incidents Black students and teachers had described in 2022, the draft report stated. But emails obtained by Chalkbeat revealed that school administrators had known about the issues before they became public, and a parent begged state and district officials for an end to the harassment against her son. School leaders missed an opportunity to address the professional learning needs of teachers to be responsive to the incidents and create culturally responsive learning, according to the draft. Some interviewees cited in the report also framed Black women and girls as easily triggered and angry when discussing the incidents at the school, the review notes. Instead of focusing on the systemic racism that Black women and girls are speaking up against, there was a sense of defensiveness, the draft report says. In claims filed by former Global Studies teachers, they alleged they suffered harassment and racial hostility by students and supervisors and felt their worth as a teacher and human being has been diminished. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Newark school board leaders commissioned the review of Global Studies at the start of 2023 in response to Black students speaking publicly about a pattern of racist harassment on campus. The May 2023 draft provided the district with three recommendations, which were released publicly, and meant to be proactively implemented to tackle anti-Blackness and build Global Studies understanding of diversity, the draft read. A mix of Global Studies parents, students, teachers, some board members, and community advocates have been calling on Superintendent Roger Leon to release the full report on the high school and address the problems. Leon promised students he would fix the problems at the school but he has not said what changes or efforts have been made at Global Studies, one of the districts top magnet schools. Deborah Smith Gregory, president of NAACP Newark, is one of the advocates who has called on Leon to release the Global Studies report but has been ignored, she said during a school board meeting last month. It seems that the rule of the superintendent is being sanctioned by the board with little oversight and question, said Smith Gregory in December. Despite calls for transparency, the Newark school board last month quietly sent a petition to the state to remove one of its longest-serving members after her daughter filed a legal claim against the district alleging racial harassment and discrimination during her time as a student at Global Studies. A New Jersey judge denied the petition but the states commissioner of education will issue a final decision by February. School leaders did not communicate seriousness of harassment Students reported racist incidents at the high school since the school opened during remote learning in 2020, while the number of Black students has decreased steadily since then, according to the draft. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement According to the draft report, Global Studies leaders had a limited response to the harassment reported by students and centered impact rather than intent of the incidents. Interviews found that some school staff learned about the incidents through their relationships with students and the teachers involved. A very small group said they had no knowledge of the incidents before the students public comments in November 2022, the report read. Staff interviewees also said the effect of the public reports and media on the school environment led to chaos and ill feelings, the draft states. Some suggested that the feelings were intensified by the lack of clear communication about why students were complaining and leaving the school, the report read. I think that has made some students more like, upset, angry Unraveled things a little bit. So thats like an unfortunate thing that its like kind of causing some upheaval, said one interviewee in the report. As part of the review, teachers and administrators told researchers about 11 reported incidents. Discipline for those incidents ranged from written apologies and cultural sensitivity training to mediation and suspensions, according to the draft. Of the consequences, 22 students had in-school detention, seven received out-of-school suspensions, seven had a parent conference, six received mediation, four participated in out-of-school counseling, three received after-school detention, and three more had a conflict resolution session, according to the draft. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement With one exception, Black adult interviewees expressed their belief that Black students experienced racial harm at the high school, while six out of the seven non-Black, non-Latino adults interviewed said they believed the students and expressed concern about their well-being, according to the report. Some said they were also aware of racist incidents against Black and Asian American teachers in the building, the report found. The former teachers who filed a lawsuit against the district claimed they also suffered severe emotional problems leading them to seek psychological counseling after experiencing racial harassment at the high school. But nine interviewees also suggested the reports of Black students and media coverage were exaggerated and wanted to set the record straight, according to the report. Others lamented the schools approaches to addressing the incidents and lack of communication about them were eroding teacher morale, according to the draft. One teacher specifically suggested that because of the public scrutiny, administrators started to backtrack reports stated about one of the formally reported incidents, the report read. I want to say that when I hear these recordings about what people are saying and including the students that are in the school, to me, it feels like theyre talking about another school. Because I do not see that. You know, I have not heard that, an interviewee told researchers. Missed opportunity to support staff, teachers at Global Studies One of the main draws of Global Studies was that it promised students would develop a global perspective through second-language immersion, exploration of different cultures and career pathways that emphasized international relations in business and diplomacy. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But the overall environment at the school and the way it was run led to administrators missing the opportunity to represent the diversity of its students lived experiences and aspirations within the environment and their learning, according to the report. When Global Studies opened its doors in 2021 following remote learning, the school was newly renovated and well maintained with college-related signs throughout hallways. But researchers found that the overall tone of the school lacked the spirit and vitality typical of a high school, with much of it resembling an elementary and middle school, according to the report. Most classroom walls were decorated with word walls and inspirational posters or pictures, the report found. Wall displays rarely demonstrated how students grappled with topics like geographical and linguistic diversity and global political institutions, the report found. The main theme of the school, which highlights students as global citizens, was often tied by staff to specific celebrations such as Hispanic Heritage and Black History months and notable figures, according to the report. Additionally, most teachers lacked previous high school teaching experience, according to the report. Students spent extended periods of time sitting silently and had a lack of dialogue in classrooms, the report found. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Early on, the school and district administration had not cultivated an environment that encouraged staff to examine and challenge their assumptions of implicit bias and other forms of racism, according to the report. When Black students spoke about their experiences of racial harassment, school administrators hosted a staff discussion of a book called Courageous Conversations About Race, according to the report. But staff members werent clear about why they were attending the discussions and told Creed researchers the conversations felt surface-level and lacked transparency and support, and limited their capacity to understand and address the issues that were happening, the report read. There was a missed opportunity to address the professional learning needs of instructional staff to be responsive to these issues as a part of student learning, the report said. Response did more damage, leading to transfers, resignations After Black students spoke out publicly, district leaders held assemblies largely viewed as insufficient and ineffective by others, according to the report. During the 2022-23 school year, Global Studies principal Nelson Ruiz held an assembly for the entire school where he told all students not to use the N-word or they would be suspended, according to the report. The schools zero-tolerance for the N-word was not only viewed as harming victims, but it also policed the language and speaking practices of Black students, the report read. Interviewees also discussed a pizza party for Black students that some students felt was an attempt to drive their attention away from the issue, according to the report. During the January 2023 school board meeting, a former Global Studies student said school administrators called members of the Black Student Union and gave us pizza, candy and even soda, in what she felt was an attempt to silence students. Ruiz did not respond to calls, a text, or emailed questions from Chalkbeat about his response to the incidents. Leon also held an assembly during the 2022-23 school year, specifically for the junior class, where students were told, If they dont feel comfortable [at NSGS], basically they can leave, a student interviewee said. Students interpreted Leons comment as If you dont like it, you can leave, according to the report. Student interviewees also felt as if school staff were not facilitating their transfer requests because of a lack of communication between Leon and the school, while others said it was because the school did not want to lose high-achieving Black students, the draft report stated. Those findings echo what students had told Newark school board members. During the January 2023 board meeting, three students said they were being told by guidance counselors that they couldnt transfer. One student told board members that Leons speech didnt feel like it had any empathy and it gave very much, if you dont like it, then go home. Another student said a vast amount of students lined up outside of the guidance counselors offices the day after Leons assembly. A third student said guidance counselors told her multiple times that she couldnt transfer and if she left how would that make us feel. Staff interviewees also said high-performing Black students were the first students to try to transfer out and some considered how that would impact the schools image, according to the draft report. The transfer rates of Black students have significantly increased each year at Global Studies in comparison to all other student groups, according to data included in the draft report. Black students have been less likely to complete an academic year at the school than their peers at Newark School of Data Science and Information Technology, Newark Fashion and Design, and Newark Vocational, the report stated. At the end of the 2021-22 school year, six Black students transferred out of Global Studies and in the following school year, another seven Black students had transferred as of March 15, 2023, according to the report. During the 2022-23 school year, three Black female teachers resigned, all from the same department, and two Latino students were transferred out, the report notes. Throughout the report, researchers also found that the schools restorative approach to the issues did not adequately address the persistence or saliency of racist comments by students. To address the incidents, administrators called for parent conferences and time of reflection with students that led Black students to feel emotionally unsafe about being forced to work with students who used racist language toward them and were allowed to remain in classes, according to the report. The practices also created an atmosphere where some Latino students felt they could use racist language toward Black students and teachers without consequence, the draft reads. Staff members who were interviewed said they were following district policy and employing a restorative approach to discipline students while others acknowledged they had an educative role to address the use of racial language by non-Black students, the report found. One teacher acknowledged that education on the background of why some of the things [students] say to each other are so hurtful would be useful. I think especially for recent immigrants, they come here, and they hear that kind of dialogue, and they adopt it thinking like theyre gonna be proud and part of American culture and have no background for it, and dont realize that for them, its not appropriate to talk that way, according to the teacher. The report recommended the district build school staffs capacity to identify cultural gaps, create a racially conscious and inclusive environment, foster conversations about race, and assess the effects of anti-Blackness on the school system. Researchers also noted that the courage and resilience of Black students at Global Studies who assumed leadership positions in school organizations, participated in extracurricular activities, and are high achievers demonstrated a level of social awareness and activism by challenging racial discrimination. Their efforts were aligned with the Global Studies theme, the report found. This story was originally published on Chalkbeat. Of the dozens of executive orders President-elect Donald Trump has promised to sign on his first day back in office, few will capture more attention and cause more debate than his decision to end birthright citizenship. According to his campaign platform and subsequent public statements, Trump plans to direct the federal government to cease recognizing children born in the U.S. to illegal immigrant parents as automatic U.S. citizens. Members of his transition team have provided two primary justifications for this change. As a legal matter, they argue that the current practice of birthright citizenship is based on an unconstitutional interpretation of the 14th Amendment. As a policy matter, they also contend that birthright citizenship creates an incentive for illegal immigration and encourages birth tourism, the practice of noncitizens traveling to the U.S. for the express purpose of giving birth. The arguments around these two contentions have been covered extensively elsewhere, and they will doubtlessly be rehashed repeatedly in the wake of Trumps expected action. What is relatively new and insufficiently understood are the ramifications that ending birthright citizenship would have for the current moment of great-power competition, population decline, and mass polarization. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Ending birthright citizenship would collide with these contemporary considerations in three major ways: It would erode Americas current demographic advantage over rival powers, needlessly endanger the advantage we have in internal assimilation and stability, and mire us in an unnecessary and protracted distraction from building an immigration system designed to compete our with our adversaries and guarantee continued American prosperity. Looming demographic challenges. In a recent essay in Foreign Affairs, economist Nicholas Eberstadt starkly detailed the rapid pace at which the world is aging: According to U.N. Population Division data, the majority of the worlds population now lives in countries in which the fertility rate is below replacement level. By 2050, more than 130 countries across the planet will be experiencing net mortality, where deaths exceed births. Critically, the United States occupies an outlier position in these trends. In addition to having higher fertility rates than nearly all other developed nations, Americas demographic exceptionalism is tied to its history and projected future of robust immigration. This in turn has positioned the U.S. to be the only major power projected to maintain both population and labor force growth through the mid-century. This is especially important because Americas primary geopolitical rivals face severe demographic headwinds; China and Russia are already experiencing population decline and rapidly aging societies. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Ending birthright citizenship would directly hurt American competitiveness on the world stage by needlessly weakening a key demographic advantage we hold over our great-power rivals. While the precise numbers are subject to conjecture and will depend on exactly how the Trump administration defines which immigrants are here illegally, historical estimates indicate that roughly 7.5 percent of all babies born in the U.S. going forward would no longer be considered automatic citizens. This would amount to more than 250,000 children each year, and in practice this number will likely be much higher if the definition of illegal immigrant is expanded to those who remain in the country after their parole or Temporary Protected Status programs are terminated. Throwing a quarter million children into a position of legal uncertainty each year would produce a score of negative outcomes for American strength. If these children do leave with their parents, as the architects of this policy intend for them to, then in the coming decades the U.S. will struggle more than it otherwise would to fill jobs requiring manual labor, where having a large number of young people is necessary. Funding Social Security also will become an even greater challenge with a smaller working-age population. And in the event that these children stay and grow up in the United States, they would be treated by the legal system and by large swaths of society as innate foreigners in the only land they have known, which would in turn challenge the other distinct advantage America holds over her rivals: domestic stability derived from a history of comparatively smooth cultural assimilation. Americas exceptional assimilation. Some of Americas greatest advantages in great-power competition with China and Russia are derived from the factors closest to home for us. The most commonly cited one is our fortuitous geography. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But another significant factor buttressing American strength and power projection is our remarkable ability to assimilate large numbers of newcomers and their descendants into the American political project. While this claim may sound remarkable given the prominence of our recent internal divisions around culture and immigration, consider the situations of China and Russia. China has resorted to full-scale authoritarian repression and even genocidal measures to deal with separatist and autonomist movements in minority regions within China such as Xinjiang and Tibet, and continues to ruthlessly crack down even on smaller expressions of minority identity. For its part, Russia has waged a bloody war against domestic separatists in the Caucasus within the past two decades and continues to struggle with radicalization in this region. While the reasons behind these conflicts are complex and distinct from one another, at a broader level they are undoubtedly worsened by the limited and exclusionary conception of political belonging in China and Russia. Both those countries have struggled and will continue to struggle to promote a domestic concept of what it means to be a Chinese citizen if one is not Han Chinese or a Russian citizen if one is not an Orthodox Russian. In contrast, America has a far greater track record of assimilating minorities into our polity due in large part to ideals of American citizenship undergirded by policies like birthright citizenship. For the children of immigrant parents, birthright citizenship not only validates their American identity without dispute to those who would cast them as having foreign allegiances, it also places patriotic burdens on these children to be loyal to their homeland. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The responsibilities conferred upon the children of immigrants by birthright citizenship are especially important now because assimilation is under attack on all sides. Large segments of the left now view assimilation as a form of cultural imperialism and have retreated from defending it, let alone promoting it. Meanwhile, many on the right have drifted toward the idea that immigrants and their children are increasingly assimilating into a left-wing subset of American society or toward more nefarious racialized conceptions of American identity. This means that future children born without automatic citizenship will instead inherit a political climate in which significant segments of both parties will actively or tacitly encourage them to give their political allegiance to a foreign power. Apart from the ominous impact this could have on how these children view their role and place in American society, it would also create new divisions and political hurdles in American politics that the proponents of this policy do not seem to have fully reckoned with. The potential for statelessness. Repealing birthright citizenship would cause havoc and uncertainty at all three stages of its implementation. In deciding who is defined as an illegal immigrant, the Trump administration will likely adopt an expansive definition of illegal that includes immigrants who arrived via legal pathways such as parole or Temporary Protected Status. Vice President J.D. Vance has already made clear that the incoming administration does not view these programs as having a legitimate basis in law. If the administration does adopt this definition, it will create an even murkier legal area for the children born to parents who arrived via these programs, one that will be even more complicated to litigate. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Many of the children born to illegal immigrants may also be temporarily rendered stateless. Some countries such as India do not automatically grant citizenship to the children of citizens born abroad. Given how politically polarizing other policies involving immigrant children, such as family separation and Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), have been, artificially creating a population of potentially hundreds of thousands of stateless children living within the U.S. would become a poison pill in American politics. Beyond these initial issues, the Trump administration will also need to decide what to do with these children now that they are no longer automatically citizens. The GOP will likely be split between hardliners who want to deport them immediately and those who want to grant them an eventual pathway to citizenship. The first option would likely cause even greater political polarization, while the second would further needlessly complicate our already byzantine immigration system. The net effect of repealing birthright citizenship would be a prolonged state of chaos in our domestic politics and our immigration system. Doing so would squander key advantages we have over rivals who are gaining ground on the world stage and distract us from being able to build an immigration system that prioritizes the talent we need to remain competitive by miring us in decades of legal challenges, ambiguity, and disunity. As is often the case, those who are currently seeking to suddenly impose mass changes to the social fabric will find that the status quo has functioned well for a reason. 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. Jan. 19JAMESTOWN An early morning fire extensively damaged the kitchen and dining area of the Badal Nafus Center at the University of Jamestown on Sunday, Jan. 19. The Jamestown Fire Department and Jamestown Rural Fire Department worked for hours in frigid conditions to extinguish the blaze, which was reported at 1:37 a.m., said Jamestown Fire Chief Jim Reuther. He said the temperature was 17 below zero when JFD was paged to respond to the fire. Reuther said two separate callers reported seeing the cafeteria on fire or flames in the cafeteria area. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "At approximately 1:42 in the morning, one of the officers (from the Jamestown Police Department) heard a loud explosion from inside the building," he said. The source of that noise isn't yet known, Reuther said. JFD asked the Jamestown Rural Fire Department for assistance at about 3:15 a.m. and both departments were at the scene until about 11 a.m. "We needed mutual aid ... basically because of the conditions, the cold conditions, the large fire and (to) be able to have people to swap out if need be," Reuther said. There were 38 firefighters at the scene, 19 from each department, he said, and 10 trucks. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Reuther said the kitchen and dining area of the Badal Nafus Center are a total loss. "The firefighters had a hard time making access through the roof because there's different layers on the roof, to fight that fire," Reuther said. "I think, unfortunately, this could be one of those ones that may rekindle.... I'm sure there's probably hot spots in there yet. "Really right now, the biggest thing is that we're going to have to monitor this fire," he said. "That's probably the biggest thing right now, to keep monitoring the fire to see if it rekindles or not, which we hope it doesn't." He said the Jamestown Rural Fire Department also is on standby should they need to return to the site. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "The cause (of the fire) isn't known at this time and the fire department will be working with insurance companies and U of J to determine a cause," Reuther said. Dustin Jensen, vice president for student affairs and dean of students at the University of Jamestown, praised the firefighters for their response. "They kept it to that building, it did not encroach upon the new construction for the (Reuben and Clarice) Liechty Center for Faith and Life and the (Voorhees) chapel," he said. "It did not get into any of that. It didn't move north into the Lyngstad Center, it was just kept to that back half of the Badal Nafus Center." A project is currently underway to connect Voorhees Chapel to the Badal Nafas Center. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "Thankfully, nothing spread from the old building into the new build," Jensen said. The university feeds 800 to 850 people on a daily basis, Jensen estimated, and they've been working with the community and others to ensure that continues. "Sunday, Monday is kind of our focus right now and then short term and longer term," he said. "In the immediacy, Sunday, Monday, Jamestown Public Schools have been incredible. Rob Lech, Darby Heinert, Adam Gehlhar (JPS officials) have been in touch with us through the night." The university used the Jamestown High School kitchen to prepare meals on Sunday and were using Harold Newman Arena for dining, Jensen said. The students will be fed at the arena over the next few days, he said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "And then we partner with a company, Sodexo, who does all of our dining. Sodexo's corporate is working with their other partners, Valley City State (University), Moorhead State (Minnesota State University Moorhead) and they're bringing food over," Jensen said. "So we're working on a short-term plan on where we'll eat into the short term but we'll be feeding kids and it will continue to be as if nothing happened. With that many students, we've got to keep them fed and keep them safe. And so they're working on those plans and then the long-term plan is obviously, we're going to have to sift through this and come up with a long-term plan to get it back to where it was before." Jensen said it was too early to know what kind of damage was sustained to the Badal Nafus Center but they don't expect it would be used again for some time. "We're just kind of in the operational mode of understanding what's going on and determining next steps," he said. "But I think the most important thing is buildings were closed at the time. There was nobody in the building so there are no injuries, obviously no fatalities then, which is the biggest blessing that people are safe. "A massive thank you to the first responders," Jensen said Sunday morning. "It's absolutely miserable conditions and they've been out there now for eight hours fighting this fire in horrible conditions. The university is just very appreciative." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Jamestown was under an extreme cold warning on Sunday issued by the National Weather Service, which reported life-threatening wind chills as low as 55 below zero were possible until noon Tuesday. The temperature was forecast to rise to minus 3 on Sunday but was in double digits below zero in the morning. Among the concerns fighting fires in those conditions are frostbite, slipping on ice and issues with equipment, Reuther said. Some of their firefighting clothing gear had to be switched out because it got wet and froze. "It was brutal," Reuther said. "... With the cold conditions, with the icy conditions, we've got to worry about slips and falls, we've got to worry about freezing up lines, I mean, everything. And we did have a few slips and falls ... this morning. Some firefighters slipped and fell." None required medical attention at that time, he said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "It's not uncommon to have a few equipment issues or frozen-up equipment with these conditions but we were fortunate," Reuther added. "We didn't have any equipment breakdowns that I'm aware of right now." The American Red Cross and Jamestown Area Ambulance were also at the scene, he said. "I want to thank everybody that reached out to ask if they could do anything," Reuther said. "I want to thank Jamestown Rural firefighters and (rural) fire department Chief (Brian) Paulson for their assistance." An inquiry by House of Lords members has recommended urgent reforms be made to the UKs disability benefits system, pressing the government to push ahead with planned changes. Writing to DWP secretary Liz Kendall, the Houses Economic Affairs Committee advises that welfare spending must be reduced or else it will remain a challenge for the government. The inquiry report points out that 65 billion a year is now spent on health-related benefits in the UK, which is more the governments spend on defence (54 billion). In a wide-ranging letter, committee chair Lord Bridges of Headley argues that there too many incentives to claim health-related benefits under the current system, while there are too few to find work once they are being claimed. He recommends there be no delay in planned reforms to how claimants of health-related benefits are assessed. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The intervention comes after prime minister Sir Keir Starmer told reporters during a recent visit to Ukraine that he would be ruthless in cutting benefits if needed to balance government spending. A green paper on planned changes to health-related benefits is expected in Spring. Work and pensions secretary Liz Kendall was recently criticised for refusing to provide compensation to WASPI campaigners (Getty Images) The government has said changes to work capability assessment (WCA) will be central to the changes, as pledged in its manifesto. This health assessment is currently one of the main ways that someone will be found eligible or ineligible for health-related benefits. It has attracted controversy since its introduction in 2008, with reports in 2018 and 2023 both finding that too many incorrect assessment decisions continue to fuel mistrust of the process. Lord Bridges said: The health benefits system is financially unsustainable, wastes human potential and in the words of the Employment Minister does not work for anybody. Given the pressure on the nations finances, tackling this must be a top priority for the Government. Urgent action is needed to reform both the unemployment and health-related benefits system, and how they interact. There should be more support to help those who are able to find and accept work - and to ensure that those who cannot work for a period are not abandoned to a life on benefits. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The number of people claiming health-related benefits has skyrocketed since the Covid pandemic, his letter also points out. There are now 3.7 million people of working age receiving them 1.2 million more than in February 2020. While there is no consensus, experts point to an increasing number of young people needing support with mental health issues and ever-longer NHS waitings lists as a driving factor. An estimated 7.54 million NHS treatments were waiting to be carried out at the end of October (Jeff Moore/PA) (PA Wire) However, the committee adds that it has seen no convincing evidence that the governments plan to improve NHS waiting lists will reduce this figure. It also finds that if 400,000 people who are out of work due to ill-health were able to find work, it would save a net 10 billion for government coffers. James Taylor, executive director of strategy at disability equality charity Scope, said: Our broken benefits system urgently needs fixing, and we know there are a million disabled people who want to work but are denied the opportunity. But governments have continually come unstuck when theyve started with a figure to cut, rather than on what works to support disabled people into jobs. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Life costs a lot more for disabled people. Our employment advisers find the stress of knowing benefits could be stopped for not meeting certain conditions makes it much harder for disabled people to find work. Cutting benefits spend means taking away the support disabled people need to live, which will push many more disabled people into poverty. Labour is currently looking to save 1.3 billion a year from changes to the WCA, pledging to match spending commitments made by the previous government but not yet detailing how their reforms will differ. The party has said it will re-consult on the changes after the Conservatives consultation on the plans was found unlawful by a High Court judge for being unfair and misleading. A Government spokesperson said: We are determined to get Britain Working again and have set out our first steps towards delivering an 80% employment rate - by joining up local work, health, and skills plans. We have been clear that the current welfare system needs reform, so it is fairer on the taxpayer and people get the support they need to move into work. Building on our Get Britain Working White Paper, we will bring forward proposals for reforming the health and disability benefits system in the Spring. This will be part of a proper plan to help disabled people who can work secure employment while ensuring support is provided for those who need it. SOUTH KINGSTOWN, R.I. (WPRI) Its been almost 60 years since Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.s historic visit to the University of Rhode Island. On Oct. 5, 1966, the civil rights icon spoke to a crowd of 5,000 people inside Keaney gym. The visit was memorialized by a plaque in 2022, but some say something bigger should have been done. Were talking about a Nobel Peace Prize winner coming to a state institution, and the only thing you can do is put a plaque up on the wall? Ed Givens asked. There should be a statue, a monument, a bust, something! Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Givens is the assistant director of the Talent Development Program at URI. The organization was started in response to the 1968 assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. The Talent Development Program grants special admission to the university to Rhode Island students of color and those who come from disadvantaged backgrounds, like Juan Porres of Cranston. Porres with his parents. (Courtesy: Juan Porres) I wouldnt be where I am today without the Talent Development Program, he told 12 News. The program also has a history of fighting for racial equality on campus. On May 5, 1971, Talent Development joined other students in taking over Carlotti Hall, demanding more admission for Black students. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In 1992, students took over Taft Hall to protest a misquote of Malcolm X etched onto the library. It was just six year later when students came together again, this time to protest a racist cartoon printed in the schools student-run newspaper. As far as changing the face of the university and opportunities for students of color and having a more professional staff within the division, Talent Development has had a hand in it, Givens said. Talent Development provides financial, academic and emotional support before, during and after college. The enrollment deposit, which is $500 at URI, that was something that at the time, when I was applying, I couldnt afford, Porres recalled. I didnt want to have my parents, who already work so hard as immigrants, pay that. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Now, Porres is about to graduate with a Masters in College Student Personnel. He said his journey wouldnt have been possible without the help of Talent Development and the work of Martin Luther King Jr. If it werent for the likes of Dr. King, Malcolm X, and everyone who brought everything to URI, and the country as a whole, I really dont know where I would be, Porres added. As for the future of the program, Givens said they will continue to advocate for Dr. Kings dream. With different political systems and the changing of government, he said, the fight continues. Learn more about the Talent Development Program at URI Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now Daily Roundup Copyright 2025 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 WPRI.com. WASHINGTON (DC News Now) Nearly 4,000 officers from law enforcement agencies nationwide were sworn in Sunday to help support security for the 60th Presidential Inauguration, according to D.C. police. They have been deputized under the US Marshal Service, so they will be placed in positions where we need them across the city, said D.C. police Chief Pamela Smith in a news conference Sunday morning. Officials provide update on Inauguration Day security, road closures The United States Marshal Service deputized 3,800 law enforcement officers from agencies nationwide on Sunday, Jan. 19, ahead of the inauguration. (Courtesy: The Metropolitan Police Department) The United States Marshal Service deputized 3,800 law enforcement officers from agencies nationwide on Sunday, Jan. 19, ahead of the inauguration. (Courtesy: The Metropolitan Police Department) Smith noted that Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) officers would be assigned to residents in all seven areas across the District on Inauguration Day. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement These [deputized] officers, along with MPD and our federal law enforcement partners, will be working hard to ensure the safety of everyone throughout the District, D.C. police said in a post on the X platform. Copyright 2025 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. This is part of Hello, Trumpworld, Slates reluctant guide to the people who will be calling the shots nowat least for as long as they last in Washington. Hear the heavy sigh of Indian Americans across the countryboth those who voted for Trump (there were several, and we all got in a fight at Thanksgiving, rest assured) and those who did not: We were always going to be burdened with South Asian identity politics, no matter who won, but did it need to be so stupid? Already, I can see down the hallway of the next four yearsdecorated like Melania did the White House that one Christmas where the theme was haunted hospital waiting room. With J.D. Vance and his Indian wife and children now formally ensconced in the administration, it feels like were doomed to four (more) years of incessant jabber about whether an administration can really be racist if it also has brown people in it. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Vances wife, Usha, has already been the center of such conversation throughout the campaign cycle. Shes Yale-educated, a former civil litigation lawyer who famously clerked for Brett But My Calendars! Kavanaugh. If there was any lingering belief that being a woman of color automatically meant you were a liberal, Ushas history reminds us how false that assumption is. Now, as second lady, Usha has the heady job of reminding everyone that, actually, a Telegu Brahmin is perfectly capable of aligning with an often racist Republican party. Just wait until everyone finds out about the Kashmiri Brahmins! (As a Kashmiri Brahmin, I can make this joke. Do not take this punch line to a party: If it lands, youre in more trouble than if it doesnt.) The spouses of presidents and vice presidents define their own roles in the White House, but theyre usually simple and in service of furthering their partners likability and agenda. Michelle Obama, Jill Biden, Doug Emhofftheir public works and personas were designed to maintain the humanity of the politician theyre married to. Usha, meanwhile, was used sparingly in the campaign, only showing up when she needed to, which only added to the public delusion that she wasnt actually down with the cause. Usha was employed only when Vances likability index was tanking, or to maybe reassure everyone that he definitely did not fuck a couch. Well, Vance doesnt seem to be getting any more pleasant now that hes entering office, so who knows when his long-suffering wife will be sent back to a Fox News studio to tell everyone that, actually, her husband is super normal. Prepare for four years of secondhand embarrassment. The real thing Im waiting for? Whatever incomprehensibly awkward interaction Usha will have with Melania in the next few years. Nothing but two wives who absolutely do not want to be here! If Mark Burnett really wanted to strike reality television gold one more time with the Trump family, hed pitch NBC on an Usha/Melania Simple Life spinoff. Nearly 25 years after Utah leaders formalized the creation of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, a slew of activities are planned on Monday to mark the day and honor the civil rights icon. One of the oldest events in Utah to mark King, the MLK March and Rally, organized by the University of Utah as part of MLK Week activities, is set for Monday at 2:30 p.m. This year, the march, in its 41st year, will follow a new route at the university campus, from Kingsbury Hall to the Utah Museum of Fine Arts. "Dr. King's legacy reminds us of his unwavering commitment to equality, nonviolence and community empowerment. Even today, it continues to inspire us to build inclusive communities," LeiLoni McLaughlin, director of the U.'s Center for Community and Cultural Engagement, said in a university news release. "When we lead with education, openness and understanding, diverse communities can unite in collective action, forging meaningful connections that strengthen our society as a whole." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Speakers at the U. rally and march include Reverend France Davis, pastor emeritus of Calvary Baptist Church in Salt Lake City, and Sydni Shorter, of the Utah Black Chamber, among others. U. events last all week while several other groups and organizations are also planning activities. Here's a rundown of other things going on in commemoration of the Monday holiday: The Ogden Branch of the NAACP is hosting a breakfast starting at 9 a.m. with speakers and a march to begin at 10:30 a.m. Activities commence at Ogden's Union Station with the march ending at the Ogden Amphitheater. Thanksgiving Point, in Lehi, is hosting a free day of service activity at its Butterfly Biosphere from 9 a.m. to noon, partnering with the Five.12 Foundation to fill food bags for people in need. The Salt Lake City Branch of the NAACP is hosting a luncheon, now in its 41st year, to honor King starting at noon at the Grand America Hotel in Salt Lake City. The featured speaker will be Amos Guiora, a professor at the U.'s S.J. Quinney College of Law, while Kem C. Gardner, a real estate developer, is to receive the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Award. Emma Houston, assistant vice president for community engagement at the U., will receive the Rosa Parks Award. The National Park Service will offer free admission at all national parks, including the five in Utah. "It is also a day of service when thousands of volunteers participate in service projects across the country, including at national parks," reads the NPS website. Beloved Community is organizing a program starting at 11:30 a.m. in the rotunda of the state Capitol in Salt Lake City followed by a march to the Gateway. Speakers at the program will include Pastor Oscar T. Moses of Calvary Baptist Church, Utah Rep. Melissa Ballard, R-North Salt Lake, and Rep.-elect Verona Mauga, D-Taylorsville. Cleopatra Balfour, director of Beloved Community, said this year marks the second year it's hosted Martin Luther King Day activities at the state Capitol. "It's to promote Dr. Martin Luther King's legacy and unite people in the vision of building the beloved community," she said, referencing King's vision of creating a better society by working against poverty, racism and militarism. She sees the day's events as a means of promoting unity among organizations working for the broader "underserved" community, including women, the disabled and the LGBTQ community. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The U. events also include a talk Thursday with a panel of Utah religious leaders. It'll be held starting at noon at Gould Auditorium at the J. Willard Marriott Library on the university campus. "In addition to being a center of worship, what has been the role in the Black church in the fight for equal rights? Does the Black church of today serve as a space for inspiring and mobilizing its members?" reads a description of the event. Utah lawmakers in 2000 approved legislation changing Human Rights Day to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day, formalizing the holiday in the state as a means of honoring the civil rights activist. It was inked into law in March that year. ROANOKE, Va. (WFXR) On Saturday, the O. Winston Link Museum in Roanoke hosted the VA250 commission, a group committed to commemorating Virginias contributions to American independence and the Revolutionary War. At the groups Salute to Southwest Virginia, event Saturday afternoon, they celebrated the 250th anniversary of the Fincastle Resolution, when 15 Virginians first declared a desire for independence from the British. Were marking the 250th anniversary of the Fincastle Resolutions, said VA250 Commission executive director Cheryl Wilson. The first time that colonists ever declared independence was a cause worth dying for happened right here in Southwest Virginia. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The group is dedicated to instilling a greater understanding of Virginias history in its current residents. VMI Corps of Cadets no longer marching in Trump Presidential Inauguration ceremony America was made in Virginia, said Carly Fiorina, VA250 honorary chair and keynote speaker at Saturdays event. At the event, VA250 unveiled a state-of-the-art interactive mobile museum, branded with the phrase, Out of many, one, translated to the more well-known E pluribus unum in Latin. The mobile museums wheels carry hundreds of years of history in hopes of connecting its visitors more deeply with their past. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement If we do not know where we come from, where and what we come from, and how we came to be, then we do not know who we are, said Fiorina. The mobile museum is parked in front of the O. Winston Link Museum and will remain there for a week before moving on to Floyd County. Cousin of Moonshiner Kenny Law shares his lasting legacy It is open to the public from 10 am-5 pm Sunday and Monday but will only host school events and field trips from Tuesday to Friday. Inside the museum are videos, interactive maps, a hologram of Patrick Henry, the opportunity to take a U.S. Citizenship Test and so much more. All of VA250s initiatives are centered around encouraging civic renewal and a greater understanding of Virginias role in the nations origins and independence. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Were connected to history through time and to me thats whats so powerful about a 250th moment, said Wilson. There will be so many of them and we invite everyone to travel along with us. Copyright 2025 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 WFXRtv. For five years, Walter Hummel served his country with pride. His work as a U.S. Army infantryman took him along the Red Sea near Egypt, where he spent weeks at a time watching for suspicious boats and submarines. We got to meet a lot of really cool people from different countries, Hummel said of his deployment in 2021. Military from all over the worldworked together to keep the peace treaty between Israel and Egypt. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Hummel aimed to stay in his role as a supply specialist with the 104th Cavalry Regiment, York, for many years to come. But his body had other plans. We think its an autoimmune disease, Hummel said. Even just standing up, my ankle swells up, hands swell up. I wake up in the morning, I get shooting pain from my neck down my arm. If Im just holding my phone, my whole arm goes numb. Hummels problems persisted despite having the discs in his neck replaced. Doctors still arent sure whats causing his pain. I got denied disability, Im not getting any disability from the military, Hummel said. Im just trying to keep going to these doctors. Its been a struggle. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A faulty roof in the depth of winter was the last thing Hummel needed to deal with. Thats why Bachmans Roofing, Wernersville, decided he wouldnt have to. In honor of Hummels service, the company installed a new roof on Hummels home in Exeter Township, free of charge. Bachmans workers lay shingles at the home of veteran Walter Hummel II (Courtesy of Bachmans Roofing) My father is a veteran, grandfather is a veteran, said Greg McNulty, general manager at Bachmans. I really appreciate the patriots out there, the people who are willing to fight for our country and our freedoms. He said Bachmans aims to help veterans as much as it can, typically doing three or four projects like Hummels per year. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement McNulty was one of about a dozen Bachmans workers who attended a ceremony on Wednesday honoring Hummel and commencing the roof work. Carl Rost, Bachmans director of operations, said the company actively searches for veterans in need. He thanked ABC Supply Co. Inc. for donating roofing materials for the project, and thanked Hummel for his service. Its nothing for us to do this for you, its an honor, Rost told Hummel. The ceremony was also attended by state Sen. Judy Schwank (D-11th Dist.) and state Rep. Mark Gillen (R-128th Dist.). Schwank gave Hummel a certificate from the senate commemorating his service, and Schwank and Gillen asked Hummel to reach out to their offices for additional help. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement State Rep. Mark Gillen thanks veteran Walter Hummel II for his military service. (Courtesy of Bachmans Roofing) It sounds so trite to say thank you for your service, but we are all thankful, well do whatever we can to help you, Schwank told Hummel. The value of Hummels roof project is in the ballpark of $20,000, said Jere Geib, Bachmans marketing director. The project involves removing the old roof, replacing any bad decking, and putting on an entirely new roof, shingles, and gutters. It (will be) a better than code roof, McNulty said. Eric Bachman, president of Bachmans Roofing, said the roof was a small token of the companys gratitude for veterans. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Walters service and sacrifice embody the values we hold dear, Bachman said in a press release. Supporting our veterans is a responsibility we take seriously, and were honored to contribute in this meaningful way. About a dozen workers from Bachmans Roofing., Wernersville, came to celebrate the start of a free roofing project for veteran Walter Hummel II. (Courtesy of Bachmans Roofing) Vice President JD Vance took the oath of office Monday using a Bible that once belonged to his great-grandmother. Vance was sworn in as the 50th vice president of the United States alongside President Donald Trump at the U.S. Capitol in Washington. The ceremony was more intimate than initially planned: Trump moved inauguration festivities indoors because of cold weather in Monday's forecast. The Bible is deeply rooted in Vances family. His grandmother Bonnie Vance known to him as Mamaw gave it to him when he left home in 2003 for the Marine Corps Recruit Depot in South Carolina. The Bible is a King James version published by Thomas Nelson and Sons. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement More: Inauguration Day updates: Cincinnati's JD Vance set to be sworn in as vice president The new vice president didnt have a straightforward faith journey. Vance was baptized as Catholic in 2019 at a Cincinnati-area church. Before that, he occupied the uncomfortable territory between curiosity about Catholicism and mistrust, he wrote in a 2020 column for The Lamp. He recalled arguing about religion with his Mamaw and considered himself an atheist for years. As he neared his decision to convert, he wrestled with whether the Catholic Church was a safe place for his children amid the clergy sex abuse crisis. Stay informed: Sign up for our weekly Ohio politics newsletter Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In the end, Vance said Second Lady Usha Vance, who is Hindu, told him converting would be good for him. I realized that there was a part of me the best part that took its cues from Catholicism, Vance wrote. It was the part of me that demanded that I treat my son with patience, and made me feel terrible when I failed. That demanded that I moderate my temper with everyone, but especially my family. That demanded that I care more about how I rated as a husband and father than as an income earner. That demanded that I sacrifice professional prestige for the interests of family. Haley BeMiller covers state government and politics for the USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau, which serves the Columbus Dispatch, Cincinnati Enquirer, Akron Beacon Journal and 18 other affiliated news organizations across Ohio. This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: JD Vance uses great grandmother's Bible at inauguration Advisers and allies are privately deliberating Vice President Harriss next steps as she prepares to leave office Monday facing an uncertain future after an unprecedented year. Harris, who became the Democratic presidential candidate overnight last July after President Biden suddenly dropped out of the race, could use the next four years to set up a new run for the White House in 2028, when President-elect Trump will be ineligible to run for reelection. She could also consider a gubernatorial bid in her home state of California, or make her exit from public service altogether. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement There is a debate amongst her advisers right now about whether she should pursue any offices and if so, which ones? said one Harris ally who has spoken to the vice president in recent weeks. Harris is keeping her options open, three sources close to the vice president say, but is giving considerable thought to continuing in public service, something she has done for more than two decades. Why wouldnt she run again? a second longtime ally said. It is a question many of her advisers have repeated in recent weeks, including at a recent black-tie affair held at the Naval Observatory for Harriss closest advisers and friends last month. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement At the December soiree, Harriss key allies bandied about her options informally. No one thinks this is it for her in terms of public office, the ally said. This is just who she is. Since conceding to Trump in November, Harris has kept a low public profile, turning away interviews and putting a cap on her time as vice president. Harris, sources close to her say, is also still methodically piecing together what happened in the presidential election. In the coming weeks, upon leaving office, she is expected to have a real think as one source put it about her path forward. This will be the first time in a long time that shes had a moment to think about next steps, a third Harris ally said, pointing to her grueling schedule as vice president and running mate to Biden and then her own candidacy following Bidens decision to leave the race. She has had very little time to process the past few months and think about whether she even wants to try it again. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement NBC News reported Wednesday that Harris has decided to write a book in the immediate months following her departure. Kamala Harris is poised to land the biggest book deal of any vice president in history, Keith Urbahn, a literary agent, told the news outlet. But the real question isnt the advance its whether the book can redefine her for 2028. At the same time, second gentleman Doug Emhoff is making moves to return to the private sector and having conversations about potentially landing in New York, one source familiar with the matter said. When it comes to Harris, Jamal Simmons, who served as Harriss communications director until 2023, said Harris has several months to decide her next steps. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement She shouldnt do anything until the spring, Simmons said. Shes been on the fastest, most intense treadmill and she should catch her breath and enjoy her friends and family, think about the time she served the public and then begin to have conversations about what to do next. The worst thing to do is to jump into a long-term commitment unless you absolutely have to, he said. The third ally to Harris also cautioned that if Harris wants to run for president, she shouldnt run for governor given the potential stakes. Imagine she runs for governor and loses, the aide said. It would be game over. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement At the same time, one major Democratic donor said Harris should consider the gubernatorial race over another presidential election. This source suggested the extent of Harriss loss to Trump she lost all seven swing states in the race undermines confidence among Democrats in a potential 2028 candidacy. Listen, theres no way she makes it through a primary, and thats the reality, the donor said. If Harris does decide to run for president in 2028, she could be up against California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who shares many of the same advisers and donors as Harris. Newsom, who has come under scrutiny recently as the wildfires in his state continue to rage, has long been seen as a top contender for the Democratic nomination. But Harriss allies say that shouldnt discourage her from running. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Everybody who wants to run for president should run for president, the third Harris ally said. This isnt the time for backroom deals and negotiation. Its about who the best messenger is for the Democratic Party. Its like the lottery, youve got to play if you want to win, the ally said. There are likely to be many more names in a 2028 race beyond Harris and Newsom. A short list includes the likes of Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.), former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.). Either way, those who know Harris well say the transition from vice president to private life could be a challenging one for her, given her multiple back-to-back public service roles, from California district attorney to the states attorney general to the Senate before taking on the role of Bidens partner. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement She has been an elected official for most of her adult life so the prospect of being out of office must be unsettling to her, the third ally said. Copyright 2025 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 The Hill. Vicky Pattison will release deepfake pornography of herself to social media in a Channel 4 documentary exploring the issue and its effect on women and girls. Pattison, 37, known for appearing on a number of reality television shows including Im a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here and Geordie Shore, will direct, produce and distribute her own explicit video, before using AI technology to superimpose her face onto the actor portraying her likeness. She will then release the video to social media to learn more about how the content spreads online and the processes involved in trying to get it taken down. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It comes as ministers are seeking to crack down on sexually explicit deepfake images, with the practice to become a criminal offence. Pattison said: I am hugely passionate about womens issues and have found myself increasingly disturbed by how prevalent the problem of deepfake porn is becoming. This is just the latest trend in the abuse of women and having met some of the inspirational women who have put their lives back together after being victims of sexually explicit deepfake abuse, I feel more strongly than ever that we need to stand with these women and continue to put pressure on the greater powers within the Government to catch up with the speed at which this technology is advancing. As part of the documentary, I have made the challenging decision to release my own deepfake sex tape online, which I directed and produced with actors to ensure the process was fully consensual from start to finish. Pattison first came to fame after starring in Geordie Shore - James Manning/PA I wrestled with this decision for a long time, mulling over the permanence of it, and ultimately coming to accept the fact that this content may live online forever. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Whilst I know this doesnt compare to the distress and horror actual victims feel when they discover this content of themselves, I hope it will give some insight into what they go through. I want this documentary to bring attention to the imbalance of power and encourage society, lawmakers and tech companies to provide stronger protections and support for those who are affected. My goal is to foster empathy and drive action, and to contribute to a larger movement for justice and change, so victims feel supported, understood and empowered to reclaim their voices and control. In the hour-long documentary, Pattison meets Cara Hunter, a member of the legislative assembly in Northern Ireland who was a victim of image-based abuse in 2022, and Channel 4 News presenter Cathy Newman, who discovered she was also a victim of deepfake porn last year. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The 50-year-old journalist became her own case study in an investigation that found at least 250 British celebrities have been victims of deepfakes. Pattison will also meet and speak to women not in the public eye who have found themselves subject to image-based abuse, often at the hands of those closest to them. Shaminder Nahal, head of specialist factual at Channel 4, said: Depressingly, almost every day we hear about women being abused in different ways and its a priority for me as a commissioner to try to expose and address issues around women and violence, and to explore what can be done. Vicky Pattison: My Deepfake Sex Tape will be available to watch and stream on Channel 4 at 10pm on Tuesday January 28. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) A candlelight vigil will be held on Monday evening, Jan. 20 for the man who was killed in a three-vehicle crash that happened last week in Northeast El Paso. Man stopped at red light killed in rear-end crash The vigil will be held for Cody Vaughn, 31, at 7 p.m. on Monday, Jan. 20 at Joey Barraza and Vino Memorial Park, 11270 McCombs St. Vaughn was the owner of MG Foster Home and Pet Services, a nonprofit organization that focused on pet rescue. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The nonprofit was established in 2022 and closed last year, according to the nonprofits Facebook page. Cody was not only my pet sitter, but a great light to our family and so many others in his tireless time for animal advocacy, the vigil host, Kim Garner, said. Garner said attendees are encouraged to bring towels, dog food, toys, cleaning supplies, and blankets for the dogs in the shelters. City Rep. Cynthia Boyar Trejo is expected to attend the vigil. Boyar Trejo represents Northeast El Paso on the council. Our goal is to continue to shine the light on this young man. Individuals will want to bring their own candles, Garner said. The community gathers to remember Cody Vaughn, who was killed in a crash earlier this month at Gateway North and Sean Haggerty. Photo by Armando Montes/KTSM As we previously reported, Vaughn, 31, was killed at 7 a.m. Sunday, Jan 12, when he was involved in a three-vehicle crash at Gateway North and Sean Haggerty, El Paso Police said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement El Paso Police said Vaughn was stopped at the red light on Gateway North when a pickup truck rear-ended Vaughns vehicle. The crash caused both vehicles to travel into the intersection where Vaughn was hit by another vehicle. He died at the scene, El Paso Police said. A GoFundMe was created to help support Vaughns family in their time of grief. You can donate here. Copyright 2025 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. When President Donald Trump finished taking his oath of office, making him a U.S. president for the second time, the auditorium at the Texas Public Policy Foundation erupted with applause. Its just a moment that we have all been anticipating, John Antonio said. About 130 people gathered at the headquarters of the conservative, Austin-based think tank Monday to watch Trump get sworn in for his second term. Wearing Trump scarves and Make America Great Again hats, they cheered when Trump stated, The golden age of America begins right now, during his inauguration speech. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement For Antonio, watching President Joe Biden hand off the country to Trump was a huge relief. People cheer as they watch the inauguration of President Donald Trump on screens during a party at the headquarters of the Texas Public Policy Foundation in downtown Austin on Monday. With the assassination attempt, there were still people that had their fingers crossed, Antonio said. Will we even make it to the inauguration? He already felt as if things had been turning around since Trumps election, and hes excited for the next four years. Hes hopeful a Trump presidency will bring about economic prosperity and peace abroad that will let the country focus more on domestic issues, he said. For Jeannette Dianovich, Trump's return to the White House was bittersweet. Though she supports his policies and is happy to see him return, she's not sure how much of it will affect her and her family in Austin, where she lives and where the local policies tend to be very different, she said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "I don't know how Trump's 'American First' policies are going to trickle down," Dianovich said. During his inauguration speech, Trump alluded to Texas-based issues. About 130 people gathered at the headquarters of the conservative, Austin-based think tank to watch the inauguration. Gov. Greg Abbott was in attendance at the inauguration, and the people in the downtown auditorium whooped when they saw him on screen. Trump also said he would declare an emergency at the southern border, which drew cheers from the room. Yes! Go home! someone cried when Trump said hed declare the cartels terrorist organizations. Before the inauguration ceremony, Travis County Democrats denounced Trumps policies in a news conference at the Texas AFL-CIO headquarters downtown. U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett speaks during a Travis County Democratic Party news conference Monday. Democrats denounced Trump's policies and said they are contrary to the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. Austin-area state and local representatives insisted that Trumps education, immigration and diversity priorities run contrary to the ideals laid out by Martin Luther King Jr.s legacy. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This is at a time when we see that legacy being sadly rolled back, state Rep. Sheryl Cole, D-Austin, said. However, for Lauren B. Pena, the inauguration was exciting. Pena had just gotten involved in politics a year ago and block-walked for local politicians as well as Trump. "I volunteered my heart out last year," Pena said. For a lot of people in the room, the past four years under Biden have felt as if the country has been off course, Austin resident Alex San Martin said. A lot of people were waiting for the country to get back on track, San Martin said. This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Austin-area Trump supporters celebrate inauguration day at watch party (Oona Zenda/KFF Health News) This story first appeared on KFF Health News. In November, Montana voters safeguarded the right to abortion in the states constitution. They also elected a new chief justice to the Montana Supreme Court who was endorsed by anti-abortion advocates. That seeming contradiction is slated to come to a head this year. People on polar sides of the abortion debate are preparing to fight over how far the protection for abortion extends, and the final say will likely come from the seven-person state Supreme Court. With the arrival of new Chief Justice Cory Swanson, who ran as a judicial conservative for the nonpartisan seat and was sworn in Jan. 6, the court now leans more conservative than before the election. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A similar dynamic is at play elsewhere. Abortion-rights supporters prevailed on ballot measures in seven of the 10 states where abortion was up for a vote in November. But even with new voter-approved constitutional protections, courts will have to untangle a web of existing state laws on abortion and square them with any new ones legislators approve. The new makeup of supreme courts in several states indicates that the results of the legal fights to come arent clear-cut. Activists have been working to reshape high courts, which in recent years have become the final arbiters of a patchwork of laws regulating abortions. Thats because the 2022 U.S. Supreme Courts decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Womens Health Organization overturned federal abortion protections, leaving rulemaking to the states. Since then, the politics of state supreme court elections have been supercharged as fights around abortion shifted to states top courts, according to Douglas Keith, a senior counsel at the nonpartisan Brennan Center for Justice. Because were human, you cant scrub these races of any political connotations at all, said former Montana Supreme Court Justice Jim Nelson. But its getting worse. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The wave of abortion litigation in state courts has spawned some of the most expensive state supreme court races in history, including more than $42 million spent on the nonpartisan 2023 Supreme Court race in Wisconsin, where abortion access was among the issues facing the court. Janet Protasiewicz won the seat, flipping the balance of the court to a liberal majority. In many states, judicial elections are nonpartisan but political parties and ideological groups still lobby for candidates. In 2024, abortion surfaced as a top issue in these races. In Michigan, spending by non-candidate groups alone topped $7.6 million for the two open seats on the state Supreme Court. The Michigan races are officially labeled as nonpartisan, although candidates are nominated by political parties. An ad for the two candidates backed by Democrats cautioned that the Michigan state Supreme Court can still take abortion rights away even after voters added abortion protections to the state constitution in 2022. The ad continued, Kyra Harris Bolden and Kimberly Thomas are the only Supreme Court candidates who will protect access to abortion. Both won their races. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Abortion opponent Kelsey Pritchard, director of state public affairs for Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, decried the influence of abortion politics on state court elections. Pro-abortion activists know they cannot win through the legislatures, so they have turned to state courts to override state laws, Pritchard said. Some abortion opponents now support changes to the way state supreme courts are selected. In Missouri, where voters passed a constitutional amendment in November to protect abortion access, the new leader of the state Senate, Cindy OLaughlin, a Republican, has proposed switching to nonpartisan elections from the states current model, in which the governor appoints a judge from a list of three finalists selected by a nonpartisan commission. Although Republicans have held the governors mansion since 2017, she pointed to the Missouri Supreme Courts 4-3 ruling in September that allowed the abortion amendment to remain on the ballot and said courts have undermined legislative efforts to protect life. In a case widely expected to reach the Missouri Supreme Court, the states Planned Parenthood clinics are trying to use the passage of the new amendment to strike down Missouris abortion restrictions, including a near-total ban. OLaughlin said her proposal, which would need approval from the legislature and voters, was unlikely to influence that current litigation but would affect future cases. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement A judiciary accountable to the people would provide a fairer venue for addressing legal challenges to pro-life laws, she said. Nonpartisan judicial elections can buck broader electoral trends. In Michigan, for example, voters elected both Supreme Court candidates nominated by Democrats last year even as Donald Trump won the state and Republicans regained control of the state House. In Kentuckys nonpartisan race, Judge Pamela Goodwine, who was endorsed by Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear, outperformed her opponent even in counties that went for Trump, who won the state. Shell be serving on the bench as a womans challenge to the states two abortion bans makes its way through state courts. Partisan judicial elections, however, tend to track with other partisan election results, according to Keith of the Brennan Center. So some state legislatures have sought to turn nonpartisan state supreme court elections into fully partisan affairs. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In Ohio, Republicans have won every state Supreme Court seat since lawmakers passed a bill in 2021 requiring party affiliation to appear on the ballot for those races. That includes three seats up for grabs in November that solidified the Republican majority on the court from 4-3 to 6-1. These justices who got elected in 2024 have been pretty open about being anti-abortion, said Jessie Hill, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio, who has been litigating a challenge to Ohios abortion restrictions since voters added protections to the state constitution in 2023. Until the recent ballot measure vote in Montana, the only obstacle blocking Republican-passed abortion restrictions from taking effect had been a 25-year-old decision that determined Montanas right to privacy extends to abortion. Nelson, the former justice who was the lead author of the decision, said the court has since gradually leaned more conservative. He noted the states other incoming justice, Katherine Bidegaray, was backed by abortion-rights advocates. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The dynamic of the court is going to change, Nelson said after the election. But the chief justice has one vote, just like everybody else. Swanson, Montanas new chief justice, had said throughout his campaign that hell make decisions case by case. He also rebuked his opponent, Jerry Lynch, for saying hed respect the courts ruling that protected abortion. Swanson called such statements a signal to liberal groups. At least eight cases are pending in Montana courts challenging state laws to restrict abortion access. Martha Fuller, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Advocates of Montana, said that the new constitutional language, which takes effect in July, could further strengthen those cases but that the courts election outcome leaves room for uncertainty. The states two outgoing justices had past ties to the Democratic Party. Fuller said they also consistently supported abortion as a right to privacy. One of those folks is replaced by somebody who we dont know will uphold that, she said. There will be this period where were trying to see where the different justices fall on these issues. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Those cases likely wont end the abortion debate in Montana. As of the legislative sessions start in early January, Republican lawmakers, who have for years called the state Supreme Court liberal, had already proposed eight bills regarding abortion and dozens of others aimed at reshaping judicial power. Among them is a bill to make judicial elections partisan. Montana Sen. Daniel Emrich, a Republican who requested a bill titled Prohibit dismembering of person and provide definition of human, said its too early to know which restrictions anti-abortion lawmakers will push hardest. Ultimately, he said, any new proposed restrictions and the implications of the constitutional amendment will likely land in front of the state Supreme Court. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF an independent source of health policy research, polling and journalism. Learn more about KFF. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Rep. Mike Waltz (R-Fla.) resigned from the House on Monday morning, as he prepares to join President-elect Trumps Cabinet as national security adviser. Waltzs resignation was read on the House floor just over an hour before Trump was scheduled to be sworn in, officially bringing the breakdown in the House to 218 Republicans and 215 Democrats. The position of national security adviser is not subject to Senate confirmation, making Waltz part of the Cabinet as soon as Trump takes office. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trump announced Waltzs appointment on Nov. 11. He had served in the House since 2019, representing Floridas 6th congressional district as a member of the House Armed Services, Foreign Affairs and Intelligence committees. Trump has called Waltz an expert on the threats posed by China, Russia, Iran and global terrorism, as well as achampion of my America First Foreign Policy agenda and will be a tremendous champion of our pursuit of peace through strength. Waltz has consistently taken a hawkish position towards China, backed Israels war on Hamas, and expressed concern that President Bidens strategy in Ukraine risks escalation with Russia. He has also said Greenland, which Trump has expressed interest in acquiring, is important for national security. This is about critical minerals, Waltz said in an interview earlier this month. This is about natural resources. This is about, as the polar ice caps pull back, the Chinese are now cranking out icebreakers and pushing up there as well. So, its oil and gas. Its our national security. Its critical minerals. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement On CBSs Face the Nation Sunday, Waltz said the president-elect is going to have a Reagan moment as he returns to the presidency amid the early stages of a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas. Now, were going to have a Reagan moment, Waltz said, referencing the 1979 Iranian hostage crisis. We are going to have President Trump being sworn in as hostages are coming out alive. And thats something we all should celebrate, he added. Copyright 2025 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 The Hill. ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WROC) As arctic air moves into Rochester, many residents will be pulling out their space heaters for some extra warmth. This is also the time of year that many of us rely on space heaters to keep certain areas of our homes warm. However, Glen Moorhouse, the assistant fire coordinator with Monroe County, says many people may not realize that space heaters can be hazardous if not plugged in correctly. Some of the challenges are where you plug them in. You always want to plug them directly into an outlet versus into an outlet strip that might have three or four other appliances on it. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement You want to avoid that at all costs. And then the other issue you have is, simply radiant heat. Is that heater close to something that could catch on fire, said Moorhouse. Its also important to never leave a space heater unattended and to regularly monitor its condition to ensure safe operation. If the heater is plugged in for hours and hours at a time, its not a bad idea to check where you plugged it into for the temperature of the cord. If you feel like its getting warmer or hot, you certainly should discontinue its use, Moorhouse said. With frequent use of space heatersand even ovens in some casesto stay warm, carbon monoxide emissions can become a concern. If your detectors sound an alarm, heres what to do: Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Open up the doors. I would call 911 as a precaution. Both fire and most times RGE will eventually come check with the specialty meters to monitor that. But seek fresh air would be your best bet. Oftentimes, if youre not thinking about it, headaches, dizziness are oftentimes the early symptoms of that, said Moorhouse. Moorhouse explains that ovens and stoves can also trigger carbon monoxide detectors, especially during the winter when homes are sealed tightly. The same advice applies in such cases: open doors and windows, get fresh air, and call 911. Copyright 2025 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 RochesterFirst. As freezing temperatures stay in Western Washington for a few days, warming shelters across the Puget Sound are opening their doors to those in need of shelter. The Salvation Army has partnered with the city of Seattle, King County and KCRHA to make sure those who do not have a place to go can find one. If people come knocking, we arent going to turn them away, Marc Garcia with the Salvation Army said. Garcia is the Director of Operations for the Salvation Army in King County. Garcia says the biggest shelter in the county is the one at Exhibition Hall in Seattle. Currently, they can house up to 120 people. Besides providing a mattress to sleep on, the Salvation Army will also offer breakfast and dinner as well as give people blankets and backpacks filled with supplies in order to get through the freezing temperatures. Garcia argues these warming shelters are life-saving. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement To reduce the risk of hypothermia and death from hypothermia, Garcia said. Besides people, the freezing temperatures also apply to the other 3 Ps: pets, pipes and plants. KIRO 7 spoke with Ray Daughtery at West Seattle Nursery about how freezing temperatures can harm flowers and other plants. But in cold weather these (Prim) flowers will likely burn off just because they are the most sensitive to the freezing temperatures, Daughtery said. Daughtery says, for the most part, a lot of plants they sell, really most plants in the area, should be able to handle the upcoming temperatures; however, he says its important for people to water their plants ahead of time and keep them covered in order to stay warm. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement And the big thing is when something does die or get damaged, dont try and do anything. Plants just need time to recover, Daughtery said. And as people in Western Washington bundle up these next few days, many believe knowing just how dangerous this cold weather can be is a matter of life or death. Its not an exaggeration to say its really a life-or-death situation, Garcia said. If you are looking for a warming shelter in King County, click here to learn more. (NewsNation) Search warrants in the case of Madalina Cojocaris disappearance suggest the investigation initially focused on suspected sexual exploitation of a minor. In the days following her disappearance, her mattress, clothing, Halloween costume and family photos were burned outside a North Carolina home, according to the warrants obtained by WCNC. A carpet from a spare bedroom was also burned. Christopher Palmiter, Cojocaris stepfather, testified during his May 2024 trial that Cojocaris mother, Diana Cojocari, had been burning things more frequently. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Search continues for missing California 18-year-old with autism Additionally, Diana Cojocari sent $4,000 to a priest in Moldova following her daughters disappearance. During Palmiters trial, Cornelius Police Detective Gina Patterson testified that money was sent via Western Union to Diana Cojocaris mother and a priest in Moldova. Investigators later found a phone in December 2022 with a Discord account linked to Madalina Cojocari containing 37 unread messages, the warrant said. This investigation involves the believed sexual exploitation of minor child victim, a warrant filed in January 2023 stated. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Madalina Cojocari went missing in late November 2022. She was 11 at the time of her disappearance. Diana Cojocari told police she last saw Madalina on Nov. 23, 2022, but the last confirmed sighting of Madalina was on Nov. 21, when she was getting off the school bus. Diana Cojocari said clothing and other items were missing from her daughters room when she went to check in on her on Thanksgiving. Family members have said Madalina Cojocari was sold to child traffickers. Incoming law aims to address infant mortality crisis However, Diana Cojocari did not report her daughter missing until Dec. 15, 2022, when Diana arrived for a meeting at the girls school without her daughter. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In May 2024, Diana Cojocari pleaded guilty to a felony charge of failure to report a childs disappearance. She left the country after being released on time served, WJZY reported. Last June, Palmiter was convicted on a felony charge of failing to report his stepdaughters disappearance. He was sentenced to 30 months of supervised probation. Copyright 2025 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 NewsNation. President-elect Donald Trump is set to be sworn into office today, marking the beginning of his second term as the nation's leader. This will make him the only president since Grover Cleveland, who served as both the 22nd and 24th president in the late 19th century, to hold non-consecutive terms in office. Since the Nov. 5 general election, the 78-year-old has been readying his administration for a second term, having already named most of his Cabinet nominees and several other White House positions. When and where is Donald Trump's Inauguration? The swearing-in ceremony will begin at 11 a.m. CT at the West Front of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., USA TODAY reported. Other key events during the day include the presidents room signing ceremony, inaugural luncheon, review of the troops, presidential parade and reception and inaugural balls. How to watch 2025 inauguration: See major TV networks' broadcast plans. Various news organizations will broadcast the 2025 inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump. USA TODAY will also provide a live stream of the swearing-in ceremony. Watch live: USA TODAY Stream CNN While CNN has not yet announced its Inauguration Day coverage plans, the channel's broadcast schedule says coverage will begin at 11 p.m. CT Sunday and go on until 3 a.m. the next morning. NBC and MSNBC NBC's coverage is set to begin with a special edition of the "Today" show, live from Washington, D.C. at 6 a.m. CT. Then, Lester Holt and Savannah Guthrie are scheduled to anchor live coverage beginning at 9 a.m. CT. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement On MSNBC, Ali Vitali kicks off coverage beginning at 5 a.m. ET with "Way Too Early," followed by Morning Joe at 5 a.m. CT, co-hosted by Joe Scarborough, Mika Brzezinski and Willie Geist. Rachel Maddow anchors live coverage of the inauguration beginning at 9 a.m. CT, joined by pundits including Joy Reid, Chris Hayes and Jen Psaki. Then, at 1 p.m. CT, Hayes and Alex Wagner take over live coverage with co-hosts of "The Weekend," Alicia Menendez, Symone Sanders Townsend, and Michael Steele., the network announced. NBC News NOW will begin streaming live coverage at 6 a.m. CT. It can be accessed via multiple streaming platforms, including Peacock, YouTube, Samsung TV Plus, the Roku Channel and via NBCNews.com and the NBC News app, which will also feature a live blog. ABC ABC News kicks off its Inauguration Day coverage with a special edition of Good Morning America at 6 a.m. CT, followed by a day-long report beginning at 8 a.m. CT, led by anchor David Muir from Washington, D.C. The special will include Trumps visit to Capitol Hill, the swearing-in ceremony and inaugural address, the signing ceremony in the Oval Office, and the inauguration parade, as per ABC. Viewers will be able to watch it on ABC and its 24/7 streaming news channel ABC News Live. Fox News Fox News coverage starts at 4 a.m. ET with "Fox & Friends First," followed by "Fox & Friends" at 5 a.m. CT with Brian Kilmeade, Steve Doocy, Ainsley Earhardt and Lawrence Jones. "Americas Newsroom" airs at 8 a.m. ET, followed by "The Faulkner Focus at 11 a.m. ET. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Then the network turns things over to the "Inauguration of Donald Trump," from 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. CT. Anchors Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum "will helm the special as the 47th president and vice president of the United States are sworn into office," Fox News said in a news release. The inauguration ceremony will be preceded by "The Faulkner Focus" with Harris Faulkner at 10 a.m. CT and followed by "The Five" at 4 p.m. CT. CBS CBS has not yet announced its schedule for Inauguration Day coverage. NewsNation NewsNations Inauguration Day coverage will begin at 8 a.m. CT with a two-hour live report anchored by The Hills Blake Burman. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The broadcast of the swearing-in ceremony, co-anchored by Chris Cuomo, Chris Stirewalt, Elizabeth Vargas, and Leland Vittert in Washington, D.C., will air from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. CT on the channel. NewsNation viewers can also watch the Inauguration live via the NewsNation app and get updates and in-depth analysis on NewsNationNow.com. Contributing: Anika Reed, Brendan Morrow, USA TODAY This story was updated to add a video. This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Watch live: Donald Trump takes oath of office during 2025 Inauguration Donald Trump will be sworn in as president Monday, returning to power to enact his sweeping vision of America after leaving his office in shame four years ago. Trump will become the nations 47th president at noon on Monday, completing a remarkable four-year arc after he left Washington as a pariah at the end of his first term. JD Vance will become its 50th vice president, a meteoric rise for a man who was elected to the Senate in 2022. Both Trump and Vance have promised to hit the ground running to enact a wide-ranging agenda that is expected to include immediate executive actions on immigration. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The day is already shaping up to be out of the ordinary. Projected frigid temperatures in Washington, DC, prompted Trump to announce Friday that he would take the oath of office inside the US Capitol the first time the ceremony has taken place indoors since the second inauguration of Ronald Reagan in 1985. Heres what to know about Inauguration Day: Big changes to ceremony, parade Temperatures for this years ceremony are expected to be in the low 20s likely the coldest since Reagans second inauguration. Trump described Mondays conditions as dangerous and added that he did not want to see people hurt, or injured, in any way. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Therefore, I have ordered the Inauguration Address, in addition to prayers and other speeches, to be delivered in the United States Capitol Rotunda, as was used by Ronald Reagan in 1985, also because of very cold weather, he said on Truth Social on Friday. Capital One Arena not far from the National Mall, where crowds would normally gather to watch the ceremony will be opened to view the inauguration, and Trump said he would stop by the arena after his swearing-in. The relatively small area inside the US Capitol will deprive Trump of the overflowing crowd hed have wanted on the Mall. It will also likely cause jockeying among dignitaries and lawmakers to be able to witness Trumps swearing-in personally. Concerns about Inauguration Day weather come with historical context. President William Henry Harrison is widely believed to have caught a cold during his 1841 inaugural ceremony, during which he gave a two-hour speech and wore no coat or hat. He later contracted pneumonia and died one month after his inauguration. Immediate Trump action on the border, other areas Trump has said he will take steps to immediately enact parts of his large agenda, with executive actions pertaining to immigration enforcement expected to be released within the first hours of his second term. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement CNN previously reported Trumps plans include ordering US Immigration and Customs Enforcement sweeps in major cities, sending more Pentagon resources to the US southern border, placing additional restrictions on who is eligible to enter the US, and rolling back Biden-era policies. Trump will quickly implement executive actions on immigration, energy policy and federal government operations to check off dozens of campaign policy priorities, according to two sources briefed on a Sunday call held by Trump aide Stephen Miller, who previewed the actions with senior congressional Republicans. Trumps moves on TikTok, January 6 pardons One of the first moves Trump said he will make as president is signing an order that delays the law that banned TikTok and briefly made the app unusable for Americans over the weekend. The divest-or-ban law, which received bipartisan support and was signed by President Joe Biden in April, required TikToks China-based parent company, ByteDance, to sell the app by January 19 or face it being blocked to its 170 million American users. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trump on Sunday said he would issue an order to extend the period of time before the laws prohibitions take effect, so that we can make a deal to protect our national security. He also proposed a 50-50 partnership between ByteDance and an American owner. Trump proposed a TikTok ban during his first term but has since embraced the app because of its influence among young people. We won on TikTok, and Republicans have never won the young vote, the youth vote, Trump said during an inauguration eve rally in Washington on Sunday. So I like TikTok, he added. Trump also has said he plans to swiftly pardon people who were convicted for their roles in the January 6, 2021, insurrection at the US Capitol. CNN previously reported the president-elects team has drafted a slate of January 6-related pardons that Trump plans to issue on his first day. The extent of Trumps planned pardons is unclear. About 1,270 people have been convicted of crimes related to the attack. His opening rhetoric will be closely watched Throughout the 2024 campaign, Trump vowed to seek retribution against his opponents and political enemies. Those who oppose Trump will be watching the opening hours of his second administration closely to see how quickly he carries out those threats. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He said of his political opponents last summer: When this election is over I would have every right to go after them. He said that sometimes revenge can be justified. Opponents of Trump, including the prosecutors who have investigated him, the lawmakers who have countered him, the political figures who have opposed him, and the news media that has covered him, will be closely watching how Trump handles his first day in office to determine whether those threats carry weight. Trumps first inaugural address in 2017 is remembered for its dark imagery of American carnage. But Trump has also shown that he can be conciliatory, if contradictory. A brief call between Biden and Trump after the former presidents victory was described as very friendly, with Biden aides expressing surprise at Trumps approach of deference and flattery. Trump has been spotted in seemingly friendly conversation with first lady Jill Biden and former President Barack Obama in the months since his victory and spoke highly of his meeting with Biden in the Oval Office after his election win. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But, at the same time, Trump has not shied away from his usual bellicose language toward the president, referring to him as Crooked Joe Biden on January 14. Bidens last presidential act Bidens last official act as president will be attending the inauguration of his successor, a man he has repeatedly warned represents a fundamental threat to the future of this country. On Monday, the 82-year-old president leaves public service, bound to retire to his home state of Delaware after a trip to California following his departure from Washington. During his farewell speech from the Oval Office last week, Biden said his crucial legislative achievements will have long-reaching reverberations that outlast his presidency. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Im so proud of how much weve accomplished together for the American people, Biden said, and I wish the incoming administration success, because I want America to succeed. Still, the image of him relinquishing that office to same man he worked so hard to keep out could provide for one last defining moment of his presidency. How to watch CNN will be providing live coverage of Trumps second inauguration throughout Monday. Special live coverage begins at 7 a.m. ET and carries through the ceremony, oath of office and inaugural balls in the evening. CNNs special coverage will also stream live on CNN, CNN-connected TV and mobile apps, and on CNN.com. It will also stream live on Max for Max subscribers. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement CNN reporters, anchors and contributors will also take part in a live chat during the swearing-in, and the CNN app will feature a custom livestream featuring on-the-ground reporting, live updates, in-depth analysis and images. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com 8 a.m.: An open, non-partisan service will be held at the St. Johns Episcopal Church in downtown Washington, D.C. After that, Donald and Melania Trump will head to the White House for tea with President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden. Traditionally, the sitting president then escorts the incoming president to the Capitol. (NEXSTAR) On a frigid holiday Monday in Washington, D.C., Donald Trump took the oath of office for a second time to become the 47th president of the United States. Trump walked into the Capitol alongside President Joe Biden. They were followed by former presidents, Trumps cabinet nominees, senators, Supreme Court justices, and tech CEOs. The cold weather forecast Monday prompted the main ceremony to be moved inside the Capitol Rotunda. The last time the swearing-in was moved indoors was in 1985, when President Ronald Reagan began his second term. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Who is performing at Trumps inauguration? The swearing-in of Trump, who overcame impeachments, criminal indictments and two assassination attempts to win another term in the White House, took place at noon ET on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. The days events are being streamed in the live player at the top of this story. The celebration kicked off with opera singer Christopher Macchio singing Oh, America! After Trump entered the Rotunda, Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), who is chair of the inaugural committee, gave a welcome speech. Vice President JD Vance and Donald Trump then took their oaths of office. Trump took the oath as his wife Melania held a family Bible given to him by his mother as well as the Bible used by President Abraham Lincoln at his first inauguration in 1861. JD Vance was sworn in on a family Bible given to him by his maternal great-grandmother. Donald Trump is sworn in as the 47th president of the United States by Chief Justice John Roberts as Melania Trump holds the Bible during the 60th Presidential Inauguration in the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Morry Gash, Pool) In his inauguration address, Trump laid out an optimistic vision for the next four years. He promised a hard line on immigration and international drug cartels, to drill more oil, bring down inflation and impose tariffs on other countries. He also referenced some recent challenges, including destructive hurricanes, wildfires, and the attempt on Trumps life in Butler, Pennsylvania, last July. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Carrie Underwood sang America the Beautiful a cappella, religious leaders of different faiths offered prayers, and Macchio returned to sing the national anthem to close out the program. President Joe Biden and former Presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton were all in attendance. Laura Bush and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton joined their husbands, but former first lady Michelle Obama did not. Former Vice President Mike Pence also attended, but his wife Karen did not. Mel Gibson surprised to be named Trump special envoy to Hollywood The swearing-in ceremony is only part of the days-long festivities welcoming a new president to the White House. The day before the inauguration, there was a wreath-laying ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery. Trump also held a MAGA Victory rally at the Capital One Arena. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement On Monday morning, Trump attended a special service at St. Johns Episcopal Church with his family, after which Donald and Melania Trump joined Joe and Jill Biden at the White House for tea. They met the Bidens on a gold-trimmed red carpet, exchanging greetings and posing for photos ahead of a private meeting over tea and coffee. Welcome home, Biden said to Trump after the president-elect stepped out of the car. The private meeting is another presidential transition tradition. It was a stark departure from four years ago when Trump refused to acknowledge Bidens victory or attend his inauguration. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Outgoing Vice President Kamala Harris also greeted Vance when he arrived. Usually, only the president-elect comes to the White House on Inauguration Day before the swearing-in. Harris and Vance have not yet had a formal one-on-one meeting after the outgoing vice president did not invite him to visit the official residence on the grounds of the U.S. Naval Observatory. Harris and Vance were accompanied by their spouses, and all shook hands and posed for a picture. Trump to issue 10 executive orders cracking down on border Biden and Trump left the White House after spending about 35 minutes in a private meeting. They got into a limo for the Capitol for the swearing-in ceremony. The outgoing and incoming president taking the same vehicle to the inauguration ceremony keeps with political traditions. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement After the swearing-in ceremony and inaugural address, after the Bidens had left, Trump gave an unscripted speech to a group of his supporters at the Capitol. In the off-the-cuff remarks Trump railed against his enemies, promising action on what he calls the J6 hostages, called former U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney a crying lunatic, and bashed what he calls the unselect committee of political thugs that investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol. He also criticized the pardons Joe Biden issued right before Trump was sworn in. Trump then signed cabinet appointments from the U.S. Capitol. Later in the day, he is expected to sign dozens of executive orders. Theres also a luncheon, parade and three inaugural balls. Things wrap up Tuesday morning with the final inaugural event: the National Prayer Service. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Associated Press contributed to this report. Copyright 2025 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. WASHINGTON (DC News Now) Residents across the DMV looked to the sky Sunday as snow began to fall again. Closer to the District, residents can expect to see 1 to 3 inches of snow Sunday night. However, according to forecasts, some areas north of D.C. can expect anywhere from 4 to 6 inches. As a result, residents across D.C., Maryland and Virginia shared what the skies looked like in their neighborhoods Sunday evening. Maryland Frederick County Prince Georges County Montgomery County officials alter county services, events due to snow Virginia Arlington DC A photo of the Washington Monument as snow fell Sunday in D.C. (Paola Belloso/DC News Now) (Paola Belloso/DC News Now) Copyright 2025 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. SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) Several people were injured after a crash involving multiple vehicles Sunday evening in the SoMa neighborhood, the San Francisco Fire Department (SFFD) said. San Francisco police responded around 6:08 p.m. for a collision at 6th Street between Bryant and Harrison. There were a total of eight victims, according to SFFD. One of them died, and two more were taken to the hospital for life-threatening injuries. The fire department added that a dog also died at the scene. Seven vehicles were involved in the crash. The two victims with life-threatening injuries are currently at SF General Hospital. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement One of the seven vehicles in the crash was a Waymo, an autonomous taxi, video taken on the Citizen App shows. The autonomous vehicle company confirmed one of its cars was involved in the collision, saying the Waymo was rear-ended. According to a Waymo spokesperson, the autonomous vehicle was struck from behind by a speeding car that was going about 98 miles per hour. The Waymo, which was unoccupied, was stopped at a red light. A Waymo was rear-ended by a speeding car that resulted in a seven-vehicle crash Sunday evening in San Francisco. (KRON4 Photo) The speeding vehicle that hit the Waymo resulted in a chain reaction that led to the multiple-car collision, the spokesperson added. An unoccupied Waymo vehicle was operating autonomously in San Francisco when it was struck from behind in a multiple-car collision caused by a vehicle traveling well above the speed limit. The trust and safety of our community remain our top priority, and we are coordinating with local safety officials. Waymo Spokesperson A possible suspect driver is detained and being treated at the hospital, the San Francisco Police Department said. Before the crash, there were multiple hit-and-run collisions on northbound I-280. Investigators are working to determine if that is related to the Harrison Street crash. Multiple vehicles were involved in a crash near 6th Street and Harrison Sunday evening. (Photo: San Francisco Fire Department) Pedestrian dies after being hit by train in Sunnyvale Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The public should avoid the area as there will be road closures around 6th Street and Harrison, according to SFFD. The Chevron on Harrison Street remains open. The closures are expected to remain overnight. California Highway Patrol is also at the scene investigating the crash. KRON4 is sending a crew to the scene and reached out to SFPD for more information. Check back for updates as we learn more. Copyright 2025 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. SHREVEPORT, La. (KTAL/KMSS) A former Union Army officer who came to Northwest Louisiana as a carpetbagger after the Civil War lost both of his arms after a failed assassination attempt in the mid-1870s. Many of his family members were killed in the regions Reconstruction-era violence. On Oct. 1, 1870, the Bossier Banner-Progress stated that the Republicans had nominated Hon. Harvey Marshall Twitchell as the State Senator of the District encompassing Natchitoches, DeSoto, and Sabine parishes. The nomination would eventually cost Marshall Twitchell his arms. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Harvey Marshall Twitchell was born in Townshend, Vermont in 1840 and raised on a maple syrup farm. Clever and conscientious, Twitchell attended Leland Seminary before becoming a schoolteacher in Wardsboro, Vermont. In September 1861, Twitchell, who was 21 years old, left his teaching career behind him and enlisted in the Union Army. Within three years, he became a commissioned officer in the 109th Colored Troops in Virginia. This clipping from the Morning World in Monroe, Louisiana, Mar. 27, 1966, shows Twitchell family members donating historical records from their family to the Louisiana Tech library. After the war Twitchell became a carpetbagger and moved to Louisiana, where he worked for the Freedmens Bureau. Bloody Caddo: Research uncovers post-Civil War racial violence Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Rutland Daily Herald in Vermont wrote the following about carpetbaggers: For decades, the accepted characterization of the carpetbagger was an official who exploited both the freed slaves and the white citizens of the South. Indeed, even Northern newspapers believed the stereotype. Marshall Twitchell image courtesy of the Vermont Historical Society Heres what Twitchell had to say about carpetbaggers: It has always seemed to me very strange that the northern people should so readily believe their young men the infamous wretches which the South represented them to be, on the testimony of men reared under the demoralizing influence of slavery, traitors to their government for four years, and then gamblers and barroom loafers. Twitchell carried a cane that turned into a sword, but by the time he left the Red River Valley in Louisiana he could no longer pick up the cane. Twitchell in Northwest Louisiana Marshall Twitchell had only been in Northwest Louisiana for six months when he met a young woman named Adele Coleman in Bienville Parish. Adele taught at Sparta Academy and came from a Southern family that didnt care for the idea of her marrying a Yankee, but she married him anyway. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Twitchell worked hard on the family plantation in Bienville Parish and saved it during the Reconstruction era. Twitchell then bought the Starlight Plantation on the Red River, presumably in Red River Parish, and moved his Vermont-born brother and his three sisters, with their spouses, to the Red River Valley. Pa says he dont know what in the world he would have done without his Yankee son-in-law to help him out, wrote Adele in a letter to her sister in 1868. Twitchell and his family became powerful in Northwest Louisiana. Because they were Lincoln Republicans in the years after Confederate Democrat rule in Louisiana, getting a government job during Reconstruction was easy. Twitchell was elected to the state senate, and life was pretty good for a while. But then hell broke loose. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Early Louisiana civil rights pioneer W. Jasper Blackburn Louisiana State Senators W. Jasper Blackburn (Cliaborne Parish) and Harvey M. Twitchell (Bienville/Red River Parish) served together on the Senatorial Committee on Printing in the mid-1870s) White supremacy groups formed, and many of groups members had PTSD from their days in the Confederacy. They became enraged when the new Louisiana constitution, written in 1868, disenfranchised former Confederates and gave formerly enslaved men the right to vote. Suddenly, the new voting system was the complete opposite of what it had been like in pre-war Louisiana. Instead of white men voting and women not being allowed to vote, the majority of voters were black in Louisianaa state that had not allowed the enslaved to learn to read or write. For a while, Twitchell was protected from violence because he married into a Southern family. But when Louisianas Democrats lost the election in 1872, Reconstruction in NWLA slammed into a brick wall. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In Colfax, only 50 miles south of Starlight Plantation, on Easter Sunday in 1873, more than 100 freedmen were murdered. While Senator Twitchell was out of town on a trip to New Orleans in 1874, his brother (Homer) and two of his brothers-in-law were killed in the Coushatta Massacre. A total of six white men and more than a dozen freedmen were murdered during the Coushatta Massacre, and Federal troops were called in to squash the rebellion. By 1876, violence had reached a fever pitch in the region. Twitchell family members who were still alive were threatenedoften in writing. Excerpt from The Peoples Vindicator, July 1, 1876, Natchitoches, La., tells of the Coushatta Affair. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement One note from Apr. 13, 1873, said, Mr. Twitchell Sir, I must inform you that on court week your town is to be overrun and all your (racial slur) officers and sum of your white men are to be killed. The author then claimed to have been one of the shooters at the Colfax massacre. Thats when the goggle-eyed man made his appearance in Twitchells life. The goggle-eyed man Sometime around the end of the year in 1875 another note appeared at Twitchells Starlight Plantation. I have bin maid to leave my home & friends & family on account of you & your crowd. This part of the country has become unhealthy that you cant stay here, wrote the Goggle Eyed Man. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement And yes, thats how he signed the note. The Goggle Eyed Man also wrote that he would come again at the proper time. Twitchell ignored the note, of course, and went on about his business. But on the morning of May 2, 1876, a stranger rode into town. He was wearing a coat made of rubber which reached almost to his feet. He was wearing what appeared to be a fake beard, and he had on a pair of goggles. His hat was pulled down low to cover his face. Twitchell was crossing the Red River on a ferry when the Goggle Eyed Man appeared and raised his rifle. The first shot went over us, wrote Twitchell later, though someone else had to write down his words for him. The next shot passed through the skiff and entered my left thigh. I immediately went over into the water, passing under the skiff and caught hold of the lower edge with my hand, keeping the skiff much between myself and the assassin. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Twitchells brother-in-law George King was on the ferry with Twitchell. He fired at the Goggle Eyed Man, and the Goggle Eyed Man shot King in the head. King dropped dead. A local named Benjamin Wolfson wandered into the area on horseback, and the Goggle Eyed Man immediately told him to leave, which he did. Then the Goggle Eyed Man aimed at Twitchells arms and fired at them one at a time, shattering bones. Twitchell was also shot in at least one leg. An African American ferryman, who was not named in later news reports, was also shot in the hand. As soon as the Goggle Eyed Man left the scene, locals rushed to the river and helped the wounded. They wanted to hunt down the Goggle Eyed Man and bring justice to the area, but even the sheriff backed down after following the Goggle Eyed Mans trail for a few miles. Clipping from the New Orleans Republican, May 3, 1876, Twitchell was taken to Springville and his testimony was written down. Twitchells arms had to be amputated, and as soon as he healed enough to get out of NWLA he did, never to return. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement For two years Twitchell stayed in New Orleans, fulfilling his obligations as a senator, then he was appointed as the U.S. consul to Kingston, Canada. He died there in 1905. Twitchells surviving family members in Louisiana moved back to Vermont, and Twitchell took care of young relatives who lost their parents in NWLA reconstruction-era violence. The assassin was one of the coolest of the kind which the South has ever produced, and as a marksman he was expert, stated Twitchell years later. The evidence shows that Mr. Twitchell had made a number of personal enemies within his own political party, and that threats against his life had been made by one or more of these parties, we read in The Times-Picayune from June 15, 1876. but the evidence was not of a character to create a reasonable ground of suspicion against any particular person, even among his personal enemies. It may be well to state that it was undoubtedly the sole purpose of the assassin to kill Mr. Twitchell, and that Mr. King was shot after he had very properly fired at him. Since the rules were brand new because of the new constitution in the state, and the power that Twitchell had as a Senator covering three parishes, Twitchell ran the new Red River Parish almost like a personal fiefdom, and he had the army to back him up, said Dr. Gary Joiner, Professor of History at LSU Shreveport. Joiner also said that the history of this story is so complicated that no single account can truly be written. This is a case in which using federal records alone will not tell the story. In 1966, Twitchells grandson donated documents, bonds, personal and public correspondence, newspaper clippings, and a 250-page unpublished autobiography of Harvey Marshall Twitchells life. They also donated twenty-four issues of the Sparta Times, a newspaper printed weekly for two years in Bienville Parish. Copyright 2025 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 KTALnews.com. The great conundrum facing the British state is how to hold down the soaring welfare bill. Promises have been made that are politically dangerous to break, as Labour found by ending the winter fuel allowance for most pensioners. Kemi Badenoch, the Conservative leader, drew fire at the weekend for the mere suggestion that the triple lock on pensions might need to be reviewed. If simply opening a debate about these matters provokes such hostility it is hardly surprising politicians avoid the subject or seek efficiency savings to pretend they are cutting budgets. But what is going on in our benefits system is capable of breaking the economy unless there is drastic action. Our story today about a flagship programme is a graphic indication of the scale of the problem. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Access to Work scheme, which helps people with disabilities and health conditions, has seen spending surge by an astonishing 40 per cent in a year. The increase has been fuelled by so-called sickfluencers on social media advising people with ADHD how to claim benefits. Claimants can receive almost 70,000 a year - twice the average wage - for equipment and support, including noise cancelling headphones and smart watches. Some have used the money to run their businesses. Spending in the last 12 months rose to 258 million. This might sound small beer in a disabilities budget of roughly 80 billion but is emblematic of the runaway costs that are being seen across the whole welfare system. The main driver is the number of people claiming they suffer from mental health conditions which have soared since the pandemic and especially in this country. Alarmed officials at the Work and Pensions Department want the discrete Access to Work scheme moved into the broader welfare budget used to fund Universal Credit. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But this is typical of the mind-set in Whitehall - a process-driven response rather than one that will save money and end what appears to be a serious abuse of a scheme intended to make life easier for disabled people. An inquiry by a cross-party House of Lords committee has concluded that the health benefits system includes so many perverse incentives to claim that it is not fit for purpose and needs to be overhauled. The chairman Lord Bridges said it was unsustainable. The warnings are there as the Government prepares for a spending review in the summer. If welfare is not tackled it will be meaningless. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. (NEXSTAR) On Monday, freezing temperatures in Washington D.C. prompted organizers to move President Donald Trumps inauguration ceremony inside the Capitol Rotunda for the first time since 1985. The weather forecast for Washington, D.C., with the windchill factor, could take temperatures into severe record lows, Trump posted on his Truth Social platform Friday. There is an Arctic blast sweeping the Country. I dont want to see people hurt, or injured, in any way. Trump plans to rename Gulf of Mexico, Mount Denali but can he? Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The temperature for D.C., according to the National Weather Service, was around 24 degrees Fahrenheit at noon on Monday. Brisk winds made it feel significantly colder, according to the NWS. The outdoor inauguration viewing area outside the U.S. Capitol Building is shown on Jan. 19, 2025, in Washington, D C. U.S. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images) News of the ceremony moving indoors, while upsetting to many Trump supporters who traveled to D.C. to watch the Trump take the Oath of Office in-person, is not entirely without precedent. The swearing-in of President Ronald Reagan was moved indoors in 1985, before Reagan began his second term. That day, the temperature in the nations capital was 7 degrees Fahrenheit, with wind chills in the -10 to -20-degree F range in the afternoon, the National Weather Service reported. It was also the coldest Inauguration Day on record. White House press secretary Larry Speakes, a few days before that ceremony, said Ronald and Nancy Reagan didnt love the idea of moving the ceremony indoors, but felt they had no choice. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We would have had probably some very serious problems for some of the participants, Speakes said, according to transcripts from the Reagan Library. [] the medical people told them that exposed areas would freeze in less than five minutes, with wind-chill factors like this. A couple of other exceptionally cold Inauguration Days occurred in 2013, when President Barack Obama was sworn in amid 28 degrees F and wind chills in the teens; in 1977, when President Jimmy Carter was inaugurated amid similar temperatures and wind chills; in 1961, when President John F. Kennedy took the Oath of Office in 22-degree weather with snow on the ground; and in 1941, when President Franklin D. Roosevelt was sworn-in for a third term on a sunny 29-degree day with wind chills at 10 degrees, according to NWS records. Prior to the ratification of the 20th Amendment, Inauguration Day was held in March. Despite this, several presidents were also sworn-in amid freezing temperatures, including William H. Taft, Grover Cleveland (second inauguration), Ulysses S. Grant (second inauguration), Martin Van Buren, Andrew Jackson (second inauguration) and James Monroe (second inauguration). Which president gave the longest inaugural address? Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Aside from Trump and Reagan, inauguration ceremonies were moved indoors amid inclement weather multiple times throughout U.S. history. Tafts inauguration, on March 4, 1909, was held on the Senate floor of the U.S. Capitol building, with temperatures dropping to 32 degrees and a blizzard outside. James Monroes second inauguration, on March 5, 1821, was also held in the U.S. Capitol, in the House chamber, due to a snowstorm and estimated temperatures of 28 degrees. Donald Trump is sworn in as the 47th president of the United States in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda in Washington, D.C., on January 20, 2025. (Morry Gash/POOL/AFP via Getty Images) Following the announcement of Trumps inauguration moving indoors, more than 250,000 guests were ticketed to view the inauguration from around the Capitol grounds and tens of thousands more were expected to be in general admission areas or to line the inaugural parade route from the Capitol to the White House. Tens of thousands of those supporters instead headed to the Capital One Arena for the chance to watch the inauguration on screens. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 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. Welcome to the Washington trifecta, Republicans. Now get ready to wait. Even as the GOP takes unified control of the House, Senate and White House on Monday, congressional leaders are facing doubts about just how quickly they will be able to deliver major wins for Donald Trump. Their legislative plans are highly unsettled, and the clock is ticking toward distracting fights over federal spending and the debt limit. And when it comes to the heart of Trumps agenda a sprawling party-line effort encompassing border, energy and tax policy key strategic questions remain in flux. Once they agree on the general direction of travel, leaders will then have to navigate a thicket of nasty intraparty disputes on the policies themselves. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Under the most ambitious timeline put forth by Speaker Mike Johnson, it will be Memorial Day before that bill lands on Trumps desk. Deeply skeptical Senate Republicans are readying their own conflicting plans in case the House falters. Everybody is feeling the pressure now of time, said Rep. Ralph Norman of South Carolina, a member of the hard-right Freedom Caucus who has been pushing for quicker action. In a short period, weve got to make something happen. Some smaller wins are at hand: Thanks to some Democratic cooperation in the Senate, Republicans expect to send a relatively small-bore immigration bill to Trump this week. Named after a Georgia nursing student murdered last year, the Laken Riley Act would require broader incarcerations of undocumented immigrants accused of crimes. But its only a sliver of what Trump has in mind for immigration policy. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement To fill out the House floor schedule in the first weeks, Johnson is eyeing bills on abortion and public safety that will likely get filibustered in the Senate. Hes also planning to put a bipartisan forestry and wildfire prevention bill up for a vote this week, with Congress unlikely to pass any aid for the wildfires tearing through California until at least March. The Senate will churn through confirmations of Trumps Cabinet and other nominees. And both chambers are hoping to use Congressional Review Act powers to claw back key Biden administration rules, something GOP leaders hope will help calm antsy conservatives. But there is a massive distraction also looming: A March 14 government funding deadline that could result in a government shutdown if Trump and Republicans cant come to a deal with congressional Democrats who still hold leverage due to the Senate filibuster. Johnson has been moving carefully on the spending discussions and the party-line agenda talks, mindful of staying on the same page as Trump who upended the last spending deal the speaker cut with Democrats in December. This time Johnson wants Trumps sign off on key details related to both initiatives, according to two people granted anonymity to discuss the closed-door conversations. But its unclear if that will ever come. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Meanwhile, the committee chairs who will actually have to write the bills are left tapping their feet. Were running out of time, said House Appropriations Chair Tom Cole (R-Okla.), who is waiting on top-line discretionary spending targets. Settling some of these outstanding questions is likely to be on the agenda for a high-level meeting between Trump and congressional leaders Tuesday. Impatience is already emerging as a theme in interbranch relations: In a series of meetings last week on Capitol Hill, Trump policy chief Stephen Miller relayed the president-elects desire for immediacy in pushing through his legislative agenda. The pressure is just as intense inside the House, where Norman and his fellow Freedom Caucus members continue to push a two-track approach to the party-line agenda in defiance of Johnson. They want a smaller, border-focused package first that includes a debt limit hike and spending cuts. Thats essentially the opposite of what Johnson is now steering the conference toward one massive bill with tax reform included but leaving a debt limit hike for bipartisan government funding talks. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Listed as a key benefit in the Freedom Caucus plan: Speed to deliver huge early wins on key priorities for President Trump. Johnson, who shares fears with some House committee chairs that breaking up the bills could make them harder to pass given his narrow majority, tried to temper the unrest by laying out an aggressive timeline for pushing through the sprawling megabill in a closed-door conference meeting last week. The timeline was a good start, one GOP lawmaker said leaving the meeting. But at the end of the day, we need to know the plan, the member said. The speaker has also launched a listening tour. He is with scores of members about the plans, with a focus on hearing out their thoughts on making trillions of dollars in highly controversial spending cuts. GOP Whip Tom Emmer has corralled small working groups to hash out members diverging demands. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Meanwhile, leaders in both chambers are counting on Trump to settle things down with a flurry of Day One executive orders, many of which are expected to deal with immigration and reversing Biden-era climate and pandemic policies. Those actions, they hope will dampen the hard-liners push for immediate and sweeping legislative action on the border. I expect the presidents going to develop hand cramps signing executive orders, Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) said. And that will demonstrate meaningful progress. But many senators still want to push their own two-track plan notably Budget Chair Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), who is preparing a border-first budget blueprint to jam the House with, should Johnson fail to deliver on a tight timeline. Sen. Ted Budd (R-N.C.), who attended a meeting with Miller and House Republicans last week, said Trumps early immigration executive orders would be a good start but not permanent and Republicans want to codify those executive actions in law quickly. President Donald Trump used his inaugural speech on Monday to attack a U.S. ally, falsely claiming that China now controls the Panama Canal it is in fact managed by an independent agency of the Panamanian government and appearing to threaten war to seize it back. Citing the U.S. role in building the canal, Trump reiterated right-wing grievances against the 1978 treaty that resulted in it being transferred from American to Panamanian control, describing it as a "foolish gift that should never have been made." He went on to baselessly assert that Panama had reneged on its end of the bargain and that its "promise to us has been broken." "The purpose of our deal and the spirit of our treaty has been totally violated," Trump said. "American ships are being severely overcharged and not treated fairly in any way, shape or form, and that includes the United States Navy." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "Above all," he continued, "China is operating the Panama Canal and we didn't give it to China, we gave it to Panama and we're taking it back." Trump's false claim and threat of war was greeted with a standing ovation. Panamanian officials have rebutted Trump's lies about China, noting that while a Hong Kong company won a 1997 bid to operate some ports along the canal it does not control it. Speaking to the Associated Press, Ricaurte Vasquez, head of the agency that manages the canal, noted that other ports are controlled by U.S. and Taiwanese companies; of suggestions the U.S. could take it back, he said only that there is "no foundation for that sort of hope." While some have dismissed Trump's rhetoric as bluster, or a mere negotiation tactic, others are taking his remarks at face value. "Trump has just declared war on Panama, a US ally, in an inaugural address," Edward Luce, a columnist for the Financial Times, wrote on Bluesky. "A first." MASON COUNTY, WV (WVNS) A worker with the West Virginia Division of Highways is in recovery after being hit by a truck. According to a press release, the West Virginia Division of Highways (WVDOH) worker was hit by a truck on West Virginia Route 62 on Saturday, January 18, 2025 in Mason County while repairing potholes. WV Division of Highways responds swiftly and effectively to snowfall Its upsetting that anyone gets hurt in the highway system at all, let alone one of our transportation workers. Safety is going to be a priority with this administration. Stephen Todd Rumbaugh, P.E. | Transportation Secretary The worker, as well as another member of the WVDOH, were making pothole repairs at around 8:00 p.m. on Saturday, January 18, 2025. The press release stated that the lights on the workers truck were flashing, and that the workers were wearing reflective clothes, however the truck did not seem to slow down. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The WVDOH workers tried to avoid the truck, but one was hit, resulting in a fractured femur, broken arm, and separated shoulder. The injured worker went to Pleasant Valley Hospital in Point Pleasant before being moved to St. Marys Medical Center in Huntington for medical care. The worker, who is in the intensive care unit at St. Marys recovering from surgery on his fractured femur, will also need additional surgery for his injured shoulder and arm. Copyright 2025 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. After President Joe Biden leaves office today, he and First Lady Jill Biden will take a trip to California. NBC News's Senior White House Correspondent Kelly O'Donnell reported that the Bidens plan to travel directly from the Inaugural to central California for personal time as they move out of the White House. They plan to spend time in Santa Ynez, in Santa Barbara County, staying at a private residence. When a reporter asked Biden about his broader plans, wondering if he would speak out post-presidency or stay out of sight and out of mind? Biden responded, Im not going to be out of sight or out of mind. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Still, Biden hasn't shared much about what his retirement could look like. One likely plan is to fundraise for his presidential library, which is expected to be in his home state of Delaware. I'm less concerned about what my legacy is, Biden told The View in September 2024. Although I'm leaving, I'm not going away, because there's so many other things I want to do in terms of the Biden Institute on foreign policy, Biden Institute in Delaware on domestic policy, to keep the things going that we started. And I think we'll get it done. Then he was referring to the University of Pennsylvanias Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement think tank and the University of Delawares Biden Institute, both established in 2018. In his farewell address, Biden spoke of things that give me great concern, including the dangerous concentration of power in the hands of very few ultra-wealthy people, and the dangerous consequences if their abuse of power is left unchecked. He said, Today, an oligarchy is taking shape in America of extreme wealth, power, and influence that literally threatens our entire democracy, our basic rights and freedoms, and a fair shot for everyone to get ahead. He concluded on an upbeat note, however, saying, And my eternal thanks to you, the American people. After 50 years of public service, I give you my word, I still believe in the idea for which this nation stands, a nation where the strengths of our institutions and the character of our people matter and must endure. Now its your turn to stand guard. May you all be the keeper of the flame. May you keep the faith. I love America. You love it too. You Might Also Like White House principal deputy national security adviser Jon Finer said on Sunday that President-elect Trumps team provided significant support in the recent ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas. We got significant support from the Trump team. We [have] been, you know, very transparent about that. Weve kept them fully up to speed, Finer told ABC Newss Jonathan Karl on This Week. They deployed members of their incoming team to the region. The president said president-elect said helpful things about the need to get this deal done, he added. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement On Sunday, fighting in Gaza came to a stop as the new ceasefire deal went into effect. The halting of the fighting in the territory is the first phase in the truce, which was announced last Wednesday. President Biden hailed the deal on Wednesday, saying getting to it has not been easy. Ive worked on foreign policy for decades, the president added. This was one of the toughest negotiations Ive ever experienced. We reached this point because to the pressure Israel built on Hamas, backed by the United States. In his appearance on This Week, Finer said ultimately, at the end of the day, it was our team that was in the drivers seat for the negotiations directed by President Biden, with their support. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Last Monday, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said in an interview that the president gave us direction to work closely with the incoming team so that there were not different messages being sent, referencing Trumps incoming administration. That there was no gap in a united American front saying, This deal is important, lets get it done, he added. The Hill has reached out to the Trump transition team for comment. Lets be clear: this deal would not have been struck without the forceful hand of President Trump and his Special Envoy @SteveWitkoff, Trumps pick for press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, said in a post on the social platform X Wednesday. Once again, peace through strength prevails. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Matthew Miller, a spokesperson for the State Department, said Wednesday at a press briefing that when it comes to the involvement of President-elect Trumps team, it has been absolutely critical in getting this deal over the line. And its been critical because, obviously, as I stand here today, this administrations term in office will expire in five days, he added. Updated at 11 p.m. EST. Copyright 2025 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 The Hill. New US President Donald Trump intends to once again withdraw from the Paris Climate Accord, with the White House identifying the move as one of Trump's priorities in a statement on Monday. The withdrawal must be submitted to the United Nations, and it will take effect after one year, the White House said. This would mean that the United States will largely withdraw from the international community's fight against global warming. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trump had described the agreement as a disaster and a scam for the United States. In the White House statement, it said Trump's aim is to end what was called the "climate extremism" of his predecessor Joe Biden. According to Trump's claims, global warming does not exist, and he repeatedly labels climate change as a "hoax." The Paris Climate Accord aims to limit global warming to well below 2 degrees Celsius compared to pre-industrial times, and ideally to just 1.5 degrees. This target was agreed upon at the UN climate summit in Paris in 2015 and has since been reaffirmed at several climate conferences. The intention is to avoid the worst consequences of the climate crisis, such as more frequent and severe heatwaves, droughts, wildfires, storms and floods. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Member states are required to submit plans for reducing greenhouse gas emissions to the United Nations. Key parts of the agreement are legally binding under international law. However, there are no penalties for failing to meet the commitments. Almost all countries in the world are part of the agreement. Only Yemen, Iran and Libya have not signed the treaty. The back-and-forth on the climate agreement Trump had already led the United States out of the agreement during his first term (2017-21). Due to the notice period, the withdrawal only became effective shortly before the end of his first term in November 2020. By then, it was already clear that Democrat Biden would replace him in the White House and bring the US back into the agreement. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Officially, Washington has been a member again since February 2021. Biden initiated the return to the climate agreement as one of his most urgent tasks on his first working day. The Republican Trump fulfilled a campaign promise with the first withdrawal but could not initially leave the climate agreement upon taking office in 2017, as it could only be terminated three years after it came into effect. The agreement came into force on November 4, 2016. Trump argued at the time that the commitments in the agreement were too costly and disadvantaged the country in international competition. Last year, the Earth heated up for the first time by more than 1.5 degrees Celsius compared to pre-industrial times - it was likely the warmest year since weather records began, according to calculations by the EU climate service. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The goal agreed upon at the 2015 Paris climate conference, to cap the warming at 1.5 degrees, is not yet considered missed, as long-term average values are decisive for that. The US is the world's largest producer and consumer of oil, according to official US data and data from the International Energy Agency (IEA). It has the second-highest greenhouse gas emissions after China, despite having significantly fewer inhabitants. Against this background, the abandonment of the agreement has a strong symbolic impact - and could encourage other countries to do the same. More than the withdrawal from the agreement, Trump's environmental and economic policies, in general, are expected to undermine climate protection. Michigan Capitol | Susan J. Demas Updated, 6:59 p.m., 1/20/25 Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat, on Monday afternoon ordered U.S. and Michigan flags throughout the state of Michigan to be raised immediately for the remainder of Inauguration Day in accordance with a presidential proclamation issued by President Donald Trump. Whitmers office said on Tuesday, flags will return to half-staff through Jan. 27 to resume the 30-day period of flag honors for former President Jimmy Carter. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Many Republican governors had already raised flags to commemorate Trumps inauguration. Earlier in the day, Whitmer released the following statement: I want to congratulate President Trump as he begins his second term, and I look forward to getting to work on the priorities we share. Here in Michigan, we are focused on creating good-paying, local jobs, fixing the damn roads, fighting for our advanced manufacturing industries including autos, defense, maritime, and aerospace, and working with our partners in Canada to keep costs low for working families and small businesses. Together, with Republicans and Democrats in Lansing and the new administration in D.C., I know we can lower costs, bring more manufacturing back to Michigan, boost research and innovation, and cut red tape. In 2025, lets collaborate to solve problems and keep getting things done for the people of Michigan. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX The first politician to speak at Donald Trump's inauguration today may surprise viewers: Senator Amy Klobuchar, a Democratic senator from Minnesota, will deliver the call to order. Her prominence is due to her role as the chairwoman of the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies (JCCIC). Since 1901, in accordance with the 20th Amendment of the United States Constitution, the JCCIC has been responsible for the planning and execution of the Inaugural Ceremonies of the President-elect and Vice President-elect of the United States at the Capitol. Notably, the JCCIC moved this year's inauguration indoors, at the request of the President-elect. Andrew Harnik - Getty Images The Inaugural Ceremonies represent the peaceful transition of power and are a time to celebrate our democracy and the values that tie us together as a nation, Senator Klobuchar said of her role on her website. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In 2021, at President Joe Biden's Inauguration, she delivered the introductory address, as the lead Senate Democrat on the congressional planning committee for the inauguration. In her remarks, she spoke about the insurrection that had taken place two weeks prior. Pool - Getty Images Two weeks ago, when an angry violent mob staged an insurrection, and desecrated this temple of our democracy, it awakened us to our responsibilities as Americans. This is the day our democracy picks itself up, brushes off the dust, and does what America always does: goes forward as a nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all, she said in 2021. This conveyance of sacred trust between our leaders and our people takes place in front of this shining Capitol dome for a reason. She continued, When Abraham Lincoln gave his first inaugural address in front of this Capitol, the dome was only partially constructed, braced by ropes of steel. He promised he would finish it. He was criticized for spending funds on it during the Civil War. To those critics he replied: If people see the Capitol going on, it is a sign we intend the Union shall go on. And it did. And it will. You Might Also Like It is Inauguration Day and while today's ceremonies will celebrate the peaceful transition of power in the United States, some flags across the country will remain at half-staff during the swearing-in ceremony. President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden have welcomed incoming President Donald J. Trump and First Lady Melania Trump to the White House ahead of the swearing-in ceremony at the Capitol Rotunda. The events come on the heels of the death of former President Jimmy Carter. Biden ordered flags to fly at half-staff for 30 days for a period of mourning. U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson announced that the U.S. Capitol will have its flags at full-staff during Trumps inauguration. Multiple states across the nation also issued a notice for flags to be flown at full staff for Jan. 20, including Tennessee. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Even with these announcements, some are still at half-staff, here's why. Why are flags at half-staff? Biden ordered flags to fly at half-staff after the death of Carter. The former president died in his Plains, Georgia home on Dec. 29 at age 100. Flags were ordered to remain at half-staff for 30 days or until Jan. 29. But since the inauguration fell during that time, state governments and the U.S. Capitol decided to fly flags at full-staff for Monday's events. On January 20th, the flags at the Capitol will fly at full-staff to celebrate our country coming together behind the inauguration of our 47th President, Donald Trump, Johnson said in a statement. The flags will be lowered back to half-staff the following day to continue honoring President Jimmy Carter. Which states will fly flags at full-staff for Inauguration Day? Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee ordered flags to fly at full-staff starting at 11 a.m. on Monday, Jan. 20, for Trump's inauguration and will remain at full-staff until sunrise on Tuesday. Flags over the State Capitol will be flown at full staff from 11 am CT on January 20 through sunrise January 21 in honor of President @realDonaldTrump's inauguration. Flags will later be returned to half-staff as TN continues to mourn the death of President Jimmy Carter. pic.twitter.com/I81pFZEo3C Gov. Bill Lee (@GovBillLee) January 14, 2025 Governors in Iowa, Texas, Florida, Oklahoma, North Dakota, Nebraska, Alabama, New York, California, and Colorado will raise the flags on Inauguration Day. Many will lower them then next day. This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Why are some flags at half-staff on Donald Trump's inauguration? Consumers are continuing to face higher prices at their gorcery stores for eggs, bacon, cereal, sugar and chocolate continues to rise as suppliers experience industry-wide difficult conditions. According to statistics from the U.S. Department of Labor released last week, the price of groceries increased 1.8 percent last month from a year earlier, the fastest pace in more than a year. Groceries are about 28 percent more expensive than they were five years ago and increased 0.3 percent in December, the fastest rate of 2024. Several issues have contributed to the increases, according to The Wall Street Journal, including bird flu and climate change. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement By and large, consumers are adapting to the higher prices, but continuously search for better deals at competing supermarkets and purchase cheaper items. The cost of eggs is rising faster than most goods. The index for the product is up 37 percent from a year ago, with eggs selling for nearly $4.15 a dozen. The stock for the countrys largest egg supplier, Cal-Maine, has doubled since 2024. The increase is due to the impact of deadly avian flu on egg supplies that spread across U.S. farms in 2022. Additionally, egg prices are known to fluctuate because wild birds migrate during winter, causing the virus to spread. Flocks are normally killed after infection is detected, the Journal reported. Other products seeing significant increases are breakfast sausages and bacon. Meatpackers are intending to cut back their slaughter rates, meaning that the price of pork, beef and chicken could increase even more, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has indicated. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Some supermarket executives are trying to avoid passing on higher prices to consumers. One chain, Festival Foods of Wisconsin, is choosing to reduce its typical 10-cent profit on every dozen eggs sold instead of making them more expensive for consumers. Chocolate and cereal makers have also raised prices for their products. Sugar costs are up, and executives at candy-makedrs like Hershey expect higher prices particularly for cocoa beans, which could boost the cost of popular products with high percentages of cocoa. Tackling the increasing price of groceries was a hallmark of President Donald Trumps campaign, and he has suggested he won because of his routine comments on supermarket prices. Still, he has also recently suggested that reducing high grocery prices could be more difficult as they cant easily be solved with quick policy changes. [Source] Have you ever wondered why the Inuit people of Greenland bear a striking resemblance to people of Asian descent? Research reveals that these similarities trace back to their ancient ancestry and their remarkable history of migration and adaptation. Who are the Inuit people? The Inuit people, composed of distinct groups like the Kalaallit Inughuit and Tunumiit, comprise the majority of the population in Greenland, an autonomous territory of Denmark. They are traditionally subsistence hunters, relying on marine mammals like whales, walruses and seals for sustenance. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement They generally exhibit physical features that are commonly associated with East Asian populations. These include dark hair, dark eyes and a specific facial structure characterized by wider faces, high cheekbones and almond-shaped eyes. This observation leads to the question of why the Inuit, despite living in Greenland, exhibit these Asian traits. Trending on NextShark: Asian American children more likely to develop allergies, study finds Migration and ancestry The ancestors of the Inuit are believed to have diverged from the Han Chinese over 20,000 years ago. Originating from Siberia (northern Asia) and other parts of Asia, they crossed the Bering Strait approximately 5,000 years ago, during an era when a land bridge connected Asia and North America. These migrants gradually moved eastward across present-day Canada and eventually reached Greenland around the 13th century. Genetic factors Trending on NextShark: Sen. Dave Min condemns calls for conditional California wildfire aid in 1st floor speech Genetic studies indicate that despite their divergence from their Han Chinese ancestors, the Inuit have retained certain genetic markers that link them to East Asians, such as specific HLA haplotypes. Other findings also point to the Inuit sharing a closer genetic relationship with Asians than with Indigenous groups further south in North America. This connection is further supported by the presence of type B blood in a significant percentage of Inuit, a characteristic absent in other Indigenous peoples of the Americas. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement While the group has been shaped by a prolonged period of isolation to the Arctic environment, they have fewer genetic variants overall compared to other human populations, but the variants they do carry occur at higher frequencies. Adaptation and evolution Trending on NextShark: How Martin Luther King Jr. inspired Asian Americans Experts believe that environmental factors may have also influenced the Inuit's physical characteristics. Living in the Arctic for thousands of years has led to adaptations that helped them survive in the extreme cold, including a stockier build to conserve heat, smaller extremities to minimize heat loss. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Their wider, rounder faces and almond-shaped eyes are believed to help reduce the risk of snow blindness caused by the intense sunlight reflecting off the snow and ice. Traditional Inuit practices, such as using eye coverings, may have reinforced these adaptations over centuries. The Inuit's resemblance to Asian populations is a compelling reminder of humanity's interconnected migration history. Today, they continue to thrive in their Arctic homeland, preserving their cultural traditions while adapting to the modern world. Trending on NextShark: Why do Greenlanders look Asian? This story is part of The Rebel Yellow Newsletter a bold weekly newsletter from the creators of NextShark, reclaiming our stories and celebrating Asian American voices. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Subscribe free to join the movement. If you love what were building, consider becoming a paid member your support helps us grow our team, investigate impactful stories, and uplift our community. Subscribe here now! Trending on NextShark: NextShark takes equity stake in Son Fish Sauce to drive Vietnamese legacy and sustainable food innovation Download the NextShark App: Want to keep up to date on Asian American News? Download the NextShark App today! Former first lady Michelle Obama was not among the guests at President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration today, her second time in two weeks missing a high-profile gathering of former presidents and first ladies in Washington, D.C. Former President Barack Obama is confirmed to attend the 60th Inaugural Ceremonies. Former first lady Michelle Obama will not attend the upcoming inauguration, the Office of Barack and Michelle Obama shared last week, per the Associated Press. No explanation was given. There's no overstating her feelings about [Trump]. She's not one to plaster on a pleasant face and pretend for protocol's sake, a source familiar with her thinking told People. Michelle doesn't do anything because it's expected or it's protocol or it's tradition. They added, She served in the public eye and did all the public good that she could for eight years as first ladyYou'll see her when she has a project or cause to promote but she doesn't feel the need to be a public figure anymore. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement All former presidents and first ladies attended Trumps first inauguration in 2017, including Michelle. AFP - Getty Images Michelle also missed Jimmy Carter's state funeral due to scheduling conflicts. Mrs. Obama sends her thoughts and prayers to the Carter family, and everyone who loved and learned from the remarkable former President, her spokesperson Crystal Carson told Politico at the time. During the 2024 presidential campaign, Michelle was outspoken about the threat Trump posed to American democracy. We know folks are going to do everything they can to distort her truth, she said at the Democratic National Convention, referring to Vice President Kamala Harris. My husband and I, sadly, know a little something about this. For years, Donald Trump did everything in his power to try to make people fear us. See, his limited, narrow view of the world made him feel threatened by the existence of two hardworking, highly educated, successful people who happen to be Black. She continued, Look, its his same old con: doubling down on ugly, misogynistic, racist lies as a substitute for real ideas and solutions that will actually make peoples lives better. Look, because cutting our healthcare, taking away our freedom to control our bodies, the freedom to become a mother through IVF like I didthose things are not going to improve the health outcomes of our wives, mothers, and daughters. Shutting down the Department of Education, banning our booksnone of that will prepare our kids for the future. Demonizing our children for being who they are and loving who they lovelook, that doesnt make anybodys life better. You Might Also Like In addition to many other things he has promised to do on his first day in office, Donald Trump has said he will free Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht, who is serving a life sentence in federal prison for connecting drug consumers with drug sellers. From a libertarian perspective, it is obvious that no one should go to prison for facilitating peaceful transactions among consenting adults. But Ulbricht's grossly disproportionate punishment should give pause even to supporters of the war on drugs. Two weeks before Ulbricht was sentenced, his lawyer sought to dispel the notion that his website, which enabled people around the world to anonymously buy politically disfavored intoxicants with bitcoin via the Tor network, was "a more dangerous version of a traditional drug marketplace." To the contrary, defense attorney Joshua Dratel said in a letter to U.S. District Judge Katherine Forrest, Silk Road "was in many respects the most responsible such marketplace in history." As became clear at the sentencing hearing on May 29, 2015, Forrest was not impressed by that argument. But it was undeniably true that Silk Road offered consumers several important advantages. Those advantages explain why the site, which Ulbricht launched in February 2011 and ran until his arrest in October 2013, achieved the success that attracted the government's attention. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Silk Road not only protected consumers against the risks of arrest and black-market violence. It also protected them against rip-offs through an escrow system that delayed payment until shipments were received. In contrast with the potentially lethal uncertainty regarding drug composition that users typically face as a result of prohibition, Silk Road offered some assurance that buyers were getting what they expected. Vendors who received low ratings from customers tended to lose business and risked removal by the site's administrators, who were keen to maintain the reputation that made Silk Road attractive. Anonymous forums, which included input from a Spanish physician and drug expert, allowed buyers to exchange information and advice. As researchers such as Tim Bingham and Monica Barratt observed, Silk Road created a stigma-free, supportive community that enabled drug users to learn from each other and obtain psychoactive substances without the hassles, legal hazards, and threats to personal safety associated with buying drugs on the street. As Forrest saw it, these benefits magnified Ulbricht's offenses because Silk Road encouraged drug use by making it less dangerous and more convenient. Even if you are sympathetic to that view, a life sentence for a first-time, nonviolent drug offender is hard to fathom, let alone justify. It was far more severe than the sentences imposed on other Silk Road defendants, including people who actually sold drugs, as opposed to assisting those transactions. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The government claimed Ulbricht was not in fact nonviolent. It averred that he commissioned the murders of people who threatened to reveal confidential information that would have disrupted Silk Road. But there was no evidence these alleged schemes were ever carried out: In the government's telling, Ulbricht was tricked into paying phony assassins (including a corrupt federal drug agent) who promised to make his problems disappear. More to the point, the charges that resulted in Ulbricht's life sentence did not include attempted murder for hire, and no such charge was ever presented to the jury, let alone proven in court. Those unproven allegations nevertheless played a crucial role in the sentence that Forrest imposed and in the appeals court decision that upheld it. Forrest also considered heart-rending testimony from two parents of Silk Road customers who died after consuming drugs. Prior to sentencing, the defense submitted a report from a forensic pathologist who detailed the lack of evidence to support the contention that drugs purchased on Silk Road caused those deaths or four others cited by the government. But Forrest deemed those incidents relevant because she concluded, based on "a preponderance of the evidence," that "the deaths, in some way, [were] related to Silk Road." Forrest likewise ruled that conclusive evidence of causation was not necessary to make the accounts of grieving parents relevant in determining Ulbricht's sentence, even though he was never charged in connection with these deaths or any others. When the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit considered the case, Judge Gerald Lynch questioned that decision, suggesting during oral argument that the parents' testimony "put an extraordinary thumb on the scale that shouldn't be there" by "creat[ing] an enormous emotional overload" based on "something that's effectively present in every heroin case"i.e., the risk of a fatal overdose. "Why does this guy get a life sentence?" Lynch wondered, calling it "quite a leap." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement By the time he wrote the opinion rejecting Ulbricht's appeal, however, Lynch was satisfied that Forrest had not abused her discretion. "To the extent that the harms of the drug trade were obvious, there was no need to introduce evidence of these particular incidents, let alone to hammer the point home with unavoidably emotional victim impact statements by parents of two of the decedents," he conceded. "Absent reason to believe that a drug dealer's methods were unusually reckless, in that they enhanced the risk of death from drugs he sold beyond those already inherent in the trade, we do not think that the fact that the ever-present risk of tragedy came to fruition in a particular instance should enhance those sentences, or that the inability of the government to link a particular dealer's product to a specific death should mitigate them." Still, Lynch said, "we are not persuadedthat the introduction of the evidence in this case was error, although it may have been incautious for the government to insist on presenting it to the district court." He counted the legal irrelevance of that evidence as a point in the government's favor, saying there was no reason to think it had factored in the sentence. "Emotionally wrenching as the statements of the decedents' parents were," he wrote, "we cannot and do not assume that federal judges are unable to put their sympathies for particular victims to one side and assess the evidence for its rational relationship to the sentencing decision." Forrest also seemed to believe that Ulbricht's libertarian views, to which she repeatedly alluded, were relevant in determining how many years he should serve. As you might expect, she said his moral opposition to drug prohibition "provides no excuse." But she also thought it was "notable" that "the reasons you started Silk Road were philosophical," adding, "I don't know that it is a philosophy left behind." To illustrate the alarming implications of that philosophy, Forrest cited "posts which discuss[ed] the laws as the oppressor" and argued that "each transaction is a victory over the oppressor"an attitude that she deemed "deeply troubling and terribly misguided and also very dangerous." As the 2nd Circuit saw it, "that discussion was relevant to sentencing" because Ulbricht "appeared to believe that his personal views about the propriety of the drug laws and the paramount role of individual liberty entitled him to violate democratically enacted criminal prohibitions." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Ulbricht was surely wrong about that, Lynch said: "Reasonable people may and do disagree about the social utility of harsh sentences for the distribution of controlled substances, or even of criminal prohibition of their sale and use at all. It is very possible that, at some future point, we will come to regard these policies as tragic mistakes and adopt less punitive and more effective methods of reducing the incidence and costs of drug use. At this point in our history, however, the democratically elected representatives of the people have opted for a policy of prohibition, backed by severe punishment. That policy results in the routine incarceration of many traffickers for extended periods of time." In Forrest's view, the fact that Ulbricht defied that policy for principled reasons, and not just to make a buck, made him especially dangerous. The 2nd Circuit seemed to concur. Given these puzzles, it is not surprising that Ulbricht's punishment provoked bipartisan, trans-ideological criticism. In addition to left-leaning critics of the war on drugs, Ulbricht's advocates include organizations such as the American Conservative Union, the Cato Institute, and Reason Foundation (which publishes this website), along with Republicans such as Sen. Rand Paul (RKy.), Rep. Thomas Massie (RKy.), Rep. Warren Davidson (ROhio), Vivek Ramaswamy, Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk, and the late Ken Starr, a former federal judge, solicitor general, and independent counsel. Starr's support for commuting Ulbricht's sentence was especially striking. As solicitor general in 1990, he had successfully urged the Supreme Court to uphold a life sentence for possessing a pound and a half of cocaine, arguing that it did not amount to "cruel and unusual punishment" under the Eighth Amendment. He said the Michigan legislators who had prescribed that penalty could have "reasonably" concluded that "distribution of drugs is not a victimless crime, but is in fact equivalent to a violent assault both on the users of the drugs and on others who suffer the consequences of their use." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Starr nevertheless had little trouble perceiving the injustice of Ulbricht's life sentence for what the government portrayed as a vast drug trafficking operation involving $183 million in sales. "The over-sentencing and unfairness in Ross's case is an example of how our system sometimes fails to balance justice with mercy," he said. "I am proud to join the many prominent figures in politics and law who have raised their voices to support clemency for Ross." Ulbricht's most prominent advocate, of course, is Trump, who begins his second term as president today. "He's already served 11 years," Trump said at the Libertarian Party convention last May. "We're going to get him home." Whatever your view of Trump's broader agenda, that outcome should be welcomed by anyone who thinks the punishment should fit the crime. Update: On Tuesday evening, Trump announced that he had granted Ulbricht "a full and unconditional pardon." The post Why Trump Should Keep His Promise To Free Silk Road Founder Ross Ulbricht appeared first on Reason.com. The first time Donald Trump gave an inaugural address, official Washington winced. It was a scorching and dystopian assessment of what he cast as a country in ruins this American carnage, Trump said. And it was, as George W. Bush reportedly called it, some weird shit. But thats not how much of Trumps MAGA base remembers it. Like Trump, they, too, saw a hollowed-out nation in 2017. But what Trumps supporters mostly recalled in the president-elect and the repeat performance they are preparing for on Monday is redemption. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Phillip Stephens, the Republican Party chair in Robeson County, North Carolina, which shifted sharply toward Trump in November, said that what he heard from Trump in 2017 was a lot of hopeful stuff. And James Dickey, a former chair of the Texas Republican Party, remembered feeling positive. Fixing the degradation that we all saw and were living through that was all part of fulfilling the Make America Great Again promise, he said. For the base, Dickey said, it was refreshing. And if Trumps first inaugural address was lacking in the traditionally conciliatory rhetoric of victory, his loyalists werent missing it that year or expecting him to change course. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement We can talk about unity, but you know, those that are against him just arent going to do it, said Sally Kizer, an organizer of a tea party group in Arizonas Yuma County. Hes got so many things he wants to do. Trump is leaning on Ross Worthington and Vince Haley, who helped shape his speeches during the campaign, to craft his inaugural address, according to two people familiar with the process and granted anonymity to describe preparations. However other advisers, including immigration hawk Stephen Miller, will have a hand in it. The president-elect told NBC News on Saturday that the theme of the speech would be unity and strength, and also the word fairness. Its that last word that may be instructive. Trump said, Because you have to be treating people fairly. You cant just say, Oh, everythings going to be wonderful. You know, we went through hell for four years with these people. And so, you know, something has to be done about it. As for unity, thats the kind of rhetoric his advisers suggested he would offer before his first inaugural eight years ago, too. And its hard to find anyone, Republican or Democrat, who expects him to follow through. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Do I think it will on net be negative? Yeah, said Jason Roe, a Republican strategist in Michigan and former executive director of the states Republican Party, who was critical of Trumps baseless claims about the 2020 election following his defeat that year. I do think it will be, for Trump, more positive than normal, but I dont think Ive ever seen a Trump speech that I came away from saying, Oh, that was a very hopeful speech. While Trump will likely convey to Republicans some optimism about the mandate and the opportunity of a second Trump term, Roe said, Its hard to call that positive. Its like, yeah, lets go punch these fuckers. Which is exactly the kind of rhetoric that animated his supporters in the first place and that was so breaking with custom in his first inaugural address. In that speech, Trump blistered Washington and a decaying nation of rampant crime, mothers and children trapped in poverty and rusted-out factories scattered like tombstones. It was an aberration for an inaugural address ranking on a scale of 1 to 10, about an 11, said Russell Riley, the co-chair of the presidential oral history program at the University of Virginia. Since then, Trumps oratorical range has plunged to even lower registers. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement At 78 and following two impeachments, one defeat, a raft of criminal cases and two apparent assassination attempts, his rhetoric has grown angrier and more rambling over time. In his campaign rallies last year, he demonized migrants and minority groups in racist and xenophobic diatribes. The sense you get from the campaign rhetoric is everything is bad, its corrupt, its rotten, Riley said. He cited Richard Nixon, Spiro Agnew and George Wallace, who brought their own coarse contributions to rhetoric. But nothing like what weve experienced in the last 10 years or so. Much of that is Trumps contribution. But in some ways, Riley said, what he was doing was surfing the wave. He discovered that sort of coarsened rhetoric worked, so he took part in it, and he showed you could be successful politically for taking part in it. So these two things, they interact with one another, they build on one another. Presidential rhetoric always participates in the broader trends in the culture. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement There is another trend in the culture, too our partisanship reflected in Trumps polarizing remarks in 2017, and likely again on Monday. He will take office amid contentious Cabinet appointment hearings. On Wednesday, Joe Biden hardly an eloquent speaker, but not a crass one, either, at ease invoking Seamus Heaney or William Butler Yeats warned in his grim farewell address of a democracy-threatening oligarchy in America. Trump, said Ken Khachigian, a former Ronald Reagan speechwriter, would be well served to deliver a straightforward and restrained address. But it would be nonsensical, he said, for him to give a speech about this being a time for warmth and unity, when hardly anybody means it. Even if he did deliver such an address, Khachigian said, 24 hours later [Chuck] Schumers going to have his stiletto out and try to cut his guts open. Political discourse in America, he said, has devolved into a lot of anger all the time. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trump capitalized on that public sentiment in his campaign. And when it comes to anger in his speech-making, hes on a planet of his own. Its unclear what policies he will discuss on Monday. But he has promised to deport millions of immigrants starting on Day One. He has pledged to dismantle whole swaths of the bureaucracy and called forrevenge on his political enemies, including by prosecuting them. His inaugural address might be a reading of arrest warrants, mused David Blaska, a former Dane County, Wisconsin, supervisor who worked as a speechwriter for former GOP Gov. Tommy Thompson and who supported Trump in 2020, but not in 2024. Part of the rapture, Blaska said, is that the sinners are cast into hell. Dasha Burns contributed to this report. LEBANON, Tenn. (WKRN) About 100 people came together at the Hamilton Chapel Church Sunday to honor Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., sing gospel, and enjoy a performance about MLKs life and legacy. Were highlighting not only his life, but the people that were supporters and people that helped him along the way, said Dion Jones, president of the Wilson County NAACP. The NAACP also took time to recognize other prominent figures in the Civil Rights Movement, like Diana Nash, who fought to desegregate lunch counters in Nashville. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement What will be closed on Martin Luther King Jr. Day (and Inauguration Day) 2025? In addition, the organization recognized Nashville as one of the first cities in the South to desegregate public restrooms. This is a little overwhelming to see all the community come together, especially on such short notice. We just reorganized this branch within the last couple of months, and the community has really stepped up and rallied around our efforts, and Im just in awe of the love and the support weve gotten from this community, Jones said. The gathering, hosted by the Wilson County NAACP, is among the first of many around Middle Tennessee in honor of MLK Day. The public is encourage to join the organizations unity march at 10:30 a.m. on Monday, Jan. 20 along West Main Street. Read todays top stories on wkrn.com Dr. King was one of the most, if not the most, influential person when it comes to civil rights in America, and he was the one that led the charge to bring equality for African Americans and for all people in America, Jones told News 2. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement If you plan on attending any of the marches around Middle Tennessee on MLK Day, plan to dress for bitter cold weather because feels like temperatures are expected to be in the single digits or even below zero in the morning. Copyright 2025 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. WASHINGTON, D.C. (WTVO) Members of the Winnebago County Sheriffs Office traveled from Illinois to Washington D.C. on Monday to provide security for President Donald Trumps inauguration ceremonies. Today, members of the Sheriffs Office were proud to take part in the inauguration, ensuring security and providing support throughout the event, the Sheriffs Office wrote on Facebook. Their dedication and service were instrumental in making sure everything went smoothly. Thank you for your commitment to keeping our community safe! Photo: Winnebago County Sheriffs Office Photo: Winnebago County Sheriffs Office Photo: Winnebago County Sheriffs Office Copyright 2025 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 MyStateline | WTVO News, Weather and Sports. CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCBD) Winter weather could impact much of the Lowcountry this week as arctic air moves into the region, and an area of low pressure moves near the coast. The National Weather Service in Charleston has issued a winter storm warning for Berkeley, Charleston, Colleton, and Dorchester counties from 5 p.m. Tuesday until noon Wednesday. Heavy snow is expected with total snow and sleet accumulations up to two inches possible, according to National Weather Service forecasters. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement There is an enhanced risk for sleet occurring along the lower South Carolina coastal counties, especially inland of US 17, the NWS said. Schools announce schedule changes due to winter weather Roads, specifically bridges and overpasses, will likely become slick and hazardous during the Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning commutes. People are encouraged to stay indoors until conditions improve and delay travel. Be sure to download the News 2 app for breaking news alerts, updates, and any possible changes to school schedules this week. You can also download the Storm Team 2 app for the latest forecast and weather alerts. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 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 WCBD News 2. A Wisconsin teen was arrested and charged with arson over the weekend after police say he set fire to a local congressman's office and cited the TikTok ban as his motive. Around 1 a.m. local time on Sunday, Jan. 19, the City of Fond du Lac Police Department (FDLPD) responded to reports of a fire at a local strip mall on N. Peters Avenue, which contained the district office of Republican U.S. Rep. Glenn Grothman, according to a news release shared with PEOPLE. Upon arriving at the scene, police "used fire extinguishers to hold the fire in check" until fire personnel arrived to put out the blaze. The FDLPD then located a 19-year-old man from Menasha near the strip mall. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The teen "admitted to starting the fire in response to recent talks of a TikTok ban," according to police, before being arrested and charged with arson. He is being held at Fond du Lac County Jail and will be referred to the Fond du Lac County District Attorneys Office, the FDLPD said. The building was unoccupied at the time of the fire, no injuries were reported and an investigation by both the police and the City of Fond du Lac Fire Rescue is in its "preliminary stages," according to authorities. We are relieved that no one was injured and the office was unoccupied at the time of the fire," FDLPD Chief Aaron Goldstein said in a statement. "Acts of violence, in any form, are not tolerated, and we remain committed to protecting the safety and well-being of our community. I am thankful for the swift response of our officers in helping knock down the fire and also locating the suspect of this arson. MAEVA DESTOMBES/Hans Lucas/AFP via Getty Photo illustration of TikTok on a user's phone in January 2025 Photo illustration of TikTok on a user's phone in January 2025 Following the fire, Grothman issued a statement on his X account on Jan. 19, reiterating that "nobody was hurt in the fire and the damage has been contained." He added, "Thank you to the FDL firefighters and police officers for your swift response." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement According to ABC News, the politician voted for a bill last April that mandated ByteDance the Chinese owners of TikTok to sell the app or shut down this weekend. 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 Supreme Court previously ruled on Jan. 17 that the law forcing TikTok to cease U.S. operations if it didn't divest from Chinese ownership was constitutional. The sell-or-ban legislation was previously passed by Congress and signed by President Joe Biden last year, after president-elect Donald Trump initially revealed a plan to ban TikTok from operating in the U.S. during his first term in office in April 2020. Following the Supreme Court ruling, TikTok shut down for U.S. users on Saturday, Jan. 18, but returned to operating less than 24 hours later, after the platform shared in a statement that it was "in the process of restoring service" to Americans. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The TikTok statement also thanked Trump, 78, who wrote on his Truth Social platform over the weekend that he intended to "save TikTok" and issue an executive order to stall the platform's federal ban, at least temporarily. Trump returns to office for his second term on Monday, Jan. 20. Read the original article on People On Saturday, Jan. 18 at around 7:45 a.m. local time, police and emergency services were called to a home in the Brisbane suburb of Kingston, where a woman was found with "burns to her body," an initial Queensland Police release stated. An update confirmed a 36-year-old man from Kingston had been charged with attempted murder after allegedly producing a lighter and setting "a 34-year-old woman on fire," a second release stated. The release added that police initially responded to reports of an "altercation" at the scene involving a man and a woman. Getty An ambulance was called to deal with the woman's injuries An ambulance was called to deal with the woman's injuries "She was treated by paramedics at the scene and was transported to the Royal Brisbane and Womens Hospital in a serious condition," the release added, confirming that the man had been "charged with one count each of attempted murder, common assault, and breach of domestic violence." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The woman was identified as Destiny Otton-Rakuraku by Australian outlets including The Courier-Mail, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) and 9 News, stating the man facing the charges was Renata Edward Manning. Per ABC, the victim "was treated for life-threatening burns by paramedics" before being taken to the hospital in "a critical but stable condition." The outlet stated the case had been heard briefly in the Beenleigh Magistrates Court on Monday, Jan. 20, but the suspect wasn't in attendance. Bail was opposed, per police. The suspect reportedly "poured an accelerant" on the victim before setting her on fire, according to 7 News, which stated he was the victim's former partner. Getty Police were called to the scene after reports of an 'altercation' Police were called to the scene after reports of an 'altercation' The victim's mother, Alison Rakuraku, said she was "numb" and "devastated" following the attack on her daughter, per the outlet. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But shes strong, so we will be strong for our girl, Rakuraku told the publication. 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. A GoFundMe page set up to raise money for the family said Otton-Rakuraku is "the eldest daughter in a family of seven" and is a mother to "two beautiful teenage boys." "All the funds raised will be used towards Destinys medical bills, after care, recovery, necessary resources, her rent, her children, pets, her family to travel backwards & forwards, parking fees and extra unforeseen expenses," a description on the page, set up by a friend of the victim's mother, read. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "As you can imagine the unbearable pain that has been put on the family it is my hope that enough funds will be raised to take some stress off the family," it added. The page had raised just over $19,836 (almost $32,000 AUD) as of Monday, Jan. 20. Per ABC, the suspect will appear in court in March. Beenleigh Magistrates Court and Queensland Police didn't immediately respond when contacted by PEOPLE for additional information. Read the original article on People The Neptune Beach Police Department has arrested a woman accused of scamming someone out of $7,800 online. [DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks] In a social media post, police said that, with the help of the Department of Homeland Security, Deborah Ramsay was arrested at New York Citys JFK airport Saturday as she was attempting to reenter the country. Ramsay faces federal fraud charges after police say she used a fake email to impersonate a City of Neptune Beach employee. The email was used to send the victim a fake building permit invoice for $7,800 dollars. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Read: Man shot outside of Downtown Jacksonville Sulzbacher shelter Police were looking for her at ports of entry because she is a Jamaican national known to frequently travel. Read: Former leaders of Duval Teachers United plead not guilty to stealing millions [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. DENVER (KDVR) A longtime resident and general contractor in Grand County called the sheriffs office Friday after he was approached by a woman trying to sell him tools. According to the Grand County Sheriffs Office, the agency received a report at about 2:20 p.m. on Friday from a contractor who said he was approached by a white woman driving a blue or light green Honda Accord who attempted to sell him what he believed to be stolen tools. Get a text about an unpaid parking invoice? Denver city official says its a scam Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The agency also said the contractor believed the woman was under the influence of an unknown substance. He was able to provide deputies with the license plate he saw on the womans vehicle. Deputies pursued the suspect, who has now been identified as Alexis Lanier, 35. After the vehicular pursuit, Lanier was arrested and booked into the Grand County Jail on Saturday, Jan. 18. The Grand County Sheriffs Office is encouraging anyone who purchased tools or who had an interaction with Lanier on Jan. 17 to call the office at 970-725-3343 and speak to a detective to see if your information is relevant to this case. The sheriffs office said Lanier was booked on investigation of: Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Vehicular eluding Reckless endangerment Reckless driving Driving a vehicle while under the influence of drugs Driving a vehicle without a valid drivers license Failure to present proof of insurance upon request Vehicle registration violation Window tint violation Possession of drug paraphernalia Lanier is scheduled to appear in court on Monday for an advisement of charges. According to court records, a bond has not been set in her case. Copyright 2025 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. KANSAS CITY, Mo. A Lenexa woman has been charged in connection to a suspected drunk driving crash that left one person dead late Friday night in Lenexa, Kansas. According to police, 46-year-old Amy Dawn Crouch has been charged with the second-degree murder of 48-year-old Tsige G. Mesfin of Shawnee. See the latest headlines in Kansas City and across Kansas, Missouri Lenexa police said that on the night of Jan. 17, at about 11:10 p.m., officers were dispatched to the area of West 89th Terrace and Park Street on reports of an injury crash. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Upon arrival, officers found two cars, a Toyota RAV4 and a Ford Bronco, crashed in a nearby yard. Investigations revealed that the RAV4, driven by Mesfin, had been driving northbound on Park Street when the Bronco, driven by Crouch, ran through a stop sign while traveling eastbound on West 89th Terrace. This resulted in Crouch hitting the side of the RAV4 and causing both cars to leave the roadway. The Lenexa Police Department said Mesfin was pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics, and Crouch was taken into custody on suspicion of driving under the influence. Police report one in critical condition after Chiefs post game crash Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Crouch is currently being held on a $500,000 bond at the Johnson County Jail. No court date has been set. This case is under investigation by the Lenexa Police Department Traffic Safety Unit. Copyright 2025 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 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV | News, Weather, Sports. COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) A 30-year-old woman was arrested and faces a reckless homicide charge after a 33-year-old man died of a gunshot wound overnight Monday. Columbus police said officers went to the 1400 block of Slade Avenue and found Tremain Russell with a gunshot wound just after midnight. Russell was taken to a hospital in critical condition and was pronounced dead just before 12:45 a.m. Safety tips for your house during frigid temperatures Cierra Locke-Shelby told police she was holding a gun during a verbal argument with Russell. She allegedly was waving the handgun when it discharged and hit Russell, claiming to investigators the gun was faulty and unintentionally discharged, per Columbus police. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement She was charged with reckless homicide and is currently in Franklin County Jail. Copyright 2025 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. A woman in Indiana is facing charges including reckless homicide after reportedly killing her 25-year-old sister and a 6-year-old girl during a car crash when she was driving at over 100 mph. On Nov. 23, 2024 at around 7:58 p.m. local time, the Allen County Sheriffs Department confirmed officers had responded to a crash in which "two occupants were ejected from the vehicle and both pronounced deceased at the scene," one of whom was a juvenile, a previous press release stated. Nelson Memorial Gardens Nalani Ella Ervins Nalani Ella Ervins The Allen County Coroner identified the victims to PEOPLE as Nalani Ella Ervins, 6, and Jaiden Samaria Marquis Newbolt, 25, stating that the driver, Jourdan Hudson is now facing multiple charges. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement According to the Allen County Sheriffs Department's online inmate information, Hudson, 23, is facing charges of neglect of a dependent resulting in death, neglect of a dependent resulting in serious bodily injury, reckless homicide and neglect of a dependent. The bond for each of the charges has been set at $47,500, per the documents. GoFundMe Jaiden Samaria Marquis Newbolt Jaiden Samaria Marquis Newbolt According to WPTA, police said the suspect was driving over 100 mph at the time of the crash when the group was on their way to a birthday party. WANE 15 added that investigators determined she'd reached speeds of up to 106 mph seconds before the crash. Related: 3 Calif. High School Graduates Killed, 1 Seriously Injured in Cybertruck Crash: Reports Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Police previously said, "Upon arrival [at the scene of the crash] officers and medics located an SUV with damage and five individuals with injuries," confirming two had died, without revealing identities. The suspect previously told police her sister had been driving, before admitting it had actually been her behind the wheel four days later, the outlet reported. 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. Related: Truck Driver Who Killed 5 While Distracted by TikTok Sentenced to Over 22 Years in Prison Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Hudson told officers there had been three children in the car aged between 4 and 6, and they reportedly weren't in car seats. The group allegedly got lost on the way to the party while trying to follow another car and Hudson and her sister had been arguing. The crash occurred when she attempted to turn around on the highway, WANE 15 stated. A hearing date is yet to be set, per WPTA. The Allen County Sheriffs Department and the Allen County Courthouse didn't immediately respond when contacted by PEOPLE for an update. Read the original article on People An Indiana woman allegedly admitted to putting her child inside a suitcase on a bus ride and is now facing charges of child endangerment. Ashley Gibson, 29, was arrested on Dec. 12 in Bloomington, Ind., in connection with the incident, according to police, FOX 59, WBIW and Indiana Public Media reported last week. Court documents and police records cited by the outlets allege Gibson boarded a Bloomington Transit bus with a suitcase on the afternoon of Dec. 12. According to video footage reviewed by investigators, she sat towards the front of the bus, FOX 59 reported. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Once the bus was moving, Gibson allegedly stated shed put her 2-year-old in a suitcase, prompting the driver to hit the brakes and notify law enforcement. It wasnt immediately clear if she made the alleged statement to the driver or if he overheard her. The video shows Gibson opening up the suitcase and retrieving the child from inside, about 18 minutes after she boarded the bus, per FOX 59. She allegedly told investigators she put the child in the suitcase "to keep him warm," the court documents stated. Officers noted, however, the child was well-dressed in warm clothes for the weather. Gibson allegedly said her caseworker had approved of her putting the child in the suitcase, per court documents. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement While Gibson was on the bus for 18 minutes before the child was retrieved, it wasnt clear when and where the child was put in the suitcase or if the child was injured in any manner. 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. Gibson was arrested on Jan. 14 in connection with the incident. She has been charged with child neglect causing endangerment as well as criminal recklessness, according to Indianas online court records. Gibson has pleaded not guilty; she is scheduled to go to trial later this year. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement If you suspect child abuse, call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child or 1-800-422-4453, or go to www.childhelp.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages. Read the original article on People New easy-to-deploy online security posture assessment for hybrid AD environments provides unprecedented visibility into security vulnerabilities, reducing cyberattack risk for small and mid-sized organisations and the most complex identity environment Semperis, a pioneer in identity-driven cyber resilience, announced the release of Lightning Intelligence, a new, easily deployed security posture assessment offering in the Lightning platform. Lightning Intelligence tracks security posture across multi-forest Active Directory (AD) and multi-tenant Entra ID environments and provides security trend reports, saving time and reducing the risk of identity-related attacks, which account for 90% of cyber incidents. Without a clear view into security vulnerabilities across both on-prem AD and Entra ID, organisations struggle to identify risky misconfigurations that can open the door to attackers, said Darren Mar-Elia, Semperis VP of Products. These types of attacks that move from cloud to on-premises are increasingly common because they bypass typical monitoring solutions. Lightning Intelligence brings unmatched clarity to overall security posture, delivered in an easy-to-deploy SaaS format for fast onboarding in organisations of any sizefrom smaller businesses to complex environments with multiple AD forests and Entra ID tenants. Lightning Intelligence provides easy deployment and automated scanning often requested by small and mid-sized businesses, particularly users of Semperis free community tool Purple Knight, which has been downloaded by 30,000+ organisations. Lightning Intelligence, the second offering in Semperis new Lightning comprehensive threat detection and response platform, provides clear security posture scores in an easy-to-read dashboard, accelerating remediation especially for resource-constrained IT and security teams in small and medium businesses. With a dashboard that displays both multi-forest AD and multi-tenant Entra ID security posture, Lightning Intelligence also provides seamless visibility across complex identity environments in large organisations. Lightning Intelligence scans the environment and displays security scores for each forest or tenant in a single dashboard, accelerating remediation and reducing potential downtime from an attack by providing: Multi-forest, multi-tenant dashboard with security posture insights and trends across the hybrid AD and Entra ID environments Scheduled and on-demand scanning for indicators of exposure (IOEs) Constantly updated security indicators developed by Semperis expert security research team Rapid deployment as a SaaS offering On-demand security posture reports with scores for each forest and tenant Lightning Intelligence is part of the Semperis Lightning platform, which encompasses comprehensive cyber resilience for identity-based security posture, ITDR, change auditing, and forensics. Built for seamless deployment from single-forest environments to the most complex environments, Lightning provides continuous enhancements to help organisations stay ahead of the constantly changing threat landscape. In May, Semperis announced Lightning Identity Runtime Protection, an ML-based attack pattern detection solution that uncovers consistently successful attacks such as password spray. As the Lightning platform expands, well continue to offer solutions that address the persistent challenges we see in our incident response work with some of the largest organisations in the world, said Semperis CEO Mickey Bresman. Cyberattacks that move between the online and on-prem identity systems have been hard to detect and remediate, leading to devastating attacks across every industry. Lightning Intelligence provides a simple way to track overall security posture, with a flexible deployment model as a SaaS or an on-prem offering. For more information about Lightning Intelligence and to request a demo, visit https://www.semperis.com/solutions/identity-security-posture-assessment. President-elect Donald Trump will be sworn in today in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda in front of a number of world leaders and other guests as he becomes the 47th president. Trump and Vice President-elect J.D. Vance are set to take the oath of office during a day that will include celebrations such as musical performances and a parade. Trump is breaking with tradition, inviting several foreign leaders, both allies and rivals. U.S. inaugurations are usually not attended by foreign world leaders; other countries tend to be represented by foreign ministers and ambassadors. Todays event is also unusual in that the proceedings will take place indoors, not outside, facing the National Mall because of the frigid temperatures. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Here are some of the world leaders and other guests attending the inauguration: Argentinian President Javier Milei, who visited Trump at his Mar-a-Lago club last month, is attending. Trump has called Milei a man who can make Argentina great again. While Trump invited Chinese President Xi Jinping, he will not attend. China is instead represented by Vice President Han Zheng. President of Argentina Javier Milei (L) and Prime Minister of Italy Giorgia Meloni arrive to the inauguration of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump in the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol on January 20, 2025 in Washington, D.C. (Getty Images) Italian Prime Minister Georgia Meloni is in Washington for the inauguration. The leader of the far-right Brothers of Italy party visited Mar-a-Lago earlier this month. Daniel Noboa, the president of Ecuador, has also traveled to Washington for the proceedings in the middle of a re-election campaign. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The former prime minister of Poland, Mateusz Morawieck, who is now the leader of the European Conservatives and Reformists in the E.U. parliament, is attending the inauguration. Vice President of China Han Zheng (L) and Former Executive Chairman of Fox Corp Rupert Murdoch (R) attend the inauguration of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump in the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol on January 20, 2025 in Washington, D.C. (Getty Images) While U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer hasnt been invited, Nigel Farage, the leader of the rightwing Reform Party, is in D.C. for the events. Similarly, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz was not invited, but the leader of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), Alice Weidel, has been. She is, however, represented at the proceedings by co-leader Tino Chrupalla. Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar is representing Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Meanwhile, the leaders of the Spanish rightwing Vox party, Santiago Abascal and Portugals Chega Party, Andre Ventura, are attending, as is French far-right politician Eric Zemmour of the Reconquest party. Even as Trump didnt attend Bidens inauguration four years ago, the outgoing president and First Lady Jill Biden are attending the inauguration. All living former presidents are attending the event, including Bill Clinton, George W Bush, and Barack Obama. While Michelle Obama will not attend, her fellow former First Ladies Laura Bush and Hillary Clinton are. Mark Zuckerberg of Meta, Jeff Bezos of Amazon, Elon Musk of Tesla and TikTok CEO Shou Chew are also attending. The News Countries around the world are preparing for US President-elect Donald Trumps return to office Monday. The inauguration itself has become an uncharacteristically global affair; in a break from tradition, several foreign politicians and heads of state are on the guest list, including right-wing populist leaders Javier Milei of Argentina and Italys Giorgia Meloni. News outlets around the world captured the trepidation, hopes, and complications of navigating the start of Trumps second term. The View From Mexico No US inauguration has ever sparked so much expectation, concern and uncertainty, journalist Salvador Garcia Soto wrote in El Universal. The political and diplomatic signals so far have not been encouraging for Mexico. Beyond Trumps threats of tariffs, Mexicos foreign secretary has not been able to make contact with incoming Trump administration officials. And the presence of Argentinas Javier Milei and El Salvadors Nayib Bukele at the inauguration is a clear message that confirms who the United States sees as its strategic allies in Latin America. The View From China Chinese state media voiced optimism for a new starting point in US-China ties under Trump. Beijing is facing domestic economic struggles that could be exacerbated by a trade war under Trump, perhaps contributing to the more conciliatory tone in a Global Times editorial: History has repeatedly shown that China and the US both stand to gain from cooperation and lose from confrontation. The editorial criticized the Biden administrations recent chip export restrictions aimed at denting Chinas tech ambitions, saying they were marked by partisan tensions and irrational emotions, leaving numerous thorny issues for the new government to address. The View From Russia Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated Trump just before his inauguration Monday and signaled an openness to direct communication with the US. Putins statements, The Moscow Times noted, marked a shift from November, when the Kremlin declined to congratulate Trump on his victory and described the US as unfriendly toward Russia. We hear [Trumps] statements on the need to prevent World War III. We undoubtedly welcome such a disposition, Putin said. The View From Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia is hoping to boost its diplomatic standing under a second Trump administration, Arabian Gulf Business Insight wrote. Riyadh wants to affirm this is no longer a little brother relationship, president of the Saudi-US Trade Group said. Saudi Arabia sees itself as an up and coming Middle Power and envisions a relationship with the US along the lines of South Korea or Brazil. An expansion of the Abraham Accords and bringing Saudi Arabia into the fold is the obvious next step, especially following the Israel-Hamas ceasefire agreement, AGBI wrote. More US investment in Saudi Arabia, and vice versa, presents another opportunity to bolster ties. The View From Germany Many Europeans associate Trumps return with fear, but for millions in the US and around the world, it is associated with hope. With the hope that something will change for the better, Die Zeit wrote. The dissonance shows that that Europe is isolated in its view of Trump - and all hopes for a global anti-Trump alliance are misguided. And it means that Trump is entering his second term with enormous trust capital, both at home and abroad. The View From South Korea South Korea is entering the second Trump term without clear leadership or political direction: Its impeached president has been detained over a botched martial law order, and its politics deeply divided. That poses a challenge for Seoul-Washington ties moving forward, Lee Byung-jong wrote for The Korea Herald. If President Yoon Suk Yeol is permanently removed from office and a liberal government takes his place, ties could sour and a bilateral relationship based on shared values would likely take a backseat to a transactional approach, Lee wrote. That might demand greater financial contributions from Seoul while offering diminished security commitments. Theyre getting out of Dodge. Migrants shacked up at Big Apple shelters are jittery over promised ICE raids on the eve of Donald Trumps inauguration Monday and many are ditching their tax-funded digs to duck deportation. It is better to leave before, Venezuelan migrant Kervin Nava, 31, said outside a Long Island City shelter Sunday. I am making arrangements, somewhere else. One Manhattan migrant who asked to be identified only as Rafael said the fear has gripped his shelter. With Donald Trumps promised ICE raids looming, migrants at Big Apple shelters are jittery and some even ditching the facilities. Gregory P. Mango Its in Gods hands, but there are people who have started leaving the hotels because theyre scared, he told The Post. When ICE came a few weeks ago they had an arrest warrant for someone who lived here. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Nothing they could do. Other migrants said they were just angry at their suddenly dim prospects. Trump has long promised mass deportations of illegal immigrants in the US, and has designated Tom Homan, his new tough-as-nails border czar, to start making it happen as soon as hes in office. Migrant Limame Gueye said the potential for ICE raids has migrants at city shelters fearing deportation in the coming weeks. Gregory P. Mango Francis, a 44-year-old Venezuelan native at the Roosevelt Hotel, said her possible deportation from ICE raids is in Gods hands Kevin C Downs forThe New York Post Homan, who has identified immigration asylum cities like Chicago and New York as the first priorities, told Fox News Sunday that hes reconsidering when and how to pull the trigger after some details of the planned raids were leaked to the press over the past week. Its going to be a big raid all across the country, he told Fox on Friday. Chicago is just one of many places. Weve got 24 [ICE] field offices across the country. On Tuesday, ICE is finally going to go out and do their job. Were going to take the handcuffs off ICE and let them go arrest criminal aliens. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Thats whats going to happen. Delayed or not, Homan assured the raids are coming and it has migrants shaking in their boots. Some people think they will come in buses and load people up from the shelters, take them to the airport, migrant Limame Gueye, 29, told The Post. Officials at City Hall said the number of migrants housed at city shelters, once surpassing 65,000, has waned and is now under 51,000. Gregory P. Mango Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Donald Trump has long promised mass immigration raids when he returns to the White House which happens Monday. Getty Images Colombian national Kevin Llena said hes been waiting one year at the Roosevelt Hotel in Midtown waiting for a work permit and now is concerned it may never come. The idea of raids at the hotel, that worries me, said Llena, 29. We work hard to keep up with the news every day, but hearing about raids worries me. I have my wife and two kids here. I try to keep my head down and get work done, but if something like a raid happens, I need to protect my family, he said. Rafael, a 35-year-old Venezuelan national, said he still doesnt believe that Trump will kick migrants who are willing to work and make their own way out of the country. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trump wont send people back who are here to work and make an honest living, he said. Only the people who are causing problems or relying on the government. Rafael, 35, from Venezuela, said he doesnt believe Trump will deport migrants who are willing to work and make their own way. Kevin C Downs forThe New York Post Others, like Francis, a 44-year-old Venezuelan mom, are leaving everything to fate. Everything is in Gods hands, she said. I just have to trust him. Officials at City Hall said the number of migrants housed at city shelters, once surpassing 65,000, has waned and is now under 51,000, with the city announcing it will close larger facilities like tent cities at Randalls Island in Manhattan and Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn. A City Hall official said, At this time there is nothing dramatic or conclusive. Our exits [of migrants from shelters] are up since the summer and our numbers seem in line with that. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The exits did go up after the election and continue to be in line with the after the election exits, the source added. However, the migrant crisis has presented a challenge for the NYPD, with the vicious Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua establishing a foothold in the shelter system since 2022, wreaking havoc in the streets. Additional reporting by Carl Campaine and Jennie Taer DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN) You dont need to be a member of Storm Team 2 to know its really cold and going to stay that way the next few days. And with such prolonged cold snaps come increased electricity usage and threats to the power grid. On Monday, AES Ohio said that PJM Interconnect, its grid operator, expects to have enough power to meet any demand. AES did say, however, that it is ready to handle any outages that may arise during the duration of the Cold Weather Alert. Cold weather can be harmful to pets; heres how to help Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement AES also listed steps customers can take to reduce their electricity load, lowering the chances of an outage. Unless your health says otherwise, set your thermostat lower than usual Hold off on using big appliances such as stoves, dishwashers and clothes dryers Turn off or even unplug non-essential lights, electronic equipment and appliances. Playing devils advocate, AES did recommend customers prepare or verify their emergency kit in case of an extended outage. It should contain: Food Water Flashlight Batteries Battery-powered radio/TV Cell phone Charging bank Blanket/sleeping bag Medicine/first aid Cash The utility said you and your household should have an emergency preparedness plan for winter weather, and make sure your friends and neighbors have plans of their own. You can get more outage safety tips from AES Ohio. Copyright 2025 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 WDTN.com. DES MOINES Monday morning the YMCA is hosting its 12th Annual MLK Jr Prayer Breakfast at the Olmsted Center at Drake University. The theme of the breakfast this year is Everyone Deserves a Place to Call Home and focuses on housing. The keynote address during the breakfast was a panel hosted by Deidre DeJear, President and CEO of Oakridge Neighborhood, and features community members and local experts on housing issues in Des Moines. Cameron Nicholson, President and CEO of the YMCA of Greater Des Moines, said that the prayer breakfast is a chance to honor Dr. Kings legacy by bringing the community together for positive change. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I think thats the beauty of Des Moines in our community is people do come together. We sit at the table and we try to problem solve versus point the finger at whos causing the problem. But how can we collectively come together to solve the problem? As I said, when the government comes together with nonprofits as well as service providers, we may not always have all the resources we may need to solve the issue. But I think we try to marshal the resources available to us to come with the best solutions possible, Nicholson said. The YMCA is also presenting its 2025 Make A Difference Awards to two individuals and an organization demonstrating commitment to housing justice and building a stronger, more inclusive community. The aware recipients are: Make A Difference Award: Individual Caroline Gathright, Community Investment Analyst, City of Des Moines Make A Difference Award: Organization Polk County Housing Trust Fund Make A Difference Award: Legacy Ako Abdul-Samad, member of the Iowa House of Representatives, founder and CEO of Creative Visions Human Development Institute. To learn more about the prayer breakfast visit the YMCAs website Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Copyright 2025 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 who13.com. Yvette Cooper has called for calm so justice can be done ahead of the trial of the man accused of murdering three girls at a Taylor Swift themed dance class in Southport. Eighteen-year-old Axel Rudakubana, of Banks, Lancashire, will stand trial at Liverpool Crown Court charged with the murders of Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, Bebe King, six, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, who died in the knife attack at The Hart Space in Southport shortly before midday on July 29. The killings sparked widespread disorder across England in the ensuing weeks with rioters clashing with police as they attempted to restore order. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Yvette Cooper, the Home Secretary, said: This will be a deeply traumatic and distressing time for the families of Alice, Bebe and Elsie, the survivors, and the people of Southport, and the whole country will be thinking of them. The most important thing for all of us is to ensure that the legal process can take its course, to respect the difficult job the court has to do, so there is a fair trial and justice can be done. There will be a time at the end of this trial to discuss what happened and the action needed in response to this horrific tragedy. But for now, and until the proceedings have concluded, the priority for all of us must be to ensure justice is done. Bebe King, Elsie Dot Stancombe and Alice da Silva Aguiar lost their lives in the attack Yvette Cooper visits Southport in July 2024 - James Speakman/PA Mr Rudakubana is accused of the attempted murders of eight other children, who cannot be named for legal reasons, class instructor Leanne Lucas and businessman John Hayes in the same incident. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He is also charged with possession of a knife on the day of the attack, production of a biological toxin ricin on or before July 29, and possession of information likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing to commit an act of terrorism. The alleged terrorism offence relates to a pdf file entitled Military Studies In The Jihad Against The Tyrants, The Al Qaeda Training Manual, which he is said to have possessed between August 29 2021 and July 30 2024. The ricin, a deadly poison, and the document were found during searches of the home in Old School Close that he shared with his parents, who were originally from Rwanda. On Monday, Jonathan Hall, the independent reviewer of terrorism, said that Prevent may need to be expanded in order to stop those specifically obsessed by violence but without an ideological motivation such as Rudakabana. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement He said it was possible for terrible acts to not necessarily be carried out for terrorism purposes. How do you proactively manage the risk posed by Axel Rudakabana if they are not within the remit of counter-terrorism police because they dont satisfy the definition of terrorism, he said. Who deals with them? That is the key question that authorities are going to have to wrestle with. And Prevent either needs to be expanded or you need to have a separate thing that can catch up these people of high risk. And in addition, counter-terrorism police have got a lot on their plate at the moment, dealing with terrorists, dealing with state threats. Maybe the police need to look as well. What can we do to keep the public free from harm where youve identified these high risk individuals? Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Government sources confirmed that Rudakubana had been referred to Prevent at least once on suspicion of harbouring incel beliefs. Not guilty pleas were entered on behalf of Axel Rudakubana at a previous hearing - Julia Quenzler/REUTERS Last week, the Attorney General warned about the risk of publishing anything which could influence the jury. An advisory issued on Thursday said: While proceedings are active, the Attorney General is reminding editors, publishers and social media users that fair and accurate reporting of legal proceedings held in public in good faith is permitted. However, you may be at risk of being in contempt of court if you publish material or comment online that is inaccurate, unfair or involves discussion or commentary which could influence the jurys deliberations. This includes anything that asserts or assumes, expressly or implicitly, the guilt of Axel Rudakubana. This is due to the risk of potentially jeopardising the criminal trial. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Mr Rudakubana has not spoken during earlier court hearings and not guilty pleas were entered on his behalf when he failed to respond after the charges were put to him. His trial is expected to last up to four weeks. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. (Reuters) -Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Monday congratulated U.S. President Donald Trump on his inauguration and hailed the opportunity to achieve a just peace in his country which has been battling a Russian invasion for almost three years. Trump has repeatedly called for a ceasefire and has promised to promptly end the war, although he did not say how. "President Trump is always decisive, and the peace-through-strength policy he announced provides an opportunity to strengthen American leadership and achieve a long-term and just peace, which is the top priority," Zelenskiy said on X. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Ukraine sees cultivating close ties with the incoming Trump administration as a key goal and has been making overtures to the Republican following his triumph in November's U.S. election. Zelenskiy said on Monday Ukraine was looking forward to active and "mutually beneficial" cooperation with the Trump administration. "We are stronger together, and we can provide greater security, stability, and economic growth to the world and our two nations," he added. Speaking later in his nightly video address, Zelenskiy described Trump as a "strong person" able to provide the impetus needed to press ahead with efforts to achieve peace. "This is an opportunity that must be seized," he said. (Reporting by Yuliia Dysa and Ron Popeski; Editing by Alison Williams, Jan Harvey and David Gregorio) President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy has congratulated Donald Trump on once again taking the office of US president. Source: Zelenskyy on X (Twitter), as reported by European Pravda Details: In his statement, Zelenskyy praised Trump's determination and highlighted that his policy of peace through strength provides an opportunity to bolster American leadership and achieve long-term and just peace. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Quote: "This century is being shaped right now and we must all work together to ensure that it is a great and successful century for democracies, not those who want us to fail." More details: He wished Trump success and expressed hope for "active and mutually beneficial cooperation". Quote: "We are stronger together, and we can provide greater security, stability, and economic growth to the world and our two nations." Background: Donald Trump has become the second US president in history to serve two non-consecutive terms. By the end of his second term, he will be 82 years old, making him the oldest president in US history. It was previously reported that on his first day back in office, Trump plans to sign several executive orders, including reinstating the federal death penalty and mandating that official documents require citizens to indicate their gender as assigned at birth. In his inaugural address, Trump declared the beginning of the "golden age of America" and stated that during the assassination attempt in the summer of 2024, "I was saved by God to make America great again." Support UP or become our patron! COMPANY NEWS: Australias first independent think tank dedicated to technology policy, the Tech Policy Design Institute (TPDi) has been launched today. Founded by three female tech leaders Johanna Weaver, Zoe Jay Hawkins and Sunita Kumar TPDi says its mission is to shape technology for the benefit of humanity through independent research, innovative education, public commentary, and community building. TPDi notes that its launch comes at a pivotal time as Australia considers regulation of artificial intelligence, privacy, and accountability of digital platforms - and compounding this, our region is at the nexus of the accelerating global tech race and increasing geostrategic tension. TPDi CEO and Co-Founder Johanna Weaver said TPDis establishment fills a gap in Australia, by providing an informed and independent voice that will bring together societal, security, economic and environmental perspectives on technology and its impact on our lives. Young peoples use of social media, digital identity, cyber security, and technology's impact on democracy, are just some of the tech policy issues on the national agenda in 2025, Weaver said. Weaver explains that the Institute will be underpinned by a new funding mechanism, TPDis Tech Policy Design Fund, which is currently welcoming contributions to support TPDis independent activities - adding that the Funds founding members already include the Department of Industry, Science and Resources, the Department of Finance, Adobe, Amazon, Apple, Atlassian, the Australian Computer Society, Microsoft, and Salesforce. Weaver said the funds full founding membership will be announced at Parliament House on 10 February. TPDi embraces a multi-stakeholder funding model, drawing support from government, industry, philanthropy, and charitable sectors. This approach safeguards our independence by preventing capture by any single group. It allows us to critically engage with all stakeholders, harnessing diverse expertise to co-design practical policy solutions that deliver better outcomes for Australia, Weaver added. TPDis board and group of advisers include Australian and international heavy weights. Inaugural CEO of the Tech Council of Australia Kate Pounder, Australias inaugural Ambassador for Cyber Affairs and Critical Technology Dr Tobias Feakin, and Head of Global Policy and Regulatory Affairs for Atlassian David Masters join Ms Weaver and Ms Hawkins to form TPDis board. TPDis group of special advisers features Brett Solomon, co-founder of global digital rights not-for-profit Access Now; Professor Rod Sims, former Chair of the ACCC; Audrey Tang, Taiwans inaugural Digital Minister, now Cyber Ambassador; Professor Elanor Huntington, CSIRO Executive Director; Julie Inman Grant, Australias eSafety Commissioner; and Frances Haugen, Facebook whistleblower and online safety advocate. TPDi builds on momentum established during three years of incubation as the Tech Policy Design Centre at the Australian National University. Having now spun out of the university and established as an independent not-for-profit, TPDi will continue to work with government, industry and civil society to: Design best practice tech policy through world-leading research Establish a pipeline of leaders that design good tech policy through innovative education Foster informed public debate on tech policy issues in Australia and the Indo-Pacific Convene multi-stakeholder communities to co-design practical tech policy solutions TPDi Chief Strategy Officer and Co-Founder Zoe Jay Hawkins said TPDi will act as a catalyst for more informed and empowering public conversations on how we can all harness policy to shape technology. "Technology impacts every aspect of our lives. Given its rapid evolution, its easy to feel like we have little control over where technology is headed, but we dont have to passively accept the status quo. We can - and must - shape technology through the power of policy," Hawkins added. While headquartered in Canberra, TPDi collaborates with leading organisations around the world, deepening Australias position as a global leader in tech policy. About the Tech Policy Design Institute TPDi is Australias first non-partisan, independent think tank dedicated to advancing best practice technology policy in Australia and around the world. Through cutting-edge research, professional education, public commentary and convening the tech policy community, the TPDi shapes technology for the benefit of humanity. Learn more at www.techpolicy.au About the Founders Johanna Weaver is CEO of TPDi. Johanna is a reformed commercial litigator, a recovering diplomat, and a reluctant public intellectual. In 2021 she founded TPDis predecessor, the Tech Policy Design Centre, after concluding her term as Australias independent expert and chief cyber negotiator at the United Nations. She has been appointed to numerous boards, including the ICRC Global Advisory Board on Protecting Civilians from Digital Threats, and the Minister for Government Services Independent Advisory Board. Zoe Jay Hawkins is Chief Strategy Officer of TPDi. Zoe brings extensive experience designing tech policy from government, big tech, academic and think tank perspectives. Zoe worked for the Australian government across communications, innovation, and foreign policy portfolios, as a ministerial adviser and in the public service. She is a Research Associate at the University of Oxford and an expert researcher for the OECD, having started her career at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute. Sunita Kumar is Chief Operating Officer of TPDi. An award-winning business entrepreneur and seasoned leader, Sunita blends decades of expertise in operations, governance, policy implementation, and people management across sectors. She thrives at the intersection of strategy and execution. Sunita is passionate about building resilient systems and thriving teams to advance TPDis mission for impactful tech policy. Nokia has been selected by Dutch government owned offshore transmission systems operator TenneT to provide the optical networking technology for eight new 2GW wind energy platforms in the Dutch North Sea. TenneT has commissioned three consortia Petrofac and Hitachi Energy consortium, GE Vernova-Seatrium consortium and GE Vernova-McDermott consortium to deliver the 2GW offshore converter platforms and onshore grid land stations. The program is a key component of the European energy transition, as the platforms will bring significant renewable energy volumes from offshore wind farms to the shore. To facilitate the operation of the wind parks behind the 2GW platforms and operate the unmanned platforms, TenneT needs to have a mission critical communication network in place. Nokias 1830 PSS DWDM solution will be used to establish an optical network connecting the offshore sites to TenneTs onshore telecommunications infrastructure. "This network will enable TenneT to monitor and manage these remote platforms, ensuring continuous, reliable energy transmission," Nokia says. As part of the deployment, Nokia will deliver advanced amplification and transponder technologies to support long-distance transmission, single-span unrepeatered transmission of up to 400 km. The solution includes Nokias extended reach amplification systems to maintain reliable optical transport across the challenging offshore environment in the North Sea. Nokia will also provide design, testing, and operational care, during each phase of construction and long-term operation. As we expand our offshore energy infrastructure, connectivity becomes more important than ever," said Marco Kuijpers, Director Large Projects Offshore at TenneT. "The standardised, mission-critical optical network delivered by Nokia plays a central role in enabling the seamless operation and management of our 2GW platforms, allowing us to operate remotely. "With partnerships like this, Nokia is helping us towards a more independent energy supply and to advance towards the global goals for tripled renewable energy deployment set during the COP28 climate talks. James Watt, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Optical Networks business at Nokia, said the vendor is supporting TenneT in providing reliable green energy to millions of homes across the Netherlands and Europe with standardised high-performance optical networking technology. At Nokia we know that theres no green without digital," Watt said. "This project demonstrates that principle in action." The implementation of Nokias optical networking solution will begin in early 2025, with full operational readiness of the first 2GW platform by 2029. Today Windy. A steady rain this morning, with showers continuing this afternoon. High 66F. Winds WSW at 25 to 35 mph. Chance of rain 80%. Winds could occasionally gust over 40 mph. Tonight Partly cloudy. Gusty winds diminishing after midnight. Low 48F. Winds W at 20 to 30 mph. Winds could occasionally gust over 40 mph. Tomorrow Cloudy skies. High 64F. Winds SW at 10 to 15 mph. State railway company MAV has decided to cancel the public procurement process for the Rakosrendezo development area in the 14th District, citing resource constraints. Minister of Construction and Transport Janos Lazar last week outlined ten commitments aimed at improving MAV Group services, which require significant resources. As a result, he said, remediation, demolition, and waste removal activities will not take place, and the development area, separate from railway operations, will probably be sold as-is. MAV had announced a Ft 14 billion tender, for the Rakosrendezo site in the summer of 2024, with plans to transform it into a luxury district akin to Dubai. The development was linked to Arab developers, known for their work on the Burj Khalifa building in Dubai, with expectations that work might have commenced as early as September. ********************************* You're very welcome to comment, discuss and enjoy more stories via our Facebook page: Facebook.com/XpatLoopNews + via XpatLoops groups: Budapest Expats / Expats Hungary You can subscribe to our newsletter here: XpatLoop.com/Newsletters Do you want your business to reach tens of thousands of potential high-value expat customers? Then just contact us here. New Delhi: Japanese auto major Toyota will launch electric vehicles in India, as part of its multi-technology approach towards combating carbon emission in the country, which EVs alone cannot tackle, according to top officials of the company's Indian arm. The company feels that under the current circumstances, strong hybrid is the most practical solution supplemented by other technologies, including electric, flex fuel, electrified flex fuel, and plug-in hybrid in India, Toyota Kirloskar Motor & Lexus India, Deputy Managing Director - Sales-Service-Used Car, Tadashi Asazuma said. "India itself is one of the most important country markets that we recognise. So in terms of the technologies, we are thinking of how to contribute to the Indian auto market, what will best suit India. "However, as of now, we think that the strong hybrid is a kind of practical answer to start with," he said here in an interview on the sidelines of the Auto Expo held as part of the Bharat Mobility Global Expo 2025. Elaborating further, Toyota Kirloskar Motor Executive Vice President & Country Head Vikram Gulati said the company has a multi pathway corridor ranging from a battery electric to hydrogen, plug-in hybrid and flex fuels. "Our approach is that we feel we have to tackle the problem of carbon (emission) and energy at a much faster scale. For that, everything is needed, including electric, flex fuel, flex fuel-electrified, hybrid, plug-in hybrid, because all consumers don't have the same need," Gulati noted. When asked about Toyota's plans for a full-electric vehicle in India, "Of course, we are thinking. However, as we have repeatedly said as a solution (EV) is not the only answer. We have many answers." He said EVs have seen a slowdown in the global market in the recent past, which may or may not happen in India and the company would first like to "check the customer preferences". "We will... But as a corporate policy we do not spell out," Gulati said when asked if Toyota will launch EV in India and how soon, considering Suzuki, with which the company has a product and technology partnership globally, has introduced its electric SUV e VITARA. He asserted that in terms of EV technology availability, "it is not a challenge at all as Toyota had it since 1996". At the expo, TKM showcased the all-electric 'bZ4X' and 'URBAN BEV' concept besides other fuel technologies as part of its multi-pathway approach towards driving carbon neutrality. When asked if Toyota is considering bringing more vehicles in SUVs, MPVs, and bigger sized cars as the Indian market is moving towards those, Asazuma said, "Why not? If there is a customer trend, we would like to meet those." He further said, "That is the reason why we are enhancing our production capacity after seeing this kind of momentum and how we can provide the best cars." Gulati said Toyota Kirloskar Motor had recently announced a major investment of Rs 3,300 crore for a third line at the Bidadi plant in Karnataka. It will increase the production capacity at the plant by 1 lakh units annually taking it to 4.4 lakh units per annum when fully operational by 2026. New Delhi: China's electric vehicle major BYD is keen to have manufacturing operations in India as soon as 'all factors' suggest a 'go ahead' and the plan is under constant evaluation, according to a top official of the company's Indian arm. Despite the political tension between India and China resulting in visa issues, the company has not felt any impact of it on its operations in the country and has also found acceptance of its products from the 'pragmatic' Indian customers, BYD India Head of Electric Passenger Vehicles (EPV) Business Rajeev Chauhan said. In an interaction on the sidelines of the Auto Expo held as part of the Bharat Mobility Global Expo 2025, he said the company, which unveiled its premium electric SUV SEALION 7, will be considering the homologation route for more models to be able to sell more vehicles in India. "These kinds of plans, manufacturing plans are constant evaluation which we are doing...We are keen, we would love to do that as soon as all factors suggest that go ahead you don't have any limitations about that," Chauhan said when asked about BYD's manufacturing plans in India. In 2023, BYD's plans to set up an EV and battery manufacturing plant in India at an investment of USD 1 billion Hyderabad-based Megha Engineering and Infrastructures Ltd was not approved by the Indian government. Chauhan said at present the company does not have "any manufacturing contract" in India, adding at the moment there is no timeline when BYD could start manufacturing operations in India. When asked if visa restrictions by India on Chinese nationals have had an impact on the company's operations, Chauhan said, "I really don't think so. We are sitting in India, we have Indian people working. So, we have a very close coordination, communication with them happening almost on a daily basis.". Referring to recent reports on easing up on visas for Chinese visiting India, he said, "There is some opening up happening for the technical experts from China, they can come into India...What we sense is that there is an easing up on visa (restriction)". Responding to a query on whether the response of Indian consumers has changed since the days when Chinese firms faced a backlash during India-China border clash a few years back, he said, "I think Indian consumers are pragmatic and the evidence is in the form of the response that we are getting." He further said, "Personally I have not really seen any customers saying that 'because of being Chinese, I would not buy'. They really test, evaluate and see which car is suiting them, which car is trustworthy in terms of performance and product. I have never really experienced such kind of sentiment.". In 2024, he said BYD India sold around 3,500 units and "2025 has to be better for sure and that is the bare minimum expectation" with four models to offer in the market. The premium electric SUV SEALION 7 will add to the company's existing portfolio of mid sized SUV Atto 3, premium sedan SEAL, MPV eMAX7. Chauhan said with the Atto 3 homologated in India, it removes the cap on the total number of units that can be imported as completely built unit and the eMAX 7 is also in the process for homologation. Homologation is the process of certifying vehicles for roadworthiness under rules specified by the government for all vehicles made or imported in the country through a certified agency. BYD India has been importing its eMAX 7 and SEAL sedan under the Economic Commission for Europe (ECE) vehicle certification, under which the SEALION 7 will also be imported. This puts a cap on the total number of vehicles allowed to be imported to 2,500 units across models. With students soon returning to school after the summer holidays, many with their own mobile phones for the first time, lots of parents will be navigating new conversations with their teens about how to stay safe online as the new school year begins. Here's guidance how to broach the topic, from Snapchat's global head of platform safety Jacqueline Beauchere. As much as you want to help your teen be safe online as they enter the digital world, understanding digital safety can be daunting, and its often hard for parents and carers to know how to approach what can be a tricky topic for families to tackle. Yet, it is a valuable and important conversation. Happily, Snapchat global head of platform safety Jacqueline Beauchere has guidance for parents, caregivers, and teachers on how to initiate an online safety conversation with teens. From the beginning, we designed Snapchat to be different from more traditional social media to help people connect with close friends and family without many of the pressures they felt on other platforms. Our goal is to provide a healthier and safer environment for all Snapchatters, especially the youngest members of our community. Our approach to safety and privacy starts with the unique design of our platform and includes extra safeguards for teens. Id encourage all families to have regular and relaxed conversations about online safety, and recommend that parents of younger Snapchatters make use of our Family Centre tools, which aim to help make these conversations a little easier, Beauchere said. Take an interest Acknowledging how important a teens digital life is to them is a crucial first step. Taking an interest and initiating conversation can make young people feel understood and supported by a trusted guardian whos always there to chat. How does this work? Learning about your teen's favourite apps and games can help you understand how to support them having a healthier and safer experience online. Snapchats guide for parents explains what Snapchat is, how parents can use the app and our rules to help keep people safe. Help them understand You might not be a tech expert or know every platform or app, but you can help your teen understand how actions online may impact them in the real world. Understanding the risks of talking to strangers and even sharing with friends and why its important to protect personal information are life skills we all need to know, online and off. eSafety in Australia has great resources for parents and young people . Respect boundaries Its natural to be concerned about what your teen is doing online, especially if theyd rather you didnt add them on a platform. Setting boundaries that aim to balance your teens privacy while focusing on their safety is challenging yet fundamental. Devices, platforms and services have a range of parental settings on offer. Look into whats available on the apps your teen loves and explore ways to build trust by discussing these tools and agreeing with your teen on how to use them. Snapchats Family Centre suite of tools allows parents and carers to set parameters while still respecting a teen's privacy. Listen and hear, don't judge Be mindful of your reaction if your teen comes to you looking for help. They might be embarrassed, ashamed, upset or scared, so let them know you are there to help, no matter what. Listen, hear, ask questions and work to determine the best approaches together. Help them understand what went wrong and how they might avoid tricky situations in the future. Report it, dont ignore it Encourage your teen to confidentially report any concerns to the platform or service involved, so they can take action. Snapchats Family Centre tools allow parents to report accounts directly. In Australia, reports can also be made to eSafety or the Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation (ACCCE). It can be overwhelming to keep across online trends and how platforms work, but Snapchats research found that Australian teens whose parents regularly checked in on their online and social media activities enjoyed better digital wellbeing. More tips and guidance can be found on Snapchats easy-to-understand Parents Guide. "With so much of our lives spent online, its important for teens to feel equipped with the skills and knowledge needed to help them navigate digital spaces safely and responsibly. Regular, open conversations with your teens about their online activities can help to foster safer and more enriching digital experiences, while also providing an open channel for them to raise any challenges or concerns. Id also encourage parents, guardians and teachers to familiarise themselves with the key platforms their teens are using, including any reporting tools and parental controls like Snapchats Family Centre, Beauchere said. Maharashtra SSC Board Exam 2025: The Maharashtra State Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education, Pune, has released the Class 10 (SSC) hall tickets today, January 20, 2025. School authorities can download the admit cards on behalf of students from the official website, mahahsscboard.in, by using their login credentials. Students must collect their hall tickets from their respective schools. The Maharashtra SSC exams 2025 will take place from February 21 to March 17, 2025, as per the official schedule. Students must bring their hall tickets to the exam hall to gain entry. The exams will begin with the language paper and end with the social sciences paper. They will be conducted in two shifts: the morning shift from 11:00 am to 2:00 pm and the afternoon shift from 3:00 pm to 6:00 pm. However, some exams will run from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm. As per the official notice, certain details on the Maharashtra Board SSC Hall Ticket 2025, such as names, mothers name, date of birth, or birthplace, can be corrected. To make changes, candidates must pay the required fee. Once approved by the divisional board, the updated hall ticket will be available for download through the Correction Admit Card link. For changes related to subjects or mediums, schools are required to directly contact the divisional board. Maharashtra SSC Board Exam 2025: Steps to download here Go to the official website: mahahsscboard.in. Click on the link for "SSC Hall Ticket 2025" on the homepage. Enter the login credentials and submit. The Maharashtra SSC Hall Ticket 2025 will be displayed on the screen. Download the hall ticket. Print it and distribute it to the students. The Maharashtra SSC Hall Ticket 2025 will be printed and distributed by the affiliated higher secondary schools and junior colleges to the students who are appearing for the exam. Students will not have to pay any extra fee for the hall ticket, as stated by the board. For students whose applications are marked as Paid, the hall ticket will be available under the Paid Status Admit Card section. Students with late applications or additional seat numbers can download their hall tickets from the Extra Seat No Admit Card section. New Delhi: Jackie Shroff opens up about his deep connection to Mumbai's underbelly while discussing his role in Chidiya Udd, Amazons latest crime drama. The series, adapted from Aabid Surti's novel Cages, takes viewers into the hidden corners of Mumbai, exploring the gritty world of crime, survival, and the citys raw realities. Jackie, who grew up in a chawl and spent time with people facing the harsh side of the city, shares, Growing up, I was deeply familiar with the underbelly of the city, having spent considerable time there watching films, eating, and socializing with individuals from individuals who have experienced the hard times there. Growing up in a chawl myself, the experiences and struggles of that community are ingrained in me. When the opportunity arose to showcase this often-overlooked side of our city's central and middle areas, it felt natural to draw from my own experiences and bring an authentic portrayal to life. Alongside Jackie, the crime thriller stars Bhoomika Meena and Sikandar Kher in pivotal roles, and is directed by Ravi Jadhav, with Harman Baweja and Vicky Bahri as producers. Chidiya Udd promises to be an electrifying look into Mumbais shadowy world. The series is available for streaming exclusively on Amazon MX Player via its mobile app, Prime Video, Fire TV, and connected TVs. New Delhi: Mona Singh, known for her magical screen presence and exceptional performances, is currently shooting for the much-anticipated Kohrra Season 2. While filming, she has found a new companion in the form of a little puppy named Rani, who has quickly become a favorite on set. A source close to the production shared, "The Kohrra Season 2 team discovered the puppy during the shoot and decided to name her Rani. Due to the chilly weather in Delhi, Rani spends her days in Mona Singhs vanity van, staying warm. Shes become very attached to Mona, and everyone on set has grown quite fond of her." Mona, whose career has consistently dazzled with outstanding roles, has an exciting lineup ahead. She will star in Pan Parda Zarda, a gripping drama, and Ma KaSum, a project that showcases her emotional depth. Fans can also look forward to her in Kohrra Season 2, where she is set to shine in this highly awaited thriller, along with Made In Heaven 3, where her portrayal of Bulbul Jauhari continues to captivate audiences and critics alike. In the first evidence that deceased Bengaluru techie Atul Subhash's son is fit and fine, the four-year-old was produced before the Supreme Court for the first time via video link after the same was demanded by the bench hearing the plea. Since the death of Subhash, his family - grandparents of the kid - have been demanding custody of the child and even moved to the apex court for the same. The Supreme Court on Monday rejected a plea by the grandmother of a child, who had sought custody from the child's mother, Nikita Singhania. The grandmother claimed that her daughter-in-law was not disclosing the child's whereabouts. A Bench comprising Justice BV Nagarathna and Justice Satish Chandra Sharma spoke with the child and decided that he should remain with his mother. Consequently, the grandmother's request was dismissed, and the Court stated it would not entertain her plea. Earlier in the day, the Supreme Court directed Nikita Singhania to bring her minor son before the court. "This is a habeas corpus petition. We want to see the child. Produce the child," the bench said. The court was informed that the child had dropped out of school in Haryana and was currently living with his mother. The bench was hearing a petition filed by Anju Devi, the grandmother, who sought custody of her four-year-old grandson through a habeas corpus plea. On January 7, the Supreme Court denied Anju Devi custody of the child, stating that she was a "stranger to the child." The case stems from the tragic death of Atul Subhash, a 34-year-old Bengaluru software engineer who died by suicide. In a detailed suicide note and video, he accused his estranged wife, Nikita Singhania, and her family of harassment and filing false cases against him, which he said drove him to take his own life. Mahakumbh Nagar: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said on Sunday that several dignitaries, including President Droupadi Murmu, Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and Union Home Minister Amit Shah are expected to attend the Maha Kumbh Mela in the coming days. Given the upcoming Republic Day as well as Mauni Amavasya, and Basant Panchami Amrit Snans, CM Yogi has directed officials to enhance crowd management and communication systems in the Mahakumbh Mela area. He emphasised the need for robust security arrangements during the Amrit Snan on Mauni Amavasya and Basant Panchami. The Chief Minister reviewed the Mela area in Prayagraj on Sunday. Later, he held a meeting with the officials and gave necessary guidelines regarding further arrangements. He said, For better crowd management on special days, movement on the pontoon bridges should be kept one-way. The entire Mela area should be declared a no-vehicle zone on Mauni Amavasya and Basant Panchami. The sentiments of the devotees must be respected, and officials should proactively assist anyone in need. He directed that all necessary preparations for these events should be completed on time. The Chief Minister stated that the state cabinet meeting is scheduled to be held here on January 22. During the meeting held at the ICCC auditorium, the Chief Minister stated that approximately 1.5 crore devotees are currently present in the fairgrounds, and over 7 crore people have already taken a holy dip at Triveni. He highlighted that the massive turnout during Paush Purnima and Makar Sankranti was well-managed, and every visitor left satisfied. The Chief Minister estimated that 8 to 10 crore people are expected to visit on the occasion of Mauni Amavasya. Additionally, large crowds are anticipated on Republic Day. He emphasised the need for robust arrangements to ensure the convenience and safety of the visitors. The Chief Minister directed officials to ensure uninterrupted electricity and water supply, proper maintenance of toilets and cleanliness, upkeep of pontoon bridges, and a well-planned crowd management strategy. He emphasised the need for consistent publicity of traffic management and parking arrangements to keep visitors well-informed. The Chief Minister emphasised the need to improve mobile network services in the fair area, stating that reliable connectivity is essential for everyone, including the media, police, and devotees. He stressed the importance of enhancing tower capacity and coverage, especially in view of Mauni Amavasya. The Chief Minister instructed that arrangements should be made to ensure devotees can bathe at the nearest ghats to their approach points, minimising the distance they need to walk. Addressing railway officials, the Chief Minister highlighted the vital role of railways in ensuring smooth operations. Referring to the experience of Makar Sankranti, he stated that after bathing, devotees wish to return to their destinations promptly, necessitating the operation of Mela Special Trains throughout the day. He suggested having separate railway stations for routine trains and Mela Special Trains and proposed that routine trains be diverted or cancelled wherever feasible. The Chief Minister directed railway authorities to implement special arrangements from January 25 to February 5 with utmost vigilance. He also stressed the importance of regular announcements about train schedules and platform numbers, ensuring that once a platform is assigned, it remains unchanged. Railway officials informed the Chief Minister that over 200 Mela Special Trains are planned for Mauni Amavasya. Additionally, the Chief Minister instructed the Transport Corporation to increase the number of shuttle buses and ensure their continuous operation to accommodate the large influx of devotees. CM Yogi instructed officials to improve infrastructure and basic facilities across various sectors, emphasising the need for better drinking water supply and toilet arrangements in sectors related to Prayagraj. He stressed the importance of ensuring that Kalpvasis face no difficulties and directed authorities to prioritise their needs. The Chief Minister also highlighted the need for effective coordination with local organisations for the smooth operation of the digital Lost and Found Centres. Additionally, he directed officials to set up bonfires at various locations in the Mela area to provide warmth and to ensure the safety of the ghats. He emphasised the active presence of the Water Police and Ganga Doots to maintain security and assist devotees effectively. (Also Read: LIVE Updates | Maha Kumbh Mela 2025: Over 8.26 Crore Devotees Take Holy Dip At Triveni Sangam, Say'The Government Has Truly...;' Check New Traffic Rules) External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar is attending the inauguration of Donald Trump as the 47th US President on Monday, January 20, 2025. Sources told PTI Jaishankar who is representing Prime Minister Narendra Modi as his special envoy is carrying a letter from the Indian PM for President Trump. External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar attended a prayer service at St. Johns Church earlier in the day. Privileged to represent India as External Affairs Minister and Special Envoy of PM at the Swearing-In Ceremony of the 47th President of the United States of America today in Washington DC, Jaishankar wrote on X. The external affairs minister's attendance at the presidential inauguration follows India's practice of sending special envoys for such events, sources said. In May 2023, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh attended the Nigerian president's swearing-in. Similarly, in November 2023, then Earth Sciences Minister Kiren Rijiju represented India at the Maldivian president's inauguration, sources added. Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari attended the swearing-in of Iran's president in July last year, sources said. Minister of State for External Affairs Pabitra Margherita attended the oath ceremonies of Indonesia's and Mexico's presidents in October 2024. In June 2022, then MoS for External Affairs Raj Kumar Ranjan Singh attended the swearing-in of the Philippines' president, they added. The inauguration will start at noon ET (10:30 PM IST) at the US Capitol, following the 20th Amendment. Vice President-elect JD Vance will first take the oath, administered by Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh. Chief Justice John Roberts will then swear in Donald Trump as president, marking the start of his second term. Trump will deliver his inaugural address, outlining his vision for his return to office. The ceremony is expected to draw global attention. Bhubaneswar: A recent Geological Survey of India study has indicated the presence of lithium a widely used metal in the production of glass, aluminum products and batteries in some districts of Odisha, a senior GSI official said on Sunday. Lithium reserves have earlier been found in parts of Karnataka and Jammu and Kashmir, he said. As such there is no major finding, but there are some indications of lithium presence (in Odisha). We are in a very preliminary stage, and therefore, should not make any claim. However, speaking geologically, some indications are there in the Eastern Ghat belt like in Nayagarh, Deputy DG of GSI Pankaj Kumar said. Kumar was speaking on the sidelines of a GSI meeting here ahead of the two-day National Mines Ministers' Conference in Konark, which commences on Monday. If Lithium is found in Odisha, it can pave the way for the establishment of electric vehicle manufacturing units in the state, an official said. Speaking to reporters, Union Mines Secretary V L Kantha Rao said the GSI is conducting surveys of mineral deposits in Odisha through various methods, including the use of drones. The scientific agency has also started using artificial intelligence along with drones to locate valuable mineral resources, including lithium and copper, he said. Through the use of drone-based technologies, things are getting easier and faster now, Rao said. On a pilot basis, we have undertaken two projects in India. One is in Rajasthan and another in Odisha's Mayurbhanj district, he said, adding, mineral survey activities will also be intensified in districts where mining operations were halted for many years. Odisha's mining operations have become a model for the entire country, he said. The mines ministers' conference is of immense significance, as Odisha contributes nearly 50 per cent of the minerals, Rao said. Meanwhile, addressing the 64th meeting of the Central Geological Programming Board (CGPB) here, Rao, who is also the chairman of the board, emphasised the platform's vital role in fostering collaboration and advancing geosciences. He also outlined key initiatives of the Ministry of Mines, aligned with two significant recent budgetary announcements on Critical Mineral Mission and Offshore Mining. Rao highlighted the successful auction of 24 critical mineral blocks so far in 2024-25 and the launch of India's first-ever auction of 13 offshore mineral blocks. He urged exploration agencies to utilise the NMET (National Mineral Exploration Trust) funding to enhance mineral exploration efforts and execution of research and development projects. Rao also underscored new initiatives to issue more exploration licenses, enabling private agencies to contribute to the mineral exploration landscape. NEW DELHIL Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday congratulated Republican Party member Donald Trump on his return to the White House for a historic second term. Trump took the oath as the 47th President of the US during a programme held at the Capitol Rotunda. Taking to X, PM Modi wrote: Congratulations my dear friend President @realDonaldTrump on your historic inauguration as the 47th President of the United States! I look forward to working closely together once again, to benefit both our countries and to shape a better future for the world. Best wishes for a successful term ahead." Congratulations my dear friend President @realDonaldTrump on your historic inauguration as the 47th President of the United States! I look forward to working closely together once again, to benefit both our countries, and to shape a better future for the world. Best wishes for a January 20, 2025 Trump was administered the oath of office by Chief Justice John Roberts. Outgoing President Joe Biden and Trump rode together to the US Capitol for the latter's oath-taking programme after a traditional tea ceremony at the White House along with their wives, Kamala Harris and her successor J.D. Vance and their spouses. Jill Biden and Melania Trump rode together to the Capitol in a separate car as did Kamala Harris and her successor J.D. Vance. This is only the second instance of the swearing-in taking place indoors -- the last time was in 1985 when President Ronald Reagan took the oath for his second term. Earlier, Biden welcomed Trump to the White House for a traditional tea ceremony with two words: Welcome home, according to media reports. Guests for the swearing-in had begun arriving at the Capitol Rotunda where the ceremony took place; indoors instead of the traditional venue outside. This was only the second instance of the swearing-in took place indoors; the last time was in 1985 when President Ronald Reagan took the oath for his second term. Trump's return to the White House is also only the second time for an American President to serve two non-consecutive terms. The first was Grover Cleveland at the end of the 19th century. The swearing-in was attended by Trump's nominees to the cabinet such as Marco Rubio, for secretary of state, who is expected to be the first to be confirmed, as early as Monday. Trump started Monday's inauguration proceedings by attending a private service at St John's Church with the incoming first lady Melania Trump, J.D. Vance and wife Usha Vance and some members of the cabinet. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Amazon's Jeff Bezos, Apple's Tim Cook, Tesla and Space X's Elon Musk, and Google's Sundar Pichai also attended the swearing-in ceremony. Former President Bill Clinton and his wife Hillary Clinton, former President George W Bush and his wife Laura Bush, and former President Barack Obama minus his wife Michelle Obama attended the oath-taking ceremony as is the tradition, which was broken by President Trump who skipped Biden's inauguration in 2021. The Sealdah court begins hearing on RG Kar's rape-murder case and likely to pronounce the quantum of punishment to the convict soon. This verdict going to come after the court found Sanjay Roy guilty in the rape and murder case on January 18. As per ANI, Security has been intensified with two deputy commissioners of Kolkata Police, five assistant commissioners, 14 inspectors, 31 sub-inspectors, 39 assistant sub-inspectors, 299 constables, and 80 women police personnel deployed on the ground. On Saturday, a Kolkata court pronounced accused Sanjay Roy guilty of rape-murder of a junior doctor at Kolkatas RG Kar hospital last year. Additional District and Sessions Judge Anirban Das delivered the verdict after a 57-day in-camera trial. In the court, Accused Sanjay said, "I have been falsely implicated. I have not done this. Those who have done so are being let go. One IPS involved." "I always wear a chain of rudraksh on my neck. If I commited the crime my chain would have been broken in place of occurrence. I can't commit this crime," accused Roy added. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday expressed shock and disappointment over the Kolkata court's life imprisonment of the convict in the RG Kar hospital case. Banerjee said that the state government will approach the Calcutta High Court seeking capital punishment for the convict. Banerjee said that she is convinced that it's a 'rarest of rare' case. "In the R.G. Kar junior doctor's rape and murder case, I am really shocked to see that the judgement of the Court today finds that it is not a Rarest of Rare case! I am convinced that it is indeed a rarest of rare cases which demands capital punishment. How could the judgement come to the conclusion that it is not a rarest of rare cases?" Banerjee said. The Bengal CM said that the state government wants and will insist upon the death penalty in 'this most sinister and sensitive case'. "Recently, in last 3/4 months, we have been able to ensure capital/ maximum punishment for convicts in such crimes. Then, why, in this case, has capital punishment not been awarded? I strongly feel that it is a heinous crime that warrants capital punishment. We will plead for capital punishment of the convict at the High Court now," she added. Speaking to reporters in Murshidabad district, Mamata Banerjee also criticised the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for its probe into the rape-murder of the on-duty medic at the state-run hospital. The Sealdah court, presided by Additional District and Sessions Judge Anirban Das, on Monday sentenced Sanjay Roy to life imprisonment, after convicting him for the rape and murder of the postgraduate trainee doctor at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital on August 9, 2024. The ghastly crime had led to unprecedented and prolonged nationwide protests. Judge Das ruled that the crime did not meet the criteria for the "rarest of the rare" category, which would have warranted the death penalty. On the night of January 19-20, 1990, Baku witnessed one of the most tragic and horrendous events in its modern history. Known as Black January, this massacre saw Soviet troops, under orders from Moscow, launch a brutal crackdown on Azerbaijani civilians demanding independence and freedom from Soviet oppression. Over 170 innocent lives were lost, and hundreds more were injured. This dark chapter not only exposed the ruthless nature of Soviet imperialism but also underscored the indomitable spirit and heroism of the Azerbaijani martyrs who sacrificed their lives for their nation's sovereignty. The Soviet Union's actions on that night were an egregious display of military aggression and a blatant violation of human rights. Deploying tanks and armed forces against unarmed civilians was a desperate and cruel attempt to suppress the growing independence movement in Azerbaijan. The Kremlin aimed to send a clear message: any aspirations for freedom and self-determination would be met with brutal force. However, this act of violence only galvanized the Azerbaijani people, strengthening their resolve to fight for their independence. A Nation's Struggle for Freedom In the late 1980s and early 1990s, the winds of change were sweeping across the Soviet Union. National movements were gaining momentum in various republics, and Azerbaijan was no exception. The Azerbaijani people were increasingly vocal in their demands for independence. The Soviet regime, fearing the dissolution of its empire, responded with force. The events leading up to Black January were marked by escalating tensions and violent clashes. The Azerbaijani population was frustrated with the Soviet government's neglect and the discriminatory policies that favored the Armenian residents in Garabagh. Mass protests erupted, and the calls for independence grew louder. On the night of January 19-20, Soviet troops stormed Baku with tanks and armored vehicles. The indiscriminate violence inflicted upon the civilian population was horrific. Homes were destroyed, families were torn apart, and the streets of Baku were stained with the blood of innocent civilians. The Soviet forces targeted anyone in their path, showing no mercy. Eyewitness accounts describe the sheer brutality of the Soviet troops. They fired indiscriminately into crowds, attacked hospitals, and even ran over civilians with tanks. The massacre was a calculated effort to instill fear and crush the spirit of the Azerbaijani people. However, instead of breaking their will, the Soviet aggression only fueled the determination of the Azerbaijani population to achieve independence. The Heroism of Azerbaijani Martyrs In the face of overwhelming odds, the people of Baku displayed extraordinary bravery and resilience. Unarmed civilians stood their ground, resisting the occupation with nothing but their resolve and a deep-seated desire for freedom. The heroism of the Azerbaijani martyrs who sacrificed their lives on that night is a testament to their unwavering commitment to their nation's sovereignty. The memory of the martyrs of Black January serves as a symbol of national pride and unity. Their sacrifice is a reminder of the cost of freedom and the lengths to which oppressive regimes will go to maintain their grip on power. The Azerbaijani martyrs' courage continues to inspire future generations to uphold the values of independence, justice, and human rights. Russian Aggression The Soviet Union's actions on January 20, 1990, were not only a gross violation of human rights but also a stark reminder of the dangers of unchecked power and imperialism. The international community must hold those responsible for the massacre accountable for their crimes. It is essential to recognize the atrocities committed and ensure that such acts of violence are never repeated. The legacy of Black January is a powerful reminder of the importance of standing up against injustice and fighting for the fundamental rights of all people. The Azerbaijani people have demonstrated that even in the face of overwhelming adversity, the human spirit can prevail. The 20 January massacre in Baku is a somber chapter in Azerbaijan's history, marked by the heroism of its martyrs and the brutality of Soviet aggression. As we remember this tragic event, let us honor the memory of those who sacrificed their lives for their nation's freedom and continue to strive for a world where justice and human rights prevail. The spirit of the Azerbaijani martyrs will forever inspire us to stand up against oppression and fight for a better future. The Supreme Court on Monday stayed trial court proceedings against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in a criminal defamation case filed against him for allegedly making defamatory remarks about Union Home Minister Amit Shah during the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. The defamation case was initiated by BJP worker Naveen Jha, who filed a complaint in 2019 after Gandhi, during a public rally in Chaibasa, Jharkhand, allegedly referred to Amit Shah as a murderer. The remarks, Jha claimed, were defamatory and damaging to Shah's reputation. A bench comprising Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta issued notices to the Jharkhand government and Naveen Jha, seeking their responses to Gandhis appeal. Gandhi challenged a Jharkhand High Court order that had earlier rejected his plea to quash the trial court proceedings in the case. The alleged remarks made by Gandhi during the 2019 election campaign were brought to the court's attention by the BJP worker, who argued that they constituted criminal defamation under Indian law. The trial proceedings in a Jharkhand court had gained momentum before the Supreme Court's intervention on Monday. Mumbai: Kangana Ranaut, who is currently earning praise for her performance in Emergency, recently opened up about being approached for Sanjay Leela Bhansalis Padmaavat. In an interview, the actress revealed why she turned down the role, later played by Deepika Padukone. Kangana recalled that Bhansali approached her to play the lead role of Rani Padmavati. However, when she requested the script, the filmmaker declined, stating that he doesnt share scripts. Curious about the role, Kangana asked about the characters arc, to which Bhansali reportedly replied, The heroine in the film has to get decked up all the time. Taking a dig at Deepikas role in the film, Kangana humorously remarked, Maine jab film dekhi toh sach mein heroine sirf tyaar hi ho rahi hoti hai (When I watched the film, I realized the heroine was just getting ready throughout). Kanganas candid take on Padmaavat has amused netizens, who are lauding her wit. Social media is buzzing with comments applauding her humour and calling her the queen of wit. Fans appreciated her for her boldness and her knack for taking on challenging roles, instead of ones that are solely visual spectacles. Interestingly, Kangana isnt the only one with reservations about the film. Shahid Kapoor, who played Maharawal Ratan Singh, has previously expressed dissatisfaction with his character in Padmaavat. In an interview, he admitted, I did not like myself. I was so uptight. I think I got stuck in a headspace. Maybe other people liked me, but I did not. Shahid also shared his experience of feeling like an outsider on set, saying, Im used to being the favourite of my filmmakers. This was the first time I felt like an outsider. The team had worked together before, and it took time for me to break through that barrier. Known for her fearless attitude and penchant for powerful characters, Kanganas choice to reject Padmaavat aligns with her career trajectory. From Queen to Manikarnika and now Emergency, the actress has consistently chosen roles with depth and substance. Mumbai: The state appointed lawyer of the accused in the Saif Ali Khan stabbing case has said that the claims of the accused being a Bangladeshi national, who illegally came to India, have no clear grounds. The lawyer said that although the accused is a Bangladeshi national but he is not an illegal immigrant, and has his documents in place He also denied the claims of Mumbai police which said that the accused shifted to Mumbai 6 months ago. The lawyer said that the accused has been living in Mumbai since last 7-8 years. This further complicates the already spiralled case as there appear to be several incongruencies originating from the statements of all the parties involved. Saif was stabbed multiple times in an attempt to fight off a burglar during the wee hours of Thursday. The actor sustained six stab wounds, two of which are said to be serious as they are closer to his spine. The incident took place at 2:15 am when the burglar allegedly barged into their Bandra home, and attacked their house help and then Saif when he intervened. Saif was woken up by the commotion in his son Jehs room. He went inside the room to see the culprit arguing with their house help, looking at this, Saif intervened to save the house help with bare hands to fight off the intruder. At the time of incident, his wife Kareena Kapoor Khan was present at home along with other members of the family as they all were sleeping. Later the actors team issued an official statement saying that the actor is stable and is out of danger now. He is being monitored by a team of medical professionals as he sets out on the path of recovery. The actor will be reportedly discharged on January 21. New Delhi: Following the cabinet approval for the formation of 8th Pay Commission latest update, the demand for payment of 18 months-pending Dearness allowance (DA) that had been frozen from January 2020 to June 2021, has yet again gained steam. Gopal Mishra, Secretary, NC JCM, had in a letter to the Ministry of Finance dated January urged for the releasing of 18 months arrears of Dearness Allowance/Release which was frozen during the COVID-19 Pandemic period. "We have been demanding to the Government that in accordance with the judgments of the Honble Supreme Court and also considering the fact that the economic conditions of the country is in a satisfactory level, the 18 months DA / DR arrears due to the Central Government Employees and Pensioners which was frozen during the COVID-19 pandemic period may please be paid back to the employees and Pensioners," he wrote. "The decision to freeze three instalments of Dearness Allowance(DA)/Dearness Relief (DR) to Central Government employees/pensioners due from 01.01.2020, 01.07.2020 and 01.01.2021 was taken in the context of COVID-19, which caused economic disruption, so as to ease pressure on government finances. As the adverse financial impact of pandemic in 2020 and the financing of welfare measures taken by the government had a fiscal spill over beyond FY 2020-21, arrears of DA/DR which mostly pertain to the difficult FY of 2020-21 are not considered feasible," MoS Pankaj Chaudhary Ministry of Finance had informed the Rajya Sabha. "However, an amount of Rs 34402.32 crores had been saved and utilized to tide over the economic impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on account of freezing three installments of Dearnesss Allownace and Dearness Relief payable to Central Government employees and pensioners, he had added. New Delhi: Punjab National Bank (PNB) Saving Account Holders ALERT! If you are also among several PNB consumers who have query as to why the bank has deducted Rs 295 from your savings accounts and the same was not credited back, the reason could be a simple oversight on your behalf. You might have also spotted the aforementioned item in your passbook or bank statement. Owners of PNB accounts could be confused as to why the bank took the money without their knowledge. There is a solution if you have encountered a similar problem. Actually, because of NACH responsibilities, the money was taken out of your account. Let's first understand what is NACH. NACH (National Automated Clearing House) is a funds clearing platform set up by NPCI (National Payments Corporation of India) similar to the existing ECS of RBI. NACH (Debit) & NACH (Credit) aims at facilitating interbank high volume, low/high value debit/credit bulk transactions, which are repetitive/recurring in nature, electronically using the NPCI service. What are the variants of NACH? Primarily there are two variants of NACH NACH Debit & NACH Credit. In the above context, whenever you buy something on EMI or take a loan, the amount gets deducted from your saving account on a fixed date and you are required to keep a sufficient balance in your account from a day in advance of the due date. So, suppose if the EMI is to be deducted on the a particular date, for eg 7th of every month, the amount needs to be in your account from the 6th. For returning charges on return of NACH (debit) on account of insufficient Funds, PNB charges Rs 250 plus GST of 18%. This means, if you fail to maintain sufficient balance, the bank levies a penalty of Rs 295 (Rs 250 + Rs 45 GST. This penalty is for the insufficient balance due to which the NACH EMI mandate got bounced. So, if you want to stop the loss of your money from your saving account, do maintain a sufficient balance in your account if you have mandated NACH for your EMIs. OnePlus Nord 4 5G Discount Price In India: Chinese smartphone brand OnePlus had launched the OnePlus Nord 4 5G in July last year. Now, the smartphone has received a massive discount offer from the e-commerce giant Amazon. The phone was launched with prices starting at Rs 29,999 for the base 8GB RAM + 128GB storage option. The premium segment phone came with 4 years of OS and 6 years of security updates. Furthermore, the OnePlus has also announced generative AI features on Nord 4 like AI clear face, AI eraser and AI summarise. OnePlus Nord 4 5G Discount Price In India The OnePlus Nord 4 is now available at a great discount on Amazon. The 8GB RAM + 256GB storage variant is priced at Rs 28,999, down from its original price of Rs 32,999. The 12GB RAM + 256GB storage variant is listed at Rs 31,999, reduced from Rs 35,999. If you use an ICICI Bank card, you can get an additional Rs 4,000 off on both models. This brings the price down to Rs 24,999 for the 8GB variant and Rs 27,999 for the 12GB variant. OnePlus Nord 4 Specifications The smartphone features a 6.74-inch flat AMOLED display with a peak brightness of 2,150 nits and a smooth refresh rate of up to 120Hz, ensuring vibrant visuals and fluid performance. The phone is powered by the Snapdragon 7+ Gen 3 processor, the phone delivers excellent speed and efficiency. It is equipped with a robust 5,500mAh battery that supports 100W rapid cable charging, allowing it to go from zero to fully charged in just about 30 minutes. For photography, the Nord 4 boasts a 50MP primary camera with OIS, accompanied by an 8MP Sony ultrawide lens, while a 16MP front camera handles selfies with ease. A 19-year-old woman from Gujarat tragically lost her life, and a 29-year-old paragliding pilot was injured following a paragliding accident in Dharamshala, Himachal Pradesh, on Saturday evening; reportedly. The deceased, Bhavsar Khushi, had come to Himachal Pradesh from Ahmedabad with her family for a vacation. According to Additional Superintendent of Police Kangra, Bir Bahadur, Khushi had decided to try paragliding at the Indrunag site. However, just as they were about to take off, the canopy collapsed, causing both Khushi and the pilot to plummet down the hill. Watch Video: Himachal Pradesh: A tragic accident claimed the life of 19-year-old Khushi Bhavsar from Ahmedabad during paragliding in Kangra. The glider went out of control, causing her to fall 60 feet into a gorge.#HimachalPradesh #Gujarat #Paragliding pic.twitter.com/4IwEgeqBV9 Organiser Weekly (@eOrganiser) January 20, 2025 According to reports, Khushi was declared dead at the scene, while the pilot was injured and taken to a nearby hospital for treatment. The body of the victim has been sent to Zonal Hospital Dharamshala and will be handed over to her family after the post-mortem. Donald Trump is prepared to take the oath of office on January 20, marking his return to the White House for a second term as the 47th US President. The swearing-in ceremony follows his victory in the November 5 presidential election. The 78-year-old will be sworn in at 12 PM ET (10:30 PM IST) at the US Capitol in Washington, DC. Chief Justice John Roberts will administer the presidential oath to Donald Trump, while Justice Brett Kavanaugh will oversee the swearing-in of the new vice president, according to the Associated Press. The inauguration ceremony is set to host a high-profile guest list, including global billionaires, foreign leaders, tech moguls, former US presidents, and Hollywood celebrities. Due to harsh winter conditions, the event has been relocated to the Capitol Rotunda. The Capitol Rotunda, known for its historic significance, can accommodate only about 600 attendees, making this a highly exclusive gathering, reported The New York Times. This is for the first time in US history that a president-elect will host foreign leaders during the inauguration ceremony. This marks a departure from tradition, as no heads of state have previously made an official visit to the US for an inaugural event. Trumps Presidential Inauguration/Oath Ceremony: Here Is A List Of Guests Attending World Leaders External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will represent India in Trumps Swearing-in-ceremony to be held on January 20. Chinese President Xi Jinping will not attend the inauguration and instead Chinas Vice President Han Zheng will represent Beijing. Italy Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni Argentina President Javier Milei Japan Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya Ecuador President Daniel Noboa Australia Foreign Minister Penny Wong Reform UK Party leader Nigel Farage Billionaires & Tech CEOs Tesla CEO Elon Musk TikTok CEO Shou Chew Apple CEO Tim Cook Amazon founder Jeff Bezos Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg Google CEO Sundar Pichai Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong OpenAI CEO Sam Altman Former US Presidents Outgoing President Joe Biden Former US President Barack Obama Former US President George W Bush Former US President Bill Clinton Donald Trump's inauguration will be streamed live online by major news networks, including NBC, CNN, ABC, CBS, and Fox News, on platforms such as YouTube, Facebook, and X (formerly Twitter). Donald Trump Oath/Inauguration Ceremony 2025: Donald Trump will be sworn in as the 47th President of the United States on Monday, January 20, 2025, beginning his second term in the White House. The inauguration signals the transfer of power from President Joe Biden back to Trump, marking a significant shift in US leadership. The ceremony will take place at noon, in line with the 20th Amendment of the US Constitution, which mandates the conclusion of a presidential term. Chief Justice John Roberts will administer the oath of office to Trump, while Justice Brett Kavanaugh will swear in the new vice president, reported Associated Press. For the first time in US history, the president-elect will host foreign leaders at the event, showcasing the tradition of a peaceful transfer of power. This adds an international dimension to a moment steeped in American political tradition. After the oath, Trump will deliver his inaugural address, expected to outline his vision for the next four years. His return to the Oval Office is historic, marking one of the most notable comebacks in modern US politics. Trump is only the second US president to regain the presidency after losing re-election, following Grover Cleveland, who served as both the 22nd and 24th president. This rare feat underscores the significance of his political journey. Donald Trump Oath/Inauguration Ceremony Live Streaming: When, Where To Watch LIVE In India As per the 1933 amendment to the U.S. Constitution, U.S. presidential inaugurations occur every four years on January 20, or January 21 if the 20th falls on a Sunday. This year, the inauguration is scheduled for Monday, January 20, 2025. The event will begin at approximately 10:00 PM IST, with the swearing-in ceremony expected around 10:30 PM IST. Donald Trump Inauguration Live Streaming: How To Watch Donald Trumps Inauguration Ceremony Live Viewers can watch Donald Trumps inauguration live online through major news networks. NBC, CNN, ABC, CBS, and Fox News will stream the ceremony on platforms like YouTube, Facebook, and X (formerly known as Twitter). This ensures global audiences have access to one of the most anticipated political events of the year. Donald Trump is set to be sworn in as the 47th U.S. President today, marking a remarkable comeback for a leader who never conceded his 2020 election defeat and faced multiple criminal cases, including a felony conviction. According to PTI reports, shortly after being sworn in as the 47th President of the United States, Donald Trump is expected to sign a series of executive orders on immigration, border security, energy, and governance, a close aide revealed on Sunday. "The breadth of the orders, which would make major changes to immigration, energy and government hiring policies, illustrates the urgency with which Trump and his team plan to launch an ambitious agenda," PTI reported citing the Wall Street Journal. Executive Order An executive order is a directive issued unilaterally by the president that carries the force of law. Unlike legislation, executive orders do not need Congressional approval. While Congress cannot overturn them, they can be challenged in court. In a briefing with senior Republican leaders, Stephen Miller, Trump's incoming White House deputy chief of staff for policy, disclosed that the executive orders will include declaring a state of emergency on the southern border, preparing for military deployment at the borders, classifying cartels as "foreign terrorist organizations," reinstating the "Remain in Mexico" policy, ending the "Catch and Release" policy, and declaring an energy-related emergency. Also included in the list are plans to open offshore and Arctic drilling, expedite pipeline licensing and construction, implement reforms to remove government employees, and rescind DEI and gender-related orders. Previewing the executive orders at Trump's 'victory rally' in downtown Washington, Miller said, "He (Trump) has always been fighting for all of us. And what is that going to look like come Monday afternoon? It's going to mean an executive order ending border invasion, sending illegal immigrants home, and taking America back." "It's going to mean the eradication of criminal cartels and foreign gangs which are preying on our people. It's going to mean justice for every American citizen who has lost a loved one to an illegal alien," Miller added. Trump, 78, is also expected to roll back some of the executive orders and actions of outgoing President Joe Biden. (With PTI Inputs) Donald Trump has once again become the leader of the Worlds most powerful nation. As Trump returns as the 47th President of the United States of America, Pakistan is increasingly worried about his future actions. While India's EAM S Jaishankar represented the country at Donald Trump's swearing-in, Pakistan was not invited to the event that was watched across the globe. In today's DNA, Zee News explains to you why Pakistan is concerned with Trump's return: Watch Full DNA Episode Here During his election campaign, Trump declared that to keep America safe from extremists and Islamic terrorists, he would reintroduce the travel ban on certain countries. In no uncertain terms, Trump announced his determination to crush extremism in the United States and revealed his plan to reinstate the 2017 travel ban order. In January 2017, Trump signed an executive order that banned entry from seven Islamic countries: Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen. Reports suggest that the new travel ban could expand to include 11 nations, potentially adding Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh to the list. Trump has consistently maintained that he wants to entirely halt Muslim immigration to the U.S. Though the U.S. Supreme Court placed a stay on the order in 2018, and President Joe Biden rescinded the travel ban in 2021, Trump is determined to reinstate it. Unsurprisingly, the announcement has already sparked opposition from liberal communities in the U.S. and around the world. However, Trump has a reputation for pushing forward with his plans despite opposition. This time, the ban is causing significant anxiety in Pakistan. With the country already struggling to secure visas due to its tarnished reputation in the Middle East, Trumps policies are expected to make matters worse. Trump has historically maintained a tough stance on Pakistan, further exacerbating their concerns. Pakistani experts are now voicing alarm, stating, "Our new strategic pillar must involve changing our approach to dealing with Pakistan. We can no longer remain silent about Pakistan becoming a haven for terrorists." In summary, Trumps return to power has sent shockwaves through extremist nations, including Pakistan and now Bangladesh, which appears to be a new target for his hardline policies. Donald Trump will be sworn in as the 47th President of the United States on Monday, making a historic return to power after facing impeachments, criminal charges, and assassination attempts. With Republicans leading in Washington, Trump plans to act swiftly, signing executive orders to start deportations, boost fossil fuel production, and reduce civil service protections. The inauguration ceremony will be held in the Capitol Rotunda, while the parade will take place in an arena. However, Trumps supporters are still expected to gather across Washington to witness the event. President-elect Donald Trump has chosen several Indian-Americans for important roles in his second-term Cabinet. This marks a move toward greater diversity in top levels of the U.S. government and shows the rising impact of Indian-American professionals in areas like artificial intelligence and public health. The US Cabinet includes a minimum of 16 positions, consisting of the vice president and the heads of 15 executive departments. Here are the Indian-Americans set to join Trumps second-term administration: Sriram Krishnan: Senior White House Policy Advisor on Artificial Intelligence (AI) Indian-American entrepreneur and venture capitalist Sriram Krishnan has been named the Senior White House Policy Advisor on Artificial Intelligence (AI). Born in Chennai, India, he completed his BTech in Information Technology from SRM Engineering College, Tamil Nadu. He moved to the U.S. in 2005 at age 21. With his technology and venture capital expertise, Krishnan will help shape U.S. AI policies. Vivek Ramaswamy: Leading the Department of Government Efficiency Vivek Ramaswamy, a biotech entrepreneur and author, has been chosen to lead the new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) alongside Elon Musk. Founder of Roivant Sciences, Ramaswamy endorsed Trump in January 2024. Born in 1985 in Cincinnati, Ohio, to parents from Palakkad, Kerala, his leadership aims to bring a business-focused approach to improving federal administration. Harmeet Dhillon: Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon, an American lawyer and Republican Party official, has been appointed Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights at the Department of Justice. Born in Chandigarh, India, in 1969, she moved to the US as a child when her father became an orthopedic surgeon. With her expertise in civil rights law, Dhillon is expected to focus on protecting civil liberties under the Trump administration. Dr. Jay Bhattacharya: Director of National Institute Of Health Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, a Stanford University professor and well-known health researcher, has been named the Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Born in Kolkata in 1968, he gained attention during the COVID-19 pandemic for opposing lockdowns and mask mandates. His appointment suggests a shift toward public health policies emphasizing individual freedoms and targeted measures. Kash Patel: FBI director Patel, a dedicated Trump supporter, is a lawyer who once worked as a federal prosecutor at the US Department of Justice. During Trumps first term, he held key roles, including leading the counterterrorism division at the National Security Council and serving as chief of staff at the Department of Defense. Born in 1980 to Indian immigrant parents who moved from East Africa to Canada in the 1970s before settling in the US, Patel began his career as a public defender in Florida. He later joined the US Justice Department, focusing on prosecuting counter-terrorism cases. The Israel Prison Service announced on Monday the release of 90 Palestinian prisoners as part of a landmark ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas. The deal, which began on Sunday, also saw Hamas release three Israeli hostages after 471 days in captivity. On Sunday, Israeli authorities transferred Palestinian detainees to Ofer Prison in the West Bank in preparation for their release. Crowds gathered in the West Bank town of Beitunia to welcome the freed prisoners. Buses carrying the detainees arrived amidst cheering supporters, with some climbing onto the lead bus to unfurl Hamas flags in celebration. Meanwhile, the International Red Cross facilitated the handover of the three Israeli hostages near the Gaza border. The freed hostagesEmily Damari, 28, a British-Israeli, Doron Steinbrecher, 30, a veterinary nurse, and Romi Gonen, 23, abducted from the Nova music festivalwere reunited with their families after undergoing medical checks. VIDEO: Crowds cheer as freed Palestinian prisoners arrive in West Bank town of Beitunia. The buses held some of the 90 prisoners released as part of the Gaza ceasefire deal that began Sunday and saw three Israeli hostages freed by Hamas. Members of the crowd climbed atop the pic.twitter.com/r0BT82i3Eh January 20, 2025 Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the release a "significant moment," adding, The three went through hell. Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Spokesman Daniel Hagari expressed gratitude for their safe return and assured that the IDF remains vigilant against any potential violations of the agreement. The ceasefire, which aims to bring calm after over 15 months of Israeli airstrikes in Gaza, outlines a phased release of hostages and prisoners over six weeks. In the first stage, Israel agreed to release 90 Palestinian detainees, primarily women and children from the West Bank and East Jerusalem. They underwent medical evaluations and identification before their handover to the Red Cross. Hamas, in turn, transferred three Israeli hostages, with the group committed to releasing a total of 33 Israeli captives during the ceasefire. The deal stipulates that Israel will release between 990 and 1,650 Palestinian prisoners in exchange. Hamas spokesperson Abu Ubaida reaffirmed the groups adherence to the ceasefire, contingent on Israels compliance. He described the October 7 attack, which resulted in the deaths of 1,200 Israelis and the abduction of 250 others, as a "turning point" in the ongoing conflict. The agreement has sparked mixed reactions internationally and domestically. For many, it represents a critical step toward reducing tensions, while others remain skeptical of both parties' long-term commitment to peace. Vivek Ramaswamy, an entrepreneur and former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy is in the spotlight due to reports of his potential departure from the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to pursue a campaign for Ohio governor. Ramaswamy, who endorsed Trump after exiting the 2024 presidential race, is expected to announce his gubernatorial bid soon, possibly by the end of January. His move comes as Ohios political landscape evolves, including the recent appointment of Lieutenant Governor Jon Husted to the U.S. Senate, opening new opportunities in state leadership. Who is Vivek Ramaswamy and his early life Vivek Ramaswamy, born on August 9, 1985, in Cincinnati, Ohio, is a biotech entrepreneur and political thinker known for his outspoken views against "woke" culture and traditional establishments. Rising from a humble background, he has become a key figure in conservative circles. Ramaswamy is also a bestselling author, with books like Woke, Inc., which criticizes corporate activism. His 2024 presidential campaign further solidified his position as a leading conservative voice. In 2024, Ramaswamy ran an energetic campaign for the Republican presidential nomination, promoting an "America First 2.0" vision. His plans to overhaul federal bureaucracy and reform education gained him a loyal supporter base, but he ultimately finished fourth in the Iowa caucuses. Department of Govt efficiency and Trumps second term The Department of Government Efficiency, a key initiative of Trumps second term, focuses on cutting red tape, improving federal operations, and fostering innovation in government. With Ramaswamy and Musk at the helm, it unites two private-sector innovators determined to tackle inefficiency and challenge the norm. The department is gaining attention as teams audit agencies like the Treasury, IRS, and Health and Human Services. Ramaswamy has promoted using artificial intelligence to streamline processes and improve government decision-making. His partnership with Musk aims to drive tech-based reforms, but some critics question whether such bold changes can succeed within the limitations of federal systems. 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Ireland Uruguay, Eastern Republic of Uzbekistan Vanuatu Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of Viet Nam, Socialist Republic of Wallis and Futuna Islands Western Sahara Yemen Zambia, Republic of Zimbabwe Sweden is being touted as an example of a successful fight against COVID-19 without imposing strict social isolation measures. While it is true that Sweden was one of the few countries that did not impose severe lockdown protocols and procedures, how did Sweden fare regarding various COVID-19 outcomes? First of all, it is not true that Sweden took a totally relaxed approach to COVID-19 by keeping all establishments open throughout the pandemic. Swedes were indeed less rigid in their approach at the beginning of the pandemic. However, after a series of local outbreaks, mask-wearing was made more compulsory during the later stages of the pandemic. Swedens initial approach was in stark contrast to other countries in Europe and its Nordic neighbors such as Finland and Norway. Sweden relied on a system of voluntary compliance by the population. Most of the facilities, such as restaurants, public spaces, and schools, remained open in the beginning. It was alleged that Sweden thought at the beginning of the pandemic that COVID-19 would not affect the country just as the earlier SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) pandemic in 2003 had not. SARS progressed from Asia to the Americas but spared most European countries despite grave predictions. In contrast, COVID-19 spread like wildfire in Northern Italy at the end of February 2020. Despite these reports, Sweden relied on an approach focused on herd immunity. Swedes believed that lax controls would result in higher infection rates in the general population and consequent herd immunity. In reality, the results were disappointing: by October 2020, only 5 to 10 percent of the population showed antibody levels that could be translated to immunity to COVID-19. Various institutions in Sweden were generally open in the beginning, yet the public was advised to work from home if possible and to limit travel. Social distancing was recommended but not enforced. People over 70 were advised to self-isolate. These recommendations were mostly voluntary and not strictly imposed like in other countries. It is also a misnomer to characterize that all schools were kept open in Sweden during the entire pandemic. All primary schools (years 19) remained open throughout the pandemic. However, upper secondary schools (years 1012, called gymnasium or high school) and universities were closed until the end of the summer of 2020. The initial laid-back approach gave way to stricter controls when COVID-19 outbreaks occurred in December 2020 and early 2021, despite the initiation of vaccinations. Restrictions were progressively tightened at this time. In early December 2020, high schools were also closed until early January. During the first and second waves of COVID-19, Sweden had a higher number of deaths per million population compared to most of its neighboring countries. Even though Sweden fared better than most European countries during the third wave, the cumulative incidence of deaths due to COVID-19 per million population in Sweden remained high and was rather close to the U.S., which leads the mortality statistics, as seen in the following graph. In contrast, the cumulative mortality in Norway, another Nordic country with which Sweden shares population characteristics and health care systems, was much lower as seen in the graph. There was some controversy about the lowest excess deaths recorded in Sweden during 20202022, indicating a lower excess mortality due to COVID-19. This is controversial, and the estimation of the excess deaths compared to the prior years is a very indirect measure of actual COVID-19 mortality and can be affected by various confounding factors. Because of the variable approach adopted by different countries to document COVID-19 deaths, especially at the beginning of the pandemic with a lack of proper testing, excess deaths during the pandemic period are an inexact measure of actual COVID-19 deaths. Total COVID-19 deaths per million population (20202024) One of the troublesome consequences of Swedens approach was that 40 percent of all COVID-19 cases were recorded in older individuals aged more than 70 years. Most of the deceased lived in long-term care facilities. COVID-19 death rates were also higher among the poorer population. A national COVID-19 commission was established early in the pandemic by the Swedish government to examine how Sweden handled the pandemic. They submitted their final report in 2022. According to the commission, the larger number of deaths in the older population was probably due to increased community transmission facilitated by the lack of rigorous community isolation protocols early in the pandemic. Interestingly, a national ban on visitors to long-term care facilities remained effective from April to October 2020, ostensibly to protect the most vulnerable individuals. This measure was found to have no effect on the transmission of COVID-19 in such facilities, probably because of the lax enforcement and the ability of staff to intermingle with the general population freely. In addition to the laid-back policies, other factors, such as a fragmented and decentralized infection control system, lack of testing supplies, and a higher proportion of the vulnerable population because of milder influenza during the preceding years, were also blamed for the higher number of COVID-19 deaths in elderly individuals. Although the committee faulted the government for slowness of response, they also concluded that not introducing lockdowns was fundamentally correct since it preserved individual freedom. In a December 2020 interview, the king of Sweden, Carl XVI Gustaf, said, I think we have failed. A large number have died, and that is terrible. These facts do not agree with the narrative that Swedens lax COVID-19 approach resulted in reduced COVID-19 mortality. However, there is evidence that the adverse effects on early childhood education and development were not seen in Swedish children because most of the schools were kept open. There are several caveats to consider before applying Swedish data to the U.S. Foremost, the population density of Sweden is only 26/km, whereas the U.S. has a population density of 38/km. The total Swedish population is only 10.5 million compared to 333 million in the U.S. Lower incidence of comorbidities such as diabetes and obesity should have caused a lower number of deaths in Sweden. Given these realities, Sweden should have fared much better compared to the U.S. The higher mortality proves that the relaxed approach of Sweden to COVID-19 was not a success. Not implementing a mandatory lockdown was blamed for the higher mortality seen in Sweden. In a modeling study where researchers constructed an alternative version called synthetic Sweden, Cho found that the infection rates could have been reduced by 75 percent and mortality could have been reduced by 25 percent had Sweden imposed a strict lockdown during the initial phase of the pandemic. P. Dileep Kumar is a board-certified practicing hospitalist specializing in internal medicine. Dr. Kumar is actively engaged with professional associations such as the American College of Physicians, Michigan State Medical Society, and the American Medical Association. He has held a variety of leadership roles and has authored more than 100 publications in various medical journals and a book on rabies (Biography of Disease Series). Additionally, he has presented more than 50 papers at various national and international medical conferences. Several of his papers are widely cited in the literature and referenced in various textbooks. 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 On 17 January Brazils federal police (PF) was ordered to investigate whether former president(2019-2023) violated a ban issued last year preventing him from directly contacting allies implicated in a PF probe into an alleged military coup conspiracy End of preview - This article contains approximately 392 words. Subscribers: Log in now to read the full article Not a Subscriber? Choose from one of the following options To age well, doctors say we should remember the importance of good balance. It matters when you wash yourself, put clothing on and, generally, move around in your home and elsewhere. As we age, good balance permits us to live more independently. Difficulties with balance can be dangerous. The United States Centers for Disease Control reports that three million older people in America seek medical care for fall-related injuries each year. But we can prevent some falls, said Roopa Anmolsingh. She is a geriatrician, a doctor who specializes in treating old people. She is also the creator of the balance class program at Cleveland Clinic in Ohio. She said that "Some people have a misconception that part of getting old is, you're going to fall. That's not true. You can control how you fall, or if you fall." To prevent falls, geriatricians say people should start asking themselves questions about their balance as early as 50 years old. Here are the questions: Do I ever feel unsteady? If you feel unsteady, or lose balance, from time to time, ask your doctor to check all your body systems that can affect balance. Along with muscle and bone problems, unsteadiness can also result from poor blood pressure, inner-ear problems, nervous system issues and more. Maybe you do not have unsteadiness but wonder about your skill at balancing. You can test yourself easily and at home to find out if you need any medical intervention. Stand next to a wall or something that can provide support if needed. Raise one leg. Can you hold that position for 10 seconds? Now try the other leg. If you can stand on each leg alone for 10 seconds, you should be fine, said Greg W. Hartley, a professor of physical therapy specializing in geriatrics at the University of Miami in Florida. "If you can't do that, then you should probably go see a physical therapist," he said. A physical therapist treats people with conditions or injuries that affect body movement. Another at-home test is called TUG, for "timed up and go." Hartley suggests doing this test with supervision. You begin the test from a seated position. Then, stand up and start a timer immediately. Walk three meters, turn and walk back to your seat. Stop the timer as soon as you sit down. If the test takes you longer to complete than 15 seconds, your risk for falling is very high. But, if you do it in 12 seconds or less, your fall risk is almost zero. Also, The National Council on Aging offers an online set of questions to predict your risk of a fall. What can I do to improve balance? Because muscle mass lessens in most people during their 30s, geriatricians say the best way to keep good balance is to stay physically active throughout life. Anmolsingh says it is never too late to act on that advice. Activities including tai chi and yoga are good for older adults because they involve controlled movements while shifting body weight. There also are simpler exercises people can work into their everyday lives. Anmolsingh says standing on one foot while waiting in line at a store is good. Or, at home, sit down and stand up several times straight without using a support. Another easy exercise is the three-way leg lift. Hold on to a support, then lift a leg to the front, then to the side and then to the back. How often should I do the exercises? The National Institute of Aging says people should spend at least 150 minutes per week in general physical activity to improve balance and overall health. Hartley said exercises done on a usual basis help train the brain to react correctly when you start to fall. "Just like an athlete needs to do repetition to train for a sport, you're doing repetition to train for everyday balance activities," he said. Im Jill Robbins. Albert Stumm reported this story for the Associated Press. Jill Robbins adapted it for Learning English. Quiz - Learn to Have Better Balance and Prevent Falls as You Age Start the Quiz to find out Start Quiz ______________________________________________ Words in This Story misconception n. a wrong or mistaken idea tai chi - n. a Chinese form of exercise that uses very slow and controlled movements yoga n. a system of exercises for mental and physical health shift v. to move or to cause (something or someone) to move to a different place, or position athlete n. a person who is trained in or good at sports, games, or exercises that require physical skill and strength What do you think of this story? Write to us in the Comments Section. BJP: Will Stalin change his name to a Tamil one? 10-year-old boy shot dead while guarding crops in UP; 2 taken into custody Aamir on working with SRK and Salman in film: Waiting for right script > < 23:44 Trump says will declare 'national energy emergency' United States President Donald Trump on Monday listed 'historic executive orders' and announced that he will declare a 'national energy emergency' to help to bring down prices.We will drill, baby, drill, Trump said during his inaugural address.The inflation crisis is caused by over spending and... Read more > 23:29 PM Modi greets 'dear friend' Trump Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday congratulated Donald Trump on his historic inauguration as the 47th US president and said he looked forward to working closely together once again, to benefit both the countries as well as to shape a better future for the world. Trump was sworn in as... Read more > 23:07 'Golden age' of America begins right now: Trump In his maiden address after being sworn in as the 47th president of the United States, Donald Trump said, Every day of the Trump administration, I will put America first. He said he will build an American that is proud, prosperous and free.' The scales of justice will be rebalanced, he... Read more > 22:37 Donald Trump sworn-in as 47th US president Donald Trump was sworn-in as the 47th president of the United States by Chief Justice John Roberts inside the Capitol Rotunda of the US Capitol building in Washington, DC, Monday, January 20, 2025.It is the 60th US presidential inauguration and the second non-consecutive inauguration of Trump as... Read more > 22:31 Vance sworn-in as Vice President J D Vance sworn as the vice president by Justice Brett Kavanaugh. Read more > 22:17 Spotted: Italy's Meloni at Trump inauguration Prime Minister of Italy Giorgia Meloni, Argentina's President Javier Milei, and China's Vice President Han Zheng attend the inauguration ceremony before Donald Trump is sworn in as the 47th US President in the US Capitol Rotunda in Washington, DC, on January 20, 2025. Pic: SAUL LOEB/Pool via... Read more > 22:14 Trump arrives for swearing-in Donald John Trump arrives to take oath as the 47th President of the United States. Read more > 22:09 Biden, Kamala arrive at Capitol Rotunda Outgoing President Joseph R Biden and outgoing Vice President Kamala Harris arrive at Capitol Rotunda for the inauguration. Read more > 21:48 Former presidents and first ladies enter the Capitol Rotunda Former presidents and first ladies -- including Bill Clinton and former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton as well as George W. Bush and Laura Bush -- have begun to enter the Capitol Rotunda for President-elect Donald Trumps inauguration.Former President Barack Obama is also at the ceremony.... Read more > 21:38 Of people and politics at the Rotunda As the Trump inauguration gets underway at US Capital Rotunda, all eyes are on the movers and shakers assembled there. Spotted on our TV screen was Kesh Patel, Vivek Ramaswamy and Tulsi Gabbard next to each other. Google boss Sundar Pichai hanging out with Trump Cabinet... Read more > 21:35 Pence arrives alone for inauguration Former Vice President Mike Pence arrives at the US Capitol for the inauguration.He is not accompanied by his wife, Karen Pence, who has been outspoken about her disdain for Trump following the January 6 Capitol attack.During the attack, rioters sought to pressure Pence into refusing to certify... Read more > 21:17 Biden, Trump ride in the same limo President Joe Biden and President-elect Donald Trump are riding in the same limo to the US Capitol ahead of todays swearing-in ceremony.The two did not ride together four years ago when Trump famously skipped Biden's swearing-in but will return to the same tradition that President Barack Obama... Read more > 20:52 Mukesh Ambani with Big 4 at Trump inauguration Reliance chairman Mukesh Ambani is heading to the US Capitol Rotunda for the Trump inauguration along with Amazon's Jeff Bezos, Apple's Tim Cook, Google's Sundar Pichai and Facebook's Mark Zuckerburg. Read more > 20:50 Joe, Jill welcome Trump at White House The premises of US Capitol Rotunda building erupts with the chants of 'USA, USA' as the big screen shows outgoing president Joe Biden welcoming President-elect Donald Trump at the White House. Read more > 20:34 Jaishankar meets Vivek External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar attended the Inauguration Day Prayer Service at St John's Church.'Privileged to represent India as EAM and Special Envoy of Prime Minister Modi at the Swearing-In Ceremony of the 47th President of the United States of America today in Washington DC,' he... Read more > 20:28 Biden, Kamala ready to welcome Trump President Joe Biden, First Lady Jill Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and Second Genetleman Doug Emhoff stand at the White House on Inauguration Day. Photograph: Nathan Howard/Reuters Read more > 20:05 JD Vance, Usha arrive at White House File pic The US vice-president elect J D Vance and wife Usha have arrived at the White House ahead of Trump's inauguration.They were received by Vice President Kamala Harris and her husband. Read more > 20:03 Marine Corps chopper to fly out Joe and Jill Biden A United States Marine Corps helicopter is pictured front the US Capitol building on the inauguration day of Donald Trump's second presidential term in Washington, US, January 20, 2025. The Marine Corps helicopter will take Joe and Jill Biden to Andrews airbase for their journey home to... Read more > 19:58 Spotted at the church... Google CEO Sunder Pichai/File image Spotted at the church: Google CEO Sunder Pichai, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, Apple CEO Tim Cook, Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg. And, of course, our own Mukesh Ambani. Read more > 19:53 Meanwhile, as Donald Trump is set to become the president of the United States, Joe and Jill Biden hosted Kamala Harris and her husband Doug Emhoff one last time at the White House. 19:44 Check out the expression on Usha Vances face US President-elect Donald Trump, US Vice President-elect JD Vance and his wife Usha Vance attend a service at St John's Church on the inauguration day of his second Presidential term in Washington DC, January 20, 2025. Pic: Carlos Barria/Reuters Read more > 19:37 Trump with JD and Usha Vance at church service US President-elect Donald Trump greets US Vice President-elect JD Vance and his wife Usha Vance at a service at St John's Church on the inauguration day of his second presidential term in Washington DC, January 20, 2025. Pic: Carlos Barria/Reuters Read more > 19:28 Trumps, Vances attend church service People have started to gather outside the US Capitol Rotunda building, where US President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration is scheduled to be held today. Republican leader Donald Trump will take oath as the 47th US President. The ceremonial event is set to take place approximately two... Read more > 19:21 J D Vance and Usha Vance arrive at St John's church US Vice President-elect JD Vance and his wife Usha Vance arrive for a service at St John's Church on the Inauguration Day of Donald Trump's second presidential term in Washington DC, US, January 20, 2025.Pic: Jeenah Moon/Reuters Read more > 19:03 Robert Kennedy Jr arrives at St Johns church US President-elect Donald Trump's nominee to be US Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F Kennedy Jr and his wife Cheryl Hines arrive for a service at St John's Church on Inauguration Day of Donald Trump's second presidential term in Washington DC, US, January 20, 2025. Pic: Jeenah... Read more > 18:55 Tulsi Gabbard arrives at St Johns Church ahead of Trump inauguration US President-elect Donald Trump's nominee to be director of National Intelligence (DNI) Tulsi Gabbard arrives for a service at St John's Church on Inauguration Day of Donald Trump's second presidential term in Washington, US, January 20, 2025. Pic: Jeenah Moon/Reuters Read more > 18:53 Donald, Melania Trump about to leave Blair House Donald and Melania Trump are about to leave Blair House, where they have been staying overnight, for the church service at St John's Church in Washington, DC. Read more > 18:31 MP man ends life, blames wife, in-laws in video A 27-year-old man committed suicide after recording a video accusing his wife and in-laws of harassment in Madhya Pradesh's Raigarh district, the police said on Tuesday.Ravi Kashyap hanged himself from a ceiling fan at his home in Biaora town on Sunday, an official said.Biaora city police... Read more > 18:12 Biden issues pre-emptive pardons ahead of Trump swearing-in President Joe Biden In a significant move on January 20, 2025, President Joe Biden issued pre-emptive pardons for Dr Anthony Fauci, retired General Mark Milley, and members of the House committee that investigated the January 6 attack on the Capitol. This action aims to protect these individuals from potential... Read more > 17:57 RG Kar convict's punishment not enough: WB docs Junior doctors held a protest outside the Sealdah Court on Monday demanding stricter punishment for the convict Sanjay Roy in the RG Kar rape-murder case. Speaking to ANI, a junior doctor asserted that they would approach the higher court with their demand. We wanted a strict and... Read more > 17:55 Pregnant cow beheaded, calf mutilated in Karnataka Miscreants beheaded a pregnant cow, cut off its legs and mutilated its calf here, sources said on Monday. They took away the cow's body and left behind its head and legs, and the calf. According to the police, the incident occurred at Kondakuli, Salkodu village in Honnavara Taluk of Uttara... Read more > 17:28 RG Kar convict's mom locks herself inside home The mother of Sanjoy Roy, who was sentenced to life imprisonment till death for the rape and murder of the medic of R G Kar hospital on Monday, kept herself confined to her home and refused to meet reporters to comment on the verdict. Earlier in the day when members of the media started... Read more > 17:10 Sensex rallies 454 pts, Nifty ends above 23,300 Benchmark Sensex spurted by 454 points and Nifty closed above 23,300 on Monday following gains in banking, financial and power stocks amid firm global trends. The 30-share BSE Sensex jumped 454.11 points or 0.59 per cent to settle at 77,073.44 as its 17 components advanced and 13 declined.... Read more > 17:07 How can this not be rarest of rare: RG Kar parents RG Kar convict sentencing: During the proceedings, the CBI lawyer and the counsel for the victim's parents pleaded for the highest penalty for the convict, calling the crime rarest of the rare. The parents of the deceased woman medic in the RG Kar rape-murder case said they were not at all... Read more > 16:43 'Nobody thinks 1 person involved in RG Kar case' After the Sealdah court pronounced life imprisonment to convict Sanjay Roy in the RG Kar rape-murder case, Union Minister Sukanta Majumdar expressed dissatisfaction with the verdict, calling for a deeper investigation. Speaking to ANI, Majumdar refrained from commenting against the court's... Read more > 16:32 'These companies are new-age East India Companies' Fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) distributors will hold meetings along with retailers across various cities and districts in India to combat the rise of online retailing over the next three months.The All India Consumer Products Distributors Federation (AICPDF), which represents over 400,000... Read more > 16:23 Melania Trump launches her cryptocurrency US President-elect Donald Trump's wife, Melania Trump, has launched her cryptocurrency ahead of Trump's inauguration, CNN reported.In a social media post on Sunday, Melania Trump launched her cryptocurrency $MELANIA, tanking her husband's cryptocurrency $TRUMP, which was launched two days ago.In... Read more > 16:07 Not satisfied with life term for Sanjay Roy: Mamata Expressing dissatisfaction over the court giving life imprisonment to the convict in the RG Kar hospital rape-murder case, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday claimed the probe was forcibly taken away from the Kolkata Police, and asserted that had it been with them, they would... Read more > 15:53 RG Kar compensation: Rs 10L for death, Rs 7L for rape Some more details on the RG Kar conviction and sentencing. Sanjay Roy, a former civic volunteer with the Kolkata Police, was found guilty under Sections 64 (rape), 66 (punishment for causing death), and 103(1) (murder) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). Judge Anirban Das stated that... Read more > 15:49 SC directs Atul Subhash's wife to produce minor son through VC Atul Subhash was found hanging and left behind a suicide note The Supreme Court on Monday directed the wife of Bengaluru-based engineer, Atul Subhash, who died by suicide last year, to produce their minor son before it. A bench of Justices B V Nagarathna and Satish Chandra Sharma told the lawyer appearing for Subhash's estranged wife Nikita Singhania to... Read more > 15:40 Rasha Thadani is Nykaa's new face Nykaa announces Rasha Thadani as the new face of Nykaa Cosmetics, as she makes her Bollywood debut in Azaad. Rasha embodies the vibrant, trend-forward ethos of Nykaa Cosmetics. Nykaa has always been my go-to for all things beauty -- it's where I fell in love with experimenting, trying... Read more > 15:25 Why court did not give RG Kar convict death sentence A Kolkata court sentenced Sanjay Roy to life imprisonment till death on Monday after he was convicted of rape and murder of an on-duty doctor at the state-run RG Kar Medical College and Hospital. The court of Additional District and Sessions Judge Anirban Das in Sealdah had on Saturday held... Read more > 15:22 Muslim man converts to Hinduism to marry girlfriend of 10 years A 34-year-old Muslim man here converted to Hinduism to marry his girlfriend with whom he had an affair for the past 10 years, changing his name from Saddam to Shivshankar, police said on Monday. SHO of Kotwali police station Devendra Singh said that three days ago, the woman had lodged a... Read more > 15:10 RG Kar doc's rapist-murderer gets life term RG Kar rape-murder convict Sanjay Roy sentenced to life imprisonment by Kolkata's Sealdah court. The court directs the state to pay compensation of Rs 17 lakh to the RG Kar doctor's family. Kolkata court says RG Kar doctor's rape-murder case does not fall under 'rarest of the rare' category.The... Read more > 14:48 Saif won't be discharged today: Lilavati doctor As Bollywood actor Saif Ali Khan continues to recover after suffering multiple stab injuries during an alleged burglary attempt at his Bandra residence, Dr Nitin Dange of Lilavati Hospital shared a health update on Monday.While speaking to the media, Dange informed that the actor will remain... Read more > 14:33 'Emergency' collects just Rs 12 cr in 3 days Kangana Ranaut's Emergency has earned Rs 12. 26 crore at the domestic box office on its first weekend. Also directed and produced by Ranaut, the film portrays the Emergency months and features the actor in the role of former prime minister Indira Gandhi. Emergency also stars Anupam Kher,... Read more > 14:22 Kerala court sentences woman to death for boyfriend's murder A court in Kerala on Monday sentenced a woman to death for the sensational murder of her boyfriend in 2022. The Neyyattinkara Additional District Sessions Court also sentenced her uncle, Nirmalakumaran Nair, the third accused in the case, to three years of imprisonment. The 24-year-old... Read more > 14:15 25 years ago in Bollywood The year 2000 was about fresh blood, superstar comebacks and action heros proving their worth. Take a look. Read more > 13:59 RG Kar convict's quantum of punishment at 2:45 pm RG Kar hospital The Sealdah Civil and Criminal Court will pronounce the quantum of punishment to the convict of the RG Kar rape and murder case at 2.45 pm on Monday. During the hearing of the case, the Central Bureau of Investigation sought capital punishment for the accused Sanjay Roy.Explaining the... Read more > 13:47 Not under investigation by US SEC: Hindenburg United States short-seller Hindenburg Research has said it is not under investigation by the US SEC as it rubbished alleged links of its founder to a hedge fund for preparing reports targeting companies. Hindenburg is not under investigation by the SEC, to our knowledge, and any... Read more > 13:22 Soldier critically injured amid search ops in J-K File pic A soldier sustained critical injuries on Monday during the search operations being carried out by the Kashmir Police, Indian Army and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) at Zaloora village in Baramulla district, which is a few kilometres away from Sopore. The soldier was being evacuated... Read more > 13:13 Not guilty, I'm being framed: RG Kar convict Judge Anirban Das and the Kolkata rape-murder convict are now in the courtroom for pronouncement of the sentence. I haven't done this. I have been framed, Sanjay Roy tells court during the sentencing. I heard lots of things were destroyed. You decide whether I have been... Read more > 12:52 Adani surpasses RIL Group firms in 2024 M&A deals The Adani group, which competes with the Mukesh Ambani-led conglomerate for top position in merger and acquisition (M&A) deals, outpaced the listed entities of the rival camp last year.It secured agreements worth $6.32 billion as against $3.14 billion of the Ambanis.In 2023, Ambani-run... Read more > 12:48 Trump 2.0: Govt asks industry to identify import prospects from US India is prodding industry to identify the challenges and opportunities in goods that can be imported from the US after Donald Trump takes over as President, two people aware of the matter said.India's key imports from the US include oil and petroleum products, pearls, plastic, aircraft,... Read more > 12:44 Badlapur sex assault case: 5 cops responsible Akshay Shinde was killed in a police shootout A magistrate's inquiry has held five policemen responsible for the custodial death of Akshay Shinde, accused in the Badlapur school sexual assault case.The magistrate on Monday tendered its inquiry report to the Bombay High Court, which was hearing a plea filed by Shinde's father, Anna Shinde,... Read more > 12:29 Saif stabbing accused slept soundly after attack The 30-year-old man arrested for stabbing and injuring actor Saif Ali Khan slept soundly after the attack and changed his clothes before heading to Worli, a police official said on Monday. The Mumbai police on Sunday arrested the accused, Shariful Islam Shehzad Mohammad Rohilla Amin Fakir, a... Read more > 12:09 Sharmila arrives at Lilavati to check on Saif Veteran actress and mother of actor Saif Ali Khan, Sharmila Tagore was spotted arriving at Lilavati Hospital on Monday morning, where the actor has been admitted following a stabbing attack that took place at his Bandra residence last week. Other family members, including wife Kareena Kapoor... Read more > 11:52 Major gunfight underway between security forces, Maoists at Odisha-Chhattisgarh border A massive gunfight broke out between security forces and Maoists at the Odisha-Chhattisgarh border on Monday morning, officials said. Acting on intelligence inputs, police forces of Odisha and Chhattisgarh along with the CRPF launched an anti-Naxal operation in the Kularighat reserve forest at... Read more > 11:48 Give harshest punishment: RG Kar doc's parents As the Sealdah Civil and Criminal Court is set to pronounce the quantum of sentence to the convict in the RG Kar's rape-murder case today, the father of the deceased doctor has demanded that the accused Sanjay Roy should get the harshest punishment, however, he also said that there are other... Read more > 11:24 RG Kar doc's rape-murder convict brought to court Sanjay Roy Amid tight security arrangements, Sanjay Roy, who has been convicted of raping and murdering an on-duty doctor at the state-run R G Kar Medical College and Hospital, was brought to a court here on Monday for pronouncement of the sentence, police said. Flanked by multiple police vehicles, Roy... Read more > 11:19 Largest deportation exercise will begin soon: Trump Hours before his inauguration, US President-elect Donald Trump said, very soon we will begin the largest deportation exercise in American history.He said this while addressing the Make America Great Again (MAGA) Victory Rally in Washington, DC on Sunday (local time).He stated, Before this, nobody... Read more > 11:03 India slips to 3rd place on trust barometer India has slipped one place to third slot when it comes to people's trust in the government, businesses, media and NGOs, while the low-income population is far less trusting than their richer counterparts, a study showed here on Monday.The annual Edelman Trust Barometer, now in its 25th year,... Read more > 10:51 Current environment conducive for pvt investment: CII Survey Nearly three-fourths of firms taking part in an industry survey have said that the current economic environment is conducive to private investment.Interim results of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) survey on investment, jobs and wages showed that over 97 per cent of firms were likely... Read more > 10:46 What did Nita Ambani wear to Trump's reception? As the world gathers in Washington for President-Elect Donald Trump's swearing-in ceremony, Nita Ambani, Chairperson Reliance Foundation, graced the Private Reception on Saturday with her characteristic elegance. Draped in a traditional Kanchipuram silk saree by Swadesh, designed with... Read more > 10:31 2.27 million pilgrims visit Mahakumbh on day 8 As the Mahakumbh enters its eighth day, more than 2.27 million pilgrims visited the Mela on Monday morning as of 8 am, according to official data released by the Uttar Pradesh government.On the day eight of the Mahakumbh, among a congregation of over 2.27 million devotees gathered at Sangam... Read more > 10:13 Sensex gains before Trump oath, all ears on speech Jagjot Singh Rubal, an artist from Amritsar, gives his final touches Indian stock markets opened higher on Monday as markets made a positive opening before the oath ceremony of new US President Donald Trump. The Nifty 50 index opened at 23,290.40 points with a gain of 87.20 points or 0.38 per cent, while the BSE Sensex gained more than 359.20 points or 0.47 per... Read more > 10:07 States make beeline to woo investors at Davos From rebranding and marathon meetings by chief ministers and other ministers to lining up media campaigns, six Indian states -- Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh and Kerala -- are competing fiercely to catch investor attention at the snow-laden Alpine town of Davos... Read more > 10:06 India Inc Lands In Davos... Dev Chatterjee/Business StandardIndia Inc's top brass, including Reliance Industries' Mukesh Ambani, Tata Group's N Chandrasekaran, JSW group's Sajjan Jindal, and Aditya Birla group's Kumar Mangalam Birla, will attend the World Economic Forum's annual summit in Davos, beginning Monday.Their... Read more > 10:03 Saif attack: Police likely to recreate crime scene The Mumbai police will likely recreate the crime scene at the Bandra home of Bollywood actor Saif Ali Khan, who was repeatedly stabbed by an intruder, an official said.The accused in the high-profile case, a 30-year-old Bangladeshi man, was arrested on Sunday morning from neighbouring Thane... Read more > 09:39 RG Kar rape-murder convict's sentencing today A court in Kolkata will on Monday afternoon pronounce the quantum of punishment of Sanjay Roy, who has been convicted of raping and murdering an on-duty doctor at the state-run R G Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata.The charges under which Roy has been convicted entail a minimum sentence... Read more > 09:22 Man found dead in burnt state in car near girlfriend's wedding venue A 24-year-old man was found dead in a charred state in his car near the Ghazipur area of east Delhi, police said on Sunday. According to police, the incident must have happened while Anil was returning home in Noida's Nawada village after distributing invitations for his... Read more > 09:11 Billionaire wealth soars three times faster by $2 trillion in 2024: Oxfam Billionaire wealth across the globe surged by USD 2 trillion in 2024 to USD 15 trillion at a rate three times faster than the previous year, a study showed on Monday here as the richest of the world began to assemble for their annual jamboree in this ski resort town. In its flagship inequity... Read more > 09:09 Over 100 women initiated as Naga Sanyasinis at Maha Kumbh With the Maha Kumbh underway in Uttar Pradesh's Prayagraj, the initiation process for over hundred women to become 'Naga Sanyasini' of Juna Akhada began on Sunday. The registration process for the initiation is currently underway, and in the first phase, 102 women were given the 'Naga... Read more > 09:00 Trump to sign wave of executive orders on immigration, border Soon after being sworn in as the 47th president of the United States, Donald Trump is likely to sign a barrage of executive orders, including those related to immigration, border security, energy and governance, his close aide revealed on Sunday.An executive order is an order issued unilaterally... Read more > Aamir on working with SRK and Salman in film: Waiting for right script > < 23:55 No liquor for Delhiites from Feb 3-5, Feb 8 due to assembly polls File image The Delhi government has ordered the closure of liquor shops and other establishments serving alcohol in the city from February 3 to 5, the voting day, and on February 8 when the results would be declared. A gazette notification issued recently by the Delhi excise commissioner declared dry... Read more > 23:11 Govt to celebrate 10 years of Beti Bachao Beti Padhao The government will organise weeks-long celebrations to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the Beti Bachao Beti Padhao initiative, the Union women and child development ministry said on Tuesday. Beginning on Wednesday, the celebrations will continue till March 8, observed as International... Read more > 22:42 Union minister Jitan Ram Manjhi threatens to quit Union minister Jitan Ram Manjhi Union minister Jitan Ram Manjhi caused a flutter on Tuesday after he threatened to give up his cabinet berth, alleging that his Hindustani Awam Morcha was not getting a square deal in the NDA ahead of the Bihar assembly polls due later this year. The former Bihar chief minister made the... Read more > 22:32 2 workers die, one injured due to gas leak in UP factory File image Two workers died on Tuesday and one other was injured due to gas leakage in a factory in Sikandarabad industrial area in Bulandshahr in Uttar Pradesh, the police said. The incident took place at the BATX Energies factory in the industrial area, the police said. District magistrate... Read more > 22:08 Man thrashes one-year-old stepdaughter to death in Kota A man allegedly thrashed and choked his one-year-old stepdaughter to death in Kota on Monday night and fled from the spot on Tuesday morning, the police said. He was angry that the baby's cries were disturbing his sleep, they said. When the baby did not get up on Tuesday morning, her... Read more > 21:46 Gas cylinder checks must in Kumbh Mela after fire Dousing operations underway after a fire broke out at the Kumbh Mela, in Prayagraj/ANI Photo The Uttar Pradesh food and civil supplies department held a special meeting on Tuesday to ensure the safety of pilgrims, devotees and kalpvasis who flock the Sangam area during the ongoing Maha Kumbh Mela and made cylinder checking mandatory. The meeting assumes significance given two... Read more > 21:26 Gadkari moots 10K water taxis to connect Mumbai suburbs with new airport File image Union minister Nitin Gadkari on Tuesday said he has discussed a proposal for getting 10,000 water taxis to ferry people from the financial capital's distant suburbs to the upcoming Navi Mumbai International Airport. Speaking at the ICERP 2025 exhibition in Mumbai, Gadkari suggested that he... Read more > 21:04 93 kg of red sandalwood seized from train in Mumbai File image A vigilance team of the Western Railway (WR) has seized nearly 93 kg of red sandalwood from a long-distance train that arrived at Mumbai Central station from Rajasthan, an official said on Tuesday. In a release, WR said the red sandalwood, a protected tree species known for its rich hue and... Read more > 20:57 Adani's younger son to wed 'like common people' Jeet Adani/Image courtesy Adani online Billionaire Gautam Adani's younger son Jeet will wed next month in a simple and traditional ceremony, without any pomp and show and celebrity stars. Adani, on Mahakumbh pilgrimage with his family, scorched speculations of a star-studded wedding of his son Jeet with Diva Shah, daughter of... Read more > 20:35 Maha family ostracised after rumour about deceased woman's HIV status File image A labourer from Beed district of Maharashtra has claimed that his family is being ostracised amid a rumour that his married daughter died of HIV-related causes. The labourer, a resident of Beedsangvi village, blamed a policeman and a government doctor for his plight and demanded... Read more > 20:04 Govt signs Rs 1561 cr deal for bridge-laying tanks A T-72 bridge layer tank/Image courtesy DRDO The Ministry of Defence has signed a Rs 1,560.52 crore contract with the Heavy Vehicles Factory for the procurement of 47 T-72 Bridge Laying Tanks. The move, according to the MoD, aims to improve the Army's operational capabilities. Further, as per the MoD's statement, the acquisition is... Read more > 19:45 Rupee falls 14 paise to close at 86.59 against US dollar The rupee pared initial gains and settled for the day lower by 14 paise to 86.59 (provisional) against US dollar on Tuesday, tracking heavy sell-off in the domestic equity market and a recovery in the US dollar index. Forex traders said the dollar weakened from its 109 levels but clawed back... Read more > 19:35 Intruder stabbed Saif multiple times to free himself: Police The Bangladeshi national arrested for the knife attack on Saif Ali Khan has told the police that he stabbed the actor in his back multiple times to free himself from his tight grip, an official said on Tuesday. Read more > 19:17 Toll in Turkiye's ski resort blaze climbs to 66 Fire brigades controlling the fire at the Ski resort in Turkiye/ANI Photo/Reuters At least 66 people were killed and 51 others were injured in a massive fire that broke out at a hotel in northern Turkey on Tuesday, Anadolu Agency reported, citing local authorities. According to AA, the fire broke out at around 00:27 GMT in the restaurant area of the hotel, which... Read more > 19:12 Special UP cabinet meeting at Maha Kumbh tomorrow The Yogi Adityanath government will hold a special cabinet meeting at the Maha Kumbh here on Wednesday. According to an official statement issued on Tuesday, all 54 ministers of the UP cabinet have been invited to the meeting, which is expected to approve several significant proposals and... Read more > 18:39 BSE Sensex top losers today Benchmark Sensex tanked 1,235 points to settle at more than seven-month low due to an across-the-board selloff triggered by global tariff war worries and persistent foreign fund outflows, making investors poorer by over Rs 7 lakh crore. The 30-share BSE Sensex plummeted 1,235.08 points or... Read more > 18:12 Pune reports 22 cases of nerve disorder File image As many as 22 suspected cases of Guillain-Barr syndrome (GBS), an immunological nerve disorder, have been detected in Pune, prompting the civic authorities to conduct a detailed survey of patients, an official said on Tuesday. The Pune Municipal Corporation's health department has sent... Read more > 17:49 Shinde writes to Nadda, extends support to BJP candidates in Delhi polls Maharashtra deputy CM Eknath Shinde The Shiv Sena, which has traditionally fielded its candidates in Delhi assembly polls, will extend support to its ally Bharatiya Janata Party in the elections. The party on Tuesday handed over to Delhi BJP chief Virendra Sachdeva a letter of support written by its leader Eknath Shinde to BJP... Read more > 17:30 Ammonia gas leaks from tanker after accident on Guj highway File image A tanker transporting ammonia gas leaked following an accident on a highway in Gujarat on Tuesday, officials said. The situation was controlled within an hour and nobody was affected, an official said. The incident occurred on national highway 64 near Sankarda village in Vadodara... Read more > 17:15 After 5 days, Saif returns home from hospital Actor Saif Ali Khan reaches home after discharged from hospital in Mumbai/ANI on X Actor Saif Ali Khan, admitted to Mumbai's Lilavati Hospital after being stabbed during a robbery attempt at his home five days ago, walked out of the private medical facility on Tuesday evening. The 54-year-old actor got into a car after leaving the hospital on getting discharged and later... Read more > 16:58 Student jumps to death from college building in Delhi An 18-year-old college student allegedly committed suicide by jumping from the ninth floor of a college in Delhi's Rohini, the police said in a statement on Tuesday. According to the police, the student was identified as Parth Rawat, studying in B.Com first-year at Maharaja Agrasen... Read more > 16:46 Man shot dead in Jammu chowk by rival gang A man was shot dead in the Jewel Chowk area of Jammu, a police official confirmed on Tuesday. Authorities have formed a team to apprehend the culprit. Regarding the firing incident, Jammu additional director general of police Anand Jain told reporters, In this incident, a person named... Read more > 16:16 Sensex crashes 1,235 points to 7-month low Benchmark Sensex tanked 1,235 points to settle at more than seven-month low due to an across-the-board selloff triggered by global trade war worries after US President Donald Trump announced tariffs on neighbouring countries on his inauguration day.The 30-share BSE Sensex plummeted 1,235.08... Read more > 16:14 B.Com student jumps to death from college building in Delhi An 18-year-old college student allegedly committed suicide by jumping from the ninth floor of a college in Delhi's Rohini, police said in a statement on Tuesday. According to police, the student was identified as Parth Rawat, studying in B.Com first-year at Maharaja Agrasen... Read more > 15:55 Lodha vs Lodha: Bombay HC to case on Jan 27 Abhinandan Lodha: Pic: ANI Photo The Bombay high court on Tuesday said it would hear on January 27 the application filed by Abhishek Lodha- promoted Macrotech Developers Ltd seeking an injunction against his younger brother from using the trademark 'Lodha'. Last week, the company filed a suit against Abhinandan Lodha's real... Read more > 15:37 CCTV cameras installed at Saif's Bandra house Days after Saif Ali Khan was stabbed in an attempted robbery at his Bandra residence, CCTV cameras are getting installed at home. Amid the news of his discharge from hospital, videos have surfaced online showing CCTV cameras being installed in his posh Bandra home. Saif Ali Khan will... Read more > 15:31 You are not just...: SSR's sister remembers his on birth anniversary Late actor Sushant Singh Rajput's sister Shweta Singh Kirti remembered him on his birth anniversary with an emotional post. Taking to Instagram on Tuesday, Kirti posted a video compilation of some of the Chhichhore actor's cherished moments. She also added an emotional note to... Read more > 15:16 Saif Ali Khan discharged from hospital Actor Saif Ali Khan was discharged from Lilavati Hospital in Mumbai on Tuesday, five days after he was repeatedly stabbed by an intruder at his house in upscale Bandra. The 54-year-old actor, who suffered multiple stab injuries in the attack in the early hours of January 16 underwent... Read more > 15:15 Ex-RBI guv Raghuram Rajan on job market in India Former Reserve Bank of India governor Raghuram Rajan on Tuesday lauded the Modi government for doing a lot of good work on the infrastructure front in India and hoped there would be some concrete steps in the upcoming Budget to boost the job market. Speaking at a session on the US... Read more > 15:07 10 Beautiful Sushant Quotes On Sushant Singh Rajput's 39th birth anniversary, January 21, a folio of the late actor's deep thoughts. Read this Web Story Read more > 14:51 Woman's body found in basement of shopping mall in Mumbai The body of an unidentified woman was found in the basement of a shopping mall in the eastern suburbs here on Tuesday, police said.A mall staffer found the body of a woman in her 30s in the basement of a mall in Bhandup in the morning and alerted his superiors, an official said.The body was found... Read more > 14:37 Do You Know Rash Behari Bose? An Indian revolutionary and freedom fighter, he fought against the British all his life and founded the Indian Independence League. To know more about him, Read this Web Story Read more > 14:28 Water supply in parts of Mumbai to be hit due to Tansa pipeline leak Water supply in parts of Mumbai will be affected due to a major leak in the Tansa pipeline in Powai, civic officials said on Tuesday.The leak was detected early morning near the Jogeshwari-Vikhroli Link Road bridge, prompting the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to undertake repair... Read more > 14:03 Haven't rapes taken place during BJP regime: Siddaramaiah Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Tuesday wondered whether there were no rapes during the BJP regime.He was reacting to BJP's allegation about the deteriorating law and order situation in the state in the wake of a woman raped at KR Market in Bengaluru on Sunday night.The victim who was... Read more > 14:00 He protected his family: Akshay Kumar on Saif Ali Khan Bollywood star Akshay Kumar has lauded Saif Ali Khan's bravery and is happy that his former co-star, who was attacked by an intruder recently at his home, is safe. It's very nice that he is safe, it's good we are happy. The whole industry is very happy. And it was very brave of him, he... Read more > 13:54 'We Have Made Manufacturing More Complicated' Ruchika Chitravanshi/Business Standard Indias manufacturing sector has become overly complicated for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) due to burdensome regulations, particularly those related to land use, according to Chief Economic Advisor V Anantha Nageswaran.Speaking at an event... Read more > 13:45 Tax raids on 'Game Changer' producer in Hyderabad A scene from 'Game Changer' The income tax department on Tuesday conducted searches at multiple locations linked to prominent film producer Dil Raju and others in Hyderabad, official sources said.The searches are carried out with regard to the charges of tax evasion, they added.The locations linked to some other film... Read more > 13:17 Modi to visit Maha Kumbh Mela on Feb 5 Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to visit the Maha Kumbh Mela on February 5, as per sources, and President Droupadi Murmu is scheduled to go to Prayagraj on February 10. Union Home Minister Amit Shah will the attend Kumbh Mela on January 27, according to sources, while Vice President... Read more > 13:13 Freebies for students in BJP's Delhi manifesto Former Union Minister and senior BJP leader Anurag Thakur on Tuesday unveiled the second part of the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) Sankalp Patra (manifesto) for the upcoming Delhi Assembly Elections 2025. Thakur announced several ambitious schemes, including free education for needy... Read more > 12:59 Jaipur: Women dies after ambulance doors get jammed A woman who had attempted suicide and was being rushed to hospital in Rajasthan's Bhilwara town died when the ambulance doors jammed, officials said. A four-member committee has been constituted to investigate the matter. Sulekha, 45, had attempted to end her life by hanging herself... Read more > 12:48 Bajaj Finance, Airtel To Create Fin Services Platform Aathira Varier/Business StandardBajaj Finance has entered into a partnership with Bharti Airtel to create a digital platform for financial services.With this pact, the telecom company will progressively offer most of the non-banking financial company's retail financial offerings to all its... Read more > 12:42 Saif may move to new house after discharge Bollywood actor Saif Ali Khan is likely to move into a new apartment in Bandras Fortune Heights, which is adjacent to Satguru Sharan where the intruder attacked him early on January 16.Visuals of Saif's furniture being shifted from Satguru Sharan to Fortune Heights have been aired on some news... Read more > 12:01 Mighty blow to Naxalism...: HM on 14 Naxal deaths Describing it as another mighty blow to Naxalism, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday said 14 Naxalites were killed in a joint operation by the CRPF, SoG Odisha and Chhattisgarh Police along the Odisha-Chhattisgarh border. With the resolve for a Naxal-free India and joint efforts of... Read more > 11:54 US to impose 25% tariffs on Mexico, Canada from... US President Donald Trump announced that his administration is planning to impose 25 per cent tariffs on imports from Mexico and Canada from February 1, The Hill reported.When asked about his thought process of putting tariffs on two nations while signing executive orders, Trump responded, We are... Read more > 11:49 Lowest level of politics: Puri on AAP's 'Puri relatives' comment Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said that the Aam Aadmi Party has stooped to the lowest level of politics following AAP leader Rituraj Jha allegedly making a controversial statement against Puri saying Rohingya infiltrators are Puri's relatives. Addressing a press conference Puri said he... Read more > 11:35 Every step you take... US President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump take to the floor for their first dance at the Commander-In-Chief Ball. Read more > 11:33 Devendra Fadnavis rocks Davos with this picture! Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis shares this image from Davos, writing, Snowy Paths, Clear Vision! Building Business Footprints in the Snow of Opportunity!Maharashtra has adopted a 360-degree approach in attracting investments with several focus sectors ranging from manufacturing to... Read more > 11:17 Infant suffers uneasiness during flight, dies A 11-month-old infant, who developed some uneasiness on board a Kerala-bound flight, died at a hospital in Kochi, police said on Tuesday. The baby boy died while he was on his way to the home state from Qatar. Son of a couple hailing from northern district Malappuram, Fesin Ahammed,... Read more > 11:02 Melania Trump sent a message with inaugural dress Pic: Kevin Lamarque/Reuters With her eyes almost entirely obscured by the rim of her wool boater-style hat, Melania Trump stood behind President-elect Donald Trump on stage at the United States Capitol Rotunda as he pledged the oath of office.Designed by New York-based milliner Eric Javits, Trump's hat was an austere... Read more > 10:54 Plutus, Axana to buy another 26% in Nazara Nazara is a gaming and e-sports company Axana Estates and Plutus Wealth Management along with Junomoneta Finsol have made an open offer to acquire up to 26 per cent stake in Nazara Technologies, a gaming company. The open offer was triggered as Nazara on Monday announced that the company has received board approval to raise Rs 495... Read more > 10:50 The date for completion of Ram Mandir is... Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Temple Construction Committee Chairman Nripendra Misra said that the construction of the Ram temple complex will conclude at the scheduled duration, which has been set for March. We carried out a review yesterday. The temple (complex) construction will be concluded on... Read more > 10:45 Key actions Trump's Cabinet will take next week... Trump with the Vances The cabinet members of the Trump 2.0 administration are expected to take a hawkish approach on various fronts, says a report by Union Bank of India. The cabinet members are poised to implement significant changes in areas like fiscal policy, foreign relations, and national security. It... Read more > 10:40 Russia-Ukraine war would've never started if I were President: Trump US President Donald Trump while attending the signing ceremony at Oval Office on Monday (local time), said that the Russia-Ukraine conflict would not have happened if he were the President. Talking about the conflict in Russia and Ukraine, Trump said that he would try and resolve it as... Read more > 10:31 Sensex falls over 800 points Benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty faced volatile trends in early trade on Tuesday, surrendering their initial gains to trade lower, following heavy selling in Reliance Industries and Zomato.Traders said the market appears to be awaiting triggers from both global as well as domestic developments.... Read more > 10:27 12 Naxals killed in encounter in Chhattisgarh At least 12 Naxalites were killed in an encounter with security forces in Chhattisgarh's Gariaband district, police said on Tuesday. Earlier on Monday, two women Naxalites were killed and one CoBRA jawan was injured in an encounter during the same operation, they said. An official said a... Read more > 10:21 Trump warns of 100% tariff for BRICS bloc unless... US President Donald Trump reiterated his threat towards the BRICS nations on Monday (local time), stating that countries that are part of this organisation would face 100 per cent tariffs on trade with the US if they continue their de-dollarization efforts.Speaking to the media during his signing... Read more > 10:11 Stocks continue to surge as Trump 2.0 begins Indian stock markets continued to gain on Tuesday's opening as Trump 2.0 began, with both indices surging in the opening session. The Nifty 50 index opened at 23,421.65 with a surge of 76.90 points or 0.33 per cent, while the BSE Sensex was up by 188.28 points or 0.24 per cent to open at... Read more > 09:52 Cops recreate Saif attack crime scene at actor's building Mumbai police on Tuesday recreated the crime scene with the accused arrested for the knife attack on Saif Ali Khan at the actor's residence in upscale Bandra, an official said. A team of 20 officials reached the Satguru Sharan building in four police vans around 5.30 am and were on the... Read more > 09:40 What 6 IPOs Did Sebi approve? The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has approved initial public offerings (IPOs) for six companies, including Hexaware Technologies, Vikran Engineering, PMEA Solar Tech Solutions, Ajax Engineering, All Time Plastics, and Scoda Tubes.Carlyle-backed Hexaware Technologies plans to... Read more > 09:28 Amitabh sells flat for Rs 83 cr, earns 168% profit Amitabh Bachchan has sold his duplex apartment in Mumbai's Andheri area for Rs 83 crore, according to property registration documents accessed by SquareYards, says reports by the Times of India and the Hindustan Times. Bachchan bought his duplex apartment in April 2021 for Rs 31 crore. It... Read more > 09:19 Hyundai, Swiggy may join Nifty Next 50 Hyundai Motor India and Swiggy are expected to make it to the Nifty Next 50 index during the rebalancing exercise slated for next month.The index ' seen as a stepping stone for the premier Nifty 50 index -- could see as much as seven changes, which could trigger a churn of more than Rs 5,000... Read more > 09:13 Trump signs executive order to withdraw US from WHO US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order beginning the process of withdrawing America from the World Health Organisation, the second time in less than five years that the US has ordered to withdraw from the world body.It was among dozens of executive actions he signed after being... Read more > 09:05 US to recognise only 2 genders; male, female: Trump In a major announcement just after being sworn in as the 47th US President, Donald Trump declared that it will be the official policy of the United States to recognise only two genders -- male and female. Trump said his administration will work to make a merit-based and colourblind... Read more > 08:53 Biden pardoned his family during my speech: Trump United States President Donald Trump didn't hold back when addressing President Joe Biden's family pardons. Trump criticises Biden for an 11th-hour clemency announcement offering preemptive pardons to members of his family during remarks from the Capital One Arena Monday. Did you know that... Read more > 08:46 Vivek Ramaswamy quits DOGE after Trump takes office Indian American entrepreneur-turned-politician Vivek Ramaswamy on Monday announced that he is leaving the newly-established Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) as he plans to prepare to run for the Governor of Ohio. It was my honour to help support the creation of DOGE. I'm confident... Read more > 08:43 Marco Rubio confirmed as Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the US Senator from Florida, was on Monday unanimously confirmed as the Secretary of State, making him the first member of the Cabinet of President Donald Trump to be confirmed. Rubio, 53, as a Senator last year had introduced a bill in the Congress that proposed to treat India... Read more > 08:41 Trump pardons about 1,500 charged for Capitol riots Just a few hours after being sworn in as the 47th President of the United States, Donald Trump granted pardons and commutations to about 1,500 of his supporters who have been charged in the January 6, 2021, US Capitol attack. According to the statement, 14 individuals were granted... Read more > 01:27 Trump to 'tariff and tax foreign countries' President Donald Trump has announced to establish the External Revenue Service to 'tariff and tax foreign countries' instead of taxing US citizens.Trump vowed to 'overhaul' the trade system 'to protect American workers and families'.I will immediately begin the overhaul of our trade system to... Read more > 00:36 Bidens leave US Capitol Former United States President Joe Biden and Former first lady Jill Biden depart from the US Capitol building on Marine One on the inauguration day of Donald Trump's second presidential term in Washington, DC on January 20, 2025. Photograph: Elizabeth Frantz/Reuters Read more > The Democrat John F Kennedy has been sworn in as the youngest ever elected president of the United States. The 43-year-old Roman Catholic was inaugurated as the 35th president on a snow-covered Capitol Hill in Washington. He takes over from the oldest president in American history, General Dwight Eisenhower, who is bowing out aged 70. The presidents Republican rival, Richard Nixon, who came a close second in the race for the White House, also attended the inauguration ceremony. Millions watched the swearing-in of the new president on television. He chose to wear formal President Kennedy began his speech by addressing my fellow citizens the term first used by President George Washington but rejected by later presidents in favour of the less formal my fellow Americans. His ten-minute address appealed to Americans to unite in the fight against the common enemy of man: tyranny, poverty, disease and war itself. For the people of the world struggling against the bonds of misery, the president pledged, our best efforts to help them help themselves. He continued: If a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich. He also appealed to the Soviet Union to begin a new quest for peace. Let both sides for the first time, formulate serious and precise proposals for the inspection and control of arms and bring the absolute power to destroy other nations under the absolute control of all nations, he said. President Kennedy closed his speech with the words: Ask not what your country can do for you ask what you can do for your country. My fellow citizens of the world, ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man. His words were greeted with rousing applause. Courtesy BBC News In context President Kennedy was a Harvard graduate and a war hero. He became a Democratic Congressman in 1946 and a senator in 1952. He married Jacqueline Bouvier in 1953. He ran against Richard Nixon for the White House. In September 1960 millions watched the pair battle it out in a series of television debates. Shortly after his election, he supported a Cuban rebel attempt to overthrow the communist regime of Fidel Castro in Cuba. It was unsuccessful and led the Russians to install nuclear weapons on Cuba in 1962 triggering what became known as the Cuban missile crisis. The crisis was narrowly averted. In August 1963, Kennedy negotiated the first nuclear test ban treaty with the Soviet Union in what was seen as a first step towards ending the Cold War. On 22 November 1963, President Kennedy was assassinated. He was shot in the head as he drove through Dallas, Texas on his way to a political festival. A ceasefire in the Gaza Strip took effect yesterday following an almost three-hour delay after Hamas was late to name the three hostage it plans to release. The announcement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus office said the ceasefire began at 11:15 a.m. local time. Israel said earlier it would keep fighting until the names were handed over in accordance with the agreement. Hamas blamed the delay in handing over the names on technical field reasons. It said in a statement that it is committed to the ceasefire deal announced last week. The ceasefire is set to pause the fighting after 15 months of war and see the release of dozens of hostages held by the militants in the Gaza Strip and hundreds of Palestinians imprisoned by Israel. Israels Cabinet approved the deal early on Saturday. Brokered by mediators the United States, Qatar and Egypt in months of indirect talks between the warring sides, the ceasefire is the second truce achieved in the devastating conflict. The Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel killed some 1,200 people and left some 250 others captive. Nearly 100 hostages remain in Gaza. Israel responded with an offensive that has killed more than 46,000 Palestinians, according to local health officials, who do not distinguish between civilians and militants but say women and children make up more than half the dead. Yesterday, Israeli government spokesman David Mencer told journalists that both Trump and Biden have given full backing to Israels right to return to the fighting if it reaches the conclusion that the second stage of negotiations is ineffectual. Mencer adds, however, that Israel wants all stages of the phased ceasefire deal to come into effect. Negotiations on the ceasefires second phase are to start just over two weeks into the first phase that began Sunday. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz in a separate statement reiterated that Israel wont stop the war until everyone returns home. He added that we will take care to maintain the buffer zones and respond forcefully to any violation and threat. Israeli forces are withdrawing to buffer zones inside Gaza in the first phase. Residents of Gazas southern city of Rafah returned to find massive destruction following the ceasefire. Its an indescribable scene. Its like you see a Hollywood horror movie, Mohamed Abu Taha told The Associated Press as he and his brother inspected the family home in Rafahs Salam neighborhood. He described flattened houses, human remains, skulls and other body parts, in the street and in the rubble. In London, the mother of one of the three female hostages expected to be released today [Macau time] said she was praying her daughter will return to Israel alive, adding, I have more hope now than Ive had in the last 15 months. Emily Damari, a 28-year-old British-Israeli national, was kidnapped from her apartment on Kibbutz Kfar Aza, a communal farming village hit hard by Hamas Oct. 7, 2023, attack. It would be the most wonderful feeling in the world if she comes back, the most wonderful feeling. But I wont believe it until I see and feel it for myself, her mother Mandy said in a statement released on behalf of her family. MDT/AP Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes, director of the Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO), emphasized that Portugal can play a pivotal role in attracting more European visitors to the Special Administrative Region. Portugal is not just a gateway to Portugal itself. It also serves as a bridge to reach the European market, Senna Fernandes told Lusa, highlighting the potential for increased tourism collaboration. In June, the semi-annual meeting of the European Travel Agents and Tour Operators Associations (ECTAA) will be held in Macau, marking a significant step in this initiative. Senna Fernandes credited the strong partnership with the Portuguese Association of Travel and Tourism Agencies (APAVT) for facilitating this connection. It was through APAVT that we were introduced to ECTAA, she added. This meeting will be particularly noteworthy, as it will be the first ECTAA gathering outside of Europe since its last session in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Additionally, Macau has been selected as the preferred destination for the confederations 2025 meeting. I think this is a good start, Senna Fernandes remarked, noting that while fewer than 100 attendees are expected, they collectively represent 80,000 travel agencies across Europe. Senna Fernandes expressed optimism that the event will enhance awareness of Macau among European travel agencies. Victoria Chan The Labor Affairs Bureau has commenced its second mandated review of the Minimum Wage Law, a process required every two years under local legislation. The announcement follows a written inquiry from lawmaker Lei Chan U, confirming that the Bureau will assess the laws implementation from November 2022 to October 2024. The review will involve analyzing execution data and current economic conditions to evaluate whether adjustments to the minimum wage or severance compensation limits are necessary. Once completed, the Bureau will compile its findings into a report for consideration by the Social Coordination Standing Committee. While changes to minimum wage rates and severance compensation limits require legislative action, the Bureau says its working to streamline the review process. In 2024, Macaus government increased the minimum wage to MOP7,072 per month, a rise of MOP416 from the previous rate of MOP6,656. This decision was made after assessing the macroeconomic environment and labor market evolution. The amendment to Law 5/2020 will be sent to the Legislative Assembly for discussion, with an intended enforcement date of January 1, 2024. The amendment does not extend to domestic workers operating under a separate regime with a minimum wage ceiling of MOP3,500. Wong Chi Hong, director of the Labor Affairs Bureau, emphasized that domestic workers receive benefits such as food and lodging, impacting their overall compensation. VC * 185,000 per day Upcoming CNY extended holiday is expected to bring record numbers of visitors to town, according to the MGTO * Shopping | Sasa scales back mainland retail amid tourism shift * Social Media TikTok goes dark as US ban takes effect * The Judiciary Police are investigating a suspicious fire that broke out at an apartment building in the Inner Harbor as a potential case of arson * SME struggling to comply with Tax Bureau unexpected inspections * Trumps inauguration: what to expect DOWNLOAD PDF Monday, January 20, 2025 edition no. 4645 Macaus Hawker Management Regime will take effect on March 1, as the Municipal Affairs Bureau (IAM) promotes the new law. IAM held three explanatory sessions to brief the Consultative Committee on Municipal Affairs, community service committees, and industry representatives on key provisions and transitional measures. During the sessions, IAM officials outlined the obligations of hawker license holders and the enforcement mechanisms to enhance management standards. Participants provided feedback, emphasizing that the new regime would facilitate better operational order and resource utilization within the hawker industry. Related Sa Sa International Holdings (Sasa) has announced a strategic shift away from offline investments in mainland China, reflecting changing consumer preferences and ongoing challenges in the retail sector. The companys latest report highlights a significant decline in its mainland operations, prompting a reevaluation of its market strategy. In the six months ending September 30, 2024, Sasas turnover reached HKD1.92 billion, a 10.4% year-on-year decline. This decline was driven mainly by a sluggish macroeconomic environment and reduced consumption from Mainland Chinese tourists. Notably, offline sales in Hong Kong and Macau fell by 19.4%, totaling HKD1.31 billion, while the mainland experienced an alarming 36.7% drop due to the closure of 12 stores. Macaus resurgence in tourism has welcomed some 17 million visitors (from March to September 2024), with 11.9 million arriving from mainland Chinaa 13.8% increase from the previous year. However, a demographic shift among these tourists is evident, with younger travelers increasingly favoring experiential activities over traditional shopping. This change is attributed to rising hotel costs in Hong Kong and the convenience of same-day returns to the Greater Bay Area. The demographic of Mainland Chinese tourists has changed, now seeking experiential travel over shopping, the report stated, emphasizing the need for retailers to adapt to these evolving preferences. Despite the challenges, opportunities exist within the retail sector. In July 2024, visitor tax-free allowances rose from RMB5,000 to RMB12,000, potentially boosting tourist spending. Additionally, Mainland Chinese consumers are increasingly open to exploring niche and domestic beauty brands, which Sasa aims to leverage through a revamped store portfolio and a focus on local markets. The company operates 82 stores across Hong Kong and Macau, located near tourist attractions. However, it has scaled back its footprint in mainland China, closing several outlets as part of a broader restructuring to enhance operational efficiency and improve financial performance. As of September 30, 2024, Hong Kong and Macau sales accounted for 73.1% of the Groups total sales, although turnover in these key markets decreased by 18.4% compared to the previous year. The decline moderated through the year, thanks in part to increased foot traffic from Mainland Chinese tourists, which improved sales performance from a 33.8% year-on-year decline in the first quarter to a 24.1% drop in the second quarter. Looking ahead, Sasa is enhancing its online presence and integrating its membership program across channels, aiming to cultivate customer loyalty and boost repeat purchases. The group is optimistic that emerging government initiatives to attract large-scale business exhibitions will gradually revive regional retail consumption. Victoria Chan Local small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are struggling to comply with recent requirements from the Financial Services Bureau (DSF). This requires business owners to provide additional proof of their receipts and expenses related to a financial assistance program launched during Covid-19. On the line is an inspection decided by the bureau for those granted government support measures between 2020 and 2024. Lawmaker Ron Lam wrote to the government that the DSF recently required business owners to present proof of their activities from 2020 onwards. Many without an organized accounting system are struggling to comply with this requirement. Several merchants have reflected that they have recently received notices from the DSF requesting them to provide all the receipts and information of the year when the assistance was granted to prove that they are eligible for tax returns, but due to the lapse of time, merchants are unable to collect and provide all the receipts, Lam said, adding that due to this incapacity, there are being considered ineligible for tax refunds and are asked to return the sums of the assistance received. Lam claims that the government has many ways to verify merchants honesty and reports, but this method only burdens small business owners. In response, the DSF noted that three assistant schemes launched from 2020 to 2022 had specific and clear rules that those professionals and companies had to comply with. To expedite fund distribution, the government has implemented clear policies focused on trustful distribution with subsequent oversight, using pre-screening and post-monitoring to ensure funds reach eligible beneficiaries. The program also emphasizes responsible resource use as the DSF verifies beneficiary eligibility, and those who submit false information or commit fraud will have their funds revoked and may face legal consequences, the response notes. DSF director Iong Kong Leong added, if discrepancies are found in accounting records during the five-year settlement period, the bureau can assess the taxable income of business operators and determine the tax owed. In light of this, Iong noted that Article 49 of the Commercial Code, which requires operators to maintain accurate accounting records for five years, is why he considers DSF fully complying with the law and ensuring that public money is well spent. Group tours to Taiwan will be resumed soon for residents from Fujian province and Shanghai in the Chinese mainland, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism announced last week, according to China Daily. The ministry said that preparations for the resumption of group tours are underway, and expressed hope that tourism industries on both sides of the Taiwan Strait will strengthen communication and collaboration to offer high-quality services and products for the Chinese mainland residents participating in these tours. The decision is part of broader efforts to further normalize people-to-people exchanges and cooperation across various sectors between the Chinese mainland and Taiwan. It responds to the strong desire expressed by the people and tourism industry in Taiwan and aims to enhance the welfare of people on both sides of the Strait, according to a statement published on the ministrys website. Individual and group tours of residents from the Chinese mainland to Taiwan have been suspended for over four years. In April and August last year, the ministry resumed group tours of residents in Fujian province to Matsu and Jinmen, islands of Taiwan, respectively. Chen Binhua, a spokesman for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, said during a press conference on Friday that the resumption of group tours is a practical response to the desire of people on both sides of the Strait to promote exchanges and contacts. The resumption aligns with the shared wish of Taiwan compatriots for peace, development and increased exchanges and cooperation, which we fully support and welcome, he said. Chen stressed that the Chinese mainland has always upheld the principle that both sides of the Strait are one family and has consistently supported the normalization of cross-Strait people-to-people exchanges, as well as cooperation in various fields, for the benefit of Taiwan compatriots. Chen also urged Taiwans Democratic Progressive Party to acknowledge the mainstream public opinion in Taiwan and the voice from the industry. The DPP should lift the ban on group tours to the Chinese mainland as soon as possible, ease travel alerts for Taiwan people traveling to the mainland, and fully restore direct cross-Strait flights to help create favorable conditions for exchanges between the two sides, he said. The ministry announced the resumption of group tours for Taiwan residents to the Chinese mainland in May 2023. However, the DPP has yet to lift the ban on group tours to the mainland, which has been in place since 2020. In addition, the DPP upgraded the travel alert regarding the mainland to orange in June last year and has refrained from commenting on restoring direct flights between the two sides. MDT/China Daily Millions of TikTok users in the United States are no longer able to watch videos on the social media platform as a federal ban on the immensely popular app takes effect. The companys app was removed yesterday [Macau time] from prominent app stores, including the ones operated by Apple and Google, while its website told users that the short-form video platform was no longer available. The blackout began just hours before the law took effect. Users opening the TikTok app on Saturday encountered a pop-up message preventing them from scrolling videos that read, Sorry, TikTok isnt available right now. A law banning TikTok has been enacted in the U.S., the message said. Unfortunately that means you cant use TikTok for now. We are fortunate that President Trump has indicated that he will work with us on a solution to reinstate TikTok once he takes office, the notice continued, in a reference to President-elect Donald Trumps pledge to save the platform. The company told its users to stay tuned. The only option the message gives to U.S. users is to close the app or click another option leading them to the platforms website. There, users are shown the same message and given the option to download their data, an action TikTok previously said may take days to process. Before the announcement went out, TikTok said in another message to users that its service would be temporarily unavailable and the company was working to restore its U.S. service as soon as possible. But how long the platform will remain dark is unclear. Apple said in a statement on its website that TikTok and ByteDance apps were no longer available in the U.S., while visitors to the country could have limited access. Apple is obligated to follow the laws in the jurisdictions where it operates, the company said. If you already have these apps installed on your device, they will remain on your device. But they cant be redownloaded if deleted or restored if you move to a new device. In-app purchases and new subscriptions are no longer possible, the statement said, adding that the change could impact performance, security and compatability with future versions of iOS and iPadOS. TikTok CEO Shou Chew posted a video thanking Trump for his commitment to work with the company to keep the app available in the U.S. and a strong stand for the first amendment and against arbitrary censorship. We are grateful and pleased to have the support of a president who truly understands our platform. One who has used talk to express his own thoughts and perspectives, connecting with the world and generating more than 60 billion views of his content in the process, Chew said. In an interview with NBC News on Saturday, President-elect Donald Trump said he was thinking about giving TikTok a 90-day extension that would allow them to continue operating. If such an extension happens, Trump who once favored a TikTok ban said it would probably be announced Monday, the day that he is sworn in as president. TikTok CEO Shou Chew is expected to attend Trumps inauguration with a prime seating location. In Washington, lawmakers and administration officials have long raised concerns about the app, which they see as a national security threat due to its Chinese ownership. TikTok is owned by ByteDance, a technology company based in Beijing that operates the well-known video editing app CapCut and Lemon8, both of which were also unavailable for service Saturday evening. The federal law required ByteDance to cut ties with TikTok by today (Macau time) or face a nationwide ban. The statute was passed by Congress in April after it was included as part of a high-priority $95 billion package that provided foreign aid to Ukraine and Israel. President Joe Biden quickly signed it, and then TikTok and ByteDance quickly sued on First Amendment grounds. While defending the law in court, the Biden administration argued it was concerned about TikTok collecting vast swaths of U.S. user data that could fall into the hands of the Chinese government through coercion. Officials have also warned the algorithm that fuels what users see on the app is vulnerable to manipulation by Chinese authorities, who can use it to shape content on the platform in a way thats difficult to detect. But to date, the U.S. has not publicly provided evidence of TikTok handing user data to Chinese authorities or tinkering with its algorithm to benefit Chinese interests. The Supreme Court unanimously decided on Friday the risk to national security posed by TikToks ties to China overcomes concerns about limiting speech by the app or its 170 million users in the United States. After TikToks service started going dark, some in China slammed the U.S. and accused it of suppressing the popular app. In a post on the Chinese social media platform Weibo, Hu Xijin, a former editor-in-chief for the Chinese Communist Party-run newspaper Global Times, said TikToks announcement to halt services in America marks the darkest moment in the development of internet. A country that claims to have the most freedom of speech has carried out the most brutal suppression of an internet application, said Hu, who is now a political commentator. TikTok does not operate in China, where ByteDance instead offers Douyin, the Chinese sibling of TikTok that follows Beijings strict censorship rules. After the court ruling, both White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre and Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said the Biden administration would leave the laws implementation to President-elect Donald Trump given that his inauguration falls the day after the ban takes effect. But TikTok said on Friday evening it will be forced to go dark if the administration didnt provide a definitive statement to the companies, such as Apple, Google and Oracle, that deliver its service in the U.S.HALELUYA HADERO, NEW YORK, MDT/AP President-elect Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping discussed trade, fentanyl and TikTok in a phone call this weekend, just days before Trump heads back to the White House with vows to impose tariffs and other measures on Americas biggest rival. Despite that, Xi congratulated Trump on his second term and pushed for improved ties, the Chinese foreign ministry said. The call came the same day that the U.S. Supreme Court backed a law banning TikTok unless its sold by its China-based parent company. We both attach great importance to interaction, hope for a good start of the China-U.S. relationship during the new U.S. presidency and are willing to secure greater progress in China-U.S. relations from a new starting point, Xi said in the call. Trump confirmed on his Truth Social platform that he had spoken with Xi, saying the call was a very good one for both China and the U.S.A. They talked about trade, fentanyl and TikTok and more, he said. President Xi and I will do everything possible to make the World more peaceful and safe! Trump wrote. His transition team pointed to the social media post when asked for more details on the call. The past few days have shown a warmer side of the U.S.-China relationship, which is expected to be one of the main focuses of Trumps second term. In his campaign, Trump threatened to raise tariffs on Chinese goods by as much as 60% and later pledged an additional 10% hike over allegations China has failed to stem the flow of illicit drugs into the United States. Experts believe that Trump would expand controls on products sold to China, too. But they also have pointed to Trump vowing to save TikTok even though he tried to ban the social media platform the last time he was in the White House. Following the Supreme Courts ruling, Trump said on social media that his decision on TikTok will be made in the not too distant future, but I must have time to review the situation. Stay tuned! Hal Brands, senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, said Trump is siding with TikTok because he believes the social media platform helped him in the 2024 election. So I think it is a sign that Trumps own convictions on China are fairly changeable, given what is politically advantageous to him , Brands said. He certainly isnt a cold warrior at heart. In my view, his goal is to reach some sort of deal or accommodation with Beijing over the long term, even though he may well use confrontational tactics to build the leverage that is needed for that in the short- and medium-term. Hours before the Trump-Xi call, the Chinese foreign ministry announced that Vice President Han Zheng would attend Trumps swearing-in ceremony as Xis special representative. Trump extended an unusual invitation to Xi in December, but no head of state has attended a U.S. presidents inauguration in the past. Trump in the past has praised his relationship with Xi and suggested China could help mediate international crises such as the war in Ukraine. Beijing and Washington, however, have been locked in a tense economic competition since Trumps first term, when relations shifted toward a more contentious rivalry. President Joe Biden also has imposed limits on the sale of advanced technology to China and slapped high tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles and solar cells. Sen. Marco Rubio, Trumps nominee for secretary of state, said at his confirmation hearing this week that China was the most potent and dangerous near-peer adversary this nation has ever confronted. In the call over the weekend, Xi told Trump that differences are inevitable between the two powers, but the key lies with respecting each others core interests and major concerns and finding a proper solution, according to the Chinese foreign ministry. Xi urged Trump to approach the Taiwan issue with prudence because it is about Chinas sovereignty and territorial integrity. Confrontation and conflict should not be an option for the two countries, Xi said. Trump has criticized Taiwan for pulling some of the semiconductor industry from the U.S., but U.S.-Taiwan relations also significantly improved during his first term. Taiwan is sending legislative speaker Han Kuo-yu and seven others to Trumps inauguration, tasked with conveying Taiwans commitment to democracy and best wishes to Trump and his administration. In their phone call, Xi told Trump that the essence of trade and the overall economic relationship between the two countries is mutually benefiting and win-win. The two leaders exchanged views on the war in Ukraine and the Israel-Hamas war and agreed to establish a channel of strategic communication, according to the Chinese foreign ministry. Craig Singleton, senior director of the China Program at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said such leader-to-leader calls are important and noted that Trump and Xi appear to be speaking more frequently. Regular communication is critical for advancing U.S. interests while ensuring clarity in competition, Singleton said. Trump said in a December interview on Meet the Press that he had been communicating with Xi since he won the November election. Trump in the interview said he has a very good relationship with Chinas leader. He said they did not discuss Taiwan but other issues. DIDI TANG, WASHINGTON, MDT/AP TIBU, Colombia A fresh outbreak of guerrilla violence amid a faltering peace process in Colombia has left more than 80 people dead, including civilians, and displaced around 11,000 in just four days, officials reported Sunday (Monday in Manila). As residents fled for their lives, the army deployed some 5,000 troops to the cocaine-growing Catatumbo region at the center of a fast-escalating territorial war. - Advertisement - The National Liberation Army armed group, officials said, launched an assault in Catatumbo last Thursday on a rival formation comprised of ex-members of the now-defunct FARC guerrilla force who kept fighting after it disarmed in 2017. Civilians found themselves caught in the middle, and by Sunday, it was estimated that more than 80 people have lost their lives, according to governor William Villamizar of the Norte de Santander department. Terrified residents carrying backpacks and belongings on overladen motorcycles, boats, or crammed onto the backs of open trucks, fled the region over the weekend. Hundreds found refuge in the town of Tibu, where several shelters were set up, while others crossed the border to Venezuela for some a return to a country from where they had fled economic and political upheaval. Venezuela announced the launch of a special operation to assist the civilian population displaced from Colombia, hundreds of families, according to the government in Caracas. As a Colombian, it is painful for me to leave my country, said Geovanny Valero, a 45-year-old farmer who fled to Venezuela, saying he hopes the situation in Catatumbo will be sorted out so he can return. In just four days, at least 11,000 displaced people have been reported and there could be many more, said Iris Marin, head of the Ombudsmans Office rights group, in a video broadcast on the social network X. There are indiscriminate attacks on combatants and civilians who are accused of collaborating with one group or the other, she added. Shocking revelations have recently come to light surrounding the more than decade-long persecution of Julian Assange. A British judge, Penrose Foss, has ruled that the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) must explain why it deleted a series of emails between itself and the Swedish legal authorities about the attempt to extradite Assange. The information that has been made available by Freedom of Information (FOI) requests reveals the extent to which the CPS, then under the charge of Sir Keir Starmer, pressed the Swedish authorities to continue extradition attempts. This was all despite the complete lack of evidence and the fact that the Swedish police had effectively railroaded two women into making statements required to press rape charges against Assange. Meanwhile, attempts to make FOI requests to Swedish, US and Australian authorities by Italian journalist Stefania Maurizi have been met with a wall of darkness. What this clearly shows is a political cover up of a coordinated attempt by these so-called democratic governments to use fabricated rape accusations to persecute a political enemy. Where it all began Julian Assange earned the admiration of millions of workers and the poor when in 2010 Wikileaks, his organisation of whistleblowers and investigative journalists, released a stack of information detailing war crimes by the US and UK in Afghanistan and Iraq. These exposed horrific crimes carried out by the imperialists, and how these crimes were systematically covered up by the US. One gruesome example was a video of the murder of several civilians, including two Reuters journalists, by US soldiers, which the Americans recorded as the killing of enemy combatants! The leaks revealed that the scale of civilian death was far worse than the US had reported, as well as exposing how the US was complicit with a regime of torture and arbitary detention. From the point of view of US imperialism, Assange had committed an unforgivable sin. He had exposed the hollowness of the rules-based order, revealing the criminal and cynical policy of US imperialism for all its worth. The American establishment lost no time in fighting back, howling about Wikileaks placing American servicemen and women in danger. To this day, despite an extensive Pentagon-led investigation, not a single death has been attributed to the Wikileaks expose. Yet US politicians and intelligence agency figures continue to reel out this slander. Stockholm subordination The claim that Assange had endangered US personnel was only the beginning of a protracted character assassination. At that time, Assange lived in Sweden as a result of the constitutional guarantees the country gives to free journalism. But the hollowness of these guarantees were soon revealed. The Swedish government feared a clash with Washington over Assange and was soon presented with an opportunity to persecute Assange on behalf of the latter. The claim that Assange had endangered US personnel was only the beginning of a protracted character assassination / Image: Anthony Crider, Wikimedia Commons In the summer of 2010, two women went to a police station with the intention of compelling Julian Assange to carry out a STD test after he had had unprotected sex with them. The Swedish authorities lost no time in twisting this and utilising it to descend upon Assange. Unconventionally, the police decided to file a rape report within 11 minutes of the second woman, woman S, speaking to the police, despite it being two and a half hours before she finished making the report. Even more bizarrely, Swedens public prosecutor immediately issued an arrest warrant against Assange before the police summary was written, and without taking into account that woman S did not agree to sign it. Following several FOI requests, and despite many of the text records being destroyed, texts from the two women reveal the degree to which they were railroaded into the process. Woman S writes that it was the police who made up the charges and it is clear that these women were threatened with facing charges of providing false testimony were they to back out at any point. Back in 2010, immediately after the arrest warrant against Assange was issued, the fact was mysteriously leaked to the press, and a lynch mob atmosphere was whipped up demanding Assanges arrest. Many so-called lefts immediately jumped on the bandwaggon, under the watchword of listening to women and standing firm against sexual assault. But what is now clear from these FOIs is that the Swedish state pressured these women into pressing charges in order to take Assange down. No more loyal lapdog Due to the complete lack of evidence, eventually the Swedish prosecutors relented and Assange was allowed to leave for London. This was not without the absurd fiasco of an Interpol Red Notice being issued, normally reserved for serious international crimes. Britain, having itself been embarrassed by Assange and keen to display its loyalty (subservience) to Washington, issued a European Arrest Warrant for Assange. This is what compelled Assange to seek refuge in the Ecuadorian embassy. The CPS, led by Sir Keir Starmer, then set about aggressively maintaining the Swedish case for Assanges extradition. It was clear at the time that this was a politically-motivated arrest warrant, as Assange himself had offered to answer the questions of the public prosecutor in written form (a common practice), or even to hand himself over if he was given assurances that the Swedish government would not extradite him to the US. He was refused both requests, the intention clearly being to hand him over to the tender mercies of the US government. The few emails that have survived what is clearly an attempted cover up, reveal how this hallowed institution of bourgeois justice was wielded, as all such institutions are, to serve the interests of the ruling class. One email from a CPS lawyer contains the line dont you dare get cold feet! whilst another advised please do not think that the case is being dealt with as just another extradition request. The British state was compelling the Swedish authorities to maintain a case that was based on the most flimsy evidence. This served a dual end. On the one hand, had they been successful it would have paved the way for Assange to be extradited to the US. On the other hand, it poisoned public opinion against Assange as a rapist. The British establishment would learn well from this example when it carried out the successful character assassination of Jeremy Corbyn, a lifelong anti-racist activist, as an antisemite. An important lesson that the Left must learn It has come to light now just how bogus the charges against Assange were. It is clear that this was a politically motivated attack to discredit someone who had dared to expose the crimes of the ruling class. Yet many on the left failed to see this, and even worse, produced shrill articles accusing anyone who pointed out the clear motivations of this fiasco as a rape apologist. The Guardian played a particularly rotten role, with prominent journalists like Marina Hynde and Suzanne Moore publishing vile hit pieces that sneered and denigrated Assange. Worst of all however, was the contribution made by Owen Jones as he provided the left cover to this establishment offensive. As journalist Jonathan Cook makes clear, the campaign against Assange could not have been so effective without the role played by such articles. Ultimately, such capitulations before bourgeois public opinion reflect the political weakness of reformism. It revealed firstly the naive faith of these so-called lefts in the institutions of bourgeois democracy. For reformists like Jones, it simply couldnt be possible that such allegations had been largely fabricated and that Assange was a clear victim of persecution. It is no accident that the same cabal of left journalists made similar compromises and apologies when Corbyn was being smeared. Secondly, the ruling class had clearly struck at the Achilles heel of these lefts by specifically fabricating rape allegations. For these lefts, who fully buy into identity politics, on these questions to be accused is to automatically be guilty, and we must first listen to the women and ignore all political context of the accusations despite the fact now clearly proven that it was not the women making these allegations but the public prosecutor and woman S herself was subject to outrageous pressures! As revolutionary communists, it is important for us to study the persecution of Julian Assange as a clear reminder of the real role of bourgeois legality and of identity politics. Our task is to mercilessly expose it, just as Assange exposed the crimes of imperialism so admirably nearly 15 years ago. Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres have both extended their support to Lebanons newly appointed Prime Minister, Nawaf Salam, as the country enters a period of renewed optimism for its future. During a phone conversation on Sunday January 19, Madbouly congratulated Salam on securing a confidence vote in Parliament and forming a new Government. He affirmed Egypts full backing for Lebanons stability and pledged support for the new Governments efforts in striving for security, prosperity, and lasting stability. Salam expressed his gratitude to Madbouly, recognising Lebanons deep appreciation for Egypts positive role, status, and influence in the region. He reiterated his governments commitment to strengthening bilateral cooperation with Egypt in various sectors. UN Secretary-General Guterres, who had concluded a two-day visit to Lebanon on Saturday, echoed the message of hope. In his remarks, he urged the new government, the Lebanese people, and the international community to seize this moment of opportunity. Guterres noted that a window has opened for Lebanon to embark on a new era of institutional stability, where a fully functioning state could protect its citizens and allow the countrys potential to thrive. He met with both newly elected President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister-designate Salam, and observed a positive, albeit cautious, outlook despite the considerable challenges that lie ahead. A violent confrontation between small-scale miners and military personnel at the AngloGold Ashanti Obuasi Mine has resulted in eight deaths. The clash, which took place late night on January 19 in the Ashanti Region, has heightened tensions in the town, with four vehicles set ablaze during the violence. Eyewitnesses reported that a group of armed miners stormed the mines premises around midnight, opening fire on soldiers stationed there. The army responded, resulting in the deaths of at least eight miners. Several others have been injured and are receiving treatment at local hospitals. Following the incident, angry miners have taken to the streets, engaging in vandalism and setting fire to buses, causing further unrest in Obuasi. The cause of the attack remains unclear, and authorities have yet to provide a full explanation. The situation in the area remains tense, with security concerns growing. Kenya has deployed an additional 217 police officers to Haiti on January 18 as part of an ongoing Multinational force to tackle escalating gang violence. This follows Kenyas initial deployment of troops to Haiti in June 2024, and the total number of Kenyan officers now exceeds 600. The deployment is part of a broader United Nations-backed mission aimed at stabilising the Caribbean nation. Kenyas Interior Minister, Kipchumba Murkomen, confirmed the new contingent of officers left on Friday, stating that the Kenya-led mission has made significant progress in curbing gang violence, which has plagued Haiti for years. Murkomen reaffirmed Kenyas commitment to the mission, noting that President William Ruto has pledged to send up to 1,000 troops to support the operation. Gang violence in Haiti has left over 700,000 people homeless, with thousands of Haitians living in dire conditions after their homes were destroyed. In 2024 alone, more than 5,600 people were killed, and the situation has worsened, with killings increasing by over 20% compared to the previous year. The United Nations continues to monitor the crisis, as Haiti struggles to control the rampant violence. The Acting Chairman of the National Oil Corporation (NOC), Masoud Suleiman, provided an update to the Prime Minister of the Government of National Unity, Abdul Hamid Dbeibah, on daily oil and gas production and the progress of ongoing development projects within the sector. On Sunday January 19, Dbeibah held a meeting with Suleiman in his office in Tripoli to review the status of the plan to increase oil production and the advancement of development projects in the sector, as reported by the Hakomitna media platform on its Facebook page. The platform further reported that Suleiman outlined the current daily production figures, which include 1,419,958 barrels of crude oil, 52,075 barrels of condensates, and 205,741 barrels of gas equivalent, bringing the total daily production to 1,677,774 barrels. During the meeting, Dbeibah reiterated the Government of National Unitys full support for the NOCs efforts to boost production and stabilise the sector, commending the significant contributions made by workers across various oil sites. Last Thursday, Dbeibah appointed Suleiman as Acting Chairman of the NOCs Board of Directors, following the resignation of Farhat Bengdara for health reasons. This appointment will remain in effect until the next cabinet meeting, which will decide on the formation of a new Board of Directors for the NOC. 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 A casual scroll through the real estate ads of suburban Melbourne reveals a popular feature: modern houses and renovations prioritizing an "indoor-outdoor flow." This commonly used design term means blending an outdoor living space with an indoor room, often the kitchen or living room. Bifold doors, sprawling decks and alfresco dining areas with BBQs are all used to blur the line between indoor and outdoor spaces. Spending time outside has undeniable benefits for mental health and overall well-being. Being surrounded by nature, soaking up fresh air and unwinding in outdoor spaces are great ways to reduce stress and reconnect with the world around us. But when this lifestyle extends into our homeswithout proper precautionsit can come at a cost: mosquito bites. And with Victoria and NSW now being warned to protect against Japanese Encephalitis, precautions are now more important than ever. The decline of the fly screen When planning ahead to spend an evening outdoors, we're more likely to protect ourselves from mosquito bites with repellents, loose clothing, coils and candles. But when the evening winds down and those unscreened bifold doors are left open, mosquitoes can sneak into the house unnoticed. Once inside, they can easily bite us as we relax on the couch or sleepsituations where protective measures are rarely considered. In embracing a seamless indoor-outdoor design philosophy, we may inadvertently create a perfect opportunity for mosquitoes to follow us inside and feed (on us). In this era of open-plan living, traditional fly screensonce considered essential in Australian homesare disappearing. Sliding doors with extra grooves for screens are often seen as unattractive, interrupting the visual flow between indoor and outdoor spaces. Where screens remain, they are frequently neglected, especially in rental properties, where their maintenance is often deprioritized and deemed too expensive. Additionally, the trend towards oversized doors and windows further complicates the issue, as installing fly screens for these features often requires custom designs and materials, significantly increasing costs. Fly screens were originally designed to serve a simple but critical purpose: keeping mosquitoes, flies and other pests out while allowing cool evening breezes in. By trading practicality for aesthetic value, we're leaving ourselves exposednot just to itchy bites but to the very real risks of mosquito-borne diseases. Breeding sites in our own backyard Most of the mosquitoes inviting themselves inside are breeding in our own backyards or very close by. Standing water in neglected birdbaths, clogged gutters, unmaintained stormwater drains and poorly sealed water tanks provide ideal conditions for the larvae of container-breeding mosquito species to thrive. Even ornamental ponds, potted plants or flat-roof designs that don't drain water efficiently can become breeding hotspots. Mosquitoes can breed in water less than 1cm deep and as little as 30ml is enough for them to complete their lifecycle. Mosquitoes can emerge in overwhelming numbers, making it difficult to enjoy outdoor spaces. When we spoke with residents in Melbourne's inner suburbs about mosquito control, many shared that they avoid using their yards altogether around dusk in the warmer months. They described being relentlessly bitten, with some experiencing severe reactions to mosquito bites. For many, the discomfort and health risks associated with mosquito exposure outweigh the joys of outdoor relaxation, leaving a significant portion of their property underutilized. Ironically, this seems to undermine the intent of the indoor-outdoor design philosophy that they may have invested in. Mosquitoes and public health In recent years, Victoria has seen the re-emergence of Japanese encephalitis after decades of absence. Buruli ulcer, once restricted to the Bellarine and Mornington Peninsula, is now encroaching on Melbourne's inner suburbs. Meanwhile, viruses like Ross River and Barmah Forest remain ongoing threats. These diseases can have severe and lasting impacts on individuals, causing debilitating symptoms, prolonged recovery periods, and, in some cases, life-threatening complications. And it's not just local species we need to worry about. The Tiger Mosquito, a notorious day-biting invader that spreads diseases like dengue and chikungunya, is knocking at Australia's door. With rising temperatures and increasing extreme weather events linked to climate change, favorable conditions for the proliferation of mosquitos, and the pathogens they transmit, is an expected consequence. Passive solutions to mosquito control To effectively manage mosquitoes, we need to change our habits and take mosquito mitigation actions on our own properties. This means removing potential breeding sites like stagnant water, as well as rethinking the way we design and maintain our homes. In rental properties, mosquito mitigation measures including functional screens on windows and drainage maintenance should be emphasized for the health and safety of tenants. While plug-in pesticides and chemical sprays may offer short-term relief, they come with health and environmental drawbacks. Similarly, relying on air conditioning to avoid opening unscreened windows increases energy consumption and contributes to climate change, which can worsen mosquito problems over time. Facing an uncertain future The threat from mosquitoes isn't going away. Climate change, urbanization and shifting ecosystems are all playing a role in increasing their potential to cause harm. It's time for architects, builders, regulators, communities and homeowners to acknowledge this biological reality. Good design isn't just about seamless views or connecting indoor and outdoor spacesit's also about creating safe, healthy spaces and communities. By blending modern aesthetics with practical mosquito control, perhaps we can have the best of both worlds: homes that are stylish, enriching, sustainable and bite-free. 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: Approach for systematically testing 461 human brain cell types for association with schizophrenia (and other phenotypes tested). Credit: Nature Neuroscience (2025). DOI: 10.1038/s41593-024-01834-w Stanford Medicine scientists are generating a periodic table of sorts for psychiatric disorders, providing a better understanding of these conditions and paving the way toward targeted treatment. By combining two massive, publicly available databasesone flagging genes associated with psychiatric disorders, the other showing which cells in which parts of the human brain are making the most use of which of our genesthey've implicated certain cell types, located in particular brain regions, in schizophrenia. Like the periodic table of elements, which has enabled generations of scientists to predict the existence of yet-undiscovered elements and the behavior of those already known, the brain-cell classification system is the product of two sets of observations. In the former, the breakthrough stemmed from organizing the elements in a two-dimensional grid, presenting them not just in order of how many resident protons their atoms housed but also according to their chemical properties. The latter likewise combines two separate series of observations, yielding both confirmations of imaging- and autopsy-derived findings and unearthing previously unsuspected types of cells, in specific brain regions, that may be participants in the pathology of psychiatric disorders. A study detailing these findingsthe first of its kind to rely on fully human data throughoutwas published Jan. 20 in Nature Neuroscience. Researchers from the University of Alabama, Birmingham, and the University of San Francisco also contributed to the work. The still-experimental combinatorial method reveals a new way to learn about psychiatric disorders in general, said the study's senior author, Laramie Duncan, Ph.D., assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences. A periodic table for cells The new study confirms many previous findings, from imaging and post-mortem tissue analyses, regarding places in the brain housing structures that are suspiciously small or where nerve-cell signaling appears disrupted in schizophrenia. It also implicates new brain-cell types schizophrenia researchers have not previously focused on. And it has unearthed brain-cell types, in key brain structures, that are common to psychiatric disorders beyond schizophrenia. "Psychiatric disorders are mysterious, even though they impact at least one-fifth of the population at any given time," Duncan said. Yet the pace of developing treatments for psychiatric disorders has been extremely slow. "That's partly because these disorders are so complex," she said. "But it's also because we don't have a good neurobiological understanding of what's causing them. A key step forward in understanding why people develop these disorders is to identify some of the precise cell types in the brain that contribute to them." Knowing that a particular kind of cell is involved in a psychiatric disorder, plus knowing how that cell normally works and where it resides, provides a clue as to how that cell type's dysfunction may be contributing to the disorder. Because the receptors on or in many cell types are known, it also zeroes in on what kind of drugs might work for schizophrenia. That's easy to say. But the brain is hard to study. Sampling cells deep in that organ typically requires an autopsy, not a biopsy. In contrast, the method the scientists used is noninvasive: It requires computation, not a surgical operation or even imaging. The researchers focused primarily on schizophrenia because it's a serious disorder found worldwide (about 0.5% of all individuals); genes account for roughly 70% to 80% of the variability in people's likelihood of developing schizophrenia, the biggest genetic contribution of any psychiatric disorder; and it's more reliably diagnosed than other disorders. "Schizophrenia is the quintessential psychiatric disorder," Duncan said. It's marked by hallucinations (people see or hear things others don't), delusions (believe themselves to be someone else, often someone famous) and profound difficulties in accomplishing daily activities. It's devastating. "For many, the symptoms are so severe that people with schizophrenia end up sleeping on the streets," Duncan said. One plus one equals three One of the two databases the researchers used was drawn from a large genome-wide association study, or GWAS. Genes often come in versionsthey're mostly identical from one person to the next, but relatively tiny differences in and near genes can make big differences in how, and how much, they influence the behavior of the cells in which these genes are active. In a GWAS, investigators scour the genomes of large numbers of people with and without a trait of interestsay, schizophreniaand compare them to see if those with the trait are disproportionately likely, or unlikely, to carry one or another version of any or many genes. A recent GWAS analyzed a pool of 320,404 people and found 287 genes in or near which one given version of a genetically variable portion was statistically overrepresented among people with schizophrenia. The team fixed their sights on these "schizophrenia-associated genes" for their study. The second database was a brainwide catalog showing which genes each different type of cell in a given part of the human brain actively uses, and how much of it. All cells carry effectively the same bunch of genes, but different groups of those genes are used in, say, a nerve cell versus a liver cellor even a different variety of nerve cell. An inspection of 3,369,219 cells extracted from 105 regions of autopsied human brains defined 461 cell types by their differing patterns of gene usage and where in the brain the cells came from. The researchers combed this database for brain cells, making heavy use of genes identified in the GWAS as schizophrenia-associated. Those cells were considered likely candidates for involvement in the pathology of schizophrenia. The scientists found 109 cell types that fit this description and bore down on 10 representative cell types that statistically were most strongly associated with the illness. The two most significantly schizophrenia-associated cell types had similar functionsselectively inhibiting and therefore shaping excitatory activity in the cerebral cortex, the human brain's outermost and most recently evolved structure. These two cell types separately localized to two different layers of that six-layer brain coating. Both layers have appeared shrunken in postmortem studies of schizophrenia patients' brains. The researchers also identified a brain cell type that hasn't been associated with schizophrenia. It's located in the retrosplenial cortex, which has been found to play a role in people's sense of self (the sense of being within your body, not dissociated from it). "The retrosplenial cortex hasn't received much attention, but it might be a core component of some circuit important for psychiatric disorders," Duncan said. "Disruption of one's sense of self is an experience common to several psychiatric disorders. We've found these same cells to be involved in every psychiatric disorder we've looked at." Two other distinct schizophrenia-associated cell types dwell in a brain structure called the amygdala, considered a hub of nerve-cell activity related to threat assessment and fear. (Fear is one of the defining emotional features for many who suffer from schizophrenia.) Two additional strongly schizophrenia-associated cell types were found in the hippocampus, and one turned up in the thalamus. These three evolutionarily ancient subcortical structures are precisely the same subcortical structures that, in imaging studies, most reliably show shrinkage in schizophrenic brains compared with healthy people's brains. The road to personalized medicine "Now we have a roadmap showing specific directions to go in understanding this disorder," Duncan said. "We know exactly which cell types to study further in the lab, we have new targets for drugs, and we are using genetic information from individual patients to predict what medicine a person should take." Duncan said she thinks it will take six or seven years before scientists have useful clinical applications such as matching patients to therapies. "Our study didn't look at cells in which schizophrenia-associated genes were remarkably underactive," she said. "We want to refine our model to include underrepresented genes as well as overrepresented ones, so we get an even better understanding of the cell types involved. Plus, we're expanding the model to more psychiatric disorders. "We hope to identify groups of people whose cell-type profiles are characteristic of specific disorders, or subsets of those disorders," she said. "That may help us predict or discover which old or new drugs, or combinations of them, will work best for a given patient." More information: Laramie E. Duncan et al, Mapping the cellular etiology of schizophrenia and complex brain phenotypes, Nature Neuroscience (2025). DOI: 10.1038/s41593-024-01834-w Journal information: Nature Neuroscience This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain As the nation braces for potential policy shifts under President-elect Donald Trump's "Make America Healthy Again" mantra, the nation's most populous state and largest health care market is preparing for a few changes of its own. With supermajorities in both houses, Democrats in the California Legislature passedand Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom signed laws taking effect this year that will erase medical debt from credit reports, allow public health officials to inspect immigrant detention centers, and require health insurance companies to cover fertility services such as in vitro fertilization. Still, industry experts say it was a relatively quiet year for health policy in the Golden State, with more attention on a divisive presidential election and with several state legislators seeking to avoid controversial issues as they ran for Congress in competitive swing districts. Newsom shot down some of legislators' most ambitious health care policies, including proposals that would have regulated pharmaceutical industry middlemen and given the state more power to stop private equity deals in health care. Health policy experts say advocates and legislators are now focused on how to defend progressive California policies such as sweeping abortion access in the state and health coverage for immigrants living in the U.S. without authorization. "I think everyone's just thinking about how we're going to enter 2025," said Rachel Linn Gish, a spokesperson with the consumer health advocacy group Health Access California. "We're figuring out what is vulnerable, what we are exposed to on the federal side, and what do budget changes mean for our work. That's kind of putting a cloud over everything." Here are some of the biggest new health care laws Californians should know about: Medical debt California has become the eighth state in which medical debt will no longer affect patients' credit reports or credit scores. SB 1061 bars health care providers and debt collectors from reporting unpaid medical bills to credit bureaus, a practice that supporters of the law say penalizes people for seeking critical care and can make it harder for patients to get a job, buy a car, or secure a mortgage. Critics, including the California Association of Collectors, called the measure from Sen. Monique Limon (D-Santa Barbara) a "tremendous overreach" and successfully lobbied for amendments that limited the scope of the bill, including an exemption for any medical debt incurred on credit cards. The Biden administration has finalized federal rules that would stop unpaid medical bills from affecting patients' credit scores, but the fate of those changes remains unclear as Trump takes office. Psychiatric hospital stays for violent offenders Violent offenders with severe mental illness can now be held longer after a judge orders them released from a state mental hospital. State officials and local law enforcement will now have 30 days to coordinate housing, medication, and behavioral health treatment for those parolees, giving them far more time than the five-day deadline previously in effect. The bill drew overwhelming bipartisan support after a high-profile case in San Francisco in which a 61-year-old man was charged in the repeated stabbing of a bakery employee just days after his release from a state mental hospital. The bill's author, Assembly member Matt Haney (D-San Francisco), called the previous five-day timeline "dangerously short." Cosmetics and 'forever chemicals' California was the first state to ban PFAS chemicals, also known as "forever chemicals," in all cosmetics sold and manufactured within its borders. The synthetic compounds, found in everyday products including rain jackets, food packaging, lipstick, and shaving cream, have been linked to cancer, birth defects, and diminished immune function and have been increasingly detected in drinking water. Industry representatives have argued that use of PFASperfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substancesis critical in some products and that some can be safely used at certain levels. Immigration detention facilities After COVID-19 outbreaks, contaminated water, and moldy food became the subjects of detainee complaints and lawsuits, state legislators gave local county health officials the authority to enter and inspect privately run immigrant detention centers. SB 1132, from Sen. Maria Elena Durazo (D-Los Angeles), gives public health officials the ability to evaluate whether privately run facilities are complying with state and local public health regulations regarding proper ventilation, basic mental and physical health care, and food safety. Although the federal government regulates immigration, six federal detention centers in California are operated by the GEO Group. One of the country's largest private prison contractors, GEO has faced a litany of complaints related to health and safety. Unlike public prisons and jails, which are inspected annually, these facilities would be inspected only as deemed necessary. The contractor filed suit in October to stop implementation of the law, saying it unconstitutionally oversteps the federal government's authority to regulate immigration detention centers. A hearing in the case is set for March 3, said Bethany Lesser, a spokesperson for California Attorney General Rob Bonta. The law took effect Jan. 1. Doctors vs. insurance companies using AI As major insurance companies increasingly use artificial intelligence as a tool to analyze patient claims and authorize some treatment, trade groups representing doctors are concerned that AI algorithms are driving an increase in denials for necessary care. Legislators unanimously agreed. SB 1120 states that decisions about whether a treatment is medically necessary can be made only by licensed, qualified physicians or other health care providers who review a patient's medical history and other records. Sick leave and protected time off Two new laws expand the circumstances under which California workers may use sick days and other leave. SB 1105 entitles farmworkers who work outdoors to take paid sick leave to avoid heat, smoke, or flooding when local or state officials declare an emergency. AB 2499 expands the list of reasons employees may take paid sick days or use protected unpaid leave to include assisting a family member who is experiencing domestic violence or other violent crimes. Prescription labels for the visually impaired Starting this year, pharmacies will be required to provide drug labels and use instructions in Braille, large print, or audio for blind patients. Advocates of the move said state law, which already required translated instructions in five languages for non-English speakers, has overlooked blind patients, making it difficult for them to monitor prescriptions and take the correct dosage. Maternal mental health screenings Health insurers will be required to bolster maternal mental health programs by mandating additional screenings to better detect perinatal depression, which affects one in five people who give birth in California, according to state data. Pregnant people will now undergo screenings at least once during pregnancy and then six weeks postpartum, with further screenings as providers deem necessary. Penalties for threatening health care workers (abortion clinics) With abortion care at the center of national policy fights, California is cracking down on those who threaten, post personal information about, or otherwise target providers or patients at clinics that perform abortions. Penalties for such behavior will increase under AB 2099, and offenders can face felony charges, up to three years in jail, and $50,000 in fines for repeat or violent offenses. Previously, state law classified many of those offenses as misdemeanors. Insurance coverage for IVF Starting in July, state-regulated health plans covering 50 employees or more would be required to cover fertility services under SB 729, passed and signed last year. Advocates have long fought for this benefit, which they say is essential care for many families who have trouble getting pregnant and would ensure LGBTQ+ couples aren't required to pay more out-of-pocket costs than straight couples when starting a family. In a signing statement, Newsom asked legislators to delay implementation of the law until 2026 as state officials consider whether to add infertility treatments to the list of benefits that insurance plans are required to cover. It's unclear whether legislators intend to address that this session, but a spokesperson for the governor said that Newsom "clearly stated his position on the need for an extension" and that he "will continue to work with the legislature" on the matter. Plans under CalPERS, the California Public Employees' Retirement System, would have to comply by July 2027. 2025 KFF Health News. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Credit: SHVETS production from Pexels A new study by researchers from the Brown University School of Public Health found that pregnant women are regularly excluded from clinical drug trials that test for safety, raising concerns for the efficacy of these medications for maternal and child health. The study, published in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, analyzed 90,860 drug trials involving women ages 18 to 45 from the past 15 years and found that only 0.8% included pregnant participants. About 75% of the studies excluded them, potentially leaving critical safety and efficacy questions unanswered. "When pregnant women are excluded from drug trials, it is harder to know if the medication is safe for mothers and their children," said Alyssa Bilinski, an assistant professor of health services, policy and practice and of biostatistics at Brown's School of Public Health. "In practice, this means that some people might decide to take medications even absent rigorous evidence, which could lead to harmful side effects. At the same time, others might avoid medications that could actually help them because there's not enough data to give them confidence about safety." About 24% of the studies the researchers looked at did not specify in the data whether pregnant participants were included, but further investigation suggested that they were generally excluded from such trials. Trials that included participants who were pregnant focused primarily on pregnancy-related conditions, labor and prevention of preterm labor. Chronic conditions affecting pregnant women and their children such as diabetes and asthma were largely overlooked. "We found only 19 trials for non-infectious chronic conditions like anxiety, depression and asthma that have included pregnant participants," Bilinski said. "While it may seem risky to include pregnant people in research, it's even worse to leave them guessing based on incomplete information." Importantly, rates of inclusion of pregnant participants in drug trials have not changed in 15 years, despite calls for greater involvement, the researchers showed in their findings. Randomized control trials follow a standard process for evaluating the safety and efficacy of medications. They work by administering treatment to a randomly selected group of participants while withholding treatment from others. These trials have proven to reliably demonstrate a drug's efficacy and potential side effects. Bilinski noted that it wasn't until 1962 that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration mandated that pharmaceutical companies demonstrate the safety and efficacy of their medications, and only in 1993 were trials required to include women. "That really wasn't that long ago," Bilinski said. "Our hope is that 30 years from now, lacking high-quality evidence about medication safety during pregnancy will seem as strange and outdated as excluding women from trials seems to us today." Along with Bilinski, Natalia Emanuel, a research economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, contributed to the work using data from ClinicalTrials.gov. More information: Alyssa Bilinski et al, Fewer than 1% of US Clinical Drug Trials Enroll Pregnant Participants, American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology (2025). DOI: 10.1016/j.ajog.2024.12.028 Journal information: American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology 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 Metro Atlanta's largest water utilities, in response to a federal deadline, reported this fall that there were no lead pipes in their drinking water systems that they knew of. But thousands of pipes on private property remain unchecked. And a new federal rule requires local governments and water utilities to be more proactive about checking those lines, which usually run from water meters to people's homes. The new rule, finalized in October, requires all lead water pipes in the country to be replaced within a decade. It also reduces the amount of lead allowed in drinking water and mandates testing at schools and day care centers. Exposure to lead can severely harm mental and physical development in children. In adults, it can increase blood pressure, decrease kidney function and cause heart disease and cancer. The effects are irreversible. "We've known for decades that lead exposure has serious long-term impacts for children's health," Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan said in a news release. "And yet, millions of lead service lines are still delivering drinking water to homes. President Biden is putting an end to this generational public health problem." Water systems must identify the materials of all their service lines regardless of ownership, including pipes that run from meters to building entrances, said Sara Lips, spokesperson for the Georgia Environmental Protection Division. The rule says water systems must make four attempts using two different communication methods to obtain consent from private property owners, if necessary. Workers might be able to investigate service lines while reading meters, according to the EPA. The new federal rule does not take effect until 2027, but the EPD is urging water utilities to begin the process now and many are doing so, Lips said. Lead pipes are not as prevalent in Georgia as in some other states. The federal government banned the use of lead pipes or solder in drinking water systems in 1986, but most utilities stopped using them in the 1950s. The EPA estimates around 46,000 lead water lines exist in Georgia. The federal government estimates lead water pipes supply more than 9 million homes nationwide and replacing all of them could cost at least $45 billion. The Gwinnett County Department of Water Resources, which serves almost 300,000 accounts, said a full service line inventory has been completed. "Through our extensive research and investigation, which included on-site verifications, documentation, and third-party plumber interviews, we can confidently say that there are no lead service lines in Gwinnett County," the department told residents on its website. "This means that the pipes delivering water to your meter and your home do not contain lead or lead solder." Many of the pipes were made of polyvinyl chloride, polyethylene, copper or polybutylene, said Rebecca Shelton, the water department director. Gwinnett County Public Schools conducted its own testing. Results are being posted on the Clean Water for Georgia Kids website. The county will spend water and sewer operating funds to sample about 250 private child care facilities, Shelton said. The city of Atlanta provided records showing none of its 187,000 service lines were made of lead. A watershed department spokesperson said that inventory included private service lines where they connect to meters within the meter boxes. The pipes are mostly copper, the spokesperson said. The DeKalb County watershed department, which serves more than 217,000 water accounts, sent letters last month to about 155,000 addresses stating the materials of their service lines are unknown. The letters explained how property owners could check their own pipe materials. About 1,000 people have done so and none of their pipes were lead. The watershed department has started inspecting private service lines during routine work, county spokesperson Andrew Cauthen said. The Georgia Environmental Finance Authority last month lent more than $16 million to DeKalb County for lead service line inventory and replacement. The county must pay the money back over 20 years at 2.25% interest. DeKalb will use the money to investigate the unknown lines and invest in a predictive model to minimize disturbances to private property, Cauthen said. Most service lines in DeKalb are made of copper, but larger pipes serving commercial buildings are made of ductile or cast iron, Cauthen said. The DeKalb watershed department has finished school and child care sampling, he said. The Cobb County Water System, which serves approximately 195,000 customer accounts, said all public and customer-owned service lines were inspected. None were unknown and none were lead, according the county, Fulton County serves almost 72,000 accounts that supply drinking water to more than 280,000 people north of Sandy Springs. The county sent more than 25,000 letters to property owners whose pipes were made of an unknown material. Fulton plans to begin investigating those pipes in early 2025, according to the public works department. Most of the public pipes are made of copper, but some are "galvanized" iron, meaning they have a protective zinc coating. Most of the private pipes are plastic, either polyvinyl chloride (PVC) or cross-linked polyethylene (PEX) while some are copper or galvanized iron. Federal rules mandate the replacement of galvanized pipes that have been downstream of lead lines or are currently downstream of lines of unknown material. Fulton plans to replace 24 galvanized lines out of an abundance of caution, the public works department said. The county is budgeting more than $1.6 million from water and sewer rate revenue next year to inventory service lines. School and child care sampling in north Fulton will begin in 2028, according to the public works department. 2025 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain The World Health Organization (WHO) recently released new estimates suggesting around 846 million people aged between 15 and 49 live with a genital herpes infection. That's equivalent to one in every five people from that age group. At least one person each second (42 million people annually) contracts a new genital herpes infection. So what is genital herpes, and are cases on the rise? Here's what to know about this common infection. First, what causes genital herpes? Genital herpes is a sexually transmitted infection (STI) caused by the herpes simplex virus, which also causes cold sores. There are two types of herpes simplex virus, HSV-1 and HSV-2 (and it's possible to be infected by both at the same time). HSV-1 most commonly spreads through oral contact such as kissing or sharing infected objects such as lip balm, cups or utensils, and presents as cold sores (or oral herpes) around the mouth. But it can also be sexually transmitted to cause a genital herpes infection. An estimated 3.8 billion people under the age of 50 (64%) globally have HSV-1. HSV-2 is less prevalent, but almost always causes a genital herpes infection. Some 520 million people aged 1549 (13%) worldwide are believed to have HSV-2. The initial episode of genital herpes can be quite painful, with blisters, ulcers and peeling skin around the genitals over 710 days. Not all people have severe (or any) initial symptoms. This means a person might not know they have been infected with a herpes virus. Herpes is a lifelong infection, which means once you contract the virus, you have it forever. After an initial episode, subsequent episodes can occur, but are usually less painful or even symptom free. Both oral and genital herpes are particularly easy to spread when you have active lesions (cold sores or genital ulcers). But even with no symptoms, herpes can still be spread to a partner. And although relatively rare, oral herpes can be transmitted to the genital area, and genital herpes can be transmitted to the mouth through oral sex. If an expectant mother exhibits a genital herpes infection close to childbirth, there are risks to the baby. A herpes infection can be very serious in a baby, and the younger the infant, the more vulnerable they are. This is also one reason why you should avoid kissing a baby on the mouth. Changing trends WHO's recent figures brought together data from around the world to estimate the prevalence of genital herpes in 2020, compared with previous estimates in 2012 and 2016. This data shows no significant difference in the prevalence of genital herpes caused by HSV-2 since 2016, but does highlight increases in genital herpes infections caused by HSV-1. The estimated number of genital HSV-1 infections globally was nearly twice as high in 2020 compared with 2016 (376 million compared with 192 million). A 2022 study looking at Australia, New Zealand and Canada found more than 60% of genital herpes infections are still caused by HSV-2. But this is declining by about 2% each year while new genital infections that result from HSV-1 are rising. There's no simple fix, but safe sex is important Genital herpes causes a substantial disease burden and economic cost to health-care services. With such a large proportion of the world's population infected with HSV-1, evidence this virus is increasingly causing genital herpes is concerning. There's no cure for genital herpes, but some medications, such as antivirals, can help reduce the amount of virus present in the system. While this won't kill it completely, it helps to prevent symptomatic genital herpes recurrences, improve quality of life, and minimize the risk of transmission. To prevent the spread of genital herpes and other STIs, practice safe sex, particularly if you're not sure of your partner's sexual health. You need to use a barrier method such as condoms to protect against STIs (a contraceptive such as the pill won't work). This includes during oral sex. As herpes is now so common, testing is not usually included as part of a regular sexual health check-up, except for in specific circumstances such as during pregnancy or severe episodes. So it's wise not to let your guard down, even if your partner insists they have received the all-clear from a recent check-up. If there are herpes lesions present around the genitals, avoid sex entirely. Even condoms are not fully effective at these times, as exposed areas can still transmit the infection. Immune health If you are infected with HSV-1 or HSV-2 it's more likely symptoms will appear when you're stressed, tired or overwhelmed. During these times, our immune system may not be as functional, and dormant viruses such as herpes can start to develop quickly in our bodies. To reduce the risk of recurrent herpes infections, try to eat healthily, get at least seven hours of sleep each night if possible, and look out for when your body may be telling you to take a step back and relax. This self-care can go a long way towards keeping latent viruses at bay. While the prevalence has increased significantly in recent years, we have not lost the war on genital herpes just yet. Safe sexual practices, education and awareness can help reduce its spread, and the stigma around it. If you have personal concerns, you should discuss them with a medical professional. 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: Credit: CC0 Public Domain A significant portion of the Greenlandic Inuit population carries a genetic variant that increases their risk of type 2 diabetes tenfold. Now, researchers from the University of Copenhagen have discovered that the key to addressing this issue lies solely in their muscles. Unfortunately, existing medications are unlikely to helpand in fact may even do more harm than good. On the other hand, the study reveals that physical exercise could have a positive effect. While diabetes was virtually unknown in Greenland in the 1960s, its current prevalence there is now nearly twice as high as in Denmark. One group of Greenlanders faces a significantly higher risk of developing the chronic disease. Specifically, this at risk group is made up of 4% of Greenland's Inuit population, as revealed by a population study 10 years ago. "These 4% carry a specific mutation in the TBC1D4 gene, which gives them a tenfold increased risk of type 2 diabetes. The gene variant makes them highly glucose intolerantmeaning that when they consume sugar, they struggle to get it out of their bloodstream," explains Professor Jrgen Wojtaszewski of the University of Copenhagen's Department of Nutrition, Exercise and Sports. Professor Wojtaszewski and a research team led by the University of Copenhagen and the Steno Diabetes Center Greenland have now investigated how exactly the gene variant affects the body. Their studies were conducted on a group of Greenlandic carriers of the variant, with the results now published in Nature Metabolism. "We can see that people with this genetic variant have insulin-resistant musculature. This means that their muscle tissue responds poorly to insulin, which is critical, as muscles account for the majority of the body's sugar uptake. Consequently, this condition dramatically increases their risk of developing type 2 diabetes," says Wojtaszewski. "What's particularly unique is that insulin resistance is typically present not just in muscles, but in the liver, fat tissue, and other organs and cells as well. But for carriers of this gene variant, resistance is found only in the muscles, which is unprecedented." This also means that carriers of the variant do not become "ill," as long as their pancreas can effectively release insulin, and their other organs maintain normal insulin sensitivity. "Unlike other pre-diabetic conditions, these individuals do not exhibit elevated fasting blood sugar or insulin levels, nor indicators of heightened long-term blood sugar. And this makes it all the more challenging for doctors to detect," explains Wojtaszewski. Intact skeletal muscle glucose uptake and cellular signaling during exercise in homozygous TBC1D4 p.Arg684Ter variant carriers. Credit: Nature Metabolism (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s42255-024-01153-1 An hour of daily exercise helps At the molecular level, the gene variant prevents carriers from expressing the TBC1D4 protein in their muscle tissue. As part of the study, researchers tested whether physical activity could increase insulin sensitivity in the muscles of this segment of the Greenlandic population. Previous studies in animal models had indicated that the presence of TBC1D4 is crucial for this to happen. The hypothesis was that exercise might not work for this specific group. "It turns out that even a single training session involving one hour of moderate physical activity increases insulin sensitivity in the muscles of gene variant carriersalthough the effect is not as pronounced as in non-carriers. This strongly suggests that muscle use through physical activity can reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes in gene variant carriers," says Wojtaszewski. "People with this gene variant have constituted a relatively large part of the population for hundreds of years, and they will continue to for generations to come. Now we can advise them on how to prevent diabetesnamely through physical activity. "The challenge with treating carriers using conventional diabetes medications is that these drugs do not increase insulin sensitivity in muscle, but primarily serve to reduce sugar production in the liver, which subsequently lower overall blood sugar levels. However, since carriers of the variant do not have elevated blood sugar levels when not eating, such treatment carries a significant risk of causing dangerously low blood sugar." Paving the way for new medications Previous population studies in Greenland have provided insight into the genetic composition of less than 10% of the population. As such, a great deal of work lies ahead before genetic information can be made available for the entire population. Such information will be able to help personalize advice for individual gene variant carriers. "However, the insight we've gained into human biology by combining data from these population studies with our follow-up physiological research is truly remarkable. This new understanding offers hope that, in the future, we may see a new type of medication for 'ordinary' type 2 diabetes," says Wojtaszewski. Because, even though the TBC1D4 protein is normally expressed in people with type 2 diabetes who don't carry the gene variant, the regulation of its activity is impaired. "We know that a particular enzyme, one activated during physical activity, positively influences TBC1D4 activity. The pharmaceutical industry is already working to identify molecules that can activate this enzyme to regulate TBC1D4 activity, and in doing so, enhance insulin sensitivity. If such a drug reaches the market, it could benefit most other forms of type 2 diabetes," concludes Wojtaszewski. More information: Jonas M. Kristensen et al, Skeletal muscle from TBC1D4 p.Arg684Ter variant carriers is severely insulin resistant but exhibits normal metabolic responses during exercise, Nature Metabolism (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s42255-024-01153-1 Journal information: Nature Metabolism 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: Jason J. Liu et al Smartwatches that can collect physical and physiological data on users could be potentially interesting tools in biomedicine to gain a better understanding of brain diseases and behavioral disorders and possible driver mutations related to these pathologies. This is the finding of a study published in the journal Cell, and led by the co-author Mark Gerstein, from Yale University. The study includes the participation of Professor Diego Garrido Martin, from the Department of Genetics, Microbiology and Statistics of the Faculty of Biology at the University of Barcelona. Using smartwatch data from more than 5,000 adolescents, the research team could train artificial intelligence models to predict whether individuals had different psychiatric illnesses and found genes associated with these illnesses. The results suggest that these wearable sensors may enable a much more detailed understanding and treatment of psychiatric illnesses. "In traditional psychiatry, a doctor will assess your symptoms and you'll either be diagnosed with an illness or you won't," says Professor Mark Gerstein, an expert in biochemistry, computer science, statistics and data science. "But in this study, we focused on processing the wearable data in a way that could both be leveraged to predict illnesses more comprehensively, and to better connect them to underlying genetic factors." Detecting illnesses in such a quantitative way is difficult. But wearable sensors, which collect data continuously over time, may be the answer. For the new study, the team used data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study, the largest long-term assessment of brain development and child health in the United States. The data used in the study, collected from smartwatches worn by adolescents aged 914, included measurements of heart rate, calorie expenditure, physical activity intensity, step count, sleep level and sleep intensity. Credit: Jason J. Liu et al "When processed correctly, smartwatch data can be used as a 'digital phenotype,'" says researcher Jason Liu, a member of Gerstein's lab and co-lead author of the study. The researchers propose using the term digital phenotype to describe traits that can be measured and tracked with digital tools such as smartwatches. "One advantage of doing this is that we can use the digital phenotype almost as a diagnostic tool or a biomarker, and also bridge the gap between disease and genetics," Liu adds. To that end, the researchers also developed a methodology for obtaining the massive amount of smartwatch data and converting the raw data into information that could be used to train an AI model, "a new problem to solve in the research world which is technically challenging," according to Gerstein. The team found that heart rate was the most important measure for predicting ADHD, while sleep quality and stage (the different cycles a body goes through during sleep) were more important for identifying anxiety. "These findings suggest that smartwatch data can provide us with information about how physical and behavioral temporal patterns relate to different psychiatric illnesses," Gerstein said. Moreover, the data could also help differentiate between different subtypes of the disease. "For example, within ADHD there are different forms," said Beatrice Borsari, a postdoctoral associate at Gerstein's lab and co-lead author of the study. "Maybe we can extend this work to help distinguish between forms of inattention and hyperactivity, which typically respond to different pharmacological treatments." Having seen that the digital phenotype could be used to predict psychiatric illnesses, the team investigated whether it could also help identify underlying genetic factors, using a series of multivariate statistical tools developed thanks to the scientific contribution of the University of Barcelona. When they examined whether genetic mutations affected the smartwatch data differently in healthy individuals than in those with ADHD, they were able to identify 37 genes associated with ADHD. But when they ran a similar analysis to determine whether particular genes were associated with an ADHD diagnosis, they found none. This discovery highlights the added value of using continuous smartwatch data, says the team. The findings link psychiatric illnesses, digital phenotypes and genotypes and show how wearable sensors can provide a deeper understanding of psychiatric diseases. "This method holds great promise for addressing long-standing challenges in psychiatry and may ultimately reshape the way we understand the genetics and symptom structure of psychiatric disorders," said Walter Roberts, assistant professor of psychiatry at Yale School of Medicine and co-senior author of the study. Although the study focused on ADHD and anxiety, the researchers expect the approach to be widely applicable. For example, it may be useful for understanding neurological diseases or neurodegeneration. In addition, they hope that their findings may serve as inspiration to move beyond traditional clinical diagnostics and adopt quantitative behavioral measurements that may be of greater use in identifying genetic biomarkers. More information: Jason J. Liu et al, Digital phenotyping from wearables using AI characterizes psychiatric disorders and identifies genetic associations, Cell (2024). DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2024.11.012 Journal information: Cell 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 Tanzania's President Samia Suluhu Hassan confirmed on Monday that there was a new outbreak of the deadly Marburg virus in the East African country. One "confirmed case of Marburg virus marks the second outbreak" in Tanzania since 2023, the president told a press briefing broadcast from the capital Dodoma. Last week, the World Health Organization said that a suspected Marburg outbreak in Tanzania had killed eight people, assessing the risk at the national level as "high". That report has not been confirmed by Tanzania. Instead, Hassan said that authorities had "identified one patient (who) has been infected with Marburg virus". "The cause of the earlier reported deaths in the community has not been confirmed and efforts are ongoing to ascertain the source of the infection," she added. A total of 26 suspected cases have been tested and only one came back positive, she said. The case was recorded in the northwestern Kagera region, which borders Uganda and Rwanda. Kagera was the site of the country's first Marburg outbreak in March 2023, which lasted for nearly two months and involved nine cases including six deaths, the WHO said. "We have demonstrated in the past our ability to contain similar outbreaks and are determined to do the same this time around," Hassan said. WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, visiting Dodoma, pledged the UN agency's "continued support to bringing the outbreak under control". "Since the first suspected cases of Marburg were reported earlier, Tanzania has scaled up its response by enhancing case detection, setting up treatment centers and a mobile laboratory for testing samples, and deploying national response teams," he said in a statement. "Considering the low global risk, and the strong capabilities of the Tanzanian government, WHO advises against restrictions on trade and travel to the country." The latest case in Tanzania comes a month after WHO declared the end of a three-month Marburg outbreak in neighboring Rwanda, which killed 15 people. Marburg causes a highly infectious hemorrhagic fever. It is transmitted from fruit bats and belongs to the same family of viruses as Ebola. With a fatality rate that can reach close to 90 percent, Marburg's fever is often accompanied by bleeding and organ failure. 2025 AFP SOME 6,000 Filipino elderly, led by the United Senior Citizens party-list, gathered outside the Senate in Pasay City on Monday to press for the passage of House Bill (HB) No. 10423 which seeks to grant universal social pension to all senior citizens."May oras pa kung gusto ng ating mga mahal na senador na ipasa ito kasi nagpasensya, nag-antay ang mga nakatatanda na kusang aprubahan ng mga senador. Pero it seems na matatapos na lang ang 19th Congress, hindi naman nila ginagalaw (There is still time if our dear senators want to pass it because the elders have been patient and waited for the senators to willingly approve it. But it seems that the 19th Congress will just end, without them touching it)," United Senior Citizens Party-list Rep. Milagros Magsaysay said in an ambush interview.The bills author noted that the House of Representatives approved the measure on May 21, 2024 and was received by the Senate the following day."Eight months na po sa Senado (It is already eight months in the Senate)," Magsaysay lamented.if passed into law, the measure will amend Republic Act 7432 or the Senior Citizens Act, which grants over four million indigent senior citizens a PHP1,000 monthly pension from the government.HB 10423 shall provide around seven million senior citizens, who are not considered indigents, a monthly pension of PHP500.With gradual increase of PHP100 in five years, all senior citizens will eventually be entitled to a universal social pension equivalent to at least PHP1,000, regardless of any other pension benefits they receive.The bill also seeks the transfer of the management of universal pension for senior citizens from the Department of Social Welfare and Development to the National Commission of Senior Citizens within three years. (Wilnard Bacelonia) Jollibee 777: Celebrating a Unique Dining Experience When it comes to fast food Jollibee has carved a niche in the global market beloved by millions for its unique twist on comfort food. Known for its blend of Filipino flavors and Western-style offerings Jollibee has expanded its reach far beyond the Philippines earning international recognition. Now with the introduction of the Jollibee 777 the brand seeks to push its limits even further creating an experience that promises to surprise and delight its loyal customers. What is Jollibee 777? The Jollibee 777 is more than just a menu itemit represents an exclusive limited-time experience that brings together some of Jollibee's most popular dishes in a unique way. The "777" symbolizes three key elements that make this offering stand out: 7 different flavors available for 7 weeks with 7 distinct culinary inspirations. Jollibee 777 combines a mix of familiar favorites with new creative innovations. This new offering allows customers to explore a variety of tastes giving them something fresh to look forward to with each visit. With a rotating menu of seven distinct flavors fans of the brand can enjoy different meals each week making Jollibee 777 an exciting dining adventure. A Fusion of Cultures in Every Bite One of the most compelling aspects of Jollibee's global success is its ability to fuse Filipino culinary traditions with Western influences. Jollibee 777 takes this fusion to the next level by incorporating international flavors into the new line-up of dishes. Customers can expect dishes that mix Eastern and Western cuisines offering a unique gastronomic experience. For example one of the signature items in the Jollibee 777 could be a reimagined version of the famous ChickenjoyJiligo88 incorporating unexpected spices from different global cuisines. Perhaps theres a new pasta dish that blends Italian techniques with Filipino ingredients JILIPARK or a burger that features sauces inspired by Japanese or Mexican flavors. Each week pha trinh gai 18 Jollibee 777 brings something distinct keeping the dining experience fun and unpredictable. Embracing Tradition While Innovating Jollibees success has always been rooted in its ability to embrace Filipino culture while also welcoming new ideas. The Jollibee 777 campaign is a perfect reflection of this ethos. By celebrating the flavors that have made the brand famous while also introducing bold new concepts Jollibee is ensuring that its offerings remain relevant in an increasingly globalized world. For those who have grown up with Jollibee the brand is synonymous with comfort foodthe go-to choice for a satisfying meal that brings a taste of home. However Jollibees willingness to evolve and innovate ensures that the brand stays fresh offering something that appeals to both long-time fans and newcomers alike. The Jollibee 777 is the perfect example of this balance between tradition and innovation. The Impact on Global Markets Jollibees influence extends far beyond its origins in the Philippines. With restaurants now in North America the Middle East and Asia Jollibee has become a truly global brand. The launch of Jollibee 777 is poised to make a significant impact in these international markets. In regions like the United States where Jollibee has established a strong foothold Jollibee 777 allows the brand to introduce new flavors while also catering to local tastes. The campaigns rotating menu ensures that customers wont tire of the same offerings instead encouraging repeat visits to try the latest flavor innovations. Meanwhile in countries where Jollibee is newer the 777 initiative can help draw attention and introduce a broader range of flavors to local consumers. Jollibees ability to adapt to different cultural contexts while maintaining its identity is one of its greatest strengths and the Jollibee 777 campaign will only enhance its appeal. Why You Should Try Jollibee 777 For anyone who considers themselves a fan of Jollibee trying the Jollibee 777 is a must. The opportunity to explore new flavors while still enjoying the comfort of your favorite dishes makes it a fun and engaging dining experience. Whether youre curious about trying something new or simply want to rediscover your Jollibee favorites in a fresh way this limited-time offer is the perfect excuse to visit. Moreover Jollibee 777 isnt just about the food. Its also a way to be part of a larger community of fans who share the excitement of discovering what each new week has to offer. Whether youre dining with family friends or enjoying a quick meal on your own Jollibee 777 invites you to embark on a culinary adventure that reflects the brands creativity and commitment to excellence. Conclusion Jollibee 777 is more than just a new menuits an experience that highlights everything that makes Jollibee special. By combining tradition with innovation the campaign offers a fresh take on the beloved fast-food brand appealing to both loyal fans and new customers. Whether youre in the Philippines or enjoying Jollibee abroad Jollibee 777 brings something exciting to the table making each meal a moment to savor. With its global appeal diverse flavors and rotating menu Jollibee 777 is a celebration of what it means to enjoy fast food with a twist. Don't miss out on the chance to be part of this exciting new chapter in Jollibee's story! jili ko comwww.lawrencevale.com WEF annual meeting to push for global collaboration 08:26, January 20, 2025 By Xing Yi ( Chinadaily.com.cn The World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2025 takes place in Davos, Switzerland, from Jan 20-24. (Xing Yi/China Daily) Amid escalating geopolitical tensions, accelerating climate change and rapid technological advances, the World Economic Forum will call on global leaders to prioritize collaboration when it convenes its 55th annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland, this week. Vice-Premier Ding Xuexiang will be among 350 senior government officials attending the five-day forum, which opens on Monday. He is scheduled to deliver a special address on Tuesday. The forum will also see the participation of over 900 CEOs and chairs of major companies. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and several heads of state, including German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, are set to deliver speeches during the event. US President-elect Donald Trump, who takes office on Monday, will attend the forum via video link on Thursday. Klaus Schwab, founder and chairman of the WEF, said, "Despite divergent positions and great uncertainties, the annual meeting will foster a spirit of cooperation and constructive optimism with the objective of shaping the forthcoming intelligent age in a more sustainable and inclusive way." Themed "Collaboration for the Intelligent Age", the meeting features a program of more than 300 sessions spanning five key topics: fostering new economic growth, navigating technological shifts, creating jobs and reskilling the workforce, combating climate change, and enhancing resilience for global cooperation. The influence of technologies particularly artificial intelligence on business and society is a focal point of the discussions. The forum will release a new report series on AI, exploring its responsible adoption at scale across industries, alongside new research offering strategies for inclusive AI development. AI "is reshaping industries, economies, and even the way we think about ourselves. This surge of technological development comes ... at the same time that the world is grappling with global challenges that demand our immediate, and collective, attention and action", Schwab added. Economic recovery is another critical issue on the agenda. The forum's survey of leading chief economists ahead of the meeting found that around 56 percent of respondents expect weaker global economic conditions in 2025, while 48 percent remain optimistic about the increase in global trade volume despite concerns over escalating protectionist measures. As China is the world's second-largest economy, its economic trajectory is central to discussions about future global growth. A panel discussion titled "Decoding China's Economy" will take place on Wednesday, featuring experts who will analyze current economic policies and the country's shift toward new quality productive forces for high-quality development. China's annual Central Economic Work Conference, held in December in Beijing, stated that the country will take steps to make scientific and technological innovation drive the development of new quality productive forces. "I'm bullish on China's economy in the medium and long term," Borge Brende, WEF president and former foreign minister of Norway, said on Saturday during an interview with Xinhua News Agency. Brende noted the steps that China is taking to stimulate its economy and increase domestic consumption, as the country reported that its GDP expanded 5 percent in 2024, which is in line with its preset target and provides a solid base for stabilizing the economy this year. He also pointed out that China's growing population of college graduates will greatly contribute to future development in the intelligent age. Despite geopolitical tensions looming over global cooperation, the Global Cooperation Barometer 2025 report, developed by WEF in collaboration with McKinsey &Co, showed that international cooperation gained positive momentum in the areas of climate and nature. "Even in a world where there is more competition, we will need to work together," Brende said. "I agree with the notion that we are in the same boat. Global problems have to find global solutions." People walk along a street in Davos, Switzerland, on Sunday. (Xing Yi/China Daily) Participants pose for photos at the main venue of the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland, on Sunday. (Xing Yi/China Daily) Delegates take a shuttle bus in Davos, Switzerland, on Sunday for the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2025, which runs from Monday to Friday. (Xing Yi/China Daily) Meeting participants walk inside a venue at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Sunday. (Xing Yi/China Daily) (Web editor: Tian Yi, Zhong Wenxing) Former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has accused President William Ruto of supporting the revival of the illegal Mungiki sect, warning that such actions could destabilize the Mt. Kenya region. Speaking at a service in Laikipia County, Gachagua criticized the ruling coalition for allowing the resurgence of the sect, describing it as a dangerous move that disregards the harmful impact of the group on the region. Gachaguas comments came in the wake of chaotic scenes at Kamukunji Stadium in Nyeri on Saturday, where former Mungiki leader Maina Njenga disrupted a prayer session led by Dorcas Gachagua. Njenga, accompanied by a group of youths, forced speakers at the event to cut their speeches short. Amid the disruption, several leaders, including Nyeri Deputy Governor Waroe Kinaniri and former Second Lady Pastor Dorcas Gachagua, left the venue swiftly, fearing potential retaliation from the youths. Gachagua lashed out at President Ruto, accusing him of using divisive tactics to control the region. He warned that Rutos actions would polarize the Mt Kenya electorate ahead of the 2027 general election. Our President has destroyed our economy and businesses, people have rejected him. So that he can terrorize us, he has revived the illegal Mungiki sect that harasses our women. I want to tell him, thats bad and our people will refuse, Gachagua stated. If you revive that sect, our people will hate you even more, he added. Gachagua, who has been leading opposition against Ruto in the Mt. Kenya region, drew parallels to the tactics of the late President Daniel Arap Moi, alleging that Ruto was employing similar strategies to suppress dissent. We had problems where Moi eroded the economy, destroyed the businesses of our people and sacked them. We start rejecting him and for him to terrorize us following that decision, he found a youth to form an illegal sect to harass women and children and brings us trouble, Gachagua claimed. He called on the government to halt any attempts to divide the region, declaring, We will not allow it! Elders and human rights activists in Isiolo County have urged the government to take immediate action to extinguish a fire that has been raging for three days. The fire, which started in Merti Sub County, has already consumed over ten square kilometers of crucial grazing fields, severely impacting the local community. Mohamed Konso, the Chairperson of the Borana Council of Elders, led local leaders in raising alarm about the fires devastating effects. They warned that if the blaze is not contained soon, it could lead to widespread livestock deaths and the destruction of homes and local institutions. The wildfire is rapidly spreading across vital grazing lands for herders in Matarba, Korbesa, and Malkagalla. It is now advancing toward Iresaboru, Badana, and Sericho, causing increasing concerns that it may soon reach residential areas, threatening homes and community infrastructure. Despite the fire burning for over 72 hours, no government intervention has been made. Konso called on both national and county governments to treat the situation as an emergency and take swift action to contain the fire before it escalates further. Although the cause of the fire remains unknown, local leaders speculate that it could have been accidental. Abdullahi Hajj Gonjobe, a Borana elder, suggested that herders preparing meals in the bushes may have inadvertently left a fire unattended. He also pointed out that local herders harvest wild honey in the same areas, which could have contributed to the blaze. The elders warned that the fire has already destroyed large portions of pasture, which could have sustained both livestock and wildlife for up to two years. They emphasized that the long-term effects would severely impact the local communitys livelihood. Despite efforts by residents to extinguish the fire, their attempts have been unsuccessful due to a lack of proper equipment. The elders have urgently appealed to the government to deploy an aircraft to help contain the fire and prevent further damage. The Ministry of Health has assured Kenyans that the Marburg virus, recently reported in Tanzania, has not spread into the country. Principal Secretary for Public Health and Professional Standards, Mary Muthoni, confirmed the governments readiness to prevent the virus from entering Kenya. Speaking at Cottolengo Home for the Aged in Muranga, Muthoni highlighted the implementation of enhanced surveillance measures. She noted that screening protocols at entry points have been intensified to safeguard public health. We have heightened surveillance in light of the Marburg virus, which is a serious disease, she stated. Muthoni also referenced the successful management of M-Pox since last year, attributing it to rigorous screening at ports of entry. The PS urged Kenyans to remain calm, assuring them that no evidence suggests the virus is present in the country. She emphasized the importance of following Ministry of Health guidelines to reduce potential risks. The Ministry is prepared and is developing messages to educate the public on necessary precautions, she added. Muthoni advised Kenyans to practice proper hygiene, including regular handwashing with soap and water, and to avoid sharing personal items like clothing. I urge everyone to maintain high levels of hygiene wherever you are, she stressed. In addition, Muthoni celebrated the role of Community Health Promoters (CHPs) in strengthening healthcare at the grassroots level. I am proud of the CHPs for their efforts at the household level, she said. She also encouraged Kenyans to register with the Social Health Authority to access affordable and quality healthcare services, reiterating the governments commitment to improving health access across the country. With increased vigilance, the Ministry of Health remains focused on protecting Kenyans from the Marburg virus and other health threats. Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Migos Ogamba has dismissed all members of the Moi University council, appointing a new team to oversee the institutions restructuring. Ogamba revoked Dr. Humphrey Kimani Njugunas appointment as council chairman and replaced him with Prof. Noah Midamba. Other members whose appointments were canceled include Prof. Clara Samiji Momanyi, Christopher Khaemba, Eusilah Jepkosgei Ngeny, and Susan Amlango Aletia. In a Kenya Gazette notice issued on January 17, Ogamba announced the appointment of Prof. Ronald Wasike, Dr. Mercy Nyambura Kanyara, Dr. Edwin Sambili, and Anne Weceke Makori to the new council. This decision comes shortly after President Ruto outlined plans to overhaul the universitys management and allocate sufficient resources to address its financial challenges. During a recent visit to his home county of Uasin Gishu, Ruto revealed plans to form a committee to assess the universitys issues. We will establish an efficient management team and provide adequate resources to ensure that Moi University thrives like other public universities, Ruto said. In a bid to prevent a resumption of the staff work boycott, Moi University management disbursed Kes.113 million in salary arrears. Workers had previously threatened another strike due to unresolved Kes.8.6 billion in salary and statutory deductions debts. Responding to this, the university paid the full December salaries, just a day after the Universities Academic Staff Union (Uasu) and the Kenya University Staff Union (Kusu) issued a strike warning, accusing the management of breaching the return-to-work agreement. I can confirm that the salary arrears for October, November, and December have been deposited into the workers accounts, and the full December salaries have been paid, which brings relief to our members, said Nyabuta Ojuki, Uasu Chapter Secretary. Meanwhile, the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) and the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) are investigating financial and managerial mismanagement at the struggling institution. President William Ruto has called on political leaders to stop inciting young Kenyans to violence and focus on creating opportunities for them. Speaking during a church service in Bungoma County on Sunday, January 19, 2025, Ruto emphasized that leaders who provoke youth to chaos hinder the countrys progress. He urged leaders to guide the youth towards constructive paths, such as seizing the opportunities his government provides, rather than fueling violence and confrontation. Rutos comments appeared to indirectly respond to former President Uhuru Kenyattas recent remarks urging Gen Z to rise and fight for their rights. The President labeled these remarks as inciteful, stressing that the youth should be given the tools to succeed, not encouraged to engage in unrest. Our young people deserve the best from us. Let us not pit our children against each other, President Ruto said. These young Kenyans do not need violence or confrontation. They want opportunities, jobs to engage in business, and that is what we should be doing as leaders. He added, Instead of inciting them to violence, destruction, and chaos, we need to provide solutions that address their challenges. Violence will not solve their problems or those of the country. Ruto further reaffirmed his commitment to expanding job opportunities and employment avenues for the youth, urging them to participate in existing government programs. There are opportunities in labor migration, ICT hubs, housing, and agriculture. Plan your life around these opportunities, and you will see progress, he advised. The President also dismissed criticism from his political opponents, stating that he would remain focused on transforming the country despite the insults. Do not worry about those hurling insults because they do not have an alternative plan. But Kenya will move forward. You can take that assurance from me, he assured. On Friday, January 17, Uhuru Kenyatta urged Gen Z to continue fighting for their rights and protect what they have worked for. Speaking at the memorial of his cousin, veteran rally driver Kibathi Muigai, Uhuru emphasized that the youth should not allow anyone to take away what they have earned. The problem today is fear. Gen Z is the future; fight for your rights. Dont just sit there while others take what belongs to you, he said. Everything is worth fighting for. If its taken from you, let no one complain. Stand up for whats yours. We are behind you. Kakamega Senator Boni Khalwale has criticized Francis Atwoli, the Secretary-General of the Central Organization of Trade Unions (COTU), for questioning the reported abductions in Kenya. Speaking on Sunday, Khalwale condemned Atwolis remarks made during the burial of the National Assembly Speakers mother in Bungoma earlier this month, where he suggested that people were abducting themselves. There is no human being who can abduct himself and kill himself, Khalwale stated. The Senator urged Atwoli to stop whitewashing the abduction narrative and condemned the practice, calling it a threat to Kenyas democracy. Atwoli, I beg you, you are my senior in age, but in politics, I am your senior. At our age and experience, we should not sugarcoat something when its wrong, Khalwale asserted. The era of extrajudicial killings and abductions must come to an end immediately. Khalwale also urged the Western region to unite and support President William Ruto until the end of his tenure in 2027. He emphasized, Let us work with the President until 2027, then we are going to make a decision. If its good, he will continue, if its not, we are going to get a better person. That is how politics works. Amnesty International South Asia unit, has condemned the "heavy-handed police crackdown" on Baloch protesters in Lyari, Karachi, during a peaceful mobilisation campaign organised by the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC). In a post on X, Amnesty International stated that the protest, which aimed to raise awareness for Baloch rights, was met with excessive force, as police detained several women for hours before releasing them. Nine male protesters, including Lala Wahab Baloch, the BYC''s Central Deputy Organiser, remain in detention without any formal charges being filed. The human rights organisation has expressed alarm over the rising trend of harassment and intimidation targeting Baloch activists ahead of a planned rally in Dalbandin, Balochistan, on January 25, 2025. Authorities have escalated their efforts, filing criminal cases against BYC leaders in an apparent attempt to stifle peaceful dissent. Amnesty International has further highlighted, "We call on the authorities to immediately release all those detained during the gathering in Lyari and ensure that the right to protest is upheld by refraining from any arbitrary detentions, use of unlawful force and criminal cases against organisers and participants of peaceful assemblies." Recently, the Baloch Yakjehti Committee also criticised the crackdown and alleged that the area has been "besieged, with police targeting only Baloch citizens" "Several BYC members were illegally arrested, including Lala Wahab Baloch, the Central Deputy Organiser, and Sammi Deen Baloch, Fouzia Baloch, and Amna Baloch. The area has been besieged, with police targeting only Baloch citizens. Sammi Deen Baloch is being held at the Kharadar Police Station, while Lala Wahab Baloch is at the Chakiwara Police Station. The police are reportedly harassing and threatening Sammi Deen Baloch and kept in jail alone. She escaped an assassination attempt just yesterday. Her life is in danger and Sindh Police is responsible for that," the BYC stated in a post on X. BYC further lamented, "This incident is part of a broader pattern of repression against the Baloch people and human rights defenders. We appeal to the Baloch and other communities to urgently reach Kharadar and other police stations and stand with their sisters and brothers." (ANI) Pakistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed on Sunday that 21 Pakistani nationals have been identified as survivors of a tragic migrant boat incident off the coast of Morocco, Dawn reported. The incident occurred earlier this month in the Atlantic Ocean, in the waters between Mauritania and Morocco. Media reports indicate that out of the 65 Pakistani immigrants aboard the vessel, 44 either drowned or died due to alleged torture, and 10 bodies have been recovered. In response to the tragedy, the Pakistani government has dispatched a high-ranking team to Morocco to assess the situation and determine the full extent of the loss of Pakistani lives. The Foreign Ministry has been in constant contact with Moroccan authorities to ensure that the survivors and the deceased are properly assisted. The survivors, along with the recovered bodies, are currently in Dakhla, a coastal town in Morocco. Pakistan''s Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement confirming that 21 Pakistani nationals were among the survivors. "Based on verified information, 21 Pakistani nationals have been identified among the survivors of a maritime incident near Dakhla, Morocco," the statement read, as per reports by Dawn. Through diplomatic channels, the Pakistani embassy in Rabat has already mobilised immediate assistance for the affected individuals. Essential provisions, including food, water, medicine, and clothing, have been provided, and local authorities in Dakhla are offering shelter and medical care in response to the embassy''s outreach. The embassy''s consular team is present in Dakhla, overseeing relief efforts and coordinating with local authorities. "The government remains in close coordination with relevant authorities in Morocco to ensure comprehensive support for our affected citizens and finalise repatriation procedures," the statement added. The Pakistani government emphasised its commitment to the welfare of overseas Pakistanis and pledged to continue monitoring the situation closely, Dawn reported. (ANI) A journalist from Khairpur in Pakistan''s Sindh, has been accused of faking his own kidnapping to create a false case against his cousins over a land dispute, police revealed on Sunday, as reported by Dawn. Fayyaz Solangi, a journalist based in the area, had earlier posted a distressing video on his Facebook account claiming that he had been abducted by dacoits demanding a ransom of Pakistani Rupees (PKR) 10 million. The video, which also showed Solangi chained and tortured by a masked man, led to protests among journalists in several towns of upper Sindh. The video sparked public concern, prompting fellow journalists and police to search for Solangi after he was reported missing on January 12. His motorcycle was found abandoned along a link road at around 7:00 pm. The following day, Solangi''s uncle reportedly received a ransom call from the supposed kidnappers, demanding the large sum for his release. This led to immediate action from the Sindh government, with Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah instructing the police to recover Solangi and report back, reported Dawn. Following an operation in Kashmore, the police recovered Solangi and discovered that he had staged his kidnapping. Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Khairpur, Tawheed Memon, confirmed that Solangi had fabricated the entire ordeal as part of a plan to frame his cousins over an ongoing land dispute. Memon further revealed that Solangi''s uncle, Mazhar Solangi, was arrested for his involvement in orchestrating the false kidnapping. In response to the incident, Solangi''s employer, KTN News Group, announced his dismissal for faking the kidnapping. The organisation stated that it no longer had any professional ties with Solangi, condemning the act as a violation of journalistic integrity, as per reports by Dawn. The case has now drawn attention to the ethics of reporting and the impact of such staged incidents on the media community. (ANI) The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) government has announced that action against terrorists in Kurram District is now unavoidable, Dawn reported on Sunday. This follows months of escalating violence in the area, with authorities planning a decisive response to address the situation. Kurram District has experienced significant unrest over recent months, which has led to considerable loss of life. The violence began with an attack on a convoy in Lower Kurram''s Bagan area in November 2024, which killed over 40 people. Since then, clashes driven by longstanding land disputes have resulted in at least 130 more deaths. These ongoing tensions have also caused significant disruption, including the closure of vital roads, particularly in Upper Kurram''s Parachinar, which resulted in severe shortages of food, medicines, and other essential supplies. Despite a ceasefire agreement between warring tribes signed on January 1, violence has continued. Attacks on government and aid convoys this month threatened the fragile peace. In response, the KP government announced plans to conduct a limited "counter-terrorism operation" in Lower Kurram, which is expected to displace over 1,000 families. The displaced persons will be relocated to temporary camps in Thall. In a meeting attended by KP Chief Secretary Nadeem Aslam Chaudhry, police chief Akhtar Hayat Khan, and other officials, the provincial government agreed that swift action was necessary to restore peace in the region. "Action against a few miscreants in the affected areas has become unavoidable," stated Barrister Mohammad Ali Saif, spokesperson for the KP government. The statement also emphasised that security forces would assist local law enforcement in implementing the measures. While no formal "military operation" was declared, the authorities highlighted that the police would receive support from security forces in their efforts. The government expressed its commitment to implementing the peace agreement according to the law and Pashtun traditions. The spokesperson''s statement added, "Security forces would be present to support the police and the civil administration in action against the miscreants." The government''s stance is that some terroristshave infiltrated peaceful communities, working to sabotage the peace agreement. They also stressed the importance of "separating peaceful people from terrorists to save them from loss," reported Dawn. Authorities announced that over 1,000 families would be relocated from various areas in Lower Kurram to four designated sites in Thall. Officials assured that proper arrangements were being made to protect these families during their displacement. They also urged local communities to cooperate with security forces in identifying the terroroists and supporting the government''s efforts to bring peace back to the region. The government has faced criticism for the ongoing violence and the challenges in implementing the ceasefire. Jirga members from Upper Kurram, a council of local elders, wrote a letter on January 18 urging top political and military leaders to take action against militants undermining the truce agreement. The letter was addressed to high-ranking officials, including Chief of Army Staff General Asim Munir and Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. The jirga members expressed frustration, noting that state institutions have failed to address the issue and that the ceasefire agreement is not being enforced. They called for the creation of a Joint Investigation Team (JIT) to investigate and punish those responsible for the violence. The jirga letter stated that the JIT was needed to identify the terrorists and those supporting them, as well as to ensure the safety of the Thall-Parachinar road, which remains a critical route for goods and travel in the region. The letter also mentioned the toll that the violence has taken on local communities, citing the weeks-long road blockade and the resulting shortages of food and medicine, which led to the death of elderly individuals and children. In a particularly troubling attack, a convoy was targeted in Bagan, resulting in the deaths of two security officials and several missing drivers. The jirga members reported that "between four to eight" drivers were killed, while others remain unaccounted for. They noted that the attacks resulted in a loss of Rs2 billion for local traders. In response to the growing violence, the KP government has deployed over 1,400 personnel, including police, Frontier Corps, and army troops, to support law enforcement efforts in Lower Kurram. These additional forces are tasked with securing the region and helping to eliminate the militants disrupting peace. Meanwhile, the KP Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) has dispatched 22 trucks with essential aid for those displaced by the violence. The convoy, carrying tents, blankets, hygiene kits, and other supplies, was sent to Hangu to support the displaced families, Dawn reported. The PDMA''s response is part of the broader effort by the KP government to address the humanitarian crisis in Kurram and ensure the safe relocation of affected families. (ANI) As many as five terrorists were killed by Pakistan security forces, while they were attempting to infiltrate Pakistan''s Balochistan province from Afghanistan''s Zhob district, Dawn reported citing Pak military''s media wing. The ISPR report stated that a group of terrorists was detected attempting to cross the Afghan border into the Sambaza area of Zhob in the early hours of Sunday. The security forces engaged with the group and thwarted their infiltration attempt, a statement released by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) stated. "As a result, five Khwarij were sent to hell," the ISPR statement said, using the term "Khwarij" to refer to members of the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). This encounter highlights the persistent threats from terrorist groups attempting to infiltrate from Afghan soil. Tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan have escalated due to a series of border clashes. Islamabad has consistently demanded Kabul to take action against the TTP, which is allegedly using Afghan territory to launch attacks on Pakistan. However, Afghanistan''s interim government has denied these allegations. The ongoing situation along the border underscores the difficulty of managing the porous boundary between the two countries, with frequent skirmishes and violence occurring despite diplomatic efforts, reported Dawn. The TTP, which broke a ceasefire agreement with Pakistan in 2022, has escalated attacks on security forces and law enforcement agencies in recent months. The ISPR reiterated that Pakistan has persistently urged the Afghan government to take responsibility for securing its border and preventing the use of Afghan soil by terrorists targeting Pakistan. "The interim Afghan government is expected to fulfil its obligations and deny the use of Afghan soil by Khwarij for perpetuating acts of terrorism against Pakistan," the ISPR stated. The military remains firm in its commitment to securing Pakistan''s borders and countering terrorism within the country. Pakistan''s armed forces continue to carry out operations against terrorist groups trying to cross the border, Dawn reported. In a similar operation last month, security forces killed four terrorists attempting to infiltrate Khyber Pakhtunkhwa''s Khyber district. (ANI) Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazl-ur Rehman has claimed that preparations are being made for carrying out a "terrorist operation" in Kurram, The Express Tribune reported. Addressing a graduation ceremony at Jamia Islamia Babuzi in Mardan, he also alleged that both the establishment and Western powers have targeted religious seminaries since Pakistan''s inception. The JUI-F leader, who was the chief guest at the event, criticised the consistent pressure on religious institutions. He stated, "Religious institutions have been under pressure since Pakistan''s creation," adding that the situation has been exacerbated by Western influence targeting religious parties. The ceremony was attended by prominent party leaders, including Ata-ul-Haq Darwish, District Amir Maulana Amanat Shah Haqani, Syed Ahmad Binori of Jamia Binoria Karachi, and Mufti Hamad Yousafzai, reported The Express Tribune. Fazl-ur Rehman also expressed his concerns about technological advancement, stating that while he is not opposed to new technology, it must serve humanity''s benefit. He also referenced the tenure of former president General Musharraf, urging him to admit that "Pakistan had become a servant of the United States" under his rule, despite the country''s struggle for independence. Highlighting the issue of seminaries'' registration, the JUI-F chief asserted that his party is not against modern education but criticised divisions within the government for creating complications. He emphasised, "We will continue to defend religious seminaries and are not against modern knowledge." He further stressed his party''s commitment to political dialogue, provided negotiations are conducted with sincerity. However, he also accused the provincial government of a lack of governance, claiming corruption and commission mafias were operating unchecked, The Express Tribune reported. In his concluding remarks, Maulana Fazl-ur Rehman alleged that efforts were being made to facilitate a military operation in Kurram. He highlighted his party''s commitment to defending the interests of religious institutions and political stability in the region. (ANI) Indian stock markets opened higher on Monday as markets made a positive opening before the oath ceremony of new US President Donald Trump. The Nifty 50 index opened at 23,290.40 points with a gain of 87.20 points or 0.38 per cent, while the BSE Sensex gained more than 359.20 points or 0.47 per cent to open at 76,978.53. Experts stated that the markets will react to Trump's swearing-in speech and the first executive order, which will set the tone for the policy measures by Trump in the upcoming term. Ajay Bagga Banking and Market Expert told ANI "Trump 2.0 Swearing in is slated for today. Markets will watch the Swearing in speech and then the first Executive orders from Trump. Donald Trump is expected to sign around 100 Executive Orders in the first few days of his new term. Asian markets are rising on hopes of a US China Trade deal and on the back of the Israel Hamas ceasefire being implemented. Markets will watch Trumps actions now as the Trump President Trade starts today". In the sectoral indices, Nifty Auto, Nifty FMCG, and Nifty Metal declined at the time of filing this report, while other sectors gained momentum. Nifty Private Bank surged around 1 per cent. In the top gainers list in Nifty 50, Wipro and Kotak Bank surged more than 6 per cent and emerged as top openers. Top losers include Shriram Finance, SBI Life, and IndusInd Bank. "The 23396 - 23471 area will be the first hurdle to any rally attempt, while support remains anchored in the 23048 to 23106 zone. This week represents an important time-window for bulls and bears alike, so it's a crucial week that will set the tone for the Nifty's tactical trend" said Akshay Chinchalkar, Head of Research, Axis Securities. In the quarterly earning announcements today, Zomato, Indian Railway Finance Corporation, Dixon Technologies, Indian Overseas Bank, IDBI Bank, Oberoi Realty, One 97 Communications (Paytm), Supreme Industries, Central Bank of India, APL Apollo Tubes, and L&T Finance are some of the companies set to announce their quarter 3 results today. In other Asian markets, almost all major Asian markets gained at the time of filing this report. Japan's Nikkei 225 surged 1.03 per cent, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng gained more than 2 per cent. (ANI) PNN Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], January 20: World Trade Center Mumbai hosted H.E. Sardar Rustambaev, Ambassador of Uzbekistan to India to discuss emerging areas of economic cooperation between both the countries and strategies to deepen bilateral partnership across various sectors. On this occasion, H.E. Rustambaev mentioned, "Uzbekistan is a strategic partner of India and we have friendly diplomatic and political relations. Last year, the number of weekly flights between India and Uzbekistan has grown three-fold to 18 and by March 2025 it will grow to 24. The objective of my visit is to strengthen bilateral economic relations especially with Maharashtra in next generation sectors such as quantum technologies, semiconductors, electronics and also in manufacturing. Uzbekistan is emerging as an attractive investment destination and one of the largest industrial hubs in the CIS region. Our government is willing to offer land, support infrastructure, tax benefits and cheap power to Indian companies bringing technology, skilled labour and capital to our country. Uzbekistan can be a gateway for Indian companies to the 300 million consumer market of the CIS region, with which it has a trade agreement." The Ambassador informed that Uzbekistan has preferential market access to Europe under GSP regime and it has signed preferential trade agreement with the USA. Uzbekistan has 24 Industrial Economic Zones, especially in pharmaceuticals and other manufacturing sectors, including IT parks. "We invite Indian companies, startups and IT companies to invest in these economic zones and also in other parts of the country. Indian companies can bring capital equipment and technology. Our government will provide land, cheap power, tax and duty-free benefits to Indian and foreign investors. Already, Indian companies have invested in pharmaceuticals, renewable energy, logistics, education and other sectors in Uzbekistan." The Ambassador pointed out that in the last 10 years, industrial landscape of Uzbekistan has transformed significantly. He said, "Uzbekistan needs Indian technology and skills for further development of the industrial ecosystem. The country is the leading manufacturer of home appliances, including air conditioners. Uzbekistan has emerged as a leading automobile and auto-component manufacturing hub in the CIS region. More than 20 automobile brands from South Korea, China and other countries have set up production facilities for tyres, plastics, accumulators and other auto-components. Uzbekistan also has an electric vehicle manufacturing ecosystem as we produce and supply power trains to Brazil and other countries. The Ambassador invited Indian gems and jewelry to invest in Uzbekistan. He mentioned, "Uzbekistan is one of the world's leading producers of gold. We have traditional gems & jewelry craftsmen whose designs are popular in the CIS region. Indian gems & jewelry companies can bring their casting and AutoCAD technologies to Uzbekistan and collaborate with the craftsmen of Uzbekistan to manufacture and export gems & jewelry." Earlier in his welcome remarks, Dr. Vijay Kalantri, Chairman, WTC Mumbai and President, All India Association of Industries mentioned, "The time has come to strengthen multi-dimensional partnership with Uzbekistan in manufacturing, green energy, tourism, creative industries and food security. Our bilateral trade is hardly USD 470 million, which has potential to double in the next two years. WTC Mumbai and AIAI will promote exchange of trade delegations by selecting focus sectors to grow bilateral trade and investment." During the event, leaders from India's gems and lab-grown diamond industry expressed willingness to partner with Uzbekistan in terms of mining reserves, technology exchange, scaling up their operations and establishing manufacturing facilities in Uzbekistan. "I invite Letter of Intent from Indian gems and jewelry companies for partnership so that I can take this forward with the relevant Ministry in Uzbekistan," the Ambassador assured.The Ambassador also highlighted scope for collaboration in tourism and education sectors. He said, "Uzbekistan is becoming a popular tourist destination as the number of Indian tourists has more than doubled to 80,000 last year and this year, it may exceed 1 lakh. More than 10,000 Indian students are studying in Uzbekistan and 20,000 Indian workers are employed in our country." Dr. Kalantri suggested Indian companies to benefit from the tax and infrastructure benefits provided by the Uzbek government. He also invited Uzbek companies to participate in Government of India's Make in India and Production Linked Incentive (PLI) schemes. The event was also attended by Khurshidbek Samiev, Trade - Economic Counsellor, Embassy of Uzbekistan in India and members of Indian trade and industry. During his visit to Mumbai, H.E. Rustambaev had successful meetings with captains of Indian industry from logistics, pharmaceuticals, textile, gems & jewelry, telecom and other sectors. Specifically, the Ambassador met Prakash Hinduja and Ashok Hinduja from the Hinduja Group, K.P. Nanavati, President, Reliance Industries, Puneet Chhatwal, Managing Director & CEO, The Indian Hotels Company Limited (IHCL), and also senior officials of Gold Star Diamonds, Sonani Group and Reliance Jio. The Ambassador also had fruitful meetings with Bollywood Film Producer and Director Boney Kapoor, Hema Malini, Mithun Chakravorty and other celebrities to promote collaboration in film production and distribution. The Ambassador also called on Hon'ble Governor of Maharashtra H.E. MC.P. Radhakrishnan to discuss areas for strengthening trade and investment relations between Uzbekistan and Maharashtra. In order to deepen bilateral cooperation, Hon'ble Prime Minister of India is slated to visit Uzbekistan later this year and this will be his fourth visit during his tenure as Prime Minister. There is tremendous scope to enhance economic cooperation as Uzbekistan is endowed with rich natural resources and geographical advantage as it can be the gateway to the CIS region, Iran and also to the Europe. Even though Uzbekistan is a landlocked country, it can be accessible through Chabahar Port and Bandar Abbas. (ADVERTORIAL DISCLAIMER: The above press release has been provided by PNN. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of the same) Maros Sefcovic, Commissioner for Trade and Economic Security of the European Commission, hailed the success of the high-level trade and investment dialogue between the European Union (EU) and India, hosted in Brussels. Speaking at the intensive discussions, Sefcovic expressed optimism about the growing partnership, calling it a vital and forward-looking collaboration. He said, "Our high-level trading investment dialogue here in Brussels was very successful. The EU-India Partnership is an important one, not only for today, but as well as for years to come. And therefore we share the objective to take it to the next level because we have much in common, we are vibrant democracies, we are large economies and we share many global challenges." The dialogue, focused on enhancing trade and investment ties, highlighted shared ambitions and sensitivities, paving way for mutual economic gains. "We have dedicated these two days to discussing the best way forward for our trade and investment to reach a new height. It has been an open, informative and forward-looking conversation. Now we can say that we have better understanding of both our ambitions and sensitivities and no doubt, there is a lot to gain on both sides," said Sefcovic. Both sides agreed on building commercially meaningful market access for goods and services, aiming for a balanced and sustainable outcome. He stated, "We have also provided our teams with the necessary steer to keep up the pace in our talks. We have agreed to focus our efforts on building a commercially meaningful market access, packaging, industrial goods and services." "We are aiming for a win-win outcome that supports our two economies in developing reliable Clintech supply chains fit for decades to come and we will keep a close eye on this important work by remaining in regular contact," he added. Union Minister Piyush Goyal echoed the enthusiasm, describing the discussions as a foundation for a deeper understanding of each other's economies and the potential for a fair and balanced free trade agreement. Highlighting the collective strength of the EU and India, Goyal noted, "Two economies, two geographies, which collectively are about 24 trillion dollars, one-fourth of the world's economy and have two billion people, which is almost 35 per cent of the world's population." Goyal credited the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in setting high standards for India's economic aspirations. He stated, "I also believe that the clarion call that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had given when he took office in 2014 that India will work towards zero defect and zero effect meaning India will become a cost-conscious, a quality conscious country and country which will focus on sustainability as the bedrock of our discussions going forward and on both scores, getting high quality into India and providing sustainability to make the world a better place to live in." Both leaders agreed to address legacy issues and ensure continuous consultations between senior officials to resolve challenges swiftly. The dialogue aimed to find innovative and cost-competitive ways to expand trade, particularly benefiting small and medium enterprises, farmers, and fishermen. Goyal emphasised, "I'm very confident that together we'll be able to harness a lot of new opportunities. I'm very confident that the directions given to our teams will help them come up with robust solutions for expanding trade between European Union and India in the future." (ANI) NewsVoir Patna (Bihar) [India], January 20: Building on the impactful dialogue ignited by the Mumbai Shiksha Samvaad in October 2024, the Shikshgraha movement took a significant step forward with a powerful convening in Patna. This landmark event united key voices from civil society, philanthropy, education, and industry, reinforcing the collective commitment to transforming education across India. Hosted by The Shibulal Family Philanthropic Initiatives, the Shiksha Samvaad in Bihar focused on accelerating improvements in India's public education system, especially for girls and marginalised communities. The event, organised by Mantra4Change, ShikshaLokam, and Jyoti Mahila Samakhya brought together key stakeholders and provided a platform for meaningful discussions to advance education equity and improve the quality of public schooling in India. "Shiksha Samvaad is an important platform for coming together, for shared meaning-making, and discussing how we can improve education. Hosting it in Patna holds special significance because it aligns with Mantra4Change's ongoing systemic efforts to strengthen public education in Bihar. This platform allows us to deliberate on the state's unique, contextual challenges while learning from the rich perspectives of local communities. Together, we can make public education better for every child, especially girls and those from marginalised communities," said Khushboo Awasthi, Co-founder, Mantra4Change and Chief Operating Officer and Co-founder, ShikshaLokam. Shikshagraha, a people's movement dedicated to transforming India's public education system, took centre stage at the event. With a goal to improve all 1 million public schools in India by 2030, Shikshagraha is uniting government bodies, educators, civil society, media, industry leaders, and communities to work toward educational equity. The movement's vision is to create an ecosystem where every child--regardless of background, gender, or ability--has access to quality education and the opportunity to reach their full potential. Key Highlights from the Event: The event commenced with an insightful keynote address by Vyas Mishra IAS (Retd), Former Vice Chairman of Bihar State Disaster Management Authority. This was followed by a thought-provoking fireside chat featuring Pramath Raj Sinha, Co-Founder, Ashoka University; Dr. Binodanand Jha, Former Director of Research & Training, Department of Education, Bihar; Sudha Varghese, Founder, Nari Gunjan and Padma Shri Awardee; and Aaradhana Dalmia, Trustee, Dalmia Charitable Trust. The conversation centred on the progress made in Bihar's education sector over the past two decades and its future trajectory. A panel discussion, moderated by Samyak Jain, Co-Founder, Involve, with Monal Jayaram, Co-founder & Director at the School of Education & System Change, Piramal School of Leadership, Piramal Foundation, and Dr. Rashmi Prabha, Joint Director, Academics, SCERT, Bihar, delved into strategies for achieving education equity, with a focus on gender and marginalised communities. "Equity in education goes beyond access - it's about enabling holistic learning that nurtures socio-emotional development, critical thinking, career readiness, and the agency of children to shape their own futures. In Bihar, adapting globally recognised practices to the local context is key to preserving their impact while addressing unique challenges. This requires deep collaboration between NGOs and government systems to align efforts, create sustainable solutions, and ensure no child is left behind in their journey toward a brighter future," said Monal. The Shibulal Family Philanthropic Initiatives (SFPI) has also recently introduced the Shikshagraha Awards, aimed at recognising the remarkable contributions of school leaders, youth advocates, and community changemakers to revolutionising the education ecosystem. Nominations for these awards are now open, and winners will be honoured at InvokED 4.0, a global education leadership event in Bengaluru on March 7-8, 2025. Shikshagraha in Bihar Bihar has been at the heart of the Shikshagraha movement, spearheaded by Mantra4Change, and powered by other partner organisations like Involve, Karunodaya, Jyoti Mahila Samakhya, etc. reflecting its commitment to addressing educational challenges at scale. One of the most significant milestones has been the introduction of Project-Based Learning (PBL) in over 29,000 middle schools across the state, reaching over 60 lakh students. This innovative, hands-on approach to education is transforming the learning experience for students in Grades 6 to 8, supporting experiential learning and equipping them with practical skills for the future. Additionally, over 11,000 Science and Math teachers have been trained in new teaching methods to make the subjects more engaging. In collaboration with the Department of Education, Bihar, over 75 resources, including handbooks, videos, and action projects, have been developed to improve learning outcomes tailored to local needs. Another key achievement has been fostering community involvement in education, with parents now actively participating in their children's learning. Through innovative exhibitions and community meetings, Shikshagraha has created a supportive environment for every student. Shikshagraha's Broader Vision Shikshagraha is committed to improving India's public education system by 2030. With the support of over 30 partner organisations, the movement is already making a significant impact, working to improve the quality of education in over 10,000 schools across 27 districts in 12 states. As more than 50% of children in India are enrolled in public schools, the need for improving infrastructure, teaching quality, and learning outcomes is more urgent than ever. Shikshagraha's efforts align closely with the goals outlined in the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, contributing to India's broader socio-economic growth. The Shikshagraha movement continues to inspire collective action to bridge educational gaps and ensure that every child, especially those from marginalised communities, has access to the quality education they deserve. Shikshagraha is a people's movement aiming to improve 1 million public schools in India by 2030, ensuring every child has access to quality education and the opportunity to dream and succeed. The movement brings together diverse stakeholders--government, civil society, markets, and media, --to collaboratively address the challenges in the public education system through a micro-improvement approach. By promoting decentralised decision-making in the education system, enabling leadership across levels, and fostering collective action, Shikshagraha aims to create an inclusive learning environment where every student, regardless of background, gender, or abilities, can thrive in the 21st century. Shikshagraha is being co-built by Mantra4Change and ShikshaLokam - a Shibulal Family Philanthropic Initiative. (ADVERTORIAL DISCLAIMER: The above press release has been provided by NewsVoir. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of the same) Ho Chi Minh City [Vietnam], January 20: Established in 1999 during the formative years of Vietnam's interior design industry, Nha Xinh has emerged as a pioneering force in creating exquisite living spaces. Founded by Architect Nguyen Quoc Khanh also known as the founder and chairman of AA Corporation, Nha Xinh serves as the flagship brand of AKA Furniture, representing over 20 prestigious international brands and attracting hundreds of thousands of customers annually. The company is dedicated to delivering high-quality, sophisticated interior products that align with modern lifestyles, earning the trust of millions who seek to create warm, luxurious, and personalized environments. The majority of Nha Xinh's products are manufactured at AA Tay Ninh, one of Southeast Asia's largest furniture production facilities, spanning 150 hectares. This state-of-the-art facility not only supplies products to Nha Xinh stores but also serves five-star hotels, resorts, and international markets. For over 25 years, Nha Xinh has consistently led Vietnam's interior design sector through continuous innovation and a unique collection of products. With a comprehensive range that includes sofas, dining tables, beds, chairs, and decorations, Nha Xinh operates ten nationwide stores that showcase inspiring spaces characterized by elegant and contemporary designs. Additionally, Nha Xinh and AKA Furniture boast a team of passionate experts providing end-to-end interior design solutions from consultation to installation. They have successfully furnished luxury residential projects in prestigious developments such as Ecopark, Sun Grand, Vinhomes, and Phu My Hung. At the core of Nha Xinh's values lies a commitment to preserving and promoting Vietnamese heritage. The brand takes pride in showcasing the creativity of local designers and the craftsmanship of artisans through its products, seamlessly blending traditional aesthetics with modern trends. Driven by a passion for elevating Vietnamese interior design, Nha Xinh actively seeks collaborations with talented designers. Looking ahead, AKA Furniture envisions a future where Nha Xinh and its portfolio of international brands including BoConcept, Bellavita Luxury, AA Deco, and Calligaris continue to thrive. The company remains committed to offering customers premium quality products, exceptional service, and refined shopping experiences. (ADVERTORIAL DISCLAIMER: The above press release has been provided by PRNewswire. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of the same) PNN Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], January 20: Kaushalya Logistics Limited (NSE: KLL), a diversified conglomerate specializing in logistic support to the cement industry, is pleased to announce the commencement of a new business under the CCFA model for Adani Cement. In line with its commitment to expanding operations, the company is pleased to announce the commencement of a new business under the CCFA model with ACC and Ambuja Cement (Adani Group). The first depot under this model has been established in Sarai for ACC (Adani Group), marking the beginning of a larger rollout plan. Kaushalya Logistics is focused on a significant expansion under this model, with an anticipated overall volume of up to 3 lakh MT of cement per month. Additionally, multiple depots under the CCFA model are expected to become operational with Adani within this month, reinforcing the company's commitment to growth and scalability. This strategic expansion will significantly enhance the company's logistics capabilities, optimizing supply chain operations & warehousing capabilities, ensuring faster, more reliable deliveries for clients, and incorporating all safety measures. Commenting on this Uddhav Poddar, Managing Director, Kaushalya Logistics Limited said, "The commencement of our new business under the CCFA model with ACC and Ambuja Cement is a significant development that will drive the company forward. The establishment of the first depot in Sarai is just the beginning and adding more Depots in near future. We continue to focus on reliability, compliance and ensuring that our services meet the highest standards while contributing to the growth of the Cement industry. This new vertical will significantly add to the bottom line of the company in times to come" (ADVERTORIAL DISCLAIMER: The above press release has been provided by PNN. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of the same) PRNewswire Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], January 20: Forevermark, the brand known for its natural and beautiful diamond jewellery designs, is looking to give something special to customers, to celebrate their precious moments of love in the new year. Forevermark will be giving away an exclusive 18kt gold icon charm to customers who make purchase jewellery worth Rs1 lakh or above. This offer will be on till 16th February 2025. Forevermark's diamond jewellery has exquisite design collections Avaanti, Millemoi, Icon and Tribute enhanced by the beautiful, rare and responsibly sourced Forevermark diamonds that shine brightly as a reminder to reveal the inner radiance. Each exquisite collection showcasing elegant design and exceptional craftsmanship. Available in 18kt rose, yellow and white gold, each collection comes in an array of necklaces, earrings, bracelets and rings. "At Forevermark, we believe in celebrating meaningful moments with gifts that reflect the beauty and significance of the bonds they represent. The gold icon charm, paired with Forevermark diamond jewellery, is a perfect way to make every milestone in this new year more special and memorable," said Toranj Mehta, VP - Marketing, Forevermark. The offer is designed to celebrate love and lasting connections. The elegant gold charm combines the outline of the Forevermark's timeless 'icon' motif into the design as a beacon of eternity, and the perfect symbol of forever. The charm can be attached to a bracelet, necklace or even a favorite handbag. A beautiful symbol and continuous reminder of the preciousness of love this charm is the perfect addition to any jewellery collection, symbolizing strength, beauty and the timeless nature of true love. Offer Details: * Valid from today until 16th February 2025.* Gift with every purchase of Rs1 lakh or more at Forevermark boutiques.* Available at select Forevermark boutiques nationwide & online. Celebrate with Forevermark, where the finest diamonds meet thoughtful gifts, ensuring that love shines as brightly as the diamonds themselves. To Shop for these elegant pieces, visit the following Forevermark boutiques: Mumbai: Unit 35, Ground Floor, Oberoi Mall, Yashodham, Goregaon, Mumbai, Maharashtra 400063. Call: 084510 45565 Indore: Shop. no. 14, Kalpataru Grandeur, 27, Yeshwant Niwas Rd, Racecourse Road, Indore, Madhya Pradesh 452003. Call: 091099 09970 Patna: A0110, 1st Floor, Block A, City Centre Mall, Buddh Marg, Lodipur, Patna, Bihar 800001. Call: 090069 68111/ 0612 233 0389. Mangalore: Shop no 9 & 10, Souza Arcade, Balmatta Rd, Hampankatta, Mangaluru, Karnataka 575002. Call: 0824-2423272. About Forevermark Forevermark is a Jewellery House offering contemporary designs featuring responsibly sourced diamonds that are hand-selected for their beauty. Created for marking special moments and wearing every day, Forevermark diamond jewellery is timeless with a twist. The unique Forevermark inscription is proof that each diamond is beautiful, rare and responsibly sourced. Forevermark jewellery is sold through Forevermark Diamond Jewellery | Forevermark Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2601557/Forevermark_18kt_gold_charm.jpgPhoto: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2601558/Forevermark_18kt_gold_charm.jpg (ADVERTORIAL DISCLAIMER: The above press release has been provided by PRNewswire. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of the same) VMPL Indore (Madhya Pradesh) [India], January 20: With over 15 years of extensive experience in connecting manufacturers and ensuring seamless transportation, Rohit Wale has made an indelible mark in India's logistics sector. Drawing from his vast industry expertise, Rohit founded Easyport Logistics Solution in January 2022, a company that has quickly become a trusted Pan-India logistics service provider. Guided by Rohit's vision and leadership, Easyport has evolved into a dynamic organization synonymous with efficiency, reliability, and proactive communication. Operating in prominent cities such as Indore, Pune, Raipur, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, and Bangalore, the company has played a pivotal role in addressing critical infrastructure challenges and delivering timely, dependable solutions. A Visionary Approach to Logistics Rohit Wale's journey into logistics is rooted in a clear and ambitious goal: "To bridge the gap in the logistics sector by providing efficient, reliable, and cost-effective solutions for businesses of all sizes." Beginning his venture in the bustling city of Indore, Rohit tackled the industry's pain points with resilience, adaptability, and an unwavering commitment to excellence. "In the early days, I faced the typical struggles of any startup--limited resources, an evolving market, and building trust with clients. However, my passion for problem-solving and a strong commitment to customer satisfaction fueled my perseverance," Rohit shared. Through these challenges, he established a network of reliable partners and a team aligned with his vision to deliver unparalleled service. Delivering Excellence Across India Today, Easyport Logistics Solution offers a comprehensive array of tailored logistics services, including: * Full and Part Truckload services for businesses of all sizes. * Packers and Movers services to streamline relocations. * Bike transport services ensuring safe and efficient delivery. * 24/7 customer support for seamless communication. * Online tracking systems for real-time shipment updates. Designed to meet the varied needs of businesses and individuals, these services ensure goods are transported safely, reliably, and on schedule. With a robust Pan-India network of trusted partners, Easyport guarantees smooth operations across both urban and rural locations. The company's focus on transparency, innovation, and customer-centricity has redefined logistics, making it more accessible and dependable than ever. Expanding Horizons Easyport is now gearing up to expand its operations to 100+ cities, underscoring its commitment to growth and excellence. This ambitious plan positions the company as a formidable force in the competitive logistics landscape, further cementing its reputation for trust and reliability. As Easyport Logistics Solution continues to grow, it remains unwavering in its mission to empower businesses with accessible, efficient, and innovative logistics solutions. By prioritizing transparency, innovation, and client satisfaction, the company is set to establish new benchmarks in the logistics industry. Easyport Logistics Solution is a testament to what can be achieved with vision, perseverance, and a commitment to excellence. For businesses across India, the journey to efficient, reliable logistics begins with Easyport. (ADVERTORIAL DISCLAIMER: The above press release has been provided by VMPL. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of the same) NewsVoir New Delhi [India], January 20: The India Fundraising Conference (IFRC) 2025 - India's largest fundraising conference - will return for its fourth edition in February 2025. A collaboration between India Leaders for Social Sector (ILSS) and The Resource Alliance, the Conference will convene at the India Habitat Centre in New Delhi on 5-6 February 2025. Building on the resounding success of the 2024 edition, IFRC 2025 will delve deeper into the evolving funding landscape. The conference will see a range of attendees from the fundraising ecosystem - from funders and CSR organisations to SPOs and social sector leaders - from India and beyond. IFRC 2025 promises a rich and diverse platform featuring renowned international experts, and pioneering social sector leaders. Through engaging panel discussions, interactive workshops, and thought-provoking presentations, the conference will address critical issues, shaping the future of fundraising. Attendees can expect to gain insights into global fundraising and future-facing trends, and tools such as the social stock exchange, or the rise of generative AI in fundraising, exploring its potential and ethical considerations in donor engagement, campaign planning, and resource mobilisation. Furthermore, the conference will delve into the crucial aspect of building sustainable funding models, addressing long-term sustainability challenges, and exploring innovative approaches to diversified funding, including impact investing and blended finance. Overall, the conference will facilitate a global perspective on the art and science of fundraising, provide an opportunity to learn from international experts and network with a vibrant international fundraising community. Anu Prasad, Founder and CEO of ILSS, says, "IFRC 2025 will be a pivotal gathering for the Indian social sector. We are excited to explore the future of fundraising, equip leaders with the knowledge and tools they need to thrive and foster a vibrant and collaborative ecosystem for social impact." Recognising the power of storytelling and digital engagement in today's world, IFRC 2025 will dedicate sessions to leveraging the power of digital platforms and compelling narratives to build meaningful connections with donors and drive impactful campaigns. The conference will also create a platform for dialogue between funders and nonprofits around equitable funding practices, and ensuring transparency and accountability in funding relationships. Talking about the partnership between ILSS and The Resource Alliance, Willeke van Rijn, CEO of The Resource Alliance, highlights the significance of IFRC 2025 as a valuable platform for knowledge exchange and collaboration. "Connecting the Indian social sector with global best practices is key to fostering a thriving fundraising ecosystem. Events like the IFRC, then, are the foundation on which the future readiness and resounding success of this sector will be built. We are proud to partner with ILSS to bolster that success in India." A key highlight of IFRC 2025 will be the Pitch Fest, a unique platform designed to empower aspiring social impact leaders and fundraising professionals. This platform provides a stage for these individuals and organisations to showcase their innovative projects to a panel of esteemed judges. Selected finalists will have the opportunity to pitch their ideas, with the winning projects receiving invaluable mentorship opportunities, cash prizes up to INR 2,00,000, and exposure to a wider audience. Amit Chandra, Co-founder of the A.T.E. Chandra Foundation, who is also a speaker at the Conference, emphasises the foundation's commitment to supporting IFRC 2025. He says, "The A.T.E. Chandra Foundation is proud to support IFRC 2025. We believe that strong fundraising is crucial for building a more equitable and just society, and we are committed to empowering the next generation of social impact leaders." Registrations for IFRC 2025 are now open. For more information and to register, please visit: www.indialeadersforsocialsector.com/ilss-events-2. India Leaders for Social Sector (ILSS) is a learning and leadership development organisation focussed on building leadership capacity for India's social sector. Through a range of programs across areas of Women's Leadership, Fundraising, People Practices, Board Leadership and Governance, Digital Transformation and Leadership, ILSS equips crossover and sector-grown leaders with the knowledge, skills and mindset necessary to navigate the complexities of India's social sector and make a meaningful contribution. The Resource Alliance is a global network of individuals and organisations working to strengthen the social sector. Through research, training, and advocacy, they support fundraising professionals, philanthropists, and social sector leaders to maximise their impact. ATE Chandra Foundation (ATECF) works closely with nonprofits and governments to design and scale solutions that impact the most marginalised populations. They focus on two key areas: (i) Capacity Building (building the capacity of professionals, organisations, and the ecosystem to create a stronger and more resilient nonprofit sector) and (ii) Rural Development (addressing key rural issues and investing in rejuvenation of water bodies and regenerative agricultural activities). (ADVERTORIAL DISCLAIMER: The above press release has been provided by NewsVoir. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of the same) PNN Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], January 20: Praveg Limited, India's leading eco-responsible luxury resorts company, is thrilled to announce the launch of its luxury resort operations on Bangaram Island, Lakshadweep, starting January 18, 2025. Known for its untouched natural beauty, Bangaram Island offers a serene and exclusive getaway, where guests can indulge in the island's tranquillity while enjoying modern luxury amenities. Lakshadweep has witnessed an unprecedented surge in tourism, with the number of visitors doubling over the past year. This remarkable growth highlights the increasing appeal of the islands as a must-visit destination for both domestic and international travellers. Praveg Limited's expansion into Bangaram Island aligns perfectly with this upward trend, catering to the rising demand for luxury and eco-conscious accommodations in this paradise. Dr. Vishnukumar Patel, Chairman of Praveg Limited, expressed his enthusiasm, stating, "We are thrilled to officially launch Praveg Resorts at Bangaram Island, a destination that promises to provide an extraordinary experience to every guest. Our vision for this resort is to offer not just a place to stay, but a sanctuary where guests can immerse themselves in nature, adventure, and relaxation. From luxury accommodations to world-class activities, we are confident that this resort will become a sought-after destination for travellers seeking both tranquillity and adventure in one of India's most pristine locations." Praveg Resorts continues to redefine luxury travel across India's iconic destinations, from the White Rann and Statue of Unity to the beaches of Diu and Daman. Each location offers unique, immersive experiences reflecting the destination's essence. Recently launched, Praveg Caves at Jawai combines nature, adventure, and luxury in Rajasthan's leopard territory. Praveg Atoll's Lakshadweep retreat at Bangaram Island adds serene beaches and unmatched tranquillity to the brand's growing portfolio. The resort is poised to achieve an impressive occupancy rate of 50-60%, reflecting the high demand for sustainable luxury accommodations. The average room rate should be in the range of INR 20,000 to 25,000. Praveg's expansion represents a strategic milestone for the company, with promising prospects for revenue growth, profitability, and shareholder value creation. About Bangaram Island Bangaram Island, located in the heart of the Lakshadweep archipelago, is a secluded paradise surrounded by turquoise waters, soft white sands, and vibrant coral reefs. The island offers a peaceful, untouched environment, making it a perfect destination for travellers seeking both seclusion and convenience. The island is renowned for its incredible marine life, making it a sought-after location for nature lovers, scuba divers, and those looking to reconnect with nature. Praveg Resorts on Bangaram Island Praveg Resorts will offer a total of 45 cocoon-shaped rooms and 5 shell-shaped rooms, designed to harmonize with the island's natural surroundings. These unique, eco-friendly accommodations provide guests with a luxurious and immersive experience, offering the perfect blend of comfort, privacy, and elegance. Guests can indulge in a variety of activities designed to make the most of the island's natural splendor, including: * Scuba Diving: Explore the vibrant coral reefs and rich marine life that surround Bangaram Island. * Yoga on the Beach: Rejuvenate the body and mind with yoga sessions on the tranquil shores of the island. * Island Activities: Enjoy a wide range of outdoor adventures, from snorkelling to kayaking, or simply relax and unwind on the beach. Guests can now make reservations and experience the unique charm of Bangaram Island at Praveg Resorts. Whether seeking adventure or relaxation, this luxury resort is the ideal destination for an unforgettable vacation. In line with its growth strategy, Praveg Limited is also expanding its operational portfolio, with the addition of Bangaram Island Resort marking the company's 16th property. With an ambitious pipeline of more projects underway, Praveg is set to significantly increase its footprint across India's most sought-after destinations. This expansion underscores Praveg's commitment to providing exceptional, eco-conscious luxury experiences while creating value for shareholders. As the company scales its operations, guests can look forward to more exclusive resorts in prime locations, each designed to offer the perfect blend of nature, luxury, and sustainability. (ADVERTORIAL DISCLAIMER: The above press release has been provided by PNN. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of the same) PNN Hyderabad (Telangana) [India], January 20: This year NTT DATA Business Solutions AG was one of only 17 global Top Employers to be recognized for their outstanding HR policies and practices worldwide by Top Employers Institute. This is the third Top Employer award in a row for the international SAP(c) Platinum Partner. "I am very proud that we have once again been recognized as a Global Top Employer. This award underscores our deep commitment to being a people-focused organization," said Norbert Rotter, CEO of NTT DATA Business Solutions and EVP of NTT DATA, Inc. "As a global company, we rely on the dedication and expertise of our more than 16,000 employees around the world. Together, we create innovative solutions for our customers and strengthen our market position. A special thanks goes to our HR department, which ensures that our colleagues can fully develop their potential with us and that we attract the best talent to continue our success story." The Top Employers Institute program certifies organizations based on the participation and results of their HR Best Practices Survey. This survey covers six HR domains consisting of 20 topics including People Strategy, Work Environment, Talent Acquisition, Learning, Diversity & Inclusion, Wellbeing and more. "Earning the Global Top Employer recognition once again is a powerful validation of our people-first philosophy. At NTT DATA Business Solutions, we don't just build digital transformation projects for our clients, we build careers for our people, nurture talent for the future, and create an environment where innovation and growth-mindset thrives. This achievement reflects our unwavering commitment to invest unconditionally in our people and shape the future of our Organization together." said Gaurav Agarwal, Executive Vice President, Managing Director & CEO - India "Our people are the driving force behind our success, and this recognition is a celebration of their passion, dedication, and ambition. At NTT DATA Business Solutions, we go beyond traditional workplaces--we foster a culture of learning, collaboration, and well-being, ensuring every individual has the opportunity to grow, lead, and make a real impact." said Tirumala Koduri, Vice President, Head of People & Culture - APAC & India In addition to the global award, the company also won a number of regional awards this year, including Switzerland for the first time. The strategic focus on being a sustainable and secure employer unites the entire NTT DATA Group, of which the SAP consulting company is a global unit. In addition to the global recognition, NTT DATA is proud to have received regional certifications as Top Employer 2025 in 33 countries in Asia, Europe, Latin America, and North America. Top Employers Institute CEO David Plink says: "Consistency in a not-so-consistent world? In a time of constant change - where technological, economic, and social shifts are ever-present --exceptional times bring out the best in people and organizations. This year's Top Employers Certification Program has showcased this strength, with the certified Top Employers for 2025 demonstrating outstanding dedication to their employees globally. Their consistent commitment to people practices worldwide makes them stand out as an exclusive group who have earned global Certification through the Top Employers Program. We are proud to celebrate these companies and their achievements in 2025." NTT DATA Business Solutions, one of the world's leading SAP Platinum Partners, employs more than 4,000 people in Germany and more than 16,000 worldwide. After first being recognized as a Top Employer in Germany in 2023, the company achieved international recognition as a Global Top Employer in 2024. This year's global award highlights further improvements, with the company achieving a near-perfect score of 100% in five categories: Ethics & Integrity (99.23%), Business Strategy (98.75%), Purpose & Values (97.32%), Employee Listening (95.78%) and Performance (93.86%). Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (+4.36%) and Leadership (+2.05%) also showed significant year-over-year improvement, with both scoring close to 90%. The program has certified and recognized over 2,400 Top Employers in 125 countries/regions across five continents. About NTT DATA Business Solutions NTT DATA Business Solutions is a leading global IT service provider focused on SAP with a powerful ecosystem of partners. With more than 35 years of in-depth experience, we enable companies worldwide to become Intelligent Enterprises. We deliver end-to-end solutions that accelerate sustainable growth and success - from strategic consulting and implementation to managed services and beyond. As a global strategic SAP partner, we drive innovation and leverage the latest technologies to support our customers individually and across all industries. Our more than 15,300 dedicated employees in over 30 countries work passionately every day to make it happen. NTT DATA Business Solutions is part of NTT DATA, a $30+ billion trusted global innovator of business and technology services headquartered in Tokyo. As One NTT DATA we serve 75% of the Fortune Global 100 and are committed to helping customers innovate, optimize and transform for long-term success. NTT DATA is part of NTT Group. About Top Employers Institute Top Employers Institute is the #1 global authority on HR strategies. With our world-leading Certification and data-led insights, we guide and empower organizations in delivering transformational people practices, driving business outcomes and helping them attract, engage and retain top talent. In 2025, Top Employers Institute has certified more than 2,400 organizations in 125 countries/regions. These certified Top Employers positively impact the lives of over 13 million employees globally. (ADVERTORIAL DISCLAIMER: The above press release has been provided by PNN. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of the same) Telangana Rising delegation, led by Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy, landed in Zurich, Switzerland, marking the commencement of his visit to the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, the Telangana Chief Minister's Office stated in a release. The Chief Minister was accorded a reception by the Telangana diaspora in Zurich. "The trip to WEF, Davos began with love and wishes from the amazing Indian diaspora of Zurich, Switzerland. Landing at any airport in the world, still has a warm touch of home with our highly educated, professional and successful taking time out of their work to come and meet us," the CM posted on X. The Telangana CMO added in the release that the delegation will participate in the World Economic Forum annual conference at Davos. CM Reddy is accompanied by State IT and Industries Minister D Sridhar Babu and senior officials of the Industries Department. The AP delegation led by Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu also reached the airport at the same time when CM Revanth Reddy's team landed. The two leaders engaged in discussions about development programs in their respective states and explored avenues for mutual cooperation to attract investments to the Telugu-speaking states. CM Revanth Reddy is scheduled to meet several industrialists on the first day of the Davos Conference, as per the state CMO. The CM delegation focused on the Davos visit with a specific future plan to project the Telangana State to the world as an international investment destination. As part of that, the Chief Minister's team will hold discussions with representatives of several global giant companies and invite them to make huge investments in Telangana, as per the Telangana CMO. Eight Indian states are pitching investors in Davos this year, with help from the India Pavilion. Ashwini Vaishnaw, union minister for railways, information and broadcasting, electronics and IT, will inaugurate the India Pavilion. The Indian delegation includes chief ministers of Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra as well as senior ministers from Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Uttar Pradesh. The annual WEF meeting 2025 in Davos takes place from 20 - 24 January. The meeting brings together government, business and civil society leaders to set the year's agenda for how leaders can make the world a better place for all. Davos 2025 convenes under the theme, 'Collaboration for the Intelligent Age.'. The 2025 meeting is being organised under five areas: reimagining growth, industries in the intelligent age, investing in people, safeguarding the planet, and rebuilding trust. More than 350 governmental leaders are expected to participate this year, including 60 heads of state and government. (ANI) The India Pavilion at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos will be inaugurated on Monday. Union Minister for Railways, Information and Broadcasting, Electronics and IT, Ashwini Vaishnaw, will lead the inauguration ceremony. The pavilion, which showcases India's economic potential, is set to feature pavilions from eight Indian states this year, each seeking investment opportunities and fostering international collaborations. Among the states on display are Kerala, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and West Bengal. The delegation from these states, alongside the Indian government representatives, will work to strengthen trade and investment ties between India and the global business community. The pavilion of Kerala, Telangana, and Uttar Pradesh will be represented by their respective delegations, with leaders. The Union Ministers such as Jayant Chaudhary and Chirag Paswan, K Rammohan Naidu and the DPIIT Secretary are also attending the event. Meanwhile, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Tamil Nadu will have their own dedicated pavilions. Pavilion P67 features UP, Telangana, and Kerala pavilions. Union Ministers Jayant Chaudhary and Chirag Paswan will be there in addition to the delegation from these states. Pavilion P73 will features Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, and Andhra Pradesh pavilions. This initiative underscores India's commitment to expanding its global economic footprint, as various state leaders, including the Chief Ministers of Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra, as well as senior ministers from Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Uttar Pradesh, will be present to engage with investors and key stakeholders. As India continues to enhance its position on the world stage, the WEF in Davos presents a prime opportunity for Indian states to promote their investment potential and forge new business relationships. The annual WEF meeting 2025 in Davos takes place from 20 - 24 January. The meeting brings together government, business and civil society leaders to set the year's agenda for how leaders can make the world a better place for all. Davos 2025 convenes under the theme, 'Collaboration for the Intelligent Age.'. The 2025 meeting is being organised under five areas: reimagining growth, industries in the intelligent age, investing in people, safeguarding the planet, and rebuilding trust. More than 350 governmental leaders are expected to participate this year, including 60 heads of state and government. (ANI) NewsVoir New Delhi [India], January 20: TVS Motor Company - a leading global automaker that operates in the two and three-wheeler segments, today announced the launch of its connected passenger electric three-wheeler, TVS King EV MAX. The vehicle has best-in-class features including bluetooth connectivity through TVS SmartXonnect. The TVS King EV MAX combines innovative technology with eco-friendly solutions, catering to the growing demand for sustainable urban mobility. Best-in-Class Features: * Best pick-up / Acceleration - * 0-30 km/h in 3.7 seconds* Top-speed of 60 kmph* Warranty 6 years / 1.5 Lac kms* Gradability - 31%* Water wading of 500 mm* Charging time - 3 hours & 30 min First-in Class Features * LED Headlamp & Tail lamp* Connected features with Bluetooth enabled TVS SmartXonnect* fleet management solution* Certified Range (179KM)* Pick-up / Acceleration* Top-speed of 60+ kmph* Warranty 6 years / 1.5 Lac Kms* Free maintenance for 3 years* Gradability - 31%* Water wading of 500 mm* Charging time of 3 hours & 25 min First-in Class Features * LED Headlamp & Tail lamp* Connected features with telematics & BT* Customisable fleet management solution Speaking at the launch, Mr. Rajat Gupta, Business Head, Commercial Mobility, TVS Motor Company, said, "The launch of TVS King EV MAX is a significant step forward in our commitment to providing sustainable solutions for last-mile connectivity. As urban areas continue to grow, the demand for clean mobility options has never been more critical. The TVS King EV MAX combines advanced electric propulsion with superior comfort and connectivity. The distinctive blend of long-range, impressive acceleration and quick charging time guarantees high uptime, enabling more trips and increased earning potential for customers, including fleet operators. The vehicle is being launched in UP, Bihar, J&K, Delhi and West Bengal, right away. It will be available across the country in the coming months." With a range of 179 kms on a single charge, quick charging in just 2 hours and 15 minutes for 0 - 80% charge and 3.5 hours for 100% charge; smart features like TVS SmartXonnect, the King EV MAX offers users real-time navigation, alerts and vehicle diagnostics through their smartphones. It combines excellent performance, comfort and connectivity, making it a standout choice for modern urban mobility. The TVS King EV MAX is powered by a high-performance 51.2V lithium-ion LFP battery enabling making it perfect for urban commuting. With a top speed of 60 km/h (ECO Mode: 40 kmph; City: 50 kmph; Power: 60 kmph), the vehicle ensures efficient travel while maximizing passenger comfort through its spacious cabin and ergonomic seating design. The TVS King EV MAX is now available across select dealerships in UP, Bihar, J&K, Delhi and West Bengal, at a price of Rs. 2,95,000/- (ex-showroom). It also comes with a warranty of 6-years / 150,000 km (whichever is earlier), along with 24/7 road-side-assistance for the first 3 years. TVS Motor Company (BSE:532343 and NSE: TVSMOTOR) is a reputed two and three-wheeler manufacturer globally, championing progress through sustainable mobility with four state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities located in India and Indonesia. Rooted in our 100-year legacy of trust, value, and passion for customers, it takes pride in making internationally accepted products of the highest quality through innovative and sustainable processes. TVS Motor is the only two-wheeler company to have won the prestigious Deming Prize. Our products lead in their respective categories in the J.D. Power IQS and APEAL surveys. We have been ranked No. 1 Company in /the J.D. Power Customer Service Satisfaction Survey for four consecutive years. Our group company Norton Motorcycles, based in the United Kingdom, is one of the most emotive motorcycle brands in the world. Our subsidiaries in the personal e-mobility space, Swiss E-Mobility Group (SEMG) and EGO Movement have a leading position in the e-bike market in Switzerland. TVS Motor Company endeavours to deliver the most superior customer experience across 80 countries in which we operate. Additional details and updates are available on www.tvsmotor.com (ADVERTORIAL DISCLAIMER: The above press release has been provided by NewsVoir. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of the same) Uttar Pradesh's Chief Secretary Manoj Kumar Singh on Monday outlined the state's key focus areas for investment at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos. Speaking with ANI on the sidelines of the meeting in Davos, Uttar Pradesh's Chief Secretary emphasised the importance of the food processing industry, electronic manufacturing, and emerging technologies like AI for the state's growth. Singh stated that the state delegation has already held meetings with companies such as Budweiser. He shared plans to engage with Coke, Pepsi, Microsoft, among other companies. He said, "We are focusing - number one on the food processing industry because agriculture is the backbone of UP and food processing will directly increase the employment and whatever remuneration it's going to the farmers. Second, we are also top in the manufacturing of electronic components, like 55 per cent of mobile in the country is manufactured in UP and almost 60 per cent of components so that is another area. Third is a new generation like AI and other things on which we are focusing." "Today we have met Budweiser, tomorrow we have with Coke and Pepsi that is related to food processing. And then we have with Microsoft and then then deals in Geo-Spacial and Maping," UP Chief Secretary stated. At WEF this year, about eight states, along with the representatives of the Union government, are participating in the meeting. Union Ministers such as Ashwini Vaishnaw, Chirag Paswan, and Jayant Singh Chaudhary, and among Chief Ministers, Devendra Fadnavis, Chandrababu Naidu, A. Revanth Reddy and other senior officials are representing their respective states. The delegation from these states, alongside the Indian government representatives, will work to strengthen trade and investment ties between India and the global business community. The annual WEF meeting 2025 in Davos is taking place from January 20 to 24. The meeting brings together government, business, and civil society leaders to set the year's agenda for how leaders can make the world a better place. 'Collaboration for the Intelligent Age' is the theme of this year's Davos meeting. (ANI) Union Minister Jayant Singh Chaudhary on Monday expressed his optimism on attracting investments, adding that global investors will take note of the initiatives taken by the government. The Union Minister, who is part of India's delegation praised the government's efforts to promote ease of doing business, political stability, and innovation while highlighting the country's youthful workforce and its adaptability. Speaking to ANI, the Union Minister said, "A part of our 'Viksit Bharat' campaign is to get maximum investment to a trusted partner which is India." He stated, "Foreign investors will take note of the work of the government has done to promote ease of doing business, political stability and drive growth and innovation." The Union Minister further stated, "I am here to talk about skills, the power of your youth and the adaptability of our workforce... We are taking big steps for the future." Government representatives, policy mankers, investors and corporates from around the word have gathered in Davos to contemplate over the economic issues around the world. At WEF this year, about eight states along with the representatives of Union government are participating in the meeting. Union Ministers such as Ashwini Vaishnaw, Chirag Paswan, Jayant Singh Chaudhary, and among Chief Ministers Devendra Fadnavis, Chandrababu Naidu, A Revanth Reddy and other senior officials are representing their respective states. The delegation from these states, alongside the Indian government representatives, will work to strengthen trade and investment ties between India and the global business community. The annual WEF meeting 2025 in Davos is taking place from January 20 to 24. The meeting brings together government, business, and civil society leaders to set the year's agenda for how leaders can make the world a better place. 'Collaboration for the Intelligent Age' is the theme of this year's Davos meeting. As India continues to enhance its position on the world stage, the WEF in Davos presents a prime opportunity for Indian states to promote their investment potential and forge new business relationships. (ANI) In his address, Assam CM invited the business leaders to invest in the state. "Whenever we decide to set up something in Assam, apart from what we can facilitate, the Government of India will be aggressive in that because the government's Act East Policy which PM Modi has initiated is aimed at developing the northeastern region. The government has many policies which are centering and promoting industrialisation in the Northeastern region," he said. He said Assam has locational advantage. "I would like to invite all of you please come to Assam on February 25th and 26th." Advantage Assam summit will be held on the two days. Assam government in partnership with the High Commission of India, hosted Assam investment roadshow in London. Earlier, the state organised a similar investment roadshow in Dubai. In the fiscal year 2023, Assam recorded a remarkable 19.5 per cent year-on-year surge in its Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP). (ANI) Veteran actress and mother of actor Saif Ali Khan, Sharmila Tagore was spotted arriving at Lilavati Hospital on Monday morning, where the actor has been admitted following a stabbing attack that took place at his Bandra residence last week. Other family members, including wife Kareena Kapoor Khan, daughter Sara Ali Khan, son Ibrahim, and others have been regularly visiting the hospital to check on his condition. Meanwhile, Mumbai police have arrested the accused identified as Mohd Shariful Islam Shehzad, who they claim is a native of the Jhalokati district in Bangladesh. The accused allegedly entered the Bandra residence of actor Saif Ali Khan with the intent to commit theft. As per the police statement, various investigation teams were formed to investigate the crime, and a case has been registered under sections 311, 312, 331(4), 331(6), and 331(7) of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS). The accused was about to flee to his native village when he was detained at Hiranandani Estate in Thane. It was revealed that the accused is a native of the Jhalokati district in Bangladesh, according to the police. The case was reported by Aleyamma Philip, a 56-year-old staff nurse. The incident occurred around 2:00 AM on January 16, during which Saif Ali Khan was attacked and sustained serious injuries, including stab wounds to his thoracic spine. Meanwhile, as per the hospital administration, Saif Ali Khan is recovering well and has been moved from the ICU to a normal room. The surgery, which involved removing a 2.5-inch-long blade, was successful. While the actor is now "out of danger," medical staff are closely monitoring his condition. At an event, Soha Ali Khan shared the health update of the actor while talking to the media during an event. She said, "We are happy that he is recovering well and we are very thankful and we feel very blessed and grateful that it wasn't any worse. Thank you for all your wishes." (ANI) As Bollywood actor Saif Ali Khan continues to recover after suffering multiple stab injuries during an alleged burglary attempt at his Bandra residence, Dr Nitin Dange of Lilavati Hospital shared a health update on Monday. While speaking to the media, Dange informed that the actor will remain under observation for another day, and the decision on discharging him will be made in the next one to two days. The attack took place when an intruder, later identified as Mohd Shariful Islam Shehzad, entered the actor's home with the alleged intent of theft. Saif sustained stab wounds to his thoracic spine while attempting to intervene during a confrontation between the intruder and his housemaid. During a press conference last week, Dange praised Saif's courage, describing how the actor walked into the hospital "like a lion" despite being covered in "blood." "He had blood all over. But he walked in like a lion with his young child. He is a real hero. He is doing well currently. His parameters have improved. He is being shifted from the ICU to a special room. We will keep visitors in check. We want him to rest," Dr. Dange said. Meanwhile, according to the police, various investigation teams were formed to probe the case, and charges have been registered under sections 311, 312, 331(4), 331(6), and 331(7) of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS). The accused was apprehended at Hiranandani Estate in Thane while attempting to flee to his native village. It was revealed that he hails from the Jhalokati district in Bangladesh, according to the police. The case was reported by Aleyamma Philip, a 56-year-old staff nurse. The incident occurred around 2:00 AM on January 16, during which Saif Ali Khan sustained serious injuries, including multiple stab wounds to his thoracic spine. As per the hospital administration, Saif Ali Khan is recovering well and has been moved from the ICU to a regular room. The surgery, which involved removing a 2.5-inch-long blade, was successful. While the actor is now "out of danger," medical staff are closely monitoring his condition. At an event, Saif's sister Soha Ali Khan shared an update on his health while speaking to the media. She said, "We are happy that he is recovering well, and we are very thankful. We feel very blessed and grateful that it wasn't any worse. Thank you for all your wishes." (ANI) Vantara, the wildlife preservation project founded by Anant Ambani, is all set to welcome 20 rescued elephants--10 males, 8 females, 1 sub-adult, and 1 calf--freed from the exploitative logging industry in Arunachal Pradesh. This rescue operation, carried out with the approval of the High Powered Committee constituted by the Tripura High Court and entrusted by the Supreme Court of India, has been conducted with the full consent of the current owners of the animals. The elephants will soon find their permanent home at Vantara, an environment that naturally mirrors their native habitat, where they will live chain-free and will never be forced into labour. The rescued elephants include individuals like Laxmi, a 10-year-old captive-born sub-adult who struggles to bear weight on her hind legs due to deep, untreated wounds and suffers from a fresh, painful 1-inch diameter hole piercing her sensitive right ear pinna--both inflicted during the brutal taming process to establish human dominance. Maya, a 2-year-old captive-born calf, was rescued alongside her mother, Rongmoti, who endured large harness-induced lesions on her chest and buttocks from prolonged logging work. Ramu, a bull elephant, was found heavily restrained with both his forelegs and hindlegs tightly tethered together to control his 4-6 month musth period, resulting in immense physical and psychological distress. Babulal, another bull elephant, suffered from a severely broken and bleeding tail, caused by a conflict with a wild bull elephant during foraging. Years of captivity had stripped him of the natural instincts needed to defend himself. In addition to providing lifelong care for the elephants, the project offers new livelihood opportunities for the owners, mahouts, and their families at Vantara. The mahouts and others involved will undergo intensive training in humane and scientifically backed methods of elephant management, ensuring a future of compassionate care for the elephants and empowering their caregivers with the knowledge and skills to support this approach. The organization has secured all required documentation under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, including obtaining a No Objection Certificate from the Gujarat Forest Department and a Transport Permit from the Arunachal Pradesh Forest Department. The elephants will be transported in specially designed elephant ambulances, with the calf Maya traveling alongside her mother. A dedicated team of over 200 experts, including elephant veterinarians, paravets, senior caretakers, and ambulance drivers from Vantara, will ensure the safe and compliant transportation of the animals, adhering to strict transportation guidelines and animal welfare standards. A research paper published in 2020 in Gajah, the biannual journal of the IUCN/SSC Asian Elephant Specialist Group, reveals that a significant number of privately owned elephants are bred in captivity in Arunachal Pradesh. These elephants are often managed in close proximity to forested areas, where captive cow elephants come into contact with wild bulls. However, private ownership of elephants is declining, as the demand for their use in forestry operations has diminished following the logging ban. Tabang Jamoh, Divisional Forest Officer, Namsai, confirmed, "With an active breeding population of approximately 200 captive elephants in Arunachal Pradesh, DNA profiling is being conducted to closely monitor their health and welfare. The transfer of 20 elephants to the Radhe Krishna Temple Elephant Welfare Trust at Vantara, as directed by the Supreme Court-appointed committee, ensures a brighter future for these animals. This initiative enhances animal welfare while providing local communities with alternative livelihoods, striking a balance between conservation, community well-being, and forest protection." Dr. Sorang Tadap, Veterinary Officer at Itanagar Biological Park, stated, "Captive elephants often suffer from severe health issues, including injuries, arthritis, and psychological trauma due to harsh labor, training, and prolonged chaining. Many calves sustain deep leg injuries during training, while adults face ongoing risks from conflicts with wild bulls. There is an urgent need for dedicated hospital facilities offering round-the-clock care and physiotherapy, which our state currently lacks. It is encouraging to see facilities like Vantara providing advanced medical treatment and lifelong care for rescued elephants, setting a vital benchmark for their welfare." Chow Thamasala Mein, one of the elephant owners, highlighted the uniqueness of the initiative: "With wood logging banned, we no longer wish to use our elephants for such labor. We are pleased they will now live a life of care at Vantara. This initiative also provides stable jobs and a steady income for our families, securing a brighter future for our children." In the exploitative logging industry, elephants suffer greatly as they are forced to carry heavy logs and work tirelessly for long hours. They endure physical abuse, malnutrition, arthritis, and lack of medical care. Constantly chained, they are deprived of the freedom to roam and engage in natural behaviors. These harsh conditions also inflict severe psychological trauma, often evident in the form of stereotypic behaviors such as head bobbing, swaying, and weaving, leading to long-term welfare compromises. Despite their intelligence and social nature, these elephants are treated as machines, stripped of their dignity and well-being. At Vantara, they will have the opportunity to rejuvenate and live as elephants should. (ANI) Bollywood star Sanjay Dutt has been in touch with Saif Ali Khan's family ever since the latter got stabbed by an intruder at his Bandra residence a few days ago. On Monday, Sanjay visited the Lilavati Hospital to meet Saif and enquire about his health. The visuals of his arriving at the hospital surfaced online. Saif is currently recovering from multiple injuries. Speaking to the media, Dr Nitin Dange of Lilavati Hospital informed that the actor will remain under observation for another day, and the decision on discharging him will be made in the next one to two days. The attack took place when an intruder, later identified as Mohd Shariful Islam Shehzad, entered the actor's home with the alleged intent of theft. Saif sustained stab wounds to his thoracic spine while attempting to intervene during a confrontation between the intruder and his housemaid. The accused was apprehended at Hiranandani Estate in Thane while attempting to flee to his native village. The police said he hails from the Jhalokati district in Bangladesh. The incident occurred around 2:00 AM on January 16, during which Saif Ali Khan sustained serious injuries, including multiple stab wounds to his thoracic spine. At an event, Saif's sister Soha Ali Khan shared an update on his health while speaking to the media. She said, "We are happy that he is recovering well, and we are very thankful. We feel very blessed and grateful that it wasn't any worse. Thank you for all your wishes." (ANI) Three alleged drug traffickers from Bihar were arrested with 21.3 kg of cannabis at Agartala Railway Station, according to an official release. According to the release, in a joint operation by the Government Railway Police (GRP) and Railway Protection Force (RPF), the individuals were arrested at Agartala Railway Station on the evening of January 19 from platform 1. The arrests were made just before the departure of the Rani Kamalapati Express. The detained suspects, identified as Shambhu Paswan (38), Niranjan Kumar (20), and Shanti Devi (38), are from Samastipur district in Bihar. Authorities seized 21.3 kg of dry cannabis, concealed in three separate bags, during the operation, the release said. As per the release, the suspects reportedly intended to transport the contraband to another state by train. Upon questioning, they admitted to having smuggled cannabis in a similar fashion to other states on at least four to five previous occasions. They also provided information about a larger criminal network operating near Agartala Railway Station. The estimated market value of the seized cannabis in other states is approximately Rs 2.1 lakh. A case has been filed under the NDPS Act at the Agartala GRP Police Station. Authorities have intensified their investigation and expect further arrests as they dismantle the larger trafficking operation. The three accused will be presented before the Hon'ble Court on January 20. Further updates on the investigation are expected as authorities continue their efforts to crack down on this illegal trade On January 11, the Agartala GR police station, in collaboration with the Agartala Railway Protection Force (RPF), arrested two individuals, a man and a woman, at the Agartala railway station on charges related to a Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) case The accused duo, identified as Mohammad Mehedi Hasan Nazmul (20) and Shaheena Akhtar (30), were allegedly involved in trafficking narcotics across state borders using long-distance trains. During the operation, authorities seized a total of Rs 8.3 lakh in cash from the accused, suspected to be proceeds from drug transactions. (ANI) In a major crackdown, police in Assam's Cachar district seized narcotics worth Rs 1 crore and arrested one person in connection with the case, officials said. Numal Mahatta, Superintendent of Police of Cachar district said that, based on secret information Cachar district police on Sunday conducted a special operation against the illegal transportation of narcotics substances at Digharkhal Toll Gate under the jurisdiction of Kalain police station. "During the operation, one vehicle bearing registration number MZ-01Z-8256 coming from Guwahati and destined for Aizawl was intercepted. During thorough search 72 numbers of cartoons containing 8640 bottles of codeine phosphate cough syrup bottles were recovered along with 2 kg of suspected ganja. The recovered narcotics substances were accordingly seized along with the vehicle used. In this connection, one person identified as Joylaldan Thanga (38 years old) of Aizawl district has been arrested. The price of the seized narcotics substance in the black market is about Rs 1 crore," she said. Meanwhile, the Assam Chief Minister also lauded the successful operation of the Assam police. https://x.com/himantabiswa/status/1881040207027245124 In his post on X, he wrote "Drugs worth Rs1 crore recovered by @cacharpolice. In a source-based operation carried out at Digharkhal Toll Gate, a vehicle coming from a neighbouring State was intercepted leading to the recovery of 8,640 bottles of Codeine Phosphate cough syrup 2 kg Ganja One person has been arrested in this connection. Good job @assampolice." Further investigation is underway. Earlier in December, the Special Task Force (STF) of Assam Police, in collaboration with the Cachar district police, seized 60,000 Yaba tablets and 125 grams of heroin in a late-night operation in Silchar. The operation was conducted on Silcoori Road by a joint team led by STF Chief Dr Partha Sarathi Mahanta. The team apprehended Sahil Ahmed Laskar, a resident of Sonai in Cachar district, who was allegedly transporting the narcotics on a motorcycle. "We apprehended Sahil Ahmed Laskar from Sonai of Cachar district, while he was transporting narcotics. We recovered and seized 60,000 Yaba tablets and 125 grams of heroin from his possession," said Dr Partha Sarathi Mahanta earlier.(ANI) Trichy is set to host the 75th Diamond Jubilee Jamboree of the Bharat Scouts and Guides, a grand event named the Kalaignar Karunanidhi Centenary Special Jamboree, where nearly 25,000 students are expected to participate. President Droupadi Murmu is likely to join the celebrations. The event, scheduled from January 28 to February 3 at Manapparai, the Jamboree is expected to welcome over 25,000 participants, including international students from 86 countries. David Baden-Powell, the 5th Baron of Gilwell and a descendant of Robert Baden-Powell, the founder of the Scouts movement will attend the event. Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi, Tamil Nadu's Minister of School Education, expressed excitement about hosting the prestigious event in Tamil Nadu. "We are happy and proud to have this chance. It happened because of our Chief Minister. He gave us the funds (to organise this event) along with permission. On January 22, our department is going to meet the President and we will come to know only then whether she will be attending (the event)," Poyyamozhi told ANI. Since a huge number of guests are expected for the event, more than 2,000 tents have been set up for Boy Scouts, girl guides, scoutmasters, and officials. The arrangements have been made for 2,000 bio-toilers and bathing showers. The week-long jamboree will feature competitions like pioneering projects, adventure valley, global village development, march past, colour party, folk dances, state day exhibition, band performances, rock climbing and parasailing. The Jamboree Committee will be led by Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi as the Patron-in-Chief, Chief Minister MK Stalin as the Chief Patron, and Deputy Chief Minister as the Patron of the Jamboree Council. (ANI) The Uttar Pradesh government on Monday released an advisory regarding fire safety to all the camps at the Maha Kumbh Mela, being held at Prayagraj. The advisory asked people to immediately inform the Mela control and local police and fire stations on 112, 1920, 1090, or the numbers specified by ICCC in case of a fire or emergency incident. In case of a fire, it is asked to create noise to alert and notify the nearby tents to be cautious. "During an emergency, remain calm and work with a cool mind, using the nearest fire-fighting equipment from a safe distance, without putting yourself in danger, to attempt extinguishing the fire," the advisory further reads. Devotees need to be aware of the nearest exit routes and use them in case of a fire. "Properly identify your fire-fighting equipment so it can be used correctly to extinguish the fire. Keep an adequate supply of water and sand near the tent to use in case of fire to extinguish it," it further reads. Emphasising on quick evacuation of children, officials ask to cut down the ropes or strings of the tent to prevent the spread of the fire. "Make every effort to extinguish the fire using available water, sand, or any fire-fighting equipment as soon as possible," it added. In case of a gas cylinder fire, officials asked to attempt to keep it upright and exit the area while trying to extinguish the fire on the cylinder with a wet cloth or fire extinguisher and work to stop any gas leakage. People were further asked to fight the fire as much as possible until emergency services arrived and helped people exit the area. The advisory also asked to not store flammable materials such as petrol, kerosene, diesel, gas, or candles inside the tent. "Do not use non-standard or leaking gas cylinders in the tent, and do not bury gas cylinders in the ground. Never use plastic or synthetic fabrics to build tents. Do not use open flames like stoves, havan kunds, etc., inside the tent," it reads. "Never add oil to burning lamps, stoves, or gas burners, and do not store petrol or other highly flammable materials and avoid cooking food outdoors during strong winds," it added. The notice also asked people to prioritise helping people rather than recording a video during a fire incident. This comes after a fire broke out at a camp at the Maha Kumbh Mela, being held at Prayagraj, that was allegedly caused by a cylinder blast, the police said on Sunday. The fire was further brought under control. Meanwhile, more than 2 million devotees today have taken a holy dip at Triveni Sangam in Prayagraj so far. (ANI) Congress leader V Hanumantha Rao on Monday said that a case should be filed against RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, BJP people for "insulting" the Constitution and Baba Saheb Ambedkar. This comes after an FIR was registered against Lok Sabha LoP and Congress MP Rahul Gandhi for his remarks. Speaking to ANI, V Hanumantha Rao said, "A case was filed against Rahul Gandhi in Assam, but a case should be filed against RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, BJP people for insulting the Constitution and Baba Saheb Ambedkar. We will file a complaint today to register a case in Telangana..." Earlier, an FIR was registered at the Pan Bazar Police Station in Guwahati against Rahul Gandhi over his recent remarks, where he stated that "The BJP and RSS have captured every single institution, and we are now fighting the BJP, the RSS, and the Indian State itself". Rahul Gandhi made the statement on January 15, 2025, during the inauguration of the Congress Party's new headquarter at Kotla Road in Delhi. The FIR was registered under section 152 and 197(1)d of the BNS for "acts endangering sovereignty unity and integrity of India," a cognizable and non-bailable office. The complainant, Monjit Chetia, alleged that Gandhi's statement crossed the limits of permissible free speech and posed a serious threat to public order and national security. Chetia claimed that Gandhi's words were an attempt to delegitimize the authority of the State, creating a dangerous narrative that could provoke unrest and separatist sentiments. "By declaring that his fight is against the "Indian State itself," the accused has consciously incited subversive activities and rebellion among the populace. This is an attempt to delegitimize the authority of the State and to portray it as a hostile force, thereby creating a dangerous narrative that could provoke unrest and separatist sentiments," Chetia said in his complaints according to the FIR. Chetia also suggested that Gandhi's remarks were motivated by frustration over repeated electoral failures. As the Leader of Opposition, Gandhi has a responsibility to maintain public confidence in democratic institutions, but instead, he chose to exploit his platform to spread falsehoods and provoke rebellion, endangering the unity and sovereignty of India. "Having been unable to gain public trust through democratic means, the accused now seeks to incite disaffection against the central government and the Indian State. This behavior is particularly alarming, given his position as the Leader of the Opposition, a role that comes with the responsibility to maintain public confidence in democratic institutions. Instead, the accused has chosen to exploit his platform to spread falsehoods and provoke rebellion, endangering the unity and sovereignty of India," the complainant said. (ANI) Chetia complained that Rahul Gandhi's remarks represent a direct challenge to the integrity and stability of the Indian State, warranting immediate legal action under Section 152 of the BNS. (ANI) As the Sealdah Civil and Criminal Court is set to pronounce the quantum of sentence to the convict in the RG Kar's rape-murder case today, the father of the deceased doctor has demanded that the accused Sanjay Roy should get the harshest punishment, however, he also said that there are other people also involved with him in the crime. "...He (accused Sanjay Roy) tried to speak on Saturday, the court asked him to speak on Monday. We don't know what he will say. He is a criminal, there are other people involved with him...he should get the harshest punishment," the victim's father told reporters. Speaking to ANI, the mother of the deceased doctor said that they would not allow the investigation to get "suppressed". "We will not allow the investigation to be suppressed, we will take away the justice. My daughter will get justice for the people of the state, the people of the world, the people of the country and all those who are protesting. We have put our question in the High Court and we will get that answer from the Court. We have faith in the judge," she said. Meanwhile, a heavy force was deployed outside the court and adjacent areas today ahead of the sentencing. The security has been heightened with two deputy commoners of Kolkata Police fielded on the ground along with five assistant commoners of police, 14 inspectors, 31 sub-inspectors, 39 assistant sub-inspectors, 299 constables and 80 women police personnel. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Samik Bhattacharya on Monday morning questioned the haste in the RG Kar rape and murder case, saying that the investigation should continue and other persons behind the crime must also be given capital punishment. He said the court should hear the accused Sanjay Roy and the revelations he intends to make. People have doubts and questions over the destruction of evidence in the case, the BJP leader added. Moreover, CPI (M) West Bengal State Secretary Md Salim alleged that more than one person was involved in the case and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) didn't move the case forward. Salim said that central agencies were merely repeating what Mamata Banerjee said. The CPI(M) leader stated that this is a long fight and people won't stop until justice is served to the parents of the victim. Sealdah Civil and Criminal Court on Saturday pronounced Sanjay Roy guilty in the RG Kar rape and murder case of a trainee doctor. The court said sections 64,66, 103/1 of BNS have been framed against the accused. "There is a complaint against the accused that he went to RG Kar Medical College and Hospital and went to the seminar room, assaulted and murdered the lady doctor taking rest there," the court said. The case, which involves the rape and murder of a trainee doctor whose body was found on August 9 in the hospital's seminar room, sparked widespread protests. After the incident, Sanjay Roy, a civic volunteer at the hospital, was arrested in connection with the crime. (ANI) Kerala Police have arrested all but two accused in connection with the sexual assault of an 18-year-old Dalit girl in Pathanamthitta district. Since the first case was registered by the Ilavumthitta Police on January 10, the Special Investigation Team arrested 57 out of the 59 accused, except for two who are abroad, according to the police. The police made the latest arrest in the case on Sunday. The accused VS Arun (25) was taken into custody near his house in the district. Ilavumthitta Police registered 17 cases from 10 to 14 this month, with a total of 25 accused. The fifth accused in the first case, S Sudhi, is in jail in a POCSO case registered by the Pathanamthitta Police last year. On the January 11, the ADGP had ordered to form a 25-member special investigation team. The investigation, supervised by Thiruvananthapuram Range DIG Ajitha Begum, is being led by the District Police Chief VG Vinod Kumar. The District Police Chief informed that there has been great progress in the investigation in a few days and legal action has been taken to arrest the accused abroad quickly. The DIG is constantly assessing the progress of the investigation. A total of 30 cases were registered in four stations in the district based on the student's statement (Pathanamthitta 11, Ilavumthitta 17, Pandalam 1, Malayalapuzha 1). Of these, two accused in the case registered in Pandalam station were arrested on the same day. The Malayalapuzha Police team stayed in Chennai for two days and took the accused into custody in a secret operation conducted with the help of the cyber cell, said the police. The accused were being arrested in the cases at Ilavumthitta and Pathanamthitta police stations right from the beginning. Five minors were among those arrested. The police team is moving to complete the investigation in a timely manner and file the chargesheet in the court, the Pathanamthitta police said in a statement. It is alleged that when the teen was 13 years old, Subin, one of the accused had sent obscene messages and pictures to her through his mobile phone. He is also accused of procuring obscene pictures and videos of the teen, according to Pathanamthitta Police. Furthermore, allegedly when the girl was 16 years old, the accused took her on a bike to Achankottumali near her house and raped her in a rubber farm in an uninhabited area. The event was recorded on his phone. Later, during the investigation, it was revealed that Subin showed it to the other accused who were his friends. The statement also states that they took her to Achankottumali in a group and gang-raped her, added the statement of Pathanamthitta Police. (ANI) The Delhi High Court on Monday issued notice to Delhi Police on a bail plea moved by Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA Naresh Balyan in a case under the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organized Crime Act (MCOCA). Recently the trial court has refused to grant bail to him in the case. The bench of Justice Vikas Mahajan issued a notice to Delhi Police fixed on January 23, 2025, for a detailed hearing in the matter. Senior Advocate Vikas Pahwa, representing Balyan, expressed strong concerns about his client's arrest in the case. He argued that no offence had been committed and that there was no evidence against Balyan. Pahwa emphasized that his client should not be held in custody for even a single day, stating, "I am a sitting MLA, not a criminal. Denying bail would frustrate the entire process. At the very least, I should be allowed to participate in elections and support my wife." Balyan, who was arrested on December 4 in connection with the MCOCA case, had previously been granted bail in an extortion case. In its January 15 order, the trial court, led by Special Judge Kaveri Baweja, noted that there was substantial evidence linking Balyan to an organized crime syndicate. The court emphasized that Balyan appeared to be actively involved in ongoing unlawful activities as a member of the group. The Delhi Police had opposed Balyan's bail plea during a January 8 hearing, accusing him of acting as a "facilitator" for the crime syndicate allegedly led by Kapil Sangwan. Special Public Prosecutor Akhand Pratap Singh argued that Balyan played a key role in funding one of the syndicate members following a crime, helping them evade arrest. The prosecution also raised concerns that granting bail could allow Balyan to influence witnesses, destroy evidence, and impede the investigation. The police have filed 16 FIRs against the members of Sangwan's syndicate, accusing them of engaging in extortion, violence, and other criminal activities across Delhi. (ANI) A cabinet meeting was held on Monday at the State Secretariat under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, where the cabinet approved the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) manual. The approval follows a thorough scrutiny by the legislative Department, which had already reviewed the manual. On UCC, Uttarakhand CM Pushkar Singh Dhami Said that our government kept the promises we made before the 2022 elections. He asserted that the dates of implementation will be announced soon. "We had promised the people of Uttarakhand in 2022 that we would bring the UCC Bill as soon as our government was formed. We brought it. The draft committee drafted it, it was passed, the President approved it and it became an act. The process of training is also almost complete... After analysing everything, we will announce the dates soon," Dhami said to media persons after the meeting. The BJP government introduced the UCC Bill during a special session of the Uttarakhand Legislative Assembly on February 6 this year and it was passed with a comfortable majority a day later on February 7. Following the Uttarakhand Assembly, the UCC Bill was passed in February, and President Droupadi Murmu signed it on March 13, paving the way for Uttarakhand to potentially become the first state in India to enact the UCC. The Uniform Civil Code seeks to establish a set of uniform personal laws that apply to all citizens, regardless of religion, gender, or caste. This would cover aspects such as marriage, divorce, adoption, inheritance, and succession. (ANI) A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta issued notice to the Jharkhand government and Naveen Jha, a BJP worker, who filed a defamation case against Gandhi and sought their responses within four weeks. The bench posted for hearing after six weeks the plea of Gandhi challenging a Jharkhand High Court order which dismissed his plea to quash the defamation case. "Issue notice to Jharkhand and complainant. All proceedings in the trial shall remain stayed till further orders," the apex court ordered. During one of his public speeches, Gandhi allegedly delivered a speech on March 18, 2018, criticising the BJP and referred to Shah as a "murderer". Jha alleged Gandhi had made objectionable remarks against the then BJP national president Amit Shah. (ANI) The Supreme Court on Monday asked the District Police to check the genuineness of fresh evidence placed by the victims over the alleged violation of bail condition by the accused Ashish Mishra in the Lakhimpur Kheri violence case. After noting that fresh evidence is sought to be placed from both the victim's and accused's side, a Bench of Justices Surya Kant and Ujjal Bhuyan asked the District Superintendent of Police (SP) in Lakhimpur Kheri to file a report either in support or against the grounds seeking cancellation accused Ashish Mishra's bail. "The applicant (victims) seeks cancellation of bail granted to Ashish Mishra. They have relied upon some materials accusing Mishra of misusing cancellation of bail and violating conditions on which bail was granted. Mr. Bhushan, counsel for the complainant, wants to place on record more material. In our view the veracity and genuineness of such material can be gone into by police administration who may then submit a report on support or against the ground seeking cancellation of bail", the Court said in its order. The Court listed the matter to be heard next in four weeks time. Senior Advocate Siddhartha Dave who appeared for Mishra denied allegations against his client by contending that the victim's side is in a habit of making such allegations. Advocate Prashant Bhushan, on the other hand, submitted that one of the witnesses in the case is willing to go on record against Mishra alleging that he had been told not to give evidence against the accused. In November, last year, the top court had asked Mishra to respond to allegations with respect to threatening witnesses in the case against him. Earlier, the Court had modified the interim bail conditions of Mishra and had permitted him to either stay in Delhi or Lucknow. Further, it had also issued directions to expedite the trial in the Lakhimpur Kheri violence case. The top court had also made its interim order absolute. In January 2023, the top court granted interim bail to Mishra for eight weeks and imposed various conditions. Later, the bail had been extended from time to time. The Court had directed Mishra to inform the concerned court about his location. The Court had also clarified that any attempt by Ashish Mishra or his family to influence witnesses and try to delay the trial may lead to cancellation of his bail. The court has also directed Mishra to mark his attendance at the concerned police station of his location. Ashish Mishra, the son of former Union Minister Ajay Mishra, moved the Supreme Court challenging the Allahabad High Court, which denied bail to him in connection with the Lakhimpur Kheri violence case. On July 26, 2022, the Allahabad High Court denied bail to Ashish Mishra, the son of former Union Minister Ajay Mishra, in connection with the Lakhimpur Kheri violence case. The bail was rejected by the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High The said order is challenged by Ashish Mishra in the Supreme Court, filed through advocate on record T. Mahipal. Mishra is facing a case of murder for the incident that took place on October 3, 2021, in which eight people, including four farmers, were killed in Lakhimpur Kheri. Mishra had allegedly ran over the farmers who were protesting against the Centre's three farm laws. He was arrested on October 9 and granted bail in February 2022. Mishra again moved to the High Court as the court's earlier order was set aside by the Supreme Court in April 2022 and had ordered fresh consideration of his bail plea. The top court earlier had set aside the Allahabad High Court order dated February 10, 2022, and remitted the matter back to the High Court. The top court had said that the order of the Allahabad High Court could not be sustained and had to be set aside, and the bail bonds of the respondent/accused were cancelled. The Court had directed Ashish Mishra to surrender within a week. Family members of the victims of the Lakhimpur Kheri incident moved the Supreme Court, challenging the Allahabad High Court order, which granted bail to Ashish Mishra. At the time, the top court had cancelled Mishra's bail plea. Earlier, the Court had appointed a committee headed by former Punjab and Haryana High Court judge Rakesh Kumar Jain to monitor the probe into the Lakhimpur Kheri violence. (ANI) Guwahati (Assam) [India], January 20 (ANII): Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Friday said that he spoke to 140 business leaders at the Advantage Assam roadshow. The event 'Advantage Assam 2.0' was organised by the Indian Chamber of Commerce in South Korea's Seoul. He talked about the intentions of business leaders to be a part of Advantage Assam 2.0. "I began the day in Seoul by speaking to over 140 business leaders at the Advantage Assam roadshow, organised by the Indian Chamber of Commerce in South Korea. Their enthusiasm towards being a part of Advantage Assam 2 was phenomenal. The Korean business community was buoyed by India's position as the world's fastest growing major economy and the unique opportunities Assam can offer to them to access this market," CM Sarma posted on X. Earlier, Sarma called on President Droupadi Murmu at the Rashtrapati Bhavan and extended an invitation to her to grace the Srimanta Sankardeva Award 2025, scheduled to be held in April this year. President Murmu accepted the invitation to grace the event, according to a press release. In a post on X, CM Sarma said, "I had the privilege of calling upon Hon'ble Rashtrapati Smt. Droupadi Murmu Ji. I am deeply grateful to the Hon'ble President for graciously accepting our invitation to visit our state and confer the Srimanta Sankardeva Award in April 2025. Her valuable time and guidance are truly appreciated." The award is named after the great Vaishnavite saint and reformer of Assam, Srimanta Sankardeva. Meanwhile, Sarma approved Rs 2,000 crore allocation for the implementation of various schemes on Thursday. "In the Cabinet meeting, we have finalised guidelines to provide financial support to 27 lakh women from the Self-Help Group community. Through this scheme, women members of self-help groups in Assam will be provided Rs 10,000 in the first phase, Rs 25,000 in the second phase with bank and government assistance, and up to Rs 50,000 in the third phase through banks," he said after a cabinet meeting. Additionally, Rs 70 crore has been allocated to the road connecting Balimukh to Sildubi via Bhuragaon while Rs 55 crore was approved for the drainage system for Morigaon Town. (ANI) The Supreme Court on Monday asked the Central government to decide by the March 18 petition of death-row prisoner Balwant Singh Rajoana, seeking commutation of the death sentence awarded to him for the assassination of the then Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh in 1995. A bench of Justices BR Gavai, Prashant Kumar Mishra and KV Viswanathan adjourned the matter for hearing on March 18 after the Centre sought more time to decide the mercy petition. The bench gave the last chance to the Centre and posted the matter for hearing on March 18. The apex said it would grant more time to Centre, however, on the next hearing if the government has not decided the case, the court will hear the matter on merits. "We will grant you time by way of last chance. Either you take a decision or we will hear on merits," the bench said. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for Centre, told the bench that matter is "sensitive" as it's related to murder of a sitting Chief Minister and sought four to six weeks to decide the mercy petition saying government is considering it. On the last date of hearing, Mehta had sought more time to decide the case and had said that the matter is "sensitive" and more inputs from other agencies are required. The top court was hearing a plea relating to delay in deciding mercy petition of death-row prisoner Rajoana. Rajoana sought commutation on the ground of delay in considering the mercy petition filed by him. Earlier, the apex court had said that they would only consider Rajoana's plea seeking release only after hearing the Union government and the state of Punjab. Rajoana, a sympathiser of the Babbar Khalsa militant group, sought the commutation of his death sentence to life imprisonment in connection with his role in the assassination of Beant Singh. Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, representing Rajoana, had earlier urged the top court for his temporary release saying he has been in jail for almost 29 years. Rajoana sought commutation of the death sentence on the grounds of 'extraordinary' and 'inordinate delay' of one year and four months in deciding his mercy petition, which remains pending before the President of India. The petition sought consequential release on the grounds that he has undergone a total sentence of 28 years and eight months as of date, of which 17 years have been served as a death row convict in an 8" x 10" capital punishment cell, including 2.5 years in solitary confinement. The convict, Balwant Singh Rajoana, was sentenced to death for the murder of former Punjab chief minister Beant Singh who died in a bomb explosion in Chandigarh on August 31, 1995. The Centre had decided on September 27, 2019 to commute the death penalty of Rajoana to a life sentence on the special occasion of the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev. However, the decision is yet to be implemented. In 2020, Singh filed a petition seeking the commutation of the death penalty. The apex court had then asked Central government to take a call with respect to the mercy petition. In May 2024 the top court declined to commute the death penalty but directed that the mercy petition be decided by a competent authority in due course of time. It noted tha stand of MHA to defer the decision on Rajoana's mercy petition on the ground of national security and law and order situation. A Chandigarh court had, on July 27, 2007, awarded death sentence to Rajoana which was upheld by the Punjab and Haryana High Court on October 12, 2010. Rajoana has not filed an appeal against the decision of the High Court. Rajoana was scheduled to be hanged on March 31, 2012, however, the execution was stayed on March 28, 2012, by the then Central government after Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) -- a Sikh religious body, filed a mercy petition with the President. (ANI) Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut on Monday hit out at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) after the Saif Ali Khan stabbing attack accused was confirmed to be a native of Bangladesh by Mumbai police, saying that all Bangladeshis should be 'removed' from the country. Raut said that all Bangladeshis should be removed and it should begin with Sheikh Hasina, the ousted Bangladesh Prime Minister who has been taking asylum in India since last year. The Shiv Sena also demanded the resignation of Union Home Minister Amit Shah. "...Who is saying he is a Bangladeshi? The BJP? They are claiming that the attack on Saif Ali Khan is an international conspiracy. What is the international conspiracy? An actor has been attacked and the people should be told the truth... If he is a Bangladeshi, then the central government is responsible. It is Amit Shah's responsibility and he should resign," Raut told media persons. "All Bangladeshis should be removed and it should begin with Sheikh Hasina, who has been given asylum. They are only creating fear because of the Mumbai municipal elections... When we wanted to speak against Bangladeshis in the Parliament, the BJP stopped us, citing international ties... 10 days ago they accused Saif Ali Khan of love jihad, and now they are worried about him... His son's name is Taimur. Their people spoke ill of him also. PM Modi gained the information and now Taimur is a symbol of love for them," he added. The Saif Ali Khan's stabbing incident occurred on January 16, during which the actor was attacked at his Bandra residence. The 'Hum Tum' actor sustained serious injuries, including stab wounds to his thoracic spine. Mumbai police have caught the accused, identified as Mohd Shariful Islam Shehzad, who they claim is a native of the Jhalokati district in Bangladesh. As per the police statement, the accused entered the residence of the renowned actor with the intent to commit theft. The case has been registered under sections 311, 312, 331(4), 331(6), and 331(7) of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS). Meanwhile, veteran actress and mother of actor Saif Ali Khan, Sharmila Tagore, was spotted arriving at Lilavati Hospital on Monday morning, where the actor has been admitted following a stabbing attack that took place at his Bandra residence last week. Other family members, including wife Kareena Kapoor Khan, daughter Sara Ali Khan, son Ibrahim, and others, have been regularly visiting the hospital to check on his condition. (ANI) After a Kerala court pronounced capital punishment to convict Greeshma for poisoning her boyfriend, she was taken to a women''s prison and correctional home in Thiruvananthapuram''s Attakkulangara. Greeshma was given capital punishment in the high-profile Sharon Raj murder case, where the court found her guilty of poisoning her 23-year-old boyfriend with pesticide-laced ayurvedic decoction. The Neyyattinkara Additional Sessions Court on Monday sentenced her to death. The third accused, Greeshma''s uncle Nirmalakumaran Nair, has been sentenced to three years of rigorous imprisonment. Special Public Prosecutor VS Vineeth Kumar, who represented the victim''s family, said that he was confident about the evidence being accepted by the court in this case. Lauding the judgment as "exemplary", he narrated that he argued for capital punishment for the accused in the court. "While I was arguing before the court, I was confident that the evidence would be accepted by the court. I had argued that there is rarest of the rare case category is there in this and capital punishment should be awarded...this is an exemplary judgement," Kumar told reporters. On the prosecution''s request, the court summoned family members as the verdict reading began. Judge A M Basheer said the accused was unaware that the evidence she himself was carrying from the time of the crime until his arrest would lead to his conviction. A total of 259 questions were posed to the accused, and 57 witnesses were examined. The court congratulated the investigation team for conducting a thorough and efficient probe. The police adapted their investigative methods to suit the changing times. The court refrained from naming any specific officials but commended everyone involved. The verdict spans over 556 pages. While pronouncing the quantum of punishment, the court observed, "The act of inviting Sharon over under the pretext of sexual intimacy and subsequently committing the crime cannot be ignored. It is the State''s responsibility to ensure punishment for criminal acts. Evidence such as Sharon recording a video of the suspicious juice, despite Greeshma asking him not to record, indicates that he suspected something was wrong. Sharon fought for his life for 11 days without even consuming a drop of water." The court on Saturday heard the final arguments of the defence and prosecution on the quantum of punishment to SS Greeshma who was found guilty by the Court on January 17. The court also found her uncle Nirmalakumaran Nair, the third accused, guilty under Section 201 of the IPC. Her mother Sindhu was acquitted. The case dates back to October 14, 2022, when Greeshma allegedly poisoned her boyfriend, Sharon Raj, by mixing poison in herbal medicine at her residence. Sharon passed away 11 days later while being treated in the ICU of a medical college. Sharon and Greeshma had been in a long-term relationship. However, Greeshma, planning to marry another person, sought to end her relationship with Sharon. When Sharon refused to break up, it reportedly led to the murder. Sharon''s dying declaration to the magistrate, in which he revealed he had consumed the herbal medicine given by Greeshma without suspecting any harm, was a crucial turning point in the investigation. Forensic evidence also played a pivotal role in establishing the crime. The police filed the charge sheet on January 25, 2023, following a meticulous investigation led by a special team under then-Superintendent of Police Shilpa. The trial, which began on October 15 last year, concluded on January 3 this year. (ANI) Deputy Chairman of Rajya Sabha Harivansh on Monday, expressed his concern over the business of legislative bodies and said that it is time to make these institutions more dynamic and effective. He was speaking in the inaugural session of the 85th All India Presiding Officers Conference (AIPOC) in Patna today. In his remarks, Harivansh recalled the rich civilisational history of Bihar. He said that this history is also visible in the influence of members from Bihar in the freedom struggle and framing of the constitution. India is at an important phase of its development journey and our legislative institutions must be dynamic to keep the constitutional values relevant for the future. The Deputy Chairman further said that leaders like Dr Rajendra Prasad, Dr Sachchidanda Sinha, Babu Jagjivan Ram, and Jaya Prakash Narayan played a critical role in deepening the democratic culture at the grassroots. In addition to these, the contributions of other members from Bihar in the constituent assembly such as Babu Guptnath Singh, Jaipal Munda, Chandrika Ram, and Tajmul Hussain, must also receive more recognition. He further said that before Independence, Bihar was at the forefront of many landmark moments in India's freedom struggle. The Champaran Satyagraha in 1917-18, and the Quit India Movement in 1942 are examples in this regard. This also translated to key legislative changes like land reforms in later years. He also emphasised that the Indian constitution has remained flexible and evolved with time. As a result, it has withstood the test of time while many other nations in the region have struggled to do so. Harivansh said that in the coming years, our legislative institutions need to be dynamic and forward-looking to fulfil the aspirations of the country. He noted the important role played by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar in upholding various constitutional values. He said that under the leadership of the Chief Minister, Bihar became the first state to implement 50% reservation for women in their local bodies in 2006. It is pertinent to note that the theme of the conference is to commemorate the 75th year of the Constitution and the role of the legislature in strengthening constitutional values. Speaker Lok Sabha Om Birla, Speaker Bihar Vidhan Sabha Nand Kishore Yadav, and Chairman Bihar Legislative Council Awadhesh Narain Singh were also part of the inaugural function. This is the third time Bihar is hosting the AIPOC Conference. It was previously hosted in 1964 and 1982. (ANI) Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh attended the DG NCC Road Camp 2025 on Monday, and presented the prestigious Raksha Mantri Padak and Commendation Cards to outstanding NCC cadets. Addressing the gathering, Singh emphasised the significant role of the National Cadet Corps (NCC) in shaping the youth of India. "We regularly meet NCC children and engage in conversations with them. NCC gives you so much - wherever you go in the future, you will bring glory to your home, society, and country. After joining NCC, you become an integral part of it. It is a matter of pride for you. It strengthens your shoulders during training, and later, these strong shoulders bear the weight of the nation's progress, he stated. The Defence Minister went on to share some wisdom with the cadets: "I tell my students to consider your mind as a circle. The more you increase the circumference of this circle, the greater the magnitude of happiness and bliss you will experience. This will lead to permanent happiness. The circumference of the mind is directly proportional to the magnitude of happiness, and there is no limit to happiness, so happiness can never be proportional." Singh emphasised the unity in diversity in India. He expressed confidence that the energy and enthusiasm of the cadets signify a bright future for the nation. "Whenever I meet my cadets, I not only see cadets, I also see the image of India in you. A country whose branches are many, but whose roots are one, whose rays are many, but the light is one. To say this, you have come here from different places, many languages with many cultures and many rites and I can see unity between them. The energy and enthusiasm in you, I can see that our future is bright as a path and will continue to be bright. This is my firm belief," he said. (ANI) After the Sealdah court pronounced life imprisonment to convict Sanjay Roy in the RG Kar rape-murder case, Union Minister Sukanta Majumdar expressed dissatisfaction with the verdict, calling for a deeper investigation. Speaking to ANI, Majumdar refrained from commenting against the court's decision. "We wanted the highest punishment (for the convict Sanjay Roy). Being an elected representative, I can't say anything against the court verdict. The public of West Bengal does not believe that only one person is involved in the RG Kar rape-murder case. I think there should be more depth in this, as Sanjay is saying that there were also police and other people involved," the BJP leader said. Meanwhile, along with life imprisonment, the court has also fined Rs 50,000 to the accused. "50 thousand fine, if not submitted, there will be more five-months imprisonment," the court said. During the hearing of the case, the Central Bureau of Investigation sought "capital punishment" for the accused Sanjay Roy. However, Justice Anirban Das said that the case is "not rarest of rare cases". "Victim family to be given compensation of Rs 10 lakh for death of victim and Rs seven lakh for rape," Justice Das said. On Saturday, Sealdah Civil and Criminal Court pronounced Sanjay Roy guilty in the RG Kar rape and murder case of a trainee doctor. The court said sections 64,66, 103/1 of BNS have been framed against the accused. "There is a complaint against the accused that he went to RG Kar Medical College and Hospital and went to the seminar room, assaulted and murdered the lady doctor taking rest there," the court said. The case, which involves the rape and murder of a trainee doctor whose body was found on August 9 in the hospital's seminar room, sparked widespread protests. After the incident, Sanjay Roy, a civic volunteer at the hospital, was arrested in connection with the crime. (ANI) Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav inaugurated three-day Arogya Mela and National Seminar under Ayurveda Parv-2025 organised at Pt. Khushilal Sharma Government (Autonomous) Ayurveda College and Institute in Bhopal on Monday. CM Yadav highlighted that Madhya Pradesh had a years old connection with Ayurveda and it was a pleasure to take part in the program when the whole world is looking towards Ayurveda. "The connection of Madhya Pradesh with Ayurveda is quite old...Today, when the world is looking at Ayurveda, it was a pleasure to participate in the program with all Ayurvedic doctors. Currently, 56 government medical ayurvedic colleges are running in Madhya Pradesh. The Government of India has approved 5 more such colleges, two more colleges from the state government with a total of 11 new colleges to come up soon...," CM Yadav told reporters. He further stressed that the congregation of scholars would be beneficial to discuss many different types of things related to Ayurveda on the occasion and it would be fruitful. "We decided to expand Ayurveda by starting courses in paramedical nursing through ayurveda. We will keep making good decisions," CM added. Meanwhile, in a post on X, CM Yadav stated that the Madhya Pradesh government was also continuously promoting Ayurveda to provide better health facilities to the citizens of the state. "Today, I inaugurated the Arogya Mela and National Seminar under Ayurveda Parv-2025 at Pt. Khushilal Sharma Government Ayurvedic College, Bhopal. Ayurveda is the base of our Indian medical system. The increasing global acceptance of Indian Ayurveda is proof that even in the present times, it is very effective in healthy living and treatment of diseases," CM said in a post on X. "The Madhya Pradesh government is also continuously promoting traditional Indian medical systems like Ayurveda to provide better health facilities to its citizens," he added. (ANI) Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah demanded on Monday that Karnataka Assembly Leader of Opposition R Ashok should come up with an explanation before making allegations of corruption against the state government. On Ashoka's statement regarding Congress' Belagavi convention, CM Siddaramaiah told reporters "Where have these irregularities occurred? Before making such allegations, he should explain that. Just because he makes the claim doesn't mean it is true." LoP R Ashok dubbed the Congress-led Karnataka government as "60 per cent commission government" and further alleged that the money is being used for a "big rally" of the Congress. The BJP leader told ANI on Monday, "Congress govt is 60 per cent commission govt, in all sectors, all departments, they are taking 60 per cent commission...Muda scam of Rs 300 crores happened in Mysuru, Valmiki (scam), that included Rs 190 crores, that was a big scandal...where is all this money? It is being used for the Congress Samavesha, a big rally..." He also alleged that the law and order situation has deteriorated in the state. "The Congress people looted the Karnataka government for the last 20 months. This is the worst government ever seen. And there is no law and order in Karnataka, " he alleged. Meanwhile, amid reports of an internal rift in the Congress in Karnataka, the State's Deputy Chief Minister, DK Shivakumar on Monday said that his duty was to save the party and the government. "My duty is to save the party and keep the government safe. Apart from this, I have no other duties. Don't use my name for anything else. I have no disagreement with anyone," Shivakumar told reporters. "My first duty is to protect workers. I am doing my job. Don't believe the lies someone tells you in the media. Everyone is the same to me. Activists, legislators, and ministers are all the same. I will bow down to those who work within the framework of our party's discipline and serve them. Party is important to me. "I have been carrying out the responsibilities given to me honestly from time to time," he added. (ANI) The Delhi High Court on Monday issued notice to Delhi Police and sought a response to the plea moved by transgender Rajan Singh. The petitioner is contesting Delhi State Assembly elections from Kalkaji. He has sought personal security due to threats to his life as he is contesting the Delhi State Assembly election. Justice Vikas Mahajan issued notice and sought a response from the Delhi Police on Rajan Singh's plea. The High Court will hear the matter on January 27. Rajan Singh has moved a petition through advocate Subhash Chandra Budhiraja. It is stated that the petitioner is going to fight/contest the Delhi Assembly Election 2025 and has successfully filed his nomination papers before the Returning Officer, Kalkaji Assembly Constituency Election. It is alleged that some rival candidates are threatening the petitioner with dire consequences and for this, the petitioner urgently needs police protection. The Hon'ble Court may kindly direct the respondents to provide police protection to the petitioner, as provided in the year 2024 for contesting the Delhi Assembly Election 2025. It is submitted that the petitioner urgently needs protection when the petitioner is going to take his electoral roll certificate on 15.01.2025 from the office of the electoral officer, AC- 49, Tuglakabad Extension, New Delhi, some unknown persons/opposite party's henchman came near the petitioner and snatched his electoral roll certificate from his hand tore the same and threatened the petitioner with a life-threatening. The petitioner immediately called PCR, and on 15.01.2025, PCR Petrol Vehicle came, but the PCR did not take any action against those persons; thereafter, the petitioner immediately called the SHO P.S. Sangam Vihar, but the SHO P.S. Sangam Vihar took it casually and has not sent any officer on the spot. The petitioner again called ATO Sangam Vihar on his mobile number regarding the above-mentioned incident and asked to provide necessary help to the petitioner, but the said ATO flatly denied help to the petitioner. It is further submitted that the petitioner urgently needs police protection because the petitioner has to campaign for his Delhi Assembly Election 2025 and the petitioner is the sole candidate of the Transgender Community and is going to campaign in his Kalkaji Assembly Constituency. To avoid some untoward incident, the petitioner herein may kindly be provided with police protection. The petitioner is carrying out the operation as a candidate for certain miscreants hailing from the opposite parties after seeing video publicity of the petitioner in various National Newspapers and TV Channels. It is also submitted that the petitioner was granted police protection to the petitioner for campaigning in the Lok Sabha Election 2025 on 29 April, 24 last year. The said security continued till 14th October 2024. (ANI) Amid the demand to give the death penalty to the accused in RG Kar medical rape-murder case, Advocate Rehman said on Monday that the judge said that the case is not a "rarest of the rare" case, hence the capital punishment has not been awarded. "Additional Judge of Sessions court, Sealdah has sentenced life imprisonment till death to Sanjay Roy. The court directed the state government to give compensation of Rs 17 lakhs to the victim's family. CBI had demanded capital punishment for the convict in the case. The judge said that this not a rarest of the rare cases, hence capital punishment has not been awarded," Advocate Rehman told ANI. The Sealdah Civil and Criminal Court has given life imprisonment to the accused Sanjay Roy in the RG Kar rape and murder case on Monday. Along with this, the court has also fined Rs 50,000 to the accused. During the hearing of the case, the Central Bureau of Investigation sought "capital punishment" for the accused Sanjay Roy. Meanwhile, Union Minister Sukanta Majumdar expressed dissatisfaction with the verdict, calling for a deeper investigation. Speaking to ANI, Majumdar refrained from commenting against the court's decision. "We wanted the highest punishment (for the convict Sanjay Roy). Being an elected representative, I can't say anything against the court verdict. The public of West Bengal does not believe that only one person is involved in the RG Kar rape-murder case. I think there should be more depth in this, as Sanjay is saying that there were also police and other people involved," the BJP leader said. BJP MP Samik Bhattacharya also claimed that the entire people believed that Sanjay Roy was not the only one involved in this case. "The judgement is the manifestation of the mood of the people of the country and of West Bengal. Even now, the entire people believe that Sanjay Roy was not the only one involved in this case; those who sent Sanjay Roy there, those who altered the place of occurrence. What about the punishment to such people?" Bhattacharya said. The case, which involves the rape and murder of a trainee doctor whose body was found on August 9 in the hospital's seminar room, sparked widespread protests. After the incident, Sanjay Roy, a civic volunteer at the hospital, was arrested in connection with the crime. (ANI) West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday expressed dissatisfaction over the court giving life imprisonment to the convict in the RG Kar hospital rape-murder case and said if the case had been with Kolkata Police, they would have ensured a death penalty. "I learned about the sentencing from the media. We have always demanded capital punishment and we continue to stand by it. However, this is the court's decision and I can't say much about this. For three other cases, Kolkata police ensured capital punishment through thorough investigations concluded within 54-60 days. This was a serious case. Had it been under our purview, we would have ensured the death penalty long back," CM Mamata said while addressing the media at Malda. "After taking over the case on August 14, 2024, the CBI took five months to seek the death penalty for the accused in the RG Kar case. This comes in strong contrast with the stringent action taken by West Bengal police that ultimately led to the swift delivery of justice by the courts and the death penalty for culprits in cases such as Joynagar, Farakka, and Hooghly as they were wrapped in 50-60 days," she asserted. Further, questioning the CBI's role in the case and trial, CM Mamata Banerjee said that she is not aware of how the CBI handled the case. "The details are theirs (CBI) to explain. Even though we had said that we would hand over the case if needed, the case was deliberately taken away from us. Our primary goal was always to secure the harshest possible punishment for the convict. I am not satisfied with this verdict," Mamata Banerjee added. Praising the state police, the West Bengal CM said that they acted swiftly from nabbing the accused within just 24 hours of the crime on August 9. "During the CBI investigation, many speculated that the central agency delayed the probe deliberately under political pressure, raising serious questions about its effectiveness. In contrast, Kolkata Police acted swiftly, nabbing the accused, civic volunteer Sanjay Roy, within just 24 hours of the crime on August 9, 2024. But, despite the clear and early arrest, the case was transferred to the CBI on August 13 following political pressure, leading to delays that would shake the faith of many," Mamata Banerjee said. She also claimed that once the CBI took over the investigation on August 14, 2024, it took two long months for the agency to file a chargesheet--on October 7. "This two-month gap raised serious questions, as the Kolkata Police had already identified and arrested the accused and the CBI could not identify any other accused. The CBI then proceeded to frame charges on November 4, with the trial finally starting on November 11, 2024. The trial culminated on January 9, 2025, nearly five months after the arrest, with the CBI's investigation drawing intense scrutiny for its prolonged pace," she said. Lashing out at the opposition, Mamata Banerjee said that while the entire nation mourned the tragic death of the doctor, the BJP and CPI(M) exploited the incident for political mileage, "orchestrating malicious misinformation campaigns to mislead the public". "Every myth they propagated about the crime, its motives, and the accused was systematically debunked through the facts uncovered during the Kolkata Police's initial probe and later corroborated through CBI's findings," the West Bengal CM said. She emphasized further that the state government responded to the gruesome crime with immediate reforms, enhancing security measures across medical facilities and ensuring that doctors and staff remain protected. "On September 3, the Bengal government also introduced the Aparajita Bill, aimed at providing swift and strict punishment for crimes against women. However, the BJP, which frequently uses words like "Beti Bachao", has maintained a strategic silence as the Bill is yet to be cleared at the highest level. This political manoeuvre highlighted their lack of genuine interest in pushing for stronger women's protection laws," CM Banerjee added. The Sealdah Civil and Criminal Court has given life imprisonment to the accused Sanjay Roy in the RG Kar rape and murder case on Monday. Along with this, the court has also fined Rs 50,000 to the accused. The case involves the rape and murder of a trainee doctor whose body was found on August 9 in the hospital's seminar room. (ANI) Faith and devotion took centre stage at Maha Kumbh, as more than 4.4 million devotees took a holy dip on the eighth day of the Kumbh Mela till 2 pm on Monday. As of January 20, more than 80 million pilgrims have taken a dip at the Sangam Triveni during the Maha Kumbh 2025. Furthermore, more than one million Kalpvasis have embraced the spiritual retreat during the Maha Kumbh. Earlier in the day, more than 2.2 million pilgrims visited the Mela on Monday morning as of 8 am, according to official data released. Meanwhile, Director General (DG) of Fire, Avinash Chandra addressed the ongoing investigation into the Maha Kumbh fire incident that occurred on Sunday. He further stated that the police have the authority to investigate, and local authorities are handling the case and also noted that while rumours are circulating, the exact cause would be determined after a thorough investigation. "The police have the right to investigate this incident. Local police authorities are at it. There are many rumours but the exact reason will be revealed after the investigation," he said. Regarding fire safety arrangements, Chandra highlighted the extensive preparations in place at the Kumbh. "In the entire Kumbh area, fire safety has been taken with great sincerity. 53 fire stations and 20 fire posts have been built and more than 1300 firemen have been deployed. More than 300 vehicles have been deployed. We will strengthen it even further. The magnitude is so big that there are nine fire stations in the entire Prayagraj district, and there are 53 fire stations and 20+ fire posts in Mahakumbh alone. The manpower in Prayagraj is 175 and 1300+ manpower in Mahkumbh. In a big district like Lucknow, there are 11 fire stations and around 200 personnel. Here, there is a manpower of 1400. The area of one fire station is around 800 square meters, which means that it will take less than three to four minutes for the fire vehicle of one fire station to reach the spot," he added. Chandra reassured that the response time for fire emergencies is three minutes, with vehicles reaching the spot in under three to four minutes. "Our response time is around three minutes. All the devotees who want to come here should come without any worry; we will provide them with infallible fire and police arrangements," he added. On Sunday, a fire broke out in Mahakumbh due to an explosion of three cooking gas cylinders. There have been no casualties in the mishap. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath visited the site of the fire and spoke to officials and firefighting teams on the spot. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Sunday, spoke to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and took cognisance of the incident. The Maha Kumbh began on January 13 and will continue until February 26. (ANI) The Supreme Court on Monday directed the registrar general of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court to ensure proper video conferencing facilities at a special court in Jammu where the trial of separatist leader Yasin Malik, who is in Tihar Jail, will take place. A bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and Justice Ujjal Bhuyan also directed the Registrar General of the Delhi High Court to ensure proper video conferencing facilities at Tihar jail, where Malik is lodged in connection with another case. It asked both the registrars of the High Court to file their status reports on February 18 and fixed the plea of the CBI for a hearing on February 21. "We direct the Registrar General of the High Court of Jammu and Kashmir to look into what is stated and take immediate steps for installing a proper system through which hearings can be conducted by using video medium or video conference. The system should be such that there can be effective cross-examination by using the system," the apex court said. It passed the order after taking note of the trial judge's observations that the VC system was not working properly in the Jammu court. The apex court was hearing a plea filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) seeking the transfer of the trials in the 1989 Rubaiya Sayeed kidnapping and the 1990 Srinagar shootout cases from Jammu to New Delhi. CBI had also challenged the order of Additional Sessions Judge, Jammu (TADA/POTA) passed on September 20 and September 21, issuing a production warrant against Malik in two different cases. A Jammu court had sought Malik's physical appearance for cross-examination of witnesses in relation to the killing of four IAF personnel and abduction of Rubaiya Sayeed, daughter of Mufti Muhammad Sayeed, in 1989. The apex court had stayed the order of the Jammu court in April 2023. Last year, on December 18, the apex court gave two weeks time to six accused to respond to the CBI's plea to transfer the trial of the cases. The apex court had said that all the accused have to be heard if the trial is to be transferred. It had earlier suggested exploring setting up a makeshift courtroom in jail for conducting a trial against terror convict Malik in two cases and remarked that Ajmal Kasab was also given an opportunity for a fair trial. The Jammu court has been hearing the 1989 Rubaiya Sayeed kidnapping and the 1990 Srinagar shootout cases involving jailed JKLF chief Yasin Malik and others.(ANI) TMC leader Kunal Ghosh on Monday expressed his dissatisfaction with the punishment provided to Sanjay Roy, the convict in the RG Kar rape- murder case. Speaking to the media, Ghosh said "We are not satisfied with the verdict of the court. The court gave death sentences in those case which were under West Bengal police. The RG Kar case was under CBI, if it had been under the Kolkata Police, the punishment would have been death penalty..." Meanwhile, Advocate Vivek Jain speaking to ANI said that the court had been able to pronounce a verdict in five to six months which proved the strength of the judicial setup. "I think not as a lawyer but as a society we should welcome this step. What is phenomenal according to us, is the administration of justice...The incident happened in August (2024) and we are in January right now. In 5-6 months the court has been able to pronounce a verdict after giving all due weightage to the arguments of the other side, taking all prosecution witnesses, seeing the defence and writing a judgment on it. This proves the strength of our judicial setup which we have now. It paves the way for future cases...So according to me, the big takeaway for society, not only as lawyers, is that there is an administration of justice. Justice has prevailed..." he said. In Kolkata, junior protestors held a protest outside the Sealdah Court demanding stricter punishment for the convict Sanjay Roy in the RG Kar rape-murder case. Speaking to ANI, a junior doctor asserted that they would approach the higher court with their demand. "We wanted a strict and exemplary punishment, this punishment is not enough. We will move to higher courts seeking a stricter judgement," he said. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday expressed dissatisfaction over the court giving life imprisonment to the convict in the RG Kar hospital rape-murder case and said if the case had been with Kolkata Police, they would have ensured a death penalty. "I learned about the sentencing from the media. We have always demanded capital punishment and we continue to stand by it. However, this is the court's decision and I can't say much about this. For three other cases, Kolkata police ensured capital punishment through thorough investigations concluded within 54-60 days. This was a serious case. Had it been under our purview, we would have ensured the death penalty long back," CM Mamata said while addressing the media at Malda. The case involves the rape and murder of a trainee doctor whose body was found on August 9 in the hospital's seminar room. (ANI) Bharatiya Janata Party leader RP Singh hit out at the Aam Aadmi Party for not fulfilling their promises in the ten years the party has been in power in the national capital. "The public of New Delhi Assembly seat is asking questions to them (AAP). The public asks about the promises that they (AAP) have made... They have not fulfilled their promises. The people there are frustrated," Singh told ANI. He further accused AAP of branding any person who asks about the promises as a 'goon or political activist.' Meanwhile, BJP leader and former AAP Minister Kailash Gahlot also echoed the sentiment of frustration over unfulfilled promises, and expressed confidence in the party winning the assembly election, saying that even former CM Arvind Kejriwal understands that AAP will lose elections. "BJP will be coming into power in Delhi this time. People are disappointed that the promises were not kept by Aam Aadmi Party government. They (AAP) are putting up a fake face and Arvind Kejriwal also knows that this time Aam Aadmi Party is losing," he told ANI. Bharatiya Janata Party has raised many issues which they have claimed to be unfulfilled by AAP, including the cleaning of the Yamuna, improving education, healthcare and repairing potholes in roads. Earlier AAP hit back with the allegations by releasing a satirical book titled 'Achievements of BJP in Delhi.' Party's MP Sanjay Singh launched the book while addressing a press conference and said that they have released this book because BJP will not talk about its achievement on themselves. Taking a potshot at the BJP-led Central government, Singh said that everything is "written" in this book about the promises which BJP had made, whether it is about giving permanent houses, doubling the MSPs for formers, strengthening the rupees or protecting the border. AAP MP said, "Modi ji had made many promises after becoming the Prime Minister. He had said that by 15th August 2022, everyone will get a permanent house, farmers will get MSP, the rupee will be strengthened, the border will be protected... Regarding Delhi, he had said that permanent registry will be given to those living in slums. The BJP people could not tell what achievements have been made in those promises, we are releasing those achievements." The Delhi Assembly elections are going to take place on February 5, with counting of votes scheduled for February 8. (ANI) Aam Janata Party's candidate from Kalkaji assembly constituency, Rajan Singh alleged harassment by Aam Aadmi Party members on Sunday, saying that whenever they have tried to file their nomination, their papers were forcibly torn and claimed that the Delhi Police has previously refused to file a complaint. Rajan Singh, AJP's candidate is a transgender person, and said that the Delhi High Court has ordered the police to file a complaint on the alleged harassment within 24 hours. "AAP leaders are constantly harassing me and even the Delhi Police is not registering my complaint. The Delhi High Court heard my complaints and sent a notice to the Delhi Police to submit a report within 48 hours," they told ANI. The candidate has been successful in filing their nomination from Kalkaji assembly constituency before the Returning Officer. Alleging that whenever they tried to file a nomination, their papers are torn by AAP members, "I am from the transgender community and I am representing my community. When I was going to file my nomination papers, it was torn." The Delhi High court issued a notice on Monday to Delhi Police and sought a response to the plea moved by Rajan Singh. Justice Vikas Mahajan issued notice and sought a response from the Delhi Police on the plea. The High Court will hear the matter on January 27. Rajan Singh moved a petition through advocate Subhash Chandra Budhiraja. 49, Tuglakabad Extension, New Delhi, some unknown persons/opposite party's henchman came near the petitioner and snatched his electoral roll certificate from his hand tore the same and threatened the petitioner with a life-threatening. It is alleged that some rival candidates are threatening the petitioner with dire consequences and for this, the petitioner urgently needs police protection. AAP's candidate for Kalkaji assembly constituency is Delhi Chief Minister Atishi. Apart from AJP's Rajan Singh, Atishi will be contesting against BJP's Ramesh Bidhuri and Congress' Alka Lamba Delhi will go to the polls on February 5 and the counting of votes will take place on February 8. (ANI) Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami reiterated that the Uniform Civil Code will be implemented soon in the state hours after the state cabinet approved the UCC manual. Dhami told ANI, "Our resolve was to implement the Uniform Civil Code in the state. We had promised the people of the state that after the BJP government is formed in the state, a committee will be formed to implement the Uniform Civil Code. The state cabinet has approved the act and soon the Uniform Civil Code will be implemented in the state making Uttarakhand the first state after independence to implement UCC." A cabinet meeting was held on Monday at the State Secretariat under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, where the cabinet approved the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) manual. The approval follows a thorough scrutiny by the legislative Department, which had already reviewed the manual. CM Dhami earlier said in the day that his government kept the promises made before the 2022 elections. "We had promised the people of Uttarakhand in 2022 that we would bring the UCC Bill as soon as our government was formed. We brought it. The draft committee drafted it, it was passed, the President approved it and it became an act. The process of training is also almost complete... After analysing everything, we will announce the dates soon," Dhami said to media persons after the meeting. The BJP government introduced the UCC Bill during a special session of the Uttarakhand Legislative Assembly on February 6 this year and it was passed with a comfortable majority a day later on February 7. Following the Uttarakhand Assembly, the UCC Bill was passed in February, and President Droupadi Murmu signed it on March 13, paving the way for Uttarakhand to potentially enact the UCC. The Uniform Civil Code seeks to establish a set of uniform personal laws that apply to all citizens, regardless of religion, gender, or caste. This would cover aspects such as marriage, divorce, adoption, inheritance, and succession. (ANI) Speaker of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly, Rahul Narwekar on Monday underlined the importance of the parliamentary democracy and stressed that public representatives play a key role in its functioning. At the 85th All India Presiding Officers' Conference, Narwekar told ANI, "Public representatives are crucial in the system of parliamentary democracy. They are the role model for the public. Their conduct makes the people believe in democracy. That's why their conduct must be right among the people and in the house..." Replying to the disruptions during the proceedings in Parliament, he said, " It is very unfortunate and not a good condition for the parliamentary democracy." Earlier in the day, Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla inaugurated the 85th All India Presiding Officers' Conference (AIPOC) in the Bihar Legislative Assembly, Patna by lighting the ceremonial lamp. Om Birla also delivered the inaugural address. On the occasion, the Lok Sabha Speaker released the 8th edition of "Practice and Procedure of Parliament" by MN Kaul and SL Shakdher - edited by Utpal Kumar Singh, Secretary-General, Lok Sabha. Ahead of the conference, Om Birla met with Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. "I am overwhelmed by his warm hospitality," Birla posted on X. On reaching Bihar Vidhan Mandal Bhawan, Birla was also welcomed with the traditional Guard of Honour by the Women Battalion of Bihar Police. https://x.com/ombirlakota/status/1881208743297450111 Speaking about the conference, the Lok Sabha Speaker said on X, "I hope that this conference will prove extremely useful in making our legislative traditions more strong and rich." Lok Sabha Speaker Birla, Dy Chairman, Rajya Sabha, Harivansh and Presiding Officers of Legislatures of States and Union Territories of India are part of the conference. During the Conference, the Delegates deliberated on the "Adoption of modern technologies in our legislative bodies for greater efficiency, effectiveness and productivity". Secretary-General, Lok Sabha Utpal Kumar Singh inaugurated and address the Conference. (ANI) After Sealdah Court sentenced Sanjay Roy, the convict in the RG Kar rape and murder case, to life imprisonment on Monday, Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said that common people of Bengal are disappointed with the verdict as it is not as per expectation of them. "The people of West Bengal expected the strictest punishment for the accused and others who are involved in this case. We saw that only one accused was punished, so this decision of the court is not as per the expectations of the common people. Judges give decisions based on evidence, whatever is presented to them, the decision will be based on that... but the common people of Bengal are disappointed," Chowdhury told ANI. Earlier today, junior doctors held a protest outside the Sealdah Court demanding stricter punishment for the convict Sanjay Roy in the RG Kar rape-murder case. "We wanted a strict and exemplary punishment, this punishment is not enough. We will move to higher courts seeking a stricter judgement," a junior doctor told ANI. The Federation of Resident Doctors' Association (FORDA) also expressed disappointment over the court's verdict. In a post on X, FORDA said, "A terrible judgement. We as a nation should be ashamed. You can get away with a brutal #Rape&Murder with just #Lifeimprisonment in India. What a shame! " "Highly disappointed. This is not over, yet," the post added. The Sealdah Civil and Criminal Court announced life imprisonment for the accused Sanjay Roy in the RG Kar rape and murder case. Along with this, the court has also fined Rs 50,000 to the accused. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee expressed dissatisfaction over the court giving life imprisonment to the convict in the RG Kar hospital rape-murder case and said if the case had been with Kolkata Police, they would have ensured a death penalty. "I learned about the sentencing from the media. We have always demanded capital punishment and we continue to stand by it. However, this is the court's decision and I can't say much about this. For three other cases, Kolkata police ensured capital punishment through thorough investigations concluded within 54-60 days. This was a serious case. Had it been under our purview, we would have ensured the death penalty long back," CM Mamata said while addressing the media at Malda. The case involves the rape and murder of a trainee doctor whose body was found on August 9 in the hospital's seminar room. (ANI) Press Release January 20, 2025 SENATOR RONALD "BATO" DELA ROSA CO-SPONSORSHIP SPEECH House Bill No. 428 under Committee Report No. 448 Welfareville Property (Mandaluyong) Open for Disposition to Bona Fide Residents January 20, 2025 Mr. President, dear colleagues, today I co-sponsor House Bill No. 428, under Committee Report No. 448, which aims to dispose of the Welfareville Property in Mandaluyong to its Bona Fide residents. I wish to begin by commending the Chairperson of the Committee on Environment, Natural Resources, and Climate Change, Senator Cynthia Villar. Republic Act No. 5260, which authorized the sale of the Welfareville Property through public bidding, was approved on June 15, 1968. Anim na taon lang po ang tanda ko sa nasabing Republic Act, pero sa tagal ng panahon, ngayon nga po ako ay senior citizen na, ay hindi naman na-implement ang batas na ito. This is why today we commend the Committee on Environment for the swift decisiveness with which this issue has been dealt. It is not only the swiftness and decisiveness that I wish to highlight, Mr. President. Gusto ko ring bigyang diin na sa ilalim ng panukalang batas na ito, matutugunan na natin ang hinaing ng mga residente ng Welfareville na matagal nang nagnanais na magkaroon ng kasiguraduhan ang paninirahan doon. We are giving the bona fide residents the exclusive right to purchase the Welfareville property, through a direct negotiated sale. Article II, Section 5 of the 1987 Constitution states: The maintenance of peace and order, the protection of life, liberty, and property, and promotion of the general welfare are essential for the enjoyment by all the people of the blessings of democracy. Today, Mr. President, as we sponsor House Bill No. 428, what lies before us is yet another opportunity for the State to fulfill this policy. Huwag sana nating paabutin na maging mala-senior citizen na rin ang pag-aabang at paghihintay ng ating mga kapatid sa Welfareville. Because after all, Mr. President, the right to property is not a matter of urgency. It is a matter of necessity. Let us help Welfareville to be true to its name, Mr. President, and let us do what is necessary for the welfare of our people. Maraming salamat po, Mr. President. The Federation of Resident Doctors' Association (FORDA) on Monday stated that the medical fraternity is completely dissatisfied after a court sentenced RG Kar convict, Sanjay Roy to life in prison earlier in the day. On convict Sanjay Roy in the RG Kar rape-murder case sentenced to life imprisonment, FORDA General Secretary, Sarvesh Pandey told ANI, "FORDA spearheaded the entire movement against the RG Kar rape-murder case. The verdict that has come now is surprising. The medical community is totally dissatisfied with this verdict..." He said that the verdict was "unacceptable' and said their body of layers would study the verdict in detail. "It should have been a capital punishment... This is not acceptable to us. Our lawyers are now looking into the basis on which the judge has given the order, so we are studying it and after studying it we will see what to do," he added. Vinay Aggarwal, Chairman of the IMA Action Committee also expressed dissatisfaction, stating that the entire nation was angered by the lack of capital punishment for such heinous crimes. Speaking to ANI, Aggarwal asserted that the High Court should call for a review of the case. "The whole of the medical fraternity was angered by the incident. Bengal was boiling, the country was boiling...Not only the medical fraternity but the whole country is dissatisfied with not giving capital punishment to the culprit. Capital punishment should be given for these heinous crimes. You cannot ignore the statements of the culprit where he is saying that more people are involved in this...We demand the High Court that he should not be let aside with just life imprisonment instead of capital punishment," the Chairman of the IMA Committee said. Meanwhile, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday expressed dissatisfaction over the court giving life imprisonment to the convict in the RG Kar hospital rape-murder case and said if the case had been with Kolkata Police, they would have ensured a death penalty. "I learned about the sentencing from the media. We have always demanded capital punishment and we continue to stand by it. However, this is the court's decision and I can't say much about this. For three other cases, Kolkata police ensured capital punishment through thorough investigations concluded within 54-60 days. This was a serious case. Had it been under our purview, we would have ensured the death penalty long back," CM Mamata said while addressing the media at Malda. The case involves the rape and murder of a trainee doctor whose body was found on August 9 in the hospital's seminar room. (ANI) Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Kamaljeet Sehrawat on Monday said that state government should take the RG Kar case forward and ensure that a death penalty be given to Sanjay Roy, the convict. Speaking to ANI, Sehrawat said "The state government should take this case forward and ensure death penalty to the convict. The big question is on what basis did the court take the decision. In such a case, it is the state government's job to present the facts strongly...." Meanwhile, BJP leader Agnimitra Paul alleged that West Bengal Chief Minister's police attempted to bribe the parents of female trainee doctor to save the RG Kar convict Sanjay Roy who was sentenced to life in prison earlier in the day. On RG Kar hospital rape & murder convict awarded life imprisonment, Paul told ANI, "Mamata Banerjee's police tried to bribe the parents of Abhaya to save Sanjay Roy...We are waiting for CBI to place the supplementary chargesheet. We want other names also...The parents of Abhaya don't need money...We are very upset..." West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday expressed dissatisfaction over the court giving life imprisonment to the convict in the RG Kar hospital rape-murder case and said if the case had been with Kolkata Police, they would have ensured a death penalty. "I learned about the sentencing from the media. We have always demanded capital punishment and we continue to stand by it. However, this is the court's decision and I can't say much about this. For three other cases, Kolkata police ensured capital punishment through thorough investigations concluded within 54-60 days. This was a serious case. Had it been under our purview, we would have ensured the death penalty long back," CM Mamata said while addressing the media at Malda. The case involves the rape and murder of a trainee doctor whose body was found on August 9 in the hospital's seminar room. (ANI) The Indian Medical Association (IMA) lamented that everyone was expecting capital punishment days after a court found RG Kar convict guilty of rape and murder of a female trainee doctor in West Bengal's Kolata. Finance Secretary of IMA, Piyush Jain told ANI, "...Today, the judgement has come. When the guilt was proven, everyone was expecting capital punishment and that would have given a strong message to the general public and to the doctor fraternity that the judicial procedure and the government were standing with them." He brought to attention the last words of the accused in the court. "I am not the only accused involved in the case. I am innocent. There are more people along with me. It raises a very big question. Whether there is a need to conduct further investigation into the case?" "Has the investigation been wrapped up? Whether those named by the culprit would be probed?..These people should be brought within the ambit of law," he asked. Earlier in the day, the Federation of Resident Doctors' Association (FORDA) expressed disappointment after the verdict. "A terrible judgement. We as a nation should be ashamed," it said in strong disapproval of the verdict. Taking to X, FORDA said, "You can get away with a brutal #Rape&Murder with just #Lifeimprisonment in India. What a shame!" "Highly disappointed. This is not over, yet," the post added. Meanwhile, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday expressed dissatisfaction over the court giving life imprisonment to the convict in the RG Kar hospital rape-murder case and said if the case had been with Kolkata Police, they would have ensured a death penalty. "I learned about the sentencing from the media. We have always demanded capital punishment and we continue to stand by it. However, this is the court's decision and I can't say much about this. For three other cases, Kolkata police ensured capital punishment through thorough investigations concluded within 54-60 days. This was a serious case. Had it been under our purview, we would have ensured the death penalty long back," CM Mamata said while addressing the media at Malda. The case involves the rape and murder of a trainee doctor whose body was found on August 9 in the hospital's seminar room. (ANI) Tamil Nadu Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President K Annamalai on Monday spoke on the issue of Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) President and actor Vijay supporting the Parandur airport expansion plan and said that the selection of land was a state subject and had to be understood keeping in mind that Chennai's airport was a major one in the country. Speaking to ANI, Annamalai said "The whole of Tamil Nadu wants a new airport but we need to understand that the selection of land is a state subject. Among the major airports in the country, Chennai is a very major airport. However, it is very congested and is just 1000 acres. Right now, the passenger carrying capacity is 2.5 crore and in next 10 years we are expecting it to be high. Even DMK when they were in government spoke of two airports.. now the land has been given to the central government who chose the Parandur land for the airport.." Further, he said that the suggestions by the TVK President were valid but questioned on what was the alternate site proposed for the airport. "Chennai needs a new airport... Whatever suggestions Vijay has he can give it to the state government.. Tamil Nadu needs more airports....If his suggestion is no airport, then what is the alternate site he is proposing? He needs to suggest remedies also for replacement," he said. The BJP state President further added that the party was with the people of Parandur however shifting the blame on others wasn't a sign of good politics. "We are with the people of Parandur... however we cannot be opposing everything... the state government needs to understand and this blame shifting isn't a sign of good politics...."he further added. Meanwhile, TMK President Vijay assured protesting farmers in Parandur that he would stand with them in the airport expansion plan issue and urged State and Union government to 'restudy' the airport project. Notably, villagers were protesting against Chennai's second airport project at Parandur. (ANI) After the Sealdah Court gave life imprisonment to the convict of RG Kar rape-murder case, Vinay Aggarwal, Chairman of the IMA Action Committee expressed dissatisfaction, stating that the entire nation was angered by the lack of capital punishment for such heinous crimes. Speaking to ANI, Aggarwal asserted that the High Court should call for a review of the case. "The whole of the medical fraternity was angered by the incident. Bengal was boiling, the country was boiling...Not only the medical fraternity but the whole country is dissatisfied with not giving capital punishment to the culprit. Capital punishment should be given for these heinous crimes. You cannot ignore the statements of the culprit where he is saying that more people are involved in this...We demand the High Court that he should not be let aside with just life imprisonment instead of capital punishment," the Chairman of the IMA Committee said. Congress leader Mumtaz Patel also reiterated that the culprit in the case should have been given the death penalty. "The culprit in the RG Kar rape-murder case should have been given the death penalty... Such decisions set a wrong example," she told ANI. The Sealdah Civil and Criminal Court announced life imprisonment for the accused Sanjay Roy in the RG Kar rape and murder case. Along with this, the court has also fined Rs 50,000 to the accused. Earlier today, junior doctors held a protest outside the Sealdah Court demanding stricter punishment for the convict Sanjay Roy in the RG Kar rape-murder case. "We wanted a strict and exemplary punishment, this punishment is not enough. We will move to higher courts seeking a stricter judgement," a junior doctor told ANI. The Federation of Resident Doctors' Association (FORDA) also expressed disappointment over the court's verdict. In a post on X, FORDA said, "A terrible judgement. We as a nation should be ashamed. You can get away with a brutal #Rape&Murder with just #Lifeimprisonment in India. What a shame! " "Highly disappointed. This is not over, yet," the post added. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee expressed dissatisfaction over the court giving life imprisonment to the convict in the RG Kar hospital rape-murder case and said if the case had been with Kolkata Police, they would have ensured a death penalty. "I learned about the sentencing from the media. We have always demanded capital punishment and we continue to stand by it. However, this is the court's decision and I can't say much about this. For three other cases, Kolkata police ensured capital punishment through thorough investigations concluded within 54-60 days. This was a serious case. Had it been under our purview, we would have ensured the death penalty long back," CM Mamata said while addressing the media at Malda. The case involves the rape and murder of a trainee doctor whose body was found on August 9 in the hospital's seminar room. (ANI) President of BJP's National Women's Wing, Vanathi Srinivasan expressed dissatisfaction after a court sentenced RG Kar convict to a life term and suggested that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) should appeal for a death sentence to the guilty. On life imprisonment to convict in RG Kar rape and murder case, Srinivasan told ANI, "The incident shook the consciousness of the entire nation. We welcome that a verdict was pronounced in a short time. We are not happy with the verdict of life imprisonment and a Rs 50,000 fine. I think the CBI should go for an appeal for a death sentence to the guilty. Maximum punishment should be given to the guilty in this case." Meanwhile, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday expressed dissatisfaction over the court giving life imprisonment to the convict in the RG Kar hospital rape-murder case and said if the case had been with Kolkata Police, they would have ensured a death penalty. "I learned about the sentencing from the media. We have always demanded capital punishment and we continue to stand by it. However, this is the court's decision and I can't say much about this. For three other cases, Kolkata police ensured capital punishment through thorough investigations concluded within 54-60 days. This was a serious case. Had it been under our purview, we would have ensured the death penalty long back," CM Mamata said while addressing the media at Malda. Meanwhile, Congress leader Salman Khurshid welcomed the judgement and said that it would convey a message to those who commit such crimes. "The biggest worry that people express in our country is that many sad incidents take place - people keep waiting for the Court and that leads to apathy. But, in this case, a quick investigation was done and the Court has also pronounced its judgement in very little time - and the judgement is also apt, it should be welcomed. Will it convey a message to those who commit such crimes?" Khurshid said. However, Union Minister Sukanta Majumdar expressed dissatisfaction with the verdict, calling for a deeper investigation. Speaking to ANI, Majumdar refrained from commenting against the court's decision."We wanted the highest punishment (for the convict Sanjay Roy). Being an elected representative, I can't say anything against the court verdict. The public of West Bengal does not believe that only one person is involved in the RG Kar rape-murder case. I think there should be more depth in this, as Sanjay is saying that there were also police and other people involved," the BJP leader said. The case involves the rape and murder of a trainee doctor whose body was found on August 9 in the hospital's seminar room. (ANI) Aam Aadmi Party national convenor and former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday highlighted the need for providing better education facilities and opportunities to students, so that they are not "forced to go abroad." The AAP leader was condoling the death of an Indian student in the United States, who was shot dead in Washington DC today. "This news is very sad. In the last few months, many such incidents have come to light where the youth of our country were killed abroad. This is a matter of great concern," read a post by Kejriwal. He raised the issue of students being "forced to go abroad" due to a poor education system and lack of opportunities. "If we provide our youth with good education and better opportunities in India itself, then they will not need to go abroad. I request the central government to pay immediate attention to this," the post added. Last month, another Indian student was murdered in Chicago. The Consulate General of India in Chicago expressed shock and sorrow over the incident. In a statement on the social media platform X, the consulate called for immediate action against the perpetrators and assured that all possible assistance would be provided to the victim's family and friends. On December 13, Spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs, Randhir Jaiswal also condoled the murder of three indian students in Canada. Jaiswal said that Indian High Commission and consulates are in touch with the families and the local authorities for ensuring a thorough investigation. "In the last week or so, we have had unfortunate tragedies in Canada. Three Indian students have been murdered in violent crimes. We are saddened by these terrible tragedies that have struck our nationals in Canada. We extend our deepest condolences to the grieving families. Our High Commission in Ottawa and Consulates in Toronto and Vancouver are in touch with the families and extending all possible help in the matter," Jaiswal said. (ANI) Aam Aadmi Party national convenor and party's candidate from New Delhi Assembly constituency Arvind Kejriwal on Monday said that the Vishwas Nagar area of the national capital lagged behind in development because the area had elected a Bharatiya Janata Party MLA. The AAP leader was addressing a public rally in Vishwas Nagar and highlighted all the schemes implemented by the Delhi government, and subsequently claimed that if people "press the lotus button," then the free electricity scheme will be stopped, schools will be ruined and Mohalla clinics shut. Posting the live stream of his speech on his account, he said that the people of Vishwas Nagar have lagged behind in development due to a Bharatiya Janata Party MLA being elected. "Vishwas Nagar lagged behind in development because people here elected a BJP MLA. He kept fighting with us for 10 years. This time Vishwas Nagar will elect an AAP MLA," read a post by Kejriwal's account. He further mentioned that the reason Vishwas Nagar has only three Mohalla clinics is because the people "chose the wrong MLA" "Only three mohalla clinics have been built in Vishwas Nagar. Because you chose the wrong MLA. I told them many times to get a Mohalla clinic built at their place but they said that you will get the credit," Kejriwal said during his speech. Kejriwal also took potshots at the Shiela Dikshit-led Congress government before his tenure, saying that there used to be hours of power cuts in Delhi, but right now people get 200 units free. "Before our government, there was Sheila Dikshit's government and there used to be power cuts of 7-8 hours. Now there is electricity for 24 hours," Kejriwal said. "We have achieved this by working hard. Not even one of the 20 states of BJP has 24 hours electricity. If by mistake the wrong button is pressed, then there will be power cuts of ten hours in Delhi too. Do not press the lotus button even by mistake, otherwise the electricity will be ruined," he added. Talking about the quality of education and schools in Delhi, he compared it to schools in other states, claiming that all the states ruled by BJP have schools "ruined schools" "Government schools are in ruins in 20 states of BJP. If the wrong button is pressed, the BJP people will ruin the schools and your children will not be able to forgive you," he added. Talking about the other promises of cash transfers, he also highlighted the party's promise of giving Rs 2100 to women and Rs 18000 to priests in the national capital. The AAP leader further claimed that the law and order subject has been ruined by the party too, as the Delhi police is under the control of Union Home Ministry. Continuing his attack, "We have half the government in Delhi, what did BJP do in ten years? Their only job is law and order but they have ruined it. If we ask them who is your CM candidate, they say that Kejriwal is a demon, an example, dishonest... this is the manifesto of BJP... I told them about my works, if you like them then vote for them, otherwise don't vote for them." The Assembly election in Delhi are going to take place in a single phase on February 5. The counting of votes is going to happen on February 8. (ANI) Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena has raised serious concerns over the involvement of illegal Bangladeshi and Rohingya immigrants in criminal activities, following the attack on Saif Ali Khan in Mumbai where a Bangladeshi national was implicated in a house break-in and assault. The Delhi LG has written a letter to the Delhi Police Commissioner and directed the launch of a special mission to identify such infiltrators. "Lt. Governor has taken note of the grave criminal incident involving a high profile Bollywood actor in Mumbai, wherein a Bangladeshi national was involved in house break and criminal assault. It has been widely reported that the concerned individual was living under an assumed identity and was working at a restaurant," the letter said. "The Governor has observed that the involvement of illegal Bangladeshi/Rohingya infiltrators in criminal/illegal activities in Delhi cannot be ruled out. It is underscored that such illegal immigrants are often employed by shopkeepers and other residents as worker/house help at far lower wages than the prescribed minimum wages, thereby depressing local labour markets," it added. The LG's letter also mentioned that there are organised syndicates and vested interest groups which facilitate the settlement of such immigrants. "Lt. Governor has directed that a special campaign be launched to identify such infiltrators on a mission mode. An outreach programme may be launched through print and social media to generate public awareness on the importance of verification of employees/domestic help and workers including construction labour in the interest of their own security," the letter said. "Resident Welfare Associations/Shopkeeper Associations may also be sensitized about the need for antecedent verification before employment. For those employers who are providing employment, accommodation or shelter to such illegal immigrants without antecedent verification, suitable legal action may also be initiated," it added. The Saif Ali Khan's stabbing incident occurred on January 16, during which the actor was attacked at his Bandra residence. The 'Hum Tum' actor sustained serious injuries, including stab wounds to his thoracic spine. Mumbai police have caught the accused, identified as Mohd Shariful Islam Shehzad, who they claim is a native of the Jhalokati district in Bangladesh. (ANI) Aam Aadmi Party's star campaigner for Delhi assembly polls and Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann said on Monday that the AAP-led government in Punjab has fulfilled more guarantees than they had promised in Punjab, taking a jab at Bharatiya Janata Party's accusation of 'unfulfilled promises.' "Do you think we are the ones with bricks? We are the ones with flowers, schools, and hospitals. It is them (BJP) who always talk about fighting...We have fulfilled more guarantees than we had promised in Punjab," Mann told reporters while campaigning for the party. He further hit out at BJP's New Delhi constituency candidate Parvesh Verma, saying that an FIR has been registered against him too. "The support we are receiving, its value cannot be measured in any currency...Does he (BJP candidate Parvesh Verma) think that the people of Delhi can be bought? There has been an FIR on him...AAP will form govt with over 60 seats," he added. Earlier today, Sandeep Singh, on behalf of Parvesh Verma filed a complaint with the Delhi police alleging AAP of unlawfully influencing voters in Kidwai Nagar. The complaint alleged that the ruling party has "unlawfully distributed chairs" to Resident Welfare Association (RWA) while addressing them during a public meeting. "Using party workers to bribe voters with material goods is a direct violation of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), Prevention of Corruption Act, and the MCC. This is yet another example of how the AAP leadership resorts to unethical practices to influence voters," read the statement by the BJP leader's office. The complaint demanded that an FIR be registered for the alleged violation of the Model Code of Conduct. "Complaint against Arvind Kejriwal, AAP-candidate (AC-40) and his party workers for unlawfully adopting corrupt practice and bribing to influence the voters and further direct to register an FIR under relevant sections of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), RP (Representation of People) Act and other laws of land for their open violation of MCC too," read the complaint by Sandeep Singh. (ANI) Celebrations, cultural activities held worldwide to welcome upcoming Chinese New Year Xinhua) 08:28, January 20, 2025 People participate in an activity celebrating Chinese New Year at Singapore Chinese Cultural Centre, Singapore, on Jan. 19, 2025. Celebrations and cultural activities are being held around the globe to welcome the upcoming Chinese New Year. (Photo by Then Chih Wey/Xinhua) People learn to make Chinese New Year decorations using red packets at a craft workshop in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, Jan. 18, 2025. Celebrations and cultural activities are being held around the globe to welcome the upcoming Chinese New Year. (Photo by Liang Sen/Xinhua) A girl creates a Chinese New Year decoration using red packets at a craft workshop in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, Jan. 18, 2025. Celebrations and cultural activities are being held around the globe to welcome the upcoming Chinese New Year. (Photo by Liang Sen/Xinhua) A girl receives Spring Festival decorations during the 11th "China in My Imagination" children's painting contest in Mexico City, Mexico, Jan. 18, 2025. Celebrations and cultural activities are being held around the globe to welcome the upcoming Chinese New Year. (Xinhua/Li Mengxin) A girl learns to make Spring Festival decorations during the 11th "China in My Imagination" children's painting contest in Mexico City, Mexico, Jan. 18, 2025. Celebrations and cultural activities are being held around the globe to welcome the upcoming Chinese New Year. (Photo by Francisco Canedo/Xinhua) People learn Chinese paintings at a Chinese culture promoting event in Budapest, Hungary, Jan. 17, 2025. Celebrations and cultural activities are being held around the globe to welcome the upcoming Chinese New Year. (Photo by Attila Volgyi/Xinhua) Children hold sugar figures at a Chinese culture promoting event in Budapest, Hungary, Jan. 17, 2025. Celebrations and cultural activities are being held around the globe to welcome the upcoming Chinese New Year. (Photo by Attila Volgyi/Xinhua) A contestant pose for photos with her family during the 11th "China in My Imagination" children's painting contest in Mexico City, Mexico, on Jan. 18, 2025. Celebrations and cultural activities are being held around the globe to welcome the upcoming Chinese New Year. (Xinhua/Li Mengxin) A man tries Suzhou embroidery at a Chinese culture promoting event in Budapest, Hungary, Jan. 17, 2025. Celebrations and cultural activities are being held around the globe to welcome the upcoming Chinese New Year. (Photo by Attila Volgyi/Xinhua) People pose for photos with lanterns in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Jan. 18, 2025. Celebrations and cultural activities are being held around the globe to welcome the upcoming Chinese New Year. (Xinhua/Chong Voon Chung) People enjoy themselves during a parade with fish-shaped lanterns in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Jan. 18, 2025. Celebrations and cultural activities are being held around the globe to welcome the upcoming Chinese New Year. (Xinhua/Chong Voon Chung) People enjoy themselves during a parade with fish-shaped lanterns in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Jan. 18, 2025. Celebrations and cultural activities are being held around the globe to welcome the upcoming Chinese New Year. (Xinhua/Chong Voon Chung) (Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Zhong Wenxing) Press Release January 20, 2025 SENATOR RONALD "BATO" DELA ROSA SPONSORSHIP SPEECH Senate Bill No. 2926 under Committee Report No. 450 PNP Compulsory Retirement Age January 20, 2025 Mr. President, it is on account of a need for 'harmony' that I sponsor Senate Bill No. 2926, under Committee Report No. 450. An Act increasing the compulsory age of retirement for officers and non-officers of the Philippine National Police, from 56 years old to 57 years old, amending for the purpose Section 39 of Republic Act No. 6975, otherwise known as the "Department of the Interior and Local Government Act of 1990" as amended. Noong May 17, 2023, Mr. President, Republic Act No. 11939 was signed into law. Sa ilalim ng bagong batas na ito, ang compulsory retirement age ng ating mga enlisted personnel ng Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) ay hindi na 56, kundi 57 years old na. Nakita ng ating Philippine National Police ang pagbabagong ito, at kanilang napagtanto, na hindi maaaring ang PNP ay mauunang magretiro sa ating mga military personnel. Those who have sworn to defend our national sovereignty should retire at the same time as those who have sworn to defend, keep the peace, and enforce the law in our communities. Iisa lamang dapat ang kanilang galaw, dahil iisa lang din naman ang kanilang hangarin: isang payapa at maayos na bansa. It may be recalled that this proposal to extend the compulsory retirement age of the PNP from 56 to 57 was included in the bill seeking organizational reforms for the PNP, sponsored by this representation. However, since it was vetoed by the President, we have deemed it necessary to prioritize at least this one proposal. After all, the very principle of harmony demands it. And what good will such adherence to harmony do, anyway? Mr. President, if we extend the compulsory retirement age, we are also extending the service of those most experienced among us. Sila na mas may karanasan, madalas, sila rin ang mas may karunungan. The entire force, especially the younger, fresher recruits, will surely stand to benefit from those who have been around the longest. Our communities, too, will gain much from this change, from a PNP that runs on wisdom, not just of time, but of experience. Thus, we can never undermine a measure that deals with retirement. Because when one thinks about it, retirement is not just a matter of time. It is a matter of length of service. Kung ang isang brand ng kape ay nagtanong dati "para kanino ka bumabangon?", ang usapin ng retirement ay nagtatanong: hanggang kailan? Hanggang 56 lang? O hahabaan mo pa, bibigyan mo pa ng isa pang taon? One more year to serve. One more year to contribute to the safety and security of Filipino communities. Let us give this to our PNP personnel, the same way that we gave it to our military personnel. Such is the growth that we envision, Mr. President, if we heed this call for establishing harmony. It is a small thing, but when these small things come together, it becomes a grand and integrated whole. The PNP saw this vision, and I also saw it. Which is why I am now acting for the passage of this measure. It is my fervent hope, Mr. President, that this august chamber sees it, too. Daghang salamat, Mr. President. Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla expressed concern and anguish on the planned disruption of house proceedings, a trend of decline in the number of sittings and erosion of dignity and decorum of Legislatures, as per a statement from the Lok Sabha Secretariat. Adding that Legislatures are fora for debates and discussions and legislators are expected to fulfil the hopes and aspirations of the people, Lok Sabha Speaker cautioned that legislatures are falling short of fulfilling their constitutional mandate with the decline in the number of their sittings. He urged lawmakers to prioritize efficient scheduling and effective utilization of parliamentary time in order to address pressing national issues and ensure that the voice of the people is adequately represented. He also observed that the issue of maintaining and enhancing the dignity and prestige of our Houses is of utmost importance, the statement added. Birla suggested that all political parties should make an internal Code of Conduct for their members' behaviour in the House so that democratic values are respected. Observing that people's representatives should follow constitutional propriety, rising above political ideology and affiliation, Birla opined that people's representatives must respect healthy parliamentary traditions while expressing their ideologies and viewpoints. He made these observations during the inaugural address of the 85th All India Presiding Officers' Conference (AIPOC) in Bihar Legislature Premises, Patna on Monday. Emphasising that Presiding Officers must run Houses in accordance with the spirit of the Constitution and its values, Birla opined that Presiding Officers must establish good traditions and good practices in the Houses and strengthen the democratic institutions. While strengthening the democratic institutions, Presiding Officers must make legislatures more accountable to the people and through them, fulfil the expectations and aspirations of the people. He urged that on the lines of AIPOC, State legislatures should also create platforms for their local bodies for their training and capacity building. Stressing on making Legislatures more effective and efficient, Birla exhorted the Presiding Officers to promote the use of technology, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and social media in the working of legislatures. Highlighting that making Parliament and State Legislatures more accessible to the public is the need of the hour, he suggested that information about legislative works can be made available to the general public through technological innovations. Observing that AI-based tools can enhance transparency and effectiveness in parliamentary and legislative proceedings, Birla said that the Parliament of India has already initiated this process which is yielding positive results. He also expressed happiness that many Legislative Assemblies in the country have become paperless. In this context, Birla informed that 'One Nation, One Legislative Platform' will be a reality by the end of 2025. Birla stressed that the Houses should function in a conducive environment amidst agreements and disagreements so that higher productivity can be achieved. He also emphasised improving the efficiency of the Houses and the committees for better accountability and transparency. To increase the efficiency of our Parliamentary Committees, there should be a dialogue between the committees of all the legislatures, and the work of the committees should be based on ground reality so that the public money is used in a better way and maximum welfare of the public can be achieved, the Speaker observed, it added. Noting that the autonomy of State Legislative Assemblies is the basis of the federal structure, Birla observed that this power which is reflected in the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution is meaningful only when state legislatures carry out their work with impartiality and integrity. The Speaker observed that the State Legislative bodies should use their powers to formulate policies in such a manner that they are by the local needs and expectations of the people and help in the overall progress of the country, the release mentioned. Calling for collective efforts to make India stronger, Birla viewed that on issues of national interest, both the Centre and the States must work together with the spirit of 'Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat'. He also emphasised that the state should work on the spirit of 'Cooperative Federalism'. Referring to the role of legislatures in this regard, Shri Birla vehemently noted that legislatures must play an active role in making the nation develop and Atmanirbhar. On this occasion, Birla also released the updated version of 'Practice and Procedure of Parliament' (8th English edition and 5th Hindi edition). This updated version edited by Utpal Kumar Singh, Secretary-General, Lok Sabha, serves as a crucial resource for understanding the functioning and operations of the Indian Parliament. It covers a wide range of parliamentary practices, rules, and conventions, providing valuable insights into the legislative process and the roles of elected representatives. The release of this new edition marks a significant step in promoting transparency, effective governance, and a deeper understanding of parliamentary procedures among both lawmakers and the public, the release added. The inauguration of the 85th All India Presiding Officers' Conference was preceded by the meeting of the AIPOC Standing Committee which was chaired by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla. (ANI) Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini on Monday spoke on the pre- budget meetings in a press conference and said that the state government had been receiving inputs from people associated with different sectors of the budget. Addressing the media, Saini said, "In our pre-budget meetings, we have been receiving inputs continuously from people associated with different sectors of the budget. We are getting some good suggestions... Approximately 2.5 thousand suggestions have come in as of now... We are receiving more suggestions on the portal. " Further, he said that there were meetings held with 'Drone Didis' in Panchkula. "We had meetings with 'Drone Didis' --women who are associated with organic farming and women related to Self Help Groups. We will include all those suggestions in our budget.. Saini also said that recommendations would be taken from industrialists, textile industries, and leaders from opposition parties. "We will talk to industrialists, people from textile industries, MLA and the leaders from the opposition parties. We are open to all..." he further added. On January 13, the Haryana CM attended a pre-budget consultation program ahead of the 2025-26 state budget at Kurukshetra University in Thanesar. CM Saini stated that the suggestions received by the students ahead of the state budget are 'very good' and assured of including suggestions in the budget. "Today we sat with our youth and took suggestions regarding the pre-budget. All the suggestions are very good, which will benefit the people of Haryana... We will also include the suggestions given here in the budget," the Haryana CM told mediapersons. Saini also celebrated Lohri in Kurukshetra. He extended his greetings to the people on this occasion. "I extend my heartiest congratulations and best wishes to all the citizens of the state and the country on the occasion of Lohri and Makar Sankranti. These great festivals are connected with our culture and brotherhood. We celebrate these festivals together," he said. (ANI) Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate from the New Delhi Assembly seat, Parvesh Verma interacted with advocates residing in New Delhi constituency on Monday, during which he hit out at Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal for not talking about "real issues." According to a statement released by Parvesh Verma's office, the candidate appealed to the advocates to support the BJP in the upcoming Delhi assembly elections. "He emphasized that former Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's policies and deceitful politics have ruined Delhi," read the statement. He further accused the AAP chief of only making false promises and misleading people. "Kejriwal never talks about real issues because he has no achievements to showcase. In the last 10 years, he has only made false promises and misled people. The situation has become so dire that for the past 26 days, he has been taking my name morning and evening but is unable to highlight a single accomplishment of his own," Parvesh Verma said in his address. Imploring them to look at the "failures" of Kejriwal, Verma gave some examples too. "(Kejriwal) spent only Rs6 crore out of the Rs30 crore MLA fund: Arvind Kejriwal utilized merely Rs6 crore from the Rs30 crore MLA fund, ignoring the needs of the people completely," Verma said. The BJP candidate further claimed that Kejriwal has used funds from Punjab to keep the election campaign going and also filed false complaints against his opponents. "Instead of relying on Delhi, Kejriwal is bringing in money from Punjab to fund his election campaign. Also, while in power Kejriwal has resorted to filing false complaints against opponents to divert public attention from real issues," he added. Parvesh Verma urged the advocate community, "The legal fraternity has always stood for truth and justice. I request you to support the BJP in this election and help end Arvind Kejriwal's deceitful and corrupt politics. To save Delhi and steer it in the right direction, your support is crucial. The people of Delhi have realized that Kejriwal has done nothing for the city in the last 10 years. This election is about bringing New Delhi back on the path of development. A BJP government will ensure progress, transparency, and honest governance." The event was attended by advocates including Vivek Garg, Piyush Gupta, K.K. Tyagi, Anirudh Shukla, Rajeev Dubey, and several others. New Delhi assembly constituency will see a triangular contest between BJP's Parvesh Verma, AAP's Arvind Kejriwal and Congress' Sandeep Dikshit on February 5. (ANI) The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has taken suo motu cognisance of the reported sexual abuse of a girl belonging to the Scheduled Caste in Pathanamthitta district of Kerala and the arrest of 44 people so far out of 59 accused in the 30 FIRs in the matter. Reportedly, two of the accused are absconding abroad and the remaining 13 others are yet to be arrested. According to an official release, the Commission has observed that the contents of the media report, if true, raise a serious issue of the human rights violation of the victim girl. Therefore, it has issued notices to the Chief Secretary and the Director General of Police, in Kerala calling for a detailed report on the matter. "It is expected to include the status of the FIR, her health and the medical care, counselling and compensation, if any provided to her in the reported matter within two weeks," the release said. "According to the media report, carried on January 15, 2025, the girl, who is now 18 years old, has reportedly alleged in her complaint that she was sexually abused by several individuals. The matter came to light during counselling conducted by the Child Welfare Committee, after the victim's teachers at an educational institution, informed the panel about noticeable changes in her behaviour," it added. On January 9, NHRC took a suo motu cognizance of a tragic incident where a 72-year-old man reportedly committed suicide on December 25 last year after being denied treatment under the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB PM-JAY) at a government-run hospital in Bengaluru, Karnataka. The victim, enrolled in the AB PM-JAY scheme, sought medical treatment at the Kidwai Memorial Institute of Oncology but was denied coverage due to the alleged lack of state government orders, despite his eligibility. (ANI) A bench of Justices Pankaj Mithal and Ahsanuddin Amanullah adjourned the hearing due to a paucity of time. The bench, however, remarked that all such persons should be barred from contesting elections. "These days elections are contested from jail... It's easy to win an election sitting in jail... all such persons should be barred from contesting," the bench observed orally when Hussain mentioned the matter as the case was not taken up today. Hussain's counsel said that his is a genuine case. A former Aam Aadmi Party councillor was granted custody parole by the Delhi High Court on January 14 to file his nomination from the Mustafabad constituency. He has challenged the Delhi High Court's order, which had denied him interim bail to campaign in the upcoming Delhi election. In the High Court, the Delhi Police opposed Hussain's plea for interim bail because of the gravity of the allegations, saying he was the main perpetrator in the violence, resulting in the death of several persons. The High Court had said about 11 FIRs were registered against Hussain in connection with the riots and he was admittedly in custody in a related money laundering case and UAPA case. Hussain was booked in the murder case of Intelligence Bureau (IB) officer Ankit Sharma during the 2020 North-East Delhi riots. Violence broke out in North-East Delhi on February 24, 2020, leaving 53 dead and several injured. (ANI) The 7th India-France Maritime Cooperation Dialogue held in New Delhi focused on discussions on enhancing cooperation in the Indian Ocean Region and reaffirmed both countries shared vision for maritime security. The dialogue held on January 14 co-chaired by Pavan Kapoor, Deputy National Security Advisor, National Security Council Secretariat, India, and Alice Rufo, Director General for International Relations and Strategy, Ministry for the Armed Forces, France, according to an official release from Ministry of External Affairs. According to the release, both countries discussed enhancing their cooperation in the Indian Ocean Region and reaffirmed their shared vision for maritime security, a key element of the India-France Strategic Partnership. India and France reiterated their strong commitment to upholding international law, supporting multilateralism, including through regional organisations, respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, and protecting freedom of navigation, the release added. Recalling their vision for a free and open Indian Ocean Region, first expressed in the 'Joint Strategic Vision of India-France Cooperation in the Indian Ocean Region' in 2018, India and France agreed to support free and secure access to sea lanes of communications through collaboration between their maritime assets and organisations. France welcomed the participation of the Indian Navy in the Combined Maritime Forces and looks forward to India's leadership of the appropriate Combined Task Forces, the release stated. India and France agreed to develop a joint assessment of the threats to maritime security in the region; to counter illicit maritime activities, including piracy and armed robbery, maritime terrorism, contraband smuggling, Illegal Unreported and Unregulated fishing; hybrid as well as cyber security threats and marine pollution. Both countries agreed to strengthen existing mechanisms of cooperation such as implementation of the agreed framework of exchange of information through enhanced information exchange between Information Fusion Centre-Indian Ocean Region, Gurugram and Regional Coordination Operations Centre, Seychelles and Regional Maritime Information Fusion Centre, Madagascar in the Indian Ocean Region and explore opportunities for coordinated surveillance whilst deployed to counter threats to maritime security in the region. India and France committed to mutually support each other in maritime security engagements and constructs, the release stated. As part of their joint commitment towards the conservation of biodiversity and the protection of oceans, India and France also agreed to preserve marine resources in the Indian Ocean Region, through the United Nations Ocean Conference. Both countries welcomed the progress made on biodiversity and blue economy during the last bilateral dialogue on blue economy and ocean governance, and agreed to pursue cooperation at the regional level, as members of the Indian Ocean Rim Association, the release added (ANI) Addressing a public meeting in Rishikesh, CM Dhami expressed confidence that the people of Rishikesh would once again support the BJP, forming a "triple engine government" in the civic elections. Dhami highlighted Rishikesh's significance as a cultural hub, saying, "Rishikesh is the identity of Devbhoomi as well as the entire India. This place is the cultural heritage of India, and its development is our priority." He also underscored the state government's efforts to make Uttarakhand the best state in the country, rapidly developing basic facilities and achieving sustainable development goals. Taking a swipe at the Congress, Dhami accused the party of spreading confusion and dividing people, whereas the BJP prioritises settling people over displacing them. "We have to make the BJP victorious, which works in the national interest by rising above regionalism and casteism, and uproot the Congress, which makes a mockery of religion and culture," he emphasised. Dhami assured that when the triple-engine government is formed, the problems of Rishikesh will be resolved on a priority basis. Notably, earlier today CM Dhami also participated in a roadshow in support of BJP's municipal president candidate Kishore Bhatt and other councillor candidates from the Uttarkashi Municipal Area. Addressing a public meeting on the occasion, CM Dhami expressed confidence that a triple-engine government will be formed in all municipal bodies across the state, given the overwhelming public support. The State Election Commission of Uttarakhand has officially announced the dates for the Municipal Local Body General Elections for the year 2024-25. The elections will be held for 11 municipal corporations, 43 municipal councils, and 46 Nagar Panchayats across the state on January 23, with the counting of votes scheduled for January 25.(ANI) External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar stated it was a privilege to represent as Special Envoy of Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Swearing-In Ceremony of the 47th President of the United States of America today (Monday local time) in Washington DC. In a post on X, Jaishankar said, "Privileged to represent as External Affairs Minister and Special Envoy of PM at the Swearing-In Ceremony of the 47th President of the United States of America today in Washington DC. " "Attended the Inauguration Day Prayer Service at St John's Church this morning," he added. Meanwhile, US President-elect Donald Trump and his wife, Melania Trump, have arrived at the White House after attending church service alongside his family at St Johns Episcopal Church. US Vice President-elect JD Vance and his wife, Usha Vance, also attended the church service, Fox News reported. At North Portico, US President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden welcomed President-elect Trump and incoming First Lady Melania Trump. Vice President-elect JD Vance will be sworn in first, followed by Donald Trump, who will take the oath of office and deliver his inaugural address. After the swearing-in, President Trump will take part in the signing ceremony in the President's Room, a tradition that began in 1981 with President Ronald Reagan. This event marks one of the first official actions of the newly sworn president, where he signs nominations and various memorandums or proclamations. Following the signing, a luncheon will be held, and Trump will take part in the review of the troops before heading to Capitol Hill to join the inaugural parade. Later, Trump and his wife will participate in a signing ceremony at the White House and deliver remarks at the Convention Centre. The evening will conclude with the first dance at the Liberty Ball, followed by participation in the Commander-in-Chief Ball and the United Station Ball. The day will end with Trump's return to the White House. Earlier on Sunday, US President-elect Donald Trump said that within hours of him taking office as the 47th President of the US, he would be revoking dozens of "destructive and radical" executive orders issued by the Biden administration, declaring those orders as "null and void" by the end of Monday. While addressing the gathering during a candlelight dinner at the National Building Museum in Washington DC, Trump said, "With the stroke of my pen, I will revoke dozens of destructive and radical executive orders and actions of the Biden administration. And by this time tomorrow, they will all be null and void," as quoted by Fox News. (ANI) Bharatiya Janata Party candidate from Kalkaji assembly constituency Ramesh Bidhuri alleged on Monday that the Aam Aadmi Party has helped make ration cards and Aadhar cards of alleged Rohingya refugees and "Bangladeshi infiltrators." The BJP leader further mentioned that if the party forms the national capital's government then they will make detention centres for "Rohingyas and infiltrators" within the first 30 days of government. "AAP leaders have made Aadhaar cards and ration cards of Rohingyas and Bangladeshi infiltrators...This should be investigated. After the BJP government is formed in the national capital, detention centres will be built and Rohingyas and infiltrators will be put in them," Bidhuri told ANI. He further said that a committee will be formed to investigation to claims, and strict action will be taken against anyone who helped make ration cards for those people. Earlier today, BJP MP Manoj Tiwari echoed similar sentiment, claiming that the current ruling party of Delhi "support illegal infiltrators." "AAP gives protection to Rohingyas and Bangladeshis, now there is protest against it. The country is shocked by the case of Saif Ali Khan. A big question is being raised on parties like AAP which support illegal infiltrators. The people of Delhi will throw out the party which supports illegal infiltrators in the elections," he told ANI. The allegations of helping Rohingyas in Delhi has been consistently raised by the BJP after Mumbai police confirmed that the suspect arrested in relation to the Saif Ali Khan attack case is an illegal immigrant from Bangladesh. Delhi assembly polls will take place in a single phase on February 5. The counting of votes will happen on February 8. Earlier, Delhi BJP President Virendraa Sachdeva lashed out at Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener for allegedly "nurturing criminals." "We have been saying from the first day that Bangladeshi Rohingyas are a threat to the security of Delhi and the country...Arvind Kejriwal should tell why he works to save Rohingyas and Bangladeshis. You should now answer why Arvind Kejriwal works to nurture criminals who are a threat to the country's security," said Sachdeva. (ANI) Shiv Sena leader Rahul Shewale on Monday claimed that many MLAs of Shiv Sena (UBT) and Congress are in contact due to the conflicts among the alliance partners of the Maha Vikas Aghadi. Speaking to ANI, Shewale pointed out that these conflicts are affecting the development works. "You all know that many MPs and MLAs of Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) are troubled due to the conflicts among the alliance partners of MVA. These conflicts are affecting the development works...So many MPs and MLAs (of MVA) who are disturbed are in our contact. They want to join Mahayuti...Currently, 15 MLAs of Shiv Sena (UBT), 10 MLAs of Congress and many MPs of Shiv Sena (UBT) are in our contact," the Shiv Sena leader said. Earlier in December 2024, Shiv Sena (UBT) spokesperson Anand Dubey hinted that his party, led by Uddhav Thackeray, may contest the upcoming Mumbai local body polls alone, without an alliance with the Congress and Sharad Pawar's NCP. Speaking to ANI, Dubey said, "The suggestion that is coming from Shiv Sainiks across Maharashtra to the party high command is that we should contest the elections alone. By contesting alone, we get the benefit of two things, first, there is enthusiasm among all our workers everywhere, and second, more and more people get a chance to contest the elections." Dubey said Shiv Sainiks are urging the party to fight the Mumbai elections alone but the final decision has to be taken by the high command. "Our workers are demanding that we should contest the elections alone, so we should contest the elections alone. But the final decision is taken by the party high command," Dubey added. Sanjay Raut also hinted that Shiv Sena (UBT) might contest the elections solo, as party workers were demanding it. (ANI) Press Release January 20, 2025 EDCOM 2 set to release Year Two Report The Second Congressional Commission on Education (EDCOM 2), established under Republic Act 11899, is set to release its Year 2 Report on January 28, 2025. Tasked with conducting a thorough review of the Philippine education system, the report will be focusing on 16 out of 28 priority areas of the Commission, identifying key areas for improvement and formulating actionable solutions to address these challenges. Building on the findings uncovered in its first year, EDCOM 2 has continued conducting researches, consultations, and dialogues nationwide throughout 2024, to complete its task of diagnosing the impediments to quality education. EDCOM 2's reports have garnered substantial public interest for issues plaguing the Philippine education system since the release of its Year One Report entitled "Miseducation: The Failed System of Philippine Education" last January 2024. "Throughout its first two years, the work of EDCOM 2 has been to understand and to diagnose complex issues that plague the Philippine educational system. While our first year shed light on critical concerns such as the low participation rates in early childhood education, and the decade-long lack of textbooks in schools, the second year was about continuing our studies, while passing critical legislation championed by our EDCOM Commissioners, as well as working closely with partners like DepEd and TESDA to seeing through urgent reforms", Executive Director Dr. Karol Mark Yee said. EDCOM's Year Two Report focuses on prioritizing the foundational gaps in the Philippine education system, and proposing reforms to address longstanding concerns that have affected students and teachers alike. The Report also includes EDCOM's findings on stunting of children, bullying in schools, the Alternative Learning System, the mismatch in teacher specialization, and the deficiencies in classrooms, among others. "We hope the Year Two Report also creates meaningful conversations about the future of our education system. As we complete our two years, one clear insight emerges: by trying to do everything, we may have lost sight of the essentials- the critical years and aspects of education that serve as the foundation for further learning. This means, ECCD, nutrition in the first 1,000 days, and literacy in Grades 1 to 3", Yee continued. The Report synthesizes findings of 97 researches commissioned by EDCOM, and contains findings from 45 consultations, school visits, and hearings conducted. On the legislative front, significant strides have been made with the filing of 37 priority bills, five of which have already been enacted into law. These include the Enterprise-Based Education and Training (EBET) Framework Act, the Basic Education Mental Health and Well-Being Promotion Act, the Academic Recovery and Accessible Learning (ARAL) Program, the Prohibition on the "No Permit, No Exam" Policy, and the Suspension of MTB-MLE. These efforts are complemented by 114 policy recommendations aimed at enhancing teacher welfare, student mental health, and other key areas. The Commission will formally submit the Report to the House of Representatives on January 27, and to the Senate on January 28, led by its Co-Chairpersons, Rep. Roman Romulo and Rep. Mark Go, as well as Sen. Win Gatchalian, and Sen. Alan Cayetano, respectively. The report will be available for download at www.edcom2.gov.ph/#report on January 28, 2025. "I am fortunate enough to have been born in the Telugu community which is ever inspiring and if there is any rebirth I will be too happy to take birth as a child of Telugu. Wherever I am my heart always yearns for the Telugu community," observed the Chief Minister, Chandrababu Naidu, here on Monday. Chandrababu Naidu who is on a visit to Davos to take part in the World Economic Forum summit actively participated in the Meet-and-Greet programme organised by the Telugu diaspora at Zurich. Maintaining that he always encouraged the youth to join politics Chandrababu felt that the development of any nation is possible only with the youth. "You all have gathered here from 12 different countries in Europe. In the past when I arrived at the airport here no Telugu person was available as no person from the Telugu community was found in Europe. Our people are very clever and wherever there are opportunities they move to that place," Chandrababu said and stated that all the Indians get very good opportunities and Teliugus will be in top position. Expressing concern that the entire Europe is now reeling under age issues, the Chief Minister said that the Telugus are getting much better opportunities across the globe. Telugus have their own imprint in all the countries, Chandrababu said and stated that he never expected that Telugu would spread to so many countries. "I have witnessed the way you fought when I was sent to jail. I was really surprised to know that Telugu are in so many countries and you all have actively participated in agitation for me for 53 days," Chandrababu recalled. If a person who is not eligible for politics assumes power all the people have witnessed what was the result, he remarked. Pointing out that the TDP, the BJP and the Jana Sena have fought together to save the State and all the Telugus living in various countries have travelled all the way to take part in the election for the victory of the Alliance. "I will never forget this in my life," the Chief Minister remarked. "People always thought that Andhra Pradesh meant only farming and in 1991 economic reforms were introduced while in 1993 the internet revolution was launched while in 1995 I became the Chief Minister. I have given the highest priority to Information Technology (IT) by introducing certain reforms and I spoke about technology when everyone was not very aware of it. Then I said that if the children are given good education they will earn crores. As Hyderabad has been developed the per capita income of Telangana is the highest in the country now. All this because of the foundation that I have laid," Chandrababu said. Recalling that he always feels that the Telugus should grow to the stage of providing employment and should not remain as employees, the Chief Minister said that he can now proudly say that he has laid the foundation for transforming the youth into entrepreneurs. Chandrababu is of the firm opinion that financial constraints should not stand in the way of the growth of anyone in any sector and feels that if a politician earns money he or she commands no respect. "As I am into politics my wife looks after business while the Minister for IT and Electronics, Nara Lokesh, is into politics his wife, Brahmani, takes care of the business activities. My intention is that the Telugu community should be in number one position by 2047," the Chief Minister observed. Recalling how he met Bill Gates and how the Microsoft unit was set up in Hyderabad, Chandrababu called upon everyone to adopt AI. Announcing that Andhra Pradesh will soon transform into a green hydrogen hub, the Chief Minister wanted everyone who attended the meeting to become partners in the development of the State. The Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, is yearning to do something for the nation while the Andhra Pradesh Government is moving ahead with Swarnandhra Vision-2047. "I will accept all your suggestions and I will never forget in my life the kind of affection that you all are showering on me," the Chief Minister maintained. (ANI) Arunachal Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Chowna Mein on Monday visited the ongoing Mahakumbh Mela and took a dip in the Triveni Sangam. The Deputy CM said that he wanted to bring holy water from the Parshuram Mela and unite it with the Triveni Sangam's water. "This Mahakumbh happens every 144 years. I wanted to bring holy water from Parshuram Mela here and unite Triveni Sangam's water with it. I met with the CM Yogi Adityanath and invited him to the Parshuram Mela...Here, I took the holy dip in Triveni Sangam...This Sangam of Mahakumbh is the confluence of our culture, rituals and spirituality. PM Modi says that we have to take India forward with this cultural diversity..." Mein said speaking to ANI. Taking to social media X, the Minister wrote in a post that he was honoured to take part in the sacred rituals of the Mela. "It was an immense honour to take part in the sacred rituals at the Kumbh Mela in Prayagraj, where I had the privilege of participating in the havan, offering flowers, and performing the ceremonial aarti for the revered Shankaracharya of Govardhan Peeth, Swami Adhokshajanand Devtirth Ji Maharaj. The spiritual energy and wisdom imparted during these moments were truly humbling," the post read. Further, the Deputy CM also wrote that he served food to the sadhus. "I also had the privilege of serving food to the sadhus--an experience that was both humble and deeply fulfilling. Their unwavering dedication to spirituality and the profound peace they radiate are truly inspiring. May the blessings of Kumbh Mela continue to guide us all on the path of righteousness and selfless service," the post read. The Maha Kumbh began on January 13 and will continue until February 26. (ANI) CPI-M leader Brinda Karat on Monday expressed dissatisfaction over the punishment given to the convict in the RG Kar case, saying that the state government should also have been held accountable. "Kerala court gave death sentence to a girl because the girl was proven to have poisoned her boyfriend... It shows the failure of our laws to bring justice in cases of crimes against women, particularly rape and murder because there are such different standards which are being applied. The other aspect is that there has been a destruction of evidence," Karat told ANI. "Who along with Sanjay Roy is guilty? Which is the nexus? How is it that the state government is defended? In the RG Kar case, at every phase and stage, we are seeing injustice. The main accountability must be with the state government and the way that it has tried to conceal the facts of this case," the CPIM leader alleged. Rekha Sharma, Rajya Sabha MP and former chairperson of the National Commission for Women (NCW) claimed that there were lapses in the initial probe in the case by Kolkata Police. "It is very unfortunate. I think the investigations done by Kolkata Police were presented in front of the CBI and because of the shortcomings in the investigation, the convict was sentenced to life imprisonment and not death penalty. The victim's family and all of us are really sad. It is the insensitivity of the judges that such a huge case was not called rarest of the rare cases," she told ANI. The Sealdah Civil and Criminal Court gave life imprisonment to the accused Sanjay Roy in the RG Kar rape and murder case on Monday. A fine of Rs 50,000 was also imposed. The rape and murder of a trainee doctor whose body was found on August 9 in the hospital's seminar room, sparked widespread protests. Sanjay Roy, a civic volunteer at the hospital, was arrested in connection with the crime. (ANI) The Republic Day Parade 2025 is all set to be a spectacular celebration of India's cultural diversity and military prowess, with a special focus on 75 years of the enactment of the Indian Constitution and Jan Bhagidari. This year's parade will be graced by the presence of Indonesian President, Prabowo Subianto, as the Chief Guest. "A 160-member marching contingent and 190-member band contingent from Indonesia will participate in the parade, along with the contingents of Indian Armed Forces, at Kartavya Path", said the Defence Secretary, Rajesh Kumar Singh, while briefing media in New Delhi. According to an official press release, from the Ministry of Defence, the parade will showcase 31 tableaux from various states, union territories, and central government ministries, highlighting the theme "Swarnim Bharat: Virasat aur Vikas." Two tableaux will specifically showcase the 75 years of the Indian Constitution. Other important highlights are the 150th birth anniversary of Bhagwan Birsa Munda, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and the India Meteorological Department. On 26th January 2025, the Republic Day Parade will start in the morning with Prime Minister Narendra Modi laying a wreath at the National War Memorial. The President will arrive at Kartavya Path in a ceremonial buggy and take the salute during a ceremonial march past, which will include units from the Armed Forces, Para Military Forces, Auxiliary Civil Forces, NCC, and NSS. The parade will begin with a unique cultural performance, where 300 cultural artists will play musical instruments from different parts of the country. This will be followed by the march past the contingents of the Indian Armed Forces and the Indonesian contingent. After the National Anthem, balloons with banners of the official logo of the 75th year of the Indian Constitution will be released. The event will conclude with a flypast by 47 aircraft. Approximately 10,000 special guests from different walks of life, including sarpanches, disaster relief workers, pani samitee, handloom artisans, paralympic contingent and tribal beneficiaries, will be invited to witness the event. These guests have been selected for their outstanding contributions to society and as the architects of Swarnim Bharat, added the Ministry of Defence release. Other events that will be part of the Republic Day celebrations include the Beating Retreat Ceremony on January 29, the National School Band Competition, and Bharat Parv, a cultural festival that will be organized at the Red Fort, Delhi, from January 26-31, 2025. To facilitate citizens and ease in information and access to witness the various events on Republic Day Celebrations - 2025 viz. booking tickets, getting the location of the seating and parking arrangements etc. a comprehensive mobile App (on Apple Play and Msewa) and Portal 'Rashtraparv Portal' has been developed and will serve as a focus point for all the details relating events like Republic Day Parade and Beating Retreat, according to release. As a cultural component, the Ministry of Culture, through Sangeet Natak Academy, is organizing an 11-minute cultural performance with the 5000 Artists under the title of "Jayati Jaya Mamah Bharatam". The performance will include more than 45 dance forms from different parts of the country. For the first time, the performance will cover the entire Kartavya Path from Vijay Chowk and C hexagon to ensure that all guests get the same viewing experience. The third edition of Project Veer Gatha was organized as a part of Republic Day Celebrations 2025 to inspire and spread awareness among children about the gallant deeds and sacrifices of the Armed Forces. The event was organised by the Ministry of Defence in collaboration with the Ministry of Education from 16 September to 31 October 2024. A total of approx. 1.76 Cr students have participated in pan India and a total of 100 school students have been declared winners of the Veer Gatha 4.0. These winners will be felicitated by Raksha Mantri and the Minister of Education at a ceremony in New Delhi on 25th January. They shall also attend the Republic Day Parade at Kartavya Path. The press release added, that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will meet NCC Cadets, NSS Volunteers, Youth Exchange programme cadets, Tableaux Artists, Tribal Guests, etc. of Republic Day Celebrations at his residence on 24th January. The Republic Day Parade 2025 promises to be a grand celebration of India's rich cultural heritage and military prowess, with a special focus on the country's constitutional values and citizen participation. (ANI) Congress' New Delhi Assembly constituency candidate Sandeep Dikshit did door-to-door campaigning in his constituency on Monday and lambasted the Aam Aadmi Party for giving "freebies" and looting the people of Delhi. "What are they giving other than freebies? This is not your money, this is the money of the taxpayers of Delhi. Which you are looting...you are only looting the public's money to win votes. One thing has been proved that Arvind Kejriwal can do nothing other than giving freebies," he told ANI on Monday. Dikshit has filed a Rs 10 crore defamation suit in the Delhi High Court against Delhi CM Atishi, AAP leader Sanjay Singh and others. The lawsuits stem from accusations made by the two AAP leaders during a press conference on December 26, 2024, in New Delhi, where they alleged that Dikshit had accepted "crores of rupees" from the BJP and conspired with the party to sabotage AAP's chances in the upcoming elections. Dikshit termed them as baseless and defamatory. Congress party's Delhi President Devendra Yadav condemned AAP for "crushing the rights of Dalits." Extending his criticism to Punjab too, as AAP rules the state, he told ANI, "Arvind Kejriwal and the AAP government in Delhi and Punjab are crushing the rights of Dalits... They (AAP) are in power in Delhi and Punjab but not a single Rajya Sabha member has been nominated from the Dalit community and the minority community...Arvind Kejriwal has been exposed and he is anti-Dalit." Mentioned that the Delhi government has not managed to make certain Municipal Corporation of Delhi employees permanent, Yadav added, "We have been repeating that Kejriwal is against Dalits. In 2013, it was the same Kejriwal ji who said that MCD employees would be made permanent. But not even one employee was made permanent...During his tenure as CM, Rajender Gautam, Raajkumar Anand left this (AAP) party...They announce schemes but they put such conditions that only very few people could avail of its benefits." On the AAP side, the party released a satirical book titled "Achievements of BJP in Delhi." Taking potshots on the BJP-led Central government, AAP MP Sanjay Singh said that everything is "written" in this book about the promises which BJP had made, whether it is about giving permanent houses, doubling the MSPs for formers, strengthening the rupees or protecting the border. "Modi had made many promises after becoming the Prime Minister. He had said that by 15th August 2022, everyone will get a permanent house, farmers will get MSP, the rupee will be strengthened, the border will be protected... Regarding Delhi, he had said that permanent registry will be given to those living in slums. The BJP people could not tell what achievements have been made in those promises, we are releasing those achievements," the AAP MP said. AAP's national convenor and party's candidate from New Delhi Assembly constituency Arvind Kejriwal addressed the people of Vishwas Nagar area, urging them to "not press the Lotus button even by mistake." He further claimed that the area is lagging in development due to the constituency electing a BJP MLA. "Vishwas Nagar lagged behind in development because people here elected a BJP MLA. He kept fighting with us for 10 years. This time Vishwas Nagar will elect an AAP MLA," read a post by Kejriwal's account. "Only three mohalla clinics have been built in Vishwas Nagar. Because you chose the wrong MLA. I told them many times to get a Mohalla clinic built at their place but they said that you will get the credit," Kejriwal said during his speech. On the BJP's side, party MP Anurag Thakur hit out at AAP, accusing them standing "shoulder to shoulder" with the alleged "tukde tukde" gang. Who stood shoulder to shoulder with the tukde tukde gang who raised anti-national slogans? Who gave him (chief of tukde tukde gang) the ticket? It was Rahul Gandhi and Arvind Kejriwal..."Thakur, former Union Minister, said in a press conference. He accused former AAP leader Tahir Hussain of "defaming" the country by "inciting riots" in the national capital. "Who defamed the country by inciting riots in Delhi? If Tahir Hussain is in jail today, can the Aam Aadmi Party run away from him?" the BJP MP asked. Delhi BJP President Virendraa Sachdeva and party MP Yogender Chandoliya visited the JJ Cluster area of Bawana town, to showcase the alleged disrepair and the "grim state" of the government flats in the area. The BJP leaders also live-streamed the state of the flats, and strongly criticised the AAP-led government for "wasting public money." The BJP also attacked AAP over "helping Rohingya refugees" by giving them ration cards and Aadhar cards, with both party leaders Ramesh Bidhuri and MP Manoj Tiwari alleging the same. "AAP leaders have made Aadhaar cards and ration cards of Rohingyas and Bangladeshi infiltrators...This should be investigated. After the BJP government is formed in the national capital, detention centres will be built and Rohingyas and infiltrators will be put in them," Bidhuri told ANI. BJP's Kalkaji assembly candidate has also said that within 30 days of BJP winning the election, detention centres will be built and strict action will be taken against anyone helping illegal immigrants. "AAP gives protection to Rohingyas and Bangladeshis, now there is protest against it. The country is shocked by the case of Saif Ali Khan. A big question is being raised on parties like AAP which support illegal infiltrators. The people of Delhi will throw out the party which supports illegal infiltrators in the elections," Manoj Tiwari told ANI. BJP's New Delhi assembly candidate Parvesh Verma accused Arvind Kejriwal of unlawfully influencing voters in East Kidwai Nagar, claiming that the AAP leader "unlawfully distributed chairs" to Resident Welfare Association (RWA) while addressing them during a public meeting. Verma also met advocates in his constituency and urged them to look at the "false promises," and distracting from real issues. "Kejriwal never talks about real issues because he has no achievements to showcase. In the last 10 years, he has only made false promises and misled people. The situation has become so dire that for the past 26 days, he has been taking my name morning and evening but is unable to highlight a single accomplishment of his own," Parvesh Verma said in his address. (ANI) Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Monday appealed to the people to vote in favour of BJP's Dehradun Municipal Corporation mayor candidate Saurabh Thapliyal and all BJP councillor candidates in the upcoming civic polls. Addressing a gathering at an OBC conference in Dehradun, Dhami highlighted the BJP government's commitment to the upliftment of the exploited, deprived, and backward classes. He emphasised that the benefits of various public welfare schemes launched by the BJP government are reaching every section of society. Dhami also expressed the BJP's commitment towards the OBC society, stating that concrete work has been done for the OBC society for the first time after independence. He added that the BJP has taken a bold decision by implementing OBC reservation in 30 municipal bodies and mayor posts in the civic elections. The Chief Minister described the government's achievements, including implementing a strict anti-conversion law, taking action against land jihad, and freeing over 5,500 acres of land from encroachment. He also mentioned that Uttarakhand is soon going to become the first state in the country to implement the Uniform Civil Code. Accusing the Congress of doing politics of lies, confusion, and appeasement, Dhami appealed to the people to support the BJP. Furthermore, CM Dhami participated in the 'OBC Sammelan' organised in Niranjanpur, Dehradun. The Chief Minister has been actively campaigning for the BJP in the upcoming municipal corporation elections. He addressed a public meeting in Rishikesh, seeking support for mayoral candidate Shri Shambhu Paswan and other councillor candidates from the city. Dhami expressed confidence that the people of Rishikesh would once again support the BJP, forming a "triple engine government" in the civic elections. Additionally, he participated in a roadshow in support of BJP's municipal president candidate, Kishore Bhatt and other councillor candidates from the Uttarkashi Municipal Area. He reiterated his confidence that a triple-engine government would be formed in all municipal bodies across the state, given the overwhelming public support. The State Election Commission of Uttarakhand has officially announced the dates for the Municipal Local Body General Elections for the year 2024-25. The elections will be held for 11 municipal corporations, 43 municipal councils, and 46 Nagar Panchayats across the state on January 23, with the counting of votes scheduled for January 25. (ANI) The Supreme Court on Monday expressed its displeasure over the dismissal of a Christian man's plea seeking permission to bury his deceased father's body in his family's native village by the Chhattisgarh High Court. A bench of justices, BV Nagarathna and Satish Chandra Sharma, lamented that the body of the deceased person had been lying in a mortuary for the last 12 days, without any resolution being provided from either the state authorities or the high court. The Court stated that it was pained by the fact that a person has to move the Supreme Court for the burial of his father. Further, the Court asked the State respondents as to what the position all this while was regarding such burials in the village. "What was the position all these decades? Why is this objection being raised only now?" the top court judge asked. During the hearing, the Court asked the parties whether there was any resolution to the sorry state of affairs concerning the deceased's body lying in the mortuary since January 7. The top court was hearing Chhattisgarh's response to a plea filed by a Christian man, Ramesh Baghel, who had challenged Chhattisgarh High Court's decision having denied him permission to bury his deceased father according to his family's religious rituals in his resident village. The High Court had in its order said that if Baghel (petitioner) is granted permission to bury his deceased father in his resident village's common burial area, it would cause a law and order problem as the villagers had raised objections regarding the same. The Court had said that a separate burial area for Christians was available in a nearby village situated at a distance of 20-25 kilometres away from the petitioner's village. When the case came up at the Supreme Court today, the Solicitor General of India (SG), Tushar Mehta, who appeared for Chhattisgarh, submitted that the burial ground in question is designated for the Hindu tribal community and not for the Christians. On being asked by the Court as to why the petitioner's father cannot be buried in their private land as had been sought by the petitioners, SG Mehta said that the same is prohibited under the law. "all over the country there are designated cremation places and burial places... once you bury someone, the character of the land changes; it becomes sacred and has health issues", SG Mehta said. Justice Nagarathna was not pleased with the SG's submissions. "The third day after cremation, nothing remains. burial of persons is permitted in their land", the judge stated. SG Mehta told the court that the petitioner's plea was not intended to protect the interest of just one person (the petitioner). "It's the beginning of something more," Mehta said. Further, it was submitted by the State that there are designated areas for the burial, which is about 20 km away from the village in question. The court was told that all Christians belonging to the petitioner's village carry out their burial activities in the aforesaid village which is at a distance of 20 km. On the other hand, Senior Advocate Colin Gonsalves, who appeared for the petitioner, countered SG Mehta's (States') submissions by contending that the State is trying to break with the tradition of secularism that had been followed in the village for a long. He took the Court through photographs of the graves of the other deceased members of the petitioner's family who had been buried in the common burial area situated in the village in question. The senior counsel categorically showed the court that there were crosses (depicting the Christian symbol) over those graves. At this juncture, a heated exchange took place between SG Mehta and Senior Advocate Gonsalves. The court listed the matter to be heard next on Wednesday, at SG Mehta's request, after he said that he would file a better counter-reply to the petitioner's plea. (ANI) A total of 699 candidates will contest polls on 70 Delhi Assembly seats in the February 5 election, the Election Commission (EC) said. According to the poll body, the deadline for submitting nominations was January 17 while the scrutiny was done on January 18 and the last date of withdrawal was January 20. The New Delhi constituency, from where former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal is contesting elections has the highest number of 23 candidates. BJP has fielded Parvesh Verma (son of former CM Sahib Singh Verma) and Congress has named Sandeep Dikshit (son of former CM Sheila Dikshit) from the seat. Patel Nagar and Kasturba Nagar have the lowest, with just five candidates each. Followed by Tilak Nagar, Karol Bagh, Gandhi Nagar, Greater Kailash, Mangol Puri, Tri Nagar with six candidates each, as per ECI. Key contenders for Greater Kailash seat include AAP's Saurabh Bhardwaj, BJP's Shikha Rai and Congress' Garvit Singhvi. Key contenders for Kasturba Nagar seat include AAP's Ramesh Pahalwan, BJP's Neeraj Basoya and Congress' Abhishek Dutt. With polling day approaching, Delhi's political landscape is heating up. BJP has alleged that the Aam Aadmi Party, which once claimed it would not allow criminals in the assembly to ensure the passage of strict laws, had fielded the highest number of candidates with criminal records. Speaking to ANI, BJP leader Shehzad Poonawalla said, "Aam Aadmi Party used to say that they do not want criminals in their assembly because criminals will not be able to pass important and strict laws. But when the list (of candidates) was released, it was found that the Aam Aadmi Party has the highest number of people with criminal records nearly 60%, followed by Congress. This means that Aam Aadmi Party has taken a U-turn once again." Notably, 70 assembly seats in Delhi will go to the polls in a single phase on February 5, and the votes will be counted on February 8. The Congress, which was in power for 15 consecutive years in Delhi, has suffered setbacks in the last two assembly elections and has failed to win any seat. In contrast, the AAP dominated the 2015 and 2020 assembly elections by winning 67 and 62 seats respectively out of a total of 70 seats while the BJP got only three and eight seats. (ANI) Expressing gratitude to US President-elect Donald Trump for "providing the necessary clarity and assurance," the Chinese short-form video service app TikTok has confirmed that it was in the process of restoring service in the United States. This development comes after Trump pledged to restore access to TikTok, which had stopped functioning in the US on Saturday night to comply with the Biden dispensation''s ban order. In a post on X on Sunday, TikTok stated, "In agreement with our service providers, TikTok is in the process of restoring service. We thank President Trump for providing the necessary clarity and assurance to our service providers that they will face no penalties providing TikTok to over 170 million Americans and allowing over 7 million small businesses to thrive." "It''s a strong stand for the First Amendment and against arbitrary censorship. We will work with President Trump on a long-term solution that keeps TikTok in the United States," the post added. Trump announced on Truth Social that he plans to issue an executive order on Monday to delay the enforcement of the TikTok ban for 90 days. "I''m asking companies not to let TikTok stay dark! I will issue an executive order on Monday to extend the period of time before the law''s prohibitions take effect so that we can make a deal to protect our national security," he said. "The order will also confirm that there will be no liability for any company that helped keep TikTok from going dark before my order. Americans deserve to see our exciting Inauguration on Monday, as well as other events and conversations," he added. He further, outlined a proposal for the US to hold a 50 per cent ownership stake in a joint venture involving TikTok. "I would like the United States to have a 50 per cent ownership position in a joint venture. By doing this, we save TikTok, keep it in good hands and allow it to say up. Without US approval, there is no TikTok. With our approval, it is worth hundreds of billions of dollars - maybe trillions," he said. "Therefore, my initial thought is a joint venture between the current owners and/or new owners whereby the US gets a 50 per cent ownership in a joint venture set up between the US and whichever purchase we so choose," he added. TikTok went offline in the US on Saturday night (local time), just hours before a law banning the app was set to take effect, CNN reported. The users who tried to access the platform were met with a message stating, "Sorry, TikTok isn''t available right now. A law banning TikTok has been enacted in the US. Unfortunately, that means you can''t use TikTok for now." The ban follows a Supreme Court ruling on Friday that upheld a law passed with bipartisan support in Congress and signed by US President Joe Biden in April. According to CNN, the law prohibits US companies from hosting or serving content for the Chinese-owned platform unless TikTok is sold to a US-based or allied company. (ANI) Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) leader Maulana Fazlur Rehman has expressed doubts about the ongoing talks between Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and the government, and stated that he sees no development in the negotiations, ARY News reported. Maulana Fazl noted that the decision to engage in talks rests solely with the PTI, emphasizing that dialogue is essential for resolving issues. He added that even if the talks are unsuccessful, a change in attitudes would be a significant achievement. While Maulana Fazl remained hopeful about the success of the talks, but declined to comment on PTI's position regarding the discussions, as per ARY News report on Sunday. In a separate remark, Maulana Fazl criticized the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government, claiming that there is no effective governance in the province, and corruption and commission-based dealings are rampant. He also suggested that the issues should be resolved through 'jirga'. He also noted that the PTI has not made any contact with him after Imran Khan's conviction. Earlier, Imran Khan's party submitted a charter of demands during the third round of negotiations with the federal government. The document calls for the formation of two Commissions of Inquiry to investigate critical events and ensure transparency in the judicial process. During the meeting, National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq offered to step down as the committee chairman, but PTI's Omar Ayub expressed confidence in his leadership. Subsequently, PTI presented a three-page charter detailing its demands. In the written demands, PTI has demanded the federal government to establish two commissions. The first would investigate the events of May 9, 2023, and the legality of PTI's chairman's arrest, while the second would examine incidents occurring between November 24 and 27. (ANI) Press Release January 20, 2025 Sen. Robin Seeks Review of OFBank and Land Bank 'Merger' Sen. Robinhood "Robin" C. Padilla is seeking a review of a plan to merge the operations of the Overseas Filipino Bank (OFBank) and Land Bank of the Philippines, noting the different mandates of the two entities. Padilla filed on Monday Senate Resolution 1281, urging the appropriate government agencies to review and reassess such a proposal, citing the need for independent entities for overseas Filipinos and farmers. "The implications of this proposal must be thoroughly reviewed by relevant agencies, including but not limited to the Department of Finance, Governance Commission for Government-Owned or Controlled Corporations, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, Department of Migrant Workers, and Overseas Workers Welfare Administration," he said in his resolution. Padilla's resolution stemmed from a proposal to merge OFBank with Land Bank, which was reportedly affirmed by the DOF during a meeting on April 25 last year. "It must be noted that Land Bank's primary mandate is to provide financial assistance and support services to its mandated and priority sectors, which include Small Farmers and Fishers, Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries, among others," he added. On the other hand, he said OFWs have unique banking needs and may need a "specialized financial institution tailored to address their specific requirements." Sen. Robin, Nais, I-Review ang 'Merger' ng OFBank at Land Bank Nais i-review ni Sen. Robinhood "Robin" C. Padilla ang planong i-merge ang Overseas Filipino Bank (OFBank) at Land Bank of the Philippines, sa kabila ng magkaibang mandato ng dalawang ahensya. Ihinain ni Padilla nitong Lunes ang Senate Resolution 1281, na humihimok sa karampatang ahensya na i-review at i-reassess ang ganitong panukala, dahil kailangan ang independiyenteng ahensya para sa overseas Filipinos at magsasaka. "The implications of this proposal must be thoroughly reviewed by relevant agencies, including but not limited to the Department of Finance, Governance Commission for Government-Owned or Controlled Corporations, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, Department of Migrant Workers, and Overseas Workers Welfare Administration," aniya sa kanyang resolusyon. Ang resolusyon ni Padilla ay base sa panukalang i-merge ang OFBank at Land Bank, na diumano'y sinuportahan ng DOF noong Abril 25, 2024. "It must be noted that Land Bank's primary mandate is to provide financial assistance and support services to its mandated and priority sectors, which include Small Farmers and Fishers, Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries, among others," aniya. Ayon din kay Padilla, ang mga OFWs ay may kakaibang sitwasyon kung kaya kailangan ang "specialized financial institution" para tugunan ang kanilang pangangailangan. Abu Dhabi [UAE], January 20 (ANI/WAM): The largest phase of Operation Chivalrous Knight 3 was launched today to provide relief aid to Gaza residents, in line with the directives of President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, to extend all forms of assistance to Gaza's population. The operation coincides with the announcement of a humanitarian truce, offering an opportunity to intensify relief efforts and alleviate the suffering of those affected. The operation today dispatched a relief convoy consisting of 20 trucks carrying over 200 tonnes of essential humanitarian aid, including food supplies, winter clothing, and other basic necessities, with the aim of providing immediate support to families impacted by the dire humanitarian conditions in the region. Hamad Al Neyadi, Head of the UAE Relief Mission, emphasised that Operation Chivalrous Knight 3 reflects the UAE's enduring commitment to standing by the Palestinian people. He noted that this phase marks the largest of its kind within the series of humanitarian efforts undertaken since the operation's inception. He explained that the operation is being conducted in full coordination with relevant authorities to ensure the aid reaches its intended beneficiaries as swiftly as possible. To date, the operation has delivered 156 aid convoys to Gaza, amounting to approximately 29,784 tonnes of humanitarian aid provided by the UAE. This aid has significantly alleviated the challenging circumstances faced by Gaza's residents, particularly the most vulnerable groups, by meeting their basic needs. The UAE continues to extend humanitarian support to the Palestinian people in Gaza, mitigating the effects of the harsh winter and the ongoing hardships faced by residents. These efforts align with the UAE's humanitarian and fraternal responsibilities, reflecting the deep bonds between peoples and underlining the importance of sustained support to create a lasting positive impact on the lives of those affected in Gaza. Operation Chivalrous Knight 3 has been delivering humanitarian aid to the Palestinian people for over 441 days through more than 500 airlifts, five strategic transport ships, and over 2,500 trucks from Egypt into Gaza. Chivalrous Knight 3 humanitarian operation, through which the UAE provided many humanitarian aids, includes the establishment of a field hospital in Gaza, a floating hospital in Arish in the Arab Republic of Egypt equipped with specialised medical units for emergency care and surgeries, and an initiative to transfer critical cases for further treatment in UAE hospitals. Additionally, it encompasses water projects, such as constructing desalination plants in Rafah, Egypt, with a production capacity of two million gallons per day, as well as the "Birds of Goodness" initiative, which involves airdropping aid to areas inaccessible by land, notably in northern Gaza. Numerous other initiatives have also been implemented under the operation. (ANI/WAM) Taiwan's Ministry of National Defence (MSD) has detected four Chinese aircraft and six naval vessels around the island as of 6 am (UTC+8) on Monday. Among them, three aircraft crossed the median line and entered Taiwan's southwestern and eastern Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ). https://x.com/MoNDefense/status/1881144663845065017 Sharing a post on X, MND wrote, "4 PLA aircraft and 6 PLAN vessels operating around Taiwan were detected up until 6 a.m. (UTC+8) today. 3 of the aircraft crossed the median line and entered Taiwan's southwestern and eastern ADIZ. We have monitored the situation and responded accordingly." On Sunday, MND detected nine Chinese aircraft and six naval vessels around the island. In recent weeks, China has been visibly boosting its ability to invade Taiwanese beaches with innovative new naval equipment. This includes the formal launching of an enormous landing helicopter assault (LHA) vessel, the likes of which no other navy in the world possesses, and mass production of floating bridge docks to assist the unloading of ships during beach landings. Both type of equipment are strong indications that China is serious about one day invading Taiwan. The Taiwan-China issue is a complex and longstanding geopolitical conflict centred on Taiwan's sovereignty. Taiwan, officially known as the Republic of China (ROC), operates its own government, military, and economy, functioning as a de facto independent state. However, China considers Taiwan a breakaway province and insists on the "One China" policy, which asserts that there is only one China, with Beijing as its capital. This has fuelled decades of tension, especially since the Chinese Civil War (1945-1949), when the ROC government retreated to Taiwan after the Communist Party, led by Mao Zedong, took control of mainland China. Beijing has consistently expressed its goal of reunification with Taiwan, using diplomatic, economic, and military pressure to isolate Taiwan internationally. Meanwhile, Taiwan, supported by a significant portion of its population, continues to maintain its independence. (ANI) The Tibetan government in exile is preparing for the Dalai Lama's 90th birthday celebration on July 6, 2025, with speculation surrounding the Dalai Lama addressing the issue of his succession during that time. In 2011, the Dalai Lama indicated that he would address questions regarding his succession around the age of 90, including whether he would be reincarnated. Speaking on the matter, Penpa Tsering, the Sikyong (political leader) and President of the Tibetan government in exile told ANI about the situation, noting that there has been much speculation on the subject. "It's all open speculation because his holiness has sometimes said that this could be the last Dalai Lama. When he was asked whether the next Dalai Lama would be a woman, then his holiness said, Why not? And then there are also issues about appointing somebody before your demise. Then there is, of course, the issue of reincarnation. So one thing that has been consistent with his Holiness's statement since 1969 is whether there should be a 15th Dalai Lama or not will be decided by the Tibetan people," Tsering said. Tsering also mentioned that Tibetan people worldwide have been urging the Dalai Lama to continue the institution of the Dalai Lama, citing its importance to both Tibetans and the broader world. Despite speculation, Tsering acknowledged that the Dalai Lama may decide not to address the matter immediately, as reincarnation is a process that takes place after the current Dalai Lama's passing and he emphasised that it is difficult to make decisions on the matter before that time. "Tibetan people all around the world have been writing to the private office (of the Dalai Lama) and also copying the religion and culture department here in Dharamshala, requesting His Holiness to continue the institution of the Dalai Lama, which is not only important for Tibetans but for the whole world through the ancient Indian wisdom and the messages that are embodied through His Holiness the Dalai Lama," he said. "According to prophecy, it is said that this Dalai Lama will live very long, to 113 years of age so even at 90, if his holiness feels good and if he thinks it is too early, he might say it's too early to come out with any... Because reincarnation is a process that happens after the demise of the present Lama to carry on the responsibilities left behind by this Lama, till you reach that stage," he added. Regarding the Dalai Lama's 90th birthday celebration, Tsering said, "Internationally we will be celebrating this. Every country that his holiness has visited has made contacts with organisations and institutions that have honoured his holiness and requested them to organise at least one event coinciding with his holiness's 90th birthday on any of the commitments of his holiness." "We will also have international exhibition materials in the form of traditional Thangkas about the life of his holiness, modern-day pictures and movies about his holiness' messages and his life and deeds. It will be international and there are also quite a lot of programmes planned in Dharamshala as well, including the conference of all the religious heads on the 2nd, 3rd and 4th of July, the long-life prayer offering to his holiness on the 5th of July and then the official 90th birthday celebration on the 6th of July this year," he added. As the Tibetan government-in-exile plans for a year-long celebration to mark the occasion of the 90th birthday of the Dalai Lama, the issue has gained much attention due to China's interest in the reincarnation process for political reasons. (ANI) Taking to X, UK Insights posted a video where it showed the extremists shouting pro-Khalistani slogans during the screening of the film, which was centred around India's 1975 emergency period. "Pro-Khalistan extremists storm Harrow cinema and attempt to stop the screening of "Emergency"," the movement stated. https://x.com/INSIGHTUK2/status/1881100311546487030 Notably, in 2023, the Indian High Commission in London faced a violent attack by Khalistani supporters who were attempting to further the cause of Khalistan, advocating for the secession of the state of Punjab from India, as alleged by the National Investigation Agency (NIA). According to the NIA, the attacks in London were perpetrated in retaliation to the action taken by Punjab police against Amritpal Singh, Chief of Waris Punjab De, with the objective of influencing the crackdown on the outfit and its leader. Meanwhile, Emergency, which was released on January 17, 2025, revolves around the period of emergency declared by Indira Gandhi for 21 months from 1975 to 1977, a controversial and transformative chapter in Indian political history. Directed by Kangana herself, the film explores the political turmoil and societal impacts of the emergency, with Kangana playing the role of Indira Gandhi. The film also stars Anupam Kher, Shreyas Talpade, and the late Satish Kaushik. (ANI) The Indian diaspora organisation, Indiaspora, in the US extended their congratulations to the incoming Trump administration, particularly from the community on Monday ahead of his inauguration as the 47th President of the US, according to a press statement by the forum. The Indiaspora highlighted the increasing political engagement of the Indian American community, noting that the community focused on nonpartisan political engagement and was pleased with the growing influence of Indian Americans in American politics since its founding in 2012. The organisation further recognised key appointments in President Trump's second-term administration, including Harmeet Kaur Dhillon as the Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights at the US Department of Justice, Vivek Ramaswamy as head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) alongside Tesla CEO Elon Musk, FBI Director nominee Kash Patel, Dr. Jay Bhattacharya as Director of the National Institutes of Health and Sriram Krishnana as Senior AI Advisor. "President Trump's second-term administration highlights the growing influence of Indian Americans, with key appointments across civil rights, national security, and technology. We congratulate the following appointees in the new administration: Harmeet Kaur Dhillon, Vivek Ramaswamy, Kash Patel, Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, and Sriram Krishnan," the release stated. Founder and Chairman of Indiaspora, MR Rangaswami expressed congratulations to President-elect Trump, emphasising the strong ties between the US and India and noted that US-India relations are expected to continue to grow in the new political climate. "On behalf of Indiaspora and the Indian-American community, I'd like to congratulate President Trump as the 47th President of the United States. I expect US-India relations to continue flourishing amidst this new political climate in America. The senior-most government officials on both sides have established strong relationships during President Trump's first term, and there is strong bipartisan support in the United States to further this important bilateral relationship," he said. Meanwhile, Executive Director of Indiaspora Sanjeev Joshipura highlighted the organisation's efforts to enhance civic and political engagement within the Indian diaspora and acknowledged the consistent placement of Indian-Americans in senior government roles across administrations, regardless of political party. "Two of indiaspora's key focus areas over the years have been our efforts to increase the Indian diaspora's civic and political engagement in a nonpartisan manner and to strengthen US-India ties. It is heartening to see every successive American administration, regardless of political party, place Indian Americans in senior roles in government, and the incoming Trump administration has continued this trend. Furthermore, Indiaspora is poised to continue playing a role in catalysing bilateral dialogues, just as we did in New Delhi and Houston during the previous Trump administration," Joshipura said. Donald Trump will be sworn in as the 47th President of the United States at the US Capitol in Washington DC, on Monday (local time). He has previously served as the 45th president between 2017 and 2021. (ANI) The stage is set for a grand ceremony leading up to US President-Elect Donald Trump''s swearing-in on Monday. The events are set to begin with Trump''s departure to St John''s Church and offering of service. He will then go to the Blair House, The President''s Guest House. At North Portico the US President Joe Biden and the First Lady Jill Biden will first welcome Vice President Kamala Harris and Second Gentleman Douglas Emhoff and then Trump. First, the Vice President-Elect JD Vance will take his oath to office, followed by Trump. The grand swearing-in will be followed by Trump''s remarks. A formal farewell ceremony of Biden and Harris is set to take place, and then Trump and Vance will have the signing room ceremony. The signing ceremony is one of the first official actions taken by the newly sworn President of the United States. They occur in the President''s Room just off the Senate Chamber in the US Capitol. After the departure of the former President and First Lady, the new President gathers there with aides and Members of Congress to sign nominations and sometimes memorandums, proclamations, or executive orders. This tradition began in 1981, with former US President Ronald Reagan. Prior to that time, nominations were often submitted to the Senate on Inauguration Day without ceremony. After that the luncheon is set to take place, and then the review of the troops. Trump and his wife, Melania, will then head to the Capitol Hill as the parade would begin. There will be a signing ceremony in the Oval Office followed by the President''s arrival at the Convention Center. Trump will then deliver informal remarks and take part in the first dance in at the Liberty Ball, followed by Commander in Chief ball, and the United Station ball. The President will then depart for the White House. (ANI) Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs Penny Wong said that she looked forward to meeting her Quad partners and expanding their cooperation. Wong added that Quad partners shared an unwavering commitment to a stable Indo-Pacific. She also said that she looked forward to meeting External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Japan's Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya- her Quad partners. "The Foreign Ministers of India and Japan will also attend the inauguration. I look forward to engaging with my Quad counterparts. We share an unwavering commitment to a peaceful, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific," she said. Further, Wong added that she will meet members of Trump's administration and discuss ways to expand their cooperation. "Today I will depart for the United States to attend the inauguration of President Donald Trump in Washington DC. The invitation to attend is a demonstration of the steadfast alliance between Australia and the United States and I look forward to representing Australia," she said in a statement. Wong said that the US is an important ally of Australia. "The United States is our vital ally, closest global partner, and most important strategic relationship. The US is also Australia's most significant economic partner and, together, we continue to boost each other's prosperity," the statement read. Wong mentioned that she will meet the members of the congress and discuss how they can strengthen bilateral ties. "While in Washington DC, I will meet with members of the Trump Administration and Congress. I look forward to discussing how we can advance the benefits of our strong economic and security partnership and expand our cooperation," she said. Jaishankar met Wong in Washington DC. He said that he enjoyed their discussion on the state of the world. "Delighted to meet FM Penny Wong, a Quad colleague, in Washington DC today. As always, enjoyed our discussion on the state of the world," he said in a post on X. The Quad is a diplomatic partnership between Australia, India, Japan, and the United States committed to supporting an open, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific that is inclusive and resilient. (ANI) Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs Penny Wong expressed her faith in Australian Ambassador to the US, Kevin Rudd for forming an effective relationship with the Trump administration. When she was asked if she was confident that Trump will not make any changes to the AUKUS arrangement, she said that she was pleased to hear positive comments made by nominee for Secretary of State Senator Rubio. "I was very pleased to see the very positive comments that the nominee for Secretary of State Senator Rubio made about AUKUS. I was very pleased to see them. And I have been very pleased to see over many months now the bipartisan support in the Congress for AUKUS as this is one of the ways in which partnerships and alliances can be utilised to enhance collective deterrence and collective strength. And that is so important for peace and security," she said. When asked by the media what her views were on Trump's proposal of spiking the defence budget of the NATO to 5 per cent, Wong said that they are on a pathway to increasing the defence budget, and it comes under AUKUS. Wong said that Rudd's effective working caused the AUKUS legislation to come to effect. "I think that is demonstrated, isn't it? I mean, we've seen the AUKUS legislation shepherded through. We've seen this visit organised. We've seen the invitation to the inauguration for both me and also Ambassador Rudd, and I think that speaks for itself," she said. AUKUS is the military technology partnership between Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States. Talking about Trump's proposal about NATO lifting defence spending to five per cent, she said that they were on a pathway of increasing the defence budget. "Look, we are on a pathway of increasing defence expenditure. That is the case. And a part of that is expenditure under the AUKUS agreement, which is a collaboration between the three countries in order to assure, amongst other things, assure stability and peace in the region, to assure deterrence and to enhance Australia's maritime capability. So, you know, we are on a trajectory which is seeing increasing defence spending. Our focus is very much on how do we continue to deliver on AUKUS, because we do believe that capability is so important for deterrence, which is the way in which you can secure peace," she said. As per ABC News, on January 16, Rubio appeared to have ended months of speculation on whether the Trump administration would back the AUKUS submarine deal, saying it will have Trump's strong support. (ANI) Paank, a Baloch human rights organization, denounced the forcible disappearance of two Baloch people, Jawad Baloch and Zubair Ahmed. These occurrences point to a pattern of human rights violations that require quick attention and responsibility, according to Paank , the human rights wing of the Baloch National Movement. Qudratullah Qambrani's son Jawad Baloch disappeared via force from Seon Sharif, Sindh, on January 17. After visiting the area with his companions, Jawad was allegedly abducted by armed people who were purportedly connected to Pakistani secret services. In Sindh and Balochistan, where enforced disappearances have become a common tragedy, as stated in the post shared by Paank on X. Zubair Ahmed, son of Yaqoob and a native of Pullabad in the Tump tehsil of Kech district was extrajudicially arrested in the Malir neighbourhood of Karachi on January 18, and then disappeared, according to a post on X by Paank. When Zubair, a labourer in Dubai, was subjected to this serious injustice, he was on leave in Balochistan. His disappearance serves as another example of how Baloch people, including those living overseas, are often targeted. Global treaties and conventions guarantee essential human rights, such as the right to liberty and personal security, which are violated by enforced disappearances. In the post, Paank demands the unconditional and safe release of Zubair Ahmed, Jawad Baloch, and all other people who have vanished. These instances should be investigated independently in order to find and prosecute the offenders. Pakistani authorities must uphold the rule of law by defending everyone's fundamental rights and putting an end to enforced disappearances. The Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) previously released information about two children who were taken by force by Pakistani state authorities. The BYC strongly condemned the incident, pointing out that the abduction of children demonstrates the radical increase in the tyranny of the Baloch people. In a post on X it shared the details, stating that the kids, Shahnawaz and Yousaf were on their way to collect food when they were abducted. While one kid was released, who endured severe "physical and mental torture", the other child continues to remain in the illegal custody of the Pakistani forces. (ANI) Founder and chairman of Hindus for America First PAC, Utsav Sanduja, spoke about the growing support for US President-elect Donald Trump from the Indian American community, stating that the backing from the community grew from 22 per cent in 2020 to 31 per cent in 2024. Speaking to ANI during the Presidential Inauguration Hindu Gala hosted by the American Hindu Coalition on Sunday, Sanduja stated that the Hindus for America First PAC group had worked across all seven battleground states during Trump's presidential campaign. He also expressed appreciation for Trump's attention to the concerns of Hindus in Bangladesh and hoped that the President would take action on the issue. "We were able to increase the popular support from 22 per cent to 31 per cent from the Indian American community, in contrast from 2020 to now, present in 2024, and we were in all the seven battleground states. President Trump loves all Americans...He's very concerned about Hindus in Bangladesh. I have been briefing his team about this for many months, and I'm so glad and grateful that President Trump cares about this issue. I'm hoping he will act. He will do something to implement on this file, and I have a lot of faith in the president," Sanduja said. He emphasised the unity seen among people from various backgrounds in supporting Trump and noted that the welfare of all people was a shared concern, with efforts being made to bring about positive change. "We saw that a lot of people from different walks of life, different religions, and different races all came together in unity to support the President of the United States of America. Everyone is concerned about the welfare of our people, and they are working very diligently and hard to do some great things. I think the real highlight was just that everyone can come together in a show of force for this president, and there's a good future for all of us," he added. Sanduja attended the event, which was the first of its kind in US history with a focus on Hinduism, according to a statement by the American Hindu Coalition (AHC). The event was held at a ballroom of The Mayflower Hotel, located just a few blocks from The White House. This gathering represented an effort to celebrate diversity and cultural heritage while fostering unity among communities. Notably, members of the Latino community also joined hands with the AHC to support this momentous occasion. "All I have to say is we have got to take America back again, and Trump did it," said a Latino supporter at the gala. Donald Trump will be sworn in as the 47th President of the United States at the US Capitol in Washington DC, on Monday (local time). He has previously served as the 45th president between 2017 and 2021. (ANI) Press Release January 20, 2025 Senate adopts resolution commending two uniformed personnel The Senate on Monday, January 20, 2025 adopted Senate Resolution No. 1270 commending Police Senior Master Sergeant Ryan Mariano and Correction Officer 1 Melvin Cabanal Magnaye of the Bureau of Corrections for their bravery and dedication to protect the public. "There is no greater amount of nobility than to give one's life to protect another. However, we would always want and pray that in the process of keeping others from harm, our law enforcers live and tell the tale," Sen. Ronald "Bato" Dela Rosa said. "Having witnessed the heroism and courage of Mariano and Magnaye, I am honored to stand here today to sponsor Proposed Senate Resolution No. 1270," he added. Based on the report, on December 31, 2024, PSMS Mariano, who was rendering covert duty at a church, was wounded after two gunmen appeared and opened fire at him in Barangay Ayala in Zamboanga City. The suspect was identified as Haber Tating who had a standing warrant of arrest for two counts of murder while his companion has yet to be identified. CO1 Magnaye, upon witnessing that the victim PSMS Mariano was in imminent danger, immediately stopped his vehicle and positioned it strategically to serve as a shield and cover for an innocent victim caught in the crossfire and immediately brought him to Labuan General Hospital for Immediate medical attention. "It is one thing to perform one's duty, to execute the tasks demanded of us by the very jobs we have sworn to fulfill. However, it is another thing altogether to rise above the bare minimum and to do even more than what is required in one's occupation. It is even more noteworthy if and when such an act of going beyond one's duty also comes at the cost of one's own security and safety," the senator stated in his resolution. "The gallantry of both PSMS Mariano and CO1 Magnaye displayed not only their ability to swiftly perform their sworn duty of ensuring public safety, but also their ability to go well beyond it, and thus deserves recognition. Their unwavering dedication serves as an inspiration to all uniformed personnel in upholding their respective mandates within as well as beyond the call of duty," he pointed out. (Senate Public Relations and Information Bureau) Tesla CEO Elon Musk hailed US President-Elect Donald Trump's decision to not ban Chinese social media app TikTok. Musk believed TikTok ban went against freedom of speech. He, however flagged off an imbalance, stating that though TikTok is allowed to operate in the US, X is banned in China. In a post on X, he said, "I have been against a TikTok ban for a long time, because it goes against freedom of speech. That said, the current situation where TikTok is allowed to operate in America, but X is not allowed to operate in China is unbalanced. Something needs to change." https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1880975630646612254 Earlier on April 19, Musk had opposed the ban on TikTok, even though he said the ban would have benefitted X. "In my opinion, TikTok should not be banned in the USA, even though such a ban may benefit the X platform. Doing so would be contrary to freedom of speech and expression. It is not what America stands for." https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1781387457193230338 Earlier in the day, President-elect Donald Trump said that he agreed to "approve" TikTok on the condition that the USA will own 50 per cent of the Chinese app to "save" American jobs and prevent "our business" going to the communist nation. Earlier, the Chinese short-form video service app expressed gratitude to Trump for "providing the necessary clarity and assurance," and confirmed that it is in the process of restoring service in the United States after Trump pledged to restore access to TikTok, which had stopped functioning in the US on Saturday night to comply with the Biden dispensation's ban order. Speaking at the Make America Great Again (MAGA) Victory Rally at the Capitol One Arena, Trump stated, "We need to save TikTok because we have to save a lot of jobs. We don't want to give our business to China... I agreed to approve TikTok on the condition that the USA will own 50 per cent of TikTok..."Further, he also highlighted the impact of his leadership, referring to it as the "Trump Effect," which he said has led to unexpected results even before taking office. "Before even taking office, you are seeing results no one expected to see. Everyone is calling it the 'Trump Effect.' It's you. You are the effect," Trump told rally attendees."We are going to restore patriotism to our schools, get radical left and woke ideologies out of our military and government. We are going to Make America Great Again," he added. (ANI) As the global push for clean energy intensifies, the demand for rare earth elements--critical for renewable energy technologies--continues to surge. India, the world's third-largest carbon emitter, is transitioning rapidly to renewable energy but faces a significant challenge: its dependence on imports to meet the growing demand for rare earths. To reduce its reliance on China, India has been diversifying its supply sources through agreements with nations in the US, Latin America, and Africa. Among these efforts, Kazakhstan, with its abundant rare earth resources and proximity, is emerging as a strategically valuable partner. Kazakhstan's potential to bolster global rare earth supplies aligns with India's goal to establish a more reliable and geographically closer supply chain. This collaboration could strengthen bilateral ties between the two nations while supporting the global push for a sustainable energy future. Despite being the fifth-largest holder of rare earth reserves, India lacks the advanced extraction technologies required for self-sufficiency. This has made the country vulnerable to supply chain disruptions, especially as China remains a dominant player in the rare earth sector. Concerns over security and supply reliability have intensified New Delhi's search for diverse sources, with Kazakhstan emerging as a key option. India recently secured a deal with Argentina to source rare earth metals, highlighting its efforts to expand its supplier base. Meanwhile, discussions between Kazakh officials and international partners have increasingly focused on rare earth resources, underscoring Kazakhstan's potential role in addressing global demand. Kazakhstan's vast reserves and its proximity to India make it an attractive partner for addressing critical gaps in India's rare earth supply chain. The country is well-positioned to supply these essential materials, which are integral to industries ranging from renewable energy and electronics to defense and nuclear technology. Rare earth metals play a crucial role in various industries. These elements, often used as metal oxides, serve as alloying additives in steel and other materials, gas absorbers in electronic devices, and components for magnetic materials, igniter mixtures, and catalysts. They are also essential in manufacturing specialized glass, ceramics, and hydrogen storage materials. Recognizing their strategic importance, India has proposed the establishment of an India-Central Asia Rare Earths Forum during the Second India-Central Asia National Security Advisors (NSAs) meeting. This initiative aims to foster transparent and mutually beneficial partnerships, addressing the critical role of rare earths in achieving sustainable, low-carbon growth. Central Asia boasts vast reserves of critical minerals. The region accounts for 38.6 per cent of the world's manganese ore, 30.07 per cent of its chromium, 20 per cent of its lead, 12.6 per cent of its zinc, and 8.7 per cent of its titanium. These resources position Central Asia as a strategic powerhouse in the global minerals market. Kazakhstan's President, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, has described critical minerals as the "new oil," emphasizing their importance to the global economy. This abundance has attracted the attention of global powers, creating a dynamic and competitive geopolitical landscape. India's energy needs remain substantial, with specific regions facing energy shortfalls. Collaboration with Central Asia could unlock immense potential, but logistical challenges--particularly the transportation of resources from this landlocked region to India--must be addressed to realize the full benefits of this partnership. The proposed Rare Earths Forum aims to overcome these challenges while capitalizing on shared opportunities, ensuring a sustainable and mutually beneficial future for India and Central Asia. (ANI) The author, who has a PhD in Buddhist History, is a young scholar. He is working as Assistant Professor, Department of History, Satyawati College, University of Delhi. The Degree College in Chinari, located in Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK), has become the centre of a growing dispute over land encroachment, as a powerful land mafia threatens to undermine the institution's future. The absence of a boundary wall around the college ground has left the area vulnerable to illegal occupation by influential individuals. They have reportedly constructed illegal pillars on the college property, further complicating the situation. Muhammad Adil, a student at the college, expressed the collective frustration of his peers, saying, "We will not accept this mafia occupation. This is the future of our generations. As long as the government officials do not visit this place, we will continue our protest." He and other students argue that this issue is not just about their own education but about ensuring a secure and peaceful environment for future students as well. The college administration's failure to secure the premises has allowed for encroachment on the ground, which has become a common issue. "Someone, whether a landlord or a political figure, always tries to take control of the ground," Adil added. He specifically pointed out that the administration had left an 8-foot path for local residents but emphasised that any encroachment beyond this would not be tolerated. Kashif, another student, voiced concerns about the deteriorating environment at the college. "The environment is chaotic. Vehicles drive onto the premises, creating noise and disturbance. I struggle to concentrate on my studies because of this. The administration must build a boundary wall, and the illegal pillars should be removed immediately," he said. The ongoing protest reflects the frustration of students who are demanding urgent action from both the local administration and the government. Without proper intervention, the future of the college remains uncertain, and the students are determined to ensure that the educational grounds remain a safe and conducive space for learning. The situation remains unresolved as students continue their protest, awaiting government action to safeguard their college's future and ensure that the land mafia's encroachment is brought to an end. (ANI) Muscat [Oman], January 20 (ANI/WAM): Sayyid Badr Hamad Al Busaidi, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Oman, received today Saqr Ghobash, Speaker of the Federal National Council (FNC), who is on an official visit to Oman heading a parliamentary delegation. The meeting, held at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs premises, focused on the growing strategic partnership between the UAE and Oman, which continues to strengthen across all sectors. They also reviewed issues of mutual interest and recent regional developments and reaffirmed the two nations' commitment to enhancing security, peace, and stability in the region and globally. Both sides underscored the UAE-Oman strong and deeply rooted ties, which are supported by the leadership of President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Sultan Haitham bin Tariq of Oman. Ghobash highlighted the significance of reciprocal visits between officials of both nations at various levels, noting that this visit reflects the UAE's and the FNC's keenness to advance cooperation in diverse fields, particularly in parliamentary coordination. He emphasised the role of parliamentary diplomacy as a cornerstone of foreign policy, especially in light of current regional and global developments. He also commended Oman's efforts in promoting regional and global peace and stability, which align with the UAE's values of tolerance, cooperation, and working with sisterly and friendly countries to achieve shared prosperity and security. Al Busaidi, in turn, reaffirmed the depth of the partnership between Oman and the UAE, wishing the UAE continued progress and prosperity under the leadership of President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. (ANI/WAM) Abu Dhabi [UAE], January 20 (ANI/WAM): Abu Dhabi has been ranked first on the world's safest cities list in 2025, the ninth consecutive year it has topped the list since 2017, according to online database Numbeo, reflecting the emirate's efforts to develop pioneering security plans, strategies and initiatives. Ranking first out of 382 global cities in the 2025 standings, Abu Dhabi has held Numbeo's title of the world's safest city for almost a decade, which reflects the emirate's ongoing efforts to enhance the quality of life for citizens, residents and visitors. Promotion by Abu Dhabi Police of the sense of safety and security in the city, while strengthening the trust of community members, has contributed to Abu Dhabi's recognition in the Numbeo list, reinforcing the city's position as a preferred place to study, work and live. (ANI/WAM) Alipov said that Doval is a genuine well-wisher of the Russia India partnership. In a post on X, Alipov said, "Cordial felicitations to India's National Security Advisor Shri Ajit Doval ji on his 80th jubilee! Best wishes to a prominent statesman known for his strategic acumen & extensive expertise in security matters and a genuine well-wisher of the Russia India partnership!" https://x.com/AmbRus_India/status/1881228856927146158 Notably, the inaugural India-Malaysia Security Dialogue was held in New Delhi on January 7, co-chaired by Ajit Doval, National Security Adviser to the Prime Minister of India, and Raja Dato Nushirwan Bin Zainal Abidin, Director General of the National Security Council of Malaysia, an official press release by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) stated. This high-level meeting marked a significant step in strengthening bilateral cooperation in security and defence between the two nations. During the dialogue, both sides discussed the global and regional security landscape and assessed their ongoing partnerships in the areas of security, defence, and maritime operations. Key agreements were reached to enhance collaboration in counter-terrorism, de-radicalisation, cyber security, defence industries, and maritime security, as per the official MEA press release. Additionally, they explored opportunities for joint efforts in the critical minerals and rare earths sectors. A major outcome of the meeting was the decision to institutionalise the dialogue through annual meetings, ensuring continuity and progress in bilateral engagements. This dialogue stems from the August 2024 visit of Prime Minister of Malaysia Dato Seri Anwar Ibrahim to India at the invitation of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the press release stated. During that visit, the bilateral relationship was elevated to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, reflecting both nations' commitment to deepening ties across multiple domains. Strengthening security cooperation was a key focus of the leaders' discussions, which laid the groundwork for this historic meeting. (ANI) Amid allegations of counterfeit vaccines being administered to travellers and pilgrims at the International Vaccination Centre (IVC) in Polyclinic, the hospital's spokesperson clarified that the facility does not procure vaccines for travellers, Dawn reported. The spokesperson stated that individuals purchase vaccines from the open market and bring them to the IVC for administration. "The fact is almost 70 to 80 people, intending to travel abroad, daily approach the IVC for the issuance of the international travel vaccination card. As we are not authorised to procure vaccines, so travellers purchase the vaccine from the open market and bring it to the IVC established in Polyclinic. We administer the vaccine, and after removing the sticker from the bottle of the vaccine, paste it on the vaccination card. Therefore, it is unfair to allege that the hospital is administering the counterfeit vaccines," the spokesperson told media representatives. In response to the allegations, the hospital administration initially considered discontinuing the vaccination service but decided against it, recognising the potential challenges this would create for travellers, reported Dawn. "To determine the efficacy and genuineness of the vaccine is beyond the scope of the hospital. Furthermore, no adverse reaction has been reported after getting such service from Polyclinic," the spokesperson added. The controversy arose following reports from the federal drug inspector indicating that counterfeit vaccines were being sold in the open market, particularly to individuals planning to travel to Saudi Arabia. These vaccines were brought to Polyclinic's IVC for administration, where travellers also received their international vaccination cards, Dawn reported. A senior officer of the Ministry of National Health Services (NHS), speaking anonymously, confirmed the issue of counterfeit vaccines being sold in the federal capital. "The Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (Drap) and the federal drug inspectors are responsible to take action against the medical stores of the federal capital which are involved in selling the counterfeit vaccine. On the other hand, Polyclinic staff cannot identify the counterfeit vaccine, so there are strong chances that if vaccines would be sold in the open market, it would be administered to international travellers," the official explained. The official acknowledged the overlapping responsibilities of Drap, federal drug inspectors, and Polyclinic under the health ministry, complicating accountability in addressing the issue. (ANI) The East Turkistan Genocide Recognition and Remembrance Day was commemorated on January 19, by the East Turkistan Government in Exile (ETGE), in remembrance of the millions of Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, and other Turkic peoples who suffered alleged atrocities by China. In a post on X, the ETGE honoured those who have suffered and lost their lives, the day served as a call to action for immediate international action to address what ETGE claims is the primary cause of the crisis--Chinese colonization and occupation of East Turkistan. The sovereign East Turkistan Republic was overthrown by the Chinese Communist regime on October 12, 1949, 75 years ago, as per the post shared by ETGE. According to ETGE, East Turkistan has since been facing harsh repression, cultural absorption, and unrelenting colonization. They point out that the most heinous phase of this campaign occurred in May 2014, when Chinese President Xi Jinping reportedly stated his intention to "wipe them out completely, destroy them root and branch, break their lineage, break their roots, break their connections, and break their origins...show them absolutely no mercy." By 2025, millions of Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, and other Turkic peoples would still be imprisoned in contemporary concentration camps, compelled to work, and denied their fundamental human rights, the post claims. East Turkistan has the highest incarceration rate in the world, with more than 580,000 people serving terms ranging from five years to life in jail. Nearly a million children have been taken from their homes and placed in state-run facilities for brainwashing, and hundreds of thousands of women have been forced to get sterilized. The ETGE also emphasized how China's drive to eradicate the identity and legacy of East Turkistan's indigenous peoples has resulted in the demolition of more than 16,000 mosques and other cultural heritage monuments. Furthermore, ETGE has characterized state-sponsored forced marriages of Uyghur and Turkic women to Chinese men and forced abortions totalling more than 3.7 million as efforts to systematically eradicate their ethnic identity. The ETGE urged countries to denounce China's genocidal tactics and formally acknowledge its unlawful occupation of East Turkistan. Citing genocide and crimes against humanity, they called on world powers to use international courts to make China responsible for its deeds. Since justice, freedom, and sovereignty are crucial to putting a stop to the genocide, ETGE supports East Turkistan's right to external self-determination and independence. ETGE urged other countries, especially those who support freedom and human rights, to support East Turkistan in its fight, stressing that remaining silent amounts to complicity. (ANI) Karachi's water supply has been significantly disrupted following a power failure at the Dhabeji pumping station. The incident, caused by an explosion during the breakdown, resulted in the rupture of two major pipelines, halting water delivery to several areas across the city. One of the affected pipelines, measuring 72 inches in diameter, was Pipeline No 5, The Express Tribune reported. The affected areas include Landhi, Korangi, Shah Latif Town, Korangi Town Ship, Gulshan-e-Iqbal, Gulshan-e-Hadeed, Malir, and several others. These neighborhoods are now experiencing acute water shortages. In response, the Power Division instructed K-Electric to take urgent measures to restore power to the pumping station. A spokesperson from the Power Division emphasised the criticality of resuming water supply to Karachi and called for K-Electric to "upgrade the water supply system and prevent such incidents in the future." In contrast, a K-Electric spokesperson assured the public that power supply to all major pumping stations, including Dhabeji, was functioning normally after a brief disruption. The spokesperson stated, "The electricity supply to all major pumping stations, including Dhabeji, has already been restored. Our team is actively coordinating with the Water Board to ensure smooth operations." Meanwhile, ongoing delays in upgrading the B-Feeder canal have added to fears of a worsening water crisis in Karachi. The canal's lining work, which was halted for 23 days between December 20 and January 13, has significantly fallen behind schedule. During this period, only 25 outlets covering five kilometres were partially completed out of an expected 45 outlets covering eight kilometres, reported The Express Tribune. This delay threatens progress on the K-IV water supply project, a major initiative to enhance Karachi's water delivery capacity. The project, jointly funded by the federal and Sindh governments at an estimated cost of PKR 40 billion, aims to increase the discharge capacity of the Kalri Baghar feeder from 7,600 cusecs to 9,800 cusecs. The World Bank, which has tied its funding to the feeder's capacity increase, requires the project to be completed by 2026, a year earlier than initially planned. The Sindh Chief Minister has written to the federal government requesting an additional PKR 14 billion to expedite progress, with assurances that the funding will be allocated within 15 days. However, experts remain sceptical about meeting the revised deadline. "The delays are alarming," they noted, highlighting the significant backlog in construction and management issues. Additionally, the project's leadership is under scrutiny. The appointment of the project director has been challenged in the Sindh High Court, casting further uncertainty over the K-IV project's timely completion, The Express Tribune reported. Despite these setbacks, authorities remain optimistic that with adequate funding and expedited efforts, the project will eventually meet its objectives. (ANI) Academic activities in universities across Pakistan's Sindh province have been suspended for the fifth consecutive day as protests continue against the appointment of bureaucrats as vice-chancellors. According to reports by Geo News, the Federation of All Pakistan Academic Staff Association Sindh (Fapuasa) started the boycott on January 16, voicing strong opposition to the government's decision to place bureaucrats in leadership positions. As a result, teaching activities have been disrupted in more than 17 universities, including the University of Karachi. Fapuasa has condemned the proposed amendments to the Universities Act, which would permit non-academics and bureaucrats to assume vice-chancellor roles. Geo News reported that the association is demanding the immediate withdrawal of these amendments, arguing that such measures undermine the autonomy of academic institutions and threaten the quality of higher education. Fapuasa has called for province-wide protests, observing a black day and holding general body meetings. The association has also instructed its members to organise press conferences and rallies at their respective universities to escalate opposition to what they describe as the government's "anti-education policies", reported Geo News. Additionally, Fapuasa plans to hold a formal press conference to announce a complete boycott of academic activities across all public universities in Sindh. Fapuasa leaders criticised the government for continuing to support appointments of non-permanent faculty and bureaucrats, calling this practice a disregard for academic integrity and merit-based leadership. The association insisted that such decisions are detrimental to the future of higher education in Pakistan. Meanwhile, the Higher Education Commission (HEC) has also expressed concern over the appointment of bureaucrats and non-PhDs as vice-chancellors, highlighting that these decisions compromise university autonomy and academic standards. As reported by Geo News, Fapuasa has reaffirmed its commitment to protecting academic freedom and meritocracy, urging the government to reverse its policies. The association has warned that any further attempts to politicise or bureaucratise university leadership will face unified resistance from Sindh's academic community. (ANI) Pakistan government has decided against forming judicial commission to investigate May 9 2023 violene, which erupted after the arrest of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan, ARY News reported, citing sources. PTI has been demanding the formation of judicial commission to probe the violence, they had handed a written demand to the government during their third round of talks. As per ARY News sources, Pakistan government has prepared a reply against PTI's demand. "Judicial commission cannot be formed on under trial cases," the govt committee reply read, as per ARY News sources. "Challans in the May 9 riot cases have been submitted and there is no political prisoner in Pakistan", the answer finalsied by the government for PTI read. Pakistan government will hand the rely to PTI during fourth round of talks, ARY News sources added. Earlier, PTI has set a deadline for the Pakistani government to establish an impartial judicial commission by January 31 to investigate the events of May 9 2023. PTI has warned that the peace talks will not move forward unless this demand is met, The Express Tribune reported on January 13. A member of PTI's Negotiation Committee, Sahibzada Hamid Raza made the statement after meeting PTI founder Imran Khan at Adiala Jail and said, "The government now holds the responsibility. We have already shown significant flexibility," as quoted by The Express Tribune. Raza emphasised that the government must come prepared for the next meeting with a concrete plan to form the judicial commission. "We are not asking for a commission with judges of our choice, but for the most senior judges of the Supreme Court who can conduct an investigation and identify those responsible for both incidents," he said, as quoted by The Express Tribune. Violent clashes erupted in Pakistan after Imran Khan was arrested on May 9, 2023. The protests were held in remote and major cities as PTI workers were angry over the arrest of the party founder, with Balochistan, Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Islamabad summoning the armed forces to ensure law and order. Army installations, including the Corps Commander's house in Lahore, were attacked during the protests held by PTI workers. Notably, Imran Khan is named as the main accused in the May 9 riots case. (ANI) A resident of Weaver Colony in Ghulam Muhammadabad has been arrested by Pakistan's Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) for posing as a member of a terrorist group to extort money from a local citizen, The Express Tribune reported. The suspect, identified as Iftikhar, reportedly threw a threatening letter into the house of the victim, Javed, warning that his wife and children would be kidnapped unless a ransom was paid. The letter sparked fear and led to a formal complaint being filed with the police. The letter left by the suspect threatened the victim's family with abduction if the demanded money was not delivered. Following the incident, the police initially registered a case against unknown individuals involved in the extortion attempt. City Police Officer Kamran Adil then referred the case to the CTD, suspecting that a banned organisation might be involved, given the nature of the threat. This move prompted further investigation and led to the swift involvement of the CTD District Officer, Jamshed Iqbal, in the case, as per reports by The Express Tribune. After reviewing CCTV footage, the CTD team managed to identify the suspect, Iftikhar, and took him into custody for questioning. During his interrogation, Iftikhar admitted to the crime, stating that he had resorted to such drastic measures due to financial difficulties. He confessed that the threat and demand for money were purely a result of his financial hardship. Iftikhar had reportedly demanded that the extortion money be left under a tree at a graveyard. This unusual request raised further suspicions and indicated that the suspect had carefully planned the crime to avoid detection. After completing their investigation, the CTD officials handed Iftikhar over to the Ghulam Muhammadabad police for further legal action, The Express Tribune reported. Sources within the police stated that the suspect, who has two wives and children from both marriages, had used the extortion scheme in an attempt to resolve his financial troubles. (ANI) Chief Advisor to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, Awanish Kumar Awasthi, and his delegation on Monday, briefed the foreign media on the various facets of the Maha Kumbh 2025 and its cultural, spiritual and digital significance. Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal was also present on the occasion. In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Randhir Jaiswal stated, "#Mahakumbh- confluence of spirituality & modern technology. Shri Awanish Kumar Awasthi, Chief Advisor to CM Uttar Pradesh & his delegation, briefed the foreign media today @MEAIndia on the various facets of the Maha Kumbh 2025 and its cultural, spiritual & digital significance." Devotees from India and across the world have flocked to Prayagraj to take the holy dip and delve into spiritual practices and sermons during the Maha Kumbh Mela. The Maha Kumbh Mela commenced on January 13 and will continue until February 26. More than 4.4 million devotees took a holy dip on the eighth day of the Kumbh Mela till 2 pm on Monday. As of January 20, more than 80 million pilgrims have taken a dip at the Sangam Triveni during the Maha Kumbh 2025. Furthermore, more than one million Kalpvasis have embraced the spiritual retreat during the Maha Kumbh. Over 2.2 million pilgrims visited the Mela on Monday morning as of 8 am, according to official data released. On January 19, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath inspected the ongoing Maha Kumbh Mela in Prayagraj, and said everyone is working with full commitment to implement the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. "The vision implemented by the Prime Minister for Mahakumbh is being followed by everyone. During the time of Paush Purnima and Makar Sankranti, the main baths were completed...I tried to see what was going in Kumbh by roaming around. There is devotion and faith and all the ghats are pure and filled with devotees," CM Yogi said at the event. He further said that the picture of India that is being presented today gives a message of 'unity' and to be free from the division of caste. "This picture of India gives us a message to be free from the division of caste...it gives us a message of unity. People are chanting 'Har Har Gange' and taking holy dips. Prayagraj's message of unity will clear the path for building the Akhand Bharat," the Chief Minister added. Maha Kumbh is one of the largest and most significant religious congregation in the world, held every 12 years at one of four locations in India. The next key 'snan' dates are: January 29 (Mauni Amavasya - Second Shahi Snan), February 3 (Basant Panchami - Third Shahi Snan), February 12 (Maghi Purnima), and February 26 (Maha Shivaratri). (ANI) The Myanmar military and the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) signed a formal ceasefire agreement, which came into effect on Saturday, halting the constant fighting, Chinese Foreign Ministry said on Monday as reported by Xinhua. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning claimed that China has mediated the peace talks between both parties in Kunming, China's Yunnan Province. Myanmar military and MNDAA came to an agreement after the seventh round of the peace talks. As per Xinhua, Mao Ning said easing of the tensions in northern Myanmar is common interests of various parties in Myanmar and regional nations, and will contribute to the security, stability and development of the China-Myanmar border area. Myanmar has been plagued by violence since the military overthrew the elected government of Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi in 2021. The coup sparked mass protests, which eventually escalated into a widespread armed rebellion, claiming thousands of lives, as per AL Jazeera. Mao Ning reaffirmed China's support to safeguard Myanmar's independence, sovereignty, national unity, and territorial integrity. China will continue to actively promote peace talks and provide support and assistance for the peace process in northern Myanmar," she said. The military has been struggling to fight opposition to its rule on multiple fronts around the country, and several areas have now fallen under the control of different rebel groups. Myanmar's economy has been struggling and the military has banned dozens of political parties. According to AL Jazeera, the UN had urged all parties adhere to their obligations under international humanitarian law. It also called on all parties "to guarantee unimpeded humanitarian access to deliver aid to the most vulnerable". In the first week on January, UN said more than 3.5 million people have been displaced by the conflict in Myanmar - an increase of 1.5 million from last year, the AL Jazeera reported. (ANI) The Dhabeji pumping station, a crucial facility managed by the Karachi Water and Sewerage Corporation (KWSC), provides water to several areas of the city. KE assured the public that the power system remains stable and continues to support uninterrupted power delivery. The KE spokesperson further clarified that all major pumping stations, including Dhabeji, are exempt from load-shedding, ensuring that essential services like water supply remain unaffected. In emergencies, the company uses alternative power sources to maintain operations. KE teams also stay in constant contact with KW&SB representatives to address any potential issues swiftly, reported ARY News. Earlier this month, Karachi had faced a water shortfall of 100 million gallons, largely due to annual maintenance work at the Dhabeji station. In December, parts of Karachi, including Clifton, Gulshan-i-Iqbal, and Liaquatabad, also experienced a severe water shortage, which lasted for several days. The issue was worsened by the rupture of a major pipeline on University Road, leading to flooding and disrupting traffic, compounding the hardship for residents and commuters. Earlier today, a power failure at the Dhabeji pumping station disrupted water supply to several areas of Karachi. The incident, caused by an explosion during the breakdown, resulted in the rupture of two pipelines, including a major 72-inch diameter pipeline, Dawn reported. Affected areas include Landhi, Korangi, and Shah Latif Town. In response, the Power Division directed K-Electric to restore power immediately, stressing the urgency of resuming water supply. ' KE quickly restored the electricity supply to major pumping stations and confirmed that "the team is actively coordinating with the Water Board to ensure smooth operations." (ANI) People expressed enthusiasm as they gathered outside the US Capitol Rotunda building, where US President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration is scheduled to be held Monday. Speaking with ANI, an excited US citizen expressed his love for the President-elect Donald Trump. "I love Trump. We got to win this country back and we're taking it back today. Today we're gonna sign so many executive orders and we're going rock this place. I'm so happy to be here, my family is here and we are so happy that Trump won," he said Another US citizen expressed her excitement, saying, "I am here, ready to get into the arena. We are getting in. So excited! Four more years of Trump. The stage is set for a grand ceremony leading up to US President-elect Donald Trump's swearing-in on Monday. The events are set to begin with Trump's departure to St John's Church and offering of service. He will then go to the Blair House, The President's Guest House. At North Portico, the US President Joe Biden and the First Lady Jill Biden will first welcome Vice President Kamala Harris and Second Gentleman Douglas Emhoff and then President-Elect Donald Trump and his wife Melania. First, the Vice President-Elect JD Vance will take his oath to office, followed by Trump. The grand swearing-in will be followed by Trump's remarks. A formal farewell ceremony of Biden and Harris is set to take place, and then Trump and Vance will have the signing room ceremony. The signing ceremony is one of the first official actions taken by the newly sworn President of the United States. They occur in the President's Room just off the Senate Chamber in the US Capitol. After the departure of the former President and First Lady, the new President gathers there with aides and Members of Congress to sign nominations and sometimes memorandums, proclamations, or executive orders. This tradition began in 1981, with former US President Ronald Reagan. Prior to that time, nominations were often submitted to the Senate on Inauguration Day without ceremony.After that the luncheon is set to take place, and then the review of the troops. Donald Trump and his wife, Melania, will then head to the Capitol Hill as the parade would begin. There will be a signing ceremony in the Oval Office followed by the President's arrival at the Convention Center. Trump will then deliver informal remarks and take part in the first dance in at the Liberty Ball, followed by the Commander in Chief ball, and the United Station ball. The President will then depart for the White House. (ANI) A Taiwanese delegation has returned to Taiwan after sustaining minor injuries in a car accident in Palau on Friday night. The delegation had been in Palau to attend the inauguration of Palauan President Surangel Whipps Jr, Taipei Times reported. Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed that all injured members received medical treatment and were discharged after a short stay at the hospital. The incident occurred around 9 pm local time on Friday when the vehicle transporting the delegates was involved in a road accident. The injured delegates were quickly taken to Belau National Hospital, where they received medical attention. Fortunately, none of the injuries were serious, and all members of the delegation were expected to recover. Among those in the delegation were Shin Kong Hospital president Hou Sheng-mou and Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Lin Ching-yi, both medical doctors who were able to assist in caring for the injured. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not disclose how many delegates were injured but confirmed that Palau's police were investigating the accident, reported Taipei Times. Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung, who led the delegation, and Palauan Minister of State Gustav Aitaro also visited the hospital to check on the injured individuals. The delegation had travelled to Palau to attend the inauguration of President Whipps and offer congratulations on his re-election for a second term. Following their treatment, all injured members of the delegation were discharged and returned to Taiwan on Saturday. Lin, on behalf of President William Lai, had led the visit to express Taiwan's support for Whipps, who has been a strong advocate for Taiwan since taking office in 2021, Taipei Tiems reported. Palau is one of the few countries maintaining diplomatic relations with Taiwan, resisting pressure from Beijing to switch allegiance. Whipps won a second term after defeating former president Tommy Remengesau Jr in the November 2024 election. (ANI) External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will represent Prime Minister Narendra Modi as his Special Envoy at the inaugural function of President Donald Trump in Washington DC today. The External Affairs Minister is carrying a letter from the Prime Minister for President Trump, sources said. They said that the general practice has been to send Special Envoys of the Prime Minister to attend the swearing-in ceremony of Heads of State and Government. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh attended the swearing-in ceremony of the President of Nigeria in May 2023 and the then Minister of Earth Sciences Kiren Rijiju attended the swearing-in ceremony of the President of Maldives in November 2023. Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari attended the swearing-in ceremony of the new President of Iran in July 2024. Minister of State for External Minister Pabitra Margherita attended the swearing in ceremony of the President of Indonesia and of the President of Mexico in October last year. The then Minister for External Affairs Raj Kumar Ranjan Singh had attended the swearing in ceremony of the President of the Phillippines in June 2022. Meanwhile, people have started to gather outside the US Capitol Rotunda building, where US President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration is scheduled to be held today. Republican leader Donald Trump will take oath as the 47th US President. It will be his second term in office. The ceremonial event is set to take place on Monday, approximately two weeks after Trump's electoral college win was certified by the US Congress. The stage is set for a grand ceremony leading up to US President-elect Donald Trump's swearing-in on Monday. The events are set to begin with Trump's departure to St John's Church and offering of service. He will then go to the Blair House, The President's Guest House. At North Portico, the US President Joe Biden and the First Lady Jill Biden will first welcome Vice President Kamala Harris and Second Gentleman Douglas Emhoff and then President-Elect Donald Trump and his wife Melania. Vice President-Elect JD Vance will take his oath to office, followed by Trump. The grand swearing-in will be followed by Trump's remarks. A formal farewell ceremony of Biden and Harris is set to take place, and then Trump and Vance will have the signing room ceremony. The signing ceremony is one of the first official actions taken by the newly sworn President of the United States. They occur in the President's Room just off the Senate Chamber in the US Capitol. After the departure of the former President and First Lady, the new President gathers there with aides and Members of Congress to sign nominations and sometimes memorandums, proclamations, or executive orders. This tradition began in 1981, with former US President Ronald Reagan. (ANI) The criminal records of the domestic helpers have been made public to caution the citizens of Karachi. The list, issued by the government, includes photographs, mobile numbers, and addresses of the suspects involved in various robbery cases, ARY News reported. According to Karachi Police, the listed suspects have operated in organized manner to commit crimes in the past. Authorities revealed that most of these domestic helpers were hired without undergoing mandatory police verification. Karachi Police advised citizens to avoid hiring these domestic helpers and ensure proper document verification before any staff. Police officials stressed that registering domestic employees with the local police station helps in promptly apprehending suspects if needed. On November 18, last year, a domestic worker abducted his employer's eight-year-old daughter in Faisalabad's Paharnang area, ARY News reported. The suspect, identified as Hidayatullah, a resident of Kotli, lured the child and abducted her. He fled from the scene on his bike Maqsood Ahmed, the father of the abducted girl reported that the child was playing outside the home when the worker took her away. Crime has been on surge in Karachi as 5,960 incidents reported in August of last year alone, ARY News reported. According to a report by the Citizens-Police Liaison Committee (CPLC), 23 cars were also stolen at gunpoint, and a total of 150 vehicles were reported stolen in August. The report also highlights that motorcycles are a common target, with 656 stolen and 3,385 reportedly taken from various parts of the city this year so far. Additionally, 1,737 mobile phones were snatched from citizens, and there were reports of 3 kidnapping-for-ransom incidents and 6 extortion cases. (ANI) US President-elect Donald Trump and his family arrived at the St, Johns Episcopal Church to attend a church service ahead of his inauguration as the 47th President of the United States. From its organization as a parish in 1815, St. John's, has been a powerful symbol of faith in the heart of the US capital. Steeped in a rich history its is dubbed the "Church of the Presidents." The ceremonial proceedings are set to take place at the US Capitol Rotunda, where Trump will take the oath of office today, roughly two weeks after his electoral college victory was officially certified by Congress. After this Church Servic President-elect Trump and his family will attend a service before proceeding to Blair House, the President's Guest House. Following this, a formal welcome ceremony will take place at the North Portico. US President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden will greet Vice President Kamala Harris and her husband, Second Gentleman Douglas Emhoff, before welcoming President-elect Trump and First Lady Melania Trump. Vice President-elect JD Vance will be sworn in first, followed by Donald Trump, who will take the oath of office and deliver his inaugural address. After the swearing-in, President Trump will take part in the signing ceremony in the President's Room, a tradition that began in 1981 with President Ronald Reagan. This event marks one of the first official actions of the newly sworn president, where he signs nominations and various memorandums or proclamations. Following the signing, a luncheon will be held, and Trump will take part in the review of the troops before heading to Capitol Hill to join the inaugural parade. Later, Trump and his wife will participate in a signing ceremony at the White House and deliver remarks at the Convention Centre. The evening will conclude with the first dance at the Liberty Ball, followed by participation in the Commander-in-Chief Ball and the United Station Ball. The day will end with Trump's return to the White House. (ANI) The Baloch American Congress has strongly condemned the violent actions taken against a peaceful rally in Karachi, led by prominent activist Sammi Deen Baloch. In a post on X, Baloch American Congress President Tara Chand, stated, "Pakistani intelligence agencies and police have engaged in violent and harassing actions in Karachi against the peaceful rally organised by the Baloch Yakjehti Committee, led by prominent Baloch leader Sammi Deen Baloch." He further emphasised, "The world is witnessing how these agencies are acting against the Baloch people, including women and children, and it is crucial for the international community to condemn these actions. The rally aimed to gather the masses in preparation for a public meeting scheduled in Dalbandin on January 25th, addressing the ongoing Baloch genocide perpetrated by Pakistan. Despite being a peaceful event with significant participation from women, the police responded with aggression, attacking, beating, and arresting Sammi Deen Baloch and other participants." More than two dozen leaders and workers of the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) were arrested on Saturday when police tried to disperse a march in Lyari, Dawn reported. City Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Arif Aziz said that 25 protesters were detained for their involvement in "anti-Pakistan activity." However, BYC activists claimed that the police initiated a "violent crackdown" and physically assaulted those participating in the march. The atrocities committed against the Baloch people by Pakistani state agencies, particularly the military and intelligence agencies and Military Intelligence, have been a focal point of human rights concerns for decades. The Baloch people, particularly in Balochistan -- Pakistan's southwestern province rich in natural resources have faced systematic repression, targeted violence, and human rights abuses by these agencies. One of the most significant human rights violations committed by Pakistani agencies in Balochistan is enforced disappearances. Thousands of Baloch activists, students, and even innocent civilians have gone missing, allegedly abducted by state agencies, including the ISI and military. (ANI) The operation, which spanned multiple locations in Selangor and Kuala Lumpur, led to the seizure of various drugs and weapons, marking a significant blow to the illicit trade network. Authorities confiscated a variety of drugs, including ecstasy, Erimin 5, cocaine, methamphetamine, ketamine, and heroin, all valued at approximately 118 million Malaysian ringgit (NTD 860 million). Additionally, firearms such as 15 handguns and a submachine gun, along with 900 rounds of ammunition, were recovered. The raids were conducted on Thursday in Shah Alam, Balakong, and Kepong. Police also seized five luxury cars, a forklift, and drug-manufacturing equipment. These materials were found in connection with the syndicate's operations, which involved sophisticated drug production processes. The firearms, authorities said, had been smuggled from Myanmar by an intermediary hired by one of the suspects. In a Sunday press conference, Selangor police confirmed that the suspects arrested were between the ages of 20 and 50. The 10 Taiwanese men, one Malaysian man, and one Thai woman had various roles within the operation, including that of "chemist," "runner," and "coordinator," reported Taiwan News. Notably, six of the Taiwanese suspects had previous criminal records related to drug offenses, murder, and fraud. The syndicate, which was predominantly composed of Taiwanese nationals, had been renting a factory in Malaysia for the purpose of manufacturing large quantities of illegal substances. The drugs were reportedly intended for smuggling to Japan and Cambodia, where they could generate substantial profits in the illegal markets. The investigation remains ongoing, with authorities determined to uncover the full extent of the syndicate's operations. Police are also continuing their efforts to apprehend additional individuals connected to the case, Taiwan News reported. The authorities are scrutinising the motives behind the smuggling activities, including the role of firearms in the operation. (ANI) External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar met with Japan's Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya on January 19, 2025, in Washington DC. This meeting marked the second face-to-face discussion between the two officials, following their earlier interaction during the G7 Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Italy in November 2024, an official press release by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) stated. "Good to meet with FM Takeshi Iwaya of Japan. Reviewed the progress in our bilateral cooperation. Also discussed developments pertaining to Quad," EAM Jaishankar posted on X. https://x.com/DrSJaishankar/status/1881111287650025761 During their bilateral talks, both Ministers focused on strengthening cooperation in several key areas, including political, security, economic, technological, and people-to-people exchanges. They expressed satisfaction with the current pace and breadth of collaboration, recognising the importance of maintaining regular strategic communication. This will be facilitated through mechanisms like the Strategic Dialogue and the 2+2 Dialogue of Foreign and Defence Ministers. Minister Jaishankar extended an invitation for Minister Iwaya to visit India, further bolstering bilateral ties. A major highlight of the meeting was the announcement of the India-Japan Year of Science, Technology, and Innovation, marking the 40th anniversary of the Memorandum of Understanding on Science & Technology cooperation signed in 1985. Both Ministers emphasised the significance of this milestone in the history of India-Japan relations, reaffirming their commitment to advancing mutual efforts in these fields over the next year, the press release stated. They also discussed the continued importance of people-to-people exchanges, with a focus on areas such as technology, education, and skill development, which are expected to further cement the friendship between the two nations. The meeting underscored the deep and enduring relationship between India and Japan, rooted in mutual trust, shared democratic values, and a common commitment to regional peace and stability. The strong partnership between the two countries extends beyond governmental ties to cultural and civilizational exchanges that have shaped their history. For instance, Japan's spiritual and cultural connections with India trace back to ancient times, including the consecration of the Buddha statue in Nara by the Indian monk Bodhisena in 752 AD. Indian figures such as Swami Vivekananda, Rabindranath Tagore, and Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose have also played significant roles in strengthening this bond. In recent years, the Indian community in Japan has been growing, particularly with the arrival of IT professionals and engineers. Over 40,000 Indians now live in Japan, with a substantial number of students pursuing higher education, including doctoral courses. The Nishikasai area of Tokyo has emerged as a focal point for the Indian community, and the establishment of several Indian schools reflects the increasing demand for educational resources. (ANI) US Vice President-elect JD Vance and his wife, Usha Chilukuri Vance were received by outgoing Vice President Kamala Harris and her husband, Douglas Craig Emhoff at the White House. Earlier in the day, President-elect Donald Trump, accompanied by First Lady Melania Trump and their family, attended a church service at St. John's Episcopal Church in Washington, a long-standing tradition for incoming presidents. Vice President-elect JD Vance and Usha Vance also participated in the service, Fox News reported. Following the church service, Trump and his wife proceeded to Blair House, the President's official guest residence, while Vance and his wife arrived at the White House to meet Vice President Harris and Emhoff for the formal ceremony. As part of the inauguration day, President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden are set to greet President-elect Trump and First Lady Melania Trump at the North Portico of the White House. Vance will then take the oath of office in a ceremony at the US Capitol Rotunda, followed by Trump, who will deliver his inaugural address. This transition follows a formal certification of Trump's electoral victory by Congress two weeks earlier. This will be Trump's second term in office. Post-swearing-in, President Trump will participate in the signing ceremony in the President's Room, a tradition that began with President Ronald Reagan in 1981. This will mark one of his first official acts, as he signs key nominations and proclamations. Trump is expected to reverse many policies from the Biden administration. The inaugural events will culminate with a luncheon, troop reviews, and the inaugural parade, before President Trump attends the Liberty Ball and Commander-in-Chief Ball. At a dinner earlier in the week, Trump promised swift action on executive orders: "With the stroke of my pen, I will revoke dozens of destructive and radical executive orders and actions of the Biden administration. And by this time tomorrow, they will all be null and void." (ANI) Australia's Minister for Foreign Affairs, Penny Wong, said that Australia is one of the few foreign government to have been invited to attend the inauguration of US President-elect Donald Trump. During her visit, Wong met her Quad colleagues - External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya. In a post on X, Penny Wong stated, "Australia is one of the few foreign governments invited to attend the US Presidential inauguration, which reflects the steadfast alliance between our nations. My visit to DC was also an opportunity to meet with my Quad colleagues Indian EAM @DrSJaishankar and Japanese FM Iwaya." https://x.com/senatorwong/status/1881314545001775368 Earlier, Penny Wong has expressed happiness over the invitation extended to Foreign Ministers of India, US, Australia and Japan for inauguration of US President-elect Donald Trump and stressed that it demonstrates "collective commitment of all nations to Quad", an iron clad commitment where close cooperation in the Indo-Pacific is important. In a press conference in Washington, DC, Wong stated that she held a meeting with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya in the US ahead of Trump's inauguration. She said, "As you know, Quad Foreign Ministers are also here in DC for the inauguration. I had the opportunity today to meet with External Affairs Minister Jaishankar and the Japanese Foreign Minister Iwaya ahead of the inauguration. We're pleased at the invitation extended to Quad Foreign Ministers. It's a demonstration of the collective commitment of all countries to the Quad, an iron-clad commitment in this time where close cooperation in the Indo-Pacific is so important." "In coming days I will have the opportunity to meet with other members of the Trump administration and Congress. And the message I will have for them is that Australia is here, again, from day one to pursue our shared interests and to deliver for both our peoples," she added. Penny Wong said that she is "honoured" to be the first Australian Foreign Minister to have been invited to US Presidential inauguration and she looked forward to attending Trump's inauguration. She noted that Australia is one of small handful of foreign governments to receive the invitation, showcasing steadfast alliance between Australia and the US. "Can I say how pleased I am to be here again in Washington ahead of what will be an historic day. I am so honoured to be the first Australian Foreign Minister who has been invited to a presidential inauguration, and I look forward to attending President Trump's inauguration tomorrow on behalf of Australia. We are one of only a small handful of foreign governments to receive this invitation, a demonstration of the steadfast alliance between Australia and the United States, an alliance, a relationship, bound by a long history of cooperation, of shared ambitions and enduring respect between our peoples," she said. Penny Wong said that she looks forward to meeting nominee for the US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, in Washington and work closely with him to realise benefits of "strong economic and security partnership." Calling the alliance between US and Australia critical for two nations and the region, Wong noted, "The alliance is critical to both our nations and is critical to our region. It is critical because of its contribution to Australia's defence, Australia's security and, of course, Australia's economic prosperity. The US is our closest global partner. It is our most important strategic relationship. I look forward to meeting the nominee for the Secretary of State, Senator Marco Rubio, here in Washington and working closely with him to realise the benefits of our strong economic and security partnership." Notably, the Quad is a diplomatic partnership between Australia, India, Japan, and the United States committed to supporting an open, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific that is inclusive and resilient, according to Australian Government Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade statement. (ANI) Reiterating his resolve to 'Make America Great Again', Donald Trump, after being sworn in as the 47th US President, declared that the golden age of America has begun and today marks the 'Liberation Day' for the country. Recalling the assassination attempt on him during a campaign rally in Pennsylvania last year, Trump asserted that "God saved" his life. "The Golden age of America begins right now," Trump said after taking oath. He added that after him taking over the White House, America has the chance to seize this opportunity "like never before". "America will soon be greater, stronger, and far more exceptional than ever before. I return to the presidency confident and optimistic that we are at the start of a thrilling new era of national success. A tide of change is sweeping the country. Sunlight is pouring over the entire world. and America has the chance to seize this opportunity like never before," he said. "But first, we must be honest about the challenges we face. While they are plentiful, they will be annihilated by this great momentum that the world is now witnessing in the United States of America," he added. Trump further said that from today onwards, the United States will flourish and be respected again globally, adding that their first priority will be to create a nation that is "proud, prosperous, and free." "From this day forward, our country will flourish and be respected again all over the world. We will be the envy of every nation and we will not allow ourselves to be taken advantage of any longer. During every single day of the Trump administration, I will very simply put America first. Our sovereignty will be reclaimed. Our safety will be restored. The scales of justice will be rebalanced. The vicious, violent, and unfair weaponization of the Justice Department and our government will end. And our top priority will be to create a nation that is proud, prosperous, and free," he said. Speaking on the assassination attempt on him, Trump added, "Those who wish to stop our cause have tried to take my freedom and indeed, to take my life. Just a few months ago, in a beautiful Pennsylvania field, an assassin's bullet ripped through my ear. But I felt then, and believe even more so now, that my life was saved for a reason. I was saved by God to make America great again." Donald Trump was sworn in as the 47th president of the United States as during the 60th Presidential Inauguration at the US Capitol in Washington, DC. US Chief Justice John Roberts administered the oath to Trump.Prior to Trump's swearing-in, JD Vance was sworn-in as US Vice-President. Trump's cabinet nominees took seats ahead of his inauguration. Former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy and tech billionaire Elon Musk, the co-chairs of the newly-created Department of Government Efficiency, also attended the ceremony. Former US Presidents and First ladies, including Bill Clinton and former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, George Bush and Laura Bush attended Trump's inauguration. Former US President Barack Obama was also present during the ceremony. Donald Trump's children -- Ivanka Trump, Donald Trump Jr, Tiffany Trump, Eric Trump and Baron Trump were present in US Capitol to attend his inauguration. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and Google CEO Sundar Pichai also attended the ceremony. (ANI) Arnold Schwarzenegger has called out speculation that the actor and former governor of California is going to leave the United States as Donald Trump starts his second presidency. Trump will be inaugurated as the 47th US president on Monday (January 20) and is expected to call for a revolution in common sense in his address to the nation. The 78-year-old, who has made dozens of enemies since he turned to politics, can count Arnold Schwarzenegger amongst those who disagree with him, having previously clashed with the actor and bodybuilder. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Schwarzenegger, who backed Kamala Harris for the presidency in Novembers election, has now quashed fake news about his status in the United States, spread by a pro-Trump account on X/Twitter. The Terminator star shared a post which said: Arnold Schwarzenegger announces he will leave America: Im tired of Trumps nonsense. Schwarzenegger swiftly debunked this claim, stating: Dont believe fake news. I was born in Austria, but I was made in America, and Id never leave. Dont believe fake news. I was born in Austria, but I was made in America, and Id never leave. pic.twitter.com/ifdAKkWzA9 Arnold (@Schwarzenegger) January 19, 2025 After lending his support to Harris during the election campaign, Schwarzenegger has responded to those who are respectfully disagreeing with his presidential endorsement. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Terminator star, whose credits also include True Lies and Predator, wrote: My Republicans have forgotten the beauty of the free market, driven up deficits, and rejected election results. Democrats arent any better at dealing with deficits, and I worry about their local policies hurting our cities with increased crime. However, Schwarzenegger said he will always be an American before I am a Republican, which is why he voted for Harris and Tim Walz, her vice-presidential running mate. Schwarzeneggers lengthy post saw him explain why he wouldnt be voting for Trump, stating: We need to close the door on this chapter of American history, and I know that former President Trump wont do that. He will divide, he will insult, he will find new ways to be more un-American than he already has been, and we, the people, will get nothing but more anger. Schwarzenegger during his campaign to become Governor of California (Getty) Having grown up in Austria, Schwarzenegger idolised the United States and the American way of life and eventually moved to California in 1968, when he was just 21, despite not being able to speak much English. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Schwarzenegger was already an established name in bodybuilding and went on to win several world titles after moving to the United States. By the 1980s was a major star in Hollywood, becoming a star attraction in many action movies of the era. He became a US citizen in 1983 and would later go on to forge a successful career in politics, eventually being elected as the Governor of California, serving in the position from 2003 until 2011, representing the Republican party. In the Boise area, the old adage one mans trash is another mans treasure is playing out in real time. For many Boise-area residents, trash disposal just happens in the background. They pay city trash collection fees, put their trash in a bin outside their home, and expect it to be picked up at regular intervals. But for the Ada County landfill, where that trash goes next has financial implications and of late, has come into question. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Republic Services, a company that contracts with Boise and other cities throughout the Treasure Valley to pick up trash and recycling, has entered into a purchase agreement for a former landfill in Elmore County. If the purchase of the site, located near Mountain Home, goes through, Ada County officials said it could reduce the amount of waste that makes its way to the Ada County landfill. The county-run landfill doesnt use any tax dollars to cover its operations or maintenance. It derives its revenue from trash dropoffs, including from Republic Services. For the numbers to pencil out, the landfill relies on a certain level of flow of residents waste, though its largely up to cities not the county to determine how trash is picked up and where its sent. If its landfill revenue falls, the county may have to compensate. That might include higher fees or a tax levy. If the county were to see a significant reduction in incoming waste, that would be an impact to our operations from a revenue perspective, and so we would have to make adjustments, Herb Cantu, the landfill director, told the Idaho Statesman by phone. That could be a mechanism to adjust the fees appropriately. It could be a levy. We dont know we wouldnt really know until the situation presented itself. An ominous-looking graveyard of disposed refrigerators is set aside from other landfill drop offs at the Ada County Landfill. Ada officials doubt company can handle liability, environmental risk At a December meeting with state legislators, Ada County commissioners said the plan for the new landfill was among their top concerns. Some legislators at the meeting questioned whether the county was trying to prevent competition from a private entity, but Cantu said its not just about the money. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Landfills must be monitored for decades even after they close and stop generating revenue because they continue to emit gas and could contaminate groundwater. Its not a traditional business model, because when you start a business, you know its going to last as long as you deem it appropriate, Cantu said. With a landfill, at some point your business hits an end of life, but youre still responsible for all the costs, the environmental costs, to maintain the site. When you look at it holistically, a landfill is a business, but its much more than just that, he added. Its actually a liability you have to maintain forever. For that reason, landfills are often run by government entities who are going to stick around for the long haul, he said. He expressed concern that a private entity might be shielded from the full costs of any damage or disaster that may arise, or that it may rely on insurance carriers that are already heavily taxed by natural disasters. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement When you have a new player, like a private entity, what protections are going to be had? he asked. Melissa Quillard, a spokesperson for Republic Services, pushed back on those concerns, telling the Statesman by email that the company has a long history of responsibly managing both active and closed landfills. The company operates 208 open landfills and manages 126 closed landfills around the country, she said. These modern landfills are protective of both the environment and the communities they serve with best-in-class environmental safety features, Quillard said. If the companys purchase of the landfill, located at at 16415 NW Waste Site Drive, goes through and Republic secures a permit from Elmore County, it would be one of few privately owned landfills in the state. But thats not a problem, Michelle Langdon, the president of the Idaho Solid Waste Association, told the Statesman in an emailed statement. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Similar to other utilities and services, landfills are often publicly owned facilities, she wrote. This is in part due to the large up-front investment required. However, private companies own and operate efficient and environmentally sound facilities across the nation. Langdon did echo one of Cantus concerns: that the county landfills revenue might diminish even as Ada County is left holding the bag on the costs of managing the site. Careful consideration should be given to the substantial public investment in existing waste management infrastructure, she said. Supporters of the new project should ensure that the proposed development avoids creating stranded public assets, does not disrupt the financial or operational stability of public services, and ultimately does not negatively impact citizens or the services they rely on. Attention, Idahoans: Republic Services has changed its rules about what you can recycle Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Defecating all over: Ada County Landfill operators are fighting swarms of seagulls Ada County is growing fast, but its landfill is filling up faster. And thats a problem President-elect Donald Trump officially takes office Monday on Inauguration Day, kicking off the transfer of power from President Joe Biden. Inauguration Day comes with its own chaos as Joe Biden and his family move out of the White House and Trump and his family move into the home at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. in Washington. Not only will the Biden family move out on Monday morning, but the White House carpets will also be cleaned and the executive residence redecorated. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In just a few hours, staffers help one family move out, while another moves in. Here's everything to know about the transfer of power from Biden to Trump. When is Joe Biden leaving the White House? President Joe Biden and his family will move out of the White House on Monday morning. Moving Day at the White House is a frenzied but carefully choreographed dance that begins while most of the nation is still in bed. The chief ushers office and the executive residence staff a team of roughly 95 people that includes painters, electricians, plumbers, engineers and housekeepers start at 4 a.m., going over last-minute instructions and collecting supplies theyll need for the task ahead. Many residence staffers stay at the White House the night before, sleeping in their offices or workstations to make sure they can get an early start. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement At about 9:30 a.m., the incoming president and his spouse traditionally arrive at the White House for a coffee with the departing commander in chief and first lady. Roughly an hour later, the two leaders climb into a limousine at the White House North Portico and ride down Pennsylvania Avenue to the Capitol for the swearing-in. When will Trump move into the White House? After the President-elect and President leave for the swearing-in, the White House moving crews arrive and pandemonium sets in. Gary Walters, who supervised multiple moves in his 21 years as White House chief usher, describes what ensues as "organized chaos." Moving vans and trucks escorted by the Secret Service pull up to the entrance of the Diplomatic Reception Room outside the South Portico. The trucks are usually hired contractors, and the drivers never set foot inside the presidential mansion. For security reasons, White House staffers are responsible for moving items in and out of the mansion. One team is assigned to move the departing first family out. Another moves the new first family in. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Furniture, boxes, carts and crates containing personal belongings of the departing first family are loaded onto trucks. Once that is done, the White House is thoroughly scrubbed. Carpets are cleaned or, if badly stained, replaced. Drapes are often changed to match the new first familys decor. New light fixtures are sometimes installed, and fresh artwork is positioned on the walls. The incoming first familys furniture and belongings are then moved in. Clothes are hung in closets or placed in drawers. Bathrooms are filled with the familys favorite toiletries, which have been purchased in advance. Kitchens are stocked with their favorite foods. The Oval Office gets a makeover to reflect the new presidents personality. Carpeting and drapes are usually changed. New furniture is brought in. Artwork reflecting the presidents taste is added at times leading to unexpected controversy. Trump, for example, caught flak for hanging a portrait of the nations seventh president, Andrew Jackson, a slave owner who ordered the removal of Native Americans from their land in the bloody Trail of Tears campaign. By the time the new president and first lady enter the White House, usually in the evening, the transformation is complete. The presidential home is now theirs. Will Melania live in the White House? The first lady said during a recent television interview that she will move into the White House when her husbands term begins on Jan. 20, despite speculation that she would spend a majority of the next four years either in New York City or Palm Beach, where the familys Mar-a-Lago estate is located. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I will be in the White House, she said during the appearance on "Fox & Friends." And, you know, when I need to be in New York, I will be in New York. When I need to be in Palm Beach, I will be in Palm Beach. But my first priority is, you know, to be a mom, to be a first lady, to be a wife. And once we are in on Jan. 20, you serve the country. This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: When will Donald Trump move into the White House? What to know Detectives immediately knew they were dealing with a professional hit. The criminals had riddled the taxi with some 40 bullets, yet stole nothing from the dying driver and passenger. But what puzzled them was the identity of the victim of the ferocious attack in the centre of Lima, Perus chaotic capital, last December. That passenger, Andrea Vidal, 27, was a slim, photogenic lawyer and former congressional aide. By the time she succumbed to her injuries in intensive care one week later, investigators had begun to unearth a scandal shocking even by the rock-bottom standards of the Andean nations ethically-challenged Congress a prostitution ring allegedly operating within the legislative palace itself. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Politicians initially sought to ignore the mushrooming scandal, which Ms Vidal, who was part of the ring, had reportedly been on the point of revealing when she was killed. But public pressure finally forced them to act. Last week, they banned female aides from wearing miniskirts and shorts. A taxi is riddled with bullet holes after a shooting in Lima where Andrea Vidal was killed - Cuarto Poder/Facebook The alleged sex-for-votes scheme and the politicians controversial response has rocked even a jaded society that long ago wrote off the entire political class as hopelessly corrupt. It has also shone a spotlight on apparent attitudes towards women in parliament, which critics describe as mediaeval and even compare to the Taliban. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement One of the various lurid allegations relates to another aide, 26-year-old Isabel Cajo. While she lacks the bachelors degree required for her post, she did previously have an OnlyFans page. She is reported to have been appointed last year at the personal request of then-speaker Alejandro Soto. He has denied involvement in her hiring, while she claims she is the target of unjust attacks. Investigations are ongoing, but the prostitution ring is thought to have been run by Jorge Luis Torres Saravia, who has been fired from his job heading Congresss legal office. He insists he had nothing to do with Ms Vidals murder and that the pair were friends. Bullet holes in the window of the taxi - Cuarto Poder/Facebook Mr Torres Saravia is an associate of Cesar Acuna, who leads one of Perus largest political parties, the Alliance for Progress. Mr Acuna has called for the full weight of the law to be brought on those responsible for the scandal but also accused the press of taking advantage of it to damage his party. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Mr Acuna, who owns a chain of lucrative private universities, has been accused of plagiarising his doctoral thesis and has admitted to being banned from the United States, apparently for suspected money laundering, which he denies. Politician accused of rape The scrutiny of macho attitudes in Perus political class intensified this month after one politician, Jose Jeri, was accused of rape at a New Years party. One of his colleagues, Edwin Martinez, who was not at the party, subsequently accused the alleged victim of being drunk, adding: She should have controlled herself better. Mr Jeri denies the allegation but has temporarily resigned from his party while police investigate. Yet that forced congress to finally address the issue, this week introducing the miniskirt ban. The controversy marks a new low for what may already be the least popular legislative body in the world, with an approval rating consistently in single digits. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement More than half of the 130 members of the single-chamber Congress are currently under criminal investigation for everything from bribery to domestic violence. Government officials in Congress in Lima - Juan Carlos Cisneros/AFP via Getty Since taking office in July 2021, the current Congress has awarded itself pay rises and increased expenses while ignoring pressing social problems, including that 40 per cent of Peruvian toddlers suffer anaemia. At the same time, legislators have passed laws legal experts warn make it harder to prosecute organised crime. The principal beneficiaries have been the cocaine trade, rampant illegal mining and a booming extortion industry that has led to gangland hits becoming commonplace. Recent counter-reforms include requiring a suspects lawyer to be present during police raids effectively giving alleged criminals hours to dispose of evidence and banning officers from seizing black market explosives used in the illegal gold mining that has devastated the Peruvian Amazon. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Parliamentarians have also restricted prosecutors ability to hold suspects on bail and loosened the legal definition of organised crime. That led to a court on Wednesday revoking an arrest warrant for Nicanor Boluarte, brother of Dina Boluarte, the president. He had been on the run for weeks, avoiding pretrial detention on suspicion of bribery and influence-peddling, which he denies. Ms Boluarte came to office representing the Free Peru party, which describes itself as Marxist-Leninist. Yet she has formed a tactical alliance with the conservative-dominated congress as they together seek to block investigations of Perus runaway graft. The president faces multiple probes of her own, including for the Rolexgate scandal and allegedly abandoning office to have a secret nose job. She admits the surgery but insists that it was medically necessary and claims that her 400,000 jewellery collection, acquired on her 40,000 presidential salary, was the fruit of her own hard work. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (KNWA/KFTA) Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders will be traveling to Switzerland later this month for the World Economic Forum, where she will speak on two panels, according to a news release. Her office said she will be in Davos from Jan. 22 to 24, speaking on a panel about smartphones, social media, and the youth mental health crisis. Jonathan Haidt, the author of The Anxious Generation, will also be on the panel. His book, which was released last year, looks at the impact smartphones and social media have on children. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Sanderss office said the other panel will focus on the role states play in presidential transitions. Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshears will also be on the panel. The governor is also expected to meet with business leaders, encouraging them to invest in the state. Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders gives state-of-the-state address, introduces new policy initiatives Last year, Sanders and Arkansas Department of Education Secretary Jacob Oliva asked for school districts to join the states new phone-free mental health pilot program. She later said she now wants to require all districts to ban cell phones during the school day, but the proposal will leave it to the districts on how to craft the policy, according to the Associated Press. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Teachers know (cellphones are) a huge distraction, but much bigger than that is that it is impacting the mental health of so many of our students, Sanders said to reporters. Sanderss office told AP that the Arkansas Economic Development Foundation, a nonprofit, and the Arkansas Economic Development Commission are paying for the governors travel. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Copyright 2025 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 KNWA FOX24. Donald Trump became the 47th president of the United States on Monday, taking the oath of office at his second inauguration and vowing that a "golden age" for the country begins now. He got off to a quick start by signing a flurry of executive orders on Monday night, as well as pardoning rioters involved in the Jan. 6 attack at the U.S. Capitol. Trump called Monday "liberation day" in an inaugural speech that largely focused on his conservative priorities. I stand before you now as proof that you should never believe that something is impossible to do in America, Trump said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Follow along with the USA TODAY Network for live updates. Trump signs executive order to rename Gulf of Mexico 'Gulf of America' President Donald Trump officially renamed the Gulf of Mexico the "Gulf of America" in an executive order signed Monday night. The order, part of a host of executive orders he issued in the hours after taking office, directs the secretary of the Interior to change the name of the 1,100-mile-wide gulf on official U.S. government maps and documents. Earlier this month, Trump promised he would change the name as retribution for what he calls Mexico's failure to stem illegal immigration and drugs entering the U.S. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum jabbed back the next day, sarcastically proposing the U.S. should be called "Mexican America." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement --Cybele Mayes-Osterman President Donald Trump signs executive orders in the Oval Office of the WHite House in Washington, DC, on January 20, 2025. Leaders of Oath Keepers, Proud Boys with longest sentences expecting release The two men who received the longest sentences in the Capitol attack on Jan. 6, 2021, as leaders of far-right militias Enrique Tarrio and Stewart Rhodes were each expecting reprieves Monday from President Donald Trumps proclamation pardoning nearly all defendants and shortening the sentences of others. Neither Tarrio, who headed the Proud Boys, nor Rhodes, who headed the Oath Keepers, entered the Capitol. But each were convicted of seditious conspiracy for organizing their groups at the riot. Tarrio got 22 years in prison and Rhodes got 18 years. Rhodes was listed by name as receiving a commutation. His lawyer, Ed Tarpley, told USA TODAY he was expecting to be released Monday night. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement "We're excited about it," Tarpley said. This is an answered prayer and we're all very happy." Nayib Hassan, a lawyer for Tarrio, said he wasn't sure if Tarrio got a pardon or commutation, but was also expecting to be released. --Bart Jansen and Will Carless What the new Trump administration means for you: Sign up for USA TODAY's On Politics newsletter. Trump pardons 1,500 defendants charged in Jan. 6 attack President Donald Trump pardoned about 1,500 people Monday charged in the Capitol attack Jan. 6, 2021, fulfilling a campaign pledge critics said would "endorse attacks on democracy." That figure would represent almost all of the nearly 1,600 people who were charged in the riot by the fourth anniversary Jan. 6, according to the Justice Department. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement About 1,270 people have been convicted from charges associated with the riot. More than 1,000 pleaded guilty and 260 were convicted at trials. The guilty pleas included 327 people admitting felonies and 682 people admitting misdemeanors. "These are the hostages, approximately 1,500 for a pardon. Full pardon," Trump said in the Oval Office. "We have about six commutations in there where we're doing further research. This is a big one. We hope they come out tonight. --Sudiksha Kochi Donald Trump issues executive order to halt TikTok ban but is it legal? As one of his first moves following his inauguration, President Donald Trump issued an executive order Monday aiming to halt enforcement of a ban on TikTok in the U.S. for 75 days. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The order comes after TikTok abruptly shut down in the U.S. over the weekend, only to say it was working to restore service based on assurances from Trump. Service was swiftly restored to the popular short-form video app Sunday, although Apple and Google haven't returned it to their app stores for downloading. Trump posted on Truth Social Sunday that he would issue the order on his first day as a second-term president "so that we can make a deal to protect our national security." "The order will also confirm that there will be no liability for any company that helped keep TikTok from going dark before my order," Trump promised. Whether Trump's executive order can truly halt the law temporarily isn't clear. The law works by imposing a $5,000 fine on companies for each user who accesses TikTok through their services. That includes companies like Apple and Google that provide platforms to download and update apps and companies like Oracle that provide internet hosting services. Federal employees required to return to work in-person President Donald Trump signed an executive order Monday directing department heads to require federal employees to "return to work in-person at their respective duty stations on a full-time basis" immediately, with exemptions allowed. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The American Federation of Government Employees, a union representing about 800,000 federal workers, promptly filed a federal lawsuit Monday against the Trump administration and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to ensure they comply with the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA). The lawsuit, AFGE along with watchdog groups Public Citizen and State Democracy Defenders Fund (SDDF), claim Trump and his Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) "do not represent the interests of everyday Americans... (they) will be considering cuts to government agencies and programs that protect health, benefits, consumer finance, and product safety." As Trump's return-to-office mandate was expected to get major pushback from federal workers, the president is also threatening to take legal action against the latest AFGE contract which extended remote worker protections until 2029. AFGE will not stand idly by as a secretive group of ultra-wealthy individuals with major conflicts of interest attempt to deregulate themselves and give their own companies sweetheart government contracts while firing civil servants and dismantling the institutions designed to serve the American people, AFGE President Everett Kelley said in a statement. This fight is about fairness, accountability, and the integrity of our government. Federal employees are not the problemthey are the solution. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Terry Collins Trump travels to arena for inaugural rally Donald Trump was spotted on his way to the Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C., where he'll hold an inaugural rally with supporters. He was supposed to participate in a parade to celebrate the start of his second term, but festivities were moved indoors due to the below-freezing cold in the nation's capital. Marina Pitofsky Hegseth advances in committee for Defense role A majority on the Senate Armed Services Committee voted in favor ot Pete Hegseth, President Donald Trump's pick to lead the Pentagon. Hegseth, a combat veteran and former Fox News host, will advance to the full Senate following the committee's party-line vote: 14-13. The vote before the full Senate could happen later this week. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Tom Vanden Brook and Riley Beggin Showing up in the cold in red, white and blue A few blocks from the White House, Trump supporters sported Make America Great hats and scarves and carried American flags. Some took pictures as police stood nearby. At one point early Monday, a motorcade of black SUVs whizzed by. People whipped out their cell phones and shouted that they'd seen Trump. Christina Bush had planned to join other Trump supporters on the mall for the inauguration, but that was canceled because of the frigid weather. Instead, she wore her red, white and blue knit cap and planned to visit some memorials. Ali Grzelak (left) and her father, Steve, traveled from Monmouth, New Jersey to celebrate President Donald Trump's inauguration in Washington, D.C. She was joined by her longtime friend, Christina Bush (back, right.) It was important to take today to remember how blessed we are to live in the greatest country in the world, said Bush, 35, of Oceanside, California. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement She said its also important to bring people and the country together. Despite the frigid weather and snow, Ali Grzelak and her father, Steve, drove down from Monmouth, New Jersey on Sunday to celebrate Trumps inauguration. Were just happy to be part of the atmosphere, said Grzelak, 34, as she stood with Bush, a longtime friend, steps from the White House. Theres like a spirit in the air. Grzelak had attended a Trump rally in New Jersey in 2020 and felt it was important to show support again. Trump supporters, including Ali Grzelak, Christina Bush and Steve Grzelak, visited Washington, D.C., to celebrate President Donald Trump's inauguration Monday. They took pictures steps from the White House. Trumps done so much for us, the least I can do is show up in some cold weather, she said. Deborah Barfield Berry Trump participates in pass in rev Following a ceremonial luncheon, Trump attended a proceeding known as the pass in review, when leaders observe and "review" processions of military troops. Marina Pitofsky What happens next on Inauguration Day? Donald Trump may have given his inaugural address, but that doesn't mean the ceremonies are over. The presidential parade is kicking off next. It was previously scheduled to take place on Pennsylvania Avenue and proceed to the White House, but the procession was moved inside the Capital One Arena due to cold weather. Senate Republicans are also hoping to begin confirming Trump's Cabinet picks on Monday afternoon. Marco Rubio's secretary of state nomination could be considered, along with John Ratcliffe's CIA nomination. Marina Pitofsky In sweeping orders, Trump aims to remake federal policy on border, gender, climate change Donald Trump planned to sign dozens of executive orders Monday in a sweeping move to reimagine the country's relationship with immigration, its economy, the environment and even gender roles. Incoming White House officials speaking on condition of anonymity shortly before Trump took the oath of office previewed the directives, which included the declaration of at least two national emergencies targeting the border and the energy sector. The orders are expected to include mandates for how the U.S. government recognizes gender on federal documents and change official names of Mt. Denali in Alaska and the Gulf of Mexico. The orders could undo with the flourish of a pen many of former President Joe Biden's key efforts to curb greenhouse gas emissions, protect federal lands from oil drilling and enshrine the civil rights of transgender people. And they could grant the second Trump administration expansive authority to enforce border security and immigration laws. Lauren Villagran, Elizabeth Weise, Erin Mansfield No, Donald Trump didn't put his hand on the Bible Trump opted out of an inauguration tradition on Monday: He didn't place his hand on a Bible as he was sworn in. But that doesn't change Trump's inauguration. Presidents and other elected officials who typically place their hand on a Bible or other religious texts as they take office aren't required to by the Constitution or other laws. Marina Pitofsky US to leave Paris climate agreement for second time The White House announced Monday that Donald Trump, as promised, will once again withdraw the United States from the Paris climate agreement. The historic 2015 deal includes almost 200 nations in a single agreement to combat global warming by lowering emissions of greenhouse gasses from fossil fuels. In 2017 during his first administration, Trump said he would remove the U.S. from the agreement. Due to the agreement's terms, the withdrawal did not go into effect until November 20 of 2020. This time the withdrawal could take less time as the new administration is no longer bound by the original three-year commitment, according to Reuters. former President Joe Biden signed an Executive Order to rejoin the agreement on January 20, 2021 and the U.S. formally rejoined on February 19, 2021. Under Biden, in November 2021, the U.S. helped lead negotiations that set new emission reduction standards as part of the agreement. Elizabeth Weise Trump requires flags be flown at full-staff for inauguration with executive action Donald Trump issued a proclamation Monday requiring that the American flag be flown at full-staff today on this and all future Inauguration Days. The order applies to public buildings all over the country, domestic military posts and vessels, and at locations abroad such as U.S. embassies and military facilities. Flags have been flying at half-staff since the Dec. 29 death of former President Jimmy Carter, under an order from former President Joe Biden that prompted criticism from Trump. Erin Mansfield Where is Joe Biden going after leaving office? Former President Joe Biden and former first lady Jill Biden left the Capitol after Trump's inauguration, but they're not sticking about Washington, D.C. Instead, Biden is expected to give brief remarks before traveling to Santa Ynez, California, for a vacation. Michael Collins and Francesca Chambers Trump falsely calls 2020 election 'rigged' Trump again called the 2020 election, which he lost to former President Joe Biden, "rigged" on Monday afternoon It's a falsehood that he's repeated many times, and there is no evidence that fraud impacted the results of the race. Trump made the comments in remarks he gave before an inaugural luncheon. He also blasted former President Joe Biden and other Democrats' handling of the southern border, prices for consumers and more. Marina Pitofsky Trump knocks Jan. 6 committee after Biden issues pardons Trump, speaking to a post-inauguration luncheon, criticized the House lawmakers who served on the committee that investigated the Jan. 6 Capitol attack, as well as Nancy Pelosi and other leaders. Biden on Monday morning issued blanket pardons for the lawmakers on the panel, as well as staffers. He also issued pardons to Anthony Fauci, the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and retired Gen. Mark Milley, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, among others. "Why are we helping Liz Cheney?" Trump said, calling her a "disaster" and mocking another former GOP lawmaker, Adam Kinzinger. Trump also said Vance and Melania Trump asked him not to include controversial moments in his inaugural address. Marina Pitofsky Trump jokes about decision to move ceremony indoors At a luncheon immediately following his inauguration ceremony, Trump joked about the decision to move the proceedings indoor due to below-freezing temperatures in Washington. Inaugurations are traditionally performed outside of the Capitol. He said he woke up Monday morning to see the sun was shining in the nation's capitol, adding "We blew it! We blew it. But he said officials made the right call to protect attendees: "We went outside, and we were freezing." Marina Pitofsky White House website officially flips (back) to Donald Trump The White House website has officially transferred from the Biden presidency to the Trump presidency, a change that took place shortly after President Donald Trump was sworn in Monday. The website features scenes showing Trump saluting and giving a thumbs up, a pen to sign executive orders and other legislation and helicopters and a bald eagle flying in the sky. After the video clips, users are directed to the home screen of the website, which includes an image of Trump pointing with large white letters underneath that read AMERICA IS BACK. Every single day I will be fighting for you with every breath in my body. I will not rest until we have delivered the strong, safe and prosperous America that our children deserve and that you deserve. This will truly be the golden age of America, a statement on the website reads. Sudiksha Kochi Carrie Underwood sings 'America the Beautiful' after technical difficulties Country music star Carrie Underwood took the stage to sing "America the Beautiful," but she paused as there appeared to be a technical glitch. She proceeded to sing the song without instrumentation before shaking Trump's hand. Marina Pitofsky Trump invokes 'spirit of the frontier' in Gulf and Panama actions Donald Trump came out swinging in a combative inaugural speech in which he affirmed plans to rename the Gulf of Mexico and regain control of the Panama Canal. Trump declared that under his watch, the country would not be "taken advantage" of anymore and promised an immediate "overhaul of our trade system" that he said would include tariffs and taxes on foreign countries. "The spirit of the frontier is written into our hearts. The call of the next great adventure resounds from within our souls," Trump said from the Capitol Rotunda after his inauguration was moved indoors due to cold weather. Francesca Chambers Keep reading: Trump invokes 'spirit of the frontier' in Gulf and Panama actions Trump's lays out wide-reaching policies on economy, electric vehicles, Panama Canal and Gulf of Mexico Trump told the crowd at the Capitol on Monday that he wants to be "a peacemaker and a unifier" as he gave his inaugural address, but he also laid out a list of conservative priorities and campaign promises. Trump touted a new "external revenue service," an initiative he rolled out in recent weeks to address the tariffs at the core of his foreign policy and economic proposals on the campaign trail. He also called for ending what he called an "electric vehicle mandate" for the country, though Americans are not federally required to purchase electric vehicles. He also repeated familiar criticisms of the Panama Canal, calling out Panama's management of the major infrastructure. He falsely said China is operating the Panama Canal. Trump repeated his vow to change the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America. Marina Pitofsky Trump says he'll declare emergency at southern border Trump during his speech railed against the nation's immigration system, vowing to declare a national emergency and send troops to the southern border. Mass deportations were a centerpiece of Trump's reelection bid. The president told the crowd at his inauguration that "all illegal entry will immediately be halted," though he did not immediately explain how officials could reach that goal. Marina Pitofsky Trump references Pennsylvania assassination attempt Trump during his inauguration address reflected on the assassination attempt that rocked the nation over the summer. A gunman shot at a Trump rally in Pennsylvania, killing one man and injuring the president and two other attendees. "I was saved by God to make America great again," he told the crowd in the Capitol rotunda. Marina Pitofsky 'Cannot manage even a simple crisis at home' Trump during his inaugural address quickly criticized the government's handling of natural disasters and other top issues, saying it cannot manage even a simple crisis at home." He cited the devastation in North Carolina after Hurricane Helene, but he also called out the nation's efforts to address health care costs and other challenges. "From this moment on, America's decline is over," Trump said. Marina Pitofsky Donald Trump sworn in as 47th president, declares 'tide of change is sweeping the country' Tump recited the oath of office shortly after noon ET at an intimate inauguration ceremony inside the Rotunda of the Capitol, the same building a mob of his supporters stormed four years ago to try to stop the certification of Trump's 2020 election loss. It was moved indoors because of below-freezing in the nation's capital. "I return to the presidency confident and optimistic that we are at the start of a thrilling new era of national success," Trump is expected to say, according to excerpts provided by Trump officials. "A tide of change is sweeping the country." Joey Garrison JD Vance sworn in as vice president Supreme Court justice Bret Kavanaugh swore JD Vance in as vice president on Monday. Vance was surrounded by his family, Trump and other officials as he placed his hand on a Bible and vowed to support and defend the Constitution of the United States. Marina Pitofsky Donald Trump arrives at his inauguration ceremony The president-elect and incoming first lady Melania Trump were seen entering the inauguration ceremony. The crowd of lawmakers and other honored guests applauded, with just minutes before Donald Trump will be sworn in as the 47th U.S. president. Marina Pitofsky U.S. Vice President-elect former Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) speaks with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump as they arrive at inauguration ceremonies in the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 20, 2025, in Washington, DC. Donald Trump takes office for his second term as the 47th president of the United States. Joe Biden and Kamala Harris enter Capitol rotunda Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, the outgoing president and vice president, have arrived at the inaugural ceremony. Trump defeated Harris in the 2024 race for the White House, but she presided over Congress' certification of his win in her role as vice president. Marina Pitofsky Donald Trump's children take their seat Donald Trump's children Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump, Ivanka Trump, Tiffany Trump and Barron Trump, have taken their seats at their father's second inauguration. Marina Pitofsky Supreme Court justices enter The justices of the United States Supreme Court entered the Capitol rotunda. Chief Justice John Roberts will preside over the inauguration ceremony. Marina Pitofsky U.S. President-elect Donald Trump attends a service at St. John's Church on the inauguration day of his second Presidential term in Washington, U.S. January 20, 2025. REUTERS/Carlos Barria What did Joe Biden say to Donald Trump? As Joe Biden and Jill Biden welcomed Donald Trump and Melania Trump back to the White House on Monday, Jill Biden told him "welcome home." Joey Garrison, Marina Pitofsky U.S. President-elect Donald Trump and his wife Melania Trump meet with U.S. President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden on inauguration day of Donald Trump's second presidential term in Washington, U.S. January 20, 2025. Clintons, Bushes, Obama enter Capitol rotunda Former President Bill Clinton and former first lady Hillary Clinton entered the Capitol rotunda on Monday ahead of the inauguration ceremony. Former President George W. Bush and former first lady Laura Bush followed the Clintons, before former President Barack Obama. The crowd at the ceremony applauded as the former presidents and first ladies took their seats. Former first lady Michelle Obama said earlier this month that she would not be in attendance at the event. Marina Pitofsky Ivanka Trump arrives for the inauguration ceremony where Donald Trump will sworn in as the 47th US President in the US Capitol Rotunda in Washington, DC, on Jan. 20, 2025. Trump's Cabinet picks, top allies enter the Capitol rotunda Donald Trump's top Cabinet picks, including Pete Hegseth, Doug Burgum, Kristi Noem, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and others, have entered the Capitol rotunda for the inauguration ceremony. Some of Trump's top allies, including Elon Musk, Vivek Ramaswamy, Joe Rogan and Jeff Bezos, also filed in ahead of the proceedings. Musk and Ramaswamy are set to lead the Department of Government Efficiency, a new initiative aimed at cutting government spending. Marina Pitofsky What's the Inauguration Day schedule? The Trump Vance Inaugural Committee, National Park Service, Washington D.C. tourism department, Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies and Reuters have laid out a general schedule of the day, though not every event has a specific start time or location. All times provided are in ET. 5 a.m.: Security screening opens at the Capitol. 8 a.m.: An open, non-partisan service will be held at the St. Johns Episcopal Church in downtown Washington, D.C. After that, Donald and Melania Trump will head to the White House for tea with President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden . Traditionally, the sitting president then escorts the incoming president to the Capitol. Around 9:30 a.m. : Live music and opening remarks begin. Carrie Underwood's performance of "America the Beautiful" will occur before Trump's swearing-in. Around 10 a.m.: Official guests begin arriving. 11:30 a.m.: Those with tickets should arrive by 11:30 a.m. 12 p.m.: In line with the Constitution's assertion that the transfer of power happens at exactly noon on Jan. 20, Trump will take the presidential oath during the swearing-in ceremony. The swearing-in ceremony is traditionally when the new president also delivers their inaugural address. A little after 12 p.m.: The official farewell and ceremonial departure of the former president and vice president. Typically, they leave in a helicopter. Then comes the presidents signing room ceremony , during which the president, accompanied by aides and members of Congress, heads to the presidents room off of the Senate chamber and signs nominations, memorandums, proclamations, or executive orders. Next is the JCCIC congressional luncheon at the Capitol's Statuary Hall, which is attended by the president and vice president and their guests, Senate leaders and members of JCCIC. After lunch, the new president and vice president head to the east front steps of the Capitol for the president's review of the military troops. 3 p.m.: The presidential parade kicks off. Previously scheduled to take place on Pennsylvania Avenue and proceed to the White House, the procession was moved inside at Capital One Arena, due to cold weather. The parade includes ceremonial military regiments, citizens groups, marching bands and floats. After this, Trump returns to to the White House for the Oval Office signing ceremony where performs an inaugural signing. Finally, Trump will attend and deliver remarks at three separate balls: the Commander in Chief Ball, the Liberty Inaugural Ball and the Starlight Ball. Mary Walrath-Holdridge Donald Trump to declare federal government recognizes two sexes male and female Donald Trump will declare shortly after taking office on Monday that the federal government only recognizes two sexes male and female a move that reverses protections for transgender people put in place under Joe Biden. Trump will make the declaration as part of a flurry of executive orders he is planning to sign after his noon inauguration. An incoming White House official who described the measure said it is about "restoring sanity." The State Department, Department of Homeland Security and other agencies will be tasked with enforcing the directive, which applies to passports, visas and other government documents, according to the incoming White House official. Erin Mansfield and Francesca Chambers Trump to declare border emergency, use US military to 'repel forms of invasion' Donald Trump on Monday is expected to declare a national border emergency and order the U.S. armed forces to "repel forms of invasion" at the U.S.-Mexico border, including illegal migration and drug trafficking, according to incoming administration officials. The 10 executive orders previewed by incoming White House officials who spoke anonymously before he was set to be sworn in at noon appear to lay the groundwork for the sprawling crackdown on immigration Trump promised during his campaign. Under the emergency declaration, the administration will suspend refugee resettlement, finish building the border wall, suspend entry of nationals from "countries of concern" and attempt to end the constitutionally guaranteed right to citizenship for children born in the U.S. to some foreign nationals. The incoming administration also plans to use the military to target drug cartels as "global terrorists" and use the military to combat them, though officials declined to provide details on the rules of engagement. Lauren Villagran and Bart Jansen Guests file in for Trump's second inauguration Guests are beginning to enter the Capitol ahead of Trump's inauguration. Spotted together: former Republican House Speakers Newt Gingrich, John Boehner and Kevin McCarthy. Marina Pitofsky Callista Gingrich (C) and former U.S. Speakers of the House (L-R) Newt Gingrich, John Boehner, and Kevin McCarthy arrive for the inauguration of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump in the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 20, 2025, in Washington, DC. Donald Trump takes office for his second term as the 47th president of the United States. Mike Pence to attend Donald Trump's inauguration Former Vice President Mike Pence said he will attend Trump's inauguration on Monday, sharing in a post on X "This is a day when every American does well to celebrate our democracy and the peaceful transfer of power under the Constitution of the United States." Pence and Trump publicly split in the wake of the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot. Trump called on Pence to intervene in Congress' certification of the 2020 election, power the then-vice president insisted he never had as a violent mob of Trump's supporters breached the Capitol building. Marina Pitofsky US President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden greet President-elect Donald Trump and Melania Trump as they arrive at the White House in Washington, DC, on January 20, 2025, before departing for the US Capitol where Trump will be sworn in as the 47th US President. (Photo by Jim WATSON / AFP) (Photo by JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images) Joe and Jill Biden welcome Donald and Melania Trump back to the White House The first couples meet: Joe and Jill Biden invited Donald and Melania Trump to the White House ahead of inauguration proceedings, a traditional moment in America's historic peaceful transition of power. JD Vance and Kamala Harris are also meeting, along with their spouses, Usha Vance and Doug Emhoff. Marina Pitofsky Usha Vance, second gentleman Doug Emhoff, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, and U.S. Vice President-elect former Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) stand together at the White House ahead of the inauguration of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on Jan. 20, 2025, in Washington, DC. Donald Trump takes office for his second term as the 47th president of the United States. 'Excited for America': Family travels from Mississippi to Washington, DC Les Green, 56, of Hernando, Mississippi, stood at a normally busy intersection in downtown Washington D.C. in freezing temperatures on Monday. But the street was quiet ahead of the inauguration, and it marked the closest spot to the Capitol he was allowed by security. Green, who was accompanied by his wife and two sisters, said he was excited to be in the nation's capital on the historic day. They stood at the corner and prayed for soon-to-be President Trump. We are here to pray for President Trump and for the restoration of America, he said. Were here because we believe that God is bringing a resurrection of the values of the moral state that made our country great. Were just so excited for America, he said. Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy Michelle Obama won't be attending Trump's inauguration on Jan. 20, her office says Former First Lady Michelle Obama wont be attending Trumps inauguration on Jan. 20., her office said. Her office did not provide a reason for why she will skip the inauguration. "Former President Barack Obama is confirmed to attend the 60th Inaugural Ceremonies. Former First Lady Michelle Obama will not attend the upcoming inauguration," the Office of Barack and Michelle Obama said in a statement. George W. Bush's office confirmed that the former president and former First Lady Laura Bush will attend Trump's inauguration. Former President Bill Clinton's office also confirmed he will be attending. Sudiksha Kochi and Phillip M. Bailey WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 20: Melania Trump and U.S. President-elect Donald Trump arrive for services at St. John's Church as part of Inauguration ceremonies on January 20, 2025 in Washington, DC. Donald Trump takes office for his second term as the 47th president of the United States. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images) Trumps, Vances arrive for traditional church service, joined by Zuckerberg, Bezos Trump, former first lady Melania Trump and their son Barron Trump were seen arriving at St. Johns Episcopal Church in downtown Washington, D.C. for a Monday morning service. A church service has for decades been a traditional part of Inauguration Day morning. Vice President-elect JD Vance and his wife, Usha Vance, were also in attendance, as were other members of the Trump family, such as Eric Trump, Ivanka Trump and their spouses and children. Other inauguration guests were also seen entering the church, including Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and former United Kingdom Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Marina Pitofsky Usha Vance and Vice President-elect, U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) arrive for service at St. John's Church as part of Inauguration ceremonies on January 20, 2025 in Washington, DC. Donald Trump takes office for his second term as the 47th president of the United States. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images) Follow along as we fact check Trump, inauguration reactions Join the USA TODAY Fact Check Team as we fact check Trump and reaction from around the country as he is sworn in as president. The USA TODAY Fact Check Team will be monitoring the inauguration ceremonies and how leaders and social media users respond. Follow along as we sort fact from fiction and add context where its needed. Live updates: Fact-checking Trump's presidential inauguration Eric Litke Trump will call for 'revolution of common sense' in inauguration speech Trump will call for a "revolution of common sense" during his second inaugural address, according to multiple reports. I return to the presidency confident and optimistic that we are at the start of a thrilling new era of national success. A tide of change is sweeping the country, the president-elect is expected to say. My message to Americans today is that it is time for us to once again act with courage, vigor and the vitality of historys greatest civilization. Marina Pitofsky More: Donald Trump wins the White House. Mark the historic win with a new commemorative book Civil rights activists call for action as King holiday and inauguration fall on same day While Trump is being sworn in as president for the second time on Monday, civil rights activists plan to take a different oath just a few blocks from the White House. They will remember the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., whose federal holiday named in his honor also falls on that day, by pledging to challenge any efforts by the Trump administration to dismantle hard-fought gains in civil rights. For these activists, Trump represents everything King worked against, and for them, it would dishonor King's legacy to remain silent on this of all days. Everything that Dr. King stood for, Donald Trump has stated clearly he wants to dislodge," said the Rev. Al Sharpton, president of the National Action Network, which is hosting a rally at a historic Black church near the White House. Deborah Barfield Berry What channel will the inauguration be on? All major broadcast networks, including CNN, NBC and MSNBC, ABC, CBS, Fox News, News Nation and BBC, have plans to show Trumps inauguration, many beginning coverage as early at 7 a.m. ET. See a rundown of TV networks broadcast plans. USA TODAY will be streaming event live beginning at 10 a.m. ET. Amy Haneline Vendors flock to Washington from 'all over the world' Jeff Barbour, 58, has been selling merchandise for special events in Washington, D.C. for more than 20 years. This inauguration weekend, he's selling custom-ordered T-shirts, sweatshirts, stickers and hats all with Trump's face on them. For Barbour, it's just another day on the job. He's counting on two rushes of shoppers: the early morning crowd that buys hats and hoodies to keep warm, and the evening crowd that will buy a souvenir to take home. There were dozens of Trump merchandise vendors surrounding the Capitol One Arena on Sunday, a niche market that has come to be expected at Trump events. Barbour said competition between vendors is tense. "They (vendors) come from all over the world because they know it's big," he said. "Anything with over 100,000 people, they come from all over." Barbour sells event merchandise no matter who the headliner is, but he said he also likes Trump. "I don't have nothing against him. He never did anything to me," he said. "Only thing he did was made my pockets a little fatter, so you can't be mad at that." Victoria Moorwood What time does the inauguration start? The Trump Vance Inaugural Committee, National Park Service, Washington D.C. tourism department, Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies and Reuters have laid out a general schedule of the day, though not every event has a specific start time or location. According to those reports, security screening opened at the Capitol at 5 a.m. ET. Live music and opening remarks begin around 9:30 a.m. ET. Carrie Underwoods performance of America the Beautiful will occur before Trumps swearing-in, which happens at exactly noon. USA TODAY Staff US President-elect Donald Trump arrives to speak at a MAGA victory rally at Capital One Arena in Washington, DC on January 19, 2025, one day ahead of his inauguration ceremony. History buff? Test your inauguration knowledge with our quiz Anthony Fauci, Liz Cheney receive preemptive pardons from Biden hours before Trump becomes president Anthony Fauci, Liz Cheney and Gen. Mark Milley all received preemptive pardons from Biden on Monday for potential targets of President-elect Donald Trump in an unprecedented move to shield some of the incoming president's top foes from criminal prosecution. Biden also granted pardons to the lawmakers and staffers from the House committee that investigated the Capitol attack on Jan. 6, 2021, a panel the president-elect has railed against for years. "These public servants have served our nation with honor and distinction and do not deserve to be the targets of unjustified and politically motivated prosecutions," Biden said in a statement. Holly Rosenkrantz President-Elect Donald Trump greets the Village People on stage at his victory rally at the Capital One Arena on January 19, 2025 in Washington, DC. Trump will be sworn in as the 47th U.S. president on January 20. Which president's assassin was also at their inauguration? John Wilkes Booth can be seen in a photograph of former President Abraham Lincoln's second inauguration. Six weeks later, the actor and Confederate sympathizer shot and killed Lincoln inside Ford's Theatre. More: Documents reveal that Abraham Lincoln pardoned Biden's ancestor during Civil War: Report Has the inauguration been held indoors before? Trump's second inauguration was moved inside the Capitol rotunda, due to bitter cold conditions in Washington Monday. US President Ronald Reagan (C) is sworn in as 40th President of the United States by Chief Justice Warren Burger (R) beside his wife Nancy Reagan (C) during inaugural ceremony, on January 21, 1985 in the Capitol Rotunda in Washington DC. Then President Ronald Reagan's second swearing-in in January 1985 marks the last time the ceremony took place inside. In 1909, William Taft's presidential inauguration was held in the Senate chamber due to 10 inches of snow outside. More: Trump's inaugural ceremony moved indoors due to forecast of intense cold Who gave the longest inauguration speech? The shortest? Former President William Henry Harrison holds the record for the longest inaugural address, at 8,445 words and one hour and 40 minutes, on March 4, 1841. Harrison also went down in history for having the shortest presidential term. At 68 years old, the ninth president died a month after taking office from pneumonia thought to be the result of bitter cold conditions during his inauguration. Meanwhile, the briefest inauguration award goes to first President George Washington, who offered just 135 words before his second oath of office. Savannah Kuchar When was the first inauguration? Former President George Washington was sworn in during the country's first inauguration on April 30, 1789. Starting with the second president, John Adams, inaugurations were typically held on March 4. The ceremony moved to its current traditional date, Jan. 20, starting with former President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1937. Savannah Kuchar This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Inauguration updates: Trump pardons J6 rioters, signs orders on TikTok With a six-week cease-fire now in effect in Gaza, longtime ally Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) is urging President-elect Donald Trump to go after Iran with force. The target: Tehran's nuclear program. The country is now a "de facto nuclear threshold state," and Graham doesn't believe diplomacy will stop Iran from eventually crossing the threshold. "There's a one in trillion chance you'll degrade the Iranian nuclear program through diplomacy," Graham told Margaret Brennan on Sunday on CBS' "Face the Nation." "There's a 90% chance you'll degrade it through military action by Israel, supported by the United States. So the next topic I will be engaging in with President Trump is to take this moment in time to decimate the Iran nuclear program because they're so exposed." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Israel's incursions into Gaza to fight Hamas and into Lebanon to cut down Hezbollah, as well as its October 2024 strike on Iranian military targets, mean Iran is noticeably weaker than it once was. After pulling the U.S. out of a nuclear deal with Iran in 2018, Trump in his first term employed a maximum pressure strategy of sanctions designed to throttle the country's ability to develop the weapons. That campaign is now on its way back. But experts worry it might be too late to prevent Iran from producing a nuclear weapon. Graham has long encouraged punitive action against Iran, especially as Israel's war against Hamas, a key Iranian proxy, raged in Gaza. "This is a religious Nazi regime," Graham told Brennan. "They want to destroy the Jewish state. They want to purify Islam and drive us out of the Mideast. It would be like negotiating with Hitler. I am hoping there will be an effort by Israel to decimate the Iran nuclear program supported by the United States, and, if we don't do that, it will be a historical mistake." Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Graham on Sunday joined a chorus of Republicans in the national security space praising Trump for his role in helping to create a breakthrough in cease-fire negotiations between Israel and Hamas. "Let me just say this: These people would not be coming out if Donald Trump had not demanded they be out," Graham said. Prairie Rose Seminole works to digitize records of the Bismarck Indian School on Jan. 3, 2025, at the National Archives in Kansas City, Mo. (Photo provided by Dennis J. Neumann) Researchers are digitizing historical records from a Native American boarding school in Bismarck, aiming to bring information closer to the communities affected by its existence. Theres a hunger to understand this part of our history, to better understand the boarding school era, said Prairie Rose Seminole, who is part of the team working on the project. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The Bismarck Indian School operated from 1907 to 1937. Most of its students came from Native American reservations in North Dakota. Its records, however, are in the National Archives in Kansas City, Missouri, 600 miles away. The collection includes boxes of financial records and reports, official correspondence, personnel and staff information, and student records and correspondence. Each piece reveals something about the residential boarding school experience, researchers said. Until they are digitized, few people whose relatives attended the boarding school have access to the information. Its been emotional to uncover these stories, said Seminole, a citizen of the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation and project coordinator with Northern Plains Heritage Foundation. Some people in our communities arent aware of their (ancestors) experiences. Researcher and historian Dakota Goodhouse works to digitize Bismarck Indian School records on Jan. 3, 2025, at the National Archives in Kansas City, Mo. (Photo provided by Dennis J. Neumann) Dakota Goodhouse, an instructor of Native American studies at United Tribes Technical College in Bismarck, has traveled to Kansas City twice to view and scan the collection. He has also written and presented research on the boarding school. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement His research has found that the school was well-run in its early years. In its later years, however, a superintendent refused to take action when local soldiers camped near the school and induced female students to sneak out after dark. This same administrators wife also snatched children from reservations without notifying their families and forced them to attend the school. Every time I have walked away with this heavy feeling of responsibility to share the stories, Goodhouse said. I want people to see these documents for themselves. Even the language different parties use in correspondence sheds light into how the school was viewed. Goodhouse, a citizen of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, said that in letters students often refer to the school as jail while staff and administrators refer to it as a playroom. Its necessary for us to see those differences in perspective, he said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Seminole spent much of her time in the archives scanning receipts and invoices. She was surprised by how many businesses in the Bismarck area served as vendors to the school, especially during and after the Depression. There are a number of businesses that survived because of huge government contracts with the school, she said. Both Seminole and Goodhouse were struck by how many names they recognized as they filtered through records. When he was a child, Goodhouses grandmother took him to the site of the Bismarck Indian School, which is now headquarters for the North Dakota National Guard. His grandmother and her younger sister were students at the school. Her sister died there after falling off a swing. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement While scanning documents he ran across his grandmothers name on a list of Incorrigible Students. He believes her name landed on the list because of escalating tensions between her and the matron at the time. Theres a legacy thats been omitted, Goodhouse said. We need to investigate that and share stories openly. Seminole also identified surnames of families she knows well. It brings up a lot of feelings, she said. What were learning is complex. The digital work is sponsored by the Northern Plains Heritage Foundation and the Missouri Valley Heritage Alliance-Fort Abraham Lincoln Foundation; and in partnership with Nueta, Hidatsa, Sahnish College, New Town, and United Tribes Technical College in Bismarck. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The researchers said it will take numerous visits to the archives to document all the records. Then there is a question of how to reveal and share the information, some of which is sensitive and disturbing. The team is working with an advisory group to determine the best way to make everything accessible in a respectful way. It will be a process, Seminole said. Our priorities are education, healing and respect. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX The word historic is too often bandied around nowadays for inconsequential events. But the inauguration today of the 47th president of the United States certainly merits the accolade. Donald Trump will become the first occupant of the White House to be sworn in once again after a hiatus of four years since Grover Cleveland in 1893. With extreme cold forecast for the US capital, the ceremony has been moved indoors for the first time since Ronald Reagans second inauguration in 1985. This will deny Mr Trump what he had hoped would be a huge crowd to witness a moment that few except himself thought was possible. But it will also mean there is no dispute about the number of attendees as there was in 2017, when the new president claimed more than one million turned up. What can we expect from a second Trump presidency? His first term began with overblown predictions of chaos both at home and around the world. His detractors thought him capable of triggering a world war and yet global tensions have worsened under his successor Joe Biden. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The ceasefire in the Middle East was agreed only because Mr Trumps arrival made it an imperative for both sides. Whether it holds is another matter, but the president is clearly intent on seeing that it does. He has pledged to end the Russia-Ukraine conflict, though on what terms no-one yet knows. Kyiv is clearly concerned that he will give too much to Vladimir Putin, not least because some members of the new cabinet are ambivalent on the subject. But if there are doveish noises towards Moscow, China and Iran are feeling the full blast of hawkish rhetoric. Mr Trump is preparing to sign dozens of executive orders within days that will give an early indication of whether he will follow up on his campaign pledges. He has threatened tariffs against China of 60 per cent or more, yet one of his advisers, Elon Musk, is implacably opposed to measures that interfere with free trade and his own business interests in particular. A global trade war will help no-one except some US commercial interests and certainly not the UK. It is a paradox that some of Mr Trumps biggest cheerleaders profess themselves to be anti-protectionist. Perhaps they believe Britain will not be in the Trump sights but any impact on world trade will affect our economy and the Governments growth ambitions. History is being made but on which side of it are we? Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. TOKYO, Jan 20 (NHK) - Fallout continues from a scandal involving a woman and popular TV personality Nakai Masahiro, who is best known as a former member of the disbanded pop idol group, SMAP. A weekly magazine has reported that an employee of Japan's Fuji Television played a role in the alleged incident. And now, advertisers are starting to distance themselves from the broadcaster. Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance said it will suspend its commercials on Fuji TV. The firm explained that the decision was made in light of a series of media reports. Nippon Life Insurance said that on Sunday it will replace its advertisements with public service announcements for two of the Fuji TV programs it sponsors. Toyota Motor and NTT East have taken the same measure. Fuji Television President Minato Koichi held a news conference on Friday for the first time since the scandal surfaced. He said his company will set up a panel comprised mainly of independent lawyers to look into the matter. Algeria has for long marketed itself as a country that defeated terrorism as it wishes to attract tourists to its vast and underdeveloped south. But the slaughtering of a Swiss tourist in October and the kidnapping of a Spanish national a few days ago, along with the travel warnings by western countries show the dim reality of an insecure Algeria with homegrown terrorist groups. Enrique Fernandez, a 62-year-old tourist, was misled by Algerian propaganda which tends to lure tourists to its desertic south to enjoy impressive sceneries at the peril of being kidnapped by the numerous Jihadist groups in the region. He was kidnapped and taken to Mali. Media reports suggest he is held by ISIS. The Spanish embassy reacted by warning against any travel to southern Algeria. His abduction shows that Algerias south is becoming a cradle of terrorist groups. In October, a Swiss woman had her throat slit before her own kids in a terrorist attack in the southern city of Djanet. The prevailing insecurity in Algerias south, where it seeks to attract tourists, has led many western countries to warn against all travel near the borders and exercise extreme caution in the Algerian territory. The main terrorist threat is from Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) and other regional Islamist groups including Al Murabitun and Daesh affiliates. Theres also a threat from individuals inspired by Daesh, according to the UK governments travel advice, which adds that these groups have been active across the country and pose a threat throughout Algeria, including in Algiers and other major cities. The US State Department has also warned of the existence of such groups in Algeria. As the specter of kidnapping for ransom by terrorist groups haunts Algeria, the country indulges in fabricating sham terrorism charges against its own peaceful political opponents. Instead of fighting terrorist groups in the Sahel, Algeria is busy sending scores of Kabyle independence activists and opposition members of Rashad as well as critics, including writers and journalists, who have been charged with terrorism. Despite its colossal spending to buy Russian arms, Algeria stations most of its army on its most secure border with Morocco, where it stokes separatism by backing a separatist movement whose growing links with other terrorist groups in the Sahel and with Iran raises concerns about its destabilizing risk in the region. Algerias strategy of exporting its homegrown terrorist groups has backfired as many return to Algerias vast south, amid a crackdown by Wagner-backed Sahel armies. Algeria will have to align its strategic focus to securing its territories instead of fixating on an arms race with Morocco, a country that attracted 17.5 million tourists in 2024, with zero terrorist incidents. On the High Instructions of King Mohammed VI, the Ministry of the Interior, together with all the relevant ministries and administrations and the various stakeholders, have taken urgent measures and mobilized all logistical means and human resources to provide support and assistance to citizens grappling with the cold wave hitting several regions of the Kingdom. In this respect, the walis and governors of the concerned regions and provinces were urged to monitor the development of the situation, coordinate intervention operations, and take the necessary preventive and precautionary measures through a set of actions to ease the burden on the population, in line with the royal instructions, the Ministry of Interior said in a press release. A command and vigilance center has been set up at the Ministry of the Interior, along with regional vigilance and monitoring committees, as part of the national plan prepared for the current winter season 2024-2025. This plan is marked by significant updates, including the expansion of the targeted areas by adding 185 new villages. Special attention has been given to the populations residing in areas affected by the recent earthquake and floods in our country. The plan targets 169,134 households, or a population of approximately 872,778 people, living in 2,014 villages across 28 provinces and prefectures. In line with this mobilization effort, the Ministry of the Interior, through its central and provincial departments and in coordination with all relevant sectors and services, has enhanced its readiness levels for intervention according to the situations requirements. Measures include ongoing monitoring and assessment of the situation on the field, ensuring the regular supply of essential goods and heating resources to the affected areas, mobilizing necessary equipment and positioning it near roads likely to be cut off to prevent isolation, organizing the distribution of food aid, blankets, and firewood to the targeted populations in the concerned provinces. The aim is also to secure immediate assistance to people in critical and emergency situations, ensure the continuity of road and telephone network connectivity, and provide fodder for livestock in affected areas. The Ministry of the Interior reiterates its commitment to the comprehensive mobilization of all relevant authorities and services to alleviate the burden on the population and provide all necessary support and assistance to address potential damages caused by severe weather conditions, while deploying all required resources and means to ensure the safety of citizens and their property. The Sahraouis held by the Polisario in the Tindouf camps brace for tough days ahead as the Algerian regime reinforces its siege, further restricting movement. Moroccos Assabah daily reported that Algeria is implementing a new security plan, including fortifications and fences around the camps to prevent Sahraouis from leaving. The plan is being implemented as Algeria prepares for the launch of a railway near the camp that is planned to transport iron from the Gar Jbilet mine. The siege would deprive the Sahraouis held against their will in the camps from sources of revenue such as smuggling, which they have been engaged in with neighboring countries. Polisario officials however would not be affected by the move, given that they are involved in embezzlement of humanitarian aid in connivance with Algerian officials. This scandal was denounced in an EUs anti-fraud office in a report in 2015. In 2020, Amnesty international denounced the opaque situation in the Tindouf camps where all sorts of rights violations go unreported due to the siege. For decades, rights groups have held Algeria accountable for the rights breaches taking place in a territory that falls in its own jurisdiction, but which it abandoned to a separatist militia that trades in the suffering of the camps residents. Four Moroccan drivers and three trucks went missing on the border between Dori in Burkina Faso and Tera in Niger, well-informed sources said. The drivers on board the three trucks left Dori towards Tera unprotected and unescorted despite the risk of terrorist activity in the area, the sources said. On January 11, 18 Burkinabe soldiers and civilians were killed between Dori and Seytenga. Moroccos foreign ministry has formed a crisis cell and the Moroccan embassy together with Burkinabe authorities are monitoring efforts to locate the drivers. Trucks have often been targets of terrorists in the area, where the Islamic State in the Sahel is operating. Burkinabe authorities have been organizing truck convoys escorted by the army to protect them against terrorist attacks in border areas with Niger and Mali. In a new antisemitic move, the Algerian regime ordered the closure of a publishing house named after Franz Fanon in Boumerdes, after it published a book on Jews in Algeria. Authorities gave the pretext of threats to security and public order, attacks on national identity, and hate speech for its censorship. The book in question, dubbed Jewish Algeria by Heda Bensahli, delves into the two-thousand-year presence of Jews in Algeria, highlighting their cultural and historical contributions despite the challenges they faced, especially after the colonial period. The Algerian regime has embraced a version of Arab authoritarian nationalism that occulted cultural, political, linguistic, and religious diversity. Jews, in particular, were forced to leave the country after independence and their belongings and real-estate were confiscated. Many cannot return to the country of their forefathers, as the Algerian regime surfs on antisemitism and populist discourse. The closure of the publishing house is part of a larger crackdown on free speech. The Algerian regime has closed critical media outlets and imprisoned writers such as French-Algerian novelist Boualem Sansal, who has been in jail in retaliation for challenging the states rhetoric on colonial borders. Morocco and the Central African Republic have examined this Monday in Rabat military cooperation between the two countries and prospects for expanding this cooperation to other areas of common interest. The topics were discussed at meetings held by General Zephirin Mamadou, Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces and Commander of the Bangui Autonomous Defense Zone of the Central African Republic, who is paying a visit to Morocco on January 17-23, at the head of a large military delegation. General Zephirin Mamadou held separate talks with FAR Inspector General and Commander of the South Zone, Lieutenant General Mohammed Berrid, and with Minister Delegate in charge of National Defense Administration, Abdeltif Loudyi. During the talks that covered various aspects of military cooperation, including training and exchanges of visits, both sides welcomed the strong ties of cooperation between the two countries Armed Forces, the FAR General Staff said in a statement. The Chief of Staff of the Central African Armed Forces expressed his gratitude to King Mohammed VI for the support extended to the Central African Armed Forces, and praised the action of the Moroccan contingent in MINUSCA and its decisive role in the UN stabilization mission. Since 2014, Moroccos Royal Armed Forces have been participating in peacekeeping in the Central African Republic, within MINUSCA, through a contingent of 750 military personnel, the FAR statement recalled. Hours after being sworn in, Trump started signing executive orders on stage in front of his supporters at the Capitol One Arena. Photo: Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images In a forced-indoor ceremony in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda today, Donald Trump was sworn in as Americas 47th president. Two long speeches later, the transition of power was complete and Trump and team were already making some big changes. Heres what happened as it happened along with commentary and analysis from the entire Intelligencer team. This post has been updated. Photo: Adam Gray/Bloomberg via Getty Images The New Yorkers who decide to tune in to watch Donald Trump be sworn in to his second term in the White House might glimpse a familiar face in the crowd. Mayor Eric Adams will be in attendance at the inauguration in Washington, D.C., in another sign of the burgeoning relationship between the two men. Though Adams sat down with Trump in Florida just three days ago, City Hall is signaling that the invitation was a last-minute one. Politico reports that Adams received the invite to the nations capital from Trumps team just before 1 a.m. Monday morning and that the mayor then drove to Washington, D.C., around 3 a.m. He is set to return to the city following the ceremony, though the schedule doesnt indicate any plans to attend any additional events after Trump is sworn in. In the early hours of Monday morning, the Trump administration reached out inviting Mayor Adams to attend the inauguration at the incoming administrations request. Mayor Adams accepted on behalf of New York City, Fabien Levy, the deputy mayor for communications, wrote on social media Monday morning. As the mayor has repeatedly said, America has chosen a new national leader and we must work together to build a safer, stronger, and more affordable in New York City. There was no previous indication that Adams had planned to attend the inauguration. City Hall released Adamss public schedule for Monday shortly after midnight, showing a pair of morning events to commemorate Martin Luther King Jr. Day in Brooklyn and Manhattan as well as an afternoon appearance on a news program about Trumps inauguration. A revised schedule issued a little more than seven hours later removed those events and now included Adamss slated appearance at the inauguration at noon. In a social-media post, Adams acknowledged his trip to Washington, calling Inauguration Day a sacred American tradition. On MLK Day, like Reverend Dr. King said, we must put partisan politics aside to do whats best for our country. I believe theres much we can achieve working alongside the federal government as we support our citys values and fight for New Yorkers, he said. Adamss attendance comes amid growing speculation that he is angling for a pardon from the incoming president ahead of his trial in April on federal charges of bribery and campaign-finance crimes. In a statement released following his Friday meeting with Trump, Adams was emphatic that he did not discuss his legal case, and that their conversation was focused on how the federal government can best help New Yorkers. In an interview with NY1 earlier this month, Adams indicated an openness to attending Trumps inauguration. If its possible for me to get there, I look forward to it. If not, I will send my congratulations. I look forward to governing with the incoming president, he said. ONTD, does performing in a national tour count as being performing on Broadway? View Answers yes, because it's a Broadway show 14 ( 15.1 % ) no, because it's not ON Broadway 79 ( 84.9 % ) New RHOSLC cast member Britani Bateman has mentioned her Broadway career in passing a few times since joining the show. A few weeks ago, a debate broke out over the veracity of her claim. Fellow SLC housewife Bronwyn said that Britani never actually performed on Broadway.I tried searching the Internet Broadway Database but couldn't find any credits for Britani. To be fair, their database is not 100% inclusive of every actor who has ever been in every show on Broadway, especially if the show is from a long time ago and the actor you're looking for wasn't in the opening night cast (the database is much more accurate about recent productions). I finally learned that one of the problems is that Britani has used multiple last names. Her maiden name was Martin but she has also performed using her married last names (Underwood and Bateman). According to Britani, shortly after graduating from BYU she was hired to play Ariel and Belle at Disney World. In addition, they had her record the soundtracks for "Feel the Magic" and "Celebrate the Music of Disney. They also had her record Part of Your World from The Little Mermaid for their international shows (meaning that the people hired to play Ariel at other Disney resorts would lip sync to Britani's recording of this song). She also played Pocahontas in Disney World's "Feel the Magic" show in 1998 (the intro is long but it's worth waiting to see Meeko make his appearance).In 1997, she was hired by Tokyo Disneyland to play Ariel, so she was lip syncing to the version of Part of Your World that she had recorded a few years earlier.When she returned to the United States, she was cast in the second national tour for Miss Saigon. This is the only credit that should be on IBDB, but I tried using all of her last names and couldn't find her. This is not surprising though because this tour began in 1995 and she joined around 1999, shortly before it closed in 2000. She has mentioned that Will Swenson was in the cast with her and he joined the tour at the end of 1999.The Confrontation (with Will Swenson)I Still BelieveNow That I've Seen HerHer other theater credits include several productions at the Robert Redford Sundance Theater: a 1999 English language adaptation of the Umbrellas of Cherbourg, a 1999 production of Oliver (starring Christopher Lloyd), and a 2002 production of Dear World (a musical by Jerry Herman based on The Madwoman of Chaillot).Umbrellas of CherbourgOliverDear World Oil prices fell in Mondays morning session as traders await U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration in the hope of some clarity on his policy agenda. Brent crude for March delivery was down 1.5% to trade at $79.66 per barrel at 11.20 am ET while WTI crude for February delivery declined 1.8% to $76.46 per barrel. According to PVM oil analyst Tamas Varga, the price declines can be chalked up to the huge uncertainty over the incoming president's new policies. "Given the performance of the market so far this year, it is reasonable to see some people take profit before the Trump administration's modus operandi becomes clearer." Varga told Reuters. Last month, a survey by law firm Haynes Boone LLC revealed that banks are gearing up for oil prices to fall below $60 a barrel by the middle of President-elect Donald Trumps new term. Trump says hell push shale producers to ramp up output, even if it means operators drill themselves out of business. However, commodity analysts at Standard Chartered have predicted that the dramatic slowdown in U.S. oil production growth that we witnessed in 2024 will continue over the next two years. However, commodity experts at Standard Chartered have argued that the dynamics of U.S. shale oil production make long-term supply increases difficult to maintain, noting that the countrys oil production is dominated by a few majors and independent producers, alongside private companies, rather than a national oil company as is often the case with many OPEC producers. These companies have largely left behind their trigger-happy, drill-baby-drill days and adopted strict capital discipline, eschewing rapid production increases in favor of returning more capital to shareholders in the form of dividends and share buybacks. StanChart also points out that extensive M&A activity in the sector has reduced the number of operating companies, changing the landscape from a patchwork of small producer acreages to larger contiguous acreage. This new modus operandi allows for complex drilling and completion techniques, including multi-pad wells with extremely long lateral sections that are able to optimize spacing and associated infrastructure. By Alex Kimani for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com Following the Israel-Gaza ceasefire, the Iran-aligned Houthis will limit attacks in the Red Sea to vessels linked with Israel, the Humanitarian Operations Coordination Center, through which the Houthis communicate with merchant shipping, has said. We affirm that, in the event of any aggression against the Republic of Yemen by the United States of America, the United Kingdom, or the usurping Israeli entity, the sanctions will be reinstated against the aggressor, the center said in an email sent to shipping industry officials dated on January 19 and quoted by Reuters on Monday. The Houthis will only target ships that are wholly or partially owned by Israeli individuals or entities, as well as Israel-flagged ships, the Houthis said, announcing a partial halt to the attacks in the Red Sea that have disrupted commercial shipping in the past year. However, global shipping giants do not expect a quick return to Red Sea traffic. We will continue monitoring the situation in the Middle East closely and will return to the Red Sea and sailing through Bab el Mandeb when it is safe to do so, A.P. Moller-Maersk A/S told Bloomberg in an emailed statement on Friday. Last week, Israel and Hamas reached a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal following 15 months of war. During most of these months, the Houthis attacked commercial vessels passing through the Bab el Mandeb Strait and the Red Sea. These attacks forced the global container and tanker shippers to re-route their journeys between Europe and Asia via the longer route around the southern tip of Africa. The longer voyages via Africa have increased travel times, delayed goods delivery, disrupted supply chains, and raised shipping costs. Apart from Maersk, another shipping giant, Hapag-Lloyd, also expects no imminent return to the Red Sea shipping lane. The agreement has only just been reached. We will closely analyze the latest developments and their impact on the security situation in the Red Sea, a spokesperson for Hapag-Lloyd told Reuters on Thursday. By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com Azerbaijani leader Ilham Aliyev appeared to ratchet up tension in the South Caucasus by unexpectedly reviving a demand for extraterritorial rights on a land corridor connecting Azerbaijan proper to its Nakhchivan exclave across Armenian territory. But some experts in Baku believe that the issue can be managed. Aliyev surprised regional analysts by seemingly tossing a diplomatic grenade into the Armenian-Azerbaijani peace process during an early January interview with Azerbaijani journalists. He repeatedly referred to Armenia as fascist and restored the issue of what is known as the Zangezur corridor to the top of the negotiating agenda. In the months prior to Aliyevs comments, both sides had sent signals that a peace deal seemed close. Armenian and Azerbaijani officials announced last August that they had set aside the Zangezur issue, saying the two countries would first finalize a peace deal, then return to the corridor matter. From Armenias standpoint, the issue was problematic for two reasons; one, officials in Yerevan did not want to surrender sovereignty over the land route connecting two Azerbaijani territories; and two, Armenia was leery of allowing Russia to act as a guarantor of stability along the corridor. Yerevans relationship with Moscow has soured since Azerbaijan inflicted a decisive defeat of Armenia in the Second Karabakh War, which ended in late 2023: many Armenians believe Russia betrayed their country by not fulfilling treaty obligations to defend Armenian sovereignty. A 2020 agreement had enshrined a Russian peacekeeping role over the Zangezur corridor, but the August bilateral decision to defer the issue effectively froze Moscow out of any future presence. Russian officials at first bitterly complained about the Armenian-Azerbaijani move to defer Zangezur but eventually backed off after Iran forcefully supported shelving the corridor issue. In recent months, as Armenian-Russian relations have continued to spiral downward, the Armenian governments interest in reducing the Russian presence in the country has taken on increased importance. A key for Armenia, then, is that Aliyevs revival of the Zangezur issue doesnt imply that Baku wants Russian peacekeepers along the route, independent analyst Shujaat Ahmadzade told Eurasianet. I think Azerbaijan is equally unhappy with [the idea of] Russian control [of the Zangezur corridor], said Ahmadzade, an expert in South Caucasus affairs, adding that Baku is content to leave Armenia to act as the main point of resistance because the issue is more of an Armenian-Russian dispute. Aliyevs early January interview served as a reminder to Armenia that while Zangezur may have been deferred, it would not be forgotten by Baku. At the same time, Ahmadzade indicated that there was potentially a certain amount of flexibility in Bakus approach on the issue. Zangezur, in Bakus view, is linked to the broader issue of expanding regional trade networks, he added. Over the past year, Azerbaijan has actively pursued projects with other neighboring states to boost East-West trade via the Middle Corridor route, including the restoration of a railway with Georgia and an ambitious plan with Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan to export electricity. There are three tracks [in the bilateral dialogue] a peace agreement, borders, and connectivity that both countries have disputes in, yet connectivity is the only space over which Armenian-Azerbaijani bilateral negotiations have not begun, Ahmadzade noted. I think at this point the parties are trying to recalibrate their stakes over this matter. Ahmadzade believes Azerbaijan wants to explore unblocking all bilateral connectivity routes. As for Zangezur, Azerbaijan doesnt necessarily insist on Armenia sacrificing complete sovereignty over the corridor; Bakus bottom line is it wants Azerbaijani vehicles traveling on the corridor between the mainland and Nakhchivan to move freely without any inspections. I think this is where Armenia is resisting, he said. By Eurasianet.org More Top Reads From Oilprice.com U.S. supermajor Chevron has expressed interest in oil and gas exploration offshore Greece, the Greek Ministry of Energy and Environment said on Monday, adding that exploration is part of the national strategy for energy independence and lower energy costs. Chevron is interested in exploring the area southwest of the Peloponnese peninsula and to the west of the island of Crete, according to the Greek ministry. Greece has been looking to boost its domestic energy supply by installing renewables and boosting offshore gas exploration after the energy crisis of 2022 and the halt of Russian pipeline gas supply to most EU countries. Referring to Chevrons interest, Greece said today that it would imminently announce an international tender and would decide this week on the area up for exploration. Greeces state firm Hellenic Hydrocarbons and Energy Resources Management Company (HEREMA) is also submitting today the environmental impact study on the plans for exploration, the Greek energy ministry said. Greece sees natural gas as the bridge fuel for Europe by 2050 and for the rest of the world after 2050, it added. Chevron's interest, combined with the fact that ExxonMobil is already active in our country, marks the simultaneous presence of two energy giants and reinforces the belief that Greece can play a leading role in the global energy market and confirms that our country is an attractive investment destination, the ministry noted. In October, Greece said that a consortium led by ExxonMobil had successfully completed the first exploration phase southwest of the Greek island of Crete and decided to proceed with the second exploration stage. Exxon and Helleniq Energy are conducting the exploration studies in a joint venture. The second exploration phase is expected to last three years and its minimum requirement pertains to completing the collection and assessment of 3D seismic data. Greece has been hoping that its waters could hold giant natural gas resources, similar to the ones discovered in the Eastern Mediterranean offshore Egypt and Israel. By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com China imported record volumes of coal last year, but imports from its second-largest supplier, Russia, dipped by 7% as the U.S. intensified sanctions on Russian coal exporters and China re-imposed tariffs. China bought 93.86 million metric tons of coal from Russia in 2024, down by 7% on the year, according to Chinese customs data quoted by Reuters. At the same time, overall Chinese imports are estimated to have jumped by 14.4% from a year earlier to a record high of 542.7 million tons. Analysts attributed the rise in Chinese coal imports to falling international seaborne coal prices which opened up the import arbitrage to China. The worlds largest coal importer and consumer boosted imports from its number-one supplier, Indonesia, by 8% from a year earlier, to 236.99 million tons, per the official Chinese data. Purchases of coal from Australia soared by 59% in 2024 compared to 2023. At 83.24 million tons, Australian coal gained the most from the first full year in which China removed an unofficial ban on imports of coal from Australia amid a diplomatic row. Relations between the two countries deteriorated in 2020 after the Australian government called for an international inquiry into Beijings handling of the initial stages of the Covid pandemic. The call led to a retaliatory ban on Australian coal imports into one of the worlds biggest consumers of the commodity. With Australian coal imports surging, and imports from other major suppliers such as Indonesia and Mongolia rising, Russia was the only big Chinese supplier to see its exports drop in 2024. This followed the additional U.S. sanctions on Russian coal networks and exports, as well as China reinstating tariffs on coal imports from the start of 2024, in what was expected to be a blow to Russian exporters. Despite the drop in imports from Russia, China purchased record volumes of coal overall in 2024, and widened its lead over the second-largest buyer, India, to the highest in more than a decade. By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com Chinas crude oil surplus last year increased to around 1 million bpd as refiners rushed to stock up on cheaper Russian crude, enjoying some purchasing flexibility for this year. Reuters Clyde Russell reported the average daily surplus stood at 1.15 million barrels, which compared with 760,000 barrels a year earlier. This, Russell, suggested, would give Chinese refiners options in handling the recent spike in oil prices prompted by the Biden administrations parting sanction shot at Russia, which specifically targeted its energy industry. The basis for the calculations was crude oil imports, local production, and refining data from the government. Last year, Chinas crude oil imports plus domestic production averaged 15.28 million barrels daily, while refineries processed an average of 14.13 million barrels daily, leaving a surplus of 1.15 million barrels daily. The refining average constituted a dip, by the way, and that was the first dip in refining rates in 20 years. The cause of the dip was weaker fuel demand, which depressed refining margins in 2024. Oil demand in China was lackluster in 2024, with consumption growth slowed, due to weaker economic performance and a shift to electric vehicles and LNG-fueled trucks. Although some of the weakness is attributable to weaker economic performance, analysts believe the shift toward EVs and LNG trucks is removing some road fuel demand permanently. However, now it is emerging that Chinese car buyers are growing fonder of hybrids rather than full EVs, which suggests there may yet be a change in oil demand patterns in the worlds largest importer of crude. Crude oil imports into China also declined last year, for the first time in some 20 years, excluding the pandemic lockdown period. The average import level stood at 11.04 million bpd in 2024, down by 1.9% from 2023, customs data showed earlier this month. By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com Cheap cargoes and weak refining margins boosted Chinas crude oil imports from Russia to a record high in 2024, while imports from the worlds top crude exporter and Russian ally in OPEC+, Saudi Arabia, dipped by 9%, according to official Chinese data compiled by Reuters. Last year, Chinese refiners continued to purchase lower-priced barrels from Russia and imports of Russian crude rose by 1% to an annual record-high of 2.17 million barrels per day (bpd), the data from the Chinese General Administration of Customs showed on Monday. The higher imports from Russia highlight the Chinese refiners appetite for cheap crude, especially as overall Chinese imports fell in 2024, for the first time in two decades excluding the Covid period. Chinas second-biggest supplier after Russia, Saudi Arabia, however, saw its purchases in the worlds top crude importer slip to 1.57 million bpd, down compared to 1.72 million bpd in 2023. Malaysia became the third-largest crude oil supplier to China last year, mostly due to the Southeast Asian country acting as a trans-shipment hub for Iranian and Venezuelan cargoes. The official Chinese data didnt show any crude imports from Iran, but it is China, especially its independent refiners, that is the biggest buyer of Iranian crude, taking more than 90% of Irans total export volumes. Russia led the Chinese oil suppliers list last year, but Saudi Arabia began to regain some market share from Moscow in the last months of 2024, as barrels from Iran and Russia are shrinking amid tightening sanctions on tankers. At the turn of the new year, the prices of Oman and Dubai crude jumped to a rare premium over Brent Crude, as demand for Middle Eastern oil surged in China and India. The top buyers of Russian crude are now scrambling for alternative supply after the U.S. earlier this month slapped its most aggressive sanctions yet on Russias oil export and export logistics. By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com Israel exported a record 981mn cfd of natural gas to Egypt in 2024, good for 18.2% year-over-year. According to Middle East Oil & Gas publication MEES, the remarkable surge in imports can be attributed to a growing gas deficit resulting from declining domestic production by Egypt. However, Israel will struggle to ramp up exports further due to infrastructure limitations. The Levant Basin in the eastern Mediterranean Sea has emerged as one of the worlds top natural gas resources, with 85 trillion cubic feet (~2.4 trillion cubic meters) discovered over the past two decades by countries in the region, including Israel. The gas-rich offshore basin straddling Egypt, Israel, Cyprus and Lebanon has attracted some of the world's top energy companies as Europe scrambles to secure supplies to replace Russian gas. Over the past decade, Israel has been aggressively pursuing hydrocarbon exploration and development. Israel's natural gas reserves have grown by an impressive 40% over the past decade thanks in large part to increased drilling and exploration activities. During that time, offshore production has expanded five-fold growth since the start-up of Israel's first major producing Tamar field in 2013. Israel has seen its gas reserves grow from 780 billion cubic meters (bcm) in 2012 to 1,087 bcm at the end of 2022, while 119 bcm was extracted over the same period. The discovery and development of major gas fields such as Leviathan, one of the worlds largest deep-water gas fields, and Tamar has transformed Israels energy mix, with the countrys demand for natural gas forecast to double over the coming two decades. With 22.9 trillion cubic feet of recoverable gas, Leviathan is the largest natural gas reservoir in the Mediterranean, and one of the largest producing assets in the region. The 330 square kilometer field was discovered in December 2010 by NewMed Energy (OTCPK:DKDRF), Chevron Corp.(NYSE:CVX) and Ratio Oil Corp. NewMed is Leviathan's main operator with a 45.3% working interest; Chevron has a 39.7% working interest while Ratio has a 15%. By Alex Kimani for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com Russia's oil shipments via the Baltic Sea declined 10% over the final four months of 2024 due to the impact of EU sanctions against Russian oil and gas exports, the Finnish Border Guard has reported. Finland's Coast Guard monitors the shadow fleet that Russia uses to export crude via the Gulf of Finland. "In the last four or five months of last year, we saw a roughly 10% decline in the amount of oil leaving from Russia," the Finnish Border Guard's Head of Maritime Safety Mikko Hirvi told Reuters late last week. "That is of course very good, but on the other hand, older vessels have been added to the traffic on the Baltic Sea at the same time. The vessels in operation are in worse condition than before," he added, saying its difficult to determine whether the decline will only be temporary. An oil price rally kicked off two weeks ago after the Biden administration announced the harshest sanctions yet on Russian oil. Reuters reported that a purported U.S. Treasury document circulating among traders in Europe and Asia, revealed that some 180 vessels, several senior Russian oil executives, dozens of traders and two major oil companies are targeted by the sanctions. Later, it emerged that the Biden administration has targeted Surgutneftgas and Gazprom Neft, two firms that handle 25% of Russian oil exports. The two companies shipped an average of 970,000 bbls a day in 2024. India has announced that it will abide by the sanctions and turn away sanctioned tankers. Previously, we reported that the sanctions would severely disrupt Russian oil exports to India and China--the biggest buyers of Russian crude--and could also give Trump more leverage in future negotiations as he tries to end the war in Ukraine. Last year, India briefly overtook China as the largest buyer of Russian crude. However, India's import of Russian oil in November plummeted 55% Y/Y to its lowest point since June 2022 as the country diversifies its oil supplies. By Alex Kimani for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com Supertanker rates surged in the aftermath of the U.S. sanctions on Russian oil trade and shadow fleet tankers, with rates for the vessels capable of shipping 2 million barrels of crude doubling in one week. The rates for supertankers, or very large crude carriers (VLCC), soared by 112% to $57,589 per day on the Middle East-to-China route, per data from the Baltic Exchange compiled by Bloomberg. After the U.S. imposed the most aggressive sanctions yet on Russian oil exports, the daily rates for a supertanker on the U.S. Gulf Coast to China route also surged, by 102%. The rates for hiring a VLCC on the route from West Africa to China jumped by 90%, according to the data. The outgoing U.S. Administration on January 10 imposed the most severe sanctions on Russias oil yet, designating two major Russian oil companies, Gazprom Neft and Surgutneftegas, as well as 183 vessels, dozens of oil traders, oilfield service providers, insurance companies, and energy officials. Many of the vessels, specialized tankers, and shuttle tankers transporting Russias oil from the Arctic and Far East Pacific fields and production clusters to Asia have now been sanctioned. It is also believed that about one-fourth of Russias shadow fleet is now under sanctions. As a result, the availability of tankers globally is shrinking. The number of available tankers has plunged, while the number of confirmed tanker journeys globally hasnt changed too much. Some shipping routes are already seeing intense competition for available vessels, according to Bloomberg. Fleet capacity to service Russian exports is expected to tighten significantly, according to Mary Melton, a freight analyst at Vortexa. The most likely scenario for Russian crude exports going forward is that they will most likely face serious logistical difficulty due to the lack of available tonnage, according to Vortexa. Global tanker rates could continue to rise if President Trump tighten sanctions and sanction enforcement against Irans oil exports, which would also remove part of the shadow fleet from the market. By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com Turkish Petroleum is ready to invest billions in developing offshore oil fields in Libya, the director general of the state-owned company said this week. Speaking at the Libya Energy and Economic Summit in Tripoli, Ahmet Turkoglu said, as quoted by Turkiye Today, that As TPAO, we also believed in it and invested in the best opportunities in the past, but unfortunately, we had to leave. Now, we plan to rebuild our relationships and are ready to invest billions of dollars in this immense potential. We are ready to invest in this potentialbe it through exploring new blocks or enhancing the performance and efficiency of current fields, Turkoglu also said. Meanwhile, Libyas oil minister said over the weekend that the country needed some $3-4 billion to boost its oil production to 1.6 million barrels daily. Speaking to Reuters, Khalifa Abdulsadek also said that the government planned to hold a bidding round for new oil and gas licenses before the end of the month. The bidding will be in all the sedimentary basins in Libya, Sirte Basin, Murzuq Basin, Ghadames Basin. Marine areas, pretty much everywhere, the official said. The last licensing round in Libya was held 17 years ago. There is momentum in reconstruction and this can only be achieved by increasing the production, Abdulsadek also said, noting that the 1.6-million-bpd target is an interim one on the way to 2 million bpd. Libya has the most abundant oil resources in North Africa but its production has been hampered by the unstable political and security situation. Despite the challenges, Libya late last year hit a new milestone in its oil production, hitting 1.59 million barrels in daily output. To date, the average daily rate is around 1.4 million bpd. Before the civil war that began in 2011, Libya had hit an all-time high of over 1.7 million barrels daily. By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com At least six LNG cargoes loaded in the United States and initially en route to Asia have been diverted to Europe as European natural gas prices have rallied in recent weeks while Asian prices drop with weaker demand and high inventories. The diverted U.S. cargoes were initially traveling to Asian buyers in China, South Korea, Singapore, and Thailand. However, the six tankers diverted in the Atlantic and headed to Europe between January 8 and 14, according to data from analytics firm Kpler cited by Reuters. Asian spot LNG prices have risen in the winter period, but not enough to keep a wide enough premium to Europes benchmark prices to incentivize selling U.S. cargoes to Asia, according to shipping data and analysts. In Asia, the average LNG spot price for March delivery into northeast Asia fell to $13.90 per million British thermal units (MMBtu) last week, according to industry sources quoted by Reuters. Thats lower compared to the $14.00 per MMBtu price assessed in the previous week, and the second consecutive week of falling Asian spot LNG prices. At the same time, Europes benchmark natural gas prices remain high in January, following the halt of Russian pipeline gas supply via Ukraine and the sub-zero temperatures in many of the biggest gas-consuming economies in northwest Europe. The early winter cold snaps also prompted Europe to boost its liquefied natural gas imports to a near one-year high in December, with arrivals of American LNG also at their highest since January 2024. LNG vessels divert to Europe as the U.S. LNG arbitrage to Asia remains closed, Spark Commodities said last week. Europes TTF day-ahead prices for January remain high, and Spark's assessment of the US arbitrage for February 2025 shows the arbitrage to Asia remains closed at -$0.845/MMBtu, indicating that US vessels continue to be incentivized to deliver to NW-Europe as opposed to NE-Asia, commodities analysts said. By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com Xiplomacy: "Pearl of Indian Ocean" shines with Belt and Road cooperation Xinhua) 08:33, January 20, 2025 This photo taken on Oct. 26, 2024 shows a view of Port City Colombo, Sri Lanka. (Port City Colombo/Handout via Xinhua) The dynamic Belt and Road cooperation is making real difference in the lives of the Sri Lankan people. COLOMBO, Jan. 18 (Xinhua) -- Sri Lanka and China enjoy a robust partnership in Belt and Road cooperation. The recent meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake in Beijing has given a fresh boost to the practical cooperation between the two countries within the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). The visit, Dissanayake's first since taking office, successfully deepened traditional ties, expanded high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, and delivered benefits to the two peoples. The two countries should have a keen grasp of bilateral relations from a strategic perspective and jointly build a China-Sri Lanka community with a shared future, Xi said when holding talks with Dissanayake on Wednesday. SHAPING THE FUTURE During Wednesday's talks between the two heads of state, the BRI was a key topic. China will actively support Sri Lanka in focusing on economic development, and the two countries should jointly foster new highlights in high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, as well as cooperation in modern agriculture, digital economy and marine economy, Xi said. For his part, Dissanayake said Sri Lanka is committed to enhancing regional connectivity through Belt and Road cooperation. He also encouraged more Chinese firms to invest and do business in his country. In recent years, high-quality Belt and Road cooperation between the two sides has been fruitful, adding luster to the "Pearl of the Indian Ocean." Flagship Belt and Road projects like the Colombo International Container Terminal highlight the ongoing success of the partnership. Photo taken on Oct. 6, 2021 shows the world's largest container vessel "Ever Ace" at the Colombo Port in the Sri Lankan capital. (Photo by Ajith Perera/Xinhua) Located at the Port of Colombo, the terminal has seen continuous upgrades, boosting its throughput from under 600,000 TEUs to 3.35 million TEUs in 2024, and driving the port's expansion. Similarly, Hambantota Port, once a small fishing village, has been transformed into a thriving industrial hub. The port has reached one milestone after another in throughput and cruise ship arrivals. Regular equipment upgrades, expanding container operations, and steady progress on the port's industrial park are driving economic growth. Jeevan Premasara, senior general manager at Hambantota International Port Group, said the port is not only creating more jobs for the local community but also laying a strong foundation for the future development of Sri Lanka's port industry. RISING HOPES FROM THE SEA From a high vantage point in Colombo, a breakwater curves around the coastline of Colombo Port City, like an arm embracing the shore. The project was launched during Xi's 2014 visit. It has given rise to a thriving city over the past decade. A view of the Colombo Port City is seen in Sri Lanka, March 27, 2024. (Xinhua/Xu Qin) On Jan. 10, the marina commercial project in Port City broke ground. Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath noted that this development would fill a gap in high-end maritime services in South Asia, attracting tourists and boosting Sri Lanka's regional tourism and investment appeal. Port City's transformation is not just physical but generational. For young Sri Lankans like Sithmi Maligaspe, who has been part of the project for over a year, its importance lies in its potential to retain talent. "Only by keeping our youth can this country achieve better development," Maligaspe said. Many young Sri Lankans, eager for greater opportunities, are now learning Chinese to tap into advanced industries and management models. Harsha Amarasekera, chairman of the Colombo Port City Economic Commission, envisions the city as a powerful engine for Sri Lanka's economic growth, as well as a regional financial and industrial hub. As Yasiru Ranaraja, founding director of the Belt and Road Initiative Sri Lanka, put it, "Such Belt and Road cooperation projects have allowed the people of Sri Lanka to see the hope for the future rising from the sea." He looks forward to further cooperation with China in infrastructure, energy and agricultural modernization. MAKING REAL DIFFERENCE The 100-rupee note in wild circulation in Sri Lanka features the China-built Puttalam Coal Power Plant, a key Belt and Road project. Located on the Kalpitiya Peninsula, about 130 km north of Colombo, the plant provides power to countless homes across the country. Since it began operation, the power plant has generated about 40 percent of Sri Lanka's electricity, helping to alleviate a long-standing shortage. It also adheres to strict environmental standards, controlling emissions through various measures, according to site manager Li Wenfeng. The dynamic Belt and Road cooperation is making real difference in the lives of the Sri Lankan people. In Sri Lanka's northwestern province of Makandura, Chinese agricultural experts have shared modern techniques with local farmers, building lasting friendships. In areas affected by chronic kidney disease due to unsafe drinking water, experts from the Chinese Academy of Sciences have established a water technology center to ensure safe water for communities. The China-funded Matara-Beliatta railway extension, Sri Lanka's first new railway since 1948, is enhancing public transport and marking a new chapter in the nation's rail history. Women in traditional costumes wait to experience the Matara-Beliatta railway line at the Matara Railway Station in Sri Lanka, April 8, 2019. (Xinhua/Guo Lei) Sri Lanka and China have a long history of friendship, and recent cultural exchanges and cooperation have deepened the traditional bond. "I am confident that this will better benefit the peoples of both countries," said Jinith De Silva, president of the Sri Lanka China Society. (Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Zhong Wenxing) Lion dances in Guangdong province, temple fairs in Beijing and hairpin flowers in Fujian province are proving once again to be popular draws for the upcoming Spring Festival holiday, hot on the heels of the traditional Chinese festival's addition last month to UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity list. Spring Festival marks the beginning of the new year in China and falls on the first day of the first month of the Chinese calendar, which is Jan 29 this year. People will enjoy an eight-day break, from Jan 28 to Feb 4. The Spring Festival travel rush began on Tuesday, with train tickets to some popular destinations snapped up in seconds. The travel portal Qunar said that Jan 25 three days before the Chinese New Year's eve will be the busiest day for transportation, and tickets for bullet trains are selling better, and faster, than flight tickets. "Many busy bullet train lines have seen the tickets sold out, for example the line from Beijing to Harbin, one of the most popular snow tourism destinations in Northeast China's Heilongjiang province," Qunar said. "Tickets for bullet trains bound for places including Chongqing and Chengdu in southwestern China and Beijing are also hot sellers." A recent report by travel agency Tuniu and the China Association of Travel Services said that destinations that offer folk shows or events featuring traditional Chinese culture and crafts remain popular among travelers. "My family used to spend the Spring Festival break in Sanya in South China's Hainan province for the tropical climate and views, or stay overseas for the weeklong holiday," said Wang Yingqing, 37, who is from Beijing. "However, for the upcoming holiday, we plan to travel to some domestic places like Nanjing inJiangsu province and Huangshan in Anhui province to experience the traditional cultural vibes." She recalled visiting temple fairs with her parents during her childhood. "I have some impressions of the bustling vibes. Spring Festival is one of the most important festivals to Chinese people, and it's necessary to let my daughter feel the cultural vibes, which will help her to know the real China and feel pride in the profound Chinese culture." Qi Chunguang, vice-president of Tuniu, said that the addition of Spring Festival to UNESCO's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity has greatly raised people's awareness of and passion for traditional Chinese culture, which will help turn cities with long-standing history and rich culture into popular tourism destinations this Spring Festival holiday. Trip.com Group said that bookings to Huangshan, which is famous for mountain views and folk performances such as lantern shows, as well as Datong in North China's Shanxi province and Jingdezhen in East China's Jiangxi province, have all increased fourfold on the platform compared with last year. In addition to cultural tours, travel products related to snow and ice are proving popular. Trip.com said that Harbin remains a top-tier snow destination for the Spring Festival holiday. It also said that some niche northern cities have seen increased bookings, and speculated that recent solar activity in the area has raised the possibility of visitors experiencing aurora lights at these places because of the latitude. According to Trip.com, some northern and border cities are proving to be popular, including Xiliinhot in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region, which saw travel bookings at the platform surge 197 percent year-on-year; Altay in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, whose bookings rose 67 percent; and Mohe in Heilongjiang, with a 17 percent increase. By Taxpayers Association of Oregon OregonWatchdog.com BILL WATCH: House Bill 2189, authored by Oregon State Representative E. Werner Reschke (R) calls for a change to people who get a speeding ticket using photo-radar systems. Under Rep. Reschkes bill, the first speeding ticket from a photo-radar would be granted a first-time warning. In some places in Oregon photo-radar fines range from $165 to $440. House Bill 2189 (HB 2189) summary reads, The Act says that if a person speeds or runs a red light and is caught by a photo radar or a photo red light camera, the person must get a warning and not a ticket. Click here to read more on the photo-radar speeding ticket bill House Bill 2189. Was this helpful? If so, Contribute online at OregonWatchdog.com (learn about a Charitable Tax Deduction or Political Tax Credit options to promote liberty). By Taxpayers Association of Oregon Foundation, Los Angeles County Sheriffs deputies arrested two Oregonians who tried to enter a Palisades Fire evacuation zone while pretending to be firefighters, a day after they admitted having been granted access to the zone, according to LA Sheriffs Office. Dustin Nehl, 31, and Jennifer Nehl, 44, in a firetruck bought at an auction claimed to serve in the Roaring River Fire Department in Oregon, which doesnt exist. They dressed as firefighters, wore helmets, and carried radios, according to the report. Dustin Nehl has prior convictions in Oregon for criminal mischief and arson. The pair face charges of impersonating firefighters and entering an evacuation zone. The truck was impounded. Oregon has a history of out-of-control arson and arsonists. Below is an arson map over just 10 days during the 2020 Portland riots. This Portland suspect below was arrested for arson and released the same day for which he was re-arrested for arson again with a home-made Molotov Cocktail he was using to try to burn dry brush near a highway. One person posted this message to the original LA Sheriff story saying that the couple may be innocent. The post read, PLEASE, I just want everyone to consider waiting for charges before starting rumors. She has a background in fire as a smoke jumper, forestry law, has a masters degree teaching children science and weather. This is more than likely good intentions gone HORRIBLY wrong after a personal traumatic loss of a newborn a few weeks ago. Ive known Jenni a long time and while I cannot speak for her new husband or their intentions as weve grown apart over the years, it seems more likely to me they were trying to feel important/be heroes during what feels like an impossible time emotionally. This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: The Indonesian government wants to turn 20 million hectares of forest into areas for food and energy production and water reserves. Indonesia's plan to convert millions of hectares of forests for food and energy use is "environmentally illogical and destructive," and risks irreversible environmental and biodiversity loss, activists warned Monday. The Indonesian government wants to turn 20 million hectares (49 million acres) of forest into areas for food and energy production and water reserves, Forestry Minister Raja Juli Antoni recently said in a statement. The government has identified 1.1 million hectares of land that could produce up to 3.5 million tonnes of rice annually, equal to Indonesia's total rice imports in 2023, he said, adding that the government also plans to plant sugar palm trees as a source for bioethanol. President Prabowo Subianto, who assumed office in October, has pledged to boost food and energy self-sufficiency in the country, including by expanding bio-based fuels to lower fuel imports. But the plan, which will affect an area nearly twice the size of Indonesia's main Java island, contradicts the government's food and energy security goals, the Clean Transition Coalition of environmental NGOs said in a statement. The proposal has raised concerns that more forest areas would be cleared to pave ways for oil palm plantations - Indonesia's top export commodity and one of the key deforestation drivers in the archipelagosaid activists. "The plan to open 20 million hectares of land significantly increases the risk of palm oil expansion," said executive director of Sawit Watch Achmad Surambo. Environmental NGO Satya Bumi's research showed that existing oil palm plantations already cover 17.77 million hectares throughout the archipelago. Indonesia's forestry ministry and a presidential spokesman did not immediately respond to AFP's request for comment. Minister Raja last week dismissed deforestation concerns, insisting that the proposal would not clear forest but "maximize" its function through agroforestry systems, local media reported. Indonesia's government has also said it will target land that has already been granted in concessions rather than virgin forest. But environmentalists warned even mass conversion of agricultural land for export crops would be detrimental. "Instead of clearing forests, the government should focus on optimizing existing agricultural land, respecting indigenous rights, and implementing genuine agrarian reform," the coalition said. 2025 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: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain President Joe Biden was inaugurated in January 2021 amid a devastating pandemic, with over 24 million COVID-19 cases and more than 400,000 deaths in the U.S. recorded at that point. Operation Warp Speed, initiated by the Trump administration in May 2020, meant an effective vaccine was becoming available. Biden quickly announced a plan to immunize 100 million Americans over the next three months. By the end of April 2021, 145 million Americansnearly half the populationhad received one vaccine dose, and 103 million were considered fully vaccinated. Science and technology policymakers celebrated this coordination across science, industry and government to address a real-world crisis as a 21st-century Manhattan Project. From my perspective as a scholar of science and technology policy, Biden's legacy includes structural, institutional and practical changes to how science is conducted. Building on approaches developed over the course of many years, the administration elevated the status of science in the government and fostered community participation in research. Raising science's profile in government The U.S. has no single ministry of science and technology. Instead, agencies and offices across the executive branch carry out scientific research at several national labs and fund research by other institutions. By elevating the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy to a Cabinet-level organization for the first time in its history, Biden gave the agency greater influence in federal decision-making and coordination. Formally established in 1976, the agency provides the president and senior staff with scientific and technical advice, bringing science to bear on executive policies. Biden's inclusion of the agency's director in his Cabinet was a strong signal about the elevated role science and technology would play in the administration's solutions to major societal challenges. Under Biden, the Office of Science and Technology Policy established guidelines that agencies across the government would follow as they implemented major legislation. This included developing technologies that remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to address climate change, rebuilding America's chip industry, and managing the rollout of AI technologies. Instead of treating the ethical and societal dimensions of scientific and technological change as separate from research and development, the agency advocated for a more integrated approach. This was reflected in the appointment of social scientist Alondra Nelson as the agency's first deputy director for science and society, and science policy expert Kei Koizumi as principal deputy director for policy. Ethical and societal considerations were added as evaluation criteria for grants. And initiatives such as the AI bill of rights and frameworks for research integrity and open science further encouraged all federal agencies to consider the social effects of their research. Discover the latest in science, tech, and space with over 100,000 subscribers who rely on Phys.org for daily insights. Sign up for our free newsletter and get updates on breakthroughs, innovations, and research that matterdaily or weekly. The Office of Science and Technology Policy also introduced new ways for agencies to consult with communities, including Native Nations, rural Americans and people of color, in order to avoid known biases in science and technology research. For example, the agency issued government-wide guidance to recognize and include Indigenous knowledge in federal programs. Agencies such as the Department of Energy have incorporated public perspectives while rolling out atmospheric carbon dioxide removal technologies and building new hydrogen hubs. Use-inspired research A long-standing criticism of U.S. science funding is that it often fails to answer questions of societal importance. Members of Congress and policy analysts have argued that funded projects instead overly emphasize basic research in areas that advance the careers of researchers. In response, the Biden administration established the technology, innovation and partnerships directorate at the National Science Foundation in March 2022. The directorate uses social science approaches to help focus scientific research and technology on their potential uses and effects on society. For example, engineers developing future energy technologies could start by consulting with the community about local needs and opportunities, rather than pitching their preferred solution after years of laboratory work. Genetic researchers could share both knowledge and financial benefits with the communities that provided the researchers with data. Fundamentally, "use-inspired" research aims to reconnect scientists and engineers with the people and communities their work ultimately affects, going beyond publication in a journal accessible only to academics. The technology, innovation and partnerships directorate established initiatives to support regional projects and multidisciplinary partnerships bringing together researchers, entrepreneurs and community organizations. These programs, such as the regional innovation engines and convergence accelerator, seek to balance the traditional process of grant proposals written and evaluated by academics with broader societal demand for affordable health and environmental solutions. This work is particularly key to parts of the country that have not yet seen visible gains from decades of federally sponsored research, such as regions encompassing western North Carolina, northern South Carolina, eastern Tennessee and southwest Virginia. Community-based scientific research The Biden administration also worked to involve communities in science not just as research consultants but also as active participants. Scientific research and technology-based innovation are often considered the exclusive domain of experts from elite universities or national labs. Yet, many communities are eager to conduct research, and they have insights to contribute. There is a decades-long history of citizen science initiatives, such as birdwatchers contributing data to national environmental surveys and community groups collecting industrial emissions data that officials can use to make regulations more cost effective. Going further, the Biden administration carried out experiments to create research projects in a way that involved community members, local colleges and federal agencies as more equal partners. For example, the Justice40 initiative asked people from across the country, including rural and small-town Americans, to identify local environmental justice issues and potential solutions. The National Institutes of Health's ComPASS program funded community organizations to test and scale successful health interventions, such as identifying pregnant women with complex medical needs and connecting them to specialized care. And the National Science Foundation's Civic Innovation Challenge required academic researchers to work with local organizations to address local concerns, improving the community's technical skills and knowledge. Frontiers of science and technology policy Researchers often cite the 1945 report Science: The Endless Frontier, written by former Office of Scientific Research and Development head Vannevar Bush, to describe the core rationales for using American taxpayer money to fund basic science. Under this model, funding science would lead to three key outcomes: a secure national defense, improved health, and economic prosperity. The report, however, says little about how to go from basic science to desired societal outcomes. It also makes no mention of scientists sharing responsibility for the direction and impact of their work. The 80th anniversary of Bush's report in 2025 offers an opportunity to move science out into society. At present, major government initiatives are following a technology push model that focuses efforts on only one or a few products and involves little consideration of consumer and market demand. Research has repeatedly demonstrated that consumer or societal pull, which attracts development of products that enhance quality of life, is key to successful uptake of new technologies and their longevity. Future administrations can further advance science and address major societal challenges by considering how ready society is to take up new technologies and increasing collaboration between government and civil society. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. The World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2025 takes place in Davos, Switzerland, from Jan 20-24. [Photo/China Daily] Amid escalating geopolitical tensions, accelerating climate change and rapid technological advances, the World Economic Forum will call on global leaders to prioritize collaboration when it convenes its 55th annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland, this week. Vice-Premier Ding Xuexiang will be among 350 senior government officials attending the five-day forum, which opens on Monday. He is scheduled to deliver a special address on Tuesday. The forum will also see the participation of over 900 CEOs and chairs of major companies. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and several heads of state, including German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, are set to deliver speeches during the event. US President-elect Donald Trump, who takes office on Monday, will attend the forum via video link on Thursday. Klaus Schwab, founder and chairman of the WEF, said, "Despite divergent positions and great uncertainties, the annual meeting will foster a spirit of cooperation and constructive optimism with the objective of shaping the forthcoming intelligent age in a more sustainable and inclusive way." Themed "Collaboration for the Intelligent Age", the meeting features a program of more than 300 sessions spanning five key topics: fostering new economic growth, navigating technological shifts, creating jobs and reskilling the workforce, combating climate change, and enhancing resilience for global cooperation. The influence of technologies particularly artificial intelligence on business and society is a focal point of the discussions. The forum will release a new report series on AI, exploring its responsible adoption at scale across industries, alongside new research offering strategies for inclusive AI development. AI "is reshaping industries, economies, and even the way we think about ourselves. This surge of technological development comes ... at the same time that the world is grappling with global challenges that demand our immediate, and collective, attention and action", Schwab added. Economic recovery is another critical issue on the agenda. The forum's survey of leading chief economists ahead of the meeting found that around 56 percent of respondents expect weaker global economic conditions in 2025, while 48 percent remain optimistic about the increase in global trade volume despite concerns over escalating protectionist measures. As China is the world's second-largest economy, its economic trajectory is central to discussions about future global growth. A panel discussion titled "Decoding China's Economy" will take place on Wednesday, featuring experts who will analyze current economic policies and the country's shift toward new quality productive forces for high-quality development. China's annual Central Economic Work Conference, held in December in Beijing, stated that the country will take steps to make scientific and technological innovation drive the development of new quality productive forces. "I'm bullish on China's economy in the medium and long term," Borge Brende, WEF president and former foreign minister of Norway, said on Saturday during an interview with Xinhua News Agency. Brende noted the steps that China is taking to stimulate its economy and increase domestic consumption, as the country reported that its GDP expanded 5 percent in 2024, which is in line with its preset target and provides a solid base for stabilizing the economy this year. He also pointed out that China's growing population of college graduates will greatly contribute to future development in the intelligent age. Despite geopolitical tensions looming over global cooperation, the Global Cooperation Barometer 2025 report, developed by WEF in collaboration with McKinsey & Co, showed that international cooperation gained positive momentum in the areas of climate and nature. "Even in a world where there is more competition, we will need to work together," Brende said. "I agree with the notion that we are in the same boat. Global problems have to find global solutions." 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 As experts continue monitoring and surveying the environment and the nation's food supply for H5N1 bird flu, a rash of dead cats has many officials on edge. From pet cats in Los Angeles County and Oregon to captive wild cats in Washington and Colorado, dozens of felines have died as a result of consuming H5N1-infected raw pet food and raw milk. Although the products carrying the virus were largely marketed for animalswith the exception of raw milkexperts say the presence of the virus in commercial meat and dairy highlights the vulnerability of the U.S. food chain to this virus. "With multiple diagnosed cases of H5N1 mortalities, can we in good conscience fail to provide widespread public warnings that raw meat... has been linked to multiple big cat mortalities," said John Korslund, a retired U.S. Department of Agriculture veterinarian epidemiologist, in an email. The deaths prompted policy changes announced Friday by the USDA and the Food and Drug Administration, which focus on pre-slaughter rules for select poultry farms in Minnesota and South Dakota, as well as changes in food safety risk assessments for raw pet food producers. And they underscore the murky and largely unregulated industry of raw pet-food manufacturing. Although the FDA offers guidance on best practices for raw pet food producers, there are few rules, if any, regarding how raw meat is sourced for pet food; industrious entrepreneurs can source meat and protein from wild game, non-USDA inspected backyard flocks and farms, as well as meat not considered fit or appetizing for human consumptionas long as "it is safe to eat, produced under sanitary conditions, contain no harmful substances, and be truthfully labeled," according to the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, the law that governs pet food. The agency will also investigate companies if animals have become sickened from eating pet food. And birds affected by the virus are not allowed to enter the food supply, per USDA regulations. "Obviously, a great deal of protein that is produced outside of [the USDA's] Food Safety and Inspection Services inspected facilities is never intended for human consumption," said Eric Deeble, deputy under secretary for marketing and regulatory programs for the USDA, at a press conference on Thursday. But H5N1-infected birds "are not permitted in any food product at all. They are most frequently composted on site as part of the efforts to mitigate the spread of the virus." In L.A. County alone, nine cats have been sickened or died from eating raw milk, raw pet food or both containing the H5N1 bird flu. On Monday, county public health officials said five indoor cats in one household were sickened after eating Monarch Raw Pet Food (based in San Jacinto); two died. In December, 20 captive wild catsincluding four cougars and a half-Bengal/half-Siberian tigerdied after eating H5N1-contaminated raw pet food at an animal sanctuary in Shelton, Wash. An additional five animals at a private animal sanctuary in Coloradotwo tigers, one lion, a mountain lion and a foxalso perished from eating the food. So, too, did two house catsone in Oregon, another in Colorado. Discover the latest in science, tech, and space with over 100,000 subscribers who rely on Phys.org for daily insights. Sign up for our free newsletter and get updates on breakthroughs, innovations, and research that matterdaily or weekly. In all but nine of the Washington cats, the genetic sequencing of their H5N1 virus matched up with samples taken from frozen turkey packaged in May and June by Oregon-based Northwest Naturals pet food, according to data published by the USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, GISAID (a public genetic database focused on influenza viruses), the National Institutes of Health's GenBank, and the World Organization for Animal Health, an international organization dedicated to the investigation and surveillance of animal diseases. The meat was raw when frozen. According to evolutionary molecular biologist Henry Niman, in each case, there is a signature mutation on one segment of the virusa switch at position 52 on the NP proteinin both the food samples and dead animals, providing an unmistakable link between them. Only the Oregon house cat has been positively linked by state and federal agencies to the Northwest Naturals brand name. Although the other cats were killed by a virus genetically identical to the one found in the Oregon cat and the samples of Northwest Naturals food, it is possible those animals were given food sourced from the same meat or outbreak but under a different brand name. Questions sent to Northwest Naturals went unanswered. Northwest Naturals has voluntarily recalled the suspect batch: two-pound plastic bags with "Best if used by" dates of 05/21/26 B10 and 06/23/2026 B1. And on its website, the company suggests the sample was contaminated after packaging and production. "Testing an open bag of pet food leaves open the possibility that the virus may have entered the bag after it was opened," wrote the company on an FAQ page about the recall. The change observed in the genetic sequences, said Niman, "is exceedingly rare. And other than Northwest Naturals samples and the animals that ate it," the only three other animals to have shown that change in this latest H5N1 outbreak were three Minnesota commercial turkeys that were culled in June as a result of infectionthe same month the raw pet food was processed and packaged. Niman said there's no way to show from the genomic sequencing that it was turkeys from that Minnesota farm that got into the pet food, but the virus was likely moving around the region at that time. And somehow, he said, infected birds must have gotten into the slaughterhouse without anyone noticingan occurrence that most researchers say should be extremely rare. Commercial poultry generally show symptoms within hours of H5N1 infection, and die almost immediately. Maurice Pitesky, an associate professor who researches poultry health and food safety epidemiology at UC Davis, agreed. "Not sure but maybe the birds got infected right before slaughter?," he said in an email, adding that "he was not aware that there are companies that sell raw poultry with the intent of consumption by pets." But if infected turkeys made it to slaughter without being identified, it suggests there may be more infected meat out there, said Korslund, the former USDA veterinarian epidemiologist. And that's what has researchers and health authorities at the USDA and FDA concerned. On Friday, the USDA announced that it was launching a new policy for turkey operations in Minnesota and South Dakota that have more than 500 birdsbirds will be required to have a pre-slaughter inspection and isolation 72 hours before slaughter. The agency noted the link between the infected turkeys and the Oregon house cat as the reason for the new program. Meanwhile, the FDA cited the "cases of H5N1 in domestic and wild cats in California, Colorado, Oregon and Washington State that are associated with eating contaminated food products" as its reason to call for raw pet food processors to reanalyze their food safety systems, and incorporate H5N1 into their analyses. "The FDA has determined that it is necessary for cat and dog food manufacturers... who are using uncooked or unpasteurized materials derived from poultry or cattle... in cat or dog food, to reanalyze their food safety plans to include H5N1 as a new known or reasonably foreseeable hazard." It will likely continue to fall on cats to signal the virus' presence in food and in the environment. Scientists say that cats are extraordinarily susceptible to H5N1 infection. Since the outbreak was first reported in a Texas dairy herd last March, dead barn cats have served as sentinel warnings to veterinarians and investigators of the virus' presence on a farm. In cats, the virus can affect the brain and nervous system. Many suffer blindness, seizures and abnormal behavior. Necropsies often show large amounts of the virus in their brains. And while the deaths of these cats are alarming in terms of conservation and protecting animals whose habitats are being destroyed and whose populations are increasingly marginalized, it's the deaths of the captive cats, say scientists, that should concern public health authorities. It's a sign that the virus is getting into the commercial meat and milk supplya worrisome, but not surprising, development considering the virus' presence in dairy cattle and commercial poultry farms. Health officials say the best way to avoid infection is to cook meat thoroughly and consume only pasteurized dairy productsand to stop feeding raw meat and dairycommercial or otherwiseto pets. 2025 Los Angeles Times. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain Colorado wildlife officials released 15 wolves from Canada into the central mountains over the last week as part of the second wave of the state's historic, voter-mandated reintroduction of the native predator. Colorado Parks and Wildlife biologists began capturing the wolves on Jan. 10, and agency officials announced Sunday that CPW had successfully completed the capture-and-release operation. It released the wolves in Eagle and Pitkin counties. "It has been an honor to work with Colorado Parks and Wildlife staff to support their conservation priority. It is a great example of collaboration and the connections we have in the large landscapes of North America," Hillary Ward, regional director of resource management with the B.C. Ministry of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship, said in a news release. The addition of the wolves from Canada, and the rerelease of a mother wolf and her four pups, brings the state's total known wild wolf population to 29. "Colorado's arms are open to these pioneering and resilient wolves. We are beside them, rooting for their success and well-being," said Courtney Vail, chair of the Rocky Mountain Wolf Project board, in a statement Sunday. "While others, in decades past, paved the way with successful wolf reintroductions in surrounding states, Colorado's endeavor is historic because it is state-led and reflects the will of our citizens." Colorado voters in 2020 narrowly approved a measure mandating that CPW reintroduce the gray wolf, which people eradicated from the state through hunting and poisoning. State wildlife officials in December 2023 released 10 wolves captured from Oregon to begin the reintroduction, with plans to release between 10 and 15 wolves a year for three to five yearsuntil a self-sustaining and stable population is reached. "It is not just about 15 wolves on the ground," University of Colorado-Boulder professor and RMWP board member Joanna Lambert said. "This work is about a continental-wide and inter-governmental effort advancing the recovery of an endangered species." Ranching organizations have opposed the reintroductionwhich was primarily supported by urban voters along the Front Rangebut their efforts to stop or stall the reintroduction have so far failed. Opponents of the reintroduction earlier this month launched a ballot initiative that, if organizers collect enough signatures, would ask voters in 2026 to stop the program. Along with the wolves from Canada, CPW released a mother wolf and her four pups that the agency captured after the pack's patriarch killed a series of livestock in Middle Park. The adult male wolf died in captivity of a gunshot wound it incurred in the wildand was among three of the first 10 reintroduced wolves to die in the year since their release. A fifth pup evaded capture and remained in the wild. CPW officials previously said the pup was last spotted just before Christmas. Releasing the pups back into the wild with their mother ensures they learn essential survival skills and can create a self-sustaining population, according to RMWP officials. Biologists examined the wolves from Canada for health concerns before flying them to Colorado, CPW officials said. Biologists also placed a GPS collar on each of the animals. Gray wolves from the areas of British Columbia where CPW worked do not interact with livestock, CPW officials have said. Discover the latest in science, tech, and space with over 100,000 subscribers who rely on Phys.org for daily insights. Sign up for our free newsletter and get updates on breakthroughs, innovations, and research that matterdaily or weekly. "There are no concerns about reintroducing wolves that are from packs that are involved in situations of repeated livestock depredations," the agency said in a Jan. 11 news release announcing the beginning of the capture operation. While CPW officials had announced the start of the process of capturing the wolves in Canada, they did not announce where and when the wolves were being released until the operation was complete. The agency declined to answer questions over the last week about the timing of releasesciting concerns about the safety of wolves and staffand also denied a request by The Denver Post to attend a release. The informational void led to speculation and misinformation online. People followed CPW vehicles they believed carried wolves and, on one occasion, another media outlet reported the incorrect identification of a private ranch where wolves were believed to have been releaseda claim the rancher has repeatedly denied. 2025 MediaNews Group, Inc. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Credit: BOOM from Pexels Political commentators, academics and others have been wringing their hands over threats to democracy in recent years. A new study helps us better understand one of the possible driving forces behind the erosion of democratic norms and institutions: economic inequality. Published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, this large cross-national statistical study shows economic inequality is one of the strongest predictors of where and when democracy erodeseven wealthy and longstanding democracies are vulnerable if they are highly unequal. According to study co-author University of Chicago Prof. Susan Stokes, the research team was interested in situating the phenomenon of backsliding democracies in time: Why, in the early part of the 21st century, are we seeing power-grabbing, elected heads of government in two dozen countries? "One of the things that clearly has happened in recent decades is globalization," said Stokes, the Tiffany and Margaret Blake Distinguished Service Professor in the Department of Political Science at UChicago. "And deregulation has been on the agenda for many countries in different regions of the world. One of the effects of that has been growing income inequality or persistent income inequality." The researchers noticed the leaders who were coming into office and then eroding their democracies relied on grievance, frustration or nihilism among the populace regarding "elite" institutions. Their goal, then, was to understand whether unequal economic conditions are the backdrop to political polarization, along with grievance and skepticism about institutions. For their study, the team followed the work of Melis Laebens, a political scientist at Central European University. Laebens conceptualized democratic backsliding and how to identify democratic erosion. As did Laebens, Stokes and her co-authorEli G. Rau of Tecnologico de Monterreyused data from the Swedish project Varieties of Democracy (or V-Dem Institute), to find cases of democratic erosion, excluding more conventional instances in which presidents and prime ministers test the limits of executive power. They compared levels of income inequality in countries that have experienced democratic erosion or backsliding and those that have not, and found a robust statistical association between the two. Cases of democratic erosion, 19952022. Line segments indicate the years each country was experiencing erosion, following the coding rules established in Laebenss work. Credit: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2024). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2422543121 The researchers also traced the link between income inequality and democratic backsliding through increased partisan polarization, a widely identified cause of democratic backsliding. The more polarized the public is, the more willing a part of the public will be to turn a blind eye to presidents and prime ministers attacking the press, the courts and other institutions. "Backsliding leaders play on inequality and deepen polarization by encouraging a sense of grievance among the public. Feelings of being left behind and alienation from elite institutionsbacksliding leaders prey upon all of these," Stokes said. These leaders do so by finding different targets to blame for the inequality. Left-wing, populist backsliders, for example, will blame corporations and economic leaders. Right-wing, ethno-nationalist backsliders might nurture grievances by blaming outsiders or immigrants. Discover the latest in science, tech, and space with over 100,000 subscribers who rely on Phys.org for daily insights. Sign up for our free newsletter and get updates on breakthroughs, innovations, and research that matterdaily or weekly. Stokes says the team also explored whether the age of the democracy mattered for the resilience of democracy. But they found that older democracies were at no lower risk of backsliding. The level of institutionalizationor the ability of states to get things donealso wasn't clearly associated with backsliding. They did, however, find evidence of what they call contagion effects: other variables being equal, leaders in backsliding democracies have a tendency to influence one another. Though many in the U.S. may believe the country is uniquely burdened by threats to our democracy, Stokes says it's important people understand this erosion as a much broader phenomenon of this time in history. "It probably comes as a result, to some degree, of a period of globalization and deregulation, of neoliberalism in the 1990s and even earlier developments that have changed party systemsin a lot of countriesin the post-war period," she said. "Part of the message is that there are structural factors here, and it's important to understand what they are. If we're concerned with maintaining and improving our democracy, we should have those things in mind." Stokes says considering structural, economic factors in the background to political developments shines a new light on economic policy priorities. As the study found, policies that improve income equality may have the political effect of also strengthening democratic systems. More information: Eli G. Rau et al, Income inequality and the erosion of democracy in the twenty-first century, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2024). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2422543121 Journal information: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 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 satellite view of Fentale Volcano, a dormant volcano located in Oromia, Ethiopia near Lake Basaka, which has recently experienced minor earthquakes. Credit: Gallo Images/Orbital Horizon/Copernicus Sentinel Data 2025 Ethiopia's Afar and Oromia regions have been hit by several earthquakes and tremors since the beginning of 2025. The strongest, with a magnitude of 5.7, struck on 4 January. The US Geological Survey and the German Research Centre for Geosciences reported that its epicenter was 142km east of the capital, Addis Ababa, which is in the Oromia region. It came just a day after a quake with a magnitude of 5.5 hit the same area. Two more quakes were reported over the weekend of 11 January. The Ethiopian Disaster Risk Management Council is relocating around 60,000 residents in the two regions to temporary shelters because of the risk of further earthquakes. The earthquakes have also sparked fears of volcanic eruptions because they are happening near two active volcanoes, Fentale and Dofen. The Conversation Africa asked volcano researcher Amdemichael Tadesse to explain what's happening below the earth's surface. How common is it for quakes in Ethiopia to trigger volcanic eruptions? Earthquakes and volcanic activity are both common in Ethiopia. The country is located in a geologically active region, the East African Rift System. But it's rare for earthquakes to directly trigger volcanic eruptions in Ethiopia. The current episode of earthquake activity is being caused by magmatic activity in Oromia and Afar region. Magma (molten rock) is intruding into the subsurface beneath two volcanoes, Fentale and Dofen, which are geographically close to each other. Ethiopia has around 50 active volcanoes. Most are in the Ethiopian Rift, the northern segment of the East African Rift System. An active volcano has magma stored deep within its crust that could potentially erupt in the future. There's evidence of past eruptions at many of these active volcanoes. Some date back hundreds of years. In contrast, a dormant volcano has not erupted for thousands of years and shows no immediate signs of reactivation or imminent eruption. Why have the earthquakes sparked fears of volcanic eruptions? Volcanoes and earthquakes are both natural phenomena driven by the dynamic processes that shape Earth's interior and surface. The outermost layer of Earth, the lithosphere, is composed of solid rock and is broken into large sections called tectonic plates. These plates fit together like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. They move slowly on the more fluid layer beneath them, the asthenosphere. Convection currents in Earth's mantle drive the movement of tectonic plates. Tectonic plates interact at their boundaries in three primary ways: they move apart, collide, or slide past one another. These interactions produce geological activity, including earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. Most volcanoes and earthquakes occur along these plate boundaries, where the stress and movement of the plates cause the lithosphere to fracture. Many processes associated with volcanoes can generate earthquakes. This makes seismic (earth-shaking) activity a common feature of volcanic regions. Unlike pure tectonic earthquakes, seismicity at volcanoes often occurs in swarms. They can take place over periods of days to months or even years. These volcano-related earthquakes are often caused by ground fracturing and the displacement of rock due to the movement of magma beneath the surface. Magma rising from deep within Earth puts pressure on the surrounding rocks. That causes them to crack and release seismic waves. It's this process that's currently being observed in the Fentale-Dofen regionmagmatic activity is generating sustained seismic activity. Discover the latest in science, tech, and space with over 100,000 subscribers who rely on Phys.org for daily insights. Sign up for our free newsletter and get updates on breakthroughs, innovations, and research that matterdaily or weekly. What can be done to mitigate the risks of volcanic eruptions now and in future? Volcanic eruptions and earthquakes pose risks to human lives, infrastructure and the environment. These events cannot be prevented. But their effects can be mitigated by planning and acting ahead of time. Monitoring and early warning systems are critical. The current magma intrusion I've described is being tracked by satellite remote sensing observations and seismic data from Ethiopia's national and international seismic networks. The instruments being used help to detect changes in seismic activity, and ground deformation, which often come before volcanic eruptions. This data, as well as evidence gathered by studying past earthquake and volcanic events (from either historical records or geological records) can help scientists to understand how often they occur, and at what kind of magnitudes and sizes. Detailed maps that identify areas at risk are essential. These maps guide urban planning, infrastructure development and evacuation strategies. Identifying critical infrastructure, such as hospitals, schools and water supplies, in high-risk zones makes it possible to prepare. It is also crucial to establish efficient and trustworthy communication between scientists involved in managing the crisis, the authorities making decisions, and the general public. Early warnings and clear communication protocols must be established to get information quickly to affected populations. Alerts can be delivered through different means like mobile apps, SMS, radio and public announcements. In Ethiopia, mainstream media and public announcements have been used in the past to convey critical information. Using modern technologies like mobile platforms and localized SMS-based systems could make the crisis communication even more efficient. Community preparedness and education are important, too. Regular training and drills help individuals, schools and workplaces prepare for volcanic eruptions and earthquakes. In Ethiopia, the Disaster Risk Management Commission is supposed to operate preparedness systems across the country, but more can be learnt from global best practices. Japan, for instance, has developed a robust disaster preparedness culture that has reduced the impacts of natural hazards. This includes routine drills, widespread education programs, and active community engagement. Educating communities about the signs of volcanic activity, evacuation routes and emergency protocols empowers them to act quickly and appropriately. Governments and aid organizations should maintain reserves of emergency supplies, such as food, water, medical kits and shelter materials, to meet the immediate needs of people affected by natural disasters. Specialized response teams with expertise in volcanology, seismology and disaster management can take swift and coordinated action during emergencies. This is by no means an exhaustive list. Stronger infrastructure and better long-term planning for land use are also key. Taking these measures can greatly reduce the harm that volcanic eruptions and earthquake-related activities can cause. 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: Credit: CABI CABI has published a new book which explores the ecology and management of invasive Prosopis juliflora trees which have severely impacted landscapes and the livelihoods of pastoral communities in Eastern Africa. The 272-page book, titled "The Ecology and Management of Invasive Prosopis Trees in Eastern Africa," follows 10 years of extensive research conducted by CABI and partners under the Woody Weeds and Woody Weeds + projects. The new CABI book is aimed at academics and students in the field of ecology, scientific managers of natural ecosystems, policymakers and regulators in and around Eastern Africa that may be affected by Prosopis juliflora. It is edited by CABI's Dr. Urs Schaffner, Prof Brian van Wilgen of Stellenboch University, South Africa, Dr. Albert Ehrensperger from the University of Bern, Switzerland, and Dr. Ketema Bekele of Haramaya University, Ethiopia. Negative impacts on biodiversity and ecosystem services In eastern Africa, Prosopis juliflora, popularly known in Kenya as Mathenge and in Tanzania as Mrasha, invades rangeland, cropland, settlements and riparian ecosystems, causing negative impacts on biodiversity and ecosystem services that rural communities depend on. Prosopis juliflora has even contributed to the deaths of Lesser Flamingos in recent years. This led to CABI scientists joining partners at Lake Bogoria National Reserve in Kenya to remove the invasive weed from the lake's shoreline. "The Ecology and Management of Invasive Prosopis Trees in Eastern Africa" synthesizes information on an important environmental problemthe invasion of natural ecosystems in Africa by alien Prosopis trees, and how they should be managed. It addresses how the problem came about, what we know about how it works, and how it can potentially be managed at different scales. Dr. Urs Schaffner, Head of Ecosystems Management at CABI and a co-editor of the book, said, "The book has a focus on eastern Africa but includes studies from elsewhere. Prosopis trees were originally introduced to Africa as early as 1880 (in South Africa), and later to eastern Africa in 1917 (in Sudan). "They are difficult to manage due to their ecological features, such as their ability to produce copious amounts of seed, and to compete successfully with native species for resources, but also because they have both beneficial uses and negative impacts, making them conflict species, where people disagree on goals for management and how they should be achieved." Dr. Schaffner said that while the Woody Weeds project was implemented in Kenya, Ethiopia and Tanzania, the Woody Weeds+ project focused on Kenya. In Tanzania, CABI co-led a project with Tanzanian partners in the Lake Natron Basin in northern Tanzania which supported the implementation of the new Tanzanian National Invasive Species Strategy and Action Plan, focusing on Prosopis juliflora. More information: Urs Schaffner et al, The Ecology and Management of Invasive Prosopis Trees in Eastern Africa (2024). DOI: 10.1079/9781800623644.0000 Provided by CABI This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain A new international study on public trust in science, conducted across 68 countries, has found that most people trust scientists and believe they should be more involved in society and policymaking. Further, a majority of survey participants believe that scientists should be more involved in society and policymaking. Published in Nature Human Behaviour, this research was conducted by TISP, a Harvard University-based consortium led by Dr. Viktoria Cologna (Harvard University, RTH Zurich) and Dr. Niels G Mede (University of Zurich), which includes 241 researchers from 169 institutions worldwide, including the University of Bath. The study, which includes 71,922 respondents2,008 of them from the UKprovides the largest global dataset on trust in scientists since the COVID-19 pandemic. Key findings Widespread trust: Across 68 countries, the study finds that a majority of the public have relatively high trust in scientists (mean trust level = 3.62, on a scale from 1 = very low trust to 5 = very high trust). Majorities also perceive scientists to be qualified (78%), honest (57%), and concerned about people's well-being (56%). Desire for scientists' engagement: A large majority (83%) agree that scientists should communicate science with the public. Only a minority (23%) believe that scientists should not actively advocate for specific policies. 52% believe that scientists should be more involved in the policymaking process. Global rankings Most trusted: Egypt topped the list, followed by India, Nigeria, Kenya, and Australia. Middle of the pack: The UK ranked 15th, three spots behind the US, but ahead of Canada (17th) and Sweden (20th). Least trusted: At the bottom, Albania ranked 68th, followed by Kazakhstan (67th), Bolivia (66th), Russia (65th), and Ethiopia (64th). Dr. Eleonora Alabrese, an economist from the University of Bath, collected responses for part of the UK sample. She said, "The UK has a generally high level of trust in science, ranking above many European countries, including Denmark, Germany, Sweden, and Belgium. Trust in scientists is higher among women, older individuals, and those with more education. "Interestingly, a conservative political orientation is linked to lower trust in science in North America and parts of Europe. However, this pattern does not hold globally, suggesting that the political leadership may influence such attitudes in different regions." Lead researcher, Dr. Viktoria Cologna from Harvard University and ETH Zurich said, "Our results show that most people in most countries have relatively high trust in scientists and want them to play an active role in society and policymaking." Second study lead, Dr. Niels G Mede from University of Zurich said, "The study is the most comprehensive post-pandemic snapshot of trust in scientists, societal expectations of their involvement in society and policymaking, and public views on research priorities." Challenges The findings also highlight some areas of concern. Globally, less than half of respondents (42%) believe that scientists pay attention to others' views. The findings also show that many people, in many countries, feel that the priorities of science do not always align well with their own priorities. Participants assigned high priority to research dedicated to improving public health, solving energy problems, and reducing poverty. Research on developing defense and military technology was assigned a lower priority. In fact, participants explicitly believe that science prioritizes developing defense and military technology more than they desire. Recommendations The consortium of academics recommends that scientists take these results seriously and find ways to be more receptive to feedback and open to dialogue with the public, consider ways in Western countries to reach conservative groups, and, in the fullness of time, consider their role in setting priorities aligned with public values. Dr. Eleonora Alabrese said, "While trust in science remains generally high, even a small decline in trust from a minority could influence how scientific evidence is used in policymaking. These findings are crucial for scientists and policymakers working to maintain public trust in science." More information: Trust in scientists and their role in society across 68 countries, Nature Human Behaviour (2025). DOI: 10.1038/s41562-024-02090-5 Journal information: Nature Human Behaviour 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: Michigan State University horticulture professor Steve Van Nocker holds wild apples near a Malus coronaria tree Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024, in Meridian Township, Mich. Credit: AP Photo/Mike Householder In the quest to make apple trees more resilient in a warming climate, some Michigan researchers are looking for a late bloomer. A native Michigan apple tree, the Malus coronaria, learned to fight frost by blooming two or three weeks later than the trees that produce cultivated varieties of apples like Honeycrisp or Red Delicious. "That doesn't sound like a lot, but almost always that's enough for the flowers to escape the killing spring frost," said Steve van Nocker, a Michigan State University professor and plant geneticist. Van Nocker wants to identify the genes responsible for the Malus coronaria's delayed blooms and use them to develop more frost-resistant apple varieties, a decades-long process. But first, he's hiking through forests, trying to find the elusive trees. Van Nocker's project is one of many ways researchers and growers are trying to make apples more resilient as climate change makes weather less predictable. In Europe and South Korea, growers are experimenting with solar panels in vineyards and orchards. The panels protect fruit from hail and sun damage but also let in light and heat when necessary, said Jared Buono, the director of Cornell University's Hudson Valley Research Lab. Buono's lab is also adding solar panels to its experimental orchard. Michigan State University horticulture professor Steve Van Nocker, left, and graduate student Lily "Kaz" Christian inspect a Malus coronaria tree Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024, in Meridian Township, Mich. Credit: AP Photo/Mike Householder University of Maryland researchers recently announced the development of a more heat-tolerant apple variety. At Penn State University, a team built an unmanned vehicle with a propane-fueled heater that can roll through an orchard and automatically warm trees. Buono said such efforts can mitigate the impact of unusual weather like a May 18, 2023 frost that damaged trees across New York state and cut apple production by 20%. "Growers' jobs are already hard," Buono said. "The change in climate, the increased unpredictability and variability, makes it that much harder." According to a Washington State University study published this month, major apple-growing counties in the top three U.S. apple-producing statesWashington, Michigan and New Yorkare seeing fewer cold days and more warm fall nights than they used to. Washington also is experiencing more extreme heat. The study, which examined climate data from 1979 to 2022, said the temperature trends could alter bloom timing, bring trees out of dormancy too early and increase the risk of sunburn, which hurts the appearance and quality of apples. Michigan State University horticulture professor Steve Van Nocker, left, and graduate student Lily "Kaz" Christian take a sample from a Malus coronaria tree Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024, in Meridian Township, Mich. Credit: AP Photo/Mike Householder That's why, on a chilly day in December, van Nocker and graduate assistant Lily "Kaz" Christian hiked through a public park near Michigan State to check on a handful of Malus coronaria trees they had found there. Malus coronariaalso called sweet crabapplewas once so common in Michigan its blossoms were designated as the state flower in 1897. But the species appears to be in decline, van Nocker said. Parking lots and shopping centers now stand in many of the places where the tree was documented in the past, and the remaining trees often produce little new growth or fruit. When they reached the trees, van Nocker and Christian cut off small pieces of the stems. The snippets will be tested to ensure they are fully Malus coronaria and not a hybrid. Then, these Malus coronaria cuttingsalong with cuttings from previous huntswill be grafted onto an apple rootstock. That will allow them to grow into trees which are identical to the original. Discover the latest in science, tech, and space with over 100,000 subscribers who rely on Phys.org for daily insights. Sign up for our free newsletter and get updates on breakthroughs, innovations, and research that matterdaily or weekly. However, the goal is not to replace popular varieties like Fuji or Honeycrisp with Malus coronaria apples, since the Michigan tree's fruit is small, green and bitter. "To me, they don't taste good at all," van Nocker said. Michigan State University graduate student Lily "Kaz" Christian (left) and horticulture professor Steve Van Nocker (right) take a sample from a Malus coronaria tree Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024, in Meridian Township, Mich. Credit: AP Photo/Mike Householder Instead, he wants to identify the genes that cause late blooming and create a genetic stock that breeders could use to develop commercial apples. Van Nocker also is sending seeds to the U.S. Department of Agriculture so the genetic stock won't be lost if the tree continues to decline. Making a later-blooming commercial apple could take decades. If a Malus coronaria is crossed with a commercial apple tree to make a new hybrid, it would take four or five years for that tree to start producing apples. Crossbreeding would continue until researchers developed an apple with the desired traits of both varieties. But van Nocker said it's critical to try. "With climate change, it's quite possible that apples won't be able to be produced in Michigan in the future," he said. "That's why cultivar improvement, especially in terms of frost resistance, is so important." 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: A yellow-browed sparrow (Ammodramus aurifrons) caught and released in a clearing in white-sand forest in Peru's Allpahuayo-Mishana National Reserve. Credit: Nico Arcilla Tropical forests host an estimated 62% of global terrestrial vertebrate species on less than 20% of the Earth's land area and provide resources that directly benefit ~1.5 billion people throughout the world. Despite their incomparable importance for maintaining life on Earth, tropical forests have been subject to unprecedented anthropogenic degradation and conversion over the past century. Most of the world's forests are now logged for use as human commodities, and tropical forests are no exception. While many logged forests are lost forever due to their subsequent conversion to agriculture or other human uses, some are protected, allowing them to recover and regenerate over time. This raises a question: What do the impacts of prior disturbance mean for wildlife in forests regenerating after logging or wholesale clearance? To investigate this question, we worked together with Peruvian colleagues to take advantage of a unique opportunity to quantify changes in forest understory birds in areas where logged and cleared forests were allowed to recover after the establishment of the Allpahuayo-Mishana National Reserve. This 58,070-hectare protected area in northeastern Peru hosts rare white-sand forests and wildlife in Amazonia, the largest tropical forest region in the world. Characterized by nutrient-poor sandy soils, high densities of straight, relatively short trees, and low species diversity relative to other areas of Amazonia, white-sand forests nevertheless make important contributions to regional biodiversity by hosting many endemic species, including globally threatened and near-threatened birds such as the Allpahuayo Antbird (Percnostola arenarum) and White-masked Antbird (Pithys castaneus), as well as the Iquitos Gnatcatcher (Polioptila clementsi), and Mishana Tyrannulet (Zimmerius villarejoi). The discovery of this unique biodiversity inspired the establishment of the Allpahuayo-Mishana National Reserve after this area had become the subject of logging and land clearance starting in the 1980s, due to state-sponsored efforts encouraging human settlement in this region. Its designation as a protected area in 2004 put an official halt to logging and land clearance in the reserve, although some illegal exploitation has continued, especially around villages that were established prior to its founding. In our study, we examined the extent to which bird communities and forest structure were affected by human impacts prior to the establishment of the reserve, sampling birds with mist nets to compare avian communities in undisturbed tropical forest, selectively logged forest, and secondary forest regenerating on abandoned agricultural fields. We quantified birds and habitat structure at 12 study sites: three forest sites selectively logged between 1996 and 2000, three sites cleared in the mid-1980s to establish sugarcane plantations and later native fruit trees, and six undisturbed primary forest sites. White-sand forests in the Allpahuayo-Mishana National Reserve are interspersed with more common, nutrient-rich clay soils, and we conducted field research in both habitat types. A path winds through white-sand forest in the Allpahuayo-Mishana National Reserve. Credit: Nico Arcilla We found that after a 19-year recovery period, selectively logged sites hosted similar bird communities to undisturbed sites, and within 26 years had recovered sufficiently to display similar bird communities and vegetation structures as nearby undisturbed primary forest sites. The recovery of these sites within this timeframe was enabled in part by the protection of these sites from post-logging human impacts and their locations within a primary forest landscape where interior-adapted birds could recolonize forests. Discover the latest in science, tech, and space with over 100,000 subscribers who rely on Phys.org for daily insights. Sign up for our free newsletter and get updates on breakthroughs, innovations, and research that matterdaily or weekly. By contrast, forest regenerating from agricultural fields had lower bird species richness, with fewer insectivores and frugivores. Many Amazonian forest birds follow army ants (Eciton spp.) to hunt arthropods, and ant-following insectivores in particular declined with past disturbance intensity, likely due to the increase in ground cover vegetation in high-disturbance sites. More details of our findings are the subject of a recent publication in the journal Birds. What does this mean in the bigger picture? We believe our findings offer reasons for hope in the conservation of tropical forests, as well as present a cautionary tale. Critical actions taken by the Peruvian government in this case included the protection of forests from post-logging disturbance due to the establishment of the reserve. The white-plumed antbird (Pithys albifrons) regularly follows army ant swarms to hunt for insects and other small animal prey. Credit: Nico Arcilla In addition, the maintenance of adjacent uncut reserves and large contiguous forest tracts constituted a source from which bird species recolonized logged forests, so that logged sites were comparable to unlogged sites within two decades post-logging. On the other hand, the most significant driver of tropical forest destruction worldwide has been its conversion to commercial agriculture. For example, many tropical forests have been converted to commercial plantations, including cocoa (Theobroma cacao) in West Africa, oil palm (Elaeis guineensis) in Southeast Asia, and coffee (Coffea spp.) in the Americas. Our analyses suggest that in former agricultural plantations allowed to return to forest, bird species richness and composition may lag behind those of undisturbed forest sites even after a 40-year recovery period. Full recovery of forest biodiversity on former plantations may take much longer, primarily due to the slow rate at which many forest-interior specialists recolonize these habitats. Meanwhile, forest regenerating on former agricultural plantations supported more nectarivores, such as hummingbirds, than other forest sites. Our results suggest that maintaining high tree density and a low proportion of ground cover vegetation are important for conserving forest-dependent bird communities, so these structural traits should be encouraged in regenerating forests to provide habitat for vulnerable forest bird species. The great-billed hermit (Phaethornis malaris) is an nectarivore that may increase in abundance in forest areas with lower tree densities due to past logging and land clearance for agriculture. Credit: Nico Arcilla The black-faced antbird (Myrmoborus myotherinus), one of the more abundant avian insectivores in the Allpahuayo-Mishana National Reserve, is one of many forest species that recolonized forest regenerating from agricultural fields Credit: Nico Arcilla One important lesson from these examples is that all is not lost for biodiversity after logging, if decisive conservation action is taken in time. Forest frugivores such as the blue-capped manakin (Lepidothrix coronata) and insectivores such as the black-faced antbird (Myrmoborus myotherinus) were among the forest species that recolonized regenerating forests on old agricultural plantations within the first few decades of recovery. In fact, one surprise during our fieldwork that delighted us was the capture of a black-faced antbird that wore a uniquely-numbered band from a previous research project in 2010, indicating that this individual was at least 13 years old! As the life histories of many tropical species remain very poorly known, our encounter with this individual was an exciting reminder of how much more we have to discover. We commend our colleagues in Peru for their timely intervention and hard work to protect the living treasure that is Allpahuayo-Mishana National Reserve. This story is part of Science X Dialog, where researchers can report findings from their published research articles. Visit this page for information about Science X Dialog and how to participate. More information: Alex Glass et al, The Effects of Disturbance Intensity on Tropical Forest Bird Communities and Vegetation Structure after Two Decades of Recovery, Birds (2024). DOI: 10.3390/birds5030026 Nico Arcilla is Affiliate Fellow at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and President of the International Bird Conservation Partnership, whose mission is to foster and support research, outreach, and partnerships to advance bird conservation. She earned her Ph.D. at the University of Georgia, U.S., with a focus on the community ecology of tropical forest birds in both logged and protected forests. Alex Glass is Assistant Professor of Wildlife Biology at Lees-McRae College in North Carolina, U.S.. He earned his Ph.D. at Southern Illinois University, U.S., with a focus on the ecology of grassland birds and nest predators in restored prairies. His research interests include avian and restoration ecology as well as the impacts of habitat change and land management actions on bird community structure. 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 snowy day at ESA's deep space tracking station in Malargue, Argentina. Credit: ESA / Filippo Concaro In late July 2024, the Malargue deep-space communication station completed an important upgrade of its antenna feed that will allow missions to send much more data back to Earth, a capacity increase of almost 80%. With more deep-space missions, more international requests, new and more intense data streams, the demand for deep-space ground stations has never been higher. Yet the offer is reaching nearly full capacity. To give a breath of air to the three deep-space antennas in its global ground station network (Estrack), the European Space Agency started a vast upgrade of its stations, including the use of novel cryogenic technology. In late July, the program completed the cryogenic works on its Argentina-based Malargue antenna, thus allowing the station to download up to 80% more science data from its increasingly complex science missions, with a boost of up to 60% for deep-space missions like Juice and BepiColombo. The completion of the upgrade will alleviate operational capacity demands for ESA missions in the coming years, while also providing new capabilities for future missions. How does it work? When receiving a signal and decoding it, antennas can be affected by background interferenceor thermal noisethat limits their sensitivity and data transfer rate. One way to reduce this noise is to cryo-cool the link connecting the physical antenna to the station's electronic signal transmitter and receiveralso called the "antenna feed." "Increasing the signal-to-noise ratio is key when designing, upgrading and operating antennas," explains Stephane Halte, ESA ground station project manager. "At a temperature of 10 Kelvin (-263C) instead of room temperature, we can reduce the noise to a minimum and increase the antenna's capacity by between 60 and 80%." The new cryocooled feeds incorporate a new generation of ultra-low noise cryogenic amplifiers (LNA) developed with university partners such as ETH Zurich (Switzerland) and Chalmers (Sweden). These LNAs are now commercialized through spin-off companies (LNF and Diramics). The same technology is used today for the development of quantum computers. This is an example where ESA technology development can support the overall scientific community and support the competitiveness of European companies. The Ka band cryocooled feed development has been funded through the ESA Technology Development Element program and the first prototype was manufactured and tested by Callisto Space (France). The operational units have been manufactured by Callisto and the integration has been performed in ESA's Deep Space stations by the Canadian company Calian. Malargue is the second antenna to have been upgraded with cryocooled feeds. It follows the path of Cerebros in 2023. This cryogenic technology is now a standard for ESA ground stations and the new antennas, like the New Norcia 3 one, will feature it. 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: Spatial distribution in preferences and perceived effectives for the two active coastal management strategies considered: hard defenses and nature-based coastal solutions. Credit: Journal of Environmental Management (2024). DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2024.123413 Scientists have warned efforts to protect and restore marine habitats along the UK's coastline could be hindered by a lack of public knowledge about these initiatives. In the face of climate change and rising sea levels, nature-based coastal solutions (NBCS) are emerging as a sustainable and environmentally friendly way to protect our shores. These innovative solutionswhich include living shorelines, engineered reefs, and restoration of saltmarshes and dunesoffer a greener alternative to traditional hard defenses like seawalls and barriers. However, new research reveals that while NBCS are preferred by many for their environmental benefits, public understanding of their effectiveness lags behind. In a study published in the Journal of Environmental Management, researchers surveyed over 500 UK residents and found a striking divide between public preference and their perception of effectiveness. Most respondents expressed a preference for nature-based coastal solutions due to their sustainability and aesthetic appeal. Yet hard defenses, which were long-established and visibly effective, remained widely thought-of as the most reliable way to mitigate coastal risks like flooding and erosion. The study highlights a critical knowledge gap. Although NBCS offer significant environmental advantages- including carbon sequestration, enhanced biodiversity, and community resiliencetheir long-term effectiveness is not well understood by the public. This disconnect could hinder efforts to implement NBCS at scale, despite growing calls from the coastal science community to adopt these solutions as a cornerstone of sustainable coastal management. To bridge this gap, researchers emphasize the need for greater public engagement and education about nature-based initiatives. Collaborative approaches, such as systems mapping, could play an important role in involving local communities in the decision-making process. By fostering dialogue among residents, scientists, and policymakers, systems mapping can help ensure that coastal management strategies are both inclusive and effective. Dr. Scott Mahadeo, from the School of Accounting, Economics and Finance at the University of Portsmouth, explains, "Nature-based coastal solutions offer a promising path toward sustainable coastal management, combining environmental benefits with resilience against climate challenges. However, our findings highlight a clear knowledge gap between the scientific community's advocacy for these solutions and the public's understanding of their effectiveness. Bridging this gap through meaningful dialogue and inclusive decision-making will be key to fostering widespread support and ensuring robust, long-term coastal policies." The study highlights that coastal zones hold deep socio-cultural significance, from family heritage and community cohesion to recreation and environmental stewardship. Researchers say that any changes to these landscapes can profoundly impact the lives and identities of coastal residents and users. This is why public support and understanding are crucial for the successful adoption of NBCS and other coastal management strategies. Discover the latest in science, tech, and space with over 100,000 subscribers who rely on Phys.org for daily insights. Sign up for our free newsletter and get updates on breakthroughs, innovations, and research that matterdaily or weekly. Dr. Mahadeo adds, "As the UK and the world grapple with the challenges of climate change, balancing innovative solutions with community needs is essential. The path forward lies in building trust, sharing knowledge, and working together to safeguard our coasts for generations to come." The University of Portsmouth is involved in several projects that use nature as a potential solution to climate-related or pollution-related issues. These include the Rapid Reduction of Nutrients in Transitional Waters (RaNTrans) project, which is exploring how nature-based approaches can improve and protect marine ecosystems. Restoration projects are also underway across the south coast of England, including the pioneering Blue Marine Foundation's Solent Oyster Restoration Project, and the UK's first seascape restoration project the Solent Seascape Project. Both projects are based at the University of Portsmouth's Institute of Marine Sciences in Langstone Harbour, and aim to restore multiple habitats such as oyster reefs, seagrass meadows, saltmarsh and birds, to reconnect and revive our ailing coastal waters. This latest study was conducted by a team of interdisciplinary scientistsin coastal geomorphology, environmental economics, and human geographyand focused on public perceptions of coastal management in the UK. Using innovative survey and analysis techniques, the authors hope the research will help develop more sustainable and inclusive coastal policies. More information: Avidesh Seenath et al, Public perceptions of nature-based coastal solutions in the UK, Journal of Environmental Management (2024). DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2024.123413 Journal information: Journal of Environmental Management Chips are displayed at the exhibition area of central China's Hubei Province of the second China International Supply Chain Expo in Beijing, China, Nov. 27, 2024. [Photo/Xinhua] Experts have sharply criticized the latest export controls on artificial intelligence models and chips implemented by outgoing U.S. President Joe Biden's administration, describing the measures as unworkable and counterproductive to the U.S.' stated goals of protecting national security and maintaining AI leadership. The administration unveiled its Interim Final Rule for an "Export Control Framework for Artificial Intelligence Diffusion" last week as it approaches the end of its term. While the framework aims to safeguard U.S. national security by limiting the export of advanced AI chips and technologies to strategic competitors, particularly China, it has sparked intense debate about its potential impact on U.S. competitiveness in the global market. The new regulations, which took effect on Jan 13, include a grace period for compliance until May 15. The framework establishes a tiered system of export controls, with only 18 "trusted" economies designated as "tier one" and exempted from strict export caps. This select group includes close U.S. allies such as the United Kingdom, Japan, and Germany. The framework's "tier two" designation encompasses most of the world, including close U.S. partners like Israel, Singapore, Brazil, India, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. These nations face substantial restrictions with stringent country-specific limits on chip imports. China falls into the most restrictive "tier three" category which the U.S. considers "adversaries". The regulations particularly affect the export of graphics processing unit chips essential for powering cutting-edge AI applications, including large language models. Industry experts warn that the framework's broad scope and lack of targeted measures could undermine U.S. competitiveness in AI, weaken U.S. global leadership in digital policy, and create opportunities for foreign AI chip manufacturers to capture greater market share. "It's a nice, cute touch, but it doesn't actually work, and we know that from experience," said James Andrew Lewis, senior vice-president and director of the Strategic Technologies Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Speaking at a webinar organized by the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation on Thursday, Lewis said if the goal is to impede China's AI development, the framework will not work. "It's worthwhile to accelerate what the U.S. is doing. It's worthwhile to seek to dominate the market, but it's less useful to try and stop the Chinese. Because 10 years ago the Chinese were still dependent on the U.S. for technology, and that's increasingly less true, they'll come up with workarounds. They'll come up with substitutes," he said. Objectives questioned Questioning the policy's fundamental objectives, Lewis suggested that instead of trying to constrain China, the focus should be on "having the biggest market share for American companies possible". "When you design a regulation, you should have some goals in mind, and the goal we should have in mind for this regulation is how to accelerate U.S. leadership in this market, and the best measure for that is market share," Lewis said. Ken Glueck, executive vice-president of Oracle, shared these concerns, arguing the new rules would foster new foreign competition for U.S. companies and describing the "arbitrary market allocation scheme" as "just unworkable". "The problem is that there are far too many tier two countries," Glueck said at the webinar. From a "practitioner's view", he said, "You are not allowed to deploy more than 50 percent of GPUs outside of the United States, that means U.S. industry is a net loser under this discussion." "If tariffs can be considered the first phase of America's economic war with China, then blacklisting appears to be the second phase. Of course, with tariffs, a Chinese company could still do business with the U.S., but those that are blacklisted are denied such opportunities," Anthony Moretti, department head and an associate professor of the Communication and Organizational Leadership Department at Robert Morris University in Pennsylvania, told China Daily. "Biden has become even more of a China hawk since his vice-president lost the 2024 election; there have been multiple blacklist announcements over the past eight to 10 weeks, and they raise questions about just how sincere he was in supporting the San Francisco vision and any other efforts, for that matter, that might have improved U.S.-China relations," Moretti said. "Regardless of the reason or reasons, the erosion of the bilateral relationship continues, and that is not good for either country or for the global community as a whole," he said. This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain As the world has watched the Los Angeles wildfires, seeing the loss and destruction that accompanies environmental disaster, some influencers have seen opportunity. Selfie-seekers have been spotted using the wildfires as a backdrop for their social media content. Videos have circulated of would-be influencers filming dances and videos in the shadows of the disaster area. Others have faced backlash for making "get ready with me while I evacuate" videos or using the fires to promote wellness products. As long as there have been front-facing smartphone cameras, people have snapped selfies in inappropriate settingsfrom Auschwitz to the 9/11 memorial. It also happens at more localized disasters such as motorway accidents and funerals. Selfie-style content was also rampant during the Maui wildfires in 2023 and, as a result, the local Hawaiian community expressed how troubling it felt that their devastating losses were being turned into a social media spectacle. In a personal example, I can remember going to Buckingham Palace in London immediately after the announcement of Queen Elizabeth II's passing, and seeing people filming TikTok dances in front of the palace gateseven breaking out specialist filming equipment like ring lights. The sight of someone filming for social media amid a somber physical setting can appear strange. But as someone who researches how people photograph themselves in the social media era, I have come to understand the nuances that cause and accompany this behavior. Very often, the background of a photograph or video only carries meaning for the creator insofar as it can be part of their brand. This might, unfortunately, mean there is less concern for the people around them in favor of the audience that will eventually view their post. As is the case with most self-focused content, the purpose of taking a video is often not to document a memory or to capture something beautiful. Instead, the aim is to perpetuate and maintain one's own brand through social media. Influencers' posts are infused with symbols and subliminal messagingoften through a backdropthat communicate their social status to their audience. I have researched the social signifiers that creators aim for with their content. Surrounded by wildfires, the influencer might be trying to communicate heroism, empathy, suffering or understanding. A post from an area with global news attention might show them to be in the "center of the action," which carries social capital itself. Discover the latest in science, tech, and space with over 100,000 subscribers who rely on Phys.org for daily insights. Sign up for our free newsletter and get updates on breakthroughs, innovations, and research that matterdaily or weekly. Cognitive dissonance Much content on social media is about self-presentation. To understand it, it's helpful to turn to the work of influential Canadian-American sociologist Erving Goffman, whose 1956 theory compares self-presentation to an actor performing in a play. This "theater of the self" includes a frontstage and backstage, with corresponding behaviors for each. The frontstage is where the performance takes place and is tailored for its intended audience in mind. The backstage is where the preparation for the performance takes place and can often be messy or untidy. Sacrifices are usually made in the backstage in preparation for the frontstage performance. Today, many frontstage performances happen online. Scholars refer to this as impression management 2.0. When the frontstage is virtual, the backstage remains in our physical world. The sacrifices made to achieve an ideal online impression all fall into our physical surroundings, and wherever the influencer or content creator finds themselveseven in the center of a natural disaster. Obviously, creating content amid an unfolding disaster can be considered quite exploitative and widely miss the mark as far as the intended social meanings. Research shows that those who are more likely to engage in this type of performance for impression management are also more likely to demonstrate a level of cognitive dissonance towards what is unfolding in the physical world around them. This can be described as narcissism normalization and is often considered within the context of tourism and social media. Tourists now take photos of themselves with the sites they are visiting as backdrops with the aim to post on social media, rather than taking photos of the sites themselves. The prioritization of one's online social environment, where they are the "main character," can impede concern for the physical world. Many of the LA selfie-seekers will have a genuine concern for the local community suffering in the wildfires, or they may themselves be part of that community. But their pursuit of impression management could potentially be taking priority over that empathy. On the other hand, we should not forget that taking selfies and creating content are now normal parts of everyday life. For some, this might be the only (or best) way they know how to express their empathy. Much good can come out of social media in response to disasters: fundraisers, safety instructions or even the comfort of a shared experience. But as climate change inevitably leads to more frequent natural disasters such as wildfires, this kind of content will become more widespread. This presents a dilemmathat as we become increasingly exposed to "natural disaster content," we may become desensitized to it, and even stop feeling the empathy that accompanies these images. 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: DFT+DMFT calculations of waterfalls in cuprates. Credit: Nature Communications (2025). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-55465-7 A kind of umbilical cord between different quantum states can be found in some materials. Researchers at TU Wien have now shown that this "umbilical cord" is generic to many materials. It is a basic principle of quantum theory: sometimes certain physical quantities can only assume very specific values; all the values in between are simply not permitted by physics. This fact plays a decisive role in the behavior of materials. Certain energy ranges are possible for the electrons of the material, while others are not. Among other things, this explains the difference between electrically conductive metals and non-conductive insulators. Sometimes, however, surprising connections can arise between permitted ranges, through which electrons can switch from one range to the other. One such unusual transition region was discovered in 2007 in certain copper-containing materials, known as cuprates. Scientists at TU Wien (Vienna) have now been able to demonstrate that these are not exotic special cases; in fact, this effect is bound to occur if the interaction between the electrons is large enough. This means that there is an additional state between the metal and the insulator. The findings are published in the journal Nature Communications. Quantum leaps between permitted energies "An electron moving around the nucleus of an atom can only assume very specific energy values. Everything in between is forbidden; it can only switch from one permitted energy value to another permitted energy value, which is known as a quantum jump," says Prof Karsten Held from the Institute of Solid State Physics at TU Wien. "It's a bit more complicated with electrons in solids, where not just certain energy values are permitted, but entire energy rangeswe call them energy bands." Both the energy and the momentum (or speed) of the electrons play a role here: the electron can assume different momentum values, which means that its energy also variesbut only within a certain range. In order to move from one permitted energy range to the next, a larger portion of additional energy is required. Insulators and conductive metals In insulators, these permitted energy bands are separated from each other by a wide "forbidden" energy range. This prevents the electrons from switching from a band with low energy, in which each electron remains bound to its atomic nucleus, to a band with higher energy, in which it could move from atom to atom through the material. This means that all electrons remain in place and no electric current can flow. In an electrically conductive material, on the other hand, there is no such forbidden energy range, the electrons can move easily. "How these allowed and forbidden energy bands are arranged depends on the material, especially on how strongly the electrons interact in this material," says Held. This strength of the electron interaction can be adjusted by doping the material with a certain number of a different type of atom. This technique is routinely used in semiconductor production. A new energy band is bornand remains connected by an 'umbilical cord' If this interaction strength is changed continuously, it can happen that one allowed energy range splits into two separate allowed energy ranges. "In this case, it is particularly interesting to see what structure arises here and what possible combinations of energy and momentum result from this," says Held. "We found that during the process of separation into two allowed energy bands, these two bands initially remain connected to each other by a kind of quantum umbilical cord," says Held. Discover the latest in science, tech, and space with over 100,000 subscribers who rely on Phys.org for daily insights. Sign up for our free newsletter and get updates on breakthroughs, innovations, and research that matterdaily or weekly. At most momentum values, the electron has to make a decision: It can only be in either the upper or the lower energy band. But there is one momentum value for which a wide range of energy values is possibleit connects both bands. Such anomalies, with one momentum value but many energy values, have been found in experiments before, but the cause initially remained unclear. Held and Juraj Krsnik from TU Wien have now succeeded in showing that this phenomenon is not an exotic isolated case, but that this "umbilical cord effect" is bound to occur when the interaction strength between the electrons falls within a certain range. This means that a further class of states must now be taken into account when categorizing solids. This is nothing new in solid-state physics: in 2016, for example, the Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded for so-called "topological states" in superconductors, another new set of states, which are also defined by a very specific relationship between energy and momentum values. Nevertheless, the result is quite surprising: "We were able to show quite clearly that this umbilical cord-like connection must occur quite naturally when one energy band splits off from another," says Held. "This opens up a whole new perspective on technologically highly interesting classes of materials and shows us that there is more to materials science between electrical conductors and insulators than previously thought." More information: Juraj Krsnik et al, Local correlations necessitate waterfalls as a connection between quasiparticle band and developing Hubbard bands, Nature Communications (2025). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-55465-7 Journal information: Nature Communications This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Credit: Cell (2025). DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2024.12.004 Science has revealed some of the secrets of the X chromosome, but many remain. In humans, female cells contain two X chromosomes (XX) and male cells contain one (XY). In each female cell, one X chromosome must be inactivatedcrumpled up in such a way that the genetic code it contains cannot be read out. RNA plays an important role in this inactivation process. Specifically, Xist RNA, a long noncoding RNA molecule, is responsible for crumpling up one copy of an X chromosome in each female cell. Researchers have known that Xist is critically important; without it, an embryo will not develop. But what prevents Xist from inactivating other chromosomes in the cell? A new paper published in Cell from researchers at Mass General Brigham and Tsinghua-Peking Center for Life Sciences offers insights on the forces that restrict the RNA's movement, with implications for how to treat X-linked diseases in the future. "Xist is important for human diseaseif we can alter its expression it could have implications for how we treat rare diseases that are linked to the X chromosome," said corresponding author Jeannie Lee, MD, Ph.D., a physician-investigator and chair of the Department of Molecular Biology at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH). "Basic discoveries like the one we describe in this paper are allowing us to slowly peel away the layers of silencing on the X chromosome, which locks in the suppressed state of X. Knowing what we do now, we have a much better chance of being able to reactivate it." Lee and her colleagues have theorized that in cases where genetic disorders are the result of a mutation on the X chromosome, the inactivated X chromosome could serve as a "backup copy," and that restoring it could potentially reverse the disease state. Perhaps Xist could help release this backup; but if Xist were to diffuse into other chromosomes in the cell, it would inactivate them as well. The researchers set out to understand what keeps Xist from spreading by examining the biophysical and molecular forces in the cell that appear to keep it caged. In a fruitful collaboration, Lee's team at Mass General Brigham and Pilong Li's team at Tsinghua-Peking University found that Xist RNA works with a protein partner that has special biophysical properties. The protein HNRNPK forms a kind of "oil droplet." Normally HNRNPK forms a stiff droplet, but when it is exposed to Xist RNA, the droplet pulls on Xist and internalizes it. Once internalized, Xist "softens" the HNRNPK droplet and makes it more flexible, allowing the droplet to spread and encapsulate the X-chromosome. Xist in turn becomes entrapped in this droplet, making it harder for the RNA to move to other chromosomes in the cell. Lee uses the analogy of salad dressing to describe this sort of "phase separation." "If each of the molecular players is represented by the ingredients in a lemon vinaigrette, HNRNPK is an olive oil, and Xist is a lemon oil that mixes with the HNRNPK oil and is dissolved," said Lee. "All the other chromosomes form the vinegar. Oil and vinegar do not mix no matter how you shake them. Thus, Xist is phase separated from the other chromosomes." The work sets the stage for exploring new approaches to treating certain types of genetic disorders. Co-first authors, Mingrui Ding, Ph.D., in Pilong Li's lab (Tsinghua-Peking) and Danni Wang, Ph.D., in Jeannie Lee's Lab (MGB), worked together to complete this analysis. "Our study sheds light on a longstanding question about Xist RNA, and it would not have been possible without our wonderful collaborators in Beijing," said Lee. "We're grateful that, by working together, we could solve one piece of this mystery." More information: Mingrui Ding et al, A biophysical basis for the spreading behavior and limited diffusion of Xist, Cell (2025). DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2024.12.004 Journal information: Cell 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: Overview of the study concept for sensing offshore OG platforms using SDGSAT-1. Credit: International Journal of Digital Earth (2024). DOI: 10.1080/17538947.2024.2441932 A study published in the International Journal of Digital Earth presents a novel application of the Sustainable Development Science Satellite-1 (SDGSAT-1) for observing offshore oil and gas platforms. Researchers from the Aerospace Information Research Institute (AIR) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences leveraged the advanced capabilities of SDGSAT-1's Glimmer Imager (GLI) and Thermal Infrared Spectrometer (TIS) to monitor gas flaring activities in the South China Sea. Offshore oil and gas platforms are crucial for energy production but pose significant environmental risks, particularly due to emissions from gas flaring. Monitoring these platforms across large and dynamic oceanic regions has long been a challenge. This study addresses that issue by combining the visible light detection capabilities of the GLI with the thermal imaging of the TIS, offering a unique and synergistic approach to mapping platform operations. The researchers developed an innovative algorithm using GLI's Pan and RGB (a color mode) bands to detect the distinctive reddish starbursts associated with gas flares. This innovation produced vivid images of gas flares, which appeared as large reddish clusters in the RGB imagery, thus improving monitoring and understanding of these flaring activities. At the same time, the TIS sensor captured high-temperature anomalies and smoke plumes rising from the platforms. This dual-sensing capability not only confirmed the presence of gas flaring but also provided additional insights into the heat emissions from these platforms. Using this approach, the researchers identified 113 oil and gas platforms within a complex maritime landscape of islands, vessels, and other offshore facilities in the South China Sea. This is the first application of nighttime visible bands specifically for monitoring gas flaring, emphasizing the potential of GLI RGB imagery for detecting industrial heat sources. The research highlights SDGSAT-1's ability to track offshore oil and gas platforms, and refine platform inventories. By aligning with global sustainability goals, such as SDG 13 (Climate Action) and SDG 14 (Life Below Water), the findings contribute to the broader initiative aimed at achieving Zero Routine Flaring by 2030. More information: Yujia Qiu et al, Synergic sensing of light and heat emitted by offshore oil and gas platforms in the South China Sea, International Journal of Digital Earth (2024). DOI: 10.1080/17538947.2024.2441932 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: Jeswin Thomas from Pexels If there is a leader in the aerospace industry, SpaceX is it. The company's Crew Dragon and Cargo Dragon spacecrafts are the current go-to vehicles to deliver astronauts and supplies to the International Space Station. NASA contracts awarded to SpaceX through 2030 alone are worth nearly US$5 billion and include research and development for the Artemis mission to return astronauts to the moon. Over the past decade, SpaceX has also emerged as a key vendor to the U.S. Department of Defense, seen most recently with a $733.5 million contract for projects such as launching defense satellite networks and contributing to other national security space objectives. As a human geographer, I'm interested in how commercial space and defense companies affect the local communities where they conduct launches and tests. For instance, I spent over two years in Kazakhstan researching the privatization of the Soviet space program and the beginning of a global commercial space industry. Elon Musk and SpaceX's influence Politically, SpaceX is an enormous boon to the United States. As a U.S.-based defense supplier and contractor, the company's technology has helped to nearly end an almost two-decade dependency on the Russian Federation for access to the International Space Station. Its billionaire CEO, Elon Musk, has even expressed plans to colonize Mars. Musk's decision to spend $250 million helping Donald Trump win the 2024 presidential election is expected to lead to more support for SpaceX. In the new administration, Musk is poised to lead a newly created advisory agency called the Department of Government Efficiency, which could lead to benefits for his business and widen his space ambitions. Boca Chica, Texas, is home to SpaceX's flagship assembly and test installation, Starbase. Since 2021, I have been conducting research with environmental groups and multigenerational community members of Latino and Indigenous descent in south Texas who see space exploration as a landscape-altering industry that affects their well-being. After watching Starbase's development proceed since 2014, locals there told me that there is much unseen and unsaid about what happens on the ground while an aerospace giant shoots for the stars. Discover the latest in science, tech, and space with over 100,000 subscribers who rely on Phys.org for daily insights. Sign up for our free newsletter and get updates on breakthroughs, innovations, and research that matterdaily or weekly. Breaking eggs to make an omelet Starbase is an industrial installation built by SpaceX to fabricate and test a number of the company's rocket types. The area around it is a unique and delicate ecosystem that includes estuaries and coastal grasslands, mud flats and more, where falcons, hawks, ravens, gulls and songbirds live. Since construction began, SpaceX engineers have had to drain water-logged soils, level them and pour concrete to support ground tracking stations, assembly buildings, engine test stands, a nearly 500-foot (152-meter) launch tower and onsite fuel mixing and storage. In a lengthy response to local environmental groups' claims of environmental abuses, the company maintains that it is dedicated to environmental stewardship. But developing rockets is a dangerous and messy business. Sites chosen for this kind of work are often, though not always, remote and highly secured installations. Fiery explosions on the ground or in the air aren't unheard of over the past several years. Rocket tests in Scotland, China and Japan have all ended in accidents. In April 2023, one of SpaceX's prototype Starship rockets exploded over the Gulf of Mexico shortly after liftoff. This is not the only time that a rocket has exploded at places where SpaceX operates. SpaceX runs a compact though growing operation at Boca Chica that has transformed the area. The hamlet was previously known as Kopernik Shores, and SpaceX purchased nearly all of the approximately 35 ranch homes in the area. Some residents have reported pressure to sell their property for suboptimal prices following rumors that the county would use eminent domain to seize their residences. I spoke to Rebekah Hinojosa, a local activist and member of the Carrizo-Comecrudo Tribe of Texas, while researching in the area. To many locals, including Hinojosa, it seems like Musk is so well connected that SpaceX is insulated from public criticism. In a 2018 press conference, Musk said, "We've got a lot of land with no one around, and so if it blows up, it's cool," referring to a rocket he planned to test at Starbase. Changes to the landscape An installation the size of Starbase cannot avoid disturbing the wildlife in the four distinct state and federal wildlife protection areas that surround it. If you walk through the protected areas you may see shrapnel, segments of rocket chassis and other random debris from any number of explosionsthat is, if someone else hasn't picked them up first. In December 2022, I visited a luxury campground near Starbase. It displayed various fragments of rocket debris, which they called memorabilia to the new space age, throughout the site. Within SpaceX, as well as NASA, the explosion of 2023 was celebrated as a crucial step in developing the Starship rocket. The event did produce valuable data on the rocket's performanceit has done little to tarnish the company's reputation. There is tremendous support for SpaceX in Texas. The company has promised to drive high-tech industry jobs into a region ranked among the country's poorest. SpaceX has created about 2,100 jobs. However, reporting shows that local and state politicians have seen more personal gains in their real estate holdings and campaign budgets than the region's economy has overall. A laboratory near the community At the end of the day, to develop a rocket, you need a place to test your design. "Our local beach is the laboratory," local activist Hinojosa told me. Resident coalitions of Indigenous, Latino and Chicano people as well as conservation groups are suing the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, the Federal Aviation Administration and others to combat SpaceX. These groups argue that SpaceX misled state and federal regulators about Starbase's operations. They claim SpaceX changed how frequently it planned to launch tests and built new facilities for several rocket types, which rendered the company's original environmental impact statement for the area inaccurate. Some key issues these groups are fighting against include a bid to expand Starbase into more protected areas. Another point of contention is the deluge system, which creates thousands of gallons of toxic wastewater to cool launch pads and rocket engines after testing. While the EPA and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality have notified SpaceX about violations of the Clean Water Act, claimants in a recent lawsuit contend that these agencies have not held the company accountable for breaking the law. The company has denied any wrongdoing and refutes claims of environmental harms. "As we have built up capacity to launch and developed new sites across the country, we have always been committed to public safety and mitigating impacts to the environment," a SpaceX statement reads. "The list of measures we take just for operations in Texas is over two hundred items long, including constant monitoring and sampling of the short and long-term health of local flora and fauna. The narrative that we operate free of, or in defiance of, environmental regulation is demonstrably false." So, what does the future hold? Many people from conservation agencies, activist groups and Indigenous communities in Texas want the company out. Given the high public support for space exploration in the U.S. and the burgeoning friendship between Musk and Trump, a SpaceX evacuation from the area seems unlikely. While it may take difficult negotiations that require concessions from each party, I hope that somewhere there is a middle ground on which space exploration and environmental protections can coexist. 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: Credit: Airam Dato-on from Pexels "Instead of hanging out on street corners, they're hanging out on social media." That's how Francesco Carlo Campisi, a Ph.D. student at Universite de Montreal supervised by criminology professor Francis Fortin, describes the online presence of Canadian street gangs. In a study published in the Canadian Journal of Criminology and Criminal Justice, Campisi scrutinized some 50 Facebook and X (formerly Twitter) profiles linked to Canadian street gang members, as well as a dozen YouTube music videos produced by them. His goal was to explore the behavior of this new breed of social-media user. "Law enforcement, the media and some academic publications suggest that street gangs have started using social media to find and recruit new members," he said. "However, we don't have enough information to describe what this actually looks like online." The reality, it turns out, is more complicated. Campisi's most notable finding was that most of the content gang members post on X and Facebook is not crime-related. Indirect recruitment Campisi set out to explore "cyberbanging," a general term for the interactive online relationship between gang members and other users. He found that cyberbanging content consists of promoting the gang lifestyle more than recruitment per se. Gang members display "gang culture" by showing off their money, weapons, women, alcohol, partying and drugs. "These promotional strategies are a form of indirect recruitment, as they can entice impressionable individuals attracted to the lifestyle to seek membership in the gang, rather than the gang seeking potential recruits," Campisi said. "The impetus for recruitment thus shifts to the potential member rather than the gang." He added that being part of a gang is only one aspect of members' identities and does not appear to dominate their online presence or define the content they post. "The users sampled on X and Facebook may be gang members, but they are also sons, sisters, fathers and students, with interests beyond gangs," Campisi noted. "Like you and me, they use social media to communicate and maintain social connections." Content varies by platform Campisi found that X is the platform where gang members are most likely to post mixtapes and songs. Hip-hop and rap serve to support street cred, since many of the most popular artists in these genres are self-proclaimed gang members. On Facebook, however, the dominant element of cyberbanging is "the display of gang colors and symbols," perhaps because the audience is made up of friends and family members. "Studies have shown that Facebook is used mainly to elicit positive reactions; people post content to feed a general, superficial sense of vanity," Campisi said. On YouTube, showcasing drugs, weapons or money and bragging about the gang lifestyle serves to enhance the gang's social status. "It's ultimately a form of content marketing, similar to how far-right influencers 'sell' their ideas," Campisi observed. "And vulnerable individuals seeking this kind of lifestyle can find it much more easily; they don't have to live in the same neighborhood as the gang to be exposed to it." More information: Francesco C. Campisi, Unveiling the Digital Underworld Exploring Cyberbanging and Recruitment of Canadian Street Gang Members on Social Media, Canadian Journal of Criminology and Criminal Justice (2024). DOI: 10.3138/cjccj-2023-0033 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: Visual overview of the data for every confirmatory hypothesis. Credit: Behavioural Public Policy (2025). DOI: 10.1017/bpp.2024.29 Adolescents face many health and safety challenges and take relatively high risks during this period. Think of delivering dubious packages, sending nude photos or dealing with peer pressure. A visit to an "experience center" turns out to be an effective way to teach young people to better assess situations even before this period. Based on Ph.D. research by Rob Bulterman, Radboud researchers conclude that after such a visit, grade eight students are more aware of risks and actually behave more healthily and safely. The research is published in the journal Behavioural Public Policy. Transferring knowledge through only a classroom lesson is often not enough to prevent risky behavior. By experiencing it, information sticks better, previous research shows. In the Risk Factory, an experience center in Venlo, students experience realistic and interactive scenarios about health and safety risks. By experiencing potentially dangerous situations in a simulated environment, they learn how to act: from cybercrime to blind spots and fire risks. Experiential learning In Britain and Japan, among others, these kinds of experience centers are already common in education, and in recent years they have been on the rise in the Netherlands as well. "An experience center is seen by the target group as a fun place to learn, but whether a visit actually leads to behavioral change was still unclear," says social psychologist Rob Holland, one of the team members of the doctoral research. This prompted the Radboud scientists to investigate the effect of experiential learning on health and safety behaviors. "Now we saw: This vivid learning experience makes them more likely to be able to apply the knowledge they have gained. This leads to less risky behavior, even in other situations." Do you just leave your data behind? The research was commissioned by the Province of Limburg. Pupils from group 8 of sixteen elementary school in North and Central Limburg visited the Risk Factory. A few weeks later a researcher joined them in class and took questionnaires and had them do assignments that did not refer to their visit to the Risk Factory. This allowed the students' health and safety behaviors to be tested. The research included behaviors around privacy, risky requests and health. For example, in a section of the Risk Factory the children learned about privacy; that when creating an account it is better not to share more personal information than strictly necessary. In the later survey, students were also asked to share information. Some fields were mandatory, but there were also non-compulsory fields, such as age, phone number or profile picture. "In this, we really saw a big difference between the 16 classes that went into the Risk Factory and the remaining 13 classes that didn't," Holland says. Of the latter group, 92% filled in all personal information, while in the groups that had visited the Risk Factory, only 45% of students filled in all fields. "The results show that experiential learning works," the researcher continues. "That is very interesting for schools and other institutions that want to teach children about risk. If you let students experience early what they can do in dangerous situations, it prevents a lot of problems later in life." More information: Rob Bulterman et al, Preventing risks by experiencing them: effects on knowledge and behaviour, Behavioural Public Policy (2025). DOI: 10.1017/bpp.2024.29 This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Credit: CC0 Public Domain A few miles south of the Grand Canyon, thousands of tons of uranium ore, reddish-gray, blue and radioactive, are piled up high in a clearing in the forest. They've been there for months, stranded by a standoff between the mining company that dug them deep out of the ground, Energy Fuels Inc., and the leader of the Navajo Nation, Buu Nygren. Back in the summer, Energy Fuels had triggered an uproar when it loaded some of the ore onto a truck, slapped a "radioactive" sign over the taillights and drove it through the heart of Navajo territory. Radioactive is an alarming word anywhere, but here in Navajo country, surrounded by hundreds of abandoned uranium mines that powered America's nuclear arms race with the USSR and spewed toxic waste into the land, it causes terror. Those fears have only grown in the past couple of years as nuclear power came back in vogue and sparked a uranium rush in mining camps all across the Southwest. So when the news made it to Nygren that morning, he was furious. No one had sought his consent for the shipment. He quickly ordered dozens of police officers to throw on their sirens, fan out and intercept the truck. The dragnet turned up nothing in the endthe truck snuck throughbut the hard-line response delivered a warning, amplified over social media and ratified days later by the governor of Arizona, to the miners: Stay out of Navajo country. Cut off from the lone processing mill in the U.S.all the main routes cut through Navajo territoryexecutives at Energy Fuels stockpiled it by the entrance of the mine. When the heaps of crushed rock grew too sprawling, they pulled the miners out of the tunnels and turned the drilling machines off. The standoff represents the ugly side of the world's sudden re-embrace of nuclear power. Yes, there's the promise of a steady stream of clean energy to fuel the AI boom, fight climate change and, in the wake of Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine, replace Russian oil and gas. But there's also the fearboth around the nuclear reactor sites popping up across the world and in the communities surrounding mining operations in Australia, Kyrgyzstan and Navajo Nation, where the locals are still documenting cancer cases decades after the last of the Cold War-era outfits shut down. It's like the backlash erupting over all sorts of other mining projects crucial to the transition away from fossil fuelslithium, nickel, copper, cobalt, zincjust with the added threat of radioactivity."Generations and generations of my people have been hurt," Nygren, 38, said in an interview. "Go find uranium somewhere else." Truth is there isn't all that much uranium at the Energy Fuels mine, known as Pinyon Plain, or any of the other half-dozen mines that opened in the Southwest the past couple years. In most cases, crews are simply combing through the untouched veins of mines that were closed when the 2011 Fukushima disaster scared global leaders away from nuclear power and crashed the uranium market. Pooled all together, they only hold a fraction of the hundreds of millions of pounds of ore buried in any of the top mines in Canada, Kazakhstan and Namibia. So the rush of mining activity here serves as a testament to the magnitude of the uranium fever sweeping the globe right now. At just over $70 per pound, the price is up some 200% over the past five yearseven after it gave back a chunk of its gains in 2024. Discover the latest in science, tech, and space with over 100,000 subscribers who rely on Phys.org for daily insights. Sign up for our free newsletter and get updates on breakthroughs, innovations, and research that matterdaily or weekly. The mining outfits that held claims to those old sites went from nearly worthlessmere penny stocks in most casesto high-flyers on New York and Toronto exchanges.Energy Fuels is valued at over $1 billion today, up some 500% from early 2020. Mark Chalmers, the CEO at Energy Fuels, had watched the rally in uranium somewhat skeptically at first. But when the price suddenly pierced the $50 mark in 2022, after hovering right around $20 for years, it got his attention. "That's when we seriously started looking to open" the mine, he says. It was a chilly late fall morning and Chalmers, 67, was huddling with his lieutenants in the breakroom at the mine, a postage stamp of a spot carved out of a thick stand of pine trees. Deep down below, a small team was drilling holes into the sedimentary walls that snake through the mine. Chalmers had them searching for the very best ore. This way, they'd know where to begin when they finally got the green light to ship through Navajo territory. At Pinyon Plain, they're used to setbacks. Prospectors discovered the deposit in the 1970s but by the time all the mining permits were secured a decade later, the global uranium market had collapsed. Just like in 2011, the initial trigger was a nuclear disaster, the Chernobyl meltdown. And then, a few years later, the Berlin Wall fell and the nuclear arms race was over. Plans were hatched over the years to open the mine as uranium prices bumped higher, but the enthusiasm would die as soon as the rally faded. It took the 2022 price surge to get Chalmers, who's been scouting out Pinyon Plain ever since he first joined Energy Fuels back in the 1980s, to finally ram it through. Now, after a single shipment to the mill in Utah, he's stuck again. As he sees it, routes 89 and 160 are federal highways and, as a result, subject to federal shipping laws. The company doesn't need the Navajos' authorization, he says. To Nygren, every single inch of Navajo territory is subject to tribal law. Back in the summer, Katie Hobbs, the governor of Arizona, urged the two men to sit down and work out a deal. Negotiations have proceeded slowly so far, though both sides say progress is being made. Animosity towards mining companies runs high on Navajo land. It's visible everywhere. On huge roadside billboards and small office signs, in fading pinks and yellows and jet blacks, too. They read "Radioactive Pollution Kills" and "Haul No" and, along the main entrance to Cameron, a hard-scrabble village on the territory's western edge, "No Uranium Mining." A few miles down the road, big mounds of sand streaked gray and blue rise, one after the other, high above the vast desert landscape. They are the tailings from some of the uranium mines that were abandoned in the territory last century. To Ray Yellowfeather, a 50-year-old construction worker, the tailings were always the "blue hills," just one big playground for him and his childhood friends. "We would climb up the blue hills and slide back down," Yellowfeather says. "Nobody told us they were dangerous." Years later, they would be cordoned off by the Environmental Protection Agency as it began work to clean up the mines. By then, though, the damage was done. Like many around here, Yellowfeather says he's lost several family members to stomach cancer. The last of them was his mother in 2022. Yellowfeather admits he doesn't know exactly what caused their cancer but, he says, "I have to think it has to do with the piles of radioactive waste all around us." It's in the construction material in many of the homes and buildings and in the aquifers, too. To this day, drinking water is shipped into some of the hardest-hit areas. The U.S. government has recognized the harm its nuclear arms projects have done to communities in the Southwest. In 1990, Congress passed a law to compensate victims who contracted cancer and other diseases. It paid out some $2.5 billion over the ensuing three decades. The EPA, meanwhile, has been in charge of the clean-up of the abandoned mines. Two decades after the program began, though, only a small percentage have been worked on at all. This is giving mining companies an opportunity to curry favor in tribal communities by offering to take over and expedite the clean-up of some mines. Chalmers has made it a key point in negotiations with Nygren. "It's frankly appalling how little the EPA has done," he says. "We can probably do more for the Navajo Nation than the EPA has done in its entirety." The EPA said it expects to accelerate the work. "EPA has completed shorter term cleanups at over 30 sites and has made significant progress toward comprehensive cleanups of abandoned uranium mines in the Navajo Nation," it said in an e-mailed response to questions. "The Agency expects the pace of cleanups to increase as we continue to standardize the methods and approaches used to investigate and clean up sites." "Weeks earlier, the EPA released a detailed study on Pinyon Plain. In it, the agency found that operations at the mine could contaminate the water supply of the Havasupai, a tribe tucked in such a remote corner of the Grand Canyon that it receives mail by mule. The report emboldened Havasupai leaders to step up their opposition to the mine, adding to Chalmers's growing list of problems." For the Navajo, the risks that come from the hauling of uranium through its territory are far smallerso negligible as to be almost non-existent, according to Chalmers. Nygren is unmoved. The Navajo have heard such reassurances many times before, he says, only to pay dearly in the end. Nygren grew up near a cluster of old mines right along the territory's Arizona-Utah border, which makes the whole Energy Fuels affair "incredibly personal," he says. His voice grows louder now and his tone more emphatic, indignant. To him, the Energy Fuels incursion feels no different than all the abuses committed over the course of decades by the U.S. government and the mining companies that supplied it with a steady stream of uranium. "We played a big role in the national security of the United States and we played a big part in the Cold War, providing energy for nuclear weapons. We've done our part. And now it's time for the U.S. to do its part by cleaning up these mines and respecting our laws." 2025 Bloomberg News. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain Since the invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Russia has been conducting a covert sabotage campaign against Europe. The "Bewaken en Beveiligen" (Surveillance and Security) project team at Leiden University has investigated the scale of these operations and compiled its findings in the report "Russian Operations Against Europe." The research dataset is available in the Harvard Dataverse. The report provides a detailed overview of the variety and intensity of attacks, which extend beyond cyberattacks and disinformation to include physical sabotage of critical infrastructure and political assassinations. Over the past three years, these operations have increased in both scale and intensity, employing ever more disruptive tactics. Their objective is to destabilize Europe and cut off Ukraine from crucial support. The research reveals a sharp rise in sabotage operations since 2022, peaking in 2024. That year, Russia targeted critical infrastructure such as energy supplies, water networks, and civil aviation. Recorded incidents included attacks on DHL cargo planes and an assassination attempt on the CEO of German arms manufacturer Rheinmetall. Professor of Terrorism and Political Violence Bart Schuurman explains, "What we are witnessing is a clear escalation of Russian tactics. These are no longer limited to cyberattacks or propaganda but now include actions with direct consequences for physical infrastructure and civilian safety." The analysis shows that Russia is escalating its efforts to destabilize European nations. While previous operations mainly focused on disinformation and cyberattacks, recent activities demonstrate a shift towards hybrid warfare, including physical sabotage and political assassinations. Another striking pattern is the shift in Russian operations towards Western Europe. While in previous years, Eastern European countries, such as the Baltic states, were the primary targets, in 2024, Germany and France have become the new priorities. This suggests that Russia is expanding its activities into the ever more members of the European Union, highlighting the urgency of a coordinated European response. This research adopts a systematic approach to mapping incidents of Russian sabotage and subversion in Europe. For the first time, a comprehensive dataset has been compiled to document these incidents. The dataset provides valuable insights for policymakers, researchers, and the broader public, illustrating both the geographical spread of the incidents and the diversity of tactics employed. From economic sabotage to the disruption of critical infrastructure, Russia is deploying a wide range of methods to achieve its objectives. The research underscores the need for a coordinated response to hybrid threats. Many countries remain insufficiently prepared for the complexity and scale of Russian operations. Schuurman emphasizes, "Europe must invest in resilience and develop a joint strategy to effectively combat sabotage and hybrid warfare." Cooperation for European security The project team hopes that the publication of this research will spark a broad discussion on the Russian threat and the necessary measures to strengthen Europe's resilience. It highlights the urgency of a unified European approach to counter Russia's hybrid warfare. The findings represent a crucial first step in understanding the scale and impact of Russian operations against Europe. The raw data from the study is publicly available, and an infographic visually presents the key findings. The research has received extensive media coverage, with articles in NRC, De Volkskrant, Trouw, EenVandaag and Foreign Policy. This is a call to policymakers to work strategically together and take the necessary steps to protect vital infrastructure and public services, ensuring that Europe can effectively defend itself against future sabotage and hybrid warfare. More information: Bart Schuurman, Russian Operations Against Europe Dataset, Harvard Dataverse (2024). DOI: 10.7910/dvn/tq0fmq Southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region has targeted strong economic and social development in 2025, with infrastructure construction, eco-environmental conservation and reconstruction in the quake-hit areas some of its priorities listed in the regional government work report. Xizang's gross domestic product (GDP) expanded by 6.3 percent in 2024, and this year the region has set a growth target of over 7 percent, striving to reach 8 percent, Gama Cedain, acting chairman of the regional government, said on Sunday in the report delivered at the annual session of the regional people's congress. The year 2025 marks the 60th founding anniversary of the Xizang Autonomous Region. In the year, the region plans to invest more than 200 billion yuan (about 27.8 billion U.S. dollars) into the construction of major projects, including the Sichuan-Xizang Railway, according to the report. The investment is much more than that in 2024 when over 170 billion yuan was spent on 21 major projects. Among the projects was the Lhasa-Xigaze Highway, which began operating in 2024. The region continues to prioritize ecology while developing its economy, according to the government report. It plans to promote the legislation of solid waste pollution prevention and control regulations in 2025. Afforestation of more than 1 million mu (about 66,667 hectares) is expected to be completed in the year. While delivering the report, Gama Cedain expressed gratitude to all the rescue forces and people of all ethnic groups who have dedicated themselves to the earthquake relief. On Jan. 7, a 6.8-magnitude earthquake hit Xizang's Dingri County, claiming 126 lives and leveling thousands of houses. According to the statistics released on Thursday, 5,152 makeshift houses have been set up to shield the affected residents from the cold. The region will continue to carry out post-disaster relief work, and coordinate temporary and transitional resettlement to ensure a safe and warm winter for quake-affected people, Gama Cedain said in the report. Post-disaster reconstruction will be accelerated, while the earthquake resistance of houses and infrastructure in key areas will be further enhanced, he added. Netizens swarmed to the social media platform on Sunday to pay tributes to Gugu, a deceased giant panda in Beijing Zoo, and express their sorrow and gratitude for the star animal's long life and the joy he brought. The Beijing Zoo said on Sunday that Gugu died at the age of 25 years and 4 months last Thursday morning after battling age-related health issues. Gugu, a male panda born on Sept. 25, 1999, had lived at the Beijing Zoo since 2004. Known for his gentle nature, the panda became a favorite among visitors and staff who affectionately referred to him as "Grandpa Gu." "Thank you for the wonderful memories, dear Gugu," one user wrote at Beijing Zoo's social media account of Weibo. "Rest in peace, Grandpa Gugu." Similar messages of love and remembrance filled the comments. In recent years, as Gugu aged, his physical and mental conditions gradually declined. In early 2024, to provide him with a quieter and more suitable environment, the zoo moved him to a non-public section. Despite efforts to improve his health through specialized care, Gugu's conditions continued to worsen, according to the zoo administration. Isla Mujeres Marina perform medical evacuation of cruise ship passenger Isla Mujeres, Q.R. Marina personnel evacuated a cruise ship passenger Sunday night who was transferred to a Cancun hospital. The 38-year-old Indonesian passenger was medically evacuated after a ships doctor diagnosed symptoms of a strangulated hernia in the left groin. Personnel from the Fifth Naval Region responded to the emergency call from the ship requesting the medical evacuation of a passenger. Marina personnel set out in a Defender-type vessel from the Isla Mujeres Naval Station for Search, Rescue and Maritime Surveillance (ENSAR) with specialized health and rescue personnel on board. The patient was accessed before being transferred onto the Marina vessel for a mainland transfer. The boat met a waiting ambulance at the Advanced Naval Station (ENA) in Puerto Juarez that transferred the cruise ship passenger to Cancun for medical treatment. Italy extradites Mexican national wanted for business fraud Mexico City, Mexico Mexico has received a national wanted in relation to business fraud. Over the weekend, Jesus M was returned to Mexico after being extradited from Italy. Personnel from the State Attorney of the Republic (FGR) met Jesus M at the Mexico City International Airport after being extradited from Romes Fiumicino International Airport. He is facing charges of breach of trust. In compliance with the Extradition Treaty between the Government of Mexico and the Government of the Italian Republic, a fugitive of Mexican nationality was extradited as requested by the judge of the Accusatory Procedural System of Mexico City, for his alleged responsibility for the crime of breach of trust, the FGR reported. In January 2018, Jesus M represented two companies before the Institute of Social Security and Services for State Workers (ISSSTE), however, he, along with another person, allegedly used the financial resources paid for the services for personal purposes, they said. Letters to the Editor: Scams and rip-offs can be avoided We as tourists traveling to Cancun, Tulum, and other destinations on the Yucatan can avoid the scams associated with these destinations. We have heard of the taxi mafia rides from the airport to hotels, Tulum and other location with extremely high costs. Keep the cash in your pocket. Use you credit card or debt card. If the driver says cash only or the battery is bad on the hub move on to the next taxi, better yet use a ride share like uber etc. If your at the airport you can get and pay for a taxi inside the airport from a reputable company, I have always done this without being ripped off. When going from one location to another always agree on a price before you leave and only pay when you arrive. If you rent a car always reserve ahead of time. When driving be sure to familiarize yourself with the laws before you leave. If your driving from one city to the other on a day trip, take very few personal belongings. This has happened to me on a few occasions. You might come up on a check point somewhere along the way. These are usually local police. Always keep a little road tax money as I call it available in the cup holder of the car never in your pocket. I usually have a hundred pesos in small bills. They usually dont ask for it, but they will usually ask you all kinds of questions. I will just give them a little cash and youll be on the way. I just call it the cost of doing business . The gas scam can easily be avoided. After you get your gas and before you pay always look at the price on the pump dont let the attendant tell you the price. Then count the appropriate amount and pay. The times I get gas the attendant usually cleans the windshield and if they have to put air in the tires I will tip them 20-50 pesos depending on what they do. Please remember one thing be respectful and polite, this goes a long way to having a good experience. Always ask for a receipt before you leave. The attractions you visit also attract the biggest scam artist. Just remember if it sounds to good to be true, it usually is. When doing tours always book your tour in advance through a reputable tour agency you might spend a little more but it might save you more in the long run. If you dont speak Spanish always request a guide that speaks your language be it English or whatever language you speak. Dont buy into all the hustlers that you encounter. They see you as an easy target to get as much money as they can. If you are a first time traveler or a veteran remember, you are a guest in their country so please show respect and courtesy. It will make your trip so much better. The Yucatan is such a marvelous place to visit, with so many diverse eco systems. The history goes back over a thousand years. Cancun, Playa del Carmen, and Tulum and the surrounding areas have some of the most beautiful beaches in the world and it will be a trip of a lifetime, just remember, be smart. You hear about all these people getting ripped off by very high charges. Just remember you are letting them do this by not being aware. Be street smart. Larry Texas Tourists rushed to hospital in Cancun Hotel Zone pedestrian accident Cancun, Q.R. A man and woman hit by a car in the Cancun Hotel Zone were rushed to hospital early Monday. The pedestrian accident happened when the pair of tourists were crossing Kukulcan Boulevard near the Cancun Hotel Zone nightclub area in a marked crosswalk. The couple were struck by the car just before daybreak Monday. As they crossed the boulevard, they were both struck by a private car. The French couple are reported to be around 30. The woman was rushed to hospital in critical condition suffering a severe chest injury. The accident happened around 6:30 a.m. Monday, just before daybreak. The driver of the car was stopped at the scene. The car was visibly damaged. Tourist Police from the Cancun Hotel Zone who attended to the accident have not identified those involved. Monday morning traffic was slowed while a tow truck removed the responsible car from the boulevard. Young PDC driver seriously injured in single vehicle accident Playa del Carmen, Q.R. A young driver remains serious in Playa del Carmen hospital after slamming his car into a concrete post. The accident was reported by motorists Sunday night on Playa del Carmen Boulevard shortly after the rain started. Emergency services found the smashed car off the road near 11 Street South. Next to it was a toppling concrete post. Police were notified of the single vehicle accident around 9:00 p.m. Municipal officers along with Civil Protection paramedics attended to the scene of the accident where they located the young male driver still behind the wheel. He was rushed to hospital in serious condition after being stabilized at the scene. Speed and wet roads are being considered as a cause for the accident. In a brief note, Solidaridad Civil Protection / Firemen said we carried out the vehicular extraction of a trapped person after colliding with a pole on Playa del Carmen Boulevard. Our Firefighters went to the height of Avenida 11 Sur, where they carried out rescue maneuvers to free the person trapped inside the Versa-type vehicle. Later, paramedics provided him with primary medical attention and transferred him to the hospital. As we approach another presidential inaugural, its a good time to reflect on the ideals and founding principles of our nation. Will they continue to stand up, or will our individual realities overwhelm the commonweal? As we look toward an inauguration on January 20, I think of Robert Altmans movie Nashville (1975) and its leadoff song: We must be doing something right to last 200 years. Can we say the same thing this year as we celebrate our 250th anniversary of the American Revolutions start in 1775? Maybe not, given our deep national divide, but its worth thinking about what we have done right, what were doing wrong, and whether we can get back on track. What weve done right was summarized well by Abraham Lincoln: America was conceived in Liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. America, in a sense, was a liberty theme park where all would enjoy the thrill rides of building families and careers. All would be free to wave their arms as long as they did not hit the noses of their neighbors. Lincoln at Gettysburg spoke of an America engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. The first three words of the U.S. Constitution are We, the people, but the big experiment in the 19th century was whether the we would include millions of Catholic and Jewish immigrants. George Washington advanced Americas religious expansion when he wrote to a synagogue in 1789, May the children of the stock of Abraham who dwell in this land continue to merit and enjoy the good will of the other inhabitants everyone shall sit in safety under his own vine and fig tree and there shall be none to make him afraid. Some Protestants fought the idea, but by the end of the 19th century the consensus was clear: We the people included Catholics and Jews. The We included blacks from the end of the Civil War in 1865 to the end of Reconstruction in 1877, but they had to wait for four score and seven years after that to gain voting rights and other civil liberties. America did expand the We in the 1880s whenever ships full of immigrants passed the brand-new Statue of Liberty and docked. The big 20th-century experiment was whether the We could include different racial groups and immigrants from all over. The 1964 Civil Rights Act and the 1965 Immigration Act eventually allowed millions of old and new citizens to sit in safety under their own vines and fig trees, withfor the most parta common understanding of what it means to respect liberty and justice for all. In 1973, though, an issue that had always lurked in the background, abortion, came to center stage. In his 1992 Caseydecision, Justice Anthony Kennedy issued a non-viable philosophical concept: At the heart of liberty is the right to define ones own concept of existence, of meaning, of the universe, and of the mystery of human life. Those 27 words launched a thousand mocking quips. William Bennett criticized its open-ended validation of subjectivism and Michael Uhlman pointed out its almost infinite plasticity. First Things applied a label that stuck: the notorious mystery passage. But Kennedy was on to something important. Liberty in an earlier America meant live and let live, but live within a common reality that does not include file cabinets marked my facts and your facts. Post-Kennedy and within postmodernism, we often live in our own bubbles and dont recognize inconvenient facts. Internet algorithms feed users only news they want to see. The rise of opinion journalism along with the decline of street-level reporting intensifies tendencies to isolate ideologically. Daniel Patrick Moynihan, a smart policy analyst who became an unusually thoughtful senator, once said: You are entitled to your opinion. But you are not entitled to your own facts. Thats not true now. Ones own concept of existence includes the right to define what existence is. Pesky alternatives? Theyre pests: Fumigate them! In 1988 I wrote a book, Prodigal Press, that criticized the media world I had grown up in, where most major cities had one newspaper that offered stories from a liberal perspective, as did the two major national news magazines, Time and Newsweek. I looked forward to a new news order in which thousands of flowers would bloom as writers sent stories directly to readers home computers. I forgot how important editors are, though. The old liberal order buried many stories but at least gave everyone some common reference points. Now we learn about the character of our leaders largely through what we read and view, which means we dont learn about itor we see only what propagandists want us to see. F. Scott Fitzgeralds The Great Gatsby nearly a century ago told us about the danger of trying to create our own reality, but Anthony Kennedy said the Constitution guarantees our right to do just thatand many agree. America, though, has never established a democracy of desiresand Americas founders were not fond of democracy in general. After all, when a bystander asked Benjamin Franklin what kind of political system the Constitutional Convention had hatched, he famously replied, A republic, if you can keep it. He didnt say a democracy, because he and others knew how hard (and maybe impossible) it is to keep one of those. Readers who remember this may also recall what they learned in a high school civics class, if they encountered that dying breed. Civics courses are largely extinct, so heres a brief review: Americas founders, because they understood our human tendency to lord it over others, did not like democracy by itself. They thought it would lead to mobocracy, rule by crowd psychology and the passions of the moment. (A century later, Lord John Acton would say, It is bad to be oppressed by a minority, but it is worse to be oppressed by a majority.) Of course, the fighters of 1775 also did not like monarchy, because it could lead to tyranny, nor did they like aristocracy, which could result in feudalism. They eventually created a federal government incorporating all three modes of organization and building in checks and balances. They made the president a type of constitutional monarch with a four-year term. They created a Senate they hoped would be a meritocracy, short-leashed to minimize aspirations toward feudal lordship. They created the House of Representatives as the voice of democracy, expecting that other branches would offer protection against mobocracy. The founders also foresaw a time when the executive and the legislative branches might join forces to preserve their own power, at the expense of liberty, so they encircled the triangle they created with a Supreme Court that would prevent or at least curtail such grabbing. They threw another circle, state legislatures, around their construction, with the goal of providing a further defense against tyranny. And, as I explained in teaching journalism history to a generation of University of Texas students, they hoped an independent press would be one final rope around the whole. Americas founders also created a system where we would vote for people we knew. Wed vote for state representatives we knew. The state legislature would select a senator its members knew. Wed vote for members of an Electoral College we knew, who would then select a president they knew. Wed vote directly for members of the House of Representatives, but the districts would be small enough so wed have some personal interaction with our reps, who would live among us most of the year and often serve only one term. But that was then. Were much bigger now, and maybe badder. To have lasted 200 years, the United States did much that was right, but we are straining at 250. The Center for the American Experimentlocated in Minnesotaremains my favorite name for a think tank, and with a new inaugural upon us, the experiment will intensify. In an age of identity politics and with all the controversy regarding refugees and immigrants that was the centerpiece of so much campaign advertising, can America still be a melting pot, with the Many becoming One? Or will we have to settle for a chopped salad? Im very curious as to whether Donald Trumps campaign rhetoric becomes a ruling reality after January 20. I also wonder whether we can find a common definition of what virtue is. My book on 18th-century America, Fighting for Liberty and Virtue, came out 30 years ago, yet I think the title still summarizes the two revolutionary goals that often push up against each other. Their interrelation will be fascinating to watch during the next four years. China on Sunday unveiled a new educational blueprint, vowing to build a strong education system by 2035 to support its modernization drive and national rejuvenation. The 2024-2035 master plan on building China into a leading country in education was jointly issued by the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and the State Council. The strong education system of socialism with Chinese characteristics will feature powerful ideological and political leadership, talent competitiveness, scientific and technological underpinning, livelihood security, social synergy, and international influence, according to the document. Building a leading country in education has been an aspiration of the Chinese nation since the advent of modern times. In 2022, the CPC set the goal to be achieved by 2035. By 2027, a high-quality education system is expected to be initially established, and independent cultivation of talent will be greatly improved, leading to a steady stream of outstanding, innovative individuals, according to the document. By 2035, a high-quality education system will be fully established. The accessibility and quality of basic education will remain among the best in the world. A fully developed learning society will be in place, and overall educational modernization will be achieved, it added. This is the first national action plan focused on building China into a leading country in education to support the country's modernization in all respects. Higher education According to the document, China will accelerate the development of advanced research universities, encourage high-level foreign universities in science and engineering to offer programs in China, and vigorously promote professional postgraduate degree programs. A mechanism needs be put in place to adjust disciplines and majors in alignment with advancements in science and technology as well as the country's national strategies, said the document. It called for extraordinary efforts to set up urgently needed disciplines and majors, and stressed the need to strengthen foundational, emerging and interdisciplinary disciplines, and support endangered and less popular disciplines. The country will implement plans for foundational and interdisciplinary breakthrough research. The document stressed that China will foster an environment that encourages exploration and tolerates failure, with the goal of cultivating high-caliber faculty and master scholars, according to the document. Wu Yan, vice minister of education, revealed at a press conference last September that China added 1,673 undergraduate programs urgently needed for national strategies and removed 1,670 that do not align with economic and social development in 2024, an adjustment he described as "unprecedented." Among the new majors are intelligent maritime equipment, intelligent material technology, and interdisciplinary engineering. For example, South China University of Technology was the first to apply to offer programs in soft matter science and engineering major and intelligent maritime equipment. These are two majors designed to support the upgrading of China's strategic industries and the development of high-tech industries in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. There are 1,308 undergraduate universities in China, offering 816 majors across 93 subcategories within 12 categories. Since 2012, educational authorities have added 21,000 undergraduate programs and canceled or suspended 12,000, according to the ministry. Opening up The new educational blueprint devoted significant attention to opening up. China will enhance its capacity to train and attract global talent, expand youth exchanges between China and other countries, and implement international summer school programs. Wu said at the September press conference that China will launch 800 key international summer school projects in the next three years. Additionally, it will invite 50,000 American teenagers to China for exchange programs over the next five years and 10,000 French teenagers in the next three years. Notably, the country will expand academic exchanges and educational and research cooperation with the rest of the world, while supporting its universities in initiating and participating in international scientific programs, according to the document. Chinese scientists have taken the lead in international high-profile projects including the Deep-time Digital Earth and Ocean Negative Carbon Emissions. China will also actively participate in global education governance and support the establishment and development of international STEM education institutions. The Sunday document also highlighted the need to monitor demographic shifts across different school-age groups in basic education, advance high-quality, balanced development and urban-rural integration in compulsory education, and cultivate more master craftsmen and highly-skilled workers. This is part of Hello, Trumpworld, Slates reluctant guide to the people who will be calling the shots nowat least for as long as they last in Washington. The tricky thing about welcoming Melania Trump back into public life is that, well, we still dont know that shes actually coming back. Soon after Donald Trump won the election, the whispers began: CNN reported that Melania was unlikely to live in the White House once Trump took office again. A New York Post source relayed her intention to be a part-time first lady. The woman herself said very little at all, other than a customarily bizarre postelection statement that declared, among other things, American energy, skill, and initiative will bring together our best minds to propel our nation forward forevermore. A first lady declining to live with her husband in Washington, D.C., might be a scandal in any other administration, but in this one it didnt come as such a shock, not after the performance Melania put in on the campaign trailor more accurately, the total lack of performance. Melania essentially skipped doing the campaign-spouse thing in 2024, and she wasnt present for many of the races major moments. Shes been so absent that her cameo at former President Jimmy Carters funeral alongside her husband felt a little startling (among other things that day). In the past couple of months, it didnt seem like such a stretch to think that maybe we just kind of wont have a first lady this time around. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But in recent days, Melanias camp has given some indications that maybe she will show up for the job again after all. When asked in an interview with Fox News where she would be spending the majority of her time over the next four years, she said, I will be in the White House. And when I need to be in New York, I will be in New York. When I need to be in Palm Beach, I will be in Palm Beach. My first priority is to be a mom, to be a first lady, to be a wife. The New York Times chose to publish this quote with a headline that read, Melania Trump Says She Plans to Be at White House Full Time, despite the fact that she didnt really say that at all. Still, in the same interview, Melania talked about reviving her widely mocked Be Best anti-bullying initiative, so it would seem that shes not making no plans. Her biggest plan, however, seems to be to profit: After her successful memoir, she made a $40 million deal with Amazon to star in a documentary about her life, which shes already started filming. There is also the new $Melania coin, which usurped her husbands own new cryptocurrency over the weekend (and set off immediate ethics concerns). It sounds like Melania will indeed be treating being first lady as a part-time job, so dont blame us for only coming up with a part-time welcome. This is part of Hello, Trumpworld, Slates reluctant guide to the people who will be calling the shots nowat least for as long as they last in Washington. In the weeks after the election, two clips of Barron Trump went viral. With one of them, the one youre more likely to have seen, its not hard to get why: A toddler-age Barron talking about his sootcase is cute enough on its own, but put a beat behind it and youve got a certified TikTok earworm. But the other one, on its face, is just a 17-second clip featuring present-day Barron greeting UFC founder and Trump crony Dana White at one of his fathers campaign events. Hello. How are you? you can hear him saying. Its very nice to finally meet you. As the New York Post reported in December, people online seized on this footage because it marked the first time many of them had ever heard Barrons adult speaking voice. To this day, most people have never heard Barron talk, or if they have, it was as a little kid with a Slovenian accent. Beyond those two clips, youre not going to find many more examples out there of the first kid speaking. This is as good an illustration as any of one of the most striking things about Barron Trump, which is just how little we know about him, given how famous he is and what role he could be poised to take on in Trumpworld as he comes of age. In many ways, it makes sense that Barron didnt emerge as more of a character in the first Trump administration; he was all of 10 years old on Inauguration Day 2017. There were certainly more than enough other characters to focus on at the time, Trumps adult children very much among them. But its also strange that we dont know more, now, about who 18-year-old Barron is and what hes like. Think back to how much we knew about the Obama girls when they were growing uphow much their father spoke about them, their interests, their family life, their dogand compare that to how much we know about Barron via his father. Its not a whole lot! Most of what we do know comes from his mother, Melania Trump. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Heres are the basic facts of Barron: Hes in his freshman year as a student at New York University, unlike most of his older siblings, who opted to attend their fathers alma mater, the University of Pennsylvania. (Eric is the only other one who didnt graduate from Penn; he went to Georgetown.) Barron is, however, keeping with the family tradition by studying business. Rather than living in the dorms, he lives at Trump Tower. Though there will be a room for him in the White House to visit, his mother recently told Fox News, he is expected to stay in New York to further his studies. People magazine experimented with painting him as a ladies man in December, but almost nothing is known of his social or romantic life. TMZ has suggested he does a lot of his socializing via gaming chat rooms. Also, he is very, very tall, at 6-foot-7. Possibly the tallest presidential offspring in American historywere still waiting for a fact-check on that. Toward the end of the presidential race, the media identified Barron Trump as the architect behind his fathers podcast strategy, which saw the onetime devotee of more traditional media appearing on a bunch of shows that targeted Gen Z men. I remember being especially amused by this wording: 18-year-olds are rarely the architect of much more than dinners of boxed pasta and store-bought sauce. Was anyone really going to buy him as some kind of power broker? We still dont know how much it actually mattered that Donald Trump went on Joe Rogans podcast and Kamala Harris didnt, but given how much discussion there was about young men and podcasts in the days and weeks following Harris loss, the whole podcast question took on an outsize importance in the discourse, and therefore Barron did too. To me, its possible that hes a new media mastermind and a future force to be reckoned with, but its much more likely that hes just a kid. Again, we really dont know a single thing about him yet, other than that hes tall and can form sentences. Judging from the huge reaction the sootcase video brought on, people are excited for Barron to emerge as a Gen Z main character. Personally, Im actively hoping this doesnt happen. I want him to stay out of the spotlight. Worst-case scenario, hes the American conservative Lisan al Gaib, destined to lead young people to an even scarier political place than our current one. Best-case scenario, he follows in the footsteps of his sister Tiffany and becomes someone his dad only occasionally seems to remember exists. This is part of Hello, Trumpworld, Slates reluctant guide to the people who will be calling the shots nowat least for as long as they last in Washington. So: Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump arent going to be part of the Donald Trump presidential administration this time, allegedly. But Jared Kushners father is. And yes, Charles KushnerTrumps nominee to become ambassador to Franceis the guy who went to prison for hiring a prostitute to perform oral sex on his brother-in-law in a New Jersey motel so that he could use video of the encounter to blackmail his sister. Thats who the U.S. is sending to represent itself in France. But Kushner isnt just the video blackmail guy: He has also done a whole lot of other things that are indicative of wider societal failings, too. The basics: Charles Kushner is the son of a New Jersey builder and landlord who turned his fathers holdings into a larger real estate concern called Kushner Companies. In the late 90s, he began using the family companys money to build influence and status, becoming a pillar of the local Jewish communityhe hosted Benjamin Netanyahu for a visitand a major Democratic Party donor. He was particularly close to an ambitious Jersey politician named Jim McGreevey, who became governor in 2002 and rewarded Kushner for his support by asking him to lead the powerful Port Authority. The problem was that Kushner often made political donations under the names of his business partners, including his brother Murray, without telling them. (He was accused of using company funds to pay for Netanyahus trip as well.) Amid this and other familial conflicts, Murray sued Charles at about the time McGreevey became governor. Meanwhile, the attempt to put Kushner in charge of the Port Authority had such obviously corrupt potentialthe organizations control of transportation infrastructure means its decisions are of significant interest to real estate developersthat even the New Jersey Legislature objected to it. And in 2004, McGreevey resigned because it was about to become public that hed named an Israeli man named Golan Cipel, with whom hed been having an affair, to a state job; before Cipel had been added to the government payroll, hed worked for Kushner. (You may remember McGreeveys resignation for its brainworm introduction of the phrase gay American.) Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement All of this put the spotlight on Kushner in a way that did not go well for him, and the local U.S. attorney at the timeChris Christiesoon discovered the prostitution/videotape scheme, which had been put in motion in late 2003. (Kushners purpose had been to intimidate his sister, Estherwhose husband was the one targeted and recordedinto refusing to cooperate with investigators looking into campaign finance and tax evasion crimes crimes that Kushner also eventually pleaded guilty to.) Meanwhile, an author named Daniel Golden published a book that reported that Charles had made a $2.5 million donation to Harvard shortly before it admitted Jared, who was described in the book by someone who had worked at his private high school as otherwise having had no chance of gaining entry to the Ivy League college. So it was a rough few years for the Kushners (except for siblings Murray and Esther, perhaps, insofar as they enjoy schadenfreude). Since Charles has been out of prison, thoughhe served 14 months in the federal pen in Alabamathings have honestly gone great for him. Jared married Ivanka Trump and became one of the most powerful people in the world, and in 2020, Trump pardoned Charles, who has attempted to rehabilitate his name by continuing to make donations to a variety of educational, medical, and religious groups (including Fordham University and New Jerseys St. Barnabas Hospital, where my third child was born in the Seryl and Charles Kushner Maternity Unit). Kushner Companies got a $2 billion investment from the Saudis, who hope it will mean that Trump continues to outsource Middle East policy to Mohammad bin Salman. Now Charles is an ambassador. Advertisement What can we take away from this story? In light of the widely accepted idea that a determinative cohort of voters cast ballots for Donald Trump in 2024 as a way of signaling that they dont trust mainstream United States institutions, it may be interesting to catalog just how much institutional corruption is demonstrated by prospective Trump administration figure Charles Kushners biography. Advertisement Hes shown that businesses like his often prosper by buying or otherwise coercing favors from public officials (both here and abroad) rather than, to put it in quaint terms, by providing a quality product at a competitive price. Hes shown that public officials in turn have a habit of making decisions based on who is funneling them money rather than what is best for the public. Hes attempted to corrupt the legal process by blackmailing his sister into staying quiet about his misuse of their family companys money. Hes demonstrated that institutions of higher education are full of it when they say their admissions policies reward merit. And he has demonstrated that big-money philanthropy sometimes operates as a big-money racket for building influence and laundering reputations. (The New Jersey hospital system that Kushner donated to is ostensibly a not-for-profit entity; in the most recent year for which tax records are available, it paid at least 15 of its executives more than $1 million. In 2021, its CEO made $17 million.) Now, too, Charles Kushner has helped show how seriously presidents take the task of staffing foreign embassies. (Which, to be fair, is not by any means a problem limited to the Trump administration.) Is there anything this guy can do the way youre actually supposed to do it? This is part of Hello, Trumpworld, Slates reluctant guide to the people who will be calling the shots nowat least for as long as they last in Washington. During the first Trump administration, the presidents opponents had a reflexive habit of mocking Donald Trump Jr. as a too-online failson who would never get the only thing he really wanted: his fathers love. A 2018 GQ piece by Julia Ioffe was typical, aggregating all the shameful little biographical nuggets that, to gloating onlookers, proved that Trump Sr. had been an awful dadthe kind of father that no self-respecting son would try so hard to please. (Ivana Trump wrote in her memoir that Sr. didnt want to give Jr. his name, because What if hes a loser?) The habit to regard Trump Jr. as a pathetic clownboy solidified after reports that, around the time he became too prominent a figure in the Mueller investigation and thus incurred his dads wrath, the presidents aides nicknamed Don Jr. Fredo. It didnt help that he has always had a serious case of posting disease, lashing out constantly and combatively on every front of the culture war. It was way too fun to be mean back. That all might be best left behind in the 2010s. Annoyingly to all the haters and losers, Trump Jr. comes into the new Trump administration doing just great. Famously, he was one of the first people in Trumps camp to connect with J.D. Vance, having been (somehow) a big fan of Hillbilly Elegy. He also urged a closer relationship between Trump Sr. and RFK Jr. and backed several successful Republican candidates for the Senate. His goal in assisting the transition, insiders say, has been to keep people who would be disloyal to his father out of the new administrationin other words, to do things differently this time. Despite these recent political successes, Trump Jr. is not taking on a formal role in the second administration, instead concentrating on business. Hes working inside what the Wall Street Journal calls the anti-woke economyventures that explicitly disavow principles of ESG and DEI. In late 2024 and early 2025, a spate of announcements about Trump Jr.s new affiliations in that world dropped: He became a partner at the venture capital firm 1789 Capital; a strategic adviser for Kalshi, a prediction-market startup whose bettors had Trump at 55 percent the day before the election; a member of the board of directors for woke-free marketplace PublicSquare; a member of the advisory board of a Florida drone maker, Unusual Machines; and an adviser to a Texas company called GrabAGun, an online retailer of firearms. (When it goes public, that latter company will trade on the NYSE under the symbol PEW.) Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement All of which goes to show that sometimes, never putting down your phone and being way too culture warpilled pays off. The day after the would-be second assassination attempt against the former president this fall, Trump Sr., Trump Jr., and brother Eric Trump participated in the launch of a crypto project, World Liberty Financial. On the livestream, Trump Jr. spoke in favor of decentralized finance, saying that his family has been totally canceled by banks. Before the election, this kind of statement might have seemed ridiculous. Now it looks like putting a whole lot of ducks in a very nice row. Some of us cant seem to give up the habit of mocking the guy. During and after his unofficial visit to Greenland in early January, for which he had the stated mission of making video content for podcasting, headlines deemed the trip staged and ridiculous. And you cant really make up the news out of his love life. But you underestimate this guys big, shiny white smile and endlessly creative streak of anti-woke invective at your own peril. The president, said in a late-November interview with Time for its Person of the Year cover story, that Trump Jr. would do very well if he chose a future in politics: Hes a very capable guy. These words would have been inconceivable five years ago. This year is something else. This is part of Hello, Trumpworld, Slates reluctant guide to the people who will be calling the shots nowat least for as long as they last in Washington. Elon Musk wasnt always like this. Years ago, the Tesla and SpaceX CEO was a liberalor at least, he branded himself as one. He was an innovator, an idealist, and someone who wanted to literally jettison humanity from its earthly cradle into a more progressive future. He believed in global existential threats, like climate change. He seemed to believe in them so much that maybe he was going to be a person who did something about those issuesand he wasnt going to compromise on it either, even if he went against the most powerful man in the world along the way. Case in point: when he joined then-President Donald Trumps business advisory council in 2017then quit after Trump announced his decision to pull the U.S. out of the Paris climate accords. Climate change is real, Musk posted on what was then still Twitter. Leaving Paris is not good for America or the world. Eight years later, Musk is singing a slightly different tune. Not only does he have an outsize role in the incoming Trump administration, but he has also changed his outlook (at least his public-facing one) on climate change. His response to the devastating wildfires that have wreaked havoc in Los Angelesdisasters that are directly related to climate changewas to downplay climate risk as much slower than alarmists claim. Exactly. Climate change risk is real, just much slower than alarmists claim. The immense loss of homes in LA is primarily due to: 1. Nonsensical overregulation that prevented creating fire breaks and doing brush clearing. 2. Bad governance at the state and local level that https://t.co/KByGVCjQ8N Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 9, 2025 Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This might seem small, but it underscores a much bigger shift in Musks worldview. No longer is he seen as the progressive innovator he once was. Now hes a conservative firebrand, cozying up in Mar-a-Lago and bending the ear of the most powerful force in Republican politics in the modern era, if not all of history. The shift can be traced back to the COVID-19 pandemic. From early in the days of the viruss spread and global attempts to stem it, Musk often criticized public health measures such as the lockdowns, which directly affected Tesla factories from conducting business as usual. In May 2020, the billionaire even reopened the EV companys Fremont factory, in defiance of California lockdown orders. Throughout that year, Musk was combative and contrarian, often minimizing the severity of the pandemic; he even inaccurately predicted that coronavirus cases would be close to zero by the end of April 2020. (The U.S. actually saw some of the highest numbers of COVID-19 cases in the world that month. A year later, we would set a record for daily deaths, logging 4,197 in a single day.) From there, Musk began to steadily align his online rhetoric and business decisions firmly toward the right, especially throughout Bidens term in office. This included the decision to move Teslas headquarters from California to Texas, throwing himself fully into the online culture wars and fighting against the woke mind virus, along with spreading unhinged right-wing conspiracies, as when he suggested that Nancy Pelosis husband had been attacked by a jilted lover. His transformation from a progressive to a conservative loon was perhaps truly completed with his somewhat involuntary purchase of Twitter, a move that allowed him to weaponize the platform for his newfound political perspective and turn it into a breeding ground for white nationalists, bigotry, and sexism (or, at least, more than it was before). All the while, he continued to push xenophobic conspiracy theories about declining birth rates while fathering child after child with everyone from Grimes to his own employees. Advertisement Advertisement Perhaps the most consequential thing he did with his wealth and newly acquired platform, though, was use it to effectively underwrite Trumps 2024 campaignan effort that was, by all accounts, a raging success. Musk reportedly donated $130 million to Trumps camp over the course of the election cycle. Thats on top of everything else hes done to launder the former and newly elected presidents image over the past few years. The result? Musk has effectively bought his way into American government. Not only does he have his own room at Mar-a-Lago, but hes also been playing a massive role in Trumps decisions on everything from Cabinet picks to phone calls with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to lobbying the government to hire SpaceX executives. Hes even slated to help spearhead the newly minted Department of Government Efficiency, a commission thatto be clearisnt a real governmental department. Instead, Musk and fellow right-wing Silicon Valley provocateur Vivek Ramaswamy are tasked with producing a report of recommended job cuts with an eye to efficiency, according to Trumps press release on DOGE. This might seem like a story about one mans slow, pandemic-fueled descent into the pits of radical right-wing ideology, but the reality is, this is more of a story about one mans ascent to the loftiest office in the land. Musk has achieved this due to his steadfast pursuit of one thing: wealth. In fact, he has always been driven by money and power. His positioning as a progressive champion for the environment was useful to him so long as it ensured those two things. When you look at his recent changes in opinion, it becomes clear that those are his only enduring beliefsthe rest can be swallowed up in hypocrisy. His companies have long relied on government contracts and lenient policies in order to survive and thrive; now he will try to limit governmental activity for everyone else. Despite his branding as a leader in sustainability, he will be allying with Trump, a president with a history of ravaging the countrys natural resources in support of fossil-fuel companies. There is no coherence, just pursuit of wealth and power. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement So, in a way, Musk was always like this. He never was in it for the Earth or the environment or to turn humanity into a multiplanetary species, as he used to say before he decided to spend more of his time complaining about trans people. Musk was always in it for Musk. Thats why he has successfully positioned himself as a kind of tech messiah, blurring the lines between celebrity, business, and the government of the most powerful nation on the planet. The problem is, theres one other person who has figured out how to manifest that precise alchemy of celebrity, business, and government into a pure form of American dominance. So Elon Musk might have a room at Mar-a-Lago, but its anyones guess how long hell last in the White House. After all, Donald Trump sure does not like to share the spotlight. China made steady improvements in its agriculture and rural economy in 2024, Zhang Xingwang, vice minister of agriculture and rural affairs, told a State Council Information Office press conference on Monday. In 2024, China's grain production reached a new level, farmers' incomes increased steadily, and rural society remained harmonious and stable, providing strong support for the high-quality development of the country's economy and society, Zhang said at the press conference. China's total grain production exceeded 1.4 trillion jin (700 billion tonnes) for the first time last year, an increase of 22.18 billion jin from 2023, he said. The operating revenues of large agricultural product processing enterprises nationwide are expected to have exceeded a total of 18 trillion yuan (2.5 trillion U.S. dollars), according to the vice minister. By the end of 2024, 33.05 million people who have emerged from poverty were in employment, marking the fourth consecutive year that the figure has come in at above 30 million, he said. The per capita disposable income of farmers in counties that have been lifted out of poverty reached 12,384 yuan in the first three quarters of 2024, registering real growth of 6.5 percent compared to the same period the previous year, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). The per capita disposable income of rural residents reached 23,119 yuan, a real increase of 6.3 percent year on year, Zhang said, citing NBS data. This is part of Hello, Trumpworld, Slates reluctant guide to the people who will be calling the shots nowat least for as long as they last in Washington. Welcome back, Ginni Thomas! And congratulations on your triumphant return to the outer orbit of power. The past four years must have been rough for you, after a series of missteps cast opprobrium on you and your husband, Justice Clarence Thomas. There was that unfortunate decision to text swing-state legislators urging them to overturn the 2020 election. And all those messages to Mark Meadows, Donald Trumps chief of staff, promoting false claims of voter fraud, as well as a conviction that the Biden crime family would soon face military tribunals for sedition at Guantanamo. We cant forget your questionable decision to attend Trumps Stop the Steal rally on Jan. 6, either. All of which led you to be questioned by the Jan. 6 committee and even prompted you to shut down your public Facebook page, a longtime clearing house of paranoid conspiracy theories. But dont worry, Ginni: That dark chapter is over now. Youve won! Although your foes have not (yet) faced military trials at Guantanamo as youd hoped, they have been decisively dislodged from power. The man who commands your deepest fealty, Trump, is back in office, buoyed by a campaign that vilified the perennial objects of your scorn: immigrants, transgender people, and elites of every stripe. Congress has flipped into the hands of your allies. The congressional scrutiny of your activism and your husbands endless ethics scandals will come to a grinding halt. And the doors of the White House will soon be flung open to you once again. Lets be honest, though, Ginni: When Trump welcomes you into the Oval Office, just how sincere will his invitation be? Remember how you first wangled your way into his circle: The president booked a lunch date with your husband, who unexpectedly brought you along. Ever the loyal spouse, Justice Thomas made it clear that, as the New York Times put it, you two are a package deal; if Trump wanted to build a relationship with the justice, hed need to bring you into his circle, as well. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement And so, after you crashed that first lunch, the president understood the assignment, and summoned you back for a proper chat. How quickly he must have realized that hed gotten more than he bargained for. You brought your friends from Groundswell, a far-right lobbying group that you founded with Steve Bannonand together, you pummeled Trump with sweeping demands for 60 solid minutes. He was, uncharacteristically, startled into silence by your stridency and extremism; a Trump aide later described it as the craziest meeting Ive ever been to. High on your list of priorities was a purge of government officials whom you accused of working for the deep state, along with a list of proposed replacements who happened to be your close associates. Indeed, Ginni, you spent much of Trumps first term lobbying the White House to install your pals throughout the executive branch. The plan fell through as aides realized that these would-be appointees failed basic background checks, conducted shady overseas business dealings, and held beliefs that were radical even by MAGA standards, like opposition to women in the military. Yet still you hovered around the periphery of the White House, contriving more face time with the president, frothing with rage at alleged saboteurs within his administration. Your behavior went out of bounds many times, a senior aide later opined, reflecting on your furious accusations of disloyalty within the ranks. Trumps staffers even developed a plan to keep you at arms length from the president so he could, mercifully, be spared from your harangues. Advertisement Advertisement But you never lost access: You always had a line to someone in the Trump White House, because everyone got the directive that you had to be humored, heard out, taken seriously (until you left the room). You probably expect that access to resume now, and rightly sobut isnt it worth pondering, for a moment, why that is? Trump surely wants to replace your husband with a younger, equally conservative jurist, expanding his already immense impact on the Supreme Court. He is known to coax justices off the bench by buttering them up with a charm offensive. Trump wants to stay in Justice Thomas good graces so that he will retire, confident that his seat is in good hands. Alienating you, Ginni, would imperil that mission, perhaps even leading your husband to stay on out of spite. Advertisement Which leads to the central tension you will face in Trumps second term. You must know, on some level, that you derive all of your influence from your husband. He is the reason people take your calls and write you checks. The president tolerates you because he wants your husband to retire. But as soon as your husband retires, the incentive to take you seriously disappears. Your access will dry up. Your calls will go to voicemail, never to be returned. It will become painfully obvious that the only reason anyone took them in the first place was because you were married to one of the most powerful people in the country. And so, Ginni, you and your husband face an important decisionone you will undoubtedly make together. Should Justice Thomas retire, likely downgrading you from Washington VIP to gadfly? Or should he cling on, forcing the president to let you and your friends keep hanging around the White House, ranting about the deep state to anyone wholl pretend to listen? When Trumps invitations start rolling in, you may enjoy a sense of legitimacy and importance after four long years of exile. Enjoy that feeling. But remember: His indulgences dont come for free. Sign up for the Slatest to get the most insightful analysis, criticism, and advice out there, delivered to your inbox daily. The end of Joe Bidens presidency on Monday was extraordinary in many ways. Among them, nothing was more extraordinary than his use of the presidents power to grant pardons and reprieves. Most of the clemencies Biden had granted to that point were standard in their form, coming after people were convicted of a crime, though broad in their sweep. But those he issued on his last day in office were anything but standard. On Monday, Biden issued two sets of preemptive pardons, one for people already on President Donald Trumps target list and another for his family members. They are a sign of the seriousness with which Biden takes his many references to Trump as an existential threat to democracy. And they are a reminder to all of us not to let down our guard as the new administration takes office. Alexander Hamilton, an ardent defender of the presidents ability to grant pardons and reprieves, thought that the pardon power would be used sparingly and would be especially useful in emergencies to restore the tranquility of the commonwealth. Bidens pardons signaled his conviction that we are confronting a national emergency with Donald Trumps return to the White House. They are meant to sound the alarm about what he believes is in store for America. Courts have long recognized that chief executives have vast and unchecked discretion in using the clemency power. Judges have said chief executives can grant pardons and commutations for good reason, or bad reason or any reason at all. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Biden seems to have taken that admonition to heart. Usually, clemency is granted after someone has been convicted of a crime, but in 1866, the United States Supreme Court gave its blessing to preemptive pardons. It made clear that the pardon power extends to every offense known to the law and may be exercised at any time after its commission, either before legal proceedings are taken or during their pendency, or after conviction and judgment. Advertisement Preemptive pardons have generally been used for public purposes of the kind Hamilton contemplated. An example of such a public purpose was George Washintons grants of clemency to participants in the so-called Whiskey Rebellion or Jimmy Carters of the Vietnam-era draft evaders. Even Gerald Ford justified his pardon of disgraced former President Richard Nixon as a way to preserve domestic tranquility. Bidens last-day-in-office pardons were something very different. They were a concession to the breakdown of domestic tranquility and an unprecedented effort to protect their recipients from the wrath and retribution of an incoming administration. Presidents, including Biden, have granted clemency to family members. But never before has a president been so open about favoring members of his family who have not been, and might never be, charged with a crime. Moreover, no president has ever used the clemency power out of fear of what the next president would do to make the lives of his political opponents miserable. The former president was hardly subtle in explaining why, first thing this morning, he chose to grant preemptive pardons to members of the Jan. 6 committee, Gen. Mark Milley, or Anthony Fauci. He called them public servants (who) have served our nation with honor and distinction. Advertisement Biden went out of his way to explain that, The issuance of these pardons should not be mistaken as an acknowledgment that any individual engaged in any wrongdoing, nor should acceptance be misconstrued as an admission of guilt for any offense. Our nation owes these public servants a debt of gratitude for their tireless commitment to our country. Advertisement And then, making his fear crystal clear, Biden said the Jan. 6 committee members and others do not deserve to be the targets of unjustified and politically motivated prosecutions. He restated his belief in the rule of law and his optimism that the strength of our legal institutions will ultimately prevail over politics, even as he acted in a way that reflected neither that belief nor that optimism. Advertisement Advertisement Biden explained the disparity by noting what he called the exceptional circumstances and that he could not in good conscience do nothing. Then he fleshed out those circumstances. Rather than accept accountability, Biden continued, those who perpetrated the January 6th attack have taken every opportunity to undermine and intimidate those who participated in the Select Committee in an attempt to rewrite history, erase the stain of January 6th for partisan gain, and seek revenge, including by threatening criminal prosecutions. Advertisement With those words, the former president handed down another indictment of Trump. This one was addressed to the future. Trump got the message loud and clear. He texted NBCs Kristen Welker, calling Bidens action disgraceful and claiming, Many are guilty of MAJOR CRIMES! And eschewing inaugural traditions, Trump registered his displeasure by neither thanking his predecessor nor shaking his hand during Monday mornings ceremonies. While Biden was at the Capitol in the run-up to those ceremonies, the other shoe dropped. Along with commuting the life sentence of the Native American activist Leonard Peltier, who was convicted of killing two FBI agents in 1975, Biden issued a second round of preemptive pardons, as stunning as the first. They were granted to five members of his immediate family. The recipients are his brothers and sister, James Biden, Frank Biden, and Valerie Biden Owens, and their spouses, John Owens and Sara Biden. Advertisement Advertisement None of them is well known to the public. None has been a prominent critic of Trump. That he would feel the need to protect them tells us how deeply fearful Biden is about the lengths to which Trump will go to punish any member of what Trump and his allies label the Biden Crime Family. In a preview of what may happen to many people and their families, the former president noted, Even when individuals have done nothing wrong and will ultimately be exonerated baseless and politically motivated investigations wreak havoc on the lives, safety, and financial security of targeted individuals and their families. My family, Biden concluded, has been subjected to unrelenting attacks and threats, motivated solely by a desire to hurt methe worst kind of partisan politics. Unfortunately, I have no reason to believe these attacks will end. And neither should we. Too bad the former president could not protect the rest of us from what is to come. This is part of Hello, Trumpworld, Slates reluctant guide to the people who will be calling the shots nowat least for as long as they last in Washington. Youd think that being one of the more ignored children of Donald Trump would be an ideal scenario. Eric Trump, had he any sense of self-preservation whatsoever, would stop vying for his fathers love and buy a pontoon boat on which to live out the rest of his years unburdened by the need to impress a ruthless patriarch. Its always been the eldest kids who were the most respected by their dad: Don Jr., and then, of course, beautiful Ivanka. And then there is Tiffany. Poor, blond, oft-forgotten Tiffany. The sole child of the early-90s union between Trump and former pageant co-host Marla Maples, named after Tiffany & Co., trotted out sparingly and usually clumsily at few Trump events: Tiffany is the garish lava lamp of all the siblings with whom she shares a last name, and contrasts in particular with her sister. Ivanka has long been praisedin the media, and by her father, often creepilyfor being poised and glamorous and capable of bridging the gap between her unsophisticated and brutish father and regular-degular rich people like whoever is hanging out with the Kushners. Tiffany has mostly been ignored as both a political heir and as Trump offspring, despite being the only one of the bunch to have gone to law school (Georgetownno Ivy, but still pretty good!). The most we heard from Tiffany was in 2020, when she gave a disastrous 10-minute-long speech at a Pride event in Tampa. Prior to politics, he supported gays, lesbians, the LGBQIA+ community, OK? she said, thoughtfully leaving out the T in LGBT. When she was barely a year old, Trump talked about her baby-body, saying she inherited Maples legs but the jury was still out on whether shed get her breasts, too. Suffice it to say that Tiffany has rarely been taken seriously by her dad, never mind the entire country. But this second Trump term seems to be made for the neglected Trump children. Eric is regaining footing through his wife, Lara. And with Ivanka conspicuously absent from the campaign and, so it seems, their fathers reentry into the White House, the field is wide open for Tiffany to take the throne as President Fathers Favorite Girl. In the last few months of her fathers campaign, Tiffany proved useful to Trumps renewed political aspirations. Her father-in-law, Lebanese American tycoon Massad Boulos, has been named as Trumps incoming Mideast adviser while also perhaps lying about exactly how much money hes worth. Meanwhile, at an October campaign stop in Detroit, he announced his daughters pregnancy before Tiffany herself could make the news public. A new baby in the family will surely help make Trump seem less like a dictator and more like a real, human person whose cells will inevitably be passed down for generations to come. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement If theres anything Trump appreciates about the women in his family, its the way they soften his jagged edges. Maybe its Tiffany this time around, and not Ivanka, who will do the heavy lifting of humanizing her father to a populace that seems to have elected him out of a wicked combination of boredom, exhaustion, and rage. Ivanka didnt always pull this offand frankly, in some ways, she aided her father in seeming even more out of touch. And so maybe its Tiffanys turn: sweet, slightly weird, somehow off-putting Tiffany, who seemed to always want to be a part of the family business but never seemed to know how to best enter it. Who knows if shes up for the challenge, but its clearly her turn. After all, aside from newly legal Barron, Tiff is the only of Trumps adult children to not be named in a lawsuit by New York Attorney General Letitia James. Finally, some justice for middle children everywhere. This is part of Hello, Trumpworld, Slates reluctant guide to the people who will be calling the shots nowat least for as long as they last in Washington. Richard Grenell is one of the more obscure members of Donald Trumps inner circle, but among those who know him, he ranks among its most toxic loyalist brawlersa high (or low) bar to clear. Trump has named Grenell envoy for special missions, a newly created position that will work in some of the hottest spots around the world, including Venezuela and North Korea, according to a statement by the president-elect. Grenell came to Trumps attention the way many of his appointees haveby trolling liberals on the internet and Fox News. He was the head of a PR firm, with little public experience other than a few years as a snarky press spokesman for the U.N. mission under President George W. Bush. Reporters and diplomats disliked him, but few on the right defended him, perhaps because he was openly gay. But Trump liked his attitude, and, in 2018, nominated him to be ambassador to Germanywhere he instantly alienated political leaders, and even allies in neighboring countries, in ways that endeared him all the more to Trump. Within hours of presenting his credentials in Berlin, Grenell publicly lambasted the German government for not spending more on defense, pressured German companies to stop doing business with Iran (though Germany was still complying with the nuclear deal, in which the West lifted sanctions against Iran and Tehran dismantled its nuclear program). He told a reporter for Breitbart News, I absolutely want to empower other conservatives throughout Europe, other leadersa remark that Germanys chancellor at the time, Angela Merkel, and her coalition partners took as a call for regime change in Berlin and as support for more right-wing parties. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement According to several accounts of his two years in Berlin, Grenell never sought close contact with Germanys political or social leaders. He also paid little attention to the reports by his own experienced staff in the U.S. Embassy, saying, We can get that information off the internet. Advertisement Stefan Liebich, former foreign-policy spokesman for the socialist-left party in Germanys Parliament, recalled in an email that Grenell invited him for a friendly one-on-one meetingsomething no previous U.S. ambassador had ever doneand that he then did the same with a leader in the countrys far-right party. He considered us to be antiestablishment parties, said Liebich (whodisclosurehappens to be the husband of Slates editor in chief). Grenell stopped meeting with the leaders thoughand even started an internet feud with Liebichwhen he realized they wouldnt help him stir commotion. He was opinionated and loud; he interfered in German and European politics in a way that went far beyond the norm, Liebich said, reciting the views of dozens who dealt with him. A former diplomat told the Atlantic at the time, He is playing to an audience of one. Trump is what counts. No one else. When Grenell left, all of Berlin heaved a sigh of relief. Trump called him a superstar and made him envoy to peace talks between Kosovo and Serbia. Kosovo was the U.S. ally in that fight, but Grenell demanded concessions to Serbia, helped destabilize Kosovos democratic government, and in the end failed to make peace anyway. Advertisement Advertisement In 2020, Trump fired his national intelligence director, mainly for not disputing reports that Russia tried to influence that years election, and made Grenell acting director. He lasted just three months on the job, but during that time, fired many professional analysts and brought on Kash Patel to help him fire more. (Patel is now Trumps nominee to be FBI director.) Advertisement After Trump left office, Grenell joined with the ex-presidents son-in-law, Jared Kushner, to push development of a luxury hotel complex in Belgrade, Serbia. He also did business deals with Turkey, in some cases urging Trumpwho stayed in touch, once calling Grenell my envoy in dealings with foreign leadersto join him on trips. Grenell ranks among Trumps most extreme, and thoroughly opportunistic, loyalists. During Trumps attempts to challenge the 2020 election, Grenell ran an operation in Arizona to prove the vote was stolenthough some of his aides later told the New York Times he admitted that there was no evidence to the charge, that their job was just to throw spaghetti at the wall. During the run-up to the 2024 election, Grenell made it clear he wanted to be secretary of state, but Trump picked Marco Rubio. Grenell would have faced harsh questions in the Senate confirmation process hearing for, among other things, not registering as a foreign agent while doing PR work for several foreign countries. The job he is about to take does not require Senate confirmation. The position is also so loosely defined that Trump can use him in whatever way he pleases. One of his special missions may be to shore up internal support for Trumps policy preferences if some Cabinet secretary calls them into question. Grenells very presence in the room will send a message to the other advisers that he might replace them if they dont support the president more fervently. Sign up for the Slatest to get the most insightful analysis, criticism, and advice out there, delivered to your inbox daily. The second inauguration of Donald Trump looked almost nothing like the first. For one thing, there was no deliberation over crowd size. Chilly temperatures drove the event into the Capitol rotunda (which was also where the Jan. 6 Capitol riot and insurrection attempt took place); some 1,300 seats were crammed into the iconic room. This time, the space was absent armed men in face paint and horns. Gone, too, were the C-list celebs of 2017s inaugural affair. Insteadbeyond the usual suspects of past presidents, Supreme Court justices, and family membersit was jam-packed with a coterie of the richest men in the country. Stage right, just behind Trumps immediate family, were none other than Apple CEO Tim Cook, Alphabet CEO Sundar Pinchai, Tesla CEO Elon Musk, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, and Amazon former CEO Jeff Bezos (and his fiancee Lauren Sanchez), all making small talk, and grinning ear to ear.* The NBC cameras panned to billionaires row to show Jared Kushner chatting with Bezos and Pinchai, with Zuckerberg looking on longingly, as though hoping to be tapped into the conversation himself. Across the aisle, but still on the stage, were Bernard Arnault, CEO of the French luxury conglomerate LVMH, and his son Alexandre. Arnault is worth around $200 billion. It was startlingly prominent placement for the centibillionaire class, which eight years ago, prior to Trumps tax cuts, was not anywhere near as rich. Those big tech CEOs were once seen as some of Trumps biggest antagonists, throughout his relatively outsider 2016 campaign and subsequent first term. But Musk, Pinchai, Cook, Zuckerberg, and Bezos each ponied up $1 million for the Trump inauguration, either personally or via their Big Tech firms, and were rewarded with those extremely prime seats. That they were the only nonfamily attendees who could literally whisper in President Donald Trump or Vice President J.D. Vances ears from the stage is a fact dripping with symbolism. When Trump walked down the aisle, he gave a head nod to Bezos. The image could not have been sharper: The very richest people in the worldin fact, the very richest men in the history of humanityare welcome in Trumpworld. Trump, in all his populist bombast, has long made it clear that he would be taking care of his own in his second term as president, and vice versa: The billionaire class, once uneasy with the president, has now embraced him fully. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Joe Biden, meanwhile, was keeping busy taking care of his own as well. In his final moment as president, he signed preemptive pardons for his family members to protect them from Trumps persecution, and then continued his confusing orientation toward the president, gleefully shaking hands and at one point even giving him a standing ovation for the Israeli hostage and ceasefire deal. Advertisement But if Trumps second inauguration looked vastly different than the scene eight years ago, it sounded extremely familiar. The dark tone of his 2017 inaugural address, with its famous reference to American carnage, was reprised in his 2025 speech, which for some reason had been hyped in the run-up to todays event as unifying. It was not. While the seating chart made it clear that the cartoonishly rich get pride of place in Trumps America, his speech made it just as clear that few others are. Rattling off a list of executive orders, many of which were just reinstating policies from his first term, Trump cataloged the forthcoming effort to engage in large-scale deportations, to escalate confrontation with Mexico, and more. Advertisement Advertisement He pledged to repeal environmental standards and mandates; he pledged to drill, baby, drill; he went into great detail about his plan to take back the Panama Canal; and he did his new favorite bit about renaming the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America. Advertisement Much of this was met with standing ovations, from the billionaire boys club, and from congressional and senate Republicans. In the front row, Democratic Sen. Cory Booker helped the 91-year-old Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley get to his feet to do so. Bernie Sanders, sitting two seats away, remained seated with his arms crossed, the same iconic pose, sans mittens, from Bidens inauguration four years ago. The golden age of America begins right now, Trump proclaimed. For his billionaire backers, it has already begun. Sign up for the Slatest to get the most insightful analysis, criticism, and advice out there, delivered to your inbox daily. President Donald Trump gave his inaugural address to a packed Capitol rotunda of family, tech CEOs, prospective Cabinet officials, and members of Congressin that specific order of importance. Shortly thereafter, he told the overflow room what he really wanted to say. While the theme of Trumps inaugural speech was a new golden age, a phrase thats become something of a credo for MAGA in the past few months, you could see the push and pull between Trumps dark fantasies and his better angels in its text. For all the mention of the fresh, expansionist, prosperous, lavish, and showy new America his movement would usher in, he couldnt escape the American carnage of his first inaugural address in 2017. In the climactic line of his speech, Trump described his brush with death in Butler, Pennsylvania, saying that my life was saved for a reason. I was saved by God to make America great again. But he seemed to savor describing the wrongs more than he looked forward to making the rights. Speaking in his teleprompter voicea hushed, monotonous reading of words on a screen, a quiet protest of the fact that hes not allowed to riffTrump welcomed the dignitaries in attendance, and quickly proceeded to lacerate the very same group. For many years, a radical and corrupt establishment has extracted power and wealth from our citizens, while the pillars of our society lay broken and seemingly in complete disrepair, he said. We now have a government that cannot manage even a simple crisis at home, while at the same time stumbling into a continuing catalog of catastrophic events abroad. It fails to protect our magnificent law-abiding American citizens, but provides sanctuary and protection for dangerous criminals, many from prisons and mental institutions that have illegally entered our country from all over the world. As he read these words, former President Joe Biden, running through his head if there was anyone he forgot to pardon, attempted his best impression of a stone, but couldnt suppress a grin or two. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement As the speech progressed, Trump moved on to a level of specificity for his immediate actions thats unusual for an inaugural address. He announced several new policies to seal the Southern border, including sending troops there, and invoking a 1798 law to eliminate foreign gang networks. He would declare a national energy emergency to drill, baby, drill, and said he wouldby executive orderrevoke the electric vehicle mandate. He paired this with plenty of his more frivolous actions, such as renaming the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of AmericaHillary Clinton, 20 or so feet away, could be spotted shaking with laughter when he said thisand reverting Denalis name to Mount McKinley. He explicitly cited manifest destiny in describing his expansionist ambitions for taking control of the Panama Canal and colonizing Mars. Well see. Advertisement Given the limited space in the rotunda, an overflow room was set up in the Capitol Visitor Center. It was for the dignitaries who didnt quite carry the statesmanlike import of UFCs Dana White or TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew, whose company is presently operating domestically in violation of federal law. Govs. Ron DeSantis and Brian Kemp, whove battled with Trump in the past, were obviously in the overflow room. But this crowd ended up getting the real speech after the overworked formality Trump was forced to read off of the teleprompter. Still only an hour into his second presidency, Trump was cooking, in an uninterrupted riff about whatever was on his mind that went longer than his speech. Related From Slate The Scene at Trumps Inauguration Tells Us Who He Cares About Read More According to Trump, Vice President J.D. Vance and first lady Melania Trump forced him to take out some of the more controversial elements of his speech that he wanted to keep inlike celebrating the Jan. 6 hostages and Bidens last-minute pardons of family members and Jan. 6 committee members, which Biden was practically signing from the inaugural dais. The president reiterated his belief that the 2020 election was rigged and thought that he shouldve won California. He talked about some parts of the border wall that would dissolve if hit with acid and that people would climb in like rabbits if not built with the proper materials. He kept breaking, from whatever it was he was doing, to converse with Texas Gov. Greg Abbott. Most importantly, he was having a good time. Advertisement Advertisement This was a better speech than the one I made upstairs, he told the overflow crowd, an observation that was somehow both fully true and wholly false. Things were, by this point, running an hour late. The sense that this speech overshadowed what came before was, on the whole, quite familiar. Each thing that Trump says will be surpassed by something he says 10 minutes later, rendering the original event as good as dead. This was before Trump had even stopped by the Capitol One Arena to visit yet another overflow crowd, or settled into the Resolute desk at the White House, or attended several inaugural balls. More would be said, and what was said immediately before that would recede into memory. In short, welcome back. Sign up for the Slatest to get the most insightful analysis, criticism, and advice out there, delivered to your inbox daily. Today, at the entrance of the White House, they took down the official portrait of Vice President Kamala Harris. It was the first time a womans face had hung there. As I walk out of the White House for the last time, I worry that this will be forgotten, that history will write her historic achievement out of the frame. I worry that Americans arent being given the chance to celebrate what she accomplished. Over the past few years, as the official videographer and director of video to Vice President Kamala Harris, I traveled the world with her, watching her navigate the White House and the world stage. I observed and documented nearly everything she did every day through my trusty White Houseissued Sony FX3. I filmed her in 11 countries and in 91 cities across 27 U.S. states. I observed her with prime ministers and presidents and chancellors and kingsalmost all of them menand with hostile Republicans and their spouses who wouldnt shake her hand. I saw her with the wives of world leaders, bullied teenagers, doctors, doulas, CEOs, proud grandmothers, and excited grandchildren. I saw as she charmed skeptics and commanded rooms, as she considered reporters questions, as she walked across a stage with 70,000 eyes watching her every move. I was there when the Somdet Phra Sangkharat Sakonmahasangkhaparinayok, Thailands highest-ranking Buddhist monk, didnt shake her hand. As a filmmaker, this was a dream: filming history in action, documenting the first woman to serve in this role. And even though my heart is broken that she lost the election, and I was continuously enraged by the ways sexism and racism made everything harder for her, something unexpected happened to me on the job: I witnessed Harris impact, and it began to change me. The best thing about working for Kamala Harris was watching a phenomenally competent and successful woman own her power in the most challenging of circumstances. Unfortunately, despite my best efforts, you didnt get to see that often enough. Vice President Harris never called a little girl cute or commented on her outfit; instead, shed say, You look like the smartest person in your class. The vice president would say, Let me hear you say, I am a leader, and even the youngest girls would say it back. I filmed hundreds of clips of Kamala Harris telling young people to believe in themselves because they can achieve anything. And I noticed myself changing my conversations with my nieces, stopping myself from commenting on their outfits and asking instead about the thoughts in their heads. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement One time, I needed the vice president to redo a line for a video, and I started out by apologizing, saying, Maam, Im so sorry, just one more time before she interrupted me, Dont apologize for doing your job well. From then on, whenever my instinct was to minimize myself, I would consider what my boss had toldand showedme. I started asking myself, Would Kamala Harris apologize for this? Would she undermine herself like this? I started to apologize less and stand my ground more. When I was often the only, or one of few, women behind the camera in a scrum, I would politely elbow my way to get the best angle and stop worrying whether I was blocking someone elses shot. I grew taller. I stopped shrinking. In August 2023, as I took the best spot in the room, a male videographer said of me, Fuck her, loud enough so I could hear. I turned around just as the vice president walked in, and said, Dont talk to me like that. In September 2023 at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, I seemed to be the only woman in a group of official photographers and videographers from across Asia. The men all breezed through, but I got stopped by a security person, who asked what my job was, even though I had the same yellow arm band reading OFFICIAL. I pushed past and said, The same as those guys. I need to go film the vice president of the United States. An earlier me might have been frightened or disheartened, but I needed to get my shot. Advertisement Once, at an emergency briefing with local first responders in the wake of a hurricane, after five men spoke, the vice president extended the meeting so she could hear from the female fire chief, whose comments proved essential. With my camera, I started to make sure I had enough shots not just of women in the audience, listening, but of women speaking. Advertisement In a photo line in Miami, a 7-year-old girl told the vice president she liked writing, so naturally Harris suggested she write a book. The girl then literally wrote a book and sent it to our office. This is the importance of Kamala Harris. This is the impact that her style of leadership had on so many. Millions across America and the world are shattered today because Harris wont be inaugurated as president, not just because she is a woman, but because she is exceptionally qualified. Her intentional, dignified ambition and confidence rubbed off on so many others, just like it rubbed off on me. When the vice president asked me a few days ago about my postWhite House plans, I told her that Im starting my own production company with my wife. I joked, Madam Vice President, if I cant work for you, Im going to work for myself. And my wife. We laughed, but the truth is that before working for her, I would never have had the guts to start a company. Now, I think, why not me? Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement As I treasured my final days in the White House, I walked past the vice presidents ceremonial office and took a few moments to appreciate the photo of Midshipman 1st Class Sydney Barber, the first Black woman to serve as brigade commander at the United States Naval Academy. I passed the vice presidents west wing office, where she prominently displayed biographies of Rosa Parks and Constance Baker Motley and a painting of Amelia Boynton on Bloody Sunday hung on the wall. As I walked past the plaque of the office of the second gentleman, my heart broke yet again with the realization that this too was historic. As I walked out of the doors of the west wing for the last time, it felt like the door was closing on the possibility of a woman ever leading from the Oval Office. Today, I am full of rage and devastation. But tomorrow, I will wake up with gratitude for all that I learned from Kamala Harris and will greet the future with defiance and hopeready to take her lessons forward. Indeed, she may have been the first, but her leadership style reached so many others, guaranteeing that she will not be the last. This is part of Hello, Trumpworld, Slates reluctant guide to the people who will be calling the shots nowat least for as long as they last in Washington. Around this time nine years ago, during the 2016 Republican presidential primaries, candidates Marco Rubio and Donald Trump were engaged in a dispute about penis size. Rubio, then still a freshman senator from Florida, had dealt with Trump the way most other primary candidates had that cycle: by ignoring him and hoping that his candidacy would collapse under its own ludicrousness. By late February, though, Trump was beginning to run away with the thing, and Rubio was the Republican establishments last best hope. The usual tricks werent working. I covered a South Carolina rally in which Gov. Nikki Haley and Sen. Tim Scotttwo other figures Trump would go on to smother eight years laterendorsed Rubio, presenting themselves as the future of the party. Trump easily won the South Carolina primary. So, in his desperation, Rubio began to let it rip. You know what they say about guys with small hands, Rubio said at a Virginia rally on the last day of February. He paused for effect. You cant trust em! Big mistake. As soon as Rubio began to engage Trump on Trumps terms, Little Marco became fresh meat. Trump, in what remains one of his funnier clips, elaborately mocked Rubios infamous State of the Union water bottle lunge. And during a debate in early March, Trump responded to the penis joke. He hit my hands. Nobody has ever hit my hands. I have never heard of this. Look at those hands. Are they small hands? Trump said. And he referred to my handsif they are small, something else must be small. I guarantee you, theres no problem. I guarantee you. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Rubio would end his campaign halfway through that month, after losing his home states primary. (This was before Florida also became Trumps home state.) After licking his wounds for a couple of months, he decided to run for a second term in the Senate. He would, of course, go on to endorse the man whom hed described during the presidential primary as a con artist who couldnt be trusted with the nuclear codes. Advertisement Rubios political trajectory ever since that primary has been flat, and he has often seemed bored. Though hes done some meaningful work in Congress, serving as the top Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee since 2020, Rubio wasnt built to be a Senate lifer. Too ambitious. It was just unclear where he would go. The era of the mid-2010s, during which he, Ted Cruz, and Rand Paul were the future of the party, was long gone, and a new generation of young Republican senators, like J.D. Vance, with trendier postliberal instincts, had replaced them. Trumps selection of Rubio to be secretary of state, then, is an unlikely resurrection of Rubios political career. Whats unclear is whether this is the valediction of that career, or something that propels him back into the presidential conversation going forward. Rubio isnt a great fit for Trumpworld. On foreign policy and national security, hes an interventionist by nature, a stance that is out of step with the America First nationalism of Trumps base. During the ancient times of Rubios peak a decade ago, he was seen as Republican hawks standard-bearer standing athwart the burgeoning isolationism of Rand Paul and the libertarian moment. (This is all so fun to remember.) Rubio, however, is savvy at blurring his own views to stay afloat in shifting ideological tides. He voted against Ukraine aid last year, for example. Theres no doubt he was hoping it would pass anyway. Advertisement Advertisement Rubios hawkish history and warm relationship with the pre-Trump Republican establishmenthowever much he worked to muddy itensured that his selection would be met with MAGA detractors. More nationalist Republicans preferred the bomb-throwing Rick Grenell for the State Department; the lag between reports about Trumps selection of Rubio and Trumps official announcement of it indicated that the president-elect might have been having second thoughts. But Rubio, who was a finalist to be Trumps vice president, ultimately received his consolation prize. Rubio is a lock for Senate confirmation for the same reasons he was a controversial selection within the MAGA universe. Among the major Cabinet nominees, hes the most traditional, qualified pick Trump has made. Members of both sides trust him not to do anything too, well, disruptive. Advertisement Advertisement Trump, however, mayor willask him to do something too disruptive. Frequently. The fate of his suddenly revived political career can end in one decision with which his boss disapproves, and he can go from a Republican whom MAGA tolerates to one it abhors. For Rubio to be a potential successor to Trump in 2028, hed have to make it to 2028 while still in Trumps good graces. That would be an achievement. Trump fired his first secretary of state, former Exxon CEO Rex Tillerson, via tweet a little more than a year into his tenure. He was replaced by Mike Pompeo, whom Trump showily turned down for a job in the coming administration. These are the lifespans from just one department. The streets of Washington are littered with excommunicated Trump attorneys general, defense secretaries, FBI directors, and so on. Maybe Rubio will earn the constant praise and admiration of President Trump II and receive his endorsement for president in 2028. Wed bet, instead, that Trump hasnt uttered the words Little Marco for the last time. Either way, for Rubio, it beats another however many years of sitting in the Senate, staring at his desk. This is part of Hello, Trumpworld, Slates reluctant guide to the people who will be calling the shots nowat least for as long as they last in Washington. Standing outside Milwaukees Fiserv Forum during the Republican National Convention last summer offered an ideal vantage point on the MAGA hierarchy. In one direction, Ben Carson muttered into his phone, avoiding questions from reporters. In another, Sebastian Gorka strained to smile for selfies while people clamored around him. Jeanine Pirro came and went, her hair still full of curlers. But among all of them, few drew as much attention and adulation as Vivek Ramaswamy. Ramaswamys star power was real. If it seemed like the Republican primary electorate had swiftly dismissed the 39-year-old mogulturnedpoliticians candidacy for president, it was plain in Wisconsin that he had made an enduring impression. People swarmed him wherever he went. And thats whats made the horrific past couple weeks for Ramaswamy all the more remarkablea stark warning for supposed rising stars in the new Trump administration. When I first caught a glimpse of Ramaswamy at the RNC, he was mostly out of view, sitting for a podcast interview on a makeshift stage just outside the arena. I wouldnt have noticed him if not for a single fan, Maggie, a delegate from North Carolina who had been engaged in Republican politics for nearly two decades. She gazed at him with the kind of reverence Id have thought was reserved for sitting presidents. Its his strong conservative ideals, his ability to articulate them well, and his ability to fire up an audience, she told me. Minutes later, Ramaswamy descended from the stage, greeted Maggie warmly, and was immediately engulfed by a huddle of fans and reporters. He conjured a crowd out of thin air. Maggie introduced me to him as a friendly gentleman, and suddenly I was face-to-face with the man everyone apparently wanted to see. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I asked Ramaswamy if he felt passed over for vice president. With practiced ease, he praised J.D. Vance, and repeated an answer Id seen elsewhere about their shared history growing up near each other in Ohio and watching Bengals games together when they were in law school. I asked him what he made of the crowds that followed him around the convention. To a fault, Ill share with you whats on my mind, Ramaswamy said. People are tired of being talked to through filters. I think people are hungry for an authenticity weve been missing in politics for a while. I felt the force of it during the campaign. Its difficult because you do make tradeoffs if youre going to share something inconvenient with donors or the media, but I wouldnt change a thing, he said. Advertisement I thought about the inconvenient line as Ramaswamy has managed to chase himself out of Trump World, starting with a broadside the day after Christmas in which he declared American culture beholden to the lazy and explained why foreign-born and first-generation workers are often viewed as superior by big companies. Ramaswamy had been riding high as a named co-leader of the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, alongside Elon Musk, where hiring has been as brisk as the reports about his potential conflicts of interest. Then, fatefully, he decided to share what was on his mind. Advertisement A culture that venerates Cory from Boy Meets World, or Zach & Slater over Screech in Saved by the Bell, or Stefan over Steve Urkel in Family Matters, will not produce the best engineers, he wrote. He argued Americans who felt left behind should stop wallowing in victimhood and work harder. Trumps election hopefully marks the beginning of a new golden era in America, but only if our culture fully wakes up. A culture that once again prioritizes achievement over normalcy; excellence over mediocrity; nerdiness over conformity; hard work over laziness. Advertisement Ramaswamys words came amid fights over H-1B skilled worker visas, which Musk had publicly championed to considerable MAGA backlash. Trump backed Musk, and the fighting over the visas continued, but both men seemed to shake off the controversy. It has stuck to Ramaswamy in a different way. He has been AWOL since the comments, keeping quiet online and a low profile generally. Was it that he dissed Cory from Boy Meets World, who really did not need to be in this conversation? Was it that he was a brown guy implicitly telling white, blue-collar Trump voters that they only have themselves to blame for their economic troubles? Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I have a guess. Either way, Ramaswamy has found himself in an unexpected moment of exile as Trump takes office. He tried to clarify his comments and call for an end to H-1B visas, saying the system is broken and needs to be fixed and framing it as a form of indentured servitude. But then headlines emerged suggesting Trump has been pressuring Ramaswamy to accept a potential appointment to Vances empty Senate seat in Ohio, a job he previously said didnt interest him. (Last week, he met with Gov. Mike DeWine, who ultimately appointed Jon Husted, Ohios lieutenant governor, to the seat on Friday.) Late last week, Ramaswamy signaled he would run for governor of Ohio, but later over the holiday weekend, the real news dropped: He would now not be involved at DOGE, where he had, according to one Trump World gossip, worn out his welcome. You dont say? As I watched Ramaswamy move through the swelling crowd at the RNC, signing autographs and shaking hands, it was clear that he adored the spotlight; he seemed to have a little moment with every last person who gathered around him. Now, before Trump even took office, he has seen how hard that spotlight can bite back. The truth Ramaswamy had to tell wasnt one that MAGA world wanted to hear. Despite his rapid rise and undeniable stardom, he never quite grasped who drove this movement into power. It was not the Screeches of the world. It was more often the Zacks and Slaters who, a few decades on, dont understand why their lives dont look how they expected them to. This is part of Hello, Trumpworld, Slates reluctant guide to the people who will be calling the shots nowat least for as long as they last in Washington. The again in Robert F. Kennedy Jr.s rallying cry is what makes it so sickening. Make America Healthy Again? Like when we had more measles and malnutrition and cervical cancer? Obviously, MAHA is a suck-up to Trump and the white-nationalist again in MAGA. Its also an appeal to the powerful force of nostalgia. It echoes the wellness-grifter ethos: vague, aspirational, anything-natural-is-good nonsense sold with a slick catchphrase. Kennedy is worse than that, though: Hes a dangerous, dishonest conspiracy theorist who will, if hes confirmed as secretary of Health and Human Services, cause unnecessary suffering and death. The nostalgia starts with his name and his frequent references to his uncle (President JFK) and father (presidential candidate RFK), even though other members of Juniors family hate him and are horrified by how hes used the family legacy to push disinformation. He nostalgically claims that in the good old days, there was no such thing as autism or ADHD or other developmental differences. Neurodivergent people have always existed, but they were often marginalized, institutionalized, or, like his Aunt Rosemary, lobotomized. Autism diagnoses are upthanks to better awareness and broader diagnostic criteria. Instead of accepting the fact that society and science have progressed, RFK Jr. will have you know that hes smarter than everyone else. He is the only person brave enough to reveal that neurologists, epidemiologists, data analysts, pediatricians (those devils), the media, medical philanthropies, pharmaceutical companies, and publishers of scientific journals have conspired to hide the truth that vaccines are causing a holocaust. Instead of accepting that the world has become more inclusive, RFK Jr. clings to a fraudulent 1998 paper claiming that vaccines are responsible for a rise in autism. The link has been debunked and disproven by studies around the world using decades of data and including hundreds of thousands of children. The original study has been retracted. Every relevant scientific and medical institution has affirmed that vaccines are some of the most lifesaving and health-improving interventions in history. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement RFK Jr.s view of reality is warped, and hes belligerently wrong about plenty of things. He actively fears modernity. He has questioned whether AIDS is really the result of a virus, despite the fact that HIV-suppressing drugs have saved millions of lives and prevented millions of infections. Hes in favor of jailing people with addiction. He claims Wi-Fi causes cancer. He promotes drinking raw milk, at a time when the H5N1 bird flu virus is circulating in dairy cows and is concentrated in milk before its pasteurized. Its natural, so it must be good. Even though the most natural thing in history is to die of infectious disease. Kennedys bad judgment and poor character are not limited to his plans to take a wrecking ball to public health, and they predate the brain worm that he disclosed in divorce proceedings in an attempt to minimize estimates of his earning potential. Hes a creepy womanizer. Hes been accused of sexual assault. He deposited a bear cub carcass in Central Park, like some spoiled showoff pulling stupid stunts to pledge the worlds most grotesque fraternity. But the COVID pandemic brought out the worst in him. He published a book accusing poor Tony Fauci of intentionally killing people. He called lifesaving COVID vaccines poison. He claimed the coronavirus was engineered to spare Chinese and Jewish people. He said that unvaccinated people have less freedom than Anne Frank. Advertisement Advertisement Senators: Is this the guy you want to have leading Americas federal health agencies during a crisis? Leadership matters for public health. Ronald Reagan ignored the AIDS epidemic when public awareness could have saved lives. Donald Trump politicized COVID to the point that Republicans are more likely than Democrats to go unvaccinated and die. Kennedy has already shown what hes capable of: He met with anti-vaxxers in Samoa and amplified misinformation ahead of a measles outbreak that has killed 83 people and that he characterized as mild. Advertisement What can we expect from RFKJ in the Trump administration? Their relationship is new and transactional, so hes unlikely to be a loyalist. (Kennedy reached out to the Harris campaign to discuss an endorsement-for-appointment deal before turning to Trump.) Before he went full MAGA, Kennedy said some accurate things about Trump, including that he pursued pollution-based prosperity. (Kennedy now blames the media for brainwashing him.) Kennedy started his career as an environmental lawyer, and he is not (yet) a climate denier. In a best-case scenario, Kennedy will be stymied or distracted from all things to do with drugs and infectious diseases, and push HHS to help protect people from air pollution and climate change. We can dream. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement How well will he play with his fellow appointees? Kennedy has criticized the Ozempic family of diabetes and obesity medications, which could set up a fun conflict with Martin Makary, Trumps pick to head the Food and Drug Administration, who is the chief medical officer for a company that sells relatively inexpensive compounded versions of the weight loss drugs. But Kennedy will probably work well with nominated National Institutes of Health director Jay Bhattacharya, who puts his version of individual liberty above science and public health. And Mehmet Oz, poised to lead the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid, often has a Kennedyesque disregard for pesky factsthough Oz has said positive things about weight-loss drugs, so whether their versions of the world will clash or not, well see. Trump and Kennedy are a lot alike, too: messianic, grandiose, verbose, narcissistic. But the most important thing to know about both of them is that you cant believe what they say. They lie. They reject clearly established facts. They make up stories to make themselves look like heroes. Lets hope Kennedys presidential-ish name and arrogance threaten Trumps need for superiority, and they have a spectacular falling-out that distracts them both from causing more damage. Fortunately, the institutions of public health are not just these guys at the top, and resistance is not futile. Federal health employees, state and local public health officials, health care providers, scientific experts, and all of us can affirm reality and share trustworthy information about health and science, even if were out-shouted by some of the worst people in the world. Flash People gather in a square to welcome the return of first three Israeli hostages released from the Gaza Strip after the ceasefire took effect, Tel Aviv, Israel, on Jan. 19, 2025. [Photo/Xinhua] The first three Israeli hostages released from the Gaza Strip under a ceasefire agreement that took effect on Sunday have returned to Israel and reunited with their families. Meanwhile, Gazans are immersed in celebrations marking the end of over 15 months of deadly Israeli strikes. The ceasefire ended an Israeli offensive that claimed more than 46,900 Palestinian lives, according to Gaza's health authorities. The deadly fighting also razed much of Gaza and caused widespread hunger and diseases in the strip. Among the three released women are Emily Damari, a 28-year-old British-Israeli and Doron Steinbrecher, a Romanian-Israeli veterinary nurse aged 30, both of whom were abducted from Kibbutz Kfar Aza outside northern Gaza, and Romi Gonen, 23, who was taken from the Nova music festival. A live broadcast from Gaza showed the hostages, freed from 471 days of captivity, being transferred from a Hamas vehicle surrounded by armed militants to a Red Cross vehicle, which transported them to Israeli forces. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office released photos of the women embracing their mothers at a military compound outside Gaza. Later, helicopters flew them to Sheba Medical Center in Ramat Gan, a suburb of Tel Aviv, where they received medical and psychological care. The Red Cross earlier informed the Israeli side that their condition was "good." However, a screenshot of Damari during a video call showed her with a bandaged hand missing two fingers, an injury sustained during her abduction by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023. Her mother, Mandy, expressed in a statement her gratitude to supporters, saying, "After 471 days, Emily is finally home." Palestinians celebrate the ceasefire deal with Israel in Gaza City, on Jan 19, 2025. [Photo/Xinhua] In Gaza, celebrations erupted in the streets, with people chanting and waving the flag of Palestine. Displaced residents began returning to their homes in northern and southern regions, only to find much of the infrastructure reduced to dust. Under the ceasefire agreement, Israel is set to release 90 Palestinian detainees on Sunday, primarily women and children from the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem. Over the next six weeks, Hamas is to release 33 hostages in phases, including women, children, men over 50, the sick, and the injured. Deceased hostages are expected to be returned in later stages. Israel estimates that about half of the 98 hostages still held in Gaza are alive, though Hamas has not provided confirmation. In Tel Aviv, large crowds gathered at Hostage Square to celebrate and demand adherence to the agreement. Families and friends of the hostages were seen following the news of their release, cheering and bursting into tears as the women were transferred to Israeli forces. Netanyahu called the release "a great moment, an exciting moment...," adding that the three "went through hell." Meanwhile, Israel Defense Forces Spokesman Daniel Hagari, speaking at a press briefing, warned the military was boosting forces in the West Bank and remaining prepared for military action if Hamas violates the truce. Abu Ubaida, spokesperson for Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, said on Sunday that Al-Qassam and other Palestinian factions are committed to the ceasefire deal. "We, along with other resistance factions, declare our full commitment to the ceasefire agreement, but this remains contingent on the enemy's adherence," Ubaida emphasized in a televised statement. Also on Sunday, the first humanitarian aid trucks entered Gaza from Egypt, Palestinian sources confirmed. Based on the ceasefire agreement, about 600 trucks loaded with humanitarian aid, including 50 fuel trucks, will enter Gaza every day to ease the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. The deal, brokered by Qatar, Egypt, and the United States, aims to end the fighting between Israel and Hamas that was triggered by Hamas' cross-border assault on Oct. 7, 2023, which resulted in the killing of 1,200 people in Israel and the kidnapping of about 250 others. https://sputnikglobe.com/20250120/european-business-at-international-forums-prospects-for-cooperation-1121470830.html European Business at International Forums: Prospects for Cooperation European Business at International Forums: Prospects for Cooperation Sputnik International A meeting was held in Moscow between Anton Kobyakov, Advisor to the President of the Russian Federation, and Antonio Fallico, President of the Italian nonprofit association "Conoscere Eurasia" ("Knowing Eurasia"). 2025-01-20T11:33+0000 2025-01-20T11:33+0000 2025-01-20T11:43+0000 world russia eurasia business antonio fallico anton kobyakov verona businesses businessmen business deal https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e8/06/07/1118828522_0:72:3253:1902_1920x0_80_0_0_2a15f718a6144afc9829327d7b0fe7a3.jpg The parties discussed prospects for trade and economic relations within Greater Eurasia and identified opportunities for cooperation between Russian and European businesses at international forums.At the XVII Eurasian Economic Forum in Verona, held in Ras Al Khaimah (UAE) on December 5 and 6 2024, Fallico invited participants including representatives of the European business community to take part in major international events in 2025.They include the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum from June 18 to 21, the Eastern Economic Forum from September 3 to 6 and Russian Energy Week from October 15 to 17.Fallico expressed hope that economic diplomacy would foster dialogue among entrepreneurs from different countries and help stabilize the geopolitical situation.The event typically attracts more than 1,000 participants from 30 countries, he explained, and has branched out from its origins in Italy. The forum was held in Azerbaijan in 2022, Uzbekistan in 2023 and the United Arab Emirates in 2024."Russia offers many opportunities for European businesses that share common values across a broad range of sectors, including energy, infrastructure, transportation, finance and healthcare," Kobyakov said, voicing his confidence that the forum would help promote and implement new business projects.At the end of the meeting, Kobyakov invited Fallico to discussions at forthcoming major business platforms and expressed hope for continued dialogue on expanding business contacts at the XVIII Eurasian Economic Forum in Verona. https://sputnikglobe.com/20250114/western-powers-desire-to-profit-from-banning-russian-energy-sows-chaos-in-europe--slovak-mp-1121428345.html russia eurasia verona Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 2025 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 roscongress, european business, eurasia, anton kobyakov, russia https://sputnikglobe.com/20250120/greenland-should-start-talks-with-denmark-on-islands-independence---lawmaker-1121468230.html Greenland Should Start Talks With Denmark on Island's Independence - Lawmaker Greenland Should Start Talks With Denmark on Island's Independence - Lawmaker Sputnik International Greenland should start official talks with Denmark on the island's independence as soon as possible, Kuno Fencker, a Greenlandic lawmaker from the government coalition party Siumut, told Sputnik 2025-01-20T03:07+0000 2025-01-20T03:07+0000 2025-01-20T04:08+0000 greenland denmark donald trump world independence freedom self-determination referendum independence referendum colony https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e9/01/14/1121468307_0:320:3072:2048_1920x0_80_0_0_652c9bad66e5128f856ce82bf98c2ce7.jpg "My personal opinion is that we should officially start talks with Denmark on the establishment of a sovereign state of Greenland. There are many possibilities that people should learn about before we hold a referendum. That is why my party has submitted a motion to parliament that we should activate our right to self-determination," he said. Earlier, Greenland's parliament member and former Foreign Minister Pele Broberg, who chairs Naleraq, the largest opposition party, told Sputnik that Denmark has repeatedly threatened Greenland whenever its independence was discussed.Greenland was a colony of Denmark until 1953. It remains part of the kingdom, but in 2009 it received autonomy with the possibility of self-government and independent choice in domestic policy. In 2019, a series of media reports appeared about Trump considering purchasing Greenland. https://sputnikglobe.com/20250110/is-greenland-the-new-arctic-battleground-for-us-and-china-1121403227.html greenland denmark Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 2025 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 danish colony, greenland colony, colonial rule, neo-colonialism, neocolonialism, danish king, danish empire, danish territory, greenland territory, greenland state, the state of greenland, the country of greenland, greenland nation, self-determination, self-governing, greenland autonomy https://sputnikglobe.com/20250120/israel-releases-first-90-palestinian-prisoners-in-exchange-for-hostages-1121468560.html Israel Releases First 90 Palestinian Prisoners in Exchange for Hostages Israel Releases First 90 Palestinian Prisoners in Exchange for Hostages Sputnik International Israel has released the first 90 Palestinian women prisoners under an agreement with Palestinian movement Hamas in exchange for the release of three hostages from the Gaza Strip, Israel newspaper reported, citing the Israel Prisons Authority. 2025-01-20T04:42+0000 2025-01-20T04:42+0000 2025-01-20T04:42+0000 world middle east gaza strip palestine israel hamas https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e8/0a/0f/1120552919_0:0:3073:1728_1920x0_80_0_0_c44f9cfaa0de5ed261e4a007c2df1e91.jpg The day before, Egypt's state news service reported that Israel would soon release 90 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for the release of three Israeli hostages by Hamas. Al-Qassam Brigades (the military wing of Hamas) earlier said they had decided to release the three hostages on Sunday as part of a deal with Israel. The Israeli army later reported that the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) had handed over the hostages to the Israeli military, after which the girls arrived in Israel. They later arrived at a first reception center, where they were reunited with some of their relatives, and then they went to Israel's Sheba Hospital. https://sputnikglobe.com/20250119/three-israeli-hostages-handed-over-to-idf-forces-in-gaza-1121464790.html gaza strip palestine israel Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 2025 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 palestinian movement hamas, israel has released, women prisoners, three hostages from the gaza strip https://sputnikglobe.com/20250120/looming-deal-may-clarify-fate-of-kurdish-led-syrian-democratic-forces--report--1121469721.html Looming Deal May Clarify Fate of Kurdish-Led Syrian Democratic Forces Report Looming Deal May Clarify Fate of Kurdish-Led Syrian Democratic Forces Report Sputnik International Looming deal may reportedly clarify fate of Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces in Syria. 2025-01-20T06:54+0000 2025-01-20T06:54+0000 2025-01-20T06:54+0000 world middle east syria kurdish fighters turkiye ankara kurdish people's protection units (ypg) syrian democratic forces (sdf) https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e9/01/14/1121469074_0:165:3051:1881_1920x0_80_0_0_840a01407935fb16bb96ae805cf91938.jpg The fate of the US-backed Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in Syrias new political landscape may soon be sealed, Reuters reported. Weeks of intensive talks between US, Turkish, and Syrian diplomatic and military negotiators have been making headway, sources told the outlet. They claimed that an accord was in the pipeline that would ensure the integration of some Kurdish fighters into Syrian Armed Forces, while others would abandon their positions in the northeast. The departure of "foreign fighters" is essential for Syria's stability, a Turkish Foreign Ministry source said, adding that the talks were "hugely complex." Turkiye considers the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG), the backbone of the SDF, to be an affiliate of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which is designated as a terrorist organization by Ankara. Syrias new defense minister, Murhaf Abu Qasra, has insisted that Kurdish fighters be completely integrated within the hierarchy of the ministry, as quoted by Reuters. However, Mazloum Abdi, commander of the SDF alliance that controls a large part of Syria's oil-rich north-east, told the channel Asharq News earlier that his forces would agree to integrate with the ministry of defense as a decentralized military bloc. Turkiye has threatened to launch a military operation against Kurdish forces in Syria unless they disband. As for the US, incoming President Donald Trump, he is yet to make any official statement about his plans for some 2,000 US troops present on Syrian territory without any legal justification. https://sputnikglobe.com/20250103/whats-in-store-for-syria-in-2025-1121274446.html syria turkiye ankara Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 2025 Svetlana Ekimenko Svetlana Ekimenko 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 Svetlana Ekimenko looming deal may reportedly clarify fate of kurdish-led syrian democratic forces in syria, what's in store for kurdish-led syrian democratic forces in syria, what will happen to sdf, what happens in syria now, what's next for syria in 2025, https://sputnikglobe.com/20250120/priority-putin-call-end-to-ukraine-conflict--turbo-deportations-trumps-to-do-list-for-day-1-1121475894.html Priority Putin Call, End to Ukraine Conflict & Turbo Deportations: Trumps To-Do List for Day 1 Priority Putin Call, End to Ukraine Conflict & Turbo Deportations: Trumps To-Do List for Day 1 Sputnik International Donald Trump pledged he would waste no time quickly implementing executive actions on his first day in office, with many of them reversing or eliminating those... 20.01.2025, Sputnik International 2025-01-20T14:07+0000 2025-01-20T14:07+0000 2025-01-20T14:07+0000 americas us donald trump ukraine migrant crisis https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e9/01/14/1121475004_0:160:3072:1888_1920x0_80_0_0_00203078acd1dbc679108a62f4d261f2.jpg Donald Trump is teeing up for an executive order signing spree the moment hes back in office. What may be on his list? Get On The Phone to Vladimir Putin Fast: A phone call with the Russian President could take place "in the coming days or weeks," according to Trump's national security advisor. An in-person meeting is expected "very quickly." Withdraw Funding For Ukraine:I will end the war in Ukraine [] and I will prevent World War III from happening, Trump told D.C. victory rally. Ukraine conflict is just dying to be settled, he said earlier, and insisted that Biden and Kamala got us into that war. Stop Border Invasion: Close the border. Day 1 to all illegal aliens, declare a national border emergency, enlist the help of the US military to launch the largest deportation program in American history, Trump said. Spill Truth About Laptop from Hell Trump may suspend security clearances for the 51 national security officials who lied about Hunter Bidens laptop ahead of the 2020 presidential election Put End To DEI: Trump vowed to dismantle the destructive and divisive diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) hiring practices across both government and the private sector." Disclose Secret Files: Pledge to blow the lid on trove of classified files on the assassinations of John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy, and Martin Luther King Jr. Its all going to be released! https://sputnikglobe.com/20250120/trump-instructs-aides-to-arrange-phone-call-with-putin-1121469590.html americas ukraine Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 2025 Svetlana Ekimenko Svetlana Ekimenko 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 Svetlana Ekimenko what orders will trump sign on first day in office, what will trump do after entering office, what is on trump's to-do list, will trump call putin, will trump meet with putin, can trump end ukraine war, us president-elect donald trump, russian president vladimir putin, arrange a phone call, https://sputnikglobe.com/20250120/russia-congratulates-us-president-elect-trump-on-taking-office---putin-1121475785.html Russia Congratulates US President-Elect Trump on Taking Office - Putin Russia Congratulates US President-Elect Trump on Taking Office - Putin Sputnik International Russian President Vladimir Putin has congratulated US President Donald Trump on his inauguration. 20.01.2025, Sputnik International 2025-01-20T14:01+0000 2025-01-20T14:01+0000 2025-01-20T14:02+0000 world vladimir putin donald trump sergey lavrov russia russian security council us https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e8/0c/13/1121210901_0:0:3009:1694_1920x0_80_0_0_591b1a32105bf3546cdc724a37703792.jpg "We see the statement of the newly elected US president and members of his team about the desire to restore direct contacts with Russia, which were interrupted by the outgoing administration through no fault of ours. We also hear his statement about the need to do everything possible to prevent a third world war. Of course, we welcome this attitude and congratulate the president-elect of the United States on his inauguration," Putin said at a meeting with members of the Russian Security Council.Russian President Vladimir Putin asked Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov to report to him on the situation in the United States on Monday. https://sputnikglobe.com/20250120/trump-instructs-aides-to-arrange-phone-call-with-putin-1121469590.html russia Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 2025 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 vladimir putin, donald trump, sergey lavrov, russia, russian security council, us https://sputnikglobe.com/20250120/trump-instructs-aides-to-arrange-phone-call-with-putin-1121469590.html Trump Instructs Aides to Arrange Phone Call With Putin Trump Instructs Aides to Arrange Phone Call With Putin Sputnik International US President-elect Donald Trump has instructed his aides to arrange a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin within few days after his inauguration, media reported, citing informed sources. 2025-01-20T05:20+0000 2025-01-20T05:20+0000 2025-01-20T05:20+0000 world donald trump ukraine vladimir putin phone conversation phone call us russia https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e5/02/0a/1082032733_0:320:3073:2048_1920x0_80_0_0_b1305ce1cf88c58d651a8b0ad36985fb.jpg According to the broadcaster, the topic of the conversation will be a possibility of a personal meeting between the politicians in the coming months with the goal of trying to end the war in Ukraine. It is not yet clear whether a date for the conversation has been agreed upon, the channel added.Earlier in January, Trumps National Security Advisor Designate Mike Waltz said that US President-elect Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin may hold a phone conversation in the coming days or weeks. https://sputnikglobe.com/20250112/trump-putin-may-hold-phone-conversation-in-coming-days-or-weeks---waltz-1121417346.html ukraine russia Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 2025 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 president-elect donald trump, russian president vladimir putin, arrange a phone call https://sputnikglobe.com/20250120/ukraine-loses-over-545-soldiers-in-battles-with-russian-forces---mod-1121470400.html Ukraine Loses Over 545 Soldiers in Battles With Russian Forces - MoD Ukraine Loses Over 545 Soldiers in Battles With Russian Forces - MoD Sputnik International Russia's Battlegroup Tsentr has eliminated over 545 Ukrainian military personnel over the past 24 hours, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Monday. 2025-01-20T09:26+0000 2025-01-20T09:26+0000 2025-01-20T09:26+0000 russia's special operation in ukraine russia ukraine donetsk russian defense ministry russian armed forces https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e8/0c/01/1121055769_0:215:2875:1832_1920x0_80_0_0_8c4eb58ee4be19963d882531af7287c1.jpg "The enemy lost up to 545 military personnel, two US-made M113 armored personnel carriers, three vehicles and a 122-mm Gvozdika self-propelled artillery system," the statement said. Russian forces took control of the Shevchenko settlement in the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) and the Novoegoreevka settlement in the Lugansk People's Republic (LPR), the ministry said. Russia's Battlegroup Zapad group has eliminated over 400 Ukrainian soldiers, while Battlegroup Yug has eliminated up to 220 Ukrainian soldiers, the ministry said. https://sputnikglobe.com/20250114/ukraine-loses-over-460-soldiers-in-kursk-region-in-past-day---1121427610.html russia ukraine donetsk Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60 2025 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 ukraine loses, russian defense ministry, ukrainian military personnel It's not unusual for the Determination Stable to have finalists for the O'Brien Awards, which honour the best in Canadian harness racing. However, there's a new dimension to its 2024 nominations: for the first time, the stable has earned a spot on the shortlist for the Armstrong Breeder of the Year Award in Canada. The nine starters produced by its small band of broodmares won 25 races and more than $1 million in purses in Canada. Standouts included three-year-old trotting filly Drawn Impression and two-year-old colt Emoticon Legacy, the first foals of one of its past champions, Emoticon Hanover. Both captured Breeders Crown eliminations in the U.S. and made more than $200,000. Another homebred filly, two-year-old trotter Lasting Dream, was runner-up in the Mohawk Million and collected almost $400,000. Drawn Impression and Lasting Dream are both O'Brien Award finalists in their respective categories. "It's special for the whole team to have horses we raised perform like that," said Determination trainer Luc Blais. "We raced the mares for Mr. Godin [owner Serge Godin] and now we're racing the babies." Determination is a relatively small breeding operation with only nine broodmares and one stallion, Lookslikeachpndale, standing at Seelster Farm. Its Hambletonian champion Forbidden Trade was pulled from stud duty because of fertility issues but is servicing a few of the stable's own mares. "I have a filly by him from Dream Together who is super nice," said Blais. This year, he has another in the Emoticon line, Emoticon Walner, a two-year-old full brother to the stable's 2025 Hambletonian hopeful, Emoticon Legacy. "I'm excited to start back with [Legacy]," said Blais. "The speed is there if he can just get a little stronger. He was always competitive, and we didn't start him that much." Blais said Godin studies pedigree closely and they consult on where to send their mares. There aren't many new homebreds in the 40-horse stable for the 2025 season, "but we should have six the following year." In addition to its own products, Determination got strong results in 2024 from many of its auction purchases. Despite winning only one race, three-year-old Muscle Hill trotter Private Access earned more than $400,000. Three-year-old pacing filly Collusion Hanover, who Blais said was the biggest surprise, captured the Ontario Sires Stakes Grassroots final and was a good third in the Super Final. The stable had 10 winners of $100,000-plus, most of them driven regularly by Quebec native Louis-Philippe Roy, who has succeeded Bob McClure as the stable's go-to driver. In 2024, Roy set a career-high in earnings, with just under $8.3 million, and is also an O'Brien Award finalist as Canada's Driver of the Year. "We have a good relationship with him," said Blais. "There's good chemistry, good communication." Collectively, Determination horses produced 58 wins and just over $2.5 million in purses in 2024, 80 per cent of it in Canada. "It was a good year," said Blais, one he'll be toasting with his team at the O'Brien Awards gala on Feb. 8 in Mississauga. "In the winter, when we don't get out much, it's a highlight...like a family party," he said. To reserve your tickets for the O'Brien Awards, please fill out the O'Brien Awards ticket reservation form and send it to Jade Regina at [email protected]. (A Trot Insider Exclusive by Paul Delean; photos courtesy New Image Media) Horse Racing New Brunswick (HRNB) has announced additional details for its Annual General Meeting, scheduled for Saturday, Jan. 25 at the Fredericton Motor Inn. There are two vacancies on the Board of Directors that need to be filled. One is a breeder director and the other is at large. Nominations can be made at the AGM or by emailing Dr. Mitchell Downey in advance at [email protected]. The HRNB meeting will begin at 1 p.m. The New Brunswick Standardbred Breeders and Owners Association (NBSBOA) will also be hosting its Annual General Meeting immediately following the HRNB meeting at 2:30 p.m. (With files from HRNB & NBSBOA) Flash Liu Jianchao, head of the International Department of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, meets with Prabowo Subianto, president of Indonesia and general chairman of the Great Indonesia Movement Party in Jakarta, Indonesia, Jan. 16, 2025. A delegation of the CPC, led by Liu Jianchao, visited Indonesia from Thursday to Sunday. [Photo/Xinhua] A delegation of the Communist Party of China (CPC), led by Liu Jianchao, head of the International Department of the CPC Central Committee, visited Indonesia from Thursday to Sunday. During the visit, Liu held talks with Indonesian political leaders, including Prabowo Subianto, president of Indonesia and general chairman of the Great Indonesia Movement Party, Megawati Soekarnoputri, chairperson of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle and former president, Bahlil Lahadalia, chairman of the Golkar Party and minister of energy and mineral resources. The discussions focused on implementing the key consensuses reached by leaders of the two countries, advancing the building of a China-Indonesia community with a shared future, and deepening inter-party and practical cooperation. Liu also delivered a speech at the Foreign Policy Community of Indonesia, where he introduced the reform measures determined at the Third Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee and elaborated on China's Asia policy. Flash Several Chinese residents in Los Angeles spoke with China.org.cn about their harrowing experiences and how they are coping with the disaster caused by the massive, deadly wildfires that ravaged California for days, while also questioning government officials about their response. Utility workers restore power lines in areas affected by the Eaton Fire in Altadena, California, Jan. 15, 2025. [Photo/Xinhua] Lawyer Kathy Q. Hao, founder of TCW Global Legal Group, learned about the wildfires from the news. "There were two fires, one very close to my office and another about four miles away from my house in Pasadena," she recalled. "I could already smell smoke in my home, and we received an evacuation warning. I started to get nervous." Although the fire did not reach her properties, the smoke was heavy. Her daughters relocated to southern Los Angeles while she stayed behind to work on a case. Despite closing all windows and doors, her home and office filled with smoke and dust at intolerable levels. Meanwhile, many of her friends lost their homes and belongings. "The fires spread very quickly. No one had time to prepare," she said, adding that her friends were safe. "If a house is insured, it can be rebuilt. The government will provide subsidies and support. But for those without insurance, it is tragic. The memories of home, history and collections are lost forever." It has been over a week since massive wildfires, fueled by hurricane-force Santa Ana winds, erupted in Los Angeles, resulting in some of California's most devastating fires. The wildfires in Los Angeles have claimed 27 lives and destroyed more than 12,000 structures. The Palisades Fire, the largest, has burned 95 square kilometers as of Jan. 18, with containment improving from 11% to 31% over the past week. Meanwhile, the Eaton Fire near Pasadena has reached 57 square kilometers and is now 65% contained, up from 3% a week ago. Decreased wind speeds have aided firefighters, but the National Weather Service warns of future dangerous conditions, with tens of thousands still under evacuation orders. A firefighting airplane drops retardant to prevent a wildfire from spreading further in Mandeville Canyon, Los Angeles, Jan. 11, 2025. [Photo/Xinhua] Musician Michael Liu expressed frustration over the government's response. He was in Hawaii with his wife when the fires broke out, while his mother and their newborn were at home in Arcadia, a city in Los Angeles County. "I felt very anxious and helpless," he said. They immediately booked a flight back. Their residence is close to the evacuation zone, and they prepared essential items in case they needed to leave. Liu learned that some of his friends' homes had been destroyed, and many were evacuated. "I was heartbroken to see the losses, and I also felt great anger," he said, attributing the wildfires to arsonists, inaction by the California state government and some Democratic policies. He criticized the Los Angeles Fire Department's spending priorities and said some officials lacked disaster management skills. Hao agreed, citing inadequate firefighting resources and neglected infrastructure. "The California government has been ineffective, focusing on trivial matters like funding for fish protection while cutting budgets for firefighting and public safety, among other absurdities. That's why there are now calls for the governor and mayors to resign," she said. Since the fires began, there have been criticisms directed at California Governor Gavin Newsom, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and other local officials for their handling of the crisis. Wildfires are seen near the home of Michael Liu. [Photo provided by Michael Liu to China.org.cn] In a video, a Los Angeles mother confronted Governor Newsom as he surveyed the damage, questioning him about the lack of water in the hydrants. The governor promised that it would be different next time. "The California governor and other officials should bear significant responsibility for the inadequate disaster response. They should resign. There are wildfires in Los Angeles every year; haven't they learned any lessons on how to prevent and respond to these disasters? They prioritized politically correct initiatives but failed in their duty to provide effective disaster relief," Liu complained. University student Larrissa Xiang first noticed a large black cloud near campus, realizing the fires were serious. As the fire approached, the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) canceled classes, and Xiang, evacuated to Long Beach along with some international students, planning to stay there for more than a week. "Being alive is a stroke of luck amid all the misfortunes," she said, believing that natural factors are the primary cause of the fires and that local firefighters have not received adequate training or drills for such a large-scale disaster. Donated supplies at a shelter in Los Angeles. [Photo provided by Ruidan Hon to China.org.cn] Ruidan Hon, a local resident and housewife, described the community's fundraising efforts, with one website raising over a million dollars. "My friends and I also raised $2,000 to purchase supplies for the shelters," she said. Hon also recalled the night the wildfires began, when she worried about wildlife and pets. Now, she is increasingly concerned about the potential economic recession. Hao offered assistance by hosting two evacuated families in her home. "Disaster relief services in the U.S. are still timely, and the public is actively participating," she said. "People's morale remains strong." Hao called for an investigation into the actions of state officials and the allocation of state and city budgets. 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: U.S. Navy divers test the Divers Augmented Vision Display (DAVD) during a training exercise in Little Creek, Virginia. Outfitted with components such as a heads-up display resembling virtual-reality glasses (which can be adapted to any Navy dive helmet), DAVD enables divers to better operate in inhospitable underwater environments. Credit: Coda Octopus A favorite childhood memory for Dr. Sandra Chapman was visiting the USS Arizona Memorial in Pearl Harbor with her father. So it's appropriate that Chapmana program officer in the Office of Naval Research's (ONR) Warfighter Performance Departmentis passionate about her involvement in the development of an innovative technology recently applied to efforts to preserve the area around the USS Arizona Memorial. Developed in partnership with Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) and Coda Octopus, the system is the Divers Augmented Vision Display (DAVD), which enables divers to better operate in inhospitable underwater environments. "Through real-time information sharing, high-resolution imagery and an augmented-reality display, DAVD allows Navy divers to operate more effectively in dark, low-visibility environments," said Chapman. "This increases their productivity, improves communications, keeps them safe and turns on the lights underwater, so to speak." Navy diving missions include deep ocean salvage of vessels and aircraft, underwater rescues, explosive ordnance disposal, ship hull maintenance and recovery of sunken equipment. This often involves working in pitch-black, dangerous conditions littered with hazards such as pier pilings, rock and jagged metal. Designed to address these challenges, DAVD's most prominent feature is a heads-up display resembling virtual-reality glasses, which can be adapted to any Navy dive helmet. Other components include specialized augmented-reality software (which allows the Coda Octopus 3D sonar or virtual images to be overlaid on a physical landscape), laptops, cables, cameras and lighting. While using DAVD, a diver is tethered to a ship or floating platform by cables transmitting vital information between the diver and the surface teamincluding rate of ascent and descent, time elapsed, current and maximum depth, and remaining levels of breathing gas. DAVD can take sonar imagery gathered before and during a dive and use it to create a detailed 3D model of the dive site. In addition, divers are able to receive videos, technical manuals, images, messages and other data to help them navigate underwater and maintain smooth communications with the surface. "As a diver, I'll say DAVD is a game-changer," said Lt. Matthew Coleman, a NAVSEA assistant for salvage. "It gives us an extremely detailed view of the bottomwith much more accuracy than what we used previouslyand is an excellent tool for completing any mission, in all working conditions." DAVD's roots stretch back to 2019, when ONR sponsored its development to answer a need voiced by NAVSEA to improve diver visibility underwater. It eventually was moved to ONR's Future Naval Capabilities program, which is designed to complete development of mature technologies and transition them into naval programs of record. In the subsequent years, multiple versions of DAVD were introduced into the fleet for testing, demonstration and transition, each with new improvements and upgrades. The latest iteration entered service in 2023. Approximately 15 DAVD systems are currently being used by nine naval commandsand have played important roles in both naval and non-naval operations. For example, in the aftermath of the 2023 wildfires in Maui, Hawaii, Navy divers used DAVD to locate 26 boats that had sunk along a marina during the disaster. Navy and Coda Octopus engineers also employed the DAVD 3D sonar systems to assist in salvage efforts after the March 2024 collapse of Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge. And DAVD was instrumental in efforts to map the murky waters surrounding the sunken USS Arizona. The purpose was to help U.S. Pacific Fleet and the National Park Service inspect the condition of submerged, severely degraded construction moorings used to build the memorial in the 1950s. In the future, Chapman and McMurtrie envision potential upgrades to DAVD that could include GPS for georeferencing (relating a digital map or image to geographic coordinates), physiological monitoring such as an eye-tracking device, or enabling DAVD to work without cables connecting to the surface. "As we get regular feedback from divers, we want to continuously upgrade and improve DAVD to ensure it stays effective and relevant," said Paul McMurtrie, NAVSEA diving systems program manager. "Similar to how your iPhone is always getting upgrades." CPC delegation visits Indonesia Xinhua) 08:35, January 20, 2025 Liu Jianchao, head of the International Department of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, meets with Prabowo Subianto, president of Indonesia and general chairman of the Great Indonesia Movement Party in Jakarta, Indonesia, Jan. 16, 2025. A delegation of the CPC, led by Liu Jianchao, visited Indonesia from Thursday to Sunday. (Xinhua/Xu Qin) JAKARTA, Jan. 19 (Xinhua) -- A delegation of the Communist Party of China (CPC), led by Liu Jianchao, head of the International Department of the CPC Central Committee, visited Indonesia from Thursday to Sunday. During the visit, Liu held talks with Indonesian political leaders, including Prabowo Subianto, president of Indonesia and general chairman of the Great Indonesia Movement Party, Megawati Soekarnoputri, chairperson of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle and former president, Bahlil Lahadalia, chairman of the Golkar Party and minister of energy and mineral resources. The discussions focused on implementing the key consensuses reached by leaders of the two countries, advancing the building of a China-Indonesia community with a shared future, and deepening inter-party and practical cooperation. Liu also delivered a speech at the Foreign Policy Community of Indonesia, where he introduced the reform measures determined at the Third Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee and elaborated on China's Asia policy. Liu Jianchao, head of the International Department of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, delivers a speech at the Foreign Policy Community of Indonesia in Jakarta, Indonesia, Jan. 18, 2025. A delegation of the CPC, led by Liu Jianchao, visited Indonesia from Thursday to Sunday. (Xinhua/Xu Qin) (Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Zhong Wenxing) Vietnam's fertilizer exports hit nearly $710 mln in 2024 By Lan Do Mon, January 20, 2025 | 9:08 am GMT+7 Vietnam's fertilizer exports totaled approximately 1.73 million tons in 2024, generating nearly $710 million in revenue, with an average price of $411.1 per ton. The figures marked an 11.7% increase in volume and a 9.4% rise in revenue year-on-year, though the average price per ton decreased slightly by 2%, according to the General Department of Customs. Cambodia is the largest importer of Vietnam's fertilizers. Photo courtesy of Viet Quality. In December 2024 alone, 154,801 tons of fertilizers were exported at an average price of over $422 per ton, earning Vietnam nearly $65.4 million in revenue. This represented an 18.4% hike in volume, a 21.4% surge in revenue, and a 2.5% uptick in price compared to November 2024. Vietnams primary fertilizer export market in 2024 was Cambodia, which accounted for 34.3% of the total volume and 33.9% of total revenue. South Korea was the second-largest market, with exports reaching 220,174 tons valued at over $89 million, at an average price of $404.9 per ton. This represented a significant increase of 146.6% in volume, 154.6% in revenue, and 3.2% in price. Exports to the Philippines totaled 109,381 tons, valued at $46.35 million, with an average price of $423.8 per ton, which reflected a 93.3% increase in volume and a 78.9% rise in revenue, though the price declined by 7.4%. The Philippines accounted for 6.3% of total export volume and 6.5% of total revenue. Phung Ha, chairman of the Vietnam Fertilizer Association, told local media that Vietnams agricultural sector achieved remarkable results in 2024, affirming its crucial role in the economy and improving rural living standards. "Despite challenges such as the severe impact of typhoon Yagi, Vietnams crop sector recorded notable successes in key exports like rice, fruits, coffee, and cashew nuts," he noted. For example, rice exports hit a record 9 million tons, generating $5.8 billion in revenue, while fruit exports reached a record $7 billion, with durian alone accounting for $3.2 billion. Fertilizers have played a pivotal role in these achievements, as they are among the most important agricultural inputs. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), fertilizers contribute 40-60% of global food production, depending on factors like crop type, weather, and season. To meet growing demand for higher crop yields and quality, Vietnamese companies have developed advanced fertilizers, such as Enhanced Efficiency Fertilizers (EEF). These innovative products are designed to control nutrient release, reduce environmental loss, and improve nutrient uptake by crops. Other developments include multi-purpose fertilizers, organic fertilizers, and microbial fertilizers. The International Fertilizer Association (IFA) forecasts a 6% increase in global demand for urea fertilizer between 2024 and 2028. Vietnams fertilizer exports are also expected to recover, particularly in traditional markets like Cambodia and South Korea, while expanding into new markets in Europe, where quality standards are more stringent. (TBTCO) - So Giao dich Chung khoan TP. Ho Chi Minh (HoSE) a ban hanh quy tac moi cho bo chi so HOSE-Index, gioi han ty trong von hoa mot nhom nganh khong qua 40%, co hieu luc tu 30/12/2024. Cung voi trien vong nang hang thi truong chung khoan Viet Nam, nhung ieu chinh nay co the tac ong tich cuc en thanh khoan va vi the cua co phieu MSN cua Tap oan Masan. You have reached a premium content area of Transitions. To read this entire article please login if you are already a Transitions subscriber. Not a subscriber? Subscribe today for access to: Full access to the website, including premium articles videos, country reports and searchable archives (containing over 25,000 articles). Daleel, a personalised financial marketplace, has announced its expansion into the UAE. Daleel, which was founded in Bahrain, has seen unprecedented success and popularity in its home fintech market, seamlessly bridging the gap between customers and financial institutions through its innovative platform, the company said. Its strategic growth coincides with purpose-built upgrades to help UAE consumers simplify their financial decision making. Daleel is addressing a sizable business opportunity, with the Middle East personal financial services market estimated at $44.4 billion, it said. Fittingly, its official UAE launch took place at Visas CEMEA region Market Support Center in Dubai, with the company having won first-place and $40,000 funding at the 2023 Visa Everywhere Initiative finals in Saudi Arabia. Daleel is also backed by proven investors such as Flat6Labs and Salica. The hosted launch event featured Daleel Co-Founders P K Shrivastava (CEO) and Ridaa Shah (COO), Helal Lootah (Co-CEO and Co-Founder of Lune Technologies), Chris Michael (Co-CEO and Co-Founder of Ozone API), Arran Summerhill (Co-Founder at Holo) and Visa CEMEAs James Ashton-Smith, Head of Digital Partnerships & Ventures, amongst other distinguished guests from banks, VCs and fintechs. Shrivastava said: Launching in the UAE is a landmark moment for the company and we are pleased to do so alongside Visa, who have championed us from the start. There is a real demand across the region for personalized finance and we believe this is the right time to expand our marketplace to connect more customers with the best financial solutions. We look forward to contributing to the We the UAE 2031 vision and the UAEs Digital Economy Strategy, driving greater financial collaboration, innovation and inclusion for the countrys economy. Salima Gutieva, Visas VP and Country Manager for UAE, said: We welcome Daleel to the UAE and are delighted that a company we have supported through its early stages is scaling into a regional fintech player. Technology that makes peoples lives easier and fosters greater trust and transparency in finance is essential. We look forward to collaborating with Daleel to further financial awareness and enhance personalisation. Daleels team includes experienced open banking pioneers, finance professionals and technology developers. Through this deep knowledge and proven regional implementation, Daleel has honed its personalised finance platform into a hassle-free way to match individual customers with trusted financial institutions and products. For financial institutions, Daleel provides a more cost-effective way to acquire customers and create tailored products based on real data. The company also intends to secure an open finance license in 2025, to provide enhanced integration, it said. Its cutting-edge, data-driven technology sifts through thousands of offers across credit cards, mortgages, savings accounts and more. It then delivers bespoke and actionable insights within seconds. This offers a unique and transparent ecosystem where better financial outcomes are created, and decisions can be made in minutes rather than days and weeks, the company added. -TradeArabia News Service Billionaire wealth grew by $2 trillion in 2024 alone, equivalent to roughly $5.7 billion a day, at a rate three times faster than the year before, according to a new report from Oxfam. An average of nearly four new billionaires were minted every week in 2024. Meanwhile, the number of people living in poverty has barely changed since 1990, according to World Bank data, said the report. In 2024, the number of billionaires rose to 2,769, up from 2,565 in 2023. Their combined wealth surged from $13 trillion to $15 trillion in just 12 months. This is the second largest annual increase in billionaire wealth since records began. The wealth of the worlds 10 richest men grew on average by almost $100 million a day even if they lost 99 percent of their wealth overnight, they would remain billionaires. Last year, Oxfam predicted the emergence of the first trillionaire within a decade. However, with billionaire wealth accelerating at a faster pace this projection has expanded dramatically at current rates the world is now on track to see at least five trillionaires within that timeframe. This ever-growing concentration of wealth is enabled by a monopolistic concentration of power, with billionaires increasingly exerting influence over industries and public opinion, the report says. Oxfam published Takers Not Makers today as business elites gathered in the Swiss resort town of Davos and billionaire Donald Trump, backed by the worlds richest man Elon Musk, is inaugurated as President of the United States. The capture of our global economy by a privileged few has reached heights once considered unimaginable. The failure to stop billionaires is now spawning soon-to-be trillionaires. Not only has the rate of billionaire wealth accumulation accelerated by three times but so too has their power, said Oxfam International Executive Director Amitabh Behar. We present this report as a stark wake up-call that ordinary people the world over are being crushed by the enormous wealth of a tiny few, said Behar. The report also shines a light on how, contrary to popular perception, billionaire wealth is largely unearned 60 percent of billionaire wealth now comes from inheritance, monopoly power or crony connections. Unmerited wealth and colonialism understood as not only a history of brutal wealth extraction but also a powerful force behind todays extreme levels of inequality stand as two major drivers of billionaire wealth accumulation, the report says. Oxfam calculates that 36 percent of billionaire wealth is now inherited. Research by Forbes found that every billionaire under 30 has inherited their wealth, while UBS estimates that over 1,000 of todays billionaires will pass on more than $5.2 trillion to their heirs over the next two to three decades. Many of the super-rich, particularly in Europe, owe part of their wealth to historical colonialism and the exploitation of poorer countries, it says. This dynamic of wealth extraction persists today: vast sums of money still flow from the Global South to countries in the Global North and their richest citizens, in what Oxfams report describes as modern-day colonialism. The richest 1 percent in Global North countries like the US, UK and France extracted $30 million an hour from the Global South through the financial system in 2023. Global North countries control 69 percent of global wealth, 77 percent of billionaire wealth and are home to 68 percent of billionaires, despite making up just 21 percent of the global population. The average Belgian has about 180 times more voting power in the largest arm of the World Bank than the average Ethiopian. Low- and middle-income countries spend on average nearly half of their national budgets on debt repayments, often to rich creditors in New York and London. This far outstrips their combined investment in education and healthcare. Between 1970 and 2023, Global South governments paid $3.3 trillion in interest to Northern creditors. The history of empire, racism and exploitation has left a lasting legacy of inequality. Today, the average life expectancy of Africans is still more than 15 years shorter than that of Europeans. Research shows that wages in the Global South are 87 to 95 percent lower than wages in the Global North for work of equal skill. Despite contributing 90 percent of the labour that drives the global economy, workers in low- and middle-income countries receive only 21 percent of global income. Globally, women are more often found in the most vulnerable forms of informal employment, including domestic work, than their male counterparts. Migrant workers in rich countries earn, on average, about 13 percent less than nationals, with the wage gap rising to 21 percent for women migrants. The ultra-rich like to tell us that getting rich takes skill, grit and hard work. But the truth is most wealth is taken, not made. So many of the so-called self-made are actually heirs to vast fortunes, handed down through generations of unearned privilege. Untaxed billions of dollars in inheritance is an affront to fairness, perpetuating a new aristocracy where wealth and power stays locked in the hands of a few, said Behar. Meanwhile, the money desperately needed in every country to invest in teachers, buy medicines and create good jobs is being siphoned off to the bank accounts of the super-rich. This is not just bad for the economy its bad for humanity." Oxfam is calling on governments to act rapidly to reduce inequality and end extreme wealth by: * Radically reduce inequality: Governments need to commit to ensuring that, both globally and at a national level, the incomes of the top 10 percent are no higher than the bottom 40 percent. According to World Bank data, reducing inequality could end poverty three times faster. Governments must also tackle and end the racism, sexism and division that underpin ongoing economic exploitation. * Tax the richest to end extreme wealth: Global tax policy should fall under a new UN tax convention, ensuring the richest people and corporations pay their fair share. Tax havens must be abolished. Oxfams analysis shows that half of the worlds billionaires live in countries with no inheritance tax for direct descendants. Inheritance needs to be taxed to dismantle the new aristocracy. * End the flow of wealth from South to North. Cancel debts and end the dominance of rich countries and corporations over financial markets and trade rules. This means breaking up monopolies, democratising patent rules, and regulating corporations to ensure they pay living wages and cap CEO pay. Restructure voting powers in the World Bank, IMF and UN Security Council to guarantee fair representation of Global South countries. Former colonial powers must also confront the lasting harm caused by their colonial rule, offer formal apologies, and provide reparations to affected communities, says the Oxfam report. - TradeArabia News Service The UAE-based Eagle Hills Group has announced that it has signed a real estate purchase agreement for the land on which a mixed-use real estate development, the Grand Budapest project, will be built at a development cost of over 12 billion ($12.4 billion). The project, in the Hungarian capital, will make an area that has been abandoned for decades flourish again, said the developer. The guiding principle of the development is sustainability; it involves a smart city concept that incorporates energy-efficient buildings, renewable energy systems, and solutions for intelligent waste management. The Eagle Hills Group views health and education as cornerstones of prosperity and growth and thus the Grand Budapest project includes schools, sport and community facilities that enrich everyday life and promote development. Inspired by Budapests rich cultural heritage, the development aims to respect the citys traditions while introducing modern elements that further enhance the character of the city. Eagle Hills Group Chairman Mohamed Alabbar said: The Grand Budapest project will create a new world-class green district from an area that has been abandoned for decades. The development reflects our vision to create spaces that help city residents in every way and prioritize sustainability and the importance of communities. The planned development of the 100-hectare area will create 35-40 hectares of parks and vibrant public spaces. This development will not only restore a forgotten historical part of Budapest but also make it a global benchmark for human well-being, sustainability, and urban living, the developer said. Grand Budapest vision The name 'Grand Budapest' was chosen to encompass the wealth of opportunity, innovation, and formative impact this project represents. Eagle Hills Group has begun obtaining the necessary name approvals from the competent authorities. This envisioned development was launched with the support of the UAE government and the Hungarian government. Will the proposed massive investment, Grand Budapest aims to boost the Hungarian economy by providing around 2 percent to GDP growth. It will create thousands of jobs during construction and operation, support local businesses, and increase tourism and the value of properties. Beyond the economic benefits, this development aims to redefine urban living by combining sustainability and modern design to create a higher living experience, community, and lifestyle. "Grand Budapest is not merely a development, but a vision for a better, more prosperous Hungary. Our goal is to create a legacy that will inspire generations to come," said Easgle Hills Group. -TradeArabia News Service The Saudi Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources has signed a trilateral agreement with Deutsche Messe and Riyadh Exhibitions Company to host the Industrial Transformation Exhibition in Saudi Arabia as part of the global Hannover Messe network in December 2025. The agreement was signed on the sidelines of the Future Mineral Forum (FMF) held in Riyadh recently. The exhibition will feature a variety of global companies specialising in industrial transformation and advanced technologies. It aims to showcase the significant progress made in the Saudi industrial sector in recent years, guided by the roadmap set out in Saudi Vision 2030, said a Saudi Press Agency report. The event will highlight the kingdom's journey toward industrial transformation, emphasising the adoption of cutting-edge manufacturing technologies by local industries, fostering innovation, and leveraging the Fourth Industrial Revolution to enhance production efficiency and reduce operational costs. Additionally, it will present the services and incentives available within the industry and mining sectors to support this transformation. This exhibition will serve as a premier platform for industry leaders, innovators, and decision-makers from around the world to exchange ideas and showcase the latest advancements in manufacturing solutions. It will attract both established and emerging industrial companies to display their innovative technologies, while also creating opportunities for meaningful international partnerships that contribute to industry development and added value, ultimately enhancing investments in modern manufacturing techniques. Through this exhibition, the ministry aims to encourage local factories to adopt advanced manufacturing concepts and solutions, attract strategic investments in the Saudi industrial sector, and reinforce the Kingdom's status as a global hub for the Fourth Industrial Revolution. The Hannover Messe in Germany is recognized as the largest industrial gathering in the world, drawing over 200,000 visitors to its latest edition in 2023. Established in 1947, it has a rich history of facilitating industrial transformation. The event features approximately 7,000 exhibitor booths annually, attended by prominent political, industrial, and technological leaders from around the globe. Its significance in industrial transformation is underscored by its role as a key platform for the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Dubai Fashion Week (DFW), the city's official fashion showcase, is expanding its global imprint and influence with designers representing new territories making their debut in the Autumn/Winter 2025-26 calendar. The event returns to Dubai Design District (d3) from February 1 to 6, preceding Paris, Milan, New York and London Fashion Weeks, to lead the international fashion season. It will offer designers, buyers, fashion influencers and the public access to a dynamic calendar of runway shows, activations and citywide events. Co-founded by Dubai Design District (d3), part of Tecom Group, and the Arab Fashion Council, DFW Autumn/Winter 2025-26 will present shows from more than 25 renowned and emerging designers from countries including France, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Kuwait, Lebanon, Morocco, Russia, Turkey and UAE. Celebrated couture brand Paolo Sebastian also represents the first Australian fashion house to showcase at DFW. Steadfast demand for luxury fashion defying global market trends and diversity in craftsmanship and creativity continue to cement the Middle East as the new growth hub for design talent, said Khadija Al Bastaki, Senior Vice President of d3. The Autumn/Winter 2025-26 programme is evidence of the powerful platform DFW offers designers and retailers to engage new markets and business opportunities, benefitting from an unmatched vision for excellence, support and diversity that speaks to the appetite of audiences worldwide. The event will deliver on its definitive innovation and unique diversity that position Dubai as the global hub for fashion and creativity. Mohammed Aqra, Chief Strategy Officer, Arab Fashion Council, added: This edition of Dubai Fashion Week is a powerful reflection of the citys ability to bring together a truly global community. From the diverse lineup of designers to the international buyers in attendance, Dubai continues to solidify its place as a hub of creativity and opportunity. Designers arent just drawn here for the exposure; they come for the vision, the collaboration, and the unmatched ecosystem that allows their brands to grow. With the launch of the Buyers Programme for Dubai Fashion Week 2025, in partnership with the Arab Fashion Council and d3, we are taking bold steps to connect emerging talent with global markets, further cementing Dubais role as a transformative force in the fashion world. With the selection committee broadening its reach, DFW continues to evolve this edition. Now presenting a fashion house from Australia alongside talents from the Middle East, Asia, Europe and Africa, the platform further diversifies its spectrum of designers and territories, reflecting Dubai's multicultural and global nature. The committee has meticulously curated a line-up that celebrates creativity across borders and continents, fostering a platform where diverse cultures converge to shape and inspire the future of fashion, said a statement. Global programme shaping the future of fashion Highlights for the upcoming edition include DFW Members BLSSD, Dima Ayad, Lama Jouni, Michael Cinco, Weinsanto and Mrs Keepa. Istanbul-based luxury streetwear brand Les Benjamins joins as the debut Correspondent Member. Marking his DFW debut with a closing showcase on February 6 is Indian couture designer to the stars Manish Malhotra, whose iconic designs have elevated countless Bollywood films. Choice and modest fashion leader RIVA will celebrate the diversity of modern designs. Meanwhile, Morocco-inspired designer Molato will champion eco-conscious fashion, underscoring DFWs commitment to highlighting sustainable and innovative fashion labels. Saijamin and Viva Vox will showcase their signature bold styles alongside Angelo Esteras intricate collections and Antoine Karehs architectural creations. Audiences can expect Manels distinctive cultural richness, complemented by Paolo Sebastians romantic couture, the organisers said. NIF Global London School of Trends will leverage its platform to highlight fresh, emerging talent, continuing DFWs legacy of elevating up-and-coming talent before global stakeholders. Velvety Coutures refined elegance and Zeena Zakis artistic flair further elevate the collection, ensuring a diverse and globally inspired fashion experience. Also joining DFW for the first time is New York-based British-Iraqi designer designer Tara Babylon, best known for her avant-garde evening wear. Beyond the runway programme, DFW will include an invite-only event with THAT Concept and Etoile Boutique. Instagram will kick off fashion week with the Instagram DFW Party and carry forward the momentum of the impactful Round Table initiative from previous editions. An expanding community of global buyers The DFW International Buyers Programme marks continuous growth in the upcoming edition. Distinguished retailers from global hubs such as the USA, Italy, the UK and Germany join DFWs dynamic retail community, reinforcing Dubais status as a hub for fashion excellence, innovation and opportunity. Amplifying the citys presence on global fashion buying circuits, the Buyers Programme offers designers a gateway to showcase their collections to buyers with access to vital fashion markets while creating exclusive sourcing opportunities. It provides a valuable channel for DFW participants to nurture valuable connections with fashion leaders worldwide and expand their global growth story through Dubai. The Buyers Programme, alongside the runway shows, will take place at d3 from February 3 to 5. - TradeArabia News Service Air Arabia has announced the launch of its new non-stop flights to Addis Ababa, the capital city of Ethiopia. Starting January 30, the new service will connect Sharjah International Airport with Addis Ababa Bole International Airport with a frequency of three times a week on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. Adel Al Ali, Group Chief Executive Officer, Air Arabia, commented: "We are delighted to add Addis Ababa to our growing network of destinations. This new route reflects Air Arabias commitment to enhancing connectivity and fostering economic and cultural ties between the UAE and Ethiopia. "By expanding our destinations from Sharjah, we aim to boost trade and tourism while continuing to offer affordable and convenient travel options to our customers. The corporate travel landscape is undergoing a transformative shift as businesses embrace hybrid work models, digital innovations, and sustainability-focused practices. musafirbiz, the corporate travel division of musafir.com, unveils the Top 10 Corporate Travel Trends for 2025, offering actionable insights into the evolving dynamics of business travel. TOP 10 CORPORATE TRAVEL TRENDS FOR 2025 BUSINESS DESTINATIONS REDEFINED Over 40 per cent of businesses in the region plan to increase their travel in 2025. Regional Hotspots: Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman, Bahrain, and Kuwait are emerging as critical hubs for trade and industry-specific events. Global Favorites: Traditional powerhouses like New York, London, and Singapore maintain their allure, while Riyadh and Bengaluru gain prominence as burgeoning tech and business ecosystems. THE HYBRID WORK IMPACT The hybrid work model has reduced routine travel but increased demand for critical in-person engagements. Experts predict that some global corporations may phase out hybrid models, further boosting travel demand. BLEISURE TRAVEL ON THE RISE musafirbiz anticipates a 23 per cent increase in bleisure bookings for H1 2025. Professionals are increasingly blending business with leisure, adding an average of 2-3 days to trips for relaxation. Destinations like Dubai, Paris, and Sydney top the list for bleisure extensions. REVIVING CORPORATE TRAVEL BUDGETS Budgets are seeing a cautious increase, driven by high-ROI engagements such as industry expos and client meetings. Cost-effectiveness and virtual meeting options remain integral to planning. TECHNOLOGYS ROLE IN MEETINGS VR and AR are complementing in-person interactions, enabling immersive training, product demos, and global collaborations. SUSTAINABILITY TAKES CENTER STAGE Companies are prioritising eco-conscious practices such as green accommodations, carbon-offset programs, and sustainable itineraries. A significant rise in adoption is expected, with many firms aligning with global climate goals. POPULAR BUSINESS EVENTS Mega-events like GITEX, Arab Health, and Expo 2025 continue to position Dubai as a premier business hub. Globally, sustainability and digital transformation conferences dominate the calendar. KEY INDUSTRIES DRIVING TRAVEL Inbound travel to the UAE is propelled by technology, healthcare, finance, and energy sectors. Outbound travel is led by similar industries, reflecting their global influence. LOYALTY PROGRAMS EVOLVED Airlines and hotels are tailoring rewards for corporate travelers, offering perks like workspace amenities, priority services, and enhanced loyalty redemption options. CHALLENGES FOR BUSINESS TRAVELLERS Navigating disruptions, security concerns, and balancing virtual and in-person schedules remain top challenges. Comprehensive travel management solutions are essential to overcoming these hurdles. FUTURE OUTLOOK The future of business travel lies at the intersection of sustainability, technology, and wellness. Airfares are projected to rise by 2 per cent-14 per cent globally in 2025 due to fuel costs and inflationary pressures, but innovative travel strategies and loyalty programs are mitigating these impacts for businesses. As we step into 2025, corporate travel is more than a logistical function; its a catalyst for growth and innovation, said Sachin Gadoya, CEO and Co-Founder of musafir.com and musafirbiz. At musafirbiz, we empower organisations with cutting-edge travel solutions that align with their strategic priorities, ensuring a seamless experience for professionals worldwide. -TradeArabia News Service The 12th edition of the Arab Aviation Summit (AAS), the regions leading industry event, will underscore the transformative role of Arab aviation, propelling the sector to new standards of innovation, sustainability, and excellence. AAS will take place on February 17 and 18 in Riyadh, hosted by Abdulaziz bin Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al-Duailj, President of the Saudi General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA). This years summit is hosted under the theme Uniting Leaders, Building Tomorrow: Advancing Global Aviation. The theme, highlighting the core values of collaboration, forward-thinking leadership, and the global impact of aviation advancements. Long-established as the regional voice of the aviation industry and endorsed by Arab governments, the AAS provides a crucial platform for shaping the future of aviation and tourism. This summit unites key stakeholders, including government officials, private sector leaders, media representatives, and innovators, fostering collaborative discussions and strategic partnerships. Furthermore, the AAS extends the Arab world's influence globally, solidifying its position as a key player in the international aviation landscape. "As a key platform for driving collaboration and innovation in aviation, the Arab Aviation Summit reflects Airbus' long-term commitment to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the wider region. Aligned with Saudi Vision 2030, this initiative highlights the Kingdoms pivotal role in shaping the future of global aviation", said Gabriel Semelas, President, Airbus Africa and the Middle East. Together, with our partners and stakeholders, we are dedicated to building a more connected and sustainable future while supporting the regions long-term growth." Majid Khan, CEO of the Saudi Connectivity Program, highlighting the summits role in developing stronger relationships not only with operators but also with cross-sector organisations, said: The Arab Aviation Summit 2025 serves as a vital platform for fostering stronger relationships, not just within the aviation sector but also across industries. By bringing together operators, innovators, and cross-sector organizations, the summit drives collaboration that unlocks transformative opportunities aligned with Saudi Vision 2030. This collective effort reinforces the Kingdom's position as a global hub for innovation and connectivity. The 2025 summit will spotlight key themes shaping the future of Arab aviation under Saudi Vision 2030 and its transformative impact on the Kingdom's aviation sector, and its potential to elevate the industry on a global scale. Supported by a global network of industry leaders, including IATA, the Arab Air Carriers Organization, Avilease, Airbus, Collins Aerospace, CFM International, the Saudi Connectivity Program, THC, Cirium, and others, the 2025 summit offers participants unparalleled access to curated content and best practices for airlines, airports, innovation, costumer experience, general aviation, training and advanced air mobility. Attendees will benefit from exclusive networking opportunities, insightful industry workshops, high level roundtables, expert-led masterclasses, and a host of other engaging opportunities. TradeArabia News Service The General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) of Saudi Arabia will host an investment showcase including two high level panel discussions at Saudi House on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos next week. The investment showcase will highlight projects and incentives to unlock more than $100 billion of investment into the Kingdom's booming aviation sector across airports, airlines, ground services, cargo and logistics. As part of the more than $100 billion of investment opportunities, airports account for more than $50 billion, new aircraft orders around $40 billion, while the remaining $10 billion is comprised of other projects, including $5 billion in special logistics areas around the three main airports in Riyadh, Jeddah, and Dammam. Panellists at Saudi House during the focus on aviation include the Saudi Arabian Assistant Minister of Investment Dr Abdullah Aldubaikhi and leaders from Archer Aviation, Jeddah Airport, the Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution Saudi Arabia and GACA. Mohammed Alkhuraisi, GACA Executive Vice President of Strategy and Business Intelligence, said: Saudi Arabia is presenting aviation investment opportunities that are unmatched globally, as the Saudi Aviation Strategy triples passenger numbers, connects to more than 250 destinations and handles 330 million passengers and 4.5 million tons of cargo. The investment panel discussion will provide updates on major projects including the massive six runway King Salman International Airport in Riyadh and public private partnerships for the Abha, Taif, Hail and Qassim international airports. The showcase will also feature opportunities in cargo and logistics, Advanced Air Mobility and business aviation. The Saudi House initiative, led by the Saudi Ministry of Economy and Planning (MEP), serves as a platform to showcase Saudi Arabia's transformative economic vision in Davos. Featuring contributions from multiple government entities, Saudi House facilitates strategic dialogue among entrepreneurs, innovators, and decision-makers, fostering collaboration on key sectors shaping the future. Aviation will feature as a core enabler of the Saudi transformation story, and a sector through which Saudi is playing a global leadership role. -TradeArabia News Service Boutique Group has appointed Christoph Mares as its new Chief Executive Officer (CEO), aiming to drive the company towards introducing Saudi hospitality and culture to the world through its iconic palaces. Mares, who has previously held the position of Chief Operating Officer at Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group and COO for Emaar Hospitality Group, will be instrumental in driving Boutique Group towards its goal of introducing Saudi hospitality and culture to the world. The company is confident in a seamless leadership transition, with Mares' experience and wealth of experience laying the foundation for continued success. Mares said: I am honored to join Boutique Group, a company that shares my passion for hospitality excellence and cultural preservation. Prior to now, I have watched the transformation of Saudi Arabia with a mix of admiration and fascination. As CEO of Boutique Group, I look forward to playing a part in writing the next inspirational chapter in the legacy of Saudi hospitality and sharing it with the world. Sabah Barakat, Member of the Board of Directors at Boutique Group, welcomed Mares to the role, stating: We are thrilled to welcome Christoph Mares to Boutique Group, as we continue to reach new milestones in the development of our palaces. This is a period of unprecedented growth for the emerging Saudi hospitality sector, and we are committed to generating new opportunities through this dynamic industry. Christophs decades of leadership experience in the luxury hotel sector will be invaluable as we embark on this next exciting stage of our journey at the pinnacle of Saudi hospitality. -TradeArabia News Service Wego, a travel app in the Middle East and North Africa, has revealed Saudi travellers' travel trends for Q1 2025, indicating a significant increase in activity during Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr, a peak time for expatriates returning home and locals seeking holiday opportunities, according to the latest data. Q1 2025 TRAVEL TRENDS Wegos latest data indicates that Saudi travelers are increasingly booking international trips, with Egypt, India, Pakistan, the UAE, and Jordan among the most popular destinations. These countries are favored for their cultural ties and proximity, making them ideal options for short vacations and family visits. Additionally, there has been a noticeable uptick in travel to European destinations, with the UK, Azerbaijan, and Russia seeing a rise in Saudi bookings. This surge is attributed to these destinations offering streamlined visa options, such as eVisa or ETA, which simplify the travel planning process. Despite the surge in international bookings, domestic travel remains a significant part of the travel landscape. Approximately 27.30 per cent of all bookings for travel dates from January to March are for destinations within Saudi Arabia. Jeddah and Riyadh, in particular, are drawing significant attention. Riyadh is also seeing a boost in tourism due to the ongoing Riyadh Season festival, which will continue until March 1, 2025, offering a range of family-friendly activities and aligning with the cool winter weather. The insights for Q1 2025 for Saudi market reveal a balanced interest in both regional and international destinations. Our data underscores the importance of cultural ties and easy travel access in shaping these choices, said Mamoun Hmidan, Chief Business Officer of Wego. With growing demand for international travel and streamlined visa processes, we anticipate continued growth in travel activity. Wego is committed to providing the best options and experiences for our users, whether they are traveling locally or internationally. PREFERRED Q1 2025 DESTINATIONS According to Wegos booking data, Egypt, Pakistan, and India continue to dominate as the most popular destinations for Saudi travellers. The appeal of these locations lies in their deep cultural and historical connections to Saudi Arabia, as well as the opportunity for family reunions during the festive season. In Europe, the UK, Azerbaijan, and Russia have also emerged as top destinations for Saudi nationals. These countries are known for offering streamlined visa processes, allowing Saudi travelers to access them with ease through eVisas or ETA applications, enhancing their appeal for quick, hassle-free vacations. DOMESTIC TRAVEL CONTINUES TO THRIVE While international destinations see a surge in bookings, domestic travel remains strong. Riyadh and Jeddah are the most sought-after cities within Saudi Arabia, with the Riyadh Season festival being a significant draw. This event continues to captivate both locals and tourists with a variety of entertainment options, making it a must-visit attraction during the cooler months.-TradeArabia News Service FOR nearly two years, one of the chief financiers of the Seven gang based in the United King Donate but dont dictate is a maxim for donors. We have seen such being done as the giver As the smartphone market heats up ahead of Tet (Vietnamese Lunar New Year), with phone companies launching new products featuring innovative technologies and attractive features, Vietnamese consumers are embracing artificial intelligence (AI) applications in smartphones. Many new AI features in smartphones are making everyday tasks more convenient and professional for Vietnamese users. In particular, the AI-powered camera race is helping users capture stunning photos effortlessly before and during Tet celebrations, which fall on January 29. In the bustling area around the Youth Cultural House in District 1, Ho Chi Minh City, Khanh Huyen, from District 4, and her friends happily took photos with their smartphones. Before, we had to hire a photographer or ask someone with a professional camera to follow us, which was inconvenien, Huyen said. Now, with just a smartphone, we can take photos in any style we want. One of the standout features on her new phone is the built-in AI camera application. I just choose the right angle, and the phone automatically adjusts settings to take the best photo. Its amazing! Huyen shared excitedly. Tech enthusiasts are equally impressed by these AI advancements. Taking photos with AI assistance is fantastic, commented Phan Quoc, a representative from the GenZ Viet tech review channel on YouTube. In the past, we had to carefully watch for unwanted people in the frame, but now the AI removes them for us automatically, ensuring a perfect shot. Competing to integrate AI features Many smartphones on the market now feature AI-powered cameras. For instance, the iPhone 16 series includes Apple Intelligence with smart subject removal, allowing users to effortlessly eliminate unwanted objects from photos while preserving the main subject. Oppos Find X8 series, equipped with a generative AI model, allows users to capture crystal-clear photos even at 120X magnification. Xiaomis Redmi Note 14 Pro features several AI camera tools, including AI Image Expansion for enhanced backgrounds, AI Erase Pro for quickly removing unwanted objects, and AI Sky for background alterations. AI is also transforming other smartphone features. The new Honor X9c series, for example, introduces the Magic Capsule for multitasking, allowing users to reply to messages, check calendars, and adjust music without leaving the current app. The Parallel Space feature offers a secure, independent space to separate work and personal life. Oppos Reno13 series uses AI to turn static photos into high-quality videos in just three seconds. The series also includes a Vietnamese AI tool for summarizing content, an AI note-taking assistant, and an AI toolbox with smart voice translation and auto-reply functions. The iPhone 16 series is equipped with a Visual Intelligence tool that uses AI to identify objects in real time, providing information such as restaurant hours, reviews, and menus simply by pointing the camera at them -- an impressive integration of augmented reality (AR) and AI. Users are increasingly drawn to new features that enhance their smartphone experience, said Anh Hong, marketing director of hi-tech retailer 24hStore. AI is no longer just a trend but a practical tool that supports everyday tasks, from photo editing and document summarization to real-time translation. As AI becomes more ingrained in smartphones, Hong believes it will soon be seen as a standard feature. Smart virtual assistants, natural language search, and image creation will soon be essential features for any device hoping to remain competitive in the market, she added. Like us on Facebook or follow us on X to get the latest news about Vietnam! American businessman Jacob Holder met his Thai husband Surapong Koonpaew in 2021, got married in the United States two years later and then returned to Thailand, where they live and work. This week, their union will be recognised under Thai law, after the country's marriage equality bill passed by parliament last year comes into force on Jan. 22, capping decades of efforts by activists. Thailand will become the first country in Southeast Asia and third place in Asia to recognise marriages of same-sex couples. But for couples like Holder and Surapong the new law, although historic and progressive, still leaves them with hurdles to building a legally recognised family. Soon after their wedding, the couple had a son, Elijah Bprin Holder Koonpaew, born through legal surrogacy in Colombia since that option is not available to same-sex couples in Thailand. Elijah Bprin has the names of both of his parents on a U.S. birth certificate, Jacob said, but the 18-month-old must live in Thailand on a tourist visa. A gay couple, Surapong 'Keng' Koonpaew, 48, and Jacob Holder, 45, pose for photo with their son, Elijah Bprin Holder Koonpaew, at a park in Bangkok, Thailand, January 11, 2025. Photo: Reuters Elijah has no legal relationship with Surapong in Thailand due to the absence of a same-sex couple surrogacy law and the strict definition of a parent. Thailand's traditional definition of a family - a father being a man and a mother a woman - remains in Thai legal codes, in spite of the passage of the marriage equality law. "Legally, they have no connection," Jacob said of his son and his husband Surapong, a civil servant who also goes by the nickname Keng. "If tomorrow, God forbid, something did happen to me, we have real concerns (about) what then happens between Keng and our son under the eyes of the Thai law." A gay couple, Surapong 'Keng' Koonpaew, 48, and Jacob Holder, 45, walk as their son Elijah Bprin Holder Koonpaew sits on a baby cart at a park in Bangkok, Thailand, January 11, 2025. Photo: Reuters The Thai health ministry is working on a draft bill to allow same-sex couple surrogacy, but it is unclear how long the process will take and whether it would be successful. Thailand's new marriage equality bill will now allow same-sex couples to adopt a child. But due to the legal definition of a parent, same-sex couple "qualification" as adoptive parents would, in practice, depend on official consideration, which experts say could lead to discrimination. 'We have come far' While some lawmakers tried to change the definition of a parent to a more gender neutral term when they were debating the marriage equality bill last year, their efforts were voted down by a majority of lawmakers. "This is the mindset that's very much imbued in the eyes of the lawmakers (and) within the text of the law itself as well," said Mookdapa Yangyuenpradorn, a specialist at human rights group Fortify Rights. "That poses as really a hindrance in us trying to push for including a gender-inclusive term like parents into the law." A gay couple, Jacob Holder, 45, holds up his son, Elijah Bprin Holder Koonpaew, as Surapong 'Keng' Koonpaew stands as they spend time together at a park in Bangkok, Thailand, January 11, 2025. Photo: Reuters The new same-sex marriage law will create more momentum for greater inclusion of LGBTQ people in Thailand, which already has a reputation for its tolerance towards the community, according to analysts. "We have come far in changing the law and there is some way to go for more inclusion," said Nada Chaiyajit, lecturer at Mae Fah Luang University's law school. "We also still have to fight for social acceptance and that requires more than just changes to the law." Jacob and Surapong are planning on having another child soon and hope that Thailand will be a good place to raise a family. "We want these people (lawmakers) to see that we can have a normal functioning family, just like everybody else," said Surapong. Many residents of Ho Chi Minh City have recently expressed frustration over difficulties in booking rides via app-based transport services like Grab and Be, particularly during rush hours. Users have reported long wait times, unavailability of drivers, and perceived increases in ride costs. Nguyen Nhu Hong, a resident of Thu Duc City, a district-level administrative unit of Ho Chi Minh City, told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper about her challenging experience on Saturday. She attempted to book a Grab ride from Pham Van Dong Street to her home on Nguyen Thi Dinh Street a distance of some 8.5 kilometers at around 3:30 pm. Despite her efforts, the app took an extended time searching for a driver and repeatedly asked her to wait, ultimately leaving her stranded for over 40 minutes. Recently, I have frequently encountered this situation at various locations and times, including during rush hours, which is really inconvenient, Hong complained. Similarly, Quang Hung recounted his unsuccessful attempt to book a car ride during rush hour on January 19. He tried multiple apps, including Grab and Be, to travel from District 1 to Go Vap District but failed to secure a ride after over 20 minutes. Hung speculated that traffic congestion might have prompted drivers to turn off their apps or skip passenger requests. According to representatives from both Grab and Be, the surge in demand leading up to the Lunar New Year (Tet) festival, which starts on January 29, has exacerbated these issues. Many people are traveling for year-end parties, shopping for Tet, or attending leisure activities, which has placed additional strain on the app-based transport networks, these transport service providers explained to Tuoi Tre. Grab notes that the increased demand has caused delays in driver availability, especially during peak hours, as it takes longer for drivers to pick up passengers and complete trips. Be Group echoed similar concerns, highlighting that congestion in central areas during rush hours has further prolonged ride times and reduced driver productivity. In response, Grab said it has implemented reward programs to encourage drivers to stay active and promotional offers to attract users. They are also working on technological upgrades, such as real-time traffic updates, to improve efficiency. Grab representatives called on customers to be patient with the firm during this busy period. Be Group has taken steps to enhance its services, focusing on improving map and navigation features. These upgrades will help drivers choose optimal routes, avoid congestion, and reduce travel times. Many users have complained about higher ride costs during this period. However, Grab clarified that its base fares remain unchanged. The company explained that dynamic pricing mechanisms are in place to reflect real-time supply and demand, travel distance, and duration, which can result in higher fares in certain areas and times. Grab and Be have assured customers of their commitment to addressing these challenges. With continuous improvements in technology and operations, they hope to provide smoother experiences for users, even during peak travel times, in the coming time. Like us on Facebook or follow us on X to get the latest news about Vietnam! The Da Nang City Peoples Court will begin a trial for a couple for violating food safety regulations on Tuesday as they were accused of using borax in producing cha (Vietnamese meat sausage). The defendants were identified as Pham Xu Ty, a 41-year-old resident of Thanh Khe District in the central coastal city and his wife Vo Thi Tuyet. On December 20, 2024, a food safety inspection team from the Da Nang Department of Public Security discovered that a cha production facility owned by Ty was using borax in the meat mixture during production. The inspectors quickly booked the owner, seizing 518 kilograms of finished cha bo (beef sausage), 97 kilograms of finished cha heo (pork sausage), 90 kilograms of finished pork skin sausage, and 122 kilograms of processed meat, all of which contained borax. The total value of the seized products was over VND134 million (US$5,300). The investigation results revealed that due to the large volume of cha produced at the facility, not all of it was sold in time, leading to spoilage and financial losses. To address this issue, Ty learned on social media how to extend the shelf life of the products. Through videos showing how to use borax to preserve cha, he and his wife decided to purchase borax to add to cha. Ty went to Con Market in Da Nang in April last year to buy 10 kilograms of borax for VND300,000 ($11.8). During the inspection, a 'cha' production facility in Da Nang City, central Vietnam was discovered to include borax in its products. Photo: H.B. Ty daily sourced meat, including pork, beef, and fat from local vendors, with the volume ranging from 30 to 50 kilograms. The couple processed the meat, grinding it and then mixing it with fat and spices. After the meat was finely ground, either Ty or his wife would add borax at a ratio of one teaspoon per 10 kilograms of meat, ensuring the mixture was well-blended. The mixture was then placed into bags for packaging, with each bag containing 0.5 kilograms. The finished products were delivered to local vendors who had previously supplied the couple with meat. The cha was sold directly to customers at the production facility at prices ranging from VND120,000 ($4.7) to VND180,000 ($7.1) per kilogram, depending on the type. Unsold cha was stored in the freezer for later use. Authorities confirmed that the couple had illegally used borax, an unauthorized food additive, in cha production. Like us on Facebook or follow us on X to get the latest news about Vietnam! A fire at a three-story house in a small alley on Bach Dang Street, Chuong Duong Ward, Hoan Kiem District, Hanoi, claimed one life on Sunday morning. Authorities dispatched five fire trucks, two command vehicles, a support truck, and dozens of firefighters to the scene. They worked alongside local officials and residents to extinguish the flames, prevent the fire from spreading to nearby homes, and carry out search-and-rescue efforts. Thick smoke and toxic fumes made firefighting operations more challenging. Rescuers managed to pull an injured victim from the second floor, but the individual was later pronounced dead. The cause of the fire remains under investigation. This incident follows another fatal house fire in Hanoi's Phu Xuyen District the day before, which resulted in two deaths. Like us on Facebook or follow us on X to get the latest news about Vietnam! The canals and river mouths that meet the sea in Kien Giang Province, southern Vietnam have recently become bustling fishing grounds, where locals cast nets and set traps to catch fish and shrimp in hopes of increasing their income for the Tet (Vietnamese Lunar New Year) celebrations. One of these fishing grounds is the Kien River estuary, along with the Rach Gia City branch canal that flows into the Cai Be-Cai Lon River in Chau Thanh District. Hoang Thi Yen, a resident of Chau Thanh, shared that her family does not own rice fields and makes a living by fishing in the rivers and at sea. Since the end of the flood season in November 2024, she and her husband, Nguyen Ngoc Cuong, have been taking their boat to anchor at the junctions where the branches of canals and rivers meet the sea in search of fish. Fishermen cast nets in the sea encroachment area of Rach Gia City, Kien Giang Province, southern Vietnam. Photo: Chi Cong / Tuoi Tre I only come home once every ten days or two weeks, Yen said. This year, the fish and shrimp arent as plentiful as last year. After a night of casting nets and setting traps, we catch at most 5-10kg of mullet, shrimp, and eeltail catfish." The catch is small, so the money earned is not much, but she is still trying to make enough to buy cakes, sweets, and clothes for her children to celebrate Tet, the woman said, as Vietnam's biggest festival is due in about a week. Baby shrimp caught in Kien Giang Province, southern Vietnam. Photo: Chi Cong / Tuoi Tre I always head out to sea to spread the nets and catch fish at 2:00 am, added Nguyen Ngoc Cuong, who was sitting next to Yen. The waves are strong, there are few fish, and the boat is small, so we cant venture far out to sea. Sometimes, we work all night without catching anything. Thats life, now we just try our best and earn whatever we can. Fishermen return to shore after a catch in Kien Giang Province, southern Vietnam. Photo: Chi Cong / Tuoi Tre Despite the scarcity of fish and shrimp, Yen and Cuong continue to keep the selling prices stable, ranging from VND30,000 (US$1.19) to VND100,000 ($3.95) per kg, depending on the type. While the prices are not high, the locals support buying whatever is available. Hoang Thi Yen sells a fresh catch at an embankment in Kien Giang Province, southern Vietnam. Photo: Chi Cong / Tuoi Tre Like us on Facebook or follow us on X to get the latest news about Vietnam! Many locations in Da Nang City, central Vietnam have recreated the traditional Tet atmosphere with various activities and decorations, attracting local and foreign tourists. The tourists were excited to experience activities typically found during traditional Tet celebrations, such as making banh in (snow-flaked cakes) and jam, and wrapping banh tet (cylindrical glutinous rice cakes) and banh chung (square sticky rice cakes) during the Xuan Yeu Thuong 2025 (Spring of Love) program opened at the East Sea Park on Vo Nguyen Giap Street in Ngu Hanh Son District late last week. The program will last until Tuesday. At the program, visitors enjoyed traditional dishes, including cu kieu (pickled leek), cha lua (Vietnamese pork sausage), and nem ran (fried spring rolls). A space is decorated with a traditional Tet theme in Cam Le District, Da Nang City, central Vietnam. Photo: Thanh Thuy Calligraphers writing pieces of calligraphy and children joining mua sap (Cheraw dance) also impressed the visitors. Shaen, an American tourist, expressed her delight at experiencing Vietnams Tet celebrations. "The atmosphere is bustling. Making different types of cakes or participating in games are new experiences for me. They help me better understand Vietnamese culture and people," Shaen said. Local people are friendly. They eagerly invited me to try traditional Tet dishes." A young girl poses for a photo at a Tet corner in Da Nang City, central Vietnam. Photo: Thanh Thuy On Thang Long Street in Cam Le District, the traditional Tet was also vividly recreated through the 'Tet Viet - Xuan At Ty 2025' program, which took place between Friday and Sunday last week. Locals and tourists felt like they had traveled back to the past as a corner on the street was decorated with old house and temple models. Vietnam's traditional Tet customs were featured through the activities of bai choi (a folk gambling game and music), lotto shows, and many other folk games. Traditional Tet dishes were also introduced and sold to the public. A tourist experiences making banh in (snow-flaked cakes) in Da Nang City, central Vietnam. Photo: Thanh Thuy Ngo Thi My Anh, a 39-year-old resident in Cam Le District, strolled through the space with her daughter and shared that she felt a sense of nostalgia as she could see images of Tet that she had not seen for a long time. The decorations were beautiful and similar to those in the past, Anh noted, adding that she and her daughter took many photos there. Mua sap (Cheraw dance) is an activity attracting many local residents and tourists in Da Nang City, central Vietnam. Photo: Thanh Thuy Traditional Vietnamese Tet dishes. Photo: Thanh Thuy Young people wait to ask for calligraphic works. Photo: Thanh Thuy Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! More than 400 young people donning traditional Vietnamese outfits participated in a parade through the Old Quarter in Hanoi on Sunday morning, opening the 'Tet Viet - Tet Pho 2025' program. After five years, the parade has become an essential cultural activity ahead of the new lunar year, helping to recreate the atmosphere of the traditional Tet holiday and strengthening community bonds. The procession started at 50 Dao Duy Tu Street, passing through Cho Gao, Tran Nhat Duat, and Hang Buom Streets, O Quan Chuong (the last existing gate of the Thang Long Imperial Citadel), Bach Ma Temple, Hang Ngang and Hang Dao Streets and Dong Kinh Nghia Thuc Square before ending at Kim Ngan Temple. Drumbeats and music filled the air. Local residents and tourists warmly welcomed the procession. Some people followed the parade throughout its journey. The parade starts on Dao Duy Tu Street in Hanoi, January 19, 2025. Photo: Nguyen Hien / Tuoi Tre Participants in the parade wore Vietnam's traditional costumes, such as ao tac (a variant of ao dai with loose and large sleeves), ao ngu than (five-paneled aristocratic gown), ao nhat binh (square-collared garb), and ao giao linh (four-long-flap dress with a cross neck). The procession included a lion dance team, a group carrying ceremonial objects, a xoan singing group, groups in ao ngu than, ao giao linh, and ao nhat binh, and a group in modern ao dai, among others. Compared to previous years, this years costumes were more strictly regulated, and the number of young people participating in the traditional ritual was higher. A traditional dance is recreated in the Old Quarter in Hanoi, January 19, 2025. Photo: Nguyen Hien / Tuoi Tre Nguyen Nga, a member of the organizing board of the event, said young people had paid more attention to Vietnamese culture, especially traditional clothing, over the past few years. Nga added that participating in rituals also helps young people love and understand more about the nations culture. Alex, a British tourist, shared that he felt fortunate to watch the parade as it passed through Cau Go Street. He chose Vietnam as his travel destination specifically to learn about the Vietnamese Tet holiday. Women in ao tu than (a traditional costume commonly worn in the north) in Hanoi, January 19, 2025. Photo: Nguyen Hien / Tuoi Tre After important ceremonies such as offerings to the local deity, a ceremony honoring craftsmen, and raising cay neu (a tall bamboo tree believed to ward off ghosts and monsters from entering the community during Tet in Vietnam) at a temple, artisans wrote calligraphy and performed folk music, recreating a traditional Tet atmosphere. In the coming days, many activities reflecting Tet customs will be held in the Old Quarter area. Young people have expressed their interest in the Tet Viet - Tet Pho program, contributing to vividly recreating the atmosphere of the traditional Tet in the Old Quarter in Hanoi. Photo: Nguyen Hien / Tuoi Tre The spaces at Kim Ngan Temple at 42-44 Hang Bac Street, a heritage house at 87 Ma May Street, and the Hanoi Old Quarter Cultural Exchange Center at 50 Dao Duy Tu will be decorated and set up to recreate the traditional Tet atmosphere, offering visitors a chance to experience the old Hanoi Tet. There will be exhibitions and spaces for artists and the public to interact over Vietnamese paintings and calligraphy, encouraging learning and deepening their love for traditional culture. Young people donning traditional Vietnamese costumes in ancient styles parade in the Old Quarter in Hanoi, January 19, 2025. Photo: Nguyen Hien / Tuoi Tre Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! Thousands of visitors gathered for the opening of a Tet flower street in Tuy Hoa City, Phu Yen Province, south-central Vietnam on Sunday night, with highlights including illuminated snake mascots in celebration of the Year of the Snake. Stretching 250 meters across a 4,000-square-meter area, Tuy Hoas 2025 Tet Flower Street features 70,000 flower baskets from 100 different species. The vibrant exhibit includes six grand displays, various smaller setups, and two eye-catching entrance installations. Constructed with 60 metric tons of steel and eco-friendly materials like bamboo and rattan, the street is illuminated with 20,000 meters of LED lights and over 400 spotlights, creating a breathtaking nighttime display, according to the citys administration. A golden cobra mascot sparkles under the lights. Photo: Minh Chien Located on Dien Bien Phu Street, the grand entrance to the flower street features a giant golden cobra mascot guarding precious gemstones, representing Phu Yens natural treasures. The cobra mascot is surrounded by replicas of the Nghinh Phong Tower, a symbol of Tuy Hoas tourism appeal. Crowds flock to the newly-opened Tet Flower Street in Tuy Hoa, Phu Yen Province, south-central Vietnam, January 19, 2025. Photo: Minh Chien Celebrating Tuy Hoas 20th anniversary, the other entrance on Hung Vuong Street features two intertwined snake mascots, elegantly forming the numbers 2005 and 2025, marking the city's journey. The centerpiece of the flower street features a snake mascot cradling an Internet globe and surrounded by AI-inspired installations. Other attractions include a snake cave display with patterns inspired by snake scales and traditional Vietnamese brocade. The centerpiece of the flower street features a snake mascot cradling an Internet globe and surrounded by AI-inspired installations. Photo: Minh Chien Nguyen Cong Thanh, vice-chairman of the Tuy Hoa Peoples Committee, revealed that the VND3.9-billion (US$159,000) flower street project was jointly funded by the city and community contributions. The golden cobra mascot at the Dien Bien Phu gate stands 10.8 meters tall and 135 meters long, while each of the snake mascots at the Hung Vuong gate measures 12.3 meters tall and 38 meters long. This years flower street is incredibly vibrant," said Do Kieu Oanh, a Tuy Hoa resident. The golden cobra mascot at the entrance, adorned with countless LED lights, is truly mesmerizing. Its the perfect backdrop for Tet photos. A snake scale-inspired arche of Tuy Hoas Tet Flower Street in Phu Yen Province, south-central Vietnam. Photo: Minh Chien The snake mascot shines at night. Photo: Minh Chien Visitors pose for a group photo next to a giant snake mascot on the Tet flower street. Photo: Minh Chien Visitors join a traditional game on the Tet flower street. Photo: Minh Chien A display features snake and watermelon mascots. Photo: Minh Chien Like us on Facebook or follow us on X to get the latest news about Vietnam! 9News Queensland has today announced the retirement of presenter Andrew Lofty Lofthouse, to focus on his health. Lofthouse has been with Nine for 17 years, 16 of those alongside Melissa Downes. He first joined 9News Queensland as a weekend presenter in 2008 before joining Melissa Downes a year later on weekday bulletins. He has covered some of Queenslands biggest stories, including the devastating floods of 2011 and 2022, Cyclone Yasi as well as presenting in Christchurch after the earthquake and in Paris just for Nines Olympic Games. He previously had roles with ABC News television and radio. 9News Queensland News Director Brendan Hockings said: Lofty is a rare gem and an exceptional talent. For someone so respected, he is also so humble. He is the journo who offers to carry the tripod. The colleague who makes you a cuppa. The news anchor who doesnt see himself as any more than part of the team. The example he has set as a newsman is the gold standard. He is rare, he is loved and he is forever Nine Queensland. We wish him our love and support as he navigates this next period. Andrew Lofthouse said: Ive been in the business a long time. Ive done a heck of a lot with Nine. Its been an amazing privilege and a wonderful experience with the best in the business. And of course, our incredible viewers who make it all worthwhile. Im currently dealing with a bit of a health issue so now is a good time for me to pull back and slow down a little after a dream career. Thanks for watching! 9News Presenter Melissa Downes said: Andrew Lofthouse is one of the true gentlemen of the TV News business. He is incredibly passionate about quality journalism, taking an interest in every story in our bulletin. Lofty is so much more than just a colleague, hes one of my closest friends and Im so incredibly grateful for the 16 years we shared on the 9News desk. Melissa Downes will continue to present 9News Queensland until a co-presenter is appointed. While no details have been disclosed around his health, Loftys career at Nine will be recognised at the end of tonights 6pm bulletin. HA NOI In a strategic move to expand its presence in the agricultural sector, BAF Vietnam Agriculture JSC has recently announced its acquisition of two livestock companies located in Loc Ninh District, Binh Phuoc Province. The company has disclosed its acquisition of a 60 per cent stake in Minh Phat Livestock Co., Ltd. Established in June 2022, Minh Phat increased its charter capital to VN60 billion (US$2.3 million) on December 20, 2024. BAF Vietnam has also acquired a 60 per cent stake in Nhat Quyet Livestock Co. Ltd., another entity established in April 2022. As of January 3, this company increased its charter capital to VN60 billion. This recent surge in acquisitions by BAF Vietnam underscores its commitment to expansion within the livestock industry. From October 2024 to date, the company has completed mergers and acquisitions with a total of 11 companies. Aside from the two most recent acquisitions, BAF Vietnam has also announced the acquisition of a 70 per cent stake in Hoa Phat Bon Livestock, a 99.99 per cent stake in Tuyet Hoa ak Lak Livestock, a 95 per cent stake in Khuyen Nam Tien High-Tech Livestock and a 99.99 per cent stake in NPH Thanh Xuan Clean Agriculture Development JSC. In October 2024, BAF Vietnam acquired a 49 per cent stake in livestock enterprises in Quang Tri, including Thanh Sen HT - QT JSC, Hoang Kim HT - QT JSC, Hoang Kim QT JSC, Viet Thai HT JSC and Toan Thang HT JSC. All of these companies are based in ong Ha City, Quang Tri Province, and were established in 2021. VNS HCM CITY A private lender is appealing a court decision requiring it to reimburse a client for nearly VN47 billion (US$1.83 million) in unauthorised withdrawals from her account. The Khanh Hoa Provincial Peoples Court began hearings on January 15 for an appeal filed by Saigon Thuong Tin Commercial Joint Stock Bank (Sacombank). A representative from Sacombank claimed the initial judgment from the Cam Ranh City Peoples Court in July last year that mandated it to repay VN36.2 billion to Ho Thi Thuy Duong, the plaintiff in the case, was not objective. The sum includes the principal amount of VN26.9 billion after deducting the previously advanced VN20 billion at the plaintiffs request, as well as accrued interest of VN7 billion and compensation of VN2.3 billion for damages suffered by the plaintiff. The court also ordered it to return two land ownership certificates that were held as collateral for the previously advanced amount. Le Quang Vinh, representing his wife Duong, defended the first-instance ruling, stating it was legally sound and highlighted the significant impact of the loss to his family. The loss of such a substantial amount has adversely affected my family and diminished trust in our business operations, he said. The plaintiff initiated legal action against the bank in mid-2022 after the funds from her account at the banks Cam Ranh transaction office disappeared under suspicious circumstances. The woman had sought the full return of the amount along with accrued interest and compensation for damages incurred. An investigation by the Khanh Hoa provincial police uncovered a total of 12 unauthorised withdrawal transactions, including cash withdrawals outside of business hours and internet banking transfers to unknown recipients, all without the account owners consent. The plaintiff denied any involvement in these transactions, as she and her family were traveling in Phu Quoc at the time. The Procuracy supported the plaintiffs lawsuit, seeking the return of the principal amount, accrued interest, and two land use rights certificates, citing the unauthorised nature of the transactions and deficiencies in the banks withdrawal procedures. The bank rejected the ruling, claiming the plaintiff had signed all 12 withdrawal documents, a claim refuted by the plaintiff. The Vietnamese banking sector has been facing criticism for inadequate management, leading to customer losses from unexplained fund disappearances. Banks typically disclaim responsibility for such losses and advise customers to await police investigations, a lengthy process that often takes many years. VNS HA NOI The Ministry of Industry and Trade has proposed that cross-border e-commerce enterprises doing business in Viet Nam must register for an operating licence with the ministry. They must also establish an office, or appoint a legal entity as a representative, as per authorisation in the country. The propositions are part of the draft law on e-commerce, which is calling for opinions and feedback from agencies, organisations and individuals nationwide. The ministry has also proposed sanctions for violations of these regulations. The cross-border e-commerce platforms will be banned from selling goods or providing services if they have not completed the compliant procedures with the e-commerce regulatory authorities. Service providers supporting e-commerce including intermediary services, logistics and payment operators will also be prohibited from cooperating with the platforms that do not meet the operational conditions in Viet Nam. The new law will define the responsibilities of representative offices or authorised legal entities in Viet Nam, to ensure consumer rights and fair competition with domestic businesses, according to the ministry. It will also add the responsibility of verifying foreign sellers and compensating buyers before any violations occur on the platforms. The size of the e-commerce market in Viet Nam surpassed US$25 billion last year, up nearly 20 per cent compared to 2023, according to statistics from the ministry. The booming market calls for the enactment of new regulations to meet its development needs and protect the interests of consumers and businesses. E-commerce laws have been developed in some countries including Malaysia, Cambodia, China and Ireland. The European Commission does not have specific laws, but separate regulations for this sector. Other countries like Japan, South Korea and India, have developed laws focused on user protection. VNS HA NOI The Ministry of Industry and Trade of Viet Nam and the United States Trade Representative (USTR) on January 17 signed a bilateral agreement in Washington DC, resolving an anti-dumping dispute over Vietnamese pangasius fillets. The agreement puts an end to the dispute under the World Trade Organisation (WTO)'s case DS536. Under the agreement, Vinh Hoan Corporation, the leading Vietnamese exporter of pangasius and basa fish, is exempted from anti-dumping tariffs when exporting these products to the US. This marks the second time Viet Nam and the US have reached a bilateral deal to resolve a WTO dispute, following the 2016 agreement on warm-water shrimp (DS429), which resulted in the removal of anti-dumping tariffs on shrimp from Minh Phu Seafood Corporation. The successful resolution of the pangasius dispute is the result of constructive negotiations and goodwill from both sides. Viet Nam praises the positive attitude and efforts of the US, especially the US Department of Commerce (DOC) and the USTR, in seeking a bilateral solution. The US decision to implement the WTO ruling further strengthens the growing relationship between the two countries, particularly as Viet Nam and the US recently upgraded their ties to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. This achievement highlights Viet Nams readiness to use appropriate platforms, including WTO dispute resolution mechanisms, to protect the rights and interests of Vietnamese businesses amid the country's increasing integration into the global economy. The dispute began in 2018 when Viet Nam filed a case against the US at the WTO over the anti-dumping duties on Vietnamese pangasius exports. After years of negotiations, the two governments have now reached a resolution that benefits Vietnamese businesses, particularly Vinh Hoan, the second seafood company to have its anti-dumping duties removed, following Minh Phu. VNS HA NOI More than 150 documents, items and photos will be on display at the Vietnam National Museum of History in an exhibition celebrating the 95th anniversary of the Communist Party of Viet Nam (CPV) (February 3, 1930 - 2025) and toward the upcoming 14th National Party Congress. The Director of the National Museum of History, Nguyen Van oan, emphasised the exhibition, entitled ang Cong San Viet Nam - Nhung Moc Son Lich Su (The Communist Party of Viet Nam Brilliant Milestones), would provide an overview of the founding of the Communist Party of Viet Nam and the 13 Party Congresses. It would highlight the correct, strong and wise decisions, the unity and solidarity, as well as the collective efforts of the entire Party, the people, along with the military, in creating "historical milestones" for the nations history, he added. The resounding victories and achievements in the struggle for national independence, the restoration of peace, the liberation of the South, and the unification of the country, as well as the accomplishments and reforms for national development, are crucial foundations and valuable lessons for us to inherit, promote and continue successfully achieving the development goals set forth in the Party Congresses, oan said. The exhibition is divided into three parts. Part one is about the establishment of the CPV, highlighting the role of President Ho Chi Minh in disseminating Marxism-Leninism in Viet Nam and the establishment of the CPV on February 3, 1930 with a mission of leading the Vietnamese revolution. The second, themed 'The CPV Historical Milestones' shows visitors the Party's guidelines, policies and strategies through 13 congresses linked to significant historical milestones of the nation, as well as the country's achievements under the Party's leadership from 1930 to the present, particularly during nearly 40 years of oi moi (renewal) and international integration. The last part 'Towards the 14th National Party Congress' introduces preparations for the next congress, including meetings to give comments to draft documents to be presented there. One of the most important artefacts on display is the original version of uong Kach Menh (Revolutionary Path), a book written by leader Nguyen Ai Quoc - President Ho Chi Minh, published for the first time in 1927 by the Propaganda Ministry of the Association of Oppressed Peoples of the East in Guangzhou, China. uong Kach menh is one of the works of immense value in terms of revolutionary theory and practice. The first prints of the 100-page book were secretly transported back to Viet Nam before 1930. It is one of the few original copies from 1927, which was recognised by the Prime Minister as a National Treasure in 2012. The exhibition also introduces the public to many valuable documents and artefacts related to significant historical milestones of the nation, such as Nguyen Ai Quoc's French Colonialism on Trial, the Party's platform, brief strategies of the Party and the ballot box used to elect the Central Executive Committee at the Fourth National Congress of the Communist Party in December 1976, the first congress of the unified Viet Nam. The Communist Party of Viet Nam Historical Milestones exhibition will run till March 16. The Vietnam National Museum of History is located at 216 Tran Quang Khai, Hoan Kiem District. VNA/VNS PARIS UNESCO Assistant Director-General for Culture Ernesto Renato Ottone Ramirez has shared his interest in Viet Nams heritage nomination and conservation dossiers and his readiness to provide assistance at a recent meeting with Ambassador Nguyen Thi Van Anh, Viet Nams Permanent Representative to UNESCO. The diplomat expressed her gratitude for the organisations valuable support, particularly in 2024. She highlighted progress made in a project on the preservation and enhancement of the Thang Long Imperial Citadel in Ha Noi and the recognition of Ba Chua Xu Festival at Sam Mountain in An Giang province as a UNESCO intangible cultural heritage of humanity in December 2024. Anh stated Vietnam plans to strengthen its participation in and cooperation with UNESCO across all sectors this year, while actively contributing as a responsible member of key UNESCO governing bodies, including the World Heritage Committee, Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, and Intergovernmental Committee for the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions. The ambassador also sought UNESCOs continued support in managing challenges at the Thang Long Imperial Citadel, including dismantling certain structures and preparing for the second phase of restoring the Ngu ao (the King's path) and the Kinh Thien Palace area. She hoped the organisation will further accompany Viet Nam in its efforts toward promoting the development of cultural industries and having new UNESCO designations, such as the nomination of Yen Tu Vinh Nghiem Con Son, Kiep Bac complex as a world heritage site. Anh highlighted the importance of the upcoming Art for Climate Festival scheduled for June in Ha Long in the northern coastal province of Quang Ninh, and reiterated her invitation for UNESCO leaders to visit the country and attend this key event. For his part, Ramirez expressed his satisfaction with the growing partnership between UNESCO and Viet Nam, praising Viet Nams contributions to the organisations cultural initiatives. He also voiced concerns about the negative impacts of climate change on cultural heritage and showed strong support for the Art for Climate Festival, pledging further discussions about UNESCOs involvement in the event. Both sides also discussed potential new areas of cooperation to implement UNESCOs mission of fostering peace and sustainable development through international cultural collaboration. - VNA HA NOI Viet Nam and Argentina have continuously strengthened their relations since the establishment of diplomatic ties more than 50 years ago. Argentina was one of the first Latin American nations to establish diplomatic relations with Viet Nam on October 25, 1973, shortly after the Paris Peace Accords was signed. In an interview with the Vietnam News Agency (VNA)'s reporter in Buenos Aires, journalist Gaston Fiorda from the National Radio of Argentina, who has longtime research of Vietnamese history, highlighted the enduring friendship between the two nations. He emphasised that despite the geographical distance, Argentina and Viet Nam have fostered a strong bond based on mutual solidarity and support. The bilateral relationship remained dynamic in 2024, with both sides engaged in several high-level exchanges. Argentinean Minister of Foreign Affairs Diana Mondino visited Viet Nam, while a series of Vietnamese delegations made working trips to Argentina, including the visit in August by Nguyen Trong Nghia, Politburo member and Secretary of the Communist Party of Viet Nam Central Committee. Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Ha Kim Ngoc also co-chaired the 9th Political Consultation between the two foreign ministries in Buenos Aires in September. According to Fiorda, parliamentary cooperation between the two countries has continued to thrive. In 2024, the Argentine Parliament formed the Argentina-Viet Nam Parliamentary Friendship Group. In August, a delegation of the Vietnamese National Assembly, led by Vu Hong Thanh, Chairman of the Economic Committee, visited Argentina to further strengthen bilateral ties. Along political and diplomatic relations, economic and trade collaboration between Viet Nam and Argentina has also expanded. Viet Nam is now Argentinas sixth-largest trading partner, following Brazil, China, the US, Chile, India, and Paraguay. Argentina primarily exports soybean meal, oilcake, and corn for animal feed to Viet Nam, which makes up 99 per cent of its total exports to the country. In return, Viet Nam exports electronics, phones, footwear, and textiles to Argentina. Fiorda noted that there remains ample room for growth in economic and trade relations between the two countries. More regions in both nations are establishing twinned relations, which contribute to local economic and social development. Looking ahead, Fiorda suggested that Viet Nam and Argentina should further expand cooperation in agriculture and explore negotiations for a Free Trade Agreement between Viet Nam and the South American Common Market (Mercosur), and another between the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and Mercosur. The journalist also praised Viet Nams impressive 7.09 per cent economic growth rate in 2024, underscoring its position as a key manufacturing hub in Southeast Asia. VNS GENEVA Former Swiss Ambassador to Viet Nam Ivo Sieber has expressed his belief that Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and the Vietnamese delegation will take full advantage of their attendance at the upcoming 55th annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos and working trip to Switzerland. Talking with the Vietnam News Agency (VNA)'s reporter in Switzerland, Sieber said the trip presents a significant opportunity for the global community and major enterprises to directly discuss with the PM, leaders from various ministries, agencies, local authorities and businesses, deliberating Viet Nam's next big moves in development and myriad opportunities the country can offer to enterprises in an evolving global landscape. PM Chinhs attendance at the WEF meeting is highly commendable, especially given the recent shifts in global economic policies and strategies. The WEF meeting is a vast and inclusive platform where various stakeholders can meet and discuss critical issues, he said, adding that during bilateral engagements in Switzerland, economic issues will be also under spotlight. The Vietnamese leader is scheduled to convey important messages about Viet Nams determination, aspirations and vision for achieving strategic development goals over the next two decades, he added. Meanwhile, Philippe Reich, Chairman of the Swiss-Indian Chamber of Commerce, described the WEF meeting as a bridge between the world and Switzerland. With all members of the Swiss Federal Council heading to Davos and its surrounding areas, the town is gearing up for numerous important meetings. Underlining the crucial role of the WEF meeting in Davos, he expressed his hope that the Vietnamese delegation would fully leverage this opportunity. The Vietnamese community, intellectuals and expatriates in Switzerland have also expressed their trust in the success of the Vietnamese delegation's trip, hoping that it will not only strengthen bilateral relations but also bring practical benefits to people of the two countries. VNS Swiss Ambassador to Viet Nam Thomas Gass spoke to the press on the occasion of Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh's attendance at the upcoming 55th Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland alongside a high-ranking Vietnamese delegation. Can you elaborate the key contents and significance of the 55th Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF)? First of all, thank you for coming to speak to me about the WEF, about this year's annual meetings which will take place this week in Davos in Switzerland. This is obviously a very important coming together of the leaders, of the political leaders, but also of the economic leaders of the world together with civil society to discuss the impact of the intelligent society. Every one of us is now using ChatGPT and artificial intelligence. What does that mean for economic growth? What does it mean for the way our industrialisation is evolving? What does it mean for the way that the human resources and the capacities of the workers are being built up in the factories and in the companies? What does it mean in terms of rebuilding trust in the international community? These are some of the important topics that will be discussed in Davos this year, and that is why we are very excited that Viet Nam is going to be an active participant in this year's event. A Vietnamese high-ranking delegation led by PM Chinh will attend the 55th Annual Meeting of the WEF. What are your expectations about Viet Nam's contributions to the meeting? In a world that is marked by a lot of tensions and polarisation, it is extremely important that countries such as Viet Nam take an active role and also let their voice be heard. This is consistent with the vision of the Politburo and the Government of Viet Nam, that Viet Nam should have a stronger and more prominent role at the regional and global level. Of course, as Switzerland, we are very excited that PM Chinh is going to meet our President, Madam Karin Keller-Sutter, in a bilateral meeting where they will discuss the strengthening of the bilateral relationships and the elevation of the bilateral partnership. We will also be listening to what PM Chinh has to say in terms of his analysis of the global situation and also the solutions that Viet Nam can propose to these challenges that I have mentioned earlier on. I am also aware that the Vietnamese delegation is preparing for very important and relevant side events on the mobilisation of finances for FinTech (financial technology), for the building of international financial centres in Viet Nam, and the mobilisation of funding into the pharmaceutical industry and generally towards more innovation for renewable energy, for a service-oriented industry in Viet Nam. These are all very, very relevant topics and I know that PM Chinh will be able to convene some high-level CEOs around the table during these side events that are being facilitated by VinaCapital on the one hand and by Sovico VietJet on the other hand. How do you evaluate the Viet Nam-Switzerland cooperation in 2024? What do you expect from the relationship in the near future? The relationship between Viet Nam and Switzerland is a strong relationship, a relationship of friendship. When you go outside you will not see many big signboards of Swiss companies, but if you go into the Vietnamese factories, you will see a lot of Swiss machines whether it's the robots that make the VinFast cars, whether it's the Bulher mills that are producing the rice, or whether it's the coffee transformation plants of Nestle. Actually, there is a lot [of Swiss presence]. When you came up here to my building, you also used the Schindler lift. So these are just some of the examples of Swiss companies. We also have a lot of companies in the FinTech area that are already working here, doing back-office internet services for European banks and insurance companies, and post systems. We have Swiss companies developing software here in Viet Nam. So there is a lot of very exciting things happening. At the same time, I should admit that Viet Nam has a free trade agreement with all the neighbouring countries of Switzerland which is a challenge for us, so that is a very high priority which I am discussing with the Government in a spirit of friendship and partnership. VNA/VNS SYDNEY The Communist Party of Viet Nam (CPV)s leadership role in the ongoing national renewal process is pivotal to the countrys future development, Layton Pike, a member of the Australia-Viet Nam Policy Institute (AVPI)'s advisory board, has assessed in an interview with the Vietnam News Agency (VNA)'s resident correspondent in Sydney. The expert said the CPVs efforts to streamline and optimise the Governments organisational structure signal a bold approach to enhancing governance efficiency, improving policy implementation, and fostering an agile administrative system. By consolidating ministries, reducing redundancies, and strengthening inter-agency coordination, Viet Nam is taking important steps to build a more transparent and effective government, he said. Pike went on to note that the renewal process creates a strong foundation for deeper international engagement. It comes at a critical juncture when Viet Nam is expanding its role as a regional leader and strengthening ties with global partners, including Australia through the Australia-Viet Nam Comprehensive Strategic Partnership signed in 2024. The reforms will support a more predictable and stable business environment, which is essential for attracting high-quality foreign investment and fostering bilateral and regional cooperation. According to the expert, Viet Nams alignment of its governance reforms with sustainable development goals and international best practices is also a testament to its commitment to modernisation while maintaining political stability. These efforts, if implemented effectively, will reinforce Viet Nams internal governance framework and enhance its positioning as a dynamic partner in Southeast Asia. Commenting on Viet Nams fight against corruption and the policy of streamlining the government apparatus, he considered them critical pillars to strengthen governance and promote sustainable development. These efforts demonstrate a firm commitment to building a transparent and accountable government that fosters trust and confidence among the public, investors, and international partners. The expert elaborated that by addressing corruption, the CPV is not only reinforcing ethical governance but also creating a more attractive investment climate. This is particularly relevant for key partners like Australia, as greater transparency and accountability support long-term, stable business relationships. In parallel, the policy of streamlining the government apparatus complements the anti-corruption campaign by reducing inefficiencies, improving coordination across government agencies, and enhancing the effectiveness of public services. These reforms are expected to increase Viet Nams administrative agility, which is crucial for adapting to a fast-changing global landscape. Together, these initiatives contribute to Viet Nam becoming a more competitive economy and a stronger regional player, Pike said. He held that Viet Nams dual approach of anti-corruption and administrative reform not only strengthens internal governance but also enhances its credibility on the international stage. "These measures are likely to result in improved bilateral cooperation, particularly in trade, governance, and economic development, where mutual trust is key to sustained partnerships. Pike said that the country is entering a transformative era of growth, guided by ambitious goals in economic modernisation, digital transformation, and sustainable development. The CPV has outlined a vision to transition the country to a high-income economy by 2045, with a strong focus on innovation and human capital development. According to the expert, economic modernisation, a cornerstone of this vision, involves moving towards high-value industries and a knowledge-driven economy. This creates significant opportunities for international collaboration in areas like advanced manufacturing, technology transfer, and education. He added that Viet Nams commitment to sustainable development is equally important, including its pledge for carbon neutrality by 2050. This ambitious goal opens avenues for cooperation in renewable energy, green technology, and sustainable agriculture areas where Australias expertise aligns closely with Viet Nams priorities. However, Pike pointed to challenges facing the country, with economic uncertainties, infrastructure demands, and workforce readiness named among pressing concerns. Addressing these will require strategic investment and robust international support, the expert said. Partnerships with Australia can help Viet Nam navigate these challenges, ensuring the realisation of its long-term goals while fostering stronger bilateral ties, he concluded. VNS Viet Nam and India have long maintained strong and sustainable relations, built on a shared historical foundation, cultural exchanges, and common strategic interests. In a recent interview granted to the Viet Nam News Agency on the occasion of the New Year 2025, Indian Ambassador to Viet Nam Sandeep Arya shared insights about the future of the Viet Nam-India Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, as well as potential areas of cooperation that will help further deepen the bilateral relations. On the occasion of the State visit by Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh to India in August 2024, the two sides issued a Joint Statement on Strengthening the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. Please share your opinions on the breakthroughs needed to elevate the bilateral relations to new heights. What new and potential areas can the two sides explore to deepen their multifaceted cooperation? The State visit by Prime Minister of Viet Nam H.E. Pham Minh Chinh to India four months back enabled a detailed review of India-Viet Nam comprehensive strategic partnership by the two Prime Ministers and an understanding to intensify and strengthen bilateral cooperation in several areas as encapsulated in the Joint Statement following the visit on 1 August 2024. The signing of bilateral agreements in August 2024 in the fields of agriculture, traditional medicine, customs, defence, media, law, credit lines for bilateral projects, heritage conservation will pave the way for expanding India-Viet Nam cooperation in all these areas. As two rapidly growing economies, India-Viet Nam trade, investment and business collaboration are natural areas for reinforcing economic cooperation. Both countries seek to streamline trade regimes and technical issues for enhancing bilateral trade from the current volume of US$15 billion. The ongoing review of the ASEAN-India Trade in Goods Agreement of 2009 should make our trade regimes more simple, user-friendly & trade-facilitative. Sectoral discussions in areas such as agriculture, healthcare and digital technology are making progress. Our ongoing efforts to increase two-way visits of business delegations and participation in various trade expos will also facilitate greater trade between us. Both countries have identified various sectors of interest to promote investment flow between the two countries from the current level of Indian investment in Viet Nam of over $2 billion. Numerous Indian and Vietnamese companies are progressing discussions to conclude projects in areas such as infrastructure, renewable electricity generation, manufacturing of various goods (automobile parts, pharmaceuticals, consumer goods, processed food, e-vehicles), service industries (ICT, finance, education), etc. We hope that these engagements will increase business linkages between the two countries. Digital technologies and other fields of science and innovation are also promising areas where some discussions are taking place between the two countries. Recently completed facilities with Indian support such as the Army Software Park at Telecommunications University, Nha Trang and Centre of Excellence for Software Development and Training at the Post and Telecommunications Institute of Technology, HCM City have enhanced capacity in ICT education, data centre and digital applications in Viet Nam. We believe that other technological domains such as biotechnology, 5G/6G telecommunications, financial technology, atomic energy, defence, space applications, cyber security, etc. also hold good potential for cooperation between the two countries. Bilateral digital payments system will support business, tourism, education and other activities between us. As our countries secure their place in international arena, we should consult and cooperate further on global and regional matters, international issues such as financing for development, access to technology, greater voice and role for Global South. Initiatives such as International Solar Alliance, Coalition for Disaster Resilience Infrastructure and Global Biofuels Alliance could also be fruitful for working together for our countries. We also believe that ongoing healthy defence and security cooperation between India and Viet Nam need to be deepened further in light of our strategic trust, convergences, synergies and value that we represent for each other. In an increasingly complex world, these aspects should particularly assume greater salience. I also feel that people-level bonds also deserve further efforts between the two countries such as yoga exchanges, cinema and TV series, tourism, academic (educational) and think tank interactions, particularly on developmental experiences. Tourism cooperation has emerged as a highlight in the Viet Nam-India relationship in recent years. What factors are driving tourism partnership between the two countries? Please share the solutions and approaches that Viet Nam can adopt to attract more Indian tourists? Expansion of two-way tourism between India and Viet Nam is a very encouraging trend. Vietnamese data indicates that close to five hundred thousand Indian tourists travelled to Viet Nam in the year 2024. Indian figures showed growing number of Vietnamese travelers to India that stood at over 55 thousand in 2023. Apart from the deep interest and affinity between the people of India and Viet Nam, the tourism growth is driven by increasing direct flight connectivity which stands at about 56 flights per week. Our civil aviation authorities have recently agreed to further increase the number of direct flights between us. Secondly, e-visa facility in both directions has been a good enabler for travel between India and Viet Nam. Thirdly, tourism promotion efforts in both countries and the support provided by travel agencies have helped expand the travel. Fourthly, as travel is growing, tourist services and expectations in terms of facilities, food and other needs are getting streamlined gradually. Fifthly, new destinations and modalities such as weddings, meetings & conferences (MICE), pilgrimage & leisure are also contributing to greater travel. I believe that all these efforts should continue to drive the growth of tourism between India and Viet Nam. As one of the countries most severely affected by climate change, Viet Nam has been making great efforts to pursue sustainable green development. Meanwhile, India stands 4th globally in Renewable Energy Installed Capacity, 4th in wind power capacity & 5th in solar power capacity. As a country with many strengths in this field, what practices and experiences can India share with Viet Nam to attract more investment in renewable energy and improving energy efficiency? How do you assess the prospects for energy cooperation between the two countries? Hydrocarbons and hydropower have been longstanding areas of cooperation between India and Viet Nam. I agree that renewable energy such as solar and wind power as well as biofuels could be areas to increase energy cooperation between us. You are right that 180,000 MW installed renewable energy capacity in India represent valuable capabilities and understanding of their implementations. At the level of the two governments, sharing of experiences and practices in terms of policies and their implementation could be mutually beneficial. Viet Nams joining of India-based International Solar Alliance will open up opportunities for exchanges on technology, financing tools, capacity building and broader issues in the field of solar power. Indian companies are interested and engaged in pursuing opportunities in Viet Nam in renewable power (electricity) development. We hope that some of these ongoing discussions will result in projects in the near future. Biofuels is another relevant area where ethanol-mixed fuel is playing an important role in reducing hydrocarbon consumption for transport in India. India is gradually increasing the present level of 15 per cent ethanol blending in petrol to 20 per cent in the next year or so. Global Biofuels Alliance in India is enabling cooperation and knowledge sharing among countries and we hope that it will become a platform for greater cooperation with Viet Nam. Viet Nams decision to pursue nuclear power generation will also open opportunities for our cooperation taking into account large indigenous capabilities in India with over 8200 MW installed capacity and our success in 700 MW pressurized heavy water reactors and related expertise in India. What is your assessment of Viet Nam's efforts and actions in light of strategic directions recently initiated and promoted by Vietnamese Party General Secretary To Lam to usher Viet Nam into a new era - the era of the nation's rise? It is impressive to see Viet Nams vision and well-thought out efforts for the nations rise in terms of development, prosperity and public investment using innovation, skill-building, digital transformation and emerging technologies. A stronger and more prosperous Viet Nam in line with the vision of its wise and dynamic leadership will be a positive development for us a steady partner of Viet Nam for over seven decades. VNS PRAGUE Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh had a working session with the Viet Nam Innovation Network in Europe (VINEU) and Vietnamese experts in Prague on Sunday afternoon (local time) as part of his official visit to the Czech Republic. Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung said that up to now, 10 Vietnamese innovation networks have been formed in developed countries and regions in terms of science, technology, and innovation, with a total of about 2,000 members. After reporting to the PM and the working delegation on VINEUs activities in Europe, delegates, Vietnamese experts and businessmen in Europe shared experiences and put forth recommendations for Viet Nam to develop a number of key areas such as cooperation in artificial intelligence (AI) and digital technology between France and Viet Nam; development trends in the worlds health science and a number of medical cooperation projects, human resource development cooperation in the field of semiconductors and medical technology between Germany and Viet Nam; medical cooperation and expert exchanges between the Czech Republic and Viet Nam; building a bridge for technology and knowledge between Hungary and Viet Nam. Delegates proposed establishing a specialised agency for innovation, enhancing domestic and foreign academic exchanges, and forming hubs for innovation and resources attraction. Noting the opinions of the delegates, PM Chinh expressed his pleasure in listening to opinions and suggestions from the community of experts, intellectuals and members of the network. He believed that each person has different starting points, circumstances, and conditions, but they all love their homeland and wish to contribute to the development of science, high technology and innovation, as well as the development of the home country. According to the government leader, Viet Nam's starting point is very low, but thanks to innovating thinking, changing economic management methods, freeing resources, mobilising resources, it has changed from a country devastated by war and blockade, Viet Nam has achieved many important results in socio-economic development. From a self-sufficient country, Viet Nam has actively integrated into the international economy and has now become one of the 20 countries with the largest import-export scale in the world. PM Chinh highly appreciated the efforts of the Ministry of Planning and Investment in forming and developing the Viet Nam Innovation Networks in recent times as well as the active contributions of network members and Vietnamese experts in Europe. He recommended the networks members to continue to promote connection with the National Innovation Centre; actively contribute opinions and participate in building guidelines, institutions, mechanisms and policies; attract and mobilise maximum resources such as public-private cooperation, taking advantage of direct and indirect investment; promote research and technology transfer; and step up human resource training and management capacity improvement. The PM also requested them to contribute to the current priority goal of economic growth, through renewing traditional growth drivers such as investment, export, consumption and promoting new growth drivers like digital economy, green economy, circular economy, creative economy, knowledge economy, sharing economy, emerging industries such as semiconductor chips, artificial intelligence, cloud computing, Internet of Things. Regarding the proposals of the delegates, PM Chinh said he would research and report to competent authorities on the model of a specialised agency for innovation; and continue to improve specific mechanisms, policies, and institutions to promote innovation, attract talents, support projects and research topics. The leader assigned the Ministry of Planning and Investment, the Ministry of Science and Technology and relevant agencies to continue contacting and strengthening network members, intellectuals, and Vietnamese experts abroad; concretise programmes, ideas, and proposals of experts and intellectuals; promote the strength of great national unity, combine national strength with the strength of the era to steadily advance into a new era the era of the nation's growth and prosperity, and the peoples happiness and well-being. VNS HA NOI As Viet Nam is preparing a firm foundation to confidently enter a new era, State President Luong Cuong has called on Vietnamese people, both at home and abroad, to join hands in this great journey. Addressing an art programme as part of the Homeland Spring 2025, which gathered 1,500 overseas Vietnamese from 42 countries and territories who return home to celebrate the Tet (Lunar New Year) festival, the leader said that Tet is not only a time for family reunion but also an occasion to honour and affirm the enduring traditional values of the Vietnamese people, reminding everyone, even those far from home, that they remain an inseparable part of the country. This is the sacred bond that connects overseas Vietnamese to the beloved homeland, he emphasised, extending his New Year greetings to participants. Highlighting the important achievements of the nation over the past year, President Cuong said that despite numerous challenges, with the collective efforts of the Party and the people, Viet Nam has gained many significant successes. The country has enjoyed political and social stability, while ensuring national security, sovereignty, and territorial integrity. The economy continues to be a bright spot in the region, with GDP growth of over 7 per cent. Foreign relations also saw great progress, further enhancing the country's standing on the global stage, he noted. The leader affirmed that the Party and State always care for the Vietnamese community abroad and are proud of their resilience and development, clinching their position in host societies. He also hailed the spirit of mutual support among the community and their contributions to the homeland. Noting that 2025 will see many significant anniversaries for the Party and the nation including the 80th founding anniversary of the Democratic Republic of Viet Nam, now the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam, and the 50th anniversary of national reunification President Cuong said that this is a chance for Viet Nam to look back on its achievements. He said that few nations in the world bear as many scars from war as Vietnam, yet, few have histories written through successive victories as Viet Nam does. From a country absent from the global map, Viet Nam has emerged as an independent, developing nation that is deeply integrating into both the global political arena and the world economy, he stated. Recognising the contributions by the Vietnamese community abroad to the great achievements of the country, the President described the strength of national solidarity as the foundation, the source of the success, and the glory of Vietnamese people, whether at home or abroad, calling on them to work together to maintain and reinforce the great national unity bloc. The State President underlined that the Party and State always pay great attention to and care deeply for the overseas Vietnamese community, an inseparable part of and a vital resource for the nation. He assured that policies related to the group will continue to be implemented comprehensively, reflecting the Party and State's commitment to meeting their legitimate needs and aspirations, motivating them to build better lives, preserve the Vietnamese language and culture, and nurture their patriotism. He highlighted the Party and States high evaluation of contributions by the overseas Vietnamese community to the ongoing process of national development, calling on them to join hands with their fellows at home to carry out the great missions of the nation. Themed "Viet Nam - Rising in the New Era", this years Homeland Spring programme is taking place from January 18-21, highlighting the aspiration of Vietnamese people to thrive in this new era. It provides an opportunity to honour the significant contributions of overseas Vietnamese and encourage them to continue supporting their homelands development in the new era. The art programme featured special performance on Viet Nams history with glorious events and the journey to return home of Vietnamese people abroad, as well as their national pride and confidence in the nations bright future. VNS HCM CITY HCM City is committed to enhancing economic cooperation with China and promoting local exchanges to reinforce the Viet Nam-China strategic partnership, said a city official on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of Viet Nam-China diplomatic relations. Speaking at a ceremony on Monday (January 20), Duong Ngoc Hai, permanent vice chairman of the city People's Committee, said the city is dedicated to fostering special relations with China and facilitating communication among its citizens. He emphasised the significance of collaboration in the training of city officials, referencing recent visits to Guangdong, Chongqing, and Shanghai. Currently, Viet Nam ranks as Chinas fourth-largest global trading partner and maintains its position as the largest trading partner within ASEAN. The trade turnover between the two countries has achieved a historic milestone, surpassing $200 billion for the first time, with a total exceeding $205 billion expected in 2024. As of the end of 2024, China had 835 active investment projects in HCM City, amounting to nearly $344 million in total capital. Meanwhile, trade turnover between HCM City and China reached $21.7 billion. He Wei, the Chinese Ambassador to Viet Nam, commended the 75-year relationship between Viet Nam and China, highlighting the enduring friendship initiated by Chairman Mao Zedong and President Ho Chi Minh. He reiterated Chinas commitment to enhancing cooperation with Viet Nam to strengthen their comprehensive strategic partnership, positioning it as a model for peaceful and mutually beneficial relations that contribute to regional stability. China has increasingly emerged as a popular travel destination for Vietnamese citizens, according to Wei. Chinese tourists visiting Viet Nam reached 3.7 million last year, doubling the figures from 2023 while over 20,000 Vietnamese students are currently studying in China, nearly doubling pre-pandemic numbers, Wei noted. VNS HA NOI Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs o Hung Viet lauded the success of the ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Retreat in Langkawi, Malaysia, on Sunday, under Malaysia's 2025 ASEAN Chairmanship, emphasising Viet Nams active contributions to the events key achievements, including fostering consensus on pivotal regional and global issues. Viet, who also leads Viet Nam's delegation to the ASEAN Senior Officials Meeting (SOM), noted that the foreign ministers held comprehensive discussions on various issues, reaching consensus on several critical points. These results can be summarised in three key outcomes. The first is the launch of a dynamic year of ASEAN cooperation. As the inaugural activity for ASEAN Foreign Ministers during Malaysias tenure as ASEAN Chair, the retreat outlined strategic directions, priorities and initiatives under the theme of Inclusivity and Sustainability. In the political and security sphere, ASEAN reaffirmed its commitment to strengthening the blocs central role by fostering strategic trust through dialogue, diplomacy and goodwill. Furthermore, the bloc aims to deepen substantive and effective partnerships with external partners and regional organisations. Economic cooperation will prioritise sustainable and inclusive growth by advancing regional integration, increasing trade and investment, implementing the upgraded ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement (ATIGA) 3.0 and negotiating the ASEAN Digital Economy Framework Agreement (DEFA). Meanwhile, socio-cultural initiatives will emphasise inclusivity and sustainability, aiming to leave no one behind, reduce development gaps and address the impacts of climate change. These priorities build on ASEANs past achievements, including Laos 2024 Chairmanship under the theme Enhancing Connectivity and Resilience. Initiatives such as digital economy development, carbon neutrality and SME advancement have been refined to reflect ASEANs proactive and flexible approach to evolving global challenges. The second outcome is the groundwork laid for ASEANs long-term development. The year 2025 marks a decade of ASEAN Community building and a critical juncture for preparing the blocs next developmental phase. Member states are reviewing the past decades progress while finalising the ASEAN Community Vision 2045 and strategic plans in political, security, economic, socio-cultural and connectivity domains to be implemented from 2026. This forward-looking approach addresses current needs while reinforcing ASEANs commitment to building a creative, resilient and dynamic community centred on its people. Lastly, the retreat reaffirmed ASEANs unity amid global uncertainties. Against the backdrop of complex international and regional developments, the meeting facilitated candid discussions on shared concerns. Key topics included major power competition, the East Sea (known internationally as the South China Sea), Myanmar, conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East, and progress on the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC) and the Code of Conduct (COC). While acknowledging individual perspectives, member states unanimously underscored the importance of maintaining unity and strengthening ASEANs centrality in promoting peace, stability and prosperity. The bloc also agreed to deepen and expand equitable, effective cooperation with external partners. These outcomes establish a strong foundation for ASEAN to continue its role as a growth driver and a vital contributor to regional peace, security and collaboration. Viet Nams contributions At the retreat, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs o Hung Viet emphasised Viet Nams proactive, creative and constructive participation under the leadership of Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son. Deputy Prime Minister Bui Thanh Son reaffirmed Viet Nams strong support for Malaysias ASEAN Chairmanship and the 2025 theme, pledging close cooperation to effectively implement the blocs priorities. He underscored the importance of maintaining unity and strategic autonomy in the face of global challenges. His proposals centred on enhancing regional economic integration, leveraging technological advancements for growth and fostering a people-centred, inclusive community. Son also reiterated Viet Nams commitment to supporting Timor-Lestes path to full ASEAN membership. Viet Nam will host the ASEAN Future Forum 2025 in Ha Noi in February, focusing on building a resilient and inclusive community amidst a changing global landscape. In terms of cooperation with external partners, the Deputy Prime Minister highlighted the need for substantive, mutually beneficial relationships. As coordinator for ASEAN-UK and ASEAN-New Zealand relations (2024-2027), Viet Nam is actively preparing for milestone events, including the ASEAN-New Zealand 50th Anniversary Summit, which aims to elevate strategic partnerships and advance collaboration. Son also provided candid and balanced assessments on pressing international and regional concerns. Regarding the East Sea (or South China Sea), he reaffirmed the necessity of maintaining ASEAN unity, adhering to international law and advancing the effective implementation of the DOC and substantive negotiations on the COC. He pledged Viet Nams cooperation with the ASEAN Chair and Special Envoy on Myanmar to strengthen the implementation of ASEANs Five-Point Consensus and to promote dialogue and reconciliation efforts. Viet Nams active and constructive contributions were widely acknowledged and praised, reflecting its steadfast commitment to multilateral diplomacy. As ASEAN celebrates the 30th anniversary of Viet Nams membership in 2025, the countrys engagement further underscores its pivotal role in the blocs collaborative efforts and development. VNS HA NOI General Secretary of the Communist Party of Viet Nam (CPV) Central Committee To Lam received a high-ranking delegation of the Cambodian People's Party (CPP) led by Ouch Borith, a member of the CPP Central Committee's Standing Board and First Vice President of the Cambodian Senate in Ha Noi on Monday. Lam appreciated the significance of the trip in deepening the traditional friendship between the two Parties and countries. He congratulated Cambodia on the great and important achievements it has made across various fields in the nation building and development process, under the wise reign of King Sihamoni, the leadership of the Senate and National Assembly, and the management of the Government, with the CPP at the core. Congratulating Viet Nam on its great achievements of historical significance in the oi moi (Renewal), nation building and development process, Ouch Borith showed his belief that under the leadership of the CPV, headed by General Secretary To Lam, the Vietnamese people will continue to achieve even greater accomplishments and successfully implement the Resolution of the 13th National Party Congress. Lam thanked Cambodia for its deep affection and support for Viet Nam in its struggle for national liberation in the past and for its nation building cause today. He expressed his joy and appreciation for the development of the good neighbourliness, traditional friendship, and comprehensive cooperation, and long-term sustainability between Viet Nam and Cambodia, for the benefit of both peoples, as well as for peace, stability, and development in the region and the world. He affirmed that the Party, State, and people of Viet Nam place great importance on the development of relations with Cambodia, as well as the relationship between Viet Nam, Cambodia, and Laos. The Vietnamese Party chief proposed the two sides continue to expand cooperation in a deeper, more substantive and effective manner across various fields. This includes enhancing exchanges and interactions between high-ranking leaders, discussing measures to strengthen the connection between the two economies, increasing bilateral trade turnover, and promoting coordination in maintaining political stability, security, public order, and social safety in each country. Ouch Borith expressed deep gratitude for the great, valuable, timely, and effective support that Viet Nam has provided to Cambodia in its struggles to protect independence and escape the genocidal regime in the past, as well as in the nation-building process today. He affirmed the strong desire and determination of Cambodia's leaders and people to continue nurturing and preserving the two countries' good neighbourliness, traditional friendship, and comprehensive cooperation, and long-term sustainability. On the same day, Le Hoai Trung, Secretary of the CPV Central Committee and head of its Commission for External Relations, held talks with the CPP delegation, during which both sides focused on evaluating the relationship between the two Parties in recent times, as well as discussing measures and steps to strengthen and develop the relations between the two Parties and countries in the coming time, so as to continue nurturing the solidarity and friendship between the people of Viet Nam and Cambodia. VNS CAN THO National Assembly (NA) Chairman Tran Thanh Man received Japanese Ambassador to Viet Nam Ito Naoki in the Mekong Delta city of Can Tho on Monday. During the reception, Man thanked the ambassador for helping to successfully organise his visit to Japan from December 3 to 7 last year. On this occasion, he asked Ito to convey his regards and wishes to the Emperor, Empress, and Prime Minister of Japan, as well as the President of the House of Councillors and the Speaker of the House of Representatives. Congratulating the ambassador on his highly productive discussion with Secretary of the Can Tho municipal Party Committee o Thanh Binh, Man expressed his belief that with the ambassador's prestige, Japanese businesses and investors will come to invest in the Mekong Delta, particularly Can Tho. Ito informed his host that over the past two days, he and a working delegation that included representatives from the Japan External Trade Organisation (JETRO), Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC), Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), and several corporations conducted a field trip to Can Tho, meeting with city leaders and visiting the Can Tho University. Through these meetings, the Japanese Ambassador found that the city has significant development potential in areas such as economy, tourism, infrastructure construction, and education. Man and Ito were pleased to observe that since elevating their relationship to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, Viet Nam and Japan have continued to develop their relations substantively and comprehensively across all fields. Political trust has been strengthened while high- and all-level visits and meetings further promoted. Japan is currently the No. 1 partner in official development assistance (ODA) and the fourth-largest trading partner of Viet Nam, with bilateral trade in 2024 exceeding US$46 billion, accounting for 6 per cent of Viet Nam's total foreign trade turnover. Additionally, Japan is the fourth-largest export market and the third-largest import market for Viet Nam. Both countries are also actively expanding cooperation to new areas such as green transition and digital transformation. Man said that Vietnamese leaders wish to collaborate closely with Japan to deepen bilateral ties within the framework of the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, thus fostering increasingly broad and substantive cooperation that contributes to the development of each country in the new phase. The top legislator called on Ito to help promote cooperation between the two parliaments to enhance the countries' interwoven economic interests and collaboration in economic security, investment, trade, and ODA. He also asked Japan to continue supporting Viet Nam in building and implementing the industrialisation and modernisation strategy within the framework of bilateral cooperation for the 20232030 period, provide new-generation ODA loans with a focus on several major infrastructure projects, and further promote Japanese investment in Viet Nam, particularly in high-quality projects with spillover effects and technology transfer. Ito said that as 2026 marks the 80th founding anniversary of the Can Tho University, Japan plans to organise an international seminar on climate change response in the city. The ambassador also expressed his hope that Man will support efforts to improve laws and policies and reform administrative procedures to create better conditions for Japanese businesses to invest in Viet Nam. In response, Man affirmed that the Vietnamese NA has been boosting institutional perfection to remove obstacles in the legal system and step up administrative reform to faciliate activities of people and businesses. On this occasion, Ito conveyed New Year greetings from Japanese Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru and the Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives of Japan to Man. VNS HA NOI Viet Nam and the Czech Republic have agreed to elevate their bilateral relationship to a strategic partnership and promptly develop an action programme to enhance and strengthen the relationship, aligning it with the evolving cooperation framework between the two nations. The announcement was made during talks between Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala on Monday morning (local time), immediately following the official welcoming ceremony for PM Chinh and the high-level Vietnamese delegation on his official visit to the Czech Republic from January 18-20. PM Chinh highlighted that the elevation of relations to a strategic partnership marks the 75th anniversary of diplomatic ties (1950-2025), making Viet Nam the first Southeast Asian country to become a strategic partner of the Czech Republic and the Czech Republic the first Central and Eastern European country in the EU to have a strategic partnership with Viet Nam. PM Chinh said that Viet Nam places great importance on strengthening relations with the Czech Republic, considering it a top priority partner in Central and Eastern Europe. He emphasised that there remains significant potential for further developing bilateral ties. At the talks, the two leaders agreed to enhance delegation exchanges at all levels and to expedite the implementation of existing agreements while expanding cooperation into new growth-driving areas, such as renewable energy, innovation, digital transformation, green and circular economy, information technology, healthcare, mining, energy and food security. In trade and investment, both sizes encouraged Czech enterprises to increase investments in Viet Nam, particularly in areas where the Czech Republic has strengths, including automotive supporting industries, renewable energy, machinery manufacturing, mining and mineral processing, chemicals and food processing. They emphasised the need to fully leverage the potential for stronger, more specific, and more effective cooperation in trade, investment, and economic activities. The two leaders agreed to promote major Czech investment projects in Viet Nam and set a target to achieve bilateral trade turnover of US$5 billion. The two countries committed to effectively implementing the EU-Viet Nam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA). PM Chinh urged the Czech government to advocate for the swift ratification of the EU-Viet Nam Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA) by the remaining EU countries and to support the European Commission (EC) in lifting the 'yellow card' on Viet Nam's seafood exports, recognising Viet Nam's serious efforts to meet the EC's recommendations for sustainable fisheries and the interests of Czech and EU consumers. Both countries also agreed to serve as gateways for each other's goods to enter the ASEAN and EU markets. PM Chinh proposed establishing a direct flight route between Viet Nam and the Czech Republic, extending connections to Central and Eastern Europe. Czech PM Petr Fiala supported this proposal and welcomed Viet Nam's decision to grant visa exemptions to Czech citizens in 2025, calling it a significant step to boost tourism and cultural exchange. He also suggested Viet Nam assist in establishing a Czech cultural centre in Viet Nam, considering it a vital channel for fostering mutual understanding. The Czech leader assured continued support for the Vietnamese community living and working in the Czech Republic, creating more favourable conditions for the 100,000 Vietnamese people living, working, researching and studying in the Czech Republic to contribute to the development of both countries. The two leaders acknowledged the importance of defence and security cooperation. They agreed to enhance collaboration in UN peacekeeping operations, military trade, defence industry and pilot training. They also highlighted the need for joint efforts to combat organised crime, transnational crime, cybercrime, illegal migration and drug trafficking. Regarding the East Sea (internationally known as the South China Sea) and other regional and global issues, both sides stressed the necessity of resolving disputes and conflicts peacefully, adhering to the principles of the UN Charter and international law, particularly the 1982 UNCLOS. They reaffirmed their commitment to maintaining peace, stability, security and freedom of navigation and overflight in the region and globally, contributing to global cooperation and prosperity. The two prime ministers called on relevant ministries and agencies to meticulously prepare for the 8th session of the Intergovernmental Committee on Economic Cooperation. During the visit, PM Chinh extended an invitation to PM Fiala to visit Viet Nam soon, which PM Fiala accepted with pleasure. Following their talks, the two leaders witnessed the signing of several cooperation agreements in education and aviation between Viet Nam and the Czech Republic. VNS PRAGUE Concluding Viet Namese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinhs official visit to the Czech Republic from January 18 to 20, leaders of the two countries issued a joint statement on the upgrade of bilateral relations to a Strategic Partnership. The following is the full text of the joint statement: JOINT STATEMENT ON UPGRADING BILATERAL RELATIONS TO STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN THE SOCIALIST REPUBLIC OF VIET NAM AND THE CZECH REPUBLIC Since the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1950, Viet Nam and Czechia have fostered and developed a strong traditional friendship and multifaceted cooperation based on trust, equality, and mutual respect, for the benefit of their peoples. Building on the significant achievements of bilateral relations across all areas over the past 75 years, along with the immense potential for further cooperation and the firm belief in the promising future of these ties, and with the aim of meeting the aspirations of both peoples, His Excellency Mr. Pham Minh Chinh, Prime Minister of the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam and His Excellency Mr. Petr Fiala, Prime Minister of the Czech Republic hereby issue this Joint Statement on upgrading Viet Nam - Czechia relations to a Strategic Partnership during the official visit by Prime Minister of the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam to the Czech Republic from January 18th to 20th, 2025. This new partnership aims to elevate bilateral relations to a new height and enhance both bilateral and multilateral cooperation. This upgraded framework also seeks to strengthen existing bilateral cooperation mechanisms, enhancing their effectiveness, and creating new ones. The Viet Nam - Czechia relationship is founded firmly on shared principles based on similarities in interests and on compliance with the United Nations Charter and the general principles agreed upon in the Framework Agreement on Comprehensive Partnership and Cooperation between the EU and its Member States, of the one part, and Viet Nam, of the other part: respect for the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of all nations and political system of each country; non-interference in each countrys internal affairs; mutual respect and benefit; a commitment to global free trade, advancement of international law and multilateralism, and the promotion of peace, security and prosperity in line with the UN Charter. Under this Strategic Partnership, Viet Nam and Czechia will further intensify their cooperation in the following areas, ensuring tangible benefits for their peoples and contributing to peace, stability, cooperation, and prosperity both regionally and globally. DEEPENING POLITICAL COOPERATION AND DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS Both sides are committed to promote top-level visits and dialogue between Viet Nam and Czechia, and to seek regular visits and dialogues by Ministers and other senior officials in both directions. Both sides aspire to further bolster relations in legislative and political party channels including promoting dialogues, exchanges and discussions on each sides priority areas and practical experience. Within this new framework, both sides are committed to strengthening the political consultation mechanism at the senior level while expanding policy consultations, dialogues, and exchanges between the departments and institutes of their respective Foreign Ministries. Besides that both sides are also considering to establish Strategic Dialogue on diplomacy, defense and security at the deputy ministerial level led by the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and with participation of other line ministries. STRENGTHENING DEFENSE AND SECURITY COOPERATION Both sides expressed their readiness to promote exchanges of delegations at all levels to strengthen bilateral cooperation in defense and security, enhance the exchange of information on strategic defense and security issues, cooperation in defense industry and exchange of personnel and training. Both sides intend to bolster cooperation of security and police forces. Both countries law enforcement agencies will enhance the exchange of information and experience, and coordination in the fight and prevention of transnational organized crimes, particularly cybercrimes, drugs-related offenses, and newly emerging crimes affecting environment and sustainable development, in accordance with the 2017 Agreement on Cooperation in Combating Crime and with relevant laws and obligations. STRENGTHENING ECONOMIC PARTNERSHIP, TRADE, AND INVESTMENT RELATIONS Economic cooperation has been identified as one of the major pillars of bilateral relations, and building on the Agreement on Economic Cooperation between the Government of the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam and the Government of the Czech Republic, both sides are committed to enhance the role and effectiveness of the Viet Nam - Czechia Intergovernmental Committee on economic cooperation led by the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam and the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Czech Republic. At the same time, both sides will encourage the establishment of sectoral sub-committees within the Intergovernmental Committee to review and assess the implementation of existing agreements, as well as to recommend measures to unlock opportunities in trade, investment and industrial cooperation, striving for a level of bilateral trade turnover commensurate with the Strategic Partnership. Both sides are willing to create favourable conditions for businesses and investors to operate in each others market through cooperation and support for trade promotion activities. Both sides are also willing to strengthen economic, trade and investment cooperation in areas, including but not limited to infrastructure development, transport, civil aviation, renewable energy, green technology, pharmaceuticals, mineral mining and processing, mechanical engineering, specialized machinery, and automotive industry. Both sides highlight the importance of an open, fair, transparent and non-discriminatory environment for trade and investment based on international rules. Both sides will take advantage of the opportunities within the framework of the EU - Viet Nam partnership, coordinate in the active and effective implementation of the EU - Viet Nam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) and encourage the completion of ratification and implementation of the EU - Viet Nam Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA). Both sides will support each other in fostering economic cooperation and improving market access in ASEAN and the EU. Both sides desire stronger agricultural cooperation and mutual information exchange on regulations, standards and technical requirements for quality control and food safety in agriculture, forestry and fishery, to cooperate in building an agricultural supply chain between the two countries, to build joint models for technology application in agricultural production and advance research cooperation, and promote genetic exchange of livestock and crops, biotechnology, and animal feed production. THE Viet NamESE COMMUNITY IN CZECHIA Both sides will work more closely together to facilitate the integration of the Vietnamese community in Czechia, enabling them to further contribute positively to the traditional friendship and multifaceted cooperation between the two nations. EDUCATION, SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION Both sides reiterate their commitment to conclude and implement the Agreement on Cooperation in the Field of Education, and promote direct cooperation between their respective universities and research institutes in areas where Viet Nam and Czechia enjoy advantages. Both sides will advance cooperation in traditional domains such as nanotechnology, biotechnology, medicine and pharmaceuticals, environmental technology, agricultural and fishery technologies, information and communication technologies, and will expand collaborations to manufacturing mechanical engineering and mining (the research on and extraction, refining and quality evaluation of rare earth metals). Both sides will deepen cooperation in science, research and innovations. They will bolster cooperation in digital economy and digital transformation. They will promote collaborations between the universities of both countries, research institutes and businesses in the research and development of digital transformation products and solutions, and new technologies. Both sides reiterate their commitment to develop and strengthen measures that promote research security and integrity, in line with the laws of both countries, to prevent the exploitation of the open research environment and common research results by third parties. ENVIRONMENT, NATURAL RESOURCES AND HEALTHCARE Both sides are willing to intensify cooperation in and sharing of technologies and experience in circular economy and waste management, water treatment, clean water supply and rural environmental sanitation, transfer advanced technologies for wastewater treatment, and promote cooperation in mining, rare earth metal extraction, and energy transition. Both sides will consider expanding cooperation in the manufacturing of medical equipment, investment into and technology transfer to produce specialized and rare medicines. TOURISM Both sides expressed their readiness to encourage air carriers to collaborate and explore opening direct flights to strengthen cultural, transport and people-to-people ties. They will create the most favourable conditions for tourism facilitation. Both sides endeavour to strengthen cooperation in sharing experience in and the promotion of tourism and develop human resources in the tourism sector. CULTURE Both sides commit to creating conditions to promote greater understanding between the peoples of both countries. They will encourage networks to consolidate links and collaboration in arts and culture. Both sides will support the establishment and operation of the Vietnamese Cultural Center in Prague and the Czech Cultural Centre in Ha Noi, established by their respective governments. Both sides will jointly work to promote cultural cooperation in various fields including direct contact between cultural institutions to facilitate better understanding of each other's culture. HIGHLY SKILLED LABOUR Both sides will consider more effective cooperation in highly skilled labour migration. Viet Nam requested the Czech side to consider facilitating labour migration from Viet Nam to Czechia. Any such considerations of facilitation of highly skilled labour would be contingent on appropriate security and return guarantees provided by the Viet Namese side. PEOPLE-TO-PEOPLE COOPERATION Both sides are willing to enhance cooperation between their local and regional authorities and social and professional organisations to tap into their complementarities and advance connectivity across various areas, including trade, investment, education and cultural exchanges, to bring about concrete benefits to both sides and strengthen the friendship between Viet Nam and Czechia. COOPERATION AT MULTILATERAL FORUMS Both sides are ready to bolster exchange of views, forge deeper and broader cooperation, commit to closer coordination of their respective positions, and consider mutual support at international organisations and regional and multilateral forums, especially the United Nations, WTO, ASEAN-EU, ASEM and OECD, among other frameworks. They will strengthen consultation of their respective positions on regional and international issues, work together to address both traditional and non-traditional security challenges, including epidemics, climate change, terrorism, water, energy and food security, cooperate in pursuing sustainable development and advancing trade liberalization and regional economic connectivity. Both Viet Nam and Czechia support multilateralism and full respect and adherence to international law, the settlement of disputes through peaceful means in accordance with international law, especially the UN Charter without the threat or use of force. Both sides stress the importance of the maintenance of peace, stability, the advancement of security, safety and freedom of navigation and overflight, unhindered commerce and the primacy of the rule of law in the seas in accordance with international law, especially the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (1982 UNCLOS). On Ukraine, both sides emphasized the need for establishing a comprehensive, just, and durable peace in accordance with the UN Charter and international law. Based on the contents of the Joint Statement, Foreign Ministers of the two countries will be responsible for coordinating with relevant ministries and agencies to facilitate an action plan as soon as possible to realize initiatives in the aforesaid areas. This document is made public on January 20th, 2025 in three language versions in the English, Vietnamese and Czech languages. VNS HA NOI The Ministry of Health (MoH) is proposing a fine of up to VN2 million (US$80) for using or storing the now banned e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products. These products, which have been banned since January 1 under the National Assemblys Resolution No. 173/2024/QH15, will also be confiscated. A notice of administrative penalty will also be sent to the violators employer, who can take necessary measures according to their internal regulations. The penalties could double for repeated offences. This proposal is part of a draft amendment to the Governments Decree No. 117/2020/N-CP on handling administrative fines in healthcare. According to the MoH, penalties for manufacturing, trading, storing, transporting and advertising prohibited goods have been detailed in multiple legal documents, but no fines have been specified for using or storing e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products. Recent surveys show that the number of e-cigarette and heated tobacco product users increased rapidly in recent years. The 2020 Population-based Provincial Global Adult Tobacco Survey (PGATS), which was conducted across 34 cities and provinces in Viet Nam, showed that the use of e-cigarettes among those aged 15 and above increased 18 times, from 0.2 per cent in 2015 to 3.6 per cent in 2020. Among adolescents aged 13 to 15, this figure rose from 3.5 per cent in 2022 to 8 per cent in 2023. The MoH said that with collective efforts, resources and funding, the number of traditional cigarette users had dropped significantly. However, the emergence of new tobacco products led to a rapid increase in their use among adolescents and young adults. These new tobacco products were easy to find, with trading activities often taking place conveniently through social media or retail locations, including some near campuses. Misleading advertising suggests that these products have fewer adverse effects and can help people quit smoking, when in fact they still contain harmful chemicals, with some even including illegal narcotics. VNS HA NOI The benefits covered by voluntary health insurance are "relatively comprehensive", while the current rates of insurance premium are "relatively low" compared to countries with similar socio-economic conditions, said Health Minister ao Hong Lan. The minister responded to the concerns raised by citizens from several provinces regarding the 'excessively high' rate of voluntary health insurance premium and the need to reduce them to alleviate the economic burden on the public. Before the 8th session of the 15th National Assembly, voters from southern Bac Lieu Province raised a petition stating that the voluntary health insurance premiums, which have increased in line with base salary adjustments, posed difficulties for those who do not receive State budget salaries and have unstable incomes. Therefore, voters suggested that the Ministry of Health needed to adjust regulations to create two different contribution levels for two distinct groups, ensuring a fair and reasonable approach to encourage public participation in voluntary health insurance across urban and rural areas. Meanwhile, voters from Can Tho City requested the ministry adjust family-based contribution rates, as the current levels linked to new base salary adjustments are too high for families with low incomes who do not benefit from adjustments to the new salary scale. Voters from Nghe An Province called for reducing voluntary health insurance premiums to ease the economic burden on residents and ensure equitable access to social security policies. Responding to these concerns, the minister explained that under current laws, the National Assembly and the Government had set the health insurance rate at 4.5 per cent of wages, pensions, disability allowances, unemployment benefits, or base salary, in view of the country's socio-economic conditions and the contributions from the State, businesses, workers and citizens. To encourage and support participation, the Government had issued various decrees to subsidise health insurance premiums for disadvantaged groups, including the poor, near-poor, ethnic minorities, residents in extremely difficult economic areas and households engaged in agriculture, forestry, fisheries and salt production with average living standards, Lan said. Under Decree No. 146/2018/N-CP and supplements Article 13 of the Health Insurance Law, household contribution rates are as follows: the first person contributes 4.5 per cent of the base salary, the second, third and fourth contribute 70 per cent, 60 per cent and 50 per cent, respectively, of the first person's rate and from the fifth person onward, the contribution rate is 40 per cent of the first person's rate. From July 1, 2024, the base salary increased from VN1.8 million to VN2.34 million (US$70.7 to US$92) per month, resulting in changes to household health insurance premium rates. Accordingly, the first person's rate is VN1,263,600 ($49.6) per year (an increase of VN291,600 or $11.4). The second person's rate is VN884,520 per year (an increase of VN204,100), while the third person's is VN758,160 per year (an increase of VN174,900), the fourth's VN631,800 per year (an increase of VN145,800) and from the fifth person onward, the contribution will be VN505,440 per year (an increase of VN116,640). Additionally, under Decree No. 75/2023/N-CP, the provincial People's Committees, based on local budget capacity and other legal funding sources, can propose to the People's Councils higher contribution support levels for disadvantaged groups, or those not currently eligible for support. The minister said that the current health insurance premium rates were "relatively low" and hoped voters would understand and support the policy. VNS HA NOI The 'Godmothers' programme, conducted by the Peoples Public Security force, aims to support orphans -- especially those orphaned in the COVID-19 pandemic -- with a stated mission of "No orphan is left behind". Responding to the Prime Minister's call "Working together for the poor - no one is left behind", the Viet Nam Women's Union launched the programme with the direction of Ministry of Public Security leaders and participation of the People's Public Security force. Many of the programme's initiatives have already been realised, including "Adopted children of police", "Godmothers", "Helping children go to school" and "Adopted children of trade unions". Shelters The Peoples Public Security force has instructed womens unions in the sector on the meaning and content of the "Godmothers" programme, raising awareness for officers and soldiers on contributing to society and supporting children in difficult circumstances. Thanks to their efforts, the programme has received a positive response from the community. Major General Ngo Hoai Thu, Deputy Director of the Department of Party and Political Affairs and also Head of the Women's Committee under the People's Public Security force, said that over the past two years, remarkable results had been reported. According to Thu, more than 3,000 orphans nationwide have been 'adopted' by police 'fathers' and 'mothers', who give them financial and other support. Of these children, 307 are orphans, 315 are from ethnic minority groups, 42 are children of martyrs, 14 have parents serving prison sentences, some are victims of sexual abuse and many are suffering from serious illnesses, including cerebral palsy or physical or intellectual disabilities. The average support given ranges from VN500,000 to VN2 million (US$19-78) per month per child, depending on the conditions of each unit. Godmothers also give their children school supplies, clothes, essential items and health care, as well as tutor them in their studies and provide psychological counselling for the children whenever they encounter difficulties. Funding for the programme is largely based on contributions from members of women's unions. Thus far, unions at all levels have contributed nearly VN22.7 billion ($893,800) to sponsor the children. Through the programme, the image of police officers and soldiers has become increasingly beautiful in peoples hearts. The initiative also provides the children with better conditions for physical and mental development, building trust and a solid foundation for them. It works to prevent crimes that may occur in the future, controlling juvenile crime. Head of the Economic-Social Department under the Viet Nam Women's Union Truong Thi Thu Thuy said that since its inception, the programme had received high praise from Party and State leaders and attracted the attention of many organisations and individuals. It had truly become a loving shelter for orphans across the country. Many female police officers and soldiers nationwide had joined the initiative. Although they were in different fields of work, they all had kind hearts. Some units had welcomed up to 84 children to support, helping them dream big on their upcoming journey, said Thuy. Replicating results Despite these encouraging results, the People's Public Security force acknowledged that the programme still had some limitations. Many orphans in difficult circumstances nationwide have yet to be adopted or cared for, according to the ministry. However, the programme's budget comes mainly from force members' voluntary contributions, so they can only adopt a limited number of children. Some units have accepted children from ethnic groups who live far from their stations, making it difficult to meet regularly, care for and support the children's thoughts and feelings. Due to their work, some godmothers do not have the opportunity to visit regularly to encourage and guide their adopted children. Major General Ngo Hoai Thu hopes to expand the programme to the entire People's Public Security force. Thu said that the leaders of units and localities should act as a good example, promoting good practices and replicating creative initiatives to support poor children. Leaders should also ensure that the programme is implemented effectively in all localities, Thu added. Head of the Economic-Social Department Truong Thi Thu Thuy believes that the women's unions under the People's Public Security force need to spread touching stories from the programme to all police officers and soldiers, so that more orphans in difficult circumstances can be sponsored. This would give the children better development and help their families and communities. Deputy Chairwoman of the Can Tho City Women's Union Le Thi Thuy Hang confirmed that the greatest significance of the programme was not the numbers and the amount of support, but also the love from the godmothers for the unfortunate children. The concern for orphans does not last just a day or two, but needs to continue over a long period to help the children develop in their family and community environment, which is extremely necessary, she said. All unions in the city, including the Can Tho Women's Union, will continue to extend their arms and connect with the children so that the "Godmothers" programme can grow. It will help to build a modern Can Tho City worthy of being the driving force of the Mekong Delta region. VNS BA RIA - VUNG TAU A delegation of the Viet Nam Coast Guard (VCG) Command, led by its Political Commissar Lieutenant General Bui Quoc Oai, visited and sent Tet (Lunar New Year) wishes to the anti-illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing forces and residents in the countrys southwest sea. From January 16 to 17, the delegation made a fact-finding trip to the forces who are combating IUU fishing activities during the upcoming Tet holiday in the maritime border area between Viet Nam, Malaysia, and Thailand. It included leaders and commanders of agencies and units of the VCG Command, Coast Guard Region 3 Command and Coast Guard Region 4 Command; representatives of the fishery inspection and border guard forces of Binh inh, Tien Giang, Kien Giang, Bac Lieu and Ca Mau provinces; leaders of agencies, departments, and branches of seven localities; and reporters from central and local press agencies. It inspected any trawler operating in the area, and found that they were strictly observing IUU fishing prevention regulations. However, there were still some others violating regulations on administrative procedures. Functional forces then addressed the issue by disseminating and educating fishermen to raise their awareness of the law at sea. Due to unfavourable weather conditions, the ship 8005 carrying the delegation could not approach the ships on duty. The delegation inspected ships CSB 4035, CSB 6009, KN 276, KN 213, KG 96029TS through their communication systems. General Bui Quoc Oai highly appreciated their efforts in overcoming difficulties in the implementation of IUU fishing prevention. He asked them to continue to implement all directives and orders from leaders at all levels, while closely working with functional forces to perform their tasks, take care of troops, and prepare for troops to have a happy and safe Tet. He wished them a year of peace, prosperity, luck and success. The delegation also held a memorial ceremony to commemorate Vietnamese soldiers and fishermen who laid down their lives or were missing in the southwest sea and continental shelf of the country. Bringing Tet gifts to soldiers, people in islands On January 18, the delegation visited and presented Tet gifts to local authorities, armed forces units and people in Con ao Island off Ba Ria - Vung Tau Province. The delegation presented 10 Tet gifts to families of policy beneficiaries, and families with meritorious service and in difficult circumstances; and presented national flags and Tet gifts to local fishermen. Lieutenant General Bui Quoc Oai asked local authorities to continue to pay attention to the armed forces, including the Coast Guard forces; coordinate well in propaganda work for local people and fishermen to protect national sovereignty, and maintain security, order and safety on islands and at sea. This could contribute to building Con ao to become a strong island district in defence, and an attractive destination for both traditional tourism and sustainable eco-tourism," he said. The delegation visited and wished a happy new year to Squadron 33 of the Coast Guard Region 3 Command based in Con ao. It also offered incense and flowers to commemorate the heroic martyrs at Hang Duong Cemetery in the island district. On January 15, the delegation visited and presented Tet gifts to local authorities, armed forces units and people in Tho Chau Island Commune of Phu Quoc city off Kien Giang Province -- the remotest island commune in the southwest of the country. More than 200km away from the mainland, Tho Chau holds an important strategic position in defence, security and marine economic development, and its nearly 2,000 residents rely mainly on farming and seafood exploitation and processing. The delegation came to Tho Chau Temple, and offered incense and flowers to commemorate the heroic martyrs, and the 500 innocent people killed by Pol Pot regimes military in 1975. o Van Dung, Chairman of Tho Chau Island Communes People's Committee, informed the delegation about the current situation of local security, socio-economic development, and defence. The delegation presented eight Tet gifts to local Party committees, authorities, and armed forces, and 24 Tet gifts to families of policy beneficiaries and fishermen in difficult circumstances. It provided financial support of VN1 million (US$40) per month to three students, and a computer for one student. It also distributed leaflets about legal regulations related to fisheries to fishermen at Bai Ngu Fishing Port. VNS HA NOI After five days of trial and deliberations, the Ha Noi Peoples Court delivered its verdict on Monday, sentencing ten defendants in the ai Ninh Project case. The charges included bribery, giving bribes and abuse of power in the course of official duties. Nguyen Cao Tri, former CEO of Sai Gon ai Ninh Company, was sentenced to three years in prison for "giving bribes". This sentence will run with a previous six-year sentence for embezzlement, bringing his total prison time to nine years. Six other individuals were convicted of "receiving bribes". Sentences for these defendants ranged from two to six years in prison: Tran Van Hiep, former chairman of the Lam ong Province People's Committee, received six years and six months; Tran uc Quan, former secretary of the Lam ong Province Party Committee, was sentenced to five years and six months; Le Quoc Khanh, former deputy director of the Anti-Corruption and Complaints Resolution Department of the Government Inspectorate, received three years and six months; Hoang Van Xuan, former senior inspector at the Government Inspectorate, and Nguyen Ngoc Anh, former chief inspector of Lam ong Province, were each sentenced to three years; Nguyen Nho inh, former inspector at the Government Inspectorate, received two years in prison. Three other defendants were convicted of "abusing power while performing official duties". Mai Tien Dung, former minister and chief of the Government Office, was sentenced to two and a half years in prison, suspended, while Nguyen Hong Giang, former director of Division II under the Government Inspectorate, received a 24-month sentence, also suspended. Tran Bich Ngoc, former head of the Inspection Department of the Government Office, received a 14-month and 21-day sentence, the duration of which was counted as time served. The case traces back to 2010 when the Lam ong Province People's Committee granted an investment certificate to Sai Gon ai Ninh Company for the ai Ninh Ecotourism, Commercial and Residential Area project in uc Trong District. With a total investment of over VN25 trillion (nearly US$1 billion), the project covered nearly 3,600 hectares and was intended to operate for 50 years. During an inspection between 2013 and 2018, the Government Inspectorate found that Sai Gon ai Ninh had violated numerous regulations in the execution of the ai Ninh project. The company failed to meet financial obligations, neglected to pay land-use fees or compensation for environmental damage, allowed illegal land encroachments and missed project deadlines. The Inspectorate recommended that the Prime Minister order the Lam ong Province People's Committee to cancel the project and reclaim the land. Nguyen Cao Tri, aware of the situation, arranged to purchase the ai Ninh project. Exploiting his connections and using bribes, Tri colluded with officials from the Government Office, the Government Inspectorate and the Lam ong Province Party Committee and Peoples Committee to illegally alter government decisions. The court determined that Tris actions turned a project meant for cancellation, into one with an extended timeline, benefitting him and leading to the failure to reclaim 3,595 hectares of valuable land, resulting in significant waste. Despite the projects extension, no new construction took place and 24 violations, including illegal land encroachments and deforestation, continued unabated. Tri bribed officials with over VN7 billion to manipulate the investigations conclusion, changing the recommendation from project cancellation and land reclamation to allowing delays and continuing the project unlawfully. The court concluded that the defendants actions had severely undermined public order, economic management and the reputation of the involved institutions, causing significant losses to the State, damaging the investment climate and eroding public trust in the Government. The court emphasised the necessity of holding the defendants accountable to safeguard the public interest. However, the court acknowledged the defendants cooperation, especially Tri's and the two former Lam ong leaders roles in clarifying the case. The court also took notice of their efforts to contribute towards damage restitution, applying mitigating factors, including for Mai Tien Dung, whose long career, health issues and contributions to public service were taken into consideration in reducing his sentence. VNS 118 enterprises and associations trained in greenhouse gas inventory The training scheme on GHG inventory and the development of the domestic voluntary carbon market was designed to equip participants with comprehensive knowledge, ranging from basic to advanced levels, on issues related to GHG inventories. The training content covered aspects such as measurement, reporting, verification, and inventory methods, as well as guidance on effective emission reduction planning. Participants were thoroughly trained on topics including types of greenhouse gases, the greenhouse effect mechanism, and their extensive impact on global climate change. The programme provided tools and methods for GHG inventory, planning for carbon emission reduction, and developing emission reduction projects, enabling individuals and organisations to participate in the domestic voluntary carbon market. The initiative aimed to enhance the practical capacity of individuals, organisations, and businesses, helping them effectively participate in environmental protection initiatives. Through this, the scheme made a positive contribution to achieving Vietnam's and global greenhouse gas emission reduction goals. It serves as a solid foundation for businesses to leverage climate finance opportunities while meeting increasingly stringent legal and environmental standards. The workshop's success marks a significant milestone in raising awareness about GHG management and developing the voluntary carbon market. It also lays the groundwork for future training schemes, contributing to building a high-quality workforce and utilising initiatives towards Vietnams net-zero targets and sustainable development, said Luu Le Huong, a representative of the Institute of Strategy, Policy on Natural Resources and Environment. Participants included entities from the Vietnam Cement Association, Vinamilk, Goshi Thang Long Auto Parts, Koyu Textile Vietnam, Dynapac, Bridgestone Tire Manufacturing Vietnam, Nissei Eco Vietnam, Honda Vietnam, Aiden Vietnam, Inoac Vietnam, Matsuo Industries Vietnam, Seaps Vietnam Company, Daiwa Plastics Thanglong, JFE Shoji Steel Haiphong, Nitto Denko Vietnam, Nidec Vietnam Corporation, Nidec Powertrain Systems, Tsukuba Diecasting Vietnam, YKK Vietnam, Mabuchi Motor Danang, AGC Chemicals Vietnam, Fujikura Electronics Vietnam, Interfood, Kirin Vietnam, Obayashi Vietnam Corporation, CSB Energy Technology, Fujikin Vietnam, Yazaki EDS Vietnam, and Sumitomo Corporation. Green Logistics is gaining traction to reduce greenhouse gas emissions Chairman and CEO Jareeporn Jarukornsakul of WHA Corporation Public Co., Ltd. delves into green logistics as companies look to slash greenhouse gas emissions and make the sector more sustainable. Discovery of cancer risk associations for six novel genes Scientists at deCODE genetics/Amgen, and their collaborators have discovered six novel genes with rare germline variants that associate with cancer risk. High-emitting facilities to receive greenhouse gas inventory training The Institute of Strategy and Policy on Natural Resources and Environment (ISPONRE) is organising training courses on climate policy and greenhouse gas emissions reduction from November 27 to December 13 in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. ASEAN, RoK agree on 30 million USD project to foster digital innovation, Source: freepik.com Hanoi - The Ministry of Science and ICT of the Republic of Korea (RoK) said on January 16 that it will begin a five-year joint project with ASEAN worth 30 million USD to bolster digital innovation in Southeast Asia. The ministry is set to discuss the details of the project at the two-day ASEAN Digital Ministers Meeting held through January 17. The project is aimed at applying the RoKs advanced digital technologies in ASEAN nations to facilitate their digital transformations and foster economic growth. In detail, the two sides will invest a combined 30 million USD from their cooperation fund until 2029 to create data and advanced computing infrastructure in the region. The fund will also be used to develop human resources and AI solutions. Second Vice Science Minister Kang Do-hyun said it is now time for all countries to accelerate their digital transformation for sustainable and innovative growth.a Banks race to divest financial stakes, Photo: Le Toan On December 30, the State Bank of Vietnam approved the transfer of all SeABanks equity in Postal Financial Company to Aeon Financial. This significant transaction in the consumer finance sector, valued at approximately $180 million, was completed more than a year after the equity transfer agreement was signed in October 2023. According to SeABank, the divestment is part of its strategy to restructure capital resources. This is a critical component of the roadmap approved by SeABank, aimed at restructuring capital resources, strengthening financial capacity, scaling operations, investing in technology, and fostering business growth towards sustainability, as the bank moves closer to its goal of becoming the most preferred retail bank, said a SeABank representative. Nguyen Quoc Hung, general secretary of the Vietnam Banks Association, said, Consumer lending in Vietnam remains an extremely promising market. Despite temporary challenges, the sector still has considerable room for growth. As such, investors with strong financial capacity remain confident in the markets prospects and the governments policies, continuing to invest in this field. Amid the optimistic outlook on notable mergers and acquisitions in Vietnams consumer lending market in recent years, doubts linger over whether financial companies are seen as burdensome by their parent banks while remaining highly coveted by foreign investors eager to buy. Tran Kieu Oanh, head of Financial Services Analysis at FiinGroup, noted a rise in independent financial companies within the consumer finance market, as banks continue to divest. Over the past five years, the proportion of bank-affiliated financial companies has decreased from 65.3 to 59.1 per cent, paving the way for strong foreign investment. With changing credit conditions and ongoing transfer trends, Vietnamese financial companies face opportunities for restructuring and enhancing competitiveness by partnering with foreign entities. This presents a significant opportunity for foreign investors while helping local financial companies improve governance and foster sustainable development, said Oanh. Before SeABank, the market witnessed several divestments by banks from financial companies, forecasting a continued surge in dealmaking activity within the consumer finance sector. Thailands fintech giant SCB X has also revealed plans to complete its acquisition of Home Credit Vietnam in the first half of 2025, following regulatory approval. This acquisition, valued at nearly $900 million, was announced in 2023. Arthid Nanthawithaya, CEO of SCB X, described the acquisition as a milestone in its journey towards becoming a top fintech group in the region. This strategic move strengthens SCB Xs presence in Southeast Asia, enhances shareholder value, and delivers long-term profits. Vietnam, with its dynamic economy and tech-savvy population, is a key strategic market for SCB X. This acquisition marks the beginning of our expansion here, Nanthawithaya said. Home Credit Vietnams 15 million customers, extensive network of 14,000 retail points, and experienced management team will provide a solid foundation for SCB Xs presence in Vietnam, contributing to the groups net profit immediately upon completion, he added. At the end of 2024, SHB announced that Krungsri Bank, a member of Japans MUFG, had proposed to acquire the remaining 50 per cent charter capital of SHB Finance ahead of schedule. SHB then announced the resolution approving the transfer of this capital stake in accordance with the agreement signed with Krungsri, marking the second phase of the transaction. For banks, selling financial companies achieves multiple objectives, including generating significant capital to enhance financial strength and risk-sharing. The transfer of equity to Krungsri will bring significant surplus value to SHB shareholders, creating additional resources to strengthen the banks financial capacity and foundational factors, thereby boosting business operations in key segments, particularly through increased investment in digital transformation. The surplus from the deal also becomes a springboard for SHB to improve financial indicators dramatically, said Do Quang Vinh, deputy CEO of SHB. The State Bank of Vietnam in July 2024 stipulated that loans under $4,200 do not require borrowers to provide detailed plans for capital use, only basic information on the loan purpose and repayment ability. This regulation simplifies procedures and stimulates borrowing. In 2025, consumer credit is expected to surge, supported by several favourable factors. According to MB Securities, the economic recovery, driven by strong GDP growth and improved household incomes, is projected to significantly increase demand for consumer finance. Consumer lending demand is forecast to continue growing strongly, potentially by around 15 per cent. This is why many domestic banks have frequently revealed plans to acquire financial companies. On the other hand, foreign investors have also shown significant interest in Vietnams consumer finance market. As a result, dealmaking activities in this sector are expected to remain vibrant in the future, said an MB Securities analyst. Regulatory compliance and operational issues may result in deal delays, photo Le Toan Binh Dinh Pharmaceutical and Medical Equipment (Bidiphar) is currently looking for a strategic investor for an offering of 23.3 million privately issued shares. Bidiphar now has KWE Beteilgungen AG as a major shareholder, which has increased its ownership several times. In March 2024, KWE bought 222,000 Bidiphar shares, increasing ownership from 5.24 million to 5.46 million shares (7.29 per cent). In August, it added 87,000 shares, increasing the ownership ratio to 8.09 per cent. Now, it seeks more than 10 per cent. Increasing ownership was a trend in the mergers and acquisitions (M&A) in 2024. According to analysts ABS, in 2024, although no more major deals were inked, foreign investors continued to show positive expectations for the prospects of Vietnams pharma industry by continuing to invest and increase their ownership in pharma companies. At Ha Tay Pharmaceutical, its major shareholder ASKA Pharmaceutical of Japan did similarly. In 2024, ASKA bought shares of Ha Tay Pharmaceutical to increase the ownership to 38.2 per cent. It has now registered to buy more than 1.4 million shares of the latter. In late 2023, Ha Tay Pharmaceutical completed the private offering of 8.4 million shares, equivalent to 11.36 per cent of ASKA, enabling the Japanese firm to raise its ownership from 24.9 per cent to 32.56 per cent. In the past, the market saw big deals involving leading foreign-invested groups in the pharma and healthcare industries, including Abbots acquisition of a 51 per cent stake in Domesco, Stadas acquisition of Pymepharco, Taisos 51 per cent stake in DHG Pharma, and SKs ownership of nearly 65 per cent in Imexpharm. Last year, the market saw a slowdown in pharma and health M&A. It witnessed a transaction between Long Chau Pharmacy and IHH Healthcare Singapore, but this was a rare event in the industry during the period. Experts said that the Vietnamese M&A market and in pharmaceuticals in particular are expected to gradually recover in 2025, driven by increasing demand for quality healthcare services, an ageing population, and growing interest among foreign investors. A series of infrastructure and real estate companies are also focusing on the healthcare market. Darrell Oh, chairman of Pharma Group, said that according to a members survey in 2024, the country has significant potential in attracting additional investment from multinationals. The key starting point in our view would be to address the current critical issues relating to market access, create a more business-conducive environment, and put in place incentives in policies that are closely linked with market access to attract and sustain investment, he said. Experts, however, said that the healthcare sector in Vietnam presented significant opportunities for M&A, but there were also several potential deal-breaker issues that investors must navigate carefully. From minimum capital requirements and operational scope to environmental compliance and key personnel retention, these challenges can derail a transaction if not properly addressed. Pharma analyst Ngo Thanh Hai said that despite the potential, several issues posed challenges during transactions, particularly in regulatory compliance and operational matters. These hurdles may result in delays, financial losses, or even the cancellation of deals if not properly managed. Generally, the foreign investor (except those exempted under a specific free trade agreement) investing in healthcare facilities are subject to meeting the minimum capital. The applicable minimum is $20 million for a hospital, $2 million for a polyclinic, and $200,000 for a speciality clinic. However, the regulations remain unclear about how and when these minimum capital requirements must be fulfilled, he said. This lack of clarity presents practical challenges during M&A approvals. Investors are left uncertain about whether their capital commitments, or their explanation for the satisfaction of the minimum investment capital, are sufficient to satisfy regulatory requirements, causing potential delays in obtaining approval from authorities, Hai added. Industry expert Nguyen Quoc Bao added that to navigate this ambiguity, foreign investors can explore alternative strategies to meet the capital requirements. A convertible loan can be used as a funding mechanism to meet the minimum capital requirement. This loan can later be converted into equity, following the acquisition of the foreign investor. When implementing this strategy, developing a robust set of transaction documents is crucial to minimise risks for the foreign investor, Bao said. Alternatively, foreign investors can also consider investing through an ASEAN Framework Agreement on Services or EU special purpose vehicles, where capital arrangements do not need to follow the minimum requirements, Bao said. Pharmaceutical players seek expansion of rights in Vietnam While continuing to make positive business results in Vietnams pharma market in the first half of 2024, multinationals are seeking an expansion of their rights. Vietnam's pharmaceutical market boasts immense potential Vietnam is a country with one of the highest pharmaceutical values and growth rates in the world. The pharmaceutical industry stands out as the leader, offering an impressive average salary of $2,965 per month. Photo: Freepik Vietnam's IT sector is currently undergoing a significant transformation, influenced by global economic challenges and rapid advancements in AI. For both employers and jobseekers, understanding these dynamics is essential for navigating the evolving workforce landscape. In light of the fresh report which was aired late last month, over the past year, the average salary for IT professionals in Vietnam has increased by 27.9 per cent, primarily attributed to a growing number of experienced professionals entering the market. Notably, IT professionals skilled in the Go programming language command the highest median salary at $2,090 per month for those with six years of experience, followed closely by Python developers at $1,760 for the same experience level. Salary trends reveal the changing landscape of Vietnam's IT sector. The pharmaceutical industry has surged ahead, now leading in IT salaries, with the real estate and construction sectors also showing strong figures. Conversely, industries such as banking and financial services, which previously dominated salary rankings, have seen a decline. Photo: ITviec Despite the rising salaries, Vietnam's IT sector faces significant recruitment challenges. The global tech industry has experienced considerable fluctuations, with many companies resorting to lay-offs and reducing job postings. This trend is mirrored in Vietnam, where numerous IT companies are considering workforce reductions due to fewer new projects and an increasing reliance on AI for productivity enhancements. Photo: ITviec This paradox creates a unique situation: while companies are scaling back on hiring, over 40 per cent of IT professionals express intentions to seek new job opportunities within the next year. This contradiction indicates a shift in the labour market, with many professionals on the lookout for better prospects amid uncertainties and competitive pressures. However, Vietnam's IT market is gradually achieving a better balance between supply and demand. Challenges related to candidate quality and salary expectations are easing. In 2023, 86.1 per cent of IT companies reported lower-than-expected candidate quality as a significant issue, but this figure dropped to 55.8 per cent in the first half of 2024- a reduction of 30.3 per cent. Similarly, the percentage of companies noting too many candidates expecting higher salaries decreased from 47.2 per cent to 27.9 per cent. On the side of IT professionals, expectations for salary increases have also shifted. Anticipated salary growth for new jobs dropped from 31 per cent to 27 per cent, while current job salary expectations fell from 24 per cent to 15 per cent compared to the previous year. Employers have also observed a decline in salary hike expectations for new hires, with 33.6 per cent in the first half of 2024 compared to 37.5 per cent in 2023. These trends suggest a growing alignment between IT professionals' expectations and employer needs, although salary dynamics and candidate quality will remain crucial factors to monitor. AI is significantly reshaping work dynamics across various sectors, including IT. Approximately 68.5 per cent of software development professionals utilise AI for code completion, while more than half of teams in product management and consulting leverage AI for data synthesis and product design. AI has progressed beyond basic task automation, becoming integral to creative processes and decision-making. The adoption of AI for productivity enhancement is on the rise, reflecting a growing trend among companies to integrate advanced technologies into their operations. This rapid evolution is expected to affect numerous jobs globally, particularly in lower-skilled positions, while simultaneously creating new opportunities in AI- a dual-edged sword that presents both challenges and possibilities for IT specialists. As technology continues to evolve, employers are increasingly in search of skilled professionals. The top skills in demand include backend and full-stack development, followed by frontend development and software testing. JavaScript remains a favoured programming language, with popular frameworks like React.js and .NET leading the way. English proficiency has emerged as a critical soft skill, ranking as the most sought-after attribute by employers for the first half of 2025, with 40.3 per cent of companies emphasising its importance. Additionally, expertise in database management (28.8 per cent), AI/machine learning (22.7 per cent), and cloud computing (19.7 per cent) is also on the rise, underscoring the growing significance of highly on-demand skills in IT, especially cybersecurity skills in an age of increasing digital threats. Financial security remains a top priority for IT professionals, with competitive salaries, annual raises, and comprehensive insurance packages being vital for employee engagement. Companies that showcase financial stability and adaptability are better positioned to retain top talent. Furthermore, non-financial factors such as flexible work arrangements, proximity to home, and a supportive workplace environment significantly enhance employee satisfaction and productivity without necessitating substantial financial investments. Vietnam's IT sector is at a pivotal juncture, influenced by numerous factors that shape its trajectory. By understanding the recruitment landscape, embracing the transformative impact of AI, and emphasising continuous skill development, both companies and professionals can effectively navigate the challenges ahead. With a strategic approach and a commitment to excellence, Vietnam is well-positioned to secure its status as a leader in the global IT arena. Five tech predictions for 2025 and beyond Dr. Werner Vogels, Amazon CTO at AWS, delivered his keynote speech at this year's re:Invent conference in Las Vegas on December 5. VinaCapital CEO believes Vietnam will adapt and thrive in 2025 Brook Taylor, CEO of VinaCapital Fund Management JSC, gives an insightful and engaging outlook on Vietnam's rapidly growing economy and its evolving stock market to VIRs Binh An. The amended law has simplified procedures for issuing drug registration certificates to improve timely access of medicines while still ensuring quality, safety, and efficacy, in line with international standards. Specifically, the amendments reduce the number of documents required for the renewal, modification, or supplementing of drug registration certificates and active pharmaceutical ingredient registrations. Bui Thi Viet Lam, country representative, USABC Additionally, the revised law allows for the continued use of such certificates after expiration, provided that the application for renewal has been submitted as per regulation, until the certificate is renewed or the Ministry of Health (MoH) issues a relevant notice. This provision ensures the continuous supply of medicines and active pharmaceutical ingredients to the market, helping to prevent disruptions in supply chains. It also eliminates the requirement for the dossier evaluation and consultation by the Advisory Council when processing the issuance of drug registration certificates and active ingredient registrations. Streamlining the procedures will help businesses quickly bring products to market, save time and costs, increase operational efficiency, and free up resources for investment in other areas. The new law has explicitly defined the rights and responsibilities of foreign-invested enterprises (FIEs) within the law itself, ensuring greater transparency and clarity in state management. Before the official amendment of the Law on Pharmacy 2016, the business rights of FIEs were primarily governed by subordinate legal documents, which resulted in a lack of stability and transparency. FIEs rights to distribute medicines and pharmaceutical ingredients were also limited, making it difficult for them to deeply integrate into the domestic supply chain and reducing their incentives to invest in local production. The recognition and expansion of FIEs rights in the revised law, therefore, should be seen as a significant step forward for the domestic legal framework in the industry, marking an important shift towards a more open and predictable environment for foreign investment. The council and our member companies welcomed the amended law. We appreciate the commitment and efforts made by the Vietnamese government, especially the Ministry of Health, in modernising its drug regulatory system and ensuring the development of the pharmaceutical industry. We believe the amended will fasten the drug registration process that has been acting as a barrier to access to new medicines and partnerships with global companies. As many pointed out, with the previous procedures, it could take years for a new medicine approved in Europe or the US to be available in Vietnam. These delays discourage global partners from seeking to introduce new products to Vietnam, as they will prefer countries that allow them to access the market faster. That said, the amended law serves as an encouragement for our member companies to expand their operation in Vietnam. They all consider Vietnam one of the most important markets in ASEAN countries. The amended also provides important incentives for FIEs and our member companies to implement long-term projects. For example, the amendments allow FIEs to directly distribute medicines that they produce, contract manufacture, or transfer technology in Vietnam. The expansion of FIEs distribution rights, though still not comprehensive, is crucial in motivating FIEs to invest in the industry. The amendments reflect alignment with the demands of international integration and development, particularly in terms of encouraging foreign investment and enhancing competitiveness. Most notably, the revised law accepts the reference mechanism in the pharmaceutical industry, which has been a standard international practice. Specifically, the amendment mentions that when drug registration uses the reference results of a registration dossier appraised by other authorities (including Stringent Regulatory Authorities and those recognised by the MoH based on World Health Organization classification), the appraisal period will be nine months. In comparison, it is 12 months for a normal dossier. The legalisation of the scope of business activities for foreign-invested pharma enterprises in the Vietnamese market marks a significant step forward, creating a more transparent and stable environment. However, some limitations remain, such as the fact that the distribution rights of FIEs have not been fully expanded, administrative procedures are still complex, and there is a lack of supportive policies for domestic enterprises to compete fairly with FIEs. To achieve long-term goals, improvement of legal regulations is necessary, including streamlining administrative procedures and developing mechanisms to support domestic enterprises without undermining the rights of FIEs. At the same time, it is essential to strengthen collaboration between domestic companies and FIEs to optimise the benefits of foreign investment, contributing to the development of a modern, sustainable, and competitive pharmaceutical industry in Vietnam. Vietnams M&A market set for 2025 surge amid regulatory reforms and foreign investment Speaking on the sidelines of the 16th M&A Vietnam Forum 2024 at the JW Marriott Saigon on November 27, Oh Hsiu-Hau, managing partner at Allen & Gledhill (Vietnam), shared his insights with VIR's Ngoc Huong on the outlook for the M&A market. Foreign investment room delivers mixed picture at banks While the foreign ownership limit at several top-tier banks has almost reached its cap with a desire for further expansion, other banks have significant room for international investment. As a member of Shinhan Financial Group, with its three decade-long presence in Vietnam, Shinhan Life is a relatively young brand, having entered the market in 2021, but it has delivered impressive results in its first three years, thanks largely to its innovative human resource management strategy. Employees at Shinhan Life Vietnam are empowered to pursue personal growth within a flexible framework, supported by colleagues and leadership whenever needed. They have full autonomy in their areas of expertise, managing tasks independently, taking responsibility, and making key decisions. This empowerment nurtures professional development and opens up broader career opportunities for all employees. Photo: Shinhan Life Such an innovative and flexible human resource policy has paved the way for many long-standing employees, who joined Shinhan Life Vietnam in its early days, to achieve significant career milestones. These individuals have introduced their own creative initiatives at work or taken advantage of opportunities to transition to roles better aligned with their skills and aspirations. By fostering this culture of trust and growth, Shinhan Life continues to solidify its reputation as a dynamic and supportive workplace in Vietnams life-insurance industry. CEO Bae Seung Jun, one of the pioneers in establishing Shinhan Life in Vietnam, has been the driving force behind this distinctive human resource strategy. "The growth of the company goes hand in hand with the development of each employee. We prioritise creating the best possible working environment, offering opportunities for employees to unlock their potential, fostering a culture of connection and collaboration, while ensuring competitive benefits and welfare policies," said Bae Seung Jun. Bae Seung Jun (left), Shinhan Life, receiving a 'Best Companies to Work for in Asia 2024' award. Photo: Shinhan Life Last August, Shinhan Life Vietnam was honoured as one of the Best Companies to Work for in Asia 2024 by HR Asia, a major human resources (HR) publication in the region. This prestigious recognition was based on an independent survey conducted by HR Asia among Shinhan Life Vietnam employees and a rigorous evaluation process adhering to international standards. As a relatively new insurance provider, Shinhan Life leverages creativity and innovation as key drivers of growth, aiming to establish a unique footprint in the market. Management understands that fostering a happy work environment is essential for unlocking employee creativity. By creating an environment where employees feel valued and inspired, Shinhan Life empowers its team to propose groundbreaking ideas, whether in product development or operational processes, laying the foundation for effective and sustainable growth. Shinhan Life has emerged as a company that values its people as much as its business performance. The insurers office culture emphasises genuine care for every employee and has created a workplace where individuals feel valued and supported, much like being part of a family. This commitment to building a positive and inclusive work environment has been a key factor in fostering long-term employee loyalty. One remarkable aspect of Shinhan Life Vietnam is the absence of hierarchy in communication and information sharing. Fresh graduates have the opportunity to collaborate and engage directly with senior management, and even the management board when needed, reflecting the companys dedication to empowering its workforce at every level. Shinhan Life Vietnam's recent awards are in recognition of its efforts to create the best working environment for its employees and to support their growth. Photo: Shinhan Life This paid off during the HR Asia Awards last August, where, as a follow-up to being recognised as one of the 'Best Companies to Work for in Asia', it also received the award for 'Best Employee Caring Company 2024'. Attracting the right employees has become a priority for life insurance companies striving to achieve strong results in 2025. For a young and rapidly expanding enterprise like Shinhan Life, a proactive, creative, and fulfilled workforce is the driving force behind its growth objectives, paving the way for the company to secure a solid position in the market. Sun Life Vietnam launches "Finance for yourself" children's campaign Sun Life Vietnam's "Finance for yourself" campaign aims to create an optimistic future for younger generations by empowering them with financial knowledge. Sun Life Vietnam contributes over $73,000 to support communities hit by Typhoon Yagi Sun Life Vietnam has donated VND1.8 billion ($73,155) to support residents severely impacted by Typhoon Yagi in northern Vietnam. Pornanong Budsaratragoon, Secretary-General of the nations Securities and Exchange Commission, said the country needs a much more active carbon credit market. Thailand to launch new carbon credits market, Source: freepik.com The Stock Exchange of Thailand will offer trading expertise and a wider base of investors to help the carbon credits market succeed, she said. According to a report released by BloombergNEF recently, Thailands domestic trade in carbon offsets has been hampered by oversupply thats weighed on prices. About 3.5 million tonnes of credits were purchased between 2016 and October last year, while about 20.5 million tonnes of credits were generated over the same period. Thailand also makes some sales into international markets, and has signed recent pacts for country-to-country trading of credits. Along with other Southeast Asian nations like Indonesia, Malaysia, and Vietnam, Thailand is seen as holding major potential to supply global demand as trading in carbon credits picks up. Thailand's car production continues to decline sharply Thai auto manufacturers produced 117,251 vehicles in November, down 28.23% from a year earlier, with domestic sales down 40% to 37,229 units and exports down 20.6% to 80,022 units. Vietnams ride-hailing market attracts global and local competition (Source:Bolt.eu) In early January 2025, Vietnams ride-hailing market was abuzz with speculation over the potential entry of European tech unicorn Bolt. Specifically, Bolt has begun laying the groundwork for its potential entry into Vietnam, with recruitment efforts now visible in Ho Chi Minh City. Job postings on Bolts LinkedIn early January reveal openings for two roles: operations specialist and customer support specialist. These hires appear to be part of the companys preparations to launch its ride-hailing platform, though no official timeline has been disclosed for its market debut. Although unfamiliar to most Vietnamese consumers, Bolt has carved out a dominant position in Europe, where it competes aggressively with Uber by leveraging a low-cost strategy and a youthful brand image. In addition to traditional ride-hailing services, Bolt has successfully capitalised on its ecosystem, offering e-scooter ride-hailing and rentals. According to The Rakyat Post, Bolt entered the Southeast Asian market in 2020, launching operations in Thailand with a focus on key urban centres such as Bangkok, Phuket, and Chiang Mai. To establish its presence, the company implemented a competitive strategy, waiving commission fees for drivers and offering fares 20 per cent lower than its competitors. In November 2024, Bolt expanded further into Malaysia, targeting Klang Valley and Kuala Lumpur. Upon launch, it introduced a fixed 15 per cent commission rate for drivers and initiated a promotional campaign with 50 per cent discounts on fares to pull in new users. With more than a decade of operations, Bolt has emerged as one of Europes fastest-growing technology companies. It now operates in over 50 countries globally, providing a wide array of services, including ride-hailing, food delivery, grocery delivery, e-scooter rentals, and corporate mobility solutions. On the other hand, a representative from Bolt clarified that while Vietnam is seen as an exciting market with significant potential, the company has yet to make a formal decision about entering the market. "Bolt continuously explores potential markets for expansion and relies on in-depth analysis from our team of experts to ensure a successful launch in any new market. At present, our focus remains on growing our presence in Thailand and Malaysia," the representative shared with local media, quoted Dantri on January 10. The departure of Indonesian ride-hailing and food delivery giant Gojek in 2024 marked a turning point, leaving the domestic players to gain ground. According to Decision Labs The Connected Consumer report, Grab, while still the market leader, is steadily losing market share to home-grown competitors like Be and Xanh SM. A study conducted by Q&Me in 2024 highlighted a narrowing gap between Grab and its rivals, driven by Be's growing user base and the rapid emergence of Xanh SM. International research firm Mordor Intelligence identified Xanh SM as holding the second-largest market share in Vietnams ride-hailing sector, with The Connected Consumer report placing Xanh SM as the second most popular app, boasting over 32 per cent market penetration. Customer satisfaction surveys further underscore this shift. A recent Q&Me poll revealed that 83 per cent of customers were satisfied with Xanh SM's electric vehicle service, surpassing Grab (80 per cent) and Be (68 per cent). Additionally, 84 per cent of users stated they would recommend Xanh SMs electric taxis, while 77 per cent expressed similar sentiments about its electric motorbike services. This evolving landscape can be traced back to strategic alliances, such as the 2023 partnership between VinFast GSM, a leading electric vehicle manufacturer, and Be Group. Industry analysts at the time described the collaboration as a mutually beneficial move to challenge foreign giants Grab and Gojek. By 2024, Xanh SM had rapidly expanded its network across Vietnam, solidifying its presence and capturing consumer interest. Vietnams ride-hailing market is also witnessing a broader generational and economic shift. As the country embraces a green economy and electric vehicle adoption rises, younger generations, particularly Gen Z, are prioritising sustainability over traditional cost-driven choices. While Grab continues to appeal to price-sensitive users, Be has pivoted to offering premium experiences through services like beCar Plus and beBike Plus, targeting a more discerning, tech-savvy clientele. An industry insider noted that the battle in Vietnams ride-hailing sector goes beyond attracting users. "Platforms must not only win over and retain customers to sustain revenue but also focus on growing and retaining their driver networks," the source said. Currently, Be leads with an estimated 400,000 drivers, followed by Grab with 300,000 and Xanh SM with 90,000. Ride-hailing company Gojek to exit Vietnam Gojek, the on-demand, multiservice mobile platform, will close its Vietnam business effective September 16, according to an announcement made by its parent company GoTo Group on September 4. Ride-hailing companies gear up for the green transition Ride-hailing companies are taking on the green transition in order to increase competitive capacity. GSM enters ride-hailing market with Xanh SM Bike Platform GSM has announced the launch of its Xanh (Green) SM Bike Platform specifically for VinFast electric motorcycles. The new platform will feature a competitive revenue-sharing policy, with drivers receiving the vast majority of each ride's revenue.